THE VIRGIN CHILDREN. 



497 



is tmwilling to pay a larger sum. When the English 

 were here in the beginning of this century, thejujur 

 was as high as a hundred or a hundred and twenty 

 dollars. Some of the " \nrgin chihlren " I noticed had 

 reached middle age, but the rajah explained to me that 

 no man is willing to part with his daughters at a less 

 price than the twenty guilders his neighbor receives 

 for each of his, for fear of appearing to acknowledge 

 that he thought his neighbor*s daughters were more 

 fascinating than his own ; and a young man, being 

 obliged to pay the same sum for any bride, of course 

 chooses one who, according to his fancy, possesses the 

 greatest charms, and no one who is not young is sup- 

 posed to be chai'uiing. 



Another common mode of marrying among these 

 people is termed umhil anak^ '* taking a child." A 

 father chooses a husband for his daughter and takes 

 the young man to live in his family. When this 

 young man can pay a certain sum to the father, he 

 removes his wife and family to his own house, but 

 until that time he and his family are regarded as ser- 

 vants or debtors. As tokens of theii- virginity, the 

 anak gadis wear silver on theii' foreanns, and broad 

 bands of silver on their wrists. In the Lampong 

 country to the south, instead of small, solid rings, they 

 wear large rings made of hollow tubes, sometimes in 

 such a number as to cover both anus from the wrist to 

 the elbow. Here they occasionally have silver chains 

 on their necks, and m their ears ornaments some- 

 what similar in form to those worn in the Menang- 

 kabau countiy, but much smaller, and the part that 

 passes thmugh the ear is no larger than a quill. 



32 



