Chap. II to the EAST-INDIES. 709 
new-married Queen. A Man may hate three Wives if 
he can maintain them, but not more ; and if all three live 
in one I Hand, he is obliged by Law to beftow as many 
Nights upon one as upon the other. Tho* after all this Law 
is not obferved, and indeed it is a hard Law in that Coun- 
try, where the Women are fo lafcivious. 
The Bridegroom receives no Dowry with his Wife, 
and is obliged, not only to be at the Charge of the nup- 
tial Solemnity, and to maintain her, but to fettle upon 
her a Jointure equal to what her Mother and other An- 
ceftors had. They are fo nice on this laft Condition, that 
if the Prieft apprehends the Hufband cannot afford fuch a 
Jointure, he refufes £0 marry them, notwithftanding both 
Parties require it j but after all, the Bride may renounce ei- 
ther whole, or part of the Jointure, after Marriage, and 
indeed, that is frequently pra&ifed. Brothers and Sifters, 
firft Coufins, and thofe who by way of Friendfhip and In- 
timacy have ufed to call one another by the Names of 
Son or Daughter, Father or Mother, Brother or Sifter,, 
thefe, I fay, are prohibited to marry. The Males may 
marry when they will, but a female Orphan cannot marry 
till fhe is fifteen Years of Age ; indeed, if her Father be 
alive (for the Mother has no Power) he marries her at 
ten or eleven Years of Age, and that to the firft Suitor, 
whether old or young, provided his Quality is in fome 
Meafure fuitable to hers ; for they reckon it a great Sin 
to keep the Daughters unmarried. A Man may turn away 
his Wife, but unlefs fhe confents to the Separation, fhe 
may demand her Jointure : Tho* after all, that Demand 
is feldom made, as being reckoned a mean Adion, and a 
Sign that the Woman fears that her Merit will never pro- 
cure her another Hufband. 
On the other Hand, the Woman cannot part from the 
Hufband without his Confent. This fort of Divorce, which 
is very frequent, muft be attefted by Witneffes, or they 
cannot have the Benefit of a fecond Marriage. The di- 
vorced Parties frequently repent of their Separation, and 
marry again a fecond, third, or fourth Time ; but after 
three Divorces, fuch re-marriages are not allowed ; tho’ 
fuch is the Levity of the People, that they frequently de- 
fire them, and in order to elude the Law, they have a 
common Trick of getting fome profligate Fellow to mar- 
ry the divorced Woman, and lie with her one Night with- 
out touching her; after which he quits her before Witnefs, 
and fo fhe is married again to her former Hufband. Such is 
the Frequency of thofe Divorces, that a Man fhall have an 
hundred Wives, and the Woman look upon the Multitude of 
feparated Hufbands as a Point which entitles them to fu- 
ture Marriages. When a Woman is feparated from her 
Hufband by Death, fhe muft mourn four Months and ten 
Days before fhe can marry again ; and if the Separation 
is accomplifhed by Divorce, fhe muft remain three Months 
Tingle before fhe offers to marry. This Caution is ufed 
for fear fhe fhould prove with Child by her former Huf- 
band. 
16. Their funeral Ceremonies are fuperftitious to a 
great Degree ; in the firft Place, the Corps is wafhed by 
Perfons of the fame Sex, who buy that Office of the King, 
and are paid for their Service ; then they are wrapped up 
in Cotton, and covered with fine white Cotton Cloth, 
which goes afterwards to the Prieft, the Right-hand of the 
deceafed Perfon being laid upon his Ear, and the Left up- 
on his Thigh. This done, the Corps is laid upon the 
Right- fide in a Coffin of Candou Wood, and carried to 
the Burying-place, by fix Relations and Friends, attended 
by the Women- waiters, who cry and howl moft hide- 
oufly. Every Man in his Life-time provides for himfelf 
a Burying-place, and all the other Neceffaries ; nay, they 
are To fuperftitious, that they will rather ftarve than touch 
the Money they have laid up for that Purpofe. Befides 
the fix principal Mourners, the other Relations and Neigh- 
bours are prefent without Invitation, and upon the March 
from the Houfe of the deceafed Perfon to the Grave, they 
fcatter Shells for the Benefit of the Poor, to whom they 
likewife diftribute Sacks of Rice and Millet, at the fame 
Time they give to' the Prieft Pieces of Gold and Silver, 
the Number of which is proportionable to the Eftate of 
the deceafed Perfon, and thefe Pieces are diftributed by 
the Prieft to thofe who have affifted in praying for the 
Nu m b, 48. 
deceafed Perfon. The Priefts frag continually during the 
whole Courfe of the Ceremony, and in the Proceffion, a 
Perfon of Quality fprinkles the Affiftants with Water 
made of fweet Flowers. 
The Grave is covered with a large Piece of Silk, or 
Cotton, which, on the Interment, goes to the Priefts of 
the Temple. When the Corps is kid in the Grave, they 
turn the Face of the deceafed Perfon to the Quarter that 
faces Mohammed ' s Tomb, and then fill up the Grave with 
fine white Sand, fprinkling it with Water. When the 
Ceremony is over, the Relations entertain all the Compa- 
ny- with Vidtuals, and the three following Fridays they 
pray over the Grave, where the Priefts firig, eat and pray 
every Day, till the third Friday paffes, after which, a ge- 
neral Feaft is prepared for the Relations, Friends, and 
Priefts, who pretend, that the Soul of the deceafed Per- 
fon is then conveyed to Paradife. This Feaft is prepared 
every Year, and on All-Souls Day they throw frefh white 
Sand on the Grave, and perfume it with burnt Incenfe :■ 
The Grave is furrounded with wooden Pails, for they 
reckon it a great Sin to walk over it. They never bury 
two Corps in the fame Place ; for they have fuch a Reve- 
rence for the Bones of the Dead, that even the Priefts dare 
not touch them. If a great Lord dies, the Priefts fing 
for him a whole Year, and are entertained every Day with 
Diffies of Meat and Betel 5 but if a King or Queen dies, 
the Ceremony is continued to the Death of the next Sue- 
ceffor. 
In this Country, the Mourners mak£ no Alteration in 
their Habit, only they go bare-headed to the Grave, and 
continue fo for a few Days after the Interment. Thofe 
who die fighting with Perfons of a contrary Religion are 
buried upon the Spot where they fall, without any Cere- 
mony ; and in regard that they are accounted Holy and 
Happy, neither the Priefts, nor their Friends, pray for 
them. They never tranfport Corps from one Ifland to an- 
other, and even the King himfelf is buried where he hap- 
pens to die. If any Perfon dies at Sea, they wafh the 
Corps, and put them into a Coffin, which they place upon 
a Float of Candou Wood 5 within the Coffin they put Sil- 
ver, in Proportion to his Circumftances, and a written Pa- 
per, deferibing his Religion, and withal, praying thofe 
who meet with the Corps to take the Money, and bury 
it handfomely. 
17. We come next to their Apparel : The Meii tie 
about their Privities a great Swaith of Cloth, which comes 
round about, to prevent any Difcovery in Working, or 
walking about ; next that they have a Piece of blue, or red 
Cotton Cloth that reaches to their Knees, and then a 
larger Piece of Cotton, or Silk, reaching to their Ancles, 
and girded with a fquare Handkerchief, embroidered with 
Gold and Silver, which is fpread upon their Backs, and 
tied before. Above thefe they have a little Piece of Par- 
ty-coloured Silk, which reaches only to the middle of their 
Thighs. At laft they gird th'emfelves with a great fringed 
filk Girdle, the Ends of which hang down before ; within 
this Girdle, on the Left-fide, they keep their Money, and 
Betel, and on the Right-fide. a Knife. Thefe Knives are 
made of excellent Steel, the Sheaths being of Wood, and 
the Shafts of Fifti-bone, for the Bone of a Land-creature 
they will not wear. The richer Sort have both their Hafts 
and Sheaths of wrought Silver. Every one wears a Knife, 
and efteems it much, as being his only Arms, for none 
but the King’s Officers and Soldiers are allowed to wear 
any other. Thefe, indeed, have a wrought Dagger at their 
Side, and when they walk along the Streets, a drawn 
Sword in one Hand, with a Buckler, or Javelin, in the 
other. The Maldivans place their chief Ornaments in their 
filver Chains, which hang about their Girdle, and of 
which every Boy or Girl has more or lefs, in Proportion 
to their Means ; but ’tis only Perfons of Quality and For- 
tune that fhew them openly: In thefe they place their 
chief Treafure, and commonly they appropriate them for 
the Charge of their Funeral. 
The common People are naked from the Girdle up- 
wards, except on the Feftival-Days, on which they wear 
Cotton and filk Jerkins and Waiftcoats with gilt copper 
Buttons, the Sleeves of thefe Coats reach only to their El- 
bow ; for they alledge, that if their Wrifts were tied up 
8 S like 
