the hills under a body
of Mina guards who alone knew the hiding-place, and would only permit
any part of it to be withdrawn for a great emergency. Nor would they
accept the orders of the Raja alone, but required the consent of the
heads of the twelve principal noble families of Amber, branches of the
royal house, before they would give up any part of the treasure. The
criminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country about sixty-five
miles long and forty broad, stretching from Shahpur forty miles north
of Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border. The popular idea
of the Mina, Mr. Crooke remarks, [268] is quite in accordance with
his historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying,
'The Meo will not give his daughter in marriage till he gets a mortar
full of silver'; his pugnacity is expressed in, 'The Meo's son begins
to avenge his feuds when he is twelve years old'; and his toughness in,
'Never be sure that a Meo is dead till you see the third-day funeral
ceremony performed.'

4. The Deswalis of the Central Provinces

As already stated, the Deswalis of the Central Provinces have
abandoned the wild life of their ancestors and settled down as
respectable cultivators. Only a few particulars about them need be
recorded. Girls are usually married before they are twelve years old
and boys at sixteen to twenty. A sum of Rs. 24 is commonly paid for
the bride, and a higher amount up to Rs. 71 may be given, but this
is the maximum, and if the father of the girl takes more he will be
fined by the caste and made to refund the balance. A triangle with
some wooden models of birds is placed on the marriage-shed and the
bridegroom strikes at these with a stick; formerly he fired a gun
at them to indicate that he was a hunter by profession. A Brahman
is employed to celebrate the marriage. A widow is usually taken by
her late husband's younger brother, but if there be none the elder
brother may marry her, contrary to the general rule among Hindus. The
object is to keep the woman in the family, as wives are costly. If
she is unwilling to marry her brother-in-law, however, no compulsion
is exercised and she may wed another man. Divorce is allowed, and
in Rajputana is very simply effected. If tempers do not assimilate
or other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a shred from
his turban which he gives to his wife, and with this simple bill of
divorce, placing two jars of water on her head, she t