will probably surprise, if not shock us quite as much. I allude to experimental marriages, which are far from being rare. They will appear, however, less singular, if we remember that in societies of low order little value is set on the chastity of young girls; virginal purity is not at all prized, and there are even some peoples, as the Saccalaves of Madagascar,[1] for instance, and also certain indigenous peoples of India,[2] among whom it is regarded as a duty for the mothers themselves to deflour their daughters before marrying them.
With such morals prevailing, experimental marriages seem natural enough. De Champlain, an ancient French traveller in North America, relates that the Redskins of Canada always lived a few days together, and then quitted each other if the trial had not been satisfactory to either of them.[3]
A Spanish chronicler, Herrara, reports that the Otomies of Mexico spent a night of trial with the woman that they desired to marry; they could quit her afterwards, but only on condition of not retaining her during the following day.[4]
Among the Sonthals also, an aboriginal tribe of India, whose marriages are celebrated simultaneously once a year, the candidates for marriage must first live six days together, and it is only after this trial that it is lawful for them to marry.[5] With certain Tartar tribes of Russia in Europe and of Siberia there existed an institution of experimental marriages lasting for a year, if the woman did not become a mother during that period.[6] In the island of Ceylon, according to Davy, there are also provisional marriages, confirmed or annulled at the end of a fortnight.[7]
Among the Jews in Morocco the Rabbis consecrate temporary marriages, for three or six months, according to agreement. The man only engages to acknowledge the child if needful, and to make a certain donation to the mother.[8]
- ↑ Noël, Bull. de la Soc. de Géog., Paris, 1843.
- ↑ Collection Ramusio, t. I^{er.} libro di Odoardo Barbosa, portoghese.
- ↑ Démeunier, t. I^{er.} p. 155.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ The People of India, vol. i. p. 2.
- ↑ Travels through the Russian Empire and Tartary, by D. J. Cook, vol. i.
- ↑ Davy, Ceylon, p. 286.
- ↑ Dr. Decugis, Bull. de la Soc. de Géog., Paris.
