History of the Caribs. 251 
that he may have the courage to eat those of his enemies ; 
he is then scraped and rubbed with the bird soaked in 
pepper water. He is then made to fast for a couple of 
days in his hammock, and his food is taken to him, not by 
a woman, but by a man, or he would be less gene- 
rous. Some cannot stand the whole initiating. No great 
ceremony is observed for marriage. Sometimes the men 
make their own choice and demand, but, generally, the 
girls are offered to them by the father or mother. Some, 
without saying a word, go and lie down near the girl that 
pleases them best, and the mother acquaints the daughter 
that it is time to get married, though, often, she is only 
12 years of age. The next morning, she combs her 
master's hair before the others, and brings him cassava. 
Through this public a6t their wedding is declared. If a 
Carib asks a widow, he only gives her three days to reply. 
An eld man sometimes takes a young girl ; and an old 
woman without teeth a young man. They have a great 
liking for these old witches. Tlw*; are mothers who turn 
their children into prostitutes when they begin to mature 
and are not taken to wife. Some marry their own 
daughters, some, a mother and a daughter, others two 
sisters. Some have six or seven wives in different 
places, and, were it not that they had to feed them, they 
would take more. When a woman is enciente, a Carib 
may ask the father or mother for the child. In case it is 
a girl, and the mother promised it to him, he will mark it 
with a red cross on the stomach, (like a beast at the 
market). When the girl is seven or eight years old, 
he begins to make her sleep with him, though he 
has other wives. This child may be a very 
near relation of his. The woman continues to live 
11 2 
