The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-13
TSAFTR-ZULU TAILORS.


field now attending the ecumenical con-
ference in New York city. They consider
it necessary for the health and proper de-
velopment of the child. After these baths
they rub its little body with a sort OF
paint made by mixing a soft cay with
oil. This completes It's toilet and aiter
feeding, 1t is placed on its little mat by
the fire 20 sleep.
"A mother does net leave her young child
in her kraal when she gees cut to gather
wood, fetch water or work her farm, hut
carries it on her back in a sling, which
by the way, is made by the man of the
household, One of the odd things about
these KafIfr-Zulus is that the men do t-e
sewing. They are both tailcrs and dress
makers and fashion bridal robe with as
much skill as they make mans apron or
war shield. OF course you viii under tan1
that they use the same material, nam sly
hide, for all of these purposes.
But to go back 10 the babies, their
principal food as soon as they have learn I'd
to drink from a gourd, is the whey which
their mothers draw from the clabbered
milk prepared in great quantities for the
men of the household.
You must not fancy that the women
think of themselves in preparing the food
for the family. A woman's taste is of
too little Importance. Indeed 1 think
such thing is not known 90 exist. Food
is prepared for the husband and his
friends, according 10 his ordersN and if
there should be anything left over then
the women and girls may eat it in an
other part of their little hut, if not, they
must satisfy their hunger with whey, or
fruits for which the men are known to
care very little. The meals, for the men,
usually consist of several courses, of
which boiled or broiled meat or fish is
the first, then follows vegetables, of sew
oral al ff11f tIn laIt Of u fnh
1 have spoken, and a sort of hasty pud-
ding made of cornmeal with coarse brown
sugar sprinlSled over it. Cooking is one
of the many duties performed by the
women and most of it is done in the same
vessel, an iron pot, with a second pot of
the same size fitted over 1t as a cover.
In this clumsy vessel they manage to do
very creditable cooking. Besides boiling
their meats, vegetables and buildings
they manage to steam loaf of bread.
"Their huts, of which each woman has
| one, is circular in shape and so low that
she can only stand erect in the center.
The Zulu woman keeps it remarkably
clean when you consider that it is the
only place in which she and her family
must live and at night the dogs, goats,
calves and chickens creep in at the door
and huddle in the corners assigned to
them. This door is the sole opening to
the house. 1t is about two and a half
feet high, so, of course even the ami
mails and children are compelled to crawl
in and out.
like her sisters all over the world she
is fond of ornaments and not only delights
in covering her body and limbs with beads,
rings, bangles and all sorts of strange ar
ticies as charms. hut takes great pride in
the number of scars she can show. Moth
ers often have the arms and bosoms of
their young daughters cut or burned for
the purpose of making those beauty
marks. have seen the whole body cover
ed with little gashes which the doctor was
making and filling with what appeared to
be mixture of charcoal and ashes. You
may be sure that girl sold for an extra
price on account of great beauty, when
she came to manageable age.
1.-The usual price of a wife is ten cows
but for high rank, such as a kings daugh-
ter, unusual beauty or womanly accom-
plishments, the price often gees as high
as fifty head. The girl has nothing TO
say about the choice of a husband, unless
the family has CHANGED to come urder
Christian influences, in which case she is
often the first to speak on the subject. But
among the tribes where the old customs
prevail the man bargains with the father
of the girl and when matters are arrange
the nuptials are celebrated. These cele-
brations consists of the conducting of the
BRIDE by her relatives and friends 10 the
sists of two garments, the hide of an OK
tanned soft. with the hair on the outer
side stained black and adorned about the
edges with brass buttons. This garment
is wrapped about the body, reaching from
waist to knees. while the breast is covered
by a blue CLOTH hanging loosely from the
neck to shoulders. The price Of the wife,
the herd of cows, always forms an inter
estng part of the wedding procession as
both parties take pride in the display
During the feasting and dancing at these
weddings the bride sits to one side wailing
and lamenting. That is the proper con-
duct for girl in her position, although
they are as a rule glad enough to be mar
ried.
Upon reaching the marriageable age
both men and women shave their heads
Tho men leave a circle on the top and
the woman a tuft of hair This tuft OF
hair which is on the crown of the head
is smeared with a mixture of grease and
red ochre, and gathered into sort Of
crest or toplSnot. Their clothing until they
don their bridal costume, consists princi-
rally of beads, brass 1ewelry and numer-
Gus strings of charms. Native fathers are
not in favor of clothing their daughters
as they consider 1t a useless expense Ie-
Rally a woman has no rights, but her ia
Their has ard unless her husband can show
just grounds for complaint he can not rid
himself of his wife. Their process by law
is exceedingly tedious and that. fact alone
prevents many men from seeking a d.
vorce
I'm the mission schools we find that the
native girls show a decided aptitude for
everything which we endeavor to teach
them excepting truth and arithmetic.
They fan far short in those two.
'"The natives, and l mean practically
all the tribes, are anxious for the English
to come out victorious In the South Arri-
con war. OF all the white men they pre-
fer the Englishman and dislike the Boer.
/ know President Kruger and believe
that he is perfectly sincere In the stand
he takes He is fighting for what he
believes is the best for his country but
DO not think any one who has lived In
South Africa wishes for the success of
the Beers English rule means the OPEN
ing up Of South Africa, the civilization OF
the natives; while for the Beers TO dom
mate means Just the reverse.