ABSTRACT
On a later occasion, a visit was made to the king of the island of Savu. The king's companions stole most of the possessions of their French guests. Peron writes: 'Stealing is a sort of passion in the Malays, and their skill in it is such, that they made fools of us all. They share this vice with all savage people or people oflittle civilization; this proves, we may comment in passing, that legislators have been right to consecrate the right of property as the foundation ofsocial institutions.'2
