Chap. II. to the E A S 
obferve a real Contract. Whatever is adjudged to the Plain- 
tiff, a twelfth Part of it goes to the berjeant, but nothing 
to the Judges. 
If Women are called as Witneffes* three of them are 
equivalent to one Man. Slaves can neither witnefs, nor 
plead, and the meaneft of them, called Alio , have but 
one Wife, whereas the reft are allowed three. By Slaves 
they underftand fuch only as voluntarily fell themfelves, or 
are imported as Slaves from foreign Places ; for a Ship- 
wreck’d Stranger, that was not a Slave before that Mil- 
fortune, continues in the Enjoyment of his Liberty. The 
Punifhment of beating a Slave, is half of what they in- 
fiid for beating a Freeman. 
23. An infolvent Debtor is obliged to become a Ser- 
vant to his Creditor, but not a Slave, and he and his Chil- 
dren after him continue in the Service till the Lebt is 
worked out. If he thinks himfelf ill ufed, he may turn himfelf 
over to another Maker, provided he lays down the Money 
due to the former. If a Man be murdered, his Wife cannot 
profecu te the Malefactor, but the Judge obliges him to 
maintain her Children, and bring them up to a 1 rade, 
till they are of Age, at which Time they are qualified ei- 
ther to forgive, or profecute the Murderer ; for the State 
takes no Cognizance of perfonal Injuries unlefs the Party 
aggrieved complains of them. The ordinary Punifhment 
for Criminals is Whipping, which, indeed, is very fe- 
vere, and frequently mortal •, but m feme Cafes they are 
banifhed to the fouthern defart Iflands, and in others, they 
are doomed to the Lofs of a principal Member. . 1 he 
Whips are made of Thongs of thick Leather, which are 
a Fathom long, two Fingers thick, and four Fingers 
broad, five or fix of them being faftened together in a 
wooden Handle. Whipping is the Punifhment for Sodo- 
my, Inceft, Adultery, Perjury, and Rapes ; but over and 
above that Puniihment, an Adulterefs has her ITair cut 
off ; a perjured Criminal pays a pecuniary Mulbb for the 
Benefit of the Poor, and a Ravi&er is obliged to give a 
Dowry to the injured Woman. 
The ftealing of any thing of Value is punifhed with 
the Lofs of a Hand, and the difobeying of the Law, with 
publick Pennance; for they are of Opinion, they can 
never come into Paradife without fatisfying the Demands 
of the Law. The Sentences pronounced by the Judge 
are executed by the Serjeants, for they have no Hangman 
or publick Executioner ; tho’ Death is by Law the Pu- 
nifhment of Plomicide, they never condemn a Prifoner to 
die, unlefs the King exprefly requires it, which feldom 
happens ; and when it does, the King fends his own Sol- 
diers to execute the Sentence, lor he referves the Power 
of Life and Death to himfelf; whereas the inflicting 
other Punifhments lies in the Hands of the Judges. Their 
Tendernefs in not fentencing Criminals to die, is ground- 
ed upon Pretence of not difpeopling the Country, there 
being fo great a Number of Criminals who juftly deferve 
Death. When the King is perfonaily offended, he makes 
the Criminal lie upon the Ground, fiat upon his Belly, his 
Arms and Legs being held by four Men, while his Back 
is foundly beat with a Bengala Cane, called liatan , which 
takes off the Skin, and leaves a perpetual Mark. 
Indictments, Depofitions, or Sentences, are never put 
in Writing, being all very fhort ; nay, in civil Matters, 
the Allegations are never written, unlefs it be in a Suit 
for Land of Inheritance, or Cocoa Trees, which are 
reckoned immoveable; then, indeed, the Judges give Let- 
ters fealed with Ink (Wax they do not ufe) for an Evi- 
dence of the Perfon’s Right, to be tranfmitted to Pofte- 
rity. The Inhabitants of this Country are divided into 
four Claffes, namely, the Royal Family, Perfons invefted 
with Dignities and Offices, the Nobility and Gentry, and 
the common People. The third Rank is diftinguifhed 
from the fourth by their Birth, and the DiftinCtion is fo 
nicely kept up, that the latter dare not fit in the Prefence 
of the former. If a Noble Woman marries a Plebeian, 
Hie retains her Rank, and upon her Account, the Children 
are reckoned Noble; but a Woman of the loweft Form 
cannot enoble herfeif by marrying a Nobleman. 
Befides the Nobles by Birth, there are fome enobled by 
the King, who, upon fuch Occafions, gives them Letters, 
entitling them to that Priviledge, and fends an Officer 
round the Bland to make Publication of the Promotion, 
Hums. 48, 
T-1NDIES. A 3 
The fir ft Rank comprehends the King, who is called Rofi 
fuan t the Queen is called Renequellague , the Princes and 
Principles of the Blood are called Gallant and Camanaz , and 
all who are defeended of the King’s Predeceffots. The 
next Station is allotted to the great Officers of the King- 
dom; particularly to the hullague , or the King’s Lieute- 
nant-General, who commands in the King’s Abfence ; the 
-Eudequerry , who always attends the King’s Perfon, as 
chief Ccunlellor ; the Vdanas , who takes Care of all 
Strangers, and takes the Rudder off ail Ships that ar- 
rive, for fear they fhould fee fail without taking Leave 5 
the General of their Forces, called Dorimenaz ; the Man-, 
fas^ or Chancellor, who affixes to all Letters the King’s 
Seal, i: e. the Impreffion of his Name in Arahick , en- 
graven on Silver ; the Secretary, called Carrans , &c. 
Thefe Officers have, befides the Rents of certain Iflands 
allotted them, the King’s Rice for their Provifion (which 
is a great Honour, allowed likewife to the Soldiers) and 
the Toll of the Ships that trade to the Maldives. The 
Officers and Soldiers are fo much efteemed, that a Noble- 
man is not relpected, unlefs he be an Officer, and a Gen- 
tleman will hardly pafs for fuch, unlefs he be lifted into 
the King’s Service. 
The King’s Guards confift of fix Companies, of one 
hundred Men each, commanded by the fix Counfellors, 
called Mofcoulis : Befides thefe, there are ten Battalions; 
commanded by ten of the Grandees of the Country, which 
ferve the King not in Fighting, but in the Launching of 
Ships, building of Palaces, and fuch other Work, being 
called together by the Sound of a Bell. In five of thole 
Companies none but Gentlemen are received, but the 
other five take in common People. Slaves are always ex- 
cluded, as well as thofe who work in a mechanical Way, 
as the dreffing of Cocoa Trees, &c. and particularly fuch 
as ferve others, or cannot read or write. Whoever is 
lifted as a Soldier, pays twenty Larins to the King, and for 
ty to be diftributed among the Company, in which he is 
to ferve. To conclude ; all Offices are bought of the King, 
and much coveted, on account of the Honour and Power 
that attends them ; but the Perfons invefted with thefe 
Offices can neither fell nor refign them. 
24. The Flanders have but one Name, fuch as Mo- 
hammed , Haly\ Hajjam , Affan, Ibrahim , and are diftinguifhed 
by their Stations as Noble, Prebeian, CiV. added to their 
Name, and fometimes by the Addition of the Bland in 
which they live. The royal Palace is of Stone, one Story 
high, and has a great many fine Apartments, without the 
Ornaments of regular Architecture. It is furrounded with 
Gardens, in which there are great Fountains and Cifterns 
of Water walled in, and paved with largefmooth Stones, and 
guarded continually, to hinder People from waftiing in 
them, as being folely referved for the King and Queen’s 
Lie. The Palace is divided into feveral Courts, each of 
which has a Wall in the middle, paved with fair white 
Stones ; and in one of thefe Courts the King has two 
Magazines, one for Ordnance, and the other for Ammu- 
nition. At the Palace-Gate there’s a Guard, with many 
Pieces of Ordnance, and other Arms. The Portal is 
made like a fquare Tower, and on Feftival-Days, the Mu- 
ficians fing and play upon the Top of it. Palling on from 
the Gate, you iirft come to a Hall, where the Soldiers 
wait, then to another great Flail, where the Noblemen 
and Gentlemen attend ; for none but the Officers of the 
IToufhold, with the King and Queen’s Slaves, or Ser- 
vants, are allowed to go farther. The Floor of thefe 
Halls is raffed three Feet high from the Ground, to avoid 
the Ants, being neatly boarded with Wood, and covered 
with a fort of party-coloured Mats, which they make iri 
thefe Blands, and which have feveral Characters, and 
other Figures wrought upon them. 
The Walls are hung with filk Tapeftry as well as the 
Ceiling, which has pretty Fringes hanging about it. The 
Noblemen fit down crofs-legg’d on the Mats which cover 
the Floor of the Hall, obferving punctually the Order of 
their Dignities. The Gentry ol the Bland of Male, and 
the ordinary Courtiers who are obliged to falute the King 
every Day after Noon, fit in an outer Hall till his Majefty 
comes forth. The Gentry of the other Blands come like** 
wife to wait on the King in the fame Manner, and always 
bring Prefects along with them, for no one folates the 
ST ' King 
