BRITISH BORNEO. 35 
the amount of the dowry or drzhan—literally “ gift ’’—which 
the swain can pay tothe former. In their own country there 
exist certain safeguards which prevent any abuse of this sys- 
tem, but it was found that under the English law a clever 
parent could manage to dispose of his daughter’s hand several 
times over, so that really the plot of Mrs. CAMPBELL PRAED’S 
somewhat unpleasant play ‘ Arianne” was anticipated in the 
little colony of Labuan. I was once called upon, as Coroner, 
to inquire into the deaths of a young man and his handsome 
young wife, who were discovered lying dead, side by side, on the 
floor of their house. The woman was found to be fearfully cut 
about ; the man had but one wound, in his abdomen, penetra- 
ting the bowels. There was only one weapon by which the 
double murder could have been committed, a knife with a six 
inch blade, and circumstances seemed to point to the proba- 
bility that the woman had first stabbed the man, who had then 
wrenched the knife from her grasp and hacked her to death. 
The man was not quite dead when found and he accused the 
dead woman of stabbing him. It was found, that they had 
not long been married and that, apparently with the girl's 
consent, her father had been negociating for her marriage 
with another. The father himself was subsequently the first 
man murdered in British North Borneo after the assump- 
tion of the Government by the Company, and his murderer 
was the first victim of the law inthe new Colony. Altogether 
a tragical story. 
Many years ago another amok, which was near being tra- 
gical, had an almost comical termination. The then Colo- 
nial Treasurer was an entertaining Irishman of rather mature 
age. Walking down to his office one day he found in the 
road a Malay hacking at his wife and another man. Home 
rule not being then in fashion with the Irish, the Treasurer, 
armed only with his sun umbrella, attempted to interfere, 
when the amoker turned furiously on him and the Irish offi- 
cial, who was of spare build, took to his heels and made good 
his escape, the chase, though a serious matter to him, causing 
irrepressible mirth to onlookers. The man was never cap- 
tured, and his victims, though disfigured, recovered. I remem- 
