The Moors have extraordinary ideas concerning female beauty. They fancy an oily skin, teeth projecting beyond the lips, pointed nails an inch long, and a figure so corpulent, that two persons putting their arms around the waist could scarcely make their fingers touch. A woman of moderate pretensions to beauty needs a slave under each arm to support her as she walks; and a perfect belle carries weight enough to load a camel. Mothers are so anxious to have their daughters attain this unwieldy size, that they make them eat a great quantity of _kouskous_,[7] and drink several bowls of camel’s milk every day. Mungo Park says he has seen a poor girl sit crying for more than an hour with the bowl at her lips, while her mother stood over her with a stick, and beat her whenever she perceived she was not swallowing. Still there are some girls of fourteen or fifteen, who have what Europeans would consider a very graceful shape, with a fine glow of health flushing their brown cheeks. Their teeth are regular, and always very white, owing to the constant practice of rubbing them with a little stick of tamarind wood. The Moors marry at a very early age. Wives are always purchased; and the father of the girl cannot refuse an offer, unless there is some stain upon the young man’s character. The bridal tent is adorned with a small white flag, and the bridegroom’s brow is encircled with a fillet of the same color. The bride is conducted to the tent by her parents, where her lover presents her with garments and jewels, according to his wealth. A grand entertainment is given, and the young women dance all day to the sound of instruments, while the spectators regulate their motions by clapping hands. These dances are not very decorous.