The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

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СКАЧАТЬ and her husband, but can, if she pleases, accumulate property. The husband is expected to spend his time equally between his wives, but not to assist in providing necessities after the marriage day; should his help be required, the wife must pay him the customary rate of wages. The several wives compete jealously with each other to provide the best for their husband, and are comparatively well-behaved, owing, perhaps, to the severe punishment of infidelity. Among the Smoos, wives of one husband generally live together, each wife bringing her share to make up her lord's dinner. Widows are the property of the relatives of the husband, to whom 'widow-money' must be paid before they are allowed to marry again. The method of courtship among the Woolwas is to place a deer's carcass and some firewood at the door of the intended; if accepted, marriage ensues. Each wife has usually a separate establishment. The Towkas, who are more inclined to monogamy, have an interesting marriage ceremony, of which Squier gives a long account. On the betrothal of children a corresponding cotton band is fastened above the elbow or below the knee of each. These bands are selected by the old men so as to be distinct from others in color, and are renewed when worn out. They also wear necklaces to which a shell or bead is added every year, and when the boy has ten added to his string, he is called muhasal, or ten, signifying half a man; when the twentieth and final shell is added, he is considered a full man, and is called all, meaning twenty. If his intended has by this time attained her fifteenth year, preparations are at once made for the marriage. A general holiday is taken by the villagers, who clear from grass a circular piece of ground, which is defined by a ring of stones, and trampled smooth; a little hut is then erected in the centre having a small opening at the top, and another at the side facing the east. Within the hut, the entrance of which is covered with a mat, is a heap of copal-twigs, and without, at the edge of the circle, a canoe filled with palm-wine is placed, having a large pile of white calabashes by its side. At noon the villagers proceed to the home of the bridegroom, who is addressed in turn by the old men; they then start with the youth for the house of the bride where the young man seats himself before the closed entrance on a bundle of presents intended for the bride. The father raps at the door which is partly opened by an old woman who asks his business, but the reply does not seem satisfactory, for the door is slammed in his face. The old men try their power of persuasion with the same result, and at last determine to call Orpheus to their aid. Music hath charms! the door is seen to open, and a female peeps timidly out: louder swells the music, and the bridegroom hastens to unroll his bundle containing beads and other articles. The door opens wider and wider as each present is handed in by the father, until it is entirely thrown back, revealing the bride arrayed in her prettiest, seated on a crickery, in the remotest corner. While all are absorbed in examining the presents, the bridegroom dashes in, shoulders the girl like a sack, and trots off for the mystic circle, which, urged on by the frantic cries of the women, he reaches before the crowd can rescue her. The females, who cannot pass the ring, stand outside giving vent to their despairing shrieks, while the men squat within the circle in rows, facing outward. The old men alone remain standing, and one of them hands a lighted stick to the couple inside the hut, with a short speech. Soon an aromatic smoke curls up from the copal pile, whereat the women grow silent, but when it subsides, a sudden gayety takes possession of them, and the music is again heard. The reason for this is that the bridegroom, if he has any objections to the girl, may expel her while the gum is burning, but if it burns out quietly, the groom is supposed to be satisfied and the marriage complete. The women now pass filled calabashes to the men, who soon become excited and start a dance which increases in wildness with each additional cup, and does not end till most of them have bitten the dust. After dark the crowd proceeds with lighted torches to the hut, which is torn down, disclosing the married pair sitting demurely side by side. The husband shoulders his new baggage and is escorted to his home. The following day everybody presents a gift of some kind, so as to place the couple on an equal footing with the rest of the villagers.996

      The position of a wife is not an enviable one, as the care of the household, the farm, and all hard and degrading work fall to her share, while her liege lord spends most of his time in idling. When about to be confined, she proceeds to a hut erected for this purpose in the forest, a short distance from the village, where she remains from a week to two months, according to the custom of the tribe, attended by female friends who supply all her wants, since she is not allowed to handle food herself. No one must pass to the windward of the hut, because an obstruction of the air might cause the death of the mother and child, and for thus offending the guilty party must pay the damages. In such seclusion it is easy to dispose of deformed children, and it is believed that this is done to avoid the disgrace of a nickname, which might otherwise attach to the family. At the expiration of the period of purification, the mother returns to the village carrying the infant tied to her back in a cloth. The village witch has in the meantime fastened round its neck, a pew or charm, consisting of a bag of small seeds with which to pay old Charon for ferriage across the river, in case of an early death. The child is suckled for about two years; yucca-root pap also forms a great part of its food in some parts, but otherwise it receives little care. The mother delivers herself, cutting the navel-string with her own hand; she also washes the infant's clothes, for it is believed that the child will die if this is done by another; after washing herself and suckling the child she returns to the village. Formerly all children born within the year were taken to the temple by the parents, wrapped in a net and painted cloth, and laid to sleep under a cake made of honey and iguana-flesh. Notice was taken of dreams, and if the child appeared well and happy, they augured riches and long life for it, if weak and sorrowful, it would be poor and unfortunate; if no dreams occurred, it betokened an early death. Acting on this superstition, parents often became careless about the future of their children, and suffered them to grow up without attention. Priests were not allowed to marry, and the care and education of the sons of prominent men were entrusted to them.997

      MOSQUITO DIVERSIONS.

      Drinking is the chief amusement, and to become helplessly drunk is the sum of all enjoyment. Frequent sihkrans or feasts are held, lasting for days, at which large numbers assist to drain the canoeful of liquor prepared for the occasion. Occasionally surrounding villagers are invited, and a drinking-bout is held, first in one house and then in another, until the climax is reached in a debauch by both sexes of the most revolting character. Quarrels are generally put off for these occasions, but, as the wives have carefully hidden all weapons, recourse is had to the fist, with which the combatants exchange blows in turn until one has had enough. These trials of endurance are also held in sport; the Smoo or Woolwa, for instance, who wishes to be held most worthy of the fair sex, engages in a lowta or striking-match with a rival, each one presenting his bent back to the other in turn, until the bravest stands declared. Death is not unfrequently the result of such trials. Even boys, carried away by emulation, hold lighted sticks to each other's skin. In early times the people of Honduras held regular festivals at the beginning of each month, at the time of electing officers, at harvest time, and three other grand celebrations during the year, for which much food and drink were prepared. As the wine took effect, the participants were seized with a desire to move to the exhilarating sound of drum, flute, and rattle, and a simple dance was organized. That of the Carib is merely a forward and backward movement of hands and feet, accompanied by a peculiar intonation of voice, and at their seekroes, or festivals in commemoration of the departed, they stalk in a circle, one following the other, and singing in a loud and uncouth tone. Their pas seul is livelier, however, the performer skipping up and down, bending the body in different ways, and making the most grotesque movements. They are not satisfied with a mere drinking-bout at their reunions, but spread a good table, to which guests often bring their own liquor. The Towkas and others prefer the circle dance, walking at a slow, swinging pace, beating their knuckles against emptied calabashes, and joining in a refrain, at the end of which they strike their cups one against another's. At each additional potation, the walk is increased in speed, until it assumes a trot and ends in a gallop, the calabashes rattling in accordance. The Sambo dance is like a minuet, in which the performers advance and recede, making strange gesticulations. The women have also a dance among themselves—for they are not allowed to join with the men—in which they form a ring, holding each other round the waist with the left hand, bending, wriggling, shaking calabash rattles, and singing until exhausted. Dramatic representations usually accompany these saltatory exhibitions, wherein the various phases of a lover's trials, СКАЧАТЬ