2 o8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from marriage by capture, it is the purpose of this paper to classify. 

 They are numerous, examples being forthcoming from every part 

 of the world, and from peoples in every phase of civilization. 

 This, however, is as might be expected, for it is certain that almost 

 every race of man must have passed through the initial stages 

 which gave rise to the practice. The marriage by capture de facto, 

 it must be observed, is a violent abduction, regarded as an act of 

 hostility. With this class it is not proposed to deal. The hostile 

 abduction is the actuality ; and what we are now about to inquire 

 into are the ceremonial abductions, and practices derived there- 

 from, the symbols of the former reality. 



The different forms of survival so blend one into another, and 

 two are so frequently found combined together, that it is impos- 

 sible to make a classification that will meet every case ; but what 

 it is here proposed to do is to group the forms under general heads, 

 from which the more disintegrated varieties may be traced. For 

 this purpose it will be convenienkto divide them into two groups, 

 viz. : (1) Forms which precede the consummation of the marriage; 

 (2) forms which follow it. These two groups may again be di- 

 vided, the first into (a) forms symbolizing a conflict between op- 

 posing parties or clans ; (b) forms symbolizing a capture of a 

 woman, either by a party or by an individual ; and (c) bride-racing ; 

 and the second into (d) forms symbolizing an escape or attempt 

 to escape from the husband ; and (e) forms limiting social in- 

 tercourse between the young couple and their relatives by mar- 

 riage. 



The form which approaches nearest to the reality, and which 

 is therefore probably the most archaic, is that in which the bride- 

 groom, assisted by his friends, attempts to seize and carry off the 

 bride, the seizure being resisted by her friends. There is a good 

 deal of violence, and the bridegroom is not always successful. 

 We find a good example of this form in Captain Johnstone's 

 Maoria.* Among the New Zealanders an indispensable prelimi- 

 nary to every description of taiva, or expedition whether a tawa 

 mum, a tawa to confiscate, a tawa tango, a tawa for carrying off 

 a woman, or a tawa toto, a tawa to kill or destroy was to send 

 and give notice, otherwise it would have been stigmatized as a 

 koharu, a murder, or act of treachery. The notice once given, 

 the march of the raiding party might follow immediately, or be 

 delayed for an indefinite time, which was sometimes done with 

 the view of throwing the enemy off his guard. In the tawa tango 

 described by Captain Johnstone, a young man of the Ngatiroa 

 tribe had fallen in love with a girl of the Mania tribe, and, as 

 there was no reason to hope that a demand for the hand of the 



*Pp. 126 etseq. 



