ts, being considered
quite a holy man, while periodically the King of Siam sends him
substantial tokens of the Royal favour.

* * * * *

No. 2

It was remarkable what a wide difference there was between the accounts
given by the convicts themselves, of the circumstances which were the
cause of their transportation, and the summary of them given in the
warrants sent with them. Although many of them did not deny having
committed what the law looked upon as a crime, they, under the
circumstances, either considered that the act was justifiable, or
perhaps that it was the result of accident. Here is the case of a
convict who was sentenced to transportation for life for murder, given
as related by himself.

* * *

"In my Madras native village, I 'Rudrapah' was a planter (ryot). I was
possessed of several large paddy fields; some were near my house and
others were far off. At a little distance from my house a friend of mine
lived, 'Allagappen' by name. He also was a ryot, and possessed of paddy
fields. He often came to eat rice with me, and I often went to his
house; we were like brothers. At a village about six miles away, there
lived a man who was a breeder of cattle. He and his wife were very
partial to me, and it was arranged between us that I should marry their
daughter when she was old enough--she was then eleven years of age. All
went well for two years, and then I was married to the girl and took her
to my house. My friend, 'Allagappen,' used to come and visit us and eat
rice as before. Things went on very well for five or six years: my wife
and I were very happy together, and never quarrelled; we had only one
child. Having saved some money, I bought a bandy (a country vehicle) and
a pair of bulls, and used to hire them to any one travelling. Sometimes
my bandy would be engaged for a long journey, and I would be away from
my house for two or three days together, leaving my wife and child
alone. But now my trouble began. About six months after I bought my
bulls, one of them got sick and died. I had not then enough money to buy
another, and was on the point of selling the bandy and remaining bull,
when my wife proposed that we should ask her father to help us, as he
had plenty of bulls. I had not thought of this, and I said, 'Very
good.' We went and saw my father-in-law, and he agreed to let me have a
bull and pay for it as I earned money. Soon after that