101 



than that of males, which is always the case in those 

 countries where polygamy is permitted. 

 • The first wife, who is called unendomo^ is always 



respected as the real and legitimate one by all the 

 Others, who are called inandomo^ or secondary wives. 

 She has the management of the domestic concerns, 

 and regulates the interior of the house. The hus- 

 band has much to do to maintain harmony among 

 so many w^omen, who are not a little inclined to jea- 

 lousy, and each night at supper makes known his 

 choice of her who is to have the honour of sharing 

 his bed, by directing her to prepare it. The others 

 sleep in the same room, and no one is permitted to 

 approach them. Strangers, on their arrival, are lodg- 

 ed in a cabin entirely separate from this seraglio. 



The wives have the greatest respect for their hus- 

 bands, and generally give him the title of buta^ or 

 great. Besides female occupations, they are obliged 

 to employ themselves in many that, in civilized 

 countries, are considered as the peculiar province of 

 the men, according to the established maxim of all 

 barbarous nations, that the weaker sex are born to la- 

 bour, and the stronger to make war and to command* 

 Each of them is obliged to present to her husband 

 daily a dish prepared by herself in her separate 

 kitchen or fire-place ; for this reason the houses of 

 the Araucanians have as many fires as there are wo- 

 men inhabiting them ; whence, in inquiring of any 

 one how many wives he has, they make use of the 

 following phrase as being the most polite, muri on- 

 thalgeimi^ how many fires do you keep. Each wife 

 is also obliged to furnish her husband yearly, besides 



