118 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



that it will not injure those about it. Even in 

 Europe, it may be remembered, the old prejudiee against 

 children born with teeth is not wholly forgotten. 



Amongst the Wazaramo there is no limitation to the 

 number of wives, except the expense of wedding and the 

 difficulty of supporting a large establishment. Divorce is 

 signified by presenting to the wife a piece of holcus-cane : 

 if a sensible woman she at once leaves the house, and, if 

 not, she is forced to leave. There is no more romance 

 in the affair even before marriage than in buying a goat. 

 The marriageable youth sends a friend to propose to the 

 father : if the latter consents, his first step is, not to 

 consult his daughter — such a proceeding would be 

 deemed the act of a madman — but to secure for him- 

 self as many cloths as possible, from six to twelve, or. 

 even more, besides a preliminary present which goes by 

 the name of kiremba (kilemba), his "turban." This, 

 however, is a kind of settlement which is demanded 

 back if the wife die without issue ; but if she bear chil- 

 dren, it is preserved for them by their grand-parents. 

 After the father the mother puts in her claim in behalf 

 of the daughter ; she requires a kondavi, or broad parti- 

 coloured band of beads worn round the waist and next 

 the skin ; her mukajya or loin-cloth, and her wereko, or 

 sheet in which the child is borne upon the back. In the 

 interior the settlement is made in live-stock, varying from 

 a few goats to a dozen cows. This weighty point duly 

 determined, the husband leads his wife to his own home, 

 an event celebrated by drumming, dancing, and exten- 

 sive drunkenness. The children born in wedlock belong 

 to the father. 



When a man or a woman is at the point of death, the 

 friends assemble, and the softer sex sometimes sings, 



