WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
Women are exceedingly useful in the tribe, not only as mothers, but as workers in the fields and in the homes.
"Polygamy does not here present itself in a particularly revolting aspect," says Miss Werner. "Three to four wives are sometimes attached to one man, but as a rule the number is two." The chiefs own more. It is interesting to know that harem seclusion is not the custom among these people. Each woman "has her own hut and her separate house-keeping." There is very little of the jealousy and quarrelling that prevail in harems.
"Though scantily clad, the Mang'anja are modest and refined. They have 'a sense of what is fitting to say and do, which would surprise those of us who cannot dissociate the idea of modesty from that of a multiplicity of clothes.'"
Miss Werner never saw a quarrel, nor a child ill-used among these people. They certainly treat their children with greater affection and kindness than the slum-dwellers of Christian England.
The Yaos, or Wa-Yaos, living in the mountainous district between Lake Nyasa and the Indian Ocean, were another tribe visited by Miss Alice Werner. They are described as a hardy, tall, and powerful race. The women wear the lip-ring, and they thread beads on their hair till it resembles a coral wig.
The Yaos are martial and independent. They are
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