of seashell or of silver, in order that his capacity for long journeys or successful barter may be established; but if circumstances prevent him from performing these duties actually, he may perform them symbolically, and such performance is usually acceptable to the elder people.  After these preliminaries are completed, he is formally adopted by his wife’s parents, yet remains merely a perpetual guest, subject to dislodgment at his wife’s behest, though he cannot legally withdraw from the covenant; if dissatisfied, he can only so ill-treat his wife or children as to compel his expulsion.[135]

This practice is seen in a symbolical form where presents are required of the suitor before marriage and their equivalent returned later.  By depositing goods accumulated through his activities he demonstrates his ability as a provider, without undergoing a formal test.  This practice is reported of the Indians of Oregon: 

The suitor never, in person, asks the parents for their daughter; but he sends one or more friends, whom he pays for their services.  The latter sometimes effect their purposes by feasts.  The offer generally includes a statement of the property which will be given for the wife to the parents, consisting of horses, blankets, or buffalo robes.  The wife’s relations always raise as many horses (or other property) for her dower as the bridegroom has sent the parents, but scrupulously take care not to turn over the same horses or the same articles....  This is the custom alike of the Walla-Wallas, Nez-Perces, Cayuse, Waskows, Flatheads, and Spokanes.[136]

In Patagonia the usual custom is for the bridegroom, after he has secured the consent of his damsel, to send either a brother or some intimate friend to the parents, offering so many mares, horses, or silver ornaments for the bride.  If the parents consider the match desirable, as soon after as circumstances will permit, the bridegroom, dressed in his best, and mounted on his best horse, proceeds to the toldo of his intended, and hands over the gifts; the parents then return gifts of equivalent value, which, however, in the event of a separation are the property of the bride.[137]

Marriage by capture is an immediate expression of male force.  Like marriage by settlement in the house of the wife, it is an expedient for obtaining a wife outside the group where marriage by purchase is not developed, or where the suitor cannot offer property for the bride.  It is an unsocial procedure and does not persist in a growing society, for it involves retaliation and blood-feud.  But it is a desperate means of avoiding the constraint and embarrassment of a residence in the family and among the relatives of the wife, where the power of the husband is hindered, and the male disposition is not satisfied in this matter short of personal ownership.