Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/145

LAWS. 131 mere circumstance of being seen accidentally in a doubtful situation with a woman, is construed into an offence for which the husband must receive satis- faction. Among all the tribes, adultery is the most frequent subject of legislative enactment. I shall here quote a few of the laws on the subject : " Ify'* says the code of Malacca, " a husband kill the man that bids for the virtue of his wife, he shall pay a fine of one taltil and one paha ; for a mere attempt to seduce is not a crime deserving death, except in the case of a man of rank,'* The laws of the Balinese decide that " If a man be an eye- witness to another's offering his wife any violence, it shall be lawful for him to kill him on the spot ;" and farther, *' If a husband discover his wife in the embraces of another, it shall be lawful for him to put both to death at once." The same laws de- clare that *' If a man enter into conversation with another's wife, though only on the subject of a debt, he shall be fined one hundred thousand j9/c7^/5; for it is forbidden to converse with a man's wife alone ; it is particularly interdicted. It is even for- bidden to a Panditay (a priest,) who would, by doing so, injure his sacred character; for words are of pow- erful effect ; and the wickedness of the human heart difficultly repressed. This is the saying of Sang Yiwang Agamay** (the deity of the faith or book.) The enactments on this subject in the Ja- vanese tract called Siiryo Alttm are so extrava-