1844.] Queries respecting the Human Race. 929 



60. What laws exist among the people? How are they preserved ? 

 Are they generally known, or confided to the memory of a chosen set 

 of persons ? What are their opinions and regulations in reference to 

 property, and especially the occupation and possession of the soil? 

 Does the practice of hiring labourers exist among them ? 



61. Have they any knowledge or tradition of a legislator, to whom 

 the formation of laws is ascribed ? 



62. Do they rescind, add to, or modify their laws? and how? 



63. Are they careful in the observance of them? 



64. What are their modes of enfocring obedience, and of proving 

 and punishing delinquency? 



65. How are judges constituted? Do their trials take place at 

 stated periods, and in public ? 



66. How do they keep prisoners in custody, and treat them ? 



67. What are the crimes taken cognizance of by the laws ? Is there 

 gradation or commutation of punishment? 



Geography and Statistics. 



68. Briefly state the geographical limits and character of the region 

 inhabited by the people to whom the replies relate. 



69. State approximatively the number of inhabitants. As this is 

 an important, but very difficult question, it may not be amiss to point 

 out the modes in which the numbers may be ascertained. The people 

 themselves may state their number with more or less accuracy, but it 

 should be known whether they refer to all ranks and ages, or merely 

 comprehend adult males, who may be mustered for war, or other 

 general purposes requiring their combination. In this case state the 

 apparent proportion between adult males and other members of fami- 

 lies. The number of habitations in a particular settlement may be 

 counted, and some idea of the average numbers of a family be given. 

 Where the people inhabit the water-side, the number and dimensions 

 of their craft may be taken, and some idea of the proportion between 

 the number of these and of the individuals belonging to them, may be 

 formed. In drawing conclusions from observations of this kind, it 

 will be necessary to have due regard to the different degrees of density 

 or rarity in which, from various causes, population may be placed. 



