1844.] and on Gerard's Account of Kunawar. 205 



riage, and on the evening previous an entertainment is given in the 

 house of the bride ; the Lamas are invited to this feast, they read cer- 

 tain prayers, or at least invoke a blessing on the union, and their pre- 

 sence is also considered necessary at the feast given by the bridegroom's 

 parents after the ceremony. 



The above is the custom among the Bhootees. Among the Kuna- 

 warees, the practice is similar, but not precisely so, and gradually ap- 

 proximates to that of India. In Lower Kunawar, there are neither 

 Brahmins nor Lamas, but the priests of the spirits of the hills take 

 their place in such ceremonies. 



Polyandry — Population — Bastardy. — The women of Ladakh in 

 consequence of their great proportionate number, find it difficult to 

 obtain subsistence. — Moorcroft, II, 322. 



But the mean (number of inhabitants to a house) in various parts 

 of Kunawar gives six, which will not appear too many, since Polyan- 

 dry, or a plurality of husbands, prevails. — Gerard, p. 3. 



Besides this drawback on the increase of population, there is 

 another peculiar to Chinese Tartary and the adjoining countries, that 

 is celibacy, which is professed by numbers of the inhabitants. — 

 Gerard, p. 3, Note. 



Moorcroft's remark does not appear to have been made with his 

 usual discernment. Polyandry cannot affect the proportion of males and 

 females born, and no system of emigration on the part of the men re- 

 duces the relative numbers of the sexes. The women have no diffi- 

 culty in obtaining a subsistence, for they are a robust race; they are 

 equal to most kinds of out- door work, and the care of the fields is 

 chiefly in their hands ; socially the condition of unmarried sisters and 

 of younger brothers is the same ; both must be maintained by the 

 head of the house, who has a right to their labor. 



Family Polyandry should increase the number of souls per house, 

 instead of decreasing it as Gerard observes ; for besides the husband 

 (eldest brother) and wife and their children, as in a house in Europe, 

 there are, or may be, younger brothers and unmarried sisters ; there 

 may be uncles (so to call them) and aunts; there may be more than 

 one wife; and finally, there may be a mother and also a step-mother. 



The celibacy of one or more brothers cannot affect the population 

 where family Polyandry is established. Every house has a wife, and 



