Holbrook argus., 1900-08-04
NUMEROUS HUSBANDS
POLYANDRY AS PRACTICED BY
UHCIVILIZEO PEOPLES.
Women in Central Africa May Marry
as Many Men as They Choose-Cere-
mony Incident to Coming Out of
Larodezi Girl.


may have a plurality of wives is as old
rs the hills. The reverse of the shield
however, has not been presented to the
eye quite SO much, that in which the
woman may possess many husbands.
In certain parts of Central Africa 1t
is not an uncommon occurrence for
women among the native tribes to have
hs many as 100 and sometimes 100
husbands. A traveller has related how
n certain Makoldo woman became i'm
Intensely wealthy, as wealth goes in
that queer country, by marrying her
self to sutton after sutton on condition
that Il certain amount of cattle was
Forthcoming. Thus she became the
possessor of vast herd and was raised
almost to the rank of queen.
Among certain savages az extraor-
binary custom prevails-that is, If the
eldest brother of a family wishes to
marry the ceremony has also to be
gone through by his other brothers.
| Thus, If there be family of twelve
brothers and the eldest goes counting
the woman of his choice must also of
necessity be chosen by the other eleven,
and after her marriage, If the woman
wishes to add to her stock of husbands,
| there is nothing to prevent her 1oing
SO.
Among the Afghans it is ordained by
law that should a woman be left
widow the eldest brother of the dead
man is to become her husband, and the
custom is so strongly insisted upon
that any departure from it Is consid-
cred scandal and a disgrace upon the
parties concerned. The same law holds
good among the Thushwap Indians Of
British Columbia, the Somalis of east
Africa, the Damavas of south Africa,
the inhabitants of the New Hebrldes
and others, which Is remarkable when
we consider how far apart these places
are, and that the inhabitants of these
several districts have, in nine cases out
of ten, never heard of the others.
In the MarQuesas islands an extraor-
binary law Is in vogue, as follows: mo
man may have more than one wife and
no wife Of mature age less than two
husbands" Neither is there any stip-
ulation that the woman shall not have
as many husbands as she likes and
there have been cases where a woman
has had twenty or thirty husbands,
though such a state of affairs is rather
the exception than the rule.
In the Sandwich Islands polyandry
is very common. There have been cases
in the islands where women have mar
ried widowers and their sons. Neither
is there any limit in that country to
the number of husbands woman may
have If she be sufficiently fascinating.
Among numerous Indian races polyan-
dry has been an institution for ages and
among the Cingalese exists rather re-
markable custom that allows a husband
to bring home another man with him
on approval as another husband for his
wife.
A traveller in Ceylon some years ago
found one household presided over by
a woman who had thirty-five husbands,
good many of whom had been intro
duced by the original husband, the
others, in turn, being brought in to the
tolerant wife by the newcomers. OF
course, to our ideas such a state of af.
fairs is abhorrent, but very little dis
cord seemed to be rife among this par
ticular wife and her varied assortment
of husbands. The custom of centuries
, has made any ground for wonderment
or objection noneXiStent.
There is one most remarkable phase
in polyandry as practiced among the
Thibetans; that Is that If any children
be born to the widow of a man whose
brother has married the woman again
! they are counted as the children of the
deceased. And no matter whether the
woman had ten husbands, her children
would still be considered the children
of her original husband. The reason
for this is that the first husband is con.
gldered the head of the household, the
fs.E>2y property being vested in him
ntd 80 all the children are feigned to
be his.
The coming out" of a girl in the
Barodezi tribe in central Africa means
good deal more than it does here
She is taken out in the middle of the
village and all the men of her tribe are
commanded to fall in line in front OF
her in full fighting dress. She is then
blindfolded and wand placed in hel
hand. This being done, the line of war.
tiors becomes a vast circle around the
girl, and she is sent all around the liv.
ing wall that hens her in with out
stretched wand and amid the pro
foundest silence. Whoever her wand
touches as she speeds around the cir.
Gle is TO be her husband. At every sec
ord step the wand is to be thrust out
SO Chat after she has finished heI
''tour'' she will find herself possessed OF
a score or more of stalwart husbands
For she must marry every one that hel
wand touches.-Cincinnat Enquirer.