Part 32 (1/2)

”While he was in the wigwam he did not leave her a moment. With his own hands he adorned her with chains, and strings of teeth and pearls, and he found a special pleasure in combing her black, soft, silken hair. He gambolled with her like a child and rocked her on his knees, telling her stories. Of his other wives he demanded the utmost respect in their treatment of his little one.”

This reference to the other wives ought to have opened Pajeken's eyes as to the silliness of speaking of the ”touching” tenderness of the Crow chief to his latest favorite. In a few years she was doomed to be discarded, like the others, in favor of a new victim of his carnal appet.i.te. Affection is entirely out of the question in such cases.

The Malayans of Sumatra have, as Carl Bock tells us (314), a local custom allowing a wife to marry again if her faithless spouse has deserted her for three months:

”The early age at which marriage is contracted is an obstacle to any real affection between couples; for girls to be wives at fourteen is a common occurrence; indeed, that age may be put down as the average age of first marriage. The girls are then frequently good-looking, but hard work and the cares of maternity soon stamp their faces with the marks of age, and spoil their figures, and then the Malay husband forsakes his wife, if, indeed, he keeps her so long.”

Marriage with these people is, as Bock adds, a mere matter of pounds, s.h.i.+llings, and pence. His servant had married a ”gra.s.s-widow” of three months' desertion. But

”before she had enjoyed her new t.i.tle six weeks, a coolness sprang up between her and her husband. I inquired the reason, and she navely confessed that her husband had no more rupees to give her, and so she did not care for him any longer.”

Concerning Damara women Galton writes (197):

”They were extremely patient, though not feminine, according to our ideas: they had no strong affections either for spouse or children; in fact, the spouse was changed almost weekly, and I seldom knew without inquiry who the _pro tempore_ husband of each lady was at any particular time.”

Among the Singhalese, if a wife is sick and can no longer minister to her husband's comforts and pleasure he repudiates her. Bailey says[123] that this heartless desertion of a sick wife is ”the worst trait in the Kandyan character, and the cool and unconcerned manner in which they themselves allude to it shows that it is as common as it is cruel.”

”How can a man be contented with one wife,” exclaimed an Arab sheik to Sir Samuel Baker (_N.T.A._, 263). ”It is ridiculous, absurd.” And then he proceeded to explain why, in his opinion, monogamy is such an absurdity:

”What is he to do when she becomes old? When she is young, if very lovely, perhaps, he might be satisfied with her, but even the young must some day grow old, and the beautiful must fade. The man does not fade like a woman; therefore, as he remains the same for many years, Nature has arranged that the man shall have young wives to replace the old; does not the prophet allow it?”

He then pointed out what further advantage there was in having several wives:

”This one carries water, that one grinds corn; this makes the bread; the last does not do much, as she is the youngest and my favorite; and if they neglect their work they get a taste of this!”

shaking a long and tolerably thick stick.

There you have the typical male polygamist with his reasons frankly stated--sensual gratification and utilitarianism.

MOURNING TO ORDER

One of the most gossipy and least critical of all writers on primitive man, Bonwick, declares (97), in describing Tasmanian funerals, that

”the affectionate nature of women appeared on such melancholy occasions.... The women not only wept, but lacerated their bodies with sharp sh.e.l.ls and stones, even burning their thighs with fire-sticks.... The hair cut off in grief was thrown upon the mound.”

Descriptions of the howling and tortures to which savages subject themselves as part of their funeral rites abound in works of travel, and although every school-boy knows that the deepest waters are silent, it is usually a.s.sumed that these howling antics betray the deep grief and affection of the mourners. Now I do not deny that the lower races do feel grief at the loss of a relative or friend; it is one of the earliest emotions to develop in mankind. What I object to in particular is the notion that the penances to which widows submit on the death of their husbands indicate deep and genuine conjugal affection. As a matter of fact, these penances are not voluntary but prescribed, each widow in a tribe being expected to indulge in the same howlings and mutilations, so that this circ.u.mstance alone would make it impossible to say whether her lamentations over her late spouse came under the head of affection, fondness, liking, or attachment, or whether they are a.s.sociated with indifference or hatred. It is instructive to note that, in descriptions of mourning widows, the words ”must” or ”obliged to” nearly always occur. Among the Mandans, we read in Catlin (I., 95), ”in mourning, like the Crows and most other tribes, the women _are obliged_ to crop their hair all off; and the usual term of that condolence is until the hair has grown again to its former length.” The locks of the men (who make them do this), ”are of much greater importance,” and only one or two can be spared. According to Schomburgk, on the death of her husband, an Arawak wife _must_ cut her hair; and until this has again grown to a certain length she _cannot_ remarry. (Spencer, _D.S._, 20.) Among the Patagonians, ”the widow, or widows, of the dead, are _obliged_ to mourn and fast for a whole year after the death of their husbands.”

They _must_ abstain from certain kinds of food, and _must not_ wash their faces and hands for a whole year; while ”during the year of mourning they are _forbidden_ to marry.” (Falkner, 119.) The grief is all prescribed and regulated according to tribal fancy. The Brazilians ”repeat the lamentation for the dead twice a day.” (Spix and Martins, II., 250.) The Comanches

”mourn for the dead _systematically and periodically_ with great noise and vehemence; at which time the _female_ relatives of the deceased scarify their arms and legs with sharp flints until the blood trickles from a thousand pores.

The duration of these lamentations depends on the quality and estimation of the deceased; varying from three to five or seven days.”

(Schoolcraft, I., 237.) James Adair says in his _History of the American Indians_ (188), ”They _compel_ the widow to act the part of the disconsolate dove, for the irreparable loss of her mate.”

In Dahomey, during mourning ”the weeping relatives _must_ fast and refrain from bathing,” etc. (Burton, II., 164.) In the Transvaal, writes the missionary Posselt,

”there are a number of heathenish customs which the widows are _obliged_ to observe. There is, first, the terrible lamentation for the dead. Secondly, the widows _must_ allow themselves to be fumigated,” etc.

Concerning the Asiatic Turks Vambery writes that the women are not allowed to attend the funeral, but ”are _obliged_ meanwhile to remain in their tent, and, while lamenting incessantly, scratch their cheeks with their nails, _i.e._, mar their beauty.” The widow _must_ lament or sing dirges for a whole year, etc. Chippewa widows are _obliged_ to fast and must not comb their hair for a year or wear any ornament. A Shushwap widow _must not_ allow her shadow to fall on any one, and must bed her head on thorns. Bancroft notes (I., 731) that among the Mosquito Indians