NILOTIC XEGROES 



701 



husband and runs away, the amount which he has already paid on her 

 behalf is returned and the marriage is broken off. If a woman finds 

 herself unmarried after a long period, it is customary for her to go to a 

 chief or a rich man and state that she has come to stay and cook for him. 

 In such case she is usually taken to wife, but a very small complimentary 

 present is paid for her. Chiefs may have from ten to forty wives. The 

 Ja-luo are. generally speaking, very moral. They do not intermarry in 



43'J. EMPTYING THE FISH-BASKETS (JA-LUO) 



the same clan, but a man may marry the daughter of one who bears the 

 same name as himself. 



The Ja-luo believe in a sujireme God whom they call " Chieng." This, 

 however, is the same name as t lie sun. When a man comes out of his 

 house in the morning, he spits towards the east, and in the evening he 

 spits towards the west. If the sunset is extremely red, it is said to 

 indicate the approaching death of an important person. They believe that 

 after death the spirits of the departed go up to the sky. If a hailstorm 

 occurs, no one goes to work in the fields on the following day. Shooting 

 stars are said to be a sign of war. They believe that people can be killed 

 by witchcraft, and that a wizard has only to show " medicine " to a person 



VOL. II. 21 



