find a wife, even though
surrounded by any number of girls. I do not mean to imply by this
that the whole clan-system was organized simply to prevent inbreeding.

As I have said before, young men, as a rule, either cannot marry,
being too poor to buy a wife, or, at best, can only afford to pay
for an old widow, a low-priced article. The young, pretty girls are
generally bought by old men, who often buy them when children, paying
half the price down, and waiting till the girl is of marriageable
age. As soon as she is old enough, she has to work for her future
husband, and is under the care of one of his wives. Later on, the
husband pays the rest of the money, builds a house for the girl,
and the marriage takes place without any ceremony beyond a dinner to
the nearest relatives of the couple. In most islands the girl cannot
object to a match otherwise than by running away from a disagreeable
husband. Generally, when she has run away several times, and repeated
beatings have not changed her mind, her parents pay back the money
and the husband gives up his wife. What is valued highest in a woman
is her capacity for work; but the young men have a marked taste for
beauty, and there are girls that are courted by all the young fellows
of the village, and who, although married to an old man, accept the
addresses of a young one. The husband does not seem to mind much,
provided the woman continues to work well for him.

There is such a thing as love even here, and it has been known to
grow so powerful as to lead, if unrequited, to suicide or to rapid
pining away and to death.

On the whole, the women are treated fairly well by their husbands,
but for an occasional beating, which is often provoked by foolish
behaviour; and they are taken care of, as they represent a great
value. There are old ruffians, however, who take a perverse pleasure in
torturing their wives, and these unhappy women are quite helpless, as
they are entirely in the power of their husbands. Otherwise, the fate
of the women is not as bad as many people think, and the severest rules
have never yet prevented Eve from finding and taking her pleasure.

During babyhood the children stay with their mothers; but from the
age of four on the boys spend most of their time in the gamal, while
the girls remain under their mother's care. Clothes are not worn by
the boys till they have joined the Suque, which, in some cases, takes
place long after puberty. The girls seem