Before his accession, the Rajah had thoroughly gone into the question of slavery; in this matter he invited the opinions of all, and on his accession he was enabled to promulgate certain laws affecting the slaves, that met with general approval. By these laws, the slave was protected against ill-usage. He was granted civil rights, and the privilege of freeing himself by the payment of a small amount, the maximum price being fixed at about £7, an amount which could easily be earned by a few months' hard work. The transfer of slaves from one master to another could be made only in, and with the consent of the Courts. No slaves could be sold out of the country, and no fresh slaves might be imported. To quote the _Sarawak Gazette_ of December 12, 1872: Before the arrival of Sir James Brooke, the Illanuns and other pirates from North Borneo took yearly trips around the island, making midnight attacks on peaceful villages, killing old men and children, separating mother and child, husband and wife, and carrying away hundreds of miserable wretches to be sold into slavery in the Sulu archipelago. In Sarawak territory, Kayans and Melanaus sacrificed slaves to propitiate evil spirits. To ensure good luck to a chief's new house, the first post was driven through the body of a young virgin. When they were afflicted with epidemics, it was the custom to sacrifice a young girl by placing her in a canoe, and allowing her to drift out to sea with the ebb tide. At the death of a chief, slaves were tied to posts near the coffin of the deceased and starved to death, in order that they might be ready to act as attendants on their master in another world.[298] These and a host of other atrocities were formerly enacted here. Amongst the Malays was found slavery of a milder form. Masters and slaves were, as a rule, on amicable terms, and the latter were well treated. Where, however, there was no law, and masters held absolute power over their slaves,[299] ill-usage occasionally followed as a consequence; and we could fill pages with stories of cruelties practised by Malay slave-holders in olden days. Now on our coast piracy is a thing of the past. Inland, the barbarities we have described are no longer practised by wild and superstitious tribes; and although slavery is tolerated amongst the Malays, it is in such a mild form that the word is a misnomer. The Government protects the bondman against cruelty and ill-usage, and acknowledges his legal rights. He can now obtain justice in the Courts, and by a wise regulation of the Government he can purchase his freedom at a fixed moderate price, so that should he find his bondage irksome, he has an opportunity of freeing himself by energy and hard work.