as people
can recollect a relationship between themselves, they do not permit
their families to intermarry. But the memory of the Bharia does not
extend beyond the third generation.

3. Marriage.

Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the boy's father,
who has it conveyed to the girl's father through some friend in his
village. If a betrothal is arranged the bride's father invites the
father and friends of the bridegroom to dinner; on this occasion
the boy's father brings some necklaces of lac beads and spangles and
presents them to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and
tie the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place
the spangles on their foreheads, and then, catching hold of their
cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric powder is also
thrown on their faces. This is the binding portion of the betrothal
ceremony. The date of marriage is fixed by a Brahman, this being
the only purpose for which he is employed, and a bride-price varying
from six to twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw
caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the boy's
father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage ceremony follows
generally the Hindu form. The bridegroom puts on women's ornaments
and carries with him an iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil
spirits. After the wedding, the _midua_, a sort of burlesque dance,
is held. The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts
it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances, holding
a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in the other. Every
time she approaches the bridegroom's father on her rounds she spills
some of the ashes over him, and occasionally gives him a crack on
the head with her ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of
laughter from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians. When
the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return, his mother and
the other women come out and burn a little mustard and human hair in a
lamp, the unpleasant smell emitted by these articles being considered
potent to drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her
father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with each one of
her caste-sisters when taking leave of them. When she returns home she
must begin weeping loudly on the boundary of the village, and continue
doing so until she has embraced each of her relatives and friends,