The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir - Khamkoo

GOLDEN BURMA 7
the common
party claiming the divorce leaving
home. Each retains the property he or she had
before the marriage and half of what has been
accumulated during the time they have been
husband and wife. In some cases where the
husband has paid "marriage-money" to get his
bride the wife must repay this if she secures a
divorce. In any event, the wife takes the female
children and the husband the male children.
There seems to be no law against a plurality of
wives nor any stigma attached to having two or
three wives under the same roof. In these customs
the Burmans and Japanese agree, and in Burma as
in Japan the family life of the peasants is open to
the observation of any traveller.
Burmese girls
have little of the educational
advantages of the boys, but their free life gives them
an early worldly knowledge, and the Burmesewomen
have many attractions. They
are affectionate and
passionate, cheerful and bright, clever in their own
affairs and in business, sharp in making a bargain,
excellent housekeepers, and generally faithful wives.
They are seldom public prostitutes, but a girl may
be bought from her parents.
The negotiations are