(Stratz, _Die Frauenkleidung_, p. 84.)
The Samoans, Friedlaender states (_Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie_,
1899, p. 52), are very fond of fragrant and aromatic odors. He
gives a list of some twenty odorous plants which they use, more
especially as garlands for the head and neck, including
ylang-ylang and gardenia; he remarks that of one of these plants
(cordyline) he could not himself detect the odor.
The Nicobarese, Man remarks (_Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, 1889, p. 377), like the natives of New Zealand,
particularly dislike the smell of carbolic acid. Both young men
and women are very partial to scents; the former say they find
their use a certain passport to the favor of their wives, and
they bring home from the jungle the scented leaves of a certain
creeper to their sweethearts and wives.
Swahili women devote much attention to perfuming themselves. When
a woman wishes to make herself desirable she anoints herself all
over with fragrant ointments, sprinkles herself with rose-water,
puts perfume into her clothes, strews jasmine flowers on her bed
as well as binding them round her neck and waist, and smokes
_udi_, the perfumed wood of the aloe; "every man is glad when his
wife smells of _udi_" (Velten, _Sitten und Gebraueche der
Suaheli_, pp.
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