XI 
POLYGAMY 
Another skeleton in the Yoruban closet is 
polygamy. This is universal and so is the 
treachery, strife and domestic disorder which al¬ 
ways accompanies it. Yorubans know little of 
that happiness that is found in every place 
worthy of the name of home. A girl has to take 
the husband selected for her by her legal guar¬ 
dian, however disagreeable the union may be to 
her. Betrothals in infancy are common, but the 
usual age of betrothal is five or six years. It is 
regarded as very disgraceful for a girl to speak to 
her betrothed husband until the day of marriage. 
There is, therefore, no room for courtship or for 
“love’s young dream.” 1 knew, however, of 
several instances of elopement. The bride had 
formed a romantic attachment for a young man, 
and had fled the country with him just before 
the day of marriage with her betrothed husband. 
There is much closer intimacy between a hus¬ 
band and the wife of his youth than any con¬ 
tracted with those who follow her. All the other 
wives approach her with reverence and respect- 
98 
