or is a simple majority sufficient? and what course is adopted if there be one or two resolute dissentients?

ANSWER.-The whole of the Panch must be unanimous.

QUESTION XXIII.-Are there any persons at Káthmándú who are regularly employed as members or presidents of Pancháyets, or are persons indiscriminately selected for each occasion?

Answer. There are no permanent individual members of the Pancháyet; but in all cases wherein Parbattias are concerned, it is necessary to choose the panch-men out of the following distinguished tribes, viz. :—Arjúl Khandal or Khanal, Pandé, Parat'h, Bóhara, and Rana; one person being selected from each tribe. And among the Néwárs a similar regulation. is observed, the tribes from which the individuals are chosen being the Maiké, Bhanil, Achar, and Srisht. In matters affecting persons who are neither Parbattias nor Néwárs, there is no restriction as to the selection of the panch-men by the respective parties.

QUESTION XXIV.-Are the Pancháyets allowed travelling expenses or diet so long as they attend, or not? If allowed, by whom are these expenses paid? Does each party defray its own, or how?

ANSWER-Persons who sit on Pancháyets are never paid any sum, either as compensation for travelling expenses, loss of time, or on any other account whatsoever.

QUESTION XXV.-What is the nature of the dit'ha's authority in those three courts of the capital over which he does not personally preside?

ANSWER.-The bicháris, or judges of these courts, cannot decide independently of the dit'ha of the Kót Linga: the bicháris of those courts are not independent. [Another answer is as follows:-" In those two courts in which the dit'ha personally presides, causes are decided by the joint wisdom of himself and colleagues (bicháris). In those in which he is not personally. present, the bicháris decide small matters absolutely, but their investigations of grave ones are reported to the dit'ha, and they decide according to his directions."]

QUESTION XXVI.-What officers of the court are there to search for and apprehend criminals, to bring them and the

evidences of their guilt before the courts, and to see sentence executed on them?

ANSWER.-The officers enumerated in the answer to QUESTION XV., as being attached to the courts of the dit'ha and the bicháris.

QUESTION XXVII.-What officers are there to serve processes in civil suits, to see that the parties and witnesses in such suits are forthcoming, and to carry the decisions of the courts into effect?

ANSWER.-Those last mentioned, as being employed in criminal cases.

QUESTION XXVIII.-If the plaintiff or defendant in a civil suit neglect to attend at any stage of the trial before decision, is the plaintiff non-suited, the defendant cast, the parties forcibly made to appear, the decision suspended or pronounced conditionally, or what course is adopted?

ANSWER.-If the plaintiff be absent and the defendant present, it is the custom to take security from the defendant to appear when called upon at some future time, and to let him depart : no decision is come to in such cases. If the plaintiff be present, and the defendant absent, the latter is not therefore cast; he is searched for, and until he is found, no decision can be pronounced.

QUESTION XXIX.-What security is provided in criminal cases, that offenders, when apprehended, shall be prosecuted to conviction; and how are prosecutors and witnesses made forthcoming at the time of trial?

ANSWER.-Mál zámini and hazn zámini are taken from cutors and witnesses.

prose

QUESTION XXX.-What are práyaschitta, chandráyan, and aptali?

ANSWER.-Prayaschitta: the ceremonies necessary to be performed by an individual for recovering his lost caste. Chandrayan expiatory ceremonies performed by the whole city or kingdom, in atonement for the commission of some heinous sin or uncleanness, the consequences of which have affected a considerable body of the citizens. Aptali-escheats: the lapse of property to the prince, for want of heirs to the last possessor.

QUESTION XXXI.-Is the Kumári Chók an offence of record and registry for all branches of the Government, or for judicial affairs only; and has it any judicial authority?

ANSWER.-It is an offence of record and registry for the fisc; and has no connection with the courts of law, nor does it contain their records. [Another respondent, in answer to QUESTION I., reckons it among the courts of law-Adálats.]

QUESTION XXXII.-Describe the forms of procedure in a civil cause, step by step.

ANSWER.—If a person comes into court and states that another person owes him a certain sum of money, which he refuses to pay, the bichári of the court immediately asks him for the particulars of the debt, which he accordingly furnishes. The bichári then commands the jámadár of the court to send. one of his sipáhis to fetch the debtor; the creditor accompanies the sipáhi to point out the debtor, and pays him two annas per diem, until he has arrested the latter and brought him into court. When he is there produced, the dit'ha and bicháris interrogate the parties face to face. The debtor is asked if he acknowledges the debt alleged against him, and will immediately discharge it. The debtor may answer by acknowledging the debt, and stating his willingness to pay it as soon as he can collect the means, which he hopes to do in a few days. In this case, the bichári will desire the creditor to wait a few days. The creditor may reply that he cannot wait, having immediate need of the money; and if so one of the chaprássis of the court is attached to the debtor, with directions to see to the producing of the money in court, by any means. The debtor must then produce money or goods, or whatever property he has, and bring it into The dit'ha and bicháris then, calling to their assistance three or four merchants, proceed to appraise the goods produced in satisfaction of the debt, and immediately discharge it; nor can the creditor object to their appraisement of the debtor's goods and chattels. In matters thus arranged, that is, where the defendants admit the cause of action to be valid, five per cent. of the property litigated is taken from the one party, and ten per cent. from the other, and no more." * If the defendant, when

court.

This fine or tax is called das-ónd-bis-ónd.

produced in court in the manner above described, denies, instead of confessing, the debt, then the plaintiff's proofs are called for; and if he has only a simple note of hand unattested, or an attested acknowledgment, the witnesses to which are dead, then the dit'ha and bicháris interrogate the plaintiff thus, "This paper is of no use as evidence; how do you propose to establish your claim?" The plaintiff may answer, "I lent the money to the father of the defendant; the note produced is in his hand-writing, and my claim is a just claim." Hereupon the plaintiff is required to pledge himself formally to prosecute his claim in the court in which he is, and in no other. The words enjoining the plaintiff thus to gage himself are "Bérí t'húpó;" and the mode is by the plaintiff's taking a rupee in his hand, which he closes, and strikes the ground, exclaiming at the same time, "My claim is just, and I gage myself to prove it so!" The defendant is then commanded to take up the gage of the plaintiff, or to pledge himself in a similar manner to attend the court duly to the conclusion of the trial, which he does by formally denying the authenticity of the document produced against him, as well as the validity of the debt; and upon this denial he likewise strikes the earth with his hand closed on a rupee. The rupee of the plaintiff and that of the defendant, which are called bérí, are now deposited in court. The next step is for the court to take the fee called karpan, or five rupees, from each party. The amount of both bérí and karpan is the perquisite of the various officers of the court, and does not go to the Government. The giving of karpan by the parties implies their desire to defer the dispute to the decision of the ordeal; and accordingly, as soon as the karpan is paid down, the dit'ha acquaints the Government that the parties in a certain cause wish to undergo the ordeal. The necessary order is thereupon issued from the Darbár; but when it has reached the court, the dit'ha and bicháris first of all exhort the parties to come to an understanding and affect a settlement of their dispute by some other means; if, however, they will not consent, the trial is directed to proceed. The ordeal is called nyáya, and the form of it is as follows:-The names of the respective parties are described on two pieces of paper, which are rolled up into

balls, and then have pújá* offered to them. From each party a fine or feet of one rupee is taken; the balls are then affixed to staffs of reed, and two annast more are taken from each party. The reeds are then entrusted to two of the havildars of the court to take to the Queen's Tank; and with the havildárs, a bichári of the court, a Brahman, and the parties proceed thither, as also two men of the Chámákhalak (or Chamára) caste. § On arriving at the tank, the bichári again exhorts the parties to avoid the ordeal by adopting some other mode of settling the business, the merits of which are only known to themselves. If they continue to insist on the ordeal, the two havildárs, each holding one of the reeds, go, one to the east and the other to the west side of the tank, entering the water about knee deep. The Brahman, the parties, and the Chámákhalaks all at this moment enter the water a little way; and the Brahman performs pújá to VARUNA in the name of the parties, and repeats a sacred text, the meaning of which is, that mankind know not what passes in the minds of each other, but that all inward thoughts and past acts are known to the gods SU'RYA, CHANDRA, VARUNA, and YAMA || and that they will do justice between the parties in this cause. When the pújá is over, the Brahman gives the tilak to the two Chámákhalaks, and says to them, "Let the champion of truth win, and let the false one's champion lose!" This being said, the Brahman and the parties come out of the water, and the Chámákhalaks separate, one going to each place where a reed is erected. They then enter the deep water, and at a signal given, both immerse themselves in the water at the same instant. Whichever of them first rises from the water, the reed nearest to him is instantly destroyed, together with the scroll attached to it. The other reed is carried back to the court, where the ball of paper is opened, and the name read. If the scroll bear the plaintiff's name he wins the cause; if it be that of the defendant, the latter is victorious. The fine called jiť'houri is then paid by the winner, and that called harouri by the loser; ¶ besides which, five rupees are demanded from the winner in

* Pújá, worship-adoration.-ED.

This fee is called narkouli.

+ Called góla.
§ A very low tribe.

SU'RYA, the sun; CHANDRA, the moon; VARUNA, the regent of the ocean; YAMA, the deity presiding over the infernal regions.-ED.

Vide answer to Question LXIII.