llage official called
_U basan_. The husband or the wife gives the _basan_ an eight anna
piece, the latter gives this either to the wife or to the husband,
as the case may be. The _basan's_ share of the eight annas is two
pice, the remainder being spent on liquor. The _basan_ is entitled
to a further fee of one anna from the man. If a wife does not agree
to accept divorce, she is entitled to receive two pieces of cloth
from the husband to the value of Rs. 3/-. This compensation is called
_thnem_. The divorce then takes place. If a wife wishes to divorce her
husband, and the latter is unwilling, before she can obtain divorce,
she must pay _thnem_ to the value of the whole amount the husband has
spent on her and her children during the marriage. Divorce customs
in Nartiang and Nongjinghi doloiships are much the same, only the
amounts tendered by the parties and that of compensation differing.

In conclusion it should be stated that the great drawback attaching to
divorce in ordinary communities, i.e. the effect that it has on the
lives of the children of the marriage, does not apply to the Khasis,
for with them the children always live with their mother and their
mother's family, which latter would be bound to maintain them in the
event of a divorce.

Inheritance.

The Khasi and Synteng laws of inheritance are practically the same,
although in some of the doloiships in the Jaintia Hills there are
some slight differences. The War law of inheritance differs greatly
from that of the Khasis, and the customs of the Bhois or Mikirs,
who inhabit the Bhoi doloiship of the Jaintia Hills, are totally
different from those of the Khasis, thereby supplying another link in
the chain of evidence in support of the conclusion that the Bhois, or,
more correctly speaking, the Mikirs, are of Bodo origin, and not Khasi
or Mon-Anam. The Lynngams follow the Khasi law of inheritance. It will
be convenient to describe the Khasi law first, and then to pass on to
the special customs in vogue in the different doloiships in the Jaintia
Hills, and, finally, to describe the War, Bhoi and Lynngam customs.

The Khasi saying is, "_long jaid na loa kynthei_" (from the woman
sprang the clan). The Khasis, when reckoning descent; count from
the mother only; they speak of a family of brothers and sisters,
who are the great grandchildren of one great grandmother, as _shi
kpoh_, which, being literally translated, is one womb; i.e. the
issue of one womb.