293 



being principalW women, a custom wliicb pre- 

 vails also io the eastern part of Java, and porti- 

 ons of Sumatra, as Pedir, &c. The Chinese po- 

 puliition is immerouf*, and the wnpong of this 

 class consists principally of substantial etone. or 

 brick, dwellings, ^vhose appearance carries the 

 stamp of antiquity along with it. The people, 

 however, still retain their native tongue, hardly 

 ever conversing in Malayese. 



Mr- Medhurst notices the abundance ol weap- 

 ons Dmon^'St the populatioii, a circunif^tance 

 which also strikes tha observer with regard to 

 the eastern coast of Sumatra* where it is not at 

 all unusual to see a man armed at the same mo- 

 ment with iiword. km, and spear. Each uf these 

 weapons, throughout the Peninsula, ri^es in va- 

 lue according to the number uf individuals wlio 

 Lavo fallen viciims to it. and I have known as 

 high a price as eighty dollars aa-ked for a Am, 

 which» independent of this factitious vnr t:\ r Hild 

 have been readily obtained for three. 



The administration of justice at Tringano is 

 distinguished by the same la:iity as prevails in 

 all the Malay states. The minor punishments of 

 wliippiug, imprisonment, working in irons, Ic. so 

 common amongst other nation*,, are entirely ex- 

 cluded from the Malayan code, on account of the 

 high spirit of the people, which, although not pow- 

 erful enough to rejitrain them from the com mis* 

 sion of crime, has yet suliicient influence to make 

 them prefer death before degradation. Fining, 

 mutilation, and capital punishmiints, are therefore 

 nearly all that is left as a terror to evil doers, and 

 even of these the former appear s to be either un- 

 known, or rarely practiced, tit Tringano. In 



