"'A very poor man can buy his wife from her father for a couple of goats.'
"'How much has the sultan got to pay?'
"'He has got to pay about one hundred goats, or so many cows, so many sheep and goats, to his bride's father. Of course, he is a chief. The sultan would not buy a common woman. The father's consent is to be obtained, and the cattle have to be given up. It takes many days to finish the talk about it. All the family and friends of the bride have to talk about it before she leaves her father's house.'
"'In cases of murder, what do you do to the man that kills another?'
"'The murderer has to pay fifty cows. If he is too poor to pay, the sultan gives permission to the murdered man's friends or relatives to kill him. If they catch him, they tie him to a tree, and throw spears at him—one at a time first; they then spring on him, cut his head off, then his arms and limbs, and scatter them about the country.'
"'How do you punish a thief?'
"'If he is found stealing, he is killed at once, and nothing is said about it. Is he not a thief?'
"'But, suppose you do not know who the thief is?'
"'If a man is brought before us accused of stealing, we kill a chicken. If the entrails are white, he is innocent; if yellow, he is guilty.'
"'Do you believe in witchcraft?'