Fantis of the Gold Coast, where the woman who quits her husband without a serious reason, taking her children with her, need only pay him a fixed indemnity—four ackies (twenty-two shillings and sixpence) for each child.[1] In the same way the Ashantees consider children a value worth keeping; thus their women can re-marry after a three years' absence of their husband; and in case of the traveller's return, it is the second marriage which holds good, only all the children that are his become the property of the first husband.[2] In fact, that equals an indemnity, since in Africa children are generally considered as a commercial value.
In Polynesia the conjugal bond could be untied, as it was tied, with the greatest ease. In the Marquesas Isles the husband and wife parted of mutual accord, in case of incompatibility of temper, and all was over; but if without his authorisation the wife deserted the conjugal hut to follow a lover, the husband watched for her and administered furious and repeated corrections.[3] At Hawaï the marriage was also dissolved at will, if the husband and wife were agreed on this point.[4] At Tahiti the unions were of the frailest; the husband and wife parted without ceremony, and the children were no obstacle, for by a previous agreement they were made over to one or other of the partners.[5] It was the same in the Caroline Isles, where, though the race was different, the customs were analogous, and married couples could divorce themselves at will.[6]
This fragility of marriages is common in savage countries. The man always has the right of repudiation, and very often the reciprocal right exists also. This fact seems even less rare among savages than it is later, at the middle period of the development of civilisation, when the patriarchal family is solidly established.
In North America, meaning, of course, savage America, the classic land of the matriarchate, man nevertheless enjoys nearly always the right of repudiation, often without limits;
