47i 



to enter. Here the bridegroom first obtains a 

 view of his betrothed, being permitted to remove 

 the heavy veil which had hitherto concealed her 

 features, whilst at the same time he unclasps the 

 zone, which her parents had bound round her 

 waist in token of her virginity. After this, the 

 two eat together, which circumstance is consider- 

 ed a ratification of the contract. On the morn- 

 iagsacceeding consummation of the marriage, the 

 friends of the young couple contribute, according 

 to their respective abilities, from one to four or 

 five dollars each towards defraying the expences 

 of the ceremony, and the names of the donors with 

 the amount of their gifts are entered into a book 

 by a writer entertained for the purpose. The ob- 

 ject of this entry is that the same present may be 

 returned to each contributor on a similar occasion. 

 A feast is provided in the evening, at which no one, 

 who has failed in bestowing his quota, would Ten* 

 ture to appear* 



It is also customary on the morning of (hat day 

 for the bride and bridegroom to present themselves 

 before the father and mother of the former in order 

 to receive the benediction, after which the bride- 

 groom returns to his own bouse, whence he is sum- 

 moned for the first three days to his meals and re- 

 pose by a messenger from the bride, to whom he 

 is obliged to make apresent of either a dollar or a 

 rupee on each occasion. On the third day, or, as 

 it often happens, on the same day, the pair pro* 

 ceed, attended with music and banners, to the 

 house of the bridegroom's father, where the same 

 ceremony of worshipping the ashes and household 



