NO. 4 NEW ORIGINAL BOSCANA HARRINGTON 25 



or of something else (which I consider to be Hke a promise or pledge). 

 These notified their daughter telling her : Daughter, you are to marry 

 such a one, for we have already given you to him. And the poor girl, 

 whether it were her pleasure or against her will, or however it might 

 be, had to marry the man who had asked for her. 



There were also certain ones who were given in marriage from the 

 time they were small [children], and it was in this way : The children 

 being of tender age, the fathers and mothers on both sides being to- 

 gether, either with a feast or without one, would say : These 2 little 

 children are to be married, and without further ceremony they were 

 already married, and from that time on the 2 little children played 

 together, ate, and slept together, and the 2 houses were one and the 

 same for both of them ; until on reaching comi^etent age they gave 

 their feast as we described above, and they cohabited together. The 

 marriages celebrated thus were mostly those of relatives by affinity, 

 for among them relationship by affinity was not held to be an impedi- 

 ment. In the year 182 1 at this Mission I married in the face of the 

 church a couple whose marriage had been contracted since the time 

 they were children, for the girl must have been about 6 months old, 

 and the boy about 2 years when their parents already married them. 



There were also among these Indians marriages by rape, and it was 

 that when a captain or his son fell in love with a certain girl of another 

 rancheria, what he did was to send to that rancheria 3 or 4 or more 

 Indians, well armed. On reaching that rancheria, they went directly 

 to the house of the girl and laid before her father and mother the 

 commission which they had brought from their chief, that therefore 

 they should give their daughter to be taken to the chief, and that 

 otherwise they would kill them. The poor wretches, full of fear and 

 dread from the threats that were made them, delivered their daughter, 

 though it might be against their will, and she was taken and led to their 

 lord, and they were already married without performing the ceremonies 

 which we have described above. 



What we should search out is whether these marriages of the 

 Indians were true marriage contracts or not. There is no doubt that 

 according to what we have seen they were apparently true marriage 

 contracts (except the rapes, and the unwilling ones, which were null 

 and void), but the rest it seems were true matrimonial contracts, and 

 should therefore be perpetual ones. Yet among these Indians in many 

 cases they were not so, or better stated, it was their belief that they 

 could get divorced whenever it pleased them and they felt inclined, 

 and it was a custom current among them, for if after being married 



