128
age; but I consulted several doctors on the point before I got my elder son married, and they one and all agreed with me and said that after eighteen is the proper age for a boy born and bred under a tropical sun to enter on married life.
For girls I should think that marriage after the completion of 14 years at least cannot be considered to be too late. Of course, among Brahmins and others who foolishly adopt the Brahminic custom, girls have to be betrothed before they are grown up. I use the word marriage here in the European sense of the word, which thus includes the nuptial ceremony as well as the betrothal.
Even amongst Brahmins and such peo- ple, no girl should be betrothed before the eighth year; and the nuptials should take place after the completion of the fourteenth year. Amongst the other castes, who are more fortunate than Brahmins
