THE CUSTOMS THAT ARE PRACTICED FROM THE BETROTHAL UNTIL THE WEDDING IN THE TIGRE COUNTRIES.

All the Tigre people used to have formerly the same customs with regard to betrothal and to wedding. But now since Islam has come, their nuptial gifts and their wedding has become somewhat varying : some of them wed according to Mohammedan law, others according to what has come down to them of old from their ancestors. However, even if their ways are somewhat varying, their rites resemble each other. Those who have the same rites are the following : the Mansa c Bet-Abrehe and Bet-Sahaqan ; the two Marya [i.e. the Red and the Black]; the Bet-(juk; the Bogos [or Belen, or Sanhlt]. Although they differ somewhat from each other as to the amount of the gift, for the rest they have all the same customs. And their Mohammedans and their Christians do all the same. It is through the parents that betrothal and wedding are arranged; and they begin in this way the betrothal and afterwards the wedding. They betroth their children in many different ways.

The [future] father of a boy and the [future] father of a girl, if they like each other and wish to be related to each other, [arrange] while their wives are with child saying to each other: "If one of them brings forth a boy and the other a girl, let us betroth the boy and the girl to each other." Thereupon they betroth them accordingly. Or, if a boy is born and if his father is wealthy, the latter at once betroths to him a girl of his age or a little younger out of the people of his country or of another tribe. Or, again, if some people owe each other blood or revenge, the family of the murderer give to the people from whom they have killed, "house ') and cattle;" then the relatives of the dead person accept the girl and betroth her to a son of theirs or to [one of] themselves; and this way they are reconciled, and the revenge is fulfilled. Or, again, the father of a girl having met some difficulty says: "To him who makes this matter asuccess for me. I shall give my daughter." And the father of the boy or the boy himself makes it to succeed for him and betroths his daughter. Or, finally, considering each other's family and wealth they arrange a betrothal among themselves.

Now then, if the father of the boy intends .to betroth a girl to his son, he says to some clever men versed in speech, who are his friends or his relatives: "Seek for me the daughter of such and such that Imay betroth her to my son !" They go to the father of the girl, and after they have greeted each other they grasp his hand saying: "We are seeking your daughter and your blessing." The father of the girl asks them: "Which daughter of mine?" They say to him: "It is such and such; and we seek her for the son of such and such." The father of the girl does not at once agree to them, but refuses under pretexts ; and he says to them: "But my daughter is betrothed long since; if ye come for her and if it is the son of such and such for whom ye seek her, why should I have refused her?" The seekers enreat him much, and if he [still] refuses, they say to him: "Thus far we are under your blessing: we have no hope nor do we despair," and they go away from him. Afterwards they return to him a second time and ask her from him. And if the father of the girl does not wish to give her to them, he refuses her to them and takes all their hope, so that they now desist from each other. But if he intends to give her to them he says to them: "Seek her from the family of her father and the family of her mother!" And they go and say to every man: "We have asked the daughter of such and such for the son of such and such; and her father has directed us to ask her from thee. And now we ask her from thee." And if he agrees, he says: "For my part, may she be given unto you !", and they shake hands with him and go away. Then the relatives of the girl having held a council say to them: "May she be given unto you!" They return to the father of the boy and say to him: "They have now given us the girl." He replies: "Ye have done well; before, we had hoped this and we have troubled you !" Thereupon the parents-in-law, the father of the boy and the father of the girl, decide upon the constellation during which they are to celebrate the betrothal. And when the constellation has drawn near, each one of them sends to his family and his relatives that they may come. And the family of the father and the mother of the girl assemble and wait; the father of the girl, too, keeps milk or beer ready. And the father of the boy with his family and his relatives and again the family of the mother of the boy set out from their village; and they take some money and a piece of new cloth with them.

When they are near the village of the girl they send to them saying: "We have come." The father of the girl with his company goes out to [meet] them. Then they all together move a little away from the houses and sit down in a circle. And the father of the boy places the piece of cloth which he has brought, in the midst; or else, if he does not bring a piece of cloth, he places a leaf in its stead. Thereupon the family of the boy says to the family of the girl: "Now then, what is the amount of your nuptial gift, and how much do ye take from us?" The family of the girl replies: "All know our nuptial gift before this: its amount is so and so much." With regard to the nuptial gift each one names the amount known to him from his ancestor, there is no generally accepted way.

However, most of the free nobility name eleven cows and eight thalers from the mother, two thalers from the grandfather and a rug and a cloak. The bondsmen, on the other hand, take seven thalers from the mother and one thaler from the grandfather and a rug and a cloak; of cattle, however, three cows or, in some cases, two, or even one cow. The cattle of the nuptial gift are taken by some in money, by others living. If it is in money, the estimate of cattle is of old the following: a cow pregnant for the first time is [worth] seven thalers ; a heifer, that has four teeth, four thalers ; a heifer that has two teeth, two ; a calf that has no second teeth as yet, the same. And when they have agreed with regard to the nuptial gift, .they say to a man that is prominent and of mild character, a friend of the family of the boy: "Such and such, conclude the covenant for us!" Then he takes off his shoes, and they all, too, take off their shoes. And the man asks the father of the daughter three times: "Thou, such and such, son of such and such, shall this such and such, thy daughter, be the wife of this such and such, the son of such and such?" And he replies three times, saying: "She P. "5- shall be !" Thereupon he asks also the father of the boy three times, saying: "Thou, such and such, son of such and such, shall this such and such, thy son, be the husband (or, the betrothed) of this such and such, daughter of such and such?" And he replies three times, saying: "He shall be!" And the man who concludes the covenant speaks to every one of them three times: "Let this be a covenant of God unto thee lest thou betrayest!" And every one of them replies three times, saying: "Let it be!" Thereupon they call a boy, the son of a first wife. To him the father of the boy gives one grass-blade and the father of the girl another. Then he takes one of them in his right hand and the other in his left hand and passes along the people with them ; and they make tff on them [as if they were spitting]. Now the boy gives one of them to the father of the boy and the other to the father of the girl, and they put them on their heads. Then the man who concludes the covenant says the blessing speaking thus: "The covenant is a covenant of God. If God wills the two shall be united ; ') may He let us see their wedding. May He unite you, you and them ! May God fulfil your wish ! May this covenant bring good luck to him for whom it is and to him who sees it and hears it, may' we be better off through it ! And may God unite us at their wedding!" And all the people say the same blessing; and the father of the boy shakes hands with the people greeting them and says 'Amen'. After this the father of the boy hands over the money of the nuptial gift and the clothes to the family of the girl; of the cattle, however, he gives them those which are to be given living, later on, but those which are estimated in money, he gives to them now.

Thereupon the family of the boy say to the family of the girl: "Which is the kind of gift that ye prefer?" And if they say: "It is zekran" '), the father of the boy gives to each member of the family of the girl three cubits of cloth, i. e. he gives them the zekran; and later on, everybody that has received the piece of cloth, gives him a heifer or a_ bullock, on the day when they give the nuptial gift. But if they say: "The kind of gift we prefer is money," he gives each one of them one thaler, and later on, on the day of the wedding, they give him the double amount, or else a heifer or a bullock if they prefer. After this,, the father of the girl speaks to all the people: "Now then, let us go to the village that ye may taste the crop !" 2 ) And they all rise with him and go to his village. He gives them beer or milk to drink and has a meal prepared for them; and when they have eaten they part in peace. The mother of the betrothed girl twists a thin cord out of ' [some threads of] "the cloak of the blessing" 3 ) and ties it around her [neck]. From this time of the blessing onward the girl who is betrothed hides from the boy who is betrothed to her and from his family and the women of his family, especially from him, his father, his mother and those who are his close relatives, and she is not seen by them. But if she is seen by some one of the family of her betrothed, not minding them, the boy to whom she appears beats her and, then, puts some piece of cloth on her and goes away; afterwards she hides herself from him.
The girl has her ear pierced and a piece of wood put in the hole until it grows larger and the wound heals (for her). And in the same way she has her nose pierced on the right side and a piece of wood put in it until the time of her wedding. Then they put a nose-ring of gold or silver in it ; and in her ear, too, they put rings of different shapes ') of gold or of silver. The families of the betrothed boy and girl honour each other and double each other's names [i. e., they say 'ye' instead of 'thou']. And the pa- rents-in-law and relations keep away from each other: those of the boy and the boy do not eat with those of the girl nor do they drink after each other from the same skin. Again the betrothed boy hides from his female relatives- in-law and does not go near their houses. The father of the boy or the betrothed boy [himself] gives presents of all kinds to the family of the betrothed girl. And later on, on the day of the wedding, the family of the girl, anybody that has received a present or a favor, give two thalers or a heifer to the family of the boy. If the boy's mother-in-law has her village in another country, and if he comes to that village as a stranger, and if his mother-in-law hears of his coming, she makes a good meal for him and sends it to the house of his host. And when the boy has eaten the meal with his company or with his hosts, *he puts in the vessel of his mother-in-law one or two thalers and sends the vessel back. At the time of the autumn, a week before the festival of Michael, the mother of the betrothed girl makes a thick soup of about an c ebela of grain, and when the soup has become thoroughly mellow, she pours it into a large wooden bowl and makes a butter-sauce with it, and then sends it to the family who has betrothed her daughter. When the soup comes to them, they eat it with their family, and then they put a thaler in the bowl and return it. This happens in the first year after the betrothal, and this is called "the soup of fruit." And from now on every year at the festival of Michael in the fall, or a .week before it, the mother of the girl makes the mdrwa ') bread and sends it to the family of the boy. And the betrothed boy touches the bread against his two elbows, his two knees, his fore- head and his mouth and breaks it on his right knee. Then he sends, or his people send, about two Cebela of grain to the mother of the betrothed girl. But if the betrothing people in two tribes distant from each other, these customs of the soup and the bread are omitted.

The father of the boy with his family prepares food and drink, tobacco and coffee and goats, which are to be killed, and sends word to the family of the girl saying: "On a day of a constellation 2 ) in such and such a month come to me in order to choose and take the cows of your nuptial gift that ye have named !" And they go to him with their relatives, on the day of the constellation. Then when they have arrived, he leads them into a tabernacle (Fig. 12), and after they have greeted each other, he gives them the drink and the drinking- horns, the tobacco, the coffee and the goats, and then he has a meal prepared for them. And they pass the night eating and drinking. The next morning the father of the boy
brings his cattle and says to the family of the girl: "Take your nuptial gift; there is the cattle!" And the family of the girl take out those which are of their own choice, themselves, but those which he selects for them, are given to them by him: [thus] they take their amount. Thereupon, if they are modest, they say to the family of the boy: "This is a present for such and such, and this is a present for such and such," and they leave [almost] all the cattle or half of it, but they keep some of it for their daughter. If, on the other hand, they are not modest, they take the cattle of their nuptial gift and go away with them, and return to their village. If a girl dies while she is betrothed and if the family of the betrothed boy live near, they take a shroud and the funeral cow and go to her village, and they say to her father and her male relatives. "Give us another girl in her stead ; if ye do not do that, we shall not let the corpse be buried !" If they have a daughter, they say to them : "We give you such and such, the daughter of such and such, in her stead." But if they have no daughter, they say: "Wait then for us; when we shall have begotten another daughter, ye shall take [her]." And they wait for each other up to four generations and even longer than that. But if the betrothed live far from each other, they come with the funeral cow [only] and seek compensation. If, however, they do not come when their betrothed girl dies, the others do not give them any compensation: they give them their money back and do not become related to each other. But if the betrothed boy dies, his brother inherits his betrothed ; and if he has no brother, the next relative in his family inherits her.