circumstances, such as the respectability and power of the family, and the
beauty and behavior of the girl. The arrangements here described are often
made when the girl is only five or six years of age, in which case she
remains with her friends until womanhood, and then goes to the house of
her bridegroom.

Meantime, her family receive the stipulated price, and are responsible
for her good behavior. Should she prove faithless, and run away, her
purchase-money must be refunded by her friends, who, in their turn, have a
claim upon the family of him who seduces or harbors her. If prompt
satisfaction be not made (which, however, is generally the case), there
will be a "big palaver," and a much heavier expense for damages and costs.
If, after the commencement of married life, the husband is displeased with
his wife's conduct, he complains to her father, who either takes her back,
and repays the dowry, or more frequently advises that she be flogged. In
the latter alternative, she is tied, starved, and severely beaten; a mode
of conjugal discipline which generally produces the desired effect.

Should the wife be suspected of infidelity, the husband may charge her
with it, and demand that she drink the poisonous decoction of sassy-wood,
which is used as the test of guilt or innocence, in all cases that are
considered too uncertain for human judgment. If her stomach free itself
from the fatal draught by vomiting, she is declared innocent, and is taken
back by her family without repayment of the dower. On the other hand, if
the poison begin to take effect, she is pronounced guilty; an emetic is
administered in the shape of common soap; and her husband may, at his
option, either send her home, or cut off her nose and ears.

There is one sad discrepancy in the moral system of these people, as
regards the virtue of the women. No disgrace is imputed to the wife who