42 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



betrothed as one of his own family till the girl comes 

 of age, when the marriage is consummated and he 

 becomes a partner in the general property of the 

 family of his father-in-law." * These arrangements 

 are therefore only employed for special reasons. 

 They may however be a relic of an earlier social con- 

 dition of these two tribes. 



The Kamtchadals live in small communities or 

 families, each in its own ostroshock or village composed 

 of a small number of households. A youth who 

 marries goes to reside in his wife's ostroshock ; he does 

 not bring her to his. The marriage used to be made 

 by means of a very simple ceremony. The lover 

 went to the hut where his sweetheart dwelt with her 

 parents and kindred and there played the wooer, 

 rendering himself officious and offering all sorts of 

 services to the family. These services were accepted 

 if he had the good fortune to please. He then watched 

 his opportunity to perform a public act of familiarity 

 with the girl. In doing this he had to run the risk of 

 resistance and even serious blows on the part of any 

 married women who might happen to be present. If 

 successful the young people thenceforward lived 

 together without any further formality in the wife's 

 hut. 2 The Kamtchadals have now accepted Russian 

 Christianity, and it has to some extent modified their 

 customs. Many of their tales, however, reflect the 

 former practice by which the husband went to live in 

 the dwelling of the wife's family ; while others repre- 

 sent him as taking his wife back after a time to his 

 own home. The latter probably portray the present 



1 Thurston, 33. 



2 Georgi, iii. 77, 89. Cf. Post, Studien, 47, 



