own. In the year 1600, it is recorded, thirty men who would be king
were killed while thus attempting to gain the throne. These men were
called _Amar-khan_, and it has been suggested that their action was
"running amok" in the true sense of the term. From this it would appear
that a king of Calicut was about as good an insurance risk as a
president of Haiti.
The act of running amok is probably due to causes over which the
culprit has some measure of control, as the custom has now virtually
died out in the Philippines and in the British possessions in Malaysia,
owing to the drastic measures adopted by the authorities. Among the
Mohammedans of the southern Philippines, where the custom is known as
_juramentado_, it was discouraged by burying the carcass of a pig--an
animal abhorred by all Moslems--in the grave with the body of the
assassin. When I was in Jolo the governor told me of a novel and highly
effective method which had been adopted by the officer commanding the
American forces in that island for discouraging the custom. A number of
American soldiers had been killed by Moros running amok. The American
commander took up the matter with the local priests but they only
shrugged their shoulders with true Oriental stoicism, saying that when
a man went _juramentado_ it was the will of Allah and that nothing
could be done. The next day an American soldier, a revolver in either
hand, burst into a Moro village, notorious for its _juramentados_,
firing at everyone whom he saw and yelling like a mad man. The
terrified villagers took to the bush, where they remained in fear and
trembling until the crazy Americano had taken his departure. That
evening the village priests appeared at headquarters to complain to the
American commander.
"But Americans have just as much right to go _juramentado_ as the
Moros," said the general. "I can do nothing. The man is not
responsible. It is the will of Allah." That was the end of
_juramentado_ in Jolo.
* * * * *
The wharves and godowns which line Makassar's water-front form an
unattractive screen to a picturesque and charming town. Though, owing
to its commercial importance as a half-way station on the road from
Asia to Australia, Makassar promises to become a second Singapore, it
has as yet neither an electric lighting, gas, nor water system. It is,
however, very beautifully laid out, the streets, which are broad and
well-kept, being lined by double r
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