4 H 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
yards of cloth which is put aside with the accumulation of the other presents. 
They then sleep together, but usually not on the bed but on a mat placed before 
the fire burning in the centre of the hut. The next morning the bridesmaids 
return. They affect to gaze round about the bed and exclaim upon seeing the 
mass of beads poured out on the mat, “You have a generous husband.” If, 
however, an ample supply of beads has not been exhibited in this fashion the 
bridesmaids sneer and utter 
contemptuous remarks, the 
more genuine in feeling 
because these beads thrown 
on to the mat are supposed 
to be their perquisites and 
are taken away by them. 
Soon after the bridesmaids 
have gone the father of the 
newly-wedded wife pays an 
early visit to the husband’s 
father and invites him to a 
friendly talk. Much native 
beer is made and drunk. 
The ‘‘big women” (matrons 
of the village) then go to 
the bride’s home and re¬ 
move her head veil of cloth. 
All the husband’s brothers, 
if he has any, give presents 
to the bride. The bride’s 
father catches two fowls, 
male and female, and 
should give the hen to the 
bridegroom’s father to keep, 
saying, “You have got my 
daughter, I have got your 
son but if for any reason 
the bride’s father is dis¬ 
satisfied with his son-in-law 
he gives the male bird to 
the groom’s father as a 
sign that he returns the 
son and will not have him 
as a son-in-law. If the 
hen is given, however, the marriage is considered to have been satisfactorily 
settled and the father calls his daughter to him and lectures her on her duties 
as a married woman. On the second night of the marriage nupta parvum 
pannum inter dunes celat, quo post coitum semen a vulva detergit, lit postridie 
matronis pagi ostendat. Ilia; semine inspecto utrum ex mare valido emissus 
sit pronuntiant. Ouodsi aliter decernunt, nupta patrem suam docet, qui quum 
ad mariti patiem accessit, elicit: “ Mi amice, films tuus non ad generanclum 
idmeus est: lege alium ex filiis tuis filim mere conjugem.” 
Amongst the Atonga the wife does not leave her husband directly she is 
enceinte , but perhaps at the sixth month. The husband does not resume 
A MTONGA MAN 
