SAVAGE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 294, 3 April 1877, Page 4

SAVAGE MARRIAGE CUSTOMS.

One evening in KftotuiUtait, Campbell aaw a lad who was carrying on his shoul&F a harden wrapped in scarlet cloth, pursued by a crowd of women aad girls, pelting him with stones, bits of bamboo, and other missiles. If turned out afterwards that the victim was orv hist wedding jtmrney,, and was tarrying his yoting witV in the scarlet wrapptr, white the whole affair wa» only intended as a representation of tfce pursuit of a wife-stealer. In its last state the capture become# a inert? game between the btid igroom and bride, of wbictii the rysslt b always pre-arranged, yet it i» said that among the Mauris, a girl wiie, »u such an occasion, has att tamest desire to escape, is abte t»> cv&«te an unwelcome suitor. Kenmm, wtw witnessed a similar wedtUng gai«»? atmmg the- Kodaks, affirms that the btide mttst always give a tacit consent to her own c iptnre. liven in Europe a feigned attack is ot't on enacted ,~as a marriage Cjremony. Among the Slovaks the bridegroom and his companion actually arm themselves to approach the bride's ho use, which is c!osed as if awaiting a siege. in old Bavaria the custom of abduction still continues as a marriage sport, termed

"Braotlanf" (bridal run), which in old! northern was called " Qnanfang" (wife capture). Among the Patagonians, with [ wlto;ti Musters spent some time, purchase i mon-jy is secretly paid to the parents, i white the bride herself is, suddenly stolen. | Where to » great consanguinity is not | steal! Pi* is not Oil- t zttefa, and in equatorial West Africa, the j eldest son inherits all the wives of his j d*ceased father, with the sole exception f of Hi* own mother. Sc'iweinfnrth assorts j the *»f M ttixi, ti»e s of the! remarkable kiing h»m of the M"tilxiEt«»o3 I on tie I*' He. On the Gold Coast the [ v icant throne was owipcd '»y the prince f w\iio gained of the paternal harem before the? «>t'irr brothers. Tuis I t .rows light on certain incident* in the ♦'>!<•! Testament history. Absalom took possesion of his fafaer's wives in the sigh-t of nU Jemtsalrui, in order to pr>»elattM to the whole people that he had expelled David from the throne. In the f sam;> sprat S?»»h>uioti or-ler* the exjcution j nt" Adotntjah. because he begyed to liave j Abis'iag, David's bust favorite, as his wife, j tlifts betraying designs upon the throne, j Whjn the pptrehase of the bride is still a [ reality, as among the Kaffirs, j tively high pric. s are paid, nor is the inclination of the chosen bride at all consulted. Anion; more advanced pe»g>L> on the contrary, as for instanc-, tiie Abi-pK-nes and the Patagont«ns. t;ie purclmse tieeomes invalid, or is cancelled if the yirl refuses her assent.