1 THE ARMY OF THE PUNJAUB. — 109
2 is allowed to escape with impunity, and to retain
3 his share of the spoil. In all cases of stolen
4 cattle, the zemindars, when the footsteps are
5 traced to the entrance or into the fields of any
6 village, must either show the track beyond their
7 own boundary and suffer their territory to be
8 searched, or pay the value of the cattle.
9 As letters are not cultivated among the Sikhs,
10 even to the extent of reading and writing, all
11 concerns are translated by oral testimony, verbal
12 promises and agreements. | Questions of right to
13 property coming before the grand arbiters, are
14 determined by the recollection of the eldest wit-
15 nesses; and though these persons give their
16 testimony on oath, money and favours are so
17 unsparingly distributed to ensure a serviceable
18 statement, that perjury is frequent, and justice
19 a mere mockery. Trial by ordeal is sometimes
20 claimed by an accused party, and its efficiency
21 being implicitly believed, a courageous rascal will
22 often escape the imputation of guilt by thrusting
23 his hand into boiling oil, or bear a heated plough-
24 share on the soles of his feet.
25 This is but a rough outline of the system of
26 internal government, but it is all that can be said
27 upon the subject at a time when anarchy is so
28 rife, that rule of any kind is purely nominal.
29 There are of course many usages in force for
30 preserving society together, protecting public