£66 NOTICE OF THE 



is favourable, the bridegroom sends the parents of the damsel a present, com- 

 posed of a pig, an ox, a spear, a tomtom, a dah, and calabash full of a spi- 

 rituous liquor distilled from rice. A grand feast is then given, at which all 

 the relations attend, and the marriage is considered duly 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 considered quite exonerated from any 

 blame, and is re-admitted to her husband's favour, without her reputation being 

 in the least degree tainted. 



In the case of any illicit intercourse being discovered between the young 

 Khyens, 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 repara- 

 tion 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 expence. 



If a murder is committed, the perpetrator is iramediatly 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 niliety 



