by various tribes of different origin. The Battas are an irritable
and warlike tribe. They take as many wives as they please, and seldom
have less than five or six. The women live in the same apartment with
their husband; the room has no partitions, but each wife has a separate
fireplace. As the bridegroom always makes a present of buffaloes, or
horses, to the parents of the bride, daughters are considered a source
of wealth. The women do all the work, while their husbands lounge in
idleness, playing on the flute, with wreaths of globe-amaranth around
their heads; or racing with each other, without saddle or stirrups,
or hunting deer, or gambling away their wives, their children, and
themselves. The Battas consider their wives and children as slaves, and
sell them whenever they choose. An unfaithful wife has her hair cut
off, and is sold for a slave; the paramour is killed and eaten by her
husband’s tribe.
On festival occasions, the girls wear gold pendants in their ears, and
fasten their hair with golden pins, having heads in the shape of birds
or dragons. They likewise give a beautiful polish to large shells, of
which they make bracelets. Their dress covers the person modestly.
More is known of the Redjangs than of any other tribe in Sumatra. They
are a small, well-formed race, with deep olive complexion, and hair of
shining blackness, owing partly to the cocoa-nut oil with which they
constantly anoint it. The women are very proud of long hair, which they
roll up tastefully on the crown of the head. They are fond of wearing
garlands, which are generally composed of white, or light yellow,
flowers. In some districts the girls wear fillets half an inch broad
around their foreheads; the poor have them made of the leaves of the
nipah-palm, but the rich wear silver and gold.
The Redjangs have the absurd custom of stretching the ears, flattening
the noses, and compressing the heads of new-born infants. They let the
nails of the middle and little finger grow to an extraordinary length.
The tips of the fingers are stained with the red juice of henna; and it
is singular that their hands are always cold to the touch.
Their common garments are generally made of the bark of the
paper-mulberry tree, prepared in a manner similar to Otaheite cloth.
The women in general are very ugly, but some of them are remarkably
handsome; especially among the higher classes, who are not necessarily
exposed to the influence of the sun. A Sumatran woman is considered old
at thirty, and decrepit at forty. The same custom with regard to names
prevails here as in Java. If a child is named Ladin, the parents are
called the Father and Mother of Ladin. It is a custom with them never
to speak their own name; if a stranger inquires what it is, they ask
another person to tell it.
The Redjangs manifest a degree of delicacy toward women, which one
would not expect from a people half civilized. Virtue and modesty are
held in high estimation, and as a natural consequence the opposite
vices are rare. If an unmarried woman disgraces herself, her father
and lover are both fined; if unable to pay, she is sold for a slave.
A dishonored husband seldom seeks redress by a legal process; he is
either silent, or revenges his own wrongs. Girls are seldom trusted
from the presence of their mothers; but at public festivals, in the
town hall, young people meet to dance and sing. If a young man takes
a fancy to any of the assembly, he generally sends some elderly woman
with presents to the damsel. Her parents then interfere, and if they
consider the match a suitable one, the preliminaries are soon settled.
There are three different kinds of marriage among the Redjangs. By
the first mode, the husband purchases his wife for a given sum, and
she becomes his slave, to all intents and purposes. In this case,
a man is allowed to have as many wives as he can buy and maintain.
This marriage, which is called marriage by _jourjour_, is in most
cases modified by a custom, which enables the parents of the bride to
reconcile their avarice with affection. A part of the price of their
daughter remains unpaid, and is called _tali koulo_, or the bond of
friendship. While this sum, however small, remains due, the woman is
not the slave of her husband; he cannot sell her, or abuse her with
impunity, and she is at liberty to seek a divorce from him when she
pleases. When families are upon good terms, a portion of the _jourjour_
often remains unpaid for several generations; and some men are quite
rich from the sums due to them for daughters, sisters, aunts, and
grand-aunts. These are regarded as debts of honor, and are very seldom
lost. Where the whole _jourjour_ is paid and received during the
lifetime of a woman, she is completely in the power of her husband; her
only privilege is, that he is obliged to sell her to her relations,
if they offer as high a price as he can obtain elsewhere. But these
connections are very rarely formed without the _tali koulo_, or bond of
friendship.
The second kind of marriage is called marriage by _ambelanack_. In this
case the husband is adopted by the bride’s father, remains with him,
works under his authority, and both parents and children are considered
as the property of the head of the family. A man who is married in
this way cannot take another wife, without the consent of his adopted
father; but if he acquires, either by industry or inheritance, a sum
sufficient to pay the expenses attendant upon other forms of marriage,
he can at any time secure to himself and wife the privileges belonging
to them.
By the third mode, the husband gives and receives a sum of money, and
the wife is on a perfect equality with him. This is called marriage by
_simando_, and takes place less frequently than the other forms. In
this case, a second wife cannot be taken without divorcing the first,
and giving her half the fortune; but if the wife herself seeks the
separation, she loses her right to half the property, and can only
receive her original dowry.
The various regulations connected with these different forms of
marriage, and consecrated by custom only, are carefully observed.
The wedding ceremonies are very simple. The father of one of the
parties, or the chief of the village, joins their hands and pronounces
them husband and wife. An _iman_ performs this office for those who are
Mohammedans. A bamboo broken in the presence of the parties and their
relations constitutes a divorce.
The Redjangs are gentle, patient, polite, and serious. They bathe
frequently, but never wash their garments.
The Lampongs, who reside in the south part of Sumatra, are
distinguished by a complexion lighter than the other tribes. In the
shape of their faces, and the form of their eyes, they resemble the
Chinese. The tallest and handsomest women of the island belong to this
tribe. Their manners are much more free than the Redjangs, and they are
less scrupulous about the character of their wives and daughters. It
is a common thing to see a young girl sitting out of doors, perfuming
and arranging her lover’s hair, while he lays his head in her lap,
and looks up affectionately in her face. They generally marry by
_jourjour_, and the bride is always protected by the _tali koulo_, or
bond of friendship. Marriages by _simando_ are very rare. At festivals,
a young man is appointed to select the couples that shall dance
together. On these occasions both men and women use perfumed ointments,
and paint their faces in fantastic style.
The Sumatrans have naturally very perfect teeth, but they grind them
away almost to the gums, or file them to a point, and dye them jet
black. The wealthy have the teeth of the lower jaw covered with gold
plate, so as to produce a rich contrast with the upper ones. Those who
cannot afford this, leave one or two white, by way of contrast. A feast
is given by the family whenever a child has its ears pierced and teeth
filed. Women do not carry infants in their arms, but sitting astride on
the hip, supported by a cloth which is tied on the opposite shoulder.
Their cradles are made to swing from the ceiling, like those of the
Hindoos.
* * * * *
Very little is known concerning the social condition of Borneo. It
contains various tribes, similar to each other in person and manners.
The women of the Biadjos are said to be tall and handsome. Their only
clothing is a strip of cloth about the waist, and they are accustomed
to paint their bodies blue. They hang weights to their ears, about as
large as a crown-piece, which stretches them to an immoderate length.
They plate their teeth with gold, and wear necklaces of tigers’ teeth.
No man is allowed to solicit a damsel in marriage until he has cut
off the head of an enemy. When this condition is fulfilled the lover
makes presents to his mistress; if they are accepted, an entertainment
is given by her parents, and on the ensuing day by his parents. After
the feast, the bridegroom is conducted home to the house of the bride.
At the door, a friend sprinkles him with the blood of a cock, and her
with the blood of a hen; the parties then give each other their bloody
hands, and from that time they live together. If the blood of the fowls
spirts too far, it is deemed an unlucky sign. If a man loses his wife,
he cannot marry a second, till he cuts off the head of another enemy.
If his wife conducts herself improperly, he gives her a sound beating.
On the sea-coast of Borneo fleets of boats may be seen laden with
provisions brought to market by the women, who are screened from the
sun by huge bamboo hats. These women are small and rather pretty.
In complexion they are about as dark as mulattoes. They walk with a
firm step, and turn their toes out, which is an unusual thing among
the oriental nations. Wives are bought, and marriages performed with
great ceremony; generally before the bride is eleven years old. Public
opinion is by no means rigid concerning the character of unmarried
females; but the subject is viewed differently when they have husbands.
* * * * *
The natives of Celebes are of a light olive complexion, with glossy
black hair, that falls in ringlets over the neck and shoulders. Men
adorn their hair with jewels; but women merely wear gold chains about
the neck. They color their nails red, and their teeth black, and take
great pains to flatten the noses of their infants.
The husband receives no other dowry with his wife than the presents
she obtains before the ceremony. As soon as the young couple are
married, they are shut up in an apartment by themselves for three
days; a servant brings them necessary food, while their friends are
entertained with great merriment by the bride’s father. At the end
of this time they are liberated, receive congratulations, and are
conducted to their future home. The women of Celebes are distinguished
for virtue and modesty. They take an active part in business, and are
frequently raised to the throne, though the government is elective. At
public festivals they appear freely among men, and those in authority
discuss affairs of state in their councils. In token of equality, the
husband and wife always eat from the same dish; he from the right
side, and she from the left. The wife of the chief of Lipukaski was
considered one of the first politicians in Celebes. One day she rode
out among the warriors of her tribe, and upbraiding them with tardiness
in giving battle, she demanded a spear, that she might herself give
them an example. Stimulated by her reproof, they went forth and gained
the victory. This woman was said to have a countenance expressive
of great intelligence and firmness. In many parts of the Eastern
Archipelago women have been intrusted with sovereign power; and it is
singular that this occurs most frequently where the government is most
turbulent. The passion for gaming, so common in the other islands,
prevails in Celebes. Wives, children, and personal freedom are often
staked, and quarrels arise which occasion deadly hostility between
families. The fine demanded by law is twenty dollars for the murder of
a man, and thirty for a woman. The women of Celebes, and of the other
Molucca islands, wear hats of prodigious size, six or seven feet in
diameter. Infants are plentifully rubbed with oil, and boys are never
nursed longer than a year, from the idea that it would injure their
understandings.
* * * * *
In Amboyna, as in almost every part of the East, a man purchases a
bride by a certain sum of money given to the parents. They have an
unbounded admiration for very young girls, and a great abhorrence of
old women. The girls are not often trusted away from their mothers;
but courtship is carried on by means of nosegays, or plates of fruit,
mutually exchanged, and arranged in such a manner as to signify the
various degrees of love or disapprobation.
In some of the neighboring islands, when a young man is too bashful to
speak his love, he seizes the first opportunity he can find of sitting
near the object of his affection, and tying his garment to hers. If she
allows him to finish the knot, and neither cuts nor loosens it, she
thereby gives her consent to the marriage. If she merely loosens it, he
is at liberty to try his luck again, at a more propitious moment; but
if she cuts it, there is an end of hope.
* * * * *
The customs of the island of Bali greatly resemble those of the
Hindoos. Widows sacrifice themselves on the funeral pile of their
husbands in great numbers. When the king dies, all his wives and
mistresses devote themselves to the flames; and when the queen dies,
great numbers of her female slaves are stabbed with daggers, and
thrown upon the pile. This death is considered so honorable that it
is generally eagerly contended for; and if it happen that a request
to be sacrificed is for any reason refused, it is mourned over as an
irretrievable disgrace. Individuals who have been thus denied, as
well as those who, being selected, are reluctant to become victims,
are forever after imprisoned. If they find means to escape, the first
person that meets them may dispatch them with a dagger, and cast their
bodies into the streets. At the funeral of the king’s son, one of his
wives, who was very young, asked her father whether, as she had been
married only three months, it was her duty to sacrifice herself. The
parent, steeled by custom, urged the disgrace she would bring on her
family, and the poor girl sprung into the flames, where she was soon
consumed. It seldom happens that one of the laboring class devotes
herself in this way, and the sacred order never do; but it is almost
universal in the mercantile and military classes.
Wives are purchased; and if a young man cannot obtain the requisite
sum, he agrees to serve the father or guardian of the damsel, until
his labor defrays the debt. When his conduct is very satisfactory, the
parents often remit a portion of his services. Divorce is not allowed
in Bali. The women of this island disfigure their ears by enormously
extended apertures. They are frank and cheerful in their manners, and
enjoy a degree of consideration which seems remarkable where polygamy
prevails.
* * * * *
The women of Timor have very delicate and graceful forms, dark brown
complexions, pleasing features, and black eyes full of vivacity. They
consider corpulence a very great defect.
When a new king begins his reign they sacrifice a young female slave,
adorned with jewels and flowers, by exposing her on the water’s edge
until the crocodiles come and devour her. This is done on account of a
tradition that the royal family descended from crocodiles.
The natives of this island chew betel and gild their front teeth.
In general, both men and women let the hair flow loosely over their
shoulders; but sometimes the wealthy fasten it with golden rings, or
arrange it in the Grecian style, fastened by gold pins with diamond
heads, or tortoise-shell combs inlaid with gold. They constantly
wash their hair with lye, and render it glossy with cocoa-nut oil.
The higher classes of females are seldom seen in public. They are
distinguished by golden bracelets, expensive coral necklaces, and
ornaments of copper-wire around their arms and ankles. They are
sometimes tattooed with figures representing flowers, made with an
instrument dipped in indigo. They spend their time in frequent bathing,
smoking, chewing betel, and sleeping, while slaves fan them to keep
away the insects. Sometimes they amuse themselves by making trifling
articles of rice straw, or leaves of the pandanus; but all occupation,
except light fanciful work, is left to the poorer classes. They pay
evening visits, drink tea together, and remain till late at night,
entertained with the dancing and singing of slaves, accompanied by the
Malay tambourine and the Chinese tamtam.
The ladies of Timor are extravagantly fond of perfumes. Their dress
is impregnated with the odor of sandal-wood and gum-benjamin, their
beds are strewed with fragrant flowers, and they often chew small
Chinese cakes, highly aromatic, which perfume the breath for a long
time. They likewise wear garlands about their head, neck, and arms.
Their love-letters are composed of flowers, and betel leaves folded in
different ways, according to the meaning they are intended to convey.
When a girl bestows a wreath taken from her own person, it is an open
avowal of affection.
Very little disgrace is attached to any indiscretions committed before
marriage. When parents are satisfied with the price offered for a
daughter, they cause animals to be killed and the entrails consulted
for omens, before the wedding takes place. The people of Timor take as
many wives as they can maintain, and sometimes sell their children in
order to purchase them. Here, as in Java, girls are considered a source
of wealth, because at their marriage parents are sure to receive a sum
of gold, or a certain number of cattle. So long as any part of the
price remains unpaid, they can take back their daughter without making
restitution, or they may claim her children as property.
* * * * *
The inhabitants of New Guinea are frightfully ugly. Their skin is black
and rough; they color their hair a fiery red, and dress it like a huge
mop. Both men and women pass rings, sticks, and pieces of bone through
their noses, which render it difficult for them to breathe. While these
savages are lounging about, or chasing wild hogs, their women cut wood,
dig vegetables, and make pottery ware. The bachelors live in houses by
themselves, built apart from the other cabins.
* * * * *
The natives of New Holland are nearly black, and but little more comely
than their neighbors of New Guinea. They go without clothing, and rub
themselves with fish oil, as a defence against musquitoes. They daub
their hair with yellow gum, in order to fasten ornaments of feathers,
fish-bones, and the tails of dogs. Both sexes have the back and arms
deeply scarred by an operation performed with pieces of broken shell.
Scarcely any woman has the two lower joints of the little finger; it is
not known whether this sacrifice is made in mourning for relatives, or
for some other reason. Before a girl is given to her husband, her two
front teeth are knocked out. The _lover_ then throws a kangaroo skin
over her shoulders, spits in her face several times, marks her with
painted stripes of different colors, orders her to march to his hut
with his provision bag, and if she does not go fast enough to please
him, he gives her a few kicks by the way. These savages generally
steal wives from some tribe with whom they are at enmity. As soon as
they observe a girl without any protector near, they rush upon her,
stupefy her with blows of a club, and drag her through the woods with
the utmost violence. Her tribe retaliate merely by committing a similar
outrage. There are no wedding ceremonies. These wretched women spend
much of their time in fishing. They chew muscles and cockles, and drop
them in the water for bait. Their lines are made of fibres of bark,
and their hooks of mother-of-pearl oyster shells, rubbed on stones
till they assume the desired shape. They commonly beguile the time by
singing; but they never dance, though the men spend a great deal of
their time in that amusement.
A woman will often be out with two or three children, in a miserable
boat, on the very edge of a rolling surf, that would frighten even
an experienced mariner. If they have an infant, it lies across the
mother’s lap, without danger of falling; for while employed in fishing,
she sits in the bottom of the shallow boat, with her knees up to her
neck, and between the knees and the body her babe lies securely.
When the New Hollanders are displeased with their wives, they spear
them or knock them in the head. Neither men nor women appeared to
have any sense of modesty; but when they found that white people, who
visited the island, thought it indecent to go without clothing, the
women grew more reserved, and seemed desirous of conforming to their
ideas of propriety.
* * * * *
The people of Van Diemen’s Land are in a state similar to that of New
Holland. They rub their hair with red ochre, and decorate it with
fish-bones and teeth. The dull black of their complexions is deepened
with powder of charcoal. They likewise tattoo themselves in lines or
points, which rise up in tubercles, of the same color as the rest of
the skin. The women dive into the sea for shell-fish and lobsters,
while their husbands sit by a fire cooking and eating the choicest
morsels they procure; they likewise hunt game, and cut all the fuel.
The men keep as many wives as they please, but treat them so badly,
that they seize every opportunity to run away and place themselves
under the protection of the British sailors, who come there to obtain
seals. They are much handsomer, and more cleanly, than the women of
New Holland, and are said to be remarkably kind and docile. Toward the
sailors, who protect them, they are most faithful and affectionate. If
a storm comes on while their mates are out engaged in the seal-fishery,
these tender-hearted creatures constantly endeavor to propitiate
the Good Spirit with songs, which they accompany with graceful and
supplicating gestures. They have such a dread of returning to the
power of their brutal husbands, that they are continually afraid the
sailors will go away and leave them. If they are so unfortunate as to
be seized by their tribe, they are treated most savagely, and their
half European children are thrown into the fire. These children are
said to be universally and remarkably beautiful. In their wild state
these women wear little or no clothing. Infants sit on the shoulders of
the mother, entwining their legs about her neck, and holding her fast
by the hair of her head. Being accustomed to this position, they take
care of themselves with great dexterity. The women may often be seen
at the fishing stations, pursuing their occupation with babes in this
apparently dangerous situation.
* * * * *
Little is known of the interior of the Philippine islands. Some of
the native tribes who live in the mountains, wear only a small apron
made of the barks of trees. They are said to be friendly, cheerful,
and cleanly, with scrupulous ideas of modesty, both in married and
unmarried women. They purchase their wives. The simple bridal ceremony
is performed by a priestess, who sacrifices an animal on the occasion.
Manilla, the largest town of these islands, is principally occupied by
the descendants of Spanish and Chinese settlers. They are extremely
indolent; sleeping and smoking the whole day. Little children learn to
smoke before they can run alone; and women are so fond of cigars, that
they have them a foot long and thick in proportion. When they walk out
to take the evening air, whole parties of them may be seen, elegantly
dressed, with these great bales of tobacco burning in their mouths.
They likewise injure their teeth by chewing betel.
* * * * *