1866.] Social Customs &c. of the Karens. 17 
the water, or destroyed by fire.” After this public declaration, the 
girl is considered at liberty to receive proposals from others; which, 
without it, she is not. 
Marriage. 
If there are no obstacles to an immediate union, after an interval of 
two or three days, the relatives of the bride conduct her to the house 
of the bridegroom’s parents, with a procession of her friends blowing 
trumpets. When the bride ascends the ladder into the house, water 
is poured on her abundantly from the verandah, till her clothes are 
wet through. She then eats with the bridegroom’s relatives, and, at- 
tended by her female friends, she goes into the chamber. The young 
man’s friends make presents to all the party, giving the most valuable 
to the relatives of the bride. 
When the time for the company to separate approaches, two of the 
Elders take a cup of spirits, which is called “ the covenant drink,” 
and one speaks for the bride, and the other for the bridegroom. 
One says; “* Now the woman is thy wife, thy daughter-in-law, 
thine own daughter, thy own wife who will live with thee. Should 
she be drowned, should she die by a fall, should she be bitten bye 
a poisonous snake, we can say nothing. But should she be killed 
in a foray, should she be carried into captivity, should she be put 
in bonds, thou must purchase her freedom, or obtain the price of her 
blood.” 
The other Elder then says: ‘‘ What thou sayest is true. She is not 
the child of another, she is my child, my wife, my daughter-in-law. 
Should she die by accident, I can do nothing. I will lay her out, put 
food in her mouth, drink by her side, make a funeral feast, and bury 
her. But should she be carried into slavery in a-foray, I will carry 
a kyee-zee for her redemption, and thou must demand a fine. I will 
carry spirits to drink, thou must spread out food to eat. We together 
will purchase the woman. But if we cannot obtain her if she has 
been killed or is lost, we will demand her price. If I ask her price in 
kyee-zees, thou must demand it in slaves. We together will make it 
a reason for making reprisals ; and if I am the father of the foray, thou 
shalt be the mother of it. If Iam the head of the foray, thou shalt 
call the army; and if I call the army, thou shalt be the head of the 
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