124 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



legends turn like the tale of Troy upon the theft of a 

 woman. 1 On the north-eastern coast of the island, how- 

 ever, among the Yassiassi the husbands prostitute all 

 their women, their wives and daughters alike. They 

 are great traders and the observer who reports this 

 custom suggests that it is to be ascribed to their 

 trading propensities. 2 



In the Marshall Islands no value is placed on 

 antenuptial chastity, and sexual intercourse is quite free 

 until marriage, except in the case of daughters of 

 chiefs and families of high rank on the island of 

 Nauru, where the population is Polynesian. It is a 

 disgrace to bear an illegitimate child on Nauru. To 

 obviate such an accident abortion is allowed. On the 

 same island fraternal polyandry exists, though not 

 common ; and children born of such unions are 

 reckoned as those of the entire group of husbands. On 

 the other islands a married woman is by no means 

 restricted to consort only with her own husband ; but 

 on Yaluit at least she denies him a corresponding 

 liberty. On Yaluit there are women who instead of 

 marrying entertain a succession of temporary lovers. 

 They are call karrainmerr (bushwoman). This mode 

 of life is not regarded as specially disgraceful, for the 

 chiefs wife will as readily admit to her society a 

 bushwoman as any other of her sex. Throughout the 

 islands husband and wife usually separate after a longer 

 or shorter time ; and a case is reported from Nauru in 

 which a man of twenty-four had already had eleven 

 wives, of whom some had left him and others he had 

 left. On Yaluit the husbands lend their wives in 



1 Rev. J. H. Holmes,/. A. 7. xxxiii. 127. 



2 Dr. Rudolf Poch, Globus, xcii. 279. 



