You look like you've been tarred and feathered.
Posts that are to be fixed in the ground should have their buried ends either charred or else well tarred.
Sometimes the wires are covered with the compound alone, and the whole cable after being sheathed is finally covered with tarred tape.
For tying plants to trellises and stakes soft tarred string or raffia (the fibre from the Raphia palm of Madagascar) is used.
The native practice of conveying wine in tarred skins was deleterious to its flavour, and is now for the most part abolished.
