ETHNOGRAPHY. 



restrained in the choice of food. Whether one purpose of this law be 

 to accustom the young men to a hardy and simple style of living may 

 be doubted ; but its prime object and its result certainly are to pre- 

 vent the young men from possessing themselves, by their superior 

 strength and agility, of all the more desirable articles of food, and 

 leaving only the refuse to the elders. 



2. The ceremony of marriage, which, among most nations, is con- 

 sidered so important and interesting, is, with this people, one of the 

 least regarded. The woman is looked upon as an article of property, 

 and is sold or given away by her relatives without the slightest con- 

 sideration of her own pleasure. In some cases, she is betrothed, or 

 rather promised, to her future husband in the childhood of both, and 

 in this case, as soon as they arrive at a proper age, the young man 

 claims and receives her. Some of them have four or five wives, and 

 in such a case, they will give one to a friend who may happen to 

 be destitute. Notwithstanding this apparent laxity, they are very 

 jealous, and resent any freedom taken with their wives. Most of 

 their quarrels relate to women. In some cases, the husband who 

 suspects another native of seducing his wife, either kills or severely 

 injures one or both of them. Sometimes the affair is taken up by the 

 tribe, who inflict punishment after their own fashion. The manner 

 of this is another of the singularities of their social system. 



3. When a native, for any transgression, incurs the displeasure of 

 his tribe, their custom obliges him to " stand punishment," as it is 

 called : that is, he stands with a shield, at a fair distance, while the 

 whole tribe, either simultaneously, or in rapid succession, cast their 

 spears at him. Their expertness generally enables those who are ex- 

 posed to this trial to escape without serious injury, though instances 

 occasionally happen of a fatal result. There is a certain propriety 

 even in this extraordinary punishment, as it is very evident that the 

 accuracy and force with which the weapons are thrown will depend 

 very much upon the opinion entertained of the enormity of the offence. 



When the quarrel is between two persons only, and the tribe 

 declines to interfere, it is sometimes settled by a singular kind of 

 duello. The parties meet in presence of their kindred arid friends, 

 who form a circle round them as witnesses and umpires. They stand 

 up opposite one another, armed each with a club about two feet long. 

 The injured person has the right of striking the first blow, to receive 

 which the other is obliged to extend his head forward, with the side 

 turned partially upwards. The blow is inflicted with a force com- 

 mensurate with the vindictive feeling of the avenger. A white man, 



