evidence.” This singular law is framed to provide
against the feuds and animosities prevailing
between the inhabitants of different villaogers, and affords a striking picture of the violence and
anarchy of the state of society among these peo-
ple.
Witnesses are not, as among us, examined on
oath; for oaths are not administered but with
much solemnity. Among the different tribes,
there are various forms of administering an oath.
The military tribes of Celebes swear by their
drawn krises, with the Koran held over their heads,
as already described in the account of their manners,
in the first volume. The people of Sumatra
swear by their heir-looms. The Javanese swear
by the Koran in the mosque with great solemnity,
the ceremony occupying frequently more than
an hour, and consisting chiefly in the recitation
by the priest of pertinent and impressive passages
from the sacred volume. The form of words used
by the people of Sumatra is to the following effect:
“ If what I now declare is truly and really so, may
I be freed and clear from my oath ; if what I assert
is wittingly false, may my oath be the cause of my
destruction.” * The oath pronounced by the Javanese
is very remarkable. “ If,” says the Javanese
peasant, with perfect simplicity, “ I speak
* History of Sumatra.
falsehood* may I meet with misfortune ; but if I
speak the truth, may I receive the blessing of the
prophet of God, of all the saints of Java, and of
my lord and Jang, who now reigns,” ratu. The
mosque is the most common place for administering
an oath, but some of the tribes consider the shrines
of saints, or the burying-ground of their ancestors,
as places of more solemnity.
Among all the tribes, it is the principal rather
than the witnesses that are sworn. “ In many cases,”
says Mr Marsden, * “ it is requisite they should
swear to what it is not possible, in the nature of
things, they should know to be true. A sues B
for a debt due from the father or grandfather of
B to the father or grandfather of A. The original
parties are dead, and no witness of the transaction
survives. How is the matter to be decided ?
It remains with B to make oath that his father or
grandfather never was indebted to those of A, or
that, if he was indebted, the debt had been paid.
This, among us, would be considered a very strange
method of deciding causes, but among these people
something of the kind is absolutely necessary. As
they have no sort of written accounts, nor any
thing like records or registers among them, it would
be utterly impossible for the plaintiff to establish
the debt by a positive proof in a multitude of cases ;
* History of Sumatra, p, 2S9.