Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/61

 assertion is vague, and has not the least proof to support it.

If, continuing our inquiry, we attempt to correct these historical documents by ethnographical information, we shall hardly find, on this side of the subject more than on the other, anything but simple assertions, which are either too vague or too brief, or evidently open to dispute.

In the Andaman Islands, or at least in certain of them, the women are said to have been held in common till quite recently. Every woman belonged to all the men of the tribe, and resistance to any of them was a crime severely punished. This time we seem to have found, at length, a case of actual legal promiscuity. But, according to other accounts, the Andamanite man and woman contract, on the contrary, a monogamic and temporary union, and remain together, in case of pregnancy and maternity, until the child is weaned, as do many animals. Now, however short a conjugal union may be, it is incompatible with promiscuity.

The indigenous Indians of California, who are among the lowest of human races, couple after the manner of inferior mammals, without the least formality, and according to the caprice of the moment. They are said even to celebrate feasts and propitiatory dances, which are followed by a general promiscuity.

According to Major Ross King, some aboriginal tribes of India, notably the Kouroumbas and the Iroulas, have no idea of marriage, and live in promiscuity. The only prohibitory rule consists in not having intimate commerce with a person belonging to another class or caste; but there seem only to be two classes in the tribe.

Barbarous tribes belonging to white races are said also to have practised promiscuity in modern times. Among certain tribes of the Zaporog Cossacks the women are said to be common, and are confined in separate camps. Besides these, the Ansarians, mountaineers of Syria, are