yers were said there daily, and I have never seen a Borneo
Malay under the influence of religious excitement.

Gambling prevails, doubtless, and so does cock-righting, but neither is
the absorbing passion which it seems, from travellers' accounts, to be
with Malays elsewhere.

When visiting the Spanish settlements in Sulu and Balabac, I was
surprised to find regular officially licensed cock-fighting pits, with a
special seat for the Spanish Governor, who was expected to be present on
high days and holidays. I have never come across a regular cockpit in
Brunai, or in any part of northern Borneo.

The _amoks_ that I have been cognisant of have, consequently, not been
due to either religious excitement, or to losses at gambling, but, in
nearly every case, to jealousy and domestic trouble, and their
occurrence almost entirely confined to the British Colony of Labuan
where, of course, the Mahomedan pains and penalties for female
delinquencies could not be enforced. I remember one poor fellow whom I
pitied very much. He had good reason to be jealous of his wife and, in
our courts, could not get the redress he sought. He explained to me that
a mist seemed to gather before his eyes and that he became utterly
unconscious of what he was doing--his will was quite out of his control.
Some half dozen people--children, men and women--were killed, or
desperately wounded before he was overpowered. He acknowledged his
guilt, and suffered death at the hands of the hangman with quiet
dignity. Many tragical incidents in the otherwise uneventful history of
Labuan may be traced to the manner in which marriages are contracted
amongst the Borneo Malays. Marriages of mere love are almost unknown;
they are generally a matter of bargain between the girls' parents and
the expectant bridegroom, or his parents, and, practically, everything
depends on the amount of the dowry or _brihan_--literally "gift"--which
the swain can pay to the former. In their own country there exist
certain safeguards which prevent any abuse of this system, but it was
found that under the English law a clever parent could manage to dispose
of his daughter's hand several times over, so that really the plot of
Mrs. CAMPBELL PRAED'S somewhat unpleasant play "Arianne" was anticipated
in the little colony of Labuan. I was once called upon, as Coroner, to
inquire into the deaths of a young man and his handsome young wife, who
were discovered lying dead, side by side, on the flo