PBIMITIVE AGEICULTUKAL EACES 175 



intercourse is almost invariably prohibited for some time after 

 child-birth. As a rule the prohibition holds good so long as suck- 

 ling lasts, and this we have seen to mean more nearly three than 

 two years. In some cases the period is shorter, and there are 

 instances where it only endures for a few months. There are also 

 very rare examples of the exact opposite namely, of a prohibition 

 against breaking off intercourse. As the evidence given below 

 shows, to this custom we must attribute very great importance. 

 A Ewe-speaking woman ' may not admit the male . . . while 

 suckling '. l Among the Yoruba-speaking people ' during the 

 period of lactation the wife must not cohabit with her husband '. 2 

 Intercourse during the suckling period is prohibited by the 

 Kagero, 3 the Hausa, 4 and in Benin. 5 In the Warri district of 

 the Niger Protectorate it is ' customary for a woman to avoid 

 cohabitation with her husband for nearly three years after 

 pregnancy '. 6 Mungo Park, who travelled through this district, 

 observed that ' three years' nursing is not uncommon, and during 

 this period the husband devotes his whole attention to his other 

 wives '. 7 Other authors record similar facts for other West African 

 races. The Moioa abstain for four years, 8 the Gallinas until the 

 child can talk and walk, 9 the Hobbes during lactation ; 10 Nassau, 

 speaking generally of the Cameroon district, mentions three years, 11 

 and Keade, speaking of Ashanti, mentions the period of lactation. 12 

 With regard to the Congo district, Cureau, 13 Johnston, 14 and 

 Ward 15 mention prohibition during the suckling period. Among 

 the Bangala ' during the suckling period the husband has no 

 sexual relations with his wife, or the child will become thin and 

 weak and probably die s . 16 Another account of the same people 

 mentions two years as the length of the period. 17 Prohibition 

 during lactation is also recorded of the Mayombe, 18 the Ababua, 19 

 and the Bayaka. 20 Intercourse is only resumed among the 

 Mandja 21 and the Warega 22 when the child can walk. The 



1 Ellis, Ewe-Speaking Peoples, p. 206. * Ellis, Yoruba-Speaking People*, 



p. 185. 3 Tremearne, J. A. /., vol. xlii, p. 174. * Ibid., vol. xxxvi, 



p. 93. 5 Ling Roth, Great Benin, p. 39. 6 Granville, J. A. I., vol. xxvii, 



p. 106. 7 Mungo Park, Travels, p. 402. 8 Tremearne, Head-Hunters 



of Nigeria, p. 239. Harris, loc. cit., p. 36. 10 Desplagnes, Plateau 



Central Nigerien, p. 227. " Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa, p. 11. 



12 Reade, South Africa, p. 45. 13 Cureau, loc. cit., p. 378. " John- 



ston, George Grenfell and the Congo, p. 671. 15 Ward, J. A. I., vol. xxiv, 



p. 289. 16 Weeks, J. A. I., vol. xxxix, p. 418. " Overbergh and Jonghe, 



Coll. Hon. Eth., No. 1, p. 199. " Ibid., No. 2, p. 219. 19 Halkin, 



ibid., No. 7, p. 260. 20 Torday and Joyce, J. A. /., vol. xxxvi, p. 51. 



21 Gaud, Coll. Man. Eth., No. 8, p. 154. Delhaise, loc. cit., p. 154. 



