128 MALAY LAND TENURE. 



" to the son or sons, and the remaining one to the daughter or 

 " daughters." 



It will be apparent that there is very little genuine Muham- 

 madan law in all this. Under that system, the widow does 

 not get a half under any circumstances. It is not clear who 

 are the waris, or heirs, who take one-half of an estate to the 

 exclusion of the widow and children. Perhaps it is meant 

 that one-half is set apart in the first place to meet funeral 

 expenses and the claims of persons entitled to share under 

 Muhammadan law, among whom the children would be in- 

 cluded. The same authority has supplied me with the follow- 

 ing note on the customary law of inheritance practised in parts 

 of Perak : — 



" Upon the death of a man possessed of property, his plan- 

 " tations, houses and padi-fiel&s go to his daughters, while his 

 " other property, such as cattle, buffaloes, goats, elephants, 

 " &c.-, are divided into four shares: three of these go to the 

 " sons and the fourth is devoted to the cost of the funeral 

 " feasts. If there is no land or house, the daughters share in 

 "the personal property equally with the sons." 



"If a woman who has inherited land or house property 

 " marries and then dies without leaving a child, the property 

 " goes to her waris and not to her husband. If she leaves 

 " issue, the inheritance goes to the child or children." 



" Property which has been acquired by the joint earnings 

 " of. the husband and wife must, upon the death of either of 

 11 them, be divided. The funeral expenses must be deducted 

 " before division. The remainder must be divided equally -in 

 " two shares, one of which goes to the survivor and the other 

 " to the children or waris of the deceased." 



{< The shares of infant children are held in trust for them by 

 " the waris of a deceased parent, until they come of age." 



The descent of landed property in Perak to the female issue 

 and its restitution to the family if an heiress dies childless, 

 illustrate in a striking manner the tribal instinct of the 

 Malays and the tendency to keep property in a particular 

 family, group or tribe. 



Even the wild tribes of the Peninsula have their rules of 

 inheritance. Favre, writing of the Jakuns, says : " After the 



