(4) Another way of procuring a wife is simply by buying. Two skins of a buck is a fair price in the Mangoni country. Similarly wives may be paid over in settling debts. (5) Young men are sometimes presented with wives by the masters or guardians of the latter. (6) The case of wooing is treated below (56). When a man’s wife dies he gives an offering to her spirit (cf. 41), and goes to seek another to fill her place. A wife whose husband is dead may not get another so quickly lest he should die also (82). There is nothing to prevent a man from marrying his sister-in-law; but no man may marry his sister, a fact that is brought out very distinctly in a common native conundrum, which might be rendered, “What is the fruit that you must not pluck, however sweet it may be?” A couple may marry though they belong to different tribes, and can hardly communicate except by signs. 55.—RANKS AMONG WIVES. As a rule a man has one wife that is free, while the other three or four are slaves. If he be the chief of a village his wife also gets the title of msyene wa musi, or “possessor of the village”. His other wives are not called slaves, but ladies of the harem (akusyeto), although their status is really that of slaves. The chief wife is generally the woman that was married first. There may be exceptions. For instance, if the principal wife be betrothed in infancy to a full grown man, this man will take a female “to fill the place of the betrothed infant”. After being married for a year or two the husband is almost expected to get junior wives. These the chief wife, as a matter of courtesy, calls her younger sisters (apwao). We have seen instances, however, when a great strife arose on the introduction of the other wives, and where the chief wife would threaten a separation, and carry it out too. But these were instances rather of self-will than of conformity to the customs of the country. It is an object of common aspiration to be possessed of five wives. The chief wife has the superintendence of the domestic and agricultural establishment. She keeps the others at their work, and has power to exercise discipline upon them. The punishment she inflicts for laziness is to banish junior wives from meals until hunger bring them to their senses. When a junior wife is very obstreperous her superior may put her in a slave stick. The authority of the chief wife is not a matter to jest with. I knew a case of a junior wife that had her infant child promptly put upon the fire by this terrible overseer. When a man is severely pressed by some legal action and has to pay heavy fines, he begins by selling off his junior wives. When reduced to one wife he has reached the highest point of distress. His free wife he cannot sell, as she is under the protection of her surety (60). _Plurality of Free Wives._