MARRIAGE CUSTOMS OF ABORIGINES. 105 
him without even a spear or a mat to sleep upon —nothing but the mere 
shell of the house. Sometimes they would eyen demolish the house 
itself. Ifa woman was unfaithful the husband might kill the adulterer, 
but the wife would receive no punishment.“ , 
Divorce was frequent and might take place for any cause of discon- 
tent on the part of either the husband or the wife. The most frequent 
cause was jealousy. _Inall cases the children accompanied the mother, 
and should she remarry they looked upon her new husband asa father. 
CoNnCUBINAGE.—It was customary for the urritaos, or bachelors, to 
live in a “great house,” often in companionship with young women 
whom they purchased from their parents or hired for a certata time. 
This did not injure the chances of either for marriage. As in other 
islands of the Pacitic where a similar custom prevailed, it is probable 
that the girls obtained from their families in this way came from other 
villages, and not from that in which they were to live. Certainly 
degrees of relationship were respected in such cases as scrupulously as 
in marriage. Sexual relations between kindred were considered 
infamous. After marriage, fidelity was expected and as a rule was 
observed on the part of both husband and wife. 
In cases of true marriage presents were also made by the groom to 
the father of the bride. A disregard for the marriage customs of the 
natives on the part of the early missionaries was one of the causes of 
complaint of the natives and finally led to bloodshed and war.’ In 
1676, the first regularly appointed governor, Don Francisco Irisari y 
Vivar, shortly after his arrival in Guam, wishing to punish the village 
of Talisai for the pride of its inhabitants, who had remained away 
from the fiesta of Corpus Cristi, celebrated by the missionaries with 
processions, dances, and contests of the children in reciting the cate- 
chism, marched upon it during the night, and at daybreak fired upon 
the unsuspecting inhabitants; several of them were killed and others 
escaped to the woods badly wounded. The house of the urritaos wis 
burned and three babies were carried to the mission and baptized. 
Shortly afterwards several marriages were solemnized by*the padres 
between girls educated at the mission schools and Spanish soldiers. 
In the school at the village of Orote there was a young gitl who 
wished to marry a Spaniard. Padre Sebastian de Monroy, the mis- 
sionary stationed at that village, performed the ceremony secretly, 
without the consent or knowledge of the girl’s parents. While the 
party were still in the church the bride’s father came in a great rage 
protesting against the marriage of his daughter with the Spaniard, 
and attacked both the bridegroom and the priest. The newly wedded 
couple were sent for safety to Agafia, and the padre, to console the 
aGarcia, Vida y Martyrio de Sanvitores, 1683, p. 202. bIdem., p. 534. 
