Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Races of Mankind, Vol. 3: Being a Popular Description of the Characteristics, Manners and Customs of the Principal Varieties of the Human Family; With Upwards of One Hundred and Thirty Illustrations
Etiquette. - Among the Weeze the mode of saluting a chief is for his inferiors to blow themselves and clap their hands twice, while the women, in addition, salute by making a curtsey. The petty chief receives the same obeisance, the bowing and curtseying, however, being in their case omitted. When two women meet, and one is of inferior rank to the other, the inferior drops on one knee and bends her head. The superior then lays her hands on the inferior's shoulders, and after remaining in this posture for some time, and whispering some words in an undertone; they then - the demands of a rigid etiquette having been satisfied stand together, and converse freely. When a Watusi, among whom Captain Grant met the dusky beauty (vol. Ii., p. Meets a friend, he holds out the knobbed end of a five-foot stick, which he always carries. This done, no further courtesy is necessary, and they pass on, or talk together, as the case may be. The Weeze look upon the Watusi with profound respect, and when the former meets a member of the latter tribe he presses the palms of his hands together, while the W atusi returns the compliment by gently clasping them within his own, muttering at the same time some words, which were unintelligible to Captain Grant. This method of saluta tion is almost the exact equivalent of the old Norman mode of receiving the submission of a vassal, putting his hands within his and calling him lord. A Weeze woman is not less polite to the Watusi man. If she meet a member of the more honourable tribe, instantly her arms fall prone by her side, while the Watusi on his part presses them for a little time with his hands, just below the shoulders. Among the Wagonda, if a superior has occasion to present anything to an inferior, he pats and rubs it with his hands, finally stroking each check with it, the object of this elaborate ceremony being to stave off witchcraft and the mischief of the evil eye from the donor. Among the tribe just named, the etiquette in regard to the dress of each rank is even stricter than was enacted by the sumptuary laws prevailing in reference to this in England during the middle ages. The least infringement of the laws in regard to dress.
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