Best. — Maori Marriage Cjistoms. 63 



■expected to so mari-y whether the brother were older or 

 younger than her deceased husband. This new husband 

 often assumed the name of his dead brother, discarding his 

 former one. He would ivhakanoa (make common, free from 

 taptij the bed of his departed brother, for both bed and widow 

 would be tapic. Should the widow refuse the brother and 

 marry some other man, such action was considered wrong, 

 and an offence. Hence the relatives of her former husband 

 would probably attack the new one, burn his house, and 

 possibly slay him. Wars have sprung from such occurrences. 

 After the widow had married the brother, should she take a 

 dislike to him she might he divorced from him by the 

 priest, and could then marry any one she liked, because she 

 had become noa, or free from tajju, by first marrying the 

 ■brother of her former husband. 



A widow would not marry again soon after her husband's 

 death. Were he a person of importance she would probably 

 remain a year in the ivhare potae (or xvhare taud — -house of 

 mourning — a figurative expression). A widow would not 

 refuse to marry again. It was also a common thing for a 

 man to marry the sister of his wife, sometimes during the life 

 of the latter, at others after her death. 



The levirate was in force among the Hebrews of old and 

 many other peoples. Letourneau appears to think that it 

 became law among barbarous peoples in order to provide the 

 widow with a protector and a living withal, but this scarcely 

 seems to apply to a communistic people. 



Widows of men slain in fighting often married those who 

 avenged their husband's death. If taken prisoners in battle, 

 women were generally appropriated by members of the vic- 

 •torious party. 



Notes concerning various Customs connected with 



Marriage. 



It was sometimes the case that a single woman would be 

 given as a temporary wife to a visitor of distinction, but a 

 married woman would never be so offered. A case of this 

 kind came under my notice in this district not long ago, the 

 recipient being a white man not particularly distinguished.* 

 An amusing story is told of one of the bishops of the English 

 Church receiving such an offer in the early days. I am not 

 aware as to whether it was accepted or not. Even of late 

 years we have heard of wives being sold in England, and in 

 an issue of the London Times of 1801 appeared an account of 

 how a man put a halter round his wife's neck, led her into a 

 public place of the city, and sold her. 



• Unless joining in French's ride to Kimberley made him so. 



