. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . ^ ?Polygyny. gY^Y ? The custom of havmg only one wife is a very goodone provided that the husband loves her, ifnot it is a very bad one, because he wouldtyrannize over her the more ; whereas, if hisattention was divided between five or six, andhe did not behave very kindly towards them,it would be very easy to deceive him. Matrimonial bonds sat lightly on thePolynesians. Neither husbands nor wives 54 WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS felt bound to regard them as binding any longer than suited their inclinat
. Women of all nations, a record of their characteristics, habits, manners, customs and influence; . ^ ?Polygyny. gY^Y ? The custom of havmg only one wife is a very goodone provided that the husband loves her, ifnot it is a very bad one, because he wouldtyrannize over her the more ; whereas, if hisattention was divided between five or six, andhe did not behave very kindly towards them,it would be very easy to deceive him. Matrimonial bonds sat lightly on thePolynesians. Neither husbands nor wives 54 WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS felt bound to regard them as binding any longer than suited their inclinations and convenience. But in the west,Matrimonial j., ,., ,, , y t^-- Morals. fidelity was the rule. In Fiji the jealous husband bewrays the Melanesian element. In Tonga, Mariner, during his long stay in the revenge in blood. But, owing to theprevalence of the commimal spirit, thehusband was satisfied with killing a brotheror other relative of the offender, and it wasrarely the latter who suffered the islands to the east, even beforethe coming of the whites, society was on the. SAMOAN costumes and ornaments. island, before it was known to civilisation,only knew of three successfully plannedintrigues, and in each case the man was achief, and fear may ha\-e prevented was no doubt partly due to the facilityof divorce, which merely consisted in tellinga wife she could go, and she was free tomarry again at once. In Samoa, thoughinfidehty was common, public opinionsanctioned the injured husband in seeking high road to decay, and civilisation in-creased its degradation, breaking downancient restraints, making the people rest-less and reckless, and teaching them to selltheir wives and daughters for gain. Respect for the wives of other men seemsonly to be engendered by the personal fearof consequences; even the enlightenedFinow, the Tongan chief, acknowledged nohigher motive. He confided in Mariner that POLYNESIA 55 he would like to learn magic,
Size: 1416px × 1764px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidwomenofa, booksubjectwomen
