Note 81 — Chapter XXXIX · EXPEDITION TO KÁNEM.

The marriage (nigá) ceremonies in this country fill a whole week. The first day is dedicated to the feasting on the favourite “nákia,” the paste mentioned before; the second to the “tíggra,” a dried paste made of millet, with an immense quantity of pepper; the third to the “ngáji,” the common dish made of sorghum, with a little fish sauce, if possible; the fourth day is called “líktere,” I think from the taking away the emblems of the virginal state of the bride, “larússa”; the fifth, the bride is placed on a mat or búshi, from which she rises seven times, and kneels down as often; this is called “búshiro,” or “búchiro genátsin”; the next day, which must be a Friday, her female friends wash her head while singing, and in the evening she is placed upon a horse and brought to the house of the bridegroom, where the final act of the nigrá is accomplished. The Kanúri are very peculiar in the distinction of a marriage with a virgin, “féro,” or “féro kuyánga,” or a widow, or “kámo záwar.”