t
among the tribe. Murder, treason, adultery, killing the escaped
snakes from the fetich-house,--and often stealing,--are punished by
death, or by being sold into slavery. A girl who loses her standing,
disgraces her family by an immoral act, is banished from the tribe.
And in case of seduction the man is tied up and flogged. In case of
adultery a large sum of money must be paid. If the guilty one is
unable to pay the fine, then death or slavery is the penalty.

"Adultery is regarded by the Africans as a kind of theft. It
is a vice, therefore, and so common that one might write a
Decameron of native tales like those of Boccaccio. And what
in Boccaccio is more poignant and more vicious than this
song of the Benga, which I have often heard them sing, young
men and women together, when no old men were present?--

'The old men young girls married.
The young girls made the old men fools;
For they love to kiss the young men in the dark,
Or beneath the green leaves of the plantain-tree.
The old men then threatened the young men,
And said, "You make us look like fools;
But we will stab you with our knives till your blood runs forth!"
"Oh, stab us, stab us!" cried the young men gladly,
"_For then your wives will fasten up our wounds_."'"[77]

The laws of marriage among many tribes are very wholesome and
elevating. When the age of puberty arrives, it is the custom in many
tribes for the elderly women, who style themselves _Negemba_, to go
into the forest, and prepare for the initiation of the _igonji_, or
novice. They clear a large space, build a fire, which is kept burning
for three days. They take the young woman into the fetich-house,--a
new one for this ceremony,--where they go through some ordeal, that,
thus far, has never been understood by men. When a young man wants a
wife, there are two things necessary; viz., he must secure her
consent, and then buy her. The apparent necessary element in African
courtship is not a thing to be deprecated by the contracting parties.
On the other hand, it is the _sine qua non_ of matrimony. It is proof
positive when a suitor gives cattle for his sweetheart, first, that he
is wealthy; and, second, that he greatly values the lady he fain would
make his bride. He first seeks the favor of the girl's parents. If she
have none, then her next of kin, as in Israel in the days of Boaz. For
it is a la