Page:The evolution of marriage and of the family ... (IA evolutionofmarri00letorich).pdf/332

 him to follow her. Any advance made by a man is considered as an insult to all the clan (mahari) of the girl, and in order to expiate it, libations of beer and sacrifices of pigs are required, all of them at the expense of the mahari of the man. The marriage of the Garos answers exactly to the ceremony of capture, only the actors change parts; it is here the bridegroom who pretends to refuse the bride, runs away and is conducted by force to his future wife amidst the lamentations of his relations. At the death of a man, among the Garos, the widow remains mistress of the house, but the other property passes to a collateral heir, who marries the widow and sometimes her daughter also.

If we were to confine ourselves to the consideration and interpretation of these facts only, we might naturally conclude that the familial régime of the aborigines of Bengal is maternal; but contradictory facts are not wanting. Among the Bhuiyas, although the demand in marriage is made by the girls, as with the Garos, the sons receive the names of their male ascendants; the eldest son takes the name of the grandfather; the second son takes that of the great-grandfather, and the names of collaterals are given to the other sons. Among the Muasis, it is the father who negotiates the marriage of his daughter, or who sells her, rather, for a certain number of measures of rice solemnly measured and delivered.

Among the Malers of Rajmahal, it is again the father who places his daughter's hand in that of her future husband and exhorts him to love his wife. The Kandhs have adopted succession in the masculine line, with a division of property amongst the sons. The servitude of the women amongst the Korwas is very great; they are oppressed with work, and till the fields and gain the daily bread, whilst the men hunt or repose. The Michmis buy their wives, have as many as they can procure, and own them like chattels, since at a man's death all his wives, except the mother of the heir, pass to the nearest male relation. Among the Mundas, after the decease of the father of a family, the sons live together until the majority of the