THE SOUDANESE 147 



they fetch the firewood. In addition to this, if they can possibly 

 manage it, they will try a little retail business, and endeavour to 

 sell something or other to the passer-by at double the price they 

 paid themselves, Of course, the more w'omen there are in a 

 family, the easier it is for them to get through this amount of 

 work ; hence the females of the household thoroughly approve, 

 if the head of the family adds extra assistance in the shape of 

 additional wives. Marriage of course means purchase. The 

 father expects to receive for his daughter a certain sum which 

 varies according to his own position. Some of these sums are 

 enormous, and remind one of Jacob forfeiting seven years' wages 

 as a payment for Rachel. 



A Soudanese wedding is an expensive affair for the bride- 

 groom, notwithstanding the pecuniary contributions of the 

 wedding-guests. The style of the entertainment depends on 

 the rank of the bride. If she is simply a slave girl added to 

 the harem, her arrival does not cause any greater excitement 

 than the purchase of an additional sheep or goat. The girl 

 is in reality a servant, but she is a wnfe at the same time 

 and her children rank equally with the legitimate offspring, 

 in accordance with a deeply rooted custom of great antiquity. 

 It has its advantages and disadvantages. The childless wife 

 is not likely to look with favour on the child of the handmaid, 

 and the Soudanese Abraham may be driven by his Sarah to 

 expel the Hagar and Ishmael of his household. On the other 

 hand, even a Khedive of Egypt, though the son of his father's 

 slave, has succeeded to his father's rank and wealth by natural 

 right, indisputable according to Eastern customs and Moham- 

 medan teaching. When the bride is a girl of rank, the 

 bridegroom has sometimes to provide her with handmaids for 

 her own private use, in the shape of a slave girl or two ; to 

 buy her silver or even gold ornaments ; to equip her with 

 suitable clothing and the necessary household-kit, besides the 

 heavy sum which he has to pay, cash down, to the father. 



Then comes the wedding-feast. Booths are constructed 

 of palm-leaves and branches ; fowls, sheep, and goats are 

 slaughtered ; and if the bridegroom is of high rank and posi- 

 tion, he is expected to kill also a bullock or two for the feast ; 

 native beer is provided in huge gourds by the score ; drums 

 are beaten without intermission day and night, unless the 

 long-suffering European official is driven to insist that from 



