82 PHRA EAM MAKES 



jungle where we might be, and here under the 

 shade of a tree with his servants on either hand, he 

 would sit in judgment upon the cases brought for 

 his consideration. Squatting in humble attitude, 

 in the immediate foreground, were the plaintiff 

 and defendant, and behind them in a semi-circle, 

 reaching back as far as the clear spot would per- 

 mit, squatted the entire expedition and the visiting 

 spectators. Whether it was a man seeking to cast 

 off one of his wives who had ceased to delight him, 

 or a woman wishing freedom from a cruel hus- 

 band, or a case of theft, the chief read the law 

 without fear of contradiction, and to the apparent 

 satisfaction of all concerned. And when court 

 adjourned Ram's servants gathered up the pres- 

 ents laid before " his honor " in open evidence 

 that the jungle folk knew it wise to humor any 

 man on a pilgrimage to the home of his ancestors, 

 especially when that man happened to be a per- 

 sonage so intimately connected with their state as 

 Phra Ram, chief of the border line, and possessor 

 of many wives. Always these proceedings were 

 followed by a love feast in which curry and rice 

 and fowl served to bring harmony even to the 

 recent disputants. In time I came to share local 

 homage, because from having given quinine and 

 cathartic pills to some of the men of our party it 

 got noised about that I was a medical wizard. At 



