ILLUSTRATED GUIDE
TO THE
FEDERATED
MALAY STATES-
^
/■^y BDOK-«tLLeH«,
NEiVS-AOCHT».ETC.,
^\«OHNER or Hl«M STREET
At aH Ra il way Boo k stalls and of all
Book sellers in the Federated M alay
States
FEDERATED MALAY STATES
RAILWAYS GUIDE
(ILLUSTRATED).
THE MAGIC OF MALAYA
/SEVENTEEN SHORT STORIES)
CUTHBERT WOODVILLE HARRISON.
FEDERATED MALAY STATES RAILWAYS.
THROUGH FAST TRAINS
PENANG
run between
AN55
SINGAPORE
DOWN TRAINS.
Penang dep
Ipoh arr.
Kuala Lumpur arr.
Singapore Tank Road ... arr.
UP TRAINS.
Singapore Tank Road
da:ly, as under :—
\Veek-d.\ys.
S. o a.m., 7.25 p.m.
1. 13 p.m., 12.50 a.m.
6.22 p.m., 6.25 a.m.
S. 16 a.m., 7.14 p.m.
Sundays.
6.33 a.m., 7,25 p.m.
I. 5 p.m., 12.50 a.m.
7.45 p.m., 6.25 a.m.
8.i6 a.m., 7.14 p.m.
dep.
Kuala Lumpur
Ipoh
Penang
7. 7 a.m., 7. o p.m.
6.53 p.m., 6.45 a.m.
7. 7 a.m., 7. o p.m.
(Saturday)
7.18 p.m., 6.45 a.m.
(Sunday)
arr. i. 8 a.m., i. o p.m. i. 8 a.m., 1.42 p.m.
arr. 6.41 a.m., 6.23 p.m. 6.41 a.m., 8.15 p.m.
Tourists and others visiting the Far East should take this opportunitj' of seeing
the great natural beauties, the rubber estates and the tin mines of the Malay
Peninsula. The time occupied by the railway journey is twenty-three hours, and
traveller.^ can rejoin their ships at either Penang or Singapore. Time is allowed
on the down journey at Kuala Lumpur for passengers to see the Federal Capita]
of the States.
Bestaurant and Sleeping Csrs lighted by electricity on botb trains.
Isl Class Single Fares, m local currency, are as under: —
Penang to Singapore, 01 vice versa 30.81
Penang to Ipoh, or 7«V« I'trrja 7.29
Penang to Kuala Lumpur, or wV^ f^r.fa 15.41
Local currency, -Si = ■2s. 41/. English currency.
The charge for a berth in the sleeping saloon is S2.00 in addition to the ordinary
first class fare., and for a made-up berth in a first class carriage, .Si.oo. Each rst
cla.ss pas.senger is allowed 100 katis (133 lbs.) of luggage free.
Passengers are requested to see that their luggage is correctly !;\ belled.
Tariff of Resta.ara.nt Car charges exclusme of beer,
Hvines and spirits.
Breakfast i dollar.
Tiffin I dollar 25 cents.
Afternoon Tea , 30 cents.
Dinner 2 dollars.
No gratuities are allowed.
Passengers have time to use the bath and dressing rooms at Kuala Lumpur
r>tation before resuming the journey.
Every effort v/ill l>e made to ensure punctuality in the times of departure and
.irrival of the trains, but the Railway .\dniinistration will not be held responsible for
any delays which may occur, and passengers by steamer must satisfy themselves
before kaving that there is sufficient time to catch their steamer at the other end of
the railway journey.
P. A. ANTHONY.
General Manager, F.M.3. H:ys.
THROUGH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
FEDERATED MALAY STATES
AND
SIAMESE STATE RAILWAYS.
THROUGH TRAIN .SERVICE BETWEEN THE PRINCIPAL STATIONS.
Stations.
Bangkok
Time.
Singapore
Time.
DOWN,
A
i."
S
Bangkok Noi ...dep.
Chumphon ... arr.
7 oo
IQ 06
:::
I Mondays
^^'ednesdays
Fridays
,, ...dep.
Tung Song ... arr.
„ ...dep.
7 00
17 22
6 15
;:;
'• Tuesdays
)
Thursdays
Saturdays or
Sundays
Padang Besar ... arr.
13 52
2 12 p.m.
,, ...dep.
Alor Star . . . arr.
30,.
4 47 .-
'- Wednesdays
Fridays
Mondays
,, ...dep.
5 3 .,
Penang arr.
8 50 ,,
dep.
8 a.m.
Kuala Lumpur arr.
5 22 p.m.
^ Thursdays
Saturdays
Tuesdays
„ dep.
8 30 „
Singapore
(Tank Road) arr.
S 16 a.m.
Fridays
Sundays
Wednesday s
A — A Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Bangkok Noi to Padang
Besar and from Prai to Johore Bahru and a Sleeping Saloon from Kuala Lumpur to
Johore Bahru.
B—A Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Prai to Johore Bahru anil
a Sleeping Saloon from Kuala Lumpur to Johore Bahru.
Stations.
Bangkok
Time.
Singapore
Time.
DOWN.
Singgora ...dep.
Padang Besar ... arr.
6 00
9 "
9 31 a.m.
,, ...dep.
Alor Star ... arr.
lo 3 ..
12 15 p.m.
- Tuesdays Thursdays
Saturdays
II ...dep.
Penang arr.
,, dep.
Kuala Lumpur arr.
II dep.
2 50 II
6 33 „
8 a.m.
6 22 p.m.
8 30 ,,
)
[- Wednesdays Fridays
)
Stuidays
Singapore
(Tank Road) arr.
S 16 a.m.
Thursdays Saturdays
Mondays
A Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Prai to Johore Bahru and
sleeping Saloon from Kuala Lumpur to Johore Bahru.
Through Train Service between the principal stations— con iif.
Stations.
Singapore Bangkok
i Time. Time.
UP. !
Singapore '•
(Tank Road) dep. 7 o p.m.
Kuala Lumpur arr. 6 45 a.m.
...dep.l 8 o „
.. arr.l 6 23 p.m.
,.dep. , 2 25 „
'. arr.l 6 30 ,,
..dep.t 7 o a.m.
. arr. 9 i
.dep.
l^enang...
Alor Star
Padaiig Besar.
Tung Song
Chumphon
.. arr.
.dep.
,. arr.
.dep.
Bangkok Noi ... arr.
8 53
9 50
17 21
7 36
17 56
6 45
19 14
D
Saturdays
r Sundays
Mondays
Tuesdays
C
]Mondays
Tuesdays
Wednesdays Fridays
D
Wednesdays
Thursdays
Thursdays Saturdays
\ Wednesdays Fridays
\ Thursdays Saturdays
Sundays or
Mondays
Tuesdays
C—.\ Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Johore Bahru to Prai and
from Padang Besar to Bangkok Noi and a Sleeping Saloon from Johore Bahru to
Kuala Lumpur.
/)— A Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Johore Bahru to Prai and
a Sleeping Saloon from Johore liahru to Kuala Lumpur.
Stations.
Singapore
Time.
Bangkok
Time.
UP.
Singapore
(Tank Road) dep.
Kuala Lumpur arr.
,, dep.
7 p.m.
6 45 a.m.
£ ,.
Saturdays
|- Sundays
Mondays Wednesdays
Tuesdays Thursdays
Penang arr.
, dep.
.Mor Star ... arr.
6 23 p.m.
7 25 a.m.
II 6 „
)
,, ...dep.
Padang Besar... arr.
„ .. dep.
Singgora ... arr.
II 15 >.
I 10 p.m.
12 50
'4 30
17 46
- Mondays
Wednesdays Fridays
.\ Restaurant Car is attached to these trains from Johore Bahru to Prai and a
"Sleeping Saloon from Johore Bahru to Kuala Lumpur.
Passengers require to change trains at Padang Besar in either direction.
.Accommodation is available in the Rest Houses at Alor Star, Tung Song and
Chumphon, and application should be made direct to the Lessee as far in advance as
possible.
Tariff at Tung Song and
Chumphon.
Tcs. st^s.
F-arly morning tea 5°
Breakfast i 5°
Tiffin 2 00
Dinner 2 50
I Tical = IS. Zd.
100 Satongs = I Tical.
Tariff at Alor Star.
cts.
50
60
Bedroom
F.arly morning tea
Breakfast
Tiffm
Dinner
$1 = 2S. ^d.
100 cts. = 1 dollar.
Each room at Tung Song and Chumphon Rest Hou.ses contains two beds and the
charge is Tcs. 2 per person per night, but if a passenger wishes to reserve a room
for himself he will be charged Ics. 4 per night. ''•- ' - — ~ •"" »-"-«™' "'-
k room for each passenger, if possible.
The Lessee will, however, provide
FEDEIJATED IVIALAY STATES RAgLWAYS.
'9
THE FEDERAL CAPITAL OF THE STATES,
AND
» » *
[©derate and Fixed Tariff.
Inclusive Terms from $6 (14s.) per day.
Lift.
Electric Light and Electric Fans.
Higt-class Resiaurant adjoining
NO GRATUITIES.
For tariff and other particulars apply to the
TRAFFIC MANAGER,
Federated Malay States Railways,
KUALA LUMPUR.
PAPERS ON MALAY SUBJECTS
[Publisbed by direction of the Government of the Federated
Malay States.]
COMPLETE SERIES.
R. J. WILKINSON, F.M.S., Civil Service,
General Editor.
LITERATURE.
I. Romance, History and Poetry...
II. Literature of Folk-lore, etc....
III. Proverbs and Letter-writing ...
LAW.
I. Introductory Sketch
II. The Ninety-nine Laws of Perak
by R. I. Wilkinson
„ R. O. Winstedt
,, R. J. Wilkinson
by R. J. Wilkinson
„ J- Rigby
LIFE AND CUSTOMS.'
I. Incidents of Malay Life by R. J. Wilkinson
II. Circumstances of Malay Life ,, R. O. Wmstedt
HI. Amusements ,, R.J.Wilkinson
INDUSTRIES.
I. .\rts and Crafts
II. Hunting, Fishing and Trapping
III. Rice Planting
by R. O. Winstedt
,, R. O. Winstedt
,, G. E. Shaw
HISTORY.
I. Malay History, and II. Notes on Perak by R. J. Wilkinson
III. Perak Council Minutes, 1877-1879 ... ,, C. W. Harrison
IV. ,, ,, „ 1880-1882 ... „ R. J. Wilkinson
V. Notes on Negri Sembilan , R.J.Wilkinson
SUPPLEMENTARY.
Tnv: Aboriginal Tribes
(SECOND SERIES.)
I. elebu
II. Sri Menanti
III. A Vocabulary of Central Sakai
IV. Some Malay Poisons
by R. J. Wilkinson
by A. Caldecott
„ R. J. Wilkinson
,, R. J. Wilkinson
,, J. D. Gimlett
Price : $1 (2s. ^d.) each.
OLD TIN WORKINGS.
KtKayrimm-
AN
ILLUSTRATED GUIDE
TO THE
FEDERATED
MALAY STATES.
Editor :
CUTHBERT WOODVILLE HARRISON,
MALAYAN CIVIL SERVICE.
jfllustrutions in (Tolonr bn
Mrs. H. C. 15AKNARD.
y^otogr.ipljs by
KLEINGROTHE AND OTHERS.
PUBLISHED BY PERMISSION.
THE ^r.\LAY STATES INFORMATION AGENCY,
88, Cannon Street, London, E.C. 4.
Ml right i renrutd.
IMUCE 2,0 XLT.
" Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadow'd liver)' of the burnish'd sun,
To whom I am a neighbour and near bred."
Merchant of Venice.
PS
H>J.f ^
i9lo
ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR.
FACING
Old Tin Workings ...
Title
Gunong Bubu from Krian ...
• page 39
Kramat To' Bidan, Gugup
• ■ „ 42
The Valley of the Perak from " The Cottage " .
50
The Larut Plain and Estuary from the Hills
. ,, 53
A Coast Village
.. „ 172
Malay Eating House
.. „ 208
465SG0
LIBRiRY
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Nibong Teljal. — Boundary between British and
Malay Territory
Wheel raising Water
Sugar-cane Plantation
Chinese Open-cast Tin Mine near Kamunting ...
Waterfall and Filter Beds, Tai ping
The British High Commissioner's Residence, and
the Malay Council Chamber, Kuala Kangsar
Procession of Elephants, Kuala Kangsar ...
At Padang Rengas, Perak. Mounting Elephants
to go to Menggelunchor
Menggelunchor
Elephants carrying Panniers
On the Perak River, near Blanja Ferry
Chinese Temple — Ipoh Limestone Caves
Aborigines (Sakai) with Blowpipe...
Station Road, Ipoh ...
Malay Houseboats on Pahang River at Kuala
Li pis
(government Offices, Kuala Lumpur
Golf in Tai ping
The British Residency-General, Kuala Lumpur..
Coffee in Fruit (Liberian variety) ...
Planter's House near Seremban, 191 7
Split Coconuts drying for Copra ...
Burning off Felled Jungle preparatory to Planting
Para Rubber Plantation. — ^12- and 15-year old
Trees
Path through a Pepper Plantation...
Ficus Elastica (Getah Rambong). — A Native
Rubber Tree ...
Fishing Staked at Sea
Malacca Malay Woman
Javanese Woman
A Malay Lady of Noble Birth ...
The River Perak at Kuala Kangsar
On the Kuala Kubu-Kuala Lipis Road
Motor Service — Kuala Kubu-Kuala Lipis
The Lake and Gardens, Kuala Lumpur
Nursery of Young Para Rubber and 6-year-old
Para Rubber Trees
Hill Stream in Jungle
Through the Hills ...
Chinese Tin Mine, Kampar
Hydraulic Jet washing down Hillside for Tin Ore
page
26
3«
39
42
44
62
66
07
69
70
73
75
7.S
76
84
89
92
97
lOI
105
154
i5«
159
162
174
201
201
209
21 1
214
214
216
220
235
258
288
291
CONTENTS.
— ♦ —
L
THROUGH THE MALAY PENINSULA FROM
NORTH TO SOUTH.
Pages I to 113.
II.
NOTES FOR TRAVELLERS.
Pages 114 to 203.
III.
HINTS FOR MOTORISTS.
Pages 204 to 220.
IV.
BIG GAME SHOOTING.
Pages ... ... ... ... 221 to 245.
V.
MUSEUMS.
Pages ... ... ... ... 246 to 277.
VI.
MINING.
I'ages 27810311.
VII.
APPENDICES.
P-iges^ 31210341.
VIII.
INDEX.
Pages 343^0352.
IX.
MAP.
igio. First Impression, 3,200 copies,
igii. Second Impression, j,200 „
ip20. Third Impression, 4,000 „
N(3TE.
Part I. and Part III. of this book describe the Maiay
Peninsula from North to South, from Penang to Singapore.
Anyone travelling in the opposite direction must begin at
the end and read backwards, but the stream of winter
travellers usually leaves America and Europe in autumn
for Egypt, India, Ceylon, Japan and onwards, and a slight
diversion, after Colombo, at Penang will save the unin-
teresting voyage through Malacca Strait, make a break in
seafaring, offer land travel through a country now little
known to the usual tourist, and bring the traveller out at
Singapore into the main stream again.
Tnanks are due to Messrs. Kelly and Walsh, of Singapore,
and to Mr. Kleingrothe, photographer, and to others for
permission to reproduce photographs.
C. W. H.
December, igig.
I
THROUGH THE MALAY PENINSULA
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH.
By CUTHBERT WOODVILLE HaRRISON.
It has become nowadays so easy and so common a
venture to cross the world that the simple circum-
navigation of the globe " merely for wantonness " is
ver)' rapidly ceasing to be in fashion. But as the
rough places of the earth become smooth to travellers,
and they no longer fear " that the gulfs will wash us
down," there is growing amongst them a disposition to
dwell awhile in those lands whose climate and inhabi-
tants most differ from ours. The more completely
such places are strange to us the more do they attract
us, and the more isolated they have lived hitherto, the
more do we feel called upon to visit them now.
To some temperaments it is matter for regret,
perhaps, that the dark places of the earth are now so
rapidly being lit up. Even Malaya, the land of
the kris, the piratical prahu, and the bloody and
treacherous Malayan people, " folke ryghte felonouse
Illustrated Guide to
and foule and of cursed kynde," has now become a
quiet middle of the world, has lost^all opportunity of
" most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field ;
Of hairbreadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach :
Of being taken by the insolent foe
And sold to slavery ; "
Matter of regret, perhaps, to some, but to most
people, and more particularly to those who live there,
it is matter for very profound satisfaction. Over one
thousand miles of railway and two thousand five
hundred miles of road deal shrewd blows at romance,
it is true, but after all, there are very few
temperaments nowadays which really crave after
being sold into slavery by insolent foes. This
kind of uncomfortable romance, involving a con-
tinual series of moving accidents, is somewhat
blown upon, and people seem to prefer something a
little less strenuous. We travel nowadays far more
often and far further than our ancestors, but we
do not, as they say they did, hanker for hardships.
We like to see new countries, new peoples and
new ways of living, but we like a little comfort
thereto, and we like to know that we shall be as
reasonably safe in person and property as may
be. In the Federated Malay States we are sure
of all these things, and the country does not lose
attractiveness from that fact. We are not so
sure of it in other Oriental lands in these times.
There is no unrest in Malaya. The country is
perfectly quiet and the people contented. The object
The Federated 7\{alay States. 3
of all classes in British Malaya is not to covet other
men's goods nor to desire other men's positions
in life, but still to labour truly to get their
own living. Neither Malays nor Chinese are of
a litigious nature. The Malays especially have a
strong contempt for the hedge-lawyer, and, as
Muhammadans, sedition is especially abhorrent to
them. It is a very rich country, full of valuable
mineral deposits, and also one of those gardens
of earth which when tickled laughs itself into
harvest. The people in it are either connected
with the tin industry or the planting industry.
If they are foreign to the soil their object is
to make a fortune from it and retire home ;
if they are native Malays their object is to
continue in that state of peasant proprietorship
in which they have always so far found a
sufficient happiness. There is no street in any town
which is not perfectly safe for Europeans who conduct
themselves properly, but, as elsewhere, if people
insist on prying into the dark and unsavoury places
which exist all the world over in every considerable
town, and there get into trouble, they will have only
themselves to blame.
The country roads, too, are perfectly safe —
occasionally one hears of dacoities, known to the
local penal code as gang-robberies, but these are
usually attacks on persons who foolishly carry about
large sums of money without police protection. The
Chinese population provides such 2ang-robbers as
there are, but it is pretty certain that no one is
Ilhistrated Guide to
held-up by them without their having information
beforehand that the venture is worth while.
Nobody goes about armed to the teeth or prepared
for desperate deeds. The Malay population is not
allowed to carry the kris any longer and the Chinese
have never gone armed. The good old days of
Malayan romance, when all the men were pirates
and all the women princesses, have yielded to a
time of peacefulness, very grateful to the modern
traveller and very discouraging to the swashbuckler
of old.
You will not find servility, but you will find that
more valuable quality a universal and ready dis-
position to oblige you merely because you are an
orang puteh, and because, happily for your present
comfort and pleasure, the white people whom these
Asiatics have known have treated them vvrith courtesy
and kindliness. The white man has a good name
amongst the other races here, and one hopes that
travellers of the white race will be sensible enough
not to resent being asked to remember that fact in
their passing. Courtesy and restraint of manner is
far more usually practised in the leisurely East than
in the hustling West, and life in the East, and travel
there, are most noticeably made more pleasant by
receipt and exercise thereof.
Up to some thirty years ago those of the Native
States of the Malay Peninsula which are no-,v the
Federated Malay States, had little or no dealings
with the civilisations lying east and west of them.
They were unknown to history, scarce visited by
The Federated Malay States.
other races, except the Chinese, heard of only as the
wild lands forming the hinterland of Penang, Malacca,
and Singapore. Anyone who entered them did so at
his own risk, and if he fell into the hands of the
spoiler there was none to deliver him. Their repu-
tation in the adjoining British Colonies which had
been carved out of them was not so fearsome as it
was in the great world where they were tarred with
the same brush as the sea-robbers from the islands
of the Malay Archipelago. In the Straits Settlements
they were known certainly as places somewhat unsafe
to visit, but for treachery and blood-thirstiness they
' were never comparable to the islands further south
from which the sea-rovers came. Merely they were
shockingly misgoverned by rulers perpetually infirm of
purpose. But before we get to the present generation
of Malaya let us hark back to earlier times and attempt
to get a general view of its past.
The people who are now called the
^?n Histor^^ aborigines, that is, the Negrito and semi-
Negrito wild tribes who inhabit the
jungles, are the first inhabitants of the Peninsula known
to its history. It was with representatives of these
people that the Malays from Sumatra, about the middle
of the seventeenth century, made those covenants by
which they first obtained possession of Rembau and
other parts of what is now the State of Negri Sembilan.
But there existed even before the Negrito the pre-
historic men of whom traces are found all over the
W(jrld. Their stone implements may be seen in the
museum at Taiping. They are similar to those in
Illustrated Guide to
many another museum, but probably there are not
many other countries where one is able still to see
how precisely the axeheads were fitted to the haft.
All over Malaya, however, one may see in common
use the little iron axehead whipped on to a spring-
shaft, which is employed by all Malays and all abo-
rigines for cutting down jungle. The shape of the
little iron axehead used to-day is identical with that
of the little stone axehead used many thousand years
ago by the stone age man. Java is not far from the
Malay Peninsula, and it was in Java that the skull of
the " pithecanthropos " was discovered. It is not
the least improbable that this primitive ancestor of-
human kind used the stone axeheads shown in the
museums, and if he did it is practically certain that
he whipped them on with rattan to a light shaft
precisely as the Negritos and the Malays do to-day
with their little beliong. As a tool to be wielded by
a small man not overstrong and disinclined for severe
exertion the beliong is ideal, and probably Malaya
has to thank neolithic man for the invention. But
this leads us away from the history of men to
the history of man's implements and we must
return to our Negritos. There are several divisions
recognised, but the generic terms by which these
wild tribes are usually called are vSemang or Sakai.
As is remarked in the official "Papers on Malay
Subjects '' :
T/ie Peninsula presents us with a curious historical
museum shoivins; everv grade of primitive culture. It
gives us the hitmbk Negrito, ivho has nof learnt to till
Tlie Federated Malay States.
the ground but wanders 07>er the coiaitry and lives from
hand to mouth on the ^rodticts of the jungle. It gives
us the same Neg7-ito after he has learnt the rudivients
of art and agriculture from his Sakai neighbours. It
gives us the Sakai who grows certain simple fruits and
vegetables and is nomadic in a far slighter degree tha?i
the primitive Sejnang, for a man who plants is a man
7uho lives some time i?i one place and therefore may
find it worth his while to Mdld a more substantial
dwelling than a mere shelter for a ?iight. Here,
however, pi-imitive culture stops. Even the man who
has learnt to plant a crop i?i a clearing must abandon
his home when the soil begins to be exhausted. The
boundary betwee?i pritnitive culture and civilisation
cannot be said to be reached until habitations become
really per jnanent and until a cojnparmtively small area
can support a large population. lliat boimdary is
crossed wheti a people learn to renew the fertility of land
by irrigation^ by manuring, or I>y a p?-oper systejn of
7-otation of a'ops. The Malays with their system of
rice planting — the irrigated rice, not hill rice — have
crossed that boundary. But no Sakai trit'C outside the
.Vegri Sembilan has ever done so.
The Sakai and Semang may be called the living
monuments of the country. In other relics of
antiquity it is very poor. The traces of its earliest
civilisation are best described, again in the " Papers on
Malay Subjects," as follows : —
Ancient i7isa-iptions have been found in Kedah,
in tlie northern district of Province Wellesley, in the
central district of Province Wellesley, and in the
8 JlJmirated Guide to
Island of Singapore. Thai in Kedah has been completely
deciphered : it is a Buddhist formula such as might
have been written up in the cell or cave of an ascetic.
That in the north of Frovince Wellesley rcas carved on
a pillar that seemed to form part of a little temple :
it has not been completely deciphered^ but from the form
of the written character it is believed to date back to
the year 400 A.D., and to be the oldest inscriptioti in
this part of the world — unless, indeed., the Kedah
writing is slightly more ancient. TJie rock carvings at
Cheroh Tokun near Bukit APertajam belong to various
ages and are too worn away to be read in co7inccted
sentences ; but the oldest seems to go back to the fifth cen-
tury a7id another to the sixth century A.D. As the
monument in Singapore was blown up by the Public
Works Department in order to make room for some
town improvements it is tio longer available for study,
but from a rough copy made before its destmction it
appears to have been in the ancient Kawi character of
fava or Sumatra. It probably dates back to the thir-
teenth or fourteenth century, A.D. Another inscription,
presumably of the sa7ne class, is to be seen at Pulau
Karimim, near Si?igapore.
Near Pangkalan Kempas, on the linggi river, there
are a number of b}-oken monuments which, though they
seem to be of comparatively recent date, are of con-
siderable interest. On a curious four-sided pillar there
are four inscriptions, ttvo in clear-cut Arabic and tivo
in the fainter lettering of an unknown script. Below
these inscriptions there is a circular hole cut right
through the pillar^ and fust large enough to permit of
The Federated Malay States.
the passage of a man's arm — // is indeed believed that
this pillar (which has been much used Jor oaths and
ordeals) will tighten round the ar?n of any man who is
rash enough to swear falsely ivhen in its power. Near
this pillar is another cut stone on which the lettering
of some old non-Arabic inscription cafi be dimly seen.
As there are many other fragments of carved stone that
go to make up the kcrajnat or holy place of which the
inscriptions form part., the Malays have invented a
legend that these momiments represent the petrified
property of an ajicient saint — his spoon, his sword and
his buckler. Muhammadan zeal seems also to have
carved the holy name of Allah on the sword of the
saint, and to have cofwerted the first line of the inscrip-
tions into the well-knoivn forfnula, '"'■In the Name of
God, the Merciful, the Cot?ipassionate.^' Fragments
of other monuments may be seen lying low in the sivamp
near which this Linggi kcramat is built tip.
Besides these inscriptiofis traces of ancient non-
Malavan civilisations have beeti found : (i) In some
curl JUS old brofizes, resembling bells, that have been dug
up at Klang, in Selangor : (2) in a little bronze image
of a zualking buddha that was discovered in a Tanjong
Rarnbutan mine at a depth of some sixty feet below the
surface : (3) in an old Bernam tomb beautifully coti-
structcd of thin slabs of stone and containing some
broke7i pottery and three coriielian beads, and (4) in
pottery and iron tools that are continually being met
with in old mining 'workings. More impressive,
however, tha?i any of these small relics are the galleifes,
slopes and shafts of the old mines at Selinsing ifi
Illustrated Guide to
Pahang — the work of a, race that >/iiist have possessed
no small degree of mechanical skill. , Who tvere the men
who left these retnains ? If it be true (as the condition
of the Selinsifig workings seems to suggest) that the
mines were suddenly abandoned in the very midst of the
work that luas being do?ie, such a fact would lend
fiirther support to the natural conjecture that the miners
were foreign adventurers who exploited the wealth of
the Fe?iinsula arid did not make the country their
permanent home. The Malays say that these alien
mitiers were ^^ men of Siam.^^ Is this true? Students
are apt to forget that ^^ men of Siam^'' seven or eight
centuries ago, would refer to the great and highly
civilised Cambodian race who occupied the valley of the
Menam before the coming of the " Thai " from whom
the p?-esent Siamese are descefided. It is therefore
probable enough that the Malays are right, and that
the mining shafts of Selinsing are due to the people who
built the magnificent temples of Angkor. Further
evidence, if such evidence is needed, may be found in
the fact that the Sakai of certain parts of Pahang use
?iu?nerals that are neither Siamese nor Malay nor true
Sakai, but Mo7i-Kh7ner.
The general conclusion to be drawji from the traces
of a7icie7it culture iji the Pe7ii7isula is that the southern
portio7is of the country zvere ofte7i visited but 7iever
7-eally occupied by a7iy civilised race tmtil the Malays
came i7i A.D. 1400. Such a co7iclusio7i would 7iot,
however, be true of the Northern States, of Kedak,
Kela7itan, T7-ang a7id Si7igg07-a. There tve find U7i-
doiihted evide7ice of the existe/ice of poive7\ful Buddhist
The Federated Malay States.
States like that of Langkasuka, the kingdom of
Alang-kah suka, or of the Golden Age of Kedah, still
remembered as a fairyland of Malay ro^nance. This
Langkasuka was a very ancient State indeed. It is
mentioned in Chi?iese records as Langgasu as far back
as A.D. 500, and zvas then reputed to be four centuries
old ; it appears (in Javanese literature) as one of the
Kingdoms overcome by Majapahit in A.D. iT)']'] : its
naf fie probably survives to this day in the " Langkawi '
islands off the Kedah coast. But the ancient States of
Northern Malaya lie outside the scope of this pamphlet ;
they are interesting to us because they probably sent
small mining colonies to the south and thus claimed
some sort of dominion over the ?-est of the Peninsula.
The great Siamese invasion changed all that. By
crushing the northern States during the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries A.D. it ruined their little southern
colonies and left the territories of Fcrak, Johor,
Malacca and Pahang a me?\' no-ma?island that the
Malays from Sumatra could occupy without resistance.
The coming of the ?klalays to the Peninsula cannot
be dated by archreologlcal remains of any kind, but
it seems to be established from tradition that, leaving
Palembang in Sumatra, some Malays settled in
Singapore about 1360 A.D. under Sang Nila Utama.
The latest authoritative account of this settlement
describes the ancient kingdom of Singapore or
Tamasek as a mere offshoot of the State of Palembang,
wliich did not last for any length of time but came
to a sudden and terrible end in the year of the great
Javanese invasion, 1377 .\.r). The legends connected
Illustrated Guide to
with the fall of the city of Singapore on this occasion
suggest that it was effected with terrible bloodshed.
The fugitive Malays from Singapore fled to
Malacca, and by 1405 A.D. had established there a
kingdom sufficiently important to send envoys to
China and to be recognised^ by that nation. From
the earliest times, even as early as 454-464 A.D.
until 1509 A.D., when the Portuguese from the West
appeared, there is no doubt that the nation which
most impressed the Malays with a sense of its power
and riches was China, and the Malays of those early
days doubtless regarded China in much the same
light as their descendants do Europe to-day. For a
hundred years ]SIalacca seems to have had a peace-
able existence, disturbed at last in 1509 by the
arrival of Admiral Diego Lopez de Sequeira. Though
the first Portuguese enterprise was not a success, in
1 511 the attack under Alfonso de Albuquerque, the
great Viceroy of India, finally gave the Portuguese
the complete control of the Straits of Malacca, and
consequently of the trade all along the West
Coast of the Malay Peninsula, but the inland parts
remained inaccessible, and the Portuguese made no
attempt to penetrate them. The unfortunate Malay
dynasty of the kings of Malacca seems to have
led a very uncomfortable existence, ,for they were
continually harried by the Portuguese, and perpetu-
ally compelled to shift up and down the Peninsula.
The strangers who had come from the West routed
them out of every settlement as soon as it began
to look like a menace to the Portuguese powe'-
The Federated Malay States. 13
But the Portuguese themselves were being attacked
by the Dutch. In 1606 the Dutch fleet bombarded
Malacca and nearly captured it and in 1641 the city
finally fell. On this occasion the Malays assisted the
Dutch from Johor, where the Malay kingdom had
managed to raise its head again as the Portuguese
power waned. Holland dominated the Malay East
from 1 64 1, but made no attempt to do more than
maintain trading settlements. Some poor adminis-
tration of the Peninsula was carried on by the
Malay princes in Pahang, Johor and Perak.
It was about this time that a band of Malays
from Sumatra effected a peaceful penetration to the
hinterland of Malacca and established themselves, a
highly democratic community, in what is now the
Negri Sembilan. These were a remarkable people.
They seem to have fraternised with the wild tribes
they found in the country, and to have settled down
to possess it both without fighting to get it and without
fighting to keep it. Probably their numbers and
organisation were too formidable for Peninsular Malay
princes to molest. Besides this these princes began to
be harried by the far more warlike Bugis Malays from
the Malay Archipelago, and though the Dutch
supported them against the Bugis the struggles between
the two were absorbing.
In 1826 the British had defeated
BHtish°Controi ^^^ Dutch and were firmly seated in
Singapore, Penang, Malacca and the
Dindings, and in that year concluded with Siam a
Treaty which recognised this British position. The
14 Illustrated Guide to
same Treaty recognised the State of Kedah and the
more northerly States as Siamese, threw open to com-
merce by British and Siamese the apparently inde-
pendent States of Kelantan and Tringganu, and
specifically left the government of the State of Perak
to its Malay ruler. From this date until 187 1 the
British refrained from any intervention in the Malay
hinterlands of the British Settlements, with one excep-
tion, when an expedition was sent in 1832 to I he
interior beyond Malacca and there succeeded . in
acquiring territory necessary to insure the safety of
that town.
In 1867 the East India Company ceased to ad-
minister the British Settlements in the Straits of
Malacca, and the Crown Colony system came into
existence there. The new Government found itself
at last forced to take measures beyond its own borders
to check first the piratical enterprises fitted out in
Malay territory and second the anarchy in that terri-
tory which nurtured and fostered piracy. The two
States of Perak and Selangor had at this time an evil
pre-eminence over the State of Pahang and the State
*now called Negri Sembilan. The younger Malays in
Selangor at this time suffered from a superfluity of
naughtiness, and not only tried to make their Malay
Government, under the Regent Tunku Dia Udin,
acting for an aged Sultan, impotent, but also indulged
themselves in piracies to the detriment of British
subjects. The first act of which the British took
severe notice was a piracy near Kuala Selangor. For
this the Malays in the old Dutch fort — still remaining
The Federated Malay States. 15
as the crown of a beautiful village — were shelled by
H.M.S. Rinaldo. The Malays specifically brought
this upon themselves, but their general misgovernment
so crippled trade and intercourse between Malay and
British territory, that on a protest and request for
definite British action from the British trading com-
munity the Straits Government sent an oflicer to in-
vestigate the position up country. He visited Selangor
and went on to Perak. In Selangor he confirmed the
existence of a practical anarchy combined with some
desire on the part of the more responsible Malays for
British intervention. In Perak he found a state of
civil war prevailing amongst the Chinese in the tin
mines of Larut and a dispute in the Malay reigning
family as to which member of it was really
Sultan.
Very shortly after the visit of this officer the Regent
of Selangor, not content with tending the boiling pot
there, moved over into the Negri Sembilan and
laid claim to part of it. This caused the rulers to
complain to the British and to ask for protection
against the pretensions of Selangor. So here the
British Government had the alarming position on the
western side of the Peninsula forced upon its notice,
and British intervention, of one kind or another —
armed punitive, or peacefully penetrative — became
inevitable. Definite action was, however, avoided,
though the Governor of the Settlements, Sir Harry
Ord, shortly before retiring, visited both Negri
Sembilan and Selangor, and gave pacific advice to all
parties.
i6 Illustratea Guide to
No real change took place in the situation, until,
in 1873, the new Governor, Sir Andrew Clarke,
brought out with him from the British Government
at home definite instructions to employ such influence
as Great Britain possessed with the Malay Princes to
rescue " these fertile and productive countries from
the ruin which must befall them if the present dis-
orders continued unchecked." Fertile of feuds and
productive of piracy so far, the Malay States — or at
least their rulers, for the commonalty were nothing
accounted of — were now to realise that the good old
days of rapine, lust, murder, bankruptcy, stagnation,
debt-slavery and all other ill results of incompetent
government must end. The realisation took some
time. During 1873 the Chinese had maintained a
struggle of factions in Larut, which involved the
British in employing gunboats and a small force of
Indians specially recruited under a British officer.
Captain Speedy, to help the Sultan's representative,
the Mantri of Larut. It was noj until June 20th,
1 8 74, that the Perak chiefs, who were still quarrelling
over the succession to the Sultanate, signed the
Pangkor Treaty. The Treaty of Pangkor provided
that the Sultan of Perak, who, according to the British,
was the Raja Muda Abdullah, son of the last un-
disputed Sultan, should " receive and provide a suit-
able residence for a British officer, to be called
Resident, who shall be accredited to his court, and
whose advice must be asked and acted upon
in all questions other than those touching Malay
religion and custom " ; and it further provided that
The Federaied Malay States. 17
" the collection and control of all revenues and the
general administration of the country be regulated
under the advice of the Resident."
Hardly had the Governor concluded the Treaty of
J'angkor for Perak, when he had to intervene for
Selangor. Here the young bloods of the royal family,
whose seat was on the Langat (or Jugra) River, had
pirated a boat belonging to British subjects of
Malacca, " a boyish ebullition of spirits," in the
opinion of the Sultan. Sir Andrew visited the Sultan.
He quite agreed that piracy must be ended, promised
lo have the pirates caught ; did, in effect, so arrange,
and duly sent a trustworthy kris of his own with which
they were executed after the Malay fashion. This
consists in inserting the point of a long, straight kris
at the side of the neck near the collarbone and exer-
cising a vertical pressure upon it until it reaches and
pierces the heart.
In November, 1874. more definite control by the
British was inaugurated by the appointment of British
Residents, with Assistant Residents, to Perak and to
Selangor, and an Assistant Resident to the Malay
territory now called Negri Sembilan. These appoint-
ments, though the necessary sequence of the Treaty
of Pangkor, were to the bad old ruling classes in
Perak entirely unwelcome, and it was not long before
their opposition began to show. They had put up
with passing visits from Governors, passing visits from
officials and passing tours by a Commission, but the
abiding presence of a Pritish Resident, active, pene-
trating, keen and fearless, as was Mr. J. \V. W. I^ircli,
Illustrated Guide to
ihey took very much amiss. In May, 1875, the new
Governor, Sir William Jervois, visited Perak, saw the
Sultan and the chiefs and decided that far from
allowing the power of the Resident to rust for want of
use it was necessary to burnish it anew. To this end
he prepared, and caused the Sultan of Perak to sign,
a proclamation by which the Residents became Com-
missioners with increased powers. The best narrative
of the result of this action is contained in one of Sir
Frank Swettenham's books. Succinctly put, it
resolved itself into the assassination on November
2nd, 1875, by the Perak Malays, of the Resident,
Mr. J. \V' . W. Birch, at Pasir Salak on the river Perak,
whither he had gone to distribute and post up the
proclamation. The Assistant Resident, Mr. F.
Swettenham, escaped the same fate by the narrowest
of margins. The Governor from Singapore sent
orders to Penang for the despatch of a small force to
strengthen the escort which had accompanied Mr.
Birch, but it proved inadequate to the suppression of
what had become a general disturbance, and finally
the best part of two thousand troops were brought
into operation and were successful in catching some of
the murderers and generally in forcing order upon the
country. For the ruling caste of the Malay, this
assassination proved the worst investment, for it
resulted in the banishment of Sultan Abdullah with
three of his principal chiefs, the hanging of three
other chiefs, vi-ho were directly concerned, and the
mprisonment for life of yet others not so closely
implicated. The military forces were eventually
The Federated Malay Sta/e$, 19
withdrawn entirely in favour of an armed police and
never since have the Malays of Perak shown the
slightest restiveness under what is really Eritish
rule.
It was fortunate for the British that the events in
Perak did not set the whole country in revolt, but it
must be rem.embered that the Perak chiefs struck for
their own hands alone, and had not the bulk cf the
population with them. The lower orders among
Malays have ever been and are still desirous of peace
and a quiet life, and it must have been of little
moment to them whether the British or their own
rulers collected the taxes and ruled the country, so
long as neither collection nor ruling were overdone.
Thus, beyond a flare-up in the Negri Sembilan, put
down with a heavy hand at once, nothing happened
outside Perak, and the three Western States have
reposed in unshaken peace ever since, with no
political history worth mention.
The Eastern State, however, Pahang, set apart by
nature from the rest of the Peninsula by a long chain
of high mountains, covered with dense forest and
fenced about against the trading world by the China
Sea breakers on its shallow river bars, remained a
purely Independent Malay State until 1881, as
Kelantan and Tringganu did until 1909. But in
1 88 1 its Sultan not only connived at certain ill-treat-
ment of a British subject of Chinese origin, but
refused satisfaction when this was demanded. Advice,
however, from his royal cousin of Johore, induced
him to give way and even to ask for a British
I/h/straied Guide io
Resident. Such an officer was accordingly appointed.
Anyone wishing to get a good idea of life in Pahang
at the foot of the throne in those days should cqnsult
the books of Sir Hugh Clifford, who was Assistant
Resident. In Pahang the same causes brought
about the same results as in Perak. A Malay faction
headed by important chiefs and possibly expectant of
the active sympathy of the Sultan, raised a rebellion,
known as the Pahang disturbance. This was crushed
by means of Indian troops or armed police from the
Western States, after a dragging campaign to the
length of which the jungly characteristics of the
country and the skulking tactics of Malay warfare
contributed. Pahang then settled down again and
made no more history until, on July i, 1896, it joined
the States of Perak, Selangor and Negri Sembilan in
a treaty with Great Britain which constituted the
Federated Malay States. By this treaty all the
States accepted one *Resident-General, but retained
each its own Resident, and all bound themselves to
unite in maintaining a regular armed force for the
protection of the Federated Malay States, and if need
arose for aiding the defence of the British colony of
the Straits Settlements. Periodically the Malay
Rulers and their chiefs of the four States meet in
Federal Council their British High Commissioner
(the Governor of the Straits Settlements), their
Chief Secretar)' and their Residents, and there take
counsel for the good of their territories — a change
indeed from the days when they took counsel for
nothing but their own personal advantage and came
• Title since changed to Chief Secretary to Government.
Tlie Fcdcraicd A fa lav Sfafcs.
to conclusions very far removed from their own best
interests.
The political distinctions obtaining to-
PoUtical position • , ,r i t> • i »u
in Peninsula day in the Islalav Peninsula are rather
to-day. . . ^ ' J .,
confusing for strangers, and the asson-
ance of " Straits " and " States " does not make them
clearer. Some short explanation of them is desirable
here. The Peninsula lies between the Straits of
Malacca, on the west, and the China Sea, on the east'.
The Straits of Malacca are so called because, about
half way down them, on the Peninsula, lie the town
and territory of Malacca, in old days the only Euro-
pean settlement in the Peninsula, and indeed at one
time the whole of what is now called Malaya was
commonly known as Malacca and so appeared on the
maps. On the map attributed to Leonardo da Vinci
it is called Malaga. The Peninsula now belongs partly
to various Malay States and partly to Great Britain.
When the British had conquered Malacca town from
the Dutch, and had obtained from Malay rajas the
islands of Penang and Singapore, they named these
settlements the Straits Settlements, after the Straits of
Malacca on which they lie, and administered them first
as part of the possessions of the East India Company
and later as the Crown Colony of the Straits Settle-
ments, which name now includes all the British territory
in the Malay Peninsula. This British territory, this
" Straits Settlements," consists of : —
{a.) Penang, Prince of Wales Island and its
capital, officially known as George Town, and
Province Wellesley, Penang being an island on
Ilhisirated Guide to
the west coast at the north of the Peninsula,
and Province Wellesley, a strip of territor}' on
the Peninsula itself, opposite Penang.
(^.) The Bindings, a few small islands and
another piece of mainland opposite them, with a
magnificent deep water harbour between.
ic.) Malacca, further south, consisting of
Malacca town and a piece of the mainland of
the Peninsula.
(</.) Singapore, an island at the extreme south
of the Peninsula.
These four Straits Settlements, Penang and Pro-
vince Wellesley, the Bindings, Malacca, Singapore,
are the original and still the only British territory in the
Malay Peninsula. You will find them bordered red on
the map.
The rest of the Peninsula, bordered yellow and
green, is Malay territory, protected by Great Britain.
This Malay territory is cut up into a number of
Malay States, each under its Malay Sultan or Raja,
and their relative position can be seen on the map.
They are named Johor, Perak, Selangor, Negri
Sembilan, Pahang, Kedah, Kelantan, Tringganu, Perlis.
Of these Johor has, ever since the founding of Singapore,
been under British protection in the sense that it has
had from the British a guarantee of integrity of terri-
tory and freedom of self-administration as against any
other nation. Between 1874 and 1888 Perak, Selangor,
Negri Sembilan and Pahang became British-protected,
each receiving a British Resident. Before 1896 they
had, alm-ost insensibly, become British-administered,
The Federated Malay States. 23
and in 1896 these four States federated themselves
under a British Resident-General, but retained each
its own Resident. The Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments on that occasion took the title of High
Commissioner for the Federated Malay States.
British protection in their case means, and has meant
for some time, direct administration and complete
control, save only in matters affecting the Muhammadan
rehgion.
The Federated Malay States are denoted on the
map by a yellow band surrounding them.
In 1909 Siam ceded to Great Britain her suzerainty
over Kedah, Kelantan, Tringganu, and Perils. Great
Britain, having assumed a Protectorate over them, is
now assured of the paramountcy of the Peninsula, and
has appointed an adviser to each of these three States.
The modern name by which the vv'hole Peninsula is
known is Malaya. Not so very long ago it used to be
called " Malay."
"The flower that in the gardens of .Malay is called
the mistress of the night."
But to-day " Malaya " is used to t;x})ress the Malay
term tanah Maiayu, " Malay land " and " Malay " is
the adjective describing its inhabitants. The term
" British Malaya " is used to express the whole
sphere within which British influence is paramount,
practically tht* whole of the Peninsula, and the exact
political position to-day may be tabulated thus : —
FenanLj and Province
The Colony o\< \ Wellesley. i u,.,,;,!,
THK Straits I The Dindinf,'!i. ,,,'.,
Sf.i ri.KMKN IS. I Malacca. \ '
\ Sinjrannri-.
24
Illustrated Guide to
The
British pro-
tected and
administered,
British pro-
tected and
advised.
iPerak.
Pahang' '
/ Kedah.
Other Kekntan.
Malay States. Jj^"Jg^""'
V Perlis.
and their Governments are as follows : —
The Colony of the Straits Settlements.
His Excellency the Governor.
The Federated Malay States.
The High Commissioner.
The Chief Secretary to Government.
The British Resident of Perak.
Malay
Territory.
The British Resident of Solan ■
gor.
The British Resident of Negri
Sembilan.
The British Resident of Pa-
hang.
His Highness the Sultan of
Perak.
His Highness the Sultan of
Selangor.
His Highness the Vani Tuan
Besarofthe Negri Sembilan.
His Highness the Sultan of
Pahang.
Other Malay States.
The High Commissioner.
The British Adviser to the
Sultan of Kedah.
The British Adviser to the
Government of Kelantan.
The British Agent, Tringganu.
The British Adviser to the
Government of Perlis.
The British General Adviser to
the Government of Johor.
Prts Highness the Sultan of
Kedah.
His Highness the Sultan of
Kelantan.
His Highness the Sultan ol
Tringganu.
His Highness the Raja of
Perlis.
His Highness tlie Sultan ot
Johor.
For the Colony of the Straits Settlements there is
a Legislative (Council. For the Federated Malay
The Federated Afalay States. 25
States there is a Federal Council and for each of the
States a State Council.
Both the Colony of the Straits Settlements and the
Federated Malay States are divided up into territorial
units called districts which are administered by British
District Officers.
The traveller will fuid that for his purposes the
Federated Malay States (Perak, Selangor, Negri
Sembilan and Pahang) are best worth visiting, though
the Government railway runs through Johor, Kedah
and Perils and there are also motor roads in these
States. Neither the road nor the railway system in
these States, however, can compare with those of
the Federated Malay States, which have 732 miles
of railway and 2,344 niiles of motor rojid. This
makes them easy to visit, either from Penang or from
Singapore. From Penang, the railway runs tc
Bangkok in Siam, and thence will eventually reacli
Burma. A line is also being constructed from
Pahang through Kelantan with the same objectives.
" All very well," you say, " but how do we get to
Perak " (you are sure to call it that, but the inhabi-
tants call it Pera') and Selangor (accent the second)
and Negri Sembilan (do not call it Negri Sembilan,
for it is pronounced S'mbilan) and the other places ? "
Easily enough, for numerous lines run to Singapore
and Penang from London, Marseilles and many
another port. Certainly it is 8,000 miles or more
overseas and takes three weeks from Marseilles, but
it comes just in the middle of the grand tour between
Ceylon and Tliina or Japan and )<)u ought not to
26 I Illustrated Guide io
miss it. Yuu can rush through it in 24 hours by rail
if you like, or take the inside of a fortnight over it,
leaving one mail steamer at Penang and catching
another at Singapore or vice versa. There is no
difficulty in getting out there at all, and we may take
it for granted that you will surmount the not
very difficult voyage from Europe to Penang
whether after turning aside to India and Ceylon or
not.
Malay territory does not begin until
At Penang. Parit Buntar railway station is reached,
but a few words of instruction as to
Penang may be useful. The probable, if not the
only possible, permutations and combinations of
the traveller arriving at Penang are four onl}\
{a) Outward bound (and therefore arriving by
steamer) intending to spend one night at least
in Penang.
{b) Outward bound, intending to catch the
first available train for the Malay Peninsula
and not staying at all in Penang.
{c) Homeward bound (arriving by rail), intend-
ing to spend one night at least in Penang.
{d) Homeward bound (arriving by rail), intend-
ing to catch a steamer and not stay at all in
Penang.
We will place you in category {a) first
and imagine you arriving from sea in a liner.
Some boats go alongside Swettenham pier, some
anchor in the roads, and the latter are shortly
The Federated Malay States.
surrounded by a fleet of sampans. These little boats
look extraordinarily unsafe as they dance up and
down on the slight sea which usually prevails, but
in truth they are the safest craft in the harbour,
it being impossible to upset them and not easy
to sink them in colHsion. The agents' launch will
also come alongside and most people use that to
go ashore. You have decided to go to an hotel
and thence start the next morning by -the express
at 8 a.m. There are no difficulties in this plan.
Baggage simply accompanies its owner or the hotel
porter to the hotel and leaves with him the next
morning for the railway station. Here starts the
first " train," which is a steam launch plying between
the Island of Penang and the Malay mainland,
taking half-an-hour over the trip. You book right
through from Penang for any station between
Penang and Singapore, whether on main line or
branch lines. The regulations as to breaking
journey and other information will be found in
the passenger train service announcements, and
there are the usual arrangements for leaving luggage
for which the usual receipt is issued. If you
have any difficulty in making the porters understand
you the station master will interpret. After taking
your ticket do not wander about looking for the
railway platform. There is no such thing, its place
being taken by the jetty across the road, opposite the
booking office. At the seaward end of the jetty lies
the railway launch, and it will start to time just as a
train does. Once you hand over your luggage to the
2 8 Illustraied Guide fn
railway staff, either at the booking office or the
raihvay jetty, and see it labelled, it is safe. Its
subsequent handlings on the jetty, on to the launch,
off the launch and on to the train on the mainland do
not concern you, nor should you fee any person whom-
soever for attending to it. Moreover, it is not the
general custom here to tip raihvay porters. The
raihvay staff are forbidden to accept gratuities, as no
doubt they are also forbidden in other lands, but in
Malaya they are actually unused to receiving them,
for the practice of tipping porters is not at all general.
The unbought civility of the railway employes is
therefore the more creditable to them. The traveller
who has been in India and thence come on to Malaya
will be very agreeably surprised at the absence of
that swarm of cadging servants, porters and coolies
which makes his life a burden in many parts of India.
It will be his own fault if Malaya is so spoiled in the
future, for at present it suffers from no such curse.
If you are in category {U) you are probably in a
hurry and want to know how quickest to get from
your steamer, arrived perhaps at 6 a.m., so as to
catch the train leaving at 8 a.m. Your quickest
way is undoubtedly to put yourself and your baggage
into a sampan and make by sea towards the railway
station. You cannot well miss this. Its tower On
the sea front is the highest point of building in
Penang and has a clock in it. Land at the jetty next
to the railway jetty — they will not let you land at the
railway jetty — and have your baggage carried by
coolies on to the railway jetty, get it labelled there
The Federated Malay States. 29
and then buy your ticket at the booking office over
the way.
In category (c) you have no trouble. You and your
baggage go in rikishas to the hotel, and the hotel
people put it on board next day or whenever you leave
Penang.
But if you fall into category {cl) the way is not
smooth, for responsibility ceases for the railway when
a passenger leaves their jetty and the shipping com-
panies acknowledge none until he is on board. Our
traveller, therefore, lands on the railway jetty and
wonders what he is to do next to get on board his
steamer, either already arrived or expected. x\s the
railway w-ill not allow their jetty to be used by sam-
pans, and have, perhaps for that reason, iiot built any
steps to it to accommodate the rise and fall of the
tide, it is necessary to transport one's baggage and
one's self to some other jetty a short distance along
the sea front. This is probably best done by deliver-
ing the baggage over to the outside coolies who
frequent the railway jetty's landward end. To this the
baggage is run on small trucks by the railway porters.
The outside coolies will take your baggage to the other
jetty safely enough, especially if you are with it, and
once arrived there you should place it at the seaward
end and then arrange either te put it on the agents'
launch or to have it taken aboard by a sampan.
In the latter case you or someone must go in
charge.
We should not, however, ljlaniel)Ut rather commend
the war\ traveller who wired oi wiott; bcforc-haiKl in
30 Illustrated Guide to
an agent in Penang, say Messrs. Allen Dennys & Co.,
Cook & Sons' local goods representative, told him his
train or boat of arrival, and asked him to take over the
baggage, ship it, or train it and collect charges. That
saves all worry and mental distress in handling
baggage with a crowd of peoj^le who do not speak
your language, whose language you do not speak, and
moreover it leaves you free to run round the town of
Penang if you have any time to spare between train
and steamer.
To the experienced traveller no doubt these obser-
vations will be superfluous. But all travellers are not
experienced, and we do not want you to set foot in the
Peninsula in a state of fume and fret or to shake oft"
its mud in a fury when you are leaving it. The
directions given may save you some inconvenience.
On reaching the mainland the railway
launch runs alongside the wharf and
Southwards the passengers walk across to the
from Penang. . ^ . . n i i
waitmg tram. Paggagc is liandled by
railway porters and there is no need to
look after it, if )'0u have had it labelled in Penang.
Hand luggage will also be carried for you by porters
and you are not expected to lip ihcni. The first
twenty miles of the line and the first three-quarters of
an hour of the train are through the British territory
of Province Wellesley, a strip of land ceded l)y Kcdah
in T.798 and since that date administered from
Penang, which latter was bought from Kedah in 17S5.
To tilt; East yt.iU see the hills of the niain range
starnhnu afar off. Tlicre is little doubt lluit the \v'ord
TJie Federated Malay States. 31
Malayu, the native word for our adjective " Malay,"
is derived from the Sanskrit Malaya, a chain of
mountains, for to new arrivals the hills are the most
striking points in the first prospect of the Malay
Peninsula or of Sumatra. If you are starting on your
journey by the express in the morning you will watch
the mists lazily winding their white wreaths about the
l>lue distances. These mists represent the steam
rising from the ground as the early sun begins to
draw out the moistures left by the rain and the dew
overnight. By nine o'clock on a bright morning
tliey are all gone —
" The charm dissolves apace ;
And as the morning steals upon the night,
Melting the darkness — "
the mists get them up from their oozy beds and take
strange shapes.
" Sometime we see a cloud that's dragonish,
A vapour sometime like a bear or lion,
A lowered citadel, a pendent rock,
A forked mountain or bhic promontory
With trees upon't, that nod into the woihl
And mock our eyes with air- "
Every morning this drama of the .struggle between
the sun in splendour and the mists in strength is
witnessed. On some days in the depth of the wet
season the sun confesses defeat before entering into
action and is not seen for days. "The vapours weep
their burden to the ground " all day long and the
mists store themselves up and reserve their energies
for the next contest. P.ut they are beaten eventually,
Illustrated Guide to
and one morning after several days' heavy rain the
sun arises, chases the mists, and looks proudly upon
a world that is swept and garnished. On mornings
like this there is a keen feeling in the bright and
sparkling air, very different from the heated langour
of the later day. The distant aspects of Malaya, the
blue hills and their mists, are very reminiscent of the
English lake country and possibly also of other
countries where rain is plenty and the hills are no
great height.
As you hurry along, however interesting be the
contrasts between the clear spaces of the rice-fields,
the light groves of the coconut palms and the dim
aisles of the rubber estates, you will probably not
forget that it is near nine o'clock and you have not
had breakfast. Even should you forget the Chinese
attendant is there to remind you with his polite
enquiry as to whether you are thinking of breakfasting
this morning. On his enquiry you suddenly realise
that you are very hungry, having had nothing since
your chota hazri of the early morning. So you
order breakfast and shortly after walk along to the
restaurant car to procure it. By the time it is over
the train will have crossed the Krian river, boundary
between British and Malay territory,
Krian District, and you will be at Parit Buntar or
beyond, in the Krian district. This
wide stretch of flat land is given over almost entirely
to rice cultivation, though sugar cane, coconuts, tapioca
and rubber are also grown. But the dominant note in
the scenery is rice. As this is a product which requires
The Federated Malay States. 33
:iimual preparation of ihc fields to receive it, you
may witness it in different stages all througli the
year. From February to May the land lies fallow,
covered with a rank growth of weeds and grass hiding
the old stubble of the padi of the season before. On
through the year from May until August the peasants
are engaged in the fields, squattering about in the
water, hacking up the weed-growths in a shower of
muddy splashes, and reducing the view generally to an
extremely ugly monotonous expanse of brown mud
cut up into chequer scjuares by low long mounds
of mixed mud and weeds which serve to keep the
water on the land. The browner and the muddier it
all is the more do the hearts of the peasants rejoice,
for a good preparation of the fields means a heavy
crop to be sold to the rice mills at Kuala Kurau. In
August the " children of the padi," the young rice
plants, are taken from their nurseries and planted out
in the fields with the "goat's foot" tool and there they
flourish so exceedingly, being sure of their water supply
from the irrigation reservoir, that in a few days they,
from a light straw colour when planted out, become
first a delicate then a vivid green, a real green, a
nursery box of paints green, not the green that may be
blue. At this season the sky above them is an intense
blue with a few white clouds sailing across a bright
sun, and if you happen to cross Krian then you see it
perhaps at its best. No man can look unmoved upon
those vast sheets of grain, for they mean so much to
brown humanity. Mounds and mountains of fair
white rice for little pot-I)ellied Mat who stares at you,
34 Illustrated Guide to
naked and unashamed, uiUi liis linger in his nioiiUi ;
jewels of silver, jewels of gold and a great wedding for
his elder sister Minah ; a mind unhurdened of debt
for the head of the household ; good food to be bought
and cooked, and many a gossipy feast to be enjoyed,
for the mother; creature comfort in the way of tobacco
to smoke and betel nut to chew for the old grand-
parents. Peace and plenty, peace and plenty — here
are both in full measure, pressed down and overflowing.
The brains which plan, the minds which carry out an
irrigation scheme need never quail before the magni-
tude of the task, for sooner or later, that horn of plenty,
the irrigation canal, will gush forth its waters upon the
slime and ooze and peace and plenty will follow in
their train.
The following lines by the Director of Public Works
(Mr. R. O. N. Anderson), describe the principal
methods of rice-growing: —
"The staple food of the Orient-born
^''Ifalaya.''' inhabitants of Malaya is rice, corre-
sponding to the Occident's wheat. The
country itself ])roduces but a small portion of the total
amount consumed in it. The greatest rice-growing
area is that extending from Parit Buntar to Bagan
Serai, Alor Pcngsu and along the coast to Selinsing, in
the north of the State of Perak, where large irrigation
works have been successfully estabUshed. These
depend partly upon rain, but in a poor season, when
rain may not be plentiful, the water stored in the large
reservoir crossed by the railway between Bagan Serai
and Taiping comes to the assistance of the cultivation so
The Federated Malay States. 35
that whatever the season a crop is assured. A good
rainy season here means a bumper crop, and a poor
season will produce a good crop by the aid of water
stored in the irrigation reservoir. This rice area is
usually most beautiful in February, when the fields
are white to harvest. The irrigation works alluded
to are known as the Krian Irrigation Works and they
arc the first extensive works of the
British Methods, kind constructed by Government in
these States. I'he rivers which supply
the necessary water are the Kurau river, crossed by
the railway at Pondok Tanjong, and the Merah river
which the railway crosses near Bukit Merah station.
These two rivers unite about a mile below Bukit
Merah station, and as their combined flow in July and
August, when water is required for planting, is not
sufficient for the 70,000 acres of padi land in the
irrigation area, it was necessary to impound water
during the rainy season. A favourable place for this
purpose was found just above the junction of the
rivers where a bank about i,goo feet long, with a
concrete weir in it about 660 feet long for discharging
Hood water, has been constructed between Bukit
-Merah and ^ Bukit Berapit, thus forming a shallow
reservoir of about 10 square miles, and impounding
sufficient water to irrigate the whole area for a month,
fn big floods the long line of water falling over the
spill weir is a sight worth seeing. The bank itself
is a favourite resort of otters, and a number may often
be ^een then- in the early morning disporting them-
,':hes. Fish abound In ilu- waters and avt()ftcn seen
36 Illustrated Guide to
trying to jump the weir in the same way as sahnon
try to ascend the sahnon leaps at home. The head
sluices which control the water in the canal are in
the Kurau river at Bukit Berapit, whence the
canal, 58 feet wide at the bottom and 4 feet
6 inches deep, runs to Bagan Serai and thence to
Jalan Bharu, where it splits into two branches, one
supplying Tanjong Piandang and the other Bagan
Tiang on the coast. Other branches go to Alor
Pongsu and Selinsing, and there are about 200 miles
of distributaries. Padi planting is the favourite
occupation of the Malays, and is very suitable for
their idiosyncracies. With an assured water supply
there is little cause for anxiety about the crops, and
there is no need of prolonged labour throughout the
year. Their earnings are small from the small blocks
of about 5 acres usually allotted to one family, but
their wants are few and all the necessaries of life are
at hand. The distributing channels bring good
drinking water, well stocked with fish, to their doors.
Each house has usually a few coconut trees and
banana trees around it and poultry are numerous,
so that with a good crop of rice their wants are fully
satisfied. Only one crop is taken in the year, and
there is no need of labour between planting and
reaping, except a little weeding, which is usually done
by the women, so that the goodman of the house is
able to pursue his favourite occupation of sitting on
the top step of the ladder into his house smoking
cigarettes and dreaming. The most arduous part of
the padi planter's work is in July, when the fields are
The Federated Malay States. 37
cleared of weeds. At this time the nurseries are pre-
pared and the seeds sown. The land is flooded with
water to make clearing easy, and the weeds are cut
with an implement with a handle about 2 feet long,
with a heavy blade projecting at right angles to the
handle. They are then collected and burnt and the
land is ready for planting out the nurseries. No
manure is used, and ploughing is not often done, and
then only with a very primitive plough drawn by a
water buffalo. Each family helps its neighbour and
is in turn helped by them. The crop takes six months
to mature, and reaping usually lasts from the end of
January to the end of March. Crops are cut with a
sickle, but sometimes only the ears of grain are cut,
each one separately with a small knife carried jn the
palm of the hand.
Though the Krian irrigation scheme is
Malay Methods, the only large scheme yet carried out
by Government, there is a considerable
acreage of land in the flat portions of the numerous
valleys throughout the States planted with padi irri-
gated by channels constructed by the Malays them-
selves. They show great cleverness in locating these
watercourses without the aid of any instrument. The
water is usually led from a stream higher up the valley
and contoured down the side of a hill, but sometimes
it is brought from another watershed and it is remark-
able how the people find the correct levels, apparently
by intuition. It is usually necessary to construct a
dam across the river, from which the water is taken,
and in this work they arc very expert. ^Vith no tools
4
38 Illustrated Guide to
but an axe and a parang they construct excellent weirs
formed from logs, brushwood and stone which last
many years and hold up water to a depth of 1 5 feet.
A good specimen of such a dam may be seen close to
Grit in Upper Perak, but there are many places where
they exist. Water wheels are sometimes used for
raising the water from a river below ground level,
especially in Negri Sembilan. These wheels are built
of bamboo with radial spokes of that material with
short pieces of bamboo tubes set at an angle on the
periphery of the wheel. As the wheel is revolved by
the current of the river these tubes fill with water, and
as each one comes to the top it empties itself into a
bamboo or timber shute and is carried thence into the
distributing channel. These wheels are, however, Hable
to be damaged in floods by drifting timber and are
sometimes washed away, and as their efficiency is very
small the amount of land one wheel will irrigate is also
small.
All the various races take part in
fa Krian. cultivation. There are immense
stretches of Malay rice fields, coconuts
are grown by everyone, whilst the English and the
Chinese grow sugar, tapioca and rubber. To buy
a stick of sugar cane for a cent and eat it on
the spot is an experience. The cane, a couple of
inches thick, grows jointed every few mches ; the
joints are cut half through, snapped off and chewed
one by one, after stripping off with a knife the outer
bark. You probably have not teeth so strong and
sound as the native who puts a joint of cane into his
Kl.LIM.iiuIili;, I'hctoi/raphei-
WHEEL RAISING WATER.
GUNONG EUBU FROM KRIAN
The Federated Malay States, 39
mouth and rends off pieces to chew. So you divide
the joint with a knife down the grain into several
pieces ot convenient size and chew them. The cool
sweet juice has little taste of the sophisticated sugar
which we know, the white lump or the brown soft, but
has a slightly sub-acid flavour of its own. You need
not be told not to swallow the chewed fibre of the
cane, for you will certainly not feel the least inclina-
tion to do so. Most of the frequented roads in
Malaya, and certainly all the town streets, are con-
tinually littered with the untidy refuse of the
chewed cane, for it is a native sweetmeat in much
repute.
Hearing Parit Buntar the eye picks up, sixty miles
away from Penang, in the far Southern distance,
Gunong Bubu (Mount Fishtrap) whose twin peaks,
5,434 feet high, are usually veiled in cloud. Here
amidst his " far-folded mists and gleaming halls of
morn" lived, so runs the Malay legend, a giant who when
he would catch fish used to let down Mount Fishtrap
into the Perak river and lift it up again filled with
kicking fishes. The giant has never done this since
the day (which for Malays is beginning to date
everything) " the white man entered." Perhaps the
British Residents have never given him a licence to
fish and he has had perforce to subsist on upland fare.
It seems a shame to explain away a legend, but the
truth more prol)ably is that the top of Mount Fishtra]j
overhangs " like an umbrella," as the local Malay
will tell you, making it difficult to reach the top and
worse to leave it. Hence it has been called Fishtrap,
4 A
40 lllustraied Guide to
such being the principle upon which so many of the
ingenious Malay traps are constructed. On the very
top of the highest peak of Gunong Bubu is a trigono-
metrical survey beacon.
The last railway station in this great
Irrigation rice-growing district of Krian is Bukit
Reservoir. ° °
Merah (red hill). Here the train
passes through a small hill and runs across the
irrigation reservoir. The train runs on a bank and
on either hand are seen the gaunt shapes of dead
trees, the primeval forest killed off by the water at
its roots. In time they will all have fallen and either
have been cut up for timber or left to rot in the
water, for it is cheaper to leave them to be killed by
the water's action than to cut them down. In the
water there grows a kind of grass which seems to be
spreading and perhaps it may be later necessary to cut
it back lest it choke the reservoir. In this country
some vegetable grows everywhere. If you cut down
a tree others rush up in its place. If you clear off
every living thing, yet in a week something will still be
growing. If you cover the land with water, something
will yet grow in that. The very cement laid down in
a house will grow a green fungus if it gets a chance,
as will your boots and your clothing if you do not
wear them or air them frequently.
The peninsular trunk road passes
Krian Roads, through Parit Buntar and Simpang
Lima to Bagan Serai, then crosses the
Sungei Gedong, here tidal, but bridged, turns to the
left at Simpang Ampat and emerges from the sea-
The Federated Malay States. 41
flats, of which the whole of Krian is composed, at
the Gunong Semanggol pass. But besides this road
there are others intersecting the country as branches
of the main road, three of them straight to the coast
on the west and another north-west to the little Malay
village of Selama. As an alternative but much longer
route to Taiping we can go by road from Bagan
Serai to Selama and this for motorists is worth doing,
for once Bagan Serai has been reached the stretch of
main road between that place and Gunong Semanggol
is much the same for scenery as the section between
Parit Buntar and Bagan Serai.
The interest of the countryside fades
Beyond Krian. somewhat on leaving the Krian
district, whether by road through
the Gunong Semanggol pass or by the railway, which
leaves the Gunong Semanggol range on its west. But
at this point you are at length under the shadow of the
eternal hills, that great range of granite lying always to
the east as you go down southwards through the
Peninsula. Between Pondok Tanjong and Kamunting
there is little to be seen, the population here being
sparse owing to the fact that the conformation of the
country is a succession of small hills, foothills of the
main range, which have never proved an attractive
locality as there are no great irrigable valleys, and no
or very poor deposits of tin. At one time the Ulu
Sepetang neighbourhood was thought to be rich in
tin, silver, lead, copper and perhaps gold, but the
deposits, if they exist, have never yet been successfully
worked. It is noticeable, however, that here the
42 Illustrated Guide to
geological formation is rather unusual — a black shale
cropping up through the granite.
Between Kamunting and Taiping there
Gugup. is a road running up the Gugup valley
which is now very little used. But the
valley is easy of access from Kamunting or Taiping
by road or rail, and beautiful in spite of or because
of the fact that it has been worked for tin for many
years. On the small hills on the west of this road
are the Chinese graveyards where the dead who
mined the valley " have peace, for they rest from their
labours" overlooking the scenes of their lives'
activities. Mining has never yet been allowed on the
eastern hill-faces, so these are still jungle-covered, but
the hill-foot has all been mined and has grown up
again in patches of varied colour. Half-way along
this road is a Malay shrine, the Kramat Td Bidat?,
and a little beyond it a Chinese temple set on a hill.
The Malay shrine, perched on a knoll, derives its
sanctity from the tomb of a local saint to whom
Malays pay their vows. In the general overturning
of the valley around him the saint has been undis-
turbed, though his resting place is much lower down
in the valley than the Chinese temple. This seems
to have been placed on a spot which is clearly not
likely to be stanniferous and was perhaps designedly
so placed. It is well situated, its porch commanding
a good view of the valley. This by-road runs into
Taiping past the Convent and comes out at the gaol ;
but unless with a motor one does not approach
Taiping along this pretty valley, for the main road
The Federated Malay States. 43
and the railway, running close together, go straight
on from Kamunting to Taiping.
The town of Taiping (Chinese word —
Taiping. everlasting peace) lies on the Larut
alluvial mining field which first attracted
the Chinese, and later served as the battle ground
between opposing Chinese factions, until the arrival
of the British. For nearly fifty years this field has
been turned over and over by tin miners, till it is now
a wilderness of dumps and ponds. With the possible
exception of the centre of the town itself there is
probably not a square yard which has not either been
worked for tin or covered with over-burden. Even
in the town itself mining is still, by special permission,
going on, and were the cricket-field between the two
clubs to be pert up to auction as a mining block it
would find ready purchasers. Large areas of the
valley were until recently reckoned as exhausted, but
the perserverance of the miners has at last proved
what has been supposed for long, namely, that
underneath the old surface workings is a deeper
deposit. This is being dredged up.
The town itself is one of the most pictureque in
Malaya. Its public offices are handsome and contain
a fine State Council Chamber. The road from the
railway station, a quarter of a mile down which is
the rest house, is the boundary between the native and
the English i)arts of the town. To the north lies the
English quarter. Arriving by motor from I'enang
one runs right through it, a little country city where
houses dot a perpetual freshness of gardens. On
44 Illustrated Guide to
the south of Station Road is the Chinese town,
with broader streets than those in most Malayan
cities.
The streets are shaded by rows of the angsena tree,
which at irregular intervals burst forth into a riot of
blossoms, even moreyellow than those of the laburnum.
These it rains down in golden snow upon the streets,
providing a carpet fit for a Sultan, for yellow is the
royal colour in the East. With its golden snow, the
angsena spreads abroad an almost overpowering scent,
even more sweet than the smell of the //«a«^ blossom.
Most of the towns in Malaya have planted this Ptero
carpus Indicus as shade tree, but in Taiping it has
grown to a greater height than elsewhere.
The rainfall in Taiping is heavier than that else-
where recorded in the Federated Malay States. The
rain usually falls in the afternoon and arrangements
involving exposure to probable rainstorms are best
avoided. The mornings are generally light and sunny
and also, owing to the effect of the heavy rains of the
evenings upon the atmosphere, the early part of the
day is cool.
Ihe water supply comes from the hills which
" stand up and take the morning " on the east of the
town. Just above the filter-beds is a long waterfall,
visible from the public gardens, and in wet weather a
picturesque white splash on the green of the hill face.
But the hills here are not always green. In the morn-
ing up to seven o'clock they are still in blue shadow,
with a wreath of mist every now and then creeping
across 'them, for the sun does not touch their western
WATERFALL AND FILTEF? BEDS. TAIPING.
The Federated Malay Slafes. 45
face when he first rises. Later in the day they appear
in the true and actual colours of the trees which
clothe them, changing therefore with the seasons of
the year, now splashed with scarlet, now vivid with
orange, but at all seasons showing the olive gray-green
of the seraia conspicuous amongst its darker brethren.
Taiping lies close under the main range, and from its
public gardens by the lake is seen the wonderful
change of lights upon the mountains in the evening.
The sun setting shines full upon them from the west
and lights up each one of their millions of trees, so
that each appears clear cut like part of some huge
pattern of stamped velvet, in royal purple and apple-
green, with every shade ranging between these two.
The social centre of the English quarter
Clubs. of a town in Malaya is always the
recreation ground and the club over-
looking it. It is difficult to think of any town or even
village which does not possess its club, and to each
one a thoughtful Government allows a fixed sum a
year towards the purchase of newspapers. In
Taiping are two clubs, the Perak Club on the west
and the New Club on the east of the recreation
ground. Anyone bringing introductions will find no
difficulty in being received as a visiting member by
any local club.
Beyond the Taiping recreation ground
Gardens '''"^ behind the steep hill on which
is the house of the Secretary to
Resident lie the public gardens. These are perhaps
the most l)caiiliful of any gardens in tlie I'edeiated
46 Illustrated Guide to
Malay States, but they are excelled of course by
those older gardens of Singapore and Penang. They
have over those of Kuala Lumpur the advantage
that their lake is perfectly clear and limpid, unclouded
by mud. The best view of them is from the Secretary
to Resident's Hill. All round —
" The hills, like giants at a hunting, lie
Chin upon hand — "
Beneath you is spread a chain of lake and islands
set with palms, bamboos and clumps of feathery trees.
Round the lake runs a single dotted line of heavy
dark colour which is a row of " rain " trees. Each
tree is a table surface set upon a single pillared trunk.
Beyond the lake lies a patch of rough jungle, left as a
habitation for the wild creatures, the monkeys, pigeons,
and water-birds, which find it a grateful refuge.
Through these gardens, beginning on the glacis of
the fort and magazine behind the New Club, run the
nine-hole golf links circling between the Residency
and the convict establishment.
This group of red buildings, contrasting
EstabHstament. ^^^ the white of the museum across
the road, is enclosed in a regulation
brick wall with glass at the top. Here are collected
all the long-sentence prisoners from all the Federated
Malay States, as ugly a set of ruffians as ever came from
their own countries to commit crimes in other people's.
If one goes over the gaol and passes down the two
long lines in which the prisoners are ranged, the low
brutality of the Chinese bad type is very apparent
seen thus in the mass, though meeting the prisoners
The Federated Malay States. 47
individually afterwards one would not remark any
departure from the Chinese usual type. The convict
establishment is run upon the approved lines of
modern treatment of prisoners, and unless a man is
irreclaimably vicious and will work at nothing but
stone-breaking, he has the opportunity to learn during
a long confinement a trade to which he can turn on
release.
Overlooking the gaol, on the hill above,
HesidJncy.'* i^ the British Residency, the modest
building amongst its trees which does
not by any outward appearance, except its flag, pro-
claim that here have lived the men who between 1875
and the present year of grace guided the development
of the State of Perak and saw its revenue rise from
the i^77.6i4 of 1875 to to-day's ^4,103,754. The
Residencies in the Federated^' Malay States are no
palaceSj'and if the ground floor of this one be paved
with marble it is not by way of ostentation but of
advertisement, for the marble is quarried at Ipoh and
is gradually becoming known over the Far East as of
high quality. ^ Between the Residency and the hills
lie the race-course and the rifle range and beyond
them begins the path up the hills.
The race-course is one of the best in
B»ce-course, the Federated Malay States and the
oldest. Originally it was on the other
side of the town in the middle of the Larut mining
field, but, like the original site of Taiping, it had to
yield to the miner. Sir Hugh Low, British Resident
of Perak, was wont to say that if the miners wished to
48 Illustrated Guide to
mine even the site of the Residency they were
welcome to do so — on terms beneficial to the State.
So the old race-course had to go in course of time
and it was moved to its present site, which is old
mining land supposed to be worked out, though no
one can say with certainty that any land in this
extraordinary valley has ever been really worked out.
The continual re-mining of land supposed to be
worked out is pointed to by the Chinese and Malays
as a proof of their theory that tin breeds in the ground
if you leave it alone. The matter-of-fact Englishman
tells them that it does not, but as " men convinced
against their will are of the same opinion still " they
prefer to differ from him.
To people accustomed to the droughts of India and
other parts of the East it comes as a welcome surprise
to learn that Malay race-courses are always clothed
with most excellent turf and it is not with hard but
heavy going that turf clubs have to contend.
Beyond the race-course is the rifle
Taiping" range. On this some very fine scores
have been made. The range is in a
quiet valley where the vv^ind is seldom felt.
There is a broad and good path
LarutHiii. starting just beyond the rifle range
leading up the hills to the sanatorium
at the top, four thousand feet up, three hours easy
walking. This path passes through virgin jungle
never touched by the hand of man, except where the
trees have fallen or were like to fall on the path. It
The Federated Malay Slates. 49
is on this path that one is really deep in the jungle.
Go fifty yards off the path and you are probably lost
and can only recover it by happy chance, probably
will not recover it, and most likely will be obliged, as
several people have been obliged, to follow one of
the numerous streams down the hill and emerge at
the foot on to the plain with your clothes torn and
your temper frayed. If you are of a nervous dis-
position it is certain that the effort to see ten yards
and the continual failure to do so, the massing of the
large tree trunks in your vision, so that they seem to
be hustling you deliberately, the perpetual impedi-
ments put in your way by thorns and creepers, will
bring you to a state of such hysterical apprehension
that you will be very, very thankful indeed to burst
the last embrace and stumble out into the comnion-
place world again. The jungle is an eerie place,
always in twilight, full of strange sounds and smells,
unfamiliar reptiles and insects, flitting ghostly little
birds, raucous-tongued creatures always just round
the next shoulder of hill, enormous boulders of rock
strayed there by nature and left to weather away,
little bubbling streams swelling to raging torrents in
half-an-hour's rain. However much the modern
traveller may long for a new sensation he is not
advised to seek it in losing himself in the jungle ; he
will be wiser to keep to the path and content himself
with noting the wonderful height of the trees, the
length and thickness of the creepers and how, when
one looks down hill over a break in the forest, there
is seen spread out that soft carpet of tree tops dyed
50 Illustrated Guide to
in sunshine which is the happy playground of a
multitude of birds, butterflies and, alas, even in this
paradise, snakes. People who have long lived in the
tropics are well aware that life moves upon the face
of the jungle tops warmed by the sun and lashed by
the rain, but it is only from a distance that they can
see it move ; its creatures are free from man's idle
curiosity, from his wanton interference, even from his
reverent appreciation of their wonders. The tops of
the jungles are the last places in which the butterfly,
the bird and the plant can feel safe from the scientific
or the casual observer.
There are at present seven bungalows on the hill
tops, besides the Tea Gardens bungalow half way
up. Roses, violets and many English vegetables
are very successfully grown. Fine views of the
rolling forest-clad uninhabited hills and of the river
flats with their mines and cultivation can be seen
from all points. The highest altitude is Gunong
Hijau, 4,751 feet, to which runs a jungle path
branching off from below the highest bungalow, the
Chief Secretary's cottage. If this path is found to
be clear it is worth while to follow it to the top of
the hill, as this is the highest easterly hill on this part
of the range and from it some idea can be gained of
the country, still jungle covered, lying to the east.
But the path is not in constant use and perhaps is
better, for that reason, avoided. Very much the same
view but from a lower altitude can be obtained from
The Gap, a break in the hills below the site of the
Cottage. The Taiping hills offer quite the best
The Federated Malay States. 51
opportunity of seeing, with a minimum of time and
trouble, a part of the country which is not visible
from the train or the roads ; in walking or being
carried in a chair up them one will see fine views of
that soft and essentially feminine beauty peculiar to
the untouched tropical jungle hills. It is, however,
perfectly useless to ascend except in bright and
settled weather and then only a morning ascent, start-
ing not later than eight o'clock, should be attempted.
It is but rarely during the year that the hills are not
covered in the afternoon and in the evening with a
thick mist which shuts out all views.
The firm of Taik'Ho & Co., in Taiping, can provide
chairs and coolies for people wishing to go up the
hills. Permission to occupy the bungalows is granted
by the Secretary to Resident, Taiping.
One of the sights of Taiping is the
Haman Flotsam gardens of the hospital near the rail-
and Jetsam. ° ^
way station. In these gardens is
grouped a strange collection of human wreckage, for
amongst its palms and shady groves are a pauper
hospital, a lunatic asylum for men and another for
women, a refuge for decrepits and blind men and a
leper ward. Here is assembled the waste of the
alien economic system, thrust out, past service, from
the mines, the towns, the plantations, to be picked up,
cared for and perhaps cured by the doctors. There
are very few Malays in these institutions, for they at
all times prefer to be ill in their own homes, and even
Malay lunatics and lepers are to be found in the
52 Illusljated Guide to
kampongs. The Malay treatmenl of lunacy is what
we call very old-fashioned and proceeds upon the
same Hnes as did our old Bedlam hospitals in Eng-
land not so very many years ago, for they confine the
lunatic in stocks or tie him up with a chain, or else
keep him perpetually confined in a sort of kennel
underneath the house. It is these cases which are
sought out by the District Officers and committed to
the more tender mercies of the lunatic ward. Here
they have a better chance of recovery, being well fed
and properly exercised.
The Chinese lunatics come mostly from the cooly
class. As unrelated individuals, the Chinese coolies find
no one who cares for them enough to tend and feed them
if they become lunatic, and so they are usually found
by the police wandering about the streets or roads,
and run in for being unable to give an account of
themselves. A visit to the police court and the
doctor follows, and finally the lunatic appears before
the visitors of the lunatic asylum, who, if satisfied
that the papers accompanying him contain the certifi-
cates demanded by law, commit him to the asylum
till he recovers. Each asylum is regularly visited by a
committee charged with the admission of lunatics and
the dismissal of those who have grown sane.
Matang is a coast district lying between
Matang. the Larut plain and the mangrove belt.
To the village of the same name runs
a road from Taiping which forks at Matang, the left
hand fork going through the village to end at a
THE LARUT PLAIN AND ESTUARY
FROM THE HILLS.
The Federated Malay States. 53
mangrove creek, and the right hand going to Port
Weld. This port is connected by a railway with
Taiping, one of the earliest works of railway construc-
tion in the Peninsula. At the point where the road
from Taiping reaches Matang is an old Malay fort
with ruinous brick towers at the south-west and north-
east corners.
In 1879, Matang Fort was described in a discussion
by the State Council as having been built by the
second Mentri Ngah Ibrahim, which would make the
date of its building not earlier than 1857. It has,
therefore, no archaeological interest. Its human
interest, however, lies in the fact that in 1S76 it was
used as a barrack for British troops engaged in the
Perak expedition and as a court for the trial of the
Maharaja Lela and others who had been guilty of or
had instigated the murder of Mr. J. W. W. Birch, the
first Resident of Perak. The Maharaja Lela was hanged
in the precincts. Previous to this the place was
rendered uninhabitable during the Chinese disturb-
ances in Larut, so that Matang Fort has known its
vicissitudes. It is now a training school for Malay
teachers.
At one time purely a Malay district, Matang has
now a fine sheet of rubber estates extending from just
north of the Taiping-Port Weld railway line right
away to Trong, twenty miles south.
This district and village of the same
Seiama. name remain very much as they were
when British protection of Perak began,
except that to-day it is administered by a Malay chief
54 Illitsiraied Guide to
(whose father, by the way, was banished at the instance
of Great Britain, in the early and troublous days of
protection). He has taken the place of the British
official formerly stationed there. The district is of
no particular interest to the traveller, but from it to
Taiping there is a road running through magnificent
jungle scenery, still unspoiled. Near the village is a
silver mine once worked by an English firm and now
abandoned. The considerable Malay population in
the Selama district lives some miles away from the
village along a bridle path. Selama is one of those
districts over which the English official delights to
roam in the exercise of his duty, but the passing
traveller will not see much of it for many years to
come. It is, however, a fine tract of country, not too
hilly, nor yet swampy, very well watered by four
rivers and, if it were not so out of the way, it would
long ago have been opened up, the soil being
excellent. But it is remote from the centres of
immigrant labour, and its Malays, like peasant
proprietors elsewhere in the world, prefer to till
their own lands to working for wages on other
people's estates.
The railway and the trunk road from
Southward from Taiping to Kuala Kangsar run more or
less parallel. The branch road from
Changkat Jering Simpang Tiga for Bruas (Par it and
Blanja) takes a deep bend to the south. Both railway
and trunk road run through very beautiful scenery as •
soon as they emerge from the mining plain, as both do
on passing the Httle wayside station of Ayer Kuning.
The Federated Malay States. 55
Both of them cHmb over the pass in the hills between
Taiping and Kuala Kangsar, and at the very top the
railway crosses the road. Though the views from the
railway are beautiful and, owing to the greater altitude
of the line as it climbs through the hills, are more
extended, still the road probably offers scenery better,
for until it begins to mount the pass it runs through
rice fields, and through groves of coconut palms and
fruit trees, one fair scene opening out as another is
lost, in a perpetual variety of distance, light and
features. The views from the railway are downwards
over the country, and perhaps not so varied as those
from the road. There is a large Malay population in
the valle.y which stretches out from the pass, and
every piece of ground is cultivated either with rice
or with coconuts and fruit. The Malay habit when
settling in a valley is to irrigate the low-lying centre
by bringing water from the hill streams
Bukit i,^ artificial watercourses, and to plant
orchards in the higher lands on the
edge of the valley. If in the valley itself there happen
to be a few islands of higher land which it is not
possible to irrigate, these are used for houses standing
in groves of trees. The people inhabiting this valley
of Bukit Gantang were introduced from Petani about
forty years ago, and their features and accent are still
quite distinct from those of the native Perak Malays
just over the pass in Kuala Kangsar. The Mantri
of Larut brought them in to develop this part of his
dominions, and himself dwelt amongst them. The
ruins of his fort, consisting of a wall whose bricks
56 Ilhisirakd Guide to
are being slowly disintegrated by weather and forced
asunder by climbing plants and trees, is yet to be
seen skirting the road from the Bukit Gantang police
station to the railway. The wall had originally a
cement facing, which is now peeling off and giving to
the whole structure that air of extreme age and
decrepitude which at once grows upon stonework in
this land of damp moistures and greedy parasitic
growths. The fort itself is perhaps little more than
forty years old.
Bukit Gantang has always been a great place for
tigers. On the night of March 19th, 1909, a tigress
and two cubs walked along the railway line on to the
platform of the little station and lay down under the
ticket window of the booking office. In the morning
the print of the folds of her skin was plainly visible
on the dry, dusty earth, as also were the broad pugs
made in the dust when she got up and marched out
again with a cub on each side of her, the movements
of all of them being clearly recorded on the ground.
During the construction of the line several tigers were
shot by the engineer in charge, but no difference in
their numbers is noticeable, and a tiger's track along
the line is still quite common. The stories about
them are numerous. One of the latest is that a
Malay was going along a path by himself when he
heard a rusthng behind him and looked round, to
see a tiger emerging on to the path. He started to
run and the tiger to run after him, as is the common
habit of the cats, which will chase anything that
moves, from a leaf to a man. As the man fled along
The Federated Malay States. 57
the path he passed a buffalo near a wallow. AVhen
the tiger got to the same point the buffalo lowered its
horns to receive it. The tiger leapt aside and plunged
into the buffalo's wallow— a round hole three or four
feet deep, full of liquid fetid slime. The Malay, as
he ran, looked over his shoulder and saw the dis-
comfited tiger crawling out of the wallow, his
beautiful coat fouled with evil smelling mud. When
one remembers how particular cats are about their
coats and how they resent liquid dirt of any kind,
one hopes the tiger took his mud bath as a lesson
against chasing harmless humans.
Sir Frank Swettenham's books contain many a
tiger story and help to make us realise how very charac-
teristic is the. badge of the charging tiger which
appears on the postage stamps, and, executed in
colours, on the raihvay carriages.
Before reaching Bukit Gantang from Taiping by
the road we pass the cross roads of Changkat Jering.
The southerly fork of this takes us right away either
to Ipoh by the south route through Parit (Blanja)
or to Bindings (Pulau Pangkor).
The railway passes through several
Gunong Pondok. tunnels to climb to the top of the
Bukit Gantang pass. As the train
going southwards emerges from one of these and
rattles over an iron bridge spanning a gully, there
opens out the fine view of Gunong Pondok and the
valley of the Perak river beyond it. The train does
not stop for you to admire, but you get a glimpse.
58 Illustrated Guide to
That soft and distant aspect of the vale of Perak is
denied to the traveller by road, for trees shut out the
view, but at the top of the pass he sees cut out
against the sky the huge and startling bulk of Pondok,
and if he leaves the road, crosses the railway and
climbs to the top of No. 3 tunnel up the red earth
path visible from the road, he will, on a fine day, be
rewarded with a splendid view. The line and the
road run under the foot of Gunong Pondok, past the
padi swamps, and beyond the padi rises that strange
tree-clothed limestone rock, 2,000 feet high, dwarfing
everything round it, thrusting out of the plain, amazing
in variety of colours, for in places it is brilliant white
of the brilliancy of marble, and in patches is red of
the rustiness of iron. These limestone rocks are fre-
quent all through the Peninsula. They are full of caves,
and the caves of bats. They are also the pecuHar
refuge of the wild goat or serau {Nemorhaedus
sumatrensis), the curious goat-antelope, a beast
like nothing so much as the old pictures of the
devil, black and shaggy, with horns, hoofs, and a
leering salacious eye. Its haunts have been well
described thus :
" Precipitous rocks and their accompanying caves
it likes, but forest it must have, and the thicker and
more tangled the better. A gloomy, damp ravine
below a waterfall, the sides mere walls of rock, and
the bed choked with rank vegetation is the place
where its tracks are oftenest found."
It is very seldom shot, but on the lower rocks of
Gunong Pondok several were got in 1907 by a
The Federated Malay States. 59
planter who lived near the great rock, and thus had
opportunities of studying their habits. The Malays
call them kambing grim. To climb one of these
limestone rocks is an adventure, and a dangerous
adventure. But Gunong Pondok and the rock
at the head of the Batu Kurau Valley, this being
only a few hundred feet high, and the rocks near
Ipoh and near Kuala Lumpur have been scaled. All
such rocks are full of caves, some of them being pot-*
holes formed by debris and pebbles or gravel washing
eternally round and round through ages in the drip
and rush of the rain-water. This continual dripping
has worn away the living limestone rock, but over the
tops of such holes there grows a carpet of roots of
trees and creepers, covered with leaves, thus forming
most dangerous pit-falls. The large caves themselves
often have openings to the sky at the top of the rock.
Through these holes and through the openings at the
ground level flit the innumerable swarms of bats, h.%
you approach the caves in daylight you probably see
but a few bats issuing and entering or, perhaps, none
at all. But go close — if you can bear the stench —
and shout or clap your hands or throw a stone to
rattle in the caves, and immediately there rises a
a shrill screaming. All around and about the caves
they fly, whirling, twisting, flickering, flapping, weaving
patterns of flight like dry leaves in a whirlwind or
the ghosts in Homer's Hades. Wherever the caves
are found there, too, are bats innumerable, whether
at Gunong Pondok, or the Ipoh caves, or the Batu
caves near Kuala Lumpur. At all these places, too,
6o Illustrated Guide to
local Malays will have it that the men of long ago
graved images from the solid rock which are still to
be seen to-day. Alas for the disappointment of the
archaeologist ! The caves are in reality as bare of
sculpture by men of old as the rest of the country is
void of antiquities, and the " statues " of the Malays
turn out on inspection to be stalagmites only, very
obviously formed by the drip from the rock, and
.bearing a resemblance to carvings only if viewed by
the eye of faith.
Yet in one way the total absence in this country of
antiquities, ruins, statues, carvings, inscriptions and
the like is a gain. The men of old built in finer
style, sculped in truer line, carved in deeper cut,
inscribed in designs more vast than the men of
to-day, and in a country without archreological re-
mains you are at least spared the hideous contrasts of
other lands, where the railway station or factory of
to-day, ugly, impermanent, brick, jostles the temple of
long ago, imperishable, beautiful, stone. In Malaya
there is nothing old but nature, and she, being the
mother of all living, has taken kindly to her bosom
the works of modern man, so that even a railway
station set amongst its green and bosky trees may be
a picture and, indeed, usually is.
Leaving Gunong Pondok on the left, whether we
travel by road or railway, ~ we pass through an
outlying stretch of para rubber plantation, one
of the oldest, if not actually quite the oldest of
estates in Malaya planted by Englishmen. Above it,
and on the west, on a clear day, may be descried a
The Federated Malay States. 6i
clearing on the top of the hills in which is set the
Hermitage, a house built by Government in early days
and later sold when it had been decided to make a hill
station above Taiping. With occasional glimpses of
road from the railway, and of railway from the road,
Kuala Kangsar town is reached.
This was the seat of His late Highness
Kuala Kangsar. the Sultan of Perak, Raja Sir Idris
Mersid-al-Aazam Shah Ibni Al-marhum
Iskandar Shah, G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., the Malay
Sultan, who began his career as Raja Idris, a cadet of
the royal family, became a man of note before British
protection, was Chief Justice for many years, and in
1889 came to the throne, and died universally
regretted in 191 5. A sincere Muhammadan yet no
bigot, a real Malay yet well educated, the father of his
people yet whole-heartedly and directly accepting,
advising and supporting the British control of his
country. Sultan Idris, as described by one who knew
him very well, " stood for all that is best in the Malay
ruling class." With the authority which in all Islamic
societies attaches by the Prophet's law to the ruler,
there combined in him a personal prestige based'upon
natural character and the wide influence derived from
a long and prosperous reign. It has been to an extent
not realised by foreigners due to his efforts that, in the
short span of little over thirty years, his country of
Perak and the Malay countries now federated with it
have been lifted out of a condition not far removed
from plain savagery. Him the Malays may thank for
these incontestable facts that squalor has yielded to
62 Illustrated Guide to
prosperity, rapine and lust to order and equality of all
men before the law, and that the life of the ordinary
Malay, instead of being " nasty, brutish and short," is
now happier and more truly free than that of any
other race in the Peninsula.
The reigning Sultan had help from the
Chamber, British, from the Malays and from the
Kuala Kangsar. ^, . . , . _, ., _ ^ ...
Chmese m his Council of btate, which
has sat without interruption from the earliest days of
British protection, sometimes at Taiping, more often
at Kuala Kangsar in the modest wooden building still
standing, and still used, overlooking the broad stream
of the Perak river. Above it, on a high bluff, com-
manding a more stately outlopk perhaps, more obvious,
more modern, more imposing, rises the Perak residence
of His Excellency the British High Commissioner for
the Federated Malay States. The little Perak Council
Chamber, built of wood, is in the very shadow of the
great stone building above it. There is perhaps an
allegory here, certainly there is an illustration of the
Malay expression " beneath the shelter of the British
power."
The town of Kuala Kangsar lies on the right bank
of the Perak river, at the point where the Kangsar
debouches. Low-lying, it is subject to floods at times
when the Perak, swollen with the monstrous rains of
an exceptional wet season, rises above its banks and
laps the very roofs of the houses. Just below the
High Commissioner's residence is a post showing the
height to which the great floods have reached. On
occasions like this the populace saves itself with goods
! ^^^^H^^H^^B^H^^^^I
F^Pi^B
^^H
' ^^^SHr^^^^^I
iH
p^H
IP
fw*
The Federated Malay Slates.
and chattels and live-stock in boats and retreats to
the rising ground above the town. On this higher
ground are the houses of the English officials, the
Government offices, the Art School, well worth a visit,
for silver and other pretty work is made there by
Malays and is on sale, the mosque, the school and
the three palaces of the Sultan,
Here at Kuala Kangsar is the first public school
in Malaya based on the English model. Little
Malay boys of the upper classes when they come
to public school age go to Kuala Kangsar. Public
school age in this country, however, begins much
earlier than in England, and the youngest boys are
so young as eight. Everything that can be thought
of is being done here to run the Kuala Kangsar
school on lines as closely as possible approximating
to those of the great English public schools, and
much progress has already been made. The school
started on very modest lines in temporary buildings
which it soon outgrew. Early in 1909 the permanent
building was finished. This stands back from the
road from the railway station and rises out of a
fine playing ground, a brick-red and white colonnaded
mass upon which the eye rests with pleasure. It con-
tains class-rooms, dormitories and dining rooms,
appears admirably adapted for its purpose, and is
doubtless only one of the many fine buildings destined
to be erected here in the near future, for the Malays
of the ruling and the rich classes are taking to this
style of education with eagerness and intelligence.
Applications to admit boys are being received from
64 Illustrated Guide to
all parts of the Peninsula and admission to the school
is a privilege greatly valued. Why ? There are
several answers possible. The Malays are a very acute
people, and even if they were not it does not require
any excessive intelligence to realise that the governing
Englishman is what he is by virtue of the tradition he
has received. The Malays think that their sons
should be trained in the same fashion as the English-
men they know have been. Another reason is that
the Asiatic peoples now in tutelage are all striving to
fit themselves for self-government. The Malays of
the hereditary ruling class and of the upper classes
are just realising that,
"Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control,
" These three alone lead life to sovereign power."
For the elders this is too hard a saying, since until
the white man came amongst them the ruling classes
were like those of ancient Rome, qui patrimonium
alea, ganeo, pene laceraverunt. But for their children
they accept it, so the little Malay boys who have run
wild and absolutely unchecked by even the slightest
discipline in childhood are entered at Kuala Kangsar
and there moulded into the Malay pubhc schoolboy,
whose type is already becoming fixed. Caught young
Uke this — the school is beginning to accept small boys
only — and trained from seven to seventeen in a
discipline which though alien yet is exercised in their
own country and sent home to the kampong for the
holidays, the Malay school-boy at Kuala Kangsar is
given the same opportunity as the young Indian
princes at x\jmere and other colleges to learn, if he
The Federated Malay States. 65
will, from the Englishmen or, if he will, to refuse to
learn. Some such system as this is imperative if the
Malays are to join in the modern administration of
their country to a greater extent than they now do.
As things at present stand, a whole army of alien
subordinates fill places which there are no Malays
qualified to fill, both in business and official circles.
In time there will be ^Malays ready for these places
and the first to fill them will be boys from the Kuala
Kangsar school. Indeed, many have already entered
the service of the Government.
For very many years now the British Empire has
said to its protected and subject peoples,
" Si quid novisti rectius istis,
" Candidus imperii, si non, his uteie mecum,"
for very many years it has been our policy to extend
to them the opportunity of learning our methods, our
reasons, our objects. We keep nothing back. As we
have received, so we teach. It may be that we have
offered of our wisdom in the scorn of consequence ;
it may be that we have but sown the wind and
shall reap the whirlwind; it may be that, when
the result is seen and we are asked to account for
its being a failure, we shall only be able to plead
that we had the best intentions, that most futile of
all pleas.
Whatever be the ultimate result, British policy
has always tried to proceed upon education of the
peoples governed and accordingly to the Malays we
have offered education. Much of the education
rtffcred has been but perfunctorily accepted, possibly
66 Illustrated Guide to
because it did not profess to be that larger education
which is not mere book-learning, but the bringing out
of the good which lies in every character. At the
Kuala Kangsar school eciucation is of this latter kind.
It is not at all impossible that it is for this ver}'
reason and perhaps for this reason almost alone
that this public school policy at Kuala Kangsar
has been so consistently supported by the Malays and
by none more consistently than by their native rulers.
The Sultan has three palaces at Kuala Kangsar of
which one is upkept by Government. They are
built in stone and somewhat resemble French chateaux
in the modern style. They are not show places nor
kept open for the inspection of visitors.
Near Kuala Kangsar (along a good path,
Menggelunehor. three miles, turning off from the 19th
mile on the trunk road) is ^a spot in
the jungle where a stream of water flows over a shelf
of gently sloping rock into a pool. Someone with a
genius for water picnics discovered this place years
ago an I ever since its discovery people have made up
parties to picnic at the place and have a bathing
party. The only proper v/ay to enjoy this is to go
from the main road along the path on elephants.
Kuala Kangsar neighbourhood has plenty of elephants
and it may be possible to arrange for one or for
several to be collected at the road end of the path.
Arriving there by motor we mount the elephants and
start off in a long file up the path through the jungle.
The humours of the way are many and if the picnic
takes place in the fruit season you can pelt your
The Federated Malay States, 67
neighbour with the small wild lig and in turn
be pelted by him all after the approved style of
Malay picnics. Arrived at the bathing pool the
members of the party change into bathing suits or,
not being burdened with clothes to spoil, as one is
in England, they plunge into the cool waters of the
pool as they are. But the best part of the game is to
mount to the top of the shelf of rock — being careful how
you break your neck on the slippery surfaces— and
there, using the flower sheaths of certain palms as a
toboggan to sit upon, you launch yourself skilfully
from the top and — well, you certainly arrive at the pool
beneath, but whether in the attitude you assumed at
starting is purely problematical. The old hands at
this game slide gracefully down and drop into the
pool in correct style. The novices usually start quite
unexpectedly early and after a wild effort to recover
dignity and balance find themselves whirling swiftly
through space in attitudes unusual. Once started
there is nothing to stop you and your arrival in the
deep pool is assured. The game has all the points
of tobogganing as far as the sliding goes, and splashing
about in water being always enjoyable in Malaya you
have that pleasure as well. It is a great deal better
fun than shooting a chute in a boat for you are your
own boat at this game and consequently realise the
boat's sensations as well as your own. Nobody has
ever discovered yet v/hy people delight in getting to
the top of some steep place and descending therefrom
with exceeding swiftness and, as the Chinaman said,
it is always a case of " whi/,, walk a mile, whiz, wali<
68 Illustrated Guide to
another mile "; but shooting chutes is always fascinat-
ing and gives one that funny feeling in the inside which
people love to cultivate. The Malay name of this
exercise is vicnggelufichor, which is not to be found
in the dictionaj-y but is probably coined for the
occasion. Weary at last of rushing down the
slide and splashing into the pool, you are ready for
tiffin. This can consist of nothing but a Malay curry
and rice, anything else being disrespectful to the
sport, which is, as far as Malaya knows, quite peculiar
to the country. The elephants, which all this time
have been waiting for us in a shady spot, doubtless
surprised at our frivolous humour, kneel down for us
again and solemnly return through the jungle to
the main road, where we change into something
less restful and more untrustworthy, and another
delightful menggelunchor picnic is over until next
time.
It would probably be difficult for travellers
unacquainted with the country and the language to
procure elephants, but they are not indispensable and
the path is quite good. One counsel though you will
perhaps, if you are a man, be glad to be given and
that is that when bathing in public anywhere in
Malaya you must wear something. To bathe naked
is repugnant to the sense of decency of every race in
the country. They all bathe a great deal and though
some of them wear what can only be described as
precious little, still, it is something. All tidal rivers,
many upland rivers, and most deep ponds are
dangerous to bathers as they may, and usually do,
The Federated Malay States. bg
contain crocodiles, but this me?iggelunchor place is
perfectly safe.
The river Perak, running from away
SS^^'L^'pcrak! up i'^ the backbone of the Peninsula,
is tapped at several points by roads
close to towns or villages, and is therefore easily
accessible for a river trip, starting either from Grik
or Lenggong or Kuala Kenering or Kuala Kangsar.
The journey from Grik to Kuala Kenering or
Lenggong to Kuala Kangsar is neither so comfort-
able nor so interesting as that from Kuala Kangsar
to Teluk Anson, since it must be made, not in a
houseboat but on a bamboo raft and through numerous
rapids. The difficulty is, of course, the construction
of a raft on the river at Kuala Kendrong, near Grik ;
but supposing this overcome and your raft and
crew awaiting you, what sort of a voyage may you
expect ? Start, of course, in the early morning, and as
early as may be, with the intention of making Kuala
Kenering resthouse that night. The state of the
river must be propitious, neither too high nor tao
low ; but one can take local advice about that before
committing oneself to the mercies of the river spirits.
Under your little tent of palm leaves in the middle
of the four tiers of bamboos, which are the raft, you
place yourself and your belongings and out she goes
upon the stream, the Malay boatmen paddling or
poling as the depths vary. In a moment the little
jurty is solitary, drifting down an empty stream
between high banks of jungle, jungle, jungle, silent
save for a rare bird's whistle from the trees or a rarer
70 Illustrated Guide to
crash in the forest as some beast, you know not what,
hears, offensively noisy to his ears, what you have
thought was quiet talk on a deserted river. Deserted
it seems to you, but nothing is more certain than that,
through every yard of your course, some jungle-
dweller's eye is on the strangers. Try landing at
this pebbly stretch where there is known to be a hot
spring. However cautiously you go you are sure to
be heard, and, coming at last to this warm mudpool,
you will see perhaps how the wild elephant has stood
on the edge and dug heavy tusks into the bank above
to dislodge the saline sand. But he has not waited
for you. He and the tapir, the sambhur deer and
the rhinoceros all take the waters, but not in your
company. So back to the boat again, thankful that
man does not realise what an outlaw from the animal
world he is.
There are rapids and they have to be shot. One
knows that. Rafts wreck on them sometimes. Not
only does one know that but as like as not on the
very first little rapid there are the remains of a wreck.
That raft managed to wreck there because, when it
tried to go through, the river was too low and what
is to-day a little rapid was yesterday a long and
difficult cataract. There are others, always long and
difficult whatever the state of the stream, and when
you see your boatmen preparing a sacrifice to the
river spirits you may look out for something thrilling.
Though it be not within the four corners of the faith
of Islam to offer pagan sacrifices to old-fashioned
gods upon whose v/orship Islam wages war, yet the
The Federated Malay S/a/es. 7t
elder gods have a Avay with them yet in Malaya and
manage to secure rather more than their due share
of reverence. However, no doubt the names of all
the prophets of Islam, mixed up with those of all
the spirits of pagandom, cancel each other out in the
Malay mind, since charms so composed are in constant
use. When the roar of a big rapid arrives and the
boat slides towards it, and it grows inevitable
and more inevitable each second, it is really a comfort
to think that an offering, in the shape of a piece of
fowl, was left on the last rock you passed before
getting into the swirl. Though it be nothing but a
heathenish oblation, it at least works by faith and
certainly secures your Malays in the conviction that
they have made the passage as safe as may be, a
conviction which counts for a good deal in tight
places where nerve and assurance are needed. As
your craft shoots through you have no time to think
all this and hardly any to note the skill which fends
the raft off here and pushes it on there till, with a
final gasping tilt, out you shoot into calm water and
begin again the steady progress down the smooth
stream. Before reaching Kuala Kenering you are a
considerable judge of rapids and can size them up
from a distance judging by the roar, the dip and the
spray, but more practice than most people get is
needed to recognise from afar or more likely remem-
ber those treacherous places where a rock hides
under water when the stream is swollen.
The stage from Kuala Kenering, where you iiuisl
spend a night unless you have a motor waiting there
'ji tllusiraied Guide io
for you, to Lenggong and that from Lenggong to
Kuala Kangsar are much ahke, and no doubt one can
have too much of a river trip unless it is varied by
occasional excursions on shore. That can be
managed by doing a different trip, the one frcm
Kuala Kangsar to Teluk Anson by houseboat. The
only difficulty about this is that at present it is worth
nobody's while to keep a houseboat for hire, but any-
one wishing to make the trip and invoking the
assistance of the District Officer at Kuala Kangsar
will probably be enabled to overcome this. To give
practical details — the cost of hiring a houseboat is
uncertain and will have to be fixed by arrangement.
Seven men of a crew, paid fifty cents (is. 2d.) each a
day, and one steersman are enough unless for a very
large boat. Three or four days should be allowed for
the trip to Teluk Anson, which will give time to land
occasionally and, if it is the season (October to
March), shoot snipe and teal. An ordinary boat
carries two passengers, but if ladies are to go then a
proper houseboat is essential, an open boat, though
possible for men intent on shooting and so forth,
being impossibly discomfortable for a lady. Supposing
that you are shooting, the usual stages are Parit, Bota
and Pulau Tiga. Bathing is safe all through the non-
tidal reaches if the deeper holes are avoided. People
have been taken by crocodiles even above Kuala
Kangsar, Imt very rarely. However, one cannot too
carefully remember that the crocodile inhabits all
Malayan rivers. The advice of the Malay boatmen
on this point is always valuable and probably safe to
The Federated Malay States. 73
follow. The current is so rapid that you cannot
swim against it except in some backwater so that un-
less you swim down stream, with a boat following,
bathing means practically paddling about and diving
around the boat. The best bathing costume is a pair
of khaki linen trousers cut short. All food and
drink should be taken from Kuala Kangsar, as nothing
can be bought en route except fowls, fruit and rice.
If a housebout is engaged the trip is quite possible
for ladies. The question of advances of wages and
hire of boat has to be settled by an arrangement, but
you may expect to be asked for an advance, and it is
usual to give a few dollars to enable the crew to buy
food before they start. Unless the water is abnor-
mally low or abnormally swollen, the journey can be
undertaken in any state of the river. A houseboat
disturbs the fish so that it is hardly worth while to
take a rod. Much more fun is to be had by seeing
that the Malays bring a casting net with them.
Though you will throw it unhandily at first, yet if you
are persistent and do not mind getting wet you will
find it very amusing. At night it is usual to anchor
in mid-stream, for there is no s'eamer traffic, so as to
catch the breeze and avoid the attentions of sandflies
and mosquitoes. In the season the shooting is
excellent. You will want Nos. 8 (or 7) and 5 and
,dso buckshot. In tidal waters anyone who is fond ot
lining crocodiles with lead should take a rifle,
'ihe river banks are inhabited most of the way and
it is in the rice fields tliat the snipe are to be
found. Teal are found in the rusliy water holes
74 Illustrated Guide to
away from the river. It is on the Perak that the
Sultan institutes turtle egg hunting parties.
Arrived at Teluk Anson you are again on the
railway and at a port, and so can, if you choose, make
for Singapore or Penang by sea, but you are hardly
half way down the Peninsula and your best rout^ is
from Teluk Anson by rail to Batu Gajah, a pretty little
residential village, headquarters of the Kinta district,
or to the town of Ipoh.
This town has grown up in the centre
Ipoh. of the Kinta valley on the tin industry.
The valley is practically one huge tin
mine, and Ipoh is a rapidly rising centre. It lies on
both sides of a river, a modern commercial town, of
great interest to any one interested in mining methods
or investment in mines. It forms an excellent half-
way house between Penang and Kuala Lumpur, and
all kinds of mines may be seen working side by side,
from the Chinese coolie in the open with his long-
handled hoe up through an elaborate gradation to the
most European style of electrically operated machinery
working underground.
A very interesting landmark in Ipoh is the Birch
Memorial, a clock tower erected by the citizens in
memory of the late J. W. W. Birch, first Resident of
Perak. This is a square decorated tower with a
portrait bust and four panels illustrative of the growth
of civilisation. The finest limestone scenery in the
Peninsula lies round Ipoh. The Chinese rock
temples at Gunong Rapat and Sungei Raia are well
worth a visit. The town itself, with its fine market
The Federated Malay States.
and abattoirs ; its people's park ; its recreation ground,
where are held every year atl^tetic g»!*rbs ; its fine
shop buildings and general air of active prosperity, is
a good, probably the best, instance of what can be
done in Malaya in creating a healthy well -planned
town. For climate Ipoh is unsurpassed. It is dry'
and its air consequently more invigorating than that
of any other town.
Of such a vast subject it is hard to say
Tin Mining, much of interest in a short compass.
But perhaps a statement of how the
most usual type of tin-mine in Malaya is started and
is worked can be given in a few words. More detailed
information is given elsewhere. In all Malay coun-
tries the soil belongs absolutely to the Ruler of the
State. Consequently any person desiring to mine
must first of all present a written application to the
Collector of Land Revenue, describing with reasonable
certainty where he desires to mine. As so much of
the country is already surveyed and either leased for
mining or granted for agriculture, it is usual to hand
in with the application a sketch map showing the par-
ticular piece of land for which application is made.
The Collector's reply may be one of three, for the
application may be refused, or the applicant maybe
told' that a mining lease for the land will be sold by
public auction, or he may be told that his application
is approved and that a mining lease will issue to him,
in which latter case he will also be told what premium
the State demands of him for the lease. Premium
varies a great deal, but proljably the majority of mining
76 Illustrated Guide to
land now leased has been leased at ten dollars
{^\ 3s. 4d.) the acre. The applicant must deposit
this premium, the annual rent, one dollar (2s. 4d.) an
acre, and the survey fees according to fixed scale
before the Collector orders survey of the land and issue
of the lease. When the lease issues the lessee is free
at once to mine. We will suppose that he is a
Chinese, as the great majority of miners are. He
either sublets the land to a man who has a good
labour force, or if he has himself a force of coolies he
puts them on to the mine. Most of the mines are
alluvial, that is to say the black tin sand is found at
varying but usually shallow depths below the surface
of the soil, and is dug out by spade-labour.
The miner runs up a long shed, thatched, both
walls and roof, with the local nipah palm leaf, having
a rammed earth floor, raised platforms of wood for
the coolies' mat beds with their mosquito nets, and
a kitchen range in dried clay. His coolies occupy
this kongsi and labour on the mine from early morn till
dewy eve, digging away with hoes and implements of
all kinds as soon as they have felled any jungle of
undergrowth there may have been on the land. Tin-
mining in Malaya is just as much of a gamble as
mining anywhere else. It may be that a few weeks'
or even a few days' work will reveal wealth beyond
the dreams of avarice, or it may be that the miner
will daily see his coolies eating up his capital and
finding nothing to replace it or add to it. To a
Chinese this is peculiarly galling, for by a twist of the
reason which is foreign to a European a Chinese
•
The Federated Malay States. 77
will tell you, " I lost fifty thousand dollars over
that mine," by which he means that he lost ten
thousand dollars cash and forty thousand prospective,
total fifty thousand. As the tin ore is lifted from the
paddock (we are speaking of an open-cast mine, not
of an underground mine) it is conveyed to the
thatched kongsi, and there washed by repeated
rakings over in a stream of water. The resultant tin-
bearing sand containing seventy per cent, of tin is then
put into bags holding just as much as a man can
carry, one at each end of a carrying stick slung on a
Chinese cooly's shoulders. The bags are stored in
the J<o7igsi until such time as there is a consider-
able accumulation, when they are carried to the nearest
road, loaded in a bullock cart, and despatched either
direct to a buyer in the nearest town or else railed to
some more distant buyer who will give a better price.
The buyer sells to the smelter and the smelter ships.
Most of the smelting is done in Singapore or Penang,
and the rest in Malay territory.
There is an engaging simplicity about this method
of digging and winning tin ore, and it is a method
which has done very well for many years. Nowadays
there is a considerable movement for European
machinery, steam power, electric power, grabs,
travelling baskets on wires, hoists, hydraulicing, dredg-
ng, and many other Occidental methods of mining.
Some have been successful with these modern methods
so largely employed by the European capital now in-
vested in the country, but the old-fashioned method is
till pursued l)y that essentially old-fashioned person the
78 I / hi sir ate d Guide to
Chinese, and he seems to be quite satisfied with it
still. As you pass through the country you see him
industriously turning up new mines, digging over old
mines, sometimes working in great crowds of men,
sometimes as a few fossickers with a very simple
outfit, and wherever you turn, except in purely
agricultural districts, you see either a new mine just
opening, a mine in full work, or the remains of a
mine, for there are very few places to which the
Chinese have not penetrated.
The Malays, aware apparently that he who heapeth
up riches cannot tell who shall gather them, do not
and never have taken much interest in mining, unless
it be to act as prospectors. Of prospecting a great
deal has been done by Malays, burrowing under rocks
in remote and jungly places whose positions are a
matter of family tradition perhaps. But to sweat all
day in the sun with some one else's hoe in some one
else's mine merely to make money is not a pursuit
which is likely to appeal to the comfortably situated
Malay race, for whose simple wants an ample provision
is made by not very strenuous exertions in the ancestral
rice swamp or family orchard. Natura daedala rerum
gives them all they want with a bounteous hand, and
they never yet have engaged in tin-mining. Yet it is
the modern mainstay of their country and on it rests
the whole administration. Agriculture has latterly
grown enormously, but agriculture in Malaya is
still the younger and mining the elder sister.
Roughly, 40 per cent, of the world's supi)ly of tin
The Federated Malay States. 79
comes from the Federated Malay States. " Imagina-
tion boggles at the thought" that from this little more
that twenty-five thousand square miles of country,
two-thirds of which are unexplored or unworked,
there should be won in a year tin worth ^12,244,000.
An opulent figure, is it not ? On all this wealth an
export duty is paid to the Government, and it is
primarily the revenue so derived which has made the
country the wealthy land it now is, and will yet make
it wealthier. Its surplus assets are already over
^^12,654,588.
The Asiatic inhabitants of Ipoh, having
"^Theatres* ^"^^ ^ large share in the development of
the Kinta vallc}', can afford to enjoy
themselves, and accordingly it is in Ipoh that one
finds^a very flourishing Asiatic drama.
The Chinese stage their own plays. So do the
Tamils. But the Malays cultivate an exotic theatre so
unconsciously funny that it is well worth seeing. To
watch " Hamlet " played with all the accessories of- the
Malay heroic drama and all its peculiar conventions is
for the European one of the most laughable
experiences. Everybody has his own idea of how
" Hamlet" ought to be played, and whatever it be, it
certainly is not the idea presented by Malay actors.
" Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves " is anothor
favourite piece, and this allows more scope for the
clownish element. Malays are excellent mimics, and
a Malay clown playing a Chinese cooly hits him off to
the life. The imperfect acquaintance with Malay
So Illustrated Guide to
words, the Chinese accent, the Chinese gestures, are
all presented, and the smile which goes round the
Chinese part of the audience is proof enough that the
clown has showed them their little peculiarities. The
traveller, unless undeceived, will certainly beheve
that the actor is Chinese. Another uivourite play is
" East Lynne," but there is no end to the incongruous
medley which a Malay bajigsawan troupe will
produce.
The Chinese theatre, like most things Chinese, is
the same as it was in China a thousand years ago and
will be a thousand years hence. The Chinese have
not much taste for variety, and they carry their theatre
with them all over the world, unchanged from what it
has always been. It is like nothing European, and
always merits a visit.
It is quite possible, in any considerable town, to see
Malay, Chinese and even Tamil plays in the same
evening, for one visits a native theatre as one visits a
music hall, just to see what may be on, rather than to
sit out the development of a play.
On the slopes of Gunong Kerbau
Aborigines (Mount Buffalo), the blue mountain
7,180 feet high which broods on the
East over all the Kinta district, is a settlement of
Sakei, unspoiled aboriginal children of the jungle,
scarce visited save by some Forest Officer, looking
down from their eyries upon the busy plain below
them. Tall, well-developed people, lighter in colour
than their cousins on the lower slopes of the hills,
The Federated Malay States.
they are far beyond the reach of travellers. As you
fuss about the neighbourhood of Ipoh in your motor,
or clang down the Peninsula in the train, little you
reck of people living amongst those silent spaces
in an eternal calm of thought. They never cultivate
nerves, or boredom, or the desire for change, or the
wish to see new places, or a hankering to enlarge
their minds, or an impulse to get rid of too m.uch
money, or to accumulate more by making a hole
in the ground. They cultivate their gardens high up
on those dim slopes and are still happy. Amongst
the people who dwell on the plain they had a friend,
and if you wish to learn more about the Sakei and
their way of life, you should read the late Captain
Cerruti's " My Friends the Savages." It is the only
book on the aborigines of the Malay Peninsula written
by one who lived for years amongst them, and
though at times the author tends towards a certain
flamboyance of expression, he has caught and left upon
the printed page the true atmosphere of the jungle.
The State of Pahang, with an area of
Pahan^. about 14,000 square miles, has a popula-
tion of about 100,000 people. A
simple arithmetical calculation will show that there
are a little over seven persons to the scjuare mile
Those who are accustomed to be jostled by some
three hundred and forty-nine other people on the
square miles of Great Britain, will feel lonely in
Pahang. About 250 miles of road, 200 of path and
96 miles of railway, are, like the population, some-
what lost in 14,000 square miles of country. These
Jllustraied Guide to
statements will hardly commend Pahang to the
traveller who has three other States from which to
choose, where he knows his comfort will be more
studied, his journej's more easily made, and his
general impressions more pleasant, nor is it intended
that they should. For indeed, except for wildness
of jungle scenery along the road which climbs the
hills from Kuala Kubu to Kuala Lipis and the charm
of river scenery along the Pahang river from Kuala
Lipis to Pekan, there is little enough to be seen in
Pahang, unless it is intended to enter her forests in
pursuit of the big game which roams there unmolested.
The town of Kuala Lipis, on a river which lower
down joins the Pahang river, is the official capital and
has no other claim to interest. The Malay capital,
at which H.H. the Sultan resides, is at Pekan on the
mouth of the Pahang river, on the east coast of the
Peninsula. Pekan is a port at which steamers from
Singapore call, but during the prevalence of the
monsoon their visits are irregular, for a heavy sea
gets up on the bar of the river, making navigation
ditficult and often dangerous. To Kuantan runs a road,
w^hich branches off from the Kuala Lipis - Kuala
Kubu road at Benta.
The most usual and easy entrance to the State of
Pahang is from Kuala Kubu in Selangor, from which
place motors run to the capital, Kuala Lipis.
By leaving Kuala Lipis by river, going to Pekan
by boat and there taking steamer to Singapore one
can go right across the Peninsula. The journey
is all the way through the wildest jungle, varied very
The Federated Malay States. S3
occasionally by spots of cultivation where a few
ISIalays have settled and it is not recommended
except for people who desire to feel themselves for a
time absolutely cut off from communication with the
world. It should be possible to make the trip from
Kuala Kubu to Pekan in a week, supposing that all
arrangements duly dovetail, that a houseboat,
properly provisioned for self and crew, is ready to
start from Kuala Lipis, that it floats down river
safely and that a steamer happens to be at Pekan
about to sail for Singapore. Wild and romantic as
such an expedition may be, its details take so much
arranging and it is, except by Government officials
with special facilities, so seldom done, that it may
be regarded as outside the' view of most travellers
for pleasure. There it is, however, waiting to be
done, and to people who have plenty of leisure and
good temper its prospect may sound inviting. After
all its difficulties are chiefly mechanical, and it has
no dangers if the river be not in unusual flood or
unusual drought. At Kuala Lipis is a comfortable
resthouse where one may remain so long as is
necessary to be perfectly sure that the houseboat, the
crew, the servants and the stores aboard are all in
good order and condition before starting. For the
descent to Pekan, like that to Avernus, is easy, but,
having once started, there is no retreat, since it
takes three times as long to come up the stream as to
go down, and there is no road through the jungle
following the course of the river, though the Eenta-
Kuala Kuaiitan road crosses the river some two
§4 Illustrated Guide td
clays' boat journey below Kuala Lipis. Over the
129 miles between Kuala Krau and Pekan,
a railway launch plies. A glance at the map
reveals the nakedness of the land of Pahang as
compared with the Western States, and it will be milny
a long day yet before its vast forests are felled by the
miner and the planter, and its rivers frequented by
steam traffic, but its solitudes are already invaded by
railway engines. Meanwhile it is unlikely that Pahang
will prove of interest to any traveller who is not a
sportsman definitely in search of big gam.e.
Unless it is proposed to go over the
Trom'ipoh^ pass from Kuala Kubu to Pahang, most
people go direct from Ipoh to Kuala
Lumpur, for there is little of interest between the two
points. True, the railway to Teluk Anson branches
off from the main Ime at Tapah Road and from the
same station m.otor cars run to Tapah, but Teluk
Anson is simply a small river port and Tapah a
country village, neither of them on any through route.
They are thus away from the main
''^Dte^rict'^'^ stream of travellers and seldom visited
unless by people who have business to
do. But the whole district of Lower Perak surround-
ing Teluk Anson is a magnificent planting district, a
planting district which has not all its eggs in the
rubber basket, and is not dependent on the English
planter alone, for immigrant Malays, chiefly Javanese,
have planted thousands of acres of coconuts, which
thrive along the coast line. Anyone interested in
c S
The Federated Malay States. 85
tropical agriculture will probably find the Lower
Perak district a valuable study, for its hospitable soil
welcomes both Hevea Braziliensis and Cocos
Nucifera equally.
Between Tapah Road and Tanjong
Tapah Hoad to Malim the railway and road run through
jungle and this is the first section on
the line where the obsession of the forest begins to
weigh upon the mind. Tree after tree flits past
bringing no individuality with it. Creepers flash
into flaming flower here and there. Wearied by the
perpetually passing bank of greenery and shadows you
try to project the mind through the gaps where the
eye will not serve you. In those vast blacknesses,
virgin, given over since time was young to the huge
creatures, elephant and rhinoceros, who live by
stuffing themselves all day long with quickly digested
vegetable food, you creep about in fancy, the size
of Alice when she first bit the diminishing side of
tlie biscuit, or peek a long neck up through the
trunks to the tree tops, a neck, like Alice's, to startle
the wood-pigeon. How would you fare if dropped
into those inhospitable solitudes ? An unhappy
thought, perhaps, and it is time to turn to the east side
of the line and wait for the clearer alleyways made
by the Forest Department in the great
Trolak Forest Trolak reserve which bounds the rail-
Reserve.
way half way to Tanjong Malim. This
reserve, marked out by posts for the edification of the
Chinese timber stealer or Malay gutta thief, is full of
getah taian trees, which produce the gutta-percha of
86 Illustrated Guide to
commerce. It is said, and probably with complete
truth, that in the more than 25,000 square miles of the
Federation there does not exist one full grown tree of
this species, so thorough was the searching for it by
Malay and Dyak gutta collectors in the past. Their
method was, and is, for they still raid the forests in
Pahang, to cut down the tree to get the gutta out of it,
and they show that absolute heedlessness and total
lack of prescience so usual with the man who wants
to get rich quick. Acting on the idea, " why should
we consider posterity ? Posterity has done nothing for
us," they wandered through the forests, cutting down
gutta trees without scruple, careless of the future so
long as they secured the profits- of the present. To
them is due the fact that even the seeds of the trees
are nowadays hard to come by, and had there been
then invented any process for extracting with com-
mercial success the gutta from the leaves and branches
they would have dug up by the roots every tree in the
country. But happily for the persecuted palaqidujn a
heavy hand began at last to make itself felt even in
the forest, and to-day all the places known to contain
gutta trees are set apart as reserves. Trolak is one
of these and here the choking undergrowth is kept
cut back, so that the gutta trees have a better chance.
This tree, with its shiny green long leaf, showing old
gold colour on the underside when ruffled in a wind,
is one of the most beautiful in the jungle. Here long
aisles of infinite distance stretch through the forest, lit
by chequer flecks of light, " pattens of fine gold " let
down by the sun through chinks in the jungle ceiling.
The Fede7-ated Malay States. 87
The ravening and rioting struggle for life of the
creepers, the bushes and the young giants of trees is
here restrained and the hand of man, so seldom an
improver on nature, has granted us relief from the
oppression of the unpruned forest. Yet even so it is
an optical and mental rest to reach Tanjong Malim,
and after tea there to rattle across its pretty Bernam
river into the more open country of the State of
Selangor.
In the short distance between Tanjong
^Seiangm-^^ jNIalim and Kuala Lumpur there is a
remarkable variety of scenery, bamboo
jungle, sprung up where the virgin forest has been cut
down, abandoned mining land, existing open-cast
mines, hydraulic mines shooting water at red hillsides,
rubber estates at all stages of cultivation, occasional
Malay kampongs, little brick-built towns, each with its
railway station. The prettiest of these
Kuala Kubu. latter is Kuala Kubu, lying in a cup of
the hills on the bank of a little river,
which later develops into the Sungei Selangor, with its
wide mouth at Kuala Selangor, on the west coast.
From this river the whole State takes its name, Bugis
Malays having settled at Kuala Selangor at the begin-
ning of the 1 8th century and gradually asserted a
precarious dominion over the whole of what is now
known as the State of Selangor.
The area of this State being only some 3,200 square
miles, about half that of Perak, it follows that its
activities are all close together, and town succeeds
town along the line of the road and of the railway
8S Illustrated Guide to
with a greater frequency than in Perak. But they are
all mining towns and will not delay the sightseeing
traveller whose train glides into Kuala Lumpur at
dusk. As if for his special benefit a tropical sunset
is lighting up the Government offices, making them
look like part of a " rose-red city half as old as time."
Though they be not half as old as time, and lay claim
to about twenty years of existence, they are certainly
the most successful building in the Malay Peninsula.
In 1872 the Capitan China paid cash
Kuala Lumpur, down for the heads of his enemies in
the market place of the two-streeted
Chinese town of Kuala Lumpur, To-day it is a
garden city, the administrative capital of the Federated
Malay States, a busy town full of varied races, and
the kind of place where you can spend a few
weeks very pleasantly indeed. Its population is over
66,000.
Kuala Lumpur, has always been one of the principal
towns of the Malay States since they possessed such
things, but its importance has grown very much since
the federating of the four States in 1896, when it
became the administrative capital. This added to its
public buildings and to its English population.' When,
a few years later, the wonderful possibilities of rubber
growing were realised and coffee estates, both near
the town itself and in the Klang district, were planted
with rubber, the sudden large interest in this form
of cultivation, and the consequent increase in the
European population of the State of Selangor, gave an
impetus to Kuala Lumpur. The site is almost ideal
The Federated Malay States. 89
for a tov.-n in Malaya. Through the midst of it runs
a river which carries off the heaviest rainfalls in a few
hours, and on either side of the river the ground is flat
for some distance, thus providing building sites for
shops and houses on the east, or native side, and space
for a fine recreation ground and numerous public
buildings on the .west, or English, quarter. As the
Chinese, who form the majority of the trading
and shopkeeping population, prefer the rabbit
warren to the g.irden city system of housing,
they are easily accommodated on the flats near the
river, whilst the European inhabitants occupy the
white bungalows, each in its garden, which dot both
the hills on the west and the rising ground on the
east beyond the native town. Long-vanished tapioca
plantations, tin mining and wood-cutting, unregulated
until of recent years, have accounted for the dis-
appearance of the jungle close to Kuala Lumpur, and
in consequence of this and also from the fact that
most of the English quarter lies on the hills it is a
cheerful town, basking in the sun of a morning and
soon shaking off the rainstorms of the afternoons.
Since a time when the memory of man runneth not
to the contrary it has been still unvexed by earth-
quakes, typhoons, cyclones, or the " dreadful spout,
which shipmen do the hurricano call " ; it knows
neither simoom nor serious drought ; it apprehends
neither prairie fires nor tidal waves ; it has no " hot
weather" season and no cold, damp, drizzling
weather ; and it does not require the European and
the Asiatic to li\c side by side. To these negatively
go Illustrated Guide to
expressed advantages may be added the positives
that it is lit by electric light, is within twelve hours by
rail of Singapore, possesses an excellent race-course,
a golf course, a polo ground, two clubs, hotels,
very beautiful public gardens, cricket and football
grounds, fine roads, good shops, English society and
a cool climate. In fine, it has the town advantages
of the big cities like Penang and Singapore, without
their disadvantages in the way of jostling crowds,
dust, heat, noise, smells and turmoil generally. Both
in Penang and Singapore the impression alv/ays
present is that you can get nowhere beautiful or quiet
without driving through some mean street or
other. This one does not mind when passing
through, and indeed it often strikes the traveller
as entertaining, but it is a form of entertainment
which rapidly palls on the taste even of the
traveller, let alone the more fastidious taste of the
sojourner. If it were less than its twenty-four days
from England people would go to winter in Kuala
Lumpur. As it is, many people, usually relatives of
those whose business stations them there, spend
month after month lingering in it, doing, with
complete satisfaction, nothing in particular in a
strange land, or at least nothing which they could not
do in England. Tennis is played a good deal. You
play that in England, but played in Malaya it is
different somehow. For instance, the balls are
retrieved by Tamil or Malay, or possibly Chinese
children, who field for hours for a few cents to spend
in cakes. But the cUmate is very hard on the
The Federated Malay States. 91
rackets. Golf you play too, in what v/as once a
graveyard. It seems strange to think that amongst
the cold "hie jacets" of the Chinese dead you should
be busily hitting the Httle white ball again. The
explanation is simple. The Chinese have a religious
prejudice in favour of burying their dead on hillsides,
and thus the outskirts of a town are, if at all hilly,
usually full of old Chinese graves. As the great
majority of the dead were poor coolies, their graves
are but mounds of turf, with an occasional monu-
ment to some more considerable person. This
burying, and the consequent, if rather perfunctorj',
care of the graveyard prevent the jungle re-
occupying the hills and the grazing of cattle keeps
down the grass. In course of time a more decent
regard for sanitation and neatness and also a feeling
that the Chinese dead should not be allowed to
monopolise the best lands near the towns, result
in the Chinese being obliged to bury in more
defined places and not scatter their dead broadcast
over the land. The generation which regarded the
graves dies out, the memory of them fades, but
no one cares to build yet awhile on such a site,
so it is turned over to a golf club, which desires
merely to make the best of the surface and will leave
the dead beneath to sleep in peace. Polo is a game
which appeals greatly to the more energetic
portion of the community, and twice a week
strings of ponies go out in the afternoon to the race-
course, the polo ground being inside the rails. Twice
in the year and indeed sometimes oftencr, are race
gz Illustrated Guide to
meetings, gatherings for which society piits on its best
frocks and hats, where, besides the races for various
classes of horses, the ingenious system of "griffins"
permits the poor man to compete on terms of
equah'ty with the rich and provides a gamble of the
most extremely hazardous type from the very momoit
a horse is drawn to the moment when he wins. The
griffin system is common all over the East and its
results must have been the delight and despair ot
generations of Englishmen. It is simple. A turf
club decides to import twenty or so horses, usually
from Australia. Before they arrive the members of
the club put down their names for a horse each, or
half a horse each, or a leg each. The horses arrive,
are numbered, drawn for by lot, and led away to be
trained. You have got no distance with it yet, but
observe what you have already done. You have paid
probably ^50 for a horse, probably worth nothing at
all, and equally probably worth — locally — ;;^5oo.
Convinced that he is worth five hundred you send
him to a trainer, or hoping he is worth a little more
perhaps than five you train him yourself And what
a period for the owner is that training ! It may last two
months, every day of which is, to the real kind of griffin
owner, crammed with a most fearful joy. Tired with
his long sea voyage, poor in condition, your horse
refuses to feed and you must coddle him ; or he gees
to the other extreme and greedily eats himself into a
colic. Thus he goes near to die either of a surfeit or
of an insufficiency. When you have corrected either
extreme, if he does not develop any other equine
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The Federated Malay States. 93
distemper, he soon shows you that he is too sluggish
to care what is on his back or too lively to retain
anyone there. You discover after a month th:it he
can run swiftly a matter of two furlongs, which is not
far enough, or else cannot run until after he has been
three miles, which is too far. He does extraordinary
times against the watch, when you hold it, but is
shockingly beat at 4.15 a.m. by your friend's old nag
against which, with every circumstance of secrecy,
you try him. As like as not he suffers from that
complaint of infants, strangles, or dies of glanders or
betrays a mysterious disease called big-head. Belike
he does none of these things, but disquiets you
unreasonably by eating his food and doing his gallop
with a patient regularity which becomes shocking, and
suspect. Within a week of the race you hear that
So-and-So's griffin, too highly tried, has dropped dead
on the training track, artd you wonder whether you
are asking too much of your own every morning. In
short, through a period which may extend to more
than two months or may mercifully be less, you suffer
the extreme agonies of the gambler and run the
gamut of human emotions. The great day comes,
and, if no accident arrives before or on it to your
own horse, and plenty of accidents happen to other
people's horses, you see your griffin sailing home
easily, winning by many a length. It is well worth
while to win a griffin race and it is even well
worth while to lose, but it is better worth while
to train a griffin, even if you ncyer bring him to the
post,
94 Illustrated Guide to
The roads of Kuala Lumpur, made of red laterite
do not reflect the glare of tlie sun as do granite or
marble roads, though the red dust drifts and clings
in dry weather to white skirts, to the distraction of
that neat whiteness which the Englishwoman affects
in Malaya. Laterite is a soft material and you can
canter a horse along such roads without fearing for
his legs. Ln the bright mornings, before the sun is
too strong, is the time to take horse, or even rikisha,
and ride through enchanted gardens, along the borders
of their lake, and out beyond to where the jungle
still stands. Here "the skirts of the forest, like
fringe upon a petticoat," enclose the outer boundaries
of the town. On a bright morning, after a heavy rain
overnight, you may keep an eye spying for tracks and
pick up in the soft red mud or gravel by the side of
the road the pudgy impress of the tiger's pad. By it
you notice the track of a* pig, and idly wonder
whether the tiger went supperless to bed at dawn.
In a dried puddle, so tiny that " no-eyes " will miss
them and " eyes " only see them because he expects
them, are the tiny hoof marks of Plandok, the mouse
deer, Avhose pencil-thin legs have tripped across the
road just before you came round the corner. A heavy
beat of pinions in the distance catches the attention
and you look up to see, clanging across the break
which the road makes in the jungle, a family flock
of half-a-dozen hornbills. They settle in a wild fig-
tree and with clamourous squawks hop clumsily
about it, gobbling the fruit. Afar off something calls
" kuau,-kuau,-kuau." It is Kuau, the argus pheasant,
The Federated Malay States. 95
the "■ all-eyes " of the jungle, the skulking bird which
no one ever sees, more wary than the peacpck, and
of the peacock it has been said that no man ever yet
hid from a peacock. So wary is the argus that it
requires little faith almost to be persuaded that in
each of the spots in his sweeping tail feathers is a
veritable eye. If you are riding or driving, the
monkeys, whose province in life is to annoy other
people, wait until you are quite, quite close, and then
plunge back from the edge to the inside of the
jungle with startling crashes, which have their duly
intended effect of frightening your horse and yourself.
A little old grandfather ape with a black face, twink-
ling eyes and a white hangman's beard makes you
forgive them as he peers in wizened curiosity for a
last moment before rejoining his leaping spouse,
their babe beneath her bosom, clinging there as she
leaps across the leafy chasms. It is at this moment
that you disgustfully remember how when you are on
foot with a gun in the jungle the Malay with you will
whisper urgently, " Shoot, Tuan, shoot the mother,
and we shall catch the little one ! "
Or in the evening, as the dying eye of day with a
last expiring gleam lights up the splashes of colour on
the flowering shmbs of the gardens, you ride slowly
through and feast your eyes on the masses of purple
bougainvillea, the yellow trumpets of the alamanda,
the drooping and dropping heliotrope flowers of some
unknown tree mingling with the red dust on the road.
The distance grows dim, a weird apple-green tint
spreads over the whole prospect, the strange shape
96 Illustrated Guide to
of twilight gloom out around you, and Tiptibau, the
nightjar, races through the swooning air overhead, call-
ing and answering. The first flying-fox, high up, appears
over the hill-tops, and with characteristic precision
wings his way across the sky. A sword-beaked night-
hawk dashes round a tree, tilts to avoid you, and is
gone in shadows. Heavy droning beetles urge a
cumbrous flight close by your ear, and as night arrives
a screaming chorus begins to rise from frogs in the
lake and ponds and from insects in the jungle.
Irregular at first it settles down at last, so that you
distinguish the dignified "onk, onk, onk" of the
big frogs, the yapping of their smaller brethren, and
the high thin wail, something like the song of the
telegraph wire, which nightly goes up from the
creeping and flying things innumerable, for whom the
jungle night is day. These insects have a cautious
habit which baulks curiosity, for if you select a bush
and stalk it, intending to peer through the growing
gloom and see what it is which sings so loud and so
free at eventide, the sound ceases suddenly. But
sometimes you will manage to locate a single singer
in the earlier evening and will discover that he is a
mole-cricket sitting just inside his burrow, rubbing
his serrated thighs across each other and making the
heaped earth around his dwelling in the ground vibrate
to his emotions. But it is not the mole-cricket alone
who is responsible for the volume of sound which
fills a tropical night, for many another creature adds
his reedy shrill pipe thereto. When night has really
come Tiptibau changes his note to " tok-tok-tok,"
The Federated Malay States. 9?
repeated either once only or a few times or many
times with monotonous irregularity. His rival is a
little owl which coos in the blank distance, and the
two seem to compete for your attention. But an
ominous " ping " makes itself heard and perhaps a
vicious bite. It is the hour of the mosquito. Just
at dusk and for an hour after he is at his worst in
gardens and outdoors generally, though indoors, at
the club or at home, he is, even at these hours, if
always rather obtrusive, still a little more endurable.
In many places v\-here he is destroyed carefully in
bulk and in detail you would hardly know he existed.
The dark, which in this middle of the world falls with
hardly half an hour's variation soon after six all the
year round, brings your ride, your drive or your walk
to an end, but the concert of the insects, the frogs and
the night birds go on all night long, for their day
begins as your evening draws in.
The gardens and lake which are such a feature of
Kuala Lumpur are about half a mile from the railway
station. Just before their gates stands the Museum,
an account of which will be found elsewhere. But
the whole of the English quarter of Kuala Lumpur is
one garden with roads in every direction contouring
the hills and continually offering at every turn fresh
scenes of that restrained but still tropical beauty
which results from successful effort to preserve some
only of the jungle and keep the rest of the ground in
green lawns and shady paths. The impression left by
the town on the mind of the traveller is of perpetual
freshness, verdure and colour, of bright lights and
98 Illustrated Guide to
scented breezes, and of a spacious picturesqueness
very grateful to the eye.
Sixteen miles from Kuala Lumpur by
Dusun Tua. road is the Dusun Tua bungalow. This
delightsome spot is approached along
a road branching off from the road to Kajang and lies
in the valley of the Langat river. No mining is allowed
above the river so that the water comes down from
the hills beyond most crystal-clear and limpid,
twinkling in the sun, and, like the brook of Tennyson,
" bubbles into eddying bays." Opposite the bungalow
at Dusun Tua is one of these eddying bays, and here
too are the " lawns and grassy plots " and the " shingly
bars " where the waters may
" make the netted sunbeam dance
against the sandy shallows."
Set on the bank is the bungalow. Some come
to bathe in the river and in the water of the
hot springs which rise close to the bungalow and
flow into the river below it. Some come to
drink of the hot water, for it is reported to be
much the same as that of Bath, and as Prince
Bladud sought health in the warm waters so nowa-
days may we. That melancholy exile was led to the
springs of Bath by the sagacity of a pig, a " majestic
swine " which was fond, as all readers of Pickwick will
remember, of bathing, with the not unnatural result
tliat his coat is recorded as being sleek and the
complexion clear. Hot springs are a great attraction
to animals, atid it is probable that in the old ancient
days before the coming of the white man to the springs
The I'ederated Malay States. 99
of Dusun Tua they were far more used by the jungle
folk than by human kind, for the primitive aborigine
of Malaya has not sufficient sagacity to be fond of
washing. But the elephant, the rhinoceros, the sela-
dang, the tapir, the deer and the pig love these salt
licks and all over the jungles resort to them to bathe
in the watery mud and to eat the sulphurous earth.
But travellers are warned not to allow cart bullocks to
pass a night or to graze at Dusun Tua, as either the
atmosphere or the herbage is fatal to them and many
have died there.
Dusun Tua bungalow, standing amongst its lawns and
civilisation, has rather heightened than destroyed the
charm of the hot spring, for heavy undergrowth has
been cut down and you may stroll along paths among
the colonnades of trees and jungle aisles, where the
sun's shafts pierce the topmost leaves and flicker to
your feet. As evening draws in you may sit on the lawn
and wait for the flying fox and the flying squirrel.
The flying fox, a large fruit-eating bat, sharp of nose
and liquid of eye, comes flapping across above the tree
tops, and if you have a gun you are hereby requested to
shoot as many of him as possible, for he is a bitter
curse to the Malay peasant, and wherever the durian
blossoms there the flying fox settles, to fight and
squeal and gorge himself with the heavy white flower
till he must swoon with its sickly buttermilk scent.
The flying squirrel, though, is no enemy of yours or
of any man's, but a very beautiful harmless creature,
who learnt the secret of gliding long before any
aeronaut. His Iwbit is to climb to the top of a high
Illustrated Guide to
tree and thence to launch himself into thin air, his legs
wide apart and the otherwise loose and flapping folds
of skin on either side of him stretched taut against
the air. Swiftly down he glides, and as you think he
must needs dash his brains out against the tree trunk
for which he aims, lo, he tilts himself, rises a foot or
so, and alights, clinging to the rough bark. Without an
instant's delay he scurries up the tree and from its
.top plays the same game to reach another. A
wonderful creature is the flying squirrel, so cumbered
in its movements on the ground by its rufous folds of
skin, yet so quick in climbing and so skilled in
gliding from tree to tree. The methods of the flying
lizard are much the same as his, but the lizard is a
tiny thing and a very quick eye is needed to detect
him when at rest. A little flash in the sunlight is
usually all to give you notice that he has come and
gone.
Beyond Dusun Tua the road stops or rather is no
longer upkept. But it has been formed and runs for
some miles into the hills along the valley of the
Langat river, the same little stream vv'hich passes
Dusun Tua. If this road is ever completed it should
come out in Jelebu in the Negri Sembilan.
The origin of the hot springs in the Federated Malay
States is ascribed not to volcanic action but to "water
entering a rock crevice on the hills and then flowing
down, through the fissures, to a great depth before it
rises to the surface again, and in its passage under
pressure through the heated rocks it acquires its high
temperature and takqs up its mineral and gaseous
The Federated Malay States. loi
constituents." The temperatures of these springs
range from 90° to 180°, and the traveller should
beware lest, forgetting the fate of the pig of the
Bladud legend, he imprudently take a bath at too
high a temperature and, like that natural philosopher,
be no more.
Though much of interest may be seen
The Coast ^yi,]-, Kuala Lumpur as head-quarters,
Rubber Belt. ^ ^
yet anyone wishing to see a great
stretch of rubber estates must take the train — a little
over an hour's run — to Klang or else motor down by
road. At Klang is the palace of H.H. the Sultan of
Selangor. From Klang there is a railway to Kuala
Selangor, From north of the village of Kuala
Selangor to south of the town of Klang runs one long
belt of rubber estates. Klang has for many years been
a great district for planting and at one time it pro-
duced quantities of coffee, but this commodity, after
paying highly for some years, was at last over-produced
all over the world, and the price fell to a point which
scarcely allowed of any profit to a planter unless he had
a large estate managed on the most strictly economical
lines. This unfortunate collapse in coffee might have
been the ruin of the English planting community, but
these gentlem.en were not devoid of grit, not lacking
in energy, not spoiled by prosperity. They sought
for some other product with which to replace their
coffee bushes and they found Hevea Braziliensis, the
Para rubber of commerce. It is now some thirty
years since Sir Hugh Low, a former British
Resident of Pcrak, imjjortcd from Ceylon, whither
6
102 Illustrated Guide to
they had been sent from Kew, Kew having
received them from Brazil in South America, a
nmiiber of seeds or plants of this rubber tree, with the
idea that as the Malayan and the Brazilian climates
are not dissimilar the tree might flourish equally
well in Malaya as in Brazil. The first importations
succeeded very well ; the trees grew and in time were
multiplied by the distribution of seeds from the Gov-
ernment nurseries, but for some j^ears it was thought
that the difficulties attending the tapping for rubber
made the planting of them commercially impracticable.
But eventually this difficulty was got over and, with a
romantic suddenness, the English planters realised
that rubber would be enormously profitable. From
that day of illumination they have never looked back.
Coffee estates became rubber estates ; coconuts were
no longer planted ; land was taken up and new estates
opened for rubber. To get the necessary capital
companies were floated, locally, in Ceylon, in England ;
the price of rubber seeds rose, and they were for a
short time procurable with difficulty, many coming
from Ceylon. Rubber became an assured success,
more especially as the market price rose with great
suddenness in 1909, and the resultant profits on
the sales allowed of enormous dividends. The
cultivation and the industry are briefly described
elsewhere. Anyone wishing to see for himself the
greatest expanse of rubber in Malaya will see it in
Klang, Kuala Selangor, and also in Kuala Langat,
a coast district south of Klang, accessible only by
road or else by (Government launch from Port
Swettenham.
The Federated Malay States. 103
Kuala Langat, v/hose principal village
^"Distrfc"^^' is Jugra, is an agricultural district
with a sparse Malay population and
a number of rubber estates. At Morib it possesses
a fine sandy beach washed by the summer seas
of the Straits of Malacca, and some day no
doubt this will be the Brighton of Kuala Lumpur.
At present it is not developed and access to it by
road has until lately been difficult. Now, however,
that the ferry over the Langat river has been replaced
by a bridge higher up, Morib is more readily accessible
from Klang by road. It is not the case in Malaya
that the coast is unhealthy as compared with the
uplands, though there is a distinct difference between
their climates.
On the railway beyond Klang is Port
Swettenham Swettenham, a world-port, with a steam
tonnage of more than a million a year
and an annual trade of some twelve-and-a-half miUions
sterling. It lies at the landward end of an estuary
in which meet the Klang and Langat rivers,
and dates from the year 1901 only. The construction
of it having been determined it was necessary first of
all to provide some dry land, for the whole site was
a tidal flat covered with mangrove growing in mud
and salt water. The railway which formerly ended
at Klang was therefore prolonged to the mouth of
the Klang river and thousands of truck-loads of
earth dumped along the sea front. At the same time
a passenger jetty and three wharves to carry railway
trucks were built. The jetty is on screw piles, but
6a
I04 Illustrated Guide to
the wharves rest on large cylinders driven down into
the mud, the deepest going 132 feet. The port, both
during construction and afterwards, proved shockingly
unhealthy. Malarial fever was rife and contrary to
expectation grew worse steadily. Luckily it was just
at this time that Governments all over the world were
beginning to put into practice the conclusions of
science in relation to malaria, and it was determined
by the Seiangor Government to put a bund or dyke
all round the site, which should keep out the sea
water, and to provide gates in it to drain off the rain
water. As soon as the site became dry, malaria abso-
lutely ceased, the anopheles mosquitoes, which had
bred in myriads in the swamp, even in the brackish
pools of mingled sea and rain water, being dried out.
This was a most notable achievement, and has now
become a classical instance of what can be done. It
was felt all over the medical world, for the work had
been deliberately undertaken with a definite object,
and its progress, with its concurrent effects, w^as kept
under observation until the expected result was
reached. Yellow fever was driven out of Flavana
much about the same time, and the Panama Canal
zone has been freed from malaria by draining and
filling operations similar to those undertaken at Port
Swettenham.
The P. and O. homeward intermediate steamers
call at Port Swettenham and there load thousands
of boxes of rubber from the estates. ;!^5,256,2ii
worth was exported in 191 8. The port is a
very fine natural harbour, whose advantages have
The Federated Malay States. 105
been better realised by the great steamship lines
since it has been surveyed by the Navy. But natural
beauties it has none, being nothing more than-
wharves, sheds, offices and houses dumped in a
mangrove swamp lying on a mangrove fringed river
mouth. There are 1,000 feet of deep-water wharves,
capable of berthing ocean- going steamers.
An hour on the railway beyond Kuala
Soumwards Lumpur the train stops at the pretty
Kuala Lumpur— little villaiie of Kaiang, a centre for
rubber estates, and the headquarters of
a considerable tin mining district. The main trunk
road also runs through it, but the place presents no
features of unusual interest (except that Dusun Tua
fourteen miles away can be perhaps more easily
reached from it than from Kuala Lumpur),
The train now bears us away to
Seremban, the capital of the State of
Serem an. j^jgo^j Sembilan. Sembilan means nine,
Negri means States, and the name
recalls the fusing under British Protection of
nine jarring atoms of independent Malay prince-
doms into one considerable State- Its native
ruler is the V'am Tuan Besar of the Negri Sembilan,
whose seat is at Sri Menanti, in the Kuala Pilah district,
as described further on. Seremban town somewhat
recalls Kuala Lumpur, for its English quarter is also
spread out upon hills and lies amid gardens, but its
population is very much smaller than that of Kuala
Lumpur, its public buildings are not so good, and it
io6 Illustrated Guide to
suffers somewhat from comparison with Kuala Lumpur,
on]}' a couple of hours away by rail. If, however, it
is intended to see something of the surrounding
country, Scremban makes an excellent headquarters.
Seremban is the junction for Port
Port Dickson. Diclcson, a health resort, in a modest
way, situated on one of the rare sand
beaches of the West coast. It is not, however, on
the road to anywhere and so has but a local fame.
Yet it is certainly as pretty as a very similar beauty
spot, Mount Lavinia, near Colombo. By rail from
Seremban it is \\ hours, and will repay a visit if the
time can be spared. By road it is 25 miles.
Kuala Pilah is from Seremban twenty-
Sa Pifah" four miles by road. The outskirts
of Seremban are rather complicated,
and anyone motoring should be sure he is on
the right road. The race-course lies on the
left, about a mile out, and beyond it the road
offers little of interest until the Bukit Putus
pa.ss is reached. Here begins one of those long
and very beautiful climbs upward to which the
traveller, if he has gone by road from north to south
through the country, 'will have grown almost
accustomed. But custom cannot stale the infinite
variety of the jungle or dull the feeling of vague
gratitude to someone, we know not whom, who has
made it possible for us to pass thus, in comfort and
pleasure, through its deepest recesses. The road'is in
the jungle indeed but not of it, for what can be more
foreign to the jungle than this weedless surface, this
The Federated Malay States. 107
uncompromising smooth metalling, this orderly align-
ment of a road ? Yet the jungle seems scarce con-
scious that the heart of it has been cut open and its
beating exposed. The blue and black butterfly which
flits unobtrusively through the flickering blue and
black lights of the forest will yet congregate in
numbers on the bright surface of the road, and here,
where a little spring has forced itself through the
steam-rolled metal, a band of yellow butterflies and
white butterflies chase each other to and fro or sit
sipping the moisture on the road surface. Shrill
insects scream in the dark recesses by the roadside
and here and there a bank has slipped. Such slips
are the jungle's perpetual reminder of its right of
way. Neglect them for a month and the jungle has
covered their bare earth. Continue to neglect
them and you will find they have slipped yet a little
further. Neglect them longer and there they are on
the metal. Gradually they would creep forward and
the slip on the other side, a slip away from the road,
would eat into the formation to meet them. Between
the two it would be no long time before that original
owner, the jungle, had come back again. The jungle
never forgets. It remembers, though you never knew
it till now, that just about the place where the road
winds and climbs, and climbs and winds to leave the
Sungei Ujong plain and pierce to Terachi on the
other side of the hills, the Malays, about Christmas
1875, selected the narrow pass and stockaded it to
resist the British. But a combined force of Royal
Artillery, Ghurkas, and Naval Brigade, one of their
io8 17 /usi fated Guide to
officers winning the Victoria Cross, turned the
yjosition, and drove out its defenders. Long ago
though it be that the stockade was built and
demolished, it is not beyond all conjecture that some-
where in those dim depths to which you look down
from the road there lie, deep in the bosom of the
woods, rotten and dead as the cause they once
supported, the heavy timbers of the old stockade.
Two miles up and two miles down bring us at last
to the vale of Terachi and along it, occasionally
cutting off a corner, the road runs in to Kuala
Pilah. The whole way is one long series of pictures.
Whether the padi be green and springing, golden and
swept with waves of shadow, or the fields fallow
between the seasons, the fairness of the vale appeals,
and here, if anywhere, you think, people must lead
happy lives. Here is a people who know no fret of
cities, no wandering over wastes of weary, weary
sea, no blank despair of deserts, but a calm enjoyment
of the fruits in their seasons of an earth so bountiful
that the primal curse of labour seems forgotten.
The primitive rammed-earth dam or some slight
barricade of wood and drifted river sand has raised
the mountain streams at different points, and that
ingenious rule of thumb irrigation in which the
Malay excels — he is somewhat inclined to the belief
that '* plumb and rule guide many a fule " — suffices
to bring hundreds of acres into heavy crop. Along
the sides of the valley are groves and orchards, so
that every man may sit " under his own vine and
under his own fig tree " or under the Malay equivalent
The Federated Malay States. 109
of the same, his own durian tree and his own
coconut palm. They are a healthy people, like all
Malays in real Malay conditions, vexed only at times
by an outbreak of smallpox, now very occasional,
for the younger generation are vaccinated, and
plagued, like all natives of the tropics, by fevers.
Their heaviest death-rate is probably among the small
children, misfed and mismanaged like the infants of
every race under the sun.
At the twentieth mile from Seremban is a
turn to the right leading to the Astana of H.H.
the Yam Tuan Besar at Sri Menanti. From the turn
to the palace it is five miles, over a very pretty road
up a valley. The palace itself is built entirely of
dark red wood in Malay style, the two ends raking
skywards to flamboyant gables. Set against the
background of dark green hills with a broad lawn
in front it is the fitting culmination of the Sri
Menanti valley and its dozens of little Malay houses,
any one of which might serve as model for the
Astana itself.
The town of Kuala Pilah lies on the Muar river.
The highest hill in the town is the site of the District
Officer's house, and if one's energy suffices to get to
the top there is a fine view to be had over the valley
of the Muar and that vast stretch of unexplored
country lying in the Pabang direction to the east of
Kuala rilah.
In the main street of the towa is a monument to
the memory of the Hon. Martin Listerj first British
Illustrafed Guide to
Resident, which the Chinese and other inhabitants of
Kuala Pilah set up a few years ago.
The wa)' from Kuala Pilah to Tarn pin is by a road
very similar in its main features to that between
Seremban and Kuala Pilah. About half way
is a pass between the hills, equally beautiful
with Bukit Putus. The road metal here is
serpentine, an ornamental stone of a very fine
green colour, which should have some value as a
building material some day. At present it is nothing
accounted of, being inferior to granite for road
surfacing. To metal roads with serpentine seems
" wasteful and ridiculous excess," but Ipoh goes further
and metals hers with marble quarried from the
limestone rock, and at Sungei Besi at one time it was
found difficult to prevent Chinese women from
scraping the surface of the roads and washing the
product for tin. " Quand on n'a pas ce qu'on aime,
il faut aimer ce qu'on a," and when granite is not to
be got for macadam you have to put up with marble
or serpentine, or even tin.
The railway between Seremban and
from slremban. '^^™P^^' after leaving first the mining
plain round Seremban and then the
rubber estates, runs right through Rembau, a purely
Malay district, which, with other parts of the Negri
Sembilan, has rather peculiar customs of its own.
The origin of these is somewhat of a mystery, but
tradition states that when the immigrant ancestors of
the present Malays came from Menangkabau, in
The I'ederated Malay States. itt
Sumatra, to this part of the Peninsula, they married
with the women of the aboriginal stock and through
them acquired their title to the land. Certain it is
that up to the present day the custom has prevailed
of all the land being held by the women, who are
unable to sell it except by consent of a sort of family
council. With this custom go others, ' chiefly
those growing up in a highly democratic community
which has never brooked any interference from any
Malay authority and has never been offered any by
the British. The ]\Iala)'s of the Negri Sembilan, and
especially those of Rembau and Kuala Pilah, have
worked out their own salvation in their own way
and as the railway, running north and south across
hills and valleys running east and west, takes you
through an unending succession of orchards and rice
fields, occupied by a large and a permanent native
population, you are constramed to admit that the
problem of how to be happy in Malaya has been
long ago solved by these people. They groAV no
trade products. When the bottom fell out of
coffee it was not they wlio were left lamenting.
Fluctuations in the price of copra or rubber
do not touch them. But they have created out
of the jungle a most beautiful countryside, a
little spoiled, perhaps, nowadays by the railway if
viewed from the road, but viewed from the railway
it is still one of the most delightful tracts in all
Malaya and too soon passed through in the train.
Rembau is the only stretch of country of any interest
or picturesquerreHS between Kuahi Lunipur and
1 1 2 Illustrated Guide to
Singapore. From Kuala Lumpur to Kajang the country
chiefly consists of uninteresting lalang-covered hills,
swamps caused by mining, spoil heaps, dumps and
mining holes. Beyond Kajang comes a stretch of
rubber, then jungle until Seremban is reached.
Outside Seremban is mining again, then rubber, then,
happily, Rembau, then more lalang, and finally the
train is swallowed up between those two high walls
of forest primeval which are the Gemas to Johore
part of the line. At Gemas you leave the Federated
Malay States.
Tampin is the junction, whether by
Tampin and j-Qad or rail, for Malacca. The very
Malacca. ' ■'
name is high romantical. The Malays
founded it, Albuquerque and his Portuguese at-
tacked them, seized the town and held it, building a
cathedral in blocks of soft laterite which harden on
exposure to the air. In great state they lived there,
looking out from their eyrie on the hill over the
summer seas of the Straits, until one day the great
ships of the Dutch hove up into view, lumbering on
the horizon, and for the second time the moving
finger wrote upon Malacca's walls that the glory
had departed. The Dutch turned the Portugals out
and themselves occupied Malacca, burying their great
men from time to time in the cathedral on the hill.
They too built a church still used. Solid men,
decent traders, heavy-handed to the native Mala}-,
Malacca saw them in turn conquered by the
British, and for a third time a glory departed. Lest
they in turn should be ejected and its strong walls
The Federated Matay States. 1 13
protect another nation, the English, at vast expense,
blew up the fortifications, leaving not one stone
upon another, except at the great gate now
called, mistakenly, Albuquerque's. To this day
it stands, frowning at the sea. Expectant of yet
another conqueror ? Perhaps so, for the whirligig of
time brings in its revenges, and Malacca is full of ghosts.
The drums and tramplings of three conquests have
hardly ceased to echo, and it is only a paltry four
hundred years since Europe called at Malacca.
Those centuries drenched Malacca in native and
foreign blood. Its laterite soil is blood-red. An
eerie place is this hill, known all over the Malay world
as Kota Malacca ; it sleeps and dreams now, the red
roofs of the town below dozing in the sun, a hornet's
nest hanging on the blank walls of its cathedral, the
swallows screaming round the old high altar, the sun
meeting no roof, beating down upon forgotten vaults,
a lighthouse at the west end winking signals to ships
which pass in the night but do not deign to speak
Malacca in passing.
114 Illustrated Guide to
II.
NOTES FOR TRAVELLERS.
By CUTHBERT WOODVILLE HaRRISON.
Restbouses
" Is there good accommodation ? " is
^ „ . , the first question we ask about a
and Hotels. ^
country new to us. " What are the
hotels like ? " " Can we bring a lady ? " As long
ago as 191 1 there v/ere 940 white women in the
Federated Malay States and there must be many
more now. So no one need hesitate to bring his
feminine belongings with him, nor need the ladies
expect to be called upon to rough it. There are few
hotels, but in every considerable town there is a rest-
house upkept by Government. These places are very
different from the old dak-bungalows of India, being
usually brick-built, clean and comfortable buildings
run on hotel lines and only different from hotels in
that they are not so large. But they contain every-
thing necessary for the convenience of travellers, and
the sole difficulty likely to be met in them is that the
resthouse keeper does not invariably speak English.
People accustomed to travelling will make light of
this difficulty, for, as most of them know, travellers
usually ask much the same questions all over the
world and all over the world the innkeeper, whatever
his colour and his mother tongue, will make shift to
answer them or, if he cannot answer them in words.
The Federated Malay States. 115
he will provide that more practical form of reply,
doing what he supposes you are likely to want done.
The resthouses are complete in every respect and
provide, or can procure, everything needed, but
people who are wise enough to be particular as to
their bedding will never regret bringing with them a
roll containing a couple of sheets, a couple of pillow
cases, a mosquito net and their favourite shape and
size in pillows. Many a good night's rest can be
lost and the next day rendered less pleasant by
finding that one's own private idiosyncracies in these
respects have not been studied. in detail. Resthouses
are places of public resort and, like hqtels, do their
best, but everyone has his own fads and no two
people have ever been known to agree on the shape of
a pillow or the minimum of sheet cleanliness. The
food is sometimes surprisingly good and sometimes
amazingly poor, for it is bound to vary with the size
of the town in which the resthouse is situated, but it
is always cooked after the ordinary English fashion
and the table appointments are clean. The only
thing which will come strange at first to a traveller
is the bath. When you go into your bathroom you
will see standing in a corner a large stone jar full of
cold water. This is not the Englishman's tub and
you are not expected to get into it. By its side you
will find a tin dipper. The practice is to dip water
from the jar v.-ith this vessel and douche yourself with
it, not heeding the splash, for there is no wall paper
or carpet to spoil and the waste water drains away to
the outside. This kind of bathing gives the maximum
1 1 6 Illustrated Guide to
of cold shock and is intensely refreshing, A bath
twice a day, morning and evening, is de rigueur in
the tropics. Some people, those who have been
carbonadoed in the tropic seas, take the chill off
by ordering in a can of hot water and mixing it oft"
with the cold, but those new to the country will
probably wish that the cold water were colder. It is
always advisable to retain rooms by letter or telegram
in advance, as this warns the resthouse keeper of the
approaching arrivals and may possibly stimulate him
into preparing materials for meals beforehand, for in
this country nothing keeps. If you leave him to
expect you when he sees you, he will probably have
to kill a fowl about half an hour before he cooks it.
This " sudden death " dish is emphatically not the
best way of treating that staple food of the Eastern
traveller.
As to drinks — every resthouse stocks spirits of all
kinds and bottled beer of severak varieties, but wines
are not usually procurable nor always of the best
varieties if procured. Soda and mineral waters of all
kinds are always available. Water is probably best
avoided as a beverage, for one is never perfectly certain
that it is pure unless one boils and filters it oneself,
and life is really not long enough for these opera-
tions. The prices of everything you will find
displayed in the resthouse together with a set of
rules, made for the terror of evildoers and the
delight ot those that do well.
In the appendix is given a list of resthouses.
There are hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoln
The Federated Malay States. 117
In the whole of the Federated Malay
Place Names. States there are not more than five
places with English names. Port Weld,
Kampong Dew, Teluk Anson, Port Swettenham and
Port Dickson, are all named after English adminis-
trators. Everywhere else the towns and the districts
have retained the musical collocations of vocables given
them by those first colonists, the Malays. The
Chinese amongst themselves have either Chinese
names for many places or else use corruptions of the
Malay sounds, but except in the case of the city of
" everlasting peace," Taiping, their names have not
prevailed over the original Malay. Tamil place-
names exist for the Tamil, too, but for them alone.
Amongst the Malay place-names are conspicuous
those beginning v.ith Kuala, a word meaning the mouth
of a river. Kuala Lumpur means the mouth of the
muddy (river). Port Swettenham was formerly Kuala
Klang, the mouth of the Klang river, where it de-
bouches into the sea. Port Dickson was at one time
Pulau A rang. Port Weld was Kuala Sapetang. One
says was, bul really they are all so still, for the INIalay
population stiil uses the old terms, feeling perhaps that
they are quite as euphonious as the new. This country
has been spared the cacophonus combinations
which afflict America, where the musical Indian
names have faded with the fading of a race. But in
Malaya the Malays, the only race with a normal
birthrate, fade not at all, but, increasing and multi-
plying steadily, still impose their tongue and their
place-names upon all alien races. Read the names
1 1 8 Illustrated Guide to
of the towns and districts from the map, and roll the
lif]uid syllables upon the tongue. We could not
better them with our unconscionable consonantal
English names, and are you not grateful that we have
not tried ? Each of these names has a meaning, or
had; nearly all of them refer to some natural object
remarked by the first nomenclators. Trees, birds,
flowers, rocks, rapids, all of them have been noted
by someone in the past, found true and useful
descriptions by the next comer, and retained
unaltered. But many of them are now unmeaning
to the men of to-day, and have either to be explained
by some legend or referred to the aboriginal in-
habitant's naming. To lake the map and consider
of the names therein is an innocent pastime. Who,
for instance, was To' Khalipah, who gave his name
to a certain remote village on the Bernam river ?
" The iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her
poppy and deals with the memory of men without
distinction to merit of perpetuity." Be sure he was
someone in his time, or such a high sounding title
as Khalifa would not have been attached to him.
Be equally sure that the old man was nobody at all
but a Mendeling Malay who, after the custom of
those immigrants from Sumatra, loved to bear a
nominal dignity and gave it to the little place
where he settled. What are these " Kota " names
which you find everywhere.? The word means a
fort, of course, and they seem to have dotted a good
many of them over the country in the old days. New
fort and old fort, Kota Bahru and Kota Lama, even
The Federated Malay States. 119
" old fort on the left bank," and " old fort on the
right bank," Kota Lama Kiri and Kota Lama
Kanan, all memory of their " drums and tramplings "
is to-day lost, but no doubt in ages long gone past
one held them and another went up against them, all
after the approved methods of the skulking !Malay
combats when the pahlawan and the panglima,
the knights of old, were bold. Then what possessed
them to call one of the highest hills Mount Buffalo,
Gunong Kerbau, for assuredly no buffalo ever grazed
its slopes ? And is there anything distinctive in
calling a place Bamboo Village, Kampong Buloh,
seeing that there is hardly a village in the land where
the bamboo hesitates to grow ? Who was the stranger
from the West who gave his name to Changkat
Orang Puteh, White Man's Hill ? How many people
were taken by the crocodile of Kampong Buaia,
Crocodile Village, before they set a bait for him,
caught him and speared the ugly life out of him?
This nicknaming process seems to have been a great
favourite in the past, and even yet it prevails. In
Perak is a place called Blanda Mabok, Drunken
Dutchman, named after an adventurer whose beer
bottles and gin bottles still remain in a remote jungle
breeding mosquitoes in the water they hold. In
Negri Sembilan the British Resident's horse dying at
a point on the road between Tampin and Kuala
Pilah, the Malays called, and to this day call, the
place Dead Horse Hill (Bukit Kuda Mati), quite
after the best allusive style of which the classic
example is Dead Man's Gulch. Black AVater, While
120 Illustrated Guidi to
Water, Yellow 'Water (Ayer Itam, Ayer Puteh, Aycr
Kuning), are all very common names, and are often
still referable to the colour of a stream, and the Batu
(ilugor (weathered rock) names are easily to be
interpreted. Casuarina Tree Point (Tanjong Rhu),
Fish Point (Tanjong Sepat), are plain enough, and
sometime in the seventeenth century there may have
been a trading station on Pulau Pintu Gedong, and
this name a corruption of Pulau Pintas Gedong,
Island of the Channel to the Store. Certainly ingots
of tin were dug up near the lighthouse there not long
ago. But of very many of these meaning and
musical names all history has long been lost amongst
this gentle and indolent people, who live for the
happiness of to-day, and recking not of the future,
equally inquire not of the past. It is a fascinating
exercise to let the mind wander amongst these
names, for though puzzling questions and not ex-
plicable to the satisfaction of Dryasdust, they are
equally like Sir Thomas Browne's " What song the
Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when
he hid himself among women," not beyond all
conjecture.
The town hospitals of Malaya are all
Hospitals and owned by the State, the few Chinese-
institutions. •' '
run hospitals being more in the nature
of homes than hospitals as we know them. A descrip-
tion of any native hospital will serve very well for
those at Taiping, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and
many other smaller places, for all are run upon
uniform lines. The first point to note is that the
The Federated Malay States. 121
hospital stands inside a very high ring fence of wire
so closely knitted that it is not possible to pass the
hand through. This fence is not to keep the patients
in, for every one is free to leave whenever he will,
but it is intended to prevent well-meaning friends
from passing food through to the patients from
outside. Here is the first point of cleavage between
the Occidental's and the Oriental's idea of medical
treatment. The Oriental is still in that stage of
thought on medical subjects which is found amongst
the lower and more ignorant classes of Europe. He
believes in food and plenty of it at all times. The
very idea of dieting a patient is strange to him.
That a man half-dead of dysentery should not be
allowed to eat curry and rice seems cruelty to him
and to his friends. If you walk through a hospital
and ask "any complaints?" some one, some Tamil
or Chinese, is certain to hold up his hand and state a
grievance. You stop and listen, expecting perhaps
some complaint of harsh treatment of a patient by a
native dresser. But no — your grumbling patient only
tells you " They don't give enough to eat — nothing
but slops — no rice, no curry. My inside is empty,
empty, Tuan ! " With a smile you turn to the English
surgeon in charge who tells you " Yes, dysentery case.
He had a relapse about a week ago. We couldn't
account for it. At last we discovered that his vafe
liad thrown some curry and rice, wrapped up in a
leaf, over the fence. He had eaten it. Result,
relapse, and he nearly died." One admires the
devotion of such wives, but wishes ihev knew more
122 Illuslrated Guide to
of the effects of curry and rice upon the dysenteric
human interior. But, after all, is it wonderful that
she thought her husband was being slowly starved to
death, for even more ridiculous superstitions about
European medical treatment are very current. The
Malays, for instance, most firmly and fully believe
that if a patient is admitted to hospital and is not
cured in a few days, the white doctor poisons him off.
Purely fantastical though this belief is to us, it is yet
based on a cross-eyed logic which convinces the
Malay mind. The idea arises thus : — As all the races
in the country have a great belief in European drugs
which they can take as outside patients and prove in
their own homes, so also they have a great horror
of European treatmetit involving segregation in a
hospital, and often surgery, " cutting pieces off people."
Those two sides of it frighten the imagination. But
to their frightened imaginations they further present
the well-known fact, carefully acknowledged in all
the Government returns, that an enormous quantity
of admissions to hospitals die within twenty-four hours
of admission. The Malay puts two and two together
and to his own horrified satisfaction makes five of
them. Says be, " It is plain. All men know it.
See how many go in and how few come out. There
is a reason for this. The reason is that if a doctor
sees he cannot cure a man he is bitterly ashamed.
He says to himself, ' this person shall not linger here
to bring shame upon the art and practice of m.edicine.
Better dead ! ' So he poisons him and afterwards
they deliver the corpse to his friends and to the Kathi,
The Federated Malay States. 123
who bury it. That is the way of it." That, of course,
is precisely not the way of it. The true way of it is
simpler than that and not so titillatingly horrible, being
merely that people who will resort to a hospital only
when they are at the last gasp will naturally die in the
hospital, as indeed they would have died outside.
Asiatic patients cannot bring themselves to enter a
hospital until they have exhausted every native treat-
ment. They are really embarked on the last long
journey before they are taken to hospital, and it follows
thus of a certainty that deaths follow admissions very
rapidly. The doctors trust to time, education and
demonstration to kill these ideas, but though an
impression is already made, Asiatics love these beliefs
and cling to them with a misplaced enthusiasm very
galling to the medical profession. After all, they are
no more ridiculous than many a superstition still
current amongst the peasantry of Europe.
The buildings in the hospitals are all of a similar
type, and consist of long airy wards, floored in
cement, and lined with rows and rows of plank and
trestle beds. The only race in this country which
makes a practice of sleeping upon a soft mattress is
the European, and he does so for the excellent reason
that it is the custom in Europe. All the other races
rest upon plank beds on which a grass-woven mat
is laid, the Malays even laying the mat' upon the floor
at times. So the beds in the hospital are all planks,
and each is provided with a red blanket and a wooden
j)i!low. The pillow is wooden for the same reason as
the bed is of plank, the patients being accustomed to
124 Illustrated Guide to
hard wooden pillows in their own homes. If you
gave them a soft pillow they would complain. That
curious cement tank in the grounds with a worm-screw
and press arrangement is the place where the bed-
boards are periodically soaked in disinfectants, for
pauper patients are much infested with bugs and other
creepy crawlies. The various diseases are kept apart
as much as possible, and you will usually find a
ward for beri-beri, a ward for dysentery, another for
phthisis and another for malaria, and perhaps others
as well. Everything is clean and neat and, if you
can put up with the smell of disinfectant and the
sad incidents of illness, a hospital in Malaya is well
worth visiting.
The Central Lunatic Asylum for the Federated
Malay States is at Tanjong Rambutan, not far from
Ipoh, in Perak. The most prevalent form of lunacy
in Malaya is melancholia, a quiet form of insanity
which permits of the patients being kept together in
association and employed in useful spade labour,
either in or near the hospital, an occupation to which
they have all been accustomed before their mental
powers failed. Many a madman has had to thank
this daily round and common task of digging for his
recovery.
Somewhere ■ near the hospital will be the leper
ward. Amongst the many benefits which the
British have brought to Malaya we cannot, alas, yet
reckon a cure for that horrible disease of leprosy.
For people affected with it little or nothing can be
The Federated Malm States. • 125
done, but as they are regarded as a danger to their
fellows they are segregated, some in leper wards
on the mainland and some on the leper islands
on the west coast of the Peninsula. The Malays
have a horror of leprosy, and use various euphe-
mistic expressions even to describe it. The duty
of capturing lepers is intensely repugnant to the
native headmen and the native police, and no one
would ever willingly come forward and report a leper
for deportation. Therefore at intervals the District
Officers assemble their penghulus and require of them
each a report to be sent in by a definite date as to the
whereabouts of each known Malay leper in the dis-
trict. .The penghulus then, each in his mukim, make
cautious enquiries as to whether anyone has con-
tracted the disease since last investigation, or whether
any stranger suffering from it has entered the mukim.
Such enquiries are of necessity cautious, for no one
would willingly disclose the existence of leprosy in a
father, a mother, a wife, may be, or a husband, since
segregation is certain to follow if the medical examina-
tion confirms the native diagnosis. With a pitiful
devotion all kinds of shifts are tried. The affected
one will live amongst the family and all will run the
well-known risk of contagion, or perhaps he or she
will be sent to live in some hut in the jungle, far from
the habitations of men, a fugitive and outcast, fed by
someone's loving care, solitary, rotting steadily with
cureless disease. It may be that, refusing to recog-
nise the first symptoms, the sufferer will resort to the
house of some native doctor, there to l)e slowly bled
126 Illustrated Guide to
of any money he may have and slowly to watch that
hideous development. Whatever evasion be practised,
at last all will prove vain, for someone in the secret
will either wish to curry favour with the penghulu by
informing or will have a spite against the patient or
the family. So at last the case is located and one early
morning the penghulu and the police will attempt the
capture. Advisedly we say attempt, for they do not
always succeed. These poor creatures, clinging to
their liberty, infected and infecting though it be, v»ill
often hide from the authorities and escape capture
for long. Yet if they only would believe it their lot
is, except for separation from tkeir homes, far happier
on a leper island than anywhere else. All that can
be done to lighten suffering is there done and they
have there a security and peace which the tainted
sheep will never find so long as it remains within the
healthy flock.
A decrepit ward of some kind is inevitable in
every country where labour is strenuous and the
labourers are aliens, for if a man go blind from
accident or disease, or if he lose the use of a limb
or become paralj'sed there is no private provision for
him. So it comes about that each State maintains a
home for the wastage of the economic system. The
expenses, met by a very small charge on the export of
tin, are very slight, consisting merely of those involved
in upke'eping buildings and grounds and in feeding
and clothing inmates. They are cheerful after the
wont of cripples. If they still have any use of their
limbs they pass their days in making basl<ets, and
The Federated Malay States. 127
every morning several of them sally forth from the
ward to peddle their manufacture in the town.
Tapping along with a stick if they are blind and
uttering a doleful cry by way of advertisement, the
whiteclad inmates of the decrepit ward, a large
"D. W." in black on each garment, are a familiar
feature.
But by this time you will have had enough of the
ills to which humanity is heir and some pleasanter
subject shall engage us.
Seeing that the Malay Peninsula lies
Varieties of j^j^^^^^y between India and China,
Race. ^ . '
with a large world port at each end, it
is not surprising that there, is a jumble of races to be
seen in its towns and along the country roads. To
recognise and name the various races and sub-
divisions of race as one meets them is only possible
for those who have had a varied experience of
the country spread over years. Let us take a walk
down any street in Malaya, or, seeing that we can
go a mile in a rikislia for ten cents, we will for
preference stand still and beckon to the nearest
puller. Our gesture in hailing him is a noticeable
point of difference between European and Asiatics,
for Asiatics beckon without raising the arm above
the shoulder, but holding the hand towards the
ground they scoop the open palm inwards to the
body, whereas a European throws his hand up above
the shoulder with the fingers pointing skywards.
The Asiatic mode is certainly more restrained and
therefore more dignified according to the manners of
1 28 Illustrated Guide to
good Oriental society. If the cooly understands
our gesture — he may fail to interpret the English
fashion of holding a stick up in the air — he, and
possibly half-a-dozen of his fellows, will rush at us
with his rikisha, laying the shafts at our feet and
stepping out of them. He is the first person we
meet in our walk down the street. What is he ?
He is Chinese, of course, but that explains nothing.
He may belong to any one of the eight different
varieties of Chinese which appear on the census
list, except perhaps Straits-born, for Chinese born in
the country are not given to such violent exertions
as rikisha pulling. But whether your puller be
Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainan, Kheh, Teo-Chiu,
Kwong Hsi or " other Chinese " matters little to you,
so it be that he can pull. Running you through the
town at the breakneck speed or the slow crawl for
which the differing physiques of him are infamously
famous, he will pay little or no attention to your
directions so long as you attempt to speak to him in
any known tongue. But as the first and most
necessary accomplishment of the traveller is to speak
the universal language of grunts and signs, you will
merely grunt at each corner you wish to turn and at
the cross roads add a sign with your hand as an
indication of the desired direction. As you go along
you will see, of course, Chinese everywhere of all the
eight different tribes, each man going about his
business as if he were really interested in it. The
police who are met at intervals will be either Malays
or Indians. This sounds a simple statement, but the
The Federated Malay States. 129
last census recognised nine different kinds of Malay
and the differences between them are considerable,
federated Malaya has attracted a large population of
Malays from the States on its borders, who, though of
the same race as the Malays of the Federated Malay
States, are somewhat different from them, and speak,
with differing accents, a language which is very sus-
ceptible of local variation. Even Malays ot the
Peninsula differ amongst themselves a good deal :
the Malay from the east coast States is more often
than not remarkable for ugliness, having the depressed
nose and heavy jowl which will spoil any countenance,
and he gives the impression of having been poorly
nourished in youth, whereas the Malacca Malay of
the west coast is of a goodly countenance and not
so Mongolian in type. The Boyanese Malay, that
gorgeous person in a saice's blue livery and broad
leather belt, driving, somewhat aggressively, a pair of
chestnuts in a victoria, is of a softer type again, more
round-faced and feminine than the Javanese Malay
gardener who passed you just now with his wife and
children trailing behind him. The black-a-vised,
straightnosed person with a slight moustache, wearing
a red fez, is of a cross between the Indian of the
Coromandel Coast and the Peninsula Malay, neither
full Aryan nor yet full Mongolian, but he would
be quite surprised if you told him he was not
a Malay, for he counts as one locally and can
only speak the Malay language, the Tamil or
Telegu tongue of his ancestors not having been
handed down in the family. 'J'hose two ostent^-
130 lilusirated Guide to
tiously modest little women, who drew their wimples
over their faces as you passed them but were
relenting enough to give you time to see that they
were hea\ily powdered and covered with native
jewellery, are Malays from the mainland opposite
Penang, whose husbands are " boys " earning
good wages in some English household. And
if you could talk to the old crone in charge of
that brown baby at the entrance to the carriage
drive in front of you it might be found that she has
strayed from Rembau in the middle of the Peninsula,
a district where they have quite separate customs and
traditions and all the land is entailed to pass through
the female line. The Achinese Malay may usually
be distinguished as taller and more given to
beard and moustache than other Malays. He
enquires his way from a Dutch Borneo Malay from
Banjermasin, who first came to us to plant padi in
Krian. If they ever became friendly enough to
discuss their homes and you could hear them, you
would find that they came over here because they
find it easier to make a living in the Federated Malay
States than in Dutch territory. They would also tell
you, if you had the patience to listen, that they are
more sympathetically administered here, which may
be true or may be merely flattery aimed to your
address. The haughty, tall, light-brown man with
the green turban and long white stole worn inside a
voluminous cloak is no less a person than one of the
two million descendants of the Prophet. Centuries
ago his Arab ancestors came over to Sumatra and
The Federated Malay States. 131
founded numerous families of Saiyids by inter-
marrying with Malays, and to this day the exceedingly
small drop of Arabic blood in them marks them
off from other Malays in appearance and in social
position.
But whilst all this has been passing through your
mind the descendant of the lost tribes who is
between the shafts has run you to the outskirts of the
town and you are like to miss noticing the different
varieties of Indian, and even yet you have not seen
a Bugis, a Dyak or a Manila I^Ialay. So turn back
again and run through the town once more. The
first policeman you meet is a Sikh, with a curled
beard and moustache and his hair dragged to the
top of his head, where it is tied up and hidden
by his turban. Had the Police rejected him as a
recruit he would have had to descend to the profession
of watchman to some large firm or some wealthy
Chinese. This is not so desirable as the Police. As
the Indian convict said to the free man with
whom he had §. quarrel, " I serve the Government,
but who are you?" Perhaps our Sikh poHceman
might have been reduced to the purely unofficial
occupation of herding cows, watering the milk thereof
at the nearest ditch, and selling it to doting English
mothers, a favourite pursuit of his race in this land
where grazing costs nothing, grass never runs short,
house rent may be so low as half-a-crown a year
if you squat on Government land, and no one objects
to your wearing a single garment made out of a flour-
bag when you have eaten the flour. Many a Sikh so
132 Illustrated Guide to
dressed may be seen driving a bullock cart. An osten-
tatiously naked person passed just now, wearing a volu-
minous white cloth which seems designed to cover as
little surface as possible. As he clacks along on his
sandals you recognise his shaven head and the gold
chain fitting close round his neck which denotes the
(^hetty. He, too, comes from India and acts as
banker in Malaya. He will lend you money at rates
varying from 36 per cent, downwards, or upwards for
the matter of that, and any amount of it too, if he
thinks you are safe. He is of the same breed but by
no means of the same caste as the humble Tamil
coolie whom you saw just now at the provision shop
expending a few cents on food, and if the Chetty
wears little the coolie wears less, for a loin cloth is all
he has on. The generic name given by the Malays to
Indians other than Tamils is " Bengali," and under
this head they include Sikh, Pathan, Panjabi, IMussul-
man, Kashmiri, Waziri, Bengali, Rajput, Afghan,
ISehari and all the varied breeds of men from India
who are not either " Kling Hindu" or " KUng Islam."
It is not sufficient, mark you, to class a man as Kling
(or Tamil) for he may be either of the Hindu
religion or a follower of the prophet Muhammad,
distinctions in the East of the gravest import. There
is yet a further distinction than these two, for the
Ceylon Tamil or Jafiha Tamil is numerous enough to
be noted. He is almost invariably a clerk in a
Government office and dresses like the l:^uropean in
white linen tunic and trousers. Before you finish your
run back through tlie town you may see Sinhalese,
The Federated Malay States. 133
each man with a tortoise-shell comb in his long hair ;
Siamese, with their hair reaching their shoulders ; an
Arab or so, and perhaps single stray representatives
of the African nesro, the Annarnese, the Burman,
certainly several Eurasians, and also Japanese.
If you look back over these pages you will find
some thirty varieties of the human race mentioned,
and it only remains to say that in some towns you
will see the Sakai, " wild through woods the naked
savage," who still for preference skulks in the jungles
and still, in spite of the evidence before him whenever
he ventures near a town, believes that this land is
really his and is still best enjoyed if left covered with
the jungle. These aborigines number, according to
the census, but a bare thirty thousand amongst the
more than a million of other races, but the middle of
the Peninsula is so covered with hills clothed in
thick jungle that they have there a secure refuge
for probabfy many generations, and perhaps there
are many there who have never been returned on a
census schedule.
In the course of your goings to and
Morphia, fro in the towns of Malaya you will
and Aicotiol. . , ....
notice that every shop has its sign,
some in English and some in Chinese. Those in
Chinese are picturesque and bright in colour. Those
in English are squarely ugly. When our eye has at
last become accustomed to the jumble it will begin to
pick out a square black and white sign, " Licensed
Chandu Shop," with the date of the year on it, the
7
134 Illustrated Guide to
inscription being in Chinese and Malay. In a town
like Taiping.with its population of about 8,000 Chinese,
there are nineteen of these shops. You have no
idea, of course, what chandu is. Look it up in the
dictionary and you will find it is " opium prepared
for smoking." It hangs out a sign like a public-
house. If you were in London, in Liverpool, in New
York, in Toulon, in Marseilles, in San Francisco, in
Sydney, in Melbourne, in Calcutta, in Bombay, in
Cairo, in Constantinople or any of the other very few
places, as the above sparse list shows, where people
smoke opium, you would find it decently hidden
away. To visit its haunts there you would require
the services of a police officer probably, or some
secret introduction. Here in Malaya the trade is
licensed by Government, like the Hquor trade. It
would be a pity for you to destroy your illusions,
would it not ? If you entered one of these shops
you might not be sufficiently disgusted ; you might
even weaken in your anti-opium belief. But there
is such a fascination, in vice that one feels sure you
will yield to temptation and enter. You need never
be afraid to do so, for this little town is not one
of the world's Babylons, and you will not be drugged,
robbed, murdered, or even insulted in an opium shop.
But here you are already glozing over the evil and
beginning to call the place an opium shop. It has
imprescriptible rights to be called a den, an opium
den. However you choose to call it, here you are
inside an opium den, shop or divan, and the very
unusual spectacle you present affords opportunity for
a small knot of idlers to cluster round the door and
The Federated Malay States. 135
wonder what you are after. Their presence darkens
the already gloomy interior of a ground floor, and
you begin to wonder precisely what you came in to
see. Have patience, and from the back will come a
hollow-cheeked Chinese, his natural pale ivory colour
blanched a deader shade by long smoking of opium
and much sitting indoors. As you still stand and
are evidently not immediately going away he will draw
forward a wooden stool or a bench and politely offer
you a seat. Sit down a moment, try to remember all
you have read of opium dens, realise that you are
inside one, and compare that reality with what you
have read. Alas for illusions, you will never preserve
them here. You will see no little children sucking an
opium pipe instead of their mother's breast, no girls
abandoned to a life of shame and misery and opium-
smoking, no hardened criminals drugging to sleep
their guilty consciences, no once prosperous merchants
who have fallen to all for opium and the world well
lost. You will not even be very struck by the physical
deterioration of the lounging Chinese on the wooden
benches of the shop, benches strongly reminiscent of
those in a kennel of hounds, by the way. Certainly
an atmosphere of quiet broods over the place and
certainly your presence seems to jar on the smokers,
but these "mild-eyed melancholy lotos-eaters" reck
little of you and when you rise to depart they do not
alter their attitude.
The fact that you have been in an opium shop
hardly qualifies you to pass lenient or severe judgment
on the vice and the trade. That has been done
136 Illustrated Guide to
locally by a Royal Commision in the Straits Settle-
ments recently. The conclusions were :
" The vast majority of smokers indulge to an extent
that may properly be called moderate, and there has
been no increase in the prevalence of the habit
during the past decade." The Commission recom-
mended a Government monopoly of the preparation
and distribution of chandu, and considered that
there was no necessity or justification for the abolition
of existing opium shops. In addition it sounded a
warning note about the injection of morphia, a drug
habit which made its appearance here as soon as the
anti-opium propaganda revived — it has cycles of
activity — and opium was made dearer. You
will not be afforded the opportunity of seeing the
injection of morphia. It is done secretly in spots
hidden from the police at night, in some hut along
winding paths, in some backyard in a town. It is much
cheaper than opium, more difficult for a Government
to control, more horrible in its eventual effects.
You leave the opium den with the dominant idea
in you that they are very harmless people, and that
opium smoking is at least a self-contained vice. As you
muse over this disquieting and unexpected thought,
you are, perhaps, yet more disquieted to see, fighting
with an enormous Sikh policeman, a Tamil coolie.
He shouts, struggles, creates an uproar. The street
buzzes round him. A rumour whispers that he has
cut his wife's throat. Another policeman, this time a
very diminutive Malay, comes up to help and between
them they drag the Tamil person to the lock-up.
The Federated Malay States. 137
He is, of course, maddened with opium % Not in
the least — he is maddened with alcohol.
The Federated Malay States has a very
Shooting. complete game law, which classifies the
game birds and game animals and
provides that licences are necessary to shoot either.
New arrivals and bona-fide sportsmen landing at
Penang or Singapore will find that special police
arrangements are in force to enable them to import
their arms and ammunition and also to obtain shoot-
ing licences. It should be clearly understood that
these permits or licences are of five kinds :
(i) Permit to import arms and ammunition.
(2) Permit to carry arms (Anglice, gun licence.)
(3) Game Hcence (game birds).
(4) Big game hcence.
(5) Wild birds licence (for naturalists and col-
lectors).
The police regulations are as follows : —
(i) New arrivals and bona-fide sportsmen on appli-
cation to the chief police otiicer at Singapore or
Penang will be issued with a special temporary permit
to import arms and ammunition into these States.
(2) Such permits must bear on the face of them
the name of the owner and the description and maker
of the weapon and the quantity and description of
the ammunition.
(3) They are issued only on the distinct under-
standing that they must be immediately presented to
the senior police officer of the district into which
they are imported. The temporary permit will be
138 IllusU-ated Guiae to
retained and a permit to import (free) and a permit
to carry (fee 50 cents = is. 2d.) be charged.
(4) Bona-fide sportsmen will also have to pay for
a game licence, fee (-^5 = iis. 8d.) procurable from
the chief police officer of any district.
(5) Big game licences are issued by the Resident.
" Big Game " includes elephant, gaur,
The Game banteng, rhinoceros and tapir only,
and to shoot them a licence is required.
Tiger, bear, leopard, panther, deer,
serau and pig are outside the pale. A big game
licence costs, if one be non-resident in the country,
$100 (;!^ii 13s. 4d.) per head, lasts for six months,
and may be procured by writing to the Resident of
the State in which it is proposed to shoot, mentioning
the number and nature of head desired, enclosing the
fee and giving an address in the Peninsula to which
the licence may be sent. A licence issued in one
State must be endorsed by the Resident of any other
State in which it is proposed to shoot.
The game birds of the Peninsula include peacock
and various kinds of jungle pheasants, very rarely shot
as they skulk in the deep jungle, quail, which are not
numerous and anyhow hardly worth shooting, jungle
fowl, which are numerous, but not easily shot, duck,
seldom met with unless on the Perak river, pigeon,
very numerous in some places and principal game
bird after the snipe, and the snipe himself, for whose
shooting the $5 (iis. 8d.) game licence is usually
taken out. The game licence is valid throughout the
Federated Malay States wherever it is issued.
The Federated Malay States. 139
Naturalists and bird collectors have to obtain a
S50 (^5 1 6s. 8d.) wild bird licence valid for three
months. The procedure to obtain this is the same
as that for the big game licence, 7niitatis mutandis,
but the wild birds licence is valid throughout the
Federated Malay States wherever issued.
The shooting of female elephants (penalty $500 =
^58 6s. 8d.), female sambhur deer (penalty $100 =
^11 13s. 4d.), immature big game (penalty $200 =
;^2 3 6s. 8d.j, immature deer (penalty $100 =
£^\\ 13s. 4d.) is strictly forbidden, as is shooting big
game without licence (penalty 8500 = ;^58 6s. 8d.)
and shooting game birds or wild birds without
licence (penalty $5 = iis. 8d. a bird), and it should
be carefully remembered that anyone who shoots any
big game must make a return to the Resident
showing his bag (penalty $50 = ^5 i6s. 8d.).
If the traveller observes the above instructions he
is not likely to commit any offence against the game
laws.
There is no Customs duty on arms or ammunition.
Pigeon shooting (the little green fruit-
Pigeon, eating pigeon called piinai in Malay)
has been much spoiled of recent years
by the extensive felling of jungle to plant rubber,
but there are still many places where the birds flight
regularly. The flights seem to depend a good deal
on the weather, but they always take place in the
afternoon. On bright days when there has been no
rain and the sun is getting low in the West, the
pigeon make up their minds about four or five in the
140 Illustrated Guide to
afternoon to leave the upland forests and roost on the
edge of the mangrove. At this hour one hears in the
distance the chuckling laugh of the punai as he
flutters from tree to tree, unable to make up his mind
to go to bed. But when he finally decides, he is a
bird of very high courage. Launching himself into
the air from the thick covert of a jungle a mile away,
he sets forth on his blockade-running, and nothing in
the world can stop him. You with your gun are
between him and his roosting places. You are
probably concealed as far as possible iDchind a tree
trunk or a bush or some aptly placed native hut. The
punai, plainly regardless of you with your gun, flies
straight towards you. At first you do not make him
out in the bright distance: Perhaps for half an hour
you have strained your vision with a passionate
intensity towards the distant jungle tops, so that at
length a beetle three yards from you is mistaken for a
pigeon, and a bee-eater aeroplaning in the middle
distance makes you grip your gun in an agony of
apprehension. But suddenly you pick up a bunch of
unmistakable pigeon flying, it may be, dead straight
on to you. Unless you know your ground well and,
more especially, are accustomed to judging distances
and elevations in this bright air of the tropics, you
cannot tell whether he will hit you in the chest or pass
high over your head. Some birds fly low, so that you
can hardly make them out against the dark background,
some swerve, others fly high and you cannot judge
whether or no they will change direction or elevation
or pass within shot. But, however flying, they come
The Federated Malay States. 141
at a terrible pace. There is no rule for shcoting
punai except shoot straight, hold well forward and
take them before they pass you The ideal spot for
shooting these birds is some place on a coast road
where you stand on the road and can drop your birds
in the open, and it is also highly advisable to have a
long clear oudook in front of you. In some places the
birds have to be taken as they cross an opening in the
sky between two banks of high mangrove. You do
not see them coming. All you see is the bird
arrived, whizzing across those few feet of space in
those few instants of time. The coast roads at
Matang, Teluk Anson, Kuala Selangor, Klang and
Jugra are all good places for pigeon, and anywhere on
the West Coast it is worth while enquiring whether
the birds are flighting and what are the best places.
Some men hold to No. 5, some to No. 7, and some
prefer No. 8 shot. The best all-round number for
shot, whether for snipe or pigeon, is probably No. 7.
But v.-hatever shot you put into him — or behind him —
you will confess, once you have shot at him, that the
punai is a sporting bird, and you will be quite
surprised to find how much worse a shot you are
than you believed yourself to be.
Snipe arrive in the Peninsula at the
Snipe. earliest towards the end of August,
when a few birds are usually to be
seen ; they come in quantities in September and
October, are at their best for shooting in November
and December, and gradually decline in numbers
until May, when they all seem to have migrated
back to their breeding grounds in the North of
142 Illustrated Guide to
Asia. Every year a heavy toll of them is taken by
shooters without any visible diminution of the supply,
and it is especially curious to note how if a bird be
shot in a definite spot, that spot will have another
snipe in it next day, and so on until the end of the
season. Those who have the good fortune to live in
a snipe area grow perfectly familiar with these spots
and will find birds in a district where a stranger might
walk for hours and only discover birds by accident.
But in districts where they are very plentiful, as in
Krian, one has only to walk about to find them in
quantities. -The best one- day bag was made in 1893
by five guns and was 609 birds, of which Mr. F. J. Weld
of the Civil Service contributed \o\\ couple and
Mr. E. W. Birch, afterwards British Resident of Perak,
shot 89I couple, the other three guns getting 113I
couple between them. This party shot between Bagan
Serai and Simpang Lima. They started to shoot at
7.45 a.m., stopped for a full hour and a half in the
middle of the day and then shot till 5.35 p.m. when
they ran out of cartridges. Had they had more
cartridges they could easily have got another twenty
couple or so before dark for there were plenty of birds
about. The feat set forth above, however, records
something more than the mere firing of straight
powder. It entailed the severest kind of hard walk-
ing in water and mud, under a tropical sun, and is
evidence as much of the endurance of the shooters
as of their skill in gunnery.
The best equipment for snipe shooting is a pair of
light boots, which will not pinch the feet when
The Federated Malay States. 143
soaked, putties, loose fitting, very light khaki coat and
breeches, a shirt, and a broad solar topee with a khaki
cover. As snipe shooting for any length of time is
very severe exercise, an immediate bath and change
of clothes at the conclusion of shooting is most
essential, whether for comfort or health, and any tight-
fitting garments or high collars should be avoided.
Recently the irrigation water has to some extent
spoiled the Krian snipe shooting, as it covers the fields
to a depth beyond the reach of a snipe's bill. But
large bags are still possible, and this ground is probably
the best snipe shooting area in the world. The birds
are found when the rice is but newly planted- — it is
not sown broadcast, but planted out from a nursery —
and the ground is not too wet or too dry for the snipe
to feed. The youthful part of the population, both
Tamil and Malay, near Bagan Serai and Parit Buntar,
is always available to follow the shooter and retrieve
the birds, which are walked up and shot without the
aid of dogs. Boys will follow a gun through the day
for a wage of 40 cents (about is.) each.
Our travellers find this by common experience ;
Health. when they come in far countries and use their
diet, they are suddenly offended ; as our
Hollanders and Englishmen when they touch upon ....
those Indian capes and islands are commonly molested with
calentures, fluxes, and much distempered ]:iy reason of their
fruits. Burton. Anat. Afelan.
It is to be hoped that our modern travellers, with a
few hundred years more wisdom available than those
who first touched upon the Malay capes and islands,
will not be so readily or, so suddenly offended, for,
144 lUustrated Guide to
with care, there is no reason why they should be.
As there is nothing to be gained by pretending that
people never fall ill in Malaya, or suggesting that a
traveller can live carelessly with impunity, it will be
as well to offer a few hints as to the diseases which,
after all, you will probably never catch. Probably
malaria, which the old navigators called the calenture,
has the most evil pre-eminence. If you want a really
good life-like account of a fever-stricken country, you
should read the description of "Eden" in "Martin
Chuzzlewit." When you have read it, remember that
though malaria is the most common disease in
Malaya, it does not follow that the whole country is
like " Eden." We have had our " Edens " in Malaya,
Port Swettenham having been one of them, but of late
years scientific discoveries have conclusively proved
that malaria is communicated to man through the
bite of a mosquito, and of one particular kind of
mosquito, the anopheline, and of these only certain
species carry malaria. This has led to the expen-
diture of a great deal of money on drainage and
filling, with the result that if the casual visitor suffers
from fever it will be because he has been careless
about his mosquito net. In times now happily past
the whole world regarded malarial fever as a disease
for whose prime cause there was no cure. It has
been known for centuries that " Peruvian bark "
(quinine) was a drug which cured attacks of the
disease, but nothing was known of the causes of the
disease itself. It is not, therefore, strange that it
was regarded, in the countries where it was a scourge,
The Federated Malay States. 145
with utter hopelessness, excellently described by
M. R. de la Blanchere, as follows : —
Qui pent lutter contre la fievre ? II faut n avoir
Jamais senti le froid pi'ofond dont elk vans enveloppe,
r abattement etrange oil elle jette les plus braves, la
faiblesse, le degout general^ la misere interieure qu^elle
laisse apres elle, pour croire que, de gdiete de cceur, des
kommes out pu s^y exposer. Le fievreux, au motnent
de Faeces, est retranche de F existence ; il ne I'everait pas
un doigt pour ecarter la mort de lui, viendrait-elle sous
la figure dun train, du feu, d'une bete feroce. Ensuite,
sous le coup d'acces nouveaux, ou attendant leur venue
periodique, sans appetit, trouvant le vin mauvais, le
pain pateux, les viandes anieres, il languit parfois des
annees s'il ne peut changer de climat. Puis le cachexie
s'etablie, le foie ^engorge, la rate gonfle, le cceur se
distend, le teint est jaune, le ventre enorme, tant qu^un
jour une fievre perniceuse enleve rhomme en quelques
heures, s'il n^ est pas mort plus lentement de souffrance
et de consomption. En pays malarique, tout est fievre ;
malaise, blessures, accidents, maladies de toute nature
se compliquent de cet element ; elles le trouvent maitre
de Vorganisme, ou fy eveillent, ou Fy laissent. La
fievre de malaria est U7i veritable Proteus, elle revet
toutes les formes, elle attaque de mille f aeons. Tantot
brutale, soudaine, ou meme instantanee, elle foudroie ;
fai vu des malheureux tomber dans le sillon, mourants,
au milieu meme de leur besognc ; tantot elle s^insinue
doucement, d'abord ephhnire, puis frequente, irreguliere
iomme incertaine, puis tierce ou quarte, puis prenant une
periodicite ix longs termes. Alors elle ne quitte plus
146 Illustrated Guide to
son honime ; pendant trols ans tout les vingt Jours,
i'ai eu ujie semaitie de fievre. Si pleinemefit, si doul-
oureuseinent, que F'etranger I'experitnente, il la 7ie
connait pas dans toute sa cruaute. . . . Anemique,
hyper splmique, bilieux, les reins a demi atrophies ou
hypertrophies, au contraire, les poufnotis desorganises,
les muscles flasques et nial fiourris, le sang charge d'un
■bigment noir qui empale tous les visceres, il n' est plus a
recevoir le miasme ; iloffre un terrain prepare, veritable
milieu de culture ; il est saisi presque en naissant.
Sofi fades n^ est pas encourage ant pour les travailleurs
de campagne qui, descendu des Montagnes Samnites,
viennent labourer ou moissonner les champs du Veliteme
ou de rAtiate tristes champs oil, comme dit le poete —
Tra e solchi ret de la Saturnia terra
Cresce perentie tina vertfi funesta,
Che si chiania la Morte.
This description has been praised by Professor Sir
WiUiam Osier as a graphic, first-hand and not over-
drawn picture, and anyone who has had the ill-luck
to suffer from the recurrent forms of malaria will
heartily agree with him. As the farmer sets up
a scarecrow in his fields to frighten the rooks so is
this picture of malaria here exhibited to scare off" the
traveller from the follies of despising malaria, not
believing in " the mosquito theory," getting fever and
then returning to tell all his friends that the Malay
States are hot-beds of malaria. He will be wiser to
adopt — and he can do it quite unobtrusively, without
parading his scientific knowledge or appearing at
all unusual — the personal prophylactic precautions
The Federated Malay States. 147
which are habitually observed by Europeans in
Malaya. These precautions are described by
Sir Ronald Ross as follows : —
1. The habitual use of mosquito nets.
2. The occasio7ial use of quinine.
3. Use punkahs or electric fans as 7nuch as possible,
4. Avoid sleeping in the houses of natives or near
native villages as much as possible.
With regard to the mosquito fiet he adds : — The first
care of the resident in the tropics^ of the traveller, the
sportsman, the soldier, the ?niner, the clerk, should be
for his mosquito net. Wherever he lives, wherever he
goes, he should see that his mosquito net is with him,
that it is in good order, and that it is properly
arranged at bedtime.
A person proceeding to the tropics should always take
a net with him. If he lands without one, he may
acquire a deadly i?ifection the very first night he sleeps
ashore.
If your house is near a native location, or if you are
a traveller and are forced to sleep in a hotel, or in the
house of a native, or near a native village, redouble
your precautions. It is just in such places that
infected mosquitoes most abound.
But it is not enough merely to use a mosquito net —
// must be used properly. The following rules should
always be attended to : —
JVot a single rent or hole in the net should be allowed ;
if there is one, mosquitoes are sure to fifid it out and
enter during the night.
The net should be so carefully tucked in under the
148 Illustrated Guide to
mattress^ or otherwise disposed, that fio aperture is left
under it.
The mesh should be not ftiuch larger than the head of
a pin.
When i?i zise the net should he stretched as tightly as
possible in all directions, so as to permit every breath of
air — so necessary to the comfort of the sleeper in the
tropics — to blow through.
Have no efitrance in the net; but, when etitering,
lift the lower edge as little as possible and slip in tvith
a twisting movement, so as to exclude stray tnosquitoes
which may have been hovering round you outside.
Instruct servants to hang the net before dark, a?id to
see that there are no mosquitoes i?iside it. If fnosquitoes
are found inside it in the jnorning it is due simply to
carelessness.
If the bed is furnished with a square frame for the
net, hang the latter ifiside the frame and tuck it under
the mattress. Do not place it outside the frame and let
it hatig to the ground.
With regard to quinine, most people omit to dose
themselves with it until they suffer from malaria.
As Sir Ronald Ross says : —
The objection to quinine is that it is apt to upset the
digestion afid to cause singing in the ears and even
deaftiess. Considering the large degree of protection
which ca7i be obtained simply from mosquito nets and
punkahs, I do not, therefore, ge?ierally advise the
habitual use of quinine in malarious places, unless
perhaps the reader is one of those persons tvith whom
quinine agrees well.
The Federated Malay States. 149
/ do advise the reader, however^ to take it as a
preventive under the folloiving circumstances : —
1. If he is forced to live in a house where there are,
or lately have been, many cases of malaria ; or in the
house of a native ; or in or very near a native village —
even if he uses a ?iet with all care.
2. If he is forced to do without a net, or if he has
been much bitte?i by mosquitoes in spite of his net.
Many rnethods of taking qui)iine as a preventive
have been suggested. I reconwiend five grains daily
just before breakfast ; with a dose of ten grains, instead
of the five grains, twice a iveek. This should be con-
titiued for a ?nonth and then gradually reduced after
leaving the exceptionally malarious place, a strong dose
being taken occasionally. If the reader has been much
bitten by a?iopheles, I advise him to take ten grains
daily for a fortnight, aful theji fall back on smaller
doses.
If large doses cannot be endured, it is, in my opinion,
better to fall back on smaller ones, and to double other
precautions, rather thati to keep oneself in chrotiic ill-
health ifi consequence of the drug.
For myself, I rely mostly upon tnosquito nets.
All these hints and directions may at first seem
overdone. That is only because they are new to you.
If anyone told you in England that to get your feet
wet and sit in wet boots is to give yourself a chill,
that to drink alcohol to excess will give you a head-
ache, or any other well-known proved obviosity of
health, you would agree with him, because you were
in England and were familiar with such little
150 Illustrated Guide to
commonplace points. But here you are not in
England, and it is precisely because you are not
familiar with these little commonplace aids to the
preservation of health in the tropics that they have
been so plainly set forth. If after reading them you
decide to neglect them or to substitute for them the
dicta of some one who has " been thirty years in the
country, Sir, and don't believe in the mosquito
theory," then you are liable and likely to get fever,
but — don't blame the Federated Malay States.
Allusion has been made to bowel diseases, and
precautions suggested elsewhere.
In some coasts again, one tree yields them
Planting. coconuts, meat and drink, fire, fuel, apparel
with his leaves, oil, vinegar, cover for
houses, etc. Bzirton. Anat. Melan.
" The Indian's nut alone
Is clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can,
Boat, cable, sail and needle, all in one."
G. Herbert.
" Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade."
A. Mar veil.
" Fortunatiis et ille deos qui novit agrestes."
Vh-gil.
Come and let' us spend a day together on one of
those great estates, their trees so orderly, set so
differently from the sixes and sevens cultivation of
the pococurante Malay. You must be up early.
The first call of Ungka in the forest should find you
up. He is a Hylobates characterised by this scientific
name as " going on the woods " and sometimes he is
The Federated Alalay States. 151
called Wah-wah, a bad alliteration of the sound he
makes as he goes hooping and holloaing through the
jungles. Hoo-ah, hoo-ah, hoo-ah, ho-00-oo-ee, up
and down the scale, sad and sorry, mad and merry,
he sings melancholy inexpressible, or happiness in-
conceivable, rioting in sound.
In the earliest of the morning before day awakes,
when the argus pheasant has ceased his "ku-au,
ku-au," but no birds yet sing, Ungka calls his
pack together and they chase along the topmost run-
ways of the jungle, joying to be alive. The air is
chill. For a moment you feel like drawing up the
blanket and turning round for just a slight snooze,
but a movement next door from your planter host
shames you into activity. A Malay at this hour of
the morning will shudder out to the well, draped in a
sarong, and douche himself with cold water. Your
bath-room is ready, but probably you decide that
bathing can wait till you come in hot and thirsty and
tired from a long walk round the estate. So to first
breakfast, with what appetite you may, at such an
early hour. Breakfast over, and the meal does not
take much time, your host hands you a long Malacca
cane, two joints and a length between, somewhat
after the nature of an alpenstock, arms himself with
another and you start forth. This morning you are
to take the coconuts first, across the river. They
used to wade it, but nowadays what with the large
area of coconuts in bearing and the high price of
rubber they have felt able to [)ut uj) a bridge. \'ou
are called upon to admire design and .structure, and
152 Illustrated Guide to
do in fact admire the stability of tlie granite piers,
cemented of stone from the river bed, and the
heavy timbering. Close under the mountains you
can hardly have too strong a bridge, for the river comes
down in spate very heavily. Just below the bridge
it has carried away several coconut trees, after under-
minmg the bank, and the butts of them still cumber
the stream. Observe, however, that each has been
beheaded, and remember that the head of the coconut
palm, like those of the pinang and the nibong palm,
contains an excellent vegetable called umluit, a
notable ingredient in pickles and curry accessories,
but too costly for human nature's daily food, since to
provide it a coconut tree, worth a sovereign perhaps,
must die. Beyond the river lies a field of coco-
nut trees all set in marshalled ranks. The coolies
are there before you and so are the buffaloes and
the ploughs. A gang with hoes is hacking at the
few sliglit traces of the lalang grass. The buffa-
loes are ploughing long furrows between the trees.
They began with native ploughs here, but have now
taken to English ones. The buffaloes have no use
for light-skinned people and snort alarmingly at your
approach. Give them a wide berth. They are kittle
cattle and the ploughman is skilled to use any excuse
provided by his beasts for doing less work. Over
wide spaces you wander, .looking down avenue after
avenue, aisle after aisle, of coconut trunks. But
your host keeps an eye lifting to the tops of the
trees. He will note a palm whose last spread frond
has a triangular piece curiously cut out. The beetle
The Federated Malay States. 153
did that whilst the leaf was still curled in the
head of the palm. The beetle is not the only
enemy either. That round hole in the big nut
just above you was made by a squirrel. He is
just as fond of coconut as most people, and every
year the estate declares war against him, shooting
him by hundreds, pursuing him even off the estate
into the Malay kampongs, until he is read a lesson
which lasts just about as long as the punitive expedi-
tion does, for directly all the coco-haunting squirrels
are killed, their jungle-dwelling relatives "give the
Gods a thankful sacrifice," say good-bye to the forest
and come to live on the estate. Squirrels, beetles,
rats, estate coolies, and fly-by-night pilferers from
outside account for a sensible proportion of nuts.
Yet the estate gathered last year 359,827 nuts from
248 acres and made 65 tons of copra, and it is not
such a very big place as such estates go. Tramping
along for an hour, covering as much ground as
possible, brings you at last to the store. Here the
copra, the flesh inside the nut, is being spread in the
sun on sacks to dry. If this nice sunny weather
holds it should be fine merchantable sun-dried
qualitv. The manner of preparation is simple. You
saw the coolies just now picking. They reared a
single bamboo, with steps sticking out from it, up
against a palm, which it embraced with two arms
whipped on to its top end. The cooly — his ancestors
have done nothing but pick coconuts in India for
untold thousands of years, so he has some little
hereditary skill at it — walks up the bamboo like a
154 Illustrated Guide to
gigantic insect up a stalk, and if, standing on one foot
on the end of the bamboo, he cannot reach the heavy
clusters of nuts, he slips first one and then the other
foot into a circlet of rattan, embraces the trunk with his
arms and moves up the tree with a succession of leg
grips and arm grips. Arrived within cutting reach of
the nuts he selects his bunch, gives a few cuts, and
bump come half-a-dozen, bouncing in all directions
as they touch the ground. Occasionally you see him
shake a nut to hear whether, from the wash of the
water inside, it is ripe, but usually he judges by the
eye. He works by task, and must bring down
400 in a day. The fallen nuts, of which an average
one weighs some seven or eight pounds, and is
twice as big as your head, are collected by a bullock
cart— the bullocks bred on the estate, mark you, for
this place is essentially self-supporting — and brought
to a heap where yet another expert husks them. He
stands over a long steel sword firmly fixed in the
ground. Taking a coconut from the heap with both
hands he poises it above the point, jams it on the
steel, wrenches it sideways, and so stabs and stabs
until six rapid movements leave the nut in his hands
and the husk at his feet. There is the coconut of
commerce, and there also is the husk or coir on which
you wipe your feet in mats. The divorce between
the two is irremediable, and so suddenly made by
this skilled Indian as to be startling. Somehow, you
had quite forgotten the coconut of the grocer's shop.
At present no use is made of the coir except for fuel
in coconut drying kilns. The husked nuts are
The Federated Malay States. 155
again collected and split open, that large wet patch,
near the track, marking the spilling of the " milk " in
the nuts. Then the two separate pieces are laid in the
sun, and in no long time the flesh, drying, separates
from the shell, leaving this in two cups. These cups
are used on another part of the estate to collect
rubber juice, and some are sold off the estate for the
same purpose. Shells badly split and not making
good cups go to join the husk as fuel for the kiln.
If the day belies the promise of its bright morning,
the copra will be hastily brought in and placed
on the kiln to dry. As it dries it gives off a smell
compounded of fresh baked bread and patchouli scent.
Place it in your collection of Malayan smells, for it
is distinctive.
By this time the sun is beginning to feel its power
and you are thirsty. So the two of you sit down be-
neath a coconut tree whilst a cooly deftly chops off
the ends of a couple of young and unhusked nuts and
offers one to you. He takes less than a minute to
slice off the end of the nut. It would take you ten,
and then you would probably have forfeited a finger
as well. All these people are experts in some simple
thing which you could not do, and a foolish envy rises
in you. The nut weighs six pounds perhaps. Take
it in both hands, raise it above your head, apply your
lips to the orifice, after the ancient manner of the
sucker of eggs, and let the cool, sweet yet sub-acid
water quench your thirst, 'i'here is no better drink
in all Malaya. Some people drop whisky into the
nut and drink the sophisticated compound. People
156 Illustrated Guide to
who like that kind of thing, that is the kind of thing
they like.
If you have really accompanied your host on his
rounds as distinct from being shown round the estate
you will be, at about 9 a.m., ready for another meal,
and happy to get back to the bungalow for it. But
your host's day is far from over, and after this second
breakfast he sallies forth again, you and the big stick
with him. This time you are off to the new clearing.
A few minutes' walk and you reach it. Your heart
sinks. Are you really expected to clamber over that
hill-face amongst the burnt wood and charred timbers?
Indeed you are. The long Malacca cane helps you.
Leaning on it, using it as a balancing-pole, you thread
a devious way under some fallen fire-scarred giant of
the forest, lying prone on the hillside, and then along
the trunk of another. Your planter host, who does
this sort of thing several times in a week, strides
ahead, selecting with the expert's eye the easiest path,
making the best use of the logs, crawhng, climbing,
sliding, recking not at all of the burnt ash which
blackens the grasping hand. Those nightmares where
you balance amongst razor blades are nothing to an
everyday walk across a patch of felled burnt timber.
A very little of this kind of thing sews you up and
you wish that it were not the way here to fell and burn
the timber before planting, or at least that they would
wait to plant until the logs had rotted out. But the
swift system of axe and fire and rubber planting almost
before the ashes are cold was not made for comfort-
able strollers and you must take it as it comes. Sweat
K Li; I >' (. noT H E , Photographer.
BURNING OFF FELLED JUNGLE PREPARATORY
TO PLANTING.
The Federated Malay States. 157
streams from off you : you break a thousand legs and
disembowel yourself a hundred times in imagination
before you reach the end of the clearing, and are
rather surprised to hear your friend lamenting the
imperfection of the burn. To your eye it seemed all
burn, or at least everything had been scorched, but he
explains that had the fire been more intense, the felled
timber less rained upon after felling and the wind
more kindling in effect, the coolies you saw collecting
and stacking the small timber would have worked
twice as quick over the clearing.
It is a relief to find yourself amongst the rubber
trees and their cool shade. Upstart cultivation though
it be as compared with coconuts, rubber has made
enormous strides of late years and in every district
are large estates. In the burnt clearing you have left
is seen the beginning of the cultivation. Here the
little slim Para rubber plants are planted out amongst
the rotting timbers of the forest primeval. Originally
sown as seed all together in a patfeh of cleared land,
they have rushed up through the soil with that endear-
ing willingness 10 be good and grow quickly for which
the planter loves them. At three or four feet high
they are ready for transplanting, and each is carefully
dug up, carried from the nursery to its prepared hole
in the clearing, and left to the rapid development of a
thoroughly happy tree. The rubber came originally
from the other side of the world, from Brazil in
South America, but it took to Malaya at once, and had
it not been that coffee was before it in Malaya more
attention would have been given it earlier. But Malaya
158 lilustraied Guide to
made up for lost time and planted, planted,
planted rubber with an almost feverish activity. The
tree itself is of a picturesque habit, leafy and very green,
with a scented flower of the true tropical sweetness,
adding a new but not quite a strange perfume to the
innumerable sweet scents of the country. As you are
not concerned with it merely as a money-maker you
note the delicately pretty patterns of grayish bark
splashed with patches of bright yellow mosses and
decked with gleams of sunlight. But, after all, rubber
is worth so much a pound, and the winning of it is
interesting. So you turn to watch yet another expert.
Perhaps you are by this time too late, for tapping is
done in the early morning, and all you see is coolies
going round, emptying into large tins the bright white
juice or latex from the little cups at the foot of the
trees. But for your edification a tree is tapped.
Estates have their fancies in knives, but probably the
ordinary farrier's knife is most employed. Down the
trunk of the tree runs a pattern of cuts. The knife is
laid on, and slowly, carefully bearing on it, the tapper
shaves off just a little slice of bark. At once the white
latex oozes forth and as cut after cut is reopened the
tree yields a stream of latex which runs down the
backbone cut to a little open spout of tin fixed into
the bark near the ground. Thence it drips into a
little cup, which may be a cigarette tin or some patent
receptacle, or a china cup, or a coconut shell — any-
thing indeed which is cheap and of the proper size.
The liquid rubber so collected is carried off to the
store, and there coagulates in large receptacles.
Later it is taken out of these, the surplus water
The Federated Malay States. 159
expressed l)y machinery and the resulting sheet left to
smoke and dry. When dry, it is packed in boxes and
shipped to Western markets.
In a few short years this rubber growing has
become a vast industry in the Federated Malay
States — everyone plants it. Malays in the kampongs,
Chinese amongst their vegetables, Tamils round their
houses, Englishmen on their estates, and everywhere
a very modicum of attention and freedom from
choking natural growths turns this foreigner of a
plant into a tree as lusty and strong as any of those
native to the jungle. All soils seem to suit it, some,
of course, better than others, and it has wonderfully
few enemies at present. White ants, certain fungus
diseases, storms and careless tapping are the only
things which it fears.
Both the Government and the planters are aware
that it is desirable to introduce new economic agri-
cultural products likely to do well in Malaya, and
experimental cultivation of these is continually pro-
ceeding. Some cereals such as ragi are already
established as foodstuff crops, and the African oil-
palm is being tried. If it takes to the country, this
palm may some day dispute with rubber the
supremacy of Malaya.
The fashionable rubber monopolises attention, but
before its hundreds per cent, dividends pleasurably
startled the planting world of the tropics, coffee was
the staple product of the English planter. Most of
that has been cut out now in favour of Para rubber.
Tea has never been a success, though it had been
tried on the hills, and tobacco finds the climate too
moist and too uncertainly wet. Pepper is often grown-
i6o Illustrated Guide to
Food in Malaya consists of very much
Diet. the same dishes as those obtainable in
the Western civilised World, but there
are a few things which are best avoided altogether. Of
these uncooked vegetables are the most to be shunned.
That delight in warm climates — the salad, in all its
forms — is dangerous in the East for you cannot be
certain whether the water which washed it was pure
or the methods of the grower entirely beyond sanitary
suspicion. Another frequent cause of sudden offendings
is the Malay curry eaten without understanding. This
dish, for those who like spiced meats, is a joy, but
like other violent delights it is apt to have violent
ends, and it should be eaten with strict moderation.
Particularly should one shun the little dried prawns
which appear so innocently amongst the sambals or
little side dishes which accompany the main dish of
curried fowl. They have been known to set up a
poisoning which may be ptomaine or may be merely
a form of shell-fish poisoning, but whatever it be it is
exceedingly painful, often dangerous, and has been
before now fatal. Surfeits of tropical fruit may be
responsible for much discomfort. Milk unboiled is,
for a certainty, mixed with water, and the water, for a
probability, mixed with typhoid. Water is safe
enough usually if it comes from a pipe supply, but in
no country is unboiled water above suspicion, and it
is not recommended as a beverage in Malaya. The
commonest drink is whisky and soda taken very
mild. Most people avoid pork, for though scavenging
is done otherwise than by the pig, still it is notorious
that a pig will eat anything, and what your particular
21ie Federated Malay Siates. i6i
pig has eaten you do not know until it hits you. The
large fresh pink prawn, with its leafy bed of salad and
its mayonnaise sauce, is frequently best admired
rather than consumed, unless you are sure that your
constitution is prawn-proof. Tinned meats are all
very well, but fresh are better where obtainable.
The chance-bought tin which has been reposing for
months or years in a shop, and was originally stocked
by some small shopkeeper in a remote village from a
clearance sale in a large town, has an unappetising
history. He will be well advised who in hotels
and resthouses prefers even the skinniest of
chickens to even the best brands of tinned meats.
Sea fish up-country, brought long distances over
ice, is no more likely to be fresh in the tropics than
elsewhere.
It is not intended absolutely to condemn all these
foods, but to warn the traveller that unless he is
careful he may find that they prove refractory to
his powers of assimilation. Happily for him it is
certainly the fact that, for the first few weeks or
months of a residence in or a tour through the Penin-
sula, there is felt a quickening of all the powers of the
body and a sense of well-being which may be due
either to the tropical climate itself or to the mere
change of life.
The Malaya of the present day, not
Curios. being accustomed to travellers for
pleasure, offers to the tourist passing
through very little in the curio line, and such as there
is of the kind has to be hunted up. The country
produces no gems and no relics of aiiti([uity and its
1 62 Illustrated Guide to
Malay craftsmen are of no high order of merit.
There is, however, a good deal of Malay silver still
remaining in remote kampongs whence it is
occasionally brought and sold to the foreigner,
probably to pay for some extravagance of the rising
generation, a use to which family plate is put in
other lands as well. Of this silver there are many
specimens in the museum at Taiping and also at
Kuala Lumpur. It is quite characteristic and unique
and seems to owe its inspiration to no other nation.
A great deal is nowadays fabricated by Chinese and
sold as Malay work. Besides the silver work there is
the niello ware, ox jadani, of which a really good piece
is always a handsome possession. This jadam is
the fashion in Rembau, where the women wear large
belt-buckles of it called pifiding, but it is also made
in boxes of all shapes. It may be of silver or of
brass filled with enamel.
As is natural in a country where there is such a
riot of vegetable life, the people are very clever at
working baskets and mats of various fibres. The
authorities on baskets are of opinion that the Malayan
work is the best in the world and, to judge by the
beautiful specimens one sees put to the most ordinary
uses, this seems probable. Nests of basket boxes
are a product of Malacca. At the resthouse there
three or four old Malay women will solemnly enter
the verandah and silently lay out baskets, and yet
baskets, and again more baskets for your consideration.
They will not importune you to buy — importunity is
still considered bad manners in Malaya — but they
will suggest that you now have the opportunity and
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FICUS ELASTICA (GETAH RAMBONG), A NATIVE RUBBER TREE.
The Federated Malay States. 163
you will feel quite rude if you do not. This method
of trading is far more pleasant for the purchaser than
the " What d'ye lack ? " " Buy, buy, buy," and " I
showing Master very first-class stone, cheap," with
which travellers are pestered elsewhere.
Some time ago an industry was started in a very
modest way at Port Dickson in the manufacture of
hats. It was very successful. Everyone wanted a
Port Dickson hat, and still wants one, and quite a
trade has grown up. These hats are made out of the
leaves of the viefigkuang palm (as are the grass
mats so common in Malaya) from patterns of English
hats. The rise of this industry has had what the
Western moralist considers a disastrous effect on the
Malay population of Port Dickson, whose young men
nowadays do nothing but exist beautifully arrayed
like the flowers of the field, whilst the womenfolk
delicately manipulate hats, from the profits providing
their men with the latest luxuries in the way of
bicycles, cigarettes and all the materials for a dolce
far niente existence. Thus do we do good by
stealth and blush to find it harm. But as a matter of
fact no great harm has been done. If they merely
exist beautifully now, the odds are that they existed
squalidly before, and in their philosophy no one is the
worse for being happier. The Port Dickson hats vary
a great deal. Some are what the Malays cz}A jarang^
full of holes and badly plaited, and others almost as
well woven and shaped as a panania. They will fold
into a small compass without breaking the fabric.
The " cursed Malayan kris " (this is the modern
way of transliterating and not so pleasing as " quaryx "
164 Illustrated Guide to
which is much more faithful to the true sound) can
be bought almost anywhere. But a really good kris
is hard to come by, since such weapons are family
heirlooms. There are innumerable varieties, short,
long, straight, curved, of this most ornamental of all
weapons. There is a deep lore of the blade of the
kris. The number of its waves, the quality and the
number of the laminations of the steel, its length
measured by the second joint of a Malay's forefinger,
the curious carving of the handle, the traditions
attaching to the blade and notably the ornamentation
of the sheath, are all serious matters to a real Malay
with a real kris. Whether real krises, by which are
meant weapons once in real use or really ready for
use, are often offered to the European nowadays may
be much doubted, but there are many well worth
buying for their intrinsic artistry alone. Such a one
is the waved kris, nicely tapered, fairly laminated,
with a cup of silver, delicately chased, protecting
a handle in ivory carved in the shape of a bird with
arms, the sheath of polished ruddy wood, banded with
silver, and the sheath's head of shining satin wood
somewhat elaborately turned and raking at the proper
angle.
This weapon, designed to inflict a hideous close
quarters wound, is a very different affair to the
sumpit, the long blow-pipe of the aboriginal Sakei,
which delivers a little oart of wood, tipped with
poison, from a distance. With the blow-pipe goes the
bamboo quiver, rotan-bound, in which repose the
poisoned darts. The blow-pipe and its quiver usually
show a certain amount of artistic skill in their orna-
The Federated Malay States. 165
mentation with patterns burnt in the wood. Some of
the darts sold are really poisoned, so that it is just as
well not to prick a finger with one.
In the ordinary Chinese shop in the towns is to be
found a china which is not procurable even in
London, for the reason that it is so cheap as not to
be worth importation. A few cents will buy you the
little blue and white spoons such as the Chinese
cooly uses, and a dollar will purchase handfuls of
curious crockery, the Hke of which you will never see
at home. It is all very primitive stuff, made in China
for the Chinese, not for the European market, but
has a charm of its own and an engaging simplicity of
colouring which appeals.
But quite the best places to rummage are the
second-hand shops, which buy from the pawnshops,
and the pajak lelap, as the Malays call it, " the
drowsy pawnshop" itself, where the pledged things
sleep out their time until their tickets expire and they
are exposed for sale to recover the money advanced.
Here one may expect to find a silk sarong or baju of
gorgeous hue, pledged by some Malay who knew a
good sarong when he saw it ; a wicked little tumbok
lada knife, easily concealed in a woman's hand ; a
parang or chopping wood knife of curious pattern ;
jade bracelets ; tiger's claws set in gold ; a complete
set of the Krusang brooches in gold and rubies,
as worn in the best Malay circles ; yellow diamond
rings, once the pride of some Chinese nofiia,
wife of a rich man who lost all in the last
slump of tin ; silver boxes of Malay ware ;
anklets of silver, anklets of gold and anklets
i66 Ilhisti'ated Guide to
of silver gilt ; little silver plaques once the sole
covering of a Malay or Tamil child ; pretty filigree
work gold beads forming a favourite Malay shape of
necklace ; earrings of all kinds, heavy Tamil earrings,
stud earrings in brilliants worn by Chinese ladies,
gold earrings of the different shapes affected by
married and single Malay women, and these shapes
varying again with the district ; hair-pins of all
varieties ; belts of all shapes and nations ; opium
pipes pledged in a spasm of virtue, of ill luck at the
gambling table, or of ordinary poverty ; occasionally
good china originally introduced by some connoisseur
who fell afterwards upon evil days ; brasswork from
the four corners of the Orient, Japanese, Chinese,
Indian, Malay ; water-bottles in baked clay with
silver stoppers held by silver chains — a long list yet
not complete, for if ever there was a place where a
farrago of rubbish and valuables is to be found it is
a pawnshop in Malaya. The hunter in pawnshops
(ian pursue his game in every little town or village,
for a place must be very small not to have a pawnshop
in it. At first the indifference shown by the pro-
prietors of these shops is rather chilling. They care
rtot whether you buy or forbear, and they care not if
you know it, but with persistence, civility and a
complete disregard of the passing of time you will
break down this reserve and be shown all kinds of
queer things wrapped up in Chinese paper. There
is a fascination in this ; you not knowing a word of
Chinese and they not knowing a word of English,
their Malay being bad and yours fragmentary, neither
The Federated Malay States. 1-67
party can worry the other with elaborate artifices of
bargaining and cheapening. There is the curiosity
you covet and there is the price in Chinese on its
wrapper or its ticket. Maybe they will let it go for
less, maybe they do not truthfully read to you the
Chinese inscription, since "for ways that are dark and
tricks that are vain the heathen Chinee is peculiar."
Very unlike the pawnshop people is the Chinese
boxwallah who peddles things at your door and
frequents hotels. This is usually a bland person
speaking several languages, extremely polite and
ready to spread out the whole of his wares for your
inspection. The great speciality is drawn-thread
work on linen and silk embroidery. His tablecloths
are a dream of dragons sprawling in white thread on a
ground of native blue, and dragons clutch convulsively
at some material or other all over his stock. You
see them grabbing the tops of cigar boxes in tin or
silver, twining themselves in knots on enamel buttons,
heaving up and down on handkerchiefs, jostling each
other on cigar cases, equal, for decorative value, to
the French King's salamander. With the boxwallah
you must bargain and he will meet you half-way, for
unlike the pawnshop man, he is always anxious to
sell.
The Federated Malay States are in the
EducaUoo. happy position of having plenty of
schools in which Malay boys learn
reading and writing in Malay, arithmetic, and reading
the Arabic Koran by rote, forget it all and return to
agricultural pursuits. About two per cent, stick to
8a
t68 Illustrated Guide to
book-learning and become clerks either in a Govern-
ment office or in the employ of some private firm.
Every little village has its school, a long tiled building
on brick piers, built, to sealed pattern, with its little
master's house close by. Here, unwillingly to school,
with shining morning face, acquired by disporting
themselves in half-a-dozen pools and streams on the
way, assemble some thirty or forty brown boys, the
majority of tender years and still wearing the long
streamer of hair by which, if the child dies before being
received, through circumcision, into Islam, he will be
hauled up to heaven. In Perak there is no legislation
to compel parents to send their boys to school, yet the
attendance is as high as in the other States where
such laws exist, and probably boys are sent to school
by Malay parents for reasons which move parents
elsewhere, to wit, if you do not send a boy to school
what are you to do with him at home ? Many of
them walk several miles to reach the school, and
various are the reasons which prevent them coming
regularly. Sometimes a river is in flood and the bridge
swept away, or perhaps there never was a bridge. At
other times there is, not a lion, but a tiger in the path
and children are kept at home. At some schools the
way lies through jungle and children will not face its
mysteries except in small parties, so it frequently
happens that when the good boys start the runagates
are left behind. Such excuses, however, do not avail
if the way is by railway, for free tickets are given.
However, in such a case, you can miss the train. Then
there is that convenient disease, fever, which keeps
The Federated Malay States. i6g
Malay boys at home like colds and coughs in England.
The human boy is much the same all the world over.
Noisy places these schools, ostentatiously noisy as you
pass by or walk up the steps, for the system is to
repeat everything aloud over and over again, and the
louder you sound the more diligent clearly must you
be. The girls' schools are quieter. There are fewer
of these than of the boys' schools, and needlework is
a silent pursuit. In some of the girls' schools weav-
ing in_ silk is taught, but this attempt to revive an
ancient industry has had little success. Girls leave
school and get married at once, and what with looking
after a husband and children they have no time for
weaving. Moreover the whole country is and has
been for years flooded with cheap cloths of all kinds,
from England, India, and Japan. In Pahang they
still weave sarongs, and some are produced under
superintendence, bear a stamp of authenticity, and
are sold through the District Officer, Pekan. In
Kelantan, too, weaving in silks is an industry,
but, alas, the old vegetable dyes are being neglected
in favour of aniline concoctions, which do not
stand washing or the sun. Malay taste in sarongs
mns to violent colours. These are very well in
a vegetable dye, which can originally never be
very bright, and eventually fades to harmonious tints,
but in an aniline dye violent colours are offensive from
the beginning and nondescript at the end. It is
becoming increasingly difficult to get good, silk,
vegetable dye cloth for sarongs and bajus. Until
purcha.sers begin to discriminate and cease to I)uy at
lyo Illustrated Guide to
genuine prices spurious cloths simply because they are
in divers colours, it is improbable that the decay of
the weaving industry will ever be arrested or the mori-
bund art of vegetable dyeing revived. The needlework
of the Malay girls' schools is often very good. They
are especially clever, as are the Chinese women, at
embroidery, particularly embroidery in silk for slippers.
At the Agri-Horticultural Show, held annually in
August at one or other of the principal towns of the
Peninsula, there is usually a good deal of needlework
exhibited and sold to visitors.
Besides the Malay schools there are higher standard
schools in several towns, where English is taught.
These schools feed the Government's clerical service
and the needs of private firms for clerks. The higher
standard education of girls is chiefly in the hands of
the various missionary religious establishments, which
maintain several schools in each large town. The
majority of the scholars in all these are non-Malay,.
and may be either Chinese, Indian or Eurasian. Of
technical education there is at present little or none.
Boys will not devote to it the necessary time since
they can so readily obtain employment at early ages.
To differentiate between these four races and say
whether the Malay, the Chinese, the Indian or the
Eurasian is the more intelligent in a school is a specu-
lation merely, but a considerable body of opinion
inchnes to the belief that the Malay boy is the
brightest, and, if you can get him beyond a certain
trying period, the most successful ultimately. But he
is indolent by virtue of his race, and has always his
The Federated Malay States. 171
own home in the country should book-learning prove
too exacting. He knows he will find there a father
who is " no scholard " himself, a mother only too de-
lighted to get her son away from the perils of a town,
and around them that seductive atmosphere of
kampong quiet, the coconuts, the fruit trees, the padi
fields, the buffaloes, the subtle scents and sweet
savours for which his soul has sickened in a town-
The Straits of Malacca divide the
Fisheries. Malay Peninsula from the Dutch island
of Sumatra, and their waters are
amongst the calmest seas of the world. Into them
fall a number of rivers whose source is amongst the
hills of the Peninsula. These rivers run by devious
courses through flats of mangrove-covered mud and are
tidal for miles. In the short coast line of 395 miles
between Penang and Singapore are a dozen or more
such rivers, and it is no uncommon thing for each river
to have several smaller streams falling into it whilst it is
still in the mangrove. Consequently the mangrove
forest is full of lagoons, back-waters, creeks, and little
odd places where no one ever goes except the wood-
cutters or the fishermen. The mangrove yields an
excellent firewood for which there is a large sale
up country and also a bark used for tanning,
especially for tanning locally the nets of the fishermen.
Wood cutters and fishermen live sometimes in huts
on a mangrove covered island, sometimes in villages
on the firm ground up the rivers. The huts on the
island are very inaccessible, being only reached by
sea, but if ever the opportunity offers of getting out
172 Illustrated Guide to
to them in a launch, it should be taken, for these are
some of the most curious habitations that human
kind have ever made.
The houses in these amphibious villages are built
on wooden stilts, piles thrust down into the mangrove
mud, upon which are reared the little huts, all
thatched with the nipah palm leaf, their sides some-
times boards but as often as not merely sticks lashed
together. Their streets are slats of wood through whose
interstices you may at low tide look down eight feet or
more upon the bluish mangrove mud and observe the
antics of the ikan blodok, the fat-eyed fish who
squatters about above the waterline fighting his
kind, executing strategic retreats to his hole in the
mud and generally behaving in the fat-headed manner
not out of place in one whose appearance is so
notably foolish. All around and about him are the
little blue crabs, the little red crabs, and eke the little
black crab who with a business-like claw nips some
small prey, holds it up for inspection, drops it or
carefully places it in his mouth as his appetite moves
him. On the mud, too, lies the debris of the village
above, crockery and kitchen waste, fish and filth, all
waiting for the great sanitation of next tide. In the
village live the Chinese fishermen to whom belong
the stake nets out at sea. These nets, if not peculiar
to the Straits of Malacca, are the first of their type
seen by the traveller from the West. If you are
awake when your ship steams into Penang or Singa-
pore in the chill dawn you will see, lifting and hiding
in the mists, long V-shaped dark lines upon the
A COAST VILLAOE
50AJJ1V Te'AOO A
The Federated Malay States. 173
•
surface of the sea whose nature you will never guess
until you are close upon them. Should you first see
them at noon they present themselves like a flock of
sea-birds flying in the duck formation, for the shimmer
of the heat upon the sea's surface makes them rise in
the air upon your vision. Seen for the first time they
are as mysterious as the flying islands which, down
the Straits of Malacca, used by their air of strange
enchantment to terrify the ancient mariner, or, if they
did not terrify the ancient mariners, persons not
readily terrified, then as now, terrified the ancient and
gullible passengers to whom the mariners did relate
many moving tales of these obviously jin-created
monsters. But both the mysterious V-lines, and the
mysterious flying islands are solidly set in the sea
after all when you come close to them, though the
eye plays you strange tricks with them at a distance.
The principle of the V-shaped fishing trap is
ingenious. It is one of those eminently labour-saving
contrivances that simply must have been invented by
a Malay, for " the malazy people " are great on such
clever contraptions. The making of such a fish-trap
is on this wise : you cut in the mangrove forest a
large number of long poles. These you dispose
in a broad V in the sea, at a spot where your eye
or the " pawang's " magic have revealed that here is
a runway of the waters much frequented by those
foolish people, the fish. The long poles you so stick
into the sea mud that each one waggles to and fro
slightly. At the point of the V you set your long
bag-net with its wide niouih. You then tie your boat
174 Illustrated Guide to
_
to one of the stakes and go to sleep. Arising re-
freshed from slumber you observe that the tide is
nearly out, and that the poles on which the net is
hung are strained to breaking with the weight of the
net. With a short prayer acknowledging thanks to
Him who gave the fish you haul in the net and find it
full. You select such fish and such crabs as you
desire ; you avoid such sea-snakes as may be amongst
the fish, and you are careful not to be stung by jelly
fish. The balance, being immature fish, useless little
fish and various other sea-sweepings, you tip back
into the sea and so home. All very simple, of course,
but why are the fish so foolish as to run into a net set
in the wide and broad sea ? Thus : the things
creeping innumerable, whether fish, or crabs, or
snakes, or jelly fish, were landwards of your net when,
you set it. As the tide turned the great host of them
followed it out to sea again. When a part of that
army came on the fir^ landward stake they shied
away from it as it waggled in the water because they
were afraid of it. Some shied to the outside of the
V and missed your net. Others shied to the inside
and were gradually shepherded to their doom by the
waggling stakes on either side of the broad V, bringing
up at length on the rush of the tide in the wide mouth
of the net. Here few escape. Some perhaps dive^
finding courage at length, and slip between net and
stake, or even between two clashing stakes, but until
the net is crammed or the tide ceases to run the
foolish sea-people shy hurriedly from side to side of
the V, and at last enter the net pell-mell. Ans
The Federated Malay Statei.
ingenious contrivance, indeed, and saves many a fish
from being eaten by another, which is the last end
of all fish that ever were, barring those devoured by
man, by the sea-snakes, and by the birds of the
air.
This principle of the waggling stakes set in the
sea to frighten fish into a net fixed for filling by the
tide is also used to bring fish into a square chamber
of close-set stakes. Inside this chamber lies a net
which is raised at intervals by a man above.
Of fish traps and nets there are innumerable kinds,
and most people are content to eat the fish and not
speculate over much on how they were caught. But
the fish market in any large town is always worth
visiting. Most of them nowadays have tanks in
which freshwater fish are kept until they find a pur-
chaser, and here, too, are the crabs and prawns. Flat
fish, fish with whiskers, fish with a long whip for a
tail, fish which puff themselves out so that you can
stand on them, fish with poisonous spines, pink fish,
blue fish, Httle fish, heavy fish, fish from the sea, from
the river, from the ponds, even from far-off China,
sent down as spawn to Malaya and there hatched and
fed, all are represented ; and if we are interested in
the native ways of living, the vegetable market next
door displays a collection of fruits and vegetables
often foreign and strange. Most Euro-
v^efabfes. peans are extremely careful as to what
vegetables they eat in the Malayan
tropics, as the ingenious Chinese, renowned for
his vegetable growing wherever he goes, owes that
176 Illustrated Guide to
renown to his unpleasantf-practice of mulching his
crops with crude sewage collected from the
towns. This brings it on wonderfully, no doubt,
but it brings on more; than vegetables. Even if the
crude sewage does not affect the consumer he is
liable to several water-borne ^diseases if he eats raw
salads and such things, for, in order to keep vegetables
bright and fresh on the way to market, the gardeners
douche them with water from the ditches just outside
the town. This no doubt has been the practice from
time immemorial, and amply accounts for travellers
being " suddenly offended," not really " by reason of
their fruits," but by reason of careless ignorance. The
fruits are safe enough. It is curious to remark how
there is no fruit in Malaya of which the outside is
eaten. Every fruit is either contained in a thick shell
or rind, or else its thin outside skin is inedible. Thus
to get at the flesh of the fruit you have to extract it
from its protection, and you find the inside perfectly
free from any contamination. The thickest skinned
of all the Malayan fruits is the durian. The very
report of this fruit stinks nowadays in the nostrils ot
Europeans, so much have people written describing
its smell. But it is a fruit for which Asiatics pay high
prices willingly, a fruit which the tiger disputes with
the pig and the bear snatches from the deer, a fruit
which all domesticated animals, including horses, eat
greedily, and a fruit which has charms only known to
those who venture upon it boldly. But it is emphati-
cally a fruit of the open air, not a fruit of closed
chambers, and even so some little circumstance
The Fedei-ated Malav States. 177
should attend the eating. You cannot say to yourself,
" Go to, I will eat a durian," and straightway eat one,
and enjoy it. Rather should you prepare to encounter
its ferocious charms with a due modesty and restraint,
lest you be routed at the first onset. The learned —
and many have made a deep study of the subject,
involving the consumption of several durians at a
sitting — unanimously recommend that the fruit be en-
gaged in the open. Once let it come skulking through
passages, on to verandahs, or upon dining tables,
and victory will not lie with you but with the durian.
Selecting therefore a season when the fruit is well in,
and your olfactory nerve already somewhat dulled to
sense of smell, you set forth, early in the morning,
upon a pilgrimage, along almost any road in almost
any district, following, in fact, your nose. The way
will be strewn with happy omens in the shape of
durian skins, which have been torn from around the
coy pip. Their offence is rank indeed, but undeterred
by them you press forward, a Childe Roland to your
dark tower, and finally you come to an orchard where
the majestic fruit hangs heavy on the boughs. Near
it, in a little hut on stilts, sit a few Malays, expecting
until a durian shall drop. This occupation is singu-
larly congenial to the Malay temperament, and if you
have had to walk any way to get to the orchard you
will find it an occupation not wholly uncongenial to
yours. As you take your seat and wonder what
about breakfast a solemn plop in the middle distance
announces the descent of a durian. A Malay strolls
off and, keeping an eye liftmg to the trees lest a fruit
178 Illustrated Guide to
fall upon him, picks up the durian and returns. This
is the crisis. A durian comes too near which comes
to be denied. Deliberate and you are lost. Let the
Malays split open the fruit. When they offer you a
pip, take it boldly in your fingers and eat it, in the
full assurance that the earth does not produce a more
kindly fruit. Yet if you must eat it in a room see
well to it that the pips alone are served to you and
that hunger is your sauce.
He who has experienced the fierce joys of the
durian will find the jak fruit and the soursop tame in
comparison. Let them be relegated to ices, puddings
and such preparations, not thereby, however, con-
demning them, for does not the lordly durian itself
condescend very graciously to make the principal
ingredient in an ice ? Of that delicate fruit the
mangosteen, in its thick jerkin of claret colour, it
skills not here to relate, for it is sure to appear and
make its appeal in person. Oranges grow in the
Peninsula, but not " like golden lamps in a green
night," for they never take on the familiar yellow
tint. Other fruit are numerous, yet, through some
mysterious dispensation of hotel keepers, rarely seen
at table. Of such are the duku, tasting like a grape
and growing in grape-like clusters; the cliiku, in
appearance like a symmetrical potato, in taste like
itself; the mango, a messy fruit to eat, and, if of a
bad variety, tasting strongly of turpentine ; the
papaya, said to be excellent for the digestion, but
it is the seeds which contain the pepsin, and the
seeds, of course, no one ever eats ; the jambu, of
Tfie Federated Malay States. 179
various varieties, the little pink being one and perhaps
the best ; the bristling rambutan ; the lime, indis-
pensable in cocktails, slings and places where they
swizzle ; and finally, omitting much in the water
melon line, the pisang or banana, of which you have
usually had quite enough or ever you touch at the
Malay Peninsula. As the fruit harvests are perfectly
irregular, some fruit is always in season and little or
none is imported. Most of it comes from the Malay
kampongs where the trees have grown up haphazard,
and very little attention has so far been given to
fruit growing for profit, the Malays merely selling
what they cannot themselves eat. Of the pine-
apple, a fruit which grows to perfection, it was
hyperbolically written : " She is indeed almost too
transcendent — a delight, if not sinful, yet so like to
sinning that really a tender conscienced person
would do well to pause — too ravishing for mortal
taste," but in recent years she has been tinned
in millions and so become a commonplace every-
where.
The first thing to be borne in mind
Clothing. about getting clothing for use in the
Federated Malay States is that you can
buy every single thing you can possibly want either
at Penang or Ipoh or Kuala Lumpur or Singapore.
It is utterly unnecessary tO bring out from London a
large outfit, and not only is it unnecessary but it is
inadvisable. Men will find that on board ship, where
they indulge in no very active exertion, they can wear
their lightest English summer clothing with comfort
i8o Illustrated Guide to
till Penang or Singapore is reached, though sonie
people prefer to buy their tropical wear in Colombo.
On landing at Penang or Singapore there will be no
difficulty at any hotel in finding a tailor who in
twenty-four hours will supply you with a dozen suits
of white drill, the coat either cut as a tunic or to
wear with a collar. In the nearest shop you can buy
very light underwear. Canvas shoes or boots are
procurable with the same startling promptitude as the
clothes. In the matter of fitting out people in a
hurry the Chinese tailor and Chinese bootmaker have
nothing whatever to learn and they satisfy hundreds
of people every year. If you have not bought a
solar topi at Port Said, you should get one at
Colombo, as it is not wise to put off the purchase of
this, the most important article of dress for white
man or white woman in the tropics. There are at
least two schools of opinion as to how men should
dress in the matter of underclothing in Malaya. One
holds that a healthy costume is shoes, socks, drill
(white or khaki) trousers, a very light and porous
vest, a drill tunic and a solar topi. Another holds
that short pants must be worn under the trousers
and that the vest should be wool or flannel. Be-
tween the two there is probably some medium
which each man will select for himself. But what-
ever he decide in this matter let him remember that
it is almost a social crime, certainly a social mis-
demeanour, to wear a white linen suit two days in
succession — one day one suit (and even more if one
gets soiled) should be the most absolute rule, and the
TJie Federakd Malay States. i8i
same applies to undergarments. Nothing looks
worse in the tropics or is nastier in itself than a
soiled or crumpled linen suit, unless perhaps it be
unsuitable European clothing. The question of
clothing, of course, depends very much on whether
any stay is being made. If one is merely going
straight through in a couple of days it is hardly worth
while to purchase clothes, but if it is intended to
spend any time in the country white or khaki colour
coats and trousers will be necessary, for the traveller
will very soon discover that he cannot with comfort
to himself and others perspire freely all day and every
day in the same clothes. English summer clothing is
worn after sundown.
The delicate. question of clothing for ladies really
resolves itself into the question : How much can you
discard and still appear in public ? But ladies should
remember that Malaya is not a place where old frocks
are worn, though it be a little out of the world. Light
washing dresses of muslin and similar material are
chiefly worn. Ladies spending only a few days in the
country can get washing done quickly and so need
not be provided with the numerous changes of clothes
which are essential if a longer stay is made. It is
rarely possible to wear any article of clothing more
than once, and this is especially the case with the
more intimate garments. A light coat for motoring
or driving in the evenings is always useful. Boots are
a better protection against mosquitoes than shoes,
but shoes are preferred as lighter and cooler. Doeskin
or chamois gloves are generally worn in the day time
1 8?, Illtistratid Guide to
as a protection against the sun. A white sun umbrella
is almost essential, a scarlet lining to it being, accord-
ing to scientific authority, the best colour to ward off
sunstroke. It is also more becoming than green.
Though the railway and the motor
The Ghari. and the hired car go every whither, .
yet occasionally the ghari is seen
for hire. This vehicle is of several distinct
types. In Penang and Singapore a ghari connotes
a box on four wheels. In Perak a ghari is a two-
wheeled vehicle, very stoutly built, not too well
sprung and still smacking strongly of the box on
wheels. In Seiangor and Negri Sembilan the type
changes again, and a ghari is a light two-wheeled pony
cart with springs. To all of them the little imported
Sumatra or Java pony is common. Different varieties
of this sturdy little beast are loosely called the Deli
pony, but strictly Deli is the name of the Sumatra
breed in particular. These ponies, if of the true Deli
type, are the wonder of the equine world, and they
will trot away proudly with loads which would soon
break up an Australian. They are also of a mar-
vellous endurance, and twenty-four miles in three
hours under a tropical sun is sometimes accomplished
by them, but over long distances one should usually
reckon on their doing six miles an hour and keeping
it up for hours. They will do it, too, day after day,
on padi — not overmuch of it — and grass. Australian
horses are not often seen in public vehicles as they will
not in Malaya stand more than ten miles a day, driving
day after day. Travelling in a two-wheeled ghari — the
The Federated Malay States. 183
four-wheeled ones are only in use about the towns — is
very weary work, for the Englishman is, on the average,
of far bigger build than the Oriental, and the Chinese
or Indian designers and builders of gharis cater for
the native traffic, of which there is more. The actual
stowing of oneself and one's belongings in aghari, with
the pony backing into the ditch or trying to bolt along
the road is a feat which calls not alone for agility but
for unusual control of the temper. However, as no
one, unless perhaps the hardened tourist, travels in a
ghari for amusement, one makes the best of necessity
with a cushion to sit on and a cushion against which
to lean. At one time gharis went over the pass from
Taiping to Padang Rengas, where the travellers took
train, and thus they saw the beauties of the pass
from the road. Now, unless in a motor, one sees
it from the rail, and though the travel is more
comfortable it is not in so picturesque a setting.
One goes and returns by it. But there is a very
pretty alternative route from Kuala Pilah to
Tampin. To those without motors it means a
ghari drive of 24 miles (four hours), joining the
railway at Tampin and going on thence to Seremban.
There is also the road between Tampin and Malacca,
now superseded by the railway. This road is perhaps
without rival for beauty in the whole of the Peninsula.
It runs through lovely scenes and is nowhere unin-
teresting. To those who have motors it is well known,
but the motorless folk travel to Malacca by rail, and
though the views on the railway are worth seeing, they
are not so fair as those to be met at e\ery turn of the road.
184 Illustrated Guide to
The first unusual creature to attract
SmaiVo^er. the attention of the traveller in Malaya
will probably be Chichak, the little
lizard which lives on the walls and ceilings of every room
in every house. He loves to intervene in an argument
with his sharp " That's so ! " If it were not for him
there would be even larger quantities of annoying in-
sects, for he eats nothing else, and he is gifted with a
magnificent appetite. The best time to observe him
is in the evening when the lights are lit, for then he
sallies forth from the cracks and crannies where during
the day he has hidden and feasts upon any insect not
too big for him to get into his mouth. The mosquito,
the swarming flying ant, and the fat-bodied moth are
his staple food, but doubtless he devours other insects
whose names are known only to science. The sharp
barking call he gives is sometimes quite startling, but
not nearly so loud or unexpected as the raucous
"g-r-r-r-r, tok, tok, tok " of Bewak Punggor the gecko^
his big brother, who is not, however, so common and
is much shyer. This large gecko is more than
suspected of preying upon his smaller brethren if he
can catch them. Both are of an indeterminate pale
buff colour, and the big lizard is of the same
make and shape exactly as Chichak. But there is
considerable variety of colour amongst the small
lizards, depending apparently on their habits and
surroundings. Thus a lizard living in a drawer or a
clock case or any other very dark nook will be
noticeably heavier in shade than one dwelling in a
ceiling crack, and that in despite of the fact that
The Federated Malay States. 185
every time the drawer is opened or the clock wound
the Uzard has to flee for his Ufe. There is another and
far larger lizard, occasionally seen in gardens, Bewak
or Biauak, the monitor lizard, miscalled iguana, which
latter name belongs to a South American form. He
is a foul-feeding beast, all sizes up to three feet long,
haunting refuse heaps and fond of anything long dead,
but also fond of stealing eggs and chickens, and
generally an enemy of the housewife. But he is a
slinking, skulking brute, and not often seen unless it
be dead and trailing along a road behind a Tamil
cooly, to whom he is an acceptable feast, perhaps
even preferable to the diseased and several-days-dead
bullock which Tamil coolies are so fond, unless
prevented, of digging up and eating.
In the jungle may be seen, but chiefly in small
jungle where he gets plenty of sun, the blue-green
lizard with a serrated spine and a yellow throat, in
which dwells his wonderful lasso of a tongue for him
to dart at unlucky insects. The flying lizard is some-
times seen. He is apparently a distant relation of
Chichak, the house lizard, but has a membrane
stretching from each foreleg to each hindleg, and with
the$e twain he flies or rather glides. His colour is
very much that of the greyish white bark of the old
coconut stump on which he may be accustomed to
perch. The mechanism of his gliding apparatus is
the same as that of the flying squirrel, alluded to
elsewhere.
Those first cousins of tlie lizards, the snakes, both
poisonous and harmless, are very common all over
1 86 I l/u strafed Guide io
the Peninsula, yet it is strange how very seldom one
sees a snake, and stranger still how seldom people die
from the effects of snake bite. Scientific opinion has
it that there is something in the climate which decreases
the strength of the venom of Malayan snakes. All the
same, most people keep a bright look-out for snakes,
especially in out of the way halting bungalows and
resthouses. It is a disconcerting experience to
fumble for matches in a table drawer at dusk and put
your hand on a snake instead of a box of matches,
yet it has happened before now — to careless people.
The multitude and variety of the insects with
which one makes acquaintance merely in travelling
through the Peninsula is astonishing. Among the
most comical of them is the praying mantis, a green
insect with long pale green wings like a parson's
skirts, a triangular head furnished with teeth which
it vainly tries to use on you if you pick it up, and
a pair of waving forelegs with which it gesticulates
solemnly if you annoy it. It has all the air of saying,
" Go away, person, away, quite far oft', please ! " It
has a very trying habit of flying wildly into a lady's
hair whence it is difficult to extricate the fragile
thing, for its forelegs are serrated and they catch in
each individual hair. Apparently a cousin of the
mantis is the green insect with broad rounded wings
which simulates a leaf. But more wonderful in the
way of simulation is the stick insect. These are
often brushed off on to one's clothes when passing
through jungle on an elephant. The Malays believe
that elephants are much afraid of these insects, and
'Ihe Federated Ala/ay States. 187
certainly they are so uncanny that an elephant might
be excused for disliking them. They simulate, with
photographic accuracy, dead twigs, and like the twigs
themselves they are of all sizes, from an insect nine
inches long to one an inch or less. When disturbed
they simulate yet more and pretend to be dead,
thereby increasing, if it be possible, their stiff stick-
like appearance.
Amongst destructive insects for which it is advisable
to keep a sharp look-out may be mentioned the
silver fish, a fish-shaped silvery creature which
devours books when neglected, that world-dweller the
cockroach or blackbeetle, and, lastly, that great enemy
of all the works of man's hands in the tropics, the
iermes gestroi, or white ant, a worker in darkness
whose deeds are so vile that he shuns the light, eats
out only the inside of anything he can get and retires
before you realise that your trunk, it may be, or your
most cherished books, are but empty shells. It is
hardly necessary to introduce the mosquito to you.
He has his own methods of making his presence
known.
In this book an attempt has been
The Chinese made to tell you of some things to see
Cooiy. ,^,1^ j^(jyy j-Q j^^g them. But the people
you, as a passing traveller, will never
know (for you will not leave those beaten tracks, the
railway, the road, the river), you must take on trust.
There are so many of them that it is difficult to know
where to begin, But perhaps the Chinese cooly,
who has made tiiis country possible for you and the
Illustrated Guide to
likes of you, deserves first mention. You will see
plenty of him in the mines and in the towns, but he
is in the jungle, too. You will never know him there,
but think of him with his load of two bags of tin
ore, one of which you could only just lift with a hand,
slung at the ends of a carrying stick. He plods
along a jungle path slimy in rain, ruckled with
roots in drought, and wears a pair of short breeches,
wet most surely with sweat, but frequently also
dripping wdth water, either from the sheets of rain
when the heavens open or from the rivers when these
.flood. Yet he is cheerful with it all and ready with
a grin for anyone who, passing him, remarks sym-
pathetically " Hayah, chusah-lah."" (Anglice — "hard
work, what ? ") Or think of the same cooly, straddling
between two foot-rests, as he drives a heavy saw down
and up, down and up, through a log of timber, the
sweat pouring off him, his palms smoothened in the
grip, a linen loin cloth around him for decency's sake
and " the muscles all a-ripple on his back." Or
consider yet again his fellow, perched with five others
on a foot-pump, doing the treadmill all day long in
the hopes of pumping enough water from a hole in
the ground to enable him to get at the tin ore down
below. How would you like to lie at night in a rather
leaky hut, listening to the roar of rain flooding the
mine hole which at evening you had pumped dry at
last, and knowing that to-morrow you must go forth
to the same fruitless toil? Or the Chinese market
gardener, would you care for his life ? In your com-
fortable railway carriage or your smooth motor you
The Federated Malay States. 189
rush past his little patch of a few yards of tilled soil,
which two days' neglect will cover with noxious weeds,
where three hoeings will not kill the lala?ig grass,
where all day long he must hack, cut, delve and sweat,
as did the father of all living outside the first garden.
Against these people, all of them out of their own
natural climate, do the conditions of life in the tropics
continually strive. The heat is heavy oa them and
they know no punkah nor any electric fan. The rain
is torrential and they have no spare hand for an
umbrella. The sun blazes without any quality of mercy
and they must affront it indifferently. Of what we
know as rational pleasures they have none. Sport is
unknown to them, games they play not at all. Their
vices are of the coarsest, their self-indulgence is in
opium, sometimes in morphia. Gambling is the
recreation they prefer. They live in a barrack with
a hundred others, or in a hut quite alone. You ask,
why do they come here ? They regard this land as
the land of El Dorado. To them in their villages
in China, the streets of Malaya seem paved with gold.
Here they may make ten dollars a month. In China
they are lucky to make two.
The whole country as you see it, the roads, the
railways, the buildings, the irrigation, the mines, the
fisheries — all these are built on the efforts of the
Chinese cooly in his thousands and ten thousands.
To the Chinese cooly and to him almost alone are
due the power and the majesty and the glory derived
from a huge revenue splendidly yet carefully expended
by Englishmen. If everybody had his rights the
IQO Illustrated Guide to
Federated Malay States would set up a monument in
the most imperishable brass to a yellow-faced, snub-
nosed, close-knitted Celestial, true type of that
person who is not quite like anyone else in all
the world — the Chinese cooly.
" Better is an handful with quietness than both the
hands full with travail and vexation of spirit."
Eccl. IV. 6.
" Senang. Comfort, ease, peace of mind, freedom from
care, and worry. Tiyada buleh senang, sa-hari-
hari ada pekerjaan. No peace was possible, I had
to work every day " : Hikayat Abdullah.
IVilkinsoii s Malay Dicfionary.
" Get on or get out."
Modern Maxim.
Of the household words which are
The Malays, continually in a Malay's mouth senang
is undoubtedly the one which calls up
in his mind the most desirable things in life. To be
a happy child living 'at home in the ancestral kampong
is senang, to be a proud father and loving husband is
senang, to have an assured income, as unearned as
possible, is senang, to live in a place where domestic
comforts are plenty is senang, to be close to the mosque
is senang, to go in a railway train or a motor or any
vehicle is senang, to be far from the jarring associa-
tions of other races is senang, to be an old, ancient
man, whose children look after one, and to contemplate
death at one's ease, is senang, in short to be free from
travail and vexation of spirit, however and whenever
that state is compassed, is senang, and the sublimation
of senang. Is it not an extraordinary fact that there are
The Federated Malay States. 191
still in the world, in spite and in defiance of modern
civilisation, people who fully, really, truly and most
actually believe that peace and happiness is all that
counts ? To realise this, to know that a whole race of
people still rejects our strenuous life and clings to the
peace and quiet ideal, so hopelessly out of date amongst
us, is to suffer a moral shock, to receive a sort of slap
in the mind's face. Yet it is so. There is no race on
earth less addicted to strenuousness than the Malay,
and his country has been for the last forty years a
field for the energies of that undeniably strenuous
combination of races, the British and the Chinese.
These two have penetrated into every corner of the
Malay's country. On the topmost heights of the hills
the British have fixed trigonometrical beacons visible
for miles ; at the feet of the same hills they have
blasted out quarries. No jungle swamp has proved
too deep, too dark, or too deadly for their roads and
their railways. However remote a kampong may be,
some surveyor or some land officer has penetrated to
it, measured its size and assessed its rent, nay, in all
probability some path has been constructed to it,
making access to the outside world easy for its
inhabitants. Not a tin-bearing valley but has been
scratched and .scored and pitted and turned upside
down by Chinese in the search for ore. The
rivers have drowned many Chinese and some few
Englishmen. All over the country the Chinese
pedlar and hawker and higgler has wandered to buy
and sell. Everywhere alien ideas and alien methods
have displayed their alien successes, yet the Malay
192 Illustrated Guide to
still remains ignorant and careless of being the owner
of one of the world's richest countries and still he will
tell you, almost in the words of the Preacher, that
better is an handful with quietness than both the
hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
As you pass through the country you are grateful
to these people without being quite conscious of it.
Your eye lights upon the recurrent little cameo views
of the ricefield set about with the coconut palms, a
few crescent-horned buffaloes lazing in the centre of
the picture and contemplating with a more than
bovine stolidity the naked little brown child who will
presently command them homewards with his wand.
In time the marvels of the natural scenery pall upon
the sight ; the jungle riots too much in the vision, which
despairs of ever forming for the mind a connected
picture to take away. But the Malays have given the
country the only beauties in it provided by the hand of
man. Touching this responsive land they have adorned
it, and still continue to adorn, and whether you live
here, or merely flash through, yet the pictures which the
Malays have provided are carried in your brain.
You will know little of them, but will read much,
for the people and their way of life lend themselves
to description. To be born, to live and to die a
Malay amongst the kampongs — " no other business
offers a man his daily bread upon such joyful terms."
For consider how they live. Twenty-five coconut
trees in full bearing and a patch of rice land provide
a sufficient living for one Malay family. The labour
necessary to be spent on the coconuts is scarcely
The Federated Malay States. 193
to be regarded. At the most it consists in seeing that
the coconut beetle does not attack the trees and in
very many districts the beetle does not exist at all.
The padi field demands somewhat severe exertion in
preparation, and perhaps the crop will fail in a dry
year or suffer from pests such as the padi-borer insect
or the rat. These two — the coconut and the rice —
are the main staples, the daily bread of the Malay,
and he is offered them upon sufficiently joyful terms.
His climate is kind to him. His people live to good
ages and their worst enemy is malaria. If they come
through its perpetual attacks in early youth they
acquire, if not an immunity, some sort of tolerance of
the disease. Taxes bear very hghtly upon them, for
the typical Malay peasant never need meet the direct
tax-gatherer but once in the year, when he pays his
land-rent to the collector, and the indirect taxes, all
based upon the consumption of luxuries, do not
touch him at all. Except for clothing, which his
women are ceasing to weave, and implements of iron,
his life's round is quite self-contained, and he need
never be beholden to any man for anything except
perhaps salt and tobacco, for these two are not
produced in the country. Everything else he can
procure, if not from his own patch of land, usually
about five acres in extent, then from the jungle which
in most districts is still close to the cultivated lands.
His house is built of wood. A few
Malay Houses, rich Malays build their walls of planks,
with tile roofs, but the vast majority
of houses consist of uprights, cut in the jungle and
194 Illustrated Guide to
dragged thence by a buffalo, with walls of interlaced
rattan wattle. The roof is, near the coast, of the
atap or nipah leaf, taken from a large palm which
grows in the salt swamps amongst the mangrove,
or if the house is up-country then the roof will be
made of an up-country palm whose leaves are
narrower and not so stout as those of the rdpah.
The uprights are sometimes set upon square stones
resting on the ground, but as often as not are only
driven into the earth. Windows are merely
horizontal slits in the walls protected by a shutter,
also of atap or perhaps of rattan. Along one side
of the house runs a covered verandah, raised usually
some five feet above the ground, as is the floor of
the house, and reached by a fixed ladder. Giving on
to this is the front door, which often runs back along
the wall on rollers, so as to save space both inside
the house and on the verandah. Where there are
children a railing is fixed across the doorway to
prevent them getting out and falling off from the
raised verandah. The interior of the house is usually
dark. There are no windows in the high-pitched
roof. Sometimes there may be a partition dividing
the house-space into rooms. Often there is a sort of
garret or shelf up in the roof whither unmarried girls
retire on the approach of a strange man, and here
they sleep at night. If there is such a shelf there
will be a small window in the wall lighting it and
enabling the girls to see all that is going on outside
the house. Probably the only house furniture will be
the sleeping mats and mosquito nets — if any — of the
The Federated Malay States. 195
family and perhaps a raised bed place for the father
and mother. There will be no chairs or tables in a
Malay cottage, in the country at least, though in the
towns they are beginning to take to them. At the
back of the house there will be another verandah,
this time as a covered passage leading to the kitchen.
The immediate surroundings of Malay houses are
usually very untidy to the English eye. The people
live much out of doors : their houses do not adjoin,
so one cannot annoy another by throwing refuse
into the back garden. Consequently all slops from
the kitchen and all house refuse are thrown aside close
to the house. All the urban sanitary precautions and
regulations, which have been rendered imperative in
Western and some Eastern lands by the population's
habit of living huddled up together in adjoining houses,
are amongst Malays in their own countryside quite
unnecessary. Daily heavy rains and daily tropical
STin do a disinfection which " if seven maids with
seven mops should sweep for half a year" yet they
would not accomplish. Malays do not live in what
we know as villages but rather in hamlets. A Malay
district is well populated if a cock crowing at one
house can be heard in the next, which expression, by
the way, is one of their modes of measuring distance.
Except in the rice districts, where the houses stand in
the water of the padi fields, each house is built upon
the orchard land, with the rice swamp close by.
The prime dish at every meal is
Malay Food, boiled rice and the prime ingredient in
every dish is what we know as curry,
iq6 Illustrated Guide to
that is herbs and spices. The principal meats are
fish and fowl, and only on high days and holidays do
the Malays eat buffalo meat or beef or goat flesh.
Almost every house has a small herd of goats ; most
people have several cows running in their neighbour-
hood, and many possess buffaloes whose chief use is
to plough the padi fields in their season and perhaps
to drag timber from the jungle. The rice is grown in
the rice-swamp near the house and when reaped it is
stored under the house in a large round bin usually
constructed of bark from some great forest tree, but
sometimes a regular granary is built, often of plaited
rattan in ornamental pattern. From the bin or granary
it is taken as required by the housewife and I y her
and her girls pounded in a wooden mortar which lies
on the ground near the house. The pestle will be a
long piece of heavy wood held upright, gripped by
both hands in the middle and forcibly brought down
into the golden mass of grain. From time to time
the grain is put into a light rattan tray and winnowed
after the ancient fashion of tossing it into the air and
catching it again so that the breeze bears away the
chaff. During this daily task it is the woman's con-
stant duty to keep off the eager fowls which surround
her to steal what they can of the grain, for Malays will
not lightly squander rice on fowls if they can help it,
and the birds have to hustle for a living off the land
round the house. Hence, it may be said, is the
reason for the skinniness of the fowls which appear at
our tables sometimes. The " tame villatic fowl " of
the cottager are often half-bred with the jungle
The Federated Malay States. 197
fowl of the forest. The herbs and spices which com-
pose the curry sauce of the dishes are grown near the
house and ground at home. The vegetables, sweet
potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, fern tops, ground-
nuts and the like will be found in a patch of rough
ground not far off, sugar cane is grov/n hard by, and
the drink is water from the well. All round the house
will be a fruit orchard and it will be in season with
one fruit or another all the year round.
Thus everything is quite self-contained, quite
senang, and a Malay family can live very healthily,
happily and long without ever being indebted to any
other race, except, as said above, for a little salt, for
clothing, and for implements of iron. The natural
increase of goats, fowls and cattle and the surplus of
the rice and fruit harvest, when sold in the nearest
Chinese village or large town, at once provide money
to pay for these.
Those familiar accompaniments of Western civili-
sation, want and misery, wretchedness and degradation,
sodden profligacy, and alcoholised unhappiness do
not exist for this Malay people. They are not so
light-hearted as the Burmese or Japanese, to both of
whom they are by race allied, possibly because the
Malays are Muhammadans, nor so stolid as the
Chinese, to whom also they are allied, nor do they
greatly resemble their Annamese neighbours, but seem
to hold the balance between all these. Living in a
country where the strenuous life connotes the frequent
death, they avoid all unnecessary exertion with a care
which is obviously the hereditary result of centuries'
9
igS Illustrated Guide to
residence in a tropical climate. If there be an
ingenious way of doing a thing without physical
exertion then you may be quite certain that this is
the way the Malay does it, and the line art of sparing
oneself, which other races in Malaya never learn till
they are dead, " so short the life, so long the art to
learn," has been brought to a wonderful perfection by
the Malays. This is not laziness ; it is not indolence ;
it is not slackness ; with all of which the race is
unintelligently reproached. It is race-intelligence,
and it means and it results in sdnang, and sdnang is
the Malay for salvation, mental and physical, in this
climate. Therefore, as you pass through the country,,
and see, as you will see, even from the railway only,
man after man doing nothing, sitting perhaps on the
top step of his house ladder, whilst his wife idly
winnows padi below, do not thank yourself that you
are not as Malays are, but remember that had their
racial characteristic not been this they never could
last, never could be the rapidly increasing race which
they actually are.
The white man comes, the Chinese comes, the
Indian comes, to the Malay's country, and they live
their alien strenuous lives. They make material pro-
gress and show material death and sickness rates.
That is their way of being happy. It is not the
Malay's way. He rejects, and in some sense despises,
other people's way, for the vast majority of him
consists of "people in humble circumstances," like
those described by Renan, " in the state so common
\t\ the East, which is neither ease nor poverty. The'
The Federated Malay S,tates. 199
extreme simplicity of life in such countries, by dis-
pensing with the need for comfort, renders the
privileges of wealth almost useless and makes every
one voluntarily poor. On the other hand the total
want of taste for art and for that which contributes to
the elegance of material life gives a naked aspect to
the house of him who otherwise wants for nothing."
He is born, and lives, and gets children and dies in
his country, as his ancestors did. He has no cold
northern cUmate to which, if he be still alive, he can
occasionally retire and there recruit, as the Briton has.
He cannot lose millions of his population and never
feel the loss, as the Chinese can. Is it strange that
occasionally one has an uncomfortable feeling that
the Malayan race-spirit smiles behind his hand at the
race-spirits of the other people. If he smiles now,
and really he can hardly help it, he will laugh heartily
some day, as those do who are the last to laugh, for
the Malay will still be in the Peninsula when the
other races have finished their exploitation of it and
gone to their own place. That simple outlook of the
race is based on the pursuit and possession of sdnang
and the race-intelligence knows it.
The Malay race inhabits the Malay
The Sarong. Peninsula, the Islands of Java, of
Sumatra, of Celebes, of Borneo, and of
the Malay Archipelago, and wherever found its men
and woman are wearing the sarong. This garment is
simply u skirt of gaily coloured material not gathered
in by sewing at the waist, but formed in one long
tubular straight shape, jmt on to the body either over
the head or else stef)ped into.
9A
200 Illiisirated Gidde to
This garment is worn by either sex. A man wears
a shorter sarong than a woman, and tightens it round
his waist with a tv\ist and a fold which are only learnt
by long use and practice and, even so, violent exertion
will dislodge it. A woman, if she is wearing no other
garment (and she is considered decently, if informally,
dressed in the domestic circle if wearing only a sarong),
hitches it up above her breasts, and she too twists
and folds it with a success due to practice, but her
twists are different from those a man would use. But
with either sex to wear only the sarong and no other
garment is only permissible when one is in privacy, as,
for instance, when bathing at a well behind the usual
palm leaf screen, or near one's own house, or working
in the fields. Just as no European would make a
practice of going about everywhere in shirt-sleeves
but habitually does so when working, so the wearing
of the sarong and no other garment is only usua.1
amongst the Malays when they are, as we should say,
in their shirt- sleeves. The men wear, therefore, short
coats made sometimes to button in front, but more
often in one piece to slip ,on over the head. The
women wear a short coat or a long coat, sometimes
the long coat over the short coat. When a coat is
worn the woman's sarong is secured round the waist,
often with a belt, and indeed such is the essential
insecurity of the waist-tvv'isted sarong that both men
and women as often as not wear belts to make its
adherence more sure. It is characteristic of the
race that it should wear a garment which is so readily
put on, so quickly washed, so easily made, so simply
mmma^^^m^^mm^m^^ «*«
HHPW^Fv^y
f^\aJ(Bf-''^
£'MiM^\:^
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•n
"^^Hj^^^H^^sffiH^EI^^^B^^H^H
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. o
The Federated Malay States. 201
decent, so adaptable for every purpose. The purposes
to which it is put are manifold. A man will wear it
over his trousers as a short kilt and belt in one, for to
Malay notions trousers are indecent wear and demand
some additional covering. He will be decently
dressed in a sarong alone, but not quite decent in his
own mind in trousers alone. Again, the sarong may
be used as a bag in which to carry padi or fruit or
purchases at a shop, in which case it is usually slung
over the back, bulging. It may be twisted into a long
roll and wrapped round the head as a turban. As a
sleeping garment it is worn by men and women alike.
Women leaving their own houses and going abroad
wear an extra sarong as a veil or wimple over their
heads, drawing it sometimes right across the mouth
and leaving nose and eyes only visible. There is
much variety both in pattern and material of a sarong.
The patterns are either in squares like Scotch plaid
patterns, or else in shot and wavy lines, or perhaps
figures of birds and beasts and flowers, such as never
were on land or sea. The colours are, of course,
endless in variety. Yet in this bright land of sun-
shine, clear air and gorgeous colouring, the most
violent discords will harmonise as masses of flower
colour will harmonise in a border. Ochre and pink
worn by the same person do not make us gasp ; green
a-id scarlet in large splashes set us admiring; white
and black in broad bands are hardly remarked.
Colour in costume follows the popular taste, and that
in turn is moulded by sunshine. Dirty browns,
drabs, dull greys, invisible greens, suitable for the
^6i illustrated Guide to
filth and grime of Western cities, find no favour in
Malaya, The great majority of sarongs are of cotton
cloth known as kain plekat and coming from India.
These, apparently without exception, all have a broad
stripe in them of darker colour and more criss-cross
pattern. This stripe is known as the kepala or
" head " of the sarong, and there is an elegance and a
smartness in its exact disposition upon the person
which the Malay dandy peculiarly affects. The cotton
sarongs figured with birds and flowers and beasts,
prettiest, perhaps, with a native-blue ground and
brown figures, come from the Dutch island of
Sumatra, and are Malay-made there. The figures
upon them are made by a kind of wax-printing.
A considerable quantity of silk sarongs come from
Kelantan and thereabouts, but though they look very
fine when new they are usually dyed with some aniline
European dye and fade to hideousness, whereas a
well-dyed and Malay-dyed fabric will fade to beauty.
Malay men may v.^ear either a ker-
Headgear, chief twisted round their heads or a
little round brimless cap. The former
is more usually seen in the Negri Sembilan. Strictly,
no Muhammadan should wear headgear, which can
prevent his bowing his forehead in the dust, but upon
the doctrine that "the letter killeth" the Malays
depart from this, and frequently wear large sun and
rain hats of palm fibre with an all-round brim from
which the rain drips, under which the sun cannot
strike. It skills not to describe the caps, for they are
in all materials and all colours. The most primitive,
as we regard such things, is the little black cap made
The Federated Malay States. 203
out of palm fibre ingeniously woven by hand, remote
as the poles asunder from the machine-made article of
Western importation. As for the kerchief, it too is of
many picturesque varieties, but the most imposing is
that worn by a prince of the blood royal, to wit, a
menacing, black, stern and starched cloth, truculently
striking up to a conical point over the forehead.
Wearing this headgear the mildest Malay prince will
have all the appearance of a bloodthirsty desperado.
The women wear no hats or bonnets. Shawls of silk,
veils of gossamer, and the useful sarong are found
sufficient covering, save when working in the rice
fields, when they too don large dome-shaped palmleaf
hats or fold a sarong into a thick square pad to
balance on the head.
In the tropics are no biting winds,
Footwear, frozen rains or damp cold puddles to
chill the feet, so very few people wear
boots or shoes. The country Malay goes without
footgear entirely, though in the towns one see.s the rise
ofapretty taste in shoes and even socks or stockings.
But the women embroider slippers for themselves in
gold and silver thread on velvet and wear them on
dressy occasions. Either sex will also wear the
(rompak^ wooden pattens not very different from
those worn until recently, and perhaps even still, in
the West of England. On a hard road they ring with
the fall of each foot in a musical note, and their Malay
name t'rompak, frompak onomatopoetically echoes
the sound.
J04 Illustrated Guide to
III.
HINTS FOR MOTORISTS.
By J. H. M. RoBSON.
British Malaya possesses an excellent road system of
about three thousand miles. The main trunk road
down the length of the Peninsula runs from Prai (on
the mainland opposite Penang) to Malacca. North
of Prai this peninsular trunk road will ultimately
connect with Perlis and the Siamese boundary.
Large sections of this nothern extension have already
been completed. South of Malacca this trunk road
continues along the coast to the Johore boundary.
From this point to Johore Bahru (where cars from
Singapore have to be ferried across the Straits) there
is as yet no through road. Construction work is
going on, and various sections have been completed.
When finished, this Johore part of the main trunk
will offer excellent facilities for motor transport of all
kinds, since the formation throughout is to be 25 feet
wide with a metalled surface of 16 feet and few grades
of more than i in 40. The Muar river will have to
be crossed by a motor ferry.
Port Swettenham on the v.'est coast and Kuantan
on the east coast are now connected by a main road,
which, after crossing the main range into Pahang,
passes through many miles of uninhabited primeval
or est. Lower down the Peninsula, anpther and
The Federated Malay States. 265
much shorter west to east road is under construction
to connect Batu Pahat on the west coast with Mersing
on the east coast. This 88 miles of road will be
entirely in Johore territory.
The main trunk road from Prai to Malacca carries
a good deal of motor traffic, is perfectly safe and
comfortable to travel over and is never very far away
from the railway hne. The best time for motoring in
Malaya is during the dry season, which lasts from
April to September. The temperature, which varies
between 70° to 90° Fahrenheit in the shade, is about
the same all the year round. The hours of daylight
are unchanging throughout the year. It is quite
light at 6 a.m. and lamps have to be lit by 6 p.m.
No special type of car is required for Malayan
roads, but the more efficient the cooling system the
better. For two people not overburdened with
luggage a little 10-12 h.p. car would do just as well
as in England, but for really comfortable travelling
a car of about 20 h.p. is recommended. There is no
speed limit, and the road surfaces are good ; but all
the roads are not yet as wide as they might be, and
in many places form an unending succession of sharp
corners, which may hide slow-moving bullock carts.
An average of 18 miles an hour would be quite
enough for strangers to attempt. Petrol and tyres
can be obtained in every town and some of the larger
villages.
A very few words of Malay will suffice for the
needs of passing travellers, but it is advisable to
engage a Malay driver or cleaner to assist with tyre
266 Ilhistrated Guide to
renewals. He should not be allowed to make any
adjustments to a strange car. The cleaning may or
may not be of a somewhat perfunctory nature, but
Malays are generally good-tempered and obliging.
The man's name and not the word "loo" (you)
should be used in addressing a Malay. The word
" loo " is only used when addressing Chinese coolies.
Strangers are apt to picl^ up this word and use it to
the wrong people. Wearne Bros., Ltd., who have
garages at Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and
Penang will be found helpful in the matter of
unshipping a car or engaging a driver. At Singapore,
there are also the Central Engine Works and the
Straits Garage to apply to. The wages of a Malay
driver ought not to exceed ^i a week and expenses.
India, Ceylon, British Malaya, Java and parts of
French Indo-China are the motoring grounds of
Asia. In cases where the travelling motorist intends
to stay some time in each of these countries, it may
be an advantage to bring a car from Europe ; otherwise,
it would be more economical and save a lot of trouble
to hire a car in whichever country it was desired to
travel. Several steamship companies maintain a
regular fortnightly service to and from the Far East.
This enables eastward-bound travellers to break
their journey at Penang, have 12 days' motoring in
the Malay Peninsula and to join the next steamer at
Singapore. Similarly, travellers from Japan, China
or Australia who are 671 route to Europe or India
can leave their steamer at Singapore, hire a car,
accompany it by train to Tampin (Malacca boundary),
The Ft derated Malay States. 207
and have nearly a fortnight's motoring before catching
the next steamer at Penang. An alternative procedure
for travellers arriving at Singapore would be to take
the through night mail to Kuala Lumpur and engage
a car there, thus saving a part of the expense
incidental to sending the car all the way back to
Smgapore after arriving in Penang. Hitherto, there
has been very little tourist travel by car in the
Federated Malay States, So it is not possible to
give any exact estimate of cost. Hire of car ought
not to exceed ;^35 a week, inclusive of all running
expenses. It would be advisable to write in advance
to one of the garages mentioned to secure a car for a
fixed date. Light clothing is, of course, a necessity,
and a pair of dark or yellow glasses will protect the
eyes from the glare of the sun and considerably add to
the comfort of the traveller. A revolver is not necessary,
but if carried a police permit is necessary. The best
time of the day for travelling is between 7 a.m. and
noon and between 4.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. Of course,
in the towns, many people use their cars in the cool
of the evening, both before and after it becomes dark.
Travellers bringing a motor car to the
pj^°"^*' Island of Penang will have no import
duties to pay beyond a two dollar
(4.f. 8d?.) wharf fee, but a call should be made at
the chief police office to obtain information about
a car licence. This licence will hcfld good in the
Federated Malay States. If sent on in advance by
cargo steamer to save expense, or if in a crate, the
unloading of the car can be entrusted to Messrs.
2o8 Illustrated Guide to
Wearne Brothers, Ltd., Penang. A pocket Malay
vocabulary, maps and local literature can be ob-
tained at Messrs. Pritchard & Co., Beach Street.
The streets of George Town, Penang, are too narrow
and congested for comfortable driving, but the suburban
and island roads are excellent. The Eastern and
Oriental Hotel is not far from the jetty used by the
railway ferry steamer which conveys cars across to the
mainland (fee $4 = 9s. 4d.). Careful steering is re-
quired when driving cars on and off these steamers.
The first early morning steamer should be taken, full
information about which can be obtained at the rail-
way offices or hotel.
By taking the first steamer of the day
Second Day. travellers can pass right through Pro-
vince Wellesley in the cool of the early
morning, and breakfast at Parit Buntar (25 miles) or
Bagan Serai (another 9 miles) in Perak. To save
time a telegram should be sent from Penang to
the resthouse keeper of the selected place advising
him of expected arrival and number of people requir-
ing food. There are so many roads in Province
Wellesley that travellers would do well to enquire
frequently if they are on the direct road to Parit
Buntar. In the Federated Malay States sign posts
are to be found at the more important road junctions.
From Bagan Serai to Taiping is another 22 miles,
which can be managed before lunch. Bagan Serai is
the head-quarters of the Krian Irrigation Works, which
have provided the Malays with a large extent of well-
watered country for rice growing. The travellers will
The Federated Malay States. 209
see more Malays in this part of the country than any-
where else on the main roads of the Peninsula.
There is a resthouse at Taiping, situated on the
road to the railway station and opposite King
Edward VII. School. It may be advisable to fill up
with petrol before proceeding to Kuala Kangsar, which
is 23 miles further on. A start should be made about
4 p.m., so there is not much time to see Taiping,
which is described elsewhere.
Kuala Kangsar is a beautiful spot where the
Sultan has his home, and will well repay a short
walk between 5.30 and 6.30 p.m. and again next
morning at 6.30 a.m. The resthouse is situated
above the town, close to the Club and Government
Offices. A telegram from Taiping is not absolutely
necessary, but advisable. There is one long precipitous
hill when nearing Kuala Kangsar which requires
careful driving, but it is the only hill of any import-
ance to be met with for the first two days on the
mainland.
Total mileage, second day, 79 miles.
Chief features : Fine roads, Malay cultivation and
the headquarters of a Malay district.
A start at 8.30 a.m. for the first stage
Third Day. of 32 miles from Kuala Kangsar should
bring the traveller within sight of Ipoh
— an important tin-mining and trade centre — before
II a.m. The Enggor pontoon bridge, four miles
from Kuala Kangsar, looks more terrifying than it
really is : motor cars cross it daily. The road is good
all the way. In order to avoid delay, a supply
210 Illustrated Guide to
of petrol should be obtained on arrival at Ipoh in
the morning. Lunch can be obtained at the Ipoh
railway station hotel. When in the neighbour-
hood of Ipoh the opportunity should be taken
of visiting one of the large tin mines there,
which can most conveniently be done between 2 and
4 p.m. — before the coolies stop work for the day.
Ipoh is essentially a Chinese town, and is one of the
most rapidly growing centres of Malaya. An English
daily paper is published giving the usual Renter's tele-
grams. There are branches of the Chartered Bank
of India, Australia and China here, at Kuala Lumpur,
Klang, Malacca and Seremban. A visit to the club in
the evening will bring the travellers into touch with
their fellow countrymen who live and work in this
part of the world. Letters of introduction are always
useful, but failing these, a personal call on the
Secretary of a social club will usually be found suffi-
cient to secure the privilege of visiting membership.
The hotel at Ipoh is often full, so it is advis-
able to enquire by wire from Penang if rooms will
be available on the day required. Should no
accommodation be available, there will be no
hardship in continuing the third day's journey for
about another twelve miles to the pretty little town-
ship of Batu Gajah, where, as elsewhere except in
Ipoh, there is not likely to be any difficulty about
resthouse accommodation. In any case the run
out to Batu Gajah makes a pleasant evening drive,
but in view of the dust nuisance (to other people)
the* pace should be moderate.
The Federated Malay States. 21 1
Total mileage, third day, will depend on Avhether
the night is spent at Ipoh or Batu Gajah, and the
amount of local travelling done in the neighbourhood
of Ipoh.
Chief features : Crossing the Perak river, view of a
tin mine worked by Chinese coolies, and Ipoh town.
Starting from either Ipoh or Batu
Foartb Day. Gajah in the early morning the well-
built town of Kampar can easily be
reached in time for breakfast (24 miles). This place
is also a great mining centre and a smaller edition
of Ipoh. From Kampar to Sungkai, passing through
Temoh, Tapah, and Bidor, is 31 miles. Lunch can
be taken here or at Tanjong ISIalim, but travellejs are
recommended to go straight on to the latter place
"before stopping, because the last 39 miles, after
passing Sungkai, is a lonely stretch of road devoid of
human habitations. Like all Perak roads, it has an
excellent surface, but winds about a good deal and is
flanked on both sides by heavy jungle. It reminds
one of a road through a well-wooded park. If Kam-
par is reached and breakfast there finished by 9 a.m.,
it is quite feasible to run straight through to Tanjong
Malim (70 miles). Sungkai is a mere village, but
Tanjong Malim is a small town where there is quite
a good resthouse. This place is on the boundary
between Perak and Selangor. The numbering of the
milestones will be from Kuala Lumpur after leaving
Tanjong Malim. A comfortable rest can be taken
after lunch before proceeding on the last stage to
Kuala Kubu (16 miles). This place is the starting
2 12 Illustrated Guide to
point for a main road which crosses the mountain
range into the east coast State of Pahang. A full
supply of petrol should be purchased here. It is
generally on sale, but if there was any difficulty, one
of the local car owners would probably come to
the assistance of travellers.
Total mileage, fourth day, no miles.
Chief feature : Park -like road through the jungle.
The suggested trip for the fifth day will
Fifth Day. take the travellers across the main
range of the Peninsula by one route,
and bring them back by another, leading direct to
Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay
States. It is a long journey, and a route which will
necessitate careful driving, but the magnificent forest
scenery should not be missed. Starting in the early
morning from Kuala Kubu there is a steady pull up
hill on a gradient of about i in 30 for about 1 5 miles,
in a distance 21 miles, to a place called The
Gap, which is the boundary between S clangor and
Pahang. There is a resthouse here. From this
place there is a drop down for about 13 miles to
the little village of Tras, and thence another 10 miles
leads to Raub, where there is an old established gold
mine. The road itself is excellent, but it forms an
unending succession of corners, is not too wide and
is flanked in places by precipices. Although not
actually dangerous — public service motor vehicles
driven by Malays pass up and down every day — the
trip is not recommended for nervous people. For
others the grandeur of the jungle scenery is well
The Federated Malay States.
worth the climb. Brakes should be examined before
starting, and on descending grades the car should be
kept well in hand. Times should be arranged so
that neither the up nor down motor omnibus is
actually met on the road. Necessary information
on this point can be obtained from the Stationmaster
at Kuala Kubu, and motor traffic signals should be
noted at the Kuala Kubu and Gap resthouses.
Gabriel horns are useful on this road. The return
journey, after an early lunch at the Raub resthouse,
would be on the same road to Tras and Tranum
(ii miles) and thence to Eentong (total 30 miles).
From Tranum to Eentong the road is very tortuous.
From Eentong the climb up to the Pass has an
average gradient of i in 40, with Ifengths of i in 30.
On the Selangor side of the Pass there is a short
length of I in 26, and the rest r in 30. Careful
driving is necessary. Distance from Eentong to
Kuala Lumpur 50 miles. Or the day's journey may
be shortened by omitting the visit to Raub, turning
off at Tranum, 1 2 miles from The Gap, and proceeding
direct to Eentong for lunch. The petrol required at
Kuala Kubu before undertaking this suggested Pahang
trip will depend on the tank and mileage capacities
of particular cars.
There is very fair hotel accommodation at Kuala
Lumpur, visitors being catered for by the Empire
or Station Hotels. There are no garages attached
to these places ; visitors generally leave their cars
at one or other of the town garages.
Total mileage, fifth day, 124 or 102 miles.
214 Illustrated Guide to
Chief features : Magnificent jungle scenery on
thickly wooded hills.
Apart from overhauling the car, taking
Sixth Day. a rest, and doing a little shopping, the
Museum, Public Gardens, Golf Links,
Government Buildings, Polo Ground, Schools,
Hospitals and so on are all worth visiting when irt
Kuala Lumpur. A daily paper is published in the
afternoon, giving latest Renter's telegrams, &c. There
are quite a number of enthusiastic motorists in the
Capital, and a stranger would have no difficulty in
getting into touch with one or other of them, who
would be only too pleased to afford assistance and
information. About an hour's run from Kuala
Lumpur are some famous sulphur baths attached to
the Dusun Tua resthouse, which are reputed to be
of therapeutic value for people with rheumatic
tendencies. Apart from the hot baths there is
no special attraction at this place. If sufficiently
interesting the stay at the Capital might be extended
to two days, but this must be left to individual
inclination. On the assumption that one day
suffices, arrangements should be made to leave on
the seventh day, after a seven o'clock breakfast, to make
a circular trip of the chief rubber-growing districts.
Returning north along the Batu Road
Seventb Day. for 1 8 miles to a small town called
Rawang, a steep hill has. to be nego-
tiated at the tenth mile. Between the eighth and
twelfth milestones there are many corners, and the
road is generally hilly. Just before reaching Rawang
The Federated Malay States. 215
Railway Station a turn to the left is taken leading to
Kuala Selangor, on the coast. Distance from Kuala
Lumpur 49 miles. The road is hilly for about half the
distance between Rawang and Kuala Selangor, but on
reaching the rubber belt it becomes flat. There is an
alternative route from Kuala Lumpur, via Batu,
Kepong and Bukit Rotan (43 miles). Enquiry
should be made in Kuala Lumpur as to comparative
state of the roads on the two routes. Cars are left
at the foot of the hill on which the Kuala Selangor
resthouse stands. The run after lunch from Kuala
Selangor to Klang (28 miles) is on a perfectly flat
road, flanked by some of the finest rubber estates in
Malaya. The milestones record distances from
Klang on this section. The Klang resthouse,
where a halt may be welcomed for tea, is situated
near the railway station. There are two routes from
Klang to Kuala Lumpur. The shorter one following
the railway line out of the town is recommended
(30 miles). For about half way the milestones
record distances from Klang, but on reaching the
boundary of that district the record is from Kuala
Lumpur.
Total mileage, seventh day, 103 or 107 miles.
Chief feature : View of rubber estates.
After breakfasting in Kuala Lumpur,
Eiiibtb Day. lunch can be arranged for at Seremban,
the capital of Negri Sembilan. Leaving '
Kuala Lumpur, via Market Street, Yap Ah Loy Street,
nd Cross Street, and passiiig Sultan Street Railway
2i6 Illustraied Guide to
to the suburb of Pudu. From this point there are
two alternative routes to the town of Kajang, one
straight on, via Cheras, and the other by turning off
to the right at the Pudu Police Station and passing
through the important mining centre of Sungei Besi,
The latter is about four miles longer.
On reaching Sungei Besi, it is necessary to turn
down one of the two streets on the right and
then turn to the left to get on to the main road.
Passing Serdang and the rubber estates, the road to
Kajang is easily followed. Distance by direct route
15 miles, or via Sungei Besi 19 miles. From Kajang
(turning to the left opposite the Government offices)
the road runs direct to the Selangor boundary at
Beranang, passing through Semenyih en route.
Kajang to Beranang 13 miles. From this point the
milestones record distances from Seremban, to which
place the road, passing through Mantin and Setul, is
good except for a long severe hill beyond Mantin,
The gradient of this hill section is nothing out of the
way for Malaya, but there is the usual unending
succession of corners. One or two of them require
careful negotiation. Total distance, Kuala Lumpur
to Seremban, 44 miles by direct route, or 48 miles
via Sungei Besi. A new road from Kajang to
Seremban, through Labu (Selangor) avoiding Nilai
(Sepang Road Railway Station) and through Labu
(Negri Sembilan), will avoid this hill, but is several
miles longer. If this route is adopted, the travellers
go through the main street of Kajang and pass the
Station on the right, the main road is reached leading
The Federated Malay States. 217
railway station. Seremban is a prettily situated town,
with a large resthouse on the hill above the lake not
far from the railway station. After lunch here a visit
should be paid to the P.W.D. office to enquire if
accommodation is available at the Port Dickson
Sanatorium (to avoid staying at the Port Dickson
resthouse, which is some distance from the bathing
beach), and arrangements should be made to reach
Port Dickson by the new direct road (about 24 miles)
by 5 p.m., as the best time for bathing is between
5.15 and 6.15 p.m.
Total mileage, eighth day, 68 or 72 miles.
Chief features : View of Seremban town and sea
bathing at Port Dickson.
The return journey to Seremban would
Ninth Day. be along the seashore for 18 miles to
Pasir Panjang, then six miles to Lingg',
a planting centre, followed by 24 miles of give-and-
take road to Seremban. Total 48 miles. After lunch
there remains 25 miles to bring the travellers to their
next halting place, a good resthouse at Kuala
Pilah, the headquarters of a Malay district. The
surrounding scenery of this place is quite pretty.
One severe hill has to be negotiated between Seremban
and Kuala Pilah, and it is well to enquire at
what times motor omnibuses are likely to be on
the hill section. Travellers should be careful when
leaving Seremban to ascertain if they are on the
right road.
Total mileage, ninth day, 73 miles.
Chief features : Coast road and a Malay district.
2 1 8 Illustrated Guide to
By this time the travellers will have
Tenth Day. obtained a general idea of the Fede-
rated Malay States, and there only
remains a visit to the old-world town of Malacca.
From Kuala Pilah to Tampin (24 miles) the road is
good, but when Malacca territory is entered a certain
amount of jolting and shaking may be experienced.
From Tampin to Malacca the distance is 24
miles. There are two resthouses at Malacca, one
outside the railway station and the other facing
the sea. The railway resthouse is nearer the bathing
place at Tanjong Kling than the Malacca resthouse.
There is a Government bungalow at Tanjong Kling,
and permission to use this bungalow for bathing
purposes can be obtained at the Public Works
Office in Malacca town. The road to Tanjong
Kling is flat and rather pretty.
Total mileage, tenth day, 48 miles.
Trains for Singapore (change a Tam-
Eieventh ^^^s^ leave Malacca morning and even-
ing. The night train connects with the
sleeping-car train from Kuala Lumpur. The car
might not be delivered in Singapore till the 13th
day, as it would be sent by another train, but the
travellers would probably like to have two clear days
for seeing Singapore. If proceeding to China and
Japan there would be no difficulty in catching the
succeeding mail steamer to the one left at Penang.
The map and tables of distances included in this
book will enable travellers to shorten or lengthen the
tour at will, and of course longer daily distances
might be attempted, for instance : —
The Federated Malay States. 21 g
First day ... Penang.
Second day ... Ipoh, iii miles.
Third day ... Kuala Lumpur (direct), 148 miles.
Fourth day ... Kuala Lumpur.
Fifth day ... Tampin via Seremban and Kuala
Pilah, 90 miles.
Sixth day ... Arrive Singapore (by train). .
Seventh day... Car do.
For people who intend to visit Rangoon, Madras
or Calcutta after touring in Malaya, the trip should
commence from Singapore, or even if returning to
Ceylon there is a slight advantage in starting from
Singapore by railway, in that cars are landed at
Singapore direct on to a wharf and can then be
shipped straight through to Tampin or Malacca
by train. On the whole, too, the roads improve going
northwards, and the tour finishes without having to
catch and change trains. All steamers do not go
alongside the Penang wharf, so it would be advisable
to get there a day in advance, in order to arrange for
a tongkang (sea barge) for taking car to steamer.
For the benefit of people who would prefer to start
from Singapore, the outlined tour may be briefly set
down as follows : —
First day ... Arrival at Singapore. Forward
car by goods train or local
passenger train to Tampin or
Malacca.
Second day ... Leave by train for Tampin or
Malacca.
Third day ... Tampin to Malacca 24 miles
Fourth day ... Malacca to Kuala Pilah via
Tampin, 48 miles.
220 lilustratcd Guide to
Fifth day ... Kuala Pilah to Port Dickson via
Seremban, 73 miles.
Sixth day ... Kuala Pilah to Kuala Lumpur
via Seremban, 68 or 72 miles.
Seventh day . . . Kuala Lumpur to Rawang, Kuala
Selangor, Klang and back to
Kuala Lumpur, 107 miles.
Eighth day ... At Kuala Lumpur.
Ninth day ... Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Kubu
via Bentong and Tranum, 102
miles.
Tenth day ... Kuala Kubu to Ipoh, no miles.
Eleventh day ... Ipoh to Taiping, 55 miles.
Twelfth day ... Taiping to Penang, 56 miles.
Compared with daily trips undertaken when touring
in Europe, some of the suggested daily mileages may
appear to err on the side of extreme moderation, but
the conditions are so very different in Malaya that
after allowing for longer runs on one or two days, any
middle-aged man or lady would probably find the
shorter runs quite sufficient, especially if stoppages are
made at the different Httle towns and villages e7i
route. The mileages given are approximately correct,
but deviations, corner cuttings and such like improve-
ments are being systematically carried out and this
renders distances quoted liable to revision. Travellers
are warned against consigning a car to any small
railway station without first enquiring if there is an
unloading dock. Some of the stations have no
facilities for loading and unloading cars. Cars can be
hired at $4 (9s. 4d.), §5 (us. 8d.), and §6 (14s.) an
hour, but rates are not advertised for extended tours.
i; o
The Federated Malay States.
IV.
BIG GAME SHOOTING.
By Theodore R. Hubback, author of " Elephant
and Seladang Hunting in Malaya." {Rowland
Ward, Limited, London.)
There is a certain fascination about
introducUon. the expression " Big Game Shooting "
which appeals to most Britishers, and
a country which provides such shooting will invariably
be sought after by a certain section of the sport-loving
community from our island home.
Malaya has been visited up to the present by very
few sportsmen in search of Big Game, chiefiy because
very few people know anything about the country as
a field for the Big Game hunter, and also because the
many difficulties to be encountered have frequently
proved on enquiry to appear so great that the would-
be hunter-visitor has turned his attentions to some
better known locality.
But the difficulty of obtaining a trophy generally
enhances its value to the possessor, and those who
are prepared to face a certain amount of hard work
and inconvenience, and are well posted up with
the information that is necessary to enable them to
orgctnise a hunting trip, should be al)le to obtain
Illustrated Guide to
trophies that will well repay them for the hard work,
energ)' and time expended.
The sportsman who contemplates
Rmes'^&c^^&c coming to Malaya to shoot big game
will probably be already equipped with a
battery, but perhaps a few hints on what class of rifle
is suitable will not be out of place. It will be shevrn
later on in this article that most of the opportunities
to shoot at Big Game that may occur in the dense
jungle that one hunts in will be within a limit of
twenty-five yards, very frequently much closer than
■that. It will be at once apparent that when facing
dangerous game at such near quarters a powerful
weapon is absolutely essential. Some years ago,
before the advent of cordite rifles, the few local
sportsmen when in pursuit of big game armed them-
selves with the heaviest rifles that they could obtain,
ranging from four bores to twelve bores ; the twelve
borites, however, did not as a rule prove so successful
as the devotees of the heavier guns. Shooting in
dense forest, the discharge of an eight bore rifle burn-
ing lo to 12 di-ams of black powder resulted in the
gunner being enveloped in a thick smoke through which
he could see nothing for several seconds, and the
vicinity of which, if he was a wise man, he left
as quickly as the thick undergrowth would allow
him. Nowadays all this is changed, and to those
who can afford to supply themselves with cordite
rifles the terrors of the black smoke of the eight
bore are no more. A good battery for a shoot-
•ng trip in the Federated Malay States would
The Federated Malay States. ^i%
consist of two cordite rifles '450 or "500 bore,
a 12-bore shot gun, or ball and shot gun. Rifle
cartridges should be put up in hermetically sealed tins
containing not more than ten cartridges in each case,
and an exceptionally strong cartridge bag should be
obtained with a very large flap to keep one's cartridges
dry during the heaviest rains. Camp equipment may
consist of a great deal or very little according to the
requirements and the purse of the hunter. It must,
however, be remembered that the lighter the camp-
outfit the better chance one has of getting about
the country quickly, the less difficulty one will have
in obtaining carriers, and the more likelihood one
has of getting up to game. It is quite unnecessary
to take tents. The Malays who would be with the
party can in a very short time put up a most
respectable shelter, made out of small jungle saplings
and the leaves of one of the many ground palms that
can be found in almost any part of the virgin forest ;
so a very cumbersome and expensive item is dispensed
with. The following light camp outfit w^ould prove
quite sufficient to provide the hunter with all the
comfort that he would require. An American camp
bed, camp chair, and camp table, an aluminium
canteen such as is sold at any of the large London
stores, a couple of waterproof sheets about seven
feet square, two pillows, a muslin mosquito net, which
should be specified as sandfly proof, a good rug, a
couple of small hurricane lamps, and the outfit would
be complete. A good addition to the equipment
would be a small camera which would be able to
2^4 Illustyated Guide io
reproduce the pleasant spots that He hidden far away in
the depths of the Malayan forest, but only one of those
specially built for the tropics should be taken. Most
of the provisions required on a hunting trip for the
white sportsman have to be taken with the expedition.
The Malay carriers can generally find their own stores,
which consist of little more than rice and dried fish.
Provisions should be put up in boxes about the
size of whisky cases, but should not weigh more than
30 pounds apiece, for in the event of one having to
transport these cases through the jungle with Malay
coolies, 30 pounds a man will be found to be about
their limit. There is, however, a better way of
carrying one's goods through the jungle should a
long journey be contemplated, and that is by making
the Malays take with them the native carrying
baskets which are known as ambong or galas. This
basket is made of split rattan or bamboo, and is
constructed so that it can be strapped on to the back
of the cooly, and is also supported by a broad bark
strap across the man's forehead. All sorts of stores
can be placed in these baskets, from one's canteen to
one's tinned fish or meat, and it would be found
most convenient to the sportsman who intended
going on a trip to see that his Malay carriers were
provided with them before they set out on their
journey. Such baskets are commonly used by Malays
and can be found in almost every village.
Before starting out on any expedition
Trackers and after big game the sportsman must
Carriers. ° ° ^ ,
arrange to take with him a good
The Federated Malay States. 225
Malay hunter, who will be able to take him to the most
likely places for the game, who must be a first class
tracker, and must also have a very considerable local
knowledge of the jungle. It must be borne in mind
that all hunting in Malaya is done on foot. The game
has to be followed up with the help of native trackers
until it is found, and when the shot is taken the
hunter is frequently within a dozen yards or so of
his quarry, probably in dense jungle, and always
unable to see his game quite distinctly.
A few head of game may have been obtained by
sitting up over salt licks at night, or by waiting on a
built platform at the side of some well-known game
track where the gunner would be well out of danger
in case of accidents, but this way of obtaining trophies
cannot appeal to any real lover of the word " sport,"
considering that it is quite possible to bag one's game
by legitimate methods.
To engage the services of a good Malay tracker is
a most difficult business. The older generation of
Malays is passing on, and the younger generation are
not the men their fathers were where hunting and
v.oodcraft are concerned. The only way to obtain
the services of a good tracker is to entiuire through
the nearest official source if such a man is to be found
in the district. If so, and he has a good reputation,
engage him to go with you on your trip and make the
best terms possible.
A first-class man will have to be paid between §20
{£2 6s. 8d.) and §30 {£i 10s. od.) a month. Me
would find his own food out of this, Ijut will want an
iiG Illustrated Guide to
advance before he starts to provide himself with
necessaries for his journey and to leave some money
behind at his home. A Malay never has any money.
Carriers have also to be engaged, the number of
which will depend on the amount of baggage, which
again depends a great deal on the length of time that
one intends to devote to hunting. Should the party
be working from a river, where the bulk of one's
goods would be transported by boat, extra carriers
would be engaged at the villages where news was ob-
tained that game was in the vicinity. Malays can
generally be engaged who will undertake the duties
of carriers — provided that they are only very
lightly loaded — for a wage of 50 cents, (is. 2d.)
a day, but will want a small advance before
they can be persuaded to leave their homes.
When working from a river the boatmen who are
engaged for the rowing or poling of the boat
are engaged under the same circumstances as the
carriers, and will act as carriers when a trip is made
inland in search of game. Under such conditions
two men would probably be left in charge of the boat,
or if the boat v/as left at the landing-place of a village
one man would suffice, all the rest of the party would
take what was necessary for the " commissariat," and
depart up-country or wherever news of game took one.
If Malay coolies are treated like children, are not
asked to do much work or carry more than 25 to 30
pounds a day, are allowed to amuse themselves as
they think best when the day's work is over, even
though their singing does set one's teeth on edge, the
The Federated Malay States. 227
sportsman will find that he can manage fairly well with
them, and that they will enter into the spirit of the
expedition as far as their intelligence will allow them
to do so ; but if, on the other hand, they are treated
at all harshly or even like what they really are,
paid servants, they will spend most of their time
sulking, and will not help towards the enjoyment of
the trip.
The writer has found that it is an excellent plan to
engage Malay coolies for a long trip on a monthly
wage plus their rice, an allowance of a catty
{\\ pounds) of rice a day being an ample ration. The
other articles of diet they would find themselves. If
Malay carriers have to find their own rice on a long
trip they either seriously upset one's arrangements by
running out of rice at some critical juncture, or else
are continually bothering one for small money ad-
vances. Twelve dollars {^\ Ss. od.) a month and a
rice allowance on a long trip, or 50 cents, (is. 2d.) a
day without a rice allowance on a short trip will prove
to be the best terms that can be made. In some
districts it is possible to get Malays to work for
50 cents, (is. 2d.) a day and find their own food, and
before making arrangements as to wages enquiries
should be made from the nearest headman as to what
are the ruhng rates in the district. Always remember
in dealing with Malays that they have made a fine art
of indolence, that they must be treated like children ;
make up your mind to put up with both these serious
drawbacks, and even a stranger in the land will be
able to manage them.
2 28 Illustrated Guide to
Big game shooting in Malaya means the
The Game, hunting of elephant, selddang (the local
type of Bos Gau7'7is), and rhinoceros.
Tigers and leopards are fairly numerous in many
localities, but the chances of hunting them are very
remote ; beating for them, owing to the extreme
denseness of the jungle, is impossible, and the only
way to obtain a feline trophy is to sit up over a kill
and take one's chance. It is not practicable to follow
the system of tying up baits and waiting for one of
them to be killed ; tigers have far too much wild game
to keep them in food to give them much time to get
into the habit of hunting domestic animals, and a tied-
up bait would probably be left untouched for weeks.
Of course, there might be exceptional cases (where a
tiger or leopard had taken to the village cattle) when
a tied-up bait might prove successful, but such cases
would be extremely rare. Sometimes one hears of a
bullock or a buffalo having been killed near a village,
but even when one does hear of it the news generally
comes too late to enable one to do anything, or the
carcase has been removed by some over-zealous
native before one has time to make arrangements to
sit up for the tiger.
The writer once had a chance of having a shot at a
tiger in this way which was spoilt by the greed of a
Malay villager. Living at a place called Durien Tipus
in the Negri Sembilan a Malay named Abu, who often
went hunting with the writer, came early one morning
and informed him that an elephant had been in a
clearing onoosite his house all night making a most
The Federated Malay States. 229
infernal noise, and wanted to know what was to be done.
Preparations were set on foot to go down to the kam-
pong, but before a start had been made another
messenger arrived saying that it was not an elephant
that had been making all the noise during the night
but a tiger and a big boar had been fighting, the
tiger had killed the pig and had dragged the carcase
out of the clearing up a hill into the big jungle. Here
was a good instance of the reliability of a Malay's
information. Abu had stated that he had seen the
tracks of a big bull elephant, so by his own showing
this brilliant specimen could not tell the difference
between the tracks of an elephant and a tiger. Of
course, he had not really been to the place at all or
seen the tracks, while the second messenger had.
When the scene of the disturbance was inspected it
was found that there had been a right royal fight, and
no doubt the tiger had had a very tough job to van-
quish his victim, which was a huge boar with most
formidable tusks. Hardly qny of the boar had been
eaten, with the exception of a pound or two of flesh
from his neck, but it was marked in many places by
both claw and tooth of its powerful foe. The boar
was lying in a fairly open piece of jungle, within
twenty yards or so of a large anthill, which would have
been a good place to wait for the tiger, and orders
were given that at three o'clock that afternoon the
writer would return and sit up for the tiger. Unfor-
tunately there were some Sakais who lived close to the
house of Abu, and these people went down to a
Chinese shop, which was likewise unfortunately handy.
230 Illustrated Guide to
and told the story of the tiger and pig fight. The
Chinaman, ever ready to make two or three hundred
per cent, profit, offered to give the Sakais a couple of
dollars if they would bring the pig's carcase down to
the shop ; Abu, who claimed the pig, told the Sakais
that they could have the carcase if they gave him half
the money, and the tragedy was complete. When the
writer visited the clearing in the afternoon he met the
carcase of the boar on its way down to the Chinese
shop — it never reached there — and Abu reflected for
some days on the extraordinary ways of the white
man. The tiger was not seen again in that locality for
some months.
Even living in the country these are the only
chances that one gets, and they are rather outside
chances, which will scarcely ever come the way of
the visitor. On a shooting trip the game will have
to be searched for and tracked until found. A lucky
chance may give the hunter the opportunity of sitting
up for a tiger, but such chance should in no way be
counted on.
Elephant and seladang, on the other hand, can be
found with fair certainty in many places in the Feder-
ated Malay States, and although with the opening up
of the country one has to go farther afield to reach the
hunting districts, facilities for travel have so much im-
proved since the advent of the automobile that one is
able to reach a district in a day which a few years ago
would have taken three or four to reach. There is
now little hunting to be obtained in Selangor or Negri
Sembilan, the greater portion of these countries have
The Federated Malay States. 231
been opened up with roads and railways, and it would
not be worth the while of the visitor to try and obtain
game in either of them. In Perak elephants are still
to be found near the coast, and in Upper Perak sela-
dang, rhinoceros and elephant can still be obtained,
but the State where by far the best shooting is likely
to be accomplished is the eastern State of Pahang.
Very little of Pahang has been opened up, and there
are many valleys which are sparsely populated,
are well watered, and hold quantities of big game.
The State of Pahang is watered mainly by the
Pahang river, which is the name given to the river
made by the junction of the Tembeling and Jelai
rivers ; there are numerous other smaller rivers which
help to swell the broad flood of the Pahang, notably
the Krau, the Semantan, the Triang, the Bera, the
Jinka, the Jumpol, the Luit, and the Lepar. All these,
which are navigable for small boats for some distances
from the main river, lead one to good hunting grounds,
and a trip of a couple of months spent in Pahang in
search of big game would, with reasonable luck, result
in success.
It must, however, be remembered that the hunting
is difficult, that although there is plenty of game to be
found it is not always easy for the visitor, who would
presumably be ignorant of the language, to get the
village Malays to work for him, and many disappoint-
ments must be expected before good trophies are
obtained. The liest rewards will come to those who
work the hardest and will put up with the many incon-
veniences that the jungle is bound to present to those
lOA
232 Illustrated Guide to
unaccustomed to its vagaries ; the trophies are there,
and although it may mean waiting for several weeks
for the opportunity, come it will to those keen enough
to endure " the rough and the hard.''
The wild elephant, from its immense
The Elephant, size and magnificent trophy, will be the
prize which will probably appeal most
to the hunter, although the seladang presents more
difficulties to bring successfully to bag ; always
excepting the hunter who is in search of special
trophies, when he will most likely find it more difficult
to obtain a really good specimen of an elephant in the
Malay jungle than he will a seladang.
When making inquiries about big game, reports will
often be received from natives that elephants have
been near the villages, and in many cases the news
bearers will state there is a herd containing a big bull
or a solitary bull that carries big tusks. In the
majority of instances these reports are entirely
incorrect, in all cases they are exaggerated, and in
most events they are based on no personal knowledge
of the case at all. No reliance can be placed on the
news that one casually receives from the Malay
villages, and the following notes may be of use to
help the visitors to avoid many disappointments.
The writer's experience tends to prove to him that
in only very exceptional cases do the old bulls come
into the cultivated areas, and then only for a night, or
at the most two. They have to be searched for
farther afield, near the hill clearings of the Sakais, or
up the uninhabited rivers, or along old jungle tracks
The Federated Malay States.
far from the abode of man. There are, of course,
exceptions to this rule, but it is best to work on that
basis when searching for the big bulls. Do not
believe the reports of Malays regarding the size of
elephants or the size of their tusks ; they exist merely
in the imagination of the villager's mind. He has in
ninety-nine cases out of hundred never seen the
beast at all let alone his tusks.
Where an elephant is reported to have done
considerable damage to cultivated crops, and to be
continually hanging about the vicinity, and provided
the report has some spice of truth in it, the beast is
probably a young tusker carrying small tusks, which will
not exceed 30 pounds a pair in weight. More
frequently, the damage done to standing crops is the
work of a herd in which there may or may not be a
small tusker ; there is hardly ever a big one with
these marauding herds.
A small herd is fre(iuently reported as a solitary
elephant, probably designated as a gajah tengkis,
which generally is meant to convey that the beast has
one small foot and will prove invulnerable if fired at.
The simple villager, having seen the tracks of
elephants and probably noticing different sized foot-
prints, at once remembers the stories that he has
heard of a terrible elephant with a small foot, and the
yarn hatches at once. The only way to verify the
conflicting statements that one continually hears from
.Malays when searching for big game is to go oneself
and spy out the land, or, if one has a reliable tracker,
send him and await his report, being always prepared
234 11/ list rated Guide to
to find that the entire story is a fabrication. Work on
the basis that the really big bulls must be searched for
in the back country, that the medium-sized bulls are
occasionally to be found near the villages, especially
during the rice season when the crops are coming
into bearing, that the herds seldom contain a bull
worth shooting, that all native reports must be taken
with a very large grain of salt and a large stock of
patience, and the hunter will with a little luck come
across something worth shooting.
A wild elephant is an easy beast to approach in the
thick jungle of Malaya, provided one precaution is
observed, and observed continually. Never get to
windward of the beast that you are stalking and you
can get as close to him as you like. This sounds very
simple advice and possibly unnecessary advice, but it
is much easier to write about than to carry out.
Except in the very early morning, the wind in the
jungle never remains in the same quarter for more
than a few minutes at a time, and it is useless to take
the position of the wind and then work one's stalk on
the assumption that the wind is likely to remain where
it was at the moment you ascertained its direction.
The thick jungle, intermingled with patches of slightly
clearer undergrowth, with an occasional open space
where some giant of the forest has blown over or died
from old age, produces during the slightest breeze a
continual series of eddies which no amount of care can
altogether overcome. The writer has always made it
his practice to ascertain the position of the wind, which
may be taken to mean the ever-changing eddies,
KleINGKOTHE, Fhotofii-aphi'r.
HILL STREAM IN JUNGLE.
The Federated Malay States. 235
by striking matches every minute or so while
approaching an elephant. After following up the fresh
tracks of an elephant until the signs of fresh droppings
indicate that the quarry is near at hand, it is as well
to test the wind to put one on guard should the
eddies be following the line of the elephant's foot-
prints. No really systematic wind testing can take
place until the exact whereabouts of the elephant has
been found out by the sounds which he makes when
feeding, when sleeping, or when just idling along
doing nothing. In the former case one may fre-
quently hear one's quarry as far away as a quarter of
a mile, in the other cases one may get very close
indeed without hearing him. A sleeping elephant,
that is an elephant sleeping lying down — they
frequently sleep in an upright position leaning against
a tree— makes very little noise. He occasionally lifts
his ear and lets it down again with a sound smack
which can be heard quite a long way off; he also
often rolls up his trunk and unrolls it again, making a
noise like air escaping through water, but this noise
can only be heard at quite close quarters. When he
is resting standing up he is very hard to locate,
occasionally flapping his ears, and even then with
such a very languid air that they hardly make any
noise at all. If he is doing anything but feeding one
requires a certain amount of luck to be able to
ascertain his whereabouts before he gets one's wind.
A solitary elephant does not, in the Malay jungle,
feed at regular hours so it is impossible to judge
beforehand what one is likely to lind him doing at
236 Illustrated Guide to
any given time of the day ; on a hot, dry day he will
probably not be feeding during the middle of the day,
but that is as far as one dare trust him.
Supposing that the conditions have been favourable,
and that one's tracker has brought one up to within
about a quarter of a mile of a good sized solitary
elephant which is feeding, the crack of a branch will
probably be heard and the hunter would immediately
halt and listen for further indications of the author of
the noise — monkeys make a great deal of noise in the
jungle which is frequently mistaken for that made by
an elephant by any but the most experienced trackers,
but the noise made by an elephant is never mistaken
for that made by monkeys. Another branch cracks
and one's doubts dissolve, one's pulse quickens, and
the critical time is drawing near for which one may
have waited for weeks. Now test the wind and if it is
blowing in the direction of the elephant make a wide
detour to avoid him, continually testing the wind and
tacking accordingly. Sometimes the eddies change
so quickly that even with the greatest precautions the
elephant will get one's wind and vanish, with or
without noise, as his temperament may decide ; but
let us suppose that in this case all goes well, and
presently with a steady wind blowing in our faces we
see the great brown mass of what is evidently a big
bull elephant. Even in the lightest jungle that this
pari of the world produces it will probably be necessary
to approach within twenty-five yards of one's quarry
before there is the least likelihood of being able to see
his tusks. We will again suppose that everything is
The Federated Malay States. 237
favourable and at twenty yards distance the bull
proves to be well worthy of the hunter and carries a
good pair of sizeable tusks, which will look quite a
golden yellow colour in the shade of the jungle.
Possibly the approach has brought one up in a good
position. He is standing broadside on and his ear can
be distinctly made out. The actual earhole should be
localised and a bullet placed very slightly in front
of it. This should prove immediately fatal, the beast
probably dropping so quickly that the gunner would
be unable to see him fall. But it must not be
supposed that the approach will often, if ever, be
quite as simple as this, and a few notes as to what
may happen, what has actually happened to the
writer times without number, may be a help to those
who follow. It might almost be taken as a golden
rule never to attempt the frontal shot, the shot at the
base of the trunk, in the dense jungle that elephants
are nearly sure to be in when found. The writer
in no way wishes to disagree with the many
great authorities who have laid down that this
shot is one of the most effective against the Asiatic
elephant, but local conditions are such that what
proves a valuable shot in other places proves
on actual experience almost useless here. The
spot to aim for to kill an Asiatic elephant
by the frontal shot lies in the middle of the fore-
head at the base of the trunk which is well defined
by a large bump. This spot is about three inches
above the eyes which more or less define its position.
Now to localise this spot it will be readily understood
238 Illustrated Guide to
that one has to know the position of the eyes as well
as be able to see clearly the point one aims for in the
centre of the bump, in other words one requires to
see the whole of the bump as well as the eyes,
which resolves itself into a very large portion of
the head. It is almost impossible ever to get such a
clear view of an elephant's head in the thickness of the
jungle, with the result that, if taken, the frontal shot
is guessed at, with what result I need scarcely state.
The shot par excellence is undoubtedly the ear shot,
but here again a word of warning is necessary. Old
elephants have very tattered ears which are so
dilapidated that when they flap them forward they
hang like a curtain with heavy tassels, and in very
thick jungle one of these tatters may easily be taken
for the ear-hole. If the brain is missed the elephant,
having been fired at from the side, will probably be
stunned and will fall over, but will recover himself
much more quickly than one would suppose and will
be up and away before it is even realised that he has
got up. A bullet that misses the brain by being too
far back is much more likely to stun the beast badly
than one that has been placed too far forward, and if
the elephant has fallen at the shot but shows con-
vulsive movements of the legs or trunk it will only be
a question of seconds before he is up and off. Fire
immediately at him if there is the slightest doubt, but
do not attempt to find the brain, fire into the body
between the forelegs or, if he is on his knees, directly
behind the shoulder. The chances of rectifying the
first mistake are infinitely greater by doing this than
The Federated Malay States. 239
by again attempting to put a bullet in the extremely
small area of the brain. Firing with a cordite rifle
three or four shots can be made within ten seconds
if the hunter is quick with his gun, and an initial
failure may be turned into a success.
In the event of being unable to take the ear shot,
owing to the denseness of the jungle or the position
of the head, the shoulder shot should be tried, but
should be taken from slightly behind the beast so
that the bullet will rake forward into the heart or
lungs. This shot will frequently result in a sub-
sequent chase as it is most difficult to localise the
position of the heart or lungs when so little of the
beast that one is firing at can be seen ; of course, a
bullet placed in the heart will quickly prove fatal, and
a bullet through the centre of the lungs equally so,
but a bullet that merely reaches one lung, or which
even passes through both lungs high up will require
to be supplemented before the beast is brought to
bag. In attempting the shoulder shot if it is possible
to approach the beast from behind and get a view of
the light patch of skin which shews up just behind
the junction of the foreleg and the body — this patch
can only be seen when his fore leg is stretched
forward in the act of making a step — a bullet placed
in this patch firing from a position slightly behind
that which would be taken up for the ear shot would
prove almost instantly fatal.
The following up of a wounded elephant in the
Malayan jungle is a very tedious and at times a very
trying affair.
240 Illustrated Guide to
An elephant wounded in the head and allowed to
get away without any subsequent body shot will
certainly not be seen again for two days, possibly not
for a week, despite the fact that, you are following
him as hard as you can go. It is difficult to make
one's Malay followers take in the situation. At first
they believe that the wounded elephant, which they
know actually fell over, is going to die of the wound,
and they follow cheerfully enough expecting to
come across his carcase every few yards ; but
when after tracking him for a day or so they find
that his tracks, which at first were exceptionally
short, have gradually lengthened out into a strong
stride, that he seems to be gaining on those fol-
lowing him and getting farther and farther away, the
Malays soon decide that it is foolishness to follow
any more, and consequently sulk for the rest of the
journey.
Perseverance will certainly bring the hunter up
to the elephant again in the course of a few
days, and if the beast is a big one and is finally
bagged, the sportsman will probably in years to
come look back on that period of fatigue and
discomfort as some of the finest hunting he ever
had in his life.
Although the elephant has a much
vT**^ larijer distribution than the seladang,
Seladang. ° . ,, , • r j
the latter practically not being found
on the coast at all, any visitor coming to this
country to shoot would probably make such inquiries
as would enable him to go to a district where
The Federated Malay States. 241
he would be able to get news of both elephant and
seladang.
The procedure would be much the same as with
elephants, and most of the previous remarks con-
cerning the hunting of the elephant would equally
apply to seladang. In isolated places, generally the
clearings of Sakais, seladang undoubtedly come down
and feed off the standing crops ; in fact, in some
places the writer has seen the crops strongly fenced to
keep out seladang, generally with no success, and
much rice and Indian corn have been trampled down.
But as a rule the seladang is an exceptionally shy
animal, and where much disturbed is most difficult to
get up to even with the greatest precautions. It is
generally presumed that the best bulls are to be found
by themselves, and the track of a solitary animal is
always followed up in preference to those of a herd ;
but it is more than probable that old bulls which are
generally the masters of some herd in the vicinity
are more frequently to be found with the herd, and
that the majority of solitary bulls that are found far
away from the main body of seladang are young
bulls unable to hold their own against the heavier
old bulls. Very old bulls may be entirely solitary,
but they are, in the writer's opinion, few and far
between.
The tracking of a seladang is a much more careful
affair than the tracking of an elephant, a seladang
being able to take care of himself with the help of his
eyes and ears much better than an elephant can. It
is not necessary or even usually possible to test the
242 Illustrated Guide to
wind when tracking a seladang ; one seldom knows
where he is until you see him or hear him rushing off
alarmed. It is most difficult to distinguish the bulls
from the cows in the jungle, and mistakes are made
at times even by the most experienced men. It is, of
course, simple enough to distinguish a very large bull
and to know that it is a bull ; where the trouble lies
is in mistaking the old cows for bulls, especially as
they may often be found a little way from the herd.
There is absolutely no difference in the colour of the
old beasts, an old cow is just as black as an old bull ;
the only sure test is the size of the dorsal ridge, which
in the old cows is never developed as it is on the
old bulls. The horns, if they can be clearly seen, are
an infallible test, but the dorsal ridge is much more
noticeable in the jungle and can nearly always be
distinguished. The horns of a big cow, with the help
of the lights and shades of the forest, may appear
quite large and be mistaken for those of a bull, the
dorsal ridge never.
The horns of an old bull are much corrugated at
the base, the tips, which are black, are frequently worn
away and stripped of the outer covering of horn, and
that portion of the horn which lies between the base
and the tip is generally of a dark olive green colour.
This makes them very difficult to pick up in the
jungle, and the head of an old bull can seldom be
seen quite distinctly. On the other hand the horns of
a young bull are not much corrugated at the base, are
of a light yellow colour shading off to black at the
tips, in fact very readily attract the eye, and have
The Federated Malay States. 243
led to Malays continually saying that they have seen
a seladang so old that its horns (they generally add
its head too) were quite white. A seladang that is
successfully stalked, that appears to have the top of
its back flapping about as if it was loose, that does
not appear to have much to look upon in the way of
horns, is, in most cases, a prize worth getting ; the
very bulk of the beast seems to dwarf his height, and
the oldest bulls in thick jungle do not make as good
a show as their younger brethren.
Seladang will generally be found resting during the
middle of the day, and when tracking them between
the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. the hunter must be
prepared to find them lying down in thick covert,
when they are most difficult to see and have to be
approached with the greatest caution. In the early
morning seladang in certain localities can sometimes
be found in open clearings and good opportunities
may present themselves, but they seldom remain in
the open after 7 a.m., except on dull or wet mornings,
when they occasionally stay out as late as g a.m. In
the evening also they occasionally visit the clearings,
but it is frequently dusk before they are seen. Sela-
dang often visit salt licks, the localities of which will
be known to the Malay tracker. These licks are
excellent places to go to to pick up tracks, those of
any seladang in the vicinity probably being found
there. In localities where they have been much dis-
turbed, however, they fully realise the danger of the
salt licks and travel long distances after their visits,
the tracking of a beast from a salt lick often being a
244 Illmtrated Guide to
long affair ; on the other hand, if a lick is visited which
has been left unvisited by man for some months, it is
quite possible that the beast may be found lying up
close to the salt lick and every precaution should be
taken in approaching the spot.
There are two species of rhinoceros
„^. The to be found in the Malay Peninsula,
Bhmoceros. ^
the Javan and the Sumatran ; the
former is scarce, and has only been recorded from
the northern State of Perak, and probably does not
exist in Pahang at all. No special comments are
necessary concerning the hunting of rhinoceros ; they
are not numerous anywhere, the most likely places to
find them being in the mountain ranges, where a great
deal of climbing must be undertaken. They are very
shy, and will prove difficult beasts to come up to when
once disturbed, but they seem to be easy to approach
so long as they do not get one's wind, and should be
stalked with the same precautions observed when
following an elephant.
In the State of Perak near the coast in the vicinity
of the Bindings there were at one time large numbers
of the Sumatran rhinoceros, and they can still be
found there, but in most parts of the Malay Peninsula
they are only to be found near the mountain ranges.
Malays often report the presence of a rhinoceros on
the evidence of the tracks of a tapir, which they care-
lessly mistake for the tracks of a rhinoceros ; the
track of the latter, which distinctly shows the broad
blunt-ended centre toe-nail, should never be con-
founded with the track of a tapir, which is smaller,
The Federated Malay States. 245
and which has four toes on the front foot— a rhino-
ceros has only three — the largest toe-nail on the
fore foot being much more pointed than the centre
toe-nail of a rhinoceros.
Tapir are fairly common over the centre Peninsula,
but are not Hkely to be sought after by sportsmen.
They carry no trophies, are extremely shy, and
although interesting animals can scarcely be classed
as " Big Game."
246 Illustrated Guide to
V.
MUSEUMS.
By
H. C. Robinson,
Director of Museums and Fisheries.
The Government of the Federated Malay States
maintains two Museums, one, the older institution,
at Taiping, and a second, more recently founded, at
Kuala Lumpur.
The Perak Museum is devoted principally to local
ethnography, while the Selangor branch specializes in
biology.
The exhibited collections of both Museums are
restricted, with a few ethnographical exceptions, to
material illustrative of the Malay Peninsula and the
small islands off its shores. By an examination of
the cases, therefore, the visitor may, when the installa-
tion is complete, get some idea of the Malay people
and the primitive races inhabiting the area mentioned
and of its natural history, without the confusion which
might be brought about through the introduction of
extraneous objects.
The department publishes the "Journal of the
Federated Malay States Museums," now in its
ninth volume, which consists of papers, frequently
illustrated, on the people, zoology, botany and
geology of the Peninsula and neighbouring countries.
The Federated Malay States. 247
PERAK MUSEUM
Revised by
I. H. N. Evans, M.A.,
Curator and Ethnographical Assistant.
The Perak State Museum, which owes its inception
to the late Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G., third British
Resident of Perak, was started in 1883 in a building
of very modest proportions, which has been added to
with the growth of the collections until, at the present
date, it covers a very considerable area. The latest
addition, comprising a two-storied block 80 feet by
40 feet, for the local ethnographical exhibits, was
completed in 1902.
The scope of the Museum is the illustration, with
some attempt at completeness, of the zoology, geology,
mineralogy and ethnography of the Malay Peninsula
from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore, though as yet
no great advance has been made in the formation of
collections from the more purely Siamese portion of
this area, the Museum being primarily Malayan. In
the case of ethnography — in which the Museum
specializes — it has not been considered desirable that
the productions of people of Malayan stock now
resident in, but not indigenous to, the Peninsula
should be rigidly excluded, as this would rule out
some of the most beautiful objects of Malayan
craftsmanship found in the country ; but the zoo-
logical collections are strictly confined to the limits
above referred to.
248 Illustrated Guide to
From its foundation until 1908 the Museum was
under the direction of Mr. Leonard Wray, I.S.O., and
it is to his untiring energy and zeal that the State of
Perak owes what is universally admitted to be the
finest collection extant illustrative of Malay life and
customs.
As one enters the Museum, the table cases on the
right of the loggia are devoted to the exhibition of
varieties of rubbers, guttas and gums, both native and
introduced — amongst which may be noted gutta-
percha produced from several species of trees indi-
genous to Perak — and early samples of Para rubber
from the Government Plantations and private estates in
the vicinity of Taiping. In the adjacent wall case are
shown coils of various kinds of rattans and bamboos
from 'the Perak forests, but these objects do not lend
themselves readily to .satisfactory display as museum
specimens.
On the left is shown a comprehensive series of tin
specimens, both lode and alluvial, from all parts of the
Peninsula, and also from other stanniferous areas of
the world. The wall case contains illustrations of the
primitive appliances used in the open-cast mines of
the Peninsula.
The front hall of the main building is devoted to
the mineralogical and geological collections and to a
series of economic vegetable and other products. The
table-cases on the left contain a carefully selected series
of minerals found, or likely to be found, in the Malay
Peninsula. Many of these specimens are of exotic
origin, but are placed on exhibition in preference to
The Federated Malay States. 249
ones obtained in the Peninsula, as being more typical
of the mineral they represent than those available
locally. Attention may be drawn to the very fine
series of gold ores from all parts of the Peninsula, to
the corundum from Kinta, a waste product of the
tinfields, which is found in large quantities in certain
parts of the State, and to the small and extremely
imperfect sapphires from Chenderiang in the Batang
Padang District.
The table-cases on the right of the entrance
exhibit a representative collection of the botanical
products of Perak, including many introductions
which have never passed beyond the experimental
stage. Beneath the windows is shown a remarkably
fine set of models of most of the commoner fruits and
vegetables, which have been carefully coloured, and
are exceptionally true to life. The frames above the
table-cases contain dried specimens of plants of
medicinal or economic value.
The wall-cases in this hall are partly devoted to a
display of mammalian and reptilian skeletons, but in
some of them are examples of metal work, specimens
of economic minerals, agricultural products, and
timber-woods : while two contain a collection of
the larger birds of prey, and here may be noted two
species of vulture which are now rarely found further
south than Taiping. Amongst the skulls shown is
that of an elephant, at one time in captivity, which
derailed a train between Tapah Road and Teluk
Anson, and was killed in so doing. The tusks are
amongst the heaviest recorded for the Peninsula
250 Illustrated Guide to
elephant, which does not approach the Indian form
in this respect. The room to the right of the
front hall contains the Curator's office and the
Museum's Library, the nucleus of which is the fine
collection of works relating to Malaya, purchased
from the executors of Noel Denison, for many years
Superintendent of Lower Perak. The Library is
fairly comprehensive, and the majority of books in
it can be borrowed under the usual conditions.
The long gallery on thfe left of the front hall con-
tains the zoological collections, the birds on the right
and the mammals on the left. With the exception
of the sea and shore birds the collection is fairly
complete, and contains over four hundred of the
630 species known to occur in the Malay Peninsula.
Many of the species not shown present only slight
and technical differences from the exhibited forms,
and, of these, specimens are in most cases available
for examination at Kuala Lumpur by those sufficiently
interested. Amongst the larger forms of birds that
merit attention are the numerous species of horn-bills
with their quaintly-formed beaks and apparently
ill-balanced heads. Pigeons in variety are represented,
and the majority of the game birds known to occur in
Perak, though it should be noted that the peacock is
now rarely, if ever, found further down river than
Kuala Kangsar. One of the handsomest of the
Malayan birds is the green magpie, not uncommon on
the hills above Taiping. A pair from the Selangor
Mountains is exhibited in the absence of local
specimens.
The Federated Malay States. 251
On the opposite side and down the centre of the
hall is arranged a very complete series of the mammals
of the Peninsula, from the apes and monkeys to the
rodents and edentates. Many of the larger animals in
this division are some of the finest examples of the
taxidermist's art extant, amongst which may be
specially mentioned a krCi monkey, a tiger, and the
mountain goats or kambing gerim, the adult of which
was the first ever obtained in the Malay States by an
European, having been shot by Sir Frank Swettenham
as it was crossing a landslip below " The Cottage " on
the Larut Hills. Other fine pieces of work are a tapir
from the Matang District and a two-horned rhinoceros
frorri near Sitiawan on the Bindings border. A nearly
complete set of the squirrels of the Peninsula is also
shown, from a species smaller than a house rat to one
as big as a cat in size, which does great damage in the
durian orchards at the fruiting season.
Among the carnivores a specimen of the clouded
tiger or rimau daha?i is noteworthy for its extreme
rarity in the Malay Peninsula, though it is said to be
of fairly common occurrence in Borneo and parts of
Sumatra.
The exhibited b^its include several examples of the
Malay keluang or flying fox, the largest of the order,
having a spread of wing, in full-grown specimens, of
nearly five feet. The scaly anteater or tenggiting, the
one animal of which, according to Malay folk-tales, the
lordly elephant stands in terror, is also on view in
several characteristic attitudes. It is met with in
numbers in the flatter parts of the country, and is
252 Illustrated Guide to
much sought after as a tasty delicacy by Klings and
certain Chinese who also value it medicinally.
The rest of the zoological exhibits in this gallery
comprise a collection of butterflies — stored in drawers
below one of the table-cases— a small series of Crus-
tacea, and a more extensive one of land and sea-shells,
while there are also some stuffed specimens and casts
of snakes and other reptilia, including tortoises, some
crocodiles, and a few lizards.
Among the butterflies, attention may be called to
the large black and green bird-winged butterfly
Ornithoptera brookeana, one of the most gorgeous of
the tribe, which is not uncommon in Kinta and
Batang Padang, and of which the female, a much
duller insect than its mate, was at one time so ex-
tremely rare in collections that out of two thousand
captured by a German naturalist only eight were of
this sex.
Contrary to popular belief, the large majority of
snakes found in this country are non-poisonous, and
if we exclude the sea-snakes, which are all venomous,
only five deadly species are met with, though the pit
vipers of the genus Lachesis can inflict a bite which has
serious, though not fatal, consequences. The deadly
species are the Hamadryad, or King Cobra, and the
Cobra of which two varieties, a black and a turmeric-
coloured one, are found in Perak, and three species of
krait, none of which are at all common. Russel's Viper,
which accounts for a large proportion of the deaths
from snake bite in India, does not extend to Malaya.
Far more formidable to human life is the Estuarine
The Federated Malay States. 253
Crocodile (Crocodilus porosiis), of which several
examples are on view.
Another species of much smaller average size
{Tomistoma schkgeli), characterised by its long and
narrow snout inhabits the upper reaches of the rivers,
beyond tidal influence, and is as a rule harmless to
man, feeding, as it does on fish. It is allied to the
Gavial of the Indian Rivers.
Among the tortoises and turtles exhibited should
be observed the large specimens of snapping turtles
{Pelochelys and Trionyx) which are capable of inflict-
ing most serious bites, their jaws being exceptionally
powerful. The tunfong, or river tortoise [Batagur
baska), the eggs of which are in Perak a royal
monopoly and afford a motive for very enjoyable pic-
nics, is also on view.
The passage which leads from the zoological hall
into the newer portion of the building is floored with
marble slabs obtained from quarries at Ipoh. The
wall-cases on the right hand contain pictures illus-
trating the physical characters of the Negritos, the
Sakai, and the Jakun — pagans of three distinct races
who inhabit the wilder parts of the Peninsula, — while
one case as yet remains vacant, but will eventually be
filled with types of the Malays. In those on the other
wall may be noted pliotographs of the houses built by
the pagans, and examples of their blowpipes, dart-
quivers, and bows and arrows — the last used only by
the Negrito and mixed Negrito tribes — the specimens
being arranged with a view to showing their
differences
2 54 Illustrated Guide to
The most interesting objects, however, in these
cases are the reUcs of ancient cave-dwellers which have
been obtained from various localities in the Federated
States. The majority of these exhibits are recent ac-
quisitions, and may ultimately be found to throw
considerable light on the past history of the Peninsula.
Who these cave-dwellers were yet remains in doubt,
but some of them certainly understood the art of
working stone by chipping ; and t'nere seems to be
reason for thinking that they were also able to manu-
facture polished stone implements and rough pottery.
When a more detailed examination of the human
remains which have been discovered has been made,
an advance in this direction may, perhaps, be possible.
Some of the pagan tribes at the present day — for
example, certain groups of the Negritos and of the
Sakai-Jakun of Pahang— still occasionally lodge in
caves and rock-shelters for short periods ; and it is
not altogether unlikely that the cave-dwellers may have
been the ancestors of one or more of the pagan races.
Leaving the passage, we enter the rooms containing
the ethnographical collections, which, as previously
stated, are the strongest feature of the Perak Museum.
In the lower gallery, a series of cases extending
along the left wall of the room contain specimens of
the handicrafts and weapons of the pagan races, the
exhibits — starting from the near end — comprising
articles made by the Negritos of Upper Perak and
parts of Pahang, and the mixed Negrito-Sakai tribes
of Upper Perak and the Kuala Kangsar District.
Passing these we come to the manufactures and
7'he Federated Malay States. 255
weapons of the pure Sakai tribes of the Kinta District
and of Batang Padang, and then to those of the mixed
Sakai-Jakun tribes of Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and
parts of Pahang, which shade off into the Jakun
(pagan Malay) tribes of Johore and South Pahang,
whose technology is also represented by various
examples. A row of adjacent table-cases holds
smaller articles made by the people of the wild tribes,
such as bamboo combs, bracelets, rings, necklaces,
hair-pins, and other articles of adornment.
The most noteworthy exhibits on this floor, how-
ever, which are arranged in other table-cases, are the
unrivalled collections of prehistoric stone and iron
implements and the beautiful series of Malayan silk
fabrics.
The stone implements are largely from three col-
lections made by Perak officers, viz., Sir Hugh Low,
from all parts of Perak, Mr. Bozzolo, chiefly from
Upper Perak and Kelantan, and Mr. Hale from Kinta.
The shapes and types represented are very
numerous, from roughly chipped and clumsy adzes to
thin and most exquisitely finished and polished
spatulae and axes. Especially beautiful are the axes
and chisels fashioned from a material resembling
agate which are found in Upper Perak and Kelantan.
Nothing definite is known of the origin of these
implements, which are very widely distributed through-
out the Peninsula. In view of their high finish and
the perfect condition in which many of them are met
with, it is not impossible that a proportion of them
were made by a race comparatively advanced in
256 Illustrated Guide to
culture, and were intended for ceremonial rather than
practical use. If any of these implements are the
work of ancestors of the present wild tribes 01 the
country, they must, in some ways, have reached a
much higher level of civilization than their
descendants.
In an adjacent case will be found a curious bell-
shaped object of bronze, one of three from near Klang
in Selangor, which is possibly Buddhist and intended
for a bell, and also a bronze celt similar in type to others
recently found in Burmah and Yunnan. With the
exception of two fairly recent Buddhas, of which one
is exhibited at the end of the room, and two other
celts like that mentioned above, these are the only
bronze objects as yet found in the Peninsula, or,
to speak more accurately, in that portion under British
influence.
The iron implements near by are also widely spread
over the Peninsula and are usually associated with
the ancient workings of some race prior to the Malays.
They are well known to natives as 1iila7ig hantii jnawas,
the relics of a gigantic ape whose fore-arm was of iron
and has therefore persisted. Some of the specimens
exhibited are casts from originals, which are too
fragile and decayed for exhibition.
In the same case will be seen the model of a
curious tomb made of thin slabs of granite, which
was found at Changkat Mentri, a small hill near
the Bernam River in the South of Perak, and, in an
upright case in the centre of the hall, some of the
actual slabs from it. Nothing was found in this tomb
The Federated Malay States. 257
with the exception of some coarse pottery and a few
cornelian *beads. A former Perak Dynasty is said to
have had its capital in the vicinity, but the type of
burial here indicated is evidently non-Malayan and
pre-Mohammedan.
The silks and embroideries are contained in a long
series of table-cases and comprise practically every
fabric known from the Peninsula, though several, of
course, are exotic in origin. The work from Balu
Bara on the Coast of Sumatra, opposite to Perak, con-
sisting of silk in various shades of red interwoven
with gold thread, deserves special" attention. Its
manufacture has, to a certain extent, been introduced
into the Malay States from its place of origin, and it
is in great demand among the wealthier classes of
Malays for use on ceremonial occasions. Space will
not permit of more than a passing reference to the
kain iimau, or " tie and dye," work of Kelantan and
Trengganu, the hideous but fashionable kain pelangai
of Singapore, the heavy kain mastu/i of Trengganu
and Pahang, and the delicate embroidered veils or
tudong kepala, an introduction from Egypt and
Arabia ; finally the kain tekpok, at one time made
throughout the Peninsula, but now only manu-
factured in two or three scattered places, demands
notice. Kain tclepok consists of a substantial cotton
cloth, usually of Bugis origin, on which is impressed,
by means of a wooden stamp, elaborate patterns in
gold leaf, the surface being subsequently glazed and
calendered by means of friction with a cowry shell.
The fabric was at one time much used by persons of
258 lllustf-aied Guide to
rank and wealth, but is now falling out of fashion.
The dies and implements employed in its manufacture
are also shown.
Another section of the same row of table-cases
contains Malay embroidery of various types, and
among these specimens should be noted two very
beautifully worked ceremonial mats, a dish-cover and a
box for chewing requisites in an embroidered wrapping,
all of which are from Kota Lama Kiri, a village near
Kuala Kangsar, which is famous for its embroidery
work.
The wall-cases on the right of the room hold
exhibits of Malay basketry, mats, toys, and cere-
monial objects, such as are used at marriages, harvest
festivals, and prayer-meetings ; while above them are
to be noted two excellent examples of the better type
of elephant howdah as used in Upper Perak.
A table-case in the centre towards the end of the
room also contains toys, and another, examples of
Malay drugs and narcotics, together with appliances
for smoking opium and sireh chewing.
This brings us to the foot of the stairs where are
displayed instraments and materials which the Malays
use in ritual or other operations, such as tooth-filing,
tooth-blackening, and circumcision.
On the wall of the stairs are to be noted various
types of paddles and oars used in sea and river boats,
while fixed against banisters on the right are two of
the long Eeolian bamboos —another example is to be
seen downstairs over the wall-cases containing Sakai
objects — which the pagan tribes of Selangor and
The Federated Malay States. 259
Negri Sembilan tie to tree-tops near their liouses, so
that sweet rising and falling notes are heard whenever
there is a breeze.
On the landing above are exhibited old Malay
spears of various types, and relics from the sites of
old Dutch settlements on the Perak River.
From the landing we enter the upper ethno-
graphical room which contains the most valuable
portions of the Malay collections.
In the shallow wall-cases nearest the door is an
extensive series of spears, mostly obtained many
years ago, and some of them of bizarre and curious
forms, which no longer appear to be used. Among
them may be noted the ceremonial spear (tombak
bendera?ig), which is borne by the messengers of the
rajas and greater chiefs.
Spears with a cross piece to prevent the animal,
when transfixed, from forcing its way up the shaft, and
used in tiger driving, are also in the collection, as is
a double bladed form known in Pahang and elsewhere
as tipu daya.
The bulk of the table-cases in this room are filled
with a very fine collection of Malayan weapons,
which is probably one of the roost complete in
existence, though there are some gaps.
The kris, the distinctively national weapon, is
represented by a large number of specimens showing
broadly nearly every type of blade, handle and
sheath current in the Peninsula, ranging from the
short and insignificant kris pichit, forged by the bare
fingers of its maker and endowed with magical
26o Illustrated Guide to
properties, to the elaborate 47 waved kris, formerly an
heirloom of the Sultans of Lingga.
Straight krises, krises with few or many waves, long
krises, more especially distinctive of the southern and
eastern portions of the Peninsula but found also in
Perak, krises with the cross hilt forged in one with the
blade {gctnja iras) and therefore specially valued by
Malays, are all displayed. To the ordinary observer,
perhaps the most interesting form is that common in
Patani and Rhaman, which is known as the kris pekaka
or kingfisher kris, from its handle, which is elaborately
carved into the semblance of a grotesque bird with a
large beak. The blades of this type of kris are, or
should be, always straight, and the weapon is provided
with a very long sheath in order, it is said, that the
wearer may at a moment's notice kick the blade into
his hand by a blow of his heel. The end of the
sheath is always rounded and not provided with a
squared end-piece as in many other forms.
Next in abundance to the kris comes the dagger
known as the tumbok lada, or pepper crusher, so called,
as a Malay explains, because it is sharp and biting.
In contradistinction to other forms of dagger the back
of the blade in this form is always curved, not straight
as in a badek, but the distinction is rather fine.
The handles of these weapons as well as the sheaths
are often finely carved, and ornamented with precious
metals. A specially handsome type with the handle
in the semblance of a cockatoo's .head is
characteristic of tlie mukim of Sayong, near Kuala
Kangsar, and betrays Bugis influence
The Federated Malay States. 261
Some fine specimens with the carved and pierced
buffalo horn sheaths and handles are from Negri
Sembilan.
Other forms of knives are known as goiok, of which
the main features are that the blades taper to a point
and the handles end in knobs. The blade is
generally larger than in a tumbok iada, and, like that
weapon, and unlike the badek, is nearly always
undamascened, though this rule, like any other, has
its exceptions. Variants, differing mainly in the form
of the handle and the sheath, are found throughout
the Peninsula, and arc (lualihcd by the name of their
State, such as golok Rembau, goiok Keda/i, etc.
More specialized weapons, possibly of Indian
origin but also found in Java, are daggers known as
lawi ayam and beladau. These vary greatly in size
and in the degree of curvature, some being nearly
straight and others almost semi-circular. The cutting
edge is on the inner or on both curvatures. The
smaller ones, of the curved type, are furnished with
a hole for the insertion of the finger and are used
with an upwards ripping action. Their mere
possession was until recently a penal offence in Java.
Passing from weapons of the dagger type, we come
to swords, i.e., weapons which are used with the edge
and not with the point, the rapier being practically
unknown in Malaya, though one or two imitative
forms of the nature of a sword-stick have been met
with.
Foui broad divisions can be distingnishfd, and il
262 lUustrated Guide io
is doubtful if any of them are indigenous in tlie sense
that the Kris is, while some are certainly exotic.
The four types are : —
The pedang.
kdewang or geduboiig.,
chene/igkas,
sundang.
The first is purely an European model and owcs its
introduction to the Arabs or the Portuguese. Its
blade may be either straight or curved, but the
handle is always formed in the shape of a cup for the
reception of the Eucharistic wine and furnished with a
cross hilt. Dutch irregular troops were armed with
this weapon, and specimens with the monogram of
the Dutch East India Company and date*s ranging
round 1760 are frequently met with in the Peninsula.
The kelewang is a short heavy sword, single edged
and usually straight, which has reached the Peninsula
from the West via Acheen, and is only occasionally
met with.
A dietiengkas is similar to it, but has a much longer
blade, which is not infrequently slightly curved. Its
handle is usually of buffalo-horn, elaborately carved
and ornamented with chased plates of silver and
silver bands. It does not appear to be fitted with
any special sheath, but only with one of a makeshift
character. This type reaches its maximum develop-
ment in Sri Menanti, which it reached via
Menangkabau. It is not a common weapon in
Perak.
TJic Fcdn-ai,-d .]r<y/ay S/a/rs. 26;:;
The lourth type, the su/ic/aui:; is intermediate
between the /en's and the sword, the floreation of the
edge near ihe hilt, known in the kris as the Infnga
kacha/ig, is also present, and, in addition to the blade,
is fixed by a strap or bridle of either silver or iron.
The blade is double edgeU and may be either straight
or waved, and is frec^uently fluted and engraved,
though I have never seen a damascened specimen.
The handle is of bone, ivory or wood, or, in some
Trengganu specimens, of metal, and is usually in the
shape of a bird's head with a crest ; it is frequently
bound with silver or brass wire. It is provided with
a polished wood sheath often upturned at the end and
ornamented towards the hilt with bone or ivory. It
is not a common weapon in the West Coast States,
and probably reached the Peninsula with the Bugis
or the Illanuns. Many are made in Trengganu,
which has been termed the Birmingham of Malaya,
but the finest specimens are from Borneo.
There are many other ^Malayan weapons which
cannot be here described, and it is in some cases difficult
to say where the line should be drawn between a
weapon proper and an implement, or a wood knife,
of which almost every district has its own particular
pattern. Thus the chandong of Patau i is totally
distinct from the parang of I'ekan, and that again
from the form used in Lower Perak, though all are
intended and used for identical purposes.
A weapon or implement, for it may be both in-
differently, peculiar to the northern States, which has
probably found its v/ay from Siam, is the ladings of
I I A
264 Illustrated Guide to
which many varieties exist and find representation in
the Museum. Lading may be either straight or
strongly curved, with projections on the back or
without, but nearly all agree in being made of
damascened iron and in having the blade broadest
at, or near, the tip and regularly narrowed towards
the hilt. Nearly all the weight of metal is in the
backs of the blades, and they are so balanced that
they form terribly effective weapons. They are
generally provided with a turned handle and
ornamented with a tassel of cord or hair, and are not
furnished with sheaths.
Leaving the weapons we come to the work of the
iSlalay silver-smith, which is certainly the most
attractive and the most sought after of the art
products of INIalaya.
The collection of plain silver exhibited has been
carefully selected from the large amount in the
possession of the Museum, so as to show only what
is fairly typical Malay work. The degree of merit
necessarily varies, but it is hoped that Chinese imitations
have, for the most part, been excluded. As has been
explained by one of the latest writers on the subject,
the scope of the Malay artist in the precious metals
was, as a rule, limited to small pieces of no great
intrinsic value, and it is in these that we find the most
characteristic specimens of the art. Occasionally,
though, it might happen that a specially skilled worker
was employed by some chief and supplied with
material for more ambitious work. A section of one
of the cases is devoted to large and costly pieces.
The Federated Malay States. 265
which, in the absence of a definite history, are
considered to have been produced under some such
conditions. Work of this kind, hoNvever, though often
superior both in design, execution, and finish to the
average, is often abnormal and unduly influenced by
foreign ideas.
The ordinary articles of silver-work are strictly limited
in character and are confined to six or seven stock
designs, amongst which may be mentioned the shallow
silver bowl known as laiil^ with its more ambitious
and elaborate variant the covered bowl or batil
beriutup^ small tobacco-boxes {chelepa), round in the
case of Perak specimens, but octagonal in the more
southern States ; sets of covered bowls for sireh and
its concomitants, repousse-work ends for pillows used
on ceremonial occasions {muka bantal), large waist
buckles {j;ending) and, more rart-ly, plates. Of all of
these good typical examples are shown, but the
Museum is at present somewhat deficient in sireh-
sets, which are often furnished with gold filigree-work
centres and are therefore rather costly.
Patterns are equally limited in number and very
conventionalised.
In pure Malayan work they are invariably derived
from plants, though in specimens from the borders of
the Siamese States animal forms such as birds and
deer are not infreciuently introduced.
In Perak specimens from the south often show
strong South Indian influence, while those Irom
Kedah are e([ually affected by Siamese canons, so that
it is to Kuala Kanusar and the neii'hljourint/; down
266 Illustrated Guide to
river mukims to Bandar, that we must look for the
true ."Malayan patterns.
In addition to the ordinary plain silver work three
varieties of niello are exhibited, none of which are
now produced in the Federated Malay States.
The first, which is much sought after by collectors,
is known as chutam, and was originally made in the
old Malay kingdom of Ligor, where it is said that
the art is now practically extinct.
The material is silver, on which the pattern is pro-
duced in the ordinary way in fairly high relief. The
hollows are then filled in with a black paste consisting
of a mixture of metallic sulphides and the piece sub-
jected to heat. It is then apparently polished to a
uniform surface, the light parts of the pattern accen-
tuated with the graving tool and finally gilded. In
some pieces contrast is obtained by leaving portions
of the work ungilded, so that we have a pattern in
three colours, gold, silver and lustrous black.
Occasionally, further ornamentation is effected by
punch marks.
Tlie patterns used are elaborate, (^uite different
from those in true Malayan work ; beast and bird
forms are freely used, and the v«'hole fabric is obviously
Indian in in.spiration.
The articles commonly seen in this ware are large
bowls ipatit), stands with circular or petal-like margins,
betel boxes (square and round) and kettles. Speci-
mens of all of these are in the Perak Museum cases.
Sword scabbards and spear mounts as well as plates
are also m.ade.
The Federated Malay States. 267
The second kind of niello is jadam, which at
one time was not improbably made in the Malay Pen-
insula, as it certainly is to the present day in parts
of Sumatra ; it differs from chutam only in the
absence of gilding and graving, in the type of pattern
and in the variety of articles made in it.
The pattern is usually phyllomorphic but geo-
metrical and magical designs sometimes occur. It
is mainly used for buckles and small tobacco boxes,
but plates and other small articles such as silk
winders are occasionally found. Chutam, on the
other hand, is apparently never used for buckles.
The third variety is very rare and possibly quite
extra-Malayan in origin and is known as siiasa itam.
The only things apparently made in it arc small
tobacco boxes and belt buckles. The material is
copper, which by submission to some oxidising pro-
cess has acquired an uniform black surface. The
pattern is deeply cut and filled in with beaten gold.
The specimens in the local museums are from
Pekan, I'ahang and the pawnshops of Malacca, and
unfinished examples have been obtained from the
I'atani States. It is suggested by some that ihcy
are Cambodian in origin, but tliis is probably not
the case, as the shapes and ornamentation arc (juitc
Malayan.
A number of fine s[)e(:imen.s of the Malayan crafts-
man's work in gold and silver have been added to the
rollections in recent years, and among them mention
must be made of a couple of beautiful and heavy gold
Auist-belt rlasps {pnuUn^) ; silver trays, stands, tobacco-
268 Illustrated Guide to
boxes, and plates from the Rhio Archipelago ; and a
considerable number of examples of gold and silver
filigree-work, comprising gold brooches and a ring
from Negri Sembilan, gold pendants {agok) from
Perak, another (of Patani type) in silver-liligree, and
some of the large obsolete ear-studs, formerly worn by
Malay women of the " Patani States " and Upper
Perak.
The exhibits of Malayan jewellery, now fairly
complete, which include bracelets, rings, anklets,
pendants, ornaments worn at marriages, and other
objects, are contained in table-cases adjacent to the
more general collections of silverware, while in the
row at the end of the gallery are to be seen brass
buckles, sireh sets, and a collection of native coins,
amongst which the pierced tin and pewter coins
of Patani, Trengganu and Kelantan, and the clumsy
" hat-money " of i'ahang, are of interest.
A set of grotesque representations of various
animals in tin is also on exhibition. In a learned
treatise by Sir Richard Temple, part of which is
devoted to objects of this kind, an attempt is made to
demonstrate that they were used as money, but, in
view of the scarcity of testimony on this subject, a
verdict of " not proven " must be returned. Some of
them were probably toys pure and simple, but others,
the so-called " mountains," appear to have been used
as weights to hold down the curtains of the bridal
couch in Malay marriage ceremonies.
The wall-cases of this room are tilled with the
remainder of Malav collections and various sections
The Federated JSIalav States. 26Q
deal with fire and light, cooking, personal property,
measures of capacity, rice planting, harvesting, general
agriculture, fishing and trapping, pottery, wood-
carving, music, plays and magic.
In that which contains objects connected with fire
and light, the graceful hanging brass lamps of classical
design should be noted, as well as the piimitive types
of apparatus used in obtaining fire, such as the rattan
saw and block of soft wood. A most interesting
implement too, the gobek af>i, in which tinder is
ignited by means of compressed air, is also repre-
sented by several specimens.
Further on attention may be drawn to the peculiar
reaping-knives {ttiai) used by the Malays, and also to
the kuku kambing, an ingenious instrument 'with
which bunches of seedlings are seized and thrust into
the ground, when planting out rice. Worthy 0^
remark, too, is the model irrigation-wheel, as are as
well the many cleverly constructed traps for catching
wild animals.
In two cases on the right-hand side of the room,
where the pottery is installed, a primitive attempt at
a potting wheel may be seen, and adjacent to the
pottery a fine series of carvings which are mostly from
Negri Sembilan, where Sumatran influence is para-
mount. In the cases nearer to the door are a set of
the leather puppets used in the wayang kulit or
shadow play — an institution which in its peninsular
form does not flourish further south than Kuala
Kangsar, — while for purposes of comparison there is
shown, on a large hanging panel, a set of the leather
Illustrated Guide to
figures used in Java, and a varletj' of masks used by
the clowns {praji) of the inayong, an entertainment
which is half dance, half play. Various musical
instruments are displayed near by, some of them
being of types found only in Malaysia and Indo-China,
while the last two cases are filled with magical
apparatus of various kinds, amongst which offerings to
the evil spirits to avert or remove ill-fortune are the
most prominent.
SELANGOR MUSEUM.
' Revised by
C. BODEN KlOSS,
Assistant Director of Museums.
The Selangor Museum is considerably later in
date than the Perak one, and owes its origin to a
body of Kuala Lumpur residents, chief amongst
whom was the late Captain Syers, First Commissioner
of Police, Federated Malay States, who were
interested in natural history and ethnology. They
were assisted by a small grant from the Selangor
Government, and the Museum thus started was
at first housed in the old Government Offices
above the padang, and later on in the building
that was once the astana on Weld's Hill. It was not
until 1898 that an European Curator was appointed,
and most of the natural history specimens prior to
that date have disappeared owing to faulty preparation,
with the exception of the fine series of seladang
The Federated Malay States. 2yi
frontlets obtained by Captain Syers. The foundation
of tiie existing ethnographical collection, however
was laid, and many interesting weapons and specimens
of Malay silver [)urchased out of the limited funds
available.
Mr. A. L. Butler, now Superintendent of Game Pre-
servation to the Soudan Government, who was
appointed Curator in 1898 and held office until the
commencement of 1900, commenced the formation of
what is now the linest collection of Malay birds
extant. He was succeeded by Dr. D. Duncker, who
remained for a year, devoting his attention principally
to the fresh water fishes, of which he accumulated a
considerable series.
Towards the end of 1906 the western wing of the
present building at the entrance to the Public Gardens
on the Damansara Road was completed and a com-
mencement made in the installation of the collections.
In 1 9 14 the Museum was enlarged by the addition
of the central hall and the eastern wing.
The entrance hall contains an exhibit of mammal?,
prominent among which is a cow elephant presented
by Dr. W. H. Lucy, who shot it in his compound on
the edge of the Public Gardens a mile away from the
Museum. It has been mounted by Mr. E. Seimund,
Assistant Curator and Taxidermist, who used the
skeleton as a framework. It is believed that this is
the first instance in which so large a piece of taxider-
mic work has been successfully undertaken in Asia.
A tapir and a two-norned rhinoceros (A.
■\uffnt/re;/u's) arc to be seen in cases in the centre of
272 Illustrated Guide to
the hall, and a tiger to the right of the entrance with
other carnivora. Amongst the monkeys in the wall-
cases should be noted the Siamang, occurring in the
Peninsula and Sumatra only, and also one of the
largest specimens of the berok or coconut monkey
{Macaca nemestrind) ever shot. It was obtained on
Weld's Hill within Kuala Lumpur town limits, and
from its ferocious disposition had long been a terror
to Chinese woodcutters and others, several of whom
had been severely injured by it. Other interesting
mammals are a dwarf pig from the island of Terutau,
north of Penang, and a mountain goat, or serow, from
the limestone crags near Ipoh. The other wall-cases
are given up to the exhibition of smaller mounted
animals, while in the table-cases are placed series of
skins of insectivora and rodents illustrating the various
sub-species occurring in the Peninsula area which
differ too little from each other externally to serve any
useful purpose mounted.
Apart from the exhibited specimens the Museum
possesses the largest study series of Malayan verte-
brates extant, which may be examined on application at
the office by anyone seriously interested in zoology.
Of the 270 races of mammals known from our region,
only about thirty, mostly small bats, are unrepresented
in the collections.
The first gallery in the older portion of the building,
to the left of the central hall, contams the birds and
reptiles, the former placed in wall-cases and the latter
down the centre.
With a few unimportant exceptions, every bird
The Federated Malay States. 273
known to occur within the limits of the Colony of
the Straits Settlements or the Federated Malay
States is represented by one or more stufted
examples, while, for persons desirous of more
minute study, specimens preserved as skins away
from the harmful action of light are available on
reference to the Curator. The collection throughout
is labelled with the English, Latin and in some
cases the Malay name, and explanatory labels are
provided for each group and sub-group.
Attention may be drawn to the collection of sea
and shore birds, to the hawks and eagles and to
the woodpeckers, all of which are very complete
and contain very rare specimens.
About 630 forms of birds inhabit our area, and of
them the Museum has posse.ssed examples of practically
six hundred. The desiderata are principally sea and
shore or migratory species or else forms occurring in
the extreme north only — a district belonging to Siam
that has not yet been exhaustively explored by the
department.
Above the wall-cases are exhibited the antlers of
deer and horns o(serow, buffalo and seladang, amongst
the latter being the record pair for the Malay Penin-
sula which were obtained by the late Mr. Da Pra
near Kuala Pilah in Negri Sembilan ; together with
some fine examples obtained by the late Captain
Syers, who was killed by a seladang.
Amongst the mounted reptiles are shown two species
of python, or u/ar sazva, the- larger of which (P.
reliculatns) measured twenty-two feet four inches when
2 74 Ilh(strated Guide to
brought to the Museum, though an authenticated local
specimen of thirty feet is on record. The smaller
species or painted python {P. ctutus) is known to the
Malays as ular savoa darah, or blood python, from
its extremely vivid hue when alive. There are also on
view a cobra and a hamadryad which measured nearly
fourteen feet, but in Perak there is a specimen more
than sixteen feet long. This is the most deadly of
local snakes and next to it is shown a harmless species
{Zaocys car hiatus) which superficially closely resembles i i .
Casts and mounted specimens of other snakes,
li/^ards and frogs are shown elsewhere, together with
two medium-sized examples of the common crocodile ;
but of the narrow-snouted fish-eating gharial the
Museum possesses only young individuals.
All the tortoises known from the Peninsula are
exhibited in table-cases, and in a large central case is
a fairly complete and systematically arranged set of
lizards, snakes and frogs in spirit.
The energies of the staff have been up to the present
largely devoted to the acquisition and study of the
vertebrate land mammals, and collections of inverte-
brates are not yet on exhibition, with the exception of
the butterflies and one or two less ornamental groups.
These will be found in tlie first new gallery to the right
of the entrance hall, which will be eventually entirely
taken up with an exhibition of insects.
In the corner hall beyond are placed a small but
fairly complete collection of local minerals and rocks,
arranged and labelled by the Government Geologist :
;unon;j;.st which are soiuc slabs of Tpoh marble, very
The Federated Alalay States. 275
fine specimens of lode tin and a few exceptionally
perfect crystals of cassiteritc. There is also on view
a case of well-executed models of local fruit and
vegetables.
In this liall vrill in future be exhibited also the col-
lections of spiders, centipedes, millipedes and
crustaceans, and some of the latier are already m place.
The back gallery adjacent is intended in the main
for marine exhibits, and at present contains a set of
mounted fishes, some shells and corals ; also, in the
wall-cases on the right are mounted specimens or
casts with skeletons of porpoises, and the skeleton of
an Indian pilot-whale (Globiocephalus indicus), one of
a school stranded at Jeram. On the right are
the marine turtles, including the tortoise-shell and
edible species, as well as an example of the leathery
turtle f^Dermochelys coriacea), the largest of local
chelonians and very rare. The specimen, a female,
was captured at night on the beach of Tioman Island
v/hen coming up from the sea to deposit her eggs, some
of which are also shown.
The hall and back gallery on the left contains
the ethnographical collections, which cannot attempt
to vie with the larger and more complete ones of the
Perak Mu.seum. The Selangor ones are, however,
in some respects, supplemental to those of the older
institution, as they are relatively richer in the weapons
and other possessions of the Negri Sembilan Malays.
There is, however, a fine selection of spears and
weapons, including the kris panjavf^, winch is not sn
distinctively a Perak weapon as it is of Sri Menanti
76 Ilhisirated Guide to
and Sungei Ujong, while the peculiar sword known
as chenengkas bulks more largely in the Selangor cases
than it does in Perak.
A fine collection of the black and silver enamel
known as Jadam, originally from the Menang-
kabau States of Central Sumatra, but largely found
in Negri Sembilan, is on exhibition, while there are
also a few choice pieces of the famous Ligor ware
alluded to in the account of the Perak Collections.
The commoner articles of the Malay silversmith
are well represented by typical specimens, but there
has been no opportunity of acquiring any of the
large pieces, which are so prominent a feature in
the Perak Museum, though there are a few plates which
are really excellent specimens of old Malay silver.
There is also a small collection of personal ornaments,
chiefly from Negri Sembilan, which include a good
series of chased waist buckles in brass, copper, silver
and wood ; these objects are yearly becoming rarer
and more difficult to obtain in good condition and
undebased style.
The other ethnographical exhibits — stone imple-
ments, pottery and brass v.'are, musical instruments,
sarongs, mat-work, basketry, and weaving apparatus,
decorative objects, traps, models of boats, agricultural
implementsj and household utensils, games, money,
blowpipes, quivers and other artifacts of the wild
tribes — are in the main replicas of what may be seen
on a more extensive scale in Perak. Much of the
brass, which is not a favourite material with the Malay
artisan, has found its way to the Peninsula from Java
The Federated Malay States. fji
and Sumatra, which produce a large amount of material
of this class.
In the alcove off the hall is installed a collection of
plates of no particular value brought down from China
for trade purposes. Though not believed to be of any
considerable age, they have for some time ceased to
be imported.
lUusfrated Guide lo
VI.
MINING.
By the late
F. J- Ballantyne Dykes.
Revised to end 19 iS by
W. Eyre Kenny, M.I.C.E.,
Senior Warden of Mines, Federated Malay States.
The extensive tinfields of the Federated Malay States
offer great opportunities to the miner and prospector
possessed of a thorough knowledge of his business
and a command of capital. Formerly, tin mining in
the shallow deposits of these fields required but little
skill or capital. The possession of energy and sound
common sense and the ability to make use of them
were sufficient in most cases to ensure financial
success. The condition of affairs has been consider-
ably altered. As in the case of all alluvial fields
where an abundant supply of cheap and efficient
labour has been available for many years, the easily
worked deposits in Malaya have, to a large extent,
been exhausted. The prospector, therefore, must
confine his attention to the location of new fields or
bring his knowledge of modern mining methods to
bear on those deposits which have hitherto failed to
prove attractive to others.
The Federated Malay States. 279
The science of mining advances day by day,
cheapening the cost of production, thus increasing
workable areas. The great advance in the value of
tin has also done much to extend the scope of work
in the Federated Malay States, for, naturally,
propositions which could not be touched in 1896,
Avhen the value of tin was jF^^o per ton, may, with-
tin worth treble that amount, be highly i^rofitable.
The increasing value of tin and the apparent
inability ot existing sources to supply the world's
requirements have, in recent years, done much to
attract capitalists, with a result that there is now no
difficulty in obtaining imancia) support for any sound
.tin proposition.
The foregoing remarks apply only to the exploita-
tion of alluvial deposits, but when it is remembered
that from them have been extracted during the last
29 years no less than 1,287,370 tons of tin, the value
of which v/as ^167,244,000, it will be clear that there
is great scope in the scientific prospecting for the
lodes from which this alluvial tin was derived. In
the past, lodes have been found. In Pahang, on the
East Coast, lode mining has been carried on with,
some considerable success, but on the West side of
the Peninsula, little has been done in the exploitation
of tin lodes in the last few years.
Gold (4uart/. mining has been carried on intermit-
tently in the I". M.S., but without any great measure
of success. These enterprises were chielly in I'ahang
and NrL'.ri S<inbilan, and, with the cvception of dial
28o Illustrated Guide to
at Eaub, all have closed down. The non-success of
these mines was largely due to insufficient capital, in
the first instance, to combat difficulties of transport
and the recruiting of labour in Pahang, where there
were no roads, and when the Western vStates of Perak,
Selangor and Negri Sembilan offered more attractive
inducements to the Chinese immigrant. Now these
difficulties no longer exist ; there is a first-class cart
road running through the likely gold-bearing districts
of^Raub^and Kuala Lipis, and labour can easily be
attracted.
A word of advice is necessary to a would-be immi-
grant, and that is, that the Federated Malay States do
not offer opportunities like Canada and Australia for
the manual labour of the European. All manual labour
is done by Asiatics, and the part the European takes
is that of ordering labour and superintending opera-
tions, but unless the would-be immigrant has the
knowledge to superintend and the capacity for con-
trolling labour, the Federated Malay States are a
closed door to him.
The chief mineral export of the P'eder-
Bistoricai. ated Malay States is tin and tin ore. At
one time these States produced two-
thirds of the world's supply of tin, but to-day the output
stands at less than 40 per cent, in relation to the world's
output. It is impossible to say for how many years
the tin deposits have been worked, but it is only
within recent years that these States have come into
prominence as the largest tin-producing countries in
The Federated Malay States. 281
the world. The Siamese undoubtedly did much
mining years ago, as the old workings underground
testify. The Malays themselves, natives of these
States, did little, and that probably unwillingly and
only at the bidding of their respective chiefs. What
little they did was surface mining only.
The advent of the Chinese, at an unknown date,
was the event that marked these States as rich in tin
ore, and attracted them in their tens under Malay
rule, and in their thousands under British protection.
They were the pioneers who, under Malay rule, and
subject to extortion by every petty Malay chief, and
in the face of great difficulties and hardships, proved
the richness of these lands.
It is only within comparatively recent years that
such a machine as a steam pump was introduced.
Water-wheels turning the Chinese chain pumps, and
buckets lifted laboriously by manual labour, were the
only means of keeping the mines dry. With only
these crude instruments for unwatering their mines,
the Chinese managed to work to depths of thirty and
forty feet. Such an operation as prospecting and
boring the land was not in those days thought of,
it was considered unlucky, and the Chinese miner
contented himself, as to the stanniferous qualities of
his land, by — as a preliminary — consulting the local
Malay pawang or wise-man of the village, who
charged fees for work that neither he nor anybody
else could do. The regularity of the tin deposits in
some parts of the country made the business of the
pawang a simple one. He was far more likely
282 Illustrated Guide to
to be right by foretelling the presence of tin ore
than by denying its presence ; the richness of the
deposit foretold by the paivang was generally in
exact ratio to the size of the fee. Witli all the cir-
cumstances in his favour, it is little to be wondered
at that the paivtvig was believed and trusted and
was a man of importance in his village. I'he
European, foUov.ing in the wake of the Chinaman,
has brought his methods and skill to the Malayan
tinlields, and modern mining machinery has revolu-
tionised, to a certain extent, the old Chinese methods.
That much was good in the Chinese methods is
evidenced by the fact that for the working of certain
deposits the old methods still continue. The white
man has come and watched the Chinaman working
and has smiled at his methods ; but the white man
has often gone with schemes for revolutionising these
methods but seldom returns, whilst the methods still
remain and enable the Chinaman to prosper — and
sometimes grow rich. Their superstitions also remain,
and 'in a mine worked by Chinese labourers on tribute
they believe that the wearing of boots and shoes, or
the opening of an umbrella in their mine, is likely to
drive the tin ore away or bring misfortune to their
venture.
The Federated Malay States produced in 19 15 over
46,766 tons of metallic tin, which amount is, roughly,
40 per cent, of the world's production of that metal.
The value of this product was $64,414,012 in local
currency, or _;^7, 164,968 in sterling. In 1918 the
production was 37,370 tons, the value of which was
The Federated Malax States. 283
^12,244,000, the highest value of the production on
record. The average price in 1918 was over ^327.
In a period of thirty years, the production has
gradually increased from 26,000 tons, \alued at
;^2, 450,000, to the present figures. The rise in the
price of the metal in the last ten or fifteen years has
stimulated tin-mining enterprise in other parts of the
world, but it is satisfactory to record that the
Federated Malay States still maintain their pre-
eminence as the country producing the largest indi-
vidual contribution to the world's output.
Of the geology of the Malay Peninsula
Geology. as a whole no authoritative work by a
specialist has as yet been written ; but,
a few years ago, the Government of the Federated
Malay States appointed a properly qualified Govern-
ment Geologist in the person of Mr. J. B. Scrivenor.
Since his appointment, Mr. Scrivenor has now had
many opportunities for conducting researches of a
purely scientific character, and has issued many
valuable papers on the Geology of various districts.
In a .short article written by him, we learn that the
palaiontological evidence already collected points to
a close relationship between the Malay Peninsula and
the Netherlands Indies on the one hand and with
British India on the other.*
It may be stated at the outset that the physical
features of the Federated Malay States are strongly
•See '• The Geology and Mining; Industry of Ulu Pahang,
also of" Kinla District, Perak " (.Scrivenor), and " South Pcrak,
North Selangorand Dindings " (Scrivenor and Jones).
284 Illustrated Guide to
marked. A long range of granite mountains stretches
like a backbone irom north-west to south-east in the
•Peninsula. Subsidiary granite ranses occur on the
west ; on the east, in the centre of Pahang, is the huge
isolated Benom P.ange, also composed of granite.
North of this range lies the Tahan Range, composed
almost entirely, so far as has yet been ascertained, of
quartzites, shale and conglomerate. Another similar
but much smaller range, the Semanggol Range,
separates Larut from Krian in Perak ; and in Pahang,
again, other conglomerate and sandstone outcrops
form a long line of foothills to the main granite range.
In Kinta, the chief mining district of Perak, a third
type, composed of limestone, occurs, and fine samples
of this type also occur in Selangor and Pahang. These
limestone ranges are remarkable for rugged summits
and precipitous sides.
This metallic tin is obtained from
Occurrence cassiterite, the mineralogical term for
ofTmOre. ' °
tin ore (S,, O.), by the reduction of this
ore to a metallic state either in reverberatory or in the
Chinese blast furnaces. Nearly the whole of this tin
ore, at least six-tenths, is obtained from the alluvial
deposits which are found all over the Federated Malay
States, but more particularly in the order named :
Perak, Selangor, Pahang and Negri Sembilan. The
geological formations in which the tin ore originally
occurred were probably granitic and schistose rocks of
various kinds. These rocks have been in past ages
acted on by atmospheric agencies, whereby they have
The Federated Malay States. 285
become softened and decomposed, resulting in the
general denudation of the hill lands and the formation
of alluvial deposits by the rearrangement of the
constituents of these rocks through the naechanical
agency of water.
Much could be written on the occurrence of tin ore
in these alluvial fields, but, to be brief, and to show
the diversity of modes in which it is found, it may be
said that nearly pure tin ore occurs in the form of the
finest dust up to lumps of several hundred pounds
in weight ; it is found in every conceivable form of
soil— from the stiftest of clays to the lightest of sands ;
from the very grass roots down to the depths of 250 feet;
in the lowest valleys and on the tops of mountains.
It is no exaggeration to say that in any part of the
Federated Malay States on the West, anywhere in the
thousands of acres of alluvial lands that lie at the base
of the granitic hills, it would be the exception net to
find a trace of tin ore in the alluvial strata. Under-
lying these alluvial deposits, and forming the bed-rock,
are generally found on the alluvial plains crystalline
limestones, slates, schistose, or granitic rocks. In the
valleys of the Kinta River, in Perak, and the Klang
River, in Seiangor, the bedrock is mainly a crystalline
limestone of commercial value. Probably one of the
most unique formations in which alluvial tin ore is
found is the marble cliffs that make such a striking
feature in the Kinta scenery. They rise abruptly from
the alluvial plains, with vertical sides, and are of th<"
same nature as the limestone forming the bed of tin-
286 Illustrated Guide to
valley. Whether their present exalted position is owing
to volcanic action, which has elevated them above the
general level of the country, or whether volcanic
action and metamorphism has enabled them to resist
the general denudation of the other rocks, must be
left to the geologist to solve. Some of these limestone
cliffs are riddled with caves, and in these caves alluvial
deposits of immense value have been found. Again,
in many cases, these cliffs are like a bamboo structure,
with a hollow core, the outer shell being of crystalline
limestone of varying thickness — the core being partially
filled with alluvium highly impregnated with oxide of
iron. Access to the core is either through caves or
by rope or rotan ladders up and down the faces of
these cliffs.
Except on the East Coast, little has
Lode Mining, been done in the way of exploiting lode
or similar formations. The property
of the Pahang Consolidated in the Kuan tan watershed
is the exception, and here a series of lodes striking
east and west ha\e been worked for many years with
\arying results, but at present with conspicuous
success.
On the West Coast, in the States of Perak, Selangor,
and Negri Sembilan, in the limestone, granitic and
schistose formations, tin ore is found in the rock in
situ. In the limestone rocks the tin ore is found in
"pipes,'' but such deposits are irregular and unreliable.
In the granitic and schistose rocks in many places on
the hills are to be lound small irregulai veini of tin
ore, intermixed with arsenical and sulphurous ores.
The Federated Malay States.
There is nothing defined or regular in these deposits,
and tliey pinch out when least expected.
The alluvial deposits are worked by
Methods of open-Cast, by shafting; and underoround
Mining. 1 . o
methods, by ground sluicing, or the
more scientific method of hydraulicingor by dredging.
The most suitable lands for open-cast mining are
broad flats in which the beds (there may be 'more
than one) of tin-bearing ground are regular, and when
the tin ore is confiiied to these particular beds. In
opening up new ground for open-cast mining, it is
usual, first of all, to cut watercourses round the area
to be mined, and to erect substantial banks to prevent
floods from entering this area, and to control the
water at ordinary times for use in the working of the
mine. The first operation necessitates the covering
over of unworked land with earth ; but when once the
first opening is made down to the bottom bed of tin-
bearing ground, no further land is covered over, as the
spoil from new openings is thrown into the old
worked-out areas. The tin-bearing ground, which
may bo of the nature of a stiff clay, or a gravel con-
sisting of water-worn (juarl/ and granitic pebbles of
varying si/.es, sand and clay, is brought to the surface
for treatment for the separation of the tin ore. The
mode of treatment dei)ends on the nature of the tin-
bearing ground, and is described later. The over-
burden, or top soil overlying the tin-bearing ground,
and the tin-bearing ground are removed and raised h)-
manual labour, or by a haulage system of trucks
running on rails. The open-cast mines are kept dry
t.-ithf^r bv water wheels working Chinese wooden chain
Illustrated Guide to
pumps or by ordinary steam or electrical pumps, the
depth of the mine deciding the kind of pump most
suitable for use. Underground methods are resorted
to when the tin-bearing deposits occur at depths which
would not make open-cast mining apayable proposition,
and when the '•' lead " is so narrow that the amount of
overburden to be removed, and the cost of so doing,
would be out of all proportion to the value of the
mineral to be won. The method is to sink shafts at
varying distances apart, which are all connected below,
and to block out the tm-bearing stratum. It is not
an economical method, inasmuch as with the expenses
entailed by such work for timbers and pumping, only
ground of certain payable values can be picked and
worked, and not all of this pa3-able ground can even be
extracted, as pillars have to be left, and if the ground off
the "lead" is running sand, walls on either side of the
" lead" may have to be left for protection. The timber,
immense quantities of which are used, is also lost and
is not recoverable except in certain cases. These cases
are — and this fact shows how indisputable it is that
such methods are wasteful — where land after it has
been riddled with shafts and the richest ground
extracted has been worked open-cast with highly
successful results. The difference in the price of the
metal at the time of underground mining and the
subsequent open-cast mining is, of course, a factor ;
but this factor is largely discounted when it is
considered that only the poorer ground, the unpayable
and the unworkable ground, is left for the open-cast
adventurer to work and make his profit. The incen-
tive to .shafting is the smaller capital required, the
The. Federated Malay States 289
smaller risk and the quicker return than in the more
economical method of open-cast mining.
Ground sluicing and hydraulic mining is carried on
in the undulating lands off the valleys, the spurs of
the main ranges and in the gullies of the highest of
the main ranges.
The simple ground-sluicing operation consists in
bringing water by gravitation or by pumping water
up to suitable elevations and breaking the tin-bearing
ground into either the natural channel of a stream
or into suitable watercourses, in which the preliminary
separation of the tin ore from the earth in which it is
contained is brought about, either by hand-labour or
by riffles — let into the water-courses — which have the
effect of allowing the heavier metalliferous portions to
settle for subsequent collection.
The more scientific hydraulic mining is done by
the use of monitors, the water being brought from a
distance in pipes under varying pressures up to heads
of five and six hundred feet. The ground is broken
down by jets of water played on the faces of the
hills, the water, after having fulfilled its duty of
breaking down the ground, acting as a conveyer of
the tin-bearing material to suitable sluices where the
separation of the tin ore is effected. This method of
mining undoubtedly allows of ground being worked
at a profit that could not be touched by either
manual or mechanical means ; in fact, the refuse
from the dressing floors from the Cornish mines
carries a higher value per ton than the virgin ground
of a first-class hydraulic property in the Federated
290 Illustrated Guide to
Malay States. The tin ore that escapes from the
Cornish dressing lloors, however, is of the consistency
of the finest flour, and is most difficult to catch ;
whilst that in the hydraulic properties is ■ com-
paratively coarse and easily and simply retained.
Suction dredgers were a recent introduction into the
Malayan mining fields, and they have proved that
certain ground of too poor a value for manual labour
or any other mechanical means can be economically
worked at a profit by this method, but they have
not been an unqualified success. In the Kinta
and Klang Valleys several of these plants have been
tried. The first operation is to excavate in the
property to be dredged a suitable paddock, in which
is to be built the pontoon which carries the boilers,
machinery and pumps. This is built on solid ground
in the paddock, and the pontoon is of sufficient
displacement to be itself fioated from place to place
as the land is worked out and fresh ground becomes
inconveniently inaccessible. The main features of
this method are as follow : — Ground is broken down
with monitors by water under pressure, either by
gravitation or from pumps, and this ground is sluiced
inti) a sump or well at a somewhat lower elevation
than that on which the pontoon is resting. Powerful
suction sand pumps raise the water and debris to
launders placed at suitable elevations, and in these
launders the tin ore is separated by manual labour
with or without the use of riffles. When the plant is
at work the pontoon rests on the solid ground in the
paddock. When it is desired to move the pontoon
The Federated Malay States 2yi
lo a more suitable place to suit the circumstances, as
ground in the vicinity of the pontoon gets worked out,
a level place is prepared at the next proposed
working place for the pontoon. The paddock is then
flooded, and the pontoon is floated and takes up
the newly-prepared station.
The more common method of bucket dredging is
now in operation in many mines, and the results from
this method have been far more satisfactory than those
achieved by suction dredging. Several more plants
of great capacity are now on order in England, and
before long this method will be established as the
most economical for treating low-grade propositions on
the alluvial plains. Capitalisation, in the first instance,
may be large owing to the high price necessarily paid
for plant suitable for dealing with thousands of cubic
yards per mensem ; but this initial expenditure is
offset by the low working cost of a few pence per
cubic yard. A study of the costs in the cases of the
Malayan, Kamunting and Kampong Kamunting Tin
Dredging Companies bears testimony to the [jresent
low working costs, and these costs are likely, in the
near future, to be reduced if fuel becomes cheaper,
and experience and skill master local difficulties.
Some years ago certain large worked-out areas were
prospected by tlie Government under the supervision
of the writer, t(j (Ictermine whether the alleged i)ast
wasteful methods of the Chinese miners had any
.'.-ubstance except in theuiy. The prosj)eciion was
cairied out not with a view of provnig thai the foruiei
workers had neglected d'-c|)ei .siraid ut tin-bearing
292 Illustrated Guide to
ground, but to prove whether, in the years previous to
1909, the Chinese miner had exhausted all the tin-ore
that would come under the definition of "economical
extraction " from the ground he had turned over.
The results, in the writer's opinion, then seemed
not to favour the theorist, but to prove the cleverness
of the Chinaman with his primitive methods. What
was proved, however, was that certain patches of
virgin ground had been left on boundaries and where
buildings had been, and it is doubtful whether these
worked-out areas, with the sweetening up of these
patches, the likelihood of high prices for tin and
cheaper cost of extraction by bucket dredging, would
not now jirove attractive to the prospector.
The tin-bearing ground may be, in
Tin^Ore^ some exceptional cases, so rich as to be
black with grains of tin ore, thus carry-
ing a high percentage of ore ; and yet, on the other
hand, in the ground-sluicing and hydraulic properties,
land is payable when it carries only one-quarter to
one-half pound of tin ore to the ton of ground. In
the properties where the tin-bearing ground is stony
and sandy and the tin ore can be easily separated, the
separation is effected in either short or long coffin -
shaped sluices set at a slight angle from the horizontal.
The tin-bearing ground is raked into the box, and by
the use of a long hoe for turning over the admixture
of sand, stone and tin ore, and the careful manipulation
of water with the foot, the Chinese tin washer effects
the separation of the heavy tin ore from the sand and
stone, the tin ore being retained at the top of the
The Fedcrakd Malay States. 293
box and the sand and stone being carried down the
inclined box by the water. In many cases, however,
the admixture of sand, stone and tin ore is placed in
sluices which may be two or three hundred feet long,
and in these the separation is effected by manual
labour, with or without the use of rifi^es. When the
tin-bearing ground is of the nature of a stiff clay, it
has to go through a preliminary process of thorough
disintegration by puddling, and thereafter the process
of separating the tin ore is as above. The tin ore
obtained from either of the processes above-m.entioned
is not, however, ready for the smelting furnace. The
impurities generally mixed with the tin ore, which
have a specific gravity approaching that of tin ore
are wolfram, arsenical and sulphurous ores, tourmaline,
titaniferous iron ore and magnetite. The partially
dressed ore is treated in water on sieves of varying
mesh, which classify the ore, and the ore dresser so
manipulates these sieves by hand that he imparts to
the sieve the action of a jig — by v/hich the lighter
portions are thrown to the top — and a centrifugal
action by which he concentrates the lighter portions in
the centre of the sieve on the top of the heavier tin ore.
By this method the ore is washed up to great purity.
Where arsenical and sulphurous ores are present, a
further operation of calcining is necessary, and a
further dressing is required to remove the resultant
oxide of iron.
Where wolfram is present the ore has to be treated
with a magnetic separator. Mechanical dressing
plants are hartlly ever usetl, a:id p.'imili.e though
^94 Illustrated Guide to
the methods in vogue may seem, the resultant is an
ore of great purity at a small cost, and the loss is
brought down to a fine point.
Throughout the Federated Malay States
Sale, and there are some five hundred licensed
smelting of , . . , ,
Tin Ore. purchasers of tm ore, these purchasers
of ore doing business either for the
smelters in the Federated Malay States or in the
Colony of the Straits Settlements. Twenty-five years
ago It was the exception not to find the miner srrielting
his own ore. Now it is the exception to find the
producer doing so. Over three-quarters of the ore
obtained is now smelted in the Colony, where
reverberatory furnaces are Used. The Chinese smelter
in the Federated Malay States uses a primitive blast
furnace, and uses as fuel such charcoal as can be made
frorh soft woods. The slags he obtains are treated
perhaps nine times over, and the amount of tin ore
left in these slags, which he is unable to extract
economically, is sniall and represents very little of
the gross arnount of the ore he treats.
When the price of tin is on the upward move the
Chinese smelter enters into keen competition with the
Colonial smelter. When the price is declining ahd
shows a further tendency in that direction, he is less
keen on competing. The tin exported by the
Chinese smelter has to go through a further purifying
process in the Colony before it is exported for the
tin-plate trade — this business requiring a tin of almost
theorcti.?al purity.
The Federated Malay Stntes. 295
The labour in the mines is almost
Labour. entirely Chinese. Actually employed
in the mines are some 144,00,0 Asiatics,
and of these about 8,500 are Indians, Javanese and
Malays, the remainder being Chinese. In 1913 the
total labour employed in the mines numbered 216,000,
and the output of tin was 50,127 tons, wkerea,s with a
labour force of 144,600 in 1918, a decrease, of 71,400,
the output was 37,370 tons, or a decrease of only
12,757 tons, a small amount as compared with the big
decrease in the labour force. This decrease in the
labour force was offset by a great additional increase
in the use of labour-saving appliances, the total for
1913 being 36,000 h. p. against 60,000 h.p. in 1918;
this additional horse-power was partly due to the
iastallation of new bucket dredges. These frgmes are
quoted to show how largely mechanical power is
taking the place of manual labour in Malaya ; but had
it not been for events that have happened subsequent
to August 4, 19 14, it is possible that the labour force
in 1918 would have shown an increase as compared
with 19 13, as, with the price of tin in the vicinity of
^200 a ton, Malaya is an attractive field for the
( 'hinese immigrant. The employment of labourers i^
the mines is on two systems : —
(i) Where the owner of the land, or the
capitalist working the land, employs labour at his
own risk, and reaps all the profits ; and
(2) Where the land is let to another party, or
to the actual labourers themselves for a fixed
tribute.
296 Illustrated Guide to
In the first case, labourers are engaged on contract
at so much a cubic 3'ard to do the main work of the
mine, and also a small number are engaged on wages
to do such work as could not be reasonably given out
on contract, such as repairs, cutting watercourses,
lifting the tin-bearing ground — ^if the bed is irregular,
or lies unevenly — and dressing tin ore. The term of
engagement is generally for six months, and the money
earned by a labourer is not considered to be due to
him till the termination of this period. During this
period the labourer is under advances for food, cash,
and all the necessaries of life, to the ov/ner of the mine.
For these advances the labourer had to pay as a con-
sideration 20 % interest on money advances, and 20 %
over and above the market Drice for all food and the
other necessaries of life for any period up to six months.
The labourer, moreover, was not supposed to buy
anything from any shop other than that kept by the
owner of the mine.
In the second case, where the owner of a piece ot
land is unwilling to work it himself, he sub-lets it
either to another party or to the actual labourers
themselves. These labourers have to find an advancer
who, for certain considerations, is willing to take the
risk of the mine turning out a profitable venture or
not. The tin ore obtained is considered the ad-
vancer's property, and is bound to be delivered
at the advancer's shop as security against the stores,
provisions, «S:c., he has advanced.
Frequent sales are made when tin ore is obtained,
and the accountp. between labourer and advancer are
The Federated Malay States. 297
then settled and not kept in abeyance for six months
as in the previous business arrangennent mentioned.
The class of lands most favourable for the first-
mentioned system are alluvial flats where the tin-bearing
strata are fairly regular. The lands on which tribute
labourers are generally employed are small patchy
valleys, hill lands where ground-sluicing can be carried
on, and in the mountain gullies. Working on tribute
suits the individual labourer, as a spice of gambling
enters into it, and it suits the owner of the land, as
even if he is also the advancer he is able to limit his
liabiUties to a certain extent — should the venture be
unsuccessful — by restricting the advances made to
the actual necessities of the labourers.
It is the exception to find a Chinese labourer in the
mines with a wife, and therefore the housing of the
labourers, which is the duty of the owner of the land,
or employer of the labourers, or the advancer, is a
simple matter.
The living-houses are long, barnlike structures,
divided into compartments, in each of which some
twenty or thirty labourers are housed. The roof is
thatched with palm leaves, the sides are made of
badly-fitting split timbers, and the floor is hardened
earth. His sleeping place is raised on poles some
three feet from the ground, and is made of split
bamboo. A cane pillow and a rug constitute the fittings
of his bed. His worldly goods are kept in a small
long box. His belongings, being small and not
cumbrous, -enable him to disappear silently when the
mine he is working; in is likely to be a failure and his
Illusfraied Quide to
advances are much beyond what he is Hkely to reap
as the reward of his labour. They have a common
mess, the expenses of which are debited against each
equally. They live in perfect harmony with each
other, and fights are very rare except with neighbours,
and then generally they only occur owing to encroach-
ment on lands the property of others, or owing to the
unkawfyl deviation of water so essential to mining
operations. The hours of work are, as a general
rule : —
Contract labourers ... 7 to S hours
^Vages labourers 9 to 10 hours
Tribute labourers 8 to 12 hours per diem.
In some mines there is a system of allowing the
labourer to work on his own account for two hours
per diem, and the tin ore he obtains he is allowed to
sell to the owner of the mine for cash. Legislation
makes it compulsory to post, in the chief living house,
a board whereon is entered daily the number of d-ays
and half-days work done by each labourer. The en-
gagement of labourers is a simple matter, and the
labourer knows exactly the terms of his employment.
In the principal living-house is posted a notice stating
exactly what the terms are on which a labourer
engages himself. It is his duty to acquaiiit himself
with these terms, and once he has accepted an ad-
vance from the employer he is recognised as having
accepted employment on the terms set out.
In former years coolies under agreement were
brought direct from China. I'he terms of their
The Federated Malay States. 29^
agreements were for one year, in which they were .to
work an agreed number of days in return for food,
lodging, clothes, and a small monthly payment.
In pre-rubber days, with the exception of a few
, odd thousand Chinese employed on sugar and tapioca
estates, there was no other employment for productive
labour in Malaya. With the advent of the rubber
plantations, the sugar and the tapioca estates dis-
appeared ; but the number of Chinese employed on
agriculture greatly increased. Thus, whereas before
any increase in the mining population entailed
recruiting from China, now the miner has another
market open to him, and the future inter-supply of
labour to the two industries — mining and planting-
will be dependent largely on the price of the two
commodities — tin and rubber — produced, and the
respective inducements that can be offered by way of
remuneration. To suggest any such idea as the inter-
changing of labour from mining to planting, or vice
versa, might appear to be courting disorganisation of
labour ; but in the case of a Chinaman, not only does
he often already know both trades, but he adapts
himself in an incredibly short time to a new industry
and new surroundings. As a domestic instance of
this, in a great many houses in Malaya, if the duties
of the personnel of the establishment, "boy," cook
and watercarrier, were changed round with the same
staff, it is highly probable that the master would
be better waited on, the food better cooked, and
the house kept cleaner than was previously the
ca^e.
300 Iliustrated Guide to
Besides those actually employed in the mines, there
are many thousands employed indirectly in con-
nection with mining operations. The total number
dependent on the mining industry is not far short of
200,000.
Mining operations, from the preliminary
A./^.^'^'^'i^"* acquirement of the land to the disposal
Affecting Mmers. ' _ ^
of the ore and the smelting of it, are
controlled by the Mining Enactment, certain sections
of the Land Enactment, the Labour Enactment, the
Mineral Ores Enactment, and the Machinery
and Electricity Enactments, and the rules made
under these Enactments. The Mining Enactment
and the rules thereunder are thoroughly compre-
hensive, and deal with the procedure for the
acquirement of mining lands, the transfer, sub-letting
and charging of such lands, the fees payable in
respect of mining lands and dealings in the same, and
the conditions on which land is leased and the regula-
tions for controlling mining operations. Briefly, any
person desirous of acquiring mining lands can do so
at the Land Office of the district in which the land is
situated, by paying the prescribed fees for survey and
sending in a plan and description of the land applied
for. The premium charged is at the discretion of the
British Resident of the vState, and varies from 2s. 4d.
up to ^2 jSs. 4d. per acre, the latter amount being
charged only in exceptional cases, such as in districts
where applications for mining lands have not been
accepted for a considerable period. The leases are
for 21 years as a general rule, and may be renewed lor
The Federated Afniav States. xo\
further periods, if the terms of the lease have l>cfn
complied with, and the rent is 2S. 4d. an acre per
annum. The rights of a lessee under the Enactment
are " to work all metals and minerals found upon or
beneath the land," but this does not include min-
eral oils and shales, and the general obligations on a
lessee are that he will work such land in a skilful and
workmanlike manner, not cause danger and damage to
the occupiers of other lands, keep employed one man
to the acre, or the equivalent in labour-saving appli-
ances, and observe the rules and regulations in force
for the safety of the labourers employed on the land.
Prospecting licences are also issued and on each licence
is endorsed the area that may be selected, for
which a lease may be granted if sufficient prospecting
has been done. The Land Enactment deals only
with such general points as affect all lands. The
Labour Enactment defines the conditions under
which labourers may be employed. The Machin-
ery and Electricity Enactments are for regulating
the use of machinery in mines, for defining the
necessary qualifications of those placed in charge
of the same, artd provide for the obtaining of
certificates of competency for those desirous of
being in charge of such plant. The Mineral Ores
Enactment legislates for the control of all dealings
in tin ore, and for the smelting of the same in the
Federated Malay States. No person may, unless he
is the actual producer, smelt any tin ore without a
licence, and no person n*.ay purchase or keep any
place for purchasing any tin ore without first
Illustrated Guid^ to
obtaining a licence. The fee for each licence is
j[^\i 13s. 4d. per annum.
Nothing possibly could be simpler than
ofYand.'*^ the transferring, sub-letting or charging
of land. All that is necessary is for
the parties to any deal to fill up and sign the pre-
scribed form for any particular transaction, and then
to transmit such form, when the signatures have been
witnessed, with the document of title, to the Land
Office of the District in which the land is situated.
The Land Office then registers the transaction, and
before the document of title is returned, the trans-
action is endorsed thereon. The fees charged are
small, generally no legal assistance is required, and
the holder of a lease, a sub-lease or a charge has the
guarantee of the Government as to its validity. For
a small fee, search may be made of the Registers in
any Land Office. It is an ideal system, entailing the
minimum amount of trouble on those desirous of
entering into any transaction, and gives the maximum
amount of security to all parties.
From the earliest days of British
Water Supply, influence in Malaya*, the Government
took the precaution to vest in itself the
entire property in and control of all rivers, streams
and water-courses. All the States are well watered,
and it is only in times of excessive and exceptional
drought that there is not ample water for ordinary
mining purposes. The suitable allocation of the
necessary amount of water for each lessee or party of
lessees of mining lands is in the hands of the
The Federated Malay States.
officers of the Mines Department. In some cases a
licence is given under the hand of the Resident,
which amply safeguards the interests of the licensee.
Evenly distributed throughout the year, the rainfall
varies from 68 to 167 inches in the different parts of
the States, the average being about 90 inches.
For mining purposes the Government make no
charge for water, whether for ore dressing or for
power.
The supervision of mining operations
Supervision of \^ vested in each State in the Officer in
Mining
Operations, charge of the Mmes Department, who
is designated a Warden, or Assistant-
Warden. In supreme charge there is also a Senior
Warden, who is responsible to the Chief Secretary
and the Residents of each State for the proper
administration of mining affairs, and for the general
supervision of all mining operations. In addition,
there is a staff of Inspectors of Mines, of Machin-
ery and Electrical Plant and of Mineral Ore
Shops, whose duties are defined in the respective
enactments. No officer of the Mines Department
has any executive work in connection with the
alienation of mining lands, his work being mainly
the supervising and controlling of mining operations,
the guarding of State and private property, and the
settlement of disputes between the owners of mining
lands. In each State a Warden's Court is constituted
and all prosecutions under the Mining Enactment,
and all mining civil cases where the amount claimed
is not more than five hundred dollars, arc decided in
304 « Illustrated Guide to
this Court, subject to appeal to the Judicial Com-
missioner's Court.
The chief difficulty with regard to the supervision
of mines is the control of tailings, but every reasonable
facility is given to lessees, subject to the prohibition
that certain rivers are not to be fouled under any
conditions — such prohibitions being made in the
interests of the community at large. The disputes
between the owners of mining lands are mainly con-
cerning the use of water, encroachments over bound-
aries and the depositing of tailings. These are, as far
as possible, settled within twenty-four hours of a
complaint being lodged, and it is the exception to find
the decision given in such cases not observed by all
parties.
The total area of lands leased for mining
Mining Lands, purposes is, roughly, 240,000 acres, and
of this more than one-half is situated
in Perak. The chief mining district in Perak is the
Kinta Valley, and here some of the richest deposits
have been found. The nature of the alluvial deposits
is very varied, tin ore occurring on the surface and
down to depths of 200 and 300 feet. Other stanni-
ferous districts are those of Batang-Padang, Kuala
Kangsar and Taiping, the last-named being one of the
oldest tin fields worked in the Federated Malay States.
Raman — the Protectorate of which was recently ceded
by the Siamese Government — awaits the construction
of roads and better facilities of transport before it can
be developed properly. Selangor, in which some
65,000 acres are leased for mining, is the second
The FecLrakd Malay Stales. 3<j^
State in mining importance. The Klang Valley is in
many respects similar to the Kinta Valley, but the
richness and extent of the tin ore deposits are inferior
to Kinta. Sungei Besi has produced some enormously
rich patches and deep "leads," and in this district'are to
be seen large open-cast mines working at a profit the
lands which had previously been shafted and worked
underground. The tin fields of Rawang and Serendah
in this State resemble that of Taiping, the tin-bearing
ground occurring as a regular and uniform bed at a
depth of between 20 to 30 feet.
In Negri Sembilan some 20,000 acres are leased for
mining, the chief centre being Seremban — the capital
of the State. Pahang, where some 23,000 acres are
leased for mining, in addition to unsurveyed conces-
sions, has come more into prominence as a mining
Slate for both alluvial and lode mining.
Throughout the Federated Malay
^°La^nds°"* States may be seen the deserted remains
of what were once prosperous and
populated tin fields. These fields are said to be
worked out, but this statement is based on somewhat
uncertain data. The Chinese miner decided in his
own mind in early days when he had reached what
would be the ecjuivalent of bed-rock, below which
there was no use his looking for further deposits of
tin-ore. When the bed-rock was rock, then there
would be no question of doubting the wisdom of his
decision ; but in the majority of cases the bed-rock
was a stratum of clay, and on the appearance and
composition of this clay, unaided, usually, by putting
■^o6 illustrated Guide io
down a few bores, he condemned the further fruitful-
ness of this land. The past has proved him to have
been Wrong in his diagnosis, and the future is more
than likely to cxinfirm an opinion that no field is really
bottomed until hard rock or rock decomposed in
siiu is reached.
In many parts of the Federated Malay
^Scheelife!^ States, wolfram and scheelite are found,
not separately, but intermixed with tin-
ore. Twenty years ago, the occurrence of wolfram
with tin-ore was considered a misfortune, as there was
then little or no market for this mineral, and magnetic
separators had not been introduced. In later years,
Avith magnetic separators, and a firm market — almost
entirely in foreign hands — wolfram has commanded
at times a higher price than tin-ore. It is found only
in certain localities, and generally in hill workings.
The chief centres where it has been found are in
Perak, at Chemok, Bruseh and Kleydang ; in Selangor,
at Ulu Klang, Ampang and Ulu Langat ; and in
Negri Sembilan, at Paroi and Titi. Except to the
trained mineralogist, it resembles tin-ore in appearance
and in weight, and as such, before the days of assays,
it was often passed off on a too confiding purchaser.
It may not be out of place to give a simple test to
enable a prospector to differentiate with certainty
between these two minerals, and, moreover, it is a test
that is not generally known and is given in no text
books. Take the mineral to be tested and a few
small pieces of granulated zinc. Add a little hydro-
chloric acid And gently heat the mixture, when, if the
The Fedei:akd iialay States. 307
mineral is tin-ore, each grain of tin will become coated
with metallic tin, whereas wolfram shows no reaction.
It is a pretty experiment, one almost with th,e touch
of the alchemist, and to those who are sceptical of its
efficacy, the writer suggests a trial.
Stimulated by higher prices, the output of tungsten
ores has increased in recent years, the figures of
exports being — 1913, 225 tons; 1914, 261 tons : 1915,
292 tons; 1916, 518 tons; 1917, 761 tons; and in
1918, 370 tons.
The fact that tungsten ores do not occur alope, but
are only found as an admixture with tin-o;-e, is
largely responsible for the reason of there being no
great mcrease, as the Government have offered liberal
terms to miners and exporters, with a view of
increasing the output. In Trengganu, across the
border of Pahang, on the other hand, at the Dungun
River, wolfram is found alone, and as such is worked
with some financial success.
In Pahang only is there a gold mine of
Gold Mining, any importance, namely, thp R^ub Mine.
Here a low-grade proposition pf a frac-
tion over two and a half pennyweights to the top is
being, worked at a small profit, the recovery being
16,990 ounces from 132,723 tons in 1918, as com-
pared with 13,159 ounces from 99,473 tons in 1914.
The Raub Company's hydro-electric power installation
and the large amount of surface stone which is crushed
are factors which combine together to make guch low-
grade ore payable. In Perak and Negri S^mbilan,
alluvial gold was obtained to the extent of 1,337
;o8 Illus'raied Guide to
ounces in 191 7, as compared with 1,302 ounces in
19 1 8 from Perak, Negri Sembilan and Pahang. 'Jlie
total quantity of gold placed on the market from the
States in 1918 was 18,309 ounces, compared with
18,154 ounces in 1917, and 1 7,386 ounces in 1916.
In Selangor, some 25 miles from Kuala
Coal. I.umpur, the capital of the State, coal
was found, to prospect which a com-
pany was incorporated in 191 1. The results of
prospection were satisfactory, and, some 10,000,000
tons of coal having been proved a local company was
started in 1913 with a working capital of ;:^58,oco.
The Government of the Federated Malay States has
constructed a branch line to the colliery, which will
connect with the main trunk line, die station at the
colliery being called Batu Arang.
A mean analysis of the coal gave the following
results : —
Moisture 1^.50 per cent.
Ash 4-45 M .)
Fixed Carbon ... 42. 85 ,, ,,
Volatile Hydrocarbons 38.20 ,, „
The coal is described as follows : — " It has a pitch-
black colour and breaks with a conchoidal fracture :
being fairly hard it does not soil the fingers. It has a
specific gravity of from 1.2 to 1.3. It is non-coking,
and burns with a long flame The ash is white,
pulverulent, and does not clinker."
The output of coal from the Malayan Collieries
Limited, in 1915, was 11,523 tons; in 1916, 101,846
tons: in 1917, 155,279 tons: and in 1918, 168,740
The Federnfcd Malay States. 309
tons. This (quantity could have been increased had it
been possible to obtain plant on order. A royalty of 2 5
cents. (7d.) a ton is charged by the Government, but
there is no export duty on the coal. Rawang coal has,
it seems, peculiar characteristics, inasmuch that no two
users seem to get the same results. It is, however, likely
that the coal in question is quite devoid of peculiarities,
and that inexperience has innocently libelled the coal.
The fact remains that this coal has had an uphill fight
to obtain a market, and that it has done so is largely
due to the influence of the experienced few who took
this coal and proved to their entire satisfaction its
utility and economy as compared with other available
fuels.
Recent events in Europe have proved how absolutely
necessary is the possession within its own frontiers of
coal and iron ore for the dominance and protection
of a country and its people ; past peaceful days have
taught us how necessary they were for the establishment
of industries. It may, therefore, safely be said that
the successful exploitation of this coal has increased
the economic assets of the Federated Malay States
very considerably.
Experiments with the coal, in the nature of the low-
temperature distillation of the volatile constituents,
have been carried out during the last eighteen months,
under the supervision of one of the most learned
professors on fuels, and with satisfactory results. A
binder has now been found of a nature that will satis-
factorily brifjuette the coal under certain favourable
conditions.
;io lUustrakd Guide to
A low-gi-ade iron-ore is found on the coast, and
soitM day Malaya may be producing pig-iron.
A duty is leviable on all tin and tii^
Export Dutjas. ore exported from the Federated Malay
States, and is calculated on a sliding
scale which varies with the rise and fall in the price of
the metal. With tin at ;^i5o on the London market,
the duty works out at about 13 per cent, of the value
exported. The amount of duty collected in the
Federated Malay States in 1913 was $10,67 1,378, or?
roughly, ;^i, 244,994, and m 1918, $13,142,054, or
p^i,533>239-
The duty on gold is 2-| per cent, ad valorem at
present, having been reduced for the last three years
from 5 per cent.
The duty on wolfram is at present suspended, and
on all other metals and minerals is at the rate of
10 per cent, ad valorem.
It is often contended that thfe export duty on tin is
high, but, even if it is high, it is justified by the fact
that it is the only form of taxation .to which mining is
subjected. The rent of $1 (2s. 4d.) on minjng land
is low. All mining machinery and stores come into
the country duty free. Water, whether it be fqr a few
fossickers or for an extensive hydro-electric plant, is
given free of all fees or charges. The rate of duty
is tempered by a sliding scale which meets the upward
and downward movements in the market price of tiq.
Lately, also, to meet existing circumstances and to give
every encouragement to lode mining and the mining of
deposits of a poorer quality, the Governrpent has
decided to relax somewhat the general rate cf dutv in
71ie Federated Mdlay States. 311
special cases. Timber for firewood and for mining
purposes is given free tx) miners, and to miners only
— a concession the value of which it is difficult to
estimate. The revenu^erived from the duty on tin
has been and is being employed in the development
ot the country, directly cheapening transport and
commodities and thus indirectly lessening the costs of
winning tin. If a comparison were made with the
taxes, direct and indirect, on the mining industries of
other countries, the Federated Malay States would
compare favourably.
The history of the tin industry may be summed up
in the few words that the past cumbersome method of
transport of tin ore and of provisions for the workers
by elephant and by river boat is now replaced by
first-class roads and express trains. Time is saved in
bringing the ore to the market, and the liability to
theft is avoided. In the old days, it was no
uncommon excuse to attribute the shortage of weight
dirring transit to the elephant's inordinate and un-
natural appetite for the indigestible. The future of
the tin-mining industry depends on further improved
means of transport and the opening up of unworked
areas that may be proved payable to mine.
112
lUustrated Guide to
APPENDICES.
GLOSSARY.
Astana
Palace.
Merah
. Red.
Atap
Thatch of
Nibong
. A palm {oncos-
palm leaf.
perma tigil-
Ayer...
Water.
larid).
Baju...
Short jacket.
Nipah
. Palmleaf
Bangsawan ..
T h e a t r i cal
Nonia
. A Chinese or
performance
E u r a s i an
Blanda
Dutchman
married
(Hollander)
woman.
Bliong
Axe.
Orang
, Man.
Bukit
Hill.
Padi
Rice.
Gajah
Elephant.
Pahlawan .
. Leader in war.
Itam
Black.
Parang
. Chopping
J ad am
Niello work.
knife.
Jarang
Separated by
Pawang
.. Magician.
wide inter-
Penghulu .
Headman.
vals.
Penglima .
. Leader in war.
Kampor.g ..
A hamlet ; a
Pinang
.. Betel nut.
homestead ;
Pinding
.. Buckle.
a home.
P:ahu
.. Boat.
Kongsi
Chinese shed.
Punai
.. Green pigeon.
Kota
Fort.
Puteh
.. White.
Kris...
Dagger.
Sungei
River.
Krusang
Brcoch.
Tengkis
Unequal in
Kuda
Horse.
size.
Kuning
Yellow.
Tuan
.. Master, sir.
Lada
Pepper
Tumbok
.. To pound.
Lalang
Long grass
Umbut
. . The soft heart
{i III p e rata
of the upper
cyJindrica).
portion of a
Lumpur
Mud.
palm, palm-
Mabok
Drunken.
cabbage.
Mati
. Dead.
Ungka
.. Gibbon {Jiylo-
Mengkviang
The common
halcs lar or
screw - pine
hy lob atcs
{pan damn
agilis) mor,-
atroiarpiis).
key.
NoTK. — \'owtIs are pronounced as in Italian, con.-ionants as
in English.
Tlie Federated Malay States.
THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES.
Approximate Statistics.
Area -
Population -
Imports, 191 8
Exports, 19 1 8
Trade, 1 91 8
27,623 square miles.
1,279,859 (estimated).
^"8,720,920
^"26,024,400
i^34,745o20
Governmettt Rerueinie, 191S- ^7,985,700.
KXI'ORT (191S) OK SOME STAPLE ARTICLES.
5
Tons.
Value.
£
Areca nuts
794
10,813
Coffee
169
7,861
Copra
25,490
356,221
Fish, Dried and Salted
2,708
39,308
Gambler
266
10,437
Gutias and Unspecified Rubber
6
2,136
Hides, Raw
39B
21,160
Indigo ...
218
1,230
I'adi
5.250
28,038
Para Rubber
78,389
13,584,665
I'epper ...
10
417
Rattans and Canes
230
1,864
Rice
5.292
75432
Sugar and Sugar Cane
19
477
Tapioca
1,380
18,192
Tin and Tin Ore
50,982
11,032,235
Tungsten and Scheelito
821
133,308
314
Illiislrafed Guide to
Resthouses Upkept
BY
Government.
The charge for lodgings is f 1.50 ctf
board is $1.50 cts. = 3s. 6d. a day, un
. = 3s. 6d, a day, and for
less otherwise staled.
Name ok Town.
Name of State.
Bagan Datoh
Perak
Bagan Serai
Batu Gajah t
Bentong t
Bidor
Perkk
Perak
Paharig
Perak
Bruas
Perak
Chanderiang
Gopeng t
Grikt
Perak
Perak
Perak
Ipoh
Jugra
Perak
Selangor
Kajang
Kampar t
Kampong Batu (Rembau)*
Selangor
Perak
Negri Sembilan
KHan Inlan t
Perak
Kroh t
Perak
Kual'a Dipang
Kuala Kangsar
Perak
Perak
Kxiala Klawang t
Negri Sembilan
Kuala Kurau
Perak
Kuala Lipis t
Pahang
Kuala lyumpur
Selangor
Kuala Pahang % \
Kuala Pilah *
Pahang
Negri Sembilan
• Board §2=45. 8d. a day. t Board §2. 50 cts. = 5S. lod. a day. % Lodging
$i=2S, 4d. a day. II Food supplied by caretakers, with whom travellers
should make their own arrangements.
The Federated Malay States.
;t5
Resthouses Upkept by Government — coni.
Name of Town.
Name of State.
Kuala Selangor
Selangor
Kuantan t
Pahang
Lawin t
Perak
Lenggong t
Peral^
Parit t
Perak
Tarit Bunlar
Perak
Pekan ||
Pahang
Port Dickson *
Negri Senibilan
Raub *
Pahang
Selania t
Parage
Sepang
Negri Seml^ilan
8eremban *
Negri Sembilan
Sitiawan
Perak
Sungei Siput
PcraV
Sungkai
Perak
Sunkai
Perak
Taiping t
Perak
Tampin *
Negri Sembilan
Tanjong Malim
Perak
Tanjong Tualang
Perak
Tap ah
Perak
Telok Anson
Perak
Ulu Selangor
1 Selangor
• Board %i — 4s. 8d. a day. t Board S2.50 ct?. = 5s. lod. a day. || Food
supplied by caretakers, with whom travellers should make their own
arrangements.
ii6
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3i8
illusirated Guide to
BiBLIOGRAPHIA.
Name of Book.
Author.
Publisher.
The Magic of Malaya
C. W. Harrison ...
John Lane.
Malay Sketches
Sir F. Swettenham
,,
Un'addressed Letters...
>»
99
The Real Malay
j»
5)
In Milay Fdrests
W. G. Maxwell ...
Blackwood 6i SonS.
Saleh ...
Sir Hugh Clifford...
?> j>
Bush-whacking
,,
It i>
In a Corner of Asia ...
55 .. .
9} 99
In Court and Kampong
J>
>9 99
Heroes bf Exile
?) ...
Malayan Monochromes
John Murray.
John Smith in Malaya
A. Hale ... ".
Brill, Leyden.
Malayan Memories ...
R. 0. Winstedt ...
Kelly & Walsh.
Chinese Shadows
W. G. Stirling ...
99 9 9
British Malaya
Sir F. Swettenham
John Lane.
P"urthpr India
Sir Hugh Clifford...
Lawrence & Bulleti.
The Malay Peninsula
A. Wright and T.
H. Reid.
T. Fisher Unwin.
The Far East
Henry Norman ...
9 9 99
Sir -Stamford Raffles...
Boulger
Raffled' Memoirs
Lady Raffles
Duncaii.
Anecdotal History of
C, B. Buckley ...
Eraser & Neave.
Singapore.
Far Eastern Tropics ...
Alleyne Ireland ...
Constable.
The Golden Chersonese
Isabella L. Bird ...
Jo'm Murray.
Life iii the Far East ...
J. T. Thomson ...
Richardson & Co.
Malay to India
John Cameron
Smith, Elder & Co.
Far East Revisited ...
A. G. Angier
Witherby.
Kelantan
W. A. Graham ...
MacLehose.
Quedah
Sherard Osborn ...
Longmans.
Malay Annals
John Leyden
9>
Straits of Malacca
T.J. Newbold ...
John Murray.
Malay Magic ...
W. W. Skeat
Macmilian.
Pagan Races ...
Skeat & Blagden . . .
,j
My Friends the
G. B. Cerruti
TipographiaCo-operative
Savages
Comense, Comoj Italy.
Fables and Folk Tales
W.W. Skeat
Cam. Univ. Press.
Papers on Malay
—
F. M. S. Govt. Press.
Subjects.
Journal of the F.M.S.
—
9> 99 99
Museums.
Reptiliaand Batrachia
G. A. Boulenger ...
99 99 >9
The Fedtraied Malay States.
BiBLIOGRAPHIA COfltiflUCd.
Name or Book.
Elephant and Seladang
Hunting in Mala)a
Three Months in
Pahang in Search
of Big Game.
Kinta Tin Deposits ...
Geology of S. Perak,
N. Selangor and
Bindings.
Tin-Fields of the F.M.S.
Mining in Malaya
Flora of Mal^y Penin-
sula.
Descriptive Dictionary
of British Malaya ..
Malay-Eng. Vocabulary
Eng.-Malay Vocabulaij
Manual of the Malay
Language
An Al)ridged Malay-
English Dictionary.
Malay-English Diction-
ary. 2 Vols.
Malay-Eng. Yocabulary
Practical Malay Gram-
mar.
Travellers' Malay Pro-
nouncing Handbook
An English-Malay Dic-
tionary. 3 Vols.
Colloquial Dictionary,
ling. -Malay and
.Malay-Eng.
Colloquial Malay
\ Malay Grammar ...
Appendix of Arabic
Spelling to English-
Malay Dictionary.
A Malay Reader
Author.
T. R. Hubback
W. R.Jones
J. B. Scrivenorand
W. R. Jones.
J. B. Scrivenor ...
E. Warneford-Lock
H. N. Ridley
N. B. Dennys
Sir F. Swettenham
W. E. Maxwell ...
R. J, Wilkinson ...
))
Shcllabear ..
R. O. Winstedt
Publisher.
R. O. Winstedt and
E. O. Blagdcn.
Rowland Ward, Ltd.
Kelly & Walsh.
Q. T. Geo. Socy., 19 17.
F.M.S. Govt. Press.
Alalay States Agency.
Eastern Papers, Ltd.
1 Kelly & Walsh, Ltd.,
] Singapore.
Kegan Paul, Trench,
Trtibner & Co.
F. M. S. Govt. Press.
Kelly & Walsh.
American Mission Press,
Singapore.
Kelly & Walsh.
Kelly Si Walsh, Singa-
pore.
In the Pi ess.
Kelly a-.id Walsh.
Clarendon Press.
Clarendon Press^ Oxford,
NoTK— Most of these books are procurable from Kelly & Walsh or John Little &
(^o., Singapore, and from I'rit.hard & Co., rciian^;. *
320 Illustrated Guide to
List of Publications for Sale at the Government
Printing Office, Singapore.
Price per
, Copy.
LEGAL. S c,
Oidinarices of the Straits Settlements — Annual Volume
of, for the years 1874-6, 1878, 1881-5, 1S96, 1898,
1901, 1904, 1905, 1906-17 ... ... ... ... 3 00
Ordinances — Unbound copies of Rules and Regula- —
tions, Orders in Council, 5 cents for every 4 pages or
part of 4 pages.
Ordinances and Orders in Council — Series of Reprints
of—
No. 3. The Registration of Deeds Ordinance and
Rules ... ... ... ... ... I 00
No. 4. The Malacca Lands Ordinance and Rules... o 75
No. 5. The Muhammadan Marriage Ordinance and
Rules (with a Malay translation) ... i 00
No. 7. The Christian Marriage Ordinance, 1898,
and Rules ... ... ... ... ... o 40
No. 8. The Crown Lands Ordinance, 1886, and
Rules
No. 10. Ordinances relating to Petroleum ...
No. II. Rules under Miscellaneous Ordinances
No. 12. The Evidence Ordinance, 1893
Orders, Rules, Regulations and By-laws — Annual
Volumes of, for the years 1889, 1891, 1894-1901,
1905, 1910-17 ... ... .
Indian Acts in force in Straits Settlements
iSIunicipal Ordinance, 1913
Criminal Procedure Code, 1910 (Paper Covers)
(Full Cloth)
Civil Procedure Code, 1907
„ „ ,, 1907, Index to ...
„ „ ,, 1907, Table of Contents of
Table of Acts and Ordinances, Straits Settlements, l>y
W. George Maxwell (Eighth Edition, revised by A.
B. Voules)
Bankruptcy Ordinance, 188S, with Rules
Merchant Shipping Ordinance, 1910 ...
,, ,, ,, Index to
,, ,, ,, Rules under ...
Prize Court Procedure Act, 1914, and Prize Court
Rules, 1914 , ... ... .;. ... o 65
I
00
I
00
■>
00
80
3
00
3
00
2
20
K
00
6
00
4
50
I
45
20
4
00
4
00
2
60
75
4
25
The Federated Malay States. 321
List of Publications for Sale at the Government Printing
Office, Singapore— cow/i);?r("(^.
Price per
Copy.
LEGAL— cc«//.'.',7«'rt'. S c.
Manual of the Law of Extradition and Fuc^itive
Offenders by Aloysius de Mello ... 12 50
Companies Ordinance ... ... ... ... ... i 90
The War Tax Ordinance, 1917 ... ... ... ... o 45
No'es on the War Tax Ordinance, 1917 .., ... o 10
COLONIAL AND DEPARTMENTAL PAPERS.
Unbound copies of Annual Reports, Council Proceed-
ings, Council Papers, 5 cents for every 4 pages or
part of 4 pages.
Annual Deparlmental Reports — Annual Volume of,
for 1889, 1891, 1804-1901, 1905, 1910-17, each ... 3 00
Blue Book for 1S73-4, 1876, 187S, 1881, 1884-5,
1887-9. 1892-S, 1900-1908, 1910-1917, each ... 3 00
Council Proceedings— Annual Volume o*", for 1873-77,
1880-82, 1890-91, 1893-1917, each .. 3 00
Imports and Exports — Annual Returns of, for 18S5,
1887, 18S9, 1904-5, 1909-10, 1912-17, each ... 3 00
Imports and J^xports — Quarterly Returns of each ... i co
Civil Service List (Annual \'olunie) ... ... ... i 00
Cieneral Orders, Straits Settlements (1910 edition) ... i 00
Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Opium
Commission (3 Volumes) Part I, Report and Annex-
ures ; Part II, P'.vidence ; Part III, Appendices;
complete ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 00
Report of Opium Commissioners, S.S. and F.M.S.
(printed separately on thin paper) ... ... ... o 25
Straits Settlements Municipal Enquiry Commission (2
Volumes) ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 00
Siraits Settlements Census Report, 1911 ... ... 2 10
MISCELLANEOUS.
Historical Tom!;stoncs of Malacca .(R. N. Bland) —
(Half Morocco) ... 6 00
(.■\rt Vellum) ... 4 75
Treaties and Engagements with the Native States of
Ihe .Malay Peninsula (18S9) . . ... ... ... i 00
1/ / US f rated Guide to
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Federated Malay
Slates. 325
ROADS-TANJONG
KUALA LUMPUR
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326
Illustrated Guide to
DS- KUALA
D MALACCA.
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Thi Federated Malay States. 327
NINE DAYS BY RAIL BETWEEN PENANG AND
SINGAPORE.
First Day. — 8 a.m. train from Penang to Taiping, arriving
10.54 a.m. Leave Taiping 3.55 p.m. for Kuala
Kangsar, arriving 4.57 p.m. Night at Kuala Kangsar.
Second Day. — 11.57 a.m. train to Ipoh, arriving 1.13 p.m.
Night at Ipoh,
Third Day. — 1.23 p.m. train to Kuala Kubu, arriving
4.51 p.m. Night at Kuala Kubu.
Fourth Day. — Night at Kuala Lipis.
Fifth Day.— 4.56 p.m. Train Kuala Kubu to Kuala Lumpur.
Night at Kuala Lumpur.
Sixth Day. — At Kuala Lumpur.
Seventh Day.— 7.5 a.m. train to Seremban, arrivuig
9.7 a.m. Night at Seremban.
Eighth Day.— 9.38 a.m. train to Port Dickson, arriving
1 1. 10 a.m. and returning at 11.27 ^■'^- to Seremban.
Leave Seremban 2.53 p.m., arrive Malacca 5.30 p.m.
Night at Malacca.
Ninth Day.— Leave Malacca 9.30 a.m. train, arrive Singapore
7.14 p.m. (change at Tampin).
TEN DAYS BY RAIL BETWEEN SINGAPORE
AND PENANG.
First Day. — 7.7 a.m. train to Malacca, arrive 5.10 p.m.
Night at Malacca,
Second Day. — 2.20 p.m. train to Seremban, arrive 5.6 p.m.
Night at Seremban.
Third Day. — Night at Seremban.
Fourth Day. — 9.38 a.m. train to Port Dickson, arrive
11.10 a.m., return 3.15 ]).m. to Seremban, arriving
4.59 p.m., and leaving for Kuala Lumpur at 5.19 p.m.,
arriving 7.18 p.m. Night at Kuala Lumpur
Note.— Tbe»e times should Ijc verified a( Penang and Singapore
befoie turtiDg, at the Railway Time Table niay Le changed .
328 Illustrated Guide to
Fifth Day. — At Kuala Lumpur.
Sixth Day. — 8.0 a.m. train to Kuala Kubu, arriving
9.28 a.m. Night at Kuala Lipis.
Seventh Day. — Night at Kuala Kubu.
Eighth Day. — 9.30 a.m. train to Ipoh, arriving l.o p.m.
Night at Ipoh.
Ninth Day. — 1.14 p.m. train to Kuala Kangsar, arriving
2.30 p.m., leave 5.45 p.m. for Taiping, arriving 6.45 p.m.
Night at Taiping.
Tenth Day. — 3.30 p.m. train to Fenang.
FORTNIGHT'S TOUR.
First Day. — At Penang.
Second Day. — 8.0 a.m. train to Bagan Serai, arriving
9.54 a.m. Spend morning and afternoon shooting snipe
(October, November, December, January, February,
March only). Night at Bagan Serai.
Third Day. — 9.55 a.m. train to Taiping, arriving 10.54 a.m.
Leave Taiping 3.55 p.m. for Kuala Kangsar, arriving
4.57 p.m. Complete arrangements for houseboat. Night
at Kuala Kangsar.
Fourth Day to Seventh Day.— Down the river in
houseboat.
Eighth Day. — 7.53 a.m. train from Teluk Anson, arriving
Ipoh 10.31 a.m. Night at Ipoh.
Ninth Day. — 1.23 p.m. train to Kuala Lumpur, arriving
6.22 p.m. Night at Kuala Lumpur.
Tenth Day. — At Kuala Lumpur.
Eleventh Day. — 7.5 a.m. train to Seremban. Night at
Seremban.
Twelfth Day,— 9.20 a.m. train to Malacca (change at
Tampin), arriving 12.15 p.m. Night at Malacca.
Thirteenth Day. — 9.30 a.m. train to Smgapore (change at
Tampin), arriving 7.14 p.m.
Fourteenth Day.— At Singapore.
Note.— These Times should be verified before starting, as the Railway
Time Table may be changed.
The Federated Malax States.
329
P E R A K.
Table of Distances bv Road.
LARUT.
Distance
,-
M.
F.
From Central Police
Station, Taiping, to
Race Course, Waterfall Road
6^
Do.
Kota Bridge ...
I
2
Do.
Waterfalls, foot of hill
I
3
Do.
f^nigup
I
5
Do.
Old Race Course (Sungei
Planter)
2
c
Do.
Kamunting {via Swettenham
Road or Gugup)
3
I
Do.
Simpang Police Station
3
6
Do.
Sungei Mati (Trong bridle
path junction)
4
5^
Do.
Changkat Serdang ...
5
Do.
Simpang Railway Station ...
5
6
Do
Matang (Opposite P. & T.
Office)
5
7
Do.
P.ukit Putus (junction)
6
Do.
Changkat Jering
6
4i
Do.
Teluk Kertang
7
s
Do.
Matang Railway Station
S
4i
Do.
Bukit Gantang
Do.
Ulu Sapetang...
9
o\
Do.
New Kurau Road (junction
with Selama Road)
I
Do.
Kampong Tuah
lu
!■;
Do.
Kampong Dew
10
4
Do.
Port Weld
1 I
Do.
'lop of Pass (Bukit I'erapit)
12
()
Do.
I.emhali Nenering (Pondol^
Tanjong)
12
7
Do
(iapis fRumah Papan)
13
5;
Do.
Batu Kurau Police Station ...
15
Do.
I'adang Rengas
IS
l)o
Lady Weld's Bungalow
15
7
33°
Il/iisirated Guide to
From Central Pol
Station, Taiping
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do,
From New
Trong Road to
Do.
Do.
Distance.
M
F
lice
J, to Sungei Gedong
i6
6^
Jelai ...
i8
Kuala Dal ...
i8
5i
Briah ]\.esthouse
20
4|
Bagan Serai ...
22
oh
Kuala Kangsai-
22
3l
Enggor
27
Simpang Lima
... 28
3i
Simpang Tiga
29
^
Batu Tiga
30
Selama...
30
2
Simpang Ampat
31
3i
Parit Buntar ...
31
4
Siputeh
32
5
Kamuning Estate
Bungalow
(opposite) ...
35
2
Sungei Siput ...
2,(>
2
Plang Resthouse
3S
5^
Gunong Gantang
41
7
) Kampong Lubok Batu
via Ayer
Kuning Road ...
"... II
5
Trong Police Station
14
2
Bruas
30
KRIAN,
hrorn Parit Euntar to Simpang Ampat
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Simpang Tiga
Simpang Lima
Bagan Tiang, z'/a Boundaiy
Road
Sungei Megat Aris via Canal
Sungei Bogah
Sungei Megat Aris 2'ia Boun-
dary Road ...
Tanjong Piandang 7'ia Sim-
pang Tiga
Tanjong Piandang via Boun-
dar)' and Coast Roads
I 3
1 3
2 7
6 &J
The Federated Malay States.
331
From Parit Buntar to Bagan Serai ...
Do. Kuala Kurau via Jalan Bharu
Do. Kuala Kurau via Boundary
and Coast Roads ...
Do. Kuala Kurau via Tanjong
Piandang and Coast Roads
Do. Sungei Gedong
From Bagan Serai to Sungei Semambu
Distance.
M. F.
9 2
9 5
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Sungei Bogah
Sungei Gedong
Alor Pongsu ...
Simpang Lima
Kuala Kurau via Sungei
Siakap Road
Parit Buntar ...
Tanjong Piandang via Kuala
Kurau and Coast Roads...
Bukit Merah ...
Sungei IMegat Aris via Kuala
Kurau and Coast Roads ...
Tanjong Piandang via
Simpang Tiga and Parit
Buntar
Bangan Tiang via Kuala
Kurau and Coast Roads ...
14
14
14
2
3
4
4
6
7
9
12 4
21 o
14 5
14 7
15 4
KUALA KANQSAR.
From Kuala Kangsar
Police Station to Knggor
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Karai (Railway Station)
Kanipong Mcrhang ...
Padang Rcngas
.Salak Kecliil ...
Salak Town ...
Salak Railway Station
Kali
iJukit Cjanlung
Sungei Sipul Tiwn ...
Cliangkat Jfiin'.^
Jenalik '.
4
4-'
S
7,\
6
l\
7
7
4i
9
4i
10
II
3i
•• \
•'i
'4
4i
15
OJ
20
ij
22
o
22
3^
23
o
25
o
32
o
7
b
i8
39
o
71
o
332 Illustrated Guide to
Distance.
From Kuala Kangsar
Police Station to Raban ...
Do. Taiping
Do. Lintang
Do. Kota Tamjian
Do. Lenggong
Do. Kenas ...
UPPER PERAK.
From Grik to Lawin ...
Do. Lenggong
Do. Kuala Kangsar
NEW TERRITORY, UPPER PERAK.
From ^lian Intan to K roll
Do. Baling
Do. Kupang ...
Do. Tawar
Do. Katum'oah ...
Do. Kuala Kelil
Do. Sedin
Do. Mirabau Pulas
Do. I'adang Serai
Do. Kreh Railway Station
Do. via Kreh to Bagan Tuan Kcchil
(Butterworth for Penang)
Do. Kulim
Do. ria Kulim 10 Bukil Rlertajam
Do. via Ara Kudah to Bukil Mertajam...
KJNTA.
From Batu Gajah
Police Station to Batu Gajah Village 06
From Batu Gajah Village to Busing 3 2
Do. Papau ... ... ... 4 ^
Do. Siputeli 56
Do. Lahat ^ 2
Do. Tronoh 9 ^
Do. Tekka Menglenihu ... 10 2
9
4
18
b
2.S
2
31
b
29
41
44
4
45
54
bo
75
70
79
bb
The Federated Malay Slates.
333
Distance.
From Batu Gajah Village to Gopeng
Do. Ipoh ...
Do Perak River
From Ipoh to Tekka Menglenibu
Do. Tambun ...
Do. Lahat Village ...
Do. Lahat Railway .'>tation
Do. Sungei Raia
Do. Papan
Do. Tanjong Rambutan
Do. Pusing ...
Do. Chemor ...
Do Gopeng ...
Do. Batu Gajah Village
Do. Sungei Siput
From Gopeng to Tekka Sungei Raia ...
Do. Kuala Dipang
Do. Sungei Siput...
Do. Kampar Town
Do. Kampar Railway Station
Do. Talam
Do. Malim Nawar
BATANG PADANQ.
From Tapah to Bukit Mas
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Tapah Road ..
Temoh Station
Pahang Road
Chanderiang
Bidor Station
From Bidor to Sangkai
From Tapah to Kampar
From Slim to Tanjong Malini.
From Sangkai to Slim ...
LOWER PERAK.
From Telok Anson to Changkat Jong
Do. Utan Melintang
7 o
13 o
Ilhistrated Guide to
SELANGOR.
Table of Distances by Road.
KUALA LUMPUR.
Distance from Market Street Bridge.
Milei
Via Batu Road —
Junction \vith Pahang Road ... ... ... ... i.'.
Central Workshops (F.M.S.R.) 2|
Batu Estate Road ... ... ... ... ... i\
Batu Village (Police Station).,. ... ... ... 4.^
Kepong Road (Junction) ... ... ... ... \\
(To Kepong Station 3I miles further on from
Junction)
Kent Estate ... ... ... ... ... ... C
Batu Caves Estate ... ... ... ... ... 6't
Batu Caves ... ... ... ... ... ... 7j
Via Rawang Road —
Junction with Batu Road ... ... ... ... 7
Kanchang Village ... ... ... ... ... I2i
Rawang ... ... ... ... ... iS/r
Serendah ... ... ... ... ... ... 23.T
Kuala Kubu ... ... ... ... .. ... 38
Semangko Pass (Gap) ... ... ... ... ... 59
Via Pahang Road —
Junction with Batu Road
I^
District Hospital
If
Setapak Village ..
T-i
Junction with Uhi Gombak Road
C^'i
Hawthornden Estate
(about)
Si
Wardieburn
jj
5.1
Setapak Dale Estate
5T
Junction with Ulu Klang Road
(about)
0/,
Klang Gates
,,
7
Ulu Klang Halting Bungalow
J J
^i-
Ulu Gombak Electric Power Station
ii-r
Do. Headworks
16'
Ginting Simpah (Hill Club)
23-
The Federated Malay States. 335
Distance from Market Street Bridge.
Miles.
Via Ampang Road —
Malay Settlement (about) l^
Race Course ... ... ... ... „ i {■
Tunclion with Circular Road „ 2.-}
Junction with Ulu Klang Road ... „ 4?
Ampang Village ... ... ... 1, Si
Ulu Klang ... ... d 7
Via Pudoh Road —
Pudoh Gaol ... ... ■■■ ... » 1
Pudoh ,, n
Via Cheras Road —
Junction witli Ulu Langs t Road ... „ 9
Cheras ... ... ... .•• ••• » "
Ulu Langat ... ... ... ■•• >i I4
Kajang ,, IS
Dusun Tua ... ... ... ■.• » lo?
, Beranang ... ... ... ... n ^'^i
Seremban ... .. .- ... n 43
Via Sungei Besi Road —
Salak South ... ... ... .. ••■ ••• 4
Sungei Besi (about) 9
Serdang ... ... ... ••• ••• d "5
Kajang ... ... ••• ••• ••• >» '9
Via Brickfields Road-
Government Factory ... ... ■.• » 1 5
P^uropean Hospital ... ... ... » 2^
Via Petaling Road—
Petaling (Railway Station) ,, 6
Kuchai ... ... •■. .•• ••• « 75
Junction of Puchong Road „ 12%
Bukit Itam Estate ». I4i
From Selangor Club to Railway Station o\
Do. Courts of Justice oA
Do. General Hospital oi
Do, Sultan Street Railway Staticm ... ol
Do. Golf Club House of
Do. Residency O'J
336 Illustrated Guide to
)
Distance from Market Street Bridge.
Miles.
From Selangor Club to Victoria Institution ... ... O4-
Do. Lake Club via Club Road ... i
Do. Factory ... ... ... ••• I4
Do. District Hospital i?
Do. Race Course 1-4"
Do. Carcosa via Damansara Road ... 2
KLANG.
Do.
Batang Kali
Do.
Kerling
Do.
Ulu Yam
Do.
Sangka Dua
Do.
Sungei Tampeian ..
Do.
Kalumpang
Do.
Serendah
Do.
Tanjong INIalim ..
Do.
Rawang
2i
From Klang to Telok Pulai
Do. Telok Gadong 2^
Do. Batu Unjor ... ... ... ••• 3
Do. Telok Menugan 3
Do. Kuala Klang ... ... ■•■ ••• 54
Do. Batu Lima (Pandamaran Junction) ... 54-
Do. Sungei Binjai ... ... ••• ••• 6
Do. Jalan Kabun ... ... ••• ••• 8
Do. Kuala Langat Boundary ... ... ... 8]
Do. Batu Tiga via Batu Tiga Road 10
Do. Kapar ... ... ... ••• ••• lOj
Do. Damansara via Bukit Kamuning Road 1 1
Do. • Damansara via Batu Tiga Road ... 12
Do. Sungei Serdang ... ... ... ••• 14
Do. Batu Tiga via Bukit Kamuning Road... 14
Do. Puchong Bridge 16
Do. Klang to Jugra via Bandar Ferry (Sampan
— For Foot Passengers only) ... 19
y, -r ( z;?a Banting ... ... ••• 28^
L»o. J "gi'^' ^ 2,2a Sungei Buova Ferry 22^
Do. Morib 27I
Do. Kuala Selangor ... ... ... ... 28|
ULU SELANGOR.
From Kuala Kubu to Rasa ... ••• ••• ... 4
6
6|
7-
84
"i
"f
14
i6i
20
The Fedetated Malay States.
337
From Kuala Kubu to Semangko Pass
Do. Kanchiag ...
Do. Tras...
Do. Raub
Do. Bentong
Do. Kuala Lipis
P"rom Rawang to Kanching
Do. Kuala Lumpur ...
Do. Kuala Selangor ...
From Serendah to Rawang
Distance.
Miles.
... 21
- 25A
... 36
... 44*
... 55
... S3
... 6
... 18^
... 30
... 6
KUALA SELANGOR.
From Kuala Selanqor to Telok Pioi
Do.
Assam Java
Do.
Kampong Kuantan
Do.
Bukit Rotan
Do.
Jerani
Do.
Jeram Sea Shore
Do.
Bukit Panjang ...
Do.
Batang Berjuntai
Do.
Rawang Road (31st
mile)
Do.
Kapar
Do.
Klang
Do.
Rawang ...
Do.
Kuala Lumpur via Kcpong Road
2 A
4I
5
6^
10
II
12
13
i8|
18^
28I
31
43
ULU LANGAT.
From Kajang (Sanitary
Board Office) to Cheras
Do. Reko
Do. Semenyih
Do. .Serdang...
Do. Bangi ...
Do. Sungei Besi
Do. Ulu Langat
Do. Taron \'illage ..
Do. Pudoh ...
Do. Beranang
Do. Uusun Tua
Do. Kuala Luminir via Clicras
Do. Kuala Lumpur via Sungei Besi
Do. .-Vycr Itaiii (Kuala Lunipuf Distr
Boundary) ...
3i
6i
II
12
n\
15
19
17
338 Illustrated Guide to
Distance.
Miles.
From Kajang (Sanitary
Board Office) to Seremban (Police Station) ... ... 28^
Do. Sepang ... ... ... .. ... 27
Do. Morib (jv/a Telok Datoh) 37^
KUALA LANQAT.
From Jugra to Sungei Rabbah
Do. Bandar
Do. Glenggang Boyah Road
Do. Klanang
Do. Sungei Boyah
Do. Morib
Do. Klang Boundary {%\ mile)
Do. Klang via Bandar Ferry (foot passenger
only)
Do. Sepang
Do. Banting
From Sepang to Labu in Selangor
Do. Kuala Sepang
Do. Sepang Road Station (Nilai)
Do. Thambo ...
Do. Bata
' See Klan"
4
S
5i
6
6i
10
*ioj
*I9
20J
NEGRI SEMBILAN.
Table of Distances by Road.
SEREMBAN.
Distance
Miles.
From Seremban to Gedong Lalang (on road to Kuala
Pilah)
Do. Sikamat (on road to Selangor)
Do. Paroi (on road to Kuala Pilah)
Do. Pantai (on road to Selangor)
Do. Setul do.
Do. Mantin do.
Do. Bukit Putus (on road to Kuala
Pilah) loi
The Federated Malay States.
339
From
Distance.
Miles.
Seiemban to Bukit Tanggah (on road to Jelebu) 14J
Do. Lenggeng (on road to Selangor,
branching from Setul) ... ... 14
Do. Beranang (on road to Selangor) ... 15
Do. Tirachi (on road to Kuala Pilah) 15
Do. Broga (branching from Setul) ... 21 1
Do Muar (on road to Kuala Pilah) ... 21
Do. Kuala Klawang (on road to Jelebu) 23-i
Do. Kuala Pilah 25
Do. Titi (on road to Jelebu) ... ... 29
From Kuala Klawang to Ulu Triang i^
Do. Hospital ih
Do. Ulu Klawang School ... ... 3
Do. Kampai School ... ... 3^
From Kuala Pilah to top of Senaling Pass 5
6i
10
14
24
9h
16
14
6
S
24
Do.
Selaru
Do.
Jelai Bridge
Do.
lohol Station
Do.
Tampin
Do.
Batu Kikir .
Do.
Bahau
Do.
Serting
Do.
Parit Tinggi
From Tampin to Alor Gajah
Do. Malacca ...
Do. Seremban
PAHANG.
Table of Distances by Road.
KUALA LIPIS.
From Kuala Lipis to Benta
Do. Batu Balai
Do. Jerantut Railway Crossing
Do Jerantut River ...
Do. Tikam
Do. \is
Distancr
M,
K.
... 16
s
-. 16
... 56
I
... 62
3
... 74
7i
... 101
1'.
'40 Illustrated Guide to
RAUB DISTRICT.
Distance.
M. V.
From Raul) to Tras ... ... ... ... ... 8 i
Do. Tranum (Junction) ... .. ... 92
Do. Gap 23 I
Do. Bentong 29 4
Do. Ginting Sempah ... ... ... 56 o
Do. Negri Sembilan (Boundary) 73 2
Do. Sungei Chero (Batu Talam Road) ... 9 7
Do. Bukit Koman 2 o
Do. Sungei Gali ... ... ... ... 63
Do. .Sungei Dong ... ... ... ... 8 7
Do. Sungei Teruvas ... ... ... ... 15 2
Do. Ator " 18 5
Do. Benta (Junction) 22 2
Do. Kuala Lipis ... ... ... ... 3^ ^
BENTONG DISTRICT.
From Bentong to Kitarik (Junction) I 5
Do. Ginting Sempah (Selangor Boundary) 26 4
Do. Sungei Benus ... ... ... 3 o
Do. Jeram... ... ... ... ..• (J 3
Do. Sungei Lerai 9 7
Do. Karak 15 4
Do. Sungei Gapoi 31 o
Do. Ginting Simpadang ... ... ... 33 3
Do. N. Sembilan Boundary ... ... 43 ^
Do Tranum (Junction) 20 2
Do. Gap 34 i
Do. Tras 21 3
Do. Raub 29 4
KUANTAN DISTRICT.
From Kuantan to Tanah Puteh (Metalled Road) ... i ik
Do. Bukit Ubi 2 b\
Do. Beserah 5 2
Do. Teluk Sisek 2 7|
Do. Semambu ... ... ... ••• 2 7j
Do. Gambang I9 o
Do. Maran ... ... ... .•• 53 34
Do. Lubok Paku Junction 54 i
From Lubok Paku Junction to Lubok Paku 1 S\
From Kuantan to Pulau Manis Path Junction 17 6 J
From Pulau Manis Path Junction to Puiau Manis ... 16 4
The Federated Afalay States. 341
Local and other Moneys, Weights and Measures.
^^o^•EY.
Copper Coins — \ cent, \ cent and i cent.
Silver Coins — ■;. 10, 20 and 50 cents pieces and I Dollar.
100 cents ... ... ... ... ... ■=^ I Dollar.
(The exclmntje value of the dollar is fixed at two shillings and
foiirpence sterling).
Weights.
Avoirdupois.
I Tahil = i.^ oz.
16 Tahils = I Kati = I J lb.
1.600 Tahils = 100 Katis.
100 Katis =: I Pikul = 133^ 11«.
40 Pikuls =i I Koyan =r 5>333:' Ihs.
Goldsmith'' s Weight.
12 Saga = I Mayam z= 52 Grains.
16 Mayam = i Bongkal = S32 Grains.
12 Bongkal rr: I Kati = 9,9^4 Grains
(i lb. 8 ozs. 16 dwts.).
Opium U'eight.
10 Tee ... =1 Hoon. | 10 Hoon ... =1 Chee.
10 Chee ... ... =1 Tahil.
Measures.
Liquid and Dry Measure.
... =1 Pail or Quarter Chiipak.
... ::= I Pint or Half Chupak.
... =: I (^uart or Chupak.
::= I Gallon or Gantang.
f.ong or Cloth Measure.
= I llasta.
=z I Ela.
=: I Depa (i fathom or 6 feet).
= 1 Kodi (l score).
Land Measure.
= I Kaki (I foot).
=: I Depa (6 feet).
=: I jemba (144 square feet).
•=i I Penjuru (14,400 square feet).
■=z I Relong (i orlong, or i'; acre, nearly).
=: 2,400 square feet.
r= I Square orlong (l-' acre, nearly).
2
Gills
2
Paus
2
Pints
4
Quarts
2
Jengkal
2
Hasta
2
Ela
20
Kayu (pieces)
12
Inchi (inches)
6
Kiki
4
(square) Depa
100
Jemba
4
Penjuru
I
Lelong
24
Lelong
INDEX.
B
Abattoir, 75.
Aborigines, 5, So, Si.
Achinese, 130.
Administration, 14, 65.
Adviser, British, 23.
Afghan, 132.
African negro, 133.
.\gent, British Tringganu, 24.
Agent's launch, 29.
Agents, Allen Dennys and Co.,
Penang, 30.
Ajmere, 64.
Alamanda, 95.
.\lcohol, 133.
Alfonso de Albuquerque, Viceroy,
12, 112.
Alluvial tin, 43, 279, 2S4.
Alor Pongsu, 34, 36.
Ammunition, 137, 141.
Anarchy, 14, 15.
Ancient carvings, 60, 247-277 ;
inscriptions, 7, 247-277 : non-
Malayan civilisations, 9.
Anderson, R. O. N.,' Director of
Public Works, 34.
Angkor, templesl'of, 10.
Angsena tree, '44.
Annamese, 133.
Arab, 130, 133.
Archaeology, 254-277.
Argus pheasant, 94
Armed force, for F.M.S., 20
Arms, 137, 139.
Art school, 63.
Assistant Resident, Perak and
Negri Sembilan, 17 ; Sir Hugh
Clifford, Pahang, 20 ; Sir Frank
Swettenham, Perak, 18.
Ayer Kuning, 54.
Bagan Serai, 34, ^6, 40, 41, 142 ;
Tiang, 36
Baggage, 27-30.
Bamboo, 69, 87, 1 19.
Banana, 36, 179.
Banishment, Malay Chief, 54 ;
Sultan Abdullah, 18
Banking, 132.
Banteng, 138.
Baskets, 162.
Bathing, 67, 72, 115.
Bats, 59.
Batu Caves, 59 ; Gajah, 74 ;
Kurau, 59.
Bear, 138.
Bedding, 115.
Beer, 116.
Beetles, 96, 152.
Behari, 132.
Beliong, 6.
Bengali, 132.
Benta, 82.
Bernam River, i iS.
Bibliography, 318.
Big Game, 138, 221-245-
Birch, E. W., 142.
„ J. W. W., Britiih Resident,
17, 53. 74-
Birds, 50.
Blanda Mabok, 119.
Hlanja, 54-
Blowpipe, 164.
Booking, railway, 28.
Bougainvillea, 95.
Boyanese Malay, 129.
Branch roads, 323.
Brazil, 102, 157.
Breakfast on railway, 32.
Breaking journey, 27.
344
Index,
British at Malacca, 112; Colonies,
S ; defeat Dutch, 13,21 ; District
Officers, 25; gun-boats, 16:
India boats, 26 ; intervention,
1 5 ; Malaya, tabulated, 23 ;
policy, 65 ; Residency, Taiping,
47 ; rule, 19 ; send troops to
Perak, 18; subjects, 19; terri-
tory, 22, 23, 30, 32; trading
community, protests of, 15.
Bronzes, 9.
Brooches, 165.
Bruas, 54.
Buddhist States, 10.
Buffalo, 37, 57, 119, 152.
Bugis Malays, 13, S7, 131.
Bukit Gantang, 55.
„ Merah, 35, 40.
Bullock cart, 77, 132, 154.
Burman, 133.
Butterfly, 50, 107, 252.
Cambodian race, 10.
Canals, irrigation, 36-3S, 40.
Capital of F.M.S., 88.
Captain Speedy, 16.
Caves, 59-60, 286.
Cement, 40.
Cerruti, 81.
Ceylon, 25, loi.
Ceylon Tamil, 132.
Chandu, 1 33-137-
Changkat Jering, Simpang Tiga,
54-
Changkat Orang Puteh, 119.
Chetty, 132.
Chief Secretary to Government,
20, 50.
Chiefs, Perak, 18 ; in Federal
Council, 20 ; rebellious in
Pahang, 20.
Chiku, 178.
China, 25 ; envoys lo 12 ; im-
pression of, on Malays,I2;sea,2l.
Chinaware, 165, 166.
Chinese, bad type, 46 ; children,
90 ; coolies, 52 ; cooly, 1S7,
190; fabricate Malay silver, 162 ;
factions, 43, 53 ; graveyards,
42 ; houses. 89 ; immigrants,
52 ; lunatics, 52 ; pawnshops,
165; reasoning, 78; set up
monument; 109 ; temple, 42,
74 ; theatre, 80 ; timber stealer,
85 ; tin working, 42 ; town,
Taiping, 43; variety of, 128;
women, no.
Clifford, Sir Hugh, 20.
Climate, 44, 89, 103.
Clothing, 142, 179-1S2.
Clubs, 45, 46, 48, 90.
I Coconut, 32, 36, 84, 109, 150-
157 ; beetle, 152, 193.
I Cocos nucifera, 85.
i Coffee, loi, 157, 159.
Coir, 154. *
Convent, Taiping, 42.
Convict establishment, 46.
Cook and Sons, Penang Agent, 30.
Copper, 41.
Copra, 153.
Coromandel coast, 129.
Cottage, Resident-General's, 50.
Council Chamber, Taiping, 43.
Council of State, Perak, 62.
Country reads, 3.
Caiirtesy, 4.
Cricket, 43, 90.
Crocodile, 69, 72, 119.
Crown Colony system, 14, 21.
Curios, 161, 246-277.
Curry, 160.
Customs on arms, 139.
Dacoities, 3.
Dams, 37.
Decrepits, 51, 126.
Index.
345
Deer, 99, 138, 139.
De la Blanchere, 145.
Diamond rings, 165.
Diego Lopez de Sequeira, Admiral,
12.
Diet, 160-161.
Dindings occupied by British, 13 ;
part of Straits Settlements, 22.
District Officer, 25, 52, 72, 125.
Districts, territorial unit, 25.
Disturbance, Pahang, 20.
Doctor, 51, 122.
Drinks, 116.
Duck, 138.
Duku, 178.
Durian, 99, 109. 176.
Dusun Tua, 98, 105.
Dutch, 130 ; bombaid Malacca,
13, 112 ; Borneo, 130 ; defeated
by British, 13, 21.
Dyak, 86, 131.
Dysentery, 121.
Earrings, 166.
East Coast Malay, 129.
East India Company, 14, 21.
?2ducation, 63-66, 167-171.
Electric fan, 147 : light, 90 :
power, 77.
Elephant, 66, 70, 99, 138, 139,
228, 232-240.
Embroidery, 167, 170.
English othcials, 54 ; quarter, 43,
89. 97, 105-
Eurjisian, 133.
Evening, 96.
I'EUKRAi. Council, 25.
Kish, 36, 161.
l-isliing, 73, 171-175-
Floods, 62.
Flying fox, 96, 99 ; lizard, lOO ;
squirrel, 99.
Food, 115, 160.
Football, 90.
Forest Officer, 80 : reserve, S5.
Fort, 53, 55, 107, 112, iiS, 119.
Fowls, 116.
Frogs, 96.
Fruit, 160, 175-179.
Game animals, 1 38- 139, 221, 228-
24s ; birds, 1 38- 1 43 ; law, 138-
139; licences, 1 3 7-1 39-
Gang robberies, 3.
Gaol, Taiping, 42, 46.
Gap, The, 50.
Gaur, 138, 221-245.
Gemas, 112.
George Town, Penang, 21.
Ghari, 182-183.
Girls' schools, 169.
Glossary, 312.
Goat-antelope, 58.
Gold, 41; anklets, 165; beads,
166.
c;olf, 91.
Governor of Straits Settlements,
23-
Governments, local, tabulated, 23.
(rovernment offices, 43, 88.
Grand tour, 25.
Granite, 41, 42, no.
Graveyards, Chinese, 42, 91.
(iriffin, 92.
Grik, 69.
Gugup valley, 42.
Gunong Bubu, 39.
,, Hijau, 50.
,, Kerbau, 80, 1 19.
., I'oiulok, 57.
,, Kujat, 74.
546
Index.
Gunong Semanggol, 41.
(hitta percha, 85.
H
Health, 143-150.
Hedge-lawyer, 3.
Hermitage, 61.
Hevea Braziliensis, 85.
High Commissioner, British, 20,
62.
Hill path, Taiping, 48.
Hill station, Taiping, 50, 51, 61.
Hinterland, 5, 14.
H.M.S. Rinaldo, 15.
Holland (see Dutch), 13.
Hornbills, 94.
Horses, 92-95, 129, 182.
Hospital, 51, 120-127.
Hot spring, 70, 98, 100
Hotels, 27, 29, 90, 115.
Mouse boat, 69, 83.
Hydraulicing, 77, 87.
Hylobates, 150.
I
Immature game, 139.
Indians, 132.
Indian troops, in Pahang rebellion,
20.
Insects, 96, 186.
Ipoh, 74-75 ; marble at, 47, no ;
rocks near, 59.
Irrigation, 34-38 ; Malay, 55, 109 :
reservoir, 40.
JaoaM, 162.
lade, 165.
Kiffna Tamil, 132.
Jak fruit, 178.
Jambu, 178.
Japan, 25, 133.
Jarang, 163.
Java, 6 ; Malay, 129.
Javanese invasion, 11.
Jelebu, 100.
Jervois, Sir William, 18.
Jetty, railway, at Penang, 27, 29.
Johor, advises Pahang, 19 ; British
General Adviser to, 24 ; Malay
Kingdom in, 13; no-man's-
land, II.
Jugra (Langat) river, 17, 103.
Jungle, 48, 54, 69, 85, 87, 94, 97,
106 ; fowl, 138; pheasant, 13S.
K
Kajang, 98, 105.
Kambing grun, 59.
Kampong Buaia, 119.
,, Dew, 117.
Kamunting, 41-43.
Kashmiri, 132.
Kedah, 7 ; British Adviser for,
24 ; Islands off, 1 1 ; recognised
as Siamese, 14 ; sells territory,
30 ; Siam's suzerainty over,
ceded, 23.
Kelantan, British Adviser for, 24 ;
independence of, 14 ; opened
to commerce, 14 ; Siamese
suzerainty over, ceded, 23.
Kew, 102.
Khaki, 73.
Khalifa, 118.
Kinta, 74.
Klang, 88, loi.
Kling, 132.
Kongsi, 76
Kota Bharu, 118.
,, Lama, 118.
,, Lama Kanan, 119
Index.
34:
Kota Lama Kiri, 119.
,, Malacca, 113.
Kramat, 9, 42.
Krian, 32, 33, 130, 143 : river,
road, 41.
Kris, I, 17, 163.
KuaJa, 117.
Kuala Kangsar, 54, 61, 66,
.72.
Kuala Kendrong, 69.
Kenering, 69.
Klang, 117.
Kuantan, 83.
Kubu, 83, 87.
Langat, 102.
,, Lipis, 82.
,, Lumpur, 59, 8S, 94,
98, 117.
Kuala Pilah, 105- 1 11.
,, Sapetang, 117.
,, Selangor, Dutch fort
14 ; piracy at, 14 ; river at,
Kuantan, 82.
Kuau, 94, 151.
69,
97,
in,
87.
Labelling luggage, 2S.
Ladies, 1 14.
Lake, 46, 97.
Langat (Jugra) river, 17, 103.
Langkasuka (Langgasu) State of,
II.
Langkawi islands, il.
Larut, Chinese factions in, 16 ;
hills, 48 ; old race-course in,
47 ; tin mines in, 15, 43.
Laterite, 94, II 3.
Latex, 158.
Launch, Agents', 27. 29 ; railway,
27
I^ad, 41.
Legislative C(juncil, 24.
Lenggong, 69.
Leonardo da Vinci, map Ijy, 2 1 .
Leopard, 138.
Lepers, 51, 124.
Lime, 179.
Limestone rocks, 5^, 74-
Lister, The Hon. Martin, 109.
Lizards, 184-185.
Low, Sir Hugh, 47, ici.
Lower Perak, 84.
Lunatic asylum, 51, 124.
M
Maharaja Lela, 53.
Mail steamers, 26.
Main range, hills, 30, 41, 45.
Majapahit (Javanese), 11.
Malacca, 5, 1 12, 183 ; cane, 151 ;
conquered by British, 21 ; ex-
pedition to interior of, 14 :
Malay Kingdom, established a!,
12; no-man's-land, 11 ; occu-
pied by British, 13; called
Malaga, 21.
Malaria, 104, 143- 1 50.
Malay, Archipelago, 13 ; as
chauffeur, 205 ; as padi planter.
33, 34; baskets, 162; batliing.
151 ; beds, 123 ; boatmen, 69 :
Bugis, 13, 87, 131 ; chamcier,
190 ; children, 90, 143 ; college,
63 ; coming of, to Peninsula, 1 1 ;
craftsman, 162 ; cultivation,
150; custom, Pangkor lieaty,
17 ; curry, 160; durian orchards,
99 ; desire for peace, 19 ;
education, 167; execution, 17;
food, 195 ; footwear, 203; fort,
53, 55, 107; fruit orchards, 177 :
gulta thief, 85; hats, 163:
headgear, 202 ; houses, 193 ;
in Kualu Pilah, 109 ; irriguli'.>n,
37, 55, 108 ; lunatics and lejjcrs,
51 ; manners, 162 ; mats, 162 ;
Mendeling, 118; mining, 78;
348
Index.
of Rembau, no, 130; palace,
109 ; Peninsula, political dis-
tinctions in, 21 ; Peninsula, posi-
tion of, 21 ; place names, 117 ;
plaques, 166; police, 131 ; re-
ligion, Pangkor treaty, 16 ;
resist British, 14, 15, 107 ;
sarong, 199; shooting monkeys,
95 ; shrine, 42 ; silver, 162 ;
skulking tactics, 20 ; States
named, 22 ; sul)jects, paper on,
back of frontispiece ; territory,
24, 26, 32 ; theatre, 79 ; tills
own land, 54; varieties of, 129.
Malaya, 21, 23, 31.
Mango, 178.
Mangosteen, 178.
Mangrove, 52, 103, 141, 171.
Manila, 131.
Mantri of Larut, 16, 55.
Manure, 37.
Map, Leonardo da Vinci's, 21.
Map, 22, and pocket.
Marble, 47, 58, no.
Market, 74.
Marseilles, 25.
Matang, 52.
Mats, 162.
Measures, 341.
Menam, valley of, 10.
Menangkabau, no.
Mengkuang, 163.
Merah river, 35.
Milk, 160.
Mineral waters, 116.
Mines, ancient, 9.
Mining, general, 278-311 ; lease,
75 ; machinery, 77 ; Malay, 78.
Mining revenue, 79.
Misgovcrnment, 5.
Missionary, 170.
Mists, 31.
Mole-cricket, 96.
Mon-khmer, 10.
Money, 341.
Monkeys, 46, 95, 236.
Monopoly, 136.
Monsoon, 82.
Morib, 103.
Morning, 94.
Morphia, 133-138.
Mosquito net, 115, 144, 147, 148,
149.
Mosquitoes, 73, 97, 104, n5, 146,
147, 148, 149.
Motors and motoring tours, 204-
220.
Mouse deer, 94.
Muar river, 109.
Muhammadans, 3 ; Indian, 132,
167 ; Malay, 61, 70, 130.
Museums, 6, 07 ; article on, 246-
277.
N
Native States, 4 ; villages, 147.
Naturalists. 137, 139, 246.
Negri Sembilan, 5, HI ; entered
by Sumatra Malays, 13 ; pro-
nunciation of, 25 ; rulers com-
plain to British, 15.
Negrito and semi-Negrito tribes, 5.
Negro, 133.
Nemorhaedus sumatrensis, 58.
Newspapers, 45-
Nibong, 152.
Niello ware, 162.
Nighthawk, 96.
Nightjar, 96.
Nipah, 76.
Notes for Travellers, n4-203.
Open-cast mines, 42, 77, 278.
Opium, 133-137, 166.
Orang puteh, 4, 119.
Oranges, 178.
Index.
349
Ord, Sir Harry, 15.
Osier, Professor Sir W.
Otters, 35.
Owl, 97.
146.
Padi, cultivation of, 33, 34.
Paganism, 70.
Pahang, 81, 86; no-man's-land,
II ; old mines at Selinsing, 10 ;
population, 8 1 ; rebellion in, 19;
Resident for, 20.
Pahlawan, 119.
Pajak, 165.
Palaquium, 86.
Palembang, 11.
Pangkor treaty, 16.
Panglima, 119.
Panjabi, 132.
Panther, 138.
Papaya, 178.
Parang, 165.
Parit, 54, 57.
Parit Buntar, 26, 32, 34.
Pasir Salak, 18.
Pass in hills, 55, 106, 1 10.
Passenger train service, 27.
Pathan, 132.
Patipers, 124.
Pauper hospital, 51.
Pawnshops, 165.
Peace, 19.
Peacock, 95, 138.
Peasant proprietor, 3.
Pekan, 82.
Penang, 5, 90 ; instructions as to,
26 ; known as George Town,
21 ; occupied by British, 13, 21 ;
seeing, 30.
Penghulu, 125, 126.
Peninsular and Oriental, 26, 104.
I'eninsular trunk roati, 4c, 322.
I'eople's ].ar!;, 75.
I'epi^r, 159.
Perak, civil war in, 15 ; evil, pre-
eminence of, 14 ; expedition to,
53 ; High Commissioner's resi-
dence in, 62 ; Malays assassinate
Resident, iS ; Malay ruler in,
14; no-man's-land, 11 ; pro-
nunciation of, 25 ; river, 69 :
Sultanate disputed, 15 ; Sultan
Abdullah of, 16 ; Sultan Idris
of, 61 ; visited by Straits Officer,
'5-
Perils, 22 ; British Adviser at, 24 ;
Siamese Suzerainty over, ceded,
23-
Person and property, safety of, 2.
Petani, 55.
Pheasants, 13S.
Pig, 94, 99, 138, 229-231.
l^igeon, 46, 138-141.
Pinang, 44, 152.
Pinding, 162.
Pineapple, 179.
Pirates, I, 3, 14, 16, 17.
Pisang, 179.
Pithecanthropos, 6.
Plandok, 94.
Planting, 84, loi, 150-159.
Ploughing, 37, 152.
Police, X26, 128, 131, 136; cour:,
52 ; station, 136.
Political distinctions in Peninsula,
21.
Polo, 90, 91.
Pondok Tanjong, 35, 41.
Population, 81, 88, 313.
Pork, 160.
Porters, 27.
Portuguese, 12, 112.
Port l3ickson, 106, 117, 163,
,, Swettenham, 103, 117.
„ Weld, 53, 117.
Postage stamps, 57.
Prahu, I.
i'rawns, 160.
rrt-liisluric man 5
I'leiiiiuni, 75-
35<5
Index.
Primitive culture, 6.
Prisoners, 46.
Proclamation by Sultan of Perak,
18.
Province VVellesley, 7, 21, 22.
Pterocarpus indicus, 44.
Ptomaine poisoning, 160.
Public Gardens, 45, 90, 95, 105.
Pulau Arang, 117.
Punai, 141.
Punkah, 147.
(,)i;aii., 138.
<iuininc, 147-149.
R
Race-course, 47, 90, 92.
Raft, 69.
Railway, passim ; tours by, 327-
328.
Rainfall, 44.
Ranibutan, 179.
Rapids, 70.
Rattan, 6.
Rebellion, Pahang, 19
Recreation ground, 45, 75.
Relics of antiquity, 7.
Rembau, 5, ill, 130, 162.
Reservoir, 33, 34, 35, 40.
Residency, Taiping, 47.
Resident assassinated, 53 : in
P'ederal Council, 20; fr.r Pahang,
2C ; for Perak and Selangor, 17 :
provided by Treaty of Pangkt)r,
16 ; retained at Federation, 20.
Resident-General instituttd, 20:
in Federal Council, 20.
Restaurant car, "i)^.
Resthouses, 114, 116,314-315.
Restraint of manner, 4.
Revenue, Perak, 17, 47.
Rhinoceros, 99, 138, 221-245.
Rice-fields, 32.
Rice-mills, 33.
Rifie range, 48.
Rikisha, 94, 127.
River travelling, 69, 83.
Road, distances by, 322-326, 329
340.
Roads, passim.
Rock carvings, 8.
Roses, 50.
Ross, Sir Ronald, 147.
Royal Commission on Opium, 136.
Rubber, 38, 84, 104 ; estates,
32, 87, SS, loi, 104, III, 156-
159; Kuala Kangsar, 60.
Safety of streets, 3.
Sakai, 6, So, 133, 232.
Salt licks, 243, 244.
Sambals, 160.
Sampan, 27, 28.
Sanatorium, 48, 106.
Sandflies, 73.
Sarong, 165, 169, 199-202.
Savages, 81.
School, 63, 167-171.
Second-hand shops, 165.
Sedition, 3.
Seladang, 99, 22S, 230, 231,
240-244.
Selama, 41, 54.
Selangor, area of, 8/ ; e\ il pre-
eminence of, 14 : pronunciation
of, 25 ; visited by Straits OOlcer.
15-
Self-governmen ( , 64 .
Selinsing, 35, 36.
Index.
(51
Semang, 6.
Seraia tree, 45.
Serau, 58, 13S.
Seremban, 106.
Serpentine, no.
Servility, 4.
Seventeenth century, 5.
Shade tree, 44.
Shale, 42.
Shell-fish, 160.
Shooting, 73, 137-143, 222-224.
Shooting licences, 316
Shops, 165.
Shot, 141.
Shrine, 42.
Siam, British Treaty with, 13 ;
cedes suzerainty, 23 ; men of,
10, 132.
Siamese invasion, ir.
Sikhs, 131.
Silver, 41, 63, 162, 166.
Simpang Ampat, 40.
,, Lima, 40, 142.
Singapore, 5, 82, 90 ; occupied by
British, 13, 21 : part of Straits
Settlements, 22.
Sinhalese, 132.
Sir Andrew Clarke, Governor,
Straits Settlements, 16.
Sir Frank Swetlenham, Assistant
Resident, 18; books by, 18,
57 ; escapes assassination, 18.
Sir Harry Ord, Governor, Straits
Settlements, 15.
Sir Hugh Low, Resident, 47.
Sir William Jervois, Governor,
Straits Settlements, i3.
Small-pox, 109.
.Smelting, 77.
Snakes, 50, 174, 185-186.
Snipe, 72, 138, 141-143-
Soda-wntor, 116.
Soursop, 178.
Sportsmen, 137.
Squirrel, 153.
Sri Menanti, 105, log.
Stalagmites, 60.
.Stale Council, 25.
Statistics. 313, 3(7.
Steam power, 77.
Stone implements, 5, 6.
Straits Settlements, 5 ; defence- of,
20; Governor becomes Higli
Commissioner, F.M.S., 23 ;
naming of, 21.
.Straits Government sends officer,
Straits of Malacca, position of, 21.
.Sugar-cane, 32, 38.
Sultan Abdullah, 16, 18.
Sultan of Perak, 61.
„ Pahang, 82.
„ Selangor, loi.
Sumatra, 5, in, 11 S, 130.
Sumpit, 164.
Sungei Besi, 1 10.
,, Gedong, 40.
,, Raia, 74.
„ Ujong, 107.
Survey fees, 76.
Taih Mo, 51.
Tdping, 42, 53, 134.
Tamasek (Singapore), n.
Tamil; 90, 117, 129, 132, i
143, 166, 185.
Tampin, 112, 183.
Tanjong Malim, 85.
„ Piandang, 36.
Tapah, 84.
,, Road, 85.
Tapioca, 32, 38, 89.
i'apir, 99, 221-245.
Tapping, 158.
Tea, 159 ; gardens, 5(X
Teal, 72, 73.
Telegu, 129.
Teluk Anson, 69, 84, 117.
Index.
Temple, Chinese, 42.
Tennis, 90.
Teiachi, 107.
Territory, 14.
Theatre, Asiatic, 7g.
Tigers, 56, 94, 138, 165, 221-245.
Tin, breeding, 48 ; general, 278;
ingots, 120 ; in towns, 43,
48 ; Kinta, 74, 79 ; Kuala
Lumpur, 89 ; mines, open-cast,
42.
Tinned meats, 161.
Tips, 28, 30.
Tiptibau, 96.
Tobacco, 159.
Trade, 12.
Treacherous Malay, i.
Treaty, British, with F.M.S., 20;
British, with Perak. 16 ; British,
with Siam,i3.
Trigonometrical survey, 40.
Tringganu, British Agent at, 24 ;
independence of, 14 ; opened to
commerce, 14 : Siamese suzer-
ainty over, ceded, 23.
Trunk roads, 322-326.
Trolak, 85.
Tunku Dia Udin, Selangor
Regent* 14.
u
Ulu Sapetang, 41.
Umbut, 152.
Ungka, 150.
Unrest. 2.
V
Varieties of race, 127-13J
Vegetable growth, 40.
Vegetables, 160, 175.
Victoria Cross, the, 108.
Violets, 50.
W
Water birds, 46; drinking, 116,
160 ; picnic, 66 ; supply, 44 :
wheels, 38.
Watchman, 131.
Waziri, 132.
Weaving, 169.
Weights, 341.
Weld, F. J., 142.
Whisky, 155, 160.
WTiite man, 4.
Wild goat, 58.
Yarn Tuan Besar of Negri Seni-
bilan, 105, 109.
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