Note 3 — Chapter Sixth

The men are very fond of their wives, for it is the men who give the dowry at marriage. And even if their wives commit adultery, action is never taken against the woman, but against the adulterer. An abominable custom among the men is to bore a hole through the genital organ, placing within this opening a tin tube, to which they fasten a wheel like that of a spur, a full palm in circumference. These are made of tin, and some of them weigh more than half a pound. They use twenty kinds of these wheels; but modesty forbids us to speak of them. By means of these they have intercourse with their wives.3 The [112] inhabitants of the mountains do not follow this custom; all, however, circumcise themselves, saying that they do it for their health and for cleanliness. When they marry, they are not concerned whether their wives are virgins or not.