282 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. xi 



the hope that her husband will pay another harta for her 

 recovery ; if he does not, then they are divorced, and the 

 original harta has to be returned. The children, when a 

 divorce takes place, join either their father or mother 

 according to their choice (22). 



If a married couple are not blessed with children, or 

 even if they are, they sometimes adopt the children of 

 other people. This custom is called maki-oki, maki-uran, 

 maki-anak, &c., according to the district, but each term 

 signifies the same, namely, ' to recognise the child.' A 

 child so adopted becomes a member of the family of the 

 foster parents in every respect but one, i.e. he or she is 

 allowed to marry with his or her foster parents' own children. 

 The adopted children work in the fields, have their share 

 of the common property of the household, and inherit the 

 estate just as the ordinary children do (22). 



It is of very considerable importance in connection with 

 marriage laws and customs to consider the relative position 

 of the man and the woman in the married life. 



Certain features in the social conditions of Minahassa 

 have led some travellers to adopt the erroneous view that 

 the wife leads a life little better than that of a slave 

 to her husband, but this is by no means the case ; the 

 woman is, and probably has been for many generations, on 

 a footing of equality with her husband. It is true that she 

 performs hard manual labour in the rice fields, and carries 

 heavy loads of garden produce or long bamboos filled with 

 wine or water, but all these duties she performs as an 

 ordinary member of the family, whose business it is to 

 work upon the communal estate the family possesses. 



It might seem also that the harta which is paid by 

 the bridegroom for his bride is of a similar nature to 

 the price paid for a slave, a beast of burden, or any other 

 piece of property. The harta, however, should not be con- 



