PRACTICES TO OBTAIN CHILDREN in 



away the girls' kidney-fat, and the branch is burnt. 

 " The young men who threw the twigs and bit off the 

 food are understood to have covenanted with her not 

 to assault her, and further to protect her until she shall 

 be given away to her betrothed ; but the agreement 

 extends no further ; she may entertain any of them of 

 her own free will as a lover." 1 The agreement may 

 extend no further. A youth who has taken part in a 

 solemn ceremony performed for the benefit of the girl 

 may by tribal law be under a special obligation not 

 to offer her violence. But that this is the purport of 

 the ceremony we must take leave to doubt. It does 

 not explain the details. The connection with the 

 puberty rites, the ritual spitting out of the food into 

 the fire by the youths, the intimate relation created 

 between the sticks and the girl's body and the conse- 

 quent fear of magical influence through them, and the 

 right of the girl afterwards to entertain any of the 

 youths as a lover, all alike negative the establishment 

 of any fraternal bond between her and the youths, 

 such as would be implied by a covenant of the kind 

 indicated ; all alike point to some effect to be wrought 

 upon her ; and that effect can only be a strengthening 

 for the duties of adult life, among which the bearing 

 of children occupies by far the most prominent place. 

 But we require to know a little more about the circum- 

 stances, and in particular how the youths are selected, 

 and what if any preparation they undergo, to pro- 

 nounce definitely on the question. 



1 Brough Smyth, i. 61. It is said that in New Caledonia the 

 ground is thrashed by boys with sticks, with the idea of making it 

 fruitful; but the fact does not rest on direct evidence (J. J. 

 Atkinson, in F. L. xiv. 256). 



