himself if it cannot be proved that he committed the deed wilfully.[40] The Masai regard accidental homicide, or injury, as "the will of N'gai," "the Unknown," and "the elders arrange what compensation shall be paid to the injured person (if a male) or to the nearest relative. If a woman is killed by accident, all the killer's property becomes the property of the nearest relative."[41] The Eastern Central Africans, according to the Rev. D. Macdonald, "know the difference between an injury of accident and one of intention."[42] And so do the natives of Nossi-Bé and Mayotte, near Madagascar.[43] [Footnote 36: Grey, _Journals of Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia_, ii. 238 _sq._] [Footnote 37: Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 179.] [Footnote 38: Burton, _Two Trips to Gorilla Land_, i. 105.] [Footnote 39: Maclean, _Compendium of Kafir Laws and Customs_, pp. 113, 67, 60.] [Footnote 40: Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_, p. 524.] [Footnote 41: Hinde, _The Last of the Masai_, p. 108.] [Footnote 42: Macdonald, _Africana_, i. 11.] [Footnote 43: Walter, in Steinmetz, _Rechtsverhältnisse_, p. 393.] Nay, there are instances of uncivilised peoples who entirely excuse, or do not punish, a person for an injury which he has inflicted by mere accident, even though they may compel him to pay damages for involuntary destruction of property. We are told that the Pennsylvania Indians "judge with calmness on all occasions, and decide with precision, or endeavour {223} to do so, between an accident and a wilful act; the first, they say, they are all liable to commit, and therefore it ought not to be noticed, or punished; the second being a wilful or premeditated act, committed with a bad design, ought on the contrary to receive due punishment,"[44] Among some of the Marshall Islanders unintentional wrongs are punished only if the injured party be a person of note, for instance, a chief, or a member of a chief's family.[45] Among the Papuans of the Tami Islands, "accidental injuries are not punished. Generally the culprit confesses his deed, and makes an apology. If he has caused the destruction of some valuable, he has to repair the loss."[46] Among the Wadshagga there is no punishment for an accidental hurt; but if anybody's property has been damaged thereby, a compensation amounting to one half of the damage may be required.[47] The Hottentots do not nowadays punish accidents, even in the case of homicide.[48] Among the Washambala a person is held responsible only for such injuries as he has inflicted intentionally or caused by carelessness.[49] In some parts of West Africa, if a man, woman, or child, not knowing what he or she does, damages the property of another person, "native justice requires, and contains in itself, that if it can be proved the act was committed in ignorance that was not a culpable ignorance, the doer cannot be punished according to the law."[50]