88 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



round the child's neck or merely drops it into 

 the cradle alongside the little one. From 

 this moment, whether she will or no, whether 

 her parents consent to or disapprove of the 

 match, the giver of the bullet has a claim on 

 the child's hand when she attains a proper 

 age ; and should the parents make any resist- 

 ance to that claim they become liable to pay 

 an excessively heavy fine to the bridegroom, 

 or render themselves legitimate objects for the 

 blood feud at the hands of the young man and. 

 all his belongings. 



The earliest age at which Svan girls are 

 allowed by their people to marry is fifteen. 

 But all the matrimonial arrangements in 

 Ushkul seem to be of the most irregular cha- 

 racter. Bigamy is common. Two of the men 

 in the group round the old priest and myself 

 were guilty of this offence, and both cases were 

 similar. As children the two men had been 

 engaged by their parents to women already 



