A MIXED MAEEIAGE. 
279 
bridegroom to the binders parents,, was five cows ; he also finding a 
bullock and a quantity of merissa as a groundwork for the feast 
in the evening. When the cows were accepted^ the bride would, 
according to their custom, have been taken away by her husband, 
but the Mahommedan portion of the ceremony had, in this in- 
stance of a mixed marriage, to be performed : this latter occurred 
at sunset,, in the presence of ourselves and people, myself having 
been elected as the bride^s agent, as she does not appear. In 
addition to the cows presented to her father, a promise was made 
of three cows to be given to herself within a year of marriage. 
Horns and fifes had during the day been blown with every variety 
of discord by the negroes; and now an Arab dance, performed 
by our men to the accompaniment of song and clapping of hands, 
with occasional firing, occupied the evening hours. The bride was 
accompanied to her husband^s tookul by six bridesmaids, followed 
by many of the villagers, amidst instrumental and vocal disso- 
nance, and a scrimmage between the bridesmaids and bridegroom 
ensued, as the former would not permit the happy man to join his 
bride until he was fleeced by the promise of a cow to be given on 
the morrow to each of the demonstrative bridesmaids. Neangara 
and his people were delighted with the alliance. 
January \2th, 1863. — At length so far convalescent as to be 
enabled to take short walks, though still supported ; and anxious to 
continue our journey, I was delighted to hail the return of Awat 
and our men, in the course of the afternoon. The hunters had 
killed four large elephants, and Awat, with his merchandise, had 
purchased in the adjoining north-west Mundo territory a small 
lot of ivory, the whole amounting to nearly ten hundredweight, 
A deputation of six Neam Neam men accompanied Awat on a 
