Despite the
Okosunguu or cow-hide "peacemaker," they have conquered a
considerable latitude of conducting their own affairs. When poor
and slaveless and, naturally, when no longer young, they must
work in the house and in the field, but this lot is not singular;
in journeys they carry the load, yet it is rarely heavier than
the weapons borne by the man. On the other hand, after feeding
their husbands, what remains out of the fruits of their labours
is their own, wholly out of his reach--a boon not always granted
by civilization. As in Unyamwezi, they guard their rights with a
truly feminine touchiness and jealousy. There is always, in the
African mind, a preference for descent and inheritance through
the mother, "the surer side,"--an unmistakable sign, by the by,
of barbarism. The so-called royal races in the eight great
despotisms of Pagan Africa--Ashanti, Dahome, and Benin; Karagwah,
Uganda, and Unyoro; the Mwata ya Nvo, and the Mwata Cazembe--
allow the greatest liberty even to the king's sisters; they are
expected only to choose handsome lovers, that the race may
maintain its physical superiority; and hence, doubtless, the
stalwart forms and the good looks remarked by every traveller.
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