WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
handsome, and wearing on their heads ornaments of gold and beads of amber." Park flattered the swarthy beauties, who informed him that "honey mouth" was not appreciated in their country. They were very anxious that the traveller should bleed them for their petty ailments, as they believed him to be an eminent doctor.
Mungo Park states that the Mohammedan negroes treat their wives considerately, and are better husbands than the Moors. They are almost free from jealousy. The women are permitted to take a share in public diversions. They are not given to intrigue, though their social intercourse with the other sex is frank and cheerful. This writer found very little marital infidelity in the interior of Africa.
Quarrelsome wives were sometimes corrected by their husbands by light chastisement. But the wife in a harem could seek redress if her husband ill-treated her, or neglected her for another wife.
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