EROSTEMUTLION: 87 she may also be divorced, in which case a very curious ceremony takes place. The injured husband cuts a piece of bark cloth in two, half of which he keeps himself, and the other half is sent with the wife to her father. When the cows formerly paid as the price of the bride are restored, this piece is returned to the husband, who then burns both pieces. Wives are seldom put away because they are childless, and the man is always blamed who does it. JI have myself seen a curious ' punishment. One of the men who had been assigned to me here as servants had tied a string round his wife’s neck, and fastened her to a tree, where she had to remain the whole night; and this—because she had told him a lie.

With regard to prostitutes, peculiar regulations exist. In. Kabréga’s establishment a great number of girls live as servants to his wives. ‘They are usually good dancers, or are distinguished by corporeal advantages, and enjoy unlimited freedom at night. They are called vranga. As soon as their day’s work is finished, they go out, and if they are addressed by a man they go with him, and remain at his house from four to five days, according to his wishes. It often happens that they follow a man who pleases them of their own accord, and stay with him. He is bound to comply with their wishes, and to provide them with food, &c. Their reward consists of cowries, bark cloths, dressed hides, and even slaves, according to the circumstances of the man they fall in love with. Should the reward fall below their expectations, they always appeal to Kabréga, who, in most cases, decides in their favour, although he derives no benefit whatever from them. All that they earn belongs to them, and should one of them amass a fortune, she sets up a zertba of her own, and perhaps marries one of the king’s slaves. Should one of them bear a child, it belongs to the king as a slave; if it be a boy, it is placed, later on, among the pages (vagardggara), and when grown up is enrolled in the bodyguard, always as a slave, but no reproach clings to him because of his illegitimate birth.-If it be a girl, she is brought up to her mother’s profession, and also remains, of course, a slave of Kabréga, who comes into no personal contact with these women. ‘The institution seems to be very old, and Kabréga told me that