entirely banished from the sphere of domestic life, and it is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that when it appears in other relations, an association of ideas attaches a notion of impurity to the desire and a notion of shame to its gratification. Evidently, also, the religious enforcement of celibacy is intimately allied to the belief that sexual intercourse is the great transmitter of original sin, as well as to the abhorrence of every enjoyment which is considered to degrade the spiritual nature of man. CHAPTER VIII THE COURTSHIP OF MAN SPEAKING of the male and female reproductive cells of plants, Professor Sachs remarks that, wherever we are able to observe an external difference between the two, the male cell behaves actively in the union, the female passively.1 In this respect there is an analogy between plants and many of the lower animals. In the case of some lowly-organised animals, which are permanently affixed to the same spot, the male element is invariably brought to the female. There are other instances in which the females alone are fixed, and the males must be the seekers. Even when the males and females of a species are both free, it is almost always the males that first approach the females.2 As Mr. Darwin points out, we can see the reason why, in the first instance, the male plays the active part:-"Even if the ova were detached before fertilisation, and did not require subsequent nourishment or protection, there would yet be greater difficulty in transporting them than the male element because, being larger than the latter, they are produced in far smaller numbers."3 He adds, however, that, with respect to forms of which the progenitors were primordially free, it is difficult to understand why the males should invariably have acquired the habit of approaching the females, instead of being approached by them. Perhaps the explanation may 1 Sachs, 'Text-Book of Botany,' p. 897. 2 Darwin, 'The Descent of Man,' vol. i. pp. 343, et seq. be that the seeker is more exposed to danger than the one sought after, and that the death of a male at the pairing time is less disadvantageous for the existence of the species than the death of a female. At any rate, we may say with Mr. Darwin that it is necessary that the males should be endowed with strong passions in order that they may be efficient seekers; and the acquirement of such passions would naturally follow from the more eager males leaving a larger number of offspring than the less eager.1 3 The rule holds good for the human race, the man generally playing a more active, the woman a more passive, part in courtship. The latter, as it has been said, "requires to be courted." Yet, curiously enough, there are a few peoples among whom the reverse seems to be the case, just as, among the lower animals also, there are some species of which the females are the courters.2 Among the Moquis in New Mexico, according to Dr. Broeck, "instead of the swain asking the hand of the fair one, she selects the young man who is to her fancy, and then her father proposes the match to the sire of the lucky youth." In Paraguay, we are told, the women were generally endowed with stronger passions than the men, and were allowed to make proposals; 5 and among the Garos, according to Colonel Dalton, it is not only the privilege but even the duty of the girl to speak first, any infringement of this rule being summarily and severely punished. "If a male makes advances to a girl," he says, "and the latter, rejecting them, chooses also to tell her friends that such tenders of affection have been made to her, it is looked on as an insult to the whole 'mahári' (motherhood) to which the girl belongs, a stain only to be obliterated by the blood of pigs, and liberal libations of beer at the expense of the 'mahári' to which the man belongs." 1 Darwin, 'The Descent of Man,' vol. i. p. 344. Ac 2 'Sir R. Heron states that with pea-fowl, the first advances are always made by the female; something of the same kind takes place, according to Audubon, with the older females of the wild turkey' (ibid., vol. ii. p. 134). 3 Schoolcraft, loc. cit. vol. iv. p. 86. 4 Rengger, loc. cit. p. 11. 5 Moore, loc. cit. p. 261. Dalton, loc. cit. p. 64. Cf. ibid., pp. 142, 233 (Bhúiyas, Muásís). cording to Mr. Batchelor, it constantly occurs among the Ainos that the proposal of marriage comes in the first place from the girl;1 and in Polynesia,2 as also among the Kafirs of Natal 3 and certain tribes in Oregon, the same is sometimes the case. 4 It often happens that the parents of both parties make up the match; and among several peoples the man pays his suit by proxy. But these instances are of no particular importance. In most animal species courtship takes place in nearly the same way. During the season of love, the males even of the most timid animals engage in desperate combats with each other for the possession of the female, and she, although comparatively passive, nevertheless often exercises a choice, selecting one of the rivals. This fighting for a female occurs even among insects,5 and is of universal prevalence in the order of the Vertebrata. We may, with Haeckel, regard it as a modification and a special kind of the struggle for existence. There can be no doubt that our primeval human ancestors had, in the same way, to combat for their brides. Even now this kind of courtship is far from being unknown. Speaking of the Northern Indians, Hearne states that "it has ever been the custom among those people for the men to wrestle for any woman to whom they are attached; and, of course, the strongest party always carries off the prize. A weak man, unless he be a good hunter and well-beloved, is seldom permitted to keep a wife that a stronger man thinks worth his notice. . . . This custom prevails throughout all their tribes, and causes a great spirit of emulation among their youth, who are upon all occasions, from their childhood, trying their strength and skill in wrestling. Richardson also saw, more than once, a stronger man assert his right to take the wife of a weaker countryman. "Any one," he says, "may challenge 1 Batchelor, loc. cit. p. 324. 2 Waitz-Gerland, loc. cit. vol. vi. p. 127. 3 Shooter, 'The Kafirs of Natal,' p. 52. 4 Wilkes, loc. cit. vol. iv. p. 457. 5 Darwin, 'The Descent of Man,' vol. i. pp. 459, 501. 7 Hearne, loc. cit. pp. 104, et seq. another to wrestle, and, if he overcomes, may carry off his wife as the prize. . . . The bereaved husband meets his loss with the resignation which custom prescribes in such a case, and seeks his revenge by taking the wife of another man weaker than himself." With reference to the Slave Indians, Mr. Hooper says, "If a man desire to despoil his neighbour of his wife, a trial of strength of a curious nature ensues: they seize each other by the hair, which is worn long and flowing, and thus strive for the mastery, until one or another cries peccavi. Should the victor be the envious man, he has to pay a certain number of skins for the husband-changing woman." 2 3 Among the Californians also, conflicting claims sometimes arise between two or more men in regard to a woman; and, among the Patwin, it occasionally happened that men who had a quarrel about a woman fought a duel with bows and arrows at long distances. In Mexico, a duel often decided the conflict between two competing suitors. Among the Guanas, according to Azara, the men frequently do not marry till they are twenty years old or more, as before that age they cannot conquer their rivals.5 Among the Muras, the wives are most commonly gained in a combat with fists between all the lovers of the girl; and the same is the case with the Passés. 7 Among the Australian aborigines, quarrels are perhaps for the most part occasioned by "the fair sex." Speaking of the natives near Herbert Vale, Northern Queensland, Herr Lumholtz says that, "if a woman is good-looking, all the men want her, and the one who is most influential, or who is the strongest, is accordingly generally the victor." 8 Hence, the majority of the young men must wait a long time before 1 Richardson, loc. cit. v. ii. pp. 24, et seq. Cf. Mackenzie, loc. cit. p. 145; Ross, in 'Smith. Rep.,' 1866, p. 310. 2 Hooper, loc. cit. p. 303. (Greenlanders). Cf. 3 Schoolcraft, loc. cit. vol. iv. p. 224. 4 Waitz, loc. cit. voi. iv. p. 132. 6 Nansen, loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 319 Powers, loc. cit. pp. 221, et seq. 5 Azara, loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 94. v. Martius, loc. cit. vol. i. pp. 412, 509. 7 Wilkes, loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 195. Bastian, 'Rechtsverhältnisse,' p. 176, note 1. Salvado, Mémoires,' p. 279. 8 Lumholtz, loc. cit. p. 213. |