The colored American., 1902-03-15

there IS matter OF purchase, the plain
tltt's plea usually was that the other
man ought to pay over what the woman
had cost him IN the first place, and re-
fund whatever amount had heen paid
out on her for cloth, gin, jewelry and
such things. Not infrequently this was
done. The natives, especially the wo-
men, are exceedingly fond of adornment
and it was no unusual thing to see a
woman with as many as fifteen pounds
of ivory and metal bracelets and ank-
lets on.
Arrangements to secure laborers are
usually made through the chiefs of the
tribes. The wages paid ranged from ten
to twenty cents a day, and the men
boarded themselves. The common food
of the natives is a yam, something like
a huge white potato. This is boiled and
the substance beaten into a paste not
unlike bread dough. Europeans and
Americans can have almost any food
they wish to pay for. Flour from Min
nesota, ham from Chicago, butter from
Denmark, canned fruit from California.
Food brought so far is naturally high in
price. Ham was forty cents a pound.
Indian corn grows abundantly in the
country, and roasting ears" as they
call them down South can be had for
nine months in succession. All kinds
the wild pineapple being larger and
of tropical fruits grow in abundance,
more delicious than the best sold in the
markets in this country. Oranges are
small, not SO sweet, and with more
seeds. the result probably of lack of cul
tivatiOn. Sixteen lines can be bought
for a copper
There is not much hunting, since the
grass is burned off frequently TO clear
the ground. and also to drive out any
game which may be hidden IN 1t,
Monkeys abound, and do much damage
TO the crops unless driven away. The
natives are allowed to have only flint
lock muSketS.
German officers are stationed at var
;ous places in the colony, and there are
;erman Protestant and Catholic mis-
SionarieS The climate in the winter is
like a Southern states Indian summer.
June, July, August and September are
like rainy summer in the South. The
temperature never goes above 05 degrees
and never below 70 degrees. The loca-
ton is about 6 degrees north of the
equator Malarial fevers are prevalent,
both among the natives and the foreign
ers, but the taking of plenty of quInlne
by the latter seems to ward off serious
results When the natives are sick they
steep and take what they call bush
medicine 1t has been suggested that by
investigating these bush remedies val
liable medicines may be discovered. Some
Of the natives are MahomedanS and
some Pagans. When a person dies he
y she is buried and the ground tramped
iCwn so as to obliterate any traces OF
the grave Then if the dead person has
been some one of prominence, or OF
sufficient wealth to afford 1t, two or
three kegs of gin are opened, powder is
fired of and a general feast and cele-
bration is held.
AS all the live stock sent over tor
this party died, it became necessary to
use native labor for everything. The
plows used for furrowing out the cotton
were drawn by natives, tour men to
plow. One of the young men taken over
was a graduate of the Tuskegee mechan-
ical department He set up the gin car
ried over, and after the animals died,
rie2ed the machine with four sweeps IN
stead of one Six natives were then put
on to each sweep, and the twenty-tour
furnished all the power necessary. They
thought the work quite lark, and walk
ed around singing. AS a general thing
thew are cheerful and fond of singing.
Mr.. Galloway said that If there was a
big lob of work to be done the best
thing was to hire one man to sit beside
the field and beat bass drum. Then all
the rest would sing an accompaniment
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