The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1901-05-02
Lo0e Among
the Sa0ages
By Tighe Hopkins.


- AASAS AAVphAASs Sea &.
CAVAGES-even the lowest in the
y scale-are not insensible of the
emotion of love; and savages in gen
eral are the most violent lovers in the
world. If the young Englishman, or
the young white man anywhere in4cre-
alton, had to face certain of the or
deals which the.young barbarian must
submit to in seeking a maiden's hand,
it is probable that he would forswear
matrimony.
Many countries, many customs; and
singular and fearful are the customs
of courtship in some parts of the globe.
In Borneo, for instance, a nice present
from a youth to his sweetheart is a
collection of heads which he has sliced
off the shoulders of his enemies. Some
times he has to Stay a rhinoceros or
some other big brute in order to show
himself capable of defending his house
hold from any beast Of the field; some
times he must bring the maiden great
offerings of game, to prove how well
he could support a family by the pro-
ceeds of the chase.
In savage countries the men are
more liable to be left without wives
than the women are to be left without
husbands; whence arises a fierce spirit
of rivalry among the young unmarried
mules. Often they fight for the wom-
Ell of their choice, as the males of
most of the lower animals fight in GER
tain seasons for the females. The
most powerful combatant, or the
craftiest, or he who can endure with
out complaint the greatest number of
blows or cts, wins the day-and the
lady. Wrestling was a very ancient
mode of deciding the claims of rival
lovers, and it is not unknown at this
day among the North American In
dians. The Slave Indians have a GU
rious practice of Selling one another
by their long hair and dragging until
one of the pair gives in. A pulling
match of a different kind is or was
common in remote parts ofeNew Yea
land. A girl having two suitors, and
not knowing to which of them to give
the preference, placed herself between
them, and the girls arms were dragged
by each of the suitors in opposite di-
rections, the stronger man being the
victor.
A more formidable trial is for two
suitors to strip to their waists and
thrash each other with sticks, when
the first who sinks to the ground is in
variably rejected by the lady.
Duels of various kinds, from the
British set-to with fists up to the COM
bat with knives or bows and arrows,
are still undertaken in the interests of
love in sundry places of the. earth.
The Muras fight with their fists, some
of the Mexican tribes use the cold
steel, and at least one North American
tribe relies upon bow and arrow The
people of Wadai, says DR.. Westermack,
the great historian of marriage, are
notorious for their desperate fights
for women; and among the young men
of the Bagirmi bloody feuds between
rivals aresfar from being of rare occur
renee"
Among the Arabs of upper Egypt the
youth who proposes for a girl must
submit to a whipping at the hands of
all heremale relatives; and, says a dry
narrator, "if he wishes to be consid-
cred worth having, he must receive the
chastisement, which is sometimes ex-
ceedingly severe, with an, expression
of enjoyment"
Not infrequently it is the maiden
herself who imposes the test. The
Sakalava girls of Madagascar make
their lovers stand at a short distance
from a clever spear thrower and catch
between the arm and side every weap-
on fuagatthem. If the youth "displays
fear or fails to catch the spear, he is
ANONYMOUSLY rejected; but if there
be no finching and the spears are
caught, he is at once proclaimed an
accepted lover"
Worse than this is the trial enforced
upon their suitors by the Dongolowee
girls. When in doubt as to the re-
specfive merits of two rivals, the young
lady fastens a sharply-pointed knife
to each elbow; then, seating herself
between her lovers, she drives the
blades slowly into their thighs; and
the hero who takes the greatest length
of steel without a murmur wins the
bride.
Maj. Mitchell, in his Expeditions
Into the Interior of Eastern Austria
lia," says of the natives on the river
Darling that all their ideas of. fighting
are associated with the possession of
gins or wives, and that after a battle
the wives "do not always follow their
fugitive husbands from the field, but
frequently go over, as a matter of
course, to the victors." "None but the
brave deserve the fair" is a maxim well
understood of most barbaric races.
It is not only by feats of strength,
daring or endurance, O. by triumphs
on the field of battle or the hunting
ground, that the ri savage seeks
to win himself a wife. He goes through
much trouble, and often through great
personal suffering, for the sake of i'm
proving his appearance in the eyes of
the SEX. Savage maidens cherish va
rious ideals Of masculine beauty; and
whatever these be, the young men must
conform to them. Certain Australian
49, N@L a .aE# .a Il. EH E"-