1148 Report on a Route from Pahung Yeh [No. 132. 



could be seen." Over the tombs of the chiefs a house is erected, and 

 people are left to watch and defend it from malevolent spirits, and a 

 log rudely carved to represent the deceased is laid there for the same 

 purpose. The poor people, if not in the immediate neighbourhood of 

 Yahaartoung or Keoungnatyne, are buried any where in the vicinity 

 of their own village. 



Matrimony with the Kicaams is purely a civil contract, unhallowed 

 by any religious ceremony. The contracting parties proceed in the 

 first instance to the Passive, whose advice is requested respecting the 

 match ; if his opinion is favourable, the bridegroom sends the parents 

 of the damsel a present composed of a pig, an ox, a spear, a tom-tom, 

 a dah, and calabash full of spirituous liquor distilled from rice. A 

 grand feast is then given, at which all the relations attend, and the 

 marriage is considered as solemnized. 



Should the lady after marriage prove false to her marriage vows, 

 and the gay deceiver be discovered, he is obliged to present a hog, an 

 ox, and a spear to the injured husband, and a fine string of cowries to 

 adorn the neck of the fair one, who after this peace-offering is consi- 

 dered quite exonerated from any blame, and is re-admitted to her hus- 

 band's favour, without her reputation being in the least degree tainted. 



In the case of an illicit intercourse being discovered between two 

 young Kicaams, the man is obliged to pay a bullock to the girl ; but if 

 she becomes a mother, she claims him as her husband, and if he refuses, 

 another bullock is the penalty inflicted on him ; he takes the child into 

 his own charge, and the damsel is restored to her fair fame. 



The virtue of a chieftain's daughter is estimated at a much greater 

 value, no less than three bullocks being the fine for leading her astray 

 from the path of rectitude, and the same number, should the offender 

 refuse to make reparation by marriage. Marriage is not permitted in 

 nearer consanguinity than cousins, but incest, although a crime but 

 seldom heard of, is absolved by paying only one bullock to the father. 

 A divorce can be procured at the same expense. 



If a murder is committed, the perpetrator is immediately seized by 

 the village chief, who obliges him to give up three of his friends or 

 relations as slaves to the family of the deceased, or ransom them at 

 the rate of thirty rupees a man, thus estimating human life at the 

 moderate sum of ninety rupees ; but if the murderer is unable to pay 



