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Untrodden Fields of Anthropology

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34 views393 pages

Untrodden Fields of Anthropology

Uploaded by

Bamidele
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized

by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the


information in books and make it universally accessible.

https://books.google.com
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

3 1822 00693 7262


LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGO
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

GN
3 1822 00693 7262

479

X 22

1898

Central University Library


University of California, San Diego
Note: This item is subject to recall after two weeks.

Date Due

UCS 1D .
199

LO1991
OCT 29
AN

DEC 0 2 1991
U. C. S. D.

JUN 0 1 2003
JAN 3
INTERLIBRARNEGOAN

U.C.S.B

MAY 1 9 2004
SEP 0
REC T
INTERLIBRARY LO AN
35 64 6
144137FA RED
41062

CI 39(1/91) UCSD Lib.


UNTRODDEN FIELDS

OF

ANTHROPOLOGY
always true, always
ture understands no jesting ; she is
Naature

serions, always severe; she is always right, and the errors and faults.

are always those of man. im, who is incapable of appre-


Him,

ciating her, she despises, and only to the apt, the pure and the

true, does she resign herself and reveal her secrets.

GOETHE .

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together ;

our virtues would be proud if our faults whipped them not, and our

crimes would despair if they were not cherished by our virtues.

SHAKESPEARE, (All's Well, IV, 3.)


al . Jacobe X, pseud.

DOCUMENTS ON MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

UNTRODDEN FIELDS
OF

ANTHROPOLOGY

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ESOTERIC

Manners and Customs of Semi- Civilized Peoples ;


BEING A

RECORD OF THIRTY YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN

ASIA, AFRICA, AMERICA


and OCEANIA.

BY A FRENCH ARMY- SURGEON.

(IN TWO VOLUMES)

VOL. I

[All Rights Reserved]

PARIS
Librairie de MÉDECINE , FOLKLORE ET ANTHROPOLOGIE
13 FAUBOURG MONTMARTRE, 13
1898
THIS EDITION OF

UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

REPRINTED FROM THE CHARLES CARRINGTON


SECOND (Enlarged) EDITION
PARIS , 1898
IS LIMITED TO 300 COPIES FOR AMERICA
AND TO 200 COPIES FOR England
AND THE CONTINENT

THIS COPY IS NUMBER

11
THE EDITOR'S FOREWORD
πάντα καθαρὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς.

Periculosum est credere et non credere ;


Ergo exploranda est veritas multum prius
Quam stulta prave judicet sententia.

PHAED. 3, 10.
THE EDITOR'S FOREWORD .

When the first edition of this little book appeared we


had no idea that it would excite so many different com-
ments and various conflicting criticisms. From all parts
of the world, men whose opinion is worth caring for,
wrote and thanked us for the step we had taken, saying
6
that such a work supplied a distinct want . The little
cloud out of the sea no bigger than a man's hand " grew
to a size beyond our hopes, and our edition strictly limited
to 500 copies , rapidly ran out. The " note " however
most generally harped upon by our kind correspondents
was that concerning the absence of references to the
authorities cited here and there in the two volumes . It
was pointed out that while there could be no doubt as
to the authenticity of the names quoted , yet many students
and scholars preferred , when possible, to turn up and con-
sult the original works and documents for themselves. We
have therefore supplied this deficiency ; our only fear now,
is that we · may perchance have overstepped the mark, and
gone to the other extreme. Our aim has been to be use-
ful and experts alone can judge whether we have
succeeded. It is not for us to sound our own praises .
In announcing the first edition of this work we
issued a little leaflet which later gave rise to more than
one misunderstanding, many people supposing it to be a
IX
X UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

different work entirely apart from " UNTRODDEN Fields of


ANTHROPOLOGY . "
The leaflet in question was headed as under, the dif-
ference of the title no doubt being the cause of the mischief:

"REMARKABLE STUDY
OF THE

' SIXTH SENSE ' (1)

And its Strange and Curious Manifestations and Aberrations


among Barbarous Races. New and original work in
English, issued to Private Subscribers only."

We then followed with an English translation of the


AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE FRENCH EDITION and we think
it will not be out of place to reproduce textually here
the weighty words of the French Traveller. Some incon-
siderate persons, on the principle of " giving a dog a bad
name and hanging him at once, " have, on the mere fact
that the book issued from Paris, imagined , without exam-
ination, that our work was of an improper character. We
appeal to the judgment of sensible men whether the fol-
lowing words are those of a writer of indecent literature ;
and we have no fear of their verdict. -- He says : -

(1 ) We are far from being the first to use this phrase. Jacolliot
says " The most ancient traditions of India, the cradle of Humanity
and of Religions, mention and admit a sixth sense. To man,
Brahma gave five organs, -Touch, Sight, Smell, Taste, Hearing and
a sixth, admitted by all Indian philosophers and called " Mamas " ,
which is the agent of the union of the sexes. -The Sankhyan phi-
losophy defines it as follows :-" An organ by affinity, participating
in the qualities of the others , and which serves at once for sensation
and action. " L. JACOLLIOT, La Bible dans l'Inde, Vie de Jezeus
Christna (Paris, 1876).
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XI

" I have passed twenty-eight years of my life amongst diverse


races, in all the five great divisions of the World. By giving my
professional services to the natives of each place I visited , and by
studying their language,. I was able to gain their confidence, and
learn much about their customs, manner of living, habits, etc.
Having made diseases of the genito-urinary organ my speciality, I
was often consulted in these cases, and therefore collected much
valuable information.
I was not merely satisfied with observing the effect of the human
passions, but it appeared to me indispensable to trace these passions
back to their moral causes, and make a psychological study of those
causes .
Whilst following in foreign countries the path of science which
has been already traced by that eminent authority, Tardieu, I have
avoided trenching on the ground covered by his remarkable Medico-
Legal Study of Offences against Morals. I have chosen a wider
field for my enquiries. Like Moreau (of Tours), I believe in a sixth
sense, the Genital Sense, the existence of which he has psychologic-
ally proved, by showing that its special functions were distinct
from those of the other senses. It is the philosophical and medical
study of this sixth sense that I had in view in compiling this work ;
and also an examination of those changes and irregularities which
this sense undergoes, not only under the influence of temperament
and constitution in the various races, but from manners, customs,
and religious superstitions.
This is not an obscene work, but a psychological sketch of the
history of the sexual passions of the human race ; -a stone towards
the building of a vast edifice which, as yet, is hardly commenced .
And besides the medico-legal view of the question , I have made a
thorough research into, and philosophical examination of, the original
causes .
I have seen nearly all that I here relate, and have never hesitated
to tell what I believed to be the truth. That which I have not seen
I have derived from eye-witnesses who were worthy of credit . I
have probed the depths of the human hearts of my patients, and
too often found them cankered, and - conscious of my honest inten-
tions I have illuminated them with the torch of Philosophy. What
I say may be believed .
I have written for a small number of studious, thinking people,
seekers after the immutable truth, which is here presented to them
X11 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

unveiled, stripped of the rags of conventionality. I have thus been


able to boldly reveal that which it would have been impossible to
write in an ordinary book of travels, which might, and ought to be,
put into the hands of anyone.
Moreover, I have sought, and I believe I have succeeded (by a
careful use of medical terms), in making my meaning clear without
overstepping the bounds of decency. "
Our work as far as we are aware, is absolutely unique
in its kind . Of course, many little pamphlets have been
written, with imposing titles but which were undocu-
mented, and lacking entirely in scientific value . To judge
for example, from the following array of words one would
be led to think that an important treatise was forth-
coming. We give the full title of this worthless produc-
tion only as representative of many others of its class ,
equally misleading :

MŒURS ORIENTALES.

LES HUIS-CLOS DE L'ETHNOGRAPHIE .

DE LA CIRCONCISION DES FILLES - VIRGINITÉ --INFIBULATION --


GÉNÉRATION - EUNUQUES - SKOPZIS - CADENAS -CEINTURES,

PAR

E. ILEX

LONDRES
Imprimerie particulière de la Société d'Anthropologie
et d'Ethnologie comparées.
MDCCCLXXVIII

It is needless to say this fumisterie was no more printed


in London for any " Anthropological Society " than it was
printed in the Moon for a Society of Escaped Lunatics .
Apart from a few stupid illustrations, wretchedly done ,
and all very much alike, there was no reason to conceal
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XIII

its place of origin, unless it was supposed that in sur-


rounding the farce with an air of mystery, the gudgeons
would be better attracted .
Our aim in Untrodden Fields " has been precisely the
same as that had in view by Sir Richard F. Burton, who
was not afraid to illustrate his books on Travels and
Voyages, with facts and observations of real anthropo-
logical value. We cannot do better than allow Sir Richard
to speak in his own words ; the extract is from his inter-
"
esting Foreword " to the original Benares edition of
The Thousand Nights and a Night " :
" These volumes afford me a long-sought opportunity of noticing
practices and customs which interest all mankind and which " Society "
will not hear mentioned.
" Grote, the historian, and Thackeray, the novelist, both lamented
that the bégueulerie of their countrymen condemned them to keep
silence where publicity was required ; and that they could not even
claim the partial licence of a Fielding and a Smollet. Hence a
score of years ago I lent my best help to the late Dr. James Hunt
in founding the Anthropological Society, whose presidential chair I
first occupied (pp . 2-4 Anthropologia. London, Bailliere vol. I.,
No. I, 1873).
" My motive was to supply travellers with an organ which would
rescue their observations from the outer darkness of manuscript, and
print their curious information on social and sexual matters out of
place in the popular book intended for the Nipptisch, and indeed
better kept from public view.
" But hardly had we begun when ' Respectability ' , that whited
sepulchre full of all uncleanness, rose up against us. ' Propriety '
cried us down with her brazen blatant voice, and the weak- kneed
brethren fell away. Yet the organ was much wanted, and is wanted
still. " BENARES (original) Edition pp . xviii to xix.
We printed these lines in a small leaflet and sent it
to most of the subscribers to the book with the following
remarks :
Mr. Charles Carrington's object is precisely the same in Un-
trodden Fields of Anthropology ' , and all observations his Corre-
XIV UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

spondents care, in the interests of Anthropology, to send him, will


either be incorporated in a new and enlarged edition of the above-
named work, or if of sufficient bulk and length, will be published
separately under the title of Anthropologia ".
To these lines we added the undermentioned notice :

" CRITICISMS AND OBSERVATIONS INVITED "


" Medical, scientific, and literary men, and Travellers, especially
those who reside Abroad and in the Colonies, who have read
'Untrodden Fields of Anthropology ', are respectfully and earnestly
invited to contribute their Criticisms, whether favourable or other-
wise to Mr. Charles Carrington, 13, Faubourg Montmartre, Paris,
with a view to an enlarged and revised Edition of this work..
Of course, it is unnecessary to add that while the Editor will be
pleased to publish such criticisms over the name of the contributor,
he is also prepared to reproduce them , if of sufficient weight and
importance, without disclosure of name, and the anonymity would
where requested, be strictly and steadfastly guarded. "

We are pleased to say that many Doctors and scientific


men responded to this appeal for co - operation in our in-
tellectual enterprise, and generously sent in and left
entirely at our disposal a collection of valuable and
curious notes and observations which we hope one day to
embody in a new work, to form a sequel to the present
one, but we shall first have to arrange them in systematic
order.
Some of these notes however, have been incorporated
in the present edition.
The late Dr. Ploss the learned Author of Das Weib
in der Natur und Völkerkunde was fully alive to the
importance of the study of the organs of generation of
both sexes as comparative points of radical differences ,
and agrees with us that this entrancing subject so vital
in its results, is not sufficiently studied in its details , by
the professional Anthropologist. We prefer to give his
own words :
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XV

" Die Anthropologen haben sich mit großem Eifer mit den
Kraniologischen und den Physiognomischen Eigenthümlichkeiten der
Menschenrassen beschäftigt.. Allein der Kopf und das Gesicht bieten
vielleicht nicht bedeutendere Ethnographische Vergleichungspunkte dar,
als wir sie bei den weiblichen Geschlechtstheilen mit allem was dazu
gehört zu finden vermögen. Man hat über die Besonderheiten im
Bau der aüßeren Sexualorgane nur bei einzelnen Völkerschaften
genauere Nachforschungen angestellt ; denn es ist eben schwer, eine
genügende Zahl von Objekten zu bekommen und einer Betrachtung,
oder gar einer genauen Meßung zu unterwerfen. Die Anthropo-
logische Bedeutung der Sache verdient es aber, daß wir das
Material, so weit es schon vorhanden ist, an dieser Stelle zusammen
bringen." ( 1)
(" DAS WEIB ", Vol I, page 183.)

What is Anthropology ? What are its aims and objects ?


Has it any practical and beneficial bearing on daily life ?
These are undoubtedly the questions that will occur to
a thinking man whose attention is directed to this matter.
The field of Anthropology is very wide - one may say
without exaggeration as wide as the world of man is
wide for it concerns and embraces man in all the various
branches and ramifications of his life. Its subject and
object is at once Humanity. The reader will pardon us

(1) We subjoin a translation of this passage : --.


Anthropologists have very busily occupied themselves with the
craniological and physiognomical peculiarities of the human races.
But the head and the face do not perhaps present more important
ethnographic points of comparison than we can find in the female
sexual organs, with all pertaining thereto. It is only among a few
races that exact studies have been undertaken of the peculiarities in
the structure of the exterior sexual organs, for it is indeed difficult
to obtain a sufficient number of subjects willing to submit to be
examined, and still less so, to be measured. Nevertheless the
anthropological importance of the matter deserves that we should
here bring together as much of the material as already exists. "
XVI UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

for quoting a few lines here from the short " Preface " to
the first edition : --

" Hackneyed as the quotation is, that K THERE ARE MORE THINGS IN
HEAVEN AND EARTH THAN ARE DREAMT OF IN OUR PHILOSOPHY " , the
appearance of this book will but give it fresh point and force.
Anthropology is a name for all that relates to Man in general;
his Vices and Virtues, Loves and Longings, Hates and Failings ,
Passions and Peculiarities. The subject, as yet , is only in its Infancy.
Able and brilliant writers have, however, dealt with phases of it in
a style. that defies competition . EDWARD TYLOR in " PRIMITIVE
CULTURE has analysed Man's Dream-life and traced the Evolution
of the Gods from their birth in the agonies of Fear and Hope
down to the present stage of what Cotter Morrison has cleverly
termed the deanthropomorphisation of the god-idea " ; DARWIN in
his famous DESCENT " has traced his Evolution from the proto-
plasmic, formless mass of pre-historic periods ; while LUBBOCK,
CLODD, and a host of others have envisaged him from various inter-
esting standpoints, but No WRITER save, perhaps the German, Ploss ,
has yet handled the ESOTERIC phases of barbarous life as the Author
of these fascinating pages . That " TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION "
is borne home upon the reader's mind with repeated impressiveness .
The Crimes and Loves, Vices , Virtues and Indecencies of Savage
and Barbarous Life, are painted by a master's hand on a strong
canvas of facts drawn from personal observation and native chron-
icles-those naïve accounts which, without embarrassment, CALL
A SPADE A SPADE ".

Auguste Comte was not blind to the proper province of


our study, he says : -

" Perhaps Sociology may be easily looked on as absorbing


into itself Biology as its introduction , Morals as its con-
clusion . When the word Anthropology shall be in more
common and sounder use, it will be a better name for
the three sciences which collectively have man as their
6
object, as its literal meaning is THE STUDY OF MAN ! ' "
The pursuit of this science in the past has been too much
dwarfed and confined . The President of the Anthropo-
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XVII

logical Department of the British Association at Brighton,


(1872), used these words :-
" As to the myths, religions, superstitions and languages
with which they (the material relics of our prehistoric
ancestors) were associated, we may content ourselves by
devoutly thanking Providence that they have not been
preserved. " (1)
Needless to add that this is not the position taken by
our author. It would be an insult to the intelligence of
our readers to ask which of the two should most be
valued -the moral and social ideas , palpitating with the
life-blood of the past- or the flint weapons and skeleton
outlines of the prehistoric man. Let there be no mis-
understanding here. We recognise well enough the value
of flint implements and other discoveries as proving man's
age upon the earth, (2) but we contend that fuller justice
should be shown to the social side of Anthropology.
Mr. Luke O. Pike in his valuable paper on the " Methods
of Anthropological Research " , sets his face resolutely
against all balderdash of this sort. His words are worth
quoting :-

" It is impossible to lay too much stress on the fundamental


doctrine, that all Anthropology has for its end the good of the
human beings of the present and the human beings of the future.
" Anthropology means the collection of facts, not for the sake of
the facts themselves, but for the value of the laws to be discovered
in them for the sake of future generations to be benefited by them.
It means, if not peace on earth, at least goodwill towards men ;

(1 ) We should be loth to believe that these foolish words were


authentic, were they not quoted on the faith of Joseph Kaines
4
(Vide Anthropologia, " page 33, London, 1873-5).
( 2 ) We bear particularly in mind the use this side of the subject
has been in combating the pernicious doctrine of Man's theological
Fall (Vide vol. I, page 284, of Andrew White's · Warfare of Science
with Theology " LOND. MACMILLAN, 1896).
XVIII UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

and it would mean peace on earth if its enemies would allow it to


be at peace. It means the only kind of philanthropy which can be
of service to mankind philanthropy founded upon science. ” (1)

We claim no finality for the work now issued . Even


in its present enlarged forms it is offered to scientific
students with much " fear and trembling. " We know it
is incomplete, while conscious of our inability to fill up
the lacunae. Let it be regarded as a pioneer effort rather
than as a finished treatise, bearing in mind that all know-
ledge is relative . Some day a greater man, with broader
forehead and braver mind than his fellows will take up
the work where our Author has left it and systematize
his facts with useful results to mankind . In the mean-
time, we are guilty of no blear -eyed egotism in declaring
that our book is unique in its kind, and occupies a place
not filled by any other. We claim that it fully bears out
its curious French title, (2) while in its English dress

( 1) Quoted in (page 35) Anthropologia, " (already cited).


(2) L'AMOUR
AUX COLONIES
SINGULARITÉS
PHYSIOLOGIQUES ET PASSIONNELLES

observées durant trente années de séjour dans les Colonies françaises


Cochin-Chine, Tonkin et Cambodge- Guyane et Martinique-
Sénégal et Rivières du Sud- Nouvelle Calédonie,
Nouvelles-Hébrides et Tahiti.

PAR LE DOCTEUR JACOBUS X ...


ISIDORE LISEUX
PARIS , 1893.
[ This French edition beautifully printed by Unsinger, was issued
at the price of 60 francs in one vol. of 396 pages on hand-made
paper ; only 330 copies were printed, and we believe it is now
somewhat rare.]
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XIX

it is supplemented by a choice variety of notes and facts


which considerably enhance its value. Isidore Liseux, the
Editor of the French edition , would not consent to add
any notes, an omission the reason of which we have never
been able to understand. A work of the present kind is
valuable only in proportion to the documents and authorities
cited as guarantee for its statements . We have given
therefore not only a complete and unexpurgated version.
of the original text, but have added a number of notes
and useful appendices that, we are sure, will not fail to
be of the greatest use to searchers and students. We
believe in fact, that our work will have to be counted
with whenever a writer treats of these subjects in the
future. At the end of the second volume we deal briefly
with a couple of foul attacks - it would be a misuse of
words to call them criticisms - evidently inspired by the
lowest malice that penny-a-liners are capable of. Save
these two beautiful Billingsgate effusions, penned without
doubt, by what St. Paul would have termed " lewd (minded)
fellows of the baser sort, " our little work has been well
and cordially received . The welcome accorded to it was
due above all to the stamp of truth and genuineness to
be found on every page. Those of our subscribers who
may not have seen the prospectus first issued will be
interested to read the following points , which we take
leave to repeat as most clearly explanatory of our position.

The Author's weight.

The Author was a French army surgeon, and in that


capacity was sent by his Government to the different
Colonies about whose people he treats. The book is
consequently not based on hearsay, nor on learned researches
by beslippered Dryasdusts in long- forgotten archives .
As a French officer he had everywhere access to the best
XX UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

society, while his medical duties brought him into contact


with the lower orders. He was thus enabled to study
every class in each community that he visited , and his
observations have therefore a triple value, being the work
of an acute physician, an experienced traveller , and a
broad-minded man-of-the-world.

Depravity of Effete Civilizations.


Greater interest still is attached to the book, from the
fact that the places under consideration lie in out-of-the-
"
way corners of the earth, which the ordinary globe-trotter "
would never dream of visiting. His experiences cover
THIRTY LONG YEARS IN ASIA, AFRICA, AMERICA, and
OCEANIA ; and, with the frankness of a medical student,
he carefully and without fear, examines the effete civiliza-
tions of ANNAM, TONQUIN and CAMBODIA ; laying open as
with a scalpel , and exposing, the vices of people who
have brought depravity almost up to the level of a
fine art.
Questions and Difficulties.
Apart from curious details concerning the manners
and customs of almost unknown peoples and tribes ,
questions are raised and difficulties solved , which must
have occurred to the mind of every thinking man and
woman, but, which hitherto no writer, except in some
purely medical work, has dared to treat as they should
be treated, and the result is a book which is a distinctly
valuable addition to the history of mankind.

Esoteric Physical Peculiarities.


In GUIANA and MARTINIQUE his position as a French
Medical Officer gave him an introduction to the best
CREOLE SOCIETY, and his duties as a surgeon brought him
into contact with the negroes and half-breeds . Esoteric
physical peculiarities , that would escape the notice of an
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXI

ordinary traveller, who had not received a medical educa-


tion , or which he would hardly dare to describe , find
a record in the author's voluminous note-books, whilst
the viveur side of his character displays itself in the
account of the amorous nature of the warm-blooded
Quadroon and Octoroon women.

Refined Sensuality of Society Islanders.


The differences between the Negro in the WEST INDIES
and in his native land , are exhibited in the author's
description of SENEGAL ; and in the last portion of the
book, the reader follows with ever-increasing interest, the
history of the degraded savages of NEW-CALEDONIA and
the NEW HEBRIDES ; or is entranced by the glowing
picture - painted as only French writers seem to know
how -of the voluptuous beauties of the SOCIETY ISLANDS--
the last remaining spot on the earth in which refined
sensuality, akin to that of the old Greeks , still lingers .
Of the esoteric portions of the book it would be impos-
sible to speak in a prospectus which might fall into the
hands of women and children .

Weapons against Social Evils.


The work is divided into Two Volumes, each of some
300 pages, and we undertake to say that the most
indifferent novel-reader will find enough to sustain his
attention from the first page to the last, for the rest,
suffice it to say that the title of " UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF
ANTHROPOLOGY " seems the best that could be selected .
The anthropology, as we have hinted , is never dull, for
the author has had the happy inspiration to deal - not
with dry bones or cranial conformations -but with those
principles which ensure the continuity
of the races he
describes, and which are physically matters of moment
XXII UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

to us who dwell in more civilized climes. Moreover, by


showing us the causes of some of the vices which prevail
amongst savage and semi- civilized peoples, he furnishes
us with valuable weapons wherewith to combat those
social evils, the existence of which amongst us is so
deplored by every right-minded man and woman . "
"
Our foreword " would extend considerably beyond
reasonable limits were we to attempt any delineation of
the Rise and Progress of Anthropological Methods . An
account of these must be sought for in the fascinating
pages of Tylor, ( 1 ) Hunt, (2) Lubbock, (3 ) and other equally
remarkable, if less known, writers whose contributions
have rendered imperishable service to the multifarious
History of Man. But we should be wanting in fairness
to ourselves if we omitted to say a word in conclusion
"
on what may be termed the less happy side of Untrodden
Fields of Anthropology " ; we refer of course to the
sketches we have been obliged to give of subjects gener-
ally tabooed " except in medical circles. We may be
allowed here to quote a few lines written by us with
reference to a previous book (4) and which equally apply
to the present work :-
In reply to those of our detractors who have raised an outcry
against the contents of this book, we say once and for all that it
is not meant for the " general public " but for a select few of private
students, amateurs, and medical men who are interested in the strange
and fanciful vagaries of wayward Human Nature.
A clever modern writer well says : (5) We cannot be good by
pretending not to know evil. When women go mad, the most
innocent, the youngest, the most purely educated often utter the

(1) In Primitive Culture" .


(2) Memoirs of the Anthropological Society of London, (vol . I) .
(3) The Origin of Civilization, London, 1889.
(4) The Secret Cabinet of History (Paris, 1897).
(5) Hain Friswell in his " Essays on English Writers ".
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXIII

most horrid and obscene language ; a proof that to them such evil
has been known ; how acquired, how taught, it is in vain to ask.
What the teacher ought to seek, is, not to blot out and veil iniquity,
since that will always be visible, but to make the heart strong
enough to cast out the evil. ”
For the rest, we call to mind the larger freedom of discussion
now allowed in England and America, when conducted from the
right standpoint ; and we have no fear as to the result. The smug-
faced, hypocrite and canting hirelings of (impure ?) Purity Societies
may take to heart the wise and witty words of a modern French
literator: (1 ) " La pudibonderie, si amusante et si gracieuse chez
la femme, n'est jamais que ridicule chez un mâle ; elle prend mème
un autre nom quand elle atteint les érudits. J'en appelle aux casuistes ."

The sober-minded student will scarcely credit that so


serious a writer as Lombroso has himself had to complain
of this Mock- Modesty in the learned world. In the French
edit. of his book on the Female Criminal and the Pros-
titute " (Paris , Alcan , 1896) , the Italian scientist passes
the following strictures on the expurgating mania.
" We shall perhaps be reproached for having dealt in
too great detail with certain sexual phenomena which
conventional hypocrisy pretends entirely to conceal from
peoples ' eyes ; but far better not to publish this work at all
than to suppress these facts relating to the sexual life ,
the female criminal would , in such case, no longer exist ,
and less still, the prostitute. But, in the English versions
these facts have been omitted and suppressed , with the
result that in its castrated form, the book is undoubtedly
much less conclusive. "
Our book, as we have fully evidenced , is written in a
temperate and scientific spirit. It is moreover, not intended

(1) Octave Uzanne, Le Livre, Mars 1884, p. 138 : - " Bashfulness, so


entertaining and graceful in a woman, is never anything but ridicu-
lous when found in a man ; it calls even for another name when it
lays hold of the learned. I call the casuists to witness to the
truth of this."
XXIV UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

for general circulation. An obscene work is one that is


designed to stir up voluptuous passions where such pas-
sions would not otherwise exist. But the present work
couched as far as possible in technicis terminis can have
no such effect, being the mere recital of certain customs
of barbarous and savage peoples, not dealt with except in
widely scattered works, very difficult of access even to
the leisured and wealthy scholar. That the present treatise
is far removed from a pornographic basis is proved by
the fact that many persons who wrote us for the first
edition, expressed afterwards their disappointment, as they
found the terminology employed too recondite for their
hydrocephalic intelligence, and had evidently expected to
receive something of a very different stamp. Dr. Schrenck-
Notzing (of Münich) points out : - " that the injury done
by implanting knowledge of sexual pathology in unquali-
fied persons is not to be compared with the good accom-
plished . For the physician himself, sexual anomalies ,
treated as they are in a distinct manner in text books
on psychiatry, are in greater part a terra incognita. " ( 1 )
Many eminent men in the past, famous alike for their
sturdy thinking and philosophical acumen, have not con-
sidered such subjects as those discussed in this book,
beneath their notice ; among such we may mention curious
old Dr. Schurigius , Etmuller, Flemming, Paullini , Beck-
herius, Rosinus, Lentilius ; and lastly brave Levinus Lem-
"
Of course, there are people " as Adèle Esquiros
nius . ( 2)
cleverly says : (3) —
" Who if it were given them to dissect a corpse, would

(1) Die Suggestions-Therapie, etc. , F. Enke, Stuttgart, 1892 .


(2) All of these are mentioned in Scatalogic Rites by Capt. John
G. Bourke, (Washington, 1891 ) , in itself a wonderful piece of
contempt of public opinion.
(3) Les Marchandes d'Amour " , (pag. 189) .
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXV

only see one thing, that it was naked . Minds like these
are so unclean that they thereby become stupid , or are
they stupid because they are so unclean? From a book,
however bad it may be (someone has said) there is
always something good to be gained . Take any impure
thing, say a body already in the stage of putrefaction , and
give it to the anatomist, he will not start back in horror,
for science becomes beautiful in proportion as she is useful.
" I take this mass of impurity and subject it to observa-
tion in the crucible of analysis, separating its different
principles and using the knowledge won from the lifeless
clay for the benefit of living man.
" Cannot we create also an intellectual chemistry, seek
how the originally pure elements have become corrupted,
and thus find a way by which they may be transformed
again to their first state ? The elements that we analyse
are filled for weak brains with corrosive venom -let us then
seek to neutralise these bad influences .
" The decomposition of dead bodies we can well prevent,
can we not also stay the decomposition of the human
heart ? If the weak know, if we know, that a given vice
has a bad taste and ' turns but to dead ashes in the
mouth ' , with what happiness should we fly from it. It
is only necessary to see certain phases of degradation
such as they really are, to hold them afterward in hatred. "
Anthropology, as considered in this book, really enters
more into the psychopathology of sexual life than probably
any other work yet written on the same subject.
Such studies should be undertaken only by men- (i.e.
Physicians and Magistrates) —whose duties compel them
to make these matters the object of scientific investigation.
Dr. R. von Krafft-Ebing has offered some weighty remarks
⚫• on this head which are so very pertinent to our point.
that we tender no apology for repeating them :
3
XXVI UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

" It is the sad province of Medicine, " he says , " and


especially of Psychiatry, to constantly regard the reverse
side of life - human weakness and misery. ( 1 )
Perhaps, in this difficult calling, some consolation may
be gained and extended to the moralist, if it be possible
to refer to morbid conditions much that offends ethical
and aesthetic feeling. Thus Medicine undertakes to save
the honor of mankind before the Court of Morality, and
individuals from judges and their fellow-men. The duty
and right of medical science in these studies belong to
it by reason of the high aim of all human inquiry after
truth.
The author would take to himself the words of Tardieu,
who had the courage to deal in his day, with an equally
repulsive subject : " No physical or moral misery, no sore
however corrupt it may be, should frighten him who has
devoted himself to a knowledge of man and the sacred
ministry of medicine ; in that he is obliged to see all
things , let him be permitted to say all things . " ( 2)
Burton, it will be remembered , was attacked in the
Press for having printed his magnum opus, the Thousand
Nights and a Night, which in our humble judgment is
the most wonderful translation ever made from one tongue
into another, and moreover in the truest sense , a deep
" well of English undefiled " . But he held, and justly, that
"A Controversy in the Press with the Press is the con-
troversy of a fly with a spider " . He therefore replied

( 1) Psychopathia Sexualis, with especial reference to Contrary


Sexual Instinct : a Medico -legal study. Seventh edition (Philadelphia ,
1895).
(2) Aucune misère physique ou moralé, aucune plaie, quelque cor-
rompue qu'elle soit, ne doit effrayer celui qui s'est voué à la science
de l'homme; et le ministère sacré du médecin, en l'obligeant à tout
voir, lui permet aussi de tout dire. (Des attentats aux mœurs).
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXVII

"
to the critics in his caustic Reviewers Reviewed " . The
crushing reply is typical of the man. The " Battle of the
Books " says he, has often been fought, the crude text
versus the bowdlerised and the expurgated ; and our critic
can contribute to the great fray only the merest plati-
tudes . There is an old and trusty saying that ' evil com-
munications corrupt good manners , ' and it is a well- known.
fact that the discussion (?) and reading of depraved
literature leads (sic) infallibly to the depravation of the
reader's mind. (Page 179 Edinburgh Review, No. 335
of July 1886 ) .I should say that the childish indecencies
and the unnatural vice of the original cannot deprave any
mind save that which is perfectly prepared to be depraved ;
the former would provoke only curiosity and amusement
to see bearded men such mere babes , and the latter
would breed infinitely more disgust than desire. The
man must be prurient and lecherous as a dog-faced
baboon in rut to have aught of passion excited by either.
" I resolved that, in case of the spiteful philanthropy
and the rabid pornophobic suggestion of certain ornaments
of the Home-Press being acted upon, to appear in Court
with my version of the Nights in one hand and bearing
in the other the Bible (especially the Old Testament , a
free translation from an ancient Oriental work) and
Shakespeare, with Petronius Arbiter and Rabelais by way
of support and reserve . The two former are printed by
millions ; they find their way into the hands of children ,
and they are the twin columns which support the scanty
edifice of our universal home-reading. The Arbiter is
sotadical as Abû Nowás, and the Curé of Meudon is sur-
passing in what appears uncleanness to the eye of outsight,
not of insight. Yet both have been translated, textually
and literally, by eminent Englishmen and gentlemen , and
have been printed and published as an extra series " by
XXVIII UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Mr. Bohn's most respectable firm and sold by Messrs .


Bell and Daldy. And if the Nights are to be bowdlerised
for students , why not, I again ask, mutilate Plato and
Juvenal, the Romances of the Middle Ages, Boccaccio and
Petrarch, and the Elizabethan dramatists one and all ?
What hyprocrisy to blaterate about the Nights in presence
of such triumphs of the Natural ! How absurd to swallow
such camels and to strain at my midge !
" Having failed to free the Anthropological Society from
the fetters of mauvaise honte, and the mock- modesty
which compels travellers and ethnological students to keep
silence concerning one side of human nature (and that
side the most interesting to mankind), I proposed to
supply the want in these pages. The England of our day
would fain bring up both sexes, and keep all ages , in
profound ignorance of sexual and intersexual relations ; and
the consequences of that imbecility are peculiarly cruel and
afflicting. How often do we hear women in Society lamenting
that they have absolutely no knowledge of their own physi-
ology ; and at what heavy price must this fruit of the know-
ledge-tree be bought by the young first entering life.
Shall we ever understand that ignorance is not innocence ?
What an absurdum is a veteran officer who has spent
a quarter- century in the East without learning that all
Moslem women are circumcised , and without a notion of
how female circumcision is effected ; without an idea of
the difference between the Jewish and the Moslem rite as
regards males ; without an inkling of the Armenian process
whereby the cutting is concealed , and without the slight-
est theoretical knowledge concerning the mental and spir-
itual effect of the operation . Where then is the shame
of teaching what it is shameful not to have learnt ? But
the ultra -delicacy, the squeamishness of an age which is
by no means purer or more virtuous than its ruder pre-
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXIX

decessors, has ended in trenching upon the ridiculous.


Let us see what the Modern English Woman and her
Anglo-American sister have become under the working of
a mock-modesty which too often acts as a cloak to real
dévergondage; and how Respectability unmakes what Nature
made. She has feet but no " toes " ; ankles but no
" calves " ; knees but no " thighs " ; a stomach but no " belly "
norbowels " ; a heart but no " hladder " nor " groin " ; a
" "
liver and no kidneys " ; hips and no haunches " ; a bust
and no " backside " nor " buttocks " in fact, she is a
monstrum , a figure fit only to frighten the crows .
" I have no apology to make for the details offered to
the Students of Moslem usages and customs, who will
find in them much to learn and more to suggest the
necessity of learning. In no wise ashamed am I of lec-
turing upon these esoteric matters, the most important
to humanity, at a time when their absence from the novel
of modern society veils with a double gloom the night-
side of human nature. Nay, I take pride to myself for
so doing in the face of silly prejudice and miserable
hypocrisy, and I venture to hold myself in the light of
a public benefactor. In fact, I consider my labours as a
legacy bequeathed to my countrymen at a most critical
time, when England the puissantest of Moslem powers is
called upon, without adequate knowledge of the Moslem's
inner life, to administer Egypt as well as to rule India.
And while Pharisee and Philister may be or may pretend
to be shocked " and " horrified " by my pages, the
sound common- sense of a public, which is slowly but
surely emancipating itself from the prudish and prurient
reticences, and the immodest and immoral modesties of the
early sixth century, will in good time do me, I am con-
vinced, full and ample justice. "
Burton's words in defence of his " Nights " so well-
XXX UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

express our own opinions on these matter that anything


we had written would have been but a far-off and feeble
echo of the same sentiments. This must be our only
apology for so lengthy an extract.
The modern Bayard's lines more than justify the exist-
ence of our book. Were more required , we would add
that should the work even fall into the hands of young
men, no more powerful deterrent to vice could be given
than that which under the heading of prostitution in
China, shows the terrible consequences of promiscuous
intercourse. " God help " the man , young or old , who
catches a dose of syphilis, or confirmed gonorrhoea with
all their nameless and far-reaching results - sometimes
involving the loss of the virile member, the nose ,
and eyesight. This is no place to sermonize, but we
imagine that were sexual education less shirked in England ,
there would be vastly fewer men who, too late, learn the
bitter truth of the Hebrew seer's words , about the " strange
woman, which flattereth with her words, whose feet go
down to death, whose steps take hold on hell, going
down to the chambers of death. " Let men learn about
these things in an open and lawful way, and they will be
less likely to search them out clandestinely. Proscribe
anything-a book or other object —and you at once put
a premium on it. Men, as Napoleon shrewdly observed ,
are but grown - up children " , and after the manner of
children we notice that they howl (in their way) for
anything forbidden them until they get it.
If the false male prudes who fight, with a fanaticism
worthy of Sudanese negroes, against the regulation of vice
in India and at Home, knew what it is to suffer from
the hideous diseases which are bred and spread by their
system, we feel sure they would use their efforts in a
more intelligent direction. In our judgment they are
EDITOR'S FOREWORD XXXI

responsible for the great multitude who go " as an ox


goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of
the stocks till a dart strike through his liver ; as a bird
hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his
life. "
Parent-Duchatelet in his monumental work on Prostitu-
tion has the following sentence :
" What good, in fact, could be effected without the
knowledge of these habits and customs ? It will later on
avoid groping about, and may perhaps suggest to those
who shall come after me, some salutary measures that
our generation had not thought of. "
These words seem singularly applicable to our work,
and we appropriate them because expressive , above all, of
our own aim .

CHARLES CARRINGTON.

February, 1898.
CONTENTS

OF THE

FIRST VOLUME
SECOND EDITION
ANALYTICAL

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART THE FIRST

The Editor's Foreword. • VII-XXXI


Table of Contents . . XXXIII - XL

ASIA

Cochin-China- Tonquin- Cambodia

CHAPTER I.

Cochin-China thirty years ago. - A few words about Saigon


as it was. -Other Asiatic races, besides the Annamites, inhabiting
Cochin-China. - The Hindoos, otherwise known as Malabars.—
Cambodians.- Malays . — Moys .-- Anthropological characteristics
of the Moys. - Chams . -The Tagals of Manilla . - The Chinese
town of Cho-lon. - The Chinese race. -Trades and professions.—
Diversity of anthropological types amongst the Chinese. - The
Minhuongs. A few words on the manners and customs of the
Chinese and Cochin-Chinese.-The Chinese theatre . [Page 1

CHAPTER II.

The origin of the Annamites, otherwise called Giao- Chi-


Anthropological characteristics of the race. - Genital organs of
the Annamites. -Their small size. - The child taken as a basis
of comparison for the medical part of this subject. The little
Annamite girl, and her early loss of virginity. - Woman at the
age of puberty. -The genital organs of the adult. -Franco-
Annamite mongrels . [Page 16
XXXV
XXXVI CONTENTS

CHAPTER III.

Woman's place in Annamite society.--Marriage. -- The legal


age. - Rights and duties of the Annamite woman. - Her charac-
ter.-Adultery. -Its repression. -Left-handed marriages. - Regu-
lations and prohibitions of marriage. - Seven causes for divorce.-
Accouchements. [Page 25
CHAPTER IV.
Other passions besides love in the Annamite. - Gambling.-
Chinese gambling dens. - Baquan, and the gaming houses at
Saigon. The opium passion. -How opium is smoked. - Good
effects of the moderate use of opium. -Nature of the pleasure
caused by opium. [Page 33
CHAPTER V.
Physical love amongst the Annamites. -The most usual methods
of copulation . - Asiatic houses of prostitution.- The Annamite
Bamboo . -Dangers of sexual intercourse in Annam. - Gonorrhoea
and syphilis. -The Chinese brothel . - Life of the Flower- Boat
girls. The whore-houses of Cho-lon.- Habits of old Chinese
debauchees. The Japanese brothel. -Physical characteristics of
the Japanese woman. - The Annamite mistress of the European .
[Page 39
CHAPTER VI.
Mechanical contrivances and aphrodisiacs. -The Chinese hedge-
hog. -The masturbating ball.--The anal violin . - Contrivances
to prevent pregnancy.-Internal aphrodisiacs.-Birds' nest soup.
-Preserved ginger. - Ginseng. - Tripang. -Cubeb pepper. - Ex-
ternal aphrodisiacs.-The Phallus, and stimulating plasters.-
Peculiar effect of opium on the organs of generation.
[Page 97
CHAPTER VII.
Perversions of sexual connection in Annam male prostitution.-
The nay and the boy. - Usual habits of Annamite sodomites.-
The Chinese sodomite. - The shop of Ach .... the Chinese.—
Chinese Erotic literature. -A house of ill-fame for men at
Cho-lon. -Manners of the Chinese actors who play women's parts .
[Page 107
CONTENTS XXXVII

CHAPTER VIII.

Study of the buccal, vulvar, and anal deformities caused by


male and female prostitution in the Annamite race. -The vulva
of the young girl before puberty, and of the Annamite woman ;
signs of the loss of virginity. - Sodomy and pederasty. — Anal
Blennorrhoea. -Signs of inveterate passive sodomy.- The Anal
Infundibulum . - Relaxation of the Sphincter. - Effacement of the
Radiating Folds. - Signs of active pederasty in the Annamite
and the Chinese. -Signs of active and passive pederasty in the
European in Cochin - China. - Signs of Passive Sodomy.
[Page 131
CHAPTER IX .

The European Colony thirty years ago. - The two first


European prostitutes. - Rarity of the European woman . - Moral
causes of the relative frequency of sodomy and pederasty in
those days. - Saigon in the present day. -Increase of the
feminine element. -Nocturnal amusements. -The European pros-
titute. - Great Improvement in the Morality of the Europeans
in Cochin-China. -The Diminution in the Male and Female
Prostitution of the Natives more apparent than Real. - How
the Business is now managed. - The boy and the native collegian .
[Page 149
CHAPTER X.

My visit to Tonquin. -Anthropological characteristics of


the Tonquinese. -The Muongs, and the Xas or Quans. -The
Chinaman, and the Tonquin- Chinese half-breed . - Chinese
Piracy. - Manners , habits, customs, and religion . -Moral charac-
teristics, forms and perversions of sexual passion. -The European
Colony in Tonquin . [Page 164

CHAPTER XI.

My sojourn in Cambodia . - Anthropological characteristics


of the Cambodians. -Organs of generation.- Foreign races
inhabiting Cambodia. -The Malays and Chams. - The Chinese.—
XXXVIII CONTENTS

The Portuguese. - Social Condition of Cambodia.- Decadence of


the Country and of the Kmers . -The Royal Prerogatives before the
French Protectorate. - The Abbaioureach and the Abbareach.—
The Five Ministers.--The Mandarin Class . -The Oath of the
Mandarins. -- The Middle Class. - Free Men . -Slavery. - Habita-
tions, customs, food . - Moral Characteristics of the Cambodians.—
Strange custom at the castration of animals. -Bravery of the
Cambodians. -Hunting the elephant and rhinoceros. - Religion.-
Noro-dom's White Elephant. - Beliefs . - Religious festivals.-
Feast of the dead . -- Human sacrifices.-- Cambodian Legislation
and Justice. - Decay of the race and its causes. - The Kmer
Vulgar Tongue.--The common language and the sacred language.
[Page 173
CHAPTER XII.

Sexual passion, its forms and perversions in the Cambodian


race. - Betrothals. -Two Kmer Proverbs. -Marriage. - Poly-
gamy. Rank of the first wife. - Adultery and its repression. -
Divorce. Adoption . - Manners of the Kmer woman. - The life
of the young girl . -King Noro- dom's harem. -The royal corps
de ballet. Singing and music. -Modes of copulation. -Perversion
of sexual passion. [Page 203

PART THE SECOND

AMERICA

Guiana - Martinique

CHAPTER 1 .

A short stay at Martinique. - Arrival at Guiana. -Yellow-


Fever and its Preventive treatment. - The white Creole of
Cayenne. Prejudice against colour. -The Fashionable world of
Guiana. - Hospitality of the Creole. - The Creole patois.-
Playfulness of the Creole ladies.- " Lou Tafanari " and her
-
" potato " . - The misadventures of a singer of smutty songs.
Fidelity and kindness of the ladies. [Page 215
CONTENTS. XXXIX

CHAPTER II.
The coloured races. - Influence of black blood on the cross
breed with the white. -Octoroons. -Quadroons, Mulattoes, and
Zambos. - Easy morals of the coloured woman. - The pure
Negress.Saturday night to Sunday. - Milady C the Queen
of the golden wrists " .-The musky odour of the Negress.—
The genital organs of the Negro, the Zambo, and the Mulatto.-
The odour of nudity. - The influence of age on the odor fæminæ.-
The awakening of erotic ideas. -Males thrown off the scent as
to the odour of their females during the act of copulation .
[Page 227
CHAPTER III.
The Negress and her sexual lust. - Eroticism of the Negress.-
Methods of copulation. - The Mulatta and the Quadroon.—
Astringent injections. -The Aphrodisiacs used by the Coloured
Women. - The Decoction of " Tightening Wood " . " The Hot
aubergine ".-Dislike of the Negress to Sodomy and other
Vicious Habits .- The Octoroon . -Depraved Lust of the White
man for the Negress. - The beauties of the Coloured woman.-
Permanent Marks of Blood in the Genital Organs of the
Male. -Perversions of Sexual Passions in the Negro and
Coloured Races. [Page 254
CHAPTER IV .
The Hindoos at Guiana.-Laziness of the Black Man of
Cayenne. The hired coolie. - Anthropological characteristics.-
Genital organs of the race. - Comparison of the Genital Organ
of the Negro with that of the Hindoo .-- The four temperaments
of the Hindoo woman. - Perversion of sexual lust [ Page 280

CHAPTER V.
The Penitentiary and its occupants. -Transported Criminals ,
or Old Convicts . -The old convicts . - Their manners and
customs. - Innate liking of the Arab for pederasty. - A crew
under the " Caudine Forks " .-Ferocious lust of the African
Arab. - Active pederasty of the Arab. - Pederasty is principally
a Question of Race. -The Arab's organ of generation.
[Page 292
XL CONTENT
S

CHAPTER VI.

The convict under military law. - Capt. B*** . President of


the Council of War -Curious Cases tried before the Council.-
Angola S***, and her Chemise. - The follox of the Bullock.—
The difference between a bull and a bullock. -The convict who
forced the old Negress. -The Arab who wanted to impale the
Hindoo. -Pederasty amongst Arabs. - Arab Criminal Assaults
and Rape. [Page 308
CHAPTER VII.

My Stay at Martinique. -The whites, called pure Creoles.-


Prejudice against Colour.- The Black race. - Moral characteristics
of the Negress. -The Coloured Race. - The Mulatto. - The
Quadroon girl and her passionate nature. Fricatrices " and
Lesbians. -Depilation. [Page 334
Untrodden Fields of

Anthropology.

PART THE FIRST. -ASIA.

COCHIN-CHINA-TONQUIN -CAMBODIA.

CHAPTER I.

Cochin- China thirty years ago . - A few words about Saigon as


it was. Other Asiatic Races, besides the Annamites, inhabiting
Cochin- China.- The Hindoos, otherwise known as Malabars.--
Cambodians.- Malays. --Moys.- Anthropological characteristics of
the Moys. - Chams. - The Tagals of Manilla.- The Chinese
town of Cho- lon.- The Chinese race. -Trades and professions .
-Diversity of anthropological types amongst the Chinese.—
The Minhuongs. - A few words on the manners and customs
of the Chinese and Cochin- Chinese.-- The Chinese theatre.

Cochin-China thirty Years ago. Cochin-China was


the first colony I visited , and the impressions I retain
of it are like those of a beardless youth for his first
mistress .
I had hardly left the class-rooms of the College of
Medicine, in 186- , than I obtained a post as assistant-
surgeon in the Navy, and was sent to Cochin-China.
I will pass over the varied incidents of a voyage of
I*
2 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

more than two months (the Suez Canal was not then
made), and enter at once upon the study of the manners
and customs of the various races inhabiting Cochin-
China at the period of which I speak. An uninter-
rupted residence of five years in the colony, and a
second visit twenty-five years later, are guarantees
of the correctness of my observations.

A Few Words about Saigon as it Originally


was. The impression produced by Saigon at this
time has been very well described by Pallu de la
1
Barrière, only two years after the conquest in 1861 ,
for, until the capture of the intrenched camp at Ki-
hoa, the occupation of Saigon could only be regarded
as temporary :
" The traveller who arrives at Saigon perceives, on
the right bank of the river, a kind of street, the sides
of which are broken here and there by large empty
spaces. The houses - which for the most part are of
wood- are covered with leaves of the dwarf palm ; a
few of the houses are of stone. Their roofs, of red
tiles, brighten and improve the scene. Then comes
the curved roof of a pagoda , then a shed, out of the
perpendicular, which serves as a market, and the roof
of which seems slipping down on the right side . In
the middle distance are some arrack palms, which
harmonize well with the soil of India ; the other vege-
tation lacks character. Thousands of boats are huddled
together along the bank of the river, and form a little
floating town. Besides this there is not much to sec
at Saigon, unless it is the Chinese arroyo, with its fairly
clean houses built of stone , some of them old, and
1 Pallu de la Barrière. Histoire de l'Expédition de Cochinchine.
Paris 1888. in 8vo.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 3

standing amidst copses of cabbage palms. Further off,


on the heights, are the house of the French Comman-
dant, that of the Spanish Colonel, the students' camp ,
and that is about all ."
I have given this description of Saigon such as it
was at the time when the colony of Cochin-China was
in its infancy. We shall find it much changed a quarter
of a century later.
Before studying the Annamite race, let us cast a
rapid glance at the other Asiatic races inhabiting this
country.

The Asiatic Races, besides the Annamites


inhabiting Cochin-China. These various races are
all represented, more or less, at Saigon. Moreover,
five years spent in continual journeys in the interior
of the country, have given me opportunities of studying
them all pretty closely. The Chinese race, which has
the pre-eminence over all the other foreign races,
both in number and importance, deserves a special
mention.

The Hindoos, known as Malabars. There is to


be found at Saigon , a certain number of natives of
India, known under the generic title of Malabars, as
they usually come from the Malabar Coast, Madras,
Pondicherry, Bombay, etc. Some ofthem are Catholics,
other Brahmins, but the greater part are Mahometans.
They breed cattle, drive carts, transport goods, and
keep little retail shops, or they change piasters and
other money .
The Mahometans have constructed a handsome
mosque ; after the Ramadan they celebrate their Bairam, ¹
¹ The ninth month of the Muhammadan year, which is observed as
a strict fast from dawn to sunset of each day in the month. The word
4 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

and have a grand procession by night, when, by the


light of thousands of torches, they drag about an im-
mense car.
The anthropological remarks that I shall have to
make further on about the Indian coolies of Guiana,
will apply to their congeners of Saigon, and I must
refer the reader to that part of the book. But the
Malabars of Cochin-China are taller and more robust,
and of a much handsomer type. Some have brought

Ramazan is derived from ramz, " to burn". The month is said to have
been so called either because it used (before the change of the calendar)
to occur in the hot season, or because the month's fast is supposed to
burn away the sins of men (Ghiyāsu'l-Lughaḥ, in loco).
The observance of this month is one of the five pillars of practice in
the Muslim religion, and its excellence is much extolled by Muhammad,
who said that during Ramazan " the gates of Paradise are open, and the
gates of hell are shut, and the devils are chained by the leg, and only
those who observe it will be permitted to enter at the gate of heaven
called Raiyan . " Those who keep the fast " will be pardoned all their
past venial sins " (Mishkat, book VII, ch. I. part I).
See Hughes' "Dict. of Islam " p. 533 ; London, 1885, for more
extensive details ; also the realistic account given by Burton in his
Pilgrimage to Al- Madinah and Meccah (Lond. 1873 ) . Sir Richard
thinks that " like, the Italian, the Anglo-Catholic, and the Greek fasts,
the chief effect of the " blessed month " upon True Believers is to darken
their tempers into positive gloom . Their voices, never of the softest,
acquire, especially after noon, a terribly harsh and creaking tone. The
men curse one another and beat the women. The women slap and
abuse the children, and these in their turn cruelly entreat, and use bad
language to the dogs and cats. You can scarcely spend ten minutes in
any populous part of the city without hearing some violent dispute. It
is only fair to Islam to add that of course all quarrelling , abuse, and
evil words are strictly forbidden to the Moslem during Ramazan . If
one believer insult another, the latter should repeat “ I am fasting", three
times before venturing himself to reply. Such is the wise law. But
human nature in Egypt, as elsewhere, is always ready to sacrifice the
spirit to the letter, rigidly to obey the physical part of an ordinance, and
to cast away the moral, as if it were the husk and not the kernel."
ANTHROPOLOGY. 5

their wives from India ; others have married Annamite


women, by whom they have mongrel children of a
villainously low type of humanity.

Cambodians. The Cambodian race, being the sub-


ject of a special study later on, I will not speak of it
here.

Malays. The Malays descended from Cambodia,


whither they had emigrated from the isthmus of Ma-
lacca . They are, in general, sober, patient, and avari-
cious : they carry on the business of pawnbrokers,
and charge a very high rate of interest. They inhabit
separate villages, and rarely intermarry with the An-
namite race. The Malays are Mahometans, and faithful
to their religion . Many of them carry on trade by
exchanging the products of Cambodia against those
of Cochin-China, and they form amongst themselves
associations analagous to those of the Chinese. As
far as industries are concerned, they manufacture
hardly anything but jewellery.
Their costume consists of cotton drawers, a tight-
fitting waistcoat, a linen jacket, and a turban. The
men are close shaved ; the women who wear a lang-
outi, and a long robe, have their hair dressed in the
Annamite fashion.
In form , colour, and conformation , the genital organs
of both sexes of the Malays greatly resemble those
of the Annamite, though they are unquestionably
more virile.

Moys. I have examined the Moys of the district


of Baria, where they possess many villages. Their
habitations may be found in groups of three or four ,
6 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

each house holding perhaps a score of persons. These


houses stand on posts, and are raised four or five
yards above the ground. They look like large rect-
angular cages made of bamboo, with a thatched
roof. The primitive furniture consits mainly of a slab
of baked clay to make the fire on, and a few screens
of bamboo to contain the provisions.
The men wear a square of cloth over the genital
parts, and the young women cover their breasts with
a square of cloth hung round the neck. Both sexes
have their ears pierced, and wear ear-rings . Their
language completely differs from that of the Annamite.
In this race, so different from the Annamite, family
feelings, and extreme kindness to children are exhibited
in a marked degree. Young people marry, after they
have attained the age of puberty, without any cere-
mony, or written contract. The Moy respects customs,
however, and cannot repudiate his wife and take
another, without being obliged to provide for the first
wife and her children.
The manners of the people are very pure. Adul-
tery is very rare, and the vices we shall find amongst
the Annamites almost unknown . The Moy copulates
with his wife according to the law of nature, and
without tricks of any sort. From this point of view
it is the Annamites, not the Moys, who ought to be
called savages, for they are one of the most corrupt
people in the civilized world .
The religion of the Moys is very elementary, and
is confined generally to a worship of the dead . ¹

A very significant fact representing already no small State of culture.


Spencer (in chap . XX. on “ Ancestor- Worship in general ", in his
masterful work dealing with the " Principles of Sociology", Lond. 1885 )
-points out that " in the Far East, another vast society which had
ANTHROPOLOGY. 7

Anthropological Characteristics of the Moys.


This race may be classed as amongst the smallest in
the world- smaller than the Lapps, according to Dr.

reached considerable heights of culture, while Europe was covered by


barbarians, has practised, and still practices, ancestor-worship .... With
the highly-developed religious systems of India, there co-exists a daily
re-genesis of deities from dead men. " (page 283 ). Further on he brings
evidence to show that " the word for a god means literally a dead
man ". The whole passage is so profoundly interesting that we may be
pardoned for reproducing it : -" Ghost, spirit, demon- names at first
applied to the other-self without distinctions of character -come to be
differently applied as ascribed differences of character arise : the shade of
an enemy becomes a devil, and a friendly shade becomes a divinity.
Where the conceptions have not developed far, there are no differentiated
titles, and the distinctions made by us cannot be expressed . The early
Spanish missionaries in America were incovenienced by finding that the
only native word they could use for God also meant devil. In Greek,
Saiµœv Oɛós are interchangeable. By Æschylus, Agamemnon's
children are represented as appealing to their father's ghost as to a god.
So, too, with the Romans. Besides the unspecialized use of dæmon,
which means an angel or genius, good or bad, we find the unspecialized
use of deus for god and ghost. On tombs the manes were called gods ;
and a law directs that " the rights of the manes -gods, are to be kept
sacred."
Similarly with the Hebrews.
Isaiah, representing himself as commanded to reject it, quotes a current
belief implying such identification : " And when they say unto you,
Consult the ghost-seers and the wizards, that chirp and that mutter !
Should not people consult their gods, even the dead on behalf of the
living? " When Saul goes to question the ghost of Samuel, the ex-
pression of the enchantress is- " I saw gods [elohim ] ascending out of
the earth ; " god and ghost being thus used as equivalents.
Even in our own day the kinship is traceable. The statement that
God is a spirit, shows the application of a term which, otherwise
applied, signifies a human soul. Only by its qualifying epithet is the
meaning of Holy Ghost distinguished from the meaning of ghost in
general. A divine being is still denoted by words that originally meant
the breath which, deserting a man's body at death, was supposed to
constitute the surviving part.
8 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Néis . 1 " The tint of their skin ," says this author,
" is darker than that of the Annamites . They have
but little hair, though more than is usual with the
yellow races . It is always black and wavy, or in
some cases curly ; the beard, which is sometimes thick
on the lips and chin , is wanting on the cheeks .
“ The skull is dolicho-cephalous , slightly scaphocephal-
ous, the face is prognathic, the forehead narrow, the
cheek-bones slightly projecting; the eyelids which are
large and well-formed, are horizontal and not oblique
like those of the yellow races. The nose is very flat,
the mouth wide, the teeth are large, well-set, and
reddened with betel.
" The muscles are but little developed, and do not
project under the skin. The breasts of the woman ,
which are of average size, are conical ; they wither
soon, but without lengthening like the breasts of the
Negress. The ankles are small, the feet long, and
the toes wide apart, as is the case with all people
who walk bare-footed . "
I have given this description in extenso, but that
of the genital organs is still wanting. I do not know
why the anthropologists have, until now, almost entirely
neglected to note in the various human races the
variations in form and colour of the genital organ,
for me the most important of all organs, since it in-
sures the continuance of the race. I shall have more
than once to refer to the results of these examinations,
which I made very carefully.
In the Moy, the colour of the skin of the genital
organs, and particularly the scrotum, is darker than
in the Annamite. It is the same with the colour of

Néis (Paul) sur le Laos. Bulletins de la Société d'Anthropologie


de Paris. Vol. viii, 3rd Series. Paris, 1885.
ANTHROPOLOGY.

the mucous membrane of the " great lips, " the gland ,
and the vagina, which are not so light, but of a tint
approaching more to dark red. The penis and testi-
cles of the Moy are larger than those of the Annamite,
although their average height is less. The vulva and
vagina of the Moy woman are more developed than
those of the Annamite woman. The pubis is shaded ,
in both sexes, by a fair quantity of curly hair, of a
very black colour.
None of the Moys I was able to examine showed
any traces of masturbation or unnatural habits. There
is a great difference in this respect between the Moy
and Annamite races.
There is no single point in common between the
two races. The Annamite, being more civilized , looks
down with contempt upon the savage Moy, and will
not ally himself with them . The number of Moys
was sensibly diminishing when I arrived in Cochin-
China, and the race will soon die out, as every inferior
race does in the presence of a more advanced people .

Chams. It is asserted that the Chams are of Malay


origin , and are descended from the remnant of the old
Kingdom of Ciampa, which was formerly conquered
by the Annamites. Some wandering tribes may still
be met on the confines of the colony, towards Tay-
Ninh and Chandoc. These people flee from civilization.
What I have said about the Malays will apply to the
Chams.

The Tagals of Manilla. At the time of my first


visit, there were still in Cochin-China some Tagals of
Manilla, forming part of the Spanish Expeditionary
Corps. They were generally hunters of wild beasts,
ΙΟ UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

or sometimes sais and coachmen. It is a hardy and


sober race. They have adopted as their costume, white
trousers, with over them, a shirt with long tails. By
marriage with the Annamite woman, the Tagal has
founded a mongrel race which is not half numerous
enough.

The Town of Cho-lon. About three miles from


Saigon is the Chinese town of Cho-lon, built a century
ago by Chinese emigrants, and having the exact
appearance of a town of the South of China.
An old friend of mine, Luro, a Government inspector
of the natives, whom I knew intimately, has written
the following picturesque description of it : " In the
interior of Cho-lon are many retail shops ; those which
do a large trade, kept by Chinese, and the smaller
shops kept by Annamite women. The goods are
neatly and cleverly displayed. The seeds-man, grocer,
restaurant-keeper, chemist, tailor, boot-maker, jeweller,
iron-monger, trunk-maker, confectioner, etc. , all have
their name written in large Chinese characters over
the door, artistically painted in black, red, blue , or
gold, according to the taste of the proprietor. There
is a continual movement of customers entering and
leaving. The shops are open in the evening, the
streets are lighted by the Municipality (with gas at
present) and, besides that, are illuminated with Chinese
lanterns of the most varied and pleasing forms and
colours, on which are painted, in transparent characters,
the name of the tradesman. "

The Chinese Race. There were , in 186- , in

Saigon and Cho-lon, more than 30,000 Chinese, and


as many more in the interior of the country. The
ANTHROPOLOGY. II

Chinaman is the Jew of the Extreme East , he has in


his hands nearly all the wholesale and retail trade.
He is sharp, and thirsty after gain, but he is satisfied
with a small profit. The European merchant is obliged
to use him as an intermediate agent. An Englishman
who lived many years of his life in Hongkong has
sketched the following picture of this peculiar race :
" Of the moral character of the people, who have
multiplied until they are ' as the sand which is upon
the sea-shore,' it is very difficult to speak justly. The
moral character of the Chinese is a book written in
strange letters, which are more complex and difficult
for one of another race, religion and language to
decipher than their own singularly compounded word-
symbols. In the same individual, virtues and vices,
apparently incompatible, are placed side by side.
Meekness, gentleness, docility, industry, contentment,
cheerfulness , obedience to superiors, dutifulness to
parents, and reverence for the aged, are in one and
the same person , the companions of insincerity, lying,
flattery, treachery, cruelty, jealousy , ingratitude, avarice,
and distrust of others . The Chinese are a weak and
timid people, and in consequence , like all similarly
constituted races, they seek a natural refuge in deceit
and fraud. " 1

Various Trades and Professions of the Chinese.


Compared with the Annamite, the Chinaman looks
like a stronger and more robust cousin -german . The
family resemblance is evident, in spite of the radical
difference between the Annamite chignon and the
Chinese pig-tail, This family likeness between the two

J. H. Gray. " China.- The Laws, Manners , and Customs ofthe


people." (London, 1878, page 15 of Vol 1.)
12 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

races is specially remarkable amongst the Chinese of


the lowest order (called bambous) who for a few sapccks
perform the duties of porters . He is scantily clad in
a pair of ragged breeches, coming only to his knees ,
and his naked sun-burnt body has a tint as dark as
that of the Annamite field-labourer.
Above this lowest class come the peripatetic sellers
of food, and those who act as cooks to Europeans,
who enjoy what I must own to be a well-deserved
reputation. There are also, amongst the Chinese, boys,
who act as waiters in the European cafés and restau-
rants. They are generally very cleanly in their habits.
The Chinaman is also the proprietor of the gambling
houses and brothels. He is also a gardener, and
grows (using human excrements as manure) all sorts
of European vegetables in the gardens round Saigon.
It is not possible to take a walk in the outskirts of
the town, before sunset, without being stifled by an
abominable stench of night soil . On the other hand,
during eight months of the year, you can eat salads
and vegetables which are quite as cheap as in the
markets of London or Paris.

Diversity in the Anthropological Characteristics


of the Chinese. The skin of the Chinaman of Canton
(who is generally rich) is almost as white as the skin.
of a native of the South of France . The tint resembles
that of weak tea. The mucous membranes are a
' rather bright carmine , toned down with a dash of ochre.
This colour is more specially found in the mucous
tissues of the gland and the vulva. It is impossible
to confound it with that of coloured men, the result
cross between the Negro and the White, for in
them the brown tint of the mucous membranes of the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 13

Negro asserts itself, and forms a marked anthropological


characteristic.
At the opposite end of the scale of the Chinese race
is the Chinaman of the South (from Fokien or Haïnam ),
whose skin is of the colour of dark yellow ginger-
bread, and whose mucous membranes have a yellowish
red tint, almost the colour of " raw Sienna, " darkened
with a little Sepia.
As to the size and conformation of the genital organs,
it appeared to me that the Chinaman of the North
closely resembled the European. The prepuce is but
small, and imperfectly covers the gland when in a
state of repose .
The Chinaman of the South appears to be less vigor-
ous, as a male, than the Chinaman of the North , but
he is still much superior in this respect to the average
Annamite. He also presents the same characteristic
of the imperfectly developed foreskin ; and the gland,
which is only half covered when the organ is flaccid,
slips out very easily and completely when it is in erec-
tion . I have met very few cases of phimosis , which ,
on the contrary, is so common in the European races.
The pubes projects, and is furnished with black hair
slightly curly, and fairly thick in the case of the Can-
tonese . The testicles of the Chinese appeared to me
to be a little smaller than those of the Europeans, but
the difference is not very marked,
Wherever he may come from , and whatever may be
his social position, the Chinaman shows one common

Historical students will recollect that it was this infirmity which


prevented Louis XVI from accomplishing his marital duties until eight
years after his marriage, when he submitted to the necessary liberating
operation. (For further interesting details on this subject, see " The
Secret Cabinet of History ", p. 77 and seq . Paris, 1896.)
14 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

characteristic --his lubricity, and his great fecundity


with those Asiatic races to whom he allies himself.
On that account he is a famous colonizer in times of
1
peace.

Minhuongs . This is the name given to children.


who are the offspring of a Chinaman and an Annamite
woman ; they are whiter and better formed than the
indigenes. Amongst them, one may often meet very
lovely children who have not attained puberty. The
Minhuong is as active and intelligent as his father, and
as stubborn as his mother. He inherits from his father
the Chinese type, and he preserves the manners, the
religion, and the costume ofthe Celestial. This is im-
portant to note . His skin is lighter, and his muscular
strength much superior to that of the pure Annamite.
As a generator, the form, colour, and dimensions of
his reproductive apparatus are almost like those ofthe
Chinaman, with a slightly darker shade of the skin and
the mucous membranes.
To form an idea of the Chinaman abroad one must have seen him
thirty years ago in California and particularly in the Chinese quarter in
San Francisco. There he and his progeny swarmed ; but without bene-
fit to the country, for he does not breed citizens, but only Chinamen,
who, as soon as they have amassed sufficient money, will sooner or
later return to the land of their ancestors ; even their dead bodies, are
sent back ; the transport of which is effected by Chinese insurance com-
panies. The Chinaman is industrious, economical, persevering, avaricious,
sober and indefatigable but devoid of moral sense, and his soul is
profoundly debauched-there is no nobility or even dignity about him.
Wherever he comes, it is as a devouring locust and a blood-sucker. He
is either keeper of an opium-smoking den, of a gaming hell or of a
brothel, combining with any occupation he may exercise, that of usurer.
Jews, with all their astuteness, cannot compete with him, and where he
settles, they retire.
The United States now actively oppose their immigration, and the
Australian colonies have been obliged to do the same.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 15

At Cho-lon, the Minhuongs have preserved all the


habits, manners, and customs of their fathers, and you
cannot get a better idea of a real Chinese town than
by seeing Cho-lon .

The Chinese Theatre. The women's parts are played


by young men, who are brought up to the profession
from infancy. To such perfection do they imitate the
manners, the walk, and the voice of a Chinese woman,
that it is difficult to tell them from women. They even
go further, and play the part of women in other ways.
We shall mention this subject in discussing the perver-
sions of manners in the Chinese race.
At the Chinese theatre they play tragi-comedies,
and heroic melodramas, and you see heroines, kings ,
ministers, generals and their armies, buffoons, dragons ,
tigers, protecting genii, etc. Terrible combats often
take place, amidst the explosion of crackers. There
are also farces, which, in the matter of licence, are as
far beyond the Palais Royal, as those vaudevilles are
beyond the " moralities" of Berquin. Freedom of de-
scription and realism are carried to the extreme. I
confess to having passed some pleasant evenings, when
an obliging Chinaman was kind enough to translate
the plot and action of the piece to me.
For their great family festivals, the rich Chinese (and
the rich Annamites also) engage a theatrical troupe
expressly, and build in front of their houses a bamboo
shed, in which they give, during at least three days,
a performance gratis to their friends . It is more es-
pecially at these representations that the most risky
pieces are played, -if the taste of the host should
happen to lie that way.
CHAPTER II.

The origin of the Annamites, otherwise called Giao- Chi-


Anthropological characteristics of the race. --- Genital organs ofthe
Annamites.--Their small size.-The child taken as a basis of
comparison for the medicalpart of this subject. — The little Annam-
ite girl and her early loss of virginity. – Woman at the age of
puberty. The genital organs of the adult.- Franco- Annamite
mongrels.

The Origin of the Annamites, otherwise called


Giao-Chi. According to the learned father Le Grand
de la Liraye , the Annamites date nearly as far back
as the Chinese 2 themselves. " Two thousand two hun-
dred and eighty years before Christ, that is to say
less than a century after the deluge, mention is found
of the Giao-Chi , an aboriginal race inhabiting the
' Giao- Chi, literally " Big Toe " race -a still marked feature, for the toe
is now used like a thumb . (See Forlong's Short Studies in the Science
of Comparative Religions. London, 1897, page 74. ) This work is a
mine of information and deserves the attention of every searcher into
the origins of the historic Faiths of Humanity.
The primordia of all countries are enveloped in much that is
obscure and fabulous, and it is extremely difficult for the historian to
fix the period when civil history had its beginnings. China is no
exception, but there can, I think, be no doubt of the antiquity of the
Chinese Empire. It is not, I believe, rash to say that it has survived
a period of four thousand years, without having undergone any great
change either in the laws by which it is governed, or in the specch
manners, and customs of its teeming population. " (Gray's " China "
vol J, London , 1878. )
16
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 17

southern confines of the Chinese Empire, and which


became the parent stock of the Annamite race. It
originally formed part of the Chinese Empire, and only
gained its independence in 1428, by the general mas-
sacre of the Chinese. Annam has borrowed everything
from China ; language, education , literature, religion ,
law, medicine , and arts. Thus it gives birthright and
citizenship to all the Chinese who come to trade in
Indo-China. "
The Annamite, it will be seen, is not a savage, on
the contrary his civilization dates further back than
that of the European, but he also possesses a formid-
able number of vices, which he conceals from the eyes
of an inattentive observer, but which you discover
when you come to study the race closely.

Anthropological Attributes of the Race. The


Annamite is thus a separate branch of the yellow Chinese
race. He is under-sized , nervous, but of a weak ap-
pearance, often thin , and not muscular. The lower
limbs are often bent, on account of the mothers car-
rying their children astraddle on their hips .
Their
walk is ungraceful, and the foot is often turned out ;
the great toe is far separated from the others and
almost opposable . Thus an Annamite can, like a
monkey, pick up a piece of money from the ground , or
hold the rudder of his boat with his toes. The pelvis
is not well developed, the bust long and thin, the
chest thrown out, and well-formed. The hands are
long and narrow, and the points ofthe fingers knotted .
There is but little strength in the muscles, -- a white
man could thrash ten Annamites with his fists, -- but they
endure fatigue very well, and can withstand the heat
of one of the most unwholesome climates in the world.
18 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The skull is round , and brachy-cephalous. The face


is a very long oval, almost lozenge shaped . The fore-
head is low, the eye oblique, and raised at the external
extremity, the eyelids long, and covering black pupils .
The Annamite has excellent sight. The cheeks rise
towards the temples ; the nose is almost as flat as that
of the Negro, very large at the root, but the lips,
however, are not so thick . The mouth is of an average
size, the chin short, and the ears large and projecting.
The teeth would be magnificent if the practice of
lacquering them with black varnish, and the red froth
caused by betel chewing, did not render the mouth,
of even the most beautiful Annamite woman, frightful.
However, you get used to it in time.
The facial angle, in both sexes, is 77 ° The beard
makes its appearance very late,--towards the thirtieth
year, is short, hard , and stiff like horsehair, and grows
only on the lips and chin. The hair is black, long,
and very thick, it closely resembles a horse's tail, and
often falls below the hips. The men and women both
wear it in a chignon , raised up behind the head. The
skin is thick ; the colour varies according to the caste,
from the mahogany or dead-leaf tint of the peasant
who is burned by the sun, to the pale yellow wax
hue of the mandarin , who never goes out without an
enormous umbrella, the mark of his position , extended
over his head.
If the Annamite woman, or Congai, is displeasing
on account of her flat face, and her black mouth
with its red saliva, it must be confessed that her body
is well-made and well-proportioned . When once you
are used to the shape of the face, you may often find
women with pretty features. The hands and feet are
excessively small, and the ankles and wrists slender.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 19

Annamites of both sexes develop slowly, and a


young man of twenty does not appear to be more
than fifteen ; if it were not that the ears are not
pierced, you would often take a youth, of from fifteen
to twenty years, for a girl not yet formed, and the
sweetness of the voice increases the illusion. After
the age of twenty, the features of the man grow larger
and harder.
In the pubescent girl, the breast is hemispherical,
and very regularly formed ; it hardly begins to develop
before the seventeenth year ; for a long time it remains
small and hard, but during gestation and the period
of suckling increases to a considerable size and be-
comes soft, though still retaining its horizontal position .
The nipple is usually brown . The first birth ordinarily
takes place at twenty or twenty-one years of age. The
women are very prolific, and you often find families
of from six to ten, or even twelve , children, ¹ half a
dozen being the average. There are, however, few
twins. This fecundity is very remarkable considering
the smallness of the genital organs of both sexes.
About the fortieth year the " periods " cease. The
Annamite race ages very quickly ; at fifty years a
man's beard is quite white, and he is broken down
by age ; however, there are, as in Europe, octogenar-
ians, and even- it is said- centenarians. I must con-
fess that I never saw one.

The Genital Organs of the Annamites. —Their


Small Size. A fact which struck me as soon as I
1
¹ Dr. Alexander Wilder was of opinion that : " Every woman has
the capacity of producing twenty or more children . (The Countess of
WINCHESTER and NOTTINGHAM, ANNE daughter of CHRISTOPHER,
Viscount HATTON, had THIRTY ! -See the Saturday Magazine , February
8th, 1834).
20 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

began to examine closely the genital organs of the


Annamites, was their really remarkable smallness ,
which is quite in keeping, however, with the weakness
of their bodies, and debility of their muscles. From
this special point of view, the Annamites may be said
to occupy the lowest place amongst all the races we
shall study, and if we may call the Negroes of Africa
men stallions, it would be just as logical to call the
Annamites men monkeys.
They deserve this appellation in two ways, the
monkey being of all animals the one that has the
smallest genital organs in proportion to the size of its
body. The monkey is also the only animal which
masturbates intentionally ; another point of resemblance
to the human race . The Annamite, one of the oldest
of civilized beings, is as lascivious as the monkey.

Annamite Children. Let us commence with the


examination of the genital organs in infancy, which
can be done without any offence to morals, girls and
boys going completely naked until the age of twelve
years. Before that age, the penis of the little boy is
hardly the size of his little finger, and the finger of
an Annamite child is not large. They do not arrive
at puberty before fourteen or fifteen, which is as late
as in Europe. At that age the penis is as large as
the forefinger of a European . The complete develop-
ment of the genital organs is hardly effected before
the twentieth year, and sometimes even later. The
foreskin of the young Annamite is of the average
length, and does not form a cushion in front of the
gland, as is characteristic in the Negro races of Africa.
But the preputial ring is generally narrow. As nearly
all the boys practise masturbation . from the age of
ANTHROPOLOGY. 21

fourteen or fifteen years , this ring enlarges, and permits


the free egress of the gland.
The little girl has the vulva placed very high,
higher even than it is in the little French girl. When
she is nubile, which is hardly before the fifteenth or
sixteenth year (the average age is sixteen) there is no
great change in the appearance of these parts .

The Little Annamite girl, and Her Early Loss of


Virginity. In all the little girls of less than ten years
of age I found the hymen present. After ten years the
complete hymen is often wanting, but the genito-urinary
organs then present certain traces of defloration , though
much less characteristic than those noted by Tardieu in
the case of little girls , victims of indecent assaults without
violence but repeated during a long period. In that
case the hymen was not usually destroyed, but simply
rendered thinner, and drawn back, and having the ap-
pearance of a mere ring surrounding the entrance to the
vagina, and which allowed the extremity of a greased
forefinger to be inserted without causing pain.
I attribute this simply to the fact that the little
Annamite girls are deflowered, after ten years of age,
by the little boys with whom they play, and repeat
together the lessons which their parents have uncon-
sciously taught them , on account of the forced promis-
cuity of the family in a little thatched house, where
all the family live in common, and where mere parti-
tions in wicker-work, the height of a man, form the
only divisions of the rooms.
Besides, there is an Annamite proverb of brutal
cynicism, which I heard at Tonquin : " For a girl to
be still a virgin at ten years old, she must have neither
brothers nor father. "
22 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The Annamite Woman at the Age of Puberty.


At the age of puberty the organs assume their full
development, and a girl is nubile at sixteen years.
The pubes is covered with some hair, which is carefully
pulled out, and, taken on the whole, the genital organs
are less developed than in the French woman . The
vulva and the vagina are markedly narrower, and much
shallower.
In the woman, and the pubescent girl, the vulval
and vaginal mucous membranes are generally the seat
of that disagreeable affection known as the " whites "
or "the flowers, " and which contributes, by the relax-
ation it causes in the tissues, to dilate the organ.
Thus, in spite of the disproportion , copulation between
a young Annamite and an adult European can gener-
ally be effected without too much pain for the first
named. It is to be noted that the Congai - already
a fully developed woman -always has the clitoris but
imperfectly formed, as well as the little lips, which
seldom project beyond the large.
The prostitutes of the public brothels, who have.
frequent connection with Europeans, have the entrance
of the vulva and vagina greatly enlarged. Generally,
however, that is placed very high and the average
depth of the vaginal passage does not exceed 3 or
4 inches. It often happens that a penis of more than
average length will cause inflammation of the womb,
by the repeated shock of the gland against the nose
of the tench.
I have treated many women for this complaint, who
have confessed that it was owing to this cause.

The Genital Organs of the Adult. It is but


natural that we should find in the adult Annamite a
ANTHROPOLOGY. 23

slender penis, in proportion to the small dimensions


of the feminine organs. The pubescent youth of from
15 to 20 years of age has some hair growing on the
pubes round his member. The testicles are exceedingly
small until the fifteenth year, and increase in size
little by little ; but at twenty the Annamite is hardly
more formed than a European of 15 or 16 , and his
development is not complete until he is 25 years old.
At its full growth, the penis has an average length
of from 4 to 4 inches (in full erection) and a diameter
of an inch and a quarter. They may be found 5
inches to 5 inches long, with a diameter of 1 to
1 inches, but few attain a length of 6 inches, and a
diameter of 1 inches. I once met with a penis of
7 inches ; but that was on a Franco-Annamite half-
breed.
Usually the testicles of an Annamite of pure breed
are the size of a pigeon's egg. The pubes bears some
stiff and bushy hair, like that which grows on their
chins after the thirtieth year.

Franco-Annamite Half-breeds. There are very


few persons of half-breed, for there is not much copu-
lation between the two races, and still less production.
Moreover, it is a remarkable fact that the white race
which is very prolific with the black woman, is much
less so with the yellow woman. I cannot explain the
cause, but content myself with noting the fact. It is
a matter for regret, for the Franco-Annamite half-
breed physically resembles the European . The skin
is almost white, the shoulders squarer, the muscles
more developed, and above all the genital organs
larger. The face, however, preserves the indelible stamp
of the yellow race, in the flat nose, and the oblique eyes.
24 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY .

From the moral point of view, the half-breed is a


real Annamite, as much of a gambler, thief, and liar,
as the native. The young man I have just mentioned
as possessing the large penis, was, I was informed,
the son of an officer of the Expeditionary Corps ; he
had received a certain amount of education , and on
leaving the Colony, his father left him assured means
of existence. Women, baquan, and opium , soon ruined
him , and he ended his life miserably.
CHAPTER III.

Woman's place in Annamite society. -Marriage. - The tegal age.


-Rights and duties of the Annamite woman. -Her character.
-
-Adultery. Its repression. - Left-handed marriages.-Love of
children.

Woman in Annamite Society. — Marriage. — The


Legal Age. Although the Annamite woman is not
nubile till about the sixteenth or seventeenth year, as
I have already said, she may, however, according to
the Ly-Ky, or " Book of Rites, " marry after fourteen
years, and the man at sixteen. Any marriage prior
to those ages is null and void.
Marriages are arranged through the mai-dongs, or
matrimonial agents, who bring the two families together,
and arrange the question of the wedding portion. But
the woman does not bring her husband any marriage
portion, and it is he, on the contrary who pays for
the wedding presents, brings to the common lot his
fortune of rice fields and cattle, and often, indeed, has
to pay a sum of money to the wife's family.
In return he is generously presented with a tobacco
jar, a box for betel, and a cigarette case ; - he has no
other compensation.
Weddings are distinguished by a pastoral simplicity ;
the future husband and wife meet, mutually offer them-
selves to each other, and chew betel nut together.
25
26 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Rights and Duties of the Annamite Woman.


Custom has given the Annamite woman- although her
husband has paid for her -certain rights which the
Frenchwoman does not possess. In fact, as she is more
intelligent, and more industrious than the man, she
looks after almost everything . She works constantly,
keeps the shop, goes to market , decorticates the rice ,
picks the cotton, attends to the poultry, weaves the
cloth, works in the sun like a man transplanting the
rice, does , the cooking, and, in sea-faring families,
steers the boat.

Character of the Annamite Woman. She is

the " grey mare " of the household , but she is as lying
and deceitful as her husband, and a gambler and
glutton. She is as lascivious as the man, and betrays
her husband whenever she can, if she finds pleasure
or amusement in it . I will presently show the picture
of the Annamite woman married morganatically to a
European ; he always plays the part of George Dandin.¹

Adultery. Its Repression . 2 The Annamite

1 George Dandin, one of the characters of Molière, an easy-going, good-


natured, rather dull-minded model of a husband.
Molière, George Dandin, 1. 9,
The eminent criminal anthropologist M. Guillaume Ferrero, says :
" To-day the penalties enacted against adultery in the different modern
codes are very mild ; they do not exceed a few months imprisonment.
But if the law is mild, customs are still brutal, at least partly so ; for
in reality the adulteress often meets with her death at the hands of her
husband, who kills the guilty woman, and is acquitted by the jury. In
Italy, particularly of late, the acquitals of such uxoricides have been
very frequent which shows that public opinion still considers death as
a deserved punishment for adultery. Judges, jurists, and criminalists
all protest against, this barbarous custom ; but jurors are none the less,
in these absolutions, the interpreters of public feeling, which on this
ANTHROPOLOGY. 27

woman does not live shut up, like the Chinese woman,
and does not have her feet tortured into uselessness.
She has thus every facility for making a cuckold of
the man to whom, on her wedding day, she promised
fidelity. At Saigon, and in the neighbouring villages,
morals are very lax, and a man, who appreciates yellow
women with black teeth, can have his pick. In the
interior, I have not found much reserve in regard to
the foreigner, especially if he is generous and discreet.
The law, however, punishes adultery with severe
penalties. Like the French Penal Code (before the
Divorce Law) it excuses a husband who kills his wife
and her paramour, if taken in the act of adultery. I
never heard of an instance of this during my five years'
residence, although, it may be added , such punishment
has been witnessed by others. Archdeacon Gray reports
a case of severe flagellation that he saw in China (the
Annamites took their code of law from the Celestials) ;
we give his graphic narrative in his own words :
" In 1870, I saw a young man, apparently not more
than twenty-one years of age, and his paramour flog-
ged through the streets of one of the suburbs of Can-

point is very conservative, as it is in all that concerns sexual customs.


The legislation on adultery has therefore, up to the present, been what
may be called a passional legislation ; that is to say one that was actuated
by the sexual passion and jealousy of the male, which took neither into
account the individual gravity of the fault, nor its social importance. It
struck blindly. What basis therefore could be given to a rational
legislation on adultery.
To solve this problem, it is first of all necessary to examine the
different types of the adulteress. There are two, the characters of which
are well defined and differentiated : adultery which may be called vicious,
and adultery that might be styled casual. For these two types the
penalty cannot be the same. "
Le Crime d'Adultère, son passé, son avenir, par Guillaume Ferrero .
Paris.
28 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

ton in a most unmerciful manner. His arms were


bound behind his back, and the upper part of his
body was naked . Immediately behind him came the
woman, apparently about thirty years of age. Her
arms were also bound behind her back, and she was
receiving quite as severe a castigation. They had
been seized by the woman's husband-a play-actor-
and two of his friends, and handed over to the elders
of the district. At a meeting of this body, which took
place at noon on the following day, some were of
opinion that the guilty pair ought to be bound hand
and foot and cast into the Canton river. But the
majority resolved that they should be flogged through
the principal streets of the suburb. When the flog-
ging was over, the youth, whose name was Laong-à-
Ying, was permitted to return to the house of his
widowed mother. The adulteress was sold by her
husband for the sum of one hundred dollars to the
proprietor of a public brothel. I visited the youth on
the day following that on which he was flogged, and
I was shocked when I saw how fearfully lacerated
his back and shoulders were. "
It may be remarked here that the punishment of
an adulterer by beating him severely with rods,
which has always been practised by the Chinese, was,
it would appear from Diod. Sic . I, 89 , 90 , also usual
with Egyptians ; while, in Rome, under Justinian ,
adulteresses, as in some instances in the present day
in China, were scourged.
Before passing from the subject of this chapter,
which I do with a sense of relief, I must not omit to
add that the crime of adultery is looked upon by the
Chinese as more heinous when it is committed between
persons bearing the same surname !
ANTIIROPOLOGY. 29

In passing it is interesting to note with Dr. Jean-


nel that under the Roman law adulterous women
were at first condemned to pay only a fine (TIT. LIV.
X 31 ), to exile (TIT. LIV. XXV, 2) ; later they were
obliged to get themselves inscribed at the town-hall
(édile) as prostitutes (JAC. Ann. , II , 85 ) ; or to follow
the profession of procuress (SUET. Tib. , 35). Finally ,
if Paulus Diaconus is to be credited , they were obliged
to abandon their persons to the first comer to the
ringing of a bell in a house of ill-fame, and this
custom was abolished by Theodorius (Paul. Diac. ,
Hist. miscell. VIII, 2).
Moreover, the Annamite Code contains the following
article : " An adulteress shall receive ninety blows of
the rattan upon her buttocks, and her husband may
afterwards marry her to another, or sell her if he
pleases, or keep her in his house. " If our European
women could look forward to receiving ninety blows
of the rattan upon their white posterior rotundities,
2
perhaps fewer husbands would be wronged. ª
The Annamite Code also says : " Shopmen who
commit adultery with the wife of their master, shall
be treated as servitors or slaves, and punished by
strangulation." This excellent Code does not do things
by halves. Another article appertains to shrews.
" Every legitimate wife who strikes or insults her hus-

1 De la Prostituti (Paris , 1868 ).


on
' M. Macé, the well-known ex chef de la sûreté, who lately pub-
lished his highly interesting memoirs, relates therein, that a lady be-
longing to a most honourable family, but hysterical, and married to a
wealthy gentleman, used now and then to quit her home, and hire a room
in a lodging-house, where she received friends of her husband and
sometimes even men unknown to her, without accepting anything from
them and, on the contrary, would treat them with money she had
abstracted from her husband.
30 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

band, shall be punished with a hundred blows of the


rattan, and may be repudiated." It will be noted that
it is a little cheaper for the Annamite woman to
cuckold her husband than to scratch him or tell him
disagreeable truths.

Left-handed Marriages. Besides the legal union


consecrated by the marriage ceremony, an Annamite
is entitled to take as many concubines as he wishes,
without any formalities ; but the children born of these
unions have the same rights as the children of the
legitimate wife. There are no distinctions as to “ natu-
ral " or " adulterine " children in Cochin-China.
While on this subject we take the opportunity of
quoting from Gray's valuable book on China an ac-
count of a most extraordinary case of marriage and
divorce that came under his notice :
" On the 3rd of December, 1871 , " he writes, " I was
present at a similar wedding between a man named
Pang Wing and a woman named He-asing, both in
the humbler walks of life. The marriage was solem-
nized at the house of the bridegroom's mother, in the
Ma-choo-pow street of the western suburb of the city
of Canton. The mother of the bridegroom , who was
a very aged woman, was in articulo mortis . She lay
upon a bed in the atrium of the house, with her feet
towards the door, in order that her soul upon leaving
the body might have free exit on its way to Elysium.
The ceremony was entered upon without delay, and
duly and properly gone through. What a scene

ensued ! When the wedding garment, which with its


wide folds enveloped the whole body and arms ofthe
bride, was removed , it was discovered that she was
a leper ! When the fact was disclosed, a number of
ANTHROPOLOGY. 31

the female relatives of the bridegroom , gave vent to


their feelings of indignation and anger in howls which
made the welkin ring. They then turned , as if actuated
by a common impulse, towards the bride , whose ap-
pearance was now ghastly, to pour upon the unfortunate
woman a torrent of the keenest invectives and most
sweeping vituperation. The poor woman at last looked
towards me for pity ; and evidently fearing that more
serious evils might befall her, she earnestly begged
that she might be extricated from the embarrassing
situation . She was at once divorced, and returned to
her mother, who positively refused, however, to refund
to the bridegroom the dowry which had been paid by
him for what he justly considered a very bad bargain.
A part of the sum was eventually returned . During
the scene, the bridegroom's aged mother, who " lay
a-dying," never once moved . Indeed . so motionless
was she, that it appeared as if she had passed away
for ever. She lingered till the following morning,
having witnessed on her death-bed, in one brief hour,
the marriage of her only son, and its singular sequel,
the immediate divorce of the bride whom he had un-
wittingly espoused. "1

The Love of Children. The Annamite women


are very fond of their children , and lavish on them
every mark of tenderness. They embrace them, and
press them against their breasts, and kiss them-the
kissing is a drawing in of the breath through the nos-
trils, as we do when we inhale a pleasant. odour.
Abortion is very rare. Children are not wrapped
in swaddling clothes, and suckle until they are three
or four years old, —if boys ; and even longer if girls.
¹ China (Vol. I. pages 188-9) Lond. 1878.
32 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

When the Annamite child can walk alone, he is al-


lowed to run free in the sun, almost or quite naked,
or roll in the dust, or wallow in the mire. He has -
until he is ten or twelve years old -a pot belly, which
contrasts strangely with his weak limbs . After he is
twelve he wears a ragged pair of trousers, and an old
coat, the cast-off garments of his father, and then goes
to work, minding the buffaloes, or helping his parents
to cultivate the rice field, or steering the sampan or
junk. Girls and boys mingle promiscuously, -- with
That is why it is
the result that might be expected .
rare to find an Annamite girl, of more than ten years
of age, a virgin.
CHAPTER IV.

Other passions, besides love in the Annamite.— Gambling. — The


Congai and the European. - The Chinese gambling dens. - The
baquan, and the gaming houses of Saigon. -The passion for
opium.- The usual allowance of an opium smoker.-How opium
is smoked. -- The resistance of the human constitution to the con-
tinued effects of opium.- The moderate use of opium and its
good effects.- The nature of the pleasure caused by opium.

Other passions besides love in the Annamite.


I have already said that the Annamite has, in common
with the Chinaman, a passion for gambling. The
coolies, and the common people, will play for their
daily wages, and their wretched rags of clothes. The
Congai is even more addicted to the vice than the man
is, when her social position does not compel her to
spend all her time at work . In the brothels, the
women, whilst they are waiting for " clients " , smoke
their cigarettes, and devote their energies to intermin-
ably long games.
The European who has a Congai for a mistress, will
learn to his cost that she, like the others, has a passion
for gambling. Often, on a holiday, the young lady,
dressed in her finest silk robes (three or four one over
the other) and wearing her ear-rings, necklaces, and
bracelets of gold and amber, will start off to spend
the afternoon with her lady friends and acquaintances.
33
3*
34 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

She will return towards the middle of the night, look-


ing haggard, and with her head bare, her hair dishev-
elled, and her face and hands scratched and torn .
Her fine robes have been replaced by wretched rags.
Her jewels have disappeared . She will recount, amidst
sobs, and a deluge of tears, how she was waylaid on
her return by a band of robbers, who have not only
outraged her, but entirely stripped her.
The European consoles the afflicted damsel, and lodges
a complaint with the police . He learns , a few days
later, that the supposed victim had been playing baquan
in some den where illicit gambling was carried on, and
had lost everything down to her shift. Then the un-
fortunate Pholan-za (the Annamite pronunciation of the
word Français) makes a mental calculation that he is
180 to 200 piasters out of pocket, and he looks for-
ward, with no pleasurable feelings to having to buy
fresh dresses and new jewellery. He returns home
furious, and perhaps gives his mistress a good thrash-
ing with a rattan, and turns her out of doors. More
often, he pays for the sake of peace, and the comedy
is played over again very soon.

Baquan, which is of Chinese origin, is in Cochin-


China what roulette is at Monaco. On a table, or even,
in the low gaming-houses, on the ground, is spread
a cloth ; on this cloth is placed a small square wooden
table with the four figures 1 , 2, 3 , 4 , written in Chinese
and French , in separate compartments down each side
of the table. The stakes are placed on the different
numbers, and certain special stipulations are made by
means of a small red or yellow card , marked with
Chinese characters, which is placed on the stake. When
the stakes are laid, the croupier, who has in front of
ANTHROPOLOGY . 35

him a little heap of Chinese sapecks in yellow copper,


shovels a number of them into a tea-cup without a
handle, and then empties this cupful in the middle of
the table. Another croupier, or one of the principal
players (it is his privilege if he chooses to claim it) is
furnished with a long wand with which he counts the
coins into fours, pushing each four back to the heap
as he counts it out. This is the exciting moment , and
while this counting is going on, the third croupier, the
banker, keeps up a monotonous chant, -the song of
victory or defeat. At the end of the counting there
are one, two, three, or four sapecks over, and that
determines the winning number. The winners gain
three times their stakes, which gives the banker four
chances of winning to three of losing. This continues
for hours and hours ; it is quite as much a passion as
roulette. The Chinese croupier is so skilful , that if a
large stake is put on a certain number before the coins
are put in the cup, you may be pretty sure that that
number will not turn up.¹
I have known Europeans who spent entire evenings
in the baquans of Saigon and Cho-lon , and who often
lost hundreds of piasters . Sometimes a rich Annamite

1 - The proprietors of these gaming-houses realize large sums of


money, and the gamblers are frequently ruined , and, driven into des-
perate courses, often end their days in prison . Sometimes they lose not
only all their money, but the clothes they are wearing. On one occasion ,
passing the door of a gambling-house near the temple of the Five
Genii, at Canton, I heard a great noise. Entering the establishment
to ascertain the cause, I found the conductors of the games actually
engaged in stripping the clothes off a man who had staked and lost
them . The unfortunate man was then dressed in gunny-bags (a) and
turned into the street." (b)

(a) Gunny is a strong coarse kind of sacking. [ED. ] (6) Gray's " China "
(vol. I. pp. 387-88).
36 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

or Chinese gambler will take the bank on his own


.
account, but he must divide his profits with the real
banker.
You are elbowed by all sorts of people in these
establishments, and are sure to meet the boy who is
risking the money he has stolen from his master, the
cook who is spending the household money, and certain
persons of disgusting morals, in search of their prey.

The Passion for Opium. But the most terrible


vice, or passion , is opium smoking ; from which even
the European can hardly hope to escape , for I speak from
personal experience. When the French came to Cochin-
China, they found the use of opium had been already
introduced by the Chinese. The first Governor of the
Colony made the sale of opium a monopoly, and this
monopoly remained for twenty years in the hands of
the Chinese, who derived a considerable profit from it ;
since then it has been in the hands of the Excise.
It seems that the kilogramme of raw opium, which
costs the Excise sixteen shillings when they buy it
from the English Government, is resold to the con-
sumer at about ten pounds. It is an expensive vice.

The Usual Allowance of an Opium Smoker.


A tael (1 oz. avoirdupois) costs two piasters, and in
skilful hands gives an average of about 100 pipes.
This makes the price come to a trifle under or a trifle
over the penny, according to the rate of exchange of
the piaster, which varies from 3s.7d . to 4s.5d . In
order that the opium should produce the desired effect,
the beginner should smoke ten pipes ; with less than
that number he would not feel much effect, but above
that number there would be risk of intoxication .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 37

I have, however, known an European (an inebriate


it is true) who, after smoking five or six pipes, fell
into a torpor which lasted forty-eight hours.
At the end of a few weeks , the tyro in opium smok-
ing will already be able to take his twenty pipes a
day -ten, an hour after each of his two principal
meals-which he will find will aid digestion quite as
well as a first-rate cigar would.If the smoker would
stop at that, there would be no harm done . Unfortu-
nately, he increases his allowance by one or two
pipes almost every day, and soon takes his thirty
pipes a day. This already means an expense of £40
a year ; but confirmed smokers soon exceed that num-
ber, and smoke their fifty or sixty pipes a day.

Nature of the Pleasure induced by Opium.


With the first pipe you feel a sensation of gentle
"9
warmth in the stomach, and this pleasant " velvety '
feeling lasts all the time you are smoking. This sensa-
tion is renewed with each fresh pipe, and when you
have smoked from ten to fifteen or twenty-according
as you are habituated to the use of the drug - the
All mental
heart feels happier and the spirits lighter.
cares and physical pains (especially neuralgia) vanish.
The body feels buoyant. You might imagine that the
air which surrounds you is purer, and you feel a pleas-
ure in breathing it. This effect is, moreover, most
marked when the lungs are oppressed by the heavy ,
air of the rainy season, but which ,
moisture-sodden
after opium smoking feels like the soft warm air of a
hot bath-room.
After that you sink into a sort of pleasant idleness ,
and your physical condition is exactly analogous to
that of a weak invalid enjoying the beams of a radi-
DDEN LOGY
O S ROPO
38 UNTR FIELD OF ANTH .

ant spring sun. The ideas of each person follow their


natural course ; the brain teems with thoughts which
crowd upon it, and you can easily perform intellec-
tual work which would otherwise be beyond your
capabilities.
CHAPTER V.

Physical love amongst the Annamites. - Methods of copulation


generally used.- Asiatic houses of prostitution. -The Annamite
" Bamboo ".-The dangers of Annamite love affairs.-Gonorrhea
and syphilis.- The Chinese brothel.-- Chinese prostitution.— The
whore-houses of Cho-lon .- The habits of old Chinese debauchees.
-The Japanese brothel. - Physical characteristics of the Japanese
--
woman. The Annamite mistress of the European.

Physical love amongst the Annamites. Physical


love amongst the Annamite race is, before all and
above all, a contact of -generally very dirty - mucous
surfaces. Amongst no people in the world is there
such danger of physical contamination.
Marriage is for the Annamite (and in that he re-
sembles greatly our modern civilized peoples) a question
of business and the procreation of descendants , rather
than of sentimental love. On her side, the woman
has not generally a very great affection for her hus-
band, but concentrates all her love on her children .
Her morals are also very lax, and the chief care of an
Annamite woman is not to be caught, and as she is
more intelligent than her husband, she may be relied
on to effectually hoodwink her credulous spouse.

The most Usual Methods of Copulation. The


bed of the Annamite is a mere hurdle of bamboos,
39
DDEN S OF
40 UNTRO FIELD

covered with a flimsy cloth. Such a bed is not very


well suited for the classical position of sexual relations ,
-the man, on the top of the woman. The French
soldier, when he visits a woman in one of the brothels,
and rubs his knees against the knots and wattles of
the hurdle, calls this " going to the bamboo . ” 1 By
extension, the same term is applied to the Annamite
brothel.
The Annamite rarely employs this classical position.
The most usual method with him is the " lateral po-
sition ; " the man and woman lie on their side, facing
1
Anthropological students will be struck with the following strange
habit of Australian aborigines

THE POSITION OF THE COUPLE IN COITUS AND THE EXPULSION OF


THE SPERMA BY THE WOMAN.

In the " Anthropologie der Matur-Völker ", by Waitz -Gerland


(vol. VI p. 715 ) is to be found a curious description of the customs
of the natives of Vincent Gulf, in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, related
by von Koehler, which is to the following effect : "The women are
thin, with pendent breasts and the genitals very far backward, so that
the men usually accomplish the act of coition from behind." In answer
to the question whether the writer had been able to see the act of
copulation performed before him, he replied in the affirmative, supplying
at the same time two schematic sketches which we regret being absol-
utely unable to reproduce (Vide : -Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, vol. XII
[1880] p. 87).
With regard to the facility of obtaining the edifying spectacle of a
native couple giving a specimen of their copulative energy in broad day-
light the bribe of a glass of gin to both parties is amply sufficient, and
is often done by European travellers in the interior " for fun ! "
An intelligent and very trustworthy observer, Mr. A Morton, confirms
the above, having been several times a witness of the same. He further
states that as soon as the act has been accomplished, the female, standing
erect with her legs stretched apart, by means of a sudden jerk, con-
trives to violently expel the semina she has received. It seems that
this custom is common among the women, in order to avoid the natural
consequences which might probably result.
ANTHROPOLOGY .

each other, with their legs stretched out and touching.


When once the connection is effected, the woman
hugs her lover with her thighs. This position is only
possible with very thin people, who are not pot-bellied,
and therefore suits the Annamites very well .
It often happens also that the woman will throw
one of her thighs over the man's thigh, in order to
facilitate the introduction. The Annamite woman is
also acquainted with the " canine method , " and as-
sumes that position if the virile member is too small
or too short. When the Congai has a big, well-devel-
oped belly, -which is rare, or when she is pregnant,
-which is common , -copulation is effected by the
woman going down on her knees, and leaning forward
on the edge of the bed, and the man squatting on
her back. Sometimes the husband lies flat on his
back--like the man in Boccaccio's Tales -and the
woman sits astride him, but turning her back towards
him, so that the weight of her body is supported by
her posteriors, which rest on her husband's belly.
In both these positions there is an evident intention
not to injure the fœtus, and a good many European
couples might with advantage exercise similar pre-
cautions.
In spite of the lascivious propensities of both sexes,
the Annamite generally uses the proper receptacle of
the woman, But when the Congai falls into the hands
of a debauched European , she quickly learns all the
" refinements " practised in France , and being a docile
1 Quite so. How often has this been brought to our notice ! It is
the old story- BIBLE to mystify his mind-(the “ poor heathen, " who
is often, in many respects, superior to his Christian sympathiser) —
BRANDY to drug his senses - and - BAYONET-to obtain his consent to
being robbed. The logical order of corruption is seldom varied : Mis-
sionary-Merchant and Mitrailleur. We thus undermine his native pride,
DDEN S
42 UNTRO FIELD OF

and willing pupil has not need of many lessons from


her master.

Prostitution in China. Dr. Schlegel has justly


noted that most of the authors who have written about
China and the Chinese, have either passed over this
delicate point of morality in silence , or have scarcely
touched upon it at all. Even an authority so well-
informed as John H. Gray, who in the position of
Archdeacon of Hongkong had exceptional facilities of
getting at the heart of this matter, makes no reference
to the subject of Prostitution . His book deals ably
with the " Laws, Manners, and Customs of the Chinese
people, " but the great crux of all civilization, one
may say --- the Sexual Question - of all times and coun-
tries, is left unnoticed . In fact he apologises for re-
ferring to the subject of Marriage and Divorce ! Never-
theless, the history of prostitution in China deserves
to be studied, for this institution has very intimate
connexion with the morals of a nation , and may be-
come the object of a serious and instructive study.
Had it not been for the horrible licentiousness which
reigned among the Romans, and the general corrup-
tion and venality of the Roman people, Italy would
never have become the prey of the Barbarians ; the
ancient legions , so steeled in war, had become cowardly
and effeminate through voluptuousness, and were no
longer fit to carry helmet and armour, for the defence.
of the country.
China finds herself actually in the same situation.
For upwards of fifteen years she was being mutilated
virility, clear sense, and noble dignity and then speak of his savage
immorality ! " The quickness with which he learns our vices and
unlearns his own virtues is one of the baffling mysteries of the facile
propagation of evil .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 43

by a fearful civil war, such as the world has seldom


witnessed, whilst at the same time foreign enemies
attacked the country and imposed upon this proud
nation the most humiliating conditions, and it has
only just now suffered the most signal and stinging
defeat from a comparatively insignificant neighbouring
power. The Flowery Kingdom continues to march with
giant strides from downfall to downfall, and very
powerful changes must take place before it can rise
again out of the slough into which it is now plunged.
The cause of this situation is the illimitable moral
corruption which infects every grade of Chinese so-
ciety. Immorality and venality have cast their poisoned
breath over the people and their rulers, from the
humblest constable to the Emperor on his throne, and
have destroyed all energy, all force, all nobility and
all manliness in this sunken nation .
The task I have undertaken is to expose this situa-
tion in all its phases, in the hope of filling up a great
void in the history of prostitution . The author of the
work entitled : Work and the Poor in London , says
at the beginning of a note on prostitution in this vast
Empire (page 129) : " China presents to us a rich and
interesting field for research ; if our information were
complete, there would not be a single country in the
world about which so interesting a study could be
made regarding the system of prostitution . Unfor-
tunately the negligence or the prudery of travellers
has been such that we possess but very superficial
knowledge on the subject. "
The task is difficult, because the pen often refuses
to trace the gross immoralities that the writer would
like to expose, and modern languages are reluctant
to describe practices which so deeply offend our notions
44 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of modesty ; we shall therefore endeavour, as much as


possible, in our expressions, to keep within the limits
of morality and of propriety, and as for words which
could with difficulty be accepted in our tongue, we
shall have recourse to Latin expressions.
Pierre Dufour, in his Histoire de la Prostitution,
divides it into three classes :
Hospitable prostitution .
Religious prostitution.
Political or legal prostitution . '
Neither of these three divisions can be applied to
Chinese prostitution . Hospitable prostitution, with the
exception of one solitary example, is unknown in
China, and religious prostitution has never existed .
Williams in his Middle Kingdom says :
" A remarkable thing in the Chinese idolatry is that
it does not admit of the divinisation of sensualism ,
which, under the name of religion, has caused to be
maintained for so long a time the existence of infamous
ceremonies and disgusting orgies, and which in so
many other idolatrous countries, weaken the intelligence
and sully the heart of the devotees. There is neither
a Venus nor a Lakshmi in the list of the Chinese
divinities ; no lamentations in honour of Thamnus, no

1 In certain countries, when a traveller arrived, it was customary to


give him the largest hospitality, including not only board and bed, but
also a bed-fellow, the wife, sister or daughter of the host, and the
host would have felt much hurt had bis offer been rejected . The
custom still exist in some parts of India. This is hospitable prostitution.
Religious prostitution exists to this day in India, in the shape of the
Nautch girls, attached to the Hindoo temples, and was formerly known
in ancient Egypt in the temples at ' Thebes and Memphis.
Political, or legal prostitution is simply that known in most European
countries as a licensed legal institution, subject to strict government
supervision and control.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 45

parades in the temple of Mylitta, no indecent cere-


monies in honor of Durga Puja. The Chinese priests
have never made such things matter of religion, and
even in their pagodas, they have never kept nautch
girls as in the Indian temples, nor courtesans as at
Corinth . "
Their speculations on the dualism of the nature of
Yin and Yang have never degenerated into an abject
veneration of the linga or yoni of the Hindoos, or for
Amum-Kem, of which coloured representations are still
to be seen on the ruins of Thebes. Although in word
and action it is a debauched people, the Chinese have
however never attributed vices to their divinities, and
the adorers of enjoyment (by antiphrase) have never
been led, from depravation to depravation, to be placed
at last in the sacred paths beneath the protection of
a goddess.
Their mythology contains few accounts of the amorous
adventures of their divinities, such as swarm in the
histories of the Greek and Hindoo deities, and which
render them so obscene.
And yet legal prostitution exists in China where it
is regulated by severe rules.
The Book of Laws of the dynasty of Tsing, actually
reigning, with its latest modifications, is however silent
on this subject ; nor do we any more find anything
in the other books specially devoted to this subject,
and the Chinese themselves assert that with them pros-
titution is not subjected to any legal disposition what-
ever.

Asiatic Houses of Prostitution. Here, as in


every civilized country, women are to be had at all
prices, and to suit every taste, from the Annamite
N
DDE
RO LDS
46 UNT FIE OF

"bamboo " to the horizontale who lives in her own


rooms, and is the kept woman or mistress of some
rich Asiatic, and who will condescend to bestow her
favours upon you, but never without being paid.
Though the European courtesan was for a long time,
a rarity in the Colony, there has never, even during
the period of the conquest, been any scarcity of native
women. Here, as elsewhere, the wife and daughter

of the vanquished became the spoil of the victor.


We may divide the Asiatic houses of prostitution
into three very distinct categories.

The Annamite " Bamboo." We will use the


name " bamboo " , which the soldiers have given it.
Here there is no luxury ; a hut open to all comers ,
the " hurdle, " and upon it a cloth, some stools, and
a few lamps giving out a fetid odour of cocoa- nut oil.
In such a place, you would expect to meet with
only old prostitutes, but it is quite the contrary. You
often find girls hardly yet nubile, of only sixteen or
seventeen years, who have been sold by their parents,
or mistresses. The average age of the inmates is
scarcely more than twenty years . The costume of these
ladies is the Annamite costume of the lower classes ;
a cotton robe. But they always have a silver necklace
and amber ear-rings, bought out of their first earnings.
When she first comes to the house, the " bamboo " does
not know a word of French, and is unversed in the
1
" Horizontale " is one of the many names in French applied to
ladies of easy virtue. It refers, of course, to the position assumed by
them in the carnal act. As proof of the decadence of European morals
-French being the tongue still spoken in all European Courts— we give
a list of synonyms used to designate women who sell their love-favours,
and believe it will considerably interest the student and philologist.
(Vide page 87.)
ANTHROPOLOGY. 47

rites of Venus, but you may rest assured she will


quickly learn to prattle amiable speeches, and make
ultra-erotic proposals in her own sabir, for she is in
a good school to learn. She does not, however, earn
much money as long as she is in the establishment,
for the proprietor of the brothel takes nearly all she
receives. The tariff at the " bamboos " is not high ; it
varies from tenpence to a half piastre. For a piaster
you can have the right of sharing the bed of the young
woman for the rest of the night.
It must be confessed that, to those who have just
come to the Colony, the Congai is not attractive. In
the first place there are the blood-red froth caused by
betel-chewing, and the horrible appearance of the teeth
covered with black lacquer. This last, however, is
with her a mark of beauty, as is also the hairless pubes ,
which also tends to disgust the European . The Congai
scorns the European woman, who, she says, has teeth
like a dog, and hair like a beast. I have often heard
the natives make this remark . Another cause of
disgust is the smell of the Congai , which is sui generis,
-an awful mixture of the stenches of rancid cocoa-nut
oil, sweat, and the filth of a dress which is never
washed for fear of wearing it out. This smell chokes
you, and damps even the strongest venereal desires.
You are a long time getting used to it, and some

courage is needed, but at last you get habituated to


it, especially if you have the luck to light upon a
young girl with a well-formed body, and whose teeth
.
are not yet lacquered .

The Dangers of Annamite Love. -Gonorrhoea


and Syphilis . It would be enough if the Congai were
content with being merely repugnant . But, in spite
48 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of the most careful medical examinations, it is far from


safe to have anything to do with her. In the first place,
she is almost certain to have the " flowers, " and she
gives her adorers a gonorrhoea very difficult to cure,
especially if they are at all weakened by the climate.
Syphilis is also very common amongst this race . It
is not within the province of this work to give the
etiology of this disease. I simply remark that it has
taken deep root in the country, and the want of rational
treatment has caused its ravages to spread. The fol-
lowing remarks from Dr. Schlegel's small tract on " La
Prostitution en Chine " , will give an idea of the
seriousness of this subject:
" The curse attending debauchery, syphilitic disease
with all its complications, prevails largely in China.
The flower-boat girls, as a preservative against
disease, pour out, in honour of the gods, one half of
the first glass of wine they drink with a guest. How-
ever, the effects of these diseases are less serious than
with other nations, which may perhaps be attributed
to the generally lymphatic temperament of this people.
Nevertheless, on the other hand they are far more
injurious to the general health, by reason of the deplor-
able medical treatment employed by the Chinese doctors .
There are doctors in China who devote themselves
specially to the treatment of these diseases. They are
in the habit of placarding on the wall, near to their door,
the remedies they have employed to cure their patients,
the same as some dentists exhibit a quantity of the
teeth they have drawn. They boast of their science
and of their remedies in pompous and bombastic ad-
vertisements pasted on the walls.
The wording of these advertisements is embellished
with expressions of the most inconceivable obscenity.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 49

We have seen some, among others, in Canton, in


which were depicted in tints the difference in colour
between the blood of the eel, of the ox , of man and
that of a maiden after being deflowered. Joined to
this was the description , and clients were informed
therein, of the artifices employed by prostitutes, bawds
and brothel-keepers.
Another placard advertised pills to preserve from
syphilis and gonorrhoea ; a third gave a description of
leprosy, together with the advice of doctor N N....
who knew how to cure it perfectly.
Besides Syphilis, there are other diseases to be met
with in China which have long since entirely disappeared
from Northern Europe, for instance , leprosy , in all its
forms, and elephantiasis ; the former, during the first
stage of the malady is called ma foeng, and in the
final period goes under the name of lai foeng (in the
Emoi dialect thai ko). The Chinese attribute the origin
of this disease to a criminal assault contrary to nature,
committed by a troop of soldiers on the dead body
of a very beautiful woman who had been the partner
of one of their emperors. The symptoms of this malady
are horrible. A few days after the inoculation pricking
begins to be felt on the face and hands, and the
unfortunate sufferers are continually slapping their face
and head; in the belief that they are covered with flies.
The evil soon gets worse, the breath becomes fetid ;
food is no longer digested , and the body is covered
with pustules. The spaces between the pustules become
wrinkled and like leather. The hair of the head and
the beard fall off, and the hair that may still remain
turns white ; the face is covered with hard and pointed
tubercles, sometimes white at the top and greenish at
their base. Pustules break out all over the hands, the
4
50 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

articulations, the chin and the knees ; abscesses are


formed on the cheeks and on the chest ; the teeth turn
black ; the skin becomes thick and cracks, whilst
pustules by hundreds grow bigger along the borders
of the crevasses . It is during this culminating period
of the malady that the patient is at last released from
his torments by death.
This disease is supposed to be incurable, although
it is asserted that certain Chinese physicians know how
to limit the eruption it produces to certain parts, for
instance, to the buttocks and the thighs.
As soon as any one is affected with it, he is of
course driven out of society, so that all that is left
him to do is to take refuge like an unfortunate pariah
among those who are similarly afflicted , and to earn
his livelihood by begging.
This malady is very frequent at Canton , because
there it is aggravated by the dampness of the dwellings
and the bad ventilation of the city ; at every step these
unhappy creatures are to be met covered with livid,
brown, or blackish pustules, supporting themselves with
difficulty by the aid of a stick , or else, to the disgust
of the passer-by, squatting down in the midst of the
markets and public squares.
However, as a general rule, these unfortunates, by
reason of the misery in which they exist, descend soon
enough into their grave.
The lazarettoes existing in Canton are unable to
shelter or to feed these unhappy beings. There are
two hospitals for lepers ; one is in a village at a few
hours distance from the city, on the banks of a river,
and where lepers only are permitted to reside.
Notwithstanding their malady, they marry among
themselves. The children , during the first eleven or
ANTHROPOLOGY. 51

twelve years of their existence are not attacked by


the disease , which does not touch them until later.
The attempts we made in isolating these children gave
no satisfactory results ; as a matter of course the malady
can only increase instead of diminishing.
The leper hospital situated near to the town can
contain three hundred patients, and this foundation has
to subsist on an annual income of 300 taels ( 1500
florins), a sum naturally insufficient.
The Chinese pretend that, by means of the following
trial , it is possible to recognize the presence of the
leper virus in the blood, even when the infection dates.
from one or two days only ; it is a known fact that
on lighting a man's face by means of the flame of a
bundle of tow steeped in alcohol , it assumes a cadaverous
hue ; the Chinese pretend that the leprous infection
then makes it appear of a fiery red .
We have had no occasion to verify this fact, but it
deserves in any case to be tried.
Elephantiasis is also very prevalent at Canton , and
in the province of Chusan it is still more common . It
appears that in China this affection does not always
go under the same denomination , but that the name
changes with the different symptoms which present
themselves. For instance, at Emoi, the malady mostly
affects the scrotum , hence it is there called toa laan pha
(big scrotum) ; if it descends into the legs, it is called
Kha-ta (dried-up legs). It appears that it is then more
serious, for there is a proverb which says : Khaam
Kha-ta, boe Koa thsa (hast thou Elephantiasis, go buy
thee a coffin) ; in Canton they call it tai scha thai (big
foot of sand).
Syphilis reigns particularly along the coasts, where
it was imported by European sailors.
52 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The Chinese who know it well, are careful to isolate,


for the exclusive use of Europeans the women with
whom they will no longer have intercourse. This goes
indeed so far, that when the British troops besieged
Canton in 1857 , the Chinese mandarins drove all the
prostitutes of the environs who were tainted with venereal
disease, towards the city ; in order to infect the bar-
barians as they called them, which plan succeeded
only too well .
Some idea as to the dangers of this disease may be
obtained, for statistics show that, during the first

' The question of staying the progress of this disease in our Indian
Army has from time to time considerably stirred public opinion. LORD
DUNRAVEN deserves the credit of having recently braved the country
with a clear statement of the position . In two powerful speeches in
the House of Lords . See the " TIMES " of May 15th and 18th, 1897 .
His lordship, in an able speech, quoted the following stubborn facts,
from the official report drawn up by the military medical authorities for
the Secretary of State :
In 1887 there were 362 soldiers per 1000 admitted to hospital
infected with syphilis, in 1895 the proportion had increased to 537 per
1000; 5 % of effective troops had been sent home invalided from this
cause ; 45 per 1000 were constantly in hospital, under treatment ; 13 %
were rendered unfit for service ; finally, out of a total effective British
force of 70,000 men in Indian, 20,000 were known to be contaminated,
at the same it is noted that the virulence of the disease has greatly
increased. But the most appalling fact is that out of 13,000 expired
service men returning every year to England nearly one half are more
or less syphilitic, and liable, if they marry to transmit the taint to their
children.
Compared with other European armies the British troops hold the
worst place in this connection :
27 per 1000 are infected in Germany ;
44 99 1000 99 99 " France ;
43 "" 1000 n 99 99 Russia ;
65 1000 99 99 Austria ;
71 39 1000 " " " Italy;
ANTHROPOLOGY. 53

twenty years of the occupation of the country, it was


the cause of half the cases in the hospitals, that is to
say, as much as marsh-fever, cholera, dysentry, hepa-
titis, and the special diarrhoea of Cochin - China , put
together.
But let us conclude the description of the Annamite,
" bamboo. " If she is pretty and intelligent, as soon
as she has learned to make herself understood in her
polyglot sabir, has acquired certain small talents of a
special kind, and has put aside a few piasters , she
leaves the brothel. She is pretty sure to find a hus-
band, and the couple install themselves in one of the
villages round Saigon, and the disreputable husband
lives on the proceeds of her prostitution. They conceal
their real character by pretending to do a small trade
in fruit and various other productions .
In the morning the woman goes to the market of
Saigon, but instead of returning home early, as a
honest tradeswoman should, she visits the Europeans
during the hour of their siesta. We shall shortly
notice how she works.

The Chinese Brothel and "Flower Boats ". The


first Chinese harlots came from Singapore, about 1866
or 1867. The Chinese brothel is cleaner than the
Annamite " bamboo "
The women attract their customers in this way. They
sit before the door, under the shade of the veranda ,
and among the British home troops :
204 PER THOUSAND !
We would advise English Non-conformist Respectability, which strenu-
ously opposes all preventive measures, prayerfully to study these figures
fraught with the terror of gloomy portent.
Dr. Jeannel (De la Prostitution, page 158, Paris 1868 ) says that
England dishonours Liberty and belies her common-sense through her
misplaced tolerance of the scandals of prostitution.
54 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

and gathered round their mama, the proprietress of


the brothel . Inside the house, near the door, is a kind
of public saloon, where the " clients " , seated on sofas
of rattan or bamboo, select the girl they like best,
and pay their court to her, in the presence of the
coloured print of the female Chinese Buddha (the
Goddess of Reproduction , represented as a huge female
with enormous breasts) before which a lamp is always
kept burning as an offering.
Having made your choice, you ascend to the first
floor, by means of a staircase like the ladder of a
mill, fixed on the back wall of the house . On this
floor there are a lot of Chinese beds, almost as wide
as they are long, and modestly covered with dark-
coloured mosquito curtains, which conceal the temporary
loves of the occupants.
The opium smoker will always find a pipe there,
and someone to prepare it for him , many of the girls
having been instructed in the art. Few of them smoke,
however, though sometimes the mama does.

" No license is granted " says Schlegel " to the owners


of Flower-Boats or of houses of ill-fame, but they are
permitted freely to carry on their trade. The Flower-
Boat girls are of modest appearance when in public .
In their dress it would be impossible to distinguish
them from honest women, and the non-initiated would
hardly be able to discern between a respectable woman
and one of these " gay " girls. They show themselves
in a proper and decent manner. So that it is only
after a lengthened stay in China that the foreigner is
able to recognize a certain unrestraint in their manner
and dress.
Their profession does not cast an indelible stain upon
ANTHROPOLOGY. 55

them, for they may be taken as concubine by a man-


of the world, and then rise again to an honoured po-
sition. This rehabilitation is called tsoeng-liang (follow-
ing the good path).
The houses of ill-fame are not relegated to any fixed
place ; they are to be found everywhere, in the gayest
and finest quarters of the town , their blue venetian
blinds displayed , and on the rivers are the floating
houses of prostitution, the Flower-Boats, which mask
the houses built here and there on the banks.
They have however to put up with the extortions
of the Mandarins, and under the most trivial presump-
tion of harbouring criminals their inhabitants may be
mercilessly driven out. But these establishments are
none the less a source of profit to the greedy function-
aries who rule in China, for although they have to
pay no regular taxes, the Mandarins take advantage
of the first favourable occasion to extort large sums
of money from their owners.
The actual condition of prostitution in China is abom-
inable. Although the criminal laws forbid to their
functionaries the frequentation of these houses under
pain of sixty strokes of the bamboo, it is quite common
to see them in the evening wending their steps to-
wards the Flower- Boats.
The merchants and private individuals, in a word,
all those who can afford to pay, follow this example.
Decked out in their richest raiments, they may be seen
going there, even in broad daylight. Immorality
prevails to such an extent that fathers are not ashamed
to hold the most obscene conversations in presence of
their children. This has naturally the most detestable
influence upon them. Young Chinese of from 7 to 8
years of age may be heard talking with consummate
DDEN
56 UNTRO FIELDS OF

knowledge of things the most obscene, and the filthiest


expressions are ever in their mouths. As they advance
in years so grows their contempt for women, for as,
according to Chinese custom, any intercourse between
the sexes is almost impossible, the young Chinese lads
hardly ever see any but the very lowest class of women.
For them , woman is but a thing, a business article, a
being necessary only for propagating the species and
for the satisfaction of the passions.
Compared with the conduct of the men , that of the
women in China is far more reserved ; we may how-
ever, have occasion, during the course of this study,
to show some facts which may cast a shade upon this
picture.
The houses of ill-fame in China are of two kinds :
those that are on land, and those on the water. The
first are to be met with everywhere, the others exist
only along the banks of the rivers.
Those situated on land are called Tsing-lao (blue
houses).
These establishments are sumptuous and in no way
inferior in richness of decoration to the mansions of the
most wealthy merchants and to the palaces of the gov-
ernors. We find in a Chinese novel forming part of
the " Collection of tales of the present Time and of
Former Days" entitled : " The Business in Oil that had
been done by the Pretty Girl," the description of the
front of one of these houses :
" Before him was a house which he examined atten-

tively ; the door of this habitation was overlaid with a


coating of gold-coloured lacker, and made of elegantly
worked bamboo ; within it there was an enclosure painted
vermillion, flanked by a rampart of fine-leaved bamboos,
so that it was impossible to see into the house. "
ANTHROPOLOGY . 57

This building which here served as a Blue House


does not seem however to have been erected for that
destination, for we read further on:
"While the attendant was pouring out wine, Tsin-
tschoeng asked him : ' who resides within this bamboo
door painted with golden lacker ? ' The servant replied :
' It is the country-house of the signior Thsi, but it is at
present occupied by Mrs. Wang-Kioe.' Tsin-tschoeng
continued : ' I have just seen a young lady enter a pal-
anquin. Who is she?' ' It is a celebrated courtesan
named Wang-wei, she previously dwelt outside the
Yoen-Kin gate, but as her lodging was cramped and
small, a son of the signior Thsi, who is her lover, has
let this house to her for six months.' "
This shows us that in China, people feel no shame
in letting out their country-houses to hire for purposes
of prostitution, for the continuation of the novel shows
us that several Flower Maidens lived in the house.
These establishments in Canton and in Amoy are
slightly different. Contrary to the other buildings, they
are generally two stories high ; the interior arrangement
is purposely very irregular. The upper story is par-
titioned off into little rooms, each of which has its
female occupant, and nearly in the centre is the saloon
common to all, embellished with the richest furniture
and paintings. Another thing to be remarked is that
the ledges of the roofs of these houses, in Canton, are
not horizontal like those of the other buildings, but
are sloping. The reason of this particular architecture
has not been sufficiently explained , although it has been
attributed to the influence of local superstition (foeng
schoei); when the house stands alone, it is surrounded
by a gallery closed by Venetian blinds ; if it is situated
between other houses, the gallery only exist in front.
N
ODDE DS OF
58 UNTR FIEL

These blinds are painted blue, whence the name of


tsing lao or blue houses which has been given them.
At about seven o'clock in the evening the blinds are
lifted, and the whole place is brilliantly lighted up,
while music and song resound through the building.
In the novels these establishments still go by the
name of the Brilliant Field of Flowers, and the Club
of the Mandarins' Ducks. Other less choice names
are given to them, too numerous to recapitulate . The
streets in which these establishments are situated go
by such flowery names as the following : Flower Street,
the Willow Avenue ; each house has also its name ; for
instance in Amoy we find the following : the Saddle
of Straw, the Eighteen Chairs, the Horse's Pillar, the
Church of Rome, so named because the house had
formerly been used as a chapel for Roman Catholic
missionaries. The second form of establishments of this
kind is constituted by the Flower-Boats, or as they
are called hoa shing. The biggest of these are called
at Canton, Wang loa ; there are besides the sha Kwoe,
or Gauze Tents, and the fa-thao-moen, Gate of the
flowery Frontage. They may be compared to gigantic
Venetian gondolas. Their length ranges from 60 to
80 feet, with about 15 feet in width ; the poop is ta-
pering and carries a platform made in such a manner
as to enable one to go from one boat to another,
when, as is generally the case, they are anchored close
together ; in this case, each boat is solidly warped to a
zinc cable by means of strong ropes which surround
it entirely from stem to stern ; the cabin in the elevated
poop aft is a sort ofante-chamber, preceding the main
saloon, which occupies about one half of the entire
length of the boat : they are separated by panels of
trellis work or by wainscoting. To the right and to
ANTHROPOLOGY . 59

the left, near the entry, are two couches for the use of
opium smokers. Finally there is a third saloon, or bed-
chamber, which is completely hidden from the view of
the guests by wooden panels ; the windows on either
side may be closed by curtains and shutters. Above
the entrance there is an ornamental three pointed front-
age, artistically carved in wood and richly gilt all over ;
the rest of the wood- work is also cut out with art and
ornamented with the most brilliant colours ; the floor
of the main saloon is covered with the richest carpets ,
and European lamps, with pendant crystal drops are
suspended from the roof. The furniture consists of a
large round table, some candelabras and chairs, the
whole being of beautiful rosewood, or ebony inlaid with
marble. These seductive boats produce at night a
magical effect when they are brilliantly lighted up, and
no one who has once visited Canton can forget the
sight. The Flower girls do not usually live in the boats.
The Chinese never go there alone , but from ten to
twenty acquaintances agree together to hire one of these
boats for the evening. For the larger ones they pay
as much as from four to six pounds a head sterling.
For this sum the owner of the boat supplies the
lighting, the supper and as many girls as there are
guests. He must also bring musicians and the girls
have to entertain the guests with song and conversa-
tion.
At about nine o'clock in the evening the supper is
served up, and the guests all take their seats round
the table, each one with a girl at his side. During
the last service little games are played , among which
the most frequently in usage, is that known to the
Italians under the name of Morra. At the end of the
entertainment, at about 11 o'clock each couple goes
60 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

away separately to little boats, built on the same model


as the big one, where they pass the night.

The Chinese Prostitute. She generally comes


from Southern China. She is short, and often plump,
and her skin is almost yellow, the colour of weak tea.
Her breasts are rounder, and the muscles of her thighs
and legs more developed than is the case with the
Congai. All the hair of the pubes is carefully pulled
out. The vulva and vagina are rather larger than
those of the Congai.
' DEPILATION. This reminds us of what Martial says :--
Primum igitur pathicis studiose exstirpandi erant pili de toto cor-
pore. (a) Depilabant labra, brachia, pectora, crura, virilia, ante omnia
vero lævigabant aram voluptatis pathicæ, podicem.
MARTIALIS, II, 62 :
Quod pectus, quod crura tibi, quod bracchia vellis,
Quod cincta est brevibus mensula tonsa pilis,
Hoc præstas, Labiene, tuæ, quis nescit ? amica.
Cui præstas culum, quem Labiene, pilus.
IDEM IX, 28 :
Cum depilatos Chreste, coleos portes
Et vulturino mentulam parem colle
Et prostituis lævius capuc culis,
Nec vivat ullus in tuo pilus crure.
Purgentque crebræ cana labra volsellæ.

(a) Excepto quidem capillo. Hor. Ode X.


(The translation of the above is given at page 91.)
Again, Quintilian tells us :
“Igutur ut velli et comam in gradus frangere et in balneis per-
potare, quamlibet hæc invaserint civitatem, non erit consuetudo,
quia nihil horum caret reprensione.
(QUINTILL. INSTIT. ORAT. I, 6.)
(Vide page 92 for the transl. of this passage.)
The student will find a most interesting chapter expressly devoted to Depi-
lation in " Marriage-love and Woman amongst the Arabs ; otherwise en-
titled in Arabic the Book of Exposition, etc." PARIS, Carrington, 1896.
Vide also the end of the present vol.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 61

But the greatest difference between them is, that


the Chinese woman is very cleanly in her habits. She
washes herself all over every day, and her clothes,
which are white, or of a light hue, are clean and neat.
The Chinese woman does not stink like the Annamite.
When we add that she does not chew betel, and that
she has pretty, white teeth, which are carefully kept,
it will be seen that she is more like a European woman
than the Annamite is.
Unfortunately, for those who like voluptuous pleas-
ures, she has one immense fault, —her frigidity . Copu-
lation, with her, is accomplished mechanically ; it is a
commercial transaction which brings her in a piaster,
and that is all .
The chief care of the Chinese woman is, above all
things , not to disarrange the elaborately constructed
edifice of her hair, which is arranged for her once a
month by the Chinese hair-dresser. Imagine an enorm-
ous chignon, of the form of a conch-shell, decorated
with bows and " corkscrews " of ribbon , and kept together
by cosmetics and pomades, in a most extraordinary
and absurd shape . It would not be considered an act
of gallantry to take down the hair of a Chinese woman .
When she lies down, she places her chignon on a little
table, hollowed out in the middle.
Never expect from a Chinese girl any refinement of
voluptuousness ; -she is incapable of it. She only
knows how to lie down and take you passively. If
need be, she will consent to visit the European at his
own house, if, in addition to the regular price of three
piasters, he will pay for a carriage there and back ,
for, to her little deformed feet, walking is painful.
Regarding this peculiarity, it has been asserted , and
I fancy I have read it in some book of travels, that
62 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

the object of the compression of the Chinese woman's


feet was to develop the constrictor muscles of the vulva
and the vagina. I must confess that I have rarely
met with this vaginal peculiarity. In my opinion, it
depends rather on the obesity of the woman, and there
is no need to go to China to find this result. All
European women who are rather stoutly built, and who
have the pelvis and the thighs well developed - even
old prostitutes-are generally tighter than small thin
women. Brantôme remarked this, long ago.¹

Life of the Flower-Boat girls. The education of


the " Flower-Boat " girls is conducted on a systematic
plan. In nearly all cases they are children that have
been stolen, bought of poor parents, or furnished by
houses of ill-fame ; during the first six years they are
brought up with great care ; towards the age of seven
or eight years, they are made to keep in order the
rooms of the elder girls ; they are richly dressed and
taken to the Flower-Boats, where they hand the tea
and narghilehs to the guests.
Towards the age of eleven years they begin to
learn to sing and to play the lute or the guitar. If
1 J'ay ouy compter à Madame de Fontaine- Chanlandry dicte la
belle Torcy, que la reine Eleonor (a) sa maistresse, estant habillée
et vestue paroissoit une très-belle princesse, comme il y en a encor
plusieurs qui l'ont veue telle en nostre cour, et de belle et riche
taille; mais, estant deshabillée, elle paroissoit du corps une géante,
tant elle l'avoit long et grand : mais tirant en bas, elle paroissoit
une naine, tant elle avoit les cuisses et les jambes courtes avec le
reste."
Brantôme, Vie des Dames galantes, (page 207 of the Edit. Biblio-
théque Gauloise, Paris, 1857).
(a). La reine Eléonore, sœur de Charles.Quint, fut mariée à François I ,
devenu veuf depuis quelques années, lors de la signature du traité de
Cambrai. (Translation of the above at the end of the chapter-page.)
ANTHROPOLOGY. 63

one of these children shows natural dispositions, she


is also taught to write, to count and to paint. This
goes on until the age of 13 or 15 ; then they must
endeavour, by their artifices and coquetries, to turn
the head of some rich gentleman. If they are lucky,
their keeper sells them for a large sum in money,
from £70 to £ 125.
This happens at the earliest at the age of 13 ; this
is called trying the flower ; if she is 14 years old
they say : regulate the flower, and at 15 , it is : gather-
ing the flower. The same as with the Romans,
that day is a festival with the Chinese.
The entire population of the other lupanars come in
the morning to express to her their good wishes ; these
rejoicings last from a fortnight to three weeks. The
novel previously quoted also gives a description of
them . After an interval of a few days she is sold a
second time ; the individual who devotes her in this
manner to the lupanar is called the supercalculator.
If the girl is of more than ordinary beauty she is left
at rest for another year, to have her honour sold
again a second, and sometimes even a third time.
She then bears the name of Ki hang liao ti niu
niang, a virgin twice over.
After that lapse of time she belongs to the staff of
the establishment and goes by the name of tschang
Ki. The prices she demands are sometimes incredibly
high, and particularly in the central provinces of China
large sums of money are expended to buy them.
The novel above quoted mentions 10 ounces of silver
(about 4-5 as the price for one night). However
in Canton seldom more than £ 2,10/- is ever paid for
a beauty of the first order. The most profitable cus-
tomers to the Canton girls , are travellers from the
64 UNTRO FIELDS OF
DDEN

provinces, or as they are called in the energetic dia-


lect of the district : " schau toek kwai ", the wicked
devils of the mountain. Like provincials coming to
Paris, they come here to lose fortune, health and
honour. Ignorant of all the tricks of the brothels,
they are robbed in all possible ways. In the Flower-
Boats , the stranger is attracted and seduced , sometimes
by two or three girls together, which never occurs
with the Roués, in whose presence in public these
girls observe the strictest decorum. A girl, already
sharp. is presented to him as a virgin ; after a rich
supper, well qualified with strong wines, he is con-
ducted to a small sleeping boat, where a little eel's
blood completes the illusion :
Flava anguillæ sanguinis ejacularis ejusque brac-
carum hiatum obline, says a procuress, in an erotic
story, to a timid Flower-Boat girl.
The next morning, the unfortunate and much aston-
ished man has to pay an exorbitant sum. This goes
on as long as the money he brought with him lasts.
As soon as that is dissipated , should he venture to
show himself again, he is received coldly and with
contempt.
Lucky indeed for him if, instead of an amorous
girl, he has chanced upon a harpy greedy for money,
and that, though impoverished in purse, he wisely
returns to his home. But these men from the country
are often so giddy, to employ the Chinese expression ,
that they get into debt, take to gambling or even
resort to theft in order to spend the money thus so
badly earned in the low pleasures of the lupanar.
All the girls attached to an establishment of this
kind are the absolute property of the owner, a leno or
lena (male or female bawd) who are known respectively
ANTHROPOLOGY. 65

under the name of Woekoei and Paorl or Roeipo.


The girls call the lena, mother, and address each
other by the name of sister. The matrons of other
establishments are their aunts, and the latter call the
them nieces. The most vulgar names given to the
master and the matron are Piao thao and Ba thao,
chief of the house.
These matrons exercise an almost uncontrolled au-
thority over their girls. They can beat them , and mal-
treat them, and if they should by mischance kill one
of them , the river is handy to receive her body. Or
else she is buried in the sand without a coffin or
funeral ceremony. There being no complainant , Jus-
tice knows nothing about it, and makes no enquiries ,
even if the body is seen floating down stream . The
fate of these unfortunate creatures is truly miserable ;
they must give all they earn to the matron , who has
only to supply them with food and dress . It some-
times happens that one of these girls retains something
in secret , or that their gallants add something to the
tariff price , which she puts by in order to be able
later to purchase her emancipation . But should the
matron suspect such a thing she may search the girl's
room in her absence and take possession of all she
can find . If the girls are refractory , the whip and the
stick are at once brought into play, and they are
flogged unmercifully . It several times happened that
one of these matrons tied a cat inside the pantaloons
of her victim and then beat the animal .
It is not only by their owners that these unfortu-
nate creatures are maltreated ; the guests also , when
they chance to be in a bad humour, or fancy them-
selves offended by them , are not ashamed to raise
their hands and strike them.
66 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

When the bloom of their youth has departed, their


lot becomes worse and worse. The big firms sell
them to inferior establishments, where they go by the
name of wall-flowers.
Falling still lower, they are called Piao and other
similar names ; at Amoy, they are then called little
girls, or brown holland, when they do not belong to
a fixed establishment, circulators or walkers , thit tho
lang and loe lioe. Finally they take the name cf
thsan-hoe and pai-lioe, which corresponds to the Latin,
1
word Blitida, contemptible women. The contemptu-
ous expressions used by the Romans : scrantia, dis-
gusting ; scrapta, vile, are to be met with in Amoy in
the words tsap dzi lo thao e dzio kung (trivii scrantia).
A very common nickname is also applied to them :
tschoen-tao-ma (inoculatrix).

Schlegel says : " Cases of girls going astray are,


in fact almost unknown , and when they do occur it
is only upon the promise of a secret marriage ; this,
in the eyes of the Chinese , no longer constitutes a
faux pas, a secret marriage being to them as valid
as a public one.
The man who, without very good reason, abandons
a girl to whom he has been united in secret marriage ,
is in most cases condemned to death by the magistrates ;
further the priests threaten him with terrible punish-
ments in hell.

¹ Blitea et lutea est meretrix, nisi quo sapit in vino ad rem suam.
Plaut. Truc. 4, 4, 1 .
At Canton, these women are generally called Lo qneue or Man ugao.
They more usually go by the name of hoa niu (the daughters of
flowers), on account of the flowers with which they adorn themselves,
and fao thao (painted faces), because they are addicted to that adorn-
ment.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 67

However,adultery is more frequent in our days,


although the opportunities are very difficult to be met
with on account of the strict separation of the sexes.
Most women, under the pretext of pilgrimages
to obtain posterity, seek for consolation from the
priests.
In order to make good this assertion , we shall seek
in the Chinese tales themselves a fact which will
clearly show us the existence of this depravity.
In the ninth part of the Treasure of Wisdom, a
collection of celebrated law-cases for the use of magis-
trates, is to be found the following account :
" In the canton of Yocng Schun, district of Nau-
Ning, province of Kocang-Si, there is a cloister called
The magnificent Water-lily. It contains a hall , called
The Hall of the Children and Grandchildren, at the
sides of which are a row of cells. The tradition says
that when women came there to pray for children
their prayers were always granted.
" It was in every case necessary to bring rich offerings ,
and the women who came there to pray were required
to be at their best time of life and in excellent health.
They had previously to fast and to abstain from carnal
connection ; then, if the oracles were favourable they
had to pass one night in the cloister. Most of these
women related having dreamed that Buddha had
fecundated them ; others said that an Arhan , one
of the eighteen disciples of Buddha, had made them
pregnant ; others on the contrary related absolutely
nothing.
Some of them never returned again to the cloister
after having once passed a night there, whereas others
returned there several times running.
" As the cells were carefully closed, and that the
68 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

husbands and the parents remained on guard at the


door, all this was generally believed .
" An inhabitant of Fo Kien, named Wang-ten, was
appointed governor of Canton . On hearing of these
miraculous events, he had some suspicions which he
wished to clear up. He ordered two loose women of
the town to go to this cloister, dressed in their finest
clothes. Their instructions were the following : 'Should
any one approach you during the night, do not repel
him, but stain his tonsure, without his perceiving it,
with red or black ink.'
“ The next morning, at day-break, he posted a detach-
ment of soldiers around the temple, and went in him-
self to make his inspection . All the priests , about
one hundred in number, hastened to come forward to
greet him. They all uncovered their heads in his
presence, and Wang-ten then perceived among them
two who bore red and black marks on the bald part of
their heads. He ordered them to be immediately seized ,
and put into chains, and asked the two prostitutes to
relate the facts with all the circumstances. They said:
After vespers had been rung, two priests approached
us. They gave us a parcel of pills to regulate the
menses, and to engender children.' Wang thereupon
ordered all the women who had gone there to pray
for children, to be taken to prison . They all denied ,
but further enquiry showed that, like the two gay
women, they had also been given pills to engender
children. He then set them at liberty, but ordered the
soldiers to enter the temple. The frightened priests
did not dare to resist and were bound together two
and two. He had the place searched to discover the
means resorted to by the priests to approach the women .
It was discovered that underground secret passages
ANTHROPOLOGY . 69

gave access to the cells behind the beds. It was im-


possible ever to find out how many women they had
thus dishonoured. "
The conduct in the women's convents is far from
being as it should be. They are inhabited by girls
who, betrothed in their youth to a man whom they
have later refused to marry , have taken refuge in
these convents to escape the authority of their parents ,
and by girls that have been abandoned by their lovers.
They are seldom led there by religious convictions.
In the cloisters they enjoy greater liberty than at
home, for they owe obedience to one person only, the
abbess. There is very great debauchery in these
convents, and that to such an extent that there
is a Chinese proverb which says : The nun is the
wife of the monk, and the monk is the slave of the
nun.
Chinese novels often contain examples of the mis-
conduct which reigns in these convents : for instance,
among others, in the erotic novel ofthe Tower ofJasper,
in which is related the history of the life of a nun ,
the details of which are to such a degree indecent
and immoral, that Boccaccio has never written anything
like it. Notwithstanding the severe penalties meted
out to debauched priests or nuns, the authorities generally
content themselves with from time to time closing the
convents, and obliging the priests, the monks and the
nuns to resume the life of the laity.
The severe laws against adultery, for both man and
woman, are the cause of the rareness of cases of
seduction and adultery . These impediments have even
led women to the infamy of the vice against nature,
a vice known to the Romans under the name of
fascinum. The instrument used by them is made of
70 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

soft leather, or of thin horn, and stuffed with cotton.


In China it is called la siang Koeng (the great Lord) ;
at Emoi and its neighbourhood, and in the entire
province of Fokien, it bears the name of Kak tshia
(the chariot of horn).

The Houses of Prostitution of Cho-lon. Though


the Chinese houses of Saigon are used by Europeans ,
those of Cho-lon, on the other hand, are almost exclu-
sively reserved for the Chinese. In some respects
these latter resemble certain " society houses " in Europe.
You must be ready to put your hand in your pocket,
and you are not admitted unless accompanied by some
Chinese habitué.
As in France, there are luxurious saloons, with
divans, sofas, mirrors, and pictures painted on glass.
The girls, richly dressed , are sent into the saloon to
receive the visitors. Even the stereotyped phrase
" Toutes ces dames au salon, " is employed, -in Chi-
nese, of course. 1 If you choose to order it, you can

1 Travellers on the Continent will recollect that in the gay resorts of


this kind a similar call is invariably used From the German's :
"Die Damen mögen herunter kommen " to the Spaniard's :—“ „ Viñas
al salon que hay caballeros (or 66 senores que se esperan ", there
is not much to choose. In certain swell Madrid and Barcelona
" houses " however, the " salon" is generally qualified by , “ azul”
or " verde " according to the pre-dominant colour by which it is dis-
tinguished, several distinct parties being sometimes entertained in different
rooms at the same time. In Spanish places of a lower class, polite-
ness is thrown to the winds and the brutal call is then "Putas al
salon (or macarelle) que hay cabrones que se aguardan.”
Parisian establishments of a superior character appear to manage these
things better, the visitor's step on the staircase setting in motion an
artfully contrived, concealed electric bell which warns the demoiselles (?)
of his approach and before he has had time to reach the landing the
patronne of the place is waiting to wish Monsieur, bonsoir, and usher
ANTHROPOLOGY. 71

be served with a copious repast in the Chinese fashion,


and of which birds'nest soup, tripang, preserved ginger,
and ginseng form the base, helped out by other strongly
spiced dishes. You hear the distant sounds of Chinese
music, for the performers are placed in another room ,
in order that they should not disturb the loving couples.
They play melancholy, languishing airs, which, it would
appear, give the Chinese erotic thoughts. The girls
are tender and cajoling ; they assume poses likely to
stir up the senses of the old Chinese bankers, who
are not easily excited . They are hardly more expert
in the art of Venus, however, than their rivals of
Saigon.

Fate of the Chinese Prostitute. These women


end their lives most miserably. When their bodies
have been ravaged by horrible diseases, so as to render
them improper for the continuance of their trade, they
seek to earn a livelihood as street needlewomen .
Everywhere in Canton , these hideous creatures may
be seen, often with an artificial nose made of paper
and big spectacles, sitting at the street-corners, with
a basket full of old clothes and rags at their side, ready
for a few cents to mend the old garments of passing
soldiers and coolies.
Very seldom do any of them have a happier fate.
Should a girl take the fancy of one of the habitués
and if she purchase her freedom, she may then become
his second wife.
In this case, her life is a most happy one, and if
it happens that the legitimate wife has no son, whereas
she has one, her position becomes an honoured one

him into a reception-room after a quick, businesslike glance that has


measured her man, before he has uttered a word.
72 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

for then the husband often promotes her to the


rank of legitimate spouse, on the death of his first
wife.
Others again, who, by means of large sums of money
they have earned, and by their intelligence have raised
themselves above their condition, purchase their free-
dom at a heavy price, varying from £ 250 to £ 1700 ,
and choose for themselves a legitimate husband among
their adorers.
Such cases are however very rare, for these girls
seldom possess money enough to redeem themselves ,
and to provide against a rainy day and to economise
is not among their virtues.
The only hope of most among them is to be able
one day to keep a brothel themselves. One of these
Flower-Boat girls, being asked what she most desired,
replied that she would be the happiest of women if
she were taken by somebody as wife or as concubine ;
but she added : “ I shall never have such luck, and
shall deem myself most fortunate if I can one day
commence business on my own account. "

Female Infanticide . The dread of such a miser-


able fate is the cause of another crime that prevails
among the Chinese, and for which we have often
blamed them : the drowning of new-born female infants.
The misery which reigns in China in years of scarcity
leaves no option to the Chinese but to sell their
daughters or to drown them.
We have seen what is the lot of the girl that is
sold . What wonder then that a father with a sensible
heart should prefer to make the little innocent babe
die before it has suffered or breathed, rather than to
abandon it to crime or to an abominable fate. In
ANTHROPOLOGY. 73

his ignorance he conforms to the maxim : "Better


to kill the body than the soul. " Better let this poor
innocent perish than to allow it to gradually die
slowly of cold and hunger, as it so often happens in
Europe.
Nor must it be forgotten that in Europe there are
numerous institutions which receive these children ,
whereas in China the instability of capital makes it
impossible to establish such institutions on a large
scale.
The debauchery contrary to nature so prevalent in
the North of China is also an obstacle to the multi-
plication of the female population. At Canton , where
this disgusting vice is more rare, so also are there
fewer cases of infanticide.
During a stay of eleven months in this part of China,
during which we visited daily even to the narrowest
arms of the river, we never encountered but one infant
corpse floating on the water, whereas during the same
period we found the drowned bodies of six adults.
The child might therefore have been drowned by ac-
cident.

Vicious Habits of Old Chinese Debauchees. I


have not seen what I am about to describe, but I
heard it from a Chinese friend, B***, who farmed the
opium monopoly, and who had often assisted me in
obtaining admission to these houses. I do not think
he wished to impose on my credulity, and this is what
he has many times told me.
When the senses of an old Chinaman are so worn
out that all natural means of excitement cannot arouse
his enervated genital organs, he has recourse to the
following expedient .
74 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The old Celadon is accompanied by a servant or


strong coolie, who copulates with a woman in his
presence, and then retires. In France, the spectators
of this kind of operation are generally invisible to the
performers. At Cho-lon such delicacy is unknown ,
and the amateur 2 assists at the scene, all the phases
of which he follows with interest.

¹ Céladon, a character in the romance of Astrée who, langourous and


insipid, is always sighing after his shepherdess (Littré).
To the " Barber's Tale of his Second Brother " (" Nights " ORIG.
EDIT. vol. I. page 327) Burton makes a short note on the " concealed
spectator " trick resorted to in Paris, and adds that " it was put down
when one of the lookers-on lost his life by a pen-knife thrust into the
crevice."
This was written in 1885. But the voyeur or spier is still the dread
of those who frequent the Parisian bordels ", and a French army-officer
has assured me that special pecuniary inducements are held out to young .
and vigorous soldiers to visit these places of amusement " for an object
that may be casily devined. We could say many startling things under
this head, but this work not being a History of Prostitution we reserve
our information for some future book.
8 In the French, men of this stamp are called Gagas, a most significant
word. Littré derives it from gåter (to spoil), hence gâteux, “ a spoiled,
or ravager." The colloquial meaning, however, is one who has spoiled,
or ruined, his health by excesses with woman-folk ; such persons generally
suffer from that pitiable malady-- loco-motor ataxis, although of course,
this complaint is not always the consequenee of licentious, and uxorious
practices. -Dubut de La Forest in his work, La Pathologie Sociale
(Paris, 1886), has drawn a powerful picture of a man reduced to this
state. He traces the " gaga " through the following stages :-( ¹) infantile
manias and motor disorders of phonation - ( *) Illusions — ( *) Erotomania ;
(*) Loss of the Moral sense- - ( ) Period of Calm-( ) Exposition of one's
private parts under irresistible impulse-( ¹) Grave troubles of speech-- ( ')
Idiocy ; Outrages against modesty— ( ♥) Hallucinations- ( ¹ ) Desire to commit
incest--(11) Fresh period of calm— ( ¹ ) Cure.
M. De La Forest prophesies " that an apparatus will one day be
invented in the form of a thermometer adapted to the skull, fixed and
graduated, " not to the circumvolution, for there are thousands of them ”,
but to the five regions corresponding to the senses. We could thus
ANTHROPOLOGY. 75

When once the agent has retired, well and duly


paid, the old debauchee is left alone with the woman,
who is still resting upon the field of battle . Then the
man approaches, and eagerly receives in bucca sua,
the liquid which runs e vulva fœminæ. ¹
This habit, it is said, is widely spread. I have no
intention to discuss here this strange freak of eroticism ,
I simply note the custom .

Chinese agents of prostitution. We have now


to speak of three kinds of despicable agents of prosti-
tution who, even in China are looked upon with much
contempt. We mean the proxenets, the indicators and
the traders. The first of these, called in the Amoy
dialect hum lang po are to be met with in the middle-
class. In the Chinese novel : Tsiang hing ko (Finds
his pearl-embroidered vestment), this profession is carried
on by an old woman dealer in jewelry. In the novel ;
" The house of the singing phoenix " , there are two
maid-servants who bring about a meeting between the

measure the degree of Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing and Sight, and
would perhaps, also discover the kingdom of the SIXTH SENSE (le
royaume du sixcème sens), THE GENITAL- the only one which interests
nature. " (Introduction XVII).
This revolting habit of the libertine has not escaped the intellectual
activity of the age, as may be seen by the following bibliography :
Diderot, La Religieuse, roman d'une dévote à l'amour lesbique ;
Théophile Gautier, Mademoiselle de Maupin ; Feydeau, La Comtesse de
Chalis ; Flaubert, Salembo ; Krafft-Ebing (op . cit. p. 76) adds : Belot,
Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme. In German literature Krafft-Ebing
also quotes : Wilbrand : Fridolin's heimliche Ehe ; Emerich Count.
Stadion, Brick und Brack oder Licht in Schatten, and Sacher Masoch,
Venus in Pelz. Among other authors who allude to tribadism are :
Zola, in Nana and in La Curée, and quite recently in Italy, Butti, in
his novel L'automna".
Lombroso, La femme criminelle ; (Paris, 1896, p. 401 ).
76 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

student Ki and dame Sioeë-ngo. The individuals


belonging to the second category, called in the Amoy
dialect Kiah ang ting, or Khaan Bee, Khaan Rao,
Khaan moei soh, wait at the landing-stages and public
places, lantern in hand, to show young men the way
to the palaces of debauchery.
These are the adductores, conductores, admissarii
of the Romans . The expression Khaan Bee answers
precisely to what the Roman peasants understood by
the word admissarius : he who leads the stallion to
the mare or the bull to the cow.
To this last class belong also the traders, Gee po
or Hoan sao po. Notwithstanding the heavy penalties
attached to this traffic, they buy young children or
steal them in order to sell them underhand to houses
of prostitution. Entire bands of men and women are
to be met with united together for the purpose of
trading in children on a grand scale.
There are also attached to the staff of the Blue
Houses attendants, called at Amoy Phang Phoen tsoei,
who bring water for foot-washing, and pang hoen ê,
pipe-bearers ; the last and lowest are the toeng pha
tschioe, or bullies, whose office is to appease quarrels
among the customers, and if necessary, to turn them
out, and the hia hoen tsoei ê, or preparers of alum,
who boil the alum-water which the Flower-Boat girls
use for their secret toilet.
The conventional signs employed by the Chinese
are as numerous as the furtivæ notæ used by the
Romans. The Chinese call them Secret marks and
most of the courtesans are very expert in their inter-
pretation. The forefinger rubbed beneath the nose
signifies that a man finds a woman to his taste and
that he would like to make her more intimate acquain-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 77

tance . The same finger gently rapping the tip of the


ear means : No ! The right hand slapping the back
of the left is also a refusal.
Other signs consist again in closing the two fists,
leaving the two forefingers free, which are rubbed one
against the other, as if sharpening two knives ; or else
laying the two hands flat one upon the other, and
shaking them like castagnettes.
The most infamous of these signs and one which is
only employed by the very lowest of coolies, is to shove
the right forefinger in and out of the closed palm of
the left hand .
By means of signs also the price is settled and the
or else the fan is em-
hour of rendezvous indicated ,
ployed, certain movements of which are made to con-
vey the desired information .
Of course aphrodisiacs are not wanting in so depraved
a country as China, and we shall give a detailed
account of them later.
The composition of these mixtures is even still un-
known to Europeans ; we only know that musk, opium,
Ginseng (the root of Panax quinquefolia) and dried
shrimps reduced to powder form the principal ingre-
dients . Phosphorus and cantharides seem to be un-
known to them.
The Chinese " Flower-Boat " girls also believe that
the addition of a small quantity of menstrual blood to
the wine or tea presented by them to a client is a
sure way of causing him to remain faithful. Whether
this proves a greater attraction to European visitors.
we do not know; at any rate people who go to these
places should be on their guard . We now pass on to
a third class of Asiatic maison de passe, of which,
however, there is not so much comparatively to be said.
78 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The Japanese Brothel. The Japanese brothels


are situated in the same street as the Chinese ones,
often even side by side. But the Japanese girl does
not sit at the door touting for custom. The house is
quiet, and there is no one watching from the balcony,
over the veranda. There is not even a reception-
room on the ground floor ; you must ascend to the first
floor, were you find a room shaded by sun-blinds. 1
1 Something analogous exists, or did exist some years ago in Holland.
In Rotterdam, there exists a certain street, the " Sandstraat", leading
down to the Boompjes, or port, All the brothels are obliged to be
located in this street, on either side of which are none other than these
hospitable establishments, which are besides conducted with the strictest
decorum : the entry, with folding-doors, gives directly upon the street,
and as soon as night has fallen, and the lamps are lit, these doors are
lifted off their hinges, and replaced by heavy curtains which, while
keeping out the cold, enable the police outside to take note of what is
going on within and to be able to immediately interfere efficaciously in
case of any disturbance.
On entering, the visitor finds himself in a spacious hall, at the other
end of which is stationed an orchestra. To the right and left are placed
little round marble tables, with comfortable benches and chairs as in any
café. The centre of the hall is kept free for dancing.
The new-comer is invited to take a seat and a small glass of Schiedam
is presented to him by a young girl, in graceful Dutch national costume,
who, first touching it with her lips, hands it to him, with the amiable
salutation of, " Welkom , Mynheer," welcome, Sir . He is not charged
for this, it is a present from the house. He then sits down, and usually
calls for something on his own account; and observes what is going on.
If he did not know where he was, he would simply imagine to be in
some decently conducted dancing-saloon . A number of handsome girls
walk two and two round the hall in the intervals between this music ;
but they scrupulously refrain from addressing themselves to any of the
numerous clients, until one of them is beckoned to come. Acquaintance
is then made and, after perhaps a waltz or two or a polka and some
refreshment, may be brought to a satisfactory conclusion in the upper
part of the building, to which access is obtained through a door at the
back of the orchestra.
From one end to the other of the Sandstraat the conditions are the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 79

On prostitution in Japan Selenka¹ writes :


66
" The vile things that have become usual in some
of the Tea-houses near the port , are in no way na-
tional to the Japanese, and have their origin only in
the avarice of certain greedy exploiters. On the other
hand, the crowd of professional demi-mondaines in the
towns constitute an established caste, sanctioned by
ancient habit and custom, for the reason that poor
parents often sell their daughters to houses of ill-fame.
The unfortunate girls submit without murmur to their
fate, the deeply-rooted Confucian theory : " Pious
respect towards parents ", makes their daughters laws.
In the more important Japanese towns there are generally
special streets devoted to this trade in which are
luxuriously mounted establishments, called Yoshiware.
on the ground-floor of which are congregated the
ladies of the place, who, richly clad, guitar in hand,
are exposed behind a sort of wooden grating to the
male visitors. As these girls have received a certain
same, the different establishments varying only in richness of decoration
and comfort, from those near the port where go sailors, stokers and
trimmers and others frequented by boatswains, ship-carpenters' and
pursers' mates, to more respectable saloons, the resort of captains, first
and second mates and sometimes a well-to-do stevedore . Higher up are
the aristocratie establishments visited by ship-owners, shipping and
insurance agents, some passing tourists, but more particularly by certain
wealthy, ponderous and lecherous old Dutch burghers, who go there
regularly to absorb good Hollands, smoke long pipes and practise bad morals.
The writer of these lines remembers seeing, to his great astonishment.
an entire marriage party ; bride and bridegroom, parents and family, gravely
enter one of these dens, and proceed to enjoy themselves ; the bride
seemed to be quite at home, and enquiry elicited the astounding fact
that SHE HAD, AND PROBABLY, WITH THE CONSENT OF
HER FIANCÉ" , PASSED A COUPLE OF YEARS IN THIS
ESTABLISHMENT TO EARN HER DOWRY!
1 " Emil und Leonore, Sonnige Welten, Ostasiastische Reiseskizzen,
Wiesbaden, 1896.
80 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

amount of education, they as a rule, find a husband,


even if he be of inferior rank, and after marriage are
esteemed as honourable women. They are themselves
rarely responsible for the life they lead.
One day in Kioto I saw a young girl in the midst
of a great crowd. She had just been " dressed up" ;
she wore rich varied tinted silk dresses, had a perfect
halo of golden pins in her head-dress, and was patrolled
through the streets, in order to draw the attention of
the men to her. This young lady novice in gallantry
did not seem at all dissatisfied with her fate.

Physical Characteristics of the Japanese Wo-


man. She is stronger and more massively made than
the Chinese, or Annamite woman and her extremities
are not so fine ; the feet are never deformed ; and she
always wears sandals or babooches, like the Turkish
woman. The skin is whiter, the general appearance
1
of the body is like that of the Chinese woman, but
the pubes is not always deprived of its hair. In that
case it is scantily furnished with a little black curly hair.
The mucous surfaces of the vulva and vagina are
lighter than in the Chinese woman, and much lighter
than in the Annamite woman. The general hue , a
yellow red, is nearly like that of a Spanish woman.
The genital parts are also much better developed than
in the Annamite woman. The breast is also more
rounded.
Ploss states that :-the exterior genitals of Japanese
women present many particularities. WERNICH found
the following in his gynæcological department in
Yeddo :
"The larger lips show little stoutness of development and even among
young people they lack firmness. The vulva stands out very prominently
ANTHROPOLOGY. 81

which may perhaps be attributed to the custom among the women of


the lower classes of making water in a standing position . The vagina
is short. Wernich never found it to exceed 2 inches in length . He was
never able to perceive a hymen. The vagina did not in general
appear to be particularly wide. Congestion and erection of the portia
vaginalis took place during examination much more frequently than it does
among European women. "

It is said indeed that the genital parts of Japanese


women are actually so narrow that medical men are
appointed to choose out of the prostitutes those which
permit the coitus with the more powerful virile member
of the European. Whether this information is founded
on fact deserves further consideration. DOENITZ, who
was for many years an employé of the Japanese
government, and introduced police supervision of pros-
titutes into Tokio declares the above assertion to be
inappropriate. The vaginas also gave convenient ad-
mission to the medium size of the speculum usually
employed in Europe . Besides, the Europeans residing
in Japan usually choose their concubines themselves
and do not receive them from the hands of the
police.
In a collection of Japanese aquarelles in the Royal
Anthropological Museum in Berlin, known under the
name of Physiognomical Studies, which were painted
by Maruyama, the most celebrated Japanese artist of
the last century, there is one representing a naked
woman squatting on the ground, with the motto-
which Prof. Dr. Grube kindly translated for us.— “ A
woman who has sinned in lust. " Her Schamspalte
(shame-slit), is depicted wide agape ; the clitoris, as
well as the smaller lips, stand out prominently, the
larger lips, on the contrary, appear small with but
little stout development.
82 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

MORACHE says that among Chinese women the larger


1
lips are more largely developed . ¹
The mode of dressing the hair is less complicated
than that of the Chinese woman, and much resembles
that of the Spanish ladies. The hair is always lifted
off the forehead , and twisted at the back of the head
into a chignon , through which is stuck a shell comb.
But, as with her two Asiatic sisters, the hair is as
stiff and hard as the hair of a horse's tail. The colour
is a beautiful blueish black, which sets off admirably
a red or white flower.
The Japanese woman is very fond of European per-
fumes, and drenches herself with ylang-ylang, cau de
Cologne, etc.
She takes a bath every day, and washes herself
before and after copulation, as the European prostitute
does. The Annamite woman disdains this wholesome
practice, for she is as much afraid of water as a cat.
In spite of her rather flat nose (though it is not so
flat as that of the Annamite woman) the Japanese
looks attractive by the side of the Congai, and even
of the Chinese woman. It might be said of her, that
she has a pleasant ugliness. She is more willing than
the Chinese woman in performing the genital act, but
is not so lascivious as the Congai who has been well
trained by an experienced Pha-lan-za.
Of all the women of the Extreme East, the Japanese 2
approaches the nearest, in all her physical and moral
' Das Weib, vol. I, p. 160 .
To show the extreme difference between the ideas of sexual moral-
ity of the Japanese and those of Europeans, it may be noted that it is
frequently the custom in Japan for a woman to get married only after
having passed a year in a tea-house (which corresponds with Euro-
pean houses of prostitution) and to whom the nakedness of women (or
of men) has nothing shocking and promiscuous bathing, without any veil
ANTHROPOLOGY. 83

qualities, to the French woman ; she is very gay, and


loves to chatter and laugh with those who can under-
stand her funny mixed jargon.
She has but one fault, and that is an abominable
habit of thickly painting her face with white lead
and Chinese vermilion, so that it is dangerous to kiss
a Japanese girl on the cheeks in the European
fashion .
But Japanese, Chinese, and Annamite women, all
branches of the same stock, have one common char-
acteristic ; they do not kiss with the mouth, but sniff
through the nose.
If the reader is anxious to know what these priest-
esses of Venus charge , we may inform him that they
are the most expensive of all. They ask two piasters
for an hour of private flirtation, and six piasters for
an entire night, whereas, for this last price, you could
have half a dozen of the poor girls of the Annamite
" bamboo ". These last, too, never dare to show them-
selves in public in the daytime, outside the brothel,
whilst the Japanese girl, accompanied by one of her
comrades, often takes a zidore (an open carriage) and
goes for a drive.
She is often to be met in front of the tiger's cage,
or the orang-utan's hut, at the Botanical Gardens.

The Annamite " Daylight Whore " is a real plague


whatever is freely indulged in. As a fact any Japanese woman may
prostitute herself without at all lessening her value as future wife.
In Japan pornography is unknown, because the people consider certain
things as simply natural, and call them by their names, without intending
harm ; indecency being more in the thought than in the intention. A
clever Japanese once said to a European traveller : " how evil-minded
you Europeans are, you come here and witness things we hold as quite
natural, and then go and describe what you term our immorality.
84 UNT FIE OF
ROD LDS
DEN
to the European bachelor. She introduces herself
into your house between noon and one o'clock. The
officers, and functionaries, who are returning from the
mess, or the restaurant, meet on their road, in the
streets a little removed from the centre of the town,
groups of women gathered round the table of some
itinerant restaurateur, or seated in the shadow of a
tree. It is not necessary to enter into conversation
with one of them; a gesture, a sign, a glance will
suffice, and even if you are passing rapidly in a car-
riage, you will soon be followed home.
The woman who prowls about the town has gener-
ally been in the " bamboo" , and like the marmite of
Belleville, she has her souteneur, who protects her
from the police officers. These policemen are natives,
for, in the hottest hours of the day, it would be dan-
gerous for a Frenchman to be out in the streets ; they
can be easily bribed to shut their eyes.
When once she is in your house, the daylight whore
begins to boast of her knowledge of erotic matters.
" Me good whore, me know much Phalan-za. " She is
not indignant if the European, disgusted by her hor-
rible odour, proposes sodomy. She will even forestall
him in making the proposal, and if that is not agreed
to, will suggest the kneeling instead of the horizontal
position, in fact there is no practice that she will not
lend herself to.
It is a simple question of price. She will usually
begin by mentioning in advance, the price she asks
for such a kind of pleasure.
We sincerely pity the poor wretch, who, on the
strength of the medical certificate she shows him (usu-
ally borrowed from some woman in the " bamboo ")
sacrifices to Venus in the natural manner. Syphilis ,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 85

or gonorrhoea at the very least, will teach him that


Annamite " flowers" have thorns.
When once she has been in your house, the day-
light whore will try to come again, and, though you
may refuse her admittance, she will manage to elude
the " boys" , or the orderlies. Some day, when, after
a good lunch, you are sleeping soundly during the
siesta, she will enter, and you will not hear the stealthy
foot-falls of her light feet. She has noticed on which
nail you hang your watch, in which drawer you keep
your purse. Everything portable of value will disap-
pear, and you will never again see your gold watch,
which she has sold the same day for a mere trifle to.
the Chinese goldsmith and jeweller, who will perhaps
give her in exchange a pair of cheap ear-rings.

The Annamite Mistress of the European . As


may be imagined, the European, disgusted with the
“ bamboo ", and the daylight whores, often prefers to
have a woman for his special use. If he should pre-
fer a virgin, he may purchase from her parents, for
some twenty piasters, a young girl of fifteen or six-
teen, selected from those whose fate it would ulti-
mately be to be sent to the " bamboo. "
He will be under the disagreeable necessity of having
to break in a young savage, who knows nothing. It
is true that he may nurse the delusion that he possesses
a virgin, but, as we have seen, there are not many of
those to be found. Her brothers and cousins have
already tried her. There are also various annoyances ,
especially in the interior of the country. Besides the
" portion" to be paid to the parents, there is - which
is much more serious -an entire outfit to be bought
for the " bride" , for she is handed over to you scantily
86 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

clad in a ragged, dirty, cotton chemise, that once was


white.
If you are an officer, or official of any sort - an
òng-quan-your mistress must wear a costume suited
to your rank, and you must buy for her the complete
outfit of a woman in a good position in life , which
includes, white, blue, and black, silk chemises ; blue,
red, or green trousers ; a huge, round hat with silk
ribbons to keep it on, and Chinese varnished shoes.
Total cost : thirty piasters . But that is not all . She
must have two bracelets, one in gold, and one in sil-
ver ; two gold buttons for ear-rings ; a necklace in sil-
ver, and one in amber ; a silver leg bangle, and a
gold finger ring. Cost : 120 to 130 piasters. In short,
at the lowest estimate, you wil have spent 150 piasters
in purchases, and that with the marriage portion, and
the " wedding " expenses, will quickly mount up to 200
piasters, that is to say £40. All this expense is in-
curred, and after all you only possess a demi vierge,
who is a little fool, only fit to eat, drink, and sleep,
until she learns the way to the baquan , and then she
will let herself be robbed of everything.

Men who know what they are about, prefer to take


the mistress of some friend or colleague, who is leaving
the colony, and thus get a woman who has had some
training, requires no outfit, and understands a little
French. But, whether you take a novice, or one who
is broken in, you have, even at the best, a spouse
whose fidelity is on a level with her morality. She
will sham virtue before your European friends and
acquaintances. She will boast to you how she refused
to listen to those who tried to seduce her. But she
takes her fill of pleasure with Annamite rascals, who
are ready and willing to deceive a Pha-lan-za . Some
ANTHROPOLOGY . 87

day or other, the officer or official, who believes he


possesses a pearl of virtue, and who is not acquainted
with the real conduct of his mistress, will cull the bitter
fruit of the kindness she has shown to others.

The boy Body-guard. The only means for a


European to prevent his Annamite mistress from going
wrong with the first gallant she meets, is to set his
own Annamite boy over her as a body-guard . He
will play the part of the gardener's dog, and make an
excellent sentinel ; but, being more knowing than the
dog, he will take his own share, and become the third
member of the household.
I must confess that this method is wanting in moral-
ity, but it is the only one which affords any security
from venereal diseases, for it is easy to look after
the boy's health, and as, moreover, he will jealously
drive away all other rivals, he will at the same time
be working for his master's advantage. The method
may be called a useful precaution.

EXCURSUS I TO CHAPTER V.

ADDITIONAL NOTE. ON THE PECULIAR AND


EXPRESSIVE NAMES for PROSTITUTES.

ACCROCHEUSES (man-hookers) -ALICAIRES (Hebes ,


so-called because in ancient Rome they used to offer
wine to their clients) - AMBUBAYES (courtesans, from the
latin ambubaia, flute-girl) -BAGASSER (drabs) - BALAN-
CES DE BOUCHER QUI PÈSENT TOUTES SORTES DE
VIANDES (butchers' scales which weigh all sorts of
meat)- BARATHRES (sinks of perdition) -Bassaras
(prostitutes, from the Greek) -BEZOCHES (street-women).
-BLANCHISSEUSES DE TUYAUX DE PIPES (pipe- stem
88 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

cleaners ) - BONSOIRS (good-nights) -


— BOURBETEUSES
(puddle-trotters) -BRAYDONES (ensnarers)-- CAIGNAR-
DIERES (good-for-nothings) -CAILLES (quails) -CAM-
BROUSES (filthy sluts) -CANTONNIÈRES (street-corner-
girls) CHAMPISSES (strumpets) -- CLOISTRIÈRES (cloister
girls)-COQUATRIS (cockatrices) -COIGNÉES (women on
the town)-COURIEUSES (inquisitive dames) -DEMOISEL-
LES DU MARAIS (young ladies from the swamp) —DROUI-
NES (trollops)-DRUES (smart lasses) -ENSAIGNANTES
(teachers) -EsQUOCERESSES (cooks for meat) - FEMMES
DE COURT TALON (short-heeled women) -FEMMES
FOLLES DE LEUR CORPS (women mad with wantonness)
-FOLLES D'AMOUR (love-stricken women) -FILLES DE
JOIE (glee maidens) -FILLES DE JUBILATION (joyful
romps)-FILLETTES DE PIS (well-breasted lasses)-
FOLLES FEMMES (wantons) -- FOLIEUSES (frolicsome
wenches) -GALLOISES (gallic or merry maidens) -JAN-
NETONS (back-gammon girls) -GAST (belly lasses)—
GAULTIERES (whores) -GAUPES (vicious sluts, derived
from guêpe, a wasp) -GONDINES (loose women)-
Godinettes (diminutive of the preceding) - GOUGES or
GOUINES (prostitutes , derived from the old French
verb goyr, to enjoy) -GOURGANDINES (low women,
from gourganne, the commonest sort of bean, the food
of convicts) -GRUES (cranes, a nickname for street-
whores)-HARREBANES (prostitutes) -HOLLIÈRE (a loose
woman, from the verb holler, to gad about) - HORES
(whores)-HOURIEUSES (women to let by the hour)--
HOURIÈRES (the same as the preceding) -LESBINES
(Lesbians, or women addicted to vice) -LESCHERESSES
(lecherous women) -LEVRIERS D'AMOUR (love-harriers ,
procuresses)-LINOTTES COIFFÉES (linnets with caps
on their heads) - LOUDIÈRES (strumpets) -LOUVES
(wolve-bitches) - LYCES (bitches) -- MANDROUNOS (pro-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 89

curesses)-MANEFLE (a Languedocian word signifying


procuress)-MARANE (vile woman, the female of
maran, a miscreant) —MARAUDE (a roguish hedge-
whore) -
— MARTINGALE (a lewd woman) -MAXIMAS
(bawds) -MOCHES (prostitutes, from the Latin macha,
a fornicatrix) -MUSEQUINES (gay harlots, the name is
in reality an allusion to the gadfly) .- PANNANESSES
(dirty drabs, from the Greek Tavos, a rag) -PANTON-
NIÈRES (harlots) -FEMMES DE PÉCHÉ (sinful women)
-PELERINES DE VENUS ( Pilgrims of Venus).— PEL-
LICES (courtesans, from the Latin pellex, a concubine
or mistress of a married man) -PERSONNIÈRES (female
partners for enjoyment) -- POSOERA (a woman who can
put it in situ) -POSTIQUEUSES (vagrant whores) -
PRÉSENTIÈRES (women who give themselves for pre-
sents)--- PRÉTRESSES DE VENUS (priestesses of Venus)
-RAFAITIÈRE (a bawd and procuress) -Femme de
MAL REĊAPTE (women of bad repute, from the Spanish
recato, proper conduct) -REDRESSEUSE (prostitute and
thief) -REVELEUSE (a clandestine whore) —RIBAULDES
(low harlots)-- RICALDEX (a long-tongued and short-
heeled whore [ Cotgrave]) - RIGOBETTE (a merry loose
woman, from the verbe rigober, to enjoy life)—Rous-
SECAIGNES (strumpets, literally red bitches, from rousse,
red, and chienne, a bitch) -SACS -DE-NUIT (night-bags)
-SAFFRETTES (merry wantons , from saffreté, wanton
dallying)-SOURDITES (prostitutes) -SCALDRINES (squa-
lid drabs, from the Italian squallida .) - TENDRIÈRES
DE BOUCHE ET DE REINS (women offering mouth and
hips) - TIREUSES DE VINAIGRE (Vinegar drawers) —
TOUPIES, (spinning tops, or loose wenches) —TOUSE
(women on the town who fleece greenhorns, from the
verb TOUSER , to pluck or shear, is also applied to
woman in general) -TROTTIÈRE (one who trots about
90 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

the streets) -VIAGÈRES (women who roam about)--


FEMMES DE VIE (fast women) —VILLOTIÈRES (gadding
bawds) - VOYAGÈRES (travelling prostitutes) -WAUVES
(Drabs) -USAGÈRES (women for general use) .
Besides the above expressions in use in the XVIth
century there are several others invented since that
period, such are the following :
GAURES or GORRES (literally means, sows) -FRI-
QUENELLES (base dirty trulls)-IMAGES (pretty faced
girls)-POUPINES (chubby-cheeked lasses) -POUPINET-
TES (diminutive of the preceding) —BRINGUE (a common
hussy)-BAGUES (rings ; the allusion requires no ex-
planation)—SUCRÉES PAILLASSES (sweet mattresses) —
PAILLARDES (lewd women) -BRIMBALLEUSES (women
who tumble topsy-turvy) -SÉRANES (prostitutes who
entice their customers from their windows ; they do
not walk the street) -CHOUETTES (night-birds) —CAPRES
(capers)-CHÈVRES (she-goats) -ANCELLES (willing ser-
vants, from the Latin Ancilla, a hand-maiden) —
GUALLEFRETIÈRES (frisky whores) -PEAULTRE (a
woman of questionable character)-- PEAU (the same as
above)-GALLIÈRE (for galley, synonymous with the
English " a tidy little craft " ) -CONSEURS (coynte-
sisters)-BAS-CUEZ (low-gaps).

The foregoing list, which will not fail to interest


philologists, has been drawn in large part, from the
important " Glossaire pour les Oeuvres de Rabelais "
(Paris, 1837 ) ; we have added an English translation
of these queer epithets, and where possible, explained
the derivation of the word. In its present form it will
we hope, be found useful to linguistic students for
whom alone it is intended .
For the meaning of a number of the above expressions
ANTHROPOLOGY. 91

we consulted a book published under the following


pompous title : -" Vocabula Amatoria : · a French-
English glossary of words , phrases and allusions occur-
ing in the works of Rabelais , Voltaire, Molière,
Rousseau, Béranger, Zola, and others, with English
equivalents and synonyms " (London , 1896), and to our
astonishment we found that words of vastly different
import had been all baldly rendered-" prostituted "
without any attempt at differentiation of the various
and peculiar shades of meaning. " Vocabula Amatoria "
appears to us suspiciously like a badly executed re-
hash of Delvau's " Dictionnaire Erotique " carelessly
rushed through the press.
For more modern epithets not given in the preceding
list the reader is referred to the Dictionnaire Erotique
Latin et Français par Nicolas Blondeau . (Liseux ,
Paris, 1885.)

EXCURSUS • II TO CHAPTER V.

TRANSLATION OF NOTE I ON P. 60 .

The patients took care in the first place, to entirely


remove the hair from all parts of the body (a) from the
lips, arms, chest, legs, the virile parts, and in parti-
cular, from the altar of passive lust , the anus.

Pluck out the bair from breast and legs and arms ;
Tby rigid member must be free from fur,
We know you to do this, Labienus, for your lady-love
But wby, Labienus, do this to your anus ? '
MARTIAL, II, 62.

Wbile you, Cbrestus, appear tbus with your parts all bairless,
With a mentula like to the neck of a vulture.
A bead more sbining tban a prostitute's buttocks
(a) Always excepting the hair of the head of which great care was taken .
(HORACE, Ode X.book IV .)
92 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Witb not a bair appearing on your leg,


And with your pallid lips all sborn and bare ……….
MARTIAL. IX, 28.

TRANSLATION OF NOTE I P. 60.


" To pluck out the hair, get the hair on the head
curled , to drink in the baths to excess ; still they can-
not be said to be customary ; for nothing of all this is
exempt from blame.

(QUINTILLIAN, ORATORICAL INST. 1. 6.)


Vide FORBERG'S famous edition of " Antonii Panor-
mitae HERMAPHRODITUS, pornius in Germania
edidit et APOPHORETA adjecit Coburgi Sumtibus
Meuseliorum 1824.

TRANSLATION OF NOTE I P. 62 .
" I have heard it related by Madame de Fontaine-
Chanlandry called the beautiful Torcy, that the queen
Eleonora, (a) her mistress, being dressed and arrayed,
appeared a very handsome princess, as there are still
many who have seen her so at our Court ; but being
undressed, her body seemed that of a giant, so long
and great was it : but lower down, she appeared a
dwarf, so short had she thighs and legs and the rest.

EXCURSUS III TO CHAPTER V.

While this volume was passing through the press


we received the following kind letter from a Doctor
of Edin. University, resident in Ceylon.
CEYLON, August 9th, 1897.
"To the Author of
“ UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY,”
,, Dear Sir,
I have read your book and was much interested in it. If you have

(a) Queen Eleonora, sister of Charles V. became, at the signing of the


peace of Cambrai, the wife of Francis I, who then had been for some
years a widower. (See Brantome's Vie des Dames galantes, p . 207.)
ANTHROPOLOGY. 93

any use for the enclosed notes, which are in the rough, but accurate in
what they speak of, you are quite welcome to make any use you like
of them . If you wish for any further notes, you might write to me
and say what you want, I should like to see any new book that you may
publish as you hint in the above book that you may extend your
researches. I wish you success.
Yours truly"

We print these notes - a model of clearness and


concision -just as received. Their evident candour and
desire for the furtherance of science are sufficient grounds
for reproducing them here :

MODES OF COPULATION

AND OTHER ESOTERIC HABITS among TAMILS,


MALABAR and COOLIES in CEYLON.

The Malabar and Tamil worship the stone image of


the Penis, or Phaltic emblem . Hence the Penis is vener-
ated, and looked up to by the women, as the em-
blem of life.
Among themselves, they copulate, as follows.
(1) When the woman lies down on her back, in the
usual way, and opens her thighs, the man lying on top,
resting on his hands, elbows, and knees. The opera-
tion takes a long time, as the seminal emission does
not take place till caused by prolonged genital friction .
At the physiological moment of emission, the man
and woman clutch each other convulsively and do not
kiss, but suck one another's tongues and thrust their
tongues into each other's mouths and sniff through
their noses. As in most of the women, the vulva is
' set back ' or placed to the rear, this position is not
comfortable to the man, unless the woman has large
buttocks, which throw her forward, so they often co-
pulate in this way-thus.
(2) In all Tamil houses, there is a small wooden stool ,
94 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

about 3 or 4 inches high, 3 inches broad, and about


1 ft. in length. The woman lies down on her back,
raises her buttocks, by placing the stool under them,
then opens her thighs, and lies with them trussed
up in the ' lithotomy ' position, the man approaches her
perinæum , on his knees, faces her, and taking her
thighs, throws each leg over his shoulder so that her
legs rest on his back, then inserting his penis, he
seizes her breasts with his hands, and using them as
a fixed point, starts the sexual movements.
A (3rd) way is as follows.
The man sits on the above mentioned stool , placed
a little way from the wall, against which his back .
rests, his heels are firmly fixed on ground, and he opens
his thighs slightly and receives the woman, whofacing
him , straddles his belly and sitting on his thighs,
twists her legs round his loins and fixing her heels
together behind him rises and falls rhythmically on
his penis which is stationary : she in fact spikes her
vagina, on his penis, at each stroke, the man taking
no part in the movement, she continues this, till each
are exhausted, and then they embrace and lick each .
other's tongues, etc. , as before.
A 4th way is as follows.
This method is difficult for a European to try,
follow or understand, as he can't abduct his thighs
wide enough : but the Tamil, being loose jointed , and
thin can do so.
The man and woman, stripped stark naked, stand
facing one another, they then each squat down still
facing each other, on their heels, so that the buttocks
rest on the heels ; they then each abduct their thighs,
so widely, that they are in the „ spread eagle " position ,
when the thighs are widely abducted to each side of
ANTHROPOLOGY. 95

the pelvis. Then hopping on their toes, they approach ;


the woman places the penis in her vagina, they em-
brace each other firmly round the chest with their arms,
and thus locked they move back and forwards, in short
strokes, resting on their toes , all the time. They end
up by licking their tongues, etc. , and the woman falls
back on her back, and the man rests on top of her.
If the woman be pregnant, she generally refuses to
allow coitus, but if forced to do so , she either takes
up the canine position, or they both lie on their sides,
and do the " St. George and The Dragon " .
Masturbation is fairly common among men who can't
get women, and is extremely prevalent among boys
before puberty, and it is quite common for little sisters
to pull the penis of their little brothers, or boys to do
it to one another, or to themselves.
Pederasty or Sodomy is not allowed by the women,
but may be done by the men to boys, if no women
are at hand .
Bestiality, with goats or cows is common , if the man
has any venereal disease, the women won't have him,
and tell him to go to the goats. The Tamils do this,
as they say if they give the venereal disease to some
one else, they will get rid of it themselves, hence the
fact, that they perform on goats, and often also try and
rape young girls, in order to give them, what they
want to get cured of.
The Tamil woman, having intercourse with the
European, is generally much alarmed at the size of his
penis, and thinks that he performs the act of coitus.
too quickly, and does not give enough satisfaction , so
they generally (it is said) go to the appu or " boy " in
the kitchen and get , finished off " , to their own pleasure
and satisfaction, after the master has finished his part.
GY
DDEN OPOLO
96 UNTRO FIELDS OF ANTHR .

In urinating, the Tamil man, squats down, the woman


stands up- hence a story of an appu applying for a
situation as cook, he said. " I one very good man, I
same religion as master, and I make water like master, "
this is he stood up, when doing so à la European .

Here is another fact, I have often seen on the road-


side. The Mahomedan trader, or Publican, is of course,
circumcised, and his glans penis is pretty dry and hard ;
when he squats down to make water, he always takes
a small stone off the road, and rubs off the urine with
this stone, in no gentle manner, but scrubs it well in
so doing. He also is very slow at copulating, and
takes a long time to perform the act, in fact, I think
he scrubs the glans , as above to keep it rough and
insensitive. I can vouch for this fact, and I also can
say that an English military officer, said to me that he
saw the same thing done in Cairo - among the Mahom-
edans there.

Did you ever hear of the " wheels " , that the Malay
man, fixes to his glans penis, when he copulates ? He
has a transverse channel bored through his glans
penis, in this he puts a piece of thin wood, like an
axle, and then fixes a small toothed wheel on to each
end of this, at each side of the glans : Armed with
this impromptu carriage, he approaches his lady love,
who would refuse his sexual embraces were he not
to have on these wheels, which in course of action ,
run up and down in the vagina, and give the woman
increased pleasure. These wheels are used in Sarawak,
Jahore and Malay straits generally.
As a result of this transverse channel in the glans,
Malays often get stricture, where the artificial channel
passes near or across the urethra.
CHAPTER VI.

Lewd contrivances and aphrodisiacs.-The Chinese hedge-hog.-


The masturbating ball. - The anai violin.- Contrivances to prevent
pregnancy. -Aphrodisiacs taken internally. - The influence of
food upon the lasciviousness of the Annamites, -Swallows'nest
soup.- Preserved ginger.- Ginseng.-Tripang.- Cubeb pepper
and its double use. --Aphrodisiacs applied externally .-The Phallus
and stimulating plasters. - Peculiar effect of opium on the organs
of generation.

Lewd contrivances and aphrodisiacs. The Chi-


naman, not satisfied with the natural pleasure of simple
copulation, has tried to increase it by numerous and
various devices. 1

The Chinese Hedge-hog. In the first place let


us describe the " Chinese hedge-hog " This is.a wreath
of fine soft feathers, with their quills solidly fastened
by silver wire to a ring of the same metal , made in
various sizes, and sufficiently large to slip over the
gland, when the penis is not in erection , and small
enough to be stopped by the ring of the gland when
the penis is erect. This machine sensibly increases
the size of the penis, aud it will be easily understood
1 In the second volume
of this work we shall try to give further
documentary evidence regarding these aphrodisiacs and contrivances, the
use of which being spread amongst various tribes and peoples, will be
found to be of sufficient ethnographical interest to command the student's
attention.
97
N
ODDE DS
98 UNTR FIEL OF

that the friction of the feathers against the mucous


surface of the vagina produces sensations of a peculiar
effect. 1 It is so enervating that Chinese doctors
forbid the use of the hedge-hog to women who are
pregnant, but many women use it in order to procure
abortion.

The Masturbating Ball. Another contrivance to


give pleasure to the Chinese ladies, consists of a long
ball, or rather egg, in silver or ivory, the size of a
small hen's egg, and almost as broad as it is long.
It unscrews in the middle, and when it is opened it

1
" In men as well as in women, erection and orgasm, or even ejacu
lation, may be induced by irritation of various other regions of the
skin and mucous membrane. These " erogenous " zones in woman are,
while she is a virgin, the clitoris, and after defloration, the vagina and
cervix uteri.
In woman the nipple particularly seems to possess this quality. Titil-
latio hujus regionis plays an important part in the ars erotica. In his
" Typographical anatomy ", 1865 , Bd . I, p . 552 , Hyrtl cites Val. Hilde-
brandt, who observed a peculiar anomaly of the sexual instinct in a girl,
which he calls suctus stupratio. She had her mammoe sucked by her
lover, and finally, by gradually drawing on her nipples, she became able
to suck them herself,- -an act that gave her most intense pleasure.
Hyrtl also calls attention to the fact that cows sometimes suck the milk
from their own udders. L. Brunn, Zeitg. f, Literatur, etc. , d. Ham-
burg. Correspondent, 1889, No. 21 ) in an interesting article on “ Sen-
suality and Love of Kin, " points out how zealously the nursing mother
gives herself to nursing the babe, " for love of the weak, undeveloped,
helpless being. "
It is easy to assume that, by the side of the ethical motives, the fact
that the sucking may be attended by feelings of physical pleasure plays
a part. The remark of Brunn, which is correct in itself, but one-sided,
that according to Houzeau's experience, among the majority of animals
it is only during the time of nursing that the relations between mother
and offspring are close, and thereafter indifferent, also speaks in favor of
this assumption .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 99

is nearly half filled with mercury, screwed together


again, and well greased . The woman then introduces
it into her vagina ; then sits on a rocking chair, and
1
rocks backwards and forwards. In these movements,
the mercury slips from one end of the egg to the
other, and the ball, moving about in the vagina, pro-
duces a peculiar kind of masturbation. We may add
that the thick end of the egg, which is the end by
which it is put in , is rounded . The other end is more
pointed, so that the apparatus slips out easily when
the woman rises.
I have long had one of these eggs in my posses-
sion ; it was given me by a Chinese merchant of Cho-lon.

The Anal Violin. In the house of the male pros-

¹ Dr. v. Krafft-Ebing, Psycopathia Sexualis, London 1895 , in 8vo. p. 31.


It is related in the Journal de Médecine et de Chirurgie pratiques,
that a woman aged 36 had a reel of cotton extracted from her vagina,
which had remained there ever since she was 14 years old ; the pre-
sence of this extraordinary instrument had caused several peritonites and
hemorrhages. In remotest times, this habit was prevalent enough ; the
prophet Ezekiel XVI, 16, 17 , says :
And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places
with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon : the like things
shall not came, neither shall it be so.
" Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver,
which I had given thee, and madest to thyself image of , men (a) and
didst commit whoredom with them."
The Roman women were addicted to solitary pleasures with images
of the virile organ, called " phallus " ; it was usually a penis in metal
that the Roman ladies wore attached to their neck as an ornament. At
the present moment, there are sold publicly at the great Chinese City
of Tien-Tsin, gommo-resinous phalli, flexible and tinted in rose-colour.
Dr. Bougle, Les Vices du Peuple, Paris, 1888, pp. 36-37.
44"Man is a docile imitator of bad and shameful things."
(Juvenal, Sat. XIV).
(a) The male.
100 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

titutes, which I shall describe later, I saw a special


contrivance, which I have never found mentioned . I
did not find it on my return to Cochin-China, and I
much regret that I had not purchased a specimen . I
believe very few Europeans even know of its existence,
and I own that I had some difficulty in getting the
Chinese to show it to me.
It is a machine of a very long oval shape, nearly
five inches long, the forepart of which ends in a
semi-circle, with a radius of about a third of an inch.
The greatest diameter is a little less than an inch and
a half, and the smallest diameter about half that size.
The back part, which is cylindrical, and of a diameter
of about #ths of an inch, is open, with a turned back
edge like that of a child's trumpet. The machine is
hollow, and made of silver, very thin but sufficiently
strong, and is nothing else than a violin. In fact a
metallic cord, similar to the cord of a piano , is fixed
across the front part of the inside, and extends about
a yard outside. A handle is at the end.
This curious instrument is employed in the follow-
ing manner. The machine is greased, and introduced
gently and carefully, with its largest diameter vertical,
into the anus of the erotic melomaniac, until it is
stopped by the pavillon . Then it is gently given a
quarter turn, and this brings the widest diameter
across the anal orifice, which is vertical, and the ma-
chine is thus fixed. The melomaniac is on all fours
on a bed, with his head resting against a pillow. The
performer then stretches the cord by pulling it gently
by the handle with the left hand, and when it is stretched,
rubs a metal bow, with the right hand, across the cord
of this extraordinary violin.
I have seen the machine, but I have never seen it
ANTHROPOLOGY. IOI

worked. It is affirmed most positively, that this Chi-


nese symphony produces peculiar physiological sensa-
tions , and is certain to cause an erection to the old
worn-out debauchee who uses it.
The Chinese are the only people who use the con-
trivance just described.

Contrivances for Preventing Pregnancy . The


Roman ladies liked to copulate with eunuchs having
no testicles, but provided with a penis, in order to
enjoy the pleasure, with the certainty of not becoming
1
pregnant. To obtain the same result, European women
use a prepared sponge, which is first put in the vagina,
and receives the sperm, and is then removed by the
aid of a small piece of string fixed to it. The Chinese
and Japanese girls, in the houses of prostitution , simply
use rounds of oiled silk paper, which they insert in the
womb, to cover the head of the duct. The preserva-
tive, in gut or india-rubber, so common in Europe, is
absolutely unknown in the East. Although some woman
of wit (Mme de Stael it is said) has described it as “ a
spider's web against danger, and a breast-plate against
pleasure, " we believe, that if its use were common in
Cochin-China, a good many Europeans would have
been preserved from syphilis, which, as we have seen,
is very common.

Aphrodisiacs taken internally.-The Influence


ofFood upon the Lasciviousness ofthe Annamites .
Like all other Orientals, the Chinese, and the Annamites ,

Refer to Juvenal VI, 367, commencing " Sunt quas eunuchi im-
belles" .... and ending " tantum rapit Heliodorus ", descriptive evidently
of a kind of licentiousness unknown to us to-day, unless the Soprani
castrati of the famous Chapelle Sixtine were employed for any other
purpose than singing.
102 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

know the properties of cantharides, and often use it in


electuaries , where it is mixed with honey, saffron, cin-
namon, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper.
It is to be remarked that if the Annamite race is
so lascivious, in spite of their small genital organs, it
may in part be attributed to the nature of their food .
They are a fish-eating people, and consume a great
deal of salt. Their sauces, the nuoc- man for instance,
contain both phosphorus and salt, and we know that
they are powerful aphrodisiacs. Garlic and onion,
which are also aphrodisiacs, enter largely into the food
of the natives.

Salangane Nests . But the most powerful aphro-


disiac of all is the celebrated soup made from the nests
of the salangane (the sea-swallow). This soup is eaten
strongly spiced, and in taste greatly resembles the
French potage à la bisque d'écrevisses, or crayfish soup .
Its effect is indisputable. As I have often eaten it at
Cho-lon, I can speak from experience.
The nests of the sea-swallow are, we know, made
of a sort of edible seaweed, the leaves of which are
stuck together with the spawn of fish, and the spawn
of fish is very strong in phosphorus. Phosphorus has
a very powerful action, and increases both venereal
desires, and erections. It has but one drawback ; it
causes severe intoxication if too much is taken .
There is no danger of this, however, with the sea-
swallows' nests, which are horribly dear, and are never
seen except on the tables of the rich . The poorer
Annamites use , as a substitute for the salangane's nest,
the nuoc-man, an extract of rotten fish, which is pre-
pared by a process similar to that of cod-liver oil , of
which is has rather the taste, and it contains a good
ANTHROPOLOGY. 103

deal of phosphorus. Garlic, and more especially pimento,


also assisting, it may easily be guessed why the Anna-
mites are so lascivious, and why they have so many
children .

Preserved Gin ger. - Ginseng Root. They sell a


great deal in Cochin-China of a kind of Chinese pre-
serve, or rather fruit jam, made of ginger, to assist
digestion, and also excite the genital organs. They
also make use ofthe root of gen-seng which is a general
stimulant.

The Tripang, or Sea Cucumber. This is a spe-


cies of holothuria, of the size and shape of a black
pudding. It is found , throughout Oceania, on the rocks,
at low tide, and is packed in barrels , after being dried
in the sun. A barrel of sea-cucumbers, well prepared ,
and of good quality, is worth as much as a hundred
pounds. Tripang, it is said, possesses aphrodisiac quali-
ties, but I never had the courage to try it.
The poor Annamite contents himself by swallowing ,
after his repast , three or four grains of the white pepper
of Poulo-Condore.

Cubeb Pepper, and Its Double Use. An infusion


of the leaves of the cubeb pepper is also much used .
It serves the double purpose of exciting the genital
organs, and strengthening them after a prolonged co-
pulation, and as a preventive treatment against gonor-
rhoea. An electuary, composed of powdered cubebs
'mixed with honey, is also used.
The exciting effect of cubebs on the genital organs
has not been noticed by European therapeutists. I
have only found it mentioned in Mantegazza, who
assigns to cubeb pepper a place in the second rank of
104 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

aphrodisiacs. From personal experience I can attest,


that cubebs fully deserves the place assigned.

Aphrodisiacs applied externally. The Chinese


are well acquainted with the remedy employed by the
old woman Enothea, ¹ when she tried to cure Encolpus
of impotence by the use of a leather phallus, smeared
with a mixture of pepper, and crushed nettles steeped
in oil. The Chinese phalli, instead of being in leather,
are made of an elastic resinous gum, and are smeared
with an oil containing a substance, which appeared to
me to be a mixture of pepper, turmeric, and saffron .
The phallus generally completes the action which has
been commenced by birds' nest soup, or tripang.
The Annamites boil pimento and pepper with a
sort of mallow, which makes a mucilage very similar
to that of linseed, and with this they moisten poultices
of rice flour . These poultices, applied to the genital
parts of impotent persons , produce an effect very similar
to that of a mustard plaster.

Peculiar Effect of Opium on the Organs of


Generation. We will conclude this chapter with a
few remarks on the aphrodisiac effects of opium.
In all treatises on therapeutics, opium in described
as having a lowering effect on the genital organs.
Delfou, 2 is the only writer who has remarked
the opposite effects of opium. " It is in relatively
large and continued doses, that the stupefying action
of opium affects the genital organs ; in small doses,
' Classical scholars will not need to be reminded that this enterprising
old dame figures in the Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, to which famous
work we must refer the curious reader for the details of the operation
mentioned .
2 Delfou, Manuel des Maladies des voies urinaires.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 105

on the contrary, it acts as a stimulant. " According


to my personal experience, and from avowals made
to me by many women, both Europeans and Asiatics ,
the effects produced by opium in moderate doses, say
from ten to twenty pipes, are as follows : Under the
influence of erotic excitement, either direct, or merely
mental, an erection is quickly produced , if you want
to copulate. But, --and this has never been remarked
by any other author, --although the penis is in a very
stiff erection, its nerves, and more particularly those
of the gland, are anæsthetized by the effects of the
opium, and though the erection is strong, the emission
on the contrary is much retarded, and only takes place
after a prolonged copulation. This anæsthetic effect
is also produced in the nerves of the vulva, the vagina,
and the rectum of the woman, and the " physiological
moment " arrives very slowly. The constrictor muscles
of the vagina, and especially those of the rectum ,
undergo a kind of relaxation.
Sodomy can be practised much more easily, and
without pain, even when the organ is of a dispropor-
tionate size. On this point I have most positive evi-
dence, from the confessions made to me by many
Annamites, who were addicted to passive sodomy.
Moreover, Rabuteau has noticed the condition of
insensibility produced by opium . If the person who
plays the active part has also, for his part, previously
taken a sufficient dose of opium the prolongation of
the copulation induces lubricity in the patient.
The stimulating effects of opium cease, if more than
fifteen or twenty pipes are taken. When a total of
twenty-five or thirty pipes is reached, the erections
are not complete ; and at from thirty to forty pipes
they are entirely wanting, in spite of the most ener-
106 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

getic rubbing. Old opium smokers generally become


impotent. In their case, the penis is lanky, the gland
shrunken and seemingly hardened , the mucous sur-
faces very pale ; the scrotum is shrivelled , and the
testicles eventually become atrophied. In this respect,
the continual use of large doses of opium produces
absolutely the same effects as alcohol, and tobacco.
CHAPTER VII.

Perverted passions amongst the Annamites. —Male prostitution .


-The " nay" and the " boy ".- Gamblers, thieves, and sodom-
ites. - Usual methods of the Annamite pederasts . - The Chinese
pederast. - The shop of Ach., the Chinaman .- The male house
of prostitution at Cho-lon. - Horrible immorality of the Chinese
actors who play women's parts.

Perverted passions amongst the Annamites.


At the head of this and the following chapter, I
might say with Tardieu , quoting Fodéré, " Why
cannot ' I 'avoid sullying my pen with an account of the
infamous wickedness of pederasts ? Like Fodéré, I
hesitated as to whether I should insert in this work
the repulsive picture of sodomy, but I was bound to
confess that it was a necessary supplement, and also
the part of the subject least known.
What Tardieu and Martineau have done for Paris,
that pandemonium of all the vices, I ought to do for
foreign countries. It is necessary for me to include a
study of the aberrations of love passions in the Col-
onies " , or otherwise the work would be incomplete.
Male Prostitution. ¹ The Extreme East enjoys the
The prostitution of the male was not unknown amongst the
HEBREWS. (Cf. JOEL, III , 3 ; MACHAB., II, IV, 12.) Bat the laws
struck at the pederast with no gloved hand, and the punishment that
followed was terrible. (Cf. GEN ., XIX, 24 et seq ; LEV XVIII , 22, 29 ;
DEUT., XXVIII, 27 ; ROMANS I, 27.) In ROME this infamous usage
107
108 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

wretched privilege of being the chief nucleus of peder-


astic vice.
With the exception of shopmen, and employés in
small businesses , the Annamites reside in the villages
round Saigon, and it is only the nays and the boys
who come in direct and permanent contact with the
Europeans. Nay signifies " basket " The nays are
children of from seven to fifteen years, who are pro-
vided with round baskets . They are found on the
quays, in the market, and in front of the shops, wait-
ing for a customer to make a purchase of any kind.
The nay , or basket " , is thin and wretched ; he wears
his hair long and hanging behind him . He abounds
at Saigon, and it is from these baskets that the class
of boys is recruited .
These latter are from fifteen to twenty-five years of
age ; they are essentially liars, debauchees, gamblers,
and thieves. Woe betide the European who leaves,
for an hour, the key in the lock of the drawer, or
cupboard, in which he keeps his piasters ; he is sure
to be robbed . The boy waits at table, or acts as
valet, both in the most imperfect manner. It is
was in full swing and moreover practised openly :-(See HOR., Sat.
1 , 2 , 116 ; MART., XI 46 ; Mart., IX, 9 ; JuUVENAL, VI, 34.) The
Vocabulary used to designate these auvergnats was very varied c.
Cinaedi ; Pathici ; Pædicator ; Spado ; Frater ; Pusio ; Concubinus ;
Catamitus. Juvenal held, that the malady was fatal and could be
recognised both by the expression of the face and general bearing: —
" Hunc ego fatis Imputo, qui vultu Morbum incessuque fatetur. " (Juv. ,
II, 16 .)— “ I attribute to the fates his malady which he acknowledges, etc. ”
From the writer's experience of some years' residence in India, the
native boy contrast very favourably with his Annamite confrère, with
whom he only shares the pilfering propensities. He however never
steals money, jewelry or portable objects, but will not hesitate to cheat
his master in his marketings. A gentleman in Bangalore, having perceived
this, upbraided his cansammah or butler for so doing, whereupon the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 109

nearly impossible to obtain any regular work from him,


for he is absent great part of the day, and all the
night. For costume, he wears a little jacket, buttoning
down the front, and white cotton, wide pantaloons,
with a belt of red silk, the end of it hanging down in
front. To this belt hangs a small silk purse, lined
with hide, and ornamented with designs in gilt copper
filagree work. The boy's hair is rolled up, and encircled
by a silk handkerchief; the hair is often kept in place
by a shell comb.

Annamite Gamblers, Thieves, and Sodomites.


In short, the basket and the boy are gamblers, thieves,
and sodomites. Are they sodomites simply that they
may earn money to satisfy their other vices ? That is
the theory of certain Annamitophiles, who pretend that
this vice was introduced by the European conquest.
It was nothing of the kind . The Annamite is a sodom-
ite because he is lascivious. He belongs to an old
civilized race that is now rotten. Vice was innate,
and the Europeans found it flourishing , and some
(very few, let us hope) have taken advantage of it.
The Frenchman who goes to the Antilles, Guiana,
or Senegal, has not introduced sodomy and pederasty
into those countries, because the natives of those
countries abhor those vices. The same Frenchman ,
arrived in Cochin-China, has become a sodomite or a
pederast, because he has found , without the trouble of
seeking, women and children who have afforded him
the opportunity, It is necessary to point out a mistake

latter replied : " Yes sah ! very true, me do little market robbery, but
me no let anybody else rob_master." When the gentleman related this
to a lady friend of his, long a resident in India, she at once exclaimed :
" Never get rid of that boy, if you can help it, he is a jewel."
110 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

that has been thoughtlessly repeated by many travellers ,


that the soldiers of the Expeditionary Corps had acquired ,
in the Chinese campaign , certain depraved habits , which
they afterwards carried into Cochin-China, where they
have taken root. These travellers forget that the
Chinese came to Cochin-China several centuries before
we did, and have had plenty of time to vitiate the
manners of the natives.
We must not even accuse the Chinaman, for the
Annamite is naturally quite as depraved as he is, if
not more so, -- which is saying a good deal. Nays and
boys are a kind of living merchandise which offers
itself.
The nay is like the little girl not yet arrived at
puberty, who offers you flowers on the boulevards of
Paris , and whose parents speculate on the debauchery
of roués, broken-down in health, and of perverted
morals. Instead of a little girl, it is a little boy. He
has no flowers, and gains his living by means of a
basket. For a tai-an (a penny) , he will put your pur-
chases into his basket, and docilely follow you home.
When once he gets to your house, if he should
suspect that you have depraved tastes, he will soon
offer you his services : " Captain " (everybody was a
captain in 186- ) " me much know chewchew banana, "
and if the client appeared to hesitate , “ me know
ablic. " That is sabir (patois). Chewchew means to
eat. The banana is the well-known fruit of the tropics,
which resembles in shape a penis afflicted with phi-
mosis ; ablic is the corrupt form of an Annamite word
signifying the act of sodomy, and the word is as cynic-
ally coarse and expressive as the vulgar French verb,
which corresponds to it. It existed before our arrival,
whilst the equivalent for the word " modesty " does
ANTHROPOLOGY. 111

not exist in the Annamite language . That is a double


philological proof.
By way of reply, the nay generally receives a good
kick on the backside, in which case he slinks away,
and says nothing. In the case of acceptance, he knows
that the most suitable time is the hour of the siesta,
after the midday cannon has been fired.
About a quarter past twelve, a shadow will steal
furtively into the chamber of the pederast. Like the
daylight whore , the nay knows some means of pene-
trating, without being seen , into a house in which,
perhaps, several Europeans live together.
If the nay, a child not arrived at puberty, and
generally dirty and disgusting, displeases him , the
depraved European has, in the evening, recourse to
the boy. He is about 16 to 20 years old ; he is a
former nay raised to the dignity of a boy. The boy
works in the evening, after nine o'clock and before
midnight, after he has left his master's house. He is not
averse to easily gaining a piaster, with which he can try
his luck at baquan. We may here note that, owing to
the difference in the value of money thirty years ago,
a piaster in Cochin-China was worth a louis in France.
Though the boy often wears a handsome silk costume,
a handkerchief round his head, and a red, or sky-blue,
girdle round his waist, his body is quite as dirty as
that of the nay The most elementary notions of
cleanliness are unknown to him. Unlike the Chinese,
he never washes himself all over ; not a bucket of
water is ever emptied over his head ; and this in a
country where the lowest temperature, day or night,
is 77 ° F . It is difficult, even to get him to wash his
hands before waiting at table . The Annamite is as
lewd as a monkey, and has the same dread of water.
112 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Methods used by the Pederasts . The nay and


the boy are generally-to use Tardieu's expression-
99
"suckers of the dart. It must not be supposed that
this depraved Asiatic feels any repugnance , or has
any objection, to this disgusting habit. He has even
less than the daylight whore, who is also willing to
perform the same operation. Whilst the European lies
at full length on a long chair, or on his bed, the boy,
-kneeling or stooping, --- inguina osculatur, sugit, emis-
sumque semen in bucca recipit, usque ad ulţimam guttam.
Although by preference a " sucker of the dart ", the
nay, or the boy, will not refuse sodomy, but he is not
enthusiastic about it. It is not any moral reason
which stops him, for he is above prejudices of that
sort. It is simply the disproportion which exists
between the anus of a lad of ten or twelve years ,
and the penis of an adult European, for two nays
have no objection to committing the act with one another.
When the nay attains the age of sixteen, and has
little by little become used to the business , he will
not raise any objection , for the vice has by that time.
become a morbid habit with him. He seeks oppor-
tunities and occasions , with as much pleasure as a
woman seeks copulation . This depraved taste becomes
a pressing need with him. I can even say more : I
have known Europeans in whom this " passive taste "
was so developed, and who went so far as to give
themselves up to the lewd caresses of their boys. I
trust I shall be excused for not dilating on this sub-
ject, and merely mentioning it in passing.
The Chinese Pederast. ¹ I have said that the
1 Ellis in INTRODUCTION to his book on “ Sexual Inversion" (¹)

( ¹) LONDON, 1897 (pages 6-7 ) . The reader interested in this curious


aberration should attentively read this valuable work in its entirety.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 113

Chinese are boys in the restaurants, and cook-shops .


As a house-boy, the Chinese costs much more than the
Annamite, but he has the appreciable advantage of
being much cleaner. The Chinaman washes himself
thoroughly morning and evening, emptying two or
three buckets of water over his head. The clothes
he wears are usually very clean, and instead of walk-
ing barefoot, he wears shoes with thick soles, He has
not, either, the characteristic stink of the Annamite boy.
He comes to Saigon at the age of ten or twelve,
and first acts as a boy, then as a cook, and finally
calls attention to the fact that " homosexual " practices exist and have long
existed in most parts of the world outside Europe, even when subserving
no obvious end. How far they are associated with congenital inversion
is usually very doubtful. In China, for instance, it seems that there are
. special houses devoted to male prostitution, though less numerous than the
houses devoted to females. When a rich man gives a feast he sends
for women to cheer the repast by music and song and for boys to serve
at table and to entertain the guests by their lively conversation. The
young people have been carefully brought up for this occupation, receiving
an excellent education, and their mental qualities are more highly valued
than their physical attractiveness. The women are less carefully brought
up and less esteemed . After the meal the lads usually return home
with a considerable fee. What further occurs the Chinese say little
about. It seems that real and deep affection, is often born of these
relations, at first platonic, but in the end becoming physical --not a
matter for great concern in the eyes of the Chinese. In the Chinese
novels, often of a very literary character, devoted to masculine love, it
seems that all the preliminaries and transports of normal love are to be
found, while physical union may terminate the scene. ( *) In China,
however, the law may be brought into action for attempts against nature
even with mutual consent ; the penalty is one hundred strokes with the
bamboo and a month's imprisonment ; if there is violence the penalty is
decapitation ; ( *) I am not able to say how far the law is a dead letter.

( ) Morache, Art. " Chine", Dict. Ency. des Sci. Med. In Annan ,
also, according to Mondière (Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop. T. i. p . 465 ),
pederasty has always existed, especially among young people.
(3) Pauthier, Chine Moderne, p. 251 .
114 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

takes a wife. Before he arrives at that, he has taken


his part in the male prostitution of Saigon, but in a
most discreet and guarded manner. In the evening ,
you may see Chinese boys leave their master's house.
and act as rivals to the Annamite boys. But, gener-
ally speaking , the mouth sucking disgusts him as much
as it pleases the other ; he contents himself with anal
copulation, active or passive.
Not only the Chinese boy, but also the employés in
houses of business, tailors , boot-makers, etc. , also give
themselves up to prostitution . It is rare for a China-
man of that social position , when he finds himself
alone with a depraved European, to refuse to yield to
his wishes. He does it, not so much for the money
he may get by it, as for the pleasure ; but if the
European has connection with an itinerant dealer in
curiosities, he will be forced to make some purchases,
and these purchases will often have to be renewed.
A European friend of mine used to receive, at ten
o'clock every morning, a number of young Chinese
merchants, who used to besiege the door of his lodging,
which was adjacent to mine. Two never entered to-
gether ; the one who arrived last would discreetly
stand at the street door, or in the shadow of a tree,
waiting his turn. At last I learned the secret of this
comedy.
One of these young Chinese merchants, whom I had
occasion to attend medically, told me in return, and
out of gratitude, some strange revelations concerning
the unnatural customs of the great majority of his
compatriots, who belonged to the same social category.
Each patron disposes of his employés and apprentices,
according to his humour, and his taste. These youths
also form love liaisons between themselves, and Orestes
ANTHROPOLOGY. 115

and Pylades are not uncommon amongst the people


with pig-tails. They usually change parts alternately,
each being in turn husband or wife. Later, —as the
perverted passions increase with age, --when the genital
powers decrease, and they become masters in their
turn, the passive part is the only one that suits them.
By " natural selection " , the Chinaman seeks out the
European who is addicted to the same vice .
Dr. Schlegel, who resided as a medical practitioner
in Canton, had uncommon opportunities of noting the
Chinaman's proclivities , and we quote the following
remarks from his interesting little study on the subject :
" In the neighbouring town of Tschang tscheoe. the
number of female prostitutes is relatively small , whereas
on the contrary the town swarms with individuals
addicted to passions contrary to nature, to such an
extent that it is said :
Tsiang tsioc kaan a thoen, Emoci tsa bo soe. (In
urbe Tchang tcheou catamiti, in urbe Emoi meretrices.)
Nearly all the people there practise this vice , not in
secret, but openly. At Canton there exists one word
only to designate Amasii; it is the word Khai taai
which is considered to be a grave and ignominious
insult, whereas the dialect of Fokie is very rich in
expressions to designate these children and their
trade.
Like the Romans who had their Pathici, their
Ephebi, Gemelli, Catamiti, Amasii, the Chinese have
their sio kia a, little boys, sio kia tsia, pretty little boys ,
tshat sia kia, young brigands, ka thang a, little
basins for the feet, etc. For obscene manœuvres they
have numerous expressions, of which we may cite the
following: Ke Kaam (ut gallus facere coitum), ka ka
tsiah (mordere dorsum), kia soa lo (in viam montis
116 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

ire), ho laam hong (puerorum voluptatis frui), to saar


thang (volutare in sterculinio).
One only of their expressions would seem to indicate
the shameful nature of the act : that is Gik thien so
hing (to act contrary to the course of nature) . Besides,
the following proverb shows how small is the number:
it ta, dzie bong, sa i si pi (de omnibus vitüs masturbatio
vilissimum, tum polutio nocturna, pæderastia tandem
necnon meretricium) . Although they consider solitary
pleasures to be the worst and the most immoral, yet
children and grown up people are much addicted to
them. It is to this unfortunate habit that may be attri-
buted the laziness and cowardice of the greater part
of the Chinese, particularly in the province of Fokie.
They devote themselves only to tranquil occupations
such as agriculture and commerce , and avoid all work
at all violent, as also the profession of arms. The
absence of this vice which weakens the body, kills
moral energy, renders Canton Chinamen far more
energetic. That is why all works requiring physical
strength in the Dutch colonies are done by Chinese
coolies from Canton. That is why also the Canton
districts supply such a large contingent of labourers
to the colonial mines, and that its inhabitants are far
more enterprising and less effeminate than the Chinese
of the other provinces. It is doubtless for the same
reason that the Canton Chinese who accompanied the
Anglo-French expedition to Pekin, and who were known
by the name of the Bamboo rifles , behaved so valiantly.
In the midst of showers of bullets, they carried off the
wounded and brought ammunition to the troops, while
with the greatest coolness they greeted each murder-
ous volley with shouts of joy.
It is this shameful self-abuse that renders all China-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 117

men, excepting those of Canton , cowardly, effeminate,


perfidious and false . We see the same effects pro-
duced upon Europeans who give themselves up to these
shameful practices, and we notice that among the Chi-
nese the same causes produce similar effects. It is not
rare to meet in the province of Fokie with young men
of from 20 to 25 years old completely ruined in health
and suffering from continual spermatorrhoea. Such is
the condition of that province . Let us now glance at
the northern provinces, as far as they are known to
Europeans ; let us hasten to quit as speedily as possible
these details of debauchery, and finish our task . In
these provinces the vice against nature prevails in the
highest degree. The Anglo-French expedition found
there a debauchery so immense and so abominable ,
that it is no wonder that a handful of Europeans could
drive into flight the innumerable armies opposed to them
by China.
In Canton we find that this vice prevails mostly
among the governing officials, who, during their fre-
quent journeys, find it more convenient to be followed
by young boys than by women, but it is there held
in abomination. In the province of Fokie we find the
Amasii, domestic slaves ; but in Pekin the same indi-
viduals seem to form a regular and quite natural class ;
the English and French troops found there real estab-
lishments where young boys of from 11 to 12 years
old are trained to the service of masculine prostitution .
They are all dressed up as girls and they are taught
all the coquetries of the opposite sex ; these precocious
debauchees are incompletely castrated at the age of
from 14 to 15 years, unhappy creatures neither men
nor women If later on they are received into these
establishments the castration is completed. When not
118 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

attached to regular establishments , they are to be found,


as in ancient Rome, at the Barbers (tonsores) . There,
the client, while being shaved , is surrounded by a crowd
of young boys of whom it may be said with Donza,
one of the commentators of Petronius : Quorum fre-
quenti opera non in tondenda barba, pilisque vellendis
modo aut barba rasitanda, scd vero et pygiacis sacris
sinedice, ne nefaric dicam, de nocte administrandis
utebantur.
The Chinamen of Pekin are not ashamed to be seen
in public with their Gitons, and in the theatres one
may see the richest Chinese with their amasii standing
behind their chair.
The bestial orgies to which they abandon themselves
can find no analogies but in the history of the ancient
Romans. Concerning Chinese debauchery it is inter-
esting to quote Barrow, who, in his Travels says :
" The practice of a vice so abominable and so con-
trary to nature seems there (in China) to be so little
accompanied by shame or even restraint, that the
principal officers of State make no difficulty in ad-
mitting their practice of it. One of these officers had
always near to his person an individual called the
pipe-bearer ' , who was generally a well-built youth of
from 14 to 18 years of age , very richly dressed.
These youths were pointed out to us by gestures and
signs which it was not difficult to understand . The
two Muhammadans I have previously mentioned , and
who lived in the IXth century had also made this
remark. I also find in the relation of the voyage of
Hüttner, who was a member of the suite of the
British embassy in Tartary, speaking of Gehol, he
'In one of the palaces I found, among other
' The Indian Hookahbadar.
ANTHROPOLOGY . 119

works of art, two marble statues of young men, ad-


mirably executed . Their hands and feet were tied and
their attitude left no doubt that the vice special to the
Greeks was also in honour among the Chinese. It was
an old eunuch who laughing showed them to us."
Immorality is still greater among the Tartar and
Mongol races. Among these, as with all pastoral
races, all kinds of debauchery against nature prevail,
and their influence has spread all over China. That
is why this vice is more prevalent in the Northern
provinces and diminishes as one goes Southward. At
Canton it disappears almost entirely, and is practised
only by the Mandarins who are Mandchoos , or who ,
if they are Chinese, have been spoiled by a more or
less prolonged stay in the North. But how long will
this province resist the invasion of this abominable
plague, and the example of the ruling officials will it
not deprave the people, as it has already done in
other provinces ?
We have nearly reached the end of our enterprise .
We have lifted the veil that obscured part ofthe Chinese
character, and we have endeavoured in a few sketches
to point the immorality reigning in China. If these
sketches may appear too strong to some of our readers,
let them bear in mind that an enterprise of this nature
is extremely difficult, and that here and there energetic
terms must quite necessarily be employed to show
things as they are. No one can complain if we cut
to the quick into an unhealthy wound, however re-
pugnant the spectacle may be. We ask for the same
indulgence towards our work.
May the above lines come beneath the eyes of the
Tartar chiefs and show to the adversaries of the Tai
phingrebellion how greatly reform is necessary in China.
120 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

It is only by an immense immigration of foreign


elements, and by the opening out of China to other
nations, that it will be possible to cure the horrible
canker that is eating up that country.
Occidental civilization will come to the help of this
nation, so remarkable in other points of view. But for
that purpose, the work must not be confided to people,
nearly as unpolished, ignorant, or fanatical as those
whom they pretend to correct. It requires energetic
and educated men, who know and can apply the
remedy to the sore where it exists.
The Mandchoo dynasty must be thrown down unmer-
cifully, and with it will disappear the seeds of immorality
which it sows around it.
That is to what tends the revolt of the Tai phing
however cruel or infamous the means they employ.
Gentle means are of no avail. One must not apply
palliatives to the sores of this great rotten body ; the
knife must cut down right to the quick, to remove
the gangrened portions, in order that the rest may
grow again and return to vigorous health . The Phoenix
of the fable resuscitates only after having been con-
sumed by fire ; China also will never rise again until
all that opposes her resurrection has been uprooted and
destroyed

The Shop of Ach . , the Chinaman. In 186— ,


one of the richest dealers in curiosities, Ach. , the
Chinaman, who afterwards became one of the leading
Chinese residents of Saigon, had a peculiar and wide-
spread reputation . Crowds of people went to his house
to drink his excellent tea ; but, of course, his customers
never boasted of it, except privately and between
themselves, for Ach. was too compromising . In spite
ANTHROPOLOGY. 121

of the tolerance of manners in those days , one had


but to make a few purchases in his shop to be sus-
pected of having enjoyed his lewd favours. Saigonese
jokers defined this operation as " digging in the yellow
clay " . I give the expression for what it is worth.
At Ach.'s shop could be found a complete assortment
of Chinese and Japanese phalli, and the coloured albums
of the Chinese Aretin .
Twenty-five years later, I found Ach. rich, and
much esteemed by his compatriots , and looking stout,
strong, and well. His little business had proved lucky,
and he had succeeded in life.

Chinese Erotic Literature. It is agreeable to


find that our observations are amply borne out by Dr.
C. A. Schlegel who writes : 1
In China, erotic books and engravings are largely
employed as sexual excitants. Innumerable quantities
of these are to be met with ; nearly all of these light
works, novels, anecdotes, etc. , are full of expressions
of so cynical a nature that it is almost impossible to
choose among them.
The Roman poets in their molles libri still made
use of metaphors and periphrases, whereas in the
Tschoen koeng tse (erotic poems) history is brought
forward for the sole purpose of describing the most
scandalous affairs in the vilest language.
The governing authorities allow these books to cir-
culate without any restriction. They have, as well as
the priests, fulminated against these immoral books in
the public papers, and their authors have even some-
times been severely punished ; the priests do not fail
1 " La Prostitution en Chine", (Rouen, 1880), an able booklet of some
40 pages, written originally in Dutch.
122 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

to preach that the authors of these obscene books will


remain burning in hell as long as their works are
still in existence on earth ; and yet, notwithstanding ,
every day the most infamous plays are performed,. at
which women as well as men assist, and printers con-
tinue to publish novels daily more and more filthy.
It has happened that Governor-Generals of provinces
have caused entire editions together with their plates
of impression, after having purchased them, to be
burned ; but such cases are very rare, for the governors
are generally themselves the very first to buy these
impure works. The erotic plates and engravings sur-
pass in richness, variety and in infamy, the most
lubric imaginations, and meet with more sale than the
books, for all the world can see, but it is not every
one that can read. This trade must be very lucrative,
for there exist in Canton studios where nothing but
these Tschoen koen hoa are painted . In this city it
is not only men who paint these pictures, but the
Chinese themselves admit that in the town of Soc-
Tscheo, in the province of Kiang-Han, young girls of
from II to 14 years of age are employed at the
same work, because they have a lighter hand, and
know how to give these pictures a more agreeable
colouring.
Lastly, in certain parts of China, they manufacture
little articulated and movable puppets, in porcelain or
in ivory, extremely obscene, known under the name
of Tschoen koeng siang, and at Emoi under that
of Tschoen kiang ang a.
In the face of such universal depravity , the moral
tone of the women must necessarily be at a very low
level. But nevertheless it is not nearly so bad as
might be imagined, and the Chinese women are most
ANTHROPOLOGY. 123

of them far more modest than were the ancient


Roman dames . 1

The Male House of Prostitution at Cho-lon .


There remains to be mentioned an establishment at
Cho-lon, which was known to very few Europeans ,
and of which the French police has always (most
probably) ignored the existence. This was nothing
else but a house of masculine prostitution.
It was clandestine, for the authorities would never
have authorized such a den of infamy to be opened,
Sir Rich. Burton, in the Vol. VI of his " Supplementary Nights "
makes some sensible remarks on the subject of the circulation of English
"erotics", which we here reproduce :
66
It apppears to me that our measures, remedial and punitive, against
' pornographic publications ' result mainly in creating ' vested interest '
(that English abomination ) and thus in fostering the work. The French
printer, who now must give name and address, stamps upon the cover
Avis aux Libraires under Edition privée and adds : Ce volume ne doit
pas être mis en vente ou exposé dans les lieux publics (Loi du 29
Juillet, 1881). He also prints upon the back the number of copies for
sale. We treat ' pornology ' as we handle prostitution, unwisely ignore
it, well knowing the while that it is a natural and universal demand of
civilized humanity ; and whereas continental people regulate it and limit
its abuses, we pass it by, Pharisee-like, with nez en l'air. Our laws upon
the subject are made only to be broken and the authorities are unwilling
to prosecute, because by so doing they advertise what they condemn. Thus
they offer a premium to the greedy and unscrupulous publisher and
immensely enhance the value of productions (“ Fanny Hill " by John
Cleland for instance) which, if allowed free publication would fetch pence
instead of pounds. With due diffidence, I suggest that the police be
directed to remove from booksellers' windows and to confiscate all
indecent pictures, prints and photographs ; I would forbid them under
penalty of heavy fines to expose immoral books for sale, and I would
leave ' cheap and nasty ' literature to the good taste of the publisher
and the public. Thus we should also abate the scandal of providing the
secretaries and officers of the various anti-vice societies with libraries of
pornological works which supposed to be escheated or burned, find their
way into the virtuous hands of those who are supposed to destroy them . ”
124 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

and, for that reason, this Chinese temple of love was


difficult of access. Every precaution was taken to
throw the French police off the scent. The house, in
fact, was situated in a suburb of Cho-lon . Nothing
distinguished this illicit brothel from a honest house.
It was situated at the end of a court-yard, and no one
was admitted, unless introduced by one of the habitués;
without my friend B. , the opium contractor, it would
have been impossible for me to enter.
At first sight, the house showed nothing abnormal,
and looked merely like a store of Chinese merchandise.
The sole occupant was an old Chinaman, the keeper
of the warehouse , and his worthy companion. Ordin-
arily no one was to be found there. But the clients
and pensionnaires knew the road and the right time,
for it was a house for nocturnal meetings, and only
filled towards midnight. After the Chinese theatre
was over, the actors who played the women's parts,
used to come there to meet their protectors. 1

' Customs of this nature are strangely alike in different countries. Dr.
Jeannel notes that the principal characters in the plays of Plautus and
Terence are almost always procuresses and prostitutes. That the actres-
ses belonged to this class is proved by the following :-" Mox Hercle !
vero post, transacta fabula, argentum si quis dederit, ut vulgo sus-
picor, Ultro ibit nuptum, non manebit auspices." (PLAUT., Casin ., 82. )
But by Hercules ! after the play, if anyone gave her any money,
I believe that she would willingly get married, without waiting for the
nuptial ceremonies."
The theatres were known as places of debauch (see TIT. LIV. II, 18 ) ;
also ISODOR. (XVIII, 42), the latter we quote :-Idem vero theatrum ,
idem et postibulum, eo quod post ludos exactos, meretrices ibi proter-
nerentur."
(" Theatre and brothel were synonyms ; for after the plays were over,
the prostitutes there gave themselves up to the public. ") The famous
Folies Bergères at Paris in our own time has been wittily styled .
Les halles centrales de la Fornication,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 125

On the far side of the house, at the end of a


garden enclosed with high walls, was a fine pavilion
richly decorated , and provided with handsome Chinese
furniture . A good supply of apparatus for smoking
opium was to be found there, for, with the Chinese ,
opium is the basis and motor of all voluptuous de-
bauchery.
Instead of young girls, there were youths of from
twelve to twenty years, richly dressed in silk costumes
of tender hues, who waited on the guests, and acted
as Ganymedes. Compartments similar to horse boxes,
and containing a bed instead of a manger, permitted
the amorous couples to isolate themselves. I say
" couples ", but I may remark that the famous rule of
the Jesuits, which forbade their pupils to ever be in
pairs, was applied in a very singular manner. It
would be impossible to give even a hint at the scenes
of extraordinary lewdness which went on in these
compartments, without entering into erotic details wor-
thy of the Marquis de Sade , ¹ therefore I forbear.
I cannot, however, pass over in silence, one eccentric
form of the lusus amoris. The Chinese actors who
play the women's parts, come in their costumes , and
assume the character of a modest virgin, afraid of
losing her virginity, a refinement of vice which is
much appreciated. In the presence of a number of
old men, not very particular, the scenes of the first
night of wedded life are represented without any
shame. But there is nothing new under the sun, as
the proverb says. Petronius and Suetonius have re-

' No better idea can be given of the frightful state of Paris under
the Empire in regard to the organised bands of pederasts which had
for special object the corruption of the Dragons de l'Impératrice than
the following systematic account given by a police official :-
:-
126 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

counted the same thing long ago. The Chinese of


Cho-lon do but repeat the history of the Emperor
Nero, and his marriage with the eunuch Sporus.

EXCURSUS TO CHAPTER VII.

The undermentioned facts vouched for by Dr. Krafft-


Ebing will surprise many readers. The old proverb
concerning " people who live in glass houses " here
acquires fresh force. The vices, practised with such
revolting cynicism in Asia, are carried out with un-
speakable audacity in the great cities of Europe.
OF THE HOUSES OF MALE PROSTITUTION IN BERLIN :
" The following notice from a Berlin (national ?) news-
paper, of February, 1884, which fell into my hands
by accident, seems suited to show something of the
life and customs of Urnings :
" The Woman- Haters' Ball. Almost every social
element, --- the fat, the bald-headed , the young, -and
why not the woman-haters ? This species of men, so
interesting psychologically, and none too edifying,
had a great ball to-day. The sale of tickets was very
rigorous ; they wish to be very exclusive. Their
rendezvous was a well-known dance-hall. We enter
the hall about midnight. The graceful dancing is to
the strains of a fine orchestra. Thick tobacco-smoke,

" RAPPORT D'UN OFFICIER de la POLICE MUNICIPALE de PARIS.


Attribution des Moeurs . Le 16 Juillet, 1864."
It is signed by F. CARLIER, And the words " Approuvé les con-
clusions, et continuer les investigations vis-à-vis de toutes les personnes
sans distinction. "
(signed) NAUNEY,
Follow Carlier's signature.
This report is very rare, very few copies having been struck off.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 127

veiling the gas-lights, does not allow the details of


the moving mass to become obvious ; only. during the
pause between the dances can we obtain a closer
view. The masks are by far in the majority ; black
dress-coats and ball-gowns are seen only now and
then .
" But what is that ? The lady in rose-tarletan , that
just now passed us, has a lighted cigar in the corner
of her mouth, and puffs likes a trooper ; and she also
wears a small , blonde beard, lightly pointed out. And
yet she is talking with a very décolleté ' angel' in
tricots, who stands there , with bare arms folded behind
her, likewise smoking. The two voices are masculine,
and the conversation is likewise very masculine ; it is
about the ' d - tobacco, that permits no air .' Two
men in female attire. A conventional clown stands
there, against in soft conversation with a
a pillar,
ballet-dancer, with his arm around her faultless waist.
She has a blonde ' Titus-head,' sharp cut profile, and
apparently a voluptuous form. The brilliant ear-rings ,
the necklace with a medallion, the full, round shoul-
ders do not permit a doubt of her ' genuineness,'
until, with a sudden movement, she disengages herself
from the embracing arm, and, yawning, moves away,
saying, in a deep bass, ' Emile, you are too tiresome
to-day !' The ballet-dancer is also a male !
" Suspicious now, we look about further. We almost
expect that here the world is topsy-turvy; for here
goes, or, rather, trips, a man - no, no man at all even
though he wears a carefully trimmed moustache. The
well-curled hair ; the powdered and painted face with
the blackened eyebrows ; the golden ear- rings ; the
bouquet of flowers reaching from the left shoulder to
the breast, ornamenting the elegant black gown ; the
128 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

golden bracelets on the wrists ; the elegant fan-all


these things are anything but masculine. And how
he toys with the fan ! How he dances and turns, and
trips, and lisps ! And yet kindly nature made this doll
a man. He is a salesman in a great millinery store,
and the ballet-dancer mentioned is his ' colleague '.
" At a little corner-table there seems to be a great
social circle. Several elderly gentlemen press around
a group of décolleté ladies, who sit over a glass of
wine and in the spirit of fun -make jokes that are
none too delicate. Who are these ladies ? ' Ladies ' ,
laughs my knowing friend. ' Well, the one on the
right, with the brown hair, and the short, fancy dress
is called ' Butterrieke ' and he is a hair-dresser ;
the second one-the blonde, in a singer's costume,
with the necklace of pearls- is known here by the
name of ' Miss Ella of the tight-rope ' , and he is a
ladies' tailor; and the third, that is the celebrated
'Lottie '.
" But that person cannot possibly be a man ? That
waist, that bust, those classic arms, the whole air and
person are marked feminine !
" I am told that ' Lottie ' was once a book-keeper.
To-day she, or rather, he, is exclusively ' Lottie ' , and
takes pleasure in deceiving men about his sex as long
as possible. ' Lottie ' is singing a song that would
hardly do for a drawing-room , in a high voice, acquired
by years of practice, which many a soprano might
envy. ' Lottie ' has also ' worked ' as a female comedian.
Now the quondam book-keeper has so entered into
the female rôle that he appears on the street in female
attire almost exclusively, and , as the people with whom
he lodges state, wears an embroidered night-dress.
" On closer examination of the assembly, to my aston-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 129

ishment , I discover acquaintances on all hands : my


shoemaker, whom I should have taken for anything
but a woman-hater- he is a ' troubadour' , with sword
and plume ; and his ' Leonora', in the costume of a
bride, is accustomed to place my favourite brand of
cigars before me in a certain cigar-store. ' Leonora' ,
who, during an intermission, removes her gloves, I
recognize with certainty, by her large blue hands.
Right! There is my haberdasher, also ; he moves
about in a questionable costume as Bacchus, and is
the swain of a repugnantly bedecked Diana , who works
as a waiter in a beer-restaurant. The real ladies' of
the ball cannot be described here. They associate only
with one another, and avoid the woman-hating men ;
and the latter are exclusive, and amuse themselves ,
absolutely ignoring the charms of women . "
Dr. R. von Krafft-Ebing Psycopathia Sexualis, Lon-
don, 1895 , (pp . 417-418).

DUTCH EXPERIENCES :

In Amsterdam there exists perhaps the biggest and


most luxurious brothel in the world . It is known as
De Fontein (the Fountain) . This establishment occu-
pies an entire building and comprises : restaurant, ball-
room , private saloons, café, and at the top of the house
a billiard-room where the players are chosen from
amongst the handsomest sisters of this very irreligious
community, and are ABSOLUTELY NAKED ! Around
the room, seated at small tables, are a number of grave
elderly gentlemen of serious and venerable aspect,
smoking long clay-pipes or meerschaums, and drinking
beer or grog. One of these worthies had a peculiar
knack, whenever one of these nude beauties stooped
130 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY .

to make a stroke at billiards and presented her buttocks


in his direction, to gently touch them with the hot
bowl of his pipe. This would make her start and the
old fellow, his paunch shaking with laughter, would
draw a florin from his pocket and hand it to the angry
fair. It is probable that this honest old burgher used
to distribute a goodly number of florins in this manner
during the course of the evening.
CHAPTER VIII.

Study of the buccal, vulvar, and anal deformities caused by


-
male and female prostitution in the Annamite race. The theories
-
of Tardieu and Martineau confirmed. The vulva before puberty,
and in the adult woman ; signs of the loss of virginity in the
Annamite race. - Rarity of the vulvar infundibulum in girls
who have been deflowered before puberty by young boys. —Peculiar
signs of the habit of mouth suction. - Sodomy and pederasty.—
Signs of recent passive sodomy.-—Anal blennorrhæa. - Signs of
inveterate passive sodomy. — Signs of active pederasty in the An-
namite and the Chinese. - Signs of active and passive pederasty
in the European in Cochin- China.

Study of the buccal, vulvar, and anal deform-


ities. The notes from which I have written this
chapter, date back to my first visit, at a time when
Tardieu, and Martineau, who continued his work, had
not thoroughly studied this subject of medico-legal
science. I have the private satisfaction of here noting,
that on nearly every point, my observations confirm
the theories of those two learned physicians .
I am about to note in succession all the deformities
-vulvar, buccal, and anal -caused in either sex , by
deflowering, masturbation , Sapphism, or sodomy amongst
the Annamites.

The Vulva before the age of Puberty, and in


the Annamite Woman. I have already remarked,
131
132 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

in speaking of the little Annamite girl, that the hymen


was frequently worn away after the age of ten, and
I remarked that the appearance of the organs of
generation, after that age does not differ greatly from
that of the pubescent women , of more than sixteen or
seventeen years. I will now return to the discussion of
this subject, and for the better comprehension of the
reader, I will begin by quoting from Martineau , the
essential differences which the organs of generation
should show in the little girl, and the pubescent woman,
of the French race :
In the little girl, the direction of the vulva is to be
noted : it is vertical, and the opening is concealed by
the big and little lips. The vulva is straight in front ;
it is half open at the upper portion . On putting aside
the lips a little, you see immediately the clitoris, and
the urinary meatus : the lower part of the vulva is
closed.
In the pubescent girl, and especially in the woman
who has often had copulation , the position is quite
altered. The vulva then points downwards and back-
wards. The separation, of the lips is slight at the
upper part, but more pronounced at the lower, so that,
in the pubescent woman, the clitoris and the urinary
meatus are covered, and concealed, by the great lips.
It is important to remember these positions when we
come to study vulvar deformities.

Marks of Defloration in the Annamite Girl,


before and after Puberty. From the number of
young girls who were submitted to me for medical
examination, I am able to assert that the vulva in
them is directly in front, and that it is also open at
the lower end.
ANTHROPOLOGY 133

In the girl or pubescent woman who has been


deflowered at an early age, the vulva continues to point
forward : the lower separation is much more marked ,
but the greater and lesser lips are much less accentu-
ated than in the European woman, and rarely conceal
the clitoris and the urinary meatus. The downward
and backward direction of the vulva is also less marked .
The lesser inclination of the vulva and vagina of the
Annamite woman decreases , in a marked degree ; the
total length of the apparatus, which is, no doubt,
shorter than in any other branch of the human race
(except perhaps the Lapps) and corresponds exactly to
the small penis of the man.
According to Martineau, the clitoris of the French-
woman is ordinarily 1 inches long, and more in some
cases. The clitoris in woman corresponds to the penis,
and should be of a proportionate size, and therefore
we shall not be surprised to find that in the Annamite
woman its average length is barely three quarters of
an inch.
I have also said that the Annamites prefer the
pubes bare, and that they compare the European
woman, whose pubes is generally more or less fur-
nished with tufts of hair, to wild beasts. 1 The hair

1¹ Our friend, Lombroso, has endeavoured to found a series of statis-


tics concerning the amount of hair on the bodies of women who live
by their shame. Of course his remarks apply only to Europeans, as
depilation prevails almost exclusively in the East. It may interest some
of our readers to see what Lombroso says :-
1.-The Navus piloris, commonly called a " beauty mark " (grain
de beauté), is a new characteristic hitherto but little studied, and which
must be added to the other characteristics of female degeneration. It is
a kind of indirect beard supplement, which assimilates the woman more
to man. We found it in 14% of normal women, in 6 % of female
criminals, and in 41 % of prostitutes. Gurrieri however noted it in only
134 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

is removed from the woman's pubes by rubbing it


with an ointment containing lime and orpiment (sul-
phuret of arsenic).
I have rarely (not to say hardly ever) remarked ,
in the Annamite woman, the symptoms indicated by
Martineau as showing the signs of masturbation , or
buccal Sapphism . This, no doubt, results from the
ease with which the girl or woman can satisfy her
natural desires ; moreover, the great frequency of the
" flowers " must help to limit this special form of vice.
I never met but two cases, and both these were the
mistresses of Europeans.
The vulvar infundibulum does not exist in those
young girls who have been touched by young boys.
It is only found when these girls have repeated copu-
lation with a European. Although the rose he gathers
is already withered, the disproportion in the size ofthe
organs renders the first attacks difficult, and ultimately
creates an infundibulum which is sometimes deep .
The rule, as laid down by Martineau, is mathematically
verified, so to speak.
The production of vulvar deformities due to deflora-
8 % . Zola speaks of the beauty marks of Nana and of those of the
lascivious Countess, her worthy rival.
2. Hairs.-Professor Riccardi found in 21 % of prostitutes an ex-
aggerated pilose development on the sexual parts, and Gurrieri also found
27 %, at the same time that he noticed 18 % where it was totally want-
ing; 8 % had a genuine ombilico-pubic tuft. 16% showed a virile dis-
tribution of hair.
We have also found with Ardu a virile distribution of hair on 15 %
out of 234 prostitutes, whereas it was observed on only from 5 to 6%
of normal women and on 5 % of female criminals .
On the contrary peluria which amounts to 6 % among the Russian
prostitutes and to 2 % among homicides, is absent on honest women and
on thieves. In Italy it was noted in the proportion of 8 % on honest
women, 36 % on homicides and 13 % on thieves and child-killers.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 135

tion in copulation , is based on this principle ; so long


as there exists a proper proportion in the size of the
sexual organs, the physiological act is easily accom-
plished, and vulvar deformities do not supervene .
But when the size or dimensions of the sexual organs
differ in either sex ; when there is a disproportion in
the genital organs, copulation is accomplished with
more or less difficulty, and vulvar deformities are
caused. This disproportion may exist in either sex ;
either on the part of the man, the penis being too
huge, or on the part of the woman, the vulvo-vaginal
orifice being shrunken, owing to normal resistance, by
the physiological tonic condition of the constrictive
muscle of the vulva, or by the undue resistance of the
hymen.
Professor Tardieu gives a typical description of the
vulvar deformities produced by defloration. The de-
scription only applies to Annamites who have not
attained puberty, having habitual commerce with Euro-
peans. I quote part of it. " In these circumstances
the greater lips are thickened , and separated at the
lower part, which is the exact contrary of what we
ought to find. The lesser lips are besides elongated
to such an extent that they pass the greater, as if
they had been repeatedly pulled out. The clitoris is
red projecting, and half erect ; it is partly uncovered.
That is not all ; the narrowness of the parts , and the
resistance of the bony sub-pelvic arcade , hindering the
complete introduction of the virile member, and con-
sequent destruction of the membrane of the hymen,
fresh deformities are caused . The membrane of the
hymen is found to be driven backwards and slightly
upwards ; at the same time all the parts which constitute
the vulva are also forced back . The result is the
136 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

formation- at the expense of the vulvar canal --- of a


kind of infundibulum, more or less large, and more
or less deep, capable of receiving the extremity of
the penis, and very similar to that which is formed
in the anus in the case of anal copulation . "
Of these characteristics, I have rarely remarked
those relating to the lesser lips and the clitoris, but
the infundibulum was never wanting.

Special Signs of the Habit of Suction. Tardieu


notes a peculiar conformation shown in the mouth of
certain persons addicted to the habit of sucking.
have noticed in the most positive manner, in two
amongst them, " he says, " that the mouth was all
awry, the teeth very short, the lips thick, turned back,
deformed, and quite in keeping with the horrible vice
they practised. " I would add to this that in nearly
all the women and nays who are addicted to such
practices, the lips generally appeared to me thick and
1
deformed , especially in the young nays.
I have often found eruptions, ulcerations, and the
scars of chancres, on the lips and tongue of the un-
happy victims of this form of debauchery . When once
they are affected , they in turn help to spread the

This abominable and perfectly disgusting habit has come under our
observation to a large extent in Paris, where it is practised by both
sexes. Various names and expressions are used by its votaries to desig-
nate this vice : -faire minette, gamahucher, faire soixante-neuf; the
latter term is used on acount of the peculiar position used in order to
accomplish the filthy act.
Several anecdotes are current with regard to this practice, but we
prefer not to sully our pages by repeating them. I have however not
been struck with any special malformation in the subjects such as Tardieu
describes . We may mention that Martial has some very powerful Epi-
grams on this aberration .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 137

syphilitic virus, by a law of reciprocity which it would


be very difficult to repress.

Sodomy and Pederasty. According to Martineau,


sodomy is the term generally employed to designate
unnatural acts, without distinction of sex as to the
persons between whom these acts are effected.
Pederasty signifies unnatural acts between men, and
may be divided into active and passive pederasty.
The anal deformities produced by unnatural copula-
tion are the same in the woman as in the boy and
the nay, except some trifling differences. I will con-
fine myself here to studying them in the nay and the
boy, where they are found more frequently than in the
woman.

Signs of Recent Passive Sodomy. It has been


already remarked , that the nay or basket is a youth
of from eight to fifteen years. After that age, he is
promoted to the rank of boy, but, whilst he is a nay,
he has not usually reached the age of puberty. As
may easily be imagined, these poor little wretches fall
into the hands of " active " pederasts, who are not
remarkable for gentleness and kindness, and who
brutally assuage their lewd passions without caring
what may be the result.
I have often found, in these unfortunate nays, marks
of attempts that have been committed almost by vi-
olence, the fact being that a lad not yet arrived at
puberty, and frail and weak , is incapable of making
any serious resistance to brutal attempts at sodomy on
the part of an adult European or Asiatic.
In order not to unduly extend this work , I will not
give here the results of my medical observations, for
138 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

I should only be repeating what Tardieu and Martineau


have already said. I will refer the reader to their
works, and confine myself to discussing their opinions.
Let us, in the first place , take that of Tardieu . ¹
" A recent attempt leaves such well-marked signs
that it is impossible to mistake them. The signs of
recent attempt are more or less evident according to
the degree of violence employed , the size of the parts,
the youth of the victim, and the absence of previous
vicious habits. They vary, according to circumstances,
from redness, roughness, painful heat of the anus, and
difficulty in walking, to the fissures, called rhagades,
deep rents, extravasation of blood, and inflammation
of the mucous membrane, and the underlying cellular
tissue. This inflammation may be more or less ex-
tensive, and more or less prolonged ; but if the exam-
ination does not take place till some days after the
attempt, you will find, usually, only itching, and a
discoloration of the anus , due to the modifications,
caused by the discharge of blood. "
The symptoms mentioned by Martineau are more
explicit. He remarks -which Tardieu does not that
there may result " abscesses or fistulas " . Sometimes.
a bloody and purulent serum is spread over the anal
region , which is very painful. The pain is either
continuous, or merely passing ; and comes on more
especially during defecation ; the woman (or man) then
experiences a smarting pain, which is sometimes very
violent. At other times, the pain comes on after
defecation, and lasts several hours.
On examination of the region, the following marks

Etude Medico- Legale sur les Attentats aux Maurs par Ambroise
TARDIEU, professeur de Médecine légale à la Faculté de Médecine de
Paris. (Sept. edit., Paris, 1878.)
ANTHROPOLOGY. 139

will be found. On touching the anus , it will be


noticed that the orifice is slightly dilated. The anus
is also driven upwards. The sphincter, not having yet
lost its power, resists, but is also nevertheless driven
upwards, with the result that a slight depression of
the anal region is formed, the beginning of an infun-
dibulum bearing towards the anus
Martineau's reasoning is complete. But I would
remark that, in the majority of recent attempts, I have
not found the infundibulum clearly defined ; -not because
there was not a great disproportion between the anus
of the child and the penis of the adult, but because
the anal sphincter (and the vulvar also) possesses less
tonicity than in the European. Consequently, the
sphincter is more easily dilated .
I have always found, in the medical examination ,
that the anus was dilated , and that the finger, when
introduced, did not meet with that constriction which
is found in the anus of a person who has not been
sodomised .
In the woman, the anal infundibulum is more frequent
and more pronounced than in the nay, and for a good
reason . In the first place the muscles of the buttocks
are more developed than in the nay, and the sphincter
has also more tonicity. The ray is generally very
young when he begins the practice, whereas the woman
is old when she takes to sodomy, which she does
rather from economic motives, on account of the
money it brings, than from natural taste. The result
in her case is that, the sphincter having greater tonic-
ity, anal copulation is more difficult, which causes the
production of an infundibulum .
In the boy, who has usually heen a pederast for some
years, only the signs of inveterate sodomy are found.
140 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

All the sodomites, both men and women, lubricate


the anus, in order to make copulation easier, and use,
for this purpose , some fatty substance, mixed with the
thickened juice of a kind of mallow, which is boiled
in a small quantity of water. This mallow possesses
emollient properties.

Anal Blennorrhoea. Cases of anal blennorrhoea,


which are very rare in Europe, -for Tardieu and
Martineau only met with one case each, —are much
less rare in Cochin-China. They occur when the nay
is the victim of a boy, who has contracted the disease.
from a woman, which is the case with the majority of
adults. I met with one case, however, in a young
German, who was employed in a large house of busi-
ness, and who had probably been infected by a boy,
but he would never confess how he caught it, and
related all sorts of improbable lies.
I cured him by employing cubebs internally, and
injecting, by the rectum, his own urine collected in a
glass , and used while tepid , with a syringe.

Signs of Inveterate Passive Sodomy. Accord-


ing to Tardieu these are the signs which it should
present : " The characteristic signs of passive pederasty,
which we will recapitulate in order, are , -excessive
development of the buttocks, infundibular deformity
of the anus, relaxation of the sphincter, the effacement
of the folds or wrinkles, ridges and excrescences round
the anus, extreme dilation, of the anal orifice , inability
to restrain the fæces, ulcerations, rhagades, piles ,
fistulas, rectal blennorrhoea, syphilis, and foreign bodies
introduced into the anus. The mere enumeration of
these different signs can give no idea of their import-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 141

ance : it is absolutely necessary to identify each separ


99
ately, in all its essential peculiarities .
Tardieu's summary having been thoroughly discussed
by Martineau , it would be better to refer the reader
to his book, and to note here the differences, which I
think I have observed, as to the relative importance
of these symptoms.
In the first place , I will put aside the sign of exces-
sive development of the buttocks, which is without im-
portance in the Annamite race, and come at once to
that of the anal infundibulum.

The Anal Infundibulum. This deformity has always


struck observers , but some of them have denied its
importance, and others have exaggerated it. This

difference of opinion is perhaps due to the fact that,


in certain cases, this deformity exists, while in others
it is absent. I have given the reasons for its existence,
or its absence , by proving that the anal infundibulum
resulted either from the resistance ofthe sphincter muscle ,
or from the disproportion in the size of the organs. I
repeat, that in all cases in which these conditions exist,
or have existed , you are certain to remark this deform-
ity, both in the nian, and in the woman.
The infundibular deformity of the anus is, I repeat,
real, only you must know how to look for it, and how
to understand its pathogeny. As regards this, I cannot
do better than quote the very exact description given
by Tardieu.
" The infundibular deformity of the anus," says that
eminent professor, " results , on the one hand, from the
gradual forcing back of the parts which are situated
in front of the anus, and on the other hand , from the
resistance shown by the higher end of the sphincter
142 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

to the complete admission of the member into the rectum .


The sphincter, in fact, forms above the anus a sort of
contracted muscular canal, the depth of which is some-
times an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half, so
that the lower part of the ring may give way, and
allow itself to be pushed towards the upper, which
resists still more , and remains at the bottom in a sort
of funnel, the widest portion of which is circumscribed
by the sides of the buttocks, and the narrow part of
which extends through the anal orifice to the compressed
sphincter, which is reduced to a mere ring , which
closes, more or less completely, the entrance to the
intestines.
If I have succeeded in making my meaning plain,
it will be seen that the infundibulum will be more or
less wide, and more or less deep . according to the
state of fatness , or. leanness, of the person, and the
more or less pronounced projection of the buttocks."
In all the Annamite prostitutes addicted to practices
of sodomy, I met with the infundibulum so well described
by Tardieu, and of the shape mentioned above . I

attribute this to the advanced age ofthese women when


they begin anal copulation . But, on the contrary, I
have not often met with it in the boy of from sixteen
to twenty, or twenty-five years of age, who is a hard-
ened pederast, and began the practice at an early age.
The regular infundibulum had disappeared , to give
place to another form quite as characteristic as the
first , and which has not been noticed by Tardieu.
We owe the clear description of this form to Mar-
tineau, and I cannot do better than reproduce it.
" When the anus is compressed upwards, if you do
not find an infundibulum such as I have described,
do not imagine that it does not exist. In many cases ,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 143

in fact, by an attentive examination, and by feeling


the anus, you will find an infundibulum formed, not at
the expense of the buttocks, but of the anus and the
softened sphincter, and flattened in such a manner,
that the finger, directed from the back to the front,
and from the bottom to the top, will meet with a
small annular depression in the form of a cupola, in
which the extremity of the exploring finger can lodge.
" I call your earnest attention to this infundibulum,
formed at the expense of the anus, and partly of that
of the sphincter, because other authors appear to me
to have ignored its existence. " 1
It is generally in this special form that I have
encountered the infundibulum in the nay of twelve or
thirteen years of age, and especially in the boy.

Relaxation of the Sphincter. - Effacement of


the Radiating Folds. I again quote from Martineau .
" Besides this infundibular deformity, the sphincter is
relaxed, and the radiating folds are effaced . These
two signs are very important . In fact, they are never
wanting in the inveterate sodomite. Tardieu , very
rightly, like Zachias Casper, attributes a great diag-
nostic value to the existence of these two signs,
which, he says, are met with even when the infundib-
ulum is missing. For my own part, I have always
found this relaxation of the sphincter, and the efface-
ment of the radiating folds or wrinkles. It may easily
be understood, in fact, that these signs are invariable
in the inveterate sodomite . It is not necessary that
anal copulation should be accomplished easily, or with
difficulty ; to produce these signs it suffices if the act

¹ Martineau, Leçons sur les Déformations vulvaires et anales (Paris,


1883 ).
144 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of sodomy is often repeated . The friction, the passage


of the member, suffices to dilate the anus, and to
produce the relaxation of the sphincter, and the efface-
ment of the radiating folds. The tonicity of the
constrictor muscle of the anus is lost little by little,
the sphincter is insensibly relaxed, the folds and
wrinkles are smoothed out, and anal copulation is
then effected more easily.
" Along with these two morbid phenomena, if the
anal orifice is dilated with the fingers, it will be found
that the rectal mucous membrane forms creases , and
sometimes a bright red, thick swelling. As to carun-
cula and excrescences, lesions which the Latin satirists
called cresta, mariscæ, I have never met with them.
" Simultaneously with these deformities and anal lesions,
will be noticed the weakening of the sphincter, the
compression of the anus upwards, and the dilation of
the anal orifice to such an extent that, with some
patients, the fæces , and the intestinal gases, escape
involuntarily .
" Owing to this dilation of the anus, you can easily
introduce into the rectum , one, two , or even three,
fingers. On separating the buttocks, you will find a
hole, more or less gaping, in which you will be able
to perceive certain lesions with which the mucous
membrane is affected, such as ulcerations, piles, and
fistula, etc. , etc. These lesions, which are considered
by Dr. Venot (of Bordeaux ) as a consequence of habit-
ual sodomy, are, in my opinion , nothing of the kind.
They may occur without inveterate sodomy. They
may exist with it, but they are not a consequence
of it. "
The marks of inveterate sodomy could not be described
more faithfully than they have been by Martineau ,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 145

but I have especially remarked in the elder boys, a


considerable dilation of the anus, to such an extent
indeed, that I introduced in some of them the thumb
and the two first fingers , as far as the second joint,
and that easily and without causing pain, by taking
a little care. When relaxed to such an extent, the
sphincter was incapable of keeping in the fæcal mat-
ter. Having once cured one of these unfortunate
wretches, of excessive relaxation of the anus, by em-
ploying an astringent of myrrh and acetate of lead,
mixed with simple ointment, I created for myself
(without seeking it) an extensive practice, for the boy,
when nearly cured, made me a reputation I was far
from desiring, amongst comrades of the same kidney.
They came from all parts, to my surgery, which
allowed me, at the cost of a few pots of ointment, to
closely study the deformities mentioned above, and to
gather some information as to the methods used by
these perverted wretches.

Signs of Active Pederasty in the Annamite


and the Chinaman. Tardieu is the only author who
has treated of this subject in detail, and he has done
so in a remarkably complete manner. I will sum up
the conclusions at which he has arrived.
" In the active pederast, the virile member is very
slender, or very huge ; slenderness is the very general
rule, huge size the very rare exception, but, in either
case, the dimensions are excessive. one way or the
other. In the slim penis will be noticed a considerable
reduction from the base to the extremity, which is
very thin, like the finger of a glove, and resembles.
the canum more ; this form is the most general.
" In the very large penis, it is not the whole organ
10
146 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

which undergoes a gradual thinning from the root to


the extremity, but the gland, which being strangled
at its base, is sometimes inordinately elongated, in
such a manner as to give one the idea of the muzzle
of certain animals. Moreover the member, throughout
its whole length, is twisted in such a manner that the
urinary mcatus, instead of being straight up and down ,
is turned obliquely to the right or left. This twisting
and change in the direction of the organ are some-
times carried to excess, and appear the more marked
because the dimensions are so considerable, so that I
once saw the dorsal side of the penis turned completely
to the left, and the meatus transversal . "
I will content myself with making the following
remarks . I have never noticed in an Annamite the
signs of passive pederasty, without making an examina-
tion of the genital organs, and without at once asking
if he practised active pederasty, or masturbation . The
reply generally confirmed the medical diagnosis result-
ing from the examination.
I have often found, in the young nays, signs of
masturbation, characterized by a gland very easily
skinned, the mucous surface red , and the member
becoming erect at the least touch. In the boy on the
contrary masturbation was the exception, and, as a
rule, signs of active pederasty-- either by the boy's
amongst themselves, or perhaps with some European
—were found.
But though the boy, for a sum of money and the
promise of secrecy, would reveal to me the vicious
habits he had practised with his master, it may be
imagined that, most depraved European
even the
would not willingly confess his abject vices. Messrs.
Y. and Z. would smile affably when spoken to con-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 147

cerning their taste for good looking boys, or the


Chinese of Ach.'s shop, but the insinuation that they
followed the Latin adage, par pari refertur, and that
between them and the boys and Chinese , there existed
an exchange of favours, would not have been well
received.
From the Asiatics I examined , I deduced the fol-
lowing observations. The genital organ of the male
Annamite, being, as we have seen, remarkable for its
slenderness, I generally found in the boy who was an
active pederast, the member conical , and similar to
that of a dog, as has been remarked by Tardieu . In
some only those more especially addicted to mastur-
bation-the gland was in the shape of a club.
The genital organ of the Chinaman, being more
developed, and approaching nearer to the size of that
of the European, did not so often assume this shape ,
but rather showed , on the contrary, the lateral twist of
the penis, and the elongation of the gland from the crown.

Signs of Active and Passive Pederasty in the


European. The signs of active sodomy in the Euro-
peans, who consented to allow me to examine them,
were usually those which Tardieu describes as excep-
tional. It is true, let me hasten to say, that the number
of Europeans I examined was not considerable, and I
cannot, therefore, deduce any general rule . In one of
them, a M. B*** , a man whose lasciviousness and
misconduct were notorious, I found the member very
much developed , and capable of satisfying the most
exacting woman. It was not without some astonish-
ment that I saw a man, provided with a genital
apparatus of this size, in the habit of assuaging his
lust upon unfortunate children not yet arrived
GY
148 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLO .

puberty. I remarked the same thing among the Arab


sodomites of Guiana. I also remarked in the European
active sodomite , the cork-screw form- often very pro-
nounced-and the strangulation of the gland by the
pressure of the anal sphincter.

Signs of Passive Sodomy. For reasons which


will be well understood , I was only able to note these
in two Europeans . The first, was the young German
I have mentioned as affected with anal blennorrhoea,
and whom I cured by injections of a special kind . He
promised to show me the state of his rectum after he
was cured, but he took care to never come back, in
order not to have to confess the more than probable
cause of the disease, which was evidently occasioned
by anal copulation with some affected person .
The second was a young lad of seventeen , the son
of a clerk in one of the Government offices. I made
the voyage out in company with his father, and rumours
were current on board the ship, about the morality of
this young man. He came to me, one day, with a
stinking chancre, which occupied the front part of the
anus . This latter was much dilated , and admitted two
fingers. On opening it, I found the anal mucous sur-
face relaxed, red , and ulcerated . The radiating folds
had partly disappeared , and the sphincter had sensibly
lost its tonicity. This vicious youth pretended that he
had acquired the disease from the mouth of a Congai,
and I could not make him comfess the truth. I thought,
on the contrary, after making a medical examination
of his anus, that he acted (perhaps many times) as the
" patient ", and had caught his disease from some
active sodomite infected with syphilis.
CHAPTER IX .

The European Colony thirty years ago.-The European woman


very rare.- Moral causes of the relative frequency ofsodomy and
pederasty in the early days of the occupation. - Saigon in the
present day, thirty years after the conquest. - Increase ofthefemi-
nine element in Cochin- China. - The life of the European in the
present day. - Evening amusements. - The European prostitute.—
Increased morality of the Europeans. - The diminution in the
masculine and feminine prostitution of the natives is only in ap-
pearance.-Present manners.- The boy and the native collegian.

The European Colony. Thirty years ago the Euro-


pean colony was not very numerous, and , except for
some English and Germans, and a very few French
merchants, was mainly composed of officers of the Navy
and other corps connected with it, and a small minor-
ity of civil service officials.
There were not in all more than four of five hun-
dred Europeans, besides the Expeditionary Corps.
Daily existence was desperately monotonous, which,
added to the unhealthiness of the climate made a sojourn
in the place very unpleasant. In an atmosphere which
is hot, damp, and frequently saturated with electricity,
the climate very quickly enervates and weakens the
physical strength, and this weakness of the body re-acts
in its turn on the moral character.
Few amusements brightened the life of the European
bachelor, for, at first, few people brought their families
149
150 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

to the Colony. Consequently, there were none of those


social meetings which render civilized life nearly sup-
portable. I cannot call to mind one agreeable réunion,
for though everyone was obliged to appear now and
then at the official soirées of the Governor, these were
nothing short of torture to the officer, or official, who
was forced to put on for the occasion, his regimentals ,
and epaulettes , or the regulation black suit. At the
first official ball at which I assisted , 186-, the female
element was represented by four ladies, who danced
a quadrille, with two hundred officers, and officials,
standing round them . There were no evening amuse-
ments at Saigon, but for those who liked the Club,
and baccarat or écarté. Lovers of music were reduced
to visiting the Chinese theatre, the only one in existence
at the time , for the French theatre did not open till
twenty years after the conquest, and it must be con-
fessed that the Chinese theatre was not very amusing.
Confirmed gamblers had recourse to baquan. The
admirers of the fair sex were the worst off, the female
element was conspicuous by its absence. There were
two or three married ladies, who were not very cir-
cumspect, and were freely talked about, but as to ladies
of the demi-monde, or even of the " demi-demi-monde " ,
there were absolutely none.

The two first European Prostitutes. If my


memory serves me faithfully, the two first European
prostitutes came to Saigon in 1866, or 1867. They
were two Moldo-Wallachians , nearly forty years of
age, who had been in every brothel between Alexan-
dria and Saigon . Installed as dames de comptoir in
a common beer-house, they caused almost a riot amongst
the male population ; and the night of their arrival all
ANTHROPOLOGY. 151

the bachelors of Saigon were collected in the establish-


ment, though usually you did not find more than four
Europeans there. Some funny person had the absurd
idea of putting the ladies up in a raffle, —each at a
hundred tickets at one piaster. In an hour all the
tickets were sold, and the lottery drawn. I do not
know whether the happy winners were enchanted with
their good luck.
Except the café and the Club -or, indeed , baquan ,
and the Chinese theatre-what amusements were there
in the evening, for Europeans who did not want to
drink, or gamble, or even listen to the senseless music
of the Chinese ? None whatever, but opium smoking
and native prostitution . Unless a man possessed an
exceptionally strong will , it was difficult to avoid
gliding down the slippery paths of vice, in a country
where vice was to be found everywhere. In the day-
time, the European was attacked in his house by the
" daylight whores " , and in the evening, if he had the
strength to take a stroll, in order that he might sleep
the better, quite a crowd of lewd boys came round
him, to impudently offer their unclean favours. 2
It was not astonishing that persons of weak char-
acter, who did not know how to preserve their moral
dignity, fell into shameful vices. I cannot but repeat,
that the European did not import the vice of Sodom
into Cochin-China. The vice was a direct result of
Chinese civilization, and became part of the manners
of the Annamite people long before the conquest by the
1 Vices such as these are not confined alone to Asiatic cities. We
recall an incident that occurred to ourselves in 1894 in Séville. While
traversing a short street in the centre of the city we were accosted by
a woman, who said " Si el señor no quiere mugeres hay niños muy pc-
queños y el señor puede tomarlos por el culo. " The utter depravity of
other cities like Berlin, Marseilles and Naples is notorious.
152 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

French. It was the vanquished people who corrupted


the European, and he was aided in that by the almost
complete want of the European feminine element, at
the beginning of the colonization.
1
Moral Causes ofthe Sodomy ofthe Europeans. ¹
The real causes of the propagation of the vice of
sodomy, in the European colony, are these. In the
first place, the almost complete absence of the white
woman. Obliged to take to the disgusting Congai ,
whose black mouth, with its red spittle, was enough
to damp the warmest genital ardour, some preferred
the mouth sucking used by these women ; others, more
depraved, took the road to Sodom . Others again,
more depraved still (or perhaps from hereditary char-
acter) addressed themselves to the nays and boys, who
offered themselves in shoals. This last category was
much the smallest, I hasten to acknowledge.
All gave, as the reason for their vicious habits, the
absolute want of security, and the great danger of
catching syphilis from the Congai. A great change
has taken place since then, and before describing the
life which the European now leads in Cochin - China ,
let us cast a rapid glance at Saigon in the present day .

Saigon in the Present Day, more than thirty


Years after the Conquest . Nearly a quarter of a
century after my first stay in the Colony, I paid it a
second visit, on my return from Tonquin . I can thus
bear witness to the progress effected in thirty years.
Important changes in the appearance of Saigon had
taken place, to such a degree , indeed , that of all the
old houses and huts existing at my departure, I recog-
nized one only, that of the great merchant, Wang-taï.
See the Excursus at the end of this chapter.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 153

transformed into the office of the " Contributions indi-


rectes. " A magnificent Government House, a superb
Cathedral, a brand new Post and Telegraph Office,
Treasury, fine Law Courts , Government Offices, the resi-
dence of the Commandant, enormous barracks provided
with all necessary comforts, all had sprung out ofthe
ground as though by enchantment, with the help of
the Chinese labourer. The town had doubled in size ,
and instead of small low narrow houses with tile roofs
and no ceilings, where the officers and officials for-
merly lodged, there are now fine houses of several
storeys, with verandas all round .
Instead of a few rare Malabar cabmen , never to be
found on the days when they were most needed , there
were hundreds and hundreds of carriages of all sorts ,
from the regular old cab, formerly driven by a Ma-
labar (whence its name) to the calash with two horses,
or the zidore, an open carriage with one horse . These
could be hired for fourpence a journey , or eightpence
an hour, with no pourboire for the driver, -- an improve-
ment worth noting. For half a piaster ( 1s. 8d. ), you
could make a tour of inspection at five or six o'clock
in the evening, or at night after dinner, when the
temperature is heavy and oppressive. In the middle
of the Promenade is the Café Pré-Catalan , where you
can take your bitters before dinner, or your beer after-
wards. If you feel so inclined , there is an excellent
restaurant, with private rooms on the first floor, where
you can enjoy a good supper in good company. And
the feminine element will not be wanting at the supper
as it was in the old days.

Increase of the Feminine Element in Cochin-


China. The number of European women has in-
154 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

creased enormously. Many of the officials who at the


beginning of the occupation were bachelors , married
during one of their visits to France, and brought out
their wives and families. The officers of the various
corps connected with the Navy, also obtained permis-
sion to bring out their wives.
Each family has its horses and carriages. The
expense of purchasing these is from 300 to 400 piasters ,
with a cost of twelve to fifteen piasters a month for
the keep ofthe horses, and the wages of the coachman.
On leaving, you can sell the whole turn-out (except
the coachman) , at a loss of about forty to fifty per
cent, after you have used it for three or four years.
It will be seen that the cost is a mere trifle .
The French shopkeeper, who used to keep a bazaar,
has disappeared, and been replaced by a Chinaman ,
who sells the same articles much cheaper, for he imports
them direct from France . But new shops of all sorts
haye arisen , florists, milliners, dressmakers, booksellers ,
jewellers, etc.; there are some of all sorts , not forget-
ting pork-butchers. Instead of the common eating-house,
kept by a kind of cosmopolitan , whose cooking burned
your palate, there are now many fine restaurants and
hotels. It will be seen that the Colony is flourishing.

The Present Life of the European. After his


daily work is over, if the European wishes to amuse
himself in the evening the means are not wanting.
In the first place there are plenty of European
families, who receive their friends, and offer them tea.
When the Government ball takes place, there are some
hundred of ladies in the immense ball-room , and danc-
ing is carried on from ten at night till six in the
morning in spite of the torrid heat,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 155

A small and pretty French theatre, in which the


heat is less felt than it is in some of the large theatres
of Paris, has been built in the middle of the Rue
Catenat. During the season, which lasts six months
(from October to March), there are four performances
a week, and the prices of admission are very moderate.
The Colony pays a subvention of £4000 a year to
the theatre , which enables the manager to engage
good artistes for every sort of entertainment, from
farce to grand opera. We have heard William Tell
given. The female members of the company are
numerous, and well-trained , and include , besides the
leading actresses, chorus ladies, and even a corps de
ballet. All these ladies like to pass an evening at the
Pré-Catalan, and a few glasses of iced champagne will
not frighten them.
There are besides, numerous cafés and beer-houses,
generally kept by women, or girls , who are not inclined
to be too prudish . This is very different from the
days when there was only one French Café, -la Rotonde,
usually called the Trois Tétons, -kept by two women
whose beauty was on the wane.
During the six months of the year when the theatre
is closed, an orchestra of female musicians from Austria,
plays in an immense hall constructed of bamboo, and
filled with plants and flowers, and through which the
air circulates freely. These concerts are frequented
by all the European society.

The European Prostitute . In the daytime, you


may see on the promenade of the Tour d'Inspection ,
many handsomely appointed victorias, with coachmen
and sais dressed in showy liveries . On the cushions
of each carriage recline one or two ladies , bepowdered
156 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

and berouged, and dressed in the latest fashion . They


are the " old guard " of Saigon, taking a drive . In
the evening, these demi-mondaines have their box at
the theatre , or their seats at the music-hall, and are
surrounded by a circle of admirers. We are no longer
in 186- , when the two first European prostitutes were
raffled for. A score or so of years has sufficed to
radically alter the Colony, and, as we shall see, has
caused an immense improvement in morals .

Great Improvement in the Morality of the


Europeans in Cochin- China. This fact struck me
as soon as I returned . In former days, the European
sodomite had been far from a rarity ; many persons,
some of them of high rank, had this unfortunate
reputation. They were not despised, or thought the
worse of on that account. They were merely 66 chaffed "
In the cafés, the most smutty stories were told, and
laughed at.
Those who evinced a taste for male prostitution,
used to meet together, and pass the evening with their
associates ; opium was smoked , and there were always
boys hanging round the doors , waiting for customers.
Within less than a quarter of a century, a radical
change has been effected , and this change is undeni-
ably due to the introduction of the European woman,
and a similar increase in the number of Chinese and
Japanese prostitutes.
The number of Europeans addicted to the habit of
opium smoking has also greatly diminished. They
may now be counted. They have Annamite mistresses
skilled in preparing the opium pipe ; in the Army, the
officer who was also an opium smoker -frequent enough.
thirty years ago - has completely disappeared .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 157

As to the European sodomite , hardly more than the


memory of him may be said to exist. Those who still
preserve this reputation are old merchants, and officials
dating back to the old régime. They are regarded
as curiosities by the new-comers . That amongst these
last, there may be some who have a weakness for
“ Greek love ” , is possible, for the vice exist even in
Europe, but they form an infinitesimally small minority,
and so far from boasting of their vice, sedulously con-
ceal it. They require secrecy, and in order not to arouse
suspicion, dare not even introduce the nay or the boy
into their houses by night. " Other times " have pro-
duced " other manners"

The Diminution in the Male and Female Pros-


titution of the Natives more Apparent than Real.
It must be owned, that the police of the Colony has
made the most praiseworthy efforts to rid Saigon of
the plague of sodomite nays and boys. Permission to
reside in Saigon is only given to Annamites working
for some European, and each person having such per-
mission must possess a card, bearing his description
and his photograph . Any native who is met with,
who does not possess such a card, and who has no
trade by which he gains his living, is arrested ; if the
medical examination shows that he is a sodomite, he
is sent to the Penitentiary at Poulo Condore .
Unfortunately, the police regulation obliging the Chi-
naman or the Annamite to carry a lighted lantern
after nightfall, and forbidding him to be found in the
street after midnight, has been withdrawn . It was
withdrawn at the request of the native members ofthe
Municipal Council , who asserted it was an infringement
of personal liberty. The may also has no longer a
N
158 UNTRODDE FIELDS OF

basket. He sells flowers , which are now extensively


cultivated in the neighbourhood of Saigon . The nay
is now found, in small bands, at the doors of cafés ,
restaurants , etc. He is no longer alone, as he used
to be, but is accompanied by a little girl, who passes
She generally carries a bundle of rose-
for his sister.
buds, which she offers to you with a most engaging
smile. You have only to accept them, give her a few
halfpence , and at the same time show her one or two
piasters . That is quite enough.

How the Business is now managed. The follow-


ing information I derived from one of my countrymen ,
whom I had known in 186— , and whom I found on
returning again . He had (for he is now dead) a great
liking for virgins, -- a propensity which was well-known
throughout the town. This is how soliciting is now
done, under the noses of the European policemen, the
only ones who can be trusted to look after morals.
" The boy slips away, and the little girl remains
within a few paces of you , without losing sight of you.
When you leave, she walks in front of you, and you
follow her, for she will conduct you into a quiet side-
street where you will find a closed cab , the driver of
which is always an Annamite. The nay is near by,
and on the look-out for the police. You enter the cab
with the little girl. The little boy sits on the box, by
the side of the driver. A drive of an hour will cost
you a piaster for the little wretches, and half a piaster
for the driver. Of course , you are driven outside Saigon,
generally to the Botanical Gardens which are open night
and day, and the cab will take you back to your house,
if the drive has fatigued you.
If you want a whole night with the damsel, the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 159

driver will conduct you, if you ask him , to a hut in


one of the suberban villages. These villages are not
" in the district " of the European police, and are only
looked after by the rural police of the commune, so
the proprietors of these hospitable hovels are never
disturbed. You will find a table laid, and provisions
at reasonable prices, and you can be served with
coffee, tea, or opium, with all the required apparatus
for smoking. But take care of your purse, for you
will be lucky if you find it in your pocket when you
wake up the next morning.

The Boy of the Present Day. The boy's morals


have not changed , but the fear of the police has led
him to take some extra precautions. He no longer
runs the risk of prowling about the streets of Saigon,
but has retired to the villages, and established the
centre of his operations in those hospitable cottages
of which I have just spoken, and also in the clandes-
tine gambling dens, which, having been hunted down
by the European police, have now deserted Saigon.
It is in these places that the few remaining admirers
of depraved practices must seek him. They need only
take the trouble to drive out to these villages, and
they need be under no apprehensions that the villagers
will pay any attention to the comings and goings of
a few debauchees. The moment that you open your
purse-strings, the Annamite will be ready to display
unlimited indulgence to other people's vices. In this
respect his notions of liberty are wide.

The Native Collegian. I will conclude by noticing


66
one more category of young amateurs", who were
almost unknown in old Cochin-China. These are the
160 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

pupils of the large French College of Saigon, and the


French schools of the interior.
In the time of the mandarins, young men, who
received an education above the average, might com-
pete in the public examinations, and if they passed,
obtain employment as " men of letters ". Nowadays,
when they have been taught the elements of primary
when they know how to speak French
instruction,
passably, and can write, somehow or other, French
and Annamite in coggnu (phonetic characters)-— when
they are acquainted with the four rules of arithmetic ,
and a smattering of history and geography , —they
are turned out at seventeen or eighteen years of age,
but not even the most unimportant place is offered
them . The most intelligent become interpreters in the
law-courts. The others , --like Jérôme Paturot, -wander
about the streets, looking for a place of some kind .
They must live somehow. In the evening, like Dio-
genes, but without his lantern , they seek for a man.
The absence of the lantern, and the change in costume,
are the only differences between them and the boy of
old days ; they are just as much wanting in moral
sense, and capable of the same turpitude .
They wander about the quarters in which the native
houses of prostitution are situated , ready to serve as
guides, interpreters, assistants, and, if need be, associ-
ates. They extol the qualities of the merchandise , and ,
for a fair and moderate price, will acquaint the women
with your habits and customs.
Woe betide the European green-horn who is caught
in their snares ! He will be bombarded with letters
demanding employment, and if they gain admittance
into your house in any capacity - as secretary, clerk,
amanuensis, or what not- you will soon be inevitably
ANTHROPOLOGY. 161

robbed. In whatever hiding-place you conceal the


key of your cash-box , they will be sure to find it.
If you carry it about you, take care not to forget and
leave it in your clothes. Your boy, too, will act as
accomplice to the thief. When he has robbed you ,
he will not run away, he is not such a fool. But
if you threaten to give him in charge, he will reply
that he also will prefer a complaint against you, for
you " abused his virtue " . The most simple method of
avoiding a scandal, -which would not bring back the
stolen money, -is to say nothing, and turn the thief
out of your house, for if you act otherwise, he will
not fail to bring a shameful charge against you ; and
when the case is heard, an Annamite lawyer (there
are some who have taken their diploma in France)
will be ready to abuse you in the heartiest manner. ¹

EXCURSUS TO CHAPTER IX.

Homosexuality among Tramps in America.


There is much to be said on this subject. Every hobo
(genuine tramp) in the United-States knows what
“ unnatural intercourse means, and about every tenth
man practises it, and defends his conduct. Boys are
' Strangers arriving in Tangiers are assailed, before they have had
time to disembark, by the importunities of hotel touts, who at the same
29
time proffer their services as interpreters and " guides to anywhere and
anything. If the unwary accept these offers, they will be led in the
evening to some unwholesome den to see the danse du ventre, vilely
executed, and woe betide the unhappy man who is enticed to ascend to
the upper regions, where he is almost sure to get a splendid dose of
syphilis besides being mulcted of dollars right and left by guide & Co.,
all combined for the same nefarious purpose.
The writer has seen the above-mentioned dance far better and more
lasciviously performed for two sous in a booth on the Place de la Répu-
blique in Paris .
162 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

the victims of this passion . The tramps gain possession


of these boys in various ways. A common method
is to stop for awhile in some town, and gain acquaint-
ance with the slum children. They tell these children
all sorts of stories of " life on the road ", how they can
ride on the railways for nothing, shoot Indians , etc. ,
and they choose some boy who specially pleases them.
By smiles and flattering caresses they let him know
that the stories are meant for him alone, and before
long, if the boy is a suitable subject, he smiles back
just as slily. In time he learns to think that he is
the favourite of the tramp, who will take him on his
travels, and he begins to plan secret meetings with
the man. The tramp, of course, continues to excite
his imagination with stories and caresses, and some
fine night there is a boy less in the town. On the
road the lad is called a " prushun " , and his protector
a " jocker " The majority of " prushuns " are between
ten and fifteen years of age , but I have known some
under ten and a few over fifteen. Each is compelled by
hobo-law to let his jocker do with him as he will,
and many, I fear, learn to enjoy his treatment of them.
They are also expected to beg in every town they
come to, any laziness on their part receiving very
severe punishment.
How the act of unnatural intercourse takes place is
not clear. From what I have personally observed I
should say that it is usually what they call " leg
work " (intercrural), but sometimes immissio penis in
anum , the boy in either case lying on his stomach .
I have heard terrible stories of the physical results to
the boy of anal intercourse .
One evening, near Cumberland , Pennsylvania, I was
an unwilling witness of one of the worst scenes that
ANTHROPOLOGY. 163

can be imagined. In company with eight hoboes, I


was in a freight-car attached to a slowly moving
train. A coloured boy succeeded in scrambling into
the car, and when the train was well under way, he
was tripped up and " seduced " (to use the hobo
euphemism) by each of the tramps. He made almost
no resistance, and joked and laughed about the busi-
ness as if he had expected it . This indeed appears to
be the general feeling among the boys when they
have been thoroughly initiated. At first they do not
submit, and are inclined to run away or fight. Even
little fellows under ten have told me this and I have
known them to wilfully tempt their jockers to intercourse.
CHAPTER X.

My visit to Tonquin.-Anthropological characteristics of the


Tonquinese race. - The Muongs, and the Xas, or Quans.-- The
Chinese, and the Tonquinese- Chinese half-breeds. - A few words
concerning the importance of the Chinese element in Tonquin.--
Chinese piracy.-Manners, habits, customs, religion, etc., of the
Tonquinese.- Moral characteristics, and forms and perversions of
carnal lusts.- The European Colony, and its morality.

My Visit to Tonquin. I lived a little less than two


years in Tonquin, a good long time after my return
from Cochin-China . I was able, however, owing to
the experience acquired in the last mentioned Colony,
to turn my short visit to good account.

Anthropological Characteristics ofthe Tonquin-


ese. The Tonquinese ascended from Central Annam
towards the North, as the Cochin-Chinese descended
from the same place to Cochin-China. They con-
quered, and drove back into the mountains, the native
races of the Muongs, Xas, or Quans. At the time
when we came to Tonquin , the Chinese had also come
down from the North to conquer the land in their turn .
It would therefore be but natural that we should
find almost the same anthropological characteristics in
two peoples of the same race, who differ from one
another as little as a Languedocean does from a native
of Avignon , or a Provençal.
161
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 165

The observations I made in Tonquin did but con-


firm those I had previously made in Cochin-China, so
that I shall note here only the differences, where they
occurred . Moreover, I found at Tonquin, a number of
old military Inspectors from Cochin-China, who declared
that the Tonquinese showed the same moral qualities ,
and had the same customs, habits, etc. , as the Cochin-
Chinese. They are, besides , ruled by the same central
Government of Hué, and use the same code of laws--
the Gia-Long .
The Tonquinese is bigger, more robust, and better
proportioned than the Cochin-Chinese ; he is also much
taller.
This is due to the influence of a climate in which
the temperature descends below 68 ° F. in winter, and
is only 75 ° F. in spring, whereas at Saigon the average
temperature of those two seasons in 801° F. , or only
31° below the average of the summer. The head of
the Tonquinese is not so big, and the face less prog-
nathous. The forehead is low, the limbs still slender,
but the chest is more developed . The skin is a trifle
whiter, but the mucous surfaces are absolutely of the
same colour. The genital organs of both sexes are
perhaps a little more developed, but their comforma-
tion is the same. In short it may be said that the
Tonquinese is the elder brother of the Southern Annam-
ite, but simply a little more robust, The Tonquinese
woman is prettier than the woman of Lower Cochin-
China, and you do not meet with pot-bellied children ,
as you do at Saigon. The race is incontestably finer.

The Muongs. The Muongs appear to represent the


autochthonous race. Their anthropological characteris-
tics are those of the Moys of Cochin-China , but they
166 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

are stronger, and more intelligent, and although they


have been driven back to the woods and the moun-
tains, their number, which is nearly four hundred thou-
sand, enables them to resist with more success the Giao-
Chi. I have met some specimens of the race, in the
neighbourhood of Ninh-binh ; they are civilized , and
divided into tribes under patriarchs, like the tribes of
ancient Israel. On the upper waters of Red River, the
Muong is more savage, and more resembles his degraded
brother, the Moy of Cochin-China . The Muong lives
by hunting, rearing cattle, and working in the forests.
He is brave, and uses, both in the chase and war,
small poisoned arrows, shot out of a short cross-bow ,
which, however, has a good range ; with this weapon .
they defended themselves against the matchlocks and
flint guns of the Annamites. These last, finding they
could not exterminate their enemies, brought them into
subjection, and make them pay tribute. According to
the traveller, Villeroi d'Auges, the Muongs have sin-
gular funeral customs ; they enclose the body in a trunk
of a tree, and place it in the hut ofthe nearest relative
of the deceased, before confiding it to the earth .
The Moys and Muongs, being branches of the same
race, and closely related, I refer the reader to what I
have said regarding the characteristics, manners, etc. ,
of the former.

The Xas, or Quans. These are savages, whose


ancestors descended from the high lands of Laos, and
who inhabit the mountainous district to the north of
Tonquin. They talk a peculiar language, and they wear
cotton drawers , a shawl of bright colours, and a kind
of cap on the head. I possess very little information
about this race, and I have never seen a specimen .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 167

The Chinaman, and the Chinese Half-breed at


Tonquin. The Chinese of Tonquin are identically the
same as those who have emigrated to Cochin-China,
but they are much more numerous, and in the regions
of Cao-bang, Lang-son, and Lao-kay form the majority.
The Chinaman often marries a native woman, and
compels his companion to adopt his religion , his man-
ners and customs, and even eat the same food, and
wear the same clothes, as the children of the Celestial
Empire. Half-breeds are met with in the coast-pro-
vinces, and I saw a good many at Hanoi. They are
quite as intelligent as the Minhuongs of Cho-lon, but
taller and more vigorous. The children of the Chinese
follow their father's example and despise their com-
patriots, and even their mothers.
Before the arrival of the French, the Celestials had
already invaded the land, and were slowly but surely
transforming it into a conquered country. They had ,
undeniably, all the trade, and their language was
driving out the native tongue. The French arrested
this progress, and thus came into rivalry with a nation
of three or four hundred millions of inhabitants . Time
alone will show whether France has not been im-
prudent, in extending her conquests to the frontiers of
China.

Chinese Piracy. The Chinese have always con-


sidered the Tonquinese as beings of an inferior race,
only fit to be taxed and worked without mercy. The
method of conquest of this old civilized nation - perhaps
the oldst civilized nation in the world- has never
changed, and still consists of the pillage, ruin, and
devastation of the conquered country, -a method iden-
tical with that of the Romans, in regard to the peoples
168 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of Western Asia (Persia, Assyria, etc.) before the


Christian era, and of the Europeans before the mod-
ern era.
Chinese pirates infest the Gulf of Tonquin , the coast
of Hainam , the mouths of the Delta, and the islands of
the coast. The bars, placed by the natives at the
mouths of the rivers, have never been able to stop the
Chinese junks. These pirates act much the same as
the old Normans, who used to disembark, attack the
villages and unprotected towns , massacre all those who
resisted, and re-embark, carrying away with them all
the marriageable girls and the young men. The French
occupation has put some restraint upon these depreda-
tions, but not stopped them altogether.

' Those people who may imagine that piracy on the high seas is a
thing of the past, will read the following cutting from the " Daily Tele-
graph" of August 10th ( 1897 ) with some astonishment.

PIRACY IN THE EAST INDIES: ATTACK ON


A BRITISH STEAMER .

LLOYD'S agents at Benang, under date of 14th ult., report as follows :


“ The British steamer Pegu, owned in Penang, left this port on 7th ,
bound for Edie and the usual ports up to Olehleh. At Edie she took
on board, as passengers, a party of some ten Achinese, and one woman.
The men, as is customary on that coast, were searched for arms, but
none were found, and it is supposed these were all concealed on the
woman's person. At about seven p.m. on the 9th, when the master,
Captain Henry Ross, and the chief engineer, Craigię, were at dinner in
the saloon, they were set upon, without warning, by these men. The
engineer, though wounded by stabs about the body and arms, managed
to escape, and barricaded himself in the engine-room. Captain Ross also
escaped from the saloon, but in trying to gain the bridge , was overtaken,
stabbed fatally, and disembowelled.
"The Achinese then turned their attention to the rest of the crew,
killed the mate and steersman on the bridge, and five of the passengers,
all natives, while five other passengers jumped overboard, and were
drowned. In addition to these, fourteen others of the crew and
ANTHROPOLOGY. 169

On land, the pirates infest the North and North


West provinces, which they have rendered almost a
desert . The Black Flags, under their old chief Luu-
Vinh-Phuoc, have established themselves along the
frontiers of China, and carry off the daughters of the
luckless mountaineers, and sell them at Lao-Kay, to
Chinese, who come specially from the North on purpose
to buy them. The boys are either enrolled in the
pirate bands, or held as hostages .

Manners, Customs, and Religion of the Ton-


quinese. There is very little difference between the
Tonquinese, and the Annamites of Cochin-China. The
Tonquinese are laborious, and you meet few poor
wretches who spend their lives in begging. They are
essentially labourers, though some exercise certain
industrial professions, and are fishermen, brickmakers
potters, etc. The women work a great deal, and, in
the country, even cultivate the rice fields along with
the men. In the towns they carry on business, and
keep shops.
The costume is almost the same as in Cochin-China ,
except the shoes and sandals of plaited straw, worn
in the winter. The women's dress is a little longer,
and they tie a kekouan (a bright coloured scarf) round
the waist, and round the neck.
The huts of the Tonquinese are analogous to those
of the Annamites, and their food is the same, and
quite as much salted and spiced . Chinese tea is only

passengers were more or less severely wounded. Having gained pos-


session of the ship in this way, they proceeded to plunder the strong
room, securing about $ 15,000 in coin, with which they made good their
escape in the ship's boats, landing on the Achin coast near Simpang
Olim.
170 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

drunk on feast days, on ordinary occasions a decoction


of the native tea, called Hué tea, is used.
The religions are the same in Tonquin as in Annam
and Lower Cochin- China ; the religion of Confucius,
for the educated classes ; an altered form of Buddhism ,
superstitions,and belief in sorcery, for the people.
The ceremonies of marriage and burial do not present
any essential difference .

Moral Characteristics of the Tonquinese . The


moral characteristics of this race greatly resemble
those of the Southern Annamite, but this last enjoys
some tranquillity under the French ale which has
relieved him of the despotism of the Mandarins, whilst
the unfortunate Tonquinese has to serve three masters,
the old Mandarin , who, being still all powerful, con-
tinues his exactions ; the French protectorate which
defends him as well as it can from the Mandarin and
Chinese pirate ; and lastly the pirates, who rob him
and hold him to ransom . France makes him pay a
subsidy, the Mandarin keeps up the Ka-doui, which
still flourishes in Tonquin, and the Chinese pirate puts
the finishing touch, by burning down his house, and
cutting off his head, if he shows the least resistance .
The Tonquinese peasant therefore, is gentle, timid,
and fearful . He only asks to be left in peace to till
his rice field, and earn his daily bread thereby. Being
almost without defensive arms, it is impossible for him
to defend himself against the incursions of the pirates ,
and the Chinese regular troops disguised as pirates,
and armed with breech-loading rifles. His fate is worthy
of interest and pity.

Forms and Perversions of Carnal Passions in


ANTHROPOLOGY. 171

Tonquin. I can but repeat here what I have already


said concerning the Southern Annamite , the race
being the same, and Chinese civilization having pro-
duced the same effects in Tonquin as in Lower Cochin-
China.
No appreciable difference is to be found in the
forms , or perversions, of sexual intercourse. The nay
and boy flourish at Hanoi and Hai-phong, as they do
at Saigon and are as impudent and depraved , and as
great gamblers and thieves. The daylight whore, and
the prostitute of the Tonquinese bamboo, practise the
same methods, as in Cochin-China.
The Tonquinese are as passionately fond of gambling
and opium as their congeners of the South, and are
addicted to all the forms of debauchery connected
with those habits.
Lasciviousness, gambling, pederasty, and sodomy,
are innate in the race. Having definitely stated this
fact, let us pass on to another subject.

The European Colony in Tonquin. The number


of vicious Europeans addicted to the vice of sodomy,
and the passion for opium, was sensibly less than
when Cochin-China was first colonized. This is due
to the more rapid progress in colonization in Tonquin,
which, in less than ten years, had made as much
progress as the elder colony did in twenty-five. Many
have come here from the other colony, to say nothing
of the English and Americans, who have been at-
tracted by the mines of coal and various metals which
do not exist in Cochin-China.
White women were implanted at Tonquin very

quickly, the climate being decidedly superior to that


of Cochin-China, the cool temperature of the winter
172 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

correcting the anæmic effects of the intense heat of


the summer.
Owing to all these causes, sodomy and pederasty
have not had time to take very deep root in the
European colony, and the number of worshippers of
the anal Venus has been greatly reduced, and will be
more so in the future.
What I wish chiefly to note here, is the radical
difference between the pederasty of the Annamite of
the North or the South , and also of the Chinese, and
that of the European . It is a general characteristic
of the Asiatics, who are lewd, and devoid of moral
restraint, whilst on the contrary, in the European races
it is of an esoteric character, peculiar to certain indi-
viduals, mere erotic idiots, whom the bulk of their
fellows have always scorned and loathed as they
deserve.
CHAPTER XI.

My sojourn in Cambodia.- Anthropological characteristics ofthe


Cambodian. --- The organs of generation of the Cambodians. --
Foreign races inhabiting Cambodia. - Malays and Chams.--
Chinese.- Portuguese. —Annamites. - Social condition of Cam-
bodia. - Decline of the country and of the Kmer race. - Royal
prerogatives before the French Protectorate. - The Abbaioureach,
and the Abbareach.— The five Ministers. - The Mandarin class.-
The oath of the Mandarins. - The middle-classes. - Free men.—
Slavery.-Habitations.— Costume. - Food - Moral characteristics
of the Cambodian.- Curious customs attending the castration of
animals.-Bravery of the Cambodian.- Hunting the elephant
and rhinoceros. - Religion.- The Bonze and the Kmer Pope.—
The Somdach-Prea- Sam- Creach . - The idle life of the Bonzes.-
The white elephant of Noro-dom. - Cambodian Creeds.- Religious
festivals. -Family festivals. -Superstitions. - The Feast of the
Dead. The Festivals of Catsac and the Blessing ofthe Waters.
-Human sacrifices.- Cambodian legislation andjustice.- Causes
of the decadence of the Kmer race.- The vulgar tongue and the
sacred language.

My Sojourn in Cambodia. I lived several months


in Cambodia in 1866 , during the civil war caused by
the struggle between Noro-dom, the reigning king,
supported by the French, and his brother Pra-Keo-
Pha, his rival for the throne . In order not to exceed
the scope of this work, and swell the book immoder-
ately, I shall deal very briefly with all those manners,
173
174 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

customs, and habits, which do not directly concern


sexual intercourse.
Ciampa, the ancient Kingdom of the Kmers, was
formerly very powerful ; it comprised the whole of
Cochin-China, a part of the Empire of Annam, the
present Kingdom of Cambodia, and the provinces of
Baltambang and Angkor belonging to Siam. These
countries formerly possessed a high degree of civiliza-
tion, which is still shown by the magnificent monuments
and buildings, especially by the fine city of Angkor.
The present race of Cambodians , degenerate descend-
ants of the old Kmers, cannot decipher the characters
in the ancient language engraved on the monuments
of their ancestors .

Anthropological Characteristics of the Cam-


bodians. When one has daily been in the habit of
seeing the Annamites , you are astonished to find the
Cambodian so much bigger, for he is of the average
height of the European of the South. He is better
proportioned, and noticeably more robust than the
Annamite. His body is square, his shoulders large, his
muscular system is well developed, but, nevertheless ,
you never find the muscles at all salient. The skull
is long and oval ; the forehead flat or round, the eyelids
are not oblique, but the upper eyelid is always pulled
down at the corner of the eye ; the nose is not so
flat as that of the Annamite, and the nostrils less
gaping. The mouth is of an average size , the teeth
are lacquered, and spoiled by betel chewing. The
chin is round, and slopes back, the ears low, and
sticking out from the cheeks, but the cheek-bones are
not so high, and less projecting than in the Chinese.
and Annamite races. The hair is generally a dark
ANTHROPOLOGY. 175

chestnut, instead of being black as in the Annamite ,


and is not so stiff, but on the contrary sometimes flat,
sometimes slightly wavy. The hair of the Cambodian
is not luxuriant. The shoulders are horizontal and
large, the chest rounded , the pectoral muscles project-
ing, the arms strong. The hand and foot are very
big, with strong ankles and wrists, and the fingers
bony and long, which is not the case with the An-
namites and Chinese. The calves of the legs are well
placed, and well developed, and in this respect the
Cambodians are the best endowed of all the Indo-
Chinese peoples.
The skin is of a very pronounced dark yellow; in
those parts exposed to the sun, such as the face, back,
hands , and legs, the skin is darker. The general
colour of the skin very closely resembles that of the
Mulatto, and to an inexperienced observer, there is a
certain physical resemblance between a strong Cam-
bodian, and the offspring of the black and white races,
but an examination of the organs of generation would
show an essential, and characteristic, difference.
The two physicians from whom I have borrowed
the greater part of this description, have not examined
the genital organs ; my special studies have enabled
me to supply this deficiency.

1 The Organs of Generation of the Cambodian.


The organs of generation are much more developed
1 MAUREL describes them as follows :
" Their buttocks are largely developed ; the pubes but little prominent.
The Labia majora, thin or medium, and not much garnished with hairs.
The Labia minora are long or medium, and are recovered with a pigment
layer, if not uniform, at all events pretty generally distributed . The
Clitoris is of medium size, the vagina rosy, and the columns well
marked . The distance from the anus to the fork varies from oin. 78 to
176 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

in the Cambodian than in the Annamite. In shape


generally, and dimensions, there is less difference be-
tween a Frenchman and a Cambodian , than between
the last mentioned and an Annamite . Though the
skin of the body, the scrotum, and the yard, are
nearly of the same tint as in the Mulatto, the colour
of the mucous surfaces of the gland, and of the vulva
in the woman, are nearly those of the European, but
of a darker red, with a light tint approaching to
yellow, but brighter than the colour of the same parts
in the Annamite, which is more yellowish, and never
of a dirty, reddish brown , as in the mulatto . In the
child, the prepuce is normal, and in the man, few
cases of phimosis occur. The pubes, in both sexes,
is rather scantily covered with hair of a dark chestnut,
and slightly curled . The Cambodian woman plucks
the hair out of the pubes. Her genital organs are
better developed than those of the Annamite woman .
In their general appearance , and in the oblique position
of the vagina, the Cambodian woman approaches nearer
to the Frenchwoman than the Annamite. The Cam-
bodian woman does not suffer, like the last named,
from that distressing complaint, the flowers . The cli-
toris I found, in some cases, fairly well developed ,
and also the lesser lips, but generally speaking the
dimensions of these two parts are normal.
Syphilis is tolerably rare in Cambodia, although
there are some skin diseases . Longevity is not rare

I in. 18 ; and that of the neck of the vulva from oin. 98 to 1 in. 96 ;
that from the vaginal orifice to the anterior cul-de-sac from 1 in. 57 to
2 in. 35 , and to the posterior cul-de-sac from 2 in. 35 to 3 in. 144. "
Maurel. E. Mémoire sur l'Anthropologie des divers peuples vivant
actuellement au Cambodge. Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologic
de Paris. II série, t. IV, Fascicule IV. Paris 1893 , p. 528.
ANTHROPOLOGY, 177

amongst the Cambodians ; you meet many persons offrom


sixty to eighty years of age, and some even older .
In short, the Cambodian is physically superior to the
Annamite , to whom the chignon gives a womanish.
appearance, whilst the closely cut brush of hair of the
Cambodian gives him a more manly aspect.

Foreign Races inhabiting Cambodia. - The Anna-


mites. The Annamite, small and weak as he is,
is the conqueror, and the Cambodian, though big and
strong, the conquered . He has been slowly driven
back from the South to the North by the Annamites,
of whom there are nearly a hundred thousand in Cam-
bodia, and who continue gradually to effect the peace-
ful conquest of the country.

The Malays and Chams. The Malays occupy,


principally, the right bank of the Mékong. They much
resemble their congeners of Cochin-China. The Chams.
inhabit the old Ciampa . They are scattered to the
North and North West of our colony, towards Tay-
ninh. They are an agricultural and commercial people.
I have no particular information concerning them.

The Chinese. They come more especially from


1
According to Mondière (a) the Annamite woman in Cambodia has
her genital organs differently formed than the European woman. She
has not the wide opening nor the large curving, which in our women
results from the elongation of the perinæum ; all the parts lying between
the Os Pubis, the Os Ischiï and the Os Coccygis take the form of a
trapezoid. Neither the perinæum nor the exterior parts are arched ;
there exists a flattening of the large and small labia, and the mutterscheide
(vagina) appears to be very short so that the orifice of the uterus is
quite close to the entry of the vagina.
(a) Mondière-Monographie de la femme de Cochinchina- Mém, de
Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris, 1880, p . 250.
12
178 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Hainam and Fo Kien. They carry on all the chief


trade of Cambodia. The half-breeds, which result from
their marriages with native women , preserve a good
deal of the physical appearance of the Celestials, but
-inversely to what happens in Cochin-China and Ton-
quin, where they are real Chinese -they have adopted,
in Cambodia, the manners and creeds of the Kmers.
They are, however, more laborious than these latter,
and devote themselves to tilling the land, which they
prefer to trade.

The Portuguese. The Portuguese penetrated into


Cambodia at about the same time as they did into
Siam, where they established themselves in 1516. They
have left some descendants, bearers of a string of high
sounding names, but none of these descendants can
speak the Portuguese language. Physically and morally,
they are true Cambodians. The favourite counsellor
and factotum of King Noro-dom is a certain “ Da
Sonza Inigos, etc.", a descendant of a Portuguese .

Social Condition of Cambodia. -Decadence of


the Country and of the Kmers. When, in 1863 ,
the French first took Cambodia under their protection,
this unlucky country was being pressed by two power-
ful neighbours, Annam and Siam , who for two hundred
years had been disputing for portions of the land , and
wresting in turn from it its most fertile provinces.
The Cambodians of to-day are the last remnants of a
great people, the Kmers, with whom religion was all
powerful, and whose government was an absolute
monarchy .
The power of the Buddhist priests is equal to that
of the King, and they are almost absolutely inde-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 179

pendent. Next to them come the Mandarins , who do


no work and ruin the country by their exactions and
plundering. Under all these come the poor wretched
people, robbed, taxed, and over-worked. There is no
intermediate middle-class.

The Royal Prerogatives before the French Pro-


tectorate. The King exercised the most absolute and
unlimited power, he was sole governor and sole pro-
prietor of the Kingdom. He appointed all officers,
and his decrees were law ; he fixed the amount of
taxation, and had the power of life and death, the
right to pardon, and to revise judgments.
According to Aymonier, a former resident in Cam-
bodia, from whom I have taken many of these details ,
any Cambodian who thought that he had been denied
justice or fair play, could use the rong deyka, by
going to the palace at the time of the King's audience,
and having some blows struck on the tam-tam by an
official who was paid four ligatures (two-thirds of a
piaster) for each stroke. The King then sent to hear
the complaint. The sar tuhk cost nothing. It sufficed
for the complainant to prostrate himself before the King
as he was passing, and hold above his head a written
statement of his case, which the King then took .
The King is supposed to be of divine origin, and
adds to his name such high- sounding qualifications as,
" descendant of the Angels and of the God Vishnu ;
full of virtues as the Sun, precious as crystal, etc., etc. "
No one may speak to him unless prostrate on hands
and knees. No one may dare to wake him when he
is asleep, except one of his wives, who is permitted to
¹AYMONIER- Cochinchine- Excursions et reconnaissances, (No. 16,
Globus, 1885, vol. 48 , No. 7) .
180 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

lightly touch his foot. It is high treason to put a


hand on his sacred person : Moura, one of the resi
dents, relates concerning this, that in 1874 Noro-dom
was thrown violently out of his carriage, and lay
insensible on the ground . None of his Mandarins, or
servants, who were present -for the accident happened
in the court-yard of the palace, -dared to help him,
and it was some European, who chanced to be there,
who carried the wounded King into the palace. The
Queen of Spain, when the country was an absolute
monarchy, enjoyed the same privilege —if it be one.

The Abbaioureach and the Abbareach. By


these names are designated the king who has ab-
dicated, and the first " Prince ofthe Blood " , or Second
King, who will inherit the crown on the death of the
King. Next to him comes the prea voreachini, or
first " Princess of the Blood " Each ofthese members
of the royal family bears rule, by virtue of peculiar
laws and customs, over certain provinces, as appanages
of his or her rank, and governs them absolutely.

The Five Ministers. Five Ministers , -the chaufea,


or Prime Minister and President of the Council ; the
ioumreach, or Minister of Justice ; the beang, or Min-
ister of the Palace and of Finance ; the chakrcy, or
Minister of War, and the kralahom, or Minister ofthe
Navy, rank next below the princes of the royal family.

The Mandarin Class . Each minister has under


his orders a certain number of mandarins, who are
divided into separate corps.
The mandarins are much more numerous than is
needed for the administration of the country. They
ANTHROPOLOGY. 181

are insatiable, and ruin , or impoverish by their exac-


tions, the people, who are unable to resist.

The Oath of the Mandarins . Twice a year, the


mandarins come to Pnom Penh to drink the " water
of the oath " ; that is the form of the oath of fealty
to the King. On these occasions they receive presents.
Those who are absent get no gifts, and are, moreover,
fined.

The Middle Class. The middle class is only re-


presented by the Chinese and Malay merchants, who
enjoy certain privileges.

Free Men. This caste of the people has liberty,


-
and nothing else, when they are not obliged to sell
themselves to pay their debts. The people have hardly
any property, and have to support all the expenses
of the King. They are governed by the mandarins ,
against whom there is no redress . Men of the lower
class are thus obliged to choose a patron amongst the
mandarins of Pnom Penh. This custom, which is named
the Komlang, calls to mind the clans of Germany and
France in old times.
The more powerful the mandarin is, the more useful
does the Komlang become, for nothing is to be feared
from any mandarin less powerful than the one chosen
for patron. It is true that the Komlang comes expen-
sive, for a quarter of the taxes is claimed by the man-
darin, who also requires from his clients a whole host
of small services , and makes them escort him when-
ever he appears in public .

Slavery. Slavery exist in Cambodia. The supply


is kept up by man-hunting, which is still carried on
182 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

at Laos, and concerning which Dr. Harmand has given


some curious details . The Cambodians buy their slaves
from the Laotians.
Twins, children born deformed , hunchbacks, herma-
phrodites , etc. , are by law slaves of the King. The
children of slaves are themselves slaves, as in old Greece
and Rome. Creditors who are not paid become the
masters of their insolvent debtors. These latter may
be seized, along with their wives and children. They
can, it is true, repurchase their liberty, by paying the
debt and interest, or they may change their master, if
they can find a new master who will pay the debt to
the old one.
Also all criminals condemned for rebellion against
the royal power, or against the authority of the man-
darins, become slaves, as do also their families. The
master has full power over his slave, even that of cor-
poral punishment, and the law does not interfere, except
in cases of serious injury or death, caused by excessive
brutality. In the latter case the master may be con-
demned to death. There is a curious custom ; if a
master abuses his female slave , she recovers her liberty
and receives compensation , if she can prove her case.
In some respects this custom resembles the Mosaic law.

Habitations. The Cambodian huts, like those ofthe


Annamites, are thatched , and built on piles by the banks
of the rivers. On account of inundations, the basket-
work floor is made movable, and raised whenever the
river is in flood. The inhabitants of the same locality
mutually assist each other in case of fire, or against
thieves and pirates.

Costume . The Cambodian wears on the upper part


of his body a short strait vest with buttons, and covers
ANTHROPOLOGY. 183

the middle part of his body with a langouti, which


leaves the legs naked from the knee. The woman
wears a langouti like the man , but covers it with a
long robe, fastened in at the waist , and open at the
breast. She covers her breasts with a scarf of silk or
cotton, according to her means. The mandarins wear
silk robes, and their wives cover their busts by wrapping
round them a long silk scarf of some bright colour.
·
Instead of ear-rings, the Cambodian woman wears in
her ears small cylinders of ivory, or even wood. Whilst
she is a young girl, she wears her black , or dark
chestnut, hair long, but when once she is married , she
wears her hair like the man, cut short and stubby.
This custom, which is exactly the reverse of that of
the Annamites, with whom the chignon is common to
both sexes, gives the Cambodian woman , a harsh, unfem-
inine appearance.

Food. The food of the Cambodian is similar to


that of the Annamite. Rice, in place of bread, pork-
fresh, dry, or salted - vegetables and fruit, form his
chief nutriment ; his food is also strongly spiced.
Water, clarified with a little alum , forms the chief bever-
age. Tea is not in such general use as amongst the
people of the more southern country. A spirit made
from rice, called sra, is drunk, but much more moder-
ately in Cambodia than in Annam.
Opium is smoked by the rich. A mixture of Indian
hemp and tobacco, called Kanehka, which produces
an effect analogous to that of opium, is also used.

Moral Characteristics of the Cambodians. The


people are mild-tempered , indolent, and very fond of
amusement. They are passionately fond of boat races,
N
184 UNTRODDE FIELDS OF

which are often made the subject of heavy bets, games


of ball, bowls, and kite-flying ; they also make crickets
fight till they tear off each other's legs, or head ; they
bet upon these insects like the English used to do on
game cocks.

Strange Custom used when Animals are gelded .


When a Cambodian has a buffalo, or domestic ox ,
gelded , he makes the operation, says Pavie , the occa-
sion of a certain solemnity. The master informs the
animal of his intention in phrases something like this.
" It is not from any whim, or private pleasure of my
own, that you have to suffer this disagreable operation.
It was the custom of my ancestors, and you ought
not therefore to bear me any ill-will , either in this
life, or in any future life. "
Westmarck says :

" A like respect is testified for other dangerous


animals by the hunters who regularly trap and kill
them. When Kafir hunters arc in the act of shower-
ing spears on an elephant, they call out, " Don't kill
us, great captain ; don't strike or tread upon us, mighty
chief. " 1 When he is dead they make their excuses
to him, pretending that his death was a pure accident.
As a mark of respect they bury his trunk with much
solemn ceremony ; for they says that : " The elephant
is a great lord ; his trunk is his hand. " 2
Amongst some tribes of Eastern Africa, when a
lion is killed, the carcass is brought before the king,
1 Stephen Kay, Travels and Researches in Caffraria (London,
1833 ), p. 138 .
Alberti, De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika (Amsterdam
1810, p. 95 ) . Alberti's information is repeated by Lichtenstein (Reisen
im südlichen Afrika, i. 412) , and by Rose (Four years in Southern
Africa, p. 155 ). The burial of the trunk is also mentioned by Kay, 1. c.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 185

who does homage to it by prostrating himself on the


ground and rubbing his face on the muzzle of the
beast. 1 In some parts of Western Africa , if a negro
kills a leopard he is bound fast and brought before the
chiefs for having killed one of their peers. The man
defends himself on the plea that the leopard is chief
of the forest, and therefore a stranger. He is then set
at liberty and rewarded. But the dead leopard, adorned
with a chief's bonnet, is set up in the village, where
nightly dances are held in its honour. "
" Before leaving a temporary camp in the forest,
where they have killed a tapir and dried the meat on
a babracot, Indians (of Guiana) invariably destroy this
babracot, saying that should a tapir passing that way
find traces of the slaughter of one of his kind, he
would come by night on the next occasion when
Indians slept at that place, and, taking a man, would
babracot him in revenge.

Alaskan hunters preserve the bones of sables and


beavers out of reach of the dogs for a year and then
bury them carefully, " lest the spirits who look after
the beavers and sables should consider that they are
regarded with contempt, and hence no more should
be killed or trapped . " The Canadian Indians were
equally particular not to let their dogs gnaw the bones,
or at least certain of the bones, of beavers. They
took the greatest pains to collect and preserve these
bones and, when the beaver had been caught in a
net, they threw them into the river. To a Jesuit who
¹ Jerome Becker, La Vie en Afrique, (Paris and Brussels, 1887),
ii. 298 sq. 305.
⚫ Bastian, Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste. ii, 243 .
Im Thurn, Among the Indians of Guiana, p. 352.
W. Dall, Alaska and its Resources. p. 89.
186 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

argued that the beavers could not possibly know what


became of their bones, the Indians replied, " You know
nothing about catching beavers and yet you will be
talking about it. Before the beaver is stone dead, his
soul takes a turn in the hut of the man , who is kill-
ing him and makes a careful note of what is done
with his bones. If the bones are given to the dogs,
the other beavers would get word of it and would not
let themselves be caught. Whereas, if their bones
are thrown into the fire or a river, they are quite
satisfied ; and it is particularly gratifying to the net
which caught them." 1 Before hunting the beaver
they offered a solemn prayer to the Great Beaver, and
presented him with tobacco ; and when the chase was
over, an orator pronounced a funeral oration over the
dead beavers. He praised their spirit and wisdom .
" You will hear no more, " said he, " the voice of the
chieftains who commanded you and whom you chose
from among all the warrior beavers to give you laws.
Your language, which the medicine men understand
perfectly, will be heard no more at the bottom of the
lake. You will fight no more battles with the otters ,
your cruel foes. No, beavers ! But your skins shall
serve to buy arms ; we will carry your smoked hams
to your children ; we will keep the dogs from eating
your bones, which are so hard . 2

• Relations des Jésuites, 1634, p. 24, ed. 1858. Nets are regarded
by the Indians -as living creatures who not only think and feel but also
eat, speak, and marry wives. Lagard, Le Grand Voyage du Pays des
Hurons, p. 256. (p. 178 sq . of the Paris reprint, Librairie Tross, 1865).
S. Hearne, Journey to the Northern Ocean, p. 329 sq.; Relation des
Jesuites. 16, 36, p. 109 ; ib ; 1639 , p . 95 .
Charlevoix, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, p. 225 ; Chateaubriand,
Voyage en Amérique, p. 140, sq.
⚫ Chateaubriand, Voyaye en Amérique, pp. 175, 178. They will not
ANTHROPOLOGY. 187

Food is prepared, also a bottle of sra, a gourd, a


fine fat cock, and some pieces of the trunk of a banana
tree, to which are attached areca nuts and betel.
After an invocation to the prah pisnoukar, or Genius ,
of Industry and Commerce, the gelder performs the
operation, and receives as his reward the sra, the
cock , and the gourd.

Bravery of the Cambodians. The Cambodian is


courageous, and uses with effect the few worthless
guns, with no butts, which he possesses , and sticks
of hard wood, of from eight to ten feet in length,
which in his hands, become terrible weapons. He
does not fear death. With nothing but these primitive
arms he opposed, in 1866, our rifled guns, and in
1885-86, the Gras rifle of the French and Annamite
sharpshooters. If he has been conquered by the An-
namite it is because, -though more vigorous and quite
as brave as the latter, -the military organization is
not so perfect.

Hunting the Elephant and Rhinoceros. The


Cambodian hunters, armed with wretched flintlock, or
matchlock, guns, or even with nothing but sticks , hunt
the elephants, rhinoceroses , wild boars, and wild bulls,
which abound in the forests of Cambodia. Elephant
hunting is very dangerous work: the animal is shot
with a poisoned arrow fired out of a gun.
" To hunt the rhinoceros requires great courage,
says M. Moura, a former resident in Cambodia . " Four
or five skilful hunters meet together, armed with long
let the blood of beavers fall on the ground, or their luck in hunting
them would be gone.
Relations des Jésuites, 1633 p. 21. Compare the rule about not
allowing the blood of kings to fall on the ground , vol. i, p. 179 sq.
188 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

bamboos hardened in the fire. They discover the trail


of the rhinoceros, and when they perceive the animal,
advance towards it. When the rhinoceros sees the
hunters close to its lair, it charges open-mouthed, and
the men push the long bamboos, with which they are
armed, deep down its throat. Having done this the
hunters bolt, and climb up trees, and the wounded
animal soon falls exhausted from loss of blood. Then
the hunters come down , and finish it. ”
It must be acknowledged , that only men who are
really brave would dare to attack a rhinoceros with
no better weapons than bamboo sticks hardened in the
fire.

Religion. The religion of the Cambodians is Bud-


dhism , but disfigured by numerous superstitions foreign
to the doctrine of the founder, Cakya Mouui , and more
especially by the worship of ancestors a form common
to all the people of China, and Indo-China.
Mr. Edward Tylor, in his fascinating work devotes
many pages to this interesting subject. 1 The follow-
ing illustrates, in a special manner, the remarks we
have made, and although the passage is somewhat
long, we take leave to quote it, on account of its
importance :
" It is quite usual for savage tribes to live in
terror of the souls of the dead as harmful spirits .
Thus Australians have been known to consider the
ghosts of the unburied dead as becoming malignant
demons. New Zealanders have supposed the souls of
their dead to become so changed in nature as to be
1 Primitive Culture : Researches into the Development of Mythology,
Philosophy, Religion , Language, Art and Custom, by EDWARD TYLOR,
D.C.L., etc.; Reader in Anthropology in the University of Oxford
(2 vols- 3rd edit . London , 1891 ).
ANTHROPOLOGY. 189

malignant to their nearest and dearest friends in life ;


the Caribs said that, of man's various souls, some go
to the seashore and capsize boats, others to the forests
to be evil spirits : among the Sioux Indians the fear
of the ghost's vengeance has been found to act as a
check on murder ; of some tribes in Central Africa it
may be said that their main religious doctrine is the
belief in ghosts, and that the main characteristic of
these ghosts is to do harm to the living. The Pata-
gonians lived in terror of the souls of their wizards,
which become evil demons after death ; Turanian tribes
of North Asia fear their shamans even more when
dead than when alive, for they become a special class
of spirits who are the hurtfullest in all nature, and
who among the Mongols plague the living on purpose
to make them bring offerings. In China it is held
that the multitudes of wretched destitute spirits in the
world below, such as souls of lepers and beggars, can
sorely annoy the living ; therefore at certain times they
are to be appeased with offerings of food , scant and
beggarly ; and a man who feels unwell , or fears a
mishap in business, will prudently have some mock-
clothing and mock-money burnt for these ' gentlemen
of the lower regions '.
" Notions of this sort are widely prevalent in Indo-
China and India ; whole orders of demons there were
formerly human souls , especially of people left unburied
or slain by plague or violence, of bachelors or of
women who died in childbirth , and who henceforth
wreak their vengeance on the living. They may, how-
ever, be propitiated by temples and offerings , and thus
have become in fact a regular • class of local deities.
Among them may be counted the diabolic soul of a
certain wicked British officer, whom native worshippers
190 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

in the Tinnevelly district still propitiate by offering at


his grave the brandy and cheroots he loved in life.
" India even carries theory into practice by an actual
manufacture of demons, as witness the two following
accounts. A certain brahman , on whose lands a
kshatriya raja had built a house, ripped himself up in
revenge, and became a demon of the kind called
brahmadasyu, who has been ever since the terror of
the whole country, and is the most common village
deity in Kharakpur. Toward the close of the last
century there were two brahmans, out of whose house
a man had wrongfully, as they thought, taken forty
rupees ; whereupon one of the brahmans proceeded to
cut off his own mother's head, with the professed view,
entertained by both mother and son , that her spirit,
excited by the beating of a large drum during forty
days, might haunt, torment, and pursue to death the
taker of their money and those concerned with him.
Declaring with her last words that she would blast
the thief, the spiteful hag deliberately gave up her
life to take ghostly vengeance for those forty rupees.
By instances like these it appears that we may trace
up from the psychology of the lower races, the familiar
ancient and modern European tales of baleful ghost-
demons. The old fear even now continues to vouch
for the old belief.
" Happily for man's anticipation of death, and for the
treatment of the sick and aged , thoughts of horror
and hatred do not preponderate in ideas of deified
ancestors, who are regarded on the whole as kindly
patron spirits, at least to their own kinsfolk and
worshippers. "
Brahminism has also left many traces on the religion
of Cambodia.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 191

Sir John Bowring who was governor of Hong Kong


and personally visited Siam and the adjacent countries,
has some pertinent observations regarding the princi-
ples underlying the Religious practices of these peo-
ples : 1
" The Buddhist, whose contemplations lead their
thoughts into calculations of infinite ages , as connected
with the incarnations of the Divinity, have sought to
convey notions of eternity by images in which the
fancy is made the handmaid to speculations the most
adventurous. For example, they teach that, in order
to estimate the ages needful for all the transmigra-
tions which are preliminary to the creation of a Buddha,
you are to fancy a granite rock of enormous extent,
which is to be visited once in a hundred thousand years
by a celestial spirit clad in light muslin robes, which
should just touch the rock in flitting by ; and that
until by the touch of the garment, which must remove
an infinitesimal and invisible fragment of the stone,
the whole stone should be reduced in successive visit-
ations to the size of a grain of sand , the period of
transmigrations of a Buddha would not be completed .
Again, the priests say, so many must have been those
transmigrations, that there is no spot on earth or ocean
which you can touch with the point of a needle where
Buddha has not been buried in some form or other
during the incalculable period of his transitions from one
to another mode of existence . So, the descent into
one ofthe lesser hells of Buddhism is said to occupy three
thousand years, and the same period is required to

See " The Kingdom and People of Siam ; with a narrative of a


mission to that country in 1855 (2 vols) London, 1857. Sir John was
a clever linguist, and a man of wide and comprehensive study. It will
be remembered that he occupied the post of plenipotentiary in China.
192 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

mount again from its abyss, -this being the penalty


of a minor offence ; the greater crimes demand a pro-
portionate era for their purgation or punishment.
As regard the ultimate disposal of man after he has
passed through his various transmigrations, and reaches
a state of Nirvani (Pali) or Nishvan, there seems no
small variety of opinion as to what is to be understood
by that state of anticipated blessedness, which some
call annihilation or extinction , others repose, others
complacency, and some infinite felicity , be that felicity
what it may . But it is given to none to penetrate
into the darkness beyond the grave ; " it doth not yet
appear what we shall be ; " " eye hath not seen nor ear
heard" the pleasures in store for the virtuous : and if
we, to whom so much has been revealed, but from
whom so much more has been concealed , are but wan-
derers in mists and clouds when we follow the dead
into the regions unexplored , we ought not to wonder
that others less enlightened, less instructed , should be
more at a loss than ourselves.
To be entirely disconnected from the world is repre-
sented to be the most exalted stage of mortal virtue :
so, one of the highest acts of merit, and which more
than any advances the devotee towards final absorp-
tion (Nirvana), is the sale of all his property, and his
own person, and the dedication of the proceeds to acts
of charity. Several instances of such self- sacrifice are
recorded in the Pali writings.
In the teachings of ancient sages who have become
the honoured among nations, there will be found much
more of resemblance and affinity than would be anti-
cipated, from the exercise of independent thought ema-
nating from the minds of men placed in situations
extremely remote from and unlike one another. The
ANTHROPOLOGY . 193

Book of Job contains much of Platonic wisdom, and


the words of Confucius and Gaudama might well have
fallen from many a Western philosopher.
66
Attach not yourself, " says Gaudama, " to the pleas-
ures of this world ; they will fly from you in spite of
yourself. Nothing in the universe is really your own.
You cannot preserve it unchanged , for even its form
is perpetually varying. " " Be not the slave of love or
hatred, but learn insensibility to the vicissitudes of life ;
be indifferent to praise and blame, to rewards and
persecutions. Endure hunger and thirst, privations,
diseases, and even death, with the tranquillity of an
imperturbable spirit. "

The Bonze. ¹ The bonze is called the lord priest


(luc sang). Priesthood is rather a temporary function,
than, —as in the Indian priest —an ineradicable qualifi-
cation, for, in Cambodia, the bonze may quit the reli-
gious order at any time. A slave may even become
a bonze, and in that case he regains his liberty. The
vows taken by the bonze not being necessarily for life,
young mandarins who aspire to public offices, and even
the princes of the royal blood , pass a year in holy
orders. The somdach-Préa-sang- Creach, or head of the
religious orders, is a very high personage , and is equal
to the King, as the Pope is to European monarchs .
The bonzes are independent of the mandarins, and are
It may interest readers to learn that " bonze " is given in the 1897
edit. of Ogilvie's " Imperial Dictionary " as a corruption of the Japan-
ese word busso, u a pious man." It is European for a priest of the
religion of Fo or Buddha in Eastern Asia, particularly in China, Burmah,
Tonquin, Cochin- China and Japan. The state monastic of celibacy in
which they live approximates them to the monks of the Roman Catholic
Church. There are also female bonzes, whose position is analogous to
that of nuns in Europe.
13
194 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

only amenable to a Council of Discipline, consisting


of the King , the King who has abdicated, the " second
King " , and the Queen Mother. The composition of
this Council will suffice to show what a high position
the bonze holds in Cambodian society.
Notwithstanding all the precepts which are supposed
to be protective of personal purity, the paintings seen
in the Buddhist temples are often of a licentious and
libidinous character.
The persons and property of the priesthood are
removed from the general action of the law. There
is a sort of ecclesiastical court, presided over by a
bonze of high rank, in which the sacred code, written
in the Pali language, constitutes the rule of judgment,
in precisely the same way as the text of the Koran
becomes the paramount law in the Superior courts of
the Mussulmans. Within certain limits, a priest may
both inherit and bequeath property ; but its possession
does not emancipate him from those privations to
which he is condemned by his religious vows. In
case of intestacy, the property falls to the convent of
which the bonze was an inmate.
A priest is not allowed to take an oath . His affirm-
ative answer to a question is received when he raises
his fan ; his negative is conveyed by letting the fan drop.
As the priesthood, as an institution, is more dove-
tailed into the social system than in any part of the
world, no jealousy seems created by its laziness, no
resistance is exhibited to its claims. It is supported
by the spontaneous offerings of the whole people, in
whose minds merit and its recompenses are constantly
associated with reverence for the functions of the
servitors of Buddha, the depositaries of his will and
the expounders of his teachings. Among the priests
ANTHROPOLOGY. 195

will be found some subtle polemics, who are by no


means unwilling to enter the fields of controversy.
The Mohamedans aver that a few of the priesthood
have recognized the authority of the Prophet, but the
cases must be very rare.
The police to which the Phra are subjected is
superintended by one of the princes, who has a number
of commissaries, who are authorized to bring them up
for judgment. On the proof of their delinquencies ,
they are unfrocked , flogged with the rattan, or con-
demned to prison , or other penalties, according to the
gravity of their offences.

The Life of the Bonze. He perfoms no manual


labour, and, beyond attending the classes in Buddhist
theology, for the instruction of aspirants to religious
orders, does not do anything but collect alms. With
his head completely shaved , and clad in a costume of
yellow cotton ornamented with embroidery, this pious
do-nothing wanders through the villages and towns ,
from daybreak till noon, begging rice, fish, fruit, to-
bacco, and betel, all of which he jumbles together in
a sanctified tin saucepan , which he carries under his
arm . At eight o'clock, and at noon, he takes his
meals in the convents, but, if he observe the rules, he
ought to fast all the evening. They are but poorly
instructed ; they must mutually confess their sins to
each other once a fortnight.
The principal commandments they have to keep,
are, according to M. Moura : 1st, to kill nothing that
has life, not even lice or fleas ; 2nd, not to steal ; 3rd,
not to marry, or commit fornication ; 4th, not to tell
lies ; 5th, to fast after noon ; 6th, not to get drunk ;
7th, not to sing or dance ; 8th, to dress plainly ; 9th,
196 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

not to sit nor lie in any place that is high (sic) ; 10th ,
not to possess gold or silver.

Noro-dom's White Elephant. The Cambodian ,


like the Siamese, holds the white elephant in great
veneration. Former kings were obliged, as a mark
of their vassalage, to send to Siam all animals of this
description captured in Cambodia, but the French
protectorate put a stop to this custom. In 1867, I
saw at Pnom- Penh, a white elephant which belonged
to Noro-dom.
It will be remarked that the Kings of Cambodia,
like the old Hebrew Kings, though the absolute heads
of civil government, have no religious power, and are
confronted by a powerful theocracy .

Creeds and Beliefs in Cambodia. The Cambo-


dians attach great importance to the alms which they
give to the bonzes, and they also often undertake the
construction of a pagoda at their own expense. Acts
like these, they believe , receive their reward in a
future life, and hasten " the eternal annihilation ", or
Nirvana. They admit the immortality of the soul, and
metempsychosis is a belief sanctioned by their moral
law. There is a great difference between the Cam-
bodian, who is a pious believer, and the Annamite,
who is a doubter and a materialist. Like the Anna-
mite, however, the Cambodian believes in genii, devils
or demons, and ghosts. These last can be driven
away by the arac (the spirit of some old dead friend) ,
the protector of the family, who is worshipped as such ,
and to whose shade the flowers of the frangipanni are
offered . He is invoked through the agency of old
witches, who make incantations, and have prophetic
inspirations like the sibyl of Cumea.
ANTHROPOLOGY . 197

Religious Festivals are very numerous amongst


the Kmers. The principal is the Col Chnam, the first
day of the year, similar to the Annamite Tet, which
is celebrated, as in Annam , by sacrifices and public
rejoicings. The religious and believing Cambodian
also gives offerings to the bonzes. In families, the
children offer their parents the water of purification ,
as the Romans did, and slaves wash the bodies of
their master. There is a holiday , called the thngay-
sel, at each change of the moon ; those of the new
and full moon are the most solemn.
Fête days are celebrated by visits to the pagodas,
and offerings to the bonzes. As may be imagined
these latter do not let themselves be forgotten.
The bonzes celebrate with great pomp, in their
pagodas, the full moon in the month of May, the
anniversary of the death of Buddha. Families give
feasts on this occasion, and at these the bonzes occupy
the seats of honour.
In February also, the bonzes walk in procession through
a ceremony samewhat akin to the Catholic
the fields ,
“ rogations ” ,— and call down the blessings of heaven
on the fruits of the earth. The farmers and labourers
then provide copious repasts for the worthy bonzes.
The bonzes also keep, in the rainy season, a kind
of Lent, called Prasa, in memory of the day of rest
of Cakya Mouni, who devoted this season to giving
religious instruction to his disciples. In each pagoda,
a huge candle, called the Tien- Prasa, is kept constantly
burning, like the Easter candles in the Catholic churches.

Family Festivals. At the beginning of the Prasa,


every family offers a sacrifice to its ancestors, but in
this ceremony the bonzes do not participate . Besides
198 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

this worship of ancestors, the Kmers render homage


to the Neac-ta, which, like the genii of the Annam-
ites, are their household gods. These divinities are
entrusted by the god Indra (Prea la) with the care
of villages, houses, etc. Their aid is invoked in case
of epidemic diseases, and great public calamities .

Superstitions . I have already said that the Kmer


is very superstitious. Their doctors are crassly
ignorant of medical science, and, from that very fact,
each doctor is a sorcerer, and practises the counterpart
of those magical spells so well-known to our ancestors
in the Middle Ages . The doctor (cru) makes a clay
figure, and buries it in some distant spot. Then he
orders the demon, who is the cause of the disease,
to leave the body of the patient, and pass into the
clay figure. The screech-owl, and other night-birds,
are reputed to bring ill-luck. The credulous Kmer
has faith in talismans that are to render him invulner-
able to bullets, make an enemy's gun miss fire, or
drive away ghosts. There are even some charms which
were to make wings grow, and waft the happy pos-
sessor up to heaven. I was gravely assured , however,
that the art of weaving this particular spell had been
unhappily lost. But, as there can be concocted from
the tusks and whiskers of a tiger, a charm , which it
is asserted, for I have never tried it, -will act as a
deadly poison, it seems a pity that such a beneficent
invention as a talisman which would cause wings to
sprout, should not have been also preserved.
The Kmers also believe in auguries and dreams,
and even go to the cemeteries to sleep upon the graves
of dead friends, in the belief that their dreams will be
inspired by the spirits of the departed .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 199

The Festival of the Dead takes place on the last


day of the September moon, and is called the pchum
ben. Crowds of people assemble together in the pago-
das, and bring with them quantities of food of all sorts,
for the dead, who, on this day, have Buddha's permis-
sion to leave hell.
It may be remarked , that this belief in hell is com-
mon to Buddhism, and to many other religions which
have borrowed the same idea. According to M. Moura ,
from whom I have already quoted, the dead are , as
may indeed be supposed , invisible, and the festival
lasts three days. On the third day, the bonzes send
away the spirits of the departed, with these words :
" Depart to the land and to the fields where you reside ;
to the mountains, and beneath the stones which serve
you for houses. Go ! return ! In this month, in all
future years, your sons and grandsons will remember
you, and you will return to them. "

The Festivals of the Cat-sac, and the Blessing


of the Waters . The Kmers also keep two other
festivals, which are probably remnants of Brahminism :
first, the Cat-sac, when the top-knot of children of
from eleven to thirteen years of age is cut, when
family feasts are held, and the bonze is called upon
to give his blessing, and, second, the Blessing of the
Waters, the occasion of a long religious ceremony on
the part of the bonzes.
There is still in Cambodia a special caste, called
Bakou, who pretend to be descendants of the old
Brahmins, some of whose customs they still retain.
They enjoy the prerogative of guarding the royal
sword, wear their hair long, and are free from taxes,
and compulsory labour.
200 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Human Sacrifices. The terrible custom of offer-


ing to the divinity, as an expiatory sacrifice, human
beings , was continued almost until our own days.
Only criminals condemned to death are now sacrificed ;
they are executed under the protecting tree of the
province, so that the punishment of a malefactor becomes
a sacrifice to the tutelary genii . This custom is similar
to that of the ancient Gauls and Britons, who used to
put to death condemned criminals, when the Druids
ordered human sacrifices to be made ; but our ancestors
used to offer themselves voluntarily, if no criminals.
were forthcoming.

Cambodian Legislation and Justice. The Cam-


bodian code is very severe on unfortunate culprits ,
who are divided into five classes, according to the
importance of their crimes ; the first class comprises
treason against the State, or the King, or sacrilegious
offences concerning the bonzes, or the religion . This
calls to mind the edict of St. Louis, King of France,
ordaining that blasphemers should have their tongue
burned with a hot iron.
For punishing criminals, there are twenty-one methods
of execution, all of horrible cruelty. Amongst them ,
I may mention, burning alive (as in the Middle Ages),
the wheel, being cast to wild beasts, flogging, etc. ,
which are exclusively reserved for criminals of the
first category.
For the four remaining classes, there are chains,
imprisonment, fines, confiscation of property, and the
punishment of slavery for the guilty person and all
his family.
This atrocious code was applied without any sort of
impartiality, for it included an article by which in the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 201

case of a fine being imposed, the King took one third


of the sum, the judges who pronounced the sentence
took another third, and the remaining third went to
the complainant .

1
Causes of the Decay of the Kmer ¹ Race. We
must search for the secret of the decadence of the
once famous Kingdom of Ciampa, in the absolute
power of the King, the religious despotism of the
bonzes, and in bad legislation : this will explain why
the Annamite though less civilized than the Kmer,
has yet been able to conquer him, and drive him from
his native soil.
M. Jacolliot, in his remarkable essays on India,
comes to the same conclusion ; it is the influence of a
bigotry which, from birth to death, enfolds man in its
inextricable bonds, which has made the Hindoo a man
without patriotism , and rendered his country, ever
since the days of Alexander the Great, a prey to every
conqueror.

The Kmer Vulgar Tongue. The Kmer is a language


with a monosyllabic tendency, and is spoken recto tono,

¹ Otherwise known as Cyam -bods (no doubt Siam or Shan-bods) .


Forlong believes them to be the original Indian Colonisers who settled
down at the head of the delta of the Mekong and around its great inland
swampy sea, where flourished Indian arts and religions for some 2000
years. These people were known to other Indians as Kmirs, and were
principally ophiolaters from Ceylon and the Tamil and Telagu coasts.
Arabian sailors called them Komirs or Kh'mars, thought to mean
"Cunning craftsmen 29' or " Artisans," which their elaborate sculptures and
architecture showed they were. But Kamirs or Chamirs seems to be a
corruption of Tamils. See similar Dravidian etymologies given by Prof.
Oppert in his Bharata- Varsa, here reading as usual for 1." (See
Forlong's work on Comp. Religions, London, 1897).
202 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY .

and, consequently, differs completely from the Chinese


and the Annamite vario tono.
Francis Garnier, the explorer, asserts that in the
savage tribes , which still exist upon the tops of the
highest mountains, he has discovered the sources of
the primitive language of the autochthones. They
were conquered, at some very remote epoch, by the
Aryans coming from India, who imposed on the con-
quered people Brahmanism, and themselves formed the
high caste of Brahmins.

The Sacred Language. This theory would seem


to be supported by the fact of the existence of a
sacred language, which is not understood by the com-
mon people, and is possessed by only a limited number
of priests and high personages. Pali, which is an
Aryan language, forms the basis of this sacred language,
sentences of which are inscribed upon the facades of
the temples of Angkor the Great, and the immense
sculptures, which cover the walls of these temples, are
reproductions of the legends of those sacred books,
the Hindoo Vedas.
The civilization of Cambodia came, therefore, from
India, and the conquest and ruin of the country are.
due to Annam, which was pushed on by China. This
conquest of the ancient Kingdom of Ciampa by a less
civilized nation, reminds us of the fall of Roman
civilization, brought about by the Barbarians of the
North, and the invasion of the South by the tribes of
the North of France.

1 Francis Garnier, was murdered in Cochin-China some ten or


twelve years ago, after rendering incalculable services, often in spite of
his own interests, to France. He reaped the usual harvest-neglect and
indifference till it was too late.
CHAPTER XII .

Sexual intercourse, its forms and perversions among the Cam-


bodians. -The lover as a water-carrier. - Two Kmer proverbs.-
Marriage.-Polygamy.- The rank of the first wife.- Adultery
and its repression. -Divorce. - Various reasons for divorce.-
Reconciliation of divorced couples. —Adoption. — Manners of the
Kmer woman . 11 The life of a young girl.-King Noro- dom's
harem.- The royal corps de ballet. — Singing and music.— Manner
of copulating. - Perversions of the sexual passion amongst the
Cambodians.

Betrothals. A marriage is always preceded by a


betrothal. Recourse is first had to a sort of female
go-between (of a serious kind) , who adroitly sounds
the family of the young girl as to their intentions .
If these are favourable, three matrimonial agents are
sent, and are accompanied by some of the relatives of
the aspirant for the hand of the young girl, who bring
with them presents . The girl's hand is then supposed
to be granted, and the young fiancé must enter upon
his love noviciate, which consists in carrying water
and wood to the house.
According to M. Aymonier's account, on a certain
day, previously fixed , the young man repairs to the
house of his lady-love's parents, which he first salutes,
before ascending the ladder which leads to his future
wife's abode. He again salutes as he enters the house,
where he is in future to reside, and perform the double
203
204 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

duty of servant and sweetheart to the lady of his


choice, to whom, by the way, he has never yet spoken
a single word. The customs of the country forbid
young people of different sexes to meet together, and
render necessary a proceeding of the kind described ,
in order that a young man may pay his court to his
future wife.
The amorous water-carrier is at the beck and call
of the father and mother of the girl , and the girl
herself, and they make him tṛot about on all sorts of
errands, but, as a reward, his sweetheart prepares his
food, and his " quids" of betel, and rolls his cigarettes
for him. Whether she carries her condescension so
far as to give him a light for them, M. Aymonier
does not say. An intimacy is established, sooner or

later, though , in the beginning, the modest young


woman does not dare to leave the house , and sends
her lover his quids and cigarettes by the hand of one
of her little sisters ; when she offers them herself that
is considered as an avowal of reciprocated affection .
As a measure of precaution , the youth sleeps in
the kitchen, and is thus separated from the chamber
of the young woman by the bed-room of her parents .
There are , however, means of circumventing these
safeguards of morality and prudence, for, when a
courtship lasts a very long time, one or more babies
may assist at the wedding of their procreators. This
often happens amongst the poorer classes, when the
marriage ceremony is long deferred , perhaps for sever-
al years.
It should be said, however, that the law recognizes
the ceremony of betrothal as a half marriage, and
gives the engaged couple certain privileges , though
it imposes upon them sundry duties . When a girl is
ANTHROPOLOGY. 205

once seduced (that is to say has lost her virginity)


the young man cannot draw back out of his engagement.
On the other hand the girl, when she has once
accepted a young man, has no longer the right to
flirt with, or be courted by, other young men, and,
if her infidelity can be proved, she is punished exactly
as though she were an adulterous wife. The children
proceeding from a too warm courtship are regarded
as legitimate.

Two Kmer Proverbs. There are two Kmer prov


erbs, which are rather amusing, concerning this cere-
mony of betrothal, and the results which generally
spring therefrom. " To leave, " says the first, “ a young
girl alone with a young man, is like entrusting an
1
elephant with the care of a plantation of sugar- canes. " ¹

This quaint saying calls to mind a ball-room incident recorded by


Burton :-
" To give a taste of • Mother Damnable's ' quality . I had been
waltzing with a girl, who, after too much exertion , declared herself
fainting. I led her into what would at home be called the cloak -room ,
fetched her a glass of water , and was putting it to her lips, when the
old lady stood at the door. ' Oh dear ! I never intended to interrupt
you,' she said, made a low bow, and went out of the room , positively ,
delighted . "
We cannot miss the opportunity of contrasting the customs of court-
ship in France and England . Our Gallic neighbours consider that a girl's
reputation is lost if, before marriage, she allows herself to be alone with
her fiancé. In England, on the contrary, sweethearts frequently pass
hours, and sometimes a whole day together without the presence of a
third person. Climate and character have undoubtedly much to do with
this. Your Frenchman wisely thinks it better to keep the " cup from
getting broken " than to try and mend it afterwards by an action for
" Breach of Promise. " Frenchwomen are alive to this, and act on the
principle of never trusting a man. Of course, in spite of all their pre-
cautions, some do fall into the seducer's trap, (or is it the contrary ?) but
as a rule, this is only because they wanted to,
206 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

It is well-known that the elephant is as fond of sugar-


canes as a school-boy is of sugar-sticks . "Never trust
hens' eggs to a crow, " is the second ; -the crow has
a reputation of being extremely partial to eggs.

Marriage. -Polygamy. I shall not describe the


marriage ceremonies, which are very long and com-
plicated.
Polygamy is practised in Cambodia, but only amongst
the rich class of mandarins, for the poor man of the
lower classes has enough to do to support only one
wife. The Cambodian law allows three legitimate
wives, of whom the first (thom) is considered as the
chief; she has been demanded in marriage, and espoused
according to the traditional rites. The second, or
" middle wife ", is nothing but a legal mistress , for no
demand is made to her parents for her hand , and the
marriage ceremonies are not performed. Finally, the
third wife is simply a concubine, and is generally a
young slave, bought from her master by some rich
man, who has been captivated by her beauty.

The Position of the First Wife. By a peculiar


fiction, the first wife is considered the mother of all
the children of her husband, even when they are the
offspring of the other wives. Only the mandarins can
(on account of the great expense) afford the luxury
of several wives.

Adultery, and Its Repression. The penalty for


We may mention that the note re Burton is taken from the 1st vol.
of the " Life and Achievements of Sir R. F. Burton by his wife Isabel
Burton." This " Life," except in its main outlines, is about as much
like the downright Agnostic and spicy story-teller (to his club-friends) as
it is to the " man in the moon ".
ANTHROPOLOGY. 207

adultery is not very heavy, and varies according to


the rank of the guilty person. It costs much more
to seduce the wife of a mandarin, than the wife of
a common person. The paramour has only to pay a
fine. As to the woman, a singular custom prevails ,
which recalls, in some respects, the ways of our jovial
ancestors . Her face is covered with a basket, and on
her ears and round her neck are placed red roses, as
a derisive symbol of a modesty which can no longer
blush, and then she is led through the streets and
obliged to confess aloud the sin of which she has been
guilty. With the exception of the rope and the che-
mise, this is much the same as the confession before
the church-doors in the Middle Ages. What is more
serious, however, is that the law of Cambodia punishes
with the same fine, the gallant who makes a rendez-
vous with a married woman, or kisses her, and the
procurer who favours these illicit meetings. 1 But
though the Cambodian law esteems a mere fine as
sufficient penalty for the offence of taking another
man's wife, it permits the outraged husband to kill
the guilty parties if they are caught in flagrante
delicto. But, all the same , he is obliged to kill both,
for if he should pardon his wife, and kill the para-
mour, or allow him to escape, and wreak his vengeance
on his wife only, he is liable to have to pay a fine,

' Cambodian legislation, in punishing equally both the parties guilty


of adultery, seems to us to be dictated by a stricter sense of justice than
European law, according to which the burden of the penalty falls far
more heavily on the woman than on the man.
It has been particularly remarked that French juries, in the Depart-
ment of the Seine, are generally inclined to extreme indulgence in cases
of passional crime, and when death is inflicted on one or both the cul-
prits surprised in flagrante delicto, an acquittal is almost certain to be
dealt out to the death-doer.
208 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

in proportion to his social rank, to the Public Treasury.


If a wife, who has been more or less ill-treated by
her husband, runs away, and takes refuge with her
parents, they must bring her back to her husband
within a month at the latest, or they are liable to be
fined .

Divorce exists among the Kmers ; a divorce can be


obtained if both parties mutually agree to ask for it,
-which seems to me a very sensible rule.
A woman who is plagued, ill-treated, or thrashed
by her husband, can claim a divorce, especially, if
during the time she is so treated, her husband should
take a second wife. Such a case is forejudged. If
the woman fails to prove her case, she must return to
the conjugal domicile, and the husband has even the
right to bring her back by force ; but if she should
stil resolutely refuse to live with him, a divorce is
then pronounced .

Various Reasons for Divorce. Another cause


for divorce is the prolonged absence of a husband,
who does not return at the date fixed. The wife has
then the right to demand a divorce, provided that she
restore to his family, in the presence of the magistrate,
the presents and goods that her husband has given her.
If the man absents himself without any reason, his
wife may obtain a divorce after a delay of from nine.
to eleven months. The time will depend upon how
far distant is the place where the fugitive husband is
known to be living. But if he should return within
the stipulated period , his wife is bound to receive him.
The husband who is absent on legitimate business
connected with his trade or profession , and has gone
ANTHROPOLOGY . 209

to some distant place , and who neglects to send any


tidings of himself for a year or more , is liable to have
his wife divorce him.
A delay of three years is accorded if the husband
has sent money to his wife, or if he has gone to China.
The delay is extended to seven years if it is known that
his boat has been taken by pirates, or been shipwrecked.
We may compare this with the delay of five years granted
by the French law, which in a similar case declares
the husband to be dead after the expiration of that time.
Yet another cause for a divorce is a very odd one,
and does not , I think, figure in any other code of laws.
It is this. When a Cambodian, in a moment of anger,
demolishes with a hatchet or cutlass, the conjugal dom-
icile-which, as it is generally made of wicker-work
is not a difficult task, -and removes all his property
to his parents' house, and resides there himself, even
for a period of only twenty-four hours, his marriage
can be dissolved. In this case , the wife keeps the wed-
ding presents. It is curious to contrast these various
reasons with those regulating divorce in Annam , and
it will be seen that there is a great difference in morals
between the two nations.

The Reconciliation of Divorced Couples. If a


divorced couple become reconciled, and sleep together,
the decree of divorce is annulled.
We may mention in passing that the Kmer code
recognizes community of property, and separation a
mensa et thoro. The code also advocates the duty of
gratitude on the part of children to their parents, and
forbids a judge to receive any plaint from a son
bringing an action against his father, for a bill which
has been accepted and not paid.
14
210 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Adoption is also permitted, and encouraged by law,


and is not uncommon amongst people of dissimilar
ages. It is celebrated by a ceremony at which offerings
are made to the spirits . Adopted children are regarded
as though they were the real offsprings of the persons
adopting them, and are treated the same. When they
leave the country, they take farewell of their adopted
parents, who offer them betel and arrack at their
departure. Generally, they do not forget their adoptive
parents and write to them, and send presents . They
are forbidden to marry with the daughters of their
adopters, although they are not connected with them
by blood. This is a very curious moral restriction.

The Manners of the Kmer Woman are much


more pure than those of the Annamite woman. With
some rare exceptions, Europeans never have anything
to do with any of them, except prostitutes who are
slaves, and exercise the calling for the benefit oftheir
unscrupulous masters.

The Life of the Young Girl. It may be said that


the young girl among the Kmers is watched as care-
fully as a saucepan of milk on the fire. She is entirely
hidden from Asiatic foreigners, and a fortiori from
Europeans. Sometimes you may see afar a young
Cambodian girl going to the well, and wearing a small
piece of cloth or cotton on her chignon (girls wear, as
we have already said, their hair long), but, as soon as
she catches sight of you , she rushes into the hut, where
she remains shut up till the stranger is gone. They
never appear in public, except at festivals, or to go
to the pagoda. On account of these austere customs,
prostitution of children, so common in Cochin-China ,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 211

is unknown in Cambodia, and the Kmers have the


right to regard with contempt, the depravity of youth
which exists amongst their conquerors .
It may be said, that in Cambodia illegitimate children
are almost unknown. The code, however, contains
some stringent regulations concerning offences against
morals, and a man is punished for seduction in pro-
portion to the difficulty, or ease, he had in effecting
his object. Rape is punished very severely, with chains
and imprisonment. This Cambodian law resembles, in
many points, the law of Moses..

Noro-dom's Harem. King Noro-dom has eleven


legitimate wives. The one who is wanting to make
up the dozen, is the queen who should occupy the chief
rank, and who, in accordance.with custom, must always
be a princess of the royal blood ; her title would be
Ac-Kha-Mohé Sey.
He has also an unlimited number of concubines. In
appearance, he is dried-up, and stunted, and looks as
weak as his subjects look firm and vigorous. The
best French brandy, opium, and women , have ruined
his constitution. He evidently cannot satisfy all his
wives, any more than Solomon could : as the song says

However ardent a man may be,


Though he have the strength of a dozen men,
If he has to sleep with six hundred wives,
He will want a holiday now and then." 1
' Our version is not exactly word for word. What translation in verse
can be? We therefore think it proper to give the student the French
text besides.
[ Brûlât-on des plus vives flammes,
S'il faut contenter six cents femmes,
Quelque soit le tempérament,
Ca doit gêner sur le moment."]
212 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

This verse comes back to my memory some years


after I first heard it sung, which was at a music-hall
in Saigon in 1889, during my second sojourn there ,
which was whilst Noro-dom , was on a visit to the
Governor General. The European public applied these
lines to Noro-dom , and encored them ; it does not take
much to amuse French people in the Colonies. The
prospect of one day having the honour to be admitted
to the royal bed must suffice for most of these ladies,
for Noro-dom holds strong opinions concerning the
privileges of a kingly husband .
The royal harem is contained in a special part of
the palace , and the ladies are well and closely watched ;
no one can be admitted to their apartments without an
order from His Majesty . In 1873 , King Noro-dom
had, it is said, two of his wives, whom he suspected
of infidelity, publicly executed along with their sup-
posed accomplices.

The Royal Corps de Ballet. Besides his con-


cubines the King has his theatrical singers and dancers.
They all receive a salary of food and money, and have
a suite of attendants, and the regulations concerning
etiquette, etc., are minutely observed . Noro- dom gener-
ally imports his dancing-girls and concubines from
Siam ; they come to Cambodia when they are about
thirteen or fourteen years old . The dance of the royal
bayadères is rather a representation than a dance prop-
erly so called. The subjects of the ballets are always
borrowed from the Hindoo epics , and Buddhic tradition ,
and represent episodes in the life of Cakya- Mouni.
I assisted at one of these ballets, which was per-
formed under a long rectangular shed, the sides of
which being open , permitted the King's faithful subjects
ANTHROPOLOGY. 213

to sit on the ground and witness the royal performance ,


The throne is on a platform, in a small building at
the end of the shed . At the King's feet, sits the royal
band, and their music is not wanting in melody, even
to European ears : it does not torture you , like the
horrible Chinese music. One of the instruments is a
sort of harmonica, with bells of silver, and silvered
copper, which makes a very agreeable peal .

Singers and Music. There are also singers who


usually come from Siam, and whose rather tremulous
voices are accompanied by the music of string instru-
ments, a kind of clarionet, or oboe, and the bell-har-
monica just mentioned . From time to time, the heavy
thuds of the tam-tam, and the click of wooden castanets ,
punctuate the phrases of the music.

Forms of Copulation used in Cambodia. I


regret to have to confess to the reader that I can give
no precise information on this point, the almost universal
chastity of the women , and the modest reserve of the
Cambodian man, having prevented me from learning
any details of the secrets of the domestic life of this
people.
I may simply say that copulation is practised without
any sort of " tricks " , in the classical manner, the
woman lying on her back, and the man on the top of
her. More I could not learn , for the Cambodian is as
silent in these matters as the Annamite is talkative.

Perversions of Sexual Intercourse amongst


the Cambodians. I ought also , to say in praise of
this people, that, in spite of their decadence , their
manners have remained pure. Prostitutes are to be
214 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY.

found in Cambodia, as everywhere else, but they only


practise natural methods , and are not like their southern
neighbours, addicted to mouth suction , and they abhor
sodomy.
Pederasty has not, in Cambodia, the place of honour
that it holds in Cochin-China. There are, it is true,
pederasts, or rather passive agents, amongst the poor
homeless children who wander about the streets of
Pnom -Penh, but they only constitute exceptions to the
general rule . When they do consent to commit sodomy,
it is with repugnance, and not like the Annamite,
who is ready and willing to take either the active or
passive part, -whichever is required .

The result of this is, that the Frenchman , who comes


from Cochin-China to Cambodia, has to take a native
mistress, for he finds neither the " daylight whore ",
the way, or the boy. This is a fresh and evident
proof that we did not import these disgusting practices
into Cochin-China , since they do not exist in Cambodia,
the boundary province of our Eastern colonies, and
yet we meet with them again in Tonquin , which is
also inhabited by the Cochin-Chinese race.
PART THE SECOND.-AMERICA.

GUIANA- MARTINIQUE .

CHAPTER I.

A short stay at Martinique.-- Arrival at Guiana. - Yellow Fever


-
and its preventive treatment. The White Creole of Cayenne.-
Prejudices against colour.- The fashionable world of Guiana.-
Hospitality of the Creoles of Cayenne . -The Creole dialect and
ils uncouthness.- Liveliness of the Creole ladies.- " Lou Tafanari
and her potato".- The misadventures of a singer of indecent
songs.- Good manners and kindheartedness of the ladies of
Cayenne.

A Short Stay at Martinique. After having taken


part, as an ambulance surgeon, in the campaign of
1870-71 , I was sent, a year or two after that terrible
war, to Guiana.
On arriving at Martinique , I heard that yellow fever
had broken out at Guiana, which place was then in
quarantine. The military detachment, of which I
formed part, received orders to disembark at Fort de
France. I was thus able to spend three weeks at
Martinique, and I also stopped there a fortnight three
years later, on my return from Guiana.
To Martinique I shall devote a separate chapter.
215
216 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Arrival at Guiana. The number of medical men


at Guiana being barely sufficient, I was sent to rein-
force the medical staff there.

Yellow-Fever and its Preventive treatment.


This was the first time I had come face to face with
this dangerous disease, -concerning which I intend
some day to publish my observations. For the pres
ent, I will content myself with saying that, thanks
to preventive treatment commenced a week before my
departure from Fort de France, I was able to escape
five deadly epidemics of yellow-fever, —some at Guiana ,
and some, later on, at Senegal.
The recipe is very simple, and I give it here for
the benefit of any of my readers who may be obliged
to stay in a country where yellow- fever prevails.
You take, when you sit down to lunch or dinner,
at first two, and increase the dose to three, and finally
to five, " pills of Dioscorides " ; - that is to say take
four pills a day the first week, six a day the second
week, and ten a day the fourth week.
At the end of the third week you take along with
the arsenic , a gramme of iodide of potassium per day,
which you drink either in your coffee , or your morning
milk.
The action of these two powerful alteratives is as
follows. Arsenic is a slow medicine but a powerful
tonic, giving strength and muscle, and increasing lung
power. It has but one fault, and that is that, in
tropical countries, it settles in the liver. Then the
iodide of potassium comes in, acts as a marvellously
good purifier of the blood , and drives the arsenic out
of the liver. Whether it was the effect of this pre-
ventive treatment, or some idiosyncrasy in my consti-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 217

tution, I cannot say, but I have attended many cases,


and even made post-mortem examinations, without
taking the disease.
At the termination of the epidemic, as my service
at the hospital, -where I was entrusted with the charge
of the dissecting-room- left me some leisure in the
afternoon, I accepted with pleasure the offer of Dr.
B***, an ex -naval surgeon , to make over his practice
to me during his absence. Dr. B***, was suffering
from liver disease , and wished to pass the summer at
Vichy and Paris. He was the only civilian physician
in the Colony, and, as he was a mulatto, his patients
were almost exclusively negroes, and coloured people.
The proposal was so tempting that I did not hesitate
a moment, for it was a splendid opportunity for me,
to study the manners and customs of the coloured
races.
I was thus able to study the most minute details
of their ways, for a doctor, when he knows what he
is about, is like a confessor to his patients.

The White Creole of Cayenne deserves the place


of honour in my description. He is the descendant
of the old French colonists , who settled in Guiana
under Louis XIV, and Louis XV. Their number has
diminished so much that, it may be said, that nothing
but a remembrance of them remains. The depressing
and anæmic action of the climate of Guiana on the
pure white race is so great, that after three or four
generations the stock is completely exhausted , and
marriages between white Creoles become nearly sterile.
It is not the same, however, when the revififying
action (in the physiological sense) of black blood is
introduced. The Negro is, in fact, the branch of the
218 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

human race created expressly to inhabit the hot and


unhealthy countries situated under the equator. By
mixing with the white race, he gives the latter the
power to resist the climate. The offspring of the pure
White with a Quadroon is the Misti, who, consequently,
has but an eighth part of black blood in his veins .
This small proportion suffices, however, to preserve
him from most of the diseases which assail the Whites.
The White can never go out in the heat of the sun,
without a sun helmet and an umbrella, whilst the Misti
walks about, wearing nothing but a straw hat , without
any danger.
This immunity he derives from the Negro, who can
with impunity, expose his woolly head to the fierce
rays of the tropical sun.
Most of the Creole families of Guiana have more
or less black blood in their veins . In the entire
colony there were not more than five families in
187 quite free, both by direct descent and by in-
direct alliance, from all admixture with the Negro
race.

Prejudice against Colour. The real Whites being


so few in number, you do not find at Guiana that
prejudice against colour which is so strongly devel-
oped in the Antilles. The Whites with a black taint,
who form the great majority of the Creoles, or so-
called Whites, have Quadroon or even Mulatto parents ,
and do not show the same contempt for the Blacks
which is exhibited by the Whites of the Antilles.
These latter are sufficiently numerous to stick together
and form a sort of " Belgravia " , and had , up to 187--
(the date of my visit) obstinately refused all intercourse
with the coloured people.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 219

The Fashionable World of Guiana. In Guiana ,


on the contrary, the Whites and the people of colour,
the officers and officials from France, live on the best
possible terms, and, according to their position frequent
fashionable society without paying the least attention
to the colour of the skin .
The salons of the Government House were open to
all, and at the balls there you might see dancing the
daughters of the millionaire W*** , a white man from
France, married to a Negress, and the Mdlles. C *** , the
representatives of one of the five real white families.
of the country.
The common and dominant characteristic of all these
young women, whether pseudo-white or coloured, was
the desire to marry a man whiter than themselves. A
naval officer, or Government official, who was also a
man of fashion, was the rara avis they laid themselves
out to catch.
It should be remarked , that all the Creole families
of Guiana who are at all well to do, make the greatest
possible efforts to have their children instructed and
educated . Many girls and boys of twelve years of
age are sent to France, to be educated in the best
establishments till they are eighteen. The girls are
usually excellent musicians. Later they become ex-
cellent wives and mothers, and the European who
marries one has rarely cause to regret it.

Hospitality of the Creoles of Cayenne . The


Creole of Cayenne is thoroughly hospitable. Anyone
who is admitted into a household , and is not an un-
licked cub, becomes at once the friend of the family,
in the strictest sense of the word. Ifhe possesses any
social accomplishment, and can sing a song, strum on
220 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

the piano, or is a good dancer, he is considered a


valuable acquisition . Good dancers are especially
appreciated. In spite of an average temperature of
85 ° F., the Creole ladies are indefatigable, and will
dance all night and until sunrise, and hardly rest for
a moment. Some French ladies once tried to support
the honour of the flag of Paris, but the next day they
had to take to their beds, and were laid up for two
or three days.

The Creole Patois and Its Uncouthness. The


ladies of the Colony talk amongst themselves the soft
sounding Creole patois, which is easy for a Frenchman
to understand, for it is, like the dialect spoken in the
Antilles, a corruption of the French language from
which has been taken the r (so dear to the Marseillais )
and certain nasal and guttural consonants, and to which
are added some words from the Portuguese, and some
from the language of the African Negroes.
It possesses no more syntax than a telegram , and
in two months, or three months at the latest, you can
talk it and understand it, especially if you choose a
coloured woman for your professor. Latin is said to
be a plain-spoken language, and the Creole patois has
the same attribute. The Creole ladies have not the
hypocritical modesty of the daughters of Albion who
always say the "leg " of a fowl and never the thigh,
and would never dare to pronounce the word “ rump ".
On the contrary, they like any word which has a good
flavour about it. The coloured people of the lower
class (like our ancestors in the time of Rabelais) , see
no harm in calling things by their real names. They call
a spade a spade, and a T007. a " fish " They use rather
a picturesque expression for this, for when a Negro
ANTHROPOLOGY. 221

wants to urinate he says : " I am going to change the


water of my fish.' It is not a little fish either which
these good Negroes possess, but a big eel with a black
head, which they inherit from their African ancestors .

The Sportiveness of the Creole Ladies . I will


allow myself here to tell one or two funny stories,
which will serve to show the playful humour of the
Creole ladies. I obtained a round of laughter, one
evening of the carnival, by relating, at a private party
given by a lady of the best society, a Provençal story
translated into the Creole patois.

" Lou Nafanari " and " son Potato " Here is the
story put into English:
Miss Rose, a rich town-lady went with her farmer
to visit her estate. She was mounted on a she- ass, and
the Spring, or something else, having made the animal
lively, it threw up its heels, with the result that Miss
Rose was thrown , and her petticoats flying up she
displayed all those graceful contours which she always
kept modestly covered . Having quickly regained her
feet, she sprang lightly on the donkey's back, and
gave it a well-deserved thrashing for throwing her.
The incident had passed so quickly that the farmer
did not appear to have noticed it at all. " Peasant ,
did you see my agility? " asked the lady ; to which
66
the farmer replied gravely : You may call that your
agility, but I call it your a — e. ” ¹
' Little need to say that this story is just a trifle " older than the
hills "; it has appeared, more or less modified in form, in most European
tongues and at least in one Oriental,—(viz : the Arabic, compare the
story in the Thousand Nights and a Night - Burton's trans, of course),
-of the Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad, " where the jester
gets a severe slapping for referring in irreverent terms to the women's
" monosyllable "-It is moreover a " chestnut " of which most young,
222 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The Misadventures of a Singer of Indecent


Songs. At these pleasant evening parties, where you
generally meet the same persons, I made the acquaintance
of an officer named B***, a big man possessed of a
stentorian voice which he used for singing comic songs.
He had some specially adapted for ladies , -like the
Gros Chat gris, Le Soulier de Mélanie, Le Chapeau
de la Marguerite, etc., the best songs selected from
the repertory of the provincial café concert.
By a singular arrangement, every Thursday night,
instead of the usual mixed party, the ladies and
gentlemen each had a separate gathering.
At that of the men, our musical militaire was ac-
customed to sing another repertoire , suited to his hearers,
and comprising all the worst productions from the
" ordure box" of Gouffé, enlarged , and embellished .
The house where the men met on these occasions,
stood almost alone, in the upper part of the town, and
the neighbours did not complain, —far otherwise indeed .
Owing to the heat they were obliged to keep their
windows open, and thus were enabled to enjoy the
concert, besides which, a dozen young rascals, of both
sexes, used to congregate in the street, and listen to
the deep bass of the singer, and so complete, quite
gratis, their musical and moral education. The curios-
ity common to the daughters of Eve, also moved the
ladies of the upper ten to wish to hear these songs ,
which they were not permitted to hear in their own
drawing-rooms. To effect this, they used the following
stratagem. They announced one evening, that they
innocent fledglings hasten to relieve their consciences in the after-dinner
chat and smoke. Despite its questionableness, we were unwilling to ex-
omit it from a translation, of which the chief claim to merit we think,
consists, in its not being castrated. Those persons whom these things
please not " must skip the page.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 223

intended, on the following Thursday, to pass the even-


ing at the house of a lady who lived at the opposite
end of the town to the place where the men met.
But, on the night, they secretly repaired to a house
which was almost opposite the gentlemen's meeting-
place. They assembled together, and in a room with-
out any light, which might have betrayed them, and
with the windows open, they were excellently placed
to hear the whole of the erotic repertory , without their
presence being suspected.
It chanced that on that evening the artiste felt
himself very much in the vein, and selected the hottest
songs in his collection , and all the smuttiest words were
trolled out, and fell on the listeners' ears like strokes
of the tam-tam . Not a syllable of this was lost. The
next day, at a soirée at which both sexes met, one
of the most amiable and most larky of the ladies, who
being an excellent musician , had remembered the airs
1
from once hearing them , ¹ offered to accompany M. B*** ,
on the piano. " I hope you will give us something
' Let no one throw up their hands and exclaim against the shockingness
of these free-and-casy manners. They are equalled, if not out-distanced,
in certain religious circles, whose mysticism only makes them the more
specious and dangerous. Take the following : -“ The Salvation Army '
is in itself a scandal, but let its disciples say and do as they please among
themselves, ourselves abstaining from listening to or following them. It
is impossible to push insanity to a greater extremity than do these people,
when it is remembered that the female marshal of this army dared to
assert, before an assembly of four thousand hallucinated fools : that one
night, being stark naked, she saw Christ in person and that she conceived
by his operation.' This is erotic love, or more surely pure mystical
onanism . Not satisfied with fornicating with the images of her god, the
marshal, like the Hebrews stigmatized by Ezekiel, invents a virile and
lewd god to satisfy the lascivious desires of an army of hysterical
maniacs ... The Salvation Army is a proof that there are to be found
everywhere simples de cœur et d'esprit. " (DR. BOUGLÉ, “ Les vices
du Peuple," Paris, 1888 , in- 8vo pp . 44-46 . )
224 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

fresh, " she said. "We have heard on good authority


that you received by the last mail a lot of new songs
which you intend to give us. These ladies are all
looking forward to a great treat. "
" Pardon me, Madame, you are mistaken , and I do
not know who has
" Bah ! Bah! do not be so modest. This, I know,
is the air of one of your new songs, " and Mme A***
began to play on the piano the tune of La Clefd'Agnès.
66
The gentleman, however, remained silent. Perhaps
you have forgotten the words, I will assist your mem-
ory," and the lady sang the first verse.
"Agnès était une jeune innocente ;
On l'a mariée à grand Jeannot Nigaud ;
La premièr' nuit, la nuit la plus charmante,
99
Jeannot ne put-

" Well, go on ; tell us the rest ! "


M. B*** , was stupefied, but maintained a prudent
silence.
" If that song does not please you, " continued the
lady, " here is another, " and she began to play the air
of the ' Dispute entre le Luc et le Noc,' and sing :
“ Un jour un luc plein de fierté
Tint au noc ce langage :
1
Φουτρας-tu toujours à mon nez
Et dans mon voisinage? "
' The above curious French verses remind us that in Spanish and
other languages, there are many similar in style and idea, among others
the following, which we heard given after dinner in Madrid by an
eminent contemporary politician
" Si el coño tuviera dientes
Como tiene fortaleza,
Cuantos carajos valientes
Quedarian sin cabeza. "
We believe this to be a genuine “ Andalusian native ", if lacking in
propriety, it can hardly be said to want either force or originality.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 225

M. B*** , looked at the lady with his eyes starting


out of his head, and then fled precipitately from the
drawing-room, pursued by a general burst of laughter.

Morality and Good-heartedness of the Ladies


of Cayenne. Such freedom of manners does not lead
(as might be supposed) to immorality. No doubt there
are, here as elsewhere, husbands who wear horns, and
ladies rather too ready to open their thighs, but they
are the exception, and not the rule. Generally speak-
ing, the Creole ladies do not betray their husbands .
They are, moreover, excellent mothers, and extremely
fond of their children. This love of progeny they even
carry so far that if their husbands have bastards by
coloured girls or negresses, instead of driving away the
children as would be done in France, many of the
ladies of Guiana support them, and provide for them.
When they are of an age to take the first communion ,
they are sent to church, the girl with her white veil,
handkerchief, and prayer-book, the boy with the orthodox
wax candle, and white silk armlet. If the boy is
intelligent, he is given some amount of education , and
a place is procured for him as a clerk, or in some
Government office. If the girl is pretty, she is often
brought up in the house as a poor relation, or as a
sort of lady's maid or companion .
One day I was on a visit to one of the best white
families of the country , and I saw the lady of the
house enter, carrying in her arms a fine child, almost
white, but with some signs of black blood.
" Is that the child of one ofyour neighbours , Madame ? "
I asked .
" No, Mouche,,, the child of Mouché S. R. " (her
husband.
15
226 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY .

I looked at her with astonishment. She smiled, and


pointed to her maid, a handsome mulatress with a
splendid bust.
" That is the mamma of the child , and Mouché S. R.
is the father. "
The legitimate wife was carrying in her arms the
adulterine child of her husband . I confine myself to
this one instance, but I could cite many others. ¹

¹ Primitive nations are not so squeamish about the husband getting


children by other women than the legal wife. We can cite no better
-10) ;
known illustration than that given in Genesis (chap. XXX verses I—-
to which we recommend the reader to refer.
CHAPTER II.

The coloured races.-.The influence of black blood on cross-breeds


with the White man. — Mistis, Quadroons , Mulattoes, and Zam-
-
bros. -The proportion of illegitimate children. The easy morality
of the coloured woman. - The thorough Negress.- From Saturday
night to Sunday morning. " Milady C***, the Queen of the
Golden Wrists".- The musky smell of the Negress. - The genital
organs of the Negro race.- Physiological peculiarity ofthe colour
of the gland of the Negro's penis.- The genital organ of the
Zambro. -The genital organ of the Mulatto.- Physical beauties
of women of colonr.- Permanent influence of black blood on the
genital organs of the male.

Influence of Black Blood on Crosses with the


White Race. The cross between the White and the
Negro produces, in the human race, a phenomenon
analogous to that which is observed in horses. The
pure blood stallion produces with mares of an inferior
native race, foals which exhibit the qualities of its
procreators. Though not so handsome as its father,
the half-blood is much superior to its mother, from
whom, however, it derives a certain " rusticity " and
the power to resist the effects of the climate. This
explains the almost complete dissappearance from
Guiana of the pure white race, whilst on the contrary
the coloured race has flourished. Guiana received ,
however, in the reigns of Louis XIV, and Louis XV. ,
quite as many Frenchmen as the Antilles.
227
228 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The climate soon got the better of them, as witness


for instance the Kourou expedition, when fifteen thou-
sand Alsatians were reduced to some hundreds only
in a very few years.

Mistis, Quadroons, Mulattos , and Zambros. The


Mulatto is the direct offspring (nine hundred and ninety-
nine times out of a thousand) of the White man and
the Negress. Those who are born of Europeans settled
in the country, or who have a white Creole parent,
who can bring them up, and furnish them with the
means of living prosperously, quickly become people
of fashion . There are already many families of this
kind. But the offspring of the connections of the
Negress with less fortunate Europeans , temporarily
residing in the Colony, (called Massogans), or even
with common soldiers, fall into the category of unfor-
tunate beings.
It should be remarked, that the Mulatto is nearly
always the offspring of the White man with the
Negress, and only once in a thousand times, of the
union of the White woman with the Negro . This is
a clear instance of natural selection, in which the
woman represents the inferior element, and the man
the pure blood . We may note in passing, that, in the
births , the girls are much more numerous than the
boys. There are not - as is the case in Chili- four or
five women to one man, but there are certainly more
than two .
The Negress who gives birth to a child whiter than.
herself, will make the greatest sacrifices to bring it up
properly ; she will do any kind of work, and put up
with any hardship, to ensure the existence of her
ANTHROPOLOGY . 229

progeny, 1 and gain queque sous maqués (" marked "


halfpence, or copper money) . But a living is easily
earned in a country where you need neither wood nor
coal for fuel, and where all you require for food is
cooked banana (bacove), fruit, flat fish, cassava , and
bread fruit.
To have a baby is no dishonour to a Negress or a
Mulatta, especially if it is by a White man. She will
select for its godfather, (who is considered as the
putative father) , whichever of her lovers has the best

In the " Princesse de Bagdad " of Dumas, the woman who is about
to abandon the conjugal hearth with her lover, is met by her child, who
endeavours to retain her with kisses ; the lover seeks brutally to thrust
the child aside ; that suffices to awaken the maternal feeling, and she
refuses to go, saying : " Ah! I was mad! .... I was mad ! .... but
when that man raised his hand on my child ....!
In fact the predominance of the maternal feeling, is such that it
suffices sometimes to weaken, to dissipate and even to suppress the
phenomena of love, which are far more vigorous in the male.
That is why, in general, woman cares less for youth or beauty in her
husband than for more solid qualities.
Unfortunately, among certain civilized nations marriage has become
a business transaction, in which sexual intercourse is an almost extraneous
matter.
On the other hand, and more particularly in France, marriage means
for the woman, EMANCIPATION ; she is at once freed from the social,
or absolutely anti-social thraldom of the rules of SOCIETY.
According to Icard in his " La femme pendant la Période mens-
truelle, (Paris 1883 ), sexual desire diminishes and in fact expires as
soon as gestation has commenced,
Nevertheless, the antagonism between the maternal feeling and the
sexual instinct does not inhibit the sub-existence of a sensual basis ; in
fact women sometimes enjoy during the suckling period erotic feelings,
and go so far as to seek to be again in a state of maternity, in order to be
able to renew this enjoyment, greater to them perhaps than the act of
copulation itself. This may perhaps be to some extent explained by the
uterus and the great sympathetic nervous complexus.
Lombroso, La femme Criminelle (loc. cit. p. 115 et seq.).
230 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

social position . I will not go so far as to say that she


is not capable of fidelity to her " protector " for the
time being, but her fidelity is but relative. She will
betray her lover with a man who is in a better position ,
but never with an inferior.

The Proportion of Illegitimate Births. Statistics


showed that in 187 , there were born at Cayenne
sixty illegitimate children to every forty legitimate.
I do not know whether this has changed. The con-
sequence of this tolerance in the matter of morals is
that abortion is very rare. As to infanticides after
delivery, they are almost unknown in Guiana ; a woman
who killed her child would be lynched by the other
women. Within the last half century, there has never
been but one case, and then the woman was nearly
an idiot. The public indignation against her was so
strong that the sentence of death was obliged to be
carried out, or the women of the lower classes would
have caused serious riots . The physician who is a
philosopher must be gratified at such a result , and
1
deplore the opposite condition in France, where, in
' Christian England when a girl has tripped-due more often than
not to the influence of a stronger will than her own -pitches her out-
of-doors with the new-born offspring in her arms . Forsaken by her
seducer as well as by her own kindred, without money or work she is
driven to a life of shame, unredeemed by love, to support her child,
while the man who has misled and betrayed her goes off scot-free to
work his will elsewhere. When will the overchurched conscience of the
British wake up to this terrible injustice ! The lost woman's so-called
“ unfallen" sisters (because they were never tempted ?) are the first to
point the finger of scorn at her. Is it because they are jealous that she
has eaten of the forbidden fruit which they have not been bold enough
to taste ?
The illiterate coloured people of French Guiana look upon illegitimate
unions with indulgence, and the children resulting from them are as
dearly cherished as those born in wedlock.
ANTHROPOLOGY . 231

the large cities, (and notably at Paris), infanticide is


far from being a rarity .

Easy Morals of the Coloured Women. The


union of the Mulatta with the White man produces
the Quadroon. It is amongst the Quadroon women
(whose connection with the White man produces the
Misti ) that are found the most beautiful prostitutes.
But, like the Greek courtesans, they do not bestow
their favours on the first comer. Bonnes filles as
they are, they expect a little courting, and you must
take some pains to please them. That not very
honourable institution, the brothel, does not exist in
Guiana, or in the Antilles either for that matter.
Love is quite free, but I hasten to say that, in spite
of that, syphilitic diseases are rather rare.
The whoremonger has a varied choice of exotic
flowers, ranging from the Negress to the Misti, who
is almost white. We will say a few words about
each .

The Full-blood Negress . We will begin with her,


as she forms the great part of the feminine population ,
together with the Zambra, the offspring ofthe Negress
with the Mulatto . To please her, and become her
lover, does not necessitate any long or complicated
proceedings. It suffices (or at least it did some twenty
years ago) to walk on the Place des Palmistes after
the evening meal. You met a girl, talked to her a
bit, and after a few commonplace phrases, if her face,
as seen by the light of a match, pleased you , you put
the regular question, “ Ché doudou, ou qua oulé coqué
avé moi? " (Darling, where can you sleep with me?)
1 Sometimes called the Octoroon.
232 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The word coqué is a corruption of the old French


cocher, that is to say expresses the idea of a cock
treading a hen. You had but to follow the girl to a
room in some neighbouring house. If need be, one
of the benches of the Place des Palmistes would afford
you free hospitality.

From Saturday Night to Sunday. The easy-


going morals of the Negress and the Zambra were
often the cause of a trick being played upon new-
comers, who were unacquainted with the manners of
the people. And here we enter upon the question of
the influence of religion on morals . I should here
state, that at Guiana the influence of the priests is
very great. The coloured people possess sentiments.
of real piety, even amongst the men. The children ,
who are educated by the monks, are ardent believers ,
and quite the reverse of the young workmen of France .
The Negress has simple and sincere faith , but her
devotion is of a peculiar kind. She confesses , takes
the communion nearly every Sunday, and , during the
week, breaks in the most reckless manner, that part
of the Decalogue which says,

" Fleshly lust thou shalt desire


In marriage only."

The priest contents himself with merely damming


the current, for to forbid physical love to these warm-
blooded creatures, would be lost labour .
On Saturday evening, absolution is given before
attending the Sunday mass, and Saturday evening is
therefore the time chosen to play a joke on any new-
comer, who is sent to the Place des Palmistes to get
ANTHROPOLOGY. 233

a woman. To the regular question the first twenty.


women or so will be sure to reply, " Mon ché, mo pas
pouvé, mo gain asolution mon pé guyodo, mais dimain
fini la messe mo qué vini ton case. " (My dear, I
can't, I am going to get absolution from the curé,
but to-morrow after the mass I will come to your
house). 1 Dear creatures ! after having performed their
duty to their Creator, they are ready to do their duty
to their fellow-creatures. At last he will end by finding
one who is ready to go with him, and he will naturally
be inclined to ask her why she is not going to get
absolution. " No ," she will reply sorrowfully, “ he
won't give it me. "

"The Queen of the Golden Wrists - Milady ."


I have said that the fidelity of the coloured woman
is only relative . If the person who wants her is in a
position that flatters her vanity, or can serve her
interests, she will not hesitate to break her previous
engagement, if she believes that the secret will be
well kept.
The surest means of getting her is not to run after
' This is of course pigeon- French but the same conditions still exist
in the remote districts of Connaught (The wild West of Ireland) :
" Two elderly Irish dames, residing in the highly respectable and
intensely Catholic town of Ballinasloe, after having been for many years
bosom-friends, were at daggers drawn. But, mindful of their Easter
duties, they both went to confession , and the following morning, in
due course, to communion. On leaving the church, after mass, the
two old ladies unhappily chanced to knock against each other- whereat
fierce passions seethed within their venerable bosoms, till at last the elder
of the two matrons, shaking her fist at the other, exclaimed : " That's
you, Mrs. O'Flaherty, is it ? and bitter bad luck to you, by the same
token ! You may be thankful this blessed day that I am now in a
state of grace, but plase God, that'll not last long, and then I'll sarve
ye out, ye old hag ! "
234 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

her too ostensibly, or appear too anxious ; you will


attain your end more easily by employing a go-between.
The most intelligent of these women, and the one
who had the largest number of clients in all Cayenne,
was the celebrated Mulatta C ***, called Milady, and
who was connected , by the left hand, with one of the
best families in the country. She was the " Queen of
the Golden Wrists ", as the coloured women were
called, in distinction from the " Imperials " . The
struggles of these two factions reminded one , in a
minor degree, of the party war that raged between
the green and blue coachmen of old Byzantium, but
this latter-day rivalry was more pacific, and had never
caused blood to be shed .
It was in their dances that these young women tried
to outdo each other in grace and abandon . These
dances much resembled certain dances used in Senegal,
and I will not therefore describe them here.
If you were one of the regular customers of Milady,
and had not made any particular choice of a young
woman, it was sufficient to ask her for a box of
cigars, -light, dark, light-brown or dark-brown, as the
case might be.
She would understand , and at the hour fixed, would
send you the box of cigars by the hands of a Quad-
roon, Mulatta, Zambra. or Negress. Ah, there were
some nice girls in Guiana, and , even now, I think of
them with pleasure ! But it is time to study them
more closely.

The Musky Smell of the Negress . Let us begin


with the Negress. In all the human races, there are,
of course, individual differences in the desire for the
carnal lusts. But it may safely be asserted that the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 235

Negress of Guiana is certain to have warm blood, and


a strong desire for intercourse with the male. She
receives him with the most lively pleasure, and does
all she can to satisfy him, -particularly if she has to
do with a Massogan, or White man from Europe, -
but she has no vicious or depraved habits. She per-
forms a natural act naturally, and without any of the
refinements of the prostitutes of our great cities, or of
the Annamite Congai. She shows a horror of sodomy.
She is clean, one might say, morally and physically.
If she does not take baths, she at least washes herself
frequently, and the poor girl has a very good reason
for these ablutions. That reason is that all the black
race,-I may say once for all, not to have to repeat
it, has a very fine skin which perspires abundantly,
and gives forth an indefinable odour sui generis, which
reminds one slightly of the musky smell of the croco-
dile. 1 This influence is particularly noticeable when
she is excited by sexual passions, and is annoying to
beginners who are not accustomed to it, but you end
by getting used to it. The Negress therefore anoints
herself plentifully with all the strongest perfumes from
Europe, in order to conceal her native smell, and she

In the animal kingdom various odours and sounds are closely


connected with the reproduction of the species. During the season of
love a musky odour is emitted by the submaxillary glands of the croc-
odile, and pervades its haunts. At the same period the anal scent-glands
of snakes are in active function, and so are the corresponding glands of
the lizards. Many mammals are odoriferous. In some cases the odour
appears to serve as a defence or a protection, but in other species the
glands are confined to the males, and almost always become more active
during the rutting season.
Westermarck " The History ofHuman Marriage, (p . 246 , London, 1894 ).
See the Excursus at end of this Chapter for fuller information on
this head.
236 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

always keeps herself very clean. But in any case her


peculiar odour is not so repugnant as that of the
Congai.

The Genital Organs of the Negro Race. Her


odour, however, is but the least fault of the Negress.
Her greatest disadvantage is the immense size of her
vulva and vagina. In all the human races there is a
close connection or proportion between the male and
female genital organs . I have already remarked this
in reference to the Cochin-Chinese. Now, in no branch
of the human race are the male organs more developed
than in the African Negro. I am speaking of the
penis only, and not of the testicules, which are often
smaller than those of the majority of Europeans. The
result of this conformation is, that a Negress, though
suitably provided to receive the Negro , is far too wide
for the White man, especially if he is but moderately
furnished, or " half cocked " as Rabelais might say.
The Negress therefore, -being very desirous of the
favours of the White man, -uses astringent prepara-
tions to strengthen the mucous surfaces and tighten
the entrance of the vulva. The preparation which ap-
peared to me to be the most used , was made of acajou
nuts (an astringent) macerated in spirit, and mixed
with tormentilla root , and vanilla beans (for perfume).
A few spoonfuls of this liquid, mixed with water, form
a lotion, which, when applied frequently, enables the
desired result to be almost obtained.

Physiological Peculiarity of the Colour of the


Gland in the Negro. The penis of the Negro affords
a physiological peculiarity, as do also the mucous
surfaces of the lips and the vulva in the Negress.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 237

The colour is as black as that of the rest of the skin.


It is not the same with the Negro of Oceania, as we
shall see later. The peculiarity is absolutely special to
the African Negro, and his descendants who have been
brought as slaves to America. The mucous surface of
the gland and the foreskin vary, in the European, from
a pale pink to a bright red, and it is therefore not
without a certain feeling of curiosity, that one examines
for the first time the genital organ of the Negro, and
remarks the uniform black colour of the skin and the
mucous surfaces. The vulva of the Negress is black
at the entrance, but becomes a bright red in the
vagina. It is the same with the lips and the mouth
in both sexes . The pubes is scantily furnished with
hair, short and hard as the bristles of a brush. As to
the head, everybody knows that that is covered with
a woolly crop. The Negress of Cayenne always wears
on her head a large handkerchief of striped silk, and
the gallant who took it off, and passed his hand through
her hair, would not find his caresses well received .

The Genital Organ of the Zambro. The Zambro


is the offspring of the Negress and the Mulatto.
Although one quarter of their blood is white, the
Zambro and the Zambra differ very little from their
black ancestors. The Zambro especially is almost a
Negro, so far as his genital organ is concerned . The
skin of the member, and of the scrotum, is a dark
sepia colour, and the skin of the body is sepia colour.
The mucous surface of the gland is of a reddish sepia.
The hair of the pubes is like that of the Negro.

The Genital Organ of the Mulatto.


The Mulatto
commences to approach nearer to the White. The
238 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

skin of the body varies from a light brownish yellow


to a darker tint of the same hue. This tint is formed
of sepia, gamboge, and vermilion . The skin of the
scrotum and the member is darker than the rest of the
body, but the mucous surface of the gland is of a
dirty reddish-brown. The hair of the pubes is more
plentiful, and more resembles the European, but is
always stiff, and generally very black ; there are some
exceptions of which I will mention one. I attended
medically a young Mulatto and his sister, who had
been begotten by a father with carroty red hair.
The girl had red and smooth hair, the skin fairly light,
with here and there patches of red, and the hair of
the pubes a dark russet, with the mucous tissues of
the lips and the vulva , dark red . Her brother, on the
contrary, had a skin not so light, the hair and the
tufts of the pubes black, but the member, which was
very much developed, had a gland of a deep brown
colour, with the scrotum sepia colour.
In size, the genital organs of the Mulatto are less
developed, as concerns the penis at least, than in the
Negro. The testicles on the other hand are a little
larger. As a logical consequence , the vulva and vagina
of the Mulatta are not so wide and gaping as those
of the Negress, though larger than those of the Euro-
pean woman.
Often in the same family there are great differences
between the children of the same White father and
the Negress . The girls generally, have a fairer skin
than the boys, the mucous tissues are redder, and their
hair is not so woolly. The white blood predominates.
It is just the opposite with the boy. There are many
exceptions to the rule ; sometimes, by a singular phe-
nomenon of atavism, you may find Octoroons much
ANTHROPOLOGY. 239

darker than their mother, and almost Mulattos. But


unite the Zambro with the White man, or the Mulatto
with the Quadroon woman, and there will result from
these admixtures, irregular crossings whose physical
characteristics will approach to, or recede from , those
of the white race. In the first case, there are five
parts white against three black ; in the second the
proportion is the same, and nevertheless the two types
are quite dissimilar.

EXCURSUS TO CHAPTER II.

MEDICAL NOTES ON THE SEXUAL VALUE of SMELL.

This subject alluded to in several places in the text


merits perhaps some confirmation, and we therefore
add the following extracts from well-known scientific
writers . We think it preferable to give these notes
here to putting them in smaller types at the foot of
various pages, as in the present form they are much
.
easier to read and consult.

Dislike of Urnings to the odor fœmina . The


physical repugnance of true Urnings for women may
be illustrated by passages from Krafft-Ebing's cases
(pp. 117 , 123 , 163) which I will translate.
(1 ). " I had observed that a girl was madly in love
with me, and longed intensely to give herself up to
me. I gave her an assignation in my house, hoping
that I should better succeed with a girl who sought
me out of love, than I had with public women. After
her first fiery caresses, I did indeed feel a little less.
frigid ; but when it came to thinking about copulation,
all was over- the same stark frost set in, and my part
240 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

was played out. I sent her away, deeply excited ,


with some moral remarks ; and I have never tried the
experiments again. On all of these occasions the
specific odour of the female added to my horror.
(2) " The proximity of wenches aroused in me qualms
and nausea ; in particular I could not bear the smell
of them ."
(3) " It seems to me absurd to set up the female
form as the prototype of human beauty, I regard a
woman's person as displeasing, the formation of her
hips as ugly and unæsthetic. Dancing is therefore an
abomination to me. I loathe the odour which the so-

called fair sex exhales when heated by the dance.


The disgust inspired in these three Urnings by the
smell of the female is highly significant ; since we
know that the sense of smell acts powerfully upon the
sexual appetite of normal individuals . It may be
remarked in all the instances of pronounced Urnings,
sexual congress with women seems to have been fol-
lowed by disgust, nervous exhaustion , and the sense
of an unnatural act performed without pleasure. This
is true even of those who have brought themselves
to marriage. "

A PROBLEM IN MODERN ETHICS (pp. 54-55).


London, 1896.

(Since the death of John Addington Symonds, the


talented author of the " Renaissance in Italy ", this
work has been formally attributed to him. (Vide HAVE-
LOCK-ELLIS on " Sexual Inversion ").

Odor Fœmina and Sexuality : -Zippe (Wien.


Mcd. Wochenschrift, 1879, Nr. 24), in connection with
a case of kleptomania in an onanist, likewise establishes
ANTHROPOLOGY. 241

such relations, and cites Hildebrand as authority, who


in his popular physiology says : " It cannot be doubted
that the olfactory sense stands in remote connection
with the sexual apparatus. Odours of flowers often
occasion pleasurable sensual feelings, and when one
remembers the passage in the ' Song of Solomon ',
' And my hands dropped with myrrh and my fingers
with sweet-smelling myrrh upon the handles of the
lock ' , one finds that it did not escape Solomon's
observation. In the Orient, the pleasant perfumes are
esteemed for their relation to the sexual organs, and
the women's apartments of the Sultan are filled with
the perfumes offlowers."
Most, professor in Rostock (comp . Zippe) , relates :
" I learned from a sensual young peasant that he had
excited many a chaste girl sexually, and easily gained
his end, by carrying his handkerchief in his axilla for
a time, while dancing, and then wiping his partner's
perspiring face with it. "
The case of Henry III shows that contact with a
person's perspiration may be the exciting cause of
passionate love. At the betrothal feast of the King
of Navarre and Margaret of Valois, he accidentally
dried his face with a , garment of Maria of Cleves,
which was moist with her perspiration . Although she
was the bride of the Prince of Condé, Henry conceived
immediately such a passionate love for her that he
could not resist it, and made her, as history shows,
very unhappy. An analogous instance is related of
Henry IV, whose passion for the beautiful Gabrielle is
said to have originated at the instant when, at a ball,
he wiped his brow with her handkerchief.
Professor Jäger, the " discoverer of the soul" , refers
to the same thing in his well-known book (2nd ed. ,
16
242 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

1880, chap. XV, p. 173) ; for he regards the sweat as


important in the production of sexual effects and as
being especially seductive.
One learns from reading the work of Ploss (" Das
Weib "), that attempts to attract a person of the op-
posite sex by means of the perspiration may be dis-
cerned in many forms in popular psychology. In
reference to this , a custom which holds among the
natives of the Philippine Islands when they become
engaged, as reported by Jäger, is remarkable. When
it becomes necessary for the engaged pair to separate,
they exchange articles of wearing apparel, by means
of which each becomes assured of faithfulness. These
objects are carefully preserved, covered with kisses,
and smelled.
The love of certain libertines and sensual women for
perfumes indicates a relation between the olfactory
and sexual senses.

The following case, reported by Binet, seems to be


in opposition to this idea. Unfortunately nothing is
said concerning the mental characteristics of the per-
son. In any event, it is certainly confirmatory of the
relations existing between the olfactory and sexual
senses :-D. , a medical student, was seated on a bench
in a public park, reading a book (on pathology).
Suddenly a violent erection disturbed him. He looked
up and noticed that a lady, redolent with perfume,
had taken a seat upon the other end of the bench.
D., could attribute the erection to nothing but the un-
conscious olfactory impression made upon him.
(Vide, Kraft Ebbing's (pages 26-28) “ PSYCHOPATHIA
SEXUALIS " with especial reference to Contrary Sexual
Instinct: A MEDICO-LEGAL STUDY.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 243

Authorized translation of the seventh enlarged and


revised German edition , by CHARLES GILBERT CHAD-
DOCK, M.D. (Philadelphia and London , 1895.)

The odour of nudity . Lombroso says :- " Civiliza-


tion gave birth to false modesty when it suppressed
nudity, and habits of cleanliness attenuated that peculiar
smell of the body, which, exhaled by the female at-
tracted the male. The attracting attributes depending
on sight and especially on tact, now developed them-
selves and transformed the feminine maternal organs
"9
(lips and breasts) into erotic organs."
La Femme Criminelle (page 112) , Paris , 1896.

[" It is also remarkable that many animals (musk-


ox, civet-cat, beaver) possess glands near their sexual
organs, which produce secretions having a very strong
odour.]

The influence of age on the odor fœminæ . ¹ It


is unnecessary for us to tell our readers, that it is
more agreable to sniff the odour of a rose or that of
a bunch of violets between two fresh Normandy
pippins, than when enclosed between two dried figs
of the desert of Sahara.
Thence comes the unhealthy lubricity of certain old
men who pay with gold, the freshest breasts in order
to soil them lecherously with their impure and dis-
gusting slaver : here is a clear case of high-treason
against humanity, particularly if these pretty Magde-

For this note and the following we are indebted to DR. AUG.
GALOPIN'S little book entitled : Le Parfum de la Femme et le Sens
Olfactif dans l'Amour. Etude psycho-physiologique (Paris, Dentu, 1889 ) .
244 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

burg hemispheres resemble those the glory and love


of which were so aptly sung by Victor Hugo :

"Jeanne est nee à Fougère


Vrai nid d'une bergère,
J'adore son jupon
Fripon.
Amour, tu vis en elle,
Car c'est dans sa prunelle
Que tu caches ton carquois,
Narquois.
Moi, je chante et j'aime,
Plus que Diane même,
Jeanne et ses durs tétons
Bretons."

The odor fœmince has like woman's life, three great


natural phases :
(1 ) the period of puberty ;
(2) the period of marriage ;
(3) the period of the menopausis .
Old age is seldom apparent, in women of the world
before the age of sixty.
After she has passed her fifteenth olympiad, woman
has no longer any age and still remains beautiful, if
she has the wit to know how to grow old.
The odour emitted by old women is sometimes very
pleasant, resembling that of dried rose-leaves, of iris
and of the faded flowers of the lime-tree.
As for young girls, they almost always smell agree-
ably, their odour is pleasing and awakens no carnal
desire .

However, the Song of Songs teaches us that all


meat was game to that old polisson Solomon . Listen
to what Cloquet says : " At the moment of puberty,
young virgins sometimes shed around them a perfume
ANTHROPOLOGY. 245

that the poets of all ages have not failed to celebrate,


and that the author of the Song of Songs has exalted
with an enthusiasm , which may be still, though rarely,
understood in our days."
The idea of the Odor Fomino could naturally not
escape the observant mind of Zola who said : " Every
thing exhaled an odour of woman ...'
..." He smelt this woman's shoulders the fragrance
of which intoxicated him."
It is incontestable that it is during youth that these
olfactive impressions are most vivid . But it cannot be
denied that they give a calm and legitimate pleasure
at every age, even to octogenarians, of whose long
and active life there remain only memories .
This reminds us of the words of an illustrious and
estimable old man , Crémieux , who honoured us with
his affection and who, on the day after the death of
his dearly loved partner, said to us in his house at
Passy :
" My dear boy, this atmosphere , so full of her, will
.
soon choke me, now that she will return no more to
renew the life of it ..."
And a few days later, this noble old friend died of
grief and of hunger, because he would not live any
longer without her.

The awakening of erotic ideas. This is what


one of the most eminent contemporary physiologists ,
Professor Longet, says on the subject :
" The olfactory sense intervenes with some people
to awaken venereal desire. There are certain men
who find, in the influence exercised by the odour of
the vulva on the pituitary membrane, the principle of
very erotic dispositions. The smell of man also, awakens
246 UNTRO
DDEN FIELDS OF

in some ardent women, the wish for pleasure . Here,


memory and imagination must largely contribute : is
it not the same with regard to the ardent impression
produced, particularly during youth, by the atmosphere
exhaled by certain women, whose garments even retain
the breath of voluptuousness after they have quitted
them ?
" Among animals, the connection between the olfac-
tory and the genital organs is as incontestable as it is
intimate. When they are in heat, individuals of the
same species are forced mutually to seek each other ;
they therefore require a means of finding each other,
a means of excitation , and nature is careful to make
the sexual organs of most of them exhale , at this
moment, a strong and special odour. Nothing in fact
could more effectually serve this purpose than these ema-
nations spread far around by the atmospheric currents . "
Of course the odour of the vulva, alluded to by
Longet, is the smell peculiar to the special liquid
secreted by the glandular regions of that organ, and
the more or less unpleasant odours engendered by the
state of uncleanliness in which the said organ may
have been kept, have no connection with the animal
emanations with which we have to do.
Animals, bitches for instance, are careful to clean
themselves when they are in heat. Bitches that are
unclean find few or no gallants, with the exception of
some dogs whose olfactory sense has become vitiated,
examples of which depravation are frequently to be
met with in the human species.
Certain ardent women, gifted with a warm imagina-
tion, are usually highly perfumed . The temperature
of their body generally increases almost instantaneously ,
to the extent of from 10.8 to 3º.6 degrees Fahrenheit,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 247

under the masculine attack. This increase of heat


induces a considerable development of odorous vapours
which envelop their lovers in a perfumed atmosphere
which completes their intoxication , soldering their
affections and their souls : such women are sure of
being loved.
There are others, often more beautiful to the eye,
who may be looked at, admired even and, who, not-
withstanding, are not smelt ... are not loved. They
tire and repel to the tedium of monotony.
This explains those couplings, inexplicable to the
ignorant vulgar public, between one of those whom
it is agreed to call handsome lads (though nothing
is uglier than a man who thinks himself handsome) ;
and a woman whose face and whose body even have
nothing of classical plasticity.
Such a woman, vanquished to-day in a first meeting,
by one more beautiful than herself, will triumph to-morrow,
over the prettiest of her sex, thanks to the magical
power she exercises by her odour. She magnetizes
1
the atmosphere .
It often occurs, that the same handsome fellow who
had neglected her in the morning will be madly in love
with her in the evening . And all the other women ,
becoming jealous, exclaim :
" But what particular charm has she about her, with
her head one way, and her shoulders another ? "
1 Wilkes, the last century agitator, and one of the ugliest men of his
time was given to boast that he would, with an hour's start, compete with
the handsomest man agoing for the favours of a beautiful woman - and
win. His magnetism was attributed to his conversational powers. But
may it not have been due to some such cause as above outlined ?
The case of the Princess de Chimay (Miss Clara Ward) and the
uneducated, gypsy musician, the violinist of a Paris café - Rigo, is too
well known to need mention.
DEN
248 UNTROD FIELDS OF

She has this ... that the odour she emanates is


pleasant to the nostrils of men! That is what she
has ! And this quality, together with wit, suffices to
the woman who likes the society of men and is her-
self fond of man. Talent, in a woman of good taste,
does not alone consist in knowing how to choose the
most delicate perfumes ; it consists, mainly, in knowing
how to choose that which amplifies, without in any
way perverting, the natural odour peculiar to herself :
in this there is a secret difficult to divulge openly ;
but it suffices to draw your attention to it to enable
you to overcome all the difficulties connected therewith.
If woman knows so many things, it is because she
can guess at all that is hidden from her.
Céline Montaland (the celebrated actress) , so beautiful
and so dangerously perfumed , was she not always one of
the most seriously and legitimately beloved of women?
Animals can never converse together, and, yet, they
well know how to mark their preferences : do they not
fight each other to the death, as we do, to preserve
to themselves their favourite ?
The nasal pituitary gland is the powerful laboratory
in which are elaborated the living particles that detach
themselves from the beloved being, and which, by the
medium of the brain, are destined to be assimilated
to the entire organism.
The purest marriage that can be contracted between
man and woman is that which is engendered by olfaction
and finds its sanction by common assimilation, in the
encephalon, of the living molecules proceeding from
the evaporation of two bodies in contact and which
sympathise together.
The intoxication of confessors and of female peni-
tents has no other cause.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 249

In all ages of the Church , it is the perfume of vir-


gins that has always intoxicated priests and given rise
to the immorality of the confessional, as well for
youth filled with desire as for musing and sighing
old age.

Males thrown off the scent as to the odour of


their females during the act of copulation. In
the stables of cattle-breeders, female animals are often
met with that cannot be fecundated ; among cows par-
ticularly, to which the French then give the name of
66
Robinières " . This results, among other causes, from
the greater or less degree of antipathy which exists
between the two individuals, and mostly on account
of the antipathy of the male for the female. The bull
commences a work that. he is unable to finish : there
is fraud.
This antipathy can be overcome by dissimulating
the particular smell of the female, aromatizing certain
parts of her body, directly involved, in order to deceive
the male ; or at least, to momentarily attenuate the
emanations from the female which were offensive to
him , and repelled him.
In the case of mares, very strong infusions of espar-
cet (French honey-suckle) , wild thyme (Thymus ser-
pylum), sage and other aromatic herbs are employed.
Weak injections , penetrating but slightly, and directed
towards the sides of the canal of the female, are some-
times used to dissimulate or to attenuate the peculiar
scent proceeding from the secretions of the vaginal
glands.
For cows, infusions of all sorts of green herbs suffice ;
for rabbits, infusions of white nettle or of wild thyme.
With certain females destined to the reproduction
250 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of hybrids, it is sometimes necessary to blindfold the


male and to impregnate the female he is expected to
cover, with the natural scent of a preferred female of
his own species.
The female stranger is made to inhabit for several
days the same stable with the sultana, and next to her.
Immediately before the moment of copulation the pro-
ducts of the female secretions destined to throw the
male off the scent are removed to the field of action ,
he being blindfolded so that it is impossible for him
to see the concubine that is substituted for his legiti-
mate partner. Very often, in this case, the illusion is
sufficiently complete to deceive the animal .
If however the male entertains a doubt of the fraud,
the stranger must be removed and the preferred mare
made to take her place ; he is then led to smell her,
and the first one promptly substituted as soon as the
illusion seems to be sufficiently complete, and the
moment at hand.
This is very difficult to accomplish and no detail
must be neglected.
Another method was to make the stallions breathe
certain odours in the stable, before leading them to
the mares that are distasteful to them, but it did not
succeed, except after impregnating the female with
the odours of the stable, by making her live several
days in that of the stallion , before the final bringing
together.
When the sense of smell is perverted in a stallion ,
it makes him lose three fourths of his ardour. Some
animals, indeed, then fall into a state of relative impo-
tency, which becomes absolute if there is complete
obliteration of the olfactory faculties, which to them
are the most powerful excitants to sexual pleasure.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 251

With man, a momentary or chronic coryza provokes


similar accidents but not in so striking a manner.
Oliva recommends civet as useful to excite the
sexual desire in some animals. The smell of it makes
caged nightingales sing. " Fragrant odours, " says he,
" stimulate animals to sing, by increasing their amorous
tendencies. "
We have it on excellent authority that there was
a monk in Prague, who could not only recognize by
their smell different persons, but also distinguish a
chaste girl or woman from those that were not. What
admirable precision , and in how vast a field of experi-
ment must not the good monk have made his odorous
and more or less savoury investigations !
Doctor Monin, in his curious and useful study ofthe
odours of the human body (Les odeurs du corps
humain), adds : " the thing is not very difficult, we
know a certain ladies' physician who can admirably
detect by smell, and without ever making a mis-
take , when any of his clients have their menstrual
periods. "
Baruel senior could perfectly distinguish by scent
the blood of a man from that of a woman, attributing
the difference in smell to certain volatile fatty acids.
According to the accounts of travellers, the North
American Indians can follow by scent the track of
their prey or of their enemies (De la Hontan , La
Haye , 1715).
It would appear that the Mongol and the negro
races, by reason of the amplitude of their nasal cavi-
ties, are endowed with a finer and more extended
sense of smell than European peoples. Among Asia-

The Journal des Savants, Paris, 1864, referring to the (Euvres


de Lecat, Paris, 1767 , (vol. II, p. 257).
252 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

tics, the Kalmucks are noted , for the extraordinary


fineness of their olfactory powers.
Remarkable examples of the delicacy of this sense
among negroes are also recorded : some of them are
said to be able to distinguish the track of a white
man from that of a negro, and can also follow the
scent of those of their unfortunate comrades who, to
escape slavery, have fled to the forest.
Lecat relates a very curious case : " A boy who got
lost was brought up in the woods which he never
quitted . His sense of smell was so finely developed
that he knew of the approach of enemies, men or
animals. Having later on returned to civilized life, all
his olfactory power was retained intact by him. He
married, and could always follow his wife by her scent.
This is a husband who ... very luckily has not one
like him in Paris.

Already, in 1789 , Haller, in his Elementa physiolo-


gia, Lausanne, 4to , t. V , p . 162 , had studied the sensa-
tions that are produced by odours. He divided them .
into agreeable, disagreeable, and indifferent, or mixed .
This classification being too arbitrary, does not deserve
serious consideration.
What are in fact the odours that are agreeable and
those which are not?
Those which please some people are displeasing to
others; those which restore animation in some women ,
will provoke alarming syncopes, or intense nervous
irritability, in others.
We need go no further : a perfume that pleases at
noon, may at midnight be displeasing to the same
individual.
Therefore Haller's classification is totally wanting in
scientific character.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 253

All our elegant lady readers know that the inof


fensive cigarette which they smoke from taste or for
fashion, when they are well, is distasteful to them when
a slight attack of sick head-ache seizes them after
keeping too late hours, or on the occasion of a little
fatigue, nervousness, offended pride or lovers quarrel ,
and so forth ...
The olfactory sense is very capricious, very change-
able ... particularly in those spoilt children, but our
charmers still, who have learned how to conquer the
right to command , while at the same time seeming to
be obeying our will.
CHAPTER III.

Eroticism ofthe Negress and the coloured woman . -The sexual


passions of the Negress. - Methods of copulation. - The Mulatta
and the Quadroon . Their warm passions. --Astringent injections.
-Aphrodisiac drinks . - The aubergine enragée.--The Octoroon
girl.-Perversions of sexual passions in the Negro and coloured
races. -Dislike of the Negress for sodomy and otherfilthy acts. –
Depraved passion of the White man for the Negress.

Eroticism of the Negress . -Methods of Copula-


tion. The Negress is usually of a passionate nature
and does not care to waste time in trifles. I shall
speak later on of the aubergine, and the aphrodisiac
drinks that she gives her lovers to excite their ardour,
but she knows of no " refinements " , and accomplishes
the carnal act with brutal simplicity, and generally in
the regulation position, on her back, with the man
between her thighs . This is known at Cayenne by
the name of " counting the shingle pegs " , because, in
this • position, the woman has her eyes fixed on the
ceiling, and can thus count the pegs in the shingles,
or wooden tiles, which form the roof.
The Negress requires a " stallion-man " to make her
feel the proper physiological sensation, and she seldom
finds him except in the male of her own race. Added
to this, her nervous system is not so delicately organ-
ized as in the White woman. Her mucous membranes
254
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 255

are drier, especially as regards the genital organs.


The " flowers " are as rare in Guiana as they are
common in Cochin-China. To obtain the sensation of
voluptuousness under these conditions, the Negress
requires a slow copulation, which only the Black man ,
with his huge penis, can give her. I shall study this
question more in detail in speaking of the Negroes of
Senegal. The love of the Negress for the White
man, though it is flattering to her pride, is rather an
affection of the head than the physical senses.

Mulattas and Quadroons. -Their Warm Pass-


ions. It is not the same with the Mulattas, whose
nervous system is better developed . They are more
lascivious than their black mothers. With them you
may indulge in caresses to which the Negress would
be indifferent, and practise all the counsels of Ambroise
Paré, concerning the amusements of love. You may
also study with her, and thoroughly, Forberg's " Manual
of Classical Erotology ". " She has, however, her
mother's repugnance to sodomy. Though she will accept
' Ambroise Paré, the father of French operative surgery, was born
about 1509. As military surgeon, he was the first to undertake the
ligature of sectured arteries, the hemorrhage of which had hitherto been
effected by actual cautery with red-hot iron. He was a contemporary
of Rabelais, and in the many writings which make his name famous,
are several, of strict observation, confirmatory of the preceding remarks.
Among his numerous works may be found not a few curious and naïve
counsels concerning the generative act.
• Translated from the Latin of Antonii Panormitae Hermaphroditus ;
primus in Germania edidit et Apophoreta adjecit Frider Carol For-
bergius. Coburgi, sumtibus Menseliorum, 1824, in-8vo. This book,
done into FRENCH by the late Isidore Liseux, the indefatigable editor
of a number of classical works of a phallic tendency, is now rare ;
moreover, the 1824 edit. above noted, is much sought after by amateurs
and is likewise not often to be found.
256 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

all sorts of amorous caresses, manual or buccal, she


has a preference for the carnal act, pure and simple.
Being more nervous, and more easily moved than the
Negress, she will vibrate in unison with your own
passions. Many times have her lovers heard from her
lips this Creole phrase,, with its singular mixture of
eroticism and. religion : " Mouvé, ché doudou , mouvé
mouvé vite ; mo quá voé sain Pié, sain Paul, et tous
sains du Paadis. " (Move, darling, move , move quickly ;
and I will pray to Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and all the
Saints in Paradise). 1 As to the Quadroon who adopts
the profession of prostitute, she could certainly give
points to her European congeners, and it is only at

' This close connection of religion and lust is not confined to the
negress alone. Burton long since signalized the fact amongst Mussulman
peoples, who in the same breath that they tell an indecent and highly
spiced story, will break forth with an Astagfaru'llah ! (I seek pardon
of God). The history of the close union between sensuality and religion
remains still to be written. In Naples there is not a lupanar without
an image of the Madonna illuminated by a small lamp, and it is even
said that when a client enters the place, they make haste to veil the
image, so that the Virgin may not see him. We could say very much
on this subject, but will content ourselves here with citing the following
lines from Lombroso :
"All the great French courtesans of the last century, notwithstanding
the scepticism of the world they frequented, secretly observed, even in
the most licentious periods, as the De Goncourts have noted, certain
superstitious practices, such for instance, as having a mass said on
Saturdays in honour of the Blessed Virgin . Laurent relates having
known an aged courtesan who had become a procuress, and who used
to pray to the Virgin that her clients might prove generous when she
procured them a maid or a little girl ; he also mentions the case of an
Andalusian prostitute, who while in bed, describing to a client the
beauties of certain religious functions, was quite scandalized at perceiving
that he was incredulous ; and that of a Russian prostitute, who, on
leaving the house where she had spent a night with a stranger, obliged
him to lift his hat on passing before an icone or saintly image.
ANTHROPOLOGY . 257

Tahiti that I have ever met her equal. The number


of Quadroons at Guiana is very small in proportion
to that of the Mulattas. On the contrary, it is much
greater at Martinique, where the Whites seldom have
to do with the Negress. I shall speak later on of the
Quadroons of Martinique, who present but few slight
differences from those of Guiana.

Astringent Injections. The teeth are the chief


beauty of the Negress , and the coloured woman. If
the former takes little care of them, that is not the
case with the latter. Morning and evening, you may
see her chewing a tooth-pick made from a piece of
lemon wood ; half a green lemon, with the seeds picked
out makes the best possible tooth-brush for her.
With the juice of this fruit also , mixed with a decoction
of the husks of the mahogany nut, they also make a
preparation used in the private toilet. Is it to this
daily washing, which contracts and strengthens the
mucous surfaces, that must be ascribed the rarity of
vaginal discharges amongst the women? It seems
very probable.
The Quadroon and Mulatta, of Guiana, have one
special characteristic. Though not naturally jealous ,
the White man who gets into the clutches of one of
these coloured women, may be pretty sure that she
will never let him go. She will use every species

The Burmese women exercise an extraordinary and almost irresistible


fascination on Europeans . A distinguished English officer, on the high
road to promotion and dignity, who had been for some time stationed
at Rangoon, being obliged to return with the detachment he commanded
to the headquarters of his regiment at Madras, was so inconsolable at
this forced absence from his pretty Burmese mistress, who refused to
quit her country, that he threw up his commission, and sacrificed his
17
258 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

of pleasure to enchain him. Old Negresses will manu-


facture for her love philtres, called piaies, intended to
secure to her her lover's affections. These are gener-
ally aphrodisiac beverages, of which cantharides, bois
bandé, (and sometimes a little phosphorus) form the
active ingredients , and which are often dangerous to
use. As to the Misti or Octoroon, who has only an
eighth part of black blood in her veins, she is rare
at Guiana, except in the families of pseudo-whites.
The difference in the colour of the eyes, between her
and a White woman, is scarcely perceptible, and the
hair is soft and long. The shape of the face, the lips,
which are a little more prominent, and the breasts
which are slightly pear-shaped, are the only marks of
black blood.

The Aphrodisiacs used by the Coloured Women.


In the Mulattas and Zambras, the black blood is in
the ascendant, and they both preserve the special
odour of the Negro, and the large size of the genital
organ. If astringents do not produce the desired effect,
and the Massogan is willing to undergo the process,
they will propose to him a secret remedy, which will
cause his member to swell , and increase his voluptuous
delights .

The Decoction of " Tightening Wood ". To make


him perform often , they will give him to drink, before
going to bed, a decoction of bois bandé, or " tightening
wood " . The name well indicate its properties. It is
the bark of a kind of nux vomica tree, related to the

family ties, friends, and social position to return to the arms of his
beloved at Rangoon .
Such cases are far from rare, and are well known to those who have
served in the Madras Presidency .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 259

" false Angostura " , which contains brucine, and a little


strychnine. According to Rabuteau, ¹ it has a special
action in exciting the erective muscles of the penis,
and produces priapism.
This decoction taken in proper doses, will cause
erections ; but too strong a dose will produce symptoms
of poisoning .
The Hot Aubergine. This last , however, is less
dangerous than another method of enlarging the member
(li qua gain go posson). For this an aubergine (the
fruit of the egg plant), of an appropriate size, is taken,
and split lengthways. In each half is hollowed out
a deep groove capable of containing the member when
erect. Then a paste is made with flour, and water,
in which has been boiled some " tightening wood ".
some phosphorus matches (six to twelve), two or three
small pimentos (zozos), a dozen peppercorns, and as
many cloves, with one or two vanilla beans to give it
perfume. The foreskin is drawn back, and the penis
and gland covered with this paste, and then enclosed
in the aubergine. The plaster is left on for some
minutes, and at once produces intense phlogosis . To
allay this, the penis is bathed with a luke warm de-
coction of mallow, and then is rubbed with soap suds,
which are allowed to dry. If these various operations
are performed in the morning, eight or ten hours
before copulating, it will be found that the penis has
really increased in size. It is hot and inflamed, springs
into an almost permanent erection at the least touch,
and copulation produces a sharp feeling , almost painful.
If the aubergine is kept on too long, priapism , or
cystitis, will ensue .
¹ Rabuteau, De la Prostitution en Europe depuis l'Antiquité
jusqu'à la fin du XVIe Siècle, Paris 1851 .
260 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

A young lieutenant of Marines, a neighbour of


mine, tried the experiment one day. He was a fair
man, of a lymphatic temperament, with genital organs
rather below the average size, and, moreover, suffering
from a disagreeable phimosis. I was called to sec
him one morning, and found him in bed, complaining
greatly of an intense priapism ; the penis , which was
of treble the usual size, was red and inflamed, the
gland was enormous, and in the form of a pear, being
strangled by the foreskin . The patient also com-
plained of pain in the bladder. I was obliged to cut
the foreskin, and then stopped the inflammatiou by suit-
able treatment. The patient swore - but rather too
late in the day - that he would never try the process
again.

Dislike of the Negress to Sodomy and other


Vicious Habits. ¹ Negresses, though very fond of
coition, have a dislike for strange or depraved habits .
One of my friends, a White Creole of Martinique,
had a great passion for Negresses, but, by going too
much with women , he had greatly decreased his genital
forces. He has many times confessed to me , that he
could not get either the Negresses, or the Zambras ,
to lend themselves to those libidinous practices which
were necessary to give him an erection , whilst, on
the contrary, the Mulattas, and Quadroons, especially
1 If Negresses and Mulatoes show such aversion to lend themselves
to this hideous vice the same cannot be always said of their more
civilized(?) brethren in European cities. We have already mentioned
(page 127 ) the woman-haters' ball at Berlin, we wish now to draw
attention to a similar sexual perversion in Paris, for which purpose we
give in an appendix an English translation of some equally astounding
facts published in the " Centuria Librorum Absconditorum " of PISANUS
FRAXI. Lond. 1879.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 261

those of Martinique, were quite ready to do whatever


he wanted. 1 He was sleeping one night with a young
Negress of sixteen or seventeen, and his member not
being sufficiently stiff, he had the strange idea of
putting over it a hollow case of black india-rubber
the exact size of a Negro's penis. He wanted to
operate with this machine , but the Negress was furious ;
she threatened to tear out his eyes, and left his house ,
abusing him soundly. She gave him such a bad
reputation that it was almost impossible for him to
get another woman to sleep with him.

1 ¹ Kafft-Ebing in his wonderful analysis of the sexual passions, and


their aberrations, has dealt with cultivated pederasty in a most able
way. Amongst the motives that bring a man, originally normally sexual
and of sound mind, to this practice, he gives the desire for sexual
satisfaction where woman is absent, as in cases of bestiality, and the
unnatural practices which occur on board ship during long voyages, or
in prisons, in baths and other isolated places. He thinks that there are
single individuals of low morals and great sensuality, or actual urnings,
who seduce the others. Lust, imitation, and desire further their purpose,
and the learned doctor considers , that the strength of the sexual
instinct" is most markedly shown by the fact that such circumstances
are sufficient to overcome the repugnance for the 6 unnaturalness of
the act. "
We cannot do better than quote the doctor textually.
Another category of pederasts is made up of old roues that have
become supersatiated in normal sexual indulgence, and who find in
pederasty a means of exciting sensual pleasure, the act being a new
method of stimulation . Thus they temporarily renew their power, that
has been psychically and physically reduced to so low a state. The
new sexual situation makes them, so to speak, relatively potent, and
makes pleasure possible, that is no longer possible in normal intercourse.
In time, power to indulge in pederasty is also lost. The individual may
thus finally be reduced to passive pederasty as a stimulus to make
possible temporary active pederasty; just as, occasionally, flagellation or
looking on at obscene acts (Maschka's case of mutilation of animals ) is
resorted to for this purpose.
262 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Depraved Lust of the White for the Negress .


The White man to whom the strong smell of the
Negress is rather attractive than repellent, is already
1
physiologically depraved. I have known many such,
-officers and officials -who have returned to France
and married charming young women, but who long
for the black skin and the woolly hair of the daughter
of Ham. It must be confessed , that (to use a familiar
expression) the goods are always up to sample . The
custom of never wearing stays, and the high waisted
dress, fastened under the breasts, like the fashion of
the Directory, gives the body great suppleness , and
leaves the waist in its natural form, for woman was
not constructed on the same pattern as the wasp . If
her lips are black, her teeth are as white as those
of a puppy, and the mucous surfaces of her mouth are
of a coral red, which makes an agreeable contrast to
her black skin. Her breath is pure. If the breast of
the young Negress is pear-shaped, the nipples are nice
and firm . The Negress is, above all, remarkable for
her large pelvis, and has posteriors as ample as those
of the Venus Callipyge. You feel that Nature intended
her to be a good bearer ". The thigh is of a fairly
good size, but the leg is thin, the calves are small.

¹ Pruner Bey defines :-


" The penetrating odour given out by the skin of the negro is ammo-
niacal and rancid ; one might say the smell of the he-goat. There is
nothing in it of the aqueous perspiration, for that is not increased . It
is probably due to a volatile oil thrown out by the sebaceous follicles.
Measures of cleanliness greatly diminish it, without however causing it
entirely to disappear. We do not know if this characteristic of the race
can change by means of a uniform diet, as is the case with fishermen
and with opossum hunters in Australia." MEM . SUR LES NEGRES.—
Mem. de la Soc. d'Anthropologie ( 1860–63, p. 325) .
For further details, see the Excursus to the last chapter.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 263

and the foot flat and long. In conclusion , we may


mention that the skin of the Negress is always fresh,
---- a charm that is not without its attractiveness in the
heat of the day.

The Beauties of the Coloured Woman. The


Zambra is almost a Negress, and her dark brown tint
is not so agreeable - according to the opinion of many
amateurs —as that of the full Negress. In the Mulatta
both races have a partial predominance. Her hair is
crisp and curly, though longer. The skin is often of
a pretty golden brown colour. Sometimes her genital
organs more resemble those of the white race, but the
breast is always pear-shaped , and the nipple always
black . In the Quadroon, on the contrary, the black
type becomes much weaker; the eyes are sensual and
languorous, the hair long and almost smooth , the skin
often not darker than that of a brunette of the South
of Europe ; the lips , though, which are of a deep car-
mine red, remain rather thick. The breast is still
markedly pear-shaped, and the nipples black ; the
pelvis, and buttocks well developed , as in her grand-
mother, the Negress . The hair of the pubes is almost
like that of a European woman, brown, deep chestnut,
or red, if the latter was the predominant colour in the
males. The clitoris is of a normal size, the mucous
surface of the vulva, carmine red , darkened with a
dash of sepia. The leg and foot closely resemble those
of the European women.

Permanent Marks of Black Blood in the Genital


Organs of the Male. In the Quadroon woman the
skin is often lighter than that of a dark European
woman of the South of Europe ; and the Quadroon
264 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

man is of the same tint. I have known some quite


fair, with blue eyes. But, it suffices to cast a glance
at the genital organs, to find the indelible marks of
black blood. The skin of the penis, and the scrotum,
is always darker than that of the rest of the body.
The mucous surface of the gland is of a deep red ,
darker than the clitoris and vulva of the Quadroon
woman. By this colour, and by the blue circle at the
root of the nails, the Quadroon can be always
recognized, even when he is fair. This double mark
still exists, though less strongly, in the Octoroon, who
has but one eighth part of black blood in his veins.

Perversions of Sexual Passions in the Negro


and Coloured Races. There only remains for me
to give some details concerning the perversions of
sexual passions. On this point, I shall be very brief,
having very little to say. The Negresses , and Creole
women of colour, are pure, as are also their brothers,
in this sense, that pederasty and sodomy- those two
vices so common in the Extreme East-are almost
unknown to them.
Women are so easily obtained in this pleasant
country, that this result is not astonishing. I have,
however, attended medically a young Mulatto , who had
contracted a gonorrhoea in unnatural copulation with
an individual whose social position he refused to reveal.
Another case of unnatural offence, I found in a
Negro boy of fifteen, who had accepted the immodest
offers of a freed Arab. This latter kept a little liquor
store, for the sale of tafia and other spirits. He first
made the boy drunk, by offering him a lot of spirits ,
and, the money not being forthcoming, paid himself
on the lad's body. As a natural consequence of the
ANTHROPOLOGY. 265

great disproportion in the size of the two parts , there


was occasioned a rectal fissure , with acute inflammation
of the anus . The mother of the boy, a washerwoman,
came to me, and related the story which the young
scoundrel had devised. He stated that a young goat
had run after him, and had pushed its horn up his
rectum ! The young blackguard was, no doubt, ac-
customed to commit the act, for there was a well-
marked infundibulum in his anus, and on my threatening
not to cure him unless he told me the truth, he con-
fessed everything. The case was cured by appropriate
treatment, which cicatrised the rectal fissure, but the
boy's anus remained sufficiently dilated to admit the
finger easily.
These two cases are the only ones that I met with
amongst the coloured races, during a stay of three
years : but on the other hand, amongst the Hindoos
engaged as coolies, and the Arabs released from the
hulks, I found plenty of others.

The question of the deflowering of little Negresses ,


I shall treat of when I come to study the Negro race
in Senegal .

EXCURSUS TO CHAPTER III.

The following astonishing, and hitherto unrecorded


facts connected with this abominable propensity in Paris
have been communicated by the erudite author of
Histoire de la Prostitution chez tous les Peuples du
Monde. I give them in his own words :

" Greece and ancient Rome, where sotadic habits


enjoyed absolute liberty, had not thought of organising
male prostitution, by consecrating to it special lupanars.
266 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The Greek and Latin historians have not left us any-


thing, which could indicate the existence of brothels
of youths and young men addicted to the exercise of
Socratic love. It would be necessary to go to Persia
in order to discover traces of such tolerated establish-
ments devoted to the vice against nature, called by
euphemism in the eighteenth century, the philosophical
sin (see on that subject the Voyage en Perse of the
Chevalier Chardin , in the 17th century). It was never
suspected that an establishment of the kind could exist
in the very heart of Paris, in the middle of the nine-
teenth century. The fact is however incontestable , as
the rare survivors of the period of the Restoration
may testify. At that time the police was so closely
occupied watching political conspiracies, that it could
find no leisure to take much interest in moral disorders.
This only can explain the sort of impunity that, from
1820 to 1826, was accorded to an establishment , un-
doubtedly not authorised, but to whose existence the
authorities closed their eyes.
This establishment had been founded in the Rue
du Doyenné, which formed part of the ancient quarter
of Saint Thomas du Louvre, enclosed within the quadri-
lateral formed by the junction of the Louvre with
the Tuileries. This Rue du Doyenné was lower than
the level of the Place du Carrousel ; it gave on one
side, on to the large avenue that the Revolution had
opened on the site of the houses which had been
demolished to enable the Place du Carrousel to com-
municate with the court of the old Louvre. On the
other side, the Rue du Doyenné had no issue , and
led only to blind alleys looking on to abandoned
gardens and waste grounds. This house of male pros-
titution was located in a mansion of the 17th century
ANTHROPOLOGY. 267

appropriated to its new destination. The grand entrance


was suppressed, and in its place were two small
side-doors, which remained shut during the day and
were only opened at night. A lantern suspended to
a post opposite the building shed a dubious light upon
its approaches, and it might have been supposed to
be uninhabited, and indeed had probably during the
day for only inhabitants the master of the house and
his servants. We were however assured that the
employés resided there and that they were subjected
to a very severe discipline ; when they went out they
were kept within sight and had nothing to do with
women outside of the house ; for this establishment,
we were informed, served for two distinct purposes :
the door to the right was for men, that on the left
was for women. The latter, who were no doubt but
rare exceptions, came there in quest of men ready
for any kind of work, docile and indefatigable servi-
tors, whom nothing should disgust or fatigue. The
men on the contrary (and in the outset the establish-
ment was created solely for their use) on going to
spend the evening or the night in the male Gynæceum ,
would have avoided it with horror, if they had been
exposed to meet with women there. I have also heard,
that the health of the active pensioners was closely
looked after by special doctors, whose mission was to
preserve them from an ugly malady called the crystal-
line. As soon as the shades of evening began to
fall, at 4 o'clock in winter, and at 8 o'clock in sum-
mer, the palace of male prostitution seemed to revive ;
the blinds were seen to half open, the windows to be
illumined, and preparations made to receive visitors.
At cach door of the establishment there could be seen
a young man, of effeminate appearance, his hair care-
268 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

fully curled, elegantly dressed, his neck bare, walking


to and fro, in the street, beneath the glare of the
lamp, awaiting customers. I remember having seen,
more than once, such goods, and I was struck as
much by their decent and candid features as by the
provocation of their dress and appearance : they had
exaggerated the strange fashions of the day : frock-
coats with leg-of-mutton sleeves , very tight at the waist,
showing off the hips and posterior development. It
must also be borne in mind that they wore rose-coloured
or blue neck-ties, and that they usually had on light
coloured gay suits, hazel, grey, or greenish. These
details might be called the bagatelles of the door- way.
This pretty institution suddenly disappeared in 1826 ,
after the publication of a malicious article , in which
the police was called over the coals by a theatrical
journal, wherein the author expressed his astonishment
that such a public or semi -public establishment could
have so long have been able to peaceably exist next
door to the office of the Gazette de France !¹ As
the writer maliciously said : " Are we to presume
neighbourly good fellowship between the two establish-
ments " , at the same time permitting himself an injur-
ious allusion to the supposed tastes of Louis XVIII.

In the middle ages, the principal domain of prosti-


tution in Paris was called the Champ Flory, perhaps
by analogy with the Field of Flowers the privileged
rendezvous of the courtesans in ancient Rome. In
the 18th century and the first forty years of the 19th,
it was in the Champs Elysees that sodomy held its
nocturnal sessions. There are still living many wit-

The oldest political newspaper in France ( 1660), the organ of legit-


imate monarchy and of strictly orthodox catholicity.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 269

nesses of the facts we are about to relate, enabling


them to be recorded in a history of ways and habits.
The entire planted square extending from the Place
Louis XV (now Place de la Concorde) to the Allée
des Veuves, between the main Avenue of the Champs
Elysées and the Cours-la-Reine, was the reserved fief
of Ebugors : these did not show themselves during
the day, at all events ostensibly, but at even-tide they
took possession of it, as masters absolute, until dawn .
The Allée des Veuves, since become the superb
Avenue Montaigne, bordered by handsome buildings
and mansions, was at that time nearly uninhabited ,
and the low wine-shops, which invaded it at the time
of the Directory, were all enfeoffed to the dominating
sect of the Ebugors. LA TYNNA, in his Dictionnaire
topographique, historique et étymologique des Rues de
Paris (5 ed. 1812 ) , did not know, or did not dare to
divulge the truth, concerning the Allée des Veuves :
" This alley " says he, " at the bottom of the Champs
Elysées, but little frequented before the establishment
of the drink-shops, is really most appropriate for
Veuves (widows) . Veuve, in the figured language of
the sodomites, was synonymous of the passive actors
or patients, in the sense of the latin word patiens.
From all corners of Paris, those interested repaired
every evening to the square of the Allée des Veuves,
and as soon as these occupants had taken possession
of it, they allowed no indifferent stroller to intrude
within the friendly shade of the venerable trees beneath
which the sodomites were wont to sport. It would
indeed have been dangerous to venture in the dark
beneath these trees , guarded by their usual frequenters,
as the forests of antiquity were by sylvans, satyrs and
fauns. But the people of the Allée des Veuves would
270 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

not have tolerated the approach of any nymph of


the woods. There was no doubt some pass-word,
some sign of recognition , to enable late-comers to be
admitted without opposition to the free exercise of
their habitual pastimes. At any rate the police and
night patrols never ventured into these quarters, where
they would have found an offensive army to oppose
their imprudent curiosity. There , during seven or
eight hours of the night, at all seasons, was a pro-
digious concourse of sectaries, who abandoned them-
selves to their secret cult, without fear of being dis-
turbed or troubled . It is asserted that at certain times
the mysterious love-feasts of these neophytes degenerated
into a sort of nocturnal sabbat, in which the horrible
familiars of this infernal pell-mell seize hold of each
other hap-hazard and indiscriminately. Then were
heard cries, groans, complaints, confused sighs. In
these sorts of occult and tenebrous solemnities, the
entire sanctuary was enclosed by ropes stretched from
tree to tree, and there were armed men charged to
keep out all the profane, by threats or by force. Victor
Hugo, who resided , in 1831 , in the Rue Jean Goujon , in
the then new and almost desert quarter of Francis I,
when he had retained friends of his till a late hour at
his home, would often accompany them, as walking
in groups, they conversed on art and literature, as far
as the Place de la Concorde , whence, after bidding his
friends good-night, he would return home alone com-
posing verses as he went. He had several times
noticed certain men who, when he passed, arranged
themselves in échelons along the border of the square
of the Allée des Veuves, and who seemed to observe
him from afar, but without attempting to approach
.
him. He could not suppose these men to be robbers
ANTHROPOLOGY. 271

and he was curious to know what was the motive


of their habitual presence in this solitary place ;
but poetry soon lifted him above the things of the
earth, and he continued his walk, reciting his verses
in a low voice, as if he had been in his study. On
one occasion, he stopped, seeking for a rhyme, or
staring at the moon, which was shining in all its
brilliancy : a man detached himself suddenly from the
shade of the trees, and advanced towards him, bowing :
" Sir, " said the stranger, with extreme politeness, “ we
must entreat you not remain here any longer. We
know who you are, and we should be sorry that one
of ours, not knowing you , should be disagreeable or
hostile in addressing you. " -" But what then are you
doing here? " asked Victor Hugo, " Every evening
I notice people glide along in the shade, and disappear
beneath the trees. " " Pray pay no attention to that,
Sir, " quickly answered the person, whom Victor Hugo
had before him; " we do not disturb or get in the way
of anybody, but we do not suffer anyone to disturb
or interfere with us ; we are here at home ! " Victor
Hugo understood, bowed and went his way. Another
evening, that he had taken along with his friends the
counter-alley which bordered the Avenue des Veuves,
he found this counter-alley obstructed by a line of
chairs bound together with cords. At the same time
.
a menacing voice cried out, " no thoroughfare here. "
Another voice, less formidable and almost friendly,
continued immediately : " Mr. Victor Hugo is requested,
for this time only, to pass on the other side of the
Avenue des Champs Elysées. "
About this time, Guilbert de Pixerécourt, who was
manager of the Theatre Royal of the Opera-Comique,
had the annoyance of being informed by the com-
272 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

missary of police of his quarter, that the previous


evening, behind a heap of paving-stones in the Rue
Saint Fiacre, the Secretary-General of the Opera-Co-
mique had been arrested, being discovered in intimate
liaison with a Limousin stone-mason . Guilbert de
Pixerécourt had the greatest difficulty in saving the
Secretary-General of his theatre from being prosecuted
in the Correctional Police Court ; he sent for him
and overwhelmed him with his just indignation . " It
is true, Monsieur le Directeur, " replied the guilty
man, shedding tears, " I was wrong. not to know how
to contain myself until I should have arrived at the
Champs-Elysées, with the worthy fellow I met on the
Boulevard du Temple. I am grieved at a scandal
which would not have occurred, if we had gone
directly as usual to the Allée des Veuves. "
When the municipal authorities at last decided to
morally cleanse the Champs-Elysées, and to hunt out
of it for ever the Ebugors of the Allée des Veuves
and neighbourhood, these gentry whom the police
forced to quit, used during some time to come back
again it was necessary to drive them away at night,
and to make numerous arrests, which were often re-
sisted with arms in hand and led to sanguinary reprisals.
Finally the law got the upper hand, and the sect of
the Ebugors was finally dispersed and subjected to the
police regulations. "

One of the most abominable pederastic scandals ofmod-


ern times , and which created an immense sensation
at the period, occurred during the reign of Napoleon III .
There are many persons now living, contemporaries
of the events, who perfectly remember the circum-
stances, the details of which oozed out notwithstanding
ANTHROPOLOGY. 273

the strenuous efforts that were made to stifle the report


of them .
The following are the facts as related by Pisanus
Fraxi:-
The anonymous authors of i'Histoire amoureuse des
Gaules have revealed to us one of the most singular
episodes of the reign of Louis XIV, in writing the
annals of France become Italian. It is known how
indignant and humiliated the " Grand Monarque " felt
to find his own son, the Count of Vermandois, was
compromised in the ugly doings of the society of
Franco-Italian Ebugors. The Emperor Napoleon III
experienced a similar mortification when he learned
that some of the most eminent men of his reign were
compromised in a great Sodomy Company limited
business. The originator, or at least the director of
this affair, in which very important sums of money
were invested on mutual account, was, it was said ,
Mr. C - n, the syndic (president) of the Parisian Asso-
ciation of Stockbrokers. This gentleman , one of the
richest members of this association , was perhaps no
more than the not over scrupulous and obliging friend
of these personages of the Court, of the Senate and
of Financial circles, with whom banking operations
had brought him into intimate contact. However that
might be, an association, or rather club, of sodomists
had already been four or five years in existence with-
out the fact being noted, when mere chance made
it known.
The Colonel of the Dragons de l'Impératrice was
advised that the soldiers of this crack regiment were
making extravagant expenses of all kinds and that
they had most of them gold in their pockets. It was
not easy to explain how these men could possibly
18
274 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

have so suddenly become rich, it being known that


neither they nor their families possessed the least
amount of income. They were chosen among the
most handsome and pretty-faced men in the army, and
their coquettish uniform appeared to be their sole
appanage. Several of them were searched ; they were
found possessed of well-lined purses ; one had 25 louis
(£20) on him. They pretended that this money was
gained at play, but they did not or would not say at
what game they had made it. They were temporarily
put for a few days under arrest . At the same time
it transpired that the Cent- Gardes of the Emperor had
made their fortune, at all events a great number of
them, and particularly those who were specially re-
markable for effeminate beauty of face, bodily beauty,
or elegant appearance . These latter possessed, besides
splendid jewels, watches, chains, rings, and a little
stock of ready cash, which could not be the result of
avowable economies. There were new questionings,
new researches, but always with the same uncertain-
ties. At last a witness declared that one of the dra-
goons, still under arrest, had told him, after a copious.
dinner largely moistened with wine, that he would one
day become a millionnaire, because no one could do
the Empress better than he. The question suggested
itself what was the meaning of: to do the Empress.
This was soon made clear, when the police, which had
been put on the scent, discovered the headquarters of
the Ebugors, in a mansion in the Allée des Veuves,
the property of the Society and which served for the
cult of Sodom. This mansion, purchased at the expense
of the members, had been furnished and arranged spe-
cially for its purpose ; there were to be seen there
splendid apartments, that were never but transitorily
ANTHROPOLOGY. 275

occupied, by unknown persons who were received only


on presentation of a medal or sort of abraxas showing
mysterious signs and monograms. The door- keeper
and the servants of this house were taken into custody,
after a visit to the premises had left no doubt of their
usual destination . In the interior two wardrobes were
discovered filled with all kinds of costumes, feminine
of course, and among them, the costumes worn by the
Empress Eugénie in ceremonies and official receptions.
This strange discovery led to another still more signif-
icant. A quantity of correspondence was seized, let-
ters in all sorts of hand-writings, anonymous or pseu-
donymous, interchanged between the associates and
their adherents , who were none other than Cent-gardes
and Dragons de l'Impératrice. A judicial enquiry
was instituted, and the porter-manager of the estab-
lishment was forced to speak. The recognized head
of the affair, Mr. C....n, was summoned before the Pro-
cureur-Général who, after a simply confidential exami-
nation, thought it necessary to refer the matter to the
Emperor in person, communicating to him at the same
time the reports of the police, in which were men-
tioned the names of several eminent personages, who
were on the point of being involved in the most scan-
dalous prosecution . The Emperor had no sooner lis-
tened to the Procureur-Général and perused the docu-
ments he had brought, than he judged it prudent to
suspend proceedings and to hush up the affair, keeping
at the same time in his possession all the documents
connected with it, and among them the famous corre-
spondences, in which the acts and doings ofthe interested
parties were exposed without any veil and in the most
figurative and burning language . As he said to the
Procureur-Général : " It is advisable to spare one's
276 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

people and one's country such shameful things ; scandal


corrects nobody and does harm to every one. The
punishment of such turpitude must be altogether arbi-
trary and secret ; I undertake to reach the guilty of
all ranks, without having recourse to the laws, which
I consider to be impotent against such acts of human
degradation. " The subordinate culprits who were in
preventive arrest, were set at liberty. No one else
was troubled openly ; but Mr. C ....n resigned his
position as a stockbroker and retired to his coun-
try residence, where he continued to remain : two or
three senators no longer showed themselves at Court,
five or six other incriminated persons , more or less
compromised, exercised justice on themselves by disap-
pearing from Parisian society, where their unexplained
absence was remarked and much commented on. The

Cent-gardes and the Dragons de l'Impératrice were


not subjected to any disciplinary measures, but a great
number of them were passed into other regiments ,
where they remained under the supervision of their
new chiefs . For ten or fifteen days low murmurs circu-
lated about this affair and its consequences, but the
matter was stifled by superior order. No doubt the
correspondence and documents in the hands of the
Emperor, were completely destroyed , for not a single
one was ever found again, as the authors of the Fourth
of September hoped they would be when they made
a most minute examination of the private papers in
the Tuileries. Nevertheless the liberty was taken to
publish the love-letters of a senator to a dragoon who,
under different costumes , had played the part of the
Empress in the mysteries of the mansion in the Allée
des Veuves.
The house in the Allée des Veuves, although undoubt-
ANTHROPOLOGY. 277

edly one of the most important, was by no means


the only establishment devoted to the practice of
sodomy, nor were its frequenters the only individuals
addicted to that vice . Paris was indeed at that time
infested with clubs of pederasts, and sodomy was very
generally practised by men of all classes. Although
the papers relating to the scandal in the Allée des
Veuves have no doubt disappeared, as my informant
surmises, yet other official documents, amply sufficient
to bear out my assertion, are still in existence . I
have had the opportunity of perusing one of these, a
police report, duly signed and approved, dated " 16
Juillet 1864 " , some time before the breaking up of
the band already mentioned . The chief of that society
was already known to the police, and is described in
the report before me as : " A very good - looking old
gentleman, and exceedingly rich, known at the Barrière
de l'Ecole (sic, intended probably for Étoile) under the
name of Father C -n, surnamed l'homme à la Ringué. "
The report continues :
" He comes to the café Truffaut, notices some young
soldier who takes his fancy, makes the waiter convey
a message to him and leaves the café without wait-
ing for an answer. If the soldier accepts , he goes to
the rendezvous, and as Father C - n is well known,
he never goes alone. Hardly has the meeting com-
menced, than immediately a lot of troopers appear,
fall upon Father C- n, beat him, and force him to
give them all the money he has about him , which he
does with good grace enough ; then, when he has not
a sou left and that often he has even given up his
watch, he escapes with tears in his eyes , repeating as
he runs : 'What an unfortunate situation for such a
man as I.""
EN
278 UNTRODD FIELDS OF

The attention of the police was directed to these


illicit practices by one of the sect, A. R .... m, from
whom the Vicomte de M..y had abducted his fa-
vourite youth and " maîtresse en titre", and who, in
a fit of jealousy, gave information against the band.
In the report in question the names and addresses of
the persons implicated are given in full, together with
numerous specimens of their love-letters to each
other. On one occasion there were actually eye-wit-
nesses of their practices ; these are minutely described,
and it appears that a bitch figured in these orgies.
Again I transcribe from the report :

" When these assemblies were complete , they closed


the curtains , and abandoned themselves to scenes of
orgie and of scandal that disturbed the repose of the
other dwellers in the house during a great part of the
night. They were distinctly heard giving each other
feminine names, and they could even be seen between
the curtains masturbating and sucking each other.
One of the specialities of these soirées was an act of
beastliness which they called ; l'Omelette à la Gre-
nouille, wherein there figured a bitch, which must
have been put to great pain, to judge by the howls
of the animal that these gentry tried to smother by
songs with accompaniment on the piano. These facts
were attested by most respectable persons, lodgers in
the house. "
I have elsewhere mentioned, under reserve, balls
of sodomites, and I am now able to confirm that
assertion. In the report under consideration two balls
are spoken of: the one given at no. 8 , Place de la
1 The frog omelette.
' INDEX LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 279

Madeleine , January 2, 1864 , by an " homme d'affaires ” ,


E. D .... d ; the other, a return entertainment by the
Vicomte de M..y, at the Pavillon de Rohan , 172 ,
Rue de Rivoli, on the 16th of the same month. At
this assembly, there were at least 150 men, and some
of them so well disguised as women that the landlord
of the house was unable to detect their sex . "

We consider it but justice to say that most of the


above extracts have been taken from that valuable
work by Pisanus Fraxi, the Centuria Librorum Abs-
conditorum. London (privately printed) 1879.
CHAPTER IV .

The Hindoo race in Guiana. - Laziness of the Black of Cavenne.


-The hired Hindoo.-Anthropological characteristics of the
Hindoo. The genital organ of the race. Comparison of the
genital organ of the Negro with that of the Hindoo . - The four
kinds of temperament of the Hindoo woman.- Want of morality
in the Hindoo race. - Perversions of the sexual passion.

Laziness of the Black Man of Cayenne. The Black,


at Cayenne, generally dislikes the painful labour of
agriculture. If he is the possessor of a patch of ground,
he plants some bananas, a little manioc, and a few
roots of tobacco, and pimento. Mudfish form his chief
food ; tafia costs sixpence a quart, retail. The Black
has few wants he cannot supply, and if he does work
at all, it is usually at the gold diggings , where he
can earn large wages, which are paid in nuggets, and,
perhaps, he manages to conceal a few other nuggets .
It is no rarity to see a Black arrive at Cayenne with
several thousand francs ; the first thing he does is to
buy a complete suit of black, with a tall hat, and a
white tie, like a respectable lawyer. He spends all
his money on women , and when his cash is gone, he
returns to his work at the mines.

The Hired Hindoo . To cultivate the large estates


recourse is had to Hindoos, hired with the consent of
280
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 281

the English Government. For a small daily pay, his


food, clothes, and lodging, the Hindoo must give five
years' work. Practically, he is worse off than if he
were a slave for life, for his master gets the greatest
possible amount of work out of him, without caring
if the poor wretch's strength is worn out at the end
of the time. But we must pass over this subject. I
will only state here, that this system of hiring Hindoos
is a deplorably bad one. They are picked up from
the dregs of the great cities of Calcutta, and Benares,
which is as much as to say that they are totally unfit
for the hard work of cultivating the fields. As I had
found, in Cochin-China, the Malabar healthy, and robust,
so did I find the hired coolie , puny, and unhealthy,
for syphilitic diseases are soon communicated amongst
these voluntary exiles.
I was able to study this race closely, having ob-
tained from the Colonial Government, one of these
hired coolies, to employ as my boy. I was lucky
enough to meet with a lad of eighteen, almost a Cau-
casian in form and features, who was active , and intel-
ligent ; he spoke a little English, and quickly learned
French, and served as an interpreter between me and
my Hindoo patients. They were non-paying patients ,
and for a very good reason. I was thus able to
gather some curious information about these unfortu-
nate waifs , who generally belong to the class of pariahs ,
for they are almost the only persons who would consent
to expatriate themselves, and quit the soil where their
ancestors rest.

Anthropological Characteristics of the Hindoo.


Anatomically, the Hindoo appeared to me to resemble
the European, but the more refined European of the
282 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

great cities. His features are regular, the nose straight,


the eyes horizontal , and widely open, the lips thin, the
feet and hands small, and well-made. The long and
smooth hair often falls to the hips. The skin, however ,
is almost as dark as that of the Negro, but has not
the same earthy tint, but often has the colour of old
bronze. The breast of the woman is far from being
pear-shaped like that of the Negress, but is not hemi-
spherical, like that of the White women : it is rather
arched, but, in the young girl, is small and firm . In
the adult woman it is greatly enlarged, but does not
hang like the breast of the Negress.

The Genital Organ of the Race. The Kama


Sutra divides men into three classes, according to
The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana, a book of Hindoo Erotology
written in Sanscrit about the fifth century of the Christian era.
This book was done from the Sanscrit , into English and privately
printed in London, in 1883 , and is one of those important anthropolo-
gical treatises for which India is famous. It appears that the collation¸
of original MSS . obtained from Calcutta, Benares and Jeypur was only
effected after immense trouble and with the help of several distinguished
scholars . The wealth of erotic Indian literature existing in Hindi and
Sanscrit may be gauged from the following :-
(1 ) Ratira has ya The Secrets of Love.
(2) Pancha sayka The Five Arrows.
(3) Smara Pradipa The Light of Love.
(4) Ratimanjari = The garland of Love.
(5) Rasmanjari = The Push of Love.
(6) Kamaledhiplava The Boat on Love's Ocean.
This last is also known as Ananga Ranga, or the stage ofthe Bodiless one.
Further information may be found in the learned introduction to the book
itself ; in the avant-propos to the charming French edition translated
from the English version and published by Liseux (Paris, 1885 ) -- not to
be confounded with a cheap, nasty and incorrect French text issued by
Carré and translated by Lamairesse- and in CATENA LIBRORUM TACEN-
DORUM (all about privately printed books) by PISANUS FRAXI, (London,
1885).
ANTHROPOLOGY. 283

the length of their lingam, -the hares, the bulls, and


the stallions. In comparison with the Negro -the type
of the stallion in the human race-the Hindoo is a
hare, but a little bigger, however, than the Annamite,
who appears to me to occupy the lowest place in the
scale of the comparative sizes of the genital organs.
The penis of the Hindoo is generally covered by the
foreskin, when in its normal condition, and when in
erection, in the boy not yet arrived at puberty. It
does not become bared in erection until the lad has
arrived at puberty, and is of an average age of sixteen
to eighteen, and then that is probably due to mastur-
bation.
The skin of the penis, and the scrotum, is of a fine
black, or deep chocolate, as in the Zambro, but, it
should be remarked , the mucous surface of the gland
of the Hindoo is never black . It is of a more or less
darkened red ; almost bright in the waifs of the higher
castes, whose skin is lighter than that of the pariahs.
In its usual condition, the yard is extremely flaccid,
but increases greatly when erect, being then almost
treble the size, and as hard as that of the European .
The average size appeared to me to be about 5 inches
long, by 1 in diameter. Many are from 3 to 4
inches, by one inch. Few are from 5 to 6 inches,
which is nearly the European average, and which here
appears to be the maximum . The testicles are oval ,
and the size of a pigeon's egg.

Comparison of the Genital Organ of the Negro


with that of the Hindoo. By the side of the Ne-
gro of Guiana, the Hindoo cuts but a sorry figure.
The yard of the former, when limp, measures from
five to six inches long by 14 to 1 inches in diameter.
284 . UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

When erect, it does not swell proportionally, but rises


only to 6 to 8 inches by 24 or 24 inches in diameter.
But the erection is never hard like that of the Euro-
pean, the Chinese and the Hindoo. It is always rather
soft, and feels to the hand like a strong elastic hollow
tube of black india-rubber. The testicle of the Black
is rounder than that of the Hindoo .
Another characteristic difference is that of the secre-
tion of the mucous surfaces. Either from cleanliness,
or from some other cause, a very small quantity of
sebaceous smegma is found under the foreskin of the
Negro. If the Negress very rarely suffers from dis-
charges from the vulva, the Hindoo woman is , in
this respect, almost a match for the Congai . This is
evidently a difference of race, for the food of the hired
coolies is the same as that of the low class Blacks ,
except that rice takes the place of manioc , or cassava.
The Kama Sutra does not give the dimensions of
the lingam , but this omission is repaired by the Ananga
1
Ranga, written in the 16th century of our era, whilst
the previous work dates from the 5th century. The
Ananga Ranga gives, for the dimensions of the penis.
of the " hare-man " , a length of six fingers broad ; for
the " bull-man", nine, and for the " man stallion ",

1
Ananga Ranga, a Hindoo treatise on conjugal love, written in
Sanscrit by the great poet, Kalyana Malla ( 16th Century) .
This work, far from being obscene, is an intelligent study of the
sexual functions of the married relations, and in the East is studied by
people of high rank and low. Burton, with Arbuthnot's coadjutorship ,
made an English version ( Gosmopoli, 1885 ), of it direct from the orig-
inal Sanskrit texts, and it was privately issued in London in a limited
number. In the Arabic it is known as Lizzat al- Nisa (Pleasures of
Women), and the common folk of India style it Koka Pandit, the
name of its supposed author. Isidore Liseux, the ex-Catholic priest.
printed a translation of it in French (Paris, 1886 ) .
ANTHROPOLOGY. 285

twelve. It should be remarked that the finger of the


Hindoo, being thin and delicate, is not more than 0.6
of an inch in breadth , and these measures would there-
fore correspond to 3.6 inches, 5.4 inches, and 7.2 inches.
The result of my personal observations is, that the
great bulk of the Hindoo coolies may be classed as
" men-hares ", only a small number are " men-bulls " ,
and a smaller number still " men-stallions".
The dimensions of the depth of the yoni (vagina)
correspond to those of the men of their class. Neither
of the works mentioned gives the size ; that depends ,
mainly, upon the more or less frequent usage that the
1
woman makes of her yoni. But, as a general prin-
ciple, the vulva and the vagina of the Hindoo woman
are much less widely open than those of the Negress,
though they are in excess of those of the Congai

The four kinds of Temperament of the Hindoo


Woman. 2 The Ananga Ranga classifies women in
four orders, according to their temperament. It may
be interesting to remark, that this excellent work (to
which we refer the reader), was far in advance , at that
time , of the medical science of Europe , which was
then in its infancy. Not until the 17th century, did
we get a classification analogous to that of the Hindoos,

1 See the Excursus to this chapter.


The Hindoo woman, according to Mantegazza (a) is pretty and has
a gentle, passionate nature. She generally possesses certain beauties, eyes
of raven black, glowing with the heat of the tropics, large, and shad-
owed beneath heavy evebrows and lids ; her shoulders, arms and breast
are worthy of a Greek statue. Her pretty little feet , free from any
tyrannical imprisonment of shoe or boot, are adorned with ankle brace-
lets and rings on the toes, which have retained intact their pristine
beauty and freshness." PLOSS . -Das Weib (vol I. p. 68).
Mantegazza-" Indien, " (Jena, 1885) .
286 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

for the four orders of women correspond almost exactly


to the four temperaments of the European doctors, -
the nervous, the sanguine, the bilious, and the lym-
phatic. I only met at Guiana with the two last orders,
the Shankhini (the woman conch) and the Hastini
(woman elephant). The anatomical details of the
Hindoo author are very exact. 1 Whether the moral
details were equally correct, it is impossible for me
to say.

The Want of Morality, and Sexual Perversions


amongst the Hindoos. The coolie, it should be
remarked, is a pariah, and the pariah in India, as
Jacolliot has well pointed out, has no morality. Badly
fed and badly paid, the hired coolies try to make
money by any means they can, -the men that they
may procure tafia, and the women that they may buy
suitable clothes and jewels. Hence there is a complete
want of morality amongst these poor people.
The youth, of from fifteen to twenty years of age,
gives himself up to pederasty, and finds customers
amongst the Arabs and Europeans released from the
hulks . The woman also is ready to practise any
method, like the prostitutė of Europe, and has not,
as the Negress has, a horror of sodomy. The admirers
of this sort of pleasure, moreover, claim in justification
(exactly as they did in Cochin-China at the beginning
of the occupation) the dangers of ordinary copulation .
Gonorrhoea and syphilis are the lot of those who
indulge in natural coition with the Hindoo woman ; -
she shares this miserable distinction with the Congai.
A depraved man can therefore easily satisfy his
passions in Guiana. If natural copulation with the
See the Excursus at end of this chapter.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 287

Negress, or the coloured woman , have no attractions


for him, he has the Hindoo woman or boy to fall
back on. But I should remark here, that there is one
remarkable difference between this last and the Annamite
boy. The latter takes delight in unnatural acts, and
will become an active agent if required ; the Hindoo,
on the contrary, is passive, and nothing but passive.
In no case does he try to reverse the rôles . Besides
which, the Arab (or the White man) who is an active
pederast, would not permit this ; he obliges the boy
to suffer his attacks without giving him any compen-
sation of the same nature .
As to the deformities of the vulva, or the anus,
produced in the Hindoo race by coition, they much
resemble those which I have described in the Annamite
race. To enumerate them here would be a repetition ,
so I refer the reader to what I have already written .
I should also remark, that the Hindoo women are
well acquainted with means for procuring abortion,
analogous to those described in the Ananga Ranga,
and that they do not hesitate to use them, if they find
themselves pregnant by a foreigner.

EXCURSUS I TO CHAPTER IV.

Lombroso takes upon this matter a somewhat op-


posite position. We quote a most important series of
statistics (given in his " La Femme Criminelle ",
pp. 320-21 , Paris 1896) : --
"With regard to the genital organs, I have been
able to find among prostitutes, hypertrophy of the
labia minora in 16 %, and monstruous in 2 cases ; in
6 cases it was accompanied by hypertrophy of the
clitoris and of the labia majora.
288 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Gurrieri noticed an exaggerated development of the


clitoris in 13 % and 13 % also in the development of
the labia minora ; there was excessive development of
the labia majora in 6,5 % of the cases observed.
Riccardi noted on 30 prostitutes observed by him :
5 with hypertrophy of the labia minora ;
2 99 "9 n ‫ מי‬clitoris ;
I "9 hypospadia 99 "
Gurrieri found among 60 prostitutes :
8 cases of hypertrophy of the 'clitoris ;
8 "9 excessive development of the labia minora.
A woman who had gained celebrity as an adulteress
as well as a murderess from lascivious motives, had
an enormous development of the clitoris and of the
labias minora : almost all the pseudo hermaphrodites
noted by De Crecchio and Hoffmann had exaggerated
sexual tendencies, either towards the one or towards
the other sex.
However, I am of opinion that excepting the richer
pilose development, the anomalous condition of the
organ does not correspond with the extent of vice, at
all events not in the proportion that has been asserted .
Among 3000 prostitutes , Parent-Duchatelet found
only three with an exaggerated development of the
clitoris, which in one case reached to the size of a
child's penis (3,14 inches) but unaccompanied with any
special tendencies nor with a masculine aspect, and
notwithstanding the absence of uterus, of menstruation
and of breasts : she declared that misery had driven
her to this unhappy trade, which she would gladly
renounce. The other two showed no trace of herma-
phrodism and were quite indifferent. Among the
numerous hairy ones (barbues) there was no anomaly
of the clitoris, nor any special tendencies.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 289

The profession does neither widen nor deform the


vagina, as it is supposed ; there are neo-prostitutes,
with enlarged vagina and vice versa. "

EXCURSUS II TO CHAPTER IV.

In ancient Indian literature, there exist special indi-


cations which we take from the Tamil Kokkogam.
Dr. A. GRÜNWEDEL was kind enough to translate.
them for us.

" In the ancient Indian historical documents the women are divided
into four classes : the LOTUS-SMELLING, or Padmini, the VARIEGATED,
or Cittini (Sanscrit : Cittrini), the SNAIL-LIKE, or Cankinni, (Sanskrit,
Cankhini), and the ELEPHANTINE. With regard to these women, the
Kokkogam says.
" THE LOTUS-SMELLING has breasts resembling the Bilva fruit (Aegle
marmelos), and has the peculiarity that with her, the suradanir, that is
the love excretion (or fluid outflowing during cohabitation) flows without
interruption and emits an odour like that of the tamarind, which has
beautiful blossoms. Her private parts are like unto the blossom of the
red water-rose, and are as it were a holy secret.
" THE VARIEGATED : her budding breasts acquire thickness ; her
legs are the colour of gold. Her love extract smells like honey or the sap
of the palm . Her private part is beautiful, being richly garnished with hair,
like unto blades of grass standing in rank around a golden dish. Her
love extract in soft and flows in plenty, for her parts open out widely.
" THE SNAIL- LIKE is very thin and not much developed .... her
parts are pressed together and covered with black hair, and her love
excretion has a salty smell.
"THE ELEPHANTINE has a big body richly furnished with hair,
and her vulva is spread out, while in middle there stands out a dry
mani (central pearl of the rosary, the clitoris) and her love excretion
has the same penetrating smell as that emitted by the fluid excreted
from the ear of a female elephant when in heat. The sides of the parts
are wide asunder and richly garnished with hair. "

Dr. Ploss, who cites this extract offers the following


curious scientific interpretation of the Indian's philos-
ophy :-
19
290 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

[" An anthropologist, reading attentively the above


apparently rather incoherent document, will at once
perceive that it is grounded upon a good deal of actual
observation. We have also had occasion to observe
among our own races, that the female genital parts
may present certain differences of form, as well in the
pilose development as in the general configuration ,
and we can easily understand what our Indian an-
cestors intended to convey under the above distinctions .
In the first form we have the vulva with big fat labia
and close shut rima pudendi whereas in the second
form we recognize the less prominent labia with a
slightly gaping slit. In the third form we have very
prominent big labia, not so fat, but closely juxtaposed .
Lastly, the Elephantine represents that form, in which
the middle border of the labia do not meet together,
so that the strongly developed skin-covered clitoris
stands out freely between them ; (hence the expression :
DRY mani.)
66
We can here again very clearly perceive how the
apparently most confused facts and stories of foreign
peoples often enough contain a good kernel of genuine
observation of nature. They must only be looked at
from the right side, and one should not from the
outset allow oneself to be frightened away by the
apparently absurd nature of the account, and not seek
to discover a satisfactory explanation in the facts and
conditions upon which it was grounded. "
Translated from the German of Dr. Ploss " Das
Weib in der Natur- und Völkerkunde, (Leipzig, 1895 ,
vol. I, p. 162).
In the " Old Man Young Again " a work transl.
from the Arabic, (real title " Book of Age-Rejuven-
escence POTENTIA CONCUPISCENTIAE " ) there are further
ANTHROPOLOGY. 291

most curious and extraordinary details and descriptions


of the human parts, with peculiar names and desig-
nations, that will not fail to interest the Student and
Physician. The subject is regarded from an original
Oriental standpoint.
CHAPTER V.

The Penitentiary and its occupants. — Transported criminals, or


old convicts.- Horrible customs of the convicts. - The innate
liking of the Arab for pederasty.- A crew under the “ Caudine
forks."-Ferocious lust of the African Arabs. — The Arab as an
active pederast.-Pederasty is primarily a question of race.-
The organ of generation in the Arab.

Transported Criminals, or Old Convicts . Form-


erly there were sent to the hulks, under the name
of convicts, those condemned to hard labour. In the
present day, they are sent to the penal colonies, and
are said to be " transported " . The hulks is called " a
penitentiary " , —a mere change of name, for the in-
stitution is exactly the same.
When transportation first commenced, in 1854 , it
was intended to renew at Guiana, on a large scale,
the attempts at forming an agricultural colony which
began in the time of Louis XIV, and Louis XV, and
reform the criminal by giving him the moral stimulus
of labour. This attempt failed , on the whole. Ac-
cording to the medical statistics , the average life of
the convict was hardly more than twenty months , in
the Colony , and, ten years later, Guiana was aban-
doned for New Caledonia.
Foreign criminals continued to be sent there (from
the Antilles , Reunion , India , and even some Annam-
292
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 293

ites) for crimes against civil law, and especially the


Arabs , who alone formed a great part of the popu-
lation of the Penitentiary. The only convicts now
sent to Guiana are a few white criminals, art work-
men, and clerks. At present, these form but a small
minority, but in reality they are the leaders of the
Penitentiary.

Fearful Immorality of the Convicts. ¹ The con-

vict, though disguised under the name of the trans-


ported prisoner, has retained all the horrible immorality
special to the hulks. These habits, in the opinion of
certain moralists, arise from the men being deprived
of the feminine element. I believe , however, that this
is but a secondary cause ; and that the real source of
unnatural vice is hereditary depravity. It is a law of
atavism, and a real mental disease, as medical science
has now pointed out. In all assemblies of human
beings, " like will to like " , and private associations
are formed between people having the same tastes,
and the same habits.
When transportation first began, a good many of
the convicts married, and set to work to cultivate the
land which was granted them by the Government.
Of all the establishments so founded , one only has

The following note is by J. A Symonds : " Balzac in Une der-


nière incarnation de Vautrin, describes the morals of the French
bagnes. Dostoieffsky in " Prison life in Siberia ", touches on the same
subject. See his portrait of Sirotkin , pp . 52 et seq. , p. 120 (Edition
J. & R. Maxwell, London) . We may compare Carlier, Les Deux
Prostitutions (pp . 300-1 ) , for an account ofthe violence of homosexual
passions in French prisons. The initiated are familiar with the fact in
English prisons. Bouchard, in his " Confessions " (Paris, Liseux, 1881 ),
describes the convict station at Marseilles in 1630.
H. Ellis, Sexual Inversion, p. 13. London, 1897 , in 8vo.
294 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

survived, the Penitentiary of St. Lawrence at Maroni ,


which still lingers on , thanks to a subsidy from the
mother country.
In order that the white race may prosper in a climate
so unhealthy, it must have the support of black blood .
The Negro, though shallow-witted, is honest at bottom ,
and has a considerable contempt for the transported
prisoner ;no Negress , however low she might be,
would consent to ally herself with a convict, —a Govern-
ment slave as she calls him . The despatch of the
white criminals to New Caledonia consequently caused
the Arab element to predominate at Guiana, and in-
creased the vice of sodomy, instead of diminishing it.
I shall devote a chapter specially to the white convicts
of New Caledonia, but, for the present, I shall only
occupy myself with the foreign convicts.
We know already the Negro of Guiana, and his
brother of the Antilles differs but little from him . As
to the Negro of Senegal, he is very rarely found in
the Penitentiary. We have studied also the Hindoo
and the Annamite. There remains to speak about the
Arab convict.

The Innate Liking of the Arab for Sodomy. The


Arab is an inveterate pederast, even in his own
country, where there is no lack of women. He willingly
puts into practice the parable which is attributed to
the Koran : 1 " A man finding one day that the
principal door of his house was blocked up with filth,
determined to enter by the back door. "

' Our author is here undoubtedly in error. Islam, large and generous
in all that relates to normal sexual intercourse, stamps unnatural practices
with peculiar abhorrence. We quote from Charles HAMILTON'S “ Hedaya
or Guide, a Commentary of Musulman Law, ” — “ translated by order of
ANTHROPOLOGY. 295

I do not know whether this parable is really to be


found in the Koran, but the Arab acts as though it
were. The fact has been observed by all travellers
and moralists who have been in Arabia and Tunis.

A Crew under the “ Caudine Forks ". The Arab


tribes of the coasts of Algeria and Morocco, it is well-
known, take by force the unfortunate wretches who
are wrecked on their shores. A little time before the
Algerian expedition , a French ship of war, a brig
called the Silenus, was thrown on the African coast,
and all the crew had to pass under the " Caudine

the Governor General and Council of Bengal.' vols 4to. London,


1791 .
In chap. IV (of vol . I, page 167) " of the Marriage of Slaves " the
following remarkable paragraph is given.
If a man marry the female slave of another, and be desirous of com-
mitting the act of Azil with her (i.e. emissio Seminis in Ano, vel
inter Mamillas), this shall depend upon her master's permission, ac-
cording to Hancefa ; and such also is the Záhir Rawâyet.—According
to the two disciples, the permission for this act rests with the slave,
because [as being the man's wife] carnal connexion is her right, but by
Azil that carnal connexion which is her right is frustrated ; her consent,
therefore, is a requisite condition to the legality of the act, the same as
that of a free woman, contrary to the case of a female slave, who is
the property of the person having such connexion with her, because
carnal connexion is not her right (whence it is that she is not entitled
to claim the carnal act of her master or owner), and consequently her
consent is not a condition —The principle upon which the- Záhir Rawâyet
proceeds in this case is, that the act of Azil defeats the intention of
marriage, which is the production of children, and this is a right of the
master; whence it is thas his consent is a condition, and not that of the
slave. And herein appears a distinction between the state of a free
woman and that of a slave [in marriage].
In vol. IV, of Hamilton's " Guide " further information is found under
the significant heading of " ABOMINATIONS " and we have given an
extract of same, bearing upon our subject, at the end of the present
chapter.
296 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

forks " , whether they liked it or not. Amongst them


was a young naval officer, 1 who suffered the same
fate as the others. One day- some years after the
taking of Algiers-- in a drawing-room in Paris, a lady
who was known to be rather " fast ", and very free-
spoken, asked him, with an air half serious halfjesting,
if he had really been— “ forked " .
" Madame," he replied coolly, " imagine yourself for
the moment in my place. If there was before you a
sabre ready to cut your head off, and behind you a
big Too , what would you do ? I went backwards,
and I think you would have done the same. "

Ferocious Lust of the African Arabs. Less


fortunate than these sailors, is the unfortunate wretch
who falls into the hands of these infuriated beasts.
They will commence by robbing him of all he has,
not leaving him even a shirt. What follows need not
be described , suffice it to say, that however numerous
the Arabs may be, they will all satisfy their brutal
and ignoble passions. Fortunate will it be for their
victim if he has not fallen into the hands of fanatics ,
for horrible mutilations will follow his first torment,
and after having thus tortured him, they will leave
him naked , but still living, to the hot sun, which will
2
end his sufferings eventually.

1 Burton relates a similar experience (in the 10th vol. of his


" Nights", page 235 ) . The original, Benares edition of course ; in the
reprints all the real, anthropological notes have been carefully omitted
for fear of Mother Grundy's wrath and ... the Purity Society's man !
Those students unable to procure the original edition will find the
famous essay of the 10th vol. containing the anecdote in question,
reproduced in extensó in Marriage-love and Women amongst the Arabs."
(Paris, 1896.)
Dix-huit mille lieues à travers le Monde, par Jules Desfontaines.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 297

It is unnecessary to quote other authorities ; this


will suffice.That horrible instrument of torture, the
pal, was invented by the Arabs, - it may be added .

Active Pederasty of the Arab. The Arab is ,


almost exclusively, an active pederast. The youths
and boys, who, in Arabia and all Mussulman coun-
tries, prostitute themselves for money, are, in the
beginning, passive agents. I do not know whether,
when they have become men, they change their part
and become active agents, but at Guiana, amongst
the Arab convicts, who are all addicted to this vice,
I never met any but active agents. For " patients"
they take, -if they cannot find women who will lend
themselves to these disgusting practices, -Hindoo
coolies, or white criminals either undergoing their
sentence, or released, but very rarely Negroes, except
a few depraved lads . I have mentioned an instance of
this a few pages earlier. Some Arabs have demanded,
and legally married before the Mayor, a female
prisoner from the Penitentiary, but they have never
tried to get any children by her, and only use anal
copulation with her. These Arabs also leave their
wives free to gain their living as they think best, on
condition that they bring the money to their Mussul-
man husbands. The Governors of the Penitentiaries
at last discovered these goings on , and ended by
refusing permission to these worthy followers of Ma-
homet to take a lawful wife, and so the Arab in Guiana,
both by taste and necessity, remains a pederast.

Pederasty is principally a Question of Race. '


The reader will recollect, that the author is in direct conflict with
the view held by Sir Richard Burton, regarding the origin and preva-
298 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

A strange fact is, that the Arab, an active pederast ,


is provided with a genital organ, which, for size and
length, rivals that of the Negro. It is even larger
than that of the Negro of Guiana, but is surpassed
in turn by that of the Negro of Senegal. But , whilst
this last is rarely addicted to unnatural acts, with the
Semitic Arab it is almost a general rule. A physical
cause might be understood , as for instance a very
small penis, as in the Annamite, who is almost as
great a pederast as the Arab. It is certain, that the
friction of the penis against the sphincter, which pos-
sesses, as we know, great contractile power, is greater
than it would be in a vagina, dilated and relaxed by the
heat of the climate, especially if affected by the " flowers " .

lence of homosexual passion . But on the other hand it is proper to


point out that J. A. Symonds, in his Problem in Modern Ethics,
contests Burton's position, and maintains that Burton's knowledge of the
subject was incomplete. We quote from page 77 : " Though he (Bur-
ton) possesses a copious store of anthropological details, he is not at the
proper point of view for discussing the topic philosophically. For ex-
ample, he takes for granted that ' Pederasty' as he calls it, is every-
where and always what the vulgar think it. He seems to have no
notion of the complicated psychology of Urnings, revealed to us by their
recently published confessions in French and German medical and legal
works."
In a foot-note, Symonds further adds : " Burton's acquaintance with
what he called ' Le Vice ' was principally confined to Oriental nations.
He started on his enquiries imbued with vulgar errors ; and he never
weighed the psychical theories examined by me in the foregoing section
of this essay. Nevertheless, he was led to surmise a crasis of the two
sexes in persons subject to sexual inversion. Thus he came to speak of
the third sex '. During a conversation I had with him less than three
months before his death. he told me that he had begun a general his-
tory of " Le Vice " ; and at my suggestion he studied Ulrichs and Krafft-
Ebing, It is to be lamented that life failed before he could supply his
virile and candid criticism to those theories, and compare them with the
facts and conversation he had independently collected ."
ANTHROPOLOGY. 299

The Organ of Generation of the Arab. If the


Annamite can plead such an excuse, the Arab can-
not. We are, therefore, compelled to acknowledge,
that it is a question of the peculiar moral sense of
each race. The Arabs I examined , and who for the
most part had been sentenced for rapes, or sodomy,
committed upon children of either sex, in the propor-
tions of their genital members considerably surpassed
the fair average of the Negroes. In the bodies of
many Arabs I dissected, the penis, instead of being
drawn up and reduced to a small volume, like that
of the European, still showed a considerable develop-
ment.
In its usual condition, their yard, instead of being
quite limp, still maintains a certain consistency, and
feels to the hand like hollow india-rubber, or like the
penis of the Negro, of which I have spoken . The
gland is of a normal form, well-developed , and of a
dirty red brown, lighter, however, than that of the
Mulatto, but not so red as that of the Quadroon . It
is, in proportion , smaller than the shaft of the penis,
which is swollen a little underneath ; the maximum
diameter is found where the foreskin is cut in circum-
cising. This part of the penis sometimes swells out,
like a sort of external pad. According to the measure-
ments I made, the penis of the Arab has an average
length, when in erection, of 7.2 to 7.6 inches by 1,6
or 2.0 inches in diameter ; but I have found often a
penis measuring 8 to 10 inches in length, by 2.0 or
2.4 in diameter. The organ then becomes a sort of
pole which only a Negress could accommodate whilst
a Hindoo woman of the class called " woman hare "
would shrink from it in terror, and it would produce
serious mischief in the rectum of any poor wretch who
300 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

consented to suffer its terrible attacks. 1 With such


a weapon does the Arab seek for anal copulation. He
is not particular in his choice, and age or sex makes
no difference to him. At the hulks, he finds amongst
the other convicts, Blacks or Hindoos, or even Whites,
the scum of the great cities, upon whom he can satisfy
his miserable lust. When once he is liberated, he
lives soberly, and tries to gain a few pence by keep-
ing a store, or a small retail shop. He easily gets
also a place as foreman in the diggings, or where
Hindoos are employed. His abstinence from alcohol
makes him a capital man to keep a grog shop, and
his physical strength inspires a salutary dread . Those
who employ him are acquainted with his vice, and
this vice necessarily brings him before the tribunals,
when he has tried to use violence to some hired coolie,
who has objected to his advances, not from modesty,
but from a fear of being impaled.

EXCURSUS I TO CHAPTER V.

Small size of Penis. Over against the inordinate


dimensions of the member here described, we may
place the following : -taken from the " Zeitschrift
für Ethnology," (Berlin, 1871 , 8vo pp. 113 , 14 , 15).
" It is a known fact, which I can confirm that the
Taui islanders are in the habit of adopting for sole gar-
ment a mussel shell (Bulla ovum) within which they
hide their penis . Having purchased and examined a
great number of these " garments ", I was convinced
that the opening of the shells had been but slightly
enlarged ; I therefore thought it not unimportant to

1 See Excursus IV.


* Waitz-Gerland, Anthropologie der Naturvölker, Part. VI, p . 556.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 301

ascertain whether the prepuce only or also the gland


had been enclosed in the opening of the mussel. The
close examination of the penis of a native (obtained
1
thanks to a rich present) ¹ showed that the gland of the
penis was really inserted into the mussel. But, as the
artificially enlarged orifice of the mussel could barely
accommodate the entrance of the little finger, this sin-
gular custom can only be explained by the extreme
smallness of the virile member. To prove that this
❝ costume" does not at all compress the penis, it may
be added that without detaching the shell, the natives
are able to make water, another opening being made
at the other end to let it escape.
The small size of the penis is the same here (Ago-
mes Islands) as among the Taui islanders. The little-
ness of the virile member among these people was so
evident that it was a source of astonishment to the crew
of our schooner, and gave rise to many remarks. My
attention was drawn to it by my servant and I man-
aged by chance to be able to take a rapid sketch from
nature of an example. The penis of a strong, grown-
up man looked exactly as if it was withdrawn into
the skin, leaving the gland alone exposed , which was
entirely free, the skin behind the prepuce being gath-
ered up in circular folds. When the man was erect
the position of his member was horizontal. This size
of the penis seems to be general, although individual
exceptions may occur. Notwithstanding all my efforts
I could never succeed in inducing any of the natives
' During this examination the above native was extremely afraid of
my withdrawing his mussel ; this prudery, - combined with the very
primitive nature of the " costume " reminded me much of the " mogull "
or disgrace of exposing the naked gland in Pelau and of the shame the
Polynesians in general have at the sight of it.
Waitz-Gerland, loc. cit. Part VI, p. 28.
302 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

to allow me to examine them, and it was therefore


impossible for me to take any exact measures or draw-
ings. But a chance observation of three men showed
me that the member of the youngest (about 20 years
old) was longer than that of the two others . In youth
the smallness of the penis is not observable.
The fact of the littleness of the virile member among
these Melanesian peoples is the more remarkable that
the negroes who, among all human races, after the
Hottentots and the Kaffirs , come nearest to the Poly-
nesians, are, on the contrary, distinguished by the large
dimensions of their member.

EXCURSUS II TO CHAPTER V.

ILLUSTRATING note ON PAGE 284 .

ISTIBRA 1 OR WAITING FOR THE PURIFICATION


OF WOMEN.

"
'A man, when he purchases a female slave, is not
permitted either to enjoy her, or to touch, or kiss her,
or look at her pudenda, in lust, until after her Istibra,
or purification from her next ensuing courses ; for
when the captives taken in the battle of Autàss were
brought thence, the prophet ordained that no man
should have carnal connexion with pregnant women

A phrazeology runs throughout this section which renders the


translation of it into English particularly difficult, as the precise meaning
of the term Istibra cannot be expressed by any single word in our
language. The best Arabic lexicons design Istibra to signify : "the
purification of the womb". The term, however, must here be received
in a more involved sense ; for Istibra does not, in fact, mean simply
purification, but a desire of, or (as rendered in the text) a waitingfor
purification ; for which reason the translator renders. it purification, or
abstinence, as best suits the content.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 303

until after their delivery or with others until after one


menstruation ; which evinces that the abstinence so
enjoined is incumbent on a proprietor ; and further ,
that the occurrence of right of property and of posses-
sion is the occasion of its being incumbent. The end
proposed in this regulation is, that it may be ascer-
tained whether conception has not already taken place
in the womb, in order that the issue may not be
doubtful.

Abstinence until after purification is incumbent on


the buyer, but not on the seller ; for the true reason
of its necessity is the desire of copulation ; and as the
buyer is presumed to possess this desire, and not the
seller, the observance of it is therefore enjoined him,
and not the other. If, moreover, desire be an internal
operation of the mind, the obligation of the law, in
this particular, rests upon the argument of such desire.
Now the mere power of committing the carnal act is
an argument of the desire for such act ; and as this
power is established only by property and possession,
it follows that property and possession are the occasions
of this obligation of abstinence . This law, therefore ,
extends to a right of property, in all its different modes
of being acquired, such as by purchase, donation ,
legacy, inheritance, covenants, etc., whence it is that
this abstinence is enjoined upon a person, who buys a
female slave, either from an infant, or a woman, or
1
from a slave licenced to trade, or from a person who
is by law prohibited from having any carnal connexion

' The slave licenced to trade is, in this case, supposed to have been
prohibited from cohabiting with the slave, as the goods he sells or
purchases are presumed to be the property of another, namely; his
master.
304 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

with her. In the same manner, also, this abstinence


is incumbent where a person buys a female slave who
is a virgin ; for the law proceeds according to the
proof of the cause which prompted it, and not according
to the proof of the propriety or expediency, as these
relate to what is internal and unknown.

If a person purchase a female slave during her


menstruation no regard is paid to this menstruation
with respect to determining the abstinence. 1 ¹ In
the same manner, also, no regard is paid to a
menstruation which occurs between the time of taking
possession and the time of the right of property being
established, by purchase, or the like ; -and so likewise,
regard is not paid to the delivery of a female slave
between the establishment of a right of property in
her, and the act of taking possession (contrary, how-
ever, to the opinion of Aboo Yoosaf).- The reason of
this is, that the occurrence of right of property and
possession is the cause of purification being required ;
and the obligation of observing the purification is an
effect of property and possession ; and the effect can-
not take place before the occurrence of the cause.
The same rule holds with regard to such menstruous
purgations as may happen previous to the procuring
of sanction, in the case of an unauthorized sale of a
female slave , notwithstanding the purchaser may be
seized of her ; --and so likewise, where the courses
happen after the seizing in the case of an illegal contract
of sale, and before the slave is purchased by a valid
contract : for in none of all these cases do the present
courses determine the abstinence.
1
Arab. Fee babal Iftibra ; (literally) " in point of purification”,
meaning that purification requisite to determine the abstine.ce imposed
on the purchaser of a female slave.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 305

Abstinence is requisite in the case of a partnership


female slave, where one of two partners purchases the
other's share ; for here the cause is complete, and upon
the completion of the cause the effect takes place.

If a person purchase a Magian female slave, or


receive her in donation, and she, after his taking pos-
session of her, have her courses, and then become a
Mustimá, -or, if a person purchase a female slave,
and make her a Mokàtibá, and she , after his taking
possession of her, having voided her courses, prove
unable to discharge her ransom, such courses are
sufficient to establish the requisite purification , in either
of these cases, as having happened after the occurrence
of the cause for waiting, namely, right of property and
possession.

In cases where a female slave , having eloped , returns


to her master,-or, having been taken away, or hired
out, is restored, -or, having been pawned, is redeemed
-abstinence is not requisite, for the cause of it
(namely, the acquisition of property and possession)
does not exist in either instance. In every case where
abstinence is enjoined, and carnal connexion prohibited ,
all sorts of allurements and dalliance, such as kissing
and hugging are likewise prohibited, as these lead to
the commission of unlawful acts. Add to this, the
possibility of their being committed on the property
of another, as may happen if the slave prove with
child and the seller lay claim to her. (It is reported
from Mohammed that dalliance with a captive slave-
girl is lawful.)

The purification of a pregnant female slave is estab-


lished by her delivery, and that of a girl in whom
20
N FIELDS OF
306 UNTRODDE

the menses have not yet appeared, by the lapse of a


month ; that space being, with respect to such a one,
a substitute for the courses, in the same manner as
holds in the case of a woman under Edit. If, however,
the menstrual blood , should discharge itself before the
expiration of the month, the purification by lapse of
time is annulled, because of the ability with respect
to the original circumstance, prior to accomplishing
the object of the substitute.
It is not lawful for a person who has given abusive
language to his wife, either to look at her pudenda
in lust, or to cohabit with her, or to kiss or touch
her, until, such time as he have performed expiation ,
because, as it is unlawful for him to copulate with her
until after expiation , it is consequently, unlawful that
he enter into dalliances with her, since the cause of
an illegal act is likewise illegal ; -in the same manner
as holds in cases of Ytticaf³ and Ihram ; or where a
person, by mistake , cohabits with the wife of another,
-in which case she must observe an Edit; during
which, as it is unlawful for the husband to have con-
nexion with his wife , so it is likewise unlawful for
¹ See Edit. , Vol. I. p. 360. -There seems here to be a small
mistake in the text, as the Edit. of a female slave not subject to the
courses is determined by the lapse of a month and a half.
9
Literally, " it is not lawful for a Mozàhir," meaning a person who
has pronounced a sentence of zihár upon his wife. (This whole passage
will be better understood by a reference to zihár, Vol. I. p. 326.)
8 Yticaf is a religious austerity practised by the most pious of the
Mussulmans in the last ten days of the month of Ramzan ; they
remain during that period in a mosque, without ever departing from it
but when the calls of nature absolutely force them, abstracting themselves
at the same time from all enjoyments,
• Ihrám is the period during which the pilgrims remain, at Mecca.—
They are then subject to a number of strict regulations, and are
particularly enjoined to refrain from all worldly pleasures.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 307

him to use any of its incentives with her. It is


otherwise during the courses or fasting, for, although
copulation be at such time prohibited , yet dalliance is
lawful, because the courses are frequent and of long
continuance, engrossing a great part of life, as they
happen once every month, and continue ten days every
time ; and, in the same manner, the days of fasting
are protracted to one month by the divine ordinances,
and (among pious persons) voluntarily occupy a con-
siderable part of life ; -whence if dalliances were for-
bidden during those terms, it would tend to restrain
men too much in their enjoyments.
CHAPTER VI.

The convict before the Court Martial. -Military law applied to


the convicts.- Captain B***, President ofthe Council ofWar.-
Amusing cases tried before the Council. -Angola's chemise.-
The Barns of the bullock. -The convict who forced the old
Negress.-The Arab who wanted to impale the Hindoo.

Military Law applied to the Convicts. The law


which authorised transportation to Guiana, was fol-
lowed by a second law, which made the convicts
amenable to the military tribunals for all crimes and
offences against the ordinary penal laws. Besides the
Government Commissioners and Deputies , appointed
in France by the Minister, there were two Councils of
War, of which the President and Judges were chosen
amongst the officers of the garrison of Cayenne. The
Council of Revision was composed of the Colonel com-
manding, the Captain of the principal war vessel, and
the Major of Marines. The two senior captains of the
garrison of the Colony were, ex officio, Presidents of
the two Councils of War. It might be imagined, that
an officer who by chance found himself the senior on
the station, and who was suddenly called upon to apply
the Penal Code, without any previous study or ex-
perience, might feel embarrassed . But, bah ! a trans-
ported ex-criminal was not worth much regard . A fresh
sentence of a few years, more or less, was of no great
consequence.
308
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 309

The unfortunate convicts had a terrible sword of


Damocles, suspended over their heads. This was the
Draconian article of the Code relating to old offenders,
--which of course all the transported prisoners and ticket-
of-leave men were. Offences punishable only by im-
prisonment, for criminals condemned by the common
law, involved, for the convicts, a return to the Peniten-
tiary for a minimum period of five years, or the maxi-
mum penalty of twenty years at the hulks, might be
doubled. I saw a coiner condemned to death for
having made a Papal coin of half a franc, or five
pence, out of lead. It should be mentioned, that this
convict had already been sentenced to hard labour for
life for coining. Being an old offender, it was neces-
sary to inflict a heavier sentence than hard labour for
life, that is to say, the penalty of death. It is needless
to say the convict was not executed ; his sentence was
commuted to five years in the chain gang, but, strictly
speaking, and according to the letter of the law, he
ought to have been executed.

Captain B***, President of the Council of War.


My friend, Captain B***, the singer of smutty songs,
was President of one of the two Councils. The post
was not a sinecure for him, for the Council met twice
a week, and had, at each sitting, three or four cases
to decide . But with friend B***, the business did not
drag ; twenty to thirty minutes sufficed to hear, and
settle, a case. The advocate of the accused, a subaltern
officer of the garrison,specially designated for the
post, knew perfectly well that no attempt at defence
would be any good, so he confined himself to recom-
mending his client to the mercy of the Court- this
mercy generally consisted of a sentence for double the
310 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

maximum penalty, that is to say, forty years. That


is the regular tariff. For those already sentenced to
penal servitude for life, who reappear before the Council,
the sentence, which also is always the same, is five
years in the chain gang. The worthy Captain B***,
had always a broad grin on his face when he was
pronouncing sentence , and no doubt was thinking about
the smutty songs he was going to sing in the evening.
But it was especially in attempted rapes , or other
offences of the like kind, which were common enough
amongst the convicts, that the jovial obscenity of the
President showed to the best advantage. 1 He evinced
the greatest interest in these cases, tried to bring out,
The following sensible remarks on cant are of some interest. We
take them from Blondeau's Dict. Erot. Latin- Français . Paris, Lisieux,
1885.)
"Why do writers, and the people also, have recourse to so many
metaphors, periphrases, and circumlocutions, whenever the sexual organs
or sexual connection are in question ? If we are not ashamed of being
men, why should we only dare to speak in covered words of that which
in us is the manifestation of our manhood ? Nature has made the
union of the sexes the condition of our existence and of the propagation
of our species, and has attached to it, in view of this perpetuity, the
most powerful attraction, the most voluptuous pleasure : why should we
dissimulate it as if it were an offence or a crime? Why stigmatize as
shameful the sexual parts upon which Nature has expended all her
skill, and be ashamed to show that of which we ought to be proud.
Even to consider the naked fact, it is again the wish of Nature, since
she has made it a necessity, and the satisfying of a necessity can have
in it nothing shameful. Moralists have seen in this singular prudery,
an unjustifiable hypocrisy.
Listen to Montaigne. "- What has the genital act done to men, an
act so natural, necessary and just, that they dare not speak of it openly,
and exclude serious and regular expressions ? We bravely say KILL,
UNROBE, BETRAY, and THAT only between the teeth. Does that mean
that the less we say in words the more there is in our thoughts ? For
it is good that the words which are the least used, the least written
and the best hidden, should be the best learnt and known. "
ANTHROPOLOGY. 311

in the course of the trial, the most indecent side of


the affair, and uttered jokes that would have made a
dead man grin. The public, the gendarme who kept
order, and often the prisoner himself, would roar with
laughter ; but the verdict was always the forty years,
or the five years, as the case might be.

Curious Cases tried before the Council. The


worthy Captain B***, informed his friends and acquaint-
66
ances , whenever any case of at all a risky " nature
was coming before the Court. Needless to say the
public was never excluded on these occasions, in order
that his lady friends the young Mulattas and Quad-
roons might enjoy the entertainment. The President
was of average height, rather fat, with a red face.
framed in a thick, black beard, and lighted up by
two small lascivious eyes, so that he had very much
the appearance of a satyr. Anything might be said
before him, and he was never so happy as when he
had made a witness, or the prisoner, utter some gross
obscenity.
Moinaux's Comic Tribunal¹ was surpassed by a long
way. I confess that, for my part, I listened to the
extraordinary proceedings before this tribunal with a
great deal of interest, for they threw a strange light
on the worst side of human nature . I will, therefore ,
1
¹ A small illustrated publication that used to chronicle all the queer
and ludicrous cases appearing before the French law-courts.
In Règles pour former un avocat (Chap . 13 ) it is stated that "it
was formerly the custom in most of the tribunals of the kingdom, to
plead on Shrove-Tuesday any cause of a specially gay and spicy
character.' These cases were called "warm cases", and celebrated
advocates, it is said, did not disdain to take them up."
This extract is given on the authority of Bibliotheca Scatalogica,
Scatapolis 5850 (read Paris 1849 ?) ; a singularly well informed little book
on books of a scatalogical nature , mostly in French.
312 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

ask the reader's permission to lay before him an


account of some of these cases, which obtained a notor-
iety at the time, in Guiana .

Angola S***, and her Chemise. One of the most


amusingly indecent cases related to the complaint of
a young Negress. Angola S***, who accused a re-
leased convict of having first stolen her chemise, and
then having made an indecent assault upon her. The
Negress, who was eighteen years of age, and a washer-
woman by trade, related the facts before the Council
in the most animated manner. She declared that the
convict had run away with a white chemise she had
hung on the palings, to dry in the sun . She had
pursued him, and taken the chemise from him, but
he, in return, attacked her, seized her by the throat,
put his hand under her dress , threw her down, and
tried to violate her. She resisted , and fortunately for
her, some Negresses came to her assistance, and she
escaped, but her dress was soiled by his filth (sic).
In giving her evidence, Angola enacted the scene,
and became very excited , and her native odour conse-
quently became so strong, that the judges were obliged
to hold their noses. " Do not get so excited , " said
President B*** , severely, " you spoil your oratorical
effects. Our ears are at your service but for goodness
sake, spare our olfactory organs."
The accused acknowledged that he had a glass or
two, and did not very well remember what had hap-
pened, and that perhaps he had taken the chemise that
was drying on the fence , but the rest was all nonsense ;
he had touched the Negress but without any
intention to violate her, " for black skin is not very
tempting, " he added . " The case is more grave than
ANTHROPOLOGY . 313

you seem to imagine, " said the President. "You


confess to having taken the chemise of Angola S***,
off the palings, and, as to the other point, permit me
to tell you , accused, than in default of ortolans and
thrushes, men will eat blackbirds, and this is a very
fine blackbird. " This caused considerable laughter in
Court, even the prisoner joining in . " He laughs best
who laughs last, " said the President, gravely ; " now
let us hear the witnesses. " These were two old
Negresses, who had released Angola when she was
already lying underneath the convict, and was just on
the point of being violated . On being requested to
describe the position, the first old woman gave her
evidence openly. " The White man raised Angola's
chemise he held her body ; he hold him fish in hand,
and try push him potata into Angola. Me hold him.
Hold him by him leg, dirty devil ; and fish spit him
juice on belly of Angola. " " It was time to pull him
off," said the President.
66
Then, witness, you declare you saw the sperm of
the convict spirt out over the charms of this young
woman, Angola. "
" Me not know ; me said, him fish spit him juice
over Angola belly."
" You stick to the juice of the fish, I see, " said the
facetious B***. " That fish though is never cooked ,
19
but is eaten raw with white sauce. '
The other witness had arrived on the spot just as
the convict had been pulled off the top of the Negress ,
and only remarked that his " fish" was " hard , and
the end of it red like a dog's machine . " - " How do
you know, " said the President, " whether it was hard
or soft? You did not touch it, and you must there-
fore not try to mislead justice, by giving fanciful de-
314 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

scriptions. " Then addressing the accused , he added :


" You have committed an act for which there is no
excuse. We know that ' hunger brings the wolf out
of the wood', but that is no justification for soiling the
chemise of this young Negress. " And the unfortunate
prisoner was sentenced to forty years' hard labour.

The Boxλox of the Bullock . On another occasion


the Council had to try a case of theft, supposed to
have been committed by a released convict. He was
a very intelligent man, named R***, a cattle dealer,
who did a good business, which caused the natives to
be very jealous of him. A black and white bull of
the Senegal breed, belonging to an old Creole, had
disappeared, and R***, was accused of having stolen
it, killed it, and sold it as a bullock, on the market
of Cayenne .
On searching R***'s premises, a black and white
skin was found, but, he declared most energetically,
that he had, for a long time, a bullock of that colour,
and that though, unluckily for him, this bullock had
been sold, he could prove by a certificate from the
Government veterinary inspector, that it was undoubt-
edly a bullock, and not a bull, which he had sold.
He added, that his bullock had run away a few days
before, and he had obtained permission to have it
hunted down and shot by his servants. The witnesses
--Hindoo coolies in the employ of the Creole --had
seen the animal killed, and cut up, but had viewed
the proceedings from a distance of some twenty yards,
over the top of the palings ; R*** having forbidden
them to enter his cattle yard . R*** and his men
swore that the animal was a bullock. The coolies ,
just as unanimously, declared that it was their master's
ANTHROPOLOGY. 315

bull. The trial dragged on, and the judges were per-
plexed, when the President solved the questlon in this
way . " It is easy enough," he said, " to tell a bull
from a bullock. The first has testicles, and the second
has not. Did you feel them in your hand? No, you
did not. Then, how could you tell at the distance of
twenty paces , if the bag of the animal contained Boxλox
or not ?" And the case ended by the acquittal of the
prisoner.

The Convict who violated the Old Negress .


This was another amusing, indecent case. A trans-
ported convict, who had been sent out with a · gang
of others to cut down plants to make a clearing, effected
his escape, found a boat on the beach, crossed the bay,
and landed in Roura. He concealed himself in the
woods, and made raids upon the huts of the labourers,
at a time when all the able-bodied men and women
were at work. He had his cutlass with him, and with
this he threatened the old women he found in the huts,
and compelled them to give him food. In return for
their hospitality, he violated them. One fine Sunday,
the entire population turned out, and hunted him down ,
and the convict, after being nearly killed by one of
the dogs, was taken, and brought back to the penal
settlement .
He was a Norman, about forty years of age, and
cunning and deceitful. The Blacks accused him of
forcing the old women, but he energetically denied the
charge, and declared that that was his way of paying
his reckoning, and that in return for their charity, he
repaid them, by bestowing upon them favours which
no one else was likely to give their old carcases. He
added, that it was a work of charitable devotion (sic),
DDEN
316 UNTRO FIELDS OF

and that this method of payment " in kind ” was received


with transports of gratitude.
" Mon Dieu, " said the jovial President, " although
you are very far from being an Adonis, the theory
is not improbable, and your courage is praiseworthy.
But your assertion must first be borne out by the evidence
of these ladies. "
The female sex concerned, was represented by an
old hag of a Negress , at least sixty-five years old , as
long and thin as the horse of a night cab, and with
a head like an old mare. The other victims of the
lewd convict had refused to come to Cayenne, and
had sent medical certificates, to account for their non-
appearance. One of them, who was seventy-two years
of age, was still ill from fright and the effects of the
rape which had been committed upon her. The
witness, in reply to the usual question, " Are you
related to , or allied to, the accused ? " pricked up her
ears, and cried , " What that, Sah ? Me related that
rascal, thief, murderer, who violated me, Sah ? " -" I
am sure," said the President, " that there is not , between
you and the accused, any physical or moral tie. He
is a Norman, and you are a Guyanaise, -his skin is
the colour of a calt's tail, and you are as dark as the
bride of the Ecclesiast, -nigra, but not at all formosa,
I must confess. But it is a formality of the law that
I am bound to perform. " - " Formosa, formality, " said
the old woman, " Me not know him ; him no Cayenne ,
him Massogan talk. "
The Negress then gave her evidence . She declared
that she was so frightened of the big sword, that rather
than have her head cut off, she had willingly given
the escaped convict what provisions she had in the
house, hoping by that means to get rid of him, but
ANTHROPOLOGY . 317

that he had then sprung upon her, sword in hand ,


and, in spite of her resistance, had “ abused her poor
body ". " This is very serious, " said the President.
" After having threatened you with his sword, the ac-
cused struck you treacherously with his ' dagger ',
like a Knight of the Middle Ages . He ought to be
brought before a Court of Love. Prisoner, do you
plead guilty to this charge of rape, of which the wit-
ness accuses you? "
" No, I do not, mon President, " replied the prisoner.
" When I offered to pay the old woman in that coin ,
seeing that I had no money in my purse, which was
as flat as a flounder , she accepted. "
" I see," said the President in a paternal manner.
" Your purse was empty, it is true, but, on the other
hand, your other ' purse ' was full. That was a kind
of compensation . "
" Not at all, " replied the prisoner, who had been a
notary, and prided himself on his literary knowledge .
" I was tired, I had slept badly, and , in spite of my
good-will, such an odalisque as that did not excite me,
and if she had not taken my yard and put it into
her old carcase , I should never have been able to do
it myself. "
At this insult, the Negress jumped like a thorough-
bred touched with the whip. " You dirty man, savage ,
thief, you insult honest woman. If you no force me,
me neber consent coquer with you . Me rather die than
touch dirty massogan fish . " And the old harpy put
out her claws, and would have scratched the eyes, out
of the Norman ex-notary, if the gendarme had not
prevented her.
" Look at that ! " said the prisoner, " and you will
own that it was not possible to take her by force. If
DDEN
318 UNTRO FIELDS OF

she had been a young girl it would have been dif-


ferent, but an old hulk like that! Why, she is a
remedy against lust. Oh ! la ! la ! "
The worthy President, however, gave him five years
in the chain gang .

Havelock Ellis (in the " Criminal ") has a few lines
on this subject : -
" To all forms of sexual excitement, natural and
unnatural, criminals of both sexes resort, often from a
very early age. The prison in which the criminal is
confined alone, or with persons of the same sex serves
to develope perverted sexual habits to a high degree.
Prince Krapotkine, 1 speaking of the moral influence
of prisons on prisoners in France , writes : -" The facts
which we came across during our prison life surpass
all that the most frenzied imagination could invent.
One must have been for long years in a prison, se-
cluded from all higher influences and abandoned to
one's own and that of a thousand convicts' imagina-
tions, to come to the incredible state of mind as wit-
nessed among some prisoners. And I suppose that I
shall say only what will be supported by all intelligent
and frank governors of prisons, if I say that the
prisons are the nurseries for the most revolting cate-
gory of breaches of moral law. There is unquestionable
evidence that the same practices exist notwithstanding
all discipline, in English prisons . Such practices grow
up chiefly as a means of excitement and diversion in
vacuous lives. Love in its highest and strongest
forms, seems to be extremely rare. This is true even

› In Russian and French Prisons. Salilla gives a vivid picture of


the fearful extent to which sexual perversity rules in Spanish prisons,
especially in the prisons for women.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 319

when love is the cause of the crime. The love even


when strong, remains rather brutal. When a man
was asked if he really loved the woman for whose
sake he had murdered her husband, he replied : " Oh ,
if you had seen her naked ! "

The Arab who wanted to impale the Hindoo .


An Arab, the foreman at some gold diggings, was
accused of having tried to take by force, a young
Hindoo coolie.
One of the witnesses was a young Zamba , the infirm-
ary nurse at the diggings, where the event occurred.
The President asked her the usual questions : " Your
་ 66
name? "-" Virginia Laviolette. " " Your age ? Six-
teen. " " Your profession ? " " Infirmary nurse at the
Bonne Nouvelle diggings. " " Good," said the Presi-
dent. " You relieve suffering humanity. Now, my
child, tell us all you know about this affair. " " I? I
know nothing, " replied the pretty brunette, “ but they
told me that the Arab, Mohammed, wanted to Suyyxp
the Hindoo . "
" That is enough, Mademoiselle, " said the President,
" I see that the decency of your language accords with
the modesty of your celebrated namesake, who pre-
ferred to die rather than disrobe herself before a man ;
and you have also the exquisite sweetness of the
violet. You can sit down. "
The little Mulatta did not in the least understand
these flowers of rhetoric, but- according to report--
after the trial , the excellent B *** took her to his house,
and explained matters to her.
320 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

EXCURSUS TO CHAPTER VI.

ON CRIMINALITY WITH REGARD TO SEX IN THE


ARAB RACE.

The references made to this subject in the preceding


and other chapters are supported by the following evi-
dence of medical specialists.

ON PEDERASTY, SODOMY, BESTIALITY and TRIBADISM


AMONGST THE ARABS , by DR. A. KOCKER.

Like all other Orientals the Arab is a pederast. It


may be remarked that this vice is observed principally
among nations where polygamy is permitted : in certain
cases, a man cloyed with enjoyment, enervated by
excess, seeks in sodomy a means of re-awakening his
desire, in other cases we have to do with moral herma-
phrodites.
Sodomy was denounced in Leviticus and by Hip-
pocrates ; on this point the Koran is also explicit, and
the Mussulman jurisconsults have edicted the most severe
penalties against it ; we read in fact in Sidi-Khalil the
following passages :
" Any Mussulman of either sex, free, of age and
responsible for his or her acts who shall have com-
mitted the act of sodomy, being united to another by
the bonds of a legitimate and valid marriage materially
consummated, shall be stoned to death. "
" The execution will take place with stones of medium
size until death follows. "

" De la Criminalité chez les Arabes au point de vue de la


pratique medicale judiciaire en Algérie," par le Dr. A. Kocker, Paris
Baillière et fils, 1884, (pages 169 et seq.
ANTHROPOLOGY. 321

66
Any individual Mussulman or non Mussulman, free
or a slave, who shall be found guilty of sodomy shall
be stoned to death together with his accomplice, even
" 1
if both are slaves or non Mussulman subjects.
For those who are unmarried or who have not yet
consummated marriage the penalty was reduced to one
hundred strokes of the bastinado .
Notwithstanding this severe legislation , there exists
among the Arabs, as among ancient Greeks and Romans ,
and among the Chinese of the present day, a disgust-
ing race, whom laziness and the love of lucre impel to
exploit the perverted passions of those around them.
We have here to examine two actors, the passive
and the active sodomite.
The Arab passive agent is generally young, but not
effeminate like the one described by Tardieu. He is,
on the contrary, robust and well set up. He wears
no ornaments likely to lead to suppose that another
sex was hidden beneath his burnous.
If this is the case, it is not that he despises jewelry,
there is a deeper motive underlying his apparent dis-
dain. If he wore ornaments he would come nearer in
appearance to woman, who would then become his
equal , he would therefore be outraging himself: a vestige
of pride is still hidden beneath his ignominy. He might
perhaps also lose his clients who would no longer find
in him the acrid pleasures they seek for, for he would
then in too many ways remind them of their wives.
The places where they are to be met with are
generally the public squares and the Moorish cafés.
There they pass all their time, smoking Kif, and
drinking coffee ; the last term of their existence is
simply moral and physical degradation .
Sidi Khelit. Transl. by Seignette, art. 1948 and following.
21
322 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

The costume of the passive pederast presents a


peculiarity worthy of being noted and which was
observed by Dr. Bertherand. Their Turkish pantaloons
frequently have an orifice behind on a level with the
anus and perfectly dissimulated by the folds of the
garment. This enables them commodiously and
without undressing, to abandon themselves to their
shameful trade. This orifice must always be looked
after, and it is easy to understand the importance that
may have the examination of the stains which must
almost fatally surround it.
The expert, who is charged to examine these indi-
viduals is often struck by the slight amount of anal
deformation existing. He is far from finding among
these Arabs the characteristic lesions described by
Tardieu, but which more recent observers unanimously
say are not at all general.
The folds of the anus are slightly obliterated, the
infundibulum is usually wanting , those triangular basic
erosions situated around the anus, and given as char-
acteristic of sodomy, are seldom met with Hardly
is there to be found sufficient laxness of the sphincters
to be felt with the finger. It is evident that the
examination is far from furnishing such precise indica-
tions as might reasonably be expected .
So far for the passive sodomite who gives himself
up to this shameful trade, but when the act happens
to be accomplished with violence by an Arab on
young children, the lesions produced are absolutely
characteristic and can leave no doubt whatever as to
what has taken place, on condition however that the
medico-legal examination be not too long deferred
after the criminal act has been committed.
The active pederast is seldom an interesting subject
ANTHROPOLOGY. 323

of study unless he is examined a few moments after


the accomplishment of, the act.
There are then usually
to be found all the signs of recent coition, sometimes
there are on the member traces of blood, of sperm
and of fecal matter.
But, the question arises, does not the penis assume
any particular form among sodomites who have been
for a long time addicted to this disgustiug practice?
This important point we now pass to consider.
Among the Arabs the gland is often big and club-
shaped, the penis slim. In short, their virile member
presents all the signs mentioned by Tardieu as special
to pederasts. The consequence of this generality of
conformation is that these signs lose all their value.
The examination of the clothes of sodomites may
also lead to interesting discoveries. Very often a hole
is found in the trowsers at about the level of the
genito-crural fold.

Pederasty amongst Arabs :—(Tαidvos Epatatús) , the


love of young people, consisting mostly in finger
touches, is also observed among the Arabs, but less
frequently than sodomy ; their brutal passions being
unable to find therein a sufficient aliment.
Lesbian love, or TRIBADISM, is rare among the Arab
women. It would seem as if a certain degree of
civilization were necessary to give birth to this vice.
The cause which it appears most natural to invoke
in explanation of this fact, is the absolute absence of
erethism in the Arab woman. She is simply a female.
If it were otherwise , and if passion came to animate
these sometimes so beautiful statues , would not these
Arab women seek to emancipate themselves from the
servitude in which their husbands keep them ?
324 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

One thing is worthy of remark : the friend of the


Arab woman is generally an Européennc. When
fulfilling the duties of assistant-surgeon at the Dis-
pensary at Algiers, we frequently heard the female
attendants complain of the scandalous scenes they had
been obliged to witness in the evening in the courts, and
in which the guilty parties were always of different race.
In Egypt, sapphism , it would appear, is almost the
fashion, all the ladies of the harem have each of them
an amie.
Bestiality is sometimes observed among the Arabs.
They have connection with goats, sheep, and even
with mares. 1
This custom seems to have existed at all periods of
their history. The following curious extract from the
Paris Médical, of 1883 , is a confirmation of the above :
" In the tenth century, Jahya-ben-Ishaq, physician to
the Emir El- nâcer Lidinillâh, being consulted by a
peasant who could no longer support the pain caused
to him by swelling and inflammation of the penis ,
placed the member on a stone and compressed it so
as to cause a mass of pus to flow out of it, in the
midst of which there was a grain of barley. The
Arab doctor at once guessed that the patient had
taken liberties with his mare and had thus introduced
the grain into the urethral canal which the culprit
was obliged fully to admit was true.

Arab Criminal Assaults and Rape. During four


years time we only noted 81 cases of rape committed
by Arabs. This figure is evidently far inferior to the

A curious and lengthy case is given of carnal connection with a


bear in the " Old Man young again " (MS .) (now in preparation for
the press ).
ANTHROPOLOGY. 325

real facts. We therefore must here insist upon the


large number of cases the prosecution of which was
abandoned for lack of proof, and the still greater num-
ber of those which remained unknown to justice.
The study of this crime is one of the most interesting
that Arab criminality presents to us. This question , --
far from being a simple one as in France, i.e. relating
solely to criminal assaults committed on women or on
children, becomes more complex when we pass to
the Arabs, and presents a point which it is important
to put clearly in the light, we mean violation in
marriage, fatal consequences of the Mussulman and
French laws , of which the first authorise and the latter
tolerate the most dissimilar unions. It is on account
of this culpable toleration by our laws, no article of
which comes to regulate marriage among Mussulmans,
so that there are frequent cases of quite young children
being married to grown-up men and dying from the
effects of conjugal approach.
The author of the assault is, it is true , prosecuted ,
and generally condemned. Is that sufficient? Evi-
dently not. We have even already, in commencing
this study, made it clear that often in such cases, the
Arab is to be held irresponsible ; but then who bears
that responsibility ? We will not go further into the
study of these questions, which pertain to the domain
of humanitarian philosophy and ofjurisprudence, leaving
to the ruling powers the care of solving them.
We may note at once that simple criminal assaults
are rare among the Arabs, and that consequently it
is only his bestiality that impels the Arab, notwith-
standing all impediments, to accomplish the act he has
begun.
1st. RAPE, PROPERLY SPEAKING .-- Rape is distin-
N
326 UNTRODDE FIELDS OF

guished from criminal assault, in that in the first there


is introduction of the penis accompanied by rupture
of the hymen, in the other, on the contrary, there is
merely an attempt to introduce without perforation of
that membrane.
This is how Sidi-Khalil defines rape : " Rape is the
intentional act of the adult individual gifted with
reason, a Mussulman , who introduces and causes to
disappear (even without erection), the gland of the
penis (or a portion equal to the length of the gland),
into the natural parts of a person upon whom , from
the virile point of view, he can exercise no legal
rights recognized by the doctors of the law. The
guilt in this case is perfectly established even when
the penis is covered with a light and thin tissue
which does not exclude voluptuous sensations ..." ¹
He then observes that a woman may lose her hymen
by connection with or without violence , or accident-
ally.
He studies the stains of sperm and advises to recognize
them by their characteristic odour which he compares
to that of thedate blossom or of freshly kneaded
dough.
The Arabs know its fecundating power even with-
out coition. Averrhoes the renowned physician of Cor-
dova (twelfth century) relates that a woman swore to
him that she had conceived after going into a bath in
" 8
which some men had ejaculated semen.
Rape is seldom committed in towns, it occurs more
particularly in country places, in desert almost savage
corners, where the Arabs are in the habit of sending
their flocks to graze .

1 Sidi-Khalil, t. VI, p. 4.
Dr. Bertherand, Hygiène et Médecine des Arabes. Paris, 1855
ANTHROPOLOGY. 327

The victim is almost always some young shepherdess .


There, far away from any habitation, the Arab may
freely satisfy his brutal passions.
In order to explain the accidents resulting from rapes
committed by Arabs, there are two essential things to
be taken into consideration . Firstly, the size of the
male genital organ, secondly the position adopted by
them to accomplish the act. We will successively
examine these two questions.
The genital organs of the Arab, particularly the
penis, attain generally to abnormal dimensions, which
differ but little in the flaccid condition to that when in
a state erection.
It may be taken as a rule, that the penis of the
Arab, compared to that of the European, is AT LEAST
ONE THIRD longer and thicker. In fact this member
is allowed to develop itself, for instance, in entire liberty
from the earliest infancy. Nothing contributes to con-
fine it, as European dress. The air can freely flow
through the simple gandurah (ample shirt) which is the
sole vestment of the child, and which still accompa-
nies him in later life, tucked into the vast recesses of
his Turkish pantaloons. It must also be born in mind,
that the Arab is at an early age addicted to manual
excitation of the genesic sense, which largely contri-
butes towards the development of the organ.
But what is particularly important to consider, is the
relative position of the actors when they accomplish
the copulative act. The Arab has retained some in-
stincts of the animal, and also some of its habits. He
does not operate discreetly, trying to dissimulate the
grand act of nature. He throws his victim to the
ground, goes on his knees in front of her, seizes in
his brawny arms the thighs of the unfortunate, and
N
ODDE FIELD
S
328 UNTR OF

seeks to hasten, by well studied movements, the instant


when his lubrictity will be satisfied . At other times
he is still more brutal. Always on his knees, he raises
the legs of his victim on to his shoulders, the posterior
part of her thighs being then in juxtaposition with
his belly, and then rushes his performance to its com-
pletion. Lastly, he sometimes takes a child by sur-
prise, having led her into a corner, her clothes are
thrown over her head and, in a trice, the poor thing
is cruelly outraged.
Nothing stops the Arab, neither the narrowness of
the vestibule , nor the tears or the cries of his victim .
He is before the door, it resists, he breaks it open.
Thanks to the attitude he has chosen, he is not obliged
to lose either time or strength in turning round about
the pubis, he goes straight ahead, carving out a
sanguinary passage.
The lesions observed in most of these cases are
monstrous : lacerations of the hymen, of the fork, of
the perinæum, of the culs-de-sac of the vagina with
penetration into the abdomen .
The cries of the child are smothered , either by
the hand pressed over the mouth, or by compres-
sion of the larynx, or else by the sole pressure of
the man's chest. Such brutal rapes are not limited
to the Algerian Arabs. Chevers also cites many
other examples noted by him among the Mussulmans
of India.
Even in France , there are sometimes similar cases
to be met with in medico-legal practice : and in this
connection Dr. Henry Coutagne, has published an
observation bearing upon a pederastic criminal assault
on a child, accompanied by attempt at strangulation ,
in which there was a complete rupture of the sphincter
ANTHROPOLOGY. 329

of the anus, of the perinæum and of the posterior half


of the hymen. '
In a recent communication to the Anthropological
Society of Lyons, Professor Lacassagne drew particular
attention to the methods of coition among primitive
peoples, comparing these methods with those employed
by violators in cases of criminal assaults on children.
" It is very seldom that there is any attempt at
intromission of the virile member into the genital
organs. This would necessarily be almost impossible,
either by the disproportion between the parts, or by
the relative positions of the criminal and of his victim.
The guilty parties, with a really astonishing uniform-
ity, almost always adopt the same method of copu-
lation to which I have given the name of external
or perineal copulation. In some cases, the child, its
back turned to the violator, is placed upon his knees
or on the tail of a bed, the virile member is introduced
between the upper part of the thighs, being rubbed
against these and the perinæum by movements imparted
to the child's body: this is coition more ferarum . But
more generally, the child is placed upon the edge of
a bed, of a chest of drawers, of a table, or of a chair,
and the criminal, on his knees in front of the child ,
pushes his virile member between the upper parts of
the thighs ; these being raised up, and sometimes
crossed so as to form together with the perinæum an
enclosed space .
In this case again, the violator imparts
certain movements to the body of his victim, always
passive and inconscient. This is the attitude for
coition adopted by certain primitive peoples, the Arabs
for example. "

Notes sur la Sodomie, Lyon Médical, 1880.


330 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

Criminal Assaults . The following by Dr. Rique, 1


confirms our observations anent the ferocity of the
Arab's lustful attacks :-" This series of offences seldom
come to the knowledge of the French authorities.
For this there are two reasons : the rarity of these
crimes and the difficulty of discovering them.
The rarity of such offences among the tribes should
not lead us to conclude in favour of the continence of
the Arabs . Nothing can give any idea of the immor-
ality reigning in the douars. The Arab woman is
sequestrated as among the Turks and the Moors
She goes about with face uncovered, works in the
fields tilling the soil, goes into the woods to pick
up sticks, poor beast of burden that she is , looked
upon by lord and master as something intermediate
between his horse and his donkey, having received
neither principles nor education , not esteeming herself
more than she is esteemed , what scruple therefore
could restrain her ? Consequently it appears perfectly.
proved to us that there is not a single one who has not
got at least one lover, whom she calls in her cynically
naive language her Khouïah or brother. This much
established , and as pretty nearly every Arab has
either a mistress or a legitimate spouse, and his gen-
esic instinct, which to him is above everything else,
being thereby satisfied, very few of them would care to
expose themselves, for the sake of change, to a ter-
rible and above all legitimate punishment. The innate
modesty and jealous repugnance of the Arab in all
questions having reference to women, have passed
into the language. In order to express the idea of
violation, they employ a euphemistic form of expression
Etude sur Med. légale in the Gazette Médicale de Paris, vol. 63
(pages 156-161 ).
ANTHROPOLOGY. 331

sufficiently distant from its real signification : serrac


en nça, rob women.
It is particularly in cases of criminal assault that
one must be on one's guard against every sort of
evidence and trust only to one's eyes. I remember a
case of this kind which seems to me to be interesting
enough to be recorded .
A Caid, considered to be one of the most loyal
and honourable in the country, one day came to me
at the Arab Bureau, bringing with him a young girl
of from 7 to 8 years old , the daughter of one of his
servants. I was told by the Caid that she had been
ravished by a shepherd whom he had caused to be
arrested by his mounted guard . I examined the young
girl , and could discover no trace whatever of violence,
no cedema or ecchymosis . And yet the hymen mem-
brane had been broken through, and defloration had
taken place, but as it appeared to me, not very re-
cently. I next proceeded to examine the accused . This
man, El Ambli ben bel Kassem , although only fifteen
years old, presented an excessive development of the
genital organs, even for an Arab, and quite out of
proportion with the size of the girl's pudenda. I was
much perplexed, and I was about to draw up a report
with negative conclusions, when , with a view to
further information, I wished once more to carefully
examine the girl. I then discovered at the fork, a
little to the right, a syphilitic excoriation , very slight,
it is true, but well characterised , which had escaped
me at my first observation. On making this discovery
a certain suspicion passed through my mind. I re-
membered that this Caïd had a son , a good-for-nothing
fellow, a frequenter of low haunts, and even suspected
of going about at night for nefarious purposes, and
332 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

that a few days previously this son had come to consult


me about a chancre he had at the basis of the bridle.
I at once sent one of the horsemen of the Arab
Bureau to fetch him, his whereabouts being known ,
and he was brought without being told what for. As
soon as the Caïd's son had entered the ante-chamber, I
suddenly pushed open the door of the consulting-room ,
and pointing to the young girl : " There, " said I, " is
she whom thou hast contaminated (fuss'd) ! " Taken thus
without warning and confounded by this sort of thea-
trical effect, he did not dare attempt a denial ; I had
guessed rightly. I sent him to the disposal of the
chief of the Bureau , who had him arrested , and liberated
El Ambi. As for the Caïd , he was shortly afterwards
revoked.
But when the Arab thinks himself sure of a certain
immunity, his brutal instincts , seconded by a hot
temperament will lead to excesses of frenetic lechery.
Two Arabs of the Djendel tribe met, one evening at
about eight o'clock on a by-path leading from Aïn-as-
Solthan to Milianah, the unfortunate wife of a colonist,
who was obstinate in not taking the high road . They
seized hold of her, threatening to kill her if she resisted ,
laid her down under a tree, and while she was held down
by one ofthe two, the other violated her. His companion
then took his place , and so they continued alternately
relieving each other during two hours. The unfor-
tunate woman calculated that she had been outraged
about fifteen times . Subjected the next day to medico-
legal examination, a real echymosis of the vaginal
tunic was perceptible, and the mucous surface was in
some places lifted up and eroded .
With regard to criminal attempts on those of the
same sex, they are far from being rare ; but facts of
ANTHROPOLOGY. 333

this nature being seldom revealed, naturally escape


verification.Generally there is mutual consent : the
infamous vice is so deeply rooted amongst the Arabs,
that it is almost hopeless to find any efficacious
means of repression .
CHAPTER VII.

My stay at Martinique. - The white race, called pure Creoles.


-Prejudice against colour.- The Blacks of Martinique. -Moral
characteristics of the Negress of Martinique. - The coloured race.
-The Mulatta.- The Quadroon and her passionate nature.---
66· Fricatrices " and Lesbians.

My Stay at Martinique. I have already explained


the reasons which detained me three weeks at Martin-
ique, before going to Guiana, where I was able to
remain nearly three years. On the return journey to
France, I again stayed a fortnight at Martinique.
I have no intention of writing a long description,
analogous to that I have done for Guiana, of the white,
black, and coloured races of Martinique . I should
only have to repeat myself, and uselessly lengthen out
the book. I will content myself therefore, with briefly
noticing some of the differences between the people
of the two countries. I shall treat Martinique as I
have already treated Tonquin.

The White Race, called Pure Creoles. The


first fact which strikes one, is the very large number
of white Creoles, who can here form a stock part of
the population without the support of black blood.
This is due to the chains of high mountains at Mar-
tinique , where we find, at altitudes of from 2700 to
334
UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 335

3300 feet above the sea, a really temperate climate ,


which is almost cold in the winter, and where the white
Creoles have built sanatoria, for cases of fever, anæmia ,
hepatitis , etc. When the affairs of the island were
very prosperous, all the rich Creoles had country houses
on these heights, where they passed the hot season,
and recovered their strength . The white race was
thus able to contend against the climate, -which, by
the way, is never so injurious as that of Guiana.

Prejudice against Colour. It is not astonishing


that we should find here, —at least it was so in 187-
a prejudice against colour which does not exist at
Guiana. The real white Creoles constitute a kind of
1
Faubourg St. Germain , from which the coloured ele-
ment is rigorously excluded . The latter has become,
owing to the franchise, which gives every Black a
vote, the dominant political power, but the old Creole
society still looks upon him with disdain , and refuses
to open its salons to him. The white Creole has as
much contempt for the " mixed bloods " , as a nobleman
of the old school had for his valet, but the latter could
not brag, as the former can, that his ancestors bought
and sold on the market, the grandparents of the coloured
people.

The Black Race at Martinique. The Negro and


Negress of Martinique are taller, more lithesome, and
slenderer, than their congeners of Guiana. I remarked
this during my first visit, and an old white Creole of
Cayenne gave me the explanation of it. It appears
that, when the slave trade existed , the slaving vessels
1 The home of the old French nobility in Paris, exclusively closed
to the parvenu and rastaqouère class, which generally goes West.
336 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

first brought their human merchandise to the Antilles,


where, naturally, those with the best physical qualities
were picked out, and the remainder then taken on to
Guiana. If this is correct- and I see no reason to
doubt it, the explanation of the corporal inferiority
of the Guiana Black, is very easy. It should be added,
that the climate of Guiana is also more weakening.
The Black of Martinique is more robust, and wider in
the shoulders , but he has a restless, uneasy look in
his face. And while the Guyanais is peaceable , sub-
missive, quiet, and avoids quarrels, the Martiniquer,
though quite as lazy when manual labour is concerned ,
is noisy, insolent, and overbearing. In the street he
will never give up the pavement to you, unless he
knows you ,
and has need of your services. Scuffles
between the soldiers and the Blacks, which are very
rare at Guiana, are, on the contrary, very common at
Martinique, and blood is often shed. I do not believe
that, within the memory of man, a Black of Cayenne
has ever deliberately set fire to a house. The torch,
on the contrary, is the favourite weapon of the Mar-
tinique Black ; it is to him what the marmite of dyna-
mite is to the anarchist. During the war of 1870-71,
there were several insurrections, and incendiary fires,
at Martinique, and the incendiary Blacks cried " Long
live Prussia". The terrible fire, which quite recently
destroyed Fort de France, is believed to have been
the work of an incendiary.

Moral Characteristic of the Woman of Marti-


nique. The character of the Negress of Martinique is
similar to that of the male. She is more lively, and
more laborious, than the woman of Guiana, who is a
weak, stupid gnan -gnan , a good mother of a family,
ANTHROPOLOGY. 337

but not very wide-awake. The Martinique woman has


a great aptitude for business, and makes money in
every way. She works like a man, which the woman
of Guiana will not do. The coal for the great Trans-
atlantic steamers is loaded by hundreds of women, who ,
singing at the top of their voices to the sound of a
wild tam-tam, come and empty their baskets into the
hold of the vessel.
The woman of Martinique has not the strong and
simple religious faith of the Guyanaise . Martinique is
so much visited , that its black population has not been
able to withstand the contaminating influence of a not
very devout civilization . The woman of Martinique
is, moreover, a dangerous character, and you had better
look out for yourself if you happen to have offended
a Negress.
In fact, on the whole, she is not a very nice kind
of woman . She does not like the Whites ; but the
Blacks detest all the White race , and would turn
them out of the island if they had the power.
So far as concerns physical passions, their forms
and their perversions amongst the black race, I have
nothing to add to what I have written about Guiana.
I may mention, however, that if the " Massogan " goes
after the Negress at Cayenne , at Martinique the Becqué
blanc can find plenty of coloured women, and can
afford to leave the Negress on one side.

The Coloured Race. This race has greatly increased ,


during the last half century , and has become so strong
that it is able to contend against the old Creole race,
and has wrested from the latter the predominance in
political matters. It is the succession of fresh strata,
foretold by Gambetta. The rich coloured people bring
22
338 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

up their sons as notaries, doctors, lawyers, and jour-


nalists, who occupy all the highest political situations
in the country. But not all are rich. The poorer
members of the race. Quadroons or Mulattoes, become
clerks, or enter some Government department . Many
of them go and try their fortune elsewhere. It seems
that, for some years past, Guiana has been invaded
by Martiniquers, who are not looked on very favour-
ably by the people of Guiana, who are aware that the
new-comers have long teeth, and an appetite not
easily appeased.

The Mulatta. As to the poor coloured girl, she


sells herself for money without any scruple. All pro-
portions being duly considered, there are more Mulat-
tas, and many more Quadroons, at Martinique, than
at Cayenne, and the amateur has a greater choice. I
did not discover any very remarkable differences between
the Mulattas of the two countries. Both are very fond
of the White man, but the Martinique girl is bolder,
and more intriguing, and more certain to assert her
sway over the Becque blanc who may fall into her
hands. She is unscrupulous, and will procure elsewhere
the presents which her lover may refuse to give her.
She is also more lascivious than the girl of Guiana.

The Quadroon, and her Passionate Nature.


The Quadroon of Martinique can certainly give odds
to any of the courtesans of Europe, and it is only at
Tahiti that I have found her equal. It must be con-
fessed, that the mixture of one fourth of black blood
produces an almost perfect woman. The general form
of the body is that of a woman of the South of Europe.
The skin is a dull brown, and the face is lighted up
ANTHROPOLOGY. 339

by a pair of magnificent gazelle-like eyes. The legs


are well-made, and the thighs and buttocks lasciviously
well-rounded. The hair is perhaps still rather curly.
but often of a dark chestnut, or red gold colour. The
lips are large. The breast still remains a trifle pear-
shaped . The hair of the pubes is curly, and rather
soft, sometimes very plentiful, and often of a tint not
so dark as that of the head. But the dimensions of
the vulva and vagina are not at all like those of the
Negress, and do not sensibly differ from those of the
European woman .
The passions of the Quadroon girl are strong, like
those of her white ancestors. She has not the same
dislikes as the Negress, and is less particular than the
Mulatta,--in fact she is ready for any sort of pleasure
that comes in her way. She is a real Circe, and will
lend herself willingly to all your amorous fancies,
however lewd they may be. If a Quadroon girl of
Martiniqne has a bon Becqué for a lover, and she likes
him, she will never desert him, and will leave her
country rather than lose him. The people of Martinique
are naturally fond of travelling , whilst those of Guiana
are of sedentary habits .
It is asserted that Fricatrices and Lesbians ' are not

In Bali, according to Jacobs ( 1 ), homosexuality is almost as common


among women as among men, though it is more secretly exercised ; the
methods of gratification adopted are either digital or lingual, or else by
bringing the parts together (tribadism).
Among Arab women, according to Kocher, homosexual practices are
rare, though very common among Arab men . In Egypt, according to
Godard, Kocher and others, it is almost fashionable. and every woman
in the harem has a friend". Among the negroes and mulattoes of
French creole countries, says Corre, homosexuality is very common. - I
know a lady of great beauty, " he remarks, “ a stranger in Guadalupe

(1 ) As quoted by Ploss-Bartels, Das Weib, 1895, (vol. I, p. 390).


340 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

uncommon amongst the coloured women of Martinique,


but, though I met with some women who were reported
to possess this taste, I should be sorry to deduce
therefrom that the general habit prevailed. " In case
of doubt, abstain from an opinion, " as the proverb
says .

Depilation. The best known and most extensively


distributed custom connected with the MONS VENERIS,
is certainly depilation, by which is to be understood the
artificial removal of a growth of hair. Among the
Muhammadans this operation is prescribed by their ritual,、
but we meet with it in many other parts of the globe,
in Africa, Asia and America .
The substance mostly employed for that purpose in
Turkey is known to be Orpiment (yellow sulphide of
Arsenic) and calcined chalk, equal quantities of which
are worked up into a paste with rose-water : after this
paste has been applied and left for a few minutes on
the spot in question and then carefully washed off, the
hair is found to be completely removed . This method
is in quite general use throughout the East and is
called in Turkey Rusma and according to Polak, ¹
Nurch in Persia, for in Persia also the Muhammadan
women are obliged to regularly depilate the private
parts and the arm-pits in a warm bath. The Muham-
and the mother of a family, who is obliged to stay away from the
markets and certain shops because of the excessive admiration of the
mulatto women and negresses, and the impudent invitations they dared
to address to her". ( 1 ) He refers to several cases of more or less
violent sexual attempts by women on young girls of 12 or 14, and
observes that such attempts by men on children of their own sex are
much rarer.
¹ Polak - Persien, das Land und seine Bewohner. I, Leipzig, 1865 .
(1 ) Corre, Crime en Pays Créoles, (Paris, 1889).
ANTHROPOLOGY. 341

madan maidens and the Christian Armenian women in


Persia do not do this, as it was asserted in Häntsche. 1
Polak says : " The private parts are depilated in
obedience to ritual law by means of a preparation of
orpiment and chalk ; this is called hadschebi keschidew,
which means submitting to the law ; but elegant ladies
themselves pluck out the hairs, until they no longer
"
grow any more.
Petrus Bellonius relates, that the quantity of orpi-
ment used in the East is so enormous on account of
its use in depilation, that the farmers of the metal tax pay
to the Sultan of Turkey a yearly tribute of 1800 ducats.
2
On the Coast of Guinea according to Monrad, the
young and unmarried negresses also depilate the private
parts, but after marriage they let the hair grow again .
In the Dutch East Indies, as Epp 3 asserts, the
women of Malay race depilate their mons veneris
until it appears quite bald. This is confirmed by one
of the photographs in the collection of the Berlin
Anthropological Society, but the others in the same
collection prove that this cannot be considered as a
general custom, and also that the Chinese women
living there have not adopted it. But among the
4
Battas of Sumatra, according to Hagen the women
pluck out the hairs from the mons veneris and shave
it, as soon as the hair begins to grow.
5
Maurel says, speaking of the Khmers in Cambodia ,
¹ Häntsche, Physikalisch -Medicinische Skizze von Rescht in Persien ;
in Virchow's Archiv. 1862, 5 u. 6. Heft S. 570.
2 Monrad, H. C. Gemälde der Küste von Guinea. Weimar, 1824, p. 47.
3
³ Epp, Schilderungen von Holländisch-Indien . Heidelberg, 1852 , p. 392 .
4
Hagen, Die künstlichen verunstaltungen des Körpers bei den Balta.
Zeitsch. fur Ethnologie. Ed. XVI . 218, Berlin, 1884.
• Maurel, Mémoire sur l'Anthropologie du Cambodge ; mémoires de
la Soc. d'Anthrop. de Paris. Paris, 1893 , p. 529.
342 UNTRODDEN FIELDS OF

that the woman's mons veneris is generally shaved ; but


" the women who seek the company of Europeans
easily abandon the practice. "
In several parts of India this custom also prevails
generally ; only for that purpose they employ, asJagor¹
informs us, very peculiar rings of which the Royal
Ethnological Museum in Berlin possesses a few examples
contributed by known travellers. They are used solely
for that purpose and , when they are required to operate,
they are carried on the tumb. At first sight they
have the appearance of a very large signet-ring, as
on the upper side they present to view a large round
flat shield, which bears in the centre, surrounded by
tastefully carved borders, a little mirror, destined in
reality firstly in the manipulation to reflect the private
parts and secondly to throw light by reflection on to
these rather hidden regions. It is with the rather sharp
edge of the ring that the hairs are removed. The
Indian name of these rings is ârsi.
The well-known Nestor of the German savants in
South America, Rudolph A. Phillipi in Santiago, made
some enquiries concerning the Chilian women who,
he discovered were given to depilation, but not at all
generally, and only among certain very low classes
of the population .
Karl von den Steinen found in Brazil that' among
the Indian women in the district near the sources of
the Schingu, of the Trumai and other tribes, it was a
general custom to remove the hair entirely from the
mons veneris.

Jagor, See Verhandl. der Berliner Anthropologische Gesellschaft,


1882, and Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, 1880.
' Karl von den Steinen, Die Philosophie der Tracht, und Enstehung
des Schamgefühls. Ausland 1891 , No. 16.
ANTHROPOLOGY . 343

Hyades and Deniker ' mention also a woman of Terra


del Fuego who had submitted herself to depilation.
In the East, depilation is not an invention of the
Muhammadans ; their. forefathers practised it, and in far
ancient times this popular custom travelled from Asia
into Egypt, and from there to Greece and Italy.
According to Aristophanes the hetaires and gay women
particularly of his time, alone practised it in Greece ;
but it would appear on the same authority that the
honourable Greek women had also adopted the custom.
Martial relates that the Roman women resorted to
depilation of the private parts as they grew older, in
order to dissimulate their age. Many authors assert
that the custom was still prevalent in Italy until
modern times ; and it would appear to be as much
for sake of cleanliness as for protection against vermin
(Rosenbaum). 3
It would seem altogether that in general those
peoples like to practise depilation whose pilose system
is the least developed , as those also are most addicted
to shaving who have the scantiest beards . The ap-
parent exceptions are no doubt due to this depilation
of female private parts being elevated to the rank of
a religious rite, and forcedly therefore adopted by all
the nations converted to Islamism .

Hyades & Deniker, Mission scientifique du Cap Horn ( 1882 ,


1883 ) vol. VIII, Paris, 1891.
2 Martial. Lib, XII, epigr. 32.
Rosenbaum, Geschichte der Lustseuche, etc. Halle, 1882 , p. 372 .
(This latter work, we hope, shortly to offer to English readers in
their own language. It is a mine of anthropological knowledge as
regards the Ancients.)

THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME .


CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

University of California, San Diego

DATE DUE

DEC 9 1972
DEC 1 RECT

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MAY

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AUG 18 1977

DEC 15 1977

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DEC

DEC 27 1986

DEC 10 1990

CI 39 UCSD Libr.

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