Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-10-29
GET THEIR WIVES BY FORCE.
Fskimos Have Rather nm Aggressive Court
ship-Grest Gamblers.

ship-Great Gamblers.
Women are held In little respect
among the Eskimo. though the men are
very Jealous of their wives, ard I'M
faithfulness on their part is sure to be
severely punished A girl is married "a
soon after maturity as n male comes
along who has the requisite physical
strength TO force her to become his
bride.
The marriage ceremony Is very simple.
Commonly the sanction OF the pa
rents is bought by gifts Of skins, furs,
and other valuables. In most cases.
saws a writer in the Washington Star,
the consent of the girl is not asked.
Her lover seizes the first opportunity
TO abduct her forclbly. and keeps her
away until she is thoroughly subjected
to his will.
In one instance not long ago, a young
woman was tied In snow-house for two
weeks, and was not allowed to go out.
She revenged herself by pulling nearly
all OF the hair from her husbands
head. In fact, she was unusually OBJ
streperous, and another man, who sub
seduently took her TO wife. was
Obliged to fasten her to a sledge in order
to make her accompany him, when he
desired to travel
Gambling Is carried on among both
sexes to such point that even their
own lives are sometimes staked upon the
issue of a game. Often the winner OBJ
tains the wife of his opponent and holds
her until some tempting offer Is made
for her return.
The women, particularly, will risk their
last garments at play, and 1t occasionally
happens that one of them. who has been
lost by her husband, will sit down and
win herself back again.
These people are very fond Of games
OF all sorts, particularly football, in
which even the aged females and tod
ding infants indulge with eagerness.
The ball is made by taking a piece Of
buckskin or sealskin, and cutting IL into
circular form, then gathering the edges
and stufiing the cavity with dry moss
or feathers. 1t is very light, and is
driven either by blow of the foot or
by a whip with a short wooden handle. \
lusty Eskimo will often send the ball
over a hundred yards through the air
with such force as to knock a person
down.
These Eskimo are usually peaceful and
mld-tempered. Jealousy arouses the
worst passions. When a person be-
HAYES so badly that the community can
no longer tolerate his presence, he Is for
hidden TO enter the hut. share the food,
or hold any intercourse with the rest.
Nevertheless. so long as he threatens
nobody's life, little attention Is paid 70
him.
Should he be guilty of murder several
men watch their opportunity to surprise
him, and put him to death, usually by
stoning. The executloners make no
concealment OF their action, and are
supported by public opinion.
In that strange and frigid region every
night in the year is made beautiful by an
aurora, except in June, when the sky Is
too light Auroras are believed 10 be
torches held in the hands of spirits seek
ing the souls OF those who have just
died to lead them over the abyss ter
minating the edge of the world
A narrow path leads across 1t to the
land OF brightness and plenty, where
disease and pain are no more, and where
food OF all kinds is always abundant.
To this place none but the dead and the
raven can 20. When the spirits wish TO
communicate with the people OF the
earth they make q whistllng noise, and
the earth people answer In whispering
tone.
These Eskimo say they are able 70
call the aurora and converse with IT,
sending messages to the dead through
| the spirits.