The heart of Africa, Vol. 1 (of 2)Schweinfurth, Georg August
Science
The heart of Africa, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Schweinfurth, Georg August
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Schweinfurth, Georg August, 1836-1925 -- Travel -- Africa, Central
Equal care is bestowed upon the production of the iron and copper
ornaments which are worn and the cutlery which is used by the women.
For the purpose of plucking out their eyebrows and eyelashes, they
employ a pair of little pincers called “peenoh,” of which an
illustration is here introduced. Quite peculiar to the Bongo women are
their “tibbah,” or elongated oval knives, with handles at either end,
which are sharpened on both edges, and which are often very elaborate
in their workmanship. These knives are in constant use for all
domestic purposes, being of especial service in peeling their tubers
and in slicing their gourds and cucumbers. The rings, the bells, the
clasps, the buttons, whatever they affix to their projecting lips or
attach to the rims of their ears, the lancet-shaped hair-pins, which
appear indispensable to the decoration of the crown of their head and
to the parting of their locks, all are fabricated to supply the
demands of the Bongo women’s toilet.
The decoration of which the men are proudest is the “dangabor,” which
simply means “rings one above another.” The Dinka and the Dyoor both
have an ornament very similar to this, composed of accumulated rings,
which cover the arm below the elbow; but the Bongo finish off their
article with much more elaborate work. Each separate ring is furnished
with a boss of a height and strength to correspond with the ring next
to it, the rings themselves being forged so as to become gradually
larger in proportion as they are farther from the wrist. The arm is
thus covered with what may be described as a sleeve of mail, each ring
of which can be turned round or displaced at pleasure.
[Illustration: The Dangabor and a single ring.]
[Sidenote: WOODEN UTENSILS OF THE BONGO.]
Hardly inferior to the skill of the Bongo in the working of iron is
their dexterity in wood-carving. Perhaps the most striking specimens
of their art in this way may be noticed in the little low four-legged
seats or stools which are found in every household, and are called
“hegba.” These are invariably made from a single block, the wood
chosen for the purpose being that of the Göll-tree (_Prosopis
lanceolata_, Benth.), which is of a chestnut brown, and after use
acquires an excellent polish; they are used only by the women, who are
continually to be seen sitting on them in front of their huts, but
they are altogether avoided by the men, who regard every raised seat
as an effeminate luxury.
[Illustration: Bongo stool.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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