272 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ch. xi 



intermediate stages gradually leading up to the form in 

 which we now find it. 



It is possible that a sham marriage ceremony such as 

 the Pesendeen of the Minahassers may have been one of 

 these ; or, to put it in other words, in the course of the 

 development of the binding infant-marriage, there was a 

 series of stages in which an arrangement between the 

 parents of two children to protect them from the disgrace 

 of remaining unmarried throughout life gradually as- 

 sumed the formalities of a true marriage contract similar 

 to those of the Pesendeen. 



True courtship or love-making does not of course take 

 place in Minahassa until after the Pesendeen. It is, in 

 fact, the preliminary to true marriage. It may take 

 place between young men and maidens who have pre- 

 viously been joined together in the Pesendeen, but it 

 is always strictly an affair of the heart and not in any 

 way dependent upon the consent or even wish of the 

 parents. 



Two young people meet at the mapalus, and over the 

 feasting and singing become interested in one another and 

 fall in love. Then follows the courtship, which is not 

 supposed to be open and above board, but is nominally at 

 least carried on in secret. It consists in nocturnal visits 

 of the young man to the young woman's house, visits 

 which, although frequently attended by immorality, are not 

 necessarily so, and are often perfectly decorous and 

 formal. 



The young woman prepares a mat for her lover, and 

 after dark he comes to visit her. The parents are of course 

 aware that their daughter is thus receiving a visitor, and 

 are indeed proud that she should be so sought after ; but 

 at the same time they warn her to be cautious. The lover 

 departs again before daybreak in order that there may be 



