he arch and a structure specially prepared
for the couple. All present except those waiting on the groom
and bride joined in a dance around the fire, chanting gleefully
and keeping time with hands and feet.

All at once the circle divided just in front of the arch; two
persons on opposite sides joined bands overhead. The bride now
stood up, immediately her father-in-law caught her in his arms,
ran under the human arch, and deposited her gently in the house
of his son. When the husband, from where he was squatting under
the arch, saw his bride safely laid in his house his joy knew no
bounds. With a yell he leaped up, swinging his unsheathed bolo over
his head, and in a frenzy jumped over the fire, passed through
the human arch, and with a final yell threw his arms around his
wife in a long embrace.

The ceremony as above described contains many details which I did not
meet with in Zambales, but the main feature, the sitting down of the
bride to receive her gifts, is the same.

Polygamy and Divorce

As might be expected among the Negritos, a man may marry as many
wives as he can buy. His inability to provide the necessary things
for her purchase argues against his ability to provide food for
her. Hence it is only the well-to-do that can afford the luxury of
more than one wife. Visually this practice is confined to the capitan
or head man of the tribe, and even he seldom has more than two wives,
but one case was noticed in the village of Tagiltil, where one man
had seven. At Cabayan the capitan had two wives, a curly-haired one,
and a straight-haired one, the latter the daughter of Filipinos who
had taken up their abode with the Negritos. (See Pl. LV.) Polygamy
is allowed throughout the Negrito territory. It is not uncommon for
a man to marry sisters or a widow and her daughter. Marriage between
blood relatives is prohibited.

Divorce is not very common with the Negritos in Zambales. There
seems to be a sentiment against it. If a man is powerful enough he may
divorce his wife, but if he does so for any other reason than desertion
or unfaithfulness her relatives are likely to make a personal matter
of it and cause trouble. A man and his wife may separate by mutual
agreement and that of their families. In such a case whatever property
they may have is divided equally, but the mother takes the children.

A more frequent occurrence than that, however, is the dese