CURIOUS AFRICAN CUSTOMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6362, 8 April 1882, Page 7

CURIOUS AFRICAN CUSTOMS

So.MK of the African customs mentioned by the Rev. (iovr .lukufifar in a recent lecture in this city were very curious. That the natives of the Ijark Continent rejoice more at the birth of a boy than of a girl is well known, nor are they singular in that respect; but the public exhibition by the father of his offspring on the eighth day at the door of his hut to the sun, and his invocation to that mighty luminary for blessings on the head of the newcomer, is a circumstance which is certainly not so widely understood. Tho •traugest customs of all, however, are connected with the ceremony of marriage. Whereas civilised bridegrooms generally expect a dowry with their brides, uncivilised ones, on the other hand, generally have to give one, and if, as in not unfrequently the case, the girl lias been engaged from her cradle, and has received presents from her would-be bridegroom, the one who succeeds in winning her has to commence his courtship by buying the other man off by paying for all the presents his sweetheart may have received ! The statement that the minute the bride stepped into her new home the bridegroom had to step out, caused no small amount of merriment, which was not diminished by the lecturer adding that till the bridegroom brought back a suitable present, such as the skin of some animal killed in the chase, he was not allowed to cross his own threshold.