The bridegroom then turns round, and bending his body, takes his wife on his back, in which manner he carries her amidst the acclamations of the spectators to his tent. This ceremony is succeeded by the most plentiful feast the new married man can afford, and songs and dances, according to the usual custom, conclude the festival.
Divorces happen so seldom among the Naudowessies, that I had not an opportunity of learning how they are accomplished.
Adultery is esteemed by them a heinous crime, and punished with the greatest rigour. The husband in these cases bites off the wife’s nose, and a separation instantly ensues. I saw an instance wherein this mode of punishment was inflicted, whilst I remained among them. The children, when this happens, are distributed according to the usual custom observed by other nations, that is, they are equally divided.
Among the Indian as well as European nations, there are many that devote themselves to pleasure, and notwithstanding the accounts given by some modern writers of the frigidity of an Indian constitution, become the zealous votaries of Venus. The young warriors that are thus disposed, seldom want opportunities for gratifying their passion; and as the mode usually followed on these occasions is rather singular, I shall describe it.
When one of these young debauchees imagines from the behaviour of the person he has chosen for his mistress, that he shall not meet with any great obstruction to his suit from her, he pursues the following plan.
It has been already observed, that the Indians acknowledge no superiority, nor have they any ideas of subordination, except in the necessary regulations of their war or hunting parties; they consequently live nearly in a state of equality pursuant to the first principles of nature. The lover therefore is not apprehensive of any check or controul in the accomplishment of his purposes if he can find a convenient opportunity for completing them.
As the Indians are also under no apprehension of robbers, or secret enemies, they leave the doors of their tents or huts unfastened during the night, as well as in the day. Two or three hours after sun-set, the slaves or old people cover over the fire, that is generally burning in the midst of their apartment, with ashes, and retire to their repose.
Whilst darkness thus prevails, and all is quiet, one of these sons of pleasure, wrapped up closely in his blanket to prevent his being known, will sometimes enter the apartment of his intended mistress. Having first lighted at the smothered fire a small splinter of wood, which answers the purpose of a match, he approaches the place where she reposes, and gently pulling away the covering from her head, jogs her till she awakes. If she then rises up, and blows out the light, he needs no further confirmation that his company is not disagreeable; but if, after he has discovered himself, she hides her head, and takes no notice of him, he might rest assured that any further solicitations will prove vain, and that it is necessary immediately for him to retire.
During his stay he conceals the light as much as possible in the hollow of his hands, and as the tents or rooms of the Indians are usually large and capacious, he escapes without detection. It is said that the young women who admit their lovers on these occasions, take great care, by an immediate application to herbs, with the potent efficacy of which they are well acquainted, to prevent the effects of these illicit amours from becoming visible; for should the natural consequences ensue, they must for ever remain unmarried.
The children of the Indians are always distinguished by the name of the mother; and if a woman marries several husbands, and has issue by each of them, they are all called after her. The reason they give for this is, that as their offspring are indebted to the father for their souls, the invisible part of their essence, and to the mother for their corporeal and apparent part, it is more rational that they should be distinguished by the name of the latter, from whom they indubitably derive their being, than by that of the father, to which a doubt might sometimes arise whether they are justly intitled.