times continues
for seven or eight days. An excessive profusion of fat meat, infinite
tobacco, and large jars of brandy, constitute the splendour and
magnificence of these repasts. Sometimes music is added to the
entertainment, and they invite Toolholos, or Tartar singers, to give more
solemnity to the festival.

The plurality of wives is admitted in Tartary, being opposed neither to
the laws, nor to the religion, nor to the manners of the country. The
first wife is always the mistress of the household, and the most
respected in the family. The other wives bear the name of little spouses
(paga eme), and owe obedience and respect to the first.

Polygamy, abolished by the Gospel, and contrary in itself to the
happiness and concord of families, may, perhaps, be regarded as a
blessing to the Tartars. Considering the present state of society with
them, it is, as it were, a barrier opposed to libertinism and corruption
of morals. Celibacy being imposed on the Lamas, and the class of those
who shave the head and live in lamaseries being so numerous, it is easy
to conceive what disorders would arise from this multiplication of young
women without support and abandoned to themselves, if girls could not be
placed in families in the quality of second wives.

Divorce is very frequent among the Tartars. It takes place without any
participation of the civil or ecclesiastical authorities. The husband,
who repudiates his wife, has not even occasion for a pretext to justify
his conduct. He sends her back, without any formality, to her parents,
and contents himself with a message that he does not require her any
longer. This proceeding is in accordance with Tartar manners, and does
not offend any one. The husband thinks himself entitled to the
privilege, in consideration of the oxen, sheep and horses he was obliged
to give as nuptial presents. The parents of the repudiated wife do not
complain at having their daughter back; she resumes her place in the
family till another husband presents himself, in which case, they even
rejoice over the profit they make by thus selling the same merchandise
twice over.

In Tartary, the women lead an independent life enough. They are far from
being oppressed and kept in servitude, as with other Asiatic nations.
They may come and go at their pleasure, ride out on horseback, and pay
each other visits from tent to tent. Instead of the soft, languishing
physiognomy of the Chinese women, the