Zealand, the women sometimes got off with a simple correction. We must again remark that what was blamed and punished was not the adultery itself, but adultery unauthorised, or not commanded by the legal owner—in short, theft.
At Noukahiva, says Krusenstern, there was a functionary called the "fire-lighter" who lived with the wife of a king. The duty of this dignitary was, in the first place, to obey the queen, and in the next to supply her husband's place with her in case of prolonged absence on his part.[1] Taking this fact by the side of others, as, for example, the unlimited right of the friend, or tayo, over the wife, we see clearly what the Polynesians understood by adultery. V. Adultery in Savage America.
The Esquimaux, who are as free from prejudices in their conjugal customs as the Polynesians, have also, at least certain of them, adopted the custom of joint husbands, cicisbei, who replace the husband in case of absence.[2] There are some, however, who blame the adultery of wives, and believe even that the fairies would kill them if their wives were unfaithful during their absence.[3] But all the Esquimaux are not equally easy going; some of them, the reindeer Koriaks, for example, kill at once the man and woman taken in adultery.[4]
The Redskins are always less tolerant; with them adultery is a very serious affair, although they often also consider the exchange of wives a mark of friendship. It is generally the husband who takes vengeance as he pleases, and he often does so by cutting open with his teeth the nose, and sometimes the ears, of the guilty woman. This was the practice with the Comanches,[5] the Yumas,[6] and the Sioux.[7] But the injured, or robbed, husband is at liberty to make a
- ↑ Cook, Hist. Univ. des Voy., t. xvii. p. 12.
- ↑ Bancroft, Native Races, etc., vol. i. p. 81.
- ↑ Élie Reclus, Les Primitifs.
- ↑ Démeunier, loc. cit., t. I^{er.} p. 216.
- ↑ Domenech, Voy. pittoresque, etc., p. 533.
- ↑ Bancroft, Native Races, etc., vol. i. p. 514.
- ↑ Démeunier, loc. cit., t. I^{er.} p. 219.
