178 Col. Macxenzir on Hindu and Mahommedan Marriage Ceremonies. 
' bridegroom is clothed in a new dress, and wreaths of flowers are placed on 
his neck; all the jewels and other articles given by the bridegroom on his 
marriage, together with those provided on this occasion, are carefully col- 
lected and put into covered baskets, and conveyed to the house of the 
bridegroom. On their arrival the bridegroom’s mother receives the bride ; 
she takes her out of her palankeen, and conducts her into the house over a 
cloth spread on the ground, that her feet may not touch the earth; the 
bride and bridegroom are conveyed to the place where the household gods 
are kept, to whom they pay their devotions. A small portion of moistened 
turmerick is then put into the bride’s hand, with which she makes a mark 
on the forehead of her mother-in-law, and on those of the other women 
of the family; the bridegroom’s father entertains his relations and dismisses 
them. On that night the bride and bridegroom sleep together for the first 
time. At the expiration of four days the relations of the bridegroom and 
the females of the family visit the bride to look at her face and present 
their offerings; and after that ceremony has taken place there is nothing 
to prevent their respective relations seeing her whenever they please. 
The Marriage Ceremonies of the Mahommedans. 
When a man’s son arrives at the age of eighteen years, or even before 
that period, he assembles his relations to consult with them on the pro- 
priety of his son’s entering into the marriage state; and on their deter- 
mination that he ought to marry, he endeavours to find out a girl of a 
suitable age, rank and family. As soon as he has discovered one, whose 
family is approved by his relations, he deputes one of the friends to the 
father of the girl, to propose that an alliance shall take place between their 
families. If the girl’s father approves of the match, he presents to the 
messenger a cup of sherbet and some sweetmeats, and demands from him a 
genealogical table of the family, both on the father’s and mother’s side, of 
his intended son-in-law, that he may ascertain if they are of proper rank 
and condition in life for his daughter. The messenger returns and requires 
the genealogical tables, which he delivers to the girl’s father, from whom 
he receives similar tables of his own family. The fathers of the parties lay 
these tables before their respective relations and friends, and if on examina- 
tion any flaw should appear, they state their objections. If, on the contrary, 
the genealogical tables are approved, the boy’s father dispatches a letter, 
written on coloured paper, and ornamented with gold leaf and suitable de- 
