RISE OF FATHERRIGHT 59 



little doubt that but for the influence of Hinduism the 

 children would have been reckoned not as slaves but 

 as members of their mother's sept. It is at least 

 suggestive that the proper person to demand payment 

 of the fine is not the father of the abducted girl but 

 her maternal uncle. 1 



Residence, temporary or permanent, on the part of 

 the husband at the bride's home is usual in various 

 African tribes. The custom of the Edeeyahs of 

 Fernando Po has already been mentioned. It applies 

 only to the first wife : the others are probably wooed in 

 a more summary fashion. The account we have of it 

 includes little detail ; but apparently the bridegroom 

 after the public celebration of his marriage continues 

 to dwell with the bride in the hut adjacent to her 

 mother's, where she has been confined throughout the 

 previous period of service and courtship. 2 Among the 

 Bae'le of the eastern Sahara the bride remains with 

 her parents. A special hut is erected for the use 

 of the young couple until the birth of the first 

 child. If no child be born the father must repay 

 the bride-price he has received and the marriage 

 is at an end. 3 In Dar-For the bride remains a year 

 or even two years in her parental home ; and there 

 her husband lives with her at the expense of her 

 father. If the husband choose to contribute it is 

 treated as a gift. 4 Among the Dinkas of the Bahr-el- 

 Ghazal the couple remain in the father-in-law's village 

 until a child has been born and has learned to walk. 

 They are then permitted to return to the husband's 



1 Risley, ii. 282. 2 Supra, p. 23. 



3 Ibid. 323, 395, citing Nachtigal. 



4 Ibid. 395, citing El-Tounsy. 



