THE DOBUANS OF S.E. PAPUA. 481 



4. The bridegroom's relatives cook food for the bride's rehitives to 

 partake of, and take uncooked food to the bride's village. 



5. The bride's relatives make return presents of food to the bride- 

 groom's friends, and the bride's mother puts some cooked food into 

 the bridegi'oom's mouth to release him from the food Tabu. 



(Note by the natives. The man is obedient to all these customs, 

 because he is anxious to have a wife.) 



6. The bride and bridegroom go to the man's village, and sleep 

 in a house with the bridegi'oom's mother and sister. The mother and 

 sister must be in the same lOom with the couple, or the bride's 

 mother would complain that her daughter was not used to being alone. 



7. The next day are the closing ceremonies. The bride's relatives 

 give the bridegroom's relatives food ; the bridegroom's relatives make 

 wove presents; and the bridegroom's mother puts food into the bride's 

 mouth, thus releasing her from her eating Tabu. 



Marriage Restrictions. — It is forbidden to marry blood relations 

 on the mother's side. Susu includes all these relations. A village is 

 made up of various Susu separated by clear boundaries. Marriage 

 may be contracted in the village outside of the mother's Susu. 



It is also forbidden to }iiarry in the father's Susu, but only 

 because by so doing rides concerning mourning feasts woidd be 

 broken. 



Marriage does not admit into the Susu. 



Proper respect must alwaj's be paid to married relatives. There 

 must never be too much familiarity with the spouse's Susu. 



A man may marry as many wives as he can get, but each wife 

 has her own house and garden in her own tribe or village. The chief 

 or first wife, called Asematua, generally thrashes the other wives the 

 first time she sees them after the marriage, but afterwards treats 

 them as sisters. Whenever one of them comes to the husband's home 

 she has to obey the chief wife. 



Divorce. 



A man likes to make as big presents as possible to his bride's 

 relatives dunng the betrothal and marriage ceremonies so that 

 if his wife wishes to divorce him for a trivial cause he will have 

 the sympathy of those who have i;eceived the goods. Nevertheless, 

 the causes of divorce are very numerous. 



A divorced woman is not paid for by her next husband. The 

 divorced man does not receive anything back after divorce, unless the 

 divorce occurs soon after marriage, in which case the valuable articles 

 are returned or their equivalents. 



A wealthy man is not divorced readily; neither is a woman who 

 is possessor of much yam seed. In some senses food stored up is 

 considered more valuable than wealth in goods. 



Some of the causes of divorce are : — 



1. If woman is extravagant with yams. 



2. Man not gardening properlj'. 



.'5. Woman stealing from man's relatives. 



4. Man's relatives not giving the woman cooked food occasion- 

 ally as a sign of good feeling. 



2f 



