Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/123

 LAWS. IQQi them, each having his band of the ministers of pu- nishment and death. The chiefs execute crimi- nals of rank, and the inferior agents meaner cul- prits. They are titled persons taking the rank of inferior nobles. One has the title of Singlia Nd- gara, the lion of the country, the other, by a vile irony, Mdrta-lulut, or the merciful and affectionate. Stabbing with the kris is an uncertain mode of inflicting death, and conveys, at least to the Euro- pean mind, the impression of savage ferocity. The prisoner is secured to a post, and the executioner plunges the weapon into his heart. Tiie expedi- tion with which death follows depends, of course, on the dexterity of this officer. Sometimes death is almost instantaneous, but when the blow fails to reach the immediate sources of life, the prisoner will linger for hours. I remember that the re- spectable chief of Samarang informed me that he presided, a few years ago, at the execution of a state-prisoner, the circumstances attending which were dreadful and affecting. The Javanese chief, Ingahai Tirto TFijoi/o, of the district of T'irsono, was, during the administration of Marshal Daendels, and in a period of some alarm, accused of uttering seditious expressions. That arbitrary and feroci- ous governor ordered him to be forthwith executed, on the bare report, without form of trial or even examination. The prisoner met his fate with sin- gular fortitude, although the execution was attend-