Near the great snow-capped Kilimanjaro live a tribe named the Wamoshi, noted for their strange and amusing customs relating to courtship and marriage. When a young man of this tribe sets his affections upon a young woman, he enters the garden where she is working and casts sly glances at her. If she looks at him occasionally, he takes it as a sign that she would not be unwilling to become his wife. This preliminary move being over, he sends a friend to tell her that he wishes to marry her, and if she consents the lover goes to her father. When the latter is told by the young man the object of his visit, he says: "I cannot pay any attention to your request until you bring cattle or goats." These having been brought, the father tells the suitor that he must bring more on account of the mother; and when he brings these, he is further told that he must bring more on account of the sweetheart herself! These last having been brought, the palaver begins, when the amount of dowry is discussed. Before the great cattle plague in 1884, thirty head of cattle was the usual dowry paid by the bridegroom. Then the young man sends a number of his friends to seize his sweetheart when coming out of her house in the early morning. She screams and resists, whilst her friends follow, feigning grief. The captors take her in triumph to the house of her lover's mother, where she remains within doors as a guest for a month, the food being supplied by her lover. If she is in good condition at the end of the month, he is considered a worthy suitor; but if thin and haggard, he is deemed unworthy of her. The marriage ceremony (which consists of certain ablutions, etc.) being over, the bride goes out with bells attached to her legs, indicating that she has become a wife.
A missionary who witnessed the carrying off of a prospective bride without understanding the meaning of the business thought the girl's captors were very cruel, and raised his voice indignantly against such conduct. When told that it was the usual marriage custom of the tribe, however, he was greatly amused.
The Masai tribe, who are fierce in war, act gingerly enough in love-making. When a swain falls in love with a young woman, he deputes his brother-in-law to go to the mother of the damsel with two cakes of tobacco. The mother usually accepts the love-token, and the daughter, as a rule, makes no demur. When the girl comes of age (they are all engaged long before this) the man brings a heifer, and later on two cows, a bullock, four sheep, and two skin bottles of honey. One of the bottles is made into mead for the purpose of offering up in sacrifice on account of the bride. The honey of the other bottle is squirted out of the mouths of father, uncle, and mother on to the body of the bride, and after this ceremony is finished she is given to the bridegroom.
A MATCH-MAKING PALAVER IN PROGRESS.
From a Photograph.
Between betrothal and marriage there is no communication between lovers, and should the man come unintentionally upon his intended whilst eating, he runs home and brings two goats as a trespass-offering!
Another custom of this tribe is equally curious. When a man has gained the affections of a woman whom he wants to marry, he sets off to the forest to look for wild honey. Having procured a calabash of the precious commodity, he takes it to the parents of his sweetheart, going a second and third time to the forest on the same business, as he must present three calabashes of honey before he gets a hearing. Three cakes of tobacco added to the above make him qualified to press his suit further. Afterwards he brings another calabash of honey, a heifer calf, a bullock, and a sheep. The honey is made into mead, and the suitor, with his friends, goes to the house of the young woman, where the ox and sheep are killed. Feasting now graces the proceedings, and the bride and bridegroom go through a ceremonial washing, which is the formal way of "tying the knot." The ceremony being over, the father-in-law and his new son-in-law address one another with the familiar and endearing epithet of "Wageri."
We have seen these Masai as lovers; let us now take a peep at them as husband and wife. The man we find intolerably lazy, and the poor woman submits to the yoke of bondage as a matter of course, without a moan or groan. Though submissive, she may one day get ruffled by harsh treatment, and thus a quarrel ensues. If her husband strike her, she must not retaliate; but should she be so daring as to strike her lord and master in self-defence, all the males of the kraal assemble and belabour her with thongs. It will therefore be seen that the Masai are no believers in the doctrine that women should take their own part. Should the lady meekly submit to her husband's brutalities, however, those present call upon him to desist.
