SEXUAL SELECTION, ASSORTATIVE MATING, ETC. 225 



choice has been very greatly repressed this represents but a 

 temporary phase of human evolution which was probably pre- 

 ceded, as we know it has been followed, by a period in which the 

 female sex was allowed a greater freedom in the selection of mates. 



The general effect of sexual selection among savages and semi- 

 civilized peoples was, on the whole, probably eugenic; the men 

 remaining unmated were apt to be the more unattractive or less 

 valorous and enterprising members of the tribe, and the types 

 that met with tribal approval, especially the successful warriors, 

 often enjoyed especial facilities for transmitting their character- 

 istics. While primitive women, like their more civilized sisters, 

 were attracted by males who appealed to them as possessing 

 beauty, they were probably more influenced by those qualities of 

 strength and courage which led to supremacy in the "law of 

 battle." The Indian maiden in a song quoted by Mr. Schoolcraft 

 represents her lover as ''tall and graceful as the young pine wav- 

 ing on the hill, — and as swift in his course as the noble stately 

 deer. His hair is flowing and dark as the blackbird that floats 

 through the air — And his eyes, like the eagle's, both piercing and 

 bright — His heart it is fearless and great.— And his arm it is 

 strong in the fight." In some tribes a man can win a wife only 

 after making successful trials of strength and skill. "When a 

 Dyak wants to marry," says Mr. Bock, "he must show himself a 

 hero before he can gain favor with his intended." And this is 

 commonly done by obtaining a number of heads from the mem- 

 bers of a hostile tribe. 



This predilection for strong and heroic men has long been a 

 force making for the improvement of the race. It is not un- 

 common for a woman with or without her consent to be awarded 

 as a prize to the males who are victors in the contest for her 

 possession. "Sometimes," says Howard, "a fist-fight, a battle 

 with clubs, a duel with bows and arrows or a pulling-match settles 

 the claims of rival suitors; and often, as among the North Ameri- 

 can aborigines, the contest takes the form of wrestling for wives" 

 (1. c, p. 203) . It is a prevalent custom for chiefs who are apt to be 

 men of uncommonly forcible type, to have several wives, and 



