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[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
. MARRIAGE AND RELATIONS OF SEXES I57 which a fellow clansman has within memory taken a wife, hold good in Mewun. If this prohibition does exist there, it is evidently not strictly adhered to to-day, for in the clan of Loories, two sisters married men of Timrijs and Melaai, and three brothers of Vanambangk married women of Mbriilies. Such exceptions can, however, be paralleled in Seniang and cannot be said to prove anything. The genealogies of the people of Mewun are, unfortunately, very fragmentary, and in one or two of the most complete there is little or no indication of the sex of the individum nor of the clans to which they belong ; hence it is not possible to arrive at any reliable conclusions concerning the regulation of marriage, from an analysis of them. Nevertheless, it is clear that marriages between the two districts were common, and this strengthens somewhat the supposition that the rules controlling the selection of a mate were for the most part the same in both. Marriage Ritual .The ceremony of marriage in Mewun differs from that in Seniang in that here it takes place at the house of the bride's father, and not in a clearing by the side of the track leading to her village. The account given of the ritual is taken from the marriage of Gastog, a man of Melpmes, with Liviin, whose clan is not recorded. Liviin’s father was dead, and therefore her brotlier, Liviisuag acted in his stead.
~s&;H2.~Ving decided that he wished to marry Liviin, Gastog went toiher/brother and told him of his wishes.‘ Liviisuag was agreeable to -t.-he =match- and it was settled that the bride-price should comprise fouripigs, one big one to be paid to Livtisuag, two smaller ones to be paid to his classiï¬Åcatory brothers, and one to go to Liviin's mother.“ On the day of the marriage, Gastog, accompanied by the men of his village, went out into the bush where the trees stood on which, according to the custom of Mewun, they had kept the tally ‘of the number of women with whom they had committed adultery. Each man, beginning with Gastog, counted up the number of his conquests, and for this service Gastog made gifts 3 151.1; §.°“1§?2‘€i.§I‘ ; “3§°ii"I.i.‘ll“£§$l.§.' Yiifsiiili. §i‘l=.‘Z'i‘Z" if ?1iZi§2.‘Z‘t'§’§‘Z.'t§‘.i'1i.'=lÂ¥ Gastog himself spdke to Liviisuag on the _rnatter.—C. H. vs]. _ ‘ It is not clear, but it seems topbe indicated that had Liv!ln‘s father been alive, this pig would have been paid to him.-—€. H. W.
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