2 See C. Snouck Hurgronje's Mekka, Haag, 1888-9, Vol. II, p. 6 ff.,
and 109-112, and S. M. Zwemer's Arabia, the Cradle of Islam, New
York (Revell), 1900, p. 41. Zwemer is, however, dependent on Hur-
gronje. In Somaliland, where the native customs have been shaped by
Arabic immigration, till it is not easy to tell always how much is native
and how much is not, divorce is very common. Cf. SUdarabische Expe-
dition, Bd. I, Die Somali-Sprache von Leo Reinisch, Wien, 1900, p. 109.
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PBIMmVE SBBiiriC SOCIAL LIFE 49

period, at the end of which husband and wife separate.
No stigma attaches to those who find a change of partners
desirable. Inconstancy is common and chastity not highly
valued.^

When now we find in all Semitic countries a tendency
to make the term of marriage brief, — a tendency which it
requires a high degree of civilization to subdue in them,
— the inference is surely valid, that among the primitive
Semites marriage relations were in like degree temporary.
It is contrary to all analogy to suppose that the affections
of the primitive Semite were more constant than those of
his semicivilized descendant, or that there were in ancient
times stronger inducements than in more recent centuries
for the perpetuation of the marriage tie.
