second wife is taken she is usually a younger sister or close relation of the first. Concubinage is not permitted. They have a strong representative council (panchâyat), which is presided over by a chairman (chaudhari), whose office is hereditary. The council deals with offences in connection with marriage and caste usages. Illegitimate children by women of other castes follow the caste of the father, but are not allowed to eat, smoke, or intermarry with legitimate Bhars. Widow marriage is permitted. Widows generally marry widowers. The levirate is permitted but not enforced. [Rules of marriage.] 6. In the marriage of a widow by sagâi the bridegroom, accompanied by his friends, goes to the house of the widow, where he pays a nominal sum as the bride-price. They are all entertained on pork, boiled rice, and pulse. The bride is dressed in ornaments and clothes provided by her suitor. Next morning he brings her home and announces the union by feeding his clansmen. If he be not a widower he has to perform a special ceremony. The bride and bridegroom sit opposite each other, and a silver ring is placed between them. The Pandit repeats some verses, during the recital of which the bridegroom marks the ring five times with red lead. He then puts on the ring, and never takes it off during his life. Girls are usually married at the age of five or seven. In Azamgarh marriages are reported to take place usually when the girl is nine years of age. A girl above ten is known as rajaswâli, and it is a disgrace not to have her married. The bride-price payable by the friends of the bridegroom is two-and-a-half rupees and a sheet for the bride. In Azamgarh no bride-price is paid, and if the bridegroom’s family is poor his friends contribute something to the marriage expenses, which is known as tilak. Any serious physical defect appearing in either party after marriage is recognised as a valid ground for divorce. A wife cannot be divorced except for adultery with a stranger to the caste. The divorce must be with the leave of the tribal council, who will accept no evidence short of that of actual eye-witnesses. Marriage negotiations are carried on by the maternal uncle of the boy. When the match is settled the bride’s father goes to the boy’s house and gives him a rupee. Then on a fixed day he returns with some of his clansmen “to drink water” (pâni pîni kâ din). A square (chauk) is formed in the court-yard, in which the boy and his future father-in-law sit opposite each other. The bride’s father marks the boy’s forehead with rice and curds, and he and his party are entertained on rice, pork, goat’s flesh, and wine. On this day, with the approval of the Pandit, the wedding day is fixed. The ritual is of the usual type. It begins with the matmangar, or collection of earth, as practised by allied castes. Then the pavilion (mânro) is set up at both houses, in which a plough-share and plantain stems are fixed, near