At One End Several Barbers Were At Work.
A Chinaman Is Always Being Shaved, For He Keeps His Head And Face Quite
Smooth, And Never Shaves Himself.
The shaving the head was originally a
sign of subjection imposed by the Tartar conquerors, but it is now so
completely the national custom that prisoners feel it a deep disgrace
when their hair is allowed to grow.
Coolies twist their five feet of
pigtail round their heads while they are at work, but a servant or
other inferior, only insults his superior if he enter his presence with
his pigtail otherwise than pendent. The gaming house, whose open sides
allow it to present a perpetual temptation, is full of tables, and at
each sits a croupier, well clothed, and as many half-naked Chinamen as
can see over each others' shoulders crowd round him. Their silent,
concentrated eagerness is a piteous sight, as the cover is slowly
lifted from the heavy brass box in which the dice are kept, on the cast
of which many of them have staked all they possess. They accept their
losses as they do their gains, with apparent composure. They work very
hard, and live on very little; but they are poor just now, for the
price of tin has fallen nearly one-half in consequence of the great tin
discoveries in Australia.
Along with Mr. Hayward I paid a visit to the Court House, a large
whitewashed room, with a clean floor of red tiles, a tiled dais, with a
desk for the judge, a table with a charge sheet and some books upon it,
and three long benches at the end for witnesses and their friends. A
punkah is kept constantly going. There are a clerk, a Chinese
interpreter, who speaks six Chinese dialects, and a Malay interpreter,
who puts the Chinese interpreter's words into English. As the judge
does not understand Malay, it will be observed that justice depends on
the fidelity of this latter official. Though I cannot say that the
dignity of justice is sustained in this court, there is not a doubt
that the intentions of the judge are excellent, and if some of the
guilty escape, it is not likely that any of the innocent suffer. The
Datu Bandar sometimes sits on the bench with the Resident.
The benches were crowded almost entirely with Chinamen, and a number of
policemen stood about. I noticed that these were as anxious as our own
are to sustain a case. The case which I heard, and which occupied more
than an hour, was an accusation against a wretched Chinaman for
stealing a pig. I sat on the bench and heard every word that was said,
and arrived at no judicial conclusion, nor did the Resident, so the
accused was dismissed. He did steal that pig though! I don't see how
truth can be arrived at in an Oriental court, especially where the
witnesses are members of Chinese secret societies. Another case of
alleged nocturnal assault, was tried, in which the judge took immense
pains to get at the truth, and the prisoner had every advantage; and
when he was found guilty, was put into a good jail, from which he will
be taken out daily to work on the roads.
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