Walter Matthew Gallichan

“ There is no double standard of sex-morality among the Wa-Taveta tribe. Mrs. French Sheldon learned that the women are allowed freedom, and may form liaisons with men of their own status, but not with low-bred persons or the enemies of their husbands. Marriage is arranged by purchase, and there is a cere- monial of the mock-capture of brides.
The children are extremely well cared for, and they develop intelligence at a very early age. They are fond of assisting their parents in the fields and in carrying produce to the markets. ”

“ The Wa-Taveta tribe of the mainland, visited by Mrs. French Sheldon, practise polygamy chiefly for economic reasons. I have referred in earlier chapters to this common primary origin of a plurality of wives; and in this community we have a modern example of the survival. ”

“ Letourneau, in an account of the Kabyles, refers to the position of their women as " miserable."* Polygamy is legal among these people, but monogamy is the custom of the mass for economic reasons. Wives are literally slaves. Girls are sold by their male rela- tives, though they may twice exercise the right of choice. ”

“ Though scantily clad, the Mang'anja are modest and refined. They have ' a sense of what is fitting to say and do, which would surprise those of us who cannot dissociate the idea of modesty from that of a multiplicity of clothes. ”

“ East Africa strikes this highly-observant traveller as a paradise for chil- dren. We have seen that, in almost every polygamous society, the children are carefully protected and reared, and generally much loved by the parents. ”