2i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



who are eminently an aquatic people, carry out this ceremony on 

 the water. The bride is given a canoe and a double-bladed pad- 

 dle, and allowed a start of some distance ; the suitor, similarly 

 equipped, then follows in chase. If he succeeds in overtaking 

 her, she becomes his wife; if not, the match is broken off.* 

 Among the wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula the chase takes 

 place in the forest, on foot. 



The first modification of this form is when the chase takes 

 place in a set race-course, instead of in the open country. This is 

 done by the Malays when there is no stream suitable for the boat- 

 chase near at hand. A circle of a certain size is formed, the dam- 

 sel, stripped of all but a waistband, is given a start of half the 

 circle, and, if she succeeds in running three times round before 

 her suitor catches her, the marriage is off. Among the Koriaks 

 (northeastern Asia) the race takes place in a large tent, contain- 

 ing numerous separate compartments, called pologs, arranged in 

 a continuous circle around its inner circumference ; and the girl 

 is clear of the marriage if she can run through the series of pologs 

 without being caught. In this case the women of the encamp- 

 ment throw every obstacle in the way of the bridegroom try to 

 trip him up, and strike him with switches ; so that here we have 

 a combination of bride-racing with that form of capture in which 

 resistance is offered by the women of the bride's party. A man 

 has scarcely any chance of succeeding unless the woman wishes 

 it. In a chase witnessed by Mr. Kennan f the bride distanced the 

 lover, but waited for him in the last polog. 



From this variety the form passes through various stages of 

 disintegration. Among the Aenezes (Arabs) the girl runs from 

 the tent of one friend to another. Here, however, she is caught 

 by the women, and conducted to the tent of the bridegroom, who 

 stands at the entrance and forces her in. Among the Oleepa In- 

 dians of California the girl runs away and hides herself. " The 

 lover searches for her, and, should he succeed in finding her twice 

 out of three times, she belongs to him. Should he be unsuccess- 

 ful, he waits a few weeks and then repeats the performance. If 

 she again elude his search, the matter is decided against him." J 

 Among the Ahitas, or Aetas, the Negrito race of the Philippine 

 Islands, the girl is sent away into the forest, by her parents, be- 

 fore sunrise. She has an hour's start, after which the lover goes 

 in search of her. If he finds her before sunset, the marriage is 

 acknowledged ; if not, the affair is at an end. Among the Wa- 

 teita (eastern Africa) the bride hides with distant relatives. 

 Finally, the form becomes merely an elopement of the happy 



* Cameron's Malayan India, p. 116. f Tent Life in Siberia. 



X Bancroft's Native Races of the Tarinc States, p. 389. 



