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wait for the death of the afflicted before they bury him. Immediately after the body has been deposited in the grave, it becomes necessary, according to their usages, that his death should be avenged. The hunters of the tribe go out with their lances and arrows to kill the first living creature they meet with, whether a man, a stag, a wild hog, or a buffalo." 1 Dr. Steinmetz himself quotes some other instances from the same group of islands, in which, when a man dies, his nearest kinsmen go out to requite his death by the death of the first man who comes in their way. It is worth noticing that the Philippine Islanders have the very worst opinion of their ghosts, and believe that these are particularly bloodthirsty soon after death.3

Dr. Steinmetz also refers to some statements according to which, among certain Australian tribes, the relatives of a person who dies avenge his death by killing an innocent man. But in these cases the avenged death, though "natural" according to our terminology, is, in the belief of the savages, caused by sorcery, and the revenge is not so indiscriminate as Dr. Steinmetz seems to assume. Among the Wellington tribe, as appears from a statement which he quotes himself, it is the sorcerer's life that must be taken for satisfaction.5 In New South Wales, after the dead man has been interrogated as to the cause of his death, his kinsmen are resolute in taking vengeance, if they "imagine that they have got sure indications of the perpetrator of the wrong." Among the Central Australian natives, "not infrequently the dying man will whisper in the ear of a Railtchawa, or medicine man, the name of the man whose magic is killing him," and if this be not done, "there is no difficulty, by some other method, of fixing sooner or later on the guilty party "; but only after the culprit has been revealed by the medicine man is it decided by a council of the old men whether an avenging party is to be arranged or not." Among the aborigines of West Australia, the survivors are "pretty busy in seeking out" the sorcerer who is supposed to have caused the death of their friend.8

1 Earl, Papuans, p. 132.

2 Steinmetz, op. cit. i. 335 sq.

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3 Blumentritt, Der Ahnencultus der Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels,' in Mittheilungen der Geogr. Gesellsch. in Wien, xxv. 166 sqq. De Mas, Informe sobre el estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1842, Orijen, &c. p. 15.

Steinmetz, op. cit. i. 337 sq.

Hale, U.S. Exploring Expedition.

Vol. VI.-Ethnography and Philology, p. 115; quoted by Steinmetz, op. cit. i 337.

Fraser, Aborigines of New South Wales, p. 86.

7 Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 476 sq.

8 Calvert, Aborigines of Western Australia, p. 20 sq.

To sum up all the facts which Dr. Steinmetz has adduced as evidence for his hypothesis of an original stage of "undirected" revenge only show, that under certain circumstances, either in a fit of passion, or when the actual offender is unknown or out of reach, revenge may be taken on an innocent being, wholly unconnected with the inflicter of the injury which it is sought to revenge.

There is such an intimate connection between the ex

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perience of injury, and the hostile reaction by which the injured individual gives vent to his passion, that the reaction does not fail to appear even when it misses its aim. Anger, as Seneca said, "does not rage merely against its object, but against every obstacle which it encounters on its way. Many infants, when angry and powerless to hurt others, "strike their heads against doors, posts, walls of houses, and sometimes on the floor." 2 Well known are the "amucks" of the Malays, in which "the desperado assails indiscriminately friend and foe,' and, with dishevelled hair and frantic look, murders or wounds all whom he meets without distinction. But all this is not revenge; it is sudden anger or blind rage. Nor is it revenge in the true sense of the word if a person who has been humiliated by his superior retaliates on those under him. It is only the outburst of a wounded "selffeeling," which, when not directed against its proper object, can afford no adequate consolation to a revengeful

man.

In the institution of the blood-feud some sort of collective responsibility is usually involved.* If the

1 Seneca, De ira, iii. 1.

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2 Stanley Hall, 'A Study of Anger,' in American Jour. of Psychology, x. 554. Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago, i. 67. Cf. Ellis, "The Amok of the Malays,' in Jour. of Mental Science, xxxix. 325 sqq. In the Andaman Islands, it is not uncommon for a man "to vent his ill-temper, or show his resentment at any act, by destroying his own property as well as that of his neighbours" (Man, 'Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman

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offender is of another family than his victim, some of his relatives may have to expiate his deed. If he belongs to another clan, the whole clan be held responsible may for it. And if he is a member of another tribe, the vengeance may be wreaked upon his fellow-tribesmen indiscriminately.3

"Among the Fuegians," says Mr. Bridges, " etiquette and custom require that all the relatives of a murdered person should. . . visit their displeasure upon every connection of the manslayers, each personally." The avengers of blood would by no means be satisfied with a party of natives if they should actually deliver up into their hands a manslayer, or kill him themselves, "but would yet exact from all the murderer's friends tribute or infliction of injuries with sticks or stones." 4 Among the Indians of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, grudges are handed down from father to son for generations, and friendly relations are never free from the risk of being interrupted." 5 Among the Greenlanders, the revenge for a murder generally "costs the executioner himself, his children, cousins, or other relatives their lives; or, if these are inaccessible, some other acquaintance in the neighbourhood." Among the Maoris, blood-revenge might be taken on any relative of the homicide, "no matter how distant."7 In Tana,

1 Besides the authorities quoted infra, see Leuschner, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse von eingeborenen Völkern in Afrika und Ozeanien, p. 23 (Bakwiri); ibid. p. 49 (Banaka and Bapuku); Rautanen, ibid. p. 341 (Ondonga); Walter, ibid. p. 390 (natives of Nossi-Bé and Mayotte, near Mada gascar); von Langsdorf, Voyages and Travels, i. 132 ̊ (Nukahivans); Forbes, A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, p. 473 (Timorese); Foreman, Philippine Islands, p. 213 (Igorrotes of Luzon); Kovalewsky, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxv. 113 (people of Daghestan); Idem, Coutume contemporaine et loi ancienne, p. 248 sq. (Ossetes); Merzbacher, Aus den Hochregionen des Kaukasus, ii. 51 (Khev. surs).

2 Bridges, in A Voice for South America, xiii. 207 (Fuegians). Dorsey, 'Omaha Sociology,' in Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. iii. 369. Ridley, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. ii. 268 (Kamilaroi in Australia).

Godwin-Austen, ibid. ii. 394 (Garo Hill tribes).

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von Martius, Beiträge zur Ethnographie Amerika's, i. 127 sqq. (Brazilian Indians). Crawfurd, op. cit. iii. 124 (natives of Celebes). Kohler, in Zeitschr. f. vgl. Rechtswiss. vii. 383 (Goajiros of Columbia). Ibid. vii. 376 (Papuans of New Guinea). Curr, The Australian Race, i. 70. Scaramucci and Giglioli, Notizie sui Danakil,' in Archivio per l'antropologia e la etnologia, xiv. 39. Leuschner, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 23 (Bakwiri). Ibid. p. 49 (Banaka and Bapuku).

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4 Bridges, in South American Missionary Magazine, xiii. 151 sqq.

5 Macfie, Vancouver Island and British Columbia, p. 470.

6 Cranz, History of Greenland, i. 178. 7 Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of the New Zealanders, p. 213 sq. Cf. ibid. p. 218 sq.

revenge "is often sought in the death of the brother, or some other near relative of the culprit."1 Among the Kabyles, "la vengeance peut porter sur chacun des membres de la famille du meurtrier, quel qu'il soit." 2 The Bedouins, according to Burckhardt, "claim the blood not only from the actual homicide, but from all his relations; and it is these claims that constitute the right of thár, or the blood-revenge." Among

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the people of Ibrim, in Nubia, on the other hand, the same traveller observes, "it is not considered as sufficient to retaliate upon any person within the fifth degree of consanguinity, as among the Bedouins of Arabia; only the brother, son, or first cousin can supply the place of the murderer." 4 Traces of collective responsibility in connection with blood-revenge are found among the Hebrews. It has prevailed, or still prevails, among the Japanese and Coreans, the Persians and Hindus, the ancient Greeks 10 and Teutons.11 It was a rule among the Welsh 12 and the Scotch in former days, 13 and is so still in Corsica,14 Albania,15 and among some of the Southern Slavs. 16 In Montenegro, if a homicide who cannot be caught himself has no relatives, revenge is sometimes taken on some inhabitant of the village or district to which he belongs, or even on a person who only is of the same religion and nationality as the murderer.17 In Albania, under similar circumstances, the victim may be a person who has had nothing else to do with the offender than that he has perhaps once been speaking to him.18

There is no difficulty in explaining these facts. The following statement made by Mr. Romilly with reference

1 Turner, Samoa, p. 317.

2 Hanoteau and Letourneux, La Kabylie, iii. 61.

3 Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 85. See, also, Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, p. 306; Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, i. 133.

4 Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, p. 128.

52 Samuel, xiv. 7. Cf. ibid. xxi. 6 Dautremer, 'The Vendetta or Legal Revenge in Japan,' in Trans. Asiatic Soc. Japan, xiii. 84.

7 Griffis, Corea, p. 227. Spiegel, Eranische Alterthumskunde, iii. 687. Polak, Persien, ii. 96. 9 Dubois, Description of the Character, Manners, and Customs of the

People of India, p. 195.

10 Leist, Alt-arisches Jus Gentium, P. 424.

11 Gotlands-Lagen, 13..

12 Walter, Das alte Wales, p. 138. 18 Mackintosh, History of Civilisation in Scotland, ii. 279.

14 Gregorovius, Wanderings in Corsica, i. 179.

15 Gopčević, Obaralbanien und seine Liga, p. 324 sqq.

16 Miklosich,Die Blutrache bei den Slaven,' in Denkschriften der kaiserl. Akademie d. Wissensch. Philos. -histor. Classe, Vienna, xxxvi. 131, 146 sq. Krauss, Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven, P. 39.

17

90.

Lago, Memorie sulla Dalmazia, ii.

18 Gopčević, op. cit. p. 325.

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to the Solomon Islanders has, undoubtedly, a much wider application:-"In the cases which call for punishment, the difficulties in the way of capturing the actual culprits are greater than any one, who has not been engaged in this disagreeable work, can imagine." Though it may happen that a manslayer is abandoned by his own people, the system of blood-revenge more often seems to imply, not only that all the members of a group are engaged, more or less effectually, in the act of revenge, but that they mutually protect each other against the avengers. A homicide frequently provokes a war, in which family stands against family, clan against clan, or tribe against tribe. In such cases the whole group take upon themselves the deed of the perpetrator, and any of his fellows, because standing up for him, becomes a proper object of revenge. The guilt extends itself, as it were, in the eyes of the offended party. So, also, any person who lives on friendly terms with the offender, or is supposed to sympathise with him, is liable to arouse a feeling of resentment, and may consequently, in extreme cases, have to expiate his crime. Moreover, because of the close relationship which exists between the members of the same group, the actual culprit will be mortified by any successful attack that the avengers make on his people, and, if he be dead, its painful and humiliating effects may still be supposed to reach his spirit. "When the offender himself is beyond the reach of direct attack," says Mr. Wilkins, "it is not beneath a Bengali's view to try to wound him through his children or other members of his family.' Among the South Slavonians, in a similar case, the avengers of blood first attempt to kill the father, brother,

1 Romilly, Western Pacific and New Guinea, p. 81. Cf. Friedrichs, 'Mensch und Person,' in Das Ausland, 1891, p. 299.

2 See, e.g., Scott Robertson, The Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush, p. 440.

a Dr. Post's statement (Die Geschlechtsgenossenschaft der Urzeit, p. 156) that the blood-revenge "charac

VOL. I

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terisirt sich... ganz und gar als ein
Privatkrieg zwischen zwei Geschlechts-
genossenschaften," however, is not quite
correct in this unqualified form, as may
be seen, e.g., from von Martius's de-
scription of the blood-revenge of the
Brazilian Indians, op. cit. i. 127 sqq.
4 Wilkins, Modern Hinduism, p.

411.

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