204 Notes on Moorcrofts Travels in Ladakh, [No. 147. 



Government. I know instances of such a separation, but they are not 

 numerous. 



Should a wife prove barren, a second can be chosen, or should she 

 have daughters only, a second can be chosen similarly ; custom allows 

 three or more wives. I know of a man who took a third wife, having 

 been disappointed of a male heir by his first and second. A man also 

 sometimes takes a second wife with the consent of the first, although 

 she may have brought him male heirs. Custom allows this, and in 

 practice, a man will take a second or a third wife, if he is disposed to 

 do so, against the consent of his first one ; he is amenable to opinion 

 only, and not to a well-defined law strictly administered. 



Divorce takes place on the wife committing adultery, or by the 

 mutual consent of the parties. 



Chastity is not held in high esteem ; that is, the loss of it is not con- 

 sidered a great disgrace in the eyes of the common people. In the 

 case of an unmarried woman, the man must support her and the child, 

 unless he can arrange for her return to her family by the payment of 

 a sum of money, (from five rupees or so upwards, according to circum- 

 stances.) If the woman is a nun, a similar fine is also paid to the 

 temple to which she was attached. A man who commits adultery is 

 fined for the benefit of the state, and he must also maintain the 

 woman, unless he can arrange by the payment of a sum of money for 

 her return to her husband, or to her own family. 



I am not aware that the Buddhist books declare aught concerning 

 marriage, or the social relations, and in the absence of a law, the prac- 

 tice of a rude people will necessarily vary. 



Marriages usually take place at the age of 15 or 16 ; but one or both 

 parties are sometimes betrothed at an earlier age. Young men and 

 women are left to the exercise of their own choice in a greater degree 

 than is the custom in India, but they are not absolutely free. The 

 usual dower is generally withheld when the girl marries without the 

 consent of her parents, custom requires that the parents of the young 

 man should go three several times to the house of the girl's father, and 

 offer a piece of silk and some wine ; if they are accepted a first and a 

 second time, the marriage is understood to be agreeable to the parents 

 of the girl ; and if accepted the third time, the betrothal is complete, 

 and is considered binding. Lamas fix an auspicious day for the mar- 



