506 
DIXAN. 
irefuse to taste of any thing killed by Mahomedans, whom they hold 
in great contempt. 
" Boys marry at fourteen years of age, girls at ten, eleven, and 
twelve ; both are circumcised on the eighth day after their birth ; 
this operation is performed by women. 
*' The number of wives possessed by each man varies from one 
to ten, according to their property, or as they are able to support 
them, as each woman must be furnished with a separate place of 
residence. 
" Most of the laborious occupations, both abroad and at home, 
devolve upon the women ; such as grinding the corn, bringing in 
wood and water, which is brought from a valley about a mile from 
the town, cultivating the ground, and picking herbs for the con- 
sumption of the day. They carry their children on their backs, 
and wear tanned hides round their waists ; their necks and arms 
are ornamented with beads, and white shells ; and the women of 
the higher class allow the nails on the left hand to grow to a great 
length, wearing cases of leather on their fingers, several inches long, 
to preserve them. 
Slaves are very dear at this place, if we are to be guided by the 
report of the inhabitants ; but the price of these animals, like that 
of every other put up to the highest bidder, is greatly regulated by 
their outward appearance. If nature has been favourable, and given 
them fine features, with a tolerably fair skin, they sell for a great 
deal more than those of a darker colour. 
*' The proportion of land capable of cultivation, as far as we had 
an opportunity of observing, is scanty, consisting of a few spots on 
the sides of the hills, and the drier parts of the valleys. 
