ble friends go on horseback to her house to carry her I. if. Her friends mal^e a sham resistance, but she is al- ways carried off, on a richly-caparisoned horse, with loud shouts and/eux dejoie (Xavier de Hell, Travels in S/eppes of Caspian Sea, p. 25!)). Dr. Clarke {Travels, etc., i, 433) describes a different ceremony, probably ap- pertaining to a different clan of the Kalmucks. In this tl»o girl is first mounted on horseback, and rides off at full speed pursued by her lover. If he overtakes her, she becomes his wife ; but it sometimes happens that the fugitive does not favorably incline towards her pur- suer, in which case she will not suffer him to overtake her. The author was assured that no instance was known of a Kalmuck girl being thus caught unless she had a partiality for her pursuer. In many cases this form of capture has become a mere pretence, as in lifting the bride by force on horseback ; or, as in North Fries- land, wliere a young fellow, called the bride-lifter, lifts the bride and the two bridesmaids on a wagon in which the married couple are to travel home (JVeinhold, p. 60). Among the Bedouins the groom must force the bride to enter his tent. A similar custom existed in some prov- inces in France in the 17th century {Marriage Ceremo- nies, etc. [Gaya, Lond. 1698], p. 30). Among the Cir- cassians the form is like that in ancient Rome. In the midst of noisy feasting and revelry, the groom must rush in, and, with the help of a few daring young men, carry off the lady by force. By this proceeding she be- comes his lawful wife (Louis IMoser, The Caucasus and its People, p. 31). Lord Kames gives a vivid picture of the custom existing in his day, or shortly previous, among the Welsh. On the morning of the wedding- day the groom appeared, with his friends, on horseback, and demanded the bride. Her friends, also mounted, refused. There ensued a mock contest, the bride being carried off mounted behind her nearest kinsman, and pursued with loud shouts. " It is not uncommon to see two or three hundred sturdy Cambro-Britons riding at full speed, crossing and jostling, to the no small amuse- ment of the spectators." When they all were tired, the groom was allowed to overtake the bride and lead her off in triumph {Sketches of the History of Man [1807], bk. i, sec. (5, p. 449). In Africa the same custom exists, as observed by Speke and others. Also throughout America. It is observed in its perfection among the people of Terra del Fuego. As soon as a youthful Fue- gian has shown his ability to support a wife hy exploits in fishing and bird-catching, he ohtaiiis her parents'' con- sent, builds or steals a canoe, and Avatches his chance to carry her off. If she is opposed, she hides in the woods till he is tired of looking for her; but this sel- dom hajipens (Fitzroy and King, Voyage of the Beagle, ii, 182). Sir Henry Piers, in 1682, describes a custom of like nature among the ancient Irish. The cere- mony commenced with the drinking of a bottle of good usquebaugh, called the agreement bottle. Next the payment ()f the portion was agreed upon, generally a fixed number of cows. On the day of bringing home, the two parties rode out to meet each other. " Being come near to each other, the custom was of old to cast short darts at the company that attended the bride, but at such distance that seldom any hurt ensued" {Col- lectanea de Rebus Uibernicis, i, 122). The Turcoman jouth elopes with his lady-love to some neighboring village, where they live five or six weeks. In the mean time his fric^ids obtain the consent of the parents. Af- terwards the bride returns to her own home, where she is retained for six months or a year, sometimes two years, and is not allowed to see her husband except by stealth (VvAf^Qx, Journey, u,H'i). This custom of spend- ing the honey-moon awaj"^ from home is oliserved by various nther tril)es, and has its counterpart in the civ- ilized custom of a wedding journey.
Among the Bedouins of Sinai, the rnaiden, when coming home in the evening with the cattle, is attacked by the groom and two of his friends. She often defends herself fiercely with stones. The more she struggles,
bites, and cries, the more her own companions applaud her. She is taken to her father's tenr, where follows the ceremony of throwing over her the abba, or man's cloak, and the name of the groom is formally announced. In the Mezeyne tribe, the girl, after being captured as above, is permitted to escape from her tent and fly to the neigliboring mountains. The groom goes in search of her, and is often many days in finding her. Her fe- male companions know her hiding-place, and keep her supplied with provisions. The length of time she re- mains hidden from the groom depen.ds greatly upon the impression he has made upon her heart. After being found she returns home, but runs away again in the evening. These flights are several times repeated be- fore she finally returns to her tent. It is sometimes a year before she goes to live in her husband's tent (Burck- hardt. Notes, \, 269).