SAMOA. fi25 



For this purpose tliere were teachers provided who were 

 familiar with these matters and with the legendary lore con- 

 tamed for the most j)art in their ancient song's and myths. 



A bachelors' establishment was common in the Loyalty 

 Islands, consisting- generally of a large house erected outside 

 of the village, where the young men clubbed together and 

 resided apait from then* families. The club was composed 

 chiefly of those who either had not been betrothed in child- 

 hood, or whose betrothed had died, or had been taken away 

 from them ; and so, at a time when polygamy existed, they 

 considered themselves doomed to celibacy. 



Marriage. 



Child betrothals were not practised in Samoa, nor were 

 marriages made by force, and rarely by capture. Occa- 

 sionally a chief would take into his house a secondary wite, 

 or mistress, from a conquered tribe. Although there was no 

 such thing as purchasing a wife, yet marriage engagements 

 were too commonly matters of barter, and often formed with 

 no other object than as a means of interchange of property 

 between the families of the alliance. The bridegroom's 

 friends provided the oloa (foreign property), which consisted 

 of pigs, canoes, and foreign cloth, clothing, &c., guns, tools, 

 and other imported materials. The bride's family collected 

 for the occasion fine mats used as dresses, native-made cloth, 

 mosquito drapery, baskets, fans, and ornaments which are 

 the work of women, and termed tonga, 



'We preliminary arrangements are peculiar. A young- 

 man seldom pays his addresses in person, even where mutual 

 attachment may exist. A friend (paranymph) is obtained for 

 this purpose, who conveys a present of cooked food, generally 

 composed of a pig and vegetables, which takes the place of a 

 love letter, to the maiden ; and the friend then has an inter- 

 view with the girl's father or guardian, and sometimes with 

 the girl herself. Should the present be received and eaten, 

 it is considered a sufficient and favourable reply. Then the 

 collection of bridal presents (more properly barter) is at once 

 set about by both families, and a day is fixed for the 

 marriage. Should, however, any of the friends of either 

 party object to the union, they will show their disapproval by 

 refusing to collect property for the occasion, and in that case 

 the marriage may be deferred or broken off. This may 

 result in the girl's running off with the young man to settle in 

 another tribe ; or the bridegroom may leave his own family 



