or three days before the marriage, and he goes to every Reddi house, and receives a present of money. The idol is then set up in the verandah, and worshipped daily till the conclusion of the marriage ceremonies. "Among the Reddis of Tinnevelly," Dr. J. Shortt writes, "a young woman of sixteen or twenty years of age is frequently married to a boy of five or six years, or even of a more tender age. After marriage she, the wife, lives with some other man, a near relative on the maternal side, frequently an uncle, and sometimes with the boy-husband's own father. The progeny so begotten are affiliated on the boy-husband. When he comes of age, he finds his wife an old woman, and perhaps past child-bearing. So he, in his turn, contracts a liaison with some other boy's wife, and procreates children." The custom has doubtless been adopted in imitation of the Maravans, Kallans, Agamudaiyans, and other castes, among whom the Reddis have settled. In an account of the Ayodhya Reddis of Tinnevelly, Mr. Stuart writes that it is stated that "the tali is peculiar, consisting of a number of cotton threads besmeared with turmeric, without any gold ornament. They have a proverb that he who went forth to procure a tali and a cloth never returned." This proverb is based on the following legend. In days of yore a Reddi chief was about to be married, and he accordingly sent for a goldsmith, and, desiring him to make a splendid tali, gave him the price of it in advance. The smith was a drunkard, and neglected his work. The day for the celebration of the marriage arrived, but there was no tali. Whereupon the old chief, plucking a few threads from his garment, twisted them into a cord, and tied it round the neck of the bride, and this became a custom. [110] In the Census Report, 1891, Mr. Stuart states that he was informed that polyandry of the fraternal type exists among the Panta Kapus, but the statement requires verification. I am unable to discover any trace of this custom, and it appears that Reddi Yanadis are employed by Panta Reddis as domestic servants. If a Reddi Yanadi's husband dies, abandons, or divorces his wife, she may marry his brother. And, in the case of separation or divorce, the two brothers will live on friendly terms with each other. In the Indian Law Reports [111] it is noted that the custom of illatom, [112] or affiliation of a son-in-law, obtains among the Motati Kapus in Bellary and Kurnool, and the Pedda Kapus in Nellore. He who has at the time no son, although he may have more than one daughter, and whether or not he is hopeless of having male issue, may exercise the right of taking an illatom son-in-law. For the purposes of succession this son-in-law stands in the place of a son, and, in competition with natural-born sons, takes an equal share. [113]