The History of Prostitution Part 37

In colonial white society there are no particular incidents to characterize prost.i.tution. At all times during the continuance of transportation, female immorality has been very prevalent. The general law so often observed as attendant upon irregularity of the s.e.xes has been powerfully operative; besides, there have been local influences at work to deteriorate female manners. The large importations of convict women, who were always the most unruly and vicious of the felon population, and who notoriously gave more trouble and vexation to the authorities than any one else, was prejudicial to public virtue. Just, however, as, on account of these faults, women of indifferent character were lightly esteemed, so did the respectable females gain in public opinion, however poor their worldly condition. There was not much regular prost.i.tution, although incontinence prevailed. There was a continual system of marriage going on among the convicts. When a man chose to marry, he brushed himself up, put on a clean s.h.i.+rt, and went to the nearest superintendent, to whom he intimated his desire for matrimony. Permission was always given. The eligibles at the station were forwarded for his inspection, and the selected one rarely refused, inasmuch as her connubial bonds relieved her, during good behavior, from the more galling bondage of the law. Some of these unions turned out more satisfactorily than might have been expected from the character of the parties, especially of the women.

South Australia and the gold colony of Victoria never were penal settlements. The deficiency of respectable young women was very much felt by the colonists, and the home government made many well-intentioned efforts to supply the want. A large number of young women went out from Great Britain, under the charge of matrons and medical officers, and, in the majority of cases, their arrival was hailed with great satisfaction.

It was no unusual thing for a young man, a settler far away up the country, to come down to the government depots at Adelaide or Melbourne on the arrival of a female emigrant s.h.i.+p, and then and there to pick out his partner for life. Of course, the greater number were hired out to service by the colonists, and, in the order of events, pa.s.sed from service to independence. Parental care and precaution were exercised by the authorities over the young women thus sent abroad. They were not allowed to hire into dram-shops or lodging-houses: the parties who hired them required to be known: they had liberty to remain at the depot for some months if not suited, and for any length of time in case of sickness on arrival; and afterward, during good conduct, the depot was an asylum for an indefinite length of time. Notwithstanding all these safeguards, there was a constant supply of prost.i.tution. The good intentions of the emigration commissioners in London were too frequently neutralized by the depraved character of officers of the vessels in which females were sent, or by the interested conduct of the local authorities in England. A good reputation was essential to the intending emigrant, but frequently masters of work-houses and parish officers s.h.i.+pped off unworthy or troublesome characters, who were better got rid of at any price.

During the gold mania, prost.i.tution in Australia was rampant. The enormous gains and flaunting extravagance were a great temptation to young women who could not readily suit themselves with situations, and who disliked the moderate restraints of the depot. The persuasive arts of the procuress and brothel-keeper were not wanting. It was a singular fact that at one time all the public vehicles were owned by brothel-keepers. The profits of these joint callings were perfectly fabulous. It was an every-day sight to see a party of prost.i.tutes in the most gaudy costumes parading the streets in open carriages. Indeed, it was generally understood to be part of their contract that they should have unlimited clothing, of the most garish colors and style, and expensive material, and also Sunday rides in open carriages. The police authorities did what they could to check this shameful display, but they were powerless before the reckless extravagance of the miners and the influx of women. It is believed that this excess has now toned down, and miners having taken to buying land and to marriage, order is once more resuming sway, and prost.i.tution in the gold colonies, though not at an end, is much shorn of its public show and display.

POLYNESIA.

The princ.i.p.al groups of the Polynesian Islands are the Society, Friendly, Samoan, Sandwich, and Marquesas. These last have been rendered famous of late years by Mr. Hermann Melville's Typee and Omoo.

The South Sea Islands were usually depicted in the most glowing colors by early navigators. The lands were the fairest on earth's surface; the climate was unsurpa.s.sed, combining the genial warmth of the tropics with the fresh breezes of ocean; the soil spontaneously bringing forth in luxuriant abundance the loveliest and most valuable vegetable productions; and, finally, the inhabitants were fitted both in person and disposition to tenant such an Eden.

It is easy to comprehend the frame of mind which led to these descriptions. The seaman, after wandering over the pathless ocean, with only the dark waste of waters in view, might well recognize a paradise in the green hills and shady groves of the islands of the Pacific, and angels in their dusky denizens. But these pictures were eminently fallacious: the virtues of savage life disappear on close acquaintances.h.i.+p. Implacable ferocity among themselves; sanguinary and exterminating warfare; cannibalism; unbounded licentiousness and its concomitants of unnatural l.u.s.t and lasciviousness; debasing and horrid idolatry; infanticide; the most grinding tyranny of the strong over the weak, and of the man over the woman, who is not permitted to live in the same dwelling, eat the same food, cook at the same fire, or even use the same dish as her lord and master: these enormities are the ordinary conditions of savage life. Some local modifications may be found, but such were the main incidents in Polynesian life and character.

It is true that in the first instance the natives received the whites with all friends.h.i.+p, and evinced toward their visitors much hospitality and gentleness of demeanor. This is to be attributed to the wonder and reverence with which they regarded foreigners, looking on them as superior beings of another sphere, and awestruck at their wonderful powers, at the astonis.h.i.+ng engines they wielded and managed, and at their unknown attributes. But familiarity lessened respect; some ill-advised and unjustifiable tyranny brought out the offensive points of savage character, and theft, treachery, and murder were soon practiced as freely against the whites as against each other whenever fear of consequences did not restrain them. The murder of Captain Cook and the attack on La Perouse were remarkable cases on account of the boldness of the savages, and the public loss in the death of the great navigator, but they were not isolated outrages. Many a small and feebly-manned vessel perished among the islands, and, on repeated occasions, when landings were effected, the mariners ran great risks from the uncertain despotism of the natives.

Whatever may have been their other qualities, either among themselves or in their intercourse with foreigners, licentiousness was the universal characteristic of the South Sea Islanders. It was not merely polygamy or excess among a few of the more powerful members of the community, but the ordinary habit among all cla.s.ses. Chast.i.ty, whenever met with, was not a customary part of woman's life, but only an incident dependent on particular circ.u.mstances; in fact, an abnormal condition. It was a.s.sociated with either marriage or betrothal. A peculiar inst.i.tution of all these islanders was the _tapu_ or _taboo_, a semi-religious ceremony performable either by priest or chief, whereby places, persons, or property could be rendered unapproachable by other than the lawful owner.

The breach of this law has always been the greatest violation of propriety and public feeling of which a native or foreigner could be guilty. When young girls were betrothed at an early age, either to boys of corresponding years or to older persons, such females were _tabooed_. This insured chast.i.ty until they had reached a marriageable age. As this betrothal system was almost exclusively confined to chiefs, it follows that the obligation to chast.i.ty was very limited. The farther inference would be, that chast.i.ty was a.s.sociated rather with property in the female than propriety in the woman.

Another inst.i.tution of the South Sea Islanders was that of the _Areoi_.

These were a body of men and women banded together for certain purposes, which had originally been of a religious character. They had probably been once _Obi_ men, medicine-men, or wizards, as among the negroes and Indians. The custom, so often observable among heathen nations, of incorporating amus.e.m.e.nts and festivities into religious rites, had been taken up by these Areoi, and in process of time they degenerated into mere mimes or buffoons, and yet preserved to themselves by prescriptive right all the immunities and privileges otherwise accorded to priests. They traveled about from place to place, and sometimes from island to island.

Their observances yet retained a trace of their religious origin, inasmuch as they commenced with a sacrifice to the G.o.ds, after which they entertained the people with theatrical performances, in which obscene songs and lascivious dances formed the chief features. They gave dialogues and recitations, in which they freely satirized all cla.s.ses, not excepting the priests. They were every where gladly received, and had a right to free quarters wherever they stopped. It is said the members were usually the handsomest of both s.e.xes, the women being the most profligate among the inhabitants. Tradition maintained that these persons had been originally incorporated by the G.o.ds, and that one of their rules was perpetual celibacy, and that they should have no descendants. This, though it might perhaps in the outset have been a prohibition intended for pure purposes, has ended in the perversion of such an intention. In their present condition, whether degenerate or not, the inhibition is not taken to exclude them from s.e.xual intercourse and enjoyment, but from its natural consequences. Their lives were accordingly most abandoned, and abortion and infanticide were invariably practiced. Nor were their enormities confined to their own body: after their representations the wildest excesses were perpetrated in all quarters. Resistance or retaliation was impossible by the sufferer, on account of the fear these wretches excited by the mysterious powers with which they were accredited, and which were, in reality, the secret affiliations of all the bands.[362]

When performing, the Areoi painted their bodies black and their faces scarlet; they wore dresses of bright-colored plants and flowers. They were divided into several cla.s.ses, named after some particular ornament; and, taking into account the subordinate members of the troops and the attendants who performed the menial offices, they must have been exceedingly numerous. Places were specially built for their reception, and for the greater convenience of their representations.[363]

Candidates for admission into their number were received by secret ceremonies akin to the mysteries of paganism. Solemnities intended to awe the vulgar were performed, and the idea of special reservation of the blessings of a future elysium to these deceivers was promulgated and believed.

The existence of such organized societies could not but be in the highest degree subversive to all order and decency. Accordingly, when the missionaries first arrived, they found the general depravity of morals the greatest difficulty they had to encounter. Obscenity, libidinousness, and incontinence were so ingrafted into the very nature of the people that they seemed almost ineradicable. Accordingly, we find it narrated of an intelligent convert that he expressed his conviction that "the people ought to be induced to discontinue infanticide, human sacrifice, and demon wors.h.i.+p, but that preservation of female virtue and Christian marriage would never be obtained."[364]

The Society Islands are said to have been formerly proverbial, even in Polynesia, for the licentiousness which is still remarkably prevalent among them. The missionary regulations have apparently mitigated the evils, and they have succeeded in establis.h.i.+ng laws on the subject, which are not, however, binding upon strangers. The foreigners who come to these islands, while denouncing the conduct of the inhabitants, are too often the chief instigators to vice, and, finding themselves checked in their misconduct, they vent their disappointment on the missionaries.

The foreign influences at work in these islands are of a two-fold nature; one striving for the improvement of the natives, and the inculcation of virtuous principles, and the encouragement or enforcement of virtuous practices; the other including all the base and sordid pa.s.sions and motives of seamen and whalers bent on the reckless enjoyment of the pa.s.sing hour; of traders and adventurers eager in quest of gain; and among the worst specimens of runaway seamen, and even convicts from the Australian settlements. All these influences combine to check the advancement of the natives.

The beauty of the women in these islands has been much exaggerated.

Commodore Wilkes says,[365] "I did not see among them a single woman whom I could call handsome. They have, indeed, a certain sleepiness about the eyes which may be fascinating to some, but I should rather ascribe the celebrity which their charms have acquired among navigators to their cheerfulness and gayety." Others, who visit them with equally cool judgment, tell us that they were disappointed in their appearance, for "there were few who could be called handsome; nevertheless, they had eminent feminine graces, their manners being affable and engaging, their step easy and graceful, their behavior free and unguarded, their temper mild, gentle, and unaffected, slow to take offense, easily pacified, seldom retaining resentment or revenge, whatever the provocation."[366]

There can be no doubt that their demeanor was winning and affable, and their conduct sportive and playful. Their industry was not very great, the few wants of the islanders being amply supplied by nature. The women prepared the poe from the bread-fruit and the ava, and, till Europeans introduced the hog, this was their usual diet, if we except the cannibal feasts of the warriors, in which the women took no part. The female occupations were weaving flowers and gra.s.ses into garlands and mats. Their chief amus.e.m.e.nt was paddling the canoe or sporting in the surf, for all the islanders took to the water, and the women were, perhaps, from the greater buoyancy of their persons, better swimmers than the men. Before the arrival of the missionaries, it was customary for the women to swim out to a s.h.i.+p and swarm on board, where scenes of debauchery and indecency commenced, lasting as long as the vessel lay in the harbor, and the fascination of which worked so powerfully on the excited pa.s.sions of the seamen that desertions and mutiny were continually occurring.

The earliest intercourse of whites has never yet been beneficial to the untutored savage, and, had these occurrences only taken place on board the s.h.i.+ps of foreigners, it might have been laid to the account of foreign corruption. But this was not the case. The gains derivable from the white men's visits might give profligacy a greater zest for both s.e.xes of the natives, for indiscriminate intercourse was a time-worn inst.i.tution ere yet the European came.

The South Sea Islanders are no exception to the general rule of keeping their women in a subordinate and inferior condition. A chief is sometimes _taboo_, and his women may not approach him; he may see them when he pleases; at all times the woman is in bondage. Those of the chief live in separate apartments from their master, and are not permitted to a.s.sociate with him on equal terms excepting when the female is of high blood. In this case she is perfectly independent, can exercise the same powers as her husband, and in some particulars can even throw off her allegiance to him.

Polygamy was, and still is, practiced among the chiefs. Even where missionary influences have been successful, the chiefs look upon the abolition of polygamy as a most objectionable innovation. They look back to their past liberty with regret, and can not understand why they are restricted to one wife. Polygamy could, of course, only be practiced by the powerful at the expense of the weak. Already, from various causes operating among savages there was a preponderance of males over females, rendered still more great by polygamy. This again depreciated female virtue, justifying illicit intercourse to those who lived in forced celibacy, and in its consequences came concealment and infanticide. To such an extent was illicit intercourse carried, that some writers a.s.sert that no girl ever reached the age of p.u.b.erty a virgin. The nature of the marriage bond is very uncertain. The husband could get rid of the wife at pleasure. There seems to have been a slight distinction between marriage and concubinage. Most of these social inst.i.tutions are extended over all the islands alike, with very few local differences. Infanticide, for example, has been practiced in most of the islands, but not invariably so.

At Tutuila,[367] one of the Samoan group, it had never obtained.

Circ.u.mcision was common among most of the natives.

Among the Samoans the women are treated with consideration.[368] The men do all the hard work, even to cooking, while the women perform only in-door labor, attend to the children, and prepare the food for the fire.

In the Sandwich Islands there is no such chivalrous sentiment. At the arrival of the missionaries there were no marriage inst.i.tutions among them. The only laws were such as to regulate somewhat their licentiousness. There were traditions to show that at some past time, before the discovery of the island, the marriage tie had been held in respect by the natives, and that the marriage ceremony had been an important one. At present, personal chastis.e.m.e.nt of the wife by her husband is not infrequent, and it is spoken of by them as a matter of course.

The relations of parents to children differed much at different periods.

The Samoans seem to have been the most observant of moral obligations and natural ties. Among them it was the usage of the mothers to suckle the children for several years, and to bring them up with great care and attention, so much so that a crippled child was sometimes discreditable as evincing a degree of culpable carelessness in the mother.

The Society and Sandwich Islanders, whose lives were habitually dissolute, shunned all trouble which interfered with their freedom of intercourse, and children were considered especially burdensome. Infanticide prevailed to a frightful extent among them, and, as if the ordinary dissoluteness of the people had not been ample inducement to this most flagitious crime, the tyranny of the rulers invented a poll-tax, in whose operation children over ten were included. The poorer inhabitants of these blissful regions, who already felt the rod of oppression too severely, found in this an additional motive to child-murder. But in its operation it was even more cruel than infanticide, for many children who had been suffered to live were put to death as they approached the period when they would be liable to taxation. The murder was consummated sometimes by the parents, at times mercifully, and at times horribly. There were a cla.s.s of persons who practiced child-murder professionally.

In the Samoan group the girls are often early betrothed, without reference to years, the girl being taboo until of marriageable age. During the intervening period the bridegroom acc.u.mulates property. The marriage festival is held with all circ.u.mstances of uproar and debauchery, and the guests stay as long as there is any thing to eat. The consummation of the marriage and the virginity of the bride are published by the proofs required in the Jewish law.

When a man in this group wishes to take a wife, he must ask the chief's consent. This obtained, he presents to the girl of his choice a basket of bread-fruit, by accepting which she accepts the donor. The husband then pays the parents a sum of money for her, according to her rank and estimation; sometimes the courts.h.i.+p is to the family, without consulting the girl, who is expected to conform to her parents' will in the matter.

A Samoan may repudiate his wife and marry again on certain conditions, but the woman may not leave her husband without his consent.

Adultery among the Samoans was formerly punished by death, and the marriage vow is strictly observed by them. It is considered highly discreditable for a young woman to form a connection with a native before marriage, although temporary intercourse with a foreigner is not considered objectionable. It may be that such a distinction is in compliment to the conceded superiority of the white; but the explanation of a chief would rather put the question on convenience than morality, for he objected to native young men as always hanging about the premises, and attaching themselves to the young woman, whereas the foreigner gave his presents and sailed away when the period of his stay was ended, leaving the object of his choice free again.

The Marquesas Islands have a singular inst.i.tution, similar to one prevalent among the ancient Lacedaemonians. A woman has more than one husband. This has been called polyandrism, but it does not seem precisely such. A wife of a young warrior unknown to fame is honored by the advances of a more distinguished individual, by whom children may be begotten. The superior chief takes the wife and her lawful husband under his protection and into his hut.

The population of some of the districts in the Sandwich Islands is rapidly decreasing. By a register kept in Hawaii, it appears there are three deaths to one birth. This disproportion is attributed to low habit of body, the consequence of venereal disease. Syphilis was introduced into these islands by Cook's expedition, and the whole of the natives in some districts are now said to be reduced to a morbid, sickly state, many of the women being incapable of child-bearing, and but few of the children attaining maturity.

There are other concurrent causes to contribute toward this decay, among which the difference of food, and the introduction of clothing, and consequent diminution of ablution among a people who spent half their lives in the water, are not unimportant; but the district of Hanapepe, where the decrease was most rapid, was that in which the virus was first introduced, and here it is still most virulent in its action and effects.

Whatever the causes, the same effect is in powerful operation, though not to the same depopulating extent, in other places. At Waialua, in 1832, the population was 2640; in 1835 it had fallen to 2415. There had been no war nor epidemic. It was the ordinary condition of the people. Sterility and abortion are considered the most potent causes. Abortion is very common, and there are cases in which women have had six or seven, and sometimes ten in as many years, and no children.[369]

Personal and mutual abuse had been much practiced in early life among the settlers, and is a cause of sterility.

Previous to 1840, infanticide was, as we have shown, common. But here, as elsewhere, the marriage regulations which have been enforced by the missionaries and adopted by the converted natives are already operating in a reactionary manner against the decrease of population, and infanticide is almost unknown. The poll-tax for children over ten years of age has been repealed, and in its stead premiums are given for rearing large families of legitimate children.

It is admitted by all that licentiousness prevails extensively among the people even at present, but to a far less degree than formerly, when promiscuous intercourse was universal. Men were living with several wives, and _vice versa_. All improvement in this respect is to be ascribed to the labors of Christian missionaries. To them the Sandwich Islanders owe their moral code, and the enactment of laws respecting marriage, as well as their political inst.i.tutions.

The observance of outward morality and decency of behavior has, as we have mentioned, been made compulsory in those islands in which the missionaries have permanently fixed themselves, and acquired sufficient power to make their regulations respected. They have interdicted public gatherings for the purpose of amus.e.m.e.nt, and even suppressed private games and diversions. This has been objected to as an interference with innocent recreation and pastime, and as encouraging formalism.

But the missionaries had no choice in the matter. Paganism was deeply rooted in the daily life and habits of the people. In all religious festivals, feasting, dancing, and diversion formed so prominent a part, that the only method of eradicating the attachment of the people to their heathen practices was to abolish the usages which made the wors.h.i.+p attractive. The dances are always immodest, often lascivious and grossly indecent. They consist of little more than contortions and twistings of the limbs and body, and of throwing themselves into postures which, as they are mostly performed by females, are highly conducive to immorality.

Even among the Samoans, the dances, as performed by the women, are of the same libidinous character with the others, though the dances of the men are not indecorous.

The diseases generally prevalent are skin affections. From the delightful climate and simple diet of the people, these are not of a very severe character. The islanders have been no gainers in this respect by their intercourse with Europeans. The venereal disease has been introduced, and, from the deficiency of medical treatment, makes great ravages.

Secondary syphilis is sometimes severe. At Tutuila, one of the Samoan group, it is said that venereal disease is entirely unknown, while in the other islands of the group it is very rare.

Political circ.u.mstances; the introduction of new elements into Polynesian life; the daily increasing intercourse between the islanders and foreigners, all contribute to make the alterations in the social aspects of the South Sea Islands very rapid, so that every year may work new changes. Some recent writers affect to doubt the benefits of missionary labors among the islanders, who, as they say, have been thereby diverted from their innocent and simple habits of life; in place of which, it is alleged, a harsh and hypocritical austerity has been adopted; the purity of their morals and the vigor of their const.i.tutions have been sapped and destroyed by the contact with Europeans and Americans, and the whole result of foreign intercourse has been unmixed evil. We reject these conclusions, as savoring too strongly of party prejudice and cla.s.s antipathies. The tendency of the Gospel always is to purify and elevate savage tribes. The missionaries have, perhaps, overestimated and overstated the extent of benefit accomplished by them, and the gayety and cheerfulness, so pleasing in appearance to the casual visitor, yet so deceptive in reality, may have been diminished. But the purity of savage life is a delusion, and something has been achieved if only an outward conformity to the laws and dictates of Christianity has been produced.

WEST INDIES.

A very slight notice of the West Indies will suffice, for of the savage races scarcely a vestige remains; of the negro population a general view is all that is required, and the civilized colonists retain so much of the impress of the countries whence they came as to require no special remarks. When Columbus first visited these beautiful islands, he found them inhabited by two cla.s.ses of men--the savage Caribs, who delighted in war and preyed upon the weaker tribes; and the simple communities, whose pacific habits made them victims of their violent neighbors. The people were alike distinct in the treatment of women. The peaceful islanders admitted females to a partic.i.p.ation in all the delights of their rural life, allowing them to mingle in the dance, to inherit power, and to share all their pleasures. Among the cannibal Caribs a different fas.h.i.+on prevailed. The handsomest of their war-prisoners were retained as slaves, the rest were drowned. The lot of these exiles, as of the Carib women themselves, was hard enough. The nation was low and barbarous, and its women were treated accordingly, the men regarding them as an inferior race, whose degradation was only natural. A wife was her husband's slave, and all the drudgery of life fell upon her. She approached him with abject humility, and, if she ever complained of ill-usage, it was at the risk of her life; her children, however, were loved and watched with tender care.

The original inhabitants of the West Indian islands have disappeared, and are succeeded by a mixture of races, of whom the negroes claim our attention now. Among the blacks of Antigua, as an example, immorality is characteristic. Infanticide is frequently practiced, even since the Emanc.i.p.ation Bill was pa.s.sed. The reason for this is clear. Under slavery, negroes could not contract a legal marriage; they therefore cohabited, and the union lasted as long as their affection or appet.i.te existed. No disgrace attached to a woman who had borne children to several men. Now an idea of female virtue has been awakened, and they seek to escape the consequences of an illicit amour by destroying its offspring, upon the principle that where no tangible evidence of a crime exists, no crime has been committed.

During slavery, concubinage was general; and although many masters offered rewards to such as lived faithfully with one partner, the vice was all but universal, and a permanent engagement between a man and woman was seldom formed. Two females frequently lived with one man, one being considered his wife, and the other his mistress. When the negroes were emanc.i.p.ated in 1834, many were anxious to be legally married, and others put away the partners of their compulsory servitude and took new companions. Bigamy was not uncommon then, nor is it rare now, many devices being adopted to elude the stringent laws on this matter. Concubinage is less general than formerly, but the marriage covenant is by no means respected, nor is chast.i.ty much esteemed.

In St. Lucia s.e.xual intercourse was unrestrained and almost promiscuous, and the negroes of the island are, even to this day, averse to matrimony and inclined to concubinage. In either relation they are equally faithless, the only redeeming feature being love of their children.