BETROTHAL. 
2U3 
priest or Bdyeh-rupi, is to grant charms which may 
have the power of keeping away this dreaded in- 
iluence. 
The system of betrothal observed among Eastern 
nations here obtains in the case of the first wife. It 
must continue at least for two years, during which time 
the aspirant to Edeeyah beauty is obliged to perform 
such labour as would otherwise fall to the lot of his 
intended wife ; carrying the palm-oil to the market, 
water for household purposes, planting yams, &c., thus 
realizing in part, Jacob’s servitude for his loved Rachel, 
“ And they seemed but a few days, for the love he had 
to her.” The girl is kept in a hut, concealed from 
public gaze as much as possible. The courtship or 
betrothal commences usually at thirteen or fourteen 
years of age, but connexion is not permitted until the 
conclusion of the two years, and should frail nature 
yield before the specified time, the olfence is treated 
as seduction, the youth severely punished, as well as 
heavy fines exacted from his relatives ; indeed to seduce 
an Edeeyah is one of the greatest crimes against their 
social system. 
The period of betrothal having expired, the girl is still 
further detained in the hut until there are unequivocal 
symptoms of her becoming a parent, which failing, the 
term is prolonged until eighteen months. On her first 
appearance in public as a married woman, she is 
surrounded by all the young maidens of the tribe, 
who dance and sing round her, and a feast is held 
