588 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



that all the women of the tribe will get married, and there will 

 be no selection by the men of the more attractive women. But 

 under these circumstances the women no doubt will have the 

 power of choice, and will prefer the more attractive men. Azara, 

 for instance, describes how carefully a Guana woman bargains 

 for all sorts of privileges, before accepting some one or more hus- 

 bands; and the men in consequence take unusual care of their per- 

 sonal appearance. So amongst the Todas of India, who practice 

 polyandry, the girls can accept or refuse any man.^^ A very ugly 

 man in these cases would perhaps altogether fail in getting a wife, 

 or get one later in life; but the handsomer men, although more 

 successful in obtaining wives, would not, as far as we can see, 

 leave more offspring to inherit their beauty than the less hand- 

 somer husbands of the same women. 



Early Betrothals and Slavery of Women. — With many savages 

 it is the custom to betroth the females whilst mere infants; and 

 this would effectually prevent preference being exerted on either 

 side according to personal appearance. But it would not prevent 

 the more attractive women from being afterwards stolen or taken 

 by force from their husbands by the more powerful men; and 

 this often happens in Australia, America, and elsewhere. The 

 same consequences with reference to sexual selection would to a 

 certain extent follow, when women are valued almost solely as 

 slaves or beasts of burden, as is the case with many savages. 

 The men, however, at all times would prefer the handsomest 

 slaves according to their standard of beauty. 



We thus see that several customs prevail with savages which 

 must greatly interfere with, or completely stop, the action of 

 sexual selection. On the other hand, the conditions of life to 

 which savages are exposed, and some of their habits, are favor- 

 able to natural selection; and this comes into play at the same 

 time with sexual selection. Savages are known to suffer severely 

 from recurrent famines; they do not increase their food by artifi- 

 cial means; they rarely refrain from marriage,^" and generally 

 marry whilst young. Consequently they must be subjected to 

 occasional hard struggles for existence, and the favored individ- 

 uals will alone survive. 



At a very early period, before man attained to his present 

 rank in the scale, many of his conditions would be different from 



'" Azara, 'Voyages,' &c. torn. ii. pp. 92-95. Colonel Marshall, 'Amongst 

 the Todas,' p. 212. 



" Burchell says ('Travels in S. Africa," vol. ii. 1824, p. 58), that 

 among the wild nations of Southern Africa, neither men nor women 

 ever pass their lives in a state of celibacy. Azara ('Voyages dans 

 I'Amerique Merid.' torn. ii. 1809, p. 21) makes precisely the same re- 

 mark in regard to the wild Indians of South America. 



