Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/96

 9i LAWS. The court is an open one, and, to give solemnity to the proceedings, is held in the portico, Sdram- hi, of the principal mosque. The Indian island- ers are not by nature litigious ; and in their pover- ty, it is not reasonable to expect that important rights of property should often be contested among them. Civil disputes are settled in the inferior courts rather by a kind of arbitration than by judi- cial process, so that the duties of the superior court, now described, are chiefly confined to criminal trials, principally capital offences. In all important cases the evidence is formally recorded in writing, and the whole procedure, as I have frequently witnessed, is conducted with calm- ness, deliberation, and decorum. The details are slow and tedious, but the whole process sufficient- ly expeditious. Peculiarity of local situation and manners has given rise to various distinctions in the distribu- tion of judicial authority. Among the Hindu po- pulation of Bali the Brahmins administer justice. Among the Malay tribes the peculiarity of their maritime situation and their commercial habits has given rise to a peculiar distribution of judicial authority, which is expressed, in the Institutes of Malacca, as follows : — " The authority of the mi- nister, Bcindahara, extends over men in office, — lords, — sons of nobles of the first rank, and the royal guards, Biduinday that of the minister of