Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 - Under the Orders and at the Expense of Her Majesty's Government by James Richardson
page 109 of 292 (37%)
page 109 of 292 (37%)
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wedding. First came a group of women, dancing and throwing themselves
into a variety of slow, languid, and lascivious postures, to the sound of some very primitive string-instrument. Towards this group all the women of the neighbouring huts were gathering, some merely as spectators, others bringing dishes of meat. Beyond was a crowd of men, among whom was the bridegroom helping the musicians to make a noise. These musicians were an old man and old woman, each above ninety years of age. The latter beat a calabash with a stick, whilst the former drew a bow over a single string tied to another calabash. The bridegroom had got hold of a brass kettle, with which he supplied his contribution to the din. Preparations for supper were going on; and, the harmony announcing this fact, idlers were coming in flocks from the distant hamlets and the fields. Two new huts had been built, one for the bride and the other for the bridegroom. These marriages produce very few children, which may partly arise from licentiousness, but chiefly, no doubt, from misery. I afterwards saw the burial of an old lady, which ceremony set the whole town in motion. The women screamed in crowds, and a great number of men went outside the walls to see the body consigned to its last resting-place. Yusuf pretends that the burial took place two hours after decease, which is the ordinary practice here, although thirty-two hours are said to be the proper time. To the 21st of May I was occupied in preparing a short report on Fezzan, with statements of the expedition and other necessary documents. We have had a grand dinner at the house of the Greek doctor Paniotti. The Bey, Bim Bashaw, his adjutant, the treasurer, and others were invited. The French have boasted of the number of their dishes, but I |
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