Page:The Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.djvu/167
of their mouthes, and the more sick the party is, the louder and thicker, they fetch their belches. The standers by hearing them belch in that manner and fetch such vilanous sighs from their stomacks, believe their friend to be dangerously ill, and that the louder the Women belch, the more ease and comfort they receive; but whether they do or no, the women are well payd for their pains. When any one feels a pain in the Head, they send for the Barber, who gives two cutts upon the Head across with the rasor, and then poures Oyl into the wound. For they believe the Head-ache proceeds only from a wind beeween the flesh and the bone, for which the Incision opens a passage to let it out.
At their Funerals they that are the near Relations or Friends of the dead, some cut their faces, and other parts of their Bodies with sharp flints, others prostrate themselves upon the ground, and tear their hair; so that when they return from the Burial, they are all of a gore blood: However, notwithstanding all this affliction, they never pray for the Dead.
As to their Marriages: When a young man has seen a Virgin which he has a liking to, he sends one of his friends to agree with her Parents or her Tutor, what he will give for her. Commonly the gift consists in Horses, Cows or some other sort of Cattel. When the agreement is made, the Parents and Kindred of the party thereby contracted, together with the Lord of the place, go to the House where the Virgin lives and bring her to the Bridegrooms House, where there is a Feast ready prepar'd; and after they have made merry, and sung, and danc'd for a while, the Bridegroom and Bride go and lye together, without any other Ceremony. If the Man and Maid are of two Parishes, the Lord of the Village where the Man lives, accompany him and his Kindred to the next Village altogether, to fetch the Bride from thence.
If a Man and the Wife have no Children, he is permitted to take several Wives one after another till he have Issue. If a marri'd Woman have a Gallant, and that the Husband should come and find his Wife a bed with him, he goes away again without saying a word, and never takes any further notice of it. The Woman also in the same case, does the like by the man. Nay, the more Gallants a Woman has, the more she is respected: And it is a common custom when they fall out, to taunt one another, that if they were not ugly, or ill natur'd, or diseas'd, they would have more Admirers than they have. The People are of an excellent Complexion, especially the Women, who are extreamly fair, and finely shap'd, and keep their beauty till five and forty or fifty years. They are very laborious, and work themselves in the Iron Mines, which they melt afterwards and forge into several Tooles and Implements. They make abundance of Embroidery of Gold and Silver for their Saddles, their Quivers, and their Pumps, as also upon the Calicut of which they make their Handkerchiefs.
If the man and the woman happen to quarrel often together, so that they cannot be reconcil'd: the Husband complaining first to the Lord of the Place, He sends for the Woman, and having giv'n order to sell her, gives the Man another. But if the Woman complain first, the Man is serv'd the same sawce. If a Man or Woman be a disturber of their Neighbours, if the Neighbours complain to the Lord, he presently causes the party to be apprehended and sold to the Merchants that buy Slaves, for they are resolv'd they will live in quiet.
They that take upon them the quality of Gentlemen, sit still, do nothing, and speak very little. In an evening they ride out, and meet some twenty or thirty together to go a dealing. Nor do they rob only their Enemies, but their Neighbours, from whom the chief prey which they take are Cattle and Slaves. All the Country-people are Slaves to the Lord of the Village where they live, whom he imploys to till his Land, and cut Wood for him upon occasion, of which they spend vast quantities. For not being very warm clad, they keep fire all night in the places where they sleep.
CHAP.