Bundling; Its Origin, Progress and Decline in America by Henry Reed Stiles
page 18 of 89 (20%)
page 18 of 89 (20%)
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gift, and in return is allowed to pass the night with her, on the
understanding that innocent endearments are not to be exceeded." Spencer St. John tells us, in speaking of the piratical and ferocious Sea Dayaks of Borneo, that "besides the ordinary attention which a young man is able to pay to the girl he desires to make his wife--as helping her in her farm work, and in carrying home her load of vegetables or wood, as well as in making her little presents, as a ring or some brass chain-work with which the women adorn their waists, or even a petticoat--there is a very peculiar testimony of regard which is worthy of note. About nine or ten at night, when the family is supposed to be fast asleep within the musquito curtains in the private apartments, the young man quietly slips back the bolt by which the door is fastened on the inside, and enters the room on tiptoe. On hearing who it is, she rises at once, and they sit conversing together and making arrangements for the future, in the dark, over a plentiful supply of _sirih-leaf_ and _batle-nut_, which it is the gentleman's duty to provide, for his suit is in a fair way to prosper; but if, on the other hand, she rises and says, 'be good enough to blow up the fire,' or 'light the lamp' (a bamboo filled with resin), then his hopes are at an end, as that is the usual form of dismissal. Of course, if this kind of nocturnal visit is frequently repeated, the parents do not fail to discover it, although it is a point of honor among them to take no notice of their visitor; and, if they approve of him, matters then take their course, but if not, they use their influence with their daughter to ensure the utterance of the fatal 'please blow up the fire.'" And now, having discussed the custom of bundling as it formerly existed in Great Britain, and having proved its identity with the _queesting_ of Holland, and the _namzat bezé_ of Central Asia, we propose to follow our |
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