RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 39 



the natives of Bowditch Island that the husband went 

 to live with the wife's kindred. Inasmuch however as 

 polygyny was allowed it is to be presumed that where 

 more wives than one were married this custom only 

 applied to the first. 1 Like most of the Polynesians the 

 Maori have reached the patrilineal stage ; but many 

 vestiges of the reckoning of descent through the 

 mother are to be found. The marriage ceremony 

 consists in a simulated capture of the bride, in former 

 days a very real and often bloody struggle. A few 

 days afterwards the lady's relatives appear and demand 

 reparation. A palaver ensues, ending in a handsome 

 present by the husband and a feast at his expense. 

 But sometimes, Mr. Taylor tells us, " the father 

 simply told his intended son-in-law he might come and 

 live with his daughter ; she was thenceforth considered 

 his wife, he lived with his father-in-law and became 

 one of the tribe, or hapu, to which his wife belonged, 

 and in case of war was often obliged to fight against 

 his own relatives. So common is the custom of the 

 bridegroom going to live with his wife's family that 

 it frequently occurs, when he refuses to do so, she will 

 leave him and go back to her relatives. Several 

 instances came under my notice where young men 

 have tried to break through this custom and have so 

 lost their wives." 2 



The influence of Brahmanism on the aboriginal 

 population of India has been so potent that far fewer 

 examples of motherright are to be found among them 

 than might have been expected. Some of the more 

 complete of these have already been mentioned. 



1 /. A. I. xxi. 54. 



3 Taylor, 337 ; /> A, I, xi*. 103, 



