194 A NATUBALIST IN CELEBES ch. viii 



leges except at feasts. The slaves are well treated, and 

 either live with the prince as servants or simply bring a 

 share of their produce to their masters. The oldest and 

 most trustworthy slaves get the title sahada manjura or 

 marinjo (39 A). 



Mr. Steller told me that in Manganitu there are two 

 kinds of slaves, the slaves that are bought {bvdak-budak 

 pemblian) and the slaves that are simply inherited (budak- 

 budak pusaka). It seems, according to his account, that 

 men were made slaves for comparatively trifling offences. 

 Thus the process of the preparation of sago ' is done in 

 secret, as it is thought that a stranger takes away its spirit. 

 If a man passed by the boat-shaped trough in which the 

 rajah's sago was being prepared, he and his whole family 

 were seized and made slaves. Again, the ground over 

 which a fisherman was accustomed to fish becomes after 

 his death pilih, or holy, and if anyone fished there, or even 

 went over the place in a canoe, he was seized by the family 

 of the deceased and brought before the rajah, who gener- 

 ally condemned him to be a slave of the deceased man's 

 family. 



When a prince died the whole village went into mourn- 

 ing ; umbrellas and all finery were laid aside and the women 

 wore their hair loose down their backs. If any of these 

 signs of mourning were abandoned before the proper time 

 the offenders were liable to be seized as slaves. 



The system of slavery which still persists in many parts 

 of these islands where the Dutch flag flies is, however, a 

 form of slavery of the very mildest character ; and it is the 

 opinion of those who are competent to judge that the slaves 

 are just as happy as the faithful attendants of their princes 

 as they would be as free men. 



' This is most probably not the true sago, but the pith of the Arenga 

 cachariferum. 



