Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 2.djvu/12

MECHIS. afford a merry-making—of goats, buffaloes, pigs, and fowls, to a clay image of Kali, on which occasion they drink to excess spirits, and a fermented liquor made from murwa, and indulge in much licentiousness. Distinctions of caste are unknown among them. Marriages are contracted at convenience in youth or adolescence, the men purchasing their wives at prices varying from ten to sixty rupees, according to the beauty of the female and the means of the buyer. When an accepted husband has not the means of paying for his wife in money, he joins her family party, working for the parents until he has fairly earned his bride according to previous contract. Like the poorer classes elsewhere in India, a man can seldom afford to have more than one wife at a time. There is no restriction, however, on this head. The Mech language has no written character. It is destitute of all terms denoting the conveniences of civilization; such as exist are borrowed from the Bengali.