164. The herdsman shall, at the close of the day, give back the cattle, in the same manner[257] as they were delivered to him: if he be in receipt of wages, he shall replace such as have, through his negligence, died or been lost.[258]
165. If loss accrue by fault of the herdsman, he shall be fined thirteen paṇas and a half, and shall make good the loss to the owner.
166. Pasture-ground shall be allotted for cattle, such as the villagers agree upon, or in proportion to the whole area of land, or as the monarch wills.
A twice-born man may, in every place, appropriate as his own, grass, fuel, and flowers.[259]
167. There shall be a space of one hundred dhanus[260] between a gráma,[261] and the [surrounding] fields, of two hundred for a karvaṭa,[261] of four hundred for a nagara.[261]
168. A man may seize any thing, belonging to himself, which another has sold.[262] The purchaser incurs blame, if [he have bought] secretly: and, if [he bought] from a low man,[263] with secrecy, for a small price, and at an unusual hour, he is [to be accounted] a thief.
169. If one obtain property [which he afterwards discovers to have been] lost or stolen, he should cause the taker[264] of it to be secured: should time or the place not permit of this being done, he must himself restore the property [to its owner].
170. Upon his producing the seller, he [the possessor,] is himself cleared: the owner takes the property, the monarch the fine, and the [defrauded] purchaser the value from the seller.
171. [A claim to] property [as] lost,[265] is to be supported by proof of acquisition[266] or of user: [the claimant,] if he fail, shall pay to the monarch one-fifth of the value [of the property] as a fine.
172. Whoever takes [back] from the hand of a stranger what has been stolen or lost [from himself] without informing the monarch, shall pay a fine of ninety six paṇas.[267]