﻿Vol.2] 
  THE 
  ARAUCANIANS 
  — 
  COOPER 
  721 
  

  

  other 
  alcoholic 
  beverages. 
  The 
  feasting 
  would 
  last 
  until 
  all 
  the 
  chicha 
  

   was 
  gone, 
  even 
  4 
  to 
  6 
  days. 
  

  

  The 
  family. 
  — 
  No 
  polyandry 
  is 
  reported 
  for 
  early 
  or 
  recent 
  times. 
  

   Polygyny 
  was 
  prevalent. 
  Commoners 
  had 
  1 
  or 
  2 
  wives; 
  wealthy 
  

   and 
  other 
  prominent 
  men 
  had 
  more 
  — 
  4 
  to 
  6 
  to 
  10, 
  with 
  occasional 
  

   cases 
  of 
  18 
  (Marino 
  de 
  Lovera, 
  1865, 
  p. 
  124), 
  20 
  (Bascunan, 
  1863, 
  p. 
  

   453; 
  Brouwer, 
  1892, 
  p. 
  81), 
  or 
  even 
  30 
  (Sors, 
  1921, 
  38:46; 
  39:180). 
  

  

  One 
  wife, 
  ordinarily 
  the 
  first 
  one 
  married, 
  was 
  head 
  wife, 
  with 
  a 
  

   certain 
  precedence 
  and 
  authority 
  over 
  the 
  others. 
  Each 
  wife 
  com- 
  

   monly 
  had 
  her 
  own 
  apartment 
  and 
  hearth 
  in 
  her 
  husband's 
  dwelling, 
  

   or, 
  according 
  to 
  Marcgrav 
  (1648, 
  p. 
  285), 
  if 
  the 
  husband 
  were 
  wealthy 
  

   her 
  own 
  separate 
  hut, 
  and, 
  according 
  to 
  Cona 
  (in 
  Moesbach, 
  1936, 
  

   p. 
  192), 
  her 
  own 
  garden 
  plot, 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  hers. 
  In 
  

   the 
  polygynous 
  households, 
  wives 
  shared 
  their 
  husband's 
  bed 
  by 
  turns, 
  

   a 
  night 
  to 
  a 
  week 
  or 
  more 
  each. 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  as 
  can 
  be 
  gathered 
  from 
  the 
  meager 
  and 
  often 
  conflicting 
  

   accounts 
  of 
  earlier 
  and 
  more 
  recent 
  writers, 
  the 
  wives 
  7 
  position 
  was 
  

   in 
  theory 
  one 
  of 
  marked 
  inferiority 
  and 
  subservience 
  to 
  the 
  husband; 
  

   in 
  actuality, 
  however, 
  while 
  some 
  harsh 
  treatment 
  is 
  recorded, 
  more 
  

   generally 
  wives 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  treated 
  with 
  a 
  certain 
  consider- 
  

   ation 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  enjoyed 
  appreciable 
  freedom. 
  

  

  If 
  a 
  wife 
  were 
  badly 
  maltreated, 
  she 
  could 
  go 
  back 
  to 
  her 
  people 
  

   who 
  would 
  then 
  have 
  to 
  return 
  the 
  bride-price 
  or 
  its 
  equivalent 
  to 
  her 
  

   husband. 
  Divorce 
  was 
  common 
  and 
  apparently 
  rather 
  easy. 
  Steril- 
  

   ity, 
  infidelity, 
  desertion, 
  and 
  ill-treatment 
  are 
  mentioned 
  more 
  com- 
  

   monly 
  as 
  the 
  grounds 
  therefor. 
  In 
  all 
  cases, 
  the 
  bride-price 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  

   given 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  husband. 
  A 
  childless 
  wife 
  could 
  be 
  sent 
  back 
  to 
  

   her 
  father. 
  If 
  a 
  woman 
  deserted 
  her 
  husband 
  to 
  marry 
  another 
  man, 
  

   the 
  latter 
  had 
  to 
  pay 
  the 
  husband 
  the 
  equivalent 
  of 
  the 
  bride-price 
  

   the 
  husband 
  had 
  paid 
  for 
  her. 
  

  

  An 
  adulterous 
  wife 
  could 
  by 
  customary 
  law 
  be 
  put 
  to 
  death 
  by 
  the 
  

   husband, 
  together 
  with 
  her 
  paramour, 
  or 
  else 
  she 
  was 
  sent 
  back 
  to 
  her 
  

   father. 
  But 
  if 
  the 
  paramour 
  were 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  offended 
  husband, 
  

   the 
  latter 
  was 
  liable 
  to 
  blood-revenge 
  from 
  the 
  killed 
  man's 
  relatives 
  ; 
  

   if 
  the 
  guilty 
  wife 
  were 
  killed, 
  her 
  husband 
  could 
  not 
  claim 
  the 
  return 
  

   of 
  the 
  bride-price. 
  More 
  commonly, 
  wifely 
  adultery 
  was 
  compounded 
  

   through 
  large 
  payments 
  by 
  the 
  paramour 
  to 
  the 
  husband. 
  Actually, 
  

   adultery 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  wives 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  rare 
  (Bascunan, 
  

   1863, 
  p. 
  332; 
  Kosales, 
  1877-78, 
  1:160). 
  When 
  a 
  wife 
  returned 
  to 
  her 
  

   parents, 
  she 
  usually 
  took 
  with 
  her 
  her 
  small 
  children. 
  

  

  If 
  a 
  man's 
  wife 
  died, 
  even 
  through 
  no 
  fault 
  of 
  his, 
  he 
  had 
  to 
  make 
  

   payments 
  of 
  llancas 
  (lla^kas) 
  or 
  other 
  valuables 
  to 
  her 
  people; 
  if 
  

   through 
  his 
  fault, 
  higher 
  payments. 
  

  

  A 
  widow 
  with 
  small 
  children 
  commonly 
  returned 
  with 
  them 
  to 
  her 
  

  

  