d, until he has crept under her house, in the night time,
and watched her through the bamboo flooring, or through the chinks in
the wattled walls. They are led forth by their respective relations, and
placed side by side upon a dais, prepared for the purpose, where they
remain seated for hours, while the guests eat a feast in their presence,
and thereafter chant verses from the _Kuran_. During this ordeal they
must sit motionless, no matter how their cramped legs may ache and
throb, and their eyes must remain downcast, and fixed upon their hands,
which, scarlet with henna, lie motionless one on each knee. Malays, who
have experienced this, tell me that it is very trying, and I can well
believe it, the more so, since it is a point of honour for the man to
try to catch an occasional glimpse of his _fiancee_ out of the corner of
his eyes, without turning his head a hair's breadth, and without
appearing to move an eyelash. The bridegroom is conducted to the house
of his bride, there to sit in state, by a band of his relations and
friends, some of whom sing shrill verses from the _Kuran_, while others
rush madly ahead, charging, retreating, capering, dancing, yelling, and
hooting, brandishing naked weapons, and engaging in a most realistic
sham fight, with the bride's relations and friends, who rush out of her
compound to meet them, and do not suffer themselves to be routed until
they have made a fine show of resistance. This custom, doubtless, has
its origin in the fact that, in primitive states of society, a man must
seek a wife at his risk and peril, for among the _Sakai_ in some of the
wilder parts of the country, the girl is still placed upon an anthill,
and ringed about by her relations, who do not suffer her _fiance_ to win
her until his head has been broken in several places. The same _feeling_
exists in Europe, as is witnessed by the antagonism displayed by the
school-boy, and even the older and more sensible males of a family, to
their would-be brother-in-law. It is the natural instinct of the man, to
protect his women-folk from all comers, breaking out, as natural
instincts are wont to do, in a hopelessly wrong place.

As I have said, the bride had been left in the inner apartments, there
to await her call to the dais; and the preparations for the feast were
in full swing, and the men were enjoying themselves in their own way
while the women cooked, when, suddenly, a dull thud, as of some falling
body, was heard wi