When I asked my Berber teacher from the Great Atlas whether marriages between cousins were frequent in his tribe, his answer was, "How could you love a girl whom you have always seen?"¹

This attitude is in harmony with the whole body of Arabic poetry, which emphasizes the passionate episode on the carnal side and is paralleled by the Don Juan ideal in Europe.

Contrasted with this is the frequent marriage of cousins in primitive groups and the statement of Bogoras above that among the Chukchee children are married at a tender age, play together, grow up together, later tend herd together, become deeply attached, and often when one dies the other dies also of grief.

The individualistic, romantic, and play pattern of marriage and sex interest were historically developed, in Europe and the Orient. Among primitives the control of marriage was in the hands of families and sibs. It is true that personal inclination played a role; the girl was usually not given in marriage against her will. Passionate attachments were also not infrequent. But like the European "marriage of convenience" the exogamy pattern seems essentially an expression of family responsibility and policy.

¹Westermarck, E.n/an/an/an/an/a, , 2: 194.