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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVI. 



went in procession to the house and a cloth was presented 

 to the woman. It was, and still is, legally divorced by 

 mutual consent or adultery or separation of the parties for 

 a period of twelve months. 



There are two kinds of marriage, one called " Diga" in 

 which the woman leaves her paternal home and relinquishes 

 thereby her share in the paternal and maternal property ;; 

 the other, 44 Binna" in which a man is received into a family 

 as husband of one of the daughters, in which case the 

 daughter retains her share of the property. But in this case 

 the man's tenure is precarious, as he is liable to be turned 

 out at any time by the family, and " the wife " takes another 

 husband, who may be more agreeable to her or to the rest 

 of the family. 



It is obvious that under such customs the disputes as to 

 property of deceased persons were numerous, and the English 

 Law attempted to remedy this by Ordinance No. 3 of 1870, 

 which dealt with Kandyan marriages " contracted according 

 to the laws, institutions, and customs among the Kandyans," 

 as well as for further marriages. To ensure validity the 

 marriage must be registered, stating whether contracted in 

 binna or dig a, &c. 



Having been for six years in charge of a Kandyan district 

 (Kegalla), and having to deal with land cases involving 

 rights of inheritance, and having, as Registrar of Kandyan 

 Marriages, to hear divorce cases, I found that the custom of 

 polyandry was almost universal ; and that in the case of a 

 marriage registered under the Ordinance the name of the 

 elder brother was given as that of the bridegroom, but every 

 one was aware that the girl would regard the other brothers 

 as being equally her husbands. 



Marriage among the Kandyans was a loose tie. It was 

 described in the Legislative Council as being " contracted 

 with a wink and divorced with a kick." And as to poly- 

 andry, it was considered as natural and laudable a custom as 

 u marriage " itself. In giving evidence as to paternity a 



