up his back-things you yearn to do to that perfect flower of
Sierra Leone culture, who yells your bald name across the
street at you, condescendingly informs you that you can go
and get letters that are waiting for you, while he smokes
his cigar and lolls in the shade, or in some similar way
displays his second-hand rubbishy white culture—-a culture
far lower and less dignified than that of either the stately
Mandingo or the bush chief. I do not think that the Sierra
Leone dandy really means half as much insolence as he
shows ; but the truth is he feels too insecure of his own real
position, in spite of all the “ side i he puts on, and so he dare
not be courteous like the Mandingo or the bush Fan.
It is the costume of the people in Free Town and its harbour
that will first attract the attention of the new-comer, notwithstanding
the fact that the noise, the smell, and the heat are
simultaneously making desperate bids for that favour. The
ordinary man in the street wears anything he may have been
able to acquire, anyhow, and he does not fasten it on securely.
I fancy it must be capillary attraction, or some other partially
understood force, that takes part in the matter. is
certainly neither braces nor buttons. There are of course,
some articles which from their very structure are fairly secure,
such as an umbrella with the stick and ribs removed, or a
• shirt. This last-mentioned treasure, which usually becomes
the property of the ordinary man from a female relative or
admirer taking in white men’s washing, is always worn flowing
free, and has such a charm in itself that the happy possessor
cares little what he continues his costume with
trousers, loin cloth, red flannel petticoat, or nce-bag drawers,
being, as he would put it, “ all same for one to him.
I remember one day, when in the outskirts of the town seeing
some country people coming in to market. It was during
the wet season, and when they hove in sight, they were, so to
speak, under bare poles, having nothing on worth mentioning
But each carried a bundle done up in American cloth, with a
closed umbrella tucked into it. They Pu led up as soon as
thev thought it dangerous to proceed further, for fear of
meeting some of their town friends, and solemnly dressed,
holding umbrellas over each other the while. Then, dignified
and decorated, and each sporting his gingham, they marched
into the town. Here and there in the street you come across
a black man done up in a tweed suit, or in a black coat and tall
h a t ; and here and there a soldier of the West India regiment,
smart and tidy-looking in his Zouave costume. These soldiers
are said to be the cause of the many barbers’ shops
sprinkled about the town, as they are not allowed razors of
their own, owing to their tendency to employ them too
frequently in argument.
The ladies are divided into three classes ; the young girl
you address as | tee-tee ; ” the young person as “ seester ; ”
the more mature charmer as “ mammy ; ” but I do not advise
you to employ these terms when you are on your first visit,
because you might get misunderstood. For, you see, by
addressing a mammy as seester, she might think either that
you were unconscious of her dignity as a married lady— a
matter she would soon put you right on— or. that you were
flirting, which of course was totally foreign to your intention,
and would make you uncomfortable. My advice is that you
rigidly stick to missus or mammy. I have seen this done
most successfully.
The ladies are almost as varied in their costume as the
gentlemen, but always neater and cleaner; and mighty
picturesque they are too, and occasionally very pretty. A
market-woman with her jolly brown face and laughing brown
eyes— eyes all the softer for a touch of antimony— her ample
form clothed in a lively print overall, made with a yoke at
the shoulders, and a full long flounce which is gathered on
to the yoke under the arms and falls fully to the fe e t ; with
her head done up in a yellow or red handkerchief, and her
snowy white teeth gleaming through her vast smiles, is a
mighty pleasant thing to see, and to talk to. But, Allah ! the
circumference of them!
The stone-built, whitewashed market buildings of Free
Town have a creditably clean and tidy appearance considering
the climate, and the quantity and variety of things
exposed for sale— things one wants the pen of a Rabelais to
catalogue. Here are all manner of fruits, some which are
familiar to you in England; others that soon become so to you