San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1878-08-31
How the People Dress In Sierra Leone.

H,w the People Dress In Sierra Leone.
The dress of the fishermen generally
consists of a rag about the loins. The
ordinary laborers, porters and long.
shoremen usually wear loose thin shirts
and trousers, although they frequently
have only the latter, and in other in
stances what resembles long bag cut
omen ut the ends, with two holes cut
above for the arms. All are barefooted,
and most are barelegged below the
tnee. The almost invariable head COW
ering is q skull-cap of CANDY color.
Clerks, messengers, store and shop
keepers, and those belonging to that
class, usually wear clothes of European
ont and make, of different colors and
fashionings, with shoes and hats like
any BODY else. Then come the Mussul-
mans, dressed in long, pure white flow
inc robes, not unlike an Episcopal min.
ister's surplice, with sandals secured
across the instep with huge buttons, and
tall brimless linen or cloth caps. These
are the fellows who came in from the
country and are "not at work to-day"
Their humber brethren who are at
work "a condition of life in which a
Mussulman never is If he can possibly
help himself) wear gowns of coarse blue
cotton, generally dirty, but of the same
shape. Not only these followers Of the
Prophet, but many others Of the color
ed citizens of Sierra Leone have sus-
pended around their necks leather
pouches, bits of stone, etc., containing
charms. The dress of the women is as
diverse as the mems. Sometimes they
wear single long, loose garment OF
thin cotton, gathered in at the waist.
Others have a gaudily-colored robe
wrapped around their waists and falling
below their ankles, with spare piece
hanging in front which they pull over
their bosoms when strange man is ap-
preaching. Very frequently an infant
is bound up in the folds of a garment,
resting quietly behind and forming a
hustle. The mother always looks pro-
foundly unconscious of this burden,
which is invariably quiet. Every body,
unless engaged in commercial pursuits,
manages to get some bright color intro
duced in his or her dress, except the
aristocratic Mussulman in his spotless
white, and even his cap is often bright
red or scarlet.
The laboring people of both sexes are
generally very erect and walk with what
in white man would be swagger, but
in them, with their free limbs, is merely
a graceful independence. The business
men have the business mans usual
stoop, methodical walk and steady look,
and generally carry an umbrella and
wear a broad hat. l think these natives
are usually very strong, and some OF
them are magnifcently shaped, especi-
ally the women. The most beautiful
and massive pair OF female shoulders l
have ever seen saw here. Their own
er had heavy load ON her head, but
walked under it as straight as an arrow,
and the shoulders just spoken OF were
studies for an artist, being straight,
square, clean cut and well rounded-al
together perfect. Almost all the over
land transportation is done on human
heads, there being only three horses in
the entire colony. A woman will walk.
into town at good pace from miles in
the country, with child swinging at her
back and from 30 to 20 pounds Of pro-
duce on her head, carrying herself as
well and showing as little fatigue as an
average American or English woman
would after a miles unencumbered
stroll. What the men can carry | am
afraid to say. 1 saw one start home
with two huge iron pots balanced on his
head, weighing probably 100 pounds,
and he looked as if he hardly felt them.
The laborers whom we met at the wharf
bore two two-gallon demijohns of rum
in each hand and another on their
heads. saw no woman whose dress
would forbid her appearance on the
streets of an American city. The chill
dren to about years old wear very lit
tle-very often nothing at all. Now
you have the people as they appear on
the streets -Monrovia Cor. Charleston
NeWS and Courier.