WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
own hut and her own plantations. The children also belong to her.
There is no double standard of sex-morality among the Wa-Taveta tribe. Mrs. French Sheldon learned that the women are allowed freedom, and may form liaisons with men of their own status, but not with low-bred persons or the enemies of their husbands. Marriage is arranged by purchase, and there is a ceremonial of the mock-capture of brides.
The children are extremely well cared for, and they develop intelligence at a very early age. They are fond of assisting their parents in the fields and in carrying produce to the markets. East Africa strikes this highly-observant traveller as a paradise for children. We have seen that, in almost every polygamous society, the children are carefully protected and reared, and generally much loved by the parents.
Among the Masai Mrs. Sheldon found a more barbaric form of polygamy. These people are militarist; and, as I have pointed out in several instances, women do not attain to equality with men in a fighting tribe or nation. The Masai set a low value upon women. A wife can be bought for five pigeon's eggs, or a few beads, which is less than the cost of a cow. The women of this warlike community possess very few rights.
Mrs. French Sheldon says that the Chaga women
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