Burlington Free Press

Women Fattened at Tunis for Marriage.—A girl, after she is betrothed, is cooped up in a small room; shackles of gold and silver are placed upon her ankles and wrists, as a piece of dress. If she is to be married to a man who has discharged, dispatched, or lost a former wife, the shackles which the former wife wore are put on the new bride's limbs, and she is fed till they are filled up to a proper thickness. The food used for this custom, worthy of the barbarians, is called drough, which is of an extraordinary fattening quality, also famous for rendering the milk rich and abundant. With this seed, and their national dish, cuscasco, the bride is literally crammed, and many actually die under the spoon.