The Dutchmen Hinlopen and Severijn state that in 1852 they found on the Poggi Islands, on the west coast of Sumatra, a state of complete promiscuity. Some of the men are said to get married, but only very late, between the ages of forty and fifty, when their detailed tattooing is completed; it is only seldom that a young man takes a separate wife. G. A. Wilken enumerates the following East Indian communities as living in sexual promiscuity: the Lubus, the Orang-Sakai of Malacca, the Olo-Ot, and other Bornean tribes; the inhabitants of the island Peling. He adduces no evidence, however; and his statement is certainly incorrect as far as the Sakai of Malacca are concerned. Among the non-Christian tribes of the Philippine Islands considerable pre-marital liberty prevails. Among the Igorotes, e.g., the dormitory of the unmarried girls (the olag) serves also as the pairing place of the marriageable young people. In the villages young people, joking and laughing, can frequently be seen going about wrapped in one blanket and with their arms round each other. There is no secrecy about the wooing; it is carried on mainly in the olag. Marriage rarely takes place without previous intercourse, and seldom before the girl is pregnant. An exception to this rule only occurs when a rich man marries a girl against her will at the parents' wish. Not infrequently a young man has affairs with two or three girls at one and the same time. The girls quite openly and unmistakably invite the men to go with them into the olag. As soon as a girl becomes pregnant, she at once joyfully informs the father of the child, for these people are very fond of children. If the man refuses to marry the girl, there is likely to be tears, but no one is much concerned about the infidelity itself, because the girl can find a husband later on in spite of her having borne a child; indeed, the more so, as there can be no doubt of her fertility. It is not customary for married men to enter the olag. A young man, however, can go there if his former love has remained single and welcomes him, because she still has hopes of becoming his wife, for it is easy to get a separation, and if a man can afford it, he may have two or three wives, though polygamy is rare. A man whose wife is pregnant does not visit the olag, for it is feared that this may bring about a premature birth and cause the death of the child. Married women apparently remain always faithful (A. E. Jenks, p. 66). Ferdinand Blumentritt makes a statement, based on Spanish information, that the girls' houses of the Igorotes serve the purpose of ensuring pre-marital purity. This, however, is incorrect.
Very similar customs prevail among the Naga tribes of Assam (Peal, pp. 244 et seq.).
The pure Senoi and Semang tribes of the Malay Peninsula practise strict monogamy. Marriage takes place at an early age, sometimes between boys of fourteen and girls of thirteen. Even betrothals of children seem to occur. Marital unfaithfulness is punished with death (Martin, 1905, p. 864).
In many districts of Australia, indeed, among the majority of the natives of the Australian continent, there exist two forms of sexual union side by side. The one form consists in a girl's being given in marriage to one man without regard to the difference in ages, and also without any consideration for feelings of personal sympathy. Indeed, such is hardly possible, for the girls are given to the men at a very young age. The main cause of these unions is apparently economic. It ensures the man a housekeeper for himself who has to gather the largest share of provisions, for the result of the man's hunting yields only a very small part of the absolutely essential food. A man may have, according to his social position, one or more such housekeepers. In addition, each man and woman may form a union with one or more of the other sex merely for the purpose of sexual intercourse. Unlike the "marriages" previously mentioned, these unions do not take place without any formality—there is a special ceremony for the occasion. They do not last for life, at least among some of the tribes, but are regulated from time to time. This form of sexual union is generally called pirauru in ethnographical literature, after the designation in use among the tribes of the Dieri, where this kind of sex community was first observed. The men of a pirauru group are either consanguineous or collateral brothers, members of one and the same subdivision of the tribe; similarly, the women of a pirauru group are consanguineous or collateral sisters. Sexual intercourse with a pirauru wife is allowed during the absence of the husband who is her usual mate, and also at special festivals. When a man's housekeeper dies, her children are cared for by one of his pirauru wives until he gets another housekeeper. Without the institution of pirauru, the younger men would be barred from sexual intercourse. Many of them are without housekeepers, as most of the young women are in the possession of the older influential men. It has been said that the old men are often killed by the young men on this account (Spencer, p. 11). The majority of the tribes that have the institution of pirauru are ignorant of the connection between sexual intercourse and conception (see Chapter VI.). It is therefore not the production of progeny which seems to be the purpose of a common household between man and woman, nor of the pirauru unions.
Institutions similar to the Australian pirauru also exist outside Australia. Codrington (p. 22) has established the fact that in the Solomon Islands and in other parts of Melanesia a woman of an exogamic group who is not yet married to one particular man may legitimately have sexual intercourse with all men of another exogamic group who are her potential husbands. The exogamic groups play a far more important rôle than individual marriage. In the Fijian Islands every man has the right to sexual intercourse with his wife's sisters. On special ceremonial occasions intercourse is permitted between those groups of men and women who stand in the relationship of possible conjugal partners (Thomson, p. 185).
Pre-marital sexual freedom of both sexes exists, or did exist, all over the South Sea islands before the advent of European influence. Thus, e.g., Robert W. Williamson (pp. 172-176) writes of the Mafulus, in the mountains of New Guinea, that unmarried youths and maidens are allowed to associate with each other without any precautions. There exists a good deal of "immorality." Even after marriage (which takes place with an elaborate pretence of bride capture) husband and wife are, as a rule, not faithful to each other, the marriage bond being very loose. But it is said that unfaithfulness on the part of the women (though not of the men) is considered a great offence. The injured husband used to have the right of killing the guilty man, which he did, as a rule, until the British authorities put an end to the practice. Nowadays the deceived husband is generally satisfied if he receives a pig or some other article of value from the guilty rival.
In Africa sexual community is allowed at certain periods among the Hereros (Brinker, p. 88). Among many other Bantu tribes sexual communism is customary, particularly at the initiation of the young people. The girls, too, are allowed to choose male partners for a time, and among many tribes of South Africa it was customary for the girls who refused to be given to men against their will. The Colonial Government has now put a stop to this (Theal).
The statements about the Hottentots of South Africa vary. But the custom of sore, which is found among them, seems to point to the existence of an institution similar to the Australian pirauru. Schultze (pp. 299, 319) thinks that illicit love was punished among the Hottentots before the extensive immigration of the white people into South Africa led to the overthrow of their old customs. Either the guilty couple were beaten, with the consent of the parents, or the lover received, in addition to his own, his sweetheart's share of punishment. But Schultze mentions also that the institution of sore, intended ostensibly for the exchange of love gifts, really means in many cases a secret agreement for intimate extra-marital relationship, though it is generally quite honourable. This institution is by no means an innovation.
The Hamitic tribes of East Africa, who belong to the most warlike races of mankind, permit pre-marital intercourse of both sexes. A. C. Hollis (1909, pp. 16, 77) says of the Nandi; "The unmarried warriors, as many as ten, sleep in the huts called sigiroinet, where the girls visit them and remain with them a few days, living with them in free love." Married women are not allowed to enter these huts. When the warriors go away for a time or go to war, their sweethearts keep the huts in order. Real "family life" is unknown, for the bigger boys and girls also live alone in special huts or together with the old women; the little boys who serve the warriors sleep in their houses. There is no publicly recognised punishment for adultery; but if a husband discovers another man not belonging to his mat (one of the subdivisions of each of the seven age classes) with his wife or one of his wives, he beats him severely. Adultery is also not considered wrong when it concerns a couple that have previously lived together in free love in the warriors' house, even when the woman does not belong to a mat comrade. When a Nandi travels and wishes to remain somewhere overnight, he must first of all apply to another member of his mat in the place. If there is one, and both men are married, the latter gives hospitality to the guest, commissions his wife to fulfil his wishes, and leaves the hut in order to sleep elsewhere. The wife pours water over the hands of the guest, brings him a stool and food, puts his weapons into a place of safety, and spends the night with him. Should there be no member of his mat in the place, the traveller betakes himself to a member of the nearest mat; and, after having explained the situation, he is treated exactly as if both men belonged to the same mat. Members of different age classes do not offer each other hospitality or expect it. If the traveller is unmarried, he spends the night in the warriors' hut. Children born before marriage are killed by the Nandis, only one group making an exception to this rule.
The Masai have when travelling the same customs as the Nandis. Sexual intercourse with a girl or woman of the same age class is not considered wrong. A warrior marries the girl he makes pregnant. Children born before marriage are considered a disgrace. A person who has relations with a woman belonging to the paternal age class must beg pardon of the older men and give as reparation two oxen or a commensurate quantity of honey wine. An old man who has sexual intercourse with his daughter or with another girl of her age is severely punished, if the affair comes to light: he is beaten, his kraal is pulled down, and his cattle are killed ad libitum (Hollis, 1905, pp. 287, 312, 313).