Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/391

MARKET-DAY. 363 effected by means of a blue substance inserted into incisions prevîousiy made in the skin. Every child is tattooed in precisely the same pattem as his fathcr before him, and thus it may always be ascertained to what family he belongs. Instead of carrying his armoriai bearings upon his plate or upon the panels of his carriage, the African magnate wears them emblazoned on his own bosom ! The garments that were usually wom were sîmply aprons of antelope-skins descending to the knees, but occasionally a short pctticoat might be sccn made of woven grass and dyed with bright colours. The ladies not unfrequently wore girdles of beads attachcd to green skirts embroidered with silk and ornamentcd with bits of glass or cowries, or sometîmes the skirts were made of the grass cloth called lambda^ which, in blue, yellow, or black, is so much valued by the people of Zanzibar. Garments of thèse pretensions, however, always îndîcated that the wearers belonged to the upper classes ; the lower orders, such as the smallcr dealers, as wcll as the slaves, had hardly any clothes at ail. The womcn commonly acted as porters, and arrived at the market with huge baskets on their backs, which they secured by means of straps passed across the forehead. Having deposited their loads upon the chitoka, they turned eut their goods, and thcn scated thcmsclvcs inside the empty baskets. As the resuit of the extrême fcrtility of the country ail the articles offcred for sale were of a first-ratc quality. There were large stores of rice, which had bccn grown at a profit a hundred times as grcat as the cost, and maizc which, producing thrce crops in cight months, yicldcd a profit as large again as the rice. There wcrc also scsame, Unia pepper strongcr than Cayenne, manioc, nutmegs, salty and palm-oil. In the market, too, were hundreds of goats, pîgs and shcep, evidently of a Tartar breed, with hair instead of wool ; and there was a good supply of fish and poultry. Besides ail thèse there was an attractive dbplay of bright-coloured pottcry, the designs of which were very symmetrical.