[86] Rosenberg, Nordboernes Aandsliv, i. 488.
But the duty of helping the needy and protecting those in danger goes beyond the limits of the family and the kin. Uncivilised peoples are, as a rule, described as kind towards members of their own community or tribe. Between themselves charity is enjoined as a duty, and generosity is praised as a virtue. Indeed, their customs regarding mutual aid are often much more stringent than our own. And this applies even to the lowest savages.[87]
[87] The prevalence of mutual aid in uncivilised communities has been duly emphasised by Prince Kropotkin, Mutual Aid, p. 76 sqq.
“La disposition à la générosité,” says M. Hyades, “est un trait charactéristique des Fuégiens. Ils aiment à partager ce qu’ils ont avec tous ceux qui les entourent.”[88] Captain Weddell likewise speaks of “the philanthropic principle which these people exhibit towards one another.”[89] Burchell tells us that the Bushmans, between themselves, “exercise the virtues of hospitality and generosity, often in an extraordinary degree.”[90] The Veddahs of Ceylon are friendly towards each other, and ready to help a person in distress.[91] The Andamanese display much mutual affection in their social relations, and frequently make presents of the best that they possess. “Every care and consideration,” says Mr. Man, “are paid by all classes to the very young, the weak, the aged, and the helpless, and these, being made special objects of interest and attention, invariably fare better in regard to the comforts and necessaries of daily life than any of the otherwise more fortunate members of the community.”[92] The Australian natives are almost universally praised for their friendly behaviour towards persons belonging to their own people.[93] Presents given to one of a group are speedily divided as far as possible among the rest, and when a black man has employment at a station he generally gives away most of his earnings to his comrades in the camp.[94] “Between the males of a tribe,” says Mr. Curr, “there always exists a strong feeling of brotherhood, so that, come weal come woe, a man can always calculate on the aid, in danger, of every member of his tribe.”[95] Regarding the Central Australian natives, Messrs. Spencer and Gillen observe that their treatment of one another “is marked on the whole by considerable kindness, that is, of course, in the case of members of friendly groups, with every now and then the perpetration of acts of cruelty.”[96] Collins says that the aborigines about Botany Bay and Port Jackson “applauded acts of kindness and generosity, for of both these they were capable.”[97]
[88] Hyades and Deniker, Mission scientifique du Cap Horn, vii. 243.
[89] Weddell, op. cit. p. 168. According to other authorities, the Fuegians, though free from malevolence and cruelty, are not distinguished for active benevolence (Bridges, in A Voice for South America, xiii. 208, 213. Bove, Patagonia, pp. 133, 137. Lovisato, ‘Appunti etnografici sulla Terra del Fuoco,’ in Cosmos di Guida Cora, viii. 145, 151. Cf. also Hyades and Deniker, op. cit. vii. 238, 240, 243 sq.).
[90] Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, ii. 54.
[91] Sarasin, Ergebnisse naturwissenschaftlicher Forschungen auf Ceylon, iii. 545, 550. Schmidt, Ceylon, p. 276.
[92] Man, in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xii. 93 sq. Cf. Portman, ibid. xxv. 368.
[93] Curr, The Australian Race, i. 49. Hodgson, Reminiscences of Australia, p. 88. Oldfield, ‘Aborigines of Australia,’ in Trans. Ethn. Soc. N.S. iii. 226. Eyre, op. cit. ii. 385 sq. Brough Smyth, op. cit. ii. 279. Lumholtz, Among Cannibals, p. 176. Mathew, in Jour. & Proceed. Roy. Soc. N.S. Wales, xxiii. 387 sq. Breton, Excursions in New South Wales, p. 218. Fison and Howitt, op. cit. p. 259. Wyatt, ‘Manners and Superstitions of the Adelaide and Encounter Bay Aboriginal Tribes,’ in Woods, Native Tribes of South Australia, p. 162. Schuermann, ‘Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,’ ibid. pp. 243, 244, 247.