The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-05-05
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fore the white man ever penetrated
into their country. 1t contains no
nails and the parts are ingeniously
fastened together.
The natives will steal anything and
everything. They are born thieves
1t 10 In their blood and tells In their
actions. They are naturally lazy
their environment makes them so
and they would rather steal and beg
than anything else.
All the year round they live 4 more
or less open life, but from June to
October they live entirely in the open.
They know nothing of the strifes
and jealousies and hardships that are
the white mans and woman's. The
cut Of q gown or the style of wearing
the hair bothers them not. The COM
ing Of tho white man among them has
caused them to put on . bit more
drapery, but their mode Of living goes
on As 1t has from time out of mind.
To civilized minds tree Telling. wood
carrying and jungle clearing are Ger.
tainly laborious work for woman. but
n African woman knows noeAing
slss. yet hers sse much more health
The savage woapaa breathes the pure
air Of the open: ~ white woman the
fetid breath Of seOwded communities.
Housekeeping 1or the white woman
means the perpetual doing Of the
same endless tasks.
Entirely different is the life Of the
African woman. She has always time
to gossip, to rest, and take beauty
maps. She loves company. she loves
to visit. Her guests bring their own
food and sleeping mats. and she takes
hers with her when she goes a-visit-
ing.
She does not bore her friends with
a minute history Of the ruination Of
her linen by the careless washer
woman, because she has NO linen to
wash She isn't forever relating the
shortcomings Of the cook and bemoan-
ing the breakage Of her china, be-
cause she Is her own cook and she
has no china to break. A three-legged
iron pot. perhaps an empty oil tin dis
carded by q white man. or q few in
different pans traded for With ebony.
rubber or ivory. complete hs4 cooking
utensils and dishes. She dose not be-
moan house-cleaning tims-1SH has
no walls to paper. windows 10 t9ean
meled with the burdens Of civilfsa-
ton, and she shows it in her perfect
health and magnificent physique. She
has no aches nor pains. II by chance
any come b her, at once her savage
mind thi1ks Of witchcraft. She Is be-
witched. q eourse-sickness is not
natural.
The news of the coming of a white
woman travelled ahead Of me and the
natives came miles to meet and vel
come me. They are the most hospita-
BILE people In the world. They will
give you the best they have. 'Tis
true they beg from you everything
they see. But they are like children.
A bit of bright color attracts them
and the merest tribe will content
them. They adore beads and red
cloth, while bracelets and rings of
near-gold and set with glass appeal to
them a. strongly as do real gold and
Jewels to the white woman.
Oftentimes among those primeval
peoples and their ways l concluded
that l was the uncivilized and they
the civilized. They went about in the
intense equatorial sun bareheaded
and unclothed. while l was compelled
to swelter under helmet and to
suffer from the weight Of dress and
shoes. l had to eat certain foods.
while they lived upon whatever prod
igal nature gave them. They were
healthy. happy. contented. while
and the other white women and men
in their country were neither. Their
life IL complete in itself; ours il an
eternal craving and striving for some
thing We haven't got. Theirs 10 the
ideal, ours the commonplace and the
strenuous.
IDA VERA SIMPSON.