A KELAXTAX GLOSSARY. 321 



Weh. An interjectory affix of alarm. Bangat 



weh Quick! Pencil uri weh. Thieves! 



Notes on the Hukum Menyilam and the Hukum Ber-chelor. 



The following is a literal translation of an account of the 

 Test by Immersion and the Test by Scalding given by a Kelantan 

 Malay. 



" About twenty years ago, before there were white men in 

 " Kelantan, cases of libel, jealousy, disputed lands, quarrelling, etc., 

 "were tried by the old Malay judges appointed by the reigning 

 " Sultan. 



" Sometimes it was hard for the judge to arrive at a decision, 

 " as both the plaintiff and the defendant were willing to swear in 

 " the mosque with the Koran on their heads. The judge then 

 " came out of the balai followed by the Court Officials, the parties to 

 " the case, and a crowd of spectators. Proceeding to the river bank, 

 " the judge ordered the Court Officials to catch hold of two male 

 " passers by, who were not in any way connected with the matter. 

 " The Judge alloted one as champion to the plaintiff and the 

 "other to the defendant, and ordered them both to dive under 

 " water 5 or 6 feet dee]), holding fast to the posts which had been 

 " fixed in the river bed. The party, whose champion rose to the 

 " surface first lost the case. 



" Another time two wrong doers were arrested for theft by the 

 " Budak Kaja," who did the work of Policemen now-a-days. These 

 " two men accused each other of the crime, and both were willing 

 to swear or do whatever the judge ordered. The judge called the 

 Imam, who wrote something on a piece of metal, which was placed 

 " in a big pan full of eo<:-onut oil. The oil was then heated until it 

 " boiled, and the two men were then ordered, in front of the guards 

 " and the assembled people, to plunge their hands in and take out 

 " the piece of metal. 



" It is wonderful to relate that by some magic in the metal the 

 " one who succeeded in seizing and drawing it out escaped scalding, 

 " and he was declared innocent. But the other, who was adjudged 

 "to be the culprit, had to suffer the consequence of plunging his 

 " hand in the boiling- oil. 



i. 



" This method of deciding a case, called " Berchelor " was 

 often employed. " 



R. A. Soc, No. 74, 191( 



