The Mountaineer. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1859-1861, 1860-03-17

sssau RtStels ~ steal a. Ilcighbofss wife
a which y exceedingly common an,onr thns.
sayages. He calls asa lodge duTInr tl,e ~
sence Of its Kubu proprietor. and fotcibI,
bears away his spouse into Tie forest at IN,
z same time taking pains 10 leave eyislerres 4
bis track BY brushing the bushes. 81 droppinq
u peculiar shaped leaf in the path. Ihe Is
q xisher proceeds 70 the vicinity of some anal
81 watercourse.o r lake. lie IS ii duty boune
1. to remain there q whole day. from sunris
4 till lite setting; and II. at ths aios,
OF day, no one appears TO dispute his Dos
session Of the woman, be h entitled to M
Il stolen wife, But IL Is generally the case. TIN
when the husband returns to his lodge AZ,
Il discovers the abduction 81 his partner. al,,
II also observes the traces left BY the rnvishcr
that he sets out at once To- reclaim his firht
4 and vindicate bis injured honor. When III,
Il despelled husband appears, hin antagonist lp
\ breaches Warily 70 meet the attack they max,
various feints and lodges and finally the,
gEapples The wife IN tie mean time sits de
Imnreiy looking on, entirely Indifferent 10 az
result, being perfectly satisfied 10 10 with the
best man. They wrestlc mud struggle, and.
Aftcr their best Efforts, finally one of the two
sueesesls in pushing his antagonist into the
winter, Tie moment he gets his foot Into the
/ WATER y is m immediate end of the strife:
they never SHAY ench other, nor shed blood, but
/ only strive to prove superiority in wrestling
skin aud strengt And SO the one that sue
ceeds IN first Metting or mnddying his anita.
gonistt goes home with tho woman: and II the
Husband he the defeated party liz goes Ills yyitv
without further quarrel; but In consequence 81
having had his foot put into the pond, ii h
difficult for him 70 get another KuIl wife;
and hence we might suppose, arose the saying,
that such q one has put his foot into ID, when
ever III . tight place. through his own incapa.
city or mistake s
Now there Is another remarkable popularity
IN trinlenial matters,as observed In 4 part Of
Borneo, which Il In very direct opposition 20
what Is entertained aud pTactlseti here; md &c
/ is this that there are women who are poly
andefs, the opposite Of polygaInists; that IL,
they have two or three husbands. Now, this
Is d privilege that Is only granted 10 those 81
high III distinguished families The first husband
is genelally sort ofpriest, who las d character
ianieng lis people something like the Brahmins
among the IIinGoos. He lis tho clerical hns.
band who takes charge Of her future welfare:
tho epond IS warrieT.o fighting husband. and
| the third one iii d working man that provides
for he:wholc family Now; these are savage
people, that is to- say, they occupy. as COM
pared with ourselves, d low degree In the
scale OF yiltzation; and yet ] do not think
that this state Of martial plurality differs very
much from whit may be observed Ia societies
llegarded as occupying the topmost round OF
the iadder u etyi lization. think II is com.
mcnly observed fnsthe best society of the At.
+ lantic cities Of this Union, as we'll as ainuhp
Il the gteat cities ,if Europe; that there /,
many q distingu lady who enjoys the naosi
intiuat frientshi Of . family pastor, then aht
i Ailts aflorously with some duelling mus
tachoed count and then there Is the husband
proper, good honest man who works dow /
town for the whole establishment.
The Malays nttaeh great soIe,,nity q, ~,
InaIfiaffa reitinn. tl,e., n s
findissoInhIc ,,.
the peeljar ard mott. -
with the event There are =, 800
ing and Offering AZ ,ifts ~ tIsir deiiiss .I.
lindiyiduaIs oLietly eeeernsd tha hr;,,. a.,
groom, have rather 4 hard time: The bri.is'
being loaded with ali The or,,an,er,ss ~ ~,
family that can be gathered. Is set.,i an, i
mat with the bridegroom; but thay are piaced
back 10 back, though not touchjnrs eanK afhey
being placed about d foot apart. and thus tIlev
must remain eight hours each x,ay. aI,d fer
three days In succession, md they AZ. s,IIieet
to severe penalty il they should look round
sor indulge in any Chances at each other There
is generally one or two elderly ladies that
keep yigilant watch: and Malay women, like
their sex In all pafts Of the world, are great
stieklers for exact observance Of ceremoniais
There is one ceremonial Orpreparatiye for mar
rage, which must mention In this place;
and that is to file: the front teeth Of Malay
miidens, when they have attained the age 81
fourteen or fifteen years, Sometimes il is al
very slight operation, and Its effect on the
teeth disappears IN q lew years; but IA many
instances u Quite dish cures the beautiful white
teeth Of the girls; and they ciamoTously object
to the harbarous opemtlon which Is painful
when executed with badly made Malay files,
and is by no means o pleasant affair when
perform by the most skillful Of our dentists
with the best Of tools: but when the Malay
girls are told by their mothers that they can
not get husband until this filing Is per-
formed. then there Is a ready submission TO
the shortening oftheir fore-teeth. After the sit
ting ceremonial mentioned, on the part OF
bride and groom, the parties stand up before
apriest, who joins their hands, and repeats 70
the groom these words which are TRANSLATED
from an old Malay manuscript, and which ]
have listened to on such Occnsions:--
II join you. calling the man by name, sin |
marriage 70 Sahyeepa; you. take her to be your
wife for this world. Let me mention TO yon
that this people marry also for the world 20
como, or land Of spirits, You must pay the