BARBAROUS NATIONS.[361]

Africa.—Australasia.—West Indies.—Java.—Sumatra.—Borneo.

The relations of the sexes among uneducated races are modified by every circumstance of their position, but the natural ascendency of the strong over the weak is universally displayed, and wherever woman is allowed a social rank approaching that of man, it will be found that a degree of civilization has been attained. Many branches of the human family have advanced, more or less, beyond the utterly savage state, the love of ornament and the practice of exchange having raised them one step in the scale, while they vary as much in the characteristics of their barbarism as civilized nations do in their refinement. Waiving generalities, a better idea of their respective customs will be obtained by noticing the position of females among the different nations.

AFRICA.

Some of the most wild and savage tribes of the human family are to be found in the immense peninsula of Africa. Observation has proved that a medium state of refinement is accompanied with the least immorality, and that it is among the merest savages and the most highly-polished communities that the greatest profligacy exists. In order to present the subject clearly, we will make a geographical arrangement, and, commencing from the south, pass over the continent, till we reach the valley of the Lower Nile.

The Hottentots are a dissolute, profligate race, and have borne that character from the earliest period. It was remarked by Van Riebeck in 1655, and confirmed by Colonel Napier in 1840, the latter describing them as “proverbially unchaste.” Indecency and lewdness are their characteristics; and even now, though accustomed to clothing, it is not uncommon for them to strip themselves, and dance in a lascivious manner at their festivals. The females prostitute themselves readily to strangers, some from inclination, others for money or a gift of finery; but we have no means of estimating the numbers of this disreputable class. A few of superior order are scattered among these degraded creatures, and intelligent and well-conducted women have attracted the notice of travelers.

The pastoral Kaffirs are more moral, though more ferocious than the Hottentots, being more addicted to arms, and less to debauch. They practice polygamy, buying their wives for so many head of cattle. The girls undergo a probation before marriage, during which they are kept in seclusion. As the tribe wander from place to place, they carry their women with them, and upon them all the domestic labor falls, even the chief’s wives assisting in grinding corn and similar work. Divorce is easy on very slight grounds. We occasionally hear of women committing fornication, but no professed class of prostitutes has been described. Marriage is not held as a sacred tie, but adultery by a wife is severely punished. Natural affections appear extremely weak among the Kaffirs, and mothers have but little attachment to their children, the sickly and feeble being sometimes abandoned to avoid the trouble of rearing them. Mrs. Ward knew of a woman who buried alive a sickly daughter. The little creature was but imperfectly interred; it burst from the grave and ran home. A second time it was subjected to the same torture, and again escaped. A third attempt was made with a similar result, when its mother received it, and it ultimately recovered. Such instances of inhumanity are not rare. Husbands frequently drag their sick wives into a thicket, and leave them to die. It is important to mention that, where these people have embraced Christianity, their manners have totally changed; polygamy has been renounced, and they manifest an inclination to conform to the morals taught them.

Between the tropics the people are notorious for licentiousness. Morality is a strange idea to them, nor is a man restrained by any social law from intercourse with as many females as he pleases. The result is, that women are regarded strictly as marketable commodities, and the commonest feelings of humanity are unknown. On the Gold Coast husbands openly prostitute their wives for money. In other places an adulterer pays a fine to the husband, and many urge their wives to commit the crime for the sake of the penalty. When Laird visited the Niger in 1832, he found the condition of the females upon its borders most humiliating. Polygamy was universal, and wives were reduced to slavery in their own houses. In short, the race may be described as the most idle, ignorant, and profligate in Africa. The king possessed one hundred and forty wives, one of whom was under thirteen years of age, and all had been purchased for a few muskets or a piece of cloth. Half a dozen of the fattest were known as his favorites, and one of them was said to weigh over three hundred and fifty pounds. The mother of this prince lived in his palace, and amused the court with obscene dances. Adultery by any inmate of the harem was punished with death. When a man died, one at least of his wives was expected to attend him; she was bound and thrown into the river. In another place the woman was buried alive; and in the kingdom of Fundal, when a chief died leaving fifteen wives, the king selected the ugliest to be hanged over the grave, and transferred the remaining fourteen to his own quarters.

The native of Western Africa looks upon his wife as a source of pleasure and gain, reckoning her as property to the amount she can earn. With a strange inconsistency, some of these barbarians profess a sentiment of attachment. The King of Atta told Lander that he loved him as he loved his wife. As he was a polygamist, it is to be assumed the traveler thought it a divided affection. Marriage is held as one of the common occurrences of life. When a man is old enough, he takes a wife, and goes on adding to his property until he probably owns a hundred, if he has means enough to buy them. Even under this system many women can not obtain stated husbands, as some men will not take permanent wives; but it is safe to assert that no single man lives without female intercourse, and no single woman remains chaste. A wife suspected of adultery is forced to drink a poisonous decoction, but she sometimes bribes the priest to render it harmless. Widows who have lived on bad terms with their husbands have to undergo the same ordeal. An illicit connection with the king’s wife results in death to both parties, but for the wife of a chief the gift of a slave is an expiation. The price of a handsome wife is from eighteen to thirty-six dollars; a plain-looking one is worth about seven dollars. As a man’s inclination varies, he often sells one wife, and buys another with the proceeds of the transaction.

In the kingdom of Dahomey, once the centre of the slave-trade, a most profligate population is found, and the traveler entering its sea-port is immediately struck with the immodesty of the women. Throughout the country the same characteristic is observable; they are profligates from the highest to the lowest. The king is superior in brutality and filthiness (traits which seem hereditary to the throne of Dahomey) to any of his subjects. He has thousands of wives, his chiefs have hundreds, his subjects tens. The royal favorites are too sacred for the gaze of common people, who must turn aside or hide their faces if any of them are passing. Strangers are excluded from the harem, but the privileged nobility attend the king’s feasts, at which his wives take a leading part in drinking rum and conducting the debauch. When the king desires to confer honor on any favorite, he chooses a wife for him, and presents her publicly. She hands her husband a cup of rum, which is a sign of union.

The King of Dahomey supports an army of several thousand amazons, who dress in male attire, do not marry, and are supposed not to have intercourse with men. These troops were long considered invincible, but a few years ago they encountered a defeat on one of their marauding expeditions, and a thousand or more were killed on the field.

As the king and his wealthy subjects have so many wives, poor people are obliged to content themselves with the company of prostitutes, who are a licensed and taxed class in Dahomey. There appears to be a band of these in every village, but their profits are often insufficient for support, and they resort to industrial occupation, hiring themselves to carry heavy burdens, etc. One traveler saw two hundred and fifty collected in a troop, and another was assailed by a crowd of women who offered to “be his wives” for a drop of rum. Many of the poorest class stroll about naked, and a gratuity, however small, will purchase their favors.

The dirty, lazy, dull people of the Fantee Coast have the same moral aspect as the subjects of Dahomey. Parents sell their children, husbands sell their wives, women sell themselves, for a trifling sum. One woman was so anxious to make a bargain of this kind that she took possession of a traveler’s bed, and force was necessary to expel her. Marriage is a mere purchase, a wife costing about sixteen dollars. Women are unsalable when more than fifteen or sixteen years old. Any man committing adultery is forced to buy his paramour at her cost price.

Along the coast of Benin similar customs prevail. Public dancers act as prostitutes, and offer themselves at a small price. Every woman considers it an honor to be the king’s companion, even for one night.In Ashantee, where also polygamy prevails, adultery is common, especially among the king’s wives, who are hewn to pieces if discovered. The people are profligate beyond any thing which can be conceived. A practice of unusual depravity prevails among the Kroomen, a son who inherits his father’s property taking his wives also, and thus his own mother becomes his slave.

The Edeeyahs of Fernando Po offer a strong contrast to the above, treating their women with consideration, and assigning them far less than the usual amount of work. Polygamy is allowed. The first wife taken by a man must be betrothed to him at least two years before marriage, and during that time he is in a state of servitude like that of Jacob for Rachel, the girl being kept in seclusion. When she appears as a married woman, all the virgins of the tribe salute and dance round her. This custom is only observed with the first wife, the others being concubines who are governed by her. Adultery is severely punished: for the first offense both parties lose one hand; for the second, the man and his relatives are heavily fined and chastised, the woman loses the other hand, and is driven from the settlement into the woods—an exile more terrible than mutilation.

It would be but a needless repetition to pass in review all the various groups of African states. We have seen that in the west profligacy is a universal feature, and it is scarcely less so in the east. In Zulu, for example, the king has a seraglio of fifteen hundred women. The manners of the communities in the Sahara are imperfectly known, but appear to be above those in other parts of Africa, though many customs prevail which shock our ideas of decency. A chief offered Richardson his two daughters as wives. Immorality is usually a secret crime, and their general customs with regard to sexual intercourse are outwardly decent. Still the condition of the female sex is degraded, for they are regarded as materials of a man’s household, and ministers to his sensuality.

Abyssinia presents various characteristics of manners. In Tajura men live with their wives for a short time, and then sell them. Parents are known to hire their daughters out as prostitutes. One chief offered his daughter as a temporary or permanent companion to a traveler, and a woman presented herself as a candidate for a similar appointment, saying, by way of recommendation, that she had already lived with five men. One strong evidence of the immorality of Tajura is the fact that syphilis affects nearly the whole population, man and woman, sultan and beggar, priests and their wives inclusive.

In Shoa the king has one wife and five hundred concubines, the latter scattered in various parts of his dominions. He makes a present to the parents of any girl he may desire, and is usually well paid in return for the honor. The governors of provinces and cities follow his example. There are two kinds of marriage in Shoa: one a mere arrangement to cohabit, the other a holy ceremony. The former is almost invariably used, the man and woman declaring before witnesses that they mean to live together. Divorces are as easily obtained, only mutual consent being necessary. A wife is valued according to the amount of her property, and the owner of a hut, a field, and a bedstead is sure to get a husband. When they quarrel and part, a division of property takes place. Concubines are procured as well from the Christians as from Mohammedans and pagans, but the latter are forced to declare themselves converted, for Shoa is professedly a Christian kingdom. A favorite concubine holds the same position as a married woman, and no distinction is made between legitimate and illegitimate children. The court overflows with licentiousness, numerous adulteries take place, and the example is followed by the people, among whom a chaste married couple is rare. The sacerdotal class of Shoa is notoriously drunken and profligate; in a word, the morals of the country are of the lowest description. In the Mohammedan states of the neighborhood the condition of the female sex is also degraded, and if there is less general prostitution, it is because every woman is the slave of some man’s lust, and is closely watched by him.

In the provinces of Kordofan, south of the Nubian mountains, the sentiment of love is not altogether unknown, and men fight duels with whips of hippopotamus hide on account of a disputed mistress. The wife is, however, a virtual slave, and is still more degraded if she prove barren, the husband then solacing himself with a concubine, who is raised to the rank of a wife if she bear a child. The general demeanor of the girls of Kordofan is modest, and their lives are chaste, while the married women are addicted to intrigue, especially if neglected by their husbands. In some parts of the country men consider it an honor for their wives to have intercourse with strangers, and often assist the woman to this end. There is a class of pretty dancers who are usually prostitutes, and are celebrated for their successes in the latter vocation. Marriage is arranged without the woman’s consent; the man bargains for her, pays the price, and takes her home. A feast and dance sometimes celebrate the event. When a wife is ill treated she demands a divorce, and returns home, taking her female children with her. Trifles often produce these separations, an insufficient allowance of pomatum to grease her skin being a valid complaint. These remarks apply to the fixed population; the wandering tribes of Kordofan are a moral, modest race, naked, but not indecent.

A chief of the Berbers offered a late traveler his choice of two daughters for a temporary companion, both being already married. Many women there are ready to prostitute themselves for a present. A virgin may be purchased, either as a wife or a concubine, for a horse. A young Berber, who was asked why he did not marry, pointed to a colt and said, “When that is a horse I shall marry.”

The condition of women in Khartum, on the upper borders of the Nile, as described in Ferdinand Werne’s account of his voyage to discover the sources of the White Stream, is so degraded that it may be said with truth the female monkeys of the neighboring woods occupy a far nobler and more natural position. Farther up the river the morals are purer. The Keks are described as leading a blameless life. Marriageable girls and children are kept in seclusion, and during a considerable part of the year the women live in villages apart from the men, who possess only temporary huts, the substantial habitations of their wives being accessible to them during the rainy season. A man dare not approach the “harem village” at any other time, but some of the women occasionally creep into their husbands’ huts. Polygamy is allowed, but is too costly for any but the chiefs.

Among some of the tribes on the banks of the White Nile, women sell their children, if they can do so with profit. The maidens appear naked, but married women wear an apron. All experience shame at appearing unclothed before travelers. Beyond the Mountains of the Moon Werne found a people whom he describes as chaste and decent, where unmarried men and women were kept separate.

Our information is so limited that any inquiry into the morals of Africa must be incomplete, but enough has been stated to give a fair idea of the average morality. Statistics are of course impossible, but from a description in general terms we can not hesitate to form an opinion.

AUSTRALASIA.

In this division of the earth’s surface are generally included the great island of Australia, Papua or New Guinea, and some adjacent islands, comprising New Caledonia and Van Diemen’s Land. Politically and geographically the islands of New Zealand are also in this division, but there is some question as to the propriety of this distribution for ethnographical purposes. Opinions vary as to the state of the New Zealanders. There is much similarity between them and the inhabitants of some of the Polynesian Islands, while there are equally strong points of resemblance between them and the Australian aborigines. The New Zealander, when discovered by Cook, was far superior to the Australian in intelligence and in the arts of life. He inhabited a decent hut, could build a stockade fort, and lived upon cooked food. The Australian lived in a hollow tree, could put together a temporary hut made of bark and brush, and fed upon grubs, roots, and raw flesh. Among such a race as the Australian blacks it is needless to say that the position occupied by women was of the most degrading and brutal character.

The Australian savage does not even pay his future spouse the compliment of wooing her. Might makes right in their case. The woman is often betrothed by her parent or kinsman, and becomes her husband’s property by sale and bargain. If this has not been effected in the usual way, he acquires his marital privileges by an inroad on the grounds of another tribe, and then meeting a woman, he knocks her down with his waddy (a heavy club), and carries her to a place of security, where he makes himself master of her person by force. This, indeed, is so usual a course of procedure, that it has given rise to a belief that the Australian rival bachelors compete for a wife by knocking her on the head, and whoever fells her bears away the belle.

The habits of the native Australians are not so observable now as they were at the commencement of the system of colonization. At first a continual intercourse was kept up between them and the settlers. The reciprocal injuries inflicted upon each other, in which the whites were more to blame than the natives, brought about an exterminating warfare. The black race has gradually wasted away from the settled, or rather partially settled country, while the much-diminished interior tribes have retreated, in South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria, far into the wilderness, beyond ordinary communication with the white man.In Van Diemen’s Land the natives were almost extirpated by the constant warfare carried on between them and the settlers, convict as well as free, and the government was obliged to take the few survivors under its protection, and to establish a place of refuge for them. They were accordingly collected, and deported to an island in Bass Straits, under the charge of a special commissioner. But, notwithstanding the increased comforts of their condition, and their immunity from the murderous hostility of their white foes, they have languished, and, instead of the population increasing, it has gradually decreased, until, at the present time, it is believed that the numbers are under one hundred. In Central Australia, north of the Murray, the tribes are still comparatively numerous, and in some cases warlike and hostile to settlers.

The married women among the aborigines are called “gins,” and the single girls “lubbras.” The women follow their lords on their migrations and excursions, carry the loads, and do all the work. They bear patiently and submissively the blows and ill-usage to which they are subject. Polygamy is practiced by the more powerful men of the tribes, who appropriate to themselves such women as they choose, and cast them off at pleasure. Now and then they sell or present a “gin” to a friend in want of such a commodity. There is considerable disproportion between the sexes, attributable partly to continual ill-usage, partly to the habit prevalent among savage nations of destroying female infants.

At one time in the history of these colonies, the outlying stock-men and shepherds occasionally endeavored to solace their loneliness with a “lubbra” whom they had managed to decoy from her lawful owner, but the half-breeds from such unions are very rare. The natives, notwithstanding the low estimate they have of their women, are exceedingly jealous of them as property, and keep them away as much as possible from the stations.

Chastity is at all times of little account among savages, always excepting the old Celts and Teutons, who held continence in high esteem, and whose women were objects of general respect. From the peculiar habits of the Australian aborigines themselves, it can scarcely be said that prostitution exists as an institution. The woman has no choice in the matter. As between the “gins” and “lubbras” and the white settlers, there is scarcely any chance for prostitution. A woman now and then visits the towns or settlements, but always in company with her male friends. When quite young, the girls are not more disagreeable than others of their complexion. When more advanced in years they are absolutely repulsive, and are rendered hideous by scars and other evidences of brutality. At all times both sexes are loathsome in their persons, and are clad in filthy blankets or sheep-skins, unless when they can pick up tattered remnants of European clothing.

Among the New Zealanders the state of the women was a little better than among the Australians. The amelioration was rather in degree than principle. They were subject to the same control by parents and kinsmen. They were disposed of in marriage as matter of right, and were often betrothed from infancy, in which case they were tapu or taboo to other persons than the young chief or warrior who had purchased the reversion. Cruel punishments of the women for infidelity were general, and even for minor offenses they were subject to very severe chastisement. In one case, even recently, a New Zealand woman was suspended by the heels naked, and in that position unmercifully whipped. Her sense of the outrage was so keen that she committed suicide. Licentiousness among the women was probably more rare formerly than now. Adultery was punished in both parties by death, and the family of the male offender were often involved in the punishment. Now, however, the constant visits of whalers and seafaring men, the gradual settlement of whites in the islands, and, above all, the profits and advantages derivable from illicit intercourse, cause the women to be free of their persons. Parents and even husbands are oftentimes the principal gainers by the transaction, and even negotiate the profit to be made. The marriage ceremony, too, was formerly of so easy a character that, whatever the New Zealand woman might have thought of it, no settler, and especially no seaman, would feel himself bound by the tie, and, although associations based on this weak bond were not wrong in the woman, they paved the way for less excusable relations.

The influence of civilized institutions and the presence of a regular clergy and missionaries is effecting some improvement in native morals, and many lawful marriages have taken place between the whites and the native women, the offspring of which—a fine race of half-breeds—may be met with throughout the Australian colonies. The example of the consideration in which the native women thus married are held, and the rights and social position that they acquire, is not without influence on others, and predisposes them to the same course. Among the tribes removed from the coast and withdrawn from civilized control, the ancient customs are still kept up in their integrity, and the chiefs and natives jealously resist all encroachments on their independence. Among those chiefs, even, who have been converted to a nominal Christianity, Rauperaha for instance, heathen institutions of revenge for injury, polygamy, power of life and death over their wives and followers are maintained, and the humanizing lessons of the Gospel have made but little way toward an amendment of their barbarous lives. In New Zealand it is asserted that the venereal disease is very prevalent among the natives, and from their diet and licentious habits is often fatal.

In colonial white society there are no particular incidents to characterize prostitution. At all times during the continuance of transportation, female immorality has been very prevalent. The general law so often observed as attendant upon irregularity of the sexes has been powerfully operative; besides, there have been local influences at work to deteriorate female manners. The large importations of convict women, who were always the most unruly and vicious of the felon population, and who notoriously gave more trouble and vexation to the authorities than any one else, was prejudicial to public virtue. Just, however, as, on account of these faults, women of indifferent character were lightly esteemed, so did the respectable females gain in public opinion, however poor their worldly condition. There was not much regular prostitution, although incontinence prevailed. There was a continual system of marriage going on among the convicts. When a man chose to marry, he brushed himself up, put on a clean shirt, and went to the nearest superintendent, to whom he intimated his desire for matrimony. Permission was always given. The eligibles at the station were forwarded for his inspection, and the selected one rarely refused, inasmuch as her connubial bonds relieved her, during good behavior, from the more galling bondage of the law. Some of these unions turned out more satisfactorily than might have been expected from the character of the parties, especially of the women.

South Australia and the gold colony of Victoria never were penal settlements. The deficiency of respectable young women was very much felt by the colonists, and the home government made many well-intentioned efforts to supply the want. A large number of young women went out from Great Britain, under the charge of matrons and medical officers, and, in the majority of cases, their arrival was hailed with great satisfaction. It was no unusual thing for a young man, a settler far away up the country, to come down to the government depÔts at Adelaide or Melbourne on the arrival of a female emigrant ship, and then and there to pick out his partner for life. Of course, the greater number were hired out to service by the colonists, and, in the order of events, passed from service to independence. Parental care and precaution were exercised by the authorities over the young women thus sent abroad. They were not allowed to hire into dram-shops or lodging-houses: the parties who hired them required to be known: they had liberty to remain at the depÔt for some months if not suited, and for any length of time in case of sickness on arrival; and afterward, during good conduct, the depÔt was an asylum for an indefinite length of time. Notwithstanding all these safeguards, there was a constant supply of prostitution. The good intentions of the emigration commissioners in London were too frequently neutralized by the depraved character of officers of the vessels in which females were sent, or by the interested conduct of the local authorities in England. A good reputation was essential to the intending emigrant, but frequently masters of work-houses and parish officers shipped off unworthy or troublesome characters, who were better got rid of at any price.

During the gold mania, prostitution in Australia was rampant. The enormous gains and flaunting extravagance were a great temptation to young women who could not readily suit themselves with situations, and who disliked the moderate restraints of the depÔt. The persuasive arts of the procuress and brothel-keeper were not wanting. It was a singular fact that at one time all the public vehicles were owned by brothel-keepers. The profits of these joint callings were perfectly fabulous. It was an every-day sight to see a party of prostitutes in the most gaudy costumes parading the streets in open carriages. Indeed, it was generally understood to be part of their contract that they should have unlimited clothing, of the most garish colors and style, and expensive material, and also Sunday rides in open carriages. The police authorities did what they could to check this shameful display, but they were powerless before the reckless extravagance of the miners and the influx of women. It is believed that this excess has now toned down, and miners having taken to buying land and to marriage, order is once more resuming sway, and prostitution in the gold colonies, though not at an end, is much shorn of its public show and display.

POLYNESIA.

The principal groups of the Polynesian Islands are the Society, Friendly, Samoan, Sandwich, and Marquesas. These last have been rendered famous of late years by Mr. Hermann Melville’s Typee and Omoo.

The South Sea Islands were usually depicted in the most glowing colors by early navigators. The lands were the fairest on earth’s surface; the climate was unsurpassed, combining the genial warmth of the tropics with the fresh breezes of ocean; the soil spontaneously bringing forth in luxuriant abundance the loveliest and most valuable vegetable productions; and, finally, the inhabitants were fitted both in person and disposition to tenant such an Eden.

It is easy to comprehend the frame of mind which led to these descriptions. The seaman, after wandering over the pathless ocean, with only the dark waste of waters in view, might well recognize a paradise in the green hills and shady groves of the islands of the Pacific, and angels in their dusky denizens. But these pictures were eminently fallacious: the virtues of savage life disappear on close acquaintanceship. Implacable ferocity among themselves; sanguinary and exterminating warfare; cannibalism; unbounded licentiousness and its concomitants of unnatural lust and lasciviousness; debasing and horrid idolatry; infanticide; the most grinding tyranny of the strong over the weak, and of the man over the woman, who is not permitted to live in the same dwelling, eat the same food, cook at the same fire, or even use the same dish as her lord and master: these enormities are the ordinary conditions of savage life. Some local modifications may be found, but such were the main incidents in Polynesian life and character.

It is true that in the first instance the natives received the whites with all friendship, and evinced toward their visitors much hospitality and gentleness of demeanor. This is to be attributed to the wonder and reverence with which they regarded foreigners, looking on them as superior beings of another sphere, and awestruck at their wonderful powers, at the astonishing engines they wielded and managed, and at their unknown attributes. But familiarity lessened respect; some ill-advised and unjustifiable tyranny brought out the offensive points of savage character, and theft, treachery, and murder were soon practiced as freely against the whites as against each other whenever fear of consequences did not restrain them. The murder of Captain Cook and the attack on La Perouse were remarkable cases on account of the boldness of the savages, and the public loss in the death of the great navigator, but they were not isolated outrages. Many a small and feebly-manned vessel perished among the islands, and, on repeated occasions, when landings were effected, the mariners ran great risks from the uncertain despotism of the natives.

Whatever may have been their other qualities, either among themselves or in their intercourse with foreigners, licentiousness was the universal characteristic of the South Sea Islanders. It was not merely polygamy or excess among a few of the more powerful members of the community, but the ordinary habit among all classes. Chastity, whenever met with, was not a customary part of woman’s life, but only an incident dependent on particular circumstances; in fact, an abnormal condition. It was associated with either marriage or betrothal. A peculiar institution of all these islanders was the tapu or taboo, a semi-religious ceremony performable either by priest or chief, whereby places, persons, or property could be rendered unapproachable by other than the lawful owner. The breach of this law has always been the greatest violation of propriety and public feeling of which a native or foreigner could be guilty. When young girls were betrothed at an early age, either to boys of corresponding years or to older persons, such females were tabooed. This insured chastity until they had reached a marriageable age. As this betrothal system was almost exclusively confined to chiefs, it follows that the obligation to chastity was very limited. The farther inference would be, that chastity was associated rather with property in the female than propriety in the woman.

Another institution of the South Sea Islanders was that of the Areoi. These were a body of men and women banded together for certain purposes, which had originally been of a religious character. They had probably been once Obi men, medicine-men, or wizards, as among the negroes and Indians. The custom, so often observable among heathen nations, of incorporating amusements and festivities into religious rites, had been taken up by these Areoi, and in process of time they degenerated into mere mimes or buffoons, and yet preserved to themselves by prescriptive right all the immunities and privileges otherwise accorded to priests. They traveled about from place to place, and sometimes from island to island. Their observances yet retained a trace of their religious origin, inasmuch as they commenced with a sacrifice to the gods, after which they entertained the people with theatrical performances, in which obscene songs and lascivious dances formed the chief features. They gave dialogues and recitations, in which they freely satirized all classes, not excepting the priests. They were every where gladly received, and had a right to free quarters wherever they stopped. It is said the members were usually the handsomest of both sexes, the women being the most profligate among the inhabitants. Tradition maintained that these persons had been originally incorporated by the gods, and that one of their rules was perpetual celibacy, and that they should have no descendants. This, though it might perhaps in the outset have been a prohibition intended for pure purposes, has ended in the perversion of such an intention. In their present condition, whether degenerate or not, the inhibition is not taken to exclude them from sexual intercourse and enjoyment, but from its natural consequences. Their lives were accordingly most abandoned, and abortion and infanticide were invariably practiced. Nor were their enormities confined to their own body: after their representations the wildest excesses were perpetrated in all quarters. Resistance or retaliation was impossible by the sufferer, on account of the fear these wretches excited by the mysterious powers with which they were accredited, and which were, in reality, the secret affiliations of all the bands.[362]

When performing, the Areoi painted their bodies black and their faces scarlet; they wore dresses of bright-colored plants and flowers. They were divided into several classes, named after some particular ornament; and, taking into account the subordinate members of the troops and the attendants who performed the menial offices, they must have been exceedingly numerous. Places were specially built for their reception, and for the greater convenience of their representations.[363]

Candidates for admission into their number were received by secret ceremonies akin to the mysteries of paganism. Solemnities intended to awe the vulgar were performed, and the idea of special reservation of the blessings of a future elysium to these deceivers was promulgated and believed.The existence of such organized societies could not but be in the highest degree subversive to all order and decency. Accordingly, when the missionaries first arrived, they found the general depravity of morals the greatest difficulty they had to encounter. Obscenity, libidinousness, and incontinence were so ingrafted into the very nature of the people that they seemed almost ineradicable. Accordingly, we find it narrated of an intelligent convert that he expressed his conviction that “the people ought to be induced to discontinue infanticide, human sacrifice, and demon worship, but that preservation of female virtue and Christian marriage would never be obtained.”[364]

The Society Islands are said to have been formerly proverbial, even in Polynesia, for the licentiousness which is still remarkably prevalent among them. The missionary regulations have apparently mitigated the evils, and they have succeeded in establishing laws on the subject, which are not, however, binding upon strangers. The foreigners who come to these islands, while denouncing the conduct of the inhabitants, are too often the chief instigators to vice, and, finding themselves checked in their misconduct, they vent their disappointment on the missionaries.

The foreign influences at work in these islands are of a two-fold nature; one striving for the improvement of the natives, and the inculcation of virtuous principles, and the encouragement or enforcement of virtuous practices; the other including all the base and sordid passions and motives of seamen and whalers bent on the reckless enjoyment of the passing hour; of traders and adventurers eager in quest of gain; and among the worst specimens of runaway seamen, and even convicts from the Australian settlements. All these influences combine to check the advancement of the natives.

The beauty of the women in these islands has been much exaggerated. Commodore Wilkes says,[365] “I did not see among them a single woman whom I could call handsome. They have, indeed, a certain sleepiness about the eyes which may be fascinating to some, but I should rather ascribe the celebrity which their charms have acquired among navigators to their cheerfulness and gayety.” Others, who visit them with equally cool judgment, tell us that they were disappointed in their appearance, for “there were few who could be called handsome; nevertheless, they had eminent feminine graces, their manners being affable and engaging, their step easy and graceful, their behavior free and unguarded, their temper mild, gentle, and unaffected, slow to take offense, easily pacified, seldom retaining resentment or revenge, whatever the provocation.”[366]

There can be no doubt that their demeanor was winning and affable, and their conduct sportive and playful. Their industry was not very great, the few wants of the islanders being amply supplied by nature. The women prepared the poe from the bread-fruit and the ava, and, till Europeans introduced the hog, this was their usual diet, if we except the cannibal feasts of the warriors, in which the women took no part. The female occupations were weaving flowers and grasses into garlands and mats. Their chief amusement was paddling the canoe or sporting in the surf, for all the islanders took to the water, and the women were, perhaps, from the greater buoyancy of their persons, better swimmers than the men. Before the arrival of the missionaries, it was customary for the women to swim out to a ship and swarm on board, where scenes of debauchery and indecency commenced, lasting as long as the vessel lay in the harbor, and the fascination of which worked so powerfully on the excited passions of the seamen that desertions and mutiny were continually occurring.

The earliest intercourse of whites has never yet been beneficial to the untutored savage, and, had these occurrences only taken place on board the ships of foreigners, it might have been laid to the account of foreign corruption. But this was not the case. The gains derivable from the white men’s visits might give profligacy a greater zest for both sexes of the natives, for indiscriminate intercourse was a time-worn institution ere yet the European came.

The South Sea Islanders are no exception to the general rule of keeping their women in a subordinate and inferior condition. A chief is sometimes taboo, and his women may not approach him; he may see them when he pleases; at all times the woman is in bondage. Those of the chief live in separate apartments from their master, and are not permitted to associate with him on equal terms excepting when the female is of high blood. In this case she is perfectly independent, can exercise the same powers as her husband, and in some particulars can even throw off her allegiance to him.

Polygamy was, and still is, practiced among the chiefs. Even where missionary influences have been successful, the chiefs look upon the abolition of polygamy as a most objectionable innovation. They look back to their past liberty with regret, and can not understand why they are restricted to one wife. Polygamy could, of course, only be practiced by the powerful at the expense of the weak. Already, from various causes operating among savages there was a preponderance of males over females, rendered still more great by polygamy. This again depreciated female virtue, justifying illicit intercourse to those who lived in forced celibacy, and in its consequences came concealment and infanticide. To such an extent was illicit intercourse carried, that some writers assert that no girl ever reached the age of puberty a virgin. The nature of the marriage bond is very uncertain. The husband could get rid of the wife at pleasure. There seems to have been a slight distinction between marriage and concubinage. Most of these social institutions are extended over all the islands alike, with very few local differences. Infanticide, for example, has been practiced in most of the islands, but not invariably so. At Tutuila,[367] one of the Samoan group, it had never obtained. Circumcision was common among most of the natives.

Among the Samoans the women are treated with consideration.[368] The men do all the hard work, even to cooking, while the women perform only in-door labor, attend to the children, and prepare the food for the fire. In the Sandwich Islands there is no such chivalrous sentiment. At the arrival of the missionaries there were no marriage institutions among them. The only laws were such as to regulate somewhat their licentiousness. There were traditions to show that at some past time, before the discovery of the island, the marriage tie had been held in respect by the natives, and that the marriage ceremony had been an important one. At present, personal chastisement of the wife by her husband is not infrequent, and it is spoken of by them as a matter of course.

The relations of parents to children differed much at different periods. The Samoans seem to have been the most observant of moral obligations and natural ties. Among them it was the usage of the mothers to suckle the children for several years, and to bring them up with great care and attention, so much so that a crippled child was sometimes discreditable as evincing a degree of culpable carelessness in the mother.The Society and Sandwich Islanders, whose lives were habitually dissolute, shunned all trouble which interfered with their freedom of intercourse, and children were considered especially burdensome. Infanticide prevailed to a frightful extent among them, and, as if the ordinary dissoluteness of the people had not been ample inducement to this most flagitious crime, the tyranny of the rulers invented a poll-tax, in whose operation children over ten were included. The poorer inhabitants of these blissful regions, who already felt the rod of oppression too severely, found in this an additional motive to child-murder. But in its operation it was even more cruel than infanticide, for many children who had been suffered to live were put to death as they approached the period when they would be liable to taxation. The murder was consummated sometimes by the parents, at times mercifully, and at times horribly. There were a class of persons who practiced child-murder professionally.

In the Samoan group the girls are often early betrothed, without reference to years, the girl being taboo until of marriageable age. During the intervening period the bridegroom accumulates property. The marriage festival is held with all circumstances of uproar and debauchery, and the guests stay as long as there is any thing to eat. The consummation of the marriage and the virginity of the bride are published by the proofs required in the Jewish law.

When a man in this group wishes to take a wife, he must ask the chief’s consent. This obtained, he presents to the girl of his choice a basket of bread-fruit, by accepting which she accepts the donor. The husband then pays the parents a sum of money for her, according to her rank and estimation; sometimes the courtship is to the family, without consulting the girl, who is expected to conform to her parents’ will in the matter.

A Samoan may repudiate his wife and marry again on certain conditions, but the woman may not leave her husband without his consent.

Adultery among the Samoans was formerly punished by death, and the marriage vow is strictly observed by them. It is considered highly discreditable for a young woman to form a connection with a native before marriage, although temporary intercourse with a foreigner is not considered objectionable. It may be that such a distinction is in compliment to the conceded superiority of the white; but the explanation of a chief would rather put the question on convenience than morality, for he objected to native young men as always hanging about the premises, and attaching themselves to the young woman, whereas the foreigner gave his presents and sailed away when the period of his stay was ended, leaving the object of his choice free again.

The Marquesas Islands have a singular institution, similar to one prevalent among the ancient LacedÆmonians. A woman has more than one husband. This has been called polyandrism, but it does not seem precisely such. A wife of a young warrior unknown to fame is honored by the advances of a more distinguished individual, by whom children may be begotten. The superior chief takes the wife and her lawful husband under his protection and into his hut.

The population of some of the districts in the Sandwich Islands is rapidly decreasing. By a register kept in Hawaii, it appears there are three deaths to one birth. This disproportion is attributed to low habit of body, the consequence of venereal disease. Syphilis was introduced into these islands by Cook’s expedition, and the whole of the natives in some districts are now said to be reduced to a morbid, sickly state, many of the women being incapable of child-bearing, and but few of the children attaining maturity.

There are other concurrent causes to contribute toward this decay, among which the difference of food, and the introduction of clothing, and consequent diminution of ablution among a people who spent half their lives in the water, are not unimportant; but the district of Hanapepe, where the decrease was most rapid, was that in which the virus was first introduced, and here it is still most virulent in its action and effects.

Whatever the causes, the same effect is in powerful operation, though not to the same depopulating extent, in other places. At Waialua, in 1832, the population was 2640; in 1835 it had fallen to 2415. There had been no war nor epidemic. It was the ordinary condition of the people. Sterility and abortion are considered the most potent causes. Abortion is very common, and there are cases in which women have had six or seven, and sometimes ten in as many years, and no children.[369]

Personal and mutual abuse had been much practiced in early life among the settlers, and is a cause of sterility.

Previous to 1840, infanticide was, as we have shown, common. But here, as elsewhere, the marriage regulations which have been enforced by the missionaries and adopted by the converted natives are already operating in a reactionary manner against the decrease of population, and infanticide is almost unknown. The poll-tax for children over ten years of age has been repealed, and in its stead premiums are given for rearing large families of legitimate children.

It is admitted by all that licentiousness prevails extensively among the people even at present, but to a far less degree than formerly, when promiscuous intercourse was universal. Men were living with several wives, and vice versa. All improvement in this respect is to be ascribed to the labors of Christian missionaries. To them the Sandwich Islanders owe their moral code, and the enactment of laws respecting marriage, as well as their political institutions.

The observance of outward morality and decency of behavior has, as we have mentioned, been made compulsory in those islands in which the missionaries have permanently fixed themselves, and acquired sufficient power to make their regulations respected. They have interdicted public gatherings for the purpose of amusement, and even suppressed private games and diversions. This has been objected to as an interference with innocent recreation and pastime, and as encouraging formalism.

But the missionaries had no choice in the matter. Paganism was deeply rooted in the daily life and habits of the people. In all religious festivals, feasting, dancing, and diversion formed so prominent a part, that the only method of eradicating the attachment of the people to their heathen practices was to abolish the usages which made the worship attractive. The dances are always immodest, often lascivious and grossly indecent. They consist of little more than contortions and twistings of the limbs and body, and of throwing themselves into postures which, as they are mostly performed by females, are highly conducive to immorality.

Even among the Samoans, the dances, as performed by the women, are of the same libidinous character with the others, though the dances of the men are not indecorous.

The diseases generally prevalent are skin affections. From the delightful climate and simple diet of the people, these are not of a very severe character. The islanders have been no gainers in this respect by their intercourse with Europeans. The venereal disease has been introduced, and, from the deficiency of medical treatment, makes great ravages. Secondary syphilis is sometimes severe. At Tutuila, one of the Samoan group, it is said that venereal disease is entirely unknown, while in the other islands of the group it is very rare.

Political circumstances; the introduction of new elements into Polynesian life; the daily increasing intercourse between the islanders and foreigners, all contribute to make the alterations in the social aspects of the South Sea Islands very rapid, so that every year may work new changes. Some recent writers affect to doubt the benefits of missionary labors among the islanders, who, as they say, have been thereby diverted from their innocent and simple habits of life; in place of which, it is alleged, a harsh and hypocritical austerity has been adopted; the purity of their morals and the vigor of their constitutions have been sapped and destroyed by the contact with Europeans and Americans, and the whole result of foreign intercourse has been unmixed evil. We reject these conclusions, as savoring too strongly of party prejudice and class antipathies. The tendency of the Gospel always is to purify and elevate savage tribes. The missionaries have, perhaps, overestimated and overstated the extent of benefit accomplished by them, and the gayety and cheerfulness, so pleasing in appearance to the casual visitor, yet so deceptive in reality, may have been diminished. But the purity of savage life is a delusion, and something has been achieved if only an outward conformity to the laws and dictates of Christianity has been produced.

WEST INDIES.

A very slight notice of the West Indies will suffice, for of the savage races scarcely a vestige remains; of the negro population a general view is all that is required, and the civilized colonists retain so much of the impress of the countries whence they came as to require no special remarks. When Columbus first visited these beautiful islands, he found them inhabited by two classes of men—the savage Caribs, who delighted in war and preyed upon the weaker tribes; and the simple communities, whose pacific habits made them victims of their violent neighbors. The people were alike distinct in the treatment of women. The peaceful islanders admitted females to a participation in all the delights of their rural life, allowing them to mingle in the dance, to inherit power, and to share all their pleasures. Among the cannibal Caribs a different fashion prevailed. The handsomest of their war-prisoners were retained as slaves, the rest were drowned. The lot of these exiles, as of the Carib women themselves, was hard enough. The nation was low and barbarous, and its women were treated accordingly, the men regarding them as an inferior race, whose degradation was only natural. A wife was her husband’s slave, and all the drudgery of life fell upon her. She approached him with abject humility, and, if she ever complained of ill-usage, it was at the risk of her life; her children, however, were loved and watched with tender care.

The original inhabitants of the West Indian islands have disappeared, and are succeeded by a mixture of races, of whom the negroes claim our attention now. Among the blacks of Antigua, as an example, immorality is characteristic. Infanticide is frequently practiced, even since the Emancipation Bill was passed. The reason for this is clear. Under slavery, negroes could not contract a legal marriage; they therefore cohabited, and the union lasted as long as their affection or appetite existed. No disgrace attached to a woman who had borne children to several men. Now an idea of female virtue has been awakened, and they seek to escape the consequences of an illicit amour by destroying its offspring, upon the principle that where no tangible evidence of a crime exists, no crime has been committed.

During slavery, concubinage was general; and although many masters offered rewards to such as lived faithfully with one partner, the vice was all but universal, and a permanent engagement between a man and woman was seldom formed. Two females frequently lived with one man, one being considered his wife, and the other his mistress. When the negroes were emancipated in 1834, many were anxious to be legally married, and others put away the partners of their compulsory servitude and took new companions. Bigamy was not uncommon then, nor is it rare now, many devices being adopted to elude the stringent laws on this matter. Concubinage is less general than formerly, but the marriage covenant is by no means respected, nor is chastity much esteemed.

In St. Lucia sexual intercourse was unrestrained and almost promiscuous, and the negroes of the island are, even to this day, averse to matrimony and inclined to concubinage. In either relation they are equally faithless, the only redeeming feature being love of their children.The same low state of morals is observable in Santa Cruz, but in Jamaica the negroes are mostly married and faithful to their engagements. Formerly the intercourse of the sexes was loose, profligate, and lewd. When the missionaries attempted to reform this, any who submitted to their teachings were ridiculed by the demoralized of their comrades. It must be admitted that Europeans have not shown any good example to the negroes, but, on the contrary, have encouraged their vices.

JAVA.

A curious system of manners now prevails in Java. Hindoos have been succeeded by Mohammedans, and they, in turn, have given place to Dutch, each having impressed some characteristic on the people. As elsewhere, the condition of the female sex will indicate the general character. The institution of marriage is universally known, if not practiced or respected, and the lot of women may be considered fortunate. They are not ill-used in any manner, and the seclusion imposed upon the more opulent is rather a withdrawal from the indiscriminate gaze of the people than that lonely secrecy exacted by jealousy in some parts of the East. The condition of the sex in Java is an exception to the habits of Asiatics. They associate with the men in all the pleasures and offices of life, eat with them, and live on terms of mutual equality. They are sometimes permitted to ascend the throne, and, in short, nowhere throughout the island are they treated with coarseness, violence, or neglect. They are willing and industrious, and are admitted to many honorable employments. Men sometimes act tyrannically in their households, but this only shows the fault of an individual, not of a class.

Polygamy and concubinage are practiced by the nobility without reference to public opinion, but are not generally adopted, being regarded as vicious luxuries. The first wife is always mistress of the household; the others are her servants, who may minister to her husband’s pleasures, but do not share his rank or wealth. No man will give his daughter as second or third wife, unless to some one far superior in rank to himself; and a woman considers it dishonorable, not, in the abstract, to prostitute herself, but to form a connection with any man of humbler birth than herself.

But, though polygamy and concubinage are seldom known in Java, their absence must not be considered as implying superior morality. On the contrary, it is the most immoral country in Asia. A woman who would not condescend to be the second wife of a chief would not scruple to commit adultery with him. In general terms, both sexes are profligate and depraved, although the islanders boast the chastity of their women as a distinguishing ornament, because a married woman would shriek if a stranger attempted to kiss her before her attendants.

Divorce can be procured in Java with the utmost freedom, and is a privilege in which the women indulge themselves to a wanton degree. If a wife pays her husband a sum of money, he must leave her. He is not legally bound to accept her offer, but public opinion considers it disreputable to live with a woman who has thus signified her wishes for a separation, and he yields to general sentiment what is not exacted by law. The husband is often changed three or four times before the woman is thirty years old, and some boast the exercise of this privilege twelve times. As the means of subsistence abound, and are procured as easily by women as by men, the former are independent of the latter, and find no difficulty in living without husbands. Unfortunately for the theories of some female reformers of the present day, who imagine that such independence foreshadows the millennium of woman’s rights, it must be admitted that, where the experiment has been tried, the sex are proverbially dissolute.

Among the wealthier classes the utmost immorality prevails, and in the great towns the population is debauched to the last degree. Intrigues with married women continually occur, and are prosecuted almost before the face of the husbands, who are often so tame and servile that they dare not assert their conjugal rights. Travelers have noticed flagrant instances of the looseness of Japanese manners, but one case will suffice. One of the princes, who had seduced a married woman, and was in the habit of visiting her at times when her husband, an officer in the public guard, was on duty, was surprised in her company on one occasion, the chief having returned home earlier than was expected. He knew the rank of his visitor, and discreetly coughed, so that the prince had time to escape. He then went to the chamber and flogged his wife. She complained to the prince, who was particularly desirous, at that time, to conciliate his subjects. He sent for the husband, made him many rich presents, and allowed him to select the handsomest woman in the royal household in place of the frail one who had betrayed him. The husband accepted the peace-offerings, allowed his wife to return home with him, and all the parties were satisfied.

In Java women are usually married very young, as their chastity is in danger as soon as they reach maturity. At eighteen or twenty a girl is considered to be getting old, and scarcely any are unmarried after twenty-two. Yet age does not exclude a woman from the probabilities of matrimony, for widows often procure husbands at fifty. The preliminary arrangements are made by the parents, as scandal would not allow the young people to take any part in a transaction in which they are looked upon, as the natives express it, as mere puppets. The father of the youth, having made a suitable choice, proposes to the parents of the girl. If they are willing, the betrothal is ratified by some trifling present, and visits are made, that the intended nuptials may be publicly known. Subsequently the price of the lady is arranged, varying according to the rank and circumstances of the family. Sometimes this is plainly called the “purchase-money,” and sometimes by a more delicate term, the “deposit.” It is considered as a settlement for the bride. The only religious feature in the marriage ceremony is an exchange of vows in the mosque. This is followed by many observances of etiquette and parade. Finally, the married couple eat from the same vessel, to testify their common fortune, or the bride washes her husband’s feet in token of subjection.

The Javanese support a large class of women as public dancers. The inhabitants are passionately fond of this amusement, but no respectable woman will join in it, and all its female partisans are prostitutes; in fact, the words dancer and prostitute are synonymous in their language. A chief of high rank is not ashamed to be seen with one of these women, who figure at most large entertainments, and frequently amass enough money to induce some petty chief to marry them. So strong, however, is their ruling passion, they soon ascertain that domesticity is not their sphere, and become tired of their husbands, whom they divorce without ceremony, and coolly return to their public life. The dress in which they perform is very immodest, but they seldom descend to such obscene and degrading postures as may be witnessed in other Eastern countries.

European example has not done much for Java. The Dutch merchant has usually a native female called his housekeeper. In every city public prostitutes abound, while about the roads in the vicinity may be found others ready for hire. Their disguise as dancers is thought to conceal their profligacy.

SUMATRA.

The population of this island is divided into several tribes, slightly differing in their manners. The Rejangs, who may be supposed to represent its original inhabitants, are rude barbarians, scrupulously attentive to the show, but wanting the spirit of delicacy. They drape their women from head to foot, dread lest a virgin should expose any part of her person, and yet modesty is not a characteristic of the people in towns and villages. Those in rural districts who are not so rigid as to costume are more distinguished by decency.

The customs of Sumatra are of a peculiar character, great importance being attached to required formulas; and the ritual is more essential than the principle. It is curious to examine the intricate details of a Sumatran marriage contract, which appears to be so little understood even by the people themselves that, we are informed, one of these documents is sufficient to originate an almost endless litigation.

There are several modes of forming a marriage contract. The first is when one man agrees to pay another a certain sum in exchange for his daughter. A portion of the amount, say about five dollars, is generally held back, to keep the transaction open, and allow the girl’s parents a chance to complain if she is ill used. If the husband wound her, he is liable to a fine, and in many ways his authority is controlled. But if he insists on paying the balance of the purchase-money, her parents must accept it, and then their right of interference ceases. If a father desires to get rid of a girl suffering from any infirmity, he sells her without this reservation, and she has fewer privileges in consequence.

In other cases marriage is an affair of barter, one virgin being given for another. A man having a son and a daughter will give the latter in exchange for a wife for the former; or a brother will dispose of his sister in the same way. Sometimes a girl evades these customs by eloping with a lover of her own choice. If the fugitives are overtaken on the road, they can be separated; but if they have taken refuge in any house, and the man declares his willingness to obey existing rules, his wife is secured to him. The Jewish custom of a man marrying his brother’s widow is in force among the Sumatrans, and if there be no brother, she must be taken by the nearest male relative, the father excepted, who is made responsible for any balance of her purchase-money which may be due.Adultery is not frequently committed under this system, but when it is, the husband chastises his wife himself, or else forgives the offense. If he desire to divorce her, he may claim back the purchase-money, less twenty-five dollars, which is allowed her parents for depreciation in the woman’s value. If a man who has taken a wife is unable to pay the whole price, her friends may sue for a divorce, but then they must return all they have received from him. The ceremony of divorce consists in cutting a ratan in two in presence of the parties and their witnesses.

Another kind of marriage is when a girl’s father selects some man whom he adopts into his family, receiving a premium of about twenty dollars. The father-in-law’s family thus acquire a property in the young husband; they are answerable for his debts, claim all he earns, and have the privilege of turning him out of doors when they are tired of him.

The Malays of Sumalda have generally adopted a third kind of marriage, which they call the free. In this the families approach each other on an equal level. A small sum, about twelve dollars, is paid to the girl’s parents, and an agreement is made that all property shall be common between husband and wife, and if a divorce takes place it shall be fairly divided. The actual ceremony of marriage is simple: a feast is given, the couple join their hands, and some one pronounces them man and wife.

Where the female is an article of sale, little of what we call courtship can be expected. It is opposed to the manners of the country, which impose strict separation of the sexes in youth; and, besides, when a man pays the price of his wife, he considers he is entitled to possession, without any question as to her predilections. But traces of courtship may be met with. On the very few occasions when young people are allowed to meet, such as public festivals, a degree of respect is shown to women contrasting very favorably with the observances of more civilized communities, and mutual attachments sometimes spring from these associations. The festivals are enlivened by dances and songs. The former have been described as licentious, but an English traveler says he has often seen more immodest displays in a ball-room in his native country. The songs are extempore, and love is the constant theme.

Polygamy is permitted, but only a few chiefs have more than one wife. To be a second one is considered far below the dignity of a respectable woman, and a man would demand a divorce for his daughter if her husband was about to take an additional companion.

Marsden, the traveler already mentioned, says that in the country parts of Sumatra chastity is general; but the merit is lost when he adds that interest causes the parents to be watchful of their daughters, because the selling price of a virgin is far above that of a woman who has been defiled. If a case of seduction occurs, the seducer can be forced to marry the girl and pay her original price, or else give her parents the sum which they would lose by her error.

Regular prostitution is rare. In the bazars of the towns some women of this class may be found, and in the sea-ports profligacy abounds, troops of professional courtesans parading the streets. No one would estimate the morality of a country from the spectacles exhibited in maritime cities. As a general rule, the Sumatran is content to marry, and is faithful to his wife. This may proceed from temperament rather than morality, as their ideas on the latter are not very rigid. This is shown by their opinion of incest, which they regard as an infraction of conventional law, sometimes punishing it by a fine, and at other times confirming the marriage, unless it occurs within the first degree of relationship.

BORNEO.

Notwithstanding the attention which has been drawn to the island of Borneo within the last few years, it is yet but little known to the general reader. The investigations of Sir James Brooke and others have enabled us to discern many of its social features. Most of the inhabitants of Borneo are in a state of barbarism. Some wander naked in the forest, and subsist on the spontaneous productions of the earth; others cultivate the soil, dwell in villages, and trade with their neighbors. The river communities are more advanced than those who live inland, and the inhabitants of sea-ports are more educated and more profligate than any. These have been farther debased by the abominable system of piracy, which, until recently, was their occupation.

Among the Sea Dyaks, or dwellers on the coast, there is no social law to govern sexual intercourse before marriage, nor is the authority of parents recognized in the matter. The Dyak girl selects a husband for herself, and, while she remains single, incurs no disgrace by cohabiting with as many as she pleases. After marriage she is subject to more stringent rules, for, as a man is allowed only one wife, he requires her to be faithful, or in default punishes her with a severe whipping. If he is incontinent he incurs a similar penalty. Cases of adultery are not frequent, though they sometimes occur in time of war.

The ceremony of marriage is as simple as possible. The consent of the woman is first obtained, then the bride and bridegroom meet and give a feast, which completes the contract.

If a girl becomes pregnant, the father of the child must marry her, and this is a common way of securing a husband. A man and woman live together for a time, and separate if there is no prospect of a family. During this probation constancy is not considered indispensable. The fear of not becoming the father of a family, a misfortune greatly dreaded by the Dyaks, favors the loose intercourse of unmarried people. In some tribes the duties of hospitality require that if a chief is traveling he shall be furnished with a pro tempore female companion at every place where he sleeps.

Among the Dyaks dwelling on the hills morality is of a higher standard. Single men are obliged to sleep in a separate building, and the girls are not allowed to approach them. Marriage is contracted at a very early age, and adultery is almost unknown. Polygamy is not allowed, but some of the chiefs indulge in a concubine, for which they are generally blamed. There are certain degrees of consanguinity within which marriage is unlawful. One man shocked public feeling by marrying his granddaughter, and the people affirm that ruin and darkness have covered the face of the sun ever since that act of incest. As they marry constantly within their own tribe, the whole commonwealth is in time united by ties of blood, and to this is ascribed the insanity common among them, a conclusion warranted to some extent by the imbecile state of well-known royal families condemned to perpetual intermarriages.

It is said that many prostitutes may be found among the people of the South, but this rests on doubtful testimony, and in the Dyak language there is no word to express the vice.

The Sibnouan females are neither concealed from strangers nor shy before them. They will bathe naked in the presence of men. The unmarried people sleep promiscuously in a common room, but married couples have separate apartments. The labor of the household is allotted to females, who grind rice, carry burdens, fetch water, catch fish, and till the ground. They are not so degraded as in other barbarous nations. They eat with the men, and take part in their festivals as well as their labor.

Among the Mohammedan Malays there is more civilization and more corruption. They are polygamists, indulge in concubinage, encourage prostitutes, and ill use their wives. An English physician lately received a message from the wife of a chief appointing a secret meeting. He was punctual to the assignation, and met the lady, who asked him for a close of arsenic to poison her husband, as he ill-treated her. Report says that the Englishman was disappointed in the nature of the interview, but firmly refused to grant her request.

The rich Malays allow their wives to keep female slaves, and the jealousy of the mistress renders their situation any thing but pleasant. They sometimes serve as concubines, in which case the law renders them free, but many refuse to avail themselves of this advantage.

We have no definite account of prostitutes in sea-port towns, but they appear to be of several classes: those who cohabit temporarily with the Malays, those who prostitute themselves indiscriminately to all comers, and those who are supported by sailors and profligate Chinese, who invariably create such a class wherever they settle. It is certain that women of this class exist in considerable numbers in Borneo.