. However this may be elsewhere, in Natal, owing in
great measure to the healthy customs of the Zulu race,[*] the rate of
increase is unprecedented. Many writers and other authorities consider
polygamy as an institution, to be at once wicked and disgusting. As to
its morality, it is a point upon which it is difficult to express any
opinion, nor, indeed, does the question enter into the scope of what I
have to say; but it must be remembered that in the case of the Zulu his
whole law and existence is mixed up with the institution, and that it
is necessary to him to repair the gaps made in his ranks by war. Violent
anti-polygamists in this country always make a strong point of the
cruelty it is supposed to involve to the women, and talk about the
"violation of their holiest feelings." As a matter of fact, sad as it
may appear, the Zulu women are much attached to the custom, nor would
they, as a general rule, consent to marry a man who only purposed taking
one wife. There are various reasons for this: for instance, the first
wife is a person of importance, and takes precedence of all the others,
a fact as much appreciated by the Zulu woman as by the London lady.
Again, the more wives there are, the more wealth it brings into the
family, since in the ordinary course of nature more wives mean more
female children, who, when they come to a marriageable age, mean in
their turn at least ten cows each (the Government price for a wife). The
amount thus obtained is placed to the credit of the estate of the mother
of the girl married, and for this reason all Zulu women are extremely
anxious to have children, especially female children. Finally, the
liking of Zulu women for the custom is bred in them. It has been going
on for countless generations, and it is probable that it will go on for
so long as the race endures. Nations do not change such habits unless
the change is forced on them, with the alternative of extermination.

[*] As soon as a Zulu woman is discovered to be pregnant,
her husband ceases to cohabit with her, nor does he live
with her again until the child is weaned, eighteen months,
and sometimes two years, after its birth.

Polygamy will never be eradicated by moral persuasion, because, even
if a native could be brought to think it wrong, which is in itself
impossible, its abolition would affect his interests irredeemably. A
Zulu's wives are also his servants; they plough his land and husband his