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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