338 ETHNOLOGY 



her family, who are compelled to pay all costs 

 and charges incidental to the marriage, as well 

 as to the period of betrothal. These may, as 

 a rule, be estimated to amount to anything 

 between £5 and £10. Naturally, before final sepa- 

 ration arising from allegations of barrenness, the 

 native doctor, or Nganga, is consulted, and only in 

 the event of the acknowledged failure of his mini- 

 strations may the wife be finally put away. 



Apart, however, from the foregoing, a measure 

 which is in every way equivalent to divorce is pro- 

 vided for any one of the following causes. On the 

 man's side: (1) Adultery. (2) Inability or un- 

 willingness to perform his marital duties. (3) 

 Failure to maintain his wife in the full enjoyment 

 of her rights as outlined in the preceding para- 

 graph. On the woman's side: (1) Adultery. (2) 

 Refusal to cohabit with her husband. (3) Child- 

 lessness. (4) Unwillingness to work in the gardens, 

 and, generally, to discharge her remaining duties. 

 If divorce result from the fault of the wife, the 

 children, as in more civilised circles, remain in the 

 charge of the father ; if of the husband, they be- 

 come members of the family of the wife's father, to 

 whom she returns, together with all her effects, 

 which, in the event of her being the culpable party, 

 would be claimed by the wronged husband, who, 

 in addition, may demand indemnity from his father- 

 in-law for the inconvenience occasioned by his 

 daughter's incompetence or impropriety of conduct 

 as the case may be. 



Adultery is not, however, always followed by 

 divorce. Cases are not infrequent in which it may 



