II4 Journal of the F.M.S. Museums. [Vot, IX, 1920.] 
as biras: a man speaks of his biras, meaning the husband 
of his wife’s sister, a woman of her biras meaning her 
husband’s brother. The relationship established between 
parents whose children have intermarried is besan. If I and 
my wife are parents of one of the parties to a marriage and 
my friend and his wife to the other, we are besan: the father 
of the child who has married my child is my wife’s besan 
jantan and the mother is my besan bétina, and conversely. 
The relationship which exists between a husband and wife, 
both of whom have had a child by a former matriage is besan 
sa-bantal, if those children intermarry. 
n all the states of the peninsula the niatriage of first 
cousins is regarded with disfavour and is practised by hardly 
any Malays except the rajas. In the Minangkabau colonies 
the marriage of the children of sisters is of course prohibited 
along with all forms of marriage within the tribe. But even 
the children of brothers, though outside this ban, do not 
intermarry in Negri Sembilan, the only reason alleged being, 
that on the decease of a father the uncle becomes his niece’s 
walt and on the decease of father and uncle the male cousin 
becomes the wa/i—an objection not teally supported by the 
shara‘. 
