Page:A description of Greenland.djvu/183

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of Greenland.
141

Their young Women very modeſt and baſhful.Maidens on the contrary, and unmarried Women obſerve much better the Rules of Modeſty and Continency; for I never ſaw any of them entertain any looſe or ſlippery Converſation with young Men; or ſhew the leaſt Inclination to it either in Words or Deeds. During fifteen full Years that I lived in Greenland, I did not hear of more than two or three young Women, who were gotten with Child unmarried; becauſe it is reckoned the greateſt of Infamies. 'Tis remarkable, that natural DecencyKindred do not marry together. is obſerved by them; for they refrain from marrying their next Relations, even in the third Degree, taking ſuch Matches to be unwarrantable and quite unnatural. It is likewiſe reckoned uncouth an blameable, if a Lad and a Girl, that have ſerved and been educated in one Family, ſhould deſire to be married together; for they look upon them as Brother and Siſter.

Wedding Ceremonies.The Ceremonies they uſe in their Marriages and Weddings are as follow: When a young Man likes a Maiden, he commonly
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propoſes