[139] Clavigero, History of Mexico, i. 358.
[140] Deuteronomy, xxiii. 24 sq.
[141] Laws of Manu, viii. 341. Cf. ibid. viii. 339.
[142] Nordström, op. cit. ii. 297.
[143] Dodge, op. cit. p. 64.
[144] Castrén, op. cit. iv. 27.
[145] Chavanne, Die Sahara, p. 315.
The degree of criminality attached to theft also depends on the place where it is committed. To steal from a house, especially after breaking the door, is frequently regarded as an aggravated form of theft.[146] According to Muhammedan law, the punishment of cutting off the right hand of the thief is inflicted on him only if the stolen property was deposited in a place to which he had not ordinary or easy access; hence a man who steals in the house of a near relative is not subject to this punishment, nor a slave who robs the house of his master.[147] Among some peoples a theft committed by night is punished more heavily than one committed by day.[148]
[146] Post, Grundriss der ethnol. Jurisprudenz, ii. 423 sq. von Rosenberg, Der malayische Archipel, p. 166 (Niase). Riedel, De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, p. 103 (Serangese). Lang, in Steinmetz, Rechtsverhältnisse, p. 259. (Washambala). Wilda, op. cit. p. 878 sq.; Brunner, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, ii. 646 (ancient Teutonic law). Digesta, xlvii. 11. 7; xlvii. 18. 2.
[147] Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 121. Cf. Burckhardt, Bedouins and Wahábys, p. 301.