154 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



After marriage a wife is supposed to be faithful, and 

 one of the many causes of divorce is the suspicion of 

 infidelity. Yet on the other hand we are told that 

 every child is welcome in the family without too great 

 a solicitude about its origin. When the husband is at 

 home his wife wears no badge distinguishing her from 

 an unmarried woman, but during his absence, especially 

 if in the service of Government, she wears a necklace 

 of silver rings or beads or of braided hair to denote 

 that she is married and therefore her person is sacred. 

 In case of prolonged absence however a husband will 

 give leave to his wife to have intercourse with another 

 man. There is a special Hova word, sabdrdnto, for 

 this leave. Its existence affords positive evidence 

 that the idea expressed is familiar, and consequently 

 that the practice is relatively frequent. Polygyny is 

 practised, the first wife being usually consulted before 

 a second is taken. Her refusal to consent is another 

 of the many grounds of divorce. A Malagasy proverb 

 compares marriage to a knot so lightly tied that it can 

 be undone with the slightest touch. The power of 

 divorce rests with the husband and may be exercised 

 on very trivial occasions. On the other hand, by 

 running away and refusing to return the wife can 

 practically compel a divorce, though the husband may 

 impose conditions with regard to property and, as we 

 have seen in a previous chapter, with regard to 

 children by a future husband : he can even divorce 

 her in such a manner as to preclude her from ever 

 marrying again. Among the Tandla, if a woman of noble 

 birth marry a commoner he cannot divorce her, but she 

 can divorce him. This may remind us of the privileges 

 enjoyed by royal women on the continent of Africa 



