Evening star., 1920-02-07
STYLES Of PARIS
OUTD0NE IN AFRICA
High Cost of Clothes No
Bother Until Youths Are
Married in Benin.

Archeologists think that Benin.
Africa. may be a land where records
of an earlier civilization than that of
Egypt are to he found.
'Whatever the antiquity of Benin.
its present-day interest is scarcely to
be surpassed. says bulletin from
the headquarters of the National
Geographic Society.
Here are to be found a people SO
benighted that until a quarter of Il
century ago. they put a taboo upon
expectation of all their products ex-
cept palm oil, and practiced human
sacrifice to an appalling extent. yet
so advanced that they knew the
processes of weaving and the arts
of carving and metal work long be-
fore the white man came.
Volunteered to We'd
Concerning an early attempt to
Christianize the Benz there is story
of tragic human appeal. Portuguese
missionaries were working on the out
skirts of the Benin country. which
lies west of the Niger. in what now
is the British protectorate of South
ern Nigeria. The Benin monarch
heard of these activities and sent
word that in exchange for one white
wife he would enroll all his subjects
in the Christian church. A member Of
the sisterhood volunteered to accept
the hand of his sable majesty. AMI
he is said to have treated ne. most
kindly, though her sacrifice wrought
no appreciable change in the native
religion.
The high cost of clothes bothers
the Benin boy and girl not at all.
for they wear none. in token of al
legiance to their king. When the
king provides youth with clothes
he becomes citizen: and usually
with the bestowal of the clothes the
king also selects for him a wife. in
token of his maturity. The man may
choose as many additional wives as
he wishes and can support. A wom-
an may not wear clothes until they
Obviously, then. the clothing prob
lem in Benin is one that only the
bachelor maid need worry about-but
for her it may be a serious matter,
indeed. Naturally. under such eco
nomic pressure. and with polygamy
permitted. there are few old maids
Even the undraped maid Of Benin
does not rely alone on .natural
charms. A fashion reporter at
Benin subdebutante ball would have
plenty to write about concerning the
seasons fashions in necklaces OF
coral. often exquisitely carved. arm
rings of iron or copper. spiral. put
tee-like bands of metal on the legs
and copper rings that crowd the
fingers.
Less esthetic. though. is the ma
tive habit of cutting the body. and fire.
quenly the face. to denote tribal
memberships self-infiicted practice
suggestive of the branding of cattle
on our western plains.
Inhdelity Punishable by Death.
Though polygamy is practiced al
most universally. infidelity is pun
ishable by death. OF the upper
classes. one traveller said that he
never had met with any black princes
so sensible and well informed as
these men, who had SO noble and
commanding an appearances. In some
parts of Benin his religion will not
permit the native to strike white
man. but poisoning is resorted to IN
stead. Most explorers have attested
to the kindness and generosity of the
natives. also to their hght-nnseFeo
qualities, and all agree that to in
fringe upon their religious beliefs
is sure route to the sacrihcial
crosses. where human crucifixion is
practiced by the wholesale.
..'rhe use of the present tense in all
that has been said about Benin was
wholly justified until 1897 when. be-
cause of the massacre of Europeans,
a British expedition was sent from
Gwato. the port city of the benln
country, to Benin city. twenty-five
miles inland. Since then the fanati-
cal sacrifices have been virtually
eliminated. and native practices that
violate civilized ideas modlned. But
enough of the old-time customs re,
main unaltered to afford an unusual
opportunity to study primitive ciVill
zatioh in many of its most vivid IN
teresting and significant aspects