Like The Kafirs, They Are Very
Prolific, But Peculiarly Bad Mothers, Neither Loved Nor Respected By Their
Children.
The fair sex lasts longer in Eastern Africa than in India and
Arabia:
At thirty, however, charms are on the wane, and when old age comes
on they are no exceptions to the hideous decrepitude of the East.
The Somal, when they can afford it, marry between the ages of fifteen and
twenty. Connections between tribes are common, and entitle the stranger to
immunity from the blood-feud: men of family refuse, however, to ally
themselves with the servile castes. Contrary to the Arab custom, none of
these people will marry cousins; at the same time a man will give his
daughter to his uncle, and take to wife, like the Jews and Gallas, a
brother's relict. Some clans, the Habr Yunis for instance, refuse maidens
of the same or even of a consanguineous family. This is probably a
political device to preserve nationality and provide against a common
enemy. The bride, as usual in the East, is rarely consulted, but frequent
_tete a tetes_ at the well and in the bush when tending cattle effectually
obviate this inconvenience: her relatives settle the marriage portion,
which varies from a cloth and a bead necklace to fifty sheep or thirty
dollars, and dowries are unknown. In the towns marriage ceremonies are
celebrated with feasting and music. On first entering the nuptial hut, the
bridegroom draws forth his horsewhip and inflicts memorable chastisement
upon the fair person of his bride, with the view of taming any lurking
propensity to shrewishness. [23] This is carrying out with a will the Arab
proverb,
"The slave girl from her capture, the wife from her wedding."
During the space of a week the spouse remains with his espoused, scarcely
ever venturing out of the hut; his friends avoid him, and no lesser event
than a plundering party or dollars to gain, would justify any intrusion.
If the correctness of the wife be doubted, the husband on the morning
after marriage digs a hole before his door and veils it with matting, or
he rends the skirt of his Tobe, or he tears open some new hut-covering:
this disgraces the woman's family. Polygamy is indispensable in a country
where children are the principal wealth. [24] The chiefs, arrived at
manhood, immediately marry four wives: they divorce the old and
unfruitful, and, as amongst the Kafirs, allow themselves an unlimited
number in peculiar cases, especially when many of the sons have fallen.
Daughters, as usual in Oriental countries, do not "count" as part of the
family: they are, however, utilised by the father, who disposes of them to
those who can increase his wealth and importance. Divorce is exceedingly
common, for the men are liable to sudden fits of disgust. There is little
ceremony in contracting marriage with any but maidens. I have heard a man
propose after half an hour's acquaintance, and the fair one's reply was
generally the question direct concerning "settlements." Old men frequently
marry young girls, but then the portion is high and the _menage a trois_
common.
The Somal know none of the exaggerated and chivalrous ideas by which
passion becomes refined affection amongst the Arab Bedouins and the sons
of civilisation, nor did I ever hear of an African abandoning the spear
and the sex to become a Darwaysh. Their "Hudhudu," however, reminds the
traveller of the Abyssinian "eye-love," the Afghan's "Namzad-bazi," and
the Semite's "Ishkuzri," which for want of a better expression we
translate "Platonic love." [25] This meeting of the sexes, however, is
allowed in Africa by male relatives; in Arabia and Central Asia it
provokes their direst indignation. Curious to say, throughout the Somali
country, kissing is entirely unknown.
Children are carried on their mothers' backs or laid sprawling upon the
ground for the first two years [26]: they are circumcised at the age of
seven or eight, provided with a small spear, and allowed to run about
naked till the age of puberty. They learn by conversation, not books, eat
as much as they can beg, borrow and steal, and grow up healthy, strong,
and well proportioned according to their race.
As in El Islam generally, so here, a man cannot make a will. The property
of the deceased is divided amongst his children,--the daughters receiving
a small portion, if any of it. When a man dies without issue, his goods
and chattels are seized upon by his nearest male relatives; one of them
generally marries the widow, or she is sent back to her family. Relicts,
as a rule, receive no legacies.
You will have remarked, dear L., that the people of Zayla are by no means
industrious. They depend for support upon the Desert: the Bedouin becomes
the Nazil or guest of the townsman, and he is bound to receive a little
tobacco, a few beads, a bit of coarse cotton cloth, or, on great
occasions, a penny looking-glass and a cheap German razor, in return for
his slaves, ivories, hides, gums, milk, and grain. Any violation of the
tie is severely punished by the Governor, and it can be dissolved only by
the formula of triple divorce: of course the wild men are hopelessly
cheated [27], and their citizen brethren live in plenty and indolence.
After the early breakfast, the male portion of the community leave their
houses on business, that is to say, to chat, visit, and _flaner_ about the
streets and mosques. [28] They return to dinner and the siesta, after
which they issue forth again, and do not come home till night. Friday is
always an idle day, festivals are frequent, and there is no work during
weddings and mournings. The women begin after dawn to plait mats and
superintend the slaves, who are sprinkling the house with water, grinding
grain for breakfast, cooking, and breaking up firewood: to judge, however,
from the amount of chatting and laughter, there appears to be far less
work than play.
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