Our People. 235 
uninteresting study either; he has a past full of romance, his history 
affords a true indication of the bent of his mind and toa studentisa key to 
many of his apparently strange actions. It is amusing to note the way in 
which the names even are anglicised—Phuljan becomes Paul John, Bakkar— 
Barker, I[brahim—Abraham, Suleiman—Solomon and soon. The latter are 
not so bad of course, but they do not, as they ought, indicate that the bearers of 
those names are Mohamedans—a knowledge which would very often prevent 
acts absolutely abhorrent to the followers of the Prophet. 
Accustomed as the East Indian is to the marriage ceremonies of his religion 
and the relative positions of husband and wife in the household he does not fall 
in with the local manners and customs. Anyone who is at all observant must 
notice that when an East Indian man and woman take their walks abroad the 
woman does not walk with the man but follows him—this prevails even amongst 
the creoles. If this custom is not observed it may be assumed that the parties 
are either not husband and wife or are Christians. This brings me to the 
marriage laws which affect the East Indian population. For many years a 
grievous wrong was done to them by not recognizing the marriages celebrated 
according to Hindu or Mohamedan rites. The result was the practical bastardi- 
zation o” the issue and the accompanying evils, which resulted in so many so- 
called wife “murders or mutilations,” which are always held up as peculiarly 
coolie. Many women who, if they knew they were recognized as having 
validly married would lead chaste ives and be good wives, are led astray. 
Their self-respect is undermined and when once they realise the weakness of 
the tie they break loose on the least possible pretext. This holds good in 
the case of the man also for although wrapt up in his children and delighting 
in them, he is master of his home and expects certain attentions from his wife, 
whose line of conduct is clearly defined by custom. An attempt has been made 
to remedy this state of things to a certain extent. But very few are aware 
of the provisions of Sections 145 and 151 of Ordinance 18 of 1891 which are 
as follows :— 
“(1.) A marriage contracted after the commencement of this Ordinance 
between a male immigrant, not being under fifteen years of age at the 
date of the marriage, anda femaleimmigrant, not being under thirteen 
years of age at the date of the marriage, are free from any disability 
mentioned in section 145, profess the same religion, not being the Chris- 
tian Religion, and are subject to the same personal law, shall if contracted 
according to the religion and personal law of such immigrants and regis- 
tered under this Ordinance, be deemed to be valid as from the date of such 
marriage : Provided that, before any such marriage is contracted, the 
parties thereto shall first obtain a certificate signed by the Immigration 
Agent General to the effect that there does not appear from the records 
of the Immigration Department to be any impediment to the intended 
marriage : and no such marriage shall be deemed to have been duly 
contracted unless such certificate has been first obtained ; 
(2.) If the marriage referred to in any such certificate is not contracted 
within three months from the date of the certificate, the certificate shall 
on the expiration of the said period, become null and yoid,” 
