MALAY LAW IN NEGRI SEMBILAN. 317° 
must go back to his mother’s house or to his “ anak buah,” 
that is, his blood relations. That property of this kind should 
not go entirely to the children made a great deal of difficulty, 
as it is notin accordance with Muhammadan law and in Rem- 
bau the Chiefs decided that all property other than “ herta 
pesaka”’ or “herta membawa’’ became unconditionally the 
property of the children and could not in any case return to 
the man’s relations. It was ruled, however, that land should 
not be affected, coming as it does under “‘herta pesaka”’ and that 
weapons, ornaments and silver utensils which were “‘ herta 
pesaka”’ must be returned. Also that “herta membawa”’ 
could still be claimed by the man’s relations. In Jempol where 
the people are very Muhammadan also this has been adopted, 
I will relate a case, however, which created great discussion. 
A man died the possessor of ten buffaloes. His child was 
a boy seven years old. The man’s brother took the buffaloes 
back to his mother’s house in order, it was supposed, to take 
care of them until his nephew came of age. The boy grew 
up and when he was about fifteen he claimed these buffaloes 
from his uncle, who would not satisfy his demand. The case 
came forward as the Chiefs could not settle it to the satisfac- 
tion of all parties. 
The boy claimed the buffaloes. The uncle first said the 
buffaloes had died of disease. Enquiries were made and it 
was found that he possessed buffaloes. The boy said that 
even if the buffaloes had died of disease his uncle should have 
informed his mother’s family. Then came the question of in- 
heritance, trusteeship, and the guardianship of the buffaloes, 
finally the question of “herta membawa.” The uncle first urged 
that the boy’s father had brought a number of buffaloes to his 
wife’s house from his mother’s house and that they should be 
returned. After a considerable enquiry it was found that there 
was no reliable evidence of this. Then the uncle claimed that 
according to the Malay rule, he being the caretaker of the 
buffaloes, was entitled to one-half of the buffaloes now that his 
nephew wished to divide. The boy said that his uncle had 
had no right to take the buffaloes. Then came the question 
of inheritance. The uncle said he only knew the old rule of 
