D rajrn.lt E ngraytd. by W.H. L t u i r j From. a. Sketch, b y Capf DeZa/bsse-
B TUJKriTAH’,
an* Ida. pr Bramuv o f B ali.
Edinburgh. Published ly Constable, &. C° 2820. ■
t
CHAPTER y .
LAWS.
L am of the Indian islanders a mixture o f native Hindu and
Arabian law.— Account o f writings on jurisprudence.—
Modes o f administering justice— Courts.— Proceedings.—
Rules of evidence.—Civil laws.— Purchase and sale.—
Deposits.—Letting and hiring.—Loans.—Laws of inherit•
ance.— Marriage-contract.— Penal laws .—Description o f
punishments.—Frequency o f capital punishment.— O f fine.
— Affront, or personal insult, a punishment by law.— Out*
lavory.— Modes o f execution.—Lex talionis. —Pecuniary
compensation fo r crimes.—Allotment o f punishment accord-
ing to rank.—Offences against property.— Theft.— Robbery.—
Offences against p erso n sA b u sive language.—
Right o f avenging wrongs in a great measure left in private
hands, and employment o f hired champions to avenge
private quarrels.— Wounding.— Murder and manslaughter.—
Injuries offered to the sex.— Seduction.— Adultery.—.
Offences against the sovereign.—Exercise of unlavful authority.—
Giving false information.— Counterfeiting the royal
signet.— Treason and rebellion.—Offences against the laws
of nature.—Sorcery— Marriages within prohibited degrees*
H aying rendered an account of the forms of government
among the Indian islanders, I shall conclude
this book by a sketch of their laws, in the
course of which I shall rather attempt to shew their
spirit and character than enter into any minute