The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-02
ABOUT ZULU WOMEN.
WHERE THE MEN IRE TATLORS
AND ALSO DRESSMAKERS.

Among south African Tribes tho Girl
Babies are Cut and burned In Ordes
10 Have Beauty scars-Adds TO TheiI
Price.
'"The native women of South Africa
give their infants four or five hot baths
daily" said Mrs Ellen Goodenough, a
prominent delegate from the South Al
rcan mission field to the ecumenical
conference in New York city. They
consider it necessary for the health ana
proper development Of the child After
these baths they rub its little body with
sort of paint made by mixing a soft
clay with oil This completes it's toilet,
and after feeding it is placed on its lit
tie mat by the fire to sleep.
"A mother does not leave her young
child in her kraal when she does out to
gather wood, fetch water or work ON her
farm, but carries it on her back in
sling, which, by the way, is made by
the man of the household One of the
odd things about these Kaffir-Zulus is
that the men do the sewing. They are
both tailors and dressmakers, and fash
ion a bridal robe with as much skill as
they make a mans apron or war shield.
OF course, you will understand that
they use the same material, namely
hide, for all of these purposes.
But to go back to the babies. Their
principal food as soon as they have
learned 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, l
think such a thing is not known to exist.
Food is prepared for the husband and
his friends according to his orders and
if there should be anything left over
then the women and girls may eat it in
another 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 follow vegeta-
bles of several varieties, fruits, the clab-
Der of which have spoken and sort
of hasty pudding made of corn meal,
with coarse brown sugar sprinkled 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 fit
ted over as a cover. In this clumsy
vessel they manage to do very credita-
Bile cooking. Besides boiling their
meats, vegetables and puddings they.
manage to steam a loaf of bread.
"Their huts Of which each woman
has one are circular in shape, and so
low that she can only stand erect in the
center. The Zulu woman keeps it re-
markably 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 as
signed to them This door is the sole
opening of the house. 1t is about two
and a half feet high, so of course even
the animals and children are compelled
to crawl in and out.
Like her sisters all over the world,
she is fond or ornaments and not only
delights in covering her body and limbs
with beads, rings, bangles and all sorts
of strange articles as charms, but takes
great pride in the number of scars she
can show. Mothers often have the arms
and bosoms of their young daughters
cut or burned for the purpose of maxi
ing those beauty marks. I have seen
the whole body covered with little CASH
es which the doctor was making and
filling with what appeared to be a mix
ture of charcoal and ashes. You may
be sure that girl sold for an extra price
on account of prpat haa1ItV whpp she
came to a marriageable age.
1.-THE usual price of a wife is ten cows
but for high rank, such as a kings
daughter unusual beauty or womanly
accomplishments the Price often goes
as high as fifty head The girl has
nothing to say about the choice of a
husband, unless the family has CHANGED |
to come under 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 arranged the |
nuptials are celebrated. These celebra-
tons consist of the conducting of the |
bride by her relatives and friends to the |
kraal of the groom. The bridal dress
consists of two garments, the hide of an
OA tduIlGu SoIl, Will the HdlT Uil 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 blue
cloth, hanging loosely from the neck to
the shoulders. The price of the wife,
the herd of cows. always forms an in
teresting part of the wedding process
sion, as both parties take pride in the
display. During the feasting and dam
cling at these weddings the bride sits to
one side wailing and lamenting That
is the proper conduct for a girl in her
position, although they are as a rule
glad enough to be married.
Upon reaching the marriageable age
both men and women shave their heads.
The men leave a circle on the top and
the women a tuft of tair 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 a sort
of crest or topknot. Their clothing un-
til they don their bridal costume con-
sists principally of beads, brass jewelry
and numerous strings of charms. Ma
tive fathers are not in favor of clothing
their daughters as thew consider il q |