se I will mention some of the most important. If the father of the
young girl is a Brahmin, and if he is rich and liberal, he will
frequently bear all the expenses of the marriage of his daughter. To
give a daughter in marriage and to sell her, are about the same thing.
Almost every parent makes his daughter an article of traffic, refusing
to give her up until the sum of money for which he consented to let her
go, is paid. Men of distinction generally lay out this money for jewels,
which they present to their daughters on their wedding-day. You will
infer from what I have just said, that the parties to be married have
nothing to do in the choice of each other.

There are properly but four months in the year in which marriages can
take place, namely March, April, May, and June. This probably arises
from the circumstance that these are the hottest seasons of the
year--the seasons when the people have more leisure to attend to them.
From the harvest, also, which has just been gathered in, they are
provided with means to perform the various ceremonies.

The marriage ceremony lasts five days. The bride and bridegroom are
first placed under a puntel, a kind of bower, covered with leaves, in
front of the house. This is superbly adorned. The married women then
come forward, and perform the ceremony called _arati_, which is as
follows. Upon a plate of copper, they place a lamp made of a paste from
rice flour. It is supplied with oil, and lighted. They then take hold of
the plate with both hands, and raise it as high as the heads of the
couple to be married, and describe a number of circles with the plate
and lamp. This is to prevent the evil of any jealous looks, which
certain persons might make. The Hindoos believe that great evils arise
from wicked looks. They consider that even the gods themselves are not
out of the reach of malicious eyes; and therefore after they have been
carried through the streets, the ceremony of arati is always performed,
to efface the evil which they may have suffered from these looks.

It ought to have been mentioned, that before any thing is done, they
place an image of Pullian under the puntel. This god is much honored
because he is much feared. And although the great ugliness of his
appearance has hitherto kept him without a wife, they never fail to pay
him the greatest attention, lest he should in some way or other injure
them.

After arati and many other ceremonies are performed, the kankanan