268 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES 



CHAPTEE XI 



CUSTOMS. OF THE MINAHASSBRS 



Marriage customs — Infant betrothal — Courtship — Use o£ the betel-nut in 

 oourtship — The harta or dowry — Laws of inheritance — Shunning the 

 parents-in-law — Teknonymy — Divorce — Adoption of children — Compari- 

 son of the marriage laws of Minahassa with those of other parts of the 

 Archipela'go — Birth customs — Makehet — Sickness — Death — Burial cus- 

 toms — Driving away the spirit. 



No STXJDTf of the ethnology of a. race of men can be con- 

 sidered complete without reference to the customs attend- 

 ing betrothal and marriage, and the laws which regulate 

 the inheritance of property and titles. In many respects 

 these branches of the subject open up fields for research 

 and speculation uji equalled in interest and importance 

 throughout the vast range of human customs and cere- 

 monies. 



We are fortunate indeed in possessing in the works of 

 the distinguished Dutch, writer, Wilken, a very complete 

 summary of our knowledge concerning these customs 

 among, the races of the Malay Archipelago, and in the 

 followiBg pages I am greatly indebted to him for much of 

 the information I have gathered concerning the marriage 

 rites and customs of the people of Minahassa. I do not 

 propose,, however, entirely to confine myself to the Mina- 

 hassers, but, by bringing forward some of the knowledge 

 we have gathered, about these customs amongst the people 

 who inhabit ths' neighbouring districts and the other islands 

 of the Malay Archipelago, to indicate to the reader the 



