The offenders are always hung on the spot where the crime was committed. The gallows consists only of two beams, and can with great ease be transported from one place to another. A hook is fixed to one end of the rope, and this hook the executioner forces, with all his strength, into the flesh below the criminal’s chin; he is then hoisted up, and the other end of the rope is made fast to the gallows. The delinquents sometimes are hanged also in the European manner, so that they are instantly suffocated. Lesser crimes are punished by cutting off the nose and ears; by hacking off the right hand; banishment from the country, imprisonment, hunger and thirst; sequestration or confiscation of property, and sometimes by a pecuniary fine. The sentence of death must, in general, be subscribed by the delinquent’s own hand, after he has been heard and convicted of the crime laid to his charge. The place where the trial is held is called _Mandava_, and forms a sort of court of judicature in the magistrate’s habitation. Of such magistrates there are a great many, and they always reside in the neighbourhood of a temple. As soon as the delinquent is convicted, the magistrate repairs to the _Mandrashàla_, or judgement-hall, where all the other magistrates, together with some Brahmans, are assembled. On their opinion and sentence the life or death of the delinquent depends. He is, however, at liberty to appeal to the king; and on such occasions is never executed till the king confirms the sentence. In doubtful cases, the superintendants and elders of the cast are consulted. In these assemblies the first object of the members is to enquire into the laws, customs and usages formerly established in the cast, or in the town or city where the trial takes place; and according to these old precedents the point in question is determined. During the whole time I resided in Malabar I never heard of a criminal being beheaded, but sometimes that one or two had been run through with a lance. Oaths are always taken before the gate of a temple; and the person who swears, places both hands on his head, and invokes _Mahadeva_, that is, the great god, the avenger, to punish him as a perjuror if he violates the truth. The courts of justice are kept open daily for every person from an early hour to the time of ablution, and from the time of supper till midnight. At the periods of new and full moon, and on the festivals of _Shiva_ and _Bhagavadi_, when the king must be present at the solemn presentation of offerings, no judiciary business is done, and the courts of justice are shut. Women, slaves, exiles, and persons to whom infamy is attached, are incapable of giving valid testimony. In former times, if a suspected person waded through a stream infested by a crocodile, or put his finger into boiling oil, melted lead, or a coco-nut shell in which a snake was concealed, and drew it out unhurt, he was declared to be innocent. This practice, however, is no longer in use.