and calabashes playing the role of coffers, cupboards, and recepta-
cles for all sorts of purposes. Three lumps of hardened clay or three
stones disposed in a triangle mark the place of the hearth and serve
as a support for the kettle. Vases of clay and of wood often orna-
mented and of a graceful aspect, a large wooden mortar with its
pestle, or a mill composed of two stones, some spatulas for stirring
the porridge, some wooden spoons, baskets in numerous forms, con-
stitute the utensils of the household. An iron hoe with a very short
wooden handle, takes the place of a plough, a shovel, and a spade.
An adze and a crude axe are the tools of the carpenter; an iron bar
serving as a hammer, a stone plate in place of an anvil, some
pinchers and an ingenious bellows form the material of the smith. Flint-
locks, most generally of stone, elsewhere bows and poisoned or non-
poisoned arrows, lances, javelins or throwing knives of complicated
and elegant forms, short sabres and straight-swords, large and small
clubs are the arms of the hunters and warriors, certain of whom also
utilise shields of leather or of basket work; the fishermen use various
kinds of nets (seines, cast-nets, hoop-nets, etc.), weirs, and often
harpoons, and do not disdain even the line, held in the hand without
the intermediary of a pole and not carrying a float.
CCllootthhiinngg aanndd DDeeccoorraattiioonn
It is the clothing which, perhaps, presents the greatest variety from one
people to another. Sometimes one sees, especially among the
Muslims, Negroes clad in “bubus” and overcoats of cotton, of silk or
of velvet, ornamented with very prettily worked embroideries;
sometimes the costume is reduced to a short blouse without sleeves
and to a sort of swinging trunks; sometimes the blouse and the trunks
are missing, being replaced by a large loin-cloth of cotton or
sometimes of bark, which is carried like a Roman toga, or by a simple
strip of cloth passed between the buttocks; sometimes one perceives
no other trace of clothing than a simple case into which the extremity
of the sexual organ disappears, as among the Bassari of upper
Gambia, the Lobi and the Birifor of the middle Black Volta, certain
Bechuana of the Transvaal, or even a simple string, serving to hold
this organ, as among many of the Bobo and the Dagari, or again an
apron of leather which covers only the hind part of the body, as
among the Sara of Chari. The same is true of the women: by the side
of Wolofs disappearing under five or six multi-coloured loincloths and
as many ample, long-sleeved tunics, one may meet Senufo ladies
having no other clothing than a package of leaves or straw, not to
mention the most frequent case, which is that of a loin-cloth fastened
around the waist and leaving the torso naked. However sumptuous
or wretched their costumes may be, Negro women always have a
great love of ornamentation. Here also, what a diversity of manifesta-
tions! Gold and silver jewellery, generally of very great weight, but
of a handiwork which is often very fine and sometimes of very artistic
pattern, is spread in profusion on the body, the head, the hands, and
the feet of certain elegants of Senegal, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, and
Sudan; beads of all kinds, rings and ornaments of ivory or copper
are seen almost everywhere; often, also, style demands that there be
imbedded in the lips, little plugs of quartz, wisps of straw, or disks of
ivory or metal, some of which are so large that the lip that carries
them is transformed into a racket-like shape.There is another sort of ornamentation, extremely common among the
two sexes, which consists in decorating the skin of the cheeks, the
forehead, the neck, or the chest, or all parts of the body at once, with
scarifications in lines or in points, taking all sorts of forms, simple or
complicated. Among some tribes, it seems that certain, at least, of
these mutilations, are ethnic marks; among many others, they have no
other aim than to augment the beauty of the subject who bears them.SSkkiilllleedd OOccccuuppaattiioonnss
With the exception of the artisans, the Negroes generally carry on
their occupations outside of their villages and, save during the dry
season, pass almost all their days in the fields or hunting wild game.Others are given almost exclusively to cattle-herding and cattle-
raising; they are, in general, populations which, by their distant
origins, are related, at least in part, to the white race: the Fulani of
West Africa, the Masai in East Africa, the Vahimba or Bahima in
central Africa, not to mention the Hottentots of southern Africa,Door (Swahili), c. 1900.
Tanzania.
Wood, height: 200 cm.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz,
Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin.
Variously described as Swahili, Arab, or Zanzibari, the carved doors of the east
African coast represent varients within a widespread and ancient tradition in the
western Indian Ocean, which declined after the Portuguese invasion but was
renewed in the 19thcentury. Consisting of various interlocking members, the
carved door is most often the only strinking feature of an otherwise plain, white-
washed building. All doors are double and open inward from the centre, the size
and quality indicated the social status of the owner. Carved in a variety of motifs,
the fish and wavy lines point out the important source of livelihood for the Swahili,
the chain is thought to represent security, the lotus and rosette suggest Indian
influence, and the incense and date palm trees, indigenous of Somalia and Arabia,
are thought to show wealth. The leaves on the door were decorated with rows of
iron studs and fitted with a clasp and cain to lock the door from the outside. Most
often, these decorations centred around a Koranic insciption in the middle of the
door, which likely contained the name and dates of the artist and owner.
Carved doors are only one manifestation of Indian Oceanic regional culture.
The eastern African coast and the northern rim of the Indian Ocean have always
shared an interpenetration of culture, such as the already carved doors imported
to Oman from east Africa that likely influenced local culture.