3IO 
SUMATRA. 
take the liberty of hanging a notorious criminal, now and then ; whom, 
however, their own chiefs always condemn > and formally fentence, 
!^mcnt ^^t^rporal puniihment jof any kind, is rare. The chain, and a fort of 
flocks^ made of the penan^ tree, are adopted from tis ; the word 
*^ paffbong" now commonly nfed to denote the latter, originally fignify- 
ing, and being ft HI frequently applied to confinement in gencrah A 
kind of cage made ufe of in the country, is probably their own inven- 
tion* ** How do you fccnre a prifoncr, (a m:-m was a&ed) without cm- 
ploying a chain or our ftocks?'* We pen him up, faid he, as wc 
Would a bear,** The cage is made of bombooS laid horizontally, in a 
fquare, piled alternately, fc cured by timbers at the ooraers, and Wrong- 
ly covered in at top. To lead a runaway, they fatten a rattan round 
his neck, and pafs it through a bamboo fomewhat longer than his arms^ 
which are made faft to it at their full extent. If the offender is of a def- 
perate charadrer, they bind him hands and feet, and fling him on a pole* 
When they would convey a perfon, from . aocident or otherwifc unable 
to walk, they make a palanauin by fp>Vt*i»g a i*^«so bamlKJo ucai the mid- 
dle ot Its length, where they contrive to keep it open, fo that the cavity 
forms a bed ; the ends being prefo'Ved whole, to reft upon their fhoul- 
ders* 
The cuftom of exa<5ting the Kwgem for murder^ fccms only defigned 
with a view of making a compenfation to the injured family, and not 
©f punilhing the olfen:der. The word fignifies awaking" or railing 
wp," and the deceafed is fuppofed to be replaced, or railed again to his 
family, in the payment of a fum praporrioned to his rank, or equivalent 
to his or her perfonal value. The price of a female ^ave is generally 
more than that of a niale, and therefore, I heard a chief fay, is the ban- 
goon of a woman more than that of a man. It is upon this principle 
that their laws take no cognizaoce of the diflln^lion between a ^ wilful 
murder, and what we term manllaughier. The iofs is the lame to the 
family and therefore the compenfations are alike. A dupatty of Lsye^ 
in an ill hour^ ftept \mwarily acrofs the mouth of a canacai, at the inflant 
it 
