Hans Fehlinger

“ The mentality of the different branches of mankind varies a great deal. A good example of this is the fact that there are peoples who do not know the connection between cohabitation and conception. There are other tribes, again, who, as we have reason to assume, did not possess this knowledge previously. In fact, Ferdinand von Reitzenstein thinks that there was a time when the connection between cohabitation and pregnancy was unknown to all mankind, and he adduces examples which show that traces of such a state are to be found in the legends and customs of many peoples. ”

“ The conditions are such among the Australians that their ignorance of the connection between sexual intercourse and propagation is not at all surprising. Spencer points out that among the Australians there are no "virgins," for as soon as a girl is sexually ripe she is given to a particular man, with whom she has sexual intercourse right through life. In this respect there is no difference among the native women; yet the people see that some women have children and others none, and also that the women with children have them at unequal intervals that have no connection with sexual intercourse. ”

“ The husbands shared in common by a woman are in most cases brothers; they are rarely other members of the same exogamous group and of the same age class. When the husbands are brothers, there never ensue any quarrels about access to the wife. All the brothers are reckoned as fathers of a child. Yet it often occurs that a Toda only calls one man his father. It is exclusively external circumstances that are here decisive; often one of the fathers is more influential and more respected than his brothers, and naturally the sons prefer to speak of him as their father. ”

“ Further, scarcity of women is most likely overcome, as previously mentioned, by several men's sharing one wife, which arrangement, unlike the capture of women, avoids arousing the hostility of neighbours. Among peaceable tribes, therefore, a numerical preponderance of men results not in exogamy, but in polyandry. But admitting that a warlike tribe has not sufficient women and therefore captures them from their neighbours, it is still unexplainable why the men should altogether avoid sexual relationship with their own women, few as they are, and have no desire for them whatsoever. ”

“ The relationship of the children to their own parents is not notably closer than that between them and other persons of the same age class. We must not look upon this child communism solely as a curiosity, but as the relic of a very ancient primitive institution. ”

“ Domestic prosperity depends wholly on the women's work. Thus it can easily be seen how the custom came about of demanding some service from the man who wanted a wife. Real purchase of a wife occurs only exceptionally among primitive people. It is never the rule, nor is the woman a real object of barter. If actual sale of women occurs in some cases, it is only an exception. Such cases are only frequent where the influence of Islam is most pronounced.
The bride price is wholly or partly paid back should the wife run away, or even if she meets with an early death. ”

“ In many departments of primitive life we find a naïve desire to, as it were, assist Nature, to affirm what is normal and later to confirm it by the categorical imperative of custom and law. This tendency still flourishes in our civilised communities, and, as the worship of the normal, is often a deadly foe to the abnormal and eccentric, and too often paralyses originality. ”

“ Travellers and missionaries, seeing things merely from the standpoint of European civilisation, have for a long time attributed to primitive people conceptions of sexual behaviour like our own. But the real truth could not be hidden for long. It is now firmly established that the moral ideas of primitive people differ as widely from ours as does their sense of modesty. They do not consider sexual intercourse per se as immoral, and generally allow unmarried people full liberty. ”

“ He assumed that exogamy arose from a scarcity of women, which forced men to obtain wives by capture from other groups and thus gradually led to a general preference for strange women. The cause of this assumed scarcity of women was considered to be the infanticide of new-born females, which was carried on systematically, for savage people foresaw that in the struggle for existence it would be a hindrance to have a great number of women, who could take no share in the battle with enemies, and who presumably would contribute less to the food supply than the men. ”

“ In India, as in Australia, sexual intercourse is begun at a very youthful age, among the girls often long before the first menstruation. It is possible that on account of this the age of puberty is lowered, so that girls who mature late are more easily injured and perish in greater number than the girls maturing [Pg 126] earlier, who are less injured by the premature sexual intercourse. The male sex may have been influenced in the same direction through heredity.
Just as physical maturity, so is the cessation of generative power and bodily decline more marked in women than in men. ”

“ Some of them celebrate the advent of puberty in members of both sexes by noisy festivals, when the 'private parts' come in for a good deal of general attention. If a man wishes to inform a stranger that he is a father, or a woman that she is a mother, they gravely denote the fact by touching the organs from which life springs, in a most spontaneous and natural manner. It is, therefore, not possible to understand these people properly unless we put aside our conception of 'clothing,' and take them and their manners in their own natural way. ”

“ Even after marriage (which takes place with an elaborate pretence of bride capture) husband and wife are, as a rule, not faithful to each other, the marriage bond being very loose. But it is said that unfaithfulness on the part of the women (though not of the men) is considered a great offence. The injured husband used to have the right of killing the guilty man, which he did, as a rule, until the British authorities put an end to the practice. Nowadays the deceived husband is generally satisfied if he receives a pig or some other article of value from the guilty rival. ”

“ The marriage is discussed by the parents. If they come to an agreement, the bride's father receives some trifles as a present. The bridegroom hangs up his hammock above that of the girl, and everything is settled. It is only where the tribe has fallen into decay that great differences in the ages of the married people occur, and that older men in particular have the privilege of possessing young wives (compare Chapter II.) . Divorce can be got without difficulty, even when the man is unwilling. ”

“ There was nothing left for the young man but to capture a woman from a strange horde as soon as possible, or to try to persuade a comrade of the same age class to let him share in his marriage relationship on the understanding that his hunting bag would contribute towards the 'household of the three.' This multiple conjugal partnership is customary among most of the Australian tribes even to-day." To this it must be added that the man needs to show much less consideration for a captured strange woman than for one of his own tribe, who would run away if badly treated. ”

“ Hose and MacDougall mention that among the nomadic hunting tribes of Inner Borneo "the women are chaster after marriage than before." Apparently neither sex practises much restraint. A girl's pregnancy generally results in her marriage with the father of the expected child. Amongst the settled tribes of Borneo a young man seeks a love affair as soon as he is attracted to the other sex; he may have relations with several girls one after another, but generally marries early. The marriage age of the men is about twenty, of the girls still earlier. ”

“ The polygyny reported among certain tribes generally refers only to chiefs, magic doctors, or some other special persons who have more than one wife. Sexual group communism at the side of monogamy or polyandry has been found in various places, but it is wrong to speak of it as "group marriage." This is evident from the previously quoted examples of the pirauru in Australia, the sex communities among the Chukchee, the Nandi, Masai, and others. It is possible, of course, that monogamy which now co-exists with certain cases of sex communism may have been a later addition, but this is not proven. ”

“ Even if constancy in marriage is not the rule, especially among primitive people, yet we must still regard the permanent living together of one man and one woman as a state that has always prevailed amongst [Pg 53] human beings (Westermarck) . Many of the speculations, at first sight so learned, about the apparently intricate paths in the development of marriage, remain merely speculations which cannot stand the test of modern ethnological research. ”

“ Often the parents, or the father alone, choose the husband for the daughter. The parents have no such strong influence on the son's choice. The wedding is celebrated by dancing, which goes on for several days at the house of the bride's father. At the end of the festivities the latter makes a long speech to his son-in-law, and gives him over his daughter as wife, wherewith the marriage is consummated. The young wife goes to her husband's house, which, as a rule, also serves as the home of her parents-in-law. ”

“ Should the child happen to die in the first days, how could the father, with such views as he has, doubt that he is to blame, seeing that he has eaten indigestible things, particularly as all illnesses are due to the fault of others? ”

“ As everywhere else in India, polyandry has fallen into decay among the Toda. It may happen that several men have in common several wives, or that of a group of brothers each has his own wife. But polyandry has remained up to the present time the prevalent form of marriage among these hill-folk. The surplus girls used formerly to be killed without exception; and it is certain, says Rivers, that girl infanticide is still practised to some extent, although the Toda themselves deny this. It must be noted that child marriage exists among the Toda. ”

“ There are no festivities or ceremonies connected with the birth. The father of the child, if he is the husband of the woman, is present, as is also the woman's mother, but no one else. The parturient woman bends her body strongly forward, holding firmly on to the beam of the house, or she takes up an animal-like position, so that hands and feet are on the ground. Medicines and baths are not resorted to for hastening the labour pains, but the people present massage the abdomen of the labouring woman. ”

“ It is assumed that among brothers and sisters, as among boys and girls who have lived together from childhood, the pairing instinct generally remains in abeyance, because the conditions are wanting that are likely to awaken this instinct. Courting the favour of a person of the other sex is the process that gradually brings about the sexual excitement necessary for union. The possibility of sexual excitation between people who have lived together from childhood is decidedly lessened through habituation, if not completely inhibited. ”

“ The use of poisons and mechanical feticide not only brings about limitation of offspring, but often results in the death of the mother. Where they are very prevalent they contribute greatly to the scarcity of women, with all its attendant biological disadvantages. The contact of primitive people with Europeans generally increases the frequency of abortions. This is due partly to the desire for hiding the results of sexual intercourse with strangers, partly to the incitement to loose living which the acquaintance with European culture sometimes brings about. ”

“ As the absence of sexual attraction between brother and sister who have grown up together is a natural thing, it is strange that cohabitation between them should have to be specially prohibited and enforced by strict measures among primitive peoples. ”

“ No blame is attached to the mother, but the quieter of the children (and when both children are quiet, the longer one) is buried alive near the house immediately after birth. Abortion is practised by married women as well as by single girls, if for some reason the child is not wanted. The mother warns her unmarried daughter against abortion, telling her that a girl who produces abortion will not get a faithful husband, but will become the common partner of several men. The fœtus is driven off in the second month of pregnancy by hot baths and massage. ”

“ Thus among the Bantus it is even to-day often customary to assign children at an early age to each other for marriage. Weule (p. 58) says of the Jaos in East Africa: "It is a general custom for a woman who has just given birth to a child to say to a pregnant neighbour: 'I have a daughter' (or 'a son') ; 'if your child proves to be a son' (or 'a daughter') , 'they shall marry each other.' The other generally agrees, [Pg 40] and this arrangement is adhered to later. For adults there exist no special rules in the choice of mates nowadays, and it is doubtful whether such existed previously. ”

“ Pregnancy before marriage is a disgrace, and unmarried mothers are forced to give birth in the wilderness. Children born before marriage are killed. After the advent of puberty the girls sleep in their "combinations," which are fashioned in such a way as to exclude undesirable intercourse. Intercourse between engaged couples is also looked upon as sinful. Sometimes the girl lives with relatives in another place for a time, or is kept hidden until the bridegroom works off at her parents' home the service which he owes to them. ”