SURVIVALS FROM MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE. 215 



the banks of the river Gambia, in West Africa, where, after the 

 " head " or purchase money has been paid to the parents, the 

 bridegroom, aided by two or three friends, seizes the girl while 

 she is engaged in her ordinary domestic vocations, and, in spite 

 of her frantic struggles, carries her off. 2. Among the Bedouin 

 Arabs of the Sinai Peninsula, where, after all the arrangements 

 have been made with the parents, the bridegroom, assisted by 

 two friends, seizes and carries off the bride. " If she entertains 

 any suspicion of their designs," says Burckhardt, " she defends 

 herself with stones, and often inflicts wounds on the young men, 

 even though she does not dislike the lover ; for, according to cus- 

 tom, the more she struggles, bites, kicks, cries, and strikes, the more 

 she is applauded ever after by her own companions/' * 3. Among 

 the Indians of the Amazon Valley, of whom Wallace says : 

 " When a young man wishes to have the daughter of another 

 Indian, his father sends a message to say he will come, with his 

 son and relations, to visit him. The girl's father guesses what it 

 is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes preparations for a grand fes- 

 tival. This lasts, perhaps, two or three days, when the bride- 

 groom's party suddenly seize the bride and hurry her off to their 

 canoes. No attempt is made to prevent them, and she is then 

 considered as married." f Of cases in which the bridegroom is un- 

 aided we have an example among the Fijians, with whom it is 

 clear that the consent of the girl is not first obtained, for, says 

 Mr. Williams, " on reaching the home of her abductor, should 

 she not approve of the match, she runs to some one who can pro- 

 tect her ; if, however, she is satisfied, the matter is settled forth- 

 with." x 



The first disintegration of this form is seemingly when the 

 bride is a consenting party, knows well enough what is about to 

 take place, and merely offers a feigned resistance. This appears 

 to be the form observed by the southern tribes of Tierra del 

 Fuego, where, according to Captain Fitzroy,* the youth, having 

 obtained the consent of the girl's relations, and having provided 

 himself with a canoe, watches an opportunity and carries off the 

 bride. If she is unwilling, she hides herself in the woods until 

 her admirer is heartily tired of looking for her and gives up the 

 pursuit. The Spartans also observed this form. In most cases 

 the bride is carried to the house of the bridegroom, but among 

 the Indians in the neighborhood of Concepcion, the bridegroom 

 carries off the bride to the woods, the happy pair returning home 

 after a day or two. Among the Tangutans (Mongolia) wives 

 may be abducted. Lieutenant-Colonel Prejevalsky says : " They 



* Notes, vol. i, p. 263. f Travels on the Amazon, p. 497. \ Fiji and the Fijians, p. 1*74. 



* Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. ii, p. 182. 



