For instance, the absence of slavery in many Oceanic islands may be accounted for by the fact that all land had been appropriated, which led to a state of things inconsistent with slavery as a social system.1 These are the main conclusions at which Dr. Nieboer has arrived by means of much admirable and painstaking research. Most of them, I think, are undoubtedly correct; yet it seems to me that the influence of economic conditions upon the institution of slavery has perhaps been emphasised too much at the cost of other factors. The prevalence of slavery in a savage tribe and the extent to which it is practised must also depend upon the ability of the tribe to procure slaves from foreign communities and upon its willingness to allow its own members to be kept as slaves within the tribe. It It may be very useful for a group of savages to have a certain number of slaves, and yet they may not have them, for the reason that no slaves are to be had. It is only in extraordinary cases that a person is allowed to enslave a member of his own community. Intra-tribal slavery is a question not only of economic but of moral concern, whilst extra-tribal slavery originally depends upon success in war. We have reason to believe that the earliest source of slavery was war or conquest, and that slavery in many cases was a substitution for putting prisoners of war to death. Savages, who have little mercy on their enemies, naturally make no scruple in reducing them to slavery whenever they find their advantage in doing so. Among existing savages, in fact, prisoners of war are very frequently enslaved. They and their descendants, together with persons kidnapped or purchased from foreign tribes, seem generally to form by far the majority of the slave population in uncivilised countries. Whilst little regard is paid to the liberty of strangers, custom everywhere, as a rule, forbids the enslaving of tribesmen. Yet sometimes a father's power over his children,1 as also a husband's power over his wife,2 involves the right of selling them as slaves; and among various peoples a person may be reduced to slavery for committing a crime, or for insolvency. Among the tribes of Western 3 ii. 109 sq. (Mbayas). Lewin, Hill Mademba, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse von eingeborenen Völkern in Afrika und Ozeanien, p. 83 (natives of the Sansanding States). Nicole, ibid. p. 118 sq. (Diakité-Sarracolese). Tellier, ibid. pp. 168, 171 (Kreis Kita of the French Soudan). Beverley, ibid. p. 213 (Wagogo). Lang, ibid. p. 241 (Washambala). Desoignies, ibid. p. 278 (Msalala). Nieboer, op. cit. pp. 49, 52, 73-76, 78, 100. 1 Supra, p. 599. 2 Supra, p. 629 sq. 3 Butler, Travels and Adventures in Assam, p. 94 (Kukis). Mason, Dwellings, &c., of the Karens,' in Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xxxvii. pt. ii. p. 146 sq.; Smeaton, Loyal Karens of Burma, p. 86. Wilken, 'Het strafrecht bij de volken van het maleische ras,' in Bijdragen tot de taal- land en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indie, 1883, Land- en volkenkunde, p. 108 sq. Junghuhn, 320 Die Battaländer auf Sumatra, ii. 145 sq. (Bataks). Raffles, History of Java, ii. p. ccxxxv. (people of Bali). Foroes, A Naturalist's Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, p. (people of Timor-laut). von Rosenberg, Der malayische Archipel, p. 166 (Niase). Hickson, A Naturalist in North Celebes, p. 194 (Sangirese). Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, ii. 87. Paulitschke, Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, p. 261. Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 244 sq. (Marea). Petherick, Travels in Central Africa, ii. 3 (Shilluk of the White Nile). Bowdich, Mission to Ashantee, p. 258 n. (Fantis). Hübbe-Schleiden, Ethiopien, p. 152 (Mpongwe). Burton, Abeokuta, i. 301. Tuckey, op. cit. p. 367 (Negroes of Congo). Mungo Park, op. cit. p. 19 (Mandingoes). Tellier, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 171 (Kreis Kita of the French Soudan). Lang, ibid. p. 241 (Washambala). Dale, Customs of the Natives inhabiting the Bondei Country,' in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxv. 230. Ellis, History of Madagascar, i. 193 Velten, op. cit. p. 305 sq. (Waswahili). Gibbs, loc. cit. p. 188 (Indians of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon). Lewin, Hill Tracts of Chittagong, p. 34. Idem Wild 2 Washington and North-Western Oregon, if an Indian has wronged another and failed to make compensation, he may be taken as a slave.1 The Papuans of Dorey had a law according to which an incendiary with his family became the slave of the late proprietor of the burned house. Among the Line Islanders of Micronesia, if a man of low class stole some food from a person belonging to the "gentry," he became the slave of the latter and lost all his property. Sometimes a man is induced by great poverty to sell himself as a slave.1 But most intra-tribal slaves are born unfree, being the offspring of parents one or both of whom are slaves.5 In descriptions of slave-holding savages it is often said that a master has absolute power over his slave. But even in such instances, when details are scrutinised, it frequently appears that custom or public opinion does not allow a person to treat his slave just as he pleases. We have noticed above that in many cases the master is expressly denied the right of killing him at his own discretion." More commonly than one would imagine the master has not Races of South-Eastern India, pp. 194 (Khyoungtha), 235 (Mrús). Mason, 'Religion, &c., of the Karens,' in Jour. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xxxiv. pt. ii. 216. Blumentritt, Die Sitten und Bräuche der alten Tagalen,' in Zeitschr. f. Ethnol. xxv. 13 sqq. Lala, Philippine Islands, p. 111 (natives of Sulu). Low, Sarawak, p. 301. Bock, Head-Hunters of Borneo, p. 210 (Dyak tribes). Junghuhn, op. cit. ii. 151 sq. Raffles, op. cit. i. 353 n. (Javanese); ii. p. ccxxxv. (people of Bali). Nieboer, op. cit. pp. 110, 111, 114, 119 sq. (various peoples in the Malay Archipelago). Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, pp. 207 (Takue), 245 (Marea). Kingsley, West African Studies, p. 370. Hübbe-Schleiden, op. cit. p. 152 (Mpongwe). Burton, Abeokuta, i. 301. Mungo Park, op. cit. p. 19 (Mandingoes). Dale, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxv. 230 (Wabondei). Baskerville, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 193 sq. (Waganda). Lang, ibid. p. 240 (Washambala). Walter, ibid. p. 381 (Natives of Nossi-Bé and Mayotte, Madagascar). Post, Afrikan- 1 Gibbs, loc. cit. p. 188. 3 Tutuila, in Jour. Polynesian Soc. i. 268 sq. Azara, op. cit. ii. 109 (Mbayas). Hale, ор. cit. p. 96 (Kingsmill Islanders). Burton, Abeokuta, i. 301. Andersson, Lake Ngami, p. 231 (Herero). Ellis, History of Madagas car, i. 192 sq. 5 Cf. Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 89 sq.; Mademba, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 83 (natives of the Sansanding States) Nicole, ibid. p. 119 (Diakité-Sarra colese). Baskerville, ibid. p. 194 (Waganda); Desoignies, ibid. p. 278 (Msalala); Dale, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxv. 230 (Wabondei); Ellis, History of Madagascar, i. 193. Supra, p. 422 sq. 3 even an unlimited right to sell his slave. Among some peoples he may sell at will such slaves only as have been captured in war or purchased, not such as have been born in the house. In several instances a slave, and especially a domestic slave, cannot be sold unless he has been guilty of some crime or misdemeanour. Among the Banaka and Bapuku in the Cameroons the master may chastise or send away a slave who has behaved badly, but is not allowed to sell him. There are, moreover, instances in which the master is entitled not to all the services of his slave, but only to a limited portion of them. In some parts of Africa the slave is obliged to work for his master on certain days of the week or a certain number of hours, but has the rest of his time free. In the highlands of Palembang, Sumatra, a slave may carry on trade and hire himself out as a day labourer on his own behalf, and when he works in the field one-half of his harvesting belongs to him and the other half to his master. Where the slave is allowed to possess property of his own he may in some cases, though not in all, buy his freedom; and debtor slaves are as a rule entitled to regain their liberty by paying off the debt. Many peoples even permit a dissatisfied slave to change his master. Among the Washambala, if a person does not fulfil his duties towards any of his slaves, the latter has a right to complain of him to the chief, and should the accusation prove true the chief buys the slave of his master for an ox and two cows, and keeps 8 5 pelago, p. 106. 6 Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. III sq. 7 Ibid. i. 111 sq. Tellier, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 170 (Kreis Kita). Senfft, ibid. p. 442 (Marshall Islanders). 8 Post, Grundriss der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz, i. 366. Nieboer, op. cit. pp. 38, 432. Nicole, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 118 (DiakitéSarracolese). Baskerville, ibid. p. 194 (Waganda). Lang, ibid. p. 240 sqq. (Washambala). him for himself. Among other peoples a slave, in order to get a new master, has only to cause a slight damage to somebody's property, or to commit some other trifling offence, in which case he must be given up to the person he "injured." It is astonishing to notice how readily, in many African countries, slaves are allowed by custom to rid themselves of tyrannical or neglectful masters.3 The Barea and Bazes have a law according to which a slave. becomes free by simply leaving his lord. Among the Manipuris, in Further India, if a slave flies from one master and selects for himself another, it is presumed that he has been badly treated by the first one, and the fugitive can consequently not be reclaimed.5 A slave among the lower races can thus by no means be described as a being destitute of all rights. As a rule, it seems, he is treated kindly, very commonly as an inferior member of the family. Among the Aleuts a slave suffering want would bring dishonour upon his master.7 The South American Mbayás, says Azara, 1 Lang, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 242. 2 Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 102 sqq. Idem, Grundriss der ethnologischen Jurisprudenz, i. 377. Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 168. Pechuel-Loesche, 'Aus dem Leben der Loango-Neger,' in Globus, xxxii. 238. 3 See also Post, Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, i. 102 sqq.; Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, p. 309 (Beni Amer); Idem, Die Sitten und das Recht der Bogos, p. 43. 4 Munzinger, Ostafrikanische Studien, P. 484. 5 Dalton, Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, p. 51. 6 Ibid. pp. 51 (Manipuris), 58 (Garos). Lewin, Hill Tracts of Chittagong, p. 34 sq. Idem, Wild Races of South-Eastern India, p. 90 (Chittagong Hill tribes). Colquhoun, Amongst the Shans, p. 267. Mouhot, Travels in the Central Parts of IndoChina, i. 250 (Stiêns). Riedel, De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, pp. 194 (Watubela 6 Islanders), 293 (people of Tenimber 141-143, 305, 439 sq. 7 Veniaminof, quoted by Petroff, loc. cit. p. 152. |