It is on the subject of female chastity of all others,
that there is the greatest disparity in the manners
of the Indian islanders amonog themselves. Amonog
the people of Sumatra, among the Malayan states,
in Borneo and the Peninsula, and among the people
of Bali and Celebes, a nice regard to female virtue
prevails. In Java alone, there is a very general
laxity, and frequently a great dissolution of morals,
on this point. In all the countries of the Archipelago,
divorces may, by law or custom, be readily
obtained. But, in all but Java, they are very seldom
sued for ; in Java there is a very wantonness
was a good law; so there was a great dispute among them
about it. But one of the general’s women said positively, that
our law was better than theirs, and made them all silent by
the reason which she gave for it. This was the war queen,
as we called her, for she did always accompany the general
whenever he was called out to engage his enemies, but the rest
did not.
“ By this familiarity among the women, and by often discoursing
with them, we came to be acquainted with their customs
and privileges. The general lies with his wives by turns,
but she by whom he had the first son has a double portion of
his company ; for when it comes to her turn, she has him two
nights, whereas the rest have him but one. She with whom
he is to lie at night, seems to have a particular respect shewn
her by the rest all the precedent d ay ; and, for a mark of distinction,
wears a striped silk handkerchief about her neck, by
which wc knew who was queen that day.”— Dampier s Poy-
ages, Vol. I. p. S67, 368.
6
on this point, which in some cases is hardly short
of absolute prostitution. The caprice which gives
rise to them most frequently originates with the
women. It is not unfrequent to see a woman who,
before she is thirty, has divorced three or four husbands
; I remember one case being pointed out to
me of a woman, who, at the moment, was living
with her twelfth mate. In Java food is abundant,
and the women being laborious, careful, and industrious,
can earn a subsistence independent of the men,
while the latter are infinitely more tame and servile
than any other people of the Archipelago.
Does this state of things, and the absence of good
morals and education to counteract it, give rise to
the singular libertinism of the Javanese women?
In the intercourse of the sexes the greatest dissolution
of morals prevails among the higher ranks,
and chiefly in the great native towns of Java.
In these circumstances intrigues are frequent, and
some ladies of the very highest rank have been
known to have their paramours almost publicly,
and often with the connivance of the husband.
Jealousy of their females cannot well be said to
be a vice of the character of any of the Indian islanders.
This is shown satisfactorily in the publicity
allowed to the women,—in the men rendering
them the subjects of conversation,—and in direct
contradiction to the practice of the nations of con