Polynesian Researches
XIII. Concerning the Not Making Provision for the Support of the Wife
XIII. Concerning the Not Making Provision for the Support of the Wife
If a man does not provide food for his own wife, but afflicts her with hunger, the magistrate shall admonish such a husband that he behave not thus; but if he will not hear their counsel, and his wife, on account of this evil treatment, (she) leave, let him be sentenced to labour (if not a weak and sickly man) until the day that he will behave kindly to his wife. The work shall be such as making a road, or erecting a fence, for the king and the governor.