Travels Of Richard And John Lander Travels in West Africa (Congo Francais, Corisco and Cameroons) by Mary H. Kingsley




















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It is the costume of the people in Free Town and its harbour that
will first attract the attention of - Page 28
Travels Of Richard And John Lander Travels in West Africa (Congo Francais, Corisco and Cameroons) by Mary H. Kingsley - Page 28 of 705 - First - Home

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It Is The Costume Of The People In Free Town And Its Harbour That Will First Attract The Attention Of The Newcomer, Notwithstanding The Fact That The Noise, The Smell, And The Heat Are Simultaneously Making Desperate Bids For That Favour.

The ordinary man in the street wears anything he may have been able to acquire, anyhow, and he does not fasten it on securely.

I fancy it must be capillary attraction, or some other partially-understood force, that takes part in the matter. It is certainly neither braces nor buttons. There are, of course, some articles which from their very structure are fairly secure, such as an umbrella with the stick and ribs removed, or a shirt. This last-mentioned treasure, which usually becomes the property of the ordinary man from a female relative or admirer taking in white men's washing, is always worn flowing free, and has such a charm in itself that the happy possessor cares little what he continues his costume with - trousers, loin cloth, red flannel petticoat, or rice-bag drawers, being, as he would put it, "all same for one" to him.

The ladies are divided into three classes; the young girl you address as "tee-tee"; the young person as "seester"; the more mature charmer as "mammy"; but I do not advise you to employ these terms when you are on your first visit, because you might get misunderstood. For, you see, by addressing a mammy as seester, she might think either that you were unconscious of her dignity as a married lady - a matter she would soon put you right on - or that you were flirting, which of course was totally foreign to your intention, and would make you uncomfortable.

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