﻿416 ox THE RELIGION AND MANNERS 



The king is married in the above way, but a shell 

 of the sort called Chank (Buceinus) mi;st be pro- 

 cured to pour the water from, with the aperture to 

 the ri^ht ; such shell is the principal piece in the 

 valual)les of the crown. Their reho-ion authorizes 

 them to have many wives ; a man may have as many- 

 wives and concubines as he can maintain. 



WHEKEayoung man and woman are well dis- 

 posed to marry each other, the family of the man 

 seiids a friend to that of the Moman, to sound the 

 intentions of the other party. In general, the girl's 

 family receives notice of it, and accordingly gives a 

 feast to their guest. A few days afier, one of the 

 nearest most aged relations of the young man pays 

 a visit to the girl's family, lie infoims himself re- 

 lative to her ciiaracier and circumstances, and if he 

 be satisfied, purposes an alliance. To this he re- 

 ceives no answer ; but they treat him with a much 

 greater feast than the former, which is generally a 

 sign of consent, 'i he next day, a relation of the 

 girl comes to visit the family of the young man; he 

 receives a grand entertaiimient in his turn. He in- 

 quires particularly about the number of the family — 

 their circumstances, &c. and declares, that if the 

 3'oung pair arc satisfied, it wc.uld be well to consent 

 to their marriage. The young man and his family 

 immediately go in a body to demand the girl, which 

 is acceded to. A magician is then consulted, to fix 

 the day and the hour. The t\yo families then meet, 

 at the house 6f the girl, where a grand feast is pre- 

 pared, and the house ornamented according to the 

 custom of the cast. The magician consults his 

 books, and holds a Clcpfsydra (or water clock) in his 

 hand. The instant the lucky hour arrives, the mar- 

 ried couple is covered with a piece of cloth, their 

 right thumbs are joined, iiltered water is thrown 

 over them, a cup, containing cocoa milk, is passed 

 several times over their heads, and the ceremony 

 ends. The couple immediately rid themselves of 



the 



