Page:Sikhim and Bhutan.djvu/416

 those who do not obey the village headman, those who give bad advice, those who abuse their betters, can be bound and put in the stocks and fined according to the law, and only released if some one in authority makes himself responsible for the fine and petitions for their release.

A messenger who is sent off at a moment’s notice should receive three patties of barley per diem for food and a small sum in money, according to the importance of the case in which he is employed, but the messenger’s servants should not be fed. The messenger is allowed one-fourth of the fine for his expenses.

Should an agent not settle a case properly, he must return to the villagers what he took, otherwise the villagers will have much trouble given them.

The agent should report having received the fine, on penalty of forfeiting one-fourth what he has taken. When a fine is imposed, it should be at once collected, no excuse being taken. If an agent is sent to collect rent he should be fed twice by the headman.

Of stolen property recovered by an agent the Government receives one-tenth value.

For killing a man the fine is heavy—even up to many thousands of gold pieces. In the Tsalpa law-book it is written that if a child, a madman, or animal kills any one no fine is taken, but that money must be given by the relations of the first two for funeral expenses, and one-fourth of that amount must be given by the owner of the animal towards these expenses.

Should one man kill another and plead for mercy, he must, besides the fine, give compensation and food to the relatives of the deceased.

Should a man kill his equal and the relatives come to demand compensation, he must give them 18 oz. of gold in order to pacify them. The price of blood should never be too much reduced, or a man may say, “If this is all I have to give, I will kill another.”

An arbitrator must take the seal of each party, saying they will abide by his decision, and they must each deposit 3 oz. of gold as security.