of his wife. She is consulted in all difficulties, and receives the fullest consideration due to her sex";1 and Colonel Dalton adds, "As a rule, in no country in the world are wives better treated." 2 The Garos are “kind husbands, and their conduct generally towards the weaker sex is marked by consideration and respect." The Bódo and Dhimáls "use their wives and daughters well, treating them with confidence and kindness."4 The Santal "treats the female members of his family with respect." Among the Kukis women are generally held in consideration; "their advice is taken, and they have much influence." Mr. Colquhoun observes that among the IndoChinese races equality of the sexes prevails, and prevailed long before Buddhism took any hold upon the country.7

Among the Nicobarese "the position of women is, and always has been, in no way inferior to that of the other sex. They take their full share in the formation of public opinion, discuss publicly with the men matters of general interest to the village, and their opinions receive due attention before a decision is arrived at. In fact, they are consulted on every matter, and the henpecked husband is of no extraordinary rarity in the Nicobars."8 Mr. Crawfurd thinks that in the Malay Archipelago "the lot of women may, on the whole, be considered as more fortunate than in any other country of the East"; they associate with the men "in all respects on terms of such equality as surprise us in such a condition of society."9 In Bali they are on a perfect equality with the men.10 The Dyak shows great respect for his wife, and always asks her opinion; 11 he regards her "not as a slave, but as a companion.” 12 Among the Bataks the married women often have a great influence over their families.13 In Serang they have in all matters equal rights with the men, and are, consequently, treated well.14 The women of Sulu "have the reputation of ruling their

8 Kloss, In the Andamans and Nicobars, p. 242.

Crawfurd, History of the Indian Archipelago, i. 73.

10 Raffles, History of Java, ii. p. ccxxxi.

11 Bock, Head-Hunters of Borneo, p. 210 sq.

12 Selenka, Sonnige Welten, p. 33. Cf. Wilkes, op. cit. v. 363.

13 Steinmetz, Ethnol. Studien Zur ersten Entwicklung der Strafe, ii. 299. 14 Riedel, De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, p. 97.

lords, and possess much weight in the government by the influence they exert over their husbands." 1

In Melanesia the women generally have to work hard, supplying the place of slaves; 2 but at least in various islands their condition is otherwise fairly good. In the Western islands of Torres Straits "the women appear to have had a good deal to say on most questions and were by no means downtrodden or ill-used." 3 In some parts of New Guinea their position is described as one of high esteem.* "They have a large voice in domestic affairs, and occasionally lord it over their masters"; and their influence is felt not only in domestic matters, but also in affairs of state. In Erromanga, of the New Hebrides, although the women did all of the hard plantation work, they were on the whole well treated by their husbands. The same is said to be the case in the Solomon Islands; in the eastern part of New Georgia they do not even seem to do much work.8 In Micronesia the position of woman is decidedly good. In the Marianne Group "the wife is absolute mistress in her house, the husband not daring to dispose of anything without her consent "; nay, the men are said to be actually governed by their wives, "the women assuming those prerogatives which in most other countries are invested in the other sex." "9 In the Pelew Islands the women are in every respect the equals of the men; the oldest man, or Obokul, of a family can do nothing without taking advice with its oldest female members.10 In the Caroline Group the weaker sex "enjoys a perfect equality in public estimation with the other."11 Among the Mortlock Islanders the wife is quite independent of her husband.12 In the Kingsmill Islands very great consideration is awarded to the women: "they seem to have exclusive control over the house," whilst all the hard labour is performed by the

1 Wilkes, op. cit. v. 343.

2 Nieboer, op. cit. p. 392 sqq. WaitzGerland, op. cit. vi. 626.

Haddon, in Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, v. 229.

Ratzel, op. cit. i. 274.

$ Pitcairn, Two Years among the Savages of New Guinea, p. 61. Cf. Bink, in Bulletin Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris, xi. 392; Hagen, Unter den Papua's, pp. 226, 243.

Robertson, Erromanga, p. 397. 7 Parkinson, Zur Ethnographie der nordwestlichen Salomo Inseln, p. 4.

8 Somerville, Ethnogr. Notes in New Georgia,' in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xxvi. 405 sq.

9 Moore, Marriage Customs, p. 187. Waitz, op. cit. v. pt. i. p. 107 sq.

10 Kubary, Die socialen Einrichtungen der Pelauer, p. 38 sq. Cf. Idem, Die Palau-Inseln,' in Journal des Museum Godeffroy, iv. 43; Keate, Account of the Pelew Islands, p. 331. 11 Hale, op. cit. p. 73..

6

12 Kubary, Die Bewohner der Mortlock Inseln,' in Mittheilungen der Geograph. Gesellsch. in Hamburg, 1878-9, p. 261.

men.1 Among the Line Islanders "no difference is made in the sexes; a woman can vote and speak as well as a man, and in general the women decide the question, unless it is one of war against another island."2 In many Polynesian islands, also, their position is by no means bad.3 In Tonga "women have considerable respect shewn to them on account of their sex, independent of the rank they might otherwise hold as nobles"; they are not subjected to hard labour or any very menial work, and their status in society is not inferior to that of men.3 In Samoa they “are held in much consideration, ... treated with great attention, and not suffered to do anything but what rightfully belongs to them." In the valley of Typee, in the Marquesas Group, the women are allowed every possible indulgence, the religious restrictions of the taboo alone excepted; they are exempt from toil, and "nowhere are they more sensible of their power." Rochon wrote of the Malagasy:-"Man here never commands as a despot; nor does the woman ever obey as a slave. The balance of power inclines even in favour of the women.' "8 At the present day, in Madagascar, the woman “is not scorned as essentially inferior to man," but enters into her husband's cares and joys, and shares his life, much in the same way as a wife does amongst ourselves.

Turning, finally, to the African continent, we find that among the Negro races the woman, though often heavily burdened and more or less subservient to her husband, is by is by no means without influence.10 "When we become more closely acquainted with family conditions," Herr Büttner observes, "we notice that there, as elsewhere, husbands are under petticoat government, those most of all who like to pose before the outer world as masters of their house. The women, including the aunts, have on all occasions, important and unimportant alike, a weighty

and

Travels, xvi. 747. Cf. Waitz, op. cit. ii. 438.

9 Little, Madagascar, p. 63.

10 Waitz, op. cit. ii. 117. Ratzel, op. cit. ii. 332. Buchner, Kamerun, p. 32 sq. Möller, Pagels, and Gleerup, op. cit. i. 171 (Lukungu). Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 29 (Banaka and Bapuku). Lang, ibid. p. 225 (Wa shambala). Burrows, Land of the Pigmies, p. 62 (Niam-Niam). Chanler, Through Jungle and Desert, p. 485 (Wakamba).

word to contribute."1 The Monbuttu women, according to Dr. Schweinfurth, exhibit towards their husbands the highest degree of independence; "the position in the household occupied by the men was illustrated by the reply which would be made if they were solicited to sell anything as a curiosity, 'Oh, ask my wife: it is hers.'" 2 Among the Momvus "the women are on a footing of equality with the men, and go hunting with them, and accompany them to the wars, taking their part in the combat." 3 Among the Madi or Moru tribe of Central Africa.

4

"women are

treated with respect and politeness by the men, who always show them preference, resigning to their use the best places, and paying them such like courtesies. The women associate with the men on equal terms, being consulted and honoured; and any insult to a woman is revenged, nay is frequently the cause of war. In a Hottentot's house the woman is the supreme ruler, and the husband has nothing at all to say. "While in public the men take the prominent part, at home they have not so much power even as to take a mouthful of sour milk out of the tub, without the wife's permission. If a man ever should try to do it, his nearest female relations will put a fine on him, consisting in cows and sheep, which is to be added to the stock of the wife."5 Among the peoples of Berber race the women exercise considerable influence over the men. Among the Guanches of the Canary Islands they were much respected. Among the Touareg "la femme est l'égale de l'homme, si même, par certains côtés, elle n'est dans une condition meilleure." Among the Beni Amer a husband undertakes nothing before consulting his wife, on whose goodwill he largely depends. 8 Of the Aulâd Solîmân, an Arab tribe in the Sahara, Dr. Nachtigal observes that it was curious to see how powerless those much feared robbers and throat-cutters were in their own houses. 9 Both in the Sahara 10 and in the East 11 the Bedouin women

enjoy a considerable degree of freedom, and sometimes actually rule over their husbands.

It is

All these statements certainly do not imply that the husband has no recognised power over his wife, but they prove that his power is by no means unlimited. true that many of our authorities speak rather of liberties. that the woman takes herself than of privileges granted her by custom; but, as we have seen before, customary rights are always more or less influenced by habitual practice. It should be added that among many savage peoples the husband has a right to divorce his wife only under certain conditions ; 1 and among a very considerable number custom or law permits the wife to separate either for some special cause or, simply, at will. In certain parts of Eastern Central Africa divorce may be effected if the husband neglects to sew his wife's clothes, or if the partners do not please each other. Among the Shans of Burma the woman has a right to turn adrift a husband who takes to drinking or otherwise misconducts himself, and to retain all the goods and money of the partnership.* Among the Irulas of the Neilgherries the option of remaining in union, or of separating, rests principally with the woman. Among the Savaras, an aboriginal hill people of the Madras Presidency, "a woman may leave her husband whenever she pleases." This, to be sure, is something very different from that absolute dominion which hasty generalisers have attributed to savage husbands in general.

It is often said that a people's civilisation may be measured by the position held by the women. But at least so far as the earlier stages of culture are concerned, this opinion is not supported by facts. Among several of the lowest races, including peoples like the Veddahs, Andaman Islanders, and Bushmans, the female sex is

1 Westermarck, op. cit. p. 523 sq. 2 Ibid. p. 526 sqq.

3 Macdonald, Africana, i. 140. Colquhoun, Amongst the Shans,

P. 295.

5 Harkness, Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting the Neilgherry Hills, p. 92.

6 Fawcett, in Jour. Anthrop. Soc. Bombay, i. 28.