FASCICULI MALATENSES 
*7 
into the family, and as all of these are reckoned as the children of its head, it 
is often difficult to discover whether a child is his own or merely a 1 taken 
child 1 (anak angkat) or a step-child ( anak tirf). Nevertheless, Malays are 
jealous of their birth, and some kind of record is generally kept. The laws 
of inheritance we did not investigate ; they are said to be based on the universal 
Mahommedan code, and the kadi or kali of each state is recognized by the 
Siamese Government as the judge in disputes about such matters among 
Mahommedans. 
The rudiments of a system comparable to that of the village-houses in some 
parts of Borneo exist at Sai Kau, where we found that frequently the children 
of the head of the family, and even those of his dependents, took up their 
abode when they married and had children of their own in annexes to the 
paternal home. These annexes were often built in an irregular way, in order 
to avoid interfering with fruit trees that chanced to be growing round the 
original house; but in one or two instances the composite buildings had evidently 
been rebuilt, having a regular verandah extending along in front common to 
all the families which inhabited them. 
It would be out of place in the present paper to deal with the system of 
administration recently introduced into the Patani States, seeing that the 
Siamese have based it entirely on modern Dutch and British models, as far as its 
major issues are concerned ; but a few words on the local government may be of 
interest, as it appears to be at least partially a native growth : the particulars 
given refer more particularly to the district of Jarum, in Hulu Rhaman, but 
though details may be different in other districts, the principles of the system 
are the same throughout the Patani States. About every ten households are 
under a headman, who is called nai-ban , that is, in Siamese, 4 master of the 
village ’ ; he is usually chosen from among the householders in his district 
because of his ability to write either Malay or Siamese, and his election is in 
the hands of either the Siamese commissioner or the nearest resident magistrate 
(hakim), who is generally a Siamese but may be an educated Malay. Over 
every ten nat-ban, appoximately, a kem-nan is appointed in the same way, being 
always a peasant of substance. The nat-ban and the kem-nan have to keep a 
record of all the people resident or travelling in their district, of all cattle and 
elephants, and of all weapons other than the kris , which is considered too 
obsolete to be of any account as a weapon. Formerly, and, as a matter of 
practice in the remoter districts at the present day, the regulation of forced 
labour was in the hands of these headmen, who received no pay for their 
services. Forced labour, however, has been abolished, to a great extent, by the 
Siamese, direct taxation having taken its place in most districts. In the old days 
