The relations of man and wife in Aheer are curious, if not extraordinary. A woman never leaves the home of her father! When a man marries a woman, he remains with her a few weeks, and then, if he will not take up his residence in the town or village of his wife, he must return to his own place without her. When a man sees a woman who pleases him, he offers the parents a price for her--say, four camels. If the parents agree that the price is adequate to the charms or the rank of their daughter, the bargain is concluded. These four camels remain always the property of the wife, with which she supports herself, sending them to Soudan or to Bilma, fetching ghaseb or salt. Many of the women have a large property obtained in this way. When their husbands visit them, they give them something to eat, and they remain a few days or weeks; and again depart to their own native towns, leaving the wife with her property, and any chance lover. But the men marry two or three wives, and so are constantly in motion, first going to visit one wife and then another. Thus the male population of this country is kept in a continually restless state of activity--roaming about here and there, marrying another and another wife, if their means will permit them. The women, of course, left in this way, and unrestrained by any high moral motives, take as many lovers as they dare, or can secretly dispose of. It appears that En-Noor always disapproved of this strange system, and swore he would never marry a wife, because he should be obliged to go to another town to reside there, and so be exposed to having an inferior position, the authorities of the town of his wife pretending to exercise jurisdiction over him. All his women have ever been slaves. His highness is now living amidst his daughters and their children--the men who married them being all away in their own native countries. A daughter of En-Noor costs ten camels, and this is considered a very high price for a woman. With two or three camels, a woman manages to support herself and children. If the husbands of En-Noor's daughters be ever so poor, he never gives them anything but a little food. They must come and reside in his town. His highness passes all his evenings amidst this circle of women--his female slaves, his daughters, and granddaughters. The population of Gouber and Maradee together may be about 1500. _Mărádee_, capital of Maradee, and residence of the Siriki. _Jinubakai_ is the second division of the country, inhabited wholly by the pagans or gia-drinkers (beer-drinkers); not, therefore, Mahometans. _Gouber_ (Gubar), is the name of the country, of which the capital and residence of the sultan is _Chibri_. This country consists of a large city (Chibri), and several small villages, some fifty or sixty; two are here mentioned, Gomer and Sanna.