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smuggled into the harems, or the women steal out at night to carry 
on their intrigues. 
It is not considered right to rob strangers, hut the chiefs wink at 
this offence, and the stranger runs hut a poor chance of obtaining 
justice. Cowardice is regarded as a very grave delinquency, and if 
a man ran away during a battle his wife would be entitled to a 
divorce, and no one would marry either his daughters or sisters. 
The virtuous side of the For character may be summed up in 
three words : they are industrious, brave, and remarkably truthful. 
Slavery . — The Fors are not large slaveholders, and they do not 
themselves make slave raids ; but they are permitted to capture 
slaves in war. The chiefs and the very rich people occasionally 
buy slaves from the Arabs, who are constantly passing through the 
country with their slave caravans, but it cannot be said that a slave 
population exists. A good number of eunuchs, who are also slaves, 
are employed by the chiefs. They are treated as confidential 
servants, and often attain great wealth and influence. Some of the 
most influential of them marry, in order that they may appear to 
have a family. The few slaves who are found in Darfur are well 
treated ; as a rule they are permitted to marry amongst themselves, 
but some are treated as concubines. It must be remembered that 
a good number of the Fors have been enslaved themselves by their 
Arab conquerors. 
Marital Relations . — I have described the marriage ceremonies in 
another place. The woman enters into the man’s family circle after 
marriage. In a first marriage, when the contracting parties are 
still young, they are compelled to remain in the bride’s father’s 
seriba until the first child is born. When a man marries a 
second or third wife this custom is limited to a week or two. 
A man may have as many wives as he can afford to buy and keep, 
but as they are very jealous of one another, they are provided 
with separate huts in different parts of the village, or even 
sometimes in separate villages. It is this custom, combined with 
the large harems of the chiefs, which induces the very lax morals 
everywhere met with. The first wife married is the chief wife ; 
her children take precedence over the children of others. A man 
is expected to visit his wives in regular rotation, but the chief wife 
enjoys the society of her husband for a fortnight, whilst the others 
