564 



There is no licence on the part of married women in any 

 form or under any circumstance, and adultery was in all 

 cases considered a serious offence, which was sometimes 

 punished by death (see chap, iii., sec. 5). 



During the menses (called Laro, which means blood) the 

 woman is isolated, and she usually sleeps in a small temporary 

 hut erected near the house or in the wom^an's corner of the 

 house. She is never sexually approached during the period. 

 I was told by one of my informants, a very intelligent and 

 trustworthy man, th.at menstruation only takes place just 

 about new moon. When, however, I tried to check this state- 

 ment by inquiry of other men, it was neither corroborated 

 nor denied, they saying that they did not know anything 

 about this purely feminine subject. But I have reasons to 

 assume that tlie statement represents the woman's view. I could 

 not, of course, ascertain the actual truth; but even if this 

 bo merely the belief of the Mailu women, it is of great 

 interest. Not one of my informants was aware that pregnancy 

 can be diagnosed by the stopping of the menstrual flow ; they 

 were, in fact, very much astonished and genuinely amused 

 at the idea. This seems to confirm the view, expressed to me 

 directly by some white men, v/ho were fairly well acquainted 

 with native women, that much secrecy and reticence obtains 

 between man and woman in sex matters. 



General Remarks ahout Marriage. — The marriage insti- 

 tution among the Mailu possesses distinct and, more or less, 

 independent aspects. It is — in its essential and universal 

 quality — a contract between two individuals, involving sexual 

 relations, community of daily life, mutual services of various 

 kinds, and, last but not least, community of economic interests 

 in the fullest sense of that word, as applicable to the native 

 conditions. On the other hand, marriage involves a series 

 of mutual obligations betvv^een the. husband and the wife's 

 family. They consist in the exchange of gifts — in the main 

 of pigs and native ornaments — which form the substance of 

 the annual feast. This aspect is a prominent Mailu feature of 

 marriage. The same state of things seems, however, to obtain 

 among the other Papuo-Melanesians and among the Massim, 

 though perhaps not with the same distinctiveness. The 

 regular exchange of gifts is one of the main features of the 

 Papuo-Melanesian and Massim cultures, as has been fully 

 recognized by Prof. Seligman.^^^' Now, it is beyond doubt 

 that this exchange is in nine cases out of ten initiated as 

 the original price of the bride paid by the bridegroom at 

 marriage, and subsequently returned to him. Then, in turn, 

 he has to give a pig when the next opportunity offers, and 



(38) "Melanesians," Massim. 



