240 POLYGAMY. 



to one of the huts. If the man should take two 

 wives at one time, the same ceremonies are gone 

 through separately by each, the second commencing 

 when the first is completely finished *." 



A Caffer is allowed as many wives as he can pur- 

 chase, and they contribute to his maintenance by 

 their labour, each wife having a separate hut, and 

 being allowed, if the man be rich, a cow or two for 

 her supply of milk. The corn reaped from the 

 ground which she cultivates is divided between her- 

 self and her husband, who lives indiscriminately 

 with one or another, according to his taste, the 

 youngest wife being, however, usually the favourite, 

 and in consequence too frequently the object of per- 

 secution by her superiors in age. A great Chief, in 

 addition to a large establishment of wives, amount- 

 ing to fifteen or twenty, has also a dozen or more 

 concubines ; a custom considered not at all disre- 

 putable. The women themselves are not averse to 

 polygamy, as they seldom have any personal attach- 

 ment to their husbands, and are glad to have the 

 burden of supporting him divided. 



A Missionary, who resided among the Amaponda 

 tribes, informed me that he once met with an old 

 man and his wife, looking for a girl who had eloped 

 after having been only three days added to their 

 establishment. The man stated that it was too much 



* An Account of the Amakosa, a tribe of Caffers adjoining the 

 Eastern boundary of the Cape Colony, by N. Morgan, Esq., Assistant 

 Staff- Surgeon.— South African Quarterly Journal, 1833. 



