THE LOWER RACES OF MAN. 351 



Among tlie rudest races capture is far more than a form, and it is 

 customary for men to steal women by force from other tribes. 



Hearne, wbo knew the North American Indians thoroughly well, and 

 •whose statements have been confirmed by subsequent travelers, as for 

 instance by Franklin and Eichardson, assures us that among the North- 

 ern tribes, it has ever been the custom for the men to wrestle for any 

 woman to whom they are attached •, and of course the strongest always 

 carries off the prize. "A weak man," he adds, "is seldom permitted to 

 keep a wife, that a stronger man thinks worth his notice," which, he says, 

 "keeps up a great spirit of emulation among the young men." It must 

 be observed that this is not regarded as any arbitrary exercise of power, 

 but it is a recognized right that a strong man may carry off the wife of 

 a weaker one if he can ; and it would appear that even the women acqui- 

 esce in this custom without a murmur. 



I will now give a few instances, in order to show how widely this 

 custom of marriage by capture prevaDs among the lower races of men, 

 and that traces of it linger even among those higher in the scale of civ- 

 ilization. 



In Australia, the ardent lover steals on the dark object of his affections, 

 knocks her down with his club, and drags her off in triumph. This 

 violent affection is not resented by the relations of the woman, if they 

 are not able to rescue her at the moment. On the contrary, she is recog- 

 nized as the legal wife of her captor. 



In Bali, one of the islands between Java and New Guinea, it is stated 

 to be the practice that girls are stolen away by their lovers, who carry 

 them off" by force to the woods ; when brought back from thence the 

 poor female becomes the slave of her rough lover, by a certain compen- 

 sation being paid to her relatives. 



Speaking of the Khonds, a tribe in India, Major General Campbell 

 mentions that, on one occasion, hearing loud cries, he went to see what 

 was the matter, and found a man carrying off a gitl, while twenty or 

 thirty friends protected him from the attacks of a number of women, who 

 were attempting to rescue the bride. The struggle continued until the 

 bridegroom reached his own house, and General Campbell was assured 

 that, among the Khonds, marriages were always solemnized in this 

 manner. 



Among the Kalmucks of Central Asia the marriage ceremony is even 

 more romantic. The girl is put on a horse and rides off at full speed. 

 When she has got enough start the lover starts in pursuit ; if he catches 

 her, she becomes his wife ; but if he cannot overtake her, the match is 

 broken oft"; and we are assured, which I can well believe, that no Kal- 

 muck girl was ever caught against her will. 



Again, among the Ahitas of the Philippine Islands, when a man 

 wishes to marry a girl, her i)arents send her before sunrise into the 

 woods. She has an hour's start, after which the lover goes to seek her. 

 If he finds her and brings her back before sunset, the marriage is ac- 

 knowledged ; if not, he must abandon all claim to her. 



" The aborigines of the Amazon Valley," says Wallace, "have no par- 

 ticular ceremony at their marriages, except that of always carrying 

 away the girl by force, or making a show of doing so, even when she 

 and her parents are quite willing." 



M. Bardel mentions that among the Indians round Conception, in 

 Chili, on the other side of the Andes, after a man has agreed on the 

 price of a girl with her parents, the recognised mode of proceeding is 

 that he surprises her, or is supposed to do so, and carries her off to the 

 woods for a few days, after which the happy couple return home. 



