Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-09-12

| eat chickens or eggs even the necks
and the gizzards being forbidden 20
them In the kaviroudo country az tle
northeast OF the lake. was lntorhe y
that the usual price for VIE Is ~
iron hoes. 20 goats and COW. ana in u,
these articles can be paid on install .,i.
aments. In Uganda the government
price Is SO per girl but more is usually
given for the daughter of chief.
Among the Nandi tribes the richest
men have from 10 to 40 wives, ana inc
price for "A good maiden of IA Is SIX
cows. Girls are often hetrothed rs
carly as I, and they are married az II.
The COWS are often paid on INSTALL
ments, and If no child is born within
d year after the marriage the husband
may stop payment. II Is among these
Nandi as with the Nasal. who are
found around the slopes OF Mount l<lll-
Emanjaro and also on the highlands or
British East Africa, that the unmarried
girls dwell with the young unmarried
men In the bachelor quarters, and ,iil-
til they are old enough to get married.
"A Masai man is not supposed to marry
3until he is 30 Among the Buvumas the
price Of a Wife is two COWS ana flye
goats. OF these the father of the bride
keeps one of the COWS and goat, the
other four goats being given to the rel
atiyes.
a TAX ON WIVES
Down in Rhodasia the usual price for
Il strong. good Stocking girl is four cows
and if she Is the daughter of a chief she
may bring as much as five or six. me
government taxes every native SO 81
year for his hut and family. and this
includes tax FOR one Wife. II he mas
more than one he is charged 10 shillings
for each extra wife. The Kaffir girls
are married at as early as IL, and
girl is often engaged at or years or
age Such engagements are made by
the parents ana several cattle form
part roif the dowry. 1t Is custom
among the Kaffirs not to allow a
younger brother to marry until each OF
& his older brothers has at least one
wife, and the father often helps pay
for the brides.
About Lake Shire girls are often be-
trothed In their infancy and they are
sometimes actually engaged before they
are born In such cases the prospective
groom or his parents are expected to
clothe the girl until she Is old enough
to be married. but as the only clothing
In her early life is waist cloth and
often not more than a string. the ex-
pense Is not heavy. The people there
have from one to 20 wives. according to
their, wealth. and in times past the
chiefs had harems of as many as n
hundred women each. AS a rule the
number Of wives is decreasing all over
South Africa, and with the demand for
foreign goods which is gradually grow
Ing making the support of women
more expensive, there is likely to be
still further decrease.
BRIDAL COSTUMES.
The question Of dress is not a serious
one in most parts of central Africa. 1t
Is different north OF the Sahara, where
O pair of bridal trousers may, as have
stated, cost 5000 and upward and
where brooches of cloth of gold are not
uncommon. The lightest wedding cos
tune have seen in my travels is that
which the women wear at the end OF
the Uganda. railroad. The men go abso-
lutely naked and the married women
have on nothing but a sort of fly brush
tail about 1o inches long. which they
fasten to string around the waist.
The tail thus hangs down behind on