MATEIMONT. Ill 



father-in-law, with whatever sum the girl's 

 parents and the suitor consider to be the 

 value of the bride. From eighty to one 

 hundred rupees, will buy a good wife. Being 

 often betrothed when children, the young 

 lads begin early in life to save money to 

 fulfil the engagement ; a single man is 

 unknown. I once asked all my men in 

 succession (about fifty) whether they were 

 married ; they all, including even a young 

 lad, answered in the affirmative ; I then 

 turned to my boy, Oudea, a lad barely 

 fifteen, who always accompanied me ; he 

 grinned in reply, and said he had a wife 

 too — ^when he could pay for her. 



Polyandry exists in some part of the hills, 

 but the result of my enquiries does not 

 enable me to do more than record its 

 existence. 



They dress in home-spun cloth of undyed 

 wool, wearing trousers loose above the knee, 

 and fitting close from thence to the ancle, a 

 sort of tunic shirt descending below the hips, 

 confined round the waist, a flat cap, and 



