Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/111

 LAWS. 97 sojij the moon, the day of the week of seven, and the day of the week of five days, the time of the day, and the xvuku. Let the rate of interest be moreover stated, and let there be witnesses to the writing. Such an instrument is called a Pawitan, Let the interest of money, Bungali^ (literally the flower of it,) be paid yearly, at the end of which, if it have been demanded, and is refused, the bor- rower shall be compelled to pay double the amount of the capital." Interest in kind for loans seems also acknow- ledged by the same laws ; thus, " If a man owe a debt in corn, and the time exceed five years, he shall be compelled by the magistrate to make resti- tution five-fold." The exorbitancy of the penalty in these cases declares the unskilfulness of the le- gislator, and the difficulty of recovering the debt. By the laws of the Rejangs, the legal interest of money was declared to be loO per cent, per an^ num. Commodore Beaulieu tells us, that, in his time, the interest of money at Achin was arbitrari- ly limited to 12 per cent., but that, at Bantam, it was as high as 60. It was hardly less among the other tribes, though it is generally difficult to state any specific amount, the rate varying with the risk of lending, and the declaration of the Ma- homedan law, that all interest is usury, making it difficult to avow it. If a debtor is unable to pay his creditor, he is VOL. HI. G