owner.

If an ordinary slave woman becomes _enceinte_ by her owner, she and her
offspring are henceforth free and, she may remain as one of her late
master's wives. But the jealousy of the inmates of the harem often
causes abortion to be procured.

The slaves, as a rule, have quite an easy time of it, living with and,
as their masters, sharing the food of the family and being supplied with
tobacco, betel-nut and other native luxuries. There is no difference
between them and free men in the matter of dress, and in the arms which
all carry, and the mere fact that they are allowed to wear arms is
pretty conclusive evidence of their not being bullied or oppressed.

They assist in domestic duties and in the operations of harvest and
trading and so forth, but there is no such institution as a slave-gang,
working under task masters, a picture which is generally present to the
Englishman's mind when he hears of the existence of slavery. The slave
gang was an institution of the white slave-owner. Slave couples,
provided they support themselves, are allowed to set up house and
cultivate a patch of land.

For such minor offences as laziness and attempting to escape, the master
can punish his slaves with strokes of the rattan, but if an owner
receives grave provocation and kills his slave, the matter will probably
not be taken notice of by the elders of the village.

An incorrigible slave is sometimes punished by being sold out of the
district.

If a slave is badly treated and insufficiently provided with food, his
offence in endeavouring to escape is generally condoned by public
opinion. If a slave is, without sufficient cause, maltreated by a
freeman, his master can demand compensation from the aggressor. Slaves
of one master can, with their owner's consent, marry, and no _brihan_
is demanded, but if they belong to different masters, the woman's
master is entitled to a _brihan_ of one pikul, equal to $20 or $25.
They continue to be the slaves of their respective masters, but are
allowed to live together, and in case of a subsequent separation they
return to the houses of their masters. Should a freeman, other than her
master, wish to marry a slave, he practically buys her from her owner
with a _brihan_ of $60 or $75.

Sometimes a favourite slave is raised to a position intermediate between
that of an ordinary slave and an _anak mas_, and is regarded as a
brother, or sister, father, mother, or child; but if he or she attem