222 C O O K »s VOYAGE, 
that the Indian who runs a muck is always firft driven to defpar 
ation by fome outrage, and always firft revenges himfelf upon 
thofe who have done him wrong: we were alfo told, that 
though thefe unhappy wretches afterwards run into the ftreet 
with a weapon in their hand, frantic and foaming at the mouth, 
yet they never kill any but thofe who attempt to apprehend 
them, or thofe whom they fufpeft of fuch an intention, and 
that whoever gives them way is fafe. They are generally 
flaves, who indeed are more fubjedl to infults, and lead able 
to obtain legal redrefs : freemen, however, are fometim.es pro* 
vokcd into this extravagance, and one of the perfons who run 
a muck while we were at Batavia, was free and in eafy circum- 
ftances. He was jealous of his own brother, *whom he firft 
killed, and afterwards two others, who attempted to oppofe 
him : he did not, however, come out of his houfe, but en- 
deavoured to defend himfelf in it, though the opium had fo far 
deprived him of his fen r es, that of three mufquets, which he 
attempted to ufe againft the officers of juftice, not one was 
either loaded or primed. If the officer takes one of thefe amocks, 
or mohawks, as they have been called by an eafy corruption, 
alive, his reward is very confiderable, but if he kills them, 
nothing is added to his ufual pay; yet fuch is the fury of their 
defperation, that three cut of four are of neceffity deftroyed in 
the attempt to fecure them, though the officers are provided 
with inllruments like large tongs, or pincers, to lay hold of 
them without coming within the reach of their weapon. Thofe 
who happen to be taken alive are generally wounded, but they 
are always broken alive upon the wheel, and if the phyfician 
v/ho is appointed to examine their wounds, thinks them likely 
to be mortal, the punifhment is inflicted immediately, and the 
place of execution is generally the fpot where the firft murder 
was committed. 
Among thefe people, there are many abfurd practices and 
opinions which they derive from their Pagan .anceftors : they 
believe that the devil, whom they call Satan, is the caufe of 
ail ficknefs and adverfity, and for this reafon, when ,thcy are 
lick, or in diftrefs, they confecrate meat, money, and other 
things to him as a propitiation. If any one among them is 
relflefs, and dreams fortwo or three nights fucceffively, he con- 
cludes that Satan has taken that method of laying his com- 
mands upon him, which ifheneglefts to fulfil, he will cer- 
tainly fuffer ficknefs or death, though they are not revealed 
with ft ffinentperfpicuitytoafcertain theirmeaning : toir.terpret 
his dream, therefore, he taxes his wits to the uttermoft, and if, 
by taking it literally or figuratively, diredily or by contraries, he 
can put no explanation upon it that perfe&ly fatisfies him, he 
has recourfe to the cawin or prieft, who affifts him with a 
comment and illuftrations, and perfectly reveals the myf erious 
fuggeftiona 
