But after two or three years they bring their charge to its parents, with gifts consisting of two bullocks, a he-goat, capons, wine, bread, and the like. At the home of the parents another festival is held, to which the neighbors are invited and all possible courtesies are shown the foster mother and her husband, who is given the honor of washing his hands first of all. On their return home the parents must place them on their horses, that is, they hold the stirrup while they mount. The foster parents return home with gifts of all kinds—cattle, clothing, and money.

The child remains with its foster parents during eight or nine years and then he or she is taken home. Naturally a child that has spent its youth in a strange house . . . and learned to love its foster mother and the surroundings adjusts itself with difficulty in the house of its parents. It is therefore allowed to visit its foster parents frequently. In case the child is orphaned it remains in the foster home until married.2

2Seidlitz, N.vonn/an/an/an/a, "Die Abchasen," , 66: 20–21.