The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1883-10-11
TOR NINE RE DERs.
Col.r.iIlx iii i,l syurlous I,g,1,ra.

FR FEM TNE REAL DERs.
ceurttny in yarious Landa.
The Chinese do not do much court
ing. The parents save then the
tSouble. They believe that Yue.Laon,
tile old man &C the moon, uniees with a
slken cord all preiestined couples.
The parents arrange, sometimes, for
unions as soon as the child is born. a
gO-between, or inateh-r1 aker, arrangeS
all the details, and the couple never
sec each other until the wedding day.
Perhaps dneo Of the most novel modes
of courtship ever heard Of is that
pTevalent among atribein Neilgherry.
The maids and bachelors who wish to
get married erect hut inside an
inclosed space Of groun with thick
fence round it, and the men without
cannot see each other. The females go
into the hut, and the males stick long
sticks through the fence. at. the same
time the women come out and each
catch hold of a stick, the owner of
which becomes her husband.
Att Mocha, in the East Indies, man
does ourtship by the aid ofmarriage
brokers, to whom a stipulated sum is
paid. In Java all The ceurtship is
done by parents, the children not being
permitted to interfere In any way.
In Africa are found many curious
conrting customs. In Sierra Leone
the negroes had a house devoted to the
instruction Of their daughters, who re-
main there year under the care Of an
old man, At the enl of this time they
are dressed in their best and assembled
before the marriageable young men,
dance, and the latter take their pick.
On the we t coast, whensa girl is of
marriageable age she is led about the
village by her friends to advertise the
fact, her hands and arms adorned with
gold trinkets to allure theyoung men.
She is sold into matrimony, the high
est price being twenty dollars, with
rum and tobacco. In Congo, when a
girl is marriageable, she is put in a
tent for a month and suffers come and
make her presents. Then she takes
her pick. phey live together then for
two orsthree years to see if they are
suited to each other. In New Zealand
and the Feejee islands courtship is
done by capture. When man sees a
woman lie likes he tells her to follow
him. If she refuses he knocks her
down and carries her off.
The method Of courtship is equally
brutal The young lovers mode of
paying his addresses is eficacious and
simple. With a blow of his nulla-
nulla, or war-club, he stans the object
of his affections, and .drags her in
sensible body away to some secluded
spot, carrying her home as soon as she
RECEIVERS her senses. aSometimes two
join in an expedition for the samepur-
pose, says a writer, sand then for
several days they watch the move
ments Of their intended victims, using
the utmost skill in concealing their
presence. When they have obtained
the knowledge they require they wait
for a dark, windy night; then, quite
naked and carrying only their long
sjog spears, they crawl stealthily
through the bush until they reach the
camp fires in front of which the girls
are sleeping. Slowly and silently they
creep close enough to distinguish the
figure OF one of their cubras; then one
of the intruders stretches out his spear
and inserts its barbed point among her
thick. flowing locks; turning the spear
slowly around, some of her hair speed
lily becomes entang,ed with it; then
with a sudden jerk she is aroused from
her sleep, and as her eyes open she
feels the sharp point of another weapon !,
against Ter throat. She makes vir-
the Of necessity, and follows her cap
tor. y
At ST Petersburg it was long a GUS
tom. to holi a fair on Whitsunday of
the @oinen who wanted husbands. !
The women carr ed in their hands sill
yer spoons to show their possessions.
Their parents and friends went with !
them to arrange terms. The young ;
men strolled about, and when they saw
q girl they liked they spoke to her Gus
tndian, and stated their prospects. In
Bosnia, near the Danube, young girls
of the Mohammedan faith were per-
mitted to walk aboutWith their faces
and if a man inclined to
matrimony fell in love with one of
them as he passed along he threw an
handkerchief or some :,
other article on her head or neck. She
then retired to her home, and appeared
no more in public.