586 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



"is seen in a band; when the young male grows up, a contest 

 "takes place for mastery, and the strongest, hy killing and driv- 

 "Ing out the others, establishes himself as the head of the com- 

 "munity."'" The younger males, being thus expelled and wan- 

 dering about, would, when at last successful in finding a partner, 

 prevent too close interbreeding within the limits of the same 

 family. 



Although savages are now extremely licentious, and although 

 communal marriages may formerly have largely prevailed, yet 

 many tribes practice some form of marriage, but of a far more lax 

 nature than that of civilized nations. Polygamy, as just stated, 

 is almost universally followed by the leading men in every tribe. 

 Nevertheless there are tribes, standing almost at the bottom of 

 the scale, which are strictly monogamous. This is the case with 

 the Veddahs of Ceylon: they have a saying, according to Sir J. 

 Lubbock," "that death alone can separate husband and wife." 

 An intelligent Kandyan chief, of course a polygamist, "was per- 

 "fectly scandalized at the utter barbarism of living with only 

 "one wife, and never parting until separated by death." It was, 

 he said, "Just like the Wanderoo monkeys." Whether savages 

 who now enter into some form of marriage, either polygamous or 

 monogamous, have retained this habit from primeval times, or 

 whether they have returned to some form of marriage, after pass- 

 ing through a stage of promiscuous intercourse, I will not pretend 

 to conjecture. 



InfamMoide. — This practice is now very common throughout the 

 world, and there is reason to believe that it prevailed much more 

 extensively during former times." Barbarians find it difficult to 

 support themselves and their children, and it is a simple plan to 

 kill their infants. In South America some tribes, according to 

 Azara, formerly destroyed so many infants of both sexes, that 

 they were on the point of extinction. In the Polynesian Islands 

 women have been known to kill from four or five to even ten of 

 their children; and Ellis could not find a sing'le woman who had 

 not killed at least one. Wherever infanticide prevails the strug- 

 gle for existence will be in so far less severe, and all the members 

 of the tribe will have an almost equally good chance of rearing 

 their few surviving children. In most cases a larger number of 

 female than of male infants are destroyed, for it is obvious that the 

 latter are of more value to the tribe, as they will, when grown up, 

 aid in defending it, and can support themselves. But the trouble 



'0 Dr. Savage, in 'Boston Journal of Nat. Hist.' vol. v. 1845-47, p. 423. 

 " 'Prehistoric Times,' 1869, p. 424. 



" Mr. M'Lennan, 'Primitive Marriage,' 1865. See especially on exo- 

 samy and infanticide, bp. 130. i.S». ^'^ 



