eeping the criminal exposed, without food, day and night, on a stage on
high posts in the river. I had never heard of this process, and soon
discovered that my friend had mistaken men fishing, for criminals
undergoing execution. Two men perch themselves up on posts, some
distance apart, and let down by ropes a net into the river. Waiting
patiently--and Brunais can sit still contentedly doing nothing for
hours--they remain motionless until a shoal of fish passes over the net,
when it is partially raised and the fish taken out by a third man, and
the operation repeated.

I do not think my naval friend ever published his Brunai reminiscences.

I have already said there is no police force in Brunai; an official
makes use of his own slaves to carry out his orders, where an European
would call in the police. Neither is there any army and navy, but the
theory is that the Sultan and Ministers can call on the Brunai people to
follow them to war, but as they give neither pay nor sufficient food
their call is not numerously responded to.

Every Brunai man has his own arms, spear, kris and buckler, supplemented
by an old English "Tower" musket, or rifle, or by one of Chinese
manufacture with an imitation of the Tower mark. The _parang_, or
chopper, or cutlass, is always carried by a Malay, being used for all
kinds of work, agricultural and other, and is also a useful weapon of
offence or defence.

Brunai is celebrated for its brass cannon foundries and still produces
handsome pieces of considerable size. PIGAFETTA describes cannon as
being frequently discharged at Brunai during his visit there in 1521.
Brass guns were formerly part of the currency in Brunai and, even now,
you often hear the price of an article given as so many pikuls (a pikul
= 133-1/3 lbs), or catties (a catty = 1-1/3 lbs) of brass gun. The
brass for the guns is chiefly furnished by the Chinese cash, which is
current in the town.

In former days, in addition to brass guns, pieces of grey shirting
(_belachu_) and of Nankin (_kain asap_) and small bits of iron were
legal tender, and I have seen a specimen of a Brunei copper coinage one
Sultan tried to introduce, but it was found to be so easily imitated by
his subjects that it was withdrawn from circulation. At the present day
silver dollars, Straits Settlements small silver pieces, and the copper
coinage of Singapore, Sarawak and British North Borneo all pass current,
the copper, however, unfortunately predomi