MARRIAGE LAWS IN MOOAMMEDAN COUNTRIES. 



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band, she cannot do so without his consent, which the 

 husband generally grants, choosing the less of two 

 evils, and, moreover, it is regarded as very ungallant 

 to retain an unwilling mate ; but, while travelling in 

 Sumatra, I saw one husband who would not allow 

 his wife another choice, but his was a very peculiar 

 case. His father was a Chinaman, and therefore, as 

 the descendants of the Chinese do, he had shaved his 

 head and wore a cue, and was a Chinaman also ; but, 

 becoming desj^erately enamoured of a Mohammedan 

 lass, he concluded to yield to her unusual demand, 

 that he too must become a Mohammedan before he 

 could be accepted. She soon repented of her pro- 

 posal, but he replied that he had suffered so much for 

 her sake, he would not release her from her vows — 

 such are the unlimited privileges granted the husband 

 by the laws of the false Prophet. 



A\niile at Amboina I was surprised one day, just 

 before dinner, to see a strange servant appear with a 

 large platter containing fifteen or twenty kinds of 

 fishes, fruit, and the various inimitable mixtui'es made 

 by the Chinese, in whose quarter of the city we were 

 residing. The gentleman mth whom I was liA^ng, 

 however, explained the mystery. There was to be a 

 wedding in a house near by, and the father of the 

 })ride was one of his hired men, and those nice prep- 

 arations were intended as a present, that is, in form, 

 it being expected that only two or three of them 

 ^vould be taken — and that was quite all a European 

 palate would desire. This was repeated for three or 

 four days. Meantime the father of the bride had 

 liired a house where other friends were received and 



