SIAM-LAWS TOUCHING AFFAIRS BY LAND.
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be made of the same to the Harbour-master within twelve hours from the time the pro- perty was found. Then the magistrate, or the man of rank shall make accurate record of said property, and then wait for further information. As to the owner, let him hasten to find his lost property, inquiring for it of all the village officers for a month, let this not be prolonged beyond a month. And whoever shall have taken the property, or whatever magistrate, or village officer, or man of rank, shall have received the property, or whoever has been informed of the property lost, shall inform the owner of the pro- perty which he seeks; and then examine carefully the statements of the owner, and the record of the property made when received. Having thus ascertained that the property truly belongs to him who seeks it, let be delivered up to him. But if there be any doubt, let the matter be postponed until other claimants shall be examined.
If any one, having taken property adrift as defined above, conceal it, and do not report it to a magistrate or village officer, or some other man of rank, within the space of twelve hours, he shall, when arrested, be treated as a thief. If any one assist in taking property adrift with the view to deliver it to the owner, and inform a magis- trate, or village officer, or man of honor: and when the owner comes, and finds his property, and would take possession of it, and he who assists in saving it requests that he may have a reward for his services, this matter shall be arranged between the owner, the assistant, and the nobleman.
LAWS TOUCHING AFFAIRS BY LAND. Assault and Battery.
Art. I.-There is an old royal law of Siam touching crimes of assault and battery, comprising many articles, of which a compend is hereby re-enacted as follows:--
If any person getting into a quarrel, use abusive language, lead on their comrades with clubs, brickbats, or arms, beating, reviling, cutting, and stabbing one another, going even into the homestead of a man who was dwelling quietly at home, his house, his shed, his stall, his boat, or his floating house, and cause him to be wound ed, the assailant who inflicted the wound, shall be fined double for his crime; and his associates whose hands were not in the blow, shall each be fined half the amount of the fine imposed on the leader of the assault.
If said householder shall beat and stab the assailant even unto death, no punish- ment shall be inflicted upon him.
Again,-In cases where persons revile, beat, and stab each other in the street, and the vanquished party flee within the limits of a third party's home, and his an- tagonist pursue him thither, it shall not be accounted a case of assault on that householder. But if the vanquished party flee into the dwelling of a third party, and the assault be continued there, it shall be accounted a case of assault.
Again, if any person shall with innocent intent, go to visit another, on whatever business, or shall go to purchase something at the place of another, and then and there fall into a quarrel, it shall not be regarded as a case of assault, because the affray had its origin then.
Seizing Refugee Servants or Debtors.
Again,-in case a master or creditor shall go to seize a servant or a debtor, and ' find him wherever he may, and while pursuing him, the servant or debtor flee into the home of another party, or into his own home, and the master or creditor pursue him thither, and seize him, this shall not be accounted as assault. And if the place [to which the servant or debtor bas fled] be a palace of a Prince, or the home of an officer of government, or the residence of a foreigner, the pursuer shall first duly inform the householder of his business, and then the latter shall deliver up the refugee to his pursuer.
And now this revised compend of law [touching assault and battery] is published to the intent that all persons, both natives and foreigners shall understand, that if any one shall assault and invade the home, the house, the shed, the stall, the boat, or the floating house of another, and the householder or lord of the place, shall pound, beat, or wound the
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