HUNTING AND FISHING RACES 137 



known as virtue or chastity in either sex before marriage '.^ 

 Another observer spealvS of very early marriage among the 

 Comanches in such a manner as to suggest that it may be 

 consummated before puberty .^ Lastly, there is some information 

 for certain other races which belong to this group. We are told 

 that among the Fuegians sexual relations begin at about ten to 

 twelve years of age,^ whereas menstruation begins at about 

 fourteen or fifteen years of age."* Of the Veddahs we read that 

 ' marriage takes place at an early age ; it was said that marriage 

 sometimes takes place before puberty, and as we have heard of 

 this at Herrebedda, Barrdaraduwa, and Omuni, we see no reason 

 to doubt the truth of the statement '.^ 



3. There is ample evidence to the effect that the period of 

 lactation is always prolonged among these races. Speaking of the 

 Tasmanians, Ling Roth mentions two years ^ and Bonwick three 

 to four ^ as the length of this period. Of the central Austrahans 

 Eyre says that 'infants are not often weaned until between two 

 and three years old '.^ Of the Western Australians Grey says 

 that ' the native women suckle their children until they are past 

 the age of two or three years '.^ For the Southern Austrahans, 

 Eylmann mentions four years,^*^ for the Narrinyeri, Taplin two 

 years,^^ for the aborigines of Encounter Bay, Meyer 'a considerable 

 time, sometimes to the age of five or six years V^ for the aborigines 

 of Victoria, Curr three years,^^ and for the natives of King George's 

 Sound, Brown four to five years.^* 



From America the evidence is similar. Among the Port Barrow 

 Eskimos the children are nursed until about three or four years of 

 age.^^ Nansen states that ' Greenland mothers are very slow to 

 wean their children. They often give suck until the child is three 

 or four, and I have even heard of cases in which children of ten 

 or over continue to take the breast.' ^^ Crantz, speaking of the 

 same country, corroborates this evidence,^' and Bessels mentions 



> Ibid., p. 157. 2 Ten Kate, Rev. d'Eth., vol. iv, p. 129. * Hyades 



and Deniker, Mission Scientifique, p. 188. * Ibid., p. 187. * Seligman, 



Veddahs, p. 95. It is possible that this may have been formerly forbidden 

 (ibid., p. 96). '■ Ling Roth, Aborigines of Tasmania, p. 168, note. 



' Bonwick, Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians, p. 85. " Eyre, 



Journals, vol. ii, p. 250. See also Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central 

 Australia, p. 51. ' Grey, Journals, voL ii, p. 250. »" Eylmann, Die 



Eingeborenen der Kolonie Siidaustralien, p. 261. ** Taplin, Native Tribes of 



South Australia, p. 15. ^^ Meyer, Aborigines of the Encounter Bay Tribe, p. 187. 



" Curr, Recollections, p. 26.3. See also Smyth, Aborigines of Victoria, vol. i, p. 48. 

 " R. Brown, Geog. Journ., vol. i, p. 39. '^ Murdoch, loe. cit., p. 415. 



'" Nansen, Eshitno Life, p. 151. " Crantz, History of Greenland, vol. i, p. 162. 



