THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER 385 



in failure, and there have been and still are tribes 

 and nations where love between husband and wife 

 is non-existent. Among the Hovas, we are assured 

 by authorities, the idea of love between husband 

 and wife is " hardly thought of" ; that at Win- 

 nebah " not even the appearance of affection " 

 exists between them ; that among the Beni-Amer 

 it is " considered even disgraceful for a wife to 

 show any affection for her husband " ; that the 

 Chittagong Hill tribes have " no idea of tenderness 

 nor of chivalrous devotion " ; and that the Eskimo 

 treat their wives " with great coldness and neglect." 

 The savage cruelty with which wives are treated 

 by the Australian aborigines is indicated even in 

 their weapons. The very names " Servant, Slave," 

 by which the Brahman address their wives, and the 

 wife's reply, " Master, Lord," symbolize the gulf 

 between the two. There are exceptions, it is true, 

 and often touching exceptions. Travellers cite 

 instances of constancy among savage peoples which 

 reach the region of romance. Probably there 

 never was a time, indeed, nor a race, when some 

 measure of sympathy did not stir between hus- 

 band and wife. But when we consider all the facts, 

 it is impossible to doubt that in the region of all 

 the higher affections the savage wife and the savage 

 husband were all but strangers to each other. 



2 B 



