[88] Rev. Canon Henry Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus_ (Natal and London, 1868), p. 182, note 20. From one of the Zulu texts which the author edits and translates (p. 189) we may infer that during the period of her seclusion a Zulu girl may not light a fire. Compare above, p. 28. [89] E. Casalis, _The Basutos_ (London, 1861), p. 268. [90] J. Merolla, "Voyage to Congo," in J. Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), xvi. 238; Father Campana, "Congo; Mission Catholique de Landana," _Les Missions Catholiques_, xxvii. (1895) p. 161; R.E. Dennett, _At the Back of the Black Man's Mind_ (London, 1906), pp. 69 _sq._. According to Merolla, it is thought that if girls did not go through these ceremonies, they would "never be fit for procreation." The other consequences supposed to flow from the omission of the rites are mentioned by Father Campana. From Mr. Dennett's account (_op. cit._ pp. 53, 67-71) we gather that drought and famine are thought to result from the intercourse of a man with a girl who has not yet passed through the "paint-house," as the hut is called where the young women live in seclusion. According to O. Dapper, the women of Loango paint themselves red on every recurrence of their monthly sickness; also they tie a cord tightly round their heads and take care neither to touch their husband's food nor to appear before him (_Description de l'Afrique_, Amsterdam, 1686, p. 326). [91] The Rev. G. Brown, quoted by the Rev. B. Danks, "Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 284. _sq.; id., Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 105-107. Compare _id._, "Notes on the Duke of York Group, New Britain, and New Ireland," _Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, xlvii. (1877) pp. 142 _sq._; A. Hahl, "Das mittlere Neumecklenburg," _Globus_, xci. (1907) p. 313. Wilfred Powell's description of the New Ireland custom is similar (_Wanderings in a Wild Country_, London, 1883, p. 249). According to him, the girls wear wreaths of scented herbs round the waist and neck; an old woman or a little child occupies the lower floor of the cage; and the confinement lasts only a month. Probably the long period mentioned by Dr. Brown is that prescribed for chiefs' daughters. Poor people could not afford to keep their children so long idle. This distinction is sometimes expressly stated. See above, p. 30. Among the Goajiras of Colombia rich people keep their daughters shut up in separate huts at puberty for periods varying from one to four years, but poor people cannot afford to do so for more than a fortnight or a month. See F.A. Simons, "An Exploration of the Goajira Peninsula," _Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society_, N.S., vii. (1885) p. 791. In Fiji, brides who were being tattooed were kept from the sun (Thomas Williams, _Fiji and the Fijians_, Second Edition, London, 1860, i. 170).