Tortures are resorted to in cases of treason or atrocious robbery, and even among debtors where property is supposed to be concealed, as well as the ordeal by water and immersing the hands in boiling oil or melted tin. He who remains the longest under water, and the hand which comes forth unscathed, are pronounced to be innocent. A debtor may be punished by stripes and imprisonment, or dried, as it is termed by the Siamese, that is exsiccated by being exposed to the direct rays of a burning sun, suffering in addition the torments from myriads of noxious insects, and finally to be sold as a slave if he is unable to discharge his debt. A great number of debtors are seen in irons about the bazars, whose only mode of subsistence is by begging; and they seldom ask in vain of a people who are pre-eminently charitable. [Sidenote: PUNISHMENTS.] Theft is punished with the bamboo and with imprisonment, and even hard labour for life, in aggravated cases. Murder, counterfeiting coin, and forging the royal signet, with imprisonment for life, and the severest punishment of the bamboo; and in cases of cruel and deliberate murder, with death, by decapitation. A breach of the marriage-vow is not deemed a highly criminal act, and it is easily commuted by paying a fine, according to the rank or standing of the parties, from the sum of two hundred and seventy to ninety dollars. Marriage is a civil contract, and the Talapoins are not considered, in any way, necessary to legalize the contract; but their prayers and benedictions are occasionally bestowed. Insults are punished, from an inferior to a superior, according to the aggravation of the offence, by a fine, and even by corporal punishment, when a priest is the aggrieved party. If a priest commits a criminal act, he is divested of the sacerdotal habit, and is punished generally with more severity than a layman. Divorces are easily obtained, and each party receives back whatever was contributed to the common stock. The minor male children go to the mother, and the female to the father. Property can only be given to the wife and children, and daughters receive from a half to a whole share more than the sons. Wills must be made in the presence of four witnesses.