THE MALAY
PENINSULA
BY ARNOLD WRIGHT
AND THOMAS H. REID
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The original of tliis book is in
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THE MALAY PENINSULA
Cornell University Library
DS 592.W94M2
The Malay Peninsula :a record of British
3 1924 023 134 376
[;.,.;„(,.,
HIS I'XCEI.I.HXCY SIR AK'THUk YOI'XG, K.C.M.G., GOVIiRXdl; OF THK STRAITS
SHTTLHMENTS AMI HIl.H CciMMISSK INKK To THE MALAY STATES.
Froiilispiet
THE MALAY PENINSULA
A RECORD OF BRITISH PROGRESS
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
BY
ARNOLD WRIGHT
AND
THOMAS H. REID
WITH A MAP AND FIFTV-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS
T. FISHER UNWIN
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20
First Edition, igi2.
Second Impression, igJS-
/a
X
/o /
(All rights reserved.)
/f
PREFACE
Changes in British Malaya have been so numerous and so
wide-reaching in recent years that the authors feel that
little need be said by way of justification of the production
of this volume. The aim which they have kept steadily
before them in their work has been the compilation of a
comprehensive account of the development of British
influence in the Middle East from the earliest times to the
present day. On the one hand, they have sought to trace
through their interesting windings the various movements,
commercial and political, which led to the permanent
planting of the Union Jack at both ends of the Straits of
Malacca ; on the other, they have attempted to sketch the
modern influences which have firmly established British
power on the mainland, and created there a centre of
commercial activity of unrivalled importance amongst the
tropical dependencies of the Crown. In dealing with the
earlier episodes which figure in the story, the authors have
relied very largely upon the records of the East India
Company's operations in the Malayan sphere, which are a
mine of information upon the social and political condi-
tions that obtained in the latter part of the seventeenth,
the whole of the eighteenth, and the first half of the
nineteenth centuries. On some phases of Straits history,
more especially in regard to the events which immediately
preceded the occupation of Penang, it has been possible to
throw quite new light, with the aid of documents which
have escaped attention hitherto.
6 PREFACE
Not the least interesting and valuable feature of this
new material is the addition it makes to our knowledge
of Captain Francis Light, the founder of Penang, who
shares with Sir Stamford Raffles the honour of establishing
British power in Malaya. In the later chapters of the book
will be found, following upon a description of the Feder-
ated Malay States, an account of the non-federated States,
including Trengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, and Ferlis, which
were brought within the British sphere of influence in
Malaya by the Anglo-Siamese Agreement of 1909. This
territory, parts of which are little known, presents charac-
teristics of peculiar interest from the social and political
standpoint. It also has, undoubtedly, a great commercial
future, as it provides a wide field for planting and mining
enterprise. The new East Coast Railway, which, when
completed, will link up the British Malayan railway
system with the Siamese lines, and ultimately, doubtless,
with the Indian and Chinese railways, is to be carried
through the centre of Pahang and Kelantan, and in all
probability the ruler of Trengganu, when he recognises the
beneficial eflects of the railway on neighbouring territories,
will seek the co-operation of the Federated Malay States
authorities in extending the line to Trengganu. Generally
speaking, close attention has been given to the purely
modern aspects of Malayan development. The remarkable
tin mines of the Federated Malay States, which supply the
world with half the tin it consumes, are fully described, as
well as the equally striking rubber industry, which seems
destined in the near future to contribute almost as large
a proportion of the rubber used by civilisation. Incident-
ally, glimpses will be caught of the changes which are
converting this No-Man's-Land of a few decades since
into the home of one of the most thriving and contented
communities owning the British sway.
PREFACE 7
Grateful acknowledgments have to be made by the
authors of the valuable assistance rendered in the prepara-
tion of the volume, either by the loan of photographs or
by the supply of information, by Government officials and
others. To the ready disposition shown to place personal
photographic collections at the authors' disposal is to be
attributed the remarkably complete series of illustrations
which accompanies the letterpress, and in this connection
they would especially mention Mr. J. B. Scrivenor, of the
Federated Malay States Civil Service, whose assistance
has been invaluable, and the Malay States Information
Agency. Acknowledgment is also gratefully made to the
Editors of the Colonial Office List for permission to use
the map of the Malay Peninsula which appears in that
publication.
A. W.
T. H. R.
CONTENTS
HAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY . . . . -15
II. THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER ... 28
III. LIFE IN AN EAKLY EASTERN SETTLEMENT . . 43
IV. THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT . . 49
V. OCCUPATION OF PENANG . . . -67
VI. PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY ... 84
VII. BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS . . 95
VIII. OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE . . . 106
IX. BRITISH DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA . . I20
X. WIDENING THE AREA OF BRITISH INFLUENCE . 14I
(/XI. THE NON-FEDERATED STATES . . . l66
t/XII. LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION . . 1 98
XIII. SINGAPORE: THE GATE OF THE FAR EAST . .217
XIV. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION . . . 237
9
10 CONTENTS
CHAPTER _ PAGE
XV. MINING ...... 258
XVI. RUBBER AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS . 280
/ XVII. THE people: their manners, customs, and
OCCUPATIONS ..... 306
XVIII. COMMERCE AND SHIPPING . . . 328
XIX. THE future of malava .... 343
INDEX ....•• 353
ILLUSTRATIONS
HIS EXCELLENCY SIR ARTHUR YOUNG, K.C.M.G. .
THE SULTAN OF PERAK
SUNLIGHT IN THE JUNGLE, KLANG RIVER
MALAY HOUSE, NEGRI SEMBILAN
MALAY TOMBS, JUGRA ....
THE SULTAN OF KEDAH
THE SULTAN OF TRENGGANU
THE OLD FORT, MALACCA
ROADSIDE SCENE, SELANGOR
GATEWAY, OLD FORT, MALACCA
STADT HOUSE AND CLOCK TOWER, MALACCA
PADI FIELDS, BENTONG.
SUGAR MILL, PERAK ....
THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR
THE SULTAN OF PAHANG ....
THE SULTAN OF KELANTAN
HIGH COMMISSIONER'S VISIT TO KELANTAN, 1909
W.4TER-WHEEL FOR PADI IRRIGATION, JELEBU
THE SETTLEMENT, KUALA LEBIR .
TRENGGANU RIVER, FROM BUKIT PETRI
MANAI FRUIT MARKET, TRENGGANU
THE RAJA OF PERLIS . . ■ ■
THE SULTAN OF JOHORE . . ■ ■
11
Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
20
■ 32
44
■ 44
56
• 70
80
. 80
98
. 98
112
. 112
128
• 144
154
. 162
170
. 170
182
. 182
192
. 196
2l6
. 2l6
12 ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
E. L. BROCKMAN, C.M.G., CHIEF SECRETARY, F.M.S. . • 200
SINGAPORE RIVER .....
TELOK AVER STREET, SINGAPORE ....
MALAY FISHERMEN, STRAITS OF JOHORE . . . 236
COCONUT PLANTATION, KUANTAN ..... 236
GOVERNMENT OFFICES, KUALA LUMPUR . . • 242
THE BALEI EESAR, ALOR STAR . . . . ■ 242
THE LAKE, KUALA LUMPUR ..... 252
OPEN-CAST TIN MINE, TAMBUN ..... 260
THE STEEP FACE, TIN MINE, TRONOH . . . 260
GOLD DREDGER, KELANTAN RIVER .... 264
GOLD-MINING, SOKOR, KELANTAN . . • . 264
SUCTION DREDGE, TIN MINE, RAMBUTAN . . • 2/4
OPEN-CAST TIN MINE, SUNGEI BESI .... 274
WEEDING YOUNG RUBBER ...... 282
PLOUGHING NEAR MALACCA FOR RUBBER ESTATE . . 282
RUBBER ESTATE, MANAGER'S BUNGALOW .... 29O
PARA RUBBER TREES, CAREY'S ISLAND . . . 290
TAMIL COOLIES TAPPING RUBBER TREES . . . 298
YOUNG RUBBER TREES, CAREY'S ISLAND . . . 298
WINNOWING PADI ....... 304
PLOUGHING RICEFIELDS, ALOR STAR . . . 304
MALAYS, TIUMAN ISLAND . . . . . .312
ABORIGINES (SENOI MEN), BATANG PADANG . . .312
BULLOCK CARTS AT A CHINESE VILLAGE . . . 324
MALAY VILLAGE, ULU GOMBOK .... 324
RAUB, PAHANG ....... 338
ON THE PAHANG RIVER ..... 338
RULERS OF THE NATIVE STATES,
MALAY PENINSULA
Perak.
H.H. Sir Idris Mersid-el-Aazam Shah, G.C.M.G., Sultan.
Selangor.
H.H. Sir Suleiman bin Almerhum Raja Musa, K.C.M.G., Sultan
Negri Sembilan.
H.H. Tungku Mohamed, C.M.G., Yang di Pertuan of Negri
Sembilan, and Chiefs.
Pahang.
H.H. Sir Ahmad Maatham Shah bin Almerhum Ali, K.C.M.G.,
Sultan.
JOHORE.
H.H. Sir Ibrahim, K.C.M.G., Sultan.
Kedah.
H.H. Sir Abdul Hamid Halimshah ibni Ahmat Tajudin,
K.C.M.G., Sultan.
Perlis.
H.H. Raja Syed Alwi.
Kelantan.
H.H. Tuan Long Snik bin Almerhum Sultan Muhammed, Sultan.
Trengganu.
H.H. Sir Zainal Abdin ibni Almerhum Ahmad, K.C.M.G.,
Sultan.
13
The Malay Peninsula
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
The Malay Peninsula is one of the most interesting and
delectable regions of the tropical world. A rainfall which
is distributed throughout the year clothes the landscape
with verdure, and tempers the fierce heat of the sun to an
extent remarkable in a country which is situated entirely
within the first and seventh parallels of latitude. There
are no great expanses of sterile plains and gaunt and
inhospitable rocky wastes to subtract from the sum of
its physical attractions. From a deeply indented coast-
line washed by a placid sea of azure hue rise lofty uplands
which are carried in a series of ridges until they finally
merge in a mountain range whose summit is lost in the
clouds. Numerous streams intersect the land, winding
through tangled forests and cultivated clearings, bearing
with them to the sea the rich detritus torn from the
mountain-side in the remote interior. Islands of emerald
hue bestud the ocean in sufficient proximity to the
mainland to add to the infinite variety and charm of
a scene which never surfeits the eye.
The points of human interest in the region are many,
but for the Briton they are to be found in four clearly
defined centres. In the northern extremity of the
Peninsula, standing well out into the Straits of Malacca,
18 THE MALAY PENINSULA
a really ancient character have been found anywhere in
the Peninsula. A mural inscription unearthed at Singa-
poi'e in the early days of the occupation might have
thrown some light upon the early history of Malaya had
not the then administrators by an unpardonable lapse
into vandalism allowed the relic to be broken up. The
very paucity of the remains, however, is fairly convinc-
ing proof that if we know little of the ancient history
of the Malay Peninsula, it is because there is little to be
known. No conceivable cataclysm could have wiped
from the face of the earth absolutely all traces of a
closely knit social fabric and an extensive commercial
life if such had existed. Java, in immediate proximity
to the Malay Peninsula, contains some of the
most stupendous monuments of ancient civilisation that
the world has to show. Its Boro-Budur vies with the
pyramids in the magnitude of its proportions, and it
is infinitely superior to them in artistic beauty and
interest. The entire island is strewn with relics which
attest the virility and genius of the once dominant race.
If the Malay Peninsula at the same period had been
equally a centre of political and commercial power, we
should almost certainly have had to-day some evidences
of the past presence of a people so richly endowed with
intellectual qualities as the Javanese were. The strong
probability seems to be that the occupation of the
Malay Peninsula, and to a certain extent also that of
Sumatra, followed at a long period after the establish-
ment of the Buddhistic civilisation of Java, and then,
owing to dynastic vicissitudes and other causes, was
intermittent in character.
Native material for the reconstruction of the past is
embodied almost exclusively in the Sejara Malayu, or
the Malay Annals, a work which, since its original
INTRODUCTORY 19
production in the remote past, has been through many
hands and in the process of revision has probably suf-
fered a good deal from the zeal of editors. It is more
interesting and valuable as a specimen of Malay
literature than as a serious contribution to history.
Much of it is manifestly legendary, and what remains
is tainted with the suspicion that attaches to state-
ments in a too intimate connection with the fabulous.
The narrative traces the history of Malaya back to a
period many centuries ago when a Malay prince, Raja
Bechitram Shah, more familiarly known as Sang Sepurba,
accompanied by two followers, appeared at a certain
place in Palembang, Sumatra, and won the good graces
of the local chief by boldly claiming to be a direct
descendant of Alexander the Great. In due course he
wedded the daughter of the local chief, and attained to
a position of great authority in the State. Ambitious
and daring, he ultimately tired of the silken bonds
which bound him to Sumatra, and embarked for Java
intent on conquest. At Bantam he laid the foundations
of a new State, of which he made his son Sang Nila
Utama the head. Then he once more turned his steps
to Sumatra, and with characteristic energy created
another principality famous in Malay history as Menang-
kabau. Here he ruled with wisdom and courage, and
dying left the Malay power firmly established. Mean-
while, Sang Nila Utama, tiring of his charge at
Bantam, had crossed over to the island of Singapura —
the modern Singapore — and established there about
A.D. li6o, a city which in course of years became a
great trading mart. After his death in 1208, the place
continued to prosper until about the middle of the
thirteenth century, when it was made the object of
attack by the Raja of Majapahit, a Javanese prince.
2d THE MALAY PENINSULA
whose jealousy had been excited by the extraordinary
prosperity of the port. The first assault was beaten off,
but, through the treacherous connivance of some of the
local Raja's subjects, the city was ultimately captured.
After the custom of the age, the inhabitants were put
to the sword by the conquerors. A vast number perished,
but a considerable minority managed to escape up the
Straits to Malacca, where, amid new surroundings, they
sought to revive the tarnished glories of Singapura.
Fortune smiled on their efforts to such an extent that
in a few generations Malacca was a name renowned
throughout the East as that of a mart for the distribu-
tion of products gathered in the Indian and Chinese seas.
In the opening years of the sixteenth century, when
the city was visited by Lewis Wertemanns, a native of
Rome, it was ruled over by a Raja who appears to have
paid tribute to the Emperor of China in recognition of
aid given to his predecessors in the founding of the Settle-
ment — an event which was placed at a period eighty years
previously. If we read the narrative of Wertemanns
in conjunction with the story in the Malay Annals,
there seems to be fair ground for the presumption that
there was no important settlement of the Malay Peninsula
until the fifteenth century, and that Singapore has an
ancestry as a place of civilised settlement which does not
go back much beyond eight hundred years. The power
of the great race which had built up the ornate fabric of
civilisation in Java had, even at the earlier date, long
passed its zenith, and an era of intellectual decadence
had set in, which the Malay ascendancy had not the
power or possibly the aptitude to arrest. Hence it is
not at all surprising that we look in vain to-day among
the ashes of the historic centres of Malay authority for
traces of that culture which we know to have existed
THE SULTAN OF PEKAK.
To face p. 20.
INTRODUCTORY 21
many centuries since in the higliest form in the island
beyond the Sunda Straits.
Few events in ancient or modern history have had a
more wide-reaching effect on the fortunes of the East than
Vasco da Gama's great exploit in 1497 in rounding the
Cape. While it was destined in course of years to intro-
duce into every great State of the East a disturbing and
even disintegrating element, its almost immediate effect
was to create direct ties between Europe and the Malay
Archipelago. Amongst the mass of information carried
back by da Gama was more or less definite information
about the trade of the Malayan countries, and of their
intimate connection with the Spice Islands— those opulent
isles of the Eastern seas which in a vague and shadowy
way had long fascinated the mediaeval European mind.
The Portuguese Government having taken due note of
the facts brought to light, in 1501 despatched an expe-
dition from Lisbon with the object of discovering a
western passage to these islands, which, by a confusion
of ideas easily understandable, were known generically by
the name of Melcha or Melacca. The expedition failed
in its purpose, but Tristan da Cunha, who left Lisbon in
1506, on the ninth of the series of voyages conducted
from Portugal, paid a visit to Tenasserim, which he
described as "the first mart for spices in India." His
enterprise greatly extended the knowledge of the coun-
tries of the Middle East, and paved the way for the
expedition led by Albuquerque, which, in 1511, attacked
and captured Malacca. Here the Portuguese built a fair
city, with churches and houses pleasantly embowered
in gardens, and encircled it with magnificent fortifications,
which made it the most formidable place in the East to
attack. They drew to the place all the trade of the
Middle East, and their heavily freighted galleons took
22 THE MALAY PENINSULA
to Europe cargoes of spices which brought affluence to
the mother-country and made Lisbon the most important
commercial centre in Europe for the time being. For
nearly a hundred years the Lusitanian power was main-
tained in undisputed pre-eminence in the Straits of
Malacca. Then the scene changed.
Probably the influence of sea power was never more
strikingly demonstrated than in the consequences which
flowed from the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Up to that period, by virtue of Pope Alexander VI. 's
historic decree dividing the New World between them,
Spain and Portugal had exercised a rigid monopoly of
all commerce within their respective spheres. Ships of
other nations which navigated the seas did so at their
peril. Drake, who in 1577-80 conducted his famous
circumnavigation of the world, carrying the flag of
England in the course of his voyage through the Straits
of Malacca, was regarded by the Spanish, probably not
without some justification, as a pirate, and his action in
trespassing upon Spanish preserves was one of the causes
which led up to the memorable attack of 1588. When
the Spanish power at sea had been finally broken, both
the great Protestant marine nations of the West took
advantage of their newly acquired freedom to despatch
expeditions to the East. The first to take action, England
in 1 591 sent out to the East, under Captain James
Lancaster, an expedition of three small ships with the
specific object of obtaining a share of the valuable spice
trade. Rounding the Cape in safety, the little squadron,
after a call at Zanzibar, arrived off Penang in June, 1 592.
What took Lancaster to this spot, whether accident or
prescience, or definite information from passing ships on
the way, we do not know ; but it may well have happened
that foreknowledge of some kind had been derived from
INTRODUCTORY 23
Drake or his men, who, when sailing through the Straits,
not improbably heard something of the advantages of
Penang as a centre for recruiting and refitting ships.
Lancaster's need when he reached Penang was dire. His
crews were decimated with scurvy, and he had hardly
sufTficient able-bodied men to navigate the ships. No
fewer than twenty-six of the small complement of the
fleet died on the island. Good air and fresh food, how-
ever, worked wonders on the survivors, and Lancaster,
felt strong enough, after a time, to make raids on the
Portuguese. Several ships were held up and their cargoes
of pepper transferred to the English ships. At length,
towards the end of August, when holds were full and
crews were once more in good physical condition, Lan-
caster set his face homewards. Off the Cape he en-
countered a terrible storm, in which he lost two of his
ships, including his own — the Edward Bonaventure. He
managed himself to escape with a sufficient proportion
of his dubiously acquired wealth to carry home to the
mercantile mind of London an appreciation of the
enormous potentialities of Eastern trade. The direct
outcome of his adventure was the establishment of the
East India Company — -that great trading organisation
which in the fulness of time was to endow Britain with
her magnificent Indian Empire. Lancaster, upon whom
was about this time conferred the distinction of knight-
hood, was in 1600 appointed the Company's first Governor-
General, and was entrusted with the charge of the pioneer
fleet which went out in 1601. Four vessels of small
tonnage composed the squadron ; together they would
not make up the capacity of an insignificant " tramp "
steamer of to-day ; but they were well found, and they
had the advantage, in addition to Lancaster's skill, of the
sea knowledge of Davies, the famous navigator, who, by
24 THE MALAY PENINSULA
special permission of the Crown, was permitted to accom-
pany the expedition. The fleet, after putting in at the
Nicobar Islands, reached Acheen, the northern portion of
Sumatra, in 1602.
Lancaster had a very favourable reception from the
local ruler, and did such a brisk trade in pepper that
he was able, without any great delay, to despatch two
of his ships home fully laden with the commodity which
then, above almost any other, was the staple of Eastern
trade. He himself returned to England in 1603 to
stimulate afresh the interest of the mercantile commu-
nity in the development of the Eastern trade. Expedi-
tions followed in quick succession after this period, side
by side with others from Holland, where the idea of
capturing a share of the lucrative spice trade had gained
a firm hold. Their history belongs to Java and the
Eastern Islands rather than to British Malaya. But a
brief sketch of the events which accompanied the efforts
of the East India Company to establish a footing in the
Middle East in the seventeenth century is necessary for
the full elucidation of the narrative.
The earliest settlement of the British in the Middle East
was made in the opening years of the seventeenth century
at Bantam, in Java, then a port of some consequence owing
to its proximity to the Sunda Straits, the great waterway
through which almost all ships from Europe to the East
in those days passed. For a brief space English and
Dutch lived here together in amity, but Holland, upon
whom the heat and burden of the conflict with Portugal
had chiefly fallen, was not disposed to share the prize of
the spice trade with any rival. Gradually there was de-
veloped between the representatives of the two countries
in the Middle East a bitter feeling, breaking out now and
again into overt hostility. The English were frustrated
INTRODUCTORY 25
in all attempts that they made to establish themselves in
the Moluccas, and as the Dutch power grew their move-
ments were still more circumscribed by their indefatigable
rivals.
Both the English and the Dutch companies had re-
moved their factories, about 1611, from Bantam and
re-established them at Jakatra, the modern Batavia ; but
the Dutch were not content to work on a footing of
equality. By clever diplomacy and aggressive action at
the right moment they obtained a predominant position
in the place, and eventually asserted claims to jurisdiction
over the Englishmen on the strength of a treaty with the
reigning native prince. Driven out of Jakatra by these
tactics, the Englishmen ultimately took refuge in Bantam,
where they strove to re-establish themselves away from
the irritating interference of the Dutch. They were for
a time left in peace, but when it became evident that they
were making a serious bid for the spice trade the Dutch
extended their attentions to them to their new home. For
years the conflict of interests continued, with results almost
invariably unfavourable to the English East India Com-
pany, which, under stress of the troubled times at home,
had fallen into poverty. Later on, when the political sky
cleared in England, the attention of the Company became
concentrated on India, which presented a far more splendid
field for exploitation than the Archipelago, with all its
fabled wealth. More and more, therefore, the Middle
Eastern sphere of influence was resigned to the Hollanders,
and under the inspiriting influence of their successes their
pretensions increased until they developed into a claim to
a monopoly of the trade. A final touch was put upon their
arrogance when, in 1684, having concluded a treaty with
the Sultan of Bantam, they used the prince's influence to
secure the expulsion of the English from his territory.
26 THE MALAY PENINSULA
The exclusion from Java was a heavy blow to the East
India Company. It touched the organisation in a tender
spot — the pepper trade — which was one of the mainstays,
it might almost be said the mainstay, of the Eastern
trade of the period. Steps were therefore almost imme-
diately taken to repair the loss that Dutch exclusiveness
had inflicted. Acheen, which ever since Lancaster's visit
at the beginning of the century had been regarded as a
possible English sphere of influence, was selected as the
point for making the new departure. Thither was sent
from Madras in 1684 a mission, consisting of Messrs. Ord
and Cawley, two experienced officials, with instructions to
obtain a grant of a site for a new Settlement. By a curious
chance, there happened to be on the throne of the State
at this juncture a woman, one of a line of queens who
ruled the country in the latter part of the seventeenth
century. She received the strangers graciously, and mani-
fested a quite feminine curiosity in their attire — more
especially their wigs, which, at her special request, were
removed for inspection. The royal lady, however, was
as shrewd as she was inquisitive. She refused point-
blank to grant the application for land for a fortified
position. Even if the Governor of Madras filled her
palace with gold, she could not, she stated, permit the
English to erect permanent brick or stone fortifications.
They might trade with Acheen, as they had been accus-
tomed to do in past years, and she was even willing to
allow them to construct a factory of timber and plank
for the purposes of their strictly commercial operations.
Further than this, however, she would not go, in spite
of all the arguments used by the envoys. The atti-
tude taken up was due to a not unreasonable appre-
hension that any concession of a permanent kind to the
English would embroil the State with the Dutch, who had
INTRODUCTORY 27
already shown a most unpleasant disposition to encroach
on Acheenese rights. Messrs. Ord and Cawley, finding
that nothing further was to be gained at Acheen, made
preparations to return to India. Before they left they
were visited by some Malay chiefs, who exercised authority
over Priaman and other districts on the West Coast, and
who had proceeded to Acheen in the hope of securing aid
to resist threatened Dutch aggression. At the interview
which followed, the offer was made to the English officials
of land for a fortified Settlement on their territory, together
with a monopoly of the pepper trade of that part of the
coast. The Englishmen were quick to see the opportunity
which the overture offered of effecting the Company's pur-
pose. As they had no authority to commit their employers
to an agreement, they induced the chiefs to return with
them to Madras. The outcome of the business was the
conclusion, in 1685, of an understanding which gave the
East India Company for the first time a really permanent
foothold in Malaya.
CHAPTER II
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER
Occupation of Bencoolen — Dire straits of the early settlers — Social
life — The pepper trade.
A CYNIC has said that the British Empire was created
in a fit of absence of mind. There is more of point in
the self-directed shaft than the average Briton is prepared
to admit. Foresight, in the supreme direction at all events,
was oftentimes singularly lacking in the early work of
" pegging out claims for posterity." Conspicuously was
this so in the case of British Malaya. Though to-day a
compact and self-contained possession of the Crown, occu-
pying a position of extraordinary advantage regarded from
the standpoint of trade as well as of political influence, its
component parts were brought together in the most casual
way, in certain instances in the face of the direct oppo-
sition of those who sat in the seats of the mighty at
the particular period. The first venture was a marked
example of haphazard selection. The orders sent out by the
Court of Directors were that a Settlement should be made
at Priaman, which had been a place of resort of the Com-
pany's ships for decades, and was considered to occupy a
favourable position for the staple commerce. But Mr. Ord,
the official who was entrusted with the enterprise, sailed
past this spot and established a Settlement at Bencoolen.
It was afterwards stated that the choice of Bencoolen as
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 29
the new centre was due to the fact that adverse winds
carried the expedition beyond Priaman, and that it then
became impossible to fetch the point first intended owing
to the advanced period of the season. There is, however,
abundant reason for thinking that Mr. Ord's failure to
reach Priaman was intentional. The Council at Madras
had their own views about the position that should be
selected for the new factory, and those views were not in
harmony with the orders from home. The Indian officials
were influenced in their choice of Bencoolen by the know-
ledge that a considerable proportion of the pepper pre-
viously shipped from Bantam on the Company's account
had come from Sillebar, in the vicinity of that place, and
by the further circumstance that it was the windward port
at the period of the year chosen for the expedition. Acting
on his instructions from P'ort St. George, Mr. Ord, on
June 25, 1685, took possession of the territory assigned
to the Company at Bencoolen. Then, having left as local
Governor Mr. Bioome, an experienced servant of the
Company, he sailed to Indrapour, where he found three
Englishmen associated with a small trading establishment
which had been founded some time previously by a man
named Du Jardin. Intelligence reached him here that the
Dutch, as a consequence of receiving information of the
Company's designs on Priaman, had, in pursuance of their
accustomed policy of intelligently anticipating their rivals'
plans, occupied the place themselves.
The action taken by the Hollanders was conclusive
against the execution of the Court's orders, even if there
had been any desire to carry them out, and Mr. Ord
was content to round off his mission by establishing a
subsidiary Settlement at Manduta. Thereafter he re-
turned to Madras, leaving Governor Bioome to make good
his footing- on the West Sumatran Coast As most of the
30 THE MALAY PENINSULA
stores and reinforcements from home had been despatched
to Priaman in the expectation that that centre would be
the site of the new factory, the duty assigned to him was
one of no ordinary difficulty. To add to his troubles, sick-
ness broke out amongst his men. In a short time the
little band of pioneers were reduced to terrible straits.
Nothing, indeed, hardly could exceed the poignant anguish
of the first despatches which were sent home from the infant
Settlement. Writing from Fort York, as the new factory
had been christened, in October, 1685, Governor Bloome
said, " Wee now give Your Honour an account of our
vvofull state and condition which God grant better ! . . .
Of ye English soldiers are dead 11, and of ye Portuguese
not above 4 and of ye black workmen not above 15 y*
is capable of working. Of them are dead about 40
and daily dies for he that falls it is hard for him to rise.
All our servants are sick and dead, and at this minute not
a cooke to get victuals ready for those that sett at the
Company's table, and such have been our straits that wee
have many times fasted : Ye sick neglected. Some cry
for remedies, but none to be had. Those that could eat have
none to cooke their victuals. . . . Soe that wee now have
not living to bury ye dead and if one is sick ye other will
not watch, for hee says better one than two die. Soe
that people die and noe notice is taken thereof."
" Ffeavour and flux " were the chief causes of death it
is to be gathered from the mortality lists which accompany
the despatches ; but that the climate was not alone
responsible for the awful sickness is clear from entries
such as the following which figure in the records : " John
Mecklockin dyed as most of ye people do by irregularity
in sleeping upon ye ground, notwithstanding they have a
good house and every man his cabin ; eating all kinds
of trash."
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 31
When the Court of Directors learned of the position that
had been occupied in disobedience of their orders, they
vented their displeasure in an indignant despatch. " It
was," they wrote, " a fatall and never enough to be repented
errour of our President and Council of Fort St. George
[Madras] to break all our orders for a settlement at Pry-
aman upon a caprice of their owne to send our ships, spend
our strength, our money and soe many men's lives upon a
settlement at such an unhealthful place as Bencoolen,
because they heard there was more pepper there, which was
noe news to us before wee writt a line concerning Pry-
aman, but wee avoided that place and others neare Sillebar
because they were too neare Batavia and that we knew by
long and ancient experience that they were unhealthful
and, therefore, did purposely direct and enjoin Pryaman to
be ye principall place of settlement and first secured and
made as strong as Fort St. George." Meanwhile, in a
practical way, the Court endeavoured to minimise the con-
sequences of the blunder that had been perpetrated by
issuing instructions to the captain of an outward-bound
ship to be as helpful as he could to the authorities at
Bencoolen. The departing functionary was particularly en-
joined to give the best advice he could for the preservation
of the health of the inhabitants of the new Settlement.
The true principles which should guide these people, they
opined, were embodied in a temperate regimen — their
" liveing chiefly upon rice, with a little salt fish to season it
and drinking of water distilled by ye engine we sent them
for that purpose, and in frequently bathing of there naked
bodies in cold water as ye nations do which whoever uses
generally speaking live longest and in most health, as we
have observed with much conversation with persons that
formerly lived at Bantam and Jambee." The engine
referred to for distilling water is described in some detail
32 THE MALAY PENINSULA
in another despatch. It must have been one of the eadiest
appliances of the kind sent out to the East. The directors
in this communication expressed the belief that with due
precautions as to the mode of life Bencoolen might in time
be made as healthy as were Bombay and Bantam, which,
on their original settlement, were very undesirable places
of residence. They added that if their expectations were
realised the new factory would want for no charge to
strengthen it against all the powers of the Dutch,
because the Company had outgrown the fear of their threats
of war in India, "wee well knowing that if ever such an
accident happened they are a broad[er] mark to hitt at in
India than we are, and wee know there wick [weak] sides
and shall keep ourselves always full of goods at home that
we may be at leisure to assault as well as to defend if ever
they put it to us againe, which is such a posture as ye
Company was never in for ye lOO years last past."
The defiant note in the concluding sentence of the
passage quoted supplies the explanation of the reason for
the retention of the Settlement. Clearly the Company
deemed it to be of the first importance to obtain a place
of trade in the Middle East in order that they might not
be squeezed out of the region altogether by their forceful
rivals. And they were undoubtedly right ; for if they had
withdrawn from Bencoolen, there would probably have
been an end to their influence in the Malayan region : the
magnificent territories there over which the British flag now
flies would in all likelihood have fallen under Dutch domi-
nation — they could hardly in conceivable circumstances
have become British. Yet, great as was the value of
Bencoolen as a rallying-point at a critical period, there is
no disguising the fact that, regarded as a commercial Settle-
ment, it was one of the worst of the bad bargains of the
East India Company. It was too far removed from the
srxi.K.HT IX Till-: jrxd.ii, ki.axi; ki\'i-k'. ski.ax(
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 33
route taken by ships to China to be of any service as a
port of call ; too isolated from India to be useful for the
refitting and revictualling of vessels engaged in the Indian
trade ; and was situated in a district which had neither the
natural advantages nor the population requisite to make it
a strong self-supporting base.
Bencoolen was for nearly 140 years a possession of the
East India Company. For about three-quarters of that
period it was the solitary position east of India which the
Company occupied in full sovereignty. Its history has
been obscured by the rise of other and more important
centres of British influence in the Middle East, and for the
most part the story of its long life is entombed in
some 150 ponderous volumes of records which are
preserved at the India Office in Whitehall. Brief and
abstract chronicles of a long-past day, these time-stained
documents enable us to secure a vivid picture of that little
community of British traders which, for generations
in a position of splendid isolation, kept the flag flying in
Malaya. How they lived, how they quarrelled, what they
ate and drank, what were their tastes, and what even were
their vices, are all set forth in occasionally painful detail
in those volumes. At the earliest period the Settlement
consisted of Fort York, a brick structure by the seashore
of inconsiderable size, with a single street in which native
traders plied their operations. Later on a larger fortified
position was erected on a more advantageous site farther
inland, and, as a compliment to the great Duke who
was at that moment winning " great praise " by his
victories in Europe, was called Fort Marlborough — a name
which afterwards came to be used to designate the Settle-
ment as a whole. Under the shadow of the fort was the
pagar, or enclosure, in which the slaves were herded. These
unfortunate individuals, to the number of several hundred,
3
34 THE MALAY PENINSULA
were imported chiefly from Madagascar, and were entered
in the books of the factory with unfailing regularity just like
the ordinary chattels of the Company. For more than a
hundred years the shadow of the terrible system brooded
over the station. That it was a curse can hardly be
questioned in the light of the facts disclosed, which show
that local enterprise never really flourished, and that more
than once the whole organisation was in danger of collapse
because of the inherent rottenness of the foundations on
which the system was built. The ordinary social life of
the factory proceeded on narrow lines. All the leading
officials lived together in the fort, a not very happy family
if we may judge from the rather lurid accounts of " regret-
table incidents " which disturbed the harmony of the
proceedings. Here is one thoroughly delightful episode
characteristic of the relations maintained between the
various elements of the little community : —
"Fort York, Aug. 23, 1690.
" Lieut. Samuel Williams after supper being heard
a little louder than ordinary and somewhat lavish and
prodigal in his tongue to Mr. Hugh Kennedy he was
commanded to be silent, but instead of obeying he came
up to ye head of ye table and daming ye chiefe and all
present and declaring he wore a sword with abundance of
insollent, disrespectful, saucy language so much used by
him to be tedious by repetition upon which he was forbid
ye Honble Company's table."
An undue addiction to the worship of Bacchus was
probably the cause of this and similar outbreaks solemnly
recorded by the veracious official chronicler. There is
abundant proof in the accounts that liquor flowed very
freely at the Company's table. One little bill amongst
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 35
many of a similar description preserved is the follow-
ing :—
"Fort York, Nov. ii, 1695.
" The Deputy Governor producing the following account
of liquors spent by him at the public table on board the
London frigatt at this place and Tryamong it is allowed
and ordered to be paid.
I Cask of Batavia Arrac
Rvlls
18
24 Gallons of White wine
i8
6 do. Spawhawn Wine
12
T20 Potts of Hockshew
29
4^- gal. of Black cheiTN' brandy ...
18
I Butt English Sower
10
44 Gallon of Europe wine
132
40 Gallon Stony Beer
40
14 do. Brandy
42
Rylis. 319"
For six or seven persons for a period which did not
extend over six months, this is certainly a very respect-
able allowance. The various items are not always easy to
identify, but the quality of potencv is written pretty
largely over the extract. As a rule, the Company's table
appears to have been supplied with Madeira, which it is to
be gathered from references to the wine was considered the
most wholesome alcoholic beverage for the European
constitution. The officials were rather exacting in the
matter of the quality of their wine. On one occasion,
when a consignment had been forwarded which did not
meet their approval, they sent home a " cheeky " request
that if wine of a better type could not be supplied none
should be sent. On the other hand, they were ready to
acknowledge the adoption of right methods in the forward-
ing of the consignments of their creature comforts. Once,
when ten pipes of Madeira had reached them by way of
Madras, they wrote enthusiastically to the effect that the
36 THE MALAY PENINSULA
good quality and condition of the wine due to the
roundabout method of despatch made ample amends for
the extra trouble taken, and they requested their Honours
in Leadenhall Street to favour them by adopting a similar
plan in future.
For defensive purposes, a mixed force of Europeans and
"Topazes" or native Indian Christians was maintained.
The former, young men brought directly from England in
many cases, died off like flies under the enervating
influences of the climate, combined with the effects of
irregular living. The Court's ideas of the functions of the
military were set out in one of their earliest despatches.
" We expect," they wrote, " that each captain should
exercise his company several times in each week or as
often as weather will permit until they are as perfect as it
is possible for soldiers to be, and perform all their exercises
readyly and decently by beat of drum as well as vocall
command, the manner whereof as it is now used in the
King's Guard. If you happen to have any novice or
dull blockheaded fellow in either of your companies you
must see that your Serjeant or his file leader be constantlv
tutoring of him untill he can perform all his posture readily
and gracefully as the best." In a final burst of self-
complacency, the directors, referring to the force originally
sent out, said : " The very sight of the compleat exercise
of two such companies of 120 men each beside that
it is very beautifull in itself will make you feared and
admired by all that hate you." As soon as the Settlement
was established, the question of recruiting the military
from local material came up for consideration. A com-
munication sent home in the early days of the occupation
indicates that the authorities of that period did not
entertain any high opinion of the openings in this direc-
tion. "We think it not convenient," they wrote, "to
, THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 37
entertain any of the Mallays as soldiers, for being such
perfidious people as by daily experience wee find them
to be wee should only furnish them with arms to do
ourselves an injury." The Court, replying apparently to
this letter, suggested that some of the Madagascar slaves
might be trained as soldiers. " They would," the despatch
remarked, "maintain the ballance in case of need against
an enemy, they being as much strangers to ye Sumatrans
as they are to us, and wee suppose five of them will not
cost us so much to maintain as one English soldier : soe
that if upon consideration you find convenient you may
encourage some of them to keep guarde and watche in
their courses at convenient places there and under such
officers as you shall appoint them, with lances, darts and
swords and other weapons of India, but teach them not
ye use of firearms." In a subsequent despatch the Court
repeated the instructions. " Some of ye blacks that speak
English," the writers said, " if in want of soldiers you may
arme and may make them keep guarde to ease your
English soldiers ; but trust them not too much ; neither
ever arm or exercise of them above lo of them to 30
English soldiers, and in an especiall manner we require
you not to give any of your soldiers any arrack or brandy
by weekly allowances, but by a Stewart one dram at a
time, three times as ye think best in each day for which
they are to allow out of their pay (since wee have so great
increased their wages) as they are for all other clothes and
provisions which ye shall spare them." The experiment
of arming the slaves proved, as might have been expected,
highly unsatisfactory. Men in a condition of bondage are
not the stuff of which soldiers are made. In the later stages
of its existence Bencoolen indented on India to a large
extent for its garrison. But the backbone of the defensive
force throughout was British.
38 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Socially, life ran in sluggish channels in this pioneer
Settlement of British Malaya. It is rather difficult to put
ourselves in the places of the original settlers. To do so
we must imagine a state of existence in which there were
no clubs, no hotels, no roads, and, of course, no railways,
in which ice was a Utopian dream, in which a mail from
Europe at a more frequent interval than twelve months
was a nine days' wonder, and in which the most thrilling
amusement for a European was a little illicit cock-fighting
in a Malay village. A circumstance which added to the
terrible monotony of life was the rigid lines upon which
the local Society, or what passed for it, was organised.
The superior officialdom consisted of factors, writers, and
officers in charge of the military, with, as the eighteenth
century wore on, a chaplain to keep them in order. These
were all known as " covenanted servants," a term continued
in use to this day to distinguish the higher branch of the
Indian and Colonial Civil Services from the subordinate
ranks. Salaries were miserably low in accordance with
our modern views. A list published in the records for
1747 shows that at that period the highest emolument was
;^200 per annum, which was paid to the Deputy Governor.
The second official in point of seniority received but ;^30,
and writers were paid only £20 or even less. They seem
all to have been very young men, for the Deputy
Governor, whose age is given as thirty-three, is recorded to
have arrived on the coast on July 13, 173 1, or when he was
only sixteen. In connection with the low salaries, it has
to be borne in mind that the superior stafT were allowed
the privilege of private trading — a liberty they availed
themselves of so freely that the Company's interests were
seriously prejudiced. It must further be noted that the
officials were either maintained at the Company's expense
or given " diet money." Still, the remuneration was paltry.
THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 39
especially for the younger men who were not in the way
of participating in the good things going.
European ladies were non-existent in the Bencoolen
community in the first period of its settlement. The
earliest reference to them is in a letter sent home from
Fort York on January 30, 1703. In this the Court were
informed that amongst their servants there were several
whose wives were in England and who were very desirous
of having them out. " Therefore," concluded the writers,
" on their application to your honours we intreat they may
have liberty to come to them which will be a means to
retain them here." The petition seems to have been
favourably received, and in course of years a fairly large
European community was established. Society, however,
must have been somewhat mixed in character if we take as
a fair sample of the various elements of the community the
following, whose names appear in a " list of militia belong-
ing to the Right Honourable United Company at York
Fort, 1709: —
" Alexander Campbell, ensigne, married to a Costeeze.
"John Pennington, married to a black woman.
" Robert Usher, married in England.
" Samuel Goodwin, married to a black woman.
" James Duff, married to an Englishwoman."
A " list of covenanted servants " appended has at the
head "the Hon. Richard Skingle, married to an English-
woman." Four members of Council are stated to have
been married in England. Then come the names of
Samuel Stothard, Resident of Sillebar, " married to a
Costeeze," and John Hunter, Doctor, " married to a
Costeeze." From yet another list compiled at the time,
giving the names of " free men and inhabitants," we
gather that there were in residence at Bencoolen " Mr.
Ridley, formerly Governor, married to an Englishwoman,"
40 THE MALAY PENINSULA
one "married woman," two "widows," and three "un-
married English ladies."
The commercial interests of Bencoolen centred almost
exclusively in the pepper trade. It was for this prize
that the English and Dutch had striven throughout the
greater part of the seventeenth century, and the new move
of the London organisation, as we have seen, was largely
inspired by the desire to get a fresh and firmer grip on the
product at the centres of production. The aim sought was
eventually achieved, but at the outset the determined
hostility of the Hollanders had to be reckoned with.
When the Batavia Government found that their rivals were
not to be deterred from carrying out their purpose, they
sent forces to occupy territory in the immediate vicinity of
the outposts established by the Bencoolen authorities. In
this way they " nursed " the Settlements out of existence
in most instances by drawing from them their trade.
Against Bencoolen itself, however, they were not able to
accomplish much, and in the end they resigned themselves
to the inevitable presence of the British flag within the
Malayan area. The ultimate freedom vouchsafed to the
Bencoolen executive enabled them to build up a fairly
complete system of dealing with the pepper trade. To
ensure constant supplies of the product arrangements were
made with local chiefs by which certain areas should be
planted with the pepper vine on the understanding that
the Company purchased all the produce at a fixed rate.
At several points on the coast Residents were stationed to
supervise the arrangements for cultivating and harvesting
the pepper. They had disciplinary powers over the
cultivator which they were not slow to exercise occasionally
to the detriment of the public peace. Men were put in the
stocks, fined and imprisoned, and even subjected to
harsher treatment because they had not been able to
. THE DAWN OF BRITISH POWER 41
produce their tale of pepper vines. Nothing that even the
sternest administrators could do, however, could eradicate
the tendency of the easy-going and pleasure-loving Malay
to backslide as the years of his contract lengthened. The
records, in fact, are one long testimony to the impossibility
of working a system of tropical agriculture on Malayan
principles. In spite of all drawbacks, the trade attained
very considerable proportions in the first years of the
eighteenth century, an additional impetus being given to
the operations by the union of the rival East India Com-
panies in London. The actual export of the commodity
in the five years from 1701 to 1706, according to an
estimate given in the records, was 6,011 tons. The trade
was maintained on something like this scale for a long
period, but it was never a paying proposition. The
enormous initial charges of the Settlement— the fortifi-
cations alone cost ;^25o,ooo — together with the inevitable
expensiveness of the establishment in the absence of any
source of local revenue, prohibited profit, even if the Com-
pany had been as well served as it was badly served
during the years of the Settlement's existence. A factor
which tended to reduce the chances of a lucrative trade
was the disposition shown as the century wore on to
substitute gambler cultivation for that of pepper. The
Company's officials did their utmost to suppress the
obnoxious practice, but the only result of their interference
was a serious outbreak in the districts of Laye and Policy,
in the suppression of which some lives were lost and a
large sum of money was expended. An even heavier
blow than the diversion of the planters' energies to
gambler was struck soon after this by the French occupa-
tion of the Settlement in 1760, to which reference will be
made in the next chapter. The industry was to some
extent resuscitated on the reoccupation of the place by the
42 THE MALAY PENINSULA
British, but the annual supplies dwindled until they finally
reached an almost negligible amount. Still the scent of
pepper clung to the Settlement to the last, and it is
probably best remembered to this day by an apocryphal
story which attributes to the Court of Directors the faux
pas of instructing the Bencoolen executive to increase the
cultivation of white pepper — white pepper, of course, being
only a prepared variant of the natural black berry.
CHAPTER III
LIFE IN AN KARLY EASTERN SETTLEMENT
Occupation of Bencoolen by the French— Abandonment of the
Settlement — Reoccupation by the British — Grant of a Charter
— War with France and Holland — Capture by the British of
Padang.
Bencoolen existed in a state of suspended animation
during the first half of the seventeenth century. Far
removed from the great centres of the East India Com-
pany's trade in India, it lived its own life in a subdued,
melancholy fashion only too clearly revealed in the
voluminous records of its commercial and political trans-
actions. Occasionally a wild dash for liberty on the part
of a miserable body of slaves, a daring piratical act of
a degraded official tired of playing propriety in such an
abode of dulness, or a smallpox epidemic introduced with
a consignment of slaves which swept like a devastating
tornado through the country, carrying off hundreds of
victims, would cause a temporary thrill of excitement.
But in the main the expatriated Britons were left exclu-
sively to find in their petty quarrels and the mild
distractions of cock-fighting and less elegant vices relief
from the depressing monotony of their isolated home on
the inhospitable West Sumatran Coast. The first genuine
sensation on a large scale which the Settlement had was
when news filtered through to the Middle East of the
French attack on Madras in 1759. Fort St. George had
43
44 THE MALAY PENINSULA
long been the station to which the officials at Fort Marl-
borough had looked as the seat of authority, and the
information received that Lally and his men were press-
ing it sorely carried consternation into every heart. The
alarm took a deeper tinge when it was known that a strong
French squadron under D'Estaing was cruising off the
Sumatran Coast. Hurriedly counsels were taken as to
the best means by which the apparently inevitable ex-
tension of the hostilities to Bencoolen might be met. A
plan of defence had some time previously been evolved in
which armed slaves were utilised to eke out the slender
force of European soldiers and sepoys constituting the
garrison. ' But further examination showed that with the
utmost use of available material there was no prospect of
effectually opposing the landing of so powerful an enemy.
The resolution was then arrived at to retire to a place in
the interior and to send the treasure to Batavia. Before
the latter operation could be carried out fully the French
squadron appeared off the port. Piloted by a renegade
Britisher — a dismissed servant of the Company — the ships,
on April I, 1760, boldly entered the roadstead and
dropped anchor under the very walls of the fort. With as
little delay as possible, preparations were made for the
withdrawal to the interior, but the treacherous conduct of
' The plan which was prepared by Captain Edward Frith is of
special interest from the fact that it embodies what must be one of
the earliest proposals for the use of grape ammunition. Captain
Frith wrote : " In lieu of shells which in sandy ground do little or
no execution I would substitute a bag of six pounds weight of pistol
or carbine balls, which at the distance of 100 yards will do great
execution." Another suggestion of an interesting character is con-
tained in the following : " I have now by me between three and four
hundred tin cartridges and was that number to be augmented to one
thousand they would be of excellent service in a close engagement
by reason we would be able to give the enemv three fires for one
as no ramrods are required in loading tin cartridges."
^lALAV HOUSE, \EGKI SEMBILAN.
MALAY TUMBS, JIGRA, SKI.AXGOl^
LIFE IN AN EASTERN SETTLEMENT 45
the local Malays, who bodily went over to the French, made
the position hopeless from the first. The authorities,
therefore, decided to surrender. Terms were arranged, and
on April 3 the French landing force took possession of
the Settlement. It was a brief and somewhat inglorious
occupation. Disease appeared amongst the Frenchmen,
and worked such frightful havoc in their ranks that after
the lapse of a few months D'Estaing was glad to re-
embark the remnants of his force and allow the Settlement
to revert to the British. An expedition under the com-
mand of Captain Vincent, sent in 1761 to restore British
authority, found the place a veritable charnel-house owing
to the half-buried remains of the invaders which were
poisoning the air in every direction. The terrible con-
ditions caused excessive sickness amongst the occupying
force. Of 183 men landed there were, four months later,
only 57 effectives. The mortality amongst the civil
population was quite as great. Of the eight factors who
accompanied Captain Vincent, four died and two were
invalided. The entire official energies for a time were
paralysed by the pestilential conditions, and it began to be
questioned whether the Company after all had done well to
resume its ownership of a spot possessing such calamitous
associations.
After some hesitation the Supreme Government in
India decided to make Bencoolen a first-class station.
They were influenced in their decision by the increasing
pressure of foreign rivalry in which the old hostility of tlie
Dutch was uppermost. It was realised that if the East
India Company was to trade at all out of India a Settle-
ment in the Middle East was indispensable. Later on, as
we shall see, the conclusion was reached that Bencoolen had
not the requisite qualities for a post such as that in view ;
but at the time all that seemed necessary for the protec-
46 THE MALAY PENINSULA
tion of the Company's interests was the establishment of
a Government on first-class lines. The new arrangements
were conceived in this spirit. Just before D'Estaing had
descended upon the station, a Charter had been prepared
setting up a Mayor's Court and otherwise providing for
the judicial administration of the Settlement. This docu-
ment was now ratified and sent out for the service of the
new administration. The machinery supplied was perfect
of its kind, but the directors at home had reckoned without
one thing — the paucity of inhabitants. When the Settle-
ment was reoccupied it was found to be a complete wreck.
The fortifications were destroyed, the Government build-
ings were more or less in ruins, and the native quarters
were a desert. Trade, of course, in these circumstances
was practically non-existent. Few resorted to the Settle-
ment because there was nothing to attract them thither.
At the outset, therefore, the population was almost exclu-
sively confined to the small knot of officials, and the
attendant military, who constituted the Company's estab-
lishment. In the face of such a situation, it was found
impossible to utilise the Charter, and it remained a dead-
letter for a good many years. In fact, it was never
enforced in its original form, modifications having been
rendered necessary in it in several particulars in conse-
quence of the change of status of Bencoolen from a Presi-
dency to a Residency in 1785.
The Settlement, which had always been a drain upon
the Company's resources, now became a more onerous
burden. To the legitimate charges were added the defal-
cations of a class of officials who appear to have deliberately
practised dishonesty as a local habit. Scarcely a year
passed without some gross scandal being brought to light.
The Court exercised its punitive powers with persistent
rigour ; but all in vain. Stores disappeared, accounts were
LIFE IN AN EASTERN SETTLEMENT 47
falsified, and illicit gains were made by all sorts of devices,
one of the most audacious of which was keeping in cir-
culation currency notes which in the books figured as
cancelled paper. It is no wonder that with such an
administration the loss on the station in the five years
from May, 1778, to April, 1783, reached the large total
of ^37,589. The directors strove manfully to reduce the
charge by encouraging new enterprises. An arrack and
sugar factory was established, and a series of botanical
experiments was made with a view of determining the
suitability of the climate for the cultivation of various kinds
of agricultural products. In a moment of inspiration, the
Leadenhall Street directorate sent out a contingent of
German emigrants on the supposition that they might
create the nucleus of a flourishing colony. While most
of the enterprises reached an unsatisfactory termination,
the Teutonic colony was distinguished by a specially dis-
astrous career. As might have been supposed, the full-
blooded German men and women, brought direct from the
Fatherland, fell easy victims to the climate. Those who
survived became a prey to melancholia, stranded as they
were in the swampy coast region where the sugar planta-
tions were situated. In the course of a few years the
colony faded completely out of existence, leaving behind
it only the memory of what must have been one of the
very earliest German communities planted in the tropics.
One episode which disturbed the even tenor of Ben-
coolen life in the period following the reoccupation was
the outbreak of war with the Dutch and the French in
1780. John Marsden, a relative of the historian, then
resident at the substation of Natal, forwarded news early
in the year of the presence of a French squadron at Acheen.
Almost simultaneously came up the coast the information
that a French privateer was at Batavia. The intelligence
48 THE MALAY PENINSULA
excited profound alarm, as practically nothing had been
done to restore the destroyed fortifications, and the station
was at the mercy of any chance raider who might put into
the roads. The place remained in a condition of excite-
ment and apprehension for a considerable period, and
fears were not allayed by the imperious orders which came
through from Warren Hastings at Calcutta directing the
despatch thither of a considerable part of the European
garrison. With mingled feelings the Bencoolen executive
responded to the order, but they were left in a painfully
nervous condition by the process. On July 29, 1781, owing
to unfavourable reports which had arrived, orders were
given for the embarkation of the ladies and the treasure
on the ships in the roadstead, and in addition all possible
preparations were made for a last stand by the available
force ashore. Before the plans could be executed the
whole situation was changed by the appearance on the
scene of five East Indiamen from China, all well-armed
and excellently manned vessels. The Governor and
Council now decided to carry the war into the enemy's
country. They gave orders to the commanders of the
ships to proceed southwards and ^ capture or destroy all
the Dutch settlements along the coast. The squadron, in
execution of the design, early in August, 1781, occupied
Pulo Chenco, and a few days later captured Padang,
making prisoners of the Dutch officials and garrison.
These places were held until the conclusion of the war,
when they reverted to Holland.
CHAPTER IV
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT
An abortive quest — Francis Light's scheme for a Settlement in Kedah
— Mission despatched from Madras to Kedah and Acheen — Its
failure — Light retires to Junk Ceylon.
Long before the hopelessness of Bencoolen as a centre
from which to direct the affairs of the East India Com-
pany in the Middle East had been demonstrated by years
of painful experience of its inherent defects, the Court of
Directors had come to the conclusion that some more
conveniently placed position must be found if British
interests were to hold their own in that quarter. The
need was the greater because of the trend of events in the
East. The whole outlook had been changed by Clive's
memorable victory at Plassy. From a mere trading body
the Company had advanced by rapid stages to the position
of a great ruling power with all the responsibilities attach-
ing to such a role. What had answered for the modest
needs of commerce was quite inadequate for the claims of
a wide-reaching diplomacy, based on the precarious
foundation of settlements in India, isolated from each
other and ill-adapted at the best of times for sustained
defence against an active and well-equipped enemy. The
strategical position was profoundly influenced by the
meteorological conditions prevailing on the Coromandel
Coast, where the main force of the Company in India was
centred. From October to January the North-east mon-
4 19
50 THE MALAY PENINSULA
soon prevails along the coast, and in the days of sailing
ships it was imperative that vessels should retire in order
to avoid being detained there by stress of weather. During
these three months the Company's principal stations were
open to the attack of an invading force from Europe or
from the Eastward before any assistance could be furnished
by a protecting fleet, however strong. A situation of this
kind actually arose in 1758, when, in the absence of the
British admiral with his fleet, at Bombay, Lally was able
to lay siege to Madras. The perils to which the Company's
interests were then subjected burnt into the mind of the
Court of Directors the absolute need for some station to
the Eastward to which a fleet could retire during the mon-
soon, and yet be within striking distance of Madras and
Calcutta in case of sudden need. Accordingly instructions
were given to the Company's servants, and more particu-
larly to those engaged in the Eastward trade, to look about
for an eligible spot on which to establish a new head-
quarter establishment in the Middle East.
As early as 1763 we find references in the records to the
quest which was set afoot in the circumstances described.
Writing to the directors at home, the Governor and
Council of Bencoolen observed : " We have not yet taken
into consideration that important object of pitching upon
a proper place for the establishing a head settlement on
this coast. ... In your letter by the Valentine you were
pleased to point out Tappanooley or some spot in Keyser's
Bay as eligible places for that purpose. With respect to
the former there are many insuperable obstacles against it,
the principal of which are that it will be so far from the
pepper settlements, the material object of our views on
this coast, as not to afford them the support they require
and it is also situated on a part of the island less convenient
for the resort of praws from the Eastward than even Marl-
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 5l
borough. The only advantage it enjoys is in having a
fine and capacious harbour : and with regard to a place in
Keyser's Bay we can now presume to give it to your
Honours as our opinion that a settlement there would
answer every purpose you required, it lying extremely
convenient for the succour and support of your China
ships by which means we apprehend no difficulty would
occur in procuring a sufficient number of those people,
the Chinese, as every ship on her return would be able
to bring a few without any extraordinary expense." The
despatch went on to say that the only objection was the
opposition of the Dutch, who had long claimed these parts
as belonging to the Sultan of Bantam. But, the writers
added, they could successfully controvert this claim.
Ultimately, the Court of Directors sent out from Eng-
land Captain Jolley, an engineer officer, to advise the
authorities at Bencoolen on the question of a future Settle-
ment. In the accompanying despatch we catch a glimpse
of Captain Jolley's operations : —
" Fort M.^rlborough, April 19, 1765.
"We advised you in our letter of the 13th August of
Engineer Jolley's having surveyed Poolo Bay, Sillebar
River and the plains contiguous to them. His report
thereof is entered upon our Consultations, but the plan
which he mentions to have accompanied it he forgot to
leave behind him when he embarked for Fort St. George.
By the observations he made it appears by no means an
eligible place, the situation being such as would render it
were it possible to be done of excessive expense. It was,
therefore, our unanimous opinion if no proper place could
be found in or near the Streights of Sunda, that we had no
other resource but to remain here."
Much the same conclusion as that contiined in the
52 THE MALAY PENINSULA
concluding sentence had already been reached by the
Court of Directors, and before long an order was received
at Bencoolen directing that the capital Settlement should
continue at that place. Though the directions were
accepted and acted upon, the search for a new centre for
the establishment of the Company's power continued, as is
clear from this communication :^
" Fort Marlborough, April 19, 1766.
" By a reference to our Consultations and to the letter
addressed to Mr. Nairne and the Supra Cargos of the
Royal George your honours will observe that we had
desired that gentleman to be very particular in his survey
of the Island of Poolo Pesang and to give us his important
opinion of the situation of that place should we hereafter
come to any resolution of changing the present head
Settlement. By a private letter addressed by that gentle-
man to the President he has acquainted him that its
situation is such that it might be rendered at a small
expense almost impregnable even to any European power
and that the only objection is its small extent."
The letter referred to from Robert Nairne and his brother
supercargoes is included in the records. It supplies some
quaint details of the aspects of the Straits of Bali as seen
by them. Describing the inhabitants of Bali and Lombok,
the writers stated : " Their religion is Pagan : that and
their origin seem to be derived from the Gentoos of In-
doostan, who might have practised the navigation of these
seas before it was known to the Mahometans. Their god
is called Dewa Rattoo and their worship consists prin-
cipally in invoking his name and offering victuals to
him at little sheds made amongst bushes under Braminy
Trees where are sometimes small figures of a cow made of
earthenware and stone images so much resembling those
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 53
of the Coromandel Coast that there is reason to think they
have been formerly brought from thence or from Ceylone.
They do not bury but burn their dead and their wives are
usually burnt alive voluntarily with the dead husband.
They abstain from no sort of food but the flesh of cows
and bullocks."
Pulo Pesang had been temporarily occupied by the
English on their expulsion from Bantam by the Dutch
early in the seventeenth century ; but it was too clearly
within what had now become the Dutch sphere of influence
to be available for a further occupation. When at length
it was perceived that there was no satisfactory opening to
the southward in the vicinity of the Straits of Sunda,
attention was turned to the possibility of a foothold being
found in the Straits of Malacca. It is somewhat amusing
to find, having regard to the sequel, how emphatically the
Bencoolen Government scouted the idea of founding a
station in this region. Writing on January 17, 1770, they
said : " Whatever advantages may be derived from a
settlement on the East side of the Island it must be so
remote from here by the length and difficulty of the
navigation to be an improper situation for a head settle-
ment on this coast. Jamby, which is opposite to Moco
Moco, our most Northern pepper settlement, and all to the
Southward of Jamby, on the East side the Dutch are in
possession of In the interior parts the mountains are
rugged and hitherto no European has passed across the
island."
The Court of Directors had its own views about the
possibility of establishing a useful centre on the East Coast
and in 1771 sent instructions to the Government at Madras
to despatch a mission to the Court of Acheen with a view of
obtaining permission from the Sultan to establish a factory
in his territory. The Governor in Council, as a preliminary
54 THE MALAY PENINSULA
to acting on these directions, caused inquiries to be made
of a firm of merchants in Madras carrying on business with
Acheen and the Straits of Malacca as to the prospects that
offered in that direction. In due course, the Government
at Madras had placed in their hands some correspondence
from the Company's agent in Malaya, which gave a com-
pletely new turn to the question. That agent was none
other than Francis Light, the founder of Penang, and the
proposal he forwarded, as will be gathered from the extracts
from the correspondence which we shall presently give,
contained the germ of the existing British domination in
the Malay Peninsula.
Francis Light was one of the most remarkable men who
have gone to make up the illustrious list of Empire-builders.
His title to fame has been obscured by the more brilliant
qualities and achievements of Sir Stamford Raffles, and it
is perhaps for this reason that his memory has been so
obscured that no account of him appears in the Dictionary
of National Biography. Some day, it may be trusted,
the omission will be repaired. Meanwhile, as a preface to
the narrative of Light's great work, we may appropriately
set forth a few of the leading circumstances in his life as
they are known to-day. Light was born in 1740 at
Dallinghoo, near the town of Melton, in Suffolk. His
parentage is obscure, but he seems to have been adopted
in infancy by William Negus, a relative of Milton and a son
of Colonel Francis Negus, a Court official of the reign of
George L Negus was an extensive landowner in Suffolk,
and Light enjoyed the usual educational advantages of the
well-to-do youth of the locality at Seckford's Grammar
School at Woodbridge, a fine old foundation which to-day
has a respectable place amongst the public schools of
England. On leaving school, which he did at an early age,
Light entered the Navy and remained in the service until
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 55
1765, when he resigned his commission to seek his fortune
in India, after the fashion of many other of the well-born
youth of the day. At Calcutta he was given the command of
a country ship which traded between the Indian ports and
Siam and Malaya. In this capacity he speedily showed
that versatility and resourcefulness which in the more
responsible period of his later life were so conspicuous.
Before he had been long in the East he could speak
fluently both the Siamese and Malay languages, and had
established himself in a position of considerable influence
amongst the leading chiefs in the Straits. A man of
imagination and patriotism, he speedily saw what splendid
possibilities there were for his country in this region if only
the authorities were sufficiently enterprising to grasp the
opportunity. It was in 1771 that Light first put into
definite form any proposal for British intervention in the
Straits. Most writers on Malaya have been content to
treat this proposal as merely a chance suggestion which
was shelved until a more convenient day for its exploitation.
But, as the sequel will show, his ideas were taken up very
seriously by the Government, and it was only owing to
undue timidity on the part of the Madras executive that
the occupation of Penang was not ante-dated fifteen years.
The persistent omission of this most interesting chapter in
the history of Malaya is easily to be accounted for by the
fact that the papers relating to it are embedded in a mass
of Sumatran records and that the actual records of Penang
make no reference whatever to the episode. '
Light's employers were the firm of Jourdan, Sulivan, and
De Souza, of Madras. For a number of years this firm,
' The papers are contained in Vol. 15 "Sumatra Records" in
"The Diary and Proceedings of the Select Committee of Fort St.
George in consequence of the orders of the Select Committee of the
Honourable Court of Directors, dated 8th May, 1771, for forming a
settlement at Acheen, &c."
56 THE MALAY PENINSULA
acting for a large combination of Madras merchants, had
traded with Acheen and Kedah. They had maintained
since the year 1763 at Acheen a permanent trading
establishment under a representative named Harrop.
Light seems to have filled a like position in Kedah, though,
as far as can be judged from the material available, his
establishment was secondary to that in Acheen. On the
receipt of the inquiries from the Government, Jourdan,
Sulivan, and De Souza sent on the following letter the\'
had received from Light : —
"QUEDA, Aug. 18, I77I.
" To Messrs. Jourdan, Sulivan, and De Souza.
" Gentlemen, — I have the pleasure to inform you
that the King of Queda has granted to you the Qualla or
seaport of Queda with a fort lying near it to be kept by
you, in consideration that you will promise to assist him
against the people of Salengore. The force it will be
necessary to maintain for this service and the expenses of
the Factory, the King proposes should be equally divided
between you and him and that the trade be carried on on
your joint account.
" I must beg leave to acquaint you gentlemen that if
you do not take advantage of this offer it will be given to
the Dutch, and I refer to your consideration whether the
Dutch possessing this port may not exclude the English
entirely from trading in the Streights.
" The harbour of Queda has four fathoms water and no
bar and may be improved to great advantage to the Com-
pany in case of a war. In December I will send you a
plan of it and inform you of every other particular which
the hurry of business now prevents my laying before
you.
" I am, &c."
V*.
THE SULTAN OF KEIJAH.
THE SEAECH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 57
In a further letter of the date November 25, 1771, Light
elaborated his proposal. He wrote : —
" I have had no opportunity of writing since my letter
of the 1 8th August till the present. I now send you a
letter from the King, in which he requests you will inform
him as soon as possible if the engagement he proposed is
acceptable. He has granted not only the Qualla of Queda
but the whole coast from this place to Pulo Pinang, and
only waits your answer to deliver the whole country into
your hands.
" I now reside in the old fort and have built a redout
to prevent any surprise, and if approved of by you will
build a new brick one. This fort commands the entrance
into the river, so that not a canoe can pass without being
seen. All prows are obliged to stop here and deliver their
goods. The King is the only merchant, and without his
license no one can buy. This power he has given entirely
to me on your account. A stock of 15,000 Sp. Dollars,
part specie, part in goods, will be necessary to be kept
always in hand for this trade.
" Should you approve gentlemen of this offer I must
request immediate assistance of sepoys and stores.
" Every kind of piece goods from the coast, Bengali and
Surat is vendible here, but the article of greatest advantage
is ophium, which I now sell wholesale and retail at 800 Sp.
Dollars the chest and shall be able to dispose of any
quantity you may think proper to send on the same terms.
" There are here now two Danish vessels from Tran-
quebar with 40 sepoys and guns, ammunition, and other
military stores. They have brought a letter and present
from their Governor to the King desiring a factory and
offering to send 300 sepoys more and to assist him in
recovering the ships and guns carried away by the Salen-
58 THE MALAY PENINSULA
gorians. The King told them he had given the fort,
Qualla and whole coast to the English and without their
consent could not admit of any other Europeans. They
have made great presents to all the principal people about
the King, who on this account forward their schemes with
all their influence ; but the King is too sensible a man and
too well acquainted with the character of the English to
hesitate whom to choose for his friends."
In a private letter to Mr. Jourdan of the same date
Light wrote : —
" I have been here ever since my last and have kept my
ground notwithstanding the opposition of the Chooliars,'
Danes, and Dutch. The former seem resolved if possible
to exclude the English from any connexion in the places
to which they trade and would suffer themselves to [be]
plundered a second time by the Buggese rather than you
should have a settlement here. They are well acquainted
with the profits of this place and the advantage it would
be of to you in particular to have it joined to the Acheen
settlement. There is more pepper and betel nut brought
to this coast from the Coast of Pedir than is carried to
Acheen, and with that article, tin and dammar, I will
engage to load any two of your vessels from this port by
the 1st January, and I will send wax, timber, and rattan
as the demand may be. There is one kind of timber here
proper for housebuilding which the worms cannot touch.
There is likewise blackwood and many other kinds that
I cannot at present describe."
To Mr. De Souza, another of the partners. Light also
unburdened himself, urging the importance of closing
' Indians.
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 59
with the offer. His letter to this gentleman was as
follows : —
" I have ventured so far upon the credit of our employers
that I am afraid to go any further without proper authority.
Considering this port as a mart for the Streights I thought
that no person could blame me for accepting it upon
terms more advantageous than Acheen. The King is very
anxious to know your resolutions and I am no less so not
only on account of the disgrace which must accrue in case
they refuse but the detriment which our trade in general
will suffer in case this place falls into the hands of any
other. Should the Dutch have it they would possess the
entire command of the whole Streights, for on the coast of
Queda is a river capable of receiving their largest ships at
the half flood defended from all weather by Foolo
Pinang, and within side of Poolo Pinang is a fine clear
channel of 7 and 14 fathoms, through which a ship may
work any time. I remember it was once your opinion
that a house upon Poolo Pinang would be very useful. It
would be extremely so because the Europe ships can
easily stop there. There is plenty of wood, water and
provisions ; there they may be supplied with tin, pepper,
betel nut, Rattans, Birds' nests ; and the Mac^o ships will
be glad to stop there, and all other vessels passing through
the Streights may be as easily supplied as at Malacca.
Whether this would not suit the Company better than
our association unless they will act with more spirit I will
leave you to judge. This I can assure you, that if you will
but send sepoys and a few Europeans with leave to assist
the King against Salengore, I will engage not a slab of tin,
a grain of pepper, Betel nut, or Dammar shall go out of
my hands but for your service. If the gentlemen think it
venturing too far to assist the King of Queda let it be
60 THE MALAY PENINSULA
done in the Nabob's name to recover the property of his
subjects. Had I authority to act neither Danes, Dutch,
French or any one else should dri\'e me out. Nothing is
to be feared from the Malayas while this King lives. He
is too clever to be fed with idle notions. He knows the
English are capable of assisting him not only against
Salengore but Siam. Of that and Patany hereafter : I
only beg of you not to let this noble opportunity to slip
of getting footing upon this coast. Consider the expense
you have been at for Acheen, and the loss of it w^ould be
to break up that factory immediately. This useful lesson
1 have learnt, that no contracts, no promise, no behaviour
however civil and complaisant will bind the Malays to
your interest — nothing but force. When they are afraid
they are true, but not else. Therefore, be assured that
neither at Acheen or here or any other port to East you
will ever be able to make a settlement unless you act with
spirit and authority. All these troubles would have ended
in Acheen could Harrop but have made a proper use of
the force he had. If the gentlemen think Acheen worth
preserving let them request of the Governor and Council a
license to keep an agent there with authority to defend
your property against any persons whatever and to main-
tain a sufficient force for the protection of it and their
persons, though such a license, would in fact give him no
greater power than he had and every one enjoys that is
subject to Britain, yet the name of it would awe the
Malays, keep his people in obedience and save both him
and you great trouble.
" If the Nabob could be prevailed on to keep a Court at
Acheen and appoint Harrop it would give him an authority
over the Chooliars and enable him to send any trouble-
some person away from thence. The Acheenees are
sensible that their whole trade depends upon the coast
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 61
vessels, and if Harrop is once empowered with any
authority from the Nabob, they will not dare to attempt
anything against his person. If you think an elephant
sent to the Nabob as a present from the Association would
be acceptable I will send you one without any great
expense, and if you intend to keep this place I will prevail
upon the King to write to the Nabob and send him a
present desiring his assistance should the gentlemen think
it necessary.
" 1 leave it to you to push on these matters with the
concerned, and to lay before them the advantage of this
port and the disadvantages should any other Europeans
possess it, and if they approve of it to send me an assis-
tant and goods and ophium as much as you can spare.
" I must once more repeat to you that I want nothing
here but force. The King is ready to grant me anything
I desire."
It is clear from this correspondence that Light's pro-
posal was directed not to the Government but to
the association of traders in Madras of which he was the
agent. From internal evidence, it seems probable that the
letters were penned by Light on his own initiative, and
not as a consequence of any inquiries sent to him from his
superiors. At the same time, he doubtless was aware in a
general way of the determination of the Government in
India to establish a new headquarter establishment in or
about the Straits. The Sultan of Kedah's offer arose not
out of the East India Company's necessities but of his
own. For a considerable period there had been trouble in
his State due to a disagreement amongst the members of
his family. One faction at length went into rebellion and
was banished to Selangor, where they were given asylum
by the local Sultan, who had long been at enmity with his
62 THE MALAY PENINSULA
brother of Kedah. Early in 1771, instigated thereto by
the exiled rebels, the Sultan of Selangor made a raid on
Kedah, sacking its capital and laying waste the territory.
The attack, as it was calculated to do, deeply incensed the
Kedah chief, but his own resources were altogether too
limited to enable him to seek his revenge. In the
extremity, he naturally turned for aid to the European
interest represented by Light and his associates.
Before approaching Light with a more or less definite
proposal, the Sultan had written to Madras invoking the
aid of the Company against his enemies, and had received
in reply a non-committal letter in which the Government
covered their disinclination to act under profuse expressions
of friendship. It was probably the disappointment excited
by the failure of his direct communication that prompted
the Prince to make his offer to Light. Whether so or not,
it put quite a dififerent complexion on the whole business.
The Madras authorities, who had hitherto not been greatly
impressed with the possibilities of Kedah, now decided to
turn their attention thither as well as to Acheen. To
this end, they made the projected mission a dual one,
appointing the Hon. Edward Monckton to undertake the
Kedah branch of it and another official named Des
Voeux to proceed to Acheen. Monckton was directed to
offer the Sultan the following terms : " That in considera-
tion of the support the Company proposed to give he
should grant them in full the sea or port customs ofQueda
as a fund for repaying the military expenses they might
be put to on his account. The Company requiring no
part in his retail trade, the half of which they understood
he offered to Mr. Light's employers for this purpose, that
he likewise granted to them so much ground as might be
necessary for the building of a fort and the conveniences for
such agents as they might send there, and that he entered
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 63
into a contract to take from them every year certain
quantities of articles enumerated at fixed prices, and to
give them in return tin, wax, pepper, and elephants' teeth,
or other staple articles for the China market."
If Monckton could not obtain a grant of the port duties
in full, which the Company hardly apprehended, he was
instructed at least to insist that the collection of the duties
should be left to the Company, who would account to the
Sultan for them after defraying the amount of the military
expenses.
It was stated that the Government had taken measures
for establishing a factory at Acheen upon the like plan and
for the like purpose, and that Des Voeux was charged
with that part of the mission. It was desired that these
Settlements should be mutually assisting to each other
The instructions continued : —
"We are not desirous of an extensive territorial
possession. As the great object is trade and barter such
a district round the factory as may be necessary for its
safety and convenience might suffice, but as we observe by
the extracts of Mr. Light's letters herewith delivered to
you that the Rajah has offered a grant of the port of Queda
with all the country as far as Poolo Pinang, we do not at
present see any inconvenience from accepting the whole
if the Rajah should continue in the same favourable dis-
position, and if at any time hereafter it should be found
rather an embarrassment than a convenience it may be
relinquished."
In due course the mission reached Kedah ; but it soon
became apparent that there was a hitch somewhere. The
Sultan was not at all anxious to get to close quarters with
the negotiators, and when at length Monckton did obtain
an interview he found the old man a very difficult subject
64 THE MALAY PENINSULA
to handle. His main anxiety was to know when he would
have assistance against his enemies in Selangor. On his
discovering that he could look for no aid of this character,
he politely informed Monckton that he might remain at
the Kuala, but that he could not think of making any grant
unless he had assistance. Monckton replied that on his
part he could not think of staying unless the Company got
an immediate grant. The Sultan retorted that Monckton
was " right in obeying orders, but that he also must obey,
for that the King of Siam had strictly forbidden him ever
to let any Europeans settle in his kingdom." Monckton
hung on for some time in the hope of being able to
influence the Sultan, and at one time there seemed a
possibility that he might be induced to yield. He actually
obtained from the Prince a qualified grant of territory, but
as soon as the Madras authorities learned that there was
to be no swerving from the condition attached, making it
obligatory upon the Company to assist the Sultan against
his enemies, they emphatically vetoed the proposal. Thus,
in the end, the fates proved too much for the negotiator.
While at Kedah, Monckton sent to India a long despatch
sketching the condition of the Malay Peninsula at that
period. In one passage he dwelt in an interesting way
upon the weakness for arms which characterised the Malay
chiefs. " The King of Quedah and all the Malay kings,"
he said, " have got guns enough to drive all the Europeans
out of India if they knew how to make use of them, and
yet they want more. There is nothing to be dreaded from
giving them more, as they have already got so many. I,
therefore, would humbly beg leave to recommend that the
Company supply the King with as many guns as he may
want. He will always give lOO per cent., and if we do not
supply him the Danes will always find favour here."
Writing later on the same subject, Monckton said, " At
THE SEARCH FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT 65
Purlis there are at least 300 guns laying about half
buried in the mud, and yet the King is always wanting
more. I hope the Company will supply him without
scruple, for if they do not the Danes will, as they all along
have done, getting 2/3 of the weight of the guns in tin.
Formerly it was full weight."
Baffled and disappointed at the turn events had taken.
Light, who had played an important subsidiary part in
the negotiations, retired to Junk Ceylon, which island
he made his place of residence. Monckton, meanwhile,
went on a trip to Rhio and Trengganu, with the object of
seeing what openings there were in those directions. At
the latter place he found the Sultan willing to permit of
Settlements, but it was only on the understanding that help
should be given him to recover territories which had been
filched from him by his neighbour of Johore. As
Monckton could not do business on these terms, he
returned to India, after picking up the Acheen mission,
which had also proved abortive. The narrative of his
journeyings is chiefly interesting from a glimpse it gives
of Light in his new home. " Mr. Light," he wrote, " last
May went to settle at Junk Ceylon as a private merchant,
and was well received by the Governor and principal
inhabitants of the island. Mr. Light got a letter conveyed
to the Tancaville (which went there to get tin) to inform me
that the King of Siam had lately sent a man over to
depose the old Governor and all the principal people of
the place, and that the people of the island had sided with
the old Governor and that they were at that time shut up in
a small compound and that he was with them without arms
and ammunition. They were surrounded by one or two
thousand Siamese and would very shortly fall a sacrifice
to them unless they got assistance from me." He added :
" All the head people of the island were willing to give
5
66 THE MALAY PENINSULA
the Honourable Company any terms they might ask for
their protection. But as I dare not think of embarking
on such an enterprise without your Honours' permission
I have ordered Captain Wedderburn to touch there and
make signals by firing of guns to try if he can bring off
Mr. Light."
With this picture of Light beleaguered in Junk Ceylon,
the narrative, as far as it concerns Kedah, practically
closes. But it remained for the Madras executive to pass
judgment upon the whole transaction. They did so in a
paragraph which is a monument of official supercilious-
ness. " It appears," they wrote, " that the place [Kedah] has
been much misrepresented to us, though under the King's
protection we might have reaped advantage from our fac-
tory there, for Quedah is certainly a port of considerable
trade. The facts show how little dependence is to be
placed on the representations of persons whose characters
are not well known and tried. The persons employed by
the concerned in that trade have as it now appears misled
them by specious representations in order to continue
themselves in an imploy lucrative in all probability to
themselves though ruinous to their employers." Poor
Light ! He deserved better than this of the Indian Govern-
ment. If the very superior officials of Madras had shown
a little more courage he might have won for them as
well as for himself undying fame. As it was, his title to
posterity's remembrance was postponed, while theirs was
obliterated.
CHAPTER V
OCCUPATION OF PENANG
Light at Junk Ceylon — His inarriage^Light proposes the occupation
of Junk Ceylon to Warren Hastings — War interrupts the pro-
motion of the scheme — Captain Forrest's mission to Rhio — Light
obtains a grant of the island of Penang from the Sultan of
Kedah — He is appointed to conduct an expedition for the
occupation of the island — Hoisting of the British flag — Early
days of the Settlement.
After the failure of the Monckton mission to Kedah,
the question of a new headquarter station slumbered for
some years. The times were not propitious for new
adventures involving an immediate outlay of considerable
amount, and a heavy prospective expenditure of a more
or less permanent description. It was the critical stage of
Warren Hastings's administration in India, when the great
man was wrestling with the problem of how best to adapt
the machinery of a trading organisation to the task of
ruling a great Empire. In 1772 he had issued his famous
proclamation that the Company had determined to " stand
forth publicly in the character of Dewan " — or ruler of
Bengal — and the measures necessary to give effect to that
epoch-making declaration occupied his time to the exclu-
sion of every other question. So for a period no more was
heard of the design of planting an outpost in the Straits
of Malacca, which would be at once a place of refuge for
British ships and an entrepot for British commerce.
Light in this quiet interval prosecuted his operations as
67
68 THE MALAY PENINSULA
a trader in the Malayan countries. In his headquarters at
Junk Ceylon he appears to have found favour with both
the Malays and the Siamese, by whom the island was in
turn ruled. Very soon after taking up his residence at
Junk Ceylon, in 177 1, he married Martina Rozells, and by
her had several children, the most famous of whom was
Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. A romantic
story which long had currency represented Mrs. Light
to be a daughter of the Sultan of Kedah, and to lend
an air of verisimilitude to the narrative it was averred that
the island of Penang had been given to Light as a dower
with his bride. But after what has been related in the
previous chapter it is scarcely necessary to say that the
story is quite apocryphal. Mrs. Light may have had
Malayan blood in her veins, but it was probably mingled
with that of a Portuguese ancestor. In all likelihood she
came of a family not at all of an exalted station in life.
Though Light had thus given hostages to fortune, he
never lost sight of the dominating aim of his early career
to establish British influence on an unassailable basis in
Malaya. In a quiet way, he smoothed the path for what
he believed to be the inevitable destiny of the region by
cultivating good relations with all leading personages in
the Straits, and earning for the British name a reputation
for straightforward, honourable dealing. Meanwhile, in
England the question was not entirely overlooked. In
February, 1778, the Hon. Lawrence Sulivan submitted
to the Court of Directors a project for Settlements at
Acheen and the Nicobar Islands. ' Both these territories,
' " Political reflections respecting the present situation of the
different governments upon the Coromandel Coast and of the
powers contiguous, stating also the measures which seem proper to
be adopted whenever we make peace with France with the outlines of
a plan for an establishment at Acheen " (" Sumatra Records," vol. 30).
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 69
he maintained, should have been long since in British
hands, " not merely for the purpose of excluding the
French (though that is a capital object) but from the ex-
pectation of very valuable commercial acquisitions and
shipping conveniences." " In possession of Acheen," he
said, " we are masters of a great part of the navigation of
the Streights of Malacca and it may be made the occasional
resort of the King's ships." The writer of the memorandum
was probably one of the members of the Madras firm of
which Light was the agent in 1771. It is, therefore, quite
conceivable that the founder of Penang had some know-
ledge at the time of the proposal, either from Sulivan
himself or from others. Whether so or not, he was
prompted when in Calcutta in 1780 on one of his trading
voyages to seek an interview with Warren Hastings, and
to lay before him a scheme for the occupation of Junk
Ceylon, a measure which his great local influence enabled
him to put forward with an assurance of success.
Knowing the state of the Company's finances. Light pro-
posed that the costs of the occupation should be defrayed
by public subscription. Hastings approved in principle of
the project, but before the vessels and troops could be got
ready a war with France became certain, and as the
Government at that juncture could afford no supplies and
the merchants were unwilling to risk their property on the
sea on the eve of a war, the scheme was for the time
abandoned. Light himself states that the motive
which influenced the Government at this period in sup-
porting his plans was the desire to curb the aggressive
policy of the Dutch. The conviction then entertained
that the design of the Hollanders was to exclude the
British entirely from any share in the Eastern commerce
was sustained by letters which Light had seen from the
Dutch Government to the Sultans of Rhio and Selangor
70 THE MALAY PENINSULA
absolutely prohibiting those princes from having any
transactions with the British.
Hastings tcept in his mind the facts which Light had con-
veyed to him as to the exclusive policy of the Dutch, and
as soon as his hands were set free in 1784 he despatched
Captain Forrest on a mission to establish a British Settle-
ment at Rhio. The expedition came to nothing, for the
simple reason that the Dutch, getting information of it,
adopted their old plan of forestalling the proposed action.
Light, with a quick perception of what the occasion
demanded, now decided to make a bold dash for Penang
lest here also the veto of the Dutch should be imposed.
He laid his plans so well that he eventually secured the
coveted grant of the island from the Sultan of Kedah.
This Prince was not the one with whom Light and
Monckton had negotiated in 1771, but his son, the offspring
of a slave whom he had adopted for the succession, much to
the disgust of the old Sultan's brothers, who looked upon him
as a usurper. As soon as Light had carried the transac-
tion through he proceeded to Calcutta to lay before the
Government a definite proposal for the occupation both of
Penang and Junk Ceylon. His views found expression in
a letter dated February 5, 1786, in which he reviewed the
course of the negotiations associated with the projected
Settlement in the Straits, though strangely enough he
seems to have omitted any direct reference to Monckton's
abortive mission. In the course of his remarks, he laid
great stress upon the necessity of combating Dutch
pretensions. " The Dutch now," he wrote, " possess
all the Straits of Malacca from Point Romania to the
River Krean in latitude 5 N. on the Malay side, and
they have forts, factories, and pretended claims from
Bintang or Rhio to Diamond Point on the Sumatra
Coast so that there is no part left for you to choose
L.iiiihcil & Co.]
ISIn^^^iporc.
THE SULTAN OF TRI-:N(;i;A\'U.
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 71
but the small kingdoms of Junk Ceylon, Acheen or
Quedah."
Light's representations as to the desirability of action
were strongly supported by his friend James Scott, with
whom in after-years he was intimately associated in the
trade of Penang. A bluff old sailor, with a fine contempt
for official red tape, Scott expressed himself in his com-
munications with amusing frankness. " You may perhaps
ask," he wrote on October 28, 1785, " who this James Scott
is. I will here in part anticipate the answer. He is a
potsman [sic] struggling to pay of some encumbrances
incurred during the war, formerly a trading master and
owner, otherwise but little known but will be happy should
his misfortunes turn out eventually of use to his country."
The writer went on to recite the conditions under which
Junk Ceylon had been offered. Incidentally he touched
upon Monckton's mission, and related how when the old
King of Kedah was introduced to the envoy he said,
" Had the Company nobody to send me but a stuttering
boy?" This led up to an interesting digression on the
aims which should be kept in view in making territorial
acquisitions. "It has," he wrote, "become too common
to consider the attainment of a large quantity of the
precious metals as the chief object of existence. A
gentleman used to the luxuries of India and filled with
the above idea will soon quarrel with a situation among
woods where not a rupee is to be seen : to add to the
disgust arising from the Drapery he finds a people who
dare to resent an insult which he calls insolence : on this
foundation they are mutually tired." Now came the gist
of the whole letter : " To avoid these inconveniences," he
observed in regard to Monckton's failure, " chuse a chief,
cool, patient, active and penetrating : the more of public
spirit the better : More a man of the world than an
72 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Englishman ; one who has studied mankind on liberal
principles and who through the outer drapery that sur-
rounds him is able to seize the proper objects for his
purpose : who can see a King and consider him as such
though dressed in a Lungey ' ; or a future scene of wealth
and population under a jungle, as a rising settlement
cannot be supposed to yield much profit." In fine, they
should appoint as the man for the job, Francis Light.
No need existed of any extraneous advocacy to induce
the Supreme Government to select Light to execute the
mission once they had decided to send an expedition to
the Straits. The Hon. John Macpherson, who filled the
office of Governor-General in the period between Warren
Hastings's departure and Lord Cornwallis's arrival, had
been highly impressed with Light's abilities in the various
interviews he had had with him, and he was quite aware
of the remarkable influence he exercised in Malaya. In
a communication to the Court forwarding his letter, the
Governor-General described him as "a man of excellent
character and good information," who had traded to the
Eastward for many years and stood " in the highest
esteem with the Malay, Siamese, and Pegu chiefs." The
resolution accepting the Sultan of Kedah's offer stated
that "in consideration of the Board's favourable opinion
of Captain Francis Light, his knowledge of the Malay
language, and the high esteem in which he stands
with the King of Quedah and other Malay chiefs, he
be vested with the charge and superintendence of the
island of Penang on the part of the Company until
their pleasure be known or until further orders, and that
he be furnished with a proper commission as com-
mander of the Eliza [the vessel detailed for the service]
' " Lungi, a cloth passed between the thighs. Bengali : a petti-
coat" (Wilson's " Glossary of Indian Terms").
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 73
and Superintendent of Penang." The Government in
their instructions to Light, which were dated a few
weeks later — May 2, 1786 — observed: "The success of
this important undertaking depends entirely on the good
conduct of the conductor, and especially during its
infant state : We have a very favourable opinion
of your peculiar talents for the management of the
business, and, indeed, it is from the great reliance we
have on your discretion, your experience in the navigation
of the Eastern Seas, and knowledge of the views and dis-
positions and language of the Malay princes that we have
been encouraged to entrust the success of the undertaking
entirely to your superintendence."
The Court of Directors, when they received Light's
letter of Jan. 25, 1786, referred to above, gave their
immediate sanction to a scheme which seemed to them to
promise so well for the purpose they had in view of inter-
posing a barrier to the encroachments of the Hollander.
In a despatch to the Supreme Government, they
empowered that authority to act as circumstances should
occur without waiting for orders from home. " We
wish," the Court wrote, " that without embroiling our-
selves with the Dutch, or giving them any well-founded
jealousy of our intending to wrest from them, or rival
them, in the spice trade, that every practicable method
should be tried for extending our commerce among the
Eastern islands, and indirectly by their means to China ;
we wish that every means, consistent with the strictest
attention to the faith of Treaties with European Powers,
should be used to conciliate the esteem and affection
of the natives and to teach them to look up to the
English as their friends and protectors ; we wish, there-
fore, that every proper and judicious method should be
taken of counteracting the policy of the Dutch in
74 THE MALAY PENINSULA
enslaving the independent powers, and that every assist-
ance should privately be given them in resisting any
unjust attack upon their liberties ; we would particularly
point your attention to the most prudent and effectual
means of giving support to the King of Salengore, as
that would, from the friendly intercourse that has long
subsisted between us, give credit to us in the eyes of
the other Malay chiefs, and secure their confidence and
esteem.
" It is unnecessary to dwell upon the bad consequences
which may in case of any future war result from the
Dutch being suffered to have the sole exclusive possession
of such important passes as the Straits of Malacca and
Sunda. Every means should be declared and open
hostility on the part of your Government should be
used to encourage and support the natives in resistance
to any attempts to enslave them and to encourage
them trading with us ; how far it may be proper to
intimate such intentions to the Dutch Government, or
only to leave them to take effect by their own operation,
must be left to your judgment.
" The great importance of the China trade, the necessity
of extending by commercial means the resources of our
investment from that country, as well as the good policy,
by awing the Dutch to prevent a rupture with them, or
in case of its taking place to be able to avail ourselves
of it advantageously, to break their spice monopoly, make
us look with sanguine expectations to the benefit of an
establishment somewhere near the Pott's Straits, which
by the judicious choice of an harbour for shelter and
refreshment for our ships which may make the passage,
as well as for promoting the most important operations
in case of future war, will effectually answer these
purposes."
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 75
Thus this important step which was to give the British
for the first time a firm foothold in Malaya was entered
upon with a chorus of oflRcial goodwill. Nor was the
benediction of Light's intimate, Scott, wanting to give
eclat to the occasion. In a letter to the Supreme
Government, the old sailor congratulated the authorities
"on having in contradiction to prescription and prejudice
entrusted the carrying your design into execution to a
man of local knowledge and an enlarged experience."
" His honour and name," proceeded Light's admirer, " is
now engaged. Let, therefore, no alteration, however con-
venient, deprive him, at least during its infancy, of the
sole directing power while the world and you hold him
responsible for its success. A contrary behaviour will
damp his ardour and render him indifferent to the success
of measures he does not continue to direct."
Before we proceed to describe the manner in which
Light executed his trust, it is desirable to indicate the
character of the engagement, which by the resolution
of the Supreme Government had been entered upon.
In the first place, it should be noted that it concerned
Kedah exclusively. At the time the East India Com-
pany might undoubtedly have had Junk Ceylon for the
asking, but they were fearful of the cost that would
be involved in a double occupation, and decided to fix
their attention exclusively on Penang. The Sultan of
Kedah's letter making the grant of the island intimated
that Light had asked him, on behalf of " the Raja of
Bengal," for a Settlement, " where the Agents of the
Company might reside, for the purpose of trading and
building ships of war to protect the island and to cruise
at sea, so that if any enemies of ours from the East or
West should come to attack us the Company would
regard them as enemies also and fight them, and all
76 THE MALAY PENINSULA
the expenses of such war shall be borne by the Company."
The letter went on to stipulate for freedom for ships,
junks, and prahus to trade with Kedah, and for a grant
of $30,000 a year as compensation for the loss of his
monopoly in the articles of opium, tin, and rattans, which
would follow upon the opening of Penang and the transfer
of the trade thither. On the Sultan's part, it was agreed
that there should be free export of all sorts of provisions
and timber for shipbuilding. Following upon these clauses
came this, the salient passage of the communication :
" Should anyone in this country become my enemy, even
my own children, all such shall be considered as enemies
of the Company. I request from the Company men and
powder, shot, arms large and small, also money for the
purpose of carrying on the war, and when the business
is settled I will repay the advances. Should these
propositions be considered proper and acceptable to
the Governor-General, he may send a confidential agent
to Pulau Penang to reside ; but if the Governor-General
does not approve of the terms and conditions of this
engagement, let him not be offended with me. Such are
my wishes to be made known to the Company, and
this treaty must be faithfully adhered to till the most
distant times." The letter was a basis for negotiation
rather than a treaty. As such, at all events, it was
evidently regarded by Light, for in communicating to
the Government his views on the terms offered, he thus
referred to what is set forth in the records as "the Sth
Article," this being the proviso relative to giving the
Prince defence against his enemies : " This article com-
prehends the principal and almost only reason why the
King wishes an alliance with the Hon. Company, and
in the treaty must be worded with caution, so as to
distinguish between an enemy endeavouring or aiming
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 77
at his destruction of the kingdom, and one who may
simply fall into displeasure with either the King or his
Minister." The Government, adopting the hint given
them by Light, were cautious in their reply to the
Sultan of Kedah. They stated that they would " always
keep an armed vessel stationed to guard the island of
Penang and the coast adjacent belonging to the King
of Queda," and that " ail persons residing in the country
belonging to the King of Queda who shall become his
enemies or commit capital offences against the State shall
not be protected by the English." Furthermore, they
declared that " the Governor-General and Council, on the
part of the English East India Company, will take care
that the King of Queda shall not be a sufferer by an
English settlement being formed on the island of Penang."
The last reference was to the monetary compensation
demanded for the loss of the monopolies. The authorities
did not want to commit themselves too far on any point,
least of all on this, which touched them on a very tender
spot.
With the position thus vaguely defined. Light sailed
from Calcutta on his mission early in May, 1786. He
was probably under no delusions as to the character
of the task that was before him.
The battle at this stage was only half won. Light had
to reconcile the Company's rooted distaste for an alliance
which would embroil them with their neighbours with the
Sultan's declared desire to make this cession of Penang
the instrument of such a connection. The position was,
in fact, not widely different to that which had existed at
the time of the Monckton mission, save that Light himself
was now in supreme control, instead of being subordinate
to a young and raw official who had no knowledge of
Malay character. The distinction, however, was one of
78 THE MALAY PENINSULA
great importance, and in the long run the independent
status accorded to Light saved the situation. When he
reached Kedah early in July, he found that there were
serious apprehensions of the State becoming involved in
the hostilities then raging between Siam and Burma, and
that there was an expectation that backing would be
forthcoming in the emergency. The Sultan himself at
the moment appears to have been more troubled with the
tenour of a passage in the Governor-General's letter which
appeared to him to threaten pains and penalties in the
event of his not making the cession. Light, however, was
able to persuade him that a false interpretation had been
put upon the language, and eventually the Sultan signed
the treaty on the understanding that the instrument was
to be submitted for final approval to the Court of Direc-
tors in London. On July lo, exactly a week after the
signature had been appended to the treaty, Light took
final leave of the Sultan, and commenced preparations for
the embarkation of his little force for the great work in
hand. On the 14th he sailed from Kedah, and the next
day his ship, the Eliza, with her two consorts, the Prince
Henry and Speedwell, dropped anchor in Penang Harbour
at a point within a musket-shot of the spot that was to be
the site of what is to-day the town of Penang. A pioneer
landing party was despatched ashore on July 17, under
the command of Lieutenant Gray, and thenceforward the
work of debarkation proceeded without intermission until
August II, when the artillery and stores were sent to
the positions assigned in the new town, the main lines of
which had already been laid down. The arrival in
harbour the same day of H.M.S. Valentine suggested to
Light that the time was propitious for the formal ceremony
of taking possession of the island. With all appropriate
rites, the British flag was hoisted, and the name Prince
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 79
of Wales's Island was conferred upon the possession in
honour of the then Heir Apparent to the throne (after-
wards George IV.) whose birthday fell the next day.
Light now addressed himself with vigour to the difficult
work of evolving, out of the somewhat unpromising
materials to his hand, a stable and, if possible, self-support-
ing community. There was a small Chinese population on
the island at the time of the occupation : otherwise the
territory was uninhabited, and as far as the interior was
concerned it was a mere jungle waste. With an energy
born of enthusiasm, the new Superintendent, to give Light
his official title, took measures to attract settlers of the
right kind. His influence with all classes in the Straits,
coupled with the knowledge that the place was to be
made an important station of the East India Company,
soon induced a healthy flow of emigrants from all quarters.
Before many months had elapsed a flourishing town of
the characteristic Malayan type had sprung up on the
island. Stock was imported from Kedah to supply the
commissariat, and, in other ways which long experience
suggested to Light, the Settlement was directed on the
road to independence. Captain Kyd, who was sent in the
wake of Light to report on the island with a view to a final
decision being formed as to its suitability for the purposes
of a new headquarter station, appears to have caught
some of Light's enthusiasm for the child of his adoption.
In his report to Government, dated September i, 1787,
he wrote that Penang certainly deserved a preference over
any other place which had been suggested for the pur-
poses in view. "It is," he said, " accessible without the
least danger in all seasons. It is upon a coast abounding
with cattle, fowl, fish, and all kinds of fruits in perfection.
It has a harbour where a fleet can refit and ships heave
down in the most perfect security. From the appearance
80 THE MALAY PENINSULA
of the face of the island and its soil it promises soon, if
cleared and cultivated with spirit, to be able to furnish
every article of refreshment within itself sufficient for a
large fleet, but above all it has upon it an inexhaustible
stock of timber fit for repairing ships and for making
masts. ... As a situation for commerce it has not its
equal in the Straits of Malacca."
This glowing report should have clinched the question
of the retention of the island, but the authorities in
Calcutta continued doubtful as to the desirability of
committing themselves irrevocably on the point. As
they were in possession, they probably felt that the ques-
tion of a nice adjustment of the conditions upon which
they held the island might wait until a more convenient
opportunity. The Sultan of Kedah's views at this early
period certainly left some room open for hesitancy on the
part of the Company. He was sore at not obtaining the
support he had looked for, and the feeling increased as
the danger of Siamese aggression became more acute.
The flames of his discontent were fanned by the Dutch,
who had watched the rise of Penang with jealous appre-
hension, and intrigued energetically to neutralise the bold
stroke which Light had directed at their monopoly in
the Straits. Another factor which was working against
the British was the hostility of the Laxamana and the
Bhandara, the Sultan's two principal ofificials, whose
interests had been injuriously affected by the occupation
of Penang. The former of these Light, in one of his
epistles, describes as an " old fox," while the other he
characterises as " a deep cunning villainous Chooliar, who
by working upon the King's pusillanimity has reduced the
power of the great men and engrossed the whole of the
administration." One outcome of the unholy combination
was the pressing of the demand for the subsidy of $30,000
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 81
a year, mentioned by the Sultan in his letter as suitable
compensation for the loss of his trading privileges. In
the communications which had passed at the outset this
part of the conditions outlined had been discreetly evaded.
But now it was found a convenient handle by which to
exert pressure. Light was too well acquainted with the
environment of the Sultan's Court — to give the somewhat
sordid Royal minage a high-sounding description — to be
seriously alarmed at the claim. But he, nevertheless,
wrote to India strongly representing to the authorities
there the necessity of coming to terms. No arrangement,
he stated, would, in his opinion, be acceptable which did
not promise the King protection. Without such an
alliance as would compel the King to furnish the Settle-
ment at all times with provisions and prevent other
European nations from settling in any other part of the
country, Penang would be subject to many incon-
veniences. He proceeded : " Should the Siamese be per-
mitted to take possession of his [the Sultan's] country, we
shall not only find an insolent and troublesome neigh-
bour, but be under the necessity of assisting them in their
wars or go to war with them ourselves. I humbly con-
ceive that it will be easier, and attended with less expense
to the Honourable Company to declare at once the King
of Kedah under our protection ; little else than the name
of the Company will be wanted ; the longer it is delayed
the greater will appear the consequence of the island, and
the more difficulty there will be in fixing a settlement.
The Danes, the Dutch, and the French have solicited
permission to have only a house in Kedah ; either of them
will promise much, and should the King consider himself
aggrieved or disappointed by the English, he may in
despair seek for other alliance." Light's arguments were
irresistible if the object of the occupation of Penang were
6
82 THE MALAY PENINSULA
the consolidation of British interests in the Straits. But a
cold fit had supervened in India on the first warm burst of
approval with which the scheme for the new Settlement
had been received, and his vigorous, and, if we may say
so, statesmanlike communications missed their mark.
The bent of the ofificial mind is illustrated in a minute,
penned by the Governor-General (Sir John Macpherson)
quite early in the occupation before the monetary demand
had been seriously formulated. The minute declared that
the then embarrassed state of the finances did not warrant
the occupation. Money was required for other and more
important objects. The plan, however, had now gone too
far to be hastily retracted. He should, therefore, consider
it his duty to promote its success as far as he could con-
sistently with the rigid economy which their present
circumstances so loudly called for. Not encouraging, this,
for a man who was faced by a situation calling so urgently
as that at Penang did for the application of an energetic
and liberal policy. That Light felt at the time that his
hold on Penang was precarious is clearly shown in the
letter he addressed to Lord Cornwallis at Madras while
that eminent peer was on his way to Calcutta to assume
the reins of Government as the first of the great line of
rulers of India drawn from the ranks of British public
men. Light, writing on December 15, 1786, earnestly
supplicated his lordship's attention in favour of the young
Settlement, which position he pointed out was urgently
needed for upholding British interests in the face of the
aggressive policy of the Dutch. There is no evidence that
any direct reply was given to the appeal, and the tenour of
the official communications which passed subsequently
does not suggest any very deep interest on Lord Corn-
wallis's part in the Company's new acquisition in the
Straits. It seems probable that the question was prejudiced
OCCUPATION OF PENANG 83
by the jealousy of a clique or faction at the capital who
were inimical to Light and spread stories to his dis-
advantage. An element of plausibility was lent to the
attacks by the course adopted by Light in joining in
business with his friend Scott and monopolising most of
the trade of the new station. There was nothing irregular
about this, as Light was left a free hand where his own
private affairs were concerned, and in any event he only
followed the custom which up to that time had prevailed
almost universally at the Company's distant stations of the
officials engaging in private trade. But it made him
enemies in many quarters, and gave point to the charges
which were circulated that in founding Penang he had
his eye far more to his own interests than to those of the
Company. His memory was ultimately so brilliantly
vindicated that we find the writer of an official paper,'
prepared it would seem not long after Light's death, in
quite heroic style, citing Chatham's famous declaration
that the American Colonies were " the brightest jewels in
the British diadem " to give point to a declaration in rela-
tion to Penang that " the national glory which he viewed
sinking in the West had, like the resplendent original to
which he emblematically alluded, risen again in the East
with renewed splendour."
' "A Memoir of Prince of Wales's Island, considered Politically
and Commercially " ("Straits Settlements Records,'' vol. i.).
CHAPTER VI
PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY
Land development— Trouble with the Sultan of Kedah— Conclusion
of treaties — Light's views on the Administration — His illness
and death — His character — The Manila Expeditionary Force at
Penang — Colonel Wellesley's Memoir — Conquest of Malacca
— Penang made a Presidency.
Light found Penang a jungle : he left it a garden. All
the arts of the tropical agriculturist as then known were
called in aid to make the island a centre of production as
well as of distribution. Plantations rose on every side
with extraordinary celerity having regard to the precarious-
ness of the tenure of the Settlement at that early period. To
the original beauties of a scene, famed even in that region
of opulent natural charm, were added the luxuriant but
ordered growths of the pepper garden, the gambier planta-
tion, and of the orchards in which the common fruits of the
tropical world were cultivated with extraordinary success.
Light's influence counted for much in securing this highly
valuable result. There was trust in his word that the
British had come to stay, and men were content to sink
the capital represented by their labour in the work of
development. Their path no doubt was made easy by the
liberal regulations which Light introduced relative to the
land. He made free grants to practically any one who
would undertake to remove the jungle growth and plant
the cleared area with products required for the sustenance
84
PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY 85
of the Settlement and its future enrichment. In so doing
he was acting well within his instructions,^ but in after-
years there was a disposition shown by the authorities to
repudiate his grants, and it was only after the most ener-
getic representations that the policy was abandoned. It is
morally certain that without the incentive offered by a free
grant with undisturbed possession Penang would never
have been settled. We may, perhaps, go farther and say
that only a man of Light's extraordinary influence could
have effected what he did even with the potent aid of un-
limited land grants. The whole melancholy history of
Bencoolen is a standing proof of the sterilising incapacity
of the ordinary officialdom of that period when faced
with the problem of building up a British community in
Malaya. Yet there were men sitting in their chairs in the
recesses of the Government offices at Calcutta to carp and
cavil at the foolish generosity of his grants, and even to
hint far from obscurely at the existence of motives not
altogether disinterested in the making of them. One
official, however, was there to do him full justice. This was
Captain Kyd, the functionary who had surveyed Penang
on its occupation in 1787. Kyd was despatched from
Calcutta in 1793 to settle doubts which had arisen in
the official mind as to the comparative advantages of the
Settlement formed in the Andaman Islands in the pre-
vious year, and Penang as a port of refitment and
refreshment for vessels of war. In his report to the
Government, Captain Kyd drew an interesting comparison
between the Settlement as he saw it in 1787 and as it
' " Queries by Light to the Governor-General.
" People will come from Malacca, from the coast of Coromandel,
and many other places to settle at Penang : it will be necessary to
grant them a proportion of land and to establish a police for their
security." — " Note (by the Governor-General) : That would be proper "
(" Straits Settlements Records," vol. i).
86 THE MALAY PENINSULA
presented itself in this later visit. " I found," he said, "that
the island which, when I surveyed it in 1787, was nearly as
impenetrable a forest as the Andamans, is already cleared
and cultivated to the extent of at least 25 square miles, that
abundance of tropical plants and all the vegetables common
in India are produced there, and the climate is temperate
and healthy, and, like every other situation in the Straits
of Malacca, entirely free from gales of wind and violent
weather of any kind . . .; that there is a considerable popu-
lation, particularly of industrious Chinese and natives of
the Coast of Coromandel, that a large town has been built,
and that there are shops and markets filled with every article
of refreshment or supply that a fleet can be in want of, that
a very extensive commerce is established both through the
medium of ships navigated by Europeans and prows from
the neighbouring countries, even as far to the eastward as
Celebes, and that under proper regulations and manage-
ment it appears capable of increase to a very great extent."
Nothing hardly could be more convincing as a testimony
to Light's commanding abilities as a colony-builder. In
less than six years, with the slenderest resources at his
command, he had brought into vigorous existence a pros-
perous Settlement which was not only able to supply its own
needs, but to furnish adequate supplies to the largest fleet
then afloat in the East.
Nearly all the time that Light was engaged in this great
constructive work he was under the shadow of the old
difficulty with the Sultan of Kedah. The fact that the
prince to a large extent had right on his side did not make
the position easier. Light had to temporise and fence with
demands which, if his own views had been alone in ques-
tion, would have been straightforwardly met, and he also
had to put up with slights and pinpricks which in ordinary
circumstances he would have resented. For a time matters
PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY 87
simply drifted, the Sultan and his officials on the one hand
making themselves as unpleasant as they could, and Light
on the other maintaining an attitude of masterly inactivity.
At length, however, the spell was broken by the Sultan
preparing an expedition for the recovery of the island.
Early in 1790 he gathered a quite formidable force at Prai
with the declared intention of attacking Penang. Light,
when he got wind of the move, lost no time in laying his
plans for an effective counter-stroke. Getting together a
compact contingent of 400 armed men, he sallied forth,
attacked the Sultan's force in their stockade, capturing the
position and putting to flight the fleet of war prahus which
had gathered in anticipation of the projected assault on
Penang. The Sultan had no stomach for further fighting,
and he was only too glad to conclude a treaty with Light in
which, in consideration of a subsidy of $6,000, the Sultan
agreed to cede Penang in perpetuity, and to exclude all
other European nations from settlement in Kedah. The
treaty was confirmed later by the Supreme Government,
and in 1800 it was supplemented by another agreement
which, in consideration of an additional subsidy of $4,000,
gave the Company territorial rights over an area on the main-
land subsequently known as Province Wellesley. In this
fashion was rounded off the largely peaceful conquest of the
territory which was the nucleus of the splendid Crown
Colony popularly known to-day as British Malaya.
Some years before the final consummation of his designs
was reached Light had passed to his rest. The closing
period of his career was largely occupied in devising suitable
machinery to meet the needs of a community which had
grown to proportions beyond even his sanguine expecta-
tions. As early as 1792 the Chinese community alone
numbered 3,000, and they, though a most important sec-
tion of the population, were only one of a number of racial
88 THE MALAY PENINSULA
elements which went to make up the new Settlement.
With the continued influx of emigrants from all parts,
many of them undesirables, as was inevitable in the
circumstances under which the post was established,
the need of some more effective system of administering
justice than the rough-and-ready arrangement which
had been in use in the first days of the occupation
made itself acutely felt. The question was brought to
a head by proceedings taken by Light in connection
with a murderous outrage committed by one European
on another in the Nicobar Islands. The perpetrator
of the offence was taken to Penang, and having been
tried there by a court of military officers set up by Light,
was found guilty and sent to Calcutta to be dealt with by
the authorities at headquarters. On consideration of the
case, the Advocate-General, the chief law officer, advised
the Government that there was no law by which the well-
meant action of Prince of Wales's Island could be sup-
ported as far as it related to the trial or punishment of
murder or any other crimes at that island. The prisoner was
consequently released. The failure of justice in this instance,
in conjunction with other episodes arising out of the anoma-
lous situation existing at Penang, induced Light to make to
the Government an earnest appeal for the introduction of
proper courts of justice. His views are set out at consider-
able length in a communication dated January 25, 1794.
In this document Light drew a wonderfully interesting
picture of the diverse elements of the population, bringing
into prominence the characteristics of each and the peculiar
demands which a community thus formed made upon the
system of government under which they lived. " Very few
people residing here," he said, " excepting the Chulias (In-
dians) were ever acquainted with European Governments.
Brought up under the feudal laws and customs, they cannot
• PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY 89
at once change opinions that they have imbibed from
their infancy. To endeavour to subject these people to
our strict military law and discipline would soon depopu-
late the island of all the most wealthy and useful in-
habitants. A mild and at the same time an active Govern-
ment is necessary. The inhabitants must at all times have
recourse to the Chief, and as they are composed of many
different nations, they are jealous of each other, and will
not submit their cause to the decision of one whom
they think is a partial administrator. The administration
of justice will, therefore, for some years continue to be a
troublesome and fatiguing office, which makes it necessary
that the person who is to execute the duties of it should
be acquainted with persons and circumstances before he
enters upon it." The final conclusion which Light reached
is embodied in this paragraph : " A regular form of ad-
ministering justice is necessary for the peace and welfare
of the Society and for the honour of the nation who granted
them protection. It is likewise improper that the Superin-
tendent should have it in his power to exercise an arbitrary
judgment upon persons andthings: whether this judgment is
iniquitous or not the mode is still arbitrary and disagreeable
to Society." The statesmanlike directness of this letter could
scarcely have been excelled by a master of despatch writing.
The composition reveals the man perhaps more than any
other of his official writings, illuminating and suggestive as
many of them are. It must have been to a certain extent
with a premonition of his impending demise that he put his
opinions on paper. He knew how easily, by improper
handling of the strange racial medley which went to make
up the population of Penang, his great work might be
wrecked, and he was anxious to safeguard the position by
bringing home to the Government the special requirements
of the place. It has been stated that the letter was the
90 THE MALAY PENINSULA
last official communication Light forwarded to the Govern-
ment, but it was not so. We find in the records several
letters of a subsequent date. What is probably really his
final despatch is dated September 21, 1794. It is an
official statement relative to a number of French prisoners
of war captured by British cruisers in the operations
then proceeding in the East and disembarked at Penang.
The captives were sent by Light to Calcutta, and it is a
tribute to his goodness of heart that he especially
commended to the good offices of the Government
the commander, M. du Bois, who was, he said, " deserving
of every alleviation of his situation which circumstances
and the public good will admit of."
Just a month after the humane intercession was made
on behalf of the French Commander — -on October 21,
1794 — Light breathed his last. He had for some time
previously been ill from the effects of a malarial fever
contracted in the early days of the occupation, and
though he had battled bravely against the weakness his
impaired constitution finally gave way under the debilitating
effects of the illness combined with the strain of a situation
of increasing responsibility and anxiety. He was laid to
rest in the local cemetery, in a grave above which is
placed a marble slab, bearing a simple inscription, telling
the visitor of to-day that the remains below are those of
the founder of Penang. This, with an unassuming tablet
in St. George's Church, is the only memento of the great
Imperial pioneer. But his fame stands in need of no
adventitious aid to keep it fresh in the scene of his life
achievement. The present grandeur of the superstruc-
ture of British influence in the Straits of Malacca is an
ever-present reminder of what is due to the man who,
beyond all others, not excepting Raffles himself, con-
tributed to the building up of that magnificent fabric.
PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY 91
Light's death attracted at the time only the baldest
official notice in the records of the Supreme Government.
But Mr. Philip Manington, who had been appointed, in
response to Light's own request, Assistant-Superintendent,
and who arrived in Penang a short time before the
former's death, paid a generous tribute to his predecessor
in the chief office to which he in due course succeeded.
" Although it has been reported," he wrote, " that he
[Light] was possessed of a large fortune, Mr. Pigou
assures me his estate will not exceed ;^i 5,000. In short,
in promoting the success of this Settlement he has spent
immense sums from his private resources." The Calcutta
authorities, in acknowledging the communication con-
taining the foregoing passage, expressed their satisfaction
at the public spirit shown by the late Superintendent ; but
here they left the matter. In later years a grudging
recognition of the debt due to Light was made in the form
of the presentation of a public appointment to his second
son, Francis Lanoon Light, who was made Resident of
Muntok in Banca during the British occupation of that
island at the time of the war with the Dutch. Otherwise,
Light's supreme services to the Company passed un-
recognised by that body. Nor has the Imperial
Government shown any disposition to repair the
omission.
As was only natural, the withdrawal of Light's remark-
able personality from the Settlement had a very adverse
influence on its fortunes. Mr. Manington, who succeeded
him, though an able and broad-minded official, was lacking
in the essential knowledge of the local conditions, and,
further, was not possessed of sufficient influence to make
his authority felt. Serious differences developed between
him and the military commander as to the limits of their
respective duties. Manington was upheld in the view he
92 THE MALAY PENINSULA
took of the absoluteness of the Superintendent's authority,
excepting in times of war. But the squabble lasted long
enough to check the development of the island in many
ways. The war which at this time broke out with the
Dutch and the French was an additional instrument of
disorganisation. Trade in many important directions was
throttled, and generally the interests of the station suffered,
though no doubt there was one important compensating
advantage in the visits of the British ships of war engaged
in the operations for purposes of refitting and revictualling.
It was this use of the island in the war which probably
turned the vacillating opinions of the Supreme Govern-
ment into the current of strong appreciation of the value
of the Settlement that in the end set in. Admiral
Rainier, the commander of the British squadron, ex-
pressed the warmest approval of the facilities afforded to
his vessels, declaring that the local supplies were prefer-
able in every respect to what he obtained either at Madras
or Bombay. In reporting these expressions of opinion to
the Government, Manington wrote : " Our resources here are
really so very great without exaggeration that we could
supply a fleet of sail of the line with good beef and
vegetables for six months or longer if necessary. . . . We
have masts and spars of any dimensions from a first-rate
ship of war to a sloop. The mainmast now supplied the
Resistance does not cost more than one-third of the price
it would in England, or one-tenth of what they would have
paid for it at Bombay. They are highly satisfied with it
and the Commodore says he will write to the Com-
missioners of the Navy not in future to send anything of
the kind from England, as they can procure them for a
certainty here at a much less expense, exclusive of
freight, &c., than the Government are at for conveying
them to India." Manington's arguments were strongly
PENANG ATTAINS ITS MAJORITY 93
reinforced by the experience gained in 1797 when the
island was made the rendezvous of the expeditionary force
which in that year was despatched from India against
Manila. The expedition was the largest which up to that
time had ever been sent out of India. It numbered no
fewer than 5,000 European troops, and there was a
correspondingly large body of native soldiers from Bengal
and Madras, with an immense number of followers. The
little army never got beyond Penang, as the objects for
which it was despatched from India were accomplished
without its aid. But the experience gained on the
occasion drove home to the official mind the extra-
ordinary value of the place as a distant outpost of India.
The mental process was markedly facilitated by a memoir
drawn up by the Duke of Wellington, who as plain
Colonel Wellesley was one of the officers sent on the
expedition. The great soldier saw at a glance the
potentialities of the island from this standpoint. In his
terse, vigorous English he sketched the advantages which
accrued from its possession, pointing out that it was so
placed that it might be held by a comparatively insignifi-
cant force against all comers. He added some suggestive
commentaries on the measures which were desirable to
secure the effective administration of the Settlement.
" As the inhabitants consist of people of different nations,"
he wrote, " and of different provinces of those nations, it is
desirable to leave them under the direction of the head-
man of each Province, and to interfere as little as possible
in the regulations which may be established by each for
the government of his own countrymen. It may, however,
be necessary, in order to ensure the general tranquillity, to
have one European magistrate, who might be at the head
of the magistracy of the island. He should inform himself
of the methods of proceeding and of the laws which bind
94 THE MALAY PENINSULA
the Chinese and the Malays, and in cases where either or
both are parties, according to the laws of universal and
natural justice." The Earl of Mornington (afterwards
Marquess Wellesley), brother of the writer of the memoir,
at this juncture arrived in India as Governor-General in
succession to Sir John Shore. It is not a vain speculation
to suppose that the opinions expressed received their
fullest weight in the Council Chamber. However that may
be, from this time forward there was no more talk of
abandoning Penang. On the contrary, the disposition in
official quarters was more and more to look to it as a
point from which naturally radiated the Company's power
in the Middle East. The capture of Malacca from the
Dutch in 1795 by a British squadron, under the command
of Captain Newcome, of H.M.S. Orpheus, had temporarily
dimmed Penang's lustre ; but the addition of Province
Wellesley in 1798, in circumstances already described,
gave a new significance to the possession which the
Government in India were not slow to appreciate. In
1 801 a complete judicial administration was established,
with as the first judge and magistrate Mr. John Dickens
(an uncle of the great novelist), who up to that period had
practised in Bengal with some success. This step was
followed in 1805 by the elevation of Penang to a Presi-
dency. Mr. Philip Dundas, the first Governor, arrived in
the Settlement on September 18 in that year, in all the
panoply of his exalted office. In his train came a
numerous body of officials, including twenty-six Europeans,
whose aggregate salaries reached a very high figure.
Altogether the cost of the gubernatorial establishment was
;^43,500 per annum. Light was avenged, but the price
paid was a somewhat excessive one. In after-years the
undue generosity of the Supreme Government in
endowing Penang with officials gave rise to trouble.
CHAPTER VII
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS
Proposed abandonment of Malacca — Destruction of the fortifica-
tions — Stamford Raffles — -His protest against the evacuation —
The Java Expedition — British occupation of Java — Retrocession
of the island— -Dutch aggrandisement — Raffles proceeds to
Calcutta — He is entrusted with a special mission to the Straits.
At the time that Penang was settling down to the
enjoyment of its new dignity as a Presidency, the long-
drawn-out quarrel between British and Dutch was
again assuming an acute form. In all the history of
European influence in the East there is perhaps nothing
more remarkable than this conflict. It had, at the time
of which we are writing, continued for nearly two cen-
turies without hardly any intermission. There was a
moment at the outset when it seemed that English
interests would predominate in the region known
popularly as the Spice Islands. The Dutch were driven
out of Jakatra, the modern Batavia, and their ships were
chased away from what up to then had been the seat
of their power. But the triumph was only a temporary
one. With the withdrawal of the English ships to
render much-needed service in India, Holland reasserted
her influence, returning to Jakatra to establish a domi-
nation which was not again to be seriously challenged
until she once more found herself vis-h-vis her old
antagonist. In the interval she had excluded the
96 THE MALAY PENINSULA
English East India Company from one place after
another, until, as we have seen, it had to rest content
with an isolated position on the worst part of the
Sumatran Coast. That restriction of its activities in
the Middle East was a blessing in disguise, for it enabled
the Company to concentrate its energies on its Settle-
ments in India, and so to lay the foundations of
the wonderful Empire which owns Britain's sovereign
allegiance to-day. But the Dutch monopolistic decrees
had always caused friction, and their irritant effect
became increasingly marked as the expansion of British
power and trade in the East rendered freedom of action
outside the boundaries of India more essential. The
occupation of Penang, as the narrative has clearly
revealed, was an outcome of the feeling in British official
quarters that the Dutch claims to supreme influence in
the Middle East must be resisted. That step com-
mitted the Indian Government to the policy of direct
intervention in the Straits of Malacca, and there was
no turning back from it, even if there had been any
wish to escape obligations from " the craven fear of
being great " which has sometimes at critical moments
in the Empire's history paralysed the British arm.
The Indian Government were the readier to accept
the policy which Light's insight had directed them to
pursue, because the years of stress at the end of the
eighteenth century had brought into full prominence the
enormous strategic value of the Straits of Malacca,
while a series of naval episodes had demonstrated that
the Power that held the Straits commanded the trade of
China. Experience gained in the despatch of the Manila
expedition had convincingly shown how immensely the
possession of the Straits added to the striking force of
the military arm of India. Moreover, there was a
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS 97
dawning perception of the value of Malaya itself as a
field for commerce. To these reasons of a local char-
acter must be added the stimulating effect of the
successes won by British arms in the great Western
theatre in which the destinies of Europe were being
decided. The news of the Battle of Trafalgar, filtering
down through the Euphrates Valley to the Persian
Gulf, passed on thence to Bombay, and transmitted from
Bombay to Penang, had infused new vigour into the
East India Company's policy in the Middle East and
greatly enlarged the vision of those who were directing
it. The position, however, was one not free from
difficulty and embarrassment. In occupying Malacca
in 1795, the British Government acted nominally as
the protector of legitimate Dutch rights usurped by
Napoleon Bonaparte. In that role they were prepared
to hand back the Settlement to its rightful owners on
the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens in 1802. But
as war was resumed before the retrocession could be
made, the occupation continued. The authorities at
Penang in time began to realise that the responsibility
that had been undertaken was no light one. The cost
of administration was heavy, and there was practically
no return, as trade had to a large extent been diverted to
Penang. In the circumstances, the proposal was made
by Lieut-Colonel Farquhar, then Governor of Prince
of Wales Island, that the place should be abandoned
after the destruction of the fortifications. The Court
of Directors, always ready to welcome schemes which
tended to economy, gave their sanction to the plan.
Without loss of time, measures were taken to give
effect to the official decision. Imbued by a zeal worthy
of a better cause, Lieut-Colonel Farquhar attacked the
fortifications, which were one of the characteristic
7
98 THE MALAY PENINSULA
features of Malacca. The Portuguese and Dutch had
built solidly and well, and the task of destruction was no
light one. Eventually, however, at a cost of £7,000,
the iconoclasts had laid level with the earth the picturesque
bastions and ramparts which for nearly three centuries
had stood as silent witnesses to the might of the
strange new power which had come out of the West
after Vasco da Gama had completed his epoch-making
voyage to the East round the Cape of Good Hope.
Only a single gateway remains to-day to attest the
grandeur of the conception of the original designer of
the defences. After the work of destruction was com-
plete, it simply remained to withdraw the British repre-
sentatives, and the step would assuredly have been taken
but for the reception of orders from the Supreme
Government, directing the Penang authorities to suspend
proceedings in connection with the evacuation. The
change in policy had been brought about by the action
of a young official, who, having visited Malacca from
Penang, and viewed the ancient seat of trade under the
shadovi? of the impending abandonment, on his own
initiative wrote a report, setting out in such convincing
language the advantages of retaining the post that it
was impossible for the authorities not to recognise that
the course they had directed to be taken was a mistaken
one. That young official was Thomas Stamford Raffles
— a name which to all time will be associated with
the Straits Settlements as that of a man to whose
genius and discernment the present pre-eminent position
of British power in the Straits of Malacca is largely
due.
Raffles, like Light, his predecessor and prototype
in the work of Empire-building in Malaya, owed the
position of eminence he ultimately attained to his own
,„ „.,„.„, iip!iiiii;i'iii!i
'lilt 'lini|il!Mii!«llliM''i'ii'>l^^
i;athway, olij fdrt, .Malacca.
.gis^:v^v-^^'--'
STAliT HOUSE AM) CLOCK TOWER, .\LALACCA.
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS 99
exertions. The son of a sea-captain engaged in the
West Indian trade, he first saw the light at sea on
July 5, 1781. After a somewhat perfunctory education
at an academy at Hammersmith, at the age of fourteen
he entered the East India Company's service as a
clerk at the headquarters establishment in Leadenhall
Street. His talents and character for industry brought
him early to the notice of the heads of the office, and
when he was only twenty-four he was sent out to Penang
to fill the responsible position of Assistant-Secretary to
the Presidency Government, which had then been only
recently formed. On the voyage out he studied the
Malay language with such success that when he arrived
at his destination he was fairly grounded in the tongue.
The linguistic taste once acquired was never lost.
Raffles pursued his studies energetically until he became
an expert in all that concerned Malay literature. Such
industry naturally won recognition in an administration
which had been only a short time previously improvised
from the ranks of Indian officialdom, in which a know-
ledge of Malay was for the most part conspicuously
absent. A fortunate chance brought him into touch with
Leyden, who went out to India in the Earl of Minto's
train. The eminent scientist was greatly struck with
the youthful secretary's zeal and ability, and on his
return to Calcutta he did not fail to say a good word
for Raffles to his noble patron. It therefore happened
that when Raffles visited Calcutta in 1807 he met with
a most kindly reception from the Governor-General.
Raffles at the interview discussed with such remarkable
breadth of view the problem of British influence in the
Straits that Lord Minto ended by giving him a special
commission to act as Governor-General's Agent in the
Eastern Seas. It was in this capacity that Raffles
100 THE MALAY PENINSULA
penned the communication above alluded to in reference
to the evacuation of Malacca.
The Malacca despatch, the first of the important
series of State papers to which Raffles set his name, is
a masterly composition, revealing in a peculiar degree
that gift of lucid exposition which is so strongly marked
in all the writings of the man. Raffles pressed home
the point that the abandonment of the local population
would be a reflection on the British name. " The
natives," he wrote, " consider the British faith pledged for
their protection. When the Settlement fell into the hands
of the English they were invited to remain : protection
and even encouragement were offered them. The latter
has long ago ceased ; and they are in daily expectation
of losing the former. For our protection they are will-
ing to make great sacrifices ; and they pay the heavy
duties imposed on them with the cheerfulness of faithful
and obedient subjects. The revenues of Malacca are
never in arrear."
Such an appeal as this could not be resisted, especi-
ally when it was backed with cogent facts which showed
that the Malacca population was an important com-
munity of twenty thousand souls, most of whom belonged
to families which had been settled in the place for
centuries. The British occupation continued, and three
years later the wisdom of the step was demonstrated by
the use it was possible to make of the post for the
expeditionary force despatched to Java to destroy the
revolutionary Government established there under
Daendels, one of Napoleon's marshals. Raffles, no doubt,
had a hand in this selection, for he had been summoned
to Calcutta in 1810 to advise Lord Minto, and all the
preliminary measures in connection with the expedition
were taken under his advice. It was a splendid force
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS 101
which ultimately assembled in the vicinity of Albuquer-
que's old stronghold. It comprised six thousand
European soldiers, with an equal number of native troops,
with a train of artillery and a certain proportion of
cavalry. Nothing like it had ever before been seen in
Malaya. How deeply it impressed the native mind is
to be gained from the lively description of the landing
of the force in the pages of the " Hikaiat Abdullah " — the
autobiography of a Malay who was associated with Raffles
in his official career. Abdullah describes the excite-
ment which prevailed amongst the native population
on the occasion, and the awe with which they regarded
Lord Minto, the central figure in the pageant. Here is
one delightful passage indicative of the popular sentiment :
" As he [Lord Minto] came forward, he looked to right
and left and bowed to either hand, and then walked
slowly through the guard of honour, while the guns
kept thundering the salute, and he never ceased in rais-
ing his hand in courteous acknowledgment of saluta-
tions. I could not see in him the slightest trace of
self-hauteur or self-importance: he simply bowed without
affectation and regarded every one pleasantly. And as
he came to a great crowd of people they saluted him ;
and he stopped for a moment and raised his hand to
acknowledge the welcome of al! these poor folk — Chinese,
Tamils, Malays, and Eurasians — and he smiled as he
returned the greeting. How the hearts of all God's
servants expanded with joy, and how the people prayed
for blessings on Lord Minto when they saw how he
bore himself and how well he knew the way to win
affection."
In the Stadt House at Malacca is a picture represent-
ing Lord Minto on horseback. It is the sole memento
in Malacca to-day of the brilliant episode in the town's
102 THE MALAY PENINSULA
history which is described by Abdullah's graphic pen.
Even the Java expedition itself has largely faded from
latter-day memory. The British force, it may be recalled
here, landed near Batavia on August 4, 181 1, and gained
a decisive victory over the local forces, led by General
Janssens, at Cornelis, on August 26. Thereafter the
entire island came under British domination, and with
Stamford Raffles as its Lieut.-Governor was ruled
as a British possession until 18 16, when it was handed
back to Holland in accordance with the provisions of
the Treaty of Vienna. These four years of Raffles's
official life were of the highest interest, but the great
work he accomplished in this period lies beyond the
province of this volume. It must suffice to say that he
left an indelible impress on the land system of the
island, and in other ways made the period of the British
occupation memorable in Javan annals.
Raffles's sojourn in Java tended materially to
strengthen the views he already held as to the import-
ance of not conceding the Dutch claims to ascendancy
in the Middle East. To submit to these pretensions,
he realised completely, would be for Britain to abdicate
a position which was hers by right of long prescription
as well as by the overwhelming magnitude of her interests
as the ruling power of India and the pioneer g{ the
trade with China. In England, whither Raffles proceeded
to enjoy a well-earned holiday at the close of his
Javan administration, the ex-Lieut.-Governor lost no
opportunity of ventilating his opinion as to the course
which should be pursued in the new conditions left by
the Treaty of Vienna. But the subject was not then
ripe for discussion. Nor did an opportunity present itself
of official action until the question of the reoccupation
of Malacca by the Dutch brought once more into
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS 103
prominence the old conflict of views as to respective
British and Dutch rights in the Straits.
While the controversy was maturing, Raffles pro-
ceeded in Bencoolen to take up the position of Lieut.-
Governor there, to which he had been appointed on
the termination of his leave. His active nature chafed
under the restraints of exile to such an isolated post.
As the years had rolled by, Bencoolen had descended
still farther in the scale of the Company's establishments.
It was described by Malays as tana niati, or dead land,
and well worthy it was of the title. The only active
element about the place was its vices, and these were
obtruded on every side. Trade there was practically
none, a single cargo of pepper representing the entire
export during the year.
While brooding amid these uncongenial surroundings
upon the hard fate which had cast him on this dreary
spot, Raffles's quick sense of perception was aroused by
the news which floated through to him by every ship
from the outer world of the proceedings of the Dutch.
The Government in the Netherlands, for the reassertion
of their position, had sent out an imposing force of some
twelve thousand men, including a large proportion of
highly trained European troops. Java had not only been
fully occupied, but expeditions had been despatched in all
directions to establish posts, so as to cast the aegis of
Dutch sovereignty over the widest area. In order to
counteract the obvious design to exclude British in-
fluence, Colonel Bannerman, who was then Governor of
Prince of Wales Island, acting on instructions from the
Supreme Government, had sent Major Farquhar (not
the officer of the same name who was responsible for
the destruction of the Malacca defences, but a younger
official) to Rhio with orders to form a new Settlement
104 THE MALAY PENINSULA
there. But the mission had proved abortive, owing to
the Dutch having anticipated the move. Deeming that
no other positions were then open, the Penang Govern-
ment had resigned itself to the apparently inevitable
supremacy of the Dutch at the eastern end of the
Straits — a supremacy which would become more marked
when the arrangements for the retrocession of Malacca
were carried out. Their fatalistic attitude tended to
rouse in Raffles the spirit of energy which had dictated
his protest against the abandonment of Malacca in 1811.
On his own initiative, he proceeded to Calcutta to
represent to the authorities there, in the most forcible
way he could, the grave impolicy of permitting the
Dutch to squeeze the British out of the eastern end of
the Straits. The Marquess of Hastings, the then
Governor-General, lent his ear to the strong repre-
sentations which were made to him by Raffles in
favour of immediate action. He was impressed, as he
could hardly have failed to be, with the earnestness of
his visitor, and his mature judgment told him that
there was the fullest cogency in his arguments as to
the dangers of drifting. The outcome of the interviews
was that history repeated itself — that as Light had been
despatched by Sir John Macpherson in 1786 to occupy
Penang as a buttress against Dutch exclusiveness, so
Raffles now, thirty-two years later, was entrusted by
Lord Hastings with a mission having for its object the
occupation of another position in order to counter-
act the monopolistic tendencies of the Hollanders.
The lines of policy which were settled between Lord
Hastings and Raffles were that Dutch pretensions in
Sumatra should be conceded, and that they should also
have the exclusive command of the Straits of Sunda,
but that the right should be asserted of free trade
BRITISH AND DUTCH IN THE STRAITS 105
with the Archipelago and China through the Straits
of Malacca. To achieve the ends aimed at, it
was recognised that some post to the southward of
Malacca would have to be secured, and in general terms
Raffles was empowered to secure this. A commission
to act as the Governor-General's agent gave powers to
the envoy which were to prove of the highest value in
the execution of his plans. Thus once more the official
hand was forced by the importunities of a patriot who,
more far-seeing than his countrymen on the spot,
recognised that a moment had come which called for
energetic action. But for his intervention, we might
have been lamenting to-day the decadence of British
power in a region in which it is all-powerful, and from
which it is ever extending its ramifications to external
areas hitherto uncontrolled by us.
CHAPTER VIII
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE
Raffles's mission to the Straits— Opposition of the Penang Govern-
ment — British flag hoisted at Singapore — The home authorities
antagonistic to the occupation — Final settlement of the question
— Raffles plans the new Singapore — Major Farquhar superin-
tends the building of the Settlement — Raffles's administra-
tive measures— His departure from Singapore — His death and
character.
Raffles left Calcutta on January 19, 18 19, w^ith a
full determination to plant the British flag at some
strategic point in the Straits, which, besides acting as
a barrier against Dutch pretensions, would supply a
rallying point for trade in the Eastern seas. His keen
patriotism, strengthened as it had been by his term of
service in Java, stimulated his energies, while his
shrewd judgment told him that the opportunity which
now presented itself of carrying out a long-cherished
design of giving Great Britain a substantial " place in
the sun " in the Middle East must be seized if his
country was not to be permanently relegated to a back
position. A touch of sentiment mingled with the more
practical considerations which urged him forward. Not
long previously he had, in his " History of Java,"
painted in eloquent passages the glories of ancient
Malayan civilisation, and spoken with the glow of
enthusiasm of the great region of the Archipelago, which
106
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPOKB 107
had in all ages excited the attention and attracted the
cupidity of more civilised nations, and whose valuable
and peculiar productions " contributed to swell the
extravagance of Roman luxury," while he had hazarded
the speculation that the region, perhaps in the earliest
period amongst the Italian States, "communicated the
first electric spark which awoke to life the energies
and the literature of Europe." That Britain should seat
herself in this historic area and spread over islet and
peninsula the beneficent influence of her civilisation was
an aspiration which he had long treasured, not from a
love of aggrandisement, but because he firmly believed
that his country alone could revive to the full extent
the commercial splendours of the past. He was in no
sort of doubt as to the precise locality in which it was
desirable to establish the new Settlement. Before he
quitted Bencoolen, he had indicated Bintang, or Bentan,
in the Rhio Straits, about thirty miles from Singapore,
as a likely spot for the purposes in view. Afterwards,
in Calcutta, he had put forward a definite request for
permission " to anchor a line of battleship and hoist
the English flag at the mouth either of the Straits of
Malacca or of Sunda." At the last moment, when
he had the final instructions of the Governor-General
in his possession, and had started on his voyage, he
actually particularised the centre which was ultimately
occupied. Writing from "The Sandheads," the pilot
station at the mouth of the Hooghly, on December 12,
1 8 18, he said: "We are now on our way to the east-
ward in the hope of doing something, but I much fear
that the Dutch have hardly left us an inch of ground to
stand upon. My attention is principally turned to Johore,
and you must not be surprised if my next letter to you
is dated from the site of the ancient city of Singapura."
108 THE MALAY PENINSULA
It was afterwards said that the honour of discovering, or,
more properly speaking, rediscovering, Singapore was
not Raffles's, but belonged to Major Farquhar, with
whom he was associated in the mission ; but the com-
munication quoted is conclusive evidence that Raffles
had Singapore in his mind from the outset. Saturated
as he was with Malayan history and traditions, he doubt-
less needed no reminder of the advantages of this historic
spot.
It was a great thing for Raffles to have what may be
termed a roving commission, with powers which enabled
him to take independent decisions. Rut to the position
attached the notable disadvantage that official jealousy
was aroused by the procedure of the Governor-General in
dealing directly with the matter. The Penang Govern-
ment at that period was in the hands of Colonel Banner-
man, an experienced official who had seen long service in
India, and had for a period served on the Court of Directors
at home. In many respects Colonel Bannerman made an
admirable administrator, but he was opinionated and dic-
tatorial, and, having made up his mind that the Dutch had
closed all avenues to the establishment of a new Settlement
to the eastward, was not content to see a junior official
trying his hand at the business of finding an opening.
His reception of Raffles was marked by a scarcely veiled
hostility. His very first letter to the Governor-General's
envoy contained an emphatic expression of opinion as to
the futility of the enterprise in view of the failure of Major
Farquhar's mission to Rhio and the activity of the Dutch
in that and other quarters. Raffles, in replying to the
letter on January i, 1819, remarked that although Rhio
was preoccupied, " the island of Sincapore and the dis-
tricts of Old Johore and the Straits of Indugeeree on
Sumatra offer eligible points for establishing the required
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 109
Settlement," and declared his inclination to the policy of
proceeding at once to the eastward with a respectable and
efficient force. Bannerman appears to have been greatly
incensed at this assertion of independence on Raffles's part.
In a letter dated January 3, 1819, he definitely declined to
supply the military detachment which was required for the
execution of the design in hand. Challenged by Raffles
to state whether the refusal of assistance was final, Banner-
man wrote saying that he was willing to give military aid,
but that he did so only on Raffles's statement that he
had authority from the Governor-General apart from the
written instructions, the terms of which were relied upon
by the writer to justify the original refusal. Eventually,
after much controversy, the expedition was got together,
and on January ig, 1819, Raffles sailed, accompanied by
Major Farquhar, who had joined him a few days earlier.
In the interval which had elapsed since his departure from
India he had not wavered in his opinion as to the direction
in which his mission would probably reach a successful
completion. In a letter to Mr. Adam, the Secretary to
the Supreme Government, penned three days before his
departure, he wrote as follows : " The island of Sincapore,
independently of the straits and harbour of Johore, which
it both forms and commands, has on its southern shores,
and by means of the several small islands which lie off it,
excellent anchorage and smaller harbours, and seems in
every respect most peculiarly adapted to our object. Its
position in the Straits is far more convenient and com-
manding than even Rhio for our China trade passing down
the Straits of Malacca, and every native vessel that sails
through the Straits of Rhio must pass in sight of it."
Raffles added that there did not appear to be any objec-
tion " to a station at Sincapore, or on the opposite shore
towards Port Romanea, or on any other of the smaller
110 THE MALAY PENINSULA
islands which lie off this part of the coast." Practically
it may be said that Raffles had made the choice of Singa-
pore before he started from Penang. That, however, he
had still to a certain extent an open mind is indicated by
his action in directing the expedition in the first instance
to Siak and the Karimun Islands. He was induced to
take this course by Major Farquhar, who held strongly to
the opinion that in this direction a lodgment might be
effected. In the vicinity of the Karimun Islands the
expedition was met by Captain Ross, of the East India
Company's Marine, who had been engaged upon a survey
of the islands. His report was quite conclusive against
their occupation. The Small Karimun, he showed, did
not afford any site whatever for a settlement, while at the
Great Karimun the harbour accommodation was too
restricted to be of use. The way was now cleared for the
execution of Raffles's own design. Taking Captain Ross
with him, Raffles sailed across the Straits to Singapore,
and dropped anchor off the little native settlement which
clustered about the shore. Without loss of time he got
into touch with the native authorities, and learning from
them that there was no obstacle to a British occupation,
on January 29, 18 19, he hoisted the Union Jack. Raffles's
spirit rose as he contemplated the successful consummation
of his hopes. " Here I am at Singapore," he wrote to his
friend Marsden, " true to my word, and in the enjoyment
of all the pleasure which a footing on such classic ground
must inspire. The lines of the old city and of its defences
are still to be traced, and within its ramparts the British
Union Jack waves unmolested."
On the island at the period of the British landing was
the Dato Temenggong of Johore, a high official of the
Sultan of Johore, within whose territory Singapore was
embraced. From this functionary was obtained, on
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 111
January 30, without any great difficulty, a provisional
permit to occupy the island. The Temenggong claimed
to possess independent power over Singapore territory,
but Rafifles deemed it prudent to secure the ratification of
the understanding at the hands of the Sultan of Johore.
It happened at this juncture that the ruling prince, Abdul
Rahman by name, was under Dutch influence, and there-
fore, from the British point of view, impossible. But
Raffles managed to find a way out of the difificulty by
ignoring the reigning Sultan and making terms with his
elder brother, Tunku Husein, who had been wrongfully
excluded from the succession. The new treaty, dated
February 6, 1819, embodied the formal transfer of the
island to British sovereignty with such sanction as the
newly proclaimed Sultan of Johore, in conjunction with
the Temenggong, could give it. But it was deemed
advisable to extend its provisions by a further instrument,
concluded on June 26 in the same year, and before the
Settlement finally passed out of the region of diplomatic
negotiations two additional treaties were arranged — one in
June, 1823, and another on November 19, 1824.
By a clever stroke RafHes had added to the British
dominions a unit which was destined to prove of inesti-
mable value in the development of the Imperial system.
Even at that time the immense potentialities of this out-
post guarding the principal route to the Far East must
have been realised in part at least, for the experience of
succeeding generations has revealed the strategical signi-
ficance of the Straits of Malacca. Yet Raffles was only
able to make his peaceful conquest effective after the most
strenuous fighting against prejudiced ill-will in various
quarters. The Penang opposition was decisively disposed
of by despatches from the Governor-General censuring the
local Government in the strongest terms for their action in
112 THE MALAY PENINSULA
attempting to thwart Raffles in the execution of the design
with which he had been entrusted. But in its place arose
a more formidable antagonism to the occupation based on
a misapprehension of the political aspects of the enterprise.
The authorities at home from the first looked askance at
the mission. Apprehensive of its probable effect on their
larger interests in India, they had lost no time in writing
out to the Marquess of Hastings expressing their disap-
probation of the course that had been adopted in sending
Raffles to the Straits. When the news eventually came
to hand announcing the actual occupation of a post so far
eastward as Singapore, they gave vent to their displeasure
in the most pointed terms, declaring that " any difficulty
with the Dutch will be created by Sir Stamford Raffles's
intemperance of conduct and language." They intimated
that they would await the further explanations of Lord
Hastings "before retaining or relinquishing Sir Stamford
Raffles's acquisition of Singapore." The Imperial Govern-
ment added its voice to the protest which was raised at
India House. Ministers were "excessively angry" that
the step should have been taken without more mature
deliberation. In fine, if Raffles had been an official who
had grossly abused his trust, he could not have been
assailed with more bitterness than during the period fol-
lowing the successful execution of his mission. History
has so splendidly vindicated his action that the opposition
now only appears as a specially amusing example of that
lack of prescience in high quarters in England which from
time to time from the dawn of Colonial history has marked
the Empire's development. But to Raffles it was a very
real and serious obstacle in his path, and with the shrewd-
ness which distinguished him he set about removing it by
the practical expedient of invoking the interest of dis-
tinguished acquaintances at home in the child of his
I'ADI FII-XDS, BEXTnXG, PAHAXG,
sroAk Mil.;,, i'i:k'.\k.
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 113
selection. So assiduously and ably did he ply his pen
that a sounder conception of the importance of Singapore
commenced to dawn, and with it an appreciation of the
necessity of strenuously resisting the claim which the
Dutch Government had been prompt to put forward of
prior rights m the island. In a series of despatches, the
Marquess of Hastings spiritedly combated what in a
private communication he stigmatised as "the profligate
speculation " embodied in the claim of the Dutch to
supremacy over every island and coast of the Eastern
Archipelago. He argued that the British title to Singa-
pore was good in equity as well as in international law,
and he declared finally that the sole object of the British
Government was to protect its own interests against what
had appeared an alarming indication of pretensions to
supremacy and monopoly on the part of the Netherlandish
authorities in seas hitherto free to all parties. The con-
troversy continued in Europe until 1824, when, in the
adjustment then made between the British and the Dutch
Governments, the rights of the former to Singapore were
recognised.
All the time that the discussion was proceeding as to the
legitimacy of the British occupation, the work of building
up the Settlement was proceeding with undiminished
energy. Raffles, immediately after the occupation, had pro-
ceeded to Acheen to discharge the mission with which he
had been entrusted to the State in connection with the
more important work of establishing a new outpost. But on
June 10, 18 19, he was back again in Singapore, and he im-
mediately devoted himself heart and soul to the, to him,
thoroughly congenial task of constructing on the ruins of
the dead Singapura a new city which should carry to still
greater heights the commercial fame which had once
centred there. He was guided in his work by an official
8
114 THE MALAY PENINSULA
experience of many years, during which he had accumu-
lated a unique knowledge of the races which go to make
up the varied population of Malaya. This, with his
native common sense and large-minded conception of
affairs, enabled him to give from the outset a vitality and a
purpose to the operations, and to place beyond doubt the
ultimate success of the occupation. With an incomparable
situation to his hand, and few vested rights to embarrass
him in the execution of his designs, he planned the new
Settlement on lines which enabled his successors to create
what is admittedly one of the leading cities east of
Suez. He was called away to Bencoolen during the
earliest stage of the constructive work, and was not
actually established in Singapore until October, 1822,
when he took over the government of the island from the
hands of Major Farquhar. That official had in the
interval accomplished much spade-work of a useful kind,
and not a little of the credit of the successful establish-
ment of the post was due to the energy with which he
cleared the jungle and constructed roads in all directions
with a keen eye to future requirements. But he had in
some important particulars departed from the instructions
which had been left with him, and the circumstance
created some friction between him and Raffles. A revi-
sion of the original plan became necessary as a conse-
quence of the unauthorised changes that had been made,
and it was not without difficulty that a satisfactory settle-
ment was reached. But with the exercise of tact on the
part of the Government the work was started afresh on
principles which, while in harmony with the first design,
gave an additional elasticity to the building operations in
some directions. Under a generous system of administra-
tion the town grew apace. Buildings sprang up on all
hands, and in a comparatively brief period a thriving
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 115
Settlement looked out upon the waters of the harbour, in
silent but eloquent testimony to the genius which had
planted the British flag upon this historic spot.
Not the least of the factors which made for the early
success of Singapore was the fiscal system which Raffles
introduced. Far-seeing in all things, the eminent man
realised especially the necessity of an unrestrained trade
to the prosperity of a Settlement such as Singapore, which
would naturally draw to itself all the commerce of a wide
area, not merely in the Straits, but in the Eastern Archi-
pelago. He therefore resolutely put aside all idea of a
revenue from import duties, believing that the surest
means of making the position self-supporting was to build
up a large trade, which would justify, in the long run,
the imposition of internal taxation. Acting on these
principles, Raffles constituted Singapore a free port at the
outset, and a free port it has ever since remained, to the
great advantage of British commerce and the infinite good
of the Colony as a self-contained Imperial possession. In
the general affairs of the administration Raffles showed a
similarly liberal spirit. He devoted his earnest attention
to the moral well-being of the community, and framed a
scheme for the education of Chinese and Malay youth,
the practical outcome of which was the foundation, in 1822,
of the famous Singapore Institute, which remains to-day
amongst the best known and most prized of Singapore's
institutions. A code of laws, drafted with a view to the
needs of a mixed community, was formulated, and
Raffles himself sat in court to administer it. To
strengthen further the administration of the law and create
a sense of responsibility in the community he set up a local
magistracy, the members of which were appointed from
amongst the leading inhabitants. Land regulations were
framed on judicious lines, and for the benefit of shipping
116 THE MALAY PENINSULA
a careful survey of the harbour and adjacent coasts from
Diamond Point to the Karimun Islands was instituted.
Nothing, in short, was left undone which was calculated
to contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the infant
Settlement.
Such a record as that of Raffles at Singapore should
have secured him from the ordinary changes and chances
of official life. But he was in bad odour at the time. He
had committed the crime — unpardonable to a certain class
of mind — of being original and not shrinking from re-
sponsibility, and he was ruthlessly torn away from his
splendid work at Singapore to perform the miserable
round of official duty amid the squalid wastes of Ben-
coolen. His departure from Singapore was accompanied
by many manifestations of regret on the part of the poly-
glot community over which he had ruled so wisely and
well. A memorial, presented to him on the eve of his
sailing for his charge, expressed in simple and affectionate
language the sentiments of the people. " To your un-
wearied zeal, your vigilance, and your comprehensive
views," the memorialists wrote, " we owe at once the
foundation and the maintenance of a Settlement un-
paralleled for the liberality of the principles on which it
has been established — principles the operation of which has
converted, in a period short beyond all example, a haunt of
pirates into the abode of enterprise, security, and opulence.
While we acknowledge our peculiar obligations to you, we
reflect at the same time with pride and satisfaction upon
the active and beneficent means by which you have pro-
moted and patronised the diffusion of intellectual and
moral improvement, and we anticipate with confidence
their happy influence in advancing the cause of humanity
and civilisation." In his reply. Raffles spoke of the free-
trade policy he had followed as having been adopted in
OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 117
accordance with recognised principles in order that " no
sinister, no sordid view, no considerations either of political
importance or pecuniary advantage, should interfere with
the broad and liberal principles on which the British
interests had been established."
The faithful Abdullah has left us an affecting description
of Raffles's farewell to Singapore. Through his tear-
dimmed eyes we see the great man, accompanied by " an
immense crowd of people of every nationality," making
his way to the shore, " receiving as he went the tribute
of a sincere regret at his departure." Then we have a
glimpse of him later in his cabin on board the little ship
which was to bear him to Bencoolen, " wiping the tears
from his eyes " as he bade Abdullah not to grieve, but to go
home and live in hopes of seeing him again. Lastly, as
the ship slowly moves away, we have a picture of a face
stained with grief gazing out of a port-hole upon the fair
landscape over which the Union Jack floated in token of
a glorious future which the departing administrator was
not destined to see.
With a heavy heart Raffles strove to pick up the broken
threads of his life at Bencoolen, but exile to this unattrac-
tive spot had, with the lapse of time, become unbearable
to him, and within a short time he had made his plans for
a final retirement to his native land. On February 2, 1824,
he embarked with Lady Raffles for the homeward voyage
on the ship Fame, taking with him all his natural-history
collections, the products of many years' assiduous labour.
Ere the vessel had barely left port a fire broke out on
board, the flames spreading with such rapidity that it was
only with difficulty that the passengers and crew were
rescued. RafHes bore the tremendous loss of his treasures
with philosophic calm, and proceeded immediately to
make fresh arrangements for the homeward journey.
118 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Eventually, in another vessel, he made his way to Eng-
land, where, broken in health, he arrived towards the end
of the same year. He took up his residence at Highwood
Hill, Middlesex, where he had as a near neighbour
William Wilberforce. In ordinary circumstances Raffles
would have enjoyed the opportunities which his retire-
ment afforded for cultured intercourse in the metropolis.
But he soon found himself involved in controversy with
the officials at India House over some features of his
Javan administration. Though he battled bravely with
the adverse conditions by which he was confronted, he was
never able to free himself from the official entanglements.
Wearied in spirit and weighed down by monetary diffi-
culties, he succumbed to an attack of apoplexy on July 5,
1826. He rests in Hendon Churchyard, in an unknown
grave. A tablet, placed in the church a few years ago by
subscription, tells the world that the Founder of Singapore
is buried not far from the spot, but this is the only indica-
tion to the passer-by that the dust of one of the greatest
of the race of Empire-builders mingles with that of the
simple inhabitants of this little Middlesex town.
The fame of Raffles has long outlived his detractors.
To-day there is no patriotic Briton who does not doff his
cap in homage to his memory. As the years have rolled
by the grandeur of his services to the Empire has come
into clearer perspective. We have passed the time
when the mention of the strategical importance of
the Straits of Malacca raised a shallow laugh in political
quarters. It does not require a Mahan to see that
the possession of Singapore gives us an immense
advantage in the world-struggle upon which we are en-
gaged. With it in our hands we control the routes to
the East ; if it were in the possession of others, our
whole Eastern commerce might be imperilled in time
• OCCUPATION OF SINGAPORE 119
of war. It is one of the supreme centres around which
the life of the universe revolves, whether it be in the
domain of politics or of commerce. For this incomparable
possession we have to thank the spirit of Raffles, and that
alone. If his contemporaries had had their way, there
would have been no Singapore and probably no Federated
Malay States. It is even conceivable that the whole map
of Asia might have been painted differently if any other
flag but our own had waved over that islet of classic
renown which stands watch and ward over the route to the
Far East. Raffles thus has a niche in our National Wal-
halla second in glory to that of hardly any other Colonial
administrator. His name, we may be sure, will be carried
to remote posterity as that of a patriot who added lustre
to the achievements of his country.
CHAPTER IX
BRITISH DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA
Settlement with the Dutch — Crown Colony government introduced
in the Straits— Anarchy in Perak and Selangor— British
intervention— Introduction of the Residential system— Murder
of Mr. ]. W. Birch — Trial and punishment of the conspirators
—Sir Hugh Low's administration in Perak— Federation of the
States— Kuala Lumpur adopted as the capital— Brilliant results
of British control in Malaya.
One outstanding feature of the history of the British
Empire is the irresistible character of the forces which
tended to produce the wonderful aggregation of territories
which we see to-day. As the Roman legions were borne
ever forward, not so much by lust of conquest as the logic
of events, until they were confronted by the ocean or the
impassable desert, so the flag of Britain has been carried
from one advanced post to another, until the extreme
limits of possible development have been reached.
Expansion for a Power situated as Great Britain was
a century ago was a natural law. To stand still was as
impossible as to go back. Safety was only to be found in
following the guidance of the fateful finger which was ever
beckoning the nation onward and outward. Many of our
foreign critics, and not a few even of our own writers, have
attributed our acquisitiveness to pure greed, and it is
impossible to deny that sordid motives have at times
entered into our measures of Imperial development.
120
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 121
But, on the whole, the factor which has predominated in
the constructive work of the past has been the over-
whelming necessity for aggressive action, or at least
"peaceful penetration," dictated by the requirements of
a position already taken up. In the Malayan region this
has peculiarly been the case from the first day that we
owned territory in that quarter. At every critical stage
of the building up of " the Settlements," the higher
authorities, as we have seen, played sometimes an obstruc-
tive and always a reluctant part in the business, and only
assented at last to the additions to British territory when
the turn of events made the adoption of any other course
practically impossible. Their aim was ever to limit
their responsibilities, as far as was consistent with the
maintenance of a position of influence in the Straits.
The negotiations with the Dutch Government following
upon the occupation of Singapore were conducted in this
spirit. The Government gave up, without a shade of
misgiving, our substantial rights in Sumatra — one of the
richest of tropical islands — for Malacca and the somewhat
shadowy claims which the Dutch had to political influence
in certain of the Malay States and notably Johore. The
bargain, with all its one-sidedness, has not turned out
badly, for it has brought a lasting peace and friendliness
where hitherto all had been turmoil and bitter enmity, and
has secured a measure of development on both sides of
the Straits which would not have been possible under the
old conditions of uncertainty as to the respective limits of
British and Dutch spheres of influence. Still, it was
for a situation widely different in character to this that
the British authorities worked out their designs in the
period of adjustment subsequent to the hoisting of the
British flag at Singapore. They knew little, and cared
less, about the territory on either side of the Straits
122 THE MALAY PENINSULA
outside the immediate limits of the existing Settlements.
In their eyes, it was " mostly light land " which was an
almost negligible quantity in a serious diplomatic trans-
action. What the British, at all events, wished for was
a condominium which would ease the relations of the two
Powers in Europe, and open the door for co-operation
in the then not impossible event of Continental com-
plications. So, with a sigh of relief at the ending of a
seemingly interminable quarrel, Downing Street renounced
the apparently valueless British rights in Sumatra, and
with no enthusiasm accepted the new position in the
Malay Archipelago which, save as far as Singapore was
concerned, appeared to offer little promise of any
substantial advantage to Great Britain.
Singapore itself soon demonstrated, in the growth of
its trade, the wisdom which had dictated its selection as
a British point dappui. Its administration in the years
immediately following Raffles's disappearance from the
scene fell into the capable hands of Mr. John Crawfurd,
who united to a shrewd, practical common sense intellec-
tual qualities of a high order. Under his skilled direction,
the commercial activities of the island grew apace, until the
trade reached quite respectable proportions. In 1826 the
Settlement was incorporated with Penang and Malacca
under one Government, and Mr. FuUerton, a Madras
civilian, was sent to the Straits as Governor, with Penang
as his headquarters. Four years later there was a further
change in the system of administration, by the issuing of
a decree placing the three Settlements under the direct
control of the Supreme Government at Calcutta. For
a good many years the possessions remained in this
condition of dependency. Isolated from India, living
their own peculiar lives and having their own special
interests, they suffered at many points from the system
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 123
of control. Singapore especially was placed at a dis-
advantage, as it found itself at every turn hampered by
the action of the overruling authorities, who, for the most
part, were indifferent to, if not ignorant of, its needs. The
cry in time went up from its inhabitants, by this time
forming one of the most influential commercial com-
munities in the East, for a system of government free
from the Indian shackles. On the transfer of the Govern-
ment of India to the Crown after the Mutiny, the
movement for separation assumed practical shape.
Financial difficulties were raised in India to the transfer,
and in order to elucidate the situation Sir Hercules
Robinson (afterwards Lord Rosmead) was sent out on
a special mission. His report was completely favourable,
and as the outcome of it the Imperial Government passed
through Parliament, in the session of 1866, a measure
legalising the status of the three Settlements as a Crown
Colony under a Governor aided by a Legislative Council
of the usual Crown Colony type. The actual transfer
took place on April i, 1867, under the supervision of
Sir Harry Ord, C.B., an officer of the Royal Engineers,
who was appointed the first Governor on the strength
of a successful administration of Colonial affairs on the
West Coast of Africa.
The assumption by the Crown of the direct responsibility
for the government of the Straits Settlements was quickly
followed by events which widened still farther the outlook
of the administration. Under the old system, a policy
of masterly inactivity had been followed in regard to the
areas outside the actual possessions of the East India
Company. The local populations were for the most part
left to live their own lives without interference of any
kind. The majority of the coast people, if not pirates
were only one degree removed from the freebooter. From
124 THE MALAY PENINSULA
time immemorial they had taken their toll of the sea
in the natural exercise of their right to such largesse
under
"The good old rule,
the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
The practice was inbred. So far from its being frowned
on by Malay authority, the native potentates were often
the chief offenders, to the extent that they directly
sanctioned the piratical operations and derived a large
proportion of their revenue from the proceeds of the
various expeditions. The British naval force exerted a
wholesome influence in the suppression of piracy in the
immediate neighbourhood of the Settlements, but the
evil remained in other directions, owing to the immunity
from attack which the pirates enjoyed in their retreats
in the various indentations and creeks which are a
characteristic feature of the coast. They might have
remained in undisturbed possession of their lairs a good
many years longer than they did, but for the great
development which took place in the later sixties in
connection with the tin mines in the Larut district of
Perak. The extensive operations for the extraction of the
ore drew to Perak a large industrial population, mainly
Chinese, whose presence in the Straits had a stimulating
effect on British trade. Generally, there was a quickening
of interest in the affairs of the Peninsula in consequence
of the plain evidence which the mining operations
furnished of the great potential wealth of the Malay
States. Capital was invested liberally in enterprises in
various directions, and notably in Selangor, where the
prospects appeared to be particularly promising. The
returns were large, but it soon became evident that
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 125
without a settled form of government no permanent
commercial footing could be established. In Larut fierce
faction fights between two antagonistic bodies of Chinese
— the See Kwans and the Go Kwans — periodically para-
lysed industry, and kept the whole country in a condition
of anarchy.
In Selangor a family feud, in which the local Sultan's
three sons represented the opposition, led to perpetual
turmoil, and placed the property of traders at the mercy of
any>body of marauders who might take a fancy to it. Fol-
lowing upon an especially daring act of piracy, in which
some Selangor Malays were concerned, a British naval
force, in 1871, bombarded the forts at the mouth of the
Selangor River ; but the punishment had little or no effect
in improving the local situation, which was really only
susceptible of amelioration by direct intervention. For
such intervention the Malacca traders, through the Singa-
pore Chamber of Commerce, pleaded, but they were
rather brusquely told by the Government that "if traders,
prompted by the prospect of large gains, choose to run the
risk of placing their persons and property in the jeopardy
which they are aware attends them in this country, it is
impossible for the Government to be answerable for their
protection or that of their property." The Singapore
commercial community made a fitting protest against the
idea that the intolerable conditions under which British
trade was conducted in Malaya was no affair of the
Government's, and the authorities were soon compelled by
force of circumstances to abandon the untenable position
they had taken up. Their hand was forced, in the first
instance, by a development of the disturbances in Selangor,
which had drawn Rembau and Sungei Ujong, two States of
the Negri Sembilan group, into the quarrel. The chief of
the latter, threatened with attack by the Rembau prince, in
126 THE MALAY PENINSULA
conjunction with the leader of one of the Selangor parties,
directly invoked the aid of the authorities at Singapore,
offering to place his State under British influence, in
exchange for protection. Sir Henry Ord visited the scene
of the disturbances in person in October, 1872, and patched
up a settlement between the various conflicting parties.
It was, however, a delusive peace that was reached, for
scarcely had the Governor returned to Singapore than the
trouble had broken out in a new and aggravated form.
Meanwhile, members of the Chinese community were
earnestly importuning the Government to extend the
blessings of British rule to the peninsular districts. In a
memorial which they sent in, they contrasted the peaceful
conditions of Johore, which was directly under the eye of
the British authorities, with the anarchy prevailing in the
other States. The policy of non-intervention pursued by
the Government, they remarked, might be in accordance
with the views held by European Governments, but " its
application to the half-civilised States of the Malay Pen-
insula (whose inhabitants are as ignorant as children) is to
assume an amount of knowledge of the world, and an
appreciation of the elements of law and justice, which will
not exist amongst those Governments until your petitioners
and their descendants of several generations have passed
away." The memoriahsts concluded with these significant
words : "We ask for no privileges or monopolies ; all we
pray of our most gracious Queen is that she will protect
us when engaged in honest occupations ; that she will
continue to make the privilege of being one of her subjects
the greatest that we can enjoy, and that by the counsel,
advice, and enterprise of her representatives in this Colony
she will restore peace and order again in those States so long
connected with her country, not only by treaty engage-
ments but by filial attachment, but which, in consequence
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 127
of the policy now pursued towards them, are rapidly
returning to their original state of lawlessness and
barbarism."
An appeal so pointed and so full of common sense could
not be resisted by a Government, however disinclined it
might be to shirk obvious responsibilities. Therefore,
Major-General Sir Andrew Clarke, R.E., the successor of
Sir Harry Ord in the Straits Government, took out with
him to Singapore at the close of 1873 definite instruc-
tions to make an important new departure in policy. The
freshly appointed Governor was directed to ascertain as
far as possible the actual condition of affairs in each State,
and to report whether there were any steps which could
properly be taken by the Colonial Government " to promote
the restoration of peace and order, and to secure protection
to trade and commerce within the native territories." A
matter to which he was instructed to give especial atten-
tion was the advisability of appointing British officers
to reside in the States, with the consent of the native
rulers, and at the cost of the British revenues. The
instructions practically conceded the whole point for
which the Straits commercial community had long been
contending. The intervention foreshadowed was not of
a particularly bold kind, but it was intervention, and
Singapore people were quite content to leave time to
make it effective.
Sir Andrew Clarke arrived in the Straits to find a
condition of affairs which called insistently for the applica-
tion of the sanctioned authority. Anarchy at the time was
rampant over a wide area of the coastal districts of the
Peninsula. The Go Kwan and See Kwan quarrel had had
a devastating influence on Perak, and had carried beyond
the spirit of violent unrest which characterised it. Piracy
had become more rife with the development of the trouble
128 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Owing to attacks on boats and junks near Province
Wellesley, an expedition had been sent to the Larut River
in September, 1872, and protracted operations had been
necessary, in the later stages of which Captain T. C.
Speedy, then port officer at Penang, had given his valuable
aid. On all sides, indeed, were revealed the strongest
proofs of the necessity of the application of a firm hand
if the entire country was not to revert to barbarism. Sir
Andrew Clarke, on a survey of the position, came to the
sensible conclusion to send Mr. W. A. Pickering, an able
official who had charge of Chinese affairs at Singapore,
and was thoroughly trusted by the Chinese community, to
the chief centre of the disturbances to see if the leaders
would be prepared to accept his arbitration on their
differences. Mr. Pickering discharged his mission with
complete success. Through his agency a conference was
arranged between the Governor on the one side and the
Perak chiefs and the Chinese headmen on the other, on
January 14, 1874, at Pangkor, an island off the Bindings,
a tract of country to the south of Province Wellesley,
which was ceded to the British Government in 1826. Sir
Andrew Clarke made the utmost use of the excellent
opening which was thus afforded him of extending
British influence. The result of his journey was the
conclusion, on June 20, 1874, of the Treaty of Pangkor,
which is the legal foundation of the system of ad-
ministering what to-day is known as the Federated Malay
States. Its main principle is embodied in the following
articles : —
"That the Sultan receive and provide a suitable resi-
dence 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 customs.
THE SLLTAN OF SHLAXGOK.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 129
" That the collection and control of all revenues and the
general administration of the country be regulated under
the advice of these Residents."
Thus, by a stroke of the pen, the British Government
were committed to that active intervention in Malay
affairs from which they and their predecessors had con-
sistently shrunk from the earliest period of the British
connection with the Straits. It was a bold action for a
pro-consul to take without definite instructions from home,
but Sir Andrew Clarke realised that no other course but
an acceptance of responsibility was open if the British
Government was not to be entirely discredited. He was
enthusiastically supported in his policy by the best mer-
cantile opmion in the Straits. A memorial, sent home by
the Straits Settlements Association, expressed the view
that the arrangement constituted " the most important
step that has for many years been taken by the British
Government in the Straits of Malacca," for it was not only
valuable in itself, but involved principles " capable of a
wide and beneficent extension in the neighbouring terri-
tories." It may be doubted whether the significance of
the new move was so thoroughly grasped in Downing
Street as in Singapore. The Straits of Malacca, in popular
quarters, were still a mere geographical abstraction, and
to the official mind they were associated mainly with
measures for the suppression of piracy. There was, how-
ever, plenty of enlightenment ahead, not merely for the
Government at home but for the authorities on the spot.
The new regime, which was ushered in by a proclamation
issued in November, 1874, started peacefully enough under
the auspices of Mr. J. VV. Birch, as Resident of Perak,
Captain Speedy, as Assistant-Resident at Larut, and
Mr. J. G. Davidson, and Mr. (now Sir) F. A. Swettenham,
as Resident and Assistant-Resident, respectively, of
9
130 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Selangor. The Malay chiefs accepted the supervision
without enthusiasm, but with acquiescence, and the
masses of the population were outwardly indifferent.
Matters possibly would have continued on this footing for
an indefinite period, if the chief British functionary could
have contented himself with the role of a mere observer.
But Mr. Birch was of too energetic a nature to sit down
quietly amid a welter of misgovernment such as that with
which he and his brother officials were confronted when
they entered upon their duties. He set himself in resolute
opposition to abuses which appeared to him to cry aloud
for redress at his hands. In particular, he attacked the
institution of debt-bondage, concerning which more will
be said in a subsequent chapter. Of all Malay institutions,
this was, perhaps, at that period at all events, the most
typical, and it is not remarkable that the steps taken were
bitterly resented by the chiefs, who probably regarded
them as a distinct infraction of the clause of the treaty,
exempting Malay religion and customs from the Resident's
supervision. The attitude of sullen discontent at first
assumed towards the Resident's measures ultimately gave
place to an actively hostile movement. A conspiracy to
encompass the objectionable innovator's death, set on foot
by a few leading men, gained wide support. It slumbered
for a time, awaiting a favourable opportunity for its
execution. The opening came when Sir W. F. D. Jervois,
Sir Andrew Clarke's successor in the Government of the
Straits, introduced a sweeping change in the. arrangements
for dealing with the States, converting the Residents into
Commissioners, and giving them a more tangible status as
advisers to the chiefs. It was a well-meant but quite ill-
advised extension of a control which, in the circumstances
in which it was originally imposed, was necessarily imper-
fect. Sultan Abdullah of Ferak accepted the new policy
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 131
with the greatest reluctance. Sir Frank Swettenham con-
siders that it is doubtful whether he would ever have yielded
if it had not been hinted to him none too obscurely that
his refusal might lead to his deposition. Amongst the
minor chiefs, the antagonism took a deeper and more
sinister form. At a conference summoned by the Sultan
Abdullah to announce the transfer of his authority to the
British Resident, two chiefs, the Maharaja Lela and
the Dato Sagor, in emphatic language announced their
intention of resisting the new decree, and of killing
Mr. Birch if he went to their villages to enforce it. As
events quickly showed, it was in no spirit of idle bravado
that these declarations were made. True to their word,
when Mr. Birch put in an appearance at the Maharaja
Lela's village, and his assistants commenced to distribute
the proclamations embodying the Governmental orders,
they were furiously attacked by the Maharaja's men.
Taken by surprise, Mr. Birch was speared to death as he
sat in a building by the riverside, where he had taken up
his quarters. The interpreter and two other members of
the party were also killed ; but Mr. Abbott, Mr. Birch's
assistant, who was on the opposite bank of the river,
and received timely warning of the attack, managed to
escape.
The tragic episode created a tremendous sensation, as
it was well calculated to do. At home the impression
made was the deeper, because Sir William Jervois's
measures had been taken entirely on his own initiative,
and a vague fear was excited that his action had committed
the Government to onerous responsibilities, the end of
which could not be foreseen. A requisition for heavy
reinforcements to punish the murderers of Mr. Birch and
restore British influence elicited from Lord Carnarvon,
the then Colonial Secretary, a sharp message of rebuke.
132 THE MALAY PENINSULA
coupled with an intimation that the troops " must not
be employed for annexation or other political objects."
Later in a despatch, Sir William Jervois was severely
condemned for " the grave errors of policy and of
action " of which he had been guilty, and was told that
he had initiated the new policy in " lamentable forget-
fulness" of the fact that he had no power whatever to
introduce the change. In closing the discussion, Lord
Carnarvon, in a despatch dated June i, 1876, wrote
sanctioning the continuance of the Residential system,
and also approving a proposal that had been made for
the institution of Councils of State in the Protected
States. Long before this stage had been reached in
the official controversy, active military measures had
been afoot for the restoration of order in the disturbed
area. An expedition composed of 2,000 troops, 1,500
of whom were British soldiers, aided by a strong
Naval Brigade, was sent to Perak, under the com-
mand of Major-General the Hon. F. Colborne, C.B.,
and Brigadier-General John Ross. The force met with
a stubborn resistance, and protracted operations were
necessary before the country settled down under the
British protectorate. The Maharaja Lela and his
principal associates in the assassination of Mr. Birch
were subsequently brought to justice at Larut, where
at the hands of a specially appointed Commission they
had meted out to them punishment in accordance with
the degree of their criminality. The Maharaja Lela
himself, with the Dato Sagor and Pandok Indut,
another chief who was active in the business, were con-
demned to death and executed. The Sultan Abdullah
and several other prisoners of lesser importance were
sent to the Seychelles under a sentence of lifelong exile.
In this way not only was Mr. Birch avenged, but the lesson
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 133
was taught that British authority could not be flouted
with impunity. How admirably effective the instruction
was is reflected in the subsequent history of the States.
From this period may be said to date the introduction
of the Pax Britannica into Malaya. Though for some
years there were isolated incidents to disturb the peace
of British officials, the country as a whole acquiesced in
the arrangement which brought them directly under the
aegis of British control.
It was a happy circumstance that in the earliest days
of the new order the duty of upholding British interests
in the Malay States affected by the arrangements
devolved upon wise and capable officials. The prin-
cipal member of the little band was Mr. (afterwards Sir)
Hugh Low, an able officer, whose excellent services in
Borneo had recommended him for the difficult post of
acting as guide, philosopher, and friend at the somewhat
drab Court of the Sultan of Perak. Personal influence
has ever been a factor of supreme importance in the
British control of alien races. The Oriental is peculiarly
susceptible to those subtle qualities the exercise of
which enables the stronger mind to sway the weaker
and bend it to its will. Again and again in the history
of the relations of Britain with the East we find one
vigorous personality appearing at the opportune moment
upon a troubled scene and changing the whole aspect of
affairs by simple moral force. Sir Hugh Low well
deserves to be included in this select band of successful
Imperial pioneers. Before he had been long in Perak
he had established himself in the confidence of the
Sultan, and had won a not inconsiderable measure of
popularity amongst the influential class of Malays.
Tactful and considerate in all things, he gained his ends
with a minimum of friction and an astonishing celerity.
134 THE MALAY PENINSULA
having regard to the magnitude of the changes he brought
about and their effect on the lives and interests of the
inhabitants. The abolition of debt-slavery, which was
the greatest of his reforms, in an especial manner re-
dounded to his credit as an administrator. It went, as
we have already pointed out, to the very root of Malay
institutions, and affected nearly every family, yet the
edict emancipating the slaves was almost universally
accepted, and with the exception of one slight incident
was carried into effect without trouble of any kind. An
administration directed in this spirit could not fail, in the
long run, to be a prosperous one. But even those best
acquainted with the local possibilities of development
were astonished at the rate of progress which the State
maintained throughout Sir Hugh Low's term of service.
When he retired in 1884, after eight years spent in the
Residency at Perak, he was able to show a State revenue
of $1,474,330, as against one of $213,419 when he took
up his duties. The State at that time had a cash
balance of $254,949, and was entirely free from liabilities,
although no less a sum than $800,000 had been expended
out of revenue in satisfaction of claims arising from the
disturbances which brought about British intervention.
Trade developed enormously under the fostering
influence of Sir Hugh Low's administration. From
1876 to 1883 the imports grew from $813,375 to
$4,895,940, and in the same period the exports in-
creased from $739,970 to $5,625,335. Reckoned in
sterling, the aggregate value of the trade was two
millions. In Selangor, first under Mr. Davidson and,
later, under Mr. Swettenham, progress less marked had
been made ; but, nevertheless, the administration there
showed a sevenfold increase of revenue after twelve
years. Taking the whole of the States under control at
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 135
the outset — Perak, Selangor, and Sungei Ujong — the
revenues increased from $560,997 in 1876 to $3,657,673
m 1888, and the expenditure in the same period mounted
from $585,189 to $3,013,943.1
Rarely in so brief a space of time has such a change
been worked in a country. The success achieved settled
once and for all the question of British supremacy in the
Malay Peninsula. Official attention was no longer
directed to the problem of curtailing responsibilities,
but to the more inspiriting issue of how best to con-
solidate the position that had been won by a judicious
extension of them in suitable directions. In their mind's
eye, far-seeing administrators at Singapore saw a Malay
Peninsula from end to end and from Straits to China
Sea under the undisputed domination of Britain, with
railways piercing it in all directions, flourishing towns
rising up in the interior, and great industries developing
side by side with a splendid commerce. But that day
they realised was not yet ; nor was it likely to come in
the very near future. The immediate task in hand was to
build up a constitutional fabric which would facilitate
the realisation of the conception. The introduction of
Councils of State into the several States at an early stage
in the working of the Residential system had prepared
the ground for a further step forward. These bodies, on
which there was a mixed representation of chiefs, local
officials, and leading men, had had an excellent effect in
accustoming the Malays to public affairs and removing
prejudices which had hitherto existed against British inter-
vention. Moreover, in the working of the arrangements
the need had been felt for some connecting link which
• It is not convenient to give the sterling values of these figures,
as the dollar had a fluctuating value down to 1906, when the rate of
exchange was fixed at 2s. 4d.
136 THE MALAY PENINSULA
would allow of effective co-operation in all that generally
concerned their interests. This necessity had become
more pressing with the growth of the list of States
brought under the Residential system. In 1888 Pahang
came into the system as the sequel to an unpleasant
episode in which a British subject had been maltreated
in the Sultan's territory. This addition appeared at first
to be likely to give a set-back to the extension of British
influence, for when Mr. (afterwards Sir) J. P. Rodger, the
first Resident, took up his duties, he met with the open
hostility of an important section of the inhabitants led by
some minor chiefs. An expedition became necessary to
establish the rights acquired under the treaty with the
Sultan, and it was not until after a long and expensive
campaign, in which the Assistant-Resident, Mr. (now Sir)
Hugh Clifford, especially distinguished himself, that the
adhesion of Pahang could be said to be an accomplished
fact. Difficulties of another kind hindered for some years
the full application of the Residential principle in the
Negri Sembilan. But in 1895 the whole of the nine
States coalesced under Tunku Mohamed, Yang di
Pertuan of Sri Menanti, who, in his turn, accepted full
British control.
Even before the agreement among the nine States had
emphasised the steady development of British influence in
the Peninsula, and had pointed to the necessity for a more
comprehensive system of dealing with the territories, a
scheme for the federation of the several States to which
Residents were accredited had been drawn up by Sir
Frank Swettenham, who then (in 1893) filled the position
of Secretary for Malay Affairs in the Straits Government.
Prolonged consideration was given to the proposals, and it
was not until 1896 that the first definite step was taken
by the issuing of instructions to Sir Charles Mitchell, the
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 137
successor of Sir Clementi Smith in the Government of the
Straits Settlements, to report upon the feasibility and
desirability of the suggested plan. Sir Charles Mitchell's
verdict was a favourable one, but he insisted that feder-
ation must be carried out only with the approval of the
ruling chiefs whose States were embraced in the scheme.
Mr. Chamberlain, who was then Colonial Secretary in the
Imperial Government, sanctioned the federation on these
lines. The acceptance by the chiefs of the proposals
followed almost as a matter of course. By this time the
value of British control had been so clearly demonstrated
that the Malay princes were ready to welcome cordially
a measure which, while it left their individual status
unaffected, was calculated to add to the dignity and
prestige of Malay rule in the Peninsula. So, with
a completeness of harmony which agreeably surprised
Downing Street, the federal barque was launched. Sir
Frank Swettenham being installed as Resident-General
to pilot it through the difficult initial stage of its
voyage.
Kuala Lumpur, in Selangor, then an insignificant place
with apparently no future, was selected as the head-
quarters of the new federation. Fine public buildings
soon commenced to spring up to testify to European and
Asiatic alike that the new order had come to stay.
Private enterprise was not slow to follow in ofificial foot-
steps. The merchant and the planter found the centre
a convenient one for their special requirements, and the
humble trader was shrewd enough to grasp that this was
peculiarly a case in which business would follow the flag.
Their respective needs called for the establishment of
judicial institutions and the other complicated machinery
of our modern civilisation. In this way there has been
called into being in the last seventeen years a new capital
138
THE MALAY PENINSULA
well worthy to take its place amongst the leading cities
of the Empire. The phenomenal growth of Kuala
Lumpur is the touchstone of the success of the federa-
tion. In point of fact, there has never been any
looking back since Sir Frank Swettenham, at a memor-
able conference held at Kuala Kangsar in July, 1897,
got the chiefs around him and induced them to give
the most warm-hearted and unequivocal send-off to the
new system. That gathering, instinct with the new
spirit which was working to convert the area which was
once the home of a ruthless barbarism steeped in
bloodshed and anarchy into a centre of ordered and
enlightened government, was the predecessor of others
which have brought the Malay princes into intimate
contact with the problems of administration, and have
aroused in them a genuine enthusiasm for progress on
principles which have made the British Empire what
it is.
For a thorough appreciation of the very striking
progress that has been made in the Federated States
since they were first brought under the full influence
of British direction it is necessary to examine the official
statistics which relate to the period. In the following
tables will be found the salient facts bearing upon the
administration of the States : —
Area.
Square Miles.
Population.
Census, 1911.
Number to
Square Mile.
Perak
7,800
494.057
6334
Selangor
3.156
294.03s
9316
Negri Sembilan
2,550
130,199
51-05
Pahang
14,000
118,708
8-47
DEVELOPMENT IN THE PENINSULA 139
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UO THE MALAY PENINSULA
If there was ever romance in figures it is surely to be
found in this table. From it will be seen the growth
of the fabric of British administration in Malaya in all
its splendid proportions. With its aid we may trace the
phenomenal development of Malayan trade through years
of an ever-ascending scale of prosperity until it has
reached proportions which place the country in the very
first rank of the colonial territories administered by the
Crown. Circumstances associated with the growth of the
world's commerce, it may be admitted, have favoured
the material advancement of this noble heritage. But
it is a moral certainty that without the strong guiding
hand of Britain, the iron hand in the velvet glove, there
would have been to-day no smiling peace and opulent
prosperity in the Malay Peninsula, but instead internecine
conflict and anarchy — it would have been a land groaning
under the weight of a tyranny which was the more oppres-
sive because of its inherent rottenness. When the last
reckoning of all comes to be taken and the British
Empire is weighed in the balance the wonderful figures
quoted above will surely count something for our
righteousness.
CHAPTER X
WIDENING THE AREA OF BRITISH INFLUENCE
Malay States outside the federal area — Siamese influence in Kedah—
Siamese aggression in Trengganu — The French attack on Siam
— Its effect on the situation in the Mala}' Peninsula — Revival
of Siamese pretensions — The Duff Development Company in
Kelantan — Its origin — Mr. W. A. Graham appointed adviser to
the Sultan of Kelantan — Treaty with Siam transferring Siamese
rights in Kedah, Kelantan, and Trengganu to Great Britain-
New agreement defining the position of the Duff Development
Company in Kelantan.
Far-reaching as has been the moral and political influ-
ence, and magnificent as are the material results of the
federal system in British Malaya, a glance at the map
accompanying this volume will show that the system of
direct British control at present extends over only a
portion — and that by no means the largest portion — of
the Malay Peninsula. To the north, situated outside the
federation area, are the States of Kedah and of Perils,
with which our readers have been familiarised by the
events described in the earlier chapters when Light was
pegging out claims for posterity. Lying to the east of
these, with a strip of coast on the north-east side of the
Peninsula, is the great area of Kelantan, another of the
non-federal States. On the eastern side of Kelantan, with
a more extensive outlook on the China Sea, is a fourth
State — Trengganu — with which we have not yet reckoned.
Finally, in the south, with a territory extending from
141
142 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Malacca, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang to the southern
extremity of the Peninsula, is Johore, a State which,
though it has been directly associated with British ad-
ministration in the Straits ever since its ruler handed us
over the title-deeds of Singapore, is not included in the
Federated States. These five territories combined occupy
an immense area, much of which is not merely unsurveyed,
but is quite untraversed country as far as Europeans are
concerned owing to the jealousy with which the native
rulers in the past have regarded the intrusion of foreigners
into their possessions.
Politically, the whole of this great tract has long been
regarded by those administering the Straits government
as lying within the British sphere of influence, but British
claims up to a quite recent period were seriously dis-
counted by the pretensions of Siam to exercise a qualified
suzerainty over the more northern States. Siamese power
was at one time undoubtedly a very real influence in the
northern portions of the Malay Peninsula. When the East
India Company's rule in the Straits was first established,
there were clear traces of the connection. What the pre-
cise character of the relations v/as is seen in the following
extract from a communication which Light sent to the
Government in Calcutta soon after the occupation of
Penang : —
" It does not appear either by writings or traditions that
Queda was ever governed by the Siamese laws or customs.
There would have been some remains had there been
any affinity between them. The people of Queda are
Mahometans : their letter Arabic and their language Java.
Their kings originally came from Minacabo on Sumatra,
but as Queda was very near Ligore, a kingdom of Siam,
they sent every third year a gold and silver tree as a token
of homage to Ligore. This was done to preserve a good
WIDENING THE AKEA OF INFLUENCE 143
correspondence ; for at this period the Siamese were very-
rich and numerous, but no warriors, and a considerable
trade was carried on between Queda and Ligore. After
the destruction of Siam, the King of Ava demanded the
token of homage from Queda, and received the gold and
silver tree, and when Pea Tach drove away the Burmese
and built a new city in Siam the King of Queda sent the
tree to Siam; and has kept peace with both, paying homage
sometimes to one and sometimes to the other and often to
both."
Light went on to state that the fact that the Sultan of
Kedah had faced both ways came to the knowledge of
Siam, and had led to a threat that Kedah should be
attacked and destroyed. " The King of Queda," he added,
" has reason to be afraid of such a tyrant, and I should not
be surprised at his offering to sacrifice this new Settlement
to the avarice of the King of Siam if requested."
Light's statement probably represents with a fair degree
of accuracy the character of the tie which bound Kedah
to Siam. The flowers of silver and gold, or the Biinga
Mas, as the offering was known, were a symbol of the
subjection of the sender, but it was a subjection which was
qualified by the extent of the coercive power which could
be exercised by the recipient.' In some cases and at some
periods the influence exercised was so shadowy as to be
almost formal ; in other instances and at other times it
amounted to a practical suzerainty. As far as Kedah and
' Much controversy has arisen at different times relative to the
precise significance of the Biinga Mas, or, as it is perhaps more cor-
rectly described, the Buiiga Amas. Mr. (now Sir) Hugh Clifford, in
his interesting " Report on the Expedition to Trengganu and Kelan-
tan," strongly insists that it was merely " a token of alliance and
friendship." Such it may have been in later days, but it is evident
from the facts cited in the text that in the eighteenth century it was
much more than a voluntary offering dictated by amity.
144 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Siam are concerned, the association was marked by more
than the common vicissitudes attaching to these eastern
connections. But it seems probable from the records that
at the time of the negotiations which preceded the acquisi-
tion of Penang the Sultan of Kedah was distinctly under
Siamese domination. A piece of evidence which throws
light on the point is a statement made by Mr. Monckton,
who conducted the first abortive negotiations for a cession
of territory with the Sultan of Kedah, and whose account
of the mission appears in Chapter IV. It will be recalled
that the Sultan at the final interview intimated that he
could not make the grant of a site for a Settlement because
the King of Siam had strictly forbidden him ever to let
any Europeans settle in his kingdom. The mention made
by the Sultan of the necessity imposed upon him of "obey-
ing orders " is inconsistent with the contention afterwards
advanced that Kedah owed no allegiance to Siam. It is,
however, an undoubted fact that the East India Company
treated with the Sultan as an independent prince, and that
in doing so they accepted the responsibilities which their
recognition of the chief imposed upon them of seeing that,
in accordance with Article 3 of the treaty ceding Penang,
he was not made a sufferer by his action. How ill they
performed their part of the bargain the subsequent history
of Kedah shows. After many threatenings, the Siamese,
in 1 82 1, attacked Kedah from the sea, and having effected
a landing laid waste the country after their peculiarly
barbarous fashion. In vain the Sultan appealed to the
Company for assistance. The only concession that was
made him was the right of asylum at Penang.
Meanwhile, the victorious Siamese extended their con-
quest southward as far as Selangor, and were only
restrained from falling on that State as they had already
done on Kedah and Perak by the determined attitude
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 145
taken up by the local ruling chief. Ultimately they with-
drew their forces to Ligore, from whence the expedition
had emanated. Mr. John Anderson, in his famous
pamphlet " Considerations on the Conquest of Ouedah
and Perak by the Siamese," expressed the opinion that
the Siamese at the period contemplated the total conquest
of the Peninsula and the subversion of the Mohammedan
religion. Raffles inclined to the same view, and in 1823
addressed a letter to the Supreme Government in Calcutta
urging, in earnest language, the necessity of the adoption
of a strong policy in dealing with the Siamese. " I am
satisfied," he wrote in the course of this communication,
"that if instead of deferring to them so much as we have
done in the case of Kedah we had maintained a higher
tone and declared the country to be under our protection,
they would have hesitated to invade that unfortunate
territory. Having, however, been allowed to indulge
their rapacity in this instance with impunity, they are
encouraged to similar acts towards the other States of
the Peninsula, and, if not timely checked, may be ex-
pected in a similar manner to destroy the truly respectable
State of Tringanu on the eastern side of the peninsula."
The Indian authorities, reluctant as ever to accept respon-
sibility in Malaya, turned a deaf ear to Raffles's wise
counsels. Instead of boldly opposing Siamese designs,
they sent Captain Burney to Bangkok to negotiate with
the Government there on the basis of a division of power.
In the result, there was concluded on June 20, 1826, a
treaty accepting the conquest of Kedah as an accom-
plished fact and compromising other disputed points.
Practically, the treaty gave the Siamese a firm foot-
hold in the Peninsula where they had previously only
exercised influence on a precarious tenure. To that
extent it was a blunder, and one of a type which
10
146 THE MALAY PENINSULA
was bound to have unpleasant consequences as years
went by.
From time to time the cramping effects of the treaty
were felt by the British administration of the Straits, but
in view of the necessity of keeping on good terms with
Siam owing to the extension of British influence in Burma
nothing was done to regain the freedom of action which
should never have been sacrificed. In 1862, when Siam
showed a disposition to encroach on the sphere exclu-
sively allotted to Britain under the Burney Treaty by
imposing a creature of its own on the people of Trengganu
as ruler, the British Government, however, were stimulated
to take action for the protection of their rights. Colonel
Orfeur Cavenagh, who at that time was Governor of the
Straits Settlements, on hearing of the intended act of
aggression, promptly sent a vigorous remonstrance to
Bangkok against the projected interference, and when,
later on, a disposition was shown to disregard this, he
despatched a naval force to Trengganu to enforce his
views. This determined attitude ultimately secured the
withdrawal of Siam's nominee — the ex-Sultan of Lingga
— but the episode left an unpleasant impression of the
ambitions which were entertained at Bangkok. It was
made clear by the Siamese Government's action that
they aspired not only to influence the northern States,
in which their interests were acknowledged to be pre-
dominant, but also the more southern territories, which
were admittedly independent. Colonel Cavenagh, in the
despatch which he forwarded to Calcutta describing the
incident, made an interesting reference to the political
position of Trengganu. He described the State as " an
independent principality," whose independence, with that
of Kelantan, had been mutually guaranteed by the pro-
visions of Article 12 of the treaty of 1826. " Even as far
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 147
back as 1785," he wrote, " the Sultan of Trengganu has
been in direct communication with the British authorities
in the Straits, and has on one or two occasions actually
solicited their aid to enable him to resist the Siamese
when threatened by attack : he has at all times been
recognised as an independent chief, and neither in 1850,
when he despatched an embassy to Java with a view
of cultivating friendly relations with the Dutch, nor in
185 1, when his treatment of some British subjects became
the matter of investigation, were any pretensions to exer-
cise the slightest control over his proceedings or to inter-
fere on his behalf advanced by the Siamese Government."
Colonel Cavenagh might have put the title to British influ-
ence even stronger than he did. He dates the connection
of the British with the affairs of the State back to 1785 ;
but actually it commenced in 1772, when Mr. Monckton,
the East India Company's envoy to Kedah, having failed
to come to terms with the Sultan of that State about a
British Settlement, proceeded to Trengganu after paying
a visit en route to Rhio. The record of the interview which
took place between the Sultan of Trengganu and Monck-
ton on the occasion is of some interest in connection with
the question of the long duration of the British connection
with the State. The prince expressed his willingness to
let the Company have Settlements in any part of his
territories, if the Calcutta Government would lend him
their aid in recovering the stretch of coast as far as Johore,
which he claimed to belong to him. " I told him," wrote
Monckton, " that in case they [the Government] were to
accept a grant from him they would only engage to protect
the dominions he then possessed." On these terms the
Sultan refused to deal, and, finding that he could do nothing
further, Monckton re-embarked on September 11, 1772. '
' " Sumatra Records," vol. xv.
148 THE MALAY PENINSULA
It is interesting to speculate what would have been the
effect on British development in Malaya if the offer of
1772 had been accepted. Possibly there would have been
no Singapore and no Penang to-day. On the other hand,
it is quite as conceivable that the entire Malay Peninsula
would long since have been coloured red.
After the rebuff at Trengganu, the Siamese did not
venture again openly to interfere in the States outside
their recognised zone. They were content to intrigue
insidiously against British influence whenever and wher-
ever it might be asserted in the non-federated States. In
this indefinite fashion, events might have proceeded for
a long time had not France, in 1884, been seized with
a desire for territorial expansion in the East at the
expense of Siam. The project then put forward was
nullified by the British conquest of Upper Burma, but
the matter was revived in 1889, when M. Waddington,
the then French Ambassador in London, approached Lord
Salisbury with a proposal for the delimitation of the
boundaries of Siam with a view to its constitution as a
buffer state between the French possessions in the North
and the British possessions and dependencies in Burma
and the Malay Peninsula. Lord Salisbury agreed in
principle, but represented that there were a great many
points of detail to be considered before any further step
could be taken. After this, the question was referred
to the India Office, then presided over by Lord Cross.
In the result, independent negotiations were opened
up with Siam, leading to the appointment of a boundary
commission, composed of British and Siamese officers,
for the delimitation of the Siamese frontier where it
marched with British territory. A similar commission
was appointed in 1890 by the French Government for
the delimitation of the districts bordering on Indo-China.
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 149
In 1892 the French Government again ^mooted the
question of an arrangement in regard to Siam, based
on a pledge that neither country should extend its
influence beyond the Mekong. To this proposal the
British Government, acting on the suggestion of the
authorities in India, declined to assent. Once more, in
1893, the French Government made an effort to come
to an understanding ; and then, meeting with yet another
refusal, it proceeded to adjust its differences with Siam
in its own way. In July, 1893, a blockade of the lower
valley of the Menam was established, greatly to the
consternation of traders, whose interests were jeopardised
by the confusion into which affairs were thrown by the
aggressive French action. At one time, owing to
incidents arising out of the operations, relations between
Great Britain and France became strained almost to the
breaking-point. Happily, however, war was averted, and
a peace was ultimately concluded in which both Govern-
ments were able to acquiesce, though Siam was shorn
of a great extent of territory and was compelled to pay
a heavy indemnity. Following upon the Franco-Siamese
arrangement came, in 1896, an agreement between Great
Britain and France in which the contracting parties
defined their respective spheres of influence, and bound
themselves not to encroach beyond them.
Although the Franco-Siamese imbroglio, with its
sequelae of diplomatic arrangements, mainly affected
the northern portion of the Siamese dominions and the
contiguous areas, the effect of the final understanding was
to bring into sharp relief Great Britain's claims to a
predominant influence in the Malay Peninsula. On the
principle that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie, the
Government did not immediately seek actively to extend
that influence beyond the limits which had long been
150 THE MALAY PENINSULA
marked out. The policy of the Foreign Office, indeed,
for a time appeared to be to minimise rather than to
exaggerate the advantages which the situation conferred.
This was more particularly shown in their benevolent
attitude towards a revival of Siamese activity in Kelantan
and Trengganu which followed the conclusion of the
understanding. The political status of these two States
was clearly defined by Article 12 of the treaty of 1826,
to which Colonel Cavenagh had so pointedly alluded
in the passage from his despatch already quoted. By
the terms of that article, Great Britain agreed not to
molest, attack, or disturb these States in any way what-
ever, but it was stipulated that British subjects should
have the same facility as they had hitherto enjoyed for
communication, trade, and intercourse with the States.
This Article 12 was in contradistinction to Article 11
of the same treaty, detailing the limitations of British
subjects in Patani, which had been acquired by war by
the Siamese. In effect, the treaty made it clear that
while Patani was a dependency of Siam, Kelantan and
Trengganu were independent States. The provisions
of the subsequent treaty, concluded in 1854, with Siam
left untouched the status of these last-named areas. In
the circumstances, it was clearly the duty of our Govern-
ment to resist all fresh Siamese pretensions to inter-
ference as firmly as Colonel Cavenagh did in 1862, when
the attempt was made on the independence of Trengganu.
But the home authorities, with a perhaps excessive desire
to consolidate the excellent relations which had been
established with the Bangkok Government during the
troubles with France, adopted a line which was calculated
to undermine the whole position created by the treaty.
In 189s, when the expedition headed by Mr. (now Sir)
Hugh Clifford, to which reference has been made, was
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 151
sent into Trengganu and Kelantan to hunt down the
Pahang rebels who had taken refuge there, the Siamese
Government were allowed to send Commissioners to
accompany the expeditionary force. Nominally, the
functionaries were appointed to aid the British opera-
tions, but actually they used their utmost influence to
thwart and impede Mr. Clifford and his party in every
way. They proclaimed to the local Malays, who had
no idea of the relative strength of Great Britain and Siam,
that Siam was the stronger power, that Siam was the
suzerain of the two States, and that the suzerainty had
been recognised by Great Britain. There was, as will
have been gathered from what has been stated, no real
foundation for this assertion. Its sole justification was
that Kelantan and Trengganu had forwarded to Siam
periodically the bunga vias. In this instance, as in many
others, the symbolical offering had been made purely as
a token of friendship — as a gift from a weak State to
a stronger to secure immunity from aggression. It was
probably a relic of the period when the Siamese swooped
down upon Kedah and Perak and established a reputation
for barbarous warfare which caused the whole of the
Malay States to stand in awe of them. Whatever its
origin, it ought not to have been permitted to influence
the British Government to the extent of acquiescing in
Siamese interference in the affairs of Kelantan. Cir-
cumstances had been so changed by British development
in other parts of the Peninsula, as well as by the
course of events in Siam itself that there was ample
justification for a policy which would completely free
the two States from every vestige of outside inter-
ference. The opening, however, was weakly given, and
though the error was afterwards retrieved, it is impossible
not to reflect that for a time the ideal of a Malay
152 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Peninsula entirely under British influence was seriouslj'
jeopardised.
Mr. Hugh Clifford's hunt after rebels in Kelantan
served the good purpose of bringing into prominence
the splendid possibilities of that sunny land. Amongst
those who accompanied the expedition was Mr. R. W.
Duff, an official of the Federated Malay States Police
Force, who, to sound administrative qualities, added a
business acumen of exceptional type. Mr. Duff, having
spied out the land in the course of his enforced peregrina-
tions after the elusive rebels, saw that it was good. He
was struck not so much by its productiveness — though
the land is in places very fertile — as by the illimitable
possibilities for development of all kinds inherent in
its vast and largely unoccupied expanses. His im-
pressions he carried away with him to meditate over in
the intervals of leisure left by his official duties. Soon
there matured in his brain a definite scheme for the
exploitation of the natural riches of Kelantan. It was
not, however, until 1900 that he was able to make a
definite move towards the realisation of his design. In
February of that year, when he was filling the post of
District Officer in Ulu Selangor, he was invalided out
of the service and proceeded home, prepared to make
the best use of his " position of greater freedom and
less responsibility." Like many other pioneers before
him, Mr. Duff found the road to the acceptance of his
scheme steep and stony indeed. That scheme was simple
enough. It was merely to make use of the golden opening
which appeared to offer in Kelantan. But instead of
trade following the flag Mr. Duff hoped to prove that,
in favourable circumstances, the flag follows the trade.
In plain words, he proposed to obtain a concession to
trade in Kelantan which would be an instrument not only
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 153
for commercial profit but for the aggrandisement of his
country. In the city of London he succeeded in interest-
ing a half-dozen business men in his project, with the
result that a syndicate was formed to exploit Kelantan.
The combination came into existence without any of
the usual paraphernalia of a company. The only thing
in the nature of a prospectus was a statement prepared
by Mr. Duff, sketching the possibilities of the country.
Gold, it was stated in this document, was to be found
in Kelantan as well as tin, but Mr. Duff confessed his
inability to say whether the deposits would repay working,
though he pointed out that the efforts made repeatedly
by Singapore merchants to obtain mining concessions in
the State indicated that there was something to be got
out of mineral enterprise there. Political difficulties,
combined with the bad government of the State, had
hitherto stood in the way of development, but the writer
intimated his belief that he could overcome all obstacles
if he were given the opportunity. Mr. Duff's unadorned
and matter-of-fact declaration did its work effectually.
In a short time he had a backing of .^10,000 wherewith
to prosecute his scheme. The financial obstacles over-
come, Mr. Duff now had to face the political situation.
It was formidable enough. As a preliminary to active
operations, he went to the Foreign Office, and inquired
whether the gift of land in Kelantan was in the hands
of the Siamese or of the Sultan. He was told by the
officials there that they did not know, but that it would
be courteous on his part to go to the Siamese Government
first.
What afterwards happened is, perhaps, best related in
Mr. Duff's own words, as used in the course of a narrative
of the history of his venture supplied at the request of the
authors : " I knew perfectly well," he said, " that the land
154 THE MALAY PENINSULA
was in the gift of the Sultan, but I asked for letters to the
British Minister at Bangkok, and, complying with the
wishes of the Foreign Office, I went to Bangkok. I found
the greatest difficulty in getting anything done there.
Eventually, I got an interview with Prince Damrong, the
Minister for the Interior. He received me in a very rude
manner, telling me that the British were now in Pretoria,
and that I had better go there and obtain concessions.
After a time he got more amenable, and told me that the
gift of land in Kelantan was in the hands of the King
of Siam. I said, ' Very well ; probably the King of Siam
will give me a concession.' He replied that that was
impossible, because the question of land tenure was being
gone into by the Siamese Government, and that no con-
cessions would be granted as injustice might be done to
the natives. After some further conversation I told him
that in the meantime I proposed to go to Kelantan to
select land and would subsequently apply for a title for it.
I was told it would not be allowed, because the state of
the country was such that no white man could travel there
with safety, and they were afraid that if I were murdered
they would be held to blame by the British Government.
My reply was that I would give a letter of indemnity, but
that I proposed to go to Kelantan in spite of what he had
said. When the Prince and his associates urged that I could
not go, I referred them to the treaty of 1826, and insisted
that I had the right to go. Then Prince Damrong said
the King of Siam was very anxious about me, and asked
me to take a Siamese passport and a Siamese Commissioner
with me. This I refused, on the ground that my work
would necessitate secrecy. Then they gave me a letter,
stating that the^Commissioner would be under my orders,
that he would be there only to protect me, and that he
would not interfere with me or spy upon me in any way.
THE srr.TAX OF KKLAXTAX.
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 155
I said, 'Very well, I will take a Commissioner,' and that I
did not require a passport. As the British Minister
insisted I should have a passport, I took one, and gave out
that I was returning to Singapore, and that I would start
for Kelantan about the beginning of August. They
asked me to telegraph ten clear days before entering
Kelantan, so that the Commissioner would be there
awaiting me. I came to the conclusion that if I took this
man with me I should have no chance of getting any
concession ; so when I wired the date I would be there I
omitted to point out the fact that there were two ways of
getting to Kelantan. They sent a man to Kota Bahru to
meet me, but I went to Kuala Lipis and walked across
the hills, taking a mining engineer with me. I had already
provided myself with letters from the Sultan to the various
chiefs, telling them to give me all the assistance possible ;
and when the Siamese Commissioner arrived at Kota
Bahru he did not know that I was already in the country.
I had spent a couple of months there making a general
survey, and I left for Kota Bahru to meet the Com-
missioner, leaving the engineer up the Galas River. When
I got to Kota Bahru, I found the Sultan had prepared a
house for me, and when I had taken up my quarters in it,
he sent me a meal, stating at the same time that it would
be the only cooked food he could give me, as he could not
be sure of what might be put into my future meals. On
interviewing the Sultan, I found him greatly terrified.
When I asked him whether the gift of land was in his
hands or in the hands of the King of Siam, he told me
to ask the Commissioner, who was present, and who said
it lay with the King of Siam. I made arrangements to
meet the Commissioner the next day, but that night I
got a message from the Sultan to come and see him,
before I saw the Commissioner, at half-past two in the
156 THE MALAY PENINSULA
morning, and to go disguised as a Malay. I agreed to
meet him at the appointed hour, but refused to dress as a
Malay. When I called, I found the house lit by a little
torch. The Sultan was gibbering with terror. He told
me the Siamese Commissioner had been at him for some
weeks past, and that the whole State of Kelantan was to be
alienated in some four or five blocks to Chinese, who were
in partnership with Siamese officials, and that the docu-
ment was to be signed that day. He was of opinion that
if the document was not signed he would be taken to
Bangkok and beheaded. I told him he was on no account
to sign this document, that Siam had no power to attack
him, and to leave the matter to me. He then asked me
to take over the whole country. This I refused to do,
because I knew I would get no support from the British
Government ; but the next day I went round to see the
Commissioner and told him what I had learned. I told
him the Siamese had no right to behave in this way, and
that I was writing to tell the Governor at Singapore, and
that if anything at all happened to the Sultan I would
know who to blame for it. I then left, saying I was going
up-stream to prospect.
" I had not had the intention of taking over such a large
piece of territory as we subsequently acquired (some
3,000 square miles), but when the Sultan told me I should
go for all the unalienated land I could get, and when
I found from the mining engineer that he had located
some very good finds, I decided on the land I wanted,
which was very nearly the whole of the interior of
Kelantan. While I was in the interior the Siamese
Commissioner appointed to my force dogged my steps.
To test him I said, ' You have disobeyed orders according
to the letter that was given me in Bangkok, and I am
going down to report you to Prince Damrong,' and he
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 157
replied that his orders were not to let me out of his sight.
I said, ' To-morrow morning I am going to Kota Bahru.
Mr. Chappel is going up-river. You can choose what you
intend to do — stay with him or come down with me.'
There was someconversation as to what the Malay chiefs
were to do. I showed them the Sultan's ' chop,' telling
them to go with Mr. Chappel, and the Siamese Com-
missioner came down to Kota Bahru with me.
" I then started negotiating for a title for the land.
The title I got was a partnership agreement with the
Sultan. It was necessary at that time, owing to the
absence of any recognised form of Government, to acquire
very comprehensive administrative powers, if the company
was to do any good at all. It could not have worked
without acquiring these powers, and therefore the Sultan
handed over to me the whole of the administrative powers
in the interior. (The Sultan was not the same as the chief
who was in power in 1895. There had been two rulers
in between — Sultan Tingah and Sultan Mansur — both of
whom had died suddenly.) Subject to this agreement, we
were to have the powers of legislation and taxation. The
compact was signed on October 10, 1900.
" In addition to our administrative powers, we acquired
the sole commercial rights of every description. There
were no lawyers. The Malay language does not lend
itself to legal accuracy. The original document was in
Malay, and was translated by me into English. The
purchase price given to the Sultan in consideration of
the concession was £2,000, and he got in addition
two hundred shares in the syndicate, which eventually
became two thousand shares in the company.
" Whilst these negotiations were going on — -I was con-
ducting them with the Sultan and his State Council—
the Siamese knew nothing of these transactions. The
158 THE MALAY PENINSULA
agreement was duly signed and sealed. I still had to
prove my title as a good one, so I went to the Siamese
Commissioner then, and told him that I had been entirely
misled by Prince Damrong and the Commissioner himself
who had informed me that the gift of land was vested
in the King of Siam. I had found on coming into the
country that the gift was in the hands of the Sultan
and that the Siamese were aware of this when they
instigated the Chinese to apply for land and were trying
to force the Sultan to sign titles practically over the
whole of the State. Therefore, as the Siamese had
deliberately misled me and caused me expense, I would
now return to Europe and would lay the matter before
the Foreign Office in London, and would seek to recover
damages against the Siamese Government. I wrote to
Prince Damrong in similar terms. I also complained of
the breach of orders by the Commissioner. I then came
home. The Siamese thought they had bluffed me, and
that no more would be heard of the subject. When I
went to the Foreign Office, I told them what had happened,
showed them my title, and asked for their support. This
they refused to give me. They said Great Britain was on
friendly terms with Siam, and would do nothing. 1
waited, and fortunately, a few weeks later, I got the reply
from Bangkok which I hoped I would get. In this letter
the Siamese authorities stated that they were extremely
sorry to hear that the Siamese Commissioner had not
carried out his instructions — they had actually issued
them ! — but it was owing to a misunderstanding on his
part. In regard to my statement that I had been informed
that the gift of land was in the hands of the King of
Siam, they could not conceive how I got that mis-
apprehension. The gift of land was undoubtedly in the
hands of the Sultan, and if I had made a mistake, it
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 159
was mine, and they could not be called upon to pay
for it.
" I wrote back at once and told them I did not know
how it had occurred, but I was glad to learn that the
document I had fortunately secured proved to be valid.
Then I went to the Foreign Office : I produced my letter
from Bangkok, and showed them a copy of the reply I
had sent, and asked for protection in carrying out the work of
the concession. I was asked to meet certain high Foreign
Office officials, who said they would have a letter written
to the British Minister at Bangkok which would settle
the matter. In this letter they merely proposed to state
that I had obtained some sort of title, and that I intended
to go out and work the concession, and they trusted the
Minister would give me proper assistance. I said that
letter would not be of any use to me. They replied they
could do nothing more. I said to them that when I
embarked on this venture I told them who I represented,
that we had money to carry out the projected work,
and that I had got a valid title because the Power that
claimed a suzerainty over Kelantan had admitted that it
was valid, and the Foreign Office now stated it would not
give me support. When I started this work I knew that
there was a difference of opinion between the Foreign
Office and the Colonial Office as to the status of Kelantan,
and that I had also known or believed that both depart-
ments were satisfied that a danger existed in the establish-
ment of foreign commercial interests in the Middle
Peninsula which would justify a foreign Power in asserting
a political influence there. I said I had apparently been
quite wrong in forming this opinion, and that it was
evident the British Government did not look upon it as
a danger, and they did not think it desirable to protect
British enterprise in Kelantan. Therefore, I said, I
160 THE MALAY PENINSULA
proposed now to float my company not in London, but
in Paris and St. Petersburg, but thought I would ask for
the assurance of the British Government before doing
anything.
" I was then asked to sit down — we had been standing
up to this point — and I was there for upwards of two
hours instead of two minutes. The upshot was that a
promise was made that I would have the support of the
British Foreign Office if I established my company in
Kelantan.
" They gave their support, but not as I would have
liked. They asked me to go out to Bangkok and secure
the ratification of the King of Siam. I demurred at this
because if he had no power to ratify the title we were only
forcing upon him a power he had never possessed. How-
ever, I went out to Kelantan early in 1901. Several
Europeans accompanied me, some of them having already
had experience in the Malay Peninsula. We opened our
headquarters at Kuala Lebir, and started to prospect and
to administer the affairs of the country. We abolished
the poll-tax and began the administration of justice. The
natives were delighted with the changes that were effected,
and from then till now we have had no trouble with the
people. The Siamese Commissioner remained at Kota
Bahru with a force of soldiers. It became perfectly
evident in 1902 that he was doing everything in his
power to reduce British influence in the State, and, in
fact, he was evading the terms of the Treaty. Amongst
other things, he forced the Sultan to increase the import
duties for all imports coming from the Straits Settlements
and the south and to abolish them on all imports from
Bangkok and the north, on the ground that Kelantan was
a Siamese dependency. That was absolutely contrary to
the Treaty. At the request of Mr. Chamberlain, I kept
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 161
the British Government informed of what was going on.
In consequence of a particular happening, referred to at
the time as ' The Kelantan Affair,' which created some
excitement in Europe, the British Government sent Sir
Frank Swettenham to Kelantan at the end of 1902, and
eventually an agreement was signed by the Sultan recog-
nising the suzerainty of the King of Siam, but limiting the
powers of the suzerain. At the same time, a British
officer was appointed by the King of Siam, approved
of by the British Government, to reside at Kota Bahru
to advise the Sultan, and the Sultan undertook in the
agreement to act on the advice given to him. In July,
1903. Mr. W. A. Graham, who had been in the Siamese
service for some time, went to reside at Kota Bahru as
Adviser."
Such in interesting outline is the story of the genesis
and growth of this modern Malayan prototype of the old
trading company of the last and the preceding centuries.
It is a record which shows that the spirit of adventure
which has stood our Empire in such good stead at
different periods of our history is still a living force, ready
to respond to the mingled call of private interest and
patriotism as it sounds its note in some promising
situation. Mr. Duff, like most pioneers, appears to have
had a full share of checks and disappointments. It is
doing him no injustice probably to say that he quite
expected them when he started on his mission, for there
was an element in his designs which was, sooner or later,
bound to challenge opposition. A controverted concession
is perhaps of all things the most debateable. In the past,
nothing has bred more contentions between the Chan-
celleries, nothing has caused a more copious flow of official
ink. Therefore, when Mr. Duff threw himself, with all the
vigour of a modern commercial gladiator, into the arena
11
162 THE MALAY PENINSULA
of Kelantan — a land of obscure political associations and
ill-defined status in the nicely balanced system of the
Middle East — it is not surprising that Whitehall was not
exactly effusive. The official calm was disturbed by such
pushfulness. Moreover, the intrusion into Kelantan, as it
was regarded, was calculated to breed bad blood between
Great Britain and Siam, and the Foreign Office had
reasons which appeared to it to be adequate for wishing
to remain on good terms with that Power, more especially
as the disturbed condition of the international horizon
consequent upon the South African War made it im-
perative that we should walk warily at the period. Never-
theless, it is made fairly clear by the narrative of events
that if Mr. Duff had not striven in the fashion he did the
Foreign Office might still have been content to regard
Kelantan as out of bounds politically, if not commercially.
It was his prompting and probing which, in the first
instance, brought the question of the State's future on
the tapis, and which in its later phases, as we shall see
farther on, secured the consummation of the all-red policy
which far-seeing British administrators in the Straits, from
Raffles onwards, had long worked for.
As was, perhaps, inevitable, the new regime introduced
in 1903 in Kelantan did not work smoothly. There were
inherent in the situation jarring elements which sooner or
later were bound to come into collision. On the one hand
was the natural official tendency to recover the lost grip
of the administration ; on the other was the equally natural
disinclination to abate one jot the privileges and rights
which had been conferred. The position altogether was
as unsatisfactory as it could be, and its dangers were
accentuated when it became known that the Siamese
were favouring the construction with German money of
a railway which was to run from Bangkok to the
■f. w^
li
So
- OS 3 1."
■f. ■ - E
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 163
Federated Malay States. The line was to be of a
different gauge to that of the British Malayan Railways,
and was to be officered by German engineers. The scheme
had gone so far that a tracing of the line had actually been
made when the matter was brought to the notice of the
Foreign Office in 1907. There was, for a time, some
hesitation in exalted official quarters as to whether the
bold and safe course should be pursued of bringing
Kelantan under our protection ; but at length the
Whitehall authorities were forced by the logic of an
increasingly dangerous state of affairs to enter into
negotiations with Siam for the transfer of whatever rights
she had in the State. To make a complete business of it,
Kedah and Trengganu were included in the negotiations.
It seemed at one time that an arrangement was not
possible, but ultimately the offer of a renunciation by
the British Government of the right of extra-territorial
jurisdiction in Siam, in exchange for territorial conces-
sions, proved irresistible to the Siamese Government,
and on March 10, 1909, a treaty was signed trans-
ferring to Great Britain all Siam's rights over
Kelantan, Trengganu, Kedah, Perils, and the adjacent
islands. Following upon the completion of the formal
arrangement. Sir John Anderson, G.C.M.G., the then
Governor of the Straits Settlements, in July visited
Kelantan to announce the assumption of the protec-
torate by the British. The position there was of such
an anomalous character that a further step was deemed
necessary to the establishment of the administrative
position on proper lines. After protracted negotiations,
the Government, about the middle of 1912, entered into
an agreement with the Duff Development Company in
respect of their rights under the concession from the
Sultan. Under the terms of this instrument, the existing
164 THE MALAY PENINSULA
agreement of the Company with the Sultan, dated May
28, 1905, is to be cancelled on December 31, 1912, and the
Company will also surrender to the Government its existing
agreements of lease over the area of 50,000 acres of agri-
cultural land which it now holds. In consideration of this
renunciation, a new agreement is to be entered into by the
Sultan, by the terms of which he will pay the Company
;^300,ooo and grant it valuable privileges. Amongst the
concessions is the sole right to select blocks of land for
agricultural purposes up to 50,000 acres, the right of
selection " to continue for a period of twelve months after
a plan showing the definite route of the proposed railway
through Kelantan shall have been handed by the Govern-
ment to the company." Other concessions are the sole
prospecting rights for minerals over the whole area of the
original concession, approximately 2,500 square miles,
for a period of three years from January i, 1913, with
the additional right of selecting specified areas to be
acquired on mining leases (rent free) at the termination
of that period. Special prospecting rights are also con-
ferred in the Sokor district, in which the Company has
already disclosed large and valuable ore deposits, and all
the river-dredging rights which the Company has hitherto
exercised are continued. In effect, the Duff Development
Company, under this new agreement, drops into the
position of an exclusively mercantile organisation. That
its field of activity, even in its restricted capacity, is an
ample one will be made evident when we come to deal
with the Protected States in detail.
Taking all the circumstances into account, we may write
as a motto for this chapter, " All's well that ends well."
The desired goal has been reached, though by devious and
somewhat perilous ways. A little more indecision on the
part of our authorities, a little less enterprise on the side
WIDENING THE AREA OF INFLUENCE 165
of the public, and we might have had to lament the
creation of foreign interests in the Malay Peninsula which
would have been utterly fatal to our sovereignty in that
important quarter. As things are, it rests entirely with
ourselves to say how the destinies of the Peninsula shall
shape themselves. There may, and possibly will be, some
local trouble, but the spectre of foreign interference is laid
for ever.
CHAPTER XI
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES
The unfedcrated area largely a lerra incognita — Kelantan — Physical
characteristics — The inhabitants — Their love of sport — The
ruling prince — Trengganu — Physical characteristics — Native
manufactures — Agriculture and mining — The fishing industry
— The Baginda or Conqueror — His evil influence — Dantesque
horrors — The reigning Sultan — Kedah — Its trade — Native irriA
gation S3'stem — Rubber development and regulations — Mining /
— Constitution — Debt bondage — The reigning Sultan — Perlis^J
Johore — Physical characteristics — Planting development— Sultan
Ibrahim, K.C.M.G.
In taking under its expansive wing the four States whose
suzerainty Siam reHnquished in the circumstances already
narrated, Great Britain made another advance towards the
goal of an all-British Malay Peninsula. At the moment,
the outside world does not realise the immense importance
of the move, but it is morally certain that as the years go
by there will be an increasing appreciation of the Anglo-
Siamese agreement as an instrument of Imperial expansion
and consolidation.
Individually, the quartette of Malay States are of little
account either commercially or politically. Isolated by
the combined effects of Siamese jealousy and the sus-
piciousness of Malay rulers, they have remained, as it
were, in a back-water while the tide of healthy com-
mercialism has swept in full flood over the other parts of
the Peninsula. To a remarkable extent they were until
1S6
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 167
quite recently a terra incognita to the European. Those
who ventured into the interior took their lives in their
hands. As a natural consequence, few did make the
attempt, and those for the most part never got far away
from well-beaten native tracks. Actually the known
records of thoroughgoing exploration do not go farther
back than 1884-5, in which years Sir Frank Swettenham,
Captain Giles, R.A., and the Hon. Martin Lister crossed
the Peninsula from the west coast to the east coast,
traversing in the latter part of the journey the State of
Pahang. About the same period, Mr. William Cameron
travelled from Kinta in Perak to the mouth of the Pahang
River. Two years later. Sir Hugh Clifford made the same
journey from west to east that had been accomplished by
Sir Frank Swettenham's party. In 1895, Mr. H. M.
Becher, a mining engineer, lost his life whilst attempting
the ascent of Gunong Tahan, in the course of a pros-
pecting trip in the interior. An Italian traveller named
Bozzolo, more fortunate, was able to penetrate into
Kelantan at about this period. He is reputed to have
been the first white man who ever set foot in the remoter
parts of that State, but this view takes no account of the
possibility of early exploration in the period in the
seventeenth century when Patani was a great resort of
European traders, and both English and Dutch had
factories there. The country, however, was sufficiently
unknown to give an air of adventure to a journey which
Sir Henry Norman undertook in 1899 when he travelled
overland from Perak to Kelantan, proceeding by raft down
the Kelantan River to Kota Bahru, the capital of the
State. His experiences were at points decidedly exciting,
and the whole episode supplies material for not the least
interesting chapter in that popular writer's work, " The
Peoples and Politics of that P"ar East." In a different
168 THE MALAY PENINSULA
category to these individual efforts stands the expedition
conducted by Sir Hugh Clifford in 1895 against the
Pahang Rebels. This well-organised enterprise not only
greatly extended the knowledge of Trengganu and
Kelantan, but, as has been shown in the preceding
chapter, was the indirect cause of the trade development
in the latter State which was the leading factor in the
Anglo-Siamese agreement of 1909. Another official
venture which tended to lighten the dense darkness of
the interior was the expedition which in 1899-1900 was
led by Mr. Skeat, with a view mainly to ethnological
objects. The trained scientific observations then made are
amongst the most valuable records we have of the con-
ditions prevailing in the less-known parts of the Peninsula.
Even at the present day, however, the knowledge of
many considerable areas is so superficial as to leave room
for interesting speculation as to their possibilities in a
commercial sense. Arguing from their broad physical
characteristics and their geological relationship to other
portions of Malaya which have proved their productivity,
there are great potentialities in the region when the
country has been properly surveyed and the civilising
influences of British protection have had time to develop
fully on the lines which have so marvellously increased the
wealth of the Federated area.
First in importance politically and in point of popula-
tion, though not of area, for Trengganu is the largest of the
four States, Kelantan illustrates to a peculiar extent the
characteristic qualities of the Protected territories. Situated
at the extreme north-eastern end of the Peninsula,
between latitudes 445° and 6*25° North, and between
longitudes ior30° and I02'40° East, and with a coast-line
of 60 miles' length on the China Sea, it embraces an area
of from 5,000 to 5,500 square miles, the vast proportion of
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 169
which has only been touched in the Hghtest way by the
hand of civilisation. The interior is very mountainous, and
contains within its limits the sovereign peak of Gunong
Tahan (7,100 feet), which has been selected as the site of
a settlement destined in time to be the health resort of all
Malaya. Another lofty Kelantan mountain is Gunong
Sitong, which with its 6,800 feet altitude is scarcely less
conspicuous than its companion peak. In addition to
these giants, there is a series of lofty hills on the Perak
side of the State down to the main range of the Peninsula.
The country is drained by the Ninggeri and Galas Rivers,
flowing northwards to a point where they join and form a
main stream now called the Galas, which continues to
flow north to its junction with the Lebir River at Kuala
Lebir. It then becomes the Kelantan River, and empties
into the China Sea at Tumpat, the chief port of the
State. There is a delta, between 6 and 7 miles wide, in
the last 12 or 14 miles of the river's course. Kelantan
can boast no harbour, but as for eight months of the year,
whilst the South-west monsoon prevails, the sea is
absolutely calm, the lack of such is not seriously felt.
From the end of the first week of November till the third
or fourth week of February, the North-east monsoon blows
across the Gulf of Siam. This is invariably accompanied
by a rough sea, though there are perfectly smooth intervals.
It is seldom so rough, however, that mails and cargo
cannot be landed with more or less risk. Vessels lie about
a quarter or half a mile outside the bar, which has only
some ten feet of water over it at high tide. The Kelantan
River itself is navigable for shallow-draft steamers at
ordinary times for a distance of from 70 to 80 miles from
the coast ; but periodically, in very dry weather, there is a
difficulty for even steamers of light draft. During the
majority of the months of the year, the transport of the
170 THE MALAY PENINSULA
country is maintained by tliese steamers, which, together
with stern-wheelers of still lighter draft, tow barges carrying
from 5 to 1 5 tons of cargo. There is also a large number
of motor-boats, about twenty-five in all, and the native trade
is done in the ordinary poling-boats of the country. No
rapids impede the traffic until a point some miles above
Kuala Lebir. When the river is high, the shallow-draft
steamers can, if necessary, go some 50 miles above Kuala
Lebir, but this is exceptional. Kuala Lebir, the head-
quarters of the Duff Development Company, is a grow-
ing settlement about 70 miles from the coast. It is a
centre of much trade activity, and is destined, no doubt, in
a not distant future to be a town of considerable import-
ance. As regards the trade of the State as a whole, it
reached in 1910 12,648,571 as compared with $2,625,729
in the previous year. Copra represented $374,949 and
gold $289,272 of the total exports. Other leading exports
were cattle and buffaloes, padi and rice, betel-nuts, fish,
and silk manufactured goods. The chief imports were
cotton goods, provisions, kerosene-oil, gambler, opium,
sugar, timber, salt, and machinery.
Stretching from the sea to nearly 40 miles into the
interior is a well-wooded level country on which a large
part of the population of the State is located. This
lower part of Kelantan is like an immense garden. The
soil is very fertile and of considerable depth, the result
probably of centuries of denudation from the hills. Every
yard of it is cultivated by the natives, the usual crops
being rice, pepper, Indian corn, tobacco, and all the fruits
and vegetables peculiar to Oriental countries. Coco-nut
palms flourish with exceeding luxuriance in this portion
of the State. The trees are prolific and the nuts of
excellent quality. The copra fetches a high price, a price
which would be higher if the natives would only devote
€^
■■mi:^&dL.^
THE SKTTLIiMKXT, KTALA LKIilK, KLI.ANTAX.
THE NON -FEDERATED STATES 171
more care to its preparation. Until recently the coconut
land was entirely in the hands of native cultivators, but in
recent years some 10,000 or 15,000 acres of land have been
taken up by European planters on the coast, and some
energetic work is being done to extend the coconut
industry. Like other portions of the Peninsula, Kelantan
offers facilities for the cultivation of the Para rubber-tree.
Rubber-planting was not started till the autumn of 1905,
but since then a great deal of work has be^ carried out,
and already over 100,000 acres have been cleared for
planting. The trees in the portions planted in 1906 have
shown remarkable progress, so much so that planters
have been encouraged to open up at a great pace. These
trees have developed unusual girth, and although tapping
was started so recently as 191 1, it is quite evident that the
yield of latex will equal, if it does not exceed, the produc-
tion of the trees in the most highly favoured portions of
the Federated Malay States. In 19 10, though only lightly
tapped, the trees yielded on their first tapping an average
of 259 lb. per acre, and the rubber has invariably fetched
the highest prices in the market. The forests contain
much valuable timber, chief amongst the hard woods being
chengal, mirbau, and kulim. These woods are especially
suited for house- and boat-building and posts. Amongst
the soft woods, which are of great variety, the meranti is
most sought after. It is generally used for planking.
There is, of course, the usual profusion of canes — bamboos
and rattans.
Granite is the main rock of the country. Over this
there is a big layer of slate, which extends northwards
from Raub in Pahang to the State of Legeh, or Ligore, in
Siam. This slate wave is from 10 to 35 miles across, and
is estimated to be many thousands of feet thick. The
gold deposits have always been associated with the slate,
172 THE MALAY PENINSULA
which at many points is overlaid by enormous deposits of
limestone. Away from the slate a certain amount of tin
has been discovered, but very little prospecting for tin ore
has as yet been undertaken. Large deposits of galena,
silver, and lead, carrying gold, have been located, and a
considerable amount of work has been done in the Sokor
district. Over 100,000 tons of ore have been blocked out,
and this has been valued at an average of £4 to the ton-
Work was suspended some years ago owing to difficulties
of transport, but as the railway now under construc-
tion passes through this district, and also through
a part of the stanniferous country lying to the south
of this deposit, it is certain that work will be re-
sumed under profitable conditions, and that further
prospecting will be undertaken for the discovery of
deposits of these and other minerals. The country is
riddled by ancient workings, nearly all for alluvial gold,
and it is possible to walk hundreds of miles through the
jungle without losing trace of them. Undoubtedly these
workings are evidence of the boundless enterprise of
Chinese miners in past ages.
From the census returns of last year we learn that out
of a total population of 286,500, the majority are Malays.
The Malays differ in some respects from their cousins in
other parts of the Peninsula. They are more robust in
stature and physique, and better fitted for sustained effort.
At the same time they lack the courtesy and pleasant
manner which is always so marked a feature in European
intercourse with the Malays of Perak, or even with the
natives of Pahang. Though they follow the Mohammedan
religion, they are far less strict than their co-religionists of
Trengganu, while the moral standard is extremely low,
and a considerable amount of avoidable disease exists all
over the country. Though rough and uncouth, however,
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 173
they are readily amenable to control, and are good workers.
There are many aborigines in various parts of the country,
both Sakai and Semang, but they are very shy and timid,
and give no trouble. They keep to the recesses of the
forest, and do not have much intercourse with either
Europeans or the other natives.
The old adat, or customary law, which was so strong
amongst the Malays of Pahang and Negri Sembilan, is
almost entirely absent in Kelantan. Until the last ten or
twelve years the country was nominally under certain
territorial chiefs, who in their turn were nominally respon-
sible to the Sultan, but as a matter of fact they invariably
lived in the Sultan's palace at Kota Bahru, and hardly any
one of them had ever been in the district he was supposed
to administer. They entrusted the collection of tribute to
middlemen, known as " Buddha Rajas," hangers-on in
their retinue, who made periodical collecting tours through
the various districts.
Up to the present time the rivers have provided the
principal means of communication. Great changes will
occur when the Peninsular railway system is extended
from Singapore through Pahang and Kelantan to link up
with the Siamese system at the northern frontier. This
much-needed extension of the railway is now in progress.
It will probably enter Kelantan on the western side of the
Gunong Tahan range, where the pass is low, only 300 or
400 feet above sea-level. The line will traverse the Duff
Development Company's concession from end to end, and
will open up rich territory both for agriculture and mining.
There will be a junction line to the coast at Tumpat, on
the opposite side of the Kelantan River from Kota Bahru.
An immense impetus to trade will no doubt be given by
the railway. Already in anticipation of its completion the
Mercantile Bank of India has opened a branch in Kota
174 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Bahru, and agencies have been established by leading
mercantile firms. Under these influences, the somnolent
calm of Kota Bahru is giving place to healthy movement,
and occasionally even bustle. Europeans, who a couple of
decades ago were almost as unfamiliar to the bulk of the
inhabitants as the beings of another planet, form a com-
munity of quite respectable numbers. They are engaged
chiefly in planting and trade, but of course the stafif of the
Duff Development Company furnishes a large contingent
to the general European population of the State.
Socially the life of Kelantan proceeds on lines which
give a picturesque interest to the State. The instinctive
love of sport, which is so characteristic of the Malay, is
here seen in its fullest development. Bull-fighting,
buffalo-fighting, ram-fighting, cock-fighting, fish-fighting,
and boat-racing are all indulged in with zest under the
auspices of the Government, which goes the length of
keeping official registers of the animals which are used in
the contests, and of arranging matches in the capital and
elsewhere for the amusement of the people. Bull-fights
are the principal sport. In his work on Kelantan, Mr.
W. A. Graham gives an interesting sketch of the method
of conducting these contests. " The conduct of a fight,"
he says, " is surrounded by considerable etiquette. The
animals which are about to engage are paraded, snorting
and pawing round the ring, and the sportsmen outside the
ropes are invited to back their fancy. All bets must be
supported with ready money ; the stakes are entered in a
book and are laid before the highest noble present, who
acts as president of the games and also as umpire. When
all the bets have been satisfactorily arranged, a small green
tree branch is stuck into the ground in the middle of the
ring ; the bulls are led forward and are released, when they
immediately engage with much fury. The contest which
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 175
ensues consists in steady, determined pushing, head to
head, alternating with sudden butts, by which the bulls try
to get inside each other's guard with the sharp points of
their horns. Every movement is watched with the most
intense interest by the crowd, which by now is densely
packed, sitting and standing round the ring,and who hail each
thrust or turn of a horn with shouts of delight or groans of
dismay. At length one of the animals, feeling itself no
match for the other, suddenly turns tail and makes off,
breaking wildly through the ring and flying in any direction,
closely pursued by the victor. This is the signal for an
outburst of enthusiasm from the onlookers, which expresses
itself by leaping and dancing, singing and shouting, His
Highness himself, if backing the right animal, not disdain-
ing a few steps of a fantastic dance. Meanwhile a brass
cup with a small hole in the bottom has been set floating
in a jar of water beside the umpire, and the trainers of the
bulls have gone to retrieve their animals. ... If the
worsted bull can be induced to come up to the green
branch before the cup has filled with water and sunk, the
fight is continued ; if not, then the animal is declared to
have been beaten and the stakes are handed over." The
cock-fighting in Kelantan is conducted on conventional
lines, but the fish-fights are a speciality of the State's
own. They are singular struggles between two little
red fish in a bottle of water. For hours upon end the
Kelantan Malays watch with absorbed interest the
contortions of the combatants. During the past few
years, in addition to the distinctively native pastimes,
cricket, football, lawn tennis, Badminton and clay pigeon-
shooting have been indulged in by the well-to-do classes.
There has even been established a sporting club, on
approved European lines, to regulate these contests.
The Kelantan native, in fact, is taking very kindly
176 THE MALAY PENINSULA
to all exotic innovations which appeal to his sport-loving
propensities.
The present ruler of Kelantan, H.H. Sultan Snik, is the
descendant of a line of Malay rulers who established a
dynasty on the ruins of an earlier Royal house which they
had subdued. Prior to his accession in 1898 there had
been in the short period of three years two rulers whose
end was suspiciously sudden. In fact, the history of
Kelantan up to quite recent times is one long record of
plots and assassinations arising out of quarrels between
members of the reigning family. The appointment of Mr.
W. A. Graham as Resident Commissioner and Adviser to
the Sultan, under the agreement with Siam in 1903, intro-
duced a steadying influence into the troubled politics of
the State ; and when in 1909 Mr. J. Scott Mason was sent
to Kota Bahru to establish the new British Protectorate,
the old rivalries had sufficiently died down to justify the
hope that a new era in Kelantan government had really
been entered upon. The conclusion of the agreement with
the Duff Development Company will, no doubt, add its
mollifying influence to the local situation. There is, in
fact, a fair assurance, in the promising conditions now pre-
vailing, that the State will speedily become one of the most
prosperous parts of Malaya.
From Kelantan to Trengganu is but a short step.
Existing side by side on the eastern seaboard, equally
remote from the chief centres of activity in Malaya, they
have a good deal in common. Their area is about the same,
the balance inclining in favour of Trengganu, which is
credited with a certain 6,000 square miles as against the
5,000 to 5,500 square miles allotted to Kelantan. In point
of populousness, the former State has to yield the palm, its
inhabitants numbering only 154,000 as compared with
the 286,500 assigned to Kelantan. But to set off this
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 177
deficiency Trengganu is able to boast that its capital, with
a population of 25,000, is first of all the towns of the
Protected States — a circumstance due, no doubt, to its
possession of one of the best harbours on the east coast.
In its physical aspects, Trengganu differs very materially
in some respects from its neighbour. Mr. (now Sir) Hugh
Clifford, who was the first European to explore the State
thoroughly, in his interesting report printed in 1895
describes it as " a land of streams." No fewer than twelve
distinct river-basins are to be found in the confines of the
territory ; and as the principal stream, the Trengganu, which
runs through the heart of the State, is little else but a succes-
sion of formidable falls, the interior is peculiarly inaccessible.
Owing to this circumstance, the population is to a large
extent concentrated on the fertile coastal districts, and
notably on the stretch of country between the Kelemang
Falls to the sea, which is one of the most thickly populated
parts of the whole of Malaya. The comparative overcrowd-
ing which Nature has enforced has compelled the population
to labour more indefatigably than the Malay customarily
does, with the consequence that industry flourishes to an
extent practically unknown in exclusively Malay centres
elsewhere. Agriculture necessarily occupies the attention
of the larger proportion of the population, but at the capital
a very extensive fishing industry centres, and there are also
manufactures there which are famous throughout the
Middle East. The most beautiful and characteristic of
the products of Trengganu are the brass utensils with a
white finish, which gives them the appearance of nickel
plating. The secret of this process is jealously preserved
by the workers, and not without good reason, for these
Trengganu vessels fetch a price about four times that of
the ordinary brass production. Besides the brass ware, all
manner of knives, daggers, swords, and cutlery for
12
178 THE MALAY PENINSULA
domestic use are manufactured in the capital. Much of
this steel work is of excellent quality, but the Trengganu
worker can, if he pleases, give points to a Wardour Street
dealer in the palming off of " faked " goods, notably blades
with inlaid silver-work which are got up most cunningly to
present all the appearance of antiquity. The womenfolk
of Trengganu wear beautiful silk and cotton sarongs, which
are the joy of foreign collectors who are fortunate enough
to come across them in their travels. Boat-building is
another of the local industries. The craftsmen are
exceedingly clever in this art, and turn out not only
excellent vessels used in the coastal fishing enterprise, but
also on occasion faithful copies of European rowing-boats.
On one occasion, not many years since, a worker con-
structed a perfect model of an engine, mainly from old
kerosene-oil tins, after visiting a few times the engine-room
of a local coasting steamer. The improvised apparatus was
actually fitted into an old hulk, and Sir Hugh Clifford,
who relates the circumstance, expresses doubt " whether
most admiration is due to the ingenuity of the constructor,
or to the hardihood of those who trusted themselves to a
craft so constructed." Quite recently gramophones have
been turned out by a local artificer, and also perfect models
of breech-loading hammerless guns. The articles were
shown at an agricultural show in Singapore, and won for the
ingenious worker a special silver medal, which he now
proudly wears as a decoration.
The agricultural interests of Trengganu largely centre in
the cultivation of rice, maize, tapioca, yams, gambler, and
sugar-cane. Lately, rubber has been introduced, with good
results, and an increasing attention is being paid to coco-
nuts, which have always been extensively cultivated. In
regard to the latter, the prospects would be appreciably
brighter if the inhabitants were less haphazard in their
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 179
methods. The coco-nut beetle has obtained a firm lodg-
ment in the plantations about the capital, with results
which are only too apparent to the outsider but which
seemingly do not at all disturb local opinion.
Judging from the contour of the country and the geologi-
cal formation of the greater part of it, mining probably has a
brilliant future in the State, but at present so little is really
known about the interior that it is impossible to pronounce
a definite opinion upon the point. Wolfram, however, has
been discovered in payable quantities on the Sungei
Jingah, a tributary of the Dungun River, and is being
worked under the auspices of a British syndicate. Tin is
also productively mined, chiefly in the Kemaman district.
Moreover, it must not be overlooked that gold has been
found in the Nerus River, where in former years it was the
practice of the natives to win the precious metal by
washing the alluvium in the river-bed.
A passing reference has been made to the fishing
industry of Trengganu. It deserves a further notice, for it
is one of the special features of the State. Thousands of
people are employed in it, and at night the spectacle of
the fleet, consisting of hundreds of boats, working either
out at sea catching deep-sea fish or close inshore securing
cuttlefish, which are attracted by the brilliant glare of the
lighted torches carried in every boat, is one to be remem-
bered. Mr. W. D. Scott, the British Agent, in his latest
report — that for 1910 — makes an interesting allusion to the
methods of the Trengganu fishermen : " When the fishing
fleet is at sea," he says, " the line-fishers obtain their
supply of bait from the seine boats, and in return
for this service the seiners have a recognised prior
right of way on the open sea. The line-fishers prove
the fishing grounds, and as soon as the fish bite freely,
up come the seine boats and all the other boats have to
180 THE MALAY PENINSULA
retreat. The seine boats carry a crew of twenty or
thirty men, and are accompanied by players on tom-
toms, who give the time for the chorus of the men hauling
in the net. Before the net is hauled in, the line-fishers
collect near the seine boats, and the prospective catch
is sold by auction. The fish secured in the large open
mesh are the property of the seine fishers, and only the
fish secured in the fine mesh-work at the centre of the
net fall to the highest bidder." A considerable amount
of fish in a dried form finds its way from Trengganu to the
outside world. In the returns for 1910 the item is at the
head of the list of exports, with a value $464,288. The
other leading articles of export, it may be mentioned here,
are tin ore, $313,177; copra, $281,813 ; padi, $174,295 ; black
pepper, $152,707 ; rattans, $28,039 ; rice, $24,746 ; raw hides,
$14,946 ; and dammar torches, $12,251. On the import side
of the account, rice occupies the premier position, with a
return of $209,528. Cotton piece goods, sarongs, opium,
sugar, raw silk, tobacco and cigarettes, and petroleum are
other leading items.
It will have been gathered from what has been said that
the Trengganu Malay is a pattern of industry compared
with his compatriots in other parts of Malaya. " His sole
interest in life," says Sir Hugh Clifford, " is the trade or
occupation which he plies, and he has none of the pride of
race and country so marked in the Pahang Malay. All he
asks is to be allowed to make money or earn a livelihood
unmolested." It was to this pacific disposition that the
usurping Prince Umar, to be known afterwards in
Trengganu history as the " Baginda" or " Conqueror," owed
his easy conquest of the capital and of the throne of the
dynasty in 1837. This Prince literally came and saw and
conquered. Landing one night with a handful of followers,
many of whom were women, he seized a palace, deposed
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 181
his nephew, the reigning chief and established himself
without more than a belated and half-hearted attempt on
the part of a small party to drive him out. The Baginda
was a man of great force of character. For thirty-nine
years he ruled the State with a rod of iron. He sat daily
to administer justice, and there still lingers a vivid
memory of how, with smiling face and passing jest, like
an Oriental Jeffreys, he would condemn unfortunates either
to death or the worse than death captivity in peculiar gaol
cages. It is, unhappily, true that " the evil that men do
lives after them." The evil work of the Baginda survives
to-day in this brutal, horrible system of consigning
prisoners to a living hell. What it means is described in
almost too painful detail in Sir Hugh Clifford's report. The
Penjara, or gaol, consists, he states, of an enclosure
surrounding the cages in which the prisoners are confined.
" The fence is built of heavy slabs of wood some three
inches thick, two feet broad, and ten feet high, which
are fitted together so as to form a solid wall. Inside this
fence, and a distance of thirty inches from it, are two rows
of cages placed back to back, which are made of heavy
bars of wood with intervals of a couple of inches or so in
every eight for the admission of light and air. These
cages are raised about six inches from the ground, and
measure some six feet in length, two feet in width, and five
feet in height. The cages are twenty in all, that is to say,
ten in each row, and when I visited the penjara it was
fairly full, in one instance two men being confined in the
same cage. Prisoners once condemned to incarceration are
not again released until the money for which they are
detained has been paid by their relatives, or until death
sets them free. When I say that they are not released, I
mean that they are literally never permitted to leave the
cages in which they have been placed. No sanitary
182 THE MALAY PENINSULA
arrangements of any kind are provided ; no one ever cleans
out the cages. . . . Owing to the heavy bars which form
the sides of the cages, the close proximity of the prisoners
to one another, and the solid wooden wall which shuts out
all ventilation, the atmosphere inside must be something
appalling, for even in the spaces between the cages and
the fence — a comparatively airy spot — it is calculated to
turn the strongest stomachs. To add to their misery, no
bathing appliances of any kind are supplied to the
prisoners, and the filthy persons of the inmates of these
cells beggars all description. . . . Men and women were
alike inmates of the penjara when I visited the place, and
all presented the same lamentable spectacle. The chalk-
white faces blinking or staring at one through the heavy
bars of the cages ; hollow, cadaverous cheeks, the paleness
of which was only intensified by the blackness of the long,
matted, vermin-infested shocks of hair ; eyes receding deep
into their sockets, and with the wild, hunted expression
of some caged animal ; sickness, misery, degradation and
disease ; filth of person and surroundings which baffled all
description, went to make up as painful a picture as one
would not desire to witness." Dante, in his vision of lost
souls, never imagined a scene of greater horror than is here
pictured. The terrible system still continues, but it may be
hoped that its worst features have been mitigated under
the more civilising influences now prevailing.
The present ruler of Trengganu — Sultan Sir Zainal
Abdin, K.C.M.G. — came to the throne in 1881, succeeding
his father. Sultan Ahmad II., who in his turn was the
successor of the Baginda, his uncle. His Highness at
his accession was only eighteen years of age, and the
drawback which his youthfulness constituted was accen-
tuated by his shy and studious nature. Advantage was
taken by his relations of his inexperience, to the extent of
Ti<?:x(;(;Axr kiver, fkum hukit pktki.
IJCjATS AKKIVIXC AT .\IAXA[ FRl'IT MARKET, TKEXG(iAXU.
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 183
stripping him of a considerable part of the revenues which
had been enjoyed by his predecessors. Almost needless to
say, the wealth thus taken was divided amongst the
appropriators. To each was allotted the revenues of a
district, the sub-division being carried to such an
extent that the Sultan in the end was left only with the
Trengganu River, from Kuala Telemong to the mouth, and
the small adjacent river, from which to derive his revenue.
The consequences of this partition have been very serious.
The duty of collecting the taxes has been devolved by the
nobles upon agents, who tyrannise unchecked over the
headmen and people of the out districts. In such cir-
cumstances extortion flourishes like the green bay-tree,
and the country as a whole suffers in its development
from the fear which widely prevails of the oppressive
demands which a show of wealth may bring in its train.
It is obvious from what has been stated that there is
ample room in Trengganu for the working of the whole-
some lesson which has raised the Federated States from
anarchy and wretchedness to peace and affluence. So
far, there has been little opening for the exercise of
good offices, but the existing conditions cannot long
continue, and when the chance comes it will certainly
not be missed. Maybe, not many years hence, Trengganu
will be written about as one of the most progressive
and enterprising parts of Malaya. The State certainly
has in it the makings of a great future.
Turning now from the eastern to the western coast of
the Peninsula, we have to deal with Kedah, the most
northern of the Protected States brought under British
influence by the Anglo-Siamese agreement. Kedah is
already a familiar name to our readers. As they will
have seen, there is no State in the whole of the Malay
Peninsula which has older associations with British enter-
184 THE MALAY PENINSULA
prise. And there is none which has been so continuously
under the eyes of successive Governments of the Straits,
owing to the proximity of the territory to Penang and
Province Wellesley. Lying between the parallels of 5 "5°]
and 6'40° N. latitude and the meridians of 99'4jo° and
ioo"S5° E. longitude, the State has an area of about ^
3,158 square miles, and a population of 246,000. To the
north and east Kedah is bordered by the Siamese States
of Singora and Patani, and to the south by Perak. Pro-
vince Wellesley cuts the territory off from the sea, from
the Muda River in the north to the River Krian in the
south. The State is divided into two parts, known
respectively as North Kedah., and South.jCedah. There
are further divisions into districts for administrative pur-
poses. North Kedah being subdivided into five areas (the')
Langkawi Islands, Kubang Pasu, Padang Trap, Kota (,
Star, and Yen), and South Kedah into four areas (Kuala -^
Muda, Baling, Kulim, and Krian). Agriculture and min-
ing are the staple industries of Kedah. In the lowlying
coast districts padi is extensively cultivated. The land is
artificially fertilised with bat_guano, plentiful supplies of
which are obtained from the limestone hills of Gunong
Geriang (Elephant Hill), and Kodiang, Kapluh, and
Hantu, near the Perlis frontier. The trade in padi is
for the most part in the hands of Chinese, who, by
advancing money to the Malay cultivators in the planting
season, are able to buy up the crops at rates below the
market prices in the harvest season. The extent of the
trade is indicated by the fact that in 1910, the last year
for which returns are available, nearly one million bushels
of rice were exported to Penang. The padi cultivation
has been enormously increased in recent years by the
construction of a series of canals in the Kota Star district.
This system of irrigation is mainly due to the ingenuity
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 185
and enterprise of one individual — a Malay named Wan
Muhamad Saman. Wan Mat, to give him the name by
which he is best known locally, about a quarter of a cen-
tury since conceived the daring idea of cutting a canal
from Alor Star, the capital of the State, in a straight line
to the foot of Kedah Peak, and by so doing bringing into
use a wild, swampy region hitherto of no value. Ignorant
of engineering science, and having only his ample stock
of shrewd common sense to rely upon, Wan Mat set to
work, after having obtained a concession from the Sultan
of land on either side of the canal when excavated. His
initial operations were watched with amusement by his
sceptical countrymen, but he pushed forward, indifferent
to all but the great purpose he had in view. The diffi-
culties he encountered were enormous. Possessing no
proper surveying instruments, he had to set out his line
by the light of fires kindled at night. To practical
deficiencies arising out of his want of skilled knowledge
were added troubles due to lack of capital. His Chinese
coolies on three occasions deserted him when he could
not pay them, and his life was once in danger owing to
their animosity. Still, he struggled on heroically, until at
length, years after the first sod had been cut, success
crowned his efforts. As was only fitting, the Sultan
caused a monument to be erected on the bank of the
Kedah River, where the canal meets the stream, to com-
memorate his magnificent achievement. Wan Mat's
material reward was as great as his well-wishers could
desire. The land on each side of the canal was eagerly
taken up on terms which brought him great wealth.
Inspired by the success of his initial enterprise. Wan
Mat was led to undertake another and even greater work.
The new project was the cutting of a canal at right angles
to the completed waterway to connect the Pendang River
186 THE MALAY PENINSULA
at a place called Tanah Merah, some twelve miles above
Alor Star, with a small river called the Kangkong, flowing
into the sea. It was proposed that the canal should have
two levels, one an irrigation channel and the other a
canal for drainage purposes. Water was to be pumped
from the Pendang River into the former. In this instance
Wan Mat miscalculated his power. The canal was built,
but owing to faulty levels it proved a failure for the pur-
poses intended. It is satisfactory to know, however, that
efforts are to be made, under the skilled direction of the
Public Works Department of the State, to remedy the
defects in the work, if they are susceptible of amendment.
In the years following the opening of the great canal
Wan Mat had a number of imitators, and even the Sultan
was fired by his example to construct a canal of his own.
But for the most part these ventures have only a purely
local value. With one exception they now all belong
to the State, which in the future may be able to turn
them to excellent practical account in a comprehensive
canal system which will be undertaken under scientific
direction.
Of late years there has been a considerable planting
industry established in Kedah, more particularly in the
Kuala Muda and Kulim districts. Rubber here, as else-
where in Malaya, is the great stand-by. The British
Adviser, in his report for 1909-10, speaks of the activity
displayed in the Kuala Muda district as " feverish," and
mentions that in that area alone a quarter of a million
rubber-trees are estimated to have been planted. In
Kulim " some people have been so foolish as to cut down
coconut and betel-nut trees in order to plant rubber." The
regulations in respect to the grant of land were in such
confusion when the British Protectorate was introduced,
that it was deemed advisable to frame a new Concessions
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 187
Enactment, especially in view of the extensive planting
industry which was growing up. These regulations,
which, it should be stated, apply only to lands in excess
of fifty relongs ' and to lands which had not been approved
on January 19, 1910, provide for the issue of grants in
perpetuity, subject to certain reservations, covenants, and
conditions. The main features of the arrangement are the
payment of an annual rent, with power to the Government
to impose a maximum export duty of 2J per cent, upon
products other than tapioca (upon which 3 per cent, is
charged). The grantee is compelled to make a bona-fide
commencement to cultivate the land within twelve months,
and to cultivate not less than one-quarter within five
years. Tapioca is not to be grown without the previous
written permission of the President of the State Council.
A premium of $1 per relong and an annual rent of
$1 per relong are charged in respect of lands held under
the enactment. Rents may be revised every thirty years,
but may not be raised by more than 50 per cent.
Mining in Kedah is almost exclusively concerned with
the working of tin deposits, which are chiefly situated in
the Kulim, Krian, Kuala Muda, and Kubang Pasu dis-
tricts. In 1909-10 the export of tin amounted to 12,502
pikuls (744 tons), as against 12,698 pikuls in the previous
twelvemonth. In 1909 some prospecting work, under
European supervision, at a place in the Yen district, at
the foot of Kedah Peak, revealed the existence of lode
tin. About the same time indications of coal and petro-
leum oil are said to have been discovered in the Kubang
Pasu district, but it is doubtful whether anything of com-
mercial value has yet been found. In all probability the
interests of Kedah, for a long time to come, will centre in
agriculture.
' A relong is about two-thirds of an acre.
188 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Amongst the Protected States, Kedah has attained to the
most perfect development in administrative matters. In
i^ojj^in the place of the old Malay administration, the
Sultan constitute d by edict a Cound Lsf State oXlhe lead-
ing officials in the servi ce to a.asi^him^jn the " adminis-
tra^on j)f3]l pjiblic affairs." As originafly formed, this
body consisted of five jriembers. The Raja_JkIuda was
President, and the Siamese adviser and the chief judge
were ex-officio members, and the two other members were
selected by the Sultan, subject to the approval of the
Siamese Government. When the suzerainty was trans-
ferred the Adviser appointed by the British Government
took the place of the functionary representing the Siamese
Government. At the present time there are six members
of the Council, the three nominated members being the
Sultan's Secretaries, the Auditor-General and the Director
of Lands— all Malays. The administration of the Govern-
ment is conducted somewhat on the lines of the depart-
ments of the Federated Malay States. There are district
officers in each district, but these officials have not to
undertake the multifarious duties of the district officers
in British territory, they being regarded merely as police-
court magistrates. In the State are ten European officers,
of whom three are police officers, two are financial officers,
three are professional officers (the State surgeon, the State
veterinary surgeon, and the State engineer), and the
remaining two are the Adviser (Mr. W. George Maxwell),
and the Assistant-Adviser (Mr. A. Cavendish). Under
the influence of the new blood that has been infused into
the State organisation, considerable progress has been
made in several directions. The revenue has grown from
$947,784 in 1906 to $1,240,276 in 1909. In the same
period the expenditure has risen from $885,786 to
$1,005,328. For the whole period of four and a half
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 189
years during which the State has been under supervision
the total revenue has been $4,750,035, as compared with
an expenditure of $4,573,615, a surplus of $176,420 being
thus shown.
When the advisory system was introduced under British
auspices there was found a wide extension of the arrange-
ment of farming revenue which at one time flourished
throughout Malaya, and which to-day is still a charac-
teristic feature of the financial arrangements of most of
the Protected States. Known as the Ampun-Kernia, the
farms were gifts by the Sultan to a subject for life of some
particular form of revenue. The system in Kedah reached
its highest development in the period a few years since,
when the State, under the stress of the Sultan's extrava-
gance, was hastening towards bankruptcy. " When it was
difficult to find ready money to pay the demands of the
people in the palaces or the salaries of the Government
officials," says Mr. W. G. Maxwell in his report for
1909-10, "the difficulty was easily solved by making over
to the claimant, in lieu of allowance or of salary, the right )
to collect a certain export duty, or a right of market, or a]
right of ferry. The arrangement was of advantage to
both sides : it relieved the pressure upon the Government")
purse, it assured to the grantee a monthly income which,!
when the Ampun-Kernia was (as was nearly always the)
case) leased out to a Chinaman, had the merit of being
regularly paid." At the beginning of 1909 there were
no fewer than forty-seven of these monopolies in exist-
ence. The delegated rights were of extraordinary diver-
sity, embracing power to impose export duties on cattle
hides, wild rubber, pepper, and hardwood timber, and a
royalty on guano, to exercise exclusive ferrying privileges,'
to impose licensing and charging fees for all fishing stakes
in the waters of the State. In addition, there were several
190 THE MALAY PENINSULA
gaming farms, spirit farms, a customs farm, and a pig farm
while one fortunate individual enjoyed the right to impose
port dues at Langkawi. Under British supervision a
determined effort has been made to suppress this system,
which is so detrimental to the financial interests of the
State. As the most effectual means of doing this the
State has arranged to take over the farms by buying out
the interest of the sub-farmers, who are mostly Chinese,
and who are glad to relinquish their privileges for the settled
remuneration that is offered. In this way the Ampun-
Kernia of Kedah bids fair, at no very distant date, to be
merely an interesting and harmless historical survival.
In Kedah, as in other Malay States, the system of debt
bondage, to which full reference is made in another chapter,
has been an established feature of social life for genera-
tions — in fact, from the time " to which the memory of man
runneth not to the contrary." Regarded in its modern
aspect, at least, the system, whatever may be said for its
justice, is not onerous. The only complaints that Mr.
Maxwell has had since his arrival in the State in July, 1909,
he proved on examination to be of a trivial character.
One was from a weak-minded old lady " who had done no
work for years, and who, if turned out by her nominal
employer, would have been absolutely destitute." Still,
the custom is one which, in a British-protected State,
cannot be tolerated, and it is satisfactory to know that the
usage has recently been under serious consideration by the
State Council with a view to its abolition. The proverbial
three courses were held to be open to that body. In the
first place, it might have created a sort of statute of
limitations, which would wipe out the obligation under
varying conditions ; in the second place, it might have
adopted the Siamese law, which provides for the debt being
reduced by a fixed amount in respect of every month's
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 191
work performed ; and, in the third place, it might have
decreed that the Government should buy all the debts at a
valuation to be fixed by arbitrators, and then remit the lia-
bility. The problem was ultimately solved by the adoption
of the first course. Under the Debt Bondage Enactment
passed on July i8, 1910, it was provided that all agreements
relating to debt bondage should be reduced to writing and
registered before December i, 1910, and that unregistered
agreements shall not be recognised after that date. Any
future undertakings to pay off any debt by work, under the
debt bondage system, were absolutely prohibited. In thecase
of existing agreements, annual reductions of the debt were
provided for on a scale more generous than that set forth
in the agreements. The result of the State's action has
been that the system is all but wiped out at the present
time.
The present Sultan of Kedah, His Highness Abdulhamid
Halimshah ibni Ahmat Tajudin, succeeded to the throne
in 1 88 1, upon the death of his elder brother. Not long
after his accession he became seriously ill, and for a con-
siderable period was practically bedridden. In this interval,
the entire administration of the State was in the hands of
the Raja Muda, His Highness's brother. Even after the
Sultan's recovery, the system of deputising the supreme
power continued. Great confusion in consequence arose in
the finances of the State, until a crisis was precipitated in
June, 1904, by lavish outlay upon a series of weddings in the
reigning family. In his extremity the Sultan applied to
and received from Siam a loan of 1 2,600,000, bearing
interest at 6 per cent. The burden was an onerous one,
but it had the advantage of introducing the system of
control which now exists. With the oversight which the
State at present enjoys, there is small likelihood of a
repetition of the evils of the past. The revenues, properly
192 THE MALAY PENINSULA
garnered and applied, will make Kedah what Nature
destined it to be — a region of abounding prosperity, and will
justify its honorific title of Kedah Darul Aman — " Kedah,
the secure abode."
Adjoining Kedah, and at one time forming a part of
it, is the little State of Perils, having an area of 300
square miles and a population of 32,700. It was to Perils,
it will be remembered, that Mr. Monckton, the East India
Company's envoy, went with Captain Light in 1772 to
negotiate with the Sultan of Kedah of that day for a
British Settlement on the Kedah coast. At that period it
was a favourite place of residence, possibly because it was
removed from the coast and therefore less open to hostile
attack from outside. In 1821, following upon the Siamese
invasion. Perils was detached, with another district named
Setul, from Kedah, and an Arab named Syed Husin, whose
father, Syed Harun, had acquired under the Sultan the
status of local chief of Perils, was made Raja. The present
Raja, Syed Alwi, is the fourth in the succession. The
affairs of the State are administered by a council consisting
of the Raja, the Adviser (Mr. Meadows Frost), and three
other members. In its main features the country is similar
to the adjoining Kedah territory. The State revenue ir)
1909-10 amounted to $102,552, and the expenditure to
$87,310. There is a debt of about $500,000, the bulk
of which was incurred in the days before the Advisory
system was introduced. The administration is on quite
up-to-date lines. There is even a Court of Appeal for the
satisfaction of the litigious propensities of the population.
How well they appreciate the institution is disclosed by
the fact that during 1909-10 there were no fewer than 126
appeals disposed of This for a community which is not
larger than the population of a small country town at
home is not bad.
THE KAJA OF PKRLIS.
Totace p. 192.
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 193
Johore remains for mention in this survey of the Pro-
tected States. The name of this State is a household word
throughout the Empire. No one who visits Singapore
fails to run across to the mainland to the interesting capital,
Johore Bahru. Its ruler is a familiar figure in Singapore
social life. No King's Birthday Parade is complete without
His Highness taking his place at the head of the fine corps
which he has raised in his State and marching past the
King's representative, to whom he offers the salute of a
loyal and devoted friend of the Empire. A thorough
sportsman, he is also a keen participant in the race-meetings,
and kindred functions which from time to time serve to
brighten existence in "the Queen of the East." Thus
Johore ought to be one of the best-known parts of Malaya,
but, strangely enough, outside the capital and a few well-
defined points along the line of railway and the coast
the State, until quite recently, was only a degree more
familiar to the European world than the Protected States
further distant from the chief British Settlement,
The State includes the whole of the southern end of the
Malay Peninsula, stretching from latitude 2° 40' S. to
Cape Romania (Ramunia), and including the small islands
that lie along the coast to the south of 2° 40'. The sea sur-
rounds it on three sides ; on the fourth side its boundaries
are Malacca, Johol, and the River Endau. Approximately
the area of the State is 9,000 square miles, and the popu-
lation is about 180,500. As 20,000 of this number are
located in the capital, Johore Bahru or New Johore (as
distinguished from Johore Lima or Old Johore, the former
seat of the Sultans of Johore, which was situated a few
miles up the wide estuary of the Johore River), and there
are several considerable settlements along the coast, it is
self-evident that the interior of the State is sparsely
peopled. In actual fact, it is for the most part a great
13
194 THE MALAY PENINSULA
tangle of virgin forest, much of it only partially explored.
The country is watered by three tolerably large rivers — the
Muar, the Endau and the Johore — and several smaller ones,
of which the Batu Pahat and the Sedili are the most im-
portant. The largest of the State rivers, the Muar, on
the west coast, is also the largest waterway in the south
of the Peninsula. It has its rise in the Negri Sembilan,
flowing south-west from Brimbun (Berembun). The popu-
lation is chiefly found on the southern side of the river,
in Johore proper, of which it was formerly the natural
boundary. On the east coast the River Endau forms the
boundary with Pahang, while Johore River opens out into
a wide estuary opposite the eastern side of the island of
Singapore. The country is less mountainous than other
parts of the Peninsula, but it has within its limits one
famous peak, Mount Ophir, whose strangely shaped outline,
seen from the sea, is a familiar object to travellers in these
latitudes. At one time the mountain was believed to be the
highest in the Peninsula, but it is now known that its
altitude (about 4,000 feet) is moderate compared with that of
peaks in the more northern territory. Generally speaking,
the Johore hills are all detached groups or portions of two
interrupted chains running along the west and east sides
respectively, the one from Mount Ophir by Penggaram
and Mount Fermosa to Pulai and the Karimun group (a
geological extension of Johore), and the other from the
Segamat Hills and Mount Janing to the Blumut and the
neighbouring hills beyond (Montahak and Panti). The
Blumut Hills, with an extreme height of 3,180 feet, are
the principal mountain group in Johore. In this range
the River Johore, the River Sedili, and the River Kahang
(which flows into the Sembrong, an affluent of the Endau)
have their rise.
Planting is the staple industry of the State. It has an
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 195
almost continuous history from the early forties, when Dr.
Montgomerie's discovery of the useful properties of gutta
sent numerous collectors into the Johore forests in quest of
the product. About a quarter of century since there was
another fillip given to agricultural industry in Johore
by the introduction by Europeans of a series of experi-
ments on a large scale in the planting of sago, coffee, tea,
and cocoa in the districts of Batu Pahat, Cucob, Pulia,
Panti, Johore Bahru, and Pengerang. Still more recently
rubber cultivation has been extensively entered upon in
Johore, and with very good results. The demand for land
for this purpose has led to the opening of another planting
district — Muar, in the territory which forms the hinterland
of Malacca. The older plantations, in which the Chinese
are chiefly interested, are for the production of gambler and
pepper. These commodities, with sago and timber, rattans
and damar, constitute the main exports from the State to
Singapore. Besides planting, the industries of Johore
comprise a group of saw-mills, which are advantageously
turning to account the great but unfortunately appreciably
diminishing timber resources of the Sultan's territory.
Mining is as yet in its infancy, but it is scarcely necessary
to recall the fact that Mount Ophir is a classic home of
gold. In recent times the precious metal has been found
there by European as well as native prospectors. Tin
deposits have also been unearthed in the same region.
Tin is actually worked in the Ulu Johore district, and to
a lesser extent at Bukit Mor, Padang. But the mineral
most abundant in the country is iron. It is nowhere
mined, but is found almost everywhere. Possibly here,
as in India and China, we may at some not distant day
see an important native steel and iron industry established.
The railway will probably help forward this consumma-
tion. It has already done much to improve the industrial
196 THE MALAY PENINSULA
outlook in the State, and when there is through communi-
cation with India it will unquestionably do still more.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to provide much-needed
internal communication in the State by the carrying out
of a comprehensive scheme of road-making. No fewer
than 327 miles of track are projected at a cost of $3,500,000.
When the scheme is completed, there will be direct land
communication between the capital and Tomang in the
extreme north-west, and the mouth of the Endau River
at the highest north-eastern point of the State territory.
One of the roads will run from Ku Mersing on the east
coast to the mouth of the Muar River on the west coast,
traversing the State at almost its broadest part.
Johore has an interesting history which in its earliest
phases was considerably interlaced with that of the
Dutch Indies. The ruler of old days was a prince who
exercised authority over not only Johore but the Rhio
and Lingga Archipelagoes. At the beginning of the
century he transferred his authority from the mainland
to these islands, with the consequence that his authority
was weakened to an extent which permitted the principal
hereditary State officers — ^the Bendahara in Pahang, and
the Temenggong in Bulang — to become independent
rulers. The latter, in the early part of the last century,
was induced by Dutch aggressiveness to transfer himself
from Bulang to Singapore. There he remained until
Raffles conducted his famous expedition in 18 18, and
concluded with him the arrangement which transferred
the island to the British. The compact for the transfer
of territory was ratified by Tunku Husain, the prince
whom Raffles regarded as the rightful Sultan of Johore.
In later years there arose a great controversy as to the
respective rights of the successors of the Sultan and
the Temenggong to authority in Johore. Eventually the
Wilson &■ Co.]
\Siiii!,aporc.
THE SULTAX OL" J(.)HOKK.
THE NON-FEDERATED STATES 197
question was decided in favour of the Temenggong, and it is
the descendant of the latter who presides over the destinies
of the State to-day. The reigning Sultan has previously
been referred to as a popular and progressive prince.
His State is ruled in accordance with a constitution which
his father, the late Sultan Abubakar, set up on his
return from Europe in 1895. The control is vested in a
Council formed on lines similar to those upon which the
Federated States Councils are based. Unofficially and
without remuneration the late Mr. C. B. Buckley (author
of the well-known " Anecdotal History of Singapore,"
and brother of Mr. Justice Buckley) rendered most
valuable service to the Sultan ; but in 1909, by arrange-
ment with the Colonial Office, Mr. D. G. Campbell, C.M.G.,
was lent as General Adviser, and that post he continued
to occupy with signal advantage until he came home on
leave in 191 1, when Mr. J. B. Elcum took up the duties
temporarily. Under the system of Advisorship the
development of the country is being conducted on
principles which have brought prosperity to the Federated
States. The fact that the Sultan of Johore is an inde-
pendent ruler makes more conspicuous the enlightened
efforts that are being made to bring the State into line
with British Malaya in all that concerns administration
and commercial development.
CHAPTER XII
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION
The Constitution — The defunct Lieutenant-Governorships — The
Judiciary — Development of the Municipal system — The Colony's
F"ree Trade system — Opium pohcy — Export duties — The
niihtary contribution — The price of the dollar fixed — Sir John
Anderson's Administration.
The Straits Settlements occupy a leading position
amongst the directly governed possessions of the Crown,
and the possibilities of further development are such that
the Colony's importance cannot fail to be enhanced. Crown
Colony Government all the Empire over, however, partakes
very much of the same character. There is in supreme
authority a Governor assisted by an Executive Council,
composed in the case of the Straits Settlements entirely of
officials, supplemented by a Legislative Council on which
non-officials have representation. As in high dynastic
concerns we talk of limited monarchies, so in this matter of
Crown Colony administration we may refer to a limited
constitutional system. Limited, it certainly is, for the
official voice in the Council Chamber is all-powerful, and
can, if need be, quite drown that of the unofficial element.
As recently as May in the present year (1912) an im-
portant measure deeply affecting the trade of the Straits
Settlements was carried by the casting vote of the
Governor in the teeth of the strong opposition of the
unofficial members. In actual fact, the Government of
1S8
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 199
the Straits Settlements is to-day practically what it was
nearly half a century ago when the territories were first
administered by the Crown. It is, perhaps, useless to
look for anything approaching a frankly representative
system of Government in the Colony in view of the
peculiar diversity of its population, not only as regards
ethnological characteristics but habits and aptitude for
self-government. But with the considerable growth of the
European element which has followed the development of
trade and industry changes will probably at no distant
date be forced on the Government in the direction of a
widening of the representative principle coupled with a
loosening of the rigid rules which keep legislation in
official hands. Short of a reform in this direction, the
existing system may be said to be as well devised as
possible to give all interests a share of influence in
the Government. The Executive Councillors, seven in
number, are chosen so as to bring the central ad-
ministration into direct association with every part
of the administered territories. Similarly the Legislative
Councillors, other than the eight officials, are selected
with a particular reference to the requirements of the
commercial community. Thus, the Chambers of Com-
merce of Singapore and Penang are allowed to nominate
two representatives, while another member is appointed
with a full consideration of the desires of the highly
important Chinese community.
It is to be understood that the system of administration
described refers only to the Colony proper — that is, to
Singapore, Penang and Province Wellesley, Malacca, and
the Dindings. The arrangements do not touch the
Federated States (Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and
Pahang) ; nor have they any concern with the five Pro-
tected States described in the preceding chapters. The
200 THE MALAY PENINSULA
only authority common to all is that of the Governor, who
holds the office of High Commissioner in respect of these
Native States. It may be stated here parenthetically that
the Governor is also Governor of the Cocos or Keeling
Islands, situated 700 miles south-west of Batavia ; of
Christmas Island, lying in the Indian Ocean 120 miles
south of Java ; of the island of Labuan on the north-west
coast of Borneo; and High Commissioner of Brunei, a State
lying between British North Borneo and Sarawak. In the
federated area, the principal British official is the Chief
Secretary (formerly designated the Resident-General), who
resides at Kuala Lumpur, the federal capital. A Federal
Council, comprising the native rulers and their British
Advisers and representatives of the planting and mining
industries and the commercial community, meets periodi-
cally for the transaction of public business much as the
Legislative Council does in Singapore. Each of the four
States also has a Council to deal with important affairs and
with it a British Resident. The Protected States have, as
we have seen, an advisory system under which a British
official established in each territory acts as a sort oi amicus
curice. In Johore, the functionary is known as the General
Adviser ; in Kelantan, Kedah, and Perils he is simply
designated Adviser, while in Trengganu he is styled
British Agent.
At one period the principal local authority at Penang as
well as Malacca was vested in a Lieutenant-Governor, who
drew a handsome salary for duties which were largely
honorific. When Captain Shaw, the Lieutenant-Governor
of Malacca, died in April, 1879, no successor was
appointed, and the same policy of inaction was adopted in
regard to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Penang, when
Major-General Anson retired in July, 1882. In the place
of the old office, the Government instituted a Resident
'/'PK
/ ^
I. liKOCKMAX, C.M.(.., CHIEF bKCl;l-,TAl; V, !■ !■ IJI- K'ATEIJ MALAY STATES.
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 201
Councillorship, giving it a special distinction by attaching
to it the right of a seat in the Executive and Legislative
Councils, though, in the case of IMalacca, this right has
recently been abrogated. Penang bitterly resented the act
of the authorities in deposing her from a position which
she had occupied for many years, and from time to time
an agitation has been set on foot and petitions forwarded
to the Secretary of State to secure her reinstatement in
her old glory. In view, however, of the restricted character
of the Settlements, the centralisation of ruling authority is
a wise move, and if there is any other change it will
probably be in the direction not of restoring the local
dignity but of carrying the principle of concentrating
power further. One phase of this modern disposition
towards centralisation, which is not altogether satisfactory,
is the increasing tendency manifested by the Colonial
Office to exercise a close control of the affairs of the Settle-
ments. There is nothing which militates against effective
Colonial government so much as Downing Street inter-
ference. Often it means not the mature and considered
action of experienced officials, but the whimsical caprice
and the prejudiced bigotry of some political faction which
for the time being is able to influence the Imperial
Government. Any undue manifestation of the tendency
will inevitably react on the interests of Malaya. In the
past, things have prospered because the local government
was left to work out the local problems in its own way,
and in the future the same freedom must be given if the
splendid work upon which British administrators have
been engaged during the past three or four decades is to
be carried to full completion. The Imperial Government
need be under no apprehension as to the ability of those
on the spot to carve out the right course that should be
pursued. The Cadet system, by which all the higher posts
202 THE MALAY PENINSULA
are filled on principles similar to those which govern
appointments to the Indian Civil Service, ensures the
provision of a high type of official, and in point of fact the
Malayan Civil Service is inferior to none in the qualities
which make for successful administration.
Almost the most venerable part of the Straits Settle-
ments administration is the Judiciary. It has its roots
back in the far-off days when Bencoolen was the only
centre of British authority in the Middle or Far East. In
1760 a charter was granted to the inhabitants for the
establishment of a Court consisting of a mayor and nine
aldermen for the purpose of dealing with criminal and
civil affairs. The members of the Court, who were
required to be British subjects, were appointed for life, but
in the event of any one of them dying or resigning " a new
election was to be made from amongst the principal
inhabitants by the Governor and the Council." Should
the person so chosen decline to serve, he was to be fined.
Further, the Governor and Council were given the power
of removing any alderman " upon reasonable cause " after
he had been heard in his defence. Any three or more of
the members of the Court could hear civil suits, and it was
laid down that the Mayor and Aldermen as a whole should
constitute a Court of Record and have the power to make
orders for the regulation of justice subject to the ratification
of the Court. Owing to the occupation of the Settle-
ment by the French in 1761, the charter had to be laid
aside, and when the British returned to the place after the
French evacuation they were too insignificant in numbers
to give effect to it. Towards the end of the period of Fort
Marlborough's career as a British possession, a modified
system of administering justice was introduced. Mean-
while, in Penang serious difficulties were experienced by
the early administrators of the Settlement owing to
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 203
the absence there of any proper judicial system. At the
outset, a magistracy was set up with as Judge and Magis-
trate Mr. Dickens, to whom reference was made in a pre-
vious chapter. It was a turbulent community which was
then established at the port, and incidents were of frequent
occurrence. One episode related at length in the records
was an encounter with an irate suitor which Judge Dickens
had one morning while taking his usual ride. In violent
language the magistrate was called upon to justify a
decision he had given in court just previously. The
judge was taken aback at the insolence of the request.
When he had recovered from his surprise, he told his
aggressor that he would not permit him or any man to
expect that he would explain his official conduct as judge
when he was threatened. The defeated litigant retorted
by threatening to have the judge's blood. What followed
is best described in the judge's own words : " Human
nature," he wrote, " is frail, and I confess I was wrong in
my reply. I told him he was a scoundrel, and that he had
now an opportunity, and that if he had the spirit to do it
why did he not now take his revenge ? His answer was
he had no pistols, but if he had he would." These good
old times when coffee and pistols for two broke the even
monotony of justice disappeared with the introduction of
a charter (dated March 25, 1807) for the establishment of a
Court of Judicature at Prince of Wales Island, with as first
Judge or Recorder Sir Edmond Stanley, Kt. Thereafter,
the judicial system took to itself the dignified attributes
which are associated with the settled administration of the
British law all the world over. The Recorder held Courts
at Malacca when that place came into British possession,
and his judicial duties were further extended to Singapore
by letters patent issued on November 27, 1826, constituting
the Court of Judicature of Penang, Singapore, and Malacca.
204 THE MALAY PENINSULA
A direct outcome of the introduction of the judicial
system into the Settlements was the creation of a municipal
organisation. Early in 1827 a body called the Committee
of Assessors was appointed at Penang to superintend the
cleansing, watching, and keeping in repair of the streets of
the Settlement. A similar authority was set up in Singa-
pore in the earliest years of the Settlement's existence, but
its operations were sterilised by lack of funds. In the
emergency, advantage was taken by the Grand Jury at
the Quarter Sessions held in February, 1829, to make a
presentment in favour of "the carrying into effect without
delay of a fair and equitable assessment of the property of
each inhabitant in houses, land, &c., for the maintenance
of an efficient night police, and for repairing the roads,
bridges, &c." Sir J. T. Claridge, the successor of Sir
Edmond Stanley in the Recordership, backed the present-
ment with his legal authority, laying down that as the
charter authorised the holding of Quarter Sessions at
which orders might be given touching " the making,
repairs, and cleansing of the roads, streets, bridges, and
ferries, and for the removal and abatement of public
nuisances," and for police purposes, it followed that the
Court had legal power to make a rate for such objects.
Following upon this, the magistrates issued a notification
that a rate of 5 per cent, would be made upon all houses
in Singapore. The Government were disposed at first to
question the regularity of this procedure, but in the end
they acquiesced, and Singapore entered smoothly upon its
municipal existence. As far as the judiciary were con-
cerned, the headquarters were in due course transferred
from Penang to Singapore, where eventually a Supreme
Court was set up. At present, the Court consists of a
Chief Justice and four puisne judges, and the whole
judiciary constitute a Court of Appeal, from whose decision
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 205
in certain cases another appeal lies to the Privy Council.
In the Federated Malay States, the superior administration
of the law is entrusted to a Chief Judicial Commissioner and
two Commissioners, who, together, form a Supreme Court,
which holds its sittings at Kuala Lumpur. The penal law
administered in the Colony is based on the Indian Code,
supplemented by local ordinances together with such Acts
of the Imperial Parliament as are applicable. The Civil
Procedure Code is based on the English Judicature Acts.
Passing from the judiciary to the system of administra-
tion, it has to be noted at the outset as a striking fact that
the Colony has attained to its present position of greatness
by adhering to a Free Trade policy. Light, much against
his will, had to establish moderate import duties at Penang,
and they were continued for a good number of years ; but
at Singapore Raffles instituted a system of entirely un-
restricted trade, and those principles have ever since been
followed in regard to all the Settlements. The revenue at
the outset was raised, as far as local needs were concerned,
by the 5 per cent, assessment duty to which reference
has been made, and the larger general requirements were
met out of a system of excise duties on wine, spirits, and
opium, by quit rents and the proceeds of a gambling farm.
The latter was declared illegal by a famous dictum of Sir
J. T. Claridge in 1827, and was abandoned two years later
by Government decree. From that period until recent
times the character of the revenue changed little.
The development of the anti-opium movement in China,
with the culminating agreement signed at Peking on behalf
of the British and Chinese Governments on May 8, 191 1,
providing for the complete extinction of the opium trade
not later than the end of 191 7, has, however, affected the
revenue system of the Straits Settlements in a remarkable
way. In conjunction with the Commission which was
206 THE MALAY PENINSULA
appointed to visit India to inquire into the opium question,
a Commission, presided over by Mr. (now Sir) John
Anderson (a local merchant, not to be confused with the
then Governor of the Colony), sat in 1907 at Singapore to
investigate the problem as far as it affected Malaya. The
Commission issued a report which traversed in a direct
way the extreme views of the Anti-Opium party. Start-
ing with the expression of the belief that " the habit of
smoking opium is the expression among the Chinese of
the universal tendency of human nature to some form
of indulgence," the Commissioners affirmed that " in the
view of those remarkably well qualified to judge, the opium
habit has little or no effect on the duration of life,"
that " the evils arising from the use of opium are usually
the subject of exaggeration," that the remarkable absence
of pauperism in the Straits Settlements disproved the view
put forward by the anti-opiumists that the use of opium
was an active agent of destitution, and that "judged by
the standard of the existence of evil results arising from
the use of opium " the evidence showed that " moderate
smoking prevails, and that excess is only met with in
isolated instances." Further, the Commissioners were
" convinced that during the past few years there has been,
at any rate in the Straits Settlements, a considerable
decrease in the proportion of the population addicted to
the opium habit." In view of the position thus disclosed,
the Commissioners pronounced emphatically against pro-
hibition. They pointed out that effectual prohibition was
very difficult to bring about in the absence of an inter-
national agreement, and that a measure of the kind, if
introduced, would inevitably lead to the use of substituted
indulgences of a more deleterious kind than opium. At
the same time, they agreed with the view expressed by
many of the witnesses " that the control of what, in excess
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 207
at any rate, is admitted to be a wasteful and seldom
beneficial habit, should be extended as far as possible with
due regard to the liberty of the subject." To this end
they suggested that the Government should do away with
the " farm " system, under which private individuals paid
a fixed price for the right of selling opium and should
itself take the place of the " farmers " in the matter of the
manufacture of chandhu (prepared opium) and of its
distribution wholesale. Under the suggested system, the
manufactured article would be procurable at the Govern-
ment factories by retailers, who would be licensed as such.
The Government preparation of opium, it was suggested,
would render it possible to suppress illicit dealing with
facility, inasmuch as it would be feasible to introduce some
element into the chandhu which would make it easily
identifiable. On the fiscal side of the question the Com-
missioners quoted figures to show the vital importance of
the opium revenue. In 1906, of a total revenue of
$9,618,312, opium brought in $5,125,506, or 53-3 per cent,
of the whole. The proportion of the opium revenue to
the entire receipts rose from 45^9 in 1898 to 59'! in 1904.
This was the highest percentage touched in recent years.
In 1905 the consumption dropped back to 46'0, only, how-
ever, again to rise to the figure already given for 1906 —
53-3 per cent. Generally speaking, the figures conclusively
showed the serious consequences which would follow from
a cessation or even a substantial diminution of the opium
revenue. Discussing possible substituted sources of
revenue, the Commission rejected emphatically the idea of
establishing Custom Houses in the Colony. A poll-tax
was condemned with equal decisiveness, and an income-
tax was also set aside as impracticable in view of the
certainty of its evasion by the Chinese.
Strong as were the influences, philanthropic and political.
208 THE MALAY PENINSULA
running at the time in favour of prohibition, the authorities,
in the face of a report of this character, could not take an
extreme line. The proposals of the Commission, com-
mended as they were alike by common sense and
expediency, were adopted in toto. Without loss of time,
the new Department was brought into existence with IMr.
F. M. Baddeley as its head, and on January i, 1910, the
direct sale of the drug by Government commenced. The
experiences of the official salesmen at the outset were
somewhat startling. The price of the raw material rose
from $920 per chest to $2,325'5o in three months, and
throughout the year the rate ranged between the two
points. The fluctuations were due to many causes, but
mainly to the gradual reduction of the Indian export of
opium under the agreement with China. The growing
scarcity of opium shipped at Calcutta led the department
to look to Persia for supplies. The results of experiments
with opium from this quarter were so successful that in
future a considerable importation will be made from the
Gulf Thus it appears highly probable that the suppression
of opium cultivation in India will not mean the disuse of
the drug but merely a change of venue in the cultivation.
The department having gone into the opium business
does the thing thoroughly. The drug is put up into neat
packages or pots bearing the Government stamp. In
Singapore alone during 1910 packages totalling 48,020,958
and pots numbering 422,990 were sent out. It should be
stated, however, that Singapore is a great entrepot for the
opium trade, and that by no means all this quantity was
intended for consumption in the Colony. The protection
of the Government monopoly is conducted on vigilant
lines. Cocaine is the drug which is the chief object of
illicit enterprise. Many thousands of bottles of this
pernicious article were seized during the year, and it is
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 209
significant that all but three bore the name of a German
firm. In 191 1 much the same thing happened. In fact,
it is perfectly clear that an extensive business is directed
from the Fatherland with a regular network of agencies for
distribution. It is satisfactory to know that in each year
the contraband was despatched to London for sale in the
interests of the Reward Fund maintained for the
suppression of smuggling. In this way the frustrated
smuggler "contrives a double debt to pay." Still, it is not
very creditable that there should be such large shipments
of an agent so demoralising to the people's welfare as
cocaine undoubtedly is. On the financial side of the
department's activities it is to be noted that the total
amount of opium sold in the Settlements in 191 1 was
1.769,506 tahils I for consumption in the Colony alone, and
that the cash receipts were $7,707,068. In the first year
of its working the new system only touched the three
older Settlements, but its early extension to the Federated
Malay States was inevitable, and it followed on January
I, 191 1, when the monopoly was extended to the entire
federated area and not confined to the old coast areas
covered by the " farms." The estimated revenue from
opium for 191 1 was $3,946,520 (.^460,427). The revised
estimate was $5,009,405 (;^584,43o), and the actual net
revenue was in round figures $5,340,000 (^^623,000). It
will thus be seen that under the new system the revenue is
maintained very much on the old lines, the last item given
contrasting with $5,125,506, the amount realised in 1906.
While on this matter of the opium monopoly the Colony
proper and the Federated Malay States are one, the
financial system of each has hitherto been developed on
individual lines. In addition to the ordinary excise duties
and land revenue, the federated territory has as an important
' One tahil = i^ ounce.
u
210 THE MALAY PENINSULA
element of its revenue export duties on tin, rubber, and
other products. The impost in the case of tin is graduated
according to the price which the article fetches in the
market. The impost for tin, smelted or manufactured,
starts at $io per chara (400 lb.) when the price of tin
does not exceed $41 per pikul, and is increased by 50
cents for every dollar by which the price of tin exceeds
$41. In Perak a special duty of $6.15 per pikul is payable
for tin produced in Upper Perak, but in this case the duty
must be paid atTasek to secure the concession. In regard
to tin ore, the duty is 70 per cent, of the duty on tin, with
an additional duty of $30 per pikul in the case of ore
exported "otherwise than under such guarantees as the
Resident may require that it shall be smelted in the
Straits Settlements or the United Kingdom." The
rubber duty is a uniform 2J per cent, ad valorem. Much
of the prosperity of the Federated Malay States is
attributable to the income derived from these fruitful
sources. For example, of a total revenue for the
Federated area in 1910 of $26,553,018 (;£'3,097,852) no less
than $7,084,368 (;if826,509) was in respect of tin duty.
Last year (191 1), out of a total revenue of $35,056,544
(A.089,930), no less than $11,313,173 (;£■!, 3 19,870) was
derived from Customs duties, and to this latter sum the
duty from tin contributed $8,818,764 (^^1,028,855), a sub-
stantial increase over the previous year and explainable by
the high price ruling for tin in the world's markets
throughout the year. The revenue from the rubber export
duty in the same period amounted to $999,081 (.^166,51 1).
The salient features of the revenue system of British
Malaya having been explained, we may now usefully give
some general figures to show how wonderfully this part of
the Empire has progressed in recent times. In 1845-6
the revenue of Singapore by itself did not exceed ;^2 1,000.
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 211
Ten years later, when the question of direct Government
by the Crown was ripening, the whole of the Settlements
could not boast a greater income than ;£'io3,i87. After
the severance of the tie with India, the advance of the
Colony was not for a few years very marked, but about
1875 commenced a steady upward movement which is
still continuing.
The revenue, which in 1868 (the first year of Crown
Government) was $1,301,843 and in 1875 stood at
$i>538.8S4. had by 1885 increased to $3,508,074, by 1895
to $4,048,360, and by 1905 to $11,657,424. Thus in thirty-
seven years the income of the Colony had increased nearly
ninefold.
The following table gives the revenue and expenditure
of the Colony since 1906, the year in which the value of
the dollar was fixed at 2s. 4d. : —
Revenue.
Expenditure
£
£
1906
1,122,136
2,187,2451
1907
1,169,351
1,108,297
1908
1,029,885
1,114,389
1909
1,009,416
996,618
I9I0
1,089,238
878,761
Amongst the items of expenditure the Military Contri-
bution is the most notable. It stands out in the accounts
as a landmark, around which a violent controversy has
raged from time to time. The circumstances which led to
the discussion were these : When the Crown took over the
government of the Colony from the East India Company,
the military charges were fixed at ;^50,i45. At or about
this figure they remained until 1889, when, upon the
' In this year the Colony's exchequer still felt the effects of the
expropriation of the Tanjong Pagar Dock property.
212 THE MALAY PENINSULA
completion of an extensive system of fortifying coaling
stations abroad, the Imperial Government put in a demand
for the increase of the contribution to ;£"ioo,ooo. The
Singapore community took fire at the proposed inroad
upon the Colonial funds, the effect of which they claimed
would be to put a stoppage to important local public
works. Official opinion in the main supported the protest,
but the home authorities were not to be moved from their
demand by Colonial representations, however strong. In
the result, the vote for the larger amount was brought
before the Legislative Council for sanction on March 5,
1 89 1. The non-official members rose to the occasion by
making a series of protests of almost unexampled strength
against the action of the Imperial authorities. One
statement was to the effect that the Colony was being
" betrayed " ; another speech contained a passage declaring
that it was " a disgrace to civilised government " that the
Colony " should be condemned literally to groan under a
curse inflicted upon it by a handful of people utterly
ignorant of the conditions of our Society " ; while a third
speaker remarked that " loyalty is a hardy plant which
asks for fair field and no favour, but it withers under
injustice." The home Government were so far influenced
by the agitation which accompanied and followed the
passage of the vote through the local legislature as to
send out a qualified pledge to reconsider the question
of the amount of the contribution in the event of the
Colonial revenues falling off. As the year's finances
proved unsatisfactory, a claim was promptly made
for the promised reduction. The reply from Down-
ing Street was a proposal to make the contribution
;^ 80,000 for 1895, .£■90,000 for 1896, and .£100,000,
;£'iii,ooo, and .£120,000 for the three succeeding years.
It was an exasperating kind of accommodation, and the
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 213
Singapore community altogether declined to accept the
Colonial Secretary's (Lord Ripon) view that " sensible
relief" had been afforded. The agitation now blazed up
more fiercely than ever. It culminated in a dramatic
episode in which three unofficial members of the Legis-
lative Council, eighteen Justices of the Peace, and the
whole of the members of the Chinese Advisory Board — an
important administrative body — resigned en bloc. Down-
ing Street was at last convinced that the Singaporeans
were in earnest. Overtures were made from home which
resulted in a renewed discussion of the question of the
contribution. Eventually, on June 28, 1895, Lord Ripon
intimated that the Imperial Government were prepared
to settle the question of a military contribution on the
basis of a grant amounting to 17 J per cent, of the
entire revenues of the Colony. The proposal finally
took the form of a contribution of 20 per cent, of the
revenues, omitting from the account receipts from the
proceeds of land sales and premiums on leases or statutory
grants, Christmas Island and Labuan revenues, and
profits from railways, telephones, and other productive
undertakings of a similar character. On these lines the
matter was adjusted with the sullen acquiescence rather
than the assent of the colonists. The arrangement has
proved a most satisfactory one from the Imperial stand-
point, owing to the enormous increase that has taken place
in the local revenues since 1895. It is, indeed, very widely
believed in the Colony that the time is ripe for a re-
adjustment of the burden of the contribution on more
equitable principles. The original idea of the contribution
was that it should represent the Colony's share of charges
admittedly partaking of an Imperial as well as of a local
character. In actual experience the Colonial contribution
constitutes the lion's portion of the burden. For example,
214 THE MALAY PENINSULA
in 1910-11 the cost of the Straits garrison was ^^296,091,
and of this amount the Colony contributed ^170,089.
Quite apart from this rather irritating controversy, the
most recent years of the Straits Government have been, in
a provincial and administrative sense, highly important
ones. Problems of far-reaching importance have con-
fronted the Government, and have had to be solved in the
face of not inconsiderable difficulties. The opium question
has already been referred to. It carried with it the seeds
of other controversies which have been in the forefront of
public discussion in the Straits of late. Not the least
interesting of these related to an income-tax which was
proposed by Sir John Anderson as a substitute for the
revenue which might be sacrificed under the new opium
policy. Sir John Anderson was a sound administrator
and a man of exceptional discernment, but in this instance
he had miscalculated the forces which were likely to be
arrayed against a proposal of this kind. The European
community almost to a man condemned the scheme as one
which was calculated to cast an undue burden upon them
owing to the inevitable evasion of the impost by the
wealthy native classes. On the other hand, the natives
were up in arms against a tax which seemed to them to
carry with it such undesirable possibilities in regard to
their personal freedom and the privacy of their business
arrangements. With statesmanlike instinct, the Governor
bowed to the storm, and the income-tax was relegated to
the official pigeon-hole, probably never to be brought out
again. In another direction Sir John Anderson was more
successful in winning the approval of the commercial
community. It was during his direction of Straits affairs
that, following upon the investigations of the Barbour
Commission, the value of the local dollar, whose violent
fluctuations and tendency to depreciation were exercising
LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATION 215
a baleful influence on Far Eastern trade, was fixed for
exchange purposes at 2s. 4d. This important change
brought a steadying influence to trade, though, necessarily,
there was great diversity of opinion, even amongst those
who favoured a fixed rate of exchange, as to the wisdom
of taking such a relatively high rate. It is contended that
the rate is against the interests of the exporters of Straits
produce ; but as time goes on there will be less grumbling
heard, more especially when it is recognised that the
fixity of exchange has had a direct influence in bringing
capital into the country for permanent investment, while
the comparatively high rate of the dollar has had an
indirect but beneficial influence in attracting much-needed
labour to the Peninsula and retaining it for the develop-
ment of the leading industries — mining and planting. It
is generally believed, too, that exceptional manipulations
were at work in financial circles which forced the hands
of the Government into fixing the rate somewhat pre-
cipitately.
A further important event which belongs to the same
period is the expropriation of the Tanjong Pagar Dock
Company, in circumstances to be described in another
chapter. The acquisition of this great property was the
starting-point of a series of public improvements designed
to strengthen Singapore's commercial position and add to
its amenities. In conjunction with the construction of
the railway through Johore, carried out about this time,
they have given a new significance to the port and opened
up for it a fresh vista of achievement. But the policy has
involved necessarily heavy expenditure, and landed the
Colony for the first time in debt. The total indebtedness,
however, is no more than .if 7 ,7 50,000, which is a mere
bagatelle for a rich and progressive territory like that
which makes up the Colony. The really important thing
216 THE MALAY PENINSULA
is that the Straits Settlements in the period when its
wonderful modern era of development was commencing
had as their chief administrator a man with prescience
enough to anticipate future requirements by these well-
devised measures. Too often has it happened in Colonial
history that official timidity has led to the waste of
valuable opportunities and to the consequent handicap-
ping of a local community at the crisis of its fortunes.
TELIIK AVER STRI-.ET, SINGAI'C IKI- .
To lacf p. 2if..
CHAPTER XIII
SINGAPORE: THE GATE OF THE FAR EAST
Strategical position — Picturesque approach to the port — First im-
pressions on landing— Clubs and public institutions— European
life — Municipal Council — Newspapers — Public controversies —
The native population — The Chinese element — Cosmopolitan
Singapore.
In the historical section of this work prominence is given
to the origin of Singapore and to the events in its early
life. But the story remains to be told of that modern Singa-
pore which plays so considerable a part in the commercial
life of the world. It is a natural tendency of local
patriotism to exaggerate the importance of a capital.
People in the Straits are not deficient in this respect ;
but if they have a good conceit of themselves it is for
a tangible reason. Theirs is certainly no mean city.
Amongst the Empire's cities outside the United Kingdom
there are few to vie with it in picturesque interest and none to
surpass it in the splendour of its strategical position. It is
the penultimate link in the chain of fortresses stretching from
Portsmouth to Hong Kong — a chain on which are forged
such strongholds as Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden. Five
submarine cables connect Singapore with the outer world,
and it forms one of the centres in the Imperial scheme of
wireless telegraph stations. It is one of the most impor-
tant ports standing on the ocean's highway between Japan,
China, and Eastern Siberia on the one hand, and India
217
218 THE MALAY PENINSULA
and Europe on the other. It is the central entrepot of the
rich Malay Archipelago, quite overshadowing all the older
settlements established in this region by the Portuguese
and Dutch adventurers who first won for Europeans a
predominating influence in the Eastern hemisphere. At
Singapore large ocean liners discharge their cargoes of
valuable merchandise for distribution amongst the
numerous islands that bask in the sun of the Eastern
tropics ; here come smaller steamers and native craft
with the rich natural produce of those islands to barter in
exchange for the manufactured products of Great Britain
and the Continent of Europe. Singapore's importance in
relation to naval strategy has long been recognised by the
Admiralty authorities, and its value in regard to British
interests in China, Australia and India must go on
increasing instead of diminishing with the rise of rival
political interests in the Far East. Here come the
admirals in command of the British squadrons on the
Eastern Asiatic, Australian, and Indian stations to confer
periodically and to discuss a common line of action should
certain eventualities occur. Through those Straits of
Malacca upon which the resident of Singapore looks out
have passed more than one imposing British military
expedition during the past century ; and it was only the
other day that the colonists gazed with mingled feelings
at the forlorn hope of Russia's naval organisation, as it
sailed under Admiral Rodjestvensky to its doom at the
hands of Admiral Togo and his victorious captains in the
Straits of Tsushima. Singapore, in fine, is a name which
always comes into prominence whenever the Far Eastern
political horizon is troubled, or whenever international
strategists are discussing world problems in the light of
the command of the sea.
Singapore suffers somewhat on first acquaintance from
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 219
its- rather painfully obvious modernity. The strongest
impression that the traveller from Europe gets as his
steamer approaches the wharf at Tanjong Pagar is of a
jumble of shipping and ugly warehouses standing out
in gaunt outline under the glare of a tropical sun. He
is probably disappointed, because his voyage down the
Straits has led him to look for something much more
imposing and in keeping with the character of " the
Gibraltar of the East," as he has probably heard the
port of Raffles described. For hour after hour, as he
has reclined in languid ease under the ample awning
of the ocean liner, he has been surfeited with a series
of panoramic views of surpassing loveliness. The vessel
as it has approached its destination has set a course near
the Peninsular coast, and out of the blue haze have loomed
the lofty hills of the mainland, their verdure-clad peaks
piercing fleecy white clouds. Islands of emerald hue seem
to float upon a turquoise sea. From the water's edge
rise picturesque palms, whose graceful fronds are reflected
in the aqueous mirror below. Where the mangrove does
not obtrude the surf breaks softly, silently on the slum-
berous silver strands. But, in the main, it is a restful,
motionless study in blues and greens.
Keppel Harbour, through which the steamer enters
Singapore, is a pretty picture. Vegetation riots in wild
luxuriance down to the very shores, and one regrets to
have the spell of loveliness broken by the scarred hillsides,
the garish wharves and heat-reflecting iron -roofed ware-
houses, and the hard granite walls which engineering skill
is rearing above the coral beds and placid waters of the
harbour at Tanjong Pagar. Time, which heals most sores,
will heal the scars on the hillsides, however, and restore
to them their pristine glory ; but the day is far distant, let
us hope, when the jungle shall regain its mastery over the
220 THE MALAY PENINSULA
port that has been created along the foreshore, for though
it is not picturesque, it represents at least the expansion
of commerce and the increasing prosperity of a mighty
Empire. Opposite are the islands of Blakang Mati,
strongly fortified to protect the entrance to the harbour,
and Pulo Brani, where the Straits Trading Company have
established the largest tin-smelting works in the world.
Blakang Mati is an important factor in the defences of
the port, but it is not a Gibraltar.
The signal station on Mount Faber has announced the
approach of the mail steamer to the mercantile offices in
the town, and before the vessel can make fast to the
wharf, motor-cars, gharries, and rickshas have deposited on
the sea-front residents ready to receive new-comers or to
welcome back friends returning from leave. The bustling
scene is always full of attraction when viewed from the
steamer's deck. Fair ladies, looking less jaded than one
would expect from residence so near the Equator, flutter
welcoming signals to friends on board ; their men-folk,
looking very neat and clean in suits of white drill and
wearing the indispensable solar topee, come alongside
ready to spring on board so soon as the gangway is placed
in position. Innumerable coolies. Chinamen and Indians,
with a sprinkling of Malays, rush hither and thither,
carrying out the stentorian orders from ship and shore.
It does not take long for the human freight to land
and make its way to the city, for no Customs formalities
have to be observed, no scrutiny of baggage to be made.
Vehicles are there in plenty. The passenger who has no
friends awaiting him may choose between the tramcar
or the gharry, the latter a closed cab-like affair, not par-
ticularly attractive in appearance, but eminently well-
suited to protect its occupant alike from the fierce rays
of the tropical sun or the sudden torrential rainstorms that
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 221
are a feature of the tropics. The motor-car is largely in
evidence, for the rich Chinamen outvie the heads of the
European mercantile houses in ostentatious display. But
the humbler members of the community resort to single
or double-seated rickshas, mostly of dilapidated aspect
and drawn almost invariably by decrepit Chinamen,
sparsely dressed, who pant and perspire in a way that
is distressing to the new-comer as they plod along the
open road connecting the wharf with the business centre
of the town.
There are few points to note in passing. The foreshore
is chiefly occupied by the Tanjong Pagar wharves and
godowns, now the property of the Colony. The terminal
station of the Singapore portion of the Peninsular railway
system is in the neighbourhood of the wharves, but visitors
who have travelled overland will have detrained at one or
other of the stations lying farther inland and nearer the
residential portion of the town. At Keppel Harbour the
well-known contracting firm of Messrs. Topham, Jones &
Railton has completed a new graving dock (described in a
later chapter) which is one of the links in the Admiralty's
scheme of docking establishments east of Suez. The
equally well-known firm of Sir John Jackson & Co. is
constructing a wet dock where formerly there was an
evil-smelling swamp. As this dock will be surrounded
by covered godowns or warehouses for the storage of
goods, the work of loading and discharging vessels will
be greatly facilitated. The large quantities of coal stored
along the shore serve to emphasise the importance of Singa-
pore as an Imperial naval coaling station. It is interest-
ing to watch the ant-like mass of coal-begrimed coolies as
they rapidly transfer supplies from the coal stacks to the
steamer's bunkers. These Singapore coolies are said to
hold the record for the bunkering of a British warship, and
222 THE MALAY PENINSULA
are certainly able to hold their own with the Japanese at
Nagasaki or the Arabs at Port Said.
Greater care has been followed in laying out the portion
of the town on the right bank of the Singapore River
than in the older parts elsewhere. Broad, well-con-
structed roads bear the streams of traffic cityward, with
well-built streets running at right angles. No attempt has
been made, however, to establish a European reservation.
Roomy European offices, with some pretension to archi-
tectural display — though the necessity of wide verandahs
imposes an appearance of monotony which no architect
can successfully overcome — stand cheek-by-jowl with the
godowns and residences of Chinese, Indian, and Arab
traders. The majority of the European business houses
are to be found in this area — the banks, shipping offices,
cable house, insurance and mercantile firms, newspaper
offices, and retail establishments, some of the latter,
erected in recent years, being worthy of the firms
owning them and a credit to the town. Some of the older
quarters here and in the native town lying east of the
esplanade are more picturesque than sanitary, notwith-
standing the spasmodic attempts of the municipal authori-
ties to introduce Western notions on hygiene and cleanliness^
and a far-reaching scheme of reform on the lines suggested
by an experienced expert (Dr. W. J. Simpson) sent out
from England five or six years ago can be carried out
only by slow degrees and at enormous expense. In some
streets houses of purely Chinese architecture are to be
seen, and if one can forget the squalor of the sur-
roundings the effect is by no means displeasing to the
artistic sense.
The Singapore Club stands on the foreshore near John-
stone's Pier, and beside it are the Post Office and the
harbour-master's office.
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 223
Several bridges span the river, which divides the city
into almost equal portions. The Cavenagh Bridge carries
the bulk of the sea-front traffic, but the congestion is
relieved to some extent by the Anderson Bridge, named
after the last Governor, Sir John Anderson, G.C.M.G., who
initiated many changes during his seven years' term of
office. A slow-moving, malodorous place at most times,
the river is invariably blocked by lumbering barges carry-
ing cargo between the godowns on the riverside and the
numerous steamers and native craft at anchor in the road-
stead. It was partly to overcome the congestion in the
river arising from an increasing trade, partly to centralise
the business of the port, and partly to break down a
private monopoly of the wharfage accommodation that
the Government in 1905 expropriated the Tanjong Pagar
Dock Company, and set about further reclamations on
the foreshore and the construction of the wet dock and
new wharves at Tanjong Pagar, in circumstances to be
described later.
On the left bank of the river are the Law Courts and the
Government and Municipal Offices, also a Public Hall
erected by public subscription to the memory of Queen
Victoria. In this hall most of the public functions are
held. Here, in 1906, H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught (who
was accompanied by the Duchess of Connaught and
Princess Patricia), in the course of one of his tours as
Inspector-General of the Army, held a reception, and was
presented with addresses from the Chamber of Commerce,
the Masonic fraternity, and the various races composing
the cosmopolitan community of Singapore. His Royal
Highness and the Duchess had previously visited the
Colony in 1891, on their way to England from India.
Other royal visitors to Singapore in recent years were
their Majesties the King and Queen (then Duke and
224 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Duchess of York), when making their memorable tour of
the Colonies in 1901, and Prince Arthur of Connaught
when on a mission, in 1906, to invest the late Mikado with
the Order of the Garter. Prince Alexander of Teck also
visited the Colony and the Federated Malay States on his
way to represent the King at the coronation of the King
of Siam in 191 1. In this hall are hung portraits of former
Governors and other prominent men who have been
identified with the fortunes of Singapore, including General
Sir Harry Ord, the first Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments after their transfer from the East India Company to
the Crown ; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel ; Sir
Cecil Clementi Smith, and Sir Charles Mitchell. The
clock and chimes in the tower were presented by the
Straits Trading Company. In the open space in front of the
Victoria Memorial Hall is a bronze elephant, presented to
the town by the late King of Siam in 1871, and an obelisk
commemorating a visit by the Earl of Dalhousie during
his term of office as Governor-General of India in the
middle of the last century. On the adjacent Esplanade,
with his back to the Cathedral and looking out upon the
roadstead, is k fine statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, unveiled
in 1887.
Singapore is well provided with clubs and club-houses.
There is the Singapore Club, already mentioned, the mem-
bership of which is limited to the leading European resi-
dents, including Government officials and military officers.
It is the resort of the iuan besars, or heads of the business
houses, at the tiffin hour and when the pressure of
business allows an hour or two for relaxation. It can
hardly be said that the club-house is worthy of the
importance of the town, and it is certainly not to be
compared with similar institutions at Bombay, Hong
Kong, or Shanghai. A much more imposing building
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 225
is the club-house of the Singapore Cricket Club on
the river end of the padang or Esplanade. This
is the most generally frequented club in Singapore, and
all the year round such games as cricket, football, hockey,
lawn-tennis, or bowls are being played by the European
section of the community. It may appear strange to
any one who has not visited the tropics to learn that these
strenuous games are indulged in so near the Equator, but,
after all, with a temperature near ioo° Fahrenheit in the
sun it never seems to be too hot for cricket, and in the com-
parative cool of the evening, between five o'clock and seven,
indulgence in the more violent games does not appear
unduly to distress their participants. One end of the
padang is reserved for the Singapore Cricket Club, of
which every one of pure European descent, from His Ex-
cellency the Governor down to the humblest assistant in
store or mercantile firm, appears to be a member ; the
other portion of the ground provides playing-fields for the
Singapore Recreation Club, of which the descendants of
former Portuguese and Dutch families and some Eurasians
are members. These clubs meet regularly in friendly
rivalry, and join forces when representative matches are
played against teams from Ceylon or Hong Kong, or, more
frequently, against teams from the Federated Malay
States. By the grace of the members, some gentlemen are
allowed to join the Ladies' Lawn-Tennis Club in Bras
Basah Road, where tennis and croquet tournaments are
held, and where the ladies emulate the members of the
men's clubs by having a quiet game of bridge when the
afternoon rain drives them to seek shelter in the pavilion.
There are four golf-links on the island, the principal being
laid out on the Race-course. If none of the four is quite
as good as St. Andrews, Hoylake, or Westward Ho !, they
are all more or less of a " sporting " nature, and present
15
226 THE MALAY PENINSULA
difficulties enough for men who have participated in the
championships in the Homeland. Then there is the
Swimming Club at Tanjong Rhu, a favourite resort of
the young men on Sunday mornings ; the Rowing Club,
not so well supported as it might be ; the Polo Club, the
Straits Chinese Recreation Club, and numerous Malay and
Chinese football clubs, which compete annually for a hand-
some trophy. The Sporting Club holds two race meetings
a year, when amateurs ride as well as professional jockeys,
and some exciting races are seen. Omission should not
be made of the Teutonia Club, the best institution of the
kind in Singapore. It belongs, as the title indicates, to
the German community (which is very considerable and
bulks largely in the commercial affairs of the port), and
stands on a hill in the Tanglin district, the centre of the
best residential portion of the suburbs. Its committee
generously placed the club theatre at the service of the
community before the theatre was completed at the Vic-
toria Memorial Hall ; and no one who has ever visited the
club can readily forget the unstinted hospitality at all
times dispensed by the members. Bowling matches, which
excite the keenest rivalry, are held periodically between
the members of the Teutonia Club and the neighbouring
Tanglin Club, when the highest sporting instincts are dis-
played on both sides, as well as the best of fellowship,
which goes to prove that national patriotism is not in-
consistent with individual friendship, and that racial
asperities disappear where men of different countries
come into closer social relationship.
It is probably due to the fact that the majority of the
European community live in the suburbs, from two to
three or even four miles from their places of business, that
the Singapore Club is merely a place of meeting in the
daytime, and that it may be a long time before it is housed
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 227
as palatially as the Hong Kong Club or the Yacht or the
Byculla Chibs at Bombay.
In spite of its numerous clubs and various forms of
recreation, it must not be supposed that the European
community neglects business. Owing to the fact that
the staff of a shipping or mercantile house seldom
exceeds the barest necessities, and that the exigencies
of home-leave have to be taken into consideration,
the European resident of Singapore usually lives a
strenuous business life. Whatever outdoor exercise he
contrives to get is well earned, and is necessary to preserve
good health. When he drives out to his residence in the
country at nightfall he does not, as a rule, welcome even-
ing engagements. If he lives in a mess, or " chummery,"
with three or four others, as do most bachelors, he may
indulge in a game of bridge before seeking repose ; but
more generally a quiet hour is spent in reading after dinner,
and then nothing is to be heard in suburban Singapore but
the hum of insect life in the surrounding jungle or the
distant music from some native compound. The European
residences are scattered over the island. It is a low-lying
island, the highest point — Bukit Timah— being only about
500 feet above the sea-level. Every bit of rising ground
within easy reach of the town has been utilised. The pre-
vailing type of residence is a two-storied bungalow. On
the upper floor are the bedrooms, opening out into a
central hall, with a projecting verandah for use as a sitting-
room. Below each bedroom is a bathroom, and in the
lower floor also is the dining-room. A covered way leads
from the main building to the kitchen, servants' quarters,
and outhouses. The bungalow usually stands in a compound
separate from its neighbours, and most of the gardens are
beautifully laid out or filled with leafy trees. Some of the
rich Chinese have the most palatial residences on the island.
228 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Government House stands on a slight eminence off
Orchard Road, commanding lovely views both east and
west. It is here that the Governor lives and entertains,
the chief event of the year being the King's birthday re-
ception and ball. In consequence of the position it
occupies, Singapore receives frequent visits from distin-
guished personages, and there are many calls upon the
hospitality of the King's representative. Needless to say,
all such calls are worthily responded to. Sir Arthur
Young, the present Governor, has identified himself with
every phase of the Colony's life and activities ever since he
came to Singapore as Colonial Secretary in 1906, and his
well-deserved popularity is rivalled only by that of his
wife, Lady Evelyn Young.
Singapore is well entitled to boast of its country roads.
They are broad and well-constructed avenues, the red
laterite of the surface showing up with fine effect against
the wealth of greenery by which they are fringed. It is
a delightful drive to the prettily situated reservoir at
Thompson Road, one of the beauty-spots of the island,
and equally agreeable is a visit to the Botanic Gardens,
where there is a rich collection of palms and every kind
of tropical plant and flowering tree. In the Economic
Gardens may be seen some of the oldest rubber-trees in
the Peninsula; and as the visitor's carriage passes along the
roads in this neighbourhood, he will be entertained by
the antics of the gibbering monkeys as they spring from
branch to branch of the trees overhanging the roadway.
Bukit Timah Road provides a run of fourteen miles across
the island northwards to the Strait of Johore. On a clear
moonlight night there is no more delightful trip than a
motor-car run from Singapore town through the jungle
to Woodlands. The lights of Johore Bahru twinkle
bewitchingly on the opposite shore, and should the visitor
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 229
make the journey on a gala night, or when the inhabitants
are celebrating the Sultan's birthday, he will be rewarded
with a brilliant spectacle, for not only the Istana (the
Sultan's palace) but the whole town is picturesquely illu-
minated by fantastic Chinese and Japanese lanterns, and
screeching rockets throw out showers of coloured stars
above the reflecting waterway.
Singapore possesses several good hotels in the vicinity
of the Esplanade. The Hotel de I'Europe is a handsome
new building, looking down upon the cricket ground ; and
Raffles Hotel, whose name is a household word, with a
reputation extending far beyond the limits of the Far
East, lies only a little farther on.
Within easy radius of the Esplanade are most of the
public institutions of Singapore. The St. Andrew's
Cathedral (Anglican) is one of the most prominent land-
marks on the sea front. It was built by Indian convict
labour, on the site of an older building, which did service
from 1837 to 1856. Opened in 1862, it became the
Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Singapore in 1870.
It is 181 feet long, with a height in the nave of 74 feet.
At the western end, where the main entrance is situated,
is a handsome spire, over 200 feet high, from which a fine
peal of bells, presented as a memorial of Captain J. S. H.
Fraser, a former servant of the East India Company, calls
the devout to worship. The style of architecture is Gothic,
and several of the mullioned windows are filled with
stained glass. In a corner of the compound there stands
a monument to Colonel Ronald Macpherson, R.A., the
architect of the building. Raffles Institution, in Beach
Road, was founded in 1823 by Sir Stamford Raffles, who
intended it for the higher education of Asiatics. Circum-
stances have led to a change in its objects, however, just as
changes have been made in its endowments and manage-
230 THE MALAY PENINSULA
ment. Since 1903 it has been managed by the Govern-
ment, and has become an elementary English school,
where boys of all nationalities are educated. There are
several higher classes, in which promising lads are prepared
for the King's Scholarships, grants being made annually
to enable these students to continue their studies at the
home universities. Adjoining the Institution is Raffles
School for Girls, which is both a training and day school.
It is situated in Bras Basah Road, where the French
Missionary Society has established St. Joseph's Institution.
Opposite this school is the Church of the Good Shepherd
(French Catholic), and a little farther on, in Orchard Road,
Raffles Library and Museum, a handsome building sur-
mounted by a dome, opened in 1887, the year of Queen
Victoria's Jubilee. The Museum contains a rich collection
of zoological specimens, none more interesting than the
marine objects collected from the Straits of Malacca.
Native industries are well represented, and the collection
is being steadily augmented. In the lending library there
are over 20,000 volumes. It is kept well up to date by the
Committee of Management, supplies of current literature
arriving by every mail. The Presbyterian Church, St.
Andrew's Mission Chapel, and the Y.M.C..A. building are
all in this locality, clustering round the hill on which
stands Fort Canning, the headquarters of the General
Officer commanding the garrison.
A notable addition has just been made to the public
buildings of Singapore — a new Roman Catholic Church
(St. Joseph's), which has been described as the finest
ecclesiastical edifice in the Far East. It was consecrated
on June 30 last by the Bishop of Macao, in the presence
of a large congregation, which included His Excellency
the Governor.
The affairs of the town are controlled by a Municipal
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 231
Council. This body has a permanent Chairman in the
person of an experienced member of the Civil Service.
The ratepayers, who take but a fitful interest in public
matters, elect some of the Commissioners ; the remainder
are nominated by the Governor, and care is taken to have
the native community represented. The annual expendi-
ture of over $2,500,000 is met by rates and taxes of a
varied nature; the public debt exceeds $3,000,000. There
is now an excellent water-supply, and gas and electricity
are laid on within the municipal area, about thirty square
miles in extent. Outside this area the roads and bridges
are maintained by the Government, which also controls
the police force. The electric tramways belong to a
private company.
Besides native journals printed in Malay and Chinese,
Singapore possesses two well-conducted newspapers
printed in the English language — the Singapore Free
Press and the Straits Ti7nes. The meetings of the
Straits Legislative Council, the Municipal Council, and
public companies, and all local functions are fully reported ;
there is a fairly full service of Reuter and local news
telegrams and the latest market quotations for tin, rubber,
and other Straits produce ; the happenings in the other
Settlements and in the Native States and neighbouring
islands are duly recorded ; and the tone and breadth of
outlook of the leading articles on local and imperial
questions of the day will compare favourably with the
daily pronouncements of the leading London organs of
public opinion. It is not due to any lack of stimulus
from the newspapers that the average Singapore resident
is so languid in his interest in public affairs. The official
class are sometimes cynical in their references to this lack
of interest ; but a reason exists in the local conditions
for this apparent aloofness of the European community.
232 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Constant change is inevitable in the constitution of the
staff of a mercantile firm. If a business house has
branches in neighbouring ports, the staff is frequently
interchanged, and interest in local affairs becomes of
an evanescent nature. Only a small proportion of the
people of England enter public life, and, correspondingly,
few residents in the Far Eastern Colonies are inclined
to step into the public arena, even if the pressure of their
own commercial affairs allowed the opportunity. It is
a commendable feature of a place like Singapore that
there is comparatively little self-seeking in municipal or
colonial politics, and it is often only in response to the
strongly expressed wishes of the Governor that prominent
merchants allow themselves to be nominated for the
Municipal or Legislative Councils. Then, again, this
excursion into local politics is supposed to be reserved
for the restricted numbers who constitute the heads of
houses. Should the tuan besar refrain from intermeddling,
his juniors hardly dare to do so. Thus it happens that
the conduct of public affairs is left almost entirely to the
officials who are paid to perform the work. Occasionally,
however, the residents are aroused from their apathy, and
public indignation meetings have not been unknown in
recent years, when such subjects as a proposed income-
tax, the continuation of the harbour works, or the military
contribution from the Colony to the Imperial war-chest
are discussed with healthy vigour and intelligence. On
these occasions the speaking is not confined to the
European residents. The Straits-born Chinese have a
few representatives quite competent to voice native
opinion, and as these men are largely responsible for
the extraordinary prosperity of the town and of the
Colony, their representations carry weight with the
authorities.
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 233
Having consideration to the mixed nature of the
population, there is comparatively Httle serious crime in
Singapore. It has not ahvays been so. Out of a total
population of 259,600 in the town of Singapore the
Chinese predominate, numbering 194,000. As the
majority come from the lower classes in the southern
provinces of China, they bring with them clan and racial
prejudices which sometimes break out into faction fights.
The Chinese coolie has a natural affinity for a kitchen
chopper as a weapon of offence, and the bamboo carrying-
pole he wields like a quarterstaff, with great effect upon
the heads of his compatriots. Running fights were some-
times carried on for several days, until the opposing sides
were depleted by casualties and arrests ; but, nowadays,
the authorities are equal to any emergency, and peace
is easily maintained. Undesirables are deported by
order of the Governor-in-Council, and the knowledge
that this power is vested in His Excellency is a more
effective deterrent upon the Chinese criminal than incar-
ceration in a gaol, where he is better housed and better
fed than he would be in his normal state of liberty.
There is a resident Chinese Consul-General, who may be
more popular with his fellow-countrymen under the
Republican regime than when he represented the Manchu
Emperor, for then he was regarded as more or less a spy
for the authorities in Peking. The Chinese Chamber of
Commerce may not conduct its deliberations with the
same formality as the European Chamber, but it con-
serves certain interests and provides a means of communi-
cation between the official known as the Protector of
Chinese and the Chinese community as a whole. On
festival days, and on such occasions as a Royal visit,
the Chinese guilds and clan associations are in their
element as demonstrators of loyalty to the British Crown,
234 THE MALAY PENINSULA
and there has grown up with the Colony a class of Straits-
born Chinese, known as Babas, to whom Chinese institu-
tions, and manners and customs, are so foreign that the
wonder is that the majority continued to wear the
queue, that badge of servitude to the Manchus, until the
revolution in China led to its extinction.
It has not disappeared altogether, however, and serious
disturbances have arisen in places on the Peninsula, par-
ticularly in Kuala Lumpur, in the Federated Malay States,
in consequence of the forcible deprivation of the coolie
classes by their fellows of this relic of national distinction.
The Straits-born Chinese have formed a company in the
local Volunteer Corps ; and some members are so expert
on the rifle-range that they participate in the annual Inter-
port Rifle Matches with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Colombo,
and Rangoon, and some have shot with success at Bisley.
As a class, these Straits-born Chinese are highly intelligent,
upright in their dealings, public-spirited, and generous in
their support of all charitable institutions and patriotic
movements. The Tan Tock Seng Hospital, in Serangoon
Road, was founded in 1844 by a Chinese gentleman named
Tan Tock Seng, and enlarged by his son, Tan Kim Cheng,
in 1884. It is now conducted by the Government, the
Chinese subscribing to its upkeep, and is managed by a
representative committee. It contains six hundred beds,
and is the largest hospital in the Colony. The Chinese
have representatives in the Legislative and Municipal
Councils. The Chinese member in the Legislative Council,
Mr. Tan Jiak Kim, was present as one of the Colony's
representatives in Westminster Abbey at the coronation
of King George V., who recently conferred upon him the
honour of a Companionship of the Order of St. Michael and
St. George. It is to these Straits-born Chinese that the
Colony owes much of its prosperity. Finding under the
SINGAPORE: GATE OF THE FAR EAST 235
British flag that peace and security which their forefathers
failed to obtain in their native land, they developed those
qualities which make the Chinaman a most desirable citizen
— industry, thrift, integrity, and enterprise ; and whatever
changes occur in China, they are not likely to return as a
body to the ancestral home. Their families are firmly
established in the Malay Peninsula by birth and by material
interests. Some of them do not even speak the Chinese
language. Nevertheless, the advocates of reform in China
have always found ready support amongst these Straits-
born Chinese. From time to time large sums of money
were contributed to assist the revolutionary propaganda,
and now that a Republic has been established, in all likeli-
hood money will go from the Straits to foster and develop the
nascent industries of China. Certainly the sons of China-
men who have kept intact the family connection will take
a personal part in the Chinese renaissance ; intellectual men
like Dr. Lim Boon Keng, a former Member of the Legisla-
tive Council, who have already served the Chinese Govern-
ment in special instances, and who have also been brought
into close relationship with the supporters of political and
economic reform in China. It is only necessary to add in
this connection that Sun Yat-sen and Kang Yu-wei, both
reformers who had to flee their native land, found asylum
in Singapore and Penang.
It is not easy to convey a pen-picture of the activities
of Singapore and its cosmopolitan community. Com-
parison might be made with Cairo and Port Said, Bombay
and Calcutta, Batavia and Hong Kong; but each place has
its own distinctive features — all are wonderful in their own
ways. In one respect Singapore differs from all. Whereas
there is a predominance of Egyptians in Cairo and Port Said,
of Indians in Bombay and Calcutta, of Javanese in Batavia,
and of Chinese in Hong Kong, one fails to see a correspond-
236 THE MALAY PENINSULA
ing predominance of natives of the soil in Singapore. The
Malay is swamped by other nationalities. Chinese, as we
have already seen, outnumber all others. They are the
workers, the shopkeepers, and, to a large extent, the pluto-
crats of the place. Their capital is invested in every form
of industry and enterprise, from the canning of pineapples
to rubber-planting and ship-owning. Their houses, be they
in the fashionable suburbs or in the insalubrious slums of
the city, reproduce Celestial notions of architecture. At
the street corners Chinese Coquelins declaim, in their pecu-
liar falsetto, from rude staging before amused audiences.
Streams of rickshas pass, drawn by Chinese pullers ;
Chinese coolies carry cargo in an endless chain from quay
wall to godown ; Chinese jostle you from the sidewalk.
Whole streets seem inhabited only by Chinese, and the
effluvia that is wafted to our nostrils is essentially of
Canton City or Amoy. Chinese dialects fill the air in the
native market-places. The Chinese are everywhere. Yet
almost every race is represented in this Clapham Junction
of the East. Europeans and Americans, Indians of all
types and classes, from the supercilious Chetty to the
scantily attired Tamil and Telegu, Parsees from Bombay,
Malays from Java and Sumatra, Japanese and Arabs,
Filipinos and Siamese, and an occasional negro. Every
variety of colour and costume is to be seen in the streets ;
it is a constant medley of races and languages. All live
at peace and prosper abundantly under the Union Jack,
and the statue of Raffles looks down benignantly on a
scene so much in harmony with the aspirations and policy
of the original founder of the city.
MALAY FISHERMEN', STKAITS OF JOHDRK.
CCICONFT I'l.AXTATION, KUANTAN, PAHAXG, SHOWING NAI'IVE IlklUGE.
To f.Lit V- 336
CHAPTER XIV
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
Roadmaking — Effect on the development of the Federated Malay
States — The first railways — Financial results — Unification policy
— Construction— Staffing — Through communication — The east-
coast line — Pleasures of touring — Penang — Kuala Lumpur —
Malacca — Proposed hill-station at Gunong Tahan.
The roadmaker to-day is as much a pioneer and instru-
ment of civilisation as he was in the period when the
Roman legions were subduing the then known world.
While this is true of all parts of the universe, it has a
peculiar application to the regions which make up British
Malaya. Without roads they were, to a very large extent,
unprofitable and inaccessible wilds, the haunts of beasts
of prey and the lairs of pirates ; with modern means
of communication they are in the front rank of modern
progress, a delectable country in which all the arts of com-
merce and science are seen in their highest development,
and in which the conveniences, and even luxuries, of
civilisation are enjoyed to the fullest extent. The first
roads constructed in British Malaya, as it exists to-day, are
to be found in Penang. During the governorship of
Colonel Bannerman, the official who was such a thorn in
the flesh of Raffles at the time of the acquisition of Singa-
pore, the famous road which encircles the island was taken
in hand, with the aid of convict labour provided largely
from India. The enterprise was onl)' partially completed
237
238 THE MALAY PENINSULA
when Bannerman died in 1819, and the final touches were
not given to it until many years later. In the meantime,
Colonel Farquhar had endowed Singapore with the first
of the splendid series of roads which to-day give access
to every part of the island. Apart from these essays in
roadmaking, and some unimportant local work in Malacca
and Province Wellesley, little progress was made in the
way of land communications in Malaya until the Peninsula
States were taken under the wing of the British Govern-
ment, less than four decades since. The Residents
accredited to the Native States had not been long at their
posts before they discovered that the key to most of the
troubles with which they were beset was a proper system
of arterial communication from the coast to the interior of
the country. They therefore set themselves to work to
supply the deficiency at the earliest possible date. Funds
were none too plentiful then, and they had to be content
for a time with a very modest realisation of the plans which
figured in their dreams, and occasionally found a faint
reflection in their reports. At first they confined their
attention to the provision of cart-roads from the mining
centres to the nearest point at which water transport was
available. Simple rudimentary efforts, tracks rather than
roads, they yet served a valuable purpose in the stimulation
of trade and the pacification of the country. So encou-
raging were the results that the authorities soon embarked
upon a more ambitious scheme, designed to open up the
country, especially in the vicinity of the best-known
mining fields. They had to proceed cautiously because
of the chronic need of money, but by the adoption of an
economical system by which at the outset the roads were
laid out without the employment of metalling, and with
inexpensive bridges, progress of a substantial kind was
possible. The tracks cost no more than ;^I50 per mile,
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 239
and they were a real boon in districts in which previously
wheeled trafific of any kind had been a practical impossi-
bility. As the years went by and the tightness at the
exchequer was relieved, it was a simple matter to macadam-
ise the track, and substitute solid work for the temporary
bridges, which in the first instance had been supplied.
The system which was originally introduced in Selangor in
1882-3 was extended in a comparatively brief period to
the whole of the federated area. Hand in hand with the
work went, as a natural corollary, the settlement of the
country. Villages sprang up along the roads, cultivation
was extended, and a peaceful and prosperous population
existed in opulent comfort, where hitherto a few wretched
aboriginal tribesmen had eked out a dreary existence.
The Chinese, as everywhere else in the Straits, were fore-
most in this pioneer work. Aided by advances from the
Government, which were scrupulously repaid, they ad-
dressed themselves, with characteristic industry, to the task
of development, some taking to agriculture, others to
mining, and all displaying that innate perceptiveness of
a good thing in prospect which is the hall-mark of the race.
Under these encouraging auspices the truly remarkable
network of roads which now exists in the Peninsula was
created. At the end of 191 1 the road mileage in the
Federated Malay States alone was 1,998 metalled and 233
unmetalled roads, while in addition there were 1,542 miles
of bridle-roads. Better laid-out roads are hardly to be
found anywhere in a new country. The surface is invari-
ably good, the gradients are easy, and in most places trees
afford grateful shade to the wayfarer. To these circum-
stances it is due, no doubt, that motoring in Malaya is
exceedingly popular. The private resident of substance
relies almost exclusively upon this means of conveyance
for getting about locally, and motor-driven omnibuses and
240 THE MALAY PENINSULA
lorries are familiar objects upon the roads in districts out
of reach of the railways.
The mention of railways in connection with the Malay
Peninsula not more years ago than are covered by the life
time of men still young, would have raised an incredulous
smile on the face of the active traveller who was closely
acquainted with the region. It seemed then a no-man's-
land, a hopeless wilderness cut off from civilisation by
an equally hopeless belt of foreign territory, in which
markedly retrograde tendencies had full play. But now so
little is thought of the obstacles which originally appeared
in a marked degree prohibitive of enterprise, that the
common talk of the clubs and hotels of the Middle East
is of a future, not very remote, when the intending traveller
will be able to take his ticket at Charing Cross for Singa-
pore and make the entire journey by land, without any
greater interruption than is necessitated by the break in
crossing the Straits of Dover. As is the case with most
great railway systems, the Malayan railways had a very
modest beginning. The initial venture was a short line,
eight miles in length, from Taiping to Port Weld in Perak.
Designed with the object of providing communication
between the coast and the interior of the State, mainly
in the interests of the tin industry, the line was opened for
traffic on June i, 1885. The railway mileage was extended
in September, 1886, by the opening of a line from Kuala
Lumpur, destined to become the federal capital, to Klang,
the whole traversing Selangor territory ; and there was
a further extension in 1891, when railway communication
was established between Seremban and Port Dickson in
Negri Sembilan. The last-named venture was undertaken
with private capital, but the shareholders' interests were
subsequently purchased by the local State Government,
and to-day the whole of the lines in the Federated Malay
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 241
States are in Government hands. The three lines named,
with a short extension from Taiping to Kamunting in
Perak, opened in 1890, and another modest stretch of line
from Kuala Lumpur to Rawang in Selangor, opened in
1892, constitute the nucleus of the splendid trunk system,
with a mileage of 731, which we see in existence to-day.
Not the least important section of the line, that which
links the small Singapore-Kranji railway up with the
Federated States lines in Negri Sembilan, is the Johore
State Railway, 120 miles long, built by the Federated
Malay States engineering staff for the State Government,
on terms mutually satisfactory to the local State and to
the larger interests represented by the federated authority.
In this case, as with the lines generally, the funds of the
Federated Malay States were the source from which the
indispensable loans for construction and purchase purposes
were derived. It was a happy circumstance that an over-
flowing exchequer, due to the careful husbanding of the
State resources under British supervision, made this
financial arrangement possible. But the investment has
been abundantly justified on its merits by the extremely
profitable results which have attended the working of the
system. This can be best brought out by a few figures.
At the end of 191 1 the capital account for the Federated
Malay States lines and the motor services stood at
^^6,383, 200, of which ;{^340,074 represented additions
made in 191 1. The subjoined table tells its own
story : —
Miles open to tiaffic ...
Number of btatioiib
Number of engines
Bogie passenger coaches
Four-wheeled carriages
Goods vehicles ...
16
igo6.
I9IO.
1911.
428
53>i
559
100
1 25
128
66
lOO
103
153
199
219
55
66
61
.572
2,15s
2,299
242 THE MALAY PENINSULA
1906. 1910. 191 1.
Train mileage 1,851,516 2,195,066 2,549,091
Passengers 6,171,596 9,034,529 10,347,896
<^attle 98,973 74,799 91,922
Merchandise carried (tons) ... 589,580 653,663 780,780
The purely financial aspect is revealed in the following
additional figures : —
1906.
I9IO.
igli.
Gross receipts
.. £566,981
;£665,827
£806,389
Net profits
183,439
260,893
380,855
Construction and surveys
S49,i8i
433,769
347.748
It must be added that the profit made in 191 1 represents
a return on invested capital of as much as 603 per cent.
No finer commentary than this could be made upon an
enterprise which has been conducted throughout in the
absence of any other inspiration than that afforded by an
able direction and an abundant faith in the country's
capacity for development on a large scale. We often
speak, in our periodical fits of .self-depreciation, of muddling
through our successes, but here throughout there has been
a fine appreciation of the sound principles upon which
alone a great work of this kind can be carried out.
Notably this has been shown in the steady trend of
events in the direction of unification. A half-dozen small
State lines, each working under independent manage-
ment, would have been fatal to the success of the system
as a whole. Yet without the wise counsels which pre-
vailed from the outset the arrangement might easily have
become stereotyped. As matters stand, the only thing
necessary to complete unification is the acquisition by the
Federated Malay States of the Johore State Railway.
Years ago the late Mr. C. B. Buckley, the unofficial adviser
of the Sultan of Johore, recommended that the concern
should be taken over by the federated authority, and that
i-iivi-;kxmext offici:.s, kuala lu.mpuij.
THI-. IJALKI lil-.NAK (cciLNCll, LHAMBhl;), AI.HK SIAK, KKIUH.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 243
the money which would be paid in interest on the pur-
chase price should be expended on roads to feed the line.
It was wise counsel, but the suggestion was not followed
at that time, much, it is believed, to Mr. Buckley's dis-
appointment. Recently, however, the question has been
taken up seriously, in circumstances which appear to
promise a realisation of the ideal towards which the
authorities from the first have been working. In the
meantime the interests of railway users are in excellent
keeping, as the whole of the lines in the Peninsula, and
the Singapore Railway as well, are worked by the
Federated Malay States Department, under an able
staff, at the head of which is Mr. P. A. Anthony, who
fills the dual post of General Manager and Chief Engineer.
Mr. Anthony's predecessor was the late Mr. C. E. Spooner,
C.M.G., who, with the late Mr. G. W. Fryer, Chief Resident
Engineer for Construction, died in harness, within a few
weeks of each other, in the first half of 1903. The public
indebtedness to them for their self-sacrificing devotion and
high ideals of administration has been specially acknow-
ledged by Government, and memorial busts, commemo-
rative of their services to the public, have been erected
in prominent positions at Kuala Lumpur by a grateful
community.
Generally speaking, the construction of railways in
Malaya has been attended with few difficulties other than
those associated with a tropical climate. The central
parts of the Peninsula are mountainous, but the country
near the coast, through which the lines mainly pass, is for
the most part flat or broken by low foot-hills, and is, con-
sequently, favourable for the railway pioneer's operations.
The chief difficulty has been the numerous rivers which
had to be crossed. The region is a land of streams, wide
and deep, and liable to frequent flooding, owing to the
244 THE MALAY PENINSULA
excessive rainfall. At present, the longest bridges are
those over the Ferak River, seven spans of 1 50 feet, and
over the Semantan River, on the East Coast Railway,
four spans of 150 feet. The geological formation has
favoured the railway builders. The material which has
had to be manipulated is a soft laterite or clay, easily
worked. Its chief drawback is a liability to slipping
under the influence of tropical rains. The highest point
reached by the railway is in what is known as the " Pass "
section in Perak, where the railway rises to a height of
450 feet above sea-level, with gradients of i in 80 on
either side. Generally, however, no great altitude is
reached, and the ruling gradient is i in 100. All the
construction work is carried out departmentally, under
the direction of the Chief Resident Engineer, who has
under him a large staff of surveyors and assistant-
engineers. The earthwork, platelaying, and bridge
building are let out in petty contracts to the indis-
pensable Chinese and others. Excellent woods of hard
fibre for the sleepers are obtained in any quantity from
the forests along the line. They are impervious to the
attacks of white ants, but from ten to twelve years appears
to be the period of their durability in the track. Chengal
— a close-grained, dense, and heavy timber — is the prin-
cipal variety used. To complete these practical details,
it should be stated that the lines throughout Malaya are
of metre gauge, the rails being of flange or T section. The
earlier lines were laid with rails weighing 46^ lb. per yard,
but on the more recent lines 60- and 80-lb. rails have
been used.
The staffing of the Malayan railways is of the polyglot
type which we might expect from the character of the
population. At the head, in the most responsible positions,
are trained Britons, either from the Homeland or from
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 245
Australia. The subordinate ranks are made up of Tamils,
Chinese, Bengalis, Malays, Eurasians, and Sinhalese. On
open line maintenance the labour is principally Tamil, and
nearly 6,000 men are employed, under the supervision of
European engineers and permanent- way inspectors. The
stationmasters are usually Ceylon Tamils or Chinese, as
also are the clerks. The useful Tamil is also the back-
bone of the staff of porters. In the Traffic Department
the total employed is 2,250, of whom 17 are Europeans.
Kuala Lumpur is the headquarters of the Railway Depart-
ment. Here are the administrative offices and the ex-
tensive workshops, covering an area of 1 50 acres. The
latter are equipped with the very latest machinery, and
turn out new carriages and wagons which would not
disgrace a home establishment. Locomotives, steel
wagons, and carriage under-frames are sent out from
England and erected at the workshops. The electrical
power for the works is derived from a water-driven plant
twelve miles away. This not only supplies the motive
force for the machinery, but lights Kuala Lumpur. If it
be added that on the vacant part of the workshop site
a nine-hole golf-course has been laid out for the use of
the staff, and that they have also had provided for them
two lawn-tennis courts, it will be understood that the
arrangements for the comfort of the staff are in thorough
keeping with the generally up-to-date character of the
entire establishment.
Progress is the motto of the Railway Department, as
of other branches of the Federated Malay States adminis-
tration. It has long been realised that if the railway
system is to reach its fullest usefulness there must be
extensions so as to connect with the Siamese line coming
down from the north, and through that ultimately with
the Indian railway system in the south of Burma. An
246 THE MALAY PENINSULA
important beginning has been made with this work of
providing through communication by the construction
of a line 300 miles long, which, starting from Gemas,
on the borders of Johore, is to traverse Pahang and
Kelantan and connect with the Siamese Railway from
Bangkok. Railhead, early in 1912, was at the ri7th mile,
and a start is shortly to be made on the Kelantan portion
of the railway, which will be driven southward from the
coast at Tumpat. Six or seven years, however, must
necessarily elapse before the lines are connected up and
trains are running through from Singapore to Bangkok,
a distance of 1,000 miles. In the meantime, however, the
line will be of great value for development purposes, as
it passes through a country which at present is quite
inaccessible and consequently little known. In addition
to this important East Coast line, as it is styled officially,
the Railway Department is starting this year the con-
struction of a railway from Bukit Mertajam, in Province
Wellesley, northward into Kedah, the present intention
being to extend the railway as far as Alor Star, the
capital. Thus, in two widely separated parts of the
Peninsula, the iron road is being carried into territory
which in quite recent years was regarded as beyond the
pale of the civilising influences of the railway.
One result of railway enterprise in Malaya has been to
open up a fascinating new region to the ubiquitous tourist.
Given the possession of moderate funds, a good capacity
for enjoying the beauties of nature, and a fair amount
of leisure, the traveller can here find a field of recreation
second to few in the tropics. The climate, that bugbear
of timid minds, need not cause a moment's anxiety to the
ordinarily robust person. Though situated so near the
Equator, the Malay Peninsula, thanks to a rainfall which
is distributed impartially over the entire year, is not
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 247
subject to the prostrating heat of regions like India, which
are much farther north. If the days are usually warm,
the nights are moderately cool, and refreshing sleep is
obtainable. The worst that can be said for the tem-
perature is that it is " muggy," owing to the excess of
moisture in the air. But there is a compensating side to
this in the glorious green of the profuse tropical vegetation
which everywhere meets the eye. The spread of cul-
tivation in late years, especially in connection with the
development of the rubber estates, has in places inflicted
ugly scars upon the landscape, but the astonishing
fertility of the region is operating to heal these wounds
almost as soon as they are inflicted, and presently the only
change noticeable will be that the ordered lines of the rubber
estates will take the place of the primeval forest in which
Nature has for ages been exerting her powers without the
restraining and controlling forces of man. Meanwhile,
the wayfarer will find something to interest him in the
glimpses of plantation work which he catches as he gazes
from the railway-carriage window, or looks out at closer
range from the open front of his motor-car as he spins
along the even surface of the well-kept roads. But there
is still sufficient left of pure unadulterated wildness to
capture the imagination and captivate the eye of all but
the most blasd of travellers. The rocky height crowned
with verdure, the bosky dell so suggestive in its dim
solitudes of the mysteries of jungle life, and the brawling
stream twisting and turning in the brilliant sunshine amid
the woods, combine to make an irresistible appeal to the
lover of beauty. In the earliest days of the railway an
element of excitement might be added to the aesthetic
joys of Malayan travel by the appearance upon the track
of the wild life of the jungle. There has never been
here quite the same type of incident as occurred on a
248 THE MALAY PENINSULA
frontier line in India some years ago, which ehcited the
memorable message from the excited Baboo station-
master : " Tiger on the platform ; please instruct." But
the annual report of the Railway Department for 1906
contained a photographic reproduction of a scene which
quite as amusingly illustrated the perils awaiting the
railway pioneer when he intrudes into the domain of wild
nature. The picture reveals a wrecked railway train —
a locomotive completely off the rails, its tender reduced
to scrap-iron, and its wheels on one side buried deeply
in the track. The agent of all this mischief is depicted
in another view. It is a wild elephant — a tusker of fine
dimensions. Stephenson's dictum anent "the coo" was
vindicated by the almost instantaneous fate that overtook
the intruding animal. But if " the coo " came off badly,
the train also had an exceedingly rough time. At all
events, the Malayan railway authorities are not anxious
to have the experience repeated, picturesque though it
was. Probably there is no great reason to fear a repetition
in this particular form, as the extension of cultivation
along the railway is steadily driving the big game " to
fresh woods and pastures new."
Nevertheless, Malaya continues to have more than
average attractions for the visitor of sporting proclivities.
The Peninsula in its wilder parts, indeed, is a veritable
paradise for big game. In its vast wide-spreading forests
range many noble species which are worthy of the skill
of the best of shots and the keenest of hunters. Mr.
Theodore R. Hubback, who is one of the chief authorities
on the subject of sport in Malaya, and speaks from the
fulness of long personal experience, enumerates the
following as the game which may be encountered : The
Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) ; two species of wild
cattle embracing a local race of Gaur {Bos gaurus hub-
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 249
backi), generally known as the selddang ; a local race of
Bantin {Bos sondaicus butteri) ; two species of rhinoceros
{Rhinoceros sondaicus), which has only one horn, and the
Sumatran rhinoceros {Rhinoceros sumatrensis) , which has
two horns, and is the common rhinoceros of the Malay
Peninsula; the Malay tapir {Tapirus indicus), the tiger
{Filis tigris) and the leopard {Felis pardis), commonly
known as the panther. The elephant and the selddang
are the chief objects of the Malayan sportsman's atten-
tions amongst big game. But crocodile shooting has its
votaries as a praiseworthy pursuit, if not the highest
sport ; and the tiger attracts when he can be conveniently
got at, which is nowadays not often — in the vicinity of
the principal towns, at all events.
There was a time when the Singapore shikari did not
need to travel beyond the island for his tiger shooting.
A local historian, writing in 1865, stated that the mortality
from tigers at one period was one man per diem, and the
Settlement gained such a notoriety in this respect that
questions were asked in the House of Commons. Colonel
Butterworth, on being written to on the subject, could not
affirm that the destruction was so extensive, but he thought
at least two hundred lives per year were lost through
the depredations of tigers. Yet we find Mr. Cameron
writing in 1865: "Since the period when that question was
put and answered, the evil has been gradually growing
worse, till, at the present moment, the mortality stands
higher than ever it did before " ; and Mr. A. R. Wallace
in his famous book on " The Malay Archipelago," wrote
in 1869: "There are always a few tigers roaming about
Singapore, and they kill on an average a Chinaman every
day, principally those who work in the gambir plantations,
which are always made in newly cleared jungle. We
heard a tiger roar once or twice in the evening, and it was
250 THE MALAY PENINSULA
rather nervous work hunting for insects among the fallen
trunks and savvpits when one of these savage animals
might be lurking close by awaiting an opportunity to
spring on us." There is no such danger in Singapore
to-day. Down to a few years ago, word might have been
brought to town that a tiger had been seen five or six
miles away, and Mr. G. P. Owen or Mr. D. Maw were
ever ready to get upon its track, sometimes with success,
but it is now several years since a tiger was shot within
the precincts of the town. The honour of securing this
particular kill belongs to Mr. C. M. Phillips, the headmaster
of Raffles Institution. This tiger had not swum the
Straits from Johore, but had escaped from a cage in
which it was awaiting shipment from Singapore. It
caused consternation by walking into the compound of
Raffles Hotel and seeking a refuge under the billiard
saloon which was then, as now, in a detached building.
Billiard players made a hurried exit, and Mr. Phillips
having been summoned, took post a few yards from the
uninvited guest, which he was able to locate by its eyes in
the darkness of its hiding-place, and was lucky enough to
kill it. Nowadays, the local sportsman has to content
himself with a little snipe-shooting in the padi fields.
The best centres for this are, however, outside Singapore.
A favourite spot is in the district of Krian, in Perak.
In this locality some exceptionally big bags have been
made in times past by well-known sportsmen.
Not a few travellers of late on their way to the Far East
have broken their steamer journey at Penang and con-
tinued it by rail to Singapore. A pleasanter interlude to
relieve the monotony of an ocean voyage it would be
difficult to imagine. Penang is not quite the sleepy
hollow it was a decade or so since. Rubber here, as else-
where, has had its influence on the local life, infusing into
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 251
it an energy which takes many forms, but is seen most
conspicuously in the port arrangements, which are designed
to meet a great and increasing overseas traffic. There is a
bustle about the wharves and a movement in the streets
which tell of an alert commercialism. Yet with it all
Penang is Penang still — the same lovable, curious,
picturesque port of call it has ever been since Light put
upon it the indelible stamp of British civilisation. All the
adjuncts of the place are attractive to the eye of the new-
comer. The queer native craft which dot the harbour and
crowd the foreshore, the vari-coloured population, the
quaint town with its white houses and red roofs, and above
all the beautiful natural surroundings of Penang all confer
upon it an interest which is peculiarly its own. On
landing, the visitor may perhaps be somewhat dis-
illusioned by the narrow and squalid streets, and the
absence of any very striking public buildings. But if he
penetrates to the suburbs he will soon recover his favour-
able first impression, for Penang in its wider aspect is a
fair spot, typical of all that is beautiful in Malayan
scenery. The peak at the rear of the town, rising 2,500
feet above the sea-level, forms a background of almost
unique beauty, and in the many charming gardens which
cover the hill-slopes and fill the intervening space between
the peak and the town there are points of fascinating
interest which will not be lost upon the stranger from
without.
When the tourist has had his surfeit of Penang delights,
he may take the train at Prai on the mainland for his
journey south. If he proceeds without an intervening
halt, he may expect to find himself in Singapore twenty-
three hours later. But probably like a wise man he will
elect to proceed in a more leisurely fashion in order to
extend his acquaintance with Malaya. After traversing
252 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Province Wellesley, the narrow strip of territory on the
mainland ceded to the British Government nearly a
century since, he will enter the native State of Perak,
passing through an important tin-mining district to Ipoh,
the chief commercial centre of the State, a town which is
so rapidly growing in importance that a fine hotel is being
constructed in conjunction with a new station. Some
hours later, the train rattles into the station at Kuala
Lumpur. Looking about him, the passenger with old-
time memories of the Straits might rub his eyes and
wonder whether he was in dreamland. The station building,
which has recently been completed in substitution of
the first modest structure, is an imposing erection in the
Moorish style of architecture, equipped with all the
modern features of a first-class railway station. Four
covered platforms, each 6oo feet long, give access to
the trains, and hard by are the commodious staff offices
and waiting-rooms with, on the first floor, a spacious hotel.
Nothing could be happier as an introduction to Kuala
Lumpur itself than this fine building. The Federal
Capital is one of the wonder-spots of Malaya. In 1886,
the place was little better than a squalid tin-miners' camp,
possessing no building of greater pretensions than the
Capitan China's unpretentious residence, and to-day it is
a busy township of 47,000 inhabitants, with well-laid-out
streets, and a set of Government offices which for
architectural beauty and commodiousness quite outvie
those of Singapore. Many imposing buildings, clubs and
recreative and educational institutions, figure in the
perspective, and there are, besides, handsome shops and
private residences which give an air of affluent prosperity
to the whole which is unmistakable. Viewed from a
distance, the town has a picturesque appearance. It is
situated on a plain and is sheltered on three sides by hills.
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 253
To the eastward, the Ulu Klang and Ampang hills inter-
cept the view, and beyond them rises in clear blue outline
the Ginting Bedai, one of the passes leading to Pahang.
The town site is well wooded, and the white outlines of
the public buildings are seen in pleasant contrast with the
rich tropical foliage of gardens and ornamental plantations
which have sprung up in reponse to the needs of a com-
munity sufficiently cultured to appreciate the advantages
of a beautiful natural environment. In the centre of the
town is an extensive grassy plain known locally as the
Padang, where the population indulge their recreative
instincts by playing football, cricket, hockey, tennis, and
other familiar games. A public garden beautifully
designed and having within its limits a delightful piece of
ornamental water — known as the Sydney Lake — is
another of the town's institutions. A naturally good site
has been turned to the best account, with the result that
the 187 acres, which form the area, constitute one of the
most charming public pleasaunces that the East has to
show. In the midst of the gardens is situated the
picturesque headquarters of the Lake Club, the most
exclusive of the Peninsular clubs. The Selangor Club,
another of the leading social institutions of the Federated
States — popularly known as " The Spotted Dog " — has its
headquarters near the Padang, in whi^h locality is also
established the Recreation Club, patronised by a wide non-
European circle. The tourist is not likely to end his brief
survey of the Federal capital without a visit to the Selangor
State Museum, a handsome structure in the Flemish style,
which houses an excellent collection of Malayan birds,
many ethnological specimens of exceptional interest and
numerous objects illustrative of Malayan life. At the end
of his tour, he will probably take away with him a lively
impression of the enterprise, foresight, and administrative
254 THE MALAY PENINSULA
ability which have given to the Empire this newest of
local capitals.
If time permits the traveller to diverge somewhat from
the central track on his way to Singapore when he
resumes his journey, he will find a remarkable contrast to
the freshness and youth of Kuala Lumpur in the old-time
institutions and associations of Malacca. Once the great
centre of commercial life in the Middle East, Malacca to-
day reposes in peaceful isolation away from the modern
currents of trade. Rubber has to a small extent gal-
vanised its antiquated frame into activity, and it may do
more in the future to restore its lost prestige. But nothing
is likely to deprive the town of that faded air of past
greatness which is its chief distinction. Here are still to
be seen in mute token of history's inexorable decrees the
memorials of past periods ot conquest. The old church
upon the hill with its graceful towers bespeaks the days of
Albuquerque and St. Francis Xavier, the period when the
soldier and the priest combined to spread the Portuguese
power in distant parts of the East. The magnificent walls
and fortifications which were proud relics of this con-
quering age have unhappily almost entirely disappeared
through the vandalistic energy of a British administrator
who a century ago was here " drest in a little brief
authority." But the grand Portuguese air still clings to
the place, and we cannot forget, if we would, that splendid
egotism which carried one of the smallest of European
nations to the highest pinnacle of fame in the East three
centuries ago. Successor to the Lusitanian, the Hollander
also has impressed his individuality upon Malacca. In the
old Stadt House, near the landing-place, we have a
characteristic specimen of Dutch seventeenth-century
architecture. Solid and uncompromising in appearance,
it embodies perfectly those grim traditions of dour, unre-
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 255
lenting policy which have established Dutch power in the
Middle East on a basis peculiarly its own. As we walk
through these narrow, deserted streets and peer into the
dim recesses of the old courtyards, we seem to feel some-
thing of the spirit which inspired the line —
"The spider hath woven his web in the Imperial palaces."
Not perhaps without a sigh for departed greatness, the
tourist will resume his journey, and a few hours later find
relief amid the bustle of modern Singapore from the
brooding melancholy of the erstwhile mart of the Middle
East.
The itinerary of the railway tourist will be markedly
extended a few years hence when the new East Coast line
has opened up the regions on that side of the Peninsula.
One pleasant experience which a railway journey will prob-
ably have in store for traveller and resident alike will be
a visit to a Malayan hill-station. For years the Straits
Settlements have yearned for a Nuwera Eliya at which to
recruit exhausted nature, but the desire has seemed diffi-
cult, if not impossible, of realisation in view of the lack of
suitable sites within convenient reach of the chief centres
of population. Lately, however, attention has been
seriously directed to the possibility of forming on Gunong
Tahan, the loftiest peak in the Peninsula, a health-resort
of the usual hill-type. Towering nearly 8,000 feet
in the clouds, this great mountain presents scenes of
wild grandeur unsurpassed elsewhere in Malaya. Unlike
most other Malayan mountains, it has at high altitudes
quite a large area of flat land. Until a few years ago,
little was known of it. To the Malays it was familiar as
" the forbidden mountain," and in imagination they
peopled its inaccessible heights with demons of a peculiar
256 THE MALAY PENINSULA
malevolence. One of the first Europeans to ascend the
mountain was a member of the Cambridge Scientific
Expedition, who went up from the Kelantan side in 1899.
A second ascent was made from the same side in 1901,
and in 1906 an exploring party went to the summit from
Pahang. Since then, the mountain has been fairly
thoroughly surveyed. The last notable ascent was made
in April of the present year (1912) by Sir Arthur Young,
the Governor of the Straits Settlements, with a party
which included Mr. E. L. Brockman, C.M.G., Chief
Secretary to Government, F.M.S. ; Mr. H. C. Robinson,
Director of Museums, F.M.S. ; Mr. W. A. Lowinger, Sur-
veyor attached to the trigonometrical branch, F.M.S. ; Dr.
Lucy ; and Mr. F. J. Weld, acting British Resident,
Pahang. The expedition confirmed the previous im-
pressions as to the suitability of the mountain for the
establishment of a health-resort. The principal camp was
pitched at an altitude of 5,900 feet. Here the party remained
four days, conducting exploring excursions in various
directions, and notably to the summit of the mountain, the
height of which had previously been scientifically fixed at
7,186 feet. During the early hours of the first morning
following the establishment of the camp, the thermometer
registered about 51° Fahr. The next night the mercury
dropped to 47°, and the following two nights the tempera-
ture records were 54° and 53° respectively. As far,
therefore, as the bracing effects of a residence on Gunong
Tahan are concerned there is little room for doubt. This
circumstance, taken in conjunction with the generally
advantageous character of the situation, will probably
lead to the definitive adoption of the site. If such proves
to be the case, Malaya will acquire a new interest in
the eyes of European residents in the tropics, who have
hitherto not regarded it exactly as a sanatorium. Indeed,
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION 257
the station will mean life and health for hundreds, who,
in the absence of such a convenient health-resort, would
have either to be invalided to Europe or compelled
to recuperate in some expensive resort in Java or
Ceylon.
17
CHAPTER XV
MINING
Ancient mining — The geological features of the Malay Peninsula —
Gold-mining — Tin-mining — Light's description of old methods
of tin-mining — Tin in Penang — The early Government pohcy
— Tin in the Federated Malay States — Modern methods of
working.
Whether the Malay Peninsula is the golden Chersonese
of the ancients or not — a point on which authorities are
much divided — it is certain that for ages mining in some
form or other has been practised in many districts of
Malaya. The land of Ophir in Biblical times was synony-
mous with a country of surpassing richness in the precious
metal. The tradition that tin was mined by the Phoeni-
cians in the country bordering on the Straits of Malacca is
too persistent to be altogether disregarded. Nothing is
more probable, indeed, in this largely speculative region,
than that the great Mediterranean race drew a portion of
its supplies from the Middle East. Its barques are known
to have found their way round the coast of Africa and to
have penetrated to the Arabian Gulf. The further stage
eastward represented by the voyage through the Indian
Ocean to the Malayan coast would have been merely a
simple and natural extension of their enterprise. But we
shall doubtless be on much firmer ground if we regard the
Chinese as the nation which is most closely identified with
the ancient mineral development of the region. Old work-
ass
MINING 259
ings abound in many parts of the Peninsula, and notably in
the Eastern States, which were most accessible to the people
of China. Judging from the character of the traces left of
their visits, their indefatigable industry would appear to
have carried them into the wilds of Kelantan and Treng-
ganu centuries before the first European set foot in the
country. When we come to the period of European
ascendancy, we find in the earliest works of Portuguese
writers frequent mention of the auriferous character of the
Peninsula, particularly of Pahang. Manoel Godinho de
Eredia, for example, speaks of Pahang as being "frequented
by merchants because of its gold mines, for it possesses
the largest and finest in the Peninsula, from whence we may
presume it was this gold that formed the ancient trade of
Alexandria, or Grand Cairo, &c." He adds that the gold
was mined in " rugged passes and steep quarries," and was
taken to Malacca for sale. On one occasion the Sultan of
Pahang " sent as a present from Adea a beautiful piece of
gold-stone two-and-a-half cubits in length to the Captain and
Governor of Malacca, Joao de Silva, who, amazed at the sight
of the gold, ordered it to be broken, and there was found a
vein of gold a yard in width, as is well known to those of the
time, it having happened in the year 1586." Confirmation
of this statement relative to the mineral wealth of Pahang
is forthcoming in a work written by Captain Alexander
Hamilton and published in Edinburgh in 1727. Captain
Hamilton states that abundant gold-dust is found in the
Pahang River, and described how he had seen Malays
diving for gold there. In some years, if his account is to
be regarded as reliable, the export of gold from Pahang
amounted to as much as eight hundredweight, or 13,422 oz.
troy. Taking the evidence as a whole, it goes to prove that
the reputation which the Malay Peninsula anciently enjoyed
as a gold-mining area is not altogether without foundation.
260 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Curiously, having regard to the importance of the sub-
ject, it is only in quite recent years that any attempt has
been made to investigate exhaustively the geological
features of the Peninsula. The first move of any conse-
quence was made as recently as 1903, when the Federated
Malay States Government appointed Mr. J. B. Scrivenor, a
geologist of established reputation, to conduct a scientific
survey of the country. Mr. Scrivenor, during the past
eight years, has done most valuable work in geological
research and collating facts bearing upon the mineral
characteristics of the Peninsula. At the moment of writing
a detailed geological survey is being made by Mr. Scrivenor
and an assistant geologist who had been sent out from Eng-
land for that purpose. Eventually the fruits of this labour
will be embodied in an elaborate report, which will doubt-
less find a welcome, not merely in Malaya and this
country, but in scientific circles throughout the civilised
world. Pending the production of this compilation, we
may give briefly an account of the physical features of
Malaya, based on Mr. Scrivenor's work as far as it has been
carried.
The Malay Peninsula has a strongly marked geological
formation. A long range of granite mountains stretches
like a backbone from north-west to south-east of the
Peninsula,separating the Western States of Perak, Selangor,
and Negri Sembilan from Pahang on the east. Subsidiary
granite ranges occur on the west ; and on the east, in the
centre of Pahang, is the huge isolated Benom Range, also
composed of granite. N.N.E. of this range lies the Tahan
Range, composed almost entirely, so far as has yet been
ascertained, of sandstone, 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
OPEN-CAST TIN' MINK, TAMI'.TN, PiiKAK.
'Jij mce p. 2bo.
MINING 261
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.
So far, two extensive series of stratified rocks have
been distinguished with certainty in Pahang, where Mr.
Scrivenor's earlier work chiefly lay. The older series is
composed of shale, calcareous shale, marl and limestone ;
the younger of estuarine rocks, shale, sandstone and con-
glomerate. The former, designated provisionally the Raub
Series, is probably carboniferous ; the latter, named pro-
visionally the Tembeling Series, is conglomerate of the
Trias. In the Malay Archipelago the limestones of Western
Sumatra (carboniferous) and of Timor and Rotti (carbon-
iferous and permian) are roughly on the same horizon as the
Raub Series ; while the Tembeling Series may be referred
to the Trias, Lias, and Dogger of West Borneo. Again,
the Raub and Tembeling Series may be referred respec-
tively to the Productus beds of the Salt Range and the
Upper Gondwana Rocks in India.
A further series of rocks, comprising chert and carbona-
ceous shale, both with radiolaria, and light-coloured siliceous
shale in which no radiolaria have been found as yet, has
been named provisionally the Chert Series. In the earliest
geological report written by Mr. Scrivenor, it was sug-
gested that this series was analagous to part of the Culm of
England, and was a deep-sea deposit that slowly accumu-
lated. Since 1907 more information has been obtained that
might be held to strengthen the view that the Chert Series
is really more closely associated with the Gondwanas and
not separated by an important unconformity. In regard to
the relationship of the Chert to the Raub Series, the informa-
262 THE MALAY PENINSULA
tion existing is small, and it seems that the most that we can
regard as certain in considering them together is that both
are older than the Gondwana Series, and that the juxta-
position of the Chert Series to the Gondwanas shows that
the Chert Series rocks are not older than the Raub Series.
They may be younger than, or contemporaneous with, a
certain part or it.
Associated with the Raub and Chert Series are numerous
beds of volcanic ash and lava, comprising the Pahang Vol-
canic Series. The eruptions were chiefly, if not entirely,
submarine, and the rocks vary considerably in composition,
ranging from basic andesites to trachytes. Pebbles both of
the Chert and of the Pahang Volcanic Series have been
found in the conglomerate of the Tembeling Series, thus
indicating an unconformity between the Raub and Tembel-
ing Series. At some period after the deposition of the
Tembeling Series, the crust of the earth in this region was
greatly disturbed, it being thrown into folds, dislocated and
sheared. This resulted in long lines of weakness, trending
roughly N.N.W. to S.S.E., which admitted of the intrusion
of masses of granite, bringing with it part of the tin which
is now the chief source of wealth to the Federated Malay
States. Later denudation demolished superincumbent
rocks and carved the granite and Raub, Tembeling and
Chert Series into the present configuration of the Malay
Peninsula ; but at some time previous to this small dykes
of dolerite were injected into the granite.
Until recent years the tin ore exported from the Fede-
rated Malay States has been won almost entirely from
alluvium, soil, and soft decomposed outcrops of stanniferous
rocks. The alluvial deposits, for the most part, are of no great
interest geologically. It is true that many of them have
proved extraordinarily rich in tin ore, but apart from ore
contents there is little to claim attention. An alluvial tin-
MINING 263
field of more than ordinary interest is the Machi(or Manchis)
tin-field in Fahang. Here no granite is visible in any of
the mines or in the immediate vicinity. There is good
reason to suppose that the tin ore has been derived from
small lodes in hardened shale, one of which contains large
quantities of garnet. The ore in the alluvium varies greatly
in grain, and is singularly free from heavy impurities, such
as iron ore.
An excellent example of tin ore in soil is found at Chin-
Chin, in Malacca, and another at Serandah, in Selangor.
In such cases the ore is derived from small lodes in the
country under the soil, and is to a certain extent distributed
by soil creep. At Tanjong Serai, in Malacca, there is an
interesting deposit on the sea floor. It is the result of the
action of the sea on a soft stanniferous granitic rock. Pros-
pecting has been carried on with a suction dredge. At
Sungei Siput, Kuala Dipang, in Perak, remarkable cemented
detrital deposits have been found in " swallow-holes " in
limestone.
With some tin ore, wolfram, scheelite, corundum, and
monazite are not uncommon. Quantities of wolfram and
some scheelite have been exported, but no market has yet
been found for the corundum, and monazite has only
recently attracted attention as an article of commerce.
However, there is a strong probability that these less
known products of Malaya will soon find their way into
the market. A sign of the times is the formation of a
company to work the wolfram deposits of Trengganu.
Leaving the purely scientific aspect of the subject, we
turn now to the practical development of mining in Malaya
in modern times. Gold, it is to be noted, has proved
singularly elusive, bearing in mind the reputation enjoyed
by the Peninsula for auriferous wealth. Mr. Scrivenor, who
has closely examined the districts in Pahang in which gold
264 THE MALAY PENINSULA
is worked, in his interesting report issued in 1911,^ throws
out the suggestion that the numerous old workings to be
seen to-day "are not so much evidence of former great
mineral wealth as of an insistent demand that had to be
satisfied, no matter what the cost might be to the pro-
ducer." However that may be, European exploitation of
gold-mining in Malaya has so far not been brilliantly suc-
cessful. It commenced with something like a "rush" in
the nineties due to exaggerated stories which were put
about concerning the vast auriferous deposits of Pahang.
The wealth of the region was represented to be so great
that the only difficulty likely to be experienced was the
getting of the gold to a place of safety. An Australian
company — the Raub — was attracted into the field by these
roseate reports, but its manager was so disillusioned when
he reached the spot that he afterwards confessed that he
would have gone straight back to Australia if he had not
been under contract. Instead of wealth so abounding that
its quantity would prove an embarrassment, he failed to
see where he could get a ton of stuff that would repay the
cost of crushing. All the evidence that he could see was
the old Raub hole, and that was full of water. " It had not
been touched for years, and Rajah Impi had ruined him-
self in the attempt to work it." The position, however,
was by no means so bad as it looked at the first sight, and
the manager lived to see the Raub Company a flourishing
concern. But it is the only one of the many enterprises
which have survived the boom, and its success has been due
to exceptional skill in the application of modern scientific
mining methods rather than to natural wealth. In
Kelantan the Duff Development Company have done some
amount of gold-dredging in the rivers, with fair results.
Speaking generally, however, Malayan gold-mining in
' " The Geology and Mining Industries of the Ulu Pahang."
(iOLD MIXING, S(]K()K KELANTAX.
MINING 265
European hands has been far from a success. The history
of gold-producing countries oft repeats itself, and if one
looks at the records of other countries we find that in many
instances failure dogged the steps of enterprises that are
world-renowned. Therefore, to quote the words of
Sir Ernest Birch when referring recently to gold-
mining in Pahang : " This mine (Raub) should not be
taken as an exception, but as an indication of the
probability of there being other payable lodes of gold-
bearing quartz existing over that very wide stretch of
country in Pahang, geologically favourable to gold."
The real mainstay of the mining industry in the Peninsula
is tin. It would, perhaps, be more correct to say that mining
there is tin-mining, so insignificant are the outside interests.
On this industry the great fabric of modern British
Malayan prosperity has been built up. One half the
world's supply of tin for many years has been derived
from this quarter, and to secure it the purchasing countries
have had to pay toll to the local exchequer in the shape of
an export duty which in the aggregate has made up an
immense sum. Probably this is the only instance on
record in which an export duty on minerals has been the
main source of the revenue of a country over an important
series of years. The partial monopoly which Malaya has
of the commodity enables it to make this imperious levy
upon the outer world. Tin of late has come into artificial
prominence as an export of Nigeria, but there does not
appear to be any immediate likelihood of the Straits
being deprived of its pre-eminence in the tin market yet
awhile. Some years ago a body of enterprising Americans
conceived the idea of capturing the industry by cornering
the ore. They laid their plans skilfully, but Sir Frank
Swettenham, who was then Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments, promptly introduced and passed through the Legis-
266 THE MALAY PENINSULA
lature regulations which checkmated the schemers. Since
then the Government have had a firmer grip than ever
of the industry. In this policy they carry public opinion
with them, for every one in Malaya says, and believes,
" there's nothing like tin."
Many are the changes which have come over the
working of the tin deposits of Malaya in the course of
years. It is a curious and little-known fact that there
was a time in the early history of the British in the Straits
when the East India Company's ships took the tin ore from
Penang not to England but to China, where the process of
smelting was alone properly understood or, at all events,
was practised. Captain Light, in one of his despatches to
Calcutta (dated June i8, 1787), gives an interesting descrip-
tion of the system of working the ore followed by the
Chinese on Junk Ceylon. He wrote : "The ore is all dug
in wells four feet square. Four men join to a pit ; two
of them open the pit while the others collect bamboos,
leaves, and frames for the sides. Four pieces of wood eight
inches round, notched and let into each other, make the
frame that is placed within the pit. At the distance of
five or six feet at the back of these are thrust down
small long bamboos, and behind them are put leaves to
prevent the earth and water from entering the pit. A
pakota is erected at one end, and a bucket hung by a
rattan serves to draw up the earth and ore. The other
end is balanced by a weight. A dam is made by the side
of the pit. At the bottom is placed a matt and then
filled with water. One man remains in the pit to dig up
the ore and one man works the pakota. The ore is
brought up mixed with stones and clay, and thrown to
women, who sit there to receive it in wooden platters.
By breaking the clay with their fingers and twirling round
the platters the ore is soon separated and laid aside. In
MINING 267
the evening they wash the ore in a running stream, to
carry off the finer particles of sand. It is then dried and
carried to the smelting-house. It is received by measure ;
lOO lb. of the ore yields 70 and 75 lb. of metal. The
miner, if a poor man, receives a ticket for 40 lb. of tin ;
if an officer, 50 lb. Their tickets are afterwards exchanged
by the King's overseer at the rate of five tickets of silver
for one coping weighing 62| lb. English. The surplus 30
o'' 35 lt>. goes to the smelter, who is a Chinese that rents
this privilege from the King. When the pit is finished
and they have sight of the ore, two of the men begin
another. In two or three days they get all the ore within
reach. The pit is then left open, to fill up as time and
accident direct. On an average four men will finish two
pits in a month. At Pooket they dig from 50 to 70 feet ;
at Rangani and places near the sea from 10 to 30 feet ;
but here they are sometimes obliged to wait until the
spring tides are over. They are likewise more subject to
putrid vapours in the low grounds than the high, which
prove mortal. After passing the strata of stones and clay
to which the ore adheres is always found a bed of
exceeding fine white clay without any mixture. Below
this bed the ore never descends. The quantity of ore
found in each pit varies from 250 lb. to 1,000 lb. The
ore is smelted in a furnace 3 feet deep and 22 feet broad,
hooped with iron. The bellows is of wood, shaped like a
pump. It is 7 feet long ; the diameter of the cylinder
is 4 inches. The piston is very small, and covered at
the end with feathers. At each end of the cylinder is a
valve, which gives a constant supply of air. The tube for
conveying the air into the furnace is of bamboo, and
fixed in the middle of the outside of the cylinder. On
the same side at each extremity is a small valve, opening
from the inside of the cylinder to a small channel about
268 THE MALAY PENINSULA
2 inches square on the outside, which conveys the air
to the tube as the piston goes both up and down. The
furnace is first loaded with charcoal ; when it is well
fired about 200 lb. of ore is placed on the top, and coal
over it to make the metal separate more easily. They
put a little pounded scoria among the ore, and moisten
it the first time it passes through the furnace. It parts
with some of its arsenic qualities, but is yet only black
shining scoria with a few white specks of metal. The
second time they get tin. The ore is five times seen
through the furnace before the tin is properly extracted.
After this the scoria is laid by, and when the season for
digging is over, they smelt it once or twice more. The tin
is cast in slabs of 30 lb. weight called poke, in small pieces
of 20 to a slab called poot, 40 to a slab called fuong,
and 80 called pincky." ;
When Penang was first occupied by the British, attention
was directed to tin as a possible source of profit to the
East India Company. A discovery of tin deposits on high
ground in the northern part of the island is mentioned
prominently in the memorandum which Captain Kyd
wrote on the island in 1787 for the information of the
Calcutta authorities. An assay was made of the ore and
proved satisfactory, but Captain Kyd entertained a very
poor opinion as to the commercial value of the dis-
covery. "It is certain," he wrote, "that if the Malay
princes did not enforce as a tribute the delivery of a certain
quantity of tin from each of their districts that none would
be produced ; but it must also be observed that the estab-
lished price they pay for it is much beneath its value, and
for which they absolutely cannot raise it. It would,
therefore, be worth while trying the experiment whether
by paying the Malays more liberally they would not be
stimulated to industry. Great advantages must, however,
MINING 269
not be expected from this article, as the real expense of
raising and manufacturing it comes to nearly its value."
" It is singular enough," he added, " that although the
Malays have from time immemorial furnished the Chinese
with tin, that they cannot themselves extract it from the
ore, the process of smelting it being only possessed and
exercised by the Chinese who, of course, make a great
profit of it." After this a concession was given to a
Chinaman to work the Penang tin, but nothing much
appears to have come of the enterprise. In 1814 the
question of tin-mining again came up on a proposal made
to the Government by Mr. David Brown, well known as
one of the pioneers of the planting industry, that he
should be allowed to clear the jungle and work the tin
deposits. The authorities favoured the project to the
extent of making him a free grant of uncleared land and
promising that all tin raised should be exempted from
duty for a period of years. As far as can be ascertained
from the records, however, the venture succeeded no better
than the earlier one. The next development of import-
ance was a plan devised by the Government for obtaining
tin from the mainland under an arrangement with the
native princes. In 1818 treaties were concluded with
the Sultan of Selangor, under which that chief agreed to
supply the Company with a certain quantity of tin
annually. The earliest transactions were very profitable,
but difficulties soon arose in connection with the collec-
tion of the article, and the Government came to the
conclusion that it would be wise for them to leave the
trade in private hands. F"rom this time onward until
the Federated Malay States came into existence as a
distinct entity, the tin industry was prosecuted, so far
as the disturbed condition of the country permitted, by
native alien adventurers.
270 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Until the Pax Britannica made possible the systematic
and scientific development of the tin deposits the mining
operations were of the most primitive description.- The
Chinese workers did little more than dig holes in the
surface, and when they had exhausted the working they
proceeded to another spot and repeated the elementary
process. In this way they secured an output which
was insignificant compared with the quantity that is
now regularly exported, but the enterprise paid a hand-
some profit and caused the industrious Chinamen to
adhere tenaciously to the mining area amid all the
vicissitudes of an era of anarchy which seemed to leave
no scope for peaceful industry of any kind. The system
of British supervision introduced by Sir Hugh Low into
Perak, where the most important mines are located, worked
a marvellous change in the outlook. Capital was put
into the industry and machinery was introduced to supple-
ment the manual operations of the Chinese. Under the
Malay rulers an onerous export duty had been levied
on tin. The principle of this impost was adopted, but
the duty was fixed at a much lower rate in order not
to hamper the progress of the industry. The general
effect of the working of the new spirit is strikingly
illustrated in the table on page 271, showing the tin
production and the amount of revenue raised from the
export duty over a period of years.
There is no necessity to dwell upon the significance
of the figures here set out as far as they show the develop-
ment of tin-mining. It is clear, however, that it is the
output of tin that has made possible the extraordinary
progress of British Malaya in the past few years. Splendid
as the achievement is, there is no reason to fear that tin
will not continue to furnish, to a large extent, the sinews
of government for long years to come. Nowhere in the
MINING
271
world are the deposits of tin so rich or so widely dis-
tributed. You find it on the mountain-tops and in the
swamps of the coast area, at the roots of the surface grass,
and to the depth of lOO to 200 feet beneath the soil.
Almost the entire production comes from alluvial
workings. The only exceptions are some mines in
Pahang and some workings in the Kledang range of
hills near Ipoh in Perak, which between them do not
Year.
Tin Pikuls.
Tin-ore Pikuls.
Export Duty.
1890
399,612
53.585
1,609,401
189I
394,064
90.554
1,573,441
1892
433,993
128,820
2.097,274
1893
499.457
134.924
2,602,380
1894
631,687
154,825
3,238,000
189s
559.521
250,401
3.379,813
1896
486,780
303,586
3,126,974
1897
364,526
347,671
2,716,263
1898
298,679
366,100
3,210,699
1859
285,302
359.038
6,181,542
1900
331.760
381,302
7,050,382
I90I
364.364
420,879
6,968,183
1902
335.601
445,267
8.438.775
1903
345,489
494,158
9,590,429
1904
323,044
533.193
8,814,296
1905
308,288
548.372
9,253,361
1906
306,746
510,036
10,036,607
1907
234.157
579,479
9.393.738
1908
147,608
706,457
7,286,843
1909
180,585
638,301
7.150.465
I910
166,315
570,582
7,162,026
I911
167,421
574,276
8,818,764
produce more than 1,200 tons per annum by their lode
mining. The chief centres of the industry are the Kinta
Valley in Perak and the flats near Kuala Lumpur in
Selangor, drained by the Klang River. The Kinta Valley,
about thirty miles long and twelve broad, is a flat tract
of country hemmed in on each side by mountains which
rise abruptly from the plain. It is dotted over with
mining villages which have a very prosperous and tidy
272 THE MALAY PENINSULA
appearance. The tin deposits are found everywhere, but
they are richest in the vicinity of the granite foothills,
where the fissures left at the junction of the granite and
the limestone have supplied an opening for concentration
of the metal. The channels and crevices in the limestone
bed are also rich in tin deposits. It is in this quarter
that the Chinese chiefly work. They are, no doubt,
influenced in their selection of the site by the comparative
ease with which the tin may be won.
Mining operations are largely conducted on what is
known as the " open-cast " principle. This is in reality
nothing more than the old, primitive Chinese method of
digging a hole and extracting from it the tin-ore.
Practical experience has shown that the old methods
had in them much that is good. As Mr. F. J. B. Dykes,
ex-Senior Warden of Mines in the Federated Malay
States, says, in his interesting brochure, " Mining in
Malaya " : " 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 revo-
lutionising 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."
In old days the Chinese made the selection of the site of
a mine a matter of some ceremony. The local Malay-
pawang, or wise man, was consulted, and he for a
substantial fee indicated the spot where tin was likely to
be found. As the whole area was probably stanniferous,
he was more often right than wrong. His reputation
flourished accordingly, with the result that he was usually
MINING 273
a man of substance. Nowadays the question of site-
selection is decided on more prosaic principles. When
the choice has been made, a strong embankment is built
all round to prevent the inrush of storm-water, and the
ground is then excavated. First the layer of barren ground
overlying the stanniferous alluvium is removed, and then
the tin-bearing gravel is lifted by coolies to the wash-
boxes for the separation of the tin from the gravel. The
wash-boxes are long, coffin-shaped arrangements, set at a
grade of about i in 12, and having a width of about 3 feet
at the widest part and 10 to 18 inches at the narrowest,
which is at the end. At the wide part is fixed a baffle-
board, about 8 to 12 inches deep, with a square aper-
ture through which a stream of water constantly flows
over the " karang," or tin-bearing gravel. A coolie stirs
up the deposit with a rake and facilitates its passage
into the box, where it is immediately dealt with by men
working with large long-handled hoes. These washers,
as they are called, turn the mass over and over until it is
considered that the box will not with safety hold any
more ore. At that moment the water is shut off, and
the tinstone, after a little further manipulation, is put
into tubs or baskets for transport to the store. At one
time water-wheels, turning native-made chain pumps
and buckets, lifted laboriously by manual labour, were
the only means of dealing with the surplus water,
but centrifugal pumps, operated by portable steam-
engines, are now almost invariably used. Up to recent
times the depth reached in open-cast mining did not
exceed 60 feet, but with the introduction of mechanical
haulage deeper working was made possible, and now
a depth of 100 feet, and even more, is not uncommon.
The system of haulage most common is inclined tram-
ways with trucks. The work of loading the trucks
18
274 THE MALAY PENINSULA
is done by Chinese and Indian coolies at contract
rates.
Besides the open-cast system there are three distinct
methods of mining for tin, viz., ground sluicing (in which
is included hydraulicking), underground workings, and
dredging. The first of the three systems can only be
resorted to in situations in which there is a good supply
of water and a suitable dumping-ground for the dibris
exists. A narrow valley in the hills is the spot most
usually selected for the operations. Here the workers, as
an indispensable preliminary, cut a channel for a water-
course to the face of the hill which it is proposed to work.
In connection with this waterway is made a narrow
channel or ground sluice, which is given sufficient slope
to allow the valueless dirt to be carried off, while the
heavier tin-ore remains behind. As soon as the water is
turned on, the ground is hoed from the face of the cliff
into the sluice, and the material is then stirred with hoes
until the process of separating the tinstone from the dross
is complete. Hydraulicking, which is a scientific modifi-
cation of ground-sluicing, consists in directing, under
great pressure, by means of nozzles, known as " giants " or
" monitors," a stream of water against the face of the hill-
side which is to be cut and washed down. The powerful
head of water breaks down the hillside and makes possible
the subsequent extraction of the tin-ore. Suction dredging
is allied to this process of hydraulicking, as stanniferous
ground at a low level is broken down by monitors and led
to a central sump, from which it is lifted by centrifugal sand-
pumps to wooden flumes, in which the tin-ore is separated
in the ordinary way. In Kelantan and parts of Perak
bucket-dredges have been installed, but the operation of
raising the ground, in contradistinction to surface-dredging,
is done under water. Underground working is an onerous
sUltiux dredge, tin- mixe, ramkutax, perak.
OPEX-CA-T TIX MIXE, MXI.EI BESI, hELAX(_,( )l'.
MINING 275
and somewhat uneconomical method of mining at deep
levels. By this system the cost of removing the top soil
is avoided, but on the other hand heavy charges are in-
curred for timbering the shafts and drives, which set off
this saving. This process of mining, moreover, is very far
from being exhaustive. Instances are on record in which
an area, having been shafted and abandoned by under-
ground miners as exhausted, has been taken in hand and
mined on open-cast principles with brilliant results. This
experience is, to a considerable extent, typical of the
entire mining field. Sites which have been discarded by
Chinese have been worked with modern appliances with
advantage to the investors, and in some cases quite rich
deposits have been struck. The possibilities of the great
Malayan tin-field are thus infinitely great in spite of the
enormous extraction of wealth in the past quarter century.
The need is for cheap power, which will enable the treat-
ment on scientific principles of the old workings. By the
substitution of suction gas for steam a great advance has
been made in one mine in Kinta, but the great hope of the
future lies in the introduction of electricity. A scheme for
turning to account the water power supplied by the Kinta
River is under consideration at the present time. If it
should prove feasible, the whole outlook of the mining
industry may be changed.
Associated with the tin-mining industry, and an im-
portant adjunct of it commercially, is the smelting
enterprise. Twenty-five years since, the rule was for the
miner to smelt his own ore : now it is the exception for
him to do so. The usual practice is for the ore to be
bought up by licensed purchasers (of whom there are five
hundred in the Federated Malay States), and for these
individuals to transmit the produce to the smelting estab-
lishments situated at various centres. The principal of
276 THE MALAY PENINSULA
these is the Straits Trading Company's works at
Singapore and Prai, which are reputed to be the largest
of their kind in the world. Another important smelting
factory is conducted by the Eastern Smelting Company at
Penang. In spite of the conveniences furnished by these
modern houses for dealing effectively and economically
with the tin-ore, the Chinese miner still adheres to a large
extent to his old ways. He uses for his purposes a
primitive blast furnace, much the same as that described
by Light in the extract quoted in the earlier part of this
chapter. His processes are arduous but fairly exhaustive,
though the resultant tin which he turns out has to be
further treated before it goes to the European market,
where a tin of almost theoretical purity is demanded for
the tin-plate trade. Chinese smelting is much affected by
the state of the market. When prices are rising, the
Chinaman is active ; when quotations are on the down
grade and show a tendency still further to decline, he
does not care to enter into too keen rivalry with the
scientific smelters in the Colony. As a rule, he manages,
after the style of his race, to come very well out of the
business either way.
The labour system of the mines deserves a brief de-
scription because of its distinctive character. As we
might expect to find from the traditions of the tin-
mining industry in the Straits, the miners are
predominatingly Chinese. In 191 1, of a total force of
197,000, all but 8,000 were Chinese. The remainder
was composed of Indians, Javanese, and Malays. The
engagement of labour proceeds under two heads. In
the first system, the employer is the owner of land or the
capitalist working the land, who employs labour at his
own risk and reaps all the profits. The employment
under the second head is where the land is let to
MINING 277
another party or to the actual labourers themselves for
a fixed tribute. The practice in the case of the first class
of labourers is for most of the men to be engaged to do
the main work of a mine under contract at so much a
cubic yard. A small minority are employed at fixed
wages to do such work as could not reasonably be
given out on contract. Up to a recent time, no
payment was made to the contract labourer until the
end of six months. In the interim he was under
advances for food, cash, and all the necessaries of life
to the owner of the mine. This obnoxious develop-
ment of the " truck " system was suppressed by an
enactment of the Government declaring such arrange-
ments to be illegal. Under the alternate system of
labour the labourers work the mine on co-partnery
principles. A local capitalist advances the necessary
money or its equivalent in food, stores, &c., and he takes
all the risk of the mine turning out a failure. As the
tin -ore is mined it is taken to his establishment, and is
disposed of by him. When sales are effected the accounts
between himself and the labourers are adjusted. The
" tribute " system, as it is styled, suits the individual
labourer, as a spice of gambling enters into it, and the
Chinaman is an inveterate follower of the fickle dame.
On the other hand, it is acceptable to the owner, who
under the system is able to limit his liabilities — in the case
of failure — to the actual necessities of the labourers. The
Chinese coolies are housed in long, barn-like structures
divided into compartments, in each of which some twenty
or thirty labourers are housed. " The roof," says Mr. Dykes
in the pamphlet before referred to, " is thatched with palm
leaves ; the sides are made of badly-fitting, split timbers ;
and the floor is hardened earth. The labourer's sleeping-
place is raised on poles some 3 feet from the ground, and
278 THE MALAY PENINSULA
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 advances are much beyond what he is likely to
reap as the reward of his labour. The men 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 encroachment
on lands the property of others, or owing to the unlawful
deviation of water, so essential to mining operations."
Necessarily in the peculiar circumstances of the industry
tin-mining is rigidly controlled by the Government in all
its stages from the preliminary acquisition of the land to
the disposal of the ore and the smelting of it. The system
of regulation is enshrined in a series of statutes, the prin-
cipal of which are the Mining Enactment, 191 1, certain
sections of the Land Enactment, 191 1, the Labour
Enactment, 191 2, the Mineral Ores Enactment, 1904,
and the Steam Boilers Enactment of 1910. Under the
official arrangements a person desiring to acquire mining
sites has to apply at the Land Office of the district in
which the land is situated. He is charged a premium
ranging, at the discretion of the British Resident, at from
2s. 4d. up to £2 1 8s. 4d. per acre. The latter amount,
however, is only charged in exceptional cases. The leases,
which are renewable, are, as a rule, for twenty -one years,
and the annual rent is 2s. 4d. per acre. The lease confers
the right " to work all metals and minerals found upon or
beneath the land," on the condition that the lessee does
so in a workmanlike manner without causing damage to
others. Prospecting licences are also issued under con-
ditions which prescribe the area which is to be
MINING 279
investigated, and in regard to which alone a licence
can be issued. The smelting ordinances provide that
no person other than the actual producer may smelt ore
without a licence, and no person may purchase or keep
any place for purchasing any tin-ore without first obtain-
ing a licence. The cost of this licence is ^ii 13s. 4d.
per annum. A special department of the Government
supervises the mining operations. In each State the duty
of oversight is entrusted to an official who is designated
either a Warden or Assistant-Warden, and in supreme
charge is a Senior Warden, who is responsible to the
Chief Secretary and the Residents of each State. In
addition, there is a staff of inspectors of mines, of boilers,
and of mineral ore shops. The official control is exercised
over an area of approximately 281,000 acres, more than
half of which is situated in Perak.
It is not easy to forecast the future of Malayan mining.
There have always been pessimists who have talked about
the depletion of the tin resources, but the output is steadily
maintained, and the latest light on the industry suggests
an increase rather than a decrease in the export. But
even if tin in the course of years ceases, as it may very
well do, to give the brilliant results it has done, there are
other sources of mineral wealth still untapped, and prob-
ably still undiscovered, in Malaya. Recently a discovery
of coal at Rawang, in Selangor, has given promise of a
profitable development of the carboniferous deposits of
the Peninsula. Wolfram, too, as we have seen, is
pushing its way to the front ; and who shall say that
oil may not one day be found in this region which so
closely touches the great oil-bearing areas of Burma on
the one hand and Netherlands India on the other. On
the whole, there is every reason to think that, vast as
has been the mining development in Malaya in the past
few years, it has not yet reached its zenith.
CHAPTER XVI
RUBBER AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Old-time planting enterprise — The rise of the rubber industrj' —
Hevea seedlings sent out to Ceylon and Singapore — Distribution
of seeds and plants from Singapore — Pioneer rubber planters in
Malaya — Malaya's enormous production of Para rubber — The
making of a rubber estate — Tapping and other processes — Pests
— The labour supply — The rubber boom — Future prospects of
rubber — Coco-nut cultivation.
Planting in one form or another has been an im-
portant interest in Malaya from the earliest years of
the British connection with the region. For close upon
two centuries, indeed, it was the only industry that
counted in the calculations of the East India Company
which, as we have seen, exclusively represented this
country in the Middle East from a period commencing
with the opening of the seventeenth century until the
introduction of direct government by the Crown in 1867.
But it was not until the occupation of Penang in 1787
that planting of the modern type came into regular
vogue. Light was a far-seeing man, unhampered by
the somewhat narrowing traditions of a regular train-
ing in the Company's service. He saw at once that the
only hope of making Penang a financial success was to
hold out inducements to people qualified for the purpose
to cultivate the soil. Under a system of free land grants
he secured a wide measure of cultivation in the area
adjacent to the budding Settlement. The Chinese were
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 281
largely the adventurers in this planting speculation, but
there was a handful of Europeans also concerned, and
it is interesting to note that the planter who took
the lead in the protest against the abrogation of Light's
land grants by the Company after his death was Mr.
Forbes Ross McDonald, the first of the great body of
Scotsmen to whom the planting industry in Malaya is
so greatly indebted. Coco-nuts, betel-nuts, gambler and
pepper were the products chiefly grown, apart from
the fruits and food products necessary for the sustenance
of the community. Wild hogs, deer, and monkeys
played sad havoc with the plantations, but a worse
enemy was official indifference. Under the cold shade
of neglect, the industry languished for some years, and
would probably in time have become extinct if an
energetic colonist, a Mr. David Brown, had not in 1814
manfully stepped into the breach and endeavoured to
establish a coffee plantation on a large scale. The
Government smiled on his venture, and even went
the length of subsidising it to a certain extent, but
for some reason or other the plantation was a failure.
An attempt made at the same period to introduce cotton
cultivation under official auspices also came to nothing.
On the acquisition of Province Wellesley, a momentary
fillip was given to planting enterprise. Land for sugar
cultivation was taken up freely, most prominent amongst
the planters being some Frenchmen from Mauritius,
who had been attracted to the Middle East by the
glowing and exaggerated stories of the productiveness
of the new territory. For a time, enterprise flourished,
but, as a writer of the period remarked, though the
Government land regulations were a great improvement
on the antiquated system which had arrested develop-
ment in the past, they stopped short before they
282 THE MALAY PENINSULA
reached the necessary point of liberality. " Instead of
placing the whole cultivating population on a fair equal
footing by permitting the holders of grants and leases
to commute their rents, the commutations were fixed
at unequal and in most cases excessive rates." The
consequence was that after the first burst of energy
the industry diminished in importance until, under the
accelerating influence of the Free Trade era at home,
it finally flickered out. Planting now dropped back
into the old groove in which it had existed from the
early years. There was no particular distinctive feature
either about the industry or those who engaged in it.
Gambler, tapioca, pepper, and pineapples were all pro-
duced, and rice, of course, was cultivated.
Coffee, in process of years, obtained a certain vogue,
and it was this product which was most favoured by
the Europeans who took up land in what are now the
Federated Malay States as soon as the conditions were
settled enough to justify the outlay of capital. Enter-
prise in this direction, however, was never particularly
flourishing. The price of coffee ultimately fell to such
an extent that few of the estates were able to do more
than pay their working expenses. It was a black out-
look for the industry, unrelieved apparently by one
single gleam of hope. Tea, which had saved Ceylon
planters in somewhat similar circumstances, was not
available, since there was no suitable high ground on
which it could be grown. Cinchona, which had so
enormously added to the prosperity of Java, was equally
out of the question. There appeared to be nothing for
planters to do but to take to tin-mining or some other
exotic form of enterprise to keep their heads above
water. Then, as a counsel almost of despair, the bolder
of them took to planting Para rubber on their estates.
\VEEDI\G YOUXG KTBUKK,
PLdUGHINI, XI'. \K' MALACCA MiR K'I-BI;KR KSTATK.
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 283
They were laughed at by some of their fellow-planters ;
the public, if they thought on the matter at all, also
probably classed them as eccentrics ; they themselves
in their moments of introspection must have had many
questionings. But, as the world knows, events have
brilliantly justified their action. Those early rubber
trees of Malaya have proved to their owners as veritable
a gold-mine as Mount Morgan has done to its possessors.
In the whole history of agriculture there is no more
fascinating story than that of the development of the
plantation rubber industry. Those who are disposed
to regard the British of the present era as lacking in
the qualities of their forefathers may be recommended
to study it, for it is from beginning to end a record
of British scientific skill, commercial enterprise, and
organising ability. A mighty commercial force has
been called into being, which owes practically nothing
to non-British initiative and which is almost exclusively
directed by British hands. It is remarkable, having
regard to the valuable properties of rubber, that for
many generations after its introduction into Europe by
the Spaniards no serious effort was made to cultivate
the rubber-tree for commercial purposes. The assump-
tion of many writers that only in quite recent years
has attention been directed to rubber production outside
its South American habitat, is, however, not borne out
by the facts. Amongst the earliest records of Penang
is a report, written apparently by Captain Kyd, contain-
taining a suggestion which, if it had been adopted, might
have anticipated by a hundred years the founding of
the rubber industry in Malaya. The writer, in describ-
ing the flora of the island, mentions having seen " a
great variety of strong creepers that entwine themselves
around all the trees," and goes on to say that one of
284 THE MALAY PENINSULA
these creepers "yields an elastic gum." "The gum,"
he adds, " is entirely in the bark, which is remarkably
thick, and when cut or in the least wounded emits a
resinous white juice much resembling cream, which, when
exposed to the air, in a very few minutes takes the
colour and consistency of the elastic gum, and is exactly
in appearance, and answers the same purposes, as the
Kaoutchuck of South America, which it may be im-
agined is also produced from a creeper of the same
kind, for I can hardly suppose that nature has given
two different plants gums of so very singular qualities
and so very similar as these appear to be." In con-
cluding his note on the subject. Captain Kyd wrote: " If
this gum can be put to valuable uses, any quantity of
it may be collected at Penang as the creeper from
which it is extracted is to be found in the greatest
plenty." The hint here given was not taken, and
rubber faded out of official notice until, just eighty
years after these words were penned, a variety of cir-
cumstances combined to bring the product once more
to the front.
In the interval rubber had made tremendous progress
in the commercial world. Hancock's discovery of the
process of vulcanisation — a treatment of rubber with
sulphur by which its adaptability is enormously in-
creased — had opened up immense new fields for its
utilisation. Moreover, there had dawned a finer percep-
tion of the unique qualities of the product. This
measure of public enlightenment had proceeded simul-
taneously with a growing difficulty in the collection of
the world's supply of rubber from the wild sources —
chiefly in the Amazon Valley — from which it had hitherto
been imported. The rubber factors, regardless of the
ultimate consequences, had ruthlessly destroyed the
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 285
trees in their efforts to extract the last ounce of juice
from them. Every year their agents had to penetrate
farther and farther into the gloomy recesses of the
Amazonian forests, and only the immensity of that mys-
terious region seemed to stand between the consuming
public and the complete stoppage of their supplies. In
the circumstances, the question of supplementing by
cultivation the produce of the forests came prominently
to the front. Sir Joseph Hooker, to whom tropical
agriculture owes a debt it will never be able to repay,
took the first practical step in the direction of carrying
out this design, by despatching from Kew Gardens, of
which he was then the Director, an emissary to South
America to endeavour to secure seeds of the Hevea
Braziliensis, popularly known as Para rubber, for experi-
ment, with a view to the distribution of plants in the
British tropical dependencies. This agent, Mr. James
Collins (who afterwards filled the position of Government
Botanist at Singapore), brought back with him some
hundreds of seeds. Their fertility appears to have
been impaired by the journey, for out of the entire
supply only about a dozen plants were raised. These
were sent to Calcutta, but only to die, as the climate
was not suitable. Undeterred by the unpromising results
of their first enterprise the Kew authorities, in 1876,
commissioned Mr. H. A. Wickham, a British resident of
Brazil, whose experiments in rubber cultivation in that
country had first attracted Sir Joseph Hooker's atten-
tion to the subject, to collect and despatch a consign-
ment of Hevea seeds to Kew. Mr. Wickham responded
with alacrity to the summons. For weeks he devoted
himself to the task of collecting the seeds for shipment.
A happy chance which put at his disposal a large cargo
steamer — the first of its kind to penetrate to the upper
286 THE MALAY PENINSULA
part of the Amazon — enabled him to ship his precious
collection under the most favourable conditions. A
smooth passage, which allowed of air being freely
admitted to the holds where the seeds were stored, gave
a final touch of good fortune to the venture. In due
course the baskets of " oily seeds in their dappled skins "
reached Kew. Their arrival in June, 1876, caused the
utmost commotion. Orchid and propagating houses
were cleared, and the general work of the gardens for
the time being was suspended as far as possible to get
the experiment under way. The rubber seeds did not
fail to respond to the care bestowed upon them. With-
in a fortnight, there were some seven thousand Hevea
plants bursting into life under the glass roofs of the
great botanical institution. Growths more commercially
precious have probably never been reared in this historical
environment. They were the germs from which has
sprung the mighty plantation rubber industry, an industry
possibly as yet only in its infancy.
From Kew the Hevea seedlings — finally 2,800 in
number — found their way into practically every tropical
British colony. Most of them, however, went to Ceylon,
where the climatic and other conditions were deemed
peculiarly suitable to the cultivation. On arrival in the
island, the bulk of the plants were dealt with at the Hene-
ratgoda Gardens at Colombo, the remainder being planted
at the famous establishment at Peredeniya, near Kandy,
on considerably higher ground. Experience proved that
the allotment of the plants was judicious. The Colombo
section flowered first in 1881, at the age of five;
the Peredeniya plants did not come to maturity until
three years later. Meanwhile, at Singapore, the first
essay in rubber cultivation was proceeding with results
even more strikingly favourable. Owing to the loss of
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 287
the earliest consignment of seedlings sent out in 1876, it
was not until 1877 that a start was made with twenty-
two plants sent to the newly founded Botanical Gardens
at Singapore. The Curator, Mr. Murton, entered with
spirit into the undertaking. Some of the trees he planted
in the Singapore Gardens, and others he took with him
to Perak and established in Sir Hugh Low's garden
and at other places outside which he thought would
be favourable to their development. A few years' ex-
perience demonstrated what has since been abundantly
proved by the final test of commercial success, that
Malaya is a specially favoured spot for the growth of
rubber. The trees flourished to such an extent under
the supervision of Mr. Murton and his successor, Mr.
Cantley, that Singapore was actually in a position in 1883
to send seeds to Ceylon, and in the ensuing year to dis-
tribute plants to Borneo and other parts of the world.
In Malaya itself the cultivation only made headway
against a certain amount of prejudice. Mr. Henry N.
Ridley, C.M.G., who is widely regarded in Malaya as
the father of the industry, and who is shortly to receive
a testimonial from the planters of Malaya as " a per-
manent and useful token " of their sentiments of grati-
tude for his great services, has related some quaint
experiences illustrative of his difficulties under this head.
After mentioning that he had been officially reprimanded
for " wasting his time " upon the rubber-tree, he tells a
story of how one day, when he had at length " worried
the planters into trying this cultivation," a Dyak was
sent up to the top of one of the old trees of the Sir
Hugh Low period in Perak and told to get some rubber.
The Dyak, Mr. Ridley states, went up the tree, but
quickly came back and said there was none. " Soon
after down came one hundred of the finest trees in the
288 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Peninsula. Mr. R. Derry then attacked the rest of the
trees and took out a quantity of first-class rubber and
sold it in London at a good price and stopped the
reaction against rubber which set in immediately the
story was published that an official had proved the Para
tree valueless."
It was from the Singapore trees that Malaya was planted
with rubber. The process, as Mr. Ridley says, was slow.
It required more than common faith to sink capital in a
growth which took four or five years to come even to the
producing stage. Although experimental tapping com-
menced in the Singapore gardens in 1888, and an actual
sale of sheet-rubber prepared by Mr. Derry in the circum-
stances related was effected in London in 1899, planters
were not readily induced to embark upon the industry.
Still, the fall in the price of coffee and other causes acted
powerfully in the long run to favour the rubber industry.
Amongst the pioneers in the Federated Malay States were
Messrs. R. C. M. and D. C P. Kindersley, and in the older
colonial territory the first to plant on an extensive scale
was a Chinese gentleman, Mr. Tan Chay Yen, of Malacca.
The start in these instances was made in 1895, and it
was three years later before any further development of
importance took place. The fresh lead then given by the
late Mr. W. W. Bailey, however, was so spiritedly followed
that the industry had soon passed beyond the experi-
mental stage. A factor which greatly strengthened the
confidence of planters in the new enterprise was the rise of
the motor-car. None were so blind as not to be able to
perceive that in this invention was introduced a potent
influence making for profit in the rubber world. Estates
were now planted on all sides, both in the Colony and in
the Federated Malay States. Development at the outset
was most actively prosecuted in Selangor between Port
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 289
Swettenham and Kuala Lumpur where a number of
coffee estates supplied land favourable to rapid planting.
But the operations were quickly extended to other districts
where virgin ground was taken up for the rubber planta-
tions. Localities into which up to this period no white
man had ever penetrated, became centres of importance in
the great commercial world. The forest was cleared, roads
were constructed, permanent buildings were erected, and
the whole countryside gave evidence of that irrepressible
energy which is associated with wholesome European
enterprise. The Singapore authorities, who had a little
previously found it difficult to get any one to take plants
off their hands, were now inundated with applications from
all parts of the world, and particularly from the other
tropical dependencies of the Empire. Within a compara-
tively short period, no fewer than nine millions of seeds
and plants were despatched to Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda,
Burma, Assam, Southern India, Sumatra, Borneo, Java,
Christmas Island, New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, Samoa,
China and Cochin China, Japan, Siam, British Guiana,
Honduras and the West Indies. Ceylon was also exten-
sively indented upon, and did its part in distributing the
indispensable seeds and plants. In the whole history of
the world, there had never been such an extensive circula-
tion of a botanical specimen. Some may question the
altruism which gave to the universe the products of an
enterprise which was so exclusively British. But it cannot
be said that our country has suffered from its liberality.
The wide diffusion of the plants has had many uses, but
none more commercially important than the inculcation of
the lesson that the finest natural field for rubber cultivation
is the region in which the industry first took root. British
Malaya enjoys its pre-eminence largely by reason of its
climate. In its native habitat in the Amazon, the rubber-
19
290 THE MALAY PENINSULA
tree flourishes in a warm, moisture-laden atmosphere
maintained throughout the year with little variation. In
the British territory in the Straits, these are the conditions
which prevail, and to them is added the advantage of a
fine alluvial soil which encourages healthy root growth.
Viewing these flourishing plantations mile after mile as
one passes through the country, it is impossible not to
realise that the tree has found its true home. The growth
is almost everywhere luxurious, and in some places it is
phenomenal. There is a tree in the Singapore Botanic
Gardens which attained the height of lOO feet and the
girth of 72 inches, three feet from the ground, in fifteen
years. On many of the estates equally striking cases of
rapid development could be adduced. Indeed, so kindly
has the Para rubber taken to the Malay soil that in the
last report of Mr. L. Lewton-Brain, the Director of Agri-
culture, Federated Malay States, we find a warning against
planting trees at closer intervals than those allowed by a
provision of one hundred trees to the acre. In Malaya, as
in the greater part of the tropical world, the Para variety
holds unchallenged sway. Ceara Rubber, the Manihot
Glaziovi of Brazil, has been cultivated with some success
in Java, Castilloa finds favour in Mexico, and attention
has been given in Sumatra to Ficus Elastica, the Rambong
of Malaya or Karet of Java; while experiments at different
times have been made with Willughbeias, Funtumias,
Landolphias and Manicoba rubbers. But for profitable
production in the Middle East, at all events, there is
nothing to equal the Hevea Braziliensis. The best test of
its suitability is the extraordinary rapidity with which
Malaya has leapt into the very forefront of rubber-pro-
ducing countries. Its total production in 191 1, given in
the latest official report at 11,118 tons, contrasts with an
export of 22,000 tons for the whole of Africa which has
KUBBKk ESTATE, MAXAGEk S liUXCALnW.
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 291
hitherto supplied 25 per cent, of the world's crop. But
as the African rubber loses as much as from 20 to 40 per
cent, in purification, and the Malayan rubber only i per
cent, the difference between the production of the two
countries is even less than that represented by the figures.
Such as it is, it will speedily lessen, for while the African
output is almost stationary, that of Malaya is mounting by
leaps and bounds. In 191 1 the increase reached the high
figure of 70 per cent. Progress will not be less probably
in the next few years. Mr. Lewton-Brain calculates that in
the not distant future, when all the trees at present planted
are in bearing, the production of rubber in Malaya will
reach the enormous aggregate of 72,000 tons. And this is
a conservative estimate based on the supposition that each
acre will produce on an average not more than 300 lb. of
dry rubber per year — an amount that is very largely
exceeded on good estates. Nor, of course, does the
present acreage, which for the whole of Malaya touches
the high figure of 542,877, represent finality. There are,
especially in the new territory just brought into the British
system, vast areas of land eminently suited for rubber
cultivation, and unless the industry gets a great set-back,
which does not at the time of writing seem probable, the
new territory will certainly be dealt with in the next few
years. Thus, the time may approach when Malaya alone
will supply as large an amount of rubber as is repre-
sented by the total production of all countries to-day,
which stands at about 90,000 tons.
Figures are best introduced sparingly in a work such as
this, but there are many interesting points connected with
the development of the Malayan rubber industry which
can only be adequately brought out by the statistical
method. No apology, therefore, is needed for giving here
the following table, which illustrates in detail the impres-
292
THE MALAY PENINSULA
sive growth of this wonderful new factor in Malayan
prosperity : —
Year.
No. of
Estates.
Acreage under
Rubber.
Quantity
E-xported.
Value in
Sterling.
Labourers on
Estates.
1906
1907
1908
1909
I9IO
I9II
254
365
417
534
632
964
99,230
179,227
241,138
292,035
362,853
542,877
lb.
1,035,601
1,998,889
3,186,099
6,112,023
12,245,864
23,914,263
399,000
785,000
882,000
2,340,000
5,695,000
5,925,000
39.274"
74,871
78,366
110,213
179,030
227,985
A striking point brought out in the tables is the rapid
increase in acreage. In the Federated Malay States the
amount under rubber cultivation in 191 1 was nearly double
that in 1910, which, again, was higher than in any previous
year. The largest increase in 191 1 was in Perak, where
40,791 acres were newly opened, against 15,612 in 1910.
Picturesqueness is not one of the qualities of a rubber
estate, in the early stage of its development, at all events.
Stern necessity has dictated the removal, literally root and
branch, of all the trees and undergrowth which formerly
covered the land, and in their place are seen only the
monotonous lines of the rubber-trees, which, transplanted
from their nursery beds, grow somewhat forlornly amid
the charred debris of their predecessors, whose fallen
remains have been burnt as a sort of preliminary offer-
ing to the goddess Rubber. For a space this fire-
scarred appearance of the landscape continues ; but in
this part of the world, where a railway cutting is made
one month and another month is so well covered with
verdure that the markings of the soil cannot be seen,
the wounds made upon Nature quickly heal, and the
rubber plantations speedily assume a mantle of verdure
' Federated Malay States only.
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 293
thickening as the years proceed, until in due course the
countryside has the appearance of an impenetrable forest.
The practice of close planting followed in some cases has
hastened the inevitable closing in of the umbrageous cover-
ing of the land. But a penalty has had, or will have, to be
paid for the early maturity of the plantation in reduced
production. Experience has shown that the best results
are obtained when the trees are allowed full freedom to
develop. In these cases the latex supply is well main-
tained, and increases steadily as the years go on until it
reaches a high figure. How long the productivity of a
tree thus planted continues has not been as yet clearly
ascertained, but Mr. Ridley advances the view that tapping
can be continued for forty years if the tree is carefully
treated. He states that there are trees of double that age
in Brazil. The tapping process usually begins when the
tree is in its fourth year, though in some cases an earlier
period is adopted. Lines in the form of a herring-bone, a
half herring-bone, or a single V, are drawn upon the bark
of the tree from a point in the trunk as high as a man can
reach from the ground. Using a sharp knife, the tapper
then makes an incision which does not go deeper than the
cambium, or the living layer of the tree. At the base of
the tree is placed a cup to receive the latex. Every morn-
ing, as soon after sunrise as possible, the operator pares a
fine slice off the upper side of each side-cut to promote the
flow of the juice. At the outset there is little latex, especi-
ally in the case of virgin trees, but about the fourth day
the flow becomes marked and the cups are soon filled. At
regular intervals the cups at the trees are emptied into
cans, and the latex removed to the factory. Here it is
strained and then poured into .trays or vats to set.
At the end of from twelve to twenty-four hours
it is sufficiently firm to undergo the rolling process,
294 THE MALAY PENINSULA
which converts it into the crepe or sheet rubber of
commerce. Subsequently it undergoes the final process
of smoking in houses which in places somewhat re-
semble the hop-drying houses so familiar in Kent. The
smoking gives to the rubber quahties which are valued
in the market, and it is now invariably followed. The
method in vogue in the Amazon Valley is to smoke the
latex itself, and in recent years many experiments have
been made with the object of reproducing the process by
means of machinery. " In the result," Mr. Ridley says,
" a method of smoking latex by machinery has been
invented that, in the opinion of experts who have seen it in
operation, bids fair to eclipse in cheapness and in develop-
ing strength and tensility in the rubber any other methods
of treating the latex."
The rubber planter has to cope with a good many pests.
Amongst them white ants — Termes Gestroi — are the most
formidable. Their ravages are very serious where they
once get a foothold. Thanks to the steady crusade which
has been prosecuted against them they are, happily, on
the decrease. A minute beetle — Xyleborus Parvulus, of
the family Scolytidae — is another enemy whose extensive
operations have commanded serious attention. Then there
is the cricket, Brachytrypes Achatinus, which has created
consternation in some directions by its attacks on young
clearings. The practice of the objectionable little creature
is to emerge from its burrow during the night and nibble
the shoots of the young rubber stumps. In some instances
an entire plantation has been cleared of green shoots by
this cricket. Yet another pest which works similar havoc
is a species of beetle closely allied to Xylotrupes, and
the coco-nut beetle, Qyctes Rhinoceros, is also suspect.
Against these and other evil visitations a constant warfare
is waged under the skilful advice of the Agricultural
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 295
Department, which spares no effort to keep the planter
well informed as to the best remedies to apply. On the
whole, there is, perhaps, less mischief done in the case of
rubber by pests than in any other production in tropical
agriculture. The trees, once they have emerged from the
youthful stage, enter upon a healthy period of growth, in
which they appear to be immune from serious attack
under any ordinarily careful system of supervision. It
has been much debated whether manuring should not
be resorted to, but so far the only cultivation given to
rubber-trees consists, to use the words of the Director of
Agriculture, in " a scraping of the surface of the soil to
remove weeds." Mr. Lewton-Brain is of the opinion that
more than this is required, and recommends that " at least
once a year, and probably twice would be better, the soil
should receive a thorough cultivation to a depth of at
least four inches." In many cases, the writer adds, the
conditions would be improved by giving the soil at the
same time a good dressing of lime.
In surveying the field of achievement in the domain of
rubber, it is only fair to say that not a little of the success
that has attended the enterprise is due to the Government
labour policy. Under official guidance, and conspicuously
under the efficient direction of Sir William Taylor, who
throughout his term of service as Resident-General showed
a warm interest in the immigration of natives of India, the
stream of labour into the planting districts has undergone
no serious check from the outset, in spite of competitive
claims of a formidable kind from Ceylon and elsewhere.
The regulations have hit a happy medium between undue
strictness and laxity. The natives are well protected in
all ways, and the planter is not harassed by unnecessary
supervision. There is grumbling, of course, as there always
will be where there is official interference in the working of
296 THE MALAY PENINSULA
an industry. Occasionally there is talk at company meet-
ings of the burdens which the Government system imposes
upon the planters. But when all is said, everybody recognises
that the action taken is the only possible one in territory
under British administration. What the system amounts
to is a sort of paternal guardianship of the coolies by the
Government. The labourers .are recruited in Madras,
under the supervision of official agents, and are taken in
batches to Government depots at Madras and Negapatam.
From hence they are drafted by weekly steamers of the
British India Steam Navigation Company, specially sub-
sidised by the Straits Government, to Malaya. The cost
of their passage is defrayed from a fund known as the
Immigration Fund, into which the proceeds of an assess-
ment levied on all employers of Tamil labour is paid.
This assessment is paid by Government departments as
well as by private employers, and is calculated upon the
number of days' work done for each employer by his
Tamil labourers. As far as the coolies are concerned they
could hardly be more happily placed. They are under no
obligation to repay their passage, and they can leave their
employment on an estate if it is distasteful on giving a
month's notice. In general, however, they settle down
very happily to an existence which, if not exactly of the
lotus-eating kind, is at least a healthy and not at all an
arduous one. The Government are careful to see that
they are well housed, have a proper supply of drinking-
water, and are provided with adequate sanitary con-
veniences. To secure the due enforcement of the regula-
tions in these particulars, a staff of inspectors pay periodical
visits to the estates.
In the working of the rubber estates a great variety of
labour is employed. Tamils and Chinese constitute the
two main bodies of the little army of 166,015 which has
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 297
been mobilised for work in the plantations. In Selangor
the former class are in the ascendant, supplying in 191 1
37,000 out of a total of 71,000 labourers. Perak has a
smaller proportion of Tamils, but they still number over
one-half the total. In Negri Sembilan the Chinese have a
slight advantage, and they are the largest single labour
force in Johore, Kelantan, and Kedah. In the Straits the
Tamils have the superiority, but the Chinese are also
present in large numbers. Javanese, Malays, and others
contribute to the labour ranks, but in the aggregate they
are not important factors. The real backbone of the
working organisation is supplied by the two races first
named. Each has its advocates, and each undoubtedly
has its peculiar qualities. At times doubts have been
expressed whether the supply of hands to the plantations
would keep pace with the enormous strides made by the
industry. There has certainly been an increasing
appreciation of the wage scale now for some time past,
and labour is not always so readily secured as could be
desired. But there are no signs of any real falling off in
the flow of immigrants from India on the one hand and
China on the other. The coolies who enter Malaya do so
with a full assurance that they will receive not only hand-
some wages and fair treatment, but will be looked after in
sickness and health with a solicitude which is beyond cavil.
The increase in the cost of labour, due in part to the
necessarily heavy expenses imposed by the Government
regulations, has been a source of some embarrassment in
the Share Market, but it is probably not to be seriously
regretted in view of the vital importance to the industry
of the maintenance of good health conditions. Certainly,
nothing would be better calculated to give the prosperity of
the rubber plantations a really serious check than neglect
of sanitation. A more legitimate point for criticism is
298 THE MALAY PENINSULA
afforded by the Government policy of imposing an export
duty on rubber. In the case of tin, there is a good deal to
be said for an impost of the kind, because the tin exported
is in the nature of capital which cannot be replaced.
Moreover, Malaya has a modified monopoly of the pro-
duct. Rubber is in quite a different category. Its pro-
duction adds to, rather than detracts from, the natural
wealth of the country, and there is unrestrained competi-
tion in the product. There is abundant food for reflection
in the thought that a rubber expcJrt duty is peculiar to
Malaya, and that just across the Straits, in Sumatra, enor-
mous rubber development is going on. A wise statesman-
ship would place no handicap on the industry beyond, at all
events, the initial stage when costly Government construc-
tion works, such as roads and the provision of hospitals
and water-supplies, had to be undertaken.
Much has been written about the financial aspect of
rubber cultivation. The subject is one which lends itself
to the fascinating art of speculation, and many have fallen
victims to the temptation offered. From its birth the
industry has been distinguished by remarkable fluctua-
tions in the price of the produce of the plantations. In
1896 the valuation of Para rubber from Malaya was no
more than 2s. 8d. per pound. The next year the figure
was slightly higher, and again there were further small
rises in 1898 and 1899, when 3s. 3d. and 3s. lod. were the
respective prices. The steady rise in the quotations
indicated an increasing appreciation of the quality of the
rubber grown in the Middle East. Early prejudices, based
on the supposition that the article was merely an improved
type of wild rubber, were Uved down, and manufacturers
came to realise that the Malayan article was the very best
of its kind on the market. The increased demand due to
the development of the motor trade did the rest. Prices
TAMIL COOMKS TAPPIXi; Kl'IiHEK TREES.
YcirxG i;rni'.KR trkes, cakkv s isi.axd, sei.axodk.
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 299
mounted rapidly as the months went by. The public
notice was arrested by the phenomenon. Investors
entered the market intent on winning a share in so
promising an industry. Still the price of rubber rose
steadily. There was now a feverish disposition to exploit
the position on the part of that section of the financial
world which hangs on to the skirts of any striking
movement affecting investments. Estates, good, bad, and
indifferent, changed hands at extraordinary rates. For-
tunes were made in a few days by men who a year or
two previously had barely a sovereign in their pockets.
Meanwhile, the price of rubber, forced up partly by
market exigencies, partly by the manipulation of specu-
lators, had reached, in 1910, the extraordinary figure of
IIS. a pound. The gambling fever now took an even
stronger form. Every one, almost, joined in the mad
rush for shares. On the market were launched ventures
transparently dishonest. They were swallowed with
avidity with the best of the enterprises. Some people
acted on the principle of taking shares in everything,
being well assured by the state of the market that they
would be able in a day or two to unload at a handsome
profit. Of course, the process could not be continued
indefinitely. There came a point when the world realised
that us. a pound for rubber was an altogether artificial
price, and that estimates based upon it, or any rate approach-
ing it, were bound to prove fallacious. The process of
disillusionment was rapid when it once set in. Prices
tumbled down at an alarming rate in the case of the best
companies: the scrip of the worst concerns was absolutely
unsaleable. Shrewd speculators went off to enjoy their
easily-acquired fortunes, while the investing public at
large, which had had to pay the piper, retired to meditate
on the vanity of human expectations where the Share
300 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Market is concerned. In the end, no permanent harm
was probably done by the episode to the rubber industry.
At a price, possibly a high one, the lesson had been incul-
cated that the interests of the product lie in a steady
pursuance of ordinary commercial methods rather than
in the rushes of a period of inflation in which the true
value of the article is distorted by exaggerated speculation
on the one hand and bogus promotion on the other. Out
of the welter of the boom has emerged a deep, abiding
belief in the future of rubber, and a confident assurance
on the stability and interest-earning capacities of all well-
managed estates in Malaya.
The price of rubber, as every one has foreseen, has
fallen considerably from the top price of the boom period.
It may go lower yet, when the full tide of production sets
in a few years hence. But looking at the governing
factors of the position — the enormous growth in the con-
sumption of rubber, the shrinkage of the old sources of
supply of wild rubber, the better scientific methods that
now prevail of dealing with the various processes of rubber
production, all tending towards economical development
— there is no serious reason to fear that for long years to
come there will not be a handsome margin between the
cost of production and the selling price. The former, it is
true, has still to reach a settled standard. At present there
are wide differences in the ascertained rates, as the fol-
lowing table, extracted from the last report of the Director
of Agriculture, Federated Malay States, will show : —
Perak
Selangor
Negri Sembilan
Pahang
Highest.
2'40
o'lg
378
0-23
2-46
0-24
I '90
060
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 301
The variations are so enormous as to suggest that great
changes will occur before the figure is adjusted with any-
thing like permanency. That future developments should
be in the direction of a fairly low rate seems probable,
having regard to the fact that the maturing of the rubber-
trees will not necessarily coincide with any material
increase in the labour bill. The standard to-day may be
taken on good estates at is. 6d. This, or something near
it, will probably be the general rate throughout the pro-
ducing area. In some years, it may be affected by
abnormal conditions, such as an unusually dry season.
As a general rule, Malaya does not suffer from serious
drought, but the experience in the early months of 191 1,
when water had to be conveyed long distances for stock
and for drinking purposes, and when there was every-
where a serious shrinkage in the supply, shows that this
is a contingency which has to be reckoned with. On the
other hand, it is open to doubt whether the full financial
possibilities of rubber estates have been reached when the
rubber has been marketed. There are by-products of the
article, which, if they can be turned to commercial account,
as they probably can, will immensely enhance the revenue-
earning capacity of the estates. For example, the rubber
seeds contain an oil which has some of the qualities of
cotton-seed oil, and may be expected eventually to take a
place with it in the market. Experiments made in the
production of a cake for cattle-feeding purposes have been
very promising. If the final results are equally satis-
factory, the effect on the interests of the rubber industry
must be markedly favourable.
Quite recently a formidable rival to rubber in the affec-
tions of the planters of Malaya has arisen in the coco-nut.
The circumstance is due to the increasing use made by
Western manufacturers of margarine and soap of the pro-
302 THE MALAY PENINSULA
ducts of the nut. The natural fats which are extracted
from the kernel are precisely those which are required for
the productions named. Not so very many years since
animal fats were almost exclusively resorted to, but the East
having been indented upon for material by some of the
most enterprising firms, the practice became general, and
now the disposition is more and more to lean upon the
coco-nut for the main supplies of the manufacturers'
requirements. A significant indication of the trend of
commercial opinion in this matter is the taking up of land
by some of the largest home firms. The coco-nut only
grows profitably in certain tropical areas near the sea, and
it is no doubt recognised that the increased consumption
will eventually lead to very high prices. In Malaya, the
conditions are almost ideal for coco-nut cultivation. The
warm, moist climate which is so congenial to rubber is
equally suited to the coco-nut, and the great expanses of
practically virgin soil in suitable situations for the culture
are just the sites required for plantations. In 191 1 there
were under cultivation in the Federated Malay States
approximately 142,774 acres, or 12,430 acres more than
in the previous year. The cultivation is distributed as
follows : —
Acres.
Perak 73,120
Selangor 33,355
Negri Sembilan I9>S^4
Pahang 16,715
From this area, it is estimated that there will be pro-
duced 65,000 tons of copra — the dried husk of the coco-
nut — provided all the nuts are converted into that product.
The total value of the copra actually produced in 191 1
was ^181,183. Apart from copra, the coco-nut tree pro-
duces important articles of commerce. Indeed, there is
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 303
no other tree in the world which is put to so many uses.
Coir, the rough hair-like substance of the outer husk, is
invaluable for mats and brooms, the leaves supply
material for baskets, and the juice from the spathe or
blossom of the tree can be converted into sugar or toddy,
a strong fermented drink much in vogue in the East.
There is, therefore, every likelihood that a highly valuable
new industry will be built up as an adjunct to rubber.
At present the enterprise is only in its infancy, but the
Government, with an eye to future revenue, are offering
such encouragement to the taking up of land that it is
bound to make headway. The terms on which land may
be acquired are a premium varying from 4s. 8d. to 7s. per
acre, according to road frontage. The annual quit rent
for the first six years is 2s. 4.6. per acre, and afterwards on
first-class land 9s. 46. per acre, but a rebate of 4s. 8d. per
acre is allowed if the land is planted up with coco-nuts
only. It is imperative in the case of blocks up to 640
acres that planting should be commenced within a year
from the time the grant is obtained or from the time of
occupation, whichever comes first, and a quarter of the area
must be brought into cultivation within five years from
that period. Over a large area the rent and premium
are the same, but the conditions may vary according to
circumstances. For the assistance of intending planters,
a most useful booklet is issued by the Agricultural Depart-
ment, giving cultural directions and other information
likely to be of service. A special note has been made of
precautions which must be adopted against pests, of which
there appear to be many. Wild hog, who give great
trouble, it is suggested, may be kept off where there is no
fence by a small piece of rag soaked in Zotal or Jeyes
Purifier, and tied to one of the lower leaves near the
ground. Means to an end more simple, it would seem,
304 THE MALAY PENINSULA
could hardly be devised. Black beetles also, it seems, can
be effectually dealt with by the same chemical compound
mixed with sand and applied copiously to the cavities at
the junction of the leaves with the trunk. But the dreaded
red beetle, which has won an unenviable distinction by its
attacks upon coco-nut palms in different parts of the East,
is not so readily exorcised. In the opinion of experts,
once a tree is really infected with this pest the only thing
to be done is to cut the tree down and destroy it. It is
consoling, however, to know that the beetle can hardly
ever attack the trees if proper attention be paid to
them.
Agricultural products, other than rubber and coco-nuts,
and possibly padi, to which 104,428 acres were devoted
in the Federated Malay States in 191 1, do not contribute
materially to the prosperity of the territory. Coffee still
has a footing, however, and a little sugar is grown, chiefly
as a catch crop, while a certain amount of fruit is produced
in the vicinity of the Settlements. It would be unsafe to
predict that these conditions will continue to prevail in
Malaya. In planting nothing is so uncertain as the future,
and may be, before many years have run, the sturdy repre-
sentatives of Britain in the Malayan planting community
will be offering incense to some new god or goddess whose
charms have captured their fancy. Meantime, however,
we may be content to subscribe to the following senti-
ments in the last report of Mr. Lewton-Brain which seem
admirably to fit the situation : " With two such highly
paying and well-established industries as Para rubber and
coco-nuts, Malaya is exceptionally well situated as regards
agricultural prospects. Neither of these is, in my opinion,
likely to show any signs of failure for many years to come.
There may be bad times ahead when plantation rubber
begins to supply the world's consumption, and some of the
WlXXdWIXG PADI.
PLOUGHING RICEFIKLDS, NP;AK AI.dK STAR, KEUAH.
RUBBER AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 305
weaker concerns may succumb to the drop in prices that
will probably result. Speaking generally, however, rubber
plantations in Malaya are quite capable of withstanding
any competition that can at present be foreseen, and
paying well at a much lower price for rubber than is
likely to obtain for a few years, and at as low a price
as is ever likely to obtain."
20
CHAPTER XVII
THE PEOPLE : THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND
OCCUPATIONS
Aboriginal tribes — Their traditions — The Creation and the Flood —
The Malays — Their characteristics — Malay industries — The
Straits Chinese — The Indian population— Changing aspects of
the population.
Malaya has sometimes been regarded as a country in
which the interests are divided between British, Malays,
Chinese, and Indians. Broadly speaking, this undoubtedly
is the case, but a good many other elements go to make
up the complete community. In point of fact, Malaya is
ethnologically one of the most varied and interesting of
the possessions of the Crown. The population, drawn
from many widely separated centres — centres racially dis-
tinct and strongly marked in their peculiar anthropological
characteristics — presents an extraordinary diversity, and
affords, in consequence, a field of scientific investigation of
the highest value. In this tongue of land stretching out
into the ocean, and largely isolated from the Asiatic con-
tinent, have been racial currents and eddies which have
baffled so far the skill of ethnologists to explain fully.
The great question of the origin of the Malays, for
example, has yet to be finally settled and with it those
fascinating problems associated with the ancient Indian
civilisation of Java, which have occupied the attention of
every great Anglo-Malayan writer from the time of
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 307
Raffles onwards. Science is doing much to unravel these
mysteries, and it may be relied on to do more in the
future as the country is opened up and new light is
possibly thrown on points at present unintelligible or
obscure. A hopeful feature is the enthusiasm for scientific
investigation shown by the younger members of the
Straits Civil Service. The spirit of patient and laborious
research which shone so conspicuously in the careers of
Raffles, of Crawfurd, and of Logan survives in the work of
Mr. R. J. Wilkinson, who, in the last few years, has done
much to elucidate the characteristics of the people of
Malaya.
At the top of the ethnological tree of Malaya is to be
found several distinct aboriginal tribes presenting features
of peculiar interest. Scientifically they are classed in the
following seven main groups: (l) the Negritoes; (2) the
Northern Sakai ; (3) the Central Sakai ; (4) the Besisi ;
(S) the Jakun ; (6) the aborigines of Gunong Benom ; and
(7) the Malay-speaking aborigines. The Negritoes are
differentiated from the other tribes by their dark colour,
negroid features, and frizzled hair. They live chiefly on
the banks of the Perak River, in the valleys and tribu-
taries of the Upper Perak River, and the Pangan of
Pahang. The Northern Sakai are a wavy-haired people,
rather fairer than the Negritoes, but — owing probably to
Negrito mixture — not so fair as the Central Sakai farther
south. Mr. Wilkinson, in his contribution to the last
census report, to which we are indebted for many interest-
ing details, states that in the high mountains remote from
civilisation they have a relatively high culture and live in
large communities in communal houses. Akin to the
Northern Sakai and presenting many characteristics in
common with them, the Central Sakai are a fairer race
and speak a different dialect. The Besisi are a mixed
308 THE MALAY PENINSULA
race, living in small communities on the plains of Selangor
and Negri Sembilan to the south-west of the main range.
They are less exclusive than their congeners in other
districts, and on that account are becoming merged in the
general population. The Jakun are aboriginal communi-
ties who inhabit the plains and lower hill country of the
interior of Pahang. Though they speak a language of
their own, they are classed by the Malays amongst the
Malay-speaking aborigines who live in the coast district
of Pahang. The Gunong Benom aborigines speak a dis-
tinct dialect, a fact which was discovered only at the last
census, and it seems likely that the characteristic may
imply racial differences, though on this point nothing can
be said at present, nor is it possible to give the racial
affinities of the tribe. In regard to the last of the group,
the Malay-speaking tribes, the fact that Malay is spoken
does not imply that they have abandoned their own
language for the use of Malay. On the contrary, Mr.
Wilkinson suggests " it is probable that the use of a
Malayan dialect by the tribes known as ' Biduanda,'
' Blandas,' or ' Mantra ' ante-dates the first coming of the
Malays to Malacca." The group is embraced in two
principal divisions — the Biduanda tribe already referred
to and the Malay-speaking Jakun of Johore, Kuala Pilah,
and the Pahang coast. The Biduanda are hill tribes of
very primitive culture and very distinctive beliefs. They
inhabit the main range (especially the Selangor side of it)
from Ulu Selangor to Tampin. The Malay-speaking
Jakun live in the plains, and are noted for the peculiar
" riddling descriptive " language they use. Experience
goes to show that the knowledge of the tribal system of
the Peninsula is yet very incomplete, in spite of the
elaborate investigations of Mr. Skeat and other scientists
who have devoted much attention and skill to the beliefs
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 309
and customs of the tribesmen. The more remote tribes of
the interior, which has been little visited, may yet have
points of special interest and importance to disclose for
the better understanding of the ethnological system of
Malaya.
Numerically the aborigines are, and probably in recent
times always have been, insignificant. For a long time
located for the most part in the recesses of forests or
living on remote mountains far from civilisation, their
numbers were a matter of pure speculation. Special pains,
however, were taken at the last two censuses to secure a
thorough enumeration of all the tribesmen in the Federated
Malay States, and a fairly accurate approximation has
been obtained of the size of this interesting element in the
population. At the census of 1901 the total recorded was
18,574. In 191 1 the much larger number of 26,277 was
returned. The difference is not due, as Mr. A. M. Pount-
ney, the superintendent of the census, is careful to explain,
to growth of the population, but to more effective enumera-
tion. In order to secure reliable figures various expedients
were adopted. The giving of a feast to the tribesmen at
convenient centres was one plan followed. But the best
results were obtained by sending enumerators into the
wilds and getting particulars of the tribes by the exercise
of a simple device which is explained by Mr. Wilkinson in
some interesting sentences in his report. " It was known,"
he says, " that the Northern Sakai, a specially shy tribe,
used a peculiar word, ' 16*,' for blood. The enumerators
were given the Malay word for blood, and were asked to
obtain and note the aboriginal equivalent on their schedules.
In no case did any enumerator who was sent to the
Northern Sakai in Upper Perak, Kuala Kangsar, or Kinta
bring back any word except the correct word ' 16' ' on his
schedules. This word was, of course, only one of the ten
310 THE MA.LAY PENINSULA
key-words, and the rest of the vocabulary was of equal
accuracy."
The degree of civilisation amongst the tribes varies to a
very considerable extent. The Northern Sakai practise
agriculture and live in small houses. The Besisi tribes
also cultivate the soil, build houses, have some artistic
sense, are fond of music, possess a few primitive songs,
and know something of the art of navigation. On the
other hand, some of the Negrito tribes are extremely
nomadic ; they are not acquainted with any form of
agriculture ; they use bows and arrows ; they live in mere
leaf shelters with floors that are not raised above the
ground ; their quivers and other bamboo utensils are very
roughly made and adorned. The tribes have traditions
which, from their extraordinary character, have attracted
much attention from students of folk-lore. One very
common belief which is widely spread among the tribes
relates to a great cataclysm — a universal conflagration or
a flood. A version which Logan gives of this curious
legend is the following : —
" In ancient times Perman (the Deity) broke up this
skin (the skin of the earth) so that the world was destroyed
and overwhelmed with water. Afterwards he caused
Gunong Lulumut, together with Chemundang and Bechuak
(hills in Johore), to rise out of the water, this lowland we
now inhabit being formed later. These mountains in the
south, together with Mount Ophir (Gunong Ledang),
the mountains of Kaf (Gunong Kap), Flute Pillar Hill
(Gunong Tongkat Bangsi), and Gunong Tongkat Subang
on the north, give a fixity to the earth's skin. The earth
still depends entirely upon these mountains for steadiness.
. . . When Lulumut had already emerged, a ship (prahu)
of ' pulai ' wood, completely covered over and without any
opening, was left floating on the waters. In this Perman
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 311
had enclosed a man and a woman whom he had created.
After the lapse of some time the vessel no longer pro-
gressed, either with or against the current, and ceased to
be driven to and fro. The man and woman, therefore,
feeling it to be motionless, nibbled their way through it
and, standing upon the dry ground, beheld this our world.
At first, however, everything was obscure. There was
neither morning nor evening, because the sun had not yet
been created. When it became light they saw seven small
wild rhododendron (' sendudo ') shrubs and seven clumps
of the grass called ' samban.' They then remarked to each
other, ' In what a condition are we left, lacking both
children and grandchildren ! ' Some time afterwards, how-
ever, the woman conceived — not, however, in her womb,
but in the calves of her legs. From the right leg came
forth a male and from the left a female child. Hence it is
that the issue of the same womb cannot intermarry. All
mankind are the descendants of the two children of the
first pair. When men had much increased Perman looked
down upon them and reckoned their numbers with
pleasure."
Another quaint version of the same tradition is given by
Messrs. Skeat and Blagden in their monumental work,
" Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula," in the following
amusing words : —
" Till the time of Batin, Lord-knows-who, men never
used to drink ; no water was to be had and the sensation
of thirst was unknown. It came about in this way. One
day Lord-knows-who, having shot a monkey with a blow-
pipe, made a fire, at which he smoked and ate it. Some
time after he became sensible of a desire to imbibe some-
thing and went about in search of water, but found none,
not even a water-giving liana or monkey-rope ('akar'), for
lianas did not produce water at that time. At last, how-
312 THE MALAY PENINSULA
ever, he came upon an old stump of a tree called ' j^lotong,'
and on listening at a hole in it heard the sound of water
trickling below. He therefore fastened a liana to the top
of the tree outside and by this means let himself down
into the hole until he reached the water, where he slaked
his thirst. He then made his way out again by means of
the creeper, and just as he was leaving the spot saw a
large white river-turtle issue from the hole accompanied
by a vast body of water and begin to chase him. Lord-
knows-who, therefore, ran for his life, and called to the
elephant for help, but they were both driven back by the
rush of water. Lord-knows-who then encountered a tiger,
whose help he likewise begged, and the tiger attacked the
turtle's head, but failed to produce any impression. Lord-
knows-who, therefore, continued his flight until he met a
wild bull (' seladang '), whom he implored to come to his
rescue, and the bull proceeded to trample upon the turtle,
but all to no purpose. Lord-knows-who next begged the
aid of the rhinoceros, but equally without effect, as both of
them were compelled to fly from the turtle. At length
Lord-knows-who was forced to apply for the intervention
of a mouse-deer (' kanchil '), which is the smallest of all
the deer kind and not so large as a hare, whereupon the
mouse-deer said, ' What good can be done by small
creatures like ourselves?' Lord-knows-who said, ' I have
asked all the others and they have been able to do nothing.-
Then said the mouse-deer, ' Very well, we will try ; do you
therefore, get on one side.' But the mouse-deer forthwith
called together an army of mouse-deer — in fact, the entire
race — ^and said, 'If we do not kill the turtle we all perish,
but if we kill him all is well' Then they all jumped on
the turtle, which was of great size, and stamped on him
with their tiny hoofs until they had driven holes through
his head and neck and back and thus killed him. But
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 313
meanwhile the body of water which accompanied the
turtle had increased to a vast extent and formed what is
now the sea."
When we turn from these interesting people with their
delightful traditions to the more civilised Malays, we are
confronted with difficulties regarding origin scarcely less
formidable than those which enshroud the ancestry of the
wild tribesmen. The Malay version of the descent of their
princes from Alexander, the great Macedonian, may be
dismissed as a fantastic invention. It has nothing to
support it, and is wildly improbable on the face of it. But
the Malays may very well have had an Indian, or at
least a Central Asiatic, origin. Their incorporation of the
Sanscrit honorific " Sri " in their titles suggests that their
Palembang forebears, in the far-off times of which ancient
Chinese writers speak, must have had some association
with the classic land which was its home. Additional
evidence in the same direction is furnished by the
statements of the Chinese annalists that the kings of
Palembang, who sent ambassadors to the Chinese Emperors
in the tenth and eleventh centuries of the Christian era,
used the Sanscrit characters in their writings, and that one
of them is mentioned as having in 1017 forwarded among
his presents " Sanscrit books folded between boards." Sir
Frank Swettenham, no mean authority on Malayan lore, is
of the opinion that there is ground for believing that the
Malays are the descendants of people who crossed from the
South of India to Sumatra, mixed with a people already
inhabiting that island, and gradually spread themselves
over the central and most fertile States — Palembang, Jambi,
Indragiri, Menangkabau, and Kampar. From Sumatra
they worked their way to Java, to Singapore, and the
Malay Peninsula, to Borneo, Celebes, the other islands of
the Archipelago, and even to the Philippines, Sulu, the
3U THE MALAY PENINSULA
Caroline Islands, and perhaps to Formosa. The word
" Malay " is said to be derived from a river of that name, the
Sungei Malayu, which flows by the mountain Siguntang
Maha Meru in the State of Palembang in Sumatra, but it
is equally likely that it was carried by the first emigrants
from the Mallia or Malaya country in Southern India.
Indian or non-Indian, the Malays have always had a
reputation as a people who had attained a high stage of
civilisation. The Chinese tell us of the Malays of Palem-
bang as a people who were well practised in the arts of
trade, who used musical instruments (a small guitar and
drums), and who possessed imported slaves who made
music for them by stamping on the ground and singing.
The earliest European accounts of them, penned some
centuries later, give an agreeable account of Malay culture.
Duarte Barbosa, the Portuguese writer of the beginning of
the sixteenth century, describes the Malays of Malacca as
" very polished people, and gentlemen, musical, gallant,
and well proportioned." Lancaster and other Englishmen
who visited the Straits in the seventeenth century also
testified to the advanced stage of development in which
they found the Malays. European commentators, however,
were not by any means always complimentary. There
were constant references to Malay laziness and treachery.
Indeed, the tradition was rapidly built up that in a combi-
nation of these two unhandsome qualities was to be found
the true Malay character. How unjust this assumption was
has been proved strikingly by the later history of Malaya,
which, with one or two exceptions, has shown that under
proper treatment the Malay is as loyal and trustworthy as
any of the subject races of the Crown. One of the best
descriptions of Malay character is that given by Raffles in
the monograph which appears as an appendix to the
biography written by his widow. " Notwithstanding their
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 315
piracies and vices usually attributed to them," he said
(writing of course in the unregenerate days of Malaya),
" there is something in the Malayan character which is
congenial to British minds and which leaves an impression
the very opposite to that which a much longer intercourse
has given of the more subdued and cultivated natives of
Hindostan. Retaining much of that boldness which marks
the Tartar stock from whence they are supposed to have
sprung, they have acquired a softness not less remarkable
in their manners than in their language. Few people are
more habitually polite, or attend more to the courtesies of
society. Among many of them traces of a former higher
state of civilisation are obvious, and where the opportunity
has been afforded, even in our own times, they have been
found capable of receiving the highest state of intellectual
improvement." To this generous estimate most of those
who are most intimate with the Malay would whole-
heartedly subscribe. They recognise in him one of
Nature's gentlemen, and are often enthusiastic in their
testimony to the possession of instincts and habits of
thought which mark him out from other Oriental races with
whom they may have been brought in contact. Never-
theless, even the Malay's best friends are fain compelled
to admit that he does not take kindly to manual labour.
His tastes incline in the direction of sport — cock-fighting
by preference — and these are incompatible with the
strenuous life. He goes through existence with an easy
grace born of long centuries' experience in the art of
getting the best of things with the smallest exertion. Not
so very many years ago he was accustomed to vary his
daily exercises in killing time with a little indiscriminate
piracy. Indeed, the whole countryside was interested in
these sea-roving ventures, just as many of our own coast
people at home a hundred years ago were in touch with
316 THE MALAY PENINSULA
smuggling. Many are the lurid stories which can be
read in the records of the murderous deeds done up and
down the Straits by organised bodies of marauders who
were either directly under the orders of the local chiefs or
were associated with them in the nefarious transactions
as sharers in the proceeds of the infamy. British
influence, reinforced by the aid of steam, which enabled
the necessarily leisured movements of the piratical
prahus to be counterchecked, slowly but surely wiped the
stain from the Malay escutcheon. Now, to-day, piracy in
the Straits is an evil dream which the Malay wishes to
forget, much as the Maori is anxious to blot out the
anthropophagous tendencies of his ancestors.
The Malay of to-day is largely interested in agricultural
pursuits. Rice cultivation is his staple occupation, or
rather that of his family, for the bulk of the work is
relegated to the women-folk. Coco-nuts are another
favourite Malay crop, but the plantations are seldom large
and they are often part of a miscellaneous fruit enclosure
which the proprietor keeps for the satisfaction largely of
his own not excessive needs. Many of the Malay habi-
tations are on the banks of rivers and creeks, in which the
Peninsula abounds, and in those cases fishing is added to
the other occupations of the son of the soil. He is very
expert with the paddle, and to the inexperienced European
one of the most attractive sights which the life of the
country affords is the glimpse caught on the water-
ways of a thick-set, bronze figure posed in a cockleshell
of a craft and throwing his net with unerring aim upon
the spot where the presence of fish has been disclosed.
If the net should unfortunately get caught in a snag,
the spectator will see the figure dive overboard, and may
in the clear stream watch his lithe body passing under-
water, like the form of a huge fish, to the spot where
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 317
the net has become entangled, and note the rapidity
with which, once he has reached the spot, he releases
his equipment. Industrial life, as a general rule, does not
at all attract the Malay. He frets under the confinement
of a workshop or mine, and rarely can he be persuaded to
accept employment in either for any length of time.
Nevertheless, he is not without considerable aptitude for
craftsmanship. We have already spoken of the boat-
building, metal-working, and other industries of Treng-
ganu. They are, as we have seen, of high interest
artistically and of considerable commercial importance.
In the same State there is an important silk-weaving
industry which turns out sarongs — the characteristic article
of dress worn by Malays — which are things of beauty
much sought after throughout the Middle East. As a rule,
however, Trengganu is the home of clever imitations of
superior articles, and on that account Sir Hugh Clifford,
in his report, styles Kuala Trengganu " the Birmingham
of the Peninsula " — a rather unkind reflection, it would
seem, on the great Midland city. Pahang, Perak, and
Kelantan also have a weaving industry, the fabrics of
which are much sought after by Malays and Europeans
alike. The loom used is a very simple one, closely
resembling the common hand-loom of England. Both
cotton and silk fabrics are turned out, and gold thread
is extensively introduced in the more costly silk material.
" For the most part," says Mr. Leonard Wray, late Director
of the Federated Malay States Museums, " this is only
applied to the woof, though occasionally a few strands of
gold thread are laid in amongst the warp so as to produce
longitudinal lines of gold in the cloth. When simple,
straight, or transverse lines or bends are desired, the gold
thread is used in the ordinary way in the shuttle, but where
detached floral or other patterns are required separate
318 THE MALAY PENINSULA
bobbins of gold thread are used and the thread is inserted
where required, as the weaving progresses, one bobbin
being used for each line of flowers or other adornments.
These bobbins are generally made of horn in the shape of
a netting-needle. As many as thirty or forty may be used
for the weaving of one width of highly ornate cloth."
Another way in which patterns are produced is by a
species of tie and dye work. In this the warp threads
are dyed before being woven. Embroidery also plays
an important part in Malay industry. Exquisitely beau-
tiful effects are produced with gold thread on a ground
usually of some rich shade of velvet. When His Majesty
the King, then Prince of Wales, visited the Straits in 1901
he was presented by the Sultan of Perak with some
charming specimens of this embroidery, which were pro-
duced by his second wife. Allied to this work is the Biku,
or pillow-lace, which is executed by Malay ladies in various
parts of the Peninsula. The art was introduced by the
Portuguese several centuries ago, and has been developed
in accordance with Malayan taste, the fabrics often being
manufactured in brilliant-coloured silks which are very
racy of the soil. Basket and mat-making, wood-carving,
pottery work and metal working are other branches
of industry followed in various parts of the Peninsula.
There is also a flourishing silver industry, which was
probably originally introduced from India, but which has
developed on individual lines. The process of ornamen-
tation is identical with that known in England as repousse
work. There is, in addition, a certain amount of chased
work produced, some of it very elaborate and attractive.
Inlaying is an art which is practised to a limited extent.
In the Perak Museum there is a beautiful specimen of the
work in the form of a kris blade, very finely ornamented
with gold and silver. Traditionally, it is stated that the
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 319
craftsman who produced this was put to death when he
had completed his work, because his patron, the local
chief, did not want him to supply any one else with his
productions. A more deadly enemy to Malay industry
than even a bloodthirsty and jealous prince is the apathy
and indifference which are eating into the vitals of many
of the native arts. Contact with Westerns has developed
a taste for the cheaper and often inferior products of
Europe, with the result that local crafts are neglected.
The Government is doing what it can, by judicious
patronage, to stimulate the public interest in the local
manufactures, but it is to be feared that the downgrade
movement is not likely to be averted by any official action
that is possible.
Amongst the most curious of Malay institutions, and
one which is least easy to reconcile with the generous
traits of the race, is debt bondage, a practice which,
happily extinct in the Federated Malay States and
elsewhere, is daily becoming more honoured in the breach
than in the observance. Under this system, a person
who incurs indebtedness to another and is unable to
liquidate the liability is compelled to give his or her
services to the creditor until the amount is paid.
Very often the amount never is paid, and consequently
the debtor becomes to all intents and purposes a life-
long slave. We get many glimpses of the custom
in the records of Bencoolen, the officials at which station
were brought into intimate trading relations with the
Malays. One passage in a despatch sent home in
November, 1764, cites the practice as an example of the
ineradicable tendency of the Malay to take life easily.
" The people of these countries," says the despatch,
" seldom pay their debts till they are obliged, or till com-
pulsive means are ready to be used, and by reason of their
320 THE MALAY PENINSULA
indolence they are seldom provided with the means before-
hand, so that when the term of payment comes their laws
oblige them to pawn their children or relations for debt,
which by that additional motive to industry they com-
monly then use their endeavours to discharge. In reality,
these people have not the same degree of natural affection
for their wives and families that is usual in other countries.
Having the liberty of divorce, husbands and wives are in
the habit of parting from one another and their children,
or of seeing others do so by choice or for debt ; and
this is so much the custom that one would almost think
the fathers esteem their wives and children rather as
saleable commodities than in any other light."
In this style the system flourished until quite modern
times. Under its cover many iniquities were practised,
though it is only just to say that in the great majority of
cases the bond slaves were well treated and regarded more
as members of the family than people in a state of servitude.
The institution, of course, was incompatible with British
rule, and had to be got rid of at the earliest possible period.
We must not pass from the subject of the Malays
without saying a few words about the efforts that are
being made to educate the well-to-do Malay youth after
the English public school manner. At Kuala Kangsar
is a fine institution, modelled somewhat on the lines of
the Rajkumar College in India. In a splendidly appointed
building, and under competent masters who have won
academic distinction at home, little Malay boys from seven
years upwards are taken in hand and instructed on lines
identical with those followed at Eton and Harrow. The
scheme has found great favour with the well-to-do Malay
families, and its success is assured as an educational
venture. But, of course, its influence must be much
deeper than that of an ordinary public school. The
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 321
training given at Kuala Kangsar will infuse a new and
healthy spirit into the whole social fabric, and tend to
the further uplifting of this most interesting race. The
pity of it is that the advantages of English education
given at Kuala Kangsar are not extended to a lower
social stratum. One of the special needs of the time in
British Malaya is for the wider diffusion of English as
the language of the Peninsula. At present, Malay is the
lingua franca, but English might easily be substituted —
and with advantage from every standpoint — if the Govern-
ment gave more attention to the provision of means of
acquiring the language.
Next to the Malays, the Chinese call for attention in
a survey of the Malayan population. A writer of the
eighteenth century described them as " swarming like
bees " in the Straits. To-day that description might be
applied with even greater force and accuracy. In point
of fact, as far as the Federated Malay States are con-
cerned, the Chinese are now the dominant element in the
population. They have overtopped the Malays, and are
considerably more than double in number the Indian
community, which also, however, has vastly increased in
the last decade. The general position of the Chinese
in relation to the other communities in the federated
area is well illustrated by the accompanying tables, com-
piled from the Census Report for 191 1 : —
Perak.
Europeans
Eurasians
Malays
Chinese
Indians
Others
Total .
igoi.
1911.
672
1.396
591
845
142,168
199.034
150,239
217,206
34,760
73.539
1.23s
2,037
329,665 494.057
21
322
THE MALAY PENINSULA
Europeans
Eurasians
Malays
Chinese ..
Indians
Others
Selangor.
1901.
igii.
5"
1.348
580
1,255
40,640
64,952
109,598
150,908
16,847
74,067
613
1,505
Total ...
168,789
294.035
Negri Sembilan.
Europeans
Eurasians
Malays
Chinese ..
Indians
Others
Total ..
142
309
56,93s
32,931
5,526
185
96,028
403
464
69,74s
40,843
18,248
496
130,199
Pahang.
Europeans
134
137
Eurasians
46
85
Malays
73,462
87,109
Chinese ...
8,69s
24,287
Indians
1,253
6,611
Others
523
479
Total
84,113
118,708
From these tables it will be seen that the Chinese hav
increased during the past decade by 131,781, or 437 pe
cent. The figure contrasts with 114,079, the increas
assigned to the Indian population ; but as the latter wet
a comparatively small community in 1901 — they numbere
58,386 — the percentage of their increase reached the hug
figure of I95'4 per cent. Chinese or Indian — which ?
the question that is often asked in regard to the permaner
industrial ascendancy in Malaya. Each race has i
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 323
backers, and each has characteristics which abundantly
justify the confidence of its supporters. At present, there
is ample room in the Peninsula for each, and the question
of rivalry is a purely academic one. Development is pro-
ceeding at such a pace that migrants from both India and
China are absorbed almost without the country being
aware of the extent to which both are being drawn upon.
But it may be different in years to come, when the rubber
industry has reached its extreme limit, and mining perhaps
has lost still more of its glamour for the Chinaman.
Then, possibly, will come a squeeze, which will make inter-
racial competition keen. Taking a broad view of things,
it will be strange if the Chinaman takes a subordinate
position in this sphere of influence which has been his for
centuries. His tenacity is great, and this, allied with his
industry and his superior physique, will probably leave
him the victor in any economic or racial struggle which
he may be compelled by fate to embark upon. One
great thing in his favour is the strongly entrenched
monetary position of his countrymen in the Straits. The
wealth of the community is enormous. They have a
finger in every promising new pie ; they are the chief
private mine owners, the principal property owners in the
towns, the leading tradesmen, the most prosperous adven-
turers in private planting — in short, wherever there is
money to be made, you may be sure that the Chinaman
is not far away. It was to a considerable extent out of
the amassed riches of the Straits Chinese that the great
revolt in China was subsidised. Indeed, in recent years,
this section of the Malayan population has become an
increasingly important factor in the political adjustment
of the Far East, for it has supplied not only the sinews
of war, but able and patriotic young brains to help on the
regeneration of that distressful country. This excursion
324 THE MALAY PENINSULA
into the realm of Chinese politics is not to be taken to
indicate any desire on the part of the Straits Chinaman
to forswear his British allegiance. He has prospered
too greatly under the Union Jack ever to desire to ex-
change it for any other. His action may probably be
regarded as merely a natural outcome of a desire generated
by his environment to see extended to his native country
the same advantages of civilised and ordered Government
which he and his have so long enjoyed to their infinite
profit. As a trader, the Chinaman in Malaya enjoys an
excellent reputation. Though keen in striking a bargain
he is eminently trustworthy. He does not give his " chop "
— his sign-manual— readily, but once having given it he
stands to his word. The coolie class of Chinamen were
at one time much given to faction fighting, and their Secret
Societies were a source of considerable anxiety to the
authorities for years ; but by a firm administration of the
criminal law, coupled with the enforcement of the regula-
tions permitting of the expulsion of bad characters from
the Colony, the situation has undergone a vast improvement.
As a whole, the Chinese are now a most orderly com-
munity, given over almost entirely to the gentle art of
money-making, at which they excel.
The Indians amongst the Malay population are to a
very large extent associated with the planting industry,
either directly as labourers or indirectly as traders, and others
ministering to the needs of the plantations. The Tamils,
that industrious people from Southern India who have long
been the great labour mainstay of the Ceylon tea-
plantations, form by far the largest Indian group. To a
total of 172,465 Indians in the Federated Malay States
they contribute no fewer than 143,785. Telugus come
next with 9,825, then Punjabis with 7,919, and after them
Bengalis with 5,050, Malayali with 3,120, Hindustani (the
tM^^
•-■v^
lULLilCK CARTS AT A CHIXKSE VILI,A(,E.
MALAY \'lLLA(.lv, I'LI' GuMBOK, SKLAXGOK".
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 325
term is somewhat obscure), with 1,354, Afghan with 849,
Gujerati with 166, Mahratti with 123, Burmese with 42,
and "other Indians" with 232. Here we have a fair
representation of the varied races of India, and the list
is made still more complete by the addition of classes
amongst the population of the older Settlements in the
Colony itself In the ranks of the professional men and
traders at Singapore are found not a few Parsees — that
interesting people who fill so large a place in the life of
Western India — and there is also a considerable colony of
Madras Chetties, a moneylending fraternity. India con-
tributes, too, materially to the Eurasian class of immi-
grants, notably in the subordinate clerical ranks of the
railways and commercial and trading establishments.
Amongst the miscellaneous Asiatic races comprising the
residue left after the enumeration of the Malays, Chinese,
and Indians, the most interesting is, perhaps, the Bugis.
This people, who come from Celebes, are a hardy race of
seafarers who played an important part in the life of the
earlier British settlements in the Middle East, where they
acted in various useful capacities. In recent times their
numbers have dwindled, but they still constitute a
picturesque element of the waterside population of
Singapore. The exclusively European population calls
for no lengthened notice. Of late years it has increased
enormously, especially in the Federated Malay States,
where the opening up of rubber estates has created a
demand for European supervisors. There is an over-
whelming British preponderance in this section of the
population. Of a total of 3,284 returned at the census in
igii, 1,368 came from England, 387 from Scotland, 33
from Wales, 2 from the Channel Islands, 178 from
Australasia, 36 from South Africa, 14 from Canada, and
483 were born in the Malay Peninsula. Taking the
326 THE MALAY PENINSULA
figures as a whole, almost exactly 90 per cent, of the
European population of the Federated Malay States were
British. To the foreign element the French contribute
131, or 4 per cent, of the total European population ; the
Dutch 76, or 2 per cent. ; Americans 42, and Germans 41.
In the Colony the British predominance is not so great,
and the relative foreign positions are changed, Germany
taking a much higher place by virtue of her extensive
colony at Singapore and her strong representation at
Penang.
The bases of population in Malaya have shifted
enormously in recent times, and they are probably
destined in the future to be altered still more strikingly.
The point is best illustrated by a few facts. In 1891 the
population of the Colony was 512,342, and that of the
Federated Malay States 424,218. In 1901 the Colony
had a population of 572,249, and the Federated Malay
States one of 678,595. The 191 1 returns give the figures
for the Colony at 714,069, and those for the Federated
Malay States at 1,036,999. Thus it will be seen that in
thirty years there has been a complete reversal of the
positions of the two areas constituting British Malaya
in regard to population, and it will be noted, further, that
there are now in the Federated Malay States almost
exactly double the number of people who were shown
to inhabit the older Settlements in 1891. A glance at
the figures of the urban population show in another way
what remarkable changes have been taking place in the
last few decades. Thirty years ago Singapore, Penang,
and Malacca were practically the only populous centres
of importance in Malaya. At the present time the
Federated Malay States has within its limits Kuala
Lumpur (the capital), with 46,718 inhabitants, Ipoh
(Perak), with 23,978, Taiping (Perak), 19,556, and Kampar
MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND OCCUPATIONS 327
(Perak), 11,604, together with a number of other thriving
townships, which at the present rate of their growth will
soon be towns of respectable size. The older Settlements
are moving in sympathy with the growth of the population
on the mainland. But it is scarcely open to question that
the future population of Malaya will show such an
enormous preponderance in the newer territory as to
change the whole aspect of affairs as it is presented to-
day. The nature of the tendencies in operation is reflected
in the energy which is being put into the development
of through communications by way of the Eastern States.
An immense impetus to settlement must inevitably be
given by this work in areas at present quite outside the
Federated Malay States, and, therefore, not taken into
account in the existing population returns. The population
will increase there at a rate possibly short of that which
has marked the progress of the Western States, but still
sufficiently great to swell materially the totals when
censuses are taken in years to come. This new factor,
coupled with the natural growth of the population in the
western area, will give the Peninsular returns an impressive
appearance, as compared with those of the Colony. The
time, perhaps, is not very remote when a community of
five millions is under the charge of the Government,
directly and indirectly, in the Peninsular States. At that
period, in all probability, the population of the Colonial
territory will not exceed a million, and it may be a good
deal below that figure.
CHAPTER XVIII
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING
Singapore's commercial pre-eminence — Tlie gradual development
of her trade — The first dock scheme — Formation of the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company — Its successful career —
Expropriation of the concern by the Government — Improve-
ments at the port — The new graving-dock — Marine ports in
Malaya— Singapore as a distributing centre — The trade of
Malaya as a whole.
Malaya in general and Singapore in particular
afford a striking proof of the truth of the adage
that trade follows the flag. Less than a century ago
the Straits trade was an infinitesimal quantity, and
Singapore was a small fishing-village. To-day, the
imports and exports of Malaya are about one hundred
millions sterling annually, or considerably larger than the
entire commerce of Great Britain a hundred years ago,
and we find Singapore a magnificent city of a quarter
million inhabitants, one of the political nerve centres
of the civilised world, and with trade connections which
bring it into touch with every country. The change
has been wrought entirely by British influence. In the
days when that influence was non-existent or was
only timidly exercised, commerce languished ; as soon
as a wise statesmanship decided that an active policy
should be adopted, an era of prosperity set in which has
been accentuated in degree with every fresh extension
of the protection of the Union Jack. It is true, no
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING 329
doubt, that the growth of Malayan trade has coincided
with a period of development almost all the world over.
But it is morally certain that if at the psychological
moment Britain had not in the first instance resisted
Dutch pretensions and later grasped the nettle of
anarchy in Malaya, and established peace and order
where aforetime the direst confusion had obtained, there
would have been none of the prosperity which now so
strikingly marks every phase and department of the
Straits trade. The chances are that the country would
have been a sort of Asiatic Alsatia, in which, after the
manner of the Kilkenny cats, a mixed population of
Chinese and other adventurers exemplified the force of
the law of the survival of the fittest.
Singapore now, as it has always been under British
rule, is the great seat of Malayan trade, and it is likely
to remain so whatever changes may take place in the
administration. Nature has decreed the port's pre-
eminence, and man cannot very well deprive it of it
in these days when the point dappui means so much in
commerce as well as in war. Raffles's perspicuity in
seizing this position in preference to others which he
might have had was vindicated almost as soon as the
occupation had been fairly accomplished. Up to then
Penang had eked out a somewhat miserable commercial
existence by acting as a victualling centre for the vessels
of the Navy in Middle and Far Eastern waters. The
Settlement, as it was somewhat grimly said by a high
Indian functionary of the period, lived on its vices —
in other words, maintained its official organisation largely
out of the proceeds of gambling and opium farms.
Singapore changed all that, not exactly in a twinkling,
but in a period of years comparatively short. In
1828-9, ten years after the occupation, the imports of the
330 THE MALAY PENINSULA
new port were officially given at Rs. 1,76,40,969^ and
the exports at Rs. i, 58,25, 997J. Taking a rupee
at two shillings, these figures imply a total trade of
nearly three and a half millions, an amount unprecedented
in the previous experience of any port in the Middle
East. One effect of the development was practically
to extinguish the small trade of Penang and to seal
the fate of Malacca as a commercial entrepot. Neither
of these ports could compete with Singapore in the
advantages its position offered, and the handicap
became more onerous as in the process of years steam
navigation was introduced. Another influence, no doubt,
was the Free Trade principles on which Singapore was
established. Penang, hampered by an import tariff, was
like a man conducting a fight with one arm tied. The
authorities at last saw this and removed the bonds,
but it was then too late, if, indeed, there had ever been
a chance of Penang standing up in rivalry against
Singapore. The northern port dropped into the back-
ground, not again to emerge into the commercial day-
light until the construction of the railway on the mainland
brought the island into touch with a new and vigorous
life. Under these promising auspices it is progressing
at a rate which bids fair to carry it far from its old
position of respectable mediocrity. In recent years
extensive new wharf accommodation has been provided,
a dry dock has been built, and other arrangements have
been made for the convenience of the shipping of large
tonnage which now visits the port. Malacca, too, has
caught something of the new spirit, and is looking up
to a certain extent. But these revivals have only served
to emphasise the predominance of Singapore. The
growth of that port has suffered no check from the day
of its occupation. In two years and a half ending 1824,
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING
331
2,889 vessels had visited the port, representing a com-
bined tonnage of 161,000. In 1834 the harbour was
entered by 517 square-rigged vessels representing a
tonnage of 156,513. Eight years later, the returns
showed that 870 square-rigged vessels, with a combined
tonnage of 286,351, used the port, with in addition
2,490 native vessels, of an aggregate tonnage of 69,268.
After this, the growth of the trade was steady until the
opening of the Suez Canal, when, under the stimulus
of the new conditions, a great acceleration in the rate of
progress was registered.
The following statistics of shipping entered and cleared
(exclusive of native craft) show in the clearest manner
the growth of the ports of the Colony in more recent
years : —
Total Tonnage.
British Tonnage.
I90I ...
16,289,704
9.363,178
1902 ...
17,098,762
10,034,147
1903 ...
18,404,383
11,147,182
1904 ...
18,267,499
11,842,744
I90S ...
18,890,600
12,243,623
IQ06 ...
19,711.498
11,762,479
1907 ...
20,055,874
11,644,083
1908 ...
21,750,245
12,970,158
1909 ...
22,192,354
12,995,909
I9IO ...
23,429,495
14,026,143
I9II ...
24,086,904
14.277.754
Long before the opening of the Suez Canal the need of
adequate accommodation for shipping had been severely
felt, and in 1845 a scheme had actually been publicly
discussed for the construction of a dock 300 feet long,
68 feet wide, and 15 feet deep, at a cost of $80,000.
That project was born out of due time, but the dis-
cussion had the advantage of familiarising the loca
community with the subject and paving the way for a
rather more ambitious scheme, which was ultimately
332 THE MALAY PENINSULA
floated under the auspices of a private company, to be
subsequently known to fame as the Tanjong Pagar
Dock Company. With a modest capital of $i8o,O0O,
this body commenced operations at Tanjong Pagar soon
after its incorporation in 1863. By August, 1866, a
wharf 750 feet in length had been completed, affording
accommodation for four ships of ordinary size, and
having as indispensable adjuncts of it coal storage for
10,000 tons and other conveniences. In connection with
the work, the embankments had been strengthened and
extended, and a sea-wall had been completed for a
length of 2,550 feet. Subsequently, on October 17, 1868,
the then Governor, Sir Harry Ord, R.E., opened a
graving-dock — the " Victoria Dock " — 450 feet long
with a width at its entrance of 65 feet and a depth at
the sill of 20 feet. For that period the work was one
of considerable interest and importance. But it failed
to obtain in the earliest years of its existence the degree
of support that its merits deserved. The appearance of
a rival in the field in the shape of the Patent Slip and
Dock Company, which built two docks in Keppel Harbour,
did not improve matters. As the years went by, how-
ever, the enterprise of the original speculators was
abundantly justified. The number of ships using the
Company's wharves rose from 99 steamers of 60,654
tons and 65 sailing vessels of 30,752 tons in the half
year ending August, 1869, to 185 steamers of 164,756
tons and 63 sailing vessels of 40,534 tons in the cor-
responding period of 1872. A great fire, which broke
out on April 13, 1877, and lasted a fortnight, destroyed
the coal-sheds and the working men's houses and did
immense damage besides. But it inflicted only a tem-
porary check upon the Company. In 1879 a new dock
— the " Albert Dock " — necessitated by the growing
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING 333
business of the Company, was opened. Constructed at
a cost of ;£ 56,000, this dock has a length of 475 feet, a
width at the entrance of 75 feet, and a depth of 21 feet
at average spring tides. It was the beginning of further
developments, which finally gave the Company a con-
tinuous deep-sea frontage of a mile and a quarter, and a
magnificent property and plant such as no other private
enterprise east of Suez could boast. The establishment
in 1885 of a working financial arrangement, with the
New Harbour Dock Company, the enterprise previously
mentioned under the name of the Patent Slip and
Dock Company, was the forerunner of other changes,
which in the closing years of the last century left the
Company in undisputed possession of all the work of
the port.
It was at this juncture that Imperial exigencies, con-
nected with the general strategical position, brought to
the front the question of providing dock accommodation
for the Navy at Singapore, the importance of which
had been markedly emphasised by the events of the
Russo-Japanese conflict. In view of the enormous
expense and delay that would have been involved in
the prosecution of a Government scheme, the authorities
decided that the best means of carrying out the policy
they had under consideration would be to buy out the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company and re-establish the
organisation on an official basis, with such developments
as were demanded in the interests of the Navy. The
occasion for doing this seemed to be the more propitious
because the Government was prosecuting a great scheme
of harbour improvement while the Company itself was
contemplating an expenditure of some $12,000,000 to
$15,000,000 on extensions of wharves and additional
dock facilities. Nevertheless, a sensation was caused
334 THE MALAY PENINSULA
amongst the Singapore commercial community when it
became known that on December 20, 1904, following
upon abortive negotiations carried on in London, the
Dock Company had received from the Secretary of
State for the Colonies a notification of the Government's
intention to take over their property on terms to be
mutually arranged, or failing that by arbitration. The
immediate effect of the news was to promote a brisk
business in the Company's stock, which consisted of
37,000 shares of $100 each. Up to 1902 the price
of the scrip had never fallen below a market rate
of $300, but in December, 1904, doubtless in anticipation
of the expenditure on the new schemes, the price had
dropped to $230. In 1905 the share value steadily
rose until it touched $500, at which figure stock re-
mained, with insignificant variations, until the sale was
effected. The financial arrangements connected
with the expropriation were the subject of some-
what excited controversy in the Colony. A proposal
made at the outset by the Government to pay $240 a
share was indignantly rejected on the ground that
although the Company had been paying only 12 per
cent., disbursements which might have been rightly
charged to capital had been made out of revenue to an
extent which was represented by an additional 24 per
cent., while the liquid-assets had been augmented by a
further 6 per cent. The offer was deemed to be the
more unsatisfactory inasmuch as it took no account of
the IS per cent, compensation usually paid in the case
of the compulsory acquisition of property by the Govern-
ment. Such was the feeling on the subject that it soon
became clear that arbitration would have to be resorted
to. After a conference in Singapore, summoned by the
then Governor, Sir John Anderson, who was largely
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING 335
responsible for the inception of the scheme of Govern-
ment purchase, a Court of Arbitration was appointed
by the Imperial Government to proceed to the Colony
to adjust the matter. It was a very strong body —
probably the most influential that had ever been sent
to a Colony on a similar mission. At the head, acting
as umpire, was Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, M.P. (now
Lord St. Aldwyn), the well-known Unionist statesman,
while the arbitrators were, for the Government, Sir
Edward Boyle, K.C., and for the Company, Mr. (after-
wards Sir) James Inglis, the railway expert. Mr. Balfour
Browne, K.C., was counsel for the Government, and
Lord Robert Cecil, K.C., represented the Company.
The Company claimed $76,510,976, the amount includ-
ing $33>539i792 for the general undertaking at twenty-
two years' purchase, based on the average profit for five
years, and $26,150,200 for prospective appreciation. The
Government offered $11,244,996, a sum equivalent to
eighteen years' purchase, calculated on adjusted profits
plus an allowance for surplus properties. After pro-
tracted proceedings in Singapore, the arbitrators pro-
ceeded home to complete the deliberations in London.
When the award was issued on July 4, 1906, it was
found that the Court had awarded $27,929,177, which,
with allowances for reinvestment, represented nearly
$760 per share to the shareholders. Long before the
award was issued on June 30, 1905, the Government
had taken over the property and constituted a board
to administer the port affairs, under the name of the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Board. This body was modelled
on the lines of the Metropolitan Water Board of
London, It consisted at first of eight non-official and
two official members, all appointed by the Governor, and
subject to a rule under which one-third retired by
336 THE MALAY PENINSULA
rotation every three years. Subsequently, the number
of non-official members was reduced to six, and one
of the official members was struck out of the constitu-
tion. Apart from nominating members the Govern-
ment does not interfere with the working of the
administration. The Board continues the work on the
old lines under an arrangement by which it pays into
the revenues of the Colony a sum not exceeding
4 per cent, per annum of the amount paid by the
Government for the undertaking. An essential con-
dition of the agreement is that any surplus revenue
over and above the 4 per cent, shall go to a reserve
fund, which will be available for the purposes of the
Board.
Under the new regime the work of improving the port
has been prosecuted with vigour. The Government pro-
gramme, which includes a reclamation scheme at Teluk
Ayer, designed to increase the shipping accommodation of
the port, and including originally the erection of a break-
water and also improvements in the Singapore River, is
well advanced. Before it is completed, it will involve an
expenditure of over two and a quarter millions sterling.
The associated projects of the old Company, which are
also being pushed ahead, include very extensive works,
which when finally carried through will bring the port
equipment on to a level with that of any port in the
world. The most important of the projects in hand, the
construction of a great graving-dock, is now practically
completed. It is situated between the P. and O. Wharf
and the New Harbour Wharf, with its end pointing out
across the Strait to the east end of Blakang Mati and its
landward end running back close to the road along which
the tramway runs. It is one of the largest graving-docks
in existence, and is by far the most important work of
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING
337
the kind east of Suez, as the following comparative
table shows : —
Length.
WiclUi.
Depth on
Sill.
Singapore
Hunghom Dock (Hong Kong) ...
Admiralty Dock (Hong Kong) ...
Colombo
Sydney
Shanghai
Bombay
894
787
720
76s
560
100
86
88
85
83
80
65
34
30
34i
32
28
It
When full, the dock contains over 22,300,000 gallons of
water. It can be emptied within two hours with the aid
of powerful pumps driven by two compound surface-
condensing engines, each of which develops over 1,100
horse-power. There is no need to dwell on the enormous
usefulness of this dock in view of the possibilities of the
near future. It is only necessary to remark that Singapore
is in a position with this dock and other conveniences
which have been or will be provided in the work of
reconstruction, to supply the needs of any fleet, however
modern its ships, that may cruise in these waters. In a
financial sense, the expropriation of the Dock Company
has proved a marked success, in spite of the apparently
high price the Government paid for the property. From
the time of the acquisition in 1905 to the end of 191 1,
the half-yearly balances have been most satisfactory,
allowing, after payment of the Government charges, of
substantial additions to the reserve fund. A pleasing
feature of the returns is the evidence they afford of the
growing trade of Penang, the branch establishment of
the Tanjong Pagar Company's business at which was
taken over with the rest of the concern. The tonnage of
22
338 THE MALAY PENINSULA
the port has steadily increased year by year. The amount
for the last half of 1908 was 1 18,752. For the correspond-
ing period of 191 1 it was as much as 301,751. In this
period the net revenue has risen from $30,387 to 150,152.
This result is doubtless attributable to the growing trade
of the Federated Malay States, for which Penang is the
main outlet.
On the Peninsular coast there are several ports besides
Malacca, but none of them so far have drawn to them-
selves any considerable amount of trade. On the west
coast, to the north, is Port Weld, which was the original
port for Taiping, and was a good deal used in pre-railway
days for the conveyance of provisions to the Kinta and
Kuala Kangsar districts. It is now very little resorted to,
as the railway serves these purposes better. Farther
south is Port Swettenham, in Selangor, at the mouth of
the Klang River, which superseded Klang farther up the
stream. There is here commodious anchorage for deep-
draught steamers, with every convenience for the handling
of cargo. It is the only port outside Singapore and
Penang at which heavy goods can be landed, and on
that account is increasingly made use of by ocean-going
steamers. Still farther south is Port Dickson, in Negri
Sembilan, a place of call for coasting steamers. On the
east coast, in Pahang, is Kuantan, a port always accessible
at high water, but somewhat hampered by the monsoon
influences which cause the channel to silt every season.
The Government are endeavouring to improve the port
by systematic dredging. It will eventually gain in
importance by the construction of the East Coast Railway,
with which it will be connected by a branch line. Kuala
Pahang is another place of call for coasting steamers on
the same part of the coast, but there are no facilities there
for transport, passengers and goods being transferred into
KAUB, I'AHAXC:, I-Ku.M DISTRICT OFUCElVs HOUSE.
>X THE PAHAXC: RI\EI(.
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING 339
native craft in the open roadstead. Kuala Trennganu, at
tlie mouth of the Trengganu River, and Tumpat, in
Kelantan, are the only other ports of any consequence
on this coast.
Singapore absorbs roughly two-thirds of the trade of
British Malaya. Its total tonnage in 191 1 of 24,086,904
makes it the seventh port in the world and the fourth in
the British Empire. No stranger visiting the harbour for
the first time can fail to be impressed with the evidences
which he sees on all sides of commercial activity. Great
liners of all the principal steamship companies having
connections with the Far East are constantly coming and
going. Smaller coasting steamships, smart-looking with
their white awnings and their trim top-hamper, flit across
the harbour on their way up one or other of the coasts of the
Peninsula or across to Sumatra or Java and ports beyond ;
steam launches are constantly darting hither and thither ;
and the motor-boat, with its silent, steadfast impetus, adds
yet another feature of interest to the scene. But it is
the purely native craft which stamp the picture with its
individuality and convince you that the port is really
not like any other you have seen, despite the obtrusive
modernity of much that passes the line of vision. Small
sailing vessels from Celebes and other islands of the
Archipelago are there — though it is a source of lament
with older residents that the Bugis fleet grows smaller
year by year — and ubiquitous sampans or Chinese rowing-
boats, which all have painted on their bows the eye
which is supposed to guide the crafts safely on their
way. These, with innumerable fishing-boats and canoes
of the Malay type, make up the queerest marine olla
podrida that you are likely to come across anywhere.
For the tourist in the Middle East, Singapore is an ideal
centre from which to make a tour. Thanks to the shipping
340 THE MALAY PENINSULA
facilities he can go to almost any port of the Middle East
with despatch and comfort, and, should his tastes run in
the direction of a little travelling off the beaten track, in
one of the most interesting areas in the tropical world, his
wants can be met.
Commercially, Singapore is most prominent as a dis-
tributing centre. A free port and one in which the
harbour dues are of the lightest, the Settlement finds
favour with merchants who have trading connections with
the Middle and Far East. Goods sent here are re-
transmitted by local steamers and native craft to all parts
of Malaya, to Java and Sumatra, Siam, and Indo-China and
the uttermost limits of the Archipelago. On the other
hand, to Singapore is brought for re-export to Europe the
produce of a vast region. The lion's share of the trade,
about 60 per cent, is with Great Britain and British
dependencies ; Netherlands India, Siam, China, and the
United States are the principal foreign countries which
figure in the Singapore returns. The last-named does a
business largely in excess of that of any European country
other than Great Britain. At the head of the European
importers is Germany. France receives the greatest
proportion of the exports amongst Western foreign
countries.
When we come to deal with the commercial position
of Malaya as a whole, we are confronted with the
difficulty created by the division of administrative
authority between " the Colony " and the Federated
Malay States. Separate returns are kept for each, and
in consequence there is inevitably some amount of
duplication as goods are moved from one area to the
other. The only safe course to adopt is to follow
the official procedure and treat each interest separately.
Acting on this principle we may cite the following
COMMERCE AND SHIPPING
341
figures as showing the latest state of the trade of the
original Settlements : —
Imports.
Exports.
1910.
1911.
igio.
1911.
Singapore ...
Penang
Malacca
$
257,489,960
85,268,828
6,543,818
$
275,208,769
110,879,037
7,568,627
$
215,572,807
92,009,500
6,735,102
223,477,687
110,728,314
7,187,216
Total ...
349,302,606
393,656,433
314,317,409
341.393.217
1911 ...
1910 ...
Imports and Exports
combined.
$
725.049.650
663,620,015
Increase 1911
71,429,635
Expressed in sterling, the total value of imports in 191 1
was ^^43, 128, 362 against ;£'4i,032,243 in 1910, showing an
increase of ;^2,096,i 19 in 191 1 ; while exports were valued
at ;^37,64o,240 in 191 1 against ;^36,8i9,563 in 1910'
showing an increase in 191 1 of .^820,677. The combined
totals of imports and exports in the two years were : —
1911 .
1910 .
Increase
£
80,768,602
77 ,851.806
2,916,796
Turning to the Federated Malay States we find that
the imports in 191 1 reached a total value of $66,532,039
(;£^7, 762,071), while the exports amounted in value to
$116,280,927 (;f 13,566,108). The total trade, therefore,
was $182,812,966 (;£'2i,328,i79), as compared with
$156,107,141 (.£'18,212,499) in 1910. It will thus be
342 THE MALAY PENINSULA
seen that the united trade of Malaya, leaving out of
consideration the non-federated States, has reached the
enormous figure of over one hundred millions sterling.
No doubt some deduction must be made from the total
for the duplication previously alluded to, but the total
allowance would not, probably, very materially reduce
the total. The quarterly statements of imports and
exports for the current year show that the trade is still
expanding, the increase in value being very substantial,
so there would appear to be no finality for Malayan
progress yet visible, even dimly, upon the horizon.
CHAPTER XIX
THE FUTURE OF MALAYA
The higher destinies of Malaya — At the parting of the ways-
Three possible courses — The benefits of unification — Imperial
aspect of the problem.
Not the least difficult part of the work of preparing an
account of Malaya is the writing of the final words. The
story is necessarily only half told. What is written to-day
may be inadequate to-morrow, and a little later may be so
far from the true position as to give a false impression.
We are really here in the presence of the making of a
country, and that a great one. The constituent elements
are present for the building up of a tropical dependency
of surpassing material and political importance. It only
remains for a wise statesmanship to mould this material
into the right form. Granted that such is forthcoming, the
issue is not doubtful. But, as a preliminary to success, it
is imperative that those who have the ordering of the
higher destinies of Malaya should shed some illusions.
They must at the outset get rid, once and for all, of the
idea of " Settlements." That is a phrase which was never
particularly happy, and which belongs to a long-past day
when the ledger rather than the statute-book supplied the
guiding principles of policy. Even the Colonial habit of
thought is out of place in the circumstances in which
British power is placed. Malaya is rather a miniature
343
344 THE MALAY PENINSULA
India than a Colony. The three chief centres answer to
the Presidency cities. In the Federated Malay States we
have a prototype of the Mofussil or up-country districts of
India ; the Protected States are the Malayan equivalent of
the semi-independent territory of India ; while Siam stands
in much the same relation to Malaya that Afghanistan
does to India. Of course, the parallel must not be pushed
too far, but, broadly speaking, the principles which govern
the two areas are sufficiently analogous to demand that the
future of Malaya shall be considered in strict regard to
them. The Home Government must " think imperially "
if it is to work out this problem on adequate lines.
If it is too much a slave of the conventions of the
Colonial Office, the splendid prospect which lies ahead
will be dimmed, if it is not completely obscured in some
directions.
Malaya, without doubt, stands to-day at the parting of
the ways. The first stage on the long and difficult road of
moral regeneration and commercial and political develop-
ment has been passed. She may now either go ahead to
heights of fame never touched in the chequered history of
the Malay race ; or, as regards a great part of the area, she
may drop back into the welter of anarchy in which the
whole population of the Peninsula wallowed only a few
decades since. Looking at the position as it is, it is
difficult to imagine that there can be any but one answer
as to the course she will elect to take. The beacon-light
of the Federated Malay States shines brilliantly, beckoning
her on the road she should go. We are an unemotional
race, or we should thrill over the record which the building
up of this federation supplies. In the story of modern
civilisation, it takes a high place as an example of what
can be done by able and conscientious administrators acting
on sound principles. Forty years ago the region was a mere
THE FUTURE OF MALAYA 345
haunt of pirates, a waste of impenetrable forest with a
fringe of squahd Settlements redeemed only from their
moral wretchedness by the nobility of character of some of
those who inhabited them. The white man who set his
foot in the interior did so at peril of his life. Vast areas
were never trodden by him, and there were many parts
which were a sealed book owing to their inaccessibility to
the Malays themselves. How wonderfully changed is the
aspect now ! There is hardly a part of the area of the
Federated States that has not been brought into touch
with civilisation by well-made roads. By means of the
excellent State Railway which now bisects the Peninsula
on the western side, you may traverse the country at
express speed from end to end in a train which is not
inferior to any that is running in Europe. Thriving towns
are everywhere growing up, equipped with all the latest
conveniences of modern civilisation. Agriculture has
taken to itself features which have made this new-old land
the cynosure of the world. The tin mined in the States is
a powerful factor in the international metal market. In all
directions there is commercial activity — an activity
reflected in a trade which reaches the total of over twenty
millions sterling. On the administrative side, the achieve-
ments have been not less remarkable than this material
progress. A judicial system has been set up worthy of the
highest traditions of the British judiciary ; an able body of
civilians, trained after the manner of the best type of British
official, fulfil the duties of the civil administration. The
higher responsibilities of Government are discharged by
a Council in which, by a happy combination of interests,
Malay prince and British official sit side by side in a
spirit of amiable co-operation. Educational institutions,
museums, parks, and all the other marks of an advanced
civilisation are found in a high state of excellence. In
346 THE MALAY PENINSULA
fine, the Federated Malay States are a model of ordered
government and social contentment, differing in the pro-
foundest way from the distressful land into which the
ill-fated Mr. Birch and the other British administrators
intruded in that not remote time in the early seventies.
The country could not have reached this happy state
without the all-powerful influence of British skill, experi-
ence, and credit. It owes much to the Imperial resources
which at critical moments it was possible to utilise with
effect in the States, and it owes much more to the pains-
taking zeal, unfailing tact, and remarkable prescience of
administrators like Sir Hugh Low and Sir Frank Swetten-
ham, who, with infinite patience, directed the halting steps
of the States in the earlier stages of what was then a great
experiment.
The Federation has now reached a point when its future
will have to be considered. The proverbial three courses
appear to be open. There may be an enlargement of the
system by bringing in the non-federated States ; the
Federation may be left to work out its destinies on existing
lines ; or it may be combined with " the Colony " in one
comprehensive system. The adoption of the first course
probably implies procedure along the lines of the least
resistance, but it would mean eventually the setting up
of an authority which would almost necessarily become
independent of the Colonial administration. The
individualistic tendencies in administration, which even
to-day are apparent, would grow with the growth of
territory until they became too strong to resist. If a dual
British authority in the Straits be deemed a desirable
ideal, then this solution may be found an acceptable one.
It will certainly have a better chance of adoption than
the second of the three alternatives — the leaving of the
Federation to continue as it is. The interests of the
THE FUTURE OF MALAYA 347
Peninsular States cannot be separated, and any attempt to
keep the various elements apart permanently is doomed to
failure. We are now brought to the third and by far the
most important of the methods by which Malayan govern-
ment may be permanently settled. Perhaps on no question
is opinion more sharply divided in Malaya than in regard
to the desirability of amalgamation. In Singapore, and
generally throughout the Colony, the advantages of a
unified system are extolled : in the Federated Malay
States, there is a keen perception of the disadvantages of
fusion regarded from the local standpoint. The position
of the objectors is put as follows by a leading public man
in Kuala Lumpur : " The financial position of the Colony,
the military contribution, and the opening up of the other
States would result in the cutting down of our expenditure
on public works. To know or rather to realise what this
means, look at the past and present condition of Malacca
roads, public buildings, &c., compared with Negri Sembilan.
. . . Considering that the annual surplus of the Federated
Malay States has to be recorded in millions, we have a
strong case for reduction of taxation, but fusion without
loans would probably mean an increase." In other words,
the people of the Federated Malay States object to having
their strong financial position weakened by amalgamation
with the Colony and partnership in its responsibilities. It
is a natural attitude, human nature being what it is, but
scarcely a tenable one. The Federated Malay States did
not make themselves : they were made by extraneous aid
from the Colony, and without the support they received in
the initial stages of their development they would not have
been able to attain such a phenomenal success. But, of
course, this is a much larger question than one of Colony
V. States. Imperial considerations come into play in the
matter in a very direct way. The principle which will
348 THE MALAY PENINSULA
decide the point, and rightly decide it, is : What is best
for the Empire ? Will it subserve the larger needs which
are involved in the maintenance of our position in the Middle
East that there should be a divison of administrative
burdens and liabilities in Malaya? To ask the question
surely is to answer it. Division never made for Imperial
strength, and these are not precisely the times when we
can afford to take risks in this part of the world. The
new era which will shortly be ushered in with the opening
of the Panama Canal is one of profound importance to
Great Britain as a world Power, and nowhere hardly in the
East is it more important that we should "stand four
square " than in Malaya. Events may happen in the
immediate future which will make Singapore the pivot on
which will turn operations of vital importance to the
Empire. A strong consolidated territory behind that
stronghold will give strength of purpose and directness to
our policy, while, on the contrary, a division of responsi-
bility will have a weakening effect. The Malay Peninsula
really is a great outpost of the Indian Empire. When
through railway communication has been established, as
it will be probably in the course of the next few years, the
territory will be brought into direct touch with our Indian
military system, and it will be possible by an arrangement
with Siam, which it should not be difficult to make, to
mobilise rapidly there a great fighting force in a time of
crisis for use, if need be, in support of naval operations in
the Pacific. In the past, as we have seen, a British
expeditionary force from India had its rendezvous in the
Straits for service at Manila. It never got so far as the
Philippines, as the need for its assistance passed ; but
the fact that the troops were in Malaya ready for any
emergency had a great influence in securing the success
of our policy. History may in this, as in other matters,
THE FUTURE OE MALAYA 349
repeat itself. At all events, the signs of the times point to
eventualities which will require from us the fullest possible
utilisation of the advantages which our splendid strategical
position in the East gives us. It would be wrong, no
doubt, to assume that in any conceivable administrative
arrangement that may be made Imperial needs would be
neglected. But the point is that a strong self-reliant, self-
contained British Malaya would do what no divided
system, however skilfully organised and directed, could
accomplish.
Quite apart from these higher considerations, a complete
fusion of British authority in Malaya has powerful reasons
to recommend it. The arbitrary division of commercial
interests which is reflected in the official publications, has
no real existence in fact. Singapore and Penang, and,
to a modified extent, Malacca, are the outlets of the trade
of the Peninsula and directly concerned in it. The
banking system is the same, and to a large extent the
mercantile and trading organisations for the two centres
are the same. This identity of interest cannot be ignored
merely to bolster up a system which, though useful in its
day, has outlived the conditions which dictated its in-
ception and development. The water-tight compartment
system may be good for a ship, but it is bad for a colony.
The notion that the special wealth of a small district shall
be maintained exclusively for the service of that district
is one which will not bear examination. The area must
be treated as a whole, if there is not to be sterilised
poverty in one direction and unnecessary opulence in the
other. Some regard admittedly must be had to the
possession of local advantages by individual States, but
the principle of mutual help must be steadily encouraged
and applied if the Malay Peninsula is ever to reach its
fullest development. After all, who shall say that the rich
350 THE MALAY PENINSULA
State of to-day may not be the poor State of to-morrow
and vice versa? It is conceivable, for example, that the
tin-mines of Perak and Selangor may give out in a
period of years ; and, on the other hand, it is equally con-
ceivable that in the largely unexplored territory of Treng-
ganu and Kelantan may be discovered mineral deposits
of incalculable value. A wise policy will be directed not
to exaggerating differences between separate States and
between the States and the Colony, but to minimising them.
The ideal of a united Malaya must be kept steadily in view
in the interests of wise and economical administration.
Some day it will be one of the richest and most
commercially important of the countries of the East, and
it is right that all within the area should share alike in its
responsibilities, as they will some day in its greatness.
It would be wrong to suppose that in any alliance
between the Colony and the States the terms would not
be equal. The latter have the best balance-sheet to show,
and they must always have an advantage in this respect.
But the position of the Colony is perfectly sound —
probably never more so. In spite of Dutch competition,
Singapore and Penang, the natural gateways for the trade
of the Peninsula, more than hold their own. Pessimists
in the recent past have bewailed evidences of rival
activity, and been disposed to write Delenda est Carthage
over the portals of Singapore ; but the steady increase
in trade statistics is a sufficient answer to these croakings.
Instead of decay, we may, with a fair degree of certainty,
look to an immeasurably larger development in the Straits.
The East Coast Railway when completed will open up
new channels of trade, which will flow with ever-increasing
volume into Singapore, and simultaneously the develop-
ment of Kedah and other parts of the west coast will
tend to the advantage of Penang. Changes may be
THE FUTURE OF MALAYA 351
anticipated in many of the dispositions of commerce,
but it will be a strange thing if Great Britain does not
continue to maintain her commercial as well as her
political supremacy. The enterprise which has built up
the rubber industry is not likely to be wanting when
further calls are made for exertion in developing the
unworked resources of Malaya.
In the past — the recent past at all events — Malaya has
been singularly happy in the class of administrators she
has had to help her on the difficult path of progress.
She has been governed by men quick to grasp the
essential features of the local situation and work for the
right end. Sometimes, as in the cases of Sir Andrew
Clarke and Sir William Jervois, great personal responsi-
bility was accepted out of the fulness of their sense of
the pressing needs of a strong policy. At home, where
there was not the same overwhelming sense of the
necessity for action, these departures from official usage
were occasionally frowned upon. But the end has so
abundantly justified the means that the episodes are now
only recalled to adorn a tale of Downing Street short-
sightedness. Later traditions of Colonial Office policy
centre in the personality of Sir John Anderson, who,
taking up the duties at Singapore with a burden of
prejudice against him on the score of his association with
the official hierarchy in Whitehall, left the Colony after
seven arduous years' administration with a reputation not
surpassed by the record of any of his immediate pre-
decessors. His name will always be coupled in Malayan
history with the territorial changes which are to influence
so materially the political future of the Malay Peninsula.
The reins of office have passed from his capable charge
into the hands of Sir Arthur Young, who was called
from the local service to fill the highest position in the
352 THE MALAY PENINSULA
Government — an honour which, amongst Governors of
the Colony, he shares exclusively with Sir Frank
Swettenham. Sir Arthur Young's association with the
Government policy in Malaya during the past six years,
and his strong and attractive personal qualities, are
sufficient guarantees that there shall be no interruption
in the progressive policy so brilliantly inaugurated by
his predecessor. So we may reasonably look forward
with confidence to the future, assured that the destinies
of Malaya are in good hands and that no effort will be
wanting on the part of those now in authority to garner
to the full that rich harvest which the genius of successive
generations of British administrators has made possible
by their self-sacrificing devotion.
WATERUOWA SONS LIMITED, LONDON WALL, LONDON
INDEX
Abeott, Mr., escapes assassination,
131
Abdullah, describes Lord Minto's visit
to Malacca, loi ; describes Raftles's
departure from Singapore, 117
Abdullah, Sultan of Perak, 130
Abdul Rahman installed as Sultan of
Johore by the Dutch, 1 1 1
Aborigines, 173, 307
Acheen, Sir James Lancaster's visit to,
24 ; Ord and Cawley's mission to,
26 ; French squadron at, 47 ; mission
to in 1771, 53; British traders at,
56 ; Light's views as to a settlement
at, 60 ; Des Voeux despatched on a
mission to, 62 ; project for settle-
ment at, 6S ; RafHes's mission to,
"3
Adam, Mr., secretary to the Bengal
Government, RaiHes's letter to, 109
Agriculture, 2S0
Albuquerque captures Malacca, 21
Alexander VL, Pope, famous decree of,
22
Alexander the Great, Malay tradition
of the descent of their princes from,
313
Alor Star, capital of Kedah, 185
Ampun Kernia system in Kedah, 189
Andaman Islands, question of settle-
ment at, 85
Anderson, Mr. John, famous pamphlet
of, 14s
Anderson, Sir John (Governor of the
Straits Settlements), visits Kelantan,
163; policy of, 214, 351
Anderson, Sir John (merchant), presides
over Opium Commission, 206
Anglo-Siamese agreement of 1909, 163,
1 68
Anthony, Mr. P. A., 243
Anti-opium movement, 205
Baddeley, Mr. F. M., appointed head
of the Opium Department, 208
Baginda, or Conquerer, of Trengganu,
180
Bailey, Mr. W. W. , connection of with
early rubber-planting, 2S8
Bali and Lombok, description of in-
habitants of, 52
Bannerman, Colonel, sends mission to
Rhio, 103 ; opposes Raflles's mission
to Singapore, 108 ; constructs roads
at Penang, 237
Bantam, Malay State founded at, 19 ;
English factory at, 24 ; English ex-
pelled from, 25
Barbosa's.Duarte, opinion of the Malays,
314
Batavia founded, 25
Becher, Mr. IL M., killed in attempted
ascent of Gunong Talran, 167
Bencoolen, occupation of, 28; terrible
mortality at, 30 ; Court of Directors
condemn the occupation of, 31 ;
history of, 33 ; fort constructed at,
33 ; slavery at, 33 ; early military
.system at, 36 ; social life at in early
days of, 38 ; official salaries at, 38 ;
European ladies at, 39 ; pepper trade
at, 40; French occupation of, 41, 43;
reoccupied by the British, 45 ; created
a Presidency, 46 ; charter for the ad-
ministration of, 46 ; official dishonesty
at, 46 ; German emigrants despatched
to, 47 ; Warren Hastings orders
despatch of troops from, 48 ; ex-
pedition from to Padang, 48 ; hope-
lessness of as a centre of British
influence, 49 ; East India Company
decides to continue occupation of,
51 ; Raffles appointed Lieutenant-
Governor of, 103 ; Raffles's last days
at, 114, 117 ; charter granted to, 203
Bintang indicated as a possible place of
settlement liy Raffles, 107
Birch, Sir Ernest, on gold-mining in
Pahang, 265
Birch, Mr. J. W., appointed Resident
of Perak, 129; assassinated, 131
Blakang Mali, 220
Bloome, Governor, at Bencoolen, 29
Boz^olo, Signer, explores Kelantan, 167
Brown, Mr. David, works tin deposits
at Penang, 269 ; establishes coffee
plantations, 281
L'uckley, Mr. C. B., advises Sultan of
Johore, 197; supports railway trans-
fer, 242
Bugis, the, 325
Bunga Mas, significance of the, 143,
'51
Burney, Captain, conducts a mission to
Siam, 145
Cadet system, 201
Cameron, Mr. Wm., travels from Perak
to Pahang River, 167
Campbell, Mr.D. G., adviser of Johore,
197
Carnarvon, Lord, condemns SirW.F. D.
Jervis's policy, 131
Cavenagh, Colonel Orfeur, 146
Cavendish, Mr. A., 18S
Chamberlain, Mr., sanctions scheme
23 353
354
INDEX
for the constitution of thie Federated
Malay States, 137
Charter granted to Bencoolen, 202
Chinese, at Penang, 87 ; faction feud at
Larut, 125, 127 ; invite Government
intervention in the Malay States, 126;
Ad\'isory Board resign, 213 ; at
Singapore, 233 ; and tin-mining,
267, 270, 272, 276; as planters, 281;
traditions concerning Malays, 314;
population, 321, 322
Chooliars (Indians) at Kedah, 58
Claridge, Sir J. T., 204
Clarke, Sir Andrew, inaugurates a new
policy in reference to jNIalay States,
127; concludes Treaty of Pangkor,
128 ; policy of, 351
Cliflord, Sir Hugh, distinguishes him-
self in Pahang, 136; conducts expe-
dition into Kelantan and Trengganu,
151 ; travels overland to Kelantan,
167; describes Trengganu, 177, 317
Coal in Selangor, 279
Cocaine smuggling, 208
Coco-nut cultivation, in Kelantan, 170;
in Trengganu, 178 ; a rival to rubber-
planting, 301 ; acreage, 302 ; pro-
duction, 302 ; land regulations, 303 ;
pests, 303
Coftee-planting, 281, 288, 304
Colborne, Major-General, the Hon. F. ,
commands expedition in the Malay
States, 132
Commerce and shipping, 328
Connaught, Duke and Duchess of, visit
Singapore, 223
Cornells (Java), British victory at, 102
Cornwallis, Lord, Ijght's letter to, 82
Councils of State sanctioned in the
Malay States, 132, 135
Court of Directors, and occupation of
Bencoolen, 31 ; and the pepper trade,
42 ; sanctions Light's scheme for the
occupation of Penang, 73; views upon
Dutch encroachments, 73
Crawfurd, Mr. John, administers Singa-
pore, 122
Crown Colony Government introduced,
123
Currency question, 214
Da Cunha, Tristan, 21
Daendels, Marshal, occupies Java, 100
Da Gama, \'asco, 21
Danes at Kedah, 67
Dato Sagor, implicated in Mr. Birch's
assassination, 131 ; condemned and
executed, 132
Davidson, Mr. J. G., 129
Debt bondage, 190, 319
De Eredia, Manoel G., 259
De Souza, Light's letter to, 58
D'Estaing, Admiral, attacks Bencoolen,
44
Des Voeux despatched on a mission to
Acheen, 62
Dickens, Mr., appointed magistrate of
Penang, 94, 203
Dindings, the, geographical position, 16
Distilling engine sent to Bencoolen, 31
Docks at Singapore, 331, 336
Dollar, price of, offically fi.xed, 215
Drake, Sir Francis, sails through the
Straits of Malacca, 22
Du Bois, Commander, Light's letter
concerning, 90
Duff Development Company, Govern-
ment's agreement with the, 163 ;
Peninsular Railway traverses the
concession of the, 173
Duff, Mr. R. W., accompanies expedi-
tion to Kelantan, 152 ; forms a plan
for the commercial exploitation of
Kelantan, 153; negotiations of with
the Foreign Office and the Siamese
Government, 153 ; obtains a con-
cession from the Sultan of Kelantan,
157; commences operations at Kuala
Lebir, 160
Dundas, Mr. Philip, first Governor of
Penang, 94
Dutch and the spice trade, 24
Dutch Government, settlement with the,
113, 121
Dutch rivalry, 32, 40, 58, 69, 73, 80, 96,
103,113
Dykes, Mr. F. j . B., on tin-mining, 272
East Coast Railway, 173, 246
East India Company, and the Eastern
trade, 25 ; position of in the Middle
East at the time of Light's death, 96;
policy of in relation to tin, 268
Elcum, Mr. J. B., Adviser of Johore,i97
European population in the Straits, 325
Export duty on rubber, 298
Export duty on tin, 210, 270
Fame destroyed by fire with Raffles's
natural history collections, 117
Farquhar, Lieut.-Colonel, Governor of
Penang, 97
Farquhar, Major, despatched on a
mission to Rhio, 103 ; claims of to
the honour of occupying Singapore,
108; joins Raflles on his way to
Singapore, 109 ; assumes government
of the island after the occupation, 1 14
Federated Malay States, foundation of
the system of administering the, 12S;
INDEX
355
Residential system established in
the, 129; assassination of Mr. Birch
in the, 131 ; expedition to restore
order in the, 132 ; Councils of State
in the, 132, 135 ; entrance of Pahang
to the, 136; entrance of Negri
Sembilan to the, 136; Sir Frank
Swettenham draws up a scheme for
the government of the, 136 ; Mr.
Chamberlain sanctions the scheme
for the government of the, 137; Sir
Frank Swettenham installed as
Resident-General of the, 137; chiefs
of the meet in conference at Kuala
Kangsar, 138 ; striking progress of
the, 1 38; system of administration
in the, 199 ; judicial arrangements
in the, 205 ; financial system of the,
209 ; roadmaking in the, 238 ; rail-
ways in the, 240 ; mining in the,
25S ; rubber-planting in the, 28S ;
coco-nut cultivation in the, 301 ;
population of the, 306; ports in the,
33S ; imports and exports of the,
341 ; future of the, 343
Flood, aljoriginal traditions of the, 310
Foreign Office, Mr. R. W. Duff's
negotiations with the, 153
Forrest, Captain, despatched on a
mission to Rhio, 70
Fort Marlborough, see Bencooleii
Fort York, see Bencoolen
Franco-Siamese agreement, 149
Free Trade policy in the Straits, 205
French occupy Bencoolen, 44
French planters, 281
Frith's, Captain Edward, plan of defence
for Bencoolen, 44
Frost, Mr. Meadows, adviser of Perils,
192
Fryer, Mr. G. W,, 243
FuUerton, Mr., administers Singapore,
122
Geology of Malay Peninsula, 260
German emigrants at Bencoolen, 47
German railway project in Kelantan, 162
Golden Chersonese, the, 17
Gold-mining in Kelantan, 171
Gold-mining in Pahang, 259, 264
Graham, Mr. W. A., appointed adviser
to the Sultan of Kelantan, 161, 176
Gunong Sitong, 169
Gunong Tahan, attempted ascent of,
167 ; situation of, 168 ; proposed
formation of sanatorium on, 255
Hamilton, Captain Alexander, on
gold-mining in Pahang, 259
Harrop, Light's colleague at Acheen, 56
Hastings, Marquess of, entrusts Raffles
with a mission to form a new settle-
ment, 104 ; defends the occupation
of Singapore, 113
Hastings, Warren, orders despatch of
European troops from Bencoolen,
48 ; famous proclamation of relative
to the government of Bengal, 67 ;
receives from Light a proposal for
the occupation of Junk Ceylon, 69 ;
despatches Captain Forrest on a
mission to Rhio, 70
Hcvea Braziliensis, plants of, dis-
tributed, 2S5
Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael (Lord St.
Aldwyn), at Singapore, 335
Hikaiat Abdullah, loi
Hubback, Mr. Theodore R., on
Malayan sport, 248
Imports and exports, 341
Income-tax proposal, 214
Indian population, 322, 324
Indrapour, 29
Indugeeree, Straits of, 10
Ipoh, 252, 271
Irrigation in Kedah, 184
Jackson, Sir John, & Co., execute
contract at Singapore, 221
Jakatra, 24
Janssens, General, defeated at Cornells
(Java) by the British, 102
Java, British expedition to, loi
Java occupied by force under Marshal
Daendels, 100; occupied by the
British, 102 ; retroceded to the Dutch,
103
Javan civilisation, 18
Jervois, Sir W. F. D., succeeds Sir
Andrew Clarke as Governor, 130 ;
policy of condemned, 131 ; policy of,
351
Johore, Dutch rights in relinquished,
121 ; situation of, 142 ; detailed
description of, 193 ; planting in,
195 ; railway, 195 ; history of, 196;
ruler of, 197
Johore, Straits of, 109
Johore, Sultan of (Tunku Iluseiu), con-
cludes treaty with Raffles, in
JoUey, Captain, appointed to conduct
survey for a new settlement, 51
Jourdan, Sulivan & Co., Light's em-
ployers, 55
Judicial administration. Light's views
on the, 88
Judiciary, the, 202
Junk Ceylon, Light retires to, 65 ;
Siamese at, 65 ; Light's proposal for
356
INDEX
the occupation of, 69, 70. 75 » Light's
description of tin-mining at, 266
Karimun Islands, RafHes's visit to
the, no
Kedah, Light's early connection with,
56 ; offer of a settlement at sent to
Madras by Light, 56 ; Light's
description of, 57 ; Danes at, 57 ;
Dutch opposition to British at, 58 ;
Sultan of asks the aid of the Madras
Government against the Selangorians,
62; the Hon. Edward Monckton's
mission to, 62 ; failure of the mis-
sion to, 64 ; Sultan of bestows a
grant of Penang upon Light, 70 ;
terms of grant, 75 ; Sultan of disap-
proves the occupation of Penang, 80,
86 ; situation of, 141 ; Siamese influ-
ence in, 142 ; Siamese attack on,
144 ; detailed description of, 183 ;
irrigation in, 184; planting in, 186;
mining in, 187 ; Council of State of,
18S ; Ampun Kernia system in, 189;
debt bondage in, 190 ; ruler of, 191
Kelantan affair, the, 161
Kelantan, situation of, 141 ; political
position of, 146, 150; Mr. R. W.
Duff's plans for the commercial ex-
ploitation of, 152 ; Mr. W. A.
Graham appointed adviser to the
Sultan of, i5i ; German scheme for
a railway in, 163 ; visit of Sir John
Anderson, G.C.M. G. , to, to establish
British protectorate, 163 ; agreement
relative to with the Duff Develop-
ment Company, 163 ; early Euro-
pean exploration of, 167 ; detailed
description of, 168 ; British protec-
torate established in, 176
Keppel Harbour, 219
Kew experiments with rubber, 285
Keyser's Bay, proposed British settle-
ment at, 50
Kindersley, Messrs. R. C. M. and
D. C. P., pioneers of rubber-planting
in Malaya, 288
Kinta Valley (Perak), chief centre of
tin-mining, 271
Kota Bahru, 155, 161, 167, 173
Kuala Kangsar, conference at, 138 ;
public school at, 320
Kuala Lebir, 160, 170
Kuala Lipis 155
Kuala Lumpur, geographical position
of, 16 ; established as capital of the
Federated Malay States, 137 ; de-
scription of, 252 ; clubs at, 253
Kuala Muda district of Kedah rubber-
planting in, 186
Kuantan, 338
Kyd's, Captain, first report on Penang,
79 ; second report on Penang, 85 ;
report on tin-mining at Penang, 268 ;
mention of rubber, 2S3
Labour, in the tin-mines ; 276, on the
rubber estates, 295
Lally attacks Madras, 44, 50
Lancaster, Sir James, lands at Penang,
22 ; visits Acheen, 24
Land regulations, early, 281
Land regulations for coco-nut planta-
tions, 303
Larut (Perak), Chinese faction fights
at, 125
Larut River, expedition to, 128
Legislation and administration, 198
Lewton-Brain, Mr. L., on rubber-
planting, 290, 304
Leyden recommends Raflles to Lord
Minto, 99
Lieutenant-Governorships, question of,
200
IJght, Captain Francis, early career
of, 54 ; agent for Jourdan, Sulivan
& Co. at Kedah, 55 ; sends pro-
posal for a settlement at Kedah to
Madras, 56 ; describes the harbourand
port at, 57 ; describes trade of Kedah,
58 ; urges value of Penang, 59 ;
views as to a settlement at Acheen,
60 ; on the failure of the Monckton
Mission to Kedah retires to Junk
Ceylon, 65 ; is beleaguered there, 65 ;
Madras Government's criticism of,
66 ; marriage of, 68 ; submits to
Warren I-Iastings's proposal for occu-
pation of Junk Ceylon, 69 ; secures
a grant of the island of Penang, 70 ;
the Hon. John Macpherson's opinion
of, 72 ; Court of Directors sanction
Light's scheme for the occupation of
Penang, 72 ; James Scott's opinion
on the appointment of as superin-
tendent of Penang, 75 ; occupies
Penang, 78 ; measures of for the
settlement of Penang, 79 ; urges
upon the Government the impor-
tance of settUng with the Sultan of
Kedah, 81 ; addresses letter to
Lord Cornwallis, 82 ; attacks on,
83 ; vindication of, 83 ; land grants
of, 84 ; attacks and defeats Sul-
tan of Kedah's force at Prai, 87 ;
closing incidents of the life of, 87 ;
death and burial of, 90 ; character of,
91 ; views of on Siamese influence,
142 ; describes tin-mining at Junk
Ceylon, 267 ; land policy of, 280
INDEX
357
Light, Francis Lanoon,appoiDted Resi-
dent of Muntok, 91
Light, Colonel William, son of Francis
Light, 68
Ligore, 142, 145
Low, Sir Hugh, supervises administra-
tion in Perak, 133 ; his success, 134 ;
effect of his administration on tin-
mining, 270
Machi tin-field in Pahang, 263
Macpherson, Sir John, on Light's
mission to Penang, 72 ; his minute
on the occupation of Penang, 82
Madeira wine consignments, 35
Madras, French attack on, 43, 50
Maharaja Lela, the, and Mr. Birch's
assassination, 132
Malacca, geographical position of, 16 ;
foundation of, 20 ; captured by the
Portuguese, 21 ; occupation of by
the British in 1795, 94, 97; destruc-
tion of fortifications at, 97 ; question
of retrocession of by the British, 99 ;
RafHes's report on, 100 ; Java expe-
dition at, loi ; Stadt House at,
loi ; question of retrocession to the
Dutch, 102 ; traders ask Government
protection in Selangor, 125 ; de-
scription of, 254 ; tin deposits at
Chin Chin and Tanjong Serai, 263 ;
imports and exports of, 341
Malacca, Straits of, Drake sails through
the, 22 ; decision to establish a British
settlement in the, 53 ; Dutch preten-
sions in the, 70 ; dn-ect intervention
in the, necessary to the maintenance
of British power, 96 ; strategical
importance of the, 21S
Malay Annals, 18, 20
Malay characteristics, 314 ; industries,
316 ; education, 320
Malay Peninsula, the, ancient history
of, 17 ; Siamese influence in, 142,
145 ; influence of the Franco-Siamese
agreement upon, 149 ; geology of,
260
Malayan civilisation, Ralfles's views
on, 106
Malays, as soldiers, 37 ; inKelantan, 172;
in Trengganu, 180 ; origin of the, 313
Manduta, English settlement at, 29
Manila Expedition, 93, 97
Manington, Mr. Philip, succeeds Light
at Penang, 91
Marsden, John, resident at Natal, 47
Mason, Mr. J. S., appointed to
Kelantan, 176
Maxwell, Mr. W. G., adviser of
Kedah, 188
Menangkabau (Sumatra), a famous
Malay Principality, 19
Mercantile Bank of India opens branch
in Kota Bahru, 173
Middle East, the, importance of secur-
ing a settlement in, 32, 45, 50 ; East
India Company's position in, 96 ;
Dutch claims to ascendancy in, 102
Military contribution, 211
Mining (general), 258
Mining in Kedah, 187
Mining in Kelantan, 171
Mining in Trengganu, 179
Minto, Lord, appoints Raffles to act as
Governor - General's agent in the
Easlern Seas, 99 ; visit of to Malacca,
loi
Mitchell, Sir Charles, 136
Moluccas, the, 24
Monckton, the Hon. Edward, de-
spatched on a mission to Kedah, 62 ;
visits Rhio and Trengganu, 65 ;
James Scott's views of the mission
of, 71 ; on the subordination of
Kedah to Siam, 144 ; visits Treng-
ganu, 147
Mount Faber signal station, 220
Municipal system established, 204
Murton, Mr., and rubber experiments,
2S7
Natal (Sumalral, 47
Naval accommodation at Singapore, 333
Naval attack on Selangor, 125
Negri Sembilan, introduction of Resi-
dential system in, 136; coco-nut
acreage in, 302 ; population of, 322
Nicobar Islands, proposed settlement
at, 68 ; outrage by Europeans at, 88
Non-Federated States, the, 166
Norman, Sir Henry, explores Kelantan,
167
Oil, possible discovery of in Malaya,
279
Ophir Mount, 194, 258
Opium Commission's report, 206
Opium Department created, 208
Ord and Cawley's mission to Acheen,
26
Ord, Sir Harry, first Governor of the
Straits Settlements, 123; visits the
scene of the disturbances in the Malay
States, 126 ; portrait of at Singapore,
224 ; opens Victoria Dock, Singa-
pore, 332
Padang captured by the British, 48
Pahang, enters the Federation, 136 ;
ancient gold-mining in, 259 ; moderri
358
INDEX
gold-mining in, 264; coco-nut acreage
in, 302 ; population of, 322
Palembang (Sumatra), ancient home of
the Malay dynasties, 19
Panama Canal, effect of opening of the,
348
Pangkor, Treaty of, 128
Patent Slip and Dock Company, 332
Peace of Amiens, 97
Penang, Sir James Lancaster lands at,
22 ; Light's proposal for the occu-
pation of in 1771, 55; his earliest
description of, 59 ; grant of secured
by Light, 70 ; Court of Directors
sanction project for the occupation
of, 72 ; Light's appointment as super-
intendent of, 75 ; terms of the Sultan
of Ivedah's grant of, 75 ; occupation
of by Light, 78 ; Captain Kyd's first
report on, 79 ; Sultan of Ivedah's
dissatisfaction at the occupation of.
So ; Sir John INIacplierson's minute
relative to the occupation of, 82 ;
land grants of Light at, 84 ; second
mission of Captain Kyd to, 85 ;
Chinese community at, 86, Sy ;
Light's minute as to the adminis-
tration of, 88 ; Mr. Philip Maning-
ton appointed to succeed Light as
superintendent of, 91 ; used as a
victualling station during war, 92;
the Manila expedition at, 93; the
Duke of Wellington's memoir on, 93 ;
elevated to a Presidency, 94 ; Lieut. -
Colonel Farquhar Governor of, 97 ;
early judicial system in, 202 ; Com-
mittee of Assessors appointed at,
204 ; road construction at, 237 ; de-
scription of, 250 ; tin-mining at,
268 ; trade of, 230, 341
Penjara at Trengganu, 181
Pepper trade, the, 27, 40
Perak, development of tin-mining in,
124 ; Captain T. C. Speedy conducts
a mission to, 128 ; Mr. J. W. Birch
appointed Resident of, 129 ; assas-
sination of Mr. Birch in, 131 ; ex-
pedition to, 132 ; Sir Hugh Low's
administration of, 134; tin deposits
in, 263 ; Chinese tin-miners in, 270 ;
rubber-trees experimentally planted
in, 287 ; coco-nut acreage, 302 ; popu-
lation of, 321
Perils, description of, 192
Phillips, Mr. CM., kills tiger at Raffles
Hotel, 250
Phoenicians and the Middle East, 258
Pickering, Mr. W. A., conducts a mis-
sion to Perak, 128
Piracy in the Straits, 124, 127
Planting in Johore, 194
Planting in Kedah, 186
Planting in Kelantan, 171
Plassy, Battle of, its effects on British
power in the East, 49
Population of Singapore, 233
Population statistics, 321
Port Dickson, 338
Port Swettenham, 338
Portuguese capture Slalacca, 21
Port -iVeld, 338
Prai, Light defeats Sultan of Kedah's
force at, 87 ; tin-smelting at, 276
Priaman, proposed settlement at, 28
Prince of Wales's Island (Penang), 79
Protected States, 141, 163
Province Wellesley, geographical posi-
tion, 16 ; occupation of, 94, attack
on boats near, 128 ; planting enter-
prise in, 281
Pulo Pesang, proposed settlement at, 52
Raffles, Sir T. Stamford, report of
on Malacca, 98, 100 ; early career
ofi 99 ; Javan administration of,
102 ; visits England, 102 ; appointed
Lieut. - Governor of Bencoolen,
103 ; visits Calcutta and is entrusted
with a mission to form a new settle-
ment in the Straits of Malacca, 104 ;
terms of his instructions, 105 ; quits
Calcutta to execute his mission, 106 ;
opposition of Colonel Bannerman to,
108 ; sails from Penang, 109 ; visits
.Slack and the Karimun Islands, no ;
hoists the British flag at Singapore,
no; obtains provisional permit for
the occupation of the island from the
Temenggong, III; censured by the
Home Government for occupying
Singapore, 112 ; proceeds to Acheen
on a mission, 113 ; returns to Singa-
pore, 113; leaves again for Ben-
coolen, 1 14 ; takes up his duties
finally at Singapore, 114; organises
the Singapore administration, 114;
end of the Singapore administration
of, 116; Abdullah's description of the
departure of, n7 ; last days of at
Bencoolen, n7 ; returns to England,
118; illness and death of, 118:
burial-place of, 118; views of on
Siamese aggression, 145
Railway in Jofiore constructed, 215
Railways, probable effect of, introduc-
tion of into Kelantan, 173 ; ter-
minus of at Singapore, 221 ; first
introduced into the Federated Malay
States, 240; mileage of, 241 ; finan-
cial aspect of, 242 ; unification
INDEX
359
policy, 242 ; administration of, 243 ;
system of constructing, 243 ; staff of,
244 ; new construction, 245 ; offer
advantages to the tourist, 246
Rainier, Admiral, on Penang, 92
Raja, Becliitram Shah, 19
Raja of Majapahit captures Singapura,
20
Raub gold-mine, 264
Rawang (Selangor), coal deposits at, 279
Recorder appointed in the Straits, 203
Rembau, concerned in the disturbances
in Selangor, 125
Residential system, the, established, 129
Rhio, Hon. Edward Monckton visits,
65 ; Captain Forrest's mission to, 70 ;
Major Farquhar's mission to, 103 ;
Dutch activity at, 108
Ridley, Mr. H. N., and rubber, 2S7
Ripon, Lord, on the military contri-
bution, 213
Robinson, Sir Flercules (Lord Ros-
mead), undertakes a mission to
Singapore, 123
Rodger, Sir J. P., and Pahang, 136
Ross, Captain, surveys the Karimun
Islands, no
Rozells, Martina, wife of Light, 68
Rubber, in Kelantan, 171 ; in Kedah,
1S6 ; in Johore, 195 ; in the
Federated Malay States, 247 ; his-
tory of the development of in
Malaya, 283 ; Captain Kyd's men-
tion of in his Penang report, 283 ;
Kew experiments with, 285 ; trial
plantings at Ceylon and Singapore,
2S6 ; Mr. Henry N, Ridley's asso-
ciation with the development of,
287 ; experimental planting of in
Perak, 2S7 ; first sales of in London,
288 ; pioneers of the planting of in
Malaya, 28S ; great demand for
Singapore seedlings of, 2S9 ; method
of cultivating, 290, 292 ; production
of, 291 ; statistics of, 292 ; pests,
294 ; labour regulations, 295 ;
varieties of labour employed, 297 ;
export duty, 298 ; boom, 298 ; prices,
300 ; cost of cultivating, 300 ; by-
products of, 301 ; future of, 303
Rulers of the Native States, 13
St. George's Church, Penang, Light's
grave in, 90
Sang Nila Utama, 19
Sang Sepurba, 19
Scott, James, supports Light's scheme
for the occupation of Penang, 71 ;
congratulates the Government upon
Light's appointment, 75
Scott, Mr. W. D., describes Treng-
ganu fisheries, 179
Scrivenor, Mr. J. B., appointed
Government geologist, 260 ; views
of on Malayan geology, 260
Sejara Malayu, the, iS
Selangor, relations with Kedah, 56, 59,
62 ; anarchy in, 125 ; British naval
force attacks, 125 ; Siamese conquest
extended to, 144 ; roads made in,
239 ; tin deposits in, 263, 269 ; coal
deposits in, 279 ; rubber-planting in,
2S8 ; coco-nut acreage in, 302 ;
population of, 322
Shipping statistics, 321, 339
Slack, Raffles's visit to, no
Siam, Captain Burney's mission to, 145
Siam cedes her rights in the Protected
Malayan States, 163
Siam, P'rench attack on, 149
Siamese at Junk Ceylon, 65
Siamese Government, Mr. R. W.
Duffs negotiations with the, 154
Siamese influence in Kedah, 81, 142,
145
Sillebar, 29
Singapore, geographical position of,
16 ; ancient city of, 19 ; Raffles
conducts an expedition to, 107 ;
British flag hoisted at, no ; treaties
transferring the sovereignty of, in;
occupation of strongly disapproved
by the Home Government, 112;
Marquess of Hastings's despatch con-
cerning the occupation of, 113 ;
Institute founded, 115; growth of
trade of after the occupation, 122 ;
Sir Hercules Robinson's (Lord Ros-
mead) mission to, 123; Crown
Colony Government introduced at,
123 ; Chamber of Commerce me-
morialises Government in reference
to the anarchy in the Malay States,
125 ; municipal system established
at, 204 ; military contribution
agitation at, 213 ; port improve-
ments at, 215 ; detailed description
of, 217 ; public buildings at, 223 ;
clubs of, 224 ; social life at, 227 ;
Government House at, 228; churches
at, 229 ; municipal government of,
231 ; newspapers at, 23: ; popula-
tion of, 233 ; Chinese community
of, 233 ; cosmopolitan character of,
235 ; tiger-shooting at, 249 ; tin-
smelting at, 276 ; rubber experi-
ments at, 285 ; commercial pre-
eminence of, 328 ; dock construction
at, 331 ; Tanjong Pagar Dock
expropriation, 333 ; Tanjong Pagar
360
INDEX
Dock Board formed at, 335 ;
reclamation scheme at, 336 ; new
graving dock at, 336 ; tonnage of
shipping at, 339 ; as a distributing
centre, 340 ; imports and exports,
Skeat, IMr., expedition conducted by to
interior, 168, 311
Smith, Sir Clementi, 137
Speedy, Captain T. C, 128, 129
Spice trade, the, 24
Spooner, Mr. C. E., 243
Sport in Kelantan, 174
Sport, openings for, 248
Stanley, Sir Edmond, first Recorder, 203
Straits Settlements Association supports
intervention in the Malay States, 192
Straits Settlements, the, constituted a
Crown Colony, 123 ; system of
administration in, 198 ; judiciary of
the, 202 ; Opium Department created
in, 208 ; financial system of 209 ;
debt of, 215 ; statistics of shipping
of. 331
Straits Trading Company, 276
Sugar-planting, 281
Sulivan, Hon. Laurence, proposes
settlement at Acheen, 68
Sultan Snik, 176
Sumatra, British rights in relinquished,
121
Sunda Straits, 24, 51, 53, 107
Sungei Ujong, 125
Swettenham, Sir Frank, appointed
Assistant-Resident ofSelangor, 129;
views on Mr. Birch's assassination,
131 ; drafts a scheme for the govern-
ment of the Federated Malay States,
136; installed as Resident-General
of the Federated Malay States, 137 ;
conducts a mission to Kelantan, 161 ;
travels from west to east coast,
167; defeats tin monopolists, 265;
on the origin of the Malays, 313;
poUcy of, 352
Tan Chay Yen, Mr., pioneer of rubber-
planting, 2SS
Tanjong Pagar, 219
Tanjong Pagar Dock expropriation, 215,
223, 333
Tappanooley, proposed British settle-
ment at, 50
Taylor, Sir William, and the labour
regulations, 295
Teluk Ayer, reclamation scheme at,
336
Temenggong of Johore cedes Singapore
to Raffles, no
Tigers in Singapore, 249
Topham, Jones and Railton, execute
contract at Singapore, 221
Tourist, attractions for the, in the
Federated Malay States, 246
Tumpat, a port of call, 339
Tumpat, projected railway to, 173
Tin deposits in Malay Peninsula, 262
Tin export duty, 210, 270
Tin-mining, importance of, 265 ; early
history of, 266 ; Light's description
of, 266 ; Captain Kyd on tin deposits
at Penang, 26S ; Mr. David Brown
works deposits at Penang, 269 ;
Chinese operations in Perak, 270 ;
statistics of, 271 ; chief centres of,
271 ; Mr. F. J. B. Dykes on, 272 ;
processes of, 273 ; labour system,
276 ; Government regulations con-
cerning, 27S ; future of, 279
Tin-smelting, 275
Topazes at Bencoolen, 36
Trafalgar, Battle of, news of, received
in the Straits, 97
Treaty of Vienna, 102
Trengganu, Hon. Edward Monckton
visits in 1771, 65 ; situation of, 141 ;
despatch of naval force to, 146 ;
British connection with, 147 ; politi-
cal position of, 150 ; expedition to,
151; detailed description of, 176;
ruler of, 182; Wolfram deposits in,
263 ; industries at, 317
Tunku Husein, Sultan of Johore, in
Tunku Mohamed, Yang di Pertuan of
Sri Menanti, 136
Vincent, Captain, reoccupies Ben-
coolen, 45
Wales, Prince of (PLM. the King),
visit of to Malaya, 31 S
Wan Mat's irrigation scheme in
Kedah, 184
Wellesley, Colonel (afterwards Duke
of Wellington), supports occupation
of Penang, 93
Wellesley, Marquess, policy of, 94
Wcrtemann's, Lewis, description of
Malacca, 20
Wickhain, Mr. H. A., rubber experi-
ments of, 2S5
Wolfram deposits in Trengganu,
263, 279
Wray, Mr. Leonard, on Malay in-
dustries, 317
YotJNG, Sir Arthur, appointed gover-
nor of the Straits Settlements, 228 ;
ascends Gunong Tahan, 256 ; ad-
ministration of, 351
UNWIN BROTHERS, LI.^UTKD, THE GRESH.VM IT<ESS, WOKI.NG A.\'D LONDON.
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