"The above description of customs refers mutatis mutandis to all classes of society except slaves. The desirability of an unmarried girl varies directly with the social position of the parents; appearance, industry, and chastity are entirely subordinate factors, and exercise very little influence on the marriage price demanded. There is a strange custom by which a husband who finds his wife incompatible may exchange her for any of her sisters still unmarried. A younger brother, again, whose parents are dead, even though already married, takes over as a rule the wife as well as the liability of an elder brother who has predeceased him. The precedence of such wives should be regulated solely by the position of their parents, and breaches of this rule, owing to the partiality of the husband, lead frequently to bitter feuds." The following valuable note on the marriage price of a Lakher girl, and on the dues payable at death, by Mr. R. A. Lorrain, is inserted just as received:-- The important position occupied by the bride's eldest brother and her maternal uncle are noticeable. PARTICULARS OF MARRIAGE PRICE PAID BY A MARA FOR HIS BRIDE. [13] ==========+================+==============+====+============================ | Amount of Price. | | To whom price is paid and Name of +================+==============+ No.| other particulars in Price. | Common People. | Ruling Clan. | | regard to the Marriage | | | | Customs of the Mara Tribes. ==========+================+==============+====+============================ O-Kia | Rs. 20/- | Rs. 150/- | 1 | When the whole family live | Gong (7 spans).| One slave. | | in the same house, none of | Gun. | Two Mithan. | | the sons having their own | | | | houses, then the Prices | | | | Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and | | | | Nos. 9, 10, 11, have all | | | | to be paid to the father | | | | of the bride. | | | | Sei-pi- | Rs. 20/- | Rs. 50/- | 2 | If the family is divided hra | Gong (7 spans).| One Mithan | | and the eldest son has a | Gun. | (female). | | house of his own, then the | | | | father has price No. 11 and | | | | the eldest son must have | | | | price No 1, while the | | | | prices Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, | | | | and Nos. 9, 10, are at the | | | | eldest son's disposal and