The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-12-26
WHERE WIVES ARE BOUGHT.
Countries in Which Marriage Is a
Matter of Barter.
Pail Mall Gazette.

Pail Mall Gazette.
There are many countries in which, If a
man wishes to be legally married, he has to
go out and buy a wife, though the market
price of that article varies considerably.
In Uganda you can get what you require for
two or three bullocks, or even for six good
sewing needles, or perhaps a box of percus-
sion caps; while inferior wives can be picked
up in exchange for a coat, and if one is in
different to health and beauty, for pair of
shoes. In the Caroline Islands wives are
cheap. A father will let you marry his
daughter, If you give him little fruit or a
small present Of fish, while in Samoa matri-
mony runs you into pigs and canoes; among
the Fijians, into whales teeth and muskets.
In Tartary 1T Is best to marry beneath you
(you do 1t on few pounds of butter),
because a man who has lordly notions of a
marriage with one of the upper ten must be
an owner Of horses. The aborigines of Aus
tralia manage their marriages upon a most
equitable principle. If A wishes to marry
BIS sister. he allows him to marry his own;
or If happens 10 be widower, then his
daughter will do just well. One of the
most Objectionable forms of gaining a wife
is to work for her. q habit practiced among
many uncivilized nations, Its only advantage
being that a man can get a wife credit,
though her father-fn-law takes good care
that he serves his time Among some races
your wife, as Jacob had to serve for Leah
and for Rachel Marriages by exchange and
purchase is not customary among uncivil-
lied nations only. In Central America and
Peru man has to work for his bride.
In China present is given by the father OF
the bridegroom the amount of which is
agreed upon by both families. The japanese
make use Of similar custom, though, in
their case, the giving of presents is the most
important part of the whole marriage cere-
mony, for after these have been delivered
and formally accepted, neither Of the con-
tracing parties is able TO go back. Wife
purchase appears to have been the basis OF
ndo-European marriage before the separa-
ton Of the peoples took place. Menu men
tons the Asura form of marriage as one of
purchase, and according to Aristotle, the
ancient Greeks were in the habit of buying
their brides; for in the Homerie5age a maiden
was called by name which signifed lone
who brings her parents many oxen
The old Scandinavians believed that even
the gods had paid price for their wives, and
in Germany the expression Ito purchase a
wife" was in vogue until the end Of the mid
die ages. The old Inhabitants of ireland and
Wales were accustomed to buy their wives
with gold and silver or land. In Servia at
the beginning of our century, the girls had
reached such a price that Black George re-
duced their value to one ducat.
Among many savage nations the equiva-
Tents of wife are varied and grotesque.
Poor Bashkirs purchase theirs with cart
loads of wood or hay; the Indian Kisans,
with two baskets of rice and rupee; tribe
in California, with half string of dentalium
shell, and among the Padams rude people
of India, the suitor shows his intentions by
gifts of field mice and squirrels.