CHAP. III.] POLYGAMY. 37 



quences to the poor girl, whose arms in some cases 

 sustain luxation. Polygamy is not interdicted, but 

 is very uncommon amongst them. Here and there 

 a chief possesses two wives, sometimes three, but 

 most of them have only one. Adultery on the part 

 of the wife is punished with death, of which several 

 instances have come under my observation ; where, 

 under the influence of Europeans and missionaries, 

 the native laws have become less rigorous on this 

 point, the husband exposes his wife in pur is natu- 

 rallLus, and is then reconciled to her. In a pa 

 near the North Cape of the island the wife of an 

 influential chief had committed this crime. The 

 chief, a Christian, enraged at the insult offered to 

 him, declared he would divorce his wife. The 

 woman, on her side, said that if he did she would 

 hang herself, and would no doubt have kept her 

 word. What was to be done ? The case was dis- 

 cussed with the missionaries, and after a few days 

 the man forgave his wife and took her back again. 



The adulterer often seeks safety in flight : if he 

 is of an inferior class, or a slave, he has forfeited 

 his life ; if he is a chief or an influential person, re- 

 tributive justice cannot reach him : when he is of a 

 different tribe, it becomes a cause of war. But these 

 latter cases are very rare, as it is most frequently 

 slaves who are guilty, and they are protected by no 

 one. If the husband is faithless, his mistress is 

 sometimes killed by his wife, but at all events 

 stripped naked; and this is often done to the h us- 



