Ugali (1909); Siafu (1924); Zanzibar Doors (1949)

Bapopik at AOL.COM Bapopik at AOL.COM
Fri Jan 17 12:27:41 UTC 2003


   A quick note before work and giving more people T-shirts...Why don't
people give me anything?...Why doesn't someone pick on someone else's work?
ADS president Dennis Preston's work is completely wrong, I have no
documentary evidence at all, but it's obvious to anyone if you just stick
your nose in the closet?

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UGALI

NATIVE LIFE IN EAST AFRICA
by Karl Weule
London: Sir Isaac Priman & Sons, Ltd.
1909

Pg. 84:  _Ugali_, always _ugali_--stiff porridge of millet, maize or manioc,
boiled till it has almost a vitreous consistency, and then shaped with the
spoon used for stirring into a kind of pudding--forms the staple of their
meals day after day.
(OED has the awful 1970 for "ugali"--ed.)

Pg. 212:  The grains of _Usanye_ (a red kind of millet) cried in the basket.

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SIAFU

BENEATH AFRICAN GLACIERS
by Anne Dundas
London: H. F. & G. Witherby
1924

Pg. 5:  The name "Mombasa" is derived from Mombas, the first Portuguese
governor.
(Ah!  I was told yet another folk etymology!--ed.)

Pg. 45:  There is time for the first "sundowner," or evening drink...

Pg. 60:  ..._kanzu_...

Pg. 219:  Of these, the small black species called _siafu_ are perhaps the
most venomous...

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ZANZIBAR DOORS

A GUIDE TO ZANZIBAR
(By Geoffrey Henry Shelswell-White, not on title page--ed.)
Zanzibar: Printed by the Government Printer
1949

Pg. 11:  The milk of the nuts at a certain stage of their growth (madafu)
provides a favourite drink.

Pg. 22:  The local Arab is generally bearded and his ordinary dress consists
of a plain white cotton garment (_kanzu_), reaching from the neck to the
ankles, a white cotton cap, and sandals.

Pg. 23:  The designs of these _kangas_ are worth noticing: they are drawn in
Zanzibar, often with a short sentence in Kiswahili included.

Pg. 83:  African Dances
(_ngoma_)..._Kirua_..._Lelemama_..._Maulidi_..._Dhikri_...

Pg. 101:  ZANZIBAR DOORS by J. J. ADIE. (Reproduced with the kind permission
of the _East African Standard_).

Pg. 104:  ZANZIBAR "ARAB" CHESTS by J. J. ADIE.  (Reproduced with the kind
permission of the _East African Standard_).
(...)  These chests (_kasha la njumu_ in Kiswahili) are known by Europeans in
the neighbouring territories on the mainland as "Lamu" chests, and in
Zanzibar as "Arab" chests; they are, however, made in Persia and India (Surat
and Bombay), and are only identified with the Arabs on account of the fact
that they have been an item of importation into Arabia for a very long period
and have made their way into Zanzibar by the dhows which come from Arabia and
the adjacent countries on the north-east monsoon.



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