Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/199

 are absolutely foreign to the Arabs and to the Kabyles. They strongly remind us of the times of our southern troubadours, and of the cours d'amour, which were the quintessence of chivalry. But it is important to notice that with the Touaregs, as with the Provençals and the Acquitainers of the twelfth century, who may well have had Berber ancestors, these diversions and gallantries were for aristocrats and princes, and in no way prevented the general slavery of women. These customs are curious; they show a degree of moral nobility, and are worthy of note, but at the same time we must guard against according them a general value which they do not possess. It is important, also, to remark that the independence of the Berber lady, who is saved the trouble of grinding the corn, of cooking, etc., rests on the magic power of money. "By means of accumulation," says Duveyrier, "the greatest part of the fortune is in the hands of women"—(p. 339). In short, it is only by an extraordinary power of illusion that we can recognise in the relatively favourable situation of the Berber lady a case of Amazonian gynecocracy.

In Abyssinia, which also is not a gynecocratic country, the women enjoy very great liberty; their conduct is very dissolute, and their marriage very easily broken. Bruce, who first made known to us these curious customs, likens them to those of ancient Egypt. "In Abyssinia," he says, "the women live as if they were common to every one. They pretend, however, to belong, by principle, to one man only when they marry, but they do not act up to it." Divorce is so easy in Abyssinia that Bruce says he has seen a woman surrounded by seven former husbands. The most distinguished Abyssinian ladies have cicisbei, after the Italian fashion of old times. At their feasts, according to Bruce again, the lovers yield themselves publicly to each other. Their neighbours at table simply take care to hide them very imperfectly by improvising with their cloaks a waving partition. The young women of the province of Samen, says Bruce, came alone to trade with the travellers.