The hassanes are not obliged to conceal themselves from their new relations; they meet as usual both before and after the marriage: their feasts are also more gay and brilliant, and they admit the guéhués to them. Whatever may be the difference between the ceremonial however, the woman and her husband are in all cases subjected to the parents of the latter.
When the marriage is celebrated, the husband may take away his wife forthwith if he has a camel; in that case the mother-in-law supplies the equipage for the beast, the cradle, and the carpet which lines it; she adorns the daughter with her finest ornaments, gives her a mat to lie upon, and a sheep-skin for a coverlid; the husband leads the camel, and keeps his face covered till he is out of the camp. If he has no camel, he leaves his wife in the camp till he can procure one, for it would be a terrible disgrace if the woman were brought home to her husband’s camp on a bullock. Sometimes he settles in his wife’s camp, sends for his flocks and herds, and ceases to hide himself.
It often happens that the husband and wife cannot agree, or are desirous of a separation; one of them then quarrels with the other, and they part without having recourse to the marabouts who brought them together. The one who wishes for a divorce makes a present to the other. If there are children, the boys go with the father, and the girls remain with their mother; if she is pregnant at the time, and brings forth a boy, it is sent to the father who has it nursed by a zenague.
When the husband dies, his wife goes into mourning and wears it four months and ten days; during this time, she puts on her worst apparel, receiving nobody into her tent but her nearest relations, and covering her face when she goes out. The husband, on the other hand, does not wear mourning for his wife, and may marry again the next day.
The law of inheritance is as follows: when a man dies his wife receives one fourth of his goods; the mother of the deceased has a tenth of the three other fourths, and the father a fourth of the remainder; the children’s share, which is thus reduced to one half, is so divided, that each boy shall have twice as much as each girl. When the husband inherits, he takes half the property of his wife, and the other half is divided among the grand-parents, and the grand-children, in the same proportions. At the death of husband and wife without offspring, the property goes back in the ascending line; for collateral branches never inherit.
At the death of husband or wife, the uncle of the deceased becomes guardian to the children, until they are eighteen, which is the age of majority; the oxen which they are to inherit are confided to the grandfather until that time. Children who are still at the breast are sent to the zenagues, till they are two years old, and then return to their uncle.
The Moors never grieve for any body’s death, and would think it very improper to shed tears over the deceased, being persuaded that his soul has ascended straightway to heaven! They shave the whole body with the exception of the beard, and wrap it in a white shroud, after having washed it with care; it is then left exposed in the tent for four days, during which time the marabouts assemble round it and sing verses of the Koran.
If the relations of the deceased are rich, they kill an ox to regale the singers; if they are poor they only give a little sangleh every evening. On the fifth day, they dig a grave about two feet and a half deep, and the body is laid in it on one side, with the face towards Mecca. Briars are placed upon the grave to protect it from wild beasts. If the deceased was a person of consequence, the grave is lined with mats; when it is filled up, an inscription is placed upon it; the marabouts perform the salam and return to the camp.
The hassanes and zenagues do not bury their own dead, but have recourse to the marabouts, who undertake the business for a small remuneration. The women are not present at the interment of a man, nor the men at that of a woman.
When a child is born its body is rubbed all over with fresh butter, which is also given to its mother to take; her face is likewise rubbed with it; she eats nothing but meat till her complete recovery. The husband takes care to be absent himself when his wife is in labour, for no sooner does a woman feel her pains coming on, than she screams in the most frightful manner, and assails her husband in the most abusive and indecent language. This is another of their customs! When the child has acquired a little strength, it is slung in a pagne, tied at the four corners to serve as a hammock. The mother usually suckles the child herself.