In the Malay Archipelago native custom punishes theft with a fine, most frequently equivalent to twice the value of the stolen article,65 or with slavery,66 mutilation,67 or even death;68 and in many islands it was lawful to kill a thief caught in the act.69 Among the Malays of Perak,70 Dyaks,71 Kyans,72 Bataks,73 and the natives of Ambon and Uliase,74 theft is said to be unknown or almost so, at least within their own communities.

Many of the South Sea Islanders have been described as honest among themselves, and some of them as honest even towards Europeans.75 In the opinion of Captain Cook the light-coloured Polynesians have thievish propensities, but the dark-coloured not.76 In the Tonga Islands theft was considered an act of meanness rather than a crime,77 whereas in many other islands it was regarded as a very grave offence.78 Sometimes the delinquent was subject to private retaliation,79 sometimes to a fine,80 or blows,81 or the loss of a finger,82 or the penalty of death.83

Among the natives of Herbert River, Northern Queensland, there is “considerable respect for the right of property, and they do not steal from one another to any great extent…. If they hunt they will not take another person’s game, all the members of the same tribe having apparently full confidence in each other.”84 When a theft does occur, “the thief is challenged by his victim to a duel with wooden swords and shields; and the matter is settled sometimes privately, the relatives of both parties serving as witnesses, sometimes publicly at the borboby, where two hundred to three hundred meet from various tribes to decide all their disputes. The victor in the duel wins in the dispute.”85 So also among the Dieyerie tribe, “should any native steal from another, and the offender be known, he is challenged to fight by the person he has robbed, and this settles the matter.”86 Of the Bangerang tribe of Victoria we are told that, amongst themselves, they were scrupulously honest;87 and, speaking of West Australian natives, Mr. Chauncy expresses his belief that “the members of a tribe never pilfer from each other.”88 In their relations to Europeans, again, Australian blacks have been sometimes accused of thievishness,89 sometimes praised for their honesty.90 From his own observation Mr. Curr has no doubt that they feel that theft is wrong.91 Of the aborigines of West Australia we are told that they occasionally speared the sheep and robbed the potato gardens of the early settlers simply because they did not understand the settlers’ views regarding property, having themselves no separate property in any living animal except their dogs or in any produce of the soil. But “only entrust a native with property, and he will invariably be faithful to the trust. Lend him your gun to shoot game, and he will bring you the result of his day’s sport; send him a long journey with provisions for your shepherd, and he will certainly deliver them safely. Entrust him with a flock of sheep through a rugged country to a distant run, and he and his wife will take them generally more safely than a white man would.”92

”The Arab,” says Burckhardt, “robs his enemies, his friends, and his neighbours, provided that they are not actually in his own tent, where their property is sacred. To rob in the camp, or among friendly tribes, is not reckoned creditable to a man; yet no stain remains upon him for such an action, which, in fact, is of daily occurrence. But the Arab chiefly prides himself on robbing his enemies.”93 This, however, seems to hold true only of Bedouin tribes inhabiting rich pasture plains, who are much exposed to attacks from others, whereas in more sheltered territories a person who “attempts to steal in the tents of his own tribe, is for ever dishonoured among his friends.” Thus among the Arabs of Sinai robberies are wholly unknown; any articles of dress or of furniture may be left upon a rock without the least risk of their being taken away.94 According to Waháby law, a robber is obliged to return the stolen goods or their value, but if the offence is not attended with circumstances of violence he escapes without further punishment, except a fine to the treasury.95 Among some Bedouins of Ḥadhramaut theft from a tribesman is punished with banishment from the tribe.96 Lady Anne and Mr. Blunt state that, with regard to honesty, the pure Bedouin stands in marked contrast to his half-bred brethren. Whilst the Kurdish and semi-Kurdish tribes of Upper Mesopotamia make it almost a point of honour to steal, the genuine Arab accounts theft disgraceful, although he holds highway robbery to be a right. In the large tribes persons of known dishonesty are not tolerated.97

In Africa honesty between members of the same tribe is no uncommon characteristic of the native races, and some of them have displayed the same quality in their dealings with European travellers.98 Andersson, for instance, tells us that the Ovambo, so far as they came under his observation, were strictly honest and appeared to entertain great horror of theft. “Without permission,” he says, “the natives would not even touch anything; and we could leave our camp free from the least apprehension of being plundered. As a proof of their honesty, I may mention, that, when we left the Ovambo country, the servants forgot some trifles; and such was the integrity of the people, that messengers actually came after us a very considerable distance to restore the articles left behind.”99 A few African peoples are said to look upon petty larceny almost with indifference.100 Among others thieves are only compelled to restore stolen property, or to return an equivalent for it,101 but at the same time they are disgraced or laughed at.102 In Africa, as elsewhere, theft is frequently punished with a fine.103 Thus among the Bahima,104 Wadshagga,105 and Tanala of Madagascar,106 thieves are made to pay twice the value of the stolen goods; among the Takue,107 Rendile,108 and Herero,109 three times their value; among the Bechuanas double or fourfold.110 Among the Taveta, if a man commits a theft, he has to refund what he has robbed, and five times the value of the stolen property can be claimed by the person who has suffered the loss.111 Among the Kafirs, “in cases of cattle stealing, the law allows a fine of ten head, though but one may have been stolen, provided the animal has been slaughtered, or cannot be restored.”112 Among the Masai, according to Herr Merker, the fine for stealing cattle is likewise a tenfold one;113 whilst, according to another authority, “if a man steals one cow, or more than one cow, all his property is given to the man from whom he has stolen.”114 Among the Basukuma all thieves, it seems, are punished with the confiscation of everything they possess.115 Other punishments for theft are imprisonment,116 banishment,117 slavery,118 flogging,119 mutilation,120 and, especially under aggravating circumstances, death.121 In some African countries a thief caught in the act may be killed with impunity.122

The condemnation of theft, in one and the same people, varies in degree according to a variety of circumstances. It is influenced by the value of the goods stolen, as appears from the different punishments inflicted in cases where the value differs.123 Thus, when the penalty consists of a fine, its amount is often strictly proportioned to the loss suffered by the owner, the thief being compelled to pay twice, or three, or four, or five, or ten times the worth of the appropriated article.124 Among the Aztecs a petty thief became the slave of the person from whom he had stolen, whilst theft of a large amount was almost invariably punished with death.125 According to the Koran, theft is to be punished by cutting off the offender’s right hand for the first offence; but a Sunneh law ordains that this punishment shall not be inflicted if the value of the stolen property is less than a quarter of a deenár.126 Ancient Scotch law proportioned the punishment of theft to the value of the goods stolen, heightening it gradually from a slight corporal to a capital punishment, if the value amounted to thirty-two pennies Scots, which in the reign of David I. was the price of two sheep.127 In England a distinction was made between “grand” and “petty larceny,” the line between them being drawn at twelve pence, and grand larceny was capital at least as early as the time of Edward I.128 Among various peoples custom or law punishes with particular severity the stealing of objects of a certain kind, such as cattle, horses, agricultural implements, corn, precious metals, or arms.129 The Negroes of Axim, says Bosman, “will rather put a man to death for stealing a sheep, than killing a man.”130 The Kalmucks regard horse-stealing as the greatest of all crimes.131 The ancient Teutons held cattle-lifting and robbery of crops to be particularly disgraceful.132 According to Roman law, people who stole an ox or horse from the pastures or from a stable, or ten sheep, or four or five swine, might be punished even with death.133 The natives of Danger Island, in the South Seas, punished with drowning anyone who was caught stealing food, “the most valuable property they knew of.”134 In Tahiti, on the other hand, those who stole clothes or arms were commonly put to death, whereas those who stole provisions were bastinadoed.135 Among other peoples the appropriation of a small quantity of food belonging to somebody else is not punished at all.136 The Masai do not punish a person for stealing milk or meat.137 Among the Bakoki “it was not a crime to steal bananas.”138 In ancient Mexico “every poor traveller was permitted to take of the maize, or the fruit-bearing trees, which were planted by the side of the highway, as much as was sufficient to satisfy immediate hunger.”139 Among the Hebrews a person was allowed to go into his neighbour’s vineyard and eat grapes at his own pleasure, or to pluck ears in his field, but the visitor was forbidden to put any grapes in his vessel or to move a sickle into the standing corn.140 It is said in the Laws of Manu that “a twice-born man, who is travelling and whose provisions are exhausted, shall not be fined, if he takes two stalks of sugar-cane or two esculent roots from the field of another man.”141 According to ancient Swedish laws, a passer-by could take a handful of peas, beans, turnips, and so forth, from another person’s field, and a traveller could give to his fatigued horse some hay from any barn he found in the wood.142 However, whilst the punishment of theft is commonly, to some extent, influenced by the worth or nature of the appropriated property, there are peoples who punish thieves with the same severity whether they have stolen little or much. Among the North American Indians described by Colonel Dodge “the value of the article stolen is not considered. The crime is the theft.”143 Among the Yleou, a Manchurian tribe mentioned by ancient Chinese chroniclers, theft of any kind was punished with death.144 The Beni Mzab in the Sahara sentence a thief to two years banishment and the payment of fifty francs, independently of the value of the thing he has stolen.145