She Is Then Placed In A Public Situation,
Saluted As A Lady, And Presents Made By All Her Acquaintances Are Placed
Around Her.
After this she is taken to the residence of her husband,
where she has a hut for herself, and becomes one of several wives,
for polygamy is general.
Dancing, feasting, and drinking on such occasions
are prolonged for several days. In case of separation,
the woman returns to her father's family, and the husband receives back
what he gave for her. In nearly all cases a man gives a price for the wife,
and in cases of mulattoes, as much as 60 Pounds is often given
to the parents of the bride. This is one of the evils the bishop was trying
to remedy.
In cases of death the body is kept several days, and there is a grand
concourse of both sexes, with beating of drums, dances, and debauchery,
kept up with feasting, etc., according to the means of the relatives.
The great ambition of many of the blacks of Angola is to give their friends
an expensive funeral. Often, when one is asked to sell a pig,
he replies, "I am keeping it in case of the death of any of my friends."
A pig is usually slaughtered and eaten on the last day of the ceremonies,
and its head thrown into the nearest stream or river.
A native will sometimes appear intoxicated on these occasions,
and, if blamed for his intemperance, will reply, "Why!
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