GIRALTA. 
397 
The wife never changes her name, and the property received 
in dower is kept apart from the husband's, as the wife becomes 
entitled to the whole of it, should any misbehaviour on his part 
compel her to quit his house. Should the parties agree to separate, 
terms of accommodation are settled between them ; but, if the 
lady prove unfaithful, then the husband possesses the right of 
dismissing her from his house, and of retaining her dowry for his 
own use. Adultery, however, must be clearly proved before a 
husband can venture to repudiate his wife, as nothing less than 
being caught in the fact can justify a recourse to this extremity. 
In the event of their parting amicably,which is said rarely to occur, 
the sons remain with the father, and the daughters go away with 
the mother. These are the general rules which guide the conduct 
of the great body of the people. The chiefs of high rank, and wo- 
men of quality,* may be considered, in a certain degree, as exempt 
from all rule, their conduct in these respects being restrained by 
scarcely any other laws than those which the power and conse- 
quence of their respective relatives imposes, who always interfere on 
such occasions as parties concerned. There exists, as I have before 
mentioned, a more holy kind of marriage, practised in the country, 
where the parties take the communion together, which is sanc- 
tioned by the priests. This, I was given to understand, be- 
comes of rarer occurrence every year, the people, in general, 
preferring the simple compact, which can be dissolved at 
pleasure. 
* Ozoro was formerly a title peculiar to women of high rank; but it is now become 
very common throughout the country, every woman of the slightest pretensions btixig 
distinguished by that appellation. 
