seek a wife for him." When they did so, the widower was bound to accept their offer.[1]
This question of widows has evidently been very embarrassing for primitive societies. They have either been kept or sold, according as it might be agreeable or advantageous. But another very simple way of getting rid of the encumbrance has been to sacrifice them on the tomb of the dead husband. Nothing is less rare than such immolations in savage countries, and these atrocious acts are often inspired by affectionate sentiments, by care for the fate which awaits the deceased husband after death. How can they let him travel alone on that dangerous journey beyond the tomb? This is the reason of the widely spread custom of human sacrifices, which chiefly consist of women and slaves. I quote a few facts of this kind, simply as specimens.
In certain tribes of New Zealand the widows were strangled on the tomb of the deceased husband.[2] In equatorial Africa, at Yourriba, when the king dies, four of his wives and a number of slaves are forced to poison themselves. The poison is poured into a parrot's egg for them, and if it does not produce any effect the patients must supplement it by hanging themselves. At Jenna, on the Niger, at the death of a chief, one or two of his widows must commit suicide the same day, in order to furnish him with pleasant company in the country beyond the tomb, of which he is going to take possession.[3] At Katunga, the chief wife of the deceased king is obliged to poison herself on the tomb of her husband, in company with the eldest son and the principal personages of the kingdom. All these victims must be buried with the dead master.[4]
The massacres by which the death of the king of Dahomey is solemnised are well known, and in them also the wives play an important part as victims. We know that the primitive Germans had analogous customs; for savages of all countries, to whatever race they belong, resemble each other and repeat themselves.
