Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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The Eldest Of These Youths Was
About Eleven Years Of Age.
The youngest being not more than three,
was held on the back of his animal by a male attendant, as he was
unable to sit upright on the saddle without this assistance.
The
child's dress was ill suited to his age. He wore on his head a light
cap of Manchester cotton, but it overhung the upper part of his face,
and together with its ends, which flapped over each cheek, hid nearly
the whole of his countenance from view; his tobe and trousers were
made exactly in the same fashion as those of a man, and two large
belts of blue cotton, which crossed each other, confined the tobe to
his body. The little legs of the child were swallowed up in clumsy
yellow boots, big enough for his father, and though he was rather
pretty, his whimsical dress gave him altogether so odd an appearance,
that he might have been taken for any thing but what he really was.
A few of the women on the ground by the side of the king wore large
white dresses, which covered their persons like a winding sheet.
Young virgins, according to custom, appeared in a state of nudity;
many of them had wild flowers stuck behind their ears, and strings of
beads, &c., round their loins; but want of clothing did not seem to
damp their pleasure in the entertainment, for they entered with as
much zest as any of their companions.
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