Chap. XX. 
INTEKFERING CAUSES. 
363 
killing and driving out the others, establishes himself 
as the head of the community/' ^ The younger males, 
being thus expelled and wandering 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 practise some form 
of marriage, but of a far more lax nature than with 
civilised 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 perfectly 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 passing through a stage of promiscuous 
intercourse, I will not pretend to conjecture. 
Infanticide,— Thh 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 them- 
® 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 
exogamy and infanticide, p. 130, 138, 165. 
