'The marriage system is peculiarly advanced. Marriages are, as a general rule, arranged by the parents when the' parties to the marriage are in early childhood. When the children are old enough to.marry the parents of the bridegroom present the bride with a necklace, and at any time after the bestowal of this xi¢t the bride' may be summoned to a feast at the home of the bridegroom, which Is the only other formality Fequired for the marriage to be legal. The Interesting feature of such a marriage is that though the bride must for the next few months attend Ther husband's house daily and cook, for him and perform other domestic duties, he cannot exercise any other marital rights. until she expresses a wish for Intimacy. She may return' every might to the home of her par~ ents and if, after an interval which considered sufficient to have given the feelings of the couple a. fair trial, she fs still unwilling to accept her parent's choice, the marriage is dissolved by her reluming the neck face and going back to her parents' home' to live." The husband has an equal right to reject a bride who} does not please him. After this tribute to parental authority both parties are free to choose a partner Another striking feature of the Yami scelal system is the method which a rough equality of land Ownership is" maintained. There is objection toa man's owning. as many taro patches as he can acquire, but since there is nowuch thing 23] Ihired Labour Wis property is limited]
the area that he, oF rather his' wite—for women do the field work—can manage, This has an Interesting side-Issue! 8 man who Is unmarried Jamust work his" own elds, so that what is virtually a bachelor tax 12] In operation, Women Mardly Servile Creatures It might be thought that women upon "whom "me burden of manual fell would be poor servile} de: creatures; but this does not appear be 50, 'They are -debarred the higher "Intellectual "pursuits of their men—they know utile or nothing the complicated Yami theory of the nine layers which make up the uni Verse, or the traditional stories that trace' back to a Flood period and explain, the Involved ritual that-aecompanies the ceremony of birth and the Seasonal "ceremonies that punctuate the Yami calendar and occasion the only holidays they know, but in their personal relationships. they maintain sturdy. Independence.
There ig strong family affection and in the responsibility of caring for the children the father takes a full share. He Is an extremely important person at the birth coremony—it is. he who must prepare the millet for the first meal eaten by his wile after: her delivery, must bury the bamboo stick, which' Is the only obstetrical Mstrument used and which he has in all probability made ready weeks before, at a point under the front caves of the house, and must take an Active part In the' ceremony of ba tism and the birth feast. While wife works in the folds he adds the: uly of minding the young children.
the various crafts that occupy his He jo an excellent craftsman, and there Is very litle rough workman. ship in the baskets and "carrying" Jackets he weaves from rattan, the bhats he makes for himself and his family of coconut or banana fibre or rattan, the wooden household utenssily he carves, and the nels and spears he use in fishing. Almost the ely craft which he does not undertake is the weaving of material for the Join cloths, except on festive evasions when' a jacket of the same material is worn, are the only garment of a man, and of the oblongs of cloth worn by the women as skirts ud capes.
Open Fireplace The complicated weave of Yami batkeflbre cloth is incongruous in the ight of the simplicity of some of} their "domestic arrangements and their rudimentary culinary skill.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.