[712] Among the Seri the woman has much liberty of choice: "certainly she holds the power of veto, ostensible if not actual." During the preliminary courtship she occupies a position of great dignity. "When all parties concerned are eventually satisfied a probationary marriage is arranged, and the groom leaves his clan and attaches himself to that of his bride. Two essential conditions--one of material character and the other moral--are involved in this probationary union; in the first place the groom must become the provider for, and the protector of, the entire family of the bride." For a year he thus shows his "skill in turtle-fishing, strength in chase, subtlety in warfare, and all other physical qualities of competent manhood.... During the same period the groom shares the jacal and sleeping robe provided for the prospective matron by her kinswomen, not as a privileged spouse, but merely as a protecting companion; and throughout this probationary term he is compelled to maintain continence--_i. e._, he must display the most indubitable proofs of moral force." To this kind of service the character of wife-purchase is denied: MCGEE, "The Seri Indians," _XVII. Rep. of Bureau of Eth._, Part I, 279 ff. [713] For these and other examples see KOHLER, "Studien," _ZVR._, V, 342, 351, 353; POST, _Familienrecht_, 176-79; _idem_, _Ursprung des Rechts_, 65; _idem_, _Anfänge des Staats- und Rechtslebens_, 55; BANCROFT, _Native Races_, I. [714] Among the Todas, on betrothal, "dowers" consisting of buffaloes are exchanged. If the husband discards his wife, her father demands a return of her dower; if the wife abandons the husband, his father may take back his gift. In case the marriage be canceled because the husband has not fulfilled his part of the contract he may be "fined a buffalo or two": MARSHALL, _A Phrenologist amongst the Todas_, 210-13, 217-19. Compare WAKE, _op. cit._, 451. [715] See the passage quoted from BOAZ, p. 191, above. The "ceremonies" may sometimes be intended to prove the man's ability to support a family: RATZEL, _Hist. of Mankind_, II, 125. [716] WAKE, _op. cit._, 390; LAFITAU, _Mœurs des sauvages amériquains_, I, 565, 568. _Cf._ MORGAN, _Ancient Society_, 454, on the presents to the wife's relatives among the Syndiasmians (American Indians).