Slavery as an Industrial System - Forgotten Books

SLAVERY AS AN INDUSTRIAL SY STEM

74 b

AS AN INDUS TR IAL S Y S TEM

ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCHES

Da li EBOER

SECOND, REVISED EDITION

493890“

2S . 4 4-9

THE HAGUE

MARTINUS NlJHOFF

1910

PREFACE.

The present work is a revised edition of my b ook on slavery

a s it was published in 1900.

Preparing this second edition,I saw that the general plan

o f the book could remain the same. The details,however

,

wanted improvement in many respects. The chapter treating

o f the geographical distribution o f slavery among savage tribes

has been much enlarged , as the information of which I d is

posed was far more complete now than when the bo ok was

originally written. The theoretical part, I hope , has also much

improved . A closer study of the subject has led me to alter

some passages and make several additions .

I have also profited by the remarks o f my critics , among

whom I especially mention Professor ToNNIEs (in Professor

S CHMOLLER’

S Jahrbucher,Vol. XXV) and Dr. VIERKANDT (in

Zeitschrift far S ocia lwissenschaft, Vol. IV) . To these I may

add Professor WESTERMARCK,who , in his work on the origin

and development o f the moral ideas (1906 discusses at

s ome length the conclusions to which I have arrived .

The fact that the first edition has been kindly received by

the periodical press has encouraged me to prepare this second

edition. I was happy to notice that my study of some con

d itions of primitive culture was valued not only as a contribution

to the knowledge of savage life,but as furthering the under

s tanding of the structure of human society in general .

VI PREFACE.

I will not conclude this preface without offering my sincere

thanks to my teacher and friend Professor STEINMETZ of

Amsterdam,under whose guidance the first edition was written

and whose help in preparing the present edition has been very

valuable to me.

ROTTERDAM,Ho lland . H . J. NIEBORE.

December 1909.

CONTENTS .

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

This book deals with the general character of slavery as an industrial systemXV. We confine ourselves to the phenomena of savage life XV. The

object of ethnology is not only to reconstruct the early history of mankind ,but to find sociological laws XVI . Bearing of the results of ethnologicalinvestigation upon the study of social phenomena in general XVI . Our

method : inductive and comparative XVII . Ethnographi cal literature XVII.This literature may not b e used without a thorough criticismXVII. “Statisticalmethod ” XVIII. The facts must serve as a basis whereupon to found theories.not as mere illustrations of preconceived theories XVIII. But we cannot d o

without lead ing ideas XIX. We treat one subject thoroughly instead of manysubjects superficially XIX . Writers on the general history of slavery XIX.

PART I . DESCR IPTIVE.

CHAPTER I . DEFIN ITION AND nrsrmcrmn raou m nasn rm om a .

1 . Ord inary meaning of the term “s laveryI t is

.

necessary to know this meaning of the term ,as both ethnographers and

theorists use It In th is sense 3.

“Slavery of women” and “wage-slaves” 4.

Three characten stics of slavery 5 .

2 . Use of the term “s lavery in theoretica l litera ture

Theorists agree that the chief characteristic of slavery consists in this,that

the slave is the“property or“possession” of his master.

3. Definition f or scientific use

We want a sociologically practical definition 7. The function of slavery is a

d ivis i on of lab our 7. Voluntary and compulsory lab our 7 The slave theproperty o f his masten and compelled to work 8.

“Property” Implies compulsorylabour 8. Our definition. I ts advantages 9.

4. Dis tinction of s lavery fr om kindred phenomena . I Wives in an

abjec t cond ition

“Slavery of women” as Spoken of by ethnographers and theorists 9.— Cond ition

of women among the Australian aborigines. Bad , but not so much so as hassometimes been supposed 10. Division of labour b etween the sexes not alwaysso unreasonab le as at first sight it seems 22 . Wives in an abject conditionshow much resemb lance to slaves, but are not slaves , as their chief function isthat of wives and mothers 24. Slavery proper d oes not exist when there arenone but female slaves 25.

5. Distinction of slaveryf rom kind red p henomena. I I Children sub

jected to the head of the familyTreatment of children among savages ; Dr. Steinmetz ’s investigations 26

Patr ia p otestas and po tes tas dominica 28. Children,though entirely subjected

to their father, are not slaves , as they occupy quite another place in the social

system 28. Adopted children sometimes d ifficul t to d istinguish from slaves 29.Slavery only exists beyond the limits of the family pr0per 30.

6. Distinction of s lavery from kindred phenomena. I I I Members

of a society in their relation to the head of the community

The subjects “slaves o f the king"30. A king has never a right of propertyover his subjects 31 . Penal servitude occurs in many countries where slaveryd oes not exist 32.

“Property” better than“possession” 32.

7. Distinction of slavery f rom kind red p henomena . I V Subjectedtribes ; tributary p rovinces ; lower classes ; free labourers“Slave tribes” and“slave d istricts” inapprOpriate names for tribes subjected en blocand tributary d istricts 33. Lower classes . The lack of details sometimes preventsus from determining

,whether a labouring class consists of free lab ourers or slaves 34.

8. Distinction of s lavery f rom kindred p henomena . V Serf s

Serfdom in Germany 34. In France 36. In Rome (co lona tus ) 37. Opinionsof theorists 37. Serfs are not slaves, b ecause they are not the property , in thesense of Roman law. of their masters 38.

9. Pawns or d ebtor-s laves

The slave-state of pawns is cond itional 39. Pawns are not in a legal sensethe property of their masters ; but we may call them slaves

,as they take the

same place as other slaves in the social system 40.

CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPH ICAL DISTR IBUTION or SLAVERY .

1 . Introduction

It is not so easy '

as at first sight it seems , to ascertain the existence or non

existence of slavery in every parti cular case 41 . — 0ur method . 1°What if slavery

is stated to exist ? 42. 2° What if slavery is stated to b e ab sent ? 43. 3

°

What if our authorities are silent on the subject ? 43. We confine ourselves to

savages 44. Civilized and semi-civilized influence45. Geographical groups46.“Positive” and “negative cases” 46. Use of the past and present tense 46 .

§ 2 . Nor th Amer ica

1 . Eskimos 47. 2 . Nootka group 49. 3. Tinneh group 50. 4. Algonquingroup 52. 5 . Iroquois group 55. 6. Choctaw-Muskoghe group 56. 7.Dacotahgroup 58. 8. Oregon group 59 9. Californians 61 . 10. NewMexicans 63.

Negro slavery among the Ind ians 69.

3. Centra l and S outh America .

4. Australia

5. Melanesia

6. Polynesia

7. Micronesia

8. Ma lay Archip elago

I Malay Peninsula 1 10. II Sumatra and neighbouring islands 1 10. IIIBorneo 1 1 2. IV Celebes 1 13. V Little Sunda island s and Moluccas 1 14.

VI Philippines 1 15. VII Madagascar 1 17. — Semi-civilized Malay peeples 1 20.

9. Indo-Chinese Peninsula

10. Ind ia,Afghanis tan, H ima laya

1 1 . Centra l Asia

1 2. S iberia

13. Caucasus

14. Arabia

15 . Af rica . A . Bantu tribes

1 . Cafi'

res 138. 2. South-west Bantus 144. 3. East African Bantus 147.4. Tribes on the Congo and in Lower Guinea 149. 5. Natives of theWabumastates 1 52 .

1 . Coast of Guinea 1 55 . 2 . Haussa states 1 57. 3. Central Soudan 1 57.

4. Upper Nile 1 57. Append ix : African Island s 1 59.

17. Africa . 0. Light-co loured SouthAfr icans and Af ricanp igmy

tribes

18. Africa . D. H amitic peop les

19. R ecapi tula tion .

PART II. THEORETICAL.

CHAPTER I . I E’

I'

HOD Ann DIvIsmxs.

1 . Metho d

Stages of culture ; Morgan’s and Vierkandt’s classifications 1 69. Distinction

of savages accord ing to their general culture as yet impracticab le 1 70.—Asser

tI ons ab out slavery being universal at some stages of cul ture 1 71 . The existence of

o

slavery probab ly main ly depends on the economic state of society 171 .Op ini ons of theorists concerning slavery at several stages of economic life 1 72.

2. Distinction of economic group s

We shall inquire next how many po sitive and negative cases thereent economic groups 174. We shall not give an ascend ing series of economIc stages. Dargun'

s view 1 75. Our groups. 1 . Hunting and fishing 176.

.

2. Pastoral nomad ism 1 76. 3, 4, 5. Agriculture. Principle according towhi ch the 3 .

agri cultural groups will be d istinguished 177.—Trading and cattlebreedrng agn culturists 178.

F380

1 1O

3. Hunting and fishing , p astora l, and agricultura l tribes in the

several geographical d istricts

Our list gives no evidence as to the economic state of the geographical groups179. List 180.

CHAPTER II. HUNTER S AND marinas.

1 . Why slaves are not of much use to hunters

List o f positive and negative cases 190. The large prevalence of negative casesmust b e due to general causes 192. Scarcity of food 192 . Hunting slaves

can easily escape 194. Living in small groups 194. Hunting not fit to beperformed by slaves because 1 ° hunters are high ly esteemed 1 95, 2° huntingrequires the utmost application 197. Hunters and industrial peeples 198.

Why hunters d o not keep slaves performing female lab our 199.

2 . The s lave-keep ing‘

tribes of the Pacific Coas t of NorthAmerica

Fishing not nearly so unfavourable to the existence o f slavery as hunting 201 .Most of our positive cases are found on the North Pacific Coast of North

America 203. Circumstances which may account for the existence of slaveryon the Pacific Coast. 1° Abundance of food 203 2° Fishing the chief sourceof sub sistence. Variety of food 204. 3° F ixed hab itations

,living in large

groups, preserving of food 205 . 4° Trade and industry 207. 5° Property andwealth 2 10. The growth of slavery accelerated by these tribes forming a

somewhat homogeneous group 214. Work imposed on slaves. 1 ° They strengthentheir mas ters‘force in warfare 21 5. 2° They are employed in hunting, fishing,and work connected with fishing 21 5. 3° They make canoes and build houses

217. 4° Th ey perform d omestic lab our 2 17. Why female labour is so highlyvalued 2 18. Women prepare the articles of commerce 2 18. Women hold a

high position 2 19. Dr. Grosse on the cond ition of women among“higherhunters” 222. Slavery among the Ab ipones 225. Tehuelches 226.

- Kamchadales 226.

3. Experimentam crucis : Austra lia

We want to prove that the circumstances furthering slavery on the Pacific Coastof N. America are wanting among the other hunters and fishers 227. We

confine ourselves to the three great groups :Austral ians , Ind ians of Central NorthAmerica

,and Eskimos 228. Aboriginal life in Australia. 1 ° No abundance of

food 228.— 2° Variety of food . Fishing not the chief source of sub sistence 229.

3° No fixed hab itations, small groups, little food preserved . Improvidence o f the

Australians 229. 4° Trade and industry not h ighly d eveloped 231 .—5° Prop

erty and wealth play no great part 232 . 6° Condition of women had 235 .

7° Militarism d oes not prevail to any great extent 236. Conclusion 236.

4. Experimentam crucis : Centra l North America

1 ° No great abundance of food 236. 2° They live chiefly by hunting 237. 3° No

fixed hab itations, rather small groups,food preserved though not to such an extent

as on the Pacific Coast 237. 4° Trade and industry signify little 239.

5° Property and wealth are little d eveloped 240. 6° Cond ition o fwomen betterthan in Australia

,but not so good as on the Pacific Coast 242 . 7° War very

frequent 245. Conclusion 246.

5 . Experimentum crucis : Eskimos

1 ° No great abundance of food 246. 2° Fishing their chief so urce of sub sistence247. 3° Fixed hab itations, groups not very large, food preserved though not insuch great quantities as on the Pacific Coast 247. 4° The trade exists almostexclusively in exchanging rawproducts. Industry h ighly developed 248. 5° Preperty and wealth d o not signify much 250 6° Cond ition of women not so goodas on the Pacific Coast 251 . 7° Militarism d oes not prevail to any considerableextent 252. Only highly skilled labour wanted 253. Labour dependent uponcapital 254.

Enumeration of the conclusions to which the foregoing paragraphs have led us 255 .

It seems convenient to systematically arrange them 256. Principal factors :1 ° Subsistence is or is not d ependent on capital, 2° Subsistence is either

easy or d ifficult to acquire 256. Secondary factors : 1 ° Condition ofwomen 258.

2° Preserving of food 259 3° Trade and industry 259. Militarism 259. Ex.

ternal causes : 1 ° Fixed hab itations, 2° Large groups , 3° Preserving of food ,4° Existence of a homogeneous group of tribes 259. Recapitulation 260.

CHAPTER III. PASTORAL TRIBES .

1 . Capital and la bour among p as tora l tribes

List of positive and negative cases 262 . Non-existence of slavery not due to

an isolated or powerless state o f the tribes concerned 263. Can the positivecases be accounted for by the existence of agriculture among some pastoraltribes ? 263. Survey o f slave lab our among pastoral tribes 263

,and cattle

breeding agriculturists 265 . Slaves not only kept for agricultural purposes 266.

Among true pastoral tribes slavery,as a system of labour

,is of little moment

267. Sub sistence among pastoral tribes entirely d ependent on capital 268.

Wealth and poverty. Free lab ourers very frequent 268. The same may be

ob served among cattle-breed ing agriculturists 272. The charac teristic of

pastoral life is not the existence of wealth , but of poverty 272. Pasto ral lifed oes not require much labour ; the men are often very lazy 273. Among theLarbas pastoral life is not so easy ; but it is warriors who are wanted here

,

rather than labourers 275. In North-east Africa subjection of tribes en bloc

serves as a substitute for slavery 276 . The same is the case among somepastoral tribes outsid e North -east Africa 280.

2 . S lavery among p astora l tribes

We have stil l to account for the po sitive cases. We shall first investigate theinfluence of secondary internal causes 281 . 1

° Slaves sometimes perform d omestic ,i . e. female labour 281 . 2

° Preserving of food has no influence 281 .— 3

° Slaveryd oes not seem to serve commercial purpo ses 281 . 4° Slaves are often employedin warfare. Pastoral tribes live in rather small

,independ ent groups ; this , together

with their warlike habits , makes reinforcement of the family desirab le 282 .

Slaves are also kept as a luxury 284. Slaves preferred to free servants 284.

What is the d ifference between the slave-keeping and the other pastoral tribes ?286. The d ifference consists in external circums tances

,of which the principal

are the slave-trad e and the neighbourhood of inferior races 286. Pastoraltribes are in a state of equilibrium ; a smal l add itional circumstance turns thebalance 289. Recapitulation 290.

CHAPTER IV. AGR ICULTUR AL TBIBES .

1 . Numbers of p ositive and nega tive cases in the three agricultura l groups .

2 . Development of agricultura l and development of slavery

Slavery considerab ly more frequent among agriculturists of the higher stages thanamong hunting agriculturists 294. Hunting agriculturists b ear a strong resemb lance to hunters 294. Y et many hunting agricultur ists keep slaves ; tb is willhave to be accounted for b y second ary causes 296. Slavery d oes not appearto b e more frequent among fishing than among hunting agriculturists 296.

3. Cap ita l and labour among agr icultura l tribes

Where agriculture is carried on without the aid of domestic animals,sub sistence

d oes not d epend on capital 297. One apparent exception 297. Agricul tured oes not require any peculiar skil l 298. Compulsion the only means , inprimi ti ve agri cultural soc ieties

,of getting labourers 298. Adam Smith’s view

299. Cairnes on cultivation by slaves and by peasant proprietors 299. Cairnes’argument d oes not hold with regard to primitive slavery 301 . “Retail” and“wholesale slavery” 301 .

4. Land and p opula tion.

The general rule of the last paragraph does not ob tain where all land has been

appropriated 303. Cairnes’ view 303. Here again Cairnes’ argument does notapply to primitive slavery 304. Loria’s argument 304. Loria

’sr easoning is

not correct in all details. but in the main he is right 306.—Wakefield ’s argu

ment derived from the cond itions of life in the colonies 306. Merivale on colo

nizatiou 308. We shal l only speak of self-d ependent agricultural countr ies

310. Meaning of“appropriation” 310. Criteria from which we may inferwhether all land has been appropriated 31 1 . Meaning of“land fit for culti

vation” 31 2 . We shall confine ourselves to a survey of land tenure in Oceania313. S lavery in Oceania has never prevailed to any great extent. We shall

try , to account for this by all land having b een appropriated 314.

5. Land tenure in Po lynesia

On most Polynesian islands all land has,or had b een appropriated . In Samoa,

New Zealand and Savage Island there was still free land . Manahiki is a

d oub tful case.

6. Land tenure in Micronesia .

Almost everywhere in Micronesia all land is held as property. Mortlock isperhaps an exception

§ 7. Land tenure in Melanesia .

On most of the Melanesian island s clearing is a modus acgujrendi, which provesthat there is still free land . I n Fij i all land has b een appropriated .

8. Land lords,tenants and labourers in Oceania

Wherever in Oceania all land is held as property, there are nearly alwayspeople destitute of land 328. The principal cause of this fac t is probab ly thearb itrary conduct of ch iefs and nobles

, who appropriate the land of their enemies329

,and even that belonging to their own subjects 331 . Cond ition of the

lowest classes d estitute o f land . They perform the d rudgery for the land lord s,and are sometimes heavily oppressed 333. In Melanesia there are no subjectedlower classes, except in Fiji 338. Subj ected lower classes exist nearly alwayswhere all land is held as property

,and are not found where there is still free

land 341 . In some parts of Oceania the great depopulation has enab led manyof the lower orders to obtain land 341 . The lab ouring classes of Oceania arenot attached to the soil

,but

,being destitute of land

,are obliged to apply to

the land lord s for employment 342 . Position of foreigners 342 . Over-population 343. Skilled lab ourers are in a much b etter position and sometimesheld in h igh esteem 343. Oceanic labourers as compared with deb tor-slavesthe former are compelled to work for others by circumstances, the latter bysocial regulations 344. The state of lab ourers in Oceaniawould even beworse,but that they are emp loyed in warfare 345.

9. Transition f rom serf d om to f reed om in Western Europ a

Our theory must also hold with regard to civilized countries : as soon as all land

is held as property slavery must d isappear 347. Wakefield’s opinion 347.

We shall not enter into a thorough investigation of this subject 347. We

limit our remarks to England and Germany 348. Slavery in Western Europe348. Our argument applies to serfdom as well as slavery. for serfdom too is

a system of compulsory labour 348. Serfs and free tenants ; Freizugigkeit 349.

Inaccurate use of the term“free tenants” 350. Commutation of services formoney not identical with transition from serfdom to freed om 351 .—Hildebrand ’

s

theory : natural economy lead s to serfdom,money economy leads to freedom 352.

Why this theory is erroneous 354. Hildebrands' theory has been accepted byseveral writers 362.

Page .

10. The rura l c lasses of med ieva l England 3 2

In the 1 1 th century land was still abundant and servile lab our prevailed ; rentin the modern sense and free lab ourers d ependent on wages were wanting 363.

During the 1 2th and 13th centuries the population increased and land becamemore scarce. Disafl

'

oresting controversy. Free tenants . Commutation. The land lord s

become mere receivers of rent instead o f agricultural entrepreneurs . Free labourers364. The Black Death of 1349. Labour becomes scarce

,much land goes out

of tillage. Oppression of villeins by land lords. Assessment of wages . The stockand land lease 366.

— 1450— 1 550. Rise of sheep farming. Disastrous consequences :labourers thrown out of employment, commons and hold ings of villeins inclosed

and appropriated by the lord s , d epopulation ,rise of pauperism 369. Disappearance

of serfd om. Copyhold 372 . Conclusion 372 .

1 1 . The rura l classes of med ieva l GermanyMerovingian period . Most of the land is covered with forests. A few slaves and

lites ; most cultivators are peasant proprietors 373. Carolingian period . Muchland is taken into cultivation, yet land remains abundant. Absorption of the

free peasants by the great proprietors ; rise of serfd om and manorial economy.“Freemen,

destitute of land ” 374. l oth— 1 2th centuries. Rise in the value o f

land . The whole of the population can still secure land to live upon. The class

of peasant proprietors d isappears . The use of labour becomes less. Free tenantsarise, but free labourers are still wanting 375 . 13th and 14th centuries. Extensionof the arable area.More value than before is attached to uncultivated land . Rightsof common restricted . Scarcity of meat. The u se of labour continues d iminishing.Lord s set serfs free in their own interest. Bauern en. Free tenants. Obligationsb ecome ten fitorial. Free servants and agricultural bourers 378. 1 5th century.Over-population . Reappearance of slavery 380. l 6th century. Evictions 382.Serfd om in Eastern Germany. Conclusion 382 .

§ 1 2 . Open and closed resources

Slavery , as an industrial system,is not likely to exist where sub sistence depends

on materia l resources which are present in limited quantity 384. All the peoplesof the earth can b e d ivided into peoples with open, and with clo sed resources .Definitionof these t erms . General ly Speaking, among the former only can a system of

compulsory lab our (slavery or serfdom) exist 385.— Savages with open and with

closed resources 386. Closed resources in present Western Europe 386.

Lange on Open and closed countries 386. Regard ing second ary causeswe shallnot enter into many details 387.

13. Cond ition of women .

Slaves often perform d omestic,i. e. female labour. Compare Rome and Mohammedan

countries 388. Domestic labour is not probab ly among any agricultural tribethe chief business of all slaves 389. Slaves help the women in agriculturallabour 389.

“Slavery of women” 389.- Melanesian women held in a slave-like

state 389. Though the ab sence of slavery is perhaps one of the causes of this

subjection of women,the latter again prevents the rise of slavery 393.

§ 14. Commerce

Numbers of positive and negative cases among commercial agricultural tribes 394.

The term“commercial tribes” used in a wide sense 394. Commerce furthersthe slave-trade, requires more work than would otherwi 'se be wauted .and rendersdevelopment of wealth possib le 394. The last point is very important. Luxuryarises : the wants of the slave-owners , and accordingly the use of slave labour.b ecome practically unlimited 394.

“Wh olesale'

slavery” in the United States, V

and among some trib es of Africa and Ind ia 395. We know little as yet o f the

general effec ts of trad e 397. Manufactured good s and raw products 397.Three categories of commercial tribes 397. Significance of trade 397.

§ l 5. S laves employed in warf are

Ins tances 398. Slaves are generally excluded from mil itary pursuits 399.

Caus es 399. Only among some agriculturists of the higher stages are slavesemployed in warfare 400. The coercive power of hunting agriculturists is not

great enough to admit of the employment of slaves in warfare 400. Wherepolitical institutions are more h ighly d eveloped , employment of slaves in the

army b ecomes practicab le 401 . Military function of slaves in ancient Rome401 . Slaves hold ing high o ffices of state 402.

1 6. S laves kep t as a luxury

The possession of many slaves is ind icative of wealth and therefore considered anh onour 403. Slaves and cattle almost the only luxury of primitive times404

7

But this d oes not prove that slaves are a mere luxury404.— In many bounfriespart of the slaves are not productively employed 405 ,—but we have not foundany instance of none of the slaves being employed for productive labour 405.

17. Other second ary interna l causes

Preserving of food as a c ircumstance furthering the growth of slavery calls forno special remark here 406. Subjection of tribes d oes not seem to occur out

side Oceania,except among cattle-breed ing agriculturists 406. The reason is

the insufficiency Of the military power of agricultural savages 407.

18. External causes,esp ecially the s lave-trade. R ecap itulation

Fixed habitations , living in large groups, and preserving of food call for no

remark here 407. The slave-trade. Geographical survey 408. Most slavekeeping agricultural savages are found in those parts where the slave-trade has

b een carried on by civilized and semi-civilized peoples 41 1 . These savagescould not have adopted slavery , if it were inconsistent with their mod e o f life41 1 . Effect of the slave-trade : it makes the keeping of slaves much easier,and b reaks the via inertiae 41 2 . Vicinity of in ferior races d oes not seem to

have any considerable influence here 414. Recapitulation of the causes o f

slavery among agricultural tribes 41 5 .

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSION.

1 . Genera l survey .

Internal and external causes 417. Principal internal cause hindering thegrowth of slavery : the d ependence o f sub sistence upon closed resources 418.

Compulsory as Opposed to voluntary labour 419. Why in modern Europelab ourers are not held as property 420. Personal and impersonal compulsion422. The working classes of mod ern Europe 422.

— Slavery cannot exist, evenwhere resources are open , if sub sistence is very d ifficult to acquire 422 .

Secondary internal causes . Condition of women 423. Commerce 423. Sub

jection of tribes 424. Preserving of food 424. Militarism 424. Luxury425. External causes. Fixed hab itations 425 .

— Living in large groups 425.

Preserving of food 425. The slave-trade 425.-The neighbourhood of inferior

races 425. General recapitulation 426.

2 . Outlines of af ur ther investigation of the ear ly history of s laveryI The d ifferent ways in which people become slaves 428. II The d ifferentways in which people cease to be slaves 430. III Treatment of slaves by theirmasters 431 . IV Legal status of slaves432 .

—V The attitude o f pub lic opiniontoward s slaves 433. VI Different kind s of slaves 433. VII Slave lab our433. VIII Serfdom 434. IX Numb er of slaves 434. X Happiness or

unhappiness of slaves 434. XI Consequences Of slavery 435. XII Development of slavery 437.

LIST OF AUTHORITIES

SUBJECT-INDEX .

GENERAL INTRODUCTION .

There exists an extensive literature on slavery. Many o f these worksare intended for philanthrOpic purposes , viz . to further the suppression

o f the African slave-trade,whereas many o thers contain historical in

vestigations o f slavery among ancient or modern nations .

The present volume will not rank among either o f these categories , but

deal with the general character of slavery as an industrial system. Slaveryhas played a great part in the soc ial history o f mankind . Soc ial lifeamong mo st of the ancient nations was based upon slavery

, and in manyco lonies it subsisted until far into the 19th century. On the other hand

,

in the civilized countries o f tod ay all indus trial Operations are carried

on with free labour. Whence this d ifference ? Why have slavery and

serfdom gradually dec lined in the course of European history,so that at

the close Of the Middle Ages they had already in a large degree lost

their significance ? These problems can only be solved if we know the

conditions necessary for the succ ess of slavery as an indus trial system,

and the inverse conditions under which slave labour must give way to

free labour. We shall try to find these conditions,or at least some Of them.

We shall use the comparative method , co llecting facts and inquiringwhat regularities can be found in these facts , under what general rules

they may be included . But before enlarging upon our method we must

say a few words concerning a limitation we have put upon our subjec t.Our book

,as the title shows, contains ethnological researches. We

confine ourselves to investigating the conditions which govern the existence

or non-existence of slavery among savage tribes , and the materials we

make use Of are exclusively ethnographical materials , i. e. descriptions

Of savage tribes .

Ethnology has already mad e considerable progress , and is taking a

conspicuous place among the Mental Sciences . Y et some ethnologists still

proceed in a somewhat narrow and one-sided manner. They generallyaim at reconstructing the early history of mankind with the help of

ethnographical data . The savages representing primitive man , or at least

man in a more primitive state than we can find by d irect historical re

search , they draw inferences from the actual state of savage tribes as to

the early state of mankind at large. This kind of study has been very

useful,especially in removing narrow views on human development which

existed at a time , when the traditions of a few ancient nations were still

considered to be the only evidence as to early history. But —this should

not be the sole, nor even the main object of ethnological investigation.

It is sociological laws that we want in the first place. It is certainly

interesting to know what changes have taken place in early history ; but itis far more important to know on what circumstances the existence of

each social phenomenon depends. And for this purpose ethnology can be ofconsiderable use. Among , savages social life is much simpler than amongcivilized men ; the factors which go vern it are comparatively few,

and so

the sfiect of each o f them can be traced without much d ifficulty. We can

thus, by comparing the institutions o f many savage tribes , find sociologicallaws

,several o f which will have a wider application and lead us to a

clearer understanding of the conditions which govern the social life of

civilized nations . For instance, the study o f moral phenomena among sa

vages has already given us a deeper insight into morality at large.

The conclusions we arrive at in this book are of two kinds . Some o f

them apply to savages only and cannot further our understand ing o f

civilized life. Fo r instance,we shall see that settled tribes are more likely

to keep slaves than nomadic tribes ; but civilized , and even semi-civilizedpeoples are hard ly ever nomadic . Other conclusions, however, have a more

general bearing. Thus we shall find that slavery is not likely to exist

in those countries, where all land is held as property. And as this has

been the case in Western Europe for some centuries , we d iscover one of

the principal causes , perhaps the main cause , why slavery (and serfdom,

which is a mitigated form of slavery) , have long since d isappeared in

these countries .

We do not,however

,make any systematic inquiry into the bearing of

the laws found by investigating the phenomena o f savage life on the

study o f social life among civilized and semi-civilized nations. Where

phenomena o f civilized life occur to us which bear a striking resemblance

to what we find among savages, we mention them briefly, generally ina note. Only in one case we go farther. Where we find that the relationbetween land and population is a factor o f the utmost importance in

shaping the lot of the labouring classes , it is obvious that this factormust have played a great part in the so cial history of Europe, and

therefore we adduce some statements of historians in corroboration o f our

view. Y et, even here

,it is our object to claim attention for this factor

that is commonly overlooked,and clear the way for future research, rather

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XVIII

cannot but change the story a little ; they never represent you the pure

facts ; they warp and mask them according to the point o f view fromwhich they regard them ; and m order to give credit to their judgmentand make you accept their view

,they readily add something to the matter

on that side and exaggerate it. A man must be either very truthful, orso simple that he does not want to construct false inventions ,

and give

them a semblance of truth,

and is not riveted to a theb ryV

.

” What wewant is, as the same writer has it, la ma tiére d c l

’

hz’

s toz’

re nue at in

forme An ethnographer sho uld be taught what to observe and how to

observe, and how to record his observations. But when this ideal cannot

be attained , it is b etter to have an ethnographer who only knows thatevery correct statement of his will interest the men of science

,than one

whose perceptive faculties are troubled by preconceived opinions.

We have subjected our materials to a thorough criticism,externally

by comparing in each case the descriptions o f the same tribe by different

writers, and internally by inquiring what importance is to be attached

to the statements o f each writer,considering the time in which he wrote,

his more or less intimate acquaintance with the people described , the

general character o f his writings , etc.

We thus find where slavery exists or formerly existed,and where it

does or d id no t exist. We always mention the exact numbers of the

tribes with and without slaves in the several geographical groups, and

afterwards also in the several economic groups. We do no t intend these

numbers as statistical materials,upon which to base mathematical rules.

We only mean to express the results of our investigations in the exactest

manner possible. Instead of stating : Slavery in such a group exists in

many cases,it is much more accurate to state : Slavery in such a group

exists , so far as our observations go , in, say, 80 cases. We thus simplyfollow the method (sometimes miscalled statistical method) first introduced

by Professor Tylor in his article“On a method o f investigating the development ofinstitutions”

,and adOpted by Professor Steinmetz in his“Ent ’

cklung

d er S trafe

We inquire next what conditions govern the occurrence of the ob served

phenomena . This part o f our work is certainly the most d iff icult, and it

is necessary here to proceed with the utmost caution . Many ethnologists

adopt a rather curious method . They have some theory, found by deductivereasoning, and then adduce a few facts by way o f illustration. This ,

however,is quite insufficient. It does not appear whether all existing fac ts

agree with the theory ; there may be many instances, not mentioned bythe theorist

,in which his rule does not hold . The only scientific method

is impartially to collec t facts and inquire whether they can be brought

1 ) Montaigne, Essais, Book I Chapter XXX and Book II Chapter X.

under any general rule. If we find a hypo thesis that accounts for many,but not all, o f the observed phenomena , our task is not finished until

we have explained the rest by showing the influence of additional fac tors .

Moreover,the negative instances must be accounted for as well as the

positive. If we account for the existence o f B by the coexistence of A,

we must prove either that in those cases where B does not exist A too

is absent,or that in such cases there are add itional causes which neu

tralize the effect of A. Ethno logical works should not be causcrz’

es,as

they often are , but scientific researches .

But we must also be careful not to fall into the other extreme . We

shall never be able to arrive at a true understand ing of the facts withoutthe help of leading ideas . The facts do not arrange themselves sponta

neously ; we must try to account for them by hypo theses which seem

a p rior t’

plausible. When such a hypothesis occurs to us,we have to

inquire how far it can go to account for the facts, and,o f course

,to

abandon it if,however plausible it seemed , it proves to be erroneo us.

By judiciously selecting our hypo theses we can save ourselves much futilelabour. For instance , when about to investigate the causes o f slavery

,it

occurs to ns that its existence will probably largely depend on the economicstate o f society

,and we inquire whether this be really so . If we began

with investigating the effect of some factor that a p rior i seems to have

little co nnection with slavery, e. g. the d evelopment of aesthetic sentiments,we should be almost certain to do useless work.

The present vo lume endeavours to come up to the ideal we have set

ourselves and developed here . A book of the same size as this might

contain a survey o f many more subjects connected with slavery. In the

last paragraph it will be shown how very much remains unsaid .We treat

only a small portion of the subject of slavery. But this portion is treatedcarefully, and by doing so we think we have arrived at some conclusions

of scientific value,whereas

,if we had superficially treated a wider subjec t,

our work, though perhaps more agreeable from a literary point of view,

would be nearly useless in a sc ientific sense .

Slavery among savages has never yet been mad e the subject of anyspecial investigation. dc Z

’Esclavage

”treats of

slavery among all races o f mankind,savages included . But he deals with

his subject in quite an insufficient manner. His literature is rather scanty,

and there £9 . 99w 8fi 09 91 99? 999951. 19991151 .

9£.his

ggt The;

theoretical part of his work consists o f some entirely

E proved assertions ; not a single systematic inves tigation is to be foundin it. Hence his general conclusion is very meagre and contains only thehackneyed evolutionary series o f slgyey , sei dgm, wagezsysgtem,

socialist p aradise, to which he adds “slavery of women as the very firststage. The scientific value o f this book is very little.

There is another book dealing with the general history of slavery,

Professor J K . Ingram’s“History of slavery and serfdom”

. This writer

confines himself to the historical nations of ancient and modern times ;

the savages are excluded . Though he makes many valuab le remarks , ofwhich, as the r eader will see

, we have availed ourselves , by far the

greater part of his work is purely descriptive. A great diQrep ce’

between

his book and ours is further that he writes“not for scholars , but for the

mass of thoughtful and cultivated men and women”

whereas we appeal

to the men of sicuco,not to the public at large. Yet it is an instruo

tive little book. We only regret that the writer appears to agree with

Comte'

s curious theory concerning the relation between slavery and

religion

The general history,

of slavery is also the subject o f a book of Tour

magne’s.“There are two volumes by A. Tourmagne,

”says Ingram

“entitled

respectively His toire d e Z’E sclaoage Ancien et Modem e, 1880, and H e

'

s

toz’

re da Sewage Amie” et H adem e,1879

,which bring together many

facts relating to slavery and serfdom ; but they are somewhat loose and

uncritical ; the author, too , repeats himself much, and dwells on manyt0pics scarcely, if at all

,connected with his main themes

” We are

not acquainted with Tourmagne book on serfdom : but as to his Histoire

d e l’Esclavage we fully agree with Ingram.

1 ) Ingram, p . VII . In our notes we always mention the name of the b ook referred toin the shortest way possible. The full titles will b e found in our list at the end of

the volume. 2) Ibid ., pp . 7—9. 3) Ib id .

,p. XII .

PART I.

DESCRlPTIVE .

CHAPTER I .

DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION FROM KINDRED PHENOMENA.

1 . Ord inary meaning of the term“s lavery

In mo st branches o f knowledge the phenomena the man o f

science has to deal with have their technical names ; and ,

when using a scientific term ,he need no t have regard to the

meaning this term conveys in ordinary language ; he knowshe will no t b e misunderstood by his fellow- scientists . For

instance,the Germans call a whale Wa llfis ch, and the English

speak o f shell-fish ; but a zoo logist , using the word fish, neednot fear that any competent person will think he means

whales or shell-fish.

In ethno logy the state of things is quite different. Thereare a few scientific names bearing a definite meaning

,such

as the terms“animism”

and “survival” , happily introduced byProfessor Tylor. But most phenomena belonging to our sciencehave not yet been accurately investigated ; so it is no wonder ,that different writers (sometimes even the same writer on different pages) g ive different names to the same phenomenon ,

whereas on the o ther hand sometimes the same term (a g.“matriarchy is applied to widely different phenomena . As for

the subject we are about to treat o f, we shall presently see

that several writers have given a definition of slavery ; but noone has taken the trouble to inquire whether his definition can

b e of any practical use in social science . Therefore we shall tryto give a good definition and justify it .But we may not content ourselves with this ; we must also

pay attention to the meaning o f the term“slavery” as com

monly employed . There are two reasons for this . First,we

4 DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION.

must always rely upon the statements o f ethnographers . If anethnographer states that some savage tribe carries on slavery

,

without defining in what this “slavery ” consists , we have toask : What may our informant have meant ? And as he islikely to have used the word in the sense generally attached

to it , we have to inquire : What is the ordinary meaning Ofthe term “slavery” ?The second reason 18 this . Several theoretical writers speak

Of slavery, without defining what they mean by it ; and wecanno t avail ourselves Of their remarks without knowing whatmeaning they attach to this term. And as they too may be

supposed to have used it in the sense in which it is generallyused , we have again to inquire : What is the meaning Of theterm “slavery” in ordinary language ?The general use Of the word

,as is so Often the case , is

rather inaccurate .

“Careless or rhetorical writers”says Ingram

,

use the words “slave” and “slavery” in a very lax way.

Thus,when pro testing against the so - called “Subjection Of

Women”

,they absurdly apply those terms to the condition Of

the wife in the modern so ciety Of the west designationswhich are inappropriate even in the case o f the inmates Of

Indian zenanas ; and they speak of the modern worker as a“wage-slave” , even though he is backed by a powerful tradeunion. Passion has a language Of its own, and poets and

orators must doub tless b e permitted to denote by the word“slavery” the position Of subjects Of a state who labour undercivil disabilities , or are excluded from the exercise o f po litical

power, but in socio logical study things ought to have theirright names

,and those names should , as far as possible

,b e

uniformly employed”

But this use Of the word we may safely regard as a metaphor nobody will assert that these labourers and women are

really slaves . Whoever uses the term slavery in its ordinarysense attaches a fairly distinct idea to it .What is this idea ?We can express it most generally thus : a slave is one who

1 ) Ingram,p. 261 . 2) In the second Chapter and in the continuation of this we

shall meet with more instances Of this metaphoric (sometimes rather d angerous) use Of theterm“slavery”.


We shall inquire next , whether this notion is a practicalone for the purpose Of o ur investigation,

or whether it requiresany improvement. But it may b e convenient first to examine

,

what our theoretical authors have to say on the subject.

2 . Use of the term“s lavery in theoretica l litera ture.

Spencer remarks :“[The captives] fal l into unqualified servitude . . They belong abso lutely to their captors . Theybecome property, o f which any use whatever may be made

”

Although this may no t properly b e called a definition o f sla

very , it appears that he uses“becoming property” and“falling

into unqualified servitude (or slavery) as synonymousexpress1ons .

According to Ingram “the essential character Of slavery mayb e regarded as lying in the fact that the master was ownerOf the person Of the slave”

Lippert remarks :“The fact , that one man becomes an Obj ectof possessmn by ano ther, characterizes the nature o f slavery

”

Sohm calls a slave “a man who is not regarded as a person,

but as a thing. The slave is left to the discretion Of themaster , who has o ver him the right o f property

”

Letourneau says : “The rights o f the masters over theirslaves were always excessive ; they were those of a proprietorover his possession”

According to Schmoller “the slave is the property of hismaster”

In the same way , Meyer, speaking o f slavery, says that ancient

law recognised an unlimited right Of property Over menJhering also remarks that “the master’s p otes tas may b e

cal led property”

In the first paragraph three principal features o f slaveryhave been enumerated . We see that our theorists attach most

importance to the first feature : “property” or“po ssessmn

”

1 ) Spencer, Pol . Inst ,p . 291 . 2) Ingram,

p . 262. 3) Lippert, II p . 534.—4) Sohm,

p . 106. 5) Letourneau ,p . 492. 6) Schmoller, Grundriss I p. 339. 7) E. Meyer,

Die Sklaverei im Altertum,p . 1 1 . 8) Jhering, II p. 1 67. — 9) This view is also held by

Wagner and Puchta,whose ample expositions we shall make use Of in the next paragraph.

3. Definition for scientific use.

The present investigation is a so cio logical one ; thereforeour definition o f slavery has to b e socio logica lly relevant . We

have to ask : What is the social value of slavery ? Slavery is

an organ in the social body performing a certain function ,

and we have to inquire : How is this organ developed , andhow

,in the various stages o f its development , does it perform

its function ? But then we must know first what this organand its function are . Thus only can we exclude from our

inquiry organs somewhat resembling slavery,but functionally

quite different from it,and organs who lly different from sla

very,but performing the same function or nearly the same.

And this is necessary ; for the inclusion o f such organs wouldcreate a confusion fatal to a right understanding.

What then is slavery and what is its function ?The great function of slavery can b e no o ther than a d ivi

sion of labour Division of labour is taken here in the widestsense

,as including not only i sion

,by which

one man does one kind o f work and another a different kind,

b ut also a quantitative one,by which one man

’

s wants are

provided for not by his own work only, but by another’s. A

society without any ‘division o f labour would b e one,in which

each man worked for his own wants , and nobody for ano ther’s ;

in any case but this there is a division o f labour in this widersense o f the word . Now this division can b e brought aboutby two means .

“There are two ways” says Puchta,

“in whichwe can avail ourselves o f the strength o f o ther men whichwe are in need of. One is the way of free commerce, thatdoes not interfere with the liberty of the person who servesus

,the making o f contracts by which we exchange the strength

and skill of ano ther,or their products , for other performances

1 ) Wagner remarks that this is the main function of bondageWagner

,pp . 374—376. 382 .

8 DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION .

on our part : hire of services, purchase of manufactures,etc .

The other way is the subjection o f such persons , which enablesus to dispose o f their strength in our behalf

,but at the same

time injures the personality of the subjected . This subjectioncan b e imagined as being restricted to certain purposes, forinstance to the cultivation o f the land

, as with so il- tillingserfs ; the result of which is that this subjection , for the very

reason that is has a d efinite and limited aim , does not quiteannul the liberty “Of the subjected. But the subjection can alsob e an unlimited one, as is the case when the subjected person,

in the who le o f his outward life, is treated as but a

means to the purposes o f the man of power, and so his per

sonality is entirely absorbed . This is the institution o f sla

very” We have not much to add to this lucid descriptionOf slavery and its function . The function is a system o f com

pulsory labour , and slavery is the absorption Of the who le personality of the forced labourer to this end . As this absorptionis properly expressed by the word “property” or

“possession”,

we may define the slave as a man who is the property or

p ossession of another man , and forced to work for him.

T his definition, however, on further consideration wil l showitself capable o f some simplification. For when one man is

the property of another, this implies compulsory labour. The

right of property in this case , the Ob ject o f it being a man,

is a power over that man’s will too . The Romans recognised

this : “The master has not only a right of property over theslave as over a lifeless thing

, but also a power like that overhis son , the potestas d ominica , that is a power over the slave ’swill” The right o f property, that is a legally unlimited powerover a man ,

were useless,if the owner did not influence the

man’s will ; and this influencing is equivalent to imposing

labour upon him,labour being taken in the widest sense. A

mere physical possession,such as the preserving of captives

for cannibal purpo ses , which Letourneau and Spencer make

so much o f is so cially o f little consequence. Possessmn of

human beings,as a social institution , is that which gets hold

1 ) Pachts , I I pp. 82 , 83. Wagner (pp. 382, 395) arrives at the same conclusion, but

d oes not state it so clearly. 2) Sohm,p. 106. 3) Letourneau, passim ; Spencer, Pol.

Inst. p . 291 .

DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION. 9

o f the will o f its Object. Hence it fo llows , that s lavery is thefac t tha t one man is the property or possession of ano ther .

This simplification Of o ur formula has this advantage that ,in inquiring whether in any country there are slaves , we need not

ask whether there is labour imposed on subjected men. Whenthis does not sufficiently appear, we need not say : We d o no t

know whether slavery really exists here . When we are to ldthat in such a country some men are the property of o thers

(except o f course the cases Of mere physical possession wehave hinted at

,which are few and easy to recognis e) , we may

be sure that they perform some kind Of compulsory labour,and are justified in calling them Slaves.Further advantages o f our definition are

,that it is the defi

nition given by many theorists,and that it lies within the

limits Of current speech .

In the fo llowing paragraphs we shal l mark the distinctiono f slavery from some phenomena which somewhat resembleit. Of phenomena o f this kind we shal l consider only thosethat most frequently o ccur ; o ther questionable cases will b eexamined in surveying the occurrence of slavery in the severalparts o f the globe.

4. Dis tinction of s lavery from kind red phenomena .

\I . Wives in an abject cond ition .

In the first paragraph it has already beennoticed,that the

advocates of women’s rights make very great use Of the term“

slavery”

. We shall see that this equally applies to some ethno

graphers and theorists describing the state o f women , especiallyas wives , in some primitive societies. To give one instance o f

each o f them : Bancroft says o f the Northern Californians“Although I find no description o f an actual system of slaveryexisting among them

, yet there is no doubt that they have slaves .

We shall see that women entitled by courtesy wives,are

bought and sold” The theorist we shall quote is Letourneau :“In all very primitive so cieties woman represents the domesti c

1 ) Bancroft, p . 349.


animals, the beasts of burden which the more advanced societies possess : she is indeed treated as a Slave , and this certainlyis one o f the reasons why slavery has been instituted so latein the course Of social evo lution”

We may say that such authors use the word metaphorically

(as Letourneau certainly does) ; but this do es no t exempt us

from examining,whether the condition o f wives in those cases

,

where according to them it so much resembles slavery,is

really slavery. We must not , of course , inquire whether thereare instances Of female slaves being the wives o f theirowners , but whether in any case the wives as such are

Slaves. In do ing this,we may confine ourselves to Observing

the condition o f wives among the natives o f Australia,as

this condition is commonly described as a striking instance o f

an abject one. Letourneau remarks :“In the Australian clansSlavery , in the sense in which we use the word

,did not

exist ; but one half o f the so cial group, the weaker half, wasreduced to servitude ; the Australian woman , an indispensableand despised helpmate , was during her who le life burdenedwith work , ill-used , and in reward o ften eaten by thosewhom her unavailing labour had fed” Schurtz states thatthe treatment o f the Australian wives is b ad Ratzelexpresses the same view :

“The po sition of the wife in suchcircumstances is always a low one. That She is positivelyconsidered to b e the property o f her husband (hence in the

Adelaide district “owner o f a wife” means husband) is not

peculiar to Australia . But to this a number o f customs are

added here , that, more than among other peoples to whichthe notion of the wife as a commodity is equally familiar, placeher in the back-ground o f public and even o f family life”

Now let us cite some particulars about this abject state o f

the Australian wives,as given by ethnographers . For the

purpo se Of enabling the reader to take a comprehensive viewo f the matter

,we shall arrange these particulars no t according

to the different tribes each applies to , b ut according to theseveral phenomena bearing on the Object of our inquiry. Thisgives the fo llowing result

1 ) Letourneau, p . 27. 2) Idem,p . 45. 3) Schurtz, Katechismus, p . 139.

4) Ratzel , Vhlkerkunde, I I p . 66.

DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION . 1 1

A. The wife is acquired by the husband without her consent

being asked . SO among the Dieri : “under no circumstances

has a woman any say in the cho ice o f a partner”

. Powel l ’s Creek

natives : “After being purchased o r captured , the woman is

generally taken away to a distance and kept more or less

iso lated with her husband for some months , until she content

ed ly settles down to the new o rder Of things” . Queenslanders

on Herbert River : wives are acqu ired by b ethrothal as children

,by exchange for a sister or daughter or by capture .

N. W . Central Queenslanders : the marriage can b e proposedby the male relatives Of the woman , or a man can exchangehis true blood- sister, i. e. by the same mother , for another’sblood- sister ; in both cases the consent o f the who le camp-councilis required . Aborigines o f N . S. Wales : girls are often b etrothed in infancy

,o r else given away by their father or

brother without their wishes being consulted ;“the women

are considered an article o f property, and are so ld or givenaway by the parents or relatives without the least regard to theirown wishes” . Natives OftheWestern District o fVictoria :betrothalOf children is very frequent. A girl when adult can b e askedo f her father

,without any attention being paid to her wishes .

When two young men have each a sister or cousin,they may

exchange the young women and marry them ; the women are

obliged to Obey. Southern Australians : the husband most o ftenacquires his wife by means Of a contract with her father.

Southern Australians of Port Linco ln : girls are betro thed longbefore puberty ; when adul t they must fo llow their intendedhusbands whether they wish it or no t . Tribes Of Central Australia

(d escribed by Spencer and Gil len) : the most usual method o f Ohtaining a wife is that which is connected with the custom o f

Tualcha mura,i. e. an agreement between two men that the

relationship shall b e established between their two children,

one a b oy and the o ther a girl . S . W.Australians :“In no caseis the girl asked for her consent Natives of King GeorgeSound (W. Australia) : a girl is often promised to a man yearsbefore her birth , but generally she is acquired by capture.NorthernAustralians of Port Darwin and the W. Coast o f the Gulf o fCarpentaria :

“Wives are obtained by gifts o f p arents ; in the

majority Of cases female children when born are promised to


men of all ages Some men obtain women by stealing them ,

generally from o ther tribes , or get them in exchange for a

sister” . Tasmanians : the girls are betrothed as children ; beforemarriage they are the property Of their father or brother.Whenthe match is broken Off

,the girl is again betrothed , without

her wishes being consulted . Brough Smyth,speaking o f the

Australians in general , remarks :“Men obtain wives by a con

venient system o f exchange , by conquest sometimes,and some

times a woman is sto len. By whatmode soever a man procures a

bride , it is very seldom an occasion o f rej o icing for the female” .

And Thomas says : “The process o f acquiring a bride differsin different tribes ; she may b e exchanged for a sister, thesimplest and perhaps the commonest form ; she may b e he

trothed at,or even

, provisionally , before, birth, but this isusual ly part of a process o f barter ; she may b e ob ducted

,

either from an already existing,or a pro spective husband , or

from her relatives ; or she may he inherited from a brotheror tribal kinsman” .

B . The wife is entirely in the power of her husband , andtrea ted accord ingly.

a. Sometimes such genera l expressions are found, as the

wife being her husband’s“property

”or“s lave

”

. So on MoretonBay : wives are slaves. On Herbert River : wives are slaves .

In N . S . Wales :“the woman is ‘

the abso lute property o f her

husband” . In S. W. Australia :“the state of slavery in whichthey [the women] are all held

,is really deplorable .

”In Cen~

tral Australia : the wife is desired by the husband only for a

slave . In Tasmania : the women are slaves and d o all the

menial work . We may add Curr’

s statement about the Australians in general : The wife “is not the relative , but the property o f her husband” .

“The husband is the abso lute ownerOf his wife (or wives) Brough Smyth too remarks that thehusband is called the owner of the wife.

b . He trea ts her with contemp t. In S . Australia women are

despised . In the Moore River District o f W. Australia the busband gives his wife only the o ffal o f the chase. Central Australian men “eat alone

,and throw what they can’t eat to the

women” . In N. S . Wales “as her husband walks along, shefo llows him at a respectful distance If they sit down to


no one would take much notice of the incident . Indeed , theinjured husband might actually kill her.

”

(1. The husband ex changes and lend s his wife. At Powel l ’sCreek wives are sometimes exchanged . In Queensland and

S . Australia “it frequently o ccurs , that a woman Is exchanged,

and :

passes to a number o f husbands in a few years” . The

Moreton Bay aborigines lend their wives to each o ther and

offer them to Europeans . In N . S . Wales “when visitors cometo the camp they are accommodated with wives while theyremain ; and a brave chief

,who has done much for their tribe

by his prowess, gets the wives o f o ther men sent to him bythem as a mark o f respect and friendship. Two men mayeven agree to exchange wives for a time

”.

“They will frequently give one o f their wives to a friend who may b e in

want o f one .

” At Port Linco ln the men frequently exchangewives. The S . Australian husband Offers his wife to friendsand strangers . Exchange o f wives also o ccurs in S . Australia.

In Central Australia the husband lends his wife to his friends.When he goes abroad a husband is given her for the time.

A guest is also provided with a wife . Men and parents prostitute their wives and daughters . “At times a man will lendhis wife to a stranger as an act of courtesy

”. Another writer

informs us that, ,they Often bring them [their wives] up to

white men and b eg of them to take them”. The natives of

Port Darwm “exchange wives o ccasionally” . Tasmanian womenwere o ffered to Whites for payment . A describer Of the Australians in general states that the husband may

“keep her tohimself

,prostitute her , exchange her for ano ther , or give her

away to any male o f the same class as himself”

. Accordingto ano ther writer a young man who has no wife sometimesgets one from an old man ,

who is tired o f her. And Thomas

states : “The Australians were accustomed to lend their wives

to strangers on festive occasions or during ordinary visits .

They might even agree to exchange wives for a month

e . After his d ea th she becomes the property of his bro ther .

Among the Dieri “the elder brother claims her as she is the

wife o f his bro ther On Herbert River the widow belongs to

the deceased man’

s bro ther. In N . S . Wales “when a man dies ,his widow is the property o f his next brother

”. Among the

DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION. 1 5

Kurmai the same custom prevails. In N . Australia “a widowbelongs to her late husband ’s brother We may add Curr

’

s

general statement that “when a man dies , his widows devo lveon his eldest surviving brother”

C . The husband makes his wife work for him. As regardsthe Dieri we are to ld that “the more wives a man has , the

more indo lent he becomes ; as they d o no t till the so il , eachwife has to go daily in search Of food

,gather seeds , roo ts ,

and o ther vegetable products acco rding to the seasons ; the

men with a plurality o f wives stay at home making weapons

,ornaments and fishing nets from rushes grown on the

banks o f the lakes” . At Powell ’s Creek “po lygamy is com

mon , more so amongst the Old men,who find a plurality o f

wives usefu l in hunting for them , and as carriers when shifting camp, etc . On Herbert River the women procure thefood . and for this Often make long j ourneys ; they d o all the

hard work . The husband makes the frame o f the hut ; she

covers it . When travelling she carries all that is to b e carried .

The husband often keeps the animal food to himself ; hishunting has rather the character of a sport ; the procuring of

food is entirely incumbent on the wife . According to Fraserthe fate o f the native wife in N . S . Wales is very pitiable.“Married at an early age , she has not only to bear and rear

the children, but she does all the heavy work o f the family ;

in camp, it is her duty to put up the rude wind shelter Ofsticks and fo liage which serves them as a home , to make a

fire and keep it burn ing , and to co ok the food ; on the march .

she carries in a bag, resting on her back and slung from her

neck , all their po rtable property , and seated on this b ag is heryoungest child in this b ag , in addition to the few uten

sils she requires for domestic labours , she has a yam-stick with

which to dig up the numerous native roo ts which are used asfood , a supply o f these and o ther articles Of food requiredfor a meal

,a quantity o f native string and b o oks for catching

fish . For the ready kindling o f a fire,whenever it is re

quired , she has to carry with her a smouldering piece o f fire

wood ; if she al lows this to go out , and thus puts her lord andmaster to the labour o f getting fire by friction , or if she in anyo ther way gives him displeasure , he will beat her severely,


even till her b ody is covered with bruises and her hair is matted with blood . At Victoria River Downs Station an Old man

general ly has many wives ,“probably to work and get food

for him,for in their wild state the man is too proud to d o

anything except carry a woomera and spear. In Western

Victoria “after marriage the w ’

omen are compelled to d o all thehard work o f erecting habitations , co llecting fuel and water,carrying burdens, procuring roots and delicacies o f various kinds ,making ba skets for cooking roots and o ther purposes, preparingfood

,and attending to the children. The only work the men d o ,

in time o f peace , is to hunt for oppossums and large animalsOf various kinds , and to make rugs and weapons .

”In S .W.

Australia “when,wandering through the woods

,the savage

Observes that the Sky threatens rain, he enjo ins his wife toerect a b ut at the place which he thinks most fit, and wherehe intends to pass the night ’

At King George Sound the

women lo ok very miserable ; they d o all the work . In the

Moore River District the wife who has not yams enough forher husband is severely beaten (as quoted above) . The Central Australian wife is the drudge of her husband . About thenatives o f Port Darwin we get this information :“The onlyreason I know o f for the practice o f po lygamy is that , as thewives have to

: provide food for their lords and carry all theirfamily possessions when travel ling, the husband can lead a per

fect life o f indo lence” . Tasmanian women had to procure all

sorts o f food ,~ -.except the kangaro o . Ling Roth quo tes a d es

cription o f a Tasmanian repast : “Hitherto we had had bu t afaint idea o f the pains the women take to prepare the fo odrequisite for the sub sistence o f their families . They quitted thewater only to bring their husbands the fruits o f their labour,and frequently returned almost directly to their diving , till theyhad procured a sufficient meal for their families

”

. Curr , surveyingthe mode o f life o f the Australians in general , remarks :“Wiveshave to undergo all the drudgery Of the camp and the march ,have the poorest food and the hardest work” . Brough Smythenumerates as duties Of the wife , ,

build ing a new camp , gettingfirewood etc . and on journeys acting as a carrier for all the

worldly goods o f her husband. They are packed on her back , allexcepting his war implements , which he himself deigns to carry

”

.


This picture , surely, is very black. But,unlike Letourneau ,

we must not view the dark side only. We may remark , first

that , as it appears from the forego ing survey , there are withregard to each of the Australian tribes but a part o f the

enumerated phenomena on record ; the black picture is produced by blending the dark sides o f each into a who le. And ,

secondly , the same writers relate some particu lars , which provethat the life o f the Australian wife is not all darkness. Thesetoo we Shall arrange in the order observed above.

A. In some cases we are to ld , that the gir l’

s wishes are to

some extent taken into consid eration as to the cho ice o f her

husband . On Herbert River the woman sometimes gets theman she loves ; She is then very happy ; sometimes she runs

away w ith the beloved man. In N . W. Queensland , when a

young man and a girl are in love with each o ther,and the

camp- council is no t Opposed to it, they elope, live as husbandand wife for some two months

,and then return to the camp.

In N . S. Wales a girl,to escape from the betrothed man (often

times an Old one) , may elope with her young lover ; she isthen brought back and beaten by her family,

“but it may b ethat she elopes again

‘

and again,and

,if at last they see that

She is determined on it,they let her have her own way

”. In

Tasmania the woman was sto len from her tribe, but not

against her will . Most Often the girl succeeded in getting fromher father the man She wanted ; o therwise She had to run

away with him . Curr remarks : “In no instance,unless Mr .

Howitt’

s account o f the KurnaI b e correct,which I doubt ,

has the female any vo ice in the selection o f her husband .

”

This may b e true , if we take“vo ice” in the sense of a legally

recognized right ; virtually , however, she sometimes has a“vo ice” , as appears from the instances given here. Howitt’

s

account which Curr alludes to we have no t been fortunateenough to meet wi th . According to Broug

’

h Smyth“a youngman who has engaged the affections Of a girl o f a neighbouringtribe , agrees with her to run away at the first opportunitythat Offers”. They are then persecuted by the members o f her

tribe, as custom and law require, but not energetically. Aftera few days the young man and his wife return to his tribe.

Except at first some scolding and muttering his new state2


provokes little comment.“His young wife is treated well , and

is soon familiar with all the women of the tribe, to whichshe has become attached”.

B. a , b . Sometimes the ethnographers tell of much affec tionexisting between husband and Wife . At Moreton Bay there iso ften a great affection. On Herbert River“as a rule man and

wife apparently get on very wel l According to Eylmann,happy unions are not unknown among the natives Of SouthAustralia . Fraser remarks about the aborigines OfN . S.Wales :“the kuri or black man is usually kind and affectionateto his jiu ,

wife” ;“in Spite o f the hardness o f their mode Of

life,married coupl es Often live happily and affectionately

together to a considerable age”

. On the river Darling,N . S .

Wales , according to Bonney,“although young women are Often

compe lled to marry a man Of whom they know little and

o ften nothing, they generally find happiness and contentment

in their married lives. Quarrels between husband and wifeare rare , and they Show much affection for each o ther intheir own way In Central Australia “the women are not

treated usually with anything like excessive harshness” .

“Takingeverything into account . the life o f one of these savagewomen, judged from the po int o f view o f her requirementsin order to make life more or less comfortable , is far frombeing the miserable one that it is so Often pictured” . Dawson

,

after describing the work imposed on women in W. Victoria(as quoted above) , adds :

“But notwithstanding this drudgeryand the apparent hard usage to which the women are sub

jected , there is no want o f affection amongst the memberso f a family” . Even Salvad o , . who so pities the S .W.Australianwife , remarks : “Sometimes I heard a betrothed man say :

I love her and she loves me” . Of the Tasmanians we are

to ld that they “treat their women kindly” . Brough Smythmakes this general statement : “It is hard to believe thateven in a lower state the male

,would not have had the

same feeling of affection for his mate and an equaljealousy o f love as we see among the aborigines now”. In

the same sense Bonwick remarks on the Australian natives

in general : “Home life there was not quite the darkscene some pictured Affection is witnessed between


husband and wife, parent and child , tribesman and mate

We may ad d,that the Tasmanian women

,though overb ur

d ened with work , are d escribed as a merry and laughter- lovingkind o f people. And Curr remarks about Australian women in

general : “In every way the female’

s looks to us a hard lo t ;and yet, notwithstanding , I d o not hesitate to say that they

are , on the whole , fairly happy, merry and contented .

”

c. The husband d oes no t a lways enjoy such an en tire freed omof action towards his wife.

Sometimes , for punishing and d ivorcing her , he mus t have

the consent of the tribe. So in N . S. Wales,in case of adul tery“he may complain to the elders o f the tribe, and they , on

cause shown ,decree a divorce ; but not if she has children.

”

According to another writer“the husband who suspects anothero f seducing his wife , either kills one or both . The affair istaken up by the tribe , if the party belongs to another , whoinflict punishment on him .

”In W. Victoria“a man can divorce

his wife for serious misconduct, and can even put her to

death ; but in every case the charge against her must b e laidbefore the chiefs o f his own and his wife’s tribes

,and their

consent to her punishment obtained . If the wife has children,however, She canno t b e divorced ”

. Here we find also some

slight traces o f pro tection o f the wife by her relat ives :“Aman is allowed to marry his brother’s widow

,or his own

deceased wife’s sister, or a woman o f her tribe ; b ut he is notpermitted to do so , if he has divorced or killed his wife” .

In N . W. Central Queensland the wife is avenged by herrelations.

“In the case o f a man kil ling his own gin [wife] , hehas to deliver up one o f his own Sisters for his late wife

’

s

friends to put to death , he personally escaping punishmentA wife has always her“brothers” to look after her interestsAt the initiation-feasts“each woman can exercise the right Of

punishing any man who may have il l-treated , abused or“ham

mered”her the del inquent not being allowed to retaliate

in any way whatsoever”

. If these women are slaves , they at

least have their sa turna lia

1 ) Curr asserts that, if the husband killed his wife,“her death would be avenged by

her brothers”. But the information we get ab out the several tribes makes it probable,

that this is not true regarding the majority of Australian trib es.


We even find cases o f the wife putting a check up on her

husband , especially in a sexual respect. On Herbert River thewife is furious if her husband is unfaithful to her. In N . S .

Wales“a wife may similarly complain to them [the elders Of

the tribe] o f the conduct o f her husband , and they may orderboth the man and his paramour to b e punished

”. In W. Vic

toria “if a husband is unfaithful,his wife canno t divorce him.

She may make a complaint to the chief, who can punish theman by sending him away from his tribe fo r two or threemoons ; and the guilty woman is very severely punished byher relatives” .

“A chief who has been married under the lawo f betro thal

,is not permitted to marry ano ther woman for a

long time ; and Should he d o so without Obtaining the consentof his wife, there would be constant quarreling

”. At Port Lin

co ln an o ld,former wife sometimes forces her husband to desist

from taking a young, new one .

Finally we meet with instances o f the wife having a rea l

ascend ency over her husband . On Herbert River the husbandis s ometimes led by his wife

,and even beaten by her. A curi

OuS piece o f information we get about W . Victoria . When a

wife treats her husband with such persistent disrespect or un

kindness as to make him wish to get rid o f her,he go es away

to some neighbouring tribe and tries to bring about her deathby means o f sorcery. The wife

,being informed Of this

,repairs

thither and entreats him to return,and so a reconciliation

is effected .

In Tasmania the husband could divorce his wife ; but she

could also force him to d o so .

(I. Exchange of wives does not seem always to take placeagainst their will . In W . Victoria wives may b e exchangedonly after the death of their parents and with the consent o fthe Chiefs

,b ut no t if one Of them has children. After the ex

change both couples l ive peaceful ly together in one hut, eachih a separate compartment . If a man knows that his wife isin love with ano ther, and he is not opposed to it , She can be

amicably transferred to the o ther man with the consent Of the

chief. At Port Linco ln the men frequently exchange wives ;bro thers and near relatives have their wives nearly in com

mon. The wife calls the brothers of her husband by the name


not amount to very much , and in a bad season’

men and womensuffer alike

,and o f what fo od there is they get their share” .

The last-cited cases o f levirate law, too , show that the sub

sistence o f the family does not depend on the wife only.

Even the instances quo ted under C (p. 15) provide us with evidence that the men perform some kind o f work as huntingthe larger animals , making weapons and fishing-nets

, gettingfire by friction, etc . And what is said here about the Karnaicertainly applies to all these tribes : the husband fights to protect his wife. This being his great and indispensable function ,

we must not wonder at his no t liking to d o other work thatwomen can perform

'

as wellThe division of labour between the sexes is not always SO

unreasonable as at first Sight it seems . Hore,speaking of the

African Wajiji, very justly remarks : “Much has been saidabout the unfair division of lab our in such circumstances , butwhen it is considered that a wild man find s scarcely anythingto his hand

,but must himself out the wood and the grass to

build his house,manufacture his Spear and cooking vessels

,

take his part in tribal duties , and is frequently compelled to

seek fo od in long and laborious hunting expeditions,it will b e

seen that he Often gets his fair Share o f work” A similardivision o f labour is admirably described by Pinart , as existingamong the Indians of Panama : “I may b e allowed to make

here a Short digression on woman’

s place in the lndian househo ld .

1 ) Literature referred to in surveying the state of the Au stralian wife. On the DieriGason in Frazer’s Notes, p . 1 70 ; Powell’s Creek : The Stationmaster, ib id . pp . 177, 178 ;Victoria R iver Downs Station : Cranfo’

rd,ib id . p . 181 : Queensland and S. Australia

Matthews,ib id . pp. 187, 188 ; S. Australia : Ey lmann , pp . 1 29. 130, 131 ; Moreton Bay

Lang,pp. 337

,338 ; Herbert River : Lumho ltz, p.p. 100

,1 60—1 64

,2 13 ; N. S .Wales : Fraser,

pp. - 28,35 ; Wilkes, II p . 205 ; River Darling (N. S. Wales) : Bonney p . 1 29;

Cammarray : Co llins , pp. 559—562 ; Kurnai : Eison and Hewitt , pp . N.W. CentralQueensland : Roth, pp . 141 , 176

,1 81 ; W. Victoria : Dawson , pp . 27, 28, 33—37: Port

Lincoln : Wood s , p . 223 ; S . Australia : Angas, I pp. 82 , 93 ; S. W. Australia : Salvadopp. 313

,314

,349 ; King George Sound : Browne , Die Eingeb orenen Australiens, pp . 450,

451 ; Moore River District : Oldfield , pp. 248—251 ; Central Australia : Spencer and Gillen,Native tribes

,pp . 50, 93, 102 , 558 ; Spencer and Gillen , Northern tribes

, p . 33 ; Eyre I Ip . 322 ; Willshire, in Frazer’s No tes, pp. 183, 184; Port Darwin , etc. : Foelsche, ib id . p.1 94; Tasmania : Bonwick , Tasmania, pp. 56, 62. 66 , 68, 73 ; Ling Roth , Tasmania, pp .1 25, 46 ; Australia in general : Curr , I pp. 106—1 10 ; Brough Smyth , I pp. 76, 79—82,85, 86 ; Bonwick , Austr. Natives, p. 205 ; Thomas , pp. 1 51 , 174, 1 77. 2) Here, p. 1 1 .


It is commonly said by those who have not lived intimatelywith the Indians, that they consider woman as a beast of bur

d en,that to her Share falls a life full Of troublesome and fatigu

ing work , and to the man’

s an easy and idle existence . It may ,

indeed , seem strange to the superficial observer to see the

woman charged with heavy burdens and the man walkingbefore her carrying nothing but his weapons . But if the observerwill only reflect a little

,he will understand that

,whereas

the man carries his weapons only , the responsibility and the

safety o f his wife and children are incumbent on him . The

Indian’

s life is indeed surrounded with d angers ; when traversing a savannah , or forest , a hostile Indian may appear at anymoment ; a tiger

,a snake etc . may throw himself upon the

travellers . Therefore it is the man’

s task to b e continually on

the alert,to have his hands and his movements free

,in order to

be able immediately to take his arms and defend those whoare dear to him. How Often have not I seen the Indian

,when

about to traverse a river, making his family stand still,enter

ing into the water and reconnoitring whether it was not too

deep or the stream too rapid ; then inspecting the oppositebank to see whether all was right there ; then crossing theriver again

,helping his wife and children to pass through ,

o ften even carrying the burdens , and several times re- cro ssingthe river to transport on his back his wife and children. The

river being cro ssed, the man again takes the lead with hisarms

, the wife and family resume their burdens,and the little

caravan continues its way in the same order”

Another fact, proving that the Australian women are not in

every respect regarded as slaves , is the great influence theyoften have in intertribal matters .

“The peace-making influenceo f the women is very great, and has Often been Observedamong many tribes” .

“The peace-making function o f the womenis also very characteristically Shown by their being employedas international ambassadresses” Darwin justly remarks :We thus see that with savages the women are not in quiteso abject a state in relation to marriage

,as has o ften been

supposed”

1 ) Pinart, pp.44,45. 2) Steinmetz ,Strafe, II p.45. 3) Darwin, Descent ofMan, p.593.


The question to b e settled now is this : Are these Australianwives

,and accordingly all the wives that M e in an abject

state,to b e called slaves ? Remembering the conclusion we

arrived at in the third paragraph , we may put the questionthus : are they Objects o f possession ? Under B,

a , we have quo tedseveral statements o f ethnographers cal ling them the Slaves

,

or the property, o f their husbands . We must no t , however,forget Ingram

’

s warning against taking a rhetorical use o f the

word “slave” too l iterally. The facts recorded under B,c,B, d ,

and C are o f more interest to us. The husband may d o withhis wife as he likes : ill-use and kill her

,o vertax her with

work,exchange and lend her. It is but seld om that her relations

pro tect her ; in but very few cases is the man’

s powerinterfered with by the chief or elders Of the tribe . Therefore we cannot but admit that she is the property of her

husband .

Y et there is a reason,why we are no t to bring these wives

under the denomination Of slaves . We may refer here to the

po int Of view we have taken in determ ining the nature of

slavery. Slavery is an organ in the social body , that in a pecu

liar manner brings about a division Of labour. The Australianwives share the character o f this organ as an Object o f possession. Y et they are not the same organ ; for besides beingforced labourers they are wives ; hence it fo llows that their

relation towards their husbands is who lly bound up with thesexual and family life : it is their character as women ,

not as

labourers , that prevails. We may remember here the mutualaffection observed in so many cases by the ethnographers .

AS the mo ther o f his children, too , the husband is likely tovalue his wife . We have seen (under B

,c) that in a few

cases she cannot b e divorced or exchanged if she has children.

Besides , it is frequently stated , that the Australian aborigines

are very fond o f their childrenThe Australian woman discharges the duties o f a wife and

a mother,and besides , to some extent

,the work that among

other peoples falls to the Share of the slave ; therefore she is

no t a slave. If she were , her place, in a Slave-keeping society,

1 ) See Ploss, II pp . 333, 334, and Steinmetz,Das Verhaltniss zwischen Eltern und

K indern,p. 613.


would b e entirely o ccupied by the slave ; but no one willdoubt whether in any such society there are wives. In an

evo lutionary sense the slave and the Australian wife differ in

this : the Australian wife is a not-yet-differentiated organ , per

forming two functions,which at a later s tage of development

will b e incumbent on two quite distinct organs : the peculiar

function of a wife , and the labour o f a slave . This reasoningis no t an assertion a p riori, by a bio logical paral lelism , o f a

development that must actually have taken place ; it is onlyintended to Show the fundamental difference existing between

wives,however abject their cond ition ,

and SlavesWe may even go farther and say : S lavery proper d oes no t

exis t,when there are none bu t fema le s laves . For when females

only are enslaved , the reason probably is , that they are valuedas women

,not only as labourers ; o therwise males would b e

enslaved too . S o , according to Meyer in the early stages o fancient history

,mo st o f the slaves were women and their chief

function was a sexual one . And even where such women are not,

all o f them,actually treated as wives or concubines , but only kept

as labourers,there is no Slavery in the true sense o f the word . In

such cases , the husband keeps his wife or wives subjected ;this leads to the keeping o f numerous subjected females

,who

are scarcely to b e called wives. But it is always women , as

the weaker sex, who are subjected to the men ; subjection o f

labourers , only in their quality of labourers,does no t exist . The

labourers have the name,if not the state

,o f wives ; this proves

that the subjection o f labourers as such,i. e. slavery

,is not

yet developed .

We have dwelt at considerable length on this distinctionbetween Slaves and subjected wives . There are some more

distinctions to be made between Slavery and kindred phenomena ; but

‘

these will no t o ccupy so much space and time.

1 ) Lippert (II p . 535) d istinguishes the wife, as mistress o f the household , from the

slave, who has no share in the authority wielded b ij the master. This may b e true , but

it is only a small port ion of the truth. 2) Meyer, Die Sklaverei im Altertum, p. 18.


5 . Dis tinc tion of s lavery from kindred phenomena .

I I . Child ren subjec ted to the head of the family .

There was a time,the time o f the go od o ld patriarchal

theory, when the condition o f children in the early stages o f

social life was thought to “b e one o f complete subjection to

the head o f the family , the p a ter familias , who had o ver theman unlimited power, extending to the power o f life and death .

Carey, among others , ho lds this view,and very plainly ex

presses it. “By no thing is the progress o f mankind in population and wealth made more manifest than by the change inthe relation o f parent and child . In the infancy of cultivationthe one is a tyrant and the o ther a s lave”

The adherents Of the matriarchal theory have assigned to

the Roman- like agnatic family its place as a later product o fhistory ; but to the question as to how children were treatedin an ante-patriarchal state of culture they have not givenmuch attention .

It is to Professor_S . R. Steinmetz that we are indebted for the

first exact inquiry into the early history of the treatment ofchildren . His conclusions , based upon a large amount o f ethnographical materials , are these :

With most savages rational education is out of the question ,the children soon growing independent, and when young beingeither neglected or much petted and spo iled a lesser numb er o f savage tribes Show some Slight beginnings of educationwithout or nearly without bodily castigation ; in a few casesthe childeren are under strict discipline . In this last set of

cases there is to some extent a subjection o f the children.

“With the power o ver the mother the father gradually acquired the power o ver the children.

“The patriarch becamemaster Of his children and , whenever circumstances requiredand allowed it

,introduced a strict discipline over them”

1 ) Carey, p . 275. See also Wutthe and Maine, as quoted by Steinmetz, Strafe II pp 180,181 .

— 2 ) Chamberlain (p. 1 1 6) justly remarks :“Much too little has been made of the b rightsid e of child-life among the lower races.

"3) Steinmetz , Strafe II pp. 1 79—253, see

especially p . 252,and his article on :

“Des Verhd lmiss zwischm B ltem and Kinder-n bei


We may therefore suppose , that there will b e instances of

children being treated in a somewhat slave- like manner. We

Shall presently see that there are a few such cases on record

in Steinmetz’s book .

' Among the Apaches the father holds unl imited sway o ver

his children up to the age o f pubertyTlinkit boys must render unbounded obedience to their

parents and especially to their maternal uncle, to whom,accord

ing to the law o f inheritance , they are almo st more nearly

related than to their own father. They have to perform the

labour imposed upon them ,without any claim to compensation

Of the Bo to cudo s we are to ld,that the father , being stronger

than his children , compels them to work for him

Among the Aeneze Bedouins the young girls work hard ;they drive the cattle to the pasture-ground ; if one out of the

herd is lost , they are severely beaten by their father

Among the Assja Samoyedes the father has a patriarchal

power, and punishes at his discretion and according to customIn these few cases only is it clearly stated that the head

of the family has an arbitrary power. The value o f Zu Wied ’

s

statement about the Botocudos is much lessened by the same

ethnographer telling us that the children enjoy much freedomConsidering now the state of the children in the cases refer

red to here, are we justified in calling it Slavery ?The head of the family has power over the children ; and

so far as it appears from the particulars given by the ethno

graphers , this is a legally unlimited power, that may be cal ledright o f property, and is likely to lead to compulsory labour,as among the Tlinkits and Aeneze Bedouins it certainly does .

The condition o f these children may therefo re b e expressedby the word “possession our criterion o f slavery.

We may even go farther . The condition o f slaves is not

always very bad ; but however kindly treated , they are Slaves,

are the property o f their masters . So with children too . Theymay not be , as in the cases mentioned above , under strictdiscipline ; yet the father’s , or in a few cases the maternal

1 ) Steinmetz, Strafe II p. 190 (after Bancroft) . 2) Ibid .,p. 194(after Krause) .

3) Ibid ., p. 196 (after Zu Wied ) . 4) Ibid .

,p. 199 (after Burckhard t) .—5) Ib id .

,p. 201

(after Von Middendorf). 6) Ibid ., p. 196.


uncle’s , power, however moderate a use he makes of it,may

b e legally unbounded , not restricted by social rules , not interfered with by the community . In such a case the head o f the

family may b e called owner of the child , and is really calledso in Roman law

,so clearly distinct from Roman practice.

“The patria p o tes tas of ancient civil law means the full powerof the father over the persons subjected to him (the child ,the grand- child by the son

,the wife in manu) , the right

of death and life (ius vitae ac necis ) and the right to sell intoslavery” “This potestas originally was equal to that over theSlaves”

We see that the t erm “possession may well b e used here.

Y et there is a reason that induces us not to call these children slaves

,a reason resembling that for which we have ex

cluded the subjected wives . These children may b e called the

property o f their fathers ; but this is no t the who le , nor eventhe main part o f their condition . The relation between fatherand child

,if it includes subjection , includes much more . There

is mutual sympathy and in many respects a co incidence o f

interests ; there is respect on the Side o f the child ; there is onthe Side o f the father a desire to promote the welfare o f the

child , however much bound up with egotistical motives. Thereis also physical and mental superiority ,

on the Side of the

father and inferiority on the side o f the child and this in

some cases may bring about a somewhat slave- like conditiono f the latter ; but th is condition is not an essential part o f therelation between father and child ; a fortiori it is no t coextensive with the relation

,as in the case o f the slave. Blo lo

gically expressed : the child is quite another organ,with quite

ano ther function , but in some cases performing in some degree

1 ) Sohm,p . 363. 2 ) Fuchte, II p . 384.As this is not the place to enter into a systematic

d escription of the treatment of children among savages ,we have confined ourselves to mentioning the results of Ste/

inmetz’s investigations. Y et we will quote here one ethnographical record,

that clearly shows the high d egree of d evelopment o f the patria po testas possible amongsavages.“In Flores the sons even o f rich families , as long as their father lives

,at public

feasts are d ressed like slaves,and also at his funeral ; this being apparently the external

sign of a strict patria p otes tas, which remains in force till the funeral ; until then the

son is the father ’s slave.

” Von Martens , p . 1 17. 3) Viz. as long as the child is reallya child . Savage children are generally much sooner full-grown than those of civilizednations ; see Steinmetz, Strafe, II pp . 2 15—217.


ment affairs , when the tribe is democratically organized , andtheir being excluded from marriage with native-born women.

With the aid o f these criteria we Shall try , in every particularcase , to decide"whe ther the captives are slaves or adoptedmembers o f the community. What has been said here o f captives , equally applies to purchased persons.

The last two paragraphs Show that there is still somethingwanting in our definition , No t every state o f possession isslavery ; those arising from family relations are to b e excluded . Thus only can we come to a true understanding o f the

signification of slavery. For wives and children may accidentally b e forced labourers and the like ; the slave only is exd efinitione a subjected person , a forced labourer, an Object ofpo ssession. Wives and children there would b e, and there are

in many cases , without subjection ; Slaves there are not wherethere is not subjection and compulsory labour. A so ciety thatbegins to keeps Slaves , develops a new organ with a special ,well marked function ; and it is the evo lution o f this organ

we are to trace in the fo llowing Chapters.

Our definition therefore wants an addition . We may now

put it so : S lavery is the fact, tha t one man is the property or

p ossession of another beyond the limits of the family proper.

6. Dis tinction of s lavery from kind red phenomena .

1 11 . Members of a society in their relation to the head of thecommunity.

Bastian, after remarking that in a social community nobodyis literally free , gives a great number of quotations , describingwidely different kinds o f subjection

,and among these some

few,where the subjects of a despot are called his slaves or

his property.

“The Siamese are all (even marked) Slaves of

their king .

” “The subjects of the king of Djagga are slaves,who may not marry without his consent.” “In Usumb ara all

are slaves o f the king.

” “The abso lute rulers d ispose o f all

their subjects as their property (even without having acquireda right by the subjects having transgressed the law) , and even


mark with their badge the different work ing-guilds , as is doneby the king of Siam .

” “The princes and princesses on the

Congo have the right to sel l any one who is not a prince like

themselves”

What Bastian means by heaping up these various quotations ,without any order or attempt at an explanation, is not clear.

We,however

,must not fo llow his example , but inquire whether

the word “slave” is rightly used here , whether the subjects

of a despot may b e called slaves . A few moments o f cons ider

ation will Show that they may not . For however great thepower o f the chief, the king, the despo t, in a word the headof the community, over his subjects

,they are no t his property.“Property” supposes a power of the master, pervading the

who le life, personal , domestic and social , o f the slave ; so

great a power o ver his subjects a chief never has. The fol

lowing reasoning will make this clear. Slavery wou ld not b e

capable o f much development,if it depended upon the master

’

s

personal superiority only ; for Slavery to b ecome a social system ,

the master’

s power over the slave must b e recognized by thesociety. The Slave lives in a society that regards him as a slave ;

slavery canno t exist where there is no t a society of freemen.

Therefore the despot,however great his power, is no t as such

a master o f Slaves . The slave-owner has the community on

his side ; the chief has subjects who themselves compose thecommunity. Lo oked at from the practical side , the chief’s

power contains much more o f vo luntary submission than the

slave- owner’s. A chief never has the whole person o f the citizens subjected in his own behalf ; he may exact some performanoes for his personal benefit , b ut the restrictions put uponthe subjects , encroaching on their freedom in private l ife , wil lgenerally b e measures taken in the (real or supposed) interesto f the community

,and approved o f by the community . These

restrictions are mutual,and arise from the social connection

itself ; this is not , as in Slavery , using one person as a means

to the purposes of ano ther definite person. This yet more

distinctly appears , where not a single man impo ses these rules ,

1 ) Bastian , Rechtsverhiiltnisse , pp. 1 5, 1 5 note 2 , 187, 187 note 2 . Post p.358) also speak s of subjects being the slaves of the king.


but the council of citizens . In a communistic society therewould b e an entire absence o f personal freedom ; yet therewould b e no slaves , as there would b e no freemen whom theycould serve .

It need hardly b e said,that a chief may keep slaves like

any o ther freeman. The public power as such , the state , alsos ometimes keeps Slaves (e. g. the servi publici in Rome) . But

these Slaves are quite distinct from the main body of

citizens .

Sometimes it is stated , that the chief, or the public power,has slaves , whereas no mention is made o f any o ther s laves.In such cases the slaves generally become such as a punishment for some o ffence . Where such a state o f things exists ,we may no t speak o f a slave-keeping people. Fo r here the

power o f the go vernment is so great,that it can avail itself

o f the labour Of'

the citizens ; whether this is done by imposingan equal amount o f labour on all o f them,

or by selecting a

few persons for this purpo se and keeping them in a slave-likestate

, do es no t make much difference . Besides , slavery herecannot have the same influence on social life it generally has ;for every freeman has to work for himself. This kind of slaverymay b e compared with the tread-mill and o ther kinds o f penalservitude existing in mo re civilized so cieties . And we mayno t speak Of a slave-keeping people, where the only Slavesarecriminals , who become the slaves o f him who represents the

public power , any more than we can say that slavery existsin those civilized countries , where penal servitude is still

practised .

One more remark has to b e added here. Hitherto we have

used the terms “po ssession”

and “property synonymously as

indicating the nature o f Slavery . In this paragraph it has been

shown,that an essential feature o f slavery is its being recog

nized by the community . Therefore we prefer the term“prop

erty that,better than the o ther term , conveys the no tion,

no t only o f a virtual subj ection , b ut o f a subjection consideredlegal in those communities where it exists.


7. Dis tinction of s lavery from kindred phenomena .

I V. Subjected tribes ; tributary provinces ; lower classes ; freelabourers .

We shall meet with instances o f tribes , the members of whichare bound to perform some kind of labour for o ther tribes orfor the members o f the latter.

This is not slavery ; for slavery is subjection of one individualto ano ther, and a subjection that absorbs the whole per

sonality o f the subj ected ; and under such circumstances it isno t possible that the subjected lead a tribal life. Therefore ,where the subjected are des cribed as forming a separate tribe ,we may b e sure that they are not slaves. Ingram justlyremarks that“the lowest caste may be a d egraded and despisedone

,but its members are not in a state o f slavery ; they are

in co llective,not individual , subjection to the members of

the higher classes” What Ingram says here o f the lowestcaste

,o ften applies to subjected tribes.

That conquered districts,bound to pay a tribute in kind or

money,d o no t consist of slaves , is clear.

The foregoing remarks would b e almost superfluous, wereit not that some ethnographers in such cases Spoke o f“Slavetribes” and “slave districts This may

'

partly b e caused bythe natives themselves making an incorrect use o f the term“Slavery” . In North Africa the coast tribes call the inlandtribes their Slaves , because they keep them bound by a trademonopoly. In the same regions a chief calls himself the slaveo f ano ther chief, to whom he has to pay a tribute As in

some cases the slaves live together in separate villages itmay b e difficult to d ecide whether we have to deal withSlave villages or with subjected groups . The criterion then is

,

whether the subjected people have each an individual master.

When we are informed that such is the case , or that they arebought and so ld , we may b e certain that they are slaves .

Lower classes can b e o f different kinds . Where they are

1 ) Ingram, p . 3. S churtz also remarks th at pariah artisans,though d espised , are not

slaves. (Das afrikanische Gewerbe, p . 2) Goldstein, pp. 354, 355. 3) See forinstance Hutter

,pp. 270

,271 .


only considered inferior to the upper classes , or excluded fromgovernmental functions , it is easy to see that they are no t

slaves . Greater difficulties are presented by some o ther cases .

Sometimes a. lower class consists o f free labourers . Now theoretically free labourers are . easy to distinguish from slaves : theslave is compelled to work , the free labourer vo luntarily sub

mits to it . But the accounts o f the ethnographers d o not

always make it clear, which o f these two kinds of labourerswe have to deal with in any particular case. When‘a lab ourerlives in the house o f his mas ter and is who lly dependent on

him,it may b e rather difficult at first sight to decide whether

he is free or a slave . Sometimes the details given are suffi

cient to settle the question ; if not , we shall have to leave itundecided .

A lower class can also consist of serfs. What they are,and

what is the difference between them and slaves,will b e shown

in the next paragraph .

8. Distinction of s lavery from kindred phenomena . V. Serfs .

What we have said o f free labourers applies also to serfsto draw the theoretical line o f demarcation between them and

slaves is not so very difficult ; but practically it is no t alwayseasy to decide , whether a subjected class we get some information about consists o f Slaves or o f serfs ; sometimes even

,

because of the u nstable termino logy and the scanty information,

it is quite impossible . But there are several unequivo cal casesof serfdom,

to o,on record in history. Mentioning a few o f

these will suffi ce to give the reader a clear idea of its nature

as distinct from slavery.

In Germany Leibeigene was , in the earliest times , synonymous with slave. The law placed the Leibeigenen on a levelwith the domes tic animals. The master had the ius vitae ac necis ,an unlimited right to sell

” them,the right to exact from them

all possible services , to marry and divorce them . The owner

of the Leibeigene was also owner o f his goods and chattels.

The lord was responsible for any damages caused by his servant

,as for those caused by his horse, and might claim indem~


nity if any one injured his man . But gradually this slaverywas mitigated into a state Of subserviency. First the claim to

unlimited services was waived,and on the Leibeigene were

imposed definite R oboten (labour dues) and tributes . He had to

work on fixed days , to perform fixed services , to pay fixedsums . His earnings legally still belonged to the lord , and thelatter succeeded to his go ods ; b ut from the 13th century thelord ’

s right o f inheritance dwindled into a present (mortuarium) .

From the 14th century the serfs acquired a usufruct Of the so ilthey tilled , and SO their obligations assumed more or less thecharacter o f a quit-rent. Sometimes they were even allowedto choose another lord . In the Frankish empire the lordswere already forbidden to sell them abroad ; from the i 3th .

century they lost the right to kill them,and afterwards

also the right to whip them . The church took away fromthe lord the right to divorce his serfs

,if the marriage had

been contracted with his consent. The ius p rimae noctis

remained longer. Moreover, the relations of the serfs towardsothers were gradually recognized by law, at first only as

to unjust acts,later on as to contracts . And so

,when at

last serfdom was abo lished,the only changes effected by this

were : allowing o f the right o f emigrating, abolition of the

marriage-consent and of the court-services and personal tributes.Thus Siegel describes the development o f serfdom in Ger

many Other writers come to nearly the same conclusions.According to Brunner

,there was among theWestern Germans -a

class between freemen and Slaves,called Liten or Ald ien , a

hereditary class , whose position was secured by law. Theyhad the right of acquiring property and making contracts ;they could by emancipation become fully free , or purchasetheir own liberty. To marry they wanted the consent o f

their lord . They had the right o f feud (Fehd erecht) , and

when they were killed a wergild was paid , that fell partlyto the lord . Their right o f inheritance was originally not

recognizedSchrOder remarks , that the difference between freemen and

subservients (Hdrigen) consisted in this,that the landed pos

1 ) Siegel , pp. 328—330. 2) Brunner, I pp . 101 , 102.


sessions o f the la tter were smaller and liable to tribute. Moreo ver

,they had no connubium with freemen

,nor any po litical

rights ; the wergild paid for them was one half o f that paid

for a freeman

In medieval France a similar state o f things prevailed.

There were no longer slaves , but serfs .

“Serfdom is a transitory stage between Slavery and entire liberty. The serf o f themiddle ages is not , like the ancient Slave, indisso lubly riveted

to his condition , deprived of rights by his very birth, placed

on a level with the beasts of burden of his lord’s estate. Pub

lic opinion is favourable to him .

” “The facts agree with thedoctrine. The serf has some means of acquiring property ; hemay marry and have legitimate descendants , who will succeedto his goods ; he may give evidence in the courts ; he maypurchase his liberty by means of his p ecu lium. By gettingsome profits he is interested in the cultivation of the so il .Giving his labour to the land

,he may expect to enjoy the

fruits o f it,by p aying fixed tributes . By marrying his chil

dren to free women he secures the liberty of his o ffspring.

By paying an indemnity he acquires the succession to his

father ’

s inheritance,

and the right o f property over his

savings . He may dispute the tributes (tailles et cens)which the lo rd levies on the tenement

‘

he cultivates,invoke

an enquiry o f experts who attest his means , contract to paya fixed annuity and so know beforehand what profit he may

depend upon”

With these serfs may b e compared the Roman co loni. “Theco lona tus consists In this , that men are inseparably attachedto a landed property for the purpose Of cultivatingThis connection with a determinate estate

,from which the

co lonus might be severed only in some cases fixed by law,

brought about an approximation Of the co lonus to the slave

(as servus terrae) , but also a difference between them , a secu

rity for the co lonus , which pro tects him from the lord’

s arbitrary power. Hence the co lonus stands with regard to the lordon the free fo oting o f one bound only to comply with the

1 ) Schrod er, p . 41 . He states that these H erigen were also c alled la ti or a ld io

p . so they are the same class as those d escribed by Brunner. 2) Gasquet, II.pp. 281 282 .

DEFINITION AND DISTINCTION.

Spencer says : “As the distinctions between different formso f Slavery are indefinite , so must there b e an indefinite d istinction between slavery and serfdom

,and between the several

forms o f serfdom . Much confusion has arisen in describingthese respective institutions , and for the sufficient reason that

the institutions themselves are confused”

This consideration ,however true

,will not prevent us from

drawing a theoretical line o f demarcation. Not a single socialinstitution is practical ly strictly separated from kindred institutions ; yet we cannot understand such institutions , unlesswe make a distinction , and not an

“indefinite” one .

Letourneau,after describing the state of the co lonus

,adds“In a word

,he was not an object o f possession ,

a slave , butonly a pro letarian attached to the so il .” In another passagehe remarks that slavery always undergoes some mitigation inthe course o f civilization :“Less and less is the person o f the

slave himsel f oppressed ; one is contented with explo iting him ,

depriving him in a larger or smaller degree o f the fruits o f

his labour , in a word the slave becomes a serf”

These quotations may suffice to show that our view o f the

matter is held by theorists as wel l as historians .

The serf, therefore , - is no t a slave,because he is not the

property o f his master, and the particulars o f serfdom related

by historians provide us with means o f more clearly understanding the practical meaning o f this no tion “property” .

It means a power that , however leniently exercised in manycases , is in principle unlimited . Among many peoples the

master may ill-use and even kill his slave , without the lawtaking

,

any notice o f it . And even where his power 1s restrictedby so cial regulations

,he may have a right o f property,

viz. if his authority b e in principle unbounded , and any

limitation put upon it suppose a special legal provision. The

slave-owner may d o with his slave whatever he is not byspecial laws forbidden to d o ; the master of a serfmay requirefrom his man such services and tributes only

,as the law

1 ) Spencer , Ind . Inst., p . 472 . 2) Letourneau , pp . 423, 355, 356. In a letter we

received from Mr. A. C . Kruyt, it is remarked that among the Dyaks and the Toradja

of Celeb es a slave in some cases .rises to the position of a serf ; he is then no longercontinually in the service of his master, but only has to work at definite periods.


allows him to require . The slave-owner has a right o f property ;the master o f a serf has , so to speak , a ius in re a liena .

1 )

9. Pawns or d ebtor-s laves .

In the course of our investigation it will b e Shown , that

among some peoples a debtor , unable to pay a debt he has

contracted , becomes the slave o f his creditor. Sometimes such

persons are ordinary slaves ; but pawns or debtor- slaves in

the restricted sense (who are o f frequent o ccurrence in the

Malay Archipelago , Dutch p and elingen) are a class whoseSlave- state is conditional ; they become free as soon as the debtis paid by or for them ; the creditor canno t refuse to acceptthe money. Because o f this great difference between pawns

and ordinary slaves (who generally have not a right to b eransomed) , most ethnographers d o not call the former Slaves,b ut give separate descriptions o f slavery and pawning .

The question arises , and has to b e settled here , whether wefor our purpose have to call these pawns slaves. We shal lquote here one description o f pawning. Among the Tshi- speaking

peoples o f the Gold Coast of West Africa“a pawn is a person

placed in temporary bondage to another by the head o f the

either to pay a debt, or'

to obtain a loan .

When a person is pawned on account of a debt,the services

1 ) Mr. Westermarck ob serves : “Accord ing to a common d efinition of slavery,the

slave is the property of his master, but this d efinition is hard ly accurate. I t is true

that even in the case of inanimate property the notion of ownership d oes not involve

that the owner of a thing is always entitled to d o with it whatever he likes ; a personmay ,

own a thing and yet b een prohib ited by law from destroying it. But it seems

that the owner’s right over his property,even when not ab solute

,is at all events

exclusive,that is

,that nobody but the owner has a r ight to the d isposal of it. Now the

master’s right of d isposing of his slave is not necessarily exclusive ; custom or law maygrant the latter a certain amount of liberty, and in such a case his c ond ition d iffers

essentially from that of a piece of property. The chief characteristic of slavery is thecompulsory nature of the slave’s relation to his master ” (Moral Ideas , I pp. 670,We are ful ly aware that a certain amount of liberty is often granted to the slaves. This

was also the case in ancient Rome ; yet we think the R oman legislators were correct incalling the slaves the property of their masters. For every check

, put by custom or law uponthe master’s power over his slaves

,is foreign to the nature of slavery ; in principle the

master’s power is unlimited, just as the owner’s power over his property. It is just in

this that slavery d iffers from other relations o f a compulsory nature.


o f the pawn, even should they extend over a considerablenumber o f years , count for no thing towards the liquidationo f the debt ; and a pawn has to serve his master

,until the

amount o f the original debt with 50 per cent . interest,is

paid by the person who pawned him”

Here the debtor pawns one o f the members o f his family ;among some other peoples (e. g. in the Malay Archipelago )he pawns himself ; this is not essential . The main fact is thatthe pawn is in

“bondage” , however tempo rarily , that he“hasto serve his master.

” Therefore , as long as the debt remainsunpaid , the pawn is in the same condition as a slave . He has

no t to perform a fi xed amount of labour, he must serve hismaster without any limitation ; the master has o ver him a

power that is,in principle , unlimited . Now we have to inquire :

Is this pawn a slave,i . e. is he the property Of his master ?

In a legal sense the creditor has not a right Of property o verhis pawn ; his right agrees with a kind o f p ignus which theRomans called antichresis

,i. e. something yielding profit was

handed over to the creditor, who utilized it instead of receiving

the usual interest Y et the right o f the ho lder o f the pawnbore much resemblance to that of the owner : he had a u tilis

in rem actio,a vind ica tio p ignoris for our purpose ,

may classify the pawns among the slaves , if we can provethat sociologically a system o f pawning performs the samefunction as a slavesystem. And this certainly is the case. The

same system o f compulsory labour, the same subjection of the

entire person exists,whether the subjected are perpetually

slaves or temporarily pawns , viz . in those cases where,as

among the Tshi- speaking peoples,the master

’s power is in

principle unlimited . Where pawns have a fixed amount o f workto d o , they are temporary serfs ; but where (as is most oftenthe case) no limit is put to the amount of work the master

may exact from them,they are temporary slaves

,and as long

as they are slaves,take the same place as o ther Slaves in the

so cial system .

1 ) Ellis, Tshi-speaking peoples, p. 294. 2) Puchta, II p . 250 ; see alsoWilken , Pendrecht,pp . 42—44. 3) Buchta, II p . 264.

CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY .

1 . Introduc tion .

Having now determined what is the meaning of the term

slavery” , we are about to inquire,what is its social Signifi

cation ,what place does it occupy in tho se societies where it

formerly existed or still exists ? As this book confines itself

to ethno logical investigations , we Shall try to throw light on

this problem with the help o f the data supplied to us by the

study o f savage races . But then we must first know , whetherslavery exists among all savage tribes

,and

,if not

,whether

it is confined to certain races of men o r to certain parts o f

the world ; and further,whether it is ' found on all levels of

lower culture , or on some only,and if the latter

,on which .

The solution o f these problems requires a survey o f the occurrenceof slavery among wild tribes in the several parts o f the globe.

This survey will occupy the present chapter.

A few words have still to b e said about our method o f

ascertaining the existence or non- existence of Slavery in every

particular case .

To one unacquainted with our science the task to b e performed now may seem very easy : we have only to consultthe ethnographical literature bearing on any tribe , and to lookwhether Slavery is mentioned ; if it is mentioned in an afiirm

ative sense, Slavery exists ; if in a negative sense or not at

all,slavery does not exist . But every one familiar with eth

nographical literature knows that it has not to b e used insuch a rough-and -ready manner. The statements Of eth

42 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

nographers are no t to b e accepted without much caution and

a thorough critIcism

The Observance o f the fo llowing rules will,so far as we can

judge,give to our conclusions the highest possible degree of

probability .

If it is stated that slavery exists,is this suf ficient evi

dence of its existence ? Our definition,arrived at in the first

chapter, lies within the limits o f ordinary language ; therefore it is probable that our informants have used the termin the same sense we attach to it. There are

,however. many

cases in which the words “slave and “slavery” are appliedto something quite different from their true meaning

, as willb e seen from our survey o f the matter. Thus it is necessaryto ask for more evidence than is given by the mere term“slaverya . If it suf ficiently appears that in some tribe there are

men considered to be the property of o thers,weneed not doubt

whether slavery,

exists.

b. If this is no t clearly proved , there is still one particular ,that being mentioned makes the existence o f Slavery very

probable, viz. the fact that people are bought and so ld withinthe tribe

,except of course women so ld for wives. For other

kinds o f subjected persons, serfs,lower classes , and subjects

of a despot , are not bought or so ld,at least not within the

tribe . Beyond the limits o f the tribe a man may b e soldwithout previously having been a Slave. Thus some Africandespots sel l their subjects to Arabian slave-traders ; such a

sale does not prove that slavery exists within the tribe. But

when a man is sold within the tribe, either he was already a

1 ) Dr. Tonnies, in his review of the first ed ition of this work, expresses a doubt as

to whether slavery in the proper sense exists in every case in which , relying on the oftensuperficial accounts of travellers, we conclude that slavery is present.The foregoing passage and the whole o f

‘

the present chapter are, we think , sufiicient

evidence that we have set ourselves the task of subj ecting the accounts o f travellers and

other writers on savage tribes, on which our conclusions are to b e based , to a critical

examination . There may be particular instances in which we have failed in this respectb ut we b elieve our conclusions on the whole rest upon a solid basis and Dr. Tbnnies

’s

objection,in corroboration of which he d oes not adduce a single fact , d oes not seem to us

well founded .

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY. 43

slave, or he becomes such, e.g. as a punishment ; in bo th cases

slavery is practised by the tribec . If the particulars on record are quite insufficient to

determine the nature Of the alleged slave-state,the possibility

o f a mistake is much lessened by several writers , independentlyOf each o ther

,stating that slavery exists .

d . Finally, the general trustworthiness of the writer or

writers must b e taken into account .If we are to ld that there are no slaves

,it is very probable

that slavery really does not exist, for slavery is a phenomenon

rather easy to observe,and the ethnographers are general ly

inclined to use the word in a too wide rather than in a too

restricted sense. There is no need here for the extremescepticism with which we have to receive an assertion of any

tribe having no religion This does not prevent , of course ,that if we find the existence o f slavery denied by a writer whois generally badly informed , we may rej ect such an assertion.

The greatest difficulties are presented by those cases inwhich no mention is made of slavery. Here the utmo st cautionhas to b e Observed .

a . If it clearly appears from the description ,that there are

people considered to be the property o f o thers,without the

word “slavery” being used , the conclusion is evident .b . Perhaps some facts are mentioned which make the exist

ence of slavery highly improbable . We shal l see that the

main source Of slavery is captivity in war ; so , if it is statedthat no captives are made

, or that the lot of the captives issomething else than slavery, the non- existence of slavery is

probable . But even then it is not quite certain : there maystill b e slaves, acqu ired by o ther means . Further : if it isstated that there are no social classes

, or if the classes are

enumerated and slaves are no t among them ,there is a strong

presumption that slavery does no t exist. Y et here too thereis no certainty ; for slaves, among savage tribes , have not

always the aspect of a social class . The description o f the

1 ) Sometimes , however , children are sold to ad optive parents within the tribe. Suchis the case in Greenland ; see Crantz I , p. 1 78. But these are exceptional cases

,so

,when

no particulars are given , we may suppose that the purchased persons become slaves and

not ad opted childern. 2 ) See Tylor , Primitive Culture, I pp. 417 sqq.


division o f labour between the sexes may also suggest to us

the non-existence o f slavery. When we are informed that themen d o some kinds of wo rk and the women some other kinds

,

we are inclined to think : if there were slaves,their spec ial

work would b e mentioned too . But this argument is most

dangerous ; for the slaves very Often have no special kind Ofwork allo tted to them .

We see that none of these criteria prove quite reliable .

Y et,taken together , they give a high degree Of probability.

And it is no t even necessary that all of them can be ascer

tained . If an ethnographer , know to b e trustworthy , gives us

an elaborate description ,pretending to b e a picture o f the

whole so cial life of the tribe he describes,it were a wonder

if he had entirely omitted slavery,while it existed ; the more

so as this phenomenon is no t so d ifficult to recognize . The

same argument obtains a fortiom’

,when several such d escrip

tions o f the same tribe exist.In doubtful cases we may take into account the state o f

the group to which a particular tribe belongs . It may b e thatin the general descriptions o f a group no mention is made Ofslavery ; that , further , all tribes belonging to this group of

which we are well informed prove to have no slaves . If,then ,

the information we get concerning a particular tribe belongingto the same group , is no t c omplete enough to rely upon, thereis a strong presumption that this tribe will b e in the same

state as the rest o f the group , i . e. that it do es not keep slaves .

Under the same conditions we may suppose that a tribe b elonging to a slave-keeping group keeps slaves . The term“group”has to b e taken here in a sociological, not in an anthropo logicalor linguistic sense , and its application must b e somewhatrestricted . It must consist o f tribes , that live in somewhatsimilar conditions and the institutions o f which closely resembleeach other ; e. g. Australia (the continent) is a group in thissense

,North America is not. It is almost superfluous to add ,

that this group-argument may b e used only to strengthenexisting

,but insuf ficient , evidence.

We‘Contine ourselves here to the phenomena o f savage life ;

therefore we shal l exclude the semi- civilized peoples. An exactdistinction

,however

,between these two classes of peoples has


civilized nation as such , that we have to deal with here. If,

on the contrary , there has been an abnormal development,

i. e. a development which does no t take place in countriesinhabited by savages only , the present condition o f the savagetribe has no interest to us . For instance , measures have beentaken by a civilized nation on purpose to abo lish slavery. Thenwe

,for our purpose , must consider the savage tr

'

ibe concernedas keeping slaves , and pay attention only to the descriptionsof its inst itutions as they were befo re the abolition .

The ensuing paragraphs will Sh ow which savage tribes keepslaves and which d o no t keep any . The groups into which wehave divided the Several tribes are m ainly geographical , notintended to answer any anthropo logical purpose. As long as

the meaning Of the term “race” is so unstable as at present ,we think it better not to operate with it. Our groups are nearlythe same as those given by Schurtz in his l kerkund e.

At the end of each paragraph its result will b e mentioned .

The“po sitive cases” are the tribes which probably keep slaves ,the “negative cases those which probably d o not keep slaves .

Under the head o f“no conclusion we have given the cases inwhich the probability that slavery exists is nearly as great

,or

as little, as the inverse probability . The tribes , the names o f

which are printed in italics, are those which afford“clear cases” ,

i. e. where the probability nearly amounts to certainty.

At the end o f the chapter a brief recapitu lation will showthe occurrence of slavery among savages in the several partso f the globe.

When , in the fo llowing paragraphs , we say :“Such a tribe

keeps slaves,

or :“Such a tribe does not keep slaves

,

” this

does not imply that the same state o f things still prevails. The

tribe we speak Of may have died out ; or , where slavery existed ,it may have been abo lished . When we know that such a thinghas taken place , we sha ll use the past tense . But in manycases the on ly information we have got concerning some tribe

dates from - many years back ; and we d o not know whathas become o f this tribe in the meantime. Then

,not to

b e obliged always to use such tedious formulas as :“In Mr.

X.

’

s time slavery existed among such a tribe,

”we shal l simply

say :“slavery exists .

” Whether it stil l exists is certainly o f


much interest to a philanthropist ; but to us , for the purposes

we have set ourselves in the present vo lume, it is quite immaterial .

2 . North America .

1 . E s k im o s .

Rink’s account applies especially to Western Greenland at

the time Of the first European settlement, but may b e taken

as a general description of the Eskimos According to himthe family in the restricted sense comprehended foster-children,

widows , helpless persons adopted as relatives and more or

less treated as servants. They were regarded as subordinatemembers o f the family but never subjected to any corporal

punishment He then describes their social organization , but

makes no mention o f slavery The question remains whetherthese helpless persons are to b e called slaves . This does not

very clearly appear ; but , happily , we have more detailedaccounts o f the several Eskimo tribes .

Crantz , in his description Of the Greenlanders, gives many

particulars about their servants . Mothers of illegitimatechildren are despised ; sometimes a childless person buysher children. When a married couple have no childrenor no ful l-grown children

, the husband adopts one o r two

orphan boys, who help him in his work and must provide thefamily with the neccessaries o f life. The same is done by thewife with daughters of others or with a widow. Althoughthe adopted youths are employed as servants

,they are free

from any compulsion ,and are regarded as the future lords

Of the house . The adopted maid-servant or d aughter can leavewhen she likes . A man will never beat his man-servant , andwere he to touch a maid-servant, he would incur great d isgrace We see that the condition o f

'

these servants is not

Slavery. The b oy is the future lord o f the house, the girl may

leave when she pleases . Servants are only required to occupythe place that in a normal househo ld is taken up by the children.

1 ) Rink , p. 5. 2 ) Ib id ., pp. 24, 25. 3) Ib id . pp. 24—34.—4) Crantz I . pp.


Labour is not asked for.

“If a man dies without leaving behindrelatives ; or full-grown sons , nobody cares for the children

,

unless one wants a maid- servant .” A widow must try to geta lodging

"

, in which she does not always succeed It is clearthat to these Greenlanders slaves would no t b e o f any use.

Nansen, too , makes no mention of slaveryBoas , describing the Central Eskimos, states that among them

too children are adopted and regarded by the adoptive parentsas their own children ; so

“an elder adopted son has a preference

o ver a younger son born of the . marriage ,”Viz. as to the right

Of inheritance . The fo llowing statement still more directly bearson our subject :“Sometimes men are adopted who may almostb e considered servants . Particularly bachelors without any

relations , cripples who are not able to provide for themselves ,or men who have lost their sledges and dogs are found inthis po sition. They fulfil minor occupations , mend the huntingimplements

,fit out the sledges

,feed the

"dogs

,etc .; sometimes

however,they jo in the hunters . They fo llow the master of

the house when he removes from one place to another, makejourneys ‘

in order to d o his commissions , and so on. The

position , however, is a vo luntary one,and therefore these

men are no t less esteemed than the self-dependent providers”

The las t sentence clearly shows that these servants are not

slaves . And as in no o ther place does Boas make any mention

o f slaves , it is certain that slavery does not exist.

Ribb ach gives some no tes on the Eskimo s o f Labrador. There

is no thing on s lavery in these notes. Describing their dwellingshe says : “The principal family has of course the best place ;the ser vants

,widows or Orphans , if there are such , have to

content th emselves with a place near the door, where the

co ld is most severe” This agrees so much with the forego ingdescriptions , that we may suppose that the same state o f

things prevails here.

As little mention is made o f slavery in the descriptions of

some o ther Central Eskimo tribes , as the Frobisher Bay and

1 ) I bid .,pp. 21 1 , 2 1 5. 2 ) Nansen. 3) Boas, Central , Eskimo, pp . 580, 581 . - 4) Rib

bach , p. 286.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY. 49

Field Bay Eskimos the Kinipetu Eskimos the Tchiglit

Eskimos the Esk imos o f the Ungava districtBancroft says o f the Western Eskimos (or Eskimos o f Alaska) :Slavery in any form is unknown among them”

. Ellio tt makes

no mention of slaveryThe describers of the Eskimos of Po int Barrow

,too

,have

no t a word about slavery. Adoption is practised to a great

extent SO the same state o f things probably prevails hereas among the o ther Eskimos .

Some o ther tribes , belonging to the Eskimo group in the

wider sense may also b e treated here .

Amongst the Aleuts , according to Bancroft , the chief“isexempt from wo rk , is allowed a servant to row his boat. butin o ther respec ts possesses no power

”

NO more is addedbearing on our subject. Petrofl , however, gives a detailedaccount o f slavery among them . The slaves were prisoners o f

war and their descendants . The master could punish the slavewith death , could sell and liberate him. Any attempt to escape

was severely punished . SO the Aleuts had slaves .

The Athka Aleuts , according to Petroff, had also slavesAmong the Koniagas o r Southern Eskimo s “slavery” says

Bancroft “existed to a limited extent.” This is affirmed byHo lmberg

2 . N o o t k'

a g r o u p.

The Tlinkits formerly carried on slavery to a great extent .This is proved by the detailed accounts o f several writersThe same applies to the HaidasKrause , in a short no te, speaks o f a female slave o f a

Tsimshian chief. Niblack states that the Tsimshians acted as

1 ) Hall. 2 ) Klutschak . 3) Petito t. 4) T urner. Ungava District. Bancroft,

p. 65 ; Elliott. 6) Ray, p . 44; Murdoch ,p. 41 9. 7) See S churtz , Katechismus , p .

268. 8) Bancroft , p . 92. 9) Petroff, p. 1 52 . 10) Petrofi‘

,pp . 1 58, 1 59. 1 1 ) Bancroft ,

p. 80 ; see also Holmberg, I pp. 78, 79. 12) Krause, p. 152 , etc . ; Bancroft, p. 108 ;Dal]

,pp. 419—42 1 ; Petroff, p . 1 65 Elliott, p. 64; Nib lack , p . 252 ; Holmberg, I pp . 50 ,

5 1 , II pp . 43—46. 13) Kraus e, p. 31 1 ; Bancro ft, p . 1 68.

50 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY.

middlemen in the slave trade. Boas describes the legends o f

the Tsimshians ; in these legends slaves and their o ccupationsare frequently spoken Of. Kane , in h is census Of Indian tribesstates that among the Tsimshians there were slaves. Hencewe may infer that slavery formerly existed among them .

Boas , speaking of the Kwakiutl Indians,writes :“All the

tribes o f the Pacific Coast are divided into a nobility , commonpeople and slaves . The last o f these may b e left out o f cousideration, as they d o not form part and parcel o f the clan ,but are captives made in war , or purchases , and may Changeownership as any o ther piece of property” From this sta

tement it appears that the Kwakiutl kept slaves.

Krause says o f the Bilballas ;“The chief po ssessed numerous

wives and many slaves ; also were these Indians much givento slave- stealing and the slave trade” As the Bilballas are

reckoned by Bancroft among the Haidas , amongst whom ,ac

cording to him,

“slavery is universal”

,we may suppose , that

slaves were kept by them for their own use , no t for export only .

The many details , given in the works o f Sproat and Brown ,

prove that Slavery existed among the Ahts o f VancouverIslandThe Nootkas , among whom ,

according to Bancroft ,“slavery

is practised b ij all the tribes” , seem to be the same as the

AhtsBancro ft informs us that“slaves areh eld by all the tribes about

Puget Sound , and gives several details o f their slave system

Slavery also existed among the Fish Indians Of British

Columb ia

3. T in n e h g r o u p.

According to Kane,who was wel l acquainted with this group ,

slavery in its most cruel form exists among the Indians of

1 ) Krause, p. 319 ; Niblack , p . 252 ; Boas, Die Tsimschian , pp . 237, 240, 244; Kane,Append ix A. 2) Boas , Kwakiutl Ind ians, p . 338. 3) Krause, p. 321 .—4) Sproat.pp .89—92 ; Brown, adventures of John Jewitt, pp. 5) Bancroft p . 195 , Brown ,ib id

,pp . 19

, 28, 35. 6) Bancroft, p . 2 17. 7) Mayne, pp . 242 , 275, 253, etc.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY . 51

the who le coast, from California to Behring’

s Straits , the

stronger tribes making slaves of all the o thers they can

conquer. In the interior, where there is but little warfare ,slavery d oes not exist. Niblack

,however , states that slavery

existed among the interior Tinneh but they“had no hereditaryslaves

,getting their supply from the coast

”

Of the Kutchins o r Loucheux Jones says :“Slavery is practised among them. Any poor creature who has no friends is

made a slave” Hardisty gives more details ; he tells us :“As

a rule slavery does no t exist,but the orphan and the friend

less are kept in servitude and treated so harshly as to b e

really little better than slaves,until such time as they get

big enough and bo ld enough to assert their independence , whenthey are allowed to shift for themselves” Such ill-treatedchildren, who when full-grown are

“allowed to shift for them

selves certainly are not slaves . Therefore we may safelyinfer , that slavery d id not exist here

,the more so , as the o ther

authors 4) make no mention Of slaves .

Mackenzie,describing the Chepewyans or Athabascas , states

that “they are constantly at war with the Eskimos , and killas many o f them as they can

,as it is a principle with them

never to make prisoners” Neither in his notes on the

Chepewyans in general , nor in those on some single tribesbelonging to the Chepewy an family, as the Slave and Dog

-RibIndians

,Hare Indians

,Beaver and Rocky-Mountain Indians

,

does our informant make any mention Of slavery. Nor is therea word to b e found about slaves in Russell ’s and Bancroft’saccounts . Hearne speaks of Northern and Southern Indians ,divisions of the Chepewyans. Among the Southern Indians a

wife sometimes begs o f her husband , who is go ing to war , tobring a female slave with him for her to kill . The chiefMatonab b eewas the son o f aNorthern Indian man and a SouthernIndian slave Hearne do es not speak of male slaves . SO

we may suppose that slavery proper does no t exis t.On the Tacullies Bancroft remarks : “Slavery is common

1 ) Kane, pp. 214, 2 15 ; Niblack , p. 252 . 2) Jones , The Kutchin Tribes, p. 325. — 3)Hard isty , p . 316. 4) Whymper ; Kirby ; Bancroft. 5) Mackenzie, I p. 1 52. 6)Hearne

,II pp. 87, 1 79.

52 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY .

with them, all who can afford it keeping slaves. They use

them as beasts o f burden, and treat themmost inhumanely”

Of the Atuas on Copper River,a division Of the Kenai,

Bancroft says : “Those who can afford it , keep slaves , buyingthem from the Koltschanes”

Mrs. Allison informs us that among the Similkameem Indianso f British Co lumbia “slaves taken in war were wel l treated ,but always had one eye blemished to mark them

”

4. A l g o n q u i n g r o u p.

The authors we have consulted on the Algonquins in general 4)make no mention whatever o f Slaves .

Loskiel, describing the Lenape or Delawares , states thatcaptured boys and girls were received into their families , andemployed as servants ; sometimes , however , they were so ld toEuropeans. If such prisoners behaved well , they had no thingto complain o f and were not o verworked . If they ran awayand were recaptured

,they were generally kil led . But the adult

male prisoners , viz . those o f them who were not kil led , wereadopted by families

,instead Of those who had . been killed in

war or had died in some o ther way , and from this momentwere looked upon as members o f the tribe to which they nowbelonged AS these men became members Of the tribe , it isnot probable that the captive children were made slaves ; wemay safely suppose that as long as they were young they hadto perform menial work , but when adul t were on

_a level with

the members Of the trib ef And as neither Loskiel, in any other

passage , nor Brinton refers to slavery, slaves were very probablynot to b e found among the Delawares ,In Le Jeune’

s account o f the Montagnais no mention is made

o f slaves . Prisoners of war were cruelly put to deathThe Ojibways or Chippeways , according to Keating , killed

the captive warriors and old women ; the marriageable women

1 ) Bancroft, p . 1 24. 2) Bancroft, p . 135. 3) Allison, p . 316. 4) Roosevelt ; LeJeune in The Jesuit Relations ; Sagard ; Mackenzie. 5) Loskiel, p . 195. 6) Losk iel ;Brinton

,The Lenape. 7) Jesuit Relations, V pp. 31 , 55 ; VI p. 245 .


woman , but was not at first on a level with the o ther children.

The first few years she made him d o various kinds of manuallabour : he had to cut wo od , fetch water and d o other kindsof work, which were not generally required from Childrenof his age. Y et when grown-up he was on a level with theIndians into whose tribe he was admitted , and married an

Indian girlBefore passing to the Ottawas, Tanner had been a captive

amongst the Shahnees. He was very cruelly and ignominiouslytreated . Y et he was no t a slave , for he had been adopted bya married couple on the grave of their youngest son

,whose

place he was to fill As this agrees with the general customso f this group , in which there are no slaves , we may supposethat here also slavery was unknown.

The Potawatomi also very probably had no slaves ; for noneof their describers make any mention of slaveryAmongst the Crees or Knisteneaux

,according to McLean,

adoption of aliens was practised. A missionary , who had unintentionally killed a Cree b oy , o ffered himself in his stead , andwas adopted. Kane speaks of“the universal custom of Indianmothers eagerly seeking another child , although it may b e o f

an enemy, to replace one of her own, whom she may havelost This Child is always treated with as great

,if not

greater,kindness than the rest. The existence Of this custom,

together with the fact that none of their describers makes

mention o f Slaves,renders it most probable that they did not

keep slavesThe Cheyennes very seldom captured adult males ; when they

d id , they generally put them to death . Children were adoptedand treated like their own children ; women became the wives

of their captors Slavery is not mentioned .

The Blackfeet nation consisted o f four tribes : Piegans,Black

feet, Bloods , and Gros Ventres . We are to ld that once when

at war against the Crows , the Gros Ventres“rushed upon themand killed the who le number” Grinnell , speaking of a Piegan

1 ) Tanner, pp , 1 7, 1 1 2 , 1 14. 2) Tanner, pp . 1 1—1 6. 3) Keating ; Long, OjibwayInd ians ; Roosevelt. 4) McLean

,p . 64; Kane, p . 1 28 ; Mackenzie. 5) Dodge, pp. 266,

267. 6) Reports of Ep ., Vol . XII Part I p . 99.


chief, says :“He told his men not to kill the captured women.

They also captured . many children. The chief selected a

wife for himself from among these women. As a rule theyspare none o f their enemies

,killing alike men

,women and

children. Sometimes they spare a captive for his bravery or

from dread o f sorcery ; he is then provided with food and d is

missed to his home These particulars being given,and no

mention made o f slavery by any Of our informants we may

safely infer that Slavery did not exist among these tribes .

Among the Abenakies , according to Maurault , prisoners o f

war were either tortured to death or adopted into the tribe.

Hence we may infer that Slavery, o f which this writer makesno mention, was unknown among themHoffmann, in his description of the Menomini Indians , refer

ring to Grignon, says that he does no t know whether they hadcaptive Slaves ; but certainly they had purchased slaves . Our

informant saw 6 male and 8 female Slaves , mo st of whom had

been enslaved when young. The female Slaves had been so ldfor 100 do llars each . The slaves were called Pawnees

,though

some o f them belonged to other tribes This statement sufficiently proves , that in the time o f this description the Menominihad slaves. But in Hoflmann

’

s time they were already verymuch under the influence o f European civilization. Whetherat the more remo te period from which most o f our informationon the Algonquin tribes dates slavery existed among them ,

we

d o not know .

5 . I r o q u o i s g r o u p.

The Iroquo is had no slaves . This is stated by Morgan,who

was intimately acquaInted with them.

“Slavery says Morgan,“which in the Upper Status Of barbarism became the fate o f

the captive , was unknown among tribes in the Lower Statusin the aboriginal period .

”And the Iroquo is are his typical

instance of this“Lower Status” :“When discovered the Iroquo is1 ) Grinnell , pp. 1 23. 2 ) Grinnell ; Mo llhausen ;Mackenzie ; Reports of Expl.,

Vol . I and Vol. XII Part I ; Zu Wied , Nord-Amerika ; Scho olcraft. 3) Maurault , pp .

26—28. 4) Hoffmann , p. 35.


were in the‘ Lower Status Of barbarism. Captives were either

put to death or adopted Charlevo ix states,that “most o f

their capti ves are condemned to . d eath , or to a state o f abjec tslavery in which they were never certain o f their lives”

But he gives no more particulars about this Slave state, nord o our o ther informants On the contrary, Lafitau informsus , that the condition o f prisoners , whose l ife is rather hardamongst the Algonquin tribes

, amongst the Iroquo is and Huronsis very , easy The descriptions given by the autho rs o f the

fate o f captives justify Morgan’

s statement : they were‘

eitherkilled or adopted and though Lafitau calls the prisoners“esclcwes

”

, their state, as he describes it,is no t at all like that

Of Slaves. SO we may safely infer, that slavery did not existamong them, and that Charlevo ix

’

s above quo ted statement iserroneous.

Among the Hurons or Wyand ots. according to Powell , thecaptives were either killed or adopted Lafitau

’

s and Charlevo ix’saccounts o f the fate o f captives among the Iroquo is apply alsoto the Hurons . SO it is prob able that they had no slaves .

6. C h o c t aw-Mu s k o gh e g r o u p a n d n e i g h b o u r i n gt r i b e s .

Adair,speaking o f the Katahba

,Cherokee, Muskoghe, Choctaw

and Chickasaw Indians,states that they burned their prisoners .

Only if a prisoner succeeded in escaping to the house o f the

high-priest or some o ther place o f refuge , he was not burned ;but what his fate was in such a case we are not to ld . Youngprisoners were not killed ; but it is not stated what became ofthem. If warriors had o ffended a neighbouring tribe , and thechiefs wished to prevent war, they sacrificed either one o f the

o ffenders belonging to a weak family or some unfortunate

prisoner, who had been incorporated into a declining tribe

1 ) Morgan, Anc. Soc.,pp. 80

,69. 2 ) Charlevoix, Nouv. France, III p. 245 . 3)

Lafitau and Losk iel. Loskiel's account of the Delawares applies equally to the Iroquois , .see Losk iel, p. 1 . 4) Lafitau, II p . 308. 5 ) Lafitau, III pp . 264—290 ; Charlevoix, l .c . pp. 242—252 Loskiel

,p. 195 Mrs.Kinz ie, pp . 214, sqq. 6) Powell, Wyandot Gov .

, p . 68

7) Adair, pp. 287.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION o r SLAVERY. 57

The last sentence seems to Show, that the custom o f adopting

prisoners prevailed here too . At any rate , no mention is made

o f Slaves .

Rochefort remarks that among the Apalaches (who , accordingto Roosevelt, included the Cherokees , Chickasaws, Choctaws ,Creeks and Seminoles 1 ) an enemy who surrendered duringthe fight , was taken to the conqueror’s home with his wifeand children

,held in an honourable freedom and treated with

as much leniency and care as their own servants Whethersuch persons were Slaves d oes not clearly appear from thisstatement . But Adair’s record tends to prove that Slavery didnot exist, at least as far as the three former d ivisions o f the

Apalaches are concerned .

Loskiel relates that a prisoner was once condemned to deathby the Cherokees . He had already been tied to the stake, whena Cherokee woman arrived . She b rought a basketful of commod ities , which She depo sed at the feet o f the man to whom the

prisoner belonged , and bade him leave this prisoner to her , achildless widow,

who wanted to adopt him as a son. This wasdoneBartram tells us that the Creeks formerly tortured their

captives to deathThe Semino les , to o , according to Roosevelt

,used to burn

their prisoners

From all the forego ing we may safely infer that slavery didnot exist in the Apalache group .

Natchez warriors delivered their captives to the relations o fthose who had fallen in battle . The captives were alwaysburned

Bossu speaks o f Slaves among the Attakapas ; b ut it do es no tappear from his notes whether they made slaves for their ownuse or for sale abroad

Strachey d escribes the inhabitants o f Virginia (several tribes) .He makes no mention o f Slaves . It is stated in his account

,

that children and foreigners were sacrificed if there hadbeen slaves , these probably would in the first place have been

1 ) Roosevelt, I p . 50. 2 ) Ro chefort , p . 41 2. 3) Losk iel, p. 1 97. 4) Bartram,p

.

38. 5) Roosevelt, I pp. 63, 64. 6) Charlevoix, Nouv. France, II I pp. 426 ; seealso Lettres ed if., XX pp. 132 , 133. 7) Bossu , pp. 241 , 245, 249. 8) Strachey , p . 83 .


the victims . One o f the objects of their wars was to capturewomen and children . Before the commencement Of the battleit was announced that the conquered “upon their submissionor comyng in, though two daies after

,should live

, but theirwives and childrene should b e prize for the conquerors”

Ano ther ancient writer gives a different description of the fateo f their conquered enemies : “when they gain a victory, theyspare neither men

,nor women , nor children,

in order to renderrevenge impossible” We cannot arrive at a definite con

clusion here .

7. Da c o t a h g r o u p .

Owen Dorsey , describing the Dacotahs or Sioux , says :“There

are no slaves among the Siouan tribes” This assertion isstrengthened by the other authors 4) making no mention o f

slaves . Mrs . E . G . Eastman tells us , that captive women and

children were well treated and restored on the conclusion Ofpeace ; but o ften they preferred to remain with their new

husbands and adopted parents. Copway and Neil l also speak o fcaptive Children being adoptedMathews states

,that the Hidatsas generally adopt the children

captured in war, and treat them like their own. When grown-upthey sometimes return to their own tribe, but most often

remain where they are

. Owen Dorsey’

informs us that among the Omahas “Slaverywas not known” .

“Captives were not slain by the Omahas

and Ponkas . When peace was declared,the captives were

sent home , if they wished to go . If not they could remain

where they were,and were treated as if they were members

o f the tribe ; but they were no t adopted by any one” This

positive statement is no t weakened by James’s assertion aboutcaptive women becoming slaves

1 ) I bid .,pp . 101 , 108. 2 ) Histoire d e la Virginie, p. 261 . 3) Owen Dorsey , Siouan

Soc .,p. 215. 4) Eastman, Dahcotah ; Eastman, Indian Wars ; Reports of Expl., Vol. I

'

MOllhausen ; Ten Kate, Noord-Amerika ; Schoolcraft. 5) Eastman, Ind ian Wars, p 41 2

COpway , pp. 65 , 66 ; Neill, pp . 340, 526. 6) Mathews, p. 47. 7) Owen Dorsey ,Omaha Soc.

,pp . 364, 332. 8) James , p. 299.


Hunter states that among the Osage and Kansas Indians

prisoners were adopted into the conquering tribe , as husbands ,wives and ChildrenOf the Assiniboins we are to ld :“Chiefs never receive a gift,

considering it a degradation to accept anything b ut what theirown prowess or superior qualities o f manhood acquire forthem. Their hearts are so good and strong that they scorn to

take anything, and self-denial and the power to resist temptationto luxury or eas ily acquired property is a boast with them”

Where even the chiefs rely only on their own prowess , theexistence o f slavery is improbable.

Lewis and Clark,describing the Mandans , speak o f prisoners

living among them. One o f their chiefs had been taken prisonerand adopted by them ,

“and he now enj oys great consideration

among the tribe .

”In another place they tell us of a woman

,

who was sold as a slave to a Mandan chief, who brought her

up and afterwards married her The evidence is not sufficientto decide, whether their prisoners were held as Slaves or wereadopted into the tribe .

8. O r e g o n g r o u p.

Gibbs describes the tribes of WesternWashington and NorthWestern Oregon in general . The principal o f these tribes are

the Chinooks and the tribes about Puget Sound .

“Slavery ,”says Gibbs ,

“is thoroughly interwo ven with the social po licy o fthe Indians of the coast section o f Oregon and WashingtonTerritory. East o f the Cascades

,though it exists

,it is not so

Southward it ceases,so far as my Observation

has gone, with the S iskiou Mountains,which divide Oregon

from California”“By the Flatheads , says Bancro ft,

“captives are generallykilled by their sufferings .

”

McLean , Speaking o f their wars,

remarks : “When one party lost more than the o ther , com

1 ) Hunter, Gedenkschriften, pp. 268, 270, 271 .—2 ) Reports of Expl..VOl. XII Part I

p . 76 3) Lewis and Clark , I pp. 175, 242 ; see also pp. 2 1 2,233. 4) Gibb s

,p. 188 .

60 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY .

pensation was made in slaves or some o ther kind of property”

This statement does not,however, pro ve that slavery existed

among them ; these“slaves” might b e members o f the tribe

,

delivered u p either to b e killed o r adopted . So we are left indoubt as to the exi stence of SlaveryThe Chino oks had Slaves . Bancroft says :“S lavery, common

to all the coast families,is also practised by the Chinooks ;

the Slaves are obliged to perform all the drudgery for theirmasters , and their children must remain in their parents’

condition, their round heads serving as a distinguishing markfrom freemen” . Kane a lso gives many particulars about their

slave system Equally Swan, describing the Chinooks and

neighbouring tribes , makes mention of slavery as practised bythem

’/

Lewis and Clark Speak of a war, in which the Killamucks took several prisoners.

“These,as far as we could perceive ,

were treated very well,and though nominally Slaves, yet

were adopted into the families of their masters , and the youngones placed on the same foo ting with the children O f the

purchaser” . This Short note is no t suffi cient for us to arriveat any definite conclusion,

the less so,as these writers them

selves declare that they had not the opportunity Of makinga close study Of the tribes o f the Pacific Coast“The Shushwaps , Bancroft said to have no

Slaves” Among the Okanagans , a division of the S hushwaps ,

according to Ross,

“there are but few Slaves . and thesefew are adopted as children , and treated in all respects as

members o f the family” From t his it would seem thatslavery prop/

er do es not exist.Ano ther division of the Shushwaps are the Atnahs on Fraser

River (not to b e confused with the Atuas on Copper R iver) .Mackenzie describes a division of Indians , whom he does not

mention under a separate name ; b ut they seem to b e akin to

the Atnahs .

“The Atnah and Chin tribe ,”

says Mackenzie ,“as

1 ) Bancroft, p . 269 ; McLean, p. 54. 2 ) The Flathead s o f Fort George, who in Kane’stime kept slaves

,are d escribed by him as consisting principally of Chinooks and

Klickataats. We are not sure whether these Flathead s are the same as those mentioned

by Bancroft and McL ean. (See Kane, pp . 1 73, 1 75 , 3)Bancroft, p. 240; Kane, pp .181 , 182. 4) Swan, The Northwest Coast , pp. 1 66 , 1 67, etc. 5) Lewis and Clark , IIpp . 344

,345

,313, 314. 6) Bancroft, p . 276. 7) Ross, as quoted by Bancroft, l. c .


purchase-money for the wife has not been paid, the Childrenare looked upon as bastards ; they live as outcasts and marry

none b ut persons o f their own condition. Among t he Hupasa Similar system prevails. A bastard is much despised ; when old

enough he is taken from his mother and becomes the

property o f one of her male relatives ; he is no t a slave,and

yet has no share in the privileges of the family. The produceo f his labour belongs to his master ; he may marry only a

person of his own condition ,and is treated with ignominy.

What he wins by gaming is his own ; when this amounts to1 5 or 20 dollars , he is free. His Children are o f the same rankAlthough these bastards present a close resemblance to slaves,

Powers explicitly says that they are not slaves . Probably theyare only a despised Class ; for so cial status , among these tribes ,depends largely upon wealth . The chief“obtains his positionfrom his wealth , and usually manages to transmit his effects ,and with them his honours , to his posterity

” “The ru ling

passion o f the savage seems to b e love o f wealth ; having ithe is respected , without it he is despised

” We may thereforesuppose , that these bastards are despised because penniless ,and as soon as they possess 15 or 20 do llars

,respected for

their wealth . And as we “find no description of an actualsystem o f Slavery existing among them

,

”slavery probably does

not existGatschet, describing the Klamath Indians

,makes mention

o f slaves. Once they attacked the Pit River Indians,“killedthe men

,abducted the women and children to their homes ,

or so ld them into slavery at the international bartering placeat The Dalles.” According :

to Judge E . Steele“they had beenselling to whites and o thers Indian children of their own and

other tribes , and also squaws , the latter mainly for the purpose of prostitution” Whether all slaves were sold abroad ,or any slaves were kept by them, does not appear. Accordingto Bancroft“Mr. Drew asserts that the Klamath children of slave

1 ) Powers , pp. 22 , 75 , 76. 2 ) Hubbard , as quoted by Bancroft, p. 348 .

p . 360. 4) This conclusion of ours is strengthened b y the following statement of Gibbs ,which we have already referred to :“Southward it [slavery] ceases, so far as my ob serv

ation has gone, with the Siskiou Mountains, which d ivide Oregon from California.

”

(Gibb s , p. 5) Gatschet, pp. 59, 62 ; see also pp. 60, 1 6.


parents , who , it may be , prevent the profitable pro stitution

o r sale o f the mo ther, are killed without compunction”

Altogether the no tes given by our informants are insufficient

for us to decide , whether Slavery really exists here.

On the Central Califo rnians Bancroft remarks :“Slavery inany form is rare

,and hereditary bondage unknown .

” “Theyd o no t appear to have kept or so ld prisoners as slaves , but

to have either exchanged or killed them” Here“rare is

perhaps a synonym for “absent” ; at any rate the existence o f

Slavery here is doubtful .As for the Southern Califo rnians , according to Bancroft ,Hugo Reid a ffirms of the natives o f Los Angeles County that

all prisoners , after being tormented in the most cruel manner ,are invariably put to death Female prisoners are eitherso ld or reta ined as slaves” From Roscana

’s narrative also

it would appear , that there were formerly slaves among them.“NO quarter” he says“was ever given , and consequently, no

prisoners were ever made among the men,excepting o f such

as were killed , or mortally wounded . These were immediatelydecapitated . The women and children taken prisoners ,were either disposed Of by sale o r detained by the capta in as

slaves The women and children were never released ,ever remaining as slaves to their enemies” But as no more

details are added and as Bo scana describes a state o f thingswhich in his time had already ceased to exist , we are not

quite sure whether Slaves were really kept by these Indians.The Nishinam

, according to Powers , killed their male prisoners .

Women,after being flogged

,were married ; but sometimes they

were also killed SO it seems that they had no slaves.

10. N ew M e x i c a n s .

On the Shoshones and Utahs we are not very well informed.

An act which passed the legislature of Utah in

1 ) Bancroft, p . 349. 2 ) Ib id ., pp . 388 , 381 . 3) I b id .,p . 407.—4) Boscana, in“Life

in California” , pp . 308, 309. 5) Powers, p . 322.


set forth that from time immemorial Slavery has been a cus

tomary traffic among the Indians.

”But we are not to ld who

bought and who so ld the slaves . It is only stated that theUtahs so ld their wives and Children into slavery to the Navajos It is not probable that the Shoshones and Utahsthemselves had slaves ; for Bancroft states that prisoners of

war were killed,or in some cases d ismissed unhurt , and Meline

tel ls us,that the Utes and Pueblos almost invariably so ld their

prisoners to the Mexicans for slaves ? )Bancroft, describing the Apache family (including Apaches ,

Comanches , Navajos,Mojaves , says :“All the natives of

this family ho ld captives as slaves” But his account Of theComanches does no t quite agree with this general statement :“Prisoners belong to the captors and the males are usuallykilled

,but women are reserved and become the wives o r

servants o f their owners , while children o f bo th sexes are

adopted into the tribe”

According to Schoo lcraft,“prisoners

o f war belong to the captors and may b e so ld or released at

their will” . Captive children are adopted and afterwards are

on a level with the members o f the tribe Gregg Speaks Ofprisoners being enslaved and ill- treated by the conquerors.But whether he means to say that they remained Slaves is not

clear Cessac also speaks o f slaves. “If, among the captives o fthe deceased

,one was particularly lo ved by his master, he is

sacrificed and buried with him .

”“If a favourite slave is sacrificed ,it is to give the master a fel low- traveller.

”No more particulars

about these Slaves are given. In their wars against the Mexicansthey spare none but the children

,whom they treat as theirOwn.

“These captives forget their origin and later on,when full-grown ,

become an integral part o f the tribe”

It IS not clear whether

the slaves Cessac speaks o f are identical with these adoptedchildren ; he would not have used then the term “Slave

,

in its

proper sense. Ten Kate , a careful Observer , states that a

number o f Mexican captives, altogether about fifty, live amongthe Comanches and Kioways ; they have almost entirely adopted

1 ) Bancroft, p . 436. 2) Bancroft, p. 433 ; Meline, p . 1 20. 3) Bancroft., p. 510.

4) I bid .,p . 500. 5) Schoolcraft, I pp . 232 , 235. 6) Gregg , II p. 243. 7) Cessac ,

pp. 1 1 5, 1 1 6.


the manners and customs Of the Indians and are regarded bythe latter as members o f their tribes Ano ther author tells

us of a Mexican b oy and girl , taken prisoners by the Comanches .

The b oy was afterwards so ld to the Cherokees, the girl wasmarried against her will by a Comanche . Another captiveMexican woman was married to a Comanche Chief Com

paring these several statements,we think it probable, though

not quite certain,that the Comanches d id not keep Slaves , but

adopted their prisoners .

Ten Kate’s above-quoted statement applies also to the Kioways.MOllhausen met with two young Mexican prisoners amongthem

,a man and a woman. The young man declared , that he

did no t want to exchange his present abode for ano ther. The

woman,though married to a chief and mo ther o f a young

chief,expressed the wish to return to her own country ; but

the chief would not let her and her child go We maysuppose, that the same state o f things prevailed here as amongthe Comanches.

Of the Apaches proper Bancroft (besides his above-quo ted

general statement) says : “They treat their prisoners cruelly ;scalping them, or burning them at the stake ; yet, ruled as

they are by greediness , they are always ready to exchangethem for horses , blankets , head s , or o ther property. Whenho tly pursued , they murder their male prisoners, preservingonly the females and children , and the captured cattle

”

This is not very suggestive of Slavery ; and Bancroft’s general

statement about the Apache family appears rather strange.

Scho olcraft tells us :“These [the chiefs] can have any number

Of wives they choose ; b ut one only is the favourite. She isadmitted to his confidence

, and superintends his househo ldaffairs ; all the other wives are slaves to her ; next come hisp eons , or slaves , and his wife’s Slaves , and the servants of his

concubines ; then the young men or warriors , most general lycomposed o f the youth who have deserted o ther tribes on

account o f crimes , and have fled to the pro tection of the chiefo f this tribe Then come the herdsmen

, and SO on” These

1 ) Ten Kate, Noord -Amerika , pp . 383, 384. 2) Reports of Expl., Vol . IIIPart I

pp. 22 , 31 . 3) Mo llhausen, p . 137. 4) Bancroft, p . 498. 5) Schoolcraft, V p. 210.

5


“slaves ranking even above the warriors , very probably werenot slaves in the true sense o f the wo rd . According to Bourke ,the Mexican captives, living among the Apaches

,were treated

very kindly and Often rose to positions o f great influence. It

does no t appear that these captives were kept in a Slave-likestate. Fremont and Emory say :

“Women,when captured , are

taken as wives by those who capture them , b ut they are treatedby the Indian wives of the capturers as slaves”. It is evidentthat we have no t to d o here with slaves in the true sense .

Taking into consideration all the forego ing statements,we may

suppose that slavery d id no t exist among the ApachesIn an above-quoted passage Bancroft states that the Utahs

frequently sell their wives and children as slaves to the

Navaj o s. According to Bent,the Navaj os

,

“have in their po ssession many prisoners , men

,women and children

,whom

they ho ld and treat as Slaves” But these statements are f

not

sufficient for us to go upon ; these prisoners may b e adopted ,or ind ended to b e so ld

,as wel l as kept as slaves .

Miss Olive Oatman,who had been detained among the Mohaves

or Mojaves , says :“They invented modes and seemed to createnecessities Of labour that they might gratify themselves by taxingus to the utmost

,and even to ok unwarranted delight in whipping

us on beyond our strength . And all their requests and exactions were couched in the most insul ting and taunting language

and manner,as it then seemed

,and as they had the frankness

soon to confess , to fume their hate against the race to whom

we belonged . Often under the frown and lash were we com

pelled to labour for who le days upon an allowance amply suf

ficient to starve a common dandy civilized idler” Thoughsuch prisoners are held in a slave- like state , yet evidently

the Object o f the masters in impo sing disagreeable work upon

them is not to get useful labourers , but to“fume their hate” .

This account may warn us against attaching too much value

to statements about Slavery among similar tribes , especiallywhere the“Slaves are whites . For such tribes as the Apaches,who are always ready to exchange their prisoners for some

1 ) Bourke, pp. 1 28 , 1 29 ; Fremont and Emory , p . 1 50. 2) Bent, as quoted by Bancroft,p. 510. 3) Stratton, as quoted bij Bancroft, p. 51 1 .


property, will b e very apt to take prisoners , especial ly whites,who are likely to o ffer a better ransom than Indians. In suchcases the prisoners are no t killed ; for by killing them the

Indians would lose their ransom ; but they may safely, as in

Miss Oatman’s case

,be treated as slaves by way of vengeance.

But where these are the only slaves existing , a regular slavesystem does not prevail . As for the Mohaves, no more particulars being given

,we d o no t know whether they have Slaves .

In Bancroft’s account o f the Pueblo tribes no mention ismade o f slavery. On the Pimas he informs us :

“If prisonersare taken

,the males are crucified or o therwise cruelly put to

death , and the women and children so ld as soon as possible”

In Parker Winship’

s article it is quoted from Mendo za’sletter, that the Cibola Pueblo

“keep those whom they capturein war as slaves” This being the only reference made toSlavery , we are unable to decide whether it really existed .

Ten Kate in his detailed account of the Zufi i (a Pueblo tribe)makes no mention of slavery ; SO they probably have no SlavesBancroft

,describing the Lower Californians , has nothing

about slavery. Although their battles are described at some

length , no mention is made Of captives ; probably they tookno prisoners We may therefore safely infer

,that slavery

did not exist among them.

Resu lt. Po sitive cases :

Sound,

1 ) Bancroft. p. 543 ; see also Meline’s above-quoted statement about the Pueblos. 2 )Parker Winship , p . 548. 3) Ten Kate , Noord -Amerika ; see also M611hausen, and Reportsof Ep .

, Vol. III . 4) Bancroft, p . 562. 5) The names printed in italics contain theclear

,the other the more doubtful cases (vide p.

Aleu ts , 5)Athka A leu ts

,

Koniagas ,Tlinkits

,

H aidas,

Tsimshian

Kwakiu tl,

Bilba llas ,

Ahts,

Tribes about Puget

Fish Ind ians,


Tacu llies ,

Ainas on Copp er R iver,

S imilkameem,

Chinooks,

Atnahs on Fraser River and allied tribesSahaptins or Nez Percé s ,Southern Californians ,Klamaths

,

Navajo s,

Cibo la Pueblos .Negative cases : Green land ers ,

Cen tra l Eskimos ,

Eskimos of Labrad or ,Frobisher Bay and Field Bay Eskimos ,Kinip etu Eskimos

,

Tchiglit Eskimos ,

Eskimos Of the Ungava District,Western Eskimos or Eskimos of Alaska ,Eskimos of Po int Barrow,

Kutchins or Loucheux,

Chepewyans or Athabascas ,

Lenape or Delawares,

Montagnais ,

Ojibways or Chippeways ,

Ottawas,

S hahnees ,

Po tawa tomi,

Crees or Knisteneaux ,

Cheyennes ,

B lackfeet nation ,

Abenakies,

I roquois ,

Hurons or Wyand o ts ,Ka tahbas

,

Cherokees ,

Muskoghe,

Choctaws ,

Chickasaws ,Creeks,


He tells us o f a chief who kept 15 Negroes ; they were slavesuntil they married Indian women , and then acquired the privileges o f the tribe. Schoo lcraft informs us that “if an ludianshould murder a Negro , the law is satisfied with the valueof the Negro being paid to the owner”

The Semino les also had Negro -slaves , according to Rooseveltand Gregg But Maccauley is no t quite certain about it .He observed a few Negroes living with them. It had beensaid that they were slaves ; but our informant is not o f thatOpinion Maccauley

’

s account,however dates from a later

period than the o ther statements .

The Shahnees in Gregg’s time also kept a fewNegro SlavesBut these facts d o not represent phenomena of unadulterated

savage life. These Indian tribes had already undergone greatchanges by contact with the whites . Moreover, the Negroeskept by them as slaves were in a very peculiar condition,living in a foreign continent amongst foreign races. So weare justified in omitting these cases from our list of slavekeeping Indian tribes.

3. Centra l and South America

About the treatment o f prisoners by the wild tribes of NorthMexico Bancroft remarks : “Seldom is sex or age spared , andwhen prisoners are taken, they are handed over to the womenfor torture, who treat them mo st inhumanly, heaping uponthem every insult devisable, besides searing their flesh withburning brands , and finally burning them at the stake, orsacrificing them in some equally cruel manner. Many cookand eat the flesh of their captives

,reserving the bones as

trophies” These particulars given, and no mention beingmade of slaves

,slavery probably does not exist among them .

Among the wild tribes o f Central Mexico “the heads of theslain were placed on po les and paraded through their villages

in token of Victory, the inhabitants meanwhile dancing roundthem . Young children were sometimes spared , and reared to

1 ) Bartramy p. 38 ; Schoolcraft, I p . 277. 2) Roosevelt, I p. 59 ; Greg . 1. c.

3) Maccauley, p . 526. 4) Gregg , II p . 196. 5) Bancroft, p. 581 .


fight in the ranks o f their conquerors, and in order to brutalize their youthful minds and eradicate all feelings o f affectiontoward their own kindred

,the youthful captives were given

to drink the brains and blood of their murdered parents”

Whether these children became slaves is no t quite clear ;we should think not

,as they were “reared to fight in the

ranks o f their conquerors but this may also b e the casewith slaves The lack o f further particulars prevents our

arriving at a positive conclusion.

Bancroft’s notes on the wild tribes o f South Mexico are very

scanty. They sacrificed their prisoners . The Mayas had femaleslavesBancroft informs us that “one principal object o f war among

the ancient nations o f Honduras was to make slaves ; but theMosquito Coast was free from this scourge , according to all

accounts.

” “When prisoners were taken they were usuallyheld as slaves, after having the nose cut o ff The coast

p eople usually kill their prisoners . Wickham,who gives

a detailed account of the Woo lwa or Soumoo of the MosquitoCoast, makes no mention of slavery So the inhabitants o f

Honduras had slaves , whereas those of theMosquito Coast had not .Slavery, according to Bancroft, was in force among the

inhabitants o f the Isthmus Of Panama and Costa Rica,with

the exception Of the Cari bs .

“The prisoner is the slave of the

captor ; he is branded on the face and one o f his front teethknocked out . The Caribs however used to kill and eat their

prisoners”

. Gabb , who gives several particulars about the

tribes of Cos ta Rica, makes no mention o f slavery. Accordingto Pokalowsky , the Indians of Gootu in Costa Rica, whenconquered by the Spaniards in the 16th century, had slaves .“They cut Off the heads o f their prisoners and preserve themas trophies ; the boys and girls o f the enemies are enslavedor sacrificed to their gods . If a master dies , his slaves are

killed and buried with him ; this custom prevails here to a

greater extent than in any other part o f India”

1 ) Bancroft. p. 629. 2) So for instance among the Tl inkits ; see Nib lack, p. 252 .

3) Bancroft, pp. 656, 663. 4) Bancroft, pp. 729 , 723 ; Wickham. 5) Bancro ft , pp.

771, 764; Gabb ; Pokalowsky , p. 50.


Bancroft’

s statement about the Caribs o f the Isthmus is con

firmed by the fact that Pinart,who has largely drawn upon

ancient Spanish literature , makes no mention Of slaveryRochefort speaks o f slavery existing among the Carib s o f

the Antilles . They believed , that the bravest warriors o f theirnation after death would live in happy islands , and have theirenemies , the Arawaks , for slaves

,whereas the cowards wohld

b e the slaves of the Arawaks . In their wars with the Spaniardsthey d id not kill the Negro slaves

,but took them with them

and made them work . Sometimes slaves were killed after their

master’s death , to serve him in the other world. Male prisonerswere killed and eaten after a few days . Captive women became

slaves ; their children were reared with those o f the Caribs .

Female prisoners were sometimes taken for wives ; then the

children were free , but the mothers remained slaves . In the

isle of Saint Vincent there were in Rochefort’s time Englishboys and girls

,captured when very young ; they had quite

forgo tten their parents , and would not even return wi th them,so

accustomed were they to the mode o f life o f the Caribs,who

treated them very kindly, just as if they were Of their own nation .

De la Borde makes no mention o f slaves It seems to us verydoubtful whether slavery really existed here. Rochefort ’s statement that captive children were reared with those o f the

conquerors is more suggestive o f adoption o f captives thano f Slavery , and the enslavement o f Negroes by the Indians issomething foreign to the aboriginal state of things

,as has been

said b efore . So we canno t arrive at a definite conclusion .

The Continental Caribs , according to Gumilla , killed all

their prisoners , except the y oung women and children,whom

they so ld So slavery probably did no t exist among them.

Ling Roth , in his article on Hispanio la or Hayti (inhabitedby Arawaks) , makes no mention of Slavery ; b ut this does not

prove much,as his sources of information (early Spanish

literature) were very incomplete. For instance , he has not

been able to find anything bearing on the division of labourbetween the sexes

1 ) Pinart, see pp. 33, 48. 2) Rochefort, pp. 430, 478, 51 2 , 480, de la Bord e.

3) Gumilla, II p . 255. 4) Ling Roth, Hispaniola ; see especially p . 272 .


The several describers o f the Indians o f Guiana 1 ) make no

mention o f slavery. The tribes most fully described are the

Arawaks , Warraus , Macusi and Roucouyennes . Martins however

states that the Arawaks have slaves , who work in their hous esand on the fields SO we are not certain about the Arawaks °

b ut we may safely suppose that among the three o ther tribesslavery does not exist .The Saliva of Columbia , according to Gumilla , made war

in order to acquire slaves to till their landsIn Sievers’, Reclus

’

and Simons’ descriptions of the Goajiro

no mention is made of Slaves According to De Brettes ,however

,

“Slavery exists ; but the Slave is a member o f the

family,though looked upon as an inferior being that may b e

killed if he refuses to Obey” . A few more details are addedabout these Slaves Sievers , reviewing De Brettes’ articles ,remarks that this author is generally no t very trustworthy ,but that the ethnographical parts are the best o f his work .

Speaking o f a photograph o f Goaj iro Slaves given by De Brettes,he adds : “If there can b e any question at all Of slaveryamong them” On the same page, however, he translates DeBrettes’ ethnographical account o f the Goaj iro , in which it isstated that Slavery exists , without any commentary. Consideringall this , we canno t arrive at any accurate conclusion .

De Lery , speaking of the ancient Tupinambas , describes at

considerable length the fate o f their captives, who were killedand eaten ; even the child o f a captive and a woman o f theirown tribe was not allowed to live. Though an expert hunteror fisher, and a woman well able to work , were preservedsomewhat longer than the rest

,all were invariably killed after

a few months. Nowhere in De Lery’

s book does it appear ,that they made slaves by capture or by any o ther means

According to another ancient writer , however, they kept

prisoners as slaves . The slaves were kindly treated , allowed to

1 ) Im Thnrn ; Brett ; R. Schomburgk ; R . H . Schomburgk ; Joest, Guyana ; Bonaparte ;Goudreau ; Vidal ; van Coll . 2) Martins , p . 693. 3) Gumilla, II p . 254. 4) Sievers,Sierra Nevad a ; Reclus ; S imcns. 5) De Brettes, pp . 94, 96, 78—80. 6 ) S ievers , DesGrafen Josef d e Brettes Reisen

,pp. 381 , 382. 7) De Lery, pp. 225— 242 ; see especially

pp . 225, 236. Stad e gives a similar account of the treatment of prisoners,quo ted by

Andree, pp . 85—88.


marry free women,but finally kil led and eaten . They had to

catch fish and game and to bring it to their master.Withoutthe master ’s consent they were no t allowed to work for o thers.

If they tried to escape"and were caught , they were killed.

A slave,who died a natural death, was not buried but thrown

away in the bush All this is very suggestive Of slavery. But

the fact , that D’

Evreux got his information through an interpreter , prevents us from decidedly conclud ing

,against the

testimony o f our o ther informants,that the Tupinambas

kept slaves.

Martins remarks about the Indians o f Brazil in generalMany o f these : tribes keep Captivity in war isthe only cause by which one loses his freedom

,especially if

a male ; for the husband may sell his wife and children ; butthis is o f rare o ccurence”

The Apiacas (a group o f the Central Tupis) , according tothe same author

,in their wars kill all adu lt prisoners , male

and female , and cat them. Children they take with them and

rear them with their own ; they make them work a in the plantations ; but when about twelve or fourteen years old , these

c hildren are killed and eaten Though these children may bekept in a somewhat ‘

slave-like state, a tribe that kills its slaveswhen full-grown is not properly to b e called "a Slave-keeping tribe.

The same author informs us , that the Mundrucus and Manhé shave SlavesOf the Miranhas we are to ld that they enslave their pri

souers ; but usually these prisoners are intended to be so ldto the whites . It does not appear whether any o f them are

kept for the Miranhas’ own use

Keane,von Tschud i and Ehrenreich make no mention of

slavery among the Boto cudo s . According to Zu Wied“theconqueror persecutes the vanquished , and but seldom makescaptives , at least among the Botocudo s ; but on the Belmontethere are said to b e seen some who were used as slaves for

all kinds of work” We d o no t know what this last secondhand information of Zn Wied ’

s is worth ; but we are justified

1 ) D’Evreux

,pp . 21

,46, 52—54. 2) Martins , pp. 71 , 74. 3) Ibid ., pp. 206 , 207.

4) Ib id .,p. 71 . 5) Ib id .,

p. 73. 6) Keane ; von Tschud i ; Ehrenreich , Botocudos ; Zu

Wied , Brasilien, II p . 45. Martins (p . 326) apparently relies entirely on Zu Wied .


in inferring that the Botocudo s in general (except those on

Rio Belmonte) have no Slaves .

Azara states that in his time (he travelled in South America

from 1781 to 1801) the Guaycuru had nearly d ied out,only

one man being left But acco rding to Boggiani Guaycuru

is a general name for the tribes that inhabit the Gran Chaco

so this statement o f Azara’

s seems to apply to a small division

o f the Guaycurn only. Southey and Martins give some parti

culars about the slave system o f the Gnaycurfi but Co lini ,who has taken great pains to ascertain the identity of thesetribes

,quotes these descriptions as referring to the Mbayas .

Of the ancient Guaycurfi he says : “In their combats theygave no quarter to the adul t males ; but they spared the liveso f the youths , whom they educated after their cus toms and

gave in marriage to their daughters,SO as to augment the

number of their tribe. Full -grown women were so ld to the

neighbouring nations , who made them slaves” The o nlycaptives whom they kept among them , the youths, were no t

slaves ; so slavery probably did not exist among them .

Two tribes inhabiting the Gran Chaco and so belongingto the GuaycnrfI in Boggiani

’

s sense,are described by Thouar.

Of the Chiriguanos he says :“The prisoners are the propertyo f their captors and must serve the mistress of the hut .

”In

his description o f the Tobas he makes no’

mention of slaveryThouar, however, does no t seem to b e very well informedThe Mbayas, according to Azara, in his time had two kinds

o f slaves , one composed of the Guanas , the other o f Indianand Spanish prisoners o f war. But the former were no reals lave class . The Gnanés “used to repair in troops to the

Mbayas,to obey and serve them and till their lands without

any payment. Hence the Mbayas always call them their slaves .

This Slavery is indeed very mild , as the Guana vo luntarilysubmits to it , and leaves o ff whenever he likes .

” Such“slaves” ,

who lead a tribal life and come and go when they like , certainlyare not slaves. The others however were real Slaves . They

procured the fuel , co oked the food , took care o f the horses

1 ) Azara, II p . 146. 2 ) Boggiani, p. 80. 3) Southey III , pp. 391 , 392 ; Martins ,pp. 232, 233, 71 . 4) Co lini, in Boggiani, p . 297. 5) Thouar, pp. 51 , 60 sqq.

—6) See

Steinmetz,Strafe, I p . 174note 1 .

76 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVE RY.

and tilled the land . When Azara once Offered a present to a

Mbaya,the latter would not take it himself, but ordered his

slaves to receive it for him. Even the po orest Mbaya hadthree o f four slaves . During the mourning- time women and

Slaves were not allowed to speak or eat any meat . One place inAzara

’

s book seems to show that they had no Slaves :“They saidthey had received a divine command to wage war against allnations

,kil l the adult males and adopt the women and children ,

in order to augment their number.

”But where the recorded

tradition and the description o f the actual state o f things d isagree , we ho ld that the latter is to b e accepted Co lini refersto Azara and Martins, and then adds :“Serra however asserts

that among the Mbayas slavery proper (la schiavitt‘

t ve m e

propria) did not exist ; the slaves might rather be called servants.

” They fought together with the freemen and to ok partin the public council , even when it decided upon war and

peace . They married free persons , but were themselves lookedupon as slaves . On the master

’

s death, the sons or next rela

tions,according to the rules of inheritance, became masters Of

the Slaves ; but these rights were only nominal . The slaves

gradually merged into the tribe. Yet it was always considereddegrading to b e a descendant Of a Slave ; those who had

in their ancestry none but members o f the tribe were very

proud o f it . Generally the best slave girls were married to their

masters ; the boys o f greatest promise were treated as sons ,

whereas the Others were set to d o the ruder work This

account,however, does not pro ve that the captives were no t

slaves . Some o f the boys only were'

treated as sons ; what

were the rest if not slaves’

? And even Slaves may to a certain

degree b e treated as sons. The Slaves gradually coalesced withthe tribe (though not entirely) ; but we are to ld that this

change to ok place“through personal merits and intermarriage.

This Shows that all captives were not on a level with the free

men ; probably it was only the most deserving prisoners , and'

the o ffspring'

o f slaves‘

and freemen,who attended the public

council and were on an equal fo o ting with the main body o f

tribesmen. Slaves may b e kindly treated and yet b e slaves .

1 ) Azara II , pp. 96, 1 08—1 10, 1 19. 2) Colini, in Boggiani, p . 316.


tribe,sometimes are made chiefs if they have distinguished

themselves This is,

not very suggestive of slavery ; butthe details given are not sufficient for us to arrive at a clearconclusion.

On the Zaparo s we get this scanty information. They are

always at war,killing many of the men , and stealing the

women , children and chattels of the enemies , the childreneither for use as servants or for sale. A b oy or girl stolenby them is commonly so ld to traders Apparently the authorhimself is in dOIIbt , whether any of these captives are keptas slaves.Some savage tribes of Peru are treated o f by Ordinaire.

In his account of the Campas or Antis there is nothing bearing on slavery. He states that he met with a Lorenzo childliving among the Campas ; but it is not clear whether thiswas a slave ; and the rest of his ample record makes theexistence of slavery rather improbableAbout the Conib as and kindred tribes the same writer remarks ,

that among their wives there are some slaves captured fromneighbouring tribes. But as he states , that all the fatiguingwork is incumbent on women, it would seem, that there are

no male slaves and therefore no slavery proper. Prisoners o f

war are killed at their feasts From a description o f about ahundred years ago we learn, that these tribes kept prisonersas slaves . Several o f these slaves were observed among thePanos ; the masters t reated them with as much affection as

their own children and married them to their daughters . The

conquerors married the captive women in order to augment

the number o f their tribe‘

The details given are not suffi cient

to decide, whether the prisoners merged into the tribe or

constituted a slave class.Smyth and Lowe

,speaking of the Sencis of Peru , remark

They give no quarter,and take no prisoners in the battle

The women and children are taken for slaves , and if there

are any in infancy , or much advanced in age, they are killed

as useless.” Whether the fate o f the captive women and

1 ) Ehrenreich , Beitrage, pp. 28, 29. 2) Simson, p. 505. 3) Ord inaire, pp. 287,270—273. 4) Ibid ., pp. 308, 309. 5) Skinner, II pp. 1 13, 1 14. 6) Smyth and

Lowe, p . 226.


children was really Slavery, is no t clear from this short note .

The Guanas probably had no slaves. We are to ld that the

head o f the tribe“is obliged to wo rk for his subsistence , as

nobody serves him”

As little does it appear that the Yuracaré s and Mocé téné s

are slave-keeping tribes. The former live in families, and evenin these subordination is unknown . The latter are not war

like It is not,however

,a first-rate authority to whom we

owe these particulars .

The Chiquitos,according to the same author , in their wild

state attacked their neighbours , and made prisoners , to whom theygave their own daughters as wives Whether these prisonerswere slaves is no t clear ; we should rather think no t.

The Chapacuras were very peaceable , and b ut seldom attackedtheir neighbours Whether Slavery existed among them we

are not to ld.

The Moxos,in D’

Orb igny’

s time,had already long been

civilized and christianized . What their po litical institutionswere in their former wild state we d o not know

Muratori , speaking o f the Indians o f Paraguay and some

neighbouring districts, states that they kill and eat their prisoners Of war. Some tribes

,however, he tells us , are more

peaceful and take all pains to induce their prisoners to resideamong them. Children o f prisoners are so ld by some of the

tribes to other nations From all this it would seem thatslavery did not exist . But we shall presently see , that the o therinformation we have go t does not entirely agree with Muratori

’

s

general statement .

The principal native tribe o f Paraguay were the Ab ipones ,

described at large by Dobrizhoffer. The prisoners they madewere very leniently treated. They gave them

‘

the best of

their fo od , and tended them when ill. The prisoners had dailyOpportunity to run away

,b ut they did not desire it

,for

they were very contented. They were never beaten,nor even

reproved . They hunted and fought together with the Abipones.And

'

yet they were not merged into the nation of the Ab ipones ;

1 ) Azara, II p . 96. 2 ) D’orbigny , I pp. 360, 372 . 3) Ib id .,11 p. 166 —4) Ib id .

,

II p . 2 1 1 . 5) L. c. 6) Muratori , pp . 29,1 28, 129.


for the Abipone women generally would marry only a man

of their own people ; and the men never married femaleprisoners , nor had they any connection with them . It appears

that every captive was assigned to an individual master. So

we have here to deal with the fact , that one man is the propertyo f another beyond the l imits Of the family proper, i. e. slavery

,

though slavery o f an extraord inarily mild CharacterThe Payaguas in their wars killed all adult men , and preserved

the women and children. What became o f the latter doesno t appear. The Payaguas were absolutely free and did no t

recognize any d ifierence o f classes. From this it is probable,though not certain,

that they had no slavesThe Enimagas , according to Azara , were hunters ; agriculture

among them was incumbent on slaves. No further particulars

are given about these slaves . The Enimagas are said formerlyto have held the Mbayas in a kind o f slavery ; but such a

subjection of a tribe as a who le is not slavery in the true

sense ; slavery is subjection o f individuals. If the “s laves” theEnimagas had in Azara’s time were o f the same description ,

they were no t slaves SO we cannot arrive here at any

definite conclusion.

D’Orbigny remarks

,that the Charruas when at war killed

all the men, and preserved the women and children,whom

they made concubines and slaves As Azara’

s statement isquite different

,we shal l translate it literally :“All are equal ;

nobody serves ano ther ; or it must be some Old woman who ,

having no means o f subsistence,j o ins some family

,or assists

at the burying of the dead” . In their wars they”

kill all theymeet

,preserving none but

’

the women and the children undertwelve years of age. They take their prisoners along withthem , and let them enjoy their freedom ; most o f them marrythere and get so much accustomed to this mode of life , thatthey but rarely wish to return to their own people Althoughsuch kind treatment is compatible with slavery

,Azara ’

s sta

tement about nobody serving another is positive enough toexclude all notion of Slavery. Heusser and Claraz

,who seem

1 ) Dob rizhoffer , I I pp . 148—152 . 2) Azara, II pp . 145, 132. 3) I bid .,pp . 1 59,

1 57. 4) D’Orb igny , II p. 89. 5) Azara, II pp. 1 5 , 19, 20.

82 GEOGRAPICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

other authors So we may suppo se that the prisoners arealways exchanged or ransomed , and that Slavery is unknownamong them.

About the Fuegians we have this positive statement of

Hyades and Déniker :“They have no chiefs, no labourers who

work for pay , and no slaves” This statement, already valuable

in itself, is corroborated by the fact,that none o f the other

authors we have consulted on the subject make any mention

of slavery

R esu lt. Po sitive cases : Ancient na tions of Hond uras,

Inhabitants ofPanama and CostaR ica ,

Mundrucus,

Mauhe’

s,

Mbayas ,Caduvei

,

Suya ,

Abipones ,Tehuelches

,

Arawaks,

Sal iva ,

Goaj iro,

Tupinambas,Chiriguano s

,

Yuruna,Sencis

,

Enimagas .

Negative cases : Wild tribes of North Mexico ,

Na tives of the Mosquito Coast,

Caribs of the Isthmus ,Warraus

,

Macusi,

R aucouyennes ,

Apiacas ,

Bo tocud os ,

Bakairi,

1 ) Von Bibra ; Ochsenius ; Smith ; Musters. 2) Hyades et Deniker, p. 242. 3) ParkerSnow; Darwin, Voyage ; Vincent ; O’sullivan.


conclusion

4. Aus tra lia .

The Australian tribes , as they are marked on the map in

Mr. Thomas’s book on the“Natives o fAustralia”, are the following :In Western Australia : Yerkla—mining,In South Australia : Eucla ,

Am n ia ,

Urabunna

Narrinyeri ,

Paressi,

Bororo ,

Guanas ,

Cha rruas,

Minuanes ,Puelches ,Araucanians,

Fuegians ,

Wild tribes of Central Mexico ,Continental Caribs ,Guaycuru,Tobas ,Karayas,Zaparos ,

Campas ,

Conibos ,Y uracarés

,

Mocé téné s ,Chiquitos ,ChapacurasPayaguas .

Caribs of the Antil les,Wild tribes o f So uth Mexico ,Natives OfHispanio la,Miranhas

,

Canoeiros,Moxos .


Booand ik,

Wo tjoba llak,In SouthAustralia (N.Territory) :Mara ,

Anu la ,

Worgaia ,

Warramunga ,

Kaitish,

In Victoria : Wo lgai,

Wurinyeri,

Ka rnai,Bangerang,

In N . S . Wales : Tongaranlca ,Euahlayi,

Kamilaroi,

Wiimbaio ,Geawega l,

Yuin,

In Queensland : Gtati,Pitta Pitta ,

Kiabara ,

Kabi,Turribu l.

The extinct Tasmanians also belonged to the Australian group.

Nowhere in all the books and articles we have consulted on

the Australian tribes is any mention made Of slaves Now itis true that, whereas on many of these tribes we are well ihformed

,there are others

’

on which we have little informationor no information at all. But here our group-argument may

b e brought to bear. We have to deal here with an iso lateddistrict, inhabited by tribes living in similar conditions and

physically and psychically resembling each o ther, so much So ,that some ethnographers 2) and theorists 3) speak Of the Australians as if they were one people , as if all Australians were inexactly the same state o f culture . This really is erroneous :

1 ) The literature used is the same as that quoted on p . 22 , Chapter I , and besidesHowitt, South-East Australia ; S tokes ;

'

Mitchell ; Hale ; Grey ; Taplin, as quoted byWoods .

2 ) Curr Brough Smyth. Gerland’

s survey of Australian social life is much better.3) E . g. Grosse and Letourneau.


parents’

own children Brainne informsus,that there are two

social classes : chiefs o f various kinds,and serfs ; the latter term

probably means the common people . De Vaux. and Legrandmake no mention whatever of slaves According to Glaumontthere are four classes

,the fourth of which is composed o f

slaves (en-dji—d io) But no further particulars are given aboutthese slaves in his rather long article. Taking all this in con

sideration, we are justified in concluding that slavery doesnot exist.On the state o f things in the So lomon Islands we are wel l

informed by several authors . Elton says :“If a man ismarriedand has got a little money and a few Slaves , he calls himselfa chief, but does not exercise any power over his slaves ; theyd o pretty well as they like” Guppy gives this general d escription of Slavery in the So lomon Islands : “In the larger

islands the bush-tribes and the coast-natives wage an unceasingwarfare

,in which the latter are usual ly the aggressors and

the victors the bushmen captured during these raids either

affording materials for the cannibal feast or being detained in

servitude by their captors. But there prevails in the group a

recognized system of slave-tra'

ffic , inwhich a human being becomesa marketable commodity the equivalent being represented in

good s either of native or Of foreign manufacture . This custom,

which came under the no tice of Surville’

s expedition, duringtheir visit to Port Praslin in Isabel , in 1769, obtains under the

same conditions at the present time. These natives were in the

habit o f making voyages Of ten and twelve days’

duration

with the object of exchanging men for“fine cloths co vered

with designs”, articles which were manufactured by. a race o f

people much fairer than their own, who were in all probab i

lity the inhabitants of Ontong Java. The servitude to whichthe victims o f this traffic are doomed is not usually an ardu

ous one. But there is one grave contingency attached to histhraldom which must b e always before the mind of the caps

tive, however lightly his chains of service may lie upon him.

When a head is required to satisfy the offended honour of a

1 ) Lambert, pp. 79, 177. 2) Ersinne, p . 239 ; de Vaux ; Legrand . 3) Glaumont, p.74. 4) Elton, p. 98.


neighbouring chief, or when a life has to be sacrificed on the

completion o f a tambu house or at the launching o f a new

war-canoe , the victim chosen is usually the man who is no t

a free-born native o f the village . He may have been bought

as a child and have li ved amongst them from his boyhoodup, a slave only in name

,and enjoying all the rights o f his

fellow natives. But no feelings o f compassion can save him

from his doom ; and the only consideration which he receives

at the hands of those with whom he may have li ved on terms

o f equality for many years is to b e found in the circum

stance that he gets no warning o f his fate”

The notes of the o ther ethnographers relate to single partsof this group. Verguet states that in St. Christo val (in the southeastern part o f the group) the slaves “are treated as adoptedchildren ; the slave cultivates the master

’s fields together with the

master himself ; he helps him to prepare the food and accompanieshim when hunting or fighting ; he shares in his pleasures as

well as in his work ; when the tribe celebrates a feas t, theslaves are not excluded from it . When full-grown ,

they marryinto their master

’

s tribe, erect their houses next to theirmaster

’

s house or share the latter. Sometimes the master do esnot disdain to marry his slave” Codr ington , whose notes

mainly relate to the same parts o f the group , remarks :“There

is no such thing as slavery properly so called . In head-huntingexpeditions prisoners are made for the sake Of their heads ,to be used when o ccasion requires

,and such persons live

with their captors in a condition very d ifierent from that of

freedom, but they are no t taken or maintained for the purpo ses Of service. In the same islands when a successful attackand massacre enriches the victors with many heads

,they

spare and carry o ff children,whom they bring up among

their own people. Such a seka wil l certainly b e killed for a

head or for a sacrifice before any native member of the com

munity ; but he lives as an adopted member, shares thework, pleasure and dangers o f those with whom he dwells, andoften becomes a leading personage among them. A refugee or

a castaway is not a slave but a guest ; his life is natura lly

1 ) GUPPY. p. 33. 2) Verguet, p. 205.


much less valued than that of a man of the place, and useful

services are expected from him,while he mixes freely and on

Jequal terms with the common people

”Guppy says :“I will/

turn for a moment to the subjectl

o f slavery in the easternislands of the group. In Ugi it is the practice o f infanticidewhich has given rise to a slave-commerce regularly conductedwith the natives o f the interior of St . Christoval . Three-fourthsof the men o f this island were originally bought as youths tosupply the place of the natural Offspring killed in infancy. But

such natives when they attain manhood virtually acquire theirindependence , and their original purchaser has but little contro lover them . . Connected in the manner above shown with

the subject o f slavery is the practice of cannibalism . The com

pletion of a new tambu-house is frequently celebrated amongthe St. Christoval natives by a cannibal feast. Residents in thatpart of the group tel l me that if the victim is not procured ina raid amongst the neighbouring tribes o f the interior, some

man is usually selected from those men in the village whowere originally purchased by the chief. The doomed man is ,

not enlightened as to the fate which awaits him,and may

perhaps have been engaged in the erection Of the very buildingat the completion Of which his life is forfeited” . On the neigh

b ouring small island Of Santa Anna the natives are reputed toabstain from human flesh ; but

“the war-chief has acquired a

considerable fortune, in a native’

s po int of View, by fo llowingthe profitable cal ling of purveyor of human flesh to the - man

eaters of the adjacent coasts o f St. Christo val I am to ld

that there is a faint gleam o f tender feeling shown in the case

of a man who , by long residence in the village,has almost

come to b e looked upon as one o f themsel ves . He is allowed

to remain in ignorance o f the dreaded moment until the last ;and , perhaps , he may b e standing on the beach assisting in the

launching Of the very canoe in which he is destined to take his

final journey, when suddenly he is laid ho ld o f,and in a few

,

moments more he is being ferried across to the man-eaters o f

the oppo site coast”

From the forego ing statements it appears that the so -cal led

1 ) Cod rington , The Melanesians, p . 46. 2 ) Guppy , pp. 35 , 36.


Parkinson’

s des cription of the north-western part of the groupapplies mainly to the isles of Bouka and Bougainville. In

Bougainville individuals belonging to the inland tribes are sometimes enslaved by the coast people. Male slaves are not al lowedto marry . (This has probably reference to both Bouka and

Bougainville) . At the death o f a person o f rank a slave wasformely , and in some parts still is killed Rib be also statesthat in Bougainville slavery exists, though in a mild form ,

mosto f the slaves being children captured in war. In the ShortlandIslands (to the south of Bougainville) slaves are prisoners of

war,most o f them being imported from Bougainville. They are

wel l treated and not seld om attain power and considerationand even can marry the chief

’

s relations . Those slaves,however ,

who are no t so fortunate , run the risk o f being sacrificed at

funeral feasts, at the building o f a house or the launching of a canoe.

On the fields the roughest work falls to the share of the slavesGuppy

,speaking of the smal l isle Of Treasury (near Bougainville) ,

says : “There are in Treasury several men and women who ,originally bought as slaves from the people Of Bouka and Bougainville , now enjoy apparently the same privileges and freed om o f action as their fellow islanders. It is sometimes nota matter of much difficulty to single out the slaves amongsta crowd of natives. On one o ccasion I engaged a canoe o f

Faromen to take me to a distant part of their island ; and verysoon after we started I became aware from the cowed and

'

sullen condition Of one o f the crew that he was a slave. On

inquiry f l learned that,

this man had been captured when a

b oy in the island o f Bougainville , and I was informed that ifhe was to return to his native place a bush-village named

Kiata he would undoubtedly b e killed . Although in fact

a Slave, I concluded from the bearing of the o ther men to

wards him that his bondage was not a very hard one ; and he

evidently appeared to enjoy most of the rights of a native o f

the common class. Sukai , however, for such was his name,had to make himself generally useful in the course of the

day ; and when at the close o f the excursion we were Seatedinside the house Of a man who provided us with a meal of

1 ) Parkinson, N. W. Salomo-Inseln, pp. 2 note, 8, 9, 10. 2) Ribbe, pp. 100, 138, 139, 110.


bo iled taro , sweet potatoes , and bananas , he was served withhis repast on the beach outside”

We see that the d iflerence between slaves and free men is

more marked here than in the o ther parts Of the So lomongroup. Neither with regard to their work nor with regard to

their social position are the slaves on a foo ting o f equalitywith the free men. The conclusion is that in the north-western

part of the group slavery certainly exists .

In the Nissan Islands , lying between the So lomon group and

the Bismarck Archipelago , there are no slaves . Prisoners of warare killed and eaten

Severa l describers o f the Fijians speak o f slaves, b ut it is

not easy to say what they mean by the term . According to

Wilkes,there are five social classes , viz . kings , chiefs , warriors ,

landholders and slaves (kai-si) .“The last have nominally little

influence ; but in this group,as in other countries , the mere

force o f numbers is sufficient to counterbalance or o vercomethe force o f the prescriptive rights o f the higher and less numerous classes . This has been the case at Amban, where the

people at no distant period rose against and dro ve out theirkings.” In ano ther place the same writer speaks of“the ka i-sior common people.

” We see that“slaves,

”“people

”and“common people

”

are synonymous terms with him. Williamsequally states that the lowest class was composed o f slaves ,but gives no particulars about the condition of these slaves.

Prisoners of war were barbarously tortured In a legend to ldby Seemann mention is made o f a woman who had femaleslaves . But in ano ther place the distinction into social classesis drawn between the Chiefs and gentry and the common peopleWaterhouse does not speak of slaves In Jackson’

s narrative,

published by Erskine,we read :“The lowest condition of all,

the consequence o f some late total defeat, or conquest, is ah

so lute slavery, the districts where such a state exists being cal ledvanua kaisia or Slave lands” .

“I visited nearly all the vanua

kaisis . the meaning of vanua kaisi being slave. places , the

l ) Guppy, p. 34. 2 ) Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Bechtsverha’

ltnisse , p. 414. 3) Wilkes ,III , pp. 81 , 108. 4) Williams , pp. 32 , 53. 5) Seemann, pp. 196

, 1 79, 180.

6 ) Waterhouse .


inhabitants o f which are suppo sed to supply Tanoa’

s and Tha

kombau’

s [two chiefs’

] houses with daily food , and build thehouses and keep them in repair ; . they also pay tribute

periodically . Evidently we have to deal here with subjectiono f districts as such , not with enslavement o f individuals . In

another place of this narrative , kaisi is translated with“slave

or poor man”

. But the same writer gives some details suggestiveo f real slavery. An enemy , whose life I

‘

had saved,he says

,“called and considered himself my kaisi “Mara’

s

mo ther was saved when Tanoa conquered Lakemba,and was

considered as a prisoner,and consequently as a slave”

Though some of the details given seem to prove that therewere formerly no t only people Of the lowest class and inhab itants of conquered districts , but also slaves inthe proper sense ,we are no t quite certain about it .Codrington

’

s above quoted statement,that “there is no such

thing as slavery properly so called” , applies also to a part of

the New Hebrides . Meinicke , after speaking o f the chiefs, adds“The rest o f the people are free men”

Our o ther informants 3)making no mention o f slavery

,we may safely infer that it

does not exist here .

The Bismarck Archipelago consists o f Neu Pommern,Neu

Mecklenburg and a number of smaller islands . Danks gives an

elaborate account o f marriage customs in this group , in whichthere is not a word to be found about slaves. Pfeil

’

s description

also applies to the who le archipelago . According to him, debtors

have to work for their creditors , but their condition is not

that o f slaves . S lavery , in the sense we attach to it, does no t

exist. Sale o f full-grown people , as well as unrewarded labour ,is unknown. Children are bought , but only for the purpose o f

adoption , and are not so ld again. Boys , who run away to some

o ther tribe, are equally adopted .4)

The information we have go t about the separate islands does

not wholly agree with these general statements.

The best known part o f Neu Pommern is the Gazelle Penin

1 ) Erskine, pp. 456, 457, 420, 438. 458. 2) Heinicke, Die Inseln des stillen Oceans ,I p. 202. 3) Hagen and Pineau ; Inglis ; Somerville, New Hebrides. 4) Banks ;Pfeil , p. 78.


in battle. The servants fight and work for their lord , but enjoya rather independent position. We are not sure whether wehave to deal here with slavery or with a vo luntary submission.

So the existence of slavery in the Admiralty group, thoughprobable in some degree, does not seem to us to b e provedas yet . As little is a positive conclusion warranted by Parkinson

’

s

statement, that in the group o f small islands t o the west ofthe Admiralty group wars between the separate islands wereformerly frequent, owing to the slave steal ing propensities o f

the nativesIn the islands o f Torres Straits

,according to Meinicke, there

is no government and no so cial division,except the d ivision

into tribes . Haddon,describing the western tribes of Torres

Straits , says :“I never heard o f slavery being practised”

So slavery is probably unknown here.

The rest of‘

this paragraph wil l be taken up with a surveyof New Guinea and in the first place of the Dutch part o fthe island .

Bink and Krieger both state the Papuans o f Humbo ldt Bayhave no slaves , neither are Slavesmentioned inKoning

’

s account

In the district Of Tabi some men were observed,who had

their hair cut short ; according to a Dorey interpreter, theywere slaves This short note is not, however, sufficient togo upon.

The inhabitants o f Seroei are much given to the kidnapping of slaves , whom they sell . Whether they keep any slavesthemselves , does not appearThe Papuans near Lake Sentani keep neither slaves nor

pawnsThe natives o f Ansus purchase many slaves, and sell slaves

to Ternate traders In this case , too , we are not told ,whetherall the purchased slaves are so ld abroad

,or any of them are

kept by the natives .

The aborigines o f Windessi in their raids make prisoners

1 ) Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, pp. 380, 396—398, 443.— 2) H einicke, Die Torresstrasse.

p. 1 1 6 ; Haddon , p . 355. See also Hunt’s Ethnogr. notes on the Murray Island s,Torres

Straits, in which no mention is mad e of slaves. 3) B ink, p. 325 ; Krieger, p . 413 ;Koning.—4) Robidé , p . 109.

- 5) Ib id .,p . 262 . 6) Moolenburgh, p. 180. 7) Rob id é , p. 235.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY . 95

to whom they give the name of woman,slave” This short

no te does no t enable us to arrive at a clear conclusion.

Goudswaard says of the Papuans o f Geelvinck Bay general ly“The Papuan steals men,makes them slaves, and despises

them.

” “The wars o f the Papuans are little more than raids ,in which they burn the houses o f their enemies , destroy theirgardens, and if possible make women and children prisoners ,to restore them later on for an ed equate ransom , o r else tokeep them as slaves or exchange them”

The accounts , given by,Van Hasselt and De Clercq , prove

that slavery exists among the NuforeseThe inhabitants Of Dorey and Roon belong to the Nuforese .

Rosenberg gives some particulars about slavery in Dorey, andRob id é has a few notes on slaves kept by the inhabitants o fRoonSlavery also exists among the natives of ArfakThe Hattamers

,however

,who live in the

'

Arfak mountains,have no slaves .

“The Hattamers,

”says Robid é ,

“keep no slaves ;in their wars with neighbouring tribes they d o not enslavethe prisoners , but cut off their heads , which they bring home

as trophies”

The Karons , according to Brq n , capture slaves from theirneighbours , but whether they keep them for their own use is

not quite clear . Ano ther author tells us that they eat their

prisonersThe existence o f slavery among the Papuans of the Gulf o f

Maccluer is made probable by De Clercq’

s and Strauch’

s notes

Ano ther author observed slaves in some districts at the southwest side of this gulf ; the population o f these districts is a

mongrel race of Buginese , emigrants from Serang, and PapuansSlavery exists on the isle o f Adie and along the Gul f o f

Kaimani

The Papuans of Ayamb ori have no slaves

1 ) Van d er Bo ast, p . 1 57. 2) Goudswaard , pp. 27, 51 ; see also Ottow and Geissler ,pp. 1 1 5, 1 18 — 3) Van Has selt in Z . E . VIII , pp. 1 91 sqq. ; Van Hasselt in Tijd s . XXXI

,

pp . 583,584, XXXII , pp 270

,272 ; De Clercq , Nieuw-Guinea , p . 619. 4) Rosenberg ,

Mal. Arch. , pp . 454, 456 ; Eob id é , pp. 64, 65, 76, 94, 228 ; see also Nieuw-Guinea,p .

149. 5) Rosenberg, Mal. Arch .,p . 532 ; Rosenb erg , Nieuw-Guinea

,p . 90.

— 6) Bobid é ,p . 242 . 7) Bruijn, pp. 103, 104; Rob id é , p. 59.

—8) De Clercq , Nieuw-Guinea,p . 459 ;

Strauch , p. 30. 9) Bob id é , pp. 300,305

,306. 10) Nieuw-Guinea , pp. 1 1 6, 1 28.

1 1 ) Ib id .,pp . 1 58, 163.


In Krieger’s elaborate account of the natives of British and

German New Guinea there is not a word about slaves. Henceit would appear that they are unacquainted with slavery and

we shall presently see that this conclusion is strengthened bythe information we get about the separate tribes.Thomson states that several tribes o f British New Guinea in

warfare kill alike men,women and children and in the d es

criptions of Single tribes : Motu,Mowat , Toaripi , natives on the

mouth o f the Wanigela River, no mentionis made of slaveryAs for German New Guinea

,Maclay does not speak Of slaves

and Finsch says that every Papuan warrior considers it an

honour to kill women and childrenAmong the Yabim slavery does not exist

The same is the case among the natives o f the Tami IslandsSlavery is equally unknown among the Tamoes of Bogadj im 6)

and the nati ves of the adjacent Dampier Island

R esult. Positive cases

Negative cases : New Ca led onians ,

S outh-eastern S olomon Is land ers ,

Nissan Is land ers,

1 ) Thomson ,British New Guinea, pp . 52 , 63, 2) Turner, Motu ; d ’Albertis ;

Beardmore ; Romilly , Verandah ; Chalmers, see especially p. 326 ; Guise. 3) Maclay ;Finsch

,Samoafahrten

,p . 80.

—4) Vetter, p . 91 . 5) Kohler, Das Recht der Papuas , p. 389(on the authority of Damler) . 6) Hagen. Unter d en Papuas, p. 220 ; see also Vallentin,

p . 634. 7) See Kunze’s minute description, in which slavery is not mentioned .

North-wes tern So lomon I s land ers ,Natives of the Gazelle Peninsu la ,Nuforese,Papuans of Arfak,

on the Gu lf of Maccluer,of Ad ie,on the Gulf of Kaimani,

Central So lomon Islanders ,Fijians,Natives o f Neu Mecklenburg and

neighbouring islands ,Admiralty Islanders ,Papuans of Tabi ,

Ansus.


other o ccupation Mariner only makes mention of captivewomen , so it is probable that no men were taken prisonersin their wars West states that there was a monarchicaldespotism,

supported by an hereditary aristo cracy . The peoplewere divided into several , strictly separated

, classes he lowestclass where the tuas

,common people, subdivided into different

trades : carpenters , fishermen,etc . The feudal principle , that

the who le country belonged exclusively to the king,made the

people slaves Such“slavery” o f a who le people is no t, however ,slavery in the true sense o f the word . Of slavery proper West

makes as little mention as Mariner. We may , therefore , safelysuppose that Meinicke and Gerland have been mistaken ,

and

that slavery did not exist here .

With reference to Samoa Gerland speaks o f two po litical

parties who were always at war ,“but they d o no t destroy

their adversaries”,he says

,nor enslave them

,as frequently

members o f the same family belong to different parties”

According to Meinicke the prisoners were at different timesdifferently disposed o f ; b ut among these modes o f treatmentslavery is no t mentioned Wilkes states that their wars“wereattended with great cruelty

,and neither o ld or young o f either

sex were spared” Turner , a good authority, remarks :“Pri

souers,if men

,were generally killed ; if women, distributed

among the conquero rs” We are no t to ld whether thesewomen were married , or kept in a slave- like state ; but even

in the last case this would b e slavery o f women only , and

therefore not slavery in the proper sense. Kramer is the only

author who speaks o f slaves . The conquered party had to ask

the pardon o f the conquerors and to bring firewood as if to

show that they considered themselves worth to be eaten like

pigs . Often also they had to perform degrading work as slaves

(p o loga) , to pay a tribute o r even to furnish human flesh for

cannibal purpo ses It would seem that this degrading work was

imposed upon the conquered as a temporary punishment and'

that we have no t to deal here with a permanent system of

forced labour as among slave-keeping tribes. This being the only

1 ) Mariner, I I pp . 1 53, 349, 350. 2 ) Ibid ., p . 237. —3) West, pp . 260, 262 .—4) Waitz

Gerland,VI p. 1 70. 5) Melnicke, 1. c. II p. 1 22. 6) Wilkes, II p . 1 59.— 7) Turner,

Samoa, p . 192. 8) Kramer , ,Die Samoa-Inseln, II p. 341 .


reference to slavery in Kramer’s very detailed description of

the Samoans , and slavery not being mentioned by any o f our

other informants we may safely infer that it did not exist.Gardiner, in his excellent article on Rotuma, says : “Slaves

as such did not properly exist”

Gerland and Meinicke, enumerating the social classes in theRarotonga group (or Hervey Islands , or Coo k

’

s Islands) , make nomention of slaves. According to Meinicke , the lowest class are thecommon people So slavery seems to have been unknown here .

In Tahiti,according to E ll is ,

“the lowest class included the

titi and the tenten, the slaves and servants ; the former were

those who had lost their liberty in battle. or who , in couse

quence o f the defeat o f the Chieftains to whom they wereattached

,had become the property o f the conquerors . This

kind of slavery appears to have existed among them from timeimmemorial . Individuals captured in actual combat

,or who

fled to the chief for protection when disarmed or disabled inthe field

,were considered the slaves of the captor or chief

by whom they were pro tected . The women, children and o therswho remained in the districts of the vanquished , were alsoregarded as belonging to them ; and the lands they occupied ,together with their fields and plantations , were distributedamong the victors . If peace continued , the captive frequentlyregained his liberty after a limited servitude

,and was per

mitted to return to his own land , or remain in vo luntaryservice with his master

” Though the second kind of slavesEllis enumerates , the subjects o f vanquished chiefs

, probablywere not slaves

,and the frequent liberating o f captive slaves

proves that slavery was no t of great significance,it would seem

from Ellis ’s account that to a limited extent it was present.Another ancient writer

,however, tells us that the lowest class

were the common servants , called tou tou ,o r, when they were

in the service of women,tuti. Nobody was obliged to serve

longer than he liked . The manahoune or peasants , who workedfor the nobility , were also free to change their master or removeto another district . Hence we Should infer that slavery did not

1 ) Gerland ; Meinicke ; Turner ; Von Bulow. 2 ) Gard iner, p . 429. 3) H einicke ,l . c.

,II p. 148 ; Waitzo Gerland

, VI p . 199. 4) El lis , Pol. Res , III p . 95.


exist Moerenhout says : In the Society Islands there wereno slaves ; the people served the chiefs vo luntarily. Prisonersof war

,men, women , and children, were almost always merci

lessly murdered Considering the details given by Ellis, whowas very well informed

,we are inclined

,notwithstanding the

contrary statements of the other writers , to conclude thatslavery existed in Tahiti

,but we are not quite certain about it .

Of Hawaii Ellis says :“The wives and children of those whomthey had defeated were frequently made slaves , and attachedto the so il for its cultivation, and , together with the captives ,treated with great cruelty.

”Captives were sometimes spared ,“though perhaps spared only to b e Slaves , or to be sacrificed

when the priests should require human victims. The personsof the captives were the property o f the victors

,and their l ives

entirely at their disposal . But in enumerating the social classeshe makes no

"mention of slaves .“In the fourth [lowest] ,

rank

may be included the small farmers, who rent from ten to twentyor thirty acres of land ; the mechanics . indeed , all the lab ouring c lasses , those who attach themselves to some chief orfarmer

,and labour on his land for their food and clothing , as

wel l as those who cultivate small portions o f land for their

own advantage” In the accounts o f the o ther writers, whoknew the ancient institutions of Hawaii by Observation or

personal information, we d o not find anything tending to pro vethat slavery existed . Wilkes , in his very detailed account of

government and land tenure , does not speak of slaves.

“Theauthority” he says“descended in the scale o f rank , rising fromthe lowest class of servants to tenants , agents , landho lders ,land-owners , petty chiefs, high chiefs , and the king

”Chamisso

expressly states that Slavery was absent. The common peoplewere entirely subjected to the chiefs

,but there were no slaves

or serfs. Peasants and servants were al lowed to remove to anyplace they liked . The people were free ; they could b e killed ,but not so ld or retained Remy tel ls us that the common peoplewere heavily Oppressed by the chiefs. Slaves are not mentioned byhim. Prisoners were sacrificed All this renders the existence

1 ) J . Wilson, III pp. 1 27—1 29. 2) Moerenhout, II pp . 8, 47. 3) Ellis, Pol. Res ,

IV pp . 1 61 , 1 60, 413. 4) Wilkes , IV p . 35. 5 ) Chamisso, in Kotzebue, p . 149.

6) Remy, pp . LXI—LXVI , XL.


few have taken advantage o f the permission to return”

Whether the captives mentioned here were kept as slaves isnot clear. Moerenhout tel ls us that the natives of the Paumotugroup often preserved their prisoners to eat them later on at

feasts We canno t arrive at a definite conclusion here .

Geiseler states that on Easter Island male prisoners o f war

were formerly eaten. Captured women and girls,however,

were not killed , but given to young warriors . Slaves are not

mentioned . The king had abso lute power over the commonpeople It would seem that slavery was absent here ; but weare not quite certain about it , as Geiseler describes a state o fthings existing long before his visit to the island .

In the Abgarris , Marqueen and Tasman groups , according toParkinson

,there are three social classes , the chiefs and their

parents , the nobles and priests , and the common people Hencewe may safely infer, that slavery does no t exist.

R esult. Positive cases : Maori,

Tahitians.

Negative cases

Tasman

conclusion

7. Micronesia .

According to Meinicke none o f the describers o f the MarshallIslands make mention o f slaves. Gerland , to o , does no t speak

of Slaves According to Hernsheim the lowest class is com

1 ) Wilkes , I p. 357. 2 ) Moerenhout, II p . 191 . 3) Geissler, pp. 30, 31 , 41 .

4) Parkinson ,Dreissig Jahre, p . 528. 5 ) H ein icke, Die Gilbert und Marshall Inseln,

p. 409 ; Waitz Gerland , V'

,2 p . 1 22.

Samoans ,

R o tumians,

R aro tonga Is land ers ,

Hawaiians ,

Marquesas I s landers ,

Abgarris , Marqueen and

land ers ,

Easter Islanders .

T-ukOpia Islanders ,Paumo tu Islanders .


posed of the poor, the armidwon or kajur. They are forbidden

to take more than one wife . The next class is that o f the

lead agedag, who own property, have in most instances three

wives,and are provided with food by the kajur Kubary says :“The common people are called armii kajur and form the

greater part o f the subjects . They have no property, except

the land allotted to them by the chief, who can take it from

them at his pleasure. Every week they have , each o f them, to

pro vide the chief with prepared food , the quantity and qualityo f which are determined” . These people, according to Kubary ,form the lowest class Hager quite agrees with Kubary , towhom b e frequently refers Sentft states that sale or pawningOf men is unknown . Captives, domestic slaves , debt- Slaves etc .

are not found . The lowest class are the armidj kajur or com

mon people, who own no property. Hence we might infer thatslavery does not exis t. But in ano ther place the same writerremarks that only the upper classes (kings, relations o f kingsand Chiefs Of districts) are free

,the rest o f the population

being unfree and presenting all the characteristics o f slaves .

The armidj has no rights,everything he acquires is the property

of his chief. The chief has o ver him the right of life and

death . Y et we d o not think the writer means to say that these

people of very low standing are really Slaves , i. e. the individual

property o f the chiefs . They are not bought and so ld , as isgenera lly the case with slaves . The armidj d o no t become suchthrough captivity in war or indebtedness , the common mannersin which people are made slaves . So some of the ordinaryfeatures o f slavery arewanting . This already renders the existenceof slavery doubtful. But we think the fo l lowing passage inSenfft

’

s description clearly shows that the armidj are no t Slaves :“The armidj cannot leave the tribe without the consent o f

his chief, but as most often he belongs by birth to severalchiefs , he can go over from the tribe Of one o f his chiefs tothat o f ano ther, i. c ., he can place himself under the immediate contro l o f the other chief by rendering him services

,

especially by tilling his land . He commonly does so , when he

is badly treated .

” From this it appears that the armidj is no t

1 ) Hernsheim, p . 80. 2 ) Ka bat y , Die Ebongruppe, pp . 36, 37. 3) Hager, p. 96.

104 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY .

the individual property of his Chief ; else he would no t be

able to change his condition so easily. We think his relationto the chief is rather that of a subject to a petty despotThis conclusion is strengthened by what we learn “from otherrecent descriptions . Kramer makes no mention o f slaves. The

lowest class, according to him, are the kadjur or common

people In a report regarding the isle o f Jaluit it is equallystated that the lowest class are the armidj kadjur or commonpeople, who own no land . They have to work for the landownersand to provide them with food. This is more suggestive o f tenancythan of Slavery. It is true that the writer cal ls them unfree ;but then

,

he says ,' that their becoming free was synonymous

with their rising to the rank o f a chief,so it seems that by“

unfree” he means people whose condition is below that of theChiefs and nobles Taking all this into consideration

,we think

we may safely infer that there are‘

n o slaves in the Marshall group .

Though the isle o f Nauru is often regarded as belonging tothe Marshal l group , its Situation is rather isolated and the Socialorganisation of the population is different from

”

that on the

o ther islands o f the group , so we think we must treat it separately . Kramer remarks that there are three classes : chiefs ,middle class and slaves . The chiefs have unlimited power overthe Slaves

,who are no t allowed to marry without their consent.

A murderer in most cases has to yield his land to the parentsOf his victim

,but when there are attenuating circumstances ,

he is al lowed to give slaves as a compensation Jung givesmore details. He speaks o f serfs or Slaves , but what he tellsabout them is not Very suggestive of slavery . The serfs , unlike

the o ther classes , own no land . A native who is suppo sed tohave killed another by means of sorcery becomes the serf o f

the parents o f his victim and his property is taken away . Manyfamilies stand in the relation Of serfs to the chiefs and o ther

people of rank . The power of the lords over these slaves issaid formerly to have been very great. The origin of serfdomwas this . In their wars , families belonging to the conqueredparty were driven from their lands and had to seek their sub

1 ) Sentft, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhaltnisse, pp. 431 , 442 , 439, 441 , 443. 2) Kramer,Hawaii etc.

,p. 430. 3) Kohler, Das Recht derMarschallinsulaner, Z . V. R. XIV pp .427,

428, 431 . 4) Kramer, Hawaii etc., pp . 450, 451 .


such captives as may accidental ly b e taken are killed,which

s tatement is not very suggestive o f Slavery Graffe, compil

ing Tetens and Kubary’

s notes on the inhabitants of Y ap, speakso f Slaves :“The population is composed of three classes , chiefs ,freemen , and slaves or p omilingais . The latter live togetherin separate villages and are obliged daily to provide the freemenwith agricultural products , and whenever the Chiefs require itto aid in constructing houses and canoes . Everything the slaves

possess , even their wives and daughters , may at any time b e

required by the freemen and used at their pleasure. As we

have already hinted,the slaves are no t al lowed to wear the

head- ornaments that the freemen are in the habit o f wearing,not even the combs worn in the hair ; and when waiting uponthe chiefs

,they must approach them in a creepIng, bowing

attitude . One wo uld , however, fail in supposmg, that all labouris exclusively incumbent on the Slave-class . They are onlybound to definite taxes , Viz. to a tribute o f food

, and of matsand o ther materials for housebuildi ng ; and their slave-stateconsists rather in a low and dependent condition than in beingtaxed with labour” From this last sentence we should infer ,that these people are not slaves , but only a despised lowestClass . A slave always has an individual master, whereas thesepeople are subjected to the higher classes en bloc . Kramer, in

his short description o f the isle of Yap , equally Speaks of slaves

(milingai) . They live In separate villages.

“Their Villages,how

ever,differ l ittle from those o f the free inhab itants a o f Yap ,

and yet the milingai are a kind o f Slaves or at least derive

their origin from Slaves .

” Their social position is lower thanthat of the other natives . This description, in which no men

tion is made o f the milinga i serving Individual masters , is little

suggestive o f slavery According to Vo lkens , there are two

classes , the pilun ,who are free and the p imlingai, who are

slaves .

“There are no domestic slaves, the dwellings of the free

people and those o f the slaves being strictly separated . Generallyspeaking

,to each p ilun country belong one or more pimlingai

countries ; the fo rmer are on the coast , the latter in the less

1 ) Kubary , quoted by Schmeltz and Krause, p . 373. 2 ) Graffe, p. 94. 3) Kramer ,Stud ienreise

,p. 1 79.


fertile interior”

.

“The slaves d o no t pay any tribute , but are

obliged to perform in the pilun country without payment publicand private works , such as thatching roo fs , building roads anddams

,etc .

” From this account also we may infer that the

so -called slaves , who work for the governing distric ts , not forindividual masters , are no t really slaves . Slavery therefo re seems

to be unknown in the Caro line Islands .In Gerland

’

s detailed account of government and social classesamong the ancient inhabitants Of the Marianne Islands no

mention is made o f slavery ; and as this author uses this wordin a too wide rather than in a too restricted sense

,we may

safely suppose that there were no slavesKubary tells us, that

“among the Pelau Islanders there can

b e no question o f a division of the people into ranks or Classes ,o f a nobility in our. sense of the word” In another placehe states that a Chief’s wants are generally provided for bythe work o f dependent relatives

,who are a kind o f adopted

children. If their work does no t suit them,they leave their

employer Semper speaks of a class of bondmen (Hdrigen) ;but in ano ther place he states that they work for wages ; sothey are neither slaves nor serfs , but a despised working classWe may safely conclude that slavery does not exist hereIn the Kingsmill o r Gilbert Islands , according to Wilkes ,

there are three classes : chief (nea) , landho lders (ka toka) , andslaves (kawa) .

“The ka tokas are persons who possess land , butare not of noble birth ; many o f these were originally slaves

,

who have obtained land by acts o f bravery, o r through thefavour o f their chiefs. The kawas are those who possess no

land , and no one from whom they can claim support”

.

“Theyhave no term to designate a poor man

,except that o f slave .

Anyone who owns land can always cal l upon o thers to providehim with a house, canoe , and the necessar ies Of life : but one

who has none is considered as a slave,and can ho ld no property

1 ) Volkens , Ueber d ie Karolinen-Insel Y ap . 2 ) Waitz~Gerland , V ,2 pp . 1 1 2—1 14.

3) Kub ary , Soc . Einr. d er Pelauer, p . 72 . 4) Kabary , Die Palau Inseln. p . 232 .

5) Semper. Die Pelau-Inseln,pp. 36, 79. 6) This is also pro ved ( if any further p roof

were need ed ) by Kubary’s detailed d escription of fishing and agricul ture : the former is

carried on by the men,the latter b y the women ; nowhere is any mention mad e of slaves .

Kabary , Industrie d er Pelau-Ins ulaner. pp. 1 23 sqq.,1 56 sqq .


whatever” It is evident that these kawas,as described

by Wilkes , are not Slaves , but a subjected and despised classo f people destitute of land . Meinicke enumerates the fo llowingclasses : chiefs (in Tarawa : nea or oama ta

,in Makin : joma ta) ,

free landholders (in Tarawa : ka toka , in Makin : tioma ta ) , and

the common people (in Tarawa : kawa , in Makin : rang) ; andhe adds :“There are also slaves , who originally were captives ,and who se children have remained such” So the kawa , calledslaves by Wilkes

,are called freemen by Meinicke

,according

to whom there is a class o f slaves stil l below thems Behm asserts

that on Makin there are slaves besides the three other classesThe best description is given by Parkinson. According to him thereare kings (these only on some islands) ; further great landho lders ;then the class o f small landho lders . Then there are two sub

jected classes. One is the class of the te torre, who live as

vassals on the lands of the great landho lders ; they get a small

piece of land for their own use ; they must provide their lordwith men when in war, and bring him the number o f co coanutshe desires

,and what he needs for his househo ld . The lowest

class are the te bei or kaungo . They have no property , no landto live upon ; they live with the great landho lders by whomthey are maintained ; they on their part must work for . theirlord , i. e. fish , prepare food , etc . The lord

,by giving them a

piece of land , can raise them‘

to'

the class Of the is torre. Thesetwo classes have no voice in government matters ; they fo llowtheir lord without grumbling ; his will is their will ; an Offenceagainst the lord is regarded by them as a personal o ffence ,and avenged as such . Generally no one marries outside hisclass . In ordinary life there is no difference between master

and vassal ; they o ften sleep on the same mat ; they drink , dance

and play together ; they wear the same kind of dress . Whena poor man dies , a wealthy inhabitant of the village generallyprovides fo r his family ; but they must labour for him and

are, so to speak, his slaves We have to examine now

,

whether these two lowest classes are slave-classes . We may

remark,first

,that , whereas mo st ethnographers make a large

use of the word“slave” , Parkinson does no t use it, except in

1 ) Wilkes, pp . 88, 95. 2) H einicke, Die Inseln des stillen Oceans , II p . 340.

3) Waitz-Gerland,V,2 p . 1 24. 4) Parkinson , Gilbertinsulaner, pp. 98, 99, 39.

1 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

8. Ma lay Archipelago .

I. M a l a y P e n i n s u l a.

The savage tribes o f the Malay Peninsula are divided intothe Semang, the Sakai and the Jakun .

Among the Sakai , according to De Morgan“the debtor and

his family work for the creditor during one or two moons ,

according to the decision of the panghulu (village Thiscertainly is a commencement o f debt-slavery ; but such compulsory labour, limited beforehand to one or two months

,is not

yet slavery in the true sense.

Skeat and Blagden state that , among the Benua-Jakun,crimes

of all kinds might b e expatiated by the payment of fines .

If the o ffender failed to pay the fine , he became the slave o f

his victim. No more details being added , the existence o f

Slavery does not seem to us to b e quite certain.

As neither in Skeat and Blagden’

s exhaustive work, nor In

the o ther books and articles we have consulted , any furthermention is made o f slaves , we are justified in concluding thatthese tribes , with the exception perhaps of a division o f the

Jakun ,d o no t practise slavery

II . S um a t r a a n d n e i g h b o u r i n g i s l a n d s .

Brenner and Junghuhn speak o f the Battas of Sumatra in

general as keeping slaves

The existence or former existence o f Slavery is sufficiently

proved with regard to the fo llowing divisions of the BattasBattas on the Pane and Bila rivers

of Mandhelingo f Pertibie

1 ) De Morgan,Exploration, d ivisions : Linguistique (see especially p . and : Ethno

graphic ; Skeat and Blagden,I p. 515 ; Vaughan Stevens ; Montano ; Borie ; Favre ; New

b old ; Hervey . 2) Brenner , pp . 341 , 342 ; Junghuhn , II pp. 1 50—1 52.- 3) Neumann

T. A. G. 2nd series , part IV. pp. 26—41 . 4) Heijting, pp . 246—249; pp.55 , 56 ; Willer, pp . 43—47; see also Meerwald t, p . 541 . 5) Willer, l . c.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY. 1 1 1

Among the Battas of Silindung slavery has never existed ,according to Meerwald t Whether he means only slaveryin the restricted sense , or also pawning , is not clear.

The Toba Battas,according to Meerwald t, formerly had

Slaves ; b ut now Slavery is dying out under Dutch influence.

Van Dijk , who visited the Hab insaran district in the Tobalands

,states that in some parts Of the district there were slaves ,

in others there were no t. Whether the latter fact is to b eaccounted for by Dutch influence

,does not appear from his

very short no tesOn the Lubus we have found only two short articles , in

which slavery is not mentioned ; but this does not prove verymuchNone of the describers o f the Kubus make any mention o f

slaves ; so we may suppose , that slavery does not exist amongthemDe Groot gives a detailed account of

‘

slavery and pawningin the Lampong districtsIn Nias slavery certainly existsThe Mentawei Islanders very probably have no slaves . None

o f their describers make any mention o f slavery “Theirwho le warfare consists o f treacherous attacks

,in which nobody ’

s

life is spared”

1 ) Westenberg, Verslag, p . 76 ; Westenberg

,Nota

,pp . 1 13, 1 14. 2) Van n , S i

Baloengoen , p . 1 58 ; Westenberg,Nota

,p. 107 Med ed eelingen , etc., pp . 580, 585. 3)

Meerwald t,p . 541 . 4) Krossen ,

Bataklanden,pp . 259

,260. 5) Y pes, pp. 496—499,

542—545 . 6) Mededeelingen etc .,pp . 567, 573, 575 . 7) Meerwald t , p . 541 . 8) Meer

wald t,l . c.; Van Dijk , Nota, pp . 483, 491 ; see also Muller

,Batak-Sammlung

,p . 14.

9) Van Ophuijsen ; Van DIjk, Loehoe. 10) See Mohnicke ; Boers ; Forbes, Kubus ,and especially Dr. Hagen, who makes u se of an extensive literature. 1 1 ) De

Groot. 1 2) Mod igliani, Nias , pp. 520—536 ; Rosenberg , Mal . Arch.,pp . 157—1 63.

13) Rosenberg, Mal. Arch .; Rosenberg , Mentawei-eilanden ; Mess ; Maass ; Severfin, Poggieilanden. 14) Rosenberg, Mal . Arch .

,p. 1 93.

Karo BattasRaja Batta sBattas of Angko la

of Simelungun

of Singkel and Pak-pako f the country of Panei

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY .

On the Anambas, Natuna and Tambelan Islands , belongingto the Lingga-Riouw group, there are debtor-slavesMost o f the writers on Enggano make no mention o f slavery

According to Wal land , the Engganese wear ornaments in theirear-laps , which are pierced for that purpose. If anybody’s earlap is broken , he incurs great disgrace ; he is no longer listenedto in any deliberation, nor considered a no table in his t ribe,and becomes the Slave o f his relatives

,for whom he is obliged

to work. And Rosenberg says : “If a criminal does not paythe fine , this is done by his kindred ; but if t hey are unableto pay , they sell him as a slave. So slavery exists ; but it iso f a very mild kind

,and the number of slaves is very small”

The fact that both authors speak o f Slavery only in connectionwith these part icular cases , whereas the o thers d o not sp eako f it at all

,makes us doubt , whether what Walland and Ro

seuberg call slavery is slavery in the true sense. So we cannotcome to a clear conclusion.

III. B o r n e o .

Among the Hill or Land-Dyaks (Orang Gunong) slavery inthe restricted sense and slave-trade did no t exist, ,

but, says Low:“the system o f s lave-debtors is carried on, though to a verysmall extent Later on this kind o f Slavery also disappearedThe Dyaks on the Barito have Slaves and pawnsThe Sea-Dyaks also keep Slaves

,b ut not many

S lavery equally exists among theDyaks on Rejang riverBiadju-DyaksOt-danoms

Olo -ngadju

1 ) Krossen, Anambas, p . 244. 2 ) Mod igliani, Engano ; Oud emans ; SeverIj n , Engano ;

Rosenberg,Engano ;“Verslag eener reis". 3) Walland

,p . 301 ; Rosenberg , Mal. Arch .,

p . 216. 4) Low,pp . 301

,302. 5 ) Schwaner, I pp . 1 67, 1 68. 6 ) Low, pp . 200, 201 ;

Spencer S t. John,I p . 83 ; Brooke Low, in Ling Roth , Sarawak , II p . 2 10. 7) Brooke

Low,1. c ., pp. 2 10—213. 8) Perelaer, pp. 1 52—1 60. 9) Schwaner, I pp . 80, 195 ;

Grabowsky,p. 1 99. 10) Grab owsky, 1. c.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

in Buool

among the Toradja o f Central Celebesamong the Tomori (East-Central Celebes)in the district o f Sandjaiin Bangkalaamong the Kailirese o f D onggala or Banawain Saleyer , an island near the South Coast of Celebes

V. L i t t l e S u n d a I s l a n d s and M o l u c c a s.

Slavery on t hese,

islands seems almo st universal . About thefollowing islands and groups o f islands we have been able toobtain some information :

SumbawaSumbaFloresSo lor groupBonerate and KalaoEast Timor

West TimorSavuRo te or Ro ttiWetarKeisarLetiDama

1 ) Riedel , Boeool , pp. 1 97, 204. 2) Kru ij t, N. Z. G.XXXIX pp. 1 21—123, 1 26—1 28 ;XL pp . 141 , 142 ; Adriani, pp . 240, 241 . See also the description given by R ied cl, who

calls them TOpantunuazu ; Riedel , TOpantunuazu, pp . 82—84, 90. 3) Kruijt, Toboengkoe en Tomori, pp . 233, sqq. 4) Dakkers, Sandjai, p . 287. 5) van Hasselt, Bangkala

,p . 367. 6) Het land schap Donggala, pp . 520, 521 . 7) Donselaar, Saleiier,

pp. 296—299. 8) Ligtvoet, p. 570. 9) de Ro o, pp . 582—585 ; see also Bieger, p. 1 5310. Von Martens , p . 1 17 (on the whole isl and ) ; Ten Kate Timorgroep, p. 212 (on

Sika) ; and especially R 003, pp. 488—491 (on Endeh) . 1 1 ) Ten Kate, Timorgroep, p . 242 .

- 1 2) Bakkers, Bonerate, pp. 248—250 ; Vink , pp . 1 3) De Castro , pp.484,485 ;Forbes

,Timor

,p. 417. Zondervan mostly relies on De Castro. 14) Ten Kate, 1. c., p . 343.

1 5) Donselaar , Savoe, pp . 295. 296. 1 6) Graafiand , Rote, pp. 364, 365. 17) Riedel,Rassen

,pp . 434sqq. 18) I bid ., p. 406. 19) Ibid .,

p. 384; Van Hoevell, Leti, p . 21 2.20) Riedel

,Rassen

,p. 463.

GEOGRAPHI CAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY. 1 15

Luang-Sermata groupBabar groupTenimb er and Timorlao IslandsAru IslandsKei IslandsWatubela IslandsSeranglao

-Gorong groupSerangAmbon and the UliaseSangi and Talauer Islands

In all these cases it is clear, that slavery either formerlyexisted on still exists .

Slaves are also employed by the Galela and Tob elorese on

Halmaheira l l ) , and by the inhabitants of the district of Kauon the same islandRiedel states

,that on Buru there were formerly slaves , and

gives some detail s about Slavery as it was carried on here.

Wilken however says that there are neither slaves nor pawnsWhether the latter means to say , that Slavery did not existat the time at which he was writing or that it hadnever existed , is not clear. Van d er Miesen,

wri ting in 1902 ,states that , if a man is unable to pay his debt, he is obligedto serve his creditor till his parents haveco llected the requiredsum No further mention Of Slavery or pawning is made inhis detailed description . SO we are left in d oub t as to the formerexistence of slavery here.

VI . P h i l i p p i n e s .

The Tagals and Visay as,at the time of the conquista, already

practised slavery on a large scale

1 ) Ibid. , p . 320. 2) I b id ., p . 346. 3) Ib id ., p . 293 ; Van Hoevell , Tanimbar , p . 174

Forbes , Timorlaut , pp. 1 5 , 18. 4) Riedel , l. c.,p. 251 ; Rosenberg, Mal. Arch.,

pp. 338 ,344. 5) Ried el , l .o., pp. 226, 228, 231 ; Van Hoevell , Kei Pleijte, p. 567.

6) R iedel , l. c.,p. 1 94. 7) Ib id .,

p . 154. 8) Ib id .,pp. 101—103 ; Boot, p. 1 171 .

9) Ried el, l . o., p. 49 ; Van Ho

'

évell, Ambon, p . 47. 10) Hickson , p . 141 ; see also

pp. 137,139, 142 ; van Dinter. 1 1 ) Riedel , Galela, pp . 64—66. 1 2) Campen, p . 285 .

13) Ried el, Rass en , pp . 18, 19 ; Wilken , Boeroe, p . 3. 14) Van der Miesen, p. 449.1 5) Blumentritt, Conquista, pp. 53—59 ; Blumentritt, Tegelen, pp . 1 2—17.


Slavery certainly exists among the Bagobo s ManobosMaguindanaos and inhabitants of the Sulu islands and Sa

malesAmong the Subanos Slaves are sacrificed at funerals But

whether these so- called slaves are really Slaves, or persons

captured or purchased for sacrificing purposes only , does not

appear .

The Kiangans sell their debtors as Slaves ; whether withinthe tribe or abroad we are not to ldIn Blumentritt

’

s rather Short article on the Bungians no

mention is made o f SlavesFrom Venturillo

’

s and Miller’s d escriptions it appears thatslavery is unknown among the Bataks of PalawanJenks

,in his minute account of the Bonto c Igoro t of Northern

Lu zon , gives a ful l description o f the division o f labour amongthem. The poor serve the rich for wages . Slaves are not men

tioned . Under the heading o f“conquest” he remarks :“CertainIgoro t, as tho se o f Asin

,make forcible conquests on their

neighbours and carry away persons for slavery. But Bontochas no such conquests” . S chadenberg, too , does not speak of

slaves among the Bonto c people Hence we may safely inferthat the Bonto c Igorot d o not keep slaves.About the o ther divisions o f the Igoro t we are not so wel l

informed . From Jenks’s above-quoted incidental remark it wouldappear that some o f them practise slavery. But as in the other

sources 10) we d o not find anything strengthening this presumption ,

we canno t arrive at a po sitive conclusion.

Reed , describing the Negritos of Zambales (along the westerncoast of Luzon) , says :

“Notwithstanding the statements of

Montano that the Negritos have no slaves and know nothing

of slavery, the reverse is true , in Zambales at least ; so say

the Negrito s and also the Filipinos who have spent several years

among them. The word “a-li-pun” is used among them to

1 ) Schadenberg, Sad -Mindanao , pp. 9, 1 2 , 28 ; Blumentritt , Mindanao , p . 281 .— 2) Blu

mentritt,Ethnographic

,p. 49 ; Blumentritt, Mindanao , pp. 293, 294. 3) B lumentritt ,

Ethnographic, pp. 53, 54; Blumentritt, Maguindanaos, p. 891 ; Jansen, pp. 219, 224, 225.

4) Schadenberg, S iid -Mindanao , p . 47. 5) Blumentritt, Mindanao , p . 297. 6) Blu

mentritt,Kianganen, p . 132. 7) Blumentritt, Bungianen.

—8) Venturillo , sec especiallyp . 142 ; Miller. 9) Jenks, pp. 136—138; Schad enberg, Nord-Luzon. 10) Blumentr itt,Ethnographic ; Me

'

gcr, Igorrotcn ; Jagor, Philippines.

1 18 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION or SLAVERY.

Result. Positive cases :

Toradja ,Tomori,inhabitants of Sandjai,

Bangka la ,

Kailirese,

inhabitants of Sa leyer,Sumbawa ,S amba ,

Battas on the Pane and Bila rivers ,of Mandheling,of Pertibie,

Karoi Battas,

R aja Ba ttas ,Ba ttas of Angko la ,

of S imelungan,

of S ingkel and Pale-pale,of the country of Panei,

Toba Battas ,

Lamp ongs ,

inhabitants of Nias ,Anambas

,etc.,

H ill-Dyaks ,

Dyaks on the Barito,

S ea-Dyaks ,

Dyaks on R ejang river ,

Biadju-Dyaks ,Ot-d anoms ,Olo-ngadju,Dyaks of Tompassuk,Kayans on the Mend a lam,

on the Upper Mahakam,

Muruts ,Dyaks of Sambas ,Kindjin-Dyaks ,

Dyaks of Pasir ,inhabitants of the Minahassa ,

Bo laang,

Ho lonta lo ,

Buoo l,

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY. 1 19

inhabitants of Flores ,the So lar group ,

Bonera te and Ka lao,Eas t Timor

,

West Timor ,Savu ,

R ate,

Wetar,

Keisar,Leti

,

the Luang-Sermata

group ,

the Babar group ,

the Tenimber and Ti

mor lao I s lands ,the Am I s lands ,the Kei I s lands

,

the Wa tubela I s lands ,

the S eranglaO-Gorong

group ,

Serang,

Ambon and the Ulias e,

the Sangi and Ta

lauer

Ga lela and Tobelorese,

of Kan,

Taga ls and Visayas ,

Bagobos ,

Manobos ,

Maguind anaos ,

inhabitants Of Su la ,

H ovas,

Jakun,

Dyaks o f MatanSimpang,

1 20 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTI ON OF SLAVERY.

Antankarana.

Negative cases : Semang,Sakai,

Kubus,

Mentawei I sland ers,

Dusuns ,Bambay and S ebruang Dyaks ,Ba taks of Pa lawan ,

Bontoc Igoro t,

Battas o f Silindung,Lubus.

No conclusion : Enganese ,inhabitants o f Buru,

Kiangans ,Bungians,

Igoro t (except the Bontoc Igorot) ,Betsileo ,Betsimisaraka,Bara

,

Tankay ,SihanakaTanala.

We shall add here a few no tes on some Malay peoples, thathave attained to a too high degree o f civilization to b e quotedhere as instances of savages having or not having

,slaves. The

purpose o f this addition is only to complete this survey o f the

Archipelago,and to Show what literature exists on these peoples .

In Java Slavery has not prevailed for centuries .

“In Mohammedan law a large place is taken up with regulations of sla

very,o f the rights o f masters and Slaves , and o f the manner

in which the latter can acquire their freedom. The peculiarstate o f the aboriginal Javanese society prevented the application

o f nearly all precepts relating to this matter. Before the intro

duction o f Islam slavery proper seems to have been unknown ;the universal subjection o f the mass o f the people

,as Sudras ,

to the members o f the higher castes , had made slavery superfluous. Nor has Islam introduced slavery into Java ; for althoughin latex: times Javanese chiefs in a few cases kept slaves, this


has also some notes on Lombok . According to him , Sasaks andBalinese of the Sudra-caste frequently become slaves of the

rich , as a punishment or in payment o f debtsVan Hasselt gives a detailed account o f Slavery among the

Malays o f Menangkabao . In 1876 the Slaves and pawns on the

West Coast o f Sumatra were emancipated by'

the Dutch government . But in the territories which are not under Dutch con

tro l slavery in van Hasselt’s time was still carried . on to a

great extent. In the little independent states a chief’s powerd epended upon the number of his Slaves

,who tilled his lands

and strengthened his force in warfare. The slaves in the

restricted Sense were purchased and captured persons and theiro ffspring. Besides these there were pawns Severa l furtherparticulars are given in Van Hasselt ’s valuable b ook .Willinck ,in his recent work on the laws o f the Malays ofMenangkab ao ,d escribes their slave system in detailsIn many o ther Malay districts of Sumatra slavery exists or

formerly existedParticular mention has to b e made of Atjeh , where slavery

prevails to a great extent Slaves are equally kept by theGajos , whose country borders on AtjehMatthes gives some details on slavery among the Makassars

and Bugis o f South CelebesIn Tidore Slavery formerly existed

,many slaves being pro

cured from New Guinea It has , however, been abo lished bythe Dutch government

1 ) Van Eck , p. 356. 2) Van Hasselt, Volksbeschnj ving van Midden-Sumatra, pp. 190.191 . 3) Willinck , pp . 130—144. Among the Rejangs : Marsden , pp. 252 , 255 ; inSemindo : Pauw ten Kate. pp. 537—542 , Gramberg, pp. 458, 459 ; in Blalauw: Gramberg,pp. 471

,472 ; in Palembang : Gersen, pp . 1 36, 137; Singkel : Rosenberg, Singkel , p . 413,

Rosenberg, Mal. Arch ,p. 45 ; Pangkallan : Holle, pp. 382, 383 ; Labuan-Batu : Neumann,

Lab oean-Batoe, pp. 478, 479, Korte beschmving van het land schap Bilu, p . 553 ; Kerintj i,S erampas and Sungai Tenang : Klerk s , p . 89 ; Upper Asahan : Van den Bor, p . 410 ; Batubarah : d e Scheemaker, pp. 471—473 ; Siak : Nieuwenhuijzen , pp. 41 2—414; the Rokan.states : Quest, pp. 41 6—41 8. In Glugur“serfd om does not exist ; all men have the same

human rights"(Van Delden, p. Whether this is the original state of things, or dueto Dutch interference

,d oes not appear. 5) Snouch Hurgronje, DeAtjehers, I pp . 2 1—25 .

Concerning the West Coast of Atjeh , see also van Langen , pp. 478, 479. 6) Snouck

Hurgronje, Het Gajoland , pp. 62—64. 7) Matthes, pp. 3. 5 , 136. 137, etc. On the Bugiso f Tanette and Barm ,

see also Dakkers, Tanette, p.' 257, and on those of Bon i : Dakkers ,

Boni,pp . 60, 98, 153. 8) Rob idé , pp. 53, 2 18, 221 , etc. 9) De Clercq , Ternate, p. 74.


Among the Moros o f Mindanao“slavery is such an establishedcustom and institution o f the land that it is generally sanctioned

and supported in the Luwaran [laws]”

9. Ind o-Chinese Peninsu la .

Some tribes o f this group undoubtedly have slaves . These

are the Kakhyens the Shans o f Zimme the Lawas and

the Hill- tribes of North Aracan one o f these hil l-tribes beingthe Khyoungtha o f ChittagongThe Lethtas have no slavesThe Steins , according to Colquhoun , sometimes seize a slave

in order to sacrifice him No more particulars being given ,

we canno t make out whether the wo rd slave is used here in

its true sense,or means a captive taken to be sacrificed .

Mason remarks on the Karens : “In war they kill withoutregard to age o r sex . The head o f the war keeps the cap

tives a considerable time,when , if none of their friends come

to red eem them, he sells them o ff to other districts for oxen or

buffaloes if practicable, that he may have an ox or a buffaloto give to each village that came to his aid

”SO the Karens

seem to prefer oxen and buffaloes to captives. There are , however,many debtor-slaves among the Karen-Nees They are alsonoted for their kidnapping propensities ; but it seems that thekidnapped are only intended for sale abroad At any ratethere are debtor-slaves

,and so Slavery exists.

Wehrli , in his study on the Chingpaws (Sing-Phos or Kachins)Of Upper Burma

,gives many details

,which sufficiently prove

that slavery exists,or till recently existed among them

We may add here the inhabitants Of the Andaman and NicobarIslands in the Bay of Bengal .Although Man does no t explicitly state that the Andamanese

have no slaves,his elaborate account of their so cial life suffi

1 ) Saleeby, p . 65. 2) Colquhoun, p . 189 ; Harper Parker, pp . 88. 100. 3) Colquhoun,

pp. 189, 258. 4) St. John, Aracan, pp. 240—242. 5) Lewin, p . 85 . 6) Colquhoun ,p . 77. 7) Ib id .

, p . 1 55. 8) Mason, p. 1 59. 9) Colquhoun , p . 69. 10) Ib id .,pp.

40, 69, 70. 1 1 ) Wehr li, pp. 36 , 37; see also Dalton , p. 10 ; Rowney, p . 167.


ciently proves that they are unacquainted with slavery. Socialstatus is dependent on relationship, on skill in hunting

,fishing

etc .,and on a reputation for generosity and hospitality. A

child captured in war“would meet with kindly treatment

,in

the hope o f his or her being induced ultimately to become a

member of the captor’s tribe” 1)Of the Nicobarese Svoboda says : “All writers agree that

nowhere , in these islands is there subordination, all inhabitantsbeing o f the same rank . Only o lder and more experiencedpeople have somewhat more influence than the rest” Hencewe may infer that slavery do es not exist .

R esu lt. Positive cases : Kakhyens ,

North Aracan ,

Negative cases

10. Ind ia , Afghanistan,H ima laya .

Several authors state that the Meshmees have slavesThe Hil l- tribes near Rajamahall have no slavesDalton gives several p articulars about Slavery among the

Garos . El iot also affirms that they have SlavesThe Kookies , according to Macrae ,

“at times . make cap

tives o f the children,and o ften adopt them into their families ,

when they have none of their own ; and the only slaves amongthem are the captives thus taken

” What our informant meansis not qui te clear. The children who have been adopted cer

tainly are not slaves. Perhaps a part only o f the'

captured

1 ) Man,pp. 109, 356. 2) Svoboda, p. 191 . 3) COOper, p. 238 ; Dalton, p . 15 ;

Spencer,Descr. Soc., V p . 1 5. 4) Shaw,

p . 89. 5) Dalton, p . 58 ; Eliot, p . 28.

6) Macrae, p . 188.

Lawas,

Hill- tribes OfKarens ,

Chingpaws ,Steins .

Lethias ,

And amanese,

Nicobarese.


into the general population . In another passage these PossiaPoes are called serfs :“These serfs are wel l treated , and in noimmediate danger ; but there is always a remote probabilityof their sacrifice” As it is stated that these Po ssie Poesare absorbed into the general population

,we may safely con

clude that they are not slaves .The Lushais , according to Dalton , enslave women and

childrenOf the Manipuris Dalton says that “slavery is an institution

amongst them”

,and he gives some details besides. So we need

no t doubt its existence , though Watt makes no mention of itAmong the Jyntias and Kasia s the Rajah has slaves Whether

there are any other slaves does not appear.“There is no such thing as slavery among the Oraonsaccording to DaltonThe Korwas also very probably have no slaves. In their raids

they kill all they meetThe Kafirs have slaves , according to several writersAmong the Padam Ab ors slavery undoubtedly existsDalton says Of the DOphlas :

“They have normally the same

Mongo lian type o f physiognomy , but from their intercoursewith the people of the plains and the number o f Asamese

slaves , which they have by fair means or foul acquired , it ismuch modified and softened” Nothing more is added aboutslavery. Perhaps these “slaves” are simply captured women,no other Slaves being ever taken. Whether slavery really existsis not clear.

The Nagas keep slaves,if we are to believe Grange who“

saw many Muneeporees who had been thus seized whilst young,and sold both amongst Kookies , Cacharees and Nagas” .

“TheChildren of slaves are slaves .

” Miss Godden remarks :“Slaverywas unknown among one ormore tribes [of the Nagas] according

1 ) Campbell , pp. 53, 79. 2) Dalton, p. 1 14. 3) Dalton, p . 51 ; Watt — 4) Dalton,p. 57. 5) I bid .

,p. 254. 6) Ib id ., p . 230. 7) Ujfalvy , Aryens, pp. 352 , 359 ; Robert

son,pp . 78, 79 ; Rousselet, p . 223. 8) Dalton, p . 24. Letourneau (p. 305) is in doub t

whether slavery really exists here, first b ecause the Padam Ab ors are organized in repub lican and even communistic clans , in which slavery is hardly possib lebecause the young slaves live together with the young freemen in communal long-houses.This last remark proves that Letourneau is not very familiar with the character of pri

mitive slavery. 9) Dalton. p . 36.


to Dr.Brown.

” “Among the AOS [one of the Naga tribes] it is

said to have been universal”

Among the Bodo and Dhimals“there are neither servants

nor slaves , nor al iens o f any kind”

The Veddahs o f Ceylon, according to Sarasin, are unacquainted

with Slavery

R esult. Positive cases : Meshmees,

Garos ,

Lushais ,

Manipuris ,

Pad am Abors ,

Kookies ,Jyntias and Rasias ,DOphlas .

Negative cases H ill- tribes near R ajamaha ll,Todas ,

Santa ls ,

Khonds,

Oraons ,

Korwas ,Bodo and Dhima ls ,Veddahs .

1 1 . Central Asia .

The Kazak Kirghiz, according to Pallas ,

“much preferred thesecuring of a slave to the killing o f a man . They did not treattheir slaves cruel ly

,as long as the latter behaved well”. But

the information we get from other sources shows that theywere not a slave-keeping people. Boutakoff says no thing aboutslavery. According to Ujfalvy the poor serve the rich ; he callsthis a real serfdom. But he adds that , if the poor d o not wishto serve, they must borrow from the rich at 100 per cent.

1 ) Grange, as quoted by Spencer, 1. c.,pp. 7, 1 1 ; God den in J. A. I. XXV p. 184.

2) Hodgson , as quoted by Spencer, 1. c ., p . 7. 3) Sarasin, p . 488.


interest. So these poor are compelled to serve by hunger,not

by any social rule. Chambers says :“They have wel l earnedfor themselves the title o f the“Sl'avehunters o f the Steppes

”

by seizing upon caravans , appropriating the goods , and sellingtheir captives at the great slave-markets at Khiva

,Bokhara

, etc .

Their wealth consists o f cattle,sheep

,horses

,and camels”

This is clear : the captives are so ld abroad , and d o not serveas slaves among the Kirghiz themselves ; therefore they are notenumerated as forming part of their wealth . The best describerOf the Kazak Kirghiz that we know of, Levchine , agrees withChambers .

“S lavery is unknown among them.

” “The Turks ,the Persians

,and nearly all o ther sectaries of Mohammed keep

slaves . The Kirghiz,on the contrary, have no Slaves”

In several passages o f his book , however, he makes mentionOf slaves But this will b e understood , if we pay attentionto two o ther statements o f his.“They d o no t kill their prisoners ,but sell them to the Bokharians

,Khivians

,and

'

o ther neighb ouring nations.

” They buy many commodities from theirneighbours , and “in exchange . provide them with Slaves

captured on the Russian frontiers” So the Kirghiz in Levchine’

s

time made slaves ; they did not,however, themselves employ

them ; they were only slave-traders and not a slave-keepingpeople. Radloff, who many years after Levchine visited theKazak Kirghiz

, suppo ses that they formerly kept slaves . He

says : “The former serfs and slaves o f the sultan ,who have

been for many decades emancipated , always try stil l to nomadizein the vicinity of the sultans , and , though at present entirelyon a level with the other Kirghiz , are still called telenguts .“The denominations ku l (male slave) and hung (female slave)now mean male and female servant” But we may compare

this with,

a statement o f Levchine’

s :“We d o no t arrange in

a separate class the telengu ts or servants of the khans , nor-the

lcu ls or slaves. The former are taken from among the Kirghizand enjoy the same rights ; the latter a re looked upon as per

sonal property or commodities and are not Kirghiz . They are

1 Pallas,Reise

, I p . 338 ; Boutakoff Ujfalvy , Expéd . scient., p. 1 1 2 Chamb ers, as quotedb y Spencer, Descr. Soc.

,V p. 1 5. 2) Levchine, pp. 341 . 354. 3) I bid ., pp. 305 ,

331 , 368, 369, 399, 502. 4) Ib id .,pp . 347, 430. 5) Radloff , Aus Sib irien, I pg 526.

Finsch (West Sib irien, p . 1 50) speaks in the same way .


the culprit lost one or more of his children ; but what wasdone with these children does not appear No thing more

definite on slavery is found is his d etailed description of the

Kalmucks . In an article on the Kalmucks of the BlackIrtysch Valley we read :“Horrible is the state o f the unfor

tunate people who are reduced to slavery ; they are barteredand so ld like cattle” Here probably slaves intended for saleabroad are meant ; for such horrible treatment o f Slaves ismore common with slave-dealers than with those who employslaves. Radlo ff has nothing on slavery ; but his description o f

the Kalmucks is too short to draw any inference from So

we are left in doubt as to the existence o f slavery,though we

are inclined to think that it d oes no t exist.Much more fully than the Kalmucks proper Radloff describes

the Altaians or Altaian Mountain-Kalmucks. Slaves not beingmentioned , and it being stated in many places that themenialwork is done by servants and by the poor who are fed bythe rich it is certain that slavery does not exist. The word“slave” occurs in one place only, viz. in the mourning-songof the widow

,who complains that“now she wears a leathern

dress like base slaves ; now she eats coarse food like slaves”

If we have not here to deal with an inaccurate translation,this mourning- song might be a reminiscence of formerly existing slavery. Slavery would then have disappeared spontaneously, not through Russian influence , for the Altaians havemaintained their position in the mountain-valleys o f the Southwest Altai , least accessible to Russian co lonization. So we

may safely consider the Altaians as a savage tribe keepingno slaves.Radloff ’s notes on the Teleuts

,Tatars on the Kondoma and

Abakan Tatars are too short to draw any safe inference fromMany Central Asiatic tribes have been described by Vam

b éry. The description of each o f them fills many pages, but

the information we get about social facts is rather incomplete:Therefore, though in most of his descriptions Slavery is not

1 ) Pallas , Reise, I pp. 264, 2) Die Bewohner des schwarzen Irtyschthales,p. 67. 3) Radlofi

'

,Aus Sib irien, II pp. 327—330. 4) Radlofi

‘

,l. c .

,1 pp . 270, 286,

287, 293, 295 , 312 , 31 5. 5) I bid .,I p. 320. 6) Ibid .

,I pp. 330—343, 353—357,

374—405.


mentioned,we may not infer that it does not exist. The positive

cases have o f course more value .

The Usbegs , according to Vamb éry , till their land aided byPersian slaves No more details being given,

we may put

this down as a positive case , though not a clear one.

The Kara Kalpaks, in the beginning o f the i 8th century ,were given to slave-stealing whether for their own use or

for sale does not appear .

The Turkomans , according to Vamb éry , sell foreigners as

slaves In another book the same author tells us that intheir internal wars they made slaves ; and he speaks of theirkeeping female slaves Stein and Weil make no mention of

slavery Letourneau, referring to Burnes, remarks :“The Persiancaptives are for the Turkomans a source o f large profit ; butthe captors d o not as a rule keep them for themselves , exceptsometimes thewomen

,of whom theymake concubines orwives”

So we may safely infer that slavery does not exist here.

The Mongols have hired herdsmen who tend their camelsWhether they have any slaves does not appear,

Ujfalvy informs us that among the Tadjiks of Hissar slaverywas recently abo lished by an order from BokharaAccording to the same writer “all Galtchas are free ; for

slavery does not exist and has never existed in their inaccessible valleys”

The Kurds o f Eriwan probably have no Slaves . They keephired herdsmen. All members Of the community , rich and poor,enjoy the same rights

R esu lt. Positive cases : Usbegs ,Tadjiks o f Hissar.

Negative cases : Kazak Kirghiz ,A ltaians ,

Turkomans ,

Ga ltchas ,

Kara Kirghiz,

1 ) Vamb éry , Das Titrkenvolk , p. 356.—2) I bid .

,p . 380. 410.

—4) Vambéry ,Skizzen, p . 64. 5 ) Stein ; Weil. 6) Letourneau , p. 227. 7) Obrutschew,

I p. 37.

8) Ujfalvy , Expé d . scient., p. 84. 9) Ujfalvy , Aryens, p. 145. 10) Von S tenin,

Kurd en, p. 22 1 .


conclusion

12 . S iberia .

Pallas in the 18th century visited many Siberian tribes ; butmost o f his no tes are too short to draw any inference fromas to the existence of slavery.

Of the Ostyaks he gives a detailed account . They probablyhad no slaves ; for it is stated that the chiefs , like the common

people , had to live by their own labour But in Pallas’ timethey were already entirely under Russian contro l so it -is no tcertain that in their aboriginal state they had no slaves .

The Samoyedes were not nearly so much under Russian influence. The details given by Pallas make it nearly certain thatslavery did not exist . “Every Samoyede keeps his reindeer andtends them himself with the help of his f amily, except therichest, who hire poor men as herdsmen

”Islawin and Finsch

also make no mention o f slavery And the account o f Sa

moyede' customs given by Von Stenin, who has largely drawn

upon Russian literature, makes the non-existence o f slaveryquite certain“The Ghiliaks says D

'

eniker in a valuable article“are all

equal,and never have there been slaves among them”

Muller gives a somewhat minute description Of the Tunguz ,in which slavery is not mentioned , so it very probably doesnot existSieroshevski

,who lived more than 12 years among the Yakuts ,

concludes from their traditions , that they formerly kept slaves.“In ancient times,the Yakuts had a name for a man whom a

1 ) Pallas, Reise, III p . 51 . 2) Ibid .,pp. 25

,26. 3) I bid .

, pp. 72—74. 4) I slawin ;

Finsch, West-Sib irien. 5) Von Stenin, Samojeden, see especially p . 187.

- 6) Deniker,Les Ghiliaks, p. 309. 7) Miiller, Unter Tungusen und Jakuten.

Kalmucks,

Mongols ,Kurds of Eriwan.

TeleutsTatars on the Kondoma,Abakan Tatars

,

Kara Kalpaks .


schatka who consulted Steller’s manuscript, says :

“The end of

their wars was to take prisoners in order to make the men

work and to take the women as concubines” But he addsno details .

The Tuski or Chukchi are to b e divided into the inland Tuski,

who keep reindeer , and the Tuski of the coast , who are fishers .

Nordenskiiild remarks : “According to some Russian authorsthere are slaves , undoubtedly descendants of war- captives

, on

the inland settlements . Amongst the natives o f the coast, on

the contrary, the most perfect equality prevails”

A statement

o f Wrangell’s , referred to by Erman, gives some more parti

culars. Wrangell,having lived already some time with the

Tuski , perceived to his great amazement that there were serfs

(Leibeigenen) ; he saw some families that did menial work ;they had no property, and were no t allowed to go away fromthe rich on whom they were dependent. They received clothingand lodging from their employers

,and did the hardest work ;

for instance they ran by the side of the sledges to urge on thedogs. The Tuski said that this state of things had always

existed . Wrangell suppo ses that these serfs were the o ffspring

o f war-captives. It does not appear what this supposition isfounded upon This record is worth more than Nordenskibld ’

s

vague reference to “some Russian authors.” But it is not easy

to decide whether these subjected people are slaves. They mightsimply b e poor men dependent on the rich without being slaves ,such as are also found among the Eskimo s. But the fact

,that

the poor Tuski are obliged to stay with their employers is more

suggestive o f slavery . Georgi however states that among theTuski the poor serve the rich as herdsmen ; and Dall , Hooper,and Kennan make no mention of Slaves In the“Histo ire deKamtschatka it is stated that they made raids on the tribes

subjected to Russ1a,“killing or taking prisoners all they meet”But we are not told what was the fate o f these captives. So

we must leave this question undecided . At any rate this alleged'

slavery has been useful ; for it led to NordenskiOId’s positive

1 ) Hist. de Kamtschatka, I I p. 1 56. 2) Nordensk iold , II p. 1 24. 3) Erman, pp .379, 380. 4) Georgi as quoted by Hildebrand , Recht und S itte, p. 36 ; Dall ; Hooper ;Kennan. 5) Hist. de Kamtschatka, II p . 218.


statement that among the Tuski of the coast, whom he had

visited himself,slavery was unknown.

The Koryakes are to b e divided into nomadic Koryakes andsettled Koryakes. The former with their herds roam from one

place to another, the latter live along the rivers. The languages

o f these two divisions differ so much , that they cannotunderstand each o ther.

“The nomadic Koryakes consider them

[the settled Koryakes] as slaves,and treat them accordingly

”

says our informant. But we know that such slavery of a tribe

as a who le is not slavery in the true sense of the word . No

other mention is made of slaves. The nomadic Koryakes“b e

fore they were subjected by the Russians, had neither government nor magistrates ; only the rich exercized some authorityover the poor

” So we may infer that slavery is unknownamong both nomadic and settled Koryakes.

Melnikow,minutely describing the Buriats, makes no mention

of slaves ; but as they have been long under Russian influencewe are not certain whether slavery was not formerly an in

stitution among them.

The Ainu ,though not inhabiting S iberia, may find a place

here , as they live nearer to this than to any o ther group.

Batchelor, describing the raids which the several divisions of

the Ainu made on each other, says :“On such o ccasions the

whole of the male population were murdered during sleep ,whilst the women and children were carried off as slaves towork in the gardens, and were called usshui ne guru . The

women however were kept as concubines” Landor refersto this and some o ther remarks o f Batchelor’s and then adds :“From my own experience and I may add I am the onlyforeigner who has seen these Tokachi , or as o thers cal l them

,

Tokapchi Ainu I came to a conclusion very different fromthis . I found that not only were they not cannibals

, but that ,taken altogether, they were the most peaceab le, gentle, and

kind Ainu I came acro ss during my peregrinations through theland of the hairy people

” Hitchcock also describes the Ainuas peaceable. Speaking o f some cruel punishments in vogueamongst them, he remarks :“H. von Siebo ld has supposed from

1 ) Ib id ., pp. 82 , 223, 239. 2) Melnikow,

pp. 194, 206. 3) Batchelor, p . 288.4) Savage Land or , p. 59.


these old customs, that the Ainos were once a savage and

warlike people. They may have been so, as one might infer

from Japanese tradition, but it seems to me unsafe t o makethe assumption on the grounds suggested by von S iebo ld .

Their present character does not sustain it in any way”

Some o ther describers o f the Ainu we have consulted makeno mention at all of slaves So we cannot arrive at a d efiniteconclusion.

R esu lt. Positive case : Kamchada les .

Negative cases : Samoyed es ,Ghiliaks ,

conclusion

13. Caucasus .

Slavery undoubtedly exists among the Ossetes 3) and CircassiansThe Shahsewenses , according to Radde , consist o f two social

classes,the nobles and the common people So they probably

have no slaves.According to Bodenstedt “every Suane who Is no t able to

provide for his daughters and sisters,may sell them as slaves”

This is the only reference made to Slavery by any . of our

informants Telfer states that the independent Suenes

1 ) Hitchcock , p . 467. 2) Joest, Weltfahrten ; St. John , The Ainos ; Holland .

3) Morgan, Ossetes, pp. 374, 377, 408 ; Klaproth , II pp. 595, 615 ; Pallas, Neue Nord .

Beitr., VII p. 69 ; Kovalewsky , Coutume contemp .

,pp. 78

,1 89, 196, 203, 347. 4) Bell,

I pp . 1 63, 1 69 etc .

, II pp. 97 etc. ; Klaproth , I pp . 564- 573. 5) Rad de, pp. 425, 426.6) Bodensted t, I p . 283. 7) See Von Haxthausen ; Telfer.

Yaku ts,

Tuski of the coas t,

nomad ic Koryakes

settled Koryakes ,

Ostyaks,Go ld .

inland Tuski.Ainu .


14. Arabia .

The Aeneze Bedouins have slaves .“S laves,both male and

female, are numerous throughout the desert ; there are but

few sheiks or wealthy individuals who d o not possess a coupleOf them”

Doughty makes no mention of slavery among the Fejlr

Bedouins ; but his description is not elaborate enough for us

to infer that slavery does not exist

Regarding the Larbas , a tribe o f pastoral Arabs living in NorthAfrica , we have got a very good description by Geoffroy. Theykeep Negro slaves

Result. Positive cases : Aeneze Bedouins ,Larbas.

NO conclusion : Fejir Bedouins.

15. Africa . A. Bantu tribes .

Theal remarks about the Bantu tribes in general that , whenfirst discovered by the Portuguese, the coast tribes had no

slaves, but in the inland there were heartless slave-owners

1 . C a f f r e s.

Tromp and Macdonald , describing the Caffres in general , makeno mention o f slavery remarks :“The poor jo in therich as their“children” , live In servitude

,and are often exposed

to heavy oppression and arbitary treatment ; but they are no t

slaves in the true sense : slavery proper does no t exist.” “Theconquered are no t enslaved , the conqueror requires only sub

jection ; whereas often the Object o f their wars is the capturing.

o f cattle rather than of men”

1 ) Burckhardt, I p . 356 ; see also pp . 158, 175. 2) Doughty. 3) Geoffrey , p. 428.

4) Theal , p . 72 . 5) Tromp , DeKafi‘

ers ; Macdonald , South African tribes. 6) Wait;

Gerland, II pp. 391 , 398.


The Ama-Xosa are described by Fritsch . War is seldom san

guinary , its main object being cattle-stealing ; but if the attacked

defend their cattle energetically , a general slaughter ensues ;

women and children are killed without discrimination. Fugitive

enemies are mercilessly slaughtered . When a chief has great

renown,he gets many fo llowers , who crowd towards him from

all sides and contribute to the enlargement o f his power ; for

it is a custom among the Caffres never to deliver up a fugitive

whatever the reason of his fleeing from his native country .

The chiefs punish insurgents by taking away their cattle ; then

they are poor men without any influence in the tribe. These

particulars make the existence of slavery improbable : no prisouers are taken , fugitives and insurgents are no t enslaved . In

one place, however, Fritsch speaks of slaves. The Fengu ,remnants

o f destroyed tribes, fell into the hands o f the Ama-Xosa, who

spared the lives o f these fugitives,but kept them in wretched

bondage.

“In 1835 , after this slave-state had lasted for morethan ten years , when the Caffres were at war with the co lony ,the Fengu begged the Governor Sir Benjamin d ’Urban to

liberate them. The Governor , complying with the request, senttroops to enable them to depart, and so at once 16800 men ,

women and children with what little cattle and other propertythey had , established themselves in the co lony

” It is clearthat these Fengu were no t slaves . That

“

they could depart insuch large numbers from the country o f the Ama-Xo sa , provesthat they lived more or less separate . They were weaker tribessubjected by a stronger One ; we shall see that this o ccursvery often in South Africa . The tribes were subjected as tribes,not the individuals as such ; therefore they were not slaves .

Kropf, who lived among the Ama-Xosa as a m issionary for42 years , describes them as they were some 70 years ago . In

his detailed account he does not speak o f slaves . Male prisonerswere killed , women and children were sometimes left al ive.

We are not to ld what was the fate of these women and children.

Therewere no social classes,the who le people , from the chief down

to the last Of his subjects , regarding themselves as one familyFrom all this we may safely infer that slavery did no t existamong the Ama-Xosa.

1 ) Fritsch , pp. 79, 80, 93, 97, 147. 2) Kropf, pp . 180, 170.


In his description o f the Ama-Zulu Fritsch makes no mentiono f slavery. Livingstone says :“Zulus d o not usual ly destroy anysave the old , and able-bodied men. The object o f their raidsin general is that the captured women and children may beembodied into the _

~tribe,and become Zulus . The masters of the

captives are kind to them ,and children are put on the same

level as those of any ordinary man. In their usual plan,we

seem to have the condition so bepraised by some advocatesfor slavery. The members o f small disunited communities are

taken under a powerful government,Obtain kind masters

,whom

they are al lowed to exchange for any one else within the tribe,

and their children become The Zulus are saidnever to sell their captives” These captives who are em

bodied into the tribe, and become Zulus,”and are never so ld

,

certainly are no t slaves.The Matabele are a division of the Zulus

,who in 1820 separated

from the mother- country. Their mode of life stil l bears muchresemblance to that o f the Zulus Livingstone remarks :“Among the coast tribes a fugitive is almost always so ld

,but

here [i. e. among the Zulus] a man retains the same rank heheld in his own tribe. The children Of captives even have thesame privileges as the children of their captors. The Rev. T. M.

Thomas, a missionary now l iving with Moselekatse , find s thesame system prevailing among his Zulu or Matabele. He saysthat“the African slave , brought by a foray to the tribe

,enj oys,

from the beginning, the privileges and name of a child and

looks upon his master and mistress in every respect as his newparents . He is not only nearly his master’s equal

,bu t he may ,

with impunity, leave his master and go wherever he likes within

the boundary of the kinn m : although a bondman or servant ,his position, especially in Moselekatse

’

s country,does no t convey

the true idea of a state o f slavery ; for, by care and diligence,

he may soon become a master himself, and even more rich

and powerful than he who led him captive .

”The practice pur

sued by these people, On returning from a foray,o f selling the

captives to each o ther for co rn or cattle, might lead one to

imagine,that slavery existed in all its intensity among the

1 ) L ivingstone, Zamb esi, pp. 385, 386. 2) Fritsch, pp . 145, 146.


Bamangwato , the Bakwains and the Bakalahari. Fritsch, des

crib ing the Bechuanas in general , makes no mention of slaves.According to Ho lub , however, they have Makalahiri SlavesBut from

'

some particulars it appears that these Makalahiri arerather a tribe subjected as a who le than individual slaves.“These Makalahiri have to live in the more western parts ,where game is plentiful , and have to kill the game and bringthe spo il to their masters , who live in parts where the wateris more abundant.

”

They are employed as hunters or herdsmen.“If a Makalahiri servant behaves wel l and kills a good manyostriches for his master, he is allowed to marry a Bechuanawoman” Conder describes the Makalahiri as“nomadic hunters

,living ch iefly in the west

,and considered in the light o f

serfs of the chief” It is clear that these hunters,living away

from the Bechuanas , and considered as“Serfs of the chiefs

,

are a subjected tribe and not individual slaves . There are two

o ther tribes subjected to the Bechuanas : the Barwa or Ma

sarwa,and the Madenassana. That these are servile tribes and

not slaves, appears still more clearly than with the MakalahiriHence we should infer that the Bechuanas have no Slaves .

We Shall presently see whether this conclusion agrees with theinformation we get about the single tribes belonging to this

group .

According to Casalis, who was intimately acquainted withthe Basutos

,slavery was unkwown among them

,the servile work

being performed by the women and children. Prisoners Ofwar

were admitted to b e ransomedThe Batauana are described by Passarge. Though he calls

them a division Of the Basutos , the state of things among them ,

‘

as regards slavery, is quite different from that among the Basuto s. Passarge speaks o f slaves kept by them and also o f tribes

subjected by them , but living in separate settlements and leadinga tribal life. Whether the so-called slaves are identical with

the members o f the subjected tribes or whether they are slaves

in the proper sense, is not clear

1 ) Holub , Sud-Afrika, I p . 432. 2) Holub in J. A. I . 1881 , p . 10. Conder, p. 89.

-4) Holub , S iid -Afrika, I p. 432. 5 ) Casalis, pp. 197, 236. 6) Passarge, Okawangosumpf'land , pp . 704, 705, 710 71 1 .


Livingstone tells us that the Makolo lo never make slaves.

In another work he relates , how once a troop of Matabele was

starving on an island ; the Makololo finding them killed the

adult people and adopted the rest. Formerly there was no slave

trade ; now captured children are the Object o f it The Ma

ko lo lo therefore have no slaves .

As to the Bakwains , Livingstone speaks of a woman who ,as a punishment for theft, became the property o f the injured

party But we d o not know,whether She was intended to be

so ld abroad or to be kept as a slave. Holub speaks o f Barwaand Makalahiri in a servile condition ; but these are probablysubjected tribes and not slavesJoest informs us that among the Baro long there are descend

ants Of slaves , though not treated as such , who live withmost o f their families . They tend the cattle ; their name“Bakhalahari

” vouches for their western origin Perhaps theyare a division o f the same Makalahiri we have met with as a

tribe subjected to the Bechuanas. But the statement that theylive with Baro long families is more suggestive o f slavery ; theymay, however , b e free labourers. We canno t arrive here at

any definite conclusion.

The Angoni are great slave-traders,but also keep domestic

Slaves . Wiese and Kerr give some particulars regarding theirSlave-systemJunod gives a deta iled description o f the Baronga , living

near Delagoa Bay. Slaves were formerly so ld on a large scaleto the coast people . Whether the Baronga themselves keptslaves does not appear

Among the Vawenda the children o f sorcerers are so ld as

slaves ; whether at home or abroad we are not told No more

particulars being given , we d o not know whether slaveryexists here.

Theal , describing the Makalanga or Makaranga , tells us o f

a chief who Offered female slaves to the whites But thisShort note is by no means sufficient for us to go upon.

1 ) Livingstone, Zambesi, p . 1 25 ; Livingstone, Miss . Trav.,pp. 2) I bid .

,p. 235.

3) Holub , Sud -Afrika, I p . 397. 4) Joest, Weltfahrten, I p. 253. 5 ) Wiese, pp.1 88 1 97; Kerr, II p. 1 29. 6) Junod , p . 96. 7) Beuster, p . 239. 8) Theal , p. 1 61 .


2 . S o u t h-W e s t Ban t u s.

The Ovampo , according to Galton, have members o f foreigntribes living among them in a state of subjection ; but whetherthese people are slaves in the true sense is not clear.

“I cannotspeak with certainty” he says“of the exact standing in whichthe Damaras and the Bushmen severally live

,

among the Ovampo .

The first are employed principal ly as cattle-watchers ; the second ,who are even more ornamented than the Ovampo themselves ,are a kind o f standing army ; but I have great reason to doubtwhether either one or the o ther class is independent . TheOvampo , as I have mentioned , looked down with much con

tempt On the Damaras ; and there is no t a single instance , sofar as I could learn , o f any Ovampo woman marrying a Damara ,and settling in Damaraland , but the reverse is a very common

case. The Bushmen appear to b e naturalised among the negrotribes

,and free in the border- lands between them to a distance

very far north of Ondonga”

Rautanen, in his description of the Ondonga, states thatthere are neither serfs nor Slaves. But at the same time he

repeatedly makes mention o f slaves . S laves have no rights o f

inheritance . The master is responsible for damages caused by

his slaves . Nobody but the chief has the right to sell slaves

These contradictory statements d o not allow us to arrive at a

d efinite conclusion.

The Ovaherero or Damaras , according to Andersson, have

slaves . The men are lazy ; all their work is done by women

and Slaves. The slaves are the offspring of impoverished families , and captured Bushmen. The former are enslaved when

children and mainly employed as herdsmen It is strange

that Fritsch , who Often refers to Andersson , makes no mention

whatever of slavery. Hahn and Haarhoff also have nothing on

slavery which is very puzzling, as according to Andersson

slavery ho lds so large a place in their social'

life . Perhaps the

children of impoverished families whom Andersson speaks of

1 ) Galton, p. 142. 2) Rautanen, in' Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhaltnisse, pp . 336, 335 , 342.

The Ondonga are perhaps identical with the Ovampo , see Steinmetz , ib id ., p. 326.

3) Andersson, I pp. 247, 248. 4) Hahn, Die Ovaherero ; Haarhoff.


rities might b e so lved , if we attend to the fo llowing remark ,made by Kohler on Bi

’

Ittner’

S authority :“The practical possibilify for the slaves of escaping from their master is the bestwarrant for good treatment We may infer from this that ,when Viehe says that the slaves can at any time return to

their own country,it is only meant that it is easy from them

to d o so (as among a pastoral and nomadic nation it is likelyto b e) , not that they are permitted to d o so by law or custom.

The conclusion is that the Ovaherero keep Slaves.

Among the Batoka the slave-trade had in Livingstone’s timebeen lately introduced We are no t to ld whether they keptslaves themselves .The Baro tse have slaves ; this is proved by the statements

o f several writersIn the descriptions o f the Makalaka no mention is made of

Slavery, so they probably have no slavesThe Meneuse are not fond of fighting so they probably

make no prisoners . They might have purchased slaves ; but as .

nothing is to ld us o f Slavery amongst them ,the probability is

against this .

The Kimbunda have an elaborate slave-system,minutely

described by MagyarThe Lovale people have the reputation of being harsh task

masters. Slaves are procured by exchange from abroad These

short notes are all the evidence we know Of,bearing on the

existence o f slavery among them .

The people of Lunda are great slave-traders. Several detailsgiven by our informants pro ve that they also keep slaves for

their own use

In the neighbouring country o f Cazembe there are two socialclasses : the nobility and the Muzias or servants, includingpeasants , artisans

,etc . Bo th classes are called slaves Of the

Muata (king) ; this of course is not slavery proper. All men

able to fight must go to war ; but this does not affect the

1 ) Ib id .,p. 31 2. 2 ) Livingstone, Zambesi, p. 322 ; Livingstone, Miss. Trav., p. 597.

3) Holub , Stid -Afrika, II pp. 331 , 348, 350. etc . ; Livingstone, Miss Trav., p . 318Serpa Pinto , II p.42. 4) Holub , Stid-Afrika ; Livingstone, Miss.Trav.; Mauch . 5) Holub ,l . c. II p. 241 . 6) Magyar, I pp. 286—290, etc. 7) Cameron, II pp. 1 64, 1 67. 8)Pegge,

Muata Jamwo, pp. 165, 134, 226, etc .; Livingstone, Last Journ., I p . 237.


cultivation of the land , which is carried on by the women

only These statements make the existence of slavery im

probable .

Among the Kioko slavery certainly exists

The Selles , according to Magyar, have also slaves

3. E a s t-A fr i c a n B a n t u s .

Macdonald remarks that the East-Central African tribes in

general have slaves

The Manganja suffer much from slave- stealing tribes , but

also keep slaves themselves

Slavery also exists among the fo llowing tribesBanyaiWagogoWashambala

Wapare

WajaoMakondeWaheheWachagga

1 3)Wanyamwesi

Azimba

WajijiWapokomoBondei 18) .

Among the Wasib a or Basiba slavery is practised , thoughnot to a great extent.“There are few slaves in the country,

1 ) Peters , pp. 395, 394. 2) Pogge, Muata Jamwo , pp. 45 , 46, 51 . 3) Magyar, Ip . 80. 4) Macd onald . East Central African Customs , pp. 101 , 102. 5) Livingstone,Zambesi , p. 396. 6) Livingstone, Miss . Trav.

,p . 618. 7) Beverley, in Steinmetz’s

Bechtsverhaltnisse, p . 213. 8) Lang, ibid .,pp. 240—242 ; S torch , p. 319.—9) Storch , p .

323. 10) Weule,pp . 55, 56. 1 1 ) Weule , pp . 1 23, 1 24. 1 2) Von S chele, pp.

13) Kohl er, Das Bauturecht, pp. 42—45 (after Marker) . 14) Baumann, p . 237;Kohler, Das Banturecht , pp . 42—45 (after Puder) . On theMsalala, a division of theWanyamwesi , see also Desoignies , in Steinmetz ’s Rechtsverha

'

ltnisse,p . 278. 15) Angus , pp.

317, 323. 1 6) Here, p . 1 1 . 17) Kraft , in Steinmetz ’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse, p. 291 .1 8) Dale, p. 230.


most of them being women ; a male Slave generally runs awayand jo ins another chief as a free man

TheWanyakyusa,according to Fi

‘

Illeb orn, d o not keep slavesS lavery is equally unknown among the WambuguThe Wazaramo have no weapons of war ; warfare seems

unknown among them. They formerly suffered much from theSlave-trade We d o no t know,

whether they have slaves ;probably they have not.

Peters,in his account of the Maravis, gives some particulars

about slaves ; but they are not sufficient to decide,whether

there is domestic slavery or slave- trade onlyThe Wasinja and Wakerewe export slaves ; but slaves are

also imported into their country by caravans Probably thelatter are kept among them ; but this short note is not sufficientto draw a positive inference from.

The Wafipa are said never to make slaves or to sell themto traders. When a slave succeeds in arriving at the town of

Kapufi, he is considered free. They never make war, thoughthey defend themselves when attackedAmong the Wanyaturu slavery is unknownVon HOhnel, Visiting the country of the Wakikuyu , found

two men,who some years before had j o ined a caravan and

had been left behind because they were ill ; from that time

they had lived as slaves among the Wakikuyu This state

ment Shows,that the Wakikuyu keep slaves for their own use,

not for export only.

Of the Wawira we have a detailed description by Emin

Pasha. As there is not a word about Slaves in it , it is almost

certain that slavery does not exist among them

S lavery is also very probably not to be found among the

Wataveta,minutely described by Thomson, Johnston and Von

HOhnel

1 ) Hermann, p . 55. 2) Fulleborn , p. 383. 3) Storch, p . 326.—4) Thomson, Centr.Afr. Lakes

, I pp. 102, 139. 5) Peters, pp. 284, 285. —6) Baumann, p. 214. 7) Thom

son, Centr. Afr. Lakes, II p . 222. 8) Baumann, p . 237.— 9) Von HOhnel , p . 318 —10)

S tuhlmann, pp . 492—529. 1 1 ) Thomson, Massai ; Johnston ; Von HOhnel.


MabumBali tribes 2)BambalaBayakaBahuana

Bakwese

Yaunde

Hoesemann gives several particulars about the slave systemof some tribes o f Cameroon, the principal o f which are the

Ind ikki

Regarding the Bakwiri,who are related to the Duallas , we

are to ld that , unlike their neighbours, they d o not keep slaves.On the death o f a king a slave is bought from abroad and

killedThe describers of the Mundombe make no mention of slavery ;

so they probably have no slavesThe writers on the Quillengue also are silent on this subject ;

but here the descriptions are not minute enough for us to

arrive at any accurate conclusion 1 1

The natives of Ango la have slaves ; whether for export onlyor also for their own use, does not appearThe same applies to the Bangala on the Kuango , who are

great slave-tradersThe Songo or Masongo use slaves as articles of exchange,

and wherever the chief goes , he is accompanied by slaves ; butwhether they can rightly b e called a slave-keeping people, isnot clear from Pogge ’s Short notesSeveral authors inform us that the Fans have no slavesIn a monography on the Banaka and Bapuku many particulars

1 ) On the Bakundu, Banyang, Batom and Mabum,see Hutter, pp. 259 sqq. 2) Hutter,

pp . 341 sqq. 3) Torday and Joyce,Ba-Mbala, p. 41 1 . —4) Torday and Joyce, Ba-Yaka,

p . 46. 5) Torday and Joyce, Ba-Huana, p. 286. 6) Torday and Joyce, Congo FreeState, p . 1 50. 7 7) Zenker, pp . 48, 49, 67. 8) Hoesemann, pp. 176, 1 77.—9) Leuschner,in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse. p. 21 ; Schwarz as quoted ibidem. 10) Magyar ;Serpa Pinto ; Capello and Ivens. 1 1 ) Serpa Pinto ; Capel lo and Ivens. 1 2) Pogge,Muata Jamwo , pp. 5, 7. 1 3) Schutt, pp . 79, 90, 1 13 ; Livingstone, Miss. Trav.

, p . 435 ;Capello and Ivens , pp. 314, 325, etc . 14) Pogge, Muata Jamwo , pp . 35, 36, 39, 40.

1 5) Buchholz , p. 178 ; Lenz , p. 256 ; Compiegne, Gab onais, p. 1 59. Bennett, in his article

on the Fans,makes no mention of slavery.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY . 1 51

are given about their slave system Hence we infer that

s lavery exists among them , thoughWinwoodBeade’

s short remarkthat among the Bapuka the men are equal would seem to po intto a contrary conclusionBuchho lz , in a short note

,speaks o f Slavery among the Bakele

The slave-trade is almost the only trade of the Okota . On

the death of a distinguished person slaves are kil led Thisinformation is not

,however

,sufficient to put this case down as

a clear one .

None o f our informants on the Bateke make any mentiono f Slavery . According to Guiral they sometimes eat their prisoners ,when they find no occasion to sell them So they probablykeep no slaves .

The Wagenia are stated to throw the corpses of slaves , and

perhaps of all the dead,into the river This short note

being the only evidence , we are not certain that slaveryreally exists .

Among the Warua at the funeral o f a chief slaves are kil ledBut this does not prove that slavery is a social institution here.

The Bakuba have slaves , accord ing to Wissmann But the

same author states in another place , that male slaves are boughtonly to b e killed at funerals SO slavery proper probablydoes not exist.When Wissmann Visited the Tuchilangue , they had no male

slaves ; but on a later visit b e found that male slaves hadbeen introduced among them. Pogge also Observed male slavesSo at present slavery exists here .

Of the Tupende we are to ld,that slaves have for two hund

red years been exported from their country. They buy femaleSlaves , and make them their wives Probably they keep no

male slaves ; but it is not certain .

1 ) Steinmetz, Rechtsverhfiltnisse , pp . 42. 43 ; see also pp .41, 51 , 54ibidem.

—2) Winwood Read e, p. 259. 3) Buchholz, p . 178. 4) Compiegne

,Okanda, p . 84; Lenz. p .

240. 5) Coquilhat ; Ward,Cannibals ; Dupont ; Wissmann, im Inneren Afrikas ; Guiral .

p . 1 50. 6) Coquilhat , p . 424. 7) Cameron, I I pp . 1 10, 1 1 1 . 8) Wissmann, InInneren Afrikas, pp. 240, 241 . 9) Wissmann, Zweite Durchquerung, p . 1 15. 10) Wissmann , Unter d eutscher Flagge, I p . 93 ; l. c. note ; Pogge’s Aufenthal t, pp. 381 , 382 .

1 1 ) Wissmann, Im Inneren Afrik as,pp . 141 , 145 , 146.


The Aduma and Oscheb o are slave-traders ;‘but o f domesti c

slavery no mention is made

The same applies to the Ho llo 2) and Milembue

5 . Na t i v e s o f t h e Wa b um a s t a t e s .

Among the Waganda slavery is carried on to a great extentThe describers of theWanyoro 5) make no ‘

mention of slavery ;but their notes are not detailed enough to infer that it doe snot exist .The Bahima of Enkole keep Slaves

S lavery also exists among the natives of Bukoba

R esult. Positive cases

Banyai,

Washamba la,

Makonde,-Wahehe

,

Wa chagga ,Wanyamwesi,Azimba ,

Wapokomo ,

1 ) Lens,pp. 281—283. 2) Wissmann, Im Inneren Afrikas, p . 36. 3) Wissmann ,

Unter deutscher Flagge, I p. 147; Pogge’s Aufenthalt, p. 309. 4) Wilson and Felkin ,I pp , 1 61 , 186, 193 ; Baskerville, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhfiltnisse, pp. 193, 194.5) Chaillé Long ; Junker ; Wilson and Felkin. 6) Roscoe, p . 100. 7) Richter , DerBezirk Bukoba

,p. 87.

Angoni ,

Ovaherero

Barotse,

Kimbunda ,

Lunda people,

Kioko ,

Selles ,


Negative cases

conclusion

Wagenia,

Warua.

Ama-Xosa ,

Ama-Zu lu,

Basu tos ,

Mako lo lo ,

Maka laha,

Wanyakyusa ,

Wambugu ,

Wanyaturu

Wawira,

Wa taveta ,

Bakwiri ,

Mumd ombe,

Fans ,

Ba teke,

Matebele,

Manansa,Cazembe people

,

Wazaramo ,Bakuba

,

Tupend e.

Bakwains,

Baronga ,Ovampo ,Barolong ,Vawenda ,

Makalanga,

Batoka,Maravis

,

Wasinja and Wakerewe ,

Quillengue,Ango la

,

Bangala on the Kuango ,Songo or Masongo ,Oko ta ,Aduma and Oscheb o ,

Hello ,


1 6. Africa . B. Soudan Negroes .

1 . C o a s t o f G u i n e a .

Among several tribes here slavery certainly exists . These

are the

Calabarese

inhabitants of BonnyBrass peopleinhabitants o f BeninEwe

inhabitants of DahomeyGeges and Nagos of Porto-No voYorubasinhabitants of Ashanti

GallinasMandingoesWo lofsSaraco lays o r S oninkays

1 ) Bastian , Geogr. and Bthu . Bild er,p. 143 ; Hutchinson , pp. 133. 141—145 ; Compxegne,

Gabonais,p. 87; Lander, III p. 321 ; Walker

,pp. 1 20—1 23. 2) Bastian, L c. p . 1 66 ;

Kbler, pp. 84, 1 53—1 55 , 1 64; Compiegne, l. c. p . 78 ; De Card i, in Kingsley,West Africanstud ies, pp. 516, 517, 522

—526. 3) Hutchinson ,p . 99 ; De Card i, ibid .

, pp . 471—476 .

4) Bosman, II p. 228 ; Bastian ,l . c . p . 175 ; De Card i, ib id .

,pp . 452—454. 5 ) Ziindel,

pp. 387, 407, 408 ; Hero ld , pp . 1 68—1 70. On the slave system of the Ewe-Speaking peOplesin general , see Ellis, Ewe-speaking peOples , pp. 2 18—22 1 . 6) Burton , II pp . 74, 248.

7) Hagen, Porto-Nova, p. 97. 8) Lander, I p . 37; Staud inger, p . 1 6. On the slave

system of the Yoruba-speaking peOples in general , see Ellis, Yoruba-speaking peoples , pp.

178,182 . 9) Bowd ich , pp. 1 51 , 1 57, 1 59, 205 , 209. The natives of Ashanti b elong to the

Tshi-speaking peoples of the Gold Coast . On slavery among these peoples in general, see

Ellis,Tshi-speaking peoples, pp. 289—295. and Bosman, I pp . 1 26, 1 87. 10) Einach ,

Goldkiiste, pp. 359—361 . 1 1 ) Harris, pp. 27—30. 1 2) Bérenger-Féraud , p . 2 1 1 ; Tsuts iu ,Mand ingues , pp. 347—350. On slavery among the tribes of Liberia in general

,see also

Btittikofer in T. A. G. pp. 72 , 73 ; Biittikefer in I . A. E . pp . 81—83. 1 3) Bérenger

Ferand , pp. 44, 58—60 ; Tsuts iu , Senegal , p . 67. 14) Bérenger-Feraud , p . 365.

See also Fama Mad emba’s general d escription of the Sansand ing States , inhab ited , amongothers

,by theSaracolays and Bambaras , in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse , p . 83 Nico le’s notes

on the Diakite,a subd ivision of the Saracolays , ib idem,

pp . 1 18 —276.


Kagoros’

BambarasToucouleurs or Torod os

Jekris

Malinkays

Susu,

Landuma,

Limba

Among the Ib o o r Eboe in the hinterland of the Niger deltacriminals are sold abroad as slaves Whether they keepslaves themselves d oes not - appear.

Several Writers affirm that the Krus keep slaves. Miss Kings ley,however, who seems to b e well acquainted with them

,Speaks

of“the Krus being a non-slave—ho lding tribe” So we canno tarrive at a po sitive conclusion.“The Bobo” says Tautain “make no slaves ; they hold slaverygreatly in abhorrence It seems that the Bobo are veryindustrious ; as they have no slaves ,

i they probably have to workmuch harder than the Mandingoes and other neighbouringpeoples

”

Corre informs us that “Slavery exists among the Sereres .However

,the inhabitants of Fadiouth are said to have had

captives during the last few years only, imitating What theysaw amongst the Wolof traders, most o f whom are subjects

Of France. Independent persons , such as a woman without ahusband or family

,may sel l themselves to any one who is

willing to buy them” This case may well be called a

doubtful one.

1 ) Tellier, in Steinmetz ’s Rechtsverh'

altnisse, pp. 168—172 ; Tellier.Auteur deKits , pp.98 sqq. 2) Bé renger-Férand ,

‘p. 236 ; Fame Mademba (see above, p.

,

1 55.note Tellier

(see note 3) Berenger-Féraud , p. 269 ; Tellier, Auteur deKits, pp. 98 sqq. 4) Gran

ville and Roth, pp. 1 17, 5) Tellier (see note Arcin, pp. 269—276. 6) On the

Susu, Landuma and Limbs,see Madro lle, pp. 91—93. 7) De Cardi, Ju-Jn Laws etc .

,

p. 52 . 8) Lenz , pp. 233, 234; KOler, pp. 57, 58 ; Hutchinson, p. 48 ; Staud inger, p . 9 ;Kingsley in J. A. I . p. 62. 9) Tsuts iu , Bobo , pp. 230, 233. 10) Gem , pp. 15 , 16 .

1 58 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY .

custom ,says Junker , and therefore the men like to go to war.

In ano ther place he speaks of captured women with childrenand infants , and girls Whether these captured persons are

kept among the Abukaja or exported , and if the former, whetherthey are made slaves , we d o not know.

The same author speaks Of Slaves among the Makaraka ; butit is not clear, whether they keep these slaves or sell themto the Arabians , who carry on the slave-trade on a large scalein these regionsThe Niam-Niam in their

'

wars capture many women. Schweinfurth supposes , that they retain the captured women as Slaves,but kill the men. Junker also speaks o f female slaves . According to him male slaves are sometimes sacrificed ; b ut it is notclear , whether the latter are ordinary slaves or only boughtor captured to b e sacrificed Our information does not admito f any accurate conclusion.

Schweinfurth’

s description seems to Show,that the Mom

buttus have male slaves. Junker speaks only Of female slavesBurrows says : “Between the chief and the people are a raceOf freed men

,who d o not engage in manual labour o f any

kind . From the term freed men it must no t b e inferred that

the people below them are slaves ; they are equally free , butare without the hereditary rank o f the SO-cal led freed men

,

who are generally relations Of the chief or in some way con

nected with him Hence it would appear that Slavery doesnot exist among them. These conflicting statements d o not

allow us to arrive at a safe conclusion.

The Wagungo proper,says Junker

,d o hardly any work

themselves ; they leave it all to their slaves,the Schuli and

Tschappu These Schuli and Tschappu seem to be subjectedtribes rather than slaves ; but as further particulars are wanting, we feel unable to decide .

Among the Warundi slavery is unknown

1 ) Junker, II pp. 477, 462. 2) Junker, I pp. 331 , 41 1 , 428. 3) Schweinfurth ,II pp. 164, 1 90 ; Junker, III pp . 4, 292. 4) Schweinfurth , II , pp. 45, 82 ; Junker, IIpp. 265, 266, 317; 11 1 p . 1 29. 5) Burrows, p.45.

-6) Junker, 111 p. 507. 7) Baumann,p . 224.


The same applies to the Wafiomi Wataturu and Wam

bugweThe several describers o f the Bongos, who give many details

of their social life , make no mention Of Slavery ; hence we

may infer that it does not exist among them

5 . A p p en d i x . A fr i c a n I s l a n d s.

The Boobies Of Fernando-Po , according to Compiegne , havenumerous slaves. Hutchinson states , that in their wars theyspare neither age nor sex SO the slaves are probably purchased foreigners .

Sibree,describing the Sakalavas o f Madagascar, speaks o f a

kind Of temple,which slaves may not enter

,for should they

d o so they wou ld become free According to Hildebrandt theo ccupations of the Sakalavas are not multifarious. The men tendthe cattle and now and then sell a

‘

beast,and sometimes help

the women in the little plantations. In the rice districto f North Sakalavaland , where rice is cultivated for export,more labour is wanted on the fields ; therefore in thisdistrict many slaves are kept It is not clear, whether our

informant means to say , that in the other districts Of Sakalavaland there are nO slaves ; at any rate

‘

we may conclude , thatamong the Northern Sakalavas slavery exists.Slavery also exists among the inhabitants of the smal l

islands Of Nossi-Bé and Mayotte,many Of whom belong to the

SakalavasThe o ther tribes Of Madagascar have found a place in 8

(Malay Archipelago ) .

R esu lt. Positive cases : Ca labarese,

inhabitants ofBonny ,Brass peop le,

1 ) Baumann, p. 1 79. 2) Ibid .,p. 1 73. Kannenberg

’s statement, that captives aremade

slaves , d oes not seem to prove anything. These slaves may be sold abroad (see Kannenberg, p. 1 67, and below p. Baumann

,p. 187 4) Schweinfurth ; Junker ;Wil

son and Felk in. 5) Compiegne, Gabonais, p. 92 ; Hutchinson, p. 191 . 6) Sibree, p . 227.

7) Hildebrandt, West-Mad agascar,p. 1 13. 8) Walter

,in S teinmetz’s Rechtsverhalt

nisse,pp. 381

, 387.


inhabitants of Benin ,

Ewe,

inhabitan ts of DahomeyGeges and Nagos ,Yorubas ,

inhabitants of Ashanti,Fanti,

Ga llinas,

Mand ingoes ,

Wo lofs ,Saraco lays

Kagoros ,Bambaras

,

Touoou leurs

Jelcris ,

Ma linicays ,

Susu ,

Landuma ,

Limba ,

Boobies ,

Northern Saka lavas ,

Saka lavas of Nossi-Bé and Mayotte,Sereres ,

Niam-Niam,

Momb uttus,

Wagungo .

Negative cases : Bobo ,La tuka ,

Alur ,

Lendu,

Warund i,

Wafiomi,Wa ta turu,

Wambugwe,Bongos .

No conclusion : Ibo or EboeKrus ,Chillooks ,

Diours,


says , that they are not slaves by law,and as no more details

are given, we canno t make out what they are ; c . prisoners.

o f war and those who have surrendered at discretion. These,

according to Fritsch , are the only Leibeigenen in the propersense ; but he compares them to the Fengu , who , as we saw

in 15,are subjected tribes rather

‘

than Slaves Galtonremarks : “Though no Slaves are exported from the countriesIn which I travel led , yet there is a kind o f Slavery in the countries themselves. It is not easy to draw a line between slaveryand servitude ; but I should say that the relation Of the masterto the man was

,at least in Damara and Hottentotland

,that

o f owner rather than employer. The Namaqua Hottentots and

Oorlams , in all their plundering excursions,capture and drive

back with them such Damara youths as they take a fancy to,

and they keep them,and assert every kind

,

of right over them.

They punish them just as they please,and even Shoot them,

without any one attempting to interfere. Next in the scale o f’

Slavery are those Damaras , Ghou Damup, or Bushmen, whoplace themselves under Hottentot“protection” , and on muchthe same footing as those among the Hottentots

,are the paupers

that are attached to different werfts among the DamarasWe see that Galton, like Fritsch , is uncertain as to whetherthe subj ected classes among the Namaqua are to b e calledslaves. According to Wandrer

,whose description applies to a

later period than the foregoing accounts , there are no slaves,but a kind of serfs , most o f them Herero

,who were formerly

prisoners of war Considering all this,we cannot arrive at .

any definite conclusion.

In his description o f the o ther Hottento t tribes , Viz. the Griqua,Korana, and Co lonial Hottentots, Fritsch makes no mention Of

’

slavery. Ho lub remarks :“Where a well-to-do Korana can afford

to keep some Makalahiri and Masarwa as servants and Slaves,the so il is tilled to a smal l extent We have before met

with these Makalahiri and Masarwa as tribes subjected to theBechuanas ; this makes us doubt , whether the

“Slaves” Ho lubspeaks of are not d ivisions of the same tribes subjected to the

1 ) See above,p. 139. 2) Galton, p. 142. 3) Wandrer, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhalt~

nisse, p . 323. 4) Holub , Stid-Afrika, I , p. 1 12 .


Korana, rather than Slaves in the proper sense ; the more so

as he speaks Of“servants and Slaves” .

The describers Of the Bushmen 1 ) make no mention Of slavery. Fritsch tells us that they adopted parts o f the decliningHottentots into their hordes so we may safely infer thatslavery did not exist among them.

None of the describers o f the Akkas 3) speak o f slaves. Burrowstells us that they“purchase their implements, such as spears

,

arrow-heads , and knives , from their neighbours,in exchange

for dried meat,or for captives they have taken in the bush .

”

But as the same writer states that“each Village is ruled by achief or head man

,but among the people there is no variation

of rank we may safely suppose that they sell abroad all

captives they have made,and d o not keep any Of them as slaves.

Of the Abongo s we know little,far too little to make out

whether slavery exists among themThe Mucassequere, according to Serpa Pinto , sell the captives

they make in their wars as Slaves to the Ambuella, who transmitthem to Bihé caravans We may therefore suppose that theyd o not keep slaves .

R esult. Negative cases : Bushmen ,

Akkas ,

NO conclusion : Namaqua,

Griqua,

Korana,Co lonial Hottento ts ,Abongos .

1 8. Africa . D. Hamitic p eop les .

Munzinger, in his excellent books,describes several of these

1 ) Livingstone, Miss. Trav. ; Fritsch ; Theal ; Passarge, Die Buschmanner. —2 ) Fritsch;p. 444. 3) Schweinfurth, II pp . 107—1 26 ; Emin Bey ; Burrows. 4) Burrows, pp.39

,38. 5) Lenz has some notes on the Abongos. 6) Serpa Pinto , I p . 322.


tribes, all Of which keep slaves : Beduan Takue MareaBeni Amer Barea and Kunama Bogo sThe Callas practise Slavery to a great extent

The Somal and Danakil also have slaves, though not so manyas the GallasAmongst the Massai slavery is unknownKannenberg, in his Short no tes on his journey through the

country o f the Warangi, remarks that captives are made Slaves.But in Baumstark

’

s elaborate description of this tribe no mentionis made of Slavery We may therefore conclude, that theWarangi d o not keep slaves . If Kannenberg

’

s statement is correct,

the prisoners certainly become victims Of the slave trade,which

in his time was carried on to a great extent in German EastAfricaThe Wandorobo have been described by several authors

who d o not make any mention of slaves. They are themselvessubjected to the Massai 13) : We may safely conclude that theyhave no SlavesThe Wakwafi also probably have no slaves ; for none of their

describers 15) say a word about Slavery.

R esu lt. Positive cases : Bednau ,

Takue,

Beni Amer

Barea and Kunama ,Bogos ,

Ga llas ,

S oma l,Danakil.

1 ) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud ., pp . 1 54, 155. 2) Ibid .,

p. 207. 3) Ibid .,pp. 231 , 239,

244, 245. 4) Ibid ., pp. 279, 308—31 1 etc. ; see also Junker I p. 180 ; von Miiller, p.428. 5) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud. , pp. 483, 484, 497. 6) Munzinger, Bogos , pp. 42 ,43

, 48—56. 7) Paulitschke, I pp . 261 , 262 ; II pp. 139—141 . 8) Paulitschke, I pp260, 263 ; II pp . 138, 139. Concerning the Somal see also Bottego

,pp. 422—425 ; Hilde

b randt, Somal , p. 4. 9) Baumann, p. 1 65 ; Kallenberg, p. 93 ; Merker, pp. 96, 97, 1 18,208. 10) Kannenberg, p . 1 55 ; Baumstark .

— 1 1 ) Kand t , p. 254. 1 2) Thomson, ThroughMassailand ; Johnston ; Baumann ; Kallenb erg ; von BOhnel. 1 3) Thomson, 1. c. p .448 ;Johnston

,p . 402. 14) On Kannenberg

’s statement that the Wandorobo enslave captives

the same may he remarked as ab ove with regard to the Warangi (See Kannenbergp . 1 5) Thomson, 1. c. ; Johnston ; von HOhnel.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SLAVERY.

In the M Archipelago slavery very frequently occurs (69

pos. cases) . 8 negative cases are scattered over the group.

India and the Indo -Chinese Peninsula, taken together, afford13 positive and 1 1 negative cases

,the former being found in

the Northern parts of bo th groups.In Central Asia and Siberia slavery seems to b e unknown

,

except among the Kamchadales (in Central Asia 4neg. cases ,in S iberia 1 pos. case and 7 neg. cases) .The Caucasus yields 3 positive cases

,1 negative case , and

several doubtful cases. Our literature on this group is ratherscanty.

The Arabian Aeneze Bedouins , as well as the ArabianLarbas who live in North Africa , keep Slaves (2 positive and

no negative cases) .AS for Africa, the Northern part Of this continent , being

inhabited by semi-civilized peoples,is excluded from our survey.

Among the savage Africans Slavery very frequently occurs.There are only two districts, in which scarcely any clear positivecases are found

,Viz. South Africa to the South of the Zam

besi , and the country about the Upper Nile , to the South-West

of AbySS Ima. Large agglomerations of slave-keeping tribes are

found on‘

the Coast of Guinea , and in the district formed byLower Guinea and the territories bordering the Congo . A few

negative cases,however

,are interspersed among the members

o f both groups , especially of the latter. There are altogether

90 pos . and 31 neg. cases in Africa .

All over the globe,there are, among the savage tribes on

which we are sufficiently informed , 210 with Slaves and 181

without slaves .

PART II.

THEORETICAL.

1 70 METHOD AND DIVISIONS .

Northern Asiatics , Caucasus tribes , hill-tribes Of India,Negroes

to the South o f the Soudan,inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago

and Oceanic Islands But this division canno t b e of any use

to us . It is not the result o f an extensive and accurate examination Of the facts ; the writer himself admits that he hasfo llowed his general impressions Now the impressions of a

capable socio logist, as Vierkandt undoubtedly is, may count forsomething ; they give a hint as to the“ direction, in which theinvestigation has to b e carried on ; but they d o not themselvesafford a scientific basis to rely upon. His uns tete Vo

'

lker are

simply those generally known as the “lowest type of man”

,

whether justly or unjustly we do not know And his eigentliche Na turuO

'

lker,as Professor Steinmetz rightly remarks

comprehend savages Of widely different degrees of development .Moreo ver, although he says his criterion is the psychical stateo f man , the economic side Of so cial life comes always prominentlyinto View but the author does no t even try to prove thatthe psychical state o f man depends upon the stage of economicdevelopment.Y et

,as it can b e easily done here , we may inquire whether

Vierkand t’

s uns tete Vo‘

lker have slaves. It will b e seen fromthe second Chapter o f our first Part that all of them , with theexception perhaps o f the Negrito s, are unacquainted withSlavery This conclusion

,however, is not of much use to us ,

as we d o no t know whether they have been justly or unjustlyclassified under one catagory.

As little can the o ther attempts,which have been made , to

classify the savages according to their general culture, serve

our purpose SO the method Of investigation that would seem

the best is no t applicable here. Therefore we are also unable

1 ) V ierkandt, Culturtypen, pp. 67, 69. 2) Vierkandt , l. o., p. 61 . 3) Peschel (pp .

144, 145) has already given nearly the same list. Vierkand t add s to Peschel’s list the

Negritos , Kubus and African pigmy-tribes . The earliest enumeration of“lowest races”weknow of is that given by Malthus (Population, pp. 1 5 He mentions as such the

Fuegians , Tasmanians, Andamanese and Australians . 4) Steinmetz , Classification, p . 133.

5) Vierkand t, 1. c.,pp. 67, 69, 71 , 72. His distinction of nomad ic and settled semi-civilized

peoples is entirely an economic o ne. 6) We may leave out of the question Zu Wied ’auncertain statement about the Botocudos. Of the pigmy-tribes we do not know very much ;but nowhere is it stated that any of them have slaves. 7) On the d ifferent systems ofclassification, see Steinmetz 's“Classification", from which it clearly appears that a goodd ivision of the peoples of the earth according to their general culture is still wanting.

METHOD AND DIVISIONS . 171

to ascertain whether, as some writers assert , slavery at a certain

stage Of social development is universal . Bagehot says of slavery :“There is a wonderful presumption in its favour ; it is one of

the institutions which , at a certain stage Of growth , all nationsin all countries choose and cleave to ” Griinberg expressesthe same view :

“NO people has always and in all phases Of itsdevelopment been unacquainted with slavery” According toSpencer “observation o f all societies in all t imes Shows thatslavery is the rule and freedom the exception

”And Tour

magne exclaims : “This almost universal scourge, go ing backto the very origin o f the nations and affecting all Of them

,is

it not to b e regarded as a social stage that every people hasto traverse , as an evo lution which it is obliged to undergo ,before it can attain to the higher degrees o f civilization”

If we had an ascending series Of stages o f culture , we mightinquire whether

,within the limits Of savagery (for the civilized

and semi- civili zed peoples fal l beyond the scope Of the

present vo lume) there is a stage at which Slavery is universal .But

,as we have already remarked , this is not yet possible.

The best method we can use now will be to take into Viewone prominent side o f social life

,that may reasonably b e sup

posed to have much influence on the social structure,especially

on the division o f labour ; and to inquire whether this one

factor may entirely,and if no t to what extent it may , account

for the existence or non-existence o f slavery in every particularcase . Here the economic side o f life comes in the first placeinto consideration. We are not among the adherents of the

materialistic theory o f history ; it is quite unproved and seemsto us very one-sided . But we may suppose that the divisionOf labour between the several so cial groups within a tribe

, and

therefore also the existence or non-existence o f slavery,largely

depends on the manner in which the tribe gets its subsistence .

Whether, and to what extent,this supposition is true, will be

shown by the examination of the facts . If this hypothesis failsto account for all the facts

,we shall try , with the aid of other

hypotheses , to explain the rest.The opinion that the exis tence o f slavery mainly depends

1 ) Bagehot, p. 72. 2) Grfinberg, Article“Unfreiheit”

,in Handwiirterbuch der Staats

wissenschaften,2nd edition. 3) Spencer, Ind . Ins t., p . 456. 4) Tourmagne, p. 3.

172 METHOD AND DIVISIONS .

on the mode Of subsistence is also held by many theorists.According to Morgan“slavery , which in the Upper Status of

b arbarIsm became the fate o f the captive,Was unknown among

tribes in the Lower Status in the aboriginal period”. ThisLower Status of barbarism begins with “the invention or prac

tice o f the art Of pottery Anterior to the art o f potterywas “the commencement Of Village life

,with some degree of

contro l over subsistence” . It ends with“the domestication of

animals in the Eastern hemisphere , and in the Western withcultivation by irrigation and with the use Of adobe-brick and

stone in architecture” SO slavery, according to Morgan , doesnot exist befo re a rather advanced period.

Several writers assert that hunters and fishers never haveslaves . Schmoller was formerly o f the Opinion that“no peopleunacquainted with cattle-breeding and agri cul ture has Slaves”

In his handbook , however, he informs us , that some highlydeveloped tribes o f fishers also keep slaves Ingram expressesthe View formerly held by Schmoller :“In the hunter periodthe savage warrior does no t enslave his vanquished enemy, butslays him ; the women Of the conquered tribe he may, however,carry Off and appropriate as wives or as servants

,for in this

period domestic labour falls almo st altogether on the femalesex. In the pastoral stage Slaves are captured only to b e so ld ,with the exception of a few who may b e required for the careof flo cks or the small amount o f cult ivation which is thenundertaken. It is in proportion as a sedentary life prevails , andagricultural explo itation is practised on a larger scale, whilstwarlike habits continue to exist, that the labour o f Slaves isincreasingly introduced to pro vide food for the master, and atthe same time save him from irksome toil . Of this stage inthe social movement slavery seems to have been a universaland inevitable accompaniment.

”But he makes an exception in

the case of those communities where“theocratic organisationsestablished themselves” Fli

’

Igel says : “Hunting tribes canneither feed nor employ the prisoners ;generally they kill them

”

According to Schurtz“among tribes of migratory hunters there

1 ) Morgan, Anc . Soc.,pp. 80, 10, 13, 1 1 . 2) Schmoller, Die Thatsachen d erArbeits

teilung, p . 1010. 3) Schmoller, Grundriss , I p. 339.—4) Ingram, pp . 1 , 2.

—5) Pliigel,p . 95.


always to b e found Spencer says :“Tribes which have not

emerged from the hunting stage are little given to enslaving

the vanquished ; if they d o no t kill and eat them they adoptthem . In the absence o f industrial activity

,Slaves are almost

useless, and indeed, where game is scarce,are not worth their

fo od . But where, as among fishing tribes like the Chinooks ,captives can b e of use, or where the pastoral and agriculturalstages have been reached

,there arises a motive for sparing the

lives Of conquered men,and after inflicting on them such

mutilations as mark their subjection, setting them to work”

B08 is also aware Of the fact,that the Tlinkits and Similar

tribes have Slaves . He explains this in a curious way : Slaverydoes not agree with the nature Of hunting tribes ; therefore itis probable that these tribes formerl y were agricultural to a

small extent Felix remarks that Slavery already exists at thebeginning o f the agricultural stage Mommsen

,however, as

serts that in the Oldest times (until when does not appear)slavery did not prevail to any considerable extent ; more use

was made of free labourersLetourneau expresses his Opinion very prudently : slavery

was not carried on on a large Scale before men applied themselves to cattle-breeding and especial ly to agriculture At the

end Of his book on Slavery of over 500 pages he contentshimself with this vague conclusion.

We see that the theories disagree very much . Whether anyof them agree with the facts will appear from the investiga~

tion we are about to undertake .

2 . Distinctionof economic groups .

This investigation will be carried on in the fo llowing manner.

The tribes that afforded c’

lear cases in the second chapter of

the first Part will b e divided into several groups according to

their economic state. It will b e seen then how many positive

and how many negative cases there are in each group ; and we

1 ) Tylor, Anthropology, p. 434. 2 ) Spencer, Ind . Inst., p. 459. 3) Bos, p. 191 .4) Felix, II pp. 250. 5) Mommsen, I p . 191 . 6) Letourneau , p .491 . See also Sutherland , 1 p. 379.


shall try to explain why the result is such as we shall find it .

Perhaps we Shall be able to account for this result entirelyby economic causes ; if not , we shal l inquire what o ther causes

there may b e.

The fo llowing economic states will b e distinguishedHunting and fishing,Pastoral nomadism,

First stage Of agriculture,Second stage o f agriculture,Third stage Of agriculture .

It has to he remarked that this is not an ascending seriesOf stages Of economic development. What the economic evo lation has been we d o not exactly know. Little credit is givento -day to the Old division into the three successive stages Ofhunting

,pastoral nomadism

,and agriculture. This was not

yet SO in 1884,when Dargun could stil l write :“The evolu

tionary stages Of hunting, pastoral , and agricultural life are

so well established in science as stages o f human evo lution

in general , that it seems rather audacious to Object to thisdivision. Taken in general , however, it is false ; on the greaterhalf of the globe pastoral life was not a transitory s tage fromhunting to agriculture ; therefore the people concerned hadnot to pass through any regulation o f property peculiar toherdsmen. They learned agriculture without having been pastoral . This phenomenon comprehends two parts Of the worldAmerica and Australia-Po lynesia completely, and two other

parts Asia and Africa to a great extent,as the Malay

Archipelago and the territory o f the Negro tribes acrossAfrica alsoare included. Therefore it will b e necessary to leave Off consi

dering the three s tages o f hunting, pastoral and agricultural

life as a rule o f human progress. Moreover, nearly all pastoraltribes carry on agriculture

,however negligently ; and it is not

at all certain that the origin Of the latter do es no t go backto a more remote period than cattle-breeding ; it is even probable that is does , for nomadic herdsmen are on the wholemore civilized than the rudest agricultural tribes : cattle-breeding therefore is posterior to primitive agriculture” This

1 ) Dargun, pp. 59—61 .

1 76 METHOD AND DIVISIONS .

View o f Dargun’

s is now generally accepted . But a new ascend

ing series that would have any scientific value d oes not yet exist.And so we can only distinguish ec onomi c states, not stages ofeconomic development.A few remarks must stil l b e made on each o f our groups.

These remarks will also serve to justify our division.

I. H u n t i n g a n d f i s h i n g.

This group compreh ends tho se tribes only that are entirelyunacquainted with agriculture and cattle-breeding. Sometimesagriculture is carried on to

‘

such a small extent,that the tribe

subsists almost entirely on hunting, fishing and gathering wildvegetable food . Such tribes bear much resemblance to truehunters ; but if we called them hunting tribes it would b e verydifficult to draw the line Of demarcation between them and

o ther agricultural tribes ; moreo ver , such tribes are not exactlyin the same economic state as true hunters . SO we have clasSified them under the agricultural groups.

Such tribes as use animals (especially horses) only as a

means o f locomotion,are hunters , viz . if they are unacquainted

with agriculture ; at any rate they are not pastoral tribes. Thisis the case with several tribes o f North and South America.

II. P a s t o r a l n o m a d i sm.

The tribes belonging to this group subsist mainly on the

milk and meat o f their cattle. Mo st Of them also undertake a

smal l amount o f cultivation (see the above-quo ted passage o f

Dargun’

s) , whereas many agricultural tribes rear cattle. We

shall draw the line Of demarcation thus : this second groupwill contain those tribes only that depend SO much on their

cattle, that the who le tribe or the greater part o f It IS nomad

ic ; whereas those who , although living for a considerable

part on the produce o f their cattle, have fixed habitations ,will b e classified under the agricultural groups .


subordinate place, so much so that I f the latter were entirelywanting , the economic state would be nearly the same.

But our information is not always very complete ; and so it

is not always clear to what extent subsistence is derived fromagriculture. In such cases we Shall make use Of some secondarycharacteristics . Some facts may b e recorded from which ,we can

more or less safely draw conclusions as to the place agricultureoccupies. The facts indicative o f the first stage Of agricultureare : 1 . Women only are o ccupied in agriculture 2 . The

tribe is very mobile , habitations are Often shifted . Those ind icative Of the second

,as distinguished from the first

,stage

are : 1 . The tribe h as fixed habitations (except where this isdue to an abundance o f fish or fruit-bearing trees) , 2 . The

lands are irrigated . Those indicative o f the third stage are :

1 . The lands are manured , 2 . Rotation of crops is carried on ,

3. Domestic animals are used in agriculture , 4. Agriculturalproducts are exported .

It is not , Of course, necessary that in every case a who leset o f characteristics is found . Sometimes a part of them onlyare mentioned . Besides

,there is much overlapping : a charac

teristic o f the first stage may b e found connected with one

of the third . In all such cases we must not forget that thesesecondary characteristics have only signification as indicationso f the place o ccupied by agriculture

,SO they have not a

fixed value ; in every particular case the manner in whichthey are mentioned

,the place they ho ld in the who le of the

description,etc . will decide what importance we are to attach

to each Of them.

Hitherto we have supposed that agricultural tribes did nothingelse besides tilling the so il , except hunting , fishing and gatheringwild vegetable food . But it may also b e that they subsist partlyon agriculture, partly on cattle-breeding or trade In these

cases we canno t apply the same principle Of division. A tribe

that subsists partly on agriculture , but chiefly on trade is not

to b e classified under the same category as a tribe that sub

sists partly on agriculture, but mainly on hunting. The latter

1 ) See Dargun, p. 1 10, and Hildebrand , Recht und Sitte, pp. 2) Under“trade”we shall for the sake of convenience also comprehend industry.

METHOD AND DIVISIONS . 1 79

is no t yet agricultural , the former has perhaps passed beyondthe agricultural stage. Here we may regard only the technicalability attained to in agricul ture. Where agriculture is techni

cally little developed , we have probably to deal with former

Jagerbauern who have become traders . Where agriculture has

reached a high perfection, b ut trade is one Of the chiefmodeso f subsistence

,the tribe has probably passed through the higher

stages o f agriculture . What we say here Of trade equally appliesto cattle-breeding.

There are a few tribes that afforded clear cases in the secondchapter of our first Part, b ut about the economic state o f

which we are not sufficiently informed . These wil l b e leftout here .

The literature used is the same as in Part I chap. IIWe have not thought it necessary to quote the pages relatingto each tribe . In most ethnographical records the mode Ofsubsistence o ccupies a conspicuous place, SO any one wishingto verify our conclusions may easily find the passages concerned.

3. Hun ting and fishing, p as tora l, and agricultura l tribes

in the severa l geograp hica l d is tricts .

We shal l give here a list Of the tribes that afforded “clearcases

”in the second chapter o f Part I , stating, after the name

of each tribe , the economic condition in which it lives . AS we

have said before , we shall omit a few tribes, about the eco

nomic state o f which we are not sufficiently informed .

It will not perhaps be superfluous to remind the reader that ,as our list contains only “clear cases” , it gives no evidenceas to the economic state Of each geographical group. If

,for

group may contain many more tribes,which in our seco nd

chapter have not afforded “clear cases” ; and what is theeconomic state Of these tribes does no t appear from our lis t.

1 ) About the Malay Archipelago we have also consulted DeHollander,and about Africa

,

Ratzel, VOlkerkunde.


Among the agricultural tribes we have separately noted those ,among which subsistence depends largely either on cattlebreeding or on trade, in addition to agriculture.

We shall make use o f the fo llowing abbreviations.

h means hunting or fishing ; the tribes so marked are huntersor fishers.

0means cattle-breeding ; the tribes somarked are pastoral tribes.a l , a

2,a3 means first

,second , third stage Of agriculture.

a1

0 means an agricultural tribe Of the first stage, amongwhich subsistence depends largely on cattle-breeding ; Similarly

a 2 + o and a3 + c .

,

a1+ t means an agricultural tribe Of the first stage, among

which subsistence depends largely on trade ; similarly a2+ t

and as t.

a’

c -l—t means an agricultural tribe o f the second stage,among which subsistence depends largely bo th on cattle-breed

ing and trade ; Similarly a3

c t.

Positive cases .

North America . Aleuts h

Athka Aleuts hKoniagas hTlinkits hHaidas hTsimshian h

Kwakiutl h

Bilballas h

Ahts htribes about PugetSound h

Fish Indians h

Tacullies h

Atuas h

Similkameem h

Chinooks h

1 ) Roosevelt calls them hunters ; but in the Jesuit.Relations it is stated , that theywere not entirely unacquainted with agriculture.

Negative cases .

The 9 tribes Of Eskimos proper, all Ofthem h

Kutchins h

Chepewyans h

Delawares a2

Montagnais hOj ibways hO ttawas hShahnees h

Potawatomi a 1 1 )Crees h

Cheyennes a l

Blackfeet nation hIroquois a

2

Hurons a2

Katahbas a?

Cherokees a2


Positive cases.

Aus tra lia .

Melanesia . N .W . So lomon Islanders a

2

natives o f the GazellePeninsula a

1

Nuforese a1 -l t

Papuans o f Arfak a 1

Of Adie al+ t

on the Gu lf o fKaimani a 1 t

Po lynesia . Maori a2

Nega tive cases .

The 30 tribes enumerated in chapter IIOf Part I

,all Of

them h

New Caledonians a2

S . E So lomon Islanders a

1

Nissan Islanders a1

New Hebridians a 1

natives of TorresStraits a

1

Papuans Of Humbo ldtBay a

1

Papuans near LakeSentani a2

Papuans Of Ayambori a s

Motu a 1 t

Mowat a1

Toaripi a1

Papuans on themouthOf the WanigelaRiver a

1

Yabim a1

natives Of the TamiIslands a

l

Tamoes a1

natives Of DampierIsland a

1

TongansSamoans a

2

Rotumians a2

Raro tonga ISlanders a$3

Hawaiians a2

MarquesasIslanders ai

Abgarris , Marqueen

and Tasman Island ers a

1

Micrones ia .

Ma lay Archipel

ago .

METHOD AND DIVISIONS .

Positive cases .

Battas on thePane andBila Rivers a

3

Battas of Mandhe

ling a3

Battas o f Pertibie as

Karo -Battas a2

Raja-Battas a3

Battas Of Angko la a3

Battas Of Simelun

gun a2

Battas Of Singkel andPak-pak a

2 —l t

Battas Of Panei a2

Toba-Battas a2

Lampongs a2

natives Of Nias a3

Anambas,

etc . a1

Hill-Dyaks al

Dyaks on the Barito a 1

Sea-Dyaks a2

Biadju Dyaks a1

Kayans on the Men

dalam at:

Kayans on the upperMahakam a

2

Dyaks o f Pas ir a2

inhabitants of the Minahassa o

$2

inhabitants o fBolaanga2 t

inhabitants o f Ho lontalo a

2

183

Nega tive cases .

Marshal l Islanders a2

Caro l ine Islanders a2

Marianne Islanders a2

Pelau Islanders a2

Kingsmill Islanders aa

Semang a1

Sakai a 1

Kubus hMentawei Islanders a 1

Seb ruang Dyaks a2

Bataks OfPalawan a1

Bontoc Igorot as

1 84

Ma lay Archipel

ago

(continued) .

METHOD AND DIVISIONS .

Positive cases .

inhabitants o fBuool a2

Toradja a2

Tomori a2

inhabitants Of San

d jai a2

inhabitants Of Bangkala a

2

Kailirese a2

inhabitants of Sa

leyer a52

inhabitants of Sumbawa a

3

inhabitants Of Sumb a a

2

inhabitants Of Endehon Flores a

£3+ t

inhabitants of the SO

lor group a2

inhabitants Of Bonerate and Kalao a2+t

inhabitants OfEast Timor a

2 —l t

inhabitants o f WestTimor a

2 t

inhabitants Of Savua2

c

inhabitants Of Rote a2

inhabitantsOfWetara2

inhabitants o f Keisaras C

inhabitants Of Letia2

o

inhabitants ofDamaa2

inhabitants o f the

Luang-Sermatagroup a

2

inhabitants of the Babar group a

2

Nega tive cases.


Positive cases .

Ind ia . Meshmees a1

Garos a2

Lushais a1

Manipuris a2

Kafirs a2

c

Padam Ab ors de

Nagas a2

Central Asia .

S iberia . Kamchadales h

Caucasus . Ossetes a3

c

Circass ians c

Kabards Of Asianor c

:

Arabia . Aeneze Bedouins c

Larbas c

Bantu tribes . Angoni a2

Ovaherero c

Barotse a2

c

Kimbunda a‘3 t

Lunda people a3

Kioko a$2 + t

Selles a2 t

Manganja a2

Nega tive cases

Hill-tribes near Ra

jamahall a1 t

Todas c

Santals (a part) a2

Santals (a part) a1

Santals (a part) hKhonds (some diviSion

’

s) a?

Khonds (o ther diviSions) a

1

Oraons a2

Korwas a1

Bodo and Dhimals a2

Veddahs hKazak Kirghiz c

Altaians o

Turkomans c

Samoyedes c

Ghiliaks h

Tunguz c

Yakuts c

Tuski o f the Coast hnomadic Koryakes c

settled Koryakes h

Ama-Xosa c

Ama—Zulu c

Basuto a2

c

Makololo a?

c

Makalaka a?3

c

Wanyakyusa a?

Wambugu a1

c

Wafipa a3

c


Bantu tribes Positive cases . Nega tive cases .

(continued) . Banyai a2 Wanyaturu a2

Wagogo a9

c

Washambala a2

c Wataveta af'z

Wapare as c

Wajao a3+ t Mundombe (a part) c

Makonde a3 t Mundombe (a part) a2

Wahehe a8 0 Fans al

Wachagga a2

c Bateke a1 t

Wanyamwesi a3 t

Azimba a2

Wajiji al + t

Wapokomo o52

Bondei a 2

Wasiba a?+ t

Wakikuyu a3

Bondei a2

Bihé s a? —l t

Minungo a£3

Mpongwe a2

Orungu a1

Mb engas a2+ t

Duallas a3+ t

Bayanzi a 1 + t

Bangala on the Con

Manyuema a2 t

Kabinda a2 t

Ininga and Galloa

Bakundu a

Banyang as

Batom ag

Mabum a2

Bali tribes a2

Bambala a2 t

Bayaka a2

+ tBahuana a

s t


“Bantu tribes Positive cases . Negative cases .

(continued) . Bakwese a1 t

Yaunde a1

Ind ikki as t

Banaka and Bapuku a

1

Tuchilangue a2

Waganda a2

c

Bahima c

natives of Bukobaa2 + c + t

Soud anNegroes. Calabarese a2

inhabitants of Bonnya2 t

Brass people a1 t

Ewe a2 t

inhabitants Of Dahomey aH—t

Geges and Nago sat

c t

Yorubas a3

c t

inhabitants o fAshantia2 t

Fanti a2

Mandingoes a2

o

Wolofs a2

Saracolays a2 t

Kag oros a"2

c

Bambaras a2

Toucouleurs a2

Jakrie t

Malinkays a2 t

Susu a53

c t

Landuma a2

c t

Limba a2

c t

Boobies Of FernandoPO a

1

Northern Sakalavasa2 + o

Latuka a”

Alur a2 c

Lendu a2

Warundi a2

Wafiomi a2 c

Wataturu a1 c

Wambugwe a1 c

Bongos a2

CHAPTER II.

HUNTERS AND FISHERS .

1 . Why s laves are no t of much use to hunters .

Among the“clear cases o f the second chapter of our first

Part the fo llowing are hunting and fishing tribes .

Positive oases. North America

Sound,

South America : Ab ipones ,

Tehuelches.

2

S iberia : Kamchadales .

Aleuts,

Athka Aleuts,

Koniagas,

Tlinkits,

Haidas,

Tsimshian,

Kwakiutl,

Bilballas,

Ahts,

tribes about PugetFish Indians ,Tacullies ,

Atnas,

Similkameen ,

Chinooks .

HUNTERS AND FISHERS . 191

Nega tive cases . North America : the 9 tribes of Eskimos

proper,

Kutchins ,Chepewyans ,

Montagnais ,Oj ibways

,

Ottawas ,Shahnees,

Crees ,

Blackfeet nation,Sioux ,Assinibo ins ,Hupas ,Apaches ,Lower Californians.

22

South America : wild tribes OfNorth Mexico ,

Botocudos,Charruas

,

Minuanes ,Puelches ,Fuegians.

6

Australia : the 30 Austral ian tribes .

30

Malay Archipelago : Kubus .

IndO-Chinese peninsula : Andamanese ,

So uthern Nicobarese.

c)A

India : some Santal tribes,

Veddahs .

Siberia : Ghiliaks,

Tuski Of the Coast ,settled Koryakes.

3

1 92 HUNTERS AND FISHERS .

Pigmies,etc . Bushmen

,

Muscassequere,Akkas .

Hamitic peoples : Wandorobo .

1

So the great maj ority of the 88 cases we have got are negative. This fact agrees with the opinion o f those theorists whoassert that this economic state is unfavourable to the development Of s lavery . The existence of 18 positive cases, however, Shows that tho se are wrong who ho ld that no tribe unac

quainted with agriculture and cattle-breeding ever has Slaves.We have to explain now

,why most hunters and fishers d o

not keep slaves . In a few cases the fac t that they are inclosedbetween superior peoples and reduced to a dependent, powerless state

,might afford sufficient explanation. SO the Wando

robo , according to Thomson , are considered by the Massai asa kind Of serfs ; and Johnston calls them a helot race But

with most Of our hunters and fishers,who d o not keep Slaves ,

this is not the case, as is proved by their being Often at war

with their neighbours. It has been Shown that the Oj ibwaysand Sioux in North America

,the Charruas , Minuanes and

Puelches in South America either killed or adopted their prisoners

,that the Andamanese also sometimes adopt captive chil

dren,that the Montagnais generally tortured their prisoners

to death , that warfare is also known among the Bo tocudosAnd the most striking evidence is afforded by the Australians ,an isolated group consisting entirely o f hunters , in whichslavery ,

is altogether unknown . SO the non-existence o f slaveryamong the great maj ority Of the hunters and fishers must be

due on the who le to more general causes ; and only if the .

latter fail to account for the absence o f slavery among the

1 ) Thomson, Through Massailand , p . 448 ; Johnston , p . 402 . 2) See above, pp . 53,

58, 80, 81 , 1 24, 52 , 74. The Montagnais seem also sometimes to have ad opted prisoners. LeJeune ob served a young Iroquois, whom they had adopted

,Jesuit relations , VI p. 259.

1 94 HUNTERS AND FISHERS .

The reader will remember, from the details given in the

first Part , that slaves are frequently acquired from without thecommunity to which the slave’s owner belongs

,by war, kid

napping or trade . It may b e convenient to give this phenomenon the technical name of ex tra triba l s lavery, whereas weshall speak of intra tm

'

ba l s lavery in those cases where theslave remains within the same community to which he belongedbefore being enslaved

,e. g. a debtor-slave. Now the keeping

o f extratribal slaves must b e very difficult to hunters . Huntingsuppo ses a nomadic life ; and the hunter, who roams over vasttracts o f land in pursuit o f his game has not much opportu

nity to watch the movements,

o f his slave, who may b e apt

to run away at any moment. And if the slave himself is set

to hunt, the dif ficulty amounts nearly to impossibility. Moreo ver, the hunting slave will b e much more inclined to run awaythan a so il- tilling slave ; for the latter , during his flight

,has

to live in a make-shift way on the spontaneous products o f

nature ; whereas the former continues hunting , as he has alwaysdone ; his flight has not the character o f a flight.Another cause is the fo llowing. Primitive hunters generally

live in smal l groups . Hildebrand remarks that at the lowest

stage of culture men live together in families or small tribes.

Several instances are given in his book .

“The Nilgala Veddahsare distributed through their lovely country in small septs or

families .” The Indians o f the Ro cky Mountains “exist in smalldetached bodies or families .

”The Fuegians “appear to live in

families,not in tribes.

”The same applies to the Ind ians o f

Upper California, theWoguls o f Siberia, the Kubus , the Negritos,the Bushmen, etc. And Sutherland remarks :“The middlesavages , on the average o f six races

,reach about 1 50 as the

social unit .” “The upper savages,as typified by the North

American Indians,would average about360to an encampment”

Now it is easy to understand , that such small communitieswou ld not b e able to develop much coercive power over slaves

introduced into the tribe from foreign parts . A fugitive slave

would b e very soon beyond the reach of the tribe ; and a

comparatively small number of slaves would b e dangerous to

1 ) Hildebrand , Recht und Sitte, pp. 1 , 2 . 2) Sutherland , I p . 360.


the maintenance of power by the tribesmen within the tribe.

But the nomadic l ife of hunting tribes does not prevent the

existence of intratribal slavery ; such slavery might even b e

compatible with living 1n small groups . There are however

other , more internal causes .

If there were slaves, i. 6 . male slaves,for Slavery proper does

not exist where all slaves are women,they would have to

perform either the same work as free men,or the same work

as free women. One might object , that sometimes Slaves haveseparate kinds o f labour assigned to them ,

which are performedby slaves only . This is true ; but when slaves were first keptit must have been otherwise. It is not to be supposed thatmen

, convinced o f the utility o f some new kind of work , beganto procure slaves in o rder to make them perform this work ;or that , finding some work tedious

,they invented slavery to

relieve themselves o f this burden . Modern psycho logy does notaccount for psychical and social phenomena in such a rationalistic way Differentiation of slave labour from free labourcanno t have existed in the first stage of slavery . Thereforetwo problems are to b e so lved : why are there no slaves

performing men’s work ? why are there no slaves performing

women’

s work ?Men

’

s work , besides warfare,is hunting. Now hunting is

never a drudgery , but always a noble and agreeable work .

Occupying the whole soul and leaving no room for distractingthought ; o ffering the hunter a definite aim , to which he can

reach by one mighty effort of strength and Skill ; uncertain inits results like a battle

, and promising the glory o f victoryover a living creature ; elevating the whole person , in a wordintoxicating ; it agrees very well with the M pulsiveness of

savage character 2) Therefore it is not a work fit to b e impo sedupon men who are deprived of the common rights o f freemenand are the property o f others.For, first , good hunters are highly respected. This appears

from several statements. Ottawa women respected a man ifhewas a good hunter Tasmanian fathers took care to give their

1 ) Social institutions are sometimes made ; but this is the exception : generally theygrow. 2) See Ferrero’s beautiful exposition of this character. 3) Tanner, p. 1 1 2.

196 HUNTERS AND FISHERS .

daughters to the best hunters Among the Dumagas (a Negrito tribe) a man who wishes to marry must Show his skillin shooting Oj ibway parents tried to give their daughtersto good hunters. If the husband was lazy the wife had a right toleave him In Western Victoria“if a chief is a man of ability

,

exhibiting bravery in battle,

or skill in hunting,he is often

presented with wives from o ther chiefs” Amongthe AndamanIslanders so cial status is dependent

“on skill in hunting

,fishing

etc . and on a reputation for generosity and hospitality” Le

Jeune tells us of a Montagnais,who was laughed at because

he was a b ad hunter. This was a great disgrace among thesavages ; for such

'

men could never find or keep a wife A

describer o f Kamchatka says o f the dangerous sea-lion hunting :“This chase is so honourable , that he who has killed mo st

sea-lions is considered a hero ; therefore many men engage init,less for the sake of the meat

,that is lo oked upon as a

del icacy,than in order to win renown” In W. Washington

and N . W. Oregon “a hunter is , in fact , looked upon withrespect by almo st every tribe in the . d istrict

”An. ancient

d escriber of the Indians o f Paraguay tells us that skill and

bravery were the only qualities they valued. A would -b e son-in

law had to bring game to the but o f the girl ’s parents .“From the kind and the quantity of the game the parentsjudge whether he is a brave man and deserves to marry theirdaughter” Among the Northern Athabascans“none but asuccessful hunter need aspire to the hand of a chief

’s daughter”

Among. the Attakapas , if a young man aspired to the hand of

a girl , her father asked him whether he was a brave warrior

and a good hunter and well acquainted with the art of makingharpoons Even among the pastoral Co lonial Hottentots tho sewho had killed a savage animal were highly respected by their

countrymen Personal qualities , among such tribes , are the

only cause o f social differentiation.Wealth does not yet existand hered itary, nobility is unknown. So a go od hunter cannot

1 ) Bonwick, p. 62. 2) Blumentritt, Negritos , p. 65. 3) Jones , Oj ibway Ind ians,pp. 79

, 80. 4) Dawson, p . 35. 5) Man, p . 109. 6) Jesuit Relations, VII p . 173.

7) Histoire d e Kamtschatka, I p. 287. 8) Gibbs , p. 193. 9) Muratori, pp.10) Russell

,p . 1 64. 1 1 ) Bossu, p. 247. 1 2) Fritsch , p . 324. 13) As to Australia,

see Steinmetz,Strafe, I pp. 430, 431 .


strength and skil l ; therefore a compulsory hunting system cannotexist. If a mah is to exert all his faculties to the utmost , theremust b e o ther mo tives than mere compulsion. It is for thesame reason that in countries where manufactures are highlydeveloped , a system o f labour o ther than slavery is required .“It remains certain” Stuart Mil l remarks“that slavery is incompatible with any high state of the arts o f life , and anygreat efficiency o f labour. For all products which require muchskill

,slave countries are usually dependent on foreigners

All processes carried on by slave labour are conducted in therudest and mo st unimproved manner” And Cairnes says thatthe slave is“unsuited for all branches o f industry which requirethe slightest care

,forethought

,or dexterity. He cannot b emade

to cc - operate with machinery ; he can only b e trusted withthe coarsest implements ; he is incapable o f all but the rudestforms of labour” Mr. Kruijt, describing the natives of CentralCelebes

,speaks in the same way :

“The free Alifur works as

hard as his slave and even harder ; for during the hours thatthere is no thing to d o in the gardens

,the freeman has to mend

the furniture,plait baskets, and cut handles from wood or horn

etc .,all which work the slave does not understand” And

Schurtz, in his mo st valuable essay on African industry ,remarks : “Slavery has little to d o with the development ofindustry. Among the Negroes of Africa only free peoplespend most of their time in industrial pursuits , the slaves per

forming at most subordinate functions . In the Soudan there

are slaves who work on their own account and pay only a

tribute to their master ; but it scarcely ever happens thatslaves are made to work in

,large numbers for the purpose of

manufacturing goods . Those artisans who belong to pariah tribes

are despised , but are not slaves, and the unwritten law defendsthem from arbitrary treatment

” A freeman may give hiswho le mind to his work , because he knows he will enjoy the

fruits of it , and still more because he will win a reputation

by it among his fellow-men. The slave has not these motives ;

1 ) Mill , p. 302. 2) Cairnes, p . 46. 3) Z.G.XXXIX p . 1 22.—4) Schut ts ,Das Afrikanische Gewerb e, p . 142.

HUNTER S AND FISHERS . 199

he works mainly on compulsion And as both hunting and

higher industrial labour require much personal application,neither can b e well performed by slaves . Here extremes meet

,

if hunting and manufactures are to b e consid ered as extremes,

which we are inclined to doubt , at least regarding those trib es

that have brought the art of hunting to a high perfection ;such hunting probably supposes more development o f cerebral

power than the lowest stage o f agriculture But there is a

d ifference between hunting and manufacturing nations. Inma

nufacturing countries , besides the higher kinds o f labour, thereare also many sorts of ruder work to b e done , that can b e

done by slaves as well . Moreover, slavery among a manufacturingnation may date from a former period and have passed intothe laws and customs ; then social life is based upon it ; and

so it remains for a long time after its economic basis has fallen .

Slavery in such cases,by a gradual mitigation, is made to

agree with changed economic conditions : the slave is given a

proportionate share in the produce o f his lab our ; he is allowedto buy his freedom by means o f his savings ; or his obligationsare restricted to fixed tributes and services , and so the slavebecomes a serf But the Australians and o ther hunting tribeshave no t probably ever done anything but hunting ; and so

neither present wants induce them to make slaves , nor d o thetraditions o f the past maintain Slavery We may ad d , thatsupervision of the work o f a hunting slave would b e nearlyimpossible. An agricu ltural slave can wo rk in the presence o f

and surveyed by his mas ter ; but hunting requires ratherindependent action.

So slaves cannot be employed in hunting. They might , however,b e set to d o women

’

s work , i. e.

“erecting habitations , co llecting

fuel and water, carrying burdens, procuring roo ts and delicacieso f various kinds , making baskets for cooking ro ots and other

1 ) See Wagner, p . 389. Schmoller (Grundriss , I p . 340) also remarks that slaves have nointerest in the result of their work . 2) See Biicher, p. 9, and Fritsch ’s beautiful description of Bushman hunting, Frits ch , pp. 424 sqq. 3) See the exposition of the causes

and d evelopment of this mitigation by Wagner, pp. 390—405. 4) The assertion of some

writers (e. g . Waitz-Gerland , VI pp, 767, that the Australians have declined froma higher state of culture

, seems to us quite unfounded .


purposes, preparing food , and attending to the children”

But,

first , nomadic life and the requirements o f the workwould , in this case too , very much facilitate the escape of the

slave,the more so , as the slaves

,when the men are engaged

in hunting, would be under the supervision of the women only.

Moreover, the men are no t likely to take the pains of pro curingSlaves for the so le benefit o f their wives. We must a lso takeinto consideration, that these small tribes are very much inneed o f the forces o f every man in hunting and still more in

warfare ; therefore an able-bodied b oy will b e brought up to ,

b e a hunter and warrior, rather than given to the women as’

a slave. And finally,where war is frequent

,such s laves , not

being able to fight , would soon b e eliminated in the struggle

for life,whereas women are often spared because they are

women Therefore it is only among tribes which either livein peaceful surroundings , or are so powerful as not to have tofear their neighbours very much

,tha tmen performing women

’

s

work are to b e found . Crantz speaks o f a young Greenlanderwho was unable to navigate

,because when a child he had been

taken too much care of by his mo ther.

“This man was employedby o ther Greenlanders like a maid se1 vant , performing all

female labour , in which he excelled” Among the CentralEskimos , according to Boas , “cripples who are unable to huntd o the same kind o f work as women

” Tanner tells us o f

an Oj ibway,who behaved entirely as a woman

,and was kept

as a wife by another Oj ibway. He excelled in female labour,which he had performed all his life . Such men

,according to

Tanner , are found among all Indian tribes ; they are calledayokwa But in all these cases the men who perform female

labour are no t slaves. Crant’

z’

s young Greenlander probably was

glad to earn his livelihood in this way . Domestic lab our amongthe Greenlanders is no t generally wanted .Widows and orphans aresometimes taken as servants ; but this is done rather as a favour ;

1 ) This description, given by Dawson (p . 37) of female labour in Western Victoria, maybe taken as a fair type of female labour among hunters in general . 2 ) See Steinmetz ,Strafe

,II pp . 96 sqq. 3) Crantz , I p. 185. 4) Boas, Central Eskimo , p . 580. 5) Tanner,

p . 98.


are to b e found among our po sitive and negative cases. Fishingin our sense includes the killing o f water-animals besides fish :whales, seals , etc . Where a tribe l ives by hunting and fishing

,

we shall call it a hunting or a fishing tribe, according to thepredominating mode o f subsistence.

One d ifficulty arises here . Some tribes,especially Austra

lian ,subsist largely on wild fruits

, roots , berries, grasses , etc .,

Shell-fish and lower land-animals , such as b eetles,lizards

,rats ,

snakes , etc . ; so that neither hunting in the true sense nor

fishing prevails For our purpose it will be most convenientto classify them under the head o f hunters ; for the peculiarfeatures o f fishing tribes which we have enumerated : fixedhabitations , easy supervision of the work o f Slaves

,drudgery

such as rowing , are not found among them . Moreover, thegathering of wild-growing vegetable food and the catching of

the lower animals , in Australia too , are chiefly incumbent onwomen

,whereas the men hunt ; so the division o f labour is the

same as among other hunters regarding the quality o f the worko f each sex ; only the quantity o f male labour is less and of

female labour greater here.

Of our positive cases the fo llowing are hunters : some tribesabout Puget Sound , Atnas , Similkameem , Ab ipones, Tehuelches .

The rest are fishers.

Of our negative cases the fo llowing are fishers : Eskimos

(9 tribes) , Hupas,Fuegians , Southern Nicobarese, Tuski , Ghi

liaks, Koryakes . The rest are hunters , with the exception o f

the Chepewyans , o f whom Bancroft says :“Their food consistsmostly o f fish and reindeer

,the latter being easily taken in

snares. Much o f their land is barren, but with sufficient vege

tation to support numerous herds o f reindeer, and fish aboundin their lakes and streams” So we are no t able to ascertain

whether hunting or fishing predominates among the Chepewyans.

We see that 5 hunting and 14fishing tribes have slaves ; 54hunting and 1 5 fishing tribes have no slaves In o ther words : of the

1 ) The Germans call such people Sammler . 2) Bancroft, p. 1 1 8 ; see also Mackenzie,I p. 1 51 . 3) The positive cases here are 5 14 19, instead of 1 8, because the

Ind ians ab out Puget Sound count doub le, some of them b eing hunters and others fishers .

The negative cases are 54 1 5 69, instead of 70,because we have omitted the

Chepewyans.


hunting tribes p er cent , of the fishing tribes 48 per cent.

have s laves .

We may say now,that hunting is very unfavourable , and

fishing not nearly so much so , to the existence of slavery.

But it remains to b e explained , why a few hunting tribes keepSlaves , and why among the fishers the tribes with and without

Slaves are nearly equally divided .

Now it is worth noticing , that the great majority of our

positive cases (all except the Ab ipones , Tehuelches and Kam

chadales) belong to one geographical group : they all live on

or near the Pacific Coast of North America, from BehringStrait to the Northern boundary o f California. Therefore wemay suppose that the existence of slavery among all thesetribes is due to the same or nearly the same causes ; and a

survey of the economic state o f this group will probably enableus to find these causes . We shall examine then , whetherslavery among the three tribes outside this group can b e

accounted for by the same causes , or if special causes are at

work there.

The circumstances that may b e considered favouring theexistence o f slavery on the Pacific Coast are the fo llowing :

Abundance of food . The Aleuts eat only the best partso f the dried fish ; the rest is thrown away Bancroft tellsus that “although game is plentiful , the Haidas are not a

race of hunters,but derive their food chiefly from the innu

merable multitude of fish and sea animals , which , each varietyin its season , fill the coast waters” The Tacullies ,

“are able

t o procure fo od with but little labour”

Our informant alsospeaks of the

“abundant natural supplies in o cean, stream,

and

forest” of the Puget Sound Indians The Tlinkits , accordingto Ho lmberg

,d o not take great pains to secure their food ; the

ebbing tide leaves a multitude o f sea-animals ashore,which

they can gather without difficulty Kane remarks :“Salmonis almost the only food used by the Indians on the LowerCo lumbia River , the two months ’ fishing affording a sufficientsupply to last them the who le year round” About the tribes

1 ) Wemiaminow, p. 214. 2) Bancroft, p . 161 . 3) Ib id .,p . 1 22. 4) Ibid .,

p . 213.

5) Holmberg, I p. 17; see also p . 22 . 6) Kane, p . 314.


o f W. Washington and N . W. Oregon Gibbs remarks :“Withall these sources of subsistence , the greater part of which isafforded spontaneously by the land or water, nothing but indolence or want of thrift could lead to want among a populationeven greater than we have reason to believe at any timeinhabited this district” The salmon fishery“has always beenthe chief and an inexhaustible source o f food for the Chinooks

,

who,although skilful fishermen

,have not been obliged to

invent a great variety o f methods or implements for the cap

ture o f the salmon,which rarely if ever have failed them”

The Aths also , in Jewitt’

s time,could procure an immense

quantity o f salmon with the greatest facility Several othertribes on the Pacific Coast have fixed habitations and livetogether in large groups , as we soon shal l see ; thereforeamongst them too food must b e abundant

,though this is not

exp licitly stated .

The consequence is , that the produce o f labour exceeds theprimary wants of the labourer much more than for instancein Australia , and the use o f slaves is greater.

Most o f these tribes live chiefly by fishing (see above) .Moreover

,there is a great variety of food . The Koniagas catch

salmon , haddock , whales , seals,deer, reindeer, waterfowls , a

small white fishi

and grizzly bears The Tlinkits eat fish,

various kinds o f meat and plants , and shell-fish ; formerly theyalso killed whales The Haidas have abundance of game andfish. They eat also birds , and various kinds o f vegetables .Shel l-fish are gathered by the women Of some tribes aboutPuget Sound we are to ld : “Fish is thelr chief dependence,though game is taken in much larger quantities than by theNootkas” The Ahts eat fish

,roots and berries , and hunt

the deer The Tacullies eat fish (chiefly salmon) , herbs and

berries and smal l game The Similkameem eat fresh and

dried game o f all kinds , the seed o f the sunflower, various roo ts,edible fungi , berries , wild onions The tribes o f W. Wash

1 ) Gibb s , p . 1 97. 2) Bancroft, p. 232.— 3) Brown ,Adventures ofJohn Jewitt, p. 1 51 .

4) Ib id .,pp . 76—78. 5) Krause, pp. 1 55, 1 59, 181 . See also Holmberg, I pp. 22—24.

6) Bancroft, pp . 1 61— 1 63. 7) Ibid .,pp. 21 2

,213. 8) Sproat, pp. 53, 89. 9) Bancroft,

p . 1 23. 10) Allison , p. 308.

206 HUNTERS AND FI SHERS .

drying ; some varieties of seaweed and lichens , as well as various

roots , are regularly laid up for winter use In Jewitt’s narrativemention is made o f divisions o f the Ahts , consisting o f 500

1000 warriors . They used to preserve various kinds of fish for

the winter In W. Washington and N . W. Oregon acorns ,some kinds o f berries , and especially salmon and whaleb lubb er,

are stored for winter use About Puget Sound “the rich andpowerful buil d substantial houses”.

“These houses sometimesmeasure over one hundred feet in length , and are divided intorooms or pens , each house accommodating many families.

”

“In the better class o f houses , supplies are neat ly stored inbaskets at the Sides

” “During a portion of every year theTacullies dwell in villages .

” “In April they visit the lakes and

take smal l fish ; and after these fail,they return to their villages

and subsist upon the fish they have dried , and upon herbs andberries” The Chinooks , according to Bancroft, d o not move

about much for the purpose o f obtaining a supply o f food .

They have permanent winter dwellings.“Once taken

,the salmon

were cleaned by the women, dried in the sun and smoked in

the lodges ; then they were sometimes powdered fine between

two stones before packing in skins or mats for winter use”

.

Swan also states that they preserve fish and berries for the

winter Similar accounts are given o f the Similkameem

These circumstances greatly tend to further the growth o f

Slavery. A settled life makes escape o f the slaves more d if ficult Living in larger groups brings about a higher organi

zation o f freemen, and therefore a greater coercive power of

the tribe over its slaves . And the preserving of food requires

additional work ; and this work is very fit to b e performed byslaves, as it d oes not require overmuch skill , and has to b e

d one in or near the house , so that supervision of the work

is very easy . Moreover, the hope of partaking o f the stored

food is a tie that binds the slave to his master’

s house, in

1 ) Bancroft, pp 183—187. 2) Brown , Adventures of John Jewitt, pp. 132 , 134, 1 51 .See also Sproat, p. 37. 3) Gibb s, pp . 194—196. 4) Bancroft, pp. 2 1 1—213.

—5) Ibid .,

p. 1 23. 6) Ib id .,pp. 231 , 233 ; Swan , The Northwest Coast, p. 1 61 .— 7) Allison, p. 309.

8) Gibb s remarks :“East of the Cascades, though it [slavery] exists , it is not so common ;the equestrian hab its of the tribes living there probably rendering it less profitable or

convenient than among the more settled inhab itants of the coast.”(Gibbs, p.


much the same manner as a modern workman is bound byhaving a share in the insurance fund of the factory.

Trad e and indus try are highly developed along the Pacific Coast. Kane speaks of the ioquas ,

“a small shell found at

Cape Flattery,and only there , in great abundance . These

shells are used as money, and a great traffic is carried on amongall the tribes by means of them”

Among the Aleuts“whalefishing is confined to certain families,and the spirit of

the craft descends from father to son”

The Koniagas are

“adapted to labour and commerce rather than to war and

hunting” . They make very good boats and men as well aswomen excel in divers trades . They got slaves by means of

exchange from o ther tribes Among the Tlinkits there are

professional wood-carvers , smiths and silversmiths . The women

are very skilful in plaiting. Very good canoes are made. For

merly they hunted whales with harpoons . Trade was alreadyhighly developed before the arrival o f the whites ; they tradedeven with remote parts of the coast and with the tribes of theinterior. The trade in slaves was formerly carried on on a large

scale The large and ingeniously built canoes o f the Haidasare widely celebrated ; they often make them for sale. Theyhave a standard of value : formerly slaves o r pieces of copper,now blankets . Their houses are richly ornamented . They are“noted for their Skill in the construction o f their variousimplements

, particularly for sculptures in stone and ivory,in

which they excel all the other tribes o f Northern America”

The Tsimshian formerly acted as midd lemen in the slave-trade.

The southern tribes kidnapped or captured Slaves , sold themto the Tsimshian , and these aga in to the Tlinkits and interiorTinneh .

“Each chief about Fort Simpson kept an artisan, whose

business it was to repair canoes , make masks , etc .

”The

Atuas “understand the art of working copper, and have com

mercial relations with surrounding tribes” . They buy their Slavesfrom the Koltschanes Gibbs states that in W. Washington

1 ) Kane, p. 238. 2) Bancro ft, p. 90. 3) Ib id .,p. 86 ; Holmberg, I pp . 99—103,

79. 4) Krause, pp. 1 59, 173, 186. See also Holmberg, I pp. 26—29. 5) Krause,pp ,

306, 307, 313 ; Swan, Haidah Ind ians , pp. 2 , 3 ; Bancroft, p. 1 65. 6) Niblack , p .

252 ; Bancroft, p. 166. 7) Bancroft, p. 135.

208 3HUNTERS AND FISHERS .

and N . W. Oregon the Indians o f the interior p reserve some

kinds o f salmon,

“which after a stay in the fresh water havelost their superfluous oil

,and these are often actual ly traded

to those Indians at the mouth o f the river o r on the Sound .

The Dalles was formerly a great depo t for this commerce”:Some wild-growing roo ts“were formerly a great article of tradewith the interior” . The slave- trade is carried on here too .“Many of the slaves held here are brought from California

,

where they were taken by the warlike and predato ry Indians,

o f the plains , and so ld to the Kallapuia and Tsinuk.”“Many

o f them [the slaves] belong to distant tribes”

The tribesabout Puget Sound '

have cano es , beautifully made, painted andpo lished . The houses o f the rich are made o f planks split fromtrees by means of bone wedges.“In their barter between the

different tribes , and in estimating their wealth , the blanket isgenerally the unit o f value, and the hiagua , a longwhite shellobtained off Cape Flattery at a considerable depth , is alsoextensively used for money

,its value increasing with its length .

A kind o f annual fair for trading purposes and festivities isheld by the tribes o f Puget Sound at Bajada Point.” “Slavesare obtained by war and kidnapping

,and are sold in large

numbers to northern tribes” Of the Noo tkas Bancroft says“Trade in all their productions was carried on briskly betweenthe different Nootka tribes before the coming o f the whites.

”

“The slave-trade forms an important part of their commerce.

Harpooners are a privileged class The several d 1vrs1ons o f theAhts mutually exchange the fish that each o f them catches.They also sell mats and baskets manufactured by the women.

According to Jewitt’

s narrative , they made very good canoes.A kind o f shel l , strung upon threads

,formed a circulating

medium among them , five fathoms o f it being the price of a

slave,their most valuable species of property.

“The trade of

mo st o f the other tribes with Nootka was principally train-o il,

seal or whale’s blubber, fish fresh or dried , herring or salmon

spawn, clams and mussels , and the yama , a species o f fruit whichis pressed and dried

,cloth , sea-o tter skins , and slaves

”

1 ) Gibb s , pp . 195, 193, 188, 189. 2 ) Bancroft, pp. 21 1 , 21 6—218. 3) Ibid ., pp . 192 ,1 87, 194. 4) Sproat, pp. 38, 97; Brown, Adventures o f John Jewitt, pp . 1 23, 1 15, 137.


therefore easily understand why the Koniaga s did not keepful l-grown captive men as Slaves

,but acquired theirmale slaves

by means o f exchange Similarly , a chief o f the Cowitchins

(near Vancouver Island) , according to Kane,“took many captives ,

whom he usually so ld to the tribes further north,thus dimin

ishing their chance of escaping back through a hostile countryto their own people”

b . Where the fishing implements are brought to a highperfection (canoes, nets , harpoons) , fishing becomes more remunerative ; the produce o f a fishing slave’s labour exceeds h isprimary wants more than where fishing is carried on in a

ruder manner.

0. The more the freemen devote themselves to trade and

industry , the more need there is for slaves to d o the ruderwork (fishing, rowing

,cooking, The trade itself may

also require menial work : carrying goods or rowing boats on

commercial journeys , etc .

d . Another effect of intertribal trade,together with a settled

life and abundance o f food , is probably this , that these tribes

are not so warlike as most hunters. So they need not employall available forces in warfare ; they can afford to keep maleslaves who d o no t fight. We have seen that the Koniagas are“adapted to labour and commerce rather than to war and hunting

”

, and that the Chinooks“were always a commercial rather

than a warlike people” . Regarding the o ther tribes it is no t.

clearly stated,whether war is very frequent but our im

pression, on perusing the ethnographical literature , is , that itis no t nearly so frequent as among the Sioux , Oj ibways, andSimilar tribes .

5 . Prop erty and wea lth are also highly developed . Schmoller

remarks : “We know now,that there are some instances of

settled hunting and fishing tribes with villages , with some deve

lopment of the means of conveyance,with d og-sledges , reindeer,

1 ) Holmb erg, I p . 79. 2) Kane' p . 220. 3) Trad ing itself is not a d rudgery, buta highly agreeab le occupation.

“Most of theAfricans” says Livingstone (Zambesi, p . 50)“arenatural-born traders ; they love trade more for the sake of trading, than for what they makeby it.” Biicher decided ly underrates the significance of trade among savages. 4) So

Bancroft (p. 91 ) says of theAleuts :“Notwithstand ing their peaceful character, the occupantsof the several island s were almost constantly at war.” This is far from clear ; for we can

hard ly imagine peaceful people being always at war with each other.

HUNTERS AND FISHERS . 21 1

etc .,with a certain social organization of the chase and fish

ery , with ornaments and slaves,with rich and poor people ;

such is the case in Northern California , in Northern Asia , inKamchatka” Among the Koniagas “when an individual becomes ambitious of popularity, a feast is given

”. Aman

’

s wealth ,among them

,formerly depended on the number of sea-otter

skins he owned Among the Tlinkits private property com

prises clothes , weapons, immements , hunting territories and

road s of commerce. Nobility depends on wealth rather than on

birth Of the Haidas Bancroft says :“Rank and power dependgreatly upon wealth , which consists of implements , wives and

slaves . Admission to alliance with medicine-men, whose in

fluence is greatest in the tribe,can only b e gained by sacri

fice o f private property”

. Swan speaks o f wooden pillars , placedbefore the houses of the rich . They are elaborately carved at

a cost of hundreds of blankets,and fetch up to 1000 do llars .

Only the very rich are able to purchase them Kane speaksof a Cowitchin chief who“possessed much of what is consideredwealth amongst the Indians, and it gradually accumulated fromtributes which he exacted from his people. On his possessionsreaching a certain amount , it is customary to make a g reatfeast

,to which all contribute . The neighbouring chiefs with

whom he is in amity are invited , and at the conclusion o f the

entertainment, he distributes all he has co llected since the lastfeast, perhaps three or four years preced ing , among his guestsas presents . The amount o f property thus co llected and givenaway by a chief is sometimes very considerable . I have heardof one possessing as many as twelve bales of blankets , fromtwenty to thirty guns

,with numberless pots , kettles, and pans,

knives , and other articles o f cutlery , and great quantities of

beads , and other trinkets,as well as numerous beautiful Chinese

boxes , which find their way here from the Sandwi ch Islands .

The object in thus giving his treasures away is to add to his

own importance in the eyes of others,his own people often

boasting o f how much their chief had given away, and exhibitingwith pride such things as they had received themselves from

1 ) Schmoller , Grundriss. I p . 1 95. — 2) Bancroft, p . 84; H olmberg, I p. 1 12 . 3) Krause,pp. 1 67, 1 22. 4) Bancroft, p . 1 67; Swan, p . 3.


him”

Among the Nootkas“private wealth consists of boatsand implements for obtaining food

,domestic utensils

,slaves

,and

blankets”

.

“The accumulation of property beyond the necessitiesof life is only considered desirable for the purpo se of distributingit in presents on great feast-days

, and thereby acquiring a

reputation for wealth and liberality” In Jewitt’s narrative itis stated , that among the Ahts the king is obliged to supporthis dignity by making frequent entertainments, o therwise hewould no t b e considered as conducting himself like a king, andwould b e no more thought of than a common man A wealthyFish Indian may also win renown by giving away or destroyingproperty Boas

,describing the Kwakiutl Indians, Speaks of“the method of acquiring rank. This is done by means of the

potlatch,or the distribution of property. The underlying principle

is that of the interest-bearing investment of property He givesan elaborate account of this institution Among the Makah“the larger class of canoes generally belong to a single individualand he receives a proportionate share of the booty from the

crew” Among the Tacullies “any person may become a

minty or chief who will o ccasionally provide a village feast”

Of the tribes of W. Washington and N.W. Oregon Gibbs says“Wealth gives a certain power among them,and influence is

purchased by its lavish distribution.

” They have pretty clearideas about the right of property in houses and goods. Themen own property distinct from their wives. The husband hashis own blankets , the wife her mats and baskets Bancrofttells us of the Puget Sound Indians :“I find no evidence of

hereditary rank or caste except as wealth is sometimes inherited”

Among the Chinooks“individuals were protected in their rightto personal property

,such as slaves, canoes , and implements

”.

Each village was ruled by a chief“either hereditary or selectedfor his wealth and popularity”

The effects of this development of property and wealth are

a . Social status depending mainly upon wealth , a slave may'

b e a good hunter or fisher and valued as such , and yet b e

despised as a penniless fellow.

1 ) Kane, pp. 220, 221 . 2) Bancroft, p . 191 . 3) Brown, Adventures of John Jewitt,p. 2 16. 4) Mayne, p. 263. 5) Boas, Kwakiutl , p. 341 . 6) Gibbs, p. 175. 7)Ban

croft, p . 1 23. 8) Gibbs , p . 185, 1 87. 9) Bancroft, p. 2 17. 10) Ibid ., pp.


lerate the growth of slavery on the Pacific Coast . These tribes

form a somewhat homogeneous group , and have much intercourse with each other. So we may suppose that some of them,

that were not yet in such an economic state as spontaneously

to invent slavery, have begun to keep slaves,imitating what

they saw among their neighbours ; the more so,as the slave

trade made this very easy. For our group is not quite homo

geneous. The picture we gave of their highly developed economiclife does not equally apply to all these tribes. The summerand winter dwel lings o f the Similkameem are rather primitive.

They depend on hunting for a large portion of their food.

Trade and industry, property and wealth are not mentioned ;it is only stated that at a later period they had horses and

cattle Niblack tells us that the Tsimshian so ld slaves to theTlinkits and interior Tinneh ; but

“the last-named had no

hereditary slaves , getting their supply from the coast” No

more particulars are given ; but we may suppose that amongthese interior Tinneh slavery existed in a rather embryonicstate, and would not have existed at all but for the slave-trade.

The early ethno logists o verrated the influence of imitation and

derivation of so cial institutions ; but we must not fall into theo ther extreme and underrate it. An institution may b e derivedand thereby its growth accelerated , o f course within restrictedlimits.If the information we have got on the work imposed on slaves

were more complete, it would perhaps have been better first tosurvey this information; and thence to infer what place slaveryoccupies among the tribes o f the Pacific Coast . But the statementsof our ethnographers regarding slave labour are rather incomplete.

A survey of them may , however , b e of some use. In the firstplace it will be seen

,whether they can b e brought to agree

with the exposition given above of the causes o f slavery ; and ,secondly, our survey wil l perhaps provide us with new valuable

data,which may give us a clearer understanding of the siga

canoe of slavery on the Pacific Coast of North America.

The o ccupations of slaves mentioned by our ethnographersare the fo llowing :

1 ) Allison , pp . 309, 306, 315. 2) Niblack , p . 252.

HUNTERS AND FISHEBS . 215

In a few cases the s laves s trengthen their mas ter’

s forcein warfare. Aleut slaves always accompany their masters , andhave to pro tect them

“Ko tzebue says that a rich man [amongthe Tlinkits] purchases male and female slaves, who must labourand fish for him , and strengthen his force when he is engagedin warfare” We may suppose that the last part of thissentence applies to male slaves only. Tsimshian slaves guardthe house , when the master is absent Among the Ahts , thes laves were obliged to attend their masters in war and to fightfor themThis military function of slavery, as we shall see

,also exists

among several pastoral and agricultural peoples. The industrial

part o f society, in such cases , is not quite differentiated fromthe military part. As for the Tlinkits , Tsimshian and Ahts

,the

employing of slaves for protecting the master or his propertyis facilitated by the slave-trade : a purchased slave , broughtfrom a great distance, may b e made to fight

,where it would

not b e safe to employ in warfare a slave captured from a

neighbouring tribe ; for the latter will probably b e much inclinedto go over to the enemies

,who often are his own kindred.

But the example o f the Aleuts , whose slaves are prisoners ofwar and their descendants shows that even captive slavesmay be employed in warfare. We shall not very much wonderat this , if we take into consideration,

that prisoners o f war aresometimes soon forgotten

,and even repelled , by their former

c ountrymen . So “if a Mojave is taken prisoner he is foreverd iscarded in his own nation, and should he return his mothereven will not own him”

The expectation of such treatmentmay induce captive slaves to fight on theirmasters ’ side againsttheir own tribesmen rather than jo in the latter.

Slaves are sometimes employed in hunting, fishing and

work connected with fishing, such as rowing , etc . From a state

ment of Dunn’

s , quoted by Niblack , we learn that at FortSimpson , British Co lumbia (in the country o f the Tsimshian),a full-grown athletic slave, who is a go od hunter, will fetchnine blankets , a gun , a quantity of powder and ball

,a couple

1 ) Petroff, p. 152. 2 ) Bancroft, p . 108 ; see also Niblack , p . 252. 3) Boss , DieTsimshian

, p . 244. 4) Brown, Adventures of John Jewitt,p . 130. 5) Petrofi

'

, p. 152 .

6) Bancro ft, p . 499.

216 HUNTER S AND FISHERS .

o f dressed elk skins , tobacco , vermilion paint, a flat file ,

other little articles” And Boas tells us,that Tsimshian sl

row the boats , bring the killed seals to land , andTlinkit slaves , as it appears from Kotement , must fish for their masters . Among the Nootkas /“thecommon business of fishing for ordinary sustenance is carriedon by slaves

,or the lower class of people ; while the more

noble o ccupation o f killing the whale and hunting the sea-o tteris fo l lowed by none but the chiefs and warriors” 3) .4

'

Accordingto Jewitt

’

s narrative,Ab t slaves had to supply their masters

with fish. The author,on his wedding an Ab t girl , got two

young male slaves presented to him to assist him in fishingDunn’s statement about hunting slaves is very valuable . It

proves that hunting is here no longer the chief and noble

o ccupation of freemen. Among such people as for instance theOj ibways a good hunter is held in high esteem

,not bought at

a high price as a valuable slave. What we have said in thelast paragraph about hunting not being fit to be perfo rmed byslaves , is not impaired by this statement ; for hunting amongthese traders is not the most honoured occupation ; moreover ,the abundance of game along the Pacific Coast makes it veryeasy ; it does not require nearly so much skill and application

as among the Oj ibways and similar tribes . This statement alsocontains a most striking refutation o f Bos

’

assertion,that slavery

here exists only as a reminiscence o f a hypothetical former

agricultural state If this were true , there might b e traces

of an ancient slave system ; slaves might even still b e kept by

rich men as a luxury ; but the slave’s ability in hunting would

not enter as a determining factor into his price. Slavery existshere in full vigour, a nd is no t in any way , as Bos will haveit,foreign to the economic state in which these tribes live

1 ) Niblack, p . 252. 2) Boas, Die Tsimshian,p . 237. 3) Meares, as quoted by

Bancroft,p . 188. 4) Brown , Adventures of John Jewitt, pp. 130; 201 . 5) See above,

p . 1 96. 6) See ab ove,p . 174. 7) Letourneau also seems to consider slavery foreign

to the way of life of these tribes. He has not,however, recourse to a hypothetical former

agricultural state,but to the great ethnological p ons asinorum

,derivation (pp. 1 32 ,

But he d oes not inform us whence slavery can have been derived . Perhaps from the

inland tribes who. as Letourneau himself proves to b e aware,have no slaves ? Or from

the Siberians, who are rather in a lower than in a higher economic state as compared

with the Ind ians of the Pacific Coast ? Or from the Hindus or any other mythical earlyvisitors of America ?


the same statement , says that“slaves did all the drudgery”

The Tacullies use their slaves “as beasts of burden” , whichperhaps also means imposing househo ld labour upon themHo lmberg states that the Koniagas employed their slaves as

labourers or servants And Niblack remarks about the CoastIndians of Southern Alaska and Northern British Columbia ingeneral :“When slavery was in vogue

,this class performed all

the menial drudgery”

It is remarkable , that slaves in so many cases are stated toperform household

,i. e. female , labour. These statements are

even more numerous than tho se about fishing and Similar work ;so it would seem - (we may no t speak more positively , as our

information is rather incomplete) , that househo ld work is thechief occupation o f slaves along the Pacific Coast. Now it iseasy to understand

,that fixed habitations and the preserving

o f food for winter use require a large amount o f domesticlabour. But this does no t so lve the question ,

why slaves are

employed for this work ;'

why the men purchase or captureslaves not for their own private use

,but in order to relieve

their wives o f a part of their task . In Australia women are

overworked , and beaten into the bargain ; why are the men

o f the Pacific Coast so anxious to give the women assistancein their work ?It might b e

,that female labour is valued by the men, be

cause articles of trade are prepared by the women. Unfortu

mately the ethnographers most often content themselves withremarking that a brisk trade is carried on

,or that some tribe

is commercial rather than warlike , without specifying the

ments tend to verify our

the Chinooks before the

were : fish,oil, shells , and Wapato .

The Wapato,i

ka bulbous roo t , compared by some to the po

tato and turnip , was the aboriginal staple, and was gatheredby women” Lewis and Clark also state that this bulb, which“is the great article of food , and almost the staple article of

commerce on the Calumbia”

,is co llected chiefly by the women

1 ) Niblack, p . 252. 2) lBancroft, p . 1 24. 3) Holmberg, I p . 78. 4) Niblack ,p. 253. 5) Bancroft, pp. 234. 6) Lewis and Clark , III p. 38.

HUNTERS AND FISHEBS . 219

The Tlinkits export to the interior basket-work, danc1ng clo thes,train-o il prepared from the ssag (a kind o f fish) , a sort o f cakesmade of Alaria Esculenta (a sea-weed) . The women manufacturebasket-work , dancing clothes , mocassins and o ther clothes . Inthe fishing season they are from morning to night engaged in

preparing the fish . In the autumn they gather berries , bark,leaves and o ther vegetable by

—meat ; in other seasons theygather Shells and sea-urchins on the beach Here all articleso f trade are products of female labour.Among the Ahts basketsand mats , manufactured by the women

,are so ld ; the women

may keep the proceeds , and also get a little portion of theirhusbands’ earnings . Our informant

,speaking of the several

divisions o f the Ahts mutually exchanging the fish that eacho f them catches , probably also means fish prepared by thewomen In W . Washington and N . W. Oregon the kamas ,

a root which was“formerly a great article of trade with theinterior”, is dug by the women What articles are expor tedby the other tribes we d o not know .

There is another fact strengthening our hypothesis : womenare often consulted in matters of trade. Among the Tlinkits“the men rarely conclude a bargain without consulting theirwives

” Nootka wives too“are consulted in matters o f trade”About P uget Sound the females “are always consulted in

matterS‘

of trade before a bargain is closed” Chinook women“are consulted on all important matters

” which matters ,among these commercial people, necessarily include the trade .

Among the Haidas , the trade, in Jewitt’

s time , was even principally managed by the women

, who were expert in makinga bargainThis need no t

, however, b e the only cause ; for women hereenjoy a rather high position ; so it might be that the menwish to al leviate the task o f their wives, quite apart from the

occupation o f the latter in preparing the articles of commerce.

Aleuts, if not addicted to drinking, are good husbands, and help

their wives in everything Among the Tlinkits , according toKrause ,

“woman’

s position is not a bad one. She is not the

1 ) Krause, pp. 186, 1 59. 2 ) Sproat, pp. 97, 38. 3) Gibbs , p. 1 93. 4) Bancroft,p. 1 1 2 ; see also Krause, p . 161 . 5) Brancroft. p . 196.

-6) Ibid .,p . 2 18. 7) Ib id ., p.

242. 8) Brown, Adventures of John Jewitt , p . 241 . 9) Elliott, p. 1 64.


slave of her husband ; she has determinate rights,and her

influence is considerable” ; and Bancroft remarks that“there

are few savage nations , in which the sex have greater influenceor command greater respect

” Noo tka wives “seem to b e

nearly on terms o f equality with their husbands, except that

they are excluded from some public feasts and ceremonies”

and Sproat tells us that among the Ahts Slaves only are pro

stituted ; women are not badly treated ; a wife may leave herhusband with the consent o f her relatives Among the

Koniagas , according to Holmberg, the women did no t ho ld a

subordinate place as among o ther savage tribes of North America ,but enjoyed high c onsideration In W. Washington and

N . W. Oregon , according to Gibbs ,“the condition of the woman

is that o f slavery under any circumstances.”But the parti

culars he gives prove that the women here are not so verybadly off. In their councils “the women are present at

,and

jo in in the deliberations,speaking in a low tone

,their words

being repeated aloud by a reporter. On occasions of less cere

mony, they sometimes address the audience without any suchintervention,

and give their admonitions with a freedom o f

tongue highly edifying. In a few instances,matrons o f Superior

character,strong minded women” , have obtained an influence

similar to that o f chiefs.

”The men own property distinct from

their wives .

“He has his own blankets , she hermats and baskets,and generally speaking her earnings belong to her, except thosearising from prostitution

,which are her husband’s .

”Sometimes“

the courtship commences in this way the girl wishing a

husband , and taking a straightforward mode o f attracting one.

”

“The accession of a new wife in the lodge very natural ly produces jealousy and discord

, and the first often returns for a

time in dudgeon to her friends,to b e reclaimed by her husband

when he choo ses , perhaps after propitiating her by some

present” Y et the condition of women seems not to b e quiteas good as among the other tribes.

“Aman sends his wife away ,or sells her at his will.” “An Indian, perhaps, will not let hisfavourite wife

, but he looks upon his others, his sisters, daughters ,

1 ) Krause, p. 1 61 ; Bancroft, p . 109. 2) Bancroft, p . 196.—3) Sproat, p. 95.—4) Holm

b erg, I p. 1 19. 5) Gib bs, pp. 198, 185, 187.


that domestic comfort , worth much in these co ld regions,

depends on the women. As militarism does not prevail here

to any great extent , women are not so much in need of maleprotection. And village life makes conspiracy of women possible.

So among the Aleuts“a religious festival used to b e held in '

December, at which all the women of the village assembled by

moonlight , and danced naked with masked faces,the men being

excluded under penalty of death” Last but not least, sub sistence here is largely dependent on female labour. Lewis and

Clark remark : “Where the women can aid in pro curingsubsistence for the tribe, they are treated with more equality

,

and their importance is proportioned to the share which theytake in that labour ; while in countries where subsistence ischiefly procured by the exertions of the men

,the women are

considered and treated as burdens . Thus , among the Clatsopsand Chinnooks , who live upon fish and roots

,which the women

are equally expert with the men in procuring , the former havea rank and influence very rarely found among Indians. Thefemales are permitted to speak freely before the men , to whomindeed they sometimes address themselves in a tone of autho

rity. On many subjects their judgments and opinions are

respected,and in matters o f trade , their advice is generally

asked and pursued . The labours of the family too,are shared

almost equally”

We have only enumerated some causes tending to bringabout a go od condition o f women. It is not the place here to

expatiate upon this po int any further. But it is worth whileto emphasize the fact itself, that women are on the who lewel l treated among these tribes . A German writer

,Dr. Gro sse,

has tried to prove , that among the“higher hunters” (he'hereJdger) as well as among the“lower hunters (niedere Jdger)

hardly ever allowed to have a fire on the grate during the winter. The cause of this

imperious behaviour of Ameland women is not d ifficult to detect : as the men are at home

only in the Winter, the women rule for the greater part of the year, and are not inclinedto part with their authority in winter-time. Therefore most men , so to speak , b oard at

their wives’ houses, and if they want to keep peace, have to put up with female ascen

d eney.” Tegenwoord ige Staat der Vereenigde Nederlanden, XIV pp. 363, 364.In the same sense Professor Nieuwenhuis writes about the Kayans on the Mendalam“As the men are often ab sent on long j ourneys

,the women get the lead in household

affairs” (Door Centraal-Borneo, I p . 1 ) Bancroft, p. 93. 2) Lewis and Clark ,II pp. 334, 335.


woman’s state is a bad one . As all our tribes belong to Grosse’

s“higher hunters” we shall attempt to find out , why hisconclusion is so different from ours . He quotes several eth

nographical statements,which are to afford a basis for his

inference We Shal l examine whether this is a sound basis.

Grosse does not always exactly specify which tribe each quotationapplies to ; but as he mo st frequently quo tes Bancroft, we can

easily find it out. He first quo tes this statement o f Bancro ft’sabout the Shoshones :“The weaker sex of course d o the hardestlabour, and receive more blows than kind words for their

pains”

But the very next sentence :“These people , in com

mon with most nomadic nations,have the barbarous custom

of abandoning the old and infirm the moment they find theman incumbrance,

”shows that these Shoshones are not at all

to b e compared to the Tlinkits and similar tribes ; their modeo f life is decidedly rude and little comfortable. Then he refersto some passages of Bancroft’s , proving that unfaithfulness of

the wife is punished with death,whereas the husband has

the right to prostitute his wife to strangers. These passagesapply to the Southern and Northern Californians as wel l asto the Shoshones . But about the former it is also stated :“Ifa man ill-treated his wife

,her relations took her away

,after

paying back the value of her wedding presents , and thenmarried her to another” And of the Northern Californianswe are to ld :“Among the Modocs po lygamy prevails , and thewomen have consid erable privilege. The Hoopa adulterer losesone eye , the adulteress is exempt from punishment” Moreover,“although the principa l labour falls to the lot o f the

women,the men sometimes assist in building the Wigwam ,

or even in gathering acorns and roots”

Another statementof Bancroft

’

s, quoted by Gro sse

,applies to the Chepewyans“The Northern Indian is master o f his househo ld . He marries

without ceremony , and divorces his wife at his pleasure. A

man of forty buys or fights for a spouse of twelve , and whentired of her whips her and sends her away” This statement

is corroborated by a report o f Hearne’s. But why Gro sse calls

1 ) Grosse, p . 65. 2 ) Ib id .,pp. 74—78. 3) Bancroft, p . 437. 4) Ib id .,

p . 41 2.5) Powers , as quoted by Bancroft, p . 351 . 6) Bancroft, p . 351 . 7) Ib id .

,p

. 1 17.


the Chepewyans“higher hunters we d o not understand .“Altogether they are pronounced an inferior race” .

“TheChepewyans inhabit huts o f brush and portable skin tents"Their weapons and their utensils are o f the most primitivekind” The next quo tation applies to the Kutchins , whosewives “are treated more like dogs than human beings”. But

this is only stated of the Tenan Kutchin ,

“people of the

mountains,”“

a wild , ungovernable horde , their territory never

yet having been invaded by white people”.

“The KutchaKutchin ,

“people o f the lowland ,

”are cleaner and better man

nered” . And of these “better mannered” Kutchins Bancroftsays : “The women perform all domestic duties , and eat afterthe husband is satisfied ; but the men paddle the boats , andhave even been known to carry their wives ashore

,so that

they might not wet their feet” As for the Nootkas , womenbeing “somewhat overworked” (Gro sse does no t mention that

among the richer class most female work is done by slaves) ,and excluded from some public feasts, Grosse concludes thattheir state is a bad one. We have quo ted above some facts

tending to prove the contrary. Then Grosse asserts that , accordingto Bancroft, Haida husbands pro stitute their wives for money.

Bancroft , however, says literally :“While jealousy is no t entirely

unknown , chastity appears to be so,as women who can earn

the greatest number o f blankets win great admiration for

themselves and high position for their husbands” which isnot exactly the same. The Tlinkits , according to Grosse , are

the only, unaccountable exception to his general rule. Finallyhe attempts to prove, that the alleged supremacy of women in

Kamchatka do es not signify so very much ; but that Kamchadale

women are badly treated , even he does not assert.What remains now o f Grosse’s evidence ? Tlinkit and Kam

chadale women he himself admits not to be badly off. Whathe says of Nootkas and Haidas proves very little. About the

Northern and Southern Californians we have got statements .

that impair Grosse’

s argument very much. Only among the

Shoshones, Chepewyans , and Tenan Kutchin is the state of

women decidedly bad ; but these are not on a level with the

1 ) Ibid .,pp . 1 17—1 1 9. 2) Ib id ., pp . 131 , 132. 3) Ibid .

,p . 1 69.


Ab ipones, whom they fo llow in their hunting and fightingexpeditions ; though Spaniards themselves, they d o no t hesitateto stain their hands with Spanish blood .

” “The liberty to gowhere they like , the abundance of food and clo thing procuredwithout any labour, the possesion of many horses , the freedomto idle and run into debauchery , the lawless impunity theyenjoy , bind the Spanish captives so much to the Ab ipones , thatthey prefer their captivity to liberty

”.

“The Ab ipones , thoughconsidering po lygamy allowed , very seldom take several wivesat a time ; the captives d o not often content themselves withone wife

,but marry as many female prisoners

,Spanish or

Ind ian,as they can

”

The reason for taking prisoners here was the same as amongthe Iroquo is and similar tribes , where they were ad opted ;withthis so le difference

,that the Ab ipones seem to have had a sexual

aversion (that canno t b e accounted for here) to all men and

women outside their own nation ; therefore they did no t adopttheir prisoners

,nor had they any sexual intercourse with them .

Slavery as a system o f labour did not exist here .

As for their economic life , this was much inferior to that onthe Pacific Coast of North America. They subsisted on the spon

taneous products o f nature and on game. Food was abundant ;

yet their mode of life required frequent migrations . All theirjourneys were performed on horsebackThe information we get about the Tehuelches is very ih

complete. Falkner states , that the female relatives o f the caciquehave slaves , who perform most o f their workIn Kamchatka slaves were employed for various domestic

labours , such as fetching wood,feeding the dogs , making axes

and knives from stone and bone The Kamchadales were

no t so far advanced in the arts o f l ife as the tribes o f the

Pacific Coast o f North America. They think only of the present ,says Steller ; they are not ambitious to become rich . They d onot like to work more than is needed for their own and their

families’ subsistence.

“When they have got as much as theythink to b e sufficient, they d o no t co llect any more food ; they

would not even d o so , if the fish came on land and the animals

1 ) Dobrizhofi'

er, II pp. 149, 151 , 1 52 . 2 ) Ibid .

,pp . 1 19

,1 20. 3) Falkner, p. 1 26.

4) Steller, p . 235 note.


into their dwellings A rather brisk trade was , however, carried

on by them and was largely dependent on female labour

They also had fixed habitationsSpeaking of the tribes of the Pacific Coast , we concluded

that Slavery must have already existed among them at a some

what lower stage of economic life . The Kamchadales afforda proof of this . They were no t so far advanced in the arts o f

life as the tribes o f the Pacific Coast ; yet slavery alreadyexisted among them ,

though it does no t seem to have prevailed

here to any great extent .

3. Experimentam crucis : Aus tra lia .

In the last paragraph we have shown that in the economicand social life o f the Slave-keeping hunters and fishers (espe

cially those on the Pacific Coast o f North America) there are

some features which account for the existence o f slavery. But

there is still something wanting in our argument. It might b ethat the circumstances which we have called causes of Slaverywere equally found among the hunting and fishing tribes thatd o no t keep slaves ; in that case the forego ing argument would

prove insufficient . Therefore we shall apply here the experimentamcrucis ; we shall inquire how much the economic and sociallife o f the slave-keeping tribes differs from that of the o thertribes . This investigation may b e instructive in various respects .

lt might b e , that o f the supposed causes o f slavery some werefound among non-slave-keeping as wel l as among slave-keepingtribes , whereas others existed among none but slave-keepingtribes ; then the latter causes only would be decisive. Or perhapswe shall find that each of these causes exists among one or

more non-slave-keeping tribes ; but that the combination o f all

the causes is found nowhere but among slave-keeping tribes.It were also possible , that a combination o f the same causesexisted among non-slave-keeping tribes

,but that among these

there were other circumstances neutralizing the former.Whetherany of these possibilities is a reality

,will appear from the

ensuing investigation.

1 ) Ib id ., pp. 245 , 286. 286 note

,317, 318. 2) Ibid .

,pp . 210 sqq.


We d o n ot , however, think that it is necessary to give a surveyof the economic and social life o f all non-slave-keeping hunters andfishers . For we have seen that among the tribes of the PacificCoast o f North America the gro wth o f slavery is much furtheredby their forming a somewhat homogeneous group . Accordinglyslavery among the few slave-keeping tribes outside the PacificCoast seems to b e little developed . Now there are many non

slave-keeping hunting and fishing tribes,either living quite

isolated (e. g. Andaman Islanders,Fuegians) o r surrounded by

more powerful,agricultural or pastoral

,tribes (e. g. Bushmen,

African pigmies) . That such a position is very unfavourableto the existence of slavery is evident.We shal l therefore confineourselves to a survey o f the three great groups o f huntersand fishers outside the Pacific Coast : the Australians, theIndians of Central North America, and the Eskimo s . Austral iaand the regions where the Eskimos live are inhabited by huntersand fishers only. In Central North America a few agriculturaltribes o f the lowest stage (hunting agriculturists) are found ;but these differ so little from hunters proper, that we mayspeak here of a group of hunters

,not inclo sed between superior

peoples . Perhaps the hunters and hunting agriculturists o f

Brazil , Paraguay, etc . form a similar group ; but the'

literature

on these tribes accessible to us was rather incomplete.

We shall inquire now,whether the several circumstances

furthering the growth o f slavery on the Pacific Coast, are found

among each of these groups.In the first place we shall regard Australia .

Abundance of food . Food in Australia is by no means

abundant and often very scarce. The Australians are omnivo

rous in the widest sense of the word ; they eat evenmice, rats ,lizards , beetles, etc . In some parts o f Australia , especially on

the Wes t Coast and in the interior, the natives are continuallysuffering from hunger Thomas remarks :“In few parts o f

Australia can the native count on anything like regular supplies

o f food. He is dependent on the course of the seasons for his

seeds and fruits ; the time of year also affects the supply of

fish in many parts ; and in Central Australia , perhaps owing

1 ) Waits-Gerland , VI pp . 724, 725.

230 HUNTERS AND PISHERS .

coast continually for fish of various kinds ; and , at the right

season, to the lands where are found the native bread,the yam,

and the acacia gum”

According to Eylmann, the natives of

South Australia , in their barren country , are forced not onlyto continually move on, but to l ive in smal l hordes And

Thomas states that “the tribal areas are almo st invariably

small” The writers who describe separate tribes also often

state that these tribes are nomadic and live in small groups.We shall quote here only the statements of our ethnographersconcerning one significant fact

,that presents a striking con

trast to the state of things on the Pacific Coast , viz. the improvidence of the Australians. In the Moore River District ofW. Australia food is abundant in the summer ; but the natives

are reckless of the future ; they consume whatever they have

got. The natives of S . W. Australia preserve no food ; if thegame killed is too much for a family to eat in one day, neigh

b ouring families are invited and a feast is given,t ill nothing

is left. They d o,however, store up acaciagum, and carry

roots with them. The Queenslanders on Herbert River thinkonly of the present moment. The Cammarray of N. S . Wales

eat as long as they have anything ; they never lay up provisions , except when a dead whale has been cast on shore. Ofthe aborigines o f N . S. Wales in general Fraser tells us :“Whenthe fish are abundant

,the fishers canno t use a tithe of the

fish they catch, and so sell them to all comers at a few pence

for a backful. As for themselves, they have a noble feast ,they and all their tribe ; and , as is their habit whenever theyhave abundance, they gorge themselves so that their bodies

are swo llen to unnatural dimensions and seem ready to burst.

When they can hold no more, they go to sleep like snakes,and sleep for twenty-four hours or more. Similar particularsare gives by Angas. Spencer and Gil len, in their description

o f the natives of Central Australia, remark that“when times

are favourable the black fellow is as lighthearted as possible

He has not the slightest thought of, or care for, what the

morrow may bring forth , and lives entirely in the present”

1 ) Brough Smyth , I p. 1 23. 2) Eylmann, p . 155. 3) Thomas, p. 26. 4) Spencerand Gillen, Native tribes, p . 53.


AS for the Tasmanians :“They lay up no store o f pro visions ,and have been known in winter time to eat kangaroo skins

”

Matthews , speaking of several tribes of Queensland and South

Australia, states that they“are very improvident, and accumulate

no property beyond their weapons and rugs” And Forresttells us that the natives o f Central and Western ‘

Australia“live from hand to mouth,never co llect more than enough for

the day , and eac h morning have to lo ok out for their day’sfood” Thomas remarks , that it is not true that the Australiandoes not store food .

“Much of his food he must perforce eat

quickly , or natura l processes would make his labour in vain.

But the bunga—bunya nut , grass and o ther seed cakes, and

possibly o ther kinds of food,were certainly put aside for future

use”

He evidently means to say , that their preserving relatively little food is not due to improvidence, but to necessity.

But however this may be , the fact that most of the co llectedfood i s consumed quickly remains , and this fact, not the un

derlying motives , has important consequences with regard tothe economic structure of their society.

Trade and indus try . Bartering is not at all unknownamong the Australians

,Fraser

,speaking of N . S.Wales, remarks :“I have already spoken o f pipe-clay and ruddle as articles of

trade ; the Mindi-mindi gatherings are the markets at whichthis trade is carried on. The necessity for these fairs is no t

far to seek . A black man’

s own “taurai” does not furnisheverything he requires for his daily life. In it there may befood enough, but he wants suitable stone for an axe , woodfor his spears , and “bumerangs” and Shields and clubs

,flint

fo r cutting and skinning, gum to b e used as cement

, and

lumps of gritty sandstone, on which to sharpen his stone-axe ;

for adornment , the pipe-clay and the red -ochre are muchvalued , and so are swan-down feathers and the rose-co louredcrests of a certain kind o f cockatoo ; some of these he can

1 ) Literature. On the Moore River District,Oldfield ; on S. W. Australia

,Salvad o ; on

the natives on Herbert River,Lumholtz ; on the Cammarray , Collins ; on N. S . Wales

,

Fraser and Angas ; on Central Australia, Spencer and Gillen, Native tribes, p . 53 ; on theTasmanians

, Ling Roth. As we had not got all the b ooks at hand , but only some notes

which we had previously made,in which the pages were not specified , we could not give

all the exact references. 2) Matthews, in Fraser’s Notes, p. 188. 3) Forrest, p . 318.

4) Thomas , p. 1 17.


supply; and for them he gets in barter o thers that he wants.Then also there are manufactured a rticles which he can givein exchange , cloaks , rugs, baskets , knitted bags, nets , weapons ,and tools ; most of these articles bear the “brand” of the

maker. In this way the black man’s wants are supplied bythe mutual interchange of commodities. I suppose that, a tthese fairs , the usual amount of haggling goes on in the makingof bargains, but there is no quarrel ling ; for, during the time,umversal brotherho od prevails. The fairs are held wheneverthere is a need for them” Intertribal commerce is alsocarried on by the Narrinyeri and Dieri It seems

,indeed

,that

there is hardly any, savage tribe, among which the interbhange

of commodities is quite unknown.3) And in N. S . Wales it is

not only the spontaneous products of nature that are exchanged ,but manufactured articles

,so the trade requires industry . Yet

trade and industry are not nearly so fully developed here as

on the Pacific Coast. Nowhere are there particulars given,showing that any Australian tribe is, like the Koniagas of the

Pacific Coast ,“adapted to labour and commerce rather than

to war and hunting.

”On the Pacific Coast the coast tribes

exchange their manufactured good s for the raw products of

the hinterland ; but in Australia there is nothing but ~hinterland .

That trade and industry d o no t signify nearly so much as

on the Pacific Coast i s clearly proved by their not havinghere the same effect ; they have not led in Austral ia to any

development ofProperty and wea lth. Professor Steinmetz , in his Entwich

lung d er S trafe, has clo sely studied the forms of governmentexisting among the Australian natives. From the details he givesit appears, that a man

’

s influence depends on his age, his

bravery, eloquence , etc, ,

and . his having numerous relatives,

but not on his weal th . Among the Queenslanders describedby Lumholtz the old men have mo st influence. Among the

Kurnai age, rather than bravery, gives influence. In CentralAustralia a man’s power depends chiefly on his age, but also

on force,courage , prudence, dexterity, perseverance , and the

1 ) Fraser, p . 67. “Taurai” is the land owned by a tribe'

or a d ivision of a tribe, see

ib id ., p . 36. 2) Steinmetz , Strafe, II pp . 27, 29. 3) See Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 333.


combat” . And Wilkes says : “As no system o f government

exists , or any acknowledgment of power'

to enact laws,they

are so lely guided by old usage” Among the Dieri chieftainship

is elective according to the influence of the candidate’

s clan

and his oratorical power About Powell ’s Creek there is no

government whatever ;“the o ldest man in the tribe would

usually carry mo st sway in tribal matters” Matthews

,speak

ing of several tribes o f Queensland and South Australia,

remarks : “They have elders or chiefs corresponding with theIndian Medicine men

,who I believe are principally self-con

stituted , or admitted as such on the score of age or personalprowess. Great respect is attached to age as a rule

,especially

in visiting another Among the native tribes of Central

Australia, described by Spencer and Gillen,the chief has“a

po sition which,if he b e a man o f personal ability , but .only

in that case , enables him to wield considerable power” In

South Australia the chiefs are either hereditary or elected fortheir personal qualities A describer o f the natives of North

Australia tells us :“There are no recogni zed chiefs in a tribe

in the true sense of the word , as far as I have come in contactwith them ; the old men o f each tribe form themselves into a

sort o f council when anything of importance is to be discussed ,and what they decide upon is generally carried out

” Thomas

remarks that, among the Australians in general ,“where there

was a tendency to select the son o f the late headman, it was

modified by the rule that he must have shown himself worthy

o f the post by attaining distinction as a warrior , orator or

bard” and Brough Smyth has the fo llowing statement :“Thegovernment of aboriginal tribes is no t a democracy. There are

the doctors or sorcerers who , under some circumstances , have

supreme power ; there are the warriors who in time o f trouble

are absolute masters ; there are the dreamers, who direct and

contro l the movements o f the tribe until their divinations are

fulfilled or forgotten ; there are the old men (councillors) .

1 ) Fraser, pp . 38, 39 ; Wilkes, II p . 204. 2 ) Gason, in Frazer’s Notes, p . 173.—3)The

Stationmaster, in Frazer’s Notes, p . 179. 4) Matthews , in Frazer’s Notes , p . 189.

5) Spencer and Gillen,Native tribes , p . 10. 6) Eylmann , pl

. 1 72. 7) Boelsche, in Frazer’sNotes,pp . 196, 197. 8) Thomas, p . 143 ; see also Hewitt’s detailed account of chieftainshipin A South East Australia

,pp . 296—320.


without whose advice even the warriors are Slow to move ; and ,finally , there are the o ld women,

who no isily intimate theirdesigns and endeavour by clamour and threats to influence the

leaders of their tribe”

We see that influence and power in Australia ‘d epend on

personal qualities , not on wealth . We have only found twoinstances on record of men trying to strengthen their influenceby means of their property . Gason tells us o f a celebratedDieri chief

,who received regular tributes from the hordes

under his control . The writer often observed him distributingpresents among his personal friends , in order to avo id theirjealousy But this is quite another thing than what wefound existing on the Pacific Coast o f North America. In the

latter group a rich man, by being rich , attains to power ;whereas here the chief

,elected for his personal qualities

,

receives tributes, and by distributing what he has receivedstrengthens his influence. Moreover we are told that theseDieri“have no property except a few weapons or ornaments ;they are generally buried or destroyed” , viz . after their owner

’

s

death Lumho ltz speaks o f an old man in Queensland whodistributed his property among his fellow-tribesmen to attainto greater influence This looks somewhat like the state of

things existing on the Pacific Coast ; but as the same writertells us that there is no government except the council of oldmen, this may b e an isolated case. And even if among one

or two tribes wealth gave a certain influence,this would not

impair the conclusion we have arrived at,that generally a

man’s influence and power d o no t depend upon his wealth ,

whence we may infer that wea lth and property are littledeveloped here.

Cond ition of women. Whereas on the Pacific Coast women

are held in rather high esteem , and therefore provided by themen with slaves who help them in their work , the conditionof women in Australia is decidedly bad

,as we have seen in

the first chapter of Part I 5) .

1 ) Brough Smyth , I p . 1 26. The ethnographers give many more d eta ils regard ing tribalgovernment ; but we have only quoted those that bear d irectly on the question at issue

,i. e.

that show on what qualities influence and power d epend . 2) Steinmetz , S trafe, II p. 28.

3) Gason, in Frazer’s Notes , p . 1 71 . 4) Steinmetz , Strafe, I I p. 20. 5) See above,pp. 10—23.

236 HUNTERS AND rrsnans.

Militarism. We have shown that slaves are sometimestaken in order to strengthen their masters’ force in warfare .

On the other hand, where militarism does not prevail to anyconsiderable extent, the tribe can afford the luxury of havingmale slaves living among them who do not fight . As for theAustralians, their wars general ly are not sanguinary , and oftensettled by single combatOur conclusion is that the Australians differ from the tribes

o f the Pacific Coast of North America in many respects . Foodis by no means abundant ; the highly developed fishingmethodsof the Pacific Coast are unknown here ; the Australians aremigratory and improvident , and live in small groups ; thoughsome tribes interchange commodities , trade and industry d o notsignify nearly so much as on the Pacific Coast ; the objectso f property are very few and wealth do es not exist ; the con

dition of women is a bad one. Only in two respects do bothgroups agree : there

“

is a great variety of food , and militarismdoes not prevail to any great extent. We have seen

,however,

that “variety o f food” here means that the Australians mustavail themselves o f whatever is eatable , i. e. that they live inthe deepe st misery. Therefore henceforth we shall no longerspeak of variety o f food as a circumstance favourable to t heexistence of slavery ; and in the next paragraphs we shall notinquire whether the Central North Americans and Eskimos havea variety of food .

4. Experimentam crucis : Centra l North America .

This paragraph will contain a survey o f the economic state

of the group of hunting tribes , extending acro ss North Ame

rica,from the Montagnais near the Atlantic Coast to the

Apaches o f Texas. Besides hunters in the proper sense this

group includes the Cheyennes and Comanches, who , though

slight traces o f agriculture were found among them, subsisted

almo st entirely on the products of the chase .

1°

Abund ance of food . Le Jeune , speaking o f the Mon

1 ) Steinmetz , Strafe, II pp. 3 sqq.


anything ; they lived from hand to mouth and did not lay up

any provision The same writer calls the Algonquins a wandering tribe The Oj ibways , according to Keating, are dividedinto small groups , each containing a few families . They donot lay up any provision fo r winter use . Jones also remarks ,that they are very impro vident. Kohl , however, gives a longdescription of the fruits preserved by them . The Knisteneaux

often, at one feast,consume what would have been enough for

several weeks The Blackfeet tribes arenomadic in their habits

Ross tells us, that the Eastern Tinneh

“are obliged to lead a

wandering life, in order to pro cure food either by fishing or

hunting” The Indians on the Upper Yukon are very improvident. When fish is abundant , they gorge themselves withit,instead of dry n it for winter use The Kutchins live

in transportable dwellings . According to Kirby they “aredivided into many petty tribes” . Hardisty

,however, states

that they generally live in large groups Mackenzie speakso f a Beaver Indian establishment of about 300 inhabitants

The Sioux live in small bands , owing to the scarcity of gameThe Osages are nomadic . Our informant speaks o f

’

an Osagetown o f 1500 inhabitants Apache tribes of 100—200 people,o f whom 25 - 50 are warriors , are headed by a captain . Theyare nomadic and roving in itheir habits

”

.

“Seldom d o theyremain more than a week in one lo cality” The Comanches“usual ly roam in small subdivisions , varying according to ca

price or the scarcity or abundance of game”

. These subd ivi

sions consist of 20— 1 10 families. Brancroft remarks about the

Comanches :“No provision is made for a time o f scarcity , b ut

when many buffalo are killed , they cut p ortions o f them into

long strips,which

,after being dried in the sun

,are pounded

fine. This pemican they carry with them in their huntingexpeditions

,and when unsuccessful in the chase , a smal l

quantity boiled in water or cooked with grease, serves for a

1 ) Jes . Rel., VI pp. 83, 259, 149. 2) Ib id .,p . 133 ; see also Sagard , p.78 ,

- 3) Keating,II pp. 149, 51 ; Jones, Oj ibway Ind ians , p . 58 ; Kohl, II pp. 133 sqq . 4) Mackenzie, I p.

1 28. 5) Reports of Expl., I p. 448 ; XII Part I p . 6) Ross, p . 310. 7) Ell iott ,p . 417. 8) Jones, Kutchin tribes , p . p.31 2 . 9) Mackenzie,II p . 10. 10) Schoolcraft, II p. 172. pp .49

,46. 1 2) School

craft,V p . 260 ; Bancroft, p. 485 .

HUNTERS AND FISHER S . 239

meal” These details d o not quite agree with Bancroft’

sassertion that“no pro vision is made” . Grinnell remarks , thatthe Indians are often undeserved ly taxed with impro vidence.“We are to ld in books much about the Indian

’

s improvidence ,and it is frequently stated that however abundant food might

b e with him to -day , he took no thought for the needs of the

morrow. Such statements are untrue and show but superficialobservation. The savage does no t look so far ahead as doesthe civilized man , but still the lessons o f experience are not

wholly lost on him. He remembers past hardships , and eu

deavours to provide against their recurrence ; and these peoplewere rather remarkable for their foresight, and for the provision which they were accustomed to make for the future”

However this may b e , it is evident that the supplies thesewandering tribes (as they subsist on hunting , we may safelysuppose that they are all o f them nomadic , whether this b eexplicitly stated or no t) were able to store for winter’s use ,

cannot compare with those o f the tribes o f the Pacific Coast .Trad e and industry . The Montagnais , in Le Jeune ’

s

time , bought maize from the Huro ns for elk-skins The

Algonquins , according to the same writer,used to sel l furs to

the French The Blackfeet tribes so ld peltries which theypro cured in the Northern part o f their country Jones callsthe Kutcha Kutchin traders :“they make very little for themselves , but b uy from the other Indians .

”And Hardisty tells

us, that they live by trading ; they exchange beads

,which

are their circulating medium,for the peltries o f o ther tribes

The Osages , too , carried on the fur-trade in Hunter’s time

We see that trade does not ho ld a large place in the eco

nomic life o f these Indians, and that only raw products are

exchanged .

Grinnell enumerates the branches of industry exis ting amongthem .

“Food supply and defence against enemies depended onthe warrior

’

s weapons . These were his most precious possessions , and he gave much care to their manufacture . Knowingno thing of metals , he made his edge too ls o f sharpened stones .

1 ) Schoolcraft, I p. 231 ; Bancroft, p . 492 . 2 ) Grinnell , p . 48. 3) Jes. Bel ., vI p . 273.

4) I bid ., p. 19. 5) Reports of Expl ., I p. 444. 6) Jones , Kutchin tribes , p . 324;

Hard isty , p . 31 1 . 7) Hunter , Gedenkschriften, p . 50.

240 HUNTERS ‘

AND FISHERS .

The most important part o f the warrior’s equipment was theb ow

,and over no part of it was more time and labour spent .”“The stone axe , the maul , and the lance were

'

all simple weapons .

”“A very important part o f the warrior’s outfit was theshield , with which he stopped or turned aside the arrows of

his enemy. It was usually circular in shape,and was made o f

the thick,shrunken hide o f a buffalo bull ’s neck.

” “Clothingwas made of Skins tanned with or without the fur.

” “Manytribes especially those to the south made a simple potteryAmong the northern tribes

,where pottery was least known

,

ladles , spoons , bows , and dishes were usually formed from b ornor wood” .

“The different tribes had but s light knowledge o f

the textile art, and this knowledge seems to have been greatest in the south and on the coast.” “Three vehicles wereknown to the primitive Indian the travo is in the south andthe sledge m the north for land travel

,and the canoe where

ver there were water ways .

”“The Indian’

s ideas of art arerude.

”“It is in the art of carving,however, that the greatest

skill was Shown” So these tribes d o not seem to have

attained to a high industrial d evelopment ; the less , as mostof the instances Grinnell gives o f their Skill in carving relate

to tribes of the Pacific Coast .

Property and wealth. Whereas on the Pacific Coast influence and power depend on wealth , we shal l see that in

Central North America it is o therwise. Le Jenne , speaking o fthe Montagnais, remarks : “Rhetoric contro ls all these tribes,as the captain is elected for his eloquence alone , and is obeyedin proportion to his use of it , for they . have no o ther law than

his word” Roo sevelt states that among the Algonquins the

war-chief“wielded only the influence that he could secure byhis personal prowess and his tact” The power o f an Oj ibwaychief depended upon his wisdom,

courage, and hospitality Ofthe Blackfeet we are to ld :“Chiefs never receive a gift , con

sidering it a degradation to accept anything but what their .

own prowess or superior qualities of manhood acquire for them.

Their hearts are so good and strong that they scorn to take

1 ) Grinnell, pp. 146, 1 50, 152—156, 160, 1 61 . 2) Jes. Rel., V p . 195. 3) Roosevelt,I p. 90. Jones.Oj ibway Ind ians, p . 108.


are made chiefs for their superior cunning, knowledge or

success in war”

Influence and power depend thus on bravery, wisdom , elo

quence , no t on wealth. Only among the Apaches does it depend

on wealth , though not on wealth exclusively. The distributionsof property among the Kutchins somewhat resemble those on

the Pacific Coast, but are not indicative o f quite the same

development of wealth ; for on the Pacific Coast wealth con

sists to a large extent of more durable goods, such as houses,

canoes , etc .

A few o ther statements also tend to prove, that wealth isnot highly developed ; the economic life o f some tribes showsrather communistic features. Among the Kutchins ,

“unless he

is alone, a hunter canno t take and appropriate the meat of

the animal he kills. Should he d o so,he would be considered

mean. And this feeling is strong. When two good hunters gotogether, go od and well

,the one has as good a chance o f

getting meat as the o ther ; but when one is a bad hunterand the o ther a good one

,the former gets all the meat and

the real hunter has nothing,and loses his ammunition into

the bargain” Among the Chepewyans the game is d istributed among those who shared in the chase. The game whicha man catches in his snare is his private property ;

“never

theless any unsuccessful hunter passing by may take a deer

so caught , leaving the head , skin , and saddle for the owner”

Among the Osages,too , wealth was formerly unknown ; for

in Hunter’s time the o ld men disapproved o f the fur-trade,which gave abundance and thereby led ‘

to effeminacy

Cond ition of women. Le Jeune states , that among theMontagnais the sex has great influence. Househo ld affairs are

left to the discretion o f the women,without any male inter

ference. The women “out and decide and give away as they

please” Oj ibway women, according to Jones , d o the hardest

work , are slaves o f the men, get the worst fo od and the worstplace in the Wigwam ; and Long states, that the wives are

the slaves of their husbands. According to Kohl , nearly all

1 ) Schoolcraft, I p. 231 ; II p . 132. 2) Hard isty , p. 314. 3) Mackenzie, I p. 1 53.On the Sioux see Neil l as quoted on p. 241 . 4) Hunter, Gedenkschriften, p . 50.

5) Jes. Rel., V p. 1 81 , VI p. 233.


kinds of work , except the chase, fell to the share of the women,who were even obliged to bring home the bears killed by the

men Mackenzie tells us,that among the Knisteneaux women

are in the same subjected condition as among other wild tribesAmong the Blackfeet the husband may send his wife awaywhen he likes ; she then takes her property with her ; thechildren remain with the father. Many men have fi or 8wives ;they readily lend them to whites for brandy Chepewyan

wives are subjected to their husbands , who are very jealousand“for very trifling causes treat them with such cruelty as

sometimes to o ccasion their death”

Among the Kutchins , aswe have seen in 2

,the condition of women is a rather b ad

one Mackenzie speaks o f the“extreme subjection and abasement” of Beaver Indian women Cheyenne women performall the drudgery. Y et they have some influence in government

matters ; they d o not attend the councils ; but their wishes ,privately uttered , are not generally disregarded Among theSioux women as children and wives are despised , as girls a

little more honoured . And Schoo lcraft states that they exercisesome influence in tribal matters by expressing their desires athome , but are not admitted to the council Bancroft, speakingof the Apache family in general (including Apaches , Comanches ,and severa l o ther tribes) , remarks :“Womankind as usual is at

a discount. The female child receives litt le care from its mother,being only of co llateral advantage to the tribe. Later she

becomes the beast of burden and slave of her husband .

”But

ano ther statement of the same writer proves that the women’s

condition is not so very bad :“The marriage yoke sits lightly ;the husband may repud iate his wife and take back the pro

perty given for her ; the wife may abandon her husband , butby the latter act she covers him with such disgrace that itmay only b e wiped out by killing somebody anybody whomhe may chance to meet

”The wife may thus with impunity

leave her husband,the latter venting his anger upon“some

1 ) Jones, Oj ibway Indians, p . 108 ; Long, p . 137; Kohl , I p. 8, II p. 252.—2) Mackenzie,I p. 1 20. 3) Zn Wied , Nord -Amerika, I p. 573. 4) Mackenzie, I p. 147. 5) See

above,p. 224. 6) Mackenzie, II p. 1 1 . 7) Dodge, p. 1 22. 8) Eastman, Dahcotah ,

p. XXIV ; Schoolcraft, II p . 189. 9) Bancroft, pp . 51 1 , 513.


body Schoo lcraft states that Comanche women are not thoughtmuch of, even by themselves ; the husband has unlimited sway

o ver his wife Among the Shoshones , according to Lewis andClark ,“the man is the so le proprietor of his wives and daughters

,

and can barter them away, or dispo se of them in any manner

he may think proper.

”“The mass of the females are condemned,

as among all savage nations, to the lowest and most laboriousdrudgery”

Now let. us inquire what Grinnell , who is so well acquaintedwith Indian life

,has to say about the treatment of women

among the Indians in general . “A word or two with regard

to the position of the wife in the household may not b e out

of place here . The Indian woman, it 1s usually thought , is a

mere drudge and slave , but, so far as my observations extend ,this notion is who lly an erroneous one. It is true that thewomen were the labourers of the camp , that they did all the

hard work about which there was no excitement. They cooked ,brought wood and water

,dried the meat, dressed the ro bes

,

made the clo thing, co llected the lodge po les , packed the horses ,cultivated the ground

,and generally performed all the tasks

which might be called menial , but they were not mere servants.On the contrary, their position was very respectable. Theywere consulted on many subjects , not only in connection withfamily affairs

,but in more important and general matters.

Sometimes women were even admitted to the councils and

spoke there, giving their advice. This privilege was veryunusual , and was granted only to women who had performedsome deed which was worthy o f a man. This in practice meantthat she had killed or c ounted coup on an enemy, or had

been to war. In ordinary family conversation women did not

hesitate to interrupt and correct their husbands when the

latter made statements with which they did not agree, and the

men listened to them with respectful attention, though of

course this depended on the standing of the woman,her intela

ligence, etc . While their lives were hard and full o f toil , they

yet found time to get together for gossip and for gambling, and

on the who le managed -to take a good deal of pleasure in

1 ) Schoolcraft, I p. 235, II p. 132. e 2) Lewis and Clark , II pp. 1 18, 1 19.


We see that the Indians of Central North America presenta strongly marked contrast with such tribes as the Koniagaswho are

“adapted to labour and commerce rather than to war

and hunting” and the Chinooks who “were always a commercial rather than a warlike people” . Therefore all availablemen are wanted in warfare ; they canno t afford to have maleslaves l iving among them

,who d o not Share in their military

operations . They are very much in need o f warriors , and littleo f labourers. Accordingly among many of these tribes suchprisoners of war as are allowed to live

,are adopted into the

'

tribe or into some family within the tribeConcluding, we may remark

,that the Indians of Central

North America differ from the tribes of the Pacific Coast inmany respects. They have no abundance o f food

,are hunters

and nomadic ; wealth does not exist, and militarism prevailsto a great extent. The groups in which they live

,though

larger than in Australia,are smaller than on the Pacific

Coast. Food is preserved , but not so systematically as on the

Pacific Coast. The condition o f women, though not so bad as

in Australia , is not quite so good as among the Slave-keepingtribes o f the North-West Coast of North America. Their tradeconsists only , in exchanging raw products ; and industry islittle developed

5. Experimentam crucis Eskimos .

Abundance of food . In Greenland vegetable food is veryscarce. The flesh o f the reindeer is most valued by the Greenlanders

,but is not available in large quantities ; so they have

to live chiefly upon sea-animals , seals , fish and sea-birdsBoas states that“the mode of life of all the Eskimo tribes of

North-Eastern America is very uniform. They depend entirelyon animal food; especially seals and deer Bancroft, speaking

1 ) Adoption of captives was very frequent among the Ind ians of North America. Ofthe tribes, on which we were ab le to get information, the following practised this custom:

Delawares,Ojibways , Shahnees , Crees , Cheyennes , Abenakies, Iroquois, Hurons, Cherokees,

Sioux,Hidatsas , Omahas , Osage and Kansas Ind ians, Mandans, Comanches. Montagnais .

See above, pp. 52—65 , 192. 2) Crantz , I p. 1 61 . 3) Boas, Central Eskimo, p . 419.


of the Eskimos of Alaska,remarks :“Their substantials com

prise the flesh of land and marine animals , fish and birds ;venison, and whale and sea l blubber being chief” Thoughwe nowhere find it stated that food is exceedingly scarce, thed etails given here sufficiently prove that it is no t nearly so

abundant as on the Pacific Coast. Shell-fish, fruits , ro ots , and

o ther vegetables , acquired so easily and in large quantities bythe tribes o f the Pacific Coast

,d o not enter for any consider

able part into the food o f the Eskimo s .

As for fishing, taken in the wider sense (including thekilling o f water animals besides fish) , all Eskimos are fishers .

Fixed habitations , large group s , preserving of food . Thoughthe Eskimos move about much for the purpo se o f obtainingfood , they are no t '

quite nomadic . In winter-time they live insolidly constructed dwellings Rink states that they have theirwinter-houses on the same place during several genera tionsBoas remarks : “There is no need o f any new buildings , asthe Eskimo always locate in the old settlements and the o ld

buildings are quite suffi cient to satisfy all their wants”

And Crantz tells us that a Greenlander is no t generally muchinclined to leave the place where he was born and bred and

settle somewhere else ; for in nearly every place there is a

peculiar method o f fishing and seal-hunting,which the new

comer has to learn ; and in the meantime, often for several

years,he is poorly off An Eskimo village most often consists

o f a single house but Eskimo houses accommodate several

(in Greenland from 4to 10) families Among the Western

Eskimos , however, there are larger villages Food is preservedfo r winter use by the Eskimos

,though not in such large

quantities as on the Pacific Coast. “The Esquimaux says a

writer on British North America“possess a quality which I maysay is almost unknown among Indians

,namely

, providence ;thus, in the season

, when the animals are plentiful on the

shores o f the Arctic Sea , they make“caches” o f large quantities

o f meat for winter use”

The Greenlanders, though laying

up some provision for the winter, are rather improvident.

1 ) Bancroft , p . 54. 2) Crantz , I pp . 1 58 sqq. ; Boas , l. 0. pp. 540 8qq. ; Bancroft, pp.50 sqq. 3) Rink , p . 9. 4) Boss , p . 547. 5 ) Crantz , III p . 147. 6) Rink ,p . 27. 7) Crantz , I p . 1 59. 8) Rink , p. 33. 9) Further papers, p. 43.

248 H UNTERS AND FISHERS.

As long as they have abundance of food. they feast and gothemselves with it ; but in the winter t hey often live ingreatest misery Boas, speaking o f Central Eskimohouses, remarks :

“In winter,blubber and mea t are put

upon these pillars , which are sufficiently high to keepfrom the dogs .

”Y et “the house presents a sad and g

appearance if stormy weather prevents the men fro

The stores are quickly consumed , one lamp after

extinguished , and everyb

Among the Eskimos o f Alaska “meats a re kept in seal-skinbags for over a year. Their winter store o f oil they securein seal- skin bags , which are b uried in the fro zen ground”

Trad e and'

indus try. Rink states that the Eskimos makelong journeys for the purpose o f interchanging such commodities

,as are found in some districts only and yet are neces

sary to all the tribes. The trade is carried on from Asia toHudson Bay The Greenlanders mutually exchange the ar

ticles they need . With some of them bartering is quite a

passion ; they often exchange useful things for worthless trifles.They have a kind of annual fair, at which the inhabitants of

several districts interchange the products o f their country.

“Agreat article of commerce are vessels made o f soapstone , whichare not found in all parts o f the co untry ; and , as the SouthernGreenlanders have no whales and the Northern no wood , therecome, all through the summer months

,from the South and

even from the East o f the country many boats with Greenlanders from 100 to 200 miles , to Disko

,bringing new kyaks

and women’

s boats with the necessary implements . They receivein exchange h orns

,teeth

,bones

,whale-bones and whale-ten

dons, part o f which, on t heir homeward voyage , they sell

again” Among the Central Eskimos“two desiderata formedthe principal inducement to long journeys , which sometimeslasted even several years : wood and soapstone. The shores o f

Davis’ Strait and Cumberland Sound are almost destitute o f

driftwood , and consequently the natives were obliged to visit

distant regions to obtain that necessary material . Tudjaqdjuaq

1 ) Crantz , I pp. 1 62 -164. 2 ) Boas, l. 0. pp. 550, 574. 3) Bancroft, p. 55.

4) Rink , p. 1 1 . 5) Crantz, I pp. 195, 196.


skins , wooden dishes , seal-skins and o ther peltries.The ‘

Eskimos

of the Americ an coast carry on quite an extensive trade with

the Indians o f the interior, exchanging with them Asiaticmerchandise for pel tries

” We see that most of the Eskimotrade is bartering o f raw products. This agrees with whatRink remarks , viz. that there is no division o f labour ; eachgroup that has a tent or boat is entirely self-dependentIn industry they display much skill. Their boats are inge

niously made and have excited the admiration o f all travellers .“The kajak (qajaq) is almost exclusively used for hunting byall Eskimo tribes from Greenland to Alaska” Crantz tellsus that the implements the Greenlanders use for procuringtheir subsistence are Simple, but so well adapted to their purpose that they are more convenient than the costly implementso f ithe Europeans. Their harpoons consist of several pieces,but are so ingeniously made that not a single piece is superfluous . Their boats are also greatly admired by this writerAnd Bancroft tells us that “the Hyperboreans surpass all

American nations in their facilities fo r locomotion, bo th uponland and water. In their skin boats , the natives of the Alaskanseaboard

,from Po int Barrow to Mount St. Elias , made long

voyages , crossing the strait and sea o f Bering, and held com

mercial intercourse with the people o f Asia. Sixty miles isan ordinary day’s journey for sledges, while Indians on snowshoes have been known to run down and capture deer” .

“Sohighly were these boats esteemed by the Russians , that theywere at once universally adopted by them in navigating thesewaters . They were unable to invent any improvement in eithero f them”

Property and wea lth: It is nowhere stated that a man’s

rank or power depends upon his wealth . The Greenlandersl ive without any government ; the head of each family is independent. When several families live together in one house ,they have no contro l over each o ther, but vo luntarily obey themost respected head of a family, i. e. the one who is bestacquainted with hunting and the signs o f the weather. Y et our

1 ) Bancroft, pp. 63, 64. 2) Rink, p . 1 3. 3) Boas, l . c. p.486. 4) Crantz , I pp.1 65—168. 5) Bancroft, pp. 59, 61 .


informant also states : “If several Greenlanders live together,they like to keep an angekok (priest) , to avail themsel ves of

his advice. And if they d o not keep one , they are despisedor pitied by the others as being poor men” So poor peopleare despised , but this applies to villages or settlements ratherthan individuals . This agrees with what Rink tells us o f theircommunistic regime. Only the indispensable implements and

utensils are individual property , and also provisions sufficientfor less than a year. If an individual or group have got toomuch

,they are compelled by public opinion to give it to those

who have too little Among the Central Eskimos men unableto provide for themselves are employed as servants

,but their

position“is a voluntary one , and therefore these men are not

less esteemed than the self-dependent providers”

Among theEskimos of Alaska “now or then some ancient or able man

gains an ascendency in the tribe , and o'

verawes his fellows .“Caste has been mentioned in connection with tattoo ing, b ut ,

as a rule , social distinctions do not exist”

Though the Eskimos are dependent for their subsistence on

the possession o f boats , houses and implements,they d o not

want more property than is needed for procuring their dailyfood . According to Rink , the benefit o f an inheritance is smallerthan the duties it invo lves ; for boat and tent continuallyrequire so much mending, that a single hunter is hardly ableto keep them in order In Greenland

,if a man d ies leaving

no full-grown son , his goods devo lve upon the next o f kin ,who

is obliged to provide for the widow and her children. But ifhe already possesses a tent and a boat , he will leave the

inheritance and the duties connected with it to an alien ; fornobody is capable of keeping two tents and two boats in repair

Cond ition of women . Though no t quite so b ad as in

Australia, woman’

s condition is no t so good here as among theIndians o f the Pacific Coast. Greenland women lead a hardand almost slave-like life , says Crantz And Bancroft tells usthat among the Eskimos of Alaska“the lo t o f the women isbut little better than slavery” The principal cause o f this

1 ) Crantz , I pp. 201 , 202 ; III p. 1 80 note. 8) Rink , pp. 9, 29. p. 581 .

4) Bancroft, p . 65 . 5) Rink , p. 26. 6) Crantz, I pp. 214, 215. 7) Crantz , I p . 1 87.

8) Bancroft, p . 65 .


difference perhaps is, that female labour among the Eskimosis not produc tive. In Greenland “a man who has two wivesis not despised ; on the contrary he is looked upon as an ablepro vider

” This proves that subsistence depends upon male,not as in Australia upon female labour. Among the CentralEskimos “the principal part o f the man

’

s work is to pro videfor his family . . The woman has to d o the househo ld work,the sewing, and the cooking

”Among the Western Eskimos .

“polygamy is common,every man being entitled to as many

wives, as he can get and maintain” So the man maintainsthe family ; female labour , however useful , is not so indispensable as male. The men know this quite well . In Greenland“the man hunts and fishes , and having brought the animals

a shore he pays no more attention to them ; it would even bea disgrace for him to carry the captured seal on land” This

is quite another state o f things than what we have seen to

exist on the Pacific Coast , where female labour, especially inthe preparation o f articles of commerce

,is highly valued .

7 Militam’

sm.Among the Greenlanders warfare is unknownBoas

,speaking o f the Central Eskimos

,says :“Real wars or

fights between settlements , I believe , have never happened ,but contests have always been confined to single families”

In Alaska it is otherwise,for“the Northern Indians are fre

quently at war with the Eskimo s and Southern Indians , forwhom they at all times entertain the most inveterate hatred”

This absence of militarism enables the Greenlanders and CentralEskimos to have men performing women

’

s work living amongthem

,as we have seen in 1 o f this chapter

So the Eskimo s,like the slave-keeping Indians of the Pacific

Coast, are accomplished fishers , have fixed habitations,are in

dustrially‘highly developed , and generally not warlike. On the

o ther hand there is no abundance o f food,wealth does not

exist , and woman’s condition is not nearly so good as on the

Pacific Coast . Also in the size of their groups , the preserving

of food , and the development of trade , they are decidedly

1 ) Crantz , I p. 180. 2) Boas, l. c. .pp. 579, 580. 8) Bancroft, p . 66. 4) Crantz,I p. 1 86. 5) Crantz , I p . 207. 6) Boas , l. c. p. 465. 7) Bancroft, p. 1 20. 8) See

above, p. 200.


work would b e greater than the profit they would yield . Foodis no t preserved in such large quantities as on the PacificCoast ; shell-fish and vegetable food are almost entirely nu

known here ; nor is any fish , o il, etc . prepared for commercial purposes.There is one more cause at work among the Eskimos

, pre

venting the existence of slavery : the dependence o f labourupon capital . Boas , describing the Central Eskimo s

,states

that among the adopted people“who may almost be consideredservants” there are

“men who have lost their sledges and

dogs.” Such servants “fulfil minor o ccupations , mend the

hunting implements,

fit out the sledges,feed the dogs, etc . ;

sometimes , however , they j o in the hunters . They fo llow the

master of the house when he removes from one place toano ther, make journeys in order to d o his commissions , andso on

”And Crantz tells us that among the Greenlanders

many boys are neglected in their yo uth , as the pro vid ing of

them with kyak and implements is very costly Among theIndians o f the Pacific Coast the po ssession of capital gives greatadvantage ; thus among the Makah the owner o f the canoe

receives a proportionate Share of the boo ty from the crewbut it is not indispensable. Here it is. Aman destitute of capitalcannot provide for himself, and is therefore at the mercy o f

the capitalist. Now the Eskimo capitalist most often al lowssuch men to share his house and food , and makes them feedthe dogs , etc . rather as means of pro curing employment forthem

,than because such work requires hands outside the

family . The capitalist does not want labourers ; but even if

he did,there would always b e widows and orphans , and men

destitute of capital,who would readily enter into his service.

The Eskimos have to struggle with “unemployment” d iffi

culties, not with scarcity o f hands ; therefore a slave-dealer

visiting them would not find a ready sale for his stockin—trade .

1 ) Boas , l. c. p. 581 . 2) Crantz , I p . 21 5. 8) See above, p. 212.


6. Conc lusion .

We shal l sum up here the conclusions to which the fore

go ing paragraphs have led us.

Hunters hardly ever keep slaves ; and when they d o

slavery is of little moment . But among fishers slavery often,though by no means always , exists : o f the two large groupso f fishing tribes one (the Indians on the Pacific Coast o f NorthAmerica) keeps slaves

,the o ther (the Eskimos) does not.

The living in fixed hab ita tions is more favourable to theexistence of slavery than nomad ism.

Slavery is mo st likely to exist among men who live inrather large groups .

Where food is abundant and . easy to procure , slaves canbe of more use

-

than where food is scarce ; in the latter casethe slave , to use Spencer

’

s words,“is not worth his fo od .

The preserving of food furthers the growth of slavery.

Commercia l tribes,

especially those that carry on a

trade in manufactured goods , have more use for slaves thano thers . We must, however, bear in mind that trade

,even

among savages, does not seem anywhere to be altogetherunknown.

A high development o f indus try also tends to furtherthe growth o f slavery . The instance o f the Eskimo s

,however

,

shows that industrial tribes d o no t always keep slaves .

Where wea lth exists slaves are more l ikely to be keptthan where wealth is unknown.

Where subsis tence is d ependen t on capita l, slaves are no twanted .

Where only highly skilled labour is required , slavescanno t b e of any use .

Fema le labour may in some degree serve as a sub stitutefor Slave labour (as in Australia) . But where women enjoymuch consideration

,the men sometimes pro cure Slaves in o rder

to relieve the women o f a part of their task , especially wherethe women perform productive labour.

Where militarism largely prevails , and warriors are

more wanted than labourers , Slavery IS not likely to exist.Y et in a few cases the same militarism leads to the keep


ing o f slaves, viz. when slaves are kept mainly for militarypurpo ses .

Tribes forming a somewhat homogeneous group , and .

maintaining constant relations with each o ther, are more likely,

ceteris paribus, to keep slaves, than an iso lated tribe.

These conclusions , arrived at by an examination of hunting and fishing

"

tribes, all, except the first , bear a generalcharacter. We may therefore suppose that they will equallyapply to pastoral and agricultural tribes . Whether this reallyb e the case, will appear from the ensuing chapters. It may ,however, be convenient first to simplify and systematicallyarrange them.

As the p rincipa l factor w e may regard the general economicstate o f so ciety. Two distinctions are to b e made here :

Subsistence either is or i s not dependent on capital .‘20 . Subsistence is either easy or d ifficult to acquire.

These two distinctions are independent of each o ther.Forwhere subsistence depends on capital , it may , with the aid o f

capital , b e easily acquired or no t . Similarly,where it does not

depend on capital , it may be easy or difficult to procure . Ao

cord ingly we find the fo llowing forms o f economic life .

Subsistence depends on capital . Without capital a man

canno t get on. Now, if labourers are wanted, there are likely tob e people destitute o f capital , who have no o ther resource leftbut to o ffer their labour to the capitalist. But there is a difference , according as subsistence is easily acquired or not.

a . Subsistence , . even with the aid o f capital , is difficult toprocure. The procuring o f subsistence requires a combinationo f capital and skilled labour. Thus among the Eskimos a man

unacquainted with their ingenious hunting and fishing methodscannot get ~ ou any more than a man destitute

,

o f a boat, or of

sledges and dogs . Here labourers are not much wanted . Helpless p ersons are kept as servants

, but this is done for pity’

s

sake rather than because they are useful . Slavery does not exist.

b . Subsistence , with the aid o f capital , is easy to pro cure.

Unskilled labour,combined with capital , is so productive that

it gives a surplus b eyond'

the subsistence of the labourer. In

this case the capitalist wants labourers , b ut there are also labour


produced. He can also , like the Makah boat-owner, produce

such things as enhance the productiveness of labour,and lend

them to others , stipulating for a part o f the profit for himself.But he canno t make o thers work under his direction. The

common labourer of modern European societies, in order to gethis subsistence , performs the work which his employer assignsto him . Were he free to choose

,he would prefer to Work accord

ing to his own inclinations. In countries however,where nobody

need apply to another for employment , there is little chanceo f people vo luntarily submitting to the orders o f employers.In such countries , if there is to b e an organization o f labourwith subordination under the master o f the work , some men

must b e compelled to work for o thers,and we know that one

form of compulsory labour is slavery. Therefore , when sub sis

tence is easy to procure , and no t dependent on capital , slavelabour can b e o f much use. Y et even then slavery does not

always exist . We shall see that there are disturbing factors .

But we may now,at least

,say that , generally speaking, slavery

can on ly exis t when subsis tence is easy to procure without the

aid of cap ita l.

There are some additional , or secondary , factors which increase or diminish the use of slave labour.

It may b e , that unskilled labour is required , but is suf fi

ciently performed by the women. Thus in Australia women gathervegetable food and perform all the common drudgery ; andsome Australian tribes subsist mainly on the produce o f femalelabour. In such cases slaves are no t wanted . This is a circum~

stance of much importance ; for everywhere women are abouthalf, sometimes more than half, o f the population. As in o ur

days , in civilized Europe ,'

the employing o f women in factoriestends to diminish the want for male labour and so to keepwages low

,so fema le labour inAustralia makes slavery superfluous .

The causes on which the division o f labour between the sexes

depends cannot be examined here ; this would require an ln

vestigation o f the who le history o f marriage. But,though

unable to find the causes,we can trace the effects of this

division of labour. Where women are looked upon as“beasts

o f burden” (to use an expression the ethnographers are veryfond of) , there is not so much use for slave labour as where

HUNTER S AND FI SHERS . 259

they ho ld a high position and the men are desirous of relievingthem of a part of their task.

Where food is preserved in large quantities , more workhas to b e done at a time , viz . in the season o f plenty, thanwhere life is continually a hand-to -mouth proceeding. And

the additional work required for preserving food , e. g. the

drying o f fish , is very fit to b e imposed upon slaves zit requireslittle skill and is easy to supervise.

The development o f trad e and indus try has a greatinfluence. When the freemen wish to devote themselves tothese pursuits , they want o thers to perform the common drudgery for every-day subsistence. Moreo ver, the preparing of the

art icles o f commerce may require menial labour : thus on the

Pacific Coast slaves are employed in drying fish, preparing oil,etc . And finally

,trade and industry lead to the development

of wealth . As soon as wealth exists , a man does not only wantfood and the o ther necessaries o f life

, but also luxuri es , so hiswants may become almost unlimited

,and there is much more

use for slave labour.

Hitherto we have considered slavery as serving economic

purposes. But s laves may also b e kep t for non-economic pur

p oses . There is only one such purpose we have as yet met

with : the emp loying of s laves in warfare. We have seen thatamong the Ab ipones this was the main and almo st the onlyfunction of Slavery.

On the o ther hand , it may be that militarism so largely

prevails , that all available men are wanted in warfare. If,then,

the military organization is not so highly developed ,that slaves can b e employed in warfare without any danger,slavery is not likely to exist

,though it might b e economically

of great use.

There are o ther causes , which we may call ex terna l. How

ever much slaves are wanted,there must be a coercive power

strong enough to make the keeping of slaves possible. The

following causes tend to increase this coercive powerLiving in fixed habi ta tions . Besides the effect this has

on the growth o f industry , it makes the escape o f slaves moredifficult and the surveying of slave labour easier.

Living together in large group s . In a small group any

260 HUNTER S AND FISHERS .

increase in the number o f slaves would soon become dangerons to the maintenance of power by the freemen within thegroup , and an escaping slave would soon b e out of reach of

the group.

The preserving of food . Besides having some economiceffects of which we have treated above , it makes living in large

groups and in fixed habitations possible ; moreover it attachesthe slave to his master’s home ; for he knows he will get theresufficient food in the time of scarcity, whereas , if he escaped ,he would have to shift for himself.

The existence of a somewhat homogeneous group of tribesmaintaining constant relations with each other greatly accele

rates the growth of slavery , especially by means of the s lave

trad e. Twenty tribes,living separately, have, each for itself,

to invent Slavery ; but when twenty tribes maintain relationswith each o ther, as soon as one of them has invented slavery,the o ther 19 have it ready-made before them.

R ecapitu lation .

Furthering thegrowth Hindering the

of slavery. growth of slavery.

I . Internal causes.A. General : Subsistence easily

acquired and not

dependent on capital.

B. Secondary, Preserving of food .

economic : Trade and indus

try.

A high position of

women.

C. Secondary , Slaves wanted for Militarism mak

non-economic : military purposes. mg slavery im

possible.

Subsistence de

pendent on capital.

Subsistence notdependent on capita l , but d ifficult to acquire.

Female labour

making slave labour superflu

ous.

CHAPTER III.

PASTORAL TRIBES .

1 . Capita l and labour among pas tora l tribes.

The number of these tribes is not large,as they are found

in a few parts o f the world only. Moreover, the descriptionsavailable to us were in many cases too incomplete to justifyany inference as to their having or not having slaves .The clear cases noticed by us are the fo llowing.

Positive cases . Arabia : Aeneze Bedouins,

Larbas.

Caucasus : Circassians,Kabards.

Bantu tribes : Ovaherero ,Bahima .

Hamitic group : Beduan ,

Beni AmerSomal ,Danakil .

Negative cases . India :Central Asia :

S iberia

Todas.Kazak Kirghiz ,Altaians ,Turkomans.Samoyedes,Tunguz ,Yakuts ,nomadic Koryakes .

PASTORAL TRIBES. 263

Bantu tribes : Ama Xo sa

Ama—Zulu,some divisions o f the Mun

dombe.

Hamatic group : Massai.

We see that there are almost as many positive as negativecases . So those theorists are wrong, who ho ld that the tamingo f animals naturally leads to the taming o f men

It might, however, b e that the non-existence o f slavery ino ur negative cases were due to a special , external cause , viz.that these tribes were so inclo sed between more powerful nationsas not to b e able to procure slaves, though slaves would b eo f much use to them. A brief survey of the po litical stateo f these tribes shows that they are not all in this po sition.

The Kazak Kirghiz , in Levchine’

s time , kidnapped slaves whomthey so ld abroad . The Massai are very warlike and adoptcaptives. The Turkomans are

“the intermediate agents for

carrying on the slave-trade” The Ama-Xosa and Ama-Zuluare

,

also very warlike We see that there are some pastoraltribes that , though able to procure slaves , d o no t keep any.

The non-existence of slavery among them must be due to other,more internal , causes.

It might also b e that our positive cases were exceptions toa general rule. For many pastoral tribes , though subsistingmainly by cattle-breeding , carry on agriculture besides . If theseonly kept slaves , and employed them chiefly in work connectedwith agriculture , slavery would pro ve foreign to pastoralnomadism as such ; for then these tribes would only keep slavesin their quality as agriculturists .

We shal l inquire whether this be so ; and for this purposewe shall give a survey of the work imposed upon slaves among

pastoral tribes. This survey, besides enabling us to decide uponthe question at issue , will show what place slavery occupiesin pastoral life .

Among the Larbas the boys (also free boys) guard the cattle

1 ) See above, p . 1 73. 2 ) See above, pp. 1 27,128

,131

,and Baumann

,p

. 165.

3) Fritsch, pp. 79, 80, 135 , 136.

264 PASTORAL TRIBES .

on the pasture-ground , whereas the work that requires moreskill (the tending o f young animals, the breaking of horses , etc ,)is equally divided between master and slaves

Circassian slaves , according to Bell,till the soil

,tend the

cattle and perform domestic labour. Klaproth , however , statesthat the peasants may only b e so ld together with the land ;so they are rather a kind of serfs. Domestic Slaves may be

so ld separatelyAccording to Roscoe, among the Bahima

,

“the women’

s dutiesare to wash the milk pots, perhaps it would b e better to saysee the pots are washed

,because the work generally falls upon

the slaves to perform”

Munzinger Speaks o f domestic labour being imposed on slavesby the Bednau. Most o f these slaves are women

Among the Beni Amer it is considered an honour to havemany slaves .

“Properly speaking slaves serve theirmaster onlywhen children. Adult female slaves are concubines

,live with

their master , but are exempt from nearly all labour ; adultmale slaves generally despise all work , and belong to the

retinue of the master. The master derives no real profit fromhis slaves. Accord ing to Von Muller the fabrication of tar

falls to the Share o f the slave , such work being below the

dignity o f a freemanPaulitschke tells us that among the nomadic Somal and

Danakil slavery is not profitable ; for the territories inhabitedby them are thinly peopled , agriculture is insignificant, andthese cattle-breeders get their subsistence rather easily ;moreo ver ‘ they would b e unable to support a considerable numbero f slaves by the produce o f their cattle. Therefore among theDanakil on the river Aussa and the Rahanwin Somal on the

lower Webi-Schab é li, where slaves are employed in agriculture ,there is more use for slave labour. Among the nomadic Somaland Danakil slaves appear also to b e employed in warfare .

According to Bottego , whose account applies to the Somalof the towns

,adult male slaves till the soil , build houses , and

perform the rudest and most fatiguing kinds of work. The

1 ) Geoffrey , pp. 430, 431 . 2) Bell, I p. 170 ; Klaproth, p. 567. —8) Roscoe, p. 100.

4) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stuck , pp. 1 54, 1 55. 5) Ibid ., p. 310 ; Von Miiller, p . 429.


The Takue have very few slaves. In their laws and customs .

they show a c lose resemblance to the Bogos

Among the pirate-tribes o f Mindanao and Sulu agricultureis incumbent on Slaves. The slaves also Share in their masters ’ slave-raids. Jansen gives some more details about the work

of slaves in the Sulu Islands . The ordinary o ccupations o f slavesare agriculture , fishing, manufacture of sal t

,trade, and domes

tic workThe slaves o f the Geges and Nagos of Porto Novo

'

are

chiefly employed in agricultureAmong the Ossetes the slaves perform househo ld work ; the

peasants are serfs fl ) .The Slaves captured and purchased by the Gal las are gener

ally so ld to foreign traders ; in large househo lds they are

sometimes retained and employed in various kinds o f work.

In another place our informant states that most slaves are

employed in agricultureYoruba slaves are employed in trade and warfareWe see that slaves are employed in agriculture among the

agricultural Somal and Danakil , Fulbe, Baro tse, Mandingoes ,Sakalavas, pirate-tribes o f Mindanao and Sulu, Geges and

Nago s,Gallas ; and very probably also among the Waganda,

where they perform “all manual labour .

”As the details given

by our ethnographers are no t always complete, it is‘

possible

that in some more cases slaves are employed in agriculture .

But it is sufficiently clear,that among the Beni Amer

,nomadic

Somal and Danakil,Bogos , and probably also among the

Beduan and Takue, slaves d o not till the so il. Among theOssetes and Circassians the peasants are serfs , slaves beingemployed in househo ld work. What work“ is incumbent onslaves among the Aeneze Bedouins we are not) to ld ; b ut agriculture seems to b e unknown among them. Among the Larb asthe daily work is equally divided between master and slaves ,agriculture ho lding a very subordinate place. Hence it appearsthat several o f these tribes keep slaves

,though they d o not

1 ) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud ., pp. 207, 206. 2) Blumentritt, Ethnographic, pp. 54,53 ; Jansen, p. 225. 3) Hagen, p. 97. 4) Klaproth , II p. 615. 5) Paulitschke,

I p . 262 ; II p. 140. 6) Lander, I pp. 1 13.

PASTORAL TR IBES . 267

employ them in agriculture ; pastoral tribes, as such , sometimes

keep slaves .

But another inference we can draw from the foregoingsurvey o f slave labour is this. Where slaves are not employedin agriculture or in such other work as requires a settled life

(e. g. house-bui lding among the Somal of the towns , fishingand manufacture o f salt among the pirate-tribes of Mindanaoand Sulu ) , the use o f slave labour is not great . Among theBeni Amer , Bogos , and nomadic Somal and Danakil slavekeeping is stated to b e a mere luxury . The Sakalavas

,except

in the rice-exporting district, d o not want much Slave labour.

And only in one case,viz . among the Larbas , is it clearly

stated that the chief business of slaves is pastoral work.

This tends to prove , that among true pastora l tr ibes s lavery,as a system of labour , is of little moment. This inference isverified by several statements about Slaves being often manu

mitted or in the course o f time becoming practically free.

Burckhardt , speaking of the slaves o f the Aeneze Bedouins,

says : “After a certain lapse of time they are always emanei

pated , and married to persons o f their own co lour”

Among the Circassians slaves are often manumitted . A slave

can also purchase his freedom, and then becomes a memberof a Circassian fraternityThe Beni Amer have two kinds o f slaves , newly-purchased

and native-born.

“Their condition differs so much,that only

the former may properly b e called slaves ; the latter are ratherserfs. The newly-purchased slave is treated like every Mohammedan slave, he may be sold and does no t yet belong to thefamily. The native-born Slave has only the name

,no t the

state o f a slave ; this appears from his being allowed to intermarry with the Woreza (subjected - class) . The children borno f such a marriage are considered free , as they descend froma free mother. In Barka the Kishend oa

,i. e. native-born slaves

,

who inhabit a camp o f tents o f their own, are governed by

a chief who is one o f their own number,and intermarry with

the Woreza. Native-born slaves may live where they like and

have the same right of inheritance as freemen ; only if such

1 ) Burckhardt, I p. 356. 2 ) Bell, I pp . 169, 308.


a slave leaves no relatives does the master succeed to hisgoods . In the blood-feud too the native-born slave is ina peculiar condition. If a newly-purchased slave is killed

,

his price is restored to his owner ; for such a slave is lookedupon as an article o f trade. The native—born slave

,however

,

belongs to the family ; therefore his blood requires blood ; heis avenged by his relatives if there are such , and o therwiseby his master ; if this is not practicable because the murdereris a man of power, the matter is hushed up ; b ut a compen

sation is never given”

The Somal often buy slaves whom they manumit soon afterwardsAmong the Kafirs of India each tribe is governed by a

council. Even slaves can be elected as members o f this councilOur survey o f the work done by slaves shows in the third

place , that slaves are often employed in warfare. This will b eaccounted for later on.

Here we have only to emphasize the fact , that to pastoraltribes as such slave labour is o f little use. This makes it

easy to understand why so many o f them dispense with slaveryaltogether.

Go ing on to inquire what is the ~ cause o f this phenomenon,

we may remember the general conclusion we have arrived at

in the last paragraph , viz . that slave labour is o f little use,

where subsistence is either dependent on capital , or verydifficul t to procure. Now it is easy to see that among pastoraltribes subsistence entirely depends on capital . Among peoplewho live upon the produce of their cattle , a man who ownsno cattle

,i. e. no capital , has no means o f subsistence. Ac

cordingly , among pastoral.

tribes we find rich and poor men ;

and the poor often offer themselves as labourers to the richAmong the Syrian Bedouins “to every tent , or to every

two or three tents,there is a shepherd or person to attend the

cattle , either a younger son or servant ; he receives wages for ,

ten months”

1 ) Munzinger, Ostafr . Stud .,p . 809. 2) Paulitschke, I p. 260. 3) Ujfalvy , Les

Aryens,p. 352. 4) See Hildebrand , Recht und Sitte, pp. 35, 36. 5) Burckhardt,

I p . 1 82.


is being killed , the poor neighbours in large numbers throngtowards the place and try to secure those portions o f the

bowels that the rich disdain ; they have to fight for themwith the dogs

,who are equally fond o f the delicacies . When

all guests have been served , pieces of meat are thrown towardsthe door, w here poor men and dogs try to secure them . The

picked bones are also thrown to the poor, who clean them so

thoroughly that nothing but the bare bone is left to the dogs .

The cattle of the rich are generally tended by po or neighbours , who live in the vicinity o f the rich

,partake of their

food , and receive their worn clothes . Young girls often seekemployment as servants ; orphans o f poor men also serve

the richAmong the Kalmucks there are poor people who

’

serve the

rich as herdsmen

Prschewalsky states that rich Mongo ls , who own thousands ofbeasts

,employ herdsmen who are poor and have no relations

The Kurds of Eriwan employ freemen as herdsmenAmong the Tunguz the po or generally serve the rich

,by

whom they are badly treatedYakuts , who have less than one head of cattle per soul , must

hire themselves out for wagesPallas says : “Every Samoyede has his reindeer and tends

them himself with the help of his family, except the veryrich who employ po or men as herdsmen .

”Von Stenin also

states that the poor serve the rich . The fol lowing anecdo te ,given by this writer

,Shows how strongly the desire o f wealth

influences psychical life among the Samoyedes. One of themdepicted the delight of intoxication in these terms :“Spiritstaste better than meat . When a man is d runk

,he fancies he

has many reindeer and thinks himself a merchant. But on

coming to his senses he sees that he is poor and has just spenthis last reindeer in drinking”

Of the Koryakes we are to ld :“Before they were subjected.

1 ) Rad lofl'

, Aus Sibirien, pp. 298, 302 , 303, 287, 295, 312. 2) Pallas, as quoted byHildebrand , Recht und Sitte, p . 36. 3) Hild ebrand , 1. c., p . 36 ; see also Obrutschew,

I p. 37, and Iwanowski, pp. 8, 1 1 . 4) Y ou S tenin, Die Kurd en, p. 221 . 5 ) Miiller,Unter Tungusen und Jakuten, p. 50. See also Georgi, as quoted by Hildebrand , l . c. p .36. 6) Sumner, p. 66. 7) Pallas, Raise, III p. 74; Y ou Stenin, Samojeden , p. 187.

PASTORAL TRIBES . 271

by the Russians, they had neither government nor magistrates ;only the rich exercised some authority o ver the poor.

” Their

greatest pleasure consists in looking at their herds . The poor

are employed in tending the herds of the rich for food and

clo thing ; if they have themselves some reindeer,they are

allowed to jo in them t o their master’

s herds and tend themtogether with the latterAmong the Tus ki

,according to Georgi , the poor serve the

rich as herdsmenIn North-East Africa the state o f things is no t quite the

same . The pastoral nomads here form the nobility, and tax

subjected tribes with tributes and compulsory labour . Servantsare not found here so often as in Asia. Sometimes

,however

,

they are found . Thus among the Beni Amer there are herdsmen

,maid-servants etc . who work for wages The same ,

perhaps , applies to the Massai , where the man who owns largeherds and many wives , enj oys high consideration but a po orman

is despised“Among all South African natives says Fritsch “the richtyrannize over the poor who , in the hope o f filling their stomachs ,comply with a state o f dependence that is no t authorizedby law”

Among the Caffres poor men place themselves under the

protection o f a rich head o f a family,build their huts in his

kraa l,and in reward yield their cattle to him

Kropf tells us that among the Ama-Xosa the considerationa man enjoys depends on the number o f cattle he owns . The

poor are fed by the chief and in return render him servicesThe Ovaherero despise any one who has no cattle. The rich

support many peo ple, who become their dependents , and so

they acquire distinction and power The children o f impoverished families who , according to Andersson are kept asslaves , are perhaps rather to be called servants .

Among those tribes which are mainly agricultural , but besides

1 ) Histo ire de Kamtschatka, II pp. 239, 243, 233 ; see also Hildebrand , Recht und Sitte,p. 36 (after Georgi). 2) Hildeb rand , l . c . 3) Munzinger, Ostafr.

Stud .,p

. 31 8.

4) Merker, p . 1 17. 5) Fritsch , p. 364. 6) Tromp , De Kafi'

ers,p. 1 97. 7) Kropf,pp. 109

, 170, 1 71 .— 8) Hahn ,Die Ovaherero , p. 245 ; V iehe, in Steinmetz ’s Rechtsverhfilt

msse, p . 301 . 9) See above

,p . 144.


subsist largely upon the produce o f their cattle,similar pheno

mena present othemselves.

Among the Ossetes freemen are Often employed as servantsAmong the Bechuanas the possessmn o f cattle and a waggon

is a mark o f distinction. They mix their porridge with curd ledmilk , and therefore call a poor man a water-porridge manCasal is gives an elaborate description of the value which the

Basutos attach to the possession of cattle.Wealth, among them,

consists in cattle,and this wea lth is the base of the power o f

the chiefs . By means o f the produce o f their herds they feedthe poor, pro cure arms for the warriors, support the troops inwar and entertain good relations with neighbouring nations.Were a chief to lose his cattle

,his power would b e at an end

The Barotse employ as herdsmen young slaves and sons of

poor men

Among the Dinka every man upon an average owns threehead o f cattle ; but there are also po or men,

who are the

Slaves or servants o f the rich We may safely infer thatthese“slaves or servants” are servants and not slaves.

The sheikh o f each Chillook tribe , according to ChailleLong ,detains as slaves those who d o no t own even a single cow

Probably the same state of things prevails here as among theCaffres : these poor men are not slaves

,but compelled by hunger

to seek the pro tection of a rich man.

In the country of the Gallas the value o f labour is verysmallThe Bogos employ freemen as herdsmen and peasants ; they

also keep maid-servantsAmong the Amahlub i there are herdsmen

,who serve for

wagesWe see that, wherever men subsist by cattle-breeding, a

peculiar characteristic o f economic life presents itself. Thischara cteristic is not the existence of weal th ; for wealth alsoexists among the tribes of the Pacific Coast of North America ;

yet on the Pacific Coast slave labour is of great use. It is the

1 ) Klaproth , II p. 61 5. 2) Livingstone, Miss. Trav.,pp. 109, 1 60. 3) Casalis, pp.

227,228. 4) Holub , S iid-Afrika, II p. 348. 5) Schweinfurth, I p . 164.

—6) Chaillé

Long, p . 29. 7) Paulitschke, I p. 333. 8) Munzinger, Bogos, p . 46. 9) L. Marx,in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse, p . 359.


The Kazak Kirghiz , too , are very lazy. They pass a greatpart of the summer sleeping because o f the warmth ; and inwinter- time they hardly ever leave their tents

,because the

snow covers the roads. As they are not acquainted with anyarts, and the tending Of the cattle is their only o ccupation,there is no need for much work

Rowney tells us o f the Mairs and Meenas of RajpootanaThe ostensible o ccupation fo llowed by them was that of

goatherds ; but the herds were usually left to the charge of

their boys and Old men ,while the more able -bodied spent

their time, mounted on their ponies, in marauding, plundering,and murdering”

Among the Massai the men despise every kind of work. Onlywarfare is considered an o ccupation worthy o f a man

It has to he remarked that most of these tribes d o no t

keep slaves ; so it is no t by imposing all the work upon slavesthat the men are enabled to pass their time in idleness ; yet theyd o almost nothing.

“The herdsman is lazy ,” says Schmollerand Schurtz speaks o f the aversion from all hard and regularwork , which characterizes the pasto ral nomads This pro vesthat but little labour is wanted . One might object

,that perhaps

women and boys are overworked . But the fact that the ablebodied men

,who form a considerable part o f the community ,

can afford to take life so very easily,sufficiently proves that

the to tal amount o f labour required is rather small .Here we find one more reason why pastoral tribes have

little use for slave labour. The demand for labour is small ;therefore , even if free labourers were not available

, only a

few slaves would b e wanted . Capital is here the principal factorof production , labour ho lding a subordinate place . Amongagricultural tribes , when there is a practically unlimited supplyOf fertile so il , every person whose labour is available to the ,

tribe can cultivate a piece o f ground,and so , the more people

there are , the more food can b e produced . But among pas,

tOral tribes , as soon as there are people enough within the

tribe to guard the cattle,milk the cows

,and d o the other

1 ) Levchine, p . 341 . 2) Rowney, p . 51 .— 3) Merker, p. 1 17.—4) Schmoller, Grundriss ,I p . 197. 5) Schurtz , Das Afr. Gewerb e, p. 78.


work required , an increase in the number of labourers is not

profitable. There is only a limited demand for labour ; therefore ,though there may b e a temporary scarcity of labour which

makes strengthening of the labour forces of the tribe by means

of slaves desirable , when a few slaves have been procured,

the po int at which a further increase in the number of peoplegives no profit will so on b e reached again .

We see that among pastoral tribes little labour is required ;and such as is, is easy to procure ; for there are always peopledestitute of capital , who o ffer themselves as labourers . Therefore slaves are economical ly o f little use.

There is , however , one description of a pastoral tribe, inwhich it is stated

,that men as wel l as women have to work

very hard . This is Geoffroy’

s capital monography on the Larb as.

The head o f the family and his sons have to guard the herds,

trace and dig pits , share in all operations common to the

horsemen of the tribe : raids and battles , the pursuing of

thieves,the defense o f the pecuniary interests of the family

,

the depositing of merchandise in the ksours (store-houses) . Thehead o f the family tends the sick animals , and has the ad

ministration of the woo l and grain ; but practically he will nothave much to do with these matters , not considering themworth his attention. But a great part of his time is taken upwith keeping watch and marching, and this makes his life a

rather hard one. He does not sleep at night ; he waters thecattle in the pits or r

’

d irs ; he surrounds his tents with a

protecting hedge , the zirba ; he struggles against the elements ,which often disperse beasts

,tents and men. Daily , from the

cradle to the tomb , the nomad ’

s life is a struggle for existence.

As a child he a lready has to look after the cattle ; helearns to ride on horseback with his father. When o lder ,whether rich or poor, he has to learn

,for several years, to

conduct large numbers of cattle, which is a very difficult and

dangerous work , to tend the different kinds of animals , to curethem , to sell them , to derive from them as much profit as

possible. Pastoral art is more complicated than at first sightit seems

,and comprehends a long series of accomplishments .

At twenty years the nomad is an accomplished man , thoroughlyacquainted with the life he has to lead

,enjoying all the phy


sical strength indispensable in the exceptional milieu where hehas to struggle . The two youngest sons of the head o f the

family our informant describes, 15 and 13 years o f age , now

perform in the family the duties of herdsmen. Daily o ccupations o f master and Slaves are the driving together o f the

dispersed animals , the tending of the females that have calved,

the preparing o f special food for the young animals,the dress

ing of(

the stronger ones for the saddle and pack- saddle, and

the chase o f hares and gazellesWe see that pastoral life is not so easy here as on the fertile

plains of Central Asia. But the work that is mo st necessaryhere , and also most dif ficult, is the care for the security of

the tribe and its po ssessions, or, as Geoffroy very appropriatelyexpresses it ,

“c’

est un peu toujours comme ' la guerre”. And

this work cannot b e left to slaves ; else the slaves would become the masters of the tribe. Warriors are wanted here ;labourers not so much .

We have now accounted for the non-existence of slaveryamong many pastoral tribes, and the little use of slave labouramong pastora l tribes in general

,by the principle laid down

in the last paragraph , that, generally speaking, slaves are not

wanted where subsistence depends upon capital .In North-East Africa

,however

,there is one more cause at

work , making slavery superfluous . This is the existence of a

kind o f substitu te for s lavery , viz . subjection of tribes as such.

Pastoral tribes often levy,

tributes on agricultural tribes, towhich they are superio r in military strength ; the latter cannoteasily leave the lands they cultivate and seek a new country ;if not too heavily oppressed , they will prefer paying a tribute.

And to pastoral nomads the levylng of a tax on agriculturaltribes brings far more profit than the enslaving of individuals

belonging to such tribes,whom they would have to employ

either in pastoral labour , which they d o no t want , or in tillingthe soil , which work the nomads would b e unable to super

vise. There are also pastoral tribes subjected by other pastoral

nomads,the latter forming the nobility and the military part

of society. Finally we find subjected tribes of hunters, smiths ,

1 ) Geoffroy, pp . 429—431 .

278 PASTORAL TRIBES.

the“

country, and unable to withstand the invasion,hastened

to submit in order to b e to lerated . The Bogos seem to havetaken possession

'

of the country in a very pacific and forbearing way , and unlike the Normans and o ther European invaders , d o no t interfere with the regulation of landed property,so that the ancient aborigines still own most of the land . The

third class is composed o f foreign families who,being for some

reason unable to agree with their countrymen,settle in the

country o f the Bogos and place themselves under their protection

,which still continually o ccurs . A member o f the Boas

family [i. e. of the Bogos nobility] , however poor and weak,

never becomes a Tigre ; his origin is a guarantee of his inde

pendence. A Tigre , however mighty and rich , cannot becomea Schmagilly [noble] ; for the Tigres, who are a compound o f

various elements cannot trace their origin so far back as the

Schmagillies who pretend to spring all from the same ances

tor. Moreover, the oppression is so slight

,that a revo lution is

unimaginable”

Among the Takue the state of the Tigres is the same as

among the Bogos ; formerly they brought beer to their lords ;now they pay them a smal l tribute of corn and fat

Marea Tigres have a harder lot . Two kinds of obligationsare incumbent on them : towards their respective masters

,and

towards the nobility en bloc. Even the poorest noble never b ecomes a Tigre

,and does not perform degrading work, such as

for instance milking. The Tigre pays his master yearly 8 b ottles

of fat , a measure of corn , and every week a leathern b agwith milk. Of every cow killed by a Tigre the master receives

a considerable portion ; a cow belonging to a Tigre , whichdies a natural death , falls entirely to the master. As for the

Tigres’ obligations towards the nobility as a who le, on severalo ccasions they have to give up their cattle for the nobility.

Among the Black Marea the Tigres own most of the land ;among the Red Marea the greater part o f the land is in the

hands of impoverished nobles , who live chiefly upon the'

rent o f their landed property. Another class are the Dokono ,

who are obliged to choose a patron and pay a tribute , but

1 ) Munzinger, Bogos, pp. 48, 49. 2) Munzinger, Ostafr. S tud ., p. 207.


are held in rather high esteem and often marry daughters o f

the nobles ; they own land and herds and are much given to

tradingAmong the Beni Amer the same distinction, o f nobles and

subjects , prevails . The latter are called Woré za.

“We shallspeak of master and servant

,

”says Munzinger

“though thelatter term does no t quite answer the purpose . The state o f

things we are go ing to describe much resembles that whichwe have met with among the aristo crats of the Anseba ; amongthe Beni Amer

,however , the servant is a feo ffee rather than

a protégé . But as he derives his wealth from his master, to

whom he owes what we may call interest , his state is one o f

much greater dependence Among the Beni Amer it is an

ancient custom ,that a lord distributes his wealth among his

servants ; e. g. if he receives 100 cows as his portion o f the

spo ils o f war,he does no t add them to his herd , but leaves them

to his servants as a present .When the servant marries, the lordpresents him with a camel . In every emergency the servantapplies to his lord , who helps him whenever possible.All these

presents become the true property’

o f the recipient ; the servantmay d o with them as he likes , sell and even spend them ; thelord may upbraid him for it , but legally has nothing to d owith it. On the death o f the servant the presents devolve uponhis heirs . But the lord has a kind o f usufruct o f these presents ;the servant provides him with fat and daily brings him a

certain quantity o f milk,i. e. b e feeds the lord and his family .

Often has the lord to wait for his supper till midnight , becausethe servant provides for himself first . The servant , moreover,has to provide the funeral sacrifice for his lord and for everymember of the latter

’

s family ; he leaves to the lord everysterile cow

,and when he kills a beast he brings him the

breast-piece. He stands by his lord in every emergency, andeven assists him according to his means towards paying thetribute

”

. The servant is , so to speak , a tenant of his lord .

As the Beni Amer are nomads,there is no land to distribute ;

the pasture has no owner ; therefore the fief can only consistin movable property. As most of the wealth o f the country is

1 ) Ib id .,pp . 235—242 .


in the hands o f the servants , they have a decisive vo ice inevery public council , they have to find out where the bestpastures are, where the camp has to b e erected I

Similar phenomena present themselves outside North-East

In the second chapter of Part I we have met with subjectedtribes in South Africa

,such as Fengu, Makalahiri, e tc .

,some

times called slaves by our ethnographersGeoffroy speaks of settled tribes being in some way the

vassals of the Larbas. The lesours are buildmgs in which thenomads preserve their corn , dates and wo o l ; these stores are

guarded by settled tribes , that permanently live there and re

ceive one tenth Of the preserved stock yearly . The nomadslook upon all settled tribes as degenerate beings and inferiorsHere we have to deal with a vo luntary division o f labour

,

rather than with subjection.

In Circassia,according to Bell , the Serfs are prisoners of

war and the ancient inhabitants of the country. The latterare perhaps the same peasants who , according to Klapro th ,may not b e sold apart from the landIt is remarkable

,that in Central Asia and Siberia we d o

not find a single instance o f this subjection of tribes as suchThis is probably the reason why in these parts members of

the tribe are so often employed as servants .Where nearly all work is left to subjected tribes or castes

,

and the nobles d o no thing but fight,there is not much use

for slave labour. The nobles d o no t want slaves , because allwork required by them 1S performed by their subjects .

We have now found a new cause, from which in some

cases slaves are not wanted : the subjection of tribes as such,

which serves as a substitute for slavery.

2 . S lavery among pastora l tribes .

Y et several pastoral tribes keep slaves ; this has still to b e

1 ) Ib id .,pp . 31 1 , 312 , 31 6, 317. 2) See ab ove, pp. 139—143. 3) Geoffroy , pp. 41 2

414,41 5. 4) Bell, I , p . 337; Klaproth , p . 567. 5) It is stated , that the nomad ic

Koryakes regard the settled Koryakes as slaves (Histoire de Kamtschatka, II p. But


the slaves are o ccupied in trading. But these tribes are not

nomadic ; moreover , these slaves d o not , like the slaves on the

Pacific Coast, prepare the articles of commerce, but are themselves the traders , which is quite ano ther thing.

S laves wan ted as warriors . Slaves sometimes serve toaugment the military strength o f the community . From the

survey of the work done by slaves , given ln the beginning o f

this chapter , it appears that they are often employed in warfare ,viz . among the nomadic Somal and Danakil , Kafirs, pirate- tribeso f Mindanao and Sulu

,Mandingoes and Y orubas ; prob ab ly also

among the Bogos, where they generally take to rob bery. Cir

cassian slaves canno t b e compelled to go to war Hence itseems to fo llow that they may go if they like. Among theBeni Amer native-born Slaves are avenged by their own relatives ; so these slaves are armed , and probably fight togetherwith their masters.The ensuing statement strikingly Shows how highly Slaves

are valued as warriors among the nomadic Somal and Danakil .

If a slave kills one enemy,he becomes free ; if two or more,

he is entitled to being adopted . Having killed ten enemies ,he becomes a person o f rank and enjoys many privileges

In these cases slaves strengthen the military force of the

tribe. But the tribe profits only indirectly by this reinforce

ment of the family. Most pastoral nomads live in comparativelysmall groups , rather independently ; there is no strong centra lgovernment And where quarrels between these small groups

are frequent,the more numerous the family (in the wider

sense,the Roman familia , including slaves) , the better will

the head o f the family b e able to maintain his position And

pastoral nomads have always "a great mo tive for fighting : they

can enrich themselves by a successful raid . Among hunting ,fishing

,and agricultural tribes

,if the conqueror does not want

to keep the vanquished as slaves, war gives little profit But

1 ) Bell, I p . 170. 2) Paulitschke, I p . 263.—3) Several instances of this phenomenon

are on record with Hildebrand , Recht und Sitte, pp . 30, 31 , 37, 38. 4) Malthus, in hiS'

chapter on modern pastoral nations (Bettany ’s ed ition,p. remarks :“The power and

riches of a chaik consist in the number of his tribe . His own consequence greatly depend son a numerous progeny and kindred ; and in a state of society where power generallyprocures sub sistence

,each ind ividual family d erives strength and importance from its

numbers.” 5) Viz . as long as the country is th inly peopled . We shall see later on, that

among some savages the desire to occupy land is a great motive for making war.


in the raids pastoral nomads make on each o ther, the successfulraider may acquire numerous herds , i. 6 . great wealth . Therefore it is o f the utmost importance for a man to have as nu

merous a familia as possible.

When speaking of the Larb as , we have seen that their

mode o f life is un p eu toujours comme la guerre. Their d es

crib er states ;“Theft is the most threatening evil the nomad

has to deal with ; he is therefore most severe in suppressingit,the punishment being invariably death .

”He also speaks of

free servants , members of the family, who live under the

protection and at the expense o f some rich head o f a family ;they are general ly very numerous , and form a body o f clientsthat strengthens their patron

’

s powerLevchine , speaking o f the Kazak Kirghiz

,says :“Their feuds

are caused by the unrestrained desire for plunder, that ruinsand entirely demoralizes them ; this plundering is called baranta ,These baran tas consist in reciprocal cattle-stealing , from whicho ften sanguinary combats And we must not thinkthat public hatred or contempt falls on tho se who are addictedto these horrible excesses ; on the contrary

,they enjoy a repu

tation for bravery,and are distinguished by the name of Ba tyr

or Bogha tyr , which name spreads through all the hordes thefame o f their explo its. Many of these braves , called Ba tyr fortheir plundering ardour, though many years dead

, stil l live inthe remembrance Of their countrymen, and their names are

celebrated .

”Accordingly, one of the qualities required in a chief

is a large family , that gives him the power to maintain hisauthorityAmong the Beni Amer

, where it seems to b e quite an o rdinarything for a noble to receive 100 cows as his portion o f the

spo ils of war , it is a great support for a man to have many children , as in these countries family is opposed to familyA writer o f the 18th century tells us that “the Chukchi who

live to the north of the river Anad ir , are no t subjected to theRussian empire , and often make raids on those brought underRus sian contro l , on the Koryakes as well as on the Chukchi ,

1 ) Geoffroy , pp . 425, 422 , 441 . 2 ) Levchine, pp. 349, 350, 397. 3) Munzinger,Ostafr. Stud .,

pp . 31 1 , 327.


killing or making prisoners all they meet, and carrying o ff

their herds o f reindeer” 1 )Among the Somal and Gallas internal wars are very fre

quent ; among the former most wars are marauding expeditions.And here to o the possession of wife and children is indispensable ; an unmarried man cannot attain to wealth and

powerAmong the Ama-Xosa and Ovaherero the chief object of

warfare is cattle-stealing . Fugitives from o ther tribes are neverdelivered up by the Ama-Xosa , whatever the reason of theirflight ; for they strengthen the chief’s power. Another fact

,

Showing the great importance they attach to the numericalstrength of their t ribe , is this , that he who kills a man or

woman b ij accident has to pay a fine to the chief,as a com

pensation for the loss suffered b ij the government o f the tribeWe have already seen that the Massai are“true warriors

and raiders” and that the Mairs and Meenas spend their timein marauding , plundering and murdering”

We see that among these tribes everybody is desirous of

having as many people about him as possible for the pro tectiono f his ( own property and the capturing o f his neighbour

’

s . And

a convenient means of pro curing such people is the purchaseo f slaves .

There is one more secondary cause here, which we have

no t met with before. It is sometimes stated that keeping slavesis a mere luxury. Now rich nomads, like all rich people, loveluxury. Like the rich Kazak Kirghiz who to ld Levchine that

the possession o f o ver 8000 horses procured him a reputation

among his countrymen, many rich nomads will win renown

by possessing a large retinue of slaves . Thus for instance we

know that among the Beni Amer slave labour is of little use ;

yet it is stated , that the Beni Amer are ambitions to possessmany slaves And slaves are preferab le , as objects of luxury ,to . free servants . For slaves

,generally acquired from beyond

the limits of the tribe, are much more apt to gratify the

pride o f the rich man by their submission,than poor freemen,

1 ) Histoire de Kamtschatka, II p. 218. 2) Paulitschke, I‘pp

. 3) Fritsch ,pp . 79

,226

,93 ; Kropf, p . 179. 4) See ab ove, pp. 274, 277. 5) Munzinger, Ostafr .

Stud .,p. 310.

286 PASTORAL TRIRES .

than ordinary servants , as they are riveted to their position But

we may safely suppose that in other cases also this circumstancehas furthered the growth of slavery.

We have explalned why pastoral tribes have no great use forslave labour. We have also mentioned some motives that mayinduce such tribes to keep slaves. But the fact has not yet beenaccounted for, that some pastoral tribes keep slaves and othersd o not. Whence this difference ? It has been shown that slaverydoes not only exist among pastoral tribes that til l the so il toa. limited extent. Among all pastoral tribes subsistence is dependent on capital . Wealth

,too

,exists among all these tribes

and we canno t see why slaves,as a luxury

,would he wanted

by one such tribe more than by another. As slaves are sometimes employed as warriors , we might b e inclined to supposethat slavery exists among all warlike tribes

,and among these

only. But there are several pastoral tribes which , though verywarlike , d o not keep Slaves : Kazak Kirghiz

,Turkomans , Massai ,

and some pastoral nomads o f South Africa.

That the subj ection of tribes as such in stead of individualslaves , of which we have spoken in the last paragraph, cannotaccount for all cases in which slavery does not exist

,becomes

evident , if we take into consideration that most o f the pastoraltribes of North-East Africa

,which keep other tribes in subjection ,

practise slavery, whereas in Central Asia and Siberia we findneither subjected tribes nor slaves .Therefore there must b e o ther causes .

In chapter II we have spoken of ex terna l causes : it may b e

that slaves would b e o f great use,and yet cannot b e kept,

because the coercive power of the tribe is not strong enough .

We have also seen that this coercive power is most stronglydeveloped where men have fixed habitations

,live in rather large

groups and preserve food for the time o f scarcity , and where

there is a group of somewhat homogeneous tribes maintaining,

constant relations with each other. Pastoral tribes are nomadic ,

1 ) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud .,p . 1 54. 2) Even among the simpleTod as ; for it is stated

that the d ecision of their d isputes by the priest is “generally given in favour of the

wealthiest of the litigants.” Metz, as quoted by Spencer, Descr. Soc., V p. 1 2.


d o not live together in very large groups, and d o not want to

preserve food , for they have their supply o f food always at

hand. Y et the fact that several pastoral tribes keep slaves proves

that at least among these the coercive power is strongenough . We shall try to find a cause peculiar to these tribes ,that enables them to keep Slaves . Now it is remarkable that

our positive cases are nearly all o f them found in a few defini te

parts o f the globe : North-East Africa, the Caucasus, and Arabia ;whereas the pastoral nomads o f Siberia , Central Asia , India,and So uth Africa

,with one exception (the Ovaherero ) , d o not

keep slaves . And the parts where slavery exists are exactlythose where the slave-trade has for a long time been carriedon on a large scale . Accordingly

,the slaves these tribes keep

are often purchased from slave-trad ers and in several casesbelong to inferior races .

The slaves of the Aeneze Bedouins are NegroesThe slaves kept by the Larbas are Negroes purchased from

slave- trad ing caravansAlthough we find no description o f slave-trade among the

Circassians , slaves in the Caucasus are exported on a largescaleMost slaves found among the Somal and Danakil are articles

o f transit trade : they are purchased from interior tribes and

intended to b e so ld to Arabians . A Somali never becomes theslave o f a Somali , and prisoners of war are not enslavedMany Bednau make it their business to steal slaves

,whom

they sell in MassowahThe slaves kept by the Beni Amer are either captured from

enemies or purchased abroad ; a Beni Amer never loses hisfreedom . Slaves are not, however, o ften so ld abroadOn the o ther hand , the pastoral tribes of Central Asia and

Siberia live in secluded parts , far from the centres o f the

slave-trade .

The slave-trade greatly facilitates the keeping of slaves .

Where slaves are brought by slave-dealers from remo te parts ,

it is much easier to keep them than where they have to b e

1 ) Burckhard t, I p . 356. 2) Geofl’roy , p . 440. 3) Chantre, IV pp . 79, 136.

4) Paulitschke, I p . 260. 5) Munzinger, Ostafr. Stud .,p. 1 55. 6) Ibid .

,pp 308

,31 1 .


captured from enemies,i. e. from the neighbours ; in the latter

case the slaves are very likely to run away and return to

their native country ; b ut a purchased slave transported froma great distance cannot so easily return ; if he succeeded inescaping, he would b e instantly recaptured by one of the

foreign tribes whose countries he Would have to traverse. Moreover

,Some tribes may , by their intercourse with Slave-traders,

have become familiar with,

the idea o f slavery, and so the

slave- trade may have suggested to them the keeping of slavesfor their own use .

There is another circumstance, which ) may partially accountfor the existence , o f slavery among some of these tribesthe Slaves are o ften Negroes . And Negroes have always and

everywhere been enslaved ; they seem to b e more fit forslaves than most races of mankind . Galton

,Speaking of the

Damaras,says :“These savages court slavery. Y ou engage One

o f them as a servant , and you find that he considers himselfyour property , and that you are

,in fact

,become the , owner

of a slave. They have no independence about them, generallyspeaking, but fo llow a master as spaniels would . Their heroworship is directed to people who have wit and strength enough

to ill-use them. Revenge is a very transient passion in their

character,it gives way to admiration of the oppressor. The

Damaras Seem to me to love nothing ; the only strongfeelingsthey possess, which are not utterly gross and sensual , are those

of admiration and fear. They seem to b e made for slavery,and naturally fall into its ways” And Hutter, describing the

Bali tribes of Camero on,remarks that the Negro wants to b e

ruled and patiently endures any amount o f oppression Similar

descriptions may undoubtedly be given of many other Negro

tribes. Moreover several slave-keeping nomadic tribes are Semites

and Hamites , and therefore look upon the Negroes as an inferior

race. Now,where Slaves are procured mainly for military purposes

(and we have seen that this is often the‘

case with pastoral tribes) ,an absorption of foreigners into the . tribe would answer the

purpose as well as , and perhaps better than , slavery. But where

the foreigners belong to inferior races, themembers of the tribe

1 ) Galton, , p. 142 . 2) Hutter, p. 343.


Recapitulating, we may remark that our general theory,that

there is no great use for slave labour where subsistence depends

on capital , is fully verified by our investigation of economiclife among pastoral tribes.Two secondary internal causes found in

,

the second chapterhave been also met with among pastoral tribes : slaves are

sometimes employed in warfare,and sometimes for domestic

labour to relieve the women o f their task . Two new secondaryfactors have been found in this chapter : slaves are kept asa luxury ; and sometimes the subjection of tribes as such

,

serving as a substitute for slavery , makes slavery propersuperfluous.

With regard to the external causes it has been shown that

the coercive power of pastoral tribes is not very strong, asthey are nomadic and live in rather small groups ; but thiswant is sometimes compensated for by the slave-trade and the

neighbourhood of inferior races. The two latter circumstancesmay therefore rank as new external causes, the Slave-tradetaking the place of the existence of a homogeneous group.

On the Pacific Coast of N . America it is the trade betweentribes of the same culture , among pastoral nomads it is thetrade with Arabia

,etc . ; but in either case it is the slave-trade

that furthers the growth o f slavery.

R ecap itulation of the causes we have found up to the present.

Furthering the growth Hindering theo f slavery. growth of slavery.

1. Internal causes.

A. General . Subsistence easilyacquired and not

dependent on ca

pita] .

Subsistence dependent on ca,

pital .Subsistence notdependent on

capital , but difficult to procure.

1. Internal causes.B . Secondary

economic :

C. Secondarynon-economic

II .External causes :

PASTORAL TRIBES .

Furthering the growthof slavery.

Preserving of food .

Trade and industry.

A high positiono f women.

Slaves wanted formilitary purposes .

Slaves kept as a

luxury.

Fixed habitations .

Living in largegroups.

Preserving of

foodThe slave-trade.

The neighbourhood of inferiorraces.

291

H indering thegrowth of slavery .

Female labourmaking slave labour superfluous .

Subjection of

tribes as such .

Militarism mak

ing slavery im

possible.

1 )“Preserving of food ” occurs twice, because it works in d ifferent d irections .

CHAPTER IV .

AGRICULTURAL TRIBES .

1 . Numbers'

of positive and nega tive cases in the three

agricultura l group s .

The list given in 3 o f the first chapter of this second Partcontains the fo llowing numbers o f agricultural tribes with and

without slaves,classified according to the division into three

groups we have made in 2 o f the same chapter :

First agricultura l group

Total.

Neg. POS. Neg. Pos.

North AmericaSouth AmericaMelanesiaPo lynesiaMalay Archipelago

Indo-ChinesePeninsula

IndiaBantu tribesSoudan Negroes

26 37 0 3 8 3 34 43

1 ) In this paragraph we shall use the same abbreviations as in Part II , Chap. 1 , 8.

1

294 AGRICULTURAL TRIBES .

incompatible with agriculture. But there are also many (95)agricultural tribes without slaves , so the existence of agricul

ture among savage tribes does not necessarily lead to the

keeping of slaves.In the second place it appears that the more agriculture is

developed , the more frequent slavery becomes. Looking at

those agricultural tribes among which subsistence does not

depend to any considerable extent on cattle-breeding o r trade

(a‘, a

”, we find that in the first group there are 26 positive

and 37 negative cases,i . 6 . per cent . of these tribes keep

slaves . In the second group the corresponding numbers are66 positive cases, 43 negative cases, and per cent. ; in thethird group 10 positive cases , 1 negative case, and per cent.We see that in the second group slavery is more frequent thanin the first, whereas in the third group it is almost universal .It has, however, to b e taken into consideration, that the greatmaj ority (9 out of 10) o f the slave-keeping tribes belonging tothe third group live in the Malay Archipelago

,and 5 out of these

9 are divisions o f the Battas .We may not , therefore , attach muchimportance to the numbers relating to the third group ; for theymay b e

, strongly influenced b ij local circumstances . Taking thesecond and third group together we find 76 positive and 44negative cases

,i. e. per cent. keep slaves, which percentage

is considerably higher than that of the first group .

We do not claim mathematical exactness for these numbers .

But at any rate we may say that they sufficiently prove, thatslavery is considerably more frequent among truly agriculturaltribes, which subsist chiefly by agriculture

,than among inci

pient agriculturists , who still depend on hunting or fishing for

a large portion o f their food .

The total numbers lead to the same conclusion. Looking at

these we find in the first group 34positive and 43 negative

cases , i. e. per cent . keep slaves . For the second groupthe corresponding numbers are 1 1 6 pos. cases , 48 neg. cases

and per cent ; for the third group 20 pos. cases , 4neg.

cases and per cent ; for the second and third group taken

together 136 pos. cases, 52 neg. cases and per cent.

This agrees with what we expected . The tribes belongingto the first group , the

“hunting agriculturists (Jdgerbauern) ,

AGRICULTURAL TRIBES . 295

as Dargun cal ls them, bear a strong resemblance to hunting

tribes. Generally the men’

s business is hunting and warfare ,whereas the women have to till the so il . The division of labour

between the sexes does not much differ here from that which

exists in Australia, where the men hunt and the women gather

fruits and dig roots . These tribes are also often nomadic :when

the fruits of their fields are scarcely ripe, they reap them and

remove to some other place

The best specimens o f this type are found in South

America.

Azara,speaking o f the Indians living in and around Paraguay ,

remarks :“Even the agricultural tribes are more or less nomadic .Wherever the Indians pass they sow something, and later on

return to reap the fruits”

Lery,a writer of the century , tells us that among the

Tupinambas the principal cultures were two roots,which he

calls aypi and manio t. They were cultivated by the women. Afterbeing planted the roots needed no further care

,and within

2 or 3 months were fit to be dug up. Maize was also cultivatedby the women. The Tupinambas depended on hunting and

fishing for a considerable portion of their food . They did not

generally remain for longer than 5 or 6 months in one place ,but were always removing from one place to another, carryntheir house-building materials with themVon d en Steinen, describing the tribes on the Upper Schingu

(in Brazil) , states that , though largely subsisting on agriculture,they are psychically hunters rather than agriculturists . Likeeverywhere in Brazil

,the women not only prepare the food ,

but cultivate the manioc . The men cultivate nothing but tobacco ,the smoking of which is their exclusive privilegeWe have seen (in chap. II of this second Part) that hunt

ers hardly ever keep slaves ; and as the“hunting agriculturists”

so much resemble true hunters,it is easy to understand why

among the majority of them Slavery d oes not exist . Slavescannot b e employed for hunting

,and the women can easily

perform the small amount o f cultivation wanted by these tribes.

1 ) Cunningham (English Industry,I p . 31 ) remarks that“primitive agriculture is

perfectly consistent with a very migratory l ife.

” 2) Azara, II p. 1 60. 3) ~Lery , pp.1 23

,1 27

,141—175 , 312 . 4) Von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvblkern, pp.


Moreover, the men who , as warriors, are able to procure slaves,are not likely, to take them for the sole benefit of the women.

And where the men are always hunting, the women would ,

have to supervise the slaves and keep them in order , which isno t easy for them.

That this lowest stage o f agriculture 1s not favourable to the

growth of slavery, is confirmed by what Mr. A. C. Kruyt hadthe kindness t o write us regarding Central Celebes. There is

one native tribe , the Topeb ato , that formerly did not keep slaves ,the probable cause being that they had remained hunters longer.

than the o ther tribes in the neighbourhoo d . In a legend , in whichit is to ld that the gods made gifts to the different tribescharacterizing theirmanner o f life , the Topebato get a d og allotted

to them for the chase, and though now they till the so il , they

are“still passionate hunters . They now buy a few slaves and

so in the course of time a slave class will originate among them .

Y et there are a considerable number o f po sitive cases in ourfirst group (26 out o f We will , o f Course , make due allow

ance for mistakes ; there may be several tribes contained in

our first group which on closer scrutiny would prove to b etrue agriculturists and not Jcig

’

erbauern . But we canno t think

but that among these 26 tribes there are many, which havebeen justly placed in the first group. The existence of slavery

among them will have to be accounted for by secondary causes ,internal and external , such as we have found in the forego ing

chapters and of which we shall perhaps find some more in the

continuation o f this chapter.

We must, however, bear in mind that our first group does

not only contain “hunting” , but also “fishing agriculturists

and we know that fishers are more likely to keep slaves than

hunters . This may perhaps account for the existence of slavery

among some o f these tribes:But our numbers give us no hint

in this direction. We find , indeed , that 1 1 out of 26 po sitive

cases are afforded by tribes inhabiting the islands o f the,Malay

Archipelago ; but among these there are some Dyak tribes livingin the interior '

of Borneo . Moreover, South America affords

6 positive, and the Melanesian islands 12 negative cases. We

may suppo se that whatever effect this factor has is neutralizedby the intervention of o ther circumstances .


Levchine (writing about 30 years earlier than Radloff ) statesthat in his time agriculture was o f little importance ; and hedoes not make any ment ion of irrigation The introductionof the paddlewheel has therefore probably to be ascribed tothe Russians ; for the Kazak Kirghiz

,in Radloff ’s time

,were

already strongly influenced by them ; so we may not speakhere of a fact belonging to savage life. We have not foundany o ther instance of this dependence of agriculture on capital ;but even if there b e a few instances

,we are justified in con

eluding that , generally speaking,the savage agriculturist can

perfectly well d o without capital,except , o f course , where he

depends on cattle.

Moreover, subsistence is fairly easy to pro cure. Agriculture ,where it is carried on in such simple manner as among mostsavages , does not require much skill or application.As comparedwith hunting, seafaring and manufactures

,it is rather dull

work, requiring patience rather than strength or skill. It isone o f the occupations about which there is no excitement ,and which in many primitive societies are performed by thewomen. Hunting requires personal qualities, and a good hunteris held in high esteem ; but we have

'

not found it stated in a

single instance,that a man

’s influence or power depends on

his ability in agriculture.

Subsistence, therefore , is independent of capital and easy toprocure. Every one is able to clear a piece of ground and providefor himself ; nobody offers his services to another, and so , if

a man wants a labourer,he must compel his fellow-man to

work for him .

“All freemen in new countries”says Bagehot“must b e pretty equal ; every one has labour, and every one

has land ; capital , at least in agricultural countries (for pastoralcountries are very different) , is of l ittle use ; it canno t hire

labour ; the labourers go and work for themselves. There is

a . story often to ld o f a great English capitalist who went out

to Australia with a shipload of labourers and a carriage ; his

plan was that the labourers should build a house for him,

and that he would keep his carriage , just as in England . But

(so the story goes) he had to try to live in his carriage , for

1 ) Levchine, p . 413.

AGRICULTURAL TRIBES .

his labourers left him ,and went away to work for them

selves” Similarly, Sombart observes :“Colonies , in which there

are no labourers to explo it , are like knives without blades”

In such countries , if a man wants others to work in his service

and according to his instructions , he must compel them to d o

so , i. e. he must enslave them. And agriculture , requiring littleskill and application, is very fit to b e imposed upon slaves :compulsory agricultural labour, though not so productive as

vo luntary labour, can yet yield some profit. Moreover

,the

agricultural slave is rather easy to contro l ; his work does notrequire independent action. It is also easy to prevent him fromrunning away. In all this he differs from a hunting slave .And

agriculture is also more favourable to the existence o f slaverythan cattle-breeding ; for among pastora l tribes there is but afixed and rather small amount o f work to b e done ; but wheremen subsist by agriculture , any increase in the number of

slaves brings about an increase o f food .

We cannot,therefore , agree with Adam Smith

,who asserts

that in those countri es where slaves are employed, it wouldbe more profitable to employ free labourers , and that it was ,in general , pride and love o f power in the master that led tothe employment of slaves A free labourer, it is true , ismore interested in the work he has to d o , and therefore likelyto d o it better, than a slave ; but in those countries wherethere is an abundance of fertile so il , and capital is of littleuse

, free labourers cannot b e had ; every freeman prefers

working for himself, or perhaps not working at all.

Cairnes , Speaking of Negro slavery as it was carried on in

the United States,admits that slave labour has sometimes an

advantage over free labour,but only where tobacco , cotton and

similar crops are raised for industrial purposes , not wherecereals are grown .

“The economic advantages of slavery” heremarks“are easily stated : they are all comprised in the factthat the employer of slaves has abso lute power over his workmen ,

1 ) Bagehot, pp. 72 , 73. Hutter (pp. 353, speaking of the Bali trib es of Cameroon,

remarks that there is a d ifference between rich and poor,but '

the poor are not so badlyoff as in Europe

,for the land is open to every one. 2 ) Sombart, I p. 342. 3) Adam

Smith as referred to by Ingram,p. 282. Loria (p. 97) also hold s that production was

d ecreased by the introduction of slavery.


and enj oys the disposa l o f the who le fruit o f their labours.

Slave labour, therefore, admits o f the most complete organi

zation ; that is to say, it may b e combined on an extensivescale

,and directed by a contro lling mind to a single end , and

its cost can never rise above that which is necessary to maintain the slave in health and strength . On the o ther hand , theeconomical defects of slave labour are very serious. They mayb e summed up under the three fo llowing heads it is givenreluctantly ; it is unskilful ; it is wanting in versatilityThe line dividing the S lave from the Free States marks alsoan important division in the agricultural capabilities o f NorthAmerica . North of this line

,the products for which the soil

and climate are best adapted are cereal crops , while south of

it the prevailing crops are tobacco, rice,co tton, and sugar ;

and these two classes o f crops are broadly distinguished inthe methods o f culture suitable to each . The cultivation o f

the one class, of which co tton may b e taken as the type,requires for its efficient conduct that l abour should be com

b ined and organized on an extensive scale . On the o ther hand ,for the raising of c ereal crops this condition is not so essential .Even where labour is abundant and that labour free, the largecapitalist does no t in this mode of farming appear on the

who le to have any preponderating advantage o ver the smal lproprietor

,who , with his family, cultivates his own farm,

as

the example of the best cultivated states in Europe proves.Whatever superiority he may have in the power of combiningand directing labour seems to b e compensated by the greaterenergy and spirit which the sense of property gives to theexertions of the small proprietor. But there is another essentialcircumstance in which these two classes o f crops differ. A

single labourer, Mr. Russell tells us , can cultivate twentyacres o f wheat or Indian corn,

while he canno t manage morethan two of tobacco

, or three of cotton. It appears from thisthat tobacco and cotton fulfil that condition which we saw

was essential to the economical employment of slaves the'

po ssibility of working large numbers within a limited space ;while wheat and Indian corn ,

in the cultivation of which thelabourers are dispersed over a wide surface , fail in this respect.We thus find that cotton

,and the class of crops of which


that the better he works, the more he will be valued , and themore food there will b e o f which he will get his due shareThis retail slavery , as Bageho t remarks ,

“the slavery in which amaster owns a few slaves , whom be wel l knows and daily seesis not at all an into lerable state ; the slaves of Abraham had nodoubt a fair life

,as things went in that day. But who lesale

slavery, where men are but one of the investments o f largecapital, and where a great owner

,so far from knowing each

slave, can hardly tell how many gangs of them he works,is an

abominable state” Retail slavery

,therefore

,can very well

exist where cereal crops are raised ; it is even the most convenient system of labour in primitive agricultural societies.We see that the

'

general economic state o f truly agriculturaltribes may account for the existence o f slavery among so

many o f these tribes. We shal l now inquire what secondarycauses there are at Work among agricultural tribes

, and whateffect they have. But we shall have to speak first of a greatfactor in economic life

,which we have not met with before .

4. Land and p opulation.

The general principle laid down In the last paragraph isthat in primitive agricultura l societies capital is of little use

and subsistence easy to acquire ; t herefore every able-bodiedman can , by taking a piece of land into cul tivation , providefor himself. Hence it fo llows that nobody vo luntarily serves

another ; he who wants a labourer must subject him, and this

subjection will often assume the character of slavery.

But this general rule requires an important qualification.

Hitherto we,

have supposed , that there is much more fertileland than is required to be cultivated for the support o f the

1 ) Such was the slave system of the ancient Germans described by Tactitus :“Y oucannot tell master from slave by any d istinction in education : they spend their timeamong the same flocks, upon the same land

,until age separates the nob les and their

valour causes them to b e acknowledged .

” Tacitus,Germania, 20. On the character o f

primitive slavery, see also Schmoller, Grundriss, I p . 339.

—2 ) Bagehot, pp . 73, 74; seealso Pliigel , p . 96, and Jhering

’s excellent d escription of the character of slavery in

early Rome (Jhering, II Part I pp. 1 72


actual population. Such , indeed, is the case among most savages ;but it is not always so . And where it is no t so , our general

rule does not obtain. When all land fit for cultivation has been

appropriated, a man , though able-bodied and willing to work ,if he owns no land

,cannot earn his subsistence independently o f

a landlord ; he has to apply to the owners of the land foremployment as a tenant o r servant. In such case free labourersare available ; therefore slaves are not wanted .

In this and the ensuing paragraphs we shal l endeavour. to

prove by facts the hypothesis arrived at here by a deductivereasoning

,which we may express thus : where a ll land fit for

cu ltivation has been appropriated , s lavery is not likely to exist.

The same vieuw is held by some theoretical writers .

According to Cairnes “slavery , as a permanent system ,h as

need not merely of a fertile soil,but of a practically unli

mited extent of it. This arises from the defect of slave labourin po int of versatility. As has been already remarked

, the difficulty o f teaching the slave anything is so great the resultof the compulsory ignorance in which he is kept , combinedwith want of intelligent interest in his work that the onlychance o f rendering his labour profitable is , when he has oncelearned a lesson, to keep him to that lesson for life . Accordingly where agricultural operations are carried on by slaves

,

the business of each gang is always restricted to the raisingof a single product Whatever crop may b e best suited tothe character o f the so il and the nature of slave industry

,

whether cotton, tobacco , sugar, or rice,that crop is cultivated ,

and that alone. Ro tation of crops is thus precluded by the conditions of the case. The so il is tasked again and again to yieldthe same product, and the inevitable result fo llows . After a

short series of years its fertility is completely exhausted,the

planter“land-killer” he is called in the picturesque nomen

clature o f the South aband ons the ground which he hasrendered worthless , and passes on to seek in new so ils for thatfertility under which alone the agencies at his disposal can b e

profitably employed Slave cultivation , w herever it has beentried in the new world , has issued in the same results. Pre

cluding the conditions of ro tation of crops or sk ilful management , it tends inevitably to exhaust the land of a country and


consequently requires for its permanent success not merely a

fertile so il but a practically unlimited extent o f it.” Thereforeexpansion is a necessity o f slave societiesIn the same sense Weber

,speaking of the ancient states of

Asia and Europe , remarks that slavery is uneconomical , wherea dense population and high prices of the land render an

intensive cultivation necessaryIt is easy to see that these arguments d o not apply to

slavery as practised by savages . Ro tation of crops and skilfulmanagement are wanting among mo st savage

'

trib es, whetherthey keep slaves o r no t . Moreover

,as we have already remarked

,

the slaves kept by them are not pieces of machinery , nor, asin the United States , kept in compulsory ignorance ; they are

rather regarded as members o f the master’s family ; there isno great difference between master and slave We maytherefore suppose that, whether a savage tribe keeps slaves ornot, agriculture is carried on in the same manner.

Loria also holds that slavery requires an abundant supplyof ground ; but his arguments are quite different from Cairnes

’

.

His reasoning is as fo llows .As long as there is land not yet appropriated , which a man

destitute o f capital can take into cultivation, capitalistic pro

perty canno t exist ; fo r nobody is inclined to work for a capitalist , when he can work for his own profit on land that costshim nothing. If, then , the capitalist wants by any means to

get a profit, he must vio lently suppress the free land to whichthe labourer owes his force and liberty.And as long as the pcpu

lation is scarce and therefore all land cannot possibly b e appro

priated , the only means of suppressing the free land is bysubjugating the labourer. This subjugation assumes at first the

form of slavery ; afterwards , when the decreasing fertility of

the so il has to b e made up f or by a greater fertility o f labour,slavery gives place to serfdom,

which is milder and makeslabour more productive.

When the population increases, and all land that can be culti

1 ) Cairnes , pp . 53- 56, 62 , 1 79 sqq. 2) Weber’s Article“Agrarverhaltnisse im Al

tertnm”,in Handwdrterbuch d er Staatswissenschaften, 3rd edition (1909) I p. 63.

3) Cairnes is also aware of the d ifference b etween ancient and modern slavery (pp.109


Many objections can b e made to Loria’

s arguments . He isconstantly confusing capitalist and landlord. He seems to consider capitalists and labourers as two strictly separated classes

,

though we see continually people passing from one class tothe o ther. And when he tells us that

,if wages were higher

,

the labourers would save a portion of their earnings and so

accumulate capital , but that the employers , wishing to preventthis

,keep wages low,

he ascribes to bo th capitalists and

labourers so much forethought and consciousness o f class—interestas men scarcely ever have , except in books on po litical economy Y et we cannot think but that in the main Loria isright. The gist of his reasoning is what we have already remarkedin the beginning of this paragraph. As long as there is an

abundance o f land not yet appropriated,and therefore at the

disposal o f whoever may choose to cultivate it , nobody appliesto another for employment, and the only labourers a man canprocure are forced labourers . But when all land has been appro

priated , tho se who own no land are at the mercy o f the landho lders, and voluntarily serve them ; therefore slaves are not

wanted .

Much more fully has the true reason , why in densely peopledcountries there is little use for slaves , been recognized byWakefield in his book on the art of co lonization. With him ,

‘

the theory is not based upon a general conception o f society,but upon the facts o f the co lonial history o f his own time.

Wakefield , then, complains that in Australia and other co lonies manufactures cannot thrive ; the reason for this is , according to him , that there are no labourers to b e had ; for there is somuch free land that every newly-arrived labourer becomes a

landowner rather than.

work for wages . Therefore there are

many co lonies which would keep slaves if the home governmentlet them. This leads the writer to an investigation o f the Cir

cumstances which induce men to keep slaves .“They are not moral , but economical circumstances , theyrelate not to vice and virtue , but to production. They are the

circumstances,in which one man finds it difficult or Impossible

1 ) On Loria’s incorrect manner of reasoning, see B . Croce’s essay on“Le teorie storiche

d el Prof. Loria” , in“Materialismo storico ed economia Marxistica”. Amnch better Opinionof Loria is held by Sombart (I p.


to get other men to work under his direction for wages . Theyare the which stand in the way o f combination and constancy o f labour, and which all civilized nations ,in a certain stage of their advance from barbarism

,have en

deavoured to counteract , and have in some measure counteracted,

by means of some kind o f slavery . Hitherto in this world ,labour has never been employed on any considerable scale,with constancy and in combination, except by one or other oftwo means ; either by hiring , or by slavery o f some kind .

What the principle of association may d o in the production of

wealth, and for the labouring classes , without either slaveryor hiring

,remains to b e seen ; but at present we cannot rely

upon it

Slavery is evidently a make-shift for hiring ; a proceedingto which recourse is had , only when hiring is impossible or difficult it is adopted because at the time and under the cir

cumstances there is no o ther way of getting labourers to workwith constancy and in combination. What, then,

are the cir

cumstances under which this happens ?It happens whenever population is scanty in proportion to

land. Slavery . has been confined to countries o f a scanty

population, has never existed in very populous countries,and

has gradually ceased in the countries whose population gradually increased to the point of density. And the reason is plainenough . In populous countries , the desire to own land isno t easily gratified , because the land is scarce and dear : theplentifulness and cheapness of land in thinly-peopled countriesenables almost everybody who wishes it to become a land owner.

In thinly-peopled countries, accordingly, the great majori ty

o f free people are landowners who cultivate their own land ;and labour for hire is necessarily scarce : in densely-peopledcountries, on the contrary

,the great majority of the people

cannot obtain land , and there is plenty o f labour for hire. Ofplentifulness of labour for hire, the cause is dearness of landcheapness of land is the cause of scarcity of labour for hire”

1 ) Wakefield,pp. 323—325. Marx (1 Pp. 795—804) gives a detailed account of the same

argument as d eveloped in another book of Wakefield ’s,and adds that the exclusion of the

mass of the people from the soil forms the basis of the capitalistic mod e of prod uction(ibid .

,p"


Wakefield proposed that the government should sell the newland in the Co lonies at a sufficient price, i. e. at a price whichwould oblige the newly arrived labourers to serve a fewyears

for wages before being able to become landownersAnother writer on co lonial matters o f the same period

,

Merivale, fo llows quite the same line of argument asWakefield .

The great demand for slaves and the great profitab leness o f

slavery, he says,arise altogether from the scarcity of labour.“When the pressure o f population induces the freeman to offer

his services , as he does in all old countries,for little more than

the natural minimum o f wages,tho se services are very certain

to b e more productive and less expensive than those of the

bondsman,who se support is a charge to the master

,and who

has nothing to gain by his industry . This being the case,it is obvious that the limit o f the profitable duration of slaveryis attained whenever the population has become so dense thatit is cheaper to employ the free labourer for hire. Towardsthis limit every community is approximating, however slowly.

”

That the relation between land and population is indeed thedetermining factor as regards the system of labourmost suitableto a country, is clearly shown by the effect which the eman

cipation of the slaves had upon the economic development o f

the different co lonies . Merivale then pro ceeds to divide the

British slave colonies , at the time of emancipation,into three

classes, as respects their economical situation. First, the o ldestsettlements

,established in the smaller Antilles (Barbadoes,

Antigua,

They were those in which the land was nearlyall o ccupied .

“They were less injured than any o thers by theimmediate effect o f emancipation ; for the negroes had no

resource except in continuing to work ; there was no unoccupiedland for them to possess, no independent mode of ob taining a

subsistence to which they could resort , still less of obtainingtho se luxuries which habit had rendered desirable to them.

”

“The next class is that o f co lonies in which the fertile or

advantageously situated so il was all cultivated , and becoming

1 ) On the practical result of Wakefield ’s plan, see Cunningham, English Industry, IIpp. 603—607. Professor Cunningham justly callsWakefield“a jud icious and far-seeingman”( ib id ., p . 605 , note


community and so a labouring class he wanting,there is little

use for slaves .It must be understood that we speak here of self-dependent

agricultural countries. Where manufactures and the trade withforeign parts are highly developed

,economic life becomes much

more complicated and presents quite another character.

What we want to prove is that in such self-dependent agricultural countries

,when all arable land has been appropriated ,

slavery is not likely to exist.All land has been appropriated

,when every piece o f land

is claimed by some one as his property. The owner, o f course ,

need not b e an individual ; land may also be owned by a groupo f indi viduals . Y et the statements o f our ethnographers con

cerning tribal property may not b e accepted without muchcaution. They often tel l us that a tribe claims the ownershipof the territory it inhabits. This so -called right of propertyheld by the tribe o ften pro ves to consist in this , that no strangers are admitted to the territory

,but every member of the

tribe may cultivate as much of the land as he likes. In suchcase

,whether it b e the tribe or the king to whom the land is

stated to belong , the term“ownership” is very inappropriately

used We shal l only speak o f appropriation o f land whensome one claims the use of it to the exclusion o f all o thers ,and values his property . Where the so -called owner is always .

willing to give a piece o f it in cultivation to who ever wantsto cultivate it

,we shall not speak of appropriation ; where,

however, the land is never (except by way o f favour) given in

use gra tis , but a rent is always stipulated , it appears that theowner values it

,it has now really been appropriated

1 ) See Dargun , pp . 49 sqq. Hildebrand (Recht nnd Sitte, pp . 134sqq.) rightly remarksthat in primitive societies the uncultivated land is not the property of the community ,but nob ody’s property (res nullius ) . 2 ) Where the State owns the land and gives itin use gratuitously or at a low rent

,the land is practical ly free. Such was the case in

China,in the 5th century of our era, where the State gave allotments to farmers at

a d efinite tax.

“I t is ob vious , that the condition o f the free cultivators without land

could not b ecome intolerable so long as they were able to rent in on the simple con

d ition o f paying the ord inary tax ; and as long as the State had land to let on these terms ,private agglomerators would be unable to get farmers to pay more to themselves ; so thatlarge estates could only be profitab le on condition of evad ing the land tax, or b eing tilledfor the owner b ij servile lab our.

” Simcox, II p . 1 27.

AGRICULTURAL TBIBES . 311

It is not always clearly stated whether all land has been

appropriated . Then we shall have recourse to some criteria

from which we may infer whether such b e the case.

The principal criterion is the existence o f a class o f freemendestitute o f land Where such people are found we may be

sure that there is no free land ; else they would be able totake it into cul tivation. It need scarcely be added that evenwhere no such people are found , it may be that all land hasbeen appropriated , everybody sharing in it .The appropriation o f the land does not imply that all land

is actually being cultivated . There may be land actual ly out

o f tillage and yet valued by the owner. But when it is statedthat all land is being cultivated, it must all have been appro

priated . This will therefore b e our second criteri on .

There is another criterion that proves that all land has not

yet been appropri ated . When we are to ld that clearing a pieceo f land is a modus acquirend i o f landed property , there muststil l b e free land.

The appropriation of all land implies that property in landexists ; but the reverse is not true : when we are informedthat property in land exists

,this does not prove that all land

has already been appropriated . For as soon as the population hasso far increased as to require the cul tivation o f land less fertilethan that which was at first exclusively cultivated , the more

fertile land acquires value.

“On the first settling of a countrysays Ricardo “in which there is an abundance o f rich and

fert ile land , a very smal l proportion of which is required tob e cultivated for the support o f the actual population , or indeedcan b e cultivated with the capital which the population can

command, there will b e no rent ; for no one would payfor the use of land

,when there was an abundant quantity

not yet appropriated , and , therefore , at the disposal o f who soever might cho ose to cultivate it . But“when in the progress

1 )“Des titute of land” is not the same as :

“who own no land .

” When the population isso scarce that even the most fertile land has no value

,nobody owns land ; b nt there are no

men dest itute of land,any more than in our countries there are men destitute of air or water ;

every one has land at his d ispo sal . Only when every piew of land has an owner, can

th ere be people d estitute o f land,i . e. who have no land at their disposal .


of society , land o f the second degree of fertility is taken intq'

cultivation, rent immediately commences on that of the

quality, and the amount of that rent will depend on

difference in the quality of these two portions of land” 1 )

soon as land o f the second degree o f fertility is cultirent commences ; but in such cases there is po ssibly muchland o f the second degree no t yet appropriated , and at anyrate land of the 3rd

,4th, etc . degrees. Accordingly we find

that among some savage tribes , where there is an abundanceo f free land , some very fertile or very favourably situatedpieces o f land are highly valued . We shall give one instance.

Among the Sea,

Dyaks land is so abundant that , if a Dyak ,when about to cultivate a piece o f land , finds a dead animallying on it, which he considers a bad omen, he immediatelyleaves the land , and seeks a new field. Y et among the ssame

Sea Dyaks “parents and children,brothers and sisters

,very

seldom quarrel ; when they d o so , it is from having marriedinto a family with whom afterwards they may have disputesabout land . One would imagine that was a subject not likely

to create dissensions in a country like Borneo ; but there are

favourite farming-grounds, and boundaries are not very settled .

It used to b e the practice no t to have recourse to arms on

those occasions , but the two parties co llecting their relativesand friends, would fight with sticks for the co veted spot”

The last sentence pro ves that these quarrels were rather frequent.When

,therefore , it is stated that land has value , or that lands

are rented,or that the wealth of individuals consists partly in

landed property , this does not prove that all land has alreadybeen appropriated.

We have spoken o f all land fit for cultivation being appro

priated . What land is fit for cultivation in each country depends

on the abili ty of the inhabitants in agriculture. Much will alsodepend on the character o f the individuals. Where these are

vigorous and enterprising, the people desti tute o f arable landwill endure many hardships in taking new lands into cultivation,whereas weak a nd indo lent men will prefer being employedby the rich. A good instance of this is furnished by the Bonto c

1 ) Ricard o, pp. 35, 36. 2) Spenser St. John, I pp . 74, 60.


islands o f the world . The rest o f Oceania consists chiefly of

smal l islands .

Slavery in Oceania (with the exception o f New Guinea) hasnever prevailed to any great extent . In the second chapter of

Part I it - has been shown that slavery, so far as we can know,

existed only in the N . W. So lomon Islands, on the Gazelle

Peninsula of Neu Pommern,and in New Zealand .

We shal l try to account for this fact by showing that on

most o f the Oceanic islands all land had been appropriated ,which led to a state o f things inconsistent with slavery as a

social system.

In the fo llowing paragraphs we shall inquire What our

ethnographers have to say about landed property in Oceaniaand the extent to which the land had been appropriated .

g 5 . Land tenure in Po lynesia .

In this and the fo llowing two paragraphs we shall notmention all particulars of land tenure given by the ethnographers

,

but only those which may enable us to decide whether all landhad been appropriated .

Mahler , Speaking of Po lynesia and Micronesia generally, remarks that on many islands the burial-places o ccupied largetracts of land ; but this does no t prove that there was abnudance o f land , for these places were hardly ever anything but

(according to Penny) ,“barren po ints where the wind b owls and

the sea moans , or ro cky caverns in which the waves dash withsullen roar

”

Waltershausen tells us that in Po lynesia the cultivated landbelonged to the king and nobility , to the exclusion o f the

labouring classe s . The upper classes also owned the fruit-trees ,the small coral islets surrounding the larger islands, the lakes ,the rivers

,and tho se parts o f the sea which extended from the

land to the reefs . The unfilled land was the property of the'

tribe and , unless the king forbade it , every one might cut the

1 ) Mahler, pp. 58, 59.


wood growing on it for building houses and canoes ; but only

the ruling classes might take it into cultivationMariner states that in Tonga property principally consists

in plantations , canoes and houses . The plantations are ownedby the chiefs and the nobles . Agricultural labourers are verymuch despised ; they serve the chiefs on whom they are dependent . West te lls us that“the feudal principle , that the who lecountry belonged exclusively to the king, regulated the disposaland tenure o f lands ,

”and so the lower classes were in a

slavelike condition.

“Lands were held in fief. The great landlordsderived them by hereditary right , in conjunction with theirchiefta inship, b ut held them at the will of the supreme ruler.

”

These landlords distributed their lands among their relationsand followersIn Niué or Savage Island ,

“the land belongs to clans repre

sented by their heads” .

“At present there is land enough forall

,and the junior members o f the clan come to the headman

whenever they want land to plant upon. Titles can b e acquiredby cultivation”

The land in Samoa” says Turner is owned alike by thechiefs and these heads of families . The land belonging to eachfamily is well known

,and the person who , for the time being

holds the title o f the family head,has the right to dispose o f

it . It is the same with the chiefs. There are certain tracts of

bush or forest land which belong to them. The uncultivatedbush is sometimes claimed by those who own the land on its

bo rders . The lagoon also , as far as the reef, is considered the

property of those o ff whose village it is situated .

”Von Bi

'

Ilow

concludes from the legends and traditions o f the Samoans thatformerly all the land belonged to the chiefs . But now the landis owned by the familiesGardiner gives an elaborate account o f the regu lation o f

landed property in Rotuma :“No private property in land

formerly existed , it was all vested in the pure for the time

1 ) Waltershausen, pp . 17, 18. 2) Mariner, II pp. 1 62,1 60 ; West

,p . 262.

3) Thomson, Savage Island , p. 143. 4) Turner, Samoa, pp , 1 76, 177; Y ou Biilow ,

p . 192 .


being of the hoag the district general ly had rights over it.It usually consisted of four kinds : bush

,swamp , coast , and

proprietary water in the boat channel ; common to the hoag,

too , were wells and graveyards. Every member of the hoagknew its boundaries , which consisted of lines b etween certaintrees or prominent rocks , posts, and even stone wal ls. In the

bush land every hoag po ssessed property ; it lay on the slopes ofb ills and in valleys between at some slight distance from the

coast, from which it was separated by a stone wall, running

round the who le island . On it taro , yams, bananas, plantains ,and a few cocoanut trees were grown for food

,while the paths

into it and through it were planted with the Tahitian chestnut,

the fava tree, and the sagopalm. The Tahitian chestnut andfava trees were favourite boundary marks owing to their sizeand longevity. Swamp land is only possessed by Noatau ,

Oinafa ,Matusa, and Itomotu. It is low-lying land

,on extensive beach

sand flats , which exist in these districts . The tide always keepsit wet

,perco lating through the sand

, and in it is grown the

p apci, or broka , against famine. The possession of a good—sizedstrip always caused and gave to the hoag a p osition of importance ; its boundaries were stones at the sides. Coast land layoutside the surrounding wall

,to which the hoag had a strip

from and including the foreshore. On it as near as possible tothe coast the house or houses of the hoag were placed , whilethe rest o f the land was planted with cocoanuts for drinkingpurposes . Hifo trees are stated t o have been planted formerlyto show the boundaries

,but they more o ften now consist of

stones or cocoanut trees , the ownership o f which is a constant

source of dispute. Districts and even villages were sharplymarked o ff by walls down

’

to the beach . All had the right o f

turning out their pigs on this land , and each hoag had to keepin proper repair the parts of the wall adjacent to it. Each had ,however

, usually an enclosure on its own land for its own pigs ,when young. The proprietary water ran from the foreshore tothe reef

,a continuation o f the strip on shore. At Noatau and

Matusa,where it is very broad , it was to some extent cross

divided. It consists o f a sand flat covered by 10 -1 2 feet o f

1 ) H oag is a large family-group of which the pure is the head .

318 AGRICULTURAL TRIREs .

whaling-ships , until they had earned enough to buy a pieceo f land In Hale

’

s time land was evidently not so abundantas it is now that the population is so rapidly declining.

In Tahiti “every portion of land had its respective owner ;and even the distinct trees on the land had sometimes differentproprietors , and a tree

,and the land on which it grew

,dif

ferent owners.” What our informant further tells us o f the

present state of things as compared with that of earl ier times,shows a remarkable likeness to Gardiner’s statement aboutRotuma. Ellis states that “an extent o f so il capable of cul

tivation, and o ther resources , are adequate to the maintenanceof a population tenfold increased above its present numbers.”

But a great depopulation has taken place in the course of

years. “In the bottom of every valley,even to the recesses in

the mountains,on the sides of the inferior hills, and on the

brows of almost every promontory, in each of the islands , monuments of former generations are stil l met with in great abnudance. Stone pavements of their dwellings and court-yards ,foundations of houses

,and remains of family temples, are numer

ous. Occasionally they are found in exposed situations, butgenerally amidst thickets of brushwood or groves of trees,some of which are of the largest growth . All these relics are

of the same kind as those observed among the natives at the

time of their discovery,evidently proving that they belong to

the same race,though to a more populous era o f their history.

The stone to o ls o ccasionally found near these vestiges of anti

quity demonstrate the same lamentable fact.” According toMoerenhout “landed properties constituted the principal , orrather the only wealth of these people ; therefore the power o fthe chiefs always depended on the quantity and quality of

their lands ; moreover, the more people they could support ,the more sure they were of having subjects.” This writer doesnot

,however

,enter into many details

In Hawaii four social ranks existed . The members of the

third rank,according to Ellis

,

“are generally called haku aina ,

proprietors of the land .

” “In the fourth rank may be included

1 ) Hale, p . 105. 2) Ellis, Pol . Rea , III p. 1 16 ; I pp . 109, 103 ; Moerenhout , IIp . 1 2 .


.he small farmers , who rent from ten to twenty or thirtyacres o f land ; the mechanics

,indeed all the labouring

classes , tho se who attach themselves to some chief or farmer,and labour on his land for their food and clothing

,as wel l

as those who cultivate small portions of land for their own

advantage.

” “Sometimes the poor people take a piece of land ,on condition of cultivating a given portion for the chief

,and

the remainder for themselves , making a fresh agreement afterevery crop.

” Hale states that formerly there were no landedproprietors ; all the land was “the property of the king , andleased by him to inferior chiefs (ha tu aina

, landlords) , whounderlet it to the people ; as the king, however, though ab so

lute in theory, was aware that his power depended very muchon the cc -operation of the high chiefs

,they became

,to a

certain d egree, partakers in his authority. Remy tells us thatthe land belonged exclusively to the great chiefs

,who leased

it and received considerable rents. Chamisso and Marcuseequally state that the land belonged to the chiefsIn Rarotonga , according to Gerland , a man

’s power dependson the quantity o f land he owns . Meinicke states that thereare four social classes . The third class is composed of the landed

proprietors ; the lowest class are those who own no land and

live as tenants on the estates o f the noblesOn the Marquesas Islands , according to Gerland , three

ranks formerly existed : chiefs,landho lders, and the common

people. The landho lders were the mo st powerful class ; thecommon people were obliged to pay them a tribute. Y et thosewho owned most land were not always most respected, and

even of the common p eople some owned land . Meinicke,however, states that the who le of the land is the property of

the nobles. Hale, after speaking o f the nobles, adds that therest o f the people were the landho lders and their relativesand tenants

In Mangarewa (belonging to the Paumotu group) the nobles

1 ) Ellis , Pol. Res , IV pp. 41 2, 413, 41 6 ; Hale, p . 36 ; Remy , p . XLVI ; Chamisso , inKotzebue, p. 149 ; Marcuse, p . 95. 2 ) Waitz-Gerland , VI p . 1 99 ; Heinicke, Die Inselnd es stil len Oceans, II p . 148. 3) Waitz-Gerland , VI pp . 21 6, 217; Heinicke, l. c .,

p .254; Hale, p. 36 .


were the proprietors of the soil ; they o ften let out their landsto the third class, the common peopleMeinicke tells us that in the Manahiki group the cocoanut

trees and the lagoons (for fishing purposes) were private

propertyIn an article , quoted by Schurtz

,it is stated that in the

Tokelau group the land belongs exclusively to the nobles'

.

Lister, speaking of‘

Fakaofu or Bowditch Island (in the Tokelaugroup) , says :

“Two islets belonged to the king. Two o therswere common property, and the rest were divided up as the

property o f individuals” So it seems that in this part of thegroup there was land : which had not yet been appropriated.

In the Abgarris , Marqueen and Tasman groups all the landbelongs to the chiefs and the nobles, the common people havingno landed propertyTregear has the fo llowing notes on landed property in New

Zealand :“Land was held primarily by tribal right ; but withinthis tribal right each free warrior o f the tribe had particularrights o ver some portion. He could not part with the land because it was not his to give or sell , but

'

he had better rightsto certain portions than others of his tribe. He would claim byhaving the bones of his father o r grandfather there

, or thatthey once rested there ; or by the fact of his navel-string havingbeen cut there ; or by his blood having been shed on it ; orby having been cursed there ; or by having helped in the

war party which took the land ; or by his wife being ownerby descent ; or by having been invited by the owners to livethere.

” Thomson states that “all free persons , male and female ,constituting the nation were proprietors o f the so il . The chiefswere the greatest landho lders .

“Conquest and occupation gavetitles to land . The right o f fishing in rivers and sea belonged

to the adjo ining landed proprietor. Amongst the families of

each tribe there are also laws regarding landed property. Thus

the cultivation o f a portion of forest land renders it the property of those who cleared it, and this right descended fromgeneration to generation It was illegal for one family to

1 ) Waits-Gerland, VI p . 2 19. 2) Meinicke, 1. c., p . 264. 3) Tutuila, as quoted

by Schurtz, Anfange d es Land besitzes, p. 355 ; Lister, p . 54. 4) Parkinson, DreissigJ ahre, p . 535.


who ho ld their property by hereditary right and not from the

chief. The chief cannot take the property o f these men unlesshe kills them first .” “The punishments inflicted by the chiefsin former times consisted most often in capital punishment ,and more rarely , in less serious cases, in confiscation o f landand house

”

Several o ther writers affirm that in the Marshall group theupper classes are the so le proprietors of the so il and the common

people are destitute of landRegarding the isle of Nauru we are to ld that not only every

inch of land and every palm ,but even the reefs and the sea

washing them, are held as property

On the Pelau Islands the right of dispo sing o f the land o f

the tribe vests in the obokul (chief o f a family-group) ; but hecannot alienate any land without the consent of his nephews .

However,a regular agriculture does no t exist

, and most of theland remains untilled ; therefore the oppo sition of the nephewsgenerally bears a formal character ; they only aim at extortinga present from the obokul. The obokul divides the land amongthe members o f the tribe for cultivation. He may also cedepieces o f land to aliens for use without payment ; such personsthen enter into the po sition of kaukd th, i. e. they are consideredas related to the tribe without po ssessing the same rights , theyoccasionally provide the obokul with food , and help him in his

work. In ano ther place our informant states that there is not

often reason for disputes about land , as the population is scarceand large tracts o f land are uncultivatedOn the Mortlo ck Islands the chief of each tribe has an unli

mited right to dispose o f the land belonging to the tribe. He

divides it among the heads o f families on condition of their paying a tribute in kind . The latter assign to each member o f their

groups a piece o f land for cultivation. Most land is divided upbetween the several keys (family-groups) ; the land which is

not yet o ccupied is the property o f the principal key and thus

more directly than the rest at the disposal of the chief

1 ) Knbary , Die Ebongruppe, pp. 36, 37. 2) Senfft, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse,pp. 448

,452 ; Steinbach, p. 297; Kramer, Hawaii, etc., pp . 430, 431 . 3) Jung , p . 68.

4) Knbary , Soc. Einr. der Pelauer, pp . 47, 48 ; Kabat y, Die Verbrechen, p . 85.5) R ubery , Mortlock-Inseln, p. 253.


On the isle of Kusaie twelve principal chiefs own all the

land ; but the chiefs o f the second rank administer and cultivate it for them. The common people are o bliged to pay a

tribute to the chiefs and serve them.The highest mountains are

planted up to their summits wi th bananas , taro , sugarcane, etc 1.

On the Eastern Caro line Islands the land belongs exclusi

vely to the two upper classes ; the third class are attachedto the so il on which they liveHale states that in Ponape or Ascension Island there are

three classes . All the land belongs to the two upper classes .The estates are never alienated and pass only by successionGerland tells us that on the Marianne Islands the nobles

were hereditary owners o f the who le of the landAs to the Kingsmill Islands , the particulars given b ijWilkes

and Parkinson , as quoted in the second chapter o f Part I 5

sufficiently prove that all land had been appropriated. Accordingto Wilkes “any one who owns land can always call uponothers to pro vide him with a house, canoe , and the necessariesof life ; but one who has none is considered as a slave , andcan ho ld no property whatever.

” Hale tells us that“the katokaare persons not originally o f noble birth , who either by thefavour of their chief or by good fortune in war , have acquiredland and with it freedom” If in Wilkes’ statement we read“pro letarian

” instead of“slave , and take,Hale’s “freedom”

in

an economic,not in a legal sense , we find that here too the

lowest class were destitute of landed property.

The conclusion is that on most of the islands of Micronesia allland has been appropriated , most often by the upper classes to theexclusion of the lower. In Pelau

,though a vast amount o f land

is actually out of tillage, the regulation of landed propertyrelated by Kubary proves that all land is held as property.

Here , as well as in Rotuma and Tahiti,we have to deal with

the effects of the depopulation that has taken place in Oceania .

In Mortlock there seems to be free land ; bnt Kubary’s account

is no t very clear .

1 ) Waita Gerland, V, 2 pp. 1 20, 1 21 , 78. 2) Ibid .

,p. 1 18. 3) Hale, p. 83.

4) Waitz-Gerland,l . c .

,p . 1 14. 5) See above, pp. 107—109. 6) Wilkes , p . 96 ; Hale ,

p . 102 .


7. Land tenure in Melanesia .

Codrington, in his article “On social regulations in Melanesia

,

”remarks that his observations “are limited to the

Northern New Hebrides,the Banks Island s , the Santa Cru z

Group, and the South-eastern So lomon Islands"1 ) . Of landtenure he says :“Land is everywhere divided into (1 ) the Town,(2) the. Gardens , (3) the Bush. Of these the two first are held

as property, the third is unappropriated . Everywhere , or

almost everywhere,the abundance o f land makes it o f little

value. If an individual reclaims for himself a piece of bushland , it b ecomes his own

”

Somerville , speaking o f New Georgia. (one o f the [ central

So lomon Islands , and therefore no t included in Co'

drington’

s

description) remarks :“Property seems to b e well recognised

every one of the myriad islets o f the great eastern lagoonhas its understood owner , no matter if co coanuts be growingthere or not . Groves of cocoanut trees are well protected by

hopes , as before.

described,as are also taro patches . Hunting

rights over opossums on a man’

s pro perty are also protectedby hopes

”Ribb e , however, states that in the New Georgia

group, uncultivated land , i. e. bush and forest,has no owner ,

except the parts planted with sago trees and fruit trees .

Every one may clear and cultivate this land and so acquirea right of propertyOn the Shortland Islands , near Bougainville (N .W. So lomon

Islands) , landed property in the European sense does not exist.Everybody has the right to take a part of the wood into cultivation. By do ing so , he acquires a right of property , but onlyfor so long as he has the land in use

Woodford describes the regulation o f landed property in theSo lomon Islands in general in the fo l lowing terms :“As to thesystem of land tenure among them

,l believe that to land ,

per 36,they attach but little value . Any individual o f the tribe

appears to b e able to select at will a piece o f land , from the

1 ) Codrington, Soc . Reg.,p. 306 ; see also Codrington , The Melanesians, pp. 59, 60.

2 ) Codrington, Soc . Reg.,pp . 31 1 , 312 . 3) Somerville, New Georgia, p. 404.

4) Bibbs , p . 272 . 5) Bibbs , p . 1 1 6.


cultivation is the individual property o f the chiefs and nobles,

whereas the rest is at the disposal o f all. Accordingto R ochasthere are two ranks : no bles and common people ; but the latterenjoy a rather independent position and always own some land .

The rights o f property in land are highly respected,even by

the chiefsWilliams , describing Fiji, speaks o f a feudal government ;

but he adds that the ancient divisions of landed property are

much respected . Seemann states that the “real power o f the

state resides in the landho lders or gentry” ; and Hale tells us

that the members o f the lowest class “work for the chiefsand landho lders and are supported by them.

”The fullest account

o f land tenure In Fiji is given by Eison. The lands are of

three kinds. “1 . The Yavu or Town-lot ; 2 . The Qele, or ArableLand ; and 3. the Veikau , or Forest .

” “The town- lots and the

arab le lands are divided among the tankei (landowners) , whilethe forest lands are held in common by them. Arable landalso , which is not in actual use, is in s ome places common toa certain extent .” “The land

.is vested in or

,at any rate

,

is held by certain joint tribal owners who have a commondescent. These are called the Tankei ni vanua or owners o f

the land Not all the people are landowners .” Fison thenspeaks o f some Classes destitute of land

,o f whom it is not

quite clear whether they are tenants or serfs. But the fo llowingstatement of his clearly shows that all land has been appro

priated :“In addition to the learn [villages] a lready mentioned ,

there are o thers inhabited by tribes who have either migratedfrom their own lands owmg to disagreement with their kinsfolk,or have been driven thence by war. These emigrants b eg landfrom a tankei tribe

,and settle down upon it. They are not

landowners where they are now l iving, but it does not fo l low

that they are kaisi [base-born men,who are very much despised] .

If they were tankei in their oWn land they cannot be placedon the level o f the people without a father. They pay

“rent

of produce and service . Tribes such as these are tenantsat will

,and the land may b e taken from them whenever it

1 ) Brainne , p . 241 ; Glaumont, p . 75 ; Lamb ert, pp. 82 , 85 ; Meinicke, Die Inseln desstillen Oceans

, I p . 230 ; Rochas, pp . 245, 262 .

AGRICULTURAL TRIBES. 327

may b e required. How long soever their occupation may continue,it does not establish a title. The descendants of the tankei

can always resume the lands , upon giving formal no tice, and

presenting some property or other,which is called“the falling

back of the so il” These emigrants are neither slaves nor

serfs, but destitute of land ; if there were free land fit for

cultivation they would appropriate it instead of becomingtenants at will .On the Gazelle Peninsula o f Neu Pommern , according to

Pfeil , uncultivated land as such is not claimed by any one as

his property. When a native wants land,he takes some piece

which is not in use,without having to ask leave o f anybody.

Hahl also states that in the No rthern part of the GazellePeninsula g rass or forest land as a rule is at the disposal o fwhoever wishes to cultivate it . Equally among the Baining o f

the Gazelle Peninsula, as Parkinson tells us , the land is regardedas private property as long as it is being cultivatedIn the Nissan Islands poverty is unknown , as there is

an abundance o f free land. Private property in land is

acquired by taking it into cultivation. Land is so ld and

leasedHaddon, in his art Icle on theWestern Tribes o f Torres Straits

,

remarks : “I have no precise information as to land laws,but

I believe that the who le o f the land is divided up into properties , certainly the arable land is

,the chief sharing like anyone

else . There is no one person o r class of landowners who possessland to the to tal exclusion of anyone else. Title to land isderived from inheritance

,gift or purchase. I never heard o f

any means o f conveyance”

Hunt, describing the Murray Islands

,says :“The chiefs held

only their own hereditary lands,b ut the first fruits of all

cultivated lands were presented to them as their. share .

Any dispute about land would b e settled by the o ld men who

would meet and discuss the point in dispute and then pronouncetheir decision. Land was never so ld

, but could b e leased , when ,

1 ) Williams, pp . 1 8, 22 ; Seemann , p . 233 ; Hale, p. 59; Fison, Land tenure in Fiji, pp .336 , 338, 343. 2 ) Pfeil, p. 69 ; Hahl, p. 82 ; Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p . 1 58.

— 3)Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Bechtsverh

’

altnisse,pp. 401

,422. 4) Hadd on , p . 334.


if used for planting , a share in the first fruits would b e paidto the owner”

From the forego ing it appears that in many parts of Me

lanesia clearing is a modus acquirend i, viz. in the SolomonIslands , Northern New Hebrides, Banks Islands , SantaCruz Group , New Caledonia, Gazelle Peninsula of Neu Pom

mern[and Nissan Islands . Y et the rights of landowners are

recognized everywhere in these islands. Here , as Ricardowould say , land of the second degree of fertility has alreadybeen taken into cultivation

,and so rent has commenced

on that of the first ; but there is still free land . In Aneityum ,

too , there seems to b e land not yet appropriated . In Fiji peopledestitute of land are found . Among the Western tribes o f TorresStraits all arable land is divided up into properties , as Haddontells us ; but whether the rest o f the land is still free is notquite clear. With regard to the Murray Islands we cannotarrive at any definite conclusion.

Generally speaking we may conclude that in Po lynesia and

Micronesia all land has been appro priated , whereas in the

Melanesian Islands free land still ex ists.We see further that not only the arable land is held as

property, but often also the fruit-trees,lakes and streams , the

shore and the lagoon as far as the reef. On most Po lynesianand Micronesian islands whatever portion o f land or water canyield any profit has been appropriated .

8. Land lords,tenants and labourers in Oceania .

It appears from the forego ing paragraphs that in t hose is

lands where all land has been appropriated , there are nearlyalways found people destitute o f land . The only exceptions areRotuma and Pelau . Gardiner

,in his very minute article on

Rotuma , makes no mention o f social ranks ; and Kubary , aswe have already seen in the second chapter of Part I , states

that “among the Pelau islanders there is no question o f a

division of the people into ranks or classes . But Semper, ashas also been shown in the same chapter, speaks of a despised

1 ) Hunt, p . 7.


under their new conqueror, and by them the lands were cultivated , and rent o r taxes paid . Remy equally states that a

victorious chief gave the lands of the conquered party to hisfo llowersOn Niué (Savage Island) ,

“in fighting times the braves (toa )ignored all rights and sei zed upon any land that they werestrong enough to ho ld”

On Nauru the chief had the right to keep all the land histribe had conquered for himself o r distribute it among theo ther chiefs of the tribeIn the Kingsmill Islands the katoka are persons who

“either

by the favour o f their chief or by good fortune in war, haveacquired land” Hence it appears that , here too , the victorsused to o ccupy the lands o f the conquered .

In Fiji , according to Waterhouse,one o f the motives of war

was the desire for land . Williams also states that each government “seeks aggrandizement at the expense o f the rest” bymeans o f conquest

,and he adds that the inhabitants o f

'

con

quered districts were reduced to an abject servitude. Accordingto Wilkes

,

“the victorious party o ften requires the conquered

to yield the right o f so il Eison says :“It is certain that informer days , when po pulation seems to have been on the

tribes were dispossessed of their lands by o thertribes who took them into their o ccupation , and are the tauke

of the present d ay”

We have seen in § 5 that a New Zealander sometimesclaimed land “by having helped in the war party which to okthe land .

”According to Ellis , a desire to enlarge their terri

tory led to frequent wars . Thomson tel ls us :“Sometimes who le

tribes became nominally slaves , although permitted to live at

their usual places of residence,on the condition o f catching

eels and preparing fo od for their conquerors at certain

seasons”

In New Caledonia the inhabitants o f conquered districts have

1 ) Ib id .,IV p . 414; Wilkes, I V p . 36 ; Remy, p. 1 55. 2 ) Thomson , Savage Island ,

p . 143. 3) Jung, p . 67. 4) Hale, p . 102 . 5) Waterhouse,p. 31 6 ; Williams,

pp. 43, 54; Wilkes , I II p . 85 ; Fison , Land tenure in Fiji, p . 343. 6)III pag. 360 ; Thomson, New-Zealand

,p . 148.


to pay a tribute to the conqueror, but generally continue livingunder their own chiefs

Von Bi’

Ilow states that in Samoa conquered lands become

the private property of the victorious chiefIt appears that this conquering o f land does not always create

a class destitute o f land ; sometimes the inhabitants have only to

pay a tribute . But where individuals belonging to the vic to

rious tribe receive portions o f the conquered land allo tted tothem

,as in New Zealand and the Kingsmill Islands , o r where ,

as in Samoa, the land becomes the private property o f the

conquering chief, the original owners consequently are deprived o ftheir property.

It also o ccurs that within the tribe the land is taken awayfrom its owner.

Williams states that in Fiji an adulterer may b e deprivedof his land as a punishment ; and Fisch tells us that the chiefshave overridden the ancient customs regarding land tenureIn Tahiti

,those who resisted the king’s authority were ba

nished and deprived of their lands .“Should the offender havebeen guilty o f disobedience to the just demands o f the king,though the lands might b e his hereditary property

,he mus t

leave them,and become

,as the people expressed it , a

“wandererupon the road”

In Niué,widows and orphans “are frequently robbed o f the

land inherited from their dead husbands and fathers”

In Ebon , confiscation of land by the chief was formerly a

mode o f punishment

On the Kingsmill Islands , if a noble girl were to have c onnection with a man o f the middle class

,she would lo se her landed

propertyOn Nauru, according to Kramer, a murderer in most cases

has to yield his land to the parents of his victim . Jung tellsus that formerly the chiefs often had to settle d isputes aboutland among their subjects . They then generally to ok the landfrom the quarelling parties and regarded it as their own

1 ) Rochas , p. 243. 2 ) Y ou Bulow,p . 193. 3) Williams , p . 29 : Fison, l . c , p . 345 :

see also Wilkes , III p . 98. 4) E llis, Pol . Res , I II p . 1 22 .- 5) Thoms on, Savage I sland

p. 143. 6) See above, p . 322 . 7) Kramer , Hawaii , etc .

,p . 334. 8) Ib id , p . 451 ;

Jung,p. 65 .


Among the Melanesians described by Codrington the chiefs“often use their power

,

to drive away the owners o f gardensthey desire to o ccupy

”

Where land is so highly valued , and wealth and powerdepend upon the possession of it

,the chief s and o ther men

o f power will b e inclined to appropriate as much o f it as po s

sible. This‘

is no t always easy, and sometimes , in democratic

ally organized societies,hardly practicable ; but we may b e

sure that it will be done on the very first opportunity. Thisis strikingly pro ved by what Gardiner tells us of Rotuma“Since the introduction of missionaries, too , much land hasbeeri seized by the chiefs

,who , as a r ule, in each district were

its missionaries , as fines for the fornications of individuals . A

certain amount of"cocoanut oil was then given by the chiefs

to the Wesleyan Mission,apparently in payment for their sup

port. The mission ln the name of which it was done , thoughgenerally without the knowledge of the white teachers, wasso powerful that the hoag had no redress.” Formerly individualrights to land in Rotuma were highly respected :

“The victoriousside obtained no territorial aggrandisement , as it was to the

common interest o f all to maintain the integrity o f the

land , and the victors might on some future occasion b e them

sel ves In the,positon o f the vanquished” We may suppose

that originally the chiefs were not powerful enough to appro

priate land belonging to o thers ; but the additional power that

the new religion gave them enabled them to seize the lands

of their subjects,and they immediately availed themselves o f

this opportunity.

A similar change has taken place in Samoa. In Turner’

s

time Samoan government h ad “more o f the patriarchal and

democratic in it, than o f the monarchical.” Von Bi’

Ilow, writingseveral years later than Turner, states that some chiefs have

lately introduced what he calls serfdom. In the villages where

this state of things exists the inhabitants live on land belong

mg to the chief. They pay no rent , b ut are obliged to standby the chief in war and peace . They are personnally free and

have the right to emigrate , but own no land 3)

1 ) Codrington, Soc. Reg.,p. 31 1 . 2) Gard iner, pp. 485, 470. 3) Tam er, Samoa , p.

1 73 ; Von Biilow,p. 1 94.

334 AGRICULTURAL TRIREs .

arts of carpentering, building, etc .,which are respected among

them,and such as were reduced to a state of dependence

upon those in higher stations.” Speaking o f the great landho lders , our informant says :

“Possessing at all times the mostample stores of native provisions , the number of their dependents ,or retainers , was great. The destitute and thoughtless readilyattached themselves to their establishments , for the purpose o fsecuring the means o f subsistence without care or apprehensiono f want.” That the landho lders enjoyed great consideration is

also pro ved by Wilkes’s remark,that the chiefs “find in their

possession [of land] an acknowledged right to rank and

respectability”

In Hawaii , four social ranks existed. The members of the thirdrank held land , “cultivating it either by their own dependentsand domestics , or letting it out in small allo tments to tenants.In the fourth rank may b e included the small farmers

, who

rent from ten to twenty or thirty acres of land ; the mechanics ,namely, canoe and house builders , fishermen, musicians , anddancers ; indeed , all the labouring classes

,those who attach

themselves to, some chief or farmer

,and labour on his land

for their food and clo thing , as wel l as tho se who cultivatesmal l portions o f land for their own advantage.

” “Sometimesthe poor people take a piece o f land , on condition of cultivatinga given portion for the chief, and the remainder for themselves ,making a fresh agreement after every crop . In addition to

the above demands , the common people are in general obligedto labour , if required , part o f two days out of seven, in

cultivating farms , building houses,etc . for their landlord . A

time is usually appo inted for receiving the rent,when the

people repair to the governor’

s with what they have to pay .

If the required amount is furnished , they return, and , as theyexpress it (home hou) , enter again on their land . But if unable

to pay the required sum,and their landlords are dissatisfied

with the presents they have received , or think the tenants have

neglected their farm,they are forbidden to return , and the

land is o ffered to another. When , however, the produce broughtis nearly equal to the required rent

, and the chiefs think the

1 ) Ellis, Pol. Res , III pp. 96—98 ; Wilkes, II p. 22.


occupants have exerted themselves to procure it , they remit

the deficiency , and allow them to return” This is quite the

reverse of what occurs in slave countries . The slave or serf is

prevented from escaping and compelled to remain with his

master ; the Hawaiian tenant , if the landlord is dissatisfiedwith the produce brought , is forbidden to return to the land

o f his employer. In the same sense, Wilkes remarks :“Whatappears most extraordinary , this b ond [i. e. the bond betweenlandlord and tenant] was more often severed by the superiorsthan by their vassals”

ln Rarotonga,the lowest class are the unga or servants who

have to cultivate the lands o f the nobles , build their houses andcanoes

,make nets for them, pay them tributes , and in general

obey all their demandsIn the Marquesas Islands, the kikinos (common people) were

servants and soldiers of the chiefs . They were always free toleave their employers . The chief, in his turn ,

if he was not

satisfied with a servant , might expel him from his domainHere again we may mark the great difference between the

lower classes o f Po lynesia and slaves ; for the latter are not

expelled by way of punishment , but on the contrary fo rced toremain with their masters .

In Mangarewa, as has been noticed , the who le of the landbelonged to the nobility

,who often leased their lands to the

third class , the common peopleIn the Tokelau group

,the common people till the lands o f

the nobles for a payment in kind . A labourer has the rightto leave his employer and go into another man

’

s serviceIn the Abgarris, Marqueen and Tasman groups, the common

people own no land ; they serve the members o f the upper

classes and form their retinue ; in reward they are providedwith cocoanuts and o ther frui ts and allowed to fish on the

reef and in the lagoonIn New Zea land , as has been shown in 5

,every freeman

owned land . Accordingly, we find only a beginning of the

I ) Ellis , Pol . Rea , IV pp. 413, 41 6, 417. 2 ) Wilkes , IV p. 37. 3) Waitz-Gerland,

VI p . 1 99. 4) Rad iguet, p . 1 56. 5 ) See abo ve, p . 319. 6) Tutuila , in Schurtz,

Anfange des Landbesitzes , p . 355 . 7) Parkinson , Dreiss ig Jahre, p. 535.


formation af a class o f free labourers . Po lack states that “thepoorest classes work as freedmen on the farms o f their richerrelatives

”

On Easter Island , the king formerly held a despotic sway

o ver the—

common people, i. 3. those who did not belong to thenobilityGerland remarks that the two principal classes , nobles and

common people , were nowhere in Po lynesia less strictly separatedthan in Samoa and New Zealand . This strikingly shows thatthe appropriation o f the land was really the basis o f Po lynesian

aristocracy ; for Samoa and New Zealand,as we have fo und ,

were almost the o nly Po lynesian gro ups in which there wasstill free landRegard ing the condition o f the common people in Micro

nesia we have already mentioned many particulars in 7 of

the second chapter o f Part I in inquiring whether they wereto be regarded as slaves. and in 6 o f this chapter in o rderto pro ve that all land had been appropriated. We shal l brieflyrepeat here what bears on their condition and the work imposed upon them

,add ing such details as have not yet been

mentioned .

Steinbach states that in the Marshal l Island s neither thelowest nor the next higher class owns land ,

“but they are

allowed to grow as much produce or catch as much fish as is

necessary for their sustenance . They have to perform certainservices for the chiefs , such as the cutting of copra

”. And

Kramer tells us that the common people are a subjected classwithout property . The kings have an abso lute . rule o ver the

people and many islands are their exclusive property . Theymay take as many women

.

as they like from among the peopleas wives or concubines . The common man has only one wifeand even this one his superio rs may take away at theirpleasureOn Nauru , the lower classes (sometimes called“serfs or

slaves by the authors) are in the service o f the chiefs and nobles .

In Ebon,the common people live on land allo tted to them

1 ) Polack , II p . 1 56. 2 ) Geiseler, p . 41 . 3) Waits -Gerland,VI p. 1 65.—4) Stein

b ach , p. 297 ; Kramer, Hawaii, etc ., pp . 430, 431 .

338 A GRICULTURAL TRIBES .

two subjected classes . One is the class o f the te torre, who

live as vassals on the lands o f the great landho lders ; they geta small piece o f land for their own use ; they must providetheir lord with men when at war, and bring him the numberof cocoanuts he desires , and what he needs for his househo ld .

The lowest class are the te bei or kaungo . They have no property , no land to live upon ; they live with the great landho ldersby whom they are maintained ; they on their part must workfor their lords , i. e. fish , prepare food , etc . The lord

,by giving

them a piece of land , can raise them to the class o f the is

torre. These two classes have no vo ice in government matters ;they fo llow their lord without grumbling ; his will is their will ;an offence against the lord is regarde d by them as a personal

o ffence , and avenged as such . Generally no one marries outsidehis class . In ordinary life there is no difference betweenmaster andvassal ; they d rink

,dance , and play together ; they wear the

same kind o f dress .We shall inquire now what is the condition o f the lower

classes in Melanesia.

Rochas states that in New Caledonia the common peopleenj oy a rather independent position ; they have to performsome services for the chiefs

,which chiefly consist in cultivating

their lands ; but they always own a piece o f land themselves.They are

,however, sometimes killed by the upper chiefs for

cannibal purposes. Glaumont enumerates the fo llowing classes :sorcerers , warriors , common people

,s laves . But he adds that the

chief himself,however powerful , would not dare to take away

the field o f taros or ignames belonging to the least of hissubjects . According to Brainne , there are two classes : numer- l

ous'

chiefs of various‘

kinds,and serfs , o ver whom the former,

especially the superior chiefs, have the right o f life and death .

Lambert, a good authority , remarks that the only division

of the people is that between the chiefs and their relatives and

the rest of the population , and observes that those writers are

wrong who speak o f a class of nobles. The chief is not allowedto dispose of the property o f his subjects So it seems that

the natives here are rather demo cratically organized .

In Fiji , according to Williams,the lower classes were for

1 ) Rochas, pp. 245, 246 ; Glaumont, pp. 74, 75 ; Brainne, p. 246 ; Lambert, pp. 83.


merly heavily oppressed . The chiefs looked upon them as their

property, and took away their go ods and often even their

lives ; this was considered“chief-l ike.

”“Subjects” says Williams“d o no t pay rent for their land , but a kind of tax on all their

produce, beside giving their labour occasionally in peace, and

their service, when needed , in war, for the benefit of the king

or their own chief.” Waterhouse states that many poor men

could not procure a wife ; they then borrowed one from a

chief, and so became his retainers . Fisch ,speaking o f the

inhabitants o f certain villages , says :“These are o f the lowest

rank,or rather of no rank at all. They are kaisi, the d escen

dants o f“children without a father.

” They are vakatau ni were

(husbandmen) , but they are not yeomen like the taukei. Neither

the lands they cultivate , nor the town lots on which they dwell

are their own. They are not even tenants . They are hereditary

b ondsmen, ad scrip ti glebae, whose business it is to ra ise food

for their masters. Their lords may oppress them,and they

have no redress. In times of peace they must work for them and

in war time they must fight for them to the death”. According to Wilkes ,

“in each tribe great and marked distinctions o f

rank exist. The classes which are readily distinguished are as fol

lows :1 kings 2 . chiefs 3.warriors ;4. landho lders (ma tanivanua ) ;5 . slaves (kai-si) . In another passage he speaks o f“the kai-sior common people In Jackson

’

s narrative , quoted above, mention is also made o f these kai-si or inhabitants of“slave lands”.

Codrington remarks :“In the native view o f mankind , almosteverywhere in the islands which are here under consideration

[So lomon Islands, Santa Cruz Group , Banks’ Islands , and New

Hebrides] , nothing seems more fundamental than the divisionof the people into two or more classes , which are exogamous ,and in which descent is counted through the mo ther Gener

ally speaking , it may b e said that to a Melanesian man all

women, o f his own generation at least,are either sisters or

wives , to the Melanesian woman all men are either brothersor husbands” 2) This seems to b e sufficient proof that a sub

jected and despised lowest class does not exist ; else the nativeswould not all b e“bro thers and “sisters” .

1 ) Williams, pp. 23, 90, 1 57, 39, 40 ; Waterhouse, p . 31 1 ; Fison , Land tenure in Ffii, p .

342 ;Wilkes, III pp. 81 , 108 ; see above, pp. 91 , 92. 2) Cod rington, TheMelanesians, pp.


This conclusion is strengthened by consulting some otherwriters.Guppy, describing the So lomon Islands , makes no mention

o f social ranks . Elton states that the chiefs have little powerNor have we found in any o f the other writers anything tend

ing to prove that the common people are oppressed .

Regarding the New Hebrides , Hagen and Pineau , after speaking o f the chiefs , state that the next class are the warriors,which rank can b e obtained by a payment o f pigs. They makeno mention o f a despised or oppressed working class. Inglis,as we have seen above

,states that in the isle of Aneityum“

there is no large proprietor, no powerful or wealthy chief ;every man s its proprietor o f his own co ttage

,his own garden

,

and his own cu ltivated patches. Turner, speaking of the isleo f Tana, says :

“The affairs of this little community are regulated by the chiefs and the heads o f families” ; and in Eromanga , according to the same writer, the chiefs

“were numerous,but not powerful” . According to Ribb e,in the Shortland Islands

(near Bougainville) , the chiefs have little power From all

this we may safely conclude that so cial life in the New Hebridesis democratically organized .

In the Gazelle Peninsula of Neu Pommern wealth gives power ;but there is no so cial or political difference between the richand the poorIn the Nissan Islands poverty is unknown, as there is an abun

dance of free land fit for cultivation . Social classes do not exist .There is no nobility

, unless the chief and his relatives b eregarded as suchParkinson states that among the Moanus o f the Admiralty

Islands the power o f the chiefs is considerable We d o not,

however, hear of a subjection o f the common people by the

upper classes .Haddon, speaking of the Western Tribes o f Torres Straits,

says : “Each househo ld is practically self-sufficient. So far as

I could gather there was no division o f labour as betweenman'

and man, every man made his garden , fished and fought”

1 ) Elton, p . 98. 2) Hagen and Pineau,p. 335 ; Turner, Samoa, pp. 315, 328 ; Ribbe, p.

138. 3) Hahl , p. 77. 4) Sorge, in Steinmetz’s Rechtsverhiiltnisse, pp .5) Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p . 396. 6) Had don, p . 342 .


This depopulation may perhaps also account for the d iscrepancy between Semper

’

s and Kub ary’

s accounts o f Pelau . Sem

per spoke o f a despised working class ; but Kub ary , who wroteseveral years after, stated that there were no social ranks. It

is quite possible that in the meantime the population had beenso greatly diminished , that every one could obtain possessionof a piece o f land .

Ellis’s above-quoted statement also shows that there is afundamental difference between such lower classes as werefound in Tahiti and slaves . The former were not at all for

bidden to provide for themselves , and indeed,when the pcpu

lation had decreased , many of them began to cultivate a pieceof land for their own profit. But in former times they werenot able to d o so

,as all land was the prope rty o f the upper

classes . The lower classes o f Oceania were pro letarians whowanted employment. The means of subsistence were the ex

elusive property of the upper classes , and therefore the poorwere who l ly dependent on them. In slave countries freelabourers are no t available , and therefore those who wantlabourers have recourse to slavery ; in Oceania the labour marketwas o verstocked , and therefore the poor eagerly asked the

landlords for employment even in the meanest workThere are some more details on record proving that labourers

were not wanted .

In Rotuma “Po lynesian or Micronesian strangers, fa helav,

were usually married into different hoag, or adopted with theconsent o f all the members of the hoag. A few Fijians and

Melanesians have become fa asoa , or helping men , o f differentchiefs ; no women would have anything to d o with them,

and

no hoag would adopt them . They remained on the island as

long as they liked , and transferred their services as theyliked ; they were treated as inferior members o f the hoag, to

which they gave their services” In a slave country these

Melanesians , looked upon as an inferior race and thereforenot adopted , would have been eagerly taken as slaves and

"

prevented from escaping ; but here it is quite the reverse : they

1 ) One reason why these islanders . wanted little labour may have been that theyrelied for a considerable portion of their food on the fruits of trees which , when once

planted , required little care. 2) Gard iner, p . 486.


may stay if they like,but they may also go away if they

like ; nobody wants them .

What Hale tells us of the inhabitants o f Ponape is alsovery remarkable . When it is feared that there will b e over

population ,some o f the lower o rders with their wives and

c hildren vo luntarily go away in their canoes If these lowerclasses were slaves

,they would not b e al lowed to emigrate ;

the masters would value them as their property and preventthem from escaping. Such is not the case here ; they removebecause there is no ro om for them.

We see that common labourers are little wanted in Oceania .

Some kinds of workmen, however, are much in request in some

o f these islands.

Mariner states that in Tonga the esteem in which the different trades are held depends on their utility. Most people

pursue the same trade as their fathers did before them, b e

cause they have learned it in their youth . This especiallyapplies to those trades which are considered most difficult andtherefore highly honoured. There is no law obliging a son to

fo llow his father’s trade ; but it is the custom ; and the hopeo f a high profit stimulates the energy o f those who pursue a

d ifficult trade. The noblest trades are those of canoe-builderand undertaker of funerals . They are fo llowed by none but

ma tabo les and mocas (2nd and 3rd classes) , the tocas (4th class)being excluded from them. All other trades are fo llowed bymocas and tooas alike , except three which the mocas considerbeneath their dignity and therefore leave to the tooas : tho seo f barber , cook, and agriculturist . The latter two

,the most

d epised trades , are hereditary . Neither co oking nor cultivatingrequires any particular capacities , everybody is capable o f

fo llowing these pursuits , and tho se who se fathers were engagedin either o f them have no alternative but to continue in the

same way . The esteem,however

, in which an individual isheld , does not only depend on the trade he fol lows , but on

his ability in it. He who distinguishes himself in a lower tradeenjoys more consideration than he who fo llowing a highertrade proves to b e unqualified for it

1 ) Hale, p. 85. 2) Mariner, II pp. 1 59—1 62 .


We see that those trades which require no particular abilitiesare most despised here , whereas skilled labour is highlyhonoured and performed even by the higher Classes.

In some more cases it is stated that skilled workmen are

better paid and more highly valued than unskilled .

In Tahiti the lowest class included those“who were destitute o f any land , and ignorant of the rude arts of carpentering,building , etc .

,which were respected among them The

fishermen and artisans (sometimes ranking with this class,but

more frequently with that immediately above it) may b e saidto have constituted the connecting link b etween the two

”

Wilkes states that in the Kingsmil l Islands “the trade of

carpenter is held in great repute . Professed tattooers are alsohighly esteemed and well paid

p

In Fiji the carpenters formed a separate caste,called King’s

carpenters, having chiefs of their own, for whom and theirwork they showed respect . Among the social ranks the4th weredistinguished warriors o f low birth

,chiefs o f the carpenters ,

and chiefs o f the fishers for turtle , the 5th were the commonpeople We see that here to o skilled workmen rank abovethe bulk o f the people.

Skilled labour is thus highly valued in some o f these islands .

The skilled workmen,so far from being slaves

,are held in

high esteem ; b ut those who have no peculiar accomplishmentsare obliged to perform the rudest and most despised wo rk.

This applies especially to the agricu ltural labourers . These areentirely dependent on the landowners

,and there are more of

them than can b e profitably employed . They much resemblethe pro letarians o f modern European countries .

The great significance o f the appropriation o f the land clearlyappears , when we consider a phenomenon frequently occurringamong savages : debt-slavery. Among some savage tribes thereare rich and poor as well as in Po lynesia ; the poor, however,d o not apply to the rich for employment, but are enslaved bythem. Thus among the Tagals and Visayas

,in the time of the

conquista, most slaves had become such by being unable to paydebts they had contracted . If

,in a time o f famine, a poor man

1 ) Ellis, Pol. Res , III p . 96. 2) Wilkes, pp. 99, 108. 3) Williams, pp. 71 , 32.


chiefs,together with the priests , fixed the time and place for

commencing,a nd the manner of carrying it on. In the meantime

,

the Bunapai (messengers o f war) were sent to the districtsand villages under their authority, to require the services o f

their tenants, in numbers proportionate to the magnitude o f

the expedition”

In Samoa,as we have seen, those residing on land b e

longing to the chief were obliged to stand by him in war

and peaceIn Tonga , according to Mariner,

“the retinue o f the upper

chiefs consists of matabo les or inferior chiefs class) , andeach o f these has under his command a number o f mocas

(3rd class) , who constitute the army of the upper chiefs . Sometocas (4th class) are also admitted into this army, if they havegiven proofs o f bravery”

In the Marquesas Islands the rank o f a nob le could be

acquired through acts o f braveryOn the Kingsmill Islands the tenants must provide their

lord with men when at war

In Fiji, according to Williams , all men capab le o f bearingarms

,o f all classes

,took part in military operations ; and Fison,

as we have seen above,states that the people o f the lowest

rank in war time had to fight for their lords to the deathConcluding

,we may remark that the facts observed in

Oceania fully justify o ur theory, that slavery is inconsistentwith a state of society in which all land is held as property .

9. Transition from serfd om to freed om in Wes tern Europe.

The conclusion we have arrived at is that the appropriationo f the soil is a factor o f great importance in shaping the sociallife of agricultural peoples When all land is held as prop

1 ) Ibid ., IV p . 1 52 . 2) See ab ove, p . 332 . 3) Mariner, II p . 349. 4) Rad iguet '

p. 156. 5) See above,p . 338. 6) Williams; p. 45, and see above, p . 339. 7) We have

not spoken of landed property among hunters,b ecause there are reasons enough to be

found , apart from the appropriation of the land, why slavery is not likely to exist among

them. We will only remark here that a mong many Australian tribes property in land isstated to exist (see Dargun , pp .49, Sometimes even the whole of the land seems to

b e held as property.“It seems '

curions” says Macgillivray“to find at Cape York and the


erty , a class of people destitute o f the means of subsistence

is likely soon to arise ; such people must seek employment and

live on the wages they can earn . But in countries where there

in still free land , a class of free agricultural labourers dependent

on wages does no t exist ; therefore in such countries the

landowners often resort to slavery as a means o f procuringlabourers. Genera lly speaking, s lavery as an indus tria l system

can only exis t where there is still free land .

If this theory is correct , it must ho ld no t only with regardto the simply organized societies o f Po lynesia and Micronesia ,but also with regard to civilized nations . Among such nationstoo slavery must disappear as so on as all land has been appro

priated . And as we know that in Western Europe all land isnow held as property and everybody is personally free , whereas in former times

, when these countries were far less densely peopled than now

,slavery and serfdom existed , it does

not seem unreasonable to suppo se that the appropriation o f the

so il has had much to d o with the disappearance o f servile labour. This opinion is also held by Wakefield .

“The serfdomof the middle-ages was for all Europe , what it is for Po landand Russia still a kind o f slavery required by the smal l proportion of people to land ; a substitute for hired labour , whichgradually expired with the increase o f population , as it willexpire in Po land and Russia when land shall , in those countries ,become as scarce and dear as it became in England some

time after the conquest” We think Wakefield is quiteright here , and we shall adduce some facts in corroborationof this view.

But we must first remind the reader of what we have alreadysaid in the Introduction . We confine ourselves in this book toan investigation of the facts o f savage life. The study of thesefacts leads us to conclusions , some of which (and among thesethe conclusion we are now dealing with) have a wider bearingand can further our understanding of the history of civilized

Prince of Wales’I sland s a rec ognised d ivision and ownersh ip of land

,seeing that none of it

b y cultivation has b een rendered fit for the permanent support of man. Accord ingto Gi’om,

there are laws regulating the ownership o f every inch of ground onMuralug and

the neighbouring possessions of the Kowraregas and I am led to believe such is likewisethe case at Cape York.

” Macgillivray,as quoted by Haddon, p 432. 1 ) Wakefield wrote

in 1 849. 2) Wakefield,p . 326.

348 AGR ICULTURAL TRIBES .

nations . But the scope of the present vo lume does no t allow

us to make any special investigation of this history and inquirewhether the same causes can b e seen at work here that havebeen found to shape the so cial life of savage tribes. Accord

ingly , we shal l not try to prove that the appropriation o f the

so il has really been the main cause of the disappearance o f

slavery and serfdom in Western Europe. We only intend toshow that the matter can b e viewed from this side. We wisht o claim attention for this important factor, that is commonlyoverlooked , and thus clear the way for future research . This

and the next two paragraphs have to b e regarded as a d igression ,standing apart from the main body of our book .

The character of these paragraphs may justify us in limiting

our remarks to two countries , "the economic history of whichhas of late years been the subject of thorough study by eminentwriters , viz . England and Germany

,and using only a small part

of the literature existing on this matter. We have, however,taken care to consult none but first-rate authorities .

We have spoken o f the disappearance o f s lavery and serfd om.

In connection with this two remarks have to b e made.

First. Slavery in the strict sense existed for a long time inbo th England and Germany. In England , shortly after theNorman Conquest , s laves were st ill rather numerous.

“The servior slaves says Ashley“whose average percentage for the who leland is 9, and who in some of the eastern and midland shiresd o not appear at all, o r fall to a percentage of 4or 5

,rise

in the country on the Welsh border and in the south-west to1 7

,18, 21 , and 24per cent . A century later

,however, abso lute

slavery had disappeared And in Germany there was also a

class o f serui, who had to perform whatever services the lordsmight require , and even in the 1 1 th century

,though their

condition had already much i mproved , were sometimes soldapart from the landSecondly . The argument that leads us to conclude that slavery.

is inconsistent with a state o f society in which all land is heldas property , equally appl ies to serfdom. For the serf

,as well

as the slave , was compelled to work . There is a great difference

between slaves and serfs on one side, and modern labourers

1 ) Ashley , I pp. 17, 18. 2) Iuama-Sternegg, II pp. 73,

350 AGRICULTURAL TRIBEs .

so il ; if he escapes the lord can bring him back and set him

to work again . The right o f emigrating (German“Freizilgiglceit” )

is the true mark o f freedom. And therefore , as soon as the

o bligations which were personal have become territorial , i. e.

as soon as the services and payments which formerly wereexacted from definite persons

,are exacted from the cultivators

of definite pieces of land as such , nobody being any longerobliged to become or remain the cultivator of any definitepiece of land , serfdom has ceased to exist

,even though the

services and payments have remained exactly the same.

The line o f demarcation between free and unfree cultivators

has not,however, always been drawn in a strict

,scientific

manner. Ashley, speaking o f the N th— 14th centuries,says :“The term libere tenentes is elastic enough to cover men in

very different positions But the larger number of tho seknown by that name were , clearly, virgate-ho lding villeins or

the descendants of such,who had commuted their more oner

ous labour services of two or three days a week for a moneyor corn payment , and had been freed from what were regardedas the more servile“incidents” o f their position . What theseexactly were , or, indeed , what was understood by free tenure ,it is dif ficult now to determine , precisely because the lawyersand landlords o f the time did not themselves know. The mostwidely spread idea was that inability to give a daughter inmarriage or to sell an ox or a horse without the lord ’s consent

,

for which a fine had to b e paid , was the certain mark of

servile tenure”

Now we cannot wonder that the lawyers and landlords of theMiddle Ages had no very clear ideas about serfdom and freed om. But modern writers on economic history should have the

true distinction always before their minds. Some of them,how

ever,we think fail in this respect.

In order to demonstrate this we must speak of a change

which,in the later Middle Ages

,to ok place in the manorial

economy. The land belonging to each landlord had always been

divided into two parts,viz.

“that part cultivated for the immediate benefit of the lord

,the d emesne or inland , and that

1 ) Ashley, I p. 2 1 .


held of him by tenants, the land in villenage” These tenants

were not , however, free tenants , but villeins bound to the so iland obliged to work on the demesne.

“The who le o f the landof the manor, both demesne and villenage , was cultivated on

an elaborate system o f jo int labour. The only permanent la

boarers upon the d emesne itself were a few slaves ; all or

a lmost all the labour there necessary was furnished by thevilleins and cotters , as the condition on which they held theirholdings , and under the supervision o f the lord’s bailiff The

labour dues o f the villeins consisted o f week work,i. e. a man

’

s

labour for two or three days a week throughout the year ,

precariae, i. 6 . additional labour at ploughing and at harvesttime, and miscellaneous servicesBut in the course of time money payments were largely

substituted for these labour dues . Commutation of the week

work went on extensively shortly after the Norman Conquest,and commutation of the who le of the services occurs o ccasioh ally as early as 1240.

“With the reign of Edward II com

plete commutation became general” 3) The cultivators had nowto pay money to the lord instead of working on the demesne.

Though the change o ccurred at a time when personal serfd om was gradually dec lining, it is easy to see that this com

mutation is not identical with the transition from serfdom to

freedom. A free tenant may by contract take upon himself to

perform some kind of work for the landlord . This was thecase in England where “the rendering of services reappearedin the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, not as the incidentso f villanage, b ut as a form of agreement which proved moreor less convenient to one party and perhaps to bo th

”On

the o ther hand , it is quite possible that a cultivator who paysmoney instead of rendering services

,is yet bound to the so il

and devoid o f personal freedom. Ashley , speaking o f the i 3th

century, states that most of the cultivators“had continued to

ho ld by servile tenure , as villeins or customary tenants , evenwhen they had commuted all or most o f their servicesThere can b e no doubt that . they were bound to the so il ;

1 ) Ib id ., p. 7. 2) Ib id ., pp. 8, 9. 3) Ib id ., pp . 22 , 31 . 4) Cunningham,English

Industry , I p. 476.


in the sense, at any rate , that the lord would’

demand a heavy

fine before he would give one o f them permission to leavethe manor

”

Now,though none o f our writers on economic history ex

pl icitly say that these two things,the commutation o f labour

dues for money and the ' transition from serfdom to freedom,

are identical,we think some of them d o not sufficiently keep

in view the difference existing between the two. Thus onlycan we account for the prevalence of a theory which seems

to b e the current mode o f explaining the fall o f serfdom and

rise of freedom.

This theory has been introduced by a German writer, ProfessorHildebrand. He distinguishes three stages of economic development : natural economy, money economy , and credit economy.

In the system of natural economy goods are exchanged directlyfor goods ; when money economy prevails Use is made o f a

means o f exchange , money ; and when credit economy has

been developed goods are exchanged fo r a promise in the futureto give back the same or a like value

,i. e. on credit. Every

nation begins with natural economy, for the use o f moneyas a means of exchange supposes an abundance o f labour or

products of labour which enables people to pro cure the preciousmetals. As long as natural economy prevails capital does not

exist : the so il and human labour‘ are the only productiveagencies . There are , therefore, two classes o f people only ;labourers and landowners . Sometimes every landowner is at

the same time a labourer ; in such cases democracy prevails.

But it often occurs that labourers and landowners form separate classes. These are then mutually dependent on eachother ; for the labourer wants a landlord to give him employment and so enable him to earn his subsistence , and the

landlord wants labourers to cultivate his lands . This interi

dependence effects that the relations existing between the two

classes assume a durable Character. The labour contracts are

made to last for the life o f the labourer or even become

hereditary. The labourer Is bound to the so il and forbidden

to leave the manor.

1 ) Ashley , I p. 37.


We think this theory is erroneous.It would perhaps b e better not to speak of

“natural economy

and “money economy for these terms are likely to lead tomisunderstanding. The mere existence o f money is o f com

paratively little consequence. A circulating, medium arises as

soon as it is wanted ; and where the precious metals are

unknown something else will do , as in Melanesia and amongmany Negro tribes , where shells are used for money. The

existence of a circulating medium denotes a development o f

commerce ; for barter on any extensive scale is hardly possible. Therefore we had better speak of self- sufficing and

commercial communities. As long as each village is practicallyself- dependent money is not wanted ; but as soon as the interchange o f commodities takes any considerable dimensions theneed for a means of exchange becomes pressing. And thereis , indeed , a great difference in so cial structure between self

sufiicing and commercial communities but if we ascribethis difference to

'

the existence of go ld and silver co ins wearrive at false conclusions. A proof of this is the fact thatHildebrand thinks capital can only exist when there is money.

Y et we know that the Germans have kept cattle from earlytimes , long before money economy prevailed ; and cattle are

decidedly to b e called capital ; they cannot be classified undereither of the only two means of production which , accordingto Hildebrand , exist in a system of natural economy : landand human labour ; and in our chapter on pastoral tribes wehave seen that cattle-keepers form strongly marked capitalisticcommunities.But even if we speak of self-dependent and commercial com

munities, we cannot admit that in the former labour mustnecessarily b e servile and in the latter free.

First.“

How can natural economy , i . e. the absence of commerce,lead to serfdom ? Hildebrand says : landlords and labourers are

mutually dependent on each other , and so their relations assume

a durable character, and the labourer is astricted to the so il.

1 ) Ab solute self-sufficiency does not appear to exist anywhere, not even among savagetribes, see ab ove

,p. 255. But there Certainly is a great d ifference between those countries

which get their chief necessaries d irectly by their own labour, and those which producemainly for export.

AGRICULTURAL TRIBES. 355

We think his meaning is the fo llowing. In self-sufficing com

munities the fluidity of labour which exists in modern society,is wanting. In such countries there can be famine in one

district , whilst in a contiguous district there is plenty of food ;similarly labour can be scarce in one place whilst it is abundant

in a neighbouring place. Therefore a landlord cannot afford

to let his labourers leave the manor ; for as there is littleintercourse between the different villages and districts it isdifficult for him to procure o ther labourers . It is thus mostconvenient for him to bind his labourers to the so il and forbidthem to leave him.

This may at first sight seem a reasonable explanation of

the origin of serfdom. But on closer scrutiny it will b e seenthat this argument does not ho ld . When there is little intercourse, each landlord is dependent on the labourers of his owndistrict ; and there must b e a great stability in the relationsof the two Classes. But this need not bring about an astrictionof the labourers to the so il . The landlord cannot easily procurelabourers from o ther districts ; but it is even more difi cult

for the labourers to find employment in foreign parts ; forsuch intercourse as there is

, is kept by the ruling,not by

the labouring classes . Therefore it is not necessary to bindthe labo urers to the so il ; for they are already naturally d ependent on the landlords of their own district. We thinkslavery and serfdom can only b e accounted for by a generalscarcity o f labour. When labour is everywhere scarce a labourerwho leaves his employer can everywhere find employment ,whereas an employer cannot easily procure labourers ; it isthen the interest of the employer to prevent his labourersfrom leaving him. But the mere lack o f intercourse limitsthe labourer in his choice o f employment even more than itlimits the employer in his cho ice of labourers .

Nor d o the facts agree with this theory. We have seenthat among pastoral tribes free labourers are frequently found

,

though labour is by no means fluid and the labourers are

paid in kind,not in money. Among the natives of Hawaii , who

lived under a system of natural economy,labour was also

free. The passage in which Ellis describes the relation betweenlandlords and cultivators has already been quoted by us , but it is


remarkable enough to repeat here.

“Sometimes the poor peopletake a piece o f land , on condition o f cultivating a given portionfor the chief, and the remainder for themselves

, making a

fresh agreement after every crop . In addition to the abovedemands, the common people are in general obliged to labourif required

,part of two days out of seven

,in cultivating farms,

building houses,etc . for their landlord . A time is usually ap

po inted for receiving the rent , when the people repair to thegovernor

’s with what they have to pay. If the required amountis furnished , they return , and , as they call it (komo hon) enteragain on their land . But if unable to pay the required sum,

and their landlords are dissatisfied with the presents they havereceived , or think the tenants have neglected their farm, theyare forbidden to return, and the land is o ffered to another.

When ,however, the produce brought is nearly equal to the

required rent, and the Chiefs think the occupants have exertedthemselves to pro cure it , they remit the deficiency, and allowthem to return” These cultivators are by no means astrictedto the so il. They make a fresh agreement after every Crop. If

the produce brought is insufficient, they are either removed orby way o f favour allowed to return

Our conclusion is that, though in medieval Western Europeserfdom and natural economy existed at the same time, the

former is not a necessary consequence of the latter.Secondly. Does money economy, i. e. commerce, always lead

to freedom ? We know now that serfdom is not invariably con

nected with natural economy. Yet it might b e that, wherever

both natural economy and serfdom exist (as it was the case

in the early Middle Ages) the rise o f money economy alwaysbrought serfdom to a close.The argument by which Hildebrand attempts to prove this

is rather strange. The development o f town life and manufac

tures,according to him , enables the labourers to find employ

ment in manufactures ; they are now no longer dependent onthe landlords. The manufacturing capitalists pay them money

1 ) Ellis, Pol. Res , IV pp. 416, 417. 2 ) Among many hunters , fishers and huntingagriculturists slavery and serfdom are

’

also wanting . But among these there are no labouringclasses (as Opposed to owning classes) at all , whether free or otherwise. Only theEskimoshave free servants.


lies at the roo t o f the evil and has given rise to this theory.

Money economy, according to Hildebrand , leads to commutation,and commutation is the same as, or at any rate leads to

,the

disappearance of serfdom.

What does this commutation mean ? Formerly the peasantshad to work on the demesne which was cultivated for the immediate benefit o f the lord ; in later times they paid moneyinstead . What was the reason of this Change ? It must havebeen that the demesne was cultivated in some other way so

that their services were no longer wanted . Sometimes freelabourers were employed .

“It is evident” says Ashley“that thelord would not have consented

,first to partial and then to

complete commutation , had he not been able to hire labourers”

But the main reason was that portions o f the demesne werelet for rents .“If the lord found it his interest to let portionsof the demesne instead o f cultivating it through his bail iff orreeve , his need for the services of the villeins would be protanto diminished , and he would be readier to accept commutation” The same .was the case in Germany , where betweenthe l 0th and 13th centuries the extent of the land which thelandlords kept in their own hands was continually diminishing,so that there was less and less use for the services of the

villeins , and commutation took place on a great scale. The

landlords , who formerly had taken the lead of agriculturaloperations, became now mere receivers of rentNow we must admit that commutation of labour dues for

money payments was not possible before money was used. Y et

the fact that commutation of services for payments in kind ,which does not suppose money economy, also occured showsthat the rise of money economy cannot have been the so le

cause o f this change. We may even go farther and say : if ithas been a cause at all, it has not certainly been one of the

principal causes. The commutation o f the labour dues meansthat the demesne was thenceforth either worked with free

labourers or‘

let for rent . The existence of a class of freemen

dependent on wages cannot, however, b e accounted for by

1 ) Ashley, I p. 31 . 2) Ibid .,p . 27. 3) Inama-Sternegg, II pp. 167—177. 4) See

Inama-Sternegg, II p. 283.


money economy. Nor can we see how money economy can

have led to the letting of the demesnes which the landlords

had formerly kept in their own hands . Ochenkowski suppo ses

that in England,after the Norman Conquest, the need of the

landlords for money led to commutation But there is no

reason why the landlord s could not, instead of receiving money

payments, obtain money by selling the produce o f their lands .

As long as there was no market for agricultural products the

landlord,whether he himself had the lead o f agricultural opera

tions or let the demesne on condition of receiving a payment

in kind,could not obtain money. As soon as there was a

market he could make money in three ways : by working thedemesne himself and selling the produce , by letting it on con

dition o f receiving part of the produce, which he could bring

to the market and by letting it for a rent in money. Money

economy seems to have had little to do with the commutation.

Hildebrand ’s theory is : money economy led to commutation

and commutation led to freedom. We have seen that the firsthalf of this ~ d oes not hold . What about the second half? Can

the commutation have loosened the ties which bound the cul

tivator to the so il ? We think not. For if the landlord couldnot let the villein who worked on the demesne leave themanor,because he was difficult to replace, he had exactly the samereason fo r keeping the vil lein who paid money astricted to theso il. The use of money and the rise of commerce had not

augmented the number of agricultural lab ourers ; they had evendecreased , as many of them had gone to the towns. And itwas even more difficult to replace the money-paying than thelabouring villein ; for the former had to be a fit person whocould conduct his business wel l enough to be able at the end

o f the year to furnish the required sum, whereas any able-b odied man could perform agricul tura l labour under the supervision of the lord ’s bailiff. Our conclusion is that moneyeconomy did not lead to commutation

,and that commutation

did not lead to freedom .

Y et money economy, taken in the sense of town life and

1 ) Ochenkowski, p . 1 1 . 2) This was d one on a large scale by the German landlordstoward s the end of the Midd le Ages, see Inama-Stem egg, III Part I p . 384.


commerce , did sometimes affect the condition of the rural clas-fses. Such was the case in Italy where, in the 1 3th century;the wealthy commercial cities took an active part in the emamcipation o f the serfs. Florence especial ly strongly encouragedtheir enfranchisement . In 1 257 this city even went

to set free all the Serfs in the surrounding country,

fying the'

lords. The city go vernment pretended to act fromChristian and philanthropic motives. “But” adds our informant“though the city governments of Central Italy were the fifstto pronounce themselves in favour of the personal freedom

'

of

the peasants, they by no means countenanced thelidea of leaving

the land to those who had held it for centuries. On the con

trary , the citizens endeavour to acquire landed properties,and

when they have got them they put an end to the hereditary tenures and replace them by tenancies .” Many of the formerserfs had to leave the lands of their ancestors and augmentedthe number of pro letarians in the towns. They were replacedby leaseho ldersThe disappearance of serfdom was thus accelerated by the

measures o f the Italian cities . How much of sentiment there

was in these measures , and how much of self-interest , we d onot know. But at any rate serfdom must already have beendrawing to an end before the Cities meddled with it. For a firmlyestablished system that discharges an important economicfunction is no t uprooted by mere sentiment. And so far as the

self-interest of the citizens induced them to replace the serfsby free tenants , the latter system must have been economicallymore useful than the former, which was probably only keptup by the landlords because they were accustomed to it . Timeshad changed and the old system of cul tivation had become

obso lete ; and the citizens of the towns, whom no personalrelation bound to the serfs

,expelled them and let the land to

free tenants. Before their intervention there must adready have

b een at work an internal cause, which effected that cultivation

by serfs was no longer the most profitable mode of managinglanded properties.We d o not mean to say that there was no internal connec

1 ) Kovalewsky, Regime économique moderne, pp. 358—362.


extension Of the means of subsistence , led to the rise of towns

and manufactures

But however this may b e,we are certain that the rise of

money economy canno t have been the so le , or even the chiefcause o f the disappearance of servile labour. This is sufficiently

shown by the fact that before the emancipation of the Negroes a

system o f servile labour on a large scale prevailed in the United

States and the West Indies,i. e. in countries working for export .

Hildebrand’s theory has been accepted by some writers on

economic history. Ochenkowski repeatedly asserts that the

change in the condition o f the rural population was the effect ofmoney economy. Inama-Sternegg, in one passage o f his excellentbook on the economic history o f Germany , expresses the opinionthat in the early Middle Ages natural economy, defined by

him as the absence o f regular commercial intercourse, madeastriction o f the labourers to the so il necessary. Professor Cuna

ningham, in his book on Western Civilization , ascribes theChanges which in the history of ancient Greece and Rometook place in the status o f the labouring classes to the pre

valence of natural economy and money economy respectivelyBut none of these writers give any new argument in favour

of the theory.

Our conclusion is that the rise of money economy was not thecause o f the disappearance of serfdom. We shall inquire now

whetherWakefield’

s theory,with which we agree

, can further our

understanding of the economic history of England and Germany.

10. The rura l c lasses of med ieva l England .

Of land tenure in England before the 1 i th century we d o

not know very much

1 ) Inama-Sternegg, I p . 38 2) See Ochenkowski, pp. 1 1 , 15, 21 ; Inama-Sternegg,I pp. 236

,237; Cunningham, Western Civilization, pp. 73, 74, 95. 108, 192 . Accord ing to

Marx (Vol. III Part II pp. 332, the substitution of money payments for dues in kindnecessarily lead s to free contracts b etween landlords and cultivators.

Grupp (Zeitschrift fur Kuiturgeschichte'

,IV p . 242) asserts that the rise of money

economy caused the transition from slavery to serfdom. We shall not d iscuss this point,as it is not d irectly connected with the subject of this paragraph —3) Ashley , I p. 13.

AGRICULTURAL Term s . 363

The first deta iled account of the economic condition o f the

country is contained in Domesday Book , in which William of

Normandy embodied the results of an inquiry into the state

of the kingdom he had secured .“When Domesday Survey was compiled says Cunningham ,

every yard o f English so il was as really, if not as definitely,subject to proprietary rights as it is now

” We d o not ,

however, think that much importance has to b e attached tothis statement ; for there was still much uncul tivated landand , though the king claimed a right of property o ver thisland

,it was not yet held as property in the strict sense o f

the word , which means that all except the owner are excludedfrom its use. This appears from what took place in 1305 ,

under Edward I . “By an adjustment o f boundaries considerableportions o f the Crown forest were given o ver to certain barons ,who gained personally ; but the position of the tenants wasso much altered for the worse that their case obtained specialattention in the Ord inance of the Forest, by which their rightsof pasture and common were secured” We see that theseCrown forests had been open to the use of the peasants , so thatpractically there was still free land . And in this time o f ex

tensive tillage the common pasture played a great part in therural economyAccordingly, rent in the mo dern sense did not yet exist.

The landlords had abundance of land ; but the land was worthlittle if it was not provided with people to cultivate it.“Therent of the proprietor now is directly connected with the

physical character o f his estate , its productiveness and itssituation. The income o f the lord of a Domesday Manor depend ed on the tolls he received , and the payments o f his dependents : and thus was based on the way in which his estateswere stocked with meat and men ,

rather than on the physicalcondition of the land . His income was a very different thingfrom modern rent

” Even in later centuries“a fertile estatewould have yielded b ut litt le annual income

,unless the neces

sary labour was attached to it”

In this time the who le of Central England was covered with

1 ) Cunningham, English Industry , I p. 95. 2 ) Ib id .,p. 251 . 3) Ochenkowski, p. 7.

4) Cunningham,1. c. p. 5 . 5) Ib id .,

p. 407.


manors , and the mass of the rural p opulation consisted o f two

classes : landlords and villeins ; the latter were not all of the

same condition,but none of them enj oyed entire personal

freedom Of those cultivators who are described as freemenand socmen some could“sel l their lands without leave asked

or given , b ut others could only d o so on obtaining l icencefrom the lord” Finally there were some slaves Everyfreeman was a landho lder

,therefore there was no c lass of

free labourers.“The labourer , as a manwho depended on someemployer for the opportunity and means o f doing his work ,seems to have been almost unknown in the eleventh century”

All this agrees with our theory. All land had not yet practi

cally been appropriated ; therefore people could not be got to

cultivate the land for the benefit of the landlords , unless theywere deprived of personal freedom.

During the two foll owing centuries population increased andland became more scarce. In the 13th century some lordsalready began to inclose portions o f the waste

,which had

always been used for common pasturage , and“it was necessary

to limit by the statute of Merton , in 1 236, the lord’

s“right

o f approver” or improvement,by the Condition that he should

not take away so much as not to leave enough for the purpose o f pasture

” Forests were often fenced off and the rightsof common pasture restricted We have already mentionedan instance in which the condition of t he peasants was muchaltered for the worse by such measures .The changes which, during the same period , took place in

the condition of the rural classes,are grouped by Ashley under

four heads : “1 . the growth o f a large Class of free tenants ;2 . the commutation of the week work for money or corn

payments ; 3. the commutation o f the boon-days and other

special services ; and 4. the appearance of a class o fmen depen

dent who lly or in part on the wages they received fo r agricultural labour”

In a passage quoted in the last “paragraph Ashley states that

1 ) Ashley, I p . 13 ; Cunningham, 1. pp. 95,96 . 2) Cunningham, l. 0. pp.

3) Ashley, I p. 17; Cunningham,l. C. p. 1 60. 4) Cunningham,

l . c. p. 5. —5) Ashley,I p . 26. 6) Ochenkowski, pp. 33, 34. 7) Ashley, I p. 20.


rough change were already present. There were free tenantswho could sell their lands ; tenancies at will already occurred

,

though not frequently and a class of free labourers arose .

In Grossteste’s rules , dating from 1 240 or 1 241

,it is said that

servants and retainers “are to d o what they are bid immediately without any grumbling or contradiction ; if they showany such disloyal spirit they must b e dismissed

,formany can

b e had to fill their places” And there were also agriculturallabourers who , though ho lding small pieces o f land

,had not

enough land to live upon , and were partially dependent onwages. Even where the peasants were still obliged to cultivatethe demesne , they , did not usually perform such work themselves, but hired labourers to d o it ; the usual phrase is thatthey have to “find” a man for the workHere again our theory ho lds. Population had increased , land

became scarce,and the transition from serfdom to freedom

commenced. If the population o f England had continued ihcreasing, most of the villeins would probably have becomefreeho lders or copyho lders , whereas the lands that the lordshad kept in their own hands would have been leased . And

poor people who had neither land of their own nor capitalenough to become farmers would have served for wages.But an unexpected event entirely changed the economic con

dition o f England . The Black Death , which made its firstappearance in 1349

,swept away a large part of the population.

Whole villages were practically annihilated and large tracts ofland went out o f tillage. The economic consequences were suchas we should expect. “As one immediate result there wasgreat difficulty in getting labourers ; the difficulty was aggra

vated in those cases where the tenants had died o ff and the

lords were left with large ho ldings on their hands and no

means o f working them ; while they lost the predial servicesof these deceased tenants on the home farm. There was con

sequently an immensely increased demand for hired labourersat the very time when their numbers were so much thinned , and

it seemed as if the agriculture of the country was completely

1 ) Ibid ., p . 29. 2) Cunningham,l. c. p. 225. 3) Ashley. I p. 32.


ruined” Land was now again abundant, and so“instead of

ousting tenants , lords o f land found it hard enough to retainthem even with lightened services” And the natural conse

quence was that the landlords attempted to re-attach tenantsand labourers to the so il.Whether, as Professor Thoro ld Rogersasserts

,the customary tenants , who had commuted their

labour dues for money,were forced back into the servile posi

tion o f their ancestors , is not certain At any rate“we maygrant that

,now that labour had become so costly, the lords

would insist on the exact performance of such labour dues as

had not yet been commuted , and on the punctual payment o f allmoney rents. There is much reason to believe , moreover, thatthey abused their power of imposing

“amercements” on their

tenants in the manor courts for trivial breaches o f duty”

This severe and unaccustomed pressure on the villeins , whowere becoming comfortable copyholders, resulted inWat Ty ler

’srevo lt o f 1381Nor were the labourers any longer allowed to d ispose freely

of their labour power.

“While the plague was actually ragingparliament could not meet

,but a proclamation was at once

issued by the king with the advice of certain prelates and

nobles, of which the preamble states that,

“many seeing thenecessity of masters and great scarcity o f servants will notserve unless they get excessive wages”, and that consequentlythe land can be scarcely tilled . Everyone, free or villan , who

can work and has no other means o f livelihood,is not to

refuse to d o so fo r anyone who offers the accustomed wages ;each lord is to have the preference in hiring the men on his

own estate , but none is to have too many men for his work ;no labourer is to leave his employment before the specifiedtime ; nor to receive more rations or wages than he did in thetwentieth year of the king and the common years before that ;none are to give or take more wages in town or country”

1 ) Cunningham,l. c . p. 305. 2) Ashley, II p. 277. 3) See Ashl ey , II pp. 264—267

,

and Ochenkowski,pp . 18—20. 4) Ashley , II p. 265. 5) Cunningham,

1. 0. pp. 356,357. On the Black Death and its effects

,see also Th orold Rogers, Work and Wages , pp.

5—26,and The Economic Interpretation of History by the same author

,pp. 24sqq.

6) Cunningham,l. c. p. 306.


The depopulation of this time caused a reappearance of freeland , i. e. o f land which had practically no value, and so agricultural labourers were scarcely to b e had.Therefore the lords

to some extent reattached the cultivators to the so il.These measures

,however

,were of little avail . It was not

easy to prevent an employer from secretly giving more thanthe statutory wages. The penalties for infraction of the regulation were rendered more severe , the fines being replaced byimprisonment ; yet the who le legislation proved a failureAnd even if the statutes of labourers had been everywhere

enforced,

“many landowners would have been left in a positiono f great difficulty ; if there was no one to d o the work it didnot much matter what they were to b e paid , and in not a few

villages scarcely any one was left to carry on the ordinaryagricultural operations.” Therefore new expedients had to be

devised , of which the most general appears to have been the

stoc k and land lease ;“the new tenant took the land and the

stock o ff the lord ’s hands and made in return a definite annualpayment. These tenants “probably sprang from the Class of

free labourers,as the surviving villans who already had their

own ho ldings, would not b e so easily able to offer for a portion

o f the domain land which the lord desired to let”

Here again we see t he consequences of the abundance of

land. The land alone could not fetch a reasonable price ; stockand land had to b e leased together.

As these leaseho lders were taken from the labouring class ,this measure, of course, still further diminished the supply of

labour.

All these palliatives could not,indeed , better the postion o f

the landlords to any considerable extent. They had to wait for

an Increase o f population which would render to the land the

value that it had before the Black Death. As, however, the

plague recurred several times,the population appears to have

scarcely increasedThe landlords remained in this dif ficult position till about

1450 when a new and very efficacious remedy was suggested

1 ) I bid ., pp . 307, 308. 2 ) Ibid .,pp . 355, 356. 3) See Ochenkowski, p . 37.

4) This d ate is given by Ashley, 1 1 p . 264.


free use of them. Now the lords began to inclose large partso f these commons for the formation o f sheep runs. The con

sequence was that many of the customary tenants , who hadrelied on the commons for pasturing their cattle

,could no longer

keep the cattle neces sary for the cultivation of their holding.

Their farming became unprofitable, and they had to leave theirlands, which were instantly o ccupied by the lords and laiddown in pastureEven when the cultivator had not left his tenement , the

lord sometimes appropriated and “inclosed” it.The inclosures which took place , especially in the 16th cen

tury, are a fact of f oremost importance in the history o f English

agriculture . The term“inclo sure” has two different meanings .

In medieval England the lands o f the villeins,with those of

the lord interspersed between them,lay scattered in a number

o f acre or half-acre strips , no two strips held by one man

being contiguous. This system , dating from a time of extensive tillage

,fel l short o f the exigencies o f advanced culture ,

and had to b e removed before any improvement in the modeof cultivation could be made. Therefore inclo sures have often

,

especially in the reign o f Elizabeth , been made with the common consent o f all the landho lders concerned

, the resultbeing that every tenant

, instead o f many scattered strips , ohtained one or a few fields lying together.

“But in the earlierpart of the same mo vement

, during the period which may be

roughly defined as from 1450 to 1550, inclo sure meant to a

large extent the actual dispo ssession of the customary tenants“by their manorial lords . This took place either in the form o f

the vio lent ousting of the sitting tenant,or o f a refusa l on the

death o f one tenant to admit the son who in earlier centurieswould have been treated as his natural successor” It wasthis latter kind o f inclosure that was condemned by severalwriters of the 16th century

,for instance by Hales , who by

inclosure did not mean“where a man doth enclose and hedge

in his own proper grounds where no man hath commons. For ’

such enclosure is very b enificial to the commonwealth ; it is a

cause of great encrease of wood ; but it is meant thereby whenany man hath taken away '

and enclo sed any o ther men’

s com

1 ) Ashley, II pp. 270—272 ; Cunningham, l. c .,p. 362. 2) Ashley, II pp. 272 , 273.


mous, or hath pulled down houses o f husbandry and convertedthe lands from tillage to pasture”

Ashley , discussing the question as to whether the lords hada right to turn out the villeins , arrives at the conclusion that“during historical times and until comparatively modern days ,the cultivators o f the soi l were always in a condition o f de

pendence , and held their lands at the arbitrary will of theirlords . For centuries the lord knew no o ther way of getting hisland cultivated , and had no wish to get rid o f a tenant ; whenever he did so , it was altogether exceptional. But with thetendency to l imitation and definition so characteristic of the

feudal period,custom tended to harden into law,

and it wouldseem to have been on the point of becoming law when a change

in the economic situation, — the increasing advantage o f pastureo ver tillage

, prompted the lords to fal l back on their old

rights. Then fo llowed a struggle between a lega l theory becom

ing obso lete, but backed by the influence o f the landowners ,

and a custom on its way to become law,backed by public sen

timent and by the po licy o f the government”

This is in perfect keeping with our theory. In former timesland was abundant , and therefore the lord“had no wish to

get rid o f a tenant ,” for he “knew no other way of getting

his land cultivated” . But now sheep farming made appropriationof the who le of the land possib le , and so the lord was no

longer in need o f the villeins ; he even went so far as to evictthose whom his ancestors had attached to the so il . And

‘

even

where the cultivators remained on the land , they often, andnot always vo luntarily

,became leaseho lders instead o f copy

ho lders ; and“in many cases a lease was but a stepping-stone

to tenure at will” The lords no longer contented themselveswith the customary payments ; instead o f villeins they wantedleaseho lders , whose rents they could raise at the end of eachterm

,according as the value of the land had increased .

“Rentswere raised with great rapidity as the tenant had to pay a

sum equivalent to the utility o f his ho lding as part of a large

pasture farm.

”

There was also far less need for agricultural labourers than

1 ) Cunningham, 1. c., p . 474. 2) Ashley, 11 p . 281 . 3) Ib id .,p . 284. 4) Cun

h ingham,l . c .,

p. 408.


before .

“The decay of tillage and lack o f rural employment,

during this century,” says Pro fessor Cunningham“rest on unim

peachab le evidence” In the 14th century“the problem o f the

unemployed , as it now presents itse lf, had not yet arisen.

”

But the agrarian changes“deprived great numbers of the agricultural labouring class, small customary tenants and cot

tagers , of the means of support in their old places of abode,

and sent them wandering over the country”

The appropriation of the who le of the land had thus givento the rural economy of England a new and essentially moderncharacter : th ere were now leaseho lders and tenants at will

,

labouring poor and unemployed . And the ancient institution ofserfdom could not ho ld its own in the presence of such thorough Changes . “The slow agricultural revo lution which ren

dered their services less useful to the manorial lords , gradually

set the villans free by remo ving the interest theirmasters had in

retaining a ho ld upon them.

” “In some instances the exaction

o f predial services from villans by manorial lords can be traced

as late as the time of Elizabeth ; but though no change was

made in the law,the lords seem to have found that it was

not worth their while to assert their r ights over the persons

o f their bondmen”

There were , however, many parts of England in whic h scarcely any inclosures took place Here the villeins remained ontheir lands and gradua lly became copyho lders . They were stillbound to services, which , however , were generally commuted

for small money payments , so the conditions of their tenure

were annoying rather than oppressive . Moreover,their obli

gations were no longer personal , but territorial ; they were not

astricted to the so il. And as they had an hereditary right to

their ho ldings, they differed but little from freeho lders . The“inno cuous curiosities o f copyho ld,

” survivals of ancient serf

d om,have lasted up to modern times

Our theory can thus be of much use in ac counting for the

1 ) Ibid .,p. 393. 2 ) Ashley, II pp . 336 , 352. 3) Cunningham, l . c ., pp. 361 , 476.

4) See Ashley, II pp. 286—288. 5) See Gonnet , Article“Bauernbefreiung in Gross~b ritannieu” in Handwiirterbuch , 2

na edition, II pp . 593, 594.


time of extensive tillage the produce of each man’s labourwas smallGreat proprietors were still rare. They worked their own

lands with slaves. Sometimes , however, they gave pieces ofland in use

, genera lly to s laves ; for, says our informant , thefree peasants did no t like to take the land o f the nobles and

so make themselves dependent on them And when landwas given in use to free peasants (especially by the church)this was done on very advantageous t erms

,often at a nominal

rentLand was thus abundant , slavery existed , and tenant farmers

and free lab ourers were absent.In the Caro lingian period the clearing of forests went on con

tinually . Some land was still reclaimed by free peasants , but muchmore by the great proprietors who contro l led abundant labourforces The lords were already beginning to claimmuch nucultivated land , the reclaiming o f which they only allowed on

condition o f the cul tivator subjecting himself to them. Therewas far less unappropriated land than in the forego ing period, andsuch as there was was Claimed by the king Y et we cannotspeak of an appropriation of the who le of the land ; for weknow that a claim of the king to large tracts o f uninhabitedland is practically of little consequence. Accordingly our ih

formant states that land was still abundant. The free peasantswere already in a difficult po sition, not, however, becauseland was scarce

,but because they could not provide the labour

necessary to convert woods and marshes into arable landIn this perio d the free peasants began to be absorbed by

the great proprietors . The latter wanted labourers and didtheir utmost to astrict the common freemen to their estates.Many people placed themselves under the protection of nobles ;o thers

,being reduced to poverty (especially through the insti

tution o f the wergild , and the compulsory mil itary servicewhich interfered with the cultivation o f the

“

land) fel l into

the hands of the lords ; and some were straightway made serfsby vio lence. As the landlords had the right of jurisdiction

"and

1 ) Ibid .,pp . 147, 148, 165. 2) Ib id .,

pp . 1 19, 120. 3) Ibid ., pp. 1 23, 1 24. 4)

Ib id ., pp. 207 2 17. 5) Ib id ., pp. 220

,221 , 279

—281 . 6) R ib , pp. 382, 235 , 236.


o ther public rights , they could easily subject the small'

land

ho lders under some pretext or even without any . Former free

peasants , lites , and such slaves as had received a piece o f

land in use, though des ignated,

by different names, came toform practically one class, the labouring as opposed to theruling class A manorial organi zation arose similar to thatwhich existed in England . There were some slaves for pers onal service and agricultural labour and a great number of

d ependent peasants of various kinds , who had to cultivate thed emesne o f the lord and yield him part o f the produce of

their own ho ldingsFree labourers were found rarely if at all

Our informant in several passages speaks o f freemen destituteo f land But these people are no t in any way to b e identified with the poor o f modern times who depend on wages.They were generally foreigners who

_

had no rights in anyvillage community ; but the lords were always ready to receivethem and give them a piece of land in use on condition of

their rendering services and paying tributes . The natural

increase o f the labouring population and immigration of foreignlabour did not yet cause any difficulty

Mos t o f the cul tivators of this time had no t the right ofleaving the manors to which their holdings belongedWe see that in this period there was still much free land ;

s lavery existed and serfdom was on the increase ; leaseholders ,tenants at will and free labourers were wanting.All this agreeswith o ur theory.

In the next period co lonization and reclaiming o f wasteland went on on a large scale . BUt at the same time the population increased and the value of the land increased withit. Lamprecht , speaking o f the 13th century

,writes :“Co lo

nization and reclaiming o f land had entirely changed the cond ition of the rural population between the l 0th and the 13th

c entury. In the time of the Caro lingians wood and land had

1 ) Ibid .,pp. 226—257. 2) Ib id .

, pp . 237, 367—371 , 38 1 . 3) I bid .,pp. 236, 367.

4) Ib id ., pp.,240

,241

,319, 355. Even in the Merovingian period there were already

such people, accord ing to him, see pp . 1 22

,1 24

,1 63. 5) I bid .,

pp. 241 , 382 . 6)

Ibid .,p. 367


stil l been regarded as inexhaustible goods of the nation,like

the sun, air and water ; but now the limitations of the geographical bas is o f national life appeared more and more

clearly. There had b een an immense range of land to growfood upon ; but now the supply o f land became limited

,chiefly

and first on the Rhine,in Suab ia and Franconia

,afterwards

in Saxony,and finally in Bavaria

,the Tyro l

,and Styria ;

people had to shift on a limited area. The so il became , morethan before , an object of economic value ; its price kept continually increasing. In the 1 2th century

,in some prosperous

districts , land seems to have attained twelve t imes the valueit had in the 9th; and even afterwards

,down to the second

half o f the 13th century, an increase of about 50 per cent. isto b e observed . Taking into consideration that land was stillregarded , especia l ly by the ruling classes, as the only basisof social and po litica l influence (though already other sourcesof large incomes were gradually arising) , we may understandhow intense the struggle for the possession o f the so il must

have been at this perio d”

The right o f the king to unappropriated land was now

enforced more strictly than before , and the lords began to

claim a right o f property over the commons surrounding thevillages, which , however, were o ften still left to the use of

the peasantsHowever, there was no o ver-population as yet. The propri

etors did their best to attract people to the vast newly co lonized districts , especial ly to the eastern parts of GermanyDuring the who le o f this period the landlords went on

subjugating the rural population,so that at the end of it the

peasant pG rietors , who h ad once formed the bulk o f the

population, had almost entirely disappeared , and most of the

land was taken up with the estates of the great proprietors

But the increase in the value of land already made itse lf

1 ) Lamprecht , III pp . 56, 57. See also Inama-S ternegg, II pp. 70, 2) Inama

S ternegg, II pp. 1 15, 145, 84, 85, 207. 209. 3) I b id ., pp. 4—27. Similarly in France,in the 1 2th century , the land lord s encouraged emigration to the outlying , newly reclaimedd istricts. Villeins who were willing to settle in these parts were granted special privileges ,a house and land were given them at a nominal rent (Luchaire, in Lar issa, Vol. II Part .I I p. 4) Inama-Stem egg, II pp. 36—38.


personal liberty o f the latter ; even non-fulfilment o f his obli

gations by the tenant had only pecuniary consequences 1 )We cannot but think that the reason given by Lamprecht

for the transition from servile to free tenure is true. For evenwhen the original rent was no t higher than the former customary payment plus the value o f the labour dues

,the possi

b ility of raising the rent after each term remained .

We hear o f free tenants in this period , b ut no t yet of freelabourers . This is exactly what ou r theory teaches us to expect.Land , in some parts of Germany

,had already acquired a high

value ; such land must have been very renumerative,and so

people were ready to pay a rent for its use , even though therewas still land to b e had gratis or at a nominal rent , but farfrom the market and therefore less profitable. But the countrywas not yet so densely peopled that there were men who couldno t secure the use of any piece o f land ; therefore a class of

people dependent on wages did not yet exist.In the 13th century much new land was still taken into

cultivation ,in Western as well as Eastern Germany ; but in

the fol lowing centuries very little land was added to the arablearea. The wo ods

,which had formerly been regarded as inex

haustib le , were no longer present in great abundance , and therulers of the German states as well as the landlords exertedthemselves to preserve the remainder and forbade the peasantsto clear them. From the middle of the 14th century theseprohibitive measures became generalAs the population continued to increase

,land became

scarce. In many parts of Southern and Western Germanythe lords parcelled out their lands in small portions, and

farms of the size which had been customary for centuriesbecame rare

The rights o f the peasants to the use of the commons , on

which they had always relied for a considerable portion of

their subsistence , were now restricted , and the lords assertedtheir claims to the commons more strictly than before

1 ) Ib id ., II pp . 203, 204. 2) Ibid ., III Part I pp. 1—13. 3) Lamprecht,V Part I p.82 ; Inama-Sternegg, l . c .

,p . 212 . 4) Inama-Sternegg, pp. 38, 214, 237, 285 sqq.


Another consequence of the increase o f population was thatcattle-keeping was no longer possible on such a large scale

as formerly when the common pasture occupied a great part o f

the land. At the end o f the Middle Ages there was a scarcity

o f meat , and people had to rely, more than before , on vege

table foodThe need of the landlords for the services of the peasants

went on diminishing. They no longer worked their own estates ;nearly the who le of their income consisted of the payments

in kind and in money which they received from their de

pendentsIn Lower Saxony and part of Westphalia the lords , as early

as the 1 3th century,emancipated considerable numbers o f

villeins in their own interest. For the villeins had graduallyacquired some right to their ho ldings , and the landlords , bysetting them free

, got back the free disposal o f the land, whichthey thenceforth let out to free tenantsIn the i4th century the lo rds began to turn out peasants

(Bauernlegen ) and lease the land o f which they thus re-acquired the free disposalFree tenancies became now general , parts o f the demesne ,

as well as lands which had been held in servile tenure , beingleased . The increased demand for land enabled the lords to letsmall allotments at extravagant pricesEven where the customary tenures remained

,the obligations

o f the peasants , which had been personal , in many cases hecame territorial , the ho lder o f the land as such being subjectto payments . And the conditions o f this tenure were so littleservile that sometimes nobles and knights received such landin use and to ok the obligations on themselvesThe difference between farmers and agricultural labourers

now first came into existence . The latter most often held a

smal l patch o f land,but this was not sufficient to live upon ;

they depended on wages . Besides agricultural labourers therewere male and female servants for househo ld labour. The regu

1 ) Ib id ., pp . 366, 367. 2) I bid .,pp. 261—265 . p . 220. 4) Ibid .

,pp . 176 ,

201, 249. 5) I bid .,

pp. 202—205,208—210

,225

,251

,255

,256, 277; Lamprecht, l . c .

, p .

82. 6) Inama-Sternegg, 1. c .,pp. 46

, 174, 175.


lation of wages by law, which o ccurred especially after the

ravages of the great plague , proves that in the southern and

western parts of Germany free labour had become general .Such servile work as still remained was often done by labourershired by the peasant to who se duty the work fell , just as in

the case o f the English peasant who “found” a man

All land was now held as property ; consequently the landwas more and more held by free tenants and worked withfree labourers dependent on wages , whereas serfdom gradual lydied out .

In the 15th century , however, according to both Lamprechtand Inama—Sternegg, serfdom and even slavery reappeared .

Lamprecht, after speaking of the raising of rents by thelandlords , adds :

“But more disastrous in its consequences thanall this was the manner in which the landlords dealt withthe increasing surplus population of the farms occupied bytheir villeins. Formerly

,younger sons of villeins , as well as

Children of free parents , had removed to the woods for thepurpose o f clearing them ; and it was with their help thatthe landlords had in the course of the 12th and 13th centuriesextended their landed properties. In later times such youngersons had often gone to the towns or the newly co lonizeddistricts of Eastern Germany. Now there was a stagnationamong them as well as among the small remainder o f the

free population. There remained no other alternative but todivide the farms of the villeins. But the interest of the landlord was oppo sed to this. He had no security o f receivingrent and services from farms parcelled out into small allotments.Therefore he did not , as a rule

,divide the farms into more

than four parts ; and those of the servile population who cou ldnot secure the use of such a smal l holding were regarded as

slaves . This institution ,the origin of which went back to

the first half o f the 1 2th century,had till then been almost

entirely foreign to the development of Germany . Together

with a rural pro letariat destitute o f nearly everything, a realslavery came now for the first time into existence on German

ground And this new slave class went on continually

1 ) Ib id ., pp. 48, 50, 51 , 213, 223, 241 , 282 , soc—309, 314, 408, 413.


of remaining on the land We think that this is what thestatements of our informants about the reappearance of slaverymean. The cultivators were not slaves , but impoverished and

despised tenants at will and agricultural labourers .At any rate, in the 16th century eviction of peasants , which

is the reverse o f astriction to the so il , became of frequentoccurrence. Ashley, who has consulted some of the best literature,states that “the Bavarian code o f 1 518 laid down that thepeasant had no hereditary right to his ho lding , and not even a

life interest unless he could show some documentary evidence .

In Mecklenburg a decree o f 1606 declared that the peasantswere not emphy teu tae but co loni, whom their lords could compelto give up the lands allotted to them , and who could claim no

right of inheritance even when their ancestors had held theland from time immemorial . In Ho lstein ,

again, a great num

b er of the peasants were expelled from their ho ldings , andsuch as remained became tenants at will”

Serfdom,in Southern and Western Germany , thus died out

towards the end o f the Middle Ages , at a time when population had become numerous and land scarce.

The eastern parts o f Germany had quite ano ther agrarianhistory . Here serfdom was not common befo re the 16th c en

tury. From this time,however

,and especially after the Thirty

Years’ War,it became more and more general . As this is quite

a separate history we shall no t speak o f it any further

1 ) Ib id ., p . 420 ; see also p . 31 1 . 2) Ashley, II pp. see also Inama-Sternegg,

III Part II p . 201 . 3) On the history of the rural classes in Eastern Germany , seeKnapp

,Die Bauernbefreiung.

It may b e of some interest to point out. the great resemblance between the rise of Romanco lona tus as described by Max Weber and the rise of serfdom in Eastern Germany. In

b oth countries most of the peasants were originally free (Web er,R

'

dmischeAgrargeschichte,p . 244; Knapp , I p . The landlord s , who formerly had passed most of their time outsidetheir properties

,when they lost their military function took the cultivation of their manors

into their‘

own hand s (Weber,1. c., pp . 243

,244; Knapp , I p . They soon acquired

rights of jurisdiction over the peasants (Weber,1. c .,

p. 260 ; Knapp, I p. and b eganto compel them to work on the d emesne (Weber, 1. c.

,p . 244; Knapp , I p . The cultivators

lost the right of emigrating (Weber, l. o., pp . 256—258 ; Knapp , I p. Even the

B auernlege n, i. e. the joining of a peasant’s hold ing to the demesne , occurred in Rome aswell as in Eastern Germany (Weber

,1. c.

,p. 247; Knapp, I pp . 50, And it is most

remarkab le that in b oth countries the rise‘

of serfdom took place at an advanced period of

their history.This proves once more that the institutions of different countries may closely resemble


We think the above remarks on England and the o lder parts

o f Germany may suffice to show that our theory can throw

some light on the agrarian history of Western Europe.

We are ful ly aware that the condition o f the rural classes

must have been determined by many more circumstances of

greater and lesser importance . But it seems to us that thegenera l cause o f which we have spoken in these paragraphsis second to no o ther in its operation

1 2 . Op en and c losed resources .

We have said that among agricultural peoples slavery, as anindustrial system , only exists where there is still free land ; itdisappears as soon as all land has been appropiated . We havealso seen that slavery does not prevail to any considerableextent where subsistence is dependent on capital We may

each other,even in many d etails

,without the one country having d erived its institutions

from the o ther. For even the influence of Roman law cannot serve as an explanation of

this resemb lance , as Boman law takes little notice of co lona tus (Weber 1. c ., p .1 ) We must admit that we are not sure whether the facts of Roman agrarian history

agree with our theory . In R ome slavery prevailed to a large extent at a time when the

relative scarcity of land gave ris e to the d ifficulties about the ager publieus .

We shall not attempt to solve this question. We will only mention our impression,on read ing Weber

’s R emische Agrargescltichte, v iz. that

,even in the time of the Empire

,

though some land fetched a high price , all d isposable land had not yet been appropriated,

and therefore the want of serv ile labour remained . At the beginning of the Empire freelabourers were very scarce, and could only be got to help the land lord s in sowing and

at harvest time on cond ition of receiving a pretty considerable part of the harvest (Web er ,

1 . c., pp . 236 Und er Augustus and Tib erius the procuring of slaves from abroad

became very d ifficult,and this led to kidnapping of men by the land lords (Ib id .

,p .

In the b ound ary provinces,even in later centuries

,barbarians were imported and became

coloni attached to the soil (Ib id .,pp . 259,

Slavery proper declined from the b eginning of the Empire (Meyer, Altertum,p .

b ut the co lonel, who originally seem to have b een free tenants

,gradually lost the right of

removing from the manor they inhab ited (Weber,1. c .

,pp . 242

,248— 250, 256

We must,however

,bear in mind that the writers on the economic history of Rome still

d isagree very much,not only as to the explanation of the fac ts, but as to the facts

themselves. See Max Weber’s article on“Agrarverhaltnisse im Altertum”

,in Hand ~

wiirterbuch d er Staatswissenschaften , std ed ition, Vol. I .— 2 ) The read er will remember

that there are tribes among which land is abundant,but nobod y can live upon land and

human labour only : the possession of capital is necessary,and those d estitute of capital

have to apply to the owners for employment. The best instance is furnished by thepastoral tribes.We have purposely avoided speaking of countries in which all land has been appro


now combine these two conclusions into this general ru les lavery, as an indus tria l system ,

is no t likely to exis t where

subsis tence d epends on ma terial resources which are present in

limited quantity.

A tribe or n ation canno t subsist without labour (though theamount o f labour required is sometimes small) ; but, besidesthis , material resources are always necessary . The resourceswhich man uses to procure his subsistence are of two kinds :

gifts of nature , and products o f human labour. The latter arecommonly termed capital ; their supply is always limited . Mostof the former (air, water, the heat o f the sun , etc .) exist

; in

unlimited quant ity,i. e. there is so much of them that nobody

wants to appropriate them. Land is also a gift of nature ,and in some very thinly peopled countries , where there ismuch more fertile ground than can be cultivated , it has not

any more value than air and water. But as all land has not

the same properties, it soon comes to pass that the most fertileand most favourably situated land is appropriated by somemen to the exclusion of o thers. This is the origin of rent.Finally, when the less valuable grounds have also been appro

priated , free land no longer exists ; there is no piece of landbut has its definite owner This last state of things has socialconsequences very similar to those which exist where subsistence depends on capital . In both cases indispensable means of

production are in the hands o f definite persons ; therefore a mandestitute either o f land or of capital (according as subsistencedepends on the former or the latter) , cannot subsist independentlyo f the owners

, but has to apply to them for employment. More

priated and capital also plays a great part,as it is the case in themanufacturing coun

tries of modern Europe. Here the structure of society is very complicated and d ifl‘icult to

d isentangle . We think,however, that here also the most important fact is the appro

priation o f the soil

1 )“The earth , as we have already seen

,is not the only agent of nature, which has

a productive power ; but it is the only one, or nearly so , that one set o f men take to

themselves, to the exclusion of others ; and of which , consequently, they can appropriatethe benefits. The waters of rivers, and of the sea, by the power which they have of

giving movement to our machines,carrying our b oats

,nourish ing our fish , have also

a productive power ; the wind which turns our mills,and even the heat of the sun,

work for us ; but happily no one has yet been ab le to say , the wind and the sun are

mine, and the service which they render must b e paid for.

” J. B . Say , Economic

Politique,as quoted by Ricardo , p . 35.


of land or capital at the cost of the enemy pessimism is

more likely to prevail among peoples with closed than amongpeoples with Open resources , etc . We shall not, however ,enlarge upon these po ints any further.

Most savage tribes have open resources . All hunters have

(with the exception, perhaps , of some Australians) :neither thegame nor the hunting territories are held as property. Further,most fishers z

'

fishing is carried on in a simple manner and

does not yet require capital . And finally, most agriculturaltribes ; among them superest ager , as Tacitus says of the ancient

Germans

Savage tribes with closed resources are : 1° possibly some

Australian hunters,if it is true that among them every inch

o f ground is held as property,2°

the Eskimo s (fishers) , who

cannot get on without a boat, or a sledge and dogs , 3

°

all

pastoral tribes , 4°

the agricultural tribes inhabiting most o fthe Po lynesian and Micronesian islands , the Fijians and perhapsa few agricultural tribes outside Oceania.

We shall not inquire whether the civilized nations o f ancient

and modern times have , or had , open or closed resources .We

will only remark that in Western Europe resources,from open ,

have become clo sed . Y et they are no t altogether closed,as long

as there are still thinly peopled countries open for emigration.

Whether the white races will still have ro om for expansionfor a considerable time , we canno t know.

When we were preparing the first edition Of this work, wethought the distinction between countries with Open and withclo sed resources had no t been made before . Since we readLange’s book on the labour problem and saw that the authorspeaks in the same sense of Open and closed countries or openand closed economy . We give here the passages of most interest ,bearing on the subject.“There is a great difference between

1 ) Malthus (p . Speaking Of war, says :“One of its first causes and most powerfulimpulses was undoubtedly an insufficiency of room and food”. 2) See Wakefield , pp.

1 26—134, on the happiness of settlers in new countries. 3) A good instance is afi'

orded

by the Angoni as d escribed b ij Wiese. Their king, he tells us , subjected neighbouringtribes and brought them to his own country.

“He d id no t care for the territory desertedby these tribes. I t was his chief aim to have '

the people ; to landed property b eattached littlevalue” (Wiese, p.


the economy of open and closed civilized countries . In the

former there is still an abundance o f land fit for cultivation,

of which every labourer has the free use ; in the latter all landhas been taken into cultivation and appropriated . This differenceis so fundamental , that it would b e best to formulate a separateeconomic theory for either of the two cases and then

, in

applying the theory to the facts , to examine how far, in every

instance,the characteristics of Open or closed economy are

present . The latter proceeding is always necessary ; for theimportant distinction we have made is a relative one , no country

presenting exclusively the conditions of either open or closedculture .

”In another chapter the author dwel ls more at length

on the idea,laid down in the las t sentence.

“The earth stil lcontains large territories

,not yet taken into cultivation ,

whichin a certain sense are open to every one ; but there are suchfactors as habits

, prejudices , etc ., which bind people to theirown country

,and there are further material impediments to

emigration from Old civilized countries,which are so great,

that the economy o f such countries may practically be regardedas closed , without being such in an abso lute sense . On the

other hand , even in the most open colonial country there are

always circumstances which make the o ccupation o f uncultivatedland d ifficult and so the economy of such a country presentssome characteristics Of a clo sed economy. Between these twotypes there are numberless intermediate stages and thereforeeconomic life is in reality subject to the influences Of bo thOpen and closed economy. But in theory a sharp l ine Of demarcation must b e drawn between these two states o f society ;for only so can we attain to a right unders tanding o f rea leconomic life”

In the fo llowing paragraphs we shall speak of the effect Ofsecondary causes among agricultural tribes . We shall not , however, enter into many details . The diffi culty

,in our branch Of

science , is always,that we have so few works of predecessors

to rely upon. For instance , we shal l speak of the influence o f

trade among agricultural tribes . Now,if any accurate re

1 ) Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, pp. 199, 334.


searches had been made into the general effects o f trade,we

should b e able to conclude that trade having been proved tohave such general effects

,it must have such an influence on

slavery. But as such is no t the case , we should b e obliged,if

we were thoroughly to investigate the subject , to inquire whatare the general effects Of trade . An equally Clo se study of

militarism,o f the condition o f women, etc .

,would b e required .

And as in this way our book would never come to an end,we

shall content ourselves with giving a few outlines,which we

hope may turn the attention of o ther ethno logists to the important problems which the ensuing paragraphs will contain.

13. Cond ition of women.

As we have remarked before, the position held by the womenOf a tribe determines to some extent whether or not slaves arewanted . Where all the drudgery is performed , and can b e

performed,by the women , and the men d o not want to relieve

them Of it,there is no great use for slave labour . But where

women enj oy high consideration,the men are more likely to

procure slaves who are to assist the women in their work.

We shall speak first Of the latter fact , o f slaves performingfemale labour. It is very Often stated that slaves are employedfor domestic labour. And as , in countries where slavery doesnot exist , domestic labour is nearly always incumbent on the

women,slaves who perform such work alleviate the women

’stask . Where slavery prevails to a great extent it even occursthat slave-owners

,female as well as male

,have scarcely any

thing to d o,all work falling to the share o f the slaves. The

slave-owners , in such case, form the aristo cracy ; the slaves ,and the poor freemen unable to purchase slaves, are the la

b ouring classes. We may remind the reader o f ancient Rome,where the domestic slaves , the familia urbana , performed all

domestic services required by the rich , and of the women of

the upper classes in Mohammedan countries , who spend their

time in idleness in the harems.We have seen that among

’

some pastoral tribes domesticlabour is the chief o ccupation of the slaves. We d o not recol


usually possess a large number o f wives of whom only thefew that retain their youth and comeliness enjoy much Of the

society o f their lord . The maj ority,having been supplanted in

the esteem o f their common husband , have sunk into a con

dition of“

drudgery, finding their employment and their livelihOOd in to iling for the master whose affections they once possessed. I learned from Gorai , the Shortland chief

,who has

between eighty and a hundred wives, that the main objection he has against missionaries settling on his islands is

,

that they would insist on his giving up nearly all his wives,

thereby depriving him o f those by whose labour his plantations are cultivated and his househo ld suppl ied with food . A

great chief, he remarked , required a large staff of workers tocultivate his extensive lands , o r, in o ther words

, numerous

women to work in his plantations and to bring the producehome”

This statement is very remarkable . In the second chaptero f Part I we have seen that in these same islands of Bougainville Straits boys are captured from the neigt I

‘

Iring islands .

Guppy calls ' them slaves, but at the same time tells us that they“enjoy mo st o f the rights Of a native o f the common Class”

There is thus no difficulty in obtaining slaves ; yet slavery islittle developed , for the simple reason that po lygamy perfectlyserves the purposes o f slavery.

Ribbe equally remarks that on Bougainville po lygamy iscommon. The wife is the slave o f her husband : she has totil l the fields, to perform most Of the domestic work and to

take care o f the children. In the Shortland Islands (near Bou

gainville) the wife is the slave and beast o f burden of her husband

,rather than his companion

In the Nissan Islands, according to Sorge , mo st of the workis done by the womenIn the New Hebrides po lygamy also prevails . The price paid

for a wife varies from 10 tot 20 pigs ,“according to her capa

b ilities as a worker in the yam-patch.

” “They [the women]learn in their girlhood all that fits them to b e man

’

s slave and

1 ) Guppy, pp. 44, 45. 2) See above, p. 90. 3) Ribbe, pp . 100, 141 . —4) Serge,in Steinmetz's Bechtsverhaltnisse

,p . 399.


to iler in the fields “Women are degraded to the level ofbrute beasts

,doing all the hard field work

, and being made

to carry loads which appear quite disproportionate to their

ugly- shaped bodies and thin legs” Hagen and Pineau givea similar account o f female labour , and add that a man

’

s

wealth depends on the number o f his wives

De Vaux , speaking o f the women of New Caledonia , says :“All

the drudgery is incumbent on them . They perform the clearingand digging of the so il , carry on their backs crushing loads

o f ignames and taros to the village , and , if a chief has promised you assistance in some fatigu ing work that you want tohave quickly done, he will send you a gang of these miser

able beings who may scarcely b e called women.

” Turnerremarks :“Chiefs had ten ,

twenty,and thirty wives . The more

wives the better plantations and the more food .

” “If a wifemisbehaved , the chief did not divorce her

,but made her work

all the harder” . And Ro chas tells us that the New Caledonianskeep no servants

, but have many wives instead ; rich men haveas many wives as they want for the cultivation Of their fieldsIn Neu Pommern , according to Parkinson,

“every man who

can afford it buys many wives. For a wife is a capital thatyields a fair interest ; she works from an early age till herstrength is spent ; and when,

from age or by being overtaxedwith labour , she grows sickly and decrepit , she perishes nu

heeded by anybody. The wife is no thing but the beast o f burden of her husband ; she performs all labour, tills the so il ,cleans the dwelling, prepares the food , and carries the reaped

produce in heavy baskets far away to the market.The husbandtherefore regards his wife as a valuable property.

” “The husband continually urges his wives to work

,that they may earn

much d ewarra [shell-money] for him ; for the more d ewarra

he owns the greater is the consideration and influence b e eujoys. But the lot of the wives is not bettered by an increasein the wealth o f the husband . The wives o f a man who ownsthousands of co ils of d ewarra have no better life and are no

1 ) Somerville, New Heb rides , pp . 3, 5 , 7, 4. 2) Hagen and Pineau,p . 331 ; see also

H einicke, Neue Hebriden, p . 340. 3) De Vaux, p. 330 ; Turner, Samoa, p. 341 ; Rochas ,p. 229 ; see also Brainne

,p. 248.


less overworked than the wife of a very poor man who has no

property except his only wife. And Danks states that“a manmay have as many wives as he can afford to purchase. If hecannot afford to purchase one , and his credit is low,

he mayhave to remain single. The headmen are generally rich men

,

hence they invariably have a number of wives,ranging from

three to six”.

“Married life in New Britain is a hard one for

the women. They are beaten and ill-treated by their husbandsas o ccasion may arise”

In New Mecklenburg the condition of the women is equallyb ad

In Fiji , according,

to Williams,

“po lygamy is looked upon as

a principal source of a chief’s power and wealth .

”And Pritchard

says :“The greater the number of wives a man had , the betterhis social position Besides the acknowledged wives

,there

were attached to the househo ld o f the chiefs slave-women,who ,

though performing the most menial services,were at the same

time nothing else than what the odaliq es are in the Turkishharem”

We see that these Melanesian wives supply the place o f

slaves. They are bought like slaves ; they have to work fortheir owners like slaves ; and their labour, like that o f slaves ,increases the wealth Of their lords. Another po int of resemblance is this. In s lave countries it is generally the rich onlywho are able to procure slaves ; poor freemen have to workfor themselves . Here it is the rich who appropriate the women ;and many o f the po or have to remain single. Here, as in all

countries where polygamy is practised , it is only the m inorityO f the men who can live in polygamy ; fo r everywhere thenumber of women is nearly equal to that o f men. And as in

Melanesia the rich,who o therwise would want slaves, have

many wives to work for them,slaves are not required .

We cannot explain h ere why in Melanesia womankind is somuch at a discount , whereas among some other savage tribes

(e. g. on the North Pacific Coast of North America) the sex

1 ) Parkinson, Im Bismarck-Archipel, pp. 98, 99, 101 ; Danks , pp. 294, 292, 293 ; seealso Melching, pp. 43, 44. 2) Parkinson, Dreissig Jahre, p . 269.

— 3)Williams , p . 178 ;Pritchard

,p. 372 .


We use the term“commercial tribes in a wide sense, asincluding not only those tribes among which many peoplesubsist by trading, but those that exchange a considerable partof their produce for foreign merchandise. Fo r instance

, a trib e

that grows corn for export is a commercial tribe in the sensewe attach to the word .

We see that , with very few exceptions,all commercial

agricultural tribes keep slaves . This proves that among agricultural tribes the development o f trade greatly furthers thegrowth o f slavery.

We have not much to say in explanation of this fact . Whenspeaking o f the slave-keeping tribes o f the Pacific Coast o f

North America, we have already remarked that the developmentof trade tends to further slavery in various ways . Commercialtribes are likely to carry on a trade in slaves

,and this makes

the keeping o f slaves very easy. Where the freemen take tocommercial pursuits, they want o thers to perform the commondrudgery for every-day subsistence. The trade itself may alsorequire menial work : the articles of commerce have to b eprepared and transported

,trading vessels have to b e rowed , etc .

And finally , commerce o ften leads to a development of wealthand luxury ; a man can now,

by the labour Of his slaves ,acquire no t only the necessaries , but the refinements Of lifeThe last po int is an important one . In self-dependent agri

cultural countries the main use o f slave labour consists in

1 ) Cunningham (English Industry , I p . 77) justly remarks : “While there is no

Opportunity for exchange, it is not so well worth while for anyone to preserve a surplus ;a very abundant harvest is more likely to be prod igally used within the year, and sowith all other supplies ; but the existence Of opportunities for trade makes it well worthwhile to gather a store that far exceeds any prospective need and to stow in warehouses

for sale all that need not be used by the producers to satisfy their immed iate wants ; theconditions are present which stil further favour the accumulation of wealth.

"


providing the master with food . If, then, a man keeps a large

number o f slaves who work for him , he is able to entertain

his friends , or to keep a retinue Of unproductive slaves or

servants , whose wants are provided for by the work Of the

so il-tilling slaves. But where this is the so le profit one can

derive from one’

s slaves , an owner who keeps a consider

able number Of them does not want to make them work veryhard ; he often contents himself with receiving a tribute , and

so the slaves become serfs . In this way the slave-owner getsless out o f his slaves than would otherwise b e the case ; but

he does not want more, and he need not now continually

supervise their work. Slavery is not l ikely to exist on a large scale .

Where commercial relations with foreign parts are main

tained,it is otherwise. A slave-owner who receives large quan

tities o f agricultural produce from his slaves can now exchange

them for foreign merchandise. Retaining for himself as muchfood as he wants , he exchanges the rest fo r such Objects as

are either useful and agreeable in themselves , or give himdistinction among his countrymen . The use o f slave labourbecomes thus practically unlimited . Kohler rightly remarks thatonly where the economic instinct is awake , can slavery attainto a full development , and S chmoller observes that , when thepatriarchal family began to produce for the market , covetousnessand pursuit o f gain arose and the treatment o f slaves becameworseWe must further take into consideration that slavery on a

very large sca le is only possible , where industrial crops are

raised .

“Tobacco and cotton” says Cairnes ,“fulfil that condition

which we saw was essential to the economical employment o fslaves the po ssibility of working large numbers within a

limited space ; while wheat and Indian corn , in the cultivationo f which the labourers are dispersed o ver a wide surface

,fail

in this respect” And cotton and similar crops are only cultivatedin large quantity where they are exported .

1 ) Kohler, Das Recht der Papuas, p. 364; Schmoller, Grundriss, I p. 243. 2) Cairnes ,p . 50. In ancient Rome, at the end of the Repub lic , plantations Of Olives and vines wereworked with slaves , whereas cereal cr0ps were raised on lands leased to co loni ; see

Weber, Article“Agrarverhiiltnisse im Altertum”

,in Handworterbuch der S taatswissen

scheften,3rd ed ition , vol. I p . 1 66.


Of such “who lesale slavery as Bagehot terms it , we finda few instances among savage tribes .

KOler tells us that in Bonny the great majority of the

inhabitants are slaves. The keeping o f s laves is very expen

sive , as agriculture and industry scarcely exist ; all food hasto b e imported . The freemen are traders in palm-oil

,and want

large numbers o f slaves to row the canoes in which this Oilis transportedAmong the Ewe of the S lave Coast slavery is practised on

a very large scale. Some men keep 200—300 slaves , whoform their

‘

Capital . The slaves are general ly employed in

carrying oil from the inland to the coast for sale to Europeans.

The maintaining o f order among such great numbers o f slavesrequires great severity. S lavery marks all their institutions .

It is a common saying with them that“the large water-tubdoes not go to the spring

”

,whereby they mean that freemen

must not d o such work as is only fit for slaves and boysMiss Kingsley

,speaking o f the social classes among the tribes ,

inhabiting the territory o f the Oil Rivers on the WesternCoast Of Africa , says :“The third and fourth classes are trueslave Classes

,the higher one in rank being what is called the

Winnab oes or Trade boys , the lower the pull-away boys and

the plantation hands . The best po int in it, as a system, is that

it gives to the poorest boy who paddles an oil canoe a chance

Of becoming a king”

Among the Garos,where co tton is the principal culture

,

two-fifths of the population are slaves .

“The distinction [betweenfreemen and slaves] is jealously preserved It is from the

possession o f a large number of them [slaves] that a man Obtainsinfluence amongst his tribe”

It is Clear that among these tribes slavery would not prevailto such a great extent

,if the preparing and transporting of

the articles of export did not require so much labour.

In these cases trade is the cause o f“who lesale slavery,not

necessarily o f slavery in general .“Retail slavery” may have

1 ) Koler,pp. 84

,154. 2) Zundel , pp. 408, 409, 387. 3) Kingsley, West African

stud ies, p . 427; see also De Cardi’s d escription of the slave system Of Bonny , ib id ., pp .

51 6 sqq. 4) Dalton , p. 58.


1 5 . S laves emp loyed in warfare.

In several cases it is stated that slaves are employed inwarfare. Leaving out Of regard the cattle-breeding agriculturaltribes , o f which we have already spoken in chapter III , wefind the fo llowing instances .

Thomson tells us that in New Zealand slaves accompaniedtheir masters on fishing and fighting exped itions ; and in another

place he states that women and slaves accompanied the warriors to carry burdens Po lack says : “S laves are permittedto take part in a war

”

,and Brown ,

speaking o f slaves in NewZealand

,remarks : “If any o f them show superior talents

for war,they are duly appreciated

,and many slaves by this

means raise themselves to the chieftainship o f the tribe”

Dalton,speaking o f the slaves kept by the Garo s, says

It is from the possession o f a large number o f them that a

man Obtains influence amongst his tribe. Each great Chief can

go to war with a body-guard of 60 such fo llowers entirelydevoted to him”

Among the Lawas too , according to Co lquhoun, slaves are

employed as warriorsIn Nias slaves are Often compelled to go to war with their

masters , except when war is made upon"the native village

of the slaves. The slaves fight bravely , and in'

war bear

arms like the freemen , but are never set at liberty for their

braveryAmong the Kayans slaves serve as warrio rs and can even

become war-ChiefsAmong the natives of Central Celebes , slaves who excel in

those qualities which are highly valued in freemen,i,e,b ra

very or oratorical power,are practically no longer regarded

as slavesAmong the Tagals and Visayas, in the time Of the con

quista,generally freemen and vassals only took part inmilitary

1 ) Thomson,New Zealand

,pp . 1 50, 1 25. 2) Polack, II p. 53 ; Brown, New Zealand ,

p. 30. 3) Dalton, p. 58. 4) Colquhoun, p . 54. 5) Modigliani, Nias, p. 525. 6) NIeuwen

huis, Quer durch Borneo . I p. 66 ; II p. 96. 7) S ee above, p . 197, note 1 .


operations ; but sometimes slaves too , especially in naval wars

the slaves were then employed for rowing the boats

The forces sent out by Lu'

nda chiefs on marauding expe

ditions consist of freemen and slaves

Among the Angoni the domestic slaves jo in their masters inthe slave-raidsBerenger-Ferand tells us that among the Wo lofs the slaves

Of the king are so ldiers and form his body-guard ; they alsoco llect taxes for himAmong the Barea and Kunama the spo ils taken in war by

a native-born slave belong to his master Hence it appears

that these slaves are employed in warfare.

In the French Soudan the master pro vides his domesticslaves with arms and takes them with him to the battlefieldAmong the Soninkays and Malinkays Of French Guinea, one

class Of warriors is composed of the slaves o f the chiefs . At

the close o f a war they return to their agricultural pursuits ;but they are always ready to take arms againThese are the only instances we have no ticed , of purelyagricultural tribes among which slaves perform a military function. There may b e some more cases . Our informants d o

no t always enter into many details ; therefo re, when they are

silent on the subject, this does no t always prove that slavesare not allowed to fight. Y et , considering the smal l numbero f instances we have been able to co llect, we may safely conelude that among most agricultural tribes slaves d o not sharein military operations .

This is what we expected . Slaves are not allowed to fo llowthe noble military art

,which is the privilege o f freemen

A slave is not a warrior for the same reason that he is not ahunter. Moreover, it were too dangerous to trust him withweapons ; he might b e inclined to rise against his oppressors .

And finally, when slaves are procured by capture in war or

kidnapping , they would often have to fight against their own

1 ) B lumentritt, Conquista , p. 65. 2) Pogge, Muata Jamwo , p. 232 . 3) Kerr , II p.1 29.—4) Berenger-Féraud , p . 59.

- 5) Munzinger , Ostafr. Stud .,p. 484. 6) Mad rol le,

p:92. 7) Arcin , p. 275. 8) Among the ancient Germans the bearing of arms was a

Sign of freedom (Amira, p .


tribe, and would be very likely to go o ver to the enemies o f

their masters,It is further remarkable that the tribes we have enumerated

in this paragraph are all in the higher stages of agriculture,

as may b e seen from chapter I. ’We have not found . a singleinstance of hunting agriculturists employing their slaves inwarfare. There are even hunting agricultur ists o f the lo

‘

westtype, o f whom it is explicitly stated that they d o not allowthe ir slaves to fight. Martins tells us that several wild tribesof Brazil keep slaves . The slaves are differently treated by thed ifferent tribes ; but it is a general Characteristic of slavery ,that slaves are not allowed to bear arms And Azara statesthat in his time the Mbayas subsisted on hunting and fishing ,and on the produce of the soil that was tilled to a small extentby their slaves and by a neighbouring tribe , the Guanas. Heretoo , warfare was the business Of the freemen to the exclusionOf the slavesThis may , at first sight, seem strange. If it is true, as Powel l

asserts, (and it does not seem to us improbable) that slavery

Originated from the adoption of captives we should expect tofind an intermediate stage

,in which the captives , though al

ready enslaved instead o f adopted , still shared in militaryoperations

, the differentiation of the“regulative part Of society”from the“operative part” (to borrow Spencer’s words) no t yet

being complete. The existence o f slavery, mainly for militarypurposes

,among the hunting Ab ipones and some pastoral tribes ,

seems to indicate such a stage. But among agricultural tribes

we find no trace of it . S ome agricultural tribes (of whichthe Iroquo is are the classical instance) adopt their captives ;then there are many which keep slaves who are not allowedto fight ; and , finally

,in the higher stages of agriculture , we

find a few tribes among which slaves share in military Ope

rations.Y et the cause Oi this seeming incongruity is not difficult to

detect. Pastoral tribes are always stronger, from a mil itarypoint of view ,

than primitive agricultural tribes. In chapter

III we have seen that the former often keep their agricultural

1 ) Martins, p . 71 . 2) Azara, II pp . 109, 1 10. 3) Powell, On regimentation, p.CXII


those who had taught them to fight.“It is recorded b ij Au

gustus on the Monumentum Ancyranum that he gave backto their masters for punishment about slaves who hadabsconded and borne arms against the state . Under Tiberius ,at the death of Caligula

,and in the reign of Nero , there

'

were

threatening movements of the slaves. Nor did the dangerof servile insurrection disappear in the later stages of the

Empire . The armies Of the invading Goths were swelled bytheir countrymen who had been captured or bought by RomansThe slaves o f Gaul almo st en masse took part in the revo ltof the Bagaudae, and forty thousand slaves joined Alaric at

the siege Of Rome”The last passage shows that even in a state where the

power o f the government and the military art are highlydeveloped it is not safe to employ slaves in warfare . Theymay actually b e the ready to o ls o f the aristo cracy ; but inthe long run they will come to form a dangerous element in

the state. Y et,as it may b e momentarily convenient to an

ambitious statesman to employ them,it will sometimes b e done ;

whereas among hunting agriculturists the danger is so Obviousthat it is not even attempted .

As it is only among a few agricultural tribes , and these in thehigher stages , that slaves perform a military function , we cannotthink that this has been an important factor in the rise of

slavery ; and it has probably been nowhere the only motive for

making slaves .

Something a nalogous to the employment of slaves in warfare

is their holding high o f fices of state. This o ccurs in some d es

potically governed African countries . Go ldstein remarks that in

the Soudan states the numerous court and state Offi ces are

generally held by slaves . The king prefers them as public Officers

to royal princes,who might be inclined to rise against him

Among the Bayanzi , according to Torday and Joyce,“the great

chief usually has a confidential adviser, who , in all cases ob

served , was a slave ; such slaves have great influence, and

receive numerous presents from their masters ; they often

impersonate the chief before strangers, while their master keeps

1 ) I bid .,pp. 52

,53. 2) Goldstein, p . 362.


in the background”

In imperial Rome freedmenwere appo intedto high Offices

16. S laves kept as a luxury .

Sometimes we are told that it is considered an honour to

possess many slaves. We shall give a few instances.

Among the Lampongs the keeping of slaves is indicative o f

wealth and powerAmong the Tagals and Visayas , in the time of the conquista

,

a man’

s influence, power and reputation depended on the number

Of his slavesAmong the Ininga and Galloa it is the ambition o f a freeman

to have as many slaves as po ssible

Compiegne states that a Mpongwe asked him to give him a

portion of his wages in advance,in order to buy a slave.

“Hewill work for me and my wife

”

said the man,“and I shall b e

a person of rank”

Among the Bambala,“when a man buys a new slave

,he

ornaments him on the first day with his best clothes and

ornaments , and walks round the village with him to show him

to his friends”

We have only taken a few instances at random. It cannotb e interesting to the reader to know how Often the same facthas been noticed by ethnographers. For we may suppo se thatwherever slavery exists

,the po ssession o f a great number o f

slaves is a mark o f distinction . The posses sion o f slaves , likeother property , is indicative Of wealth ; and where slaves are

acquired by capture in war it shows the bravery of the captor.

Moreover, among agricultural tribes the labour o f the slavesaugments the revenue of their owner

,and so the keeping of

slaves is not only a sign but a source of wealth ; therefore theslave-owner is looked upon as one who has at his disposal ameans of acquiring wealth . Martins , speaking o f the wild tribesof Brazil , remarks that a chief who keeps many slaves can

1 ) Torday and Joyce,Congo Free State

,p . 139. 2) Ingram,

pp. 58, 59. 3) De

Groot, p. 455. 4) Blumentritt, Conquista, p . 53. 5) Lena, p. 59. 6) Compiegne,Okanda

,pp. 194, 1 95. 7) Tord ay and Joyce, Ba~Mbala , p. 41 1 .


take more land into cultivation than o ther people . He has

therefore always an abundant supply of food , which tends toincrease the esteem in which he is held

Where industry and art are little developed , slaves, besideswives and domestic animals

,are almost the only luxury that

is to b e had . The reader will remember Levchine’s statementabout a rich Kazak Kirghiz , whose numerous horses gave himno profit, b ut great renown In the lower stages of culturea rich man canno t build a palace

,or keep a motor-car

,or

buy pictures ; he can only show his wealth to the public bykeeping a large number Of men o r domestic animals continual ly running about him. Leroy-Beaulieu justly remarks :“Theluxury Of primitive times is very simple ; it consists mainlyin the grouping about the rich man (who most Often is at thesame time a man Of high birth) Of a large body of servantsmaintained by him

, and in practising hospitality on a largescale. Among patriarchal peoples there is almost perfect equalityo f material life betweenmen of different stations. Food , clothing ,furniture even , differs but little

”

But , though a rich man may display his wealth by keeping

a great number of slaves , we d o no t mean to say that among

any agricultural tribe all slaves are kept as a mere luxury . Thisseems improbable. Among pastoral tribes , as we have seen b e

fore,it sometimes o ccurs . The owner o f numerous herds may

support a large body o f slaves , who have scarcely anything tod o . But among agricultural tribes it is quite otherwise. Subsist

ence here is largely dependent on labour ; much labour is

required to provide for the slaves , and the master will notchoose to work for them himself. The slaves , therefore, mustperform at least as much productive labour as is required toprovide for their own wants ; and there is no reason why the

master should not make them work somewhat more, to receive

a surplus ; the more so , as he is thus enabled to display his

wealth in the other manner mentioned by Leroy-Beaulieu ,

viz . by practising hospitality on a large scale .

It is,of course

, perfectly possible,and indeed it often occurs,

1 ) Martins,p . 63. 2 ) S ee ab ove. p . 3) Leroy-Beaulieu, p.80. See also Malth us

(Bettany’s ed ition

,pp. 423, “In the feudal times, the landlord s could in no other

way spend their incomes than by maintaining a great number of id le followers.”


Y et many slaves are kept as a mere luxury, and consequentlyamong some tribes slaves are far more numerous than theywould be if all of them were engaged in productive pursuits.

17. Other secondary interna l causes.

We have seen that among the tribes of the Pacific Coast ofNorth America the growth of slavery is furthered by theirpreserving food for the time o f scarcity, whereas hunters wholive from hand to mouth have less use for slave labour.

Hunting agriculturists much resemble true hunters : subsist

ence depends largely on the vicissitudes Of the chase. But wherea tribe lives principally on the produce of the so il , it is ucceasary to preserve the reaped fruits until the fo llowing harvest.This leads to the same conclusion we had already arrived

at, that slavery is more likely to exist among agriculturi stsof the higher stages than among hunting agricul turists

We d o not think that anything more need be said on thissubject .

In our chapter on pastoral tribes we have found that sub

jection o f tribes as such sometimes serves as a substitute forslavery

,making slavery proper superfluous. The same proved

to be the case among agriculturists who depend on cattle fora large portion of their subsistence. Something analogous tothis is the levying of tributes on conquered districts that soOften occurs in Oceania, as we have found in 8. OutsideOceania we have found only one instance among agriculturists .

who do not depend on cattle, and even this is a doubtfulone. Morgan states that among the Iroquo is the council “regulated the affairs o f subjugated tribes

”but he does not

enter into more details, so we cannot exactly know what hemeans .It is easy to understand, why subjection o f tribes so seldom.

occurs among agriculturists . Hunting agriculturists , like true

1 ) Among hunting agriculturists we have found 34positive and 43 negative cases ; amongagriculturists of the higher stages 136 positive and 52 negative cases. 2) Morgan ,Anc. Soc., p . 136.


hunters, genera lly live in smal l groups and therefore cannot keepother tribes in a state of subjection. And among agriculturaltribes of the higher stages men as well as women are continua lly engaged in agricultural labour ; they are attached to thespo t on which they live and

,unlike nomad ic cattle-keepers

c anno t easily control a neighbouring tribe. The vanquishedtribe , by retreating a little , can place itself out o f reach o f thec onquering tribe. Only where , as on the small Po lynesianis lands

,escape is not practi cable, can a vanqu ished district be

kept in a state of subjection. The Iroquo is were an exceptionalcase. They were hunting agricultur ists in this sense

,that agri

cultural labour was performed by the women only ; but at

the same time they had a strong military organization : thefive nations formed a powerful union.

In the higher stages of culture the growth Of militarismenables strong agricultural peoples to subject their weakerneighbours ; and the growth Of population prevents the latterfrom receding. But among agricul tural savages subjugation of

tribes is rarely found .

18. Ex terna l causes , especia lly the s lave- trad e. R ecap itu la tion .

In the second and third chapters we have spoken of external causes . We have seen that for slavery to exist it is notsufficient that there should be some use for slave labour ; i tmust also b e possible to keep slaves ; the freemen Of the tribemust have a coercive power strong enough to keep the slavessubjected and prevent them from escaping . It has been shownthat this coercive power is most strongly developed , where menhave fixed habitations , li ve in large groups, and preserve food ;and further, that the slave-trade greatly facilitates the keepingOf slaves.As for the first three po ints , it is easy to see t hat agri cul

tural tribes Of the higher stages are more settled,live in larger

groups , and are more l ikely to preserve food than hunting

1 ) See Salvioli’s article on the struggles between pastoral and agricultural peoples .


agriculturists so here again we find a reason why slaveryis so much more frequent among the former than among thelatter.

The slave-trade is Of more interest to us here. It has beenshown that among the tribes of the Pacific Coast of NorthAmerica a brisk trade in slaves was carried on

,which must

have greatly accelerated the growth o f slavery ; for it madethe keeping of slaves much easier than it would have beenif each of these tribes had had to procure its slaves by capturein war. It has al so been remarked that among pastoral tribesslavery exists almost exclusively in those parts

,were a trade

in slaves with Civilized or semi-civilized peoples is or was carriedon, viz. in Arabia

,the Caucasus

,North-east and North—west

Africa ; whereas the pastoral tribes that live in outlying regions

(Siberia, South Africa) with the only exception Of the Ovaherero ,d o not keep slaves. We shall inquire now whether the same is

the case with agricultural tribes , whether among them too slaveryis of rare o ccurrence in those parts where the slave-trade hasnever been carried on.

In North America,at the time o f its discovery

,slavery did

not exist among any agricultural tribe. Negro slavery, practised by a few Of them in later times , was derived from the

whites.

In South America we have found only a few slave-keepingagricultural tribes ; and the slave-trade formerly carried on bythe whites may go far to explain the existence of slavery inthese few cases.

“The Brazilian native” says Martins “some

times sells his children to people of white races, much Oftener

than to tho se of his own colour.

”The principal object o f war

fare among the natives,in Martius’ time

,was to capture slaves

,

whom they sold either to other tribes or to co lonists o f Por

tuguese extraction. The custom of selling prisoners to white

co lonists has strongly influenced the native character. It was

already practised very shortly after the discovery of America.

Many Indians were transported to Spain and Portugal . The

Mamelucos , living in San Paolo , made long and sangu inary wars

upon the Indians. They are said during 130 years to have killed

1 ) See above,p. 295, and Grosse, p . 134.


that there are no slaves , Humbo ldt Bay and Hattam,have

never been visited by hongi fleets Accordingly, Ottow and

Geissler remark that the mounta in tribes d o not keep slaves,

but kill all their prisoners, for fear they might escape . The

coast tribes, however, being able to procure slaves from a great

distance, who are less likely to escape,practise slavery

In the Malay Ar chipelago Mohammedanism already prevailed

to a great extent before the conquista, and had even advanced

as far as the Philippines Wherever slavery exists in the

Archipelago , we are not certain that we have to deal with a

phenomenon o f unadulterated savage life. The influence of

semi-civilized Mohammedans spreads over nearly the who le of

the ArchipelagoIn India the slave-trade with semi-civilized countries Is

,o r

was, also carried on by the natives. Cooper states that theMeshmees sel l slaves to Tibet According to Co lquhoun the

Karen-nee sell many slaves to the Shans of Zimme and theseagain to the S iamese And Rousselet tells us that among theKafirs “slavery exists within certain limits

, but this criminalcommerce would cease altogether if there were not such a readysale for slaves at Djalalabad , Kounar, Asmar and Tchitral

”

From the Caucasus , as we have already seen, slaves are

exported to Turkey on a large scaleAfrica is the classical country o f the slave-trade. Egypt and

Ethiopia furnished a certain number of slaves to ancientGreece , and at Rome there was a regular importation of slaves,some o f whom were brought. from Africa Herodotus speaksOf slaves sent to ancient Egypt as tribute from EthiopiaThat in later times the African slave-trade, carried on by

Arabs in East Africa and by Europeans inWest Africa , assumed

enormous proportions , need scarcely b e said . In the later half

o f the 19th century the Mohammedan East still received a largesupply of slaves from Africa. Ingram remarks :“The principalcentres from which in recent times the supply has been fur

nished to Egypt,Morocco , Turkey , Arabia, and Persia, are

three in number. 1 . The Soudan, south of the Great Sahara,

1 ) I bid .,pp. 277, 242. 2 ) Ottow and Geissler. pp. 152 , 153. 3) See Blumentritt,

Conquista. 4) Cooper, p. 183. 5) Colquhoun , p . 70. 6) Rousselet, p . 223. 7)See ab ove

,p. 287. 8) Ingram,

pp . 19, 38. 9) Ib id ., p. 268.


appears to b e one vast hunting-ground . Captives are broughtthence to the slave-market of Kuka in Bornn Negroes are

also brought to Moro cco from the Western Soudan, and fromTimbuktu 2. The basin o f the Nile, extending to the greatlakes, is another region infested by the slave trade 3. There

has long been a slave-trade from the East African coast. The

stream of supply came mainly from the southern Nyassa

districts by three or four routes to Ibo , Mo zambique , Angoche ,and Kilimane. Madagascar and the Comoro Islands obtained

most of their slaves from the Mo zambique coast . There

are o ther minor branches of the trade elsewhere in Africa .

Thus from Harar in Somaliland caravans are sent to Berberah

on the coast, where there is a great annual fair . The slaves

are collected from the inland Galla countries , from Gnraigwe ,

and from Abyssinia, the AbyssmIans being the most highly

esteemed”

We see that in most parts of the world inhabited by slavekeeping agricultural savages , slaves are

,or were, purchased or

captured by civilized or semi-civilized peoples ; whereas in those

parts where the slave- trade has always been unknown,slavery

has never prevailed to any considerable extent .

We shall try to account for this fact. But we must firstreply to a question which the reader may perhaps have asked ,viz . why we have not at the beginning of this second Partdiscussed the question as to whether slavery is ever a phenomenon o f genuine savage life , or has always been due to

intercourse with higher races . We have not done so , becauseit seems to us that this question is one of secondary interest.When we see that among a savage tribe slavery is an institntionplaying a great part in native life and slave labour is o fmuchuse , we must come to the conclusion that slavery is perfectlyconsistent with the economic and social state in which thistribe lives , whether intercourse with superior races gave ri seto it or it already existed before any such interco urse hadtaken place. And the conclusions we have arrived at in thisand the forego ing chapters , as to the various circumstances

1 ) Ib id ., 224, 225 , 230—233. On the African slave-trade,see also Ratzel , Anthropogeo ~

graphie II pp. 386, 387.


which further or prevent slavery, remain the same in bothcases. Moreover, there are some savage tribes which at the

time o f their discovery kept slaves without , so far as we know,

having had any intercourse with superior races : the New

Zealanders and the fishing tribes of Kamchatka and the NorthPacific Coast of North America.

Y et, as we have already said , those parts Of the world wherewe have found most Of our positive cases are exactly thosewhere the slave-trade has been carried on by civilized and

semi-civilized peoples . Going on to account for this fact, we

may remark first that it need not have been the slave-tradeonly that furthered the growth o f slavery. The general intercourse with superior races may go far to account for the riseo f slavery, irrespectively o f the slave-trade. We have seen

that commercial t ribes are more likely to keep slaves thanothers ; and a savage tribe can engage in commerce withsuperior peoples , who b uy large quantities o f native produceand introduce foreign manufactures , to a far greater extentthan with neighbouring savages who have not much to ex

change , as their own and their neighbours’ mode of life and

industrial development are nearly the same. A remarkable instance Of the influence o f commercial intercourse with Europeanson the slave system o f a savage race is afforded by Po lack’sdescription o f the Maori . Formerly , he says

,

“for a chief toenter his new abo de [in the world o f spirits] , without beingushered by a number of slaves and wives [who were sacrificed] ,was accounted the greatest indecorum that could possiblyexist

,but from the - scarcity o f slaves during late years [Po lack

wrote in or rather from‘

the profits accruing from their

employment in rearing pigs,and planting provisions , cutting

timber, and cleaning flax for their numerous European visitors

(their services being at a premium) , these butcheries .

have ceased” Something similar to this may Often have

taken place.

Probably, however, the slave-trade has also had consider

able influence. The mere fact that foreigners purchase or

capture slaves from savage tribes cannot , Of course, account

1 ) Polack , I pp. 78, 79.


the want of slaves , must b e strong if it is to break through

the established custom. The vis inertiae plays a great part inthe history Of mankind.

Returning to the slave-trade, we may remark that this entirely overturns the existing state of things. It enables the tribeto procure slaves who are not captives

,and regarding whom

therefore no custom has been established . Moreover, the tribe

becomes acquainted with the institution of slavery,which it

had not seen practised before. Now there is no longer any

reason why the members of such a tribe should not purchasethe slaves Offered to them and set them to work . An externalcause has sufficed

(

to disturb the former equilibrium .

We have remarked before that the slave-trade facilitates thekeeping of slaves , because purchased slaves are less likely toescape than captives Here to o we have to deal with thevis inertiae rather than with an impossibility in the strict senseOf keeping slaves. It will not , probably , often b e the case thatagricultural savages would be quite unable to retain their slaves,if they were really very anxious to keep them ; but it may oftenoccur that they are not yet fully aware of the use o f

slaves,and therefore d o not want to take the pains Of super

vising them,though , if slavery were thoroughly established

,it

would prove very profitable ; in such case the Objective wantexists , but the subjective want is not yet felt. In this case, too ,the slave-trade , by rendering escape Of the slaves more d iffi

cult, will tend to establish the custom of keeping slaves .

Our conclusion is that slavery existed among some savageswho had never had any intercourse with superior races, butthat this intercourse, especial ly where the slave-trade was

carried on, has often greatly furthered the growth Of slavery.

In our Chapter on pastoral tribes we have remarked that a

tribe living in the vicinity of inferior races is more likely to

keep slaves than one surrounded by tribes of the same or a

higher level of culture. Enslavement of lower races also tre

1 ) In ancient Wales“the price of a slave was one pound , but of one b rought across

the sea,a pound and a half. The slave who was brought from a d istance was much less

likely to escape,or even to attempt it

,and was therefore a more valuable property ; this

principle still holds good among slave' owners.” Cunningham, English Industry , I p . 1 17note 6.

the higher races (e. g. Malays in the restr icted sense, inhab i

tants Of North Afri ca , etc .) are to b e called barbarians ratherthan savages and have therefore been excluded from the sur

vey of slavery given in our first Part.

Briefly recapitulating the conclusions we have arrived at

with regard to agricultural tribes , we have to remark that thegeneral character of their economic and social life is favonrab le

to the existence o f slavery : subsistence is easy to procure , andindependent Of capital , except where cattle are kept .

This applies especially to true agriculturists (agriculturists o fthe higher stages) as opposed to hunting agriculturists . The

latter bear much resemblance to true hunters , who hardly everkeep slaves , accordingly slavery is not so frequent among themas among true agriculturists .

Our general rule , however , requires an Important qualification. Where all land has been appropriated , a class of freelabourers commonly exists, and slaves are no t wanted .

We have not entered into a thorough investigation of the

influence o f secondary or additional causes . A clo ser study o f

this matter will perhaps yield important results.What we havefound with regard to these secondary causes is the fo llowing.

Slaves Often perform female labour ; on the other hand femalelabour sometimes serves as a substitute for slave labour .

Commercial agricultural tribes are far more likely to keepslaves than agricultural tribes among which commerce ho lds avery subordinate place.

Slaves are sometimes kept for military purposes,or as a

mere luxury . These two circumstances,however, though they

often lead to the keeping o f a larger number of slaves thanwould otherwise b e required , have no t probably ever givenrise to slavery.

Subjection of tribes as such,which among some pastoral

tribes serves as a substitute for slavery,hardly ever occurs

among agricul tura l tribes, except in Oceania,where slavery is

already absent for the general cause mentioned above,the non

existence of free land .

Some external causes we had found before : fixed habitations,


l iving in large groups , preserving Of food and the neighbourho od Of inferior races , call for no special notice here.

Intercourse with superior races,especially where these carry

on the slave-trade , proves to b e a factor greatly furtheringthe growth Of slavery.

We shall no t give here a list of the causes found up to the

present . We think it more convenient to place such a list atthe end of our general survey .

418 CONCLUSION.

or purchase of aliens , nor enslavement o f members o f the tribeis practicable , or where the slaves can very easily escape, slavescannot b e kept, though there might b e much use for themThe principal internal cause which prevents the rise o f

slavery, or where slavery exists , tends to make it disappear ,is the dependence o f subsistence upon Closed resources. Themost important result of our investigation seems to us the

division, not only of all savage tribes,but of all peoples o f

the earth , into peoples with Open ,and with c losed resources .Among

the former labour is the principal factor Of production, and a

man who does not possess anything but his own strength and

skill , is able to pro vide for himself independently o f any capi

talist or landlord . There may b e capital which enhances theproductiveness o f labour

,and particularly fertile or favourably

situated grounds the ownership o f which gives great ad van

tage ; but a man can d o without these advantages .Among peopleswith closed resources it is o therwise . Here subsistence is

dependent upon material resources of which there is only a

limited supply, and which accordingly have all been appro

priated . These resources can consist in capital , the supplyo f which is always limited ; then those who own no capitalare dependent on the capitalists . They can also consist in land .

Such is the case when all land has been appropriated ; thenpeople destitute o f land are dependent on the landowners .

Where subsistence depends on clo sed resources , slaves mayo ccasIOnally b e kept, b ut slavery as an industrial system is no t

likely to exist . There are generally po or people who volun

tarily Offer themselves as labourers ; therefore slavery, i. e. a

system o f compulsory labour,is not wanted . And even where

there are no poor men,because all share in the closed resources ,

the use o f slaves cannot b e great. Where there are prao

tically unlimited resources , a man can, by increasing the num

b er of his slaves , increase his income to any extent ; but a

man who owns a limited capital , or a limited quantity o f land ,can only employ a limited number o f labourers . Moreover, as

soon as in a country with clo sed resources slaves are kept , theyform a Class destitute of capital , or land , as the case may be ;

1 ) Our“external causes” correspond

.

with what has sometimes b een called coadiciones,

as opposed to causae proper.

CONCLUSION . 419

therefore , even when they are set free, they will remain inthe service o f the rich , as they are unable to provide for themselves The rich have no interest to keep the labourers in a

slave-like state . It may even b e their interest to set them free ,either in order to deprive them of such rights over the landas they may have acquired in the course of time , or to bringabout a determination of the wages o f labour by the law o f

supply and demand , instead of by custom . They will thus,

without any compulsion except that exercized by the automaticworking o f the social system, secure a larger share in the produce o f labour than they got before by compulsion.

Among peoples with open resources everybody is able to

pro vide for himself ; therefore free labourers d o no t o ffer themselves, at least no t fo r employment in the common d rudgery ,the rudest and most despised work . There may b e, and indeedthere often are

,skilled labourers whose work is highly valued

and well paid ; such people think it more profitable to earn

their livelihood by means o f their peculiar talents , than in thecommon way. A striking instance o f this is the priest , whomwe may call a skilled labourer performing non-economic labour ; his renumeration , both in material goods and in influ

ence and consideration,is greater than the income o f a common

agriculturist. But there are no labourers in the modern sense

Of proletarians , destitute Of everything and obliged to seek em

ployment in whatever work they can find . If therefore a man

wants o thers to perform the necessary d rudgery'

for him , and

cannot impose it upon his wife , or wives , or o ther female d e

pendents (either because women ho ld a high position,or b e

cause there is more mean work to b e done than the womencan possibly manage) , he must compel other men to serve him ;and this compulsion will Often assume the form o f slavery.

In the first Part we have said that a slave is a man who is

the property o f another. We can now see the practical meaningOf this definition . In slave countries labourers are held as pro

perty, and valued as such . If an employer lo ses a lab ourer , hisincome is lessened by it ; if his labourer runs away, he eagerlytries to recover him. In countries with closed resources it is

1 ) Viz. if they have no Opportunity to emigrate to countries with Open resources.

420 CONCLUSION.

quite the reverse The labourers are not held as property,because they are no t valued . If a labourer leaves his service

,

the employer knows that there are many o thers ready to takehis place. Here it is not the employer who prevents his labourersfrom escaping, but the employed who try

'

to prevent the em

ployer from dismissing his workmen. We are,of course

,aware

that labour is always an indispensable factor Of production ;yet in many countries, e. g. in modern Western Europe, anemployer does not care to keep a particular labourer in hisservice We must, however, bear in mind that this rule

,in

its strictest sense,applies only to unskilled labour. Qualified

labourers are Often highly valued and able to secure greatadvantage , because their number is limited . It is thereforethat the helpless state Of people destitute o f material re

sources appears more clearly in agricultural than in manufacturing countries .This difference between countries with Open and with closed

resources goes far to explain why slavery (and serfdom,which

is also a form Of compulsory labour) has gradually disappeared in civilized Europe , whereas in thinly peopled countriesit maintained itself much longer, and even now is sometimesintroduced under some disguise (

“labour trade”,convict labour

and Similar expedients used in the tropics) . InWestern Europeunskilled labourers can always be had without compulsion ,

whereas the qualities required in skilled labourers cannotdevelop under a compulsory re

’

gime.

Always and everywhere have men been inclined to burdentheir fellow-men with heavy and disagreeable work rather than

1 ) Viz. generally speaking. Peculiar circumstances (e. y . a rapid d evelopment of industry) may b ring ab out a temporary scarcity o f lab our. But the growth of populationin most cases will soon bring this state of things to an end . 2 ) We have repeated lyremarked that the condition of countries with Open resources is quite d ifferent : landis abundant, but the supply Of labour is limited ; therefore the ruling classes attach

little value to land as such, but their chief aim is to people the land with men who

enter into their service. A good instance is given by Junod in his account of the Baronga(near Delagoa Bay) :

“According to their laws , the soil b elongs exclusively to the

chief. But practically it b elongs to every one. Nobody buys land . It is given gratuitorislyto whosoever wants to settle in the country. By simply declaring himself a subjectof the chief

,a native may acquire as much land as he wants for his sub sistence.

”

(Junod , pp . 186,

422 CONCLUSION.

property, labour is at a discount. We may even say, though

it sounds strange , that generally labour is much more at a

disadvantage in countries where slavery does not exist,than

in slave countries . In slave countries labourers are naturallyindependent ; therefore he who wants to make another workfor him,

must enslave him and resort to all possible means o fretaining him in his service. Hence the strange compound o f

severity and indulgence that has so Often been observed among

slave-owners. In countries with Closed resources the landlordor capitalist has ,

a natural advantage o ver his labourers ; heneed neither use s everity nor indulgence to maintain his

position.

The condition Of the working classes in modern Europein many respects certainly is not better than that of the slavesin countries of lower civilization. We canno t deny the truth

o f the remark made by the intelligent chief of the Fulbe , whomHecqnard met on his travels in West Africa .

“We often” saysHecqnard

“talked about our mode o f government and the re

lation of the different classes in European society. He didnot attach any value to the legal equality o f the citizens and

asked me how my countrymen go t on without s laves . His

conclusion was that with us the domestics and the poorClasses in general were the slaves o f the rich , because the lattercould , by refusing to give them work , reduce them to starvationin a country, where nothing is given gratuitously”

We have seen that slavery canno t exist to any considerable

extent among peoples with closed resources . But even amongpeoples with Open resources it is not always found . Slaves

perform the drudgery for their masters ; therefore they are

no t wanted where little drudgery has to b e done , or in o therterms

,slavery is no t likely to exist where subsistence is d if

ficu lt to acquire. Where men subsist by highly Skilled labour,there can be little use fo r slaves ; for the slaves cannot be

made to perform such labour ; and the little unskilled labour

that is wanted is not profitable enough to admit o f the keepingo f s laves

,who would have to be fed by the produce o f their

1 ) Hecqnard , p. 313.

CONCLUSION . 423

masters’ work. This is the principal reason why Slavery hardly

ever oc curs among hunters , and one of the reasons why the

Eskimo s d o no t keep slaves.

We find thus that , generally speaking , the keeping o f slaves

is ec onomically profitable to peoples with open resources among

which subsistence is easily acquired , and to such peoples only.

But there are several second ary causes , internal and external ,which bring about that slaves are sometimes kept by peoples

with closed resources, or by peoples among which subsistence

is diffi cult to procure , and that on the other hand slavery is

sometimes absent where resources are open and subsistence is

easy to acquire .

Among the secondary interna l causes we have noted in the

first place the cond ition of women . There is no use for slaves,where all disagreeable work can b e , and is performed by theweaker sex ; Australian and Melanesian women supply the

place o f Slaves . On the o ther hand,where the women ho ld a

high position , and the men are desirous o f relieving them of

a part Of their task , Slavery is likely to arise sooner than

otherwise would b e the case.

Commerce p robab ly exists among all savages. Even the Au

stralian tribes mutually exchange rare kinds o f earth for

painting their bodies,and similar objects. But commerce has

only a social importance , where the articles exchanged are

manufactured goods in the widest sense , including e. g. fish

and agricultural products , in a word all articles the productiono f which requires a considerable amount Of labour. Then the

freemen who devote themselves to commercial pursuits wantothers to perform the common labour for every-day subsistence ;moreover the preparing of the articles o f trade requires more

labour than would o therwise be wanted . And last,but no t least ,

commerce leads to the development of wealth and luxury ;slave labour is now wanted to provide the owner not onlywith the necessaries

,but with the comforts o f life. Commercia l

tribes in thewidest sense,including 1 ° tribeswhich exchangena

tive produce for foreign manufactures,2° tribes which themselves

produce and export manufactured goods in the common , restricted .

sense, 3°

tribes which carry on a transit-trade,

are therefore far more likely to keep slaves than selfsufiicing tribes .

424 CONCLUSION.

We have seen that subjection Of women is sometimes a sutstitnte for Slavery . Another substitute is subjection of trib

’

es

as such. This subj ection o ccurs only, so far as savages /areconcerned , where peculiar circumstances render it possible :among pastoral tribes , which subject their neighbours to whomthey are superior in military qualities , and in Oceania

,where

the limited area prevents the conquered from receding.Wherea tribe subjected as such pays a tribute to the conquerOrs

f

and performs services for them,there is not so much need

for enslavement of individuals belonging to the vanquished tribe .

People who l ive from hand to month have less use for

slaves than t hose who preserve food for the time of scarcity.

The preparing o f this food may require much labour whichis very fit to b e performed by slaves . We have seen thatsuch is especially the case on the North Pacific Coast OfNorthAmerica .

Slaves are sometimes kept for non-economic p urposes .

Warfare plays a great part in savage life,and we have

found that the requirements of warfare sometimes prevent,but

in other cases further the rise o f Slavery . Many savage tribesincrease their population by introduction o f foreign elements .This may be d one for two reasons : men are wanted either forlabourers or for warriors In the former case the introd uction o f aliens leads to slavery in its most general form of

extratribal slavery. When warrio rs are wanted,Slavery is no t

the most appropriate form ; adoption o f foreigners , such as wasfor instance practised by the Iroquo is, answers the purposebetter , because a man who enjoys the common privileges of a

member o f the tribe is more reliable in war than a slave . III

such case militarism may prevent the rise o f slavery , because all

available men are wanted in war and have therefore to be placedon a level with the tribesmen . But where superior militaryqualities o f a tribe render the employment Of Slaves in war

fare (most o ften in the lower ranks o f the army) possible,slaves are sometimes kept mainly for military purpo ses, espe

1 ) There is another reason : foreign wOmen are sometimes procured for wives. But wemay leave this case out Of consideration as b eing foreign to our subject.

426 CONCLUSION.

inferior races, the influence o f which , as we have seen,clearly

appears among pastoral tribes. It is easier for Hamitic and

Semitic nations to keep Negroes in’

a state o f subjection thanpeople o f their own race.

Genera l recap itula tion .

Furthering the

growth o f slavery .

I . Internal causes .A . General ‘1 . Open resources and

subsistence easy to

acquire .

B. Secondary, d . A high position o f

economic women.

2 . Commerce.

3. Preserving o f food .

C. Secondary , 1 . Militarism (wherenon-economic : slaves are employed

in warfare) .2 . Slaves kept as a

luxury .

II. External causes : 1 . Fixed habitations .

2 . Living in largegroups .

3. Preserving of food .

4. The slave- trade .

5. The neighbourho odo f inferior races.

Hindering thegrowth of slavery.

Preserving o f food and militarism o ccur twice, because theywork in different directions.We have arranged the separate causes within each group

1 . Closed resources.

2.Subsistence d ifficult to acquire.

1 . Female labourserving as a sub

stitute for slavelabour .

2 . Subjection of

tribes as such.

1 . Militarism (es

pecially whereforeigners are

adopted) .

CONCLUSION. 427

in the order in which we have found them. If we had ar

ranged them according to their relative importance , they wouldhave been enumerated in another order. Thus among the ex

ternal causes the slave-trade comes las t , though its influence is

greater than that o f the o ther external causes

2 . Outlines Of a fur ther inves tiga tion of the ear ly

his tory of s lavery .

We have viewed Slavery as an industrial system, and in

quired under what economic and social conditions this system

can exist. This investigation we bel ieve has led to valuableconclusions. But Slavery (even if we confine ourselves to

s lavery among savages) may b e viewed under many more

aspects. We have not made any further study o f the subj ect ;but having col lected many ethnographical materials , we havebecome acquainted with a great number Of d etails which may

afford subjects o f further investigation . We Shall give here an

enumeration of various po ints connected with slavery, thoughwe d o not claim that it is in any way complete : it wouldprobably appear on closer scrutiny that many add itions couldb e mad e to it . we shall mention the various po ints in shortsentences , often in the form of inquiries .

1 ) Dr. Vierkand t, reviewing the first edition of this work , remarks that there is no

internal connect ion between the results of the Investigation and the d istinction of econo

mic groups, as the existence or non-existence of slavery appears to d epend not onlyo n the economic state o f society

,but on many causes which have little to d o with this state.

Though we fully admit this las t,we think our d ivision of the savage tribes into

economic groups is justified by the results o f our investigat ion. Th e d ivision has led

us to the following conclusions. Hunters and fishers,and equal ly the lowest agricultural

group , as Dr. Vierkand t himself observes , generally d o not keep slaves. The state of

pastoral nomadism is also unfavourable to the growth of slavery. On the other hand,

agriculturists of the higher stages are very likely to keep slaves .

Having arrived at these preliminary results, we have inquired wh ich causes engend erthis connection b etween slavery and the economic state of soc iety . We have also askedfor the causes of the exceptions to the rules above mentioned . So we have come to an

understand ing of the internal connection b etween s lavery and the other factors of social

l ife. We cannot think our final results would have b een Ob tained as well in any other way .

428 CONCLUSION.

I . T h e d i f f e r e n t w a y s i n w h i c h p e o p l eb e c o m e s l a v e s.

There are

1° Slaves by birth2° Free-born people who become slaves .

In connection with the former point it may be inquiredwhat is in each case the status o f children born of two slaves

,

o f a male slave and a free woman , o f a female slave and

a free man,and especially Of a female slave and her master.

This inquiry will enable us to find,whether and to what

extent slaves are merged in the general population.1 )

The manners in which free-born people become slaves mayb e distinguished according as

“

slaves are acquired from withouto r within the l imits o f the tribe. This reminds us o f the

d istinction we have made between extratribal and intratribalSlavery . We may inquire then f which o f these two forms o f

slavery appears first. If we should find that extratribal iso lder than intratribal slavery (which does no t seem unlikely) ,we might examine the economic and social conditions underwhich intratribal slavery can exist.

Extratribal slaves become such by1°

Capture in war or kidnapping. Here a Wlde field of

research opens itself. Captives , when they are no t enslaved ,are killed (eaten, sacrificed) , or exchanged after peace has.

been concluded,or ransomed by their countrymen ,

or adoptedinto the tribe o f the captors . It may b e inquired whether anyo f these modes

“

Of treatment can‘

have gradually led to en

slavement o f the captives (e. g. captives are first adopted , andgradually differentiated from the born members o f the tribe :or they are first eaten, then preserved to be eaten later on

and in the meantime set to work,and finally employed as slaves

and no longer eaten) Several o f these modes of treatment

1 ) In the Shortland Island s (Solomon group ) many of the common people are children

of slave parents. R ibbe,p . 138.

2 ) Am ong the Tlinkits,in Holmberg

’s time, it was the custom to sacrifice slaves at

some great teasts ; but the master often gave a good slave the opportunity of hiding

430 CONCLUSION.

does not keep the debtor as a s lave , but recovers his moneyby selling him abroad2° As a punishment , either directly , or when

l

the wergildis not paid . This subject might b e treated in connection withProfessor Steinmetz’s investigations of early penal law. CriminalsOften become slaves o f the chief or king ; e study of this matterwould lead to an inquiry into po litical institutions at large.

3° By marrying a male or female slave. Here we mayinquire where and to what extent connubium between free

people and slaves exists.

4° By o ffering themselves as slaves , or selling themselves .In the former case it has always carefully to b e inquiredwhether such persons become Slaves or vo luntary servants ; thelatter is quite possible , and the terminology Of our informantsnot always reliable , as we have seen when speaking of Oceania.

When they real ly become slaves , there are probably open

resources . It is then worth inquiring what can b e the reasonwhy

,while resources are open and SO everybody is ab le to

pro vide for himself,there are people who throw themselves

upon the mercy o f men o f power.

5° Final ly,orphans and o ther helpless persons are sometimes

enslaved .

II . Th e d i f f e r e n t w a y s i n w h i c h p e o p l e

c e a s e t o b e s l a v e s

1 ° Redemption. Here the question presents itself, where

slaves , or certain categories o f slaves have a right to be

redeemed .2 )

2° Emancipation. Where, and under what so cial conditions

does this custom prevail , and where is it of frequent o ccur

rence ? What are the motives that induce the master to set

his slave free ? Emancipation as a substitute for sacrifice

1 ) Post, 1. c . 2) Among the Chingpaws of Upper Burma slaves can always b eliberated b y their parents by means of a payment (Wehrli

,p . 3) Among the

Tlinkits at the feast held in commemoration of the deceased , the man who gave thefeast used to part with some o f his slaves, whether by sacrificing or emancipating themwas left to the d ecision of the priest. Erman, p. 382.

CONCLUSION . 431

3° Adoption. Connected with this is the fact, that in some

countries slaves sometimes succeed to their masters’ goods

Here we may ask whether or not such adoption and right of

inheritance are only found in early stages and have to b e

regarded as survivals of adoption o f aliens.

4° Marriage of a slave with a free person ,especially o f a

female slave with her master.

5° Dedication to a god . Slaves can sometimes become free

by devoting themselves to some deity Further details ;

power of the priesthood ; compare the influence o f the Church

in the Middle Ages .

In whatever way slaves become free,the position o f the

liber ti deserves a separate consideration. Are they on a levelwith free-born men, or d o they form a separate class ? DO

their descendants gradual ly become merged in the general

population ?

III . T r e a tm e n t o f s l a v e s b y t h e i r m a s t e r s .

1 ° Is the genera l treatment stated to b e good or bad ?

Where the former and where the latter ?2° Slaves are o ften stated to b e looked upon and treated

as members o f the master’

s family . What does this mean ?

Where does it occur ?3° Difference between freemen and slaves in fo od , clo thing ,

etc . Slaves forbidden to wear the same dress and ornaments

as freemen

1 ) Among the Bayaka “if the d eceased leaves no heir , his wives and good s pass intothe possession of one o f his slaves

,who thus b ecomes a free man.

” Tord ay and Joyce,Ba-Yaka, p . 44. 2 ) Among the Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coas t“accord ingto cus tom,

any slave who takes refuge in a temple and d ed icates himself to the service

of the god , cannot be reclaimed by his owner ; but as by paying a fee to the priest theowner can close the d oors of all the temples in the neighb ourhood to his fugitive slaves

,

this provision of an asylum for an ill-treated slave is more apparent than real”.

Ell is,Ewe-speaking peoples

,p . 220. 3) Among the Chinooks

,the flattening of the

head,

“appears to b e a sort of mark of royalty or b ad ge of aristoc racy

,for their slaves

are not permitted to treat their chi ldren thus”. (Swan, The Northwest Coast, p .

Among the Malays of Menangkabao slaves were not al lowed to d ress in the same

manner as free people or live in houses like those of the free or wear gold or silver

ornaments or silks . (Willinck , p.

432 CONCLUSION.

IV. L e g a l s t a t u s o f s l a v e s

1 ° Is the master’s“power o ver his slave unlimited ? Very

Often it is not. Connection with the development o f the powero f government.2° Rights of the slaves with regard to marriage and family.

Connubiurn with freemen : see above. Are slave-marriageslegally acknowledged , or do they entirely depend on the

master’

s pleasure ? DO the masters apply any principles o f

selection in mating the slaves ? When the parents are slavesbelonging to different masters , to which master d o the childrenbelong ? Has the master full rights o ver his female Slaves ina sexual respect ?3° Right o f property. Are the rights of Slaves to their

earnings (pecu lium) recognized ? When the slave dies,who

succeeds to the pecu lium ?

4° Have contracts made by slaves legal force ?5 0 Punishment of slaves by their masters6° Protection of slaves by penal law. When a Slave has

been killed,is a wergild paid as for a freeman, or is only the

price of the slave restored to the master ? Similarly withregard to lesser injuries. Are those who commit any o ffence

against the slave punished by the government ? If so , is any

exception made for the master ? Is the master responsible for

any damages caused by his slave ?7° Sometimes the master may no t sel l the slave without

his consent.8° It may also b e that the slave, if il l-treated by his master,

has a right to b e so ld. In some cases the slave can change

his master by causing some Slight damage to the new master

o r his goods . This formality has probably originated from the

delivering up of the slave to the injured person for some

real damage9° Has the Slave any public rights , does he share in govern

ment matters ?

1 ) See also Post, Bthu . Jun , I pp . 370 sqq. 2) See Steinmetz , Strafe, II pp. 306315. 3) See Post, Bthu. Jur.

,I . p . 377.

434 CONCLUSION .

4° If some kind of work is performed by slaves only , whatis its character ? (Drudgery as oppo sed to no ble wo rk )5° Is the work for which slaves are employed despised6° Amount o f work . Are the Slaves o ver-wo rked ? Are they

supervised ? Are they kept at work by any compulsory‘means

(flogging,7° Do the slaves live in their master’s house ?

VIII. S e r fd o m.

Does it ever exist among savages ? Are there instances of

the coexistence o f slavery and serfdom ? In what manner d opeople become serfs ?

IX . N um b e r o f s l a v e s .

1 ° What is,in each case, the number of the slaves , and

their proportion to the general population ?2° What is , in each case, the numerical proportion o f the

sexes among the slaves ?3° DO the Slaves form a separate class of people ?4° Are the slaves an integral part o f the wealth o f their

owners ?

5° In some cases only certain classes (e. g. the nobility) are

entitled to keep slaves 2)

X . H a p p i n e s s o r u nh a p p i n e s s o f s l ave s .

Is it considered a great evil for one’

s self or one’

s friends

to fall into Slavery ? 3) Instances of suicide to escape from

1 ) In Dahomey “agriculture is d espised. because slaves are employed in it.” Burton ,

II p . 248. 2 ) Among the Battas of Mandheling and Pertib ie only the nob les are allowed

to keep slaves . The higher nob les may keep as many slaves as they like, the lower onlytwo or three (Willer, p. 3) Among the Ewe it occurs that a slave is emancipatedby his master.

“But,generally speaking

,slaves d o not care to be free, for they are treated

as members of the family and are so contented that they d o not long for a change intheir cond ition.

” Herold,p. 170. The slaves

,formerly kept by the Koniagas, evid ently

thought otherwise of their servile state : for on the arrival of the Russians , many slaves

took refuge to them (Holmberg I p.

CONCLUSION . 435

slavery In many cases it is not slavery as such , but sale todistant regions that is felt as a great calamity. We may men

tion here the curious phenomenon of people captured and

enslaved by the enemy or so ld abroad , being on their returndespised or even repelled by their former countrymen

XI. C o n s e q u e n c e s o f s l a v e r y.

1 ° Influence of slavery on the social organization o f the

tribe. A slave-owner, having labour forces at his commandand being supported by a body of fo llowers , is more likelyto atta in wealth and consideration than the other freemen .

And as in those countries , where the slave trade is developed ,the keeping of slaves may soon b ecome a privilege o f the richslavery furthers the divergence of the rich and the poor, of

the nobles and the common people.

2° Connected with this is the influence of slavery on the

development o f the military principle. The ruling classes ,having learned to command their slaves

,are more capable

of command ing the people.

3° Influence of slavery on the laws and customs regulatingmarriage, and on sexual morality at large. Female slaves serving as concubines .

4° Influence of slavery on the condition o f free women.Whenthere are many domestic slaves

,free women are no longer

o vertaxed with work .

1 ) The Athka Aleuts sometimes preferred suicide to captivity in war or slavery(Petrofi

'

, p. 2)“In the d istrict of Al las [in Sumatra] a custom prevail s, by which ,

if a man has been sold to the hill people,however unfairly

, he is restr icted on h is return

from associating with hi s countrymen as their equal, unless he brings with him a sum

of money, and pays a fine for h is re-enfranchisement to his kalippah or chief. This re

gu lation has taken its rise from an idea of contamination among the people, and fromart and avarice among the chiefs.” Marsden

,p . 255. Similarly, among theMaori, accord ing

to Polack (II p .

“chiefs who have tasted Of slavery are often taunted by their friends,

by whom they may have been ransomed , as having been slaves.

” Brown (New Zealand , p.62) remarks : “They attach great importance to the circumstance of never having beentaken in war.

” 3) Among the Ewe, the price o f a slave is 140—200 shilling, so therelatively rich only are ab le to purchase slaves (Herold , p . - 4) On theWest African

coast,from Lagos to Cameroon , the master of the house has over his wives a limited

,

over his male and female slaves an unlimited power (Kingsley, West African stud ies,p.

Among the Bali tribes of Cameroon,female slaves are concub ineswithout any recog

nized rights. 5) See Schmoller, Grundriss , I p . 339.

436 CONCLUSION.

5° Influence o f slavery on warfare. As so on as captives are

regularly enslaved , the cruel modes of treating captives whichmay have formerly existed disappear. On the other hand

,

when the procuring of slaves becomes an object of warfare,

war becomes much more frequent than before6° Influence o f slavery on the development o f the po litical

power o f the tribe. Slavery “creates a set of persons born to

work that others may no t work,and not to think in order

that o thers may think. Therefore slave-owning nations,having

time to think , are likely to b e more shrewd in policy , and morecrafty in strategy”

7° Slavery has a great influence on morality at large , in a

good as well a s in a bad sense.

S lavery has played a great part in the education o f mankind .

Ingram rightly remarks that “slavery discharged impo rtanto f fices . by forcing the captives , who with their descendantscame to form the maj ority o f the conquering community , toa life o f industry in spite o f the antipathy to regular and

sustained labour which is deeply rooted in human nature,es

pecially in the earlier stages o f the social movement , wheninsouciance is SO common a trait

,and irresponsibility is hailed

as a wel come relief”

Moreover, slavery affords to the higher classes a leisure ,that enables them to reach the higher grades of culture , whichwould b e inaccessible to them

,if they had to work for their

daily wantsA b ad effect of slavery is that manual labour is identified

with slave labour and so discreditedOther bad effects of Slavery are mentioned by Ingram. The

habit o f abso lute rule corrupts the masters. Slavery often'

1 ) Winwood Reade, speaking of the coast tribes of West Africa, from Senegambia toAngola, remarks : “In those places where the slave-buying still goes on, the people are

more d isposed to go to war,to convict criminals , and to make use of any pretence to

procure slaves. And it is also certain that there are regions where an almost constant

war is carried on for the purpose of Obtaining slaves”(Winwood Reade, p.

2) Bagehot, p. 73 ; see also Ingram. pp . 5, 6. 3) Ingram, p . 5 ; see also S chmoller,

Grundriss, I p . 338. 4) See Lange, Die Arbeiterfrage, p . 63. 5) Such is the case

for instance in Cameroon (Hutter, p. Among the Bali tribes of Cameroon the nobles

wear their nails long, in order to show that they are no t slaves (Ib id ., p. See also

Westermarck , Moral Ideas, 11 pp . 272, 273.

438 CONCLUSION.

is not yet slavery. If the captive belongs to a tribe o f hered itary enemies who have from time immemorial been d esignated by some opprobrious term , as cannibals , l iars , snakes ,etc . then it may b e that the captive is do omed to perpeytual younger brotherhood , and can never exercise authorityo ver any person within the tribe

,though such person may

b e born after the new birth o f the captive. This is the firstform o f slavery. Usually, though not invariably

, the captivesadopted are children” Whether the first slaves were reallycaptives belonging to a tribe of hereditary enemies, we d o notknow ; but Powel l expresses himself very appropriately, whenhe says that the

,

slaves are“doomed to perpetual younger

brotherhood” . In the early stages of culture Slaves are on the

who le leniently treated , and there is little difference betweenyoung slaves and free children. But t he slave always remainsa“younger brother”. He never becomes the head of a family ;

and when the master who educated him dies,he becomes the

subject of the master’

s child , who has been the companion of hischildhood. The slave does not count among the full-grown men

of the tribe ; he is no t allowed to bear arms , he has no vo icein government matters ; though a member, he is an inferior

member o f the househo ld in which he lives .

This is the first stage o f differentiation between freemen

and Slaves.The slaves are children captured in war their number

is small. The slave,who is nearly on a level with the chil

dren,is wanted for much the same reason why children are

so eagerly desired among most agricultura l savage tribes : the

larger the family , the more food can b e produced ; for landis stil l abundant. Slaves and freemen perform the same kind

of work , with the exception perhaps o f some domestic o ccu

pations , which are more and more left to the slaves .

Gradually the number o f slaves increases . The Slave-trade

greatly furthers the growth o f slavery . The keeping of slaves

1 ) Powell , On Regimentation, p . CXII . 2) Adult males are not d esired for slaves ,

because they are very d ifficult to manage. This is the case even among the semi-civilizedMohammedans of Baghirmi : see Nachtigal, II p . 615 . The North African slave hunters,

according to Goldstein (p. have a preference for g irls, but also capture b oys ; fullgrown men, however, are generally killed .

CONCLUSION. 439

is more and more confined to the chiefs and principal men.

Where Slaves are captured in war it is the leading men who

secure most o f the spo ils ; and where slaves are purchased it

is only the rich who can give a good price for them. The

ruling Classes are the great slave-owners , and these men

are naturally inclined to leave all the common work to theirSlaves , reserving for themselves only the noble pursuits of

warfare and go vernment. The difference between the slaves andtheir owners becomes thus greater than it was before. The

common people come to distrust and hate the slaves, whom

they regard as the tools o f the aris tocracy. And the differ

entiating process we have described here is always go ing on

the more Slaves a man owns , the greater his wealth ; and thegreater a man

’s wealth the better will he b e able to procure

slaves . The common people are continually sinking in the

social sca le, and in the course o f time many“

of them are reducedto Slavery for non-payment o f money they have borrowedfrom the rich .

The further development of slavery can proceed in two

different ways .

In some countries , where Oil , cotton, and Similar productsare expo rted , slavery assumes enormous proportions . The large

plantations can best b e worked with Slaves ; and as manufac

tured go ods are imported , slave labour serves not only to feedthe master

,b ut to provide him with the luxuries o f life ; the

wants o f the Slave- owners , and accordingly the possible extento f slavery, become practically unlimited . This slave system

,

as we have seen , exists in some parts of the West Coast o f

Africa , and bears a close resemblance to that which til l farinto the 19th century was carried on in the Southern Statesof North America.

Where cereals are grown and agricultural produce is not

exported on a very large scale,the course of things is different.

An increase of slaves above a certain number is o f little use

to the owner. When he has slaves enough to pro vide himwith a large quantity o f food and o ther necessaries for theuse o f himself and his family and personal servants , he doesnot want more slaves. The agricultural produce they couldfurnish would not be worth the pains of supervising them.

440 CONCLUSION.

The slaves (except a few who are kept for domestic services)are soon allowed to live rather independently, bound only toprovide fixed quantities of agricultural produce and performoccasional services. And when the use o f money becomes general,these slaves o ften contract with their masters to pay a yearly

tribute in money instead of the services and payments in kind .

The slaves become serfs . And gradually the who le of the

lower orders are merged in this servile class . Ancient slaves,

members o f subjected communities,helpless persons who seek

the protection o f a powerful chief,all become the subjects

and dependents of the ruling nobles . Such was the socialsystem o f the early Middle Ages , that in the course of timewas entirely overturned through the progress o f manufactures

and commerce and the gradual appropriation of the who le

of the land

1 ) Slaves have also sometimes b een employed in manufactures. Such,accord ing to

Cunningham, was the case in ancient Tyre. S laves also“worked as artisans in the factoriesof Athens". Cunningham

, Western Civilization, pp. 66 , 1 10. But we think such an em

ployment of slaves is rather an exception.

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452 LIST OF AUTHORITIES.

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Long, J.,Voyages and travels of an Indian interpreter and trad er. 1791 .

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Macrae , J .,Asiatick researches VII. 1807.

Madrolle, C .,En Guinea. 1895.

Magyar, L.

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Mahler,R Siedelungsgebiet und Siedelungslaga in Oceanics . I. A. E.

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Malthus,T. B .,

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Marcuse, A Die Hawa nschsn Inseln. 1894.

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Mason,Religion etc. among the Karens . Journ. Asiat. Soc. 1865, 1868.

Mathews,W. , Ethnography and philo logy o f the Hidatsa Ind ians . 1877.

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Manch, C.,Reisen im Inneren von S I

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Mayne , R. C .,Four years in British Co lumbia . 1862 .


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Modigliani, E .,L’Isola delle Donne. Viaggio ad Engano . 1894.

Un viaggio a Nias . 1890.

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Pallas, P . S .,Neue nordische Bcitrtige . 1 796.

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SUBJECT—INDEX .

Abundance of food,203, 228, 236, 246,

255 .

Adoption, o f captives , 29, 192 , 246note 1

,263

,288 400

,424

,428

,

437; o f slaves , 431Adult males

,not deemed for slaves

,

438 note 2 .

Agar p ublicus , 383 note 1 .

Agricultural tribes, definition of term,

1 76 ; have much use for slave labour,297 sqq. ; generally have Open re

sources , 386.

Agriculture , among pastoral tribes

263 ; stages of,according to Grosse ,

accord ing to Hahn , 177; ourthree stages , 1 77; a . proper, 1 77,297.

Antichresz’

s,40.

Appropriation o f land , 303 sqq.

,32 1

,

323,328, 362— 383.

Aristocracy, slaves the too ls of, 401 ,439.

Ashley, ProfessorW. J .,on med ieval

England , 348, 350 362— 372 .

Assessment o f wages, 367.

Bagehot, Walter, on the universality

of slavery , 171 ; on leisure being the

great need of early societies,2 13 ; on

equality of freemen in new countries ,298 ; on“who lesale” and“retail” slave

ry , 302 ; on the use of slavery, 436 .

Bas tian,Professo r A.

,on the relativity

o f all liberty , 5°

on“slaves of the

chief ”,30.

Bauernlegen , 379, 382 note 1 .

Black Death,366.

Blending of types, furthered by slavery , 437.

Bos , Dr. P. R on slavery among theTlinkits and similar tribes

,174

,2 16 .

Brinton,D. G .

,on the influence of sla

very ou the blend ing o f types, 437.Biicher, Professor K.

,on hunting, 199 ;

on trade among savages , 2 10 note 3.

Burial o f slaves, 433.

Cairnes , J. E.,on slave labour, 198 ;

on slaves and peasant proprietors

299— 301 ; on abundance of land

as a requisite for the existence of

slavery, 303, 304; on the cultiva

tion of co tton and similar crops, 395.

Cannibalism,8,428.

Capital, among the Eskimos , 254;among pastoral tribes, 268 sqq . ;among agricultural tribes, 297 sub

sistence dependent on c .,255 sqq.,

268 sqq.,297, 383 sqq.

,418 ; c .

wanting in a system o f natural

ec onomy,according to Hildebrand ,

352,354.

Captives, treatment o f, 41 3, 424, 428,436 ; adopted seeAdoption ; repelledby theirformercountrymen ,

2 15,435.

Carey, H. C .

,on the relation of parent

and child , 26.

Caro lingian period , 374.

Cattle-breed ing agriculturists , 265,

271,297.

Chamberlain,A. F. , on child-e

among savages, 26 no te 2 .

Characteristics of slavery, 5 .

Chiefs , as slave-owners , 30—32 , 434,440 ; their wants provided for by

30*

468 SUBJECT-INDEX.

their subjec ts , 193 ; appropriation

o f land by c .,329.

Child ren , Australian parents fond of

their,24; treatment o f, among se

vages, 26 sqq . ; adopted , 29; ch. o f

slaves,and o f free people and slaves ,

status o f,428

,433.

Civilized nations , XVI ; influence o f

sqq.

C lear cases”

,46.

Clearing o f land a modus a cquirend i ,31 1 , 32 1 , 328.

Coercive power, 259, 286 , 407, 425.Co loni , no te no te 1 .

Co lonies , labour in , 298, 306 sqq.

Colonization, in med ieval Germany,

Commerce see Trade.

Commercial tribes,meaning o f term

,

394; most often keep slaves,394

,

423 ; 0 . countries,354.

Commons,363

,

Commutation , 353 sqq.,367,

Comparative method , XV, XVII.Compulsion, personal and imperso nal,42 1 .

Compulsory labour, 5 , 8 ,9,40

,348.

419 sqq.

Comte,Aug. on slavery and religion,

XX.

Connubz'

um b etween free people and

slaves , 430, 432 .

Copyhold , 366 , 367, 372 .

Credit economy, 352 .

Criticism o f ethnographical literatnre,XVII sqq. , 41 sqq .

Croce,B. , On Loria , 306 note 1 .

Cunningham,Pro fessorW.

,ou primiti

ve agriculture , 295 note l ; onWakefield and his system o f colonization

,

308 . note 1 ; on the influence o f

commerce, 394 no te 1 ; on slaves

b ro ught from a d istance fetching a

higher price than o thers, 414no te

1 on slave labour in ancient Tyreand Greece

,440 no te 1 ; on med ie

val England , 349, 351 , 363 sqq ;

on natural economy and money economy, 362 .

Familia rustica and f amilia urbana

Dargun, Dr. on the development 388,389, 433.

o f economic life , 175 ; on employment o f women in primitive agri

culture , 1 78 ; on ind ividual propertyamong pa storal tribes, 273 no te l ;on tribal property in land , 3l o ; onland tenure among the Australians,346 note 7.

Darwin , Oh ., on the cond ition o fwo

men among savages, 23; on deriva

tion o f institutions,45 note 3 ; on

the Fuegians , 82 note 3.

Death-rate among slaves , 437Deb tor-slaves , 39, 344, 429, 439.

Ded ication o f slaves to god s , 431 .

Demesne , 350.

Deniker, J ., on the moral co de of

savages, 433 no te 2 ; on d ifferent

kind s o f slaves,433 note 4.

Depopulation, in Oceania , 341 ; inEngland in the 14th century

,366.

Derivation o f institutions,45 2 14

,2 16

note 7, 41 1 .Dimitrofi

'

Dr. Z.,on slavery among

pastoral tribes, 173.

Disafi'

orestiug controversy, 363.

Division o f labour,the function of

slavery,7; b etween the sexes, 22.

Domesday Book, 363.

Domestic labour performed by slaves ,2 17

,281 , 388, 438.

Early history of mankind , XV.

Economic states o f society, 174sqq.

Emancipation o f slaves, 430.

Enemies , hated but no t d espised , 197.

Ethnographers, XVII, 4.

Ethnographical literature, XVII sqq.

thno logy, XV.

Evictions o f the 1 5th and l 6th centu

ries , in England , 369 sqq. ; in Ger

many, 382 .

Exchange o f wives in Australia, 14, 20.

Expansion, a necessity o f slave socie

ties,304.

E'

xp erz’

mcntum crucis , 227.

External causes , 259, 286, 407, sqq.,

417, 425.

Extratribal slavery, 194, 424, 428,433, 437.

470 SUBJECT-INDEX .

Ingram,Professor J . K.

,XX ; on the

use o f the terms“slave” and“slavery

”

,4; definition of slavery

,6 ; on

lower castes,33 ; on the character

o f serfdom,37; on slavery among

hunting , pasto ral and agricultural

tribes , 1 72 ; on’

employment of slaves

in warfare by the Romans , 401 ; onliber ti hold ing high offices , 403note 2 ; on the African slave-trade ,410 sqq. ; on the moral effect o f

slavery,436.

Intercourse, between neighbouringtribes

,2 14, 260, 289 ; with superior

races , 41 1 , 425.Internal causes, 417.

Intratribal slavery, 194, 428.Isolated tribes

,228.

Jc’

igerbauem , seeHuntingagriculturists.

Jews in the Midd le Ages , 197no te 1 .Jhering, Professor R . von, definition

o f slavery, 6 ; on slavery in earlyRome

,302 note 2 .

Kohler, Pro fessor J on the MarshallIslanders

,104; on the Duallas, 149

no te 9 ; on slavery and commerce,

395.

Labour,demand for, 384,419; among

pasto ral tribes , 273 ; in Oceania,342 sqq. ; among agricultural tribes ,298 sqq.

Labourers,free, 34, 256 ; among pas

toral tribes,268 sqq. ; among cattle

breed ing agriculturists , 271 inOcea

nia,333 sqq. ; in med ieval England ,

364,366—369

,371 ; in med ieval

Germany,375 , 378, 379 sqq. ; in

ancient Rome,383 note 1 ; slaves

preferred to f. l. , 285 ; productiveand unproductive I.,404—406 con

d ition o f l. in agricultural and in

manufacturing countries,420 ; free

I. only found in countries with

money economy, accord ing to Hildebrand

,352 sqq.

Lamprecht, Professor K., on slaveryamong pasto ral tribes, 1 73 ; on

med ieval Germany,376 sqq.

Land , conquest and confiscation of,

329 : freemen destitute o f,31 1 ,

321,323

,328, 331

, 375 ; l. and

population, XVI , 302 sqq., 383

,

418 I. tenure in Po lynesia,314

sqq. ; in Micronesia, 32 1 sqq . ; in

Melanesia,324sqq. ; inAustralia , 346

no te 7; in med ieval England , 362sqq. ; in med ieval Germany, 373 sqq.

Lange, F . A .

, on poverty and manufactures , 361 ; on the transition

from agriculture to sheep breedingin England , 369 no te 2 ; on openand c losed countries

,386 ; on the

d ependence o f the working classes,42 1 ; on the moral effect of slavery

,

436 note 4.

Leading ideas , XIX .

Leibeigenen, 34sqq.

Lending o f wives in Australia , 14, 21 .

Leroy-Beaulieu , P on the luxury of

early soc ieties,404.

Letourneau, Oh., XIX ; definition of

slavery, 6 ; on captives preservedfor cannibal purposes, 8 ; on slaveryin early stages o f social life

,174;

on woman’

s po sition in Australia

and among savages generally, 9, 10 °

on the character o f serfd om,38

on the Tehuelches,81 ; on the

Australians,84no te 3

,85 no te 5 ;

on the Mao ri, 97 no te 1 ; on the

Marquesas Islanders,101 ; on the

Padam Abo rs,1 26 note 8 ; on the

Turkomans,131 ; on the Tlinkits

and neighbouring tribes , 2 16 no te 7.

Levirate in Australia,14

,2 1 .

Liber ti, position of, 431 ; in Rome,

403.

Lippert, Dr. J definition o f slavery,6 ; o n wives and slaves, 25 note 1 ;on children and slaves

,29 note 1 ;

on slavery among pastoral tribes ,173.

Literature on slavery, XV, XIX ,XX.

Loria ,A.

,on the prod uctiveness o f

slave and free labour, 299 note 3 ;on the appropriation o f the soil

and its social effec ts , 304sqq.

Lower classes, 33 ; in Oceania, 333.“Lowest type of man”

,170.

Luxury, o f early societies , 404; slaveskept as a l., 284, 403 sqq.

,425 .

SUBJECT- INDEX

Male labour, in Australia, 21 sqq. ;

among hunters , 1 95, 200 ; amongS ammler , 202 ; among pastoral

tribes , 273 sqq.

Malthus , on the lowest races,170

no te 3 ; on the eco nomic structure

o f pastoral societies,273 note 3,

282 note 4; on po verty and manufactures

,361 ; on the canées of war

386 no te 1 ; on the luxury o f earlysocieties

,404no te 3.

Manufactured good s , 232, 255, 397,423.

Manufactures and hunting as extremes ,1 99 ; m. and po verty, 361 .

Marital rights among the Australians

1 2 sqq.,19 sqq .

Marriage, among the Australians , 1 1 ,17 o f slaves and free people,430,431 .

Marx, K. , on land and po pulation,307 no te 1 ; on commutation and

free tenancies,362 no te 2 .

Materialistic theory o f history,171 .

Matriarchal theo ry,26 .

Meat, scarcity o f, in medieval Ger

many,379.

Mental sc iences,XV.

Merivale,H On land and labour

,308.

Merovingian period , 373.

Metaphoric use o f the term“slavery4,10.

Method,of ascertaining the existence

or non-existence o f slavery, 41 sqqo f investigating the causes o f sla

very, 1 69 sqq.

Meyer, Dr. E.,on the character of

ancient slavery,6 ; on primitive

slavery, 25 ; on slavery in ancient

Rome,383 no te 1 .

Militarism,effects o f

, 282 sqq.,

398 sqq .,424.

Mill, J. S .

,on slave labour and free

labour,198.

Mommsen,ProfessorTh.

,on slaves and

free labourers in early stages , 1 74.

Money economy, 352 sqq.

Montaigne , on the reliability o f simplepersons , XVII .

Morgan,L. H ., on the Iroquois

, 55 ,406 ; on stages of culture

,169 ; on

the dependence o f slavery upon economic factors, 172 .

471

Natural economy, 352 sqq.“Negative cases”,46.

Negro slavery among the Indians, 69,408.

Nobility,in North-east Africa, 276 sqq.“No conclusion

”,46.

Nomad ic life,unfavourable to the

growth of slavery, 194, 201 , 259.

Non-economic purposes , slaves keptfor

,424.

Ochenkowski, Dr . W. von,on medie

val England , 359,363 sqq. ; on

money ec onomy and the condition

o f the rural c lasses,362 .

Oppenheimer, Dr. F. , on land and

labour , 349 ; on over-population,

369 note 2 .

Orphans enslaved,430.

Over-population ,369

,385.

Pastoral nomad ism,considered favour

able to the growth of slavery, 173.

Pastoral tribes , definition of term,

1 76 ; have little use for slave la

bour,267; often employ free la

bourers,268 sqq. ; subjec t o ther

tribes , 276 sqq. ; have c lo sed re

sources,386.

Patriarchal theory, 26 .

Pawns see Deb to r-slaves.Peasants ’ revo lt , in England , 367; inGermany, 381 .

Pecu lium,432 .

Penal law,slaves pro tected by, 432 .

Penal servitude,32 .

Peschel,O.

,on migratory tribes , 170

no te 3 ; on slavery among fishers ,etc . , 173.

Pessimism,386.

Po litical institutions,their influence

on slavery,45 .

Polygamy, in Australia,15 sqq . ; in

Melanesia,389 sqq.“Po sitive cases”

,46 .“Possess ion” as expressing the nature

o f slavery, 5 , 6, 28, 30, 32 .

Post,Dr. A. H .

,on“slaves o ftheking

31 note 2 ; on debtor-slaves , 429 note

3,430

,no te 1 ; on the legal status

o f slaves,432 note 1 ; on slaves

changing their mas ters , 432 note 3.

472 SUBJECT- INDEX.

Powell, J. W., on the origin of sla

very, 400, 437.

Predatory habits o f pastoral tribes ,282 sqq.

Present tense,use o f

,46.

Preserving o f food,205

,229, 237,

247,255

,259

,281 , 406,

425.

Primitive man, XVI .Pro letarians in Oceania, 333 sqq.

Property, development o f, on the N.

Pacific Coast o f N . America, 2 10 ;in Australia

,232

,346 note 7 ; in

Central N .

‘

America,240 ; among

the Eskimos,250 ; p. in land

,31 1

sqq.,32 1

,323

,328 sqq.“Property” as expressing the nature

o f slavery,5,6, 30

—32,38—40.

Psycho logical basis o f economic phe

h omena,313.

Puchta , Dr. G . F. , on the function o fslavery

,8 ; on p a tria p o testas , 28 ;

on co lom’

, 36 ; on an tichresis , 40.

Rationalistic interpretation o f psychical and so cial phenomena, 195 .

Ratzel,Professor

,179 note 1 ; on the

cond ition o f women among the

Australians,10 ; on poverty and

manufac tures,361 ; on the African

slave- trade,41 1 note 1 ; on high

death-rates among slaves , 437note5 .

Raw products , 232 , 239, 250, 397.

Redemption o f slaves, 430,Religion, peoples without, 43.

Resources , open and clo sed, 385 sqq.

Retail slavery,301

,396.

Ricardo , D. , on rent,31 1 .

Ripley, W . Z.,on the selective influ

ence o f slavery, 437.

Sacrifice of captives and slaves,428.

S ammler,202 no te 1 .

Savages, as representingprimitiveman ,

XVI ; their impulsiveness, 195 ;

Say , J. B.,on appropriation o f land ,

384note 1 .

Scarcity o f food as a cause of absence

o f slavery,193.

Schmo ller, Professor, definition o f sla

very,6 ; on slavery among hunters

and fishers,1 72 ; on slave labour

,

199 note 1 ; on settled hunting and

fishing tribes,2 10 ; on commerce

among savages , 232 note 3 ; on

pastoral tribes, 273 note 2,274;

on primitive slavery, 302 note 1 ;on slavery and commerce, 395, on

the fluence of slavery on the

condition o f women 435 no te 5

on the moral effect of slavery,436

no te 3.

Schurtz , Dr. H .,on the condition of

women among the Australians, 10

on African pariah-tribes, 33 note 1 ,277 note 1 ; on Eskimos in the

wider sense , 49 note 7; ou slaveryin Polynesia and Micronesia ,

109 ;on the natives o f Madagascar, 1 17;on the Bechuanas, 141 ; on the absence of slavery among hunters , 172 ;on slave lab our in Africa ,

198 ; on

pastoral tribes, 274; his geographical groups, 46.

Secondary causes,258

,281 , 387, 423.

Selective influence o f slavery, 437.

Self- dependent countries , 310,354.

Semi-civilized peoples, excluded,44

,

1 57 no te 1 ; influence o f,45

,412 .

Serfdom,34sqq.

,434; in Germany ,

34,349

,373 sqq.

,in France, 36 ;

in Rome , 36 , 382 note note

1 ; in England , 349, 364sqq. ; in

Italy; 360 ; absent in modern W.

Europe , XVI ; its charac ter, as

distinguished from slavery, 37 sqq. ;

as d istinguished from freedom,348 ;

its decline, XVII .S erm

'

publici, 32 .

Sheep farming, 369Signs o f slavery

,433.

Skilled labour,253, 256 ,

422 .

Slavery, among hunters and fishers ,190, 202 ; on the N . Pacific Coasto f N. America , 203 ; among pastoral

tribes,262 ; among agricultural

tribes , 292 ; in Oceania , 31 3 amongcommercial agricultural tribes , 393 ;in med ieval England ,

348,364; in

med ieval Germany,348, 373, 374,

380 sqq. ; in Rome ,383 note l ; ab

sent in modern W. Europe, XV,

474 SUBJECT-INDEX .

sqq ., 227, 281 ; effects o f t., 209,259

,394sqq.,

423.

Tribal property* in land , 310.

Tylo r, Professor E . B . on peoples with

out religion, 43 ; ou slavery in earlystages , 173 ; has introduced some

new terms,3 ; his“statistical

”me

thod , XVIII .Unemployed ,

254,372 , 385 .

nskilled labour,253

,422 .

Variety o f food , 204, 229, 236.

Vierkand t,Dr. A., on stages of cul

ture,1 69 : remarks on the first

ed ition,157 no te 1

,427 note 1 .

Vis z'

nertz’

ae, 414.

Wagner, Professor A., On the functiono f slavery, 7 no te 1 , 8 no te 1 ; on

slavery among fishers , etc ., 173 ; onslave labour, 1 99 no te 1 ; on the

transition from slavery to serfdom,

199 note 3.

Wakefield,E. G., on the appropria

tion o f the soil and its social effects,306 sqq. ; on the d isappearance of

serfdom in W. Europe, 347; onthe happiness o fcolonists, 386 no te 2 .

Warfare, among hunters , 200; on theW. Coast o f N. America, 2 10;

in Australia, 236 ; in Central N.

America,245 ; among the Eskimos ,

252 ; among pastoral tribes , 276,282 sqq. ; influence o f slavery on W.

,

436 ; character o f w. among peoples

with Open and with closed resour

ces, 385 ; slaves employed in w. see

Slaves .

Wealth, on the N . W. Coast o f N .

America , 2 10 ; in Australia, 196

no te 13, 232 ; in Central N. America,

240 among the Eskimos , 250 ;among pastoral tribes, 268 ; slaves

as an ingred ient of W.,434; devel

Opment o f w. furthered by slavery,2 13

,435.

Weber, Dr. M.,on slave labour, 304

on Roman agrarian history,382

note 3, 383 note 1 .

Werge’

ld,35

, 374, 432.

Westermarck,

on the character of

slavery, 39 note 1 on marriageby service

,1 93 no te 4; on the

causes o f the d istribution o f slavery,197 note 4; on the moral effect of

slavery, 436 no te 5.

Wholesale slavery, 301 , 396.

Wilken,Pro fessor G . A.

,on antichresz

’

s

40 no te 2 ; on the natives o f Burn

1 15.

Women, condition of,423 ; among

savages , 9 ; in Australia, 10 sqq.,235 ; on the N . W. Coast of N .

America,2 19 ; on the Dutch isle of

Ameland , 22 1 note 7; in Central

N. America , 242 ; among the Eskimos

,251 ; in Melanesia ,

388 sqq . ;women consulted inmatters o f trade,2 19

Working classes in modern Europe ,condition o f, 420—422 .

Slavery as an Industrial System - Forgotten Books

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