Dulha Deo is a favourite deity in Bundelkhand and amongst the Gond of Central India. It is the apotheosis of a bridegroom (dulha), who died `in the marriage procession, and whose death so affected the people that they paid him divine honours. The worship of Adonis is similar, and also that of Thammuz, whose annual wound in Lebanon still allures the Syrian damsels to lament his fate.
The custom of capture is also to be traced iu the rite of lifting the bride over the doorstep, which has prevailed in such different and distant races as the Romans, Redskins of Canada, the Chinese, and the Abyssinians. Hence, also, perhaps the honeymoon of England, during which the bridegroom keeps his bride away from her relatives and friends ; hence even, perhaps, as Mr. 311.ennan supposes, the slipper is in mock anger thrown after the departing bride and bride groom. Amongst the people of Tucupoia, the man has to gain the affections of his intended bride, but that step having been accomplished, ho sends three or four of his friends to carry her off by force.
The marriages of the Jakun of the Malay Penin sula are ordinarily celebrated about the months of July and August, when fruits are plentiful. The bridegroom frequents for some time the house of his intended, and when he has obtained her con sent, ho makes a formal demand to the father. On the appointed day an entertainment is pre pared, the bridegroom repairs to the house of the bride's father, where the whole tribe is assembled. The dowry given by the man to his 'intended is delivered, and must consist at least of a silver or copper ring, a few cubits of cloth ; perhaps a pair of bracelets or other ornaments and furniture are added. Amongst some Jakun tribes there is a dance, in the midst of which the bride-elect darts off into the forest, followed by the bride groom ; a chase ensues, during which, should the youth fall down, or return unsuccessful, he is met with the jeers and merriment of the whole party, and the match is declared off. Or if the tribe be on the bank of a lake or stream, the damsel is given a canoe and a double-bladed paddle, and allowed a start of some distance ; the suitor, similarly equipped, starts off in chase. If he succeed in overtaking her, she becomes his wife ; if not, the marriage is broken off. But the chase is generally a short one, for though the maiden's arms are strong, her heart is soft and her nature warm, and she becomes a willing captive. Or if the marriage take place where no stream is near, •a round circle of a certain size is formed. The damsel is stripped of all but a waist-band, given half the circle's start in advance, and if she succeed in running three times round before the suitor come up with her, she is entitled to remain a virgin ; as in the other case, but few outstrip their lovers.
Among the Aheta of the Philippine Islands, when a man wishes to marry a girl, her parents send her before sunrise into the woods. She has an hour's start, after which the lover goes to seek her. If he find her and bring her back before
sunset, the marriage is acknowledged ; if not, he must abandon all claim to her.
Exogamy and Endogamy both prevail in the Indies. Some races through all ages have been carefully abstaining from marrying in their own tribe, while others take their wives from amongst their own people. The instance may be mentioned of Abraham sending his servant to obtain for his son Isaac a wife of his own people • and about the year 1860, a Kayasth Hindu family in Madras sent the son for a wife to Benares, 1000 miles away. At the present day, amongst the Brahmans and Rajputs of British India, throughout WCstern and Eastern Africa, in Circassia, Tartary, Siberia, China, and Australia, as well as in North and South America, marriages take place between persons of different tribes. All Brahmans marry with women who have not the same pravara, i.e. who do not invoke the same Rishi as their ancestor (Asvala yana, xii. p. 15). Apaatunba says, 'Thou shalt net give thy (laughter to a man belonging to the same gotra or family.' Yajnawalkya says, ' Let a man marry a woman who is free from disease, who has brothers, and who is not the daughter of a 'Dan having the same ancestors, and belonging to the same gotra as himself.' • Burton says that some clans of the Somali will not marry one of the same, or even of a con sanguineous family ; and the Bakalari have the same rule. In India, the Wumli tribes are divided into sections, and no man may marry a woman belonging to his own section. In the Nagar tribes the same rule prevails. Col. Dalton tells us that the Ho, Mundah, and Oraon are divided into clans or keeli, and may not take to wife a girl of the same keeli. The Garo are divided into mahari, and a man may not marry a girl of his own mahari. Mr. 3PCulloch tells us that the Manipur and other tribes inhabiting the hills round Manipur, the Koupui, Mow, Mararn, and Murring, are divided into four families,—Kumrul, Luang, Angom, and Ningthaja. A member of any of these families may marry a member of any other, but the intermarriage of members of the same family is strictly prohibited. General Campbell and Major Macpherson mention that the Khand regard it as degrading to bestow their daughters in marriage on men of their own tribe ; consider, it more manly to seek their wives in a distant country ; and regard marriage between people of the same tribe as wicked, and punish able with death. The Kalmuk, according 'to Dr. Hell, are divided into hordes, and no man can marry a woman of the same horde ; the bride, says Bergman, is always chosen from another stock, among the Dubet, for instance, from the Torgot stock, and among the Torgot from the Dubet stock. The same custom prevails among the Circassian and the Samoyede. The Ostiak regard it as a crime to marry a woman of tic same family, or even of the same name. Amongst the Chinese, exogamy is so severely adhered to, that a man must not marry into a family with the same family name.