CHAP. V.] 
THE VALUE OF WIVES. 
219 
countries, the feeling is not understood, nor does it 
exist in the shape in which we understand it. Every¬ 
thing is practical, without a particle of romance. 
Women are so far appreciated as they are valuable 
animals. They grind the corn, fetch the water, gather 
firewood, cement the floors, cook the food, and pro¬ 
pagate the race; but they are mere servants, and as 
such are valuable. The price of a good-looking, strong 
young wife, who could carry a heavy jar of water, 
would be ten cows; thus a man, rich in cattle, would 
be rich in domestic bliss, as he could command a multi¬ 
plicity of wives. However delightful may be a family 
of daughters in England, they nevertheless are costly 
treasures; but in Latooka, and throughout savage 
lands, they are exceedingly profitable* The simple 
rule of proportion will suggest that if one daughter is 
worth ten cows, ten daughters must be worth a hun¬ 
dred, therefore a large family is the source of wealth ; 
the girls produce the cows, and the boys milk them. 
All being perfectly naked (I mean the girls and the 
boys), there is no expense, and the children act as 
herdsmen to the flocks as in the patriarchal times. A 
multiplicity of wives thus increases wealth by the 
increase of family, I am afraid this practical state 
of affairs will be a strong barrier to missionary 
enterprise. 
