The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15
WHERE THE WOMEN
 WEAR TAILS
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.

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 ], biceps of his left arm. He has five wire
 bands about his neck, circles of wire under each knee, and great anklets of twisted wire resting on each of his feet. As I look 1 can see the calloused places where the wire has worn into his instep, and this is worse on that third man, whose ankles are loaded with twisted wire. The latter must have several pounds on each leg, and the wire on the right leg extends from the foot to the middle of the calf
 Now look at their heads. The first man has short wool which hugs the scalp, and the other two have twisted their hair so that it hangs down about the head like the snakes of the Medusa.
 Deerskin Aprons.
 I stop for a moment and ask the men to turn around in order that I may get a view from the rear. They are not quite SD naked as I had supposed. Each has an apron of deerskin as big as a lady's pocket handkerchief fastened to his waistband behind. The aprons are tan ned with the fur on and are tied to tine belts with deerskin straps. As far as decency goes they are of no value at all, and they seem to be used more for orna- ment than anything else.
 Turning now to other men in the party l larly clad although a few have skins thrown around their shoulders. and some have more 1ewelry. One or two wear piece of cotton cloth and very few have waist cloths l have no trouble in get ting the men to pose. They have gone without clothes from time immenorial, and think that the use of them is deeid- edly foolish.
 Where the Women Wear Tails.
 Let us turn our cameras now on the women They are by no means so fine- looking as the men. They are shorter and not so well formed Still they are all there The youngest girls are clad in bead waist belts and the older ones have each tassel of fibre tied to q girdle about the waist. This tassel is fastened just at the small of the back and 1t hangs down behind. At short distance it looks like a cows tail. l am told that 1t is an Indispensable article of dress Tor every married woman; and that it is im- proper for a stranger to touch it. Sir Harry Johnston, who governed these peo- pie, says that even a husband dares not touch this caudal appenage when worn by his wife, and if by mistake, it is touched, goat must be sacrificed or the woman will die from the insult.
 Some of the native women here in Port Florence wear little aprons of fiber
 
 the front. I can see dozens of them so clad all about me, and for penny can get any of them to pose for my camera. The young girls have no clothes at all, and this is the custom throughout the country. Indeed, farther back in the ln- terlor the fringe aprons are removed, and both sexes are clad chiefly in jewelry of wire of various kinds.
 The strangest thing about the nudity
 n1 n1aCn- lutely unconscious of any wrong in t. Such of them as have not met Europeans do not know they are naked; and mar ried woman with her tail of palm fiber IS fully dressed. A traveller tells how he tried to educate a gang of naked young women whom he met out in the country by cutting ilp some American sheeting and giving each a piece. The girls looked at the cloths with interest; but evidently i did not know what to do with them Thereupun the white man took strip and tied it about the waist of one of the party. Upon this the other girls wrapped their pieces about their waists. but a moment later they took them off, saying: These are foreign customs and we do not want them.
 Queer Marriage Customs. During my stay in the KavirondJ coun- try I have gone out among the villages and have seen the natives in their homes and at work The land is thickly popu- lated and the people are good natured and fyuuiet.s~eenercan go anywhere without dan , ger. and there is no trouble in getting photographs of whatever one wants. I am surprised at the great number or married women. This rule as to married women wearing tails gives one llnowl- edge of the condition of every woman he meets If the tail is on one knows the woman is married, and if not that she is single.
 The Kavirondo girls marry very early am told they are often betrothed at the age of years. but that in such case the girl stays with her parents Tor nVe or six years afterward. All marriages are matters of bargain and sale. Tie parents sell their girls for a price, and good wife can be purchased for 40 hoes, 20 goats and a cow In the early be- trothals the suitor pays part of the fixed siim down and the rest in installments until all is paid If the father refuses to give up the girl when the time comes for marriage, the payments having been made. the suitor organizes a band or ms friends and captures her and carries her home A man usually takes his wife rom a different village from that in which ne lives and when he comes with his band 10 the brides village her gentlemen friends
 often resist the invasion and fight the suitor's party with sticks. At such times the girl screams. but am told she usuaiiy allows herself to be captured I am told that old maids are nos popular and that the average haNiroh do girl is just as anxious to be married as are our maidens at home. Indeed, she is usually very anxious. that 1T she does not get bid in the ordinary way she will pick out q man for hersel and arrange to have herself onereu i him at a reduced rate. l understan'
 there are plenty of plump maiuens no" ! on the bargain counter.
 i Another queer marriage custom herS is AIS to ones wifes sister The man ;, who gets the first girl in a family ], supposed to have the say as to all the l younger ones as they come to mar