320 
TEIVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
his crops fail^ or cattle be captured or die of murrain^ the com- 
munity tax themselves to replace them. War or peace is declared 
by the chiefs who leads : the former is frequently occasioned by 
quarrels of individuals whose cause is espoused by their respective 
clans. 
^^Jurisdiction is performed by the chief; and a subject who has 
rendered himself obnoxious is neither imprisoned nor beaten^ but 
is simply fined so many head of cattle,, according to his oflPence. If 
an old ofiender and poor, he is expelled the community, or put to 
death by the chief^s order, but without publicity. 
A man may have as many wives as he pleases ; the opulent 
indulge in fifty or more, each wife having a separate hut. Cattle 
only is taken by the bride^s parents as dowry. The marriage fes- 
tivities continue two or three days, when all concerned give them- 
selves up to feasting and rejoicing. The bride in the evening is 
led to her new home, which is built for her, and returns each 
morning to her parents to take part in the dancing and gaieties. 
When about to give birth to a child, she again returns to her 
parents to be nursed by her mother. Should she be unhappy and 
unable to live with her husband, she goes to her parents or her 
nearest relative ; and in case her husband refuses to support her, 
she is given in marriage to another ; but if she has children by him, 
they are invariably, at the age of three, sent to the first husband to 
be maintained by him ; should he refuse to do this, which is seldom 
the case, then the rightful father can claim his child. 
Public burial-grounds there are none, the dead being buried in 
the immediate vicinity of the huts they inhabited. This practice 
arises from fear of exhumation, as it is believed that human flesh 
or hair is poison, and liable to be made use of by ill-designing 
people. 
