The marriage contract is very rigid. I know of few cases in which the stipulated price was not paid prior to the delivery of the fiancé. In case of the death of one of the affiancéd parties, the payments made must be refunded. In case of the refusal of the bridegroom to continue his suit even though there has been no fault on the part of the bride or of her relatives, he loses all right to recover. Should the bride's people, however, decide to discontinue the proceedings, they must return the previous payments and make, I believe, compensation for the trouble and expenses incurred during the previous transactions. No case of a discontinuance of the marriage proceedings ever passed under my observation.
The father has theoretically full power over his wife and children, but in practice his domestic jurisdiction is of the most lenient kind. Marital affection and filial devotion reign in the household.
The husband may not marry a second wife during the lifetime of the first without the latter's consent. This rule, as well as the lack of sufficient worldly possessions to purchase another helpmate, makes polygamy comparatively infrequent.
The bridegroom is supposed to live with his father-in-law or with the previous owner of his wife, very often his wife's brother, but nearly always sets up his own establishment a few years after marriage.
With the exception of adultery, fornication, rape, and wanton homicide, all crimes presuppose an appeal to arbitration. The one that is the author of another's death is the one on whom vengeance must be taken, if it is possible.
When an outraged party is unable to obtain redress by arbitration or by the direct reprisal, he avenges himself on a third party, preferably a relative of his enemy, by killing him or by seizing his property. He thus brings matters to a head. It is usual to compound with the relatives of this third party, either for the death or for the seizure, on condition that they will league themselves with the one who is seeking revenge, in opposition to the original wrongdoer or that they themselves will undertake, as his paid agents, to wreak vengeance on his enemy.
Minor offenses are punished by fines that are determined by arbitration. These fines vary in amount, but nearly always include a feast, more or less elaborate, the expenses of which are borne by the party that lost the case.
The arbitration of a question may be made immediately after it has arisen or it may not be brought about for weeks or months. When the discussion has begun it is not considered politic for either side to yield at once. Threats are bandied between the principals until, through the influence of friendly chiefs, they are brought together. Then the relatives discuss the affair, each side exaggerating its own view of the question. It is only after lengthy discussions, and the use of similitudes and allegories, loud shouts, dissimulation, and through the sagacity and influence of the chief men that the opinions of the parties are so molded that an agreement is reached.
It may be necessary to determine the offense. This is done by witnesses who give, as far as I have been able to judge, truthful testimony. Whenever the veracity of a witness is doubted he may be obliged to take a kind of oath which consists in the burning of beeswax. A little beeswax is melted by holding a firebrand over it. While this is being done, the person whose veracity it is desired to test, utters a wish that in case of falsehood his body may be melted like the wax. In the case of suspects, ordeals are employed. They consist of making the parties under suspicion either plunge their hands into boiling water, or undergo the diving test, or take the candle ordeal.
Circumstantial evidence is admissible. By means of it, the authors of hidden crimes are often brought to punishment after years of patient waiting.