A SUGGESTION FOR DIVORCE COURTS. 27 



village, or when they were collected at camp for grinding ragi, by holding 

 their hands up to their chins and covering their bosoms with their elbows ! 

 They were anxious for cloths, and I latterly insisted on the money they 

 earned by grinding flour for our men being applied to their own gratifica- 

 tion in this respect, and not to their husbands'. 



There is never any violent crime amongst these simple people. They 

 live in family harmony, and any little differences are settled by village regu- 

 lations. Infidelity amongst their women is common enough, but their rules 

 and ideas on this subject are very moderate, and a husband who feels him- 

 self aggrieved, instead of flying into a temper, addresses himself to the head- 

 man, a punchayct or council is convened, and the defendant is probably fined 

 a few rupees. At the same time, a check is placed on husbands having 

 recourse to too much litigation by fining them occasionally for having adul- 

 terous wives ! 



If a woman does not like her husband, and any other man, married or 

 otherwise, fancies her, she may go with him if he pays the husband Es. 45, 

 which is the fixed capitalised value of the marriage expenses. These trans- 

 actions always have to be carried out through the headman, who has his 

 regular fees. This purchasing of wives cannot be indulged in, however, to 

 any great extent, as the devoted lovers can seldom raise enough money 

 except by selling themselves into bondage, which has probably already been 

 done to their full value. 



This looseness in the matrimonial rules may seem sufficiently shocking 

 to English notions, but it must be considered that marriage in Morlay is 

 purely an arrangement of convenience ; and though it is literally so with 

 ourselves, a halo of religious feeling has come to surround this civil con- 

 tract, and moral turpitude is connected with any breach of its provisions, 

 of which natives of the lower classes understand nothing. Their rules suit 

 themselves very well. If a woman's husband cannot support her, she may 

 find some one else who can ; or if a man has a useless or termagant wife, 

 he may get some one else who will manage better for him, though he is 

 bound to continue the support of his first wife as long as she remains with 

 him. 



The hereditary headman of the Morlay Oopligas is a young fellow called 

 Lingah. He was one of the first to take employment under me, and has 

 always since been a most faithful adherent. It is a great pity and a dis- 

 advantage that the hereditary authority of headmen of villages and castes 

 has been gradually undermined. The Mysore Government has, however, 

 done much lately towards restoring their power, which is undoubtedly a 

 wise measure and one in accordance with the feelings of the people. 



