Note 5 — APPENDIX I

Relations of the sexes. Marriage is almost invariably adult, and is usually entered into by payment to the bride’s parents, or by servitude as among the Kacháris. Cases of ante-nuptial unchastity would seem to be rare; but when an unmarried girl does become pregnant, she is compelled to disclose the name of her lover, often through the siju-ordeal process (see above), and public opinion forces the seducer to marry his victim, paying a somewhat higher bride-price (gá-dhan) than he would otherwise have done. Monogamy is the rule in marriage, but public opinion permits the taking of a second wife when the first proves childless. Divorce is permitted for adultery, but would seem to be comparatively rare: widows are at liberty to marry whomsoever they will, except the deceased husband’s elder brother, a second bride-price being sometimes paid to the bride’s parents. The marriage ceremony itself is very simple, the essential features being (1) the exchange of betel-leaves and areca-nuts by bride and bridegroom, and (2) the formal sacrifice of a cock and hen, the latter being made into a curry of which bride and bridegroom partake together. The dead are disposed of generally by cremation, though in cases of destructive epidemics, e.g., cholera, kálá-azár, etc., known as “sirkári rog,” the bodies of deceased people are either hastily buried, or simply thrown into the neighbouring jungle.5