[Laxity of female morality.] 2. It is true that among many of the Dravidian tribes and those of the lower Himâlayas, like the Thârus, the standard of female morality is very low. Intrigues of unmarried girls, or even of married women, are very lightly regarded, provided the paramour is a clansman. Numerous instances of customs of this kind will be found in the following pages. The penalty on the relatives of the offenders is usually a fine in the shape of a compulsory feast to the tribesmen. On the other hand, the penalty is much more severe if the woman’s lover belongs to a strange tribe. If he belongs to one of the higher tribes, the punishment is much less than if he belongs to one of the degraded menial races, such as the Dom, Dharkâr, or Bhangi. In such cases the woman is almost invariably permanently excommunicated. The tolerance of intertribal immorality, while significant is, however, far from actually legalised community of women. [The jus primæ noctis.] 3. The custom of the jus primæ noctis has been also adduced as a proof of the existence of communal marriage. Of this the examples collected in the present survey are slight and inconclusive. The Ahîrs and many similar tribes have a custom of paying a fee to the village landlord at a marriage. This is known as mandwâna from mândo, the hut or pavilion in which the marriage is performed. This is hardly more than one of the common village manorial dues, and it is pressing the custom to an illegitimate extent to regard it as a commutation for the jus primæ noctis. There is reason to believe that in comparatively modern times some of the Râjas of Rîwa, a native state bordering on these Provinces, in their annual progresses, insisted on a supply of girls from the lower tribes, and there are still villages which are said to have been presented to the ancestors of women honoured in this way. But this is far from sufficient evidence for anything like the general prevalence of the custom, which is regarded with abhorrence by the public opinion of the country side. [Polyandry.] 4. The same feeling prevails as regards polyandry which, according to Mr. McLennan, formed one of the regular stages in the evolution of marriage. There is certainly no ground for believing that at any time polyandry flourished as a permanent domestic institution. At the same time it seems quite certain that it has prevailed and does still prevail in Northern India, but usually among isolated communities and under exceptional circumstances.