daughter. T h e father’s consent being obtained, he sends presents to the lad y, according to his circumstances, which being accepted, the parties are supposed to be betrothed, and marriage follows. O f the marriage ceremony much has been said b y various authors. T h e bridegroom is mounted on a horse, with his face covered, surrounded b y his friends, and those o f the parents, who run their horses, and fire their muskets at the feet or face o f the bridegroom; the (Tabla) kettle drum, the (Erb eb) triangle, an instrument similar to the Greek lyre, (having howe v e r but two strings,) and a rude kind o f flute, form the band o f music ; whilst the friends o f the m arried party dance and jump about, twirling their muskets in the air, and otherwise discovering the ir satisfaction. This ceremony being terminated, the parties go to the house o f feasting, where the evening is passed in con v iv ia lity , t ill the bride and bridegroom retire to rest. T h e sheets are afterwards produced, somewhat indecently, as a p ro o f o f the virg in ity o f the bride, and exhibited in triumph to the relations. It is not expected that the woman should have a fortune or a settlement; but i f the father be rich, he generally gives a dowry to his daughter, and a quantity o f pearls, rubies, diamonds, lee. The dowry remains the property o f the female, and in case o f a divorce, by consent o f the husband, is returned to h e r : these separations proceed from various causes, as barrenness, the disappointment o f expectation, incapability of performing, the domestic duties, or incompatibility o f disposition. Separation, however, not originating in the above causes, is reprobated as immoral and disreputable. A p lura lity of wives is allowed in all Mohammedan co u n tr ie s ; the lawful numberris limited by the Koran lo four, in addition to which th e y are allowed as many concubines as they can support ; in this latitude o f luxury, however, they seldom indulge. T h e Emperor, the princes, and some o f the bashaws, have often four w ive s, but even with them this number encreases gradually thus, the first wife, after having had a child, or when her bloom has passed, or the marks o f age appear, makes way for a young one, who is taught to respect the former, who still remains mistress o f the household ; when the second lady loses her bloom, she is supplanted by a third, and the third b y a fourth; so that the rich and indépendant Mooselmin, however old he be himself, has. generally a young wife, or a young concubine,* to cherish him ; and this, they say, enables them to enjoy life longer than thè Christians ; for the y maintain, that as an old woman destroys the vigour o f a man, a young woman encreases it ; but these luxurious debauchees, these devotees to the pleasures o f the fair sex, from their irregular excesses, are often, about the age o f fifty, and sometimes before, totally incapable o f performing, the duties o f the matrimonial contract ; under these circumstances, stimulating drugs, and aromatic compositions are in vain resorted to, and the wretched man becomes at once the victim o f inflamed desire, and impoteney. It must^not, however, be imagined, that this insatiable desire for young females pervades the mass of the people-, Mooselmin,. in general, are satisfied with one wife, and, in a tract o f country possessing a population o f one hundred thousand souls, a hundred men w ill scarcely be found who keep four. Such is the state o f polygamy in this country. * These young wives and concubines often find opportunities clandestinely to. cuckold their men or husbands.
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