BANYANS. 



329 



those of Mbweni ; even the pauper Sa'adani has 

 its Banyan ; Ramji, an active and intelligent 

 trader, presides at Bagarnoyo, and the customs 

 of Kilwa are collected by Kishindas. I need 

 hardly say that almost all of them are connected 

 by blood as well as by trade. 



The Bhattia at Zanzibar is a visitor, not a 

 colonist; he begins life before his teens, and, 

 after an expatriation of 9 to 12 years, he goes 

 home to become a householder. The great 

 change of life effected, he curtails the time of 

 residence to half, and furloughs become more 

 frequent as transport waxes easier. Not a Hindu 

 woman is found upon the Island ; all the Ban- 

 yans leave their wives at home, and the conse- 

 quences are certain peccadilloes, for which they 

 must pay liberally. Arab women prefer them 

 because they have light complexions ; they are 

 generous in giving jewels, and they do not in- 

 dulge in four wives. Host of them, however, 

 especially those settled on the Coast, keep 

 handsome slave-girls, and, as might be expected 

 where illegitimates cannot be acknowledged, they 

 labour under the imputation of habitual infan- 

 ticide. On the other hand, their widows may not 

 remarry, and they inherit the husband's property 

 if not embezzled by relatives and caste-fellows. 



