3-070-842 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Native loom at Manganya, East Central Africa, 1881. 'Our Illustration of the employment of female weavers at Manganya is from a sketch by Mr. H. B. Thelwall, who accompanied one of the earlier missions from the Lower Zambesi...towards Lake Nyassa...The native tribes of this region are considerably more advanced in some of the useful arts than those residing farther to the south and to the west of them; but the industrial occupations, both of agriculture and of manufacture, except that of working in metal, are generally confined to the women. In Dr. Emil Holub's recently-published narrative of "Seven Years in South Africa," he...says, "The eastern vassal tribes, who grow cotton, make pieces of calico of all sizes, from handkerchiefs to sheets. The smaller pieces are used for men's aprons, and the larger...are used for domestic purposes...The Mashonas weave similar articles of clothing, but employ bast for the material, instead of cotton...The handkerchiefs and sheets that I have mentioned must rank among the best specimens of the industrial skill of the country; without being in any degree coarse, the texture is substantial, and dark stripes are often woven with very good effect upon a lighter ground".' From "Illustrated London News", 1881.