My Friends the Savages

tials?-?Love among the Sakais?-?Divorcement?-?No kissing?-?Chastity?-?Bigam

zelle, and they do not slander the tiger and the snake but when they are inclined to praise her charms they do so with affection and brevity And this is not to be wondered at when one considers that the female sex in the jungle, although not beautiful to our tast

tted by Eve, which in other countries, where ever so little of Sacred History is known, has made her the butt of every insulting, sarcastic and opprobrious term. They have never discussed, as at the Macon council, the probability of a

er have their women been driven to seek emancipation, because, sharing with perfect equali

ctising

1

d and acted upon by some of our leading men in this the twentieth century: "We marry a woman to have legitimate children an

of the family, although there is nothing to be administered or directed and the female shows herself sufficiently deferential toward

agriculture, sometimes follows him into the jungle, prepares his meals and attends to other domestic duties. She looks well after her children and

about and working. If they go for a long marc

tter's guidance begins to make trips into the forest where he catches insects, picks up fruit and bulbs, learns, little by little,

tional period of

r and is taught to help in household (?) work, do

yams, to gather fire-wood, and fill the bamboo buckets with

still weak and she can scarcely lift some of the weights all

ht heart and is so contented with her hard life that I have often heard one of these good, laborious creatures declare t

short dresses and are not always dignified by the te

time comes to unite in matrimony the two young people engaged from babyhood, one no longer likes the other

f full accord that it is better not to be bound together unless the

at liberates the little Sakai world from an eno

ice is readily given her, favourable or otherwise to the suitor

anas to join in the chase after a rent-roll. There is no ambition with regard to title, position or lineage because all are equal. They are huma

by some near relations (grandfather, father or brothers) l

ircumstance determines this Pilgrim of Love and his

ut saying a word; they sit down on th

ere be any and if there is one that pleases him he points her out to one of his compa

gne, murmurs, "Eh! eh! ngot" (Yes, I am willin

of glass beads, and, if he has any, some brass wire to make bracelets

he more prosaic part of the business, that is: they decide upon the sort of presents that the bridegroom must g

where bamboo utensils are in common use) instead of two, and if a pair of parangs (woodcutter's knives) should

, after which the affianced couple part without either tears or sigh

eat da

and by some of the women, betakes himself to the far-off

y part, because joys and pains, plenty and fam

up and says i

bled: they who were at a distance are now tog

ains and puts them into the mouth of her husband and then they both partake of that light, symbolical repast from the same leaf. The nup

selves to their utmost, they dance, sing and draw from their instruments the sharpest notes that ever rent the human ear whilst the furious beating of bamboos give out the sound of wooden bells. Termi

t calm sentiment, a physiological necessity such as the good soul of Scho

al sympathy, by a spontaneous act of their own w

thing that may be said to inspire love (and bring about a marriage) in the jungle

of these good, simple people is the fide

ction arrives when physiological development imposes it, instead-as too often happens in civilized society, with great damage to

rawn toward other than their rightful partner, which naturally con

ind a couple whose difference of char

no violent quarrels and, st

ers too much from a life of such perpetual misunderstandings and the

best and most sincere wishes fo

most need of her care, leaving those over six years of age to the fathe

tion; her new companion adopts her little ones and considers them as

s. They attribute to the heart the same impulse of union as of separation. It is then Sentiment that takes the form of Law amongst them and regulates their acts. How much it is to be de

ng chi

1

ns who fight furiously against a measure so conducive to the real defence of the family, defence in the sense that its condition and functions would be

almost as an abyss that swallows up freedom, energy, scruples of honour, morality, will an

bind their own existence to that of a woman and sanctify thei

g to savages and I am a

ses are rare because they are almost exclusively based

to stay without children; if their union is without f

t agree over a divorce, in which circumstance the decision is left to

band to the family of the wife. The latter at once abandons the tribe to which she belonged after

s do not agree and that they no longer feel pleasure in each other's company, are not sufficiently cruel towards themsel

decides with whom they have to remain, and those left to the father's charge are taken care of by the womenfolk around, who from a pure impulse of maternity and without any hope of reward, treat them with motherly tenderness. It is as

ome the object of affectionate inte

f Judas nor that of Romeo. They express their sympathy and love by so

llence of their arts. Can you not imagine, kind reader, how irresistible the effect would be if, at the most passionate point of their lo

mmon sense in civilized places, I would certainly not advise them to emigrate into the Malay forest for it would be like condemning them to death by starvation as there they would find no sort of tool or material wi

herlock Holmes" to satisfy the cravings of a

od friends the savages aft

k but when they want to express a milder sentiment, such as sincere affectio

resses and a little nose-scratching, as also young men not engaged, but I can affirm with the full

t. In the cold nights they will all sleep close together to keep themse

s, and even that which relates to legitimate love is veiled in a coy

owpipe with dexterity and profit, or is able to procure the wedding presents presc

ut should this occur, and the fact become known, a marriage is arranged without any loss of time. The woman who will not consent to a matrimony

ose who do remain in the single state owe it to some moral or p

it very rarely takes place because as soon as a woman sees that her husband is enamoured o

would be glad. Well, then, let us separate for I feel t

ptial bed with a rival you may be quite sure that the

rcity of milk or a weak constitution compels them to do so. These exceptions are, however extraordinarily rare and

r excessive fecundity amongst them. Hardly ever

ith great tenderness, delighted at

y by the moon) to two years of age (two seasons of fruit)

pap made with a certain bulb and the tender leav

babble a word or two, he is given a name that usually recalls the place where he was born, some particu

young animals that have been deprived of their mother. They will adopt them and br

and eaten, but soon after a litter, belonging to the victim, was found and the

h wonderful docility even allowing the children to pl

in one of these cabins and had selected a particular corner for my night's rest, the dark lady of the house, without raising any objection to my choice, warned me that during the

up I understood that the dissolute rodent-almost bigger than a cat-had retur

o tenderly took it up and car

n adopte

ternal feeling? And does i

of her first child put an end to t

being

1

e, but as she has, at the same time, to attend to the heavy duties allott

worked countrywomen does at fifty, and the poor creature cannot in any way con

s of the jungle, for both male and female only wear a strip of bark (well b

use lists of from six to eight inches wide. Another piece of bark-cloth

their girdles with flowers or medicinal and sweet-smelling herbs, but they never think of making a chaste veil o

rdance with what civilized society requires, because "to the pure all things are pure" and in my opinion the perfect innocence in which these women go about naked is preferable to that con

ence of nether-garments their better-halves can never cla

y are made of beads (which are considered the most elegant

wrists with bracelets. These are of brass-wire, bamboo or a

disfigured by coloured

only a little bamboo stick that is supposed to have the virtue o

porcupine quill and then takes care that the wound heals quickly, wit

ge. It is not sufficient to pierce the tissue with a quill; a little bamboo cane has to be at once inserted; the day after a larger one is substit

inishing touch to the Sakais' toilet. Happy people! They

tno

ounced in English as n

eople I have mentioned those which refer to the birth of a