MALAY LAND TENURE. 131 



" from the assets, and the balance, if any, is divided among the 

 heirs." 



"When the head of a family dies leaving several wives 

 " and several children, the child or children by whom he has 

 " been more exclusively nursed during his illness share the 

 " fortune according to the rank of their mother. For this 

 " purpose, the property is divided into seven parts ; out of 

 " these, the son of the third wife has one, that of the second 

 " wife two, and that of the first, four. If these ladies have 

 " several children, the distribution is made, all the same, 

 " according to the proportion just mentioned. Children who 

 " are absent at the time of the sickness and death of their 

 "■ father lose a portion of their rights to the inheritance/' 



" If there are no children, the first wife keeps all the goods 

 " and the family remains united. "Were the second and third 

 <c wife to wish to leave the house before the conclusion of the 

 " mourning, that is to say, within three years, they would have 

 " the right to do so, but on the condition of renouncing their 

 " share of the inheritance. After the three years, if the 

 " widows separate, the property is divided among them accord- 

 " ing to the rule laid down for their children, when they have 

 " any, that is to say, the first has four shares, the second, two 

 " and the third, one." 



" The widows of the same husband may marry again after 

 " three years of mourning ; the second and third have not 

 " got to pay anything to the State for this, but the first wife, 

 " if she marry again and be without children by her first hus- 

 " band, must first surrender half of her fortune for the benefit 

 "of the royal treasury. If she does not marry again the 

 " Government takes the whole at her death." 



" An adopted son renounces the right of inheriting from 

 16 his real parents and cannot be sued for debts which they 

 " may have contracted in their lifetime. If the head of a 

 " family, after having adopted a child, becomes himself the 

 " father of a legitimate child, the adopted son does not lose 

 " all hope of inheriting, for the law gives him equal rights 

 " with the children of the full blood." 



" Children, who, at the time of the death of their father, 

 " are in the special service of the King, have a right to three 

 " and a half shares of the inheritance." 



