WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
By way of contrast we must glance for a moment at the monogamous Touaregs of the Sahara desert. These nomads are nominally Moslems; but their women enjoy a remarkably high status. They have liberty of action, own their property, give their names to their children, and marry at their own discretion. The women are better educated than the men. These people have an idea of romantic love. "They strongly remind us," writes Letourneau, "of the times of our southern troubadours, and of the cours d'amour which were the quintessence of chivalry."
III.—MOHAMMEDAN NEGROES
The creed of Islam spread from the northern to the western regions of Africa amongst peoples who already practised polygamy. No doubt the sanction for plural marriage appealed to negro converts, and to this day Christian missionaries have had to contend with the Moslem faith. The chiefs of various primitive tribes embraced Mohammedanism with enthusiasm, and the Moslem missionaries won great influence over them.
Almami, king of the Bondou territory, offered hospitality to the explorer Mungo Park[1]; and allowed him to converse with the women of his seraglio. "They were ten or twelve in number, most of them young and
- ↑ Op. cit.
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