PYGMIES OF THE ITURI FOREST 347 



A man's family is his only source of boasting and 

 pride, and these little men and women of the forest 

 marry only for love I The Negro tribes buy and sell 

 wives as so many cattle, a woman being valuable for 

 what work she can do and for the children she can bear 

 to her lord and master, the children also being goods of 

 value. The girls are sold as wives and the boys do all 

 the manual labor performed by the male. The Ifi 

 does no work, neither man nor woman, for his wants 

 are simple, and the little that has to be done is more 

 like play than work. 



When a young man loves a girl and she loves him, 

 they ask the father for permission to marry. If he 

 consents they go to the chief, who must also agree. 

 He then marries them by giving one to the other after 

 a long talk on the duties of a married couple. They 

 now Hve together for a while and if both are satisfied 

 that their affection will endure, they report to the 

 chief, who then seals the bond by some mystic rite, 

 and the couple must Hve together as long as hfe lasts. 

 I could find no polygamy among them. The people 

 are very moral, few being untrue to their mates. If 

 such a case does arise, however, the chief can sever 

 the bonds and release the innocent party. The culprit 

 meets an untimely end, imless quick enough to fade 

 into the jungle and keep away from the tribesmen. 



One odd custom is that of the exchange of persons. 

 If a man of one clan marries a girl of another, it is the 

 custom for his clique to swap one of its male members 

 for the girl, this being done in order to keep up the 

 strength of each clan, as otherwise the one blessed 

 with many girls would soon fade away, while that 

 having the most boys would become too powerful. 



