|
Volume 2 62 |
 |
A–Z |  |
 |
 |
|
BURLESQUE DISGUISE OF BASUTO GIRL-BRIDES |
PORCUPINE QUILLS AS AN AID TO BEAUTY |
|
| Initiation ceremonies are generally held before any young people can be admitted as members to adult tribal society; likewise before marriage the girls of Basutoland carefully observe a period of initiation. After receiving a new name each neophyte is whitewashed, blanketed, and masked, and in this guise undergoes many rites. The brides are well cared for during the weeks of preparation, food being usually supplied by their future husbands | The women of French Equatorial Africa usually adopt scanty draperies of a decorative pattern, but the tribal ornaments are numerous and original in the extreme, porcupine quills inserted in the nose being the very acme of fashion |