Full text of "Twentieth century impressions of Siam: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources, with which is incorporated an abridged edition of Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya"

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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS

SIAM

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED
AN ABRIDGED EDITION OF

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

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ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE, COMMERCE,
INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES

WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED AN ABRIDGED
EDITION OK

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA.

Editor in Chief: ARNOLD WRIGHT (London).
Assistant Editor: OLIVER T. BREAKSPEAR (Bangkok).

LONDON, DURBAN, COLOMBO, PERTH (W.A.), SINGAPORE, HONGKONG, SHANGHAI,
BANGKOK (SIAM), CAIRO, BATAVIA (NETHERLANDS INDIA).

LLOYD'S GREATER BRITAIN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD.

1908.

H.M. THE QUEEN OF SIAM.

532:134

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

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7' « curious how little is known of Siam in the outside world, and how meagre,
hitherto, has been the sum tola! of authoritative and reliable information
published regarding it. And yet it is a country of peculiar interest and infinite
possibilities, destined in the near future to occupy a position of great commercial
importance. The Government is, in form, an absolute monarchy, but hand in
hand with the monarchical system are to be found some of the best features
of an enlightened and progressive democracy. The humblest subject may climb,
through a well-organised educational process and a series of public scholarships,
to the highest offices in the State. After passing through the local schools several of the most promising
boys are sent each year to complete their education in Europe, with the understanding that upon their
return they remain for a certain period in the Government service. Their records in the various
colleges and schools of the West have been exceptionally good, and the possible extent of the influence
such a constant stream of capable, well-trained, and efficient servants may have in the administration of
the country is well - nigh incalculable. The progress made during the last quarter of a century has been
remarkable ; and while Siam may not have asserted her position as an independent political entity with that
rapidity which has characterised Japan's emergence from comparative insignificance and entrance into the
comity of nations, this may be attributed solely to the difficulties of her geographical position, which place her
somewhat outside of the beaten track of Eastern commerce. In spite of such obvious disadvantages, however,
the public revenue and expenditure of the country have trebled during the last twenty years — a result due, not
to new or enhanced taxation, but merely to more effectual methods of financial control and the natural
expansion of trade and cultivation. Larger and larger sums have been spent on the steady development of the
country. The Army has been remodelled and radical reforms introduced into the methods of enlistment, with
the purpose of preventing military service, as far as possible, from interfering with the exigencies of other
branches of Government service or the vigorous exploitation of the country's natural resources and industrial
capabilities. Railway construction is being pushed forward as rapidly as possible, so that it is reasonable to
believe that quick means of communication will soon be established between those places which can now be
reached only after weeks of tedious travel. The country is being gradually opened up, and on all sides there

12 INTRODUCTORY NOTE

are evident signs of the adoption of modem and progressive methods on the part of the Government for the
improvement of the country's position. Siam is an independent country, intensely jealous of her independence,
and her children yield to no other nationality in their love for the homeland.

The King is, in theory, the master of life and death and the owner of all land, but in practice, of course,
this is not so. No one is condemned without a trial, and the expenses of the King's private property are never
defrayed out of the public treasury. The religion of the Stale is Buddhism, and his Majesty, as the highest
"supporter of the doctrine" stands at the head of the religion. But a broad spirit of religious toleration
prevails j- all creeds are granted full liberty of worship, nor is any one, by virtue of his religious belief, prevented
from occupying any secular office under the administration or disabled in any way.

In the present volume, while due regard has been paid to historical claims, no trouble has been spared to
give a true picture of Siam as it exists at the present day. There are articles showing how the country
is being administered and what advance has been made under the wise and beneficent rule of his present
Majesty. All the departments of State have been dealt with adequately, and proper recognition paid to
the ministers to whose inspiration and genius many of the most notable reforms effected during the last quarter
of a century have been due. On the commercial side the volume has exceptional claims to attention. The
great rice trade, the teak industry, shipping, mining, and the multifarious trade interests centring in Bangkok
all have their share of space, and in the result is produced a record which may be consulted with advantage by
every business house in Europe which desires to extend its connection with the East.

Generally, it may be staled that in carrying through the work no trouble has been spared to ensure
completeness and accuracy, and in every section of the volume, governmental, industrial, and commercial, the
various articles have been written by the highest authorities. In each instance the author, from long experience
and training, has become a specialist on the subject of which he treats. The publishers wish to express their
thanks to the Government, without whose assistance the satisfactory completion of the task would have been
impossible, and especially desire to acknowledge the cordial goodwill of H.R.H. Prince Damrong, the Minister
of the Interior. Throughout His Royal Highness has evinced the greatest interest in the work, and his many
practical suggestions, having been acted upon, have in each instance added greatly to the value of the book.
His Royal Highness also placed at the disposal of the publishers the whole of his unique collection of photo-
graphs of the interior of Siam. These, together with those the publishers themselves procured, give a pictorial
representation of Siam upon a scale which has never been attempted before.

September, 1908.

CONTENTS

G=^?f2gY^)

History. By Arnold Wright

The Royal Family

Constitution and Law —

The Constitution .......

Siamese Law : Oi.u and New. By T. Masao, D.C. LL.D, Senior Legal Adviser to H.S.M.'s
Government and Judge of H.S.M.'s Supreme Court of Appeal

The Administration oe Justice. By W. A. G. Tili.eke, Acting Attorney-General

Diplomatic and Consular Representatives

The Army and Navy —

The Army. Bt Major Luang Bhuvanarth Narubal, CHitf of General Staff

The Navy . . ...

Police and Provincial Gendarmerie —

The Police. By Eric St. John LaWSON, Commissioner of Police, Bangkok ....

The Provincial GENDARMERIE •-......

Finance. By W. J. F. Williamson, Financial Adviser lo the Government of Slam

Royal Survey Work. By R. W. Giblin, F.R.G.S., Director of the Royal Survey
Department ........

Health and Hospitals —

Climate ano Health oe Bangkok. By Dr. H. CAMPBELL Highet, Fellow of the Royal
Institute of Public Health and Principal Medical Officer, Local Government, Siam

The Department oe Puhlic Health. By Morden Carthew, M.B., B.Ch., Edin., Acting
Medical Officer of Health for Bangkok • •-....

Imports, Exports, and Shipping. By Norman Maxwell, Principal of the Statistical Office
of H.S.M.'s Customs .........

Rice. By A. E. Stiven, Manager of the Borneo Company, Ltd., Rice Mill, Bangkok .
The Teak Industry. By A. J. C. Dickson

Mines and Mining Administration. By John H. Heal, R.S.M., F.G.S., Inspector-General
of the Royal Department of Mines and Geology '

Engineering. By C. Lamont Groundwater, M.I.E.E

Means of Communication —

Rivers, Roads, and Canals. By J. Homan van der Heide, Director-General of the Royal

Irrigation Department .
Railways ............

, Posts and Telegraphs .........

i.S

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94

101
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107
no

112
121

128
132

135
144
170

182
186

199
202
204

CONTENTS

Ecclesiastical —

BUDDHISM. By O. FRANKFURTER, Ph.D., Chief Librarian of the National Library, Bangkok
The Roman Catholic Church ..........

The Protestant Church. By Rev. Henry J. Hii.lyard, M.A., LL.D., Chaplain of Christ
Church. Bangkok .............

The Siamese Language. By B. O. Cartwright (Cantab.), Exhibitioner, King's College,
Cambridge; English Tutor to the School of the Royal Pages, Bangkok

Manners and Customs

Education. By W. G. Johnson, Adviser to the Ministry for Public Instruction and
Ecclesiastical Affairs

Sport

Bangkok

The Highways and Sanitation of Bangkok. By L. R. de la Mahotiere, City Engineer
and Chief Engineer of the Sanitary Department, Bangkok . . .

The Press

207
214

216

218
220

226

235
238

291
293

fcnttktlj Cental! ^ntprrsstons at

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ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE, COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES

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HISTORY

By ARNOLD WRIGHT

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CHAPTER I

Ancient history — The Portuguese period —
Camoens' description ofSiam in the "Lusiad"
— Early Dmh and English connection —
The English East India Company estab-
lishes factories at Ayuthia and Patani.

IAM, though one of the
ancient kingdoms of
Asia, possesses a his-
tory which is compara-
tively modern. The
vicissitudes of the
Siamese people have
been great, and in the
overwhelming disaster
of the middle of the eighteenth century, when
the Burmese devastated the country and burnt
Ayuthia, the ancient capital, the national records
were irretrievably lost. Afterwards an attempt
was made to piece together the story of the
race from fragments preserved in monasteries
and from traditions surviving among the priests,
but the result, though interesting in a literary
way from the point of view of historical ac-
curacy, leaves much to be desired. In the
main the work consists of a series of fables
and myths as monstrous and fantastic as any
to be found in the annals of Eastern nations,

rich as they are in flights of imagination. It
is not until we come to the founding of Ayuthia,
in the fourteenth century, that we get on to
anything like firm ground. It is fairly certain,
however, that before that period the Siamese
were a nation who played a considerable part
in the commercial life of Asia. Suleiman, an
Arab traveller of some note of the ninth or
tenth century, is stated by Sir Henry Yule
in his essay, " Cathay and the Way Thither,"
published by the Hakluyt Society, to give a
tolerably coherent account of the seas and
places between Oman and China and to men-
tion Siam under the name of Kadranj. From
other sources it is to be gathered that a con-
siderable Arab trade was transacted with Siam
by way of Tenasserim, which was the starting-
point on what was then the western coast of
Siam of an overland route to Ayuthia. Tavernier,
in his account of the Kingdom of Siam, observes
that " the shortest and nearest way for the
Europeans to go to this kingdom is to go to
Ispahan, from Ispahan to Ormuz, from Ormuz
to Surat, from Surat to Golconda, from Gol-
conda to Maslipatan, there to embark for
Denouserin, which is one of the ports belong-
ing to the Kingdom of Siam. From Denouserin
to the capital city, which is also called Siam,
is thirty-five days' journey — part by water, part
by land, by wagon or upon elephants. The

way, whether by land or water, is very trouble-
some — for by land you must be always upon
your guard for fear of tigers and lions ; by
water, by reason of the many falls of the river,
they are forced to hoist up then boats with
engines."

Long before Tavernier's time Siamese
authority had been exercised, not only in
Tenasserim, but in the adjacent country. At
the end of the thirteenth century, Burmese
records inform us, Siam exercised sway as far
north as Martaban, and that its power was
effective is shown by the fact that the second
Siam king of that State, on ascending the
throne of his brother, had to solicit a recog-
nition of his title from the King of Siam.
Later it lost its hold on Tenasserim and Tavoy,
but in the period 1325-1330 Siamese influence
was re-established in the two provinces. The
facts, as far as they are known, go to support
the theory which has been put forward by
eminent Asiatic scholars, that the Siamese
were originally a powerful Laos tribe who,
pushing southwards from what are known as
the Shan States, ultimately established them-
selves at Ayuthia in 1350. As regards the
country's designation, Siam seems to have been
a foreign — probably a Portuguese — invention.
Mrs. Leonowens, in her interesting work,
points out that it has even a contemptuous

lfi

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

signification, being derived from the Malay
word sdgdtn, or brown race. She says "the
term is never used by the natives them-
selves ; nor is the country ever so named in
the ancient or modern annals of the kingdom."
Accurate as these statements doubtless were
at the time they were written, " Siam " has
now become so enshrined in geographical
nomenclature that it is by this name and no
other that it will continue to be known and
styled. , , • .

";Wllen we". £nteJ-/t}ponr the period of Portu-
guese domination' in' Asia the facts in regard to
tSJarn siapd'jr|ore clearly revealed. At the very
'outset the 1 'Western ■ adVemturers appeared to
have been acquainted with the country and its
inhabitants and products. Preserved in the
Public Library at Oporto is a manuscript
written in 1497 — the year of Vasco da Gama's
great exploit in rounding the Cape of Good
Hope — giving an account of Tenasserim. The
writer said that the State which he called
"Tenacar" was peopled by Christians and
that the king was also a Christian. With
greater veracity he went on to describe the
natural characteristics of the country. "In
this land is much brassy 11, which makes a fine
vermilion, as good as the grain, and it costs
here three cruzades a bahar, whilst in Quayro
[Cairo] it costs sixty ; also there is here aloes
wood, but not much." Leonarda Da Ca'
Masser, a Venetian, who was commissioned
as a sort of secret agent from the Republic to
Portugal in the opening years of the six-
teenth century, gives an account of the various
voyages undertaken by the Portuguese, and in
referring to the ninth voyage prosecuted by
Tristan de Acunha in 1506 makes mention of
Tenasserim. " At Tenazar," he writes, "grows
all the vcrzi [brazil] and it costs ij ducats the
baar, equal to four kantars. This place though
on the coast is on the mainland. The King is
a Gentile ; and thence come pepper, cinna-
mon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, galanga, camphor
that is eaten and camphor that is not eaten.
. . . This is indeed the first mart for spices in
India."

It was not until the Portuguese had accom-
plished the conquest of Malacca, in 1511, that
they turned their thoughts seriously in the
direction of Siam. In that year Albuquerque
despatched Duarte Fernandez as ambassador
to the King of Siam. The envoy appears to
have sailed in a Chinese junk direct to the
city of Hudia, and to have returned, accom-
panied by a Siamese ambassador, overland from
Ayuthia to Tenasserim, and to have embarked
at the latter port for Malacca. This mission
was followed by a second one, despatched
shortly afterwards by Albuquerque with the
special object, it would seem from the records,
of reporting on the " merchandise, dresses, and
customs of the land, and the latitude of the
harbours." Antonio de Miranda de Azevedo
and Manuel Frageso, the envoys on this
occasion, proceeded in the first instance by-
sea to Taranque, and thence by land to the
city of Siiio (Ayuthia). On their return they
reported that the peninsula was very narrow
" on that side where the Chinese make their
navigation " and that from thence it was only
ten days' journey to the coast of Tenasserim,
Trang, and Tavoy. In 1516 there was a further

effort made by the Portuguese to establish
intimate relations with the Siamese. The
Governor of Malacca in that year despatched
Duarte Coelho to Ayuthia with letters and
presents to the King of Siam, in the hope that
by an alliance with Siain the ancient glories
of Malacca might be restored. Coelho was
well received, and he was able to arrange for
the renewal of the arrangement entered into
by Albuquerque a few years earlier. It is
recorded that, with the approval of the king^
a wooden crucifix with the arms of Portugal
painted upon it was erected in a prominent
part of the city.

The numbers of Portuguese who made their
way to Siam, says Sir John Bowring in his
well-known work, must have been consider-
able ; and their influence extended under the
protection and patronage they received from
the Siamese. They were more than once
enrolled for the defence of the kingdom,
especially in 1545, when it was invaded by
the King of Pegu, who laid siege to the capital
(Ayuthia). The Siamese were not only
assisted by Portuguese located in the country,
but by the crew of a ship of war then anchored
in the Menam ; and it is reported that the
most vulnerable parts of the city were those
which were specially confided to the keeping
of the Portuguese, who were under the
command of Diogo Perreira. The city was
successfully defended by the valour of the
Portuguese, who are said to have refused
large bribes offered by the Peguan invaders.

" Many Portuguese were at this period, and
even before, in the service of Siam. In the
year 1540 Dom Joiio III. sent Francisco de
Castro to claim Domingo de Seixas from the
Siamese, he having been reported to be held
in captivity by them. But, so far from the
report being confirmed, it was discovered that
Seixas, who had been in Siam since the year
1517, was the commander of a large force in
the interior, and in great favour with the
authorities. He was, however, with sixteen of
his followers, allowed to leave the country,
after receiving liberal recompense for the
services they had rendered.

" Of this De Seixas, Joao de Barros, the old
chronicler, says that he was supposed to have
been a captive, but he was discovered to be the
commander of a large body of men employed
to subdue the mountain tribes ; and he reports
that the Siamese army in his day (the beginning
of the sixteenth century) consisted of 20,000
cavalry, 250,000 infantry, and 10,000 war
elephants, and that his army was raised
without depopulating the country in any
respect."

In the Portuguese records one de Mello is
mentioned as having rendered signal services
to the Siamese. He was put to death by a
Pegu nobleman, called " Xenim of the Tuft,"
and it is said that the nobleman, being himself
convicted of treason and condemned to death,
exclaimed, on the way to the place of execution,
while passing the dwelling which De Mello
had occupied, " I deserve this death, because I
ordered Diogo de Mello to be killed, without
reason, and on false information."

Intermittently this intercourse between the
Portuguese and the Siamese went on for a
good many years. It took a somewhat new

turn in the second quarter of the sixteenth
century, when, during the governorship of Don
Stefano da Gama, son of the famous explore^
a fleet of three Portuguese ships, manned by
eighty men, sailed from Goa, in search of a
mythical island of gold, supposed to exist on
the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal. The
filibusters— for such they undoubtedly were —
failed to find the treasure island, but they,
nevertheless, reaped a golden harvest by levy-
ing toll on ships in Tenasserim waters. Their
depredations were so systematically pursued
that all trade was stopped and urgent repre-
sentations were made by the King of Siam to
abate the mischief. It does not appear whether
any response was made to this appeal. But it
can hardly be supposed that the Siamese of
that day were in a position to seriously oppose
a force so formidable as that of the Portuguese
pirates must have been. Ce>are dei Fedrici, a
Venetian merchant, who travelled between
Malacca and Pegu in 1568, refers to the trade
of the region in terms which leave it to be
supposed that it had recovered somewhat
from the injury inflicted upon it. Describing
Tenasserim, he says: "This citie of right
belongeth to the Kingdom of Sion [Siam],
which is situate on a great river's side, which
commeth out of the Kingdom of Sion. and where
this river runneth into the sea there is a village
called Mergi, in whose harbour every yeere
there lode some ships with versina, nipa, and
beniamin, a few cloves, nutmegs, and maces
which come from the coast of Sion, but the
greatest merchandise there is versina'and nipa,
which is an excellent wine."

1 1 is, however, in the " Lusiad "of Camoens that
we find the most vivid early description of the
country. The poet was wrecked off the Siamese
coast, and it was here that the famous incident
took place of his being washed ashore bearing
about him the manuscript of a part of his famous
poem. In these lines he introduces us to the
majestic Mekon, in whose waters he narrowly
escaped death : —

See thro' Cambodia Meikon's river goes,

Well named the "Captain of the waters," while

So many a summer tributary Hows

To spread its Hoods upon the sands, as Xile

Inundates its green banks —

And shall I to this gentle river throw
My melancholy songs, and to its breast
Conlide the wetted leaves that tell the woe
Of many a shipwreck, dreary and 'distrest, —
Of famine, perils, and the overthrow
Of him, by Fate's stern tyranny opprest—
Of him whose resonant lyre is doomed to be
More known to fame than to felicity ?

In another trail lation of the "Lusiad" we
have this picture of Siam and adjacent lands : —

Behold Tavai City, whence begin
Siam's dominions, Reign of vast extent ;
Tenassari, Queda, of towns the Queen,
That bear the burthen of the hot piment.
There farther forwards shall ye make, I ween,
Malaca's market, grand and opulent,
Whither each province of the long seaboard
Shall send of merchantry rich varied hoard.

But on her Lands-end throned see Cingapur,
Where the wide sea road shrinks to narrow way ;
Thence curves the coast to face the Cynosure,
And lastly trends Aurorawards its lay :

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

See Pam, Patane, and in length obscure,

Siam, that ruleth all with Royal sway ;

Behold Menam who rolls his lordly tide

From source Chiamai called, Lake long and wide.

Thou see'st in spaces of such vast extent
Nations of thousand names and yet un-nanied ;
Laos in land and people prepotent,
Avas and Bramas for vast ranges famed.
See how in distant wilds and wolds lie pent
The self-styled Gueons, savage folk untamed :
Man's flesh they eat, their own they paint and sear,
Branding with burning iron, — usage fere !

only one difference they have (which is) that
they are somewhat whiter than the Bengalon
and somewhat browner than the men of
China."

For a long period the Portuguese amongst
European nations had a monopoly of inter-
course with Siam. They very cleverly turned
their position in India to advantage by extend-
ing their relations with other Eastern countries,
and European intruders were left out of the
field by the successful enforcement of the
arrogant pretensions to universal domination

Goa. Ultimately Newberry settled down as
a shopkeeper at Goa, and Leedes became a
servant of the Great Mogul. The other
member of the party, Fitch, entered upon a
lengthened course of travel, which took him,
amongst other places, to Siam. He was prob-
ably the first Englishman to visit that country,
and he must have taken home with him a
mass of highly interesting information con-
cerning it.

It is only possible to conjecture the effect
that the account of his travels produced in

ON THE MENAM.

See Mecom river fret Cambodia's coast.
His name by "Water Captain," men explain ;
In summer only when he swelleth most,
He leaves his bed to Hood and feed the plain ;
As the frore Nile he doth his freshets boast ;
His peoples hold the fond belief and vain,
That pains and glories after death are 'signed
To brutes and soulless beasts of basest kind.

Linschoten,a Portuguese writer who resided
at Goa at the close of the sixteenth century,
gives an exhaustive account of the Siam trade
between Ayuthia and Tenasserim. He de-
scribes the Siamese as " in forme, manner, and
visage, much like the inhabitants of China ;

which was the leading feature of Spanish and
Portuguese. At irregular intervals, however,
individual traders of other nations found their
way by devious routes to the East, and several
of them visited Siam. Of the number was
Mandelslohe, the celebrated German traveller,
who seems by his writings to have been greatly
struck with the country and particularly with
Ayuthia, which he called the " Venice of the
East." In 1583 three Englishmen — Ralph Fitch,
James Newberry, and Leedes — proceeded to
India overland for the purposes of trade.
They were seized by the Portuguese and cast
into prison, first at Ormuz and afterwards at

commercial circles. But we know that when
the nascent East India Company was applying
for its first charter in 1600 it forwarded to the
authorities a memorandum in which, enume-
rating the countries with which trade might
be freely opened by the English, it mentioned
" the rich and mightie Kingdom of Pegu and
Juncalaon, Siam, C.unboia, and Canchinchina,"
thereby showing that a full appreciation existed
at the time of the possibilities for trade pre-
sented by the route across Siam. The Dutch
at the same time were casting their eyes long-
ingly in the direction of Siam. In 1602
they had so far perfected their plans that

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

they were able to set up a factory at Patani,
on the east coast, then an important centre
of Far Eastern trade. iThree years after
the factory was established an attack was
delivered upon it by Japanese, and it was
burned to the ground. But the disaster did
not deter the enterprising Hollanders from
prosecuting their enterprise. They gradually
built up a considerable trade between Siam
and Bantam in the class of produce for which
the country was famous. They seem to have
made a considerable impression on the King
of Siam, for in 1607, on his own volition, that
monarch despatched an embassy to Holland.
Travelling via Bantam, the envoys met with
anything but a favourable reception there from
the Dutch authorities. The Admiral (Matelief)
is stated by a Dutch writer of the time to have
" given them very little countenance, being
angry with the merchant that brought them,
and doubtful whether to take them to Hol-
land or send them back again." Ultimately,
however, members of the mission were de-
spatched to Europe, and on September 11, 1608,
were received in audience at the Hague by
Prince Maurice, the Governor of the United
Provinces, to whom handsome presents were
made. This embassy, as probably the first
instance in which an Asiatic sovereign had
sent representatives to a Western Court,
attracted much attention at the time, and it
is doubtless to the influence it exercised that
was due the initial effort of the English to
establish commercial intercourse with Siam.

But before the enterprise was actually
entered upon, in 1610, the Company had the
advantage of receiving from Captain William
Keeling, one of its trusted servants, a detailed
report of the prospects of Siam trade from
observations made almost on the spot. Cap-
tain Keeling had conducted a voyage to the
Far East in 1608, and while on the way out
put into Bantam. During his sojourn there
he met an ambassador from the King of
Siam, and, inviting him to dinner, gathered
from him some useful facts relative to the
country. He was told by the ambassador that
clothes would sell readily in Siam, that gold
was abundant and of such good quality as to
be worth three times its weight in silver, and
that precious stones were plentiful and cheap.
Keeling was also assured by his guest that the
king would account it a great happiness " to
have commerce with so great a King as His
Majesty of England," with whom the wily
ambassador said he understood that " the King
of Holland was not comparable."

The Company, after receiving Keeling's
report on his return in 1610, gave instructions
to the commander of the ship Globe, which
was fitting out for despatch to the Far East to
prosecute the Company's seventh voyage, to
make the opening up of commercial relations
with Siam one of the primary objects of the
voyage. The Globe, sailing from the Downs
on February 5, 161 1, arrived off Ceylon, after
a prosperous run, in the following August.
Having touched at Pulicat and Masulipatam,
the vessel directed its course to Siam. Patani
was reached on June 23, 1612. The selec-
tion of this port as the objective was probably
due to the fact that the Dutch had established
their factory there, and in so doing conferred

upon it a certain prestige. However that
may be, the intrusion of the English into
their preserve was hotly resented by the
Dutch, who were at no pains to disguise
their feelings. The Englishmen were not
greatly moved by this display of ill-feeling,
more especially as they had had a very
friendly reception from the native ruler of
the State — a vassal of the King of Siam. A
few days after their arrival they went ashore
in great state, taking with them a present and
also a letter from James I. placed on a gold
basin. The delivery of the letter was entrusted
to one part of the establishment, while the other
part was left behind at Patani to look after
the Company's interests there. The members
charged with the mission to Ayuthia were Adam
Denton, Thomas Essington, and Lucas Antheu-
niss. With them went two other Englishmen,
Thomas Samuel and Thomas Driver, probably
in subordinate capacities. The party pro-
ceeded to Ayuthia in a " goudon " they had
built, and Denton, describing the journey,
mentions that from the roadstead of Siam he
and his companions journeyed " up the river
some twenty miles to a town called Bancope
[Bangkok], where we were well received, and
further 100 miles to the city [Ayuthia], where
the King and people furnished us with
everything we required, and a stone house
three storeys high, contrary to the opinion of
the Dutch." The Globe, following closely in
the wake of the mission, arrived in " the Road
of Syam " on August 15, 1612, and dropped
anchor. Tidings of the vessel's arrival quickly
spread and the native shahbandar (or port
officer) of Bangkok went on board to tender
a welcome and receive the present which he
doubtless felt to be his due for his trouble.
There was some delay in completing the
arrangements for the reception of the visitors,
but eventually all preparations were made and
on September 17th the factors were received
in audience by the king. His Majesty seems
to have been greatly gratified by the presenta-
tion of the royal letter. To each factor, with
many expressions of goodwill, he tendered a
small gold cup with a piece of clothing.
What was more to the purpose, he gave the
visitors permission to trade and formally
allotted to them the house in which they had
taken up their residence, for the purposes of
a factory. Though the way had thus been
smoothed for them, the Englishmen found that
there were many difficulties still in their path.
On the one side they were confronted with
Dutch jealousy, which stopped at nothing in its
efforts to confound the hated intruders ; on the
other, the factors had to cope with the covetous-
ness and corruption of the local officials, whose
one cry, like that of the daughter of the horse-
leech, was " Give ! give ! " Beyond these
obstacles, sufficiently grave in themselves,
was the distracted state of the country, which
left little room for mercantile enterprise. Even
the elements seem to have been in league
against the intrepid traders. On October 26,
1612, the Globe, while at anchor in the road-
stead, was involved in a terrible cyclone.
Floris, describing the events of the day in
his diary, says that there " arose such stormes,
that old folkes had not seen the like, renting
up trees by the roots, and blowing down the

King's monument, which hee had erected to
his father. The ship hardly escaped bf the
diligence of Master Skinner and Samuel Huyts
casting out a third anchor, being driven, not-
withstanding her two anchors, from sixe
fathome to foure, and not passing an English
mile from the land. Master Skinner was
beaten from the anchor-stocke but very strangely
recovered. Five men were drowned ; one after
the rest, whom they supposed devoured of a
whale, which they saw soon after they had
seene him. The storme lasted foure or five
houres, and then followed a smooth sea, as
if there had been no tempest. A tempest yet
continued aboard the ship by reason, as was
reported, of the reasonlesse masterly master,
who was therefore apprehended, and Skinner
placed in his roome, whereby that weather also
calmed."

CHAPTER II

The English traders at Patani — Attempt to open
up trade between Patani and Japan — Dutch
rivalry — Attack on the English by the Dutch
and destruction of the Patani establishment —
Hostilities between Portugal and Siam — New
attempt in 1660 to establish English factories
in Siam — Rise of Dutch influence — Vicissi-
tudes of the English — Burning of the English
factory at Ayuthia.

The English traders, as we have seen in the
previous chapter, had without much difficulty
secured a lodgment in Siam and had been re-
ceived with every manifestation of goodwill
on the part of the king and the official classes.
In ordinary circumstances they might have
hoped to reap substantial and permanent ad-
vantage from the connection they had been
able to form. But the drawbacks referred to
earlier in the narrative were too serious to allow
of the establishment of a settled trade of a pay-
ing character. Graduallythis truth was borne in
upon the minds of the factors and they decided
to quit Ayuthia. They took their leave of the
Siamese officials at the capital in November
but left behind Lucas Antheuniss to look after
the Company's interests. At Patani the
Englishmen appear to have found themselves
quite at home. The State was not under
direct Siamese authority, but was governed
by a queen who was invariably chosen from
the same family and always old and beyond
child-bearing. The occupant of the throne
at the time of the Globe's visit was, Floris states
an old lady " three score yeeres of age, tall
and full of majestie ; in all the Indies we had
seen few like her." Despite her years, she
seems to have been very active and lively in
her manners. The diarist describes an enter-
tainment given on the occasion of the queen
leaving the palace after a seclusion of seven
years " to hunte wilde buffes and bulles."
There was first dancing before the queen by
twelve women and children. Then the
"gentilitie" were invited to show their paces,
and they did so to the amusement of the throng.
Finally, the English and the Dutch factors,

FROM AN ANCIENT SIAMESE MANUSCRIPT IN THE ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT DEPARTMENT OF THE

BRITISH MUSEUM.

I. Refers to rules to be observed in building a house 2. Relates to the rules for finding buffaloes or 3. Relates to the happiness or otherwise of proposed

to ensure its being lucky. bullocks stolen or strayed. marriages.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

^*tB

*ifl* &—

!?*W^: ! W* 1

1 ■>'** ? ^HVt-M

\jf~ j- -*-*■- ^

«
t^/

RAPIDS ON THE MENAM NEAR CHIENGMAI.

in response to an invitation, gave a display of
their terpsichorean powers, greatly to the

delight of the queen and her court. Mean-
while, business prospects were brightening.

At Ayuthia, Lucas Antheuniss had conducted
such a brisk trade that he had to send to
Patani for more goods. Furthermore he had,
under the liberal licence to trade granted to
the Company by the king, despatched some-
thing in the nature of a trading mission to
"Zangomaye" (Chiengmai), an important trade
centre in the country to the north of the
capital.

At Patani itself arrangements were com-
pleted, with the financial support of the
queen, for the opening up of what was
thought likely to be a lucrative trade with
Japan. The latter enterprise was doubt-
less suggested by the evidence which
the factors saw all around them of the
intimacy of the ties which in those days
existed between Siam and Japan. At the
ports were many Japanese merchants, and
a large proportion of the junks trading in the
Gulf of Siam were manned by Japanese crews.
In the better class houses, too, were numerous
evidences of the commercial potentialities of
Japan in the shape of the beautiful manufactures
of the country. All these circumstances com-
bined to stimulate the aclivity of the factors ;
but, as will be seen in the sequel, their efforts
were not attended by a great amount of
success.

An incident which occurred at Patani to-
wards the end of September, 1613, greatly

RUINS OP WAT YAI AT AYUTHIA.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

THE FLOATING BAZAAR AT AYUTHIA.

strengthened the position of the Englishmen.
Some Javanese slaves owned by two local
chiefs, having risen in revolt, started burning
and destroying the property of their masters,
and eventually laid waste nearly the whole
town. So critical did the position of affairs
become, that the Englishmen determined to
see what they could do to suppress the rising.
Mustering in full force, they advanced against
the rebels. Their appearance was so formid-
able that the slaves, on seeing them, incon-
tinently fled. The local chiefs were extremely
grateful to the factors for their assistance, and
henceforward they became by popular acclaim
"defenders of strangers." While the English-
men could, as this episode clearly showed, unite
to some purpose in the face of danger, they
were in their everyday relations greatly divided
by dissensions. The chief difficulties appear to
have been between Captain Essington of the
Globe and Floris. The former accused the
latter of allowing disorders to occur, but
Antheuniss put it on record that " Essington had
overthrown all hopes of trade at Patani if the
patience of Floris and the mediation of friends
had not prevented it." The fact that the Globe
sailed for Masulipatam on October 22, 1613,

with Floris and Denton as passengers suggests
that eventually the quarrel was adjusted as
far as it affected Essington and Floris. At
Masulipatam Denton was transferred to
the ship James, and in it set sail for Bantam
and Patani on the 7th of February. In the
course of the voyage the Company's ship
Darling was encountered, and the two vessels,
sailing in company, anchored together in
Patani harbour on June 30, 1614.

The advent of the two vessels was the signal
for the outbreak of new disagreements. The
captain of the Jaines, a man named Marlowe,
was a tyrannical personage who, is said to have
" governed at sea with much brawling and
little justice, and ashore with much greatness
without skill, consuming much more money
than was necessary." Another description of
him is as that "troublesome captain of the
'James, who doth disquiet both house and
fleet," and who gave himself up to rioting
and extreme drunkenness, conduct which had
brought " much disgrace upon the English
nation, the master [John Davis] being an apt
scholar to imitate these loose and lewd
courses." The Darling's commander was only
a degree less objectionable, if the picture

painted of him in the records is to be relied
on. He is there denounced with others for
" purloining the Company's goods, deceiving
private men, insolent behaviour, and vanity in
wearing buckles of gold in their girdles," and
for " acquiring wealth with suspicious sudden-
ness." Nor does it appear that misconduct
was confined to the seafaring branch of the
Company's staff. A little time after these
choice spirits were disporting themselves on
the Menam in their chosen fashion, an
individual who was a worthy prototype
appeared on the scene in the person of
Richard Pitt, an assistant factor at Ayuthia.
Pitt is represented to have invited "James
Peterson, the English umper, to a banket at
Syam, and after to have fallen out with hym,
and to have gone with iij Japons to bynd hym
and take hym prisoner. But Peterson laid sore
about him and he kild ij of the Japons and
made Pittes and the other to run away."
Peterson was in great favour with the King
of Siam at the time, and there was some
surprise that Pitt should have had the temerity
to attack him. But the suggestion was that
" it was doone in drink," which is probably
very near the truth, for there are abundant

B *

•22

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

evidences in the records that the love of the
flowing bowl was very predominant amongst
the Company's servants in these early days.

The Japanese enterprise earlier referred to
was arranged by the Ayuthia factors in con-
sultation with the Company's representatives
at Hirado in Japan, where the English had
been settled since 1613. To carry on the trade a
junk was purchased and, under the name of the
Sea Adventure, was entrusted to the command
of William Adams, famous in history as the
first Englishman to settle in the Mikado's
dominions. Richard Wickham and Edmond
Sayer were deputed to accompany the junk as
factors, and they were entrusted with a present
for the King of Siam, as well as with gifts for
their colleagues in Siam. Quitting Cochi on
December 17, 1614, the adventurers had to
bring up off the island of Oshima, one of the
Liu-Kin group, owing to the junk having
sprung a leak. After cruising in and about
the islands, apparently with the object of
repairing the defects which had developed in
the craft, the party returned to Hirado on
June 11, 1615, the junk "having lost her
voyage for this yeare." At the end of the
same year another effort was made to open
up trade between Japan and Siam. The Sea
Adventure, notwithstanding her proved short-
comings, was again selected for the work, and
Adams was re-appointed to the command.
The vessel's departure seems to have excited
great interest. Mr. Robert Cocks, the head of
the Japanese establishments of the Company,
records in his diary that " betyms in the morn-
yng the King sent to envite us to supper,
because he understood our juncke was ready
to departe towards Syam." The royal hospi-
tality apparently was generous to an extreme,
for Cocks records that he found " the drynkyng
overmuch." The Sea Adventure took with it
a letter to the factors at Ayuthia from Captain
Coppindall, of the Company's ship Osiander,
which had arrived at Hirado on Septem-
ber 4th previously. In this communication
the trade of Japan, as far as there had been
experience of it. at Bantam and Patani, is
referred to in very pessimistic language.
What little profits there were, he said, were
"eaten up by great presents and charges"
extorted by Japanese officials. He suggested
that a trade established with Ayuthia by means
of junks sent from thence direct to Hirado,
with a corresponding trade with China, might
help to mitigate the great charges to which
the Company was put on account of the Japan
establishment. The Sea Adventure, after a fair
voyage, arrived early in 1616 in the Menam.
She returned to Japan in company with the
English ship Advice, which had been driven
into the Menam by stress of weather. On
December 21, 1616, the Sea Adventure left the
Bay of Cochi on her second voyage to Siam,
and twenty-eight days later she dropped
anchor at Bangkok. Having taken on board
a cargo of 9,000 skins, she set sail again (on
May 27, 161 7) for Japan. Her return voyage
was one of great peril. Stormy weather was
encountered throughout, and disease decimated
the crew. Eventually the junk crawled into
port, a mere wreck, with only twelve of a crew
of forty-six surviving. The junk was appa-
rently exclusively manned by Japanese, who

proved to be splendid seamen but so difficult
to manage that in the following year, when a
fresh voyage was projected, arrangements
were made for taking on board, to control the
Japanese crew, a "Japan ompra," an official
who is described by Dr. John Anderson in
his work " Early English Intercourse with
Siam'' as "a sort of consul with limited
powers." On January 2nd the junk set sail in
company with other junks. They had not
been many days out before very heavy weather
was encountered, necessitating the break of
the voyage at Tomari ; and when a fresh start
was made the junk was struck by a typhoon
and had to run for safety to the Liu-Kiu
islands. In consequence the January monsoon,
which was relied on to carry the Sea Adven-
ture to Siam, was lost, and it was not until
December, 1618, that Bangkok was ultimately
reached. The vessel by this time was So
battered about that the Company's representa-
tives deemed it advisable to replace her by an
entirely new craft. Apart from the discourag-
ing circumstances attending these voyages of
the Sea Adventure, the factors had by this time
discovered that the Japanese were formidable
trade competitors. How the rivalry worked is
described by Cocks in a poignant passage in
his Diary. " What chiefly spoileth the Japan
trade," he said, "is a company of rich usurers
whoe have gotten all the trade of Japan into
their owne handes. . . . And these fellowes are
not content to have all at their own disposing
above, but they come downe to Firando and
Nangasaque [Nagasaki], where they joyne
together in seting out of junckes for Syam,
Cochin China, Tonkin, Camboja, or any other
places where they understand that good is to
be donne, and are furnishing Japan with all
sortes of comodeties which any other stranger
can bring, and then stand upon their puntos
offering others what they lost themselves,
knowing no man will buy it but themselves,
or such as they please to joyne in company with
them, nether that any stranger can be suffered
to transport it into any other porte of Japan.
Which maketh me altogether aweary of Japan."
The final despairing sentence of this entry
gave a faithful foreshadowing of the fate of the
Japan trade, and with it that of the Siam con-
nection. The new junk made one voyage
from Ayuthia to Hirado in the middle of
1619, but very shortly afterwards the English
commercial connection with Japan was broken,
and the great island kingdom of the East
wrapped itself in a mantle of seclusion which
was not to be cast aside until nearly two and
a half centuries had passed away.

At this period the Company's affairs in
Eastern seas were not in a prosperous
condition. A serious adverse factor was Dutch
rivalry, which at all points where the two
races came into contact maintained a sleepless
warfare against the English interests. The
feud broke out into active hostilities towards
the close of the year 1618, when the English
factors, after taking counsel together at
Bantam, decided to correct the " insolencys
of the Dutch " by sending a fleet to prey upon
their commerce. Following upon this came
the capture of the Black Lion, a richly laden
ship bound from Patani. Hostilities continued
for some time with varying success, and

ultimately the English Company withdrew its
fleet, and with it its Bantam establishment, to
India. For some time prior to this the Patani
factory had been in a moribund condition, and
that at Ayuthia was in little better plight.
The Company was badly served by its repre-
sentatives, and, moreover, the times were not
propitious owing to local wars. Probably the
Siam establishment would have been with-
drawn long previously but for the strong faith
which the Company had in the prospects of trade
in that quarter. Then as now the country was
a great distributing centre. Traders repaired
to it from many parts of the East, and its rulers
were in frequent communication with the
chiefs of adjacent nations. An instance of
the manner in which the favourable situa-
tion of Siam could be turned to account is
to be found in the records of 161 7. In that
year an ambassador from the Kingdom of
Chiampa (Champa) arrived at the Siamese
court, and he was approached by the English
factors with a view to the development of
trade with his country. His reception of them
was so friendly and his information so
encouraging that the Englishmen decided to
despatch a pinnace with goods suitable for the
Champa market. The vessel, which was
manned by a Japanese crew under the com-
mand of Peter Hall, on reaching its destination
found a hearty welcome awaiting it from the
King of Champa, who freely granted the
visitors permission to trade in all parts of
his dominions. Nothing much came of the
opening thus afforded, but the goodwill shown
was probably remembered when the Company
had to deliberate in regard to the future of the
Siam establishments. At all events, in spite of
heavy demands made upon them elsewhere,
they decided in 1619 to despatch two ships,
the Hound and the Samson, from the Coro-
mandel coast to "new establish both with men
and means the almost decayed factories " of
Jambi, Patani, Siam (Ayuthia), and Succadana.
With John Jourdain as president the new staff
arrived at Patani in June, 1619, and arrange-
ments were immediately made to reorganise
the establishment. But the Englishmen had
reckoned without their Dutch rivals in the
Straits. These, having got wind of the enter-
prise, immediately despatched three well-
manned ships in pursuit under the command
of Henrick Johnson, one of their trusted
captains. Arriving off Patani on July 17,
1619, the Dutch squadron immediately pro-
ceeded to attack the English vessels.
Jourdain might have left the harbour and
perhaps have escaped before the Hollanders
arrived, but he preferred to remain and
conduct the fight in the sight of the whole
town, so that the natives might see that the
English reputation for courage was not belied.
The unequal conflict was carried on with great
spirit for some time — for " five glasses," says
the record — and then when many of the men
of the Hound and the Samson had been
killed and wounded the English colours were
struck.

While the negotiations for surrender were
proceeding a Dutch marksman, seeing Jour-
dain, " most treacherously and cruelly shot at
him with a musket and shot him in the body
neere the heart of which wound he dyed

WAT PHRA, PRANG LUANG.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

within halfe an houre after." The two ships
were seized by the Dutch, and the bulk of the
English wounded were sent on board the
principal Dutch ship, the Angel. Here they
were shockingly ill-treated ; men who had been
" much burnt with gunpowder and wounded
with splinters and thereby suffered miserable
torment," were " most unchristianly and in-
humanly caused and forced to put their legges
downe through the gratings, when they were
seized and tyed to the capstan barres insomuch
that their legges were so swelled by reason of
the extraordinary brutal tying of them that the
carpenter, when a man was permitted freedom
for a few minutes, " had always to be fetched
to make bigger the holes to get out their legges
againe." Those of the unfortunate prisoners
who survived this inhuman treatment were
taken about from place to place in irons and
shown to the natives "as trophies of their
victories over the English," as one of their
number put it in a petition presented subse-
quently to the East India Company. Some of
the Englishmen were taken to Japan on the
Dutch ships, and a few of them, with the aid
of Will Adams, managed to escape. The
Dutch, highly indignant at the incident, de-
manded the return of the captives, and on a
refusal being given made an attack on the
English factory, but were repulsed. Mean-
while the Dutch were carrying matters with
a high hand at Patani. According to a report
made to the Company, they " did draw their
swords upon our people in the street" and
threaten to burn their houses. In their weak-
ness the Englishmen sought, and obtained, the
protection of the queen, but they had to pay
smartly for the privilege in the Company's
goods. The patching up of a peace between
English and Dutch in 1620 brought about a
much-welcomed relief from the strain of the
intolerable situation which had grown up.
There was a fraternisation of the two races
at the various ports at which they had estab-
lishments, and generally a new spirit was
infused into the trade of the peninsula. At
Patani, so great was the exhilaration at the era
of amity that had set in, that .1 mission, under
the charge of William Webb, was despatched
to Ligor with the object of establishing trade
relations. But the energy shown was a mere
flicker of a decaying organisation. The Com-
pany, absorbed with affairs of greater moment
elsewhere, neglected to keep the Siamese
establishments supplied with proper stocks of
goods, while their servants, demoralised by a
life of idleness, brought the English name into
contempt by their licentious style of living.
At length, in 1623, both the Patani and Ayuthia
establishments of the Company were with-
drawn — simultaneously, apparently, with those
of the Dutch. The Company, however, con-
tinued to keep an eye on Siam, and on Decem-
ber 23, 1625, the General Court agreed that a
letter should be procured from Charles I. and
despatched to the King of Siam. The com-
munication never reached its destination, and
for a good many years there were no direct
relations betw-een the English and the Siamese.
A circumstance which, doubtless, tended to
prevent a renewal of the old ties was the out-
break of hostilities between Portugal and Siam
in 1632-33. The quarrel originated in the

seizure in the Menam River of a vessel be-
longing to the Dutch. Incensed at this breach
of neutrality, as they regarded it, the Hollanders
made personal complaint to the King of Siam.
That monarch was not slow to resent the insult
to his authority which had been offered, and
soon a regular state of war was created, in
which the Siamese and the Portuguese preyed
upon each other's commerce at sea. After a
series of incidents the Portuguese blockaded
the mouth of the Tenasserim River, with the
object of paralysing Siamese commerce in that
direction. By a clever subterfuge the Siamese
managed to raise the blockade. They des-
patched overland to Mergui eight Japanese
on elephants, with attendant Siamese troops
attired in Japanese dress. Mounted on each
elephant were two guns, and with these a brisk
cannonade was opened on the Portuguese
ships. The ruse* was entirely successful. In
a short time the vessels were drawn off and
they did not afterwards return.

This incident marked the close of the period
of Portuguese influence in Siam and the estab-
lishment of Dutch ascendancy. Van Schouten,
writing in 1636, gives the following account
of the growth of Hollander influence : " Be-
fore Hollanders came to this country the
Portuguese were held in high estimation ; the
Kings of Siam showed great respect to the
envoys of the Indian viceroys and the Malayan
bishops, who were permitted to exercise their
religion in the town of Iudia [Ayuthia], so
much so that the king gave certain appoint-
ments to the priest who had charge of this
church ; but they began to lose credit as soon
as the Dutch set foot in the country, and
finally came to an open rupture. The Portu-
guese intercepted the traffic of these people
with Santoine and Negapatam, and in 1624
took in the Menam River a small Dutch frigate.
The King of Siam waged war against them as
far as the Manillas : their merchants did not,
however, leave the country, but resided there
without consideration and without credit, so
that now only a few exiled Portuguese con-
tinue there. In 1631 the King of Siam, in
reprisal, seized their ships, and took prisoner
all who were on board them ; two years after-
wards they escaped by means of a pretended
embassy. In the ports of Ligor and Tannas-
sari both Spanish and Portuguese vessels were
seized ; but the king caused the ship's crews
to be set at liberty, and charged them with
letters to the Governors of Manilla and Malacca,
in which he offered them permission to trade
and to settle in the country, to which, there-
fore, they will probably return.

" As to the Hollanders, they have been
established in the country for thirty years.
Their commerce is considered by the East
India Company of sufficient importance to
induce them to appoint a Governor, after
having built a factory in the town of Iudia,
and trafficked largely in deer-skins, Sapan-
wood, &c. Tney yearly send these produc-
tions to Japan, with increasing reputation,
though the profit is little except that provisions
are obtained for Batavia, and it is convenient
to put this check upon Spanish commerce.
In 1633 I caused a new warehouse to be built,
and during the four years in which I directed
the affairs of the Company, I so managed

matters as to insure larger profits for the
future.

" In 1634 I built, under the direction of
General Bremer and the Indian Board of
Directors, a mansion of stone, with large
suites of apartments, good water-tanks, and
warehouses attached, being, indeed, quite the
best house belonging to the Company. Such
is the information I have obtained with regard
to the Kingdom of Siam during a residence of
eight years in Iuthia, the capital of the
country."

We must now return to the story of the
growth of English influence in Siam. Not
until 1660 was any further attempt made by
the East India Company to re-occupy the
old ground in the King of Siam's dominions.
The court seems then to have been induced to
take action by the reports sent home by the
Company's representatives at the factory
which was established in 1654 in Cambodia.
In one communication the factors stated their
belief that " Siam goes much beyond this place
both for largeness and cheapness," and they
intimated that the king " shewes the English
is not yett out of his memory, for at all great
feasts of ye Dutch when they trim up their
house, hee will have ours also soe in the same
nature, and yearely hath it repaired ; this wee
have from the Dutch themselves." In 1659,
when the Cambodia factory was plundered
by Cochin Chinese and the factors had to fly
for their lives to Ayuthia, they were received
most hospitably by the king, who supplied
all their material needs. On their departure he
gave them a message to their employers ex-
pressive of his desire for the restoration of the
old trading relations between the two countries.
Encouraged by the promise of liberal treat-
ment which these experiences of fugitive
Cambodia factors held out, the Company in
1660 gave orders for the despatch to Siam of
the ship Hopewell, under the command of
Richard Bladwell. The choice of a com-
mander seems to have been unfortunate.
Bladwell was a poor navigator and, moreover,
he " carryed himself all ye voyage in such a
scornefull high of pride that divele himselfe
could not doe more." After a tedious voyage,
protracted by Bladwell's gross miscalcula-
tions, the Hopewell arrived in the Menam in
June, l66r, and communications were at once
opened up with the king, who " gladly forgave
them [the Company] the old debt under hande
and seale." Without delay, the old premises
were re-occupied, but the fair prospect which
the king's generosity opened up was dimmed
by Bladwell's misconduct. According to the
report of John South, the principal factor, he
" made us stinke in ye nostrils of all nations ;
and all ye greate men swere he is rotten at
harte, hopinge next yeare when factory is
seatled, he may not continew here." South
was greatly impressed with the advantages
which Siam offered for trade, and advised that
a colleague whom he recommended should be
sent from Surat should bring his wife with
him, as the place was peaceable, and both
Dutch and Portuguese had their wives and
families with them. The Council at Surat do
not appear to have shared the optimism which
so vividly coloured the factor's communications.
The President, writing to Thomas Cotes, the

STAIRCASE TO THE SHRINE OF KHOW PHEABATR.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

second (actor, stated that the Hopewell's voyage
had been a loss to the Company, and that they
had but little encouragement to repeat the
experiment. In the circumstances he ordered
that, pending further instructions from the court,
Cotes should return to Bantam in one of the
numerous Dutch ships voyaging between
Ayuthia and that port. Before leaving he was
to inform the " vissiers " that the Honourable
Company had been advised of the king's
favour, and that their answer would be com-
municated to him. Afterwards a letter of a
similar tenor was sent to South. But it was
not until the middle of the year 1664 that
Cotes and South were in a position to obey
these instructions. In the meantime a direct
trade had been established between Ayuthia
and the Coromandel Coast, and the Court of
Directors, influenced by the friendliness of the
Hopewell's reception, decided that the Siam
trade should be placed under the control of
their representatives at Madras. Before the
Ayuthia factory could be established on a
proper footing in accordance with these
instructions the outbreak of hostilities
between the Dutch and the Siamese intro-
duced a new and perplexing element into
the situation. The Company wished to
cultivate amicable relations with the Dutch at
this juncture ; it was equally desirous of giving
no cause of offence to the Siamese. But it
was no easy matter to steer a middle course,
as was speedily made evident. The land-
ing from a Siamese ship in the Madras roads
of a cargo of elephants intended for the
King of Golconda was made a formal subject
of complaint by the Dutch, and they also bitterly
resented the determination of the Company to
continue to maintain their factory at Ayuthia.
Eventually, under the stimulating influence of
the fear that the English would capture the
trade which they had so long practically mono-
polised in Siam, the Dutch concluded peace
with the Siamese. The treaty which was en-
tered into on August 22, 1664, extended to the
Dutch complete freedom of trade in the Siamese
dominions, and gave them several valuable
concessions, including a monopoly of the pur-
chase of hides and a guarantee of the supply
of ten thousand piculs of sappan-wood annually.
Under the influence -of the successful war they
had waged, the Dutch became more powerful
than ever in Siam, and the English star corre-
spondingly waned. Misconduct on the part of
the Company's leading officials at Madras un-
happily at this period tended to produce in an
exceptional degree demoralisation in the Siam
establishment. Private interests were prose-
cuted to the direct prejudice of the Company,
and, in the absence of honest direction, its
affairs fell into a very disordered condition. A
vivid picture of the situation is given in the
narrative of William Acworth, who, by a cruel
mischance which landed him in Siam at a
critical moment in the fortunes of the English
factory, was placed in charge of the Company's
interests. Acworth, after a series of complica-
tions which brought him into antagonism with
some of the associates of peccant factors whose
fraudulent operations he discovered to his cost,
was made the victim of a false charge of mur-
der. He was cast into a loathsome prison, and
his servants were subjected to a blood-curdling

series of tortures with a view to extorting a
confession. After a fortnight's incarceration
Acworth was released, and the attitude of the
officials was then as servile as it formerly had
been arrogant. The man responsible for his
arrest cried " peccavi," and fed him with
" sweet words," but Acworth, smarting under
the injustice of the charge and the grossness of
his treatment, was not to be conciliated.

Writing home in words of burning indigna-
tion, he told his employers that if this unjust
action was not avenged " 'twill be ashame for
Englishe to have trade here, for the whole
country cry shame of this base act." In con-
cluding his narrative Acworth gave a somewhat
pessimistic opinion as to the prospects of Siam
trade. "If," he said, "the trade of China
should be open as it is thought, this place
might be considerable, otherwis of no vallew
or unless Elliphants sell well at the coast, then
from thence to Tanassare [Tenasserim] very
profitable." The Company were in no mood to
take tip Acworth's quarrel, or, indeed, to adven-
ture anything further in Siam. What with the
dishonesty of some factors, the death of others,
and the extortion of a number of Portuguese
who had been associated with the establish-
ment, the factory got into a very parlous state,
and eventually it was entirely closed. The
King of Siam was much concerned at the
cessation of trade, and wrote to the Company's
agents at Bombay, inviting them to send ships
from thence and from Surat to Siam. In re-
sponse to the invitation the Company's ship
Return, which was sent out from England in
1671, to attempt to open up a trade with Japan,
called at Siam on its homeward voyage in 1674.
This was the beginning of a fresh adventure,
into which the factors on board the Return,
smarting under the disappointments they "had
encountered in their abortive attempts to open
up communications with Japan, entered with
much zest. The king gave them a cordial
welcome, and issued on their behalf a formal
licence to trade. What was more to their im-
mediate purpose, he granted them a monetary
loan of $10,000 for the prosecution of their
enterprises.

It really seemed that the prospects of English
commerce in Siam were brightening. The
fair promise of the months succeeding the
arrival of the Return was, however, not
realised. The old troubles cropped up between
the factors, with the consequence that the
Company's interests suffered severely. The
trade was conducted at such a substantial loss
that towards the end of 1679 the Company-
decided to reduce the factory at Ayuthia, and in
the following year determined to close it
altogether. When the Siamese officials got to
know of the intended withdrawal of the es-
tablishment they sent in a demand for rent,
and showed themselves otherwise resentful of
the action proposed to be taken. The claim
for rent was met and, thereafter, the occupa-
tion of the factory continued, the Company's
servants apparently finding it impossible to
close the business owing to the number of out-
standing liabilities. In this indeterminate
fashion the connection was maintained until
168 1, when there arrived at the mouth of the
Menam, from Bantam, the ship Return, with,
as a passenger, Mr. Geo. Gosfright, who was

charged with the duty of making an examina-
tion into the complicated affairs of the Company
in Siam. Mr. Gosfright's mission led to a
great stirring of the somewhat muddy waters
of Ayuthia trade. The Company's affairs
before this official's arrival had been largely in
the hands of a Mr. Burneby, and it was soon
discovered that this individual had been mis-
using his position, and utilising the Company's
goods for the advancement of his private ends.
Gosfright and he very speedily became at
enmity, as was, perhaps, natural in the cir-
cumstances. Secure in his superior command
of local influence, Burneby seems to have used
actual personal violence against the agent,
dragging him out of his chamber and tying
him up to a tree, "with other gross abuses."
Gosfright, however, had the advantage of
possessing the authority of the Bantam Com-
mittee, and he was not slow to use it by dis-
missing his pugnacious colleague. Burneby
went to Bantam to appeal against the decision,
and present in person his version of the events
in Siam. But before he arrived at that port the
English had left, and he had to proceed to
Batavia to obtain the necessary interview with
the Committee. Eventually he contrived to
secure permission from them to return to
Ayuthia to settle up his affairs. Two days after
he had sailed orders arrived from the Court of
Directors at home to the effect that the Siam
factory should only be continued for a period,
and that Burneby should not be permitted
to return to it. On arrival at Ayuthia, Burneby
found that during his absence the Company's
agents, who had been left in charge — Samuel
Potts and Thomas Ivatt— had been making a
special effort to collect the outstanding debts
due to the Company, which amounted to the
large sum of 67,000 dollars. In their despera-
tion they had approached the Prime Minister
with what the records describe as " a most
obsequious and humble petition for justice and
assistance," but they "had no response, and
were contemplating putting the Company's
remaining stock of goods on a native craft, and
proceeding to Bantam. The Company's affairs
in Siam at the moment were at a low ebb, and
they were brought still lower by the burning
of the factory at Ayuthia, with all its contents,
on December 6, 1682. The fire was attributed
by Potts to accidental causes, but there was
grave reason to suspect that Potts himself had
a hand in it. Burneby at the time, in a letter,
bluntly attributed it to his "carelessness and
debauchery," and that was the prevalent native
view. Whatever the exact truth may be, the
destruction of the factory put an end to Potts's
career as a servant of the Company.

CHAPTER III

Rise to power of the Greek adventure) Constantine
Phaulkon — Appointed Prime Minister — Eng-
lish mission to Ayuthia — Quarrel between
Phaulkon and an English factor — Departure
of the English factors— The king's resentment
— Subsequent attempts to re-establish relations.

In the record of these transactions relative to
the Ayuthia factory in the period prior to the

INTERIOR OF WAT SUTHAT.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

fire frequent mention is made of Constantine
Phaulkon, a man who was destined in later
years to play a great part in the making of
Siamese history. Phaulkon was of Greek
origin, but had received his early commercial

trade on his own account. Having purchased
a ship, the Mary, he started on a voyage, but a
storm encountered at the mouth of the Menam
drove his vessel ashore. Undaunted by this
calamity, he embarked on another ship — only,

— a proposal which the latter was only too glad
to accept. The service thus rendered brought
Phaulkon into close touch with the higher dig-
nitaries of Siam when he once more set foot in
that country. An almost immediate outcome of

WAT POH, INSIDE WHICH IS THE SLEEPING BUDDHA, 145 FEET IN LENGTH.

training under English auspices. He was
associated for many years with Mr. George
White, a famous interloping merchant who
was a considerable thorn in the side of the East
India Company, the edicts of which against
private traders" he treated with a contempt
which was all the more galling because it had
its justification in a long course of successful
trade. Phaulkon, according to the best known
facts of his life, ran away from home when he
was ten years of age and took service as cabin
boy in one of White's ships. White took a
fancy to him and gave him permanent employ-
ment in the Eastern trade. When White went
to Ayuthia in 1675 Phaulkon accompanied him,
acting as his assistant. His native shrewdness,
coupled with a happy gift of ingratiating him-
self with those with whom he was brought in
contact, led him to achieve such a considerable
measure of success that when White left for
England the ex-cabin boy was in a position to

however, to be again wrecked. Yet a third
attempt was made by him to woo fortune, and
a third time he was cast away. The story goes
that after this crowning disaster he fell asleep
on the shore, and dreamt that he saw a person
full of majesty looking down on him with a
smiling countenance. As Phaulkon was won-
dering who he was the mysterious figure said
in gracious tones, " Return, return from whence
you came ! " The words made such a deep
impression upon Phaulkon that he decided to
invest the money he had saved from the wreck
— some 2,000 crowns — in the purchase of a ship
in which to return to Siam. As he was walk-
ing along the shore on the following day he
met a stranger who, like himself, had been
wrecked. On conversing with him Phaulkon
found that he was an ambassador of the King
of Siam returning from Persia. Phaulkon sug-
gested to the envoy that he should return to
Siam in the ship that he intended to purchase

the connection was his appointment as chief
merchant to the king. This was but the begin-
ning of his official career. The clever Greek so
ingratiated himself with the king, a man of
considerable discernment and some enlighten-
ment, that when his Foreign Minister — the
Phra-klang — died in 1683 his Majesty offered
the vacant post to him. Phaulkon at first de-
clined the offer, not wishing to arouse the
jealousy of the Mandarins, but eventually he
was induced to withdraw his opposition and
was entrusted with the entire charge of the
finances of the kingdom, with the administra-
tion of the northern provinces. Nominally he
was chief minister, and he actually became so
not very long afterwards, drawing to himself
a degree of power and influence such as no
European had before his time or has since
exercised in Siam.

M. Marcel le Blanc, who knew Phaulkon
most intimately, gives a vivid picture of him in

THE COURTYARD IN WAT PHRA KEO.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

his " Histoirede la Revolution de Siam." " This
Minister of Siam," he says, "has been spoken
of in the world in very different ways ; his
friends have drawn flattering portraits of him ;
his enemies have attempted to blacken his
memory after his death ; as much may be
done with all men, just as we look at their
good or bad side. To satisfy public curiosity
on the subject of this minister who made so
much noise in the world, and to make known,
as I ought, the first actor in my history, I will
proceed to render him justice. M. Constantine
was of middling stature, full of face, being some-
thing sombre and melancholy in expression of
his countenance, but agreeable in his conver-
sation, and very engaging in his manners when
he wished to be so. According to the genius
of his nation he knew how to dissimulate; and
through the habit he had had in India, of
dealing only with slaves, he was proud and
choleric. His wit and talent were of wide
extent, and, without having regularly studied,
he appeared to have learned everything. He
spoke well, and in many different languages.
He despised the riches which his good
fortune had procured for him without difficulty,
but he was ever for glory, and for that great-
ness which his humble birth had denied him.
In the mixture of his qualities he had three
that were excellent, as no one denies. He had
a rare genius for^reat affairs ; he had a per-
fect integrity and justice in his methods of
transacting business, for which he never re-
ceived salary or recompense from the king
he served, contenting himself with the trade
which that prince allowed him to carry on by
sea; and in the third place, he was a sincere
Christian, and the most zealous protector of
Christianity in all the Orient, maintaining at his
own expense all the missionaries and all the
European laymen who had recourse to him."
Kaempfer, who visited Ayuthia shortly after
Phaulkon's death, gives an equally favourable
account of him. He describes him as a man
of great understanding, of an agreeable aspect,
and an eloquent tongue, and says that although
he had had a poor education, having passed
his younger days at sea, mostly amongst the
English, he was a master of several languages.
Beyond doubt Phaulkon was a man of
extraordinary ability— fit to rank amongst those
rare European geniuses whose meteoric careers
illuminated the course of Eastern history in
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It
was unfortunate for English influence in Siam
that Phaulkon's talents were not appreciated
as they ought to have been by the East India
Company. Probably because the Greek had
been actively associated with the arch inter-
loper — George White — and was known to en-
tertain his views as to the desirability of free-
dom of trade, he was viewed with suspicion and
dislike, and no attempt was made to enlist his
favour. A pregnant example of the short-
sighted method of dealing with him adopted
by the Company is to be found in the account
which exists in the East India Company's
records of a mission sent to Siam by the Com-
pany in 1683. The Company's representatives,
Messrs. Strangh and Yale, went out in the
Mexico Merchant, armed with full powers to
investigate the Company's affairs and to con-
tinue or remove the Company's factory as

they thought proper. On arrival they had a
very friendly reception from Phaulkon, who
greeted them " with proffers of exceeding
many services," and an intimation that a
house had been prepared for their reception
by order of the king. But many days had not
elapsed before the factors had given cause
of serious dissatisfaction to Phaulkon. They
had come out filled with burning zeal against
interlopers, and one of the fraternity — a cer-
tain Captain Pines — happening to arrive from
Madras a few days after their disembarkation,
Strangh wrote to Phaulkon indignantly asking
whether his Majesty would countenance this
interloper, and desiring to be informed as to
the procedure to be adopted to prevent Pines
from trading. A supreme touch of arrogant
stupidity was given to the communication by
a suggestion that if Phaulkon trafficked with
the interloper he would be guilty of a misdeed.
Phaulkon replied to the ill-advised missive in
person. According to Strangh he declared
" that as the Company had soe much slighted
Siam, threatening to dissolve the factory from
tyme to tyme, and never truely settled ; Mr.
Gosfright carrying off all the effects of this
place, and not knowing what I would doe (this
being a free port for all strangers to traffick in
of what nation soever). The king would take
it very ill that I should propound such a thing to
him and if the King should grant it his subjects
and other strangers would complain against mee
afterwards that by my means hee was chased
away, which I might be perswaded the King
would never doe ; especially such a one who
with his ready cash, the best of all comodities,
outdares us. Soe that what arguments I could
or did use of the Company's professing a con-
stant and great trade to come directly out of
Europe hither yearly from which they could
expect more advantage, than from this inter-
loper whom inaybe they would never see
again, with what more in large, signifyed little
to his own selfe interest in the case that tould
me plainly, except I could doe soe as they have
done at Suratt and the coast to prevent the
interlopers buy all the goods which he would
buy, I could not prevent him, nor helpe my-
selfe. Hee having bought 4 ships cargoes of
coast and Suratt goods which would stick
close to him for a tyme iff by this means hee
did not quitt himselfe of some."

Phaulkon's view of the freedom of Siamese
trade was confirmed a few days later at a
formal interview which Strangh had with the
Phra-klang, or Foreign Minister, the Greek
acting as interpreter. The details of this meet-
ing as recorded by Strangh in a communication
he sent home are of much interest for the light
they throw upon the attitude of the Siam
Government to foreigners. At the outset
Strangh produced a letter from Charles II. to
the Emperor of Japan with a request that the
minister would see that it was forwarded to its
destination. Strangely enough, he had omitted
to supply himself with a similar communication
from the English monarch to the King of Siam,
an oversight which was not unnaturally re-
sented at the Siamese court, where the punc-
tilio of etiquette was scrupulously observed.
The Phra-klang made no direct reference to
this unfortunate blunder, but he treated very
coolly the application that the letter should be

forwarded, remarking that there was a strict
prohibition by the Emperor of Japan against
all Christian nations trading with his country.
The only exception to this rule, the minister
said, was the Dutch, who had renounced
Christianity. Would the English do the same
if they were permitted to trade ? he asked.
Strangh replied that the Company would not
renounce Christianity for the wealth of the
whole Indies. The Phra-klang professed him-
self pleased with this answer and then went
into the question of trade. He criticised the
character of the goods brought out in the
Mexico Merchant, averring that they were
unsuited to the Siam market. Strangh stated
in reply that the cargo had been very carefully
selected by men of experience, and he added
that the matter would be remedied if it should
be found that the goods really were not of the
kind required in the market. The discussion
now drifted into a general argument on the
conditions of trade. Strangh invited the Phra-
klang to indicate " some means whereby not a
constant but great trade might be created off all
such English manufactories as other Europe
goods " that might be suitable to Siam. The
minister declined to commit himself to any
specific advice. The markets of Ayuthia as
well as of Siam generally, he said, were open
and free for all merchants and traders going or
coming to sell and buy. He went on to re-
mark that he regretted that the East India Com-
pany " could not find that incouragement in this
country as other nations could find here in
Siam," and he concluded by saying that as he
was no merchant he " could not tell how to
remedie same, but would recommend this
affaire to the King's merchants and goedonne
keepers." Towards the end of the interview
Strangh sought to enlist the good offices of the
Government in the matter of the collection of
the debts due to the Company ; but the Phra-
klang emphatically declined to interfere. His
predecessor, he said, had warned the Com-
pany's representatives against trading with
native merchants without his approval, and he
intimated that some of the debtors were dead
while others were "broake" or were "not
worth anything." The utmost concession he
would make was to promise to hand over into
the Company's custody any of the debtors who
they thought were able to pay. Subsequently
Strangh endeavoured to put into execution the
permission given to him to coerce the well-to-
do defaulters. But not much came of his
efforts, as the persons summoned to appear
at the factory showed a marked indisposition
to respond. Nor were the efforts made by
Strangh and his associates to trade any more
successful. The failure in this instance was
attributed by Strangh to Phaulkon, who wished
to keep the English trade in his own hands and
intrigued to prevent sales. It is possible that
there may have been some amount of truth in
this accusation, but the greater likelihood
seems to be that the lack of success was due in
the main to Strangh's indiscreet conduct and
a lack of business capacity.

When Strangh and his associate found that
they could make no headway they decided to
take counsel of Mr. Hammon Gibbon, an
English resident at Ayuthia, as to the best
course for them to pursue in the circum-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

stances. Mr. Gibbon appears to have given
them sound advice, the general effect of
which was that the Company should maintain
a small establishment at Ayuthia rather than
altogether abandon the place and by so
doing lose all their debts and in addition
incur the displeasure of the king. In order
to obtain confirmation of Mr. Gibbon's views,
Strangh called on Phaulkon, " who as yett
was unsuspected," and reminded him of the
promise that had been given by the minister
that the king's merchants should confer with
him upon the subject of a future trade.
Phaulkon told Strangh it was a fact that the
minister " did speake of sending the King's
merchants to treat with us, but he is gone with
the King and left noe order to any that hee
knowes off. Now wee cannot help ourselves
wee come to him ; wee should have done this
at first, and our businesse had been done.
I tould him, as we had a letter from the hon.

from him, as from mee, hee had it once in his
thoughts to have spoke of it to the Barcalong
[Prime Minister], but was overswayed by
second thoughts. The hon. comp' e had done
very ill in not sending a letter from the King
of England to this King, which would have
been very acceptable, and furthered their
affaire mightily, having lately had an ambas-
sador from the King of France, and letters
from the Prince of Orange, but contrarie soe
much slighted Syam that they had ordered
us away ; which the King would not resent
well, and did assure us iff wee did, iff ever
after the Comp ie did intend to settle as now,
Bantam being lost, hee did not see where they
could doe better. It would cost them sauce
and not 20,000 Ps. [pieces of eight] would
procure them such privileges again. Nor
those favours they had received from the King
in lending of them money and goods, &c. ;
and that wee had tould him about merchants

accumulated and remain until the arrival of
the next ship, advising the Company to that
effect, and awaiting their further orders. He
was sure, he said, that if Strangh did go, the
President would next year send some one to
settle there. Then the conversation turned
on Potts, the Company's discredited factor.
Phaulkon said that he " would advise mee not
to adhere to Mr. Potts, who would ruin the
Comp s affaires, wondering why I did not send
him abroad. Hee had waited all this while to
see what satisfaction we would make him by
establishing an exemplaire punishment on him
for what affronts and abuses done to him by
his tongue and penn, which he would still
awaite, and iff did not gett any from us, swore
would take satisfaction, and bore his tongue
trew with a hott iron ; which after had tould
what I had in his behalfe gave him my councill
to be better desired and not to bee so revenge-
full." Soon afterwards the two parted.

HILLS AT PETCHABURI.

comp ie to him, therein (as he has seene) they
recomend all their affaire to him, and assisting
of us. . . . [I] would have transferred business
to him, to which [he] replied it's true, but that
it would not have beene soe well to have come

not daring to buy, there was noe such thing.
. . . They only came to sift us and may bee if
they could run away and never pay for our
goods." Finally, Phaulkon advised Strangh to
despatch the ship with what goods he had

Phaulkon in taking leave " bragged hee never
gave any advice yett to any bodie, but what
hee would maintaine and deserved thanks for."
The next day Strangh met Potts and warned
him of Phaulkon's ill disposition towards him.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

This warning Potts slighted and thereafter
"scarce a day passed without great contests,
hott disputes, and invective speeches of Mr.
Potts about Mr. Phaulkon and him and all his
other transactions to the noe little disturbance
of the house, not regarding what I said, that
mee weary of my life and often prayed for
Peace but could not have it." The trouble with
Potts continued and poor Strangh became almost
demented by his disorderly behaviour, and that
of several of his boon companions whom he
brought into the factory. Meanwhile, the
general condition of the Company's affairs was
not improving. Strangh and Phaulkon did
not get on very well together, and as the days
slipped by the breach widened. At length the
coolness developed into an actual rupture.
Strangh charged Phaulkon with monopolising
the trade himself, either to satisfy a private
grudge against the Company or out of avarice.

and Mr. John Thomas, factors, and Mr. Abra-
ham Navarro, Chinese interpreter. Strangh
took counsel of these experienced colleagues as
to the course he should pursue. At the outset
it was decided to continue the factory, but on a
failure to barter their goods for copper and the
use by Phaulkon of threatening words relative
to the debt contracted with the king, it was
decided to close the factory and present a
petition to the king in person representing the
position of affairs created, as it was averred, by
Phaulkon's malignity. The king happened to
be on a hunting expedition at Louvo at the time,
and thither Strangh repaired. He was accom-
panied by Crouch and Navarro. The latter
went reluctantly because, Strangh supposed,
Phaulkon had spread abroad a story that on
one occasion he had a serious discourse with
the king on the subject of Christianity, and that
his Majesty had been so impressed with the

THE CAVES AT PETCHABTJRI.

Phaulkon retorted that the Company had been
very fickle in their dealings with Siam, and that
until they followed the example of the French
and the Dutch they could not hope to succeed.
After this fuel was added to the flames of the
quarrel by Phaulkon wreaking his vengeance
on Potts in a way which was very insulting to
the English community. Potts, while walking
near Phaulkon's residence one night, was seized
by the Greek's orders and put in the "Stocks and
Congees like unto that of the Pillory." Phaul-
kon's version of the business was that Potts
was loitering about forthe purpose of murdering
him. But Potts himself stated that he had gone
to deliver some copper to a Captain Heath who
lived near Phaulkon's residence.

The arrival of the Company's ship Delight
from China, after an abortive attempt to open
a trade with Canton, created a temporary
diversion from these troubles at the factory.
Accompanying the ship were Mr. Peter Crouch

story of the Crucifixion that he swore that
" iff ever hee found a Jew in this country
hee would putt him to the same iff not worse
torments."

Strangh's account of the mission to Louvo is
a very detailed one and is full of interest. On
the arrival of the party at that place the
Phra-klang sent to inquire as to their business,
and a message was forwarded to the effect that
they would communicate it to him in person.
A meeting was arranged for the next day,
which Strangh punctually attended, but to his
disgust he found present, in addition to Phaul-
kon, "the interloper Abeene, Mr. Burneby,
Mr. Ivatt and Mr. [Samuel] White, with one
Captain Paxton." Strangh " was once of mynd
to have desired Mr. Phaulkon to withdraw,
. . . but considering the stirr hee would
have made at my bidding a Minister of
State to absent," he " notwithstanding all that
crew" delivered himself "to Franc Kobson

and hee to a new Lingoe I had taken on in this
wise : — ■

"That upon his Highnesse Grant of Free
Trade \v h out any hindrance or molestation as
noe lesse Mr. Phaulckon perswassion and
allurem' I was of the opinion to have stayed
to try what possible could be done in the trade
of this place, as for the recovery of those con-
siderable Debts due to the honb le Comp ie our
Masters, in this place. Notwithstanding all
the disincouragem' I have mett w' from my
ffrst arrivall ( : as often have aquainted yo r
highnesse : ) All w th tho it was tould mee
that did proceed from Mr. Phaulckon, I could
not beleeve, because hee gave mee, the same
asscurance as yo r highnesse did, untill now
that he has plainly discovered himself to bee
the secret and hidden obstructer, nott only of
the former, but present trade of this country
w' the honb'° Company ond er pretence of
authoretie having lately contracted w'some
merch ts for a parcell of kop r in Barter, for
other goods w ch noe sooner arriving his notice
but hee putts a stop too itt, w ,h imprisoning of
the Broaker, and scurrilous reflections on our
Masters the honb le Companie. Pretending an
imbargo from the King ; w ch off had been, his
Highnesse would have aquainted us therew'
and never bidd us try the markett. Wherefore
seeing soe great obstruction in our Trade I was
now come to take my Leave ; desiring his
highnesse tara for our departure w' all the ho :
Comp ies effects and servants. And as for the
debts, since recomendit to his highnesse for
recovery, and that wee could effect nothing in
that affaire, I desired hee would please to give
countinance to Mr. Hammon Gibbon, to come
and mynd his highness in that affaire &c.

" The Barcalong to this gave a short reply.
" That as hee was much bussied heere above
w« States matters of the king, sould not attend
below, therefore had apointed Mr. Phaulckon
to help and assist us as well as all other
merch ts Mr. Phaulckon thereupon taking the
word out of his Mouth, and after whispering to
themselfes ; w' a Sterne Countenance, and
investice Speech, Carried the whole discourse
in Enge ; thus : —

" That I should know, before whom I was,
and spoke too in this nature, a Prince of this
country and should not father any such thing
upon him, off Free Trade and the like, Since
hee himselfe not many dayes since, and as hee
thought the day before I made this bargain,
had thould mee of an Embargo upon kop r for
this yeare, and that for any thing els I had
Libertie to Barter for, but not in Cop r , Where-
upon I going to interrupt him, and to tell him
it was falce, hee bid mee stay, and heare what
his highnesse had to say, before I interrupted
him, hee proceeded to tell mee, that by this
Bargain Making, I had runne my selfe into a
great primonarie, to contradict the kings order
and Lawes, What I thought of my Selfe, and
what Would become of mee, iff the king like
other Indian Princes, should use the rigour of
this Country Law against mee : But that his
Great king and master was a most gracious
king, and a lover of Strangers. Iff had beene
of his Natives I should have seene what had
beene done too mee. His Highnesse was of the
opinion, and had the good hoopes of mee at
first, that the honb lc Companies affaire might

NATIVE DRAWINGS FROM AN ANCIENT SIAMESE MANUSCRIPT IN THE ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT DEPARTMENT

OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

be better regulated, then has beene hithertoe,
but was sory to see it inclined rather to worsse,
and therefore gave me Free Libertie to depart,
as I requested, my tara should bee readie w' in
a day or two. And as for the debts standing
out in this Country, my nominating Mr. Gibbon
was well. Hee would affoord him all the assist-
ance hee could, But should consider that they
were all desperate, and that could not trouble
hi highnesse w' such a bussinesse not to be
recovered."

To this Strangh replied : —

"That what I have fathered on his High-
nesse, was nothing but the Truth w ch ought
( : though may not : ) at .all tymes to be spoken
before Kings, lett bee Princes. As for the
Great Primonary and dreadful punishment,
I have deserved, though favored I thank him
for his graciousness, though must needs tell
him, iff had gott his 400 chests of kop r I had
not yett my full complim' according to the
Tara for the Ship, \v c1 ' I suposed to bee the
Kings, or the Barcalongs tara, procured by
himselfe, a sufficient warrant for mee, that I
intended to ship soe much kop r and was
granted. Hee should have left it out of the
Tara, and tould mee, then if an imbargo : Iff
any such were, it is after the grant of the
gen 11 tara, \v ch I hoped the King would not
recall. And that w ch makes it more plaine and
doubtfull whither there bee any embargo, is
that those China men has an especiall Tana
from the King himselfe for selling of this kop r
w ch would not have been granted iff any
imbargo had been ; Moreover the Queens kop r
and they hir Merch ,s Could I or any bodie els,
think hee durst oposse or stop same when had
yo r owen words that had nothing to doe or
durst not midle w* them. As for his Zeale and
Sorrow hee had for the ho : Comp is affaires as
inclining rather to worsse then heeretofore,
hee has showen it by this, and in it his falce
Zeale and Shams put upon them ; And bidd
him consider w 1 himselfe, what the ho : Comp'°
has to doe, to settle upon such termes as these,
or how I could well ans r it to stay The greatest
favor I now desired after all this, was that
I might have my dispatch.

"To w ch Mr. Phaulckon replyed somewhat
milder, That the Tara I soe much stood upon,
was for sniping of, of the kop r , I should have
had a tara for buying as well as for shiping,
they were two different things, and as for the
China man hee should bee severely punished
for telling a Lye that had a tara when had non.
Our tara should bee readie w'in a day or two,
only we must stay for the King and Barca-
longas letter to the Comp' c w dl must bee
altered.

"Asking me iff I had any more to say ; The
Barcalong was weary to sitt soe long. I tould
him noe, Soe I could but have my dispatch, hee
should soone bee ridd of our trouble, and after
made our salam or obeysance, The Barcalong
as iff raised from Sleepe, tould mee, hee must
have all our Ironworcke, for w ch would give us
other goods, w ch I should promisse him, I tould
him, hee might. Soe thereby now further
hindrance or delay may be created. Hee
tould mee the boats that brought doune our
goods might bring up the Ironworcke. For
was onwilling Phaulckon should have them to
his new house a building, and therefore tould

hiin they were for the most part on board.
Yett upon his promisse that should bee dis-
patched, promissed hee should have them.

"Soe parted for this tyme : Not w'out a very
severe check at last to Mr. Abraham Navarro,
for his former threatening as hee termed it
( : though was no such thing :), That iff it were
not for the Europe blood w'in him, hee should
not escape his reward in threatening so Great
a King, as his Glorious master at present hee
past it by."

Strangh's plain speaking in this interview of
which he gives such a graphic account aroused
against him a spirit of enmity which had some
very inconvenient results. An immediate con-
sequence was the withholding of the tara, or
pass, without which he could not leave in
proper form. In his annoyance at the inten-
tional dilatoriness of the Siamese officials
Strangh attemptedto leave without the authori-
sation. He was sharply pulled up, and
Phaulkon, we can imagine with grim satis-
faction, wrote to the Company a protest against
Strangh's conduct, and concluded with the sage
advice that if they wished in the future to have
a connection with these parts they should make
such a choice in the person they designed for
the management of their affairs " as may be
for your nation's credit and your interest."
Strangh, on his part, fired a heavy parting shot
in the form of this letter, every line of which
breathes his hatred of the Greek and his indig-
nation at the treatment to which he had been
subjected : —

"To Mr. Constant Phaulckon,

"From Witt. Strangh, dated from the Barr of
Syam, 2, Jany. 1683/4.

•' I have two of your scurrilous false imputa-
tions of the 1 6th and 24th December to answer
with a little larger explanation of the brief
though ample import of my first parenetics
charge to you of the 2nd December was my
sute with your impolite weake capacity jumbled
through your sudden and surprizing elevation
to a souv'ing LordsPP or a heathenish Grace,
and that I may not bee allways imperious or
like you a rayler shall insert some few p'tculs
relating to my former charging of you : to be
the sole and only instrument of all the Honour-
able Companys former and present losses and
sufferings in this place.

" To begin with the first as the fireing of the
Factory not without some cursed treachery
(which heaven detect), though cannot charge
you with matter of fact, yet cannot excuse your
indirect clandestine practises set by so many
cunning and crafty ingins, corrupting and
treacherously seducing little Ivatt and Samuel
Harris to your practise and faction, with no
less then Hono rs . and great imploy's for their
reward the one a Lord forsooth, the other sent
in your employ for so far a voyage that are
the only in the Factory when took fire, both
honoured and imployed, might not discover
the bellows of that flame.

" Secondly your sowing and blowing the
coals of hatred and dissention betwix the two
Factors, affores d . to that height that at last
tooke hold of and consumed all the Honourable
Companys effects in this place to ashes, what
formerly and long before that sad and fatal

accident was designed, was ready to be trans-
ported off the place to Bantam, had not your
false zeal towards the Honourable Companys
interest and clandestinely informing the
deceased Barcalong that Potts was running
away with the Company's effects, hindered his
good intentions, and preferred this their great
loss to serve your malilious ends.

" And above all this your insolency in heap-
ing so many indignities upon them by imprison-
ment and putting in the Stocks and pillery their
servants without controule making factory with
other their disaffected servants and all this for
your getting of Credit out of the Honourable
Company's Goods. (When by yoour own con-
fession not worth a gouree) for so considerable
a sum as nigh [?] 400 catt° the space of 3 years
without interest, and ingratitude that ought to
be punished with the highest severity. You
not satisfying . . . with your accursed avarice
without the utter extirpating the Hon lc . Comp a .
and English nation from trading in this
kingdom.

"Att my arrival for preventing my true
knowledge and information not only how the
Comp s . affairs was carried on and ruined by
you, but of the trade of this place, sent from a
princip. of your self interest, fearing muy
approach would be prejudicial to your
monoplized trade of this Kingdom, did send
your . . . ingin and creature Ivatt to con-
gratulate my arrival so as to know all the
Hon 1 ' 1 ". Comp s . affairs on you, the only great
Sultan Solyman of this nation who to meate
your insatiable avarice protested so great kind-
ness and service to the Comp a . amo'. to 15000
ptended to be proferred by the Agent and
Council at Bamtam to the deceased Barcalong
for procuring what they could not but you
would and did undertake to procure the con-
tract with the King and by the taking of yearly
English manufactures to a considerable value,
until such time you by your self to termed
foolish Barcalong to whom we were recom-
mended did inform yourself of the Hon ble .
Comp s . design by their letter to the Barcalong
as by your private letter from Mr. White your
creature touching the discourse the Hon 1 ' 1 ".
Comp- 1 . had with him about Mr. Potts writing
and calling you Greek and powder monkey
with no small reflections on the management
of their affairs in those parts especially not
being taken notice of by them, much less a pish
cash [present] of 15000 for you so turned the
scale of your affection to their prejudice that
notwithstanding all the fair promises and grant
of free trade inferior to the Dutch and French
without that Ceremony of an Ambassador from
our king to this could bee no settlement.

" You by the abused authority of your great
Master and favoured of our nation nor
acquainted with your prancks and Tricks had
not only privately but publickly, some on pain
and forfeiture of life and goods, others with
threatening and imprisonment forbidden and
hindered all Merchant Brokers &c. so much as
peepe or come near the Factory either to buy
or sell with us as is evident to be proved, with
your scurrilous reflections on the Hon ble .
Comp a . of being broke and not worth a gouree
that you may well say as you falsely and im-
pudently do insist in yours that I have done
nothing this 3 months but consider Whether I

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

would go or stay, neither of which I could
effect, being by you intervened from either
buying or selling ; kept as a close prisoner in

blamed for falling in amongst so many dis-
affected persons to their God and country and
bless myself that I escaped so well, (through as

distinguished and not expressed in this nor
excepted to the contrary not\vithstanding/"for
them to seeke their full satisfaction in any place

WAT CHENG FROM THE RIVER.

the factory for above a month, on purpose to
lose the monsoons that might not arive in time
with Capt. Pines to discourse the abuses and
great injustice of him to you in the affair of Mr.
Tyler, all our household servants and the cook
and natives of the country chased from the
factory and imprisoned, myself guarded so
closely and strictly that when only upon Tryall
did attempt an escape after you had arrested
the Hon b,e . Coinp s . effects in the place (which
was not willing to leave behind me) was dis-
gracefully brought back to the Factory with
innumerable indignities and abuses more, which
would make a volume, and shall leave to my
superiors to judge and take notice of what to
them or me committed (as you say) with whom
I never had dealings for a farthing as to my
own ptiend ; but must needs say that as an
Orrambarro ; am rather to be pitied than

my Kath s . dogg which lost his tayle) more than
now have in your possession would have fal'n
to your share I'm sure of it, and tho as you say
I have done with Siam yet hop the Hon ble .
Comp a has not, I do believe it with you and
therefore in the name and behalf of the Hon blc .
Comp a . do by these solemnly and in optims
forma Protest against you Constant Phaulkon
to be liable to answer and make satisfaction
either in body or estate for all above mentioned
damages and great losses, &c. already men-
tioned or hereafter may accrue to the Hon ,lle .
Comp a . by your detaining of this the ship
Mexico Merchant so long to the no less hazard,
as Damage of loosing her Monsoon and the lives
of those that go in her Your detaining of our
second mate Mr. Anto. Williams against his
will and consent with all other losses damages
and abuses by what name soever termed or

or part of the world excepted as they best can
or may.

"William Strangh."

Within a few days of the despatch of this
letter Strangh and his associates set sail from
the Menam in the Mexico Merchant. They
were supported in their course of action by
Mr. Peter Crouch, of the Delight, who, writing
to the President of the Council at Sural, attri-
buted their ill-success to " the sinister and
self-interested contrivances of Mr. Cons'
Phaulckon, whose industry is imployed in
blasting the Hon 1,lu Company's business that
soe hee may the better (flourish and advance
himself thereby." Sir John Child, the
President of the Surat Council, however, did
not accept the complacent view that the failure
was unavoidable. Not only did he pass a con-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

demnntion on Strangh in a communication
to the Directors, but lie wrote to (he King of
Siam expressing his disapproval of Strangh's
behaviour. Child's repudiation of the Com-
pany's agent came too late. By this time the
mischief had got beyond the point at which
smooth words were of any avail.

An incident which occurred soon after the
departure of the Mexico Merchant tended to
aggravate seriously the already strained
situation. The king, being in need of some
ship's stores, sent through Phaulkon a demand
for the articles to the Company's ship Delight,
which was still in the river awaiting the
change of monsoon. The officers on board
declined to meet the demand oivthe ground that
Ayuthia was not their consigned port and that
they would be breaking bulk and incurring
heavy demurrage if they had met the king's
requirements. Phaulkon in reply bluntly told
the Company's representatives that if they did
not promptly supply what was needed the chief
factor and the purser of the ship would be
imprisoned. This threat not availing, Mr. Peter
Crouch, the principal factor, and Mr. Jno.
Thomas, the purser, were seized and kept in
confinement with little or no food. After
remaining in prison for two days they were con-

pany's agents went out of their way to help the
King of Siam's Indian factor, an old servant of
the Company named Ivatt, by shipping his
goods for him free of charge, and by giving
free passages to his agents. The Surat Council
took an even bolder line in their anxiety to
keep on good terms with the King of Siam.
Early in 1685 they decided to send their ship
Falcon to Siam with the object of re-establish-
ing their factory there. The factors on board
took with them letters from Sir Joseph Child
to the king and to his principal minister. The
communication to the latter expressed concern
at the recent unhappy misunderstandings, and
gave vent to a hope that the new factors he was
sending would " behave themselves." To the
king, who was addressed as " ye most illus-
trious, renowned, generous, and truely glorious,
ever good greate and mighty King of Siam,"
an application was addressed for permission
to re-establish their settlement in Siam with
the same privileges as were heretofore enjoyed.
Beyond the fact that the Fulcon arrived at
Bangkok about September, 1685, little is
recorded relative to this mission. It was
doubtless overshadowed, if not completely
extinguished, by a great French mission which
arrived about the same period under the escort

CHAPTER IV

Siamese mission to France — Louis XIV. extends
to it a cordial reception -Imposing French
mission to Siam --War between Siam and
Colconda — Samuel White, Shahbander of
Mcrgui, summoned to Ayuthia on charges con-
nected with the war — His appeal to Phaul-
kon — Returns to Mergui — Macassar rising at
Ayuthia.

Fok a great many years after the establish-
ment of European settlements in Siam the
Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English were
the only nations which maintained direct
commercial relations with the country. In
1687 an important new influence was intro-
duced with the appearance of the French on
the scene, under conditions of impressive
splendour. For nearly twenty years before
that period French missionaries had laboured
in Siamese territory, and through them the
possibilities of trade centring in the Menam
Valley had been made familiar in French
commercial circles. But the inspiring force
which directed the steps of the pioneers of
French influence came, not from France, but
from Siam. The King of Siam, as will have

ELEPHANTS IN ANCIENT WAR DRESS.

strained by the pangs of hunger to surrender
This episode was afterwards to bear some-
what bitter fruit for Siam, but at the time it
did not affect the relations between Siam and
the Company. At Madras, in 1684, the Com-

of two warships. English influence in Siam
for the time being was non-existent.

been gathered from the narrative, was a
man of singular force of character and
exceptionally broad-minded for an Eastern
ruling prince of that day. The son of a
soldier of fortune who by the agency of a

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

successful revolution mounted the throne of
Siam in 1627, he possibly felt the need of
external support to maintain him in power.
However that may have been, when the
doors of the markets of other countries were
solidly barred against the foreigner, and
especially the European, he extended a
cordial welcome to all traders of whatever
nationality. Nor, as we have seen in his
generous dealings with the English, was his
favour confined to the conferment of a mere
right to trade. He provided buildings in
which the factors might carry on their busi-
ness, and he even on occasion made them

subsequent years to obtain for his country a
share of the Eastern trade. But no doubt the
stimulus which directed his policy in regard
to France came from the French priests, who
appear to have gained such considerable influ-
ence over the mind of the king that they at one
time hoped for his conversion to Christianity.
The missionaries' expectations were sadly dis-
appointed in this respect, but their patriotic
advertisement of the greatness and power
of their country fell on fruitful ground.
Inspired by the hope of tapping a new and
lucrative channel of trade, the king in 1680
despatched to France an embassy consisting

made that a treaty was actually concluded
with Charles II., but if any such arrange-
ment was made there does not appear to be
any record of it.

The reception of the Siamese mission in
France was cordial to a degree. Voltaire
remarks that the vanity of Louis XIV. was
much flattered by such a compliment from
a country ignorant until then that France
existed. The ambassadors were feted and
feasted on all hands, and so thoroughly did
they impress themselves upon the popular
mind that to their visit is to be traced some
of the French fashions of the day.'

A STATE BARGE ON THE MENAM.

advances of money to help them to the
more readily finance their transactions. He
appears to have had a perfect passion for
trade. Much of the commercial business of
his kingdom was conducted through his
own appointed agents. He had his own
ships plying to various ports to further his
transactions. Many branches of the export
trade were his exclusive monopoly. Am-
bassadors were sent by him hither and
thither with the object of extending the
commercial connections of the country. He
was in fact, as well as in name, " king-
merchant." Such a monarch could not fail
to have been aware of the growing power
and influence of France consequent upon the
strenuous efforts made by Colbert in 1664 and

of three principal representatives and thirty
followers. The vessel which carried the
party appears to have been wrecked on the
voyage. The envoys, at any rate, never
reached Europe. Undismayed by the failure
of his initial effort, the Siamese monarch in
1683 sent another mission of an even more
imposing character than the first. Two
French priests were included in the ambassa-
dorial suite, and six Siamese youths also
accompanied the party, the intention being
that they should be taught handicrafts in
Europe. The ambassadors were accredited
to Louis XIV., but there is reason to believe
that one of them proceeded to London and
opened up some sort of negotiations with
the English court. A statement has been

1 The fallowing conversation, given in Boswell's
" Life of Johnson," shows that the mission also left
an enduring impression in England : —

" Dr. Robertson : Dr. Johnson, allow me to say
that in one respect I have the advantage of you.
When you were in Scotland you would not come to
hear any of our preachers ; whereas, when I am here,
I attend your public worship without scruple, and.
indeed, with great satisfaction.

" Dr. Johnson : Why, sir, that is not so extra-
ordinary. The King of Siam sent ambassadors to
Louis XIV. but Louis XIV. sent none to the King of
Siam."

Boswell remarks : " Here my friend, for once,
discovered a want of knowledge or forgetfulness ;
for Louis XIV. did send an embassy to the King of
Siam. and the Abbe Choisi, who was employed in it,
published an account of it in two volumes."

c ■■'•

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

Louis XlV.'s gratification at the visit of the
mission led him to despatch an imposing return
mission to Siam. At the head of the embassy
was M. le Chevalier de Chaumont, and in the
ambassadorial suite were several notable
personages. The mission was accommodated
in two ships of war, La Malinc and L'Oiscau.
Nothing, in fact, was left undone which was
likely to impress the Siamese with the power
of France. On arriving at Bangkok on Sep-
tember 22, 1685, the mission was welcomed by
the chief local officials. A little later it was
received in great state by the king.

your Majesty, to make known to you our
desire of establishing a perpetual friendship
between us. We shall be most happy to find
occasions for testifying our gratitude for the
protection you have afforded to the bishops
and apostolic missionaries who labour to in-
struct your subjects in the Christian faith; and
our particular esteem for yourself gives us a
great desire that you should also deign to hear
them, and learn from them the true maxims
and sacred mysteries of so holy a law, which
gives a knowledge of the true God, who having
long permitted you to reign gloriously, can

number of priests, keenly intent on proselytism.
They secured from the king various concessions
relative to the treatment of native Christians,
and these were embodied in a treaty the terms
of which the king caused to be published in
the principal towns of his dominions. The
representatives of other European nations at
Bangkok viewed the advent of this splendid
mission with a feeling akin to consternation.
The English factors wrote home in December,
1685, to the Court of Directors informing them
that in their opinion the " French ambassadors
design to drive away other nations," and im-

PHRA CHEDE (PAGODA) AND WAT AT PRAPATOM.

The envoys presented the following letter
from Louis XIV. to the King of Siam : —

" Most high, most excellent, and most mag-
nanimous Prince, our well-beloved and good
friend, may God increase your greatness by a
fortunate end, I have learned with concern
the loss of the Ambassadors whom you sent
to us in 1681 ; and we have been informed by
the missionary fathers who returned from
Siam, and by the letters received by our
ministers from the person who appears to
have charge of your affairs, the cordiality
with which you desire our Royal friendship.
To respond to this, we have chosen the
Chevalier de Chaumont as our ambassador to

alone crown you with eternal bliss. We have
charged our ambassador with some presents of
the most curious things of our kingdom, which
he will present to you as a mark of our esteem,
and he will explain to you what we most desire
for the advantage of our subjects in commercial
matters. Above all, we pray that the Lord will
crown you with all happiness.

" Given at our Palace of Versailles, the 21st
day of January, 1685.

" Your attached and sincere friend,
" Louis.

" Colbert."

Accompanying the embassy was a large

ploring them to defeat this plot by sending an
ambassador as the French had done and by
conferring some high honour upon Phaulkon,
who was " sole governor and disposer of all
affairs in the kingdom," and who had " de-
clared himself devoted to the court's service."
The anxiety thus expressed had ample justifica-
tion in the circumstances of the period. The
Siamese were so impressed with the magnifi-
cence of the French mission that they con-
ceived a strong passion for everything French.
To such an extent were their feelings coloured
by the display of Gallic power that the king
expressed a wish that his royal brother of
France would send him some French troops

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

to safeguard his possessions against the Dutch,
who were threatening him and whose growing
power in the Straits of Malacca he viewed with
considerable apprehension. Louis XIV. was
only too well pleased to comply with the
request, which was formally made by am-
bassadors who were received at Versailles
on September I, 1686. The new mission was
conceived on a scale of considerable grandeur.
Two principal envoys were this time sent, one,
M. de la Loubere, to represent the king, and the
other, M. Cebert, to look after the interests of
the French East India Company. Twelve
Jesuit fathers were included in the suite, and
the escort was a powerful body of 1,400 troops
under the command of M. des Farges, a Field
Marshal of France. The whole were embarked
on seven ships, three of which were men-of-
war. Before following further the fortunes of
the mission it will be necessary to deal with
the general course of events in Siam, which in
the period between the arrival of the two
missions assumed an important character.

At the time that the active assistance of
France was being sought by Siam in 1683
the country became involved in a war with

Golconda owing to wrongs done to the king's
commercial agents. The duty of preparing
for this war fell mainly upon an Englishman,
one of many to hold service under the Siam
Government, who was appointed Shahbandar,
or port officer, of Mergui. This official was
Samuel White, a brother of George White,
the famous interloper of whom mention has
already been made. He was at one time in
the service of the East India Company, and
for some years prior to his appointment at
Mergui had superintended the King of Siam's
trading operations between that seaport and
the eastern seaboard of India. Though a man
of considerable charm of manner and much
tact, he had the conspicuous weakness of the
Englishmen in the East of that period — an
inordinate love of good living. We have fre-
quent glimpses of him in the records carousing
and making merry with his visiting country-
men, drinking numerous toasts to the accom-
paniment of gun-firing, as the custom then
was, and generally scandalising the natives
by a riotous mode of conduct. In his official
capacity he appears to have acted with con-
siderable shrewdness and with a proper regard

for the King of Siam's interests. , At the same
time, when the opportunity offered he was
ready to do a service to his countrymen, and
in particular to his old employers. A con-
spicuous example of his friendly solicitude
was afforded soon after his appointment as
Shahbandar. One of the Company's ships,
the Golden Fleece, having sprung a bad leak
in the Bay of Bengal, put into Mergui in
almost a sinking condition. White sent his
own slaves to help to repair the mischief, and
he provided warehouse accommodation ashore
for the cargo. The vessel, after refitting with
White's assistance, was allowed to leave with-
out the payment of any port dues. In after
years, when White was a suppliant for par-
liamentary favour, these facts were confirmed
and amplified by an Englishman who hap-
pened to be at Mergui at the time and was
well acquainted with the entire circumstances.
White was instructed at the beginning of
1684 to make the necessary preparations for
the prosecution of the operations against the
King of Golconda. In pursuance of these
instructions he fitted out several ships, re-
ceiving in the execution of the task valuable

WAT SUTHAT, SHOWING STONE CARVINGS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

WAT CHAIYA MONGKHON.

assistance from the East India Company's
representatives on the Madras coast, who
supplied them with ammunition and naval
stores and the services of a number of
Englishmen. Associated with White in the
arrangements was another Englishman, Cap-
tain John Coates, who is impressively described
in the East India Company's records as "of
the King of Siam's navy." Coates, armed with
full authority to make war, sallied forth from
Mergui and captured in 1685 a ship belonging
to the King of Golconda, valued at 100,000
crowns. Later on the hostilities were trans-
ferred to the vicinity of Madapollam, where
two ships lying at anchor were captured. One
of the vessels, the Red Clove, belonged to the
King of Golconda, and the other, the New
Jerusalem, was the property of an Armenian
named John Demarcora, who had incurred the
enmity of the Siamese authorities by some
transactions he had carried through in Pegu.
This action, which seems to have come as a
surprise to the East India Company's repre-
sentatives, led to complications between the
factors at Madapollam and the native authori-
ties. In hot haste the Englishmen were re-
called from Coates's ship, but without much

effect apparently, for later when the adventurer
put into Mergui no fewer than forty Europeans
were under his command. Coates, in spite of
urgent protests, continued his operations in
and about Madapollam. At length, when he
had exhausted his opportunities of warfare
and also his supplies, he directed his course
to Mergui. On arrival he was bitterly up-
braided by White for his indiscreet conduct
of the operations, and the latter intimated that
he would have to proceed to Ayuthia to
account for his conduct. Coates protested
against what he described as White's un-
generous conduct, and there was a fierce
quarrel between the two. culminating in a
tragi-comic interlude in which the commander
of Siam's navy pretended to take poison, and
was treated with antidotes by two doctors who
were called in by White. After this there was
a reconciliation between the pair, and Coates
proceeded to Ayuthia by the overland route,
with his colleague's assurance that he would
be supported in all his proceedings on the
Coromandel coast. At a somewhat later
period White himself was summoned to
Ayuthia. With a prescience of evil he
responded to the call unwillingly. Indeed,

it was not until the most peremptory orders,
twice repeated, had been received that he set
his face towards the capital. His plea for his
dilatoriness was illness, and though at the time
it was made it was baseless, he arrived at
Ayuthia seriously indisposed from an attack
of fever. When he had sufficiently recovered
to get about he paid a visit to Phaulkon. What
happened at the interview does not appear, but
a letter written by White to Phaulkon and a
reply to it from the latter are on record, and
they give us an interesting insight into the
relations between the two men. White wrote
in a querulous tone complaining of Phaulkon's
unwonted strangeness to him, protesting " his
own innocency in all matters referring to his
publick administration of his great master's
affairs," and expressing a hope that his lord-
ship would not " without just provocation take
delight in plucking down the building which
his own hand had raised."

Phaulkon's reply may be given in full, as it
not only throws light upon the conditions of
service of the early European officials in Siam,
but is of interest as a revelation of the mind
and character of the extraordinary man who
wielded supreme power in the country at

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

this period. The letter, which is dated
July 10, 1686, is as follows : —

" Right Worshipful, — We know no reason
you have to charge us with strangeness in our
deportment towards you, when you consider or
observe our general Carriage towards all other
Persons, which we hope is not offensive to any
man in particular.

" The jealousie you express of having private
Enemies, who endeavour to estrange us from
you, as 'tis on our part altogether Causeless ;
so it not only argues you culpable of something,
you would not have discovered, but highly
reflects upon us, as if we took pleasure in har-
kening to the malicious tattling and detraction
of over busie men, to the prejudice of those we
have thought worthy of so considerable a Trust,
as we upon mature deliberation, thought good
to confer upon you : Nay, Sir, we must be plain
and tell you, The Shabander has no other
Enemy, that we know of, than the Shabander,
which your own hand will evidently make
appear.

" That you are now reduced so near the
Grave is matter of trouble to us, and that you
may not hasten yourself thither, let us, as your
friend, perswade you to Temperance. As to
the Protestation you make of your Zeal for His
Majesties Honour and Interest, give us leave to
tell you, that it is no miracle to see a man drive
on his own Ambitious or Covetous designs!
under a pretext of promoting his King's In-
terest ; though we do not desire to charge you
with being a Court Parasite.

" The satisfaction you desire shall be granted
you, so soon as you are in a condition to be
Examined by our Secretary, who should long
since have been sent out to you, had we not
understood your Indisposition, and be cautioned
to be plain, fair, and moderate in your Answers,
to whatever Queries he proposes to you ;
avoiding all Passionate Expressions or Ges-
tures, which may do you much harm, but
cannot avail anything to your advantage.

" It will be no small pleasure to us, to find
you as innocent as you pretend, nor shall we
ever take delight to ruine what our Hands have
built up ; but, if we percive a Structure of our
own raising begin to totter, and threaten our
own ruine with its fall, none can tax us with
imprudence, if we take it down in time. There
is your own Metaphor retorted, and the needful
in answer to your Paper of yesterday's date,
concluded with our hearty wishes for your
recovery, as being,

'' Your friend,

" Phaulkon."

Nothing hardly could be more dignified and
direct than this effusion. It reveals a man of
stern but not unkindly disposition, who was a
thorough judge of human nature, and a writer
of terse, vigorous English. What its effect
upon White was is not revealed. It seems
probable that he underwent the examination
which Phaulkon speaks of, and emerged from
it with success, for not long afterwards he
re-assumed the duties of his appointment at
Mergui.

At the time that White was at Ayuthia a
serious plot was brought to light for firing the
capital and murdering the king and Phaulkon

and massacring all the Europeans. The move-
ment was directed by several disaffected Siamese
of high position, and its active agents were
some Macassars who were resident at the time
in Ayuthia. It was the first muttering of a
storm which in the end was to involve the
dynasty in ruin and drench the country with
blood. A premature disclosure of the plans of
the conspirators led to the adoption of precau-
tionary measures which were effective. Many
Macassars, finding that the authorities were
ready for them, surrendered, and a considerable
number were put to death. Another party sued
for, and obtained, permission to leave the coun-
try, but the Government, repenting of their
decision, sent orders ahead of the men for their
arrest and detention. Steps to this end were
taken under the direction of M. Forbin, who
commanded the garrison at Bangkok ; but the
Macassars, enraged at what they regarded as an
act of treachery, fought strenuously, killing and
wounding many of the garrison, including
several of the European leaders. Eventually
they broke and fled, only, however, to meet
with death at the hands either of their pursuers
or of the public executioner. A third and
larger section of the Macassar colony, mean-
while, were standing upon the defensive in
their own quarters. The royal clemency was
offered to their chief on the condition that he
and his men would lay down their arms. The
tender was at first declined, but at a later
period, according to Samuel White, who gives
a very full account of the episode, " the Prince,
attended by the whole crew of desperate
votaries, all armed with creases and launces,
went to the Palace Gate ; whence he sent word
to His Majesty, that in the sense of his late
error and reliance on his Royal word, he was
come to ask His Majesties pardon, and promise
a peaceable demeanour for the future ; and to
that end desired admittance to throw himself at
His Majesties feet, to which he was answered,
that the posture he then was in did not
correspond to his pretences, but if he would
at first surrender his arms, and command
his attendants to do the like, His Majesty would
readily grant him liberty to come into his pre-
sence and confirm the pardon he had already
on that condition offered him ; whereupon the
Prince peremptorily replied, he would never
be guilty of so base a submission as required
the parting with their arms ; adding that he
was not insensible of an approaching great
storm : ' But,' says he, ' tell the King I am
like a great tree well rooted, and shall be able
to endure any ordinary shock ; but if the storm
comes so violently on, that I cannot longer stand
it, he may be assured my fall will not be
without the ruine of much underwood ; and
since I cannot be suffered to speak to the King
with my arms if he has any further business
with me, he knows where to find me at my own
House.' "

"All resentment of these daring Expressions
was seeminly smother 'd, and it was thought
most convenient to lull him into Security by
suffering him for that time to depart without
taking any further notice of it, though all
possible Preparations were with great privacy
made to reduce him by force. And according
the Lord Phaulkon in Person, accompanied
with sixty Europeans, having first in the Night

blockt up' the small river, and so surrounded
the Macassers Camp with about two hundred
of the King's galleys and Boats, that they could
not possibly fly, on Tuesday the Fourteenth
Instant at break of day gave order for the
Onsett, intending first to have fired down all
the Houses before them, that so they might
force their Skulking Enemies to an open Fight,
who otherwise would have the opportunity of
Murdering all that came near them, and yet
keep themselves unseen. Bat alas ! the rash-
ness of some of the Chief Europeans hurried
them on at once, to the breach of orders, and
their own Death, and that without any damage
to the Enemy. For Captain Coates, and by
his example and Command, several others
Landed before the time on a small Spot of a
dry point, where the Macassers, e're they
could well look about them, rushing out of
the Houses dispatcht one Mr. Alvey newly
arrived in the Herbert, and forced the rest
to take to the Water again in which hasty
retreat, Captain Coates with the weight of his
own armour and Arms lost his Life in the
Water, the rest with much danger and diffi-
culty recovering their boats. This sad Pro-
logue to the yet sadder Tragedy a man would
have thought warning enough for them to have
proceeded afterwards with more discretion ;
but being for the most part of them men of
more Resolution than Conduct and unac-
quainted with the way of fighting with such
an Enemy, and yet Emulous of shewing them-
selves every man more valiant then his Neigh-
bour : About three hours afterwards having by
burning that part of the Camp, and hot plying
of the Guns out of the Gallies, put the Enemy
to a retreat two Miles higher up the small
River, Captain Henry Udall (who in Comple-
ment to his Lordship accompanied him to be
only a Spectator) had not the Patience to con-
tinue any longer so : but (notwithstanding all
his Lordships earnest disswasions from it)
would needs leap ashore where he had not
been long, with several other English in his
Company, e're a parcel of Macassers, in dis-
guise of Siammers, by hawling a small beat
along the Shoalwater, got so near them, un-
diserned to be Enemies, as to reach them with
their Launces, at which time it unluckily fell to
Captain Udalls Lot to lose his life, the rest
very difficultly escaping by Taking the Water
tho' those Macassers escapt not the small-shot
from the Boats : Nor was his Lordship ex-
empted from as Eminent Danger as any man
that came off with his Life : For Captain
Udalls resolute going a-shore had drawn him
thither also, being loth to leave the Company
of one he so much respected ; but the Enemies
Lances (at which you know they are most
expert) forced his Retreat, being glad for some
time to hang on the off-side of his Boats Stern
for shelter. You will not, (tho' many others I
believe will) wonder the Europeans small-shot
could prevent their doing so much mischief
with only Lances and Creases, when you call
to mind their desperateness, who are a sort of
People that can only value their Lives by the
mischief they can do at their Deaths ; and
regard no more to run up to the very Muzzle
of a blunderbuss, then an Englishman would
to hold his hand against a Boys pop-gun.
There fell also four Frenchmen, among

4-2

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

whom Monsieur de Roan was one : So that
now at length other mens harder fates began
to make the rest more Circumspect ; and con-
tinuing to burn and lay all Levell before them,
about Ten in the forenoon arrived there a
Kecruite of Stammers, (the whole number im-
ployed by Land and Water being no less than
Seaven or Eight Thousand) with which they
began to pick them off very briskly, I mean
as fast as they could spy them Sheltering in
the Bambo's, Thickets, and other bushes 'till
at length the Prince himself was slain by the
Captain of his Lordships Life-Guard, and about
three a Clock the fight ended ; the Siammers
afterwards only continuing to hem-in that
place, to prevent the escape of any that
might remain alive and attempt it. There
was no Quarter given to any Macassers in
this days Fight, save only the Princes Son, a
Boy of about Twelve Years, who after his

But whether the Conspiracy, wherein they
were concerned will end with them, is very
much to be doubted."

CHAPTER V

Sir John Child sends a fresh trading expedition
to Siam — Captain Lake, the head of the
party, arrested — Wat made on Siam by the
East India Company — Massacre of the
English at Mergui — Samuel White flees to
England.

The Macassar trouble had barely been dis-
posed of before another and even more
ominous cloud appeared upon the Siamese

too astute a man not to take advantage of the
premature disclosures of the Company's loqua-
cious agent. A proclamation was issued en-
forcing payment throughout the kingdom of
Custom duties upon English goods, and mean-
while orders were given for the arrest of Lake
and for the confiscation of the Company's
property. The duty of seizing Lake devolved
upon Count de Forbin, the functionary who con-
ducted the operations against the Macassars at
Bangkok. Instead of making the arrest openly,
which would have been a difficult matter, as
Lake was surrounded by a well-armed body
of ninety Englishmen, Forbin descended to an
act of treachery. He invited the Englishman
to wait on him, and when he had got his victim
in his power he forwarded him to Louvo,
where he was either murdered or died of ill-
treatment at the hands of his jailer, a "reputed
Scot," one Alexander Delgardo. For some

SIAMESE BRAHMIN PRIESTS.

Fathers fall came on undauntedly with his
Lance presented at his Lordship ; but draw-
ing within reach, and perceiving his Lordship
ready in the like posture to entertain him with
his Lance, his heart failed him, so that he cast
away his Weapons and threw himself at his
Lordships feet, who received him with all
Courtesy, and brought him unbound to his
Majesty. The next day what Men and Women
remained, (for many of the latter were burnt
in their houses with their Children) were taken
Prisoners by the Siammers. And thus ends
the Story of the Macassers with their Lives :

horizon. Smarting under a sense of defeat
and at the same time jealous of the growth of
French influence at Ayuthia, Sir John Child in
1686 despatched to Siam the Prudent Mary,
one of the Company's ships. Its commander,
Captain Lake, like many of the Company's
earlier envoys, was ill fitted for the discharge
of the delicate and difficult duty of re-establish-
ing English influence. He appears to have
gone about vapouring of the hostile designs of
the Company on Siam and of their intention to
seize all the interloping Englishmen at Ayuthia
and send them away in irons Phaulkon was

time after this a condition of warfare existed
between the Siamese Government and the
Company. Three ships sent out by White
from Mergui, to which port he had returned
in October, 1686, were captured and confis-
cated with their cargoes. This was followed
by the seizure, in April, 1687, in the Bay of
Bengal, of a large Siamese war vessel, the
Revenge, manned by about seventy Europeans
and commanded by an Englishman. War had
by this time commenced in earnest between
the two countries. Before an actual declara-
tion was received White, at his own sugges-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

tion, was commissioned by Phaulkon to pro-
ceed to England to place before King James a
true account of the affairs of the two nations in
order to put a stop to hostilities. White's
notion was that the Company was acting
entirely on its own initiative, and that the facts
had only to be known for the war to be dis-
avowed by the Government. But this view is
not borne out by the facts as disclosed in the
official records. King James was quite as
eager as the Company that a strong line
should be taken up in dealing with the Siamese.
The growth of French influence in the country
was the factor which moved the somewhat
lethargic mind of the monarch. He saw in it
—not, perhaps, without reason — a menace to
the growing power of England in India, and
he cordially entered into all the plans of the
Company for counterpoising the Gallic interest
in Siam. The plan of campaign ultimately
adopted was one which contemplated the
capture of Mergui with the object of establish-
ing there a British settlement. Before White
could complete his plans for departure on his
mission the Company's frigate Curtana arrived
off the Siamese coast in discharge of this pro-
ject. The commander took with him a pro-
clamation addressed to Burneby and White
recalling all the English in Siam, a demand on
Phaulkon for £65,000 as damages sustained by
the Company in consequence of Coates's opera-
tions, and a letter from the President and
Council at Fort St. George to the King of
Siam announcing that if the demand for
damages was not satisfied within sixty days
hostilities would be resumed at Mergui. The
original intention was that the Curtana should
on making the coast hide amongst the islands
of the archipelago and not appear off Mergui
until October ; but the captain, having lost his
position in foul weather and got into shoal
water, sent a boat out with instructions to
discover the direction in which the port lay.
Almost by accident the boat found itself in
Mergui Harbour alongside the ship Resolution,
which was at anchor fully laden ready to take
White to England. The crew were well
received by Burneby and White, but White
was much concerned in his mind at the visit
of the ship and sent a message to Captain
Weltden, the commander, intimating that if he
" came in a friendly manner no man should
be more kindly treated or more honourably
received than he should be in Mergui, but if
he came in a hostile manner he [White] himself
would bring at the least two or three thousand
men to oppose him and defend the place, for
he was the King of Siam's servant and would
serve him faithfully." On the following morn-
ing the Curtana, piloted by men sent out by
White, entered the harbour, anchoring about
two miles off the town. Later in the day
Weltden landed amid considerable state. He
repaired to White's house, where the king's
proclamation was read. All the Englishmen
present signified their intention of obeying
the summons, and they appended either their
names or marks to a document expressing
their satisfaction at Weltden's mission. The
next day the declaration of war was formally
made known, and Englishmen were told that
henceforward they must consider themselves
as outside the service of the King of Siam. A

suggestion was put forward by Weltden that
the men were entitled to reimburse them-
selves for anything that was due to them from
the king's coffers. But in opposition to this
view White put in a strong demurrer. The
king, he said, owed the men nothing. He
(White) was responsible for their salaries, and
it was " most unreasonable that there should
be such a latitude given them to play the
rogue." It was finally agreed that White
should pay the men whatever was owing to
them.

White, as was shown in this matter of the pay
of the English employes of the Siamese Govern-
ment, was not unmindful of what was due from
him as a Siamese official. But even more strik-
ing testimony of his fidelity to his trust was
afforded by the measures he caused to be taken
for the defence of the port. On the wharf near
his house were " eight or ten guns laden, and
the shots lying by, ready to clap into them."
The river was staked and cables were placed in
position to constitute an additional barrier to
ingress, while work actively proceeded on a
platform on which guns were mounted. Ap-
parently Weltden regarded these preparations
as a breach of the tacit arrangement that no
action should be taken for sixty days. He caused
many of the stakes to be removed from the
river, and on the 9th of July, while White was
absent at Tenasserim, took formal possession of
the Resolution. The vessel, under his direction,
was removed from her anchorage and moored
near the Curtana. White, on returning from
Tenasserim and finding what had happened,
expressed high indignation, but there is some
reason to think that the seizure of the ship did
not take White so much by surprise as he pro-
fessed. At all events, the incident did not lead
to any rupture of the friendly relations which
existed between the two. Three days later we
find the pair conferring together relative to the
great assembly of war boats in the harbour.
Weltden was becoming alarmed at the menac-
ing aspect of the natives, and through one of
his officers he sought information as to the
meaning of the manifestations.- White replied
that the gathering was a harmless one, and to
reassure Weltden he went on board the Curtana.
He rushed off just as he was, ;l without hat,
slippers, or anything but his nightgown and a
pair of drawers." On the ship the peril of the
hour was speedily forgotten in a discussion of
the qualities of the flowing bowl. From the
fact conscientiously recorded that sixty-four
toasts were drunk it may be assumed that the
council was a protracted one.

The next two days were passed in compara-
tive quietude, though the suspicious movements
of armed boats in the harbour continued. On
the morning of the 14th July Weltden went
ashore and called on White, with whom he
remained to supper. When the meal was over
White walked out with his guest to the wharf,
where the latter's boat was awaiting him.
The two were on the point of taking leave
when a great crowd of natives rushed upon
them in the darkness. Weltden was struck a
tremendous blow on the head and knocked
senseless to the ground. White rushed to the
boat and managed to board it without injury.
By his directions the craft was pushed off and
a course was steered for one of the ships lying

at anchor. As the boat was drifting along the
shoals its occupants noticed some one running
in the mud calling to them. The individual
proved to be Weltden, who, recovering from
the blow which had been struck him, had been
directed to the boat by a friendly Mahommedan.
The fugitive was pulled on board and the
entire party ultimately reached the Resolution
in safety. Meanwhile, on shore the natives
were conducting a systematic massacre of the ■
members of the English colony. With such
deadly earnest was the movement conducted
that scarcely a soul escaped, even Burneby,
who was well liked by the natives, falling a
victim to their weapons. Nor was this the full
measure of their vengeance. Fire was
opened from the forts on the sloop James,
which had come to Mergui as the consort of
the Curtana, and the vessel was ultimately fired
and sunk. No greater calamity had attended
the English since they had commenced to trade
in Eastern seas. It was precipitated, there
can be little doubt, by the action of Weltden in
seizing the Resolution and pulling up the stakes.
The feeling seems to have been that these
were treacherous acts in view of the sixty
days' truce that had been practically declared.
Doubtless, moreover^ the intimate relations
between Weltden and White, so suggestive of
a collusive agreement inimical to Siam, served
to inflame the popular mind.

On arriving on board the Curtana, Weltden
ordered the ship to stand up towards the
Resolution and anchor near her. When these
instructions had been carried out Weltden and
White took counsel together as to the best course
to pursue in the circumstances. It was even-
tually decided to leave the harbour and anchor
in a bay on the eastern side of King Island.
Before the departure of the ships on the 18th
July a message was sent ashore by two Iascars
carrying a flag of truce offering to redeem any
Englishmen still alive. By this time, however,
the bloody work had been effectually done,
and so far as is known there was no response
to Weltden and White's well-intentioned, if
somewhat belated, effort to rescue their
countrymen. The Curtana and the Resolution,
after cruising about for some time, parted
company, the former proceeding to Negrais,
while the latter remained off Iron Island.
On arrival at Negrais Weltden surveyed the
port and hoisted the English flag. Thereafter
he returned to the rendezvous agreed upon
with White, and finding that he had left for
Achin, followed him there. The two vessels
sailed in company from Achin to Madapollam.
Here they parted company, Weltden pro-
ceeding to Madras and White to England.
The Madras Council were anxious to get
White into their power, as they regarded
him as only in a minor degree than Phaulkon
the author of their misfortunes in Siam, but
the ex-Shahbandar was too wary for the Com-
pany's agents, and easily eluded the ship they
sent in pursuit of him.

News of the tragic events at Mergui was a
long time filtering through to India, and it was
in entire ignorance of them that the Council at
Fort St. George despatched on August 29, i687 ]
the frigate Pearl to Siam with what was in-
tended as a substantial reinforcement of the
force under Weltden's command. With the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

vessel went Mr. William Hodges and Mr. John
Hill, two experienced servants of the Company,
who were charged with explicit instructions to
secure the occupation of Mergui. That much
importance was considered to attach to the
enterprise is to be gathered from a letter dated
September 29, 1687, from the President and
Council at Madras to Sir John Child. In this
communication the Madras authorities ex-
pressed the hope that Mr. White and his
associate " will understand their allegiance,
duty and interests better and prevent the
trouble of a dispute by a ready, quiet surrender
of the place, which is otherwise designed for
the French and will certainly fall into their
possession." The letter stated that five French
men-of-war and two thousand soldiers had gone
to Siam for that purpose, but the hope was ex-
pressed that the Company would be before-
hand with them. The one thing needful was
his Majesty's royal letter of command to Messrs.
White and Burneby, which . they would not
have dared to disobey, but which unfortunately
had been despatched by a vessel which would
arrive too late to admit of its being sent to
Mergui that monsoon. The royal missive, in
point of fact, did not reach its destination until
twelve months after the departure of the Pearl.
It was a very directly-worded document, calling
upon Burneby and White to leave Mergui or
to give up the place. The Pearl left Madras
on August 29, 1687, and twenty-four days later
arrived off King Island to the west of Mergui.
Two vessels were here sighted, and on coming
up with them Captain Perriman of the Pearl
spoke to them. He was told in reply to his
challenge that the vessel he had hailed belonged
to the King of Siam and was commanded by
Captain Cropley. A command was given to
Cropley to come on board the Pearl, but a
direct refusal was given to the order, where-
upon Perriman ordered all sail to be put on, and
on coming up with the Siamese vessel poured
a broadside into it. The compliment was re-
turned, and then the strange vessels made off
in the direction of Mergui with the Pearl in
pursuit. After a brief chase the Siamese
vessels managed to draw away, and night
coming on, Perriman thought it wise to drop
anchor and await events. When the morrow
dawned, to his astonishment Perriman descried
a flotilla of thirteen vessels bearing down upon
him. After a consultation it was thought to be
wise to run up a flag of truce and see what the
visitors' intentions were. When the boats came
near Perriman's courage revived somewhat,
and he thought he would try again his old
device of intimidating the Siamese commander.
He therefore renewed his order to Cropley to
come on board, but with no better result than
previously. Indeed, the position was such that
Perriman deemed it prudent to reverse the pro-
cess that he had proposed and proceed on
board Cropley's vessel instead of Cropley
coming on board his. Perriman and Messrs.
Hodges and Hill were made practically
prisoners, and an English pilot was sent on
board the Pearl to conduct her into harbour.
Then the new-comers learned for the first time
the fate that had overtaken their countrymen.
Apparently from the story told them over fifty
Englishmen had been killed, including Burneby
and a Captain Leslie. They were furthermore

informed that a Frenchman had Burneby's
appointment as Governor, and that peace and
order now reigned in the town. The Pearl
was taken into the Tenasserim river on
September 24th, and ten days later Messrs.
Hodges and Hill set off for Ayuthia. They
went there more as prisoners than as envoys,
and it was perhaps a fortunate circumstance
for them that on their arrival they found the
Siamese authorities immersed in the arrange-
ments attendant upon the entertainment of the
second French mission, which a little while
before had arrived in Siam. The two factors
occupied their abundant leisure in making
inquiries in reference to the Mergui calamity.
They discovered that the original story of the
completeness of the massacre was well founded.
They could only hear of three Englishmen of
the sixty whom White estimated were in the
place at the time who escaped. These were
saved by some Dutchmen, who hid them in
their houses until all danger had passed. A
saving touch to the melancholy narrative was
given by the apparently well-authenticated
statement that the women and children, who
numbered less than a dozen, were not molested.
The Siamese authorities expressed abhorrence
at the massacre and caused the native governor,
who was suspected of conniving at the rising,
to be imprisoned at Louvo. He was there
awaiting his examination when the English
delegation were at Ayuthia, and Hodges was
informed that to extract a confession the man
would be put to the torture by having his flesh
pinched off with hot irons. There is no
ground for doubting the sincerity of the
Siamese official repudiation of the massacre.
The Government had nothing particular to
gain by wiping out the English colony, and
they had much to lose by exciting the ill-will of
the English Government and people by an act
of so gravely provocative a character. The
authorities at Madras, however, were persuaded
that the massacre was no spontaneous outburst
of local feeling. They attributed it to the
villainy of "the great and base wretch,"
meaning Phaulkon, and said in a letter of
burning indignation to Sir John Child that
" the innocent blood of these men, 80 strangled
English, cryes allowed for vengeance and we
doubt not but just Heaven and our masters will
see it revenged." Avenged, however, it was
not, for ere measures could be concerted a
revolution in Siam swept away the dynasty,
and with it its principal prop — the redoubtable
Phaulkon. This important occurrence must
be left for treatment to a subsequent chapter.
Meanwhile, it may be stated, to complete the
account of the English war with Siam, that the
King of Siam himself declared war against the
East India Company in December, 1687. The
proclamation announcing a state of war care-
fully discriminated between the English people
and the East India Company. While reprisals
against the latter were enjoined, " free "
English traders were invited to trade in Siam.
This act of policy we may safely conjecture
was due to Phaulkon's influence. The astute
Greek knew that, while the invitation would
placate the English people, it would touch the
East India Company on the rawest of raw
spots. The war was entered upon by the
Siamese with a certain amount of vigour,

and at many points the East India Company
had reason to respect the enterprise of their
foes. The operations continued for some
months. Then some sort of an arrangement
appears to have been patched up between the
two Governments. Either as an outcome of
this, or by reason of some private bargain, the
Pearl was released towards the end of 1688,
and with Mr. John Hill on board reached Fort
St. George on December 22nd in that year.

CHAPTER VI

The second French embassy — Disaffection at
Ayuthia — Phra-Phet-Raxa seizes the reins
of power — Phaulkon imprisoned at the palace
— His tragic end— Death of the king and
crowning of the usurper — Overtures to the
East India Company for the re-opening of
trade — Decline of Siamese prosperity.

In an earlier chapter the despatch was noted of
the second French mission, with its imposing
body of courtly and priestly personages and its
formidable military force. The intention of the
French Government was to produce a remark-
able impression upon the Siamese authorities
by the mingled panoply of diplomacy and war,
and in this they were successful— perhaps a little
too successful. The king, on learning the size
of the force which accompanied this peaceful
mission, became suspicious of the designs of
the French and at first flatly declined to permit
them to land. Phaulkon eventually smoothed
the matter over and the troops were disem-
barked on the understanding that they should
garrison the forts at Bangkok and a newly
erected fort at Mergui. The king's distrust
was shared to a marked degree by his subjects,
and they were beyond the blandishments of
Phaulkon. With lowering brows and clenched
hands they observed the French soldiers occupy
on the Menam the positions which were
practically the key of Siam. The discontent
smouldered, bursting out occasionally, as at the
time of the Macassar revolt, which probably
was instigated by anti-foreign malcontents.
Nothing serious happened, however, until after
the departure of the French squadron in the
early part of 1688. The manifestations then
took more menacing form. At first they
assumed the character of warnings. One,
emanating from a. Malay prince, with a Dutch-
man as prime minister, was dismissed as a mere
Dutch intrigue. Another, given by a Malay in
person to the king, resulted in the man being
put to the torture, and finally in his being thrown
to the palace tigers. Simultaneously a number
of other disaffected Malays were arrested and
put to death. Still the ominous rumours
of a conspiracy for the overthrow of the
dynasty in which the Greeks and the French
were concerned circulated. They were put
about by a powerful faction, who realised that
their only chance of success in a revolutionary
movement was to arouse the hostility of the
country against the foreigners. At the head of
this party was a mandarin named Phra-Phel-
Raxa (or Pitraki, as the missionaries called him),

A BRONZE BUDDHA AT AYUTHIA.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

a man of low origin, who had raised himself
by natural ability to a position of influence
amongst his countrymen. About May the
king fell severely ill at Louvo and the circum-
stance was taken advantage of by the con-
spirators. They excited the popular mind with
unfounded rumours of the king's death. Then
they brought up from the country a number of
adherents, amongst them a plentiful sprinkling
of bad characters, and with their aid caused
tumults in the capital. " At the beginning,"
says the author of the " Hisfoire de la Revolution
de Siam," a graphic contemporary account of
the rising, " half a dozen of our French soldiers
would have scattered that rabblement of natives,
but the danger was despised until too late."
By strategy Phra-Phet-Raxa obtained possession
of the palace, made the king a prisoner, and
thence issued his orders in his Majesty's name.
Phaulkon, on receiving a hint of what was
happening, determined to go to the palace to
investigate the position. His friends strongly
persuaded him to desist from the attempt,
which they realised was perilous to a degree.
They wanted the minister to rally his English
and French friends around him, barricade him-
self in his house, and await events. But Phaul-
kon would not hear of any such half-hearted
measures. He, however, assented to the des-
patch of his native secretary to the palace to
make inquiries prior to going there himself.
The man, after a brief absence, returned with a
confirmation of the news that the palace was in
the hands of the revolutionaries and that the
king was a prisoner. Phaulkon now himself
sallied forth on a tour of investigation. With
him went three French officers, but no other
escort. He had expected to meet his own
French guard at the palace gate, as he had sent
orders for it to proceed there. It was, however,
not visible when he arrived. In its place he
found a number of Siamese officials, who
received him with the usual marks of respect.
Acknowledging their salutations, he passed into
the palace and went in the direction of the
king's apartments. He had not proceeded far
before he was attacked in a narrow passage by
a gang of revolutionaries, whose movements
were directed by the usurper and his son.
Phaulkon and his French friends were dis-
armed, and the former was taken away
alone. The chief executioner, who was in
attendance on the usurper, made as if to strike
the fallen minister, but he was restrained by
Phra-Phet-Raxa, who intervened to save the
victim's life for a reason which was soon
apparent. Taking Phaulkon with him, the
usurper went to a position on the palace walls
which was visible from outside, and there, in
full view of the people assembled below, con-
versed quietly for a time with him. This was
done to give the impression that Phaulkon was
completely at liberty. The ruse deceived not
only the people, but many of the French who
had assembled outside. No effort was conse-
quently made to interfere with the course of
events. When the usurper had accomplished
his purpose he look the Greek to the room in
which the three French officers were detained
and there left him. Meanwhile the guard
which Phaulkon had summoned had assembled
at the palace entrance. Efforts were made by
the revolutionaries to secure its withdrawal,

the plea being urged that as all was quiet in the
palace there was no necessity for its presence.
But the officer in command declined to move
without a direct order from the Greek, and a
similar refusal was given by the native guard
which accompanied the French and was under
the direction of the French commandant. For
many hours the gallant Frenchmen, though
surrounded by thousands of revolutionaries,
held their ground. As night fell the Siamese
portion of the guard were seduced from their
allegiance and the situation became critical.
At last the revolutionaries accomplished by
stratagem what they could not achieve by
direct means. By various cunning devices
they got the French gradually into their power
and the authority of the usurper became
supreme. The most active of the French
officers were seized, loaded with chains, beaten
with bamboos, and thrust into prison. Phaul-
kon, meanwhile, was subjected to every con-
ceivable form of torture, apparently with the
sole object of prolonging his misery. At last,
after months of hideous suffering, he was taken
to the great hall of the palace to hear his
sentence. He was condemned to death as a
traitor for admitting foreigners to the country
and for conspiring against the State. Then as
evening fell he was put on an elephant and
conducted by a strong guard to a neighbouring
forest to meet his doom. Before the final act
he "took his seal, two silver crosses, a relic set
in gold which he wore on his breast, being a
present from the Pope, as also the order of St.
Michael, which was sent him by the King of
France, and delivered them to a mandarin, who
stood by, desiring him to give them to his little
son." And then he turned to his executioners.
" One with a sharp sword cut his body nearly in
two ; and as he fell to the ground another cut
off his head." He is said to have met his fate
like a man and a good Christian, his eyes being
bold and his voice firm to the last. " Thus
died, in the flower of his age, Constantine
Phaulkon, well worthy of a better fate ; but,"
says the pious chronicler, " if his death ap-
peared tragical in the eyes of men it was
precious before God."

The king did not long survive his unfor-
tunate minister. He was either treacherously
killed or died from the effects of disease.
Contemporary European accounts paint him
in very agreeable colours. In the English
preface to a translation of the French pamphlet
describing the revolution already referred to,
it is said that " he was without contradiction
the greatest prince that ever reigned in Siam.
He was of stature somewhat under the middle
size, but straight and well shaped. He had an
engaging air, a sweet and obliging carriage,
especially to strangers. He was active and
brisk, an enemy of idleness and laziness,
which seems to be so natural to the Eastern
princes, and is accounted by them the noblest
prerogative of their crown. This prince on
the contrary was always either in the woods a
hunting of elephants, or in his palace a minding
the affairs of his kingdom. He was no lover
of war, because it ruined his people whom he
tenderly loved ; but when his subjects rebelled
or neighbouring princes offered him the least
affront, or violated that respect that was due
to him, there was no king in all the East that

took a more conspicuous revenge, nor appeared
more passionate for glory. He was desirous
of knowing everything, and having a pregnant
and piercing wit, he easily became master of
what he had a mind to learn. He was magni-
ficent, generous, and as true a friend as could
be desired. These were the illustrious qualities
which procured for him the respect of his
neighbours, the fear of his enemies and the
esteem and love of his subjects."

When the usurper had rid himself or been
rid of the king, he turned his attention to those
who stood in the way to a full realisation of
his ambitious schemes. First he caused to be
executed the king's two brothers and his
adopted son. Afterwards the young princess,
the king's daughter, was done to death. The
manner of her execution was peculiar. She
was " taken and thrust into a large velvet sack,"
her brains " were knockt out with great bars of
the sweet and so much esteemed wood in all the
Indies called Aquila and Calamboar," and the
body was "then thrown into the river, it being
accounted a prophane thing and a violation of
the sacred respect due to a Princess of the
Royal blood of Siam to be put to death in the
usual manner that others are ; and therefore
they did it with great deference and distin-
guishing ceremonies becoming her quality, not
suffering her Royal person to be polluted with
the touch of any vulgar hand or instrument of
mortality."

Not such respect was shown to the hated
foreigner. The French were chained two and
two and thrown into prison, there to die most
of them a lingering and horrible death. The
English and the Portuguese suffered a similar
fate. Only the Dutch seem to have been
exempted from the purge, and that fact led to
the suspicion that the revolution was a business
in which they had a hand. When the usurper
had dealt with all the foreigners in his imme-
diate vicinity, he bethought himself of the
garrisons of Bangkok and Mergui. He sought
to get them into his power by stratagem. A
messenger was sent to General des Farges,
the -commander at Bangkok, saying that the
king wished to see him on urgent business.
Unsuspectingly the general responded to the
summons, the more cheerfully accom-
panying the mandarin sent to fetch him
because he was the same individual who
had accompanied the mission from France.
On the journey the fact that des Farges was
not allowed to hold any communication with
the Jesuit Fathers aroused his suspicions, and
when he arrived at the palace and was told
by Phra-Phet-Raxa that Phaulkon had been
executed by order of the king because of his
mismanagement of affairs, he was certain that
all was not well. Phra-Phet-Raxa beguiled
him with a story of war with the Cochin
Chinese which rendered it necessary that all
the French troops should march to the frontier
to prevent the invasion of the kingdom. Des
Farges clearly perceived that this was "a mere
contrivance and like so many snares that they
had laid to catch him." He thought it politic,
however, to dissemble, and he therefore
replied " that the King of France, his master,
had sent him to serve the King of Siam, and
that he was now ready to obey his commands.
But that he thought it highly necessary to go

SIAMESE WOMEN OF THE PEASANT CLASS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

himself in person to Hancock, to bring the
soldiers with him, in regard that the officers
that commanded in his absence would not quit
the fortress upon a bare letter." The usurper
granted the requisite permission, but as a
measure of precaution the wily Siamese
insisted on des Farges leaving his two sons
behind as hostages and also compelled him
to write a letter to Major Debman, in
command of the troops at Mergui, ordering
him to return to Louvo. In inditing this
communication to his colleague des Farges
took care " by the use of extravagant terms
and unusual expressions " to convey the
impression that he was to pay no heed to the
order given him. " By good providence," says
the historian, "it fell out just as he could have
wished, the letter being received and under-
stood in the sense it was designed."

Des Farges on reaching Bangkok con-
centrated his forces in the inner fort, and
destroying all buildings outside which could
shelter a besieging force, awaited events. Not
many davs elapsed before he was vigorously
attacked by a mixed force of Indians, Chinese,
and Malays sent against him by Phra-Phet-
Raxa. Gallantly the two hundred French
troops who composed the garrison held their
ground, repulsing all assaults with a steady
courage which greatly disconcerted the usurper,
who had hoped for an easy victory. In his
wrath he directed that a prominent French
priest (the Bishop of Metellopolis) who had
fallen into his hands should be stripped and tied
to a gibbet in full view of his countrymen.
This plan failing to produce any effect, thebishop
was released and sent to treat with the garrison.
Eventually, on September 30, 1688, peace
terms were arranged. It was agreed that
the French should surrender the forts at
Bangkok and that the French troops with
their officers' should leave Siam, the Siamese
undertaking to provide transport for them to
Pondicherry. The French garrison at Mergui
had prior to this quitted the country. They
maintained for some weeks a gallant fight
against overwhelming odds, and then, their
water supply having failed, they embarked on
two ships which were moored near their fort,
and after a thrilling series of adventures reached
Bengal, from whence they were forwarded by
the English to Pondicherry.

Prior to the conclusion of peace, at the
beginning of August, 1688, Phra-Phet-Raxa
had been crowned King of Siam and Tenas-
serim with much ceremony at Ayuthia. He
had not been long on the throne before he
gave evidence of his desire to establish friendly
relations with the European traders. Through
Mr. Hodges, who had remained at Ayuthia
during the troublous period just treated, he
sent a message expressing his desire to settle
all differences with the East India Company.
An intimation was also given that the English
nation would be welcome to trade as of old,
and that they would have all their old privi-
leges. In any circumstances these overtures
would probably have been favourably received,
but the fact that the Dutch had concluded an
important treaty with the king, conferring
upon them wide privileges, and the added
circumstance that in 1690 a French fleet of six
ships appeared in the Bay of Bengal with the

object of re-establishing French influence in
Siam, quickened the desire of the Company to
accept the olive-branch tendered to them.
The President of the Madras Council, Mr.
Elihu Yale, in June, 1690, addressed to the
King of Siam, through his minister, a letter
which showed an eager desire to restore the
old relations if it could be done on satisfactory
terms. The king was congratulated on his
coronation, and he was told in pompous lan-
guage that "his great and virtuous character
promised no less than justice also [alike to] the
Right Honourable Company and the English
nation, by a due satisfaction of all the injuries
and wrongs they had lately received by means
of that unhappy, malicious instrument, Con-
stant Phaulkon, as also for the several sums
and debts due to us from the late king on
several accounts, as well for money lent his
Ambassadors to Persia, and hire for their
services and reputation of his people and
nation, as appears by the copies of their
several obligations and accounts herewith sent
you." Yale went on to express a hope that
these liabilities would be met. Such com-
pliance, he assured the king, would encourage
a return to trade and a cessation of all diffi-
culties and hostility. On the other hand, " if
these just desires are disregarded and denied us,
we must of necessity have recourse to such
ways and methods for the recovery of our
rights as we are unwilling to." A prompt reply
to this missive was forthcoming. The Phra-
klang wrote that " Phaulkon and White had
wronged the King greatly and owed him
much," and suggested that their property in
England should be seized in satisfaction of the
Company's claims, as "the King had noe
money of the others to discharge his debt
with." Practically this was the end of the
overtures for reconciliation. The Company,
which had never found Siam a very profitable
market, was not eager to renew the connection
without some more powerful inducement than
had been held out. Its servants, who had
beyond question found the Siamese connection
a highly lucrative one, did not look at the
matter in the same indifferent light. Indeed,
they were so eager to get the trade once more
into its old groove, that Elihu Yale actually
asked the court for permission for himself and
others to wage an independent war against
Siam. This extraordinary request was not
granted, and during the closing years of the
seventeenth century there was little or no
communication between the English factories
in the East and Siam. With the lapse of years
the incentive to intercourse became weaker.
The new king lacked the liberality of mind
and the enterprise which distinguished his
predecessor, while his government missed the
firm directing hand and commercial genius
of Phaulkon. There was, furthermore, as a
disturbing factor in the situation, the unrest
and uncertainty inseparable from the early-
years of a dynasty founded on usurped rights.
These circumstances all combined to depose
the country from the really high position it
had reached as a centre of Eastern trade.
Its prosperity declined, and for many years
European nations found np special reason to
induce them to seek to enter into negotiation
with its Government.

CHAPTER VII

Troubled state oj Siam — Death oj Phra-Phet-
Raxa — His son, a wretched debauchee,
succeeds him — Wat made on Cambodia —
Outbreak of civil war — Burmese invasion
of the country tinder Alompra — Death of
Alompra and retirement of the Burmese —
Another Burmese invasion — Sack and
destruction of Ayuthia — Anarchy in Siam
— Rise of a usurper of Chinese descent —
Capital established at Bangkok — Siamese
expedition to the Malay Peninsula — Revolt
and dethronement of the usurper — The
present Siamese dynasty established.

Phka-Phet-Raxa's reign had not far advanced
before the flames of a new rebellion were
kindled. A priest of Pegu, who gave himself
out as the eldest of the two brothers of the late
king, suddenly appeared at the head of a host
of several thousand men whom he had induced
to array themselves under his standard by
lavish promises and the hope of plunder.
The rebels first sought to cut off the king's
son, who was journeying from the capital to
a place some miles away for sport. The youth,
however, seeing the approaching host and
suspecting its designs, fled, leaving behind
him all his valuables. In the plunder of the
deserted encampment the rebels found an
occupation so congenial that they were content
to allow the prince to escape. When at length
they resumed their march they encountered a
great army of twelve thousand men, which had
been sent out by the king to repel the attack.
For a brief space the rebels stood their
ground ; but their priestly leader, though not
lacking in courage, was no soldier, and soon
the undisciplined mob broke and fled. "The
impostor," says Turpin in his " History of
Siam," " wandered for some days in the
woods with a young man who had not
forsaken him. He was taken asleep under a
tree and conducted to Yuthia [Ayuthia], where,
chained to a stake, he was exposed for some
days to the insults of the populace ; he was
afterwards ripped up alive, and, while still
existing, saw his entrails served as food for
dogs." After this there was comparative
peace in the land, but the king did not live
long to enjoy his triumph. He died as the
new century was dawning, giving place on
the throne to his son, a wretched debauchee,
who scandalised even the easy-going Siamese
of that day by marrying his father's widow.
'• The new monarch gave himself up entirely
to the guidance of his priests, who by their
penances undertook to redeem his errors.
By his example every one built idolatrous
temples ; commerce and industry languished,
and the people, occupied with ridiculous
ceremonies, no longer thought of securing
themselves from foreign invasion." The
consequences were reaped in the next reign.
" The new king's army, fifty thousand strong,
and his fleet, which carried twenty thousand
combatants, entered the Kingdom of Cambaye,
then torn by domestic dissensions. This army
would have conquered if it had been led by a
more skilful general, but the Siamese monarch,
benumbed in the luxury of his ' seraglio,' had
trusted the command of it to his first minister,

A LUK-SIT— A BOY WHO SERVES A PRIEST IN RETURN FOR TUITION.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

born for pacific employments and totally unfit
for war. This minister, who was sensible of
the extent of his own abilities, had not sought
for the honour of the command ; but the King,
who never doubted his own discernment in
the choice of his agents, imagined that he
who could govern empires could also conquer
them. The King of Cambaye, too weak to
oppose the torrent which threatened to over-
whelm him, ordered all his subjects inhabiting
on the frontiers to retire with their effects into
the capital, and to burn whatever they could
not carry off. The fields were ravaged ;
fifty leagues of country were changed into
sterile deserts, which scarcely furnished food
for animals. The king declared himself the
vassal of Cochin China to obtain from him
the assistance of fifteen thousand foot-soldiers
and three thousand on board of galleys
destined to protect the coasts. The Siamese
army, full of confidence in the superiority of
their numbers, and still more proud at not
finding any enemy to dispute their passage,
rashly penetrated into the country ; but the
greater their progress the faster they ap-
proached destruction. Famine, more cruel
than the sword of the enemy, made the most
horrid ravages in their camp. The wasted
fields afforded no fruit for the men nor forage
for the animals ; they were obliged to "kill the
sumpter cattle to eat their flesh ; the soldiers,
not accustomed to such food, were attacked
with dysenteries and fevers, which carried off
one half of them. . . . The Siamese fleet, four
times more numerous than that of the enemy,
had no better success. Their small galleys
reduced the city of Ponteainas to ashes. The
Cochin-Chinese profited by the absence of
these galleys to attack the transports, which
were in the road more than four miles from
the burning city. The Siamese galleys, which
were detained in the river, then very low
could not come to the assistance of their
vessels ; and fearing that, after this blow,
famine would be as fatal to the fleet as it
had been to the army, sailed back to their
country. "

Not many years after this disastrous expedi-
tion civil war broke out to add to the troubles
of a sorely oppressed people. The principal
contestants in the struggle were uncle and
nephew, respectively brother and son of the
monarch who had succeeded Phra-Phet-Kaxa.
The former, who was dignified with the title of
" grand prince," had at his call five thousand
soldiers, but his rival had the advantage of
the support of the four principal officers of
state, and of the bulk of the army, some forty
thousand strong. For a considerable time the
two bodies fought without any conspicuous
advantage to either. At length, after an un-
successful attack, led by the chief minister, upon
his own palace, the grand prince caused the
palace of his nephew to be assaulted at night.
In the darkness a panic overtook the defenders
and they were slaughtered like sheep. At last
the king, betrayed and abandoned by his
subjects, turned to his Malay guard and im-
plored their assistance, making them lavish
presents to secure their help. The Malays
went out as if to do battle, but were scarcely
beyond the precincts of the palace before they
quitted the standard of their benefactor. The

king was now deserted by his ministers, and
left a prey to his ruthless enemy. Assassins
soon appeared and put an end to his life, and
they would also have killed his two brothers
had they not, taking advantage of the lull
caused by the exit of the Malays, fled to the river
and escaped in a boat. " As soon as the grand
prince was informed that the king's palace was
abandoned, he ordered his people to take
possession of it. Several princes of the royal
family remained in it, shut up in an inviolable
and sacred asylum. They loaded them with
chains, made them suffer every torture that
ingenious vengeance can devise, and having
stripped them of all their wealth they had
nothing but death to hope for." The usurper
entered upon his troubled kingdom with a
feeling of insecurity, which led him at the out-
set to practise a policy of moderation. The
two ministers who had fought against him
were put upon their trial, and on the judges
finding that there was nothing in their conduct
to justify a conviction for treason, they having
only obeyed the behests of their master, the
king gave them honourable employment as
the custodians of two important temples.
This, however, was a mere blind to conceal his
real designs. In the dead of night the ministers
were attacked at the temples by a party of
Malays, and after a struggle were killed by
them. Meanwhile, by order of the monarch,
a diligent search was conducted for the fugitive
princes. They were discovered, after some
little time, taken to the capital, and cast into
prison, to die there a violent death. The
usurper himself died in 1748, at the great age
of eighty-four. His son, Chaoul-Padou, was
immediately acknowledged king by all the
officers of state. He had been brought up from
his tenderest infancy in the pagodas among the
priests, and was little fitted for the strenuous
life which was before him as monarch of this
distressful kingdom. For a time he strove to
carry on the duties of his position, but, harassed
by the" conduct of a dissolute brother who
defied his authority and caused continual strife
in the palace, he decided to abdicate. Returning
to a monastery, he strove to efface himself as
one dead to the outer world. But he was not
to attain the Nirvana for which his soul longed.
The nation's foreign enemies swept in upon
the country, carrying ruin and desolation
almost to the gates of the capital. The
officers of state, in the crisis, implored
Chaoul-Padou to resume the reins of power.
Reluctantly the king assented.

Probably only the supreme crisis that had
arisen in the affairs of his dominions would
have tempted Chaoul-Padou from his retire-
ment. The position was indeed critical. The
hereditary enemy of the Siamese, the Burmese,
were invading the country under Alompra, the
famous adventurer, who had assumed royal
authority, and they were ravaging the country
with fire and sword. Martaban and Tenas-
serim were overrun, and Mergui was de-
stroyed, and in 1759-60 the Burmese army was
in full march on Ayuthia. Happily for the
Siamese when the enemy had advanced within
almost striking distance of the capital, Alompra
was seized with a mortal illness. This so dis-
composed the invaders that their attack when
delivered lacked energy, and they were ulti-

mately compelled to beat a retreat. Under the
leadership of Aloinpra's son, the Burmese
forces were hurriedly withdrawn, but the
rapidity of their movements did not save them
from harassing attacks which left them a greatly
weakened and disordered force before they
gained the safety of Burmese territory. The
lesson taught by this disastrous adventure sunk
deep into the mind of the new Burmese king.
During his brief reign of six years he did not
venture to retrieve the lost laurels. His brother
and successor, Shembuan, more venturesome,
as the first object of his reign undertook the
reconquest of Tavoy, the Burmese governor
of which had a few years before treacherously
surrendered the country to the Siamese. The
enterprise was successfully carried through,
and then Shembuan turned his attention to the
old design of attacking the Siamese in their
capital. Assembling a great army, he marched
into Siam. The Siamese attempted vainly to
withstand his advance. Their forces were
hopelessly defeated, and with slow but sure
steps the Burmese host approached Ayuthia.
Their way was marked by a broad expanse of
wasted country. So merciless were they that
the population were practically blotted out.
When at length Shembuan arrived before the
capital he found a comparatively easy task
before him. Chaoul-Padou, tired of his re-
sponsibilities, had some time before retired
once more into his beloved monastery, giving
place to a new king in the person of his
brother. The change did not tend to the
advantage of the State. The reigning monarch
was a man of weak character and little in-
fluence. This circumstance, coupled with the
existence of dissensions and intrigues amongst
the State officials, greatly weakened the
country's power of existence.

Turpin, in his " History of Siam," vividly
paints the scene : " The king, shut up in
"his seraglio, consoled himself with his concu-
bines for the miseries of his subjects. The
news that the enemy had evacuated Tenas-
serim and Mergui had given room to believe
that the danger was over and that the State had
no further occasion for protectors. The king
awoke from, his profound sleep at the noise of
the inhabitants of the country, who rushed in
crowds to take refuge in the royal city. They
employed them to repair the fortifications ;
they raised columns 40 feet high to mount
cannon on. The Christians refusted to assist at
this labour, convinced of its inutility and that
they would crumble under their own weight.
The enemy, before they began the attack on
the city, laid waste all the territory. One of
their detachments extended its ravages to the
very gates of the city. Bancok, a fortress which
defended the approaches to it, was destroyed ;
the gardens, stripped of their ornaments, were
covered with ruins. A college the missioners
had established in the environs was reduced to
ashes. After this excursion the incendiaries
retired with precipitation to the main body of
their army, and their retreat for a moment
allayed the alarm. At this period two English
vessels arrived. The captain, a man named
Powny, brought the king an Arabian horse,
a lion, and several valuable articles. The king,
who had more confidence in his valour and
talents than in his cowardly and effeminate

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

courtiers, begged him to undertake the defence
of the city ; but the Englishman, convinced
that he should be badly seconded by a people
void of courage, refused the honour of the
command ; the example of the Dutch, who
had withdrawn their factory, confirmed his
repugnance to accept it. He was irresolute
as to the part he should take, when he suddenly
found himself attacked by the Bramas (Bur-
mese), who, masters of Bancok, took their dis-
positions to batter him with cannon. The
brave Englishman, too weak to defend him-
self, and too brave to submit, took the wise
resolution to tow his vessel up the narrows,
where the barbarians were endeavouring to
fortify themselves ; but the fire from the

ministers he went on board his ship, where he
prepared to justify the opinion they entertained
of his courage. He ordered descents, which
were all murderous to the enemy. Their forts,
scarcely erected, were destroyed ; every day
was marked with their defeat or flight. In
order to profit by these advantages, he wrote
to the Court of Siam for cannon and ammu-
nition, but he experienced a refusal. The
Siamese, suspicious, were fearful of his be-
coming too powerful, and of their being
dependent on a foreigner. Their distrust
fettered their protector : it was to forge
these very chains they feared to wear. The
ministers replied that as the enemy was
preparing to make an attack on the other side

having thus secured himself, he boldly passed
before his enemies, who, instead of troubling
his retreat, congratulated themselves on being
freed from a rival who alone could hinder
their success."

After Powny's departure the Burmese prose-
cuted their operations with increased vigour in
every direction. At length, on the 28th of April,
1767, the city was taken by assault. The in-
vaders celebrated their victory with character- .
istic ferocity. The king was slain at the gate
of his palace, and the unfortunate Chaoul-
Padou was dragged from the seclusion of his
monastery and carried with his family a
prisoner to Ava. An even worse fate awaited
the State officials. They were loaded with

VIEW OF THE CITY OF BANGKOK IN 1824.

artillery of the ships 'destroyed their works
and carried death among their ranks. The
inaction they experienced on board their ships
wounded their pride, and, impatient to punish
their aggressors, they made several descents,
and throwing themselves in order on their
undisciplined enemies, they made a dreadful
carnage of them. Powny, forced by necessity,
consented to undertake the defence of the city,
on condition that they should furnish him with
cannon and whatever was necessary for attack
and defence. His demand was complied with,
and as a pledge of his fidelity the Siamese
required him to deposit his merchandise in
the public magazine. This condition wounded
his pride, but he was obliged to submit to it.
After having settled everything with the

of the city, they wanted all the cannon they
had to repulse them. The Englishman, irri-
tated at this infraction of their promises, re-
solved to abandon a people who could neither
fight themselves nor supply their friends with
the means of defending them ; but before he
sailed he published a sort of manifesto against
the Siamese monarch to justify his desertion.
He seized six Chinese vessels, one of which
was loaded on the king's account ; the other
five came to trade at Siam, and were stopped
in the gulf, where they were much surprised to
find themselves stripped of their effects. The
Englishman, to indemnify them for what he
had taken, gave the captains letters of exchange,
drawn on the King of Siam, to the amount of
the goods he had deposited witlrhim. After

chains and sent to man the Burmese war-boats.
As for the general population, those who were
not massacred in cold blood or who had not
fled were despatched as slaves to Burma.
Temples were demolished, houses burnt and
property plundered and destroyed. In fine,
when the Burmese had worked their will
Ayuthia had ceased to exist as an inhabited or
inhabitable city. At length, wearied with
slaughter or, what is more probable, having
so wasted the country that it ceased to yield
the means of subsistence, the invaders with-
drew, leaving the country in the throes of
anarchy. For a considerable time the king-
dom remained in this hopeless condition.
Ultimately, in 1769, there arose a leader in the
person of a chief of Chinese descent, who.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

placing himself at the head of the Siamese, in
due course assumed royal powers. He seems
to have been a man of intelligence and force
of character. Under his guidance order was

sent her father back to Ligore to rule under
his protection. The Ligore chief became a
staunch upholder of the Siamese power.
Through his instrumentality the States of

FLOATING HOUSE ON THE MENAM.
(From "The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

soon evolved out of chaos. The country became
tranquil, and commerce and agriculture once
more began to thrive. Nor was this all.
Establishing his capital at Bangkok, the usurper
directed operations which led to the re-occu-
pation under Siamese authority of territory
which had been either captured by the
Burmese or which had been occupied by
Siamese chiefs who had declared their inde-
pendence. Meanwhile, the Burmese were
making preparations for a new invasion of
Siam. In 177 1 the expedition was ready to
start, but, unfortunately for the Burmese king,
the troops which composed it had been
mainly drawn from Pegu, a province notori-
ously disaffected, and when the order was
given to march the men mutinied. After this
the enterprise had to be abandoned. But
Siam was not long left in even the comparative
peace which the new dispensation had ushered
in. In 1772 the king conducted an expedi-
tion into the Malay Peninsula with the object
of asserting his authority at Ligore, the chief
of which, amid the confusion which had been
caused by the Burmese invasion, had assumed
independent power. The King of Ligore, as
he styled himself, hearing of the expedition,
fled to Patani for protection. The ruler of
that State, fearing to draw upon himself the
vengeance of the Siamese, gave the prisoner
up to the King of Siam. The forces of that
monarch in the meantime had taken Ligore,
and captured the royal family and many noble-
men of rank. The King of Ligore's daughter,
a beautiful damsel, he placed in his own
harem. He became so infatuated with her
that he preserved the lives of all her kindred,
and eventually, after she had borne him a son,

Patani, Kelantan, Tringganu, and ultimately
Kedah were brought under the dominion of
Siam. But his dominion over this extended
region was short-lived. In 1782 a Siamese
official of distinction who had led the Siamese
army in Cambodia broke out in revolt. With
the force under his command, a formidable
one, he marched to Bangkok, dethroned and
killed the self-elected king, and proclaimed
him-elf ruler of Siam in his place. He-
reigned for twenty-seven years, and dying in
1809, was succeeded by his eldest son. In this
way was established the dynasty which at
present constitutes the royal house of Siam.

CHAPTER VIII

Siamese invasion of Kedah— Mr. J. Crawfttrd
conducts a mission to Siam — Cool reception
— Audience of the king — Failure of the
mission.

During the greater part of the eighteenth
century there was little regular foreign inter-
course with Siam. Occasionally a ship with
a more than ordinarily venturesome com-
mander would drop anchor in the river with
a view to trade, but, as a rule, the experiences
of the visitors were such as not to encourage a
repetition of the cruise. It was found that the
king's monopoly of trade, so far from having
relaxed with the lapse of years, had grown in
stringency. All imported goods had to be sub-
mitted for sale to royal agents, and they only

purchased them at their own price. Commer-
cial transactions outside these narrow limits
were treated as a form of treason, to be
punished with the last seventy of Oriental
despotism. In these circumstances the incen-
tive to closer communication between the
Western nations and Siam was slight, and
there was the less temptation to embark on any
adventure in that direction because the de-
velopment of the trade with India and China
at this period was making great headway.
But the East India Company never entirely
lost sight of the promise which Siam offered
of trade under settled conditions of govern-
ment. The course of events in that country
was carefully noted, and from time to time, in
the light of information forwarded by agents,
reports were drafted by experienced officials
bearing upon the prospects of commerce. The
advance of the Siamese into the Malay Penin-
sula, in the manner described in the previous
chapter, gave an added interest to the country
and brought to a prominence the question of
the desirability of the formulation of a regular
policy in dealing with it. Nothing, however,
was done of a practical kind, partly because
the Indian authorities had their hands full of
the task of resisting French encroachments,
and partly because the dangers to British influ-
ence of Siamese aggression in Malaya were only
dimly perceived at Calcutta. One of the first
to realise the significance of the Siamese action
against the Malay States was Francis Light,
the founder of Pinang. There is little doubt
that in acquiring that island this gifted ad-
ministrator had in his mind the barrier that
a British occupation of territory hereabouts
would interpose to the march of the restless
I nation in the north. While he gave the Sultan
of Kedah what can only be regarded as a
pledge of British support in the event of a
Siamese attack, he repeatedly urged upon the
Calcutta Government the desirability of actively
intervening to save the State from Siamese
occupation. "If they destroy the country of
Kedah," he wrote, "they deprive us of our
great supplies of provisions, and the English
will suffer disgrace in tamely suffering the
King of Kedah to be cut off. We shall then
be obliged to go to war in self-defence against
the Siamese and Malays. Should your lord-
ships resolve upon protecting Kedah, two com-
panies of sepoys with four six-pounder field
pieces and a supply of small arms and ammu-
nition will effectually defend this country
against the Siamese, who, though they are a
very destructive enemy, are by no means for-
midable in battle." The Indian Government
took a different view of their obligations to the
Sultan of Kedah to that held by Light, and
persistently refused to take any action to pre-
serve the independence of the State. For a
good many years the Calcutta authorities had
no particular reason to regret their decision,
but there came a day when the disadvantages
of non-intervention were brought very directly
home to them. In 182 1 the Siamese made a
sudden and unexpected descent upon Kedah.
Landing on the river bank, they attacked and
defeated the Sultan's forces, and then proceeded
to ruthlessly waste the country, in accordance
with the principles of Siamese warfare. The
Sultan of Kedah, the son of the chief who

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ceded Pinang to Light, Hed with difficulty to
Province Wellesley, and thence proceeded to
g^v^a^Jiiam, where he placed himself under British
' protection. A Siamese fleet was despatched
to Pinang to demand the surrender of the
fugitive, but it was quickly sent about its busi-
ness by the British authorities, who despatched
against it the gunboat Nautilus, with orders to
fire upon the Siamese prahus if they did not
quit the harbour. For some time the deposed
Sultan was a source of contention between the
Siamese and the British, and it was not until
he had been shipped off to Malacca that the
controversy dropped. Meanwhile the Siamese,
continuing their march southwards, penetrated
to Perak, which State they subdued. They
then prepared to attack Selangore, but met
with such a hot reception that they deemed it
advisable to beat a retreat, and they did not
stay their march until they arrived at the State
of Ligore, from whence the expedition had
started.

These events, so disturbing in their influence
on the British settlements in the Straits, and
so detrimental to trade, brought home to the
Indian Government the imperative necessity
of establishing diplomatic relations with Siam.
An attempt had been made some years before
to open up negotiations, but the Company's
envoy, Colonel Symes, had been treated with
marked discourtesy, and nothing had come of
his mission. This experience was not encour-
aging, and only the pressure of the newly-
created situation in the Straits, coupled with
the fear of the extension of Dutch influence,
led to a resumption of the efforts to negotiate.
The choice of a representative fell upon Mr. J.
Crawfurd, one of the most experienced of the
Company's officials in the Straits. Mr. Craw-
furd was a ripe Malay scholar and a man of

His personal qualities peculiarly recommended
him for a mission such as that to Siam. He
was gifted in a marked degree with tact, and
his manner was conciliatory and sympathetic,

of Siam at this period. Our territory in Pro-
vince Wellesley, opposite to' Pinang, was
crowded with thousands of refugees, who
fled thither to escape the awful horrors of a

FRONT OF THE MAIN BUILDING OF THE KING OF SIAM'S PALACE AS IT

EXISTED IN 1824.

(From Crawfurd's " Embassy to Siam.")

A SIAMESE OFFICIAL OF THE EARLY

NINETEENTH CENTURY.

(From "The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

no mean literary ability. He served under Sir
Stamford Raffles at a subsequent period at
Singapore, and when the great administrator
left he assumed charge of the new settlement.

though he could on occasion be firm enough.
Above all, he thoroughly understood Orientals.
The potentate to whom the mission was ac-
credited was a ruler with a somewhat striking
personality. He signalised his accession by
making a clean sweep of all whom he con-
sidered to be inimical to him. Within thirty-
six hours after his father's death no fewer than
117 personages of distinction had been exe-
cuted. It is only just, however, to his memory
to say that after this sanguinary act the king
ruled with moderation and judgment. One of
his acts entitles him to be regarded in the light
of a reformer. Taking note of the immense
number of talopins, or priests, who lived in
idleness throughout the country, he issued an
order that they should serve for a period as
soldiers. The edict created an immense sen-
sation, and led to the formation of a conspiracy
against the king amongst the priests. The
movement coming to light, the royal despot
caused seven hundred priests to be arrested,
but he dealt with them in mild fashion. The
greater number were liberated almost imme-
diately. In the few cases in which punish-
ment was meted out the prisoners were merely
stripped of their yellow robes and condemned
to cut grass for the sacred white elephants.
The king's rule was capricious, but not cruel
when judged by Oriental standards. But
nothing hardly could surpass in ruthlessness
the spirit which dominated the external policy

Siamese invasion. The section of the popu-
lation which did not thus escape was either
butchered in cold blood or sold into slavery.
The reception of the mission presaged ill
for the success of the negotiations. On
arrival at Paknam on March 26, 1822, " we
could not," says Mr. Finlayson, the surgeon
and naturalist of the mission, " fail to remark
that the different personages who had as
yet visited us were either of very low rank,
or of none at all." One of the king's
boats was sent down on March 27th to con-
vey Mr. Crawfurd to Bangkok. The next
day the John Adam, the ship which had
brought the mission to Siam, was allowed
to travel up the river. On the 29th the
governor-general's letter was delivered to a
person appointed by the Phra Klang to
receive it. On the 30th a habitation was
provided for the British envoy, a miserable
place, an outhouse with four small, ill-
ventilated rooms approached through a trap-
door from below, and on three sides almost
entirely excluded from fresh air. A Malay
of low rank was for some time the only
channel of intercourse. He came and
demanded the presents for the king. In
the urgency to obtain and the frequency of
the demands of the court for the gifts there
was " a degree of meanness and avidity at
once disgusting and disgraceful. For
several successive days there was no end to

D *

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

their importunities." The treatment of the
mission did not improve with the lapse of
time. Mr. Crawfurd and his colleagues
were kept under a rigid surveillance — were,
in fact, practically prisoners until the cere-
mony of introduction was over. This was
postponed from time to time in circum-
stances which seemed to indicate a desire to
humiliate the mission. At length, after more
than a week's delay, the reception took
place. Mr. Finlayson thus describes it : —

"In the evening a message was brought
by the Malay to say that the minister would
be glad to see Mr. Crawfurd. Accompanied
by Captain Dangerfield, he accordingly paid
him a visit. He received them in a large and
lofty hall, open on one side, spread with
carpets, and hung with glass lights and
Chinese lanterns. They took their seats on
carpets spread for the purpose and were
entertained with tea, fruit, and Chinese pre-
serves. It would appear that the conversation
was of a general nature and rather formal.
They were well pleased with the attention of. the
chief and spoke favourably of their reception.
He offered to make what alterations were
deemed necessary to fit the house for our con-
venience — an offer which he subsequently bore
little in remembrance. The servility which
the attendants of this man observed towards
him appears to have been quite disgusting and
altogether degrading to humanity. During
the whole of the visit they lay prostrate on
the earth before him, and at a distance.
When addressed they did not dare to cast
their eyes towards him, but, raising the head
a little, and touching the forehead with both

proached by the servants of his household was
even still more revolting to nature. When
n. freshments were ordered they crawled for-
ward on all-fours, supported on the elbows
and toes, the body being dragged on the

ceived by Prince Kromchiat. the eldest son of
the king. Accompanied by Lieut. Rutherford,
Mr. Crawfurd proceeded at eight o'clock in
the evening to the prince's palace. The
visitors were ushered into a large hall "deco-

A PRINCE OF THE EARLY NINETEENTH
CENTURY IN PULL DRESS.

(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

hands united in the manner by which we
should express the most earnest supplication,
their looks still directed to the ground, they
whispered an answer in the most humiliating
tone. The manner in which he was ap'

THE OLD PALACE AT BANGKOK AS IT WAS IN 1824.

(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

ground. In this manner they pushed the
dishes before them from time to time, in
the best manner that their constrained and
beast-like attitude would admit, until they had
put them into their place, when they retreated
backwards in the same grovelling manner, but
not turning round. How abominable, how
revolting this assumption of despotic power !
. . . Yet this haughty chief was himself but a
minister of the fifth order in importance,
doomed to take his turn of beast-like grovel-
ling, as was subsequently exhibited in visiting
Chromachit, son to the king. Every man
here is doomed to crawl on the earth before
his superiors."

Mr. Crawfurd himself in his narrative men-
tions a curious circumstance connected with
this complimentary feast at Paknam. While
they were enjoying the good things which
were provided for them their attention was
attracted by a curtain suspended across one
end of the apartment. Their curiosity being
aroused they sought information, and were
told that the hanging concealed the body of
the late chief of Paknam, who had died five
months previously and whose remains were
awaiting an auspicious day for burial. The
next day more particular inquiries were made
of the host relative to this gruesome experience,
and some of the members of the mission were
shown the corpse, which was " wrapped up in
a great many folds of cloth like an Egyptian
mummy, apparently quite dry, and covered
with such a profusion of aromatics that there
was nothing offensive about it."

A few days after the interview with the
governor of Paknam Mr. Crawfurd was re-

rated with European lustres of cut glass, with
European and Chinese mirrors, and with a
profusion of Chinese lanterns." They dis-
covered the prince, "a heavy and corpulent
figure about thirty-eight years of age but
having the appearance of fifty," sitting on a
mat in the upper part of the chamber. The
courtiers kept at a great distance, .crouching
to the very ground with their hands clasped
before them. " Mr. Crawfurd and his com-
panion seated themselves on a carpet which
was pointed out to them between the prince
and his courtiers. It had been provided that
the interpreters should be admitted, but when
these individuals appeared they were jostled by
the attendants and forced to withdraw. A
somewhat long conversation was nevertheless
carried on between the prince and the envoy.
After some inquiries had been made relative to
the Viceroy, the prince said, " I have heard
of his reputation for justice and wisdom from
the' merchants of all nations who have of late
years resorted to this country." Later, in
reference to another matter, the prince observed,
" When I speak of Europeans in general I
do not mean the English, for their superiority
over all other people, in this respect, is well
known." The audience lasted two hours, and
on arriving home after it the visitors found
eight large tubs of sweetmeats which had been
sent as a present to them by the prince.

Ultimately the 8th of April was appointed
by the king for an audience. The question
of the nature of the obeisance to be made to
his Majesty was settled with less difficulty than
had been anticipated. " It was finally deter-
mined that upon appearing in the presence we

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

should make a bow in the European fashion,
seat ourselves in the place usually assigned to
foreign missions, make an obeisance to his
Majesty when seated, by raising two joined
hands to the forehead, but above all things
take care not to exhibit our feet or any portion
of the lower part of the body to the sacred
view of his Siamese Majesty."

When the eventful day arrived the mission
proceeded to the palace, passing through long
lines of troops and officials to a great hall much
frequented by pigeons, swallows, and sparrows.
They were kept waiting for some twenty
minutes, and were then summoned to the
royal presence. Escorted by a number of
officers with white wands, they arrived at
the inner gate of the principal palace. Here
they had to divest themselves of their shoes.
This done, they entered the gateway, their
appearance being a signal for a deafening
discord from a large band placed hereabouts.
Facing them in the hall of audience the visitors
saw a large Chinese mirror, intended appa-
rently as a screen to conceal the interior of the
court. Advancing to this they were received
with a great flourish of wind instruments and
a discordant yell, which they subsequently dis-
covered hailed the advent of the king. Mr.
Crawfurd and the other members of the mission
stepped forward, took off their hats, and
bowed in the European manner. Meanwhile,
the courtiers prostrated themselves in Siamese
fashion, and in a twinkling the floor was so
thickly covered with the forms of mandarins
and attendants that it was difficult to move
without stepping on some one. The view
which was presented at the moment was more
singular than impressive. The hall of audience
was a well-proportioned and spacious apart-
ment about thirty feet high. The walls and
ceilings were painted a bright vermilion ; the
cornices of the walls were gilded and the ceil-
ing was thickly spangled with stars in very
rich gilding. A number of English lustres of
good quality were suspended from the ceiling,
but the effect they produced was marred by
the presence on the pillars supporting the
roof of some miserable oil lamps. The throne
was situated at the upper end of the hall. It
was richly gilded all over, was about fifteen
feet high, " and in shape and look very like a
handsome pulpit." In front of the throne,
and rising from the floor in sizes decreasing
as they ascended, were numbers of gilded
umbrellas. The king as he appeared seated
on the throne struck the mission as looking
more like a statue in a niche than a sentient
being. He was short and rather fat, and wore
a loose gown of gold tissue with very wide
sleeves. His head was devoid of a crown or
any other covering, but near him was a sceptre
or baton of gold. On the left of the throne
were exhibited the presents, which the envoy
firmly believed were represented as tribute
from the English Government. There was a
few minutes of profound silence, broken at
length by the king addressing Mr. Crawfurd.
He put a few insignificant questions, and con-
cluded with these words : " I am glad to see
here an envoy from the Governor-General of
India. Whatever you have to say communi-
cate to my chief minister. What we want
from you is a good supply of firearms — firearms

and good gunpowder." As soon as the last
words were uttered a loud stroke was heard,
as if given by a wand against a piece of
wainscoting. It was a signal apparently for
the closing of the ceremony, for immediately
curtains were lowered and completely con-
cealed the king and his throne from view. A
great flourish of wind instruments heralded the
disappearance of Majesty, and the courtiers,
to further emphasise the action, stretched their
faces along the ground six several times.
The members of the mission, in accordance
with their preconceived arrangement, con-
tented themselves with bowing. While the
audience was in progress a heavy shower of
rain fell, and the king graciously sent to each
of the strangers a small common umbrella as
a protection from the elements. But as a
counterpoise to this thoughtfulness they were
prohibited from putting on their boots, so that
they had to march through the miry court-
yards in their stockinged feet. An inspection
of the royal elephants, including the famous
sacred white animals, brought the palace
experiences to a close.

In the afternoon of the same day that the
members of the mission were received by the
king, they were waited on at their residence
by the chief minister. " This visit," says Mr.
Crawfurd in his account of the mission,
"afforded an opportunity of observing one
of the most singular and whimsical pre-
judices of the Siamese. This people have an
extreme horror of permitting anything to pass
over the head, or having the head touched, or,
in short, bringing themselves into any situation
in which their persons are liable to be brought
into a situation of physical inferiority to that
of others, such as going under a bridge, or
entering the lower apartment of a house when
the upper one is inhabited. For this sufficient
reason, their houses are all of one storey. The
dwelling which we occupied, however, had
been intended for a warehouse, and consisted,
as already mentioned, of two storeys, while
there was no access to the upper apartments
except by an awkward stair and trap-door
from the corresponding lower ones. This
occasioned a serious dilemma to the minister.
A man of his rank and condition, it was
gravely insisted upon, could not subject
himself to have strangers walk over his
head without suffering seriously in public
estimation.

"To get over this weighty objection, a ladder
was at last erected against the side of the
house, by which his Excellency, although
neither a light nor active figure suited for
such enterprises, safely effected his ascent
about three o'clock in the afternoon. The
native Christians of Portuguese descent had
prepared an abundant entertainment, after the
European manner, which was now served
up. The minister sat at table, but without
eating. His son and nephew, the youths
whom I have before mentioned, also sat down,
and partook heartily of the good things which
were placed before them. No Oriental an-
tipathies were discoverable in the selection of
the viands. Pork, beef, venison, and poultry
were served up in profusion, and there was
certainly nothing to indicate that we were in
a country where the destruction of animal life

is viewed with horror and punished as a
crime. The fact is, that id practice the
Siamese eat whatever animal food is presented
to them without scruple, and discreetly put no
questions, being quite satisfied, as they openly
avow, if the blood be not upon their heads."

Before taking leave of the visitors the
minister intimated to Mr. Crawfurd that in
accordance with Siamese custom the expenses
of the mission would from that day be dis-
bursed by the Government. The envoy sought
to explain that the members of the mission
were all servants of the Government of India,
and as they received adequate remuneration
stood in no need of the assistance offered. But
the minister resolutely declined to entertain
the idea that any one but his Majesty of Siam
could legitimately maintain the embassy on
Siamese soil, and placed on the table a small
sum in silver which was not adequate to keep
even the servants of the mission for forty-eight
hours. After this visit the visitors saw little of
the minister until one day, more than a fort-
night after the reception by the king, he
appeared in a state of great excitement. It
was surmised from his condition that he must
have some matter of great political importance
to impart, but when he had recovered his
breath sufficiently to speak, it was found that
his visit merely referred to some glass lamps
which had been offered to the king by a
person on board the John Adam and afterwards
clandestinely sold by him to some private
individual. His Majesty had set his heart on
these lamps and was greatly angered at the
notion that any one else should have dared to
purchase them. Impelled to vigorous action
by his threats of dire punishment for all if
the error was not rectified, the officials had
scattered in all directions in search of the

PRAH PUTTA LOTLAH, KING OF SIAM,
1809-24.

(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam. ')

missing lamps. Mr. Crawfurd told the minister
that he could not help him, and added that with
his countrymen it was the usual custom for
an article to go to the person who was prepared
to pay the best price for it. Two days after

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

this the members of the mission were aroused
from their slumbers by the cries of a wretched
individual who was being castigated in the
street below. On inquiry the next day they

A MANDARIN OF THE EARLY

NINETEENTH CENTURY IN ORDINARY

COSTUME.

(From "The Kingdom and People of 81am.")

the serious affairs of the mission were at a
practical standstill. When the king dis-
covered, as he speedily did, that the East India
Company were not prepared to embroil them-
selves with the King of Burma by supplying
him with arms and ammunition, he became
indifferent to the mission. Outwardly the
visitors were treated with courtesy, but the
surveillance maintained over them was never
relaxed. " Every day," says Mr. Crawfurd,
" brought to light some new occurrence cal-
culated to display the ceaseless jealousy and
suspicious character of the Siamese Govern-
ment. A Government so arbitrary and unjust
can place no reasonable reliance upon its own
subjects, and seems to be in perpetual dread
that they are to be incited to insurrection or
rebellion by the example of strangers. This is
unquestionably the true explanation of the
hectic alarm and distrust which it entertains of
all foreigners. One of the interpreters of the
mission reported to-day the circumstances of a
conversation which he held the day before
with one of the brothers of the Prah-klang, who
was much in the minister's confidence. This
person said, 'that the English were a dan-
gerous people to have any connection with,
for that they were not only the ablest but
the most ambitious of the European nations
who frequented the East.' The interpreter
answered, that it was impossible the English
could have any ambitious views on Siam ;
' for what,' he said, ' could they, who have so
much already, and are accustomed to con-
venient countries, do with such a one as yours,
in which there are neither roads nor bridges,

would not be long in their possession before
they made it such that you might sleep in the
streets and rice-fields.' It may he necessary to
mention that the person who made this com-

SIAMESE WOMAN OF THE EARLY
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
(From Crawford's "Embassy to Siam.")

ascertained that the victim was their Portu-
guese interpreter, who was thus punished
because he had omitted to report the sale of
the lamps. The chastisement failed to secure
a disclosure of the objects of the royal search,
because the poor man really knew nothing as
to their whereabouts. The king, however,
was not to be diverted from his purpose by
ordinary difficulties. The lamps he knew
were in the capital somewhere, and he meant
to have them. Dire were the threats held over
the heads of his ministers in the event of their
failure to accomplish his wishes. At length,
after Bangkok had been kept for two days in a
state of turmoil, the precious lamps were dis-
covered in the house of an old Siamese woman,
who with fear and trembling handed the
articles over to the royal officials with a pro-
test that all along she had intended them
as a present to his Majesty. Before the
echoes of this absorbing hunt had completely
died away, the members of the mission were
aroused one night by the arrival of a special
messenger from the king. The man brought
with him a great doll or puppet and conveyed
an earnest wish of his Majesty that the visitors
would give instructions for the dressing of the
figure so as to represent Napoleon Buonaparte.
Amongst the servants of the mission was a
dirzee, or Indian tailor, and the man was
promptly set to work to provide the desired
counterfeit. In the end, with the assistance of
four court tailors and two shoemakers, the
dirzee turned out a very fair presentment of
the Man of Destiny, greatly to the gratification
of the Lord of White Elephants. Meanwhile,

A SIAMESE MAN OF THE EARLY

NINETEENTH CENTURY.

(From Crawford's " Embassy to Siam.")

and where you are ankle-deep in mire at every
step ? ' The reply, according to the inter-
preter's report, was, ' Do not speak so ; these
people are clever and active, and the country

munication was by birth a Siamese, and by
disposition very talkative and communicative."
In the conferences which took place be-
tween the British envoy and the chief minister,
the main difficulty — an insuperable one as it
proved — was the royal right of pre-emption.
The minister resolutely declined to entertain
any scheme by which this would be abrogated
or even weakened. It had, he said, been a
royal prerogative from time immemorial, and
could not be surrendered or diminished. The
position thus taken up was fatal to the success
of the mission. What the East India Com-
pany sought was trade, and trade in the then
circumstances was hopeless. How the peculiar
Siamese commercial methods worked is ex-
plained by Mr. Crawfurd in his Journal, in
these words : " When a ship arrives the
officers of Government, under pretext of serv-
ing the king, select a large share of the most
vendible part of the goods and put their own
price upon them. No private merchant, under
penalty of heavy fine or severe corporal
punishment, is allowed to make an offer for
the goods until the officers of the court are all
satisfied. A large portion, and often the
whole, of the export cargo is supplied to the
foreign merchant on the same principle. The
officers of Government purchase the native
commodities at the lowest market rate and
sell them to the exporter at their own arbitrary
valuation. The resident Chinese alone, from
their numbers and influence, have got over
this difficulty, and of course are carrying on
a very large and remunerative commerce.
This pernicious and ruinous practice of pre-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

emption is the only real obstacle to European
trade in Siam, for the duties on merchandise
or on tonnage are not excessive, and the country
is fertile, abounding in productions suited for
foreign trade beyond any other with which I
am acquainted."

After remaining four months at Bangkok,
the mission quitted Siam. They left behind
them, anchored in the Menam, a British ship
which had come for purposes of trade. The
captain, thinking to propitiate the king, had
brought as a present .for his Majesty a white
horse. The animal, which appears to have
been something of a screw, did not meet with
the royal approbation, and was returned to
the captain without thanks. The old tar, not
caring to have his decks encumbered with a
useless animal, had the beast destroyed and
caused the carcase to be thrown into the river.
The offence of killing a horse, and especially
a white horse, was a heinous one, and the fact
was soon brought home to the unfortunate
captain. A body of mandarins and soldiers
boarded his ship, seized him, and subjected
him to a severe bambooing, with other ill-
treatment. Such an episode in modern times
would have been productive of very unplea-
sant consequences for the Siamese Govern-
ment ; but the doctrine of Civis Romanus sum
was then only struggling for recognition as a
principle of British policy, and the outrage
remained unavenged, just as the graver mas-
sacre of Mergui, of the previous century, was
left without punishment.

CHAPTER IX

Accession of a new king — Conclusion of the
treaty of Bangkok — The United States mis-
sion to Siam in 1833 — Sir James Brooke
conducts an abortive mission to Siam in 1850
— Unsuccessful American mission — Sir John
Bowring goes as British envoy to Siam in
1855 — He concludes a treaty.

A new king, Somdetch Pra Nang KIow,
ascended the throne in 1824. He had a quiet,
peaceful, and prosperous reign of twenty-seven
years. As a sovereign he was respected and
feared, and governed his kingdom successfully
and well according to Siamese lights. But
he maintained towards foreigners an attitude
of rigid aloofness. " Apparently he did not
know them, but in reality he knew all about
them. His eye was on them. They were
simply suffered to live in the kingdom if they
could do so with all the obstacles the then
Government placed in their way. In those
days no permission could be obtained from
the Government for a native to sell land to
foreigners or for foreigners to purchase land
or to travel. If land was rented to them it
was by great men at large sums, but ap-
parently on their own personal responsibility.
If foreigners travelled they did so without
permission or pass, on their individual respon-
sibility, liable to be called to account by any
petty officer who might wish to annoy them." *
1 " Siamese Keposilory."

In assuming this attitude the king only
reflected the opinions of the bulk of his sub-
jects. A genuine alarm had been excited by
the conquests of the East India Company.
As one after another of the Indian States
succumbed to the apparently irresistible
power of the Company's legions, the fear
grew up that the turn of Siam was coming,
and the determination was formed to have as
little to do with the too intrusive foreigners as
was possible. From the Siamese standpoint
there was unquestionable merit in this policy.
The best way to avert an evil is to keep it at
arm's length, and in the light of the history of
the past a connection with a European Power

Raffles put the matter very clearly in a com-
munication he addressed to the Government
of India when he relinquished the adminis-
tration of Singapore. " The conduct and
character of the court of Siam," he wrote,
" offer no opening for friendly negotiations on
the footing on which European States would
treat with each other, and require that in our
future communications we should rather dic-
tate what we consider to be just and right
than sue for their granting it as an indul-
gence." Raffles concluded by suggesting that
the blockade of the Menam river, which could
easily be effected by the cruisers from Singa-
pore, would always bring the Siamese to

( tin- (Lottm of >)>

( baxcPkok.)

S.W.- of Miln

BANGKOK IN 1824.

(From Crawfurd's " Embassy to Siam.")

was a distinct menace to the independence of
a country. So Siam held on its course, living
its own life regardless of the blandishments
held out to it to enter a wider sphere of trade
and politics.

The failure of the Crawfurd mission was
not unexpected by those who understood the
Siamese character. What was demanded at
that period was not a suppliant attitude, but a
bold forward policy, calculated to convince
the authorities at Bangkok that their aggres-
sion in the Malay States, with all that it im-
plied in wasted territory and a decimated
population, could not be tolerated with due
regard to British interests in that quarter.

terms as far as concerned the Malay States.
The Government of India of the time, fearing
a Siamese-Burmese combination, was not dis-
posed to strong courses, and, ignoring the
advice tendered it, through the medium of
Captain Burney it concluded at Bangkok, on
June 20, 1826, a treaty with the Siamese
Government recognising the conquest of
Kedah and compromising other disputed
points. The treaty provided for unrestricted
trade between the contracting parties "in the
English countries of Prince of Wales Island,
Malacca, and Singapore, and the Siamese
countries of Ligore, Merdilons, Singara, Pa-
tani, Junk Ceylon, Quedah, and other Siamese

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

provinces" ; and that the Siamese should not
" obstruct or interrupt commerce in the States
of Tringanu and Calantan," and that Kedah
should remain in Siamese occupation.

In many particulars the treaty of Bangkok

slaughter of a useless horse, it is obvious that
considerable danger to the life and liberty of
Englishmen lurked under this proviso. In
course of time, as trade between Siam and
other countries increased, the features of the

PALACE CONTAINING THE ASHES OF FORMER KINGS OF SIAM AS IT

EXISTED IN 1824.

(From "The Kingdom and People of Siam."

was unsatisfactory, if it was not positively
detrimental to British interests. While much
was conceded in the recognition of the con-
quest of Kedah, British trade was hampered in
various ways. There were, for example, restric-
tions upon the residence of British traders in
Siam, combined with an extremely objection-
able clause which enacted that " the English
subjects who visit a Siamese country must
conduct themselves according to the laws of
the Siamese country in every particular."

As the Siamese laws, as we have seen,
sanctioned the savage ill-treatment of a British
subject for no greater offence than the

treaty to which exception was taken were
ignored, because the Siamese, on their part,
repeatedly infringed the provisions of the
arrangement. The necessity of a regularisa-
tion of trade was, however, continually felt,
and the British Government kept steadily in
view the desirability of concluding a more
acceptable compact with the Bangkok autho-
rities. Meanwhile, the United States Govern-
ment endeavoured on its own account to
enter into diplomatic relations with Siam.
In 1833 Mr. Edmund Roberts was despatched
by the Washington authorities to Bangkok
with instructions to conduct negotiations for

a commercial treaty. Mr. Roberts was inde-
fatigable in his endeavours to secure privileges
for his countrymen, but the Siamese Govern-
ment resolutely declined to make any greater
concessions than had been granted to Great
Britain, and he had to be content with a
colourless treaty conferring some worthless
privileges upon American traders. A par-
ticular request made by Mr. Roberts for liberty
for a United States consul to reside in Siam
was refused on the ground that a similar appli-
cation put forward by the British Government
had not been entertained. In point of fact,
both the treaty of Bangkok and its American
prototype were practically useless. The
American ship Sachem was the only vessel
that attempted to trade under the United
States treaty, and her experiences were so
discouraging that she did not pay a second
visit to Siam. On the British part the trade
was confined to three or four ships which
made annual voyages to Siam, carrying on the
outward trip cowries, piece goods, and dates
from Bombay, and taking back with them
cargoes of sugar. The meagre character of
the trade is revealed by the fact that in 1833
there was only one British merchant (Mr. R.
Hunter) in the entire country.

For some years the British Government was
content to allow Siam to remain in the con-
dition of isolation which she deliberately
selected for herself. In 1850, however, a
fresh attempt was made to break down the
barriers of reserve. The man. selected for
the difficult task of leading this new attack
was Sir James Brooke, the brilliant adminis-
trator known to history as the first English
Raja of Sarawak. He entered upon his
duties with a high opinion of the commer-
cial value of Siam. Writing to a friend just
before his departure from Singapore for
Bangkok, he described the area as " a noble
country, second only to China," and he dwelt
upon the importance of opening it up to
English capital and commerce. But he was
under no delusions as to the character of the
task which was before him. " A treaty extorted
by fear (for no other way could we get one)
would be but a bit of wasted parchment, unless
enforced, and if enforced it must be by arms
alone, for as to persuasion it is thrown away
with this people. Patience and time are,
therefore, requisite, and unless they be mad
enough to fire upon us, you may rest assured
I shall not involve even the remotest chance of
hostilities. It is a clumsy style of diplomacy,
and with time, perfect sincerity, good inten-
tion, and scrupulous attention to the rights
of Siam, must have weight ; and this is high
diplomacy." In another part of the communi-
cation the writer said : " The king is old and
an usurper ; he has two legitimate brothers,
clever and enlightened men, who ought to be
raised to the throne, and the least help on the
reigning sovereign's decease will place one
of them on it." In a subsequent letter Raja
Brooke said that the Government was as
arrogant as that of China, and that the king
by report was inimical to Europeans. " The
difficulty," he said, "is rendered greater by
twenty-seven years of non-intercourse, which
has served to encourage the Siamese in their
self-conceit, and which has lowered us in their

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

opinion. ... I consider that time should be
given to the work of conciliation, and that
their prejudices should be gradually under-
mined rather than violently upset, and that as
we have delayed for thirty years doing any-
thing, that in the course of this policy we may
wait till the demise of the king brings about a
new order of things. Above all, it would be
well to prepare for the change, and to place
our own king on the throne, and the king of
our choice is fortunately the legitimate
sovereign, whose crown was usurped by his
elder illegitimate brother. This Prince Chow-
fa-Mungkuk is now a priest, and a highly
accomplished gentleman for a semi-bar-
barian. He reads and writes English — the
latter in a way you may judge of — is instructed
in our astronomy, and has a very high opinion
of our arts, learning, and government. This
prince we ought to place on the throne, and
through him we might, beyond doubt, gain all
we desire."

Sir James Brooke arrived off the Menam
on August 9, 1850, on board H M.S. Sphinx,
which was accompanied by the East India
Company's steamer Nemesis. On reaching
Paknam on the 16th of August Sir James
Brooke was received by the Phra Klang, and
on the 22nd the mission proceeded in
numerous barges to Bangkok. The envoy
was somewhat disquieted to find evidences of
hostile preparations for his reception in a boom
across the river at its mouth, and numerous
well-garrisoned forts on both banks of the
stream. When he reached Bangkok he was
subjected to a course of treatment which,
though not directly unfriendly, was such as
to leave no doubt in his mind as to the
hopelessness of his mission. All his attempts
to conclude a satisfactory treaty proving un-
availing, he finally broke off his communi-
cations with the Siamese Government on
September 28, 1850, and left the country.
The Nemesis, with the British envoy on board,
had not got clear of the Menam before a
United States war-ship arrived, bringing Mr.
Ballestier, as commissioner from the United
States Government, to represent the grievances
of which American citizens had to complain,
and to attempt to secure a more favourable
treaty. Mr. Ballestier had been engaged in
business at Singapore, and not very success-
fully, and his selection to discharge a delicate
diplomatic mission was not a happy one. He
had not been long in Siam before the authori-
ties gave clear evidence that they did not
regard his mission with a very friendly eye.
As the vessel in which he made the voyage —
the Plymouth — was too large to get up the
river, he of necessity had to proceed to
Bangkok in a small boat. Owing to the
restrictions imposed by the Siamese Govern-
ment he was compelled to make the journey
unaccompanied by any escort. The Siamese
authorities sought to excuse themselves for
their lack of courtesy in insisting upon this
undignified progress by urging that the pre-
sence of cholera in the capital rendered it
undesirable that the men of the Plymouth
should be allowed to land. There had been
in the previous year a terrible visitation of
the disease, which had carried off many
thousands of the inhabitants of Bangkok,

but in the light of subsequent events it
may be doubted whether this tender solici-
tude for the welfare of the visitors was
entirely sincere. From the first Mr. Ballestier
was subjected to a system of obstruction which
made it impossible for him to carry out the
objects of his mission. At last, "humiliated.

to this choice of a man of high standing, well
known by reputation to the Siamese Govern-
ment, the subsequent success of the mission was
due. Sir John Bowting from first to last was
treated with all respect and consideration, and
after a pleasant sojourn at Bangkok, during
which he made a close study of Siamese

SIR JOHN BOWRING.

(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

irritated, and completely outgeneralled," to
adopt the phrase of a Bangkok chronicler, he
left Bangkok in disgust, without having had an
opportunity of securing an audience with the
king. Subsequently, as if to add insult to
injury, the Siamese Government sent a very
damaging letter to the United States Govern-
ment reflecting on Mr. Ballestier's diplomatic
capacity.

In 1855 the British Government determined
to make yet another effort to conclude a satis-
factory treaty with Siam. The Government at
home selected as the head of the mission Sir
John Bowring, an able official and publicist,
who, besides possessing a brilliant record as a
writer and controversialist, held at the period
of his appointment as envoy the important
position of Governor of Hongkong. No doubt

customs and institutions, he took away with
him a treaty which placed the relations of
Siam and Great Britain on a footing of mutual
regard and friendship and paved the way for
an era of prosperous trade and steady develop-
ment on modern lines.

Sir John Bowring was received on arrival at
Bangkok with all ceremony due to his rank.
In his Diary, published in "The Kingdom and
People of Siam," the British ambassador gives
from day to day some interesting impressions
of his visit. A few extracts may appropriately
be given, as they show very clearly the course
of the negotiations : —

"April \st. — Discussions have taken place
as to the mode of reception, and Parkes very
properly insists that the same ceremonial
shall take place as when the ambassador of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

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LETTER FROM THE KING OF SIAM TO SIR JOHN BOWRING.
(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

Louis XIV. arrived. They said they had no
records, but wished to receive me as the
envoys of Cochin China, Birmah, and other
Asiatic sovereigns have been received. I did
not deem this satisfactory, and therefore have
written to the Phra Kalahom representing that
my position is more elevated and that greater
respect should be shown to my credentials, and
I have sent a copy of my powers to the Phra
Kalahom. I find he is one of forty-five brothers
and that his father was the prime minister of
the late King, and is still an influential person,
having the title of Senior Somdetch. It would
seem this is the most potent family in the State,
and are the principal persons to be conciliated.
The grand difficulties will obviously be to deal

with the monopolies which have destroyed the
trade and to enable our merchants to buy and
sell without let or hindrance. At two o'clock a
messenger from the King with sundry presents
— cakes of many sorts prepared for the Royal
table, cigars, fruits of various kinds — all brought
on silver salvers. The letters of the King are
always conveyed in a golden cup, highly orna-
mented — sometimes, when borne by a prince
or great dignitary, having jewels in addition to
the embossing. He sent also some phalkets, a
fruit of the size of a gooseberry, gathered in the
jungles, but not cultivated in gardens. The
bel, so salutary in cases of dysentery, was
among the fruits sent. I hope these courtesies
are not to be mere formalities introductory to

nothing, and feel the greatest anxiety with
reference to the future. I pray the interests of
my country may not suffer in my hands. We
got safely over the bar at a quarter past four,
and before sunset anchored at Paknarn, where
Mr. Hunter came on board and told us we
were to be visited by Phra Chau Pin Mong
Kei Sriwong, the governor of the district and
brother of the prime minister. We announced
our arrival by a salute of tWenty-one guns, and
the same number returned the salute. Soon
after, the Sriwong arrived, rather a gentle-
manly man, who told us he had twenty
brothers and ten sisters living, and that twenty
were dead.

" April yd. — At half-past seven several boats,
highly ornamented and rowed each by thirty-
four rowers, came to the Ratller. I landed
with my suite and Captains Keaneand Mellersh,
with many other officers, under a royal salute
of twenty-one guns to the Siamese Hag. We
were met at the wharf by a General, dressed in
an old English court-dress ; and a body of
troops, with a strange band of music, was
drawn up. Thousands of persons were pre-
sent, all in a prostrate state ; and a park of
artillery, exceedingly well served, returned the
salute of twenty-one guns. The prime minister,
Phra Kalahom, was on the highest stage of the
reception-room — a large erection of bamboos
specially raised for the purpose. There was a
chair, on which he took his seat, placed on a
gold richly ornamented rug. My chair was
placed opposite to him. I explained to him
my objects in visiting the country and that
they were of an amicable and honourable
character. There were spread on a table a
great quantity of viands, which were after-
wards sent to the ship. Cigars were intro-
duced and many inquiries made as to the
names and conditions of the gentlemen pre-
sent. Both when we landed and when we
departed arms were presented by the troops
through whose lines we passed. Never was
such music — fifes, drums, and a fiddle, played
by the most grotesque-looking figures imagin-
able. The Phra Kalahom was dressed in a
long golden jacket, with a belt of flexible gold
highly ornamented with diamonds. Many em-
bossed golden articles were about, such as
betel-nut cases, cigar-boxes, spittoons, &c. At
twelve o'clock eight state boats, with six
accompanying boats, came to escort us to
Bangkok. Mine was magnificent ; it had the
gilded and emblazoned image of an idol at its
prow, with two flags like vanes grandly orna-
mented. Near the stern was a raised carpeted
divan with scarlet and gold curtains. The
boat was also richly gilded and had a tail like
a fish. Many of the boats were painted to
resemble fishes, with eyes in the stern, and had
long tails. The captain stood at the head, but
the boat was steered by two persons with oars,
who continually excited the rowers to exert
themselves and called up the spirit of the most
active competition. The shouts were some-
times deafening as boat after boat responded
to the appeal. In most particulars the proces-
sion resembled that of the French ambassador,
La Loubere, from Louis XIV., and the pictorial
representations given by him are very accurate.
One of the songs sung had for its burden
'Row, row, I smell the rice'— meaning the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

(51

meal at the end of the journey. They often
dipped their drinking-vessels into the river and
partook of the brackish waters. The boats had
from twenty to forty rowers, all clad in scarlet
faced with green and white, with a curious
helmet-like cape having two tails pendent over
the shoulders. We estimated that five hundred
men must have been engaged. They serve in
vassalage four months in the year, and are
freed from servitude during the remaining
eight.

"April 4. — The King's boat arrived at a quarter
before eight p.m. to convey me to the palace ;
and on landing at the wooden pier on the other
side of the river, I was conveyed by eight
bearers in an ornamented chair to the first
station. It was a semi-official reception. The
troops were drawn out in several parts of the
palace. We were escorted by hundreds of
torch-bearers through a considerable extent of
passages and open grounds, passing through
gates, at each of which was a body of guards,
who ' presented arms ' in European fashion.
When we reached one of the outer buildings
near the palace walls, a brother of the Phra
Kalahom met us, and we were desired to wait
the pleasure of the King. Two golden ewers
containing pure water were brought in, and a
note from his Majesty desiring I would leave
my companions, H. S. P. and J. C. R., until they
were sent for ; I was to come on alone. The
Major-General marched before me, and told
me that within the palace about a thousand
persons resided, but that in the ladies' part
there were no less than three thousand women.
The abject state of every individual exceeds
belief. While before the nobles, all subordinates
are in a state of reverent prostration ; the
nobles themselves, in the presence of the
Sovereign, exhibit the same crawling obeisance.
After waiting about a quarter of an hour a
messenger came, bearing a letter for me, and a
pass, in the King's hand, allowing me pass the
guards ; and I was informed that without such
credentials no individual could approach. It
was beautifully moonlight, and in an open
space, on a highly ornamented throne, sat his
Majesty, clad in a crimson dress, and wearing
a head-dress resplendent with diamonds and
other precious stones, a gold girdle, and a
short dagger splendidly embossed and enriched
with jewels. His reception of me was very
gracious, and I sat opposite his Majesty, only a
table being between us. The King said ours
was an ancient friend, and I was most welcome.
His Majesty offered me cigars with his own
hand, and liqueurs, tea, and sweetmeats were
brought in. An amicable conversation took
place, which lasted some time ; after which
Mr. Parkes and Mr. Bowring were sent for,
and seated in chairs opposite the King. He
asked them questions about their own history
and position. The observations of the King
which I remember were to the effect that the
discussion of a treaty would be left to four
nobles — the two Somdetchs (the father and
uncle of the prime minister, but related to the
Royal family by mother's blood), the Phra
Kalahom, the Phra Klang ; and I urged on the
King that my public reception might take place
without delay, so that those gentlemen might
be officially authorised to act, or otherwise
begged to be allowed to discuss matters with

PAGODA OP SOMDETCH CHAO PHAJA.
(From " The Kingdom and People of Siam.")

them connected with the treaty. The King
said so many arrangements had to be made
that the public reception could not take place
till Monday ; but that in the meantime I might
discuss the conditions of the treaty with the
Phra Klang, and give him my views in writing.
I said it would be better that written documents
should follow than precede discussion, as I
should be more embarrassed in proposing
matters probably not attainable, and the
ministers would feel compromised by rejecting
formal propositions of mine. The King agreed
to this. I went over the proceedings of the
various negotiations which had taken place.
Mr. Crawfurd's, he said, was from the East India
Company, and that Mr. Crawfurd's position, as
an envoy from the Governor-General of India,
was different from mine, as sent by the
Sovereign of England ; that Captain Burney's
mission grew principally out of local questions
between the Siamese and their neighbours ;
and that when Sir James Brooke came, the late
King was sick, and not willing to attend to such
matters. The point which the King pressed
was the effect the treaty would have upon the
Cochin Chinese, who would represent them as
making humiliating concessions to foreigners,
which the Cochin Chinese would never do. I
said I would go to Cochin China whenever I
could settle affairs in China itself ; it was a
small and unimportant country, with little trade ;
and that though I respected his Majesty's
susceptibilities with reference to a neighbour-
ing State, he could be only strengthened by a
treaty with England which led to the develop-
ment of the resources of Siam.

" His Majesty said that, after the treaty was
made, he would send an ambassador to Eng-
land, and hoped he would be kindly received
by the Queen and the Court. He asked me
whether it would be better to send him round
the Cape in one of his own ships, or by the
overland route. I said that the overland route

was shorter, and would allow the ambassador
to see many foreign countries on his way. I
inquired whether he would call at Calcutta, and
the King said that should be considered after-
wards. I assured the King that all respect and
kindness would be shown him, and that the
various elements of the power and civilisation
of England would be accessible to him."

The first favourable impressions produced
by the reception given to the mission were
strengthened as time wore on. " Nothing,"
says Sir John Bowring in his record of the
mission, "could be more just to Siamese inte-
rests, nothing more creditable to the sagacity
and honourable intentions of the two Kings,
than was the character of the Commission
appointed to discuss with me the great subjects
connected with my mission ; for it was clear
that my success involved a total revolution in
all the financial machinery of the Government
— that it must bring about a total change in the
whole system of taxation, that it took a large
proportion of the existing sources of revenue,
that it uprooted a great number of privileges
and monopolies which had not only been long
established, but which were held by the most
influential nobles and the highest functionaries
in the State. The Commission was composed
of the Somdetch om Fai, the first regent, and
his brother, the Somdetch om Noi, the second
regent of the kingdom. These occupy the
highest official rank. The second Somdetch
is the receiver-general of the revenues, and
was notoriously interested in the existing sys-
tem, by which production, commerce, and
shipping were placed at the mercy of the
farmers of the various revenues, who paid the
price of their many and vexatious monopolies
either to the Royal treasury or to the high
officials through whom those monopolies were
granted. The two Somdetchs had been long
the dominant rulers in Siam. Their names will
be found in all the commissions and councils

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

by which have been thwarted the attempts
made by various envoys from Great Britain
and the United States to place the commercial
relations of Siam with foreign countries on a
satisfactory basis. It was they who defeated
Mr. Crawfurd's mission, 1822, and Sir James
Brooke's negotiations in 1851., They were
also, I believe, the main cause of the short-
comings and concessions found in Captain
Burney's Treaty. Mr. Roberts' Treaty with
the United States had become practically a
dead-letter, and it contained, in truth, no pro-
visions to secure foreigners from molestation ;
while the arrangements for commercial pur-
poses are of the most crude and imperfect
character. This, perhaps, may also be attri-

nated the acting prime minister (the Phra
Kalahom) and the acting minister for foreign
affairs (the Phra Klang). These gentle-
men are the sons and nephews of the Som-
detchs, and had been hitherto associated
with their repulsive policy. But whether a
conviction that the true interests of the
country demanded a radical change in its
fiscal and commercial system ; whether from
a conviction that this system had already
caused much discontent, and was in itself
fraught with many dangers ; whether from a
persuasion that the continued rejection of the
friendly advances of the great maritime powers
was not a safe or prudent policy ; whether
apprehensions of the power of Great Britain

balance of an emancipating and a liberal
policy, and I have reason to believe he had
no sinister interest likely to prejudice or
mislead.

"Among many other courtesies, the King
desired I would choose two elephants of any
age or size I should prefer, and offered me also
two ponies from the Royal stables ; but as I
had no means of conveying them from Bang-
kok, I was obliged gratefully to decline these
marks of his favour. I willingly accepted from
him a bunch of hairs from the tails of white
elephants which had been the cherished pos-
session of his ancestors, and I had the honour
of offering two of. these hairs for the gracious
acceptance of the Queen. I may also mention

A ROYAL WHITE ELEPHANT.

buted to the same influence which nullified
the exertions of British ministers. Mr. Balles-
tier's attempt in 1850 to place the relations
between Siam and the United States on im-
proved foundations was an utter failure, and
was associated with many circumstances of
personal annoyance and humiliation. I have
reason to know that both the British and
American envoys pressed upon their respec-
tive Governments their urgent opinions that it
was quite idle to pursue farther any negotia-
tions in a conciliatory or pacific spirit, but that
energetic warlike demonstrations and the em-
ployment of force were absolutely needful to
bring the Siamese to reason, and ought un-
doubtedly to be employed.
" Besides the Somdetchs, the Kings noini-

brought nearer and nearer to Siamese territory
by our continual advances in Birmah ; whether
purposes of ambition and a determination to
win a deserved popularity — whether these
considerations, or any of them, influenced the
two younger members, I know not ; but it is
certain that their influence, their energy, and,
above all, the indomitable perseverance of the
prime minister, brought our negotiations to a
happy issue.

"The King nominated his brother, the Prince
Krom Hluang Wongsa, to the presidency of
the Commission ; and he could not have made
a wiser choice, for the prince has had much
intercourse with foreigners, among whom, as
with the Siamese, he is extremely popular.
His influence was undoubtedly Hung into the

that, not having a Siamese flag to hoist accord-
ing to established usages, I mentioned to the
King that I was desirous of possessing one, in
order that due honour might be shown to the
national insignia. A flag was sent on the 1st
of April, which the King desired me to retain."
The treaty concluded by Sir John Bowling
was of far-reaching importance. One of its
leading provisions conceded the principle of
extra-territoriality, insistence on which was so
essential at that period for the due protection
of British traders. There were other notable
arrangements designed to remove the barriers
which had hitherto obstructed trade. The
right of royal pre-emption, to which the
Siamese authorities had so obstinately adhered
in the negotiations with Mr. Crawfurd, was.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

abandoned, and in its place regulations were
established more in harmony with the spirit of
that freedom of trade which was making its
vivifying influence felt in the principal trading
centres of the Far East. While British com-
mercial enterprise, and, indeed, that of all
Western trading nations, gained enormously
by the change, the Siamese Government had
no reason to regret the action taken. The new
conditions brought an accession of wealth to
the country, and infused into the organisation
of its life a healthy spirit, which in due time
was to bring Siam into the very forefront of
progressive Eastern nations.

CHAPTER X

A new reign — An enlightened king — The second
king — Employment of European officials —
Mission to England — The king's curious
offer to the United States — Accession of the
present king.

The death of the old king in 1851 created a
crisis in Siamese affairs which, but for the
wisdom shown by the chief officers of state,
might have resulted disastrously for the in-
terests of the country. At that time there
were two legitimate lines of succession, each
with its supporters. On the one side were the
king's two brothers — Chow Fa Yai and Chow
Fa Noi ; on the other were a number of sons,
any one of whom might have occupied the
throne. With a perspicacity which did them
credit, two powerful noblemen took the lead in
advancing the claims of the former, and they
completely succeeded by their prompt and
bold measures in securing for the brothers
a whole-hearted acceptance at the hands of
the people. Chow Fa Yai, the elder, was
chosen for the supreme position, and Chow
Fa Noi became " second king " — a position
which gave title without power — the form of
royalty without the substance. Both were
remarkable men. The king — Phrabaht Som-
detch Paramindr Maha Mongkut — to give him
his full regal name, was, says a writer who
knew him well, " a man of extraordinary
genius and acquirements, a theologian and
founder of a new school of Buddhist thought.
At one time in the priesthood, he was eminent
amongst the monks for his knowledge of
Buddhist scriptures, and boldly preached
against the canonicity of those whose teach-
ings were opposed to his reason and his know-
ledge of modern science. His powers as a
linguist were considerable, and enabled him
to use an English library with facility. His
majesty was well versed in mathematics and
astronomy."

The second king was in some respects even
more enlightened and gifted than his brother.
" He was noted for his love of whatever was
European, .and gave himself up to the study of
the arts as practised by the nations of the
West. His watchword was progress. He
purposed to know what gave to the people
of the West their success, their power and
their influence. His ear was open and his
mind awake to all that commanded attention in

the arts. ... He studied navigation and the art
of shipbuilding very early, even before there
were resident Protestant missionaries in Siam.
Captain Coffin, who took away those twins
that have been the wonder of the world, was
one of his first teachers. . . . He did not first
direct his architectural skill to shipbuilding.
His first essays at practical mechanism were

to the no little wonder of the uninitiated. The
prince also had the honour of" introducing the
first turning lathe and setting up a machine
shop. When the Siamese had war with Cochin
China, during the reign of Pra Nano Klow,
Chow Fa Noi was made head of the Siamese
Navy, and went by sea to aid in the war. This
brought out his military character. Ever after-

SPIRE OF THE TEMPLE CALLED WATA-NAGA.
(From Crawfurd's " Embassy to Siam.")

made at repairing watches. The first vessel
after a European model made in Siam was
built by no less a personage than the present
Prime Minister. . . . The second King, while
yet only a prince, built several sailing vessels
from European models. . . . He fitted up the
first steam engine in Siam. It was placed in a
small boat, and plied up and down the Menam,

ward he showed pride in the military depart-
ment. None had so fine an arsenal. None
surpassed him in the drill maintained among
the soldiery. The naval adventure also gave
him an opportunity to perfect his knowledge
of navigation. He delighted in practical as-
tronomy in all its bearings upon this depart-
ment. ... He was affable and gentlemanly in

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

all his intercourse with foreigners. His palace
was the admiration of all who visited it. It
was built after a European model, furnished
after European manner, and with European
furniture. And his receptions were above
invidious criticism. All was order and de-
spatch, with a degree of good taste that was
quite wonderful in a man who had never been
beyond his own little kingdom." *

An almost immediate result of this king's
accession was a great widening of the avenues
of Government employment for Europeans.
Indeed, the modern European official hier-
archy may be said to date its birth from this
period. Under the rule of Somdetch Pra Nang
Klow about the only persons of Western origin
employed were persons with nautical know-
ledge, whose services were indispensable in
the navigation of the square-rigged vessels
which during the reign came into vogue. The
new king had none of the prejudices of his
predecessors against the foreigner. He wel-
comed Europeans to his capital as a necessary
element in the new system under which trade
was no longer the special province of the
king, but was open to all who desired to
enter into it. Many strangers, recruited from
most of the nations of continental Europe,
flocked to Bangkok. A few of them secured
Government employment. The number would
have been greater, but for the miserably inade-
quate pay which the authorities offered. The
usual rate was 48 dollars per month. "A
greater sum than this was rarely, if ever, given,
no matter what the European's ability, and the
Siamese then thought this an exorbitant sum,
and, compared with the pay of the great
nobles, it was so." In the early days of the
reign Captain Impey and Mr. T. G. Knox
proceeded from India to Siam, and for a
season found official employment. The former,
after a brief stay, returned to India. Mr. Knox
drifted into the service of the second king,
whose troops he trained. Subsequently he
became Interpreter at the British Consulate,
and finally Consul-General. M. Lamache, a
Frenchman, was another of the earlier Euro-
pean officials; and there were also several
Americans, notably a Mr. Gardener, who was
put in charge of the king's printing office. The
wives of the American missionaries had also a
sort of official connection by their being en-
gaged as teachers of the royal children. Their
services were dispensed with after a period,
and Mrs. Leonowens, the talented writer pre-
viously referred to, was engaged to perform
the duties which they had discharged.

Soon after the conclusion of the treaty of
1855 the question of sending a return mission
to England was debated. Eventually, in August,
1857, an embassy of which Praya Montri Suri-
wongse was the head left Bangkok for Eng-
land. A curious account of their experiences
was afterwards published by the interpreter of
the mission. On arrival in London the visitors
were received in private audience by the
Queen, but as her Majesty was in delicate
health the public audience was postponed for
a few days. At length the great day for the re-
ception of the mission arrived. Having arrayed
themselves in their finest robes, the members
of the mission proceeded in royal carriages to
1 "Siam Repository," 1869.

Windsor Castle. " The streets were crowded
as we approached our destination," says the
interpreter, "and the waiting crowds lifted
their hats and welcomed us with a ringing
hurra. Then they spoke of us to each other,
pointing out the ambassador and his associates
one by one. I looked upon the beautiful ladies,
most elegantly dressed, and yet I must turn
away : the young will despise me, I said ; I
am already old. I fear the elder have hus-
bands and so are lost to me."

" When we reached the Castle some three
hundred of the Queen's guard, fully equipped,
arranged themselves on the right and left,
leaving an open way for us to pass into the
palace. At the same time the Queen's band
struck up their notes of welcome. The guard
was a company of magnificent men, looking as
though no terror could ever make them quail.
So the Siamese were Ushered into royal halls.
It was Windsor Castle.

"We waited in an ante-room till one o'clock,
when the music of the band announced that
the time had arrived to appear before her
Britannic Majesty in state and present the
letters from their Majesties the First and
Second Kings of Siam. The general led the
way, the guard stood on the right and left,
armed with battle-axes and spears, while we
advanced in the opening made for us, on
rich carpets.

" When we had reached the third hall (it
was the room of the royal presence!, Queen
Victoria and Prince Consort were at the head
of the room awaiting us. We prostrated our-
selves and bowed three times at the door,
before the ambassador advanced with the
letters. He then went forward, standing, and
placed the letters on a table prepared for the
purpose, and stood : we had followed him,
creeping Siamese fashion, and when the letter
was placed, all bowed again three times, the
ambassador standing. He now addressed the
throne. First he introduced himself and then
each of us in turn and said that the object
of our mission was to cement the friendship
between ourselves and the British nation,
making their interests as one. Mr. Fowle in-
terpreted and then we all together bowed
again three times, as we are wont to do in
our kingdom. It was now the turn of the
Queen to reply. First the ambassador took
the royal letters to the throne and the Prince
Consort received them. The Queen then
graciously expressed herself as highly grati-
fied that the embassy had been accomplished
and was sure it would be for the honour and
advancement of both kingdoms. Trade, said
she, will mutually receive an impulse and
prosperity be accelerated as a consequence
in both realms. She expressed her gratitude
to the officers of the man-of-war that had ac-
complished for the embassy so prosperous and
happy a voyage across the boisterous ocean.
She said the receiving of the royal letters was
so great an occasion they must not mingle with
it other business. She therefore asked that
any business the embassy might have to present
might be postponed to another occasion. The
embassy, therefore, took leave of her Majesty,
and retired a la Siamese fashion from the
audience hall, retiring backwards, creeping ;
and the officers appointed for the purpose gave

them refreshments and showed them the
grounds till the time arrived to depart for
the city and their hotel."

The king was a keen observer of current
events, but sometimes his judgment was some-
what at fault owing to his ignorance of the
conditions of life in Western countries. An
amusing example of this is supplied by an
incident which occurred in 1861-62. Having
heard of the great extent of the United States
and the wonderful progress made, his Majesty
conceived the idea that he might contribute
materially to the further advancement of the
Republic by a practical act. Writing to
President Lincoln he said: "It has occurred
to us that if on the continent of America
there should be several pairs of young male
elephants turned loose in forests where there
was abundance of water and grass, in any
region under the sun's declination both north
and south, called by the English the torrid
zone, and all were forbidden to molest them,
to attempt to raise them would be well, and if
the climate there should prove favourable to
elephants, we are of opinion that after a while
they will increase until they become large
herds, as there are here on the continent of
Asia, until the inhabitants of America are able
to catch and tame and use them as beasts of
burden, making them of benefit to the country,
since elephants, being animals of great size and
strength, can bear burdens and travel through
uncleared woods and matted jungles where no
carriage and cart roads have yet been made."
The king proceeded to offer a present of a
number of elephants to form the nucleus of a
national herd. Old Abe Lincoln, who at that
time had on his hands far more difficult
matters than an experiment in elephant
breeding, courteously declined the offer.
" This Government," he said in his letter of
reply, written from Washington on February
3, 1862, " this Government would not hesitate
to avail itself of so generous an offer
if the object were one which could be made
practically useful in the present condition
of the United States. Our political jurisdiction,
however, does not reach a latitude so low as to
favour the multiplication of the elephant, and
steam on land as well as on water has been
our best and most efficient agent of trans-
portation in internal commerce." So what
might have been the beginning of an
interesting intimacy between the United
States Government and Siam was nipped in
the bud, though at the time and subsequently
there were many ties between the citizens of
the Republic and the subjects of his Majesty of
Siam.

Phrabaht Somdetch Paramendr Maha
Mongkut died towards the close of 1868,
his brother the second king having pre-
deceased him by several years. The succession
devolved upon the king's son — Somdetch Phra
Paramendr Maha Chulalongkorn, Phra Chula
Chom Klao, the present king, then a bright
intelligent lad of fifteen. He was crowned
with the customary honours at Bangkok
on November n, 1868.

An interesting account of the ceremony is
given in the "Siam Repository" for January,
1869. After mentioning that the official invita-
tion asked the foreign consuls to be present at

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

7 a.m., and intimated that the non-officiai
portion of the community might attend two
hours later, the writer says : — " A little before
seven on the day appointed the prime
minister appeared. " He then led the way
to a triangular court parting the inner audience
hall, and assigned the European ladies present
eligible positions, and then the favoured honour-
ables were assigned their places. Immediately a
band of music sounded, and the first king-elect
came forth from the inner hall robed in a
waist and shoulder cloth of white, and
ascended a throne in the centre of the court.
A Bramin priest presented a golden bowl —
the young king dipped his fingers in the water
there, and lifted them to his face, and then a
shower from the canopy above drenched the
king-elect, making him in his feeble health
tremble from the shock. Then a Bramin
priest from a golden goblet drenched him
anew. The oldest princes of the realm, a few
venerable noble ladies, the prime minister,
and high-priests of the Buddhist religion in
turn poured upon the king-elect the cold and,
as they supposed, the virtue-giving element.

This ceremony ended, the Bramin priests
presented flowers and leaves for the king's
acceptance. Then his majesty descended
from the throne, wound a dry robe around
him, and dropping at the foot of his throne
his dripping garments, retired to the inner
audience hall and was immediately arrayed in
apparel of golden tissue for further ceremonies.
The young king now ascended an octagonal
throne, having eight seats facing the eight
points of the compass, at the extremity of the
great inner audience hall, while the audience
were assembling at the opposite extremity.
Bramin priests crouching at different sides of the
throne instructed him in turn in the duties and
responsibilities he was about to assume, and
administered the oath of office. He then
came forward to a throne near the audience
and Bramin priests continued the ceremony.
One announced to the people that their lawful
king was now before them. Another, address-
ing the king, pronounced him the lord of the
realm and rightful sovereign of the people.
They now brought him his insignia of royalty
and he appropriated them as given. He

arrayed himself before the people with golden
chains, signet rings, his crown, his sceptre, and
the habiliments of royalty, even to the golden
sandals. When the crown was placed on the
head, a royal land and naval salute from the
ships of war honoured him as the people's
acknowledged king. The king now showered
among his subjects and noble spectators
golden flowers, and the prime minister
announced an interim of ceremonies and .
invited the guests to a repast that had been
served for the occasion. While the repast was
in progress, the company was constantly
receiving new accessions, and at the close of
the repast the prime minister announced that
all were invited to be present at the great
public audience hall of the late king to
witness the continuation of the ceremonies.
The hour arrived. The company all assembled
as invited, and the new king ascended his
throne, and his subjects, the noblemen of the
realm, prostrated themselves before him. The
consuls of the great countries towards the
setting sun, and their subjects in this far-off
land, bowed together thrice in honour of

A SIAMESE LYING-IN-STATE.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

THE CHAIR USED BY HIS MAJESTY WHEN RIDING ON AN ELEPHANT.

royalty. Music struck up its most cheering
notes, and the boom of cannon chimed in with
loudest peal from many a thundering centre in
honour of the new-made king. As soon as a
hearing could be secured, the great men of the
kingdom, the rulers of provinces and officers of
state, came forward and formally made over
their respective departments to his Majesty.

The king's chief scribe announced the long
title by which he was to be hereafter kno\vn.
And the king made a short and graceful reply
at once to all thai had honoured him with the
power to rule. Then came the turn of the
foreign community to address the king. They
chose Mr. G. F. Vianna, the Portuguese Consul-
General, to represent them. He read a con-

gratulatory address, to which the young king
briefly replied, leaving a most pleasing
impression by his modest and gracious
demeanour."

Under the provisions of the Bowring treaty
and the analogous arrangements which were
made by various European Powers other than
Great Britain, a regular consular system had

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

'67

some tim^ previously b;en set up in
Siam. The formal intimation sent to the
various Powers represented, of the king's
accession, supplied an opportunity which was
not missed of emphasising the existence of
this system, by the tendering in dignified
fashion of congratulations from the great
monarchs of the West to the youth who had
attained to royal power in Siam. It is a fact
not without significance that the first to do
this honour was the King of Prussia, the head
of the North German Confederation, as the
agglomeration of Germanic States was then
known, who was represented at Bangkok at
that time in the person of a very able official
— Mr. P. Lessler. The circumstances under
which the letter was delivered are of sufficient
interest to justify the reproduction of this
description of the episode which was pub-
lished at the time in the local magazine : —

"September I, 1869, at 10.15 a.m., H.S.M/s
beautiful steam yacht, the Imperatricc, reached
the N.G. Consulate. The decks were covered
with soldiers, a Siamese band, some officers
of rank, men bearing a double gold vase,
seven- and five-sectioned umbrellas, and other
insignia of royalty.

'• The Siamese officers came up to the N.G.
Consulate, announced the object of their
mission, and received from the hands of the
N.G. Consul the autograph letter of H.M. the
King of Prussia. They carefully deposited it
in the double vase of gold, surrounded it with
the high seven- and five-sectioned umbrellas,
and other insignia of royalty. One held over
it a large white umbrella pointed with a gold
spire sparkling with gems. The men bearing
the seven- and five-sectioned umbrellas formed
into line.

" The band of Siamese instruments struck
up its music and the soldiers presented arms
as the letter was borne to the cabin of the
Imperatricc.

"P. Lessler, Esq., the N.G. Consul, Mr. A.
Eisenblat, the Secretary, the Interpreter, arid
several N.G. gentlemen followed the letter
to the steamer.

"When on board the gold vases containing
the royal letter were carefully deposited in
a prominent place. Then the N.G. flag was
hoisted, and the Siamese officers politely
requested the Consul and his company to be
seated and to make themselves comfortable.

" The Imperatrice, which was decorated
with flags, crowded with men in uniforms,
alive and cheerful with music, steamed away
to the landing: of the International Court
House. When: the N.G. party landed they
were politely received by the Chief Judge of
the Court and; his suite, and as the royal
letter was landed, the European and native
instruments of music struck up their airs, the
soldiers in array presenting arms.

" The Consul's company was then led to the
handsomely decorated room of the Court, the
royal letter was ceremoniously placed upon
the centre table, tea and cigars were provided
for the entertainment of the guests, and a line
of cannon boomed welcome to the fraternal
recognition- of H.M. the King of Prussia
twenty-one times.

" When all was in readiness the royal letter
was placed upon a royal seat and was borne

on men's shoulders, a large band of native and
European instrumental music played cheerful
marches and national airs, a long escort of
soldiers headed the procession ; a line of
umbrella-bearers, on each side, in front and
in rear of the royal seat, then the Consul and
his suite on sedans followed, and the pro-
cession moved first by the street running by
the south wall of Wat Poh, then up the street
by the east wall of Wat Poh and the east wall
of the King's Palace, then up the street by the
north wall of the palace, then up that street
to the north gate of the inner wall of the
palace, where the procession stopped. Both
sides of the streets the entire length of the
procession were thronged with eager spec-
tators, and at short intervals on each side
soldiers were stationed presenting arms to the
letter as it passed.

" Having reached the inner gate the Consul
and his suite dismounted from their sedans,
and following the royal letter, walked through
a file of infantry and band on each side of
them to the waiting-hall, where his Excellency
the ex-Kralahome but now ' Chow Phya Sri
Suriwongse, head of the Senabawdee,' received
the company. . . . Just before entering the
Audience Hall the letter was placed in the
hands of the North German Consul. Having
entered. the Audience Hall and sighted H.M.
the King of Siam, the Consul and his company
bowed, advanced a few paces, bowed the
. econd time, advanced a few paces and again
bowed, and then the Consul advanced to
a centre table in front of the throne and
there deposited the gold vase containing
the letter of his Most August Majesty the
King of Prussia, and stepping backward to
the red velvet cushion provided for him he
stood silently and respectfully, while the
Siamese court speaker, prostrate on all-fours,
addressed H.S. Majesty, introducing the N.G.
Consul and his company each by name, and
stating the object of the present visit.

" The N.G. Consul then made a few appro-
priate remarks, stating that H.M. the King of
Prussia had honoured him with the com-
mission of presenting to H.S.M. a letter of
condolence and congratulation in response to
autograph letters which H.S.M. had previously
sent through him to H.M. the King of Prussia.
After this brief address Mr. P. Lessler stepped
forward to the throne and handed the
autograph letter to H.M. the King of Siam,
then the N.G. Consul stepped back and he
and his party sat as best they could on the
carpeted floor. The Consul sat on a red velvet
cushion. The high princes and nobles were
prostrate throughout the entire ceremony.
Before the Consul was placed a gold vase
containing cigars and matches.

"After the company was seated H.M. the
King of Siam said it afforded him great
pleasure to receive the autograph letter of
H.M. the King of Prussia, and particularly its
kind expressions of sympathy and goodwill.

" Mr. P. Lessler replied he was grateful for
the grand and honourable mode in which his
Majesty had arranged for the reception of
the royal autograph letter of H.M. the King
of Prussia, and that he would not fail to
mention to the Prussian Government the
honours shown.

"His Majesty then recommended Mr.
Lessler in his official capacityalways to com-
municate with H.E. Chow Phya Bhanu-
wongse, the new Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The Consul replied that he would gladly
comply with His Majesty's directions. His
Majesty then retired. The Consul and the new
Kralahome and new Minister for Foreign
Affairs met, conversed pleasantly, each evi-
dently pleased with the events of the day. and
then retired."

In connection with the presentation of these
letters there was made a notable change in
the method of the reception of the repre-
sentatives of the European Powers. Up to that
time attempts had been made to enforce upon
all Europeans who haf audience of the king
the — to European minds — degrading form of
showing respect practised by the native officials.
In anticipation of the formalities attending the
presentation of the letters the Consuls met
and agreed upon the presentation from them
of a joint demand that they should make their
obeisance to the king in European fashion.
The representation was well received, and
from that time forward the right of consular
representatives to show respect in the manner
sanctioned by the usages of their own country
was not contested. In other ways the new
order of things was revealed. When the
Foreign Minister gave an evening party to the
members of the European community in
honour of the twentieth birthday of the king,
it was noted by the chronicler that the
Siamese present " all stood, moved about, and
conversed freely as men. There was no
humiliating prostration, no crawling about
on all-fours, as is the daily practice in the
houses of the representatives of Old Siam.
They conversed with each other with the
graceful freedom of refined Europeans, and
looked on approvingly while the European
ladies did their best to make the occasion,
the gathering, and the amusements of the
evening agreeable. Many Siamese ladies were
present. They were spectators and observers,
but took no prominent part in the performances
of the evening." The Western leaven was
indeed working under the inspiriting example
of the young monarch, who from the very
first day of his reign aspired to discharge
a progressive role.

In 1871 the king broke through the old
tradition which confined the monarch's move-
ments to his own dominions by paying a
visit to Singapore — the first of many he was
destined to pay. His Majesty was received
with all honours at the hands of the
authorities. A guard of honour of the
75th Regiment saluted him at the jetty to
the accompaniment of a royal salute from
Fort Canning and H.M.S. Algcriuc. The
Acting-Governor tendered him an official wel-
come and accompanied him to the Town
Hall, where other guards of honour were
awaiting his arrival. A levee was held by
the king in the principal chamber of the
Town Hall, and an address of welcome was
presented by the Singapore Chamber of
Commerce on behalf of the mercantile com-
munity. The king replied to this address
in a brief speech, in which he spoke of
commerce as "one of the chief sources of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

the wealth of nations," and affirmed his
determination to follow in the footsteps of his
lather in extending to the mercantile com-
munity the most liberal treatment. After-
wards the king despatched to Queen
Victoria a message expressive of his satisfac-
tion at having set foot for the first time on
British territory, and he had a gracious
reply from her Majesty. The king, after a
pleasant sojourn of upwards of a week in
the chief port of the Straits Settlements,
departed for Batavia, where he made
acquaintance with the Dutch East Indian
administration. At a later period he extended
his tour to India, and as the guest of
the Viceroy (Lord Mayo) travelled through
the country, making observations as he went
of the notable features of the British admin-
istration and winning golden opinions from
Angle-Indian officials by his manly and dig-
nified bearing and his shrewd intelligence.
The lamentable assassination of Lord Mayo
brought his visit to a sudden termination, but his
sojourn in the great dependency of the British
Crown left an indelible impression upon his
young mind, and to it may probably be
attributed the progressive policy which he
subsequently adopted. Immediately on his
return to Bangkok the king issued a proclama-
tion declaring that child en of slaves should be
free on their attaining their twenty-first year.
In 1876 the foundations of the Royal Grand
Palace (Chakrkri Main Prasad) were laid.
This splendid structure was four years in
building, and before being occupied was
sumptuously furnished in the Western style
by English firms. While this work was being
prosecuted a royal mint was constructed, and
in due course turned out Siamese coinage
with machinery of the latest pattern imported
from Great Britain. The erection of other
Government institutions quickly followed.
They included a royal treasury, museum,
quarters for royal bodyguard, magnificent
barracks for five thousand troops, courts of
justice, post and telegraph office, custom
house, and a palace for the crown prince.
The list was further expanded by the erection
of government schools, a college for cadets,
a hospital with Victoria Jubilee ward, and
colleges of exceptionally ornate design, the
two last-named institutions being in honour
of the queen consort, who was accidentally
drowned in 1880. Furthermore, houses for
European officials were erected in suitable
positions, the forts at Paknam were repaired
and re-armed with modern artillery, an
arsenal was built, naval barracks provided,
and an enlarged Government dry dock made
available.

Simultaneously with the execution of these
works measures were taken to improve the
personnel of the executive. On the one hand
European advisers were appointed to supervise
special departments ; on the other, promising
youths were despatched to Europe to acquire
instruction in Western arts and sciences, so as
to equip them for the discharge of govern-
mental functions on their return to their native
country. The king himself became a close
student of the English language and obtained
considerable facility in it under the instruction
of Mrs. Leonowens.

Commercial development all this time was
proceeding apace. In the summer of 1869 the
Indo-Chinese Sugar Company, a British enter-
prise, applied for and obtained from the Siamese
Government a grant of land for the erection of
mills and cultivation of sugar-cane. The grant
embraced 3,000 acres of excellent land, and the
rent fixed was the low one of 2s. 3d. per acre.
The Government, to further meet the promoters
of the enterprise, reduced the inland duty on
sugar by one-half. Thus encouraged, the com-
pany imported add set up large sugar mills
on the newest principle, and immediately
put a large tract of land under cultivation.
Nor was this the only outcome of the Govern-
ment's liberal policy. The native growers,
finding that they had now some one to de il
with them on fair terms, showed an anxiety to
extend their cultivation and to enter into con-
tracts with the new company for cane.

The year 1879 will be memorable in Siam
for the discovery of valuable sapphire mines in
the Battambong and Chantaboon districts.
The news of the discoveries attracted great
crowds of strangers, chiefly from Burmah, to
work the mines. In the early days of the rush
small fortunes were made by lucky prospectors.
The British Consul-General in his report for
1880 tells a story of how a poorly clad and
miserable-looking individual showed him at
Bangkok a large sapphire in the rough which
he valued at 20,000 rupees. He further relates
the case of a man who dug out a stone which
he offered for sale in Chantaboon at 1,000
rupees without finding a purchaser, and who,
proceeding to Rangoon, was offered 15,000
rupees for the find. This tempting offer
opened the man's eyes to the value of his
possession, and taking the stone to Calcutta,
he readily obtained there 30,000 rupees for it.
The prosperity of the mines was only temporary.
In 1880 the report made upon them was that
they were almost wholly abandoned owing to
the unhealthy character of the district and the
lawlessness of its inhabitants.

Trade in its legitimate sense underwent no
sensational development in these early days of
Siam's regeneration. Nevertheless substantial
progress was made. Some figures relative to
the shipping entered and cleared at Bangkok
illustrate this fact. In 1866 the tonnage of
British ships trading with that port only aggre-
gated 23,969. Three years later the tonnage
had increased to 73,188, and the returns for
1879 showed a still further increase to 242,612.
In the latter year the total tonnage of that port
amounted to 481,098, so that more than half the
shipping visiting Siam sailed under the British
flag. Other European nations, however, had
a substantial stake in the country. When
British Consul-General in 1885, Sir Ernest
Satow estimated the amount of foreign capital
invested in Siam at £191,280, and apportioned
the sum as follows : —

British—
European
A sin tic

French ...

German ...

£
69,000
62,280
30,000
30,000

At that time the commercial interests of Great
Britain in Siam, as compared with the rest of
the world, were in fixed capital as 2 to 1, in

steamers as 8 to ], in exports as 9 to 2, and in
imports as 2 to 1. Mr. Satow (as he then was)
thought that commerce generally was more
sluggish than the natural wealth of the country
warranted, and he pointed to the lack of initia-
tive on the part of the Government as the cause
of the inertia. His remarks were fully justified
at the time as far as some phases of the
administration were concerned. But even
then, apart from the provision of public institu-
tions to which reference has been made, there
were not wanting signs that the Siamese
Government appreciated the fact that it had a
place in the circle of civilised nations and must
occupy it. In 1883 Siam was brought into
intimate touch with the outer world by the con-
struction of telegraph lines to Saigon, on the
one hand, and to Tavoy, in British Burmah, on
the other. The very next year Siam entered
the International Postal Union, a step which
was followed by a wide extension of the
postal system throughout the interior of the
country. Before these events occurred the
King of Siam, in 1882, had caused the centennial
of the foundation of Bangkok to be celebrated
with much grandeur. The principal feature of
the programme was an exhibition of Siamese
arts and products at the capital. Many thou-
sands of people visited the exhibition, which
served to reveal in a striking way the great
natural wealth of the country.

In the early part of 1883 a French survey
expedition, under the command of Count
Bellon, made a thorough exploration of the
route across the Isthmus of Kra, so often pro-
posed as the most suitable place for the cutting
of a ship canal through the Malay Peninsula.
The result of the survey was such as to dis-
appoint the hopes of the least sanguine. The
lowest pass discovered in the chain of hills
running down the peninsula was 250 feet
above the sea-level. There were other diffi-
culties, which rendered the task practically an
impossible one. The cost of cutting a canal,
it may be added, was estimated at twenty
millions sterling, a gigantic sum, seeing that
the peninsula in its narrowest part is only
24 miles across.

Siam, at this period in the eighties, was
singularly lacking in means of land com-
munication. The roads, where they existed
at all, were mere tracks, and the railway
was absolutely unknown. This state of
affairs could not long exist in the presence
of the new spirit which was animating
Siamese life. The spell of Oriental indif-
ferentism was broken in 1889, when a tram-
way company was formed at Bangkok. The
enterprise was an immediate success, a divi-
dend of 10 per cent, being paid on the
capital. The line at the outset was a horse
tramway of the ordinary type, but the manage-
ment wisely in 1892 adopted electricity as the
motive power, and it therefore happened that
the Bangkok people were amongst the first
in the East to enjoy the pleasures of a well-
equipped electric tramway. Railway schemes
followed quickly in the wake of this tramway
venture. The pioneer line was one from
Bangkok to Paknam, a distance of 14 miles.
The project was financed by a company with
the modest capital of 40^,000 ticals (£33,000),
half of which was subscribed by the king.

A SIAMESE GIRL OF NOBLE BIRTH MAKING HER TOILET.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

The work of construction was completed
early in 1893, and on the nth of April in
that voir the line was formally opened. It
was mentioned at the time with legitimate
pride that the concern, though an entirely
new departure, had been carried through at
the extremely low cost of £'2,400 per mile,
that sum including rolling-stock. From the
first the Siamese took very kindly to railway
travelling. The British Consul-General, in his
report for 1893, noted that "large receipts are
being made from pleasure-seekers, who take
trips to Paknam to enjoy the novelty of
travelling by steam." Some time before this
little plunge into railway speculation was
made by Siam another, and far more im-
portant, enterprise was undertaken. This
was the construction of a line, 165 miles in
length, from the capital to Korat. The course
of this line for the first 80 miles is through
a flat country mostly covered with rice-fields.
Then for 32 miles the line is carried through a
thickly-wooded, hilly tract. The last 53 miles
of the railway are over a plateau. On the
whole, it was a project which carried with it
no great engineering difficulty. The contract
was given out on December 12, 1891, to Mr.
G. Murray Campbell (of the firm of Messrs.
Murray Campbell & Co.), and the first sod was
cut by the king on March 9th following. Sub-
sequently difficulties arose between the Govern-
ment and the contractors, and owing to the
official obstruction and the consequent delays
a claim was lodged by the latter for damages.
There were arbitration proceedings in London
over the dispute, with the result that Messrs.
Murray Campbell & Co. were awarded a
considerable sum as compensation.

Siam's growth in commercial importance
brought into prominence the defects of her
judicial system. These were neither few nor
unimportant. The administration of the law
was in the hands of a corrupt class of officials
who accepted bribes in the most shameless
fashion, and perverted the course of justice as
their personal interests dictated. The prisons
were crowded with individuals, some of
whom had been left in confinement for years
awaiting their trial. In civil cases the law's
delays were so protracted that it sometimes
happened that one or other of the parties to
the action had been dead for years when the
hearing was reached. To remedy this state of
affairs the Siamese Government appointed a
mixed Commission of European and Siamese
lawyers, charged with wide powers. This
body conducted an exhaustive investigation,
and finally reorganised the machinery of
justice on proper lines. Meanwhile, the new
leaven of Western civilisation was producing
amongst the ruling classes a desire for a
system of government more in harmony with
the progressive spirit of the age. Up to 1893
the affairs of the country were administered by
a Council of twelve ministers, acting under the
direction of the king, who often presided at the
Councils. In that year an important innova-
tion was made by the creation of a new body
styled a Legislative Council. The ministers
were joined, as members of this authority,
with a number of persons nominated by the
king and six members of the royal family.
Power was given to the Council to call in out-

siders to give advice, and to bring the new
system further into accord with European
principles of government it was decreed that
the meetings of the body should be held in
public. It was a notable step forward on the
path of reform that was thus taken. That the
change was meant by the king to mark a de-
parture from the old despotic system was
shown soon after the appointment of the
Council by the promulgation of a decree
empowering the authority to introduce and
discuss new laws and regulations, and to put
into operation any law that it might pass with-
out the authority of the king, provided that his
Majesty was not at the time in sufficiently good
health to attend to State business. The conces-
sion, though qualified by a proviso that all laws
and regulations so passed should be subject to
revision by the king on his recovery from ill-
ness, was a remarkable privilege for an Oriental
monarch to grant on his own volition, and it
serves perhaps more than any other isolated
act to accentuate the extent to which Siam at
this period was dominated by the spirit of pro-
gress. In conjunction with the setting up of
this quasi-constitutional system there was intro-
duced an important scheme of reform of the
provincial administration. To each province
was appointed a Royal Commissioner with
executive powers. These functionaries, who
held office at the wish of the king, are not
only responsible for the good government of
the districts of which they have charge, but
are intended as connecting links between the
central and the outlying portions of the king-
dom. " The appointment of the Royal Com-
missioners," says Mr. Ernest Young, in " The
Kingdom of the Yellow Robe," "was very
much resented by some of the chiefs, espe-
cially by those who had previously reigned
with the full title and digni y. Amongst these
was the King of Luang Prabang. When the
new Commissioners were appointed a very
young man was sent to take over the govern-
ment of this province. On Hearing the scene
of his new labours he sent word to the old
chief to tell him of his arrival, and to demand
a formal and elaborate reception to be made
for him as a mark of respect to the sovereign
whose orders he had come to execute. The
old man went himself to meet the new arrival,
indulging in a good deal of grumbling on the
way, and wondering why there was any neces-
sity to make such a fuss. When he found to
what extent he was to be superseded in the
government of his ancient domain his grief
and anger knew no bounds, but as he was
powerless to resent his treatment he had to
be content with grumbling and moaning. . . .
One day the Commissioner heard the deposed
governor addressed by the people with the
title of king. He at once forbade the repeti-
tion of the word, saying, 'There is but one
king in Siam.' The old man smarted not a
little under what he considered a new insult,
but he restrained any outward expression of
his feelings. Not long after this occurrence
the Commissioner found that the chief had in
his possession a state umbrella with the number
of tiers used by royalty. He ordered two of
these to be at once removed. This order was
obeyed. The insulted chief got his revenge at
last when the French took the province of

Luang Prabang. M. Pavie, the French Com-
missioner, and formerly French minister at
Bangkok, sent the Siamese representative
about his business, and invited the old chief
to an interview. When the chief arrived M.
Pavie asked him if there was anything he
wanted either for himself or his people. The
old man related his loss of dignity and title,
and begged that he might be allowed to repair
his umbrella, and call himself king once more.
'Certainly,' said M. Pavie, with diplomatic con-
descension ; ' call yourself anything you like,
and as to the umbrella, add two tiers or twenty,
just as you please.' The re-made king was de-
lighted, and leturned home exceedingly glad at
heart."

CHAPTER XI

French colonial expansion— Its effect on Siam —
Capture of Luang Prabang hy the Chin
Haws— Proposals for a Franco-Bi itish under-
standing relative to Siam — Delimitation of
the Burmese and Siamese frontiers — Mr.
IV. J. Archer's report.

It was unfortunate for Siam that her notable
advance along the paths of Western civilisa-
tion was coincident with the occurrence of one
of those fits of colonial expansion which up to
a recent period seized the nations of Europe
and more particularly France. The Powers at
the time were " on the pounce," to adopt a
colloquialism applied to a famous statesman in
another connection. Wherever there were
unconsidered trifles of unappropriated territory
there the diplomatic eye cast covetous glances.
The French conquests in Tonkin, which cul-
minated in 1883 in the declaration of a pro-
tectorate over the entire country, caused French
attention to be directed towards the kingdom
of Siam, which, as one of the last of the un-
" protected " small States of the Far East,
appeared to invite aggression on behalf of the
grandiose scheme of a great Indo-Chinese
Empire which France at that period enter-
tained. M. de Lanessan, the great apostle of
French expansion, who subsequently filled the
office of Governor -General of Indo- China,
opened the attack in his well-known book,
"L'Expansion Coloniale de la France," pub-
lished in 1886. In this work the theory was
boldly put forward that the mountainous and
desert region lying between the basin of the
Mekong and that of the Menam " ought to be
considered by France as the natural limit of
her Indo-Chinese Empire on the side of Siam."
"Having," he said, "retaken the great Lak-
provinces, which formerly were dependent on
Cambodia, and basins of the Mekong and the
Se-monn, we ought to adhere to the policy of
respecting and, if necessary, protecting the
independence of Siam." In writing thus M.
de Lanessan did no more than crystallise the
opinions of leading French Indo - Chinese
officials. These functionaries wanted to
"round off" their conquests in Tonkin, and
it became a part of their deliberate policy
to carry the frontier as far as possible in the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Siamese direction. One of the first moves in
the game was to plant M. Pavie, an able official,
as vice-consul at Luang Prabang. M. Pavie
did not allow the grass to grow under his feet.
By means of expeditions conducted in various
directions he vastly extended his knowledge of
the country, accumulating information which
was of immense value to his Government some
years later when the relations between the
French and the Siamese Governments became
strained. M. Pavie's residence at Luang
Prabang continued until the middle of 1887,
when it was rudely interrupted by the capture
of the town from the Siamese by a body of
tribesmen known as Chin Haws. These people
had been greatly irritated by an act of Siamese
aggression perpetrated on them at Muang Lai,
a place to the north-east of Luang Prabang.
and they determined to wreak their revenge.
Appearing off the town on June 7, 1887, they
found there the old chief and the young
Siamese Commissioner previously referred to,
and M. Pavie, the French vice-consul. " M.
Pavie urged upon the chief the desirability of
preparing to resist the Chin Haws, but the
Siamese Commissioner, being suspicious of
M. Pavie, prevented the chief from taking the
latter's advice, and then, being himself panic-
stricken, got into a boat and went down the
river to Paklay, leaving the old chief to deal as
he could with his unpleasant visitors. Some
of the Chin Haws were then admitted to the
city and had interviews with the chief. M.
Pavie now got into his boats and went over to
the other side of the river to await events.
The Chin Haws, finding every one in the city
afraid of them, began to be insolent, and in-
formed the chief that they had come to ransom
some Muang Lai people whom the Siamese had
carried off from Muang Teng during their
expedition. They demanded to be lodged in
the chief's house, and this being refused them
they pretended to inspect another place offered
them, which they declared unsuitable, and they
suddenly began a general attack on the people
of Luang Prabang. They met with no serious
resistance, and the chief, with difficulty, escaped
in a boat sent to bring him across the river by
M. Pavie. The chief and M. Pavie made the
best of their way down-stream, pursued some
distance by the Chin Haws." Ultimately the
two joined the Siamese Commissioner at
Paklay. The Siamese Government, on receiv-
ing news of the occurrences at Luang Prabang,
decided to send an expeditionary force from
Bangkok against the Chin Haws. The French
immediately took advantage of the opening
which this enterprise offered to extend their
influence in the debateable ground lying
between Siam and their territory in Tonkin.
They despatched two French officers with the
Siamese force, and to give a colourable equality
to the transaction allowed Siamese Commis-
sioners to accompany the French force, which
at the time was moving on the outskirts of the
disturbed area. No further incident of impor-
tance occurred until April 3, 1889, when the
French ambassador called upon Lord Salis-
bury at the Foreign Office and made a pro-
posal for the neutralisation of Siam. " They
(the French Government) wished," Lord
Salisbury said in a despatch to Lord Lytton,
the British ambassador at Paris, "to establish

a strong independent kingdom of Siam with
well-defined frontiers on both sides ; and they
desired to come to an arrangement by which
a permanent barrier might be established
between the possessions of Great Britain and
France in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. Such
an arrangement would be advantageous to
both countries, and would prevent the com-
plications which otherwise might arise between
them. It would be necessary, in the first
instance, that the frontier between Cochin
China and Siam should be fixed, and her
Majesty's Government would, no doubt, desire
a settlement of the boundaries of Burmah. As
regards the frontier of Cochin China, the
French Government did not wish to extend it
to Luang Prabang, but they would propose to
draw a line from a point nearly due east of
that place southwards to the Mekong, and
below that point to make the river the dividing-
line between the two countries until it entered

little - known country embraced within the
Mekong basin. The production tended to
remove misconceptions which had arisen in
the public mind relative to the great value
and productiveness of the district traversed.
It was shown pretty conclusively by Mr.
Archer that the country was unhealthy and
that the local opportunities for trade were few-
The report, however, drew attention to the
important position which this tract occupied in
reference to the problem of through railway
communication between Siam and China.
" If," Mr. Archer said, " Yunnan is to be
reached by a railway from the south, it must
in my opinion run up the valley of the
Mekong from Chiengsen. Not only would
this route offer no great engineering diffi-
culties, but it would pass through a compara-
tively populous and fertile country. It is true
I have not been up the right bank above
Chienglap, but Mr. Garner's party, who went

A LAOSIAN BOAT.

the territory of Cambodia. They considered
that both on the French and English side the
boundaries of Siam should be defined up to
the Chinese frontier." Lord Salisbury was
sympathetic towards the idea mooted, but
cautiously declined to commit himself to
fuller particulars as to the contemplated arrange-
ments for frontier rectification between Cochin
China and Siam. The matter was subse-
quently referred to the Indian Government for
consideration, and their view was that a
delimitation of the frontiers of Siam should
precede an agreement between Great Britain
and France for the neutralisation of that State.
The task of delimiting the frontier be-
tween British Burma and Siam was under-
taken in 1889 under the auspices of a joint
British and Siamese Commission. An out-
come of it was the publication of an in-
teresting report by Mr. W. J. Archer, the
head of the mission, relative to the then

that way as far as Chieng Hung in the rainy
season of 1867, found the route a compara-
tively easy one. West of this line is very
broken country, and the general direction of
the ridges and watercourses is west to east
down to the Mekong. It is noteworthy that
from Bangkok to Chieng Hung a line ascending
the valleys of the Menam and the Meping
to Raheng, thence the Mewang to Lakhon,
thence to Chiengsen through Payao, and from
Chiengsen up the main valley of the Mekong,
would meet with very few engineering diffi-
culties, and only cross a low watershed and
insignificant hills, while it would pass through
perhaps the most promising country of Central
Indo-China." Mr. Archer, while holding these
views, pointed out that the prospects of trade
in Yunnan were poor, and that with the im-
provement in the Shan States the probability
was that the little trade there was would find
its way to Burma.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Mr. Archer's report, apart from the light it
cast on the political problem of the time — the
adjustment of British, French, and Siamese
rights on the debateable land in the basin of
the Mekong — contained much information of
interest concerning the people and their habits.
Writing of the two great sections into which
the population was divided, he said: "The
Liis and the Laos are so much alike that with-
out the difference of dress it would be difficult
to distinguish one from the other. The men
among the Liis wear loose trousers of dark
blue with a fringe of all the colours of the
rainbow at the lower edge, a small double-
breasted jacket, also of dark blue, with em-
broidery, a turban and Chinese shoes — if shod
at all. The women wear a petticoat of far
brighter and more variegated colours than the
people further south ; a jacket very similar to
those of the men and a bright turban com-
plete a very becoming costume. The men are
a comparatively tall, active race, and the women
small and much fairer than their southern
neighbours, with sometimes even pink cheeks.
The characteristics of the people seem to
me to be their extreme simplicity and good-
nature, and I was much struck by the entire
absence of presumption and self-importance
which so often distinguish petty officials in
Siam."

" Our rupees and two-anna bits were in great
request, but the common currency are pieces of
silver usually of the shape of a half-globe and
of the diameter of a rupee. Out of this bits of
the value of the article to be purchased are
struck with a chisel on stones placed for this
purpose in a basket in the middle of the
market."

" The government of Luang Prabang, which
appears to be entirely in the hands of the
Siamese Commissioner, compares favourably
with that of nearly any other part of Siam
that I know. . . . The real curse of the
country appears to be the almost universal
habit of opium-smoking amongst the Laos
of Luang Prabang ; boys learn its use from
an early age and never seem to abandon it.
The result is that the people of Luang Pra-
bang are in point of physique a far inferior
race to the Laos of Chiengmai or of Nan.
The women, moreover, openly drink the native
liquor, though not to an intoxicating extent.
Withal, they are a remarkably light-hearted
race, and Luang Prabang may well be de-
scribed as the town of song and merriment.
As soon as the sun sets music is heard every-
where, and the strains of the somewhat mono-
tonous Lao organ are heard usually throughout
the night. A curious custom also obtains for
the female respectable members of the com-
munity to promenade the streets in the even-
ings singing in chorus. No men are allowed
in these processions, which are never inter-
fered with, strange to say. This and other
customs prevail only in the town of Luang
Prabang."

CHAPTER XII

Franco-Siamese Delimitation Commission at
work — French claims to territory in the
Mekong watershed — Further proposal for a
Franco- British understanding relative to
Siam — Situation becomes critical — Collision
between French and Siamese forces.

About the middle of 1890 a Franco- Siamese
Commission commenced the delimitation of
the frontier in the districts bordering on Indo-
China. The principal French official em-
ployed was M. Pavie, whom we have met
before actively engaged in the patriotic enter-
prise of promoting French influence in Luang
Prabang. M. Pavie was a man of much force
of character, who had worked his way to the
front by sheer ability. He first went out to
Siam in 1884 as a telegraph operator on the
staff employed on the construction of the line
between Saigon and Bangkok. The topo-
graphical and political experience gained in
the course of his work was turned by him to
such good account that the French authorities,
in recognition of his services, appointed him in
1888 vice-consul at Luang Prabang. From
that time forward, until the appointment of the
Boundary Commission, he was constantly em-
ployed in surveying and reporting on the
country to the north-west of the French posi-
tion. It was doubtless upon the strength of
his information as to the strategic and com-
mercial value of particular districts that the
French claims, the pressing of which preci-
pitated such a grave crisis at a later period,
were based. These, as has been seen from the
despatch of Lord Salisbury of April 3, 1889,
previously quoted, were to the districts lying
eastward of the Mekong from the point where
it leaves China. The Siamese occupation of a
considerable portion of this area for a long
period of years was unquestionable, but their
rights, it was held, were overridden by a
French title based on prior ownership by
Annam, now a portion of the Indo-Chinese
dominions of France.

The position of the question at the time of
the constitution of the Franco-Siamese Delimi-
tation Commission is set forth in the following
extract from a despatch from Captain Jones,
the British minister at Bangkok, to Lord Salis-
bury of January 6, [890 : —

"As the existing situation of the contested
districts will be maintained until modified by
the decisions of the Joint Commission, Siam
will continue to hold the Basin of the Mekong
from (about) the 13th to the 22nd parallel of
north latitude, with the exception of three
small districts on this side of the Khao-Luang
range, settled by the Annamites, where the
routes from the east debouch from the moun-
tains into the plains. These are :--

Ai-Lao-Dign, in latitude 17 north.
Kia-Heup, ,. ., 17J „

Kan-Muan (about) „ 18J ,,
Beyond these to the north, the Siamese hold
the districts called Pan-Ha-Thang Hok ('the
nation of five or six chiefs'), and the French
will continue to occupy Sipsong-Chu-Thai
(' the twelve small Siamese States '), from which
they have succeeded in driving the Chin Haws
and other marauders."

In November, 1890, M. Pavie visited Bangkok
after completing a portion of his work on the
frontier. During his sojourn in the city he had
frequent interviews with the Siamese Minister
for Foreign Affairs and endeavoured to extract
from him trading privileges and immunities on
behalf of the French Mekong Trading Corpora-
tion. He even suggested that there should be
free trade between Siam and French Indo-
China, the object aimed at doubtless being a
French monopoly of trade in the northern
districts of Siam. The Siamese Government
emphatically declined to entertain the pro-
posals. M. Pavie was told by the Siamese
Foreign Minister that the revenues of the
kingdom were too meagre to admit of their
being further diminished by such a far-
reaching arrangement as that contemplated.
Furthermore, the minister said that Siam was
itself contemplating the construction of a rail-
way from Bangkok to Korat, to be afterwards
continued to Nong Khai on the Mekong, and
he represented that it could not be reasonably
expected that these extraordinary privileges
would be granted to a foreign trading corpora-
tion which would be a formidable competitor
for the traffic necessary for the successful
working of the railway. The unyielding
attitude assumed by the Siamese authorities in
this matter had the effect of stimulating the
French Government to further action in the
disputed territory. In July, 1891, a French
force occupied a position in the Luang Pra-
bang district. This advance was a manifest
breach of the arrangement entered into with
Siam, but it was justified on the ground of
Siamese activity — the pushing forward of posts
to points far beyond the limits of territory pre-
viously occupied. Whatever may have been
the truth as to this accusation, the French
advance into Luang Prabang made it perfectly
clear that the adjustment of the dispute would
not be easily attained. In England a not
unjust suspicion was excited by this new move,
and there was a call upon the Government to
pursue a strong policy in upholding the terri-
torial integrity of Siam. The French Govern-
ment appear to have felt the desirability of
coming to terms with Great Britain before
they took any further step. On February 16,
1892, the French ambassador proposed to Lord
Salisbury that in order to avoid differences
between the two Powers they should mutually
pledge themselves not to extend their influence
beyond the Mekong. Neither Power, it was
pointed out, had yet advanced to the bank of
the river, and this engagement would prevent
either Power suspecting the other of a desire to
encroach upon what was an essentially Siamese
district. The proposal was referred by Lord
Salisbury to the Government of India for their
opinion, and this, when forthcoming, was
entirely opposed to the conclusion of any
arrangement of the kind contemplated. Later
the French Government put forward a modi-
fied proposal limiting the understanding to the
Upper Mekong and embodying a pledge by
the French, on the one side, that they would
in no case extend their sphere of influence to
the westward, and by the British, on the other,
that they would not seek development to the
south of it. The Indian Government liked this
suggestion even less than the original one, and

A LAOSIAN BRIDE.

I -

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

after a decent interval the French Government
were politely given to understand that the idea
could not be entertained. Meanwhile the
relations between the Siamese and the French
Governments were becoming daily more
strained. Lord Dufferin on February 7, 1893,
in a despatch to Lord Rosebery (who had by
that time become Foreign Secretary) set out
the points in the dispute. " The charges
brought against the Siamese Government," he
wrote, "are summed up in a speech by M.
Francois Deloncle, contained in the full report
of the debate. M. Deloncle asserted that the
Siamese persistently ignore the rights of the
kingdoms of Annam and Cambodia over the
whole of Laos and the territories situated on
the two banks of the Mekong, and that the
Government were still of the opinion expressed
by their predecessors two years ago, to the
effect that the left bank of the Mekong was the
western limit of the sphere of French influence
and that this opinion was based on the incon-
testable rights of Annam, which had been
exercised for several centuries."

Somewhat later M. Waddington, the French
ambassador in London, called upon Lord Kose-
bery and revived the proposal for an under-
standing as to the boundaries of Siam. The
views of the British Government on the sub-
ject at the time are embodied in the following
despatch from Lord Rosebery to M. Wadding-
ton of the date April 3, 1893 : —

"... Her Majesty's Government have not
attempted to express an opinion, or to enter
into any discussion on the question of the
proper frontier of Siam towards the French
possessions. But they do not consider it
admissible, and they scarcely conceive that
the French Government can wish to propose
that the two Governments should assume
exclusive spheres of influence in territory
which actually belongs or which may hereafter
be assigned to Siam, and that their respective
interests in the independence and integrity of
the kingdom should be divided by the Mekong
River. Such an arrangement has, as far as I
am aware, no precedent in international
practice, and seems at variance with the
principle of the national independence of
Siam, which both Governments wish to
preserve.

" As regards territories outside of Siam,
Great Britain, as I have already explained, has
acquired certain rights to the east of the Mekong
in virtue of her annexation of Burmah and
her Protectorate of Kyangton. Some of those
rights H.M. Government have arranged to cede
to Siam, and the others they are proposing to
cede on certain conditions to China. They
have frankly explained their intentions to the
French Government, who will see that they are
not of a nature to give rise to uneasiness or
jealousy on the part of France. But until
these arrangements are completed, and they
are furnished with some more definite explana-
tions of the views of the French Government
with regard to the frontiers of Siam on the
east and north-east, it does not seem to them
that there is a sufficiently clear basis for a
formal engagement between the two Govern-
ments with regard to their respective interests
and spheres of influence in these regions."

The position of affairs in Siam, meanwhile,

was becoming critical. A peremptory intima-
tion was given by the French Government to
the Siamese authorities that the boundary of
Annam would be brought up to the eastern
bank of the Mekong, and a demand was made
for the withdrawal of the Siamese forces from
the disputed territory. The Siamese protested
against this assertion of territorial rights over
an area which had hitherto been regarded
as belonging to Siam, and insisted that any
delimitation must be based upon actual posses-
sion. They suggested that the disputed points
should be referred to arbitration. The French
Government declined to entertain this idea,
and replied to the Siamese protest by pushing
their posts further into the debatable land.
Positions were taken up at Stung-Treng and
the island of Khone — both being posts of
great strategical importance. The Siamese
retired without firing a shot, but they made up
for their inactivity on this occasion by an act
of aggression which was to cost them dear.
A French convoy on its way to Khone was
attacked by a body of Siamese soldiers and the
officer in command, Captain Thoreux, was
made prisoner and taken to Bassac. This
incident tended very considerably to aggravate
an already overcharged situation. Its imme-
diate result was to induce the French Govern-
ment to order up reinforcements into the
disputed area and to conduct a more vigorous
initiative all along the line. The Siamese
were not at all intimidated by these measures.
At the capital active steps were taken to pre-
pare for the worst, and on the Annam border
a Siamese attack was made on a body of
French troops, with the result that a French
sergeant and some seventeen soldiers were
killed and all their property destroyed. In
regard to the latter incident there was, it is
true, at first a disavowal of responsibility on
the part of the Siamese Government, but no
one attached importance to this plea at the
time, and it was eventually abandoned. It was
daily becoming clearer to every one at
Bangkok that the war cloud was on the point
of bursting.

Amongst the British commercial community
the outlook was viewed with grave misgiving.
British interests were enormously preponde-
rant at Bangkok, and the chief force of any
blow which might be delivered would neces-
sarily fall upon British traders. Moreover,
with a vast floating population, composed
largely of low-class Chinese, there was serious
danger of a rising in the event of an attack by
the French. Urgent representations were
made to Lord Rosebery by the Borneo Com-
pany and other great trading firms of the
dangers of the position, and the Government
were requested to send warships to meet any
eventuality that might arise. The ministry,
responding, as they were bound to do, to this
demand, issued the necessary orders to the
naval authorities, and two small British war-
ships soon dropped anchor at the mouth of
the Menam. Their appearance on the scene
excited not a little irritation in France, as the
measure was accepted as a confirmation of
the suspicions, held quite unjustly, that the
British Government was backing the Siamese
Government up in its resistance to French
demands. The sentiments entertained by the

French Government at the period are outlined
in this despatch, dated July 3, 1893, from Lord
Kosebery to Mr. Phipps, who was in charge of
the British Embassy during Lord Dufferin's
temporary absence : —

" I received a visit to-day from the French
Charge d'Affaires, who called to furnish me
with a spontaneous explanation from M.
Develle respecting the course of affairs in
Siam. He said, with some strength of
language, that for the last ten years France
had been suffering a series of paltry wrongs
and encroachments on the part of Siam,
which she had hitherto been too much occu-
pied by the difficulty of organising her
administration in Tonkin to resent. Of late,
however, she had thought it necessary to do
so, as well as to assert her right on the left
bank of the Mekong. The Siamese had
resisted these proceedings, had fired on the
French Iroops, and had also captured a French
officer, whom they had promised to deliver
up, though they had not- done so.

" I asked if it were not the fact that Captain
Thoreux was coming from the Mekong by
land, and whether it did not take a long time
to make the journey.

" M. d'Estournelles said that was the fact, and
that this prolonged journey was a further aggra-
vation. In any case, the Siamese had shown
backwardness and tardiness in offering satis-
faction for this outrage, and the French Govern-
ment could wait no longer. He then went on
to complain of the language of Sir E. Grey in
the House of Commons, as tending to give an
impression in Siam and in France that Great
Britain was giving her support to the Siamese.

"This view I at once contested, stating that I
did not think Sir E. Grey's words could be so
interpreted. The despatch of British ships to
Siam was rendered necessary by the fact that
our merchants loudly demanded protection —
not against France, but against a native rising
which they feared was imminent. Complaints
had already been made that I was too supine in
the matter, but if a rising were to take place,
and British life and property were to be
injured, I should be very seriously and justi-
fiably attacked. I reminded M. d'Estournelles
that the official map published in France
showed that the places recently invaded by
the French were in Siamese territory. But
I had always sedulously kept aloof, and I
authorised him to tell M. Develle that from
the very inception of this business I had never
seen the Siamese minister or any one con-
nected with him. On the other hand, through
Sir T. Sanderson, and through H.M.'s minister
at Bangkok, I had inculcated the desirability of
coming to a prompt understanding and peace-
ful settlement with France, which should in-
clude all pending difficulties, and settle the
frontier question on a permanent basis."

It is manifest from this despatch that French
opinion at the time was very much excited
against Siam, and that a strong disposition
existed to push matters to extreme limits.
The P'rench Charge d'Affaires was eloquent
in his interview with Lord Rosebery about
the "wrongs" inflicted by the Siamese; and
no doubt there were some irritating incidents
in the past relations of the Fiench and the
Siamese to exacerbate feeling in France. But

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

the real motive force at the back of the French
claims was an earth hunger on the part of the
forward school of French colonial politicians,
who at that period, owing to various causes,
had a predominant voice in the direction of
the external policy of the Republic.

CHAPTER XIII

Growth of the war spirit in Siani — Arrival of
French warships at the mouth of the Menam
— They pass up to Bangkok under afire from
the Siamese forts — Consternation at Bang-
kok — Despatch of an ultimatum to the
Siamese Government — A blockade established
— Negotiations between the British and the
French Governments — A convention signed
at Bangkok by the French and Siamese
representatives — Franco-British agreement
relative to the r rontier.

While the position of Siain in the face of
the French demands was, as we have seen,
engaging the serious attention of the British
and French Foreign Offices, the war spirit in
Siam was daily rising higher. The patriotic
feeling was stirred to its depths by what was
regarded as the unjust claims of France to
territory which it was claimed had long been
Siamese, and it was deemed a point of national
honour to resist to the utmost these attempts
at aggression. Critics of the Siamese Govern-
ment censured it severely for this bellicose
attitude, and. no doubt its resistance beyond a
certain point was in the eyes of the world
sheer folly ; but it has always to be remem-
bered that an Oriental Power has to consider
seriously the effect that a tame surrender, even
in the face of overwhelming odds, will have on
its subjects. Moreover, it must not be over-
looked that British intervention, however
chimerical the idea might have seemed in
Whitehall, was regarded on the spot at the
time, and not merely by the Siamese, as quite
within the bounds of possibility. Whatever
the truth may have been on this point, the
Siamese Government had no doubt in its mind
as to the necessity of preparing for the crisis
which was obviously approaching. The de-
fences at Paknam were overhauled, and the
king himself spent some days there personally
superintending the operations. Simultaneously
measures were taken, not very successfully, as
it turned out, to block the channel of the river.
The preparations were barely completed ere
the French cruiser Inconstant and the gun-
boat Comete appeared at the mouth of the
Menam. An intimation of the fact of their
arrival was given to the Siamese Government,
with a notification that they would cross the
bar on the evening of July 13th. To this an-
nouncement Prince Devawongse, the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, replied (1) that the reasons
advanced by France for sending warships
were neither valid nor founded on facts ; (2)
that the Siamese Government objected to an
interpretation of the treaty which would give
any Power an absolute right to send into the
territorial waters of Siam and to the capital

of the kingdom as many war vessels as they
should like. "The spirit of the Treaty cannot
be," it was added, " that Siam should be
deprived of the natural right of any nation to
protect itself, and the French Government will
easily understand, under present circum-
stances, we cannot, without abdicating our
right to exist as an independent State, adopt
such interpretation." M. Pavie, the French
representative at Bangkok, replied to this
with a statement that he had not failed to
inform his Government of the Siamese objec-
tions to the Inconstant S entry into the river,
and an intimation that he had equally made
known that " I have insisted with your High-
ness that the Inconstant, while waiting a reply,
anchors at Paknam conformably to the
Treaty." Prince Devawongse in turn wrote
in answer to this : " I feel obliged to state
without delay that my objections against the
Inconstant passing the bar are of a general
nature, and apply to its anchoring at Paknam
as well as its going up to Bangkok. . . .
Indeed, the reasonable interpretation which I
think ought to be given to the Treaty, as not
depriving Siam of the essential right of any
State to watch over its own safety and inde-
pendence, is applicable to any part of our
territorial waters." This firm attitude taken
up by the Siamese authorities was proof
against a strong verbal protest which M.
Pavie made at an interview he had with
Prince Devawongse on July 12th. After the
meeting the Prince wrote to the French
representative as follows : " Notwithstanding
your insistence in our interview to-day on
having the Inconstant and the Comctc ad-
mitted to anchor at Paknam, it is my duty
to maintain my peremptory objections which
I made in my preceding letter, against their
entering the waters of the Menam, and to
declare that under present* circumstances the
Government of his Majesty is unable to con-
sent to the presence in this river of more
than one warship of any State. All necessary
instructions to that effect have been given to
our naval and military authorities."

Obviously the position was now such that
unless one parly receded hostilities were inevit-
able. At Paris the news of the uncompromising
character of the Siamese opposition had made
an impression — the greater, no doubt, because
opinion in Great Britain at the time was greatly
excited at the course of events in Siam, and
strong pressure was being brought to bear by
Lord Rosebery upon the French Government
to take no action which would precipitate
hostilities. Orders were sent out to the
admiral in command of the French Indo-
Chinese squadron to issue instructions that
the French ships should remain outside the
bar. Unfortunately the instructions did not
reach the Menam in time to prevent the step
which was fraught with so much danger to
peace. On the evening of July 13th the two
French warships hauled up their anchors, and
the Inconstant, with the master of a small
French coasting ship, the J. B. Say, acting
as pilot, proceeded up the river. What
further happened is narrated by Captain
Jones in a despatch to Lord Rosebery of
the date July 17, 1893 :—

" It was now approaching dusk, the tide was

rapidly rising, and some trading-vessels were
passing through the channel to the south. As
soon as they had cleared it the commander of
the Inconstant gave the signal to enter, the
J. B. Say (which had already provided itself
with a local pilot) leading the way. A heavy
thunder-cloud, with torrential rain, helped to
conceal the vessels from the batteries, and as
soon as they were abreast of the outer fort the
Inconstant steamed ahead, going on the flood
tide at the rate of twelve knots, and exchanged
shots with the forts and Siamese 'ships which
had begun to take part in the engagement.

" The firing on both sides seems to have been
of the wildest, as comparatively few casualties
happened to ships or men. The French have
lost three men killed and the same number
wounded ; the Siamese return fifteen killed
(solely by the machine-guns in the tops) and
about twenty wounded. The J. B. Say was
struck by a shot alter leaving the channel, and
foundered shortly after. The ships were under
fire altogether about twenty-five minutes.

" The intelligence that the French ships had
succeeded in forcing their way had scarcely
reached Bangkok before the vessels themselves
arrived and anchored near to the French Lega-
tion. The Siamese fleet followed closely after,
intending to bring them to action in the river,
but fortunately orders arrived from the King
to abstain from attack, and the night passed
by both parties in making preparations for the
morrow.

"As those charged with the defence of the
river had repeatedly assured the King that the
passage of the bar had been rendered abso-
lutely impracticable by the measures taken —
sinking of ships, torpedoes, &c. — the news of
the French success fell on the Court like a
thunderclap, as no preparations had been
made in case of insuccess, but everything
was at once done by the King's command to
secure and maintain order, and although great
excitement and alarm prevailed among the
European merchants — caused chiefly by the
menacing conduct and hostile demonstrations
of the French ships during the night — -yet
nothing happened to provoke riot or revolu-
tion, and tranquillity has continued until the
present time.

" All danger was to be feared from the King
putting into execution his original resolution
of abandoning his capital and retreating into
the interior, taking with him his troops, Court,
and chief functionaries, under which circum-
stances anarchy would follow at once, and the
whole city be abandoned to the criminal classes
and their work of fire and plunder.

" Happily, also, nothing has occurred from
stoppage of trade, &c, to force the principal
traders to close their rice or teak mills up to
the present time, which would have thrown
out of work many thousands of Chinese coolies,
the most turbulent and reckless class of the
population.

" The arrival of her Majesty's ship Linnet
early on the 14th inst. tended most materially
to reassure those who feared immediate riot
and destruction. The presence of a Dutch gun-
boat also went far to restore confidence.

" Many causes have been assigned by the
chief actors themselves to explain away their
failure in preventing the French vessels pass-

:r,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ing the bar — the approaching dusk, hastened
by the sudden thunderstorm, obscured the
view of the vessels from the forts ; the
obstacles in the channel were insufficient to
impede their progress, and of the two torpe-
does tired, one exploded too soon and the other
too late.

•' The officer in charge of the defence wished
to close the channel effectually and altogether
on the morning of the 13th, but in view of the
generally favourable and reassuring political
prospects at that moment, and the expected
arrival of the Austrian Crown Prince, his advice
was overruled in the King's Council."

Having made good their entrance to the
river, the French were content to rest on their
laurels for a few days and await events. As,
however, it soon became evident that their
successful antp had brought them no nearer a
solution of the difficulty, the French Govern-
ment, on July 20, sent through M. Pavie the
following ultimatum to the Siamese authori-
ties : —

" 1. Recognition of the rights of Cambodia
and Annam to left bank of river Mekong and
the Islands.

" 2. The Siamese shall evacuate, within one
month's time, any posts which are there held
by them.

"3. Satisfaction for the various acts of
aggression against French ships and sailors
in the river Menam and against French sub-
jects in Siam.

"4. Pecuniary indemnities to the families of
the victims and punishment of the culprits.

" 5. For various damages inflicted on French
subjects indemnities of 2,000,000 fr.

"6. As a guarantee for the claims under
clauses 4 and 5 the sum of 3,000,000 fr. in
dollars shall be at once deposited, or, in de-
fault, the farming of the taxes of Siemrep and
Battambong shall be assigned to the French.

" In the event of the non-acceptance of these
terms the French Minister will leave Bangkok
and the blockade of the coast will at once take
place.

"The Siamese Minister for Foreign Affairs,
in view of the French demands for immediate
surrender of the country to the east of Mekong,
calls the attention of her Majesty's Government
to conditions on which Kiang Chiang was
transferred to Siam."

The following reply was returned by Siam to
the French ultimatum : —

" 1. The King of Siam declares that no
explicit definition has as yet ever been made
to the Siamese Government as to what consti-
tutes the rights of Cambodia and Annam on
the Mekong. But as H.M. is anxious at once
to secure peace and security for his people, he
agrees to cede to France the country lying to
the south of the 18U1 parallel of latitude and to
the east of the Mekong.

" 2. The withdrawal of all Siamese posts
within the above-mentioned territory to take
place forthwith.

" 3. The loss of life which has occurred in
the recent actions between the French and
the Siamese forces is regretted by the King,
and the satisfaction required by France will be
given in accordance with ordinary justice and
the independence of Siam, which the French
Government affect to respect.

" 4. Those found guilty of illegal aggression
will receive condign punishment, and the
sufferers will receive due reparation.

"5. The King agrees to pay the indemnity
demanded on account of the claims advance.!
by French subjects, although the justice of
many of them has been denied by the Siamese.
H.M., however, suggests that a joint commis-
sion should first investigate these claims.

"6. The sum of 3,000,000 fr. required as
guarantee will be deposited, concurrently with
the exchange of notes between the represen-
tatives of France and Siam. After the equit-
able adjustment of all reasonable claims, the
King trusts that French justice will restore to
Siam any sum which may remain over.

"This compliance with the demands of
France will, the King trusts, be looked upon
as a proof of his sincere desire to live with
the French Republic on terms of friendship."

This submission, though it conceded almost
everything, did not satisfy the French. M.
Pavie ^ent in reply a letter in which he
announced that in conformity with instructions
from his Government he was transferring
the protection of French nationals and
protected persons to the Netherlands Consul-
General, and that on July 26th he intended to
embark on the Inconstant. Acting up to this
declaration, M. Pavie left Bangkok and settled
at the island of Koh-si-chang. On July 28th
Admiral Humann, who had just arrived with
some ships of the French squadron from
Saigon, issued a notice that a strict blockade
would commence on July 29. The proclama-
tion excited the greatest consternation in
British commercial circles, and the wires
were set in motion to avert what was feared
would prove a disastrous blow to trade. The
representative mercantile bodies at home took
up the question in earnest. In forcible
language the Leeds Chamber of Commerce re-
presented to the Government the great concern
they felt at the action of France towards Siam
— action which they regarded "as threatening
both the independence and the stability of a
friendly and unaggressive neighbour and the
large trading interests in this country." Other
not less urgent representations were made by
other bodies. The blockade continued with
some exciting incidents until August 3rd, when,
much to the relief of everybody, it was raised
and diplomatic relations were restored between
Siam and France. The event which had
brought about this much to be desired change
from the atmosphere of war to peace was the
conclusion of an agreement between the
British and the French Governments to make
the frontier question a matter of diplomatic
arrangement between themselves.

The negotiations were commenced at Paris
at the end of July, when Lord Dufferin, the
British ambassador, had an interview with
M. Develle, the French Foreign Minister.
Narrating the circumstances of this interview,
Lord Dufferin, writing on July 23, says : —

" After a preliminary conversation, I in-
formed M. Develle that I had been sent with
instructions to enter upon a friendly inter-
change of ideas with him in reference to the
Siamese question, and more especially with
regard to the interpretation which the French
Government intended to place upon the first

article of their ultimatum, namely, the demand
that Siam should recognise 'the left bank of
the Mekong ' as the western boundary of the
French possessions in Indo-China. I then
communicated to his Excellency in very exact
and careful language the entire substance of
your Lordship's instructions to me as contained
in your despatch of July 20th, and I insisted at
some length on the various considerations which
had induced your Lordship to suppose that in
using the term ' the left bank of the Mekong '
his Excellency could not have intended to
claim for France" the immense tracts of Siamese
territory extending not to the east; and abutting
upon Annam, but to the nor;hwards of the
Upper Mekong, and conterminous with China,
not to mention the districts lying beyond
which had been incorporated with her
Majesty's Empire of India after the conquest
of Burmah.

" M. Develle replied that as it was with Siam,
and with Siam alone, that France was dealing,
there could be no question of her laying claim
to any territory outside the kingdom of Siam.
no matter how situated, and he incidentally
gave ine the further assurance that there was
no truth in the report that his Government had
any intention of taking possession of the
Siamese provinces of Battambang and Angkor.

"I then produced a map which 1 had
brought with me, and, pointing out the way
in which the Mekong makes a sudden bend
just above the 18th parallel of latitude to the
southward and westward and the sub-
sequent bend in the same direction at the 20th
parallel, I asked M. Develle whether the
extensive territories at these points between
the Mekong and the actual French boundary
depicted upon the existing French maps, com-
prising the Principality of Luang Prabang and
other districts, were also claimed by Fiance as
lying on ' the left bank of the Mekong.' M.
Develle said that they were intended to
be included under that definition, and that
France claimed a right to Luang Prabang and
the adjacent countries as being ancient and
historic dependencies of Annam ; and that,
furthermore, she had always insisted that her
territorial sovereignty extended all along the
left bank of the Mekong. I ventured to express
my extreme surprise at this latter statement,
and I called M. Develle's attention to the fact
that on several occasions M. Waddington, in
his communications with the Marquis of
Salisbury, had in the most explicit terms
repudiated any such pretensions on behalf of
his Government. . . .

" I further remarked that even if France
has persistently advanced such a claim as
M. Develle has supposed, which certainly
she had not done through any authoritative
channel, a claim by no means proved a right,
and that many claims advanced both by nations
and by individuals had been found on examina-
tion to be unsubstantial and unjust.

" I then recurred to the proposed absorption
by France of Luang Prabang and the adjacent
districts, an area comprising nearly 100,000
square miles, which had been ■ universally
recognised for years past as integral parts of
the Siamese kingdom, and I recalled M.
Develle's attention to that part of your
Lordship's instructions in which you desire

A SIAMESE GIRL.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

me to insist on the incompatibility of the
confiscation by France of so considerable a
proportion of the kingdom of Siain with
M. Develle's and the French Government's
previous assurances that they had no intention
to allow their dispute with Siam on the Lower
Mekong to entail any measures which would
jeopardise her integrity or her independence.
How could these professions, I asked, which I
knew had been made in perfect sincerity, be
reconciled with the slicing off of what amounted
to nearly a third of the kingdom ?

" M. Develle listened to me with his usual
courtesy and attention, and it was impossible
not to feel that he was giving a very anxious
consideration to my arguments. He seemed
particularly struck with what I told him about
M. Waddington's communications to Lord
Salisbury on the subject.

" I then proceeded to touch upon another
aspect of the question. I said that our two
Governments were pretty well agreed upon
one very important point, namely, that it was
desirable that France and England should not
become limitrophe in Asia, and that Siam as an
independent State should be left as a buffer
between them. Again referring to the map, I
pointed out that were France to take possession
of the left bank of the Upper Mekong, it would
bring her into direct contiguity with Burmah,
in consequence of the two rapid bends which
the northern Mekong takes to the westward, and
that the approach of a great military Power
like France to a frontier at present lying naked
to attack could not be regarded by us with
indifference, even if the previous considerations
I had submitted to him were for the moment
to be left out of account. And in this
connection I called M. Develle's attention to
the fact that in our recent cession to Siam of a
Shan State which has hitherto been subject to
Burmah, we had expressly stipulated that it
should never be allowed to pass under the
jurisdiction of another Power, and that,
consequently, we ourselves possessed a rever-
sionary interest in this portion of Siamese
territory ' which was situated on the left
bank of the Mekong.'

"Although there are some further considera-
tions which it may be desirable to submit to
M. Develle, I thought that I had said enough
for the present, and I therefore concluded by
impressing upon him in as earnest terms as
I could command the extreme gravity which
the situation might assume were the French
demands to be pressed upon Siam beyond
what was just and reasonable and in con-
formity with the legitimate interests of other
Powers. Was it worth while, I asked, for the
sake of a violent acquisition of territory to
which France herself must know she had no
legal right, to risk such grave complications as
must inevitably arise were the claim to the left
bank of the Mekong to be interpreted in an
unrestricted and literal sense ? But I said that
if I rightly understood the terms of the first
article of the ultimatum as verbally communi-
cated to Mr. Phipps (for we had never received
a copy of it), it had itself contained some sort
of qualification in a geographical reference to
Cambodia and Annam. In any event M.
Develle could not have failed to understand
that, although at the outset of the dispute the

English Government had considered the mis-
understanding between France and her Siamese
neighbour in regard to obscure questions of
delimitation on the Lower Mekong as beyond
their purview, the situation was entirely
changed when the expanding claims of the
French Government jeopardised the integrity
of the entire kingdom of Siam, brought France
nearly half-way down to Bangkok and into
actual juxtaposition with ourselves and Bur-
mah. Such a transformation of the French
pretensions was undoubtedly calculated to
excite alarm in England and the most serious
apprehensions in the mind of her Majesty's
Government.

"After again listening with the most
courteous attention to this further exposition
of our views, M. Develle observed that the
terms of the first article of his ultimatum
having been published to the world, and all
France being acquainted with them, he could
not now alter them, especially under manifest
pressure from us. Public opinion in France
was equally excited. The Siamese had been
guilty of various outrages and had committed
considerable wrongs on French subjects. They
had fired upon French ships of war, and we
must not be surprised at France pursuing a
line of conduct which England herself would
have adopted in similar circumstances. But
he himself was quite ready to recognise the
force of my observations in regard to the
necessity of leaving a 'buffer' between the
Asiatic possessions of France and England
and thus leave a door open for future negotia-
tions. I thought it prudent to ask H.E. to
give me an assurance that an acceptance on
the part of the Siamese of the first article of
the ultimatum should not militate against a
settlement of this part of the question in the
sense desired by us. He was good enough for-
mally to promise that it should not, inasmuch as
it referred to a different order of idea and was
a matter of joint interest to Great Britain and
to France. In any event, he added, he must
consult his experts. This observation filled me,
I confess, with considerable misgivings. Of
course, I could raise no objection to such a
course, but in as courteous a manner as was
possible I ventured to observe that subordinates
in a public office were often fanatically anxious
about special points and were prone to sacrifice
the larger interests of their country in pursuit
of their own narrow preoccupations, and that
it was his Excellency who was responsible for
the peace of Europe and the world, about
which these experts generally cared but little."

Lord Dufferin a day or two later had a
second interview with M. Develle, when the
discussion on the question of a territorial
arrangement was renewed. In a despatch of
the date July 26th the British ambassador
recounts the results of this further exchange of
views : —

" We proceeded to renew our discussion on
the main question, during the course of which
we went over a good deal of the ground which
we had covered at our interview on Saturday,
M. Develle still maintaining his two previous
theses : first, that Luang Prabang was an
actual dependency of Annam, and, secondly,
that France abantiquo had vindicated her right
to the left bank of the Mekong. Upon my

part I urged that to adduce Annam's historical
claim to Luang Prabang was a dangerous line
of argument, for we might on almost equally
tangible grounds demand the retrocession of
Normandy, Gascony, and Guierine. M. Develle
knew as well as I did that in every French
Annuaire, in every French map, in every
French geographical gazetteer Luang Pra-
bang, until a year ago, had been described as
an integral part of Siam. It was true that
within the last twelve months a mysterious
revolution had occurred in the minds of French
geographical authorities, but as an honest man
he must be convinced, as I was, that the dis-
trict in question was and had been for nearly a
century bona fide Siamese territory, and that it
could not be confiscated by Fiance without a
flagrant infringement of the formal assurances
he had given us not to impair the integrity of
Siam. As for the pretension advanced by
France ab antique to the left bank of the
Mekong, such a supposition was not only con-
tradicted by M. Waddington's express declara-
tions on the subject, but by the further fact
that under the Franco-Siamese Convention of
1886 the French had claimed the right of send-
ing a Vice-Consul to Luang Prabang. This in
itself was an absolute proof that the locality
belonged to Siam. M. Develle objected that
the Cjnvention in question hud been refused
ratification by the French Chambers. That, I
said, did not in any degree affect my conten-
tion. The draft Convention distinctly showed
in what light Luang Prabang was at that time
regarded by the French Government.

" M. Develle then proceeded to reinforce his
previous arguments by various other considera-
tions — amongst them that the tribes on the
western borders of Tonquin had been lately
giving a good deal of trouble, and that it was
necessary therefore that they should be sub-
jected to French authority, and he endeavoured
to minimise the character of the contemplated
annexation.

" At this point M. Develle put up the shutters
on this compartment by saying that the ulti-
matum having once been published to K ranee
and to Siam, it was impossible for the Govern-
ment, in the excited state of public opinion, to
withdraw or modify it.

" After expressing my great regret at so
untoward an intimation in regard to the ulti-
matum, which I could not help thinking had
been launched somewhat ' a la legere,' I sug-
gested to M. Develle that we should proceed
to a discussion of the further aspect of the
question, namely, as it affected English in-
terests apart from those of Siam, and I again
reminded him that it was quite out of the ques-
tion that we should accept an arrangement
which made France conterminous with our
Indian Empire. France herself had always
advocated the policy of introducing an inde-
pendent State as a ' buffer ' between the two
countries, and it was evident that it was for the
advantage of both France and England that
a neutral territory should intervene between
them. To this M. Develle cordially assented.
He said that he fully recognised our right to
intervene in the Franco-Siamese question on
these grounds, and that he was most anxious
to consult our wishes and interests in the
matter, whether as regarded our predilection

A LAOSIAN TRIBESMAN.

ftO

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

in favour of flie ' buffer ' principle or our desire
for facilities for trade with China in that neigh-
bourhood. I then asked him whether he had
in his own mind considered the width of the
area which should be left between our respective
frontiers, and as we bent over the map together
I pointed out the Namu, which flows into the
Mekong a little to the west of Luang Pra-
bang, as affording a suitable line of demarca-
tion, if we were driven to a solution on this
basis and our views in regard to Luang Pra-
bang were to be ignored. His Excellency did
not seem to be averse to this suggestion, though
he subsequently said he would prefer to sub-
stitute its western watershed for the river itself,
on the understanding that a parallel line should
demarcate the Burmese frontier between the
Salween and the Mekong. On this I told him
that, to the best of my belief, such a line already
existed. In right of Burmah the jurisdiction
of England had been extended over the Shan
province of Kyaing Chaing, which lay on both
sides of the Mekong, but with the view of con-
sulting French susceptibilities, and in order to
avoid the appearance of advancing too far east-
wards, we ourselves had already re-enforced
the ' buffer' principle by handing this province
over to Siam, and retiring to a considerable
distance westwards from the Mekong."

To facilitate matters the British Government
sent to Captain Jones instructions to recom-
mend the Siamese authorities to make an im-
mediate and unconditional compliance with
the French demands. The advice thus given
was taken, with the consequence that the
blockade was raised, as already related, and
the way paved for an amicable discussion of
the territorial question. The arrival at Bangkok
at the beginning of August of M. le Myre de
Velers as a special Minister Plenipotentiary
indicated the importance which the French
Government attached to the negotiations. M.
le Myre de Velers was a former Governor-
General of Indo-China, and a man of much expe-
rience in the ways of Oriental diplomacy. He
had not been long in the Siamese capital before
he found that the settlement of outstanding
questions was not to be an easy one. The
Siamese Government was sore under the
series of humiliations which had been in-
flicted upon it, the last and not the least of
which was the forced acceptance by it of a
series of conditions embracing the occupation
by French troops of the river and port of
Chantabun and a prohibition against the
stationing of Siamese troops anywhere within
twenty-five kilometres of the Mekong river.
The king, under the depression of the situation,
had retired to his Summer Palace, a consider-
able distance from the capital, and was disin-
clined to return to receive the French repre-
sentative. M. de Velers, however, insisted on a
full measure of respect being shown him,
and eventually an arrangement was made
by which he was received at the palace at
Bangkok on the same day that a court func-
tion was held which necessitated the king's
presence there. Meanwhile, negotiations had
been entered upon, on the Siamese side in a
half-hearted, dilatory fashion. The king retired
once more to his Summer Palace, and his
ministers found it practically impossible to
induce him to give his attention to the

pressing question of the moment. M. de
Velers' eager spirit chafed under the delay.
At length, after repeated and ineffectual pro-
tests, he on September 27th formally handed to
Prince Derawongse a convention drawn up
by the French Foreign Minister in Paris, with
an intimation that he would leave Siam in four
days whether the conditions set forth in the
document were accepted or not. This had the
desired effect. At the last moment the terms
were accepted by the Siamese Government
unconditionally, and on October 3rd the treaty
and convention were duly signed.

While the pressing dangers of the situation
had been removed by this surrender on the part
of the Siamese Government, there yet remained
for adjustment the delicate question of the ar-
rangement of the frontier and the determination
of the limits of the British and French spheres
of influence in the watershed of the Mekong.
In the long and important despatch of Lord
Dufferin of July 23rd quoted above it is shown
that at that time the British and French Govern-
ments had practically reached an agreement to
accept the principle of a buffer Siamese State
between British Burma and French Indo-
China. The somewhat stormy controversy
which arose out of the enforcement by the
French of a blockade of the Menam river
thrust the frontier question for a time into the
background, and it was not until the storm
clouds which seemed to threaten a rupture
between Great Britain and France had cleared
away that the threads of the negotiations were
once more seriously taken up. An agreement
was now reached without much difficulty. On
September 2nd Lord Rosebery was able to
write in the following satisfactory terms to
Lord Dufferin : —

" The difference between France and Siam,
which at one time assumed so threatening an
aspect, has happily been brought to a peace-
ful settlement. It was one in the later and
more serious phases of which Great Britain
could not be otherwise than greatly concerned,
on account of her preponderant commercial
intercourse with Siam, of her friendly relations
with that kingdom, her desire to preserve its
independence, and in view of the expediency,
in the interests both of France and Great
Britain, of maintaining a neutral territory
between the British and French possessions
in those regions.

"The French Government have shown them-
selves equally alive to the importance of this
last consideration, and your Excellency has
been able to come to an agreement with the
French Minister for Foreign Affairs as to the
general principle of an arrangement for secur-
ing the object in view ; and I do not doubt that
on your return to Paris you will find M. Develle
ready to negotiate with you the details of that
arrangement."

The agreement to which Lord Rosebery
referred in his despatch settled merely the
principle of the establishment of a buffer State,
and the exact boundaries had still to be fixed.
For this purpose a joint commission was ap-
pointed by the Governments concerned. There
was considerable delay in the taking of the
preliminary measures, and it was not until
December, 1894, that the commissioners got
to work. Many more months passed before

they had fully completed their labours. Finally,
on January 15, 1896, an understanding was
reached by Great Britain and France under
which the two Powers agreed to the special
treatment of that portion of Siam which is
comprised within the drainage basin of the
Menam and of the coast streams of a corre-
sponding latitude. Within this area the two
Powers undertook that they would not operate
by their military or naval forces, except so far
as they might do it in concert for any purpose
which might be required for maintaining the
independence of Siam. They also undertook
not to acquire within that area any privileges
or commercial facilities which were not ex-
tended to both of them.

Lord Salisbury (who had by this time once
more taken charge of foreign affairs), in a
despatch of January 15, 1896, thus summarised
the points of the agreement : " It might be
thought that because we have engaged our-
selves, and have received the engagement of
France, not under any circumstances to invade
this territory, that therefore we are throwing
doubt upon the complete title and rights of the
Siamese to the remainder of their kingdom, or,
at all events, treating those rights with dis-
regard. Any such interpretation would en-
tirely misrepresent the intention with which
this agreement has been signed. We fully
recognise the rights of Siam to the full and
undisturbed enjoyment, in accordance with
long usage or with existing treaties, of the
entire territory comprised within her domin-
ions ; and nothing in our present action
would detract in any degree from the validity
of the rights of the King of Siam to those
portions of his territory which are not affected
by this treaty. We have selected a particular
area for the stipulations of this treaty, not
because the title of the King of Siam is less
valid, but because it is the area which affects
our interests as a commercial nation. The
valley of the Menam is eminently fitted to
receive a high industrial development. Pos-
sibly in course of time it may be the site of
lines of communication which will be of con-
siderable importance to neighbouring portions
of the British Empire. There seems every
prospect that capital will flow into this region
if reasonable security is offered for its invest-
ment, and great advantage would result to the
commerce and industry of the world, and
especially of Great Britain, if capitalists could
be induced to make such an application of the
force which they command. But the history
of the region in which Siam is situated has not
in recent years been favourable to the extension
of industrial enterprise, or to the growth of
that confidence which is the first condition of
material improvement. A large territory to
the north has passed from the hands of the
Burmese Government to those of Great Britain.
A large territory to the east has passed from
the hands of its former possessors to those
of France. The events of this recent history
certainly have a tendency to encourage doubts
of the stability of the Siamese dominion ; and
without in any degree sharing in these doubts,
or admitting the possibility within any future
with which we have to deal of the Siamese in-
dependence being compromised, her Majesty's
Government could not but feel there would be

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

an advantage in giving some security to the
commercial world that in regard to the region
where the most active development is likely to
take place no further disturbances of territorial
ownership are to be apprehended. . . . Her
Majesty's Government hope that the signature
of this agreement will tend to foster the indus-
trial growth of all these extensive districts ;
and they have been sufficiently impressed with
this belief to be willing to attest it by admitting
the French claims to the ownership of the
Mong Hsing district of Keng Cheng, a tri-
angular portion of territory on the eastern side
of the Upper Mekong. Its extent and intrinsic
value are not large, and, on account of its
unhealthy character, it has no great attractions
for Great Britain, though her title to it as for-
merly tributary to Burmah appears to us evi-
dently sound ; but its retention by her might
prove a serious embarrassment to the cheap
and effective administration by France of her
possessions in that neighbourhood."

Lord Salisbury's views as to the satisfactory
character of the settlement were supported by the
Government of India. In a despatch of May 6,
1896, referring to the cession of Mong Hsing,
the Indian authorities wrote : " We were pre-
pared to cede this district to Siam in 1893 and
include it in a buffer State in 1894, and though
we were reluctantly compelled to occupy it in
1895, we have all along recognised that this
small excrescence on the other side of the
Mekong could be of no advantage or profit
to us.

"... We accept the settlement now made
with France as advantageous to the interests
of Burma and the Shan States, and the limita-
tion of our frontiers to the Mekong as making
for economy and efficiency in the civil and
political administration of the border. Under
some circumstances a possible loss of prestige
amongst the Shan chiefs might have been
involved in the renouncing of territory for-
merly belonging to Burma, and so recently
claimed as part of the dominions of the Queen
Empress. This, however, had been discounted
by the previously announced cession of Keng
Cheng to Siam and the consequent doubt and
uncertainty as to the future of the State.
Moreover, we have now a convenient oppor-
tunity of compensating the Keng Tung State,
which will gain in Cis-Mekong, Keng Cheng,
and Keng Lap territory exceeding in area and
value both the Trans-Mekong tracts which it
now loses and also those which passed to Siam
under the frontier settlement of 1894."

Thus the crisis — the greatest in modern
Siamese history — passed. Siam emerged from
it with greatly diminished territory, a depleted
treasury, and damaged prestige. But, severe
as was her trial, it is at least a debateable
point whether in the long run she will not gain
more than she has lost by the transaction. The
disputed territory which she had to surrender
was valuable more from its future possibilities
than its present worth. Siamese rule over the
greater part of it was very shadowy, and it
brought little or nothing to her exchequer. As
a set-off to it she had the guarantee of the
integrity of the acknowledged territory of Siam
under an instrument to which the two greatest
European colonising Powers had set their seal.
Such an arrangement was calculated to have a

tranquillising effect on the political relations of
Siam, and at the same time a stimulating influ-
ence on her material interests. That has been
the actual result. From the moment that the
Siamese Government reluctantly agreed to the
convention with France the country entered
upon a new and prosperous era. Trade ex-
panded, the revenue prospered, and the name
and fame of Siam abroad extended.

CHAPTER XIV

Commercial it-ogress — Rice cultivation — Railway
construction — Proposed new Anglo-Siamese
Agreement — Description of Kelantan — The
political history of Trengganu — Conclusion.

In recent years Siam has rejoiced in the happi-
ness which proverbially attaches to the country
which has no history — no stirring history. Her
record has been one of uninterrupted commer-
cial prosperity and peaceful and progressive
development. With her independence guaran-
teed by the Franco-British agreement, her
rulers have been able to devote their energies
to the consolidation of the nation's influence
within the limits assigned by that instrument,
and foreign capital has found in the country a
safe and increasingly lucrative sphere for in-
vestment. The beneficial effects of the new
regime are clearly revealed in the growing
trade of the country. The following table
shows the position as disclosed in the most
recent official reports.

Imports and Exports.

1902 ..

1903 ..

1904 ..

1905 ..

1906 ..

£
7,927,646

7,431,237
10,014,141

9,9«2,735
1 1 ,948,990

These are remarkable figures, and tell a story
of stable trade and increasing prosperity such as
few of the smaller Asiatic countries can show.
One factor which has contributed very largely
to the growth of commerce is the immense
development of rice cultivation which has taken
place in recent years under the fostering care of
the Government. In 1904 the total value of the
cereal exported considerably exceeded the value
of the entire trade of the country ten years
earlier. In 1906 rice accounted for 78 per
cent, of the total exports. Thus it may be
said to have attained to a predominant position
amongst the industries of Siam. But great as
has been the progress made in the past, it is
small by comparison with what may be ac-
complished in the future with the extension
of cultivation and the adoption of modern
agricultural appliances. An official writer,
whose report' was published in 1901, writing
of the utilisation of the rich waste lands of
Siam, says : —

" There are thousands of miles of such waste
lands still uncultivated, and it would seem that
there is nothing to which the Government of
1 "Trade and Shipping of South-East Asia.''

the country could with more" advantage turn its
immediate attention, in view of the small amount
of capital required, the revenues that must accrue
to the treasury, the splendid values that will be
added to the country in its increased productive
area, and the abundant employment afforded
a people who are to-day in need of such
encouragement."

"The opening up of these rich 1 ice-fields
is giving a new aspect to the question of
agriculture in this country. Besides the
thousands who are taking up' small holdings,
there are also those who are buying large
estates to await an increase in values and for
the cultivation of rice on an extensive scale.
Already the question of better methods and
tools for the cultivation of the land is of
importance.

"The crude wheels run by the human foot,
the wooden plough with its iron shoe, the
wooden-toothed buffalo rake used for a harrow,
the scattering of the seed by hand, the thrashing
floor of hardened mud and buffalo dung tramped
by buffalo hoofs, and the winnowing of grain
by the shovel and the wind must soon give
way to the windmill pump, the steel plough,
the improved harrow, the seed drill, and the
thrashing machine. Nothing has been done
in these directions, for instruments adapted
to the peculiar demands of the soil have not
yet been invented. Some enterprising inventor
should certainly be able to make agricultural
implements suitable for this country and reap
substantial financial benefits therefrom."

Generally speaking, it may be said that Siam
is still, from the commercial point of view,
largely in the making. Railways are needed
to develop her magnificent resources and bring
the remote districts of the interior into touch
with the capital, and through that avenue with
the markets of the world. Happily the Govern-
ment is sufficiently enterprising to recognise
this necessity and to attempt to supply it. An
important scheme of trunk communication to
the eastwards is in active progress and the first
section of the line to Chantabun was opened to
traffic by the King of Siam on January 24, 1908.
Simultaneously an additional stretch of the
northern line, 138 kilometres long, was
formally declared available for public use by
his Majesty. These projects, important in
themselves, are of special significance as
links in a great chain of railway communi-
cation which some day, probably not very
distant, will bring Siam into intimate touch
with the Indian railway system in Burma on
the one side and the British Malayan system on
the other. The effect of such a junction of
railway interests must be to add enormously
to the commercial importance of the country
by the development of its latent agricultural
and mineral resources. Meanwhile, the lines
will serve as civilising agencies and play a not
inconspicuous part in the administrative re-
generation of the country, which is greatly
needed in spite of the notable advance that
has been made in the arts of government in
the reign of the present monarch.

Arising indirectly, if not directly, out of the
question of railway communication in Siam,
there has been mooted the desirability of the
inclusion of a new agreement between the
British and the Siamese Governments relative to

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

the territory bordering on the Federated Malay
States on the eastern side of the peninsula.
The negotiations at the time of writing are
still in progress, but the main outlines of the
proposed arrangement are generally known,
and they will probably remain unaffected by
the exchange of views that is passing between
the two Governments. Briefly, the idea seems
to be that Siam should cede to Great Britain
her rights in the native States of Kelantan
and Trengganu and facilitate the establishment
of through railway communication between
Burma and the Malay Peninsula ; while Great
Britain on her part should consent to an impor-
tant modification of the principle of extra-
territoriality under which her subjects are
exempt from the operation of Siamese law.
The statement that the status of British subjects
in Siam was to be changed excited not a little
apprehension amongst the British community

and Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary,
announced in the House of Commons on May
5, 1908, that provisions to safeguard the interests
of British residents formed a part of the pro-
posals under consideration.

Assuming, as we may probably quite safely
do, that the agreement is ratified in its main
essentials, the result will be an important exten-
sion of British influence in the Malay Peninsula.
Sir Frank Swettenham, in his well-known
work on British Malaya, gives a description of
Kelantan, which may appropriately be quoted
here as it furnishes in picturesque form a
sketch of the leading features of territory
destined to figure very prominently in the
future development of the Malay Peninsula : —

" Kelantan is a sunny country on the east
coast of the Malay Peninsula, six degrees north
of the Equator. It is drained by a considerable
river, shallow throughout its length, with a

a considerable Malay town, with over ten
thousand inhabitants, ruled by a Malay sultan
and his various chiefs, all of whom are settled in
houses of some pretension in and about K6ta
Bharu.

" The people of this place have certain
peculiar customs, of which it maybe mentioned
that, though they are Mohamedans, the women
move about as freely as the men. They mind
the shops and deal with customers ; they wear
the silk sarongs for which Kelantan is famous,
and they do as much carrying and marketing,
gossiping and field work as their fathers,
husbands, brothers, and lovers. That is one
striking peculiarity of the place, and another is
that Kota Bharu is given up to various forms
of relaxation in a way unknown in any other
State in the Malay Peninsula. There is the
season for bull-fights and the season for ram-
fights, the boat-racing season, the cock-fighting

THE KING'S SUMMER PALACE AT BANG PAH INN.

at Bangkok, and some vigorous protests were
sent home against any tampering with the
lights they enjoyed under successive treaties of
being amenable only to British law. The
representations were not without their effect,

delta and several mouths, whose position is
constantly changed by the rush of the China
Sea battling for six months of the year against
the outcoming water and a sandy shore.
Twelve miles up the river, on its right bank, is

season, and the season when every one who is
any one goes down to the mouth of the river,
camps on the great stretches of sand which
divide the fresh waters of the river from the
salt waters of the sea, and there they disport

A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL FAMILY DRESSED FOR THE HAIR-CUTTING CEREMONY.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

themselves after their own fashion. The occa-
sion of this festival for sea-bathing, boat-sailing,
fish-catching, and general junketing is the
close of the north-east monsoon, when the
China Sea ceases to lash itself furiously against
the cast coast ; when its mighty roar dwindles
down to the cooing of the tiny silver-crested
waves, and the people of the land feel that they
are no longer prisoners, and can set their red
and white and orange and chocolate-coloured
sails and skim out over the gleaming waters to
wooded islands and deep-sea fishing-grounds.
There are few more fascinating pictures than
the Kelanlan fishing fleet, in all the glory of
strange hulls, mat and cloth sails of every hue
and quaint design, standing out to sea from the
river mouth at daybreak : the sun, just rising
above the horizon and throwing shafts of light
through the lifting mist across the silver grey
of the waveless sea ; the boats, several hundreds
in number, gliding in a fairy-like procession
from closest foreground to the utmost limit of
vision. They make a marvellous study in colour
and perspective, and parallel with the line of
their noiseless progress lies the shore — a long
stretch of grey-green wood and yellow sand,
divided from the sea by a narrow ribbon of
white wave.

"That is Kelantan from the sea. Twelve
miles of clear, island-studded river, winding
between rice-fields and palm-groves, form the
highway from the river mouth to the capital.
The Sultan's astana, or palace, which, with its
dependencies, surrounds on three sides a court
of sand, is closed on the fourth by a wooden
palisade with one great central gate Hanked by
smaller gates on either side. A se.ond and
similar set of gates forms a further enclosure,

about a hundred yards nearer the river. From
these outer portals to the river stretches a long
straight road, and on occasions of great cere-
mony the visitors whom the Sultan delights to
honour will find this road lined, on both sides
throughout its entire length, by spearmen, while
the principal chiefs and a great posse of retainers
escort the gutsts from the landing-stage to the
hall of audience, where the Sultan receives
thein. Beyond the palace, the town, the houses
and gardens of rajahs and chiefs, the country is
highly cultivated as far as the eye can reach.
Immense quantities of cocoanuts are grown
and made into copra, all of which is exported
to Singapore."

Kelantan in the past century was a fierce
bone of contention between the British
authorities in the Straits Settlements and the
Siamese Government. Sir Stamford Raffles,
in his famous farewell memorandum to which
reference has been made in a previous chapter,
dwelt upon the necessity of saving " the truly
respectable State of Tringanu" from the fate
\\ hich had overtaken Kedah. It was probably
owing to his representations that the article in
reference to Kelantan and Trengganu was in-
troduced into the Treaty of Bangkok in 1826.
Until 1862 the neutral position assigned to the
two States in the treaty was tacitly accepted by
Siam, but in that year the Siamese Government
proposed to send to Trengganu the ex-Sultan
of Lingga, whose design to make an attack on
Pahang and so disturb the peace of the penin-
sula was, Sir Frank Swettenham says, notorious.
"At first this remonstrance, made after a per-
sonal complaint from the Sultan of Trengganu
to the Governor [of the Straits Settlements] was
successful ; but some months later the ex-Sultan

of Lingga was sent to Trengganu in a Siamese
steamer, and as Colonel Cavenagh's renewed
and energetic protest and request for the
ex-Sultan's removal met with nothing but
promises which were not performed, the
Governor deputed two vessels of war and a
Straits Government steamer to Trengganu to
demand the immediate return of the ex-Sultan
of Lingga to Bangkok ; but the demand was
not complied with in the time allowed, the
Trengganu fort was shelled, and the Court of
Bangkok ultimately removed the ex-Sultan.
The shelling was merely a demonstration and
no one was hurt."

Whatever opinions may be held as lo the
legitimacy of Siamese rights in Kelantan and
Trengganu, there can be no question as to the
satisfactory character of the proposed arrange-
ment. Siam gives up what is of little value
to her and Great Britain obtains an extension
of territory, which will round off the splendid
heritage of which she is the guardian in the
Federated Malay States.

The future of Siam as far as human fore-
sight can sketch it is a bright one. It has no
menacing territorial questions to trouble it ; it
is hampered by no undue Conservatism, whether
in the matter of caste or official traditions, and
it rejoices in a territory of enormous agricul-
tural productiveness and potential mineral
wealth. These are no mean advantages, and,
taken in conjunction with the enlightened rule
introduced by the present king, whose record
reign of forty years is being celebrated as these
pages are passing through the press, they supply
a moderate guarantee of the continued advance
of the country along the paths of peaceful
commercial development.

THE KINGS OF SIAM

FROM THE TIME THE OLD CITY AYUTHIA WAS BUILT,
CHULA ERA 712, CORRESPONDING WITH A.D. 1350.

Xa.mk.

First Dynasty.

i Somdetch P'ra Rahmah T'ibaudee 1st.

2 Somdetch P'ra Rame-siian, son of the 1st,

who abdicated for

3 Somdetch P'ra Boroma-Rach'a-T'iraht.

4 Chow Oo-T'aung-lan, son of the 3rd.

5 Somdetch P'ra Rihme-siran, assassinated

the 4th, being the same person as the
and reign.

6 Somdetch P'ravah P'ra Rahm, son of the

,5th-

7 Somdetch P'ra Nak'aun In.

8 Somdetch P'ra Boroma Rahcha'ah T'ii ant,

son of the 7th.

9 Somdetch P'ra Bon. ma Trai Lohkanaht,

son of the 8th.

10 Somdetch P'ra Boroma Rahch'a, son of

the oth.

1 1 Somdetch P'ra Rahmah T'ibaudee 2nd.

12 Somdetch P'ra Boroma Rahch'ah Mahah

P'utt'ang, son of the nth.

13 P'ra Ratsat'a T'iraht, son of the 12th, five

years old.

14 Somdetch P'ra Ch'ai Rahch'a T'iraht, son

of the 12. h, killed by the 13th.

15 P'ra Yaut Fah, son of the 14th, aged

eleven years.

The 15th was slain by K'un W'ara-
u-ongsah-T'iraht, who took the throne
and reigned five months. Being a
usurper, his name is not allowed to
have a place among the names of
Siamese kings. He was assassinated
by K'un P'irena-t'ep, who placed on
the throne P'ra T'eean Rahch'ah, who
bore the name

16 Somdetch Mahah Chakra p'atdi Rahch'ah

T'iraht.

17 Somdetch P'ra Mahint'a Rahch'a T'iraht,

son of the 16th.

The capital of the kingdom was
taken in 918 by the King of Hongsah-
wadee or Pegu.

18 Somdetch P'ra Mahah Tama Rahch'ah

T'iraht.

19 Somdetch P Pa Xare-suan, son of the 18th.

20 Somdetch P'ra Eka Totsarot, younger

brother of 19th.

21 Chow Fah Sri-sawa-p'ahk, son of the 20th.

Here closes the dynasty of Somdetch
P'ra Rahmah T'ibaudee, being twenty
different kings, one of them having
reigned twice.

Second Dynasty.

22 P'ra Chow Song T'am slew the 21st and

reigned.

23 P'ra Ch'etah Tiraht Otsarot, an elder

brother of the 22nd.

The Prime Minister, Chow P'raya
Kalahom Sri-suri-wortg, assassinated
the 23rd, and placed on the throne

Chula
Era.

712

731

732

744

754

763
780

Length of
Reign.

Years.

135 1 ] 20

1371 i '
1 37 1 13

1383 1 7 davs

1383 ' 6

1387 »s

1 4c ] 18

1419 17

1435 16

8ll 1450 2?

832 j 14/0 40

871 I '510 5

8 75 i !5'4 5 mo.

875 1514 15

889 1528 2j

891 j 1530
9i7 '556

918 1557
940 1579

955 1584 j 9

963 ' 1609 : 1 2 mo.

964

1603 26

989 1628 ' 1 7 mo.

Second Dynasty — continued.

Chula
Era.

24 P'ra Aht'itaya-wong, a brother of the 991 ' 1631

23rd, nine years old.

Here closes this dynasty, being three
reigns.

Third Dynasty.

The last king was driven from the
throne by the Siamese nobles and
lords, and they put in his place the
Prime Minister above mentioned, named

25 P'ra Chow Prasiiht T'aung. 992 1631

26 Chow Fah Ch'ai, son of the 25th. 1017 1656

27 P'ra Sri-sut'ama Rahch'ah, killed the 26th 1018 1657

and reigned.

28 Somdetch P'ra Narai, son of the 25th, 1018 1657

killed the 27th.

29 P'ra P'et Rahch'ah. 1044 1683

He is called a usurper, and is not
allowed an honourable place among
the kings.

30 P'ra P'utt'a Chow Sii-a, son of the 28th. 1059 1698

31 P'ra Chow Yu Hiia Tai Sa:,son of the 1068 1709

30th.

32 P'ra Chow Yii Hiia Boroma koht, brother 1094 1733

of the 31st.

33 Chow Fah Dauk-madii-a, son of the 32nd, 1120 1759

and then abdicated the throne for the
elder brother,

34 P'ra Chow T'inang Suriya Marintara. 1120 1759

With this reign closed the dynasty
of Prasiiht T'aung. There were, ex-
cluding the usurper, nine kings in all.
The whole term in which the above-
named thirty-four kings reigned is
417 years, averaging 123 years each.

The Burmese sacked the capital in
the year 1767 and carried away many
captives. The chief of the Siamese
army rallied the Siamese under him
at T'onaburee, which is now the site
of his Royal Highness Krom P'ra
Chakrapatt'apong's palace. He built
a walled city in this place, and
reigned as

35 King P'ravah Tank-sin.

The Fourth and Present Dynasty.

A Siamese general of great celebrity
under P'ravah Tahk-sin took the throne,
named

36 Somdetch P'ra Boroma Rahch'ah P'ra

P'utta Yaut Fah.

37 P'ra P'utt'a L'ot-lah, son of the 36th.

38 P'rabaht Somdetch P'ra Nang K!6w, son

of the 37th.

39 P'rabaht Somdetch P'ra Paramendr Ma-

hahmongkut, son of the 37th.

40 P'rabaht Somdetch P'ra Paramendr Ma-

hah Chulalongkorn Klow, the present
king, son of the 39th.

1 1 29

1 144

1171
1 186

12 13

1230

1767

1782

1809
I824

Length of
Reign.

Years.
5 'no.

9 mo.
2§ mo.

10
-'7

10 davs

15
27

1851 17
1868

F *

H.R.H. SOMDETCH CHAO FA MAHA VAJIRAVUDH, THE CROWN PRINCE OF SIAM.

THE ROYAL FAMILY

IS Majesty S.midetch
Phra Paramendr Maha
Chulalongkorn, King of
Siam of the North and
South, Sovereign of the
Laos, the Malays, &c,
is the fifth sovereign of
the Chakrakri dynasty,
founded 126 years ago.
His Majesty, who is the eldest son of King
Maha Mongkut and of Queen Ramboi Bhani-
bhorom, was born on September 20, 1853,
and, in accordance with the custom of Siam,
where the reigning king can choose whom-
soever he wishes from among his offspring
as his successor, was selected to rule by his
royal father. He was educated by Mrs.
Leonowens, an English lady, and ascended
the throne on the death of his father in
October, 1868, when only fifteen years of
age. During the first few years of his reign
the affairs of state were managed by a council
of regency selected from amongst the most
able of the royal family, but his Majesty at a
very early age gave clear indication of his
ability and desire to undertake the sole respon-
sibility for the good government of his king-
dom, and the functions of the council were
purely nominal during the last few years of its
existence. Until 1871 his Majesty had never
been outside his own dominions, but in that
year he paid a visit to Java. Later in the same
year he went for a tour through India, and it
was upon his return from this excursion that
the council of regency was finally disbanded.
During the forty years of his Majesty's reign
many radical changes have been made in the
administration of the Government, and under
his guidance and direction the natural resources
and industrial possibilities of the country are
being rapidly developed. His Majesty, indeed,
works harder than most of his subjects, whose
loyalty and affection he has gained by his con-
sistent regard for their best interests, and Siam
at the present day owes much of her prosperity
to the energy and initiative displayed by her
king. One reform towards which the young
ruler gave early and unremitting attention was
the abolition of slavery. By 1889 its worst
features had been swept away, although the
system, which was one of bond serfdom or
debt slavery, was not made altogether illegal
until 1905. His Majesty has twice undertaken
tours through the countries of Europe, and on
each occasion was well received and enter-
tained by the sovereigns whose courts he
visited. Upon returning from his second trip
his welcome in Bangkok, the magnificent illu-

minations, and the scenes of general rejoicing
which greeted his arrival, showed how com-
pletely his Majesty has won his way into the
hearts of his people. He is a keen observer,
and he brought back with him many ideas
formed or gathered during his travels abroad,
which have already produced good results.
The king is the only independent Buddhist

nature, and has on many occasions generously
assisted foreign residents in times of trouble
or affliction. His Majesty, of course, speaks
English fluently and has a fair acquaintance
with other European languages, while he is
known as an erudite Pali and Sanskrit scholar.
His life has been too busy for his Majesty to
devote much time to sport. He, however, pre-

THE THRONE BOOM.

sovereign in the world, and is therefore looked
upon as the chief supporter of the religion of
the Buddha. All other religious creeds, how-
ever, are granted full liberty of worship, nor
are there any religious disabilities of any kind
existing in the country. No one by virtue of
his religious beliefs, whatever they may be, is
prevented from occupying any particular office
under the administration, and the fact that his
Majesty has gone so far as to present a site for
the erection of a Protestant church in Bangkok
is evidence of the broad-minded toleration pre-
vailing. In person his Majesty is of medium
height. He has a genial manner and kindly

sented a site for the Koyal Sports Club and is
the donor of a gold cup for competition at the
annual race meeting. During recent years,
too, his Majesty has become an enthusiastic
motorist, and now may often be seen in one
of his numerous cars driving, without escort of
any kind, around the streets of his capital.

Her Majesty the queen, who is a half-sister
to the king, was, when married, the twenty-
third living child of King Mongkut. Her
Majesty leads a quiet, retired life and is rarely
seen in public except at State functions, when
her appearance is rendered necessary by
custom or etiquette. Her Majesty has founded

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ROYAL PALACE AND PAGODA AT PETCHABURI.

and endowed quite a number of charitable
institutions and has done a great deal towards
the furtherance of educational work amongst
the women of Siam.

His Royal Highness Maha Vajiravudh, Crown
Prince of Siam and Prince of Ayuthia, was
born on January i, 1881, and proclaimed heir
apparent on the death of his elder brother,
Prince Maha Vajirunhis, in January, 1895.
From his very earliest years the Crown
Prince received his education from English
tutors, and when, in 1893, he was sent to
complete his studies in Europe, he spent the
greater part of his time in England. He
entered the Royal Military College at Sand-
hurst in 1898 and also attended the School of
Musketry, Hythe, where he obtained a certi-
ficate. He was for one month, in 1899,
attached to a mountain battery at the Artillery
Training Camp on Dartmoor, near Okehamp-
ton, Devon. In 1900 he went up to Oxford
University, where he studied history at Christ
Church, and as a result of his studies he
published a book, in 1902, on the " War of
the Polish Succession." After leaving Oxford
his Royal Highness served some time as a
lieutenant in a British Infantry Regiment.
During his stay in Europe his Royal High-
ness represented his country at several not-
able functions, the most important ones being
Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1897, Queen Vic-
toria's funeral in 1901, King Alfonso XIII. 's
accession in May, and King Edward's coro-
nation in June, 1902, and before returning to

THE ROYAL PALACE, BANGKOK.

DECORATIONS IN BANGKOK ON THE RETURN OP HIS MAJESTY THE KING FROM EUROPE.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Siam he visited various European Courts and
made a tour in the United States of America,
staying for a while in Japan on his way home.
His Royal Highness has obtained no little
distinction as an amateur actor. He is the
President of the Saranrom Amateur Dramatic
Association, which performs Siamese transla-
tions of standard English plays, and is him-
self the author of a play dealing with modern
Siamese life, entitled " The Shield," which had
a very hearty reception when produced in
Bangkok recently. His Royal Highness is a
keen polo-player, a good rifle-shot, and is
reported by his entourage to be an omni-
vorous reader. Since his return from Europe
he has travelled extensively in many parts of
the Siamese provinces, and has thus obtained
at first hand a clear insight into the re-
sources of the country and the conditions
under which his future subjects live.

His Majesty the king has two full brothers,
his Royal Highness Prince Bhanurangsi,
Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of
the Royal Navy, and his Royal Highness
Prince Krom Luang Narisara Nuwattiwongse,
Minister of the Household. His Majesty has
also twenty half-brothers, many of whom
hold high offices in the State. Of these, per-

haps the best known is his Royal Highness
Prince Krom Luang Damrong, the Minister
of the Interior. The whole of his life has been
spent in the service of his country, and his
great abilities as a statesman and administrator
are recognised by all — from the king down to
the humblest of his Majesty's subjects. Born
in Bangkok in 1862, Prince Damrong was edu-
cated at the Royal School, Bangkok, and at an
early age entered the army as a cadet. After
several years' service in various capacities his
Royal Highness was promoted Lieutenant-
Colonel in charge of the Royal Body Guard,
and acted as personal aide-de-camp to his
Majesty. Subsequently he was appointed
Major-General of the Headquarters Staff, but
after carrying out the duties and responsi-
bilities attaching to this high rank for a period
of two years, he resigned the military service
and became the Minister for Education. In
1891 his Royal Highness was sent on a special
mission to Europe, and visited the courts of
England, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Turkey,
Greece, and Italy, and on his return journey to
Siam toured extensively in Egypt and India.
Upon his arrival in Bangkok in 1892 Prince
Damrong was appointed Minister of the In-
terior, and the re-organisation of this great

department, which has the control of the ad-
ministration of the whole of Siam outside of
the Bangkok Monthon, constitutes what may
be considered his life's work. When free
from official duties his Royal Highness takes
a great delight in the study of the history
and archaeology of Siam. He is also an enthusi-
astic and highly skilled photographer, and
during his many journeys through the interior
of the country, which he probably knows better
than any other living man, he has not only
collected much valuable historical data, but
has also obtained a most interesting and
unique series of pictures of the magnificent
ruins which are to be found on every side.
His Royal Highness has been decorated with
the highest Siamese Orders, as well as with
numerous orders from European sovereigns.

The king's sons, of whom there are twenty
living, have nearly all been educated in Europe
and have learned various professions, so that
they may be well able to take the lead in the
different departments of Government adminis-
tration. The sons of royal princes have the
rank of Mom Chow, but in the two succeeding
generations the rank diminishes in importance
until, after the third generation, it entirely
disappears.

DINING BOOM AT DUSIT PALACE, BANGKOK.

CONSTITUTION AND LAW

THE CONSTITUTION.

Slam there is no
written Constitution.
The Government is an
■5«*Rd b^MsS absolute monarchy. All
power is vested in the
hands of the king, who
is in theory the master
of life and death, and
the owner of all land.
In practice, of course, this is not so. No
one is ever condemned without a trial, and
a distinct line is drawn between Government
property and the king's private property, the
improvements of the king's property never
being paid for out of the Government treasury.
His Majesty is assisted in the administration
of the country by a council of ministers or
" Senapati," whose members are of equal rank.
In addition there is a Council of State and
a Privy Council, the members of which are
appointed by the king and hold their seats
during his Majesty's pleasure. The Council
of State carries out the functions of a Legisla-
tive Assembly. The Privy Council is purely
an advisory body.

Foreign advisers are attached to several of
the ministries. When a new law is required it
is drafted in the form of a Bill by the depart-

THE LATE ROLIN JACQUERMYNS.
(General Adviser to H.M. the King.)

ment in whose sphere it naturally comes, and
is then passed through the hands of those
advisers whose particular functions would
cause them to take an interest in the measure
before it comes to the council for final discus-
sion, preparatory to receiving the royal sanction.

In 1894 the internal administration was
reorganised, and the whole of the country
placed under the administration of the Ministry
of the Interior with the exception of the capital
and the surrounding provinces. An Act similar
to the British Act applying to Burma has been
adopted for the government of the great mas-;
of the people in the provinces of the interior.
Each hamlet, consisting of about ten houses,
has its elected elder. The elders in their turn
elect a headman for the village, a village con-
sisting of ten hamlets. The Government
appoints an " amphur " with petty magisterial
powers who has jurisdiction over a group of
villages. " Muangs," or provinces, are each in
the charge of a governor, and the governors
are in their turn directly responsible to the
High Commissioners, who are at the head of
the thirteen monthons, or circles, into which
the country is divided.

The Commissioners meet once a year at the
Ministry of Justice, and, under the presidency
of the Minister of the Interior, report upon the
work that has been accomplished and discuss
the future programme. Gradually this
assembly of the High Commissioners is
becoming quite an important feature in the
government of the country.

SIAMESE LAW : OLD AND NEW.

By T. MASAO, D.C.L., LL.D.,
Seniok Legal Adviser to H.S.M.'s Government and Judge of H.S.M.'s Supreme Court of Appeal.

IN the King of Siam's preamble to the new
Penal Code which was promulgated on
April 1, 1008, and came into operation on Sep-
tember 21st, his Majesty the king said : " In the
ancient times the monarchs of the Siamese
nation governed their people with laws which
were originally derived from the Dhamasustra
of Manu, which was then the prevailing law
among the inhabitants of India and the neigh-
bouring countries." Such was also the con-
clusion arrived at by the writer of the present
article in a paper read before the Siam Society
of Bangkok in 1905, in which the writer
endeavoured to show by textual comparisons

that the ancient Siamese laws were derived
from the Manuic laws of India. The Code of
Manu divides the whole body of civil and
criminal laws into eighteen principal titles as
follows : (1) debt, (2) deposit and pledge, (3)
sale without ownership, (4) concerns among
partners, (5) resumption of gifts, (6) hiring of
persons, (7) non-performance of agreement,
(8) rescission of sale and purchase, (9) disputes
between the owner of cattle and his servants,
(10) disputes regarding boundaries, (11)
assault, (12) defamation, (13) theft, (14)
robbery and violence, (15) adultery, (16)
duties of man and wife, (17) partition of

inheritance, (18) gambling and betting (Manu
VIII. 4-8). On this subject the Siamese
counterpart of the Code of Manu (Phra Tha-
masat) says : "The causes which give rise to
lawsuits are as follows," &c, and enumerates
all these eighteen titles and adds eleven more,
such as kidnapping, rebellion, war, the king's
property and taxes, &c. The same similarity
is observable in the manner of classifying
slaves. The Code of Manu classifies slaves
as follows : (1) those who have been made
captives of war, (2) those who have become
slaves for the sake of being fed, (3) those who
have been born of female slaves in the house

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

of their masters, (4) those who have been
bought, (5) those who have been given, (6)
those who have been inherited from ancestors,
and (7) those who have become slaves on
account of their inability to pay large fines
(Manu VIII. 4-15). The ancient Siamese
Law Concerning Slaves (Laxana Tart) classi-
fied slaves as follows : (1) Slaves whom you
have redeemed from other money masters,
(2) slaves who have been born of slaves in
a person's house, (3) slaves a person has
inherited from his father and mother, (4)
slaves whom a person has received from
others by way of gift, (5) slaves a person has
helped out of punishment, (6) those who have
become slaves by having been fed when rice
was dear, and (7) those who have been
brought back as captives from war. Another
illustration of the close analogy between the
two systems of law is found in the rules con-
cerning witnesses. The space allotted to this
article does not permit the writer to give these
rules in detail. Suffice it to say that while the
Code of Manu (VIII. 64-68) contains a list of
some thirty odd kinds of persons who are
incompetent to give evidence, the ancient
Siamese Law Concerning Witnesses (Laxana
Piyarn) contains a list of exactly thirty-three
kinds of such persons, justifying the remark
made by some one that these rules " excluded
everybody who was likely to know anything
about the case." The principles of the Manuic
law of India, that interest ought never to
exceed the capital (Manu VIII. 151-153), that
if a defendant falsely denies a debt he is to be
fined double the amount of the debt (Manu
VIII. 59), &c, all found their counterparts in
the ancient Siamese Law of Debts (Laxana

Ku-ni). Of all the ancient Siamese laws the
Law of Husband and Wife (Laxana Pua Mia)

^ THE LATE EDWARD H. STROBEL.
(General Adviser to II. M. the King.)

is the least like its Indian original. This is
undoubtedly due to difference of religion, race,

and custom, all which play so important a part
in regulating the domestic relations of a
people.

Such were the laws which the ancient Kings
of Siam adopted from India. It would indeed
be a hopeless task for any one to attempt to
ascertain how far these laws still obtain and how
far they are obsolete except for the painstaking
effort of H.K.H. Prince Kajaburi, Minister of
Justice, who has brought out an edition of these
laws in two volumes commonly known as " Kot-
Mai Kajaburi ' (the Law of Rajaburi) or " Kot-
Mai Song Lem " (the Law of the Two Volumes).
Prince Kajaburi has edited these volumes, with
numerous footnotes and a complete index
showing which sections have been modified
and which sections have been repealed. It
follows that the present-day Siamese laws con-
sist of such parts of the ancient laws as have
not been repealed or as have been confirmed by
decisions of the highest court as being still
valid, such laws as have been enacted in
recent times, and the decisions of the highest
court. After the courts were remodelled in
1892, the first laws wanted were naturally
those of procedure and evidence in civil and
criminal matters. The Law of Evidence
enacted in 1895, which repeals the ancient Law
Concerning Witnesses in toto, is a thoroughly
up-to-date law of eviuence. This was followed
by the enactment of a series of other laws, such
as the Law of Criminal Procedure, the Law of
Civil Procedure, the Law Abolishing Slavery
&c. The conclusion of a treaty with Japan in
1898, consenting to the exercise of Japanese
consular jurisdiction in Siam but providing for
its eventual surrender by Japan on the comple-
tion and coming into effect of the Siamese

PROMINENT SIAMESE OFFICIALS.

1. H.E. Phya Intrathibodi Siharaj Rong Ml-ang (Under-Secretary to the Minister of Local Government). 2. H.E. Phya Sri Sahadebh (Vice-Minister of the Interior).

3. H.R.H. Prince Benya (Assistant Under-Secretary of Agriculture and Director-General of the Royal Sericulture Department).

4. H.E. Phya Sri Sunthara Wohara (Under-Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture). 5. H.E. PHYA Phipat Kosx (Permanent Under-Secretary of State).

MINISTERS OF STATE.

i. H.R.H. Prince Krom Luang Damroxg (Minister of the Interior). 2. H.R.H. Prixce Chao Fa Krom Luang Narisara Xiwattiwoxosf. (Minister of the Household)

3. H.R.H. Prince Chao Fa Bhanurangsi (Minister of the War Department). 4. Prince Krom Luang Devawongse Varoprakar (Minister of Foreign Affairs)

5. H.E. Phya Sukhum Nayvinit (Minister for Local Government). 6. Prixce of Chanthaburi (Minister for Finance). 7. Prince of Rajaburi (Minister of Justice).

3. H.E. Chao Phya Vichitwoxgse Wudikrai (Minister of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs). 9. Prixce Krom LUANG Nares Voraridhi (Minister for Public Works).

10. H.E. Chow Phya Devesra (Minister of Agriculture).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

codes — i.e., the Penal Code, the Civil Code,
the Codes of Procedure, and the Law of
Organisation of Courts — and the subsequent
conclusion of a revised treaty with France,
providing for the immediate relaxation of
French consular jurisdiction in Siam as regards
French Asiatic subjects and proteges and pro-
viding for the final surrender of such jurisdic-
tion by France on the completion and coining
into effect of the Siamese codes, including a
Commercial Code, were certainly a strong in-
centive to Siam to put the law reforms which she
was already carrying out on a more extensive
and fundamental scale. The firstfruit of Siam's
effort in this direction was the promulgation
of the Penal Code in April, 1908. This code,
which may be said to be the product of French,
Japanese, Siamese, and English influences com-
bined, taking from the law systems of these and
other countries what is believed to be the best
in them, consists of 340 short and clear articles,
and is, like most other penal codes, divided

into two parts. The first part contains general
principles of criminal jurisprudence applicable
throughout the whole code, such as " Applica-
tion of Criminal Laws," " Punishments,"
" Causes Excluding or Lessening Criminal
Liability," " Attempt," " Participation," " Con-
currence of Offences," " Recidivism," " Pre-
scription," &c. The second part deals with
specific offences grouped under the following
headings : (1) Offences against the King and
the State ; (2) Offences relating to Public
Administration ; (3) Offences relating to Public
Justice ; (4) Offences against Religion ; (.5)
Offences against the Public Safety of Persons
and Property ; (6) Offences against Morality ;
(7) Offences against Life and Body ; (8)
Offences against Liberty and Reputation ;
(9) Offences against Property ; (10) Petty
Offences. As a temporary measure pending the
enactment of a more complete Code of Civil
Procedure and Law of Organisation of Courts,
all the laws and regulations relating to these

subjects, comprising lover twenty enactments,
were consolidated and amended, and enacted
in 1908 as "An Act Consolidating and Amend-
ing the Organisation of the Courts of Justice
and the Civil Procedure." An important step
taken in the direction of commercial law
during the same year was the enactment of the
much-needed Bankruptcy Law. For several
years past the want of the Bankruptcy Law
has been the cause of bitter complaint on the
part of the European mercantile communitv
in Siam. With the enactment of this law, it
has now become possible for creditors to take
steps for placing the property of bankrupts in
the hands of an Official Receiver for distribution
amongst them. Good progress is being made
in the collection of material for the Code of
Criminal Procedure and the Civil Code. It is
confidently believed that in five years' time
from the date of this article {1908). Siam will be
provided with all the codes of laws mentioned
in her treaties with France and Japan.

Q-

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

By W. A. G. TILLEKE, Acting Attorney-General

THE administration of the law is in the
hands of the Minister of Justice, who,
in the words of the Act constituting the courts
of justice, has a controlling and correctional

inquiry into cases of serious offences. In the
provinces there are the Provincial Courts, which
are divided into three classes : the Monthon
Court, the Muang Court, and the Kweng Court.

removal of any judge shall be made without

the pleasure of his Majesty the king being

first obtained through the Minister of Justice.

There is also a Department of Public Prose-

m ^- a

ifiijiifiprirfrff^

■MM

mm
1

THE COURTS OF JUSTICE.

power in all matters arising out of cases, and
is responsible for the due and equitable trial
and adjudication of all actions and suits as
opposed to responsibility for the actual conduct
of the trial. The present minister is Prince
Rajaburi, who graduated at Oxford with honours
in law about fifteen years ago. He has been
minister for the past twelve years.

The highest court is the Dika Court, which
is responsible to his Majesty the king and is
equivalent to a Supreme Court of Appeal. In
Bangkok there are several courts, viz., a Civil
Court, a Criminal Court, and three Police
Courts which are also courts of preliminary

There are two Appeal Courts in Bangkok, one
for the hearing of the Bangkok appeals and the
other for the hearing of appeals from the Pro-
vincial Courts.

The jury system is not known, but as a rule
the courts of Bangkok are presided over by
four or five judges, while the Provincial Courts
have two or three judges according to the
status of the court.

There are also International Courts which
try cases in which a subject of a foreign Power
is plaintiff and a Siamese subject the defendant.
Regarding the appointment of judges, the Act
says that no appointment, promotion, or other

cution in Bangkok, which is placed under the
Ministry of Justice, while the provincial public
prosecutors are under the Ministry of Interior.

The appointment of the Attorney-General
and Assistant Attorney-General for Bangkok
lies with his Majesty the king, while the
public prosecutors for Bangkok are appointed
by the Attorney-General with the approval
of the Minister of Justice.

In addition there is the Department of the
Judicial Adviser to the Ministry of Justice, a
position now filled by Mr. J. Stewart Black,
barrister- at-law, formerly of the British
Consular Service. Again, there is a Legis-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

LAW OFFICERS OF THE CROWN.

3. W. A. G. Tillkkk (Acting Attorney-General of Siam). 4. Rene SHERIDAN (Legal Adviser to the Court of Foreign Causes).

C. R. A. Niel (Temporary JiHge to the Siamese Appeal Court). 6. Lawrence Tooth (legal Adviser to the International Court).

7. C. L. Watson (Legal Adviser to the Civil Court, Ministry of Justice).
8. Dr. T. Masao (Senior Adviser to his Siamese Majesty's Government and Judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal).

lative Adviser appointed in conformity with
a treaty concluded with France. This office
is at present held by Monsieur Georges Padoux,
who holds the rank of Consul-General in the
French service. In many of the courts there
sits a foreign legal adviser whose duty is to
advise the judges in any matter of difficulty.
These advisers have the full status of judges
and draft and sign judgments. The appoint-
ment of such advisers, however, is not a matter
which is obligatory by any treaty, but is entirely
voluntary on the part of the Government, the
desire being simply to make the judiciary as
efficient as possible. The first duty of the
advisers is to learn the language, and they
have to pass an examination in Siamese before
being attached as adviser to any particular
court.

The large majority of the judges are locally
educated men. There is a law school in
Bangkok which was established by Prince
Rajaburi when he became minister, twelve
years ago. Each year there is an examina-
tion in which about twelve out of a hundred
students are successful. Nearly all of these
lawyers are at once posted to judgeships, and
thus the judiciary is formed.

H.B.M.'S COURT FOR SIAM.

Under the treaty at present in force between
Great Britain and Siam all British subjects in
Lower Siam are justiciable in a British court,
and those in Upper Siam in a specially consti-
tuted international court. In Lower Siam the
British court was, until 1903, presided over by
consular officers ; in that year, by an Order in
Council (amended in 1906), " H.B.M.'s Court for

Siam " was created, with a judge and an as-
sistant judge who have to be barristers. The
present holders of these posts are their

MR. JUSTICE SKINNER TURNER.
(H.B.M.'s Court for Siam.)

Honours Judges Skinner Turner and A. R.
Vincent, and from their decisions there is an
ultimate appeal to the Privy Council in London.
His Honour Judge Skinner Turner was
born near Tollbridge, Kent, and educated at
King's College School, Strand, and at London
University. He was called to the Bar at the
Middle Temple in 1890, and for some years
afterwards practised on the Western Circuit
and at the Hampshire Sessions. Joining the
Foreign Office in 1900, he was appointed
Registrar to the British Court in the East
Africa Protectorate, and in the following year
was transferred to the Uganda Protectorate to
act as legal Vice-Consul. Early in 1902 he was
appointed magistrate at Mombassa and in May
of the same year was transferred to Zanzibar as
Acting Assistant Judge, receiving a definite ap-
pointment there as Second Assistant Judge in
the following month of October. In February,
1904, he was promoted to be Senior Assistant
Judge. Throughout his time there he sat as
one of the judges of the Court of Appeal for
the Eastern Africa Protectorates, and was
present at the first sitting of that court. He
was appointed to his present post in 1905. His
Honour is married to Millicent, second daughter
of the late Rev. W. H. Hewett, of South Scarle,
Nottinghamshire.

His Honour Judge Arthur Rose Vincent
was born in 1873 and educated at Wellington
College and Trinity College, Dublin. He is
a barrister-at-law, King's Inns, Dublin, and has
a record of service covering the territories of
the Eastern Africa Protectorates somewhat
similar to that of Judge Skinner Turner. He
was appointed to Siam in 1906.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL
PROFESSION.

Mr. Henri Uusson has filled the post of
Judge to the French Consular Court at Bang-
kok since March, 1908. He is a native of
Civrac-en-Medoc, in the department of the

MR. JUSTICE HENRI DUSSON.
(French Court.)

Gironde, and was educated for his profes-
sion at Bordeaux School, where he secured
his Licencic en Droit, and later at the Uni-
versity of the same town, where he qualified
as a Doctor of Law. For seven years
following his success in his examination he
practised in Bordeaux as advocate, and for
another year filled the position of " Sous Chef
de Contentieux " in Paris. He was appointed
Magistrate to the Government at Saigon in
1903. In the beginning of 1908, and prior to
his departure for Bangkok, he was appointed
Jugc a Instruction (Legal Adviser).

Mr. John Stewart Black, who has been
the Judicial Adviser at the Ministry of Justice,
Bangkok, since 1902, was educated at Linlith-
gow Burgh School, N.B., and at St. Andrew's
University. He was called to the Bar at the
Middle Temple, and in 1888 entered his Bri-
tannic Majesty's Consular Service as Student
Interpreter in Siam, being appointed Assistant
in 1893, and promoted to First Assistant three
years later. In 1897 he was appointed Vice-
Consul at Bangkok, and at a later period was
for some time Acting Consul and Judge of the
Consular Court at the British Legation. He
resigned the Consular Service in order to take
up his present office under the Siamese Gov-
ernment. Mr. Black is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society, and has contributed
several papers to the " Proceedings of the
Roval Geographical Society."

Mr. William Alfred Q. Tilleke, the
Acting Attorney-General of Siam, is a mem-
ber of a well-known Sinhalese family. He
is the son of the late Chief Mudaliyar, Mr.
M. Goonetilleke, of Kandy, who was a justice
of the peace for the Central Province, and also
held the rank of Gate Mudaliyar — the highest
native rank which it is in the power of the
Governor of Ceylon to bestow ; while two of
his uncles, the late Mr. William Goonetilleke
and Mudaliyar Louis VVijeysinghe, his mother's
brother, may be reckoned as two of the most
eminent scholars Ceylon has produced. Mr.
W. A. G. Tilleke, the subject of this sketch,
was born in i860, and educated at St. Thomas's

College, Colombo, and is a member of the
Calcutta University. While still at College he
showed promise of that success he was after-
wards to obtain, both as a journalist and
lawyer, for he was editor of his college
magazine, and a prominent member of the
Debating Society. Shortly after obtaining his
diploma he left college to commence his
studies for the law, and four years later he
passed one of the severest examinations for
admission into the legal profession which had
been known up to that time. The Chief
Justice of Ceylon was bent upon raising the
standard of legal education, and out of the nine-
teen students who presented themselves at this
examination, only two passed the two-days'
test paper set by Chief Justice Burnside, pre-
paratory to the final examination a week later.
After being called to the Bar he practised in
Kandy, where, in 1885, he was elected a
Municipal Councillor, and was for the two
years following a magistrate of the Municipal
Court. Mr. Tilleke left Ceylon about twenty
years ago and settled in Siam. Here he has
appeared in some very important cases, in-
cluding the trial of the Siamese Frontier
Commissioner, Phra Yot. But apparently
success as a lawyer was not sufficient in
those days for a man of Mr. Tilleke's energy
and enterprise. In 1893, in conjunction with
the late Mr. G. W. Ward, he started the Siam
Observer, the first English daily newspaper,
and, indeed, the first daily newspaper of any
description in Siam. The paper is still flour-
ishing, but some years since, on account of
increasing legal duties and his being unable to
spare the time to devote to its supervision, Mr.
Tilleke transferred the property to his brother,
Mr. A. F, G. Tilleke. Apart from the many
responsibilities attaching to such an important
post as that of Attorney-General and the cares
of a large private practice, Mr. W. A. G.
Tilleke takes a very prominent place in the
commercial life of Bangkok. He is Chairman
of the Bagan Rubber Company ; a Director
of the Bangkok Manufacturing Company, Ltd.,
the Bangkok Dock Company, Ltd., the Siamese
Tramways Company, Ltd., the Prabad Railway
Company, the Transport Motor Company, the
Paknam Railway Company, and is interested
largely in many other commercial and in-
dustrial undertakings. As a good sports-
man and a lover of horse-racing, too, he
has few equals in the country. He is a
Committee Member of the Royal Bangkok
Sports Club, and' was for seven years Clerk
of the Course. He has kept a large racing
stable for many years, and has a private track
on his own premises. His ponies always
carry off a good proportion of the events at
the local race meetings, while in 1903 his
stable created a record by winning all the
seven events on the first day. He is a mem-
ber also of the Singapore Sporting Club, and
has run his horses there with some success.

Mr. C. R. A. Niel was born in April,
1879, at Toulon, and educated at Toulon,
Paris, and Aix. He was a medallist at the
Law School, and graduated as a Doctor of
Law. He was called to the Bar of the Appeal
Court of Aix-en-Provence in 1899, an d ap-
pointed attache at the office of the Procureur-
General of Indo-China in December, 1900.
He was promoted Assistant Judge in Novem-
ber, 1901, and Judge in August, 1905. In
March, 1904, he was transferred to Bangkok
to undertake the responsibility of Judge in the
French Consular Court, but since March, 1908,
he has acted as temporary Judge in the
Siamese Appeal Court. Mr. Niel is an " Officier
d'Academie," and a member of the fifth class
of the Order of the White Elephant of Siam.

Mr. Lawrence Tooth was born at
Brighton, Sussex, in 1880, and educated at
St. Paul's School, Hammersmith, and London
University, at which latter institution he
graduated LL.B. with honours. Shortly after

passing his solicitor's final he came to Siam
under an appointment to his Siamese Majesty's
Government. He arrived at Bangkok in 1902,
and is now Legal Adviser to the International
Court. Two years ago Mr. Tooth received the
Order of the Crown of Siam, fourth class.

Mr. C. L. Watson, the Legal Adviser to
the Civil Court at Bangkok, came to Siam in
March, 1905, having passed his solicitor's final
in June of the previous year. He was appointed
to the position he now holds upon his arrival
there.

Mr. Rene Sheridan, the Legal Adviser to
the Court of Foreign Causes, in common with
many of the Belgians who take up foreign
service, has had his share of experience in the
Congo State. Born in Bruges in 1873, he was
educated at Brussels University, qualifying
in 1879 for the degree of Doctor of Law. He
returned to Bruges as a Fellow of the Bar,
but shortly afterwards sailed for West Africa,
be;ng appointed first Substitut du Procureur
d'Etat and subsequently a judge in the Congo.
Returning to Europe after a year, however, he
was offered and accepted an appointment
under the Siamese Government and left for
Bangkok in 1901.

Mr. Q. K. Wright was born in Boston,
Lincolnshire, in 1884, and educated privately.
He was articled to a firm of solicitors in London,
and passed his final examination in 1906. In
February, 1907, he was appointed Legal
Adviser at the Ministry of Justice, Bangkok.
After devoting six months to the study of the
language, he was attached to the Court at Raja-
buria. He returned to Bangkok in February,
1908, and in the absence of Mr. R. C. Gosnell
was appointed Acting High Sheriff.

Mr. C. J. Naylor.— The cioyen of the Bar
in Bangkok, and the leading unofficial member,
is Mr. Charles James Naylor, who has since
the beginning of 1894 been engaged in prac-
tically every cause cclcbrc in the local courts of
justice. He is a barrister of the Inner Temple,
a member of the Hongkong Bar, and an
advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court
of the Straits Settlements. He has also had

C. J. NAYLOR.

( Barristt r-at- Law. )

conferred upon him the title of ttati Pundit
in the Siamese courts. The son and grandson
of lawyers, Mr. Naylor has had twenty-three
years of legal experience in both blanches of
the profession.

DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR REPRESENTATIVES

IN SIAM

FRANCE.

M. Pierre de Margerie, Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary of France to
the Court of Siam, was born in 1861, and
educated at the University of Paris. The
various appointments he has held under the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs have included
Copenhagen, 1886; Constantinople, 1889; Peking,
1898 (uninstalled); Copenhagen (First Secretary),

1899 ; Washington (Conseiller d'Ambassade),
1901 ; and Madrid, 1903. He was a member of
the French Mission to and Secretary of the
Conference at Algeciras (1906), and prior to his
appointment in 1907 to the Court of Siam was
the French Delegate to the Danube Commission.
M. de Margerie possesses many highly
prized decorations, and is member of the
Legion d'Honneur and a Chevalier du Merite
Agricole.

M. Q. Osmin Laporte was born in 1875,
and educated in France, securing a diploma in
Oriental languages. He was appointed Consul
at Bangkok on April 1, 1906, and promoted to
Consul of the Second Grade on the 1st of
October following.

NETHERLANDS.
Mr. F. J. Domela Nieuwenhuis, the

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-

MEMBERS OF THE CORPS DIPLOMATIQUE.

1. P. de Margerie (France), 2. F. J. Domela Nieuwenhuis (Netherlands). 3. A. G. Yacovlew (Russia).

5. Waiter Ralph DORIS Beckett (Great Britain, acting). 6. Major F. Ciccodicola (Italy).

4. Ralph Paget, C.M.G., C.V.O. (Great Britain 1.
7. Sakuya Yoshida (Japan).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

tiary in Bangkok for the Netherlands, was born
and educated in Amsterdam. After passing the
necessary examinations for entrance to the con-
sular service he remained for one year in the
Foreign Office at the Hague before joining the
Consulate-General for the Netherlands at Singa-
pore. In 1890 he was transferred to Bangkok
as Acting Consul-General, a position which he
filled for two years prior to his return to the
home Foreign Office. From 1895 to 1901 he was
Consul-General at Pretoria, South Africa, and
then once more he renewed his acquaint-
anceship with Siam, coming to Bangkok as
Charge d'Affaires and Consul-General, In 1903
he was promoted to his present rank of Fnvoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Mr. F. J. Domela Nieuwenhuis is a Chevalier
of the Order of the Netherlands Lion and an
Officer of the Order of Oranje Nassau.

Italy. In 1898 Mr. Yacovlew became the
ConsuJ-General at Jerusalem, a position he
occupied for ten years, being transferred to
Bangkok in 1908. Mr. Yacovlew possesses
decorations from the Governments of Turkey,
Greece, Bulgaria, Scrvia, Montenegro, and
Abyssinia, and the Orders of St. Stanislaus
first class and the Medjida first class.

Mr. Nicholas K. Eltekoff, the Consul for
Russia and Secretary of Legation, was born in
1876 in the Government of Yaroslav, Russia,
and educated at St. Petersburg University. On
obtaining his diploma in 1900, he entered the
Foreign Office, and a year later was appointed
Secretary to the diplomatic officer attached
to the Governor-General of Port Arthur, a
position which, in 1903, was transformed to
that of Secretary to the Chancery of the
Viceroy. During the Russo-Japanese War

Bangkok for the United States of America was
born in 1881 at Schenectady, New York. He
received his present appointment on May 12,
1907.

GERMANY.

Herr Adolph von Prollius, his Imperial
German Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary in Bangkok, was born
on January 12, 1861, at Schwerin in Mecklen-
burg. He is the son of the minister of Meck-
lenburg at Berlin. Entering the Diplomatic
Service in 1891, he has held positions at the
Hague, Mexico, Caracas, Bucharest, and Copen-
hagen. On September 12, 1905, he arrived
in Bangkok to undertake the duties of Minister-
Resident, and has held his present position
since January, 1908.

1. LuiZ Leopoldo Flores (Consul-General for Portugal). 2. N. K. Eltekoff (Secretary of the Russian Legation and Acting Gamut-General for Denmark).

3. J. W. Edie (Consul-General for Norway). 4. A. Mohr (Consul for Sweden). 5. F. H. Lorz (Acting Consul for Austro-Hungary).

RUSSIA.

Mr. A. Q. Yacovlew, the Envoy Extra-
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the
Russian Government in Siam, was born and
educated at St. Petersburg. His first appoint-
ment was as Attache to the Russian Embassy
at Constantinople in 1876. From there he was
transferred to Jerusalem in the capacity of
Secretary to the Russian Consulate, but the
outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War found Mr.
Yacovlew attached to the staff of the Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. At
the conclusion of hostilities he was again
appointed to the Embassy at Constantinople,
where during a period of service extending
over eighteen years he was promoted from
Third to Second Dragoman, and undertook
many special missions in Egypt, France, and

Mr. Eltekoff was attached as Secretary to the
Chancery of the Commander-in-Chief (at Port
Arthur). He returned to the Foreign Office at
St. Petersburg in 1905, and was appointed to
his present position in the year following.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Mr. Hamilton King, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary for the United
States of America, was born at St. John's,
Newfoundland, in 1852. After graduating
at Olivet College, Michigan, he pursued
his studies at Chicago, Leipzig, and Athens.
He was appointed Minister-Resident in Siam
in January, 1898, and promoted to his present
position in 1903.

Mr. John Van A. MacMurray, the Con-
sul-General and Secretary of the Legation at

Dr. Hermann Budenbender, Vice-Consul
for Germany, Secretary of Legation, was born
on March 16, 1876. He entered the Foreign
Service four years after qualifying as a doctor
at Heidelberg, and arrived at Bangkok in
February, 1906, where he has since held the
position of Vice-Consul for Germany, except
for two months in 1907, and from February to
November in 1908, when he acted as Charge
d'Affaires. Dr. Budenbender was formerly
Vice-Consul at Shanghai.

BELGIUM.

Mr. A. Frere, the Minister-Resident for
Belgium, arrived in Bangkok on February 18,
1908, to take up his present duties. He has
previously held positions in Africa, India, and
China.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

GREAT BRITAIN.

Mr. Ralph Spencer Paget, C.V.O..C.M.G.,

the son of the late Right Hon. Sir Augustus
Paget, at one time his Majesty's Ambassador
at Vienna, was born on November 26, 1864.
He was educated at Eton and studied for a
short while also with Scoones, of Garrick
Street, one of the most successful crammers of
that day. Having passed the competitive
examination for entrance to the Diplomatic
Service, he was appointed to Vienna on July
7, 188S. The following year he was trans-
ferred to Cairo, where his knowledge of Arabic
obtained for him a special allowance. On
July 19, 1800, Mr. Paget was promoted to be
Third Secretary, and from December 15, 1891,
to May 4, 1892, was employed at Zanzibar.
He was transferred to Washington on July 25,
i8i)2. and to Tokio July 1, 1893, where he acted
as Charge d'Affaires from June 5 to August
20, 1894. On January 24, 1895, he was pro-
moted Second Secretary, and four years later
was appointed for a second time to Cairo. He
was transferred to Munich on October 1, 1900,
and to Constantinople on January 2nd of the
following year, his knowledge of Turkish once
more securing for him the extra language
allowance. On June 18, 1901, he was sent to
Guatemala as Charge d'Affaires, and remained
there until his removal to Bangkok, in Septem-
ber, 1902. During his first two years' service
in Bangkok he acted as Charge d'Affaires, but
on April 1, 1904, was promoted to be a First
Secretary. In June, 1904, he was created
C.M.G., and the following November was
appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary at Bangkok and Consul-
General in Siam. On October 28, 1907, he
was admitted to the Companionship of the
Victorian Order. Mr. Paget married Miss
Leila Paget, a daughter of General Sir Arthur
Paget. His sister is the Countess of Plymouth.
Mr. Walter Ralph Durie Beckett, the
second son of Colonel W. H. Beckett, who
served for many years in the Indian Military
Works Department, was born on August 24,
1864. He was educated at Tollbridge School
and subsequently at Scoones's, the well-known
crammer of Garrick Street, London, and, after
the usual competitive examination, was ap-
pointed a Student Interpreter in Siam in
February, 1886. He was promoted Second
Assistant in 1888, a First Assistant in 1891,
and was appointed Vice-Consul two years

later. The local rank of a First Secretary in
the Diplomatic Service was given to him on
August 30, 1904. Mr. Beckett, who has spent
the whole of his career in Siam, was for some
time Consul for the Consular District of Chieng-
mai and the Northern Provinces. He has on
several occasions acted as Charge d'Affaires in
Bangkok, and for a short period was in charge
of the Legation.

ITALY.

Commendatore Federico Ciccodicola,

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of his Majesty the King of Italy, was
accredited to the Court of Siam by royal
decree on June 13, 1907. Born in Naples on
March 1, i860, he entered the service of the
Royal Artillery in 1879, and in 1887 was
raised to the rank of Captain. Mr. Ciccodicola
saw active service in the Italian Colony of
Africa, and took part in all the campaigns
against Abyssinia. After peace was concluded
in 1807 he was appointed the representative
of the King of Italy to the Emperor of Abys-
sinia.

JAPAN.

Mr. Sakuya Yoshida, who arrived in
Bangkok in August, 1908, to take up the post
of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of
Japan to the Court of Siam, has had some
twenty-two years' experience of the Diplo-
matic Service. His first appointment, which
he received at the age of twenty-six years,
was as Chancellor to the Japanese Legation
in Vienna. He was promoted Attache the
following year, and during his stay in Europe,
which extended to 1893, he held official posi-
tions both at the Hague and at St. Petersburg.
In 1900 he was awarded the degree of Doctor
of Law by the University of Bonn. Returning
to Japan, he was appointed Secretary to the
Minister of Education in Tokio, and the same
year became a Councillor of the Educational
Department. In 1898 he once more resumed
his acquaintanceship with Europe, acting as
Secretary of Legation in Vienna and in Hol-
land. The outbreak of the Russo-Japanese
War occasioned his return to Japan, where
he was attached to the Foreign Office until
his recent departure for Bangkok.

Mr. Kumasabura Tanabe was born in
Nagasaki in 1863 and educated privately for
the Consular and Diplomatic Service. On
completion of his studies he was appointed
to a Student Interpretership in Peking in 1883,
and four years later became Chancellor of the
Japanese Consulate at Chefoo, North China.
In a similar capacity he served also in Hong-
kong, New York, and London. He was ap-
pointed Vice-Consul at Newchwang in 1897,
and was present during the Russian occupa-
tion of the port at the period of the Boxer
troubles. In 1903 Mr. Tanabe came to Bang-
kok as Third Secretary to the Legation, the
next year he was promoted Second Secretary,
and is now Consul and Charge d'Affaires.

PORTUGAL.

Mr. Luiz Leopoldo Flores was born on
October 9, 1852. Having adopted the law
as a profession and passed the necessary
qualifying examinations, he was nominated
a Magistrate of Public Ministry at Diu, a
small Portuguese possession in India. Sub-
sequently he held various other important legal
positions in Portuguese India, but, forsaking
the law for the Consular Service, he was, in
1890, appointed Chancellor of the Consulate-
General of Portugal at Bombay. The follow-
ing year he was transferred to Rio Grande,
Brazil, where, during the Revolution, his enter-
prise and resourcefulness proved of the greatest
assistance to his compatriots. He was pro-
moted Portuguese Consul-General of the First
Class in Siam, by royal decree, on August 1 1,
1901, and arrived in Bangkok on December
20th of that year. Mr. Flores is a member
of the Asiatic Society (Bombay Branch), the
Geographical Societies of Lisbon and Berlin,
and a corresponding member of the Geo-
graphical Societies of Madrid, Leipzig, Toulon,
Athens, and many other cities. He is a
Chevalier of the Order of St. Thiago of
Portugal (Scientific and Literary Grade).

NORWAY.

Mr. J. W. Edie, head of the Borneo Com-
pany, Ltd., in Siam, is Consul-General for
Norway. His appointment, which followed
the separation of Norway and Sweden, dates
from April 24, 1906.

GEN. H.R.H. PRINCE NAKONCHAISI.

(Commander-in-Chief.)

HIS SIAMESE MAJESTY'S TROOPS.

GENERAL OFFICERS OF THE ARMY.

General H.R.H.
The Crown Prince.

Major-Gkxerai. H.R.H.

PRINCE I'lTSAX'.I.OH.

Major-General H.R.H.
Prince of Kampknoi'etch.

General H.R.H.
Prince Nakoxchaisi.

THE ARMY AND NAVY

THE ARMY.

By Major LUANG BHUVANARTH NARUBAL, Chikf ok General Staff.

sentative of his Majesty
mander-in-Chief is an

HE Siamese Army, which
is under the supreme
command of his Maj-
esty the King, is, by
royal decree, placed
under the immediate
control of a General
Commander - in - Chief,
who is the direct repre-
Attached to the Com-
Assistant-General as

second in command. He assists the Com-
mander-in-Chief in his duties, and represents
him in his absence, exercising his authority and
undertaking his responsibilities.

The War Department is divided into numer-
ous sections — the General Staff ; the General
Administration Department, under the direction
of the Adjutant-General ; the Intendance
Department ; a general Inspecting Commission
for the army ; and Inspecting Commissions
for infantry and artillery ; the Finance, Com-

missariat, Recruiting Departments and others,
numbering altogether no less than nineteen.

By a royal decree of the year Rotana
Kosindr 124 (about 1905) all able-bodied citizens
are bound to serve with the Hag for two years
in the standing army, five years in the first line
of reserve, and ten years in the second reserve,
making seventeen years' service in all. During
their two years' service with the regular army
all recruits are retained in barracks until they
are drafted to their regiments, battalions, or
companies, according to the formation. The
soldiers of the first line of reserve are called for

REVIEW OF THE TROOPS.

101

10-2

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

. . - • - . > ♦,,• . ■

tiwailriiril mobiHsatiori. • They arc bound to be
in attendance at manoeuvres, wherever held,
for a period of not more than two months in
the year. The soldiers of the second line of
reserve are not called upon unless the first
reserve is insufficient for the mobilisation.
They, however, are compelled to attend the
annual manoeuvres for a period not exceeding
fifteen days in each year. All those serving in
the standing army or in the first or second line
of reserve are exempt from both capitation
and land taxes, and after the completion of the
full seventeen years of service they are freed

1. Two regiments of infantry (each regiment
consisting of three battalions, and each battalion
of four companies).

2. Aregiment of cavalry or mounted infantry.

3. A battery of artillery.

4. An intelligence section.

5. A transport department.

6. An ambulance detachment.

7. A battery of field artillery.

The standing force in time of peace is about
1,200 officers and 25,000 non-commissioned
officers and men. The infantry are equipped
with the 1902 model repeating rifle and the

purpose of instructing " minor " officers in all
the military districts or Monthons. About nine-
tenths of the officers are now supplied by the
Military College, and one-tenth only by the rank
and file. Many of the officers also who are now
at the head of the various departments and
corps of the army have received complementary
education and military training in the armies
of either Germany, Austria, Denmark, or Eng-
land. All the schools are under the direction of
a general officer, who supervises the subjects
of study.
The education of candidates for commissions

HEADQUARTERS STAFF OF THE ARMY.

from the payment of these taxes for the rest of
their lives. All males are bound under the
conditions relating to military service, but, in
the event of the number of men presenting
themselves for service being in excess of the
number required for the standing army, the
surplus is called the " Kong Keum Attra," and
the men, for a period of seven years, are placed
in the second reserve, being called up in times
of mobilisation.

The army is divided into ten divisions, each
constituting a unit, and each unit complete in
all sections of arms. The common sections of
a division on a war-footing are : —

cavalry with sabre and the carbine of the 1902
model. The light infantry have carbines similar
to those used by the cavalry. The artillery
ordnance consists of quick-firing mountain
guns, but the gun for the field artillery has not
yet been finally decided upon.

A school for the training of cadets has been
established by royal decree and, moreover, by
order of the Commander-in-Chief, courses of
instruction have been arranged in all the
military districts with a view to raising the
standard of military knowledge among candi-
dates for commissions in the reserve. Regi-
mental schools have also been formed for the

in the regular army is spread over six years,
spent in two schools, each having three classes.
The elementary school, or the school of cadets
proper, gives the students the groundwork of a
good general education. The military teaching
covers rules of discipline, drill, and manoeuvres.
There is no limit of time for remaining in any
of the three classes, but promotion follows
directly upon the results of the annual examina-
tion. The military school proper is that into
which the pupil enters after he becomes a " sub-
lieutenant," having satisfactorily passed his
final examination in the elementary school and
served some months with one of the regiments.

THE ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE.

A ROYAL PROCESSION.

104

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

In addition, however, the sub-lieutenant must
have a favourable notice from his Colonel com-
manding, or otherwise his nomination raav be
delayed for an indefinite period. In the three
classes of the military school the pupil obtains
instruction in the higher military duties. All
students who fail to pass the class examinations

" Nai-Dap " schools, their course of instruc-
tion being divided into two parts : (i) military
studies ; (2) general studies. The examina-
tions are also in two sections : (1) entrance
examination ; (2) commissions or junior officers'
examination. The length of the course of study
must not exceed two years, and if after the

about a great modification in this system. The
Government began to reali-e that the main-
tenance of such a standing army, besides in-
volving the direct expenditure annually of large
sums of money, was inconsistent with the
healthy development of the country's natural
resources and industrial capabilities. The

A BATTERY OF MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY.
A SQUADRON OF CAVALRY.

FIELD AMBULANCE CORPS.

A COMPANY OF INFANTRY FIRING.

for three successive years are liable to expulsion
unless they show an aptitude in some special
subject and thus gain particular consideration.

In the event of the number of officers being
complete, the students who have passed their
six classes satisfactorily are attached as sub-
lieutenants to the Military School whilst
waiting for vacancies.

The sub-lieutenants in the reserve study in the

completion of this period the pupil fails in his
examination, he qualities simply for the first
class of the second reserve.

In olden days it was compulsory for all able-
bodied citizens, without exception, to serve in
the army. There was practically universal
conscription, and the kingdom was almost
entirely under arms. A period of peace, how-
ever, extending over fully a century, brought

forces were reduced and a large part of the
remaining army was supported by the creation
of taxes payable by those not called upon to
serve. Certain classes, too, consisting mainly
of Government serfs and alien auxiliaries, were
forced to exercise military duties hereditarily as
a profession. But this system had many
obvious drawbacks. Besides lowering the
reputation of the soldier and the prestige of the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

105

army generally, the recruiting was not spread
uniformly over all classes of the people ; more-
over, men coming from most distant parts often
found it impossible to reach headquarters in
time. A solution of the difficulty was found
recently in the adoption of a system of recruit-
ing similar to that of a militia or cantonal one,
with the underlying principle that all able-

bodied citizens are expected to serve a term
with the colours. For purposes of military
organisation the country has been divided into
" Monthons," or military districts, and here the
men are recruited and drilled, so that the least
possible inconvenience is caused ; the men are
able to perform their military duties near to
their own homes, and when their presence

under arms is no longer required are able to
return at once to their previous occupations.
This system was first put into practice in Korat,
and the result was so satisfactory that it was
extended to all parts of the kingdom, with
the exception of Monthons Phayap and Isarn,
where the system in force is purely a voluntary
one.

■=^S!_

-9 2M: Q '2£^

THE NAVY.

THE Siamese Navy, though small, is effi-
cient, and while its actual fighting
strength may be insignificant if the power of
European nations is taken as a basis of com-
parison, there has been a thorough re-organi-
sation during recent years and reforms effected
in every department have made the service a
vastly different thing to what it was a decade
ago.

The first step towards building up the modern
navy of Siam may be said to have taken place
when the first royal yacht was built for his
present Majesty's father, but the proper organi-
sation and equipment of the fleet date only

MAJOR-GENERAL H.R.H. PRINCE

NAKONSAWAN.

(Vice-Admiral of the Navy.)

from the time when Captain, afterwards Sir,
John Bush, K.C.B., entered the service of the
Siamese Government. He was placed in com-
mand of all vessels. A number of European
officers, most of whom were of British nation-
ality, were employed to act as instructors, and
from this time onward progress, although at
times slow, has been continuous. When
Admiral Bush retired, his place was taken by
Lieutenant Richelieu, a Dane, and gradually
British officers were superseded by fellow-
countrymen of the new commander, and up
to the present day European officers in the
Siamese Navy are mostly drawn from Den-
mark. At the time when Lieutenant Richelieu
came into prominence as an officer of high

THE ROYAL YACHT.

THE NAVAL DOCKYARD.

106

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

standing, the fleet consisted of several small
yachts, or despatch hoats, several sailing vessels,
including the Than Ktamoom (the shell of
which may now be seen rotting at low
water outside the palace of the late Prince
Mahisra), and two paddle yachts. There was,
however, no vessel having any pretension to
speed which by any stretch of the imagina-
tion could be called a war-ship, and the Han
Hak Sakrn, a vessel of the coast defence type,
was the most formidable of them all. She
carried a large Armstrong gun forward, and
was the boat which fired at and nearly sank
the French merchant vessel Jean Baptistc in
1893. Other principal vessels in the navy of
that date included the Ran Rook, which had
previously been used as a blockade runner by
the Achinese, and was one of the fastest boats
in the East, and a torpedo boat which, although
now very much out of date, was then looked
upon as an effective fighting machine. In the
early nineties it was considered that the royal
yachts Akarct&nA Snriya were not sufficiently
up to date, nor large enough for the require-
ments of his Majesty, and it was determined
that a new yacht, the Malta Cliakrkri, should
be built in Europe. The order was placed with
the well-known Scotch firm of Fleming and
Ferguson, and up to the present day the yacht
is not only by far the largest ship the navy
possesses, but compares quite favourably with
the yachts owned by European sovereigns.

She has a speed of 14^ knots an hour, and is
armed with 47 and 6-lb. guns, but is without
protection except for such as the gun-shields
themselves afford. The Makut Ra/akinnar,
the second largest ship in the navy, was built
by the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Com-
pany for the Governor of his Spanish Majesty's
possessions in the Philippines. She was pur-
chased by the Siamese Government, and gave
such satisfaction that it shortly afterwards
decided to obtain a further vessel from the
same company. This was the Muratha, a
small gunboat practically identical with the
two other vessels, the Bali and Sugrib, which
afterwards came from Hongkong. These three
boats are between 500 and 600 tons displace-
ment, and have a speed of about 1 1 knots. The
latest additions to the naval strength of Siamhave
been three thoroughly modern and up-to-date
torpedo-boats and one torpedo-boat destroyer.
These were obtained from Japan, and are the
first war-ships the Japanese have ever built for
a foreign country. Besides these ships the
navy possesses two transports, various des-
patch and river boats, steam launches, Sec,
making a total in all of something like seventy
vessels.

But while the actual fighting strength of the
navy has greatly advanced during recent
years, as far as the number of ships, their
equipment and armaments are concerned, the
great necessity of raising the standard of educa-

tion amongst those men who are entrusted
with the care of these ships has not been for-
gotten. Naval education is carried on in three
schools, the Naval Cadet School, the Marine
Officers' School, and the Petty Officers' School ;
and from these establishments a good supply
of well-trained, efficient officers is obtained.
In the old days it did not much matter whether
the sailors and firemen were physically incap-
able of carrying out their duties or not. Pro-
viding they lived in the recruiting districts they
were all considered eligible for service. Now,
however, they all have to pass a medical
examination before being accepted by the naval
authorities.

The Naval Yard and Arsenal are situated in
Bangkok, on the west side of the river, opposite
the Royal palace. The dockyard contains the
Admiralty and administrative offices, barracks
for the men, drilling grounds, and artillery
park. The dock has been rebuilt of concrete,
and is now as well a made dock as there is in
the East, and is quite capable of accommodat-
ing the largest ships in the navy. The whole
department has been re-arranged and improved,
and during recent years practically all new
machinery has been introduced. There are
patent slips, workshops, iron and brass
foundries, carpenters' and sailmakers' shops,
Sec ; two shear-legs of different lifting, and all
necessary appliances for the fitting out and
repair of the ships.

POLICE AND PROVINCIAL GENDARMERIE

THE POLICE.

By ERIC ST. JOHN LAWSON, Commissioner of Police, Bangkok.

HE Monthon, or Province
of Bangkok, is policed
by a force consisting of
3,398 men, of whom
2,679 are employed in
the town of Bangkok
and the remainder in
the outlying districts.
The force is divided into
seven divisions, five of which are in the town
proper and two outside the town. One of
these is the Chinese branch, whose duties are
connected with all matters appertaining to the
large Chinese community, and in addition there
is the special branch whose duties are explained
further on. The force is divided into the
following ranks : —

Commissioner ...

Deputy Commissioner ...

Divisional Superintendents

Assistant Superintendents

Chief Inspectors

Inspectors

Head Constables

Sergeants.

- 238

Constables

• 3.004

Each division is under the direct command
of a superintendent, who has under him assist-
ants and chief inspectors who supervise the
work of the circles into which each division is
divided. The unit is the station circle, which is
under the command of an inspector, head con-
stable, or sergeant, according to its size and
importance. The number of men attached to
each station varies very greatly, being depen-
dent on the density of the population in the
station area and the consequent volume of
crime that has to be dealt with. The largest
stations have 120 men attached to them and
the smallest only 24. In addition to these, in
large areas where the population is thin there
are also outposts. The total number of sta-
tions and outposts of the province is 88. The
force consists of men of almost all nationalities,
Siamese vastly preponderating, with a con-
siderable force of Laos. The officers are
recruited by examination after a period of

training, the successful candidates being ap-
pointed to the rank of head constable.

The most important register kept in all
police stations is the daily diary. In this
register every occurrence of every sort that
takes place within the station area and which
is reported to the station is entered, together

in which are entered all complaints of a criminal
nature made by the public. These complaints
form a basis of all subsequent proceedings in
the criminal court. The absconded offenders'
register and the register of property seized by
the police are also important registers found in
every station. In addition to these there is a

GROUP OF POLICE OFFICERS AND MEN.

with the movements on duty of every officer
and constable attached to the station. Great
importance is attached to the immediate entry
of every occurrence in this diary, which forms
a minutely accurate record of everything con-
nected with crime and police since the institu-
tion of the force in the year 1897. The next
most important register is the complaint book,
1C7

police manual, which is a guide for the use of
officers and men on their departmental duties,
and also in their duties under the various laws.
In the town area there are twice as many con-
stables on duty at night as in the daytime, the
men taking one week's day duty and fourteen
days' night duty. In the country districts
patrols of not less than three men leave all the

108

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

A GROUP OF PROFESSIONAL CRIMINALS, WITH GUARD.

stations every Dight and visit the houses of the
kamnan (village headman), putting their thumb
prints in a book kept at the kamnan's house as
a proof of their visit.

The special branch referred to above super-
vises the licensed pawnshops, of which there
are 98. Each morning descriptions of all
property stolen are sent to the special branch
office, and copies of these are sent to all
pawnshops. Under the Pawnbrokers Act, a
pawnbroker who has received, or may sub-
sequently receive, any articles described in
such list must immediately inform the nearest
police-station. To make sure he does so
all lapsed pledges are examined by the
special branch to make certain that no stolen
property is amongst them. If any such are
found, the pawnbroker, besides having to re-
store the property to the owner, is liable to
prosecution. In order to detect thieves who
have pawned stolen property, all persons when
pawning goods are obliged to impress their
right thumb-print on the counterfoil of the
pawn ticket, which is retained in the pawn-
shop. This system has been found invaluable
in innumerable instances in detecting persons
who have pawned stolen property. In addi-
tion to its duties under the Pawnbrokers Act,
the special branch supervises the plain-clothes
staff of sergeants and constables who take dutv
in various parts of the town in the same way

OFFICERS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

109

as the uniform police, but, owing to their being
dressed as ordinary citizens, they do not attract
the attention of the criminal classes to the same
extent as the uniform police, and consequently
are frequently able to effect important captures.
The special branch also keeps up a register of
all foreigners entering Siam, which frequently
proves very useful when inquiries are received
from abroad regarding missing relatives and
friends. There is also a small finger-print
, bureau, containing the finger-prints of all men
who have been dismissed or who have deserted
the force, to which reference is made whenever
a man is enlisted. The bureau for identifica-
tion of criminals is kept up by the officials of
the Ministry of Justice at the industrial prison.
From April I, 1907, to March 31, 1908, 1,796
criminals were identified by their finger-prints,
and from April 1, 1908, till July 31, 1908, 808
criminals have been so identified. The class of
professional criminals in the Province of Bang-
kok is large. In the first place, the Chinese,
who yearly enter the country in great numbers,
contain amongst them a very considerable
leavening of the -professional criminal classes.
Secondly, our neighbours in the Straits are
constantly deporting professional Chinese
criminals from their midst, and these not
infrequently leave China very shortly after
their arrival from deportation, and come to
Siam to practise their trade. To meet this
latter class we have a reciprocal arrangement
with the Straits police, each sending to the
other photographs, descriptions, and finger-

THE CENTRAL PRISON.

A TOWN GENDARMERIE STATION.

110

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

prints of those Chinese who may be deported.
On the arrest of a Straits deportee in Bangkok
he is immediately re-deported. The systematic
deportation of Chinese professional criminals
was only started in June, 1907, since which
date, up to July 31, 1908, 241 have been de-
ported. In March, 1908, a reformatory school
was opened. There are now 39 youthful
criminals in that school. The question as to
the proper method of dealing with native-born
professional criminals has received the anxious
attention of the Siamese Government. Here,
as in other countries, what to do with the pro-
fessional, the man who will not live honestly,
no matter what punishment he receives, is a
problem that has been found difficult to solve.
The solution decided upon is that of restricted
residence. The right of free choice of resi-
dence enjoyed by other members of the

community has been taken away from the
professional criminal, and he is now being sent
to the more sparsely populated portions of the
country, where he will be under the direct
supervision of Government officials, and where
both his temptations and opportunities for
crime are very restricted.

During the year ending March 31, 1908,
18,887 cases, involving the arrest of 15,958
persons, were reported to the Bangkok police ;
of these cases 7,915, involving the arrest of
8,923 persons, were for petty offences. The
total number of persons actually prosecuted
was 15,932, of whom 11,185 were convicted
and 763 were pending trial on March 31,
1908.

The Police Hospital, besides attending to
cases of sickness and injuries amongst mem-
bers of the force, also treats persons wounded

by criminals and victims of street accidents.
During the year ending March 31, 1908, 3,848
persons, of whom 2,367 were out-patients, "were
treated at the hospital. Of the total number of
patients, 1,771 were civilians ; of the 1,761
treated for wounds, 256 were policemen
wounded while on duty. Ninety-eight per-
sons, of whom 7 died, were the victims of
accidents caused by vehicles in the street,
21 of the accidents, involving 4 deaths, being
caused by tramcars ; the same number, involv-
ing 3 deaths, by motor-cars, and the remainder
by horse carriages. Post-mortems to the num-
ber of 162 were made during the year, 90
laboratory examinations of weapons and
articles of clothing for blood, and 5 examina-
tions in cases of suspected poisoning. The
daily average of in-patients at the hospital was
33*4 persons.

THE PROVINCIAL GENDARMERIE.

OUTSIDE the capital and the surrounding
province the country is policed by the
gendarmerie, a body of military police, at the
head of which is a military officer, as inspector-
general, acting directly under the orders of the
Ministry of Interior.

The gendarmerie was first introduced in the
Monthon (circle) of Pachin in 1897, and its
working extended to the other fourteen Mon-
thons, viz. : —

Monthon Krung Kao, 1898 ; Monthon Nakhon
Chaisi, Monthon Nakhon Rajasima, Monthon
Phayab, and Monthon Ralburi, 1899 ; Monthon

A CADET SCHOOL AT PRAPATOM.

COLONEL G. SCHAU.

(Inspector-General (Phya Vasudeb) Provincial
Gendarmerie.)

Udon and Monthon Nakhon Sawan, 1900 :
Monthon Nakhon Sri Dharmaraj, Monthon
Patani, and Monthon Phitsnulok, 1901 ; Mon-
thon Isan, 1902 ; Monthon Chumpon, 1903 ;
Monthon Petchabun, 1904; Monthon Chanta-
buri, 1905.

The strength of the force is now 270 officers
and 8,000 non-commissioned officers and men,
of whom 600 are mounted.

There are no less than 345 stations scattered
over the country, which serve as centres for

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

111

the prevention and suppression of crime. Of
these 15 are at the headquarters of the circles,
75 are in provincial towns, while 255 form the
outposts. From each station patrols are sent
out, chiefly during the night, who report them-
selves to the civil officials of each district, to
whom they hand over any law-breakers they
have arrested, and receive information of any
crime committed. The work of administration
is carried on by Siamese officers, who are
assisted, at the present time, by thirteen Danish
officers, as inspectors and instructors, stationed
in the different circles according to the exigen-
cies of the service. The chiefs of the gendar-
merie stationed in the headquarters of the
circles have the rank of lieutenant-colonels or
majors, while those stationed in the provincial
towns have the rank of captains or lieutenants.
The chiefs of the outposts are non-commissioned
officers. The strength of the station at the head-
quarters of a circle is about one hundred
non-commissioned officers and men ; the
strength of the provincial town stations, fifty to
seventy non-commissioned officers and men ;
while at each outpost are stationed not less
than three non-commissioned officers and
eight men.

The men undergo the usual military discipline,
following the rules and regulations of the
Siamese Army, and are armed with the Mann*
licher magazine carbine, each man being
allowed eighty cartridges a year for practice.
The force is recruited by conscription from the
army recruiting list, and the men, after serving
for two years in the gendarmerie, are trans-
ferred to the army reserve.

In 1904 an officers' residential school was
opened at Prapatom, in the Province of
Nakhon Chaisi, and has proved a great success.
The course is a three years' one, and the cadets
are trained in military discipline, law, mathe-
matics, geography, surveying, natural science,
&c.

The cost of the force, including this school,
is about two and a half million ticals (£187,500)
a year.

Colonel O. Schau, the Inspector-General

of the Provincial Gendarmerie, was born in
Denmark in 1859. He retired from the Danish
Army with the rank of lieutenant in 1884, and
came to Siam, where he was engaged as instruc-
tor in the Siamese Army. He became chief of

did work accomplished by the gendarmerie
and the recognised efficiency of the force at
the present day are in themselves testimony
to the manner in which he carried out the re-
sponsible duty entrusted to him by the Govern-

GENDARMERIE SCHOOL, PRAPATOM.

the non-commissioned officers' school, and
served in various other military capacities until
1897, when he was transferred to the Ministry
of Interior in order that he might devote his
attention entirely to the organisation of the
force of which he is now the head. The splen-

merit. His services have been of great value to
the country, and in recognition of these his
Majesty has conferred upon him the title of
Colonel Phya Vasudeb, the highest Siamese
title it is possible to bestow upon any one out-
side of the royal family.

FINANCE

By W. J. F. WILLIAMSON,
Financial Adviser to the Government of Siam.

GENERAL.

|N financial matters Siam
has made enormous
strides during recent
years, and its accounts
are now compiled and
presented in a manner
which enables the pro-
gress made to be readily
seen. The monetary
unit is the tical, a silver coin weighing 15
grammes, or 231 J grains troy. A few years
ago its value, Jor exchange purposes with
other countries, was about one shilling, but
it has been artificially raised by a method
similar to that adopted in the case of the
Indian rupee, and now stands at is. 6d., or
i3i ticals to the pound sterling.

The following table gives the revenue and
expenditure of the country for the last seventeen
years, and when the rise in the value of the
tical is taken into consideration, the increase in
the figures becomes still more striking.

Year.

111 (1892-93)

112 (1893-04)

113 (1894-95)

114 (1895-96)
115(1890-97)
116(1897-98)

117 (1898-99)

118 (1899-OO)

119 (I9OO-OII

120 (1901-02)

121 (IOO2-O3)

122 (I903-O4)

123 (1904 05I

124 (1905-06)
125(1906-07)

126 (I907-O8)

127 (I908-O9)

Receipts.

Expenditure.

Ticals.

15,378,114

14,918,977

i7,3»9. 72

18,174,504

17-3.14469

12,487,165

18,074.690

12,685,697

20,644.500

18,482,715

24,808,01 1

23,996,625

28.496,029

23,7^7,5*2

29,902,365

27,052,717

35,611,306

31,841,257

36,157.963

36,646,558

39,152,124

39,028,040

4345MI7

43,008,901

46,046,404

40,634,654

51.657,539

50,035,523

57,014,805

50,837,460

55^25,000

56,500,000 '

58,700,000

60,599,611 2

Revised Estimates.

a Estimates.

It will be seen that the revenue has increased
year by year with great regularity, and there is
no reason to suppose that it will not continue
to grow as population and trade advance,
though naturally it can hardly be expected that
the rate of progress will be as rapid for the
future as it has been in the last few years.

An investigation into the details shows that
the country is by no means heavily taxed, and
that the enormous increase in the above table
is, only to a very small extent, the result of
new taxation, or of more severe burdens on the
people or the land : it can nearly all be as-
cribed to more efficient administration, and to
development of natural resources. The more
the system of Government improves, the
smaller is the possible increase of revenue to
be obtained by better methods of administra-
tion, but the natural wealth of the country is
undoubtedly great, and in normal circumstances
its development must result in increase of
revenue for a long time to come.

The table also shows that the expenditure
keeps pace with the revenue. In many ways
Siam may be considered a new country, and it
is possible, at present, to expend on develop-
ments and improvements — both on administra-
tion and on public works, such as railways,
canals, &c. — as much money as can be got
together for the purpose. This is usually the
experience in most countries, but particularly
so in one which has only recently come to the
front as an exponent of modern and up-to-date
methods of government, and whose hands are
to some extent tied by treaties entered into
over half a century ago, when the conditions
were totally and radically different from what
they are now and have been for some years.
Under these treaties the rates of taxation have
been rigidly fixed, so far as the subjects of the
foreign Powers are concerned, and while the
Government has naturally had full liberty to
impose what taxes it pleased on its own sub-
jects, it will be readily understood that it did
not desire to place heavier burdens on the
latter than it was able to do on persons subject
to extra-territorial jurisdiction. Hence, it was
not found practicable to impose any new
taxation or add to existing taxes for very many
years, and the only modifications of any im-
portance which have been made since the
treaties were signed are the recent ones
relating to the taxation on land, and the levy
of fees for harbour, light, and boat dues. By
an arrangement with Great Britain, concluded

a few years ago, any land held by the subjects
of that power may now be taxed at rates not
exceeding those charged on similar land in
Lower Burma : an opportunity was thus
given for the promulgation of a new law in
1905, raising the tax on certain classes of lands
up to a maximum of 1 tical per rai, which
corresponds to about 2J ticals, or 3s. 9d., per
acre. The duties leviable under the Harbour
Act formed the subject of special arrangement
with the Powers, and came into force three
years ago. It may here be noted, however,
that the question of a complete revision of
the treaty stipulations as regards taxation is
now under close consideration, and it is hoped
that the necessary negotiations may be entered
into before long. The first step to this end
has already been taken, Siam having formally
announced her intention of proposing new
arrangements in place of those provided for
in the treaties.

The table on the next page shows the prin-
cipal heads of revenue and expenditure, with
the estimated figures for the year 127 (1908-09).

REVENUE.

The majority of the figures speak for them-
selves, but it is at once noticeable that a certain
proportion of the revenue is still collected under
the " Farm" system — that is to say, it is put up
to auction and sold to the highest bidder, who
thereby becomes the " farmer " for that class
of revenue. Government has then no further
concern with the actual collections, but has
merely to see that the amount of the bid is duly
paid in by the farmer, to whom authority, care-
fully limited and regulated, is delegated for
collecting the revenue. This system is, how-
ever, being given up as rapidly as circumstances
permit, in favour of direct collection by Govern-
ment agents. The Farm system has had its
advantages and uses in the past, but the ad-
ministrative machinery is now so greatly
improved that there no. longer exists any
necessity for delegating important revenue-
collecting functions to persons who merely
undertake the duty with a view to making a
profit out of it. Moreover, it is found in practice
that the system of putting up large sources of
revenue to be bid for at auctions results in
considerable fluctuations in the amount of the
bids, which tends to upset the budget estimates ;

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ESTIMATED REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 1908-9.

113

Revenue.

Gambling Farms

Spirits —

Revenue from Farms ...

Government Administration

Opium —

Revenue from Farms ...

Government Administration

Lottery F'arms

Miscellaneous Farms

Land and Fishery Taxes

Customs

Ministry of Agriculture

Forests

Mines ...

Posts and Telegraphs

Royal Mint and Treasury

Railway Traffic Receipts

Judicial Fees and Fines ...

Prison Manufactures

Amphurs' Fees ... ...

Entertainment Fees ... ...

Slaughter Licence Fees

Betting Licence Fees
Miscellaneous Fees and Licences

Octroi

Capitation Taxes

Revenue from Government Property

Interest and Profit on Exchange

Miscellaneous

Total

Deduct for short collections

Nett Total

Ticals.
3,352,764

3,206,714
I,038,0i,0

135440

13,444,300

3,200,000

' 606,187

8,454,775
5,826,600

443,39o
1,131,350
1,313,600
1,124,308
75,ioo
4,100,000

736,000
98,830

354,000

24,000

1,247,840

633,400
1,340,798
1,685,000
3,647,055

394,193
1,283,653

303,420

50,200,717
500,717

58.700,000

Expenditure.

Ministry of the Interior ..

Ministry of War ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Local Government

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Public Instruction and Worship

Ministry of Public Works

Ministry of Agriculture

H.M.'s Private Secretaries' Office

Legislative Council

Royal Lictors

H.M.'s Civil List

Privy Purse of H.R.H. the Crown Prince

Allowances to Princes

Pensions and Gratuities

H.M.'s Tour Expenses

Miscellaneous Construction and Repairs

Interest on loans

Political Payments ...

Miscellaneous

Reserve for Unforeseen Expenses

Ticals.

n, 189759

14,270,854
918,060
3,934,529
5.719,407
2,372,547
1,527,270
3,954,052
3,238,363

221 22^

86705
129,550

7,500,000
300,000
161,600
600,000
100,000
180,000

2,340,000
792,192
463,500
600,000

Total

.. 60,599,611

and further, that owing to emulation and coin-
petition among the bidders, the price offered is
frequently higher than the farmer can actually
afford to pay. The result is that he fails to act
up to his promises, and a more or less serious
loss of revenue ensues. For these and other
reasons it has been definitely decided to do
away with the farms as speedily as possible,
and in a year or two the only ones remaining,
apart from a few miscellaneous farms, such as
that for the right of collecting edible birds'
nests, will probably be the Gambling and
Lottery Farms. These will have to be retained
for the present for purposes of revenue.

As regards the Gambling Farms it may be
here remarked that the Government fully
realises the objections, on moral and other
grounds, to the State recognition of public
gaming-houses and the participation by the
State in the profits arising therefrom. As
evidence of this recognition it will suffice to
draw attention to the fact that on April 1, 1906,
the last of the licensed gambling-houses in the
provinces was closed, at a loss of three million
ticals of revenue, and that the .only establish-
ments of this character now in existence in
Siam are situated in Bangkok, the capital.
Moreover, the Government has publicly an-
nounced its intention of completing the reform
it has already inaugurated by abolishing these
few remaining houses, as soon as the tariff
negotiations previously referred to have been
carried to a successful conclusion. The prin-
cipal object of these negotiations is to arrange
for the increase of the general import duty from
its present figure of 3 per cent, ad valorem to a
maximum of 10 per cent., and the additional
revenue which this change will bring in is
expected to cover the loss resulting from the
final abolition of all licensed gambling establish-
ments in Siam. In the meantime the Govern-
ment has given an earnest of its intentions by
the closing of the provincial establishments.

A further instance of the policy of abolishing

the farming system is afforded by the case of
the opium revenue. Up to the end of the year
1906 this was farmed out, as it had been for
very many years past, but in January, 1007, the
Government took over the principal farm, and
in the current year two more farms have been
abolished — leaving only a couple of insignificant
ones still existing, viz., those of the distant
provinces of Isan and Udon, which together
bring in an estimated revenue of only 135,440
ticals out of a total gross figure of over 13J
millions.

The opium policy of the Government is at
present in a state of transition. The intention
is to ultimately suppress the use of the drug
entirely, except for medicinal purposes, and
the first step, which has already been taken,
is to bring the opium revenue under the direct
administration and control of the Government.
This has necessitated the formation of a separate
department, charged with the purchase of the
raw drug, its preparation for consumption in
the form required by the smokers, the distribu-
tion and sale of the prepared product through
the agency of licensed vendors, and the col-
lection of the proceeds of the sales. By this
means the whole of the profits will accrue to
the Government, with the exception of such
salaries or commissions as may be granted to
the retailers. Moreover, through the agency
of the retail vendors and the local inspecting
officers, it is hoped to establish a system of
registration of smokers, with a view to the
prevention of the spread of the habit and
its gradual suppression as the ranks of the
registered smokers are reduced through death
or other causes. Heroic measures are not
possible in a case like this, as the immediate
cessation of the regularised supply would
merely have the effect of completely dis-
locating the Government finances, without
materially checking consumption. For it has
to be borne in mind that the opium habit is
strongly ingrained in large numbers of the

inhabitants of the country, mostly those of
Chinese extraction, and the demand for the
drug is so imperious that it would be supplied,
at whatever risk, from illicit sources. Smuggling
is even now carried on extensively, both by sea
and across the land frontiers, and an enormous
trade in contraband opium would immediately
spring up if, without any change in the habits
of the people, the Government supply were
suddenly cut off.

It has been deemed best, therefore, to attempt
the reform of the opium smoker (speaking col-
lectively) step by step. This policy is, of course,
not in consonance with the views held by
certain impulsive reformers in Great Britain,
but those who know the East best, and par-
ticularly the parts of it where opium is most
extensively used, are almost unanimous in their
opinion that less crime and misery are caused
by excessive indulgence in opium than by the
immoderate use of alcohol.

Passing to the more usual types of revenue,
we come to Land and Fishery Taxes, which
are estimated to bring in nearly 8J million
ticals. This head, as its name implies, consists
of taxes levied directly upon the land and upon
the fisheries throughout the country, and these
are assessed for purposes of taxation by the
revenue authorities. The idea underlying the
system is that the land and all physical ad-
vantages which it possesses are the property of
the Crown, and are held from the Crown by
tenants who pay a portion of the produce of
their holding in return for the privilege of
tenancy.

The present system of registration of title
to land was introduced into Siam in 1001, and
Was modelled, with necessary adaptations, on
the well-known Torrens system, which is usually
considered one of the best, and which, since
its introduction into Australia by Sir Robert
Torrens, has been adopted as a model in many
parts of Europe and the United States.

Up to 1905 the land in Siam was for the most

114

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

part taxed at a fixed rate (24 atts per rai, or,
approximately, is. 5d. per acre) on the area
actually cultivated, but in certain localities lands
were taxed at a lower rate (16 atts per rai, or
1 id. per acre) on the whole area held. In 1905

received from these leases, there are taxes on
the fishing implements employed, levied by
means of licences.

Another important head is Customs, which
accounts for nearly six millions of revenue.

W. J. P. WILLIAMSON.

(Financial Adviser to his Siamese Majesty's Government.)

a new policy was brought into force by which
the land is divided into five classes, according
to natural advantages of fertility or position,
and eventually is to be taxed, generally speak-
ing, according to its class, on the full area held,
at rates rising to a maximum of 1 tical per
rai (3s. 9d. per acre) for land of the first class,
jungle land being taxed at one-eighth of the
rate for paddy land. In the meanwhile, in
order to hasten the extensions of the system,
all land remaining under the old rules, and
taxable on the area actually cultivated, is
charged at a rate 25 per cent, higher than
other land of the same class.

Fisheries are leased annually or triennially,
either to single individuals, or, where this
would cause hardship, to communities at a
fixed rate per head. In addition to the rents

This includes both import and export duties —
the former being at present levied at the rate
of 3 per cent, ad valorem on all imports,
except wines, beers, and spirits, which have a
special tariff of their own, while the export
duty is a varying one on such of the chief
products of the country as are not subject to
inland or transit duties. It "has been men-
tioned in an earlier part of this article that the
Government intends shortly to enter into
negotiations with the Treaty Powers for a
revision of the tariff on articles of import and
export — the main features of the proposed new
arrangements being the increase of the general
import duty up to a maximum of 10 per cent.,
and the abolition of the export duty on a large
number of miscellaneous articles now subject
to the tax. The dutiable articles of export will

then be confined to rice (husked or unhusked)
elephants.and cattle — all other goods being free.

The two quasi-commercial departments —
Forests and Mines— each bring in well over
one million ticals, especially the latter. The
Forest revenue consists mainly of rents of
leases, royalties, and transit duties on timber
collected at the Government duty stations on
the Menam and Salween rivers ; while the
receipts under Mines are chiefly the result of
royalties and export duties on tin. A large
variety of minerals of different kinds is found
in Siam, but tin is the only one of any great
financial importance. It occurs in small
quantities in parts of Northern Siam, but
practically the whole of the amount extracted
is from the Siamese portion of the Malay
Peninsula, and especially from the province of
Puket, on the West Coast.

The revenue from Posts and Telegraphs
also exceeds one million ticals, but the
expenditure is somewhat in excess of the
receipts, and the service is thus carried on at
present at a loss. This, however, is inevitable,
owing to the large extent of the country, the
comparative sparseness of the population, and
the consequent small return on inland traffic.
The position in this respect is, nevertheless,
better than it was a few years ago, despite
largely increased expenditure on the extension
of lines of communication, and it may be
expected to show continued improvement as
the development of the country proceeds.

A head which is already of great financial
importance, and which is expected to prove
even more profitable in the future, is Railway
Traffic Receipts. For the year 1908-09 this
head is expected to bring in over four million
ticals, against an expenditure of just under two
millions, while a further evidence of the pro-
fitable nature of this undertaking is shown by
the fact that the nett return upon capital has
risen from a little over 2j per cent, in 1901-02
to about 5f per cent, in 1906-07— the latest
year for which figures are available.

The policy of constructing State railways
was inaugurated in the year 1891, and up to
March 31, 1904, the whole of the capital re-
quired for the purpose was provided out of
current revenue, the actual expenditure from
that source having aggregated over thirty-one
million ticals in the course of thirteen years,
being an average of nearly 24 millions per
annum. From the year 1904-05 onwards the
expenditure on construction has been charged
to loan, as it was found impossible any longer,
owing to the growing demands of the various
administrative departments, to meet out of
revenue the heavy annual charges involved.
The first loan, raised at the beginning of 1905,
was one of £1,000,000 (the whole of which sum
has been spent on railway construction), and
this was followed a couple of years later by a
second emission of £3,000,000, of which a
considerable portion is still in hand.

The length of the open lines of the Siamese
State Railways at present amounts to 777
kilometers (483 miles), as shown below : —

Northern line, with branch to Korat

Petchaburi or Western line

Patriew or Eastern line

Total

Kms.

503

151

777

Slaughter Licence Fees annually bring
in over one million ticals. No animals may be
slaughtered for food, either in Bangkok or in the
provinces, except at the Government abattoirs,
or at the private licensed slaughter-houses,
worked under Government supervision, which
exist in certain places.

Nearly one and three-quarter million ticals
appear as the gross revenue from the Octroi
duties, which are payable on commodities not

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

115

liable to the export duties. The net revenue
from these duties is very much less than the
figure above given, as the cost of collecting the

expenditure is as far as possible classified
according to ministries — that is to say, all
amounts expended are grouped together

year 1908-09, the first on the list is the
Ministry of the Interior (11,189,758 ticals),
which controls the gendarmerie (2,595, 168 ticals),

GROUP OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

Octroi is considerable. The Government is
considering the question of the abolition of
these duties, as it is considered that they have
an indirect evil effect on the trade of the
country, but the obstacle, of course, is the
financial one, and this is insuperable at present.
It is hoped, however, that when the new
customs tariff is sanctioned to which reference
has been made more than once before, it may
be possible to carry out this reform along with
the abolition of the remaining gambling farms.
The only other important revenue head is
Capitation Taxes, which is an annual tax
on males of certain classes of Siamese, in
place of the compulsory service and contribu-
tions formerly rendered to the State under the
old quasi-feudal system. The Chinese portion
of the population is not liable to this tax, but
instead of it a poll-tax is levied on every male
Chinese (with certain specified exceptions)
once in every three years.

EXPENDITURE.

The expenditure of the Government has,
as previously stated, kept pace with the
revenue, and will continue to do so, as it is
clear that many years must elapse before there
can be any difficulty in profitably spending
money in developing the resources of the
country and improving the administrative
machinery. In the Government accounts the

1 Att (1808).

1 Fuaxg (1850-68).

SOLOT (1850-68).

Salukg (Reverse). 2 Att. Salung (Obverse).

(Reproduced from the Siamese Collection of Coins at the British Museum.)

against the ministry under which they were
expended.

Taking the figures of the estimates for the

the Revenue Department (1,908,064 ticals),
the Provincial Administration (5,646,769 ticals)
and the Forest Department (477,618 ticals) for

lit)

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

TlCAI..

4 Att.

TlCAI. (1808).

(Reproduced from the Siamese Collect

the whole country, with the exception of the
capital and the province in which it is situated.

Next comes the Ministry of War
(14,270,854 ticals), including the army
(10,000,000 ticals), the navy (3,900,000 ticals),
and War Office (370,854 ticals).

The estimated expenditure of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs is 918,060 ticals, of which
606,759 ticals is for legations and consulates
abroad — the remainder (311. 301 ticals) being
the annual cost of the central administration of
the ministry.

The Ministry of Local Government,
which controls the capital city of Bangkok and
the province enclosing it, is responsible for an
annual expenditure of 3,934,529 ticals, of which
1,644,155 ticals is for the Sanitary Department,
and 1,429,075 ticals for the upkeep of the police
of the city and province. The remainder is
divided among the Bangkok Revenue Depart-
ment, the Harbour Master's Department, and
the central administration of the ministry.

The Ministry of Finance is estimated to
expend 5,719,407 ticals, of which the recently
formed Government Opium Administration is
responsible for no less than 3,883,400 ticals, or
67 per cent. — the greater portion of the latter
sum representing the cost price of the raw
opium. The central administration of the
ministry, the Comptroller - General's Office,
Central and Provincial Treasuries, Customs
Department, Royal Mint, and Paper Currency
Department together cost the remaining sum
of 1,836,007 ticals.

The expenditure of the Ministry of Justice
amounts to a sum of 2,372,547 ticals. The
greater portion of this is spent upon the courts
of justice, while nearly half a million represents
the cost of the maintenance of the gaols.

The Ministry of Public Instruction and
Worship accounts for 1,527,270 ticals, more
than half of which sum is expended on educa-
tion — the remainder being divided among
hospitals, the Ecclesiastical Department, and
the central administration of the ministry.
• The Ministry of Public Works has
charge of ordinary public works, posts and
telegraphs, and railways. Of these the

Att (1808).
ion of Coins at the British Museum.)

Department of Public Works costs half a
million ticals, and the posts and telegraphs
1.358,035 ticals, while the expenditure on
railway traffic amounts to 1,932,194 ticals,

COINAGE AND CURRENCY.

General.

Up to November, 1902, the currency of Siam
was on a purely silver basis, and the exchange
value of its unit, the tical, was subject to all the
fluctuations incidental to a dependence on the
white metal. The inconvenience of this was
felt in Siam, as it had been in India some years
previously, and the Government accordingly
closed the Mint to the free coinage of ticals
against deliveries of silver, as heretofore, and
announced that it would, for the future, issue
them only against gold, at a certain stated price
— the latter being at first fixed at is. or 20 ticals
to the pound sterling. This has been raised by
successive stages, until it now stands at its
final figure of is. 6Jd., or 13 ticals to the
pound.

The system thus introduced was based on
the one adopted in India in 1893, and is usually
known as the Gold Exchange Standard — its
distinctive features being a silver currency
of unlimited legal tender, the value of which is
raised, by restricting the output, to such a
figure as may be desired, and the issues of
which are made only against gold. The
successful working of such a system depends,
in its initial stages, entirely on the demand for
the currency thus artificially raised in value,
and as long as this demand continues, consider-
able profits are made out of the mintage. It is
imperative, however, that a gold reserve be
created (not necessarily in the country itself),
for the purpose of supporting the standard at
the exchange value fixed for it by the Govern-
ment, by offering gold for currency whenever
the latter shows any signs of weakness or
redundancy. In principle, therefore, the system
is the same in all essential features as that of
any other fiduciary currency, such, forinstance,
as an issue of paper money, and for its ultimate

Tical or Bat before 1782.

Bat. 1K50-0S.

Bat, 1850-68.

Soxg Sallwg, i78:-i8oo Saluxg, 1824-29. Saluxg. 1850-68.

(Reproduced from the Siamese Collection of Coins at the British Museum.

against estimated receipts of 4,100,000 ticals.
The total expenditure of this ministry is
3,954. 5 2 ticals.

The Ministry of Agriculture spends
3,238,363 ticals, chiefly upon the Survey and
Irrigation Departments, the budgets of which
amount to about one million ticals each — other
heads being Land Registration and Records,
Special Land Commissioners, Sericulture and
Mines.

establishment it depends on the provision of an
adequate reserve of the metal on which the
value of the tokens is based. In the case
of silver coins whose value is stated in terms of
gold, at a figure above that of their intrinsic
worth, this reserve must necessarily be a gold
one, and the least costly way of providing the
required stock of the yellow metal is by gradu-
ally building it up out of the profits of the coin-
age. This is the method adopted by the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

117

Indian Government. For its attainment, how-
ever, it is essential that for a long series of
years after the introduction of the Gold Ex-
change Standard the requirements of trade
shall be such that a steady demand is made on
the Treasury for considerable supplies of the
artificially raised currency. In such circum-
stances it may be possible (and in the case of
the Indian currency it has been so) to accumu-
late a sufficient reserve out of the profits
of the coinage to support the currency when,
owing to adverse trade conditions, its volume
is greater than the requirements of trade
demand.

In cases where circumstances do not permit
of this easy and inexpensive method of creating
the required reserve, it becomes necessary,
when the demand for gold arises, owing to an
unfavourable trade position, to provide it by
loan or otherwise, and this is what Siam has
had to do. At the beginning of 1907 a loan of
£3,000,000 was raised in Europe, of which one
third was set aside for exchange purposes — the
balance being destined for railway construction.
With this £1,000,000 the Government has met
the situation created by the trade depression of
the years 1907 and 1908 by selling sterling
transfers, and has thus been enabled to main-
tain the exchange value of the tical. A large
quantity of redundant currency has thus been
withdrawn from circulation, and when this is
released again in conformity with the demands
of trade, as it is certain to be in due
course, the gold reserve of the Government
will once again be replenished. Later on,
when the coinage of new ticals is undertaken
to meet yet further demands for currency, the
profits arising from this coinage will go to
swell the reserve, and eventually it is hoped
that, when these accumulated profits amount to
a sufficient figure, it may be possible to repav,
out of them, the £i,ooo,coo of loan money with
which the reserve has been started.

The above is a brief general statement of the
recent currency policy of the Government and
its present situation, but a further development
may shortly be expected in the direction of the
introduction ,of a gold coin, of the value of
10 ticals, and of full legal tender. In the latter
respect, the new coin will circulate on an equal
footing with the silver tical, which will at first,
and probably for many years to come, remain
unlimited legal tender. It is expected, how-
ever, that as time goes on the metallic currency
will bear an increasingly large proportion of
gold, and this tendency will undoubtedly give
stability to the monetary position of the
country.

A. H. Baklow (Agent, Hongkong and Shanghai

Banking Corporation, Ltd.).

P. Schwarze (Manager, The Siam Commercial Bank, Ltd.).

S. Livingstone (Agent, Chartered Bank of
India, Australia, and 'China, Ltd.).
Camille Henry (Manager, Banqtie de l'Indo-Chine).

THE SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK.

(See p. 120.)

Coinage.

Under the new law, which will shortly be
promulgated, the following will be the coins to
be minted : —
Gold. — 10-tical piece, of 6-20 grammes weight

and 900 fine.
Silver. — Tical, of 15 grammes weight and 900
fine.
2-saIutig piece, or £ tical, of 7-5 grammes

weight and 800 fine.
Salting, or£ tical. of 375 grammes weight
and 800 fine.
Nickel. — io-stang piece or ^ tical.

5-stang piece, or ,\j tical.
Copper. — i-stati!> piece or ^ s tical.

The present subsidiary currency of Siam is
based on the alt, or ,' T tical, but the all and its
connections are to be recalled as soon as the
new coins are put into circulation. The change
to a decimal system of coinage will undoubtedly
simplify all business transactions, and will put
the Siamese currency on a modern and up-to-
date footing.

Paper Currency.

The paper currency of Siam consists of a
Government issue of notes of the 1,000, 100, 20,

118

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

io and 5 ticals denominations, of which the
circulation amounted, on March 31, 1908,
to a sum of 14,796,040 ticals. This was secured
by a special cash reserve, entirely distinct from
the general Treasury funds, amounting to
9,003,474 ticals — the balance, representing 39
per cent, of the notes in circulation, being
invested in Consols and other Government
stocks. The law allows of the investment of
50 per cent, of the reserve, but the percentage
actually invested is always a lower one, to pro-
vide a sufficient margin for fluctuations.

THE JOO SENG HENG BANK.

In view of the enormous amount of business
in Siam which is solely in the hands of Chinese,
it is somewhat remarkable that until compara-
tively recently there was not a Chinese banking
house in Bangkok. However, encouraged by
the success which had attended the opening of
Chinese financial institutions in Singapore, Mr.
S. Joo Seng, some four years ago, decided to
establish a Chinese bank in his native city.
The now well-known Joo Seng Heng Bank
was the result. This institution rapidly ac-
quired an important position in financial
circles, and is now conducting an extensive
and important business. Indeed, so marked
has the bank's success been that it is now on

S. JOO SENG.

(Manager, Joo Seng Heng Hank.)

the eve of being formed into a limited liability
company, with a locally subscribed capital of
ticals 3,000,000, while branches of the bank
are about to be opened all over Siam. The
new company will be under the control of a
strong board of directors.

Mr. S. Joo Seng, as the founder of this
rapidly extending business, has a right to be
styled the pioneer of Chinese banking in Siam.
He was educated in English, Siamese, and
Chinese in Bangkok, and since starting upon
his business career has been responsible for
initiating and placing on a sound basis many
important commercial and financial under-
takings.

BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE.

French financial interests in Siam are repre-
sented by a branch of the Banque de l'lndo-
Chine, which addition to the well-known
French bank's many Eastern branches was
made on February 27, 1897. The Bangkok
branch conducts all the usual banking business,
and buys and issues drafts, letters of credit, &c,
on all the leading cities of the world. In 1899
they issued a series of local notes, but these
were withdrawn at the request of the Govern-
ment on the opening of the paper currency
office. During recent years the business of the

THE JOO SENG HENG BANK.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

119

THE PREMISES OF THE BANQUE DE L'INDO-CHINE.

bank has developed very rapidly, and in 1908
they moved their offices to the new premises
which had been specially erected for them on
the west bank of the river. The building has
an imposing external appearance, and forms a
conspicuous feature of that part of the town
where it is located.

The manager of the Bangkok branch is Mr.
Camille Henry. He has held his present posi-
tion for the last two years, but was previously
connected with the bank's business in Siam for
a considerable period immediately following
the opening of the branch. The staff consists
of two European officers, a number of assistants
and clerks, and Chinese employes under an
experienced compradore.

HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING
CORPORATION, LTD.

The growth of European business in Siam
led to the opening of a branch of this famous
Eastern banking corporation in 1888. The
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank has thus the dis-
tinction of being the pioneer bank of Siam, for
prior to that date there was no institution of
the kind, either European or native, in Bang-
kok. The first manager of the branch was
Mr. J. M. R. Smith, now chief manager for the
corporation at Hongkong, and under his charge
it soon began to make its influence felt in Siam-
ese business circles. Until some years ago the
bank issued its own notes for the convenience
of traders, but these have now been withdrawn
in favour of the Government note issue.

The bank premises are situated on the east
bank of the Menam river, close to the centre of

THE PREMISES OF THE HONGKONG AND SHANGHAI BANKING
CORPORATION, LTD.

120

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

the business portion of the town. The bank's
agent in Bangkok is Mr. A. H. Barlow, who
has been connected with the corporation in
various parts of the East for several years past.

THE SIAM COMMERCIAL BANK, LTD.

This Siamese banking corporation was
formed, under royal charter, in 1006 to take
over a money-lending business up to that time
carried on by a society called the Book Club.
Its founders, however, soon realised the greater
possibilities of their undertaking, and acquiring
a capital of three million ticals, amongst both
European and Siamese, they embarked upon
an ordinary banking business on European
lines. The bank's premises are conveniently
situated in the city portion of Bangkok. The
European department is under the control of
Mr. P. Schwarze, whose services are lent by
the Deutsche Asiatische Bank, with which cor-
poration the Siam Commercial Bank is closely

connected. The Siamese business is managed
by his Excellency Phra Sanpakarn, a gentle-
man well known in official and financial circles
throughout Siam. The bank's business is
rapidly outgrowing the present premises, and
these are now being replaced by a hew and
much larger structure on the banks of the
Menam river.

THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA,
AUSTRALIA, AND CHINA, LTD.

Opened in 1894, the Bangkok branch of this
well-known banking corporation was the second
bank to be established in Siam. The premises,
which are situated on the river front between
the French Legation and the Oriental Hotel,
have been occupied by the bank for many
years, but as they have now become unfit and in-
adequate for their purpose, a large, well-
appointed, and up-to-date structure is in course

of erection near the site of the present build-
ing.

The paid-up capital of the bank is £1,200,000 ;
the reserve fund, £1,525,000, while the further
liability of proprietors is £1,200,000.

The corporation grant drafts and buy and
receive for collection bills of exchange on
London and the principal commercial centres
in Europe, India, Australia, America, China,
and Japan, and transact every description of
banking and exchange business. Their head
office is in London, and they have branches
and agencies in New York, Hamburg, Batavia,
Bombay, Calcutta, Cebu, Colombo, Foochow,
Hankow, Hongkong, Ipoh, Kobe, Karachi,
Kuala Lumpor, Madras, Manilla, Medan (Deli),
Rangoon, Saigon, Shanghai, Singapore, Soura-
baya, Thaiping, Tientsin, Yokohama, and Pi-
nang.

The agent in Siam is Mr. W. S. Livingstone,
and his staff consists of three Europeans and
several native assistants.

ROYAL SURVEY WORK

By R. W. GIBLIN, F.R.G.S.,
Director of the Royal Survey Department.

Historical Sketch.

IT present the Govern-
ment surveys for trian-
gulation, topographic,
revenue, and general
administrative purposes
are carried out entirely
by the Royal Survey
Department, with some
trifling exceptions, such
as charts for the coast-line by the navy and
maps which the army may require of routes in
certain districts, &c. Before presenting any
account of the work of the Royal Survey De-
partment, it will be of interest to give an out-
line of the condition of survey work in Siam
immediately preceding the formation of the
department, and which in fact led to its
creation.

About the year 1875 the necessity for surveys
in connection with improvements in the city of
Bangkok, and for supervision in carrying out
these improvements, led to the selection of
certain officers of the royal bodyguard for
training in this direction. These officers were
formed into a special company called "Military
Engineers of the Royal Bodyguard." Their
commandant was the late Mr. Alabaster, his
Majesty's adviser, who had under him as
assistants the late Mr. Loftus, Luang Samo-
sawn (afterwards made Praya Maha-yota), and
Mom Kachawong Deng (now Mom Tewa-
tirat). The survey office was in the old
Museum, now the N itional Library, near the
royal palace.

In the year 1880 a secondary triangulation
from the Eastern Frontier Series of the Survey
of India Trigonometrical Branch was brought
down to Bangkok under one of the officers of
the Survey of India survey party, Mr. James
McCarthy, and after its completion he was
engaged as Government Surveyor by the
Minister of War, Chao Praya Suriwong. The
records of the Royal Survey Department as it
exists to-day may be said to date from the
employment, of Mr. McCarthy's services by
H.S.M.'s Government, though, as will be seen,
its actual formation as a department did not
take place till later.

The following extract from a work on the
great trigonometrical survey of India, by
Charles E. D. Black, published in 1891 by

order of the Secretary of State for India,
refers to this trigonometrical connection of
Bangkok with Tavoy as follows : —

"At the close of the season 1875-76 the line
of principal triangulation called the Eastern
Frontier Series had been brought down to the

R. W. GIBLIN, F.R.G.S.

(Director. Royal Survey Department.)

vicinity of Tavoy, whence during 1876-77 it
was carried forward in all a distance of 92
miles, first by Mr. H. Beverly and afterwards
by Captain J. Hill, R.E., who assumed com-
mand." During the ensuing season,
" The trigonometrical measurements were
advanced a distance of 65 miles, the position
of the town of Tavoy was fixed, as well as that
of the ' Three Pagodas,' an important and
well-known mark on the boundary between
Siam and Tenasserim. . . . This series had
now reached a point about 35 miles south
of Tavoy, from which the direct distance to
Bangkok, the capital of Siam, was only 90
miles, while the distance round the coast was
fully 2,000 miles.

" As a check on the marine surveys it was
very desirable for a chain of triangles to be
carried across into Siamese territory, and to
this the King of Siam readily assented. Singu-
larly enough, the tract of British territory lying
up to the Siamese boundary, though only 42
miles in width, proved the most difficult piece
of all, the hills (composed chiefly of meta-
morphic rocks) being generally flat with no
commanding points, while the dense tropical
vegetation and unusually long rainy season of
1878 were further obstacles to speedy progress.
Once across the frontier the country suddenly
became more favourable, and with the ready
co-operation of Siamese officials good pro-
gress was made up to within 25 miles of
Bangkok, the remaining sections being com-
pleted by Captain Hill late in the following
year, and by Mr. McCarthy at the beginning
of the season 1880-81. Mr. McCarthy also
determined the position of the six next most
important towns in Siam ; one of the stations
selected was the celebrated Phra Pratom
Pagoda, the largest in Siam. The outside
circuit of its enclosure is 3,251 feet. Within
this enclosure" a great bell-shaped spire
springs to a height of 347 feet above the
ground. Besides these places the positions of
several hill peaks on both sides of the head of
the Gulf of Siam were determined, compass
sketches made of several of the chief rivers
and canals, and a plan of Bangkok prepared on
the scale of 4 miles to the inch.

"In November, 1880, Mr. McCarthy was
requested by the British Vice-Consul, Mr.
Newman, to accompany a Siamese telegraphic
expedition then about to start for the Natya-
dung Pass, on the British frontier, about 55
miles higher up than the Amya Pass, by which
the survey party had crossed into Siam. The
whole route up to the former pass was
measured with cane ropes, and Mr. McCarthy
was also enabled to get bearings to fresh
peaks and to affix the names to some
already observed. He returned to Moulmein
on April 12, 1881, having been employed on
field duty nearly eighteen months, and having
won good opinions in his dealings with the
Siamese officials."

Towards the end of the year 1881 Mr.
McCarthy was despatched to examine a route
for a telegraph line between Bangkok and
Moulmein via Raheng. The Indian Eastern
Frontier Series Trigonometrical Survey had
fixed the position of some mountain peaks west
of Raheng, and Mr. McCarthy connected these
peaks with Raheng by a small series of tri-

12-3

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

angles. About this time H.R.H. Prince
Dainrong (then known as Pra Ong Chao Disa-
wara Kumarn) conceived the idea of forming

the residence of H.R.H. Somdet Chao Fa Krom
Pra Chakrapatipong was used for the purpose.
Thirty men were selected from the royal body-

NO. 2 OFFICE, ROYAL SURVEY DEPARTMENT, BANGKOK.

a Survey Department, and when Mr. McCarthy
returned from Raheng in the latter half of the
year 1882, H.R.H. obtained him from the
Telegraph Department to assist in carrying

guard for training. After three months at
Bang-pa-in, the school was moved to Bangkok
towards the end of the year 1882. The first
work on which the Siamese surveyors thus

THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, CHAO PRAYA TEWET, THE DIRECTOR AND
DEPUTY-DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL SURVEY DEPARTMENT, TEACHERS AND
STUDENTS OF THE SURVEY SCHOOL, ON THE OCCASION OF A PRIZE-GIVING.

out this idea. A school for the training of
Siamese in surveying was opened under the
Ministry of the Interior at Bang-pa-in, where

trained were employed was a large scale survey
of the Sampeng district of Bangkok. On
December 23, 1882, Mr. McCarthy was sent

north to map the country in the valley of the
Menam Tun, a tributary of the Menam Ping,
for the purpose of settling a dispute as to the
boundary between the districts of Chiengmai
and Raheng. He returned to Bangkok at the
beginning of the rains in 1883, and was
almost immediately despatched to the Malay
Peninsula as surveyor to the commission then
engaged on fixing the Raman-Perak boundary,
being absent from Bangkok from June 19 to
November 9, 1883. The north-west frontier of
Siam was at that time in a very disturbed con-
dition owing to the inroads of Haw (Yun-
nanese) marauders, and it was considered
desirable to have a topographical survey made
of certain districts in that neighbourhood.

On January 16, 1884, Mr. McCarthy, accom-
panied by Mr. G. Bush, seven Siamese sur-
veyors, and an escort of two hundred soldiers
under Mr. Leonowens, left Bangkok to under-
take the survey of the north-east frontier. The
party travelled to Saraburi by river, and thence
marched to Korat, which was reached on
January 30th. From Korat the route taken lay
through Pimai, Putai-song and Kumpawapi to
Xawng Kai on the Menam Kong. From here
Mr. Bush was despatched to Luang Prabang
and Mr. McCarthy went to Wieng Chan and
thence to Chieng Kong (Muang Puen). Pass-
ing through Muangs Fang and Ngan, he
descended the Menam Chan to the Menam
Kong, by which he returned to Nawng Kai.
He reached Luang Prabang by the end of May
and prepared to spend the rainy season there.
Fever, however, attacked the party, the escort
had to be disbanded, on June 29th Mr. Bush
died of fever, and on July 15th Mr. McCarthy
and the rest of the party left Luang Prabang
for Bangkok. There Mr. D. J. Collins, from
the Survey of India, joined Mr. McCarthy,
the date of his entering the Siamese service
being October 19th. On November 12, 1884,
the party, accompanied by Lieutenant Rass-
mussen and thirty marines as escort, left
Bangkok for the north. This time the route
was by Utaradit and Muang Fek to Nan. Here
the party was divided, Mr. McCarthy and Mr.
Collins proceeding by different routes to Luang
Prabang. From here the party went to join
the Siamese army, then operating against the
Haw raiders at Tung Chieng Kam, which was
reached on February 22, 1885. After spending
twenty days with the army the escort was sent
to Luang Prabang, and Messrs. McCarthy and
Collins conducted explorations and topo-
graphical surveys in the country across the
Menam Kong, north and east of Luang Prabang.
The party reassembled on June 1st at Luang
Prabang, and Mr. McCarthy returned from
thence to Bangkok.

Hitherto the Siamese surveyors had been
still considered part of the royal bodyguard,
in which Mr. McCarthy held the rank of captain,
but on Thursday, September 3, 1885, a royal
decree was issued separating the surveyors
from the royal bodyguard and creating the
Royal Survey Department.

Towards the end of this year Mr. McCarthy
again proceeded north, reaching Luang Pra-
bang early in 1886. Here he was delayed for
some two months awaiting the arrival of Praya
Surasak (now Chao Praya Surasak), general of
the army. When the latter arrived the rains
had all but commenced, and it was too late in
the season to start survey operations on any
extended scale. As his presence with the army
under Praya Surasak was not then required,
Mr. McCarthy shortly afterwards returned to
Bangkok, taking with him, at Praya Surasak's
request, two of the European staff of the latter,
Captain Sinson and Mr. Clunis. The year
(1886) was spent chiefly in making surveys in
Bangkok and its neighbourhood.

The closing months of that year found Mr.
McCarthy again on his way to the north,
accompanied by two of the European officers
attached to the department, namely, Messrs.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

l-l>\

Collins and Louis de Richelieu, the latter on
loan from the navy. Travelling by Chiengmai
and Luang Prabang, they reached Muang
Teng, north of Luang Prabang, on December
16, 1886. The Siamese army under Praya
Surasak, operating against the Haw, was then
there. Surveys were required by Praya Surasak
for military and administrative purposes.
However, Mr. de Richelieu fell ill and had to
return to Bangkok at once. Mr. McCarthy fell
ill with fever in December, and on January 10,
1887, the party left for Luang Prabang, return-
ing thence directly to Bangkok. As in 1886,
surveys in Bangkok and neighbourhood were
the principal work of the year. In March,
1887, Mr. L. de Richelieu was permanently
transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal
Survey Department.

In the following year (1888) a contract for
railway surveys was made by the Siamese
Government with Messrs. Pun chard & Co.,
and in 1888 and 1889 Mr. McCarthy accom-
panied the railway surveyors as the representa-
tive of the Government on the survey of the
line from Bangkok to Chiengmai.

The next work of any consequence on which
the department was engaged was that under-
taken in 1890 on the north-west frontier for the
purpose of determining the boundary between
Siam and Burma. In the latter part of 1890
the department was instructed to undertake a
thorough investigation of the northern boundary
of Siam. On December 1st, the party, consist-
ing of the Director, his assistant, Luang Tesa
(now Praya Sri Sahadep, Vice-Minister of the
Interior), and several Siamese surveyors, left
Bangkok. Mr. de Richelieu was left in charge
of the headquarters office. During the follow-
ing year, while the main body of surveyors was
in the north, certain cadastral maps were made
of the neighbourhood of Bangkok.

Early in 1891 the triangulation all round the
northern boundary of Siam was started at
Chiengmai. Near to Chiengmai it was con-
nected with the Survey of India Eastern
Frontier extension system of triangulation.
During the rains of 1891 most of the party
remained in Chiengmai. Towards the end of
the year some route surveys with chain and
compass were carried out in Pa-yupp province.
In November, Mr. Smiles, from the Railway
Survey Party, joined the department, and at
the end of that month the party again took the
field. Actual survey operations started from
Chieng Kong on the Menam Kong on January
1, 1892, and Luang Prabang was reached on
April 28th. From here Luang Tesa, who had
been personal assistant to the Director for some
years, was recalled to Bangkok to take up the
important position of Secretary to the Ministry
of the Interior, and made for those days a
record journey, reaching the capital in thirteen
days eight hours after travelling 575 miles —
Luang Prabang by boat to Paklai, 135 miles ;
Paklai-Pichai, overland, walking, 125 miles ;
Pichai by boat to Bangkok, 315 miles.

Work was resumed in October, 1892, and
concluded in June, 1893, when the party was re-
called to Bangkok, France having claimed the
whole of the country surveyed north and east
of the Menam Kong. The party returned to
Paklai and Utaradit, and reached Bangkok in
August, 1893.

In 1894 a small series of triangles was pushed
out from the Bangkok end of the Indian trian-
gulation in the direction of Chantabun. During
1894-5-6 topographical surveys with chain and
compass were carried on in several districts
with a view to adding to the material already
accumulated for a map of Siam. In April Mr. de
Richelieu was re-transferred to the Royal Navy
Department. On November 1, 1894, Mr. R. W.
Giblin, the present Director, joined the depart-
ment. In December, 1894, and early in 1895,
an attempt was made to further extend the
southern series of triangulations, which it was
hoped eventually to carry round the eastern

frontier of Siam to join on to the north-eastern
series, already completed. Owing to various
difficulties the attempt had to be abandoned,
and Messrs. Smiles and Giblin were sent to

mapping the route and fixing important posi-
tions on the way. During the recess of 1895
the work of completing and plotting the map of
Siam was pushed on, and towards the end of

WAT CHE-DI-LUANG, CHIENGMAI.

carry out a survey from Siemrat to Bassac, on
the Mekong, and to exchange telegraphic
signals with Bangkok at Bassac, to determine
the longitude of the latter place. While

1896 it was completed, though it was not until

1897 " la t tne department was enabled to pub-
lish a large scale and a small scale map of
the country in English.

PRAPATOM PAGODA.

(This Pagoda is a Trigonometrical Station and the point of origin or centre of the Survey of the Province of

Nakawn Chaisi.)

engaged on this work Mr. Smiles died of
dysentery at Ban Chan and was buried at
Sanka. The field season being about to end,
Mr. Giblin returned to Bangkok via Korat,

The want of a cadastral survey for adminis-
trative and revenue purposes had been felt for
some years. In 1896 the pressing need lor
such a survey, which would require all the

124

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

energies of the department to be devoted to
its inception, caused the temporary abandon-
ment of trigonometrical work, and the cadas-
tral survey was started early in that year. It
was not, however, until the year 1901 that the
first-fruits of this survey were obtained. The
following account, prepared some years ago
by the writer, gives a description of what must
be regarded as by no means the least impor-
tant of the many acts of his Majesty the present
King of Siam for the amelioration, welfare,
and happiness of his people.

Registration - of Title to Land in Siam.

For some years past one of the foremost
questions under the consideration of H.S.
Majesty's Government has been that relating
to the issue of title-deeds based on actual

for the purpose. His manner of dealing with
the land is described later on. At the end of
August he had disposed of 1,500 ownerships,
and prepared the way for the formal issue of
certificates of title. After much thought and
discussion the necessary forms and procedure
were fixed upon, including the all-important
title-deed itself. At the end of August all was
in readiness, a Land Registration Office was
opened in Hang-pa-in, and on October I, 1901,
his Majesty the King of Siam, then on his tour
to Pitsanulok, handed to the owner the first
title-deed issued under the new system, and
was presented with a title-deed to one of the
royal estates, in the vicinity of Bang-pa-in, by
Praya Pra-cha-chip. H.E. Chao Praya Tewet,
Minister of Agriculture, was afterwards pub-
licly congratulated on the successful initiation
of the new law by H.R.H. Prince Damrong,

boundaries of properties. In many cases these
disputes remained unsettled for years.

The Special Commissioner appointed by the
King to make a beginning, under the new law,
in the province of Ayuthia, after receiving the
printed large scale maps of the Survey Depart-
ment, which showed the reputed boundaries of
properties and were accompanied by lists of
owners and records of disputes, caused each
property to be examined by the officers, maps
in hand, in the presence of the owner, his
adjoining neighbours, and the local officials —
the former pointing out his boundaries. The
Commissioner had power granted to him to
exercise judicial authority where cases of dis-
pute occurred, when the value of the land
involved did not exceed a certain sum, in
which case recourse to the Land Court be-
came necessary.

SOME OF THE FIELD STAFF.

survey to holders of land and the registration
of all changes in ownership which might
subsequently take place.

The Royal Survey Department having now
completed the cadastral survey of a large area
of land, it has become possible to initiate the
undertaking on a proper basis.

In introducing a new law, a new scheme of
land legislation, it was necessary to move with
extreme caution, so that — before becoming in-
volved in the working of an immense piece
of machinery — it might be proved that that
machinery was without flaw and calculated to
work smoothly. To secure this preliminary
trial of the new order of things, an area of
closely settled country near Bang-pa-in, about
75,000 rai in extent, was taken in hand in May,
1901, by Praya Pra-cha-chip, the Commissioner
specially appointed by his Majesty the king

Minister of the Interior, who has himself taken
the greatest interest in and powerfully helped
to forward the movement.

Thus simply in the presence of his ministers
and court the king started the operation of a
new law for dealing with land in Siam — a law
which is likely to have far-reaching effects in
confirming all property holders in indisputable
possession of their land, in enabling them to
transfer or dispose of it in an easy and inex-
pensive manner, and, not least in importance,
in informing both revenue collectors and
owners of the exact amount due to the
Government in the shape of land taxes for
each property. Under the system obtaining
previous to the introduction of the cadastral
survey, when the lack of such a survey ren-
dered registration impossible, endless disputes
arose as to ownership in land and the true

Each property dealt with so far has thus had
its boundaries settled beyond dispute ; the
question of ownership, involving the examina-
tion of old title-deeds, or, where these were
wanting, possession of other claims, has been
decided, and the right to a title-deed estab-
lished.

The new title-deed contains a description of
the land, the conditions under which it is held,
and the area of the land concerned, together
with a diagram of the holding. Space is left
for the insertion hereafter of any changes
which may take place in the whole or any
part of a holding through transfer by sale,
mortgage, lease (for any time over three years),
or inheritance. Two title-deeds for each pro-
perty are prepared. One of these is to be kept
in the Land Office of the province, and the
other is to be handed to the holder of the pro-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

125

perty involved. Any subsequent change which
may take place must be entered on the proper
forms in the presence of the Land Officer, who
will register the transaction both in the title-
deed, in the Land Registration Office, and in
the copy in possession of the owner, and this
will be the only legal form of transfer. The
fees for all transfers have been published, and
have been fixed at low rates, so that hereafter
there should be no inducement to would-be
purchasers and sellers, or mortgagors and
mortgagees, to evade payment of the proper
fees and attempt private transfer.

The new scheme is, in fact, a modification
of the well-known system introduced by Sir
Robert Torrens, which has been adapted to
Siamese laws and customs. Torrens' system
was first introduced into the Australasian Colo-
nies, and has since been adopted in Prussia
and part of Switzerland, and, in a private form,
in the United States. The advantages to the
Government and to property holders in thus
having a proper registration of all changes or
transactions which take place after the issue of
the title-deeds are great and important.

The mode of registration is simple to main-
tain, and cheap to those wishing to effect
transfers of land. Searches into the history of
each parcel of land are expeditious. Owners
desirous of raising money on their land are in
a position to offer better security to lenders,
who, in return, can make advances to borrowers
on terms more advantageous to the borrowers
than formerly. The possibility of fraud in con-
nection with the title to land must be greatly
minimised, and as registered changes are shown
in the title-deeds, the work of the Law Courts
must be made easier. But an extremely im-
portant advantage, from the point of view of
the revenue collector, of a proper system of
registration is that each property can be dealt
with by that official with exactness and even-
handed justice. The registered owner, having
a known and measured area of land, is liable
to the Government for a certain amount of land
tax, and this tax can be calculated by the
owners as well as by the tax collector, so that
the full amount due must be paid. Thus the
Government, on its side, knows that it cannot
be defrauded of revenue in any way, and on
his side each owner can estimate that he is not
being called upon by the revenue officer to pay
a tax in excess of the strictly legal amount due
from the area in his possession. Thus every
piece of land in a province can be accounted
for, and the Treasury is placed in a position to
know with exactitude the proper revenue to be
derived from a holding, a district, a Muang, or
a province.

To sum up, there is now in force a law at
once simple, effective, and useful. That law,
calculated to grapple with every difficulty
which can arise in connection with the posses-
sion and transfer of land, will gradually do
away with the innumerable disputes still exist-
ent and will increase the revenue of the country
in a perfectly legitimate manner. By adopting
it Siam has given another proof of her deter-
mination to grasp and adapt to her own uses
what is best in the law of other nations. In
this particular case her action places her in the
forefront as regards land legislation.

Continuation of Historical Sketch.

Up to the year 1897 the Survey Department
was under the control of the Ministry of Agri-
culture. From March in that year to September
in 1899 there was practically no Minister of
Agriculture, and the Survey Department worked
under the Ministry of Finance. In 1899, when
H.E. Chao Praya Tewet was appointed Minister
of Agriculture, with H.E. Praya Sri Suntawn
Wohan as Under-Secretary, the Survey Depart-
ment reverted to its old ministry, and has con-
tinued since then under the same control.

In the year 1901 Mr. James McCarthy retired

from the position of Director on a well-earned
pension. For 'twenty years he had served the
king and carried through an immense amount
of work. This had required from him inex-
haustible patience, untiring energy, and a
powerful determination to overcome all ob-
stacles met with. To show its appreciation of
his fine work as a geographer the Koyal
Geographical Society bestowed on him, in
1900, the Patron's Medal : " For his great
services to geographical science in exploring
all parts of the kingdom of Siam ; for his
laborious work during twelve years in collect-
ing materials for a map to form the basis of a
survey system, and for his admirable map of
Siam just completed." A work by Mr.
McCarthy, " Surveying and Exploring in Siam,"
was published in 1900.

On the retirement of Mr. McCarthy his
Majesty was pleased to appoint Mr. R. W.
Giblin to be Director, and, in 1002, Mr. A. J.
Irwin, B.A., B.A.I., A.M.I.C.E., to be Deputy-
Director.

It was important that all survey work should
be, for the most part, carried on by Siamese,
and for this purpose the Department was
fortunate in securing the services of Mr. Irwin,
who has trained many Siamese to be self-
respecting, self-reliant, and trustworthy for the
performance of the actual work of the cadastral
survey. Mr. Irwin joined the department in
1897, and except when on leave has always
been in charge of the Survey School at Sapa-
tum. This building, which was originally
erected as a residence for H.R.H. the late
Crown Prince, was acquired in 1897. In 1900
began its use as an auxiliary office, owing to
the increase in the numbers of trained Siamese.
It is the intention of the Ministry of Agriculture
that the Survey School shall be absorbed by a
Technical School to be formed under the con-
trol of the ministry, to provide trained youths
for the Survey Department, the Irrigation
Department, and the Department of Agricul-
ture. At the end of 1899 Survey Schools were
opened in the country districts of Pachin,
Pitsanulok, and Ayuthia. It was found, how-
ever, that the Bangkok school sufficed for the
purpose, and the district schools were closed,
that at Pitsanulok, however, continuing to
exist till March, 1904. From twenty to thirty
youths are turned out annually from the
Sapatum Survey School.

Reference should be made to the fact that
a beginning has been made in the training

of Siamese youths for the higher positions of
the department. Hitherto the young students
from the Survey School were qualified only to
carry on chain and compass and plane-table
cadastral survey. A step in advance was
required, and a student with a knowledge of
English was obtained from the King's College,
and after some years of training in the Survey
Department was sent to Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., where he is now
undergoing the course of training in mathe-
mathics and surveying furnished by that
institution.

Present Staff.

The European staff at the present time
(August, 1908) is shown in the following
table :—

Director.
R. W. Giblin, F.R.G.S.

Dcpn ty-Dircctor.
A. J. Irwin, B.A., B.A.I., A.M.I.C.E.

Superintendents.
P. J. Verdon.
N. E. Lowe.
J. C. Dumbleton.
S. Masterman, A.M.I.C.E.
P. R. Kemp.
J. Michell.
C. Collingwood, A.M.I.C.E.

Assistant Superintendents.
W. Warner Shand.
J. D. Byrne.
H. A. Thompson.

C. S. McCormick.
A. Edwardes.

K. G. Gairdner.

D. T. Sawkins, B.A., Camb.
C. A. Rust, B.A., Camb.

Chief Draftsman .
Appointment now being made.

Assistant Draftsman.
J. R. Bell.

Officer in Charge of Photo-zincographic Brandt.
P. Mackenzie.

The following table gives the numbers of
Siamese officers who are permanently attached
to the department, and it shows the different
branches to which they belong.

Designation.

No. of
Officers.

/ Palat Krom

■(Nai Wen

First grade

I -

Second „

Survey or

Siamese

First

Field Staff.

| ,, .,

Second „

I Panakngan

Cadastral „

183

Traverse Panakngan, First grade : Siamese, 5

Indian, 8

„ Second grade : Siamese,

Indian, 3 ...

Draftsmen

First grade

Drafting.

Second „

Branch.

. ::

Third

Fourth „

'Assistants...

Photo-

Panakngan

First grade
Second „ ■

zincographic
Branch.

Students ...
^Engineer ...

Third

7
1

Accountants'

Accountants
Assistant ...

2
1

Branch.

Clerks ...

Map Sales

Store Keeper

Branch.

Clerks

Total

306

126

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Royal Survey School.

Teachers

Students

2
35

It is only right to mention here by name the
two senior Siamese officials, the Palat Krom ;
these are Praya Kam-nuan and Pra Sakon.
Both these officers were with Mr. McCarthy
before the department was created, and both
have done good work for the Government, and
have set a good example of industry and atten-
tion to duty to the many young Siamese who
have joined the service in later years.

Work of the Department.

Before giving any account of the work of the
department it may be as well to state here that
all maps now published by the department are
prepared and printed in Siam ; that is to say,
that the surveys on which the maps are based
having been completed by the field staff, the
maps are drawn by the drafting branch, and
are then printed in the photo-zincographic
branch of the department. Siamese, when
trained, have shown themselves very fair field-
surveyors at certain classes of work, neat and
clever draftsmen, and excellent printers.

The best way to convey to some minds work
that has been carried through or is in progress
is by means of tables, but to many others these
appear only as unfathomable masses of figures.
A short description will therefore be given of
the different classes of survey work which have
been taken in hand and are now being carried
through, after which will follow a few tables
to furnish results in a more condensed form.

Reference was made in the historical sketch
given above to the cadastral survey which was
started in 1896. It was by no means an easy
matter to get together and train a body of men
capable of carrying out cadastral work effi-
ciently, on a large scale, and giving a regular
out-turn of reliable work. Success arrived,
however, after some years of patient work, and
when a body of over a hundred officers and
inspectors, all Siamese, had been trained to do
plane-table surveys in a workmanlike manner,
it became possible to devote attention to train-
ing the best of them to work with a theodolite
and chain to provide the traverse surveys on
which the detail or field to field surveys are
based. In the earlier days a number of Indian
subsurveyors had to be brought from India to
carry on this work, but during the last few
years it has become possible, as Siamese were
gradually trained to take their places, to
eliminate most of these Indians. In the early
days, too, Burmans were employed on the
cadastral work, but they were not satisfactory,
and experience has shown that local material fur-
nishes the best results. Knowing the language
and understanding the customs of the people,
they find it easier than foreigners to get hold of
transport and labour when they require it, and
as any European officers who may be in charge
of the parties have to learn to speak and to
read Siamese, the giving of instructions, in-
specting work and accounts, and the control
generally, is much more satisfactory when
Siamese only have to be dealt with.

All cadastral plans are plotted, drawn, and
printed to a scale of 1 to 4,000. It so happens
that 40 metres or 4,000 centimetres are equal to
one sen, which is the Siamese unit of linear
measurement. One centimetre, therefore, on
this scale represents one sen, and this is found
of great convenience. One square sen is equal
to one rai, which is the Siamese unit for the
measurement of area. Each cadastral sheet is
drawn 50 centimetres square and therefore
the area represented on each sheet is 2,500 rai,
a quantity equal to 1,6187 English acres. A
well-known point in each province is taken
when convenient as the centre or point of
origin of the cadastral survey of that province,
and the whole province is cut up into imaginary
but properly co-ordinated squares, each 2,500

rai in extent. Drawing an imaginary line
north and south, and another line east and
west through the point of origin, each square
is given a number according to its position ;
thus we might have a square called 4N — 3E,
or another 6S-8W, the reference in each
case being to the central point. As each square
has its own number, any particular holding
or area of land within that square is co-ordi-
nated with respect to the point of origin. In
the province of Bangkok the point of origin is
the well-known pagoda, Pu Kao Tong ; in the
province of Nakawn Chaisi the pagoda at
Prapatom was selected, and this is the trigo-
nometrical station referred to above which was
connected by Mr. McCarthy with the Eastern
Frontier Series of the Survey of India.

To make the squares into which the country
is supposed to be divided for convenience some-
thing more than imaginary divisions, the Survey
Department is now putting down stones at the
corners of the squares, and it is hoped that these
may remain as permanent marks in the future
to define the squares and to render the work of
re-survey, where such is required, an easy
matter.

For some years past the area of land cadas-
trally surveyed in each working season of six
to seven months has amounted to well over one
million rai, or over 700 square miles per annum.
In the recess — that is, during the wet season,
when the rains are on and the country too
much covered with water for survey work — the
time is employed computing the areas of the
holdings and making out lists of the owners.
It should be remarked that the cadastral survey
shows every physical feature on its maps,
including the ridges of land which surround
the rice fields, and a rice or paddy field, even if
only a dozen yards square in extent, would be
shown on the printed map.

Some years ago an estimate was made of the
cost of this cadastral survey. The following is

tical it would be necessary to state that the
cost of the survey is now about 14J pence per
acre.

In 1901 topographical surveys were begun
in the province of Nakawn Sritamarat and in
Pitsanulok, and in the following year in the
province of Pa-yupp. At the present time this
survey has been completed in Nakawn Srita-
marat and Pa-yupp, and the two provinces
Pitsanulok and Puket are each half completed.
Roughly speaking, 63,550 square miles have
been surveyed, and the maps for the greater
part of this area have been printed. The scale
used is 1 to 64,000, which is practically one
mile to the inch. These surveys have been
based on large circuits given by theodolite
traverses, the interior being filled in by chain
and compass traverses along roads and water-
courses. Where such existed advantage has
been taken of triangulated points, but the want
of trigonometrical survey has been sadly felt.

In 1907 a special survey of the island of
Puket, on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula,
was made, and the maps printed early in
1908. This was on a scale of 1 to 16,000, and a
secondary ti iangulation was pushed through
to control the topographical work.

In 1901 a series of triangles was measured in
an easterly direction from Bangkok. This
reached the Bangpakong river, but it was not
until early in 1007 that a base line for this
series could be measured. In 1906 the small
series of triangles previously referred to as
having been pushed out towards Chantabun on
the south-east coast of Siam was slightly-
extended. In 1907 the work referred to above
was carried through in Puket, and in the
present year a series of triangles to cross the
peninsula from Nakawn Sritamarat to Puket
was taken in hand.

The following table, which has been brought
up to date, shows the area which has been sur-
veyed since the cadastral survey began : —

Province.

Number

of
Holdings.

Area in

Square Miles

of Land

held.

2.
Area in

Square Miles

of Roads,

Waterways and

Waste Land

unclaimed.

Total Area

Surveyed

Square Miles.

Bangkok

Krungkao ...

Nakawn Chaisi

Pachin

Pitsanulok ...

Rataburi

Chantaburi

85,700
196,747

77,105
77,229

34,737
61,634
19,004

1,541

1,897

976

1.334

233

391

109

339
345
354

85
70

1,650
2,236
!,32I

1,688
233
476
166

Total ...

552,156

6,468

1,302

7,770

an extract from the Annual Report of the
Survey Department for the year ending Sep-
tember 30, 1905 : —

" A very careful calculation was made by
Mr. Irwin early in this year as tp the present
cost of cadastral survey. It was found that the
cost is 21J atts per rai, or less than one shilling
an acre, which for detailed survey must be
considered very reasonable, when it is con-
sidered that most of this large area could bear
an annual tax of three times that amount. In
estimating this cost every item of expenditure
was included, such as instruments, tents, trans-
port, salaries, supervision, cost of time spent
on computations, printing of maps, paper
and printing of title-deeds. It has been calcu-
lated that the survey may lead to an increase
of 30 per cent, in the revenue derived from the
land held, so that its cost will be paid for over
and over again. Included in the above cost is
that of printing supplies of maps."

Owing to a rise in exchange value of the

It will be seen from this table that in the last
thirteen years 7,770 square miles (an area about
the size of Wales) have been cadastrally sur-
veyed, which gives an average of 597 square
miles per year. The number of holdings and
the area held show us that the average area of
a holding in Siam is 7J acres.

A table has been prepared to give the
approximate area covered by topographical
survey carried out in recent years.

Area
in Square Miles.

Pitsanulok

6,800

Nakawn Sritamarat...

9,ooi

Pa-vupp

34,685

Chumpawn ...

3,837

Patani

5,409

Puket

3,821

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

127

In connection with this class of work it may
be noted that the whole area covered by cadas-
tral survey might well be included in that of
topographical survey, as the cadastral sheets
furnish the best data for topographical maps.

The following table indicates very well the
annual output of printed maps, plans, and
other productions of the Royal Survey Depart-
ment : —

Classification.

Departmental Maps
Cadastral Plans ...
Photogravures
Miscellaneous Maps
Extra Departmental Maps
Title-deed Forms

Total

Number of Copies
Printed.

18,567

26,467

I,I06

3,732

9,070

492,010

550,592

As showing the progress of the work of
issuing title-deeds based on the cadastral sur-
vey, a work referred to at some length in an
earlier part of this article, the following table
will be of interest : —

Land Transfer Office,

Bangkok
Krungkao
Nakawn Chaisi
Chon-buri
Cha-cherrng-sao

Number of Title-deeds
issued August, 1908.

59,445
76,030
25,3i6
29,744
17,977

Total ..

208,512

Mr. Ronald W. (iiblin was born on January
3, 1863, at Hobart, Tasmania, being a son of
Thomas Giblin, General Manager of the Bank
of Van Diemen's Land. After receiving his
education at the Hutchins School, Hobart, he
devoted some years to pastoral pursuits on sheep
and cattle stations in Tasmania and Queens-
land. In 1885, being attracted to surveying as a
profession, he selected New South Wales as
affording the best school of practice available,
and passing the necessary examinations, was
admitted as a licensed surveyor under the
Government of New South Wales in 1889, and
later on as an authorised surveyor in Tas-
mania, being granted in addition in each of

those States a certificate to practise under the
Real Property Act. After some years of
Government service and private work, Mr.
Giblin was selected by Mr. G. H. Knibbs, then
Lecturer of Surveying at the Sydney University
(and now Statistician to the Commonwealth of
Australia), who had been in communication
with Mr, James McCarthy, Director of the
Royal Survey Department of Siam, to proceed
to that country to carry on a triangulation
survey, and he arrived in Siam in December,
1894. In the years i80 and 1898, during the
absence from Siam on leave of Mr. McCarthy,
Mr. Giblin acted as director of the depart-
ment, and in 1901, when Mr. McCarthy retired
on a pension, the Siamese Government
appointed him Director.

Mr. Arthur J. Irwin, Deputy Director
of the Royal Survey Department, Siam, is a
native of Ireland. He was educated at
Beaumont College, Old Windsor, Berks, and at
Dublin University, from which he graduated
in Arts and Civil Engineering in 1889. After
spending some time as pupil to the late Mr. J.
G. Coddington, M.Inst.C.E., he was employed
from 1891 to 1897 on engineering works and
on surveys in Ireland and abroad. In 1897
Mr. Irwin was appointed on the staff of the
Royal Survey Department, Siam. Mr. Irwin
is an associate member of the Institution of
Civil Engineers.

HEALTH AND HOSPITALS

CLIMATE AND HEALTH OF BANGKOK.

By Dr. H. CAMPBELL HIGHET,

Fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health and Principal Medical Officer,

Local Government, Siam. 1

ANGKOK, the capital of
Siam, is situated on both
sides of the river Menam
Chow Phya, some four-
teen miles, as the crow
flies, from the bar. It
is only a few feet above
sea-level, in latitude 13°
58' N. and longitude
ioo° 34' W. With the kingdom of Siam in
general, it is protected from violent changes
in weather by reason of the high mountain
ranges on its borders, which cut off the

effects of the cyclones so prevalent in adjacent
countries. The predominating influence in
the climate is, of course, that of the monsoons.
The north-east monsoon sets in early in
November in the Gulf of Siam, but in Bang-
kok its influence is not usually felt until the
middle of the month has been passed. The
evenings are then delightfully cool, and the
minimum temperature may fall to 66, 64, or even
to 62 F. The coolest portion of the twenty-
four hours is between 5 and 6.30 a.m. By 9
a.m., however, the thermometer will be found
above 70 F., and in a good cool season not
higher than 75 F. Until between 3 and 4

THE NURSING., HOME.

p.m. the temperature steadily rises to a maxi-
mum, even in our cool weather, of 88-90° and
even 93°. December is throughout the coolest
month of the year, the average mean tempera-
ture for four years being 763°. Although hot
during the daytime, the atmosphere is dry and
bracing and the nights are cool, the mean of
the minima being 661° F. The average rain-
fall, which consists of a shower or two about
Christmas-day, amounts to only about half an
inch. January is pretty much the same as
December, but towards the end of the month
the thermometer begins to gradually rise during
the day, although the nights are still cool.
In the early part of February the minimum
temperature may be still below 70 , and even
as late as February 14th temperatures of 56° F.
may be recorded, but as the month wears out
the real hot weather commences. During these
four " cool " months — November, December,
January, and February — there are several im-
portant factors which make for health. These
are : considerable dryness of the atmosphere,
low night temperature, and a very consider-
able daily range of temperature between the
shade maximum and the shade minimum.
This daily range of temperature is a most
important item in climate, for even although
the maximum day temperature be high, pro-
vided there be a considerable fall towards the
minimum, the variation gives a fillip to the
system and restful nights are assured. The
average range for these four months is 16°,
246°, 224°, and 19-3° respectively. March, in
its warmth, is the precursor of April, which
is the hottest month of the year, the mean tem-
perature being 86-95° as compared with 76-3"
for December. The nights are hot, although,
as a rule, there is a fairly strong breeze from
the sea. It is the exception to see a perfectly
dry April. Dark clouds are seen to bank up
now and again, especially to the north of the
city, and heavy showers of a short duration,
preceded by an oppressive sultry hour or two
and accompanied by thunder and lightning,
are the welcome harbingers of the coming
monsoon. On April 7, 1904, hail fell in Bang-
kok — a phenomenon which, according to Dr.
Campbell, is seen once in fifteen years. The
average rainfall for the month is about 2J

1 This article forms the substance of a paper read by Dr. Highet before the Siam Society.

128

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

129

inches. May brings the south-west monsoon,
with the first of the real rains, the average
rainfall totalling 10 inches with a mean of four-
teen days on which rain falls. From now on
until the end of October the rains continue,
the averages for June being 5'6, for July 4-1,
for August 5'9, for September iyg, and for
October 81. During these wet months the
mean temperature remains almost uniformly
at about 85" F., the days are hot and moist, and
the minimum temperature rarely falls below
75 F. The daily range, too, which is so exten-
sive even during March and April, now amounts
to about 15 . During November the rains
cease and the north-east monsoon breaks in,
commencing the cycle which has just been
described. It will be noted, therefore, that the
lowest mean temperature occurs in December,
that April is the hottest month of the year, that
the highest temperature has been recorded in
May — i.e., I04°F. — and the lowest in December
and January — i.e., 56 F. — that the wettest month
is September, the driest January, and that the
greatest daily range of temperature is found
during January, while the mean temperature
for the whole year is 8r6°F. and the mean
annual rainfall about 54 inches. Consequently,
although the climate of the place is not a suit-
able one for European colonisation, it is not
such a bad one after all as sub-tropical climates
go. Why Bangkok has gained such an un-
enviable notoriety as a perfect death-trap for
Europeans is not due to the climate itself, but
to certain conditions which partly depend upon
climate and partly upon the want of initiative
on the part of the Siamese Government with
regard to schemes of sanitation. One of the
most remarkable of the many striking results
of the scientific study of tropical diseases is
the recognition of trie fact that climate as a
factor in disease has been robbed of many of
its old terrors and that much of the sickness
of tropical countries can be lessened, if not
entirely done away with, by sanitary measures.
Given a pure water supply and an efficient
method of drainage, Bangkok might well
develop into one of the healthiest cities in
the East.

The selection of the most suitable men for
such a climate as that of Bangkok is naturally
a most important matter, not only to the in-
tending newcomer, but also to his employer.
The best way to describe the proper sort of
man will be to show what diseases or bodily
conditions are likely to be unfavourable to this
climate. Anaemia, or poorness of blood, handi-
caps a resident in the tropics at once. It is a
well-established fact that a physiological or
natural aiuemia is soon established in all hot
countries, no matter how full-blooded one may
be on arrival. When this does not go too far,
it makes for health and comfort by lessening
the chance of headaches, sunstroke, and many
other diseases. After prolonged stay in the
tropics, or as a result of many of the climatic
diseases, anaemia may develop into a veritable
disease. It is well, therefore, that persons of
an anaemic type should not select the tropics
as a field for a career. Another unfavourable
condition is a tendency to diarrhoea, constipa-
tion, or bowel complaints generally. Owing
to the fact that in the tropics the abdominal
organs, in Europeans, are in a more engorged
condition — that is, they are relatively fuller of
blood — than in temperate climates, and further,
as the chances of sudden chills due to rapid
changes of atmospheric temperature, thinner
clothing, and a more active skin, are greater
here, it is naturally found that bowel com-
plaints are very frequent amongst Europeans.
A tendency to diarrhoea may predispose to
chronic tropical diarrhoea or sprue, to dysen-
tery, and even to cholera or typhoid fever.
Constipation, on the other hand, may be just
as great a cause of sickness as diarrhoea. Here
in the tropics very few Europeans enjoy an
active outdoor life. The rule is rather a seden-

tary occupation, which keeps one indoors until
four dr five in the afternoon, when there is
only left time for an hour and a half or at
most two hours' exercise before sundown.
The consequence is that a sluggish state of
the bowels arises which causes a condition
of chronic poisoning of the system. The
functions of the liver and kidneys become
deranged, digestion suffers, and one's mental
faculties deteriorate. Of lung complaints con-
tra-indicating residence in Bangkok, phthisis
pulmonalis and asthma may be mentioned.
A strong family tendency to pulmonary con-
sumption makes one very chary, while the
actual presence of the disease should emphati-
cally forbid the passing of such a person. In
Bangkok my experience is that phthisis pul-
monalis is a very common disease amongst
the Siamese, and in them often runs a very
rapid course, but it is nothing to what one,
now and again, sees in Europeans, especially
young adults. In them the disease can truly
be called " galloping consumption," and the only
chance of prolonging life is immediate change
to a temperate climate. Asthma is a disease
of surprises. It may be a torture to a man in
an excellent climate, and yet disappear while
residing under what one might consider ad-
verse circumstances. Nevertheless, it is not
advisable for an asthmatic subject to come to
Bangkok. The disease is common amongst
the natives, and generally Europeans who are
subject to it suffer badly in this low-lying,
damp spot. It is a well-known fact that the
longer one stays in the tropics the more one's
" nerves " seem to suffer, and it will, therefore,
be at once apparent that any condition sug-
gesting instability of the nervous system, or
any actual disease of the same, should contra-
indicate one coming East. The condition of
the teeth, too, is an important factor to be
reckoned with. No one should come to Bang-
kok with teeth in an active state of decay, or
with so few sound teeth that thorough masti-
cation of food is an impossibility. The presence
of unsound teeth has been definitely proven to
be the cause of pernicious anaemia in temperate
climates. In tropical climates any additional

where one has to tackle tough beef and tougher
and drier fowls. If a dentist cannot provide
an efficient substitute for lost teeth, and cannot
at the same time arrest decay in teeth still in
the patient's mouth, a candidate for the East
should not be passed. An important point to
remember, but one which is too often neg-
lected, is revaccination. This has been brought
more forcibly to one's attention during these
past two years in Bangkok. Quite a large
number of Europeans have suffered from
small-pox, and one fatal case at least has
occurred. How much trouble and even dis-
figurement would have been saved had all
these sufferers resorted to the simple pre-
caution of revaccination ! In Europe, where,
fortunately, small-pox is now so rarely seen, re-
vaccination is advisable every seven years.
In a country like this, where one may often
actually rub against persons in the most in-
fectious stage of small-pox, the neglect to have
oneself frequently vaccinated is little short of
criminal folly. Another precaution in the way
of prevention of disease may be mentioned,
namely, inoculation against typhoid fever.
Although the system is by no means per-
fected, and the protection afforded is infinitely
less than that obtained by vaccination against
small-pox, still the results have proved satis-
factory enough to warrant one giving the
inoculation a trial, especially in the case of
young adults.

Advice to New Residents. t

April is the unhealthiest month of the year
as well as the hottest, and February is the
healthiest. The line of sickness closely corre-
sponds with the range of highest mean
temperature and the period of the rains. If
possible, then, no arrival should be made
during any of these hot, wet, and most un-
healthy months. Such a time of the year is
hard enough upon well-tried residents, but it
is still harder upon young and full-blooded
new arrivals. Not only is it very hot during
March and April, but the sanitary conditions of
Bangkok are then at their worst. The level of

ST. LOUIS GENERAL HOSPITAL.

tendency to anaemia should be avoided.
Further, the inability to thoroughly masticate
one's food is a serious drawback in Bangkok,

the river is at its lowest, cholera is often
epidemic, and experience has proved that
typhoid fever takes on its severest aspects at

130

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

this period of the year. The nights, too, are
hot, and the combination of mosquitoes and
sleepless nights soon tends to lower one's
vitality and so predisposes one to contract
disease. Towards the end of April and during
May the south-west monsoon breaks, and while
this transitional period lasts sickness is com-
mon. Fevers in general are most prevalent
during May, June, and July, while typhoid
fever is most prevalent during May and June,
when the rains are setting in, and again in
December, when they have ceased. Owing to

material is Indian gauze. It is a good old
rule to dress with the sun — i.e., to wear light,
thin clothing during the day, but to change •
into somewhat warmer clothing at sundown.
For night-wear thin flannel, viyella, or a
mixture of silk and wool makes excellent
sleeping suits. The cholera belt should always
be worn when asleep in order to protect the
abdominal organs from chill. In the tropics
the liver especially is in a continual state of
engorgement, and it is the general experience
of medical men in this climate that chills on

more frequently than is the general rule in
order to give a fillip to one's jaded appetite.
Above all, things for the table must be of
the freshest. There is no more fruitful source
of bowel complaints than tainted meat or fish
in the tropics. No meat or fish should be
eaten which is the least soft, and such things
as crab, unless the animal can do at least one
march across the kitchen floor, should be
avoided. Fresh salads, unless made of potato,
cucumber, beetroot, or the like, are to be
guarded against. Owing to the filthy methods

THE PLAGUE HOSPITAL.

BANGRAK HOSPITAL.

SRIRAJ HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL COLLEGE.

the sudden changes of temperature incident
on the squalls during these months, chills on
the liver and digestive organs are frequent,
and more so in the persons of new arrivals
who do not yet thoroughly understand how
to guard against such accidents. It is better,
then, not to arrive before the end of August,
preferably not until the beginning of October.
The mean atmospheric temperature for the
latter month is about 82°, and the nights
already begin to be cool. During November,
December, and January there are frequent
spells of quite delightful weather, when the
minimum may fall as low as 56 F. between
five and six o'clock in the morning. Arriving
therefore in October, one gets accustomed
to the heat and so undergoes somewhat
of an acclimatisation before the hot weather
sets in.

Clothing.

During the day the clothing should be light
and loose fitting, the material being white drill,
light thin flannel, or one or the light Indian
silks. For underwear, perhaps the best

the liver, stomach, and bowels form a very
large percentage of all sicknesses to which
Europeans and even natives are liable.

Food.

This is one thing, anyhow, in the East
upon which one should never exert false
economy. At its best the beef is not of the
same nutritive value as meat killed in Western
countries, owing to the habit of bleeding the
cattle in the slaughter-house. The fowls, too,
are poor in quality, and generally very tough,
owing to the careless methods of preparation
adopted by the Chinese cooks. If these
would have the patience to properly pluck
a fowl and hang it for a few hours, instead of
killing, removing the feathers by immersion
in boiling water, cooking, and serving up
within an hour or two after the bird has
been picking seeds in one's garden, one
would appreciate chicken or capon nearly as
much as at home. Being poor in quality and
badly cooked, as a rule, one finds that one
must make up in quantity for what one loses
in quality. One must try to ring the changes

of fertilisation employed by the Chinese market
gardeners, lettuces and other green salads
are harbourers of all sorts of disease-bringing
germs, and many a case of typhoid fever has
been traced to a tempting green salad, even
although the vegetables have been most care-
fully washed. Tinned foods are to be avoided,
and as a rule are not required in Bangkok,
where fresh food can be so easily obtained.
When tinned foods have to be employed the
freshest only should be used, and any with the
slightest taint discarded. It is a great pity that
the law does not enforce the stamping upon
each tin of the date of canning, for then many
old stocks would be destroyed in place of being
sold by the keepers of large stores to the
smaller traders. In one's dietary extremes
should be avoided. Too much butcher's meat
is to be deprecated, as is also a tendency to
vegetarianism pure and simple. Excess of
animal food throws too much work on the
liver and kidneys, while a vegetarian diet is
not nourishing enough and does not supply
sufficient blood-forming matter to make up for
the persistent tendency to amemia from which
all Europeans suffer in hot countries. Some

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

131

few Europeans have adopted a Siamese dietary
entirely, and seem to thrive upon it. As an
experiment this may be interesting, but the
majority of Europeans would soon find it a
mistake.

Drink.

St. Paul's advice to be temperate in all
things is most applicable to the question of
alcohol in the tropics. Some residents can
be total abstainers for years in this climate,
and they are generally very active and healthy
specimens of humanity. Others, however,
find that without a certain amount of alcohol
with meals the appetite lessens, the digestive
organs fail to perform their functions in a
proper manner, and anaemia and loss of
bodily weight take place. This has been
specially noticed in people who have spent
the first year or so in the tropics as total
abstainers. During the first six to ten months
or so residence in hot countries sets up a
state of functional excitement in the liver
and digestive organs in general, and the result
is an increase of appetite, an excellent digestion,
and general feeling of well-being. As a rule
this initial stage of excitement passes gradu-
ally into one of abeyance of function, and
unless great care be taken at this time liver
and stomach troubles set in. Tonics, atten-
tion to diet, and gentle exercise may tide over
this period of unrest, and it is now advised that
a little alcohol should be taken for the
stomach's sake. It is really remarkable the
benefit that one has seen to accrue from the
consumption of only one small whisky and
soda with meals. For any sake, however,
extremes should not be gone to on the excuse
that the doctor ordered the alcohol. From
experience it has been found that the longer
one stops in Siam the less one can stand
alcohol and the better one is without it. Of
other drinks hot tea made after the Chinese
fashion is one of the best and least dangerous
of all beverages in this country. Made as
it is with boiling water, all germs of cholera,
dysentery, &c, are thereby scotched, and as
the infusion, though weak, is a mild stimulant,
it is no wonder that it is such a great
favourite in Siam, China, and neighbouring
countries. Water — pure and simple — is the
best beverage all the world over. In Bangkok,
however, one is greatly handicapped by the
absence of a pure water supply. Until the
Government has either itself taken in hand
a municipal water scheme or has placed the
matter in the hands of some private company
it is necessary for all residents in Bangkok to
personally superintend their own water supply.
This naturally entails the collection of rain-
water from the roofs of the houses and its
subsequent storage in tanks, which may be
of brick lined with cement or of metal — the
usual form being the iron 400-gallon tank.
A few simple rules should guide in this
matter. In the first place no water should
be run into tanks until the roof has been
washed by several heavy showers of rain.
Frequent chemical analysis of rain-water
drawn from such tanks has proved that one
or two heavy showers are not enough to
cleanse the roof, but that only after a good
few inches of rainfall can one expect the
rain-water to be free from gross impurities.
Every year one should see that the water-tanks
are thoroughly washed out and then Hushed
with two or three fills of fresh water. After
this annual cleansing the next operation is to
have the interior of the tank coated with a
fairly thick layer of cement-wash. This not
only lengthens the life of an iron tank by
many years, but it also does away with the
chalybeate flavour which many of the tanks
give to the water and so vastly improves the
flavour of one's cup of tea. Of course, after
this cement washing, it is advisable to once

more flush the tanks with pure rain-water
in order to get rid of the earthy flavour which
the cement imparts. With several tanks, how-
ever, this can easily be done in rotation, but all
should be ready for the final catch of water by
the middle of September. It is wise to have
one's tanks filled up before the end of
September. Even after all necessary precau-
tions have been taken with regard to manner
and time of collection and condition of tanks it
is well to filter the water before use. The best
form of filter is the Pasteur-Chamberland
system, of which the filtering medium consists
of candles made of compressed infusorial
earth, through which even the typhoid germ
fails to grow within a reasonable time. Such
a filter is sufficient in itself to eliminate all
noxious germs provided it be taken to pieces
once a week and all parts boiled for half an
hour. Extra careful people boil the water as
well. If this be done, the water should be
boiled after, not before, filtration. The loss of
aeration due to boiling can be got over by
shaking up the water in a bottle for a few
minutes. A word may be said about aerated
waters, which are so largely consumed in
the East. The best advice to be given is to
buy the best and purest in the market, and
not to think because water has been bottled
and aerated under pressure that noxious germs
have been destroyed.

Exercise.

One of the biggest fetiches to which the
Britisher especially bows down in the East is
exercise. Taken in moderation, such exercise
as a round of golf or a set or two of tennis,
provided one takes care to avoid chill by
changing one's clothing before cooling down,
is an excellent method of stirring up the liver.
The " muddied oafs " who undergo a couple
of hours' violent exercise every afternoon,
and an hour of dumb-bells, Indian clubs,
or the like, before starting work in the
morning, and who seem never to be happy
unless in a state of profuse perspiration and
absolute fatigue, are more frequently in the
doctor's hands than even the men who take no
physical exercise at all, and the greater propor-
tion of them have to be sent home on sick
leave, and many of them have their end in the
local cemetery. It would seem that they use
up all their spare energy in " recreation," as
they call it, and have nothing to fall back upon
when they do happen to fall sick. If one
would only remember that one is living in a
country not suited to Europeans, that a hard
day's work is more trying here than at home,
and that, to be beneficial, exercise should mean
nothing more than a change of routine, open
air, and enough movement to produce free
perspiration without going the length of
fatigue, such extremes would be avoided. To
go to the extreme of fatigue is to court sickness.
After a day's hard work a little gentle exercise,
either in riding, golf, or tennis, makes for
health with the majority of Europeans in the
tropics.

Sleep, Baths, and Leave.

Sleep, which is one of the greatest recupera-
tive influences in temperate climates, is even of
greater value in the tropics. One really re-
quires a fool's allowance in this climate.
" Early to bed and early to rise " is a golden
rule, for the longer one lives in the tropics the
more one finds that late nights are a mistake.
A word in passing may be said of cold baths.
One should be careful not to overdo them, as
over-indulgence brings about heart trouble,
nervous prostration, and liver complaints. So
long as a cold bath is followed by a feeling of
exhilaration and a glowing of the skin the
custom should be continued, but whenever a
feeling of chilliness or depression succeeds the

cold tub, hot water should be used instead.
Very many old residents find that a hot shower
bath is a better stimulant than a cold bath, and
throws less strain on the heart and the liver.
Leave is an important and all-absorbing topic
of conversation amongst sojourners in a strange
land. The question has often been asked
how long one should spend in Bangkok before
one's first spell of long leave. This naturally
depends upon a number of factors, such as the
general condition of health, the possibility of
being spared from orie's duties, and, of course,
the state of one's purse. Taking it as a general
rule, however, three years for a woman and
five years for a man is a long enough period
for a first spell, and the period of leave should
in either case allow of no less than six months
being actually spent in a temperate climate.
This practically entails nine months' leave from
duty, so as to allow of three months being
spent between the home and return journey.
Further periods of work in the tropics should
not extend to more than three years, with six
months' leave at the end of such term. Govern-
ments, commercial firms, and, in fact, all em-
ployers of labour, would find that such a
system of work and leave would make for the
health and efficiency of their staff, and there-
fore for economy in the end. It is no economy
to train a man in his work for several years,
and then to be forced to invalid him home for
good at the very time when he is becoming a
valuable servant. The question of short leave,
say for a month or two, is one which often
crops up in a medical man's experience in ,
Bangkok. Perhaps a man has had a mild
attack of malarial fever, typhoid fever, conges-
tion of the liver, or the like. It may not be
necessary to send him home, as all that may be
required is a short sea trip or a few weeks in a
cool climate. Siam is still, unfortunately, most
grievously deficient in hill stations or other
health resorts. Srimaharacha is practically the
only local sanatorium, but it is not much of a
change. It is wonderful, however, the benefit
that may be obtained from a week or two at
this pleasant, though quiet, seaside resort.
Bangkok owes a debt of gratitude to his
Excellency Chow Phya Surisak for his enter-
prise in providing the excellent accommodation
that is to be found at this place. The great
inconvenience is in getting there. Were the
long-talked of railway pushed through to
Srimaharacha, the benefit to the inhabitants of
Bangkok would be incalculable, as one can go
there with advantage at any time of the year.
Still better will be Chiengmai and the hills
beyond when the present railway has been
extended so far. Further afield we have
Singapore, the return trip to which will often
set one upon one's feet again. Then we have
Hongkong from October until the end of
March ; Japan during the spring and autumn ;
Java during July, August, and September ;
Pinang Hill during the north-east monsoon ;
Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in Ceylon from
December to April ; and Ootacamund, on the
Nilgiri Hills, from April till October.

Special Diseases to he Guarded Against.

Many of the so-called climatic diseases are
preventable. They are due to carelessness or
ignorance as to prevention, and really unless,
as Carlyle says, most of us are fools, there
would be little work for the doctors. Sun-
stroke would surely appear to be a frequent
complaint in this climate, where sun maximum
temperatures amount to 140° or 150' F., but as
a matter of fact remarkably few cases of real
sunstroke are met with. The reason for this
is that people, as a rule, respect the effect of
the sun's rays, and wear a good-sized solah
topee during the day. It should not be for-
gotten, however, that the earlier and later
portions of the day are even more dangerous
than mid-day, for any kind of topee will pro-

132.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

tect one's head and neck from the vertical rays
about noon, but only a properly made topee
will protect the back of the head and neck
from the slanting rays of the morning and
afternoon sun. Cholera, typhoid fever, and
dysentery may be taken together, as the prin-
cipal cause of each is contaminated water.
Cholera commences as a rule late in Decem-
ber, and attains its maximum in April, thus
prevailing during the dry season of the year.
Sporadic cases may occur in Bangkok through-
out the year, however. In its epidemicity it
closely follows the condition of the river.
Given a good rainfall, the level of the river
remains comparatively high during the dry
season, and therefore the inhabitants are not
deprived of a regular supply of fresh water.
After a poor year of rain the river early
becomes brackish, and at once cholera breaks
out. Prevention is happily easy. If a Euro-
pean contracts the disease, it is due either to
his own or his cook's carelessness. The water
supply should at all times be seen to ; and while
cholera is about all drinking water should be
boiled, saline purgatives and fruits should be
taken sparingly, fresh green salads should
be avoided, and, above all things, all foodstuff
should be protected from flies. Quite a number
of cases of cholera are recorded in which the
only source of infection was contamination of
food by flies. Finally, "funk" during an
epidemic of cholera should be avoided, for it
is well known that fear kills a goodly percent-
age of those who fall in such an epidemic.
Against typhoid fever and dysentery the same
precautions as against cholera should be ap-
plied. In addition, one should be very careful
of one's milk supply, to which contamination
has been traced in several cases in Bangkok.
Some years ago an exhaustive inspection and
inquiry was made into the milk supply, and
the conditions were found so bad that all
dairies were removed to grazing ground sup-
plied by the Siamese Government on the out-
skirts of the town at Klong Toi. Under
improved sanitary conditions, and with a purer
water supply, one may say that the milk is now
less dangerous to health, but in all cases it
should be boiled or sterilised in one of the
patent sterilisers which are on the market
before consumption. As for dysentery, while
impurities in food and water play an important
role in etiology, chills are a frequent exciting
cause, therefore the value of a cholera belt
should never be overlooked. Diarrhcea is an
extremely common complaint amongst Euro-
peans in Bangkok, and is mainly due to chill
and to the ingestion of tainted food. This has
been sufficiently dealt with already in speaking
of food.

Malaria.

Newcomers talk of malaria as if it were a
foregone conclusion that they would soon con-
tract the disease ; and yet, if they will only
make a few inquiries, they will find that it is
the exception rather than the rule for Bangkok
residents to suffer from malarial fever. Malarial
fever is rarely contracted by residents of this
city, and those who do happen to get infected
have generally contracted the disease while on
a trip into the interior. The malaria-bearing
mosquito, the Anopheles, is not easily found in
Bangkok, even during a search for it. The
germs of malarial fever are carried from man
to man by the Anopheles mosquito. There-
fore, if the resident wishes to protect himself
from malarial fever, a good look-out should be
kept that the house or compound does not
harbour this dangerous species. A few dis-
tinctive points will suffice to enable one to
differentiate between the harmless Culex and
the fever-bearing Anopheles. When a mos-
quito lands on the hand or on any plane sur-
face, and instead of decently sitting down on
all fours, as it were, stands on its head and

digs its proboscis into the skin, that is an
Anopheles, and its acquaintance is worthy of
further cultivation. Its breeding-place is in
some neighbouring pool or sluggish stream,
and should be found. The eggs are found in
loosely connected masses— three or four to-
gether—attached to sticks, weeds, &c. The
Culex eggs are in little boat-shaped masses,
which float freely on any collection of water
about a house, and look like little specks of
soot. The larvae are the little wriggling, fish-
like bodies which one sees swimming about
so often in one's hand-basin. That of the
Anopheles has no long trunk or breathing
tube, and so lies with its body parallel to the
surface of the water. When disturbed it
glides away, tail first, with a kind of skating
movement. The Culex, or non-dangerous
larva, has a long breathing tube at his tail,
which rests on the surface of the water, while
the body hangs head downwards. When dis-
turbed they sink rapidly to the bottom of the
water.

5. Direction of the Government abattoirs.

6. Police medical work.

1. Thk Sanitary Service.

The system of drainage in Bangkok is by
means of large open drains — the klongs or
canals, which, intersecting the city at all points,
flow into the river and are flushed daily by the
rise and fall of the tide. There are street drains
to carry off the surface water. The pail system
of conservancy for the removal of night soil is
employed. House refuse is removed daily in
carts, and is used to fill up marshy places out-
side the city. There is a commodious up-to-
date laboratory attached to the office of the
Medical Officer of Health where analyses of
various waters, foods, drugs, &c, are made.

2. Port MEDICAL Work.
The quarantine station is at the island of

MAIN CLIMATIC DATA FOR BANGKOK.

Month.

Mean
Temperature.

Mean

Maximum

Temperature.

Mean

Minimum

Temperature.

Mean Daily
Range.

Rainfall
in Inches.

Number

of Rainy

Days.

January

78-1

897

660

246

005

February ... ... •

790

91'4

69 'I

22'4

0175

1 '5

March

»5'3

947

73'8

i9'3

1-23

April

86-9

962

765

19H

2-67

May

85'0

9=5'3

76'5

i8-i

9'5°

140

June

84'4

917

765

15-0

5'6i7

157

July

847

914

7°'3

i5'4

4i65

13 7

August

840

93'"

757

I5'2

5'95

162

September

82-8

89-8

75'3

142

13 9

217

October ...

827

89-6

75'2

14-8

8-17

180

November

79-8

87'5

719

i6- 4

2'I

5'2

December

76'3

87-0

66-i

208

058

2'0

Year

8 1 -6

91-49

73'2

179

54i6

nyi

THE DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC HEALTH.

By Morden Carthevv, M.B., B.Ch.
Acting M.O.H. for Bangkok.

Edin.

The Public Health Department of Bangkok,
which has been in existence now for eleven
years, is a branch of the Local Sanitary De-
partment, and under the Ministry of Local
Government.
The staff consists of : —

Medical officer of health ... ... 1

Assistant medical officer of health 2
Veterinary surgeon ... ... ... '1

Sanitary inspectors ... ... ... 5

Quarantine inspector 1

Clerks 2

and the usual staff of coolies, numbering about
150.

The work carried on by the department
includes : —

1. The ordinary sanitary service for the
town and suburbs of Bangkok.

2. Port medical work, with the inspection of
ships and direction of the quarantine station
at Koh Phra.

3. Direction of the Government hospitals,
viz., Bangrak Hospital, Samsen Hospital, Infec-
tious Diseases Hospital, and lunatic asylum.

4. Medical work for the Customs, Survey,
and Irrigation Departments.

Koh Phra, in the Gulf of Siam, sixty miles
away from the bar of the Menam river. It
was found impossible to have it nearer to the
port of Bangkok, as, owing to the shallowness
of the water at the bar, ships drawing more
than 14 feet cannot pass over, and have, con-
sequently, to be loaded from lighters at the
island of Koh Si Chang or at Anghin, accord-
ing to the monsoon. Koh Phra is conveniently
situated close to both places. The station was
erected chiefly for the purpose of controlling
the coolie immigration from China ports.
About 80,000 coolies reach Bangkok each year
in about 200 ships, and all have to be passed
by the quarantine inspector before they are
allowed to enter the port. Quarantine sheds
have been built to accommodate 2,000 coolies.
Last year seventy people were quarantined,
but in some years the number has reached
2,000.

3. The Government Hospitals.

Previous to April, 1906, all Government
hospitals except the Police Hospital were
under the charge of the Educational Depart-
ment ; but after that date they were trans-
ferred to the Ministry of Local Government,
under the immediate supervision of the Medi-
cal Officer of Health, though in almost every
case they are directly in charge of Siamese
doctors.

The Bangrak Hospital, which is under the
charge of T. Hey ward Hays, M.D., is situated
at Bangrak, in the European quarter of Bang-
kok, and chiefly treats the accidents occurring
at the various mills and large works close to it.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

133

It can accommodate about twenty Siamese and
ten European in-patients.

The Samsen Hospital, under the aire of
Luang Pet, is situated at Samsen, close to
Dusit Park Palace, and has accommodation for
thirty Siamese in-patients.

The Hospital for Infectious Diseases, which
is the most recent building of its kind in Bang-
kok, is situated on the west side of the river,
on Klong Sarn. It is under the direct super-
vision of Moh Mun, and consists of five wards,
each capable of accommodating twenty patients
comfortably, or fifty patients in case of emer-
gency. Though there is no law for the notifi-
cation of infectious diseases in Siam, except for
plague, the hospital is usually fairly well occu-
pied. Beriberi and cholera are the two main
diseases treated, but other cases of infectious
diseases are sent here from other hospitals and
from the various departments of which the
Medical Officer of Health has medical charge.

The lunatic asylum, situated near the Infec-
tious Diseases Hospital, on Klong Sarn, can
accommodate about 200 males and 50 females.
Patients are sent to the asylum from all parts
of Siam, and room has also to be found here
for criminal lunatics. The building, however,
is old and out of date, and will shortly be
superseded, a site having been selected and
plans already drawn up for a new hospital on
the most modern lines.

Statistics.
Hospitals.
Record of patients resident in hospital : —

CAUSES OF DEATHS IN HOSPITALS.

•J

2,;

. —
£

Police Hospital

Bangrak „

Samsen ,,

Isolation

i<5I4
420

231
347

83
00
30
92

5'4
14-2

13
26-5

Asylum for Insane

414

107

256

Total ...

2,(;26

372

127

Record of
hospitals : —

out-patients treated at the

Police Hospital
Bangrak ,,
Samsen

Total treated —
In-patients
Out-patients

Total

2,367

",457
128

13,952

2,926
1.3,952

16,878

Dysentery

Diarrhoea

Cholera

Plague

Beriberi

Small-pox

Fevers

Wounds

Other diseases

Total

Police,

Bangrak.

Samsen.

Isolation.

Asylum.

Total.

•

138

■4

107

3/0

RETURN OF CASES AND DEATHS FROM CHOLERA FOR YEAR 1907.

Reported

Infectious

Month.

at
Wats.

Diseases
Hospital.

Bangrak.

Samsen.

Pol

ce.

Deaths.

Cases.

Deaths.

Cases

Deaths.

Cases.

Deaths.
3

Cases.

Deaths.

April

735

20 10

8 ,

May

814

7 4

7 5

June

3 3

. 1

July

5 2

2 2

August

3 1

September

1 1

October

3 2

November

2 t

December

3 2

January

5 2

February

15 13

March

5 2

Total ...

i,7H

The total number of cases treated in the
hospitals was 120. The total number of deaths
in the hospitals was 74, the percentage
death rate being consequently 616. The
number of deaths reported from the Wats was
1,714, so that out of the 1,834 eases of cholera
recorded during the year 1,788 proved fatal.
These figures, however, may prove somewhat
misleading unless attention is directed to the
fact that only the deaths from cholera are re-
ported from the Wats. Statistics relating to the
number of cases treated are not available.

Vaccination is performed free of charge at
fifteen stations in Bangkok during the cold
season, the lymph, which has given universal
satisfaction throughout Siam, being obtained
from the Government laboratory at Prapatom.
Last year in Bangkok 3,620 children were
vaccinated at these stations, with 69 failures.

The Government abattoirs are situated at
Bangkolem, about three miles from the city.
Here all cattle imported into Bangkok are

quarantined for a period of eight days. Cattle
and sheep intended for food are only allowed
to be slaughtered here, and the meat is in-
spected daily by the Government veterinary
surgeon. The meat is transported in a speci-
ally constructed tramcar to the butchers' shops,
so that perfect cleanliness is assured.

About 15,000 head of cattle are admitted into
the abattoirs each year. On an average 3,000
are exported to Singapore and about 12,000
are slaughtered for food. The export figure,
however, in some years has reached 8,000.

Such is the brief outline of the work under
the direct control of the Government depart-
ment, but there are other medical agencies in
Bangkok which do not come within their
jurisdiction to which brief reference should be
made. The military and naval hospitals, for
instance, are controlled by military and naval
officers, who are answerable only to their
respective departments for the efficient carrying
out of their various responsibilities, while the

SIMPLE CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES OF PATIENTS TREATED AT THE VARIOUS HOSPITALS DURING 1907.

Dysentery.

Diarrhoea.

Cholera.

Plague.

Beriberi.

Small-pox.

Unclassified
Fevers.

Other diseases,
including

Wounds.

Unclassified
Outdoor Patients.

Police Hospital

I02

'55

329

I96

1 2,034

Bangrak „

—

4°

447

H.457

Samsen ,,

—

177

128

Plague „

—

188

■ —

—

Lunatic Asylum

—

414

—

Total

159

211

135

618

267

3,072

n,585

Total deaths

138

—

Percentage death rate

176

104

428

223

Including outdoor patients

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

THE COMMITTEE OF THE CHINESE HOSPITAL.

THE CHINESE HOSPITAL.

Wang Lang Hospital and the medical school
are controlled by the heads of the Educational
Department, who appoint both Siamese and
European lecturers for the instruction of young
students in the different branches of medical
science. There are also two purely foreign
medical institutions — the St. Louis Hospital and
the Bangkok Nursing Home. The first-named
is partially supported by the French Govern-
ment, and is under the control of the French
Legation. Dr. A. Poix, a French naval surgeon,
is the medical officer in charge, and he has a
nursing staff consisting of a Lady Superior and
eleven European nurses. The Bangkok Nurs-
ing Home, which is situated near the Protestant
Church, in the healthiest part of Bangkok, is
supported by all the large firms, irrespective

E. REYTTER, M.D.
(Physician to H.M. the King of Siani.)

of nationality. It is in charge of a matron and
three European nurses, and, there being no
resident physician, the patients are attended by
their respective medical advisers.

CHINESE HOSPITAL.

The Chinese hospital, which is situated just
off the New-road, was erected some four years
ago at a cost of 115,000 ticals, the money being
provided by public subscription among the
members of the Chinese community. The
wards are large and airy, and have accommo-
dation for some two hundred patients.

The hospital is maintained by monthly
subscriptions among the Chinese, and its con-
trol is vested in a committee elected annually
by the subscribers. The officers for the present
year are : Mr. Lam Sam, president ; Mr. Tan
Kai Ho, vice-president ; Mr. Ng Yuk Lam,
acting president ; Mr. Tan Teck Joo, acting
vice-president ; Mr. Wong Chin Keng, director.

Dr. E. Reytter, the physician to his
Majesty the King of Siam, is a native of
Belgium. Born in i860, he was educated at
Brussels University, graduating in 1885. Prac-
tice at the hospitals of St. John and St. Peter in
Brussels was followed by a period of service
as a military surgeon. In 1886 he received an
appointment in the Congo State, and remained
there as Chief Government Surgeon until 1895.

Dr. T. Heyward Hays, who now holds
the combined positions of Principal Medical
Officer to H.S.M.'s Navy, Medical Adviser to
the Royal Railway Department, and Superin-
tending Surgeon of the Bangrak Hospital, is
one of the oldest medical practitioners in
Siam. He obtained his professional training in
America, and arriving at Bangkok in October,
1886, he shortly afterwards entered the Govern-
ment I service, at the frequent and earnest
solicitations of H.R.H. Prince Damrong, as the

Chief Superintendent of the Government hos-
pitals, which at one time were four in number —
the Buripah, Tapaserin, Wang Lang, and
Bangrak hospitals. Since then he has under-
taken many responsibilities and carried out a
great deal of important work tending towards
the improvement of the medical administration
of the country generally. He opened the
present medical college, and was for some
time the sole lecturer there in all branches of
medical science. From 1892 to 1895 he was
consulting physician to H.S.M.'s court.

^^^

^~ ~ ^K

T. HEYWARD HAYS, M.D.

IMPORTS, EXPORTS, AND /SHIPPING

By NORMAN MAXWELL,
Principal of the Statistical Office of H.S.M.'s Customs.

IAM'S official entry into
the commercial world
dates from the Treaty
of Amity and Com-
merce concluded with
Great Britain on April
! 5> J 855. For three
hundred years and
more Western traders
had been dealing intermittently with the port
of Bangkok, the earliest records being of the

arrival of a Portuguese merchantman in 1511.
But the trade of those early years was the
simple barter of primitive times. Even from
the treaty of 1855 we can form some conception
of the methods which the treaty came to regu-
late. A sailing ship moored by the bank of the
Menam, a fair set out under the awning on her
deck, and a lively exchange of goods against
goods ; such was the beginning of a trading
centre larger already than Belfast, and develop-
ing, if statistics may be trusted, with consider-
ably greater promise.

The treaty of 1855 not only regulated trade
methods, but determined the Siamese Customs
tariff. Similar treaties followed, first with
France, and later jwth Germany, the United
States, and other countries, all following the
lines laid down by the British representative,
Sir John Bowring, and all accepting the same
tariff. These treaties, together with a later
treaty regulating the sale of spirits, are in force
to-day ; they form the basis of all Customs
regulation issued in the port of Bangkok. The
import tariff is simple : Beer, 5 per cent, ad
vol, ; wines, 5 per cent, ad val. ; spirits, 2 ticals

THE MENAM RIVER AT BANGKOK.

135

136

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

(approximately 3s.) per gallon (with a small sur-
charge on higher strengths) ; all other goods,
3 per cent, ad veil.

The export tariff contains rather more items.
But all duties are low ; and of the two principal
exports teak wood is exported free, and rice

the whole crop. The result is keen competi-
tion among the buyers, and a corresponding
slackness among the paddy growers — a slack-
ness which has had the effect, in the past few
years, of slightly deteriorating the quality of
the rice produced. The limit of productive

THE MENAM RIVER, SHOWING NATIVE CRAFT AND FLOATING HOUSES.

pays an export duty of 4 or 2 ticals per coyan
according to its class, approximately 4s. 6d.
and 2s. 3d. per ton.

The following table shows the volume of
Bangkok's foreign trade by sea since 1892. It
affords striking evidence of the rapid develop-
ment that has taken place, the trade of the port
having increased by nearly five times in sixteen
years.

Imports.

Exports.

Volume of

Total Value

Total Value.

Trade.

£ „

1802

'•336,548

1,429,888

2,766,456

1893

2,249,969

4,439,143

6,689,112

1804

1,803,253

2,603,945

4,407,198

189s

2,046,143

2,678,001-,

4,724,151

180

2,296,243

3,313,036

5,609,279

1897

2,435,993

3,030,716

5,466,709

1898

2,591,864

3,311,690

5,903,554

1899

2.536,925

3,129,683

5,666,608

1900

2,573,8o6

3,084,542

5,658,348

1901

2,837,754

4,417,352

7,255,106

1902

3,394,9-'6

4,535,646

7,930,572

1903

3,461,254

3,939,9 l6

7,401,170

1904

4,363,966

5,650,175

10,014,141

1 90.S

3,993,635

5,989,100

9.982,735

1906

4,866,849

7,082,141

11,948,090

1907

5.437,8i6

6,644,200

12,082,016

capacity, however, is not yet in sight ; and with
the development of irrigation schemes which
are at present receiving the attention of the
Ministry of Agriculture there is every prospect
that the rice trade will largely increase.

The sixteen years have also seen consider-
able developments in the teak trade, the total
value of exports rising from £65,038 in 1892 to
£1,021,002 in 1907. Considerable fluctuations
must be expected from year to year in accord-
ance with the rainfall, and the consequent ease
or difficulty of floating the timber down to the
main river. But with the tightening of forest
regulations since the establishment of the Forest
Department in 1896, and with the increasing
difficulty of obtaining concessions, a further
rapid development of the trade can hardly be
expected.

The following table shows the more im-
portant exports for the four years 1904 to
1907:—

The silk industry has been receiving par-
ticular attention from the Government. A
special department has been organised under
the Ministry of Agriculture, Japanese in-
structors engaged, and experimental farms
started. But so far there is little evidence of
any striking progress. Only a small propor-
tion of the silk exported is locally produced.
The bulk is foreign silk brought to Bangkok
for dyeing and afterwards re-exported. This
dyeing trade is old established. The dye is
produced from a jungle-grown berry, which
loses its quality if kept for any length of time.
It is therefore necessary to bring the fabric to
the place where the dye is made.

Minor exports, unimportant at present, but
capable of development in the future, are cotton,
leather, and various woods other than teak,
agilla, sapan, box, ebony, and rose.

The cultivation of cotton is diminishing
owing to increased facilities for obtaining
cotton goods from Europe. But large dis-
tricts in Northern Siam are believed to be
well suited for the purpose, and with improved
methods of cultivation a large increase in the
trade might confidently be expected.

HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE MOM

CHOW PROM.

(Director-General of Customs.)

Tanning is still an infant industry, entirely
in the hands of Chinese ; the small exports are
solely to China.

The staple trade is, as it always has been,
and as it presumably always will be, rice. The
occupation of practically the whole population
is to grow rice ; the industry of Bangkok is to
mill rice. There are at present in Bangkok
and its neighbourhood no less than fifty-six rice
mills, a number more than sufficient to handle

Names of Articles.

1904.

1905.

1906.

1907.

Hides

58,215

71,288

119,323

92,943

4,520,470

4,600,653

5,546,974

4,853,233

Sticklac

28,516

48,330

43,48o

22,893

Fish, Salt, Plalu

20,739

38,750

63,297

43,212

Fish, Salt, other than Platti

25,876

35,6i6

40,363

41,127

Pepper ...

Teak

72,560

55, '45

67,494

57,265

560,174

817,396

819,654

1,021,002

Silk Piece Goods

24,389

16,657

27,381

34,523

Treasure —

84,414

21,075

21,235

139,226

All other Goods

219,256

224,820

258,983

259,526

Goods re-exported

35,566

59,370

73,957

79,230

Total

5,650,175

5,989,100

7,082,141

6,644,200

BEHN, MEYER & CO., LTD.

View from the River.

2. The Godown.
(See p. 143.)

3- The Sample Room.

NAI PIN THEP CHALBRM.

nai pin thep chalbrm and family. 2. the frontage ok the property. 3. the residence.

4. General View of the Works from the Kiver. 5- The Workshop.

(See p. 143.)

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

139

Of the woods, the largest export at present
is of the well-known rose-wood (Mai Pa Yung).

The following table gives the principal
imports for the four years 1904 to 1907 : —

Names of Articles.

Cotton Goods

Cotton Yarn

Gunny Bags

Hardware and Cutlery

Jewellery

Machinery

Matches

Steel and Iron

All other Metal Manufacturi
Oil, Petroleum
Oil, other sorts

Provisions

Silk Goods

Sugar

Spirituous Liquors ...

Opium ...

Treasure

All other Goods

Total

1904.

1905-

1906.

1907.

Value.

Yalue.

Value.

879,730

852,587

886,663

984,686

87,648

119,015

136,213

109,310

168,219

205,761

223,877

196,249

65,937

67,299

113,885

98,422

49,793

6i,545

130,886

112,772

82,745

84,113

98,611

104,813

52,385

38,432

66,656

69,350

287,647

116,485

318,795

251,7"

87,437

82,398

108,071

121,158

116,091

119,348

89,497

136,557

57,03i

62,340

70,818

104,466

266,181

276,356

385,381

459,821

i5i,875

122,382

157,967

215,012

134,247

189,284

219,784

175,451

84,803

102,447

111,956

H9,527

257,044

149,532

65,489

137,356

045,728

417,255

674,43'

775,427

889,425

927,056

1,007,869

1,265,728

4,363,966

3,993,635

4,866,849

5,437,816

The trade in this wood has come to the front
owing to the existence of the Korat Railway,
connecting Bangkok with the Prachim district,
where the wood is found. Numberless other
equally valuable woods exist in the forests of
the north, the south-east, and the peninsular
districts. A European firm has recently
acquired rights on the east coast, and a
Danish firm has purchased sawmills in the
Bandon district of the peninsula. Consider-
able developments of all these forests may be
expected in the near future.

The imports of Siam embrace almost every
variety of manufactured article. But a unique
position is enjoyed by the cotton trade, the
total imports of all cotton goods in 1907
reaching a value of ^.'1,093,996. Provisions
rank next in order of importance, and below
these metal manufactures, oil, silk goods, gunny
bags, wines and spirits, and opium.

The great bulk of these imports arrive in
Bangkok either from Singapore or Hongkong ;
and the Customs officers experience consider-
able difficulty in ascertaining countries of
origin, a difficulty enhanced by lack of legal
powers. It results that in all the officially
published tables large quantities of American,
Japanese, and Chinese goods are credited
to Hongkong, and still larger quantities of
European and Indian goods are credited to
Singapore. Making every allowance for this,
however, it may safely be said that the bulk
of the cotton goods comes from the United
Kingdom, India, and Switzerland, with a certain
competition from Holland.

Oil comes chiefly from Sumatra, and gunny
bags from India. The United Kingdom is
credited with the largest share of the imports
of steel, iron, and machinery, the second place
being held by Germany.

Imports of motor-cars and motor machinery
have shown a marked rise in the last few years.
The cars imported are almost all private owned,
conditions being unsuited for the motor traction
of heavy goods. But there is a considerable and
increasing demand for petrol-driven machinery
on the river. Already there are a number of
motor launches at work, some private and some
engaged in ferry service. The number may-
be expected to increase.

The import of opium is subject to restrictions.
All consignments to private persons must be
sold to the farmer, and the permission of the
Customs obtained before importation. The
whole amount comes from India via Singapore.
Imports touched an unprecedented figure in
1904, but the figures since have been consider-
ably below the average. The fluctuation was
due, in all probability, to the confusion resulting
from continual changes in the methods of farm-
ing. But there is some reason to suspect an
actual decrease of consumption due to an in-
creasing use of morphia and similar drugs.
Measures are now being taken with a view to
imposing restrictions on the import of morphia
similar to those imposed by treaty on the
import of opium.

Tables A and B show the shipping of the
port of Bangkok during the three years
1905 to 1907.

Bangkok shipping develops always under
the hampering limitation of " the bar." The
twenty-five miles of river which connect the
town with the sea offer an admirable highway.
But the gate is open only at high water, and
then only to ships of limited tonnage. The
tides vary considerably with the time of year.
During November there is sometimes fifteen
feet of water in the channel, and the fall is
seldom more than five or six feet ; while in
April high water seldom reaches fourteen feet,
and the low water limit is under four feet. It
follows that most of the export trade of the
port is done by lighter to vessels lying in road-
steads at the head of the gulf, either at Kosichang
or at Anghin Head, according to the monsoon.
Larger vessels, such as the rice ships sailing
direct to Europe and certain ships engaged in
the timber trade, do not enter the river at all,
proceeding to Kosichang or Anghin direct,
while a still greater number even of the regular
traders are compelled to cross the bar with
part cargo and complete their loading outside.

SUMMARY OF SHIPPING.
A.— Nationality and Tonnage of Ships Cleared Inwards.

1904.

1905.

IOOO.

1907.

Nationality.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

No.
I

Tonnage.

i,374

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

Austrian

British

137

124,811

1,925

103

112,242

2,813

110,001

888

100

96,381

—

Danish

8,246

—

5,925

—

8,669

—

5,677

—

Dutch

10,446

—

9,787

—

12,429

—

14,367

—

French

9,876

—

9,776

—

14,042

704

9,776

—

— -

German

348

380,720

5,6Si

361

385,003

5,682

379

409,887

8,544

295

316,574

1,968

Japanese

—

115

—

4,168

—

Norwegian ...

85,622

5,658

165

121,576

4,607

206

155,340

2,712

210

166,855

—

Russian

—

— ■

—

2,019

—

Siamese ...

28,325

—

23,398

—

17,427

—

19.382

—

Swedish

—

1,684

2,287

2,083

—

1,319

—

830

American ...

—

Junks ■

—

340

631,031

220

—

Total ...

722

649,420

14,948

739

670,109

15,185

793

731,988

14,167

713

2,798

1 Junks are not taken into consideration in either the total number or total tonnage of sailing ships.

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY, LTD.

The Oriental Stoke, First Floor. 2. The Oriental Store, Ground Floor.

(See p. 143.)

3. Women cleaning Sttcklac.

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY, LTD.

i. The Offices. 2. Coasting Steamer, ss. "Mahidol." 3. A New Steamer of the European Line, ss. "Samli," 4,000 Tons.

(See p. 143.)

142

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

B. — Nationality and Tonnage of Ships Cleared Outwards.

1904.

1005.

1906.

li)07.

Nationality.

tamers.

Sailing Ships.

Steamers.

Sail

ng Ships.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

Steamers.

Sailing Ships.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

No.

Tonnage.

N„

Tonnage.

Austrian

1-374

British

133

1 20,580

966

102

1 10,997

2,813

110,132

888

100

94,098

—

Danish

8,246

—

5,925

—

8,669

—

6,835

—

Dutch

10,446

—

9.3H

—

12,429

—

13,209

—

French

9.500

—

9.770

—

1 4,042

704

9.776

—

German

35°

383.256

5.857

357

379.902

5,< 82

378

411,816

8 544

295

313.373

1,968

Japanese

4,168

—

Norwegian ...

114

85,841

6,099

166

122,766

3.675

207

156,072

I,66l

2IO

166,975

1,983

Russian

—

2,019

Siamese

29.864

—

23.398

—

17.427

—

l8>558

—

— .

Swedish

—

1,684

2,287

2.083

—

1.3 1

—

8-,o

Junks '

664,365

790

734,755

305
9

230

- —

Total ...

722

649,107

14,606

733

14.253

13,116

711

"24.843

4.781

Junks arc not taken into consideration in either the total number or total tonnage of sailing ships.

Permission for the use of these roadsteads
for import purposes is given in certain cases on
special application being made to the Director-
General of Customs, the regular facilities being
extended only to the loading of export cargo.

figures given above apply only to the port of
Bangkok. Organisation is not yet sufficiently
advanced to permit of the collection of complete
trade statistics for the country. No mention
has been made of the coasting trade, of the

THE CUSTOMS HOUSE.

The largest share of the carrying trade is in
German hands, the regular lines to Singapore
and Hongkong both sailing under that flag.
Norway holds second place, largely owing to
the presence in the port of certain Norwegian
ships chartered by local firms. The tonnage of
British shipping had fallen away somewhat
since 1904, but is beginning to recover slightly
owing to an increase of rice shipments direct to
Europe, most of the vessels engaged in this
trade being British owned. A French liner
runs regularly between Bangkok and Saigon
carrying the mail, but its trade is small.

In conclusion it must be remembered that all

export of tin from the peninsula, or of the cara-
van trade of the interior. Enough, however,
has been said to show that prospects are, even
now, not unpromising. And with the continual
opening up of the country by means of roads
and rail ways, with the steady rise in the standard
of living which seems always to follow from
contact with the capital, and with the stimulus
to local industry which this very rise of standard
must provide, there is every reason to believe
that Bangkok will, before long, take an estab-
lished place among the trading centres of the
East.

Mr. E. Ambrose, the Adviser to H.S.M.'s

Customs, had some twenty years' experience of
the Customs Department in Great Britain before
coming to Siam. He entered the service in
1880 and was engaged, at different periods, in
London, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. In 1900 the
Siamese Government approached the British
Board of Customs to provide them with a
responsible official who would be able to act
as an adviser in their Customs Department.
Mr. Ambrose was chosen for this special
service and has filled the position with con-
siderable success during the last eight years.
In conjunction with H.H. Mom Chow Prom,
the Director-General of the Siamese Customs,
he has re-organised the whole department, and
has brought it as far as possible up to date.
He has drawn up a new tariff and a new set of
trade and customs regulations, which will
shortly be put into force, and has introduced
many minor improvements tending towards the
general efficiency of the service.

Mr. Ambrose, however, is still recognised by
the British Customs Department as an official
who has simply been lent for a definite period
to the Siamese Government, and this period
having already been exceeded, it is highly
probable that by the time this volume is pub-
lished he will be once again in England.

Mr. Norman Maxwell, the Principal of
the Statistical Office of H.S.M.'s Customs, is,
like Mr. Ambrose, a member of the British
Imperial Customs Service. He was lent to the
Siamese Government for a period of two years
in 1906.

Mr. Joseph Mackay, M.I.Mech.E., the
Superintendent of the Government Marine Sur-
veys, was born at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1857,
and educated at Glasgow and in New Zealand.
He served his apprenticeship to mechanical
engineering in Greenock, and during the four
years following the completion of his articles
he was employed in Messrs. Apcar & Co.'s
and Roque Brothers' steamers trading between
Calcutta, Hongkong, and Haiphong. Mr.
Mackay secured the first-class Board of
Trade certificates both in Hongkong and
Glasgow, but in 1884 he gave up the marine
service to become the works manager of the
West Point Iron Works, Hongkong. The
following year he was appointed superintend-
ent engineer of the Bangkok Dock Company,
Ltd., and four years later was promoted
manager. Resigning this post in order to
start business on his own account, Mr. Mackay
became associated in 1901 with Mr. Macarthur,
and from 1901 to 1904 was the senior partner
of the firm of Mackay & Macarthur, con-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

143

suiting engineers and marine surveyors ; in
1905 he acted as manager of the business, and
during 1906 and 1907 as the managing director.
From 1905 to 1907 Mr. Mackay was the

J. MACKAY.
(Government Marine Surveyor.)

Government Marine Surveyor, and, the part-
nership of Mackay & Macarthur being dis-
solved, he has held his present post of
Superintendent of Marine Surveys since 1907.
Mr. Mackay was President of the St. Andrew's
Society in Bangkok from 1894 to 1901. During
his residence in Siam he has taken a consider-
able interest in a variety of commercial and
industrial enterprises, and was one of the
promoters of the Paknam Tachin and Mek-
long railway companies, the Bangkok Manu-
facturing Company, and the Siamese Tramway
Company, Ltd.

NORDDEUTSCHEE LLOYD.

The largest part of the carrying trade
between Siam and the outside world is in
German hands — a fact due almost entirely to
the enterprise of one company, the Nord-
deutscher Lloyd. They have purchased several
of the ships which formerly were in com-
petition with them, and now, in many ways —
more especially perhaps in the regular weekly
passenger service which they maintain between
Bangkok and Singapore — they have what is to
all intents and purposes a monopoly. They
also engage largely in the coast trade, and the
extent and importance of their interests may be
calculated from the preponderating number of
steamers flying the German flag which may
any day be seen in the river Menam.

Their agents in Bangkok are Messrs. A.
Markwald & Co., and their business is under
the direct personal supervision of Mr. H.
Wilkens, the manager of the shipping depart-
ment of that firm. Mr. Wilkens has charge,
too, of the interests of the Austrian Lloyd, for
which company Messrs. A. Markwald & Co.
are also the agents.

BEHN, MEYER & CO., LTD.

The Bangkok branch of this large " Straits "
firm is practically in its infancy, dating only
from August 1, 1907. On January 1, 1908, the
company took over the business of Messrs.
Schmidt Fertsch & Co., and they are now
finding it necessary to enlarge their offices in

order to cope with the rapid extension of their
trade. The firm are importers and exporters
and insurance and shipping agents.

The management of the branch is vested in
Mr. E. Lanz and Mr. E. Jurgens. Mr. Lanz
established the office in Bangkok, while Mr. E.
Jurgens was formerly associated with Messrs.
Schmidt Fertsch & Co.

WINDSOR & CO.

Founded in 1873 as Windsor, Redlich & Co.,
this old-established house was one of the first
European firms to start trading in Siam. Its
progress is traced through the periods when
Windsor, Redlich & Co. became Windsor,
Rose & Co., to remain finally Windsor & Co.

The firm carry on a large shipping trade,
"Windsor's Wharf" being one of the best
known on the river, while the huge stacks of
cases, bags and bales prove the size of their
import and export business.

The company have their headquarters in
Bangkok and a branch in Hamburg, the
management of both offices being undertaken
in turn by one or other of the three present
partners — Messrs. Christian Brockmann, Arthur
Frege, and Wilhelm Brehmer. Messrs. Windsor
& Co. are agents for the Norddeutscher Lloyd
Orient Line and represent the Mercantile Bank
of India and many insurance companies of note.

MESSAGERIES FLUVIALES DE COCHIN
CHINE.

The development of trade relations between
Bangkok and Saigon depends, of course, to a
great extent on the facilities for transport. The
Messageries Kluviales, who are the represen-
tatives in Bangkok of the Messageries Maritimes
and the Chargeurs Reunis, recognising the
necessity for regular communication, have for
several years past maintained a constant service
between the two ports with the ss. Douai, a
vessel of some 800 tons. The company estab-
lished an agency in Bangkok in 1893, but it
was not until three years later that Mr. Francon
came specially from Saigon to take charge of
their interests.

THE EAST ASIATIC COMPANY, LTD.

One of the largest import and export busi-
nesses in Bangkok is that carried on by the
East Asiatic Company, Ltd., who succeeded
Messrs. Andersen & Co. in January, 1897.
They are largely interested in the teak trade,
holding concessions from the Government over
some of the finest forests of Siam, and owning
and operating a large sawmill in Bangkok.
Their imports consist chiefly of building mate-
rials, especially cement, of which no less than
thirty to forty thousand casks are imported
yearly ; while they export, besides teak, such
valuable products of the country as sticklac,
rubber, gum benjamin, hides, horns, &c. They
were the first company to carry teak to Europe
by steamer, and now, with characteristic enter-
prise, they have established a new line of
vessels — five in number, and of four to five
thousand tons each — which have been built
specially for the teak trade, and maintain a
regular monthly service from Copenhagen,
Middlesbrough, and Antwerp to Bangkok,
and from Bangkok to London and Copen-
hagen. This line, which up to the present
can claim the monopoly of the regular
steamer trade between Siam and Europe,
enjoys the patronage of other exporters and
importers, who naturally prefer the direct
service in lieu of the hitherto expensive and
often, for the cargo, damaging transhipment at
Singapore. But these enterprises, important
as they are, by no means exhaust the catalogue
of the company's activities. The credit of de-
veloping the trade of the east and west coasts
of the Gulf of Siam, through the agency of a
number of steamers engaged in the local coast-

ing trade, is due to them. Since these lines
have been in operation, and thanks to the
regular communication thus maintained, the
established trade has grown considerably. In
recent years also the company have still further
enlarged their interests on the Malay coast by
starting forest works at Bandon, where many
different varieties of wood are found in abun-
dance, and they have strengthened their foot-
hold by erecting a first-class and up-to-date
steam sawmill there at a cost of about £20,000,
by means of which it is their intention not only
to supply Bangkok, but also the neighbouring
countries, with good and, at the same time,
cheap wood for building.

The local lines of steamers are at the present
time being turned into a Siamese Company, and
will shortly be managed by the East Asiatic
Company, Ltd., with a mixed board of directors.

But there is another department of the com-
pany's enterprise in Bangkok which, although
quite distinct from their other interests, must
not be forgotten. The company own the
Oriental Stores, a large retail establishment
situated off the New Road, quite close to the
Oriental Hotel. This business is conducted
somewhat on the lines of the "departmental
stores."

The East Asiatic Company's offices in Bang-
kok form an imposing building on the east bank
of the Menam. They have a branch office also
at Trengganu.

BUN HONG LONG & CO.

The large share the Chinese now take in the"
carrying trade between Singapore and Bang-
kok is illustrated in the growth of such firms as
Bun Hong Long & Co. They established them-
selves in Bangkok some thirty years ago as
steamship agents, and at the present day, be-
sides owning the steamer Bun Hong Long, of
700 tons capacity, which runs regularly between
Singapore and Bangkok, they are often obliged
to charter other vessels to cope with the business
which is placed in their hands. They export
such products from Siam as sticklac, ivory,
pepper, hides, gums, &c, and do a large trade
with many of the European and Chinese firms
in the Straits Settlements.

The firm was founded by Mr. Low Sam, and
is now managed and owned by his son, Mr.
Low Peng Kang. The head offices are in
Singapore.

The company's shipping department is under
the able management of Mr. Hong Keng Tiong.

SUPHAN STEAM PACKET COMPANY.
The boats of the Suphan Steam Packet Com-
pany ply between Suphan and Tachin, calling
at Nakorn Chaisri on the way and connecting
with the different train services of Petchaburi,
Tachin, and Meklong. At first this company
possessed only two boats, Klwon Chang and
Nang Pirn. When, however, owing to good
management they became more prosperous,
additional boats were built, namely, the Klwon
Paan, Phra Wat Worauart, Luang Tang Chat,
and two motor boats, Gninar Tong and Nang
Simila. Others, too, are in course of construc-
tion. The company possess docks and sheds
containing the necessary machinery and imple-
ments for the execution of repairs.

Nai Pin Thep Chalerm, the director of the
company, and formerly the owner of the steam-
boats Sunbeam and Sunclawn, which used to
ply between Bangkok and Prachim, is the son
of the late Phya Sri Sararaj Pakdi Sismuha and
grandson of Somdet Chao Phya Borom Maha
Pra Yura Wongse. He is married to Somboon,
has two daughters, the elder of whom is mar-
ried to Mom Chao Traidos Prabandh, son of
H.R.H. Prince Devawongse Varoprakar. Nai
Pin Thep Chalerm is a member of the Order
of Chula Chom Klao (third class), which means
that he is the recognised heir of the Sri Sararaj
family.

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RICE

By A. E. STIVEN,
Manager of the Borneo Company, Ltd., Rice Mill, Bangkok.

fifteen
Siam
world,
small ;

or
rice

and
but

CONSIDERING the con-
ditions under which the
crops have been worked,
it says a good deal for
the industry of the
native farmers that the
MSj'f w \ ield ol grain in Si.iin
^^^g has increased as it has
done during the past
twenty years. Twenty years ago
was little known to the outside
the rice crop was insignificantly
now, the export in one year is

What has contributed very greatly to the
increased cultivation is the extensive irrigation
work that has been going on for many years
between Bangkok and the north and the
Patriew river, the outcome of an edict of his
Majesty King Chulalongkorn, dated about 189T,
whereby concessions were granted to those
opening up the land by cutting and dredging.
This particular cutting, which is worked by a
private concern, affects a large area of good
paddy-growing land. There is considerable
scope for similar works all though the country,
and the subject has been under the considera-

CLEARING THE JUNGLE.

nearly one million tons of milled grain. When
it is remembered that the staple trade of the
country has increased as it has done with very
little help from the Government, one is struck
with the great possibilities of the future.

tion of the Siamese Government for some time.
In all other parts of the country the cultivators
have to depend on the usual primitive methods
of regulating the water on the fields, and,
naturally, they are to a large extent at the

mercy of the rains and Hoods. Excessive rain,
however, does not cause so much anxiety to the
farmer as excessive drought.

The rainfall of Siam is not heavy compared
to that experienced in the chief rice-growing
districts of India and Burma. In the districts
immediately around Bangkok the averageannual
rainfall is only about fifty inches, but it is some-
what heavier in other parts. The rains break
usually during the month of May, and ploughing
operations are begun as soon afterwards as
opportunity offers. The ploughing process is
very rough and old-fashioned, and the furrow-
is neither deep nor wide. Buffaloes and oxen
are employed to draw the plough, which is
usually lightly made out of part of a tree, a
metal ploughshare being fixed at the junction
between the branch and the trunk ; the
harrow used is composed of wood and bamboo,
and is also a light implement compared to
those used in Europe. It must, of course, be
remembered that the ground is always under
water when ploughing and harrowing are
being done.

Planting is generally in full swing during the
month of July, although, under more favourable
conditions, some fields are in an advanced state
by this time. There are two distinct kinds of
paddy cultivated in Siam— one the " Namu-
ang " or field rice, and the other the " Nasuan "
or garden rice. The Namuang is a small
roundish grain, peculiarly red. It is grown on
the lower levels, and the plants reach a great
height, growing up strongly through the water
as high as eight or nine feet, according to the
rise of the level of floods on the fields. Nowa-
days the crop of Namuang paddy is small com-
pared to Nasuan, as there is no inducement to
increase the output of the inferior grain. There
are certain places, however, where no other
kind of rice can be reared, so that Namuang
paddy will always form a portion of the crop.
At present probably about fifteen or twenty
per cent, of the export from Siam is Namuang.
The Nasuan grain is of a very varied descrip-
tion, depending on the district or districts from
which it comes. Real Nasuan, however, is a
beautiful long grain from which excellent
results are obtained in milling. The best
quality of Nasuan comes from the Naconchaisee
district. Unlike Namuang, Nasuan does not
grow up with the water, but, being weaker, is
liable to fall and " drown " when floods come
too quickly or last too long. The ordinary
height of the Nasuan plant is five to six feet.
Namuang is sown broadcast and grows up

144

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

145

from the seed, but the bulk of the Nasuan
grain is started in nurseries and is trans-
planted out into the field by hand after it
reaches a growth of about a foot or a^littlemore.
This transplanting is done very adroitly by all

and covered with a mixture of mud and manure.
When it becomes dry this preparation leaves a
fine, even surface which is not liable to crack
or break up. The usual procedure then is to
erect a pole on the centre and attach a pair of

PLOUGHING.

the natives — men, women, and children alike
engaging together in the work — and is an
interesting feature of cultivation. The ground
into which the plants are being put is, of course,
covered with water to a considerable depth,
and working under such conditions as these the
villagers appear to be in their element. The
percentage of Nasuan paddy grown from the
seed which is called Na-warn is, it is to be
feared, on the increase. It is hoped that the
farmers will in the future try to alter this.
The net result of the system of growing the two
kinds would appear to be the gradual deteriora-
tion of a first-class grain. It is found that with
good seed, similar to what is sown in the
Naconchaisee locality, the farmers on the fine
nurseries along Klong Kangsit — the area
covered by the irrigation works of which
mention has been made — can rear as good
grain as has ever been produced in the country,
but irrigation and attention to transplanting are
required. Planting and transplanting are con-
tinued up to the month of October, and the early
grain is being cut in November, but the reaping
does not become general until late in December.
Quite a large portion of the Nasuan crop is cut
while there is still water on the fields, and at such
times a boat is requisitioned for the purpose of
conveying the paddy to the barns. All the
paddy crop is cut down by hand, such a thing
as a reaping machine being unknown. It is
when the harvesting is in full swing that the
shortness of labour is felt most by the farmers.
To gather in crops expeditiously enough is
impossible, and thus it happens that large quan-
tities of grain remain too long on the fields,
pass through several heavy showers, and then
get sun-dried, and made so brittle as to break
in the husk before reaching the mills.

The Namuang crop, which is high in the
water, does not ripen so quickly, and there is
very little of this grain ready for cutting before
February or March. It is generally reckoned
to be three months later than the Nasuan crop.

Threshing is done on a comparatively small
circular piece of ground, which is levelled off

bullocks tothis pole by a piece of rope and a band
made of rattans or metal and drive the bullocks
around in the circle, which is kept filled with the
cut paddy. Threshing in the villages furnishes
an opportunity for considerable frolic, as the
young people are romping about amongst the
straw most of the time, while in the evening

paddy upward with a stick and to allow the
wind to blow away the chaff. In some- districts
winnowing would appear to be honoured more
in the breach than in the observance !

After winnowing, the grain is stored away in
bins, which are sufficiently .high from the
ground to keep their contents dry. The bins
are protected from the rain by a roof of
" attap " or other leaves and bamboo and mud
walls. Here the paddy will sometimes remain
for weeks or months or maybe years, and the
farmer's wealth is often computed by the fulness
of his rice-bins. In many cases, however, the
farmer will sell, almost at once, the whole or
part of his grain to a person who is usually
known as the " middleman." The object of
this early sale is to enable the farmer to pay
Government taxes then falling due. The
middleman, who is probably a Chinaman,
owning a fleet of four or more paddy boats, is
sure to have made a safe bargain, and this, to
the ordinary onlooker, is one of the most un-
fortunate features of the trade, namely, that the
farmer who works so hard scarcely ever enjoys
the benefit of the good prices when they are in
vogue. Doubtless, in time to come, this will
change to a great extent, as with the opening
up of the country by railways the farmers will
get into closer touch with the markets. During
the past few years the railway has been used
to bring in 40,000 tons to 70,000 tons of paddy
to Bangkok, but the remainder has come by
boat through rivers and canals (Klongs as they
are called). Every description of boat may be
seen on the Menam, and there is quite 'a variety
used for carrying paddy. For transport from
the places around Bangkok only small boats,
carrying 5 to [5 tons, are employed, but for
more distant places larger craft are engaged,
some of which will carry from 30 to 35 tons.
The small boats are for the most part open, but
they carry bamboo frames and mat covers for
use in case of rain. The big boats are all
covered with a framework of wood and bam-
boo, and accommodation is provided at the
after end for the family who make their home
on the boat, while sufficient space is also
allowed in the body of the boat above the

SOWING.

the place is probably aglow with the light of a
huge stubble and straw fire.

The method employed of winnowing the
grain is very simple and it is not by any means
thorough. The system is merely to switch the

paddy for the three or four men who form the
crew. These boats will sometimes spend three
or four weeks on one trip, covering a distance
of a hundred and fifty to two hundred miles.
Loaded, these large boats draw 6 to 8 feet of

146

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

IRRIGATING THE LAND.

water, but when empty only about 2 feet. On
arrival at the reaches of the river above
Bangkok the boats are met by "runners " from
all the different mills — and nowadays some-
times even by launches — offering to tow the
boats down gratis to that particular mill to
which the runner or the launch belongs. The
runners inform the boatmen what is the nature
of the demand for paddy and what particular
mill is the strongest buyer, and also, it is quite
probable, in their anxiety to bring about a
" deal," give a good deal of information which
is quite untrue. So the wily boat-owner when
he arrives in the market at Bangkok is fully
posted as to the conditions of trade prevailing
and waits or sells his cargo at once to the
highest bidder, according as he judges the
situation. There are some boats that will go
to the same mill trip after trip as a matter of
course, the owner accepting the price ruling at
that particular mill, which is always understood
to be a fair market price. In some instances
even the boats are bound to a certain mill
because they have received an advance on
account of the paddy. Fortunately, however,
the advance system is not at all common in
Siam, at least as far as the paddy crop is
concerned.

As an instance of the growth of the rice
trade at Bangkok one has only to look at the
enormous increase in the number of mills
during the past ten or fifteen years. In 1893
the total number of mills at work was 23,
while at the present moment there are 49, of
which all but two have been working this year.
Without a doubt the mills are far in excess of
requirements, and thus it is that the paddy
market fluctuates so considerably. Out of the
above total of mills only three are in the hands
of Europeans (two British firms and one
German) ; the remainder all belong to Chinese
or Siamese, but chiefly to the former. The
Chinese have always predominated in the rice

trade, and quite naturally so too, seeing that
the bulk of the crop has formerly gone to
Hongkong and China ports. Even before
the days of regular steamer communication
between Siam and the port of Hongkong the
Chinese used to run their fleets of sailing ships
and junks to Bangkok, exchanging general
merchandise for rice. In recent years there
has been more business done by the mills for
Europe, and the European element seems
likely to become stronger as the trade expands.
The three European firms represented in the
trade are all firms of good standing, and most
of the Chmese engaged in milling are also
either of considerable wealth in themselves or
else they are well backed up by their connec-
tions in Hongkong and Singapore. In some
years good profits are made by millers and the

the way exchange has been moving up against
the exporter. Probably the exchange question
has had an important influence in the matter,
but keen competition between the mills has
also contributed towards the diminution of the
profits.

In the early nineties only a small proportion
of the Bangkok mills were able to make white
rice, for the reason that the chief market —
China — wanted rough or cargo rice, which the
people of China treated themselves in their
pounding mills. There has, however, been a
gradual change, and practically all the mills are
now able to turn out well-finished white rice.
The comparative figures of exports for the past
seven years given below will help to illustrate
how cargo rice is falling off as an export in
favour of white rice.

Descriptioi

of Articles.

lyoi.

1Q02.

k;o3-

1904.

1905-

1906.

1907.

White Kice

Tons

•.'89,176

313.442

288,584

369-851

390,895

588,456

339,922

White Broken Kice ... ,,

64,869

85,946

87,416

131,529

177,986

200,736

148,41 1

White Meal

... ... ft

4I-324

4*,337

47,743

63,999

74,426

85,182

72,226

Cargo Kice

... ... ,,

265,344

326.752

142,574

239,331

145,362

199,774

98,639

Cargo Broken

Kice ... „

17>'4 8

18,016

1 1,807

24,779

16,088

20,453

10,193

Cargo Meal

4,647

4,498

6,478

12,603

13,063

17.680

11,468

Paddy ...

2,4'7

1,469

643

2,992

3,o44

5,401

2,863

Total

Tons

684,925

798,460

585,245

845,084

0^20,864

917,682

683,722

partners in some of the Chinese firms have
acquired large fortunes in times past. More
recently, however, the trade has been anything
but flourishing, and this notwithstanding the
larger export. Some people attribute the cause
of the recent unsatisfactory state of affairs to

Kice milling is one of the most interesting of
industries, and it has been particularly interest-
ing in the East during the past twenty years, as
the trade has been developing at a good pace
all the time. The paddy, which has been
landed from the boats into godowns adjoin-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

147

ing the mills, contains a small proportion of
mud and straw, and other extraneous sub-
stances, so that the first operation is to clean
it. From the godowns the grain passes, by
means of an elevator, on to what is known
as a paddy screen, an oblong machine about
3 feet long by 3 feet wide, driven from the
centre by an upright shaft with an eccen-
tric attachment that causes the screen to be
regularly shaken. The top deck of the screen
is of perforated steel with a mesh sufficiently
large to let all paddy pass through ; the next
deck has a steel sheet with a much smaller
mesh which retains all paddy, but permits
anything smaller to escape. Thus paddy is
"screened" or cleaned and made ready for
the hulling process. The foreign matter ex-
tracted may be shot out of the mill by
wooden spouts and conveyed into the river,
or dealt with in any manner desired. Once
the paddy leaves the godown there is no
more manual labour employed on it until the
finished article is finally delivered into the
bagging shed, as all products pass from one
machine to another by means of elevators,
shoots, metal conveyors, or conveying bands.
The paddy when cleaned passes at once to
the hullers, say through the medium of ele-
vators and shoots. Each huller consists of
two cast-iron discs of 4 to 6 feet in
diameter, each faced, 6 or 8 inches from
the edge, with a preparation of emery and
cement. The discs are placed in a hori-
zontal position, the upper one fixed and the
lower one running, and they are spaced, at
the outside edge, about three-eighths of an
inch apart. The running disc is travelling at
about two hundred revolutions per minute.
Paddy is sent through an opening in the
centre of the upper disc, and the feeding is
a matter of importance, but it can easily be
regulated. In passing between the two discs
a proportion of the grain has the husk nipped
off and the whole drops into the trough below,
and proceeds, by means of a wooden shoot

feed. As the chief aim is to treat the grain
in the best possible manner, so as not to cause
undue breakage, care has to be taken to have

We next see the product of the hullers
coming over another screen where all small
particles are extracted. The larger particles,

TRANSPLANTING.

all parts of the machinery well balanced, and
to keep as near the happy medium as possible
between overmilling and excessive handling.

REAPING.

and an elevator, to the next process. In deal-
ing with Siam rice, the general idea is to have
small hullers and many of them, with a slow

It is considered inadvisable to turn the grain
out of the hullers with less than 30 per cent,
unhusked.

including the empty husks, are passed over
a fan, the duty of which is to blow the husk
away. The fan arrangements are simple, being
a series of blades revolving in a wooden case
into a tunnel with an outlet passing the fall of
rice to the husk house. As the rice and husk
drop, the husk gets blown out. The strength
of draught is regulated by the speed of the
fans, and adjustment is also obtainable by
manipulation of shutters through which the
draught is passing. The smaller products,
screened out earlier, pass over an " aspirator,"
by which means the light husk-points and dust
are drawn out, and the remainder, which is
cargo broken rice, may then be sent to the
bagging shed. An aspirator is built on the fan
principle, but, instead of blowing, its function is
to exhaust. Aspirators are a very effective
means of withdrawing all that is lighter than
rice. After passing over the fans the only
other operation necessary to turn out cargo
rice is separating to the required standard,
which is done by means of either square or
circular separators. Cargo rice may contain
only 2 per cent, unhusked grain, or it may
contain 20, but these separators will easily
adjust to the required percentage, and the resi-
due of unhusked grain goes back again to the
hullers.

To make white rice the separators are re-
quired to extract all the unhusked grain, and
therefore additional separators are put to work
to deal with the tailings. The rice without any
paddy is called " loonzain," and it is then ready
for the white rice cone. The cone best known
in Bangkok is 3 to 4 feet in diameter at the
top and 20 to 30 inches deep, tapering
downwards. The working surface of the
cone is similar to that of the huller, being of
cement and emery, although in different pro-
portions and roughness. The cone is driven by
a spindle from underneath at an enormous
speed, and is cased in with a wire-cloth fitted
casing. The rice falling down between the
surface of cone and cone casing is swept round

148

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

with the cone and rolls in a body against the
wire cloth, and in the operation the cuticle of
the grain is scoured off. The spacing between

although it is a common practice to bag and
ship this product as it stands, the more
economical way is to run it through a sifting

THRESHING.

cone and casing can be arranged to suit what-
ever feed or colour is required. If it is intended
to scour lightly, the cone is raised a little, and,
naturally, the amount of breakage of rice will

machine first. In one day's output of meal
from cones there will probably be found
ten to twenty bags of small broken rice,
say 5 per cent, to 10 per cent. It

POUNDING.

depend on the way it is being scoured. Most
of the meal which comes off in scouring passes
out of the casing through the wire cloth, and

may be noted here that small flaps of wire
cloth are usually fitted on to cone casing in
order to prevent the rice from dropping too

quickly. The centrifugal action given by the
high speed of the cone helps also to prevent
the rice falling at once. Each cone would
have six or eight wire-cloth flaps about 4
inches in length and width. A good many
mills are now adopting the continental style of
cones with rubber brakes as being more gentle
with the rice, and so far as experiments have
gone these rubber brakes would appear to be
successful. Once the rice has gone through
the cones there remains little else to be done
except separating and grading, but some mills
first pass the full output of the cones over
polishers, in order to remove all further traces
of the meal. These polishing machines are
large conical drums lined with specially
prepared sheepskins, with an outside casing
of wire cloth of more open design than that
used on the cones. In passing down between
the surface of wire cloth and the sheepskin
the white rice receives the final brush. It
is then led over a strong aspirator to have
all the light particles removed, and afterwards
goes through a course of screening. Each
screen throws off three grades much in the
same manner as the paddy screens. The top
deck will throw off only large whole grains,
the next deck a mixture of small whole grains
and large " brokens," while the lower deck

A RICE BOAT.

will discharge the remainder. By the aid of
more screens on the flats below the products
No. 2 and No. 3, are again treated and the
required separation of rice duly arrived at.
It is all a matter of size of perforations in
the steel sheets forming the decks, and any
result is readily achieved given a sufficient
number of screens. Like the paddy screens,
these also are driven from the centre and have
the same sort of motion, and dip towards the
front. As a matter of course they are all sus-
pended on chain hooks to the beams above.
Having passed through the screening opera-
tions the rice and " brokens " are conveyed to
shoots leading to the bagging shed. Thus, in
making white rice the following by-products
are incidentally accumulated, viz. : —
1. Cargo broken rice.

Large white broken rice.

Medium „ „

Small „
Verysmall ,,
Mixed „

meal.
White meal.

sifted from white

In an ordinary rice mill capable of turning
out 150-200 tons of rice per day the machinery
is roughly as follows ; —
3 paddy screens.
12 hullers.
6 screens for sifting out smalls.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

149

6 sets of fans.

6 square separators.

1 aspirator for rough broken rice.
12 circular separators. ,

2 square „

5 additional separators for tailings.

6 white rice cones.

3 „ „ polishers.
2 white meal sifters.

2 white rice aspirators.

by lighters, as the lightermen pilfer very freely
at times, and there is frequently delay to
steamers through late arrival of lighters owing
to stress of weather or it may be lack of wind.
In these days the steam lighter is taking the
place of the sailing craft, but it will be some
time before the latter disappear altogether.

As an indication of the distribution of the
export trade the following figures of exports
during 1907 may be of interest : —

THE ARRACAN COMPANY, LTD.

Upwards of twenty years ago, when Siam rice
was just commencing to attract a large share
of attention in the European markets, a branch
of the Arracan Company, Ltd. — a firm already
well known in the rice industry in Burma —
was established at Bangkok. A few years
later a rice mill, which, up to the present time,
ranks as one of the largest mills of its kind in

Destination.

White Rice.

While Broken
Rice.

White Meal.

Cargo Rice.

53
129,730

38
1,332,392
89
171,874

Cargo Broken
Rice.

ofi
2,164

"4
168,736

Cargo Meal.

12
21,896
1/1
170,266

Paddy.

79"

47,077

1,020

00
8

Total.

Singapore
Hongkong

Europe ...

India

42
3,270,768

1,916,257
24
425,371

05
437,370

47
1.587,533

44
461,460

45
614,370

557,475

38,742

42
4,523.377

55
5-733 682

«3
1,097,456

97
75

67
58,780

South Africa ...

67
58,780

—

Elsewhere

97
39430

6,945

29
2,493.309

12
2,810

34
23,139

"1
340

97
171,240

57
506

68
192,669

—
48,106

57
73,172

03
5,710,685

82
1,213,397

14
1.057,137

01
11,486,546

4 white rice screens.

3 broken rice „
All rice mill furnaces are adapted to suit the
consumption of paddy husk as fuel, and thus
the husk from the mill is almost invariably dis-
charged by a metal spout direct into a metal
conveyor over the furnaces. In this way the
supply of fuel while the mill is running is
automatically delivered. Whatever husk is

These figures are given in piculs, being
copied from the returns of H.S.M.'s Customs
Department. A picul is equal to 133J lbs., or
16 80 pink per ton.

In view of the importance that may be
attached to the effect of exchange on trade
in Siam the table given below of the average
rate of four months' drafts (buying) on London
mav be found useful : —

the country, was erected by them on the east
bank of the Menam river. It is equipped with
the finest modern Scotch milling machinery,
and care has been taken to see that this ma-
chinery is kept up to date by the introduction
of all the latest patents. The firm, however, in
addition to the output of their own mill, are
very large buyers of rice for export, and now
head the list as the largest shippers of rice

1887.

1888.

1889.

1/10

1890.
2/0

1891.

1892.

1893.

13
i/7

1894.
1/3

1895.

1/3

1S9G.

i/3

1897.

1898.

t899.

lt)00.

1901.

1902.

1903.

1904.

1/1

1905.

1906.

J007.

1/11

1/10

15
I/II

57
1/8

1/2

35
1/2

!/->

24
1/2

f9
I/O

1/1

0,
1/2

i/3

i/5

not required for the mill finds a market else-
where. It requires considerable power to
drive a rice mill, and good large furnaces
and engines are necessary. Most modern
mills have their own electric light plant to
enable them to run during the night.

The staff to work a mill of the size described
above is about twenty-five men per watch, or
say fifty men per day, as the custom is to run
night and day when the supply of paddy per-
mits. The usual wages for ordinary millmen
is Tls. 25 to Tls. 30 per month, but one head
man on each watch will probably be paid on
a slightly higher scale. Then there is the
European supervision. In most cases even
the Chinese employ a European engineer to
keep the machinery in order, otherwise a first-
class native is paid Tls. 100 to Tls. 200 per
month to do the work. European firms in-
variably have full European supervision.

The area of ground required for the buildings
necessary for a rice mill is very considerable,
and it is essential that there is a frontage to
the river, where the paddy landing and rice
shipping may be allowed uninterrupted scope.
Shipping is done either by (1) cargo boats
taking 20 to 30 tons ; (2) direct to steamers ;
or (3) by lighters for delivery into steamers
at the outer anchorage. Direct shipments are
always preferred as being cheaper. The cost
of shipping by cargo boats is less than od. pet-
ton, but lighterage to the outer anchorage costs
about 3s. 6d. per ton extra. Even without the
extra cost there is considerable risk in shipping

A CHINESE HAND RICE MILL.

MEMBERS AND FAMILY HOUSE OP THE FIRM OF KOH HONG LEE
'■ T " K "" """ C> " S SO ° ( T^*tk PoH^c^nT^i ,PreSe r Manafier '-

4- lHh late I oh Lee Chte (late Manager). j. The Private Hoi'se.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

151

from Siam. They charter a number of steamers,
which are devoted exclusively to this trade,
many of the largest vessels visiting Siam being
requisitioned for their service. The Arracan
Company's head offices are at London, and
they have also branches at Rangoon, Akyab,
Moulmein, Bassein, Calcutta, and Saigon. Mr.
A. A. Smith is the resident manager in Siam.

KOH HONG LEE.

The Koh Hong Lee rice mills, known to
Europeans as Poh Chin Soo's rice mills, are
amongst the best known in Bangkok. They
are three in number. The oldest has been
established thirty-four years ; the second has a
record extending over twenty-eight years,
while the third was erected some twenty years
ago. From the time of their construction to
the present day they have all been under the
supervision of expert engineers, and have been
kept thoroughly up to date by the introduction
of the latest improvements in rice-milling
machinery, from well known Scotch makers.
The mills command an excellent river frontage
and their wharves are of such large dimen-
sions as to permit the berthing of three
steamers at the same time. The mills work
day and night, and have a capacity of 2,600
bags of rice a day. The firm make a special-
ity of No. 2 rice, and this brand, owing to
the great care taken in its production, com-
mands the favourable attention of Singapore
buyers.

The mills, which are the property of the
members of one family, were founded by the
late Phaya Pisarn (Mr. Poh Chin Soo), a native
of Bangkok and grandfather of the present
manager. On his death the business passed to
his son, the late Mr. Poh Lee Chve, who

OLD MILL STONES.

conducted the mills successfully during his life-
time. Mr. Poh Lee Chye had also conferred
upon him the Siamese title of Phra Prisarn.
On his decease the mills became the property
of his wife, Nai Nieang Phra Prisarn, who
entrusts their management to her son, Mr. Koh

Kue Hong. The family are the oldest millers
in Bangkok with the exception of one of the
European firms, their connection with the city
dating back for five generations. They
occupy a high place in Siamese social and
commercial circles.

GENERAL VIEW OF KOH HONG LEE MILLS.

152

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

A. MARKWAI.D & CO., LTD.

Established in 1850 as rice millers, importers
and exporters, Messrs. A. Markvvald & Co.
have the distinction of being the second oldest
European house of their kind in Siam. Their
head offices, which are at Bremen, are those of
the well-known firm of Rickmers, who are also
rice millers, shipbuilders, and the owners of
the large fleet of fine steamers and sailing
ships trading under their name. Messrs. A.
Markvvald, as may well be supposed, have
taken a very important part in developing
European trade with Siairi. Their first rice
mill was erected in Bangkok in 1866, and some
four years ago they established a large new
mill on the east bank of the Menam river.
This mill is fitted throughout with the most

business in Siam, and constructed the large tanks
on the river's bank for the Shell Transport
Company, Ltd. Messrs. Markwald & Co. are
the Bangkok agents for the Norddeutscher
Lloyd mail steamers and other shipping com-
panies, and have a large share, too, in the
coast shipping trade. In the early days of the
port they issued a periodical market and ship-
ping report, and one of these, dated November
14, 1863, throws an interesting side-light on the
changes that have taken place in Bangkok's
shipping since that time. On the date of the
publication of this report there were 136 sail-
ing ships in the river, having an aggregate
tonnage of some 13,000 tons — these vessels
were loading rice, salt fish, sugar, and teak-
wood — while now a sailing ship in the river
is rapidly becoming a novelty. The circular

and most up-to-date English machinery under
the charge of a highly-trained engineer, the
mills, two in number, have now a combined
output of 3,000 bags of rice per day — one of
the largest outputs in Bangkok at the present
time. Large quantities are exported to Hong-
kong and Singapore, the firm's branch in the
former place being known as Kwang Ngoi
Seng, while Mr. Tan Say Lee acts as their
agent in Singapore.

For the last twenty years the mills, which
employ upwards of two hundred people, have
been under the able management of Mr. Ngo
Luk Szu, who is also a native of Swatow and
a relative of the founder of the business.

The firm's interests in Bangkok, however,
are not confined to their rice mills. They have
a piece-goods shop at Sampeng, known by the

i. Thk Kick Mills.

KWANG HAP SENG RICE MILLS.
2. Xco Kim Utn (the late Founder). 3. Gla Kim Mui.

4. Xuo Ll - k Szu (Manager).

improved pattern of rice-milling machinery,
and has a very large capacity. It is under
the charge of an experienced European engi-
neer and European millers, and, working day
and night, gives employment to upwards of
400 coolies. The mill has a large frontage of
deep water, and a wharf capable of accommo-
dating the largest vessels that can come over the
bar. In addition to the output of their own mill
havens, Messrs. Markwald are large buyers of
rice, which they send all over the world, but
especially to the European markets. In this
connection they provide large cargoes for the
" Rickmers " vessels, and recently loaded the
auxiliary steamer R. C. Rickmers, the largest
vessel of her kind afloat, with a cargo of 8,000
tons of Bangkok rice. In many other direc-
tions also the firm have displayed great activity.
They were the pioneers of the bulk petroleum

quotes No. I rice at 27 ticals per coyan, and
superior white sugar at 12J ticals per picul.

Mr. A. Mohr, the firm's manager in Siam,
has been connected with the company in Bang-
kok for fourteen years, and, in addition to other
business responsibilities, holds the honorary
post of Consul for Sweden.

KWANG HAP SENG RICE MILLS.

The Kwang Hap Seng Rice Mills were
established some thirty years ago on the west
bank of the Menam, Bangkok, by Mr. Ngo
Kim Mui, a native of Swatow, China, and a
relative of Mr. Mah Wah, the founder of the
firm so well known in connection with the
rice industry of Siam.

Having been recently equipped with the best

name of Hak Seng ; a branch, dealing with
imported goods from Hongkong, styled Teck
Chee Teng, and a depot known as Low Poon
Min, where an extensive trade in Chinese
drugs and gold leaf is carried on.

L. XAVIER RICE MILLS.

His Excellency Phya Phipat Kosa, the Per-
manent Under-Secretary of State for Siam, is
the head of one of the oldest European fami-
lies in the country. His ancestors came from
Portugal to Bangkok upwards of a hundred
years ago, and members of the family have
held important posts under the Government
almost continuously since that time. His Ex-
cellency's father, Mr. Luiz Xavier — for Xavier
is the family name, although the subject of this

i. The Mills.

A. MARKWALD & CO., LTD.

LOADING RILK. 3- "R. C. KICKMKKS," THE LARGEST SAILING SHIP AFLOAT.

L. XAVIER RICE MILLS.
I. Back View ok the Granulating and Rice Mill, Bangpakok. 2. The Wharf. 3. Back View of the Mill 4. Front View of the Mill.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

155

sketch is now generally known by his official
title of Phya Phipat Kosa — held the post of
Deputy-Minister of Finance, and also that of
honorary Consul for Portugal. After spending
the best years of his life" in the Government
service, he retired in order to have more time
to devote to his many private business interests,

night, and turns out a high quality of white
rice suitable for export. The plant has a
capacity of five-hundred bags in twenty-four
hours. In addition to this rice mill Mr. Pan
Ou Keng owns and operates a sawmill situated
close by, and is the owner of a dockyard
and slipway, where launches, cargo-boats,

merchant's business for several years, and
laid the foundations of an extensive trade
in the future. When the founder was suc-
ceeded by his son, his Excellency Phya
Bariboon Kosakorn (Li Guat Chew), the
business was already numhered among the
leading Bangkok houses. His Excellency

PAN TIN NAT (Son).
THE YONG SENG RICE MILL.

PAN OU KENG AND FAMILY.

PAN OU KENG (Owner).

which were requiring his personal attention.
Phya Phipat Kosa was born in Bangkok, and
educated in England and on the Continent.
Having completed his studies, he entered the
Foreign Office, and was shortly afterwards
attached to the Royal Siamese Legation in
Paris. On returning to Siam his promotion
was rapid, and he soon attained the responsible
position he now holds. In addition to official
responsibilities he has the control of important
business interests, for he owns a rice mill and
a considerable amount of land property. The
mill is situated on the Klong Kut Mai, and is
noted for the high quality of white rice it turns
out. His Excellency has just completed the
construction of a granulating mill further down
the river, which is the second only of its kind
in Bangkok. The mills are known by the name
of the L. Xavier Rice Mills.

THE YONG SENG RICE MILL.

This mill is situated close to the mouth of
the Klong Maung Luang, and is consequently
easily accessible to paddy boats and lighters
from the Menam river. It was founded some
ten years ago by Mr. Pan Ou Keng, and has
since been successfully managed by him and
his sons. The mill is kept running day and

lighters, and other small craft are docked and
repaired. Mr. Pan Ou Keng, however, has of
late years retired from the active management
of the business, leaving it to his son, Mr. Pan
Tin Nat. His other sons, Messrs. Pan Sin
Yoon and Pan Tin Kuay, are also engaged in
business in Bangkok. Amongst other interests
Mr. Pan Ou Keng is the owner of a public
market at Bonpat, and is a large shareholder
in and vice-chairman of the Guan What Lee
Chinese Bank in Bangkok.

STEEL BROS. & CO., LTD.

The Bangkok branch of this important Ran-
goon house was established in 1907, and is
under the charge of Mr. T. Craig. The firm
purchase rice and its by-products solely for
shipment to Europe direct.

LI TIT GUAN.

The firm of Li Tit Guan is known throughout
Siam and the neighbouring Malay States and
Straits Settlements for its extensive dealings in
rice and other commodities. Upwards of half
a century ago the house was founded by his
Excellency Phya Chuduk Rajasethee (Phook),
who carried on a shipping and general

Phya Bariboon Kosakorn recently retired from
the active management, and was succeeded by
his son Luang Maitri Wanit (Li Thye Phong),
who is now in charge of all the firm's interests
in Siam. The family have now been pro-
minently connected with Bangkok for over
fifty years. In the second generation a large
rice mill was added to the firm's undertakings.
This is situated on the bank of the River
Menam, and is a thoroughly modern mill fitted
with good machinery. It runs day and night,
and has a capacity of 100 tons of white rice
a day, when milling the best quality for the
European market, and an output of nearly
double that quantity when inferior rice is being
dealt with. The mill has an extensive river
frontage. The rice is sold locally to European
firms for export and is also exported direct
to Hongkong, Singapore, and Swatow, Messrs.
Li Tit Guan having a branch house in Hong-
kong known as the Man Fat Cheung. In their
shipping department Messrs. Li Tit Guan are
agents for the Koe Guan Steamship Company
of Pinang, and for Messrs. Taik Lee Guan,
of Singapore. They also frequently charter
steamers and employ them in the local trade.
Amongst other agencies held by the firm are
those for Messrs. Godfrey Phillips & Sons'
cigarettes and the Star fire extinguisher. The
members of the family have at various times

LI TIT GUAN.

i. HE. Phya CHUDUK Rajasethre (Phook) in European dress. 2 H.E. Phya Chcuuk Rajasethee (Phook) in Chinese dress.

3. Luang Maitri Wanit (Li Thye Phong). 4. The Mills. 5. H.E. Phya Bariboon Kosakorx (Li Guat Chewi. 6. The Private Residence.

TWENTIETH CEXTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

157

held prominent positions in Bangkok quite apart
from their business interests. His Excellency
Phya Chuduk Rajasethee was an official in
the Foreign Office, and all the civil cases
among the Chinese were heard and decided
by him, and the title of Phya Bariboon Kosakorn
was conferred on Phya Chuduk Rajasethee's
son in recognition of his many services to
the country. Messrs. Li Tit Guan have a
family house in China and also a large and
typically Chinese residence in Bangkok. This
is situated close to the mill and is surrounded
by a very large area of valuable ground.

MESSRS. JOO SENG.

The rice mill situated on the Klong Kut Mai
and known by the name of Guan Joo Seng is
operated by Messrs. Joo Seng, a Chinese
Company with headquarters at Watkok, the
chief Chinese business quarter in Bangkok,
and branches at both Singapore and Hongkong.
The mill is equipped with the best modern
machinery, and has a capacity of 1,200 piculs
of rice per day of twenty-four hours. But while
the export of rice constitutes the largest portion
of the trade of the firm they have a variety of
other interests. They import piece goods and
export all kinds of Siamese products and own

position, some five years ago, was for a long
while connected with the Singapore branch.
Mr. Hong Keng Tiong is in charge of the
firm's shipping department.

TAN BAN SENG CHIANG BICE MILL.

The Tan Ban Seng Chiang mill, which is
situated on the east bank of the Menam river,
was established some twelve years ago by a
well-known Chinese named Mr. Tan Yeong
Siak. This mill and one adjoining it were, for
some time, operated conjointly by Mr. Tan
Yeong Siak, and the Singapore firm of Messrs.
Ban Seng. In 1907, however, this partnership
was dissolved and the Tan Ban Seng Chiang
Mill was taken over entirely by Mr. Tan Yeong
Siak, and is now managed by his son, Mr. Tan
Thuan Heang. The mill is well equipped
with modern machinery, which is under the
charge of a European engineer, and can turn
out 2,000 piculs of the first quality white rice
or 2,800 piculs of cargo rice during the twenty-
four hours. But beside the mill Mr. Tan Yeong
Siak has many other interests. He has an
office at Singapore under the name of Ban
Seng Soon, a branch at Kebli, where a con-
siderable import and export trade is carried on,

five or six years ago by Towkay Bang Yui
Yuen, a native of the Kiang Chew province of
China, who has been a resident in Siam for the
last sixteen years. The mills are conveniently
situated on the banks of klongs (canals) run-
ning into the Menam river, and have a
combined output of 2,600 piculs of the best
rice a day. Every grade of rice is produced and
exported to Hongkong, Singapore, and Europe,
the work of loading being greatly facilitated
by the excellent wharves which each mill
possesses. The firm's agent in Singapore is
Tong Keng of Market Street, while We Seng
and Guan Teck have charge of the firm's
interests in Hongkong. In addition to his rice
milling operations Towkay Bang Yui Yuen,
having purchased a forest concession in the
North of Siam and founded two hand saw-
mills, is now carrying on a large trade in
timber. He is also the Managing Director
of the Guan What Lee Chinese Bank, which
he and a few friends established some three
years ago.

KIM CHENG RICE MILL.

Established some thirty-six years ago on the
banks of the Menam Chow Phya, this mill has
the distinction of being the first to have pro-

CHOP JOO SENG.
The Rice Mill.

The ss. "Singapore.'

the steamer Singapore, which runs regularly
between the town after which it is named and
Bangkok, carrying both passengers and cargo.
The proprietor of the firm is Mr. Nga Kim
Seng, one of the directors of the Sze Hai Tong
Banking Corporation, Singapore. The manager
at Bangkok is Towkay Ngan Keng, a native of
Swatow, who, before taking up his present

and a piece-goods shop at Samsen under the
style of Seng Soon.

GUAN HENG SENG AND GUAN HENG
CHAN RICE MILLS.

The Guan Heng Seng and Guan Heng Chan
rice mills were established in Bangkok some

duced No. 1 white rice in Bangkok. To keep
pace with the great advance that has been
made in recent years in the methods of rice
milling, the Kim Cheng Mill was, some years
ago, equipped with the latest Scotch milling
machinery, with patent furnaces for burning
the paddy husk, thereby occasioning the saving
of about 100 per cent, in the cost of fuel. The

TAN BAN SENG CHIANG RICE MILL.

The Rice Mii.i.
Tan Yeoxg Siak (Proprietor).

The Engine Room.
Tax Thuax Hkano (Manager).

(See p. 157.)

BANG YUI YUEN.

i. The Guan Heng Seng Mill.

2. The Guan Heng Chax Mill.
(See p. 157.)

3. Bang Yui Ylen (Owner).

KIM CHENG & CO.

Some oe the Milling Machinery.
Li.m Teck Liax (Manager).

General View of the Mills.

St. Loiis Exhibition Diploma.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

161

mill is devoted solely to the production of the
first quality of white rice, and shipments by
this company have, for years past, invariably
realised the highest price in the Singapore
market, while an' exhibit by the firm of white
rice at the St. Louis Exposition was awarded a
bronze medal. The mill has an output of 1,000
bags of No. I rice per day of twenty-four
hours, and works continuously during separate
periods of three months.

The mill is part of the estate of the late Tan
Kim Cheng, of Singapore, and is under the
management of Mr. Lim Teck Lian, who has
general charge of the business in Siam. Like
many of the leading Chinese business men in
Bangkok, Mr. Lim Teck Lian comes from the
Swatow district of China. He has had many
years' experience in the rice-milling industry.

years ago and now owns and operates five
rice mills, a sawmill, and a dockyard, all
situated in the vicinity of Samsen and on the
bank of the Menain river. The firm's property
at Samsen has an extensive water frontage
and good wharfage accommodation. The dock-
yard is capable of dealing with large native
craft, small steamers up to 180 feet long,
launches and lighters, while attached to it is a
well-equipped machine and repairing shop.
Both the mills and dockyard are under the
supervision of experienced European engineers.
The managing partner of the enterprise is
Luang Sapon, a native of Bangkok, and a man
who takes a very active part in the com-
mercial life of the city. He is one of the
promoters of the new Chino-Siamese Steamship
Company, and his keen business instinct, to-

has a capacity of 50 coyans in the twenty-four
hours.

LEE CHENG CHAN AND TOM YAH
RICE MILLS.

At the present time few rice mills are in a
more flourishing condition than those owned
by the partners in the above firm. The' mills
are two in number and are both of compara-
tively recent foundation. They are situated at
Bangpakbk, a short distance nearer to the mouth
of the river than the foreign business quarter
of Bangkok, and consequently are in a very
favourable locality for the unloading of paddy
and shipping of rice. They have an extensive
frontage of deep water and have good wharves
capable of berthing large steamers. The com-

LEE CHENG CHAN AND TOM YAH RICE MILLS.
1. The Steam Lacxches. 2. Tom Yah. 3. Leaxg Chai Chaxixax Niti.

The working of the mill is under the immediate
control of Mr. W. Sidney Smart, the superin-
tendent engineer, who has been connected with
Bangkok rice mills for the last nineteen years.
At the back of the Kim Cheng Mill there
may still be seen two immense freestone
rollers, now long since replaced by modern
machinery, which are reputed to be the first
of their kind used in Bangkok. These relics
of already antiquated methods illustrate in a
striking manner the great progress that has
been made in rice-milling even during a com-
paratively small number of years.

KIM SENG LEE & CO.

The firm of Kim Seng Lee is one of the
largest engaged in the rice-milling industry in
Bangkok. It was founded about twenty-six

gether with his ability to command a large
amount of capital, has assured success of many
other commercial undertakings in Bangkok.

CHOP CHAN KIM KEE.

This firm was established six years ago by
Towkay Chan Kim Long, a native of Swatow,
who has been resident in Bangkok and engaged
in a variety of business pursuits here during
the last twenty years. He started business in
Sampeng as a money-changer and an importer
of silk and various other Chinese products.
Subsequently he extended his operations to
milling, and erected the Kim Tai Seng rice
mill on the bank of the River Menam. Of
moderate size, and equipped with good English-
made machinery, the mill, which produces all
grades of rice Irom the very best to cargo rice,

bined capacity of the two mills is 70,000 coyans
of paddy per month. Five hundred tons of
cargo rice are turned out in a day, but when
No. 1 white rice is required the output falls to
little more than half of that amount. The
mills are kept running day and night the whole
year round, with but the short stops necessary
for cleaning and repairs. All classes of rice
are milled, according to the requirements of the
market, and Hie finished article is exported
direct to Hongkong, Singapore, England, and
the ports of Europe. The mills are provided
with the latest class of furnaces for burning
paddy husks, and have their own electric
lighting plant capable of running 750 lights.
The active partners and general managers of
this important industrial undertaking are
Nai Tom Yah and Leang Chai Chaninan Niti,
a man known in business circles throughout

i Koh Poh Kim (Managing Partner).

GUAN TIT LEE.

2. The Late Poh Chin Soo. 3. The Excuse Room.

5. The Office, ft the Private Residence.

(See p. 165.)

4. The Mill at Samsex.

Tan Kwoxg Tee (Manager).

The Siexg Kee Chax Mill.

SIENG KEE CHAN.

The Siexg Hl'at Mill.
The Seng Heng Mill.
(See p. 165.)

LEE CHENG CHAN AND TOM YAH RICE MILLS.
i. The Mill at Uaxgkolem Point. 2. The Small Mill.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

165

Siam, who in addition to the milling business
is the proprietor of a brickworks and the
owner of considerable landed properly in
Bangkok. Nai Tom Yah is one of the pro-
moters of th'e new Chino-Siamese Bank and
of the new Bangkok Shipping Company, and
has many other business interests also. He is
an enthusiastic motorist and is the owner of
two cars for which he finds ample use.

years later, and have since been conducted by
various members of the family with conspicuous
success. Mr. Mah Wah was a native of the
Swatow district of China ; his son, Mr. Koh
Khee Soon, who has now succeeded him, is a
Chinese scholar of distinction. He lives during
the greater part of the year at Hongkong, but
makes periodical visits to the various ports where
business requires his personal supervision.

of the Menam, has been fitted with an excellent
plant by Messrs. Douglas & Grant, the
machinery, which was installed under the
supervision of Mr. Set Lee, an experienced
engineer, including a compound high-pressure
engine with 4-feet stroke, and a low-pressure
34-inch jet condensing engine. The building
is lighted with electricity, and the loading of
the rice for export is much facilitated by the

KOH MAH WAH & CO. (CHOP GUAN HUAT SENG).
1. Thk Guan Hoa Sexg and Giax Hoxg Sexg Mills. 2. The Offices. 3 The Gcax Cheaxg Sexg Mill.

KOH MAH WAH & CO.

The majority of the rice mills in Siam are
owned by the Chinese, and most of the pro-
minent Chinese firms in Bangkok are engaged,
directly or indirectly, with the rice-milling
industry. For instance, Koh Mali Wah & Co.,
who are known more familiarly, perhaps, by
the Chop Guan Huat Seng, own and operate
three large mills, and are interested as large
shareholders in several others. The mills
owned by the firm are : Guan Chiang Seng,
Guan Hoa Seng, and Guan Hong Seng. They
are all mills of large capacity, fitted with
modern machinery, and they turn out all
grades of rice, from the best No. 1 variety
for export to Europe, to cargo rice for the
Eastern market. The mills work the whole
twenty-four hours and give employment to
upwards of a thousand people. The firm's
extensive interests bring them into touch with
all the large business centres in the East, and
during the last few years they have done much
to develop the trade between Bangkok and
Java.

The firm was established over fifty years ago
by Mr. Mah Wah, the father of the present
proprietor. The mills were built some twenty

The members of the Mah Wah family are all
British subjects, and their representatives at
Bangkok have been recognised as heads of the
Chinese business community in Siam during
the reigns of three kings.

The company's head office, which is at
Hongkong, is the famous Chinese house
known as the Yuen Fat Hong. They have
also a branch at Singapore under the Chop
Guan Huat Chan. Their offices at Bangkok
are situated on the river bank, opposite the
busiest part of the town. Adjoining them are
extensive living quarters for their employees,
and a large and well laid out Chinese garden.
In addition to their large milling trade the firm
also have a branch house at Sampeng, under
the Chop Guan Huat Seng Chan, for the
import of European goods from Singapore.
The general management of the mills and
business in Bangkok is in the hands of Towkay
Teo Choon Kheng, who is also a native of
Swatow.

GUAN TIT LEE & CO.

The rice-milling firm of Guan Tit Lee & Co.
was established in Bangkok some fourteen
years ago. Their mill, situated on the banks

possession of a spacious wharf capable of
berthing large ships.

The managing partner of the firm is Mr.
Koh Poll Kim. He is a brother of the late
Mr. Poll Chin Soo, and has been for thirty-five
years connected with rice milling in Bangkok.

SIENG KEE CHAN RICE MILLS.

Prominent amongst Bangkok's rice mills is
the group of three known by the name of the
Sieng Kee Chan Mills. The two most im-
portant of these are situated close together on
the bank of the river, a short distance from the
Ban Mai Road, and the other is on the bank of
the Klong Kut Mai. The two larger ones are
named the Sieng Kee Chan and the Seng Heng
Mills, while the smaller is known by the Chop
Sieng Huat. The Sieng Kee Chan mill has
been established some fifteen years, but the
others are of considerably later date. All,
however, are under the charge of Mr. J. H.
Smith, an expert engineer, and have been kept
thoroughly up to date by the introduction of
the various improvements made from time to
time in rice-milling machinery. The three
mills, which are kept working practically all
the year round and both day and night, can,

I. General View of Low Rax Seng Mills.

LOW BAN SENG.

2. Sim Kuxg Lexg (Manager).
(See p. 160)

3. Hoxg Kexg TIONG (Manager, Shipping Department).

CHOP FOOK WAH SHAN KEE.

The Fook Wah Shan Kee Mills.

(Sec p. 169.)

I.EONr, Shau Shan's Private Residence.

THE LAU BENG SENG RICE MILL. PHRA CHAROEN RAJATHON (LAU CHONG MIN)

(Proprietor.)
(See p. 169)

The Khiax Lek Chan Mills at Samsen.

CHOP WONG LI.

2. The Long Hexg Lee Mills,

3. Tax Up Buoy (Present Owner).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

169

THE RESIDENCE OF TAN LIP BUOY.

together, turn out some 6,000 bags of No. I
white rice in the twenty-four hours, and they
give employment to between 700 and 800
hands. The Kee Chan mills are the property
of a private company, of which Mr. Tan
Kwong Tee. a member of the well-known Tan
family of Singapore, is the manager. His
brother, Mr. Tan Keak Hong, who founded
the mills, has now retired, but is still living
in Bangkok.

CHOP WONG LI.

Messrs. Wong Li & Co., with whose varied
interests this sketch deals, were established
over thirty years ago. They are rice-millers,
importers of silk from China, and of all classes
of European piece-goods for the local market.
In Bangkok the firm own two mills — one
known as the Long Heng Lee mill and the
other as the Khian Lee Chan mill — both large
and well equipped with modern and economi-
cal machinery, and have a combined capacity
of upwards of 2,000 piculs of No. 1 rice per
day. They are lighted throughout by elec-
tricity and have the latest type of furnaces,
which burn paddy husks as fuel. The Bangkok
mill is situated on an exceptionally large and
valuable site, and has good wharfing accom-
modation for ocean-going steamers. The firm's
import and piece-goods trade is carried on
under the name of Seng Long, their branch
office for this department being situated at
Samsen. Mr. Tan Tsu Wong, the founder of
the firm, is a mandarin of the second class,
and was formerly one of the most highly
respected members of the Chinese community .
in Bangkok. He has now handed over the
full charge of his business to his son, Mr.
Tan Lip Buoy, and is living, with his family,
in his native city of Swatow.

CHOP LOW BAN SENG.

This firm, which owns several rice mills on
the banks of the River Menam and has large
shipping interests, was established nearly a
quarter of a century ago, and is now one of
the best known Chinese companies in Bang-
kok. Its mills, which are equipped throughout
with modern machinery, and are kept working
day and night and practically from one year's
end to another, turn out something like 700
piculs of rice a day, the greater portion of
which is exported to Singapore, where the
firm has a branch under the Chop Ban Seng.
The general manager at Bangkok is Towkay
Sim Kaing Leng, a native of Swatow, who has
had a long experience of rice-milling in Siam.
The manager of the shipping department is
Mr. Hong Keng Tiong, who was born in the
Straits Settlements, and received an excellent
education in English at the Malacca High
School. He has been connected with the
shipping trade in Bangkok for the last eighteen
years, and, in addition to his other responsi-
bilities, is also in charge of the shipping
interests of Messrs. Bon Hong Long and Joo
Seng & Co.

CHOP FOOK WAH SHAN KEE.

The firm known as Chop Fook Wah Shan
Kee have been in existence in Bangkok for the
past forty years. Originally they were con-
tractors, and for a quarter of a century were
continually employed by the Government,
among many large contracts successfully
carried out by them being the construction
of most of the forts in and around Bangkok.
Some few years ago, however, Mr. Leong
Shau Shan, the proprietor of the firm, gave
up his business as a contractor and built a
large rice mill on the banks of the Menam

river, which now, working as it does day
and night, gives employment to over 100
people, and turns out over 1,000 piculs of the
best white rice in twenty-four hours. Large
quantities of the rice are exported, loading
being facilitated by the fact that the firm
possess their own wharves.

Towkay Leong Shau Shan is a native of
Canton. He is held in the highest esteem by
all classes in Bangkok, and for his services to
the Government has been presented with a
medal by his Majesty the king.

LAU BENG SENG.

Amongst the Chinese residents of Siam who '
have received honours at the hands of his
Majesty the king, none are more respected
than the members of the family of which
Phra Charoen Rajathon (Lau Chong Min) is
the head. For the last two generations this
gentleman's ancestors have been amongst the
leading Chinese of the city, apart from the
prominence which they have acquired owing
to their extensive business interests. Phra
Charoen Rajathon, now the sole proprietor of
the firm of Lau Beng Seng, is a large land-
holder in the Bangkok business quarter, the
most valuable portion of his property being
the important piece of river frontage occupied
by Messrs. Howarth Erskine, Ltd., and Joo
Seng, the agent of the ss. Singapore. Imme-
diately opposite he has a large rice mill. This
is fitted with modern machinery, and, under
the management of the proprietor's brother,
turns out a very high quality of white rice,
which is purchased to a large extent by local
European firms for the home market, while
the balance is exported to Singapore and
Hongkong, where the firm has a branch
house under the style of Ming Joo Thye.

THE TEAK INDUSTRY

i^*

By A. J. C. DICKSON.

Asiatic woods of es-
tablished commercial
value, none is of such
importance as the teak
(Tcctona grandis), a
name derived from the
Malayalam " Tekka."
The tree has a well-
defined range of lo-
cality, being found in Central and Southern
India, Burma, Siam, the Upper Mekong
territory of Indo-China, and Java. It does
not appear to exist further south than Java

world. Perhaps Java should be included as a
minor, though increasing, source of supply ; but
while Java teak (vernacularly termed " Djatti ")
is a true teak, its greater density and heaviness,
together with its limitations in respect to size,
seriously handicap it as a competitor with the
finer and larger teak of Burma and Siam.
India, which in the earlier days of the British
occupation possessed magnificent forests of
teak, clothing the slopes of the west coast of
the Bombay Presidency and extending through
Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore, has long
ceased to be an exporter, and has become,

METHOD OF EXTRACTING LOGS FROM JUNGLE AT ME LANG, SALWEEN.

or further north than the twenty-third degree
of north latitude.

While its longitudinal range is fairly ex-
tensive, practically the forests of Burma and
Siam only are of sufficient productivity to
supply the demands for this valuable timber
which come from all quarters of the industrial

indeed, the largest importer of Burma and
Siam teak. It is interesting to read of a
despatch in the year 1805 from the Court of
Directors of the East India Company to their
Indian administrators, inquiring "to what
extent the King's Navy might, in view of the
growing deficiency of oak in England, depend
170

on a permanent supply of Teak timber from
Malabar." We may assume that teak became
definitely known in England as an efficient
substitute for English oak for naval ship-
building some time about the beginning of
last century, so that the trade is not of very
ancient growth ; but there is ample evidence
that long before the British conquest of India
the native rulers regarded teak as a " royal "
tree, and that its splendid timber was highly
appreciated by native craftsmen.

Burma is a much older as well as a much
larger producer of Teak than Siam. On the
basis of statistics for ten years (1895 to 1904
inclusive) Burma's average yearly total export
to all countries was 182,000 tons, as against
Siam's average yearly export for the same
period of 50,000 tons. It should be added,
however, that figures for later years are more
to the advantage of Siam. It should also be
pointed out that Siamese forests contribute
towards the Burma total, as the entire out-
turn of teak logs from the forests situated
on the Siamese side of the Salween Valley
is worked into the Salween river and floated
down to Moulmein, where, after undergoing
conversion at the mills, it becomes indistin-
guishable from Burma-grown teak. From
Burma Forest Administration reports it ap-
pears that the yearly supply of Siam-grown
teak logs to Moulmein averaged during the
ten years 1894-95 to 1 9°3 ~°4 about 120,000
logs, but figures for later years show that
the average annual arrivals at Moulmein from
Siam do not now exceed 20,000 logs.

To those not technically familiar with teak
some description of the tree and its timber
may be of interest. The tree is of the de-
ciduous family, and flourishes best on hilly
ground in situations where the rainfall is not
excessive, and where a protecting shade is
afforded by the foliage of other trees. To
speak of a " teak forest " is somewhat to
misname things, as in its natural state teak
grows intermixed with heterogeneous forest
flora, and is often, indeed, the least numerous
and most thinly scattered of all the varieties
of trees having their habitat in the same forest
area. It is distinguishable by its broad, droop-
ing leaves, somewhat resembling elephants'
ears. The nature of the wood appears to be
greatly influenced by that of the ground on
which it has grown, varying from a com-
parative softness to an almost flint-like degree
of hardness. In its green state the tree is very
liable to attack by predatory insects, chief
among which is the so-called "bee-hole"
borer, a destructive caterpillar of the sub-order

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

171

Heterocera. The chief virtue of teak is its
essential oil, which clogs the cellular tissue of
the timber, thereby assisting its resistance to
the action of water, and acting as an inherent
preservative against rust and decay when
used in combination with metals. The pre-
servative properties 'of the teak oil render the
wood an indispensable material for the "back-
ing" of armour-plate in warship construction,
as well as for the sheathing of warship hulls.
It is an equally valuable characteristic of teak
that it resists the ravages of the white ant
(termite), and is therefore an indispensable
material in tropical countries for house-build-
ing and general constructional purposes. " It
possesses, indeed" (to quote from the work
of Thomas Haslett on " Timber and Timber
Trees "), " so many valuable properties that
it has long been held in great esteem as a
material for construction, while its economical
uses are so great that there is no carpenter
or other worker in wood who does not, after
having once tried it, fully appreciate its value."
A brief retrospect of the teak trade of Siam
may not be out of place before proceeding
to a more detailed survey of the conditions
as they exist to-day. As an organised industry,
initiated and developed by European capital
and enterprise, it may be said to be barely half
a century old. One European company had
its agents in the north, buying teak logs, as
far back as i860, but apparently it was not
until 1873 that any serious attempt was made
to introduce Siam teak to the European
market. Haslett refers to a " sample " ship-
ment of 200 tons of teak timber from
Bangkok having been brought to London in
that year, and although his criticism of such
sample is none too favourable, he encouragingly
adds : " I am of opinion that if the timber is
only carefully sorted over at Bangkok, good
shipments might be made for the London
market." From another authority we learn
that until about the year 188 1 but little more
than the most tentative attempts had been
made to place Siam teak on the European
markets. We may take it, therefore, that as
an entity of importance in the country's ex-
ports the teak trade reached its adolescence
some thirty years ago. Its growth was from
modest beginnings, and the legend exists that
pioneer shippers, employing native hand-saw-
yers, "squared" their first cargo of logs in a
carefully closed-up shed, so that their novel
operations might be screened from the too
inquisitive eyes of their neighbours. Gradually
steam-sawing machinery displaced the primi-
tive hand-sawing methods, although for many
years the innumerable hand-sawing sheds
owned by Chinese constituted a very con-
siderable industry, the aggregate out-turn of
which was more than equal to that of the
European-owned steam mills. Up in the
north agents of the principal Bangkok com-
panies steadily developed their policy of ac-
quiring supplies from first-hand sources, but the
year 1883 marks approximately the point when
European interests in the forest districts as-
sumed solid importance, assisted by the protec-
tion afforded by the Chiengmai Treaty, signed
in that year between the British and Siamese
Governments, which extended the principle of
extra-territoriality in a modified form to British
subjects resident in Northern Siam. Not until
about the year 1888, however, do we find a
forest being worked by a European company ;
the Siamese Government being unwilling to
grant leases to European companies, who,
consequently, had to obtain control of supplies
of timber by advancing money to native
leaseholders and contractors. The year 1896
initiated another important period for the teak
trade in regard, especially, to the forest-
working branch of it, as in that year the
Siamese Government established a Forest
Department, under British-Indian officials,
whose work has been to introduce measures

for the conservation of the forests. The
changes introduced, including a more drastic
form of lease, higher royalties, and the strict
closing of various overworked areas, have not
been to the immediate advantage of the trade,
but it must be admitted they represent an in-
evitable policy on the part of any government

include the most important, while of five-
European companies working teak in the
northern forest districts four are British.
Judged by the amount of capital emploved by
them, the British share of the trade is even
more preponderating.

The teak-bearing forests of Siam are in the

DRAG-ROAD FOR TIMBER, SHOWING MONORAIL LINE.

which exercises reasonable foresight with re -
gard to the preservation of one of its most
important sources of wealth. If the trade, as
represented by those companies who have
sunk large sums of money in extensive saw-
mills and establishments on the banks of the
Bangkok river, has any real ground for
regret, it rather is that forest conservancy
measures were not entered upon at least ten
years earlier, so that future supplies of teak
logs might be less of an uncertainty.

It should here be remarked that the teak
trade in Siam is very largely a British interest.
Out of ten or eleven steam sawmills in Bangkok
five are owned by British firms, and these

northern or Laos territory, lying approxi-
mately between the sixteenth and twentieth
parallels of northern latitude, having the
Salween river on the west, the Mekong on the
east, with the Bangkok river (the Menam) and
its numerous feeders draining the centre. On
the extreme west the forests drained by the
tributaries of the Salween have their product
worked out into that river and eventually
floated down to Moulmein, hence these forests
are of no direct interest to those engaged in the
Bangkok trade. On the western side rich
teak country exists on the Siam border,
drained by the great Mekong river, but there
are no water-ways communicating witli the

172

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Siamese rivers, and the efforts of French
traders to utilise the Mekong for floating the
timber down to Saigon have not met with any
considerable measure of success owing to the
river being quite unsuited for the purpose.
The supplies of teak for Bangkok are the pro-
duct of the workings in the central portion of
the Laos country, which has its water-ways
liberally supplied by the Menam and its two
principal tributaries, the Me Ping and Me
Yome, with their branch-streams, the Me
Wang and Me Nan. The principal centres of
trade and population are the towns of Chieng-
mai, Lakon Lampang, Prae, and Nan.
Chiengmai, about 500 miles' journey from
Bangkok, is the oldest centre of forest opera-
tions, and it is computed that the teak forests
in this district have been worked for well over
half a century. Growing teak is found on the

the early days, would have been regarded as
unworkable, in these times of more strenuous
competition are made workable by the ingenious
adaptation of mechanical appliances for the
haulage of timber over hills too steep for the
employment of elephants. All this makes for
increased cost of extraction and delivery, and
necessitates higher prices in Bangkok and from
the foreign buyer for the timber. The amount
of capital invested in the teak trade, both as
regards the forest and sawmilling branches of
it, has been variously estimated as being some-
where in the neighbourhood of £2,000,000, and
although such figures are of necessity highly
conjectural, it is a fact that those who engage
in the business, more especially in the forestry
branch, essentially require to be the possessors
of very long purses. On an average some
three to four years must elapse before the

ginning of the rainy season, May to June or
July. If the water is insufficient, the elephant
is called in to assist by pushing the logs over
the shallower places. Once into the main
streams the fast flowing current carries them
down singly to the rafting and salvage stations,
where the timber is collected and made up into
rafts. From the various rafting stations the
rafts are floated down to Paknampoh, the point
at which the chief teak rivers have a common
junction with the Bangkok river, the Menam,
and here the inland duty is collected by the
forest officials of the Siamese Government.
The duty is paid according to a fixed tariff,
and varies in ratio to the length and girth of
each log, the average duty per log being
approximately equal to 4s. at present exchange.
Once this inland duty is paid there is no addi-
tional export tax levied on teak.

A WORKING ELEPHANT. A TYPICAL FOREST CAMP.

WORKING TIMBER ON THE ME LA MOE.

hills between the Menam Kwa Noi and the
Menam Kwa Yai, north and north-west of the
town of Kanburi, and this is probably the most
southerly point it reaches in Indo-China ; it is
not worked, however, owing to the smallness
of the streams and other natural obstacles.
Excellent teak forests are reported to exist in
the very northerly Chiengmai district, but the
absence of river communication with the south
is a serious obstacle to their working. Gener-
ally speaking, the more southerly forests, which
are naturally those that have been longest
worked, are largely depleted of their market-
able trees and, where not actually closed, are
worked under severe restrictions imposed by
the Conservators. The tendency is for forest
operations to extend further and further north-
ward from the old bases, and forests which, in

round teak logs can reach the Bangkok market
from the time they are felled in the forest, and
naturally, as working areas are operated in-
creasingly further afield, the tendency of this
average is to widen. Also, in a country where
a good or bad floating season is primarily
dependent on the very variable factor of rain-
fall, a failure of delivery has to be assured
against by holding large reserves of worked-
out logs, which again involves a large out-
standing of capital.

The various stages in the process of working
the logs out of the forests will be found de-
scribed elsewhere, and need not be set forth
here. Assuming that the rainfall has been
ample to swell the "huays," or forest streams,
the logs commence to move on their long water
journey to Bangkok some time about the be-

The following are the approximate figures
of the total arrivals of teak logs at the Pak-
nampoh Duty Station for the ten years 1898-
1907 inclusive : —

Logs.

1898 50,800

1899 S3,ooo

1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907

... 120,000

... 64,170

••• 64,325

... 108,530

■■■ 135.140

- 146,753

... 86,066

... 108,398

The average yearly delivery, according to the
above figures, is 93,700 logs, but it is worthy of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

173

remark that while the average for the five years
1898-1902 was 70,459 logs, that for the five
years 1903-1907 was considerably larger, viz.,
1 ID ,977 l°gs.. It is clear, in face of the sustained
largeness of the arrivals for the later years,
that the prophecy confidently made in 1905,
that that year would mark the turning-point in
the direction of a reduced volume of output,
has not yet shown itself to be justified. At
the same time, it must be admitted that
quantity has been maintained largely at the
expense of quality, many reasons having com-
bined to make it necessary or profitable to work
down a class of timber which, in former years,
would have been generally regarded as too poor
to repay expenditure.

Despatched from Paknampoh, after being
" passed " by the duty officers, the rafts enter
upon the final stage of the journey to Bang-
kok, and thereafter their further manipulation
becomes a matter for the sawmiller. The
Bangkok mills vary in size and capacity of
machinery, but possess certain features in com-
mon which may be briefly described. To begin
with, an ample width of river frontage is neces-
sarily an important desideratum, as rafts of
round teak require spacious storage accom-
modation, and the sawn logs also are moored
in rafts in the water for conveyance to the
exporting steamer. Next in importance to the
water-frontage is the essential that there should
be a "klong" (or creek) leading from the river
and running up one side of the mill's premises,
communicating with a " dock " into which the
round logs are floated, and from which dock
they are hauled up on to the mill floor by
power haulage. From the mill floor power-
driven overhead travelling cranes pick up the
logs and place them on the steel travelling
tables of the large self-acting rack benches
which are in general use for the conversion of the
round wood into squared logs. For the rough
and ready work of slicing off the "slab" and
transforming the round wood into square or
rectangular-shaped timber, no type of machine
has been found to equal the self-acting circular
saw rack bench, with tables from 40 to 60 feet,
laid flush with the mill floor, and carrying saws
up to 7 feet in diameter. For the finer work of
sawing the round logs into planks and similar
thin material, where exact thicknessing is impor-
tant, the machine in general favour is the verti-
cal saw frame, either belt driven or with direct-
acting engine overhead. These two types of
sawing machines constitute what is generally
termed the " breaking down " mill. For re-
sawing the slabs and small material thrown off
by the big machines in the process of " break-
ing down," the well-equipped mill would in-
clude a full complement of circular saw benches
and cross-cutting benches, while in the larger
establishments various other subsidiary machin-
ery, such as deal frames, planing machinery,
shingle and key-making machinery, &c, are
included. The economical utilisation of all
" waste " is of particular importance, having
regard to the costly nature of the rough
material, and the careful mill manager is at
constant pains to develop the by-products of
his mill and to diminish the firewood pile. The
motive power in all cases is furnished by steam,
the generation of which is quite inexpensive, as
the sawdust and small refuse of the mill provide
an ample supply of fuel for the furnaces. The
sawing machinery of a teak mill requires to be
of a very strong and solid construction to with-
stand the rough usage of native labour as well
as the coarse and gritty character of the rough
material, and it is interesting to know that
practically all the Bangkok sawmills are
equipped with machinery of British manufac-
ture. Chinese, Siamese, and Burmese supply
the labour, which, generally speaking, is ineffi-
cient, viewed from the European standpoint,
nor has it the compensating advantage of
cheapness, seeing that individual inefficiency
has to be made up for by an increase in num-

bers. The visitor to a Bangkok sawmill will
not see anything of that perfection of ingenuity
in regard to labour-saving appliances which is
such an interesting feature of the large Ameri-

As may be supposed, a teak raft^which
may contain anything between a hundred
and two hundred logs, according to size and
other circumstances — comprises many qualities

RAFTING TEAK LOGS ON THE ME YOME.

can lumber mills, but he will doubtless find
much to interest him in the general arrange-
ments, intelligently planned with a view to the
economic "travel" of the timber in one direc-
tion from rough to finished, the strong, heavy

of timber, the allocation of which to their
proper classes for conversion in order to facili-
tate and expedite the work of the sawyer calls
for not a little expert knowledge and practical
judgment. Roughly speaking, teak round

s\\\ \\CX

RAFTING TEAK LOGS.

sawing machinery made as far as practicable
" fool proof," and strong but simple mechanical
appliances provided in mill and yards displacing
or supplementing manual labour.

logs fall naturally into two categories, sound
and unsound, the former being squared into
logs for sale in bulk, the latter being cut down
into smaller conversions. It is characteristic

174

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

of teak that an opinion founded on the external
quality of the rough material is frequently
upset by unsuspected internal faults being laid
bare by the saw, and the eccentricities of the
"heart," which is seldom straight and very
seldom sound, are a constant difficulty in the
way of its economical conversion, The process
of squaring is, as its name implies, merely the
sawing of a round log on all its sides into a
square-shaped piece of timber, the object of the
sawyer being to produce as good a quality as
practicable with the least possible " waste " or
loss of measurement. Once the log is squared
it is ready for the market, excepting that
immediately prior to being snipped its rough
ends, which have purposely been left on as a
natural protection against weather defects, are
sawn off so as to present a fresh, clean appear-
ance, the machine generally used for this pur-
pose being the reciprocating cross-cut saw.
In the conversion of planks care is taken to
saw them clear of heart-wood, which explains
to a large extent the higher cost per ton of first-
class planks as compared with squares. ,

The principal markets fdr Bangkok teak are
Europe, India, China, Japan, Straits Settlements,
Colombo, Indo-China,&c, while occasional ship-
ments find their way to America, Africa, and Aus-
tralia. Manila, which years ago was a consider-
able customer for Siam teak, has again become a
buyer since the American occupation and sub-
sequent development of naval construction. It
is interesting to recall that Java was at one
time a fairly large importer of teak from Bang-
kok. Nowadays, Java is keenly engaged, and
not unsuccessfully, in trying to elbow Siam
teak out of various markets abroad and to get
its own teak preferred. It may be assumed
that practically all the best of each season's
production of sawn timber is exported, while
the residue, representing sizes or quality unsuit-

bility than at first cost, and the increasing
import of cheap woods from Singapore,
together with a noticeable activity in the
exploitation of woods other than teak, are facts
which furnish proof of the extent to which
teak material is being displaced in Siam
itself.

The figures of the exports of teak to all
countries during the past ten years are as under,
it being observed that the Customs and private
statistics on which these are based can only be
regarded as, in many cases, very approxi-
mate : —

teak in its dockyards, having retained with
extreme conservatism a prejudice against it
dating from unsatisfactory results experienced
with some of the very earliest Bangkok ship-
ments, now admits teak from Bangkok into its
tenders on an equality with Rangoon and
Moulmein teak.

DENNY, MOTT & DICKSON, LTD.

The business of Denny, Mott & Dickson
dates from 1875. Having been carried on with
exceptional prosperity as a firm for twenty-five

Year.

To Europe.

To Eastern and other
non-European Markets.

Total.

Tons.

1898

8,859 "

17,636

26,495

1899

11,570

27,085

38,66t

1900

11,182

27,150

38,332

1901

13,157

37,251

50,408

1902

8,217

48,432

56,649

1903

7,543

50,603

58,146

1904

15,987

61,544

77,531

1905

15,699

85,698

101,397

I906

17,266

79,571

96,837

1907

11,464

75,819

87,283

The foregoing table gives an average yearly
export of about 63,000 tons, of which barely
20 per cent, of the quantity has gone to Europe,
the remaining 80 per cent, being marketed in
other countries, among which India is by far
the largest consumer. Comparing the figures
for the five years 1898-1902 with those for the
five years 1903-1907, a falling-off in the average

years, it was transferred to a limited liability
company in 1900, with a fully paid share capital
of £200,000, the shareholders consisting entirely
of the partners and staff of the old firm. In
1906, owing to the rapid expansion of the busi-
ness requiring an enlargement of the capital,
the company was re-registered under the same
name but with a share capital of £300,000, fully

DENNY, MOTT & DICKSON, LTD.
The Offices and Gonowxs.

able for exportation, is consumed- locally for
house-building, boat construction, and various
other purposes. Abgut four years ago the local
consumption was estimated at about 15,000 to
20,000 logs per year, but it is extremely doubt-
ful whether, in face of the great increase in
cost of teak timber delivered on the Bangkok
market, which has been such a marked feature
of the trade in recent years, more than half this
quantity is consumed at the present time. Siam
is peculiarly a market which looks less at dura-

percentage shipped to Europe is observable,
viz., 25 per cent, for the first five years as
against only 16 per cent, for the second period.
This falling off of about 9 per cent, in the ship-
ments of first-class teak can only be explained
in the light of what has been previously said as
to the poorer quality of round timber received
from the forests in recent years.

In concluding this article, it is satisfactory to
record that the British Admiralty, which for
many years set its face against the use of Siam

paid. The public were admitted as shareholders
to a limited extent, but the directors and staff of
the old company retained a preponderating
share in the proprietary of the company. The
Bangkok premises of the company occupy a
central position on the west side of the river
Menam. Their business consists of the ex-
portation of teakwood, for which purpose they
own and operate a steam sawmill efficiently
equipped with high-class machinery, and the
importation of general goods, for which trade

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

175

they possess riverside godowns, wharfs, cranes,
&c, affording excellent facilities for economical
handling and warehousing of large quantities
of goods,

Messrs. Denny, Mott & Dickson's direct con-
nection with Siam dates from 1894. In that
year their representative, Mr. A. J. C. Dickson,
arrived in Bangkok to supervise the execution

industries. Although the company's Bangkok
mill is the youngest among the large European
teak sawmills established in Bangkok, it has,
during the ten years of its career, secured for
itself an important share of the teak business in
the Eastern markets, besides being increasingly
employed in the production of high-class con-
versions against home orders,

the formation of the company. Although a
portion of their work in Bangkok is in connec-
tion with general imports, exports, and shipping,
their attention is devoted principally to rice and
teak. They possess a rice mill and teak saw-
mills, the latter of which are supplied with
rough timber from the north of Siam, where
the company hold forest concessions. They

DENNY, MOTT & DICKSON, LTD.
Gexekal View of the Sawmills. Impokt Wharf and GoDOWXS,

of various contracts for first-class teak timber
which had been entered into by the firm with
some Bangkok shippers. In the two following
years several sailing-ship cargoes of teak were
despatched by them and successfully marketed
in the United Kingdom. The favourable results
attending this venture led to the firm acquiring
their own premises in Bangkok, and by the end
of 1898 they had completed the erection of their
sawmill, with offices, yards, sheds, and all the
usual accessories of a well-organised mill, the
machinery being furnished by the well-known
Scotch firm of sawmill machinists, Messrs. John
McDowall & Sons, whose expert representative
spent over a year in Bangkok superintending
the work of erection. Since then the premises
have been steadily extended to provide the
increased facilities demanded by an ever-
growing business, and at the present time the
mill is excellently situated to undertake the
largest contracts for supplies of teak material,
a leading " speciality " being made of the high-
class conversions required by shipbuilders and
rolling-stock constructors. In the European
markets the name of Denny, Mott & Dickson,
closely identified with the teak trade for about
thirty-four years, has acquired the familiarity of
a " household word" among the shipbuilding,
rolling-stock, and other important teak-using

Messrs, Denny, Mott, & Dickson initiated
their importing trade in 1901, and this has been
a consistently progressive branch of their busi-
ness, the company to-day occupying a prominent
place among the large houses importing foreign
merchandise into Bangkok. They import both
hardware and soft goods, the very varied list of
articles handled comprising practically all the
leading lines in demand in the Siam market.
Commodious iron-built godowns conveniently
situated on the river-front, with deep-water
wharfage, provide excellent storage facilities
for the large stocks carried.

The manager in Bangkok is Mr. A. J. C.
Dickson, the company's pioneer in the work
of establishing, organising, and developing the
Bangkok branch. He is now assisted by a staff
of four Europeans. The headquarters of the
company are at 14, Fenchurch Street, E.C., and
they have subsidiary establishments at Liver-
pool, Glasgow, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Cardiff,
Preston, and Fleetwood. In addition to their
house in Siam they are also represented abroad
by an important agency at Delagoa Bay.

THE BORNEO COMPANY, LTD.

The Bangkok branch of the Borneo Company,
Ltd., was established in 1856, the same year as

are agents for the P. and O. and N.Y.K. ship-
ping lines, and for the Asiatic and the Anglo-
Saxon Petroleum Companies, who have oil
tanks in Bangkok for the storing of kerosene
and liquid fuel. The Borneo Company, Ltd.,
are Lloyd's agents, and are the largest coal
suppliers in the port.

SIAM FOREST COMPANY, LTD.

A general description of the teak trade, to-
gether with some details respecting the forests
of Siam, appears elsewhere in this volume, and
in this short sketch of the Siam Forest Com-
pany, Ltd., therefore, it is unnecessary to dwell
any further upon them. The important bear-
ing the teak industry — furnishing employment
as it does for many thousands of men— has
upon the prosperity of the country is well
known. In this trade the Siam Forest Com-
pany, Limited, have taken a leading part for
the past quarter of a century. They have
immense forest concessions in Northern Siam.
From these abundant supplies of teak are
obtained and floated down the rivers to their
sawmills, from where, after being prepared
and fashioned according to requirements, it is
exported to all parts of the world, but especi-
ally to India, Europe, the United Kingdom,

i. Gexf.ru. View from the Rive:;.

SIAM FOREST COMPANY, LTD.
2. Offices and Godowns. 3. Thf. Timiikh SHED.

4. The Sawmills.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

177

America, and Japan. Their mills are known
as the Bangkok Sawmills, and at all times
they have large stocks of wood on hand.
In 1899 their old mill was completely de-
stroyed by tire. The new one, which stands
on a plot of land having a water frontage of a
quarter of a mile in length, has been equipped
after the very latest and most improved methods,
and contains the best pattern milling machinery.
Recently the firm absorbed the business carried
on in Bangkok under the name of Clarke &
Co., of which Mr. L. Blech, the present
managing director, and Mr. S. H. Hendrick,
the manager in Siam for the Siam Forest
Company, Ltd., were partners. They have
branches in various parts of Siam — in Lakon-
Lampang, Mg. Ngou, Mg. Prayou, Sawanka-
loke, Phrae, Ooteradit, and Paknampoh, and
employ a staff of some twenty Europeans.

been established in Siam for over thirty years.
They carry on a general timber business, and
deal with every description of wood, including,
especially, teak, Tabeck wood, Mai Padou, and
Mai Kien. The timber is cut into scantlings in
their steam sawmills in Windmill-road, and is
both sold locally and shipped to foreign ports.
The firm also contract for architectural and
civil engineering work, and supply all kinds of
household furniture.

Messrs. A. Pialet & Co. are the pro-
prietors of the Siam Free Press, a daily paper
published in French, English, and Siamese,
and are the sole representatives in Siain of the
well-known " du Globe" brand of tobacco and
cigarettes, Messrs. Descours, Caband & Co.,
and La Societe de Construction de Levallais-
Perret.

Mr. A. Pialet, the head of the firm, has been

tional length is required. The soil in parts is
permeable laterite gravel, and in the upper
forests shows considerable traces of decomposed
granite, and it is owing to such soil that the
fibres of the timber are rendered so compact
and so much more durable than timber found
in some of the other forests in Siam. The
varieties of trees include the Xylia Dolabri-
formis, Sarcocephelus Cadamba, Pterocarpus
Indicus, Dipterocarpus (Tuberculatus, Turbi-
natus, Obtusifolius Laevis), Hopea Odorata,
Lagerstroemia Flos Reginte, Lagerstroemia
Tomentosa, Cedrela Toona, Mesua Ferrea,
Rhizophora Mucronata, Heritiera Minor, Vatica
Lanceaefolia, and Bursera Serrata, &c.

On the property the company have a large
sawmill. The main engine is of an American
make, while the sawing benches were pur-
chased from Messrs. John McDowall & Sons,

MESSRS. A. PIALET & CO. S SAWMILL

Apart from their interests in the timber trade,
the firm conduct an extensive business as import
and export merchants, importing chiefly piece
goods, gunnies, coals, hardware, machinery, and
exporting rice, hides, pepper, rubber, sticklac,
gamboge, gum benjamin, and other Siam pro-
ducts. They are agents, too, for the Com-
mercial Union Assurance Company, Ltd., the
Guardian Assurance Company, Ltd., the
Phoenix Assurance Company, Ltd., the National
Bank of China, the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company, the Phailin Ruby and Sapphire
Mines, and the Kabin Gold Mines, &c, &c.
Their head office is at No. 2, Fenchurch
Avenue, London.

A. PIALET & CO.

The firm of Messrs. A. Pialet & Co.,. the
successors of Messrs. Jourdan & Pialet, have

for many years in Siam. He is by profession
a civil and mining engineer.

THE SRIRACHA COMPANY, LTD.

The concession granted to the Sriracha Com-
pany, Ltd., was secured by the founder of the
company, H. E. Chow Phya Surasakdi Montri,
in 1898, and embraces the whole district known
as Srimaharacha, on the east coast of Siam,
situated opposite the island of Koi Si Chang.

The area was at the time of establishment of
the company about 400 square miles, but has in
recent years been considerably increased. The
territory is well wooded, and produces several
specimens of valuable timber for which there is
a gread demand in ship and house building, in
addition to fancy woods, suitable for furniture,
and hardwoods for sleepers and heavy con-
structional work where strength and excep-

Glasgow ; Thomas Robinson & Sons, Ltd.,
Rochdale ; and A. Ransome & Co. Ltd.,
London. The locomotives were supplied by
the Brush Electrical Engineering Company
and the timber trucks by Orenstein and Koppel,
of Berlin.

The service railway in the concession is at
present run for about 10J miles into the forest
from the sea coast, and an additional track for
a further extension is being constructed. The
wharves adjoining the sawmill on the coast are
laid with rails, and possess every convenience
to facilitate speedy shipment at that point
where there is safe berthing and good water
for lighters and steamers.

The lincrease in the territory exploited was
secured by an additional concession, nearly 200
square miles in extent, which brings the total
property of the company up to about 690
square miles. It is held on a long lease, which

i. View of the Skiracha Sawmills

THE SRIRACHA COMPANY, LTD.
2. View in one ok the Forests, showing Huge Trees.

3. Railway connecting Forests and Mills.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

179

will enable the company to embark upon a
large expenditure for the development of the
timber and other articles of forest produce,
such as the numerous Picas - trees yielding
rubber.

The company was formed into a limited
liability company on September I, 1908, the
members of the original firm retaining the
greater number of the shares, a small portion
only being left for subscription. The company,
realising the richness of the concession and the
necessity of careful management in order to
bring about the greatest possible chances of
development and a successful future, invited
the Borneo Company, Ltd. (the oldest of
European firms in Siam), to co-operate in
the working of the business. The Borneo
Company, Ltd., thereby become the man-
aging agents, and acquire a half interest in
the enterprise.

Within the concession and less than an
hour's ride from the mill are to be found several
sulphur springs, to the excellent medicinal
properties of which the robust health of the
members of the staff bears fine testimony.
Srimaharacha as a health resort, indeed, has
much in its favour — beautiful scenery, pure sea
air, and a temperature some three or four
degrees lower than that of Bangkok. Visitors

doctor from Japan with several assistants, both
Siamese and Japanese. The Sriracha Company
have also a doctor in their service who comes
from the Tokio Medical Society, and has had
eleven years' experience in one of the largest
hospitals in Japan.

Communication with Bangkok is maintained
by a weekly service of the Siam Steam Navi-
gation Company, Ltd., which runs as far as
Muang Kratt, calling at Srimaharacha en ionic.

Mr. F. V. de Jesus, who, through his
connection with the Sriracha Company, has,
been long associated with the teak trade, is a
member of one of the oldest families that
have settled in Siam. He was born in Bangkok
ill 1864, and received his English education at
St. Joseph's Institution, Singapore, where he
remained as a student from 1875 to 1879. On
returning to Bangkok he secured a position in
the office of Grassi Brothers & Co., civil
engineers, architects, contractors, and timber
merchants. Towards the close of 1893,
however, the heads of the firm returned
to Europe, and their premises were taken over
by Mr. E. Bonneville, a timber merchant, who
retained the services of Mr. de Jesus as
manager. Mr. Bonneville's death at the end
of 1894 brought about another change, for the
business from that date was carried on by

when the Sriracha Company was reconstructed
and turned into a limited liability company,
Mr. de Jesus joined Ihe Board as one of the
first directors, and his knowledge of various
languages gives him a special advantage in
handling the workmen employed. Mr. de Jesus
recently compiled the guide map of Bangkok
which is reproduced in ihis work.

KWONG NGAN FONG.

Although they have been established in
Bangkok for seven years only, the firm of
Kwong Ngan Fong have already secured for
themselves a high reputation, both as rice-
millers and teak merchants. They own what
is but' a moderately-sized rice-mill, it is true,
but it is equipped with first-class machinery,
and, when kept working day and night, it can
produce 24,000 bags of rice in the month.
They also own the large " Kwong Kim Loong"
sawmills, situated at Samsen. They have
large forest concessions at Soophan, Oottai,
Kamgpeng, Lukon, and Phra, from which the
timber is floated down the river to the mills
and made ready for export. The firm are also
the agents for the Fook On Insurance Com-
pany, of Hongkong.

The founder and proprietor of the business

KWONG NGAN FONG.

The Residence.

The Sawmills.

can enjoy pleasant excursions to Bang Pla Soi
(Muang Chonburi), taking in Bang Phra
Nongmon and Anghin on the route, the latter
spot being the outer anchorage for the
steamers during the north-east monsoon.
There is a well-equipped hospital, with accom-
modation for one hundred patients, built by
the desire of Somdetch Phra Nang Chao Phra
Boromaracha Thevi, where there is a resident

Messrs. Anderson & Co. They appointed
Mr. de Jesus as manager of their saw-
mill, a position which he retained when the
East Asiatic Company, Ltd., in 1897 took over
the interests of Messrs. Anderson & Co. in
this country. He left the firm, however,
in the early part of 1906, and joined the
Sriracha Company as manager of their property
at Srimaharacha. In the latter part of 1908,

is Mr. Lam Sam, a man well known for his
many charitable works. He advanced the
whole of the money for the establishment of
the Tan Fah Yee Hospital, which is now in
a flourishing condition, and receives the sup-
port of all the principal Chinese firms in
Bangkok. During Mr. Lam Sam's absence
from Siam his interests are looked after by
his son, Mr. Yook Long.

i. The Sawmills.

WING SENG LONG & CO.
2. An Interior View of the Mill. 3. Another View of the Mill.

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY, LTD.
1. Interior of Sawmmi. at IMkhok. z & 3. Stock of Tkak at ISam.kok ready for Shipment.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

181

THE

BOMBAY-BURMA TRADING
CORPORATION, LTD.

The business of a large concern such as the
Bombay- Burma Trading Corporation, Ltd.,
with chief offices in Bombay, Rangoon,
Moulmein, Sourabaya, and Bangkok, must
necessarily be extensive and of a varied type,
but the exploitation of teak forests is practically
the main interest of the Bangkok office. From
the concessions granted by the Government a
large quantity of teak is sent from the interior
and exported by this company from Bangkok
to all parts of the world. The corporation has
been established in Bangkok for about twenty
years, the joint managers of the branch at the
present time being Mr. Hamilton Price and
Mr. W. W. Wood.

WING SENG LONG & CO.

Of the many important sawmills which line
the banks of the Menam river in the vicinity
of Bangkok, few surpass the one owned by
Messrs. Wing Seng Long & Co. It is
well constructed, well equipped with modern
machinery, is under the control of men who
have spent their lives in the trade, and in no
way falls below the standard of those mills
owned by the European companies engaged
in the teak industry. The plant, in the selec-
tion of which the experience of older mills
in Bangkok proved an invaluable guide, con-
sists of a large rack bench, one edging and one

planking bench, three small benches, one double
deal frame, a swinging cross-cut saw, two
steam cross-cuts, and all the other necessary
machinery for sharpening and punching saws,
&c. The furnaces are of the most effective
and economical type, burning sawdust as
fuel.

The firm, which is a private one established
only three years ago. has, up to the present,
dealt with teak-wood only, and the output is
mostly disposed of locally. The capital of the
company consists of 250 shares of 1,000
deals each, and already a considerable reserve
fund has been built up by careful management.
The controlling partners are Messrs. Loh
Sum, Wong Fui, and Liin Chun Beng, each
of whom has charge of a different department
of the business.

Messrs. Wing Seng Long & Co. are
also importers of silk from Canton, in which
city they have a branch under their own name.
In Hongkong their branch is situated at No. 4,
Queen Street, and is known as Wing Seng
Chan. It is largely to these centres that their
timber for export goes, although they also
export to Singapore and Shanghai, and have
their own agents in those ports.

EAST ASIATIC COMPANY.

An account of the general activities of the
East Asiatic Company appears in another
section of this volume. Mr. H. E. Kitzau, the

manager of the company's sawmills, photo-
graphs of which are reproduced, has been
connected with the timber trade for the last
thirteen years. Formerly he was stationed up-
country, at one of the company's timber
depots, but now he is located in Bangkok, and
has two mills under his control — the Bangkok
mill, at which only teak is worked, and the
Bandon mill, where all kinds of wood other
than teak are prepared for export.

Mr. Kitzau is an expert in all varieties of
timber, and his long experience of the trade
has eminently fitted him for the important
position he now occupies.

ENG LIANG YONG SAWMILLS.

The Eng Liang Yong sawmills, which are
situated at Samsen, on the banks of a klong
flowing into the Menam river, are the property
of Mr. Eng Liang Yong. He established them
four years ago, but two years after they were
erected they were destroyed by fire and were
then entirely rebuilt and fitted up with the
most modern class of wood- working machinery.
The mills give employment to a number of
skilled workmen, who are under the personal
supervision of their employer.

Mr. Eng Liang Yong deals in all varieties of
timber, but his trade is purely local. He has
had upwards of ten years' experience as a
general contractor, and has successfully carried
out the construction of several large buildings
in Bangkok.

M *

■■ — ^

■■ ' ' — ^— — — — ^ — — — — —— ■■— I )

MINES AND MINING ADMINISTRATION

By JOHN H. HEAL, R.S.M., F.G.S.,
Inspector-General of the Royal Department of Mines and Geology.

STUDY of the statistics
of the world's supply of
tin reveals the fact that
over two-thirds of the
total output comes from
the Malay Peninsula
Jftfi}] / / ^SJ3JCU| Ml and its continuation to
^g? £>-rg- » ' .. »\iig ig S the south in the islands
of Banka and Billiton.
The central portion of this long stretch of
country is occupied by the States of Perak and
Selangor, which produce nearly half the world's
tin. The northern part consists of the Siamese
State of Kedah and the province of Puket.

Tin is the only mineral which is worked on
a large scale in Siam at the present time. It
is disseminated more or less throughout the
whole of the Siamese portions of the Malay
Peninsula. Just as in ihe Federated Malay
States to the south the west coast has pro-
duced more tin than the east, so in Siam the
island of Puket and the provinces of Pangnga,
Takuapa, and Kenong, which face the Bay of
Bengal, have proved themselves far richer than
the adjacent provinces on the ether side of the
peninsula. The island of Puket alone is
responsible for nearly half the tin produced in
the country. This island, known to the Siamese
as Puket, is usually referred to as Tongkah in
the Federated Malay States, and is marked as
Junk Ceylon in the Admiralty charts.

There is no doubt that tin has been worked
along the western shore of the Siamese portion
of the peninsula for a very long time. Unfor-
tunately, little is known of these earlier miners,
and there are no statistics to show how much
has been produced from these States in the
past. There is little doubt, however, that
before the arrival of the Chinese, who are now
almost the sole workers for tin, the Indians
mined along the sea coast. Evidence of this is
afforded along the Pangnga shore, where old-
remains, such as pottery, &c, are occasionally
unearthed. Along this shore there must have
been a belt of rich tin-bearing land. At the
present time small patches are still discovered,
but on following them up they are always
found to end abruptly with evident signs of
the surrounding lands having been worked out
in bygone times.

On the island of Puket the tin comes almost
entirely from the south-east quarters. This

area is bounded by ranges of high hills on the
north and east, which are principally composed
of slate, and are cut by granite dykes which
contain the metal. The Chinese work these
dykes near the surface, where they are soft and
decomposed. The whole of the valley land is
covered with alluvial, which in most places
consists of clay to a depth of from 20 to 40 feet ;
under this there is a bed of gravel containing
tin varying both in thickness and in the rich-
ness of its tin contents, its average thickness in
the working places being about 3 feet. This
thin gravel bed must have produced tin to the
value of many millions sterling. The whole
of its contents appear to have come originally
from the granite dykes above mentioned. The
hills must have gradually weathered away, the
slate producing the clay of the alluvial and the
dykes the stanniferous gravel bed, the whole
of the valley being then covered by the sea.
The greater part of the area covered by this
stanniferous bed is now worked out, though
some rich patches and a good deal of the less
valuable parts are left.

It has long been known that this stanniferous
layer extended out into the sea at Puket Har-
bour. For several years the Chinese worked
this submarine area by the following methods :
A dam was built out from the shore so as to
enclose an area of a few acres of shallow water
and the sea water was then pumped out. This
enclosed area was worked out, the over-burden
being used to build another dam outside the
first, and so enclose a second area for working.
This process had been going on for a con-
siderable time, and over 100 acres of the
bay had so been worked out. The Govern-
ment were then obliged to stop all further
work of this kind in the harbour, as it was caus-
ing the channel to silt up so badly that at dead
low water it was impossible to get to and from
the town.

At this point the Government was ap-
proached on the subject of granting a conces-
sion of the whole harbour for dredging purposes,
and after some negotiations a concession was
given to the Tongkah Harbour Tin Dredging
Company, by which they were entitled to
dredge the whole harbour for tin, but must in
return construct a dock and channel leading
from the dock to the deep water. There is no
reason to doubt that this wonderfully rich
stratum, which has been proved in an unbroken
line from the hills to the shore, will continue far
out under the sea. The company have already
one large dredge at work, and it is reported

that they have ordered two more. The returns
from the dredge that is working are very satis-
factory under the circumstances. Naturally,
on starting a new enterprise of this kind a great
many unforeseen difficulties arose, but there is
every indication that these difficulties have
been successfully overcome, and the company
should have a long and prosperous future
before it.

It is also likely that we shall see other under-
takings starting before long on the neighbour-
ing bays of the island, as several applications
have been made for similar rights to dredge.
It must, however, be remembered that the
main run of tin in the island is straight out into
Tongkah Harbour, and that though in places
there are stanniferous strata which appear to
exist under the adjacent bays, none of them
can approach in richness the main belt, and
that even if the Tongkah Harbour Tin Dredg-
ing Company should prove a great success, it
does not necessarily follow that similar under-
takings elsewhere on the island would be
equally successful.

Practically the whole of the mining on the
island of Puket is carried on at the present
time by Hokien Chinese. In the old days these
Tongkah Chinese had the name of being the
best miners in the peninsula, and undoubtedly
they have shown great resource and ingenuity
in their methods of work, especially in the way
they have brought in water from long distances,
crossing deep valleys by means of very high
aqueducts constructed entirely of wood and
rattan found in the vicinity, not a nail being
used in their construction. At the present time
their methods are in some respects behind
those of the Perak Chinese, the reason of this
being twofold — firstly, that they have not come
so much into contact with Europeans and have
not yet learnt in the same way the use of
machinery ; and secondly, because the deposits
are fairly uniform and shallow and there is not
the same necessity for mechanical aids. So far
no deep layers of tin have been discovered on
the island, though frequent attempts have been
made to discover them by means of boring.
In this respect the Government have taken a
very active part, having their own boring crews
continually at work.

In the provinces of Takuapa and Kenong to
the north of Puket, granite dykes occur similar
in nature to those at Puket, but the conditions
for laying down a large stratum of alluvial have
not been so favourable. In Renong especially
there is an enormous quantity of this granitic

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

183

material which is decomposed down to a con-
siderable depth, and has been worked by the
Chinese for very many years. Considerable
work has recently been done by an English
company in (he way of prospecting this huge
mass of material with the idea of hydraulising
the whole hill. There were numerous diffi-
culties in the way, however, and the company
have now abandoned the idea They have
instead taken a lease on some land which covers
the alluvial derived from this granitic mass,
and intend to work it by means of a dredge.
The best of this alluvial has been worked out
by the Chinese, but they were unable to work
the lower portions owing to the quantity of
water.

The most s'riking feature of the tin-mining in
Siamese Malaya as compared with that in the
Federated Malay States is the very common
occurrence of these granitic dykes which form
such a very evident source of the alluvial tin.

On the east coast of the peninsula the mining
is all on a very small scale. An attempt was
made recently by a British company with a
very large capital to commence mining opera-
tions on a large scale. The mine was situated
near the town of Langsuan, and a short line of
railway was built from the town to the mine,
A large pipe line was put in to bring in water
from a stream many miles distant, and a large
steam digger was installed. The results have
not as yet justified this enormous expense.
No details were ever published, as far as I am
aware, as to the amount spent on prospecting.

Another attempt at a mine on the east coast
ended in a failure, as the gentlemen engaged in
this enterprise do not seem to have been well
acquainted with the appearance of tin ore, and
shipped large quantities of worthless iron ore
to Singapore under the impression that it was
tin.

Almost in the centre of the peninsula, in the
State of Rahman, there are some old tin work-
ings which have long had a great reputation
among the Malays and which have been worked
for a long time by the Rajah of Rahman. These
old workings are on the side of a hill known as
Bukit Paku, and for many years have been
managed by a Chinaman of the name of Datoh
Chang Wang. The work was carried on by
fetching down the alluvial on the hillside and
in the valley by means of water brought in by
a ditch line from a distance. The valley itself
lies about 700 to 800 feet above sea level, and
Bukit Paku rises to a height of about 1,000 feet
above the valley level. The Chinese have
occasionally sent coolies nearly to the top of
the hill to collect the richest lumps of tin and
carry them down in baskets to the valley below
to break up and concentrate. Needless to say
that rock which would pay for treatment of
this kind must be very rich indeed. When the
Siamese Government commenced issuing
regular title-deeds through the mining depart-
ment, the widow of the late Rajah of Rahman
was granted a lease for such land as she re-
quired in this district. In this lease the crown
of the hill was not included, as the Chinese
and Malays had no means of treating the
alluvial at such a height, their waterways
coming in at a much lower level.

At the beginning of the year 1904 applications
were received from Europeans for the right to
prospect in this country. Licences were duly
issued, and as a result of the prospecting appli-
cations for leases were sent in and granted.
This is the origin of the two companies, the
Rahman Tin Company, Ltd., and the Rahman
Hydraulic Tin Company, Ltd. The former has
a lease near the crown of the hill, and the
latter holds a larger area surrounding the lease
of the Rahman Tin Company, Ltd., and that of
the Rajah Prempuan. The former has dis-
covered a large vein or series of parallel veins
providing an enormous quantity of excellent
milling material. They have constructed an
aerial rope-way for bringing this material

down from the top of Bukit Paku to the mill,
which has been erected on the top of a small
hill projecting into the valley below. This mill
consists of a fine up-to-date 20-head stamp
battery, with Frue vanners, by Eraser and
Chalmers. Practically no development work
has, however, been done on the mine.

The Rahman Hydraulic Tin Company, Ltd.,
as their name implies, intend to work their land
by means of monitors. They have a large,
well-constructed ditch line about seven miles
long which brings in the water from a distant
stream ; this stream is a small one and will
probably not permit them to work more than
three monitors. They have a project for
bringing in their water from the Rui, a much
larger stream, but the scheme would entail a
very large outlay of capital, the length of the
necessary ditch being about thirty miles. This
company has also a small stamp battery in course
of erection for breaking up the lumps which are
found in large quantities scattered through the
alluvial. They have also a very large quantity
of material ready to hand in the form of old
dumps left by the Chinese. These latter only
picked out the richest lumps to carry out to
their foot-stamps, leaving the poorer material
"stacked up behind them. These dumps will
well repay the cost of transport to the mill and
of milling. Neither of these companies has
got to work on a large scale yet, but their
prospects are certainly excellent. Their diffi-
culties in the past have been largely connected
with transport, and even now, although the
Rahman Tin Company, Ltd., have' built a road
twelve miles long to Baling in Kedah, the cost of
transport is still very high. Great credit is un-
doubtedly due to these pioneers for the way
they have overcome the many difficulties
inherent in work of this kind.

I have referred above to most of the important
tin-mining ventures in the country. Apart from
these, a great deal of work is being done in the
way of prospecting, especially in Puket and
the adjoining provinces, where the Siamese Tin
Syndicate, Ltd., have no less than eight sets of
hand-boring tools continually at work under the
experienced management of Mr. H. G. Scott,
whose name is in itself a guarantee of good
sound work, while the Siamese Trading Cor-
poration, Ltd., have two Keystone drillers in
operation. There is every reason to believe
that this thorough prospecting will bear fruit in
the near future in the form of increased pro-
duction, bringing in a good profit to the investor
and an increase of revenue to the Government.

Although up to the present the history of
gold-mining in this country has been a tale of
failure so far as European companies are con-
cerned, yet there is no doubt that this metal
stands second in importance to tin in the mineral
resources of the country.

Tomoh, Watana, Bangtaphan, and Kabin each
recalls past losses to the investor. It is always
difficult in a mining venture to say definitely
what the cause of failure has been, but there is
little doubt that extravagance and mismanage-
ment have largely contributed in some of the
above instances. It is said that the Kabin
mines intend commencing work again, and
with experienced and capable management
there is reason to believe that they may turn
the tide of past misfortunes.

Here, as in all countries where mining is
carried on, a great cause of failure has lain in
the lack of interest shown by those who have
been investors in the concern. In most cases
it is looked upon merely as a side issue, small
amounts of spare capital only are invested, and
the results are treated as a gamble, gains or
losses being regarded as a matter of luck and
little trouble being ever taken to insure that the
management is the best possible.

Siam's very remoteness i n the past has acted as
an incentive to the investment of capital in min-
ing. This has probably been one reason for the
fame of the Tomoh goldtields ; even now it is a

most difficult place to reach, and the cost of
transporting goods to it is enormous. Few
travellers would go to the trouble and expense
of getting to such a place without thinking that
they had earned the right to exaggerate a little
when recounting the story of its riches. Hence
the formation of a company and failure. There
is no doubt that if only a place is far enough off
and little enough is known of it, capital can
easily be raised for mining there. Some few
miles from Tomoh, in the middle of the jungle,
overgrown- with creepers, and almost rusted
away, one comes across two large boilers, a
pump, concentrating plant, a five-stamp battery,
together with some tons of rails and waggons.
This plant must have been brought up the
Kelantan river, and then up its tributary, the
Pergau, as far as the depth of water would
allow. An attempt was then made to drag it
through the jungle to the mines. Either the
health of the party or the capital of the company
appears to have given out before the plant
reached its destination, and now it lies sur-
rounded by the densest jungle, a monument
to the enterprise and energy of the white man,
if not to his wisdom.

The Tomoh Gold Fields Hills, Ltd., was
started with a capital of ^175,000, and
went into liquidation in 1893. The report of
the final meeting of the company opens up a
tangled vista of disappointment and mutual
recrimination.

There appears to be a kind of ill-defined run
of gold-bearing country through Raub in
Rahang and Pulai in Kelantan, ending at
Tomoh. Pulai has, without doubt, turned out
very large quantities of gold in the past, the
signs of old workings round that district being
very extensive indeed.

At Tomoh itself the output of gold by the
Chinese in the past must have been consider-
able, practically the whole of the alluvial
having been worked out. There are now
some three hundred Chinese engaged in work-
ing the veins on the hillside. The only work-
ings that I have visited there are situated
some 3.000 feet above sea level. The vein,
of bluish semi-transparent quartz, was dipping
at an angle of about 45 , while the
country was a decomposed slate, requiring
a fair amount of timbering. The levels were
extremely narrow, and the whole of the stuff
was carried out in baskets in the usual Chinese
way. The stamps were worked by water-
power by means of an overshot wheel, and
from the look of the quartz I should say it was
very easily broken and perfectly free milling.
The whole place seemed tidy and well kept,
while the coolies, some thirty in number,
appeared healthy and well fed. At some future
date, when the means of transport have im-
proved, it might well be worth the while of
some company to spend a little time and money
investigating this field, but at the present time
the expenses of working would be enormous,
owing to the transport charges.

To the south of the Tomoh Field lies the
country included in the Duff concessions in
Kelantan. This company has spent a large
amount of capital in prospecting its area. As
stated above, there are indications of very
extensive old Chinese workings in Kelantan.
As at Tomoh, the alluvial has been mostly
worked out above river level, and the Duff
Company has been engaged for some time past
in working the river beds by means of dredges.
The results have not as yet brought in divi-
dends to the shareholders, though their output
of gold has been as high as 800 oz. in some
months.

On the Sokoh river, a tributary of the
Kelantan, the Duff Company has done a great
deal of prospecting. The ore in this district is
of a particularly refractory nature, and though
the company have spent a good deal of money
in trying to work it, they have so far proved
unsuccessful.

CHINESE MINING IN PUKET.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

185

The mineral of the peninsula, tin, appears to
be present in the State of Kelantan in very
small quantities indeed, and the output is almost
negligible.

Further north on the east coast of the
peninsula is situated Bangtaphan, the scene of
another British effort to work gold in Siam.
The effort ended in failure after the expenditure
of a large amount of capital. The company,
which was known as the Gold Fields of Siam,
Ltd., was floated in 1888 with a capital of
£250,000, and their lease expired in 1896. As
far as I can ascertain, no gold was obtained by
the company ; certainly, no royalty was ever
paid to the Government on gold produced.
The natives still work the streams round
Bangtaphan for gold, though it can hardly be
said to amount to a regular industry.

Away to the east of Bangkok lie the gold-
fields of Watina and Kabin. The former was
unsuccessfully worked by a French company-
new no longer in existence. The latter was
worked by British capital. In 1900 a company
known as the Kabin Gold Mines of Siam, Ltd.,
was started with a capital of £250,000. Later
in the year this was taken over by a new com-
pany called the New Kabin Gold Mines of
Siam, Ltd., with a similar capital. The property
was eventually transferred to the Siam Syndi-
cate, Ltd., which syndicate has declared the
intention of re-opening the mine in the near
future. There is a large plant on the spot, con-
sisting of a stamp battery, boiler, pumps, &c.
The opening of the Patriew line of railway
should facilitate the management of the mine
considerably, bringing it into close touch with
the head office in Bangkok.

Wolfram is being worked on the island of
Koh Samui by the Siam Prospecting Company,
Ltd. It occurs in a vein running out into the
sea, which is worked for the wolfram only,
tin, if present at all, being only in very small
quantities. The company have shipped over
twenty tons of ore up to date. It is hand-
picked only at present, though the company
intend putting in crushing and concentrating
machinery. Wolfram suffers, as must all the
lesser known metals of this kind, from a very
fluctuating market, both supply and demand
being so small that an increase in either is apt to
rush the price up or down in a way which would
never take place with the common metals.

Other metals that have been worked within
the kingdom of Siam are copper and lead.
Copper was worked for a short time at
Chanthuk by a Danish company without
success. Lead was worked in Jala by an
English company. The fall in the price of the
metal is said to have been the cause of their
failure. Here, again, one comes across old pieces
of pipe lines and machinery in the jungle, while
at Patani itself can be seen parts of the smelt-
ing plant which they intended to erect. The
occurrence of lead in Jala affords an interesting
metallurgical problem, the lead in the form of
cerussite (lead carbonate) being mixed in the
alluvial with cassiterite (tin oxide). The
specific gravity of the two minerals is so
nearly the same that it is impossible to
separate them by any ordinary process or
ore dressing. Electro-magnetic separation
is also impossible, as neither mineral is
magnetic. They are smelted together by
the Chinese, who obtain a kind of pewter, or
black tin as it is called by the Siamese. The
price of this product is low and the loss in
smelting great, so that a process of separation,
could such be found, might prove very profit-
able.

Iron ore is still worked in the north of Siam
for the manufacture of knives, &c, but it is a
dying industry, the introduction of European
steel making the work of reducing ores in a
small native way unprofitable.

Other minerals, such as antimony, bismuth,
graphite, and zinc, are also found in Siam, but
not in paying quantities. A deposit of calcium

phosphate in the shape of fossil bones has
recently been reported, and I understand that
an attempt is to be made to work it ; no work
has, however, yet been done on it.

Gems in the form of sapphires and rubies
have, in the past, provided a fair-sized industry,
but the Pailin fields, which were by far the
most important, were included in the territory
ceded to the French. The isthmus of Kra
still provides a few gems, but their value is
very low.

Water is not, perhaps, usually regarded as
part of the mineral wealth of a country, though
it undoubtedly is a mineral, and of such value
that no country could exist without it. I do
not intend discussing the question of a water-
supply for Bangkok. The subject is one of
the greatest interest to all residents, but lies
completely outside my province. I wish only
to make a brief reference to the boring for
water which has been carried on in recent
years in Bangkok and the provinces. Boring
has, undoubtedly, proved of very great use
during the last few years, and will continue to
be of use until the big scheme recently
sanctioned by his Majesty has been carried
through.

There are at present some twenty wells in
Bangkok, the large majority of which were
put down by the Royal Department of Mines,
the depth of these wells varying from 450 to
825 feet. The deepest of these is the one in
the grounds of his Majesty's palace at Dusit
Park. It was one of the first to be put down
and provides water for the palace. The bore
which has been most used is probably that at
the railway terminus, which supplies water to
all the locomotives on the line. As to the
purity of the supply not the least fear need be
felt, the water having been repeatedly analysed
and in no case where a well has been properly
looked after and the sample properly taken
has the result been in any way unfavourable.
As a further proof of this, the fact may be
stated that since the sinking of the wells at the
military barracks and the Central Gaol cholera,
dysentery, and similar diseases have practically
ceased to exist there.

In the provinces the following bores have
been put down : two at Tachin and one at
Paknam, these three having been put down by
the railway companies ; three at Prapatom,
where a fourth is about to be started ; one at
Ban Phaji, used by the Royal Railway Depart-
ment ; while unsuccessful attempts have been
made at Patriew and Pak Phanang on the east
coast of the peninsula.

I will now turn to the matter of mining
administration. Formerly the granting of
mining concessions to foreign subjects had
been in the hands of the Foreign Office,
whereas the different local authorities had the
power to deal with applications from Siamese
subjects. The number of applications for
concessions increased rapidly, and in 1891 the
Government, wishing to open up the country
for mining enterprise, felt that the time had
come to put the administration of mining
matters on a better basis. The old arrange-
ment had proved unsatisfactory in many ways ;
the Foreign Office had no technical knowledge,
nor were they acquainted with the local condi-
tions of each application. On the other hand, the
Bangkok authorities had insufficient control of
the leases, &c, granted by the local authorities
to the Siamese subjects. The Government
therefore decided to start a special department
to look after mining affairs. The Royal
Department of Mines came into existence on
January 1, 1891, the Government engaging the
services of two European experts to advise
them and help in the work of organising the
department.

When first established the department was
placed under the Ministry of Agriculture,
Chow Phya Phat Satrawongse being the
minister at the time.

The concessions that had been issued prior
to the establishment of the department usually
covered very large areas. The rent for these
areas was nominal ; a high duty, however, was
imposed on all minerals that should be won.
There was no clause in these leases saying
that steady work must be done on them. The
result of this was that many of these leases fell
into the hands of regular concession-hunters,
who could hold them for an indefinite time at
small expense in the hope that some company
would buy the concessions. Thus large areas
were tied up, to the detriment both of the
Government and of capitalists who wished to
work mines in the country. All these old
leases gradually lapsed, until at the present
time not one remains. To overcome this
difficulty all leases issued by the new de-
partment included a clause stating that a
definite number of men must be continually
employed on the land ; a fair rent was also
charged.

A great deal of work was done by the staff in
travelling about the kingdom investigating the
mineral resources.

One of the most important duties of the
department was the drafting of a mining Act
for the regulation of the industry. This could
not be satisfactorily accomplished until a study
had been made of the local conditions under
which titles were held and mines worked.
Regulations were first drafted in 1895, but they
had to be redrafted several times before they
reached the conditions in which they finally
passed into law in 1901. In the meantime
changes had taken place in the ministers under
whom the department was placed. In April,
1892, Chao Phya Surasakdi became Minister of
Agriculture. In 1897 the Ministry of Agricul-
ture was done away with and the Mining
Department was placed under H.R.H. Prince
Mahit, Minister of Finance. In 1899 the
Ministry of Agriculture was again established ;
the Mining Department was, however, placed
under the orders of H.R.H. Prince Damrong,
Minister of the Interior, and it is from this date
that the real progress of the department has
been made.

As early as 1894 a branch office had been
established at Puket ; the staff, however, was
quite inadequate for thoroughly organising the
work. It was not till 1902 that the work was
thoroughly taken in hand, an efficient staff of
surveyors provided, and a regular system orga-
nised for the survey and issue of leases. At the
present time, in addition to the main Puket
office, small branch offices are being established
at Renong and Pangnga. On the east coast
of the peninsula there is an office at Patani and
a small branch office is being established at
Betong, in lower Rahman.

The first director of the department was Mr.
de Muller, Mr. Warington; Smyth, the author of
" Five Years in Siam," being his assistant.
After Mr. de Muller left, in April, 1895, Mr.
Warington Smyth was director till November,
1896, when he resigned owing to ill-health.
On Mr. Scott's retirement the position of director
was kept vacant. A new position of Inspector-
General of Mines was created, to which the
author of these notes was promoted. On the
whole the Siamese Government have been
very fortunate in their choice of European
officials, the position of director especially
having been held by men who were most
keen, not only in the work of their department,
but also to help the Government in every way
that was in their power.

There is one technically trained Siamese in
the department, viz., Phyao Baromabart, who
was for some time a student at the Ecole des
Mines, Paris. The most satisfactory feature
of the whole work of the department is the
great progress made by the Siamese staff,
many of whom have shown great industry,
ability, and devotion to their work and are
quite fit to take responsible positions.

ENGINEERING

By C. LAMONT GROUNDWATER, M.I.E.E.

T cannot be said lor Siam
that the early years of
the country's develop-
ment were productive
of much inventiveness.
There are no signs of
any mechanical con-
trivance to increase a
given output or de-
crease labour that can be truly said to be the
outcome of Siamese thought.

On the other hand, certainly, many of the
implements used by the native workman are
of such design and ingenuity that they can
only have been the result of necessity and
crude study. These implements are, however,
all traceable to China or India, but for the
most part to China.

Agricultural implements were naturally the
first mechanical contrivances to which native
thought was turned, and in this direction we
have the most primitive of all tools. The
plough is merely a tree-branch chosen for
shape and cut to length, and the share is a
small Hat board, which acts as a scoop.
Little or no attempt is made to make this
simple instrument either more efficient or
lasting. The harrow is also of wood, and
resembles a large rake. Both these imple-
ments are pulled by buffaloes, and these,
together with a large, unwieldy knife, used
by hand for the purpose of reducing the
growing weeds and rank grass, constitute
practically the stock-in-trade of a farmer in
Siam.

It is a matter of wonder how such a state
of affairs can exist in our world of enterprise
and competition, when we consider that Siam's
enormous output of rice forms, not only the
backbone of the country's wealth, but an im-
portant factor in the world's supply. Again,
notwithstanding the great number of rice-
mills, it is astonishing how many small hand-
mills exist throughout the city. These small
mills are never idle, and their working
furnishes an example of the extraordinary
capacity for manual labour possessed by
the Chinaman. The paddy is hulled in an
apparatus having a basket hopper, through
which the grain is fed to the stones. The
basket and upper stone are revolved by a
long wooden connecting rod worked by a
powerful Chinaman. On the opposite side to
the crank-pin is a spade-like sweeper, which

discharges the hulled grains and husk at each
revolution through a hole in the rim of the
basket-base. The grain is then put through
a hand-fan, resembling, and probably copied
from, one of the small fans once common in
all farms in England. In this process the

A CHINESE DOCK.

husks and dust are removed, and the grain
is then further cleaned by pounding, which
takes the place of pearling. In the more ad-
vanced hand-mills the beaters are worked by
foot, but in the country districts and individual
farmsteads this work is done either by large
wooden mallets, or by poles resembling an
attenuated dumbbell. The foot-pounders form
the most primitive method which could be
conceived for the performance of the work
required, but still the work goes on, and
evidently the workers are satisfied, although,
judging from the price of rice and the time
it takes to prepare, they cannot be over-
burdened with wealth as a result of their
strenuous labour.

The introduction of rice and saw mills into
Siam marked the era of modern engineering
in the country. With their advent came the

necessity for modern mechanical practice, and
it is noteworthy that the Chinese were the
first to rise to the occasion. Labour in the
mills is for the most part Chinese. The first
power rice-mill in Siam was erected by the
Borneo Company, Ltd., at Bangkok. The
machinery was manufactured by the well-
known firm of Douglas & Grant, Ltd., of
Kirkcaldy, and it speaks well for the quality
of the workmanship that this, the oldest miil
in Siam, is still turning out white rice of the
finest quality. There are 65 rice-mills in
Siam, of which 60 are situated in or near
Bangkok, either on the main river or on the
klongs or canals. All the mills of Siam now
generate their steam from their own paddy
husk. Time was when other fuel was used,
and difficulty was experienced in disposing
of the husk, which was then thought to be
a worthless commodity. Special furnaces are
now designed to consume the husk as fuel, and
the result has proved most satisfactory. They
are simple in their construction, and are very
efficient when properly designed. It is difficult
to say where these furnaces were first con-
structed, as they are used throughout the
world, but it is sometimes claimed that they
originated from Bangkok, while it is certain
that their present-day improvements emanated
from that city. They consist of an arched
brick chamber, external to the boiler, and
connected by throat tubes or flues. In front
are placed at an angle flat iron bars, per-
forated for ventilation. The husk is fed
through a hopper at the top, and gradually
falls to the bottom as it is consumed. The
ash is then raked out into a trough containing
running water, where it is carried away to
the river. It will be apparent that this mode
of raising steam must constitute an enormous
saving to a mill by burning what once was its
waste product. Not only can a mill produce
enough fuel for its own consumption, but in
some instances there is a surplus for which
a ready sale is found among other steam-
power industries.

Water-tube boilers are little used in Bangkok.
They are only to be found in European estab-
lishments, and then not in rice or saw mills,
where the economy in fuel is of little account.
The Lancashire and Cornish types were the
first with which the mill owners on the banks
of the River Menam became familiar, and it is
but reasonable to expect, having regard to the
conservatism of the Chinese, that, having served
their purpose well, these boilers will still retain
their popularity as steam generators.

The sawmills of Siam are less numerous than

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

187

the rice mills, probably owing to the fact that teak
is almost the only wood that is milled, and for the
further reason that, as the teak forests are largely
under concession to wealthy companies, chiefly
British, smaller companies do not find it a very
lucrative business. There is one large Siamese-
owned sawmill, situated at Sriracha. on the
east shore of the Gulf of Siam, which is turn-
ing out large quantities of timber other than
teak. Another, owned by a Danish company,
situated at Bandon on the west shore, produces
a similar class of timber. Both the mills are
well equipped wilh machinery, as they are of
recent formation, but as the chief trade of the
country is simply sawing timber into logs and
planks, there is no call for the finer wood-
working machinery common to sawmills at
home. Frame and rack saws and ordinary
circular and cutting saws are the only machines
used. There is not sufficient call in the country
for fancy woodwork, the little that is done
being hand-wrought and crude, and there is
therefore no inducement for any company to
put down planing, milling, and other machines
of that description.

With the advent of steamships of large ton-
nage small workshops with slipways and docks
made their appearance, and these have since
grown in number and size until they have
reached important dimensions. There are,
however, only two European establishments.
Of the remainder, seven are Chinese and one
Siamese. In the last-named are to be found
the most modern of machine tools, including
high-speed cutting tools. The most important
engine-shop is that of the naval dockyard. It
is well equipped with up-to-date tools of mode-
rate size, well laid down on good floors. The
buildings have recently been renewed and
enlarged, and the Xavai Department need no
longer rely upon local or even upon foreign
aid for the repairs necessary to their many
large craft and to their flotilla of launches.
Attached to most of their engine-shops are
small iron and brass foundries, which turn out
quite creditable work. One Chinese shop in
particular manufactured a complete set of rice-
milling machinery, including the castings, from
their own patterns and crude hand sketches
taken from existing machinery in a neighbour-
ing mill. It surprises the stranger that so many
articles can be manufactured in these shops, in
many cases without the aid of any plan.
Launches are built and engines are installed,
and from start to finish it is doubtful if a square
foot of paper has been brought to bear on the
work. However, this state of things is gradually
disappearing, and there is a general desire on
the part of the Chinese to bring their shops
more into line with European practice.

The larger shops owned by European com-
panies receive from time to time contracts to
build steel ships and lighters, which have been
constructed at home and sent out in pieces.
Quite a number of these craft have of late years
been turned out, and form a small fleet on the
river. Ships of 3 Jo feet in length can be accom-
modated in the largest public dry dock, and
there are several smaller docks to meet the re-
quirements of smaller craft. Beyond the making
of launch engines and boilers, however, there
is little or no marine engineering, except where
urgent necessary repairs are required.

Shipping in the port has reached such a stage
that Lloyd's Register of British and foreign
shipping have found it necessary to appoint
their own surveyor in Bangkok. This step has
proved most beneficial to the shipping com-
munities, inasmuch as they can now have their
ships surveyed and repairs carried out under
the guidance of the surveyor without the neces-
sity of going to Singapore or Hongkong, which,
previously, were the nearest ports where Lloyd's
surveyors were stationed.

Motor-cars and launches have of late years
inundated Bangkok, and probably there are few
larger or better collections east of Suez.

A HAND RICE MILL.

INTERIOR OF A CHINESE ENGINEERING SHOP.

Garages have been opened in various quarters.
Motors can be repaired, while large stocks of
spare parts are available. Even the bodies of
cars are built, only the metal-work being
supplied from Europe.

The mileage of railways laid over the country,
with their accompanying bridges and other
monuments of engineering skill, would do
credit to any of our own railway systems at
home. Yet there are practically no roads out-

1 38

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

side of Bangkok. Cart tracks exist for a few
miles around the outskirts of the city, but they
soon disappear into jungle tracks, and finally
fade away altogether. In this connection it is
strange that development should take place
in one particular direction with such rapidity,
and attain a proficiency equal to many European
countries, while in other quarters important
issues still remain in almost prehistoric sim-
plicity.

The wealth and resources of Siatn are not
yet half exploited, and undoubtedly a time will
come when Bangkok will be only one of many
manufacturing towns in Siarfi. It is a matter for
regret that there is as yet no technical college
in the city. There are many young men who
are not only capable, but are willing and
anxious to study, who would probably develop

one-half of the tramways, besides being largely
interested in the Siamese Tramway Company,
which controls the Uusit, Hualampong, and
City Wall lines, and, in addition, are responsible
for the equipment and maintenance of a fire
brigade.

To trace the company's growth would be
but to sketch the career of the chairman and
general manager, Mr. Aage Westenholz, who
on account of his energy, powers of organisa-
tion, and financial ability is entitled to a most
worthy tribute. Mr. Aage Westenholz was
born in Denmark in 1859, and educated at
the Polytechnical High School in Copenhagen,
from which institution he graduated as a civil
engineer, and after a few years of European
practice came to Siam in 1886. For some time
lie interested himself in business on his own

the Siam Electricity Company, Ltd., the con-
cern was not in a very flourishing state. Its
present-day value, however, may be gauged
by the fact that its concession from the Siamese
Government extends until 1950.

The first and principal branch of the company's
work is that of electric lighting. By an agree-
ment, dated November 9, 1901, the Government
undertake to consume 50,000 units of current
from the company in each calendar month,
such supply to be entirely for the use of the
Government and not for sale or transfer to
private persons for the purpose of lighting or
working in private houses. The power for
tram-running and for lighting in streets and
buildings is supplied from the central power
station, situated in the middle of the distribut-
ing area. We are indebted to officials of the

REPRESENTATIVES OF BANGKOK ENGINEERING FIRMS.

1. Aage Westenholz. 2
8. R. Balfour Law.

Lieut, w. L. Grut.
y. A. I. Corbett.

3. J. D. Macarthur.
10. W. Sidney Smart.

4. H. Dehlholm. 5. James Mukchie. 6. John M. Dunlop, M.I.X.A. 7. J. S. Smyth.
11. A. Lennox. 12. C. L. Groundwater. 13. H. Hanncke. 14. J. H. Swanson.

into first-class engineers. The establishment
of such a college would prove of immense
benefit to the country, and it only requires the
sympathy and support of an energetic minister
to give effect to the proposal.

THE SIAM ELECTRICITY COMPANY,
LTD.

Many of those duties and responsibilities
usually associated with municipal enterprise
are in Bangkok undertaken by the Siam Elec-
tricity Company — a company of Danish origin,
in which Danish capital is principally employed.
They contract with the Government to water
certain of the streets ; they supply the whole
of the city with electric light, own and operate

account, and constructed a horse tramway
in Bangkok, of which he was appointed
manager. An electrification of the system
followed, but shortly after this Mr. Westen-
holz severed his connection with the com-
pany he had thus far steered in safety,
and once more interested himself in private
civil engineering work until he took over
the management of the then existing Elec-
tric Light Company, in which position he
remained until the amalgamation of this
company with the Tramways Company, from
which stage the concern was known as the
Siam Electricity Company, Ltd. In the war
of 1893 against the French, Mr. Aage Westen-
holz enlisted as a volunteer in the Siamese
Army, and was present at the battle of Paknam.
Previous to his taking over the management of

company for the following particulars and
details of the contents of this huge building.
The engine and boiler room at the power
station are iron-constructed buildings separated
with a heavy brick wall. The floor is concrete,
so the whole construction is made as fireproof
as possible. In the boiler-room are installed
eleven Babcock and Wilcox boilers with a total
h.p. of 2,600. Some of the boilers are adapted
for paddy husk or liquid fuel, and others for
coal or liquid fuel. The husk, which is chiefly
used, is supplied to the boilers by means of a
screw conveyer.

The machinery in the engine-room in-
cludes —

1. For lighting (2,050 volts, single phase,
alternate current, loo complete cycles per
minute) : —

SIAM ELECTRICITY COMPANY, LTD.
I. Arc Light Installation in Dusit Park. 2 . European Staff. ,. the Fire Brigade.

Names of Staff, reading from left.

Standing— Mr. Raae, Mr. Llnd, Mr. O. Gedde, Mr. H. Hansen, Mr. Helvard, Mr. Jensen, Mr. Henriksen.

Silling— Mr. Fhitzbogkr. Mr. Sind, Mr. Diemkr Hansen, Lieit. W. L. Grit (Vice-Manager), Mr. Sommer, Mr. V. Gedde, Mr. Nyegaard.

SIAM ELECTRICITY COMPANY, LTD.
4. and 5. The Power Station'. 6. The Workshop.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

191

Four ioo-kw. generators of Mordey's type,
rope-driven by Brush compound vertical
engines, to which the exciters (65 v.) are con-
nected.

Two 343-kw. Siemens-Halske generators
directly connected to Burmeister & Wain
triple-expansion vertical engines with exciters
placed at end of the main shafts.

One 180-kw. General Electrical Company
(Schenectady) generator, directly connected to
a Belliss & Morcom compound engine, exciter
on main shaft.

One 4-cylinder Burmeister and Wain Diesel
motor, directly connected to a 150-kw. genera-
tor, exciter on main shaft.

One 150-kw. Brown-Boveri motor generator
for the purpose of utilising the tramway-
machinery as a reserve in case of breakdowns
in the lighting plant.

2. For tramways (500-550 volts direct cur-
rent) : —

One 50-kw. short dynamo, belt-driven by
a Ball & Woods horizontal compound engine.

One 135-kw. Siemens-Halske dynamo, belt-
driven by a Ball & Woods horizontal compound
engine.

One 200-kw. Westinghouse dynamo, belt-
driven by a Ball & Woods horizontal compound
engine.

One 200-kw. General Electrical Company
(Schenectady) dynamo, directly connected
to a Ball & Woods horizontal compound
engine.

One 200-kw. Dick, Kerr & Co. dynamo,
directly connected to a Browett, Lindley &
Co.'s compound engine.

One 500-kw. General Electrical Company
(Schenectady) dynamo, driven by a Curtis
vertical steam turbine.

Within a year the company will have to add
considerable units to their machinery both for
lighting and tramways.

The switchboards erected in the engine-room
are made of marble for the 2,050-volt alternate
current and of slate for the 500-volt direct cur-
rent.

The alternating current for light and power
is distributed over the town by twelve different
circuits fitted with automatic switches. There
are ten circuits for tramway power, out of
which six are for the company's own lines.
The whole distributing system consists of over-

Tkamways.

The tramways of the Siam Electricity Com-
pany, Ltd., are of a total length of 11-83 miles,
single line with 46 sidings, divided into the
following sections : —

Bangkolem line ...

... • 5-63 miles

Samsen line

- 537 ,.

Asadang line

••• 0'33 *„

Rachawongs line ...

. ••• 0-50 „

The Bangkolem line runs from a point
opposite the flagstaff at the royal palace
through several minor streets in the city to
Seekak Phya Sri, and thence along the entire
length of New Road, the main artery of Bang-
kok, to Bangkolem Point on the River Menam.
There is a very heavy traffic on this line, about
25,000 passengers being carried 'daily. • It is
extremely difficult to accommodate so many
persons on a single line, but so far the Govern-
ment authorities have not given their consent
to a double line being laid, owing to the
narrowness of the New Road. Trail cars,
however, will soon be put in use and will
relieve the difficulty.

The Samsen line connects the suburbs
Bangkrabu and Samsen with the city, through
which it runs to a point near the Paknam rail-
way station, cutting the Bangkolem line at the
Royal Barracks and Sam Yek.

The Asadang and Rachawongs lines connect
landings on the river with the main lines.
The rails are grooved, 79 lbs. per yard, joined
with substantial fishplates and copper bonded.
The over-head material consists of double hard
drawn copper wire, No. 00, and overhead
feeders. The. system is divided in six feeder
sections with automatic switches.

Excepting ten obsolete cars, most of the cars
are of the General Electricity Company
(Schenectady) make. Up to the present only
single motor-cars of 25-37 h.p. have been used,
but double motor-cars with trail-cars are now
being introduced. The car bodies are of teak-
wood and constructed locally. There is accom-
modation for 126 cars in the company's three
car-sheds, while the workshop has room for
14 more.

The total daily car-mileage on the company's
lines is 5,130, of which 2,617 are run on the

which take place. This result is achieved by
careful inspection and strict rules. The opera-
tors, all of whom are natives, are remarkably
well paid, but heavily fined or dismissed in case
of carelessness.

Fire Brigade.

As the Siam Electricity Company, Ltd.,
enlarged the scope of its operations the idea of
a fire brigade was conceived. It was origin-
ally established as a safeguard for the com-
pany's own property. The brigade then
became a volunteer corps, which undertook to
turn out for all fires irrespective of distance,
and at a later period of its existence an agree-
ment was made with the Siamese Government
whereby the brigade bound itself to turn out to
all and any calls with its water-cars. There
are two observatories for locating outbreaks,
and a special staff of fifteen firemen, but if
necessary watchmen and tram-men are brought
into requisition to cope with any pressure, so
that when the whole force is called out the
brigade musters ninety men. The brigade has
four Merryweather steam pumps, fitted for
transport on tram trucks, and seven hand
pumps. There is, in addition, a staff of cyclists
with hand pumps, and three electric water-cars
equipped for fire outbreaks, which are used at
ordinary times as street-watering cars, the Com-
pany binding themselves to the Government
to place daily "a layer of water 2 mm. thick"
on all the roads where their tramways operate.
The supply of water for this purpose is obtained
from tanks erected by the company near the
various bridges on the line. The tanks are
seven in number, steel constructed, holding 25
tons of water each, and standing on four
screw piles. Under each tank is a " floater "
with centrifugal pump, driven by electric
motor, with a capability of supplying 20 tons
of water per hour.

The company have established a system of
telephones with private call offices for their
own use, and in fire outbreaks these offices
have proved of immense value, and largely
through their agency the fire brigade have
gained the reputation of always being first on
the scene of action. The following table shows
the progress the company have made in their
electric lighting and tramway departments.

.- . .

Light and Power Plaxt.

Tramways.

No. of Lamps and

Output at Station, Units.

Bangkolem.

Samsen.

Motors connected
3 1st December re-
dnced to 16 c.p.

Current sold.

Current for Tram-
ways.

Car Miles run.

Receipts,
Ticals.

Car' Miles run, .

Receipts,
Ticals.

J9°7

42,910

2,503,541

1,020,740

900,929

568,036

764,540

322,90

1906

37,481

2,292,018

864,610

879,324

581,586

630,365

324,870

1905

31,629

1,984,674

740,440

652,067

513,256

475,175

337,155

1904

28,117

1,772,502

710,685

536,802

449,3"

432,443

315,431

1903

25,009

1,751,527

670,403

518,976

404, 5I

433,217

303,013

1902

21,986

1,505,544

631,400

437,378

305,786

422,609

256,054

1901

18,174

1,117,883

Started August.

361,746

275,268

Started Sept.

1900

14,708

978,947

370,812

247,983

I»99

io,953

No exact figure.

326,552

190,057

1898

8,373

Increase in previous

8 years 348 %

6 years 134 %

4 years 37 %

7 years 169 %

7 years 206 %

4 years 49 %

4 years 27 %

Increase last year

'5%

12% _

18%

* 2%

21 %

1 '

head wires fixed on wooden posts. -At the
spot of consumption the alternating current is
transformed to 100 volts. The amount of cur-
rent consumed by customers is r.--asured by
meters at customers' residences. ~ _ com-
pany has at its premises a meter-testing
department fitted with Siemens-Scliuckert's
newest instrument for this purpose.

Bangkolem line. The number of cars in daily
traffic is 48. Great trouble has been taken by
the management to assure exact time and to
avoid delays, with the result that there is now
immediate connection at all junctions. Cars
are run at four-minute intervals on all the
company's lines. A remarkable feature about
the traffic is the small number of accidents

The Board of Directors of the company is
divided into two sections. In Bangkok the
Board is composed of Mr. A. Westenholz,
C. F., Chairman ; A. Jonsen (fleet inspector of
machinery, R.S.N.), Vice-Chairman ; Mr. H.
Dehlholm, C.E. ; Captain T. A. Gottsche,
Chamun Chong Kwa, Dr. E. Reytter, and
Captain H. Schoning (R.S.N. ), while upon the

192

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Copenhagen Committee are Captain T. Grut
(R. D.A.), Chairman ; Mr. O. Benzon, Commo-
dore J. Tuxen (R.D.X.), and Mr. G. Sass.

Mr. Westenholz, who, after a stay of twenty-
three years in Siam, intends to retire from the
direct management of the company, will be
succeeded by Lieut. W. L. Grut, who is at
present its vice-manager. Lieut. Grut was
born in Sweden in 1881, entered the Naval
College in Stockholm, 1896, from which he
graduated with honours in 1902, and was
appointed sub-lieutenant of the royal Swedish
navy the same year. After reaching his full
lieutenancy in 1904, he resigned his commission
temporarily and came out to Bangkok to join
the Siam Electricity Company. During the
greater part of 1906-07 he devoted his time to
the navy, which he had rejoined, and went on
a special mission for his Government to Japan.
He has now, however, retired altogether from
naval service.

Mr. L. Diemer Hansen, chief electrician, and
Mr. V. Gedde, accountant, have both been
attached to the company in their present
capacities since the commencement. The
other heads of departments are — Mr; Sund,
chief engineer ; Mr. Sommer, workshop super-
intendent ; Mr. Fritzboger, electrician .indoor
department ; Mr. Nyegaard, civil engineer.

The Siam Electricity Company, beside their
interest in the Siamese Tramway Company,
Ltd., to which reference has already been
made, also have a share in the control of
the Menam Motor Boat Company, Ltd., and
the Jendarata Rubber Company, Ltd.

THE SIAMESE TRAMWAY COMPANY,
LTD.

The Siamese Tramway Company, Ltd., is
a Siamese enterprise. It owes its existence to
the initiative of H.R.H. Prince Naradhip, who
secured the concession for three tramlines in
Bangkok in the year 1903. Having formed a
Joint Stock Company for the working of the con-
cession, lines were opened on October 1, 1905.
Encouraged by the signal success of the Siam
Electricity Company's tramways, great expec-
tations of the company as a money-making
concern were held by the promoters, and the
shares went up to rather fantastic prices even
before operations were commenced. The
company works under the financial disad-
vantage of a very high Government track rent,
and has therefore so far given the promoters
scanty returns for the capital invested.

In 1907 the majority of shares were bought
up by the Siam Electricity Company, Ltd.,
and the two companies are now under joint
management.

The total length of the Siamese Tramway
Company's lines is 1163 miles, single lines,
with 41 sidings, dividing in following lines : —

Dusit line ...
Hualampong line
City Wall line .

625 miles

375 n
1-63 „

The Dusit line runs from a point near the
River Menam in Samsen district, through
several minor streets, through the Dusit Park
and along the City Wall, passing the Royat
Palace on the riverside to the terminus at Ta
Chang Wang Na.

The Hualampong line runs from a point near
the Paknafn railway station along Sapatoom
road to Seekak Sao Ching Cha, and through
Bantanao road to the terminus at Ta Chang
Wang Na.

The City Wall line is a branch line running
along the City Wall and connecting the two
above-mentioned lines. The rails are grooved,
334 kilogrammes per metre, joined with
substantial fishplates and copper bonded, and
the overhead material consists of double soft
drawn copper wire No. 2/0, with overhead
feeders. The system is divided into 4 feeder

sections. All the cars are of Dick, Kerr & Co.'s
single motor type of 25 h.p., the bodies being
of teak-wood and constructed locally. There
is accommodation for 56 cars in the company's
4 car-sheds. The total daily car-mileage on
the company's lines is 2,819, and the number of
cars in daily traffic is 30.

The company's power station is situated at
Wat Samo Kreng, on the river. There are
two 200-kw. Dick, Kerr & Co.'s 500-volt direct-
current dynamos directly coupled to Browett,
Lindley & Co.'s comp. engine. Steam is
supplied by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers
of 250 h.p. each.

THE MENAM MOTOR BOAT
COMPANY, LTD.

The Menam Motor Boat Company. Ltd., is a
Siamese company started by Mr. Westenholz in
1906 for the purpose of maintaining a passenger
service on the River Menam, which should
work in conjunction with the Siam Electricity
Company's tramways. There are at present
10 motor boats and 2 steam launches running
on three different routes. The company, which
is under the management of Mr. John Brown,
also , operates a tramway in the small town,
Paklat, on the west bank of the river four miles
south of Bangkok.

THE JENDARATA RUBBER COMPANY,
LTD.

The Jendarata Rubber Company, Ltd., was
formed in 1906, with a capital of -£20,000, for
the purpose of developing some 1.800 acres of
land situated in Lower Perak, Federated
Malay States, nine miles south of Teluk Anson.
Some 640 acres are already under cultivation,
and plantingis being proceeded with as quickly
as possible. The manager of the company is
Lieut. -Commander F. Zernichow.

J. D. MACARTHUR & CO., LTD.

This firm is still in its infancy, dating
only from the year 1907, but already it has
established itself on a firm basis and has
carried out a considerable amount of im-
portant work of various kinds in different
parts of the country.

The founder of the enterprise, Mr. J. D.
Macarthur, is a native of Sutherlandshire. After
securing the silver medal for mathematical
knowledge at the Tain Royal Academy, and
several honours, including the Queen's prize
on more than one occasion, at the Glasgow
Technical College, he joined the marine service
in 1892, and remained at sea for six years,
during which period he secured the Extra
First Class Certificate. In 1900 Mr. Macarthur
returned to Scotland, but shortly afterwards
came to Bangkok to assume the charge of the
consulting engineers' business carried on
under the name of Joseph Mackay. In 1901
the partnership of Mr. Mackay and Mr.
Macarthur necessitated the changing of the
name of the firm to that of Messrs. Mackay
& Macarthur. Shortly afterwards it was con-
verted into a limited liability company, but its
title remained unaltered. Mr. Macarthur went
to the Langsuan Tin Mining Company, Ltd., as
resident engineer in 1905, and while on the
property at Langsuan he built a railway of
seven miles from the river to the mines and
also a steel pipe line four milts in length and
36 inches in diameter, for the purpose of
conveying water to the mines from the higher
level of Klong Prau. The laying of this pipe
necessitated the exercise of a considerable
amount of engineering ingenuity and involved
the construction of timber bridges up to a
length of 850 feet. Mr. Macarthur also had

the supervision of all the mining machinery,
but owing to a disagreement with his directors
upon a question of management, he was re-
called, and, disposing of his interest, in the
company of Mackay & Mackay, he started
the firm of Messrs. J. D. Macarthur & Co.,
Ltd., which is working in Bangkok in connec-
tion with the well-known firm of F. C. Mac-
donald & Co., Ltd., of Glasgow. Since their
establishment the firm of J. D. Macarthur & Co.
have erected a sawmill, and have carried
through numerous repairs and alterations in
rice-milling machinery ; the largest boiler in
Siam at the present time was imported by
them. They have also built many steam and
motor launches, and are agents for the
" Kelvin " make, which appears to find special
favour in Bangkok. Mr. Macarthur was re-
cently elected a Vice-President of the Institute
of Marine Engineers, London, of which he is
the Denny Gold Medallist of 1900. He is also
a member of the Institute of Mining and
Mechanical Engineers. Associated with Mr.
J. D. Macarthur are Mr. A. Lennox and Mr.
C. L. Groundwater.

Mr. A. Lennox, R.N.R., M.I.E.S., who came
to Siam in 1905 for the firm of Mackay & Mac-
arthur, is surveyor to Lloyd's Register and to
Lloyd's agents in Bangkok. Previously he
was surveyor to the British Corporation, during
which time he had under his charge the first
eight deep-water turbine -propelled vessels
built in the works of Messrs. Denny & Co.,
Workman, Clark & Co., & Messrs. Parsons.
He also had the task of surveying the ■ Allan
and other steamers built by Workman, Clark
& Co., of Belfast. After severing his connec-
tion with Mackay & Macarthur, Ltd., and prior
to joining Messrs. J. D. Macarthur & Co., Ltd.,
Mr. Lennox was for eighteen months Acting
Government Marine Surveyor, and on the
abolition of that office in September, 1907, the
harbourmaster expressed his high apprecia-
tion of the excellent services rendered by Mr.
Lennox in organising the survey work of the
department on European lines.

Mr. C. L. Groundwater dates his acquaint-
ance with Siam from the time when he arrived
to take Mr. Macarthur's place when Mr.
Macarthur went to Longsuan. He resigned
the management of Messrs. Mackay & Mac-
arthur, however, in February, 1908, to join his
old colleague and predecessor. Mr. Ground-
water is a member of the Institute of Engineers
and Shipbuilders, and before coming to Siam
had been chef draughtsman in the electrical
department, and later assistant- manager, in
the important house of Mather & Piatt, of
Manchester.

HOWARTH ERSKINE, LTD.

There is no engineering firm more widely
known throughout the Far East than Howarth
Erskine, Ltd. Their operations extend from
Calcutta to Shanghai, and their branches or
agencies are to be found in practically every
centre of commercial importance within this
radius. Nor is their branch in Bangkok the
least important of these. When they first
opened business here their premises consisted
of scarcely anything beyond a small shipvvay.
The works were, however, immediately en-
larged ; a steam shipway was built and im-
provements have been effected from time to
time, until now their workshops are of very
considerable size and are all equipped with the
most modern machinery. Some idea of the
extent and importance of their undertakings
may be gained from the fact that they keep
a staff of 600 men, including no less than
23 Europeans, constantly employed. They
estimate for all kinds of engineering work ;
and among their most recent contracts in
Siam are the Panfalia Bridge, Dusit Park
Water Towers of 40,000 gallons capacity, the
building of the Banque de l'lndo-Chine,

J. D. MACARTHUR & CO., LTD.

i. Tun Office? and store. 2. "Iris," 24-n.p. motor Launch, Speed 14 mh.es.

3. Sketch of BabooCX & Wilcox Water-Tire Boiler {4.516 square feet heating surface. 180 lbs. working pressure ; supplied to the Siani Electricity Company, Ltd.
by J. D. Macarthur & Co., Ltd. Much the largest boiler in Siam and one of the largest in the Kast).

I. THE Workshop.

HOWARTH ERSKINE, LTD.
2. The Godown. $. The City Store. 4. View of the Works from the River.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

195

the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and
China, and several of the largest godowns
in Bangkok.

The firm also carry on trade as general
merchants and keep a large stock comprising

gatiuii Department, In addition the firm have

built many launches and erected numerous
rice, sawmill, and ice plants. .

The Siam Engineering Company, Ltd., are
agents for such well-known firms as Tangyes,

themselves to all branches of engineering
work, the Bangkok Dock Company, Ltd., are
certainly one of the busiest. Founded in 1865,
the company have from time to time improved
and extended their premises and plant to meet

J. The Panfalia Bridge.

HOWARTH ERSKINE, LTD.

6. Torpedo Boat, Repaired by Howakth Erskine. Ltd.

every requisite required either for civil or
mechanical engineering.

Every credit is due to the general staff and
the heads of the various departments in view
of the rapid and continued progress the
branch has made since its establishment.
Mr. Murchie, the manager, was born in
Yorkshire in 1865, and for many years was
interested in the hardware and iron trade in
Grosmint, Whitby, Birmingham, and Shrop-
shire. He came to Singapore for Messrs.
J. M. Lyon & Co., in 1891, but when this
firm went into liquidation he joined Howarth
Erskine, Ltd. He has represented them in
Bangkok from almost the commencement of
their operations in Siam, and is now one of
the directors of the business.

THE SIAM ENGINEERING
COMPANY, LTD.

Originally started as Mackay & Macarthur,
this firm, consequent upon one or two changes
in directorship, changed their name in May,
1007. Their interests are centred in work for
the Government departments, and among
their recently finished contracts may be men-
tioned the erection of a lighthouse on Chum-
porn Island, an installation of an electrical
power plant in the king's palace at Bang-pa-
in, and the supervision of the erection of
workshops and machinery for the Royal Irri-

Ltd. ; Babcock & Wilcox ; Glenfield & Ken-
nedy, Ltd., Kilmarnock, and are managers of
the Langsuan mines and the mines belonging
to the Siam Prospecting Company, Ltd., in-
cluding the Koh Sumi wulfram mine, which
is one of the very few mines in which
wulfram is found unaccompanied by any
other mineral.

The manager of the company in Siam is
Mr. Robert Balfour Law, M.I.M.E., who has
had considerable experience, chiefly in mining
engineering, in both Siam and Brazil. He
has carried out many important works at
various periods during his career, including the
notable hydro-electrical installation for the
Seo Bento Gold Estates, Ltd., Minnes-Gearaes,
Brazil, and the erection of machinery and
plant for the Rabin gold mines, Siam. More-
over, Mr. Law was responsible for the erection
of over fifty turbine installations prior to his
departure for the East.

THE BANGKOK DOCK COMPANY, LTD.

Even to a casual visitor engineering appears
as one of the chief industries of Bangkok.
Evidences of engineering activity strike one
on every hand— the rice-mill, the sawmill,
the railways, electric tramways, electric light
station, the water-tower, and the numerous
launches, steam and motor, which ply the river.
Of the many firms who are daily devoting

the growth of business, and they are just now
engaged on further extensive improvements
and additions which will bring the works
thoroughly up to date in every respect.
There are two dry docks of the respective
lengths of 330 feet and 1 10 feet, three slipways,
capable of taking launches and small steamers
up to 60 feet in length, and sheerlegs capable
of raising 25 tons. The machine-shop, foundry,
and boiler-shops are completely equipped and
all work is carried on under European super-
vision. During 1907 the company built no less
than eighteen launches, varying in dimensions
from 75 feet by 13 feet 7 inches, to 25 feet by
5 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 8 inches ; while
forty-five vessels of a total of 19,337 tons
were docked in the large dock, and thirty-
eight vessels of a total of 3,560 tons, in the
small dock. The company were also the
pioneers in deep boring for water in Siam.
The first bore was put down by them
at Prapatom some five years ago, and they
have recently successfully completed a deep
" bore " for potable water for the Grand
Palace, a plentiful supply of excellent water
having been obtained at a depth of 638 feet.
Their activities embrace all kinds of engineer-
ing, civil, mechanical and electrical, and they
have lately opened a large motor garage
under expert supervision, in conjunction with
which department they are now undertaking
the building of motor launches. Among

THE BANGKOK DOCK COMPANY, LTD.
i General View of the Works from the River. 2. The Motor Garage.

3. The Dry Dock.

PROSPECTIVE AND COMPLETED ENGINEERING CONTRACTS BY A. J. CORBETT & CO.

i. Plax of the Men-am Bridge, Royal State Railways. 2. The Engine Sheds of the Royal Siamese State Railways.

3. See Yek Bridge (in course of construction ; 4 spans of 10 metres).

(See p. 198.)

198

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

recently completed contracts which the firm
have undertaken mention may be made of
the Royal Naval Dock — a large dock of
armoured concrete finished in December,
10.06, at a cost of half a million ticals, and
capable of accommodating the largest vessels.
They have also carried out many contracts
on behalf of the royal family, all the Govern-
ment departments, the Meklong Railway
Company, Messrs. Steel Bros., the Hongkong
and Shanghai Hanking Corporation, the
Borneo Company. Ltd., the Bombay Burma
Trading Corporation, Ltd., and the East Asiatic
Company, Ltd.

Among the agencies held by the company
are those for Messrs. Stephenson, Brown & Co.,
Glasgow ; Messrs. Tozer, Kemsley & Fisher,
London ; George Angus & Co., Ltd., of New-
castle ; McAlister & Co., Ltd., of Singapore ;
Ruston, Proctor & Co., Ltd., of Lincoln ;
Gaudy's Belting ; the General Electric Com-
pany (1900), Ltd., London ; Pulsometer pumps,
Siddeley motor-cars, Star motor-cars, &c.

The chairman of the company is Mr. Hamil-
ton Price, and the manager Mr. James S.
Smyth, C.E. , M.I.C.E.

A. J. CORBETT & CO.

Mr. A. J. Corbett, who is in charge of the
interests of the large engineering firm of
Messrs. A. & J. Main, established himself in
Bangkok as a consulting engineer and con-
tractor some short time back. Born in Inver-
ness in 1873, and educated in Scotland, he
served his apprenticeship at the Rose Street
Foundry and Engineering Company, Ltd., in
Inverness. From Inverness he went to Glas-
gow, and joined Messrs. J. & G. Thompson, of
Clydebank, following upon which came a few
years' service in the Ben line of steamers. In
1898 he qualified as a first-class engineer, and
for a year and a half from that date he was
engaged in the drawing office of Messrs.
Hudson & Son, of Glasgow, He left Scotland
again in 1900, and came to Singapore to take
up the position of works manager at the head
office of Howarth Erskine, Ltd. Subsequently
he was transferred to Bangkok as manager of
the company's branch there, but after serving
for two years in this capacity he resigned and
went home for a short spell. On his return to
Singapore he was appointed managing director
of the Straits Engineering Syndicate, but two
years later severed his connection with this
corporation in order that he might open the
business he now conducts in Bangkok.

As the representative of Messrs. A. & J.
Main, he was given the contract for the
supply of material for building a new engine
repair shop for the Royal Siamese State Rail-
ways. The shop, which has five spans, is
354 ft. by 138 ft. 6 in. by 29 ft. 6 in. and
20 ft., and has accommodation for thirty loco-
motives. The shop is fitted with two 10-ton
overhead cranes, transporter and travelling
table, and is built of steel throughout, with
corrugated iron roof and walls of ferro-con-
crete. Ten bridges on the Eastern line, the
largest 40 metres with four spans, have also
been erected by A. J. Corbett & Co. The
firm have in hand at the present time many

other Government contracts, including the
erection of the Menam Bridge, which is of a
total length of 262 metres and has three spans.
The bridge is of the cantilever type, weighing
600 tons, and was built by the Cleveland
Bridge and Engineering Company, Ltd., of
Darlington.

THE TRANSPORT COMPANY
"MOTOR," LTD.

Although their capital is practically all
European, the Transport Company " Motor,"
Ltd., have nevertheless been registered as a
Siamese company since April, 1908. They
conduct an extensive ferry-boat business, and
at the present time have fourteen motor
launches, including inspection boats, and five
steam launches, working on five separate
routes, three of them being under the direct
management of Europeans.

At Wat Liep the company are engaged in
the construction and building of both motor
boats and steam launches, and for this purpose
have laid down two slipways capable of taking
craft up to 60 feet in length. Last year 29
launches up to a maximum length of 52 feet
were built at the works. There is a store-
room well stocked with accessories and im-
plements for which there is likely to be a call,
and any kind of machinery is imported to meet
special demands. The company have also
done a good deal of motor-car repairing, and
are now engaged in erecting a motor garage
with the view of extending their business in
this direction. They are the agents for the
German Daimler and Mercedes motors and
for the German Fafnir Motor Works.

The manager of the Transport Company
"Motor," Ltd., is Mr. H. Hanncke, who came
to Bangkok from Hamburg in 1903, for the
Siam Canals, Land, and Irrigation Company,
Ltd. On the completion of the Irrigation
Company's work he took an active part in
promoting the present company.

CONSULTING ENGINEERS.

Mr. John M. Uunlop, M.I.E.S.S.,
M.I.N. A., who, like so many other members
of his profession in the East, is a Scotchman,
received his technical training in engineering
with Messrs. Jas. Howden & Co., of Glasgow.
After completing his five years' apprenticeship,
he went to Liverpool and entered the marine
service. As a sea-going engineer he visited
many parts of the world. While in Java he
entered the service of the Nederlands Stoom-
vart Mootschappij, with whom he remained
for four and a half years, while between 1881
and 1884 he interested himself in engineering
work in Hongkong and China. Mr. Thos.
Bogardt, who was well known in the Straits
and Borneo trade, secured his services for the
five years to follow, and passing over the
short period during which Mr. Dunlop was
connected with the Blue Funnel Line, his next
appointment of importance was as manager
of Howarth Erskine, Ltd., in Selangor, F.M.S.
Leaving Messrs. Howarth Erskine, he rejoined

the Blue Funnel Line (Alfred Holt 8k Co., of
Liverpool), and was for some time trading
between Singapore and Australia. While still
on that line he was offered the appointment of
manager of the Bangkok Dock Company. Ltd.,
and in 1900 he came to Bangkok to take up
the duties connected with that responsible
post. He remained with the Dock Company
until 1906, when he left for Europe, and on his
return he established a business for himself as
consulting engineer and marine surveyor.
Among Mr. Dunlop's chief works may be
mentioned the installation of the first " septic "
tank in Bangkok, at the Royal Military College,
and the successful introduction into Siam of
artesian well boring by the jet system. He
also conducted the recent negotiations between
the Siamese Government and Messrs. Thorney-
croft, of London, whereby the latter firm were
commissioned to build and deliver at Bangkok
the new Customs cruiser, Suryat Motlthon.
Mr. Dunlop is the agent in Siam for several
well-known firms, such as Messrs. Thorney-
croft & Co., Ltd., George Jennings, Ltd.,
the Atlas Preservatives Company, Blair,
Campbell & McLean, and John Tullis & Son,
Ltd.

Mr. H. Dehlholm was born in Denmark
in 1868, and educated at HorSens. He obtained
his theoretical knowledge of civil engineering
at the Polytechnicum of Copenhagen, and
after passing his final examination in 1894,
was engaged in civil engineering work in
Europe, chiefly in his native country, until 1900.
In this year he came to Bangkok and joined
the Siam Electricity Company, in whose em-
ploy he remained until 1901, when he entered
into partnership with Mr. P. B. C. Kinch, an
engineering contractor. Among the largest
works carried out by Messrs. Kinch & Dehl-
holm was the building of the Meklong
Railway, 67 km. long. On the death of Mr.
Kinch, Mr. Dehlholm became the sole pro-
prietor of the firm, and has since successfully
carried out many important contracts, including
the construction of the Paklat Tramways.
Mr. Dehlholm is a member of the Board of the
Siam Electricity Company, Chairman and
Managing Director of tiie Paknam Railway,
Vice-Chairman of the Jendarata Rubber Com-
pany, and a member of the Board of the
Siamese Tram Company.

Mr. Sidney Smart, who is a native of
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, came
to Bangkok from Hongkong some nineteen
years ago. A mechanical and marine surveyor
by profession, he has, during his stay in Siam,
been prominently associated with the rice-
milling industry, and has erected and equipped
with modern machinery no less than nine
large mills.

Mr. Smart has been at different periods
superintendent-engineer of several local mills,
but his other interests now absorb the greater
part of his time, and at the present day he
only carries out the duties of such a position
at the mill owned by Messrs. Kim Cheng
& Co. Besides being associated with
several public companies, Mr. Smart is chair-
man of the Siam Steam Packet Company, Ltd.,
and one of the managing directors of the
Bangkok Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

RIVERS, ROADS, AND CANALS.

By J. HOMAN VAN DER HEIDE,
Director-General of the Royal Irrigation Department.

HE main

liver

of the

country

is the

Menam

Chow

Phya,

which

gathers

the

waters

of numerous

streams

having

their

sources

in the

hill

regions

covering

the

lorthern

part of

the k

ingdom.

The two main branches of the Menam Chow
Phya into which these various small streams
flow join at Paknampoh, a town some 150 miles
distant from the coast. The western of these
two main branches, the Nam Ping, reaches

Paknampoh after a rapid course through a
narrow valley. The eastern branch, the Nam
Po, first passes through an extensive plain. In
the upper Menam plain the eastern branch
finds plenty of opportunity and leisure for
dividing its waters over various arms, but these
all form again into the one stream before the
Nam Po reaches Paknampoh. Soon after
passing through the ridge which divides the
upper from the lower Menam plain, the
Menam Chow Phya bifurcates into the Menam
Chow Phya proper and the Supan river. The
Supan river empties into the Gulf of Siam
as the Tachin river, without again joining the
Menam Chow Phya. Eastwards of the Menam

KLONG (CANAL) DOAKANONG.

J. HOMAN VAN DER HEIDE.
(Director-General, Royal Irrigation Department.)

Chow Phya there is the Bangpakong river,
and westward the Meklong river, which at
present both empty into the Gulf independently
from the Menam Chow Phya. It is quite evident,
however, that in former periods the waters of
these rivers joined the Menam Chow Phya,
and assisted to build up the lower Menam
plain.

Soon after the north-west monsoon, has set
in and the rains have started, usually in May,
the water in the river commences to rise.
The rise continues for some time after the
cessation of the monsoon rain, and generally
the rivers reach their highest level in
November. From thence thev begin to fall
again, slowly at first, but more rapidly as
time goes on, until in April they reach their
lowest point. In the lower plain the rise is
very regular, only occasionally being inter-
rupted by a slight fall, in consequenceof periods
of scanty rainfall up-country. In the upper

200

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

plain the regular rise is more frequently
interrupted, while the various tributaries in the
hill regions show, of course, the usual irregu-
larities of mountain streams.

In the upper Menam plain, some time before
the end of the rainy season , the level of the river
usually commences to rise above the ground
level, and as a consequence a great part of the
upper plain is flooded annually by some ten
or fifteen feet of water. The plain is turned
once again into a large basin, and serves as a
reminiscence of the great lake which it must
have been in an earlier geological period.
The filling and emptying' of this enormous
basin contributes greatly to the regularity of
the rise and fall of the river in the lower plain.
At the end of the rainy season a great part of
the lower Menam plain also becomes flooded,
partly by rain water which cannot be drained
off in consequence of the high level of the
rivers, and partly by the overflow of the rivers
themselves. The banks of the rivers, by the
deposit of silt during the annual floods, have
usually been raised to the height of ordinary
flood level. But at some distance from the
banks the field level is generally from three to
six feet lower than the elevated ridges along
the river banks, and as there are many natural
and artificial gaps in the ridges, the river water,
of course, has free scope to flood these lower
lying fields. This flooding of the lower
Menam plain lasts from a couple of weeks to
two or three months, according to the locality
and the elevation. The prospects of the rice
crop —i.e., the prosperity of the country — greatly
depend upon this flooding, for in October,
when usually the rains cease, the rice crop still
needs watering at least for one or two months
more, and if at that time the flood has not yet
come or does not last long enough, as repeatedly
occurs, a great part of the crop is spoiled.

and its tributaries. Before joining the Mekong
river, the Nam Mun has to pierce the hill range
over a distance of about twenty miles by a
series of rapids. Only the outside slopes of the
surrounding hill ranges drain off directly into
the Mekong river. In the wet season the Nam

floods are a usual occurrence, while in the dry
season the rivers are reduced to mere trickles
of water.

Up to the present day the rivers form the
principal means of communication in the
country. In the wet season they are navigable

A MODERN CANAL IN BANGKOK.

KLONG KUT MAI.

The Bangpahong and the Meklong rivers
have a similar but not quite so regular
regime as the Menam Chow Phya. The
hydrographical conditions of the eastern pro-
vinces are governed by the fact that nearly the
whole plateau, which is a flat basin surrounded
by hill ranges, drains off into the Nam Mun

Mun cannot properly drain off the country, so
that a great part of it is turned into a swamp,
while in the dry season the rivers run nearly
or quite dry.

The rivers in the Siamese part of the Malay
Peninsula bear the character of mountain
streams. In the rainy season sudden high

for many miles northward, but in the dry
season they are navigable only in the plains.

Caxai.s.

In addition to the rivers a regular network of
canals serve not only for communication
purposes, but also contribute largely to the
rapid spread of the inundation of the country
during flood-time, while when the waters in
the rivers go down they act as drainage
channels. The canals are of comparatively
recent date. It is probable that none of
them were in existence a century ago. The
principal canals are those in the southern
part of the lower Menam plain, which connect
the Menam Chow Phya with the Bangpakong
river to the east, and with the Supan river and
the Meklong to the west.

In some cases these canals are straight
channels, immediately connecting one river
with the other. But more often the canals are
a continuation of existing natural channels
which were running more or less in the
direction desired. All the old canals were dug
by corvee labour, partly under the direct
orders of the Government, partly by their
powerful nobles through their numerous
retainers. A recent enterprise, however, on a
very grand scale and shaped on modern lines,
having for its object the development of the
country by a system of canals, may be separately
mentioned.

In 1889 the Government granted a conces-
sion, for a period of twenty-five years, for
digging canals in the jungles between the
Menam Chow Phya and the Nakorn Nayok
river, to the north of the canal San Sep, to a
private company, the Siam Canals Land and
Irrigation Company, under stipulation that all
the uncultivated lands of the region crossed by
the canals to be excavated, to a certain distance
at both sides thereof, should belong to the
company. The company has constructed by

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

201

machinery a system of navigation and inunda-
tion canals, to a total length of about 500 miles,
embracing an area of land of about 400,000
acres. The main canal, Klong Rangsit, con-
nects the Menam Chow Phya with the Nakorn
Nayok river, and is at both ends closed by
locks, which retain the water in the territory of
the company. Since 1895 nearly the whole of
this area of 400,000 acres, which was formerly
uncultivated jungle, has gradually been con-
verted into valuable paddy-lands, which, with
regard to inundation possibilities, are better
placed than most other parts of lower Siam.

One of the most notable reforms carried
through by his present Majesty has been the
abolition of corvee labour ; but while such a
measure was most urgently desired, there can
be no doubt regarding the detrimental influence
it had, in the first instance, upon the upkeep of
the canals. They had been hitherto con-
structed and maintained by corvee labour, and
when this was no longer obtainable they
quickly fell into disrepair. This circumstance
and the heavy losses of crop which repeatedly
occurred in the fairly frequent years of scanty
rainfall, however, have now led the Govern-
ment seriously to take the upkeep of the canals
in hand, and have caused thein also, at the
same time, to establish an irrigation service for
the purpose of drawing up an irrigation and
drainage scheme for the lower Menam plain.

between ebb and flood level of about six feet.
In the dry season this difference affects the
rivers up to about sixty miles, measured in a
straight line from the coast, and as the rivers,
so also are the canals affected. Most of the
canals serve to inter-connect the main rivers,
and in consequence at high tide the water
enters these canals at both ends where they
join the tidal rivers. The two currents meet
in the middle part of the canal, and as the
water is nearly stagnant, the silt which it
carries is deposited here. Consequently the
middle parts silt up quickly and run dry at low
tide. The navigation locks are intended to
keep the level at a certain desired height, so
that boat traffic can continue without interrup-
tion at any time of the day. They will also
serve to prevent the tidal currents in the canals
and to keep the brackish water out as far as
fresh water is obtainable.

In connection with this improvement scheme
twelve navigation locks and six inlet and out-
let sluices have been constructed, and other
works are to be taken up. The expenses of
the upkeep and management of these works
are covered by the collection of lock fees.

Irrigation.

As regards irrigation, the first thing to be
stated is that regular irrigation does not

north-west monsoon rains are largely inter-
cepted by the Tenasserim hill ranges, so that
the average rainfall in Siam is only about fifty
inches, against about one hundred inches on the
Burmese side of the hill ranges. Years of
scanty rainfall are fairly frequent. Nor is the
inundation always reliable. Sometimes it does
not last long enough ; sometimes it lasts too
long.

But while, as is evident, there is great scope
for irrigation and drainage works in Siam,
especially as the main river has very regular
and reliable discharges of great value, up to
the present no such work has actually been
commenced.

The principal scheme under investigation
contemplates the construction of an adequate
irrigation system for the greater part of the
lower Menam plain. For this purpose a weir
across the Menam Chow Phya near to the
town of Chainat and inlet sluices have been
planned, by which the water of the Menam is
intended to be drawn into one new main canal,
which has to be excavated, and two existing
channels, which have to be improved in order
to spread the water over the plain.

Roads.

In the hill regions, where there are no
navigable waterways, of course transport by

A NAVIGATION LOCK AT FATUA. DRAINAGE SLUICE WITH STONE GATE, BANGHEA.

A NAVIGATION LOCK AT BAN NOK-KWEK.

The scheme, works for which were started in
1904, purports to dredge out the canals con-
cerned to a depth of five feet below low-water
level, and to build a certain number of naviga-
tion locks in order to be able to retain the
water in the canals at a certain desired level.

In the Gulf of Siam there is a difference

exist in Siam, except for some tracts of land of
limited extent in the narrow valleys in the
north and in some parts of the peninsula.

The rice-fields in the plains depend, for then-
supply of water, upon rainfall, and after the
cessation of the rains upon the inundation.
Rainfall is not very abundant in Siam. The

land is the only possibility, and elephant and
cart tracks have consequently come into exist-
ence. These, however, are of a most primitive
character, and the difficulties to be encountered
in establishing ready means of communication
have greatly hampered the development of
these districts. Nor are roads possible in the

202

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

/r.„, .y CutuUi

PLAN OF CANALS IN SIAM.

Hooded plains. Their construction would prove
too expensive under the prevailing primitive

conditions. Transport by land in the plains is
only possible in the dry season, chiefly by

buffalo sledge or cart. These devices are used
for cross-country transport generally, whether
roads or regular tracts are in existence or not.
It is, however, of course, evident that such
means of transport are not suitable for goods
in bulk, the conveyance of which must be con-
lined almost entirely to the rivers and canal-.
The majority of the people in the country have
their residences alongside or near to the water-
courses, and the number of boats passing
through the most frequented canals in several
localities exceeds 600, and in some cases [,200
a day.

Mr. J. Homan van der Heide, who lias

been the Director-General of the Royal Irriga-
tion Department for the last five years, was
born at Groningen, Holland, in [866. After
receiving a good general education in his native
town, he began to specialise for the engineering
profession. From 1886 to 1892 he studied at
the Lingen Polytechnical School, Germany, and
subsequently qualified as a civil engineer at
Delft, Holland. Shortly afterwards he was
appointed to the Netherlands India Water-
staat, and in course of time was promoted third,
second, and first engineer. In 1902 he was
lent to the Siamese Government in order that
he might investigate the best methods for
irrigating and draining the Lower Menam
Valley, and for the' purpose of organising the
Government irrigation service. He has
published books and many papers on this
subject.

RAILWAYS.

THE railways in Siam naturally classify
themselves under two headings, viz., pri-
vately owned lines and the Royal Siamese State
Railways. The private lines, although valuable
and of great utility to the country through which
they pass, may be disposed of in a few words.
There are in reality only two deserving the
name, although a third, which runs from a
place called Tharua, about 100 kilometres from
Bangkok on the State line to the north to
Phrabat, is very busy during the season of the
annual pilgrimage to the footprint of Buddha
at that place. It is, however, but a miniature
railway, albeit that it has proved a fair specu-
lation.

The Paknam Railway Company, the oldest
concern of its kind in Siam, owns the little line,
13 kilometres in length, which connects Bang-
kok with Paknam, the thriving and prosperous
village at the mouth of the Menam river. A
concession for a period of twenty years was
granted to the company in 1X90. The work of
construction was commenced immediately, and
in 1893 the line was formally opened to traffic.
From the outset it was a great success, and has
always paid handsome dividends to its share-
holders. Four trains are run each way daily.

In 1902 another private company was formed
to connect Bangkok with Tachin, an important
fishing village some 34 kilometres to the west
of Bangkok. The king granted this company
a concession on liberal terms, but before the
line was opened another company was formed
to connect Tachin with Meklong, still further
to the west. The two companies have since
amalgamated, and are now known as the Mek-
long Railway Company, Ltd. The Bangkok-
Tachin line was opened by H.R. H. the Crown
Prince in 1904. The entire line from Bangkok
to Meklong is 69 kilometres in length ; it passes
through an extremely fertile district, and is
paying well.

LINE NEAR PRAPATOM.

Shortly after the concession of the Paknam
railway had been granted the Government

resolved to open up the country by means of a
system of State railways, and have been vigor-
ously pursuing this policy ever since, I'p till
March, 1904, the whole of the capital required

for the purpose was provided out of current
revenue, the actual expenditure from that source
having aggregated over thirty-one million ticals
in the course of thirteen years. From the year
1904 05 onwards the expenditure on construc-
tion has been charged to loan. The first

BANGKOK STATION.
RAILWAY YARD, BANGKOK.

PETCHABURI STATION.
THE KING'S PRIVATE STATION AT SAMSEN.

204

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF STAM

loan, raised at the beginning of 1905, was one
of £1,000,000, the whole of which sum has
been spent. A second loan of £3,000,000 was
raised two years later, but a considerable por-
tion of this amount is still in the possession of
the Government. The railway traffic receipts
are expected to bring in over four million ticals
during the year 1908-09, as against an estimated
expenditure of just under two millions ; while
a further evidence of the profitable nature of

line, 63 kms. In addition there are about 100
kilometres of privately owned lines, bringing
the total length of railways in Siam up to 877
kilometres approximately.

The object of the northern State line is to
connect Bangkok with Chiengmai and the rich
northern districts of Siam, but it is not expected
that this consummation will be realised for
another five or six years. The northern and
eastern lines are of the broad gauge, as used

ON THE WAY TO KORAT.

the undertaking is shown by the fact that the
nett return upon capital has risen from a little
over 2j per cent, in 1901-02 to about 5| per
cent, in 1906-07.

The length of the lines of the Siamese State
railways at present open to traffic amounts to
777 kilometres (483 miles) — northern line, with
branch to Korat, 563 kms. ; Petchaburi, or
western line, 151 kms. ; Patriew, or eastern

nearly throughout Europe ; the line to the
west of the Menam Chao Phya river, which
will, it is anticipated, sooner or later, be ex-
tended through the Malay Peninsula, is of the
metre gauge..

The first important part of the State railways
to be completed was that between Bangkok
and Korat, an agricultural and commercial
centre, some 264 kilometres to the east of the

capital. The work of construction was for
some years in the hands of a British firm of
contractors, but was afterwards taken over by
the Royal Railway Department. On March 25,
1897, the first section of the line, Bangkok to
Ayuthia, was opened for traffic by the king,
and some seven months afterwards a daily
service of trains for goods and passengers was
established as far as Gengkoi, which is half-
way to Korat. Finally, in November, 1900,
eight years after the first turf had been cut
by his Majesty, the whole of the line to Korat
was formally opened. The main northern
line from Bangkok blanches off from the
eastern line to Korat at Ban Phaji, which is
91 kilometres from the capital. From thence
it goes to Lopburi, one of the ancient capitals
of Siam, and an extremely interesting place to
visit. The section to Lopburi was opened in
1901, since when the line has been still further
extended through Paknampho and Ooteradit
for a distance of some 200 kilometres.

Work on the south-western line, running
from Bangkok westward, via Xakonchaisi to
the Meklong river and then south through
Katburi to Petchaburi, was commenced in 1899.
The line was opened by his Majesty the king
in April, 1903. Since its inauguration surveys
have been made along the east coast of the
peninsula as far . as Singora, an important
coastal port, which is but a few hours' journey
from Butterworth, which again is separated
only by a narrow strait from Pinang. So far
no details have been made public with regard
to the proposed construction of a line extend-
ing to this distance, but it is semi-officially
stated that such a line will be completed within
the next decade.

Early in 1908 the first section of the eastern
branch of the State railways, which extends
from Bangkok to Patriew, the centre of an
important agricultural and mining district,
some 65 kilometres to the south-east of the
capital, was declared open by the king. This
line will later on be pushed southward to
Sriracha and Chantabun on the east coast
of Siam.

Generally speaking, travelling on the Siamese
railways is quite comfortable. All the trains
have first, second, and third-class accommo-
dation, and all the principal railway stations
have refreshment-rooms, where meals, served
in European fashion, may be obtained. Acci-
dents on the line are extremely rare, the most
serious on record being a collision between an
elephant and a goods train in June, 1908. The
engine was derailed, and five persons and the
elephant were killed.

POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS.

IN spite of peculiar difficulties, such as are
to be met with in few other countries, the
postal and telegraph services of Siam have
made great strides during recent years, and a
high state of efficiency has been reached. The
Postal Department was founded in 1881, and
two years later was amalgamated with the
Telegraph Department. Ever since the two
services have been run as one department,
under a Commissioner of Posts and Telegraphs,
and now the telephone service has also been
placed under the same control. Siam was
admitted into the Postal Union in 1885, and has
since that date enjoyed equal privileges with
other countries which have subscribed to the
Convention.

There are now 112 post-offices and 67 tele-
graph offices in Siam, even the most remote
districts having their own postal facilities. The
difficulties of transport, in the absence of roads,
railways, and other rapid means of communica-
tion — the postmen travelling for the most part
by water in native boats — place some of these
districts at an even greater distance from the
capital, as regards the time occupied by the
mails in transit, than some of the nearer
European countries ; but with the gradual
opening up of the country great improvements
are continually being effected, and in a few
years' time, when the railway to Chiengmai, the
capital of Northern Siam, has been completed,
still greater improvements will naturally follow.

The Post Office grants a subsidy to steamers
which maintain a postal service on the Gulf of
Siam, and also to steam launches which run up
the rivers to the interior.

Bangkok and other towns are provided with
letter-boxes for the collection of mails, 265
having already been erected. The postal
authorities undertake the delivery of letters by
means of postmen, though many people prefer
to have their own private boxes at the post
offices. The inland letters handled during 1907
reached a total of 3,395,862 ; 1,832,956 letters
were received from abroad, and 970,831 were
despatched abroad. Registered letters inland
numbered 262,000 ; foreign letters received
reached a total of 58,812 ; and foreign letters

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•200

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

THE POST OFFICE.

despatched numbered 41,190. Inland parcels
during the same period numbered 42,287 ; while
2,379 were sent abroad. Money orders to the
number of 2,999, for a total sum of 1,230,563

francs, were issued on offices in Siam during
the year ; while on foreign offices 1,161 money
orders of the value of 39,624 francs were
issued.

Siam is in telegraphic communication with
foreign countries through Moulmein, Pinang,
and Saigon. The construction of the lines in-
volved enormous difficulties, the routes lying in
some instances through almost unknown jungle,
while in one district no water is to be met with
for the space of a five days' journey. The
maintenance of the lines is also rendered some-
what difficult, as elephants frequently knock
over the poles, against which they delight to
rub themselves, while the ravages of insect
pests, the encroachments of vegetation, and the
damage caused by thunderstorms are all factors
tending to hasten their deterioration. Thetotal
length of the lines already constructed is 11,355
kilometres. The telegrams received during
1907 numbered 145,759 ancl those despatched
123,253-

The telephone system, which has at the pre-
sent time about 1,262 subscribers, is being
brought thoroughly up to date. By its means
Bangkok is linked to several of the more
important towns.

The Posts and Telegraphs Department cost
during 1907 a sum of 622,673 francs, while the
receipts only reached 582,653 francs. The
reason for the excess of expenditure over
revenue is to be found in the heavy cost of
transport in a country where a relatively
small population is ' scattered over a wide
area.

The department is under the control of Mr.
T. Collmann, Director-General, who is assisted
by Mr. G. Wolf, the Acting Deputy, and Mr.
R. Gotte. These officials are all employees of
the German Postal Administration, and their
services are lent to Siam by the German
Government.

THE POST OFFICE STAFF.

ECCLESIASTICAL

BUDDHISM.

By O. FRANKFURTER, Ph.D.,
Chief Librarian ok the National Library, Bangkok.

]HILST the religion of
State in Siam is Budd-
hism and the kings
hold as one of their
proudest titles that of
" Supporter of the
r<\ V^\ \t» ra Faith," all religious
L3^^8g^§>^.<^J creeds are not only
tolerated, but enjoy
absolute freedom of worship in Siam. The
kings bestowed on the different religious
communities, such as those professing Moham-
medanism, Hinduism, and Christianity, land on
which to build their places of worship, they
received donations in money for their festivals,
and none of the followers of the creeds are
labouring under any disadvantage or prevented
from occupying secular office under the
administration. We find therefore from old
times all creeds peacefully established side by
side in Siam, in which country they often took
refuge from religious persecutions in other
countries, and in the treaties made between
Siam and foreign Powers the maxim of
absolute religious equality was repeated.

Judging from archaeological objects found in
the neighbourhood of Nakhon Chaisi, such as
clay tablets showing some phases of the life of
the Buddha, inscriptions in a character closely
akin to the South Indian one, coins, and
amulets, it seems a well-established fact that
the first form of Buddhism which reached Siam
came from India direct, and that it was similar
to that now prevailing in Thibet, China, and
Japan. The date of the first introduction may
be fixed between the fifth and sixth century
of our era. It is that of the now so-called
Northern School.

It may, however, be well to state that a
fundamental difference in the doctrine does not
exist between the Pali and Sanskrit canon, as
MSS. which have lately been discovered in
Chinese Turkestan, written in Brahmi char-
acters, show that the Sanskrit canon, of which it
contains large fragments, is identical as regards
the doctrine with that of the Southern School.
Buddhism, however, as professed at the
present time, is based on the Pali canon of
the so-called Southern School. The sacred

books are those contained in the Tipitaka, as
we find also in Ceylon, Burma, and Cambodia.
It came to Siam from Ceylon in the eleventh
century, and in the version which was fixed in
the council held in the Buddhist era 1587 (1044)
by the King Parakkamabahu, in Ceylon. The
MSS. in which the canon is written in Siam
are in the Cambodian characters, and also in

MSS. have been collected and-collated, and
councils have been held for the rehearsing of
the text. Thus the Chiengmai Annals relate
that in the Buddhist era 2020 (a.i>. 1477), in the
reign of King Sri Dharma Cakrvati Tiloka
Raja, a council was convoked by the king in
Chiengmai, at which over one hundred priests
were present, whose duty it was to collate the

TEMPLE OF THE FOOTPRINT OF BUDDHA AT KHOW PHBABATR.

characters which have a close resemblance to
those of Burma. They are, of course, only
modifications of an Indian alphabet. The
sacred MSS. are written on palm-leaves with
a stylus.

Buddhism, as professed in Siam, carries 011
the tradition of India, and it has been the aim
of the kings and princes governing in Siam
to keep the tradition intact. With this view

text of the Tipitaka. The high priest Phra
Dharmadinabhava presided at the council, and
it finished its labours within one year. The
king under whose reign it was held was styled
the " Supporter of the Faith," and the council
was considered the eighth, counting from the
first one held at Rajagiha, after the death of
the Buddha. History does not relate any
united effort after that time to preserve the

i. The Wat (ok Temple).

WAT POH.

2. The Soi.es oh the Feet oe the Sleeping Buddha, on which are inscribed the Bl-ddhist Laws.
3. The Courtyard. 4. The Sleeping Buddha (145 feet long).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

209

WAT PHRA KEO.

(Within the walls of the Grand Palace.)

text of the canon pure, and although texts were
copied, many faults crept into them. In 1757
wars ensued with the Burmans, and in 1767
Ayuthia was destroyed, and after the inter-
regnum of Khun Hluang Tak a new dynasty
came to the throne. In these wars temples
had been destroyed and the sacred writings
scattered about and lost ; of the priests whose
duty it was to preserve them many had
died, and the Tipitaka may be considered to
have been lost. In the reign of Khun Hluang
Tak, 1768-1782, who established the capital at
Dhanaburi (Bangkok, on the west bank of the
river), little was done for the purity of the
doctrine, although the king ordered the
Tipitaka, of which a copy had been got from
Nakhon Sri Dharmaraj, to be copied and
preserved. As the king, during the last years
of his reign, claimed by virtue of his kingly
office functions, prerogatives, and command
over the priesthood which were not based
either on the doctrine or custom, this led
necessarily to controversies and dissensions.
He became demented and was deposed.

In 1782 the king known as Phra Buddah
Yot Fa, the first of the dynasty now reigning
in Siam, came to the throne, and in 1788 he
and his brother convened a council of the high
priests for the purpose of rehearsing the Tipi-
taka. The priests in being convoked replied to
the wish expressed by saying that, although they
had not the wisdom of the former priests, they
would endeavour to fulfil the king's wishes for
the greater glory of the religion. The arch-
priest of the realm then convened 218 priests,
including the high priests of the realm, and
twelve lay scholars. They assembled for the
first time in the temple in which the archpriest
presided, the Nibhanarama (now called the
Wat Mahadhatu). Four commissions were

PHRA CHBDI (PAGODA), KLANG NAM.

appointed, and the redaction of the Sutta,
Vinaya, and Abhidharmapitaka, as well as the

miscellaneous writings, was finished in five
months. The text which was the outcome of

210

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

these labours was written on palm-leaves in
Cambodian characters, and was deposited in
the Mandiradharma hall, in Wat Phra Keo,

known, also present a modification of an
Indian alphabet. The edition contains the
whole text of the Tipitaka with the exception

CHIEF ENTRANCE TO WAT PHRA KEO.

built expressly for that purpose, and there the
original copy is kept at the present time,
known under the name of " Thong Yai." Of
the kings who followed, more special mention
must be made of Phra Nang Klao, who, through
the building of temples in his reign, may be
said to have revived the art of sacred architec-
ture. Of King Mongkut (1851-68) we shall
have occasion to speak in connection with the
development of Buddhism in modern times.

The tenth council may be said to have taken
place during the present reign. The king
decided to print and distribute, in commemora-
tion of the completion of a reign of twenty-five
years (1893), a full edition of the Tipitaka.
Again a meeting of the archpriests was con-
vened whose duty it was to prepare critically
the text. The text was constituted after a
comparison with the best MSS. available in
Cambodia, Burma, and Ceylon, and also with
some of the printed editions as published in
Europe. Recourse in doubtful cases was made
to the commentaries and the various readings
were added. The text constitutes the cditio
princcps of the Tipitaka. It is printed in the
common Siamese characters, which lend them-
selves well to that purpose, as they, as is

of the Jataka, the text of which has not yet been
published in full. These birth stories are well
known and held in high esteem in Siam, and
often form the subject of sermons. They may,
however, be said only to be considered sacred
on account of the moral precepts they inculcate,
whilst the stories are looked upon as apologues.
The religion of the Buddha is one and the
same in the countries which take as a basis
the Southern Canon, and that, as professed in
Siam, has kept singularly free from esoteric
and outside influence. There are, properly
' speaking, no sects. The king, as " Supporter
of the Faith," stands at the head of the Church,
and appointments to the hierarchical order are
made by him. The titles bestowed on the
ecclesiastical dignitaries designate the office
which the incumbents occupy in the Church,
and the names given are to a great extent those
we find in the history of the Buddhist Church.
Whilst the capital was in Ayuthia two con-
gregations of priests were distinguished by
name — the Gamavasi, those living in temples,
and the Araniiavasi, those living in secluded
places or in the forest, as was already the case
in primitive Buddhism. The former were
primarily engaged in the acquisition of literary

knowledge, whilst the latter tried to acquire
spiritual insight, but in the doctrine they pro-
fess there is, of course, no difference. They
formed together the Mahanikaya, the great
Fraternity. The Gamavasi were formed into
two congregations, those of the North and
South, with an archpriest for each, and it may
be well to explain that the expression Northern
and Southern congregation is perhaps to be
understood not so much in a geographical
sense as showing the two original forms of
Buddhism prevalent in Siam, that of the
Northern and Southern schools. To the Aranii-
avasi, who were under a separate archpriest as
the middle congregation, were added the con-
gregations of Mon and Laos. When the
capital was established in Bangkok the same
hierarchical order was practically followed,
but in the reign of Phra Nang Klao (1824-51)
a new division of priests was created by the
Prince Chao Fa Mongkut (the King Phra Chom
Klao), who, as is known, remained in the priest-
hood during the whole, reign of his half-brother
Phra Nang Klao, until he himself was called to
the throne. He laid, whilst in the priesthood,
the foundation of the Dharmayutika school.
This was officially recognised when he came
to the throne, and an archpriest was appointed
at its head. It is only, however, in a very
restricted sense that the Dharmayutika can be
called a separate school. The aim of the king
in founding it was to bring the practice of
Buddhism back to its pristine purity, to con-
form to the rules laid down for the guidance of
the priesthood in the Tipitaka, to free it from
extraneous matter. With the doctrine itself he
interfered in no way, full scope was allowed to
research, and whilst in going back to the
original source the school may be considered
orthodox, it was, in fact, more liberal. We find
thus, at the present time, the following con-
gregations in Siam : the Northern and
Southern and the Aranfiavasi forming the
Mahanikaya, the Dharmayutika school, and
further the Mon, the Annamese and Chinese
congregations. The Mon congregation follows
absolutely the Pali Canon, whilst the Chinese
and Annamese congregation follow the
Northern Canon. For the worldly affairs of
the temples a layman is now appointed who
has to give an account of all financial matters
to the Ministry of Public Worship, on whom,
also, the priests and temples are dependent for
all disciplinary affairs, with the exception, of
course, of those affecting the doctrine.

Primitive Buddhism necessarily knew of no
fixed residences for the priests, of no temples
and places of worship. The duty of the
brethren was to wander about to proclaim the
doctrine to the people, and to instruct them ;
they only looked for shelter against the in-
clemency of the weather in the rainy season,
and it is thus that later on the custom was
established for the priests that they must retire
in the rainy season. The more Buddhism
developed the more the want of buildings for
shelter was felt, and in all countries where
Buddhism was professed the building of temples
and the casting and reproducing of images of
the Buddha, and of his disciples and of episodes
of the life of the founder, were considered
meritorious acts. In Siam itself temples were
erected by the kings to commemorate their
reigns, and also by nobles and people.

The first and most sacred building in the
temple grounds is the Uposatha building. In
it the congregation meets, and in it all ecclesi-
astical votes and resolutions are taken. It is
in this building that the Patimokha is rehearsed
on sacred days, on the new and full moon,
and where the ordination service of priests
and the Kathin ceremony, the bestowal of
garments on the priests, take place. The
building is surrounded by semas (boundary
marks), and outside these no ceremony is
possible. The next building of importance,
and without which no temple is complete, is

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

211

the Dhamma-sala, in which the priests assemble
and propound the doctrine to their followers.
The Vihara is the place to which the priests
may retire. In it are found the statues of the
Buddha, and sometimes the one from which
the temple takes its name. It may be used
when there is a large concourse of people in
the same way as the Dhamma-sala. To the
cloisters, with which the temples are sur-
rounded, the priests retire for meditation, and
in them, in many cases, the images of Buddha
are kept. In the temple grounds we find the
buildings designated in European writings,
variously, as pagodas and dagobas — i.e., cetiya,
shrines where relics of the Buddha are kept, or
which are erected to his memory, or to the
memory of a deceased person. The tapering
form is the Chedi, whilst the obtuse form is
called the Phra Prang, both, of course, having
their origin in the Stupa (skr stupa), the bell-
shaped shrine.

The images found in temples all present a
phase of the life of the Buddha or of the
Bodhisat. Of the images kept in temples the
pradhana is the presiding one, from which the
temple often takes its name. They cannot be
considered as objects of worship to which the
followers of Buddha pray for the attainment of
a wish, but these images are placed in temples
and private houses with a view of keeping the
followers of the Buddha mindful of the merits
of the " Blessed one," " the Holy one," " the
fully enlightened one," and thus gladdening
and delighting their hearts.

The images found remain the property of the
community, and when Wat Pho at Bangkok
was restored in the reign of Phra Buddha Yot
Fa after the destruction of Ayuthia, the images
found in the abandoned temples of the old
capitals were placed in the halls of the temple,
where they are kept at the present day. More-
over, the old criminal law of Siam visited with
severe punishment every profanation or theft
committed in the temple grounds.

The temples erected in modern times by
royal and noble families and by the people
are built with a view that they should form a
memorial of their family, a place where their
ashes may be buried, where their memory will
be kept, and where, in providing for the priests,
they also provide for the spiritual welfare of the
people.

Famous, of course, is the Wat Phra Keo,
which contains the Emerald Buddha, and
which may be considered the temple of the
present dynasty, for, commenced in the first
reign, all succeeding kings have contributed to
its embellishment. Famous also, as showing
the purest style of Siamese architecture, free
from all tawdriness, is the temple Pancarna
Pavite, erected by the present king.

The dedication of temples, the erection of
Chetis, the casting of statues of the Buddha
and putting them in their appointed places,
have formed since olden times occasions for
festivities and rejoicings. It is only by a formal
dedication that the ground, the buildings, and
all found in the temple grounds are consecrated
to the priesthood. We find, in the history of
Siam, frequent allusions to such dedications,
and the tradition is kept up at the present day.
In such dedication festivals great numbers of
people assemble to take part in or to witness
the processions, the fireworks, and the theatri-
cals which form a necessary complement
thereto. Frequently such dedications are re-
corded in inscriptions, which, however, are
seldom properly dated.

The annual visitation of the king to the
temples to distribute cloths and garments to
the priests (the Kathin ceremony) at the end of
the rainy season (October-November) is one
which has been maintained since olden times.
It is known that in primitive Buddhism the
members of the community had to seek their
clothing themselves ; it is, therefore, a meri-
torious act to provide them with such. In

books written on Siam by the early travellers
frequent reference is made to this ceremony,
from which it would appear that it was the oniy
one in which the king showed himself to the
people. These annual visitations now take place
by water and land, and the king is followed by
the princes and nobles. In the most important
cases the king is carried by men on a litter,
dressed in full royal robes, and by water the
state barges are used. In the pictures of the old
capital the king is seen visiting the temples by
land on an elephant. In visiting the temple
the king bestows on the priestly community
white cloth from which to make the dresses,
whilst to the high priests and to others he
wants particularly to honour he gives indi-
vidually the ready-made cloth- for a priest. As
it is the desire of the king to bestow such gifts
on as many temples as possible, he deputes
princes and nobles to perform the ceremony in
his name and with his gifts.

It is considered part of the education of a
Siamese to spend some time in the priesthood
after he has reached his twenty-first year. The
ceremony of the initiation takes place by the

hood, but whilst in it he has strictly to conform
to ali rules laid down. The priests were for-
merly exclusively in charge of primary educa-
tion ; the children were given over to the priests
to be taught, and it is thus that few alphabets
exist in Siam. The boy may become a nen
(Samanera) after the age of seven years, and
he is from that time onward supposed to follow
some of the rules laid down for the priesthood,
such as refraining from eating after mid-day
until daybreak, &c. Of course, new laws are
laid down for the education of youth, but still
it is only with the -help of the priests that the
new development could have taken place, and
this is one of their great claims to gratitude,
which is fully acknowledged. Some of the
priests also are physicians of the people.
Siamese medical lore,. which is based on that
of ancient India, is studied in the priesthood,
and as the priests are called in to attend the
numerous domestic ceremonies, such as at
marriage, at hair-cutting, at death, and during
illness, they naturally become the spiritual
guides of the people. Naturally, therefore, the
priesthood is held in high esteem, and the

BUDDHIST PRIESTS.

Kammavaca, an ecclesiastical vote, and the can-
didate has to answer the questions as laid down
in the Vinaya. There is no restriction placed on
a priest as to the length of his stay in the priest-

people are willing to supply them with all their
needs.

We have already stated that the form of
Buddhism as practised in Siam is that of early

212

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Buddhism. No foreign elements have crept
into it, and it remains, therefore, to show how
the two principal tenets of Buddhism — that of
universal love (" metta ") and of " kamma," the
outcome of one's deeds, the virtuous life — are
understood. In the following conversation
which King Mongkut had with Mrs. Leonowens,
the English governess at the Siamese court,
which is recorded in her book, the king took an
opportunity of explaining, in a concrete case,
how "metta " as understood by the Buddhists
was the " charity " of which St. Paul speaks.

" ' Do you understand the word " charity " or
" maitri," as your Apostle St. Paul explains it in
the thirteenth chapter of his first Epistle to the
Corinthians ? ' said his Majesty to me one
morning, when he had been discussing the
religion of Sakyamuni, the Buddha.

" ' I believe I do, your Majesty,' was my
reply.

" ' Then tell me, what does St. Paul really
mean, to what custom does he allude, when he
says, " Even if I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" ?'

" ' Custom ! ' said I. ' I do not know of any
custom. The giving of the body to be burned
is by him esteemed the highest act of devotion,
the purest sacrifice man can make for man.'

" ' You have said well. It is the highest act of
devotion that can be made, or performed, by
man for man, — that giving of his body to be
burned. But if it is done from a spirit of
opposition, for the sake of fame, or popular
applause, or for any other such motive, is it still
to be regarded as the highest act of sacrifice ? '

" ' That is just what St. Paul means : the
motive consecrates the deed.'

" ' But all men are not fortified with the self-
control which should fit them to be great

exemplars ; and of the many who have
appeared in that character, if strict inquiry

PRINCE VAJIRANANA JINOROS.

were made, their virtue would be found to
proceed from any other than the true and pure

spirit. Sometimes it is indolence, sometimes
restlessness, sometimes vanity impatient for
its gratification and rushing to assume
the part of humility for the purpose of self-
delusion.

" ' Now,' said the king, taking several of his
long strides in the vestibule of his library, and
declaiming with his habitual emphasis, 'St. Paul
in this chapter evidently and strongly applies
the Buddhist word " maitri," and explains it
through the Buddhist custom of giving the
body to be burned, which was practised cen-
turies before the Christian era, and is found
unchanged in parts of China, Ceylon, and
Siam to this day. The giving of the body to
be burned has ever been considered by devout
Buddhists the most exalted act of self-abne-
gation.

" ' To give all one's goods to feed the poor is
common in this country with princes and
people, who often keep back nothing to
provide for themselves a handful of rice. But
then they stand in no fear of starvation, for
death by hunger is unknown where Buddhism
is preached and practised.

" ' I know a man, of royal parentage, and once
possessed of untold riches. In his youth he
felt such pity for the poor, the old, the sick, and
such as were troubled and sorrowful that he
became melancholy, and after spending several
years in the continual relief of the needy and
helpless, he, in a moment, gave all his goods—
in a word, all — to feed the poor. This man has
never heard of St. Paul or his writings, but he
knows and tries to comprehend in its fulness
the Buddhist word " maitri."

" ' At thirty he became a priest. For five years
he had toiled as a gardener ; for that was the
occupation he preferred, because in the pursuit

WAT RAJABOPITR.
THE ENTRANCE.

ANOTHER VIEW OF WAT RAJABOPITR.

WAT THONG KAM, PAKLAT.
WAT SUTHAT.
WAT THEPSUEINDR.

WAT SAKBT (POO KAU TAWNG).

WAT CHENG FROM THE LAND.

214

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

of it he acquired much useful knowledge of the
medicinal properties of plants, and so became
a ready physician to those who could not pay
for their healing. But he could not rest content
with so imperfect a life while the way to perfect
knowledge of excellence, truth, and charity
remained open to him, so he became a priest.

" ' This happened sixty-five years ago. Now
he is ninety-five years old, and, I fear, has not
yet found the truth and excellence he has been
in search of so long. But I know no greater
man than he. He is great in the Christian
sense — loving, pitiful, forbearing, pure.

" ' Once when he was a gardener he was
robbed of his few poor tools by one whom he
had befriended in many ways. Some time
after that the king met him, and inquired of
his necessities. He said he needed tools for
his gardening. A great abundance of such
implements was sent to him, and immediately
he shared them with his neighbours, taking
care to send the most and best to the man who
had robbed him.

" ' Of the little that remained to him, he gave
freely to all who lacked. Not his own, but
another's wants, were his sole argument in
asking or bestowing. Now he is great in the
Buddhist sense also — not loving life nor fearing
death, desiring nothing the world can give,
beyond the peace of a beatified spirit. This
man — who is now the High Priest of Siam —
would, without so much as a thought of shrink-
ing, give his body, alive or dead, to be burned,
if so he might obtain one glimpse of eternal
truth or save one soul from death or sorrow,' "

The question of life and death and the out-
come of our actions is treated in a sermon
which H.K.H. Prince Vajiranana preached on
the death of Prince Sirivarhsa, the son of
H.R.H. Prince Bhanurangsi, the younger
brother of the king. As it explains fully the
Buddhist notions regarding our duties in this
respect, it may be taken as an exposition of the
doctrine on this question :—

"As relatives and friends, well-wishers, shall
rejoice to welcome one of themselves who had

left them for a long time and returned from
abroad with safety, so Virtue in the same wise
shall welcome the virtuous who have passed
away from this world to the other, as kinsmen
receive kinsmen who are dear to them. Virtue,
verily, is no other than the unselfish determina-
tion for the advancement and the welfare of
others, having as its foundation the purest of all
motives. Purity of heart and action, they say,
is the shadow that will always follow you and
serve you in this world as well as in the world to
come, for all other things must be left at Death's
door. Mortal life, indeed, resembles the flame
that depends on fuel and combustion, and in
the absence of accidents, remains burning.
There is no indication or guarantee as to how
long it will last, and when the day arrives no
one is able to sustain it. For " whatever has
an origin has also an end." Therefore it
behoves you all to cherish that love of virtue,
so that it will be to you a consolation in your
last hour and a harbour of refuge in your future
destiny."

♦

-KT-V-.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

r lHHK Roman Catholic Mission of Siam may
I be regarded as the cradle of the French
Congregation of Koreign Missions ; for as early
as 1662 the first Vicar-Apostolic, Mgr.de Lamotte
Lambert, Bishop of Berythe, landed with six

*9W

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JmMBBkJS Iftk

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RIGHT REV. J. L. VEY.
(Bishop of Gerasen and Vicar-Apostolic of Siam.)

missionaries at Ayuthia, the ancient capital of
the kingdom. Under the beneficent rule of
Somdet Phra Narai, then King of Siam, the
Gospel was allowed to spread, and many
stations were established. At Ayuthia, which
remained the principal station and the ren-
dezvous for bishops and missionaries, several
churches were built, besides a bishop's resi-
dence, two seminaries, and other ecclesiastical
buildings. The largest of the churches, dedi-
cated to St. Joseph, was erected chiefly by the

munificence of King Phra Narai, and was
remarkable for its magnificent dome and
graceful towers. The king further granted
the mission a site, at a place called Maha
Phram, distant about half a mile from the
city, upon which to build a college for the
teaching of arts and sciences ; and in 1673 a
general hospital was founded, also at the
king's instance, and committed entirely to the
supervision of the Catholic missionaries. On
April 29th of the following year the Church of
the Immaculate Conception was opened at
Bangkok, whilst a new station was established
at Pitsanulok. The good Bishop de Lamotte
Lambert laid down his burden in 1679, after
fifteen years' unremitting labour, and was
succeeded by Mons. Louis Lanneau, a scholarly
man, familiar with Siamese and other Oriental
languages. He was the author of many in-
structive works in Siamese and the compiler
of a Siamese grammar and dictionary. The
revolt which broke out in 1688 checked the
work of the Mission for a time, but under
Bishop de Cice — who succeeded Bishop Lan-
neau on the latter's death in 1697 — and
subsequent bishops, fair progress was made,
and the number of Catholics increased to
nearly 15,000.

During the invasion of Siam by the King
of Ava (Burma), in 1767, Ayuthia fell into
the hands of the enemy after violent assaults,
on the nights of the 7th and 8th of April. The
Christians had in former attacks shown great
bravery, and had been publicly congratulated
and rewarded by the king himself ; but on
the final destruction of the city their valour
availed nothing, and they were slain, dispersed,
or made captives in common with their un-
fortunate fellow-countrymen.

The fall of the capital was followed by a
period of anarchy, which prevailed until Phya
Tak, the courageous governor of one of the
northern provinces, took to heart the wrongs
done to his country, and set himself resolutely
to rid Siam of her enemies. Success attended
his efforts, and in two or three years peace was
restored in the land. He settled in Bangkok
(Thonaburi), and ruled the country for many
years. He raised no objection to the attempts
made to gather the dispersed flock of the
Catholics, and when Bishop le Bon and Father

Corre arrived they obtained the royal grant of
the land actually occupied by the Sta. Cruz
Church, on September 14, 1769, and on March
22, 1772, secured land upon which to build the
Calvary Church, both churches being fittingly

REV. E. A. COLOMBET.

(Pro-Vicar-Apostolic, Assumption Church.)

named, in view of the hard circumstances in
which the Catholics then found themselves.

Bishop le Bon died in 1785, and was suc-
ceeded by Bishop Gamault, who, taking
advantage of the calm then enjoyed by the
remnant of the flock of Ayuthia, refounded
the clerical college of the Mission, and erected
the Church of the Assumption. This church,
after standing for upwards of a century, has
recently been pulled down, and as soon as

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

216

funds allow will be replaced by a more
adequate edifice, the foundations for which
have already been laid. Bishop Florens suc-
ceeded Bishop Garnault, who died on March 4,
1811, but as a result of the French revolution
the labourers in the field at this period were
few, and the Catholic mission could make
little progress. A new impetus was given to
the work, however, by the arrival of the
Rev. Fathers Pallegoix and Deschavanes.
Father Pallegoix took charge of the Church
at Ayuthia, and erected a chapel upon the
site of the old church which had been de-
stroyed by the Burmese in 1767. He then
directed his steps to the north, and laboured
amongst the Laos for some years. In 1833
Bishop Florens died, and Bishop Courvezy
was appointed his successor.

In the following year the Siamese fleet,
returning victorious from a warlike expedition
in Cochin China, brought back with them
much booty and a large number of captives.
Among the captives were nearly two thousand
Christian Annamites, to whom Phra Chao
Prasat Thong, then King of Siam, showed great
mercy, and granted to the Catholic Mission for
their settlement a large area of land at Samsen.
Upon this site was afterwards erected the
Church of St. Francis Xavier.

By 1838 the work of the Mission had so
greatly increased that it was found necessary
to erect the Malay States, which up till that
time had been part of the Vicariate of Siam,
into a separate vicariate, and on June 3rd
Father Pallegoix was made Bishop of Siam,
and Father Courvezy became the first Bishop of
the Malay States. Bishop Pallegoix devoted
himself to improving the existing stations, and
to supplying them with doctrinal and other
works. He had an intimate knowledge of the
Siamese language, and his grammar and dic-
tionary are still in use ; while his history of the
Kingdom of Siam remains a standard work of
reference regarding the period which it covers.
He died in 1850, and was succeeded by Bishop
Dupont, who, being well versed in the customs
and language of the Chinese, was able to
devote special care and attention to the
interests of the Chinese stations then but
recently opened in Petrui, Banplasoi, Nakhon
Haisi, and Ban nok khuck (Monthon Ratburi).
Bishop Dupont died in December, 1872, and
had as successor Bishop J. L. Vey, the present
Vicar-Apostolic of Siam.

Bishop Vey found Siam in a state of trans-
formation, thanks to the impetus given to all
forms of progress by King Chulalongkorn I.,
who had ascended the throne some eight years
previously. Western ideals had been set up, and
everywhere departments were being multiplied
and improved, commercial relations facilitated
and increased, laws framed and administered
according to international usages, posts and
telegraphs introduced, and railway lines
opened between the capital and far-distant
parts of the kingdom. The bishop at once
realised that it was incumbent upon him to
foster the growing aspirations of the people,
and he therefore devoted himself to the im-
provement of the existing means of education,
and to the establishment of new primary
schools in those districts which did not possess
any educational facilities. In these schools
native teachers, under the supervision of the
reverend fathers of the Mission, gave elemen-
tary instruction in various subjects ; but as the
years went by the need arose for a more
extended curriculum, and in February, 1885,
Bishop Vey founded the Assumption College at
Bangkok, and later a convent school for girls,
both of which institutions are conducted by
masters and mistresses who have been trained
in Europe. For the benefit of the illiterate
classes, upon whom he ever sought to impress
a sense of the desirability of steady occupation,
as being both remunerative to themselves and

conducive to the general prosperity of the
country, he acquired three large areas of land
upon which men might learn to till the soil.
Derelicts and sufferers also claimed his sym-
pathy, and at all the principal stations he
founded orphanages, hospitals, and shelters.
In Bangkok he established the General Hospital
of St. Louis, the benefit of which institution
to the general public it would be difficult to
over-estimate.

The members of the Roman Catholic Church
in Siam at the present day number no less
than 23,000. The work of the Mission is
conducted by a bishop, 55 missionaries
(European and native), and 58 catechists
and teachers for Primary Schools, while the
various agencies through which they reach the
people include — 1 Clerical College, with 78
students ; 49 Primary Schools, attended by
3,077 children ; 1 College for Sciences and

ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL.

The general work of the Mission increased so
rapidly owing to the continual accession of
converts, that at last, notwithstanding the
fact that he was more favoured than his pre-
decessors in the number of his fellow-labourers,
Bishop Vey found himself unable to fulfil ade-
quately the demands made upon him, or to visit
the far-distant stations in the Lao district with
the frequency necessary to their encouragement.
Accordingly his late Holiness Pope Leo XIII.
permitted the erection of the Lao district into
a separate vicariate. The division was formally
accomplished on September 3, 1899, Bishop
Cuaz being appointed the first Vicar-Apostolic.

Arts, with 600 students ; 1 convent boarding-
school for young ladies, with 120 students,
conducted by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres ;
2 convent day schools, with 127 students, con-
ducted by the same Sisters ; 16 orphanages ;
4 dispensaries and hospitals for natives ;
1 General Hospital for Europeans and natives ;
50 churches or chapels ; 1 printing press.

Two religious institutes are represented in
the vicariate — one by the brothers of St. Gabriel,
conducting the Assumption College, and the
other one by the Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres,
conducting the schools for girls and the
Hospital of St. Louis.

216

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

THE PROTESTANT CHURCH.

By Rev. HENRY J. HILLYARD, M.A., LL.D.,
Chaplain of Christ Church, Bangkok.

AT Sophaburi, a city founded about A.D. 600,
the ruins of the palace of Phaulcon (the
Greek minister) still exist, and there are the re-
mains also of a Christian church founded by
him, in which, some of the traditions say, he was
put to death. Sir John Bowring, who came
from Hongkong in 1855 on a special mission
to draw up the first British treaty with Siam,
discovered over the canopy of the altar the
words Jesus Hominuttt Salvator ("Jesus,
Saviour of men "), and upon the altar itself was
an image of Buddha. Thus we see that the
Christian religion was introduced into Siam in
the seventh century, but as far as the Protestant
Church is concerned we find no traces of it
before the beginning of the nineteenth century.
In an old book published in Bangkok in 1849
we read that the first effort for the conversion
of the Siamese was made by Mrs. Ann Hassel-
tine Judson, whose husband was a missionary
in Rangoon, Burma. There were a great
many Siamese there, and she, becoming
interested in them, applied herself to the study
of the language and then translated a tract,
a catechism, and the Gospel of St. Matthew
into Siamese. The catechism, published in
1819, was the first Christian book ever printed
in Siamese. The Rev. Karl Gutzlaff, M.D., was
the first Protestant missionary who called
public attention to Siam. He spent three years
in the country, arriving in August, 1828,
with the Rev. Joseph Tomlin. These were the
first Protestant missionaries to set foot on
Siamese soil. They resided in Bangkok, and
were allowed by the king to work amongst
the Chinese. Strange to say, their best friend
and the one from whom they received the
greatest kindness was a Roman Catholic, the

later when the Jesuits sought their expulsion.
Dr. Gutzlaff opened a dispensary, where he
healed the sick and did missionary work at the

and they charged the missionaries with being
spies, who intended to incite the Chinese
to rebellion. The king, thinking the books

CHRIST CHURCH.

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Portuguese Consul, Seignior Carlos de Silveira,
who furnished them with a house on the
Government property, and even protected them

same time. He and Mr. Tomlin distributed
twenty-five boxes of books in about two months ;
hut this raised the suspicions of the natives,

were the main cause of alarm, ordered speci-
mens to be translated, but finding nothing
harmful, the missionaries were permitted to
remain ; they then began translating the
Scriptures, and appealed to the American
Churches, and to Dr. Judson in Burma,
for missionaries for Siam. The next year
Dr. Gutzlaff went to Singapore to have part of
the Gospels printed in Siamese characters.
He married there a Miss Newell, of the London
Missionary Society, who, returning to Bangkok
with her husband, was the first woman
to undertake missionary work in Siam. She
helped her husband in the work of translating
the Scriptures into Siamese ; but her health
gave way, and the following year she and
her baby were put to rest in " God's acre."
During Dr. Gutzlaff's three years in Siam he,
in conjunction with Mr. Tomlin, translated the
whole Bible into Siamese, a considerable
portion of it into the Laosian and Cambo-
dian languages, and also prepared a dictionary
and grammar of Siamese and Cambodian.

Dr. David Abeel, who arrived in Bangkok in
183 1, was the first American missionary in
Siam. He met with a great deal of opposition
— the king forbidding him to distribute the
books of which he had brought a large supply,
saying that " if it was his object to change
religions, he was welcome to do it in other
countries, but not in his," At the same time
there was no personal persecution. Such
an attitude is in very great contrast to that
adopted by the late King Maha Mongkut, who
never interfered with the distribution of books
nor with the teachings of the Protestants,
but expressed an opinion that " it is as- likely

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

217

that the Buddhists will convert the Christians
as the Christians the Buddhists." Such an
attitude also contrasts strangely with the broad-
minded toleration and support of his present
Majesty, King Chulalongkorn, who in 1904
gave free a valuable piece of ground to erect
a new church and chaplaincy for the Church
of England chaplain, and allowed the com-
mittee to sell the old site and appropriate
the price obtained for it. In 1833 the Rev.
John Taylor Jones, D.D., of the American
Baptist Board, came to Bangkok from Burma
to labour among the Siamese. He took charge
of the little flock which Dr. Abeel had been
obliged to leave, and in December of that year
he baptized three Chinamen — Dr. Gutzlaff had
previously baptized one convert — which was
the firstfruit of missionary enterprise in Siam.
After fourteen years of conscientious and
faithful work, Dr. Jones died, and his body
rests in the Protestant cemetery in Bangkok.
Amongst the many missionaries in Siam the
name of the Rev. D. B. Bradley, M.D., of the
American Baptist Committee of Foreign
Missions, stands most prominent. He came to
Bangkok in 1835 and laboured in Siam for thirty-
eight years. He held daily religious services
at his dispensary, met with many persecutions,
worked under the most heart-breaking circum-
stances, and yet persevered. He was the first
to practise surgery in Siam. He also intro-
duced vaccination into the country. He
opened hospitals for the gratuitous treat-
ment of all who came to him to be healed.
He published an annual calendar. He pre-
pared a Siamese and English Grammar. His
magnum opus was a solid dictionary of
English and Siamese, which cost him years
of toil ; and his translation of the Scriptures,
his Bible histories, hymnbooks, and tracts
are known and used all over the kingdom
of Siam. Truly, as Dr. William Dean said
in mcmoriam of him, " His life and death
were a legacy richer than a kingdom." After
some time the Baptist Mission left off working
in Siam, as they found new friends, and so
to-day the work of Christianising Siam in
accordance with Protestant principles is left
to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presby-
terian Church of America — with the exception
of Canon William Greenstock, late Church of
England chaplain, who is now a missionary
under the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel in Foreign Parts. The American
Presbyterian Church began its work by send-
ing out the Rev. W. P. Buell and his wife
in 1840. At first the missionaries met with
opposition, as the Siamese were jealous of their
"merit-making." Fortunately, when things
were becoming unbearable the king died, and
Maha Mongkut ascended the throne. He
invited the missionaries to the palace and
assured them of his protection. In 1851 the
missionary ladies were allowed to enter the
palace and teach the women of the harem,
and have been allowed to do so ever since.
From that time to the present the missionaries
have enjoyed the protection and favour of the

reigning kings, and there is absolute toleration
of every Christian belief in Siam to-day.

I should be encroaching too much on the
liberty, and I should like to say the opportu-
nity, vouchsafed me were I to chronologically
narrate the praiseworthy, the self-denying, and
Christ-like work the American Presbyterian
Mission has been doing up to the present time.
But I must mention the work of the moment
that they are engaged in. The Siamese
Mission, which has its headquarters in Bang-
kok, has stations at Nakawn, Sri Tamarat,
Pitsanuloke, Petchaburi, and Rajaburi. These
stations have medical missionaries and also
secular schools. In Bangkok there is a hand-
some mission church, the money to build
which was contributed by Siamese. The

REV. DR. HILLYARD, M.A., LL.D.
(Chaplain, Christ Church.)

Christian High School for Boys is doing
splendid work under the Rev. W. McClure
and Mrs. McClure. The staff consists of five
missionaries and seven native teachers and
the scholars number 240. There is a mission
church and a girls' school at Wang Lang, the
latter being under the control of Miss Edna
Cole. Last year 12,000 copies of the Gospels
were printed in the Siamese language at the
Presbyterian Mission Press, which is under the
management of the Rev. J. B. Dunlap, and em-
ploys seventeen printers and a foreman. The
American Presbyterians have also a mission
in the North of Siam, called the Laos Mission,
the headquarters being at Chiengmai, with
branch stations at Nan and Keng Tung. There
are schools and medical missionaries at those

stations, and recently a mission to the lepers
has been opened. The American Bible Society
is represented by Rev. J. Carrington, M.A., who
has spent thirty-nine years in Siam. He is doing
a magnificent work of colportage in Bangkok
and the neighbouring towns.

Until the year 1864 the Protestants in Bang-
kok had to assemble for Divine service in one
of the houses of the American missionaries.
A meeting was held at the British Consulate
in 1863, and a memorial was drawn up solicit-
ing the King of Siam to grant a piece of land
for the erection of a Protestant church. The
king at once graciously gave the fee simple
of a convenient site on the river bank. The
British residents then collected ^300, and the
Foreign Office granted £400 on the under-
standing that the care and management of
the church should be vested in the British
Legation. The church was built in 1864, and
was known as the Protestant Union Chapel.
No regular chaplain was appointed, conse-
quently the services were conducted by one
of the American missionaries. In the year
1894 it was decided that in future the service
should be in accordance with the rites of the
Church of England, and that a permanent
chaplain should be appointed. Accordingly
the same year Canon Wm. Greenstock, M.A.,
was appointed chaplain. With the exception
of the Rev. Mr. Green, who was tutor to the late
Crown Prince, and who officiated for some
time in the Union Chapel, Canon Greenstock
was the first Episcopal clergyman who entered
Siam. On February 16, 1896^ the Right Rev.
George Hose, D.D., Bishop of Singapore, came
to Bangkok at the request of Canon Green-
stock, and held a confirmation. Canon Green-
stock resigned in 1901, when he became a
missionary in Bangkok under the Society for
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign
Parts — an appointment which he still holds.
His successor was the Rev. W. H. Robins, who
resigned the following year. In 1903 the Rev.
H. De Blakeney was appointed chaplain, but
by this time the Church of England community
had increased so much since the Union Chapel
was built, that it was decided to build a larger
church. The king was again asked for the
ground, which he willingly gave, and further,
he allowed the committee to sell the old site.
The money thus obtained helped to a large
extent to defray the expense of building the
present church, which was opened for service
on Sunday, April 30, 1905, under the name of
Christ Church. When the church was being
built it was decided to build a chaplaincy
beside it, which was accordingly done. The
church contains a Willis two-manual organ,
and is fitted with electric light. There is a
surpliced choir, and the services are fully
choral. Neither of the churches was con-
secrated, as they are not under the jurisdiction
of any bishop, but it is now proposed that
Siam should be placed under the See of
Singapore. The Rev. H. Blakeney resigned
last year (1907), when the present chaplain
was appointed.

THE SIAMESE LANGUAGE

By B. O. CARTWRIGHT, B.A. (Cantab.).

Exhibitioner, King's College, Cambridge ; English Tutor to the School of the Royal Pages,

Bangkok, Siam.

Author of "An Elementary Handbook of the Siamese Language," " A Siamese-English Dictionary," and various

other Educational Works in Siamese.

HE Siamese language, as
spoken at the present
day, is by no means a
homogeneous tongue.
In the main, its closest
affinities are with
Chinese, from which
sources, most probably,
the bulk of the root-
words of the language have been either
derived or taken over without much alteration.
This may specially be noticed in the case of
such fundamental ideas as those of number as
shown by the numerals or in the names of
many common animals. To this foundation
is added a large proportion of words of Indian
origin derived or taken directly from the Pali
and Sanskrit languages, or modified by transi-
tion through the Cambodian tongue, and it
is to the early spread of Brahminism and
Buddhism from India that the occurrence of
these elements is most probably due.

Added to these two main elements of the
language are many words derived or taken
directly from the vernaculars of the neighbour-
ing nations, especially from Malay. It is a
curious fact that in Siamese there appears to
be hardly any trace of Burmese influence,
although Burma in the past was the hereditary
foe of Siam, and the two races came into
frequent conflict with one another. There are,
however, a very few words of Peguan or Mon
derivation. There are as well a certain
number of words incorporated into Siamese
from various European languages, of which
English has supplied the majority. The
occurrence of such borrowed words is trace-
able to commercial intercourse and to the prone-
ness of the Siamese to use the term in use in
a foreign tongue for some previously unknown
object, rather than to coin an equivalent term
from words of their own languages. In some
cases new words have been coined, but it
usually happens that the original term survives,
or some popular corruption of it. Very often,
too, the application of a word becomes entirely

changed. Perhaps the most curious of these
instances are shown by the fate that has over-
taken the two English words " scarlet " and
" gentleman.'' These two words have been
corrupted by the Siamese into " sa'ka'hit " and
" yentela'man " respectively.

The first of these words in the Siamese
version means " woollen cloth of any descrip-
tion," and has come to have this meaning
attached to it from the fact that the first
variety of woollen fabric with which the
Siamese were acquainted was the scarlet
flannel of commerce ! The second word, that
much abused English term " gentleman," has
been transformed into an adjective, " yentela'-
man " meaning smart, well-dressed, chic, and
thus in Siamese a lady may be quite " yentela'-
man " !

Excluding the various loan-words taken from
other languages, Siamese words are practically
monosyllabic, and possess no grammatical
inflections of any kind whatsoever. Such a
language must of necessity be very limited in
the number of syllabic forms, and hence new
elements must be introduced to extend the
number of word-symbols.

This extension of the vocabulary has been
effected in two ways, and it is for these reasons,
coupled with the fact of the absence of gram-
matical inflections, that Siamese may claim to
rank as one of the most difficult of the languages
spoken at the present day.

Comparing Siamese with other languages,
the first thing that must strike an observer is
the fact that Siamese belongs to the family of
" toned " languages ; that is to say, a given
syllable may be uttered in more than one
intonation of the voice.

These different intonations have nothing to
do with the differences in the length of a vowel
sound, as, forexample, in the two English words
that are both spelled "minute," neither are
they comparable with the varying sounds of
certain consonants in English words that have
a similar orthography.

In Siamese there are five of these different
intonations — that is to say, the ordinary tone of
the voice and four special tones. A set of
common Siamese words may be taken as an
example. There are five words which, if
218

rendered into Roman characters, might be
represented by the syllable " song."

In Siamese if the above syllable be pro-
nounced in the ordinary tone of voice it will
mean " envelope." If the pitch of the voice be
gradually raised during the utterance of the
syllable, the meaning will be •'two." Again,
if the voice be pitched high, the idea conveyed
will be " tumult," but if, on the other hand, the
voice be sharply dropped, the meaning will be
" a place of concealment." Still again, should
the syllable be pronounced with a deeper pitch
of the voice than the ordinary, the word that
will be understood will be " to shine." The
above is in reality a very simple case, but the
matter is further complicated by the fact that
there are several vowels and consonants which
are pronounced very nearly alike ; in fact, an
untrained ear can at first hardly make a dis-
tinction between them. The most complicated
case, however, occurs with the syllable which
may be represented approximately by " khao" or
" kao." This syllable has no less than fifteen
different meanings and twelve different pro
nunciations. The meanings are, irrespective
of the further modifications induced by com-
bination with other words, as follows :
glue, step, to scratch, old, nine, musty odour,
news, white, knee, rise, to enter, he, she, they,
hill, and horn ! Thus it may be seen that it is
possible to construct a sentence that consists
of the same syllable with the various intona-
tions. Hence many highly amusing blunders
and " things that should have been said other-
wise " are very often perpetrated by persons
who have not taken the proverb " A little
knowledge is a dangerous thing" to heart.
People who imagine that intonation may for
practical purposes be disregarded labour under
a grave error, as the following little anecdote
will show : A new arrival was overheard
giving as he thought some every-day orders to
his servant. He prided himself on his know-
ledge of Siamese, and his speech certainly was
fluent. The servants appeared at a loss, how-
ever, to be able to carry out their instructions,
which were as follows : —

" Call me a two-dog carriage and put the
tiger in the table. Tell the cook to prepare
curried diamonds for tiffin, and see that he

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

219

boils the glue in a little doctor. Be sure that
the maker of parts does not forget to repair the
leak with young ladies and to pass along the
medicine for the ants " !

What he really meant to say was : —

" Call me a two-horse carriage and put the
clothes in the cupboard. Tell the cook to
prepare curried duck for tiffin, and see that he
boils the rice in an iron pot. Be sure that the
gardener does not forget to repair the fence
with posts and to cut all the grass."

Besides the characteristic feature of tone
differences, on which the meanings of so many
common words depend, another point of interest
arises from many very curious (to the European
mind) ways of expressing certain ideas by
the simple juxtaposition of two at first sight
very unlikely elements. For example, the
word " po " (pronounced as the English
word "paw") means "father," and the word
" khrua " means " kitchen " ; but it would not
at first sight, perhaps, be quite clear what the
signification of the two words," po khrua" (father
[of the] kitchen), might be. The meaning, how-
ever, is " cook." Similarly we have the words " luk
child pun gun," so with perfect propriety can a
cartridge or bullet (" luk pirn ") be called " the son
of a gun " in Siamese. Occasionally the order
of the component parts of a compound expres-
sion will effect an alteration of meaning ; thus,
the separate words " di " (good) " chai " (heart)
in composition, " di chai " — happy ; " chadi" —
good-natured. The next point of interest in
the Siamese language is the use of a curious
series of particles used with nouns to indicate
the number of articles in question apart from
numerals. This is one of the arguments that
may be adduced to show the common origin of
the Siamese and Chinese idiom. In "pigeon
English " it is well known that the word
" piecee" must be inserted with a noun ; thus,
" one piecee man, three piecee hat." Siamese
possesses a great number of these particles here
rendered as "piecee"; but each of these
particles is used with reference to some special
class of objects, and a ludicrous effect is given
by applying a wrong particle to any given
object. In fact, there are cases in which a
particle may completely change the meaning
of a noun.

In the usages of the personal pronoun the
Siamese language is very different from Euro-
pean tongues. For all three persons there are
many different forms of the pronouns " I,"
" you," " he," &c, the use of which varies with
the respective ranks of the person speaking, the
person spoken to, the person spoken about.
For instance, a servant addressing his master
speaks of himself as "la hair " — i.e., some-
thing very insignificant ; a man in addressing
a prince says, " I " (under) " the sole of the
foot " ; whereas in addressing the king the
word which is used equivalent to " your
Majesty " means literally " I under the fine
dust adhering to the royal foot."

This brings us to the consideration of another
point of interest connected with the Siamese
language. In addressing or speaking about
the king a totally different set of words are
employed for many common objects and
actions to those for ordinary use, and the
whole of these words are derived from Indian
sources. These words are also employed in
royal proclamations, edicts, official notices,
and all matters relating to royalty gene-
rally.

The Siamese written or printed character
consists of 44 syllabic consonants, 14 common
vowel marks, 10 characters for the numerals,
and certain other vowel and accent signs.

These have all been borrowed from Indian
sources, and were supposed to have been
instituted in the reign of Kama Somdet, circa

A.D. I28l.

In order to show the structure and mode of
expression of the Siamese language, an abso-
lutely literal interlineal translation has here

been added of the Parable of the Prodigal
Son (Luke xv. 11 seq.) from the Siamese.

It should be noted that this passage has been
taken as an example of the various Indian
dialects in the " Linguistic! Survey of India."

khon niing mi but ehai song khon le
person one had child male two person and

but noi nan wa ke bida , wa bida

child little that said to father said, "Fatlia

tjan kha kho suan sap ti tok

master of me please divide properly which falls

yii ke khaptjau tot le

is to me {sign of imperative) and

bida tjiing beng khong hai kg but
father then shared goods give to children
tang song nan le mai cha mai nan but
both two those and not slow not long child

noi nan kep khong tjon mot p'ai
little that collected goods until all went

tio muang klai le dai sia sap
tourney town far and did waste property
khong ton ti nan due kan nak leng
things (of) self there with work scoundrel

le miia sia mot leu kot kandan
and when wasted all finished arose lack
ahan mak tua muang nan le khau khatson
food much all town that and he lacked

le khau p'ai samnak asai kap chao
and he went abode live with inhabitant
muang nan khan niing le khan nan

town that person one and person that
tjiing chai khau p'ai liang mu ti tung mi

then used him go feed swine in fields

le khan yak tga im tong due fak
and he wished to fill stomach with husks

tua ti mu kin nan le mai mi
beans that swine eat those and not have
pu dai hai khau kin miia khau
person anyone give him to eat. When he

rii siik t'ua Ien tjiing wa luk

knew seek body finished then said, " Children

tjang khong bida kha mi

wages (servant) of father mine have
ki khan mi ahan im le yang

how many person have food full and yet
liia ik le kha chiphai due yak
remains more than I ruined with want
ahan kha tja luk khiin p'ai ha bida
food I will arise go to find father

kha le tga wa ke tan wa bida
mine and will say to him say ' Father

tjau kha khaptjau dai pit t'o

master of me I did wrong towards

sa'wan le t'o na tan due khaptjau
heaven and towards face yours also I
mai somkhuan tja dai chii wa p'en luk
not befitting will get name say am child
khong tan kho tan hai khaptjan p'en
of you please you give me to be
miian luk tjang khong tan khon niing

like child wages of you person one.'"
tot
(sign of imperative)

From a study of the above the great disparity
between Siamese and a European language
(English) will readily be noticeable.

Those who may wish to pursue the subject
further are recommended to study works
bearing upon it, amongst which may be men-
tioned " Elements of Siamese Grammar," by
Dr. O. Frankfurter, and various papers in the
"Journal "of the Siam Society.

SlAMKSE PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS.

In spite of the fact that Siamese ideas and
mode of expression are so utterly different from
those, of Western nations, still if we come down

to the bed-rock of popular ideas and sayings as
embodied in proverbial expressions, we shall
find many points of resemblance between the
two, and this point is well exemplified in many
Siamese proverbs which have almost exact
parallel Western equivalents.

Some examples are here subjoined : —

Western Proverb.

To carry coals to

Newcastle.

Out of the frying-
pan into the fire.

Forewarned is fore-
armed.

Carpe diem.

To shut the stable
door after the horse
has escaped.

Let sleeping dogs
lie.

Do not run your
head against a stone
wall.

To buy a pig in a
poke.

Siamese Proverb.

To take old cocoa-
nuts for sale to the
gardener.

To run away from
a tiger and to meet a
crocodile ; to climb a
tree and there to find
a wasp's nest.

When you go to
the jungle don't forget
your knife.

Plant your rice in
the rainy season.

To put up a corral
when the oxen are
lost.

Do not pull the tail
of a sleeping tiger.

Do not send your
boat across a rapid.

To buy a buffalo
in the middle of the
swamp.

Besides actual proverbs there are many
other popular locutions which may be noticed,
for example : —

Siamese Saying.

To exchange cam-
phor for salt.

A two-headed bird.

Thick for the eyes
and ears.

Splendid externally,
but hollow within.

To offer the pig and
the cat.

Meaning.
A bad bargain.

A deceitful person.

A serious matter, a
fix.

Dead Sea apples, a
whited sepulchre.

A mutual action in
which neither party
gains an advantage.

Many others could be adduced of a similar
nature, but the above are sufficient to indicate
the similarities of thought as expressed in the
two languages. A few words might, however,
be added on the characteristics ascribed to
animals in Siamese folklore.

The ox is typical of stupidity and stolidity.
The buffalo replaces the ass in Western fable
as the type of ignwance and awkwardness.
The dog impersonate^everything that is base,
vulgar, and loathsome. Ferocity is denoted by
the tiger, as would be natural, while the croco-
dile is the embodiment of duplicity and in-
gratitude. The monkey denotes ugliness, but
not cunning as in Western lore. The gecko, a
small, noisy house lizard, is taken as the type of
a slanderous and scandalmongering nature,
while the water monitor is considered as the
personification of boorishness, stupidity, and
uselessness. The turtle or tortoise is proverbial
for ignorance, dulness of mind, and the Siamese
word "'tan " (tortoise) is applied as a contemp-
tuous epithet to a dull, foolish, inept person.
The ideas of vast and diminutive size are, as is
natural, indicated by the elephant and the
mouse respectively, and the term for mouse or
rat is applied as a pet name for small children.

The fox, the embodiment of sharpness and
cunning, is replaced in Siamese by the tiger-
cat, whereas the lamb, the type of meekness,
has its counterpart in the deer.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

HE manners and customs
of the Siamese form an
interesting study, even
though, in the absence
of reliable records, it is
difficult to trace their
origin and growth with
more than approximate
accuracy. The religious
customs are mainly of Brahminic origin,
though in many instances such changes have
been wrought in them that little remains of
former practices.

Shortly after a Siamese baby is born it
is adorned with amulets placed round its
wrists, and often around its ankles and neck.
These are generally formed of thin pieces of
silver or gold, having sacred characters in Pali
written upon them. These slips of metal are
rolled up and formed into little tubes, through
which run the strings by means of which they
are fastened on. In some instances the bones
from the legs of birds are used in place of the
metal. The amulets may often be seen upon
the wrinkled limbs of very old persons. Each
charm is supposed to bring good fortune of
some kind or another, and it is considered very
unlucky if the string bearing them breaks.
Almost from birth the children have their
heads shaved, with the exception of a tuft
at the top, which, when it grows long, is
plaited up and tied in a knot. The cutting
of this topknot is the first and greatest event
in a Siamese child's life. It would almost
appear to mark the recognition of the child
as a human being, as distinguished from a
sort of a domestic pet. The ceremony is
known as the Kawn Chook, and it is under-
gone nowadays by practically every girl in
the country ; its practice, in the case of boys,
is, however, usually confined to children of
royal and noble birth. In the case of the
royal children the ceremony is an extremely
imposing and elaborate one, which lasts for
three days. A huge structure called a "golden
mountain " is erected, and near this the Kawn
Chook takes place. The most auspicious hour
for the event having been discovered by the
court astrologers (Brahmins), the topknot is
divided into three parts, each of which is then
severed by persons specially selected for the
purpose. His Majesty the king usually cuts the
first lock. Lengthy and impressive religious
services are held in connection with this hair-
cutting ceremony, which is considered of such
importance that a veritable library of books
has been written upon it and its origin,

THE SWINGING FESTIVAL.

SIAMESE ACTORS.

SIAMESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
A MUSICAL PARTY.

222

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

though the only book which can be thoroughly
understood by the average European reader is
one which was written some years ago by
Colonel Gerini, of the Royal Siamese Military

marriages are generally a matter of commercial
arrangement, if not exactly of purchase. There
are numbers of regular professional " go-be-
tweens," who make quite a comfortable living

A PROCESSION IN CONNECTION WITH THE GOW CHING CHA
(SWINGING FESTIVAL).

College. The tonsorial implements used at
these royal hair-cuttings are all of gold, and
most of them are encrusted with extremely
valuable jewels.

Next to the ceremonial hair-cutting the most

by bringing eligible couples together, receiving
big commissions from the fortunate swain, and
sometimes from the girl's parents as well.
The bridegroom has always to furnish a house
to the satisfaction of the bride's relatives,

SEA GIPSIES.

important event in the life of a Siamese is
marriage. This can take place, with the con-
sent of the parents, when the boy is fourteen
and the girl twelve. As elsewhere in the East,

and has, further, to give the girl's mother a
certain amount of gold, together with a sum
of money. This latter is known as uguau nom,
and literally means " mother's milk money."

In celebrating the wedding a number of
religious ceremonies are performed and friends
and neighbours are feasted, while, in the case
of the wealthy, bands and theatrical companies
are engaged to amuse the guests. Although
divorces are easily obtainable under Siamese
law, they are, curiously enough, comparatively
rare for a country where marriage is to a
considerable extent a matter of bargaining.
On the whole, Siamese domestic life is gene-
rally comfortable and peaceful.

The funeral customs in Siam differ in
various parts of the country, and according to
the former financial circumstances of the
deceased, but among the Siamese and Laos
cremation is generally in favour. Among the
wealthy and those of high rank these crema-
tions are very elaborate and costly, and are
often deferred until a considerable time after
death. The cremation of the late Crown
Prince took place three years after the date
of his death, and cost considerably over
a million ticals. The bodies are embalmed
immediately after death, and are preserved
in hermetically-sealed urns until just before
the final ceremony. The embalming consists
in filling the body, till it is in a state of com-
plete saturation, with a mixture of mercury
and honey. The cremations themselves are
attended by elaborate religious ceremonials ;
and besides these there are theatrical and
other entertainments, while all the principal
guests are given presents as mementoes of
the departed. Siamese and Chinese theatricals,
fireworks, pony and foot races, and club,
sword, boxing, and other exhibitions are given,
while open house is kept for a week or so.
Presents are given to the priests and alms
to the poor, and in not a few cases families
have reduced themselves almost to indigence
through the lavish way in which they have
celebrated these particular occasions. While
the cremations of the rich are spectacular and
rather picturesque ceremonies, those of the
poor are much more simply conducted. The
bodies, enclosed in a rough wooden shell, are
placed on a pyre in a temple compound.
Attendants armed with long iron forks rake
the fire, and, should the wood supply be in-
sufficient, augment it with kerosene oil, thrown
on with dippers. Paupers are now cremated
by the priests at certain temples without any
charge ; but in former days bodies were
simply left on open spaces of ground, to be
eaten by pariah dogs and vultures, the fleshy
parts of the corpses being cut down to the
bone with knives to aid these ghoulish
scavengers in their work.

From cremations to ghosts is a fairly easy
transition, and, according to current belief,
Siam is full of them. They inhabit houses,
trees, hills, rocks, streams, and every conceiv-
able thing, and are known by the generic name
of " phi." Connected with them is a colossal
mass of most fancifully embroidered folklore.
Everybody believes in the phi, yet every one
swears he does not, although he calls the owl
the nok phi, or ghost bird. Outside every
house in the country districts and outside many
in the towns, even in Bangkok itself, one sees
little models of houses about a foot high and
with the typical Siamese roofs. These are ban
phi, or ghost-houses, and it is alleged that if
these are provided the spirits will take up their
abode in them, and will not trouble the people
residing in the neighbourhood. On certain
festivals offerings of cakes, fruit, &c, are put
on the little shelves in front of these spirit-
houses, either to propitiate their tenants or to
attract new and beneficent ones. Inside most
of the dwelling-houses, too, little square pieces
of paper, bearing Pali inscriptions, are affixed
to all the main uprights and corner posts.
These are to curry favour with the spirits of
the earth, into whose domain the bottoms of
the posts have intruded. Again, under the
ridge-beam of the houses is placed a flag, red

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

223

on the one side and white on the other, and
bearing some curious hieroglyphics on both
sides. This is to apologise to the spirits of
the air and the lightning for intruding on their
special preserves. If one of these flags falls the
house is considered doomed, and the owner
moves into another as quickly as he can. In
addition to these domestic ghosts there are
hundreds of other varieties. Furthermore,
many of the people still believe in the evil
eye and half a dozen similar things. In
Bangkok the visitor will often notice houses
with the following mark in white, resembling
chalk, on the doors or shutters : —

This mark is made by Brahmin priests, not
with chalk, as might be supposed, but with ashes
from the bo-tree, the sacred tree under which
Buddha is said to have rested. Placed on the
door by a holy person, the mark is said to
protect the various inmates of the house from
a considerable proportion of the ills that flesh
is heir to. Many similar charms are in con-
stant and almost universal use.

There are many different forms of enchant-
ment in Siam, the individuals practising them
being known as " phoo vis-aits." These men
are commonly supposed to be able to work all
kinds of magic, black or white ; they tell for-
tunes, cast spells, provide love potions or
poisons, and, in short, gull the ignorant most
unscrupulously. But apart from such tricks,
which deceive none but the absurdly credulous,
the " meh see" is a species of enchantment in
which most of the people do believe. The
following notes regarding it appeared in the
Siam Obscn'cr a year or two ago, and it may
be added that since these appeared, the strange
complaint ment'oned, if complaint it be, has
been investigated by a number of medical men,
who have declared themselves unable to come
to any definite conclusion concerning it : —

" Every one who has read Mr. Hugh
Clifford's stories of life in the Malay Penin-
sula will recollect the mention he occasionally
makes of lattah or latta, that queer kind of
hypnotic complaint to which Malays are some-
times subject, and which is suggested as often
being the cause of their going amok and kill-
ing every one within reach. But few farangs
are aware that certain Siamese, mostly women,
are subject to the same complaint, which is
known as ' meh see,' and among the Mohns
as ' bah chee.' The method is simple enough.
The victim is got to sit down in front of a rice-
pounding mortar or a rice-winnowing basket
with her hands together in front of her in an
attitude of prayer. The operator then points
at her and asks her to dance or jump about, or
sing, as the case may be, and she at once does
so, occasionally performing the most extra-
ordinary antics and keeping them up until she
becomes completely exhausted. Recently the
present writer saw an exhibition of this sort in
which a Mohn woman, employed as a servant
in the house of a farang residing at Seekak,
Ban Moh, was the victim, or subject, which-
ever the case may be. The woman, when told
to dance, seemed perfectly unable to refrain
from doing so, although in all other ways she
seemed perfectly rational. The subject is cer-
tainly one of great medical and scientific inter-
est, and it might well be investigated by some
competent authority on such matters. It may
be mentioned that Professor Skeat, who made
a very close study of Malay customs and super-
stitions, attributes it to hypnotism pure and
simple, but it seems that the Siamese do not
consider it precisely so. The complaint, or

whatever it may be, is said not to be heredi-
tary, although sometimes several members
of a family may be good ' subjects.' It is
further said to be more common amongst the

' Meh See ay Meh See sow sah,
Yok muek wai Phra ;
Wa cha mee Khun chon ' ;
which may be roughly translated as,

Oh,

BUDDHIST PRIEST AND DISCIPLE.

Mohns than amongst either the Siamese or
Laos, whilst the Chinese are almost free from
it, and amongst the Luk Chins it is extremely
rare. It would seem to be popularly looked
upon as a kind of 'possession,' not necessarily

Meh See, thou virgin, raise your hands in
prayer to the Lord Buddha and you will
receive the admiration and praise of all.'
After this the spirit is supposed to enter the
body of the performer, who is then unconscious,

A TRAVELLING THEATRE.

by devils, as was that in Europe in the Middle
Ages, but by spirits, who may or may not be
beneficent ones. In some cases a kind of
invocation is used which runs as follows : —

whilst she performs the terpsichorean evolu-
tions or sings. It is very evident that the
whole thing is due to some kind of hypnotic
influence, and it would certainly be interest-

224

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ing to find out precisely what, and also whether
it is every one who has the power of in-
fluencing the ' subjects.'

" It may be mentioned that in the case of men,
a rhi loob (spirit fish-trap) or phi kadok (a Hat
basket used for drying betel-nut) is put before
the performer, and after an incantation is sung
he generally seizes the first stick or other
weapon handy and falls upon the spectators
savagely. These performances generally take
place after nightfall, and the Song Kran holi-
day is supposed to be the best time for them,
as then the spirits are- endowed with the
greatest power."

The Siamese have an elaborate calendar of
official feasts and festivals. There are two
New Years, the " popular " and the " official "
one, the latter being on April ist, while the
date of the other varies with the moon. There
is generally a three days' holiday on each
occasion. Some people go to worship at the
temples, others make presents of fruit and
cakes to the priests, while every one dons his
or her best clothes and pays a round of social
calls. The ordinary laws against gambling are
also in abeyance for the time being.

The Swinging Festival, variously known as
the "ThepChingCha" or "Sow Ching Cha," is
rather curious. The Minister for Agriculture, or
an official deputy, is created a kind of mock king,

and is carried in procession to the big swing
near the Royal Palace. Opposite this a dais
has been erected, on which he sits, his right
foot over his left knee. Three " teams " of
Brahmin priests then get on the swing in
succession, one man in each trying to catch
with his teeth a bag of ticals fastened to a high
bamboo. The feat is a difficult as well as a
somewhat dangerous one, as the swing sup-
ports are 75 feet high. The first swingers get
12 ticals each, the second 8 ticals, and the third
4 ticals. If, while the swinging is in progress,
the mock king touches the ground with his
right foot, he has to pay a number of Brahmin
priests who are in attendance on him a rather
heavy penalty, while in the old days he was
stripped to the buff and chased through the
streets in disgrace. When the swinging is
over the Brahmins scatter holy water over the
mock king, the swingers, and the assembled
crowds, and by so doing are supposed to call
down a blessing on all and sundry. The pro-
cession then re-forms and the mock king re-
turns home. The entire performance is gone
through twice, once in the morning and again
in the evening two days later. The processions
nowadays are very elaborate as well as large,
and no visitor to Siam at the time of the festival
should miss seeing them. The actual origin of
the custom is unknown, but it is generally

thought to be some form of harvest thanks-
giving. It sometimes takes place early in
January, but occasionally early in December.

The Phrabat Festival is interesting from the
religious standpoint. Buddhists from all parts
of Siam go on pilgrimage to Phrabat, a place
in the hills about a hundred miles north-west of
Bangkok, where Buddha is said to have left
the imprint of his foot in a rock. The footprint
is certainly there, and it bears all the marks
said to be characteristic of the foot of the
great teacher. Nowadays one can go the
whole distance by rail, and it is an agreeable
trip to make, the season when the festival
occurs being a pleasant one, while the scenery
surrounding the temple which has been erected
over the precious relic is delightful. There are,
however, several other alleged footprints of
Buddha in Siam, but these are for the most
part admitted to be artificial and merely placed
where they are for the convenience of pilgrims
who cannot reach Phrabat itself.

The Kroot Thai, or old-style New Year holi-
days, are still observed throughout Siam.
They usually occur within a week or so of the
official New Year. Elaborate religious services
are held, and each family makes a peculiar
kind of cake out of the glutinous rice, which is
supposed to be particularly suitable to the
season. Presents of fruit and flowers are made

DECORATIONS IN CONNECTION "WITH A ROYAL CREMATION.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

225

to the priests, to whom the wealthier people
also make presents of yellow robes.

Companies of priests assemble on the palace
walls, and on the night of the second day all
the guns there are fired at intervals of about
twenty minutes until daylight, each gun, it is
said, being discharged thirty-six times. The
general populace usually join in and fire
crackers at intervals all through the night, all
this din being created in order to drive away
evil spirits, who are at this time credited with a
large amount of peculiarly baleful influence.
On the third day of the celebrations gambling
is permitted everywhere.

The ceremony of Tu Nam, or drinking of
the water of allegiance, takes place twice a year,
on days established by ancient custom. The
ceremony is a quaint and picturesque one. All
the Government officials assemble in one of the
halls of audience and take the oath of allegiance
to his Majesty. They drink and sprinkle their
foreheads with water in which have been
dipped swords, spears, and other weapons.
The idea is that, as these are the weapons with
which the king executes justice upon all who
have been guilty of treachery or rebellious
conduct, the various officials, in drinking from
the water in which these weapons have been
dipped, invoke the royal vengeance upon
themselves should they prove unfaithful. The
custom has existed from time immemorial, and
its origin cannot be traced. In former years
the half-yearly salaries of all the principal
officials were paid them after the completion
of this ceremony. It would, of course, be a
difficult matter, even with the present improved
means of communication, for officials from the
more distant provinces to attend the ceremony
at the royal palace, and it is therefore the
custom to send small quantities of the tu nam

(water of vengeance) to the respective stations,
where the officials may drink of it and sprinkle
themselves with it in the presence of the
principal provincial authorities. Although as
originally instituted the custom was intended
to apply to Siamese officials only, it is interest-
ing to note that of late years many foreigners
in the Government service have complied with
it. It may also be noted that the priests are
generally exempt from participation in this
ceremony, though the chief priests from the
various Bangkok temples assemble at the
royal palace and perform religious services
while it is in progress.

One of the most striking festivals in Bangkok
is that called the Thot Kathindi, which takes
place each year soon after the end of the
Buddhist Lent, and in which his Majesty goes
in person to present robes to the priests at the
principal temples. The pageants are often very
striking. On the first day his Majesty generally
proceeds by water in state procession to the
various riverside temples. The boats used on
this occasion are huge canoe-like structures,
with high-raised bows and sterns, some of
them being manned by over one hundred red-
coated oarsmen. The largest of all is the
royal barge, which has a pavilion in red and
gold brocade erected amidships for the accom-
modation of the sovereign and his suite. At
its bows hang peculiar white tassels, made,
tradition asserts, from the hair of a mammoth
goat, to which are ascribed a fabulous value.
The oarsmen pause after each stroke and
swing their oars high in the air, shouting as
they do so, and as the men in the bow strike
the water first and are followed in regular
order by those behind them to the stern, a
peculiar caterpillar-like appearance is given to
the craft as it makes its way along the river.

The state processions by land are often ex-
tremely picturesque, notably the ones in which
the king is borne in a state palanquin. It is in
this manner that his Majesty visits the principal
of what are generally known as the "royal"
temples. During the continuance of the festival
either his Majesty or his direct deputy bears
the much-coveted yellow robes and other gifts
to every temple in the country.

The occasion of the Chalerm, or Coronation
festival, is, however, the time to see Bangkok at
its brightest and best. His Majesty was born
on September '20th, but as that month falls in
the rainy season, the anniversaries of his birth-
day and coronation are usually held together on
the 15th and three succeeding days of Novem-
ber. A number of religious ceremonies take
place within the Grand Palace walls, and
various receptions and other functions are held,
but the most popular of all is the annual ball
given by the Foreign Office, to which most of
the foreign residents of Bangkok are invited.
At night the whole city is ablaze with illumina-
tions. Whatever may be the artistic short-
comings of the Siamese, they have thoroughly
mastered the arts of temporary decoration and
of illumination, with the result that at these
annual festivals the capital presents a wonder-
fully beautiful appearance. Both the king and
queen usually go round and view the decora-
tions by the river as well as by-land. At this
festival his Majesty always makes the town a
present of one or more bridges.

In addition to the above feasts and festivals
there are scores of others of less importance.
Some have a religious significance, others are
purely secular. A few certainly are gradually
dying out, but the greater part are maintained
with as much as possible of their old-time
ceremonial.

EDUCATION

By \V. G. JOHNSON,
Adviser to the Ministry for Public Instruction and Ecclesiastical Affairs.

ROM time immemorial
there has always been
in Siam a certain
amount of education
carried on by the
priests of the temples.
When it is remembered
that Siam has a total
of more than 10,000
temples, containing nearly 100,000 priests, and,
further, that these temples may be very
aptly compared with the monasteries in
Europe in the Middle Ages, it will be seen
that the machinery for a national scheme of

quence is that the temples enter very largely
into the life of the people. In every temple
there will be found a varying number of boys
who are attached to the priests as servants and
pupils, and who receive from them in return
a certain amount of elementary instruction,
principally in reading and writing. It is only,
however, in the last few years that the State
has taken up the organisation and extension of
this work. The first step was the formation of
an Education Department, whose duty was to
organise the system of elementary instruction
throughout the country. H.R.H. Prince
Damrong, the present Minister of the Interior,

KING'S COLLEGE.

education has long been in existence. Nearly
every man on reaching the age of twenty
enters the priesthood for a certain period and
takes up residence in the temple. The conse-

vvas appointed the first director of this new
department. A good beginning was made ;
several schools were founded in the capital,
and a foundation was laid of a Text Book
226

W. G. JOHNSON.

(Adviser to the Ministry of Public Instruction.)

Department, which was all the more necessary
because no such books for elementary instruc-
tion were in existence. Unfortunately, Prince
Damrong was very early transferred from this
position to take up the organisation of the
Ministry of the Interior, and for some years
after this the record of the department shows
a state of general inactivity. In the last ten
years, however, great progress has been made,
and it is safe to say that few other countries
can show such rapid and real progress in their,
what may be called, educational infancy as
Siam has displayed during this period.

Courses of instruction have been drawn up
and a large number of schools opened. As a
foundation, the department recognises that
every child should receive at least that certain
minimum of instruction which will enable it to
carry on the ordinary activities of every-day
life ; further, that wherever possible this
instruction shall be given by the priests in the
temples, thus helping to strengthen that bond
between religion and education which is so
necessary and desirable to Siam. Siam has
progressed so rapidly of late years, and the
machinery of Government has been reorgan-
ised and perfected so quickly, that it requires
all the efforts of the Education Department
to produce from its schools the supply of men
capable of taking up the posts in the Govern-
ment service. In spite of the rapid progress
made, it cannot yet be said that the schools are

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

227

able to fully supply the needs of the service, the
consequence being that a great number of
posts are at present filled by foreigners. It is
hoped as education progresses that more and

The foregoing courses cover the scheme for
general education. In addition to the above,
special courses are laid down for and followed
by the Technical Schools under the Depart-

^riiinnl

THE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL.

more of these posts may be filled by the
students trained in the Government schools.

General Plan of Courses of Studies.

The scheme of studies laid down by the
Education Department and in use at the
present time includes the following courses
for boys : —

A. Lower Primary Course.— A three
years' course in the vernacular, giving the
minimum amount of instruction considered
absolutely necessary for all boys without excep-
tion. In the Lower Primary branch of the
English schools this course includes also first
steps in the English language.

B. Primary Course. — Two courses. Course I
— A three years' course in the vernacular, an
extension of the Lower Primary course ; being
also a preparatory course for boys who intend
to proceed to the Secondary Schools. This
course contains no English. Course 2 — A three
years' course in the vernacular, parallel to
Course I, but containing elementary instruction
in English ; a preparatory course for boys
proceeding to Secondary English schools [i.e.,
Secondary Course 3).

C. Secondary Courses. — Three courses.
Course 1 — A three years' literary course follow-
ing on naturally from Primary Course 1 and
including English. This course is more a
literary than a science course, and is intended
for boys wishing to take up Government
appointments as clerks, &c. Course 2 — A
three years' course following on naturally
from Primary Course 1, but of a more modern
character than Secondary Course 1, more atten-
tion being given to English, mathematics, and
science subjects than in Course 1 (secondary).
Intended as a fitting preparation for boys about
to specialise in the following technical branches
— army, navy, engineering, surveying, medi-
cine, forestry, &c, &C Course 3 — A foreign
language course of five years, more advanced
than Course 2 above, preparing boys for
special technical studies and for study abroad.
The chief medium of instruction is English.

ment, viz., Normal College for Teachers and
the Medical College.

The chief improvements in school studies
made during recent years may be briefly
summarised as follows : —

1. Much more attention is paid to moral
teaching in all grades.

ject$ and to the teaching of English and
drawing.

4. Increasing prominence is given to
physical education. Systematic courses in
gymnastics and physical and military drill
are (aid down and school sports receive
suitable encouragement.

5. Schools are encouraged to form libraries
to be used by the scholars for private reading.
At the end of a.d. 1907 there were twenty-
seven schools with such libraries.

Abstract of Course of Studies in the
Last Year of Primary Siamese Course i.

Moral Teaching. — A continuation of the
course; followed in previous years.

Siatfiesc Language. — Reading, writing, dicta-
tion, and paraphrase from approved books (at
least five). In composition, ability to com-
municate thoughts in writing or orally so as to
be clearly understood, simple letter-writing.

Arithmetic. — Problems in money, simple
weights and measures, easy fractions, easy
decimals, measurement of simple areas, simple
rule of three, simple bills and accounts,
problems to be practical.

Geography and History. — Siam and her
neighbours, outlines of those countries con-
nected by trade with Siam, map-drawing.

Object Lessons and Nature Study. — A course
of at least thirty suitable lessons to be approved
by the Inspector.

Drawing. — From natural and familiar
objects.

Physical Exercises. — Military and physical
drill, using the exercises laid down in the
approved manual where possible, gymnastic
exercises in addition.

Abstract of Course of Studies in the
Last Year of Secondary Siamese Course i.

Moral Teaching. — The principles of right
and wrong, duty to self, duty to neighbour,

THE ASSUMPTION COLLEGE.

2. Antiquated methods of teaching are being
gradually superseded.

3. More attention is given to modern sub-

love of country and proper respect for
authority, justice, principles of religion and
commandments, &c.

228

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Siamese Language. — Reading, writing, dicta-
tion, and paraphrase from approved standard
authors ; in composition, ability to write an
essay on a subject requiring thought —
grammar and style to be considered.

English Language. — Reading and translation
from suitable books and easy abstracts from
the newspapers, &c. ; letter-writing and com-
position of essays ; special attention to be paid
to conversation.

Arithmetic and Mensuration. — Proportion,
simple and compound interest, insurance, com-
missions, proportional parts, partnerships,
averages, exchange, square root, &c, and simple
accounts ; measurement of areas of triangles,
quadrilaterals and circles, volumes of common
solids.

Geography and History. — Geography of the

Music. — An optional subject, at the discretion
and ability of the teachers.

Abstract of Course of Studies in the
Last Year of Secondary Siamese
Course 2.

Moral Teaching. — As in Secondary Siamese
Course 1.

Siamese Language. — As in Secondary
Siamese Course 1, but special attention to
composition and ability to express thoughts
in clear language.

English Language. — As in Secondary Siamese
Course 1, but teachers to be chosen with
special reference to science work.

Mathematics. — Arithmetic, advanced ; men-

Abstract of Course of Studies in the
Fourth Year of the Secondary
(English) Schools.

(Wherever possible all work is done in English.)

Moral Teaching. — As in Secondary Course I.

English Language. —Reading, conversation,
paraphrasing and translation ; a standard
author to be studied— ability to write an essay
on a subject requiring thought and to read the
same aloud with due expression and emphasis ;
grammar and precis-writing.

Mathematics. — Revision of previous years'
work, with more difficult exercises ; algebra up
to permutations and combinations ; geometry
— to the end of Euclid's elements ; plane
trigonometry.

A SECONDARY SCHOOL.

A TEMPLE SCHOOL.
AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

world and special reference to those countries
which have political and commercial relations
with Siam ; map-drawing ; recapitulation of
physical geography learnt in the previous
years.

Physiography. — Recapitulation of previous
year's work ; in addition magnets, compass
and points of same, movements of heavenly
bodies, movable and fixed stars, day and
night, meteors and comets, interior of earth,
motions of crust, earthquakes, volcanoes, ocean
currents, tides, winds, thunder and lightning,
hail-stones.

Drawing. — Drawing from natural objects in
light and shade ; practical geometry.

Manners. — Etiquette, behaviour and conver-
sation, freedom from self-consciousness, &c.

Physical Exercises : Compulsory. — Military
and physical drill, disciplinary exercises.
Optional. — Gymnastics and sports.

suration of areas and volumes, algebra, up to
and including progressions ; geometry, Euc-
lid's elements, trigonometry — elements.

Geography and History. — The world in outline
— special reference to political and commercial
sides ; Siam's connection, politically and com-
mercially, with other countries ; map-drawing.

Science. — A course of physics is taken during
the first two years ; a course in sciences to be
chosen from following : (a) botany, (b) experi-
mental sciences, (c) mechanics, (d) magnetism
and electricity.

Chemistry. — A course in elementary inor-
ganic chemistry.

Physiology and Hygiene. — Taken only in the
first two years.

Drawing. — Mechanical and freehand, scales,
plans, and elevations.

Physical Training. — As in Secondary Siamese
Course 1.

Geography. — Asia, Europe, and America in
detail ; map-drawing.

History. — The nineteenth century, with
special reference to (1) inventions and dis-
coveries and their effects ; (2) rise of Russia,
Germany, Italy, &c. , in Europe; (3) South
America ; rise of United States ; (4) connection
between China, Japan and Siam and Western
nations ; (5) rise of Japan ; (6) outline history of
India.

Science. — A further course in experimental
science, including chemistry, electricity and
magnetism, elementary mechanics.

Drawing. — A continuation of previous years'
course — use of water colours.

Physical Exercises. — As in Secondary Course 1.

N.B. — The fifth year's course provides for
(1) a thorough revision of work done in
previous years, (21 a course in Siamese, and
(3) the taking up of another language instead of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

■1-1'.)

Abstract of Subjects, showing

the Number of Hours devoted to Each per Week
(Five Days).

Lower Primary.

Subject.

1. Arithmetic...

2. Reading

3. Dictation

4. Writing

5. Composition (includes grammar)

6. Moral teaching

7. Object-lessons ...

8. Geography

Q. Drawing ...

10. Drill

Total

Class r.

Class 2.

2 J

2 i

■4

Primary Branch.

Subject.

1. Arithmetic

2. Reading ...

3. Dictation ...

4. Writing ...

5. Composition (and grammar)

6. Moral teaching

7. Object-lessons

8. Geography

9. Drawing ...

10. Drill

11. English

Total

Class 2.

1
2

4
2

'4
I

(Five and a Half Days.)
Secondary Course 1.

Class 3.

4i
ij
Ij

31
. 2

Class 3.

Subject. Class 1.

Class 2.

Class 3.

1. Moral teaching

2. Siamese language

3. English language

4. Mathematics ...

5. Geography (and history)

6. Physiography

7. Drawing

8. Etiquette

9. Drill

3
8
6J

2
2
1

4
1

2
2

I
3
8

2
2

Total

science (optional). History and geography are
not taken this year.

SCHOOLS (Bangkok only).

At the end of the year R.s. 126 (March,
1908) there were in Bangkok 88 schools under
the control of the Education Department,
classified as follows : —

1. Special Schools, 2 in number —

(i.) Normal College for Teachers, (ii.) Medical
College.

2. Secondary Schools, 10 in number —
(i.) Taking Course 1, 6 schools,
(ii.) „ „ 2, 1 school,
(iii.) „ ,. 3> 3 schools.

3. Primary Schools, 76 in number —

(i.) Taking Lower Primary Course, 26
(including 2 girls' schools).

(ii.) Taking the Primary Course, 50 (in-
cluding 3 girls' schools).

Special Schools.

1. Royal Medical College, to which is attached
the Siriraj (Wang Lang) Hospital. This
college was founded in R.s. 108 (1800), and
passed out its first graduates (9 in number) in
R.s. 112 (1894). In R.s. 123 (1903) the grow-
ing demand for medical men brought about a
reorganisation of the college, providing for a
greater number of students and an amplified
course of studies. Up to the year R.s. 123
(1903) (that is, in fifteen years) only 56 students
had graduated from the college, an average of
less than four a year. The college was then
placed under the control of the Education
Department, the number of students increased,
and in the last three years (r.s. 124-126) 50
students have successfully passed through the
improved course. All lectures are given in
Siamese by 10 lecturers (5 Siamese, 5
foreigners), and the course covers three years
in theory and practice, followed by an exami-
nation. The successful students are then
required to take an additional year of practice
under observation, no diploma being granted
to a student who does not successfully pass
through this fourth year of practice. At the
present time (June, 1008) there are 109
students taking the medical course, of whom
104 are in residence. Besides the above
medical course there are separate small
branches for the training of (i.) dressers and
ward attendants, and (ii.) maternity nurses
which it is hoped will develop in the future.
The students of the college practice through-
out their course in the Siriraj (Wang Lang)
Hospital attached to the college, and the
varied nature of the practice may be seen from
the following records of the hospital cases for
the past five years : —

Disease.

Gastro-intestinal

Cholera

Venereal

Fevers

Beri-beri
Small-pox
Consumption ...
Vesical calculus
Other causes

Totals

R.S. 122

(1903)-

Sick.

102
23

134
98

634

1,094

Died.

32
II

162

K.S. 123

R.S. 124

(IQ04).

(1905).

Sick.

Died.

Sick.

Died, j

165

IOO

II 4

125.

138

—

433

590

967

128

1,104

161

R.S. 125
(1906).

R.S. 126
(I907).

2.5

153

116

501

15
"5

45
92

3
13

6
302

983 130 676

Died

39
II

3
3

Totals.

526

613

413

522

55
2,460

158
54
35
53

107
20
36

5
205

92 4,824 763

230

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

2. Normal College for Teachers.— Principal,
Mr. F. G. Trayes. A residential college for the
training of teachers, with a two years' course.
During R.s. 126 (1907) there were 63 students
in training, of whom 22 obtained certificates at
the end of the year. Since R.s. 113 (1893) this
college has provided 242 trained teachers (of
whom 180 were trained during the last six
years), now distributed as follows : —

1. Actually teaching in departmental

schools 166

2. Inspectors of schools ... ... ... 5

3. Commissioners for education in the

provinces ... ... ... ... 3

4. Acting Commissioners for education in

the provinces ... ... ... ... 7

5. Assistant Commissioners for education

in the provinces ... ... ... 7

6. At work in the Education Department 3

7. At work in other Government depart-

ments ... ... ... ... ... 9

8. Dead 11

9. Present occupation unknown ... ... 31

Total 242

In addition to the schools under the control
of the Education Department, it may be of
interest to note that there were, at the end of
r.s. 126 (March, 1908) the following 7 special
Government schools, with 1,361 pupils, under
the control of the respective departments they
specially serve.

THE NORMAL COLLEGE.

School.

Number of

Pupils at

End of

R.s. 126

(March, iocS).

Number of
Pupils who
linished their

Course in
K.s. 126.

Number of
Siamese.

Teachers
(Foreign).

1. Royal Military College

2. Royal Xaval College

3. Royal Survey College ...

4. College of Agriculture ...

5. Civil Service College (Mahat Lek)

6. Post and Telegraph School

7. Gendarmerie School

982
148

31
29
III
24
36

17
18

4
3

class,

The following is a list of schools in which
fees are charged. In all other schools under
the department education is free: —

1. Medical College. — Students who intend to
take up private practice and do not enter the
Government service : (a) boarders, 10 ticals
per month ; (6) day students, 5 ticals per
month.

2. King's College.— (a) Boarders, 270 ticals per
year ; (b) day boys, 108 ticals per year.

3. Suan Kularb. — Lower school: (a) juniors,
10 ticals per year; (6) seniors, 20 ticals per
year. Upper school, 30 ticals per year.

4. Maliapritaram. — (a) Boys under thirteen
on entrance, 30 ticals per year ; (6) boys
over thirteen on entrance, 40 ticals per
year.

5. "Sutri Vitaya" anil "Soicaf>a" Girls'
Schools. — One tical per month.

The two most important Secondary Schools
belonging to the department in Bangkok are
Suan Kularp and King's College. Suan Kularp
was the first school founded in Siam. It is at
the present a day school, with an attendance of
nearly 300. The teaching in the higher school is
done by trained Europeans, of whom at present
there are five. King's College is a boarding-
school with 80 pupils, most of whom are the sons
of princes and nobles. This school, under the
headmastership of Mr. A. Cecil Carter, has
three English University men on its staff. The
same course is followed in both schools, and
the boys in the highest forms compete annually
for the King's scholarship Ito be held abroad.
Both schools have an excellent record of
work.

Pupils and Attendance (Bangkok only).

At the end of R.s. 126 (March, 1908) there
were 9,827 pupils in Bangkok Schools under
the control of the Education Department,
distributed as follows : —

Class of School.

Number of
Pupils, 1908.

I. Special Schools (2)

.. ' 149

2. Secondary Schools (10) —

(a) Course 1

632

(b) Course 2

433

3. Primary Schools (76) —

(<i) Primary Course

7,236

(b) Lower Primary

1,321

Total (88 schools)

9,827

The average number of pupils per
taking all schools together, was 25.

The number of pupils in the highest standard
of each grade (i.e., the leaving standard) was as
follows : —

Primary Grade — 1,717 pupils.

Secondary Grade: Course 1 — 112 pupils (in-
cluding 6 girls) ; Course 2— no pupils (a new
course commenced in 1907) ; Course 3 — 13
pupils.

Special Schools— (i.) Normal College, 37
students ; (ii.) Medical College, 26 students.

The average number of pupils on the roll
per school for the year 1907-8 was 108, and
the average percentage of attendance per pupil
was 83-2. Pupils who have not been late or
absent' more than five times altogether during
the school term (i.e., half-year) and whose con-
duct is satisfactory, receive a special attend-
ance certificate. Pupils who have gained three
of these attendance certificates receive a bronze
medal, those who gain six certificates receive
a silver medal, while those who gain nine
certificates receive a gold medal. During the
past year (1907) a total of 615 pupils gained
attendance certificates, being an increase on
the previous year of 190.

Bright pupils are encouraged to continue
their studies by a system of scholarships.
For example, boys who satisfactorily pass the
highest standard of the Primary grade before
reaching the age of eleven years are allowed
to enter the Secondary English Schools without
payment of the usual fees. At the present time
there are thirty-three boys holding such scholar-
ships in the Secondary Schools. Students who
obtain the Elementary Teachers' Certificate
while in training at the Normal College, if

Table showing Attendance Records for all Bangkok Schools under the Education
Department for the Year r.s. 126 (1907-8).

1. Number of schools at end of year ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 88

2. Average number of schools during the year 88

3. Total number of pupils on roll at end of year 9,827

4. Average number of pupils on roll throughout the year ... ... ... ... 9,499

5. Average number of pupils on roll per school ... ... ... ... 108

6. Total number of school sessions for the year (one day is divided into two

sessions, morning and afternoon) ... ... ... ... ... 37, 2 44

7. Average number of sessions per school for the year ... ... ... ... ... 423

8. Total number of school attendances for the year ... ... ... ... ... 3,339,663

9. Average number of times each pupil attended 351

jo. Average percentage attendance per pupil for the year .. ... ... ... 832

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SlAM

231

of exceptional ability, are allowed to take a
further special course in the Secondary English
Schools without fees, in special cases receiving
a monthly grant-in-aid. At the end of this
course those students who have shown excep-
tional progress may be sent abroad to continue
their studies in educational work and methods
on the sole condition that they agree to enter
the Government service on their return for a
period of at least five years.

The King's Scholarship Examination (a com-
petitive examination open to all Siamese boys
under the age of eighteen years without dis-
tinction) provides every year that the first two
boys on the list may be sent abroad to take up
studies in any special branch or profession they
may choose. On their return they are required
to enter the Government service.

TEACHERS (Bangkok only).

The following table shows the number of teachers at work under the Department in
March, 1908 : —

Teachers.

Male.

Fernale.

Totals.

i. Siamese

2. Foreigners

399
H 1

432'
14

Total

413

446

This total does not include special lecturers at the Medical College.

Average Ages of Pupils in each Class in Primary Schools, March, r.s. 126 (1908).

District.

Lower Primary

Upper Primary.

Second Year.

Third Year.

First Year.

Second Year.

Tnird Year.

1. North-Eastern

2. East-Central

3. South-Eastern

4. South-Western

5. North-Western

6. West-Central

IO - 4

9-8

112

io-8
109

I2-I
II'9
12-7
I2'2

12-8

13-6
129
13-7
13-3
137
I2"5

14-4
14-4
14-8
14-2
I3'4
139

14-9
I4-5
15-4
153
161

I5'I

Primary Schools

(Branches of Secondan

Schools).

7. Benchamabopiti

fio-4

(117

(I3-3

1 13'3

f 131
(14-1

156

8. Raj buna

9. Nuan Noradit

9-2
(1 o-o

1 9'2

1 1'2

fio-4

(10-2

I2 - 2

] 12-5

[ I2'0

13-2

J I3H
(i3 - i

M5'5
i6- 9

( I.T4

N.B.— The preparatory work of the Lower Primary Course is done in the temples by
the priests.

Average Ages of Pupils in each Class in Secondary Siamese Schools.

School.

First Year.

Second Year.

Third Year.

Whole School.

Secondary (Course 1).

1. Suan Kularb

153

14-8

2. Benchamabopitr

15-2

I4'S

3. Rajbuna

14/3

148

151

14-8

4. Soolut ...

i6-i

159

157

159

5. Udom

149

153

15-6

153

6. Nuan Noradit

152

148

146

Secondary (Course 2).

7. Rajbuna

\(a) 12-82)
1(6)14-87)

—

137

Average Ages of Pupils in the Classes of the Secondary English Schools,

March, r.s. 126 (1908).

Division.

Class.

Suan Kularb.

King's

College.

Mahapritaram.

Year.

No. in Class.

Average Age.

No. in Class.

Average Age.

No. in Class.

Average Age.

First

7'2

Second

8-3

—

— —

Lower J

Third

103

—

42 '3'9

School |

Fourth

105

18 163

Fifth

I2'2

IO'I

24 16-5

Sixth

123

12-2

12 162

Preparatory -

A
B

25
21

12'2

H"3

z z

(

Seventh

144

13-8

15 163

Higher

Eighth

145

ISO

—

School

Ninth

161

162

—

(

Tenth

i5'5

17-1

—

Total

241

—

Ill

—

This total of 446 teachers was distributed
as follows : —

1. Special Schools : (a) Siamese, 10 males ;
(6) foreigners, 3 males — total, 13.

2. Secondary Schools : (a) Siamese, 76 males ;
(6) foreigners, 11 males — total, 87.

3. Primary Schools : 313 males, 33 females —
total, 346.

The full total of 446 thus consists of 413 males
and 33 females.

Included in this total (446) there are 92
priests. There were 166 trained Siamese
teachers at work in the various schools.
There were also in addition at work under
the department 7 Siamese, who were trained
for educational work in England. Fourteen
students are at present studying educational
work abroad, all of whom will enter the
service of the department on their return.

The following table shows the average
number of pupils on roll per teacher : — ■

Class of School.

Average No. of
Pupils per Teacher.

1. Special

2. Secondary

3. Primary

All schools taken together

II
13

25
22

Table showing the various Grades of
Siamese Teachers, with Amount of
Salaries, March, 1908.

Grade of Teacher.

No. of
Teachers.

Total

Salaries,

March, 1908.

Secondary Teachers —

Ticals.

Grade 1

850

,. 2

850

„ 3

620

Primary Teachers —

Grade 1

1,380

„ 2

1.530

>. 3

3,45°

„ 4

116

5745

" 5

198

6785

Pupil Teachers

512

Totals ...

434'

21,722

1 The above includes 2 foreigners.

There were, in addition, 12 other foreign
teachers, whose total salaries for March,
1908, was 7,666 ticals.

The total salaries for March, 1908, for 446
teachers were therefore 29,388 ticals, giving an
average expenditure for teachers per pupil

232

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

(9,827) of 299 ticals. The average expenditure
for teachers per pupil for the year 1907-8
reached nearly 36 ticals.

qualified, and that they be invested with suffi-
cient authority to enforce the prescribed
regulations. No person is qualified for this

Table showing Average Expenditure for Teachers' Salaries per Pupil in March, 1908.

Class of School.

No. of Pupils.

Total Salaries.
March, 1908.

Average per Pupil.

1. Special (2)

2. Secondary (10) ,

3. Primary (76)

149
1,121

8,557

Ticals.
5,26l '

I2,6ol

11,526

Ticals.

35'3

1 1 24
1 '34

All Schools

9,827

29,388

299

■ Includes 1,256 ticals for special lecturers' fees.

The department still feels severely the
dearth of trained teachers. The Normal
College is doing useful work, but the chief
difficulty still remains that few boys who have
passed through the Secondary Schools elect
to take up teaching as a profession. Con-
sequently the standard of knowledge attained
by those pupils who enter the Normal College
is not high, and the college is unable to turn
out secondary teachers. The demand for
trained teachers is so great and pressing that
as soon as a student in training at the Normal

important position who, besides scholarship,
has not had experience as a teacher. Without
the latter there can be no guarantee of fitness
to deal with the many details of school manage-
ment. With this object in view all inspectors
who have been appointed are trained men with
actual experience in school as teachers. For
the purposes of thorough inspection the schools
in Bangkok under the control of the department
are divided into seven districts, as follows,
H.E. Phra Bhaisal being the Inspector-
General : —

Inspector.

Secondary Siamese Schools.

East-Central.

West- Central.

North-East.

North-Wesf.

6. South- West and South-East.

7. Special and English Schools.

Luang Shut,
Khun Banharn.
Khun Vitit.
Khun Vitoon.
Nai Tut.
Khun Vitarn.
Mr. E. S. Smith

Elementary
Schools.

College has reached the standard of knowledge
required for the Primary Teacher's Certificate
he is at once drafted out to teach in the schools.
The work of raising the standard of knowledge
of the teachers is, however, greatly helped by
the Teachers' Association (Samakyacharn).
The Association, of which H.R.H. the Crown
Prince is patron and H.E. the Director-
General for Education the president, has a
membership of over 650, practically every
teacher in Bangkok belonging to it. The
Association provides evening continuation
classes especially for teachers, which are
largely attended. At the present time the
following classes are held : —

1. English. Attended by nearly 200 students.

2. A course of lectures in Physiography.

3. A course of lectures in Geography and
History.

4. A course of lectures in Mathematics.

5. Drawing, Arts and Crafts. Attended
daily by over 50 students.

6. Physical Drill and Exercises and Gym-
nasium. Attended daily by over 50 students.

7. Music.

Regular examinations are held at the termin-
ation of each course and certificates granted
to successful students. These certificates are
recognised by the Education Department, and a
teacher possessing the Primary Teacher's Cer-
tificate may, after passing successfully through
certain of the above courses, count the certifi-
cates so gained towards obtaining his Secondary
Teacher's Certificate. The possession of these
certificates helps a teacher also in gaining
promotion.

SCHOOL INSPECTION (Bangkok).

In order to secure proper supervision it is
necessary that the inspectors should be well

During the year 1907-8 a total of 1,105 visits
of inspection were made, being an average of
12 visits to each school. The average time
occupied on each visit was just over three
hours. Altogether 689 days were spent in
examination work and 736 days on inspection ;
i.e., the average total number of days spent on
inspection and examination by each inspector
was 203. The average number of days the
schools were open during the year was 21 1 J.
Time not spent on inspection and examination
was occupied with office work in the depart-
ment. During the year 26 meetings of in-
spectors were held at the department to discuss
matters affecting the work of administra-
tion, &c. Inspectors' salaries for the year
totalled 25,450 ticals, and this with 2,53625
ticals (travelling expenses, &c.) made a total sum
of 27,986'25 ticals spent on- inspection and
examination work, showing an average expen-
diture on this account per pupil of 2^94 ticals
for the year. The expenditure on this account
for the previous year r.s. 125 (1906-7) showed
3-36 ticals per head. The result of this
thorough system of inspection is seen in the
improved efficiency of the teaching and organi-
sation in the schools. A separate board of
examiners is, however, to be formed, whose
work will be solely that of conducting all ex-
aminations, and the district inspectors will then
be relieved of examination work in order that
they may devote the whole of their time and
energies to inspection and organisation.

EXAMINATIONS.

The following tables show the results of
examinations conducted by the department as
compared with the previous year, r.s. 125
(1906-7).

I. Results
standard
Siamese)

of examinations in the leaving
in Primary Course 1 (Elementary

Year.

Number of

Pupils
Examined.

Number of
Pupils
Passed.

Percentage

Passes.

R.S. 126 )

(1907-8) f

R.S. 125 1
(1906-7)}

902
IJ36

595

827

The smaller number of passes obtained in
R.s. 126 is due to the fact that a higher standard
of attainment was required than in the previous
years. Of the total of 595 pupils passing this
examination 241, or 40 per cent., entered the
Secondary Schools.

2. Results of examinations in the leaving
standard in Secondary Course 1 (Secondary
Siamese) : —

Year.

Number
Examined.

Number of
Passes.

Percentage
of Passes.

R.S. 126 j
(1907-8) ,

R.S. 125 I

(1906-7) )

105

158

457
43 •

The smaller number examined in R.s. 126
(1907-8) was due chiefly to the fact that a large
number of boys entered the Military College
before completing the course, and thus did not
come up for examination.

3. Results of examination in the leaving
standard in Primarv Course 2 (Elementary
English) :—

Year.

R.S. 126 1

( 1907-8) )

R.S. 125 1

(1906-7) f

Number
Examined.

Number of
Passes.

41
39

26
29

Percentage
of Passes.

63
69

4. Results of examination in the leaving
standard in Secondary Course 3 (Secondary
English) :—

Examined.

Number of

R.S. 126 !

(1907-8) I

R.S. 125 I
(I906-7) I

30
27

Percentage
of Passes.

5. Results of examination in the final course
at the Medical College : —

Year.

Number
Examined.

Number of
Passes.

Percentage
of Passes.

R.S. 126 1
(1907-8) f

R.S. 125 )
( I906-7) /

22
20

20
18

00-9

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

233

6. Results of examination in the final course
at the Normal College for Teachers : —

Number Number of

Table showing Figures for each Province.

r.s. 125

(1906-7) J

7. The King's Scholarship Examination was
held in February. The first two boys on the
list and to whom the scholarships were there-
fore awarded came from Suan Kularb School.
The first place was gained by Nai Niem, aged
seventeen, son of Nai In, who obtained 655 marks
out of a total of 900. The second place was taken
by Nai Poot, aged sixteen, son of Khun Dum-
robgpukdi, with a total of 620 marks. In the
previous year R.s. 125 (1906-7) both scholar-
ships were also gained by pupils of Suan
Kularb School. Both boys were sent to
England to continue their studies.

PROVINCIAL EDUCATION.

Although, as stated, there has always been
some sort of elementary instruction given in
the temples by the priests, it is only in the last
year and a half that any serious attempt has
been made to commence the organisation of
education in the provinces. In initiating this
work the first step the department had to take
was to ascertain what work was actually being
done. With this object in view officials were
appointed to each of the provinces, whose duty
it is, in conjunction with the chief priests of
the province and the local officials, to obtain as
full statistics as possible of the educational work
at present done in the temples, and to gradu-
ally build on this foundation an organised
system on the lines laid down by the depart-
ment. The following is a list of the responsible
commissioners, with their provinces : —

Province.

i. Ayuthia.

2. Pitsanuloke. )

3. Petchabun. [

4. Payup (Chieng

mai).

5. Nakon Srita- |

maraj.

6. Patani. )

7. Isarn.

8. Udon.

9. Nakon Raja Siam

(Korat).

10. Chuntabun.

11. Bangkok (North).

12. Bangkok (South).

13. Puket.

14. Nakon Sawan.

15. Ratburi.

16. Nakonchaisri.

17. Choomporn.

18. Prachin.

Name of Official.

Luang. Anukit.
Khun Phrapun.
Khun Upakorn.

Nai Adoong.

Nai Tawng Sook.
Luang Planuntakil.

Nai Kuey.
Khun Chumni.
Nai Mann.
Luang Rajapirom.
Nai Un.
Khun Prasart.
Khun Bumnarn.
Nai Ngern.
Khun Prakart.
Khun Vitarn.

Province.

No. of
Temples.

Xo. of
Priests.

No. of

Novices and
Pupils.

Temples with
organised
Schools.

Temples in

which Pupils

are taught in

Classes.

I. Bangkok

800

H,57I

14,300

2. Ayuthia

I>154

12,147

20,958

408

3. Rajburi

528

8,011

9,358

4. Puket

185

949

2,516

5. Nakornchaisri

341

4,062

4,285

6. Prachin ...

684

4,408

5,822

7. Chumporn

269

1,461

3,784

222

8. Nakorn-Rajasima

2,614

1 2,039

32,445

9. Payup

720

4,877

10,182

10. Sraiburi ...

132

206

11. Isarn

2,667

13,080

19,078

12. Pitsanuloke

402

3,28i

5,300

32 '

13. Chuntabun

262

2,513

3,015

14. Patani

657

1,088

15. Nakorn Sritamaraj

564

4,552

7.276

16. Nakorn Sawan

441

4,354

8,188

17. Udon

1,322

5,3 1 1

5,062

18. Petchaburi

No returns.

Totals

13,049

94,195

153,763

336

1,050

Allowing for incomplete and inaccurate returns,
it will be seen that there are at least 13,000
temples, with more than 90,000 priests. There
are at least 350,000 boys of school age in Siam.
Assuming that the whole of the 150,000 boys at
the temples are receiving instruction, there still
remains a total of 200,000 boys receiving no
instruction whatever. The work before the
department is, therefore, twofold : firstly, to
aid the priests in the educational work they are

of thirteen provinces, the question of organisa-
tion of education in the provinces was dis-
cussed. The importance of taking immediate
steps to* organise a widespread system of edu-
cation for the people was fully recognised, and
the following points were unanimously agreed
upon, the cordial co-operation of the Ministry
of the Interior being assured in any measures
adopted for the proper carrying out of the
same : —

THE CONVENT.

From the nature of the work and the rapidity
with which it had to be carried out, it is safe
to assume that the above returns are not abso-
lutely correct, but only approximately so. In
any case, however, they are certainly suffi-
ciently correct to serve as a valuable guide
in the practical work of future organisation.

now doing ; secondly, and more important still,
to provide for the instruction of the 200,000
boys who are at present receiving no instruc-
tion whatever.

At a meeting held in the offices of the
department on September 12, R.s. 125 (1906),
which was attended by H.R.H. the Minister
for the Interior and the High Commissioners

(a) It was agreed that all boys of school age
ought to be required to receive instruction, and
that this instruction, wherever possible, should
be given by the priests in the temples ;

(6) That the instruction provided should not
be less than the minimum necessary to be of
use to the boys in their future life's work ;

234

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

whereby exxeptionally bright boys might be
able to obtain higher instruction ;

(d) That a suitable series of four elementary
textbooks for (I) reading, (2) arithmetic,
(3) moral teaching, and (4) study of common
objects and phenomena, should be at once
prepared by the department and widely dis-
tributed ;

SIAMESE STUDENTS ABROAD.

At the end of the year r.s. 126 (1907)
there were 27 students (under the control
of the Education Department) studying in
England. During the year 4 students re-
turned and 6 new students were sent.
Mr. J. Algernon Brown, Superintendent of
Siamese Government Students in England,
says in his annual Report : " Both in conduct
and progress the students have given me little
cause for other than entire satisfaction. There
has been no want of effort even when results
have been unfavourable." The uniformly
satisfactory results obtained by the students
is primarily due to the consistently good work
of Mr. Brown, who for so many years has
devoted himself to their interests. The actual
amount expended on account of these students
for the year R.s. 126 (1907) was 110,012 ticals,
giving an average of 4,074 ticals per student
(approximately ^300).

The following table shows the special

branches of study pursued by the various
students : —

Branch of Stud}'.

1. Educational (teachers)

2. Civil and Diplomatic Service

3. Civil engineering

4. Medicine

5. Law

6. Army ...

7. General education

Xo. of
Students.

7
4
2
2
1
1

Since the institution by his Majesty the King
in the year R.s. 118 (1896) of an annual open
competitive examination for scholarships to be
held abroad, 29 scholarships have been awarded.
In addition, other students of approved ability
have been selected for special studies abroad.
The result of this wise policy is becoming
every year more evident in the valuable work
being done by those students who have returned
to serve their country. During the last ten
years 38 of these students have returned, only
3 of whom were reported on as not having
been satisfactory. There was 1 death, and
3 returned on account of ill-health. The
remainder finished their courses of study with
credit.

The average time occupied in studies abroad
in the various branches by those students who
have returned to Siam was approximately as
follows : —

1. Army

2. Diplomacy

3. Civil Service

4. Law

5. Civil engineering

6. Irrigation engineering

7. Education (teachers)

8 years 9 months

9
4
6
2
11
o

The following table shows the special
branches of study pursued by those students
who have returned to Siam: —

Branch of Study.

No. of
Students.

Educational (teachers)

Law

Diplomacy and Civil Service

Army

.->•

Finance

Civil engineering

Civil engineering and

aw...

Irrigation engineering

Agriculture

10.

Forestry

11.

Electrical engineering

12.

Marine engineering ...

It must be remembered that the above total
represents only those students who were under
the control of the Education Department.
There are, in addition, students abroad who
are under the control of other Government
departments.

%£

/P^>

THE ROYAL BANGKOK SPORTS CLUB.

SPORT

PORT of almost all kinds
in Siam may be safely
divided into three main
divisions, viz., as prac-
tised by Europeans and
as practised by the
Siamese and Chinese.
Siam is essentially a
country where the " all
work and no play " policy is in disfavour, and
although the climate would seem to militate, to
some extent, against the ardent pursuit of
many field sports, most of them, nevertheless,
have eager votaries. The question is often
asked, " Is there any big-game shooting
in Siam ? " There is, but details concerning
it are not easy to obtain. Yet the country
abounds with big game, some of it within easy
reach of the capital and the railway centres.
There are elephants, rhinoceros, sladang, wild
buffaloes, tapir, wild pig, tiger, panther,
leopards, and half a score of other members of
the feline tribe, and deer, ranging from the
lordly sambhur and Schomburgk deer to
the little barking deer. Of these, elephants
may by no means be shot unless they be
" rogues," and moreover they must be certified
as such by the local authorities. There are no
restrictions with regard to the shooting of
the animals ; but the sportsman, unless he has
unlimited time at his disposal and speaks the
language well, will have difficulty in finding
them, for the country-folk, being followers of
Buddha, have a kind of passive objection to
the life of any creature being taken. Also
it should be remembered that the more re-
mote places where big game is usually found
are very sparsely populated ; there are no
roadways, and the country is often covered
with more or less impenetrable jungle. Given
the power to overcome these obstacles
and a strong constitution, the sportsman can

be assured of good bags. The best months
for the pursuit of big game are from Decem-
ber to March, both inclusive. Tigers and
their kind and various species of deer can

be obtained in the Korat district, to the east,
and rhinoceros, tigers, sladang, tapir, &c,
along the Burma frontier. The Siamese tiger
is not so big as his Bengal brother, the largest

WILD ELEPHANTS INSIDE THE KRAAL.

*35

236

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

skin the writer has seen measuring only
10 ft. 7 ins. Leopards are fairly plentiful in the
Siamese portion of the Malay Peninsula, and

Club, and his Majesty the king not only
granted the new club a royal charter, but
made it a present of a lease of the land on

meetings held a year — in December (the King's
Cup Meeting), February, and April. As a
general thing, racing is confined to Siamese
ponies, although there are occasional events for
Walers and Arabs. The Siamese pony, small
though he is (12 hds. 2 ins. is the maximum
height allowed), is a wonderful little animal and
runs extremely well. With weights ranging
from 7 st. 61bs. to 8 st. n lbs. fairly good times
for him are : —

I mile
| mile
5 furs.
J mile

Mins. sees.

• 2 15

• i 35

. I 20
I 2

AN ELEPHANT HUNT, OUTSIDE THE KRAAL AT AYUTHIA.

Taking into consideration the fact that the
pony has no particular breeding, spends his
early youth ,in rice-swamps or jungles, and
does not see a racecourse till he is five or six
years old, his record is an exceedingly good
one.

Pony racing among the Siamese, which is
often to be seen in the provincial towns and
sometimes at Bangkok, furnishes a somewhat
curious spectacle. The course is a straight one ;
a rope is stretched down the middle of it, and
a flag is planted at the winning end. Only two
ponies start, one on either side of the rope, and
the winning rider has to grab and carry away
the flag as he passes it. Not infrequently the
ponies swerve just before the flag is reached.
Accidents are by no means uncommon, but the
races seem to provide a great deal of amuse-
ment for the onlookers, and " the glorious
uncertainty " of the results only seems to add a
zest to the gambling which is taking place.

Among the purely Siamese sports, however,
which attract most attention are the kite-flying
contests held at Bangkok Premane Ground
every year in March. The "wow," or kites, are

here, also, may be found sladang, wild buffalo,
tapir, and deer. Crocodiles may be shot
within a very few miles of Bangkok, while
hares, scaly ant-eaters, and jackals are fairly
common. Game birds of many kinds are quite
common. Peacock, jungle-fowl, argus, and
crested fire-back pheasants, francolin, golden
plover, teal, and duck may be obtained within
easy reach of the capital, while from Sep-
tember to March snipe are to be found in vast
numbers in the paddy fields right up to the
outskirts of the town. The record bag of
snipe for one gun is 167 birds in five hours,
and this was made at a spot eight kilometres
from the Bangkok railway terminus.

Up to 1902 Bangkok possessed its separate
gymkhana, golf, cricket, gun, sailing, and other
clubs. But since that year most of these have
been merged into the Royal Bangkok Sports
Club, which has some 300 members, Europeans
and Siamese. Polo, rifle-shooting, sailing, and
rowing, all of which forms of sport have had
their day in Siam, have now almost entirely
disappeared ; but at the present time, in addition
to racing, there are mounted paper-chases, and
such games as golf, cricket, football hockey,
trap-shooting, and tennis are frequently played.
The history of racing in Bangkok is rather an
interesting one. Some thirty years ago a
Mr. Newman, then British Consul, measured
off a mile of level ground, which now forms
the road passing the racecourse, and here
he and some of his friends raced their carriage
and other ponies. Gradually a Gymkhana Club
came into existence and regular race meetings
were held on the Premane Ground, near the
royal palace, his Majesty the King showing
his approval of the sport by presenting a gold
cup to be competed for annually. Under the
royal patronage horse-racing soon became
highly popular. In 1897 the present course
was laid out ; in 1902 the old Gymkhana Club
became merged into the Royal Bangkok Sports

A NATIVE RACING CANOE.

which the course stood. The club then
erected suitable and handsome buildings and
laid out the entire course in such a manner
that to-day it compares favourably with any
in the East. There are generally three race-

divided into two classes, male
The large male kites are star
strongly built ; the female kites
shaped, much smaller, and more
male kites soar high, and often

and female,
■shaped and
are diamond-
fragile. The
sail along at

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

237

the end of a mile of cord. It is the object of
the owners of the female kites to entangle their
strings with the cord attached to a male kite
and so haul it down. If they accomplish this
successfully they are the victors ; but the odds
are against them, as, owing to their small
superficies, the female kites are unable to carry
strong and heavy string and their finer thread
frequently gets broken. Very considerable
sums of money often change hands over these
competitions, and some of the kites are looked
upon almost as family heirlooms. Kite-flying,
simple as it appears, is quite an art, and experts
can make the kites perform extraordinary
gyrations in the air.

The " pla kat," or fighting fish of Siam, are
a species of stickleback, the male members of
which family are endowed with extraordinary
pugnacity. When in repose they are but
dingy-looking creatures, but upon becoming

enraged they display a marvellous range of
iridescent colouring which shifts about in kalei-
doscope fashion. They are fed with the larvae
of mosquitoes, for the sale of which there are
regular shops in the Sampeng district of
Bangkok. Large sums are wagered on the
fighting powers of the finny warriors, and in
many cases their owners refuse to sell them
for hundreds of ticals.

Siamese boxing, a favourite amusement with
the soldiery, is distinctly interesting to witness.
The contestants are allowed to use the feet, as
in the French savafc, while their arms are
swathed up to the elbow in strips of cloth
or coconut fibre. Siamese football is a game
in which four men usually take part. Their
object is to keep a small rattan ball in the air
as long as possible by knocking it to one
another in shuttlecock fashion. The ball may
be struck with the feet, knees, head, or

shoulders only. In this game the Siamese
youths display a remarkable agility ; during
the visit to Siam of Prince Henry of Prussia
some years ago a quartette of players kept a
ball in motion in this way for fifty-five minutes,
a truly wonderful performance.

Among the now prohibited forms of " sport"
which were previously quite common in Siam
are cock-fighting and the " awphlong suam lang
tao hai wing khieng kan," a species of amuse-
ment derived from making tortoises run races
with small fires upon their backs. This
latter pastime, it would seem, however, could
hardly have possessed an excessively lively
interest for any one but the tortoise.

During recent years motoring and motor-
boat racing have become exceedingly popular
among the more wealthy members of the com-
munity, while football on European lines has
been started in some of the schools.

BANGKOK

AXGKOK, the capital of
Siam (or, to give it
its official designation,
" Krung Thep"), stands
on the huge alluvial
plain surrounding • the
mouth of the river
Chao Phya Menam (lit.
"Mother of Waters"),
and is some fourteen miles in a direct line from
the sea, or thirty-four miles distant if the wind-
ings of the stream are followed. The city was

founded in 1768 by Phya Tak, a generalissimo
of Chinese descent, who drove out the Bur-
mans and seized the reins of government after
the sacking of Ayuthia, the ancient capital.
He commenced building on the west bank, and
it was not until 1850, or thereabouts, that the
city began to cross the river eastwards. To-
day, however, the main portion of it lies on
the east side of the river, and although the
west bank is thickly populated, the district
beyond is merely overgrown with jungle, con-
taining here and there a few ruins only. The

trip from the bar at the mouth of the Menam
to the anchorage just below the town itself is
a pleasant one. Although at first the low-lying
banks, fringed with mangroves, are slightly
monotonous, they soon assume quite a pic-
turesque appearance, and interest is awakened
before reaching Paknam, a thriving little village
where all vessels have to report their arrival
or departure to the Customs. Just above the
village and near the west bank of the river is a
typical Siamese wat, or temple. It is neither
a large nor important structure, but is prettily

—

^^^ — — •

mt> '- -^

■u*.-. !r^BBMK&5^S^^£M£to.

■ V. ".^1

Bigger

" ft

f*^M

GENERAL VIEW OF BANGKOK.

238

I— I

d
s

i
i

240

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ASADANG ROAD.

situated and forms a pleasing picture to the
eye, while the presence of a wooden fort in
the neighbourhood strikes a curious note of
contrast in the general surroundings. The

river from Paknam onward flows in a succes-
sion of serpentine curves and is filled with a
great variety of shipping, native boats, steam
and other launches, and occasional sea-going

steamers. The flat banks on both sides are
clothed with a wealth of tropical jungle, with
little plantations, temples, and villages appear-
ing at irregular intervals, while at several of
the points commanding the longer stretches
of the river are to be seen ancient white-walled
forts, which may in the past have proved very
formidable defences, but are now, of course,
quite useless. At one spot on the west bank
there is an extensive settlement of Peguans,
or Mohns, as they are generally known to the
Siamese, and here there is a modern fort and
barracks and a very interesting temple, built in
the style common to Lower Burma a couple of
centuries ago. After this is passed the ap-
proach to the capital is marked by the increas-
ing number of craft, while a large rice mill
and some oil-tanks loom up, and seem a trifle
incongruous in their typically Eastern setting.
From Bangkolem Point, where Bangkok may
be said to have its beginning, for a distance of
six or seven miles there is a quaint interming-
ling of wharves, temples, rice mills, floating
houses, and shops. The River Menam as it
passes through the town is about a couple of
hundred yards wide. The limited depth of
water on the bar prevents vessels with a
draught of more than twelve or thirteen feet
from reaching the capital, but a ship with no
larger draught than ten feet can go fully ioo
miies higher up the stream if necessary, and
there is never any lack of small craft in port.

Bangkok city proper, which is partly en-
closed by a wall, contains the Grand Palace,
most of the principal Government offices, and
the residences of the greater part of the Siamese
nobility, while the suburbs extend from Samsen
in the north to Bangkolem in the south. The
whole covers an area of about nine square
miles, and contains over two hundred and
eighty miles of public roads. All of these have

A VIEW OF THE MENAM RIVER FROM THE ROYAL PALACE.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

241

been constructed within the past sixty years,
and furnish a record of activity which reflects
the greatest credit on the Local Government
Department. . The method of construction
adopted at first was curious. Bricks were
laid on their sides upon the ground and layers
of sand spread over them. The roads thus
formed looked like horizontal brick walls, but
in wet weather they proved quagmires of red
clay and in dry weather became inches thick
in dust.

The opening up of the railways to places
where regular road metal could be obtained,
however, has remedied this state of things.
The roads are being gradually improved each
year, and as there are over 300 motor-cars now
in use in Bangkok the improvement has natu-
rally been appreciated. But, although roads
are coming into existence in all directions, an
immense amount of traffic still takes place on
the canals, or " klongs," which traverse the city
in all directions. All the perishable market
merchandise is brought to the capital by these
waterways; but the floating shops and floating
houses, once such a conspicuous feature of the
place, are rapidly disappearing, and in but a
few years will have become curiosities.
Within the town limits there are some 2,000
bridges, many of which are very handsome
structures. Upon each of his birthdays his
Majesty the king presents one or more to the
town, the fifty-fifth being the last. Of late
years the authorities have made several
attempts to introduce a satisfactory system of
drains, but without success. The failure has
been attributed generally to the absence of a
regular water supply. This matter, however,
is now receiving attention, and it is expected
that about the year 1912 the entire city will be

A MODERN STREET SCENE IN BANGKOK.

supplied with filtered water, brought from the
river some sixty miles up-stream.

The river at Bangkok is somewhat like the
figure 3, and the principal thoroughfare in

THE PALACE OF H.R.H. THE CROWN PRINCE OF SIAM.
THE OLD CITY WALL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF THE HOUSEHOLD.
OFFICES OF THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR.

•242

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

ROUTE OF TRAMWAYS IN BANGKOK.

the city, called the Charoen Krung, or New Road,
follows, in the main, the direction of the river.
It extends from the palace walls to Bangkolem,
and the electric tramway runs along it for a
distance of about six miles. To the north-east
of the city proper is Dusit Park, which forms
what may be termed the aristocratic suburb of
Bangkok. A new palace is in course of erec-
tion here, and a large number of princes,
nobles, and others connected with the Court
have of late years built residences in the
neighbourhood. The locality, formerly nothing
but a jungle swamp, has undergone a marvel-
lous transformation during the past ten years.
Electric trams run through it, and link it with
practically all the more important portions of
Bangkok, and it is connected with the Grand
Palace by a magnificent boulevard, which, with
its three parallel avenues, is fully one hundred
yards wide. To the south-east of this district
iies the walled city itself, containing the Grand

A STREET IN SAMPENG, THE CHINESE QUARTER OP BANGKOK. THE FLAGSTAFF AT THE ROYAL PALACE.

A STREET IN BANGKOK, SHOWING THE CITY WALL, A STREET AT WAT SUTHAT, SHOWING THE PRIESTS' HOUSES.

i. A Bkooar.

TYPES OF MEN IN SIAM.
2. Kamkx Tribesmen'. 3. Siamese Me\. 4. A Siamese Xoblemax ra Coi*rt Dress.

244

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Palace, royal mint, military headquarters, law-
courts, &c, besides numerous large and
picturesque temples. Opposite the Grand
Palace, and on the west side of the Menam, is
the Rong Law, or naval dock. The walls which
encircle the city proper are themselves not
altogether without interest. They are con-
structed of brick, and are about twenty feet

of the roads. The bricks used in these walls
are small but extremely durable.

South of the walled city is to be found the
main commercial part of Bangkok. Along the
riverside is a knotted congeries of narrow
lanes, known as Sampeng, which in all their
characteristics are an exact replica of a
Chinese native city. Here are to be found

high, and from fifteen to twenty feet thick at
the base ; the upper portion forms a platform,
protected with a wall perforated throughout
its length with ornamental machicolations. At
intervals the walls are surmounted by towers,
with embrasures for artillery, but these are fast
falling into decay, and in many places the
handsomely ornamental and fortified gateways
have been removed to allow for the widening

the gaudily begilt opium dens, the theatres,
imiisous dc plaisir, and similar institutions of
Canton, with the addition of the gambling-
house and police-station of Siam. This
district is the real "bazaar" of Bangkok, and
in it almost any known article may be pur-
chased, from Siamese Buddhas (made in
Birmingham) and ancient Siamese pottery
(manufactured the year previously in Japan) to

piece goods and steamboats. The district has
a somewhat unsavoury atmosphere, but is as
orderly as any other district in Bangkok, and
apparently, for the Chinaman, just as healthy.
The locality has few charms for the Europeans
resident in Bangkok, who rarely go there
except for business purposes, but it should not
be entirely ignored by the tourist, who will
probably find much to interest him both in the
habits of the people and in their methods of
conducting their trade. A little to the south
and east of Sampeng is Bangrak, where most
of the foreign legations and the majority of the
banks and offices of Western business people
are situated, and from thence to Bangkolen
Point there is a long string of rice and saw
mills, docks, ironworks, &c. All the principal
streets in Bangkok are lighted by electricity,
supplied under contract to the Government by
the Siam Electricity Company, Ltd., a Danish
concern, which also owns one half of the
twenty-five odd miles of electric tramways, and
has what is tantamount to a controlling interest
in the remainder.

The visitor's first impression of Bangkok is not
favourable. After landing at Windsor's Wharf,
he has to pass through the lower part of the
town, which has not yet received the same
amount of attention that has been bestowed by
the authorities upon some of the other districts,
and many of the old squalid bamboo and attap
hovels still line the roadway. But in its human
element the street life is extremely interesting.
It is wonderful to see the representatives of so
many nationalities rubbing shoulder to shoulder
in the different thoroughfares or jostling one
another in the market-place. The crowds which
throng the streets are composed of Siamese,
Chinese, Malays, Tamils, Bengalis, Madrassis,
Pathans, and half a score of other tribes and
castes of British India, Burmese, Ceylonese,
Javanese, Cambodians, Annamites, Laos, Shans,
and Mohns, all of whom retain sufficient of
their national dress and characteristics to
impart an idea of their origin. The spectacular
effect of such a gathering is enhanced by the
kaleidoscopic variety of the colours worn. The
national dress of the Siamese is the " panung," a
form of covering not altogether dissimilar to
the Malay sarong, which is worn by all classes
and by both sexes. Although about as simple
as it is possible to imagine, the panung is by
no means an easy garment for the tyro to don
satisfactorily. It consists of a single strip of
cloth about one yard wide and four or five
yards in length. The approximate centre is
placed at the back of the waist and the cloth
is then wrapped round the loins and a portion
passed between the knees and tucked into the
part round the waist at the back, so that some-
thing like a very baggy pair of knickerbockers
is formed. Queer garment though it is, the
panung is exceedingly comfortable, and suits
the people well. It is made of all manner of
materials, and costs from a few cents up to
hundreds of ticals. In addition to the
panung the men wear short white tunics
and European shoes and stockings, while the
women content themselves with a long strip of
cloth about half a yard wide, known as a
" pahom," which is generally wrapped loosely
under the arms or draped gracefully over their
shoulders. In former years it was considered
lucky to wear panungs of a certain colour
on the different days of the week, members
of the royal house only wearing red panungs
all the time.

The fact that a majority of the women in
Siam wear their hair cropped short occasion-
ally makes it difficult to distinguish their sex,
as the clothing of the men and women is
sometimes almost identical. The origin of this
custom among the women of keeping their
hair short is variously explained ; but the most
picturesque story, and the one which gains
the most credence, is that which tells how the
women, by their muscular and warlike appear-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

245

A STREET HAWKER.

A TRAVELLING RESTAURANT.
A RIVER MARKET.

ance, once saved their country from invasion.
On one occasion, during the days when Lopuri
was capital and alarums and excursions from
Burmans, Shans, Peguans and other neigh-
bours were the order of the day, a strong
Burman force put in an appearance. It was
harvest-time, and most of the men-folk were a!
work in the fields. Some genius suggested
that if the women cut their hair, took what
arms they could muster, and " manned " the
battlements, the enemy, seeing such a strong
force on the qui vivc, would promptly retire.
All transpired just as had been predicted, and
the enemy, taken by surprise, retreated in con-
fusion. The women of Lopuri, on seeing this,
started in pursuit and chased them to a safe
distance. Such is the tradition, which may or
may not be founded on fact. It seems, how-
ever, to be generally credited throughout Siam.

THE GRAND PALACE.

The veritable centre of Bangkok, social as
well as official and political, is the Grand
Palace. Not only is it the official residence
of H.M. King Chulalongkorn, but it contains a
number of the principal Government offices,
the royal Wat, or temple, in which is enshrined
the emerald image of Buddha, and the royal
Treasury. In reality it is a walled town cover-
ing an area of over half a square mile. Some
portions of it are absolutely private ; others
may be viewed only when an order has been
obtained from the High Chamberlain or
Minister of the Royal Household. Among the
latter are the Halls of Audience, which, with
their mingling of the modern Italian and
Siamese styles of architecture, form rather a
striking building. There are also a number of
old cannon, boats, and other curiosities to be

seen in the neighbourhood, which are of bearing upon the history, not only of Siam,
interest to the antiquary. The National but of neighbouring countries, while the

THE CITY END OF NEW ROAD.

Library contains a large number of very
ancient and valuable Pali and Sanskrit books

" Mahathai," or Department of the Interior,
which is adjacent to the library, has quite an

24G

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

nut and smoked. He who paid the highest
figure invariably gained his case. Near the
Law Courts are the barracks and military
prison and the Saranrom Palace, the official
residence of H.R.H. the Crown Prince. The
gardens attached to the latter are now occupied
by the Dvi Panya Club. In this locality also
are other Government departments, most of
which are large modern buildings well worth
inspection.

BANGKOK WATS, OR TEMPLES.

The officially recognised urban area of
Bangkok contains no less than 398 Buddhist
wats, or temples. No two of them are exactly
alike and yet all possess many features in
common ; unfortunately, however, numbers
of them are now literally falling to pieces.
They generally comprise a central pagoda con-
taining a big image of the Gautama Buddha ;
a bote, or hall where ordinary services and
certain religious festivals are held ; a salii, or
building in which pilgrims or other homeless
persons may encamp ; numerous courtyards, a
tank for bathing, and houses for the priests.
Some contain quadrangular cloisters filled with
images of Buddha, while others have their

A STREET SCENE AT PAKNAM.

interesting little museum of its own, which is
open to visitors. The Treasury and Finance
Department offices, which are in the same
block of buildings, possess no particular
interest, but every one who visits the royal
palace should see the white elephants, housed
near by. There are usually four or five of
these animals, each in its separate stable and
with its own attendants. They are mottled
rather than white, and have pink toe-nails and
ear-tips. Apparently they are no longer
viewed as sacred ; upon arrival in Bangkok
they have titles conferred upon them, but
otherwise they seem to be treated little better
than the ordinary working elephants. Wat
Prakeo, the temple within the palace walls, is
the shrine of the so-called " Emerald Buddha,"
a little figure made of green jade and standing
about eighteen inches high. This temple
contains also a number of bniiga mas, or gold
and silver trees presented to the sovereign at
stated periods by the various small suzerain
States in the Malay Peninsula. They are both
interesting and valuable.

Outside the Grand Palace to the north is the
spacious Premane Ground, formerly used for
royal cremations, but which now is simply a
recreation-ground, used for occasional military
reviews. To the west is the Royal Education
Department, to the east the Royal Law Courts,
and to the north the Royal Museum and Mint.
The Royal Museum is worth a visit, but,
unfortunately, has been a good deal neglected
of late years ; the Mint possesses several points
of interest, but admission to it is somewhat
difficult to obtain. Near to the Museum, on
the river side, are the spacious sheds contain-
ing the State barges, used in the annual water
pageants. Some of them are large enough to
carry a hundred rowers, and they look
strikingly picturesque in the river, with their
gold, red, and white pavilions and red-coated
crews. The Royal Courts of Justice contain,
beside the court-rooms, the judge's chambers
and the various offices of the department.
The courts themselves range from the
" Borispah." or Magistrates' Court, to the
Supreme Court, known as the " Dika," and all
are open to the public during trials. It is
interesting to compare them with the Siamese
courts of only thirty years ago, when judges,
accused, accusers, witnesses, and spectators
squatted on the floor in a circle and ate betel-

SELLERS OF BUDDHA IMAGES IN SAMPENG.
A CARPENTER'S SHOP.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

247

walls adorned with quaint frescoes. The
central shrines are usually surmounted by
either phrapangs or prachidccs. Smaller pra-
chidccs, which have been erected by persons
desirous of " acquiring merit," are also very
often found scattered in immense numbers
about the courtyards, while in some of the
temples small images of Buddha are to be seen
on every available coign of vantage. But the
great glory of most of the wats lies in their
tiled roofs, the triple gables of which are
characteristically Siamese. The ornamentation
by means of coloured tiles, which is a common
feature of most of the temples, may be seen to
the best advantage in Bangkok at Wat Phrakeo.
The best view of the city is obtained from the
terrace of Wat Phoo Kao Tawng. The temple
stands on an artificial hill, built of brickwork,
pieces of rock, and masses of concrete, and
contains a relic of Buddha sent to Siam from
Ceylon. Wat Rachabopitr, near the Local
Government Department, is interesting on
account of the prachidccs and phrapangs which
are memorials to the queens of the last reign.
Wat Pho, Wat Mahan, Wat Suthat, and Wat
Cheng all contain numbers of very quaint
Chinese carvings ; while at Wat Saket, near
the Golden Mountain, and at Wat Yannawa, in
the Bangrak district, cremations are very fre-
quent, and may be witnessed almost any day.
All the wats are open to the public day and
night, and the visitor may wander through
them at will. Practically everv Siamese enters

A SIAMESE HOUSE ON A KLONG (CANAL V

A SIAMESE LADY OP NOBLE BIRTH.

the priesthood at some time of his life, and in
the larger of the monasteries are to be found
all sorts and conditions of men wearing the
yellow robe. At a low estimate the number of
priests in Bangkok alone averages between
twelve thousand and fifteen thousand. Some
of the priests are expeits in the process of
making the fireworks used in cremations, while
others occupy themselves in fashioning images
of Buddha or in copying Pali religious works.
Their advice even in the most trivial matters is
sought after by all classes of the people, and
in Bangkok they are often credited with the
ability to predict the winning numbers in the
" huey," or Chinese lottery, which is drawn
nightly. The cremations of priests, especially
of the more venerable ones, is attended with
elaborate ceremonial. The body, enclosed in a
gilded casket, is placed on the summit of a very
tall pyre ; immediately beneath it is a large
quantity of highly combustible matter, from
which long strings extend to the ground.
After appropriate religious services, fireworks
attached to the strings are ignited, and these
set fire to the whole structure.

CLUBS AND THEATRES.

Of social clubs Bangkok possesses several.
The British Club, Bangkok United Club, and
German clubs are the most important of the
purely social European institutions, but the
Siamese nobles have an excellent club also
known as the Dvi Panya Club, situated in the
charming Saranrom gardens, near the royal
palace. Then, again, there is the Royal Bang-
kok Sports Club, which combines the func
tions of a social and sporting institution ; the
Engineering Society of Siam, which, besides
affording its members opportunities for the
discussion of technical subjects, often arranges
pleasant social parties to visit places of interest
in the immediate neighbourhood ; the Siam
Society, which has for its object the considera-
tion of literary, historical, and archaeological
matters ; the Bangkok Chess Club, and a
Library Association, Of theatres, in the
European sense "f the term, Bangkok possesses
none, although there are one or two buildings
suitable for dramatic performances, The best

•248

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

of these belong to H.E. Chao Phya Deveor,
whose royal theatrical troupe performs at
intervals all the classic Siamese plays. The
Siamese drama proper, or lakawu, consists of

owners pay a small fee per diem, while the
huey lottery, also licensed by the Government,
is drawn nightly. Some idea of the extent
to which this latter form of gambling is

FISHING BOATS, PAKNAM.

ancient plays performed by troupes of women
who have been trained in the art from their
youth. Posturing and posture-dancing are a
great feature of the productions, which are
interesting from a spectacular point of view,
even though the music is unappreciated and
the dialogue unintelligible. The leckay, or
jeekay, a species of burlesque, is a more modern
form of entertainment, and one that is very
popular among the masses, who greatly enjoy
its rather broad humour. Of late years the
Saranrom Amateur Dramatic Association, com-
posed of young Siamese nobles, have produced
such plays as Pinero's "Gay Lord Quex" and
Sheridan's " School for Scandal " in Siamese.
The last production of the society was a play
called "The Shield," illustrative of modern
Bangkok life, which was written by no less a
personage than the Crown Prince himself.

THE BANGKOK GAMBLING
HOUSES.

In any list of those places which are likely
to interest the visitor to Bangkok the licensed
gambling-houses should be included. There
are half a dozen altogether, the principal one
being Phratoo Sam Yot. They are open all
day and half the night, are extensively patron-
ised, and form a rich source of revenue for
the Government. Four games of chance are
played- -all of Chinese origin — the most popular
being that known as "tua," a modification of
Chinese fan-tan. This is played on a large-
circular mat, some twenty to thirty feet in
diameter, around which squat players of all
ages and of both sexes. There is no limit to the
stakes, which range from a few small coins up
to thousands of ticals. The dexterity, acquired
from long practice, with which the croupiers
rake the money about on the mats with huge
bamboo implements, seldom or never making
a mistake, is marvellous. In addition to the
gambling in the regular gambling-houses,
however, certain games with cards and dice
are permitted upon those premises where the

practised in Bangkok may be formed from
the large number of little tables, lighted with
small square lamps, and presided over by
Chinamen, which may be seen in all the
business thoroughfares after nightfall. The
Chinamen collect the money and distribute
the lottery tickets. A little before midnight
the duplicates of the tickets are collected and
taken to the headquarters of the gambling
farm, where the drawing takes place. During
the Siamese year 1907-08 the organiser of the
lottery paid the Government 3,055 000 ticals
for his privileges, while the other forms of
gambling produced revenue for the Govern-
ment amounting to 3,563,548 ticals — the two
sums being equivalent to £490,000.

PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Bangkok to-day is undergoing a rapid pro-
cess of transformation. In place of bamboo
and thatched teak-wood houses, buildings of a
more substantial nature are continually spring-
ing up, and old landmarks are being removed.
In conjunction with the spread of Western
ideas, too, a good many of the old customs
of the people, both civil and religious, are
slowly but surely dying out. The Siamese
have a proverb, " He who has once tasted
of the water of the Chao Phya Menam must
perforce return to drink of it again." Literally
none but a hopeless lunatic would drink the
unfiltered water of the Menam ; but certain
it is that most Europeans who have once
dwelt for any length of time in Bangkok, and
have left the town, are generally only too
willing to return to it. It is hot in the early
summer months and wet during the months
following them, but has a really enjoyable
climate in winter. A mean of temperature
taken for ten years was 81-4° F., the mean
range for that period being 23 F. per
day. It is this daily range of tempera-
ture, coupled with the fact that during
the greater portion of the year cool evening

breezes come from the sea, which makes the
place as healthy as it is. Serious epidemics
are practically unknown.

Of late years the extension of the railway
system has brought within easy reach of
Bangkok a good many places of more than
passing interest. Of these, the first in im-
portance is undoubtedly the ancient capital,
Ayuthia, situated some fifty miles up the
Menam river. It is a quaint and straggling
town, built on a group of islands, on one of
which stand the ruins of the city destroyed
by the Burmans in their raid in 1767. Recently
much of the jungle with which these ruins
were enveloped has been cleared away. Other
places of interest easily reached by train are —
Petchaburi, where there are fine limestone
caves and a royal palace ; Ratburi, an im-
portant garrison town, where there is also
an ancient palace ; and Prapatom, which
possesses one of the finest temples in Siam.
The summer palace at Bang-pa-in, the Mohn
villages of Pakret and Paklat, and the irrigated
district at Klong Rangsit are worthy of a visit,
while archaeologists will find much to study
in the gigantic ruins of the buildings of the
ancient Kmers, at Phi Mai, near Korat.

POPULATION.

No satisfactory official census has yet been
taken in Bangkok, and it is difficult to estimate,
even approximately, what the population may
be. A rough guess would place the number
of persons resident in the town at between
500,000 and 600,000, including about 1,000
Europeans and Americans. The Chinese
population, by the returns of the poll tax
in 1900, was 65,345 male adults ; and the
entire estimated Chinese population, allowing
for old men, women, and children, who pay
no tax, 85,000. In 1903 the number rose to
100,000 and has certainly increased by 25 per
cent, since that time. Competent judges who
have considered the subject of the relative
disposition between the sexes among the
Siamese estimate that there are about 130
women to 100 men.

THE NATIONAL
LIBRARY.

By O. Frankfurter, Ph.D.

In memory of King Mongkut his direct
descendants founded, in 1882, the hundredth
anniversary of the establishment of Bangkok
as the capital of Siam, a library, which was
called by the name the King held whilst in the
priesthood, the Vajiranana. This library was
not a State institution, although from its very-
beginning generous assistance was lent to it by
the donation of books and by the provision
of furniture, &c. In connection with it a
magazine was issued, the Yajirai'idna
Magazine, and in its columns information
may be found regarding the early history,
literature, and customs of Siam. The library
was originally conceived as a general one ; and
as the libraries of King Mongkut and his brother
Phra Pin Klao were incorporated with it, the
collection of books in foreign literature,
especially English, was for that time a valuable
one. With regard to Siamese literature an
endeavour was made to collect all books
published in Siam, and copies were added
of some of the valuable and unique MSS.
contained in the Royal Scribe Department.
Members were admitted by vote of the com-
mittee. They had to pay an annual sub-
scription of twenty ticals, and the friendly

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•250

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

intercourse thus established on neutral ground
was one of the great benefits derived from
that institution.

which would redound to his glory," he
decreed, with the unanimous consent of
the other members of the royal family

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY.

In 1889 the library, having grown consider-
ably since its foundation, was transferred to
the building in which it is now housed, and
when, in 1904, the king was desirous of com-

as founders of the Vajiranana Library, "that
it should be established as the National
Library."
The library was thus made accessible " to

THE READING ROOM.

memorating the hundredth anniversary of the
birth of his august father, his Majesty Phra
Chom Klao, " by an institution of public utility

all persons interested in researches the benefit
of which can be derived from books," and was
opened on November 14, 1905, an annual grant

of 25,000 ticals being made by the Govern-
ment towards its upkeep.

The administration of the library was vested
in a council consisting of a president and
four members. They are appointed by the
king and hold office for a term ot three years,
one member retiring each year. The chief
librarian and the librarians are also appointed
by the king, whilst the necessary number of
clerks and minor officials are appointed by
the council. The first council consisted of
H.K.H. the Crown Prince, as President, T.R.H.
Prince Sammot and Prince Damrong, Phya
Prajakit, and Phya Boranburanuraks as
members. This council was confirmed in
office by his Majesty after the first year for a
succeeding year.

It was quite apparent that the scope of
the library had to be a restricted one, however
desirable it might have been to form a general
library in which all scientific branches were
included. After mature consideration the com-
mittee decided, owing to the limited means at
their disposal, to give their whole attention
to the acquisition of the Thai literature, rightly
thinking that printed books in foreign languages
could be acquired at a future date, whilst any
delay in the acquisition of Thai MSS. might
prove fatal. According to the statutes three
divisions were therefore formed — (1) the Budd-
hist Seel ion, (2) the Thai Section, (3) the
General Section. In the Buddhist Section
were included the MSS. and books which
had formerly formed the Ecclesiastical
Library or had been kept in the Mandirad-
harma Hall, built during the reign of Phra
Buddha Yot Fa to contain the sacred books.
It was also to contain books in all languages
having reference to Buddhism in its various
aspects. The Thai Section was to include
the literature written in the different languages
or dialects spoken or used by the Thai people,
whilst the Foreign Section was to contain
books written in foreign languages other than
those added to the preceding section.

The task which was thus incumbent on the
council was admittedly an arduous one, but no
one could foresee its scope. Nothing was
practically known about Thai literature.
Printing was only introduced into Siam in
1836. and came into general use only in the
reign of King Mongkut. In the troublous
times which followed the destruction of
Ayuthia many valuable MSS. had been lost ;
those which were found were with few excep-
tions carelessly copied ; old and original MSS.
did not seem available, and every scribe, it
appeared, thought he was justified in altering
and correcting MSS. In many cases simply the
official title of the author was used and his name
remains unknown, whilst the dating of MSS.
leaves much to be desired. Generally speaking,
it is not the author but rather the work, as such,
which is honoured.

However, as soon as it was shown that the
committee were in real earnest, donations
poured in and are still pouring in from all
sides, both from priest and layman. MSS.
could be acquired at a small cost, and were
placed in the library, and the time of scholars
employed in the library is now fully taken up
in cataloguing these treasures, for such they
may be well described. It will necessarily
take a long time before a catalogue raisonuc of
the MSS. can be issued, showing the literary
activity of the Thai race, and at best it can only
be considered a first attempt by which attention
of scholars is directed to hitherto uncultivated
fields.

The library has been able to collect and
preserve for future generations MSS. which
would otherwise have been destroyed. Illus-
trated MSS. have also been added ; and whilst
they all show Indian influence, they bear
testimony to the artistic taste of Siam. Inscrip-
tions and facsimiles of inscriptions are collected,
transcribed, and described, so as to be one

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

251

day incorporated in a Corpus hiscriptioimm.
Photographs and seals are likewise collected in
so far as they bear on history and customs.
Lately also the archives of the Ministry for the
Interior have been added, and Government
reports issued by the different departments are
collected and made accessible.

In the collection of Buddhist MSS. the
library has been also singularly lucky, and it
has been able to add a great many MSS. to the
large numbers it originally possessed. These
MSS. came from all parts of the country, and
they show that princes and commoners vied
with each other in translating into the ver-
nacular languages the sacred writings in Pali,
fn order to spread the Buddhist doctrine
amongst the people.

Of course, the Foreign Section is still the
weakest, even though the committee have
already succeeded in adding to it some ancient
books which throw light on Siamese history.
Siam is a new country. References to Siam by
ancient writers and travellers are very casual
and few, and it is only through the intercourse
which took place with European nations in the
seventeenth century that we get an idea of how
Siam presented itself to foreign observers.
Since the destruction of Ayuthia in 1767 and the
establishment of the capital in Bangkok, very
few books have been published on Siam, and
there are only occasional references to Siam in
periodicals. These are, of course, as far as
possible acquired. More attention was paid to
Siam after the treaties with foreign Powers
were made in 1855, and especially during the
present reign more foreign publications treat-
ing on Siam have been issued. They will be
acquired in time, even if an honest reviewer
could only say about most of them that they

are written without sufficient knowledge and
with a certain bias and under preconceived
ideas.

DR. O. FRANKFURTER.

The foundation of the Histarical Research
Society, under the presidency of his Majesty
the king, has also given a new impetus to those

engaged in research work. The chief aim of
the council is and must for some years to come
be, to collect in the library everything which
has reference to and shows the literary activity
of the Thai race, so that it may truly deserve
the name of a " National " Library.

Oscar Frankfurter, Ph.D., the chief
librarian of the National Library, Bangkok,
was born on February 23, 1X52, and educated
at the Universities of Gottingen and Berlin.
He joined the Siamese Government Service
in 1884 and was employed in various capacities
prior to his appointment to his present office in
1905. He is the President of the Siam Society,
and, in 1902, was the delegate of the Govern-
ment at the British Medical Congress in Ham-
burg. Among Dr. Frankfurter's publications
are a handbook of Pali and a small volume
dealing with the elements of Siamese grammar.
He has also written a number of papers on
Siamese law, &c, for various scientific and
other journals, and is the author of the interest-
ing article on Buddhism which appears in the
Ecclesiastical Section of this volume.

THE MUSEUM.

The Museum in Bangkok was established for
educational purposes in connection with the
Ministry for Education in 1878. In it were
shown, in the first instance, articles of foreign
workmanship and objects of natural history.
When in 1882 a national exhibition was held to
celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Bang-
kok as the capital of Siam. the exhibits then
made were collected in the museum, and
thus the foundation of the National Museum
was laid.

I. FKOXT VlttW.

THE ROYAL MUSEUM.
2. Siamese INSTRUMENTS.

3. The White Elephant.

■2,5-2

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

The museum was removed in 1890 to an old
palace building, which is a good specimen of
Siamese architecture, and now contains speci-
mens of the arts, manufactures, household
goods, antiquities, and coins of Siam and
neighbouring countries, as well as specimens
of natural history. The intention exists to
collect and make a permanent exhibition of
the antiquities scattered throughout the
country.

The museum is open daily, except on Satur-
days and Sundays, from 10 to 5, and the public
are admitted in the afternoon from 2 to 5.

THE UNITED CLUB.

The United Club, which was established
upwards of twenty years ago, may perhaps be

THE BRITISH CLUB.

The British Club was started in 1903 by a
number of residents in Bangkok, who combined
to form a proprietary club. The constitution
of the club was passed at a meeting of deben-
ture-holders on April 24, 1903, and the club
was opened on the following 6th of July,
the first committee being : W, E. Adam, J.
Stewart Black, J. W. Edie, Hon. R. A. Forbes-
Sempill (hon. secretary), R. W. Giblin, W. A.
Graham, T. Jones, H. G. Maud, and W. J. F.
Williamson.

The ownership of the club is vested in the
debenture-holders, who alone are responsible
for all club debts and liabilities. The mem-
bership consists of ordinary and honorary
members. Ordinary members must be British
residents in Siam, and are divided into those
holding and those not holding debentures ;

central and convenient position ; but they are
now scarcely adequate to the requirements,
and recently there have been several proposals
for either extending the buildings or pur-
chasing a piece of land in the vicinity and
erecting a new club-house altogether. At the
present time (August, 1908) the club has a
membership of 90 — 85 ordinary and 5 honorary
members. The committee consists of Messrs.
W. R. D. Beckett, J. Stewart Black, A. C.
Carter, E. W. Edie,-R. W. Giblin, H. Gittins,
Dr. Highet, H. Price, and W. J. F. Williamson,
with S. Brighouse, hon. secretary.

THE DEUTSCHER KLUB.

The social centre and general meeting-place
for German residents in Bangkok is the

§$*SPJ

3gfS^

THE UNITED CLUB.

THE GERMAN CLUB.

THE BRITISH CLUB.

considered the most popular resort for
foreign residents in Bangkok. It occupies
large premises, surrounded by well-laid-out
grounds, at the corner of New Road and
Siphya Road. The club is purely social in its
character. The wives and daughters of
members are admitted to certain privileges,
including, for instance, the free use of the
reading-room and library, and often dances and
other social functions take place in the club
buildings.

The club contains very comfortable dining,
reading, card, and billiard rooms, and possesses
also a fine bowling-alley and several good
tennis-courts, which are constantly in use. The
affairs of the club, which in 1908 had a total
membership of 225, are conducted by a paid
secretary.

honorary members comprise residents of Siam,
other than British, who may be elected to the
club. Candidates for admission are balloted
for by the debenture-holders, but while ordinary
members pay an entrance fee of 100 ticals
(about £y 10s.) and a monthly subscription
of 15 ticals (about ^.'1 2s. 6d.), honorary members
are only called upon to pay the monthly
subscription.

The club is under the sole control of the
debenture-holders, who annually elect a com-
mittee of nine from among their number to
manage the affairs of the club. Ladies
belonging to the families of members are
entitled to the use of such rooms in the club
as the committee may from time to time
declare open to ladies.

The club premises are situated in a very

Deutscher Klub, which was founded, with an
original membership of 40, some eighteen
years ago. During the first years of its
existence the Klub had a small rented house as
its headquarters, for its present premises in
Suriwongse Road were not erected until 1896.
The building is surrounded by well-laid-out
grounds, containing tennis-courts, &c, and the
Klub has now 135 members, which means
practically every German resident in Siam.
Membership is not rigidly confined to Germans,
but is open to all persons who have German
sympathies and speak the German language
fluently. H.R.H. Prince Nakonsuwan, on his
return to Siam after completing his military
education in Germany, was elected a member
of the Klub at his own request. Ladies are
admitted to the Klub on all ordinary occasions.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

253

They have their own reading-room, and are
entitled to make free use of the library, which
is an excellent one, comprising German,
English, and French books. The club is also
provided with billiard-tables, a bowling-alley,
and a gymnasium for the entertainment of the
members. The management of the Klub is
vested in a committee, elected annually. The
office-holders for 1908 are— President, F. Lutz ;
hon. secretaries, C. Zippert and A. Link ; hon.
treasurer, A. Osann ; committee : E. Guergen,
P. Hein, and M. Mansfeldt.

THE DVI PANYA CLUB.

• The Dvi Panya Club, Which name, translated
literally, means " Increased Wisdom," was
founded in April, 1904, by H.R.H. the Crown
Prince of Siam, and owes the large measure of
success it has attained as the leading social club
in Bangkok to the liberality with which his
Royal Highness has supported it. The member-
ship is confined rigidly to princes, nobles, and
leading members of the Siamese community.

The original members, who numbered 30, were
all attached to the household of the Crown
Prince ; the membership roll now contains no
less than 300 names. The club buildings are
situated at Saranrom, in the midst of a fine and
well-laid-out park, the whole of which property
belongs to the Crown Prince. They contain
billiard, reading and dining rooms, and a
library, and are, indeed, equipped with every
convenience and luxury calculated to add to
the comfort of the club members.

The club issues a monthly magazine, of
which H.R.H. the Crown Prince is the editor
and Luang Abhiraks Rajaridhi the sub-editor.
His Royal Highness carries out his duties under
a nom de plume. A Debating Society has also
been formed in connection with the club, and
in these and various other ways the members
endeavour to live up to their name and
increase their wisdom. They, however,
engage in physical as well as mental exercises.
The tennis-courts in the grounds are continually
in use, and a sports meeting, which is always
well attended and well patronised, is organised

by the members of the club each year. The
financial position of the club cannot be
accurately gauged, for members are not
pressed for their subscriptions or posted if they
do not pay. It is a system which has many
obvious advantages from the point of view of
the private member, but it is one that could
not be continued successfully for any length of
time provided the club's banking account was
not supplemented very frequently by the ■ royal
patron. The officers for 1908 are : President
and Patron, H.R.H. the Crown Prince of
Siam ; vice-president, Prince Asdang ; hon.
treasurer, Phra Sanpakarn ; and hon. sec-
retary, Laung Abhiraks Rajaridhi.

Attached to the club, and formerly part of it,
is the small but pretty theatre used by the
Saranrom A.C.C. This was previously
maintained out of the club funds, but as the
cost of its upkeep was found to be too heavy,
it was separated from the club and is now
maintained entirely by H.R.H. the Crown
Prince, whose interest in amateur theatricals is
well known.

*==£: o 22: as?* 1

SOCIAL.

Phra Moxtri Potchanakit. 2. Chamix Choxg Bhakm-onu Kwa.

4. HE. Chow Phya Bhaskarawongse. 5. Dr. Yai S. Sanitwongse.

H.E. Phya Varaboxgsa Bibauhaxa (Chamberlain to H.M. the King of Siam).
6. H.E. Chow Phya Scrasakdi Moxtri. 7. Luang Riddhisakdi.

SIAMESE.

H.E. Chow Phya Bhaskarawongse,

who, after a long and highly successful official
career, is now living quietly in retirement in a
fine home on the west bank of the river, pre-

sented to him by his Majesty the king, was
born at Champorn and educated privately, both
in England and on the Continent of Europe.
Returning to Bangkok in 1867, he became
private secretary to his late Majesty, and
subsequently was for some time also private

secretary to his Majesty King Chulalongkorn.
In 1879 he was Minister for Siam at the Court
of St. James, but returning to Bangkok the
same year, he became the Superintendent of
Title Deeds and afterwards the Superintendent
of the Customs, several very considerable

'254

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

reforms in the latter service being effected
during the period of his administration.
Among other high positions he has held have
been those of Minister for Agriculture and
Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public
Instruction. His Excellency retired from
official life, with a well-earned pension, in
1904.

H.E. Chow Phya Surasakdi Montri,
the founder and concessionaire of the Sriracha
Company, Ltd., is a member of one of the
oldest Siamese families in the country, and
during his long official career has held some
of the highest positions in the State. Born in
Bangkok in 1851, he was educated privately
with a view to entering the army, and upon
the completion of his studies he was drafted
into the king's bodyguard, where he held the
post of aide-de-camp to his Majesty. In this
capacity he was sent on a special mission to
England and represented the King of Siam at
the marriage of Kaiser Wilhelm in Berlin.
Returning to Siam with the rank of Major-
General, he devoted himself to the re-organisa-
tion of the military forces and introduced many
far-reaching and effective reforms. He was
quickly promoted Lieutenant-General and sub-
sequently became Commander-in-Chief of the
army. He was the leader of the two expedi-
tions, each occupying two years, which were
despatched for the purpose of quelling' the
" Black Flag " rebellions on the Tonkin border,
and he was not only successful in achieving the
object of his mission, but at the same time, also,
determined the limits of the French and
Siamese territories. Returning to Bangkok,
he was appointed Minister of Agriculture', but
after carrying out the responsibiliiies of this
office for several years, he resigned and was

granted a pension by the Government in recog-
nition of his long and valuable service. In
iqoi, however, he was again in request for
frontier duty and was placed in charge of the
force sent to quell the disturbances in the Shan
States. Since his retirement from the Govern-
ment, H.E. Chow Phya Surasakdi has turned
his attention to commercial matters, and it is
to his initiative and enterprise almost solely
that the Sriracha Company owes' its present
important position. The formation of the
company was the direct outcome of his
Excellency's failing health and subsequent
visit to Sriracha. Having a good knowledge
of forestry, he was impressed with the size,
quality, and quantity of the trees there,' and
having obtained a concession, immediately
floated a company for the exploitation of the
timber in the Sriracha district.

Phya Varabongsa Bibadhana, Chamber-
lain of his Majesty's Household and Chief of 'the
Pages, was born and educated in Bangkok.
After completing his scholastic course he
entered the Government service and was
attached to the Privy Purse' Department as
Superintendent of Buildings and Houses, which
office he retained- until his transfer— to the
royal household. He accompanied his Majesty
on his last tour in Europe and is the possessor
of many foreign decorations.

Dr. Yai S. Sanitwongse's career furnishes
a striking example of the success which a man
may sometimes achieve in 3. totally different
sphere to that which he was marked out, both by
education and training, to* occupy. Dr. Sanit-
wongse, who is a son of Prince Sai Sanil wongse,
after completing his scholastic course in Bang-
kok, was entered as a student at Edinburgh
University in order that he might qualify for

the medical profession. He obtained the
degree of A.B.C.M. in 1885, and, returning to
his native town the same year, was appointed
a medical officer in the Government service.
Four years later he acted as secretary to a
special mission despatched by the Siamese
Government io Europe, and received many
honours and decorations from the Governments
of those countries he visited. Upon arriving in
Bangkok again in 1900, he resigned his medical
work, and assuming the directorship of the
Siam Canals, Land, and Irrigation Company,
Ltd., has devoted his energies to the work of
irrigation almost exclusively since that date.
The company was formed for the purpose of
irrigating waste pieces of ground, and so
making them suitable for cultivation, and with
the object, also, of establishing intercom-
munication between the large rivers. The
whole system of canals is now under the
supervision of a special Government depart-
ment, but a great deal of excellent work was
carried out by the company while it was in
existence, and the valuable services of Dr.
Sanitwongse in creating many facilities for the
transport of goods and passengers in various
parts of the country are generally recognised.
Phra Sanpakarn Hiranjakitch is the third
son of Phra Phromapibarn, and officer in the
king's bodyguard, and an official well known
and highly respected in Siam. After com-
pleting his education he entered the Govern-
ment service, where he remained for about ten
years, being for the greater part of the time
under H.R.H. Prince Makisra, the Minister of
Finance: The establishment of the Siam
Commercial Bank, however, and his appoint-
ment as its manager brought about his retire-
ment from Government employment. He has

H.E. PHRA SANPAKARN HIRANJAKITCH.
1. The Thkatre. 2. View showing the Otter Wail ok the Residential Property

H.E. PHRA SANPAKARN HIRANJAKITCH.
i Ink Lakus Villa. ;. The Small Villa. 3, The Reception Room.

•256

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

H.E. Phra Sanpakarn Hiranjakitch.

2. H.E. Phra Phromapibarn (father). 3. Khoox Sap Sanpakarn (wife of H.E. Phra Sanpakarn).

4. H.E. Phra Sanpakarn, with his Father, Uncle, and Brothers.

since devoted the whole of his time to the
conduct of this enterprise, and the success and
stability of the bank form in themselves a
high tribute to his organising ability and sound
financial training. Phra Sanpakarn, who is an
enthusiastic collector of antiques, has travelled
extensively in the Federated Malay States and
the East Indies, and his private residences,
which are reputed to be the finest in Bangkok
outside the royal palaces, are fitted with most
interesting mementoes of his journeyings.
The park surrounding his two villas, which is
at all times open to the public, also contains an
excellent little theatre, replete with every con-
venience for the staging of a modern dramatic
production. Phra Sanpakarn's second brother
lias been twice to Europe, and upon his recent
tour he was accompanied by his youngest
brother, who has also decided to enter the
banking business, and is now receiving a
thoroughly sound English education in London.
Phra Sanpakarn is married to Khoon Sap, a
daughter of a prominent Siamese official.

Phra Montri Potchanakit, the chairman
of the Siam Commercial Bank, has had a very
interesting career. After leaving school he
studied medicine in the United States, graduat-
ing in New York in 1870. Returning to his
birthplace, Bangkok, the same year, he joined
the bodyguard of H.M. the King of Siam as
assistant-surgeon. Afterwards he was ap-
pointed surgeon in the army, and while holding
this position he accompanied two expeditions
under Chow Phya Surasuc against the rebel-

lious Haws, his services, under the trying
circumstances of active warfare, being such as
to bring about his promotion to the post of
Surgeon-General of the Siamese Army. In
1892 he was elected an honorary member of
the Association of Military Surgeons of the
National Guard of the United States of
America. Resigning the army, he carried out
for six years the duties attaching to the civic
post of Inspector-General of Hospitals in
Bangkok ; in 1898, however, he joined the
Ministry of the Interior, receiving the official
title by which he is now so well known, but
after four years he was compelled to resign
this position on account of sickness, and was
placed on the pension list. Since his retire-
ment Phra Montri Potchanakit has taken a
great interest in commercial matters, and
besides being the chairman of the Siam Com-
mercial Bank, is also the owner of a large and
well-equipped rice mill.

Luang Riddhisakdi, who recently resigned
the Government service in favour of a com-
mercial career, was born in Bangkok in 1880,
and educated at the Normal School. He
was successful in his examinations, and
upon leaving school was appointed a
teacher at King's College. He retained
this position for two years, and was then
transferred to the Government Civil College.
Two years later, however, he abandoned
the scholastic profession and joined the
Government service. He was employed by the
Ministry of the Interior in different parts of the

country for some little time, and was subse-
quently made Assistant-Governor at Cholburi,
a post he held for eighteen months. Alto-
gether he remained in the Government
employment for six years. He resigned in
order to start business on his own account.
He floated a private company with a capital
of 80,000 ticals for the purpose of opening
large livery stables in Bangkok. His enter-
prise has been entirely successful, and the
promoters of the business hope, in a very short
time, to have as many as twenty depots in
different parts of Bangkok.

Chamun Chong Kwa, Chamberlain to
his Majesty the King of Siam, has had an
interesting career. Born in Bangkok in
1871, he went to Edinburgh at the age of
fourteen years. Having completed his educa-
tion there, he returned to Siam in 1890, and the
same year was appointed one of the body-
guard to his Majesty King Chulalongkorn.
He held the appointment for three years, and
for his services was given the title of Chamun
Rajah Nubarn. In 1893 he visited Europe
again, on this occasion accompanying H.R.H.
Prince Yugala to England. At the conclusion
of the tour he received his present title.
Chamun Chong Kwa married, in 1890, Lady
Krakoon Chong Kwa, his cousin. Lady Chong
Kwa was educated at Biarritz for five years,
and in Paris for a further term of three years.
She speaks both French and English fluently,
and has literary and artistic gifts of no mean
order.

S\f

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

257

COMMERCIAL.

SIAMESE.

" SIDDHIBHAND."

The premier Siamese store in Bangkok is
the " Siddhibhand," which is situated within
easy reach of the palace and Government
offices at Feung Nakara Road, Charoen Krung
Square. The company hold an appointment
from H.R.H. the Crown Prince, and enjoy the
patronage and support of many of the princes
and nobles of Siam. Their chief business,
perhaps, is that of house-furnishing, in which
department of activity they are recognised
specialists, some of the work which they have
carried through rivalling, both in regard
to style and tasteful arrangement, anything
that might have been done by the large
European houses. In addition to the furnish-
ing department there is a general department,
where the stock includes such diverse articles
as saddlery, statuary, jewellery, and soft goods.

The Rathakitch carriage works are carried
on in conjunction with the " Siddhibhand."
Here also a very high class trade is done; for

this country, is rarely heard of in Europe.
Preserved fruits, conserves, and delicacies find
great favour with the larger portion of the
Siamese public ; but when, some ten years ago,
the factory established on the west side of the
Menam at Bangkok under the name of " Sand-
habhojana, Ltd.," commenced the manufacture
of these preserves, the great object of the pro-
moters of the undertaking was to secure a
large export trade in addition to the local
patronage which was assured. In this they
were successful. Their goods found a ready
market in America, and were awarded a gold
medal at the St. Louis Exhibition. In 1908 the
company began to extend their operations, and
opened two shops in Charoen Krung. These
premises include an up-to-date restaurant, bar,
lounge, and store, and are largely patronised
by the Siamese nobility for whom the com-
pany especially cater. Their enterprise had
developed in other directions also, for an outfit
department for ladies has recently been opened,
as well as a branch devoted to dispensing of
Siamese and European medicines.
The company is a Siamese one entirely, and

KEE CHIANG & SONS.

The business of Kee Chiang & Sons, which
was established in quite a small way some
sixteen years ago, has now grown into one of
the largest enterprises of its kind in Bangkok.
This success has been due to good organi-
sation and largely to the good management of
the business on the part of its founder, Mr. F.
X. Yew Nguang and his son, Mr. Joseph Kuang
Nguang. As the trade grew branches were
opened first in the Talatnoi quarter, and after-
wards in the city proper ; for as the firm hold an
appointment from H.R.H. the Crown Prince,
and are continually receiving royal support
and patronage, it was considered essential that,
for the convenience of their royal customers,
they should have premises as near as possible
to the King's palace and the Government
offices.

Mr. Joseph Kuang Nguang was born and
educated in Bangkok. He showed a special
aptitude for languages, and was soon able to
speak English, French, and Chinese quite
fluently. After leaving school in order to

SANDHABHOJANA, LIMITED.
NAI THOLAY (Partner).

the works receive the support and secure orders
from all the leading members of the Siamese
community.

" SANDHABHOJANA, LTD."
The manufacture of Siamese preserves is a
trade which, though of considerable age in

owes its success to the efforts of Chow Phya
Bhaskharawongse, Lady Bhaskharawongse,
and Nai Thouay and his brother. Lady
Bhaskharawongse is an expert in Siamese
embroidery, and as superintendent of this
branch of the enterprise has earned a world-
wide reputation.

complete his education and for the purpose of
studying business methods in different countries,
he paid visits to all the chief commercial towns
of Europe and the East. Mr. Kuang Nguang is
a believer in the Christian religion, and during
his tour was received in audience by Pope
Pius X., the Archbishop of Westminster, and

i. The Stork.

" SIDDHIBHAND.

The Stores Department.
(See p. 257.)

3. The Jewellery Department'.

THE HKAI) Office.

KEE CHIANG & SONS.

2. The City Branch. 3. The Charoen Kruno Branch.

5. Joseph Kuakg Ngcang. 6. F. X. Yew Nguang (father).

(See p. 257.)

4. An Interior View.

260

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OE SIAM

the Archbishop of Paris. In addition to his
business responsibilities he now carries out the
honourable duties attaching to the office of page
to H.R.H. the Crown Prince of Siam. Mr.
Kuang Nguang is married to Lim Sew Hong,
the daughter of a prominent Bangkok merchant.

Sri Ratanart Chamun Rajaphan Tharraks Phra
Siriaysawan, was born in Bangkok and
educated at King's College for a period of five
years. On leaving school he joined the
Education Department, and afterwards the
Government Printing Office, being subsequently

study of Siamese Law, and after seven years
spent as an accountant, he was appointed Judge
in the Criminal Court, and subsequently occu-
pied a similar position in the Civil Court. He
resigned this legal work in order to start in
business as a printer. His success has been

THE AKSORANIT PRINTING OFFICE.

PHRA SIRIAYSAWAN AND HIS WIFE.

LUANG SUWANAKIT CHAMNARN.

The gold and silversmith's business carried
on by Luang Suwanakit Chamnarn in Warijak
Road was established in 1903. The firm,
who are jewellers by appointment to her
Majesty the Queen and his Royal Highness
the Crown Prince, undertake all kinds of work
connected with the polishing and setting of
precious stones. They make a speciality of
electroplating and stamping, and do a large
retail trade.

Luang Suwanakit Chairman, the proprietor,
was born in Bangkok in 1867, and educated at
the Wat Mahatat. Leaving school at the age
of twenty-one years, he was apprenticed for
two years to a Siamese goldsmith, and subse-
quently joined the royal goldsmiths, with whom
he remained for a period of three years, gaining
a thorough training in all departments of the
■ jeweller's trade. Before starting business on
his own account he was also for twelve years
in the employment of the well-known firm of
Grahlert & Co.

THE AKSORANIT PRINTING OFFICE.

The Aksoranit Printing Office stands as a
testimony to the steady perseverance and
enterprise of Phra Siriaysawan. Phra Siriaysa-
wan, or to give him his full titles, Phon Khun

appointed to the staff of the royal household.
Following upon this came his promotion to the
Ministry of Finance, and he remained in the
Treasury till the year 1893, and received the
added title of Phra Siriaysawan in recognition
of his services. He built and started the
Aksoranit Printing Office with his own capital,
investing a sum of 300,000 ticals in the under-
taking. He has opened a school, attached to
the office, for the teaching of those arts, such
as writing, engraving, modelling, etc., a know-
ledge of which is calculated to raise the standard
of his workmen, and with the help of his students
he has invented several new processes in the
printing trade, and has introduced a new type-
founding machine.

THE BAMRONG NUKUL KITCH
PRINTING OFFICE.

A considerable proportion of the Government
printing is done at this office, which is one of
the largest of its kind in Bangkok. The
establishment contains ten machines — all of
which are driven by oil-engines — and these are
practically always engaged on official work of
various descriptions. The business was founded
in 1895 by its present proprietor, Luang
Damrong Thamasar.

Luang Damrong Thamasar was born in
Bangkok in 1853. His education included a

considerable, and having always retained a
belief in the inestimable value of a good
education, he recently opened and still con-
tinues to support, a school for girls in Bangkok.
Here the children of poor parents may receive
a sound education in both English and Siamese
free of all cost, while those whom it is con-
sidered are in a position to pay for their instruc-
tion are charged a small fee of two ticals a
month. At the present time fully fifty pupils
attend the school and the teaching staff consists
of three well-qualified mistresses. Luang
Damrong Thamasar's son, Nai Thuan, who
was formerly a student at King's College, from
which he gained a Government scholarship to
Oundle's School, Northampton, has recently
proceeded to Oxford to study law.

THE VIRATCHAN-THORN DISPENSARY.

This dispensary was established in 1901 by
Khun Virat, who has had altogether over twenty
years' medical experience in the Siriraj Medical
College and under Dr. Cowen. He holds a
special appointment to H.R.H. the Crown
Prince, and was in the King's suite when his
Majesty went upon his recent tour in Europe.
Attached to the dispensary is a tailoring
department, in the conduct of which business
Khun Virat has the direct patronage of their
Majesties the King and Queen of Siam.

i. The Premises.

LUANG SUWANAKIT CHAMNARN.
2. The Sale Room. 3. The Workshop. 4. I.ianc. Si waxakit Chamnarn.

LUANG DAMRONG THAMASAR.

, The Bamrong NOKUL Kitcii Printing Office. 2. The Shoi- in Bamrong Muaxc; Road.

4. The Staff and Pupils of the Darunni Vithaya School (founded by Luang Danirong Thamasar).

(See p. 260.)

3. An Interior View of the Printing Office.
5. Luang Damrong Thamasar (Proprietor).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

263

PHAN SUWANAKITCH.

Considering the short time it has been estab-
lished, the jeweller's business now carried on by
Phan Suwanakitch in Charoen Krung Road
has made remarkable progress. Eight yean
ago, when Phan Suwanakitch first started
trading as a gold and silversmith in Bangkok,
he used a room in his own house as his head-
quarters, and this accommodation proved ample
for his purpose. The high standard of the
work done by his few assistants, however, soon
attracted general attention, and the result was
a continually increasing stream of customers.
Since he has removed to a more convenient

motors, and St. Marceaux champagne, and
are largely interested in all classes of engineer-
ing business.

Mr. H. V. Bailey, who is a fully qualified
engineer, came to Bangkok in the early part
of iooo to join the staff of the Bangkok Dock
Company, Ltd., but shortly afterwards secured
the appointment of Engineer-in-Chief to the
Royal Mint Department and superintended the
entire construction of the new mint. On the
expiration of his agreement with the Govern-
ment, he started business on his own account
as consulting and superintending engineer,
and at the same time promoted the above-
named firm. In addition to being managing

PHAN SUWANAKITCH AND THE PREMISES OF THE FIRM.

locality for business purposes the large number
of orders entrusted to him necessitates the
constant employment of over forty work-
people.

EUROPEAN.

SIAM IMPORT COMPANY.

This company was established in the year
1906 as general import merchants, and is under
the management of Mr. H. V. Bailey. Amongst
other things, the company hold the agency for
the well-known Rattier safes, Ailsa Craig

partner of the Siam Import Company, however,
Mr. H. V. Bailey is the sole proprietor of Kerr
& Co., one of the oldest established businesses
in Bangkok.

Kerr & Co. represent Messrs. John Dewar
& Sons, Ltd., whose whisky has gained such
a world-wide reputation, and also act as the
agents for the Yorkshire Eire Insurance Com-
pany, Ltd., and the National Assurance Com-
pany of Ireland,

E. C. MONOD ET FILS.

The senior partner in this firm first came to
Bangkok in 1897 as manager to the Banque de

llndo-Chine. Two years later, however, he
resigned this post and opened business as a
general merchant and commission agent.
Mr. Monod took his son into partnership in
1906.

The firm now do a. considerable trade in
Manchester and other piece goods, and the
introduction of Erench goods into Siam is
largely due to their enterprise. They repre-
sent in this country the Societe Suisse d' Indus-
trie Laitiere, of Yverdon, Switzerland, manu-
facturers of a new brand of natural sterilised
liquid milk, which is rapidly commanding an
extensive sale, and hold a number of other
important agencies.

Mr. E. C. Monod, who is a " Conseiller du
Commerce Exterieur de la Erance," is the
doyen of the French colony in Siam. Prior
to his coming to Bangkok he was for seventeen
years in Bombay in the Comptoir National
d'Escompte.

THE STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF
NEW YORK.

It is practically impossible to visit any com-
mercial centre in the East without finding either
a branch or an agency of the Standard Oil
Company of New York. Bangkok does not
furnish an exception to the general rule. The
growth in the oil trade during the last few
years has been considerable, and though
godowns have sufficed the needs of the com-
pany until the present date, tanks for the
storage of oil in bulk have now become essen-
tial, and these are at the present time being
rapidly constructed.

The branch of the Standard Oil Company
was established in Bangkok in 1894 by
Mr. Charles Roberts, the present manager,
and under his able supervision their business
with the interior is being rapidly developed.

THE BARMEN EXPORT-GESELL-
SCHAFT m.b.H.

The Barmen Export Company, whose opera-
tions extend over a considerable portion of
Central and South America and the Ear East,
deal largely with Barmen hardware, which,
on account of its many high qualities, has
secured a reputation that is world-wide. The
head offices of the company are at Barmen,
Germany. The Siam branch is under the
charge of Mr. Walter Koch, who came to
Bangkok from Sumatra in 1906. The Siam
office, besides importing the hardware, does
a considerable trade also in general goods.

BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO
COMPANY, LTD.

Prior to the year 1903 the interests of the
British American Tobacco Company, Ltd., were
left in the hands of a representative occupying a
seat in the agent's office. But so rapidly was
their business increasing, that it was found
necessary to establish a separate branch in that
year ; and the extent of their progress may be
gauged by the fact that three Europeans are
now fully employed, in addition to a fairly
large native staff. Mr. Reginald Page is in
charge of the branch.

FALCK & BEIDEK.

It is no exaggeration to say that practically
everything which a resident in Bangkok needs,
with the exception, perhaps, of piece goods,
may be purchased from Messrs. Ealck and
Beidek, a firm of importers and whole-
sale and retail merchants who have been
firmly established in Siam now for some thirty
years past. The business was founded in 1878
by Messrs. Falck, Bramann, and Beidek, and

BUSINESS MEN OF BANGKOK.

i. Louis T. Leonowens. 2. s. H. Hendrick. 3. A. A. smith. 4. R. Rickmers. 5. Hamilton Price. 6. w. w. Wood. 7. Reg. Page.
9. E. Lanz. 10. W. Brehmer. 11. Thomas Craig. 12. C. Robkrts. 13. J. I'raxcox. 14. J. J. McKeth.

8. E. C. Monod.

BUSINESS MEN OF BANGKOK.

I. H. Wilkexs. 2. R. Daxxo. 3, K. V. r>E Jesus. 4. C. Priss. 5. F. Bopp. 6. A. C. Warwick.
10. L. T. UANDY. 11. E. H. V. Mayxe. 12. F. Sampson. 13. Dr. G. Bossoxi. 14. A. Zieoexheix.

H. V. Bailey. R. J. p. Gaxdy. (). F. Grahlkrt.
15. T. Pozzi. io. Walter Koch. 17. E. Groote.

1 \ '
1 '

ill

PREMISES AND SHOWROOMS OF MESSRS. FALCK & BEIDEK.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

207

has, since its inception, been known by the
Hong name of " Hang Sing Toh." Some idea
of the extent of the trade carried on by the
firm and the resources at their command may
be gathered from the size of their new
premises, which are situated on an extensive
piece of ground just off the New Road, and
adjoining their old site, which will shortly be
occupied by the Chartered Bank's building
now in course of erection. Their premises
form, undoubtedly, the finest business house in
Bangkok. The whole of the material used in
their construction was imported from abroad,
even to the very bricks. Thev are absolutely fire-
proof, and are so arranged that every facility
is given for the effective display of the goods.
The building is three storeys high on each side
and two storeys high in the centre, so that,
including the godowns, the amount of floor

and according to instructions founded on his
long observation of the requirements of the
trade in Bangkok.

THE STRAITS-SIAM MERCANTILE
COMPANY.

The Straits-Siam Mercantile Company has its
head office in Singapore. The branch office in
Bangkok is under the care of Mr. P. Semprez.
Curios, silks, teak, and rice form the bulk of
the firm's exports, but they do a considerable
trade also in general goods.

LOUIS T. LEONOWENS, LTD.

The business of Louis T. Leonowens, Ltd.,
owes its present position of importance entirely

nowens, Ltd., is the Siamese Trading Corpora-
tion. They have mining and other interests in
various parts of the country, and are the
managers of the Renong Mines, Ltd.

Mr. Louis T. Leonowens has been associated
with Siam from his youth, and his name is
known and highly respected throughout the
country.

DIETHELM & CO., LTD.

The head offices of Messrs. Diethelm & Co.,
Ltd., are at Zurich, and they have branches
also at Singapore and Saigon, beside the one
in Bangkok. The office in Siam was opened
in 1906, and the firm are now carrying on a
considerable business in this country as im-
porters and merchants. They import chiefly,
perhaps, Manchester piece goods, dyed yarns,

THE OFFICES OF LOUIS T. LEONOWENS, LTD.

space at disposal altogether is something like
35,000 feet. The house, both in regard to its
size and the wide range of selection provided
by the amount of stock, compares favourably
with any of the leading stores in either Singa-
pore or Pinang. Hardware, stationery, furni-
ture, safes, machinery, pumps, machine fittings,
china, glass, crockery, trunks, travellers' re-
quisites, fancy goods, typewriters, duplicators,
bicycles, clocks, and many other articles, all
come within the scope of the enterprise.
These goods are imported direct from the
leading houses in Europe and America, and
the name and standing of the firm are suffi-
ciently high, in themselves, to guarantee their
quality.

Mr. Ch. Kramer, who has been a partner
of the firm since 1896, has been connected
with the business for the last twenty years.
New premises were built under his supervision,

to the enterprise and skilful management of its
founder, Mr. Louis T. Leonowens. He com-
menced trading in a comparatively small way
as a general merchant, but within a few years
his success, and the possibilities of expansion
following upon the introduction of new capital,
encouraged him to turn his business into a
limited liability company. The firm have
made rapid progress since that time. They
now hold leases in the teak forests of the Lakon
district, and devote much of their energy to the
export of timber. They are also large importers
of general merchandise, and possess several
valuable agencies, of which the chief are —
Coldbeck, Macgregor & Co. ; Argyll Motors,
Ltd. ; J. & R. Tennent, Ltd. ; J. & R. Harvey's
Distilleries ; Dunlop Tyres ; Jeyes' Sanitary
Compounds ; Moet & Chandon Champagnes ;
and the China Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Working in conjunction with Louis T. Leo-

and Continental woven and fancy goods, which
have a ready sale among the general public.
They are also agents for some of the principal
Continental fire and marine insurance com-
panies.

The manager for the company in Siam is
Mr. Fritz Lenthold. He had served previously
in the company's offices at both Saigon and
Singapore, but came to Bangkok as soon as the
branch here was opened. He has under him
three European assistants and a large staff of
natives.

B. GRIMM & CO.

It is the proud boast of Messrs. Grimm & Co.
that as general importers, outfitters, and
merchants they have the most varied stock
in Bangkok. Their business was established
in May, 1877, and now they are suppliers to the

B. GRIMM & CO.
i. Tiik Head Office. 2. The Premises of the Bakqeoe ottfiitinu Company (B. Grimm & o>., Proprietors). 3. The Prate samyot store. 4. the Stake.

OFFICES AND GODOWNS OF MESSRS. DIETHELM & CO., LTD.

(See p. 267.)

270

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Royal Palace, and have branches all over the
town. There can be no question, therefore, as
to the progress they have made. The senior
partner in the firm is Mr. F. Lot/, and with
him is associated Mr. F. Bopp, who has charge
of the head office at Pak Klong Tabat. There
is a special iron department, and a special
outfitting department at headquarters, and a
market department where Bangkok business
men and residents generally may order direct
from European houses from samples displayed.
In addition to the ordinary interests of such a
house, the firm have also a large dispensary
connected with their head office At the Pratu
Samyot store the company make a speciality
of ironware. Their staff' comprises eleven
European and many Siamese, Chinese, and
Indian assistants.

THE BANGKOK MANUFACTURING
COMPANY, LTD.

The remarkable progress the Bangkok
Manufacturing Company have made from the
date of their establishment in 1901 shows how
urgently such a commercial enterprise was
needed. The important bearing a good water
supply has upon the general health of a com-
munity is everywhere recognised ; Bangkok
can boast of nothing of the sort, and the forma-
tion of this company, whose principal objects
are the manufacture of both ice and aerated
water, was consequently welcomed as a boon
by all foreign residents. Starting at first with
a 6-ton ice plant, the business has steadily
increased until at the present time the plant
consists of one 20-ton and two 6-ton ice
machines, together with machinery capable of
turning out 2,000 dozen bottles of aerated
water a day. The ice plant, which undoubtedly

is one of the finest and most complete in the
East, is constructed on the ammonia principle,
all the machines being supplied by the Frick
Company, C.S.A. The aerated water plant by
Bratby and Hinchliffe, Manchester, is of the
latest design, and is fitted with all modern
improvements. A constant supply of excep-
tionally pure and moderately hard water, so
essential to the successful conduct of their
undertaking, is obtained from an artesian well,
some 700 feet deep, which the firm sunk
on their own premises. This water, which is
pumped direct from the well through no less
than three large filters and finally passes
through a large Berkenfeldt germ-proof filter,
is used exclusively by the company for their
ice and aerated waters, and as it has been
repeatedly analysed by and has received the
highest encomiums from the Siamese Govern-
ment and Singapore Government analysts,
the safety and high quality of the products
are guaranteed. All the waterpipes used in
the factory are of pure tin, so that contamina-
tion, it would seem, is absolutely prevented.
But these are by no means the only precautions
taken to guard against the possible introduction
of any form of impurity, for the greatest and
most scrupulous care is exercised in every
detail of manufacture from first to last. The
filters and pipes are regularly sterilised, and
when the empty bottles^are received from the
consumers and the rubber rings have been
removed, they also are sterilised, soaked,
brushed inside and out by machinery, and
finally rinsed by a powerful jet of filtered well
water, for in none of the processes is anything
but well water used.

Artesian well water is supplied to steamers,
and is delivered in special tank wagons to the
houses of residents, with whom, naturally, it is
in great demand. Ice, too, is delivered twice

daily to customers' houses, a convenience
which is certainly not enjoyed in many Eastern
towns. During 1908 the company erected a
public drinking fountain in front of their head-
quarters. This they keep supplied with iced
artesian well water, and here on a hot summer
day it is estimated that upwards of 4,000
people will stop and slake their thirst. But
while the manufacture of ice and aerated
waters constitutes undoubtedly the chief part of
the firm's business, their enterprise, as should
be pointed out even in so brief a sketch of
their activities as this, does not stop at this
point altogether. They have excellent cold
storage accommodation, and import Australian
meat, fresh butter, &c, which articles, as most
Bangkok residents will agree, lend a quite
agreeable variety to an otherwise limited
menu.

MESSRS. HARRY A. BADMAN & CO.

For a quarter of a century and over Messrs.
Harry A. Badman & Co. have held a leading
position amongst the large retail stores in
Siam, the rapid development of their business
and the continual patronage and repeated
marks of royal favour which they receive
testifying to their popularity. The house was
established by Mr. Badman on January 1,
1884, close to the Royal Barracks, and became
known as Xo. 1, Bangkok, a name it retains
to the present day.

With the growth of the city and the large
demand for every kind of naval and military
requirements the trade accruing to the firm
increased from year to year, until recently the
proprietors found it necessary to move into
mere spacious premises specially erected for
them in the vicinity of the King's palace and
close to the Government offices. The building.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE PREMISES OF THE BANGKOK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.

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HARRY A. BADMAN & CO.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

273

THE PREMISES OF J. E. ANDRE.

which is an unusually handsome one, was
opened by his Majesty on December 9, 1907,
and special appointments have been granted
to the firm by their Majesties the King and
Queen and the Crown Prince, who take a great
interest in the business.

The store is splendidly appointed and the
goods in the various departments are displayed
in most attractive fashion. The firm do not
confine themselves to any particular branch of
trade, but conduct a business on the line of
the departmental stores. They have their
specialities, however, and as naval, military
and civil tailors and outfitters have a reputa-
tion which is unequalled in Siam. They are
direct importers from Europe and America,
and have their own buying house in London,
at 45, Finsbury Pavement.

In 1892 Mr. Badman retired from the
business in Siam, and established himself as
the firm's buying agent in London, Mr.
Hooker being admitted to partnership. Mr.
C. S. George then joined the firm, and in
1897 became a partner. Ten successful years
followed, and in 1907 Mr. George retired,
leaving Mr. Hooker sole proprietor. Mr. A. C.
Warwick, who had been for upwards of ten
years manager of the Army and Navy Co-
operative Society, Bombay, became associated
with the enterprise on Mr. George's retire-
ment ; and in March, 1908, when Mr. Hooker,
who had been for twenty-five years resident in
Siam, also retired, he took over the business
in partnership with Messrs. J. P. Gaudy and
L. T. Gandy, both of whom had been with the
firm for many years.

J. R. ANDRE.

Mr. ]. R. Andre, who first came to Bangkok
in 1902, started business in 1904 as a general

importer and Government contractor. One of
his chief agencies is that of J. Friedmann's,
Nachfolder, Court jewellers, of Frankfort-on-
Main, and in this department of his business
Mr. Andre has the patronage and support of
H.M. the King.

JOHN SAMPSON & SON.

It is somewhat surprising to an English
visitor to find a branch of Messrs. Sampson
& Son's well-known Bond Street establish-
ment in Bangkok. It was founded, however,
at the direct request of his Majesty King
Chulalongkorn, who, when in England, dealt
very largely at the firm's headquarters. Act-
ingupon his Majesty's advice, Mr. F. Sampson,
the son of the proprietor of the London house,
came to Bangkok nine years ago, and having
secured large premises in the city, started
business. The firm have never had reason
to regret their enterprise. They have always
retained the support and patronage of his
Majesty the King and his Royal Highness the
Crown Prince of Siam. They are the Court
tailors, ladies' and gentlemen's outfitters, boot-
makers, &c. They make a speciality of saddlery
and harness-making, and have always a large
stock of the best quality of English goods.
Theirs is indeed a typical high-class English
trade. They are sole agents for Messrs.
Maple & Co., London, and have furnished
several of the royal palaces.

Mr. F. Sampson is the sole proprietor of the
Bangkok business, which is now conducted
quite separately from the London house. Their
London connection, however, brings many
advantages and gives the Bangkok branch
every facility for securing a well-selected and
up-to-date stock.

SOCIETA ITALO-SIAMESE.

This company, which is a private one, con-
sisting of four partners, Messrs. T. Pozzi,
E. Fornoni, A. Marangoni, and M. Marangoni,
was established in 1899 to carry on a general
import, export, and Government contracting
business. The partners now do a large import
trade in sundries and make considerable
shipments of buffalo and cow hides and horns
to Europe and rice to South America. They
are agents for G. Borsalino's hats ; Wilkinson,
Heywood, and Clark's paints ; Thomas Hub-
bock & Co.'s oils ; A. Binda & Co.'s paper
(Milan) ; and last, but not least, the well-
known makes of motor-cars, such as the Fiat,
Brixia, Ziist, and Diatto A. Clement. Their
recent contracts have included the supply of
clothing, caps, and blankets to the Siamese
army.

Mr. T. Pozzi has been personally in charge
of the firm's interests in Bangkok since 1901.

SOCIETE ANONYME BELGE.

This company was established in July, 1907,
by Dr. A. de Keyser, for the express purpose
of placing Belgian goods on the Siamese
market on such terms as to ensure for them
the favourable patronage now enjoyed by the
manufactures of other countries. The firm
deal in all classes of fancy goods, jewellery,
and general goods, and possess in addition
several important agencies to which they
devote special attention.

Dr. de Keyser, before commencing his
commercial career, won a deservedly high
reputation among the members of the medical
profession in Siam. He was one of the first
men to discover the existence of plague in
Siam, and subsequently, the successful perfor-

F. GBAHLBRT & CO.
Froxt View ok Premises and Specimens of Silverwork manufactured by the Firm.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

275

mance by him of a most intricate operation
being brought to the notice of his Majesty, he
was honoured by a special message of royal
congratulations. Born in Belgium in 1872, he
graduated at Brussels University in 1896, and
for the following seven years was engaged
in private practice in that city. During this
period he also held the appointments of
Surgeon to St. John's Hospital and Vice-
Lecturer on Anatomy at Brussels University,
and was Secretary of the Anatico-pathological
Society and editor of the Annie Chirurgicalc
ct Journal Medical de Ilrit.nilcs. All these
positions, however, he resigned on' the occa-
sion of his first trip to the Congo State, which
territory he visited a number of times, in
the interests of medicine, prior to his arrival
in Bangkok in 1903.

F. GRAHLERT & CO.

Mr. F. Grahlert came to Bangkok some
eighteen years ago as jeweller to his Majesty
the King. A few years later he started
business on his own account, his shop, which
is in close proximity to the royal palaces, being
the first of its kind opened in the city. He
still enjoys the patronage of his Majesty the
King ; for the firm are jewellers to the Court by
special appointment, and are constantly being
entrusted with the execution of important
commissions by their Majesties the King and
Queen of Siam and his Royal Highness the
Crown Prince. The company employ upwards
of fifty native craftsmen, who are highly skilled
in the art of fashioning gold and silver into
articles of most artistic and delicate design,
and their work very justly and naturally is
held in the highest favour. The firm's premises
would well repay an inspection ; their stock is
a large and varied one, and is effectively and
tastefully displayed. Whether the articles are
of Oriental or European design,, their quality
can be guaranteed.

VACUUM OIL COMPANY.

The trade of the Vacuum Oil Company m
Siam has been built up in the last' few years
by Mr. E. H. V. Mayne, who came to Bangkok
in 1898, and established himself as the agent
of a few first-class British houses and of the
Vacuum Oil Company. By their special re-
quest the Vacuum Oil Company's agency was
turned into a branch office, and from the year
1902 Mr. Mayne has devoted himself entirely
to their interests. The company possess a
large godown, where the stock is never
allowed to fall below 800 barrels of all oils,
their various brands, especially the lubricants,
commanding constant sales.

Prior to coming East, Mr. Mayne was
engaged in the scholastic profession in Eng-
land.

L. Th. UNVERZAGT.

Mr. Unverzagt's acquaintanceship with Siam
dates from the latter end of the year 1902,
when he came to Bangkok and joined the
well-known shipping and mercantile house of
Messrs. Markwald & Co. . He remained
with them for two and a half years, and
then started business on his own account
as an importer, exporter, and commission
agent. He exports chiefly rice and old metal,
and imports general gtxxts of all descriptions.
His offices are situated in Klong Kut Mai.

THE BRITISH DISPENSARY.

The British Dispensary, situated in the New
Koad, right in the heart of the European
quarter of the city, cannot fail to attract the
notice of the visitor to Bangkok. It is art
up-to-date establishment with a large and

varied stock of such goods as are naturally
to be found in the shops of high-cfass chemists
and druggists, while, in addition, there is a
well-arranged department devoted specially to
the sale of cameras and photographic supplies.
It will be interesting to amateur photographers
to know that in connection with this depart-
ment also there is a dark-room which is
always at their disposal free of charge. The
business carried on by the firm is an extensive
one, and reaches far beyond the confines of
the city. Besides its large European con-
nection the house does a considerable trade
with the natives, among whom it has a very
high_ reputation, and furnishes a good pro-
portion of the drugs, medicines, and other
commodities of a like nature to ..the planters
and residents in the interior of Siam. Among
the agencies it holds are those for Mellin's
Food, Scott's Emulsion, Perry Davis's Pain-
killer, and Chamberlain's remedies. It is also
the appointed depot for Burroughs Wellcome
& Co.'s fine products.

ence for a year, and then came to Bangkok. Dr.
Bossoni has made a special study of alkaloidal
substances, such as morphine, codeine, &c,
and now holds the appointment of Analytical
Chemist to the Customs House. In 1906 Dr.
Bossoni married Eulalia Angelucci, a lady also
devoted to the study of medicine, who secured
her degrees in medicine and surgery at Florence
in January, 1905, and has now been appointed
to a position in the Local Sanitary Department,
Bangkok,

THE BANGKOK DISPENSARY.

There are a vast number of dispensaries in
Bangkok, but they are by no means all of the
same relatively high standing, and by far the
greater part of the dispensing business is
carried on by a few leading houses. Among
these the Bangkok Dispensary must be in-
cluded.

The firm occupy a foremost place as opticians,
but while this branch of their business is un-

THE BANGKOK DISPENSARY.

The dispensary was established some twenty
years ago by the late Dr. Gowan, Physician to
his Majesty the King, and subsequently passed
into the hands of Dr. T. Hayward Hays, the
chief medical officer, to the Royal Siamese
Navy and the medical officer to' the Govern-
ment Railway Department. " Shortly after Dr.
Hays became the proprietor, of the undertaking,
a branch, which is still carrying on a flourish-
ing trade, was established in Bangkok city
proper. In 1906 Dr. Hays disposed of his
interests" in the firm to Mr. McBeth, who had
been associated with him in the business since
1898. Mr. McBeth is assisted how by Mr.
Davies, a qualified chemist, who has had many
years' English and Continental experience.

TAPAN LEK DISPENSARY.

Dr. G. Bossoni, the proprietor of the
Tapan Lek Dispensary, was born in the pro-
vince of Brescia, Italy, in 1881, and educated
at the Universities of Florence and Parma,
obtaining in 1904 his diploma at the School of
Pharmacy, and in July, 1905, his degree of
Doctor of Chemistry (Dottorc in Chimica). He
practised in the Government Hospital at Flor-

doubtedly the' most important one, other
interests are not forgotten. All the first-class
chemicals and drugs are kept in. stock, and a
speciality is made of filters and surgical instru-
ments, the- best types of filters, especially, com-
manding a huge sale.

The firm, which is a German one, and sole
contractor to the North German Lloyd Steam-
ship Company, was established in 1885, and
was purchased by Mr. Richard Schulz in 1906.
Mr. Schulz obtained his analytical degrees in
Germany, and has had considerable experience
in his profession in that country, Italy, Switzer-
land, and the Straits Settlements.

ROBERT LENZ & CO.

Messrs. Robert Lenz & Co., the photo-
graphers to the Court of Siam, certainly hold
the leading place in the photographic trade of
Bangkok. The business was established in
1894 by Mr. R. Lenz, and was personally con-
ducted by him until two years ago, when it
was purchased by its present proprietors,
Messrs. E. Groote and C. Pruss. The studio
has always had a deservedly high reputation,
for the work produced is quite upon a level

THE SEEKAK DISPENSARY.

i. The Dispensary.

2. Dr. H. Adamsen. 3. Thresher used by Dr. Adamsen ox his Farm.

5. Disc Harrow and Plough used on Dr. Adamsen's Farm.
(Sec p. 278.)

4. At Work on Dr. Adamsen's Farm.

THE BRITISH DISPENSARY.

i. The New Road Premises. 2 & 3. Interior Views.

(See p. 275.) .

4 The City Branch.

S "

278

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

with the highest European standard. The
firm enjoy the direct patronage of their
Majesties the King and Queen of Siam. They
are royal photographers by special appoint-
ment, and practically all the princes and
nobles of Siam are numbered among their
clients. Their collection of photographs of
Bangkok and the interior of Siam is perhaps
unequalled. Many of the illustrative pictures
in this volume were obtained from their nega-
tives, while all the personal photographs
reproduced were taken in their studio by their
representatives.

M. T. S. MEEICAN.

Mr. M. T. S. Merican, who comes from India,
has by perseverance and keen business methods

M. T. S. MERICAN.

worked up quite a large trade in Bangkok.
For many years he travelled in the East Indies
and India, buying and selling precious stones.
Some few years ago he migrated to Singapore
to carry on and personally supervise a business
which previously had been left to an agent,
and as this increased he enlarged his field,
with the result that he opened his shop in
Rachawongse Road, Bangkok. Although the
trade in rough and polished stones was large
enough to command the whole of his time and
attention, Mr. Merican found such a good
market in Bangkok for piece goods that he
soon began to devote his chief energies to the
sale of such articles. He makes a speciality
of Indian and other silks, but deals very con-
siderably too in English flannels, velvets, serges,
and cottons.

Mr. Merican also exports teak and rice. He
possesses no mills, but buys for foreign
importers.

SEEKAK DISPENSARY.

Dr. Hi Adamsen, the proprietor of the
Seekak Dispensary, can look back with pride
upon his record in the medical world of Siam,
the land of his birth. He left home at the age
of twelve and joined the Marine Service, re-
turning to Siam at the age of eighteen, in time
to leave for America with Mr. J. H. Chandler,
a missionary from Bangkok, to whom Dr.
Adamsen is indebted for much help in the
early stages of his medical career. He received

a preparatory education at the Suffield Institu-
tion, Conn., U.S.A. ; his collegiate course was
passed at Bucknell University, Louisburg,
Penn., and his medical course at Jefferson
Medical College, Philadelphia, where he
graduated in 1888, returning again three years
later, married, to . Siam. On his arrival in
Bangkok he started a private practice, and
at the same time opened the Seekak Dispen-
sary. On the outbreak of plague in 1894,
when quarantine was declared against Hong-
kong, Dr. Adamsen was appointed Quarantine
Officer, being the first occupier of such a post
in Siam. He held the office for four years,
and built the Quarantine Station, which was
originally at Koh Pai but has since been
removed to Koh Phra. He was deputed by
H.M. the Queen to open a school for tuition in
nursing and midwifery — a school which during
its eight years' existence was the means of
sending out no less than thirty women qualified
in both branches. Up to the present time Dr.
Adamsen retains the position, to which he was
appointed in 1894, of Lecturer on Obstetrics
and Practice of Medicine at the Royal Medical
College. In 1904 he was sent by the Siamese
Government to Manilla on a mission for the
investigation of the method of making rinder-
pest and anthrax serum. On his return he
started the Government Experimental Serum
Laboratory, and the same year was successful,
with the co-operation of Dr. Braddock, in
producing vaccine. The laboratory has since
been removed, and now is stationed at Pra-
patom. While experiments were being carried
on, and after the successful production of
lymph, the Government medical officers with-
in two years vaccinated, free of charge, some-
thing like 350,000 people, while upwards of
7,000 cattle were inoculated against rinderpest.
Dr. Adamsen became the medical missionary
of the Baptist Union in 1896, and subsequently
was appointed Inspector of the Hospitals of the
Kingdom and Health Officer of the Interior,
the Government furnishing 25,000 ticals a year
for the purpose of distributing medicines among
the residents in the various towns and villages.
The people of the most northerly tribes, who
were up till that time quite unacquainted with
European medicine, received quinine and other
drugs and derived considerable benefit from
the experienced medical treatment provided.
The Seekak Dispensary was the fourth dis-
pensary established in the kingdom and the
first within the city wall. In this department
of his business Dr. Adamsen is now assisted
by Dr. W. B. Toy. While in America Dr.
Adamsen was in the habit of spending his
vacations in the country, and became familiar
with farming in all its branches. Always re-
taining in mind the possibility of introducing
farming machinery into Siam, he purchased, in
1904, a farm of 450 acres in the Klong Rangsit
district, and with imported American and British
machinery — comprising threshing and reaping
machines, disc ploughs and harrows — he suc-
ceeded, in the end, in proving to the natives
that machinery can be used as successfully in
Siam as in North and South Carolina. Dr.
Adamsen's grain was the first reaped by
machinery in Siam. Since, however, he has
achieved success, companies and syndicates
have been formed to cultivate large areas of
land in similar manner.

THE ORIENTAL HOTEL.

The leading hotel in Bangkok and the one at
which visitors invariably stay is the " Oriental."
It enjoys an excellent situation in the centre
of the city, on the east bank of the Menam,
possesses good accommodation, and is comfort-
ably furnished throughout. It is unquestionably
the largest and best hotel in Siam, and contains
forty bedrooms, several private suites, a large
dining-room, and a concert-hall capable of
holding four hundred persons. Many of the

European papers and periodicals are to be
found in the lounge at the entrance to the
hotel, while opening out from the dining-room
is a spacious verandah commanding an excel-
lent view of the river.

The hotel has been established for over a
quarter of a century, but has been under the
charge of its present proprietors for two years
only.

MITSUI BUSSAN KAISHA.

The numerous departments of the house of .
Mitsui cover practically every phase of com-
mercial and industrial enterprise. Their head-
quarters are in Tokio, but their branches and
agencies are found in every large centre in the
East, while their name is known throughout
the world. The Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, which
forms one section of this vast organisation,
opened a branch in Bangkok in 1905, and
during the last three years has built up a con-
siderable business, comprising importing and
exporting, Government contract work, and
agencies of various kinds.

Mr. Danno, the manager of the branch,
originally intended to follow the legal pro-
fession and studied English law at the Imperial
University, Tokio. After graduating, however,
he decided upon a. commercial career, and, in
1899, joined the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha. He
served them in various capacities in Tokio,
Yokohama, and the Straits Settlements until
1905, when he was entrusted with the responsi-
bility of opening the Bangkok office, and has
been in charge of the firm's interests in Siam
since that date.

W. KRUSE.

Mr. W. Kruse is the eldest son of the late
Captain August Ludwig Bernard Kruse, a
native of Lassan in Pomerania, Germany, who
was formerly a pilot at the Port of Bangkok.
He was born in Bangkok in 1874, and after
completing his education he joined the service
of the Siamese Government, being attached at

W. KRUSE, KHUN VIRAT, AND
CARL KRUSE.

one time or another to many of the adminis-
trative departments. He was for a long while
engaged in the interests of a private company
in forest work up-country, and during this
period obtained a good insight into all the
details of the teak trade. In July, 1908, he
opened offices in Charoen Krung Road and
started business on his own account as an
auctioneer and contractor, land and commission
agent, and valuer.

Mr. Carl Kruse, a brother to Mr. W. Kruse,
who was educated with him at the Assumption

THE ORIENTAL HOTEL.
Front View of the Hotel. 2. The Dining Room.

3. The Lol'nge.

C. PAPPAYANOPULOS, MANUFACTURER OF EGYPTIAN CIGARETTES.

1. CIGARETTE-MAKING BY HAND. 2. CIGARETTE-MAKING BY MACHINERY. 3. SORTING THE LEAF. 4. THE FACTORY AND STORE. 5 G. PAPPAYANOPULOS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

281

College, Bangkok, holds the position ot an
accountant of the first grade in the Revenue
Station of the Royal Forest Department at
Paknampo.

C. PAPPAYANOPULOS.

Egyptian cigarettes find their way into every
corner of the earth, and are greatly in evidence
in Bangkok, where Mr. C. Pappayanopulos
employs a large staff for manufacturing them
at his factory in the New Road. The imported
leaf is carefully sorted hy a number of Siamese
women, and the cigarettes are given to the
public in the form of the " Royal " and other
special brands. Mr. C. Pappayanopulos, who
is, by royal appointment,/ tobacconist to his
Majesty the King and to his Royal Highness
the Crown Prince, makes his cigarettes from
the best tobaccos only. He caters for the local
clubs and retail stores, and the high quality of
his products is recognised on all sides. A
special and somewhat unique department of
the factory is that devoted to the manufacture
of Siamese cigarettes, which are turned out in
immense numbers by machinery. All the
better class cigarettes, however, are hand-
made, no less than forty-two people being
employed for this purpose.

Mr. Pappayanopulos hails from Greece, and
has had considerable experience in the tobacco
trade in Africa and Europe.

CHINESE.

CHEE TSZE TING.

The construction of railways in the interior
of Siam has been a difficult and often dangerous

undertaking, requiring considerable enterprise
and perseverance, coupled with no small amount
of engineering skill, to bring it to a successful
conclusion. The work is, of course, done by
contract, and the man who has perhaps carried
through more of such contracts than any other
is Mr. Chee Tsze Ting, or, to use his more
familiar name, Mr. See Fa Soon. He has been
living in Siam for over twenty years, and for
upwards of seventeen he has been engaged in
railway construction. He built the line from
Korat to Petchaburi, and the Lukorn, Lampong,
and Chiengmai line, besides a railway in the
Kowpoong district, some 515 kilometres from
Bangkok, while the contracts upon which he is
engaged at the present day necessitate the
employment of 1,000 men. Mr. Chee Tsze
Ting, or his brother, Mr. Chee Yuke San, per-
sonally supervise the whole of the work.

Mr. Chee Tsze Ting was born in Borneo and
is a Dutch subject. He has now, however,
made his home in Bangkok, and has just
erected a fine house at Sam Yek Hua Lampong
called the ''Swan Kong Tong." He was the
founder of the Lee Tee Meow Chinese temple,
situated at Phlab Phla Fai Street, and still con-
tributes largely towards its maintenance.

THE " MONOPOLE " STORES

Among the smaller stores in Bangkok the
" Monopole " appears to enjoy the largest
patronage and to possess the most varied stock
of general goods.

The proprietor, Mr. Louis Choi, was born in
Bangkok and educated at the Assumption
College. After leaving school he took over the
management, and subsequently, following his
father's retirement, became the proprietor of
his father's business, which included the
" Monopole " Stores and the agency of a rice

mill at Petriew. In 1904 Mr. Choi was ap-
pointed agent for the "Docks et Appontements
de Tongku " Company of steamers, but, of
course, the agency dropped when this line was
transferred to North China. Perhaps the two
principal agencies of the firm in Bangkok at the
present time are those of Eugene Gourry and
E. C. Monnet el Ciei

Recently Mr. Louis Choi has extended his
operations to the interior of Siam, and at
Ratburi and Petriew he represents the Borneo
Company, the Sriracha Wood Company, the
Bangkok Manufacturing Company, and the
Siam Steam Packet Company.

Mr. Louis Choi speaks English, French,
Siamese, and Chinese quite fluently.

THE UNION DISPENSARY.

In a city such as Bangkok it is more than
usually essential that there should be an ample
supply of drugs, medicines, chemicals, &c, for
the native as well as the European population.
Some years ago there were but few reliable
dispensaries available for the middle and
poorer classes of the Siamese and Chinese,
while now, in New Road alone, there are many
such establishments under competent manage-
ment. Amongst these the Union Dispensary
deserves to be mentioned. The business, which
was only established in igo6, has grown rapidly
during the last twelve months, and is now one
of considerable importance. The proprietors
of the dispensary also carry on a large whole-
sale and retail trade as general merchants.

H. SWEE HO.

The well-known business house carried on
under the above title is conveniently situated

CHEE TSZE TING AND HIS PRIVATE RESIDENCE.

282

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OP SIAM

H. SWEE HO..
Hoon Kim Huat (Proprietor) and his Brothers. 2. The Dispensary.

3. Interior ok the Dispensary.

at Pit Satien Bridge, the centre of the business
quarter of the city. The firm trade as general
importers, commission agents, manufacturing
chemists, and wholesale and retail druggists,
and are proprietors of the National Chemical
Depot.

The business was founded, some forty years
ago, by Mr. Hoon Tong Dui, a man highly
respected and esteemed by all who came in
contact with him. During his lifetime he gave
liberally towards the funds raised on behalf of
various local charities, and by many private
acts of generosity showed, in a practical manner,
the sympathy he always felt for those placed
in the less fortunate circumstances of life.
After a long and successful commercial career
he died at the ripe age of sixty-three years,
leaving a widow, seven sons, and two daughters,
besides a wide circle of friends and acquaint-
ances, to mourn their loss. Since his death the
business has been managed by his eldest son,
Mr. Hoon Kim, with the assistance of his
brother, Mr. Hoon Kim Huat. Their grand-
father, on their mother's side, is the owner of
the Talat Noi Public Market, one of the most
important and well-known business places in
Bangkok.

CHOP YONG TET HIN TAI.

In and around the Sampeng district of Bang-
kok there are many hundreds of Chinese business
houses engaged either in the import or export
trade — indeed, Sampeng nils become the recog-
nised centre for this class of business. Amongst
these houses one of the best known is that
owned and managed by Mr. Yong HiengSiew,
under the chop of-ftpng Tet Hin Tai. Mr. Yong
Hieng Siew, who Tsa native of China, has been

residing in Bangkok for the last thirty years,
and during that time has built up an extensive
business connection. There are several branches
of the firm in the city, each devoted to a special
class of trade. The export branch is known by
the chop Ngan Hin Tai ; the import branch is
styled Tai On Tong ; while in another quarter
of Sampeng the owner of these enterprises
also conducts an extensive business in Chinese
drugs. Mr. Yong Hieng Siew exports ivory
and other products, of Siain's jungles, and
imports piece and general goods such as meet
with a demand in the local market. Mr. Yong
Hieng Siew's father was a very prominent
merchant in Bangkok, and for three generations
members of his family have been well known
as traders in Siam. Mr. Yong Hieng Siew,
who lives in a fine house on the west bank of
the river, has two sons and one daughter — one
of the former being atpresent in China study-
ing his own language after having received a
good education in English and Siamese at the
Bangkok educational establishments.

THYE GUAN ENG KEE STORES.

The importing of wines and spirits forms an
important branch of Bangkok's trade, and in
this, as in all other classes of business, Chinese
firms take a large share. One of the largest of
such firms owns the Thye Guan Eng Kee
Stores, which were established some three
years ago, and are situated at Talat Noi, on the
east bank of the river. The firm import all
kinds of European wines, spirits, and beers
direct from the manufacturers, as well as
considerable quantities of Japanese beer and
Chinese wines.

Mr. Tan Hong Eng, the founder and

proprietor of the business, has for many years
been connected with this class of trade in
Bangkok. He was for some time chief cashier
to the well-known firm of Tan Tai Guan, of
which his brother was the proprietor, and after
his brothel's death he became manager of the
enterprise, a position he resigned only when
commencing business in his own interest.
Mr. Tan Hong Eng recently opened a branch
in the Yawaraj-road, at the corner of Raja-
wongsi-road, under the Chop Tan Thye Seng,
and he contemplates further extensions shortly.

TAN KENG WHAY.

Probably no business man at Bangkok,
whether European, native, or Chinese, is better
known than Mr. Tan Keng Whay. He has
been in business in the city for the last thirty-
three years, and for upwards of half of that time
has been Bangkok's leading Chinese auctioneer.
A native of Malacca, Mr. Tan Keng Whay
received a good English education, which has
since paved his way to fortune. On coming
to Bangkok he joined the Borneo Company as
assistant to his father, Mr. Tan Teck Weo, who
had been for many years with that firm. Four
years later he obtained a better position with
Messrs. Badman & Co., and remained with
them until some years later, when he opened
business on his own account as a tailor and
general outfitter. This business he conducted
successfully for some time, but subsequently
gave it up in favour of auctioneering and
general broking, for which style of trading
there seemed to be an excellent opening. The
success which Mr. Tan Keng What has
achieved proves the soundness of his judg-
ment. His business is now an important and

I. YONG HlANG SlKW WITH HIS WIFE AND SOS.

YONG HIANG SIEW.
2 & 3. The Father and Mother of Yoxg Hiaxg Siew.

4. The Private Residence.

THE OFFICES AND AUCTION BOOMS.

TAN KENG WHAY.

CHINESE BUSINESS MEN AND MILLERS OF BANGKOK.

I. Woxg KL'I (Wing Seng Long & Co.). 2. Xeo Mass Fooxg. 3. Xeo Manx Cheex. 4. Neo Maxx Fong. 5. Kwoi; Chim. 6. Xg Yook Long (Kwong Ngan Long).
7. Towkay LEONG SHAD Shan (Owner of Fook Wall Shan Kee Mills). 8. Captain China. 9. Tax Kai Ho. 10. Tbo Choox Khkng (Koh Mali Wall & Co ).

II. Leoxg Tuck Sing. 12. Lam Sam (Kwong Xgan Long). 13. Chan Kim Long. 14. Nga Keng (Chop Joo Seng). 15. Low Peng Kang (Ban Hong Long & Co.).
ifi. Tan Giian What. 17. Eng Liang Yong. 18. Lou St'M (Wing Seng Long & Co.). 10. Tan Hong Eng. 20. Lim CHUN Beng (Wing Seng Long & Co).

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

285

flourishing one-, and during the last eighteen
years the great bulk of valuable properties
which have come under the hammer in Bangkok
have passed through his hands. Mr. Tan
Keng What also acts as a general broker and
commission agent. In the years 1896-98 he
was adviser to the Bangkok Opium Farm, and
he was also formerly the proprietor of a dis-
tillery at Ban Ghee Khan. Now, however, he
devotes the whole of his time to his ever in-
creasing auctioneering business. His auction-
rooms and office are situated in the New Road,
Tapanhek, the busiest part of the city.

YONG LEE SENG.

A branch of the well-known Singapore firm
of Messrs. Yong Lee Seng was established in
Bangkok in 1903. The company are general
importers and high-class storekeepers, carrying
on an extensive trade among all sections of the
community — Europeans, Chinese, and Siamese.
Their principal department in the Bangkok
branch of their business is the one devoted to
the sale of provisions, but they have also special
departments for wines and spirits, soft goods,
glass and crockery, and fancy goods, while
quite recently they have opened a bakery,
where bread and assorted confectionery of a
very high quality are made.

Mr. Lim Clioon Heng, the local manager, is
also a partner in the firm. He is a native of
the Straits Settlements, and has, like all his
assistants, a good command of the English
language. The firm's premises are situated in
the Oriental Buildings, near the Oriental Hotel.

CHOP CHOO KWANG LEE.

Although the teak and rice mills represent
practically the whole of the industrial enterprise

MESSRS. YONG LEE SENG & CO.

in Bangkok at the present time, it must not be
supposed from this fact that the resources of

the country do not furnish ample scope for
industrial activity and initiative in many other

CHOP CHOO KWANG LEE.

The Tilk Factory at Wat Saket.

The Intekior of the Factory.

Choo Yoox (Proprietor).

i. The Family House. 2. Tax Hong Joo.

TAN TAI GUAN.
3. The Late Tan Boo Wee.

4 Seow Hood Seng. 5 The Family Group.

TWENTIETH CENTURA IMPRESSIONS OF SI AM

287

directions. For instance, Mr. Choo Yoon, the
proprietor of the firm known by the chop
Choo Kwang Lee, has succeeded in establishing
a factory for the manufacture of afl classes of
tiles, which is now doing a flourishing business,
is situated at Samsen, on the bank of the
Menam river, and gives constant employment
to about seventy workmen. The tiles are
made from imported cement and are in great
demand, having been very largely used in all
the latest buildings in Bangkok.

In addition to this factory Mr. Choo Yoon
has a store at Watkok, where he does a large
trade in ironware, nails, paints, and oilmen's
stores. This business was founded by him
some twenty-five years ago ; the factory he
established seven years later. Mr. Choo Yoon
is a British subject, and has now made his
home in Bangkok.

TAN TAI GUAN.

The firm of Tan Tai Guan, which was
established some thirty years ago by the late
Mr. Tan Boo Wee, is one of the largest
importers of European wines, spirits, and beers
in Bangkok. The business was for many years
personally conducted by its founder ; on his
death it passed into the hands of his wife, Mrs.
Koh She. The business has an average turn-

generally by Mr. Seow Hood Seng, the pro-
prietor of the Chino-Sinmcsc Daily News, who
acts as her attorney.

TAN GUAN WHAT.

The headquarters of the well-known firm of
Tan Guan What are situated in the New Road,
Talat Noix. The business was founded some
five years ago by Mr. Tan Guan What, a native
of Bangkok, and has been steadily growing in
importance ever since. The firm, which
engages in both the wholesale and retail trade,
imports very largely from European business
houses, and makes a speciality of- boots, shoes,
and hats, which it purchases direct from the
manufacturers.

PROMINENT CHINESE BUSINESS MEN.

Mr. Wong Hang Chow has been connected
for the past fifteen years with the Hongkong
and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and during
two-thirds of this period has carried out the
responsible duties attaching to the position of
chief compradore. He is a son of Cantonese
parents, but was born and educated and
received his early business training in Hong-
kong. He is now one of the most prominent

but its formation was due largely to the efforts
of Mr. Wong Hang, and he and his friends have
in the past contributed very considerable sums
towards its maintenance.

Mr. Cheah Chee Seng, who has been the
compradore to the Chartered Bank of India,
Australia, and China at Bangkok since the Siam
branch of the bank was opened, is a native
of Pinang and, like so many of the Pinang
Chinese holding prominent positions in
Bangkok, he received an excellent education
in English at the Pinang Free School. He
is responsible for the whole of the bank's
Chinese business and has an able staff of
Chinese assistants under him. Mr. Cheah Chee
Seng is well known and highly respected in
Pinang, where several members of his family
have, for many years, held prominent positions
in the business life of the town.

Mr. Sam Hing Si, the compradore to the
Banque de l'lndo Chine at Bangkok, is a native
of the Portuguese colony of Macao. He
received his English education at St. Joseph's
College and at Queen's College (late Victoria
School), Kongkong. After completing his
studies he entered the service of the Mercantile
Bank of India at Hongkong, under the Hon.
Mr. Wei Yuk, C.M.G., and there received a
valuable training in matters financial and a
good insight into the banking business of the

i. Cmx Woxg Texg.
5. Neo Manx Xgian.

BANGKOK COMPRADORES AND CASHIERS.

2. Lee Uoox GEOK (Cashier, Borneo Company, Ltd.). 3. Kow SOON Huat (Cashier, East Asiatic Company). 4. Lim Chexg Chi'AX.

6. Seow Kexg Lix (Compradore, Windsor & Co.). 7. Wong H<xg Chow (Compradore, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation, Ltd.).

8. Sam Hixg Si (Compradore, Banque de L'Indo-Chine). 9. Lim Chexg Theam.

over of 100,000 ticals per mensem, and employs
over thirty people. The firm's headquarters
are situated on the river front at Talat Noi.

The manager of the firm is Mr. Tan Hong
Joo, and Mrs. Koh She's interests are supervised

members of the Chinese business community in
Bangkok. At the time of writing he is the hon.
sec. of the Chinese fire brigade and hon. sec.
of the local Chinese Club. The fire brigade is
now partly supported by a Government grant,

East. In September, 1902, he was offered the
important post of compradore to the local
branch of the Banque de l'lndo-Chine. This
he accepted, and has been in complete charge
of their compradore's department since that

i. The Residence,

TOWKAY TAY KOON TEO.

Tay Koon Tko and Family. 3. Tay KooX Teo.

(See p. 290.)

4. Tay Cheng (son.)

TOWKAY TAE HONG (YI KOH HONG).

YI KOH HONGS RESIDENCE.

THE FAMILY OF YI KOH HONG.

(See p. 290.)

290

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

time. Mr. Sam Hing Si is still a young man,
being now only thirty-five years of age, and the
success he has achieved is a high tribute to his
energy and financial ability. He is a man, too,
with generous instincts, and he takes a con-
siderable interest in the well-being of his fellow-
countrymen in Bangkok. In 1904 he founded
a local branch of the Po Leung Kuk (or Society
of Charity), which has since done much
excellent work in the protection of Chinese
girls and boys, and in rescuing unfortunate
Chinese children from slavery. But this is
only one instance of the many where his
sympathy for those in thfe less fortunate cir-
cumstances of life has taken practical shape.
He is always willing to help on a good cause,
and an appeal to him for assistance from those
really in need is rarely made in vain.

Mr. Kow Soon Mir at, who holds the
responsible position of cashier to the East
Asiatic Company, Ltd., is the son of Mr. Kow
Swee Siong, a former employee of the Siamese
Customs Service. Mr. Kow Soon Huat was
born in Bangkok, where his father is still
living, but was educated in Singapore, and has
a good command of the English language. He
has occupied his present position for the last
four years.

Mr. Kho Teck Chye, who has for the past
three years held the post of cashier to the East
Asiatic Company's sawmill in Bangkok, was
born and educated in Singapore. On leaving
school he entered the service of a Straits
business house.. Afterwards he was, for several
years, employed by the Borneo Company in
Bangkok, and then, returning to Singapore, he
remained for two years in the shipping office of
Messrs. Behn, Meyer & Co. before taking up
his residence again in Bangkok. Mr. Kho
Teck Chye's success in business, which has been
considerable, furnishes another example of the
advantages the Straits-born Chinese receive in
the shape of good, sound English education.

Mr. Lee Boon (ieok has been for half a
century in the active service of the Borneo
Company, Ltd. He was born in Malacca
and received an excellent English education
at the Malacca High School. At the age of
eighteen he arrived at Bangkok and immedi-
ately joined his present employers, and, up
till quite recently, held the important position
of cashier, a post he relinquished solely on
account of his age. He has always been
regarded as a valued servant by the com-
pany, and at the conclusion of his fifty
years' service received what was to him a
most gratifying expression of goodwill and
esteem from the board of directors and
managers. Mr. Lee Boon Geok, who is a
British subject and a recognised leader
among the Chinese in all public affairs, took
an active part in raising the fund for the
Queen Victoria Memorial, which was erected
largely by Chinese subscriptions. He has, of
course, seen many improvements effected in
1 he appearance of the city, and even during
his residence in Bangkok land values have
in some quarters risen by 300 per cent. Mr.
Lee Boon Geok has also achieved no little
fame as the discoverer of " new cures " for
leprosy and poisonous snake bites.

Mr. Seow Keng Lin, the son of Mr.
Seow Teck Boo, was born in Singapore in
1862, and after receiving an English educa-
tion at Raffles Institution, he entered the
service of Messrs. Guthrie & Co., a well-
known firm in Singapore, where he remained
for five years. Arriving in Bangkok in 1885,
he joined the firm of Messrs. Windsor & Co.
three years later as an assistant. Subse-
quently he was promoted to the responsible
position of compradore, and now controls the
whole of the firm's buying business in rice.
In many other directions also Mr. Seow
Keng Lin's business enterprise has manifested
itself. He holds the post of compradore to
the firm of Messrs. Steel Bros., and is a

large rice and general broker, handling a
great deal of the rice output of many of the
mills in Bangkok. He is a member of the
committees of the local Chinese club, of the
Chinese hospital, and also of the new Chinese
school which is now being established.

Mr. Kwok Chlm, who has for twenty-six
years been connected with the shipping of
the port of Bangkok, is. now the head of the
principal Chinese stevedoring company in
the city and contractor to Messrs. Windsor
& Co. for the loading and unloading of the
large fleet of steamers, including those of
the Norddeutscher Coasting Service, for which
they are agents. To carry out this large
amount of work this contract entails over one
thousand coolies are kept constantly employed.
Mr. Kwok Chim is a native of Canton, the
capital of the Kwang Tung province of China,
but he has now made his home in Bangkok.
When he first came to Siam he joined Messrs.
Windsor & Co. as an assistant. After ten
years he was transferred to the stevedoring
department, of which ten years later he was
placed in full charge. Subsequently he formed
a company of his own, and has since, as
stated, carried out the work for Messrs.
Windsor & Co. by contract.

Mr. Lim Kian Seng, who has been in
charge of the cashier's department at Messrs.
Markwald & Co.'s for close on half a century,
is a native of Pinang. After receiving a good
education in English at the Pinang Free School,
he came to Bangkok in 1861, and very
shortly after his arrival entered the service of
Messrs. A. Markwald & Co., where he has
remained ever since. Mr. Lim Kian Seng is a
member of a family which is well known
and highly respected in Pinang ; and the home
known as Pinang Hall, which he maintains
in his native town, and where his mother, a
lady of eighty-four years of age, is still living,
is one of the finest in the island. Mr. Lim
Kian Seng has several sons in business.
The eldest, Mr. Lim Cheng Chuan, is the
chief storekeeper of Messrs. Diethelm & Co. ;
the second, Mr. Lim Cheng Keat, is cashier
to the Standard Oil Company of New York ;
the third, Mr. Lim Cheng Song, is in business
on his own account ; while the fourth, Mr.
Lim Cheng Theam, is cashier to the British
American Tobacco Company, Ltd.

Mr. Neo Mann Ngian, the chief Chinese
assistant in the shipping department (N.D.L.
Orient Line) of Messrs. A. Markwald & Co.,
is a member of a family well known in local
business circles. One o( his brothers, Mr.
Neo Mann Foong, is in the service of the East
Asiatic Company as an import compradore ;
another brother, Mr. Neo Mann Cheen, is with
Messrs. R. Lentz & Co., the Court photographers,
as a . bookkeeper ; while a third, Mr. Neo
Mann Fong, is in the employment of Messrs.
Behn, Meyer & Co. Mr. Neo Mann Ngian,
who was born in Bangkok and received an
excellent education in English both in his
native town and at Raffles Institution, Singa-
pore, has been with Messrs. Markwald & Co.
for three years, during which time he has
been chiefly responsible for the bulk of the
cargo business carried on by the Hongkong
and coast services of the Norddeutscher Lloyd
Orient Line. He is a keen sportsman, and
is very fond of shooting and other outdoor
recreations.

Mr. Chin Wong Teng, the compradore
to the Standard Oil Company, was born and
educated in Singapore, and obtained his early
business experience in the Straits Settlements.
He secured his present position some three
years ago.

Mr. Wee Boon Seng is one of the oldest
Chinese business men in Bangkok. He was
born and educated in Malacca, and on coming
to Bangkok, over forty years ago, he at once
entered the service of the firm of Messrs. A.
Markwald & Co., where for thirty-eight years

he held the post of compradore ; and a change
in the ownership of the company occurring a
few years since, Mr. Wee Boon Seng retired
from active business, but his son, Mr. Wee
Hoon Moh, continues to carry on the family
tradition. Mr. Wee Hoon Moh was born in
Bangkok, and received a good English educa-
tion at Raffles Institution. Singapore. On
returning to his native city he joined his father
as assistant and remained in Messrs. Markwald
& Co.'s service for fourteen years. Some
three years ago he obtained his present position
of storekeeper to the Standard Oil Company of
New York.

Mr. Tae Hong, or as he is familiarly known
in Bangkok, Mr. Yi Koh Hong, is a native of
Siam, his father, who was for a long time a
prominent business man both in this country
and in Burma, having come to Bangkok from
the Taichew Province of China (Swatow).
After completing his education in Chinese, Yi
Koh Hong started business in Bangkok on his
own account, and has now, for upwards of
twenty years, been a lottery, gambling, and
general Government farmer. During this
period he has accumulated a large fortune, in
spite of having to pay many millions of ticals
into the Treasury. Mr. Yi Koh Hong is fifty-
eight years of age, and has six sons, some of
whom are in China completing their education,
while his eldest son is in Bangkok assisting his
father in his extensive undertakings. Mr. Yi
Koh Hong is a mandarin of the fourth class,
a member of the Order of the Grand Dragon
de l'Annam, and a Grand Chancelier de la
Legion d'Honneur. He manifests a great
interest in the welfare of the native people
of his family village, and has spent large sums
of money in making good roads and building
comfortable houses for them.

Towkay Tay Koon Teo is one of the
oldest and best known Chinese residents in
Siam. A native of Swatow, he came to Bang-
kok when quite a young man, and is now
sixty-one years of age. His business career
extended over a period of forty years ; and
although during this time he built up a con-
siderable import and export trade and estab-
lished branches in Hongkong and Singapore,
his time was chiefly taken up with opium,
spirit, and gambling farms. He paid many
hundreds of ticals to the Treasury for these
monopolies, but it was money well invested
from a personal point of view, for they brought
him in a large fortune. The Towkay is highly
respected by his fellow-countrymen, and has
been decorated with the Crystal Button and
the Peacock's Feather by the Chinese Govern-
ment. He has now retired from business,
having handed over the management of his
various interests to Mr. Tay Cheng, his son,
and is passing his remaining years quietly
with his family in his splendid home, situated
just off the New Road.

Mr. Tan Kai Ho, who holds during the
present year the position of Vice-President of
the local Chinese Hospital, has built up a large
business and amassed a quite considerable
fortune during the twenty-five years he has
been resident in Bangkok. At different periods
he has been an opium farmer under the
Government, but latterly he has turned his
attention to rice-milling, and has acquired and
still holds an interest in the Seng Heng mill.
He is also the owner of an important business
in Sampeng known by the chop Ban Ann,
which, in addition to his other interests, is
managed during his absence by his nephew,
Mr. Tan Peak Joo. Mr. Tan Kai Ho has never
been forgetful of his less fortunate fellow-
countrymen in the success which has attended
his various commercial enterprises. He has
always taken a deep personal interest in
medical work among the Chinese, and has
been a generous supporter of many public
charitable movements instituted on their be-
half.

THE HIGHWAYS AND SANITATION OF BANGKOK

By L. R. DE LA MAHOTIERE,
City Engineer and Chief Engineer of the Sanitary Department, Bangkok.

NLY in quite recent
years have thorough-
fares with any real pre-
tensions to the name
existed in Bangkok.
Formerly the traffic
was confined to the
klongs, and even now
the chief means of
transport are the small native craft which ply
up and down these waterways. Fifty years
ago, indeed, the city was known as "the
Venice of the East." The first streets laid
out were constructed in a very primitive
manner. It was considered sufficient to take
the earth from the sides of the roads in order
to raise the centre, with the result that the
roads were edged with swamps, at the rear of
which the houses were constructed on piles.
To make the roads firmer it was usual to
spread a light layer of broken bricks and stones
on the surface ; consequently in the rainy
season the thoroughfares were reduced to
sloughs and puddles and quickly became
impassable. Within the last decade or so the
advantages of macadamising the roads with
broken bricks and flints have been recognised,
but the system has not been undertaken with
any degree of thoroughness, the materials being
merely spread over the roads, and the work of
rolling them in being left to the chance instru-
mentality of the vehicular traffic. In that
portion of the city, however, between the river
and the city wall wherein are the King's palace
and the residences of many of the Siamese
princes, the work of road-making has been
carried out with more care ; better materials
have been used, and the steam-roller has been
employed with advantage. The improvement
has been the more marked since the King and
other members of the royal family have taken
to motoring ; indeed, some of the thorough-
fares are maintained in a far more efficient
condition than is actually demanded by the
traffic upon them.

As the water of the river is not stored
anywhere, street watering is effected by the
most primitive means by Chinese coolies bear-
ing watering-cans, which they fill from the
klongs or from the gutters by the roadside.
They carry the cans suspended from a yoke,

and as they run along they tip up the buckets
which they hold, one in each hand. As the
water taken from the gutters is usually in a
state of putrefaction, it is perhaps needless to
add that there are serious objections to the
methods of street-watering which now obtain.

L. B. DE LA MAHOTIERE.

(City Engineer and Chief Engineer, Sanitary Department,
Ministry of Local Government.)

A system of revolving watering appliances has,
however, been tried, but has had to be aban-
doned on account of the weight of the appli-
ances, while other schemes which have been
suggested to the Government have not yet been
put to the test.

The first streets were made without pave-
ments. Now, however, pavements are found
in all the new streets, and have been added
even to the old ones ; but the lower classes
make use of the pavement as annexes to their
houses and shops to such an extent that in
many places the pavements have entirely dis-
appeared. No law has yet been passed to pre-
vent this overrunning of the side-walks, so that

even when it is possible — as, for example, after a
fire — to re-establish the alignment of the streets,
there is difficulty in remedying the evil.
Differences and disputes which arise on these
occasions as to boundaries are usually settled
easily and amicably when Siamese only are
concerned ; but such is not the case when
foreigners are the interested parties. They
regard such adjustments as sales of land on
their part and demand high prices accordingly.
Similar difficulties present themselves when
new roads have to be cut ; it is often necessary
to deviate the direction and make detours to
avoid the property of foreign subjects and
proteges.

Sanitation.

No proper system of drainage exists in
Bangkok. The klongs are used as sewers by
the people dwelling on their banks, and are
scoured twice daily by the action of the tide.
In the streets away from the klongs sullage
water and sewage matter is discharged into
the drains which run by the roadside. Some
of these drains are now closed, but originally
they were all open. They are solidly built of
brick and concrete, and in many instances are
connected with the klongs by sluice-gates, so
that their cleansing may be easily effected by
means of the tide, sweepers being employed
to assist the process. The drains also serve to
carry off the surface-water. Suggestions for
the further improvement of the drainage of the
city have from time to time come under the
consideration of the authorities. Of these
the most acceptable to the Government has
been that which advocated the adoption of a
hydro-pneumatic system, but so far the system
has not been given a trial.

Refuse is removed from the neighbourhood
by means of carts provided by the authorities
for the purpose, and is deposited in various
open spaces along the roadside, and in un-
inhabited parts of the town. The suggestion
to build furnaces for the incineration of refuse
has been put forward, but has not yet been
acted upon.

The Water Supply.

Bangkok possesses no water supply. The
lower classes use the water from the river and
klongs, with deplorable results from the point
of view of health. In the dry season, and
more especially during the months of February,

292

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF S1AM

March, April, and May, a lamentable state of
things prevails, cholera claiming thousands of
victims from among the poorer classes. The
European population exercise more wisdom in
this respect, never using water even for washing
and bathing without the addition of alum. For
household purposes rain-water is used. It is
collected in steel tanks, into which it flows
from the roofs ; and during the heavy rains
every effort is made to store sufficient water
for the needs of the dry season, which lasts
from November till May.

Unsuccessful attempts have been made to
solve the question of water supply by deep
borings. An artesian stream was tapped at a
depth of 423 feet, but analyses at Bangkok and
at the Pasteur Institute at Saigon proved that
the water was impure. Further borings were
made, but at a depth of 650 feet difficulties mani-
fested themselves, and, proving insuperable,
brought the work to a standstill. At present
the only wells in Bangkok are those owned by
commercial houses.

Besides the scheme for artesian well boring
water has been drawn from the Menam, at a
point some fifteen miles above the city, and
brought by means of a canal to the centre of
the town, where it is pumped into a reservoir,
60 ft. in height. It is filtered, and purified
with ozone, and is then ready for use. The
scheme, which was advocated and carried
through in its experimental stage by Mr.
Mahotiere, city engineer, has received the
approval of Government, but for want of
sufficient funds has not been put into general
use.

In a city traversed in all directions by canals
there must of necessity be a number of bridges ;
and, for the reason that clearance must be
given to the roofs of boats plying on the
various water-thoroughfares, the bridges in
Bangkok are carried to a considerable

height above ground-level, and are therefore
steep and awkward for vehicular traffic. The
earlier bridges were simply structures of beams
and cross planks, resting on brick supports.
Owing to the unsuitable nature of the ground,
and to the little care exercised in their erection,
these supports have, in many cases, sunk into
the bed of the klong, leaving insufficient room
for boats to pass beneath them. The recon-
structed and new bridges are of iron, and are
built to carry a macadamised roadway. His
Majesty the king takes great interest in this
work, as in other matters concerning the public
welfare ; and every November, on the anniver-
sary of his birthday, the foundations of a new
bridge are laid, the cost of the bridge being
partly defrayed by his Majesty. On these
"anniversary" bridges a slab is fixed bearing
the king's initials, the date, and his Majesty's
age. The bridge to be built this year (1908) will
be of importance as commemorating also the
forty-first year of the king's reign. It will be
constructed of armoured concrete, ornamented
with enamelled sandstone, and will have a
length of 27 feet.

Mr. C. Allegri, the Engineer-in-Chief of
the Public Works Department in Bangkok,
was born in Milan in 1862, and was educated at
the Milan Technical School and at the Univer-
sity of Pavia. Having completed his studies
and passed his professional examinations, he
was for the following six years engaged in
engineering work in various parts of Italy,
taking a share in the construction of the St.
Gothard railway and in the erection of several
of the large public buildings in Milan. In
1889 he came to Siam for a firm of contractors,
but the following year resigned this post and
joined the Siamese Government as Assistant-
Engineer in the Public Works Department.
He was promoted to his present position two
years later. The department under his super-

vision has carried out a great deal of very fine
work in Bangkok, with the result that in some
districts the whole appearance of the town has
been changed. For his valuable services in
these and other directions his Majesty the king
some years ago conferred upon Mr. Allegri the
Order of the White Elephant, third class.

Mr. L. R. de la Mahotiere, City Engineer
and Chief Engineer of the Sanitary Department
at Bangkok, has had considerable experience of
engineering work abroad. Having qualified
as a certificated engineer of the Central School
of Arts and Crafts of Paris, and on becoming
a member of the Society of French Civil
Engineers, he sailed for Chile, where he took
up the position of engineer to the Antofagasta
Railway and Nitrates Company. He then
joined the Public Works Department of the
Chilian Government, and during his tenure of
office was engaged upon the construction of
the railway from Victoria to Osorno and in
completing the general survey of the nitrate
concession and territories in the province of
Tarapaca. The revolution and subsequent
overthrow of President Balmaceda forced him
to leave Chile, and he found employment with
the Huanchaca de Bolivia Gold-mining Com-
pany, for whom he engineered a system of
canals whereby water was obtained from the
River Cagua for the hydraulic electrification of
the various departments of the mine. He was
next engaged on behalf of a French firm to
superintend the exploitation of mahogany and
other woods in Bolivian forests, and subse-
quently proceeded on a geographical mission
to the Congo in the interests of a Parisian
house. Upon his return to France he was
chosen by the French Government to enter the
Siamese service. Mr. de la Mahotiere was a
member of the Commission appointed to deter-
mine the boundary between Siam and Indo-
China.

C. ALLEGRI.
(Engineer-in-Chief, Public Works Department.)

THE PRESS

IAM, or rather Bangkok,
to-day boasts a news-
paper press of its own,
Which, to a very con-
siderable extent, indi-
cates the progressive
spirit abroad in the
country. Besides the
official Gazette, which
is issued regularly every Monday, with frequent
special editions, there are no fewer than five
daily newspapers, two printed in English and
Siamese, a third in English, French, and
Siamese, while the remaining two are intended
for circulation among the Siamese and Chinese
only. There are also several small weekly and
monthly publications, but these are of such
ephemeral life that it is unnecessary to take
them into consideration.

According to tradition, which is to some
extent borne out by archaeological discoveries,
the art of printing was known in Siam, as in
various other Far Eastern countries, long before
it was re-invented in Europe. As in China,
the necessary characters were cut in relief in
slabs of wood, inked, and then transferred by
hand-pressure to various materials. It was
not, however, until June, 1839, that a printing
press on Western lines and with movable
types was erected in Bangkok. It was in-
troduced by some American missionaries, and
a newspaper followed as a kind of natural
sequence. In the year 1844 Mr. D. B. Bradley,
of the American Presbyterian Mission, started
a small paper in Siamese, but transport was
difficult, there were neither regular mails nor
telegraphs, and after struggling along for one
year the issue was discontinued. There was
apparently no scope for journalistic enterprise
in these days, for while various papers and
periodicals were started, they all very speedily
came to grief. In 1864 Mr. J. H. Chandler
commenced the publication of a weekly journal
called the Bangkok Times. It was printed in
English, and seemed to be on the high-road to
success until, in the second year of its existence,
the proprietor, editor, and manager became
involved in a lawsuit, when publication ceased
forthwith. The career of the Bangkok Re-
corder, a small paper founded about this time
by the Rev. N. A. Macdonald, of the American
Presbyterian Mission, and afterwards con-
ducted by the Rev. D. H. Bradley, was cut
short in a somewhat similar fashion. Legal
proceedings were instituted against it by some
aggrieved person, and the result, as far as the

paper was concerned, was financial ruin. A
Bangkok Recorder was afterwards published in
Siamese ; but fortune did not smile upon the
enterprise, and, after the failure of this under-
taking, Bangkok was left for two years in the
Arcadian-like and peaceful condition of being

published regularly during what must be con-
sidered a record period, up to that time, of
seventeen years. In 1886, however, the editor
was faced with a serious libel suit, and he then
decided to abandon an enterprise which had
never been a real commercial success. " It

THE OFFICES OF THE "BANGKOK TIMES."

without a newspaper of any description. After
this period of rest, however, three journals
sprang into being almost simultaneously. The
Siam Weekly Monitor, a paper started by Mr.
E. d'Encourt, an American, was first in the
field, but after a hard tight it succumbed before
its two more powerful rivals, the Bangkok
Daily Advertiser and the Siam Daily Ad-
vertiser. These papers, which contained little
but shipping intelligence and a few advertise-
ments, struggled along for a while in the
deadly embrace of an Eatonsvillian combat,
and then the Bangkok Daily Advertiser ceased
publication suddenly, while its former com-
petitor made its final bow to the public a few
months later. In August, 1869, the Siam
Weekly Advertiser was established, and was

293

became manifest," he said, " that when those
who ought to have supported it vigorously and
substantially were eager to prosecute for libel,
and sought remuneration for, on his part not
dreamt of, but by them supposed harm, it was
best to discontinue a non-remunerative con-
cern."

For the greater part of a year Siam's capital
was again without a newspaper of its own.
Then, at the beginning of 1887, the Bangkok
Times was established by Mr. T. Lloyd-
Williamese, as a small weekly journal. During
the first two years of its existence it had to
compete for public favour with the Siam
Mercantile Gazette, but whereas the Gazette
was discontinued the Times prospered, and
was converted by its proprietors into a bi-

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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

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weekly paper. In October, 1891, the Siam
Free Press, a paper devoted largely to French
interests and supported by French capital,
was started by Mr. J. J. Lillie, while in 1903
the Siatn Observer was founded by Mr. W. A. G.
Tilleke, the present Acting Attorney-General of
Siam, and the late Mr. G. W. Ward, a journalist
of considerable experience, who later acted as
the special correspondent of the Pall Mall
Gazette through the Chino-Japanese War and
the Omdurman campaign. The Observer was
a daily paper, and, being launched during a
period of unrest and just after the blockade of
Bangkok by the French fleet, when news was
eagerly looked for, it achieved a considerable
measure of success and established itself upon
a firm and sound basis. In order to keep
abreast with their new contemporary, the
Bangkok Times and the Siam Free Press were
both converted into daily journals. During
the last three years two new daily papers,
printed in Siamese and Chinese, have been
started in Bangkok, and both enjoy large
circulations ; but so far as the foreign residents
are concerned, the Times, the Observer, and
Free Press continue to hold sway. The old
order of things, when newspaper libel actions
appeared to be the general rule, has entirely
changed. The papers now work in complete
harmony with the Government ; they are
generally kept well posted with official news,
and it is an open secret that they receive
Government subsidies. Both the Times and
the Observer issue weekly mail editions in
English and Siamese, for transmission abroad
and through the provinces.

" BANGKOK TIMES."

The Bangkok Times, which is the oldest
established newspaper in Bangkok, and may
be said to have the largest circulation among
the European residents, was founded by Mr.
T. Lloyd Williamese in January, 1887. It was
first published as a small weekly journal con-
taining six pages and thirty columns of printed
matter. It met with a considerable share of
success from its inauguration, was subse-
quently converted into a bi-weekly paper, was
afterwards published three times a week, and
in the early nineties became a daily evening
journal. It has been considerably enlarged,
and now comprises eight pages, containing
forty-eight columns.

Four years ago a limited liability company
was formed to take over the paper, which, up
to that time, had been conducted as a private
enterprise, Mr. C. Thorne, who had been
largely interested in the undertaking for many
years previously, being appointed managing
director of the company. The editor of the
paper is Mr. W. H. Mundie, M.A., and he has
two European assistants, Mr. R. Adey Moore
and Mr. E. B. Gatenby.

"SIAM OBSERVER."

Prior to the trouble with France in 1903
there had been no daily newspaper published
with success in Bangkok. There had been
several attempts made to establish such a
journal, but all had ended in failure. In 1893,
however, when these international difficulties
culminated in the blockade of the Siamese capital
by the French fleet, and when rumours of the
wildest kind were rife and no one knew exactly
what was occurring, opinions were expressed
on all sides that a daily newspaper was badly
needed. At last Mr. W. A. G. Tilleke, the
present Acting Attorney-General of Siam, and
Mr. G. W. Ward, who had formerly been a
member of the staff of the Bangkok Times,
took counsel together to see how the want
could best be supplied.

They had neither printing plant nor anything
that goes towards the mechanical production

THE OFFICES OF THE "SIAM OBSERVER.'

of a daily paper but, after casting about for
some time, they entered into an arrangement
with the Rev. S. Smith for the use of his
printing-office at Bangkolem ; and here, after
the vexatious delays which always seem in-
separable from the starting of a newspaper, the
first issue of their publication was made. The
Observer was in those days one-tenth of the
size that it is to-day. The first copy had an
eccentric-looking title heading, and to make this
appear all the more striking the editor gave it
a sub-heading, which took the form of a pro-
phecy. It was, "The French have not left
Chantabun, but they will very soon." Paren-
thetically it may be remarked that it was over
ten years ere the prophecy was fulfilled. Just
when the Observer had firmly established itself
a dispute arose between Messrs. Ward &
Tilleke, and Mr. Ward left Bangkok for Hong-
kong. He afterwards represented the Pall
Mall Gazette in the Chino-Japanese War and
the Soudan campaign, and died under rather
painful circumstances in London, in 1899.
For some time after Mr. Ward's departure
from Siam, Mr. Tilleke conducted the news-
paper himself ; but finding that his editorial
duties, by occupying a large portion of his
time, interfered sadly with his legal practice,
he engaged Mr. Harry Hillman, an English
journalist, to relieve him of his responsibilities
in this direction. Mr. Hillman was succeeded in
the editorial chair by Mr. P. Mackenzie Skinner,
a barrister-at-law,whohad previously controlled
the destinies of the Hiogo News and the Straits
Times. Mr. Skinner, however, very shortly
afterwards decided to commence the practice
of his profession in Bangkok and, resigning,
was succeeded in November, 1899, by Mr.
William W. Fegen, who had been a correspon-
dent with the American troops in the Philip-
pines campaign. Early in 1902 Mr. H. G.
Gough, then a leader-writer on the staff of the
Glasgow Herald, was engaged as editor-in-chief,
and under his supervision the paper was twice
enlarged, and now it consists of ten pages.
Mr. Gough resigned in August, 1908, and his
place was taken by Mr. F. Lionel Pratt, an
Australian journalist who had been a leader-
writer on the China Mail and previously a
war-correspondent for the Sydney Morning

Herald in the Boxer campaign and the Russo-
Japanese War.

THE " CHINO-SIAMESE DAILY NEWS."

The most important newspaper enterprise in
Bangkok, apart from the English daily paoers,
is probably the Chine-Siamese Daily News.
This journal, as its name indicates, is published

Fi«*«tt i**-*"" '■■■ Is -ry

A COPY OF THE "CHINO-SIAMESE
DAILY NEWS."

in both the Chinese and Siamese languages.
It consists of twelve pages, eight printed in
Chinese and four in Siamese, and is conducted
with considerable vigour.

Its policy, indeed, may be described as
candid and highly independent, and it is,
perhaps, hardly surprising, therefore, that it
has had a somewhat troubled career. Its large

290

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

circulation, both in Siam and abroad, however,
may be taken as an indication that it has gained
the public favour. It numbers many friends

SEOW HOOD SENG.

(Proprietor and Managing Editor of the Chino-Siamcsc
Daily News.)

among the reform party in China, but is often
found at variance with those in favour of a
continuance of the old regime. The paper's

immediate predecessor, the Mcnam Kong Poll,
was forced to discontinue publication because
of the strong forces arrayed against it. The
property was purchased by Mr. Seow Hood
Seng, who upon the old foundation built up the
Chino-Siamese Daily News; and, while the
policy of the new journal is very similar
to that of the old, the paper, under his
skilful management, has secured for itself
a position from which it cannot easily be
shaken.

Mr. Seow Hood Seng, in addition to his
responsibility as proprietor and manager, also
carries out the duties of chief editor of the
paper. He is a native of Bangkok and a dis-
tinguished Chinese scholar, so that he is not
only well qualified to write on Siamese affairs,
but is also able to bring expert knowledge to
bear upon those subjects which intimately
concern the welfare of the inhabitants of the
Middle Kingdom. He is the son of an old
resident of Malacca who built up a considerable
business in Bangkok, and Mr. Seow Hood
himself, in spite of his necessarily onerous
duties connected with the successful conduct
of a daily newspaper, still finds time to
take an interest in a variety of commercial
undertakings. He is the managing attorney
for the firm of Tai Guan, Bangkok's largest
Chinese firm of wine and spirit merchants and
importers, and is associated, directly or in-
directly, with several other large enterprises.
He also takes a prominent part in social and
charitable work, and has just been successful
in raising a large public subscription for the
establishment of a school for Chinese boys.
His brother, Mr. Keng Leon, a good English
and Siamese scholar, who would otherwise
have been of great assistance in the carrying
on of the newspaper, has recently been called

to take up a responsible appointment in the
Government service.

Mr. Chan King Wah, the Chinese editor, is

CHAN KING WAH.
(Chinese Editor of the Chino-Siavn'se Daily Xews.)

also a man of strong character. A native of
Canton, he came to Bangkok some years ago
and founded the Mcnam Kong Poll, to which

Mr. OLeary Dempsey (English Editor).

1 SIAM FREE PRESS.'

The Offices.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

297

reference has already been made. He is an
accomplished Chinese journalist, and now in
the ChinoSiantese Daily News finds that scope
for the expression of his views upon Chinese
public affairs which was previously denied him.

THE "SIAM FREE PRESS.''

The Siam Free Press, the first Radical news-
paper ever published in Siam. was established
in the year 1891 by the late Mr. John Joseph
Lillie, a journalist of much spirit, whose fearless
outspokenness led to actions for libel being
taken against the paper, and eventually, in
1895, to his expulsion from the country. Some
of the cases brought against him were, indeed,
subject-matter for discussion in the British

House of Commons, the political relations be-
tween Great Britain, France, and Siam being
at that time somewhat strained. From Mr.
Lillie the paper passed into the hands of a
French company, who, however, have always
committed its conduct to Britishers. Mr. J.
Ward succeeded to the editorial chair under
the new regime, and remained in Siam for two
years, relinquishing the appointment to take up
that of editor of the Japan Times. Mr. Ward
subsequently went to Manchuria as a war
correspondent, and at the conclusion of the
campaign published a book on the Russo-
Japanese War. For a few months the Free
Press was edited by Mr. E. Martin ; then, in
1896, Mr. O'Leary Dempsey assumed the
editorial responsibilities, and has had charge
of the paper up to the present day.

Originally the Free Press was a comparatively
small newspaper, published only in English ;
it has now been increased to three times its
original size, and contains news in English,
French, and Siamese.

Mr. O Leary Dempsey, who has spent about
eighteen years in the tropics, is an Irishman,
and was educated at the De La Salle College,
Queen's County. He afterwards became a
professor at St. Joseph's School, Singapore,
where he had charge of a special class, several
of his pupils obtaining Queen's Scholarships.
In 1893 he took up a position in the Assumption
College, Bangkok, as head English professor,
and here also his pupils distinguished them-
selves by obtaining several scholarships given
by his Majesty the King of Siam.

inrnr f°

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THE OFFICE OF "THE CHINO-SIAMESE DAILY NEWS."

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INDICES

INDEX TO LETTERPRESS.

Administration of Justice, 94-96

Advice to New Residents, 129-132

Aksoranit Printing Office, 260

Allegri, C, 292

Ambrose, E., 142

Andre, J. R., 273

Army, 101-105

Arracan Company, Ltd., 149

Badman, Harry A. & Co., 270

Bamrong Xukul Kitch Printing Office, 260

Bangkok, 238-253

British Club, 252

Clubs and Theatres, 247

Deutscher Klub, 252

Dispensary, 275

Dock Company, Ltd., 195

Dvi Panya Club, 253

Gambling Houses, 248

Grand Palace, 245

Highways, 291

Manufacturing Company, Ltd., 270

Museum, 251

National Library, 248

Places of Interest in Neighbourhood,
248

Population, 24S

Sanitation, 291

Times, 295

United Club, 252

Water Supply, 291-292

Wats (Temples), 246
Banque de 1'Indo-Chine, 118
Barmen Export-Gesellschaft. 263
Beckett, Walter Ralph Durie, 99
Behn, Meyer & Co., Ltd., 143
Bhaskarawongse, H.E. Chow Phya, 253
Bibadhana, Phya Varabongsa, 254
Black, John Stewart, 96
Bombay - Burma Trading Corporation,

Ltd., 181
Borneo Company, Ltd., 175
British - American Tobacco Company,

Ltd., 263
British Court for Siam, 95
British Dispensary, 275
Buddhism, 207-214
Budenbender, Dr. Hermann, 98
Bun Hong Long & Co., 143

Canals, 200

Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and

China, Ltd., 120
Cheah Chee Seng, 287
Chee Tsze Ting, 281
Chinese Hospital, 134
Chino-Siameic Daily Xeivs, 295
Chin Wong Teng, 290
Chop Choo Kwang Lee, 285
Chop Chan Kim Kee, 161
Chop Fook Wah Shan Kee, 169
Chop Low Ban Seng, 169
Chop Wong Li, 169
Chop Yong Tet Hin Tai, 282
Ciccodicola, Commendatore Federico, 99
Climate, 128-130

Data for Bangkok. 132
Coinage and Currency, 116-118
Commercial Section, 257-2^0
Constitution and Law, 91
Consular Representatives, 97-99
Corbett, A. J, & Co., 198
Customs and Manners, 220-225

Dehlholm, H., 198

de Jesus, F. V., 179

De Margerie, Pierre, 97

Denny, Mott & Dickson, Ltd., 174

Diethelm & Co., Ltd., 267

Dunlup, John M., 198

Dussoh, Henri, 96

East Asiatic Company, Ltd., 143, 181

Ecclesiastical, 207-217
Buddhism, 207-214
Protestant Church, 216, 217
Roman Catholic Church, 214, 215

Edie, J. W., 99

Education, 226-234

Eltekoff, Nicholas K., 98

Eng Liang Yong Sawmills, 181

Engineering, 186-198

Expenditure (State), 113, 115 11

Falck & Beidek, 263
Finance, 1 12-120
Flores, Luiz Leopoldo, 99
Frankfurter, Dr. Oscar, 251
Frere, A., 98

Gendarmerie, no, m

Giblin, Ronald W., 127

Grahlert, F. & Co., 275

Grimm, B. & Co., 267

Guan Heng Seng and Guan Heng Chan

Rice Mills, 157
Guan Tit Lee & Co., 165

Hays, Dr. T. Hay ward, 134

Heide, J. Homan van der, 202

Highways and Sanitation of Bangkok, 291

Hiranjakitch, Phra Sanpakarn, 254

H i story —

Ancient history, 15 ; the Portuguese
period, 16 ; Camoens' description of
Siam in the " Lusiad," 16 ; Early Dutch
and English connection, 17 ; the Eng-
lish East India Company establishes
factories at Ayuthia and Patani, 18 j
attempt to open up trade between Patani
and Japan. 20 ; Dutch rivalry, 22 ; attack
on the English by the Dutch and de-
struction of the Patani establishment,
22 ; hostilities between Portugal and
Siam, 2\ ; new attempt in 1660 to estab-
lish English factories in Siam, 24 ;
burning of the English factory at
Ayuthia, 26 ; rise to power of the Greek
adventurer, Constantine Phaulkon. 26 ;
English mission to Ayuthia, 30 ; quarrel
between Phaul kon and an English
factor, 32 ; departure of the English
factors, 35 ; Siamese mission to France ;
36 ; imposing French mission to Siam,
38 ; war between Siam and Golconda,
39 ; Samuel White, Shahbander of Mer-
gui, summoned to Ayuthia on charges
connected with the war, 40 ; Macassar
rising at Ayuthia, 41 ; Sir John Child
sends a fresh trading expedition to
Siam, 42 ; war made on Siam by the East
India Company, 42 ; massacre of the
English at Mergui, 43 ; Samuel White
Hees to England, 44 ; .the second
French embassy, 44 ; disaffection at
Ayuthia, 44 ; Phra-Phet-Raxa seizes the
reins of power, 46 ; Phaulkon imprisoned
at the palace, 46 ; his tragic end, 46 ;
death of the king and crowning of the

usurper, 48 ; overtures to the East
India Company for the re-opening of
trade, 48; decline of Siamese prosperity,
48 ; death of Phra-Phet-Raxa, 48 ; war
made on Cambodia. 48 ; Burmese invasion
of the country under Alompra, 50 ; sack
and destruction of Ayuthia, 51 ; rise of
an usurper of Chinese descent, 51 ; capital
established at Bangkok, 52 ; Siamese
expedition to the Malay Peninsula, 52 ;
revolt and dethionement of the usurper,
52 ; the present Siamese dynasty estab-
lished, 52 , Siamese invasion of Kedah,
52 ; Mr. J. Crawfurd conducts a mission
to Siam, 53 ; failure of the mission, 57 ;
accession of a new king, 57 ; conclusion
of the treaty of Bangkok, 57; the
United States mission to Siam in 1833,
58 ; Sir James Brooke conducts an
abortive mission to Siam in 1850, 58 ;
second American mission, 59 ; Sir John
Bowringgoesas British envoy toSiamin
1^55- 59 : he concludes a treaty, 62 ; a
new reign, 63;employment of European
officials, 64; mission to England, 64 ;
accession of the present king, 64; French
colonial expansion, 70 ; its effect on
Siam, 71 ; capture of Luang Prabang
by the Chin Haws, 71 ; proposals for
a Franco-British understanding relative
to Siam, 71 ; delimitation of the Bur-
mese and Siamese frontiers, 71 ; Mr. W.
J. Archer's report, 71 ; Franco-Siamese
Delimitation Commission at work, 72 ;
French claims to territory in the Mekong
watershed, 72; further proposals for a
Franco-British understanding relative
to Siam, 74 ; collision between French
and Siamese forces, 74 ; growth of
the war spirit in Siam, 75 ; arrival of
French warships at the mouth of the
Menam, 75 ; they pass up to Bangkok
under tire from the Siamese forts, 75 ;
despatch of an ultimatum to the
Siamese Government, 76 ; a blockade
established, 76 ; negotiations between
the British and French Governments,
76 ; a convention signed at Bangkok by
the French and Siamese representatives,

299

300

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF, SI AM

History (continued) —
So ; Franco-British agreement relative
to the frontier, 80 ; commercial progress,
81 ; rice cultivation, 81 ; railway con-
struction, 81 ; proposed new Anglo-
Siamese Agreement, 8 1 ; description of
Kelantan, 82; the political history of
Trengganu, 84

Hongkong and Shanghai Hanking Cor-
poration, Ltd.. 119

Hospital Statistics, 133

Howarth Erskine, Ltd., 192

Irwin, Arthur J., 127

Jendarata Rubber Company, Ltd., 192
Joo Seng Heng Bank, 118
Joo Seng, Messrs., 157

Kee Chiang & Sons, 257

Kho Teck Chye, 290

Kim Cheng Rice Mill, 157

Kim Seng Lee & Co., 161

King, Hamilton. 98

Kings of Siam, 85

Koh Hong Lee, 151

Koh Mah Wah & Co,, 165

Kow Soon Huat, 290

Kruse, W., 278

Kwa, Chamun Chong, 256

Kwang Hap Seng Rice Mills, 152

Kwok Chim, 290

Kwong Xgan Fong, 179

Language of Siam, 218, 219

Laporte, G. Osmin, 97

Lau Beng Seng. 169

Law, Old and New, 91-94

Lee Boon Geok, 290

Lee Cheng Chan and Tom Yah Rice

Mills, 161
Lenz, Robt. & Co.. 275
Lim Kian Seng. 290
Li Tit Guan. 155

Louis T. Leonowens, Ltd., 267
Luang Suwanakit Chamnarn, 260

McArthur, J. D. & Co., Ltd., 192

Mackay, Joseph, 142

MacMurray, John Van A., 98

Mahotiere, L. R. de la, 292

Manners and Customs, 220-225

Markwald, A. & Co., Ltd., 152

Maxwell, Norman, 142

Means of Communication — Rivers, Roads,

Railways, and Canals. 199-294
Menam Motor Boat Company, Ltd., 192
Merican, M. T. S., 278
Messageries Fluviales de Cochin Chine,

*43
Mines and Mining Administration, 182-

185
Ministries, n6
Mitsui Bussan Kaisha, 278
Monod, E. C. et Fils, 263
" Monopole" Stores, 281
Montri, H. E. Chow Phya Surasakdi, 254

Navy, 105-106

Naylor, C. J., 96

Neo Mann Ngian, 290

Niel, C. R. A., 96

Nieuwe nhuis, F. J. Domela, 97

Norddcutscher Lloyd, 143

Oriental Hotel, 278
Oversea Trade, 135-143

Paget, Ralph Spencer, 99
Pappayanopulos, C„ 281
Pialet, A. & Co., 177
Police, 107- 1 10
Population of Bangkok, 248
Posts and Telegraphs. 204-206
Potchanakit, Phra Montri, 256
Press, The, 293
Protestant Church, 216, 217
Public Health. 128-134

Railways, 202
Revenue (State), 112-115
Reytter, Dr. E., 134
Rice, 144-169

Yields, 146

Export, 149
Riddhisakdi, Luang, 256
Rivers, 199, 200
Roads, 201, 202

Roman Catholic Church, 214, 215
Royal Family of Siam, 85 90

Sam Hing Si, 287

Sampson, John & Son, 273

"Sandhabhojana," Ltd., 257

Sanitwongse, Dr. Yai S., 254

Schau, Colonel G., in

Seng. S. Joo, 118

Seow Keng Lin, 290

Seekak Dispensary, 278

Sheridan, Rene, 96

Shipping — Nationality and Tonnage, 139,

141
Siam Commercial Bank, Ltd., 120
Siam Electricity Company, Ltd., 188
Siam Engineering Company, Ltd., 195
Siamese Language, 218, 219
Siamese Students Abroad, 234
Siamese Tramway Company, Ltd., 192
Siam Forest Company, Ltd., 175
Siam Free Press, 297
Siam Import Company. 263
Siam Observer, 295
" Siddhibhand " Store, Bangkok, 257
Sieng Kee Chan Rice Mills, 165
Smart. Sidney, 198
Social Section, 253-256
Societa Italo-Siamese. 273
Societe Anonyme Beige, 273
Sport, 235-237

Stiracha Company, Ltd., 177
Standard Oil Company of New York, 263
Steel Bros. & Co., Ltd., 155

Straits-Siam Mercantile Company, 267
Suphan Steam Packet Company, 143
Survey, 121-127
Suwanakitch, Phan, 263
Swee Ho, H., 281

Tae Hong, 290

Tanabe Kumasabura, 99

Tan Ban Seng Chiang Rice Mill, 157

Tan Guan What, 287

Tan Kai Ho, 290

Tan Keng Whay, 282

Tan TaiGuan, 287

Tapan Lek Dispensary, 275

Teak Industry, The, 170-181

Thye Guan Eng Kee Stores, 282

Tilleke, Wm. Alfred G., 96

Tooth, Lawrence, 96

Towkay Tay Koon Teo, 290

Transport Company, " Motor," Ltd., 198

Turner, His Hon. Judge Skinner, 95

Union Dispensary, 281
Unverzagt, L. Th., 275

Vacuum Oil Company, 275
Van der Heide, J. Homan, 202
Vincent, His Hon. Judge Arthur Rose, 95
Viratchan-Thorn Dispensary, 260
Von Prollius, Adolph,98

Watson, C. L., g5
Wee Boon Seng. 290
Windsor & Co., 143
Wing Seng Long & Co., 181
Wong Hang Chow, 287
Wright, G. K., 96

Xavier Rice Mills, 152

Yacovlew, A. G., 98
Yong Lee Seng, 285
Yong Seng Rice Mill, 155
Yoshida Sakuya, 99

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

Adamsen, Dr. H., 276
Aksoranit Printing Office, 260
Allegri, C, 292

American Presbyterian Church, 216
Ancient Manuscript, 19
Ancient Native Drawings, 33
Andre, J. R— Premises, 273
Army Manoeuvres, 104
Asadang Road, Bangkok, 240
Assumption College, 227

Badman, Harry A. & Co., 272
Bailey, H. V., 265
Banghea Drainage Sluice, 201
Bangkok Dispensary, 275

Dock Company, Ltd.— Works,
Motor Garage, and Dry Dock,
196
General View, 238
in 1824, 51
Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

(five views), 270, 271
Old Palace, 54

Outfitting Company (B. Grimm
& Co.), 268

Bangkok — Plan of Town, A.D. 1824, 57

Royal Decorations, 89

Times— copy of front page of an
issue, 294

Times Offices, 293
Bangrak Hospital, 130
Bang Yui Yuen, 159
Ban Hong Long & Co. (see Low Peng.

Kang in group), 284
Ban Kokwek Navigation Lock, 201
Banque de 1'Indo-Chine, 119
Barlow, A. H., 117
Beckett, W. R. D., 97
Behn, Meyer & Co., Ltd., 137
Bhaskarawongse, H.E. Chow Phya, 253
Bopp, F., 265
Bossoni, Dr. G., 265
Bowiing. Sir John, 59
Boy Priest, 49
Brehmer, W., 264
British Club, Bangkok,- 252

Dispensary (four views), 277
Legation, Bangkok, 239
Bronze Buddha at Ayuthia, 45
Buddhist Priest and Disciple, 223

Buddhist Priests, 211

Business Men of Bangkok (two groups),
26^4. 265

Cadet School, Prapatom, no

Canal in Bangkok, 200

Canals in Siam, Plan of, 202

Captain China, 284

Central Prison, 109

Chamun Chong Bhakdi-ong Kwa, 253

Chan Kim Long, 284

Chan King Wah— Chinese Editor of the

Chinese -Siamese Daily News, 296
Chao, Phya Vichitwongse Wudikrai, 93
Charoen Rajathon, Phra (Lau Chong Min),

167
Chee Tsze Ting and his Residence, 281
Chinese Business Men and Millers of

Bangkok— Group of 20 (also indexed

under each name), 284
Chinese Dock, 186

Engineering Shop, 187
Hand Rice Mill, 149
Hospital, 134
Hospital Committee, 134

Chinese Mining in Puket, 184
Chitto-Siamese Daily 2Vt*u>s— (Copy of pages
of an issue).
295
— Office, 297
Ching Wong Teng, 287
Choo Yoon, 285
Chop Choo Kwang Lee— two views of

Tile Factory and portrait of Choo

Yoon (proprietor), 285
Chop Joo Seng (see Nga Keng in group), 284

Rice Mill, 157
Chop Wong Li, 168
Chow Phya Devesra, H.E., 93
Chow Phya Surasakim Montri, H.E., 253
Christ Church, Bangkok, 216
Christian High School, 227
Ciccodicola, Major F , 97
Clearing Jungle for Rice, 144
Coins — Various, 115, 116
Colombet, Rev. E. A., 214
Compradores and Cashiers, Bangkok —

Group of 20 {also indexed against each

name), 287
Convent, The, 233

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

301

Corbett, A. J., 1K8

A. J. & Co.— Engineering Con-
tracts, 197
Courts of Justice, 94
Craig, Thos., 264
Criminals with Guard, 108
Crown Prince of Siam— Full page portrait,
86
— in group of Army
Officers, 100
Crown Prince's Palace, 241
Customs House, 142

Danno, R., 265

Daughter of Siamese Nobleman, 249

Dehlholm, H., 188

de Jesus. F. V. 265

De la Mahotiere, L. R. (also indexed
against "Mahotiere"), 291

De Margerie, P., 97

Dempsey, O'Leary — English Editor of the
Stam Free Press, 296

Denny, Mott & Dickson, Ltd. —
Offices, 174
Saw Mills, 175
Wharf, 175

Diethelm & Co., Ltd.— Offices and Go-
downs, 269

Drag-road for Timber, 171

Dunlop, John M., M.I.N.A., 188

Dusit Palace, Bangkok— Dining-room, 90
Park, Views in, 239

Dusson, Justice Henri, 96

East Asiatic Co., Ltd., 140, 141

— Sawmill and Stock
of Teak, 180
Edie, J. W., 98
Elementary School, 228
E'ephant Hunt, 236
Elephants in Ancient War Dress, 36
Eltekoff, N. K., 98
Eng Luang Yong, 284
Extracting Teak Logs, 170

Facsimile Letter from King to Sir J.
Rowring, 60

Falck & Beidek— Fremises and Show-
rooms, 266

Fatua Navigation Lock, 201

Female Dress of Past Days, 56

Fishing Boats, Paknam, 248

Floating Bazaar, Ayuthia, 21

Flores, L. L., 98

Francon, J., 264

Frankfurter, Dr. O., 251

Gandy, J. P., 265
L. T.265
Gendarmerie School, Prapatom, 11 1

Station, 109
German Club, Bangkok, 252
Giblin, R. W., 121
Girl Making Toilet, 69
Government Officials (Group), 115
Grahlert, P., 265

& Co. — Premises and Specimens,
274
Grimm, B. & Co., Views (three) of

Premises and Staff, 268
Groote, E., 265
Groundwater, C. L., 188
Grut, Lieut. W. L., 188
Gua Kim Min, 152
Guan Heng Chan Mill, 159

Guan Heng Seng Mill, 159

Guan Tit Lee, 162

Guide Map to Bangkok, 244

Hair-cutting Ceremony, Prince dressed

for, 83
Hand Rice Mill, 187
Hanncke, H., 188
Hays, Dr. T. Heyward, 134
Headquarters Staff of Army, 102
Hendrick, S. H., 264
Henry, Camille, 117
Hillyard, R.v. Dr., 217
Hong Keng Thong, 166
Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Com-
pany, Ltd., 119
Hoon Kim Huat and his Brothers, 282
Howarth Erskine, Ltd., Business Premises,
194
Panfalla Bridge,

195
Torpedo Boat Re-
paired, 195

Intrathibodi Siharai Rong Muang, H.E.

Phya, 92
Irrigating Land, 146

Jacquermyns, The late Rolin, 91
Jinricksha, Bangkok, 249
Johnson, W. G., 226
Joo Seng Heng Bank, 118

Kee Chiang & Sons (four views of
Premises, also portraits of Joseph Kuang
Nguang and F. X. Yew Nguang), 259

Khun Virat (one of group), 278

Kim Cheng & Co.— Mills and Machinery,
160

King of Siam, Frontispiece

King Phrah Putta Lotlah (A.l). 1809-24),
55

King's College, 226

King's Elephant Chair, 66

King's Summer Palace. Bang Pah Inn, 82

Klong Doakanong, 199

Klong Kut Mai, 200

Koch, Walter, 265

Koh Hong Lee— Family and House, 150
—Mills, 151

Koh Kue Hong, 150

Koh Mah Wah & Co. (Chop Guan Huat
Seng), 165
(see Teo Choon
Kheng in group,
284)

Koh Poh Kim, 162

Kow Soon Huat (Cashier, East Asiatic
Company), 287

Kruse, Carl (one of group), 278

Kruse, W. (one of group), 278

Kwang Hap Seng Rice Mills, 152

Kwok Chim, 284

Kwong Ngan Fong— Residence and Saw-
mills 179

Kwong Ngan Long (see Ng Yook Long in

group), 284 (see Lam

Sam in group, 284)

Lam Sam (Kwong Ngan Long), 284
Lanz. E., 264
Laosian Boat, 71

Bride, 73

Tribesman, 79
Lau Beng Seng Rice Mill, 167

Law, R. Balfour, 188

LeangChi Chaninan Niti, 161

Lee Boon Geok {Cashier, Borneo Com-
pany, Ltd.), 287

L"e Cheng Chan and Tom Yah Rice Mills
(with Steam Launches), 161, 164

Lennox, A., 188

LeongTuck Sing, 284

Leonowens, Louis T., 264

—Ltd.— Offices, 267

Lim Cheng Chuan, 287

Lim Cheng Theam, 287

Lim Chun Beng (Wing S^ng Long & Co.),
284

Lim Teck Lian, 160

Li Tit Guan— with Mills and Private Resi-
dence, 156

Livingstone, W. S., 117

Loh Sum (Wing Seng Long & Co.), 284

Lotz, F. H., 98

Low Ban Seng Mills, with poi traits of
Managers, 166

Low Peng Kang (Ban Hon Long & Co.),
284

Luang Damrong Thamasar — Himself and
views of Printing Office and School, 262

Luang Maitri Wanit (Li Thye Phong),
156

Luang Riddhisakdi, 253

Luang Su wanakit Chamnarn — H imself
and three views, 261

Lying-in-State, 65

Macarthur, J. D., 188

& Co., Ltd.— Offices,
Store, Motor Launch,
&c, 193
McBeth, J. J., 264
Mackay, J., 143
Mahotiere, L. R. de la, 291
Male Dress of Past Days, 56
Mandarin of Past Days, 56
Markwald, A. & Co.— Mills, 153

Loading Rice, 153
Ship R. C. Rickmers,
153
Masao, Dr. T., 95
Mayne, E. H. V., 265
Menam River, Bangkok, 135

Floating House, 52
From Royal Palace, 240
Rapids, 20
Nalive Craft and Floating

House, 136
View on the, 17
Merican, M. T. S., 278
Ministry of Household — Offices, 241

Interior — Offices, 241
Mohr. A., 98
Monod, E. C, 264
Montri Potchanakit, Phra, 253
Murchie, James, 188

Nai Nieang Pra Prisarn, Mrs., 150

Nai Pin Thep Chalerm, with his Family,

Works, and Residence, 138
Nai Thouay (Sandhabhojana, Ltd.), 257
National Library, Bangkok, 250
Native Racing Canoe, 236
Naval Dock Yard, 105
Naylor, C. J., 96
Neo Mann Cheen, 284
Neo Mann Fong. 284
Neo Mann Foong, 284
Neo Mann Ngian, 287

New Road, The, Bangkok, 239

Nga Keng (Chop Joo Seng), 284

Ngo Kim Mui, 152

Ngo Luk Szu, 152

Nguang, Joseph Kuang, and F. X. Yew,

259
Ng Yook Long ( Kwong Ngan Long), 284
Niel, C. R. A., 95
Nieuwenhuis, F. J. Domela, 97
Normal College, 230
Nursing Home, Bangkok, 128

Old City Wall, 241

Old Mill Stones, 151

Oriental Hotel (three views), 279

Page, Reg., 264

Paget, Ralph, 97

Palace containing Ashes of Former Kings

(as in A.l). 1824), 58
Pappayanopulos, C. — Four views of Cigar-
ette Factory and portrait of Mr. G.
Pappayanopulos, 280
Peasant Women, 47
Petchaburi Caves, 32

Hills, 31
Phan Suwanakitch.and Premises of Firm,

263
Phipat Kosa, H.E. Phya, 92
Phra Chede and Wat, Prapatom, 38
Phra Chedi, Klang Nam, 209
Phya Bariboon Kosakorn, H.E. (Li Guat

Chew), 156
Phya Chuduk Rajasethee, H.E. (Phook)

(two portraits), 156
Pialet, A. & Company — Saw Mill, 177
Plague Hospital, 130
Ploughing for Rice, 145
Poh Chin Soo, The late, 150, 162
Poh Lee Chye, The late, 150
Police Officers, 108

and Men, 107
Posts and Telegraphs-
Post Office, 206
Staff, 206

Suburban Letter Box, 205
Pounding Rice, 148
Pozzi, T., 265
Prapatom Pagoda, 123
Price, Hamilton, 264
Prince Benya, H.R.H., 92

Chao Fa Bhanurangsi, 93

Chao Fa Krom Luang Narisara

Nuwattiwongse, H.R.H., 93
Krom Luang Damrong, H.R.H., 93
Krom Luang Devawongse Varo-

prakar, 93
Krom Luang Nares Voraridhi, 93
Mom Chow Prom, 136
Nakonchaisi (Portrait, and in

group), 100
Nakonsawan, 105
of Chanthaburi, 93
of Kampengpetch, 100
of Rajaburi, 93
Pitsauuloh, 100
Prominent Siamese Officials (Group), 92
Pruss, C, 265

Queen of Siam, Frontispiece

Rafting Teak Logs, 173

Railways-
Bangkok Station, 203
Cutting near Hin Lap, 205

302

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM

Railways (continued) —

King's Private Station, Samsen,

203
Line near Prapatom, 202

to Korat, 204
Petchaburi Station, 203
Yard at Bangkok, 203
Reaping Rice, 147

Representatives of Hangkok Engineering
Firms, Group of i4(also indexed against
each name), 188
Review of Troops, 101
Reytter, Dr. E., 134
Rice Boat, 148
Rickmers, R., 264
Roberts, C, 264

Roman Catholic Cathedral, 215
Royal Cremation, 224

Military College, 103
Museum, Bangkok, 251
Palace, „ . 88

,, and Pagoda, Petchaburi, 88
„ in 1824. 53
Prince in Dress of Past Day, 54
Procession, 103
White Elephant, 62
Yacht, I05
Ruins of Wat Yai, Ayuthia, 20

St. Louis General Hospital, Bangkok, 129
Sam Hing Si (Compradore, Banque de

l'lndo-Chine), 287
Sampeng (the Native City of Bangkok),

Views in, 246
Sampson, F., 265
Samsen Rice Mill, 162
Sandhabhojana, Ltd. (with Nai Thouay),

257
Sanitwongse, Dr. Yai S., 253
Sanpakarn Hiranjakitch, H.E. Phra (two
views), 254
Three views of
Residences,
255
Himself and
Family, 256
Schau, Colonel G., no
Schwarze, P., Manager of Siam Commer-
cial Bank, Ltd., 117
Sea Gipsies, 222
Secondary School, 228
Seekak Dispensary (with Dr. H. Adamsen

and his farm implements), 276
Seng Heng Mill, 163
S. Joo, 118

Seow Hood Seng — Proprietor and
Managing Editor of the Chino-
Siamt'se Daily S'cws, 296
Seow Keng Lin (Compradore, Windsor &

Co.), 287
Sheridan, Rene, 95
Shrine of Khow Phrabatr, 25
Siam Commercial Bank, 117

Electricity Company, Ltd. :—
European Staff, &c, 189
Power Station, 190
Workshop, 190
Forest Company, Ltd.— Offices, Saw-
mills, and Timber Shed, 176
Fire Press — English Editor (Mr
O'Leary Dempsey)and Offices, 296
Observer — Copy of front page of an
issue, 294
Offices, 295
Siamese Actors and Musicians, 221
Brahmin Priests, 42
Girl, 77

House on a Klong, 247
Lady of Noble Birth, 247
Official of Past Days, 53
Troops, 100
Siddhibhand (three views), 258
Sieng Huat Mill, 163

Kee Chan Mill, 163
Sim Kaing Leng, 166
Singapore, S.S., 157
Siriaysawan, Phra, and Wife, 260
Smart, W. Sidney, 188
Smith, A. A., 264
Smyth, J. S., 188

Somdetch Chao Phaja, Pagoda of, 61
Sowing Rice, 145
Sports Club, Bangkok, 235
Sriracha Company, Ltd., Sawmills, &c,

178
Sriraj Hospital and Medical College, 130
Sri Sahadebh, H.E. Phya, 92
Sri Sunthara Wohara, H.E. Phya, 92
State Barge on the Menam, 37
Street Scene, Bangkok, 241
Paknam, 24ft
Strobel, The late EJward H., 92
Sukhum Nayvinit, Phya, 93
Survey Department, Bangkok, 122
Field Staff, 124
School, Prize-giving, 122
Swanson, J. H., 188

Swee Ho, H. — Two views of Dispensary
and portrait of Hoon Kim Huat and his
Brothers, 282

Swinging Festival, 220

Procession, 222

Tac Hong. Towkay— Himself, Family,
and Residence (also indexed against
Yi Koh Hong), 289
Tan Ban Seng Chiang Rice Mills (with

Owner and Manager), 158
Tan Guan What, 284
Hong Eng, 284
Kai Ho, 284

Keng Whay, with his business Pre-
mises, 283
Kwong Tee, 163
Lip Buoy, 168

Residence, 169
Tai Guan— Family group and house
with portraits of Tan Hong Joo,
the late Tan Boo Wee, and Seow
Hood Seng, 286
Thuan Heang, 158
Yeong Siak, 158
Tay Koon Teo— His Son (Tay Cheng),
Family, and Residence (also indexed
against Towkay Tay Koon Teo), 288
Temple of Buddha at Khow Phrabatr, 207

School, 228
Teo Choon Kheng (Koh Mah Wah & Co.),

284
Thouay Nai (Sandhabhojana, Ltd.), 257
Threshing Rice, 148
Throne Room, 87
Tilleke, W. A. G., 95
Tom Yah, 161
Tooth, Lawrence, 95

Towkay Leong Shau Shan (Fook Wah
Shan Kee Mills), 284
Tay Koon Teo, with portrait of
Tay Koon Tee and his Family
also view of his Residence,
288
Tramways Route, Bangkok, 242
Transplanting Rice, 147
Travelling Theatre, 223
Turner, Mr. Justice Skinner, 95
Types of Siamese Men, 243

United Club, Bangkok, 252

Vajiranana Jinoros, Prince, 212
Van der Heide, J. Honian, 199
Varabongsa Bibadhana, H.E. Phya —

Chamberlain to the King, 253
Vey, Right Rev. J. L., 214
Views in Bangkok, 245

Warwick, A. C, 265
Wata-naga Temple, Spire of, 63
Wat Chaiya Mongkhon, 40

Che-Di- Luang, Chiengmai, 1 23
Cheng, from the land, 213

from river, 35
Phra Keo, 209

Courtyard, 29
Chief Entrance, 210
Phra, Prang Luang, 23
Poh, four views, 208

with Sleeping Buddha, 28
Rajabopitr — Views of, 212
Saket (Poo Kau Tawng), 213
Suthat, 213

Interior, 27
Stone carvings, 39
Thepsurindr, 213
Thong Kam, Paklat, 213
Watson, C. L., 95
W T estenholtz, Aage, 188
Wild Elephants in Kraal, 235
Wilkens, H., 265
Williamson, W.J. F., 114
Wing Seng Long & Co., Sawmill, 180

(see Wong Fui, in

group, 284)
(see Lim Chun
Beng, in group,
284)
(see Loh Sum, in
group, 284)
Wong Fui (Wing Seng Long & Co.), 284
Hang Chow (Compradore, Hong-
kong and Shanghai Banki ng
Corporation, Ltd.), 287
Wood, W. W„ 264
Working Teak Timber, 172

Xavier Rice Mills (four various views),
154

Yacovlew, A. G., 97

Yi Koh Hong — Himself, Family, and

Residence, 289
Yong Hiang Siew — with his Wife, Son,
Father, and Mother; also private
Residence, 283
Lee Seng & Co.— Premises, 285
Seng Rice Mill, with Owner (Pan
Ou Keng) and Family, 155
Yoshida, Sakuya, 97
Young Princess, 249

Ziegenbein, A., 265

UNWIN BROS L TD
' PRINTERS "•

ST MARTHA PRINTING
' WOKING SURREY

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS

BRITISH MALAYA

Staentietlj (totoii Impressions

rittsb JEaiap:

ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE, COMMERCE,
INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES

ABRIDGED EDITION

Editor in Chief: ARNOLD WRIGHT (London).
Assistant Editor: H. A. CARTWRIGHT (Singapore).

LONDON, DURBAN, COLOMBO, PERTH (W.A.), SINGAPORE, HONGKONG, AND

SHANGHAI :

, LLOYD'S GREATER BRITAIN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD.,

1908.

HISJ.EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN ANDERSON, K.C.M.G., GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS, HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES,

AND CONSUL-GENERAL FOR BRITISH NORTH BORNEO, BRUNEI, AND SARAWAK.

PREFACE

cf5^2£5=«^)

HIS work is the outcome of an enterprise designed to give in an attractive form full
and reliable information with reference to the outlying parts of the Empire. The
value of a fuller knowledge of the " Britains beyond the Sea" and the great depen-
dencies of the Crown as a means of tightening the bonds which unite the component
parts of the King's dominions was insisted upon by Mr. Chamberlain in a memorable
speech, and the same note ran through the Prince of Wales's impressive Mansion
House address in which His Royal Highness summed up the lessons of his lour through
the Empire, from which he had then just returned. In some instances, notably in
the case of Canada, the local Governments have done much to diffuse in a popular form information relative
to the territory which they administer. But there are other centres in which official enterprise in this direction
has not been possible, or, at all events, in which action has not been taken, and it is in this prolific field that
the publishers are working. So far they have found ample justification for their labours in the widespread
public interest taken in their operations in the colonics which have been the scene of their work, and in the
extremely cordial reception given by the Press, both home and colonial, to the completed results.

Briefly, the aim which the publishers keep steadily before them is to give a perfect microcosm of the colony
or dependency treated. As old Stow with patient application and scrupulous regard for accuracy set himself to
survey the London of his day, so the workers employed in the production of this series endeavour to give a picture,
complete in every particular, of the distant possessions of the Crown. But topography is only one of the features
treated. Responding to modern needs and tastes, the literary investigators devote their attention to every important
phase of life, bringing to the elucidation of the subjects treated the powerful aid of the latest and best methods
of pictorial illustration. Thus a work is compiled which is not only of solid and enduring value for purposes of
reference and for practical business objects, but is of unique interest to all who are interested in the development
of the Empire.

Following closely upon the lines of the earlier works of the scries on Western Australia, Natal, and Ceylon,
this volume deals exhaustively with the history, administration, peoples, commerce, industries, and potentialities
of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay Stales — territories which, though but comparatively little known
hitherto, promise to become of very great commercial importance in the near future. By reason of their

PREFACE

scattered nature, wide extent, undeveloped condition, and different systems of government, the adequate
treatment of them has presented no little difficulty to the compilers. But neither trouble nor expense has been
spared in the attempt to secure full and accurate information in every direction, and, wherever possible, the
services of recognised experts have been enlisted. The general historical matter has been written after an
exhaustive study of the original records at the India Office, and it embodies information which throws a new
light upon some aspects of the early life of the Straits Settlements. For the facilities rendered in the prosecution
of his researches and also for the sanction freely given to him to reproduce many original sketches and scarce
prints in the splendid collection at the India Office Library, Whitehall, the Editor has to offer his thanks to the
India Council. In the Straits much valued assistance has been rendered by the heads of the various
Government Departments, and the Editor is especially indebted to his Excellency Sir John Anderson, K.C.M.G.,
the Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States, who has
given every possible encouragement to the enterprise.

CONTENTS

PAGE

The Straits Settlements. By Arnold Wright —

Early History •■••■■■■■■.... it.

Singapore ............... 2

plnang (including province wellesley and the dlndings) ..... 49

Malacca ■••••••......... 6e

The Federated Malay States. By Arnold Wright (with chapters on the early history
of the Malays and the Portuguese and Dutch Periods by R. J. Wilkinson, Secretary

to the Resident of Perak) ............ 74

Christmas Island, the Cocos-Keeling Islands, and Labuan i It ;

The Present Day ri -

List of Governors and High Commissioners 120

The Population of Malaya. By Mrs. Reginald Sanderson 121

The Malays of British Malaya. By B. O. Stoney, Hon. Sec. of the Malay Settlement,

Kuala Lumpor ............. t^i

Malay Literature. By R. J. Wilkinson x ^8

Native Arts and Handicrafts. By L. Wray, I.S.O., M.I.E.E., F.Z.S., M.R.P.S., etc.,

Director of Museums, Federated Malay States. ......... 141

Fauna. By H. C. Robinson, Curator, Selangor Museum 154

Sport. By Theodore R. Hubback . ^4

Constitution and Law I7 ,

Railways 17 g

Botany. By H. N. Ridley, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.R.H.S., etc., Director of the Botanical

Gardens, Singapore .............. 18c

Agriculture. By R. Derry, Assistant Superintendent, Botanical Gardens, Singapore . . 191

Rubber. By J. B. Carruthers, F.R.S.E., F.L.S., Director of Agriculture and Government

Botanist, Federated Malay States I qp

Mining . 20 Q

Fisheries 2I -

Meteorology , I7

CONTENTS

Geology of the Federated Malay States. By J. B. Scrivenor, Government Geologist,

Federated Malay States . .219

Harbours 220

The Straits Settlements —

Singapore ............... 231

PlNAKG ............... 245

Malacca ............... 254

The Federated Malay States —

Kuala Lumpor .............. 257

Perak . 265

Selangor ............... 273

Negri Sambilan .............. 276

Pahaxg 280

JOHORE ............... 284

{ftetttktb Century f mprcsstnns ai

ritisb ill ala^a :

ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE, COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, AND RESOURCES

n*? "75 ^

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

By ARNOLD WRIGHT

^ Q id-,

E\V of the oversea pos-
sessions of the Crown,
outside India and the
great self - governing
colonies, can compare in
interest and importance
with the Straits Settle-
ments. They are situ-
ated in a region which
Nature has marked out as one of the great
strategic centres of the world alike for pur-
poses of war and of commerce. " Within its
narrowest limits," wrote the gifted statesman '
to whom Britain owes the possession to-day of
the most important unit of this magnificent
group of colonies, " it embraces the whole of
the vast Archipelago which, stretching from
Sumatra and Java to the Islands of the Pacific
and thence to the shores of China and Japan,
has in all ages excited the attention and
attracted the cupidity of more civilised nations ;
an area whose valuable and peculiar produc-
tions contributed to swell the extravagance of
Roman luxury, and one which in more modern
times has raised the power and consequence

1 SirT. Stamford Raffles, "Memoir on the Adminis-
tration of the Eastern Islands," in Lady Raffles's
" Memoir of Sir T. Stamford Raffles," Appendix L. 25.

EARLY HISTORY

of every successive European nation into whose
hands its commerce has fallen ; and which,
further, perhaps in its earliest period among
the Italian States, communicated the first
electric spark which awoke to life the energies
and the literature of Europe."

England's interest in this extensive region
dates back to the very dawn of her colonial
history. The foundationsof theexisting colonies
were laid in "the spacious age " of Elizabeth, in
the period following the defeat of the Spanish
Armada, when the great Queen's reign was
drawing to its splendid close in a blaze of
triumphant commercial achievement.

Drake carried the English flag through the
Straits of Malacca in his famous circumnaviga-
tion of the world in 1579. But it was left to
another of the sturdy band of Elizabethan
adventurers to take the first real step in the
introduction of English influence into the
archipelago. The Empire-builder who laid the
corner-stone of the noble edifice of which we
are treating was James Lancaster, a bluff old
sailor who had served his apprenticeship in the
first school of English seamanship of that or
any other day. It is probable that he accom-
panied Drake on his tour round the world : he
certainly fought with him in the great struggle

against the Armada. After that crowning vic-
tory, when the seas were opened everywhere to
vessels bearing the English flag, men's thoughts
were cast towards that Eldorado of the East
of which glowing accounts had been brought
back by the early adventurers. Then was laid
the corner-stone of the structure which, in pro-
cess of time, developed into the mighty Eastern
Empire of Britain. The first direct venture
was the despatch of three small ships, with
Lancaster as second in command, to the
East. Quitting Plymouth on April 10, 1591,
these tiny vessels, mere cockboats compared
with the leviathans which now traverse the
ocean, after an adventurous voyage reached
Pulo Pinang in June of the same year. The
crews of the squadron were decimated by
disease. On Lancaster's ship, the Edward
Bonavcnture, there were left of a complement
of upwards of a hundred " only 33 men and
one boy, of which not past 22 were found for
labour and help, and of them not past a third
sailors." Nevertheless, after a brief sojourn
Lancaster put to sea, and in August captured a
small Portuguese vessel laden with pepper,
another of 250 tons burthen, and a third of 750
tons. With these valuable prizes the daring
adventurer proceeded home, afterwards touch-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

ing at Point cie Galle, in Ceylon, to recruit.
The return voyage was marked by many
thrilling episodes, but eventually the ships got
safely to their destinations, though of the crew
of 198 who had doubled the Cape only 25
landed again in England.

The terrible risks of the adventure were soon
forgotten in the jubilation which was caused by
the results achieved. These were of a char-
acter to fire men's imaginations. On the one
hand the voyagers had to show the valuable
booty which they had captured from the Portu-
guese ; on the other they were able to point to
the breaking of the foreign monopoly of the
lucrative Eastern trade which was implied in
their success. The voyage marked an epoch
in English commercial historv. As a direct

On June 5th following the fleet reached Achin.
A most cordial reception awaited Lancaster at
the hands of the King of Achin. The fame of
England's victory over Spain had enormously
enhanced her prestige in the Eastern world,
and in Achin there was the greater disposition
to show friendliness to the English because
of the bitter enmity of the Achinese to the
Portuguese, whose high-handed dealings had
created a lively hatred of their rule. Lan-
caster, who bore with him a letter from the
Queen to the native potentate, seems to have
been as clever a diplomat as he was able a
sailor. The royal missive was conveyed to the
native Court with great pomp. In delivering it
with a handsome present, Lancaster declared
that the purpose of his coming was to establish

PORTRAIT OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE WITH HAWKINS AND CAVENDISH.

(Reproduced by permission of the Lords of the Admiralty from the picture in the Gallery at Greenwich Hospital.)
Drake was the first Englishman to navigate a ship through the Straits of Malacca.

result of it followed the formation of the East
India Company. The various steps which led
up to that important event he beyond the pro-
vince of the present narrative. It is sufficient
for the purposes in hand to note that when the
time had come for action Lancaster was selected
by the adventurers to command the Company's
first fleet, and that he went out duly commis-
sioned by the authority of the Queen as their
Governor-General. 1 Established in the Red
Dragon, a ship of 600 tons burthen, and with
three other vessels under his control, Lancaster
sailed from Woolwich on February 13, 1600-1.

1 This point, which has been overlooked by many
writers, is made clear by this entry to be found in
the Hatfield Manuscripts (Historical Manuscripts
Commission), Part xi. p. 18 : " 1600-1, Jan, 24th.
Letters patent to James Lancaster, chosen by the
Governor and Company of the Merchants of London
trading to the East Indies as their Governor-General.
The Queen approves of their choice, and grants
authority to Lancaster to exercise the office."

peace and amity between his royal mistress and
her loving brother the mighty King of Achin.
Not to be outdone in courtesy, the Sumatran
prince invited Lancaster and his officers to a
magnificent banquet, in which the service was
of gold, and at which the King's damsels, richly
attired and adorned with jeweller}', attended,
and danced and sang for the guests' edification.
The culminating feature of the entertainment
was the investiture of Lancaster by the King
with a splendid robe and the presentation to
him of two kriscs — the characteristic weapon of
Malaya, without which no honorific dress is
considered complete by the Malays. What was
more to the purpose than these honours, grati-
fying as they were to the Englishmen, was the
appointment of two nobles, one of whom was
the chief priest, to settle with Lancaster the
terms of a commercial treaty. The negotiations
proceeded favourably, and in due course Lan-

caster was able to congratulate himself on
having secured for his country a formal and
explicit right to trade in Achin. The progress
of events, meanwhile, was being watched with
jealous anxiety by the Portuguese, who knew
that the intrusion of so formidable a rival as
England into their sphere of influence boded ill
for the future of their power. Attempts were
actually made to sterilise the negotiations, but
Lancaster was too well acquainted with Portu-
guese wiles to be taken at a disadvantage. On
the contrary, his skill enabled hiin to turn the
Portuguese weapons against themselves. By
bribing the spies sent to Achin he got informa-
tion which led to the capture of a rich prize
—a fully laden vessel of goo tons — in the Straits
of Malacca. Returning to Achin after this ex-
pedition, Lancaster made preparations for the
homeward voyage, loading his ships with
pepper, then a costly commodity in England
owing to the monopolising policy of the Portu-
guese and the Spaniards. He seems to have
continued to the end in high favour with the
King. At the farewell interview the old monarch
asked Lancaster and his officers to favour him
by singing one of the Psalms of David. This
singular request was complied with, the selec-
tion being given with much solemnity. 1 On Nov-
ember 9, 1602, the Red Dragon weighed anchor
and proceeded to Bantam, where Lancaster
established a factory. A second trading estab-
lishment was formed in the Moluccas. This done,
the Red Dragon, with two of the other vessels of
the fleet, steered a course homeward. The little
squadron encountered a terrible storm off the
Cape, which nearly ended in disaster to the
enterprise. Lancaster's good seamanship, how-
ever, brought his vessels through the crisis
safely. It says much for the indomitable spirit
of the man that when the storm was at its
height and his own vessel seemed on the point
of foundering he wrote, for transmission by one
of the other ships, a letter to his employers at
home, assuring them that he would do his
utmost to save the craft and its valuable cargo,
and concluding with this remarkable sentence :
''The passage to the East Indies lies in 62 de-
grees 30 minutes by the NW. on the America
side." 2 Lancaster reached England on Septem-
ber 11, 1603. The country resounded with
praises of his great achievement. Milton, as
a boy, must have been deeply impressed with
the episode, for it inspired some of his stateliest
verse. Obvious references to Lancaster's voy-
ages are to be found, as Sir George Birdwood
has pointed out, 3 in " Paradise Lost," in the
poet's descriptions of Satan. Thus, in Book II.
we have a presentment of the Evil One as he

" Puts on swift wings and then soars
Up to the fiery concave towering high
As when far off at sea a fleet descried
Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds
Close sailing- from Bengala, or the isles
Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring

I Their spicy drugs ; they on the trading flood
Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape
Ply, stemming nightly towards the Pole.
So seemed far off the flying fiend."

1 Marsden's " History of Sumatra," i. p. 436.

3 Hakluyt's " Principal Navigations," it. p. 2,
1. 102.

3 " Report on the Old Records of the East India
Company," p. 205.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

And again in Book IV. ;

"So on he fares, and to the horder comes
Of Eden . . .
A sylvan scene ....
Of stateliest view ....

. . able to drive
All sadness but despair ; now gentle gales
Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they

stole
Those balmy spoils. As when to them who

sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambick, off at sea North East winds blow
Sabean odours from the spicy shore
Of Araby the Blest ; with such delay
Well pleased they slack their course, and many

a league
Cheer'd with the grateful smell Old Ocean

smiles :
So entertain'd those odorous sweets the fiend
Who came their bane."

This fine imagery shows how deep was the
impression made upon the nation by Lan-
caster's enterprise. But it was in its practical
aspects that the success achieved produced the
most striking results. The immediate fruit of the
voyage was a great burst of commercial activity.
The infant East India Company gained ad-
herents on all sides, and men put their capital
into it in confident assurance that they would
reap a golden return on their investment. So
the undertaking progressed until it took its
place amongst the great established institutions
of the country. Meanwhile Lancaster dropped
into a wealthy retirement. He lived for a good
many years in leisured ease, and dying, left a
substantial fortune to his heirs.

The history of the East India Company in
its earliest years was a chequered one. The
Dutch viewed the intrusion of their English
rivals into the Straits with jealous apprehension,
and they lost no opportunity of harassing the

trading operations of both. But the conditions
of the compact were flagrafttly disregarded by
the Dutch, and soon the relations of the repre-
sentatives of the two nations were on a more

nearly all their factories from the archipelago.
Five years later the factory at Bantam was,
however, re-established as a subordinate
agency to Surat. It was subsequently (in 1634-

SPECIMENS OF THE MALAY KRIS.

Company's agents. In 1619 a treaty was con-
cluded between the English and the Dutch
Governments with a view to preventing the
disastrous disputes which had impeded the

The Red Dragon, Captain ^ager, in

Anno 1602.

the fctrait of >. -icca,

unfavourable footing than ever. Up to this
time, says Sir George Birdwood, the English
Company had no territory in sovereign right in
the Indies excepting the island of Lantore or
Great Banda. This island was governed by a
commercial agent who had under him 30
Europeans as clerks, and these, with 250 armed
Malays, constituted the only force by which it
was protected. In the islands of Banda, Pulo
Roon, and Rosengyn, and at Macassar and
Achin and Bantam, the Company's factories and
agents were without any military defence. In
1620, notwithstanding the Treaty of Defence,
the Dutch expelled the English from Pulo Roon
and Lantore, and in 162 1 from Bantam. On
the 17th February, 1622-23, occurred the famous
massacre of Amboyna, which remained as a
deep stain on the English name until it was
wiped out by Cromwell in the Treaty of West-
minster of 1654. In 1624 the English, unable
to oppose the Dutch any longer, withdrew

35) again raised to an independent presidency,
and for some years continued to be the chief
seat of the Company's power in the Straits.
The factory was long a thorn in the Dutch side,
and they adopted a characteristic method to
extract it. In 1677 the Sultan of Bantam had
weakly shared the regal power with his son.
This act led to dissensions between parent and
child, and finally to open hostilities. The Dutch
favoured the young Sultan and actively assisted
him. The English threw the weight of their
influence into the scale in favour of the father.
They acted on the sound general principle of up-
holding the older constituted authority ; but
either from indecision or weakness they re-
frained from giving more than moral support to
their protege. When, as subsequently happened,
the young Sultan signally defeated his father and
seated himself firmly on the throne as the sole
ruler of the State, they paid the penalty of their
lack of initiative by losing their pied a tcrre in

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

EUROPEAN TRADERS AT THE COURT OF AN EASTERN PRINCE.

Bantam. On April I, 1682, the factory was
taken possession of by a party of Dutch
soldiers, and on the 12th August following the

to repair the mischief caused by the Dutch.
The outcome of their deliberations with the
authorities at the Western India factory was

VIEW OF THE ISLAND OF BANDA.

agent and his council were deported in Dutch
vessels to Batavia. A twelvemonth later the
expropriated officials were at Surat, attempting

the despatch of a mission, headed by Messrs.
Ord and Cawley, two expert officials, to Achin,
to set up, if possible, a factory there to take the

place of the one which had existed at Bantam.
On arrival at their destination the envoys found
established upon the throne a line of queens.
The fact that a female succession had been
adopted is thought by Marsden, the historian of
Sumatra, to have been due to the influence
exercised by our Queen Elizabeth, whose won-
derful success against the Spanish arms had
carried her fame to the archipelago, where the
Spanish and Portuguese power was feared and
hated. Howevei that may be, the English
mission was received with every mark of
respect by the reigning Queen — Anayet Shah.
Suspicions appear to have been entertained by
the visitors that her Majesty was not a woman,
but a eunuch dressed up in female apparel.
Marsden, however, thinks that they were mis-
taken in their surmise, and he cites a curious
incident related in the record drawn up by
Messrs. Ord and Cawley of their proceedings
as conclusive evidence that his view is the
correct one. "We went to give an audience at
the palace this day as customary," write the
envoys ; " being arrived at the place of audience
with the Orang Kayos, the Queen was pleased to
order us to come nearer, when her Majesty was
very inquisitive into the use of our wearing
periwigs, and what was the convenience of
them, to all of which we returned satisfactory
answers. After this her Majesty desired of
Mr. Ord, if it were no affront to him, that he
should take off his periwig that she might see
how he appeared without it ; which, according

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

to her Majesty's request, he did. She then told
us she had heard of our business, and would
give her answer by the Orang Kayos, and so

proof against English determination. Gra-
dually but surely the East India Company's
authority at the chosen centres was consoli-

VIEW AT BANTAM,
(From \V. Alexander's drawings to illustr

we retired." The Queen's reply was a favour-
able one, but circumstances rendered it un-
necessary to proceed further with> the scheme
of establishing a factory in Achin. It chanced
that the visit of the English mission coincided
with the arrival in Achin of a number of chiefs
of Priaman and other places on the West Coast
of Sumatra, and these, hearing of the English
designs, offered a site for a factory, with the
exclusive right of purchasing their pepper. Mr.
Ord readily listened to their proposals, and he
ultimately got the chiefs to embark with him for
Madras, for the purpose of completing a formal
arrangement. The business was carried through
by the Governor of Madras in the beginning of
the year 1685 on the terms proposed. Subse-
quently an expedition was fitted out with the
object of establishing the factory at Priaman.
A short time before it sailed, however, an invi-
tation was received at Madras from the chiefs
of Beng Kanlu (Bencoolen) to make a settle-
ment there. In view of the fact that a consider-
able portion of the pepper that was formerly
exported from Bantam came from this spot, it
was deemed advisable that Mr. Ord should first
proceed there. The English expedition arrived
at Bencoolen on June 25, 1685, and Mr. Ord
took charge of the territory assigned to the
Company. Afterwards other settlements were
formed at Indrapura and Man jttta. At Priaman
the Dutch had anticipated the English action,
and the idea of establishing a settlement there
had to be abandoned. The Dutch also astutely
prevented the creation of another English
trading centre at Batang-Kapas in 1686. The
unfriendly disposition shown in these instances
was part of a deliberate policy of crushing out
English trade in the Straits. Where factories had
been founded the Dutch sought to nullify them
by establishing themselves in the neighbour-
hood and using the utmost influence to prevent
the country people from trading with them.
Their machinations were not in the long run

ISLAND OF JAVA.
»te Lord Macartney's Embassy to China.)

dated, and within a few years Bencoolen
assumed an aspect of some prosperity. But its
progress was limited by an unhealthy situation,
and by natural disadvantages of a more serious
character. In the beginning of the eighteenth
century the old settlement was abandoned in
favour of a better site about three miles away
on the bay of Bencoolen. The new town, to

of dignity by reason of the circumstance that it
was the headquarters of the Company's power
in these regions. But Xature never intended it
for a great commercial entrepot, and of the
leading factories of the East India Company it
represents probably the most signal failure.

In the early half of the eighteenth century
the course of British commerce in the Straits
ran smoothly. It is not until we reach the
year 1752 that we find any event of importance
in the record. At that period a forward policy
was initiated, and two new settlements were
established on the Sumatra coast. To one the
designation of Natal was given ; the other was
founded at Tappanuli. Natal in its time was
an important factory, but as a centre of British
commerce it has long since passed into the
limbo of forgotten things. In 1760, during our
war with France, a French fleet under Comte
d'Estaing visited the Straits and destroyed all
the East India Company's settlements on the
Sumatra coast. But the mischief was subse-
quently repaired, and the British rights to the
occupied territory were formally recognised in
the Treaty of Paris of 1763. Up to this period
Bencoolen had been subordinate to Madras, an
arrangement which greatly militated against its
successful administration. The establishment
was now formed into an independent presi-
dency, and provided with a charter for the
creation of a mayor's court. The outbreak of
the war with Holland brought the station into
special prominence. In 1781 an expedition
was despatched from it to operate against the
Dutch establishments. It resulted in the seizure
of Pedang and other important points in
Sumatra. The British power was now practi-
cally supreme on the Sumatran coasts. But it

ANJOBE POINT, STRAITS OF SUNDA.
{From Alexander's drawings at the India Office.)

which the designation Fort Marlborough was
given, was an improvement on the original
settlement, and it attained to a certain position

had long been felt that an extension of British
influence and power beyond Sumatra was
desirable in the interests of a growing com-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

tnerce in the Straits and for the protection of
our important China trade. The occupation of
Pinang in 1786, in circumstances which will
be detailed at a later stage of our narrative, was

its possession less burdensome. It continued
to the end of its existence a serious drag on the
Company's finances.

The year 1804 is memorable in Straits history

SIR T. STAMFORD RAFFLES.
(From the portrait by G. F. Joseph, A.R.A., in the National Portrait Gallery.)

the result. Nine years later Malacca, captured
from the Dutch, was added to our possessions.
These important centres gave a new strength
and significance to our position in the Straits.
But no change was made in the administrative
system until 1802, when an Act of Parliament
was passed authorising the East India Com-
pany to make their settlement at Fort Marl-
borough a factory subordinate to the presidency
of Fort William in Bengal, and to transfer to
Madras the servants who, on the reduction of
the establishment, should be supernumerary.
The change was prompted by economical con-
siderations. Bencoolen had always been a very
expensive appanage of the East India Company,
and the progress of events did not tend to make

as marking the advent to this important centre
of British influence of one who has carved in
indelible letters his name and fame upon British
colonial history. In September of that year
there landed at Pinang Thomas Stamford
Raffles, the man to whom more than to any
other Britain owes her present proud position
in the Straits of Malacca. Raffles came out
with no other advantages than his natural
endowments. The son of a sea captain en-
gaged in the West India trade, he was born on
board his father's ship on July 5, 1781. His
educational training was of the briefest. After
a few years' schooling at Hammersmith he, at
the early age of fourteen, entered the East India
Company's service as a clerk in Leadenhall

Street. There he remained until the occupa-
tion of Pinang gave him the opportunity, for
which his ardent spirit longed, of service
abroad. He went out with high hopes and
an invincible determination to justify the con-
fidence reposed in him. His spare moments
on the voyage were occupied in learning the
Malay language and studying Malay literature.
Thus he was able to land with more than a
casual equipment for the work he had to do.
At Pinang he continued his linguistic studies,
with such good effect that in a short time he
was an acknowledged authority on Malayan
customs. His exceptional ability did not pass
without recognition. Through Dr. Leyden,
who had formed Raffles's acquaintance in
Pinang, Lord Minto, then Governor-General
of India, heard of this brilliant young official
who was making so distinguished a reputation
in paths not usually trodden by the Company's
junior servants. A visit to Calcutta in 1807 by
Raffles was an indirect consequence of the
introduction. Lord Minto received the young
man kindly, and discussed with him the question
of the extension of British influence in the
Malay Archipelago. Raffles ended by so im-
pressing the statesman with his grasp of the
situation that the latter conferred upon him
the position of Governor-General's Agent in
the Eastern seas. This extraordinary mark of
favour was completely justified when, four
years later, Lord Minto conducted in person an
expedition for the conquest of Java. The expe-
ditionary force consisted of nearly six thousand
British and as many Indian troops. Ninety
ships were required for the transport of the
force, which was at the time the largest ever
sent to those seas by a European Power.

THE FIRST EARL OF MINTO.

(From a portrait bv James Atkinson in the National
Portrait Gallery.)

Raffles was chosen by Lord Minto as his chief
intelligence officer. He discharged his part
with the zeal and acumen which distinguished
him. But it was a time for all of great anxiety,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

as the surveys of the archipelago at that period
were very inadequate, and no small peril
attended the navigation of so considerable a
Heet of transports as that which carried the
expeditionary force. The course which Raffles
advised for the passage of the ships was
severely criticised by naval authorities. But
Lord Minto placed confidence in his intelligence
officer's knowledge and judgment, and elected
to take his advice. The result was the trium-
phant vindication of Raffles. The fleet, sailing
from Malacca on June II, 1811, reached Batavia
early in August without a serious casualty of
any kind ; and the army, landing on the 4th of
that month, occupied Batavia on the 9th, and
on the 25th inflicted a signal defeat on the
Dutch forces under General Janssens. The
battle so completely broke the power of the
Dutch that Lord Minto within six weeks was
able to re-embark for India. Before leaving
he marked his sense of Raffles's services by
appointing him Lieutenant-Governor of the
newly conquered territory. Raffles's admini-
stration of Java brought out his greatest
qualities. Within a remarkably short time he
had evolved order out of chaos and placed the
dependency on the high road to affluent pros-
perity. When at the end of five years the time
came for him to lay down the reins of office, he
left the island with an overflowing treasury and
a trade flourishing beyond precedent. Return-
ing to England in 18 16 with health somewhat
impaired by his arduous work in ^he tropics,
Raffles hoped for a tangible recognition of his
brilliant services. But his success had excited
jealousy, and there were not wanting detractors
who called in question certain aspects of his
administration. It is unnecessary for present
purposes to go into those forgotten con-
troversies. Suffice it to say that the attacks
were so far successful that no better position
could be found for Raffles than the Lieutenant-
Governorship of Bencoolen, a centre whose
obscurity had become more marked since the
occupation of Pinang.

Raffles assumed the office which had been
entrusted to him with the cheerful zeal which
was characteristic of the man. But even his
sanguine temperament was not proof against
the gloomy influences which pervaded the
place. An earthquake which had occurred
just before he landed had done great damage
to the station, and this disaster had accentuated
the forlornness of the outlook. Raffles drew a
vivid picture of the scene which confronted him
in a letter written on April 7, 1818, a few days
after landing. " This," he wrote, " is without
exception the most wretched place I ever
beheld . . . the roads are impassable, the
highways in the town overrun with rank
grass, the Government house a den of ravenous
dogs and polecats. The natives say that Ben-
coolen is now a Taiii matt (dead land). In
truth I could never have conceived anything
half so bad. We will try and make it better,
and if I am well supported from home the
West Coast may yet be turned to account."
The moral condition of the place was in keep-
ing with its physical aspect. Public gaming
and cock-fighting were not only practised

under the eye of the chief authority, but pub-
licly patronised by the Government. This laxity
had its natural consequences in an excess of
criminality. Murders were daily committed
and robberies perpetrated which were never
traced ; profligacy and immorality obtruded
themselves in every direction. 1

The truth is that Bencoolen at this time was
decaying of its own rottenness. Throughout
its existence it had been a sink of corruption
and official extravagance, and these qualities
had honeycombed it to a point almost of com-
plete destruction. A story familiar in the Straits
illustrates aptly the traditions of the station.
At one period there was a serious discrepancy
— amounting to several thousand dollars —
between the sum to the credit of the public
account and the specie in hand. Naturally the
authorities in Leadenhall Street demanded an
explanation of this unpleasant circumstance.
They were told that the blame was due to
white ants, though it was left to conjecture
whether the termites had demolished the
money or simply the chest which contained it.
The directors made no direct comment upon
this statement, but a little later despatched to
Bencoolen, unasked, a consignment of files.
At a loss to know why these articles had been
sent out, the Bencoolen officials sought an
explanation. Then they were blandly told that
they were to be used against the teeth of the
white ants should the insects again prove
troublesome. It is probable that this was a
sort of Leadenhall Street Roland for a Ben-
coolen Oliver, for just previous to this incident
the home authorities had made themselves
ridiculous by solemnly enjoining the Bencoolen
officials to encourage the cultivation of white
pepper, that variety being most valuable. On
that occasion it had been brought home to
the dense Leadenhall Street mind that black
and white pepper are from identical plants, the
difference of colour only arising from the
method of preparation, the latter being allowed
to ripen on the vine, while the former is
plucked when green. Mistakes of the character
of this one, it appears, were not uncommon in
the relations of the headquarters with Ben-
coolen. An almost identical incident is brought
to light in one of Raffles's letters. After he had
been some time at Bencoolen a ship was sent
out to him with definite instructions that it
should be loaded exclusively with pepper.
Owing to its extreme lightness, pepper alone
is an almost impossible cargo, and it was the
practice to ship it with some heavy commodity.
Acting on these principles, Raffles, in anticipa-
tion of the vessel's arrival, had accumulated a
quantity of sugar for shipment. But in view of
the peremptoriness of his orders he withdrew
it, and the vessel eventually sailed with the
small consignment of pepper which was pos-
sible having regard to the safety of the vessel.

Bencoolen from the beginning to the end of
its existence as an English trading centre was
but a costly white elephant to the East India
Company. Raffles's opinion upon it was that
" it was certainly the very worst selection that
could have been made for a settlement. It is
" Memoir of Sir T. Stamford Raffles," p. 297.

completely shut out of doors ; the soil is, com-
paratively with the other Malay countries, in-
ferior ; the population scanty ; neighbourhood
or passing trade it has none ; and further, it
wants a harbour, to say nothing of its long
reputed unhealthiness and the undesirable state
of ruin into which it has been allowed to run." '
Yet at this period the administration of the
settlement involved an expenditure of £100,000
a year, and the only return for it, as Raffles
contemptuously put it, was " a few tons of
pepper." In the view of the energetic young
administrator the drawbacks of the place were
accentuated by the facility with which the
pepper trade was carried on by the Americans
without any settlement of any kind. In a letter
to Marsden, with whom he kept up an active
correspondence, Raffles wrote under date April
28, 1818 : "There have been no less than nine-
teen Americans at the northern ports this sea-
son, and they have taken away upwards of
60,000 pekuls of pepper at nine dollars. It is
quite ridiculous for us to be confined to this
spot in order to secure the monopoly of
500 tons, while ten times that amount may be
secured next door without any establishment
at all."

The wonder is that, with practically no ad-
vantages to recommend it, and with its serious
drawbacks, Bencoolen should so long have
remained the Company's headquarters. The
only reasonable explanation is that the directors
held it as a counterpoise to the Dutch power in
these waters. Dutch policy aimed at an abso-
lute monopoly, and it was pursued with an
arrogance and a greed which made it impera-
tive on the guardians of British interests in
these latitudes that it should be resisted with
determination. Resisted it was, as the records
show, through long years, but it cannot truly
be said that in dissipating energies and sub-
stance at Bencoolen the Company adopted a
sensible course. By their action, indeed, they
postponed for an unnecessarily protracted
period the seating of British power in the
Straits in a position adequate to the great trade
and the commanding political interests which
Britain even at that period had in the East.
But no doubt the consolidation of our position
in India absorbed the energies and the resources
of the Company in the eighteenth century, and
prevented them from taking that wider view
which was essential. That the authorities in
India were not unmindful of the importance of
extending British influence in the Straits is
shown by the readiness with which, when the
value of the position had been brought home
to them by Light, they took the necessary steps
to occupy Pinang in 1786. Still, the full lesson
of statesmanship had yet to be taught thein, as
is indicated by the fact that within eight years
of the hoisting of the British flag on Prince of
Wales Island, as it was officially designated, its
abandonment in favour of a station on the
Andamans was seriously proposed. It re-
mained for Raffles to teach that lesson. How
his instruction was given and the results which
flowed from it, are matters which must be dealt
with in a separate section.

1 Ibid., p. 463.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

SINGAPORE.

CHAPTER I.

The Occupation and the Fight against
Dutch Pretensions and Official
Jealousy.

THE retrocession of Malacca under the
terms of the Treaty of Vienna was
almost universally felt throughout the Straits
to be a great blow to British political and com-
mercial influence. Regarded at home as a
mere pawn to be lightly sacrificed on the
diplomatic chess-board, the settlement through-
out the Eastern seas enjoyed a prestige second
to that of hardly any other port east of Cal-
cutta, and its loss to those on the spot appeared
a disaster of the first magnitude. There was
substantial reason for the alarm excited. The
situation of the settlement in the very centre of
the Straits gave its owners the practical com-
mand of the great highway to the Far East.
It was the historic centre of power to which all
Malaya had long been accustomed to look as
the seat of European authority ; it was a com-
mercial emporium which for centuries had
attracted to it the trade of these seas. But
these were not the only considerations which
tinged the minds of the British community
in the Straits with apprehension when they
thought over the surrender of the port, with
all that it implied. From the Dutch settle-
ments across the sea were wafted with everv

man, the Governor of Pinang, to number
twelve thousand men, including a considerable
proportion of highly-trained European troops,

CHANTREY'S BUST OF SIR STAMFORD
RAFFLES.

(From the " Memoir of Sir T. Stamford Kaffles.")

had been concentrated in Netherlands India.
With it was a powerful naval squadron, well
manned and equipped. These and other cir-
cumstances which were brought to light indi-

THE ROADS, BATAVIA.
(From Von de Velde's " Gesigtenuit Neerlands Indie.")

ship rumours of preparations which were being
made for the new regime which the reoccupa-
tion of Malacca was to usher in. An imposing
military force, estimated by Colonel Banner-

cated that the reoccupation of Malacca was to
be the signal for a fresh effort on the part of
the Dutch to secure that end for which they
had been struggling for two centuries— the

absolute domination of the Straits of Malacca
and of the countries bordering upon that great
waterway.

One of the first public notes of alarm at the
ominous activity of the Dutch was sounded by
the commercial men of Pinang. On June 8,
1818, the merchants of that place sent a me-
morial to Government inviting the attention of
the Governor to the very considerable inter-
course now carried on by British subjects in
India " with the countries of Perak, Salangore,
and Riho in the Straits of Malacca, and the
island of Singha, and Pontiana and other ports
on the island of Borneo," and suggesting — in
view of the transfer of Malacca and the pro-
bable re-adoption by the Dutch of their old
exclusive policy, by which they would "endea-
vour to make such arrangements with, and to
obtain such privileges from, the kings or chiefs
of those countries as might preclude British
subjects from the enjoyment of the present
advantageous commerce they now carry on "
— the expediency of the British Government
" endeavouring to make such amicable commer-
cial treaties and alliances with the kings and
chiefs of these places as may effectually secure
to British subjects the freedom of commerce
with those countries, if not on more favourable
terms, which, from the almost exclusive trade-
British subjects have carried on with them for
these twenty years past, we should suppose
they might even be disposed to concede." '

There is no evidence that any formal reply-
was ever made to this representation, but that
it was not without fruit is shown by the subse-
quent action of the Government. They penned
an earnest despatch to the Supreme Govern-
ment, deploring the cession of the port and
pointing out the serious effect the action taken
was likely to have on British trade and prestige.
Meanwhile Mr. Cracroft, Malay translator to
the Government, was sent on a mission to
Perak and Selangor, with instructions to con-
clude treaties if possible with the chiefs of
those States. At the same time a despatch was
forwarded to Major Farquhar, the British Resi-
dent at Malacca, directing him to conduct a
similar mission to Riau, Lingen, Pontiana, and
Siack. Mr. Cracroft, after a comparatively
brief absence, returned with treaties executed
by both the chiefs to whom he was accredited.
Major Farquhar's mission proved a far more
difficult one. Embarking at Malacca on July
19th, he made Pontiana his first objective, as he
had heard of the despatch of a Dutch expedition
from Batavia to the same place, and was
anxious to anticipate it if possible. He, how-
ever, brought up off Riau for the purpose of
delivering letters, announcing his mission, to
the Raja Muda, the ruling authority of the
place, and to the Sultan of Lingen, who could
be reached from that quarter. After a tedious
passage he arrived at Pontiana on August 3rd,
but, to his mortification, found that the Dutch
had anticipated him and had occupied the
place. Dissembling his feelings as best he

1 " Straits Settlements Records," N'o. 66

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OE BRITISH MALAYA

could, he after a brief interval weighed anchor
and directed his course to Lingen. Here he
was told that the political authority was vested
in the Raja Muda of Riau, to whom applica-
tion for the treaty must be made. Acting on
the suggestion, Farquhar went to Kiau, and
concluded what he then regarded as a very
satisfactory arrangement. Subsequently he
visited Bukit Bahoo in Siack, and concluded
a like treaty there on August 31st. Returning
to Malacca, Farquhar forwarded the treaties to
Pinang with a covering despatch of much inte-
rest in the light of subsequent events. In this
communication the writer expressed his desire-
to put before the Governor of Pinang some-
considerations relative to the situation created
by the retrocession to the Dutch of Malacca,
" the Key of the Straits " — an event which, in
his view, could not be too much deplored.
The provident measures adopted of concluding
alliances with native States would, he said,
prove of much ultimate benefit in preserving
an open and free trade. But however strong
might be the attachment of the native chiefs to
the British, and however much they might
desire to preserve the terms of the treaties
inviolate, it would be quite impossible for them
to do so unless strenuously supported and pro-
tected by our influence and authority. In the
circumstances it seemed to him that " the most
feasible, and indeed almost only, method to
counteract the evils which at present threaten
to annihilate all free trade to trie Eastern
Archipelago would be by the formation of a
new settlement to the eastward of Malacca."
" From the observations I have been able to
make on my late voyage, as well as from
former experience, there is," Farquhar con-
tinued, " no place which holds out so many
advantages in every way as do the Kariman
Islands, which are so situate as to be a com-
plete key to the Straits of Sincapore, Dryon,
and Soban, an advantage which no other place
in the Straits of Malacca possesses, as all trade,
whether coming from the eastward or west-
ward, must necessarily pass through one or
other of the above straits. A British settle-
ment, therefore, on the Karimans, however
small at first, would, I am convinced, very soon
become a port of great consequence, an 1 not
only defray its own expenses, but yield in time
an overplus revenue to Government." The
Karimuns, Farquhar went on to say, were un-
inhabited, but as they were attached to the
dominions of the Sultan of Johore, he suggested
that means should be adopted of obtaining a
regular transfer of the islands from that
potentate.

In forwarding Farquhar's despatches to the
Governor-General, Colonel Bannerman drew
attention in serious terms to the menace of the
Dutch policy in regard to native States. He
pointed out that they had twelve thousand
troops in their possessions, and that the pre-
sence of this force between India and China
involved a distinct danger to British interests.
He did not, however, support Farquhar's sug-
gestion in regard to the Karimun Islands, on
the ground that " the expense of maintaining a
settlement on an uninhabited island would be
enormous," and that "the insulated situation of
Kariman and its remoteness from all support
would require a considerable military force to

guard it against the large Meets of piratical
prows infesting that part of, the Straits, as well
as against the nations of the adjoining coun-
tries."

Finally he stated that the subject was under
the consideration of the Government of
Bengal.

In a later despatch, dated the 7th of Novem-

THE STRAITS OF SUNDA.
(From a sketch in the India Office.)

Before he had received any intimation as to
the views held by Colonel Bannerman, Far-
quhar, deeming that the matter was one of
urgency, took upon himself the responsibility
of writing to the Raja Muda of Riau, asking
him if he were willing to forward the transfer
of the Karimun Islands to the British. The
Raja replied cautiously that, though he had no
objection to the British examining the islands,
he did not deem himself in a position to come
to any definitive arrangement. In transmitting
this information to Colonel Bannerman, Far-
quhar reasserted the desirability of acquiring
the Karimuns, and stated that he thought a
small force — " two companies of native in-
fantry, with a proportion of artillery assisted
by a few hundred convicts" — would be suffi-
cient to garrison it.

While the arrangements for the transfer of
Malacca were in progress a claim was raised
by the Dutch to the suzerainty of Riau and
Perak on the ground that they were depen-
dencies of Malacca, and reverted to them with
that settlement, in spite of the fact that imme-
diately after the capture of Malacca in 1795
the Sultan of Riau was restored to the full
enjoyment of his sovereign rights by the
British.

Farquhar, writing from Malacca to Banner-
man on the 22nd of October, stated that he had
been questioned by the Dutch Commissioners
as to the intentions of his Government in regard
to the formation of a settlement to the eastward
of Malacca, and had informed them officially
that friendly communications had already been
made with the constituted authorities of Lingen
and Riau, and their permission obtained for
examining and surveying the Karimun and
neighbouring islands, and also a general con-
currence in the views of his Government.

ber, Farquhar enclosed a communication from
the Dutch Commissioners raising definitely
the question of the vassalage of the States
of Lingen, Riau, &c, arising out of old
treaties said to have been formed with those
States thirty or forty years previously. In the
letter from the Dutch was intimated in the
most explicit terms a firm determination on
the part of their Government not to permit
the Raja of Johore, Pahang, &c., to cede to
the British the smallest portion of his heredi-
tary possessions.

In a despatch dated November 21, iKi8,
Bannerman forwarded Farquhar's letter and
the Dutch Commissioners' communication to
the Governor-General with the remark, " No
sanction or authority has been given to Major
Farquhar to negotiate for the Kariman Islands,
or even to discuss the question with the Dutch
authorities." " My letters to the Governor-
General," Bannerman added, " exemplify to
his Excellency in Council rather the prevalence
of an opinion adverse to their occupation than
any sanction to the discussion of the question
itself." The communication proceeded: "It
appears to the Governor in Council that the
late discussions have had a tendency to stamp
the Kariman Islands with a degree of impor-
tance which their value cannot sanction ; but at
the same time they have led to a more complete
development of the views of general aggran-
disement with which the Netherlands Govern-
ment are actuated, and it may be feared that
the pretensions of that Power to the undivided
sovereignty in the Eastern seas, or the tenacity
with which they are prepared to support their
claims, will be productive of considerable dis-
advantage to British interests unless counter-
acted by timely arrangements."

Such was the position of events at the end of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

November as far as Pinang was concerned.
But in the interval between the first raising of
the question and the transmission of Colonel
Bannerman's warning despatch to the Gover-
nor-General there had been important develop-
ments in another quarter.

In the early days of his exile at Bencoolen,
brooding over the situation in which the Treaty
of Vienna had placed British power in the
Straits, Raffles was quick to see that the time
had come for a new departure in policy if
British power was to hold its own in this part
of the globe. His earliest correspondence from
the settlement indicates his anxiety on the
point. In a letter dated April 14, 1818, and
despatched a week or two after his arrival, he
wrote : " The Dutch possess the only passes
through which ships must sail into this archi-
pelago, the Straits of Sunda and of Malacca ;
and the British have not now an inch of
ground to stand upon between the Cape of
Good Hope and China, nor a single friendly
port at which they can water or obtain refresh-
ments. It is indispensable that some regular
and accredited authority on the part of the
British Government should exist in the archi-
pelago, to declare and maintain the British
rights, whatever they are, to receive appeals,
and to exercise such wholesome control as
may be conducive to the preservation of the
British honour and character. At present the
authority of the Government of Prince of Wales
Island extends no further than Malacca, and
the Dutch would willingly confine that of
BsrtCOolen to the almost inaccessible and
rocky shores of the West Coast of Sumatra.
To effect the objects contemplated some con-
venient station within the archipelago is neces-
sary ; both Bencoolen and Prince of Wales
Island are too far removed, and unless we
succeed in obtaining a position in the Straits
of Sunda, we have no alternative but to fix it in
the most advantageous position we can find
within the archipelago ; this would be some-
where in the neighbourhood of Bintang." '

Bintang, or Bentan as it is now called, is an
island in the Riau Strait, about 30 miles from
Singapore at the nearest point. The reference
shows that Raffles had a clear conception of
the importance of a good strategic as well as a
favourable trading position, and knew exactly
where this was to be found. There is reason
to think that he actually had Singapore in his
mind even at this early period. His corre-
spondence suggests that his thoughts had long
been cast in that direction, and other circum-
stances make it inherently probable that a
definite scheme for establishing a British
settlement there was actually formed by him
before he left England. The point is not very
material. Even assuming that Raffles had not
the undivided honour of discovering, or, more
properly, rediscovering, Singapore, it was
beyond all reasonable question he who gave
the proposal for the occupation of the point
living force, and ensured its success by a
series of well-planned and cleverly executed
measures, followed by the initiation of an
administrative policy marked by statesmanlike
judgment. .

Once having got into his mind the idea of
the necessity of counteracting Dutch influence
1 " Memoir of Sir T. S. Raffles," p. 307.

by the establishment of a new settlement,
Raffles, with characteristic energy, proceeded
to enlist the support of the authorities. Within
a lew months of his landing at Bencoolen he
was on his way to India to lay his plans before
the Supreme Government. At Calcutta he had
several conferences with the Marquess of
Hastings, the then Governor-General, and
put before him the case for the adoption of a
forward policy. He advocated, his biographer
says, no ambitious scheme. "In his own
words, he neither wanted people nor territory ;
all he asked was permission to anchor a line-of-
battle ship and hoist the English Hag at the
mouth either of the Straits of Malacca or of
Sunda, by which means the trade of England
would be secured and. the monopoly of the
Dutch broken." ' As a result of the discussions
it was decided to concede to the Dutch their
pretensions in Sumatra, to leave to them the

FRANCIS RAWDON, FIRST MARQUESS

OF HASTINGS.

(From :m eograviog by Clent in the British Museum.)

exclusive command of the Straits of Sunda,
and " to limit interference to measures of
precaution by securing a free trade with the
archipelago and China through the Straits of
Malacca." In order to effect this and at the
same time to protect the political and com-
mercial interests in the Eastern seas gene-
rally, it was deemed essential that some central
station should be occupied to the southward of
Malacca. Finally, it was agreed that Raftles
should be the agent of the Governor-General to
carry out the policy decided upon, and Major
Earquhar was directed by the Calcutta Govern-
ment to postpone his departure and join Raffles
in his mission. Rallies, writing to Marsden
under date November 14, 1818, himself sums
up the results of his mission in this way : " I
have now to inform you that it is determined
to keep the command of the Straits of Malacca
by establishments at Achin and Rhio, and that
I leave Calcutta in a fortnight as the agent to
effect this important object. Achin I conceive
' Ibid., p. 370.

to be completely within our power, but the
Dutch may be beforehand with us at Rhio.
They took possession of Pontiano and Malacca
in July and August last, and have been bad
politicians if they have so long left Rhio open
to us." In a letter penned twelve days later to
the Duchess of Somerset, Raftles says : " I have
at last succeeded in making the authorities in
Bengal sensible of their supineness in allowing
the Dutch to exclude us from the Eastern seas,
but I fear it is now too late to retrieve what we
have lost. I have full powers to do all that we
can ; and if anything is to be done I think I
need not assure your grace that it shall be done
and quickly done." It seems probable that in
the interval between these two letters informa-
tion had reached Calcutta of the Dutch occupa-
tion of Rhio (Riau). Whether so or not, Rallies,
it is clear from a later letter addressed to Mars-
den from " off the Sandheads " on December
12, 1818, had by the time he started on his
homeward voyage turned his thoughts from
Riau in the direction of Singapore. "We are
now," he writes, " on our way to the eastward
in the hope of doing something, but I much
fear that the Dutch have hardly left us an inch
of ground to >tand upon. My attention is prin-
cipally 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." This
letter is important as an indication that Eaffles's
designs were tending towards Singapore before
he left Calcutta and had had an opportunity of
consulting Major Earquhar.

On arrival at Pinang, Raffles found a very
discouraging situation. He was met with the
probably not unexpected news that the Dutch
had compelled the Rajas of Riau and Lingen
to admit their troops into the former settlement
and to permit their colours to fly at Lingen,
Pahang, and Johore ; while an additional
example of their aggressiveness was supplied
by the arrest of the Sultan of Palembang and
the occupation of his capital with a thousand
troops, five hundred of whom were Europeans
in a high state of discipline. In transmitting
information of these acts to the Governor-
General, Colonel Bannerman had penned a
despatch in terms which were no doubt com-
municated to Sir Stamford Raffles. In this
document the Governor of Pinang observed
that he thought that the Dutch action "must
prove to the Supreme Government the full
nature of those encroachments and monopolies
to which these acts will naturally tend. The
Governor in Council was satisfied that nothing
less than the uncontrolled and absolute posses-
sion of the Eastern trade would satisfy the
rapacious policy of the Dutch Government."
The despatch went on to point out that the
Dutch had now complete control of every port
eastward of Pinang, and had besides every
means, in a very superior military and naval
armament, to frustrate any attempt of the
British Government " to negotiate even a
common commercial alliance with any one of
the States in the Eastern seas." Finally the
despatch despairingly remarked, " To effect
therefore among them any political arrange-
ments as a counterpoise to the influence of that
nation, it is needless to disguise, is now beyond
the power of the British Government in India."

These concluding words supply a keynote to

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the attitude of Colonel Kannerman. He had
clearly been overwhelmingly impressed with
Dutch activity and the resolution with which
they pursued their aims, and thought that the
position was beyond retrieval. He was not a
strong official. His despatches show him to
have been an opinionated and somewhat
irascible man, intolerant of criticism, and,
though genial in his social relations, endowed
with more than a common share of official
arrogance. Mingled with these qualities was
a constitutional timidity which prevented him
from taking any course which involved risk
or additional responsibility. He was, in fine,
the very worst type of administrator to deal
with a crisis such as that which had arisen in
the Straits. In receiving Raffles and com-
municating his views on the complicated
situation that had developed, he seems to have
given full rein to his pessimism. He was,
indeed, so entirely convinced that the position
was irretrievable that he' had apparently made
up his mind to thwart Raffles's mission by
every means in his power. It is doing no
injustice to him to say that wedded to a
sincere belief in the futility of further action
was a feeling of soreness that this important
undertaking had been launched without refer-
ence to him and placed under the charge of an
official who held a less exalted position than
himself. In the recorded correspondence '
between himself and Raffles we find him at
the very outset taking up a position, of almost
violent hostility and obstructiveness. The con-
troversy was opened by a letter addressed by
Bannerman to Raflles immediately after the
latter's arrival, detailing the acts of Dutch
aggressiveness and affirming the undesirability
of further prosecuting the mission in the
circumstances. To this Raffles replied on
January i, 1K19, saying that although Riau
was preoccupied, " the island of Sincapore
and the districts of Old Johore and the Straits
of Indugeeree on Sumatra offer eligible points
for establishing the required settlement," and
declaring his inclination to the policy of pro-
ceeding at once to the eastward with a
respectable and efficient force. Bannerman,
in answer to this communication, wrote on the
3rd of January protesting against Raffles's pro-
posed action and refusing to grant the demand
which apparently had been made for a force
of 500 men to assist him in carrying out his
designs. In taking up this strong line Banner-
man does not appear to have carried his entire
Council with him. One member — Mr. Erskine
— expressed his dissent and drew upon himself
in consequence the wrath of his chief, who in
a fiery minute taunted him with vacillation on
the ground that he had at the outset been in
agreement with his colleagues as to the in-
advisahility of the prosecution of the mission.
Raffles was not the man to be readily thwarted,
and we find him on the 4th of January
directing a pointed inquiry to Bannerman as
to whether he positively declined to aid him.
Thus brought to bay, the Governor found it
expedient to temporise. He 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
1 "Straits Settlements Records," No. 182A.

which were relied upon by Bannerman as
justifying the attitude he had assumed. The
bitter, unreasonable spirit which Raffles en-
countered produced upon him a natural feeling
of depression. " God only knows," he wrote
to Marsden on January 16, 1810, "where next
you may hear from me, but as you will be
happy to learn of the progress of my mission,
I will not lose the present opportunity of in-
forming you how I go on. Whether anything

to his destination, but that he had a definite
idea in his mind appears from a letter he wrote
the same day to Mr. Adam, the Secretary to the
Supreme Government. In this he said : " 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

'•-'..

COLONEL BANNERMAN.
(From an original drawing in the possession of the Rev. J. H. Bannerman. Vicar of St. Stephen's, Congleton, Cheshire.)

is to be done to the eastward or mot is yet very
uncertain. By neglecting to occupy the place
we lost Rhio, and shall have difficulty in
establishing ourselves elsewhere, but I shall
certainly attempt it. At Achin the difficulties
I shall have to surmount in the performance
of my duty will be great and the annoyance
severe, but I shall persevere steadily in what
I conceive to be my duty." In this letter to
Marsden ignorance is professed by Raffles as

respect most peculiarly adapted for our object.
Its position in the Straits of Sincapore is far more
convenient and commanding 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 went on to say that there did
not appear to be any objection "to a station at
Sincapore, or on the opposite shore towards
Point Romanea, or on any other of the smaller

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

VIEW OF THE JUNGLE, SINGAPOEE.
(From Captain Bethune's "Views in the Eastern Archipelago.")

islands which lie off this part of the coast.
The larger harbour of Johore," he added, "is
declared by professional men whom I have
consulted, and by every Eastern trader of ex-
perience to whom I have been able to refer,
to be capacious and easily defensible, and the
British flag once hoisted, there would be no
want of supplies to meet the immediate neces-
sities of our establishment."

Three days after the despatch of this letter
Raffles sailed on his eventful mission. Major
Farquhar, who from the records appears to
have been at Pinang at the time, was com-
pletely won over to his views — " seduced " is
the phrase which Colonel Bannerman used
later — and accompanied him. It says much
for the strained character of the relations
which existed at the moment between Raffles
and the Pinang Government that in quitting
the harbour the former neglected to notify his
departure. Slipping their anchors, the four
vessels of his little fleet left at night-time
without a word from Raffles to the Govern-
ment. His mission being a secret one of the
highest importance, he probably felt indisposed
to supply more information about his move-
ments thati was absolutely necessary to the
hostile officialdom of Pinang. However that
may be, the omission to give notice of sailing
appears to have been part of a deliberate
policy, for when some weeks later one of
Raffles's vessels had again to leave port, its

commander departed without the customary
formality, with the result that Colonel Banner-
man penned a flaming despatch to the
Governor-General invoking vengeance on the
culprit.

The mystery in which Raftles's intentions
and movements were, we may assume, pur-
posely enshrouded at this period has resulted in
the survival of a considerable amount of doubt
as to the actual course of events. It has even
been questioned whether he was actually
present at Singapore when the British flag
was hoisted for the first time. The records,
however, are absolutely conclusive on this
point. Indeed, there is so much direct evi-
dence on this as well as on other aspects of
the occupation that it is remarkable there
should have been any room for controversy
as to the leading part which Raffles played in
the transaction.

When Raffles sailed from Pinang, it is
probable that he had no fixed design in regard
to any place. He knew generally what he
wanted and he was determined to leave no
stone unturned to accomplish his end. But
beyond a leaning towards Singapore as in his
view the best centre, he had, it would seem
from the nature of his movements, an open
mind on the question of the exact location of
the new settlement. In the archives at the
India Office ■ there exists a memorandum,
i " Straits Settlements Records," No. 10.

drawn up by Mr. Benjamin S. Jones, who was
at the time senior clerk at the Board of Control,
detailing the circumstances which led up to the
occupation of Singapore. This document is
dated July 20, 1820, and it was probably pre-
pared with a view to the discussion then
proceeding with the Dutch as to the legality
of the occupation. As a statement of the
official views held at the time in regard to
Raffles's action it is of peculiar interest, and it
may be examined before we come to deal with
the movements of the mission. At the outset
there is given this explanation of the causes
which led to its despatch :

" The Governor-General in Council, deeming
it expedient to secure the command of the
Straits of Malacca in order to keep open a
channel for British commerce, apparently
endangered by the schemes of exclusive policy
pursued by the Netherlandish Government,
determined to despatch Sir T. S. Raffles for
the purpose of improving the footing obtained
at Rhio. In his instructions dated December 5,
1818, it was observed that if the Dutch had
previously occupied Rhio it might be expedient
to endeavour to establish a connection with the
Sultan of Johore, but as so little was known
respecting that chief, Sir T. S. Raffles was
informed that it would be incumbent upon us
to act with caution and circumspection before
we entered into any engagements with him.
It was further observed that there was some

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

reason to think that the Dutch would claim
authority over the State of Johore by virtue of
some old engagements, and though it was
possible that the pretension might be success-
fully combated, it would not be consistent with
the policy and views of the Governor- General
in Council to raise a question of this sort with
the Netherlandish authorities. But in the
event of his procuring satisfactory information
concerning Johore, Sir T. S. Raffles was in-
structed, on the supposition of Rhio being
preoccupied by the Dutch, to open a negotia-
tion with the chief of Johore on a similar
basis to that contemplated at Rhio."

Then follows a relation of the circumstances
under which Singapore was selected by Raffles.

" In order to avoid collision with the Dutch
authorities, Sir T. S. Raffles determined to
avoid Rhio, but to endeavour to establish a
footing on some more unoccupied territory in
which we might find a port and accommoda-
tion for our troops, and where the British flag
might be displayed pending a reference to the
authorities in Europe. With this view he pro-
ceeded to Singapore. On his arrival off the
town a deputation came on board with the
compliments and congratulations of the chief
native authority and requested to know the
object of the visit. Having inquired whether
there was any Dutch settlement and flag at
Singapore and at Johore, and whether the
Dutch had by any means attempted to exercise
an influence or authority over the ports, the
deputation replied that Johore Lama, or Old
Johore, had long been deserted ; that the chief
authority over Singapore and all the adjacent
islands (excepting those of Lingen and Rhio)
then resided at the ancient capital of Singapore,
where no attempts had yet been made to
establish the Dutch power and where no
Dutch flag would be received."

Such were the bald facts of the occupation
as officially related about eighteen months after
the hoisting of the British flag in the ancient
Malay capital. The account may be supple-
mented with evidence from other quarters.
Nothing is said in Mr. Jones's memorandum
about visits paid by the mission to any other
spot than Singapore, but it is familiar know-
ledge that before proceeding to Singapore
Raffles put in at the Karimun Islands and at
Siack. His reasons for visiting these places
may be conjectured from the recital given of
the events which preceded his arrival at
Pinang. Major Farquhar, as we have seen,
was strongly in favour of the establishment of
a port on the Karimun Islands — so strongly,
indeed, that he had gone beyond his official
province to prepare the way for an occupation,
if such were deemed desirable by the higher
authorities. What would be more natural in
the circumstances than that he should induce
Raffles at the very earliest moment to visit the
spot which had struck him on his voyage to
Pontiana as being so peculiarly adapted to the
purposes of the new settlement ? Whatever
the underlying motive, we have interesting
evidence of the circumstance that the Karimuns
were visited, and that Raffles found there ample
and speedy proof that the port was entirely
unsuitable. The facts are set forth in a report
dated March I, 1819, presented to the Pinang
Government by Captain Ross, of the East

India Company's Marine. This functionary,
it appears, had on the 15th of January pro-
ceeded to the Karimun Islands to carry out
a survey in accordance with official instruc-
tions, prompted, doubtless, by Major Farquhar's
advocacy of the port. His report was entirely
unfavourable to the selection of the islands.
"The Small Kariman," he wrote, "rises
abruptly from the water all round, and does
not afford any situation for a settlement on it.
The Great Kariman on the part nearest to the
small one is also very steep, and from thence
to the southward forms a deep bay, where the
land is principally low and damp, with much
mangrove along the shore, and three fathoms
water at two and a half miles off. The
channel between the two Karimans has deep
water, fourteen and fifteen fathoms, in it, but
it is too narrow to be used as a harbour." Sir
Stamford Raffles was furnished with Captain
Ross's opinion immediately on his arrival, and
it was that apparently which caused him to
turn his attention to Singapore. Recognising
the value of expert marine opinion, he took
Captain Ross with him across the Straits. The
results of the survey which that officer made
were embodied in a report, which may be given
as an interesting historical document associated
with the earliest days of the life of the settle-
ment. Captain Ross wrote :

" Singapore Harbour, situate four miles to
the NNE. of St. John's Island (in what is com-
monly called Sinapore Strait), will afford a safe
anchorage to ships in all seasons, and being
clear of hidden danger, the approach to it is
rendered easy by day or night. Its position
is also favourable for commanding the naviga-
tion of the strait, the track which the ships
pursue being distant about five miles ; and it
may be expected from its proximity to the
Malayan islands and the China Sea that in a
short time numerous vessels would resort to
it for commercial purposes.

" At the anchorage ships are sheltered from
ENE. round to north and west as far as SSW.
by the south point of Johore, Singapoora, and
many smaller islands extending to St. John's,
and thence round to the north point of Batang
(bearing ESE.) by the numerous islands form-
ing the southern side of Singapoora Strait.
The bottom, to within a few yards of shore,
is soft mud and holds well.

" The town of Singapoora, on the island of
the same name, stands on a point of land near
the western part of a bay, and is easily dis-
tinguished by there being just behind it a
pleasant-looking hill that is partly cleared of
trees, and between the point on which the
town is situate and the western one of the bay
there is a creek in which the native vessels
anchor close to the town, so it may be found
useful to European vessels of easy draft to
refill in. On the eastern side of the bay,
opposite to the town, there is a deep inlet lined
by mangroves, which would also be a good
anchorage for native boats ; and about north
from the low sandy point of the bay there is a
village inhabited by fishermen, and a short
way to the eastward there is a passage through
the mangroves leading to a fresh - water
river. . . .

" The coast to the eastward of the town bay
is one continued sandy beach, and half-mile

to the eastward of the eastern point of the bay,
or two and a half from the town, there is a
point where the depth of water is six or seven
fathoms at three or four hundred yards from
the shore, and at eight hundred yards a small
bank with about three fathoms at low water.
The point offers a favourable position for
batteries to defend ships that may in time of
war anchor near to it. . . .

"The tides during the napes are irregular at
two or three miles off shore, but close in other-
wise. The rise and fall will be about 10 and 12
feet, and it will be high water on full and
change at eight and a half hours. The latitude
of the town is about i° 15J North, and variation
of the needle observed on the low eastern
point of the bay is 2° 9 East." ■

Nothing hardly could have been more
satisfactory than this opinion by a capable
naval officer upon the maritime aspects of
Singapore. With it in his possession Raffles
had no difficulty in coming to a decision.
His experienced eye took in the splendid
possibilities which the island offered for the
purposes in hand. A practically uninhabited
island with a fine roadstead, it could, with a
minimum of difficulty and expense, be made
into a commercial centre, while its command-
ing position in the narrowest part of the Straits
of Malacca gave it a political value beyond
estimate. Impressed with these features of
the situation, and swayed also, we may reason-
ably assume, by the classical traditions of the
spot, Raffles on January 29, 1819, 2 ten days
after quitting Pinang, hoisted the British flag
on the island. The natural jubilation he felt
at the accomplishment of his mission found
vent in a letter to Marsden dated three days
later. In this he wrote : " Here I am at
Singapore, true to my word, and in the enjoy-
ment 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 waves unmolested." In the midst of
his self-gratulation Raffles was not unmindful
of the dangers which still hindered his plans
from the jealousy of his rivals and the ignor-
ance and indifference of the authorities at
home. He made a special appeal to Marsden
for support on behalf of his most recent
attempt to extend British influence. " Most
certainly," he wrote, " the Dutch never had a
factory in the island of Singapore ; and it does
not appear to me that their recent arrange-
ments with a subordinate authority at Rhio can
or ought to interfere with our permanent estab-
lishment here. I have, however, a violent
opposition to surmount on the part of the
Pinang Government."

Raffles no doubt had in his mind when he
penned this appeal the possible effects of
Dutch strenuousness combined with Pinang
hostility on the weak and vacillating mind (as
it appeared markedly at this time) of the
Indian Government and the India Board.
His position, however, had been greatly
strengthened by arrangements which, after
landing on the island, he had found it possible
to make with the Dato' Temenggong of Johore,
1 " Straits Settlements Records," No. 70, p. 432.
* In Raffles'* " Memoir," by his wife, the date of
the hoisting of the flag is given as the 29th of
February, but this is an obvious blunder.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

a high State official with great ill-defined
powers, which placed him in a position almost
of equality with the Sultan. This individual
was resident on the island at the time of the
visit of the mission, and he sought an interview
with Raffles, in order to offer the British
envoy his assistance in the execution of his
designs. It is probable that the offer was
prompted more by hatred of the Dutch than
love of the British. But Raffles was in no
mood to examine too closely into the motives
which dictated the Temenggong's action.
Realising the value of his support, he con-
cluded with him, on January 30th, a provisional
understanding for the regularising of the
occupation of the island. The Temenggong
appears to have represented himself as the
possessor of special rights, but Raffles deemed
it expedient to secure the confirmation of the
grant at the hands of the Sultan. It happened
that at this time the ruling chief was Sultan
Abdul Rahman, a man who was supported by
the Dutch and was completely under their
influence. No arrangement was possible with
him, and Raffles must have known as much
from the very first. But his fertile intellect
speedily found a way out of the difficulty. The
British envoy gathered from the Temenggong,
and possibly was aware of the fact previously,
that Abdul Rahman was the younger of two
sons of the previous Sultan, and as his brother
was living he was consequently a usurper.
Without loss of time Raffles, through the
Temenggong, sent to Riau for the elder
brother, Tunku Husein, and on the latter's

arrival in Singapore duly proclaimed him
Sultan of Johore. Afterwards a formal treaty,
dated February 6, 1819, was drawn up in which
the new Sultan joined with the Temenggong
in granting the British the right to settle on
the island. This treaty was strengthened by
three further agreements, one dated June 26,
1819, another June, 1823, and the third,
November 19, 1824. But before the final treaty
was concluded, and Raffles's dream of British
domination at this point was realised, many a
battle against prejudice and stupidity had to
be fought.

In a despatch dated February 13, 1819,
reporting to the Supreme Government the
occupation of the island, Raffles gave a mas-
terly summary of its features and advantages.
" Our station at Singapore," he wrote, " may be
considered as an effectual check to the rapid
march of the Dutch in the Eastern Archi-
pelago, and whether we may have the power
hereafter of extending our stations or be com-
pelled to confine ourselves to this factory, the
spell is broken, and one independent port under
our flag may be sufficient to prevent the recur-
rence of the system of exclusive monopoly
which the Dutch once exercised in these seas
and would willingly re-establish. Situated at
the extremity of the peninsula, all vessels to
and from China vid Malacca are obliged to
pass within five miles of our headquarters, and
generally pass within half a mile of St. John's,
a dependent islet forfning the western point of
the bay, in which I have directed a small post
to be fixed, and from whence every ship can

be boarded if necessary, the water being
smooth at all seasons. The run between
these islands and the Carimons, which are in
sight from it, can be effected in a few hours,
and crosses the route which all vessels from
the Netherlands must necessarily pursue when
bound towards Batavia and the Eastern islands.

" As a port for the refreshment and refitment
of our shipping, and particularly for that por-
tion of it engaged in the China trade, it is only
requisite for me to refer to the able survey and
report of Captain Ross, and to add to it that
excellent water in convenient situations for the
supply of ships is to be found in several places,
and that the industrious Chinese are already
established in the interior and may soon be
expected to supply vegetables, &c, &c, equal
to the demand. The port is plentifully sup-
plied with fish and turtle, which are said to
be more abundant here than in any part of the
archipelago. Rice, salt, and other necessaries
are always procurable from Siam, the granary
of the Malay tribes in this quarter. Timber
abounds in the island and its vicinity ; a large
part of the population are already engaged in
building boats and vessels, and the Chinese,
of whom some are already engaged in smelting
the ore brought from the tin mines on the
neighbouring islands, and others employed as
cultivators and artificers, may soon be expected
to increase in a number proportionate to the
wants and interests of the settlement. . . .

" A measure of the nature of that which we
have adopted was in some degree necessary to
evince to the varied and enterprising popula-

THE JOHORE RIVER.
(From " Skizzen aus Singapur und Djohor.")

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

tion of these islands that our commercial and
political views in this quarter had not entirely
sunk under the vaunted power and encroach-
ment of the Dutch, and to prove to them that we
were determined to make a stand against it. By
maintaining our right to a free commerce with
the Malay States and inspiring them with a
confidence in the stability of it, we may con-
template its advancement to a much greater
extent than has hitherto been enjoyed. Inde-
pendently of our commerce with the tribes of
the archipelago, Singapore may be considered
as the principal entrepot to which the native
traders of Siam, Cambodia, Champa, Cochin
China, and China will annually resort. It is
to the Straits that their merchants are always
bound in the first instance, and if on their
arrival they can find a market for their goods
and the means of supplying their wants, they
will have no possible inducement to proceed to
the more distant, unhealthy, and expensive port
of Batavia. Siam, which is the granary of the
countries north of the Equator, is rapidly ex-
tending her native commerce, nearly the whole
of which may be expected to centre at Singa-
pore. The passage from China has been made
in less than six days, and that number is all
that is requisite in the favourable monsoon for
the passage from Singapore to Batavia, Pinang,
or Achin, while two days are sufficient for a
voyage to Borneo." '

Singapore at the time of the British occupa-
tion was a mere squalid fishing village, backed
by a wild, uninhabited country, the haunt of
the tiger and other beasts of prey. But it was
a place with a history. Six centuries before it
had been the Constantinople of these Eastern
seas, the seat of Malay learning and commerce,
the focus of the commerce of two oceans and
of part of two continents. In the section of the
work treating of the Federated Malay States a
lengthy sketch is given of the rise of the Malay
power, and it is only necessary here to deal very
briefly with the subject. The most widely ac-
cepted version of the foundation of Singapore is
that contained in the " Sejara Malayu," or " Malay-
Annals," a famous work produced at Goa in the
early seventeenth century from a Malay manu-
script. The story here set forth brings into
prominence a line of Malay kings whose an-
cestry is traced back by the record to Alexander
the Great. The first of the line, Raja Bachi-
tram Shah (afterwards known as Sang Sapurba),
settled originally in Palembang, Sumatra, where
he married a daughter of the local prince. He
had a son, Sang Nila Utama, who was domi-
ciled in Bentan, and who, like his father,
formed a connection by marriage with the
reigning dynasty. Finding Bentan too cir-
cumscribed for his energies, Sang Nila, in
1160, crossed the channel to Singapore and
laid the foundations of what subsequently
became known as the Lion City. Concerning
this name Sir Frank Swettenham, the historian
of the Malays, writes : " Singa is Sanscrit for a
lion and Pura for a city, and the fact that there
are no lions in that neighbourhood now cannot
disprove the statement that Sang Nila Utama
saw in 1160, or thereabouts, an animal which
he called by that name — an animal more par-
ticularly described by the annalist as very
' swift and beautiful, its body bright red, its
1 "Straits Settlements Records," No. 182.

head jet black, its breast white, in size rather
larger than a he-goat.' That was the lion of
Singapura, and whatever else is doubtful the
name is a fact ; it remains to this day, and
there is no reason why the descendant of
Alexander should not have seen something
which suggested a creature unknown either
to the Malay forest or the Malay language.
It is even stated, on the same authority, that
Singapura had an earlier name, Tamasak,
which is explained by some to mean 'a place
of festivals.' But that word, so interpreted, is
not Malay, though it has been adopted and
applied to other places which suggest festivals
far less than this small tropical island may
have done, even so early as the year 1 160. It
is obvious that the name Singapura was not
given to the island by Malays, but by colonists
from India, and if there were an earlier name,
Tamasak or Tamasha, that also would be of
Indian origin. The fact proves that the name
Singapura dates from a very early period, and
strongly supports the theory that the Malays
of our time are connected with a people who
emigrated from Southern India to Sumatra and
Java, and thence found their way to the Malay
Peninsula." '

Under Sang Nila's rule Singapore grew and
flourished, and when he died, in 1208, he left
it a place of considerable importance. His
successors strengthened its position until it
attained to a degree of prestige and im-
portance without parallel in the history of
any port in these seas. Its prosperity appears
to have been its ruin, for it attracted the jealous
notice of a Javanese prince, the Raja of Maja-
pahit, and that individual formed a design to
conquer the city. He was beaten off on the
first attempt, but a second expedition de-
spatched in 1377 achieved its object through
the treachery of a high official. The inhabi-
tants were put to the sword by the conquerors,
and those of them who managed to escape
ultimately settled in Malacca, where they
founded a new city. After this Singapore
declined in power, until it finally flickered out
in the racial feuds which preceded the early
European conquests.

Raffles remained only a short time at Singa-
pore after the occupation. His mission to
Achin, which was associated with the suc-
cession to the throne, brooked no delay.
Moreover, he doubtless felt that, as far as
the local situation was concerned, he was
quite safe in leaving British interests in the
capable hands of Major Farquhar. That Raffles
appreciated to the fullest extent the value of
the new settlement he had established is shown
by his correspondence at this period. In a
letter to the Duchess of Somerset from Pinang,
whither he had returned to take up the threads
of his new mission, he wrote under date Feb-
ruary 22, 1810, describing the position of
Singapore. " This," he said, " is the ancient
maritime capital of the Malays, and within the
walls of these fortifications, raised not less than
six centuries ago, I have planted the British
flag, where, I trust, it will long triumphantly
wave." On June 10th, when he had returned
to Singapore after the completion of his work
in Achin, he wrote to Colonel Addenbroke, the

■ " British Malaya," by Sir Frank Swettenham,
P- 13.

equerry to Princess Charlotte, explaining in a
communication of considerable length the poli-
tical aspects of the occupation. " You will,"
he said, " probably have to consult the map
in order to ascertain from what part of the
world this letter is dated. I shall say nothing
of the importance which I attach to the per-
manence of the position I have taken up at
Singapore ; it is a child of my own. But for
my Malay studies I should hardly have known
that such a place existed ; not only the Euro-
pean but the Indian world was ignorant of it.
I am sure you will wish me success ; and I will
therefore only add that if my plans are con-
firmed at home, it is my intention to make this
my principal residence, and to devote the re-
maining years of my stay in the East to the
advancement of a colony which, in every way
in which it can be viewed, bids fair to be one
of the most important, and at the same time
one of the least troublesome and expensive,
which we possess. Our object is not territory,
but trade ; a great commercial emporium and
a fulcrum whence we may extend our influence
politically as circumstances may hereafter re-
quire. By taking immediate possession we
put a negative to the Dutch claim of exclusion,
and at the same time revive the drooping con-
fidence of our allies and friends. One free
port in these seas must eventually destroy the
spell of Dutch monopoly, and what Malta is
in the West, that may Singapore be in the
East." »

These and other letters we have quoted,
interesting in themselves as reflections of the
mind of Raffles at this eventful period, are of
special value from the light they throw on the
controversy which from time to time has
arisen as to Raffles's title to be regarded as the
founder of Singapore. From beginning to end
there is no sort of suggestion that the scheme,
as finally carried out, was not Raffles's own.
On the contrary, there is direct evidence that
he acted independently, first in the statement
of Lady Raffles that the plan was in his mind
before he left England, and, second, in his
letter to Marsden from off the Sandheads, in
which he specifically indicates Singapore as
the possible goal of his mission.

Sir Frank Swettenham very fairly states the
case in favour of Raffles in the chapter in his
work 2 in which he deals with the early history
of Singapore. " It is more than probable," he
says, " that Raffles, by good luck and without
assistance from others, selected Singapore as
the site of his avowedly anti-Dutch pro-British
station. The idea of such a port was Raffles's
own ; for it is probable that his instructions
were drafted on information supplied by him-
self, and in that case it is noticeable that Rhio
and Johore are indicated as likely places and
not Singapore ; he went south with the express
object of carrying out his favourite scheme
before his masters would have time to change
their minds, or his rivals to anticipate his de-
sign. Colonel Farquhar was only there to help
his senior, and it is certain that if there had
been no Raffles in 1819 there would have been
no British Singapore to-day."

The actual occupation of Singapore was only
the beginning of Raffles's work. Obvious as

1 " Memoir of Sir T. S. Raffles," p. 380.

2 " British Malaya," p. 70.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the advantages of the situation were to those
who knew the Straits, and palpable as was the
necessity of strengthening British influence in
these seas if it was not entirely to be wiped
out, there continued a resolute opposition to
the scheme on the part of the Pinang autho-
rities. The hostility of these narrow-minded
bureaucrats went to lengths which seem per-
fectly incredible in these days. Immediately
on receipt of the news of the occupation, on
February 14, 1819, Hannerman sat down and
indited a minute which, with perfect frankness,
revealed the jealous sentiments which animated
the writer. He wrote: "The time is now
come for throwing aside all false delicacy in
the consideration of Sir Stamford Raffles's
views and measures. I have long believed
that there was a good deal of personal ambition
and desire of distinction in his proceeding to
the eastward and forming a settlement — at any
rate, to add to his old, worn-out establishment
at Bencoolen (so styled by himself in a letter to
the Court of Directors dated 12th of April last).
He has now obtained an island, which he is
most anxious to aggrandise as soon as possible
at the expense of his neighbours, and with as
large a regular force as that stationed at Fort
Marlborough. I have no doubt he has already
determined to come and make Singapore the
seat of his government, and Bencoolen its
dependency. . . .

" I shall now only add that before the ex-
piration of many months I feel convinced the
merchants at Calcutta will learn that this new
settlement may intercept the trade of this port,
but can never restore the commerce they
formerly enjoyed with the Eastern Archipelago,
as the occupation by the Dutch of Java, Banca,
the Moluccas, Khio, the greater part of the
Celebes, and of Borneo must enable that
Power to engross the principal share." * The
petty spite of this diatribe is only exceeded by
the colossal self-complacency and shortsighted-
ness which it displays. And its tone was
thoroughly in keeping with the dealings of the
Pinang Government with the infant settlement.
After Raffles had left Singapore to prosecute
his mission to Achin, information was brought
to the new settlement by Captain Ross, the
officer who made the preliminary survey of
Singapore, that the Dutch Governor of Malacca
had strongly recommended the Government of
Java to send up a force to seize the British de-
tachment at Singapore. As in duty bound,
Farquhar communicated the news to Colonel
Bannerman , with a request for reinforcements
to enable him to maintain his post in the event
of attack. Colonel Bannerman's reply was a
violently worded despatch refusing the aid
asked.

" It must be notorious," he wrote in a minute
he penned on the subject, "that any force we
are able to detach to Singapoor could not resist
the overpowering armament at the disposal of
the Batavia Government, although its presence
would certainly compel Major Farquhar to
resist the Xetherlanders, even to the shedding
of blood, and its ultimate and forced submission
would tarnish the national honour infinitely
more seriously than the degradation which
would ensue from the retreat of the small party
now at Singapoor.

1 " Straits Settlements Records," No. 182A.

" Neither Major Farquhar's honour as a
soldier nor the honour of the British Govern-
ment now require him to attempt the defence
of Singapoor by force of arms against the
Netherlanders, as he knows Sir Stamford
Raffles has occupied that island in violation
of the orders of the Supreme Government,
and as he knows that any opposition from his
present small party would be an useless and
reprehensible sacrifice of men, when made
against the overwhelming naval and military
force that the Dutch will employ. Under these
circumstances I am certain that Major Farquhar
must be certain that he would not be justified
in shedding blood in the maintenance of his
port at present."

Colonel Bannerman went on to state that he
therefore proposed to send by the despatch
prahu to Major Farquhar a letter in this tenor,
together with other papers, and at the same time
to forward a temperate and firm remonstrance
to the Dutch Governor of Malacca, by means
of which he hoped any violent projected
measures would be deprecated without affect-
ing in the slightest degree the national honour
and credit. He also proposed that, as no
other opportunity would probably occur for
several weeks, a transport should be sent
to Singapore with a further supply of six
thousand dollars. " This last I am, however,
surprised to learn that he should require so
soon, for his small detachment has not been
forty days at Singapore before it appears to
have expended so large a sum as 15,000 dollars
which was taken with it."

The minute proceeded : " In proposing to
send this transport to Major Farquhar I have
another object in view. I have just had reason
to believe that the Ganges and Ncarchus (the
only two vessels now at Singapore) are quite
incapable of receiving on board the whole of
the detachment there in the event of Major
Farquhar's judgment deciding that a retreat
from the port would be most advisable. If,
therefore, one of the transports is victualled
equal to one month's consumption for 250 men
and sent to Singapore with authority given to
Major Farquhar to employ her should her
services be requisite, that officer will then have
ample means for removing, whenever indis-
pensably necessary, not only all his party, but
such of the native inhabitants as may fear the
Dutch vengeance, and whom it would be most
cruel to desert."

The minute went on to say that the transport
would be a means of withdrawing the Singa-
pore garrison in a British ship and saving the
national character from a very great portion of
the disgrace and mortification of having Major
Farquhar embarked by the Dutch on their own
ships.

Colonel Bannerman concluded as follows :
" However invidious the task, I cannot close
this minute without pointing out to the notice
of our superiors the very extraordinary conduct
of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen. He
posts a detachment at Singapoor under very
equivocal circumstances, without even the
means of coming away, and with such de-
fective instructions and slender resources that,
before it has been there a month, its com-
mander is obliged to apply for money to this
Government, whose duty it becomes to offer

that officer advice and means against an event
which Sir Stamford Raffles ought to have ex-
pected, and for which he ought to have made
an express provision in his instructions to that
officer.

" My letters of the 15th and 17th February
will prove that upon his return from Singapore
I offered him any supplies he might require
for the detachment he had left there, and also
earnestly called upon him to transmit instruc-
tions to Major Farquhar for the guidance of his
conduct in the possible event of the Nether-
landers attempting to dislodge him by force of
arms. Did he avail himself of my offer ? . . .
No, he set off for Achin and left Major Farquhar
to shift for himself. In fact, he acted (as a
friend of mine emphatically observed) like a
man who sets a house on fire and then runs
away." This extraordinary effusion reveals the
animus and stupidity with which Raffles was
pursued in the prosecution of his great design.
But it does not stand alone. While Bannerman
was doing his best to destroy Raffles's work by
withholding much-needed support from the
tiny force planted at Singapore, he was inditing
highly-coloured despatches to the authorities in
Calcutta and at home on the mischievousness
of the policy that had been embarked upon.
In one of these communications despatched to
the Court of Directors on March 4, 1819, shortly
after the news of the occupation had been
received at Pinang, the irate official wrote :
" My honourable employers will observe that
the Governor-General in Council was pleased
to grant the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen
a special commission to visit this presidency to
execute important duties belonging to this
Government, and already recommended by me
under the most favourable auspices, and to
make me the instrument of assisting that
gentleman to aggrandise his own name and
settlement at the expense of the character,
dignity, and local influence of this Govern-
ment." To Calcutta Bannerman addressed
despatches condemning in unsparing terms
the action that had been taken, and confidently
looking for support in the line of policy he had
pursued in opposition to Raffles. There was at
the outset a disposition on the part of the
Supreme Government to think that in despatch-
ing Raffles on his mission they had been
precipitate. Influenced by the news of Dutch
aggressiveness, and impressed also probably
by Bannerman's gloomy vaticinations upon
the situation, they addressed a letter to Pinang
expressing the view that it might be desirable
to relinquish the mission. But their hesitation
was only temporary. With the receipt of
Raffles's own communications there was borne
in upon them the importance of upholding his
action. Then the storm broke upon Colonel
Bannerman for the part he had played in
obstructing the mission. In a despatch dated
April 8, 1819, the Governor-General poured
upon the unfortunate Governor a volume of
censure such as has rarely been meted out to a
high official. " With regard to the station
established at Singapore," said the Governor-
General, " though we are not prepared to
express any final opinion upon the determina-
tion adopted by Sir Stamford Raffles to occupy
that harbour, we cannot think it was within
the province of your Government to pronounce

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

a decisive opinion upon a violation of his in-
structions. Commissioned and entrusted by
this Government, to this Government alone he
was answerable. The instructions under which
he acted, and which were communicated to
your Government that you might the more
readily promote the object, were adapted to
the port of Khio chiefly, and the probability
that the Dutch might anticipate us there
rendered it necessary to prescribe a line which
was in that contingency to be followed with
the utmost exactness. The same principle was
in the subsequent instructions extended to
Johore. In both cases the injunctions referred
to the possible event of an apparent right
having been actually advanced by the Dutch.
But though the spirit of inculcation to avoid
collision with the Dutch applied itself to any
other position, it necessarily did so with a
latitude suited to circumstances.

" We think your Government entirely wrong
in determining so broadly against the propriety
of the step taken by Sir Stamford Raffles on
a simple reclamation from the Governor of
Malacca, which, whether well or ill founded,
was to be looked for as certain. . . .

" Under these circumstances it does not
appear to us that any doubts which may be
excited at the present stage of the business
could be a legitimate principle for your
guidance, so as to exonerate you from the
obligation of fulfilling our directions for your
supporting Sir Stamford Raffles wittfa moderate
force should he establish a station on the
Eastern sea. So far do we regard you from
being freed from the call to act upon our instruc-
tions, that we fear you would have difficulty
in excusing yourselves should the Dutch be
tempted to violence by the weakness of the
detachment at Singapore and succeed in dis-
lodging it. Fortunately there does not appear
the likelihood of such an extremity. Repre-
sentations will, be made to this Government,
and investigations must be set on foot ; in
the interval which these will occupy, we have
to request from your Government every aid to
the factory at Singapore. The jealousy of it
which we lament to have been avowed and
recorded would find no tolerance with the
British Government should misfortune occur
and be traceable to neglects originating in such
a feeling. Whether the measure of occupying
it shoulH ultimately be judged to have been
indiscreetly risked or otherwise, the procedure
must be upheld, unless we shall be satisfied
(which is not now the case) that perseverance
in maintaining the port would be an infraction
of equity."

In a private letter, of somewhat earlier date,
the Governor-General explained at some length
the principles which had guided him in entrust-
ing the mission to Raffles. He wrote : " It is
impossible to form rational directions for the
guidance of any mission without allowing a
degree of discretion to be exercised in con-
tingencies which, though foreseen, cannot be
exactly measured, but the particular principle
by which Sir Stamford Raffles was to be ruled
was so broadly and positively marked as to
admit no excuse for proceedings inconsistent
with its tenor. For that reason I have to infer
the unlikelihood of his hazarding anything
contrary to our wishes. . . .

" We never meant to show such obsequious-
ness to the Dutch as to forbear securing those
interests of ours which they had insidiously
and basely assailed out of deference to the
title which they were disposed to advance of
supremacy over every island and coast of the
Eastern Archipelago. It was to defeat that
profligate speculation that we commissioned
Sir Stamford Raffles to aim at obtaining some
station which would prevent the entire com-
mand of the Straits of Malacca from falling
into the hands of the Dutch, there being many
unpossessed by them and not standing within
any hitherto asserted pretensions."

Bannerman replied to this letter in a " hurried
note," in which he said that he bowed with
deference to his lordship's views. " I have,"
he went on, "received a lesson which shall
teach me how I again presume to offer opinions
as long as I live." He trusted his lordship
would perceive from their despatch in reply
" that our respect and attachment have in no
degree abated, and that though we have not
the elation of success we still do not possess
the sullenness of discomfiture." The despatch
referred to (dated May 18, 1819), entered at
length into the controversy, extenuating the
course that the Pinang authorities had taken,
and asking that if Singapore was retained it
should be placed under the Pinang Govern-
ment. The despatch concluded :

" I am sorry, my lord, to have trespassed so
long on your time, but I have a whole life of
character to defend, and in this vindication I
hope I have not borne harder than what is
necessary upon Sir S. Raffles and others. I
have taken particular care to have here no
personal controversy or cause of personal dis-
pute with that gentleman. On the contrary he
and his amiable lady have received from me
since their first arrival from Calcutta every
personal civility and attention which your
Excellency had desired me to show them in
your lordship's private communication of the
29th of November, and which my public situa-
tion here rendered it incumbent on me to offer.
Illiberal or malicious revenge, I thank God,
my heart knows not, and has never known.
The revenge which may be apparent in this
address is only such as justice imperiously
required and morality sanctioned. Its only
objects were to procure reparation for the
injury I have sustained, and to promote the
just ends of punishment." ■

Just prior to the receipt of the final crushing
despatch from the Governor-General, Colonel
Bannerman had forwarded to the Court of
Directors at home a long communication, in
which he marshalled, not without skill, the
familiar arguments against the occupation of
Singapore. He concluded with this passage :
" It will now remain for the Honourable Court
to decide whether the occupation of Singapore
by Sir Stamford Raffles is an equivalent for the
certain ill-will it has excited against us from
the Dutch authorities in India, for the enormous
expense it has saddled on the India Company,
and for the probable disaster it has entailed on
all the negotiations contemplated between the
two Courts in Europe." This communication
was written on the 24th of June. A week later
another letter was forwarded. It was couched
" Straits Settlements Records," No. 182A.

in terms indicative of the heaviness of the
blow which had fallen upon the old soldier-
administrator. Bannerman wrote : " We now
beg leave to submit to your Honourable Court
the letter which we have received from the
Most Noble the Governor-General in Council
in reply to all our despatches and references
on the subject of the Achin mission and Sir
Stamford Raffles's Eastern fnission, andwe feel
the most poignant sorrow in acquainting your
Honourable Court that this despatch conveys
to us sentiments of reproof and animadversion
from that exalted authority instead of approval
and commendation, which we confess to have
expected with the fullest confidence.

" We had as full a knowledge of the in-
structions of the Supreme Government on
these matters as Sir S. Raffles himself had, unless
(which our duty will not allow us to believe)
Sir S. Raffles had actually, as he always stated
to our President, other verbal orders from the
Governor-General which appeared diametri-
cally opposite to the spirit and letter of his
written instructfons, and we had certainly as
lively and a more immediate interest from
proximity to uphold the welfare and advantage
of the public interest in this quarter."

The despatch proceeded to state that the
Governor and his Council offered " such an
explanation as a sense of duty and a regard
for our personal honour and reputation point
out to us " ; and then added that if their remarks
had the effect of averting from that Govern-
ment the accusation of its being actuated by
jealousy or other motives of an invidious nature
they would be fully satisfied. Then followed
this parting shot at the occupation :

" Relative to the new establishment of Singa-
pore, your Honourable Court will now be
enabled to judge whether the violent measure
of occupying such in defiance of the Dutch
claims will eventually prove more beneficial to
your or the national interests in the Eastern
Archipelago than would have been effected by
the adoption of the mild, conciliating, and, we
may say, economical policy recommended so
strenuously by this Government in pursuance
of the original views of the Governor-General.
The commercial advantages of Singapore,
whilst the Dutch hold the places of growth and
manufacture of the great staples of the Eastern
Archipelago, appear to us more than proble-
matical. Your Honourable Court may recollect
that the first occupation of this island gave rise
to similar extravagant prognostications of great
commercial benefits, so little of which have ever
been realised, although it has cost the India
Company a debt of nearly four million sterling
in enlarging and improving its capacity. . . .
On the other hand, the political advantages of
Singapore in time of war appear to us still
less, and by no means necessary whilst in
possession of such immense resources in India,
which we can always bring in less than a
month after the declaration of war against any
settlements that the Dutch may form in these
Straits."

Colonel Bannerman was not content to rely
on the despatches for his justification. Accom-
panying them he sent letters to the Chairman
and Deputy-Chairman of the Court, in which
he said that he hoped and trusted that all his
proceedings in respect to Singapore " will bear

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

me ( lut in the declaration which I now solemnly
and on my honour and conscience utter, that
the interests and only the interests of my
honourable employers have influenced and
directed the whole of my conduct, and that I
had on the occasion no other personal interest
excepting a very strong one not to do what I
considered my duty from the view of the very
event which has now happened — the possibility
of my opposition to Sir Stamford Raffles being
imputed to so base and ignoble a motive as
petty jealousy." The Court of Directors proved
scarcely more sympathetic than the Supreme
Government had shown themselves. They re-
plied in a despatch in which, while conceding
that Bannerman had been actuated by a sense
of duty, they expressed regret that he had been
betrayed by the warmth of discussion into an
imputation upon Sir Stamford Raflles's motives
" totally irreconcilable with every principle of
public duty." The unfortunate Governor was
saved this final stinging rebuke. Before the
despatch reached Pinang — before, indeed, it
was written -he had gone to his last account.
Worn out with worry and depressed by the
mortification of defeat, he died on August I,
1819. He was in some respects an excellent
administrator, but he lacked conspicuously the
qualities of foresight and force of character
necessary in such a situation as that in which he
found himself in the closing days of his career.
His treatment of Sir Stamford Rattles and his
general handling of the crisis precipitated by
the aggressive policy of the Dutch will always
remain a monumental example of official in-
capacity.

While the authorities at home were not
disposed to back up Colonel Bannerman, they
were little inclined to support Sir Stamford
Rattles. When news of the occupation reached
London, the Secret Committee of the East
India Company, who had previously written
to Lord Hastings disapproving of the mission,
wrote a violently worded despatch in which
they declared that " any difficulty with the
Dutch will be created by Sir Stamford Raffles's
intemperance of conduct and language." They
graciously intimated, however, that they would
await the further explanations of Lord Hastings
" before retaining or relinquishing Sir Stamford
Raffles' s acquisition at Singapore."

Downing Street joined with Leadenhall
Street in angry pronouncements upon what
both regarded as an ill-advised and ill-timed
display of excessive zeal on the part of a
reckless subordinate. A premonition of the
storm must have been borne in upon Raffles,
for at the very earliest stage of the occupation
he took measures to explain the importance of
Singapore to influential personages at home
who would be able to raise their voices with
effect in the event of any retrograde policy
being favoured. To Marsden he wrote at
regular intervals with the express object, we
may assume, of enlisting his powerful support.
On January 31, 18 19, the day of the signature
of the treaty with the Dato' Temenggong,
Rattles addressed the following to his friend :

"This place possesses an excellent harbour
and everything that can be desired for a British
port, and the island of St. John's, which forms
the SW. point of the harbour. We have com-
manded an intercourse with all the ships

passing through the Straits of Singapore. We
are within a week's sail of China, close to
Siam and in the very seat of the Malayan
Empire. This, therefore, will probably be my
last attempt. If I am deserted now I must
fain return to Bencoolen and become philo-
sopher."

Writing later, on February 19th, Raffles
says :

" In short, Singapore is everything we could
desire, and I may consider myself most for-
tunate in the selection ; it will soon rise into
importance, and with this single station alone I
would undertake to counteract all the plans of
Mynheer ; it breaks the spell, and they are no
longer the, exclusive sovereigns of Eastern
seas."

Again, under date June 15, 1819, Raffles
writes :

" I am happy to inform you that everything
is going on well here ; it bids fair to be the
next port to Calcutta ; all we want now is the
certainty of permanent possession, and this, of
course, depends on authorities beyond our
control. You may take my word for it this is
by far the most important station in the East,
and as far as naval superiority and commercial
interests are concerned, of much higher value
than whole continents of territory."

Raflles's unwavering confidence in the future
of Singapore, expressed so trenchantly in these
letters, convinced his friends at home of the
value of the acquisition he had made ; but his
enemies and rivals were persistent, and for a
long time the fate of the settlement hung in
the balance. Echoes of the discussions from
time to time reached Raffles in the Straits, and
he was naturally affected by them. More in
sorrow than in anger we find him writing on
July 17, 1820 : "I ream with much regret the
prejudice and the malignity by which I am
attacked at home for the desperate struggle I
have maintained against the Dutch. Instead of
being supported by my own Government, I
find them deserting me and giving way in
every instance to the unscrupulous and enor-
mous assertions of the Dutch. All, however,
is safe so far, and if matters are only allowed
to remain as they are, all will go well. The
great blow has been struck, and, though I may
personally suffer in the scuftle, the nation must
be benefited. Were the value of Singapore
properly appreciated, I am confident that all
England would be in its favour. It positivelv
takes nothing from the Dutch, and is to us
everything ; it gives us the command of China
and Japan, via Siam and Cambodia. Cochin
China, &C., to say nothing of the islands them-
selves. . . . Let the commercial interests for
the present drop every idea of a direct trade to
China, and let them concentrate their influence
in supporting Singapore, and they will do ten
times better. As a free port it is as much to
them as the possession of Macao ; and it is here
their voyages should finish. . . . Singapore
may as a free port thus become the connecting
link and grand entrepot between Europe, Asia,
and China ; it is, in fact, fast becoming so."

Again, writing on July 22, 1820, Raffles further
alludes to the talk of abandonment. " It appears
to me impossible that Singapore should be
given up, and yet the indecisive manner in
which the Ministers express themselves, and

the unjust and harsh terms they use towards
me, render it doubtful what course they will
adopt."

Happily his confidence in the convincing
strength of the arguments for retention was
justified. The Marquess of Hastings, after his
first lapse into timidity, firmly asserted the
British claim to maintain the occupation. In
replying to a despatch from Baron Vander
Capellan, Governor-General of Netherlands
India, protesting against the British action,
his lordship maintained that the chiefs who
ceded Singapore were perfectly independent
chiefs, fully competent to make arrangements
with respect to Singapore. He intimated,
however, that if it should prove on fuller
information that the Netherlands Government
possessed a right to the exclusive occupation
of Singapore, the Government would, " without
hesitation, obey the dictates of justice by with-
drawing all our establishments from the place."
Some time later, in July, 1819, the Marquess of
Hastings addressed another despatch, in which
he outlined at some length the views of the
Supreme Government of India in reference to
the Dutch claims. He affirmed that a manifest
necessity existed for counteracting the Dutch
exertions to secure absolute supremacy in the
Eastern seas ; that the views of the British
Government had always been confined to the
security of British commerce and the freedom
of other nations ; that it was held that the
Dutch had no just claim founded on engage-
ments which might have been made with the
native princes before the transfer of Malacca
in 1795 ; that their only right depended on
the treaty concluded at Riau on November 26,
1818, but which was subsequent to the one
entered into by Major Farquhar on the part
of the British Government with the Govern-
ment of Riau as an independent State in the
August preceding ; that under this view the
Dutch had adopted the most injurious and
extraordinary proceeding of making a treaty
declaring that of the British to be null and
void ; and that the Dutch authorities who
transferred Malacca in 1795 had declared that
Riau, Johore, Pahang and Lingen, through the
first of which the Dutch claimed Singapore,
were not dependencies of Malacca. In a
further despatch, dated August 21, 1819,
Hastings closed the controversy, as far as his
Government was concerned, by reaffirming
the untenability of the Dutch claims and
declaring that the sole object of the British
Government was to protect its own interests
against what had appeared an alarming in-
dication of pretensions to supremacy and
monopoly on the part of the Netherlandish
authorities in seas hitherto free to all parties.
The dispute continued to rage in Europe for
some time after this, the Dutch pressing their
claims with characteristic tenacity upon the
attention of the British Government. Indeed,
it was not until 1824, when a general settle-
ment was arrived at between the two Govern-
ments, that the final word was said on the
subject of Singapore. The advocacy of power-
ful friends whose aid Raffles was able to
invoke unquestionably had considerable in-
fluence in securing the ultimate verdict in
favour of retention. But the concession was
grudgingly made, and Rallies was left to reap

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the reward of his prescient statesmanship in
the knowledge that he had won for his country
this great strategical centre in the Eastern sea.
It is a chapter in British colonial history
which redounds little to the credit of either
the British official world or the British people.
Their sole excuse is that they were ignorant
and acted ignorantly. The age was one in
which scant thought was given to questions
of world policy, which now are of recognised
importance. Moreover, long years of war, in
which the country had been reduced to the
point of exhaustion, had left people little in
the mood to accept new responsibilities which
carried with them the possibility of inter-
national strife. Still, when every allowance
is made for the circumstances of the time, it
must be conceded that the treatment of Raffles
at this period, and the subsequent neglect of
his memory, have left an indelible stain upon
the reputation of his countrymen for generosity.

CHAPTER II.

The Building of the City.

Viewing the Singapore of to-day, with its
streets thronged with a cosmopolitan crowd
drawn from every quarter of the globe, its
bustling wharves instinct with a vigorous com-
mercial life, and its noble harbour, in which
float every kind of craft, from the leviathan
liner of 10,000 tons to the tiny Malay fishing
boat, it is difficult to realise that less than a
century ago the place was nothing more than
a small Malay settlement, in which a mere
handful of natives eked out a precarious exis-
tence by fishing, with an occasional piratical
raid on the adjoining coasts. Yet if there is
one fact more conclusive than another in the
history of this great port, it is that it is a pure
product of British foresight, energy, and com-
mercial aptitude. Discovering an incomparable
position, the Empire builders, represented by
Raffles and his lieutenants and successors,
dug deep and wide the foundations of the
city, and the genius and enterprise of British
merchants did the rest. Sometimes it has
happened that a great colonial city has attained
to eminence through accidental causes, as, for
example, in the cases of Kimberley and
Johannesburg. But Singapore owes nothing
of its greatness to adventitious aids. As we
have seen in the extracts cited from Raffles's
letters, its ultimate position of importance in the
Empire was accurately forecasted ; before one
stone had been laid upon another the founders
knew that they were designing what would
be no " mean city " — a commercial entrepot
which would vie with the greatest in the
East.

From the practical point of view there were
many advantages in the situation which Raffles
found when he occupied Singapore. Rights
of property there were none outside the
interests of the overlord, which were readily
satisfied by the monetary allowance provided
for under the treaties with the Sultan and the
Temenggong. There was no large resident
population to cause trouble and friction, and

there were no local laws to conflict with
British juridical principles. In fine, Raffles
and his associates had a clean slate on which
to draw at their fancy the lines of the settle-
ment. They drew with perspicacity and a
courageous faith in the future. We catch
occasional glimpses of the life of the infant
settlement as reflected in the official literature
of the period or in the meagre columns of the
Pinang newspaper. In the very earliest days
of the occupation an incoming ship from China
reports, we may imagine with a sharp note of
interrogation, the presence of four ships in the
roadstead at Singapore and of tents on the
shore. The Stores Department is indented
on for building materials, food supplies, and
for munitions of war, including a battery of
18-pounder guns, with a hundred rounds of
ammunition per gun. Invalids from the island
arrive, and are drafted to the local hospital
for treatment. Then comes crowning evidence
that the settlement is really growing and
thriving in this interesting domestic announce-
ment in the columns of the Prince of Wales
Island Gazette of August 7, 1819. " Sincapore
birth. — On the 25th of July, Mrs. Barnard of a
daughter. This is the first birth at the new
settlement."

The first official step in the creation of the
new Singapore was the issue on February 6,
1819, by Sir Stamford Raffles, of a proclamation
announcing the conclusion of the treaty which
made the place a British settlement. Simulta-
neously Raffles addressed to Colonel Farquhar
(as he had now become! a letter instructing
him as to the course he was to pursue in all
matters affecting the settlement. By this
time the general lines of the new town had
been provisionally settled. The site of the
settlement was fixed on the identical spot
which Raffles believed, from the perusal of
Malayan history, was occupied by the old city.
Beyond the erection of a few temporary
buildings and the tracing of one or two
necessary roads, little seems to have been done
during the first few months of the occupation,
probably because of the uncertainty in which
the future of the place was enshrouded in
consequence of the political complications.
But on Raffles's return to Singapore on the
completion of his mission to Achin, he devoted
himself in earnest to the task of devising
arrangements for the administration of the
important port which his instinct told him
would spring up phcenix-like out of the ashes
of the dead and half-forgotten Malay city.
The plan which he finally evolved is sketched
in an elaborate letter of instructions, dated
June 26, 1819, which he addressed to Farquhar
just prior to his second departure from the
island. The European town, he directed,
should be erected without loss of time. This,
he estimated, should extend along the beach
for a distance of 200 yards from the lines as far
eastward as practicable, and should include as
much of the ground that had already been
cleared of the Bugis as was required, the
occupants being reimbursed for the expense
they had been put to in making the clearances,
and given other ground in lieu of the sites first
chosen. He directed that for the time being
the space lying between the new road and the
beach should be reserved for Government,

while the area on the opposite side of the road
should be immediately marked out into twelve
separate allotments, with an equal frontage, to
be appropriated to the first respectable Euro-
pean applicants. In practice it was found
impossible to adhere to this plan. The mer-
chants were indisposed to build along the
north beach on the space allotted to them,
owing to the inconvenience to shipping
resulting from the low level of the beach.
Farquhar, to relieve the situation, granted
them permission to appropriate the Govern-
ment reserved land on the left bank of the
river, on the understanding that they must be
prepared to move if required to do so. In
October, 1822, when Raffles returned to take
over the Government of the island, he found
that a number of houses had already been
built on the reserved ground. He appointed
a committee consisting of three disinterested
persons — Dr. Wallich of Calcutta, Dr. Lumsdain
and Captain Salmond of Bencoolen— to assist
him in fixing a new site for the town. After
much consideration it was decided to level a
small hill on the south side, on the site of what
is now Commercial Square, and with the earth
from this hill to raise the land on the south
bank of the river and so create new building
sites. This scheme was ultimately carried out,
and in association with it were executed
arrangements for the expropriation on fair
terms of all who had built with the Resident's
permission on the north bank. A few of the
buildings on this side were allowed to remain
and were subsequently used for public offices.

While the levelling operations for the new
settlement were proceeding the workmen un-
earthed near the mouth of the river a flat stone
bearing an inscription in strange characters. Of
the finding of this relic and its subsequent fate
we have a vivid contemporary description in
a Malay work written by Abdullah, Raffles's old
assistant. Abdullah wrote : " At the time there
was found, at the end of the Point, buried in
jungle, a smooth square-sided stone, about
6 feet long, covered with chiselled characters.
No one could read the characters, for they had
been exposed to the action of the sea-water
for God knows how many thousands of years.
When the stone was discovered people of every
race went in crowds to see it. The Hindus
said the writing was Hindu, but they could
not read it. The Chinese said it was Chinese.
I went with Sir Stamford Raffles and the Rev.
M. Thompson and others, and to me it seemed
that the letters resembled Arabic letters, but I
could not decipher them owing to the ages
during which the stone had been subject to the
rise and fall of the tides.

" Numbers of clever people came to read the
inscription ; some brought soft dough and took
an impression, while others brought black ink
and smeared it over the stone in order to make
the writing plain. Every one exhausted his
ingenuity in attempts to ascertain the nature
of the characters and the language, but all
without success. So the stone remained
where it lay, with the tide washing it every
day. Then Sir Stamford Raffles decided that
the writing was in the Hindu character,
because the Hindus were the first people to
come to these parts, to Java, Bali, and Siam,
whose people are all descended from Hindus.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

But not a man in Singapore could say what
was the meaning of the words cut on that
stone ; therefore only God knows. And the
stone remained there till Mr. Bonham became
Governor of Singapore, Pinang, and Malacca
(1837-43). At that time Mr. Coleman was the
Government engineer at Singapore, and he,
sad to tell, broke the stone. In my opinion
it was a very improper thing to do, but per-
haps it was due to his stupidity and ignorance
and because he could not understand the
writing that he destroyed the stone. It never
occurred to him that there might be others
more clever than himself who could unravel
the secret ; for I have heard that there are
those in England who are able to read such
a riddle as this with ease, whatever the lan-
guage, whoever the people who wrote it. As
the Malays say, ' What you can't mend, don't
destroy.' "

It is difficult to find a more adequate char-
acterisation of this piece of silly vandalism on
the part of Mr. Coleman than that contained
in Abdullah's scathing criticism. The motives
which prompted the act are difficult to con-
ceive, but whatever they were the secret of
the stone was effectually concealed by the
destructive operations. Some fragments col-
lected subsequently found their way to Calcutta,
to supply the savants there with a knotty
problem to puzzle over, and from time to
time discussion has arisen in Singapore itself
over the historic debris. We are still, how-
ever, as far as ever from discovering the key
to the mystery. Perhaps the most plausible
explanation is that of Lieutenant Begbie, who
writing in 1834, suggested that the stone was
identical with a tablet or tablets mentioned in
the "Malay Annals" and relating to a conflict
between a Singapuri Samson named Badang
and a rival from the Coromandel coast.
Badang won great fame as the victor in the
fight, and when he died he was buried at the
mouth of the Singapore river, and the Coro-
mandel King sent two stones to place over
his grave. The stone unearthed at the build-
ing of the town, it was argued by Lieutenant
Begbie, must have been one of these. The
controversy may be left at this point. It is
really now only of interest to illustrate the
paucity of the antiquarian remains of which
Singapore can boast.

Farquhar's share in the building of the new
settlement was a considerable one. He cleared
the jungle and drove roads in all directions,
always with a keen eye to future possibilities.
Perhaps his finest conception was the esplanade,
which is still one of the most attractive features
of the city. While the work of laying out the
new port was proceeding, merchants, both
European and native, attracted by the news
of the occupation and the promise it brought
of future prosperity, were flocking to the spot,
eager to have a share in the trade which they
rightly calculated was bound to grow up under
the protecting shadow of the British flag.
Farquhar may be left to tell the story of this
early "rush." In a letter to Kaffles, dated
March 21, 1820, he wrote : " Nothing can
possibly exceed the rising trade and general
prosperity of this infant colony ; indeed, to
look at our harbour just now, where upwards
of twenty junks, three of which are from China

and two from Cochin China, the rest from
Siam, and other vessels are at anchor, besides
ships, brigs, prows, &c, &c, a person would
naturally exclaim, Surely this cannot be an
establishment of only twenty months' stand-
ing ! One of the principal Chinese merchants
has told me in the course of conversation that
he would be very glad to give 500,000 dollars
for the revenue of Singapore five years hence ;
merchants of all descriptions are collecting
here so fast that nothing is heard in the shape
of complaint but the want of more ground
to build on. The swampy ground on the
opposite side of the river is now almost
covered with Chinese houses, and the Bugis
village is become an extensive town. Settle-
ments are forming up the different rivers,
and from the public roads which have been
made the communication to various parts
of the country is now quite open and con-
venient."

In July of the same year Raffles himself, in a
letter to a friend in England, describes in glow-
ing terms the progress of the work of develop-
ment. " My settlement," he wrote, " continues
to thrive most wonderfully ; it is all and every-
thing I could wish, and if no untimely fate
awaits it, it promises to become the emporium
and pride of the East." Happily no untimely
fate did overtake it. pespite the jealousy and
obstructiveness of Rinang, notwithstanding
the indifference and neglect of the home
authorities and apprehensions born of "a
craven fear of greatness," the progress of the
port was continuous. Two years and a half
after the occupation we find Raffles estimating
that the exports and imports of Singapore by
native boats alone exceeded four millions of
dollars in the year, and that during the whole
period of the brief life of the settlement no
fewer than 2,889 vessels had entered and
cleared from the port, of which 383 were
owned and commanded by Europeans. In
1822 the tonnage had risen to 130,689 tons,
and the total value of the trade to upwards of
eight millions of dollars. Two years later the
annual trade had increased in value to upwards
of thirteen millions of dollars. It would be
difficult to discover in the whole history of
British colonisation, fruitful as it is in instances
of successful development, a more remarkable
example of rapid growth.

No small share of the brilliant success achieved
in the founding of Singapore was unquestion-
ably due to the liberal policy Raffles introduced
from the outset. He foresaw that to attempt
to build up the prosperity of the place on the
exclusive principles of the Dutch, or even on
the modified system of restrictive trade obtain-
ing at our own ports, would be to foredoom the
settlement to failure. The commerce of the
port, to obtain any degree of vigour, he under-
stood, must be absolutely unfettered. Again
and again he insists upon this point in his
correspondence, pleading and fighting for the
principle with all the earnestness of his
strenuous nature. Free the trade was from
the beginning, and though later attempts were
made to tamper with the system, Singapore has
continued to this day in the enjoyment of the
liberal and enlightened constitution with which
Raffles endowed it.

Many stupid things were done by the

authorities in connection with the early his-
tory of Singapore, but it will always remain
to their credit that they entrusted to Raffles
the task of establishing the administrative
machinery there on a permanent footing.
Ordered from Bencoolen to Singapore in
September, 1822, Raffles, with a light heart
and heightened expectations, embarked upon
what was to him a labour of love. His wide
experience in Java and at Bencoolen, aided by
his natural ability, enabled him without diffi-
culty to devise a sound working constitution
for the new colony. Recognising that the
prosperity of the settlement depended upon
adequate facilities for shipping, he caused the
harbour and the adjacent coasts to be carefully
surveyed from Diamond Point to the Karimun
Islands. The sale of land was carefully regu-
lated, with due regard, on the one hand, to
Government interests, and on the other to the
development of trade. For the better safe-
guarding of rights he caused a land registry
to be established — a step which proved of
immense value in the later history of the
colony. A code of regulations designed to
suit the needs of a mixed community of the
class of that already settled in the town was
drawn up, and Raffles himself sat in court to
enforce them. He. also established a local
magistracy as a means of strengthening the
administration of the law and creating a sense
of responsibility in the community. As in
Bencoolen he had interested himself in the
moral well-being of those entrusted to his
charge, so here he gave serious consideration
to the problem of training the youths of the
settlement to be good citizens. The outcome
of his deliberations was the framing of a
scheme for the founding of an institution for
the study of Chinese and Malay literature.
Early in 1822 the project assumed a practical
shape in the establishment of the famous
Singapore Institute. It was Raffles's desire
to give further strength to the cause of edu-
cational progress in the colony by the transfer
to Singapore of the Anglo-Chinese College at
Malacca. But his proposals under this head
were thwarted by the action of a colleague
and the idea had reluctantly to be abandoned.
By the beginning of June, 1823, Raffles had
so far advanced the work entrusted to him
that he was able to hand over the charge of
the settlement to Mr. Crawfurd, who had been
appointed to administer it. Somewhat earlier
Raffles is revealed writing to a friend contrasting
the bustle and prosperity of Singapore with the
stagnation and costliness of his old charge.
" At Bencoolen," he wrote, " the public expenses
are more in one month than they are at Singa-
pore in twelve. The capital turned at Bencoolen
never exceeds 400,000 dollars in a year, and
nearly the whole of this is in Company's bills
on Bengal, the only returns that can be made ;
at Singapore the capital turned in a year ex-
ceeds eight millions, without any Government
bills or civil establishment whatever." ' Further
suggestive facts were given by Raffles in a
letter he wrote to the Supreme Government on
January 15, 1823. In this he stated that the
average annual charge for the settlement for
the first three years of its establishment had
not exceeded 60,000 Spanish dollars. " I had
1 " Memoir of Sir T. S. Raffles," p. 532.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

anticipated," lie proceeded, " the satisfaction of
constructing all necessary public buildings free
of expense to Government and of delivering
over charge of the settlement at the end of the
present year with an available revenue nearly
equal to its expenses, and it is extremely morti-
fying that the irregularities admitted by the
local Resident oblige me to forego this ar-
rangement." The irregularities alluded to in
this despatch were committed by a local official
employed in connection with the land transfers.
He was a man of indifferent character who
ought never to have been appointed to the
post, and Farquhar's laxity in this and other
respects drew upon him the severe censure of
Raffles. The relations between the two became
exceedingly strained in consequence. Even-
tually Farquhar resigned, and his resignation
was accepted, Mr. Crawford, as has been stated,
being appointed as his successor. If the course
of official life at Singapore in these days did
not run smoothly, nothing could have been
more harmonious than Raffles's relations with
the mercantile community. In striking contrast
with the contemptuous indifference displayed
by the Indian bureaucrats who ruled in the
Straits towards the civil community, Rattles
deferred to it in every way compatible with
the Government interests. The principles
which guided him in this particular are lucidly
set forth in a despatch he wrote to the Supreme
Government, dated March 29, 1823. " I am
satisfied," Raffles wrote, " tjiat nothing has
tended more to the discomfort and constant
jarrings which have hitherto occurred in our
remote settlements than the policy which has
dictated the exclusion of the European mer-
chants from all share, much less credit, in the
domestic regulation of the settlement of which
they are frequently its most important mem-
bers." These liberal sentiments supply the key
to Raffles's remarkable success as an adminis-
trator, and they help to an understanding of the
affectionate warmth with which the European
community took leave of him in the farewell
address they presented on his departure from
the settlement.

" To your unwearied zeal, your vigilance,
and your comprehensive views," the memorial-
ists said, "we owe at once the foundation and
the maintenance of a settlement unparalleled
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 promoted and patron-
ised the diffusion of intellectual and moral im-
provement, and we anticipate with confidence
their happy influence in advancing the cause of
humanity and civilisation."

In the course of his reply in acknowledgment
of the address Raffles wrote : " It has happily
been consistent with the policy of Great Britain
and accordant with the principles of the East
India Company that Singapore should be estab-
lished as a free port, that no sinister, no sordid
view, no considerations either of political im-
portance or pecuniar} 7 advantage, should inter-
fere with the broad and liberal principles on

which the British interests have been estab-
lished. Monopoly and exclusive privileges,
against which public opinion has long raised
its voice, are here unknown, and while the free
port of Singapore is allowed to continue and
prosper, as it hitherto has done, the policy
and liberality of the East India Company, by
whom the settlement was founded and under
whose protection and control it is still adminis-
tered, can never be disputed. That Singapore

settlement, I beg that you will accept my most
sincere thanks. I know the feeling which
dictated it, I acknowledge the delicacy with
which it has been conveyed, and I prize most
highly the gratifying terms to me personally in
which it has been expressed."

An affecting description of Raffles's departure
from Singapore has been left in the Malay work
already referred to by his servant and friend,
Abdullah. After mentioning various gifts that

STATUE OF SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
(Photographed specially for this work by permission of the Dean of Westminster.)

will long and always remain a free port, and
that no taxes on trade or industry will be estab-
lished to check its future rise and prosperity,
I can have no doubt. I am justified in saying
this much, on the authority of the Supreme
Government of India, and on the authority of
those who are most likely to have weight in
the councils of our nation at home. For the
public and peculiar mark of respect which you,
gentlemen, have been desirous of showing me
on the occasion of my departure from the

were made to him by the administrator and
letters recommending him to officials as one to
be trusted, Abdullah writes : "I could not speak,
but I took the papers, while the tears streamed
down my face without my being conscious of
it. That day to part with Sir Stamford Raffles
was to me as the death of my parents. My
regret was not because of the benefits I had
received or because of his greatness or attrac-
tions ; but because of his character and attain-
ments, because every word he said was sincere

B**

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

HENDON CHURCH AND CHURCHYARD, IN WHICH SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES

IS BURIED.

(The supposed position of the grave is the spot under the centre window in the middle foreground.)

and reliable, because he never exalted himself
or depreciated others. All these things have
remained in my heart till now, and though I
have seen many distinguished men, many who
were clever, who were rich, who were hand-
some — for character, for the power of winning
affection, and for talent and understanding, I
have never seen the equal of Sir Stamford
Raffles ; though I die and live again, I shall
never find his peer. . . . When I had received
the two letters, Sir Stamford and his lady went
down to the sea, accompanied by an immense
crowd of people of every nationality. I also
went with them, and when they reached the
ship they went on board. A moment later
preparations were made to heave up the
anchor, and Sir Stamford sent for me. I went
into his cabin, and saw that he was wiping the
tears from his eyes. He said, ' Go home ; you
must not grieve, for, as I live, we shall meet
again.' Then Lady Raffles came in and gave
me twenty-five dollars, saying, 'This is for
your children in Malacca.' When I heard that
my heart was more than ever fired by the
thought of their kindness. I thanked her and
shook them both by the hand ; but I could not
restrain my tears, so I hurriedly got into my
boat and pulled away. When we had gone
some distance I looked back and saw Sir
Stamford gazing from the port. I saluted
him and he waved his hand. After some
moments the sails filled and the ship moved
slowly away."

This was Raffles's last view of Singapore.
He proceeded to his charge at Bencoolen to
resume the old life of masterly inactivity. But
he fretted under the chains which bound him
to the Far East, and longed to be once more
in the Old Country to spend what he felt would
be the short remaining period of his life,

Broken in health, weary in spirit, but with
eager anticipations of a pleasant reunion with
old friends, he with Lady Raffles embarked

^j^myjl

"RAFFLESIA' ARNOLDI."

(The gigantic parasitic plant of Java and Sumatra dis-
covered by Raffles.)

on February 2, 1824, on a small vessel called the
Fame for England. Before the ship had barely
got out cf sight of the port a fire broke out in

the spirit store below Raffles's cabin, and within
a short period the entire vessel was a mass of
flames. With difficulty the passengers and crew
escaped in boats, but all Raffles's manuscripts
and his natural history collections, the product
of many years' assiduous labour, perished. The
loss was from many points of view irreparable,
and, coming as it did after a succession of
misfortunes, told on Raffles's already enfeebled
constitution. But outwardly he accepted the
calamity with philosophic calm, and prepared
at once to make fresh arrangements for the
return voyage. Another ship was fortunately
available, and in this he and his wife made the
voyage to England. There he met with every
kindness from influential friends, and he settled
down to a country life at Highwood Hill,
Middlesex, having as his neighbour William
Wilberforce, between whom and him there
was a close tie of interest in their mutual
horror of the slave trade. Here he died, after
an attack of apoplexy, on July 5, 1826, and
was buried in Hendon churchyard. His last
days were clouded with troubles arising out
of claims and charges made against him by
the narrow-minded oligarchy of Leadenhall
Street, who dealt with Raffles as they might
have done with a refractory servant entitled
to no consideration at their hands. It has
remained for a later generation to do justice
to the splendid qualities of the man and the
enormous services he rendered to the Empire
by his vigorous and far-seeing statesmanship.

Singapore's progress in the years immedi-
ately following Raffles's departure was steadily
maintained by a wise adherence to the princi-
ples of administration which he had laid down.
Mr. Crawfurd, his successor in the adminis-
tration, was a man of broad and liberal views,
who had served under Raffles in Java, and was
imbued with his enlightened sentiments as to
the conduct of the administration of a colony
which depended for its success upon the
unrestrained operations of commerce. In
handing over charge to him Raffles had
provided him with written instructions empha-
sising the importance of early attention " to the
beauty, regularity, and cleanliness of the settle-
ment," and desiring him in particular to see
that the width of the different roads and streets
was fixed by authority, and " as much attention
paid to the general style of building as circum-
stances admit." These directions Crawfurd kept
well in mind throughout his administration,
with the result that the town gradually assumed

■ford Raffles.

.11.. ETC..

Sir Thomas St,

F.R.S. L
STATESMAN.ADMINISTRATOR AND NATURALIST:

Founder of the Colony ano City of Singapore. January 29s tsis-.

Born July s% i78I,Dieo at^ghwood. Middlesex, July 5" iseg,

and buried near this tablet.

Erected in i887 by Members of the family.

TABLET TO SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES IN HENDON CHURCH,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

an architectural dignity at that time quite un-
known in the European settlements in the
East. The value of land in 1824, though small
in comparison with the price now realised for
property in the business quarter of Singapore,
was very satisfactory, having regard to the
brief period of the occupation and the un-
certainty of the political situation. For plots
with a 50-feet frontage on the river and 150
feet deep, 3,000 dollars were paid, in addition
to an annual quit-rent of 38 dollars. Resi-
dential plots with an area of 1,200 square yards
realised 400 dollars, in addition to an annual
quit-rent of 28 dollars.'

At this time there were twelve European
firms of standing established in the settlement
in addition to many reputable Chinese and
Malay traders. Such was the growth of the
commerce of the place that Crawfurd was
impelled on August 23, 1824, to address a long
despatch to the Supreme Government pleading
for the establishment of a judicial department
to deal with the many and complicated legal
questions that were constantly arising. The
charter of Prince of Wales Island, he thought,
might be taken as a safe precedent, but he
respectfully suggested that the judicial authority
should be separate and distinct from the execu-
tive, "as the surest means of rendering it
independent and respectable." It took the
Calcutta authorities a considerable time to
digest this question, but in the long run
Crawfurd's recommendatrons were adopted.
On March 6, 1827, an official notification was
issued to the effect that a Court of Judicature
would be opened in Singapore, and that as a
consequence the Resident's Court would be
closed. The establishment of the judicial
system followed upon the definitive occupation
of the island, under the terms of the diplomatic
understanding arrived at in London on March
17, 1824, between the British and the Dutch
Governments. Under the agreement the Dutch
formally recognised the British right to the
settlement, and Crawfurd was instructed to
give the fullest effect to it by completing a final
treaty with the Sultan and the Temenggong.
With some difficulty the compact was made on
August 2, 1824. By its provisions the island of
Singapore was ceded absolutely to the British
Government, together with the sovereignty of
the adjacent seas, straits, and islets to the limit
of ten geographical miles from the Singapore
coasts, and, acting on instructions, Crawfurd,
on August 3, 1824, embarked in the ship
Malabar on a voyage round the island, with
the object of notifying to all and sundry that
the British really had come to stay.

Fullerton, a Madras civilian, was sent out
as Governor, with Pinang as the seat of
government. Meantime, Singapore had felt
itself important enough to support a newspaper.
This organ, the Singapore Chronicle and Com-
mercial Advertiser, was a tiny sheet of four
quarto pages, badly printed on rough paper,
but answering, it may be supposed, all the needs
of the infant settlement. Mr. C. B. Buckley, in
his erudite " Anecdotal History of Old Times
in Singapore," in alluding to this journal, states
that in 1884 it was not possible to find any

SINGAPORE

are missing, as they must have contained much
that was of interest. Mr. Crawfurd seems to
have been a frequent contributor to the
columns, and he was a writer of no mean
literary skill, as his official despatches and his
later contributions to .the Edinburgh Review
clearly attest. Still, the files, even in their
incomplete condition, are highly instructive
and illuminating as guides to the life of the
settlement in the dawn of its existence. The
first fact that is impressed upon the reader is
the censorship which was then maintained

CHRONICI^-

wo. 74

mmm i

THURSDAY, January tttb, 1427.

Public Nt*tfltvt*m* appHtrinf in (AC* Rtgkt^mtiitignnt hy thr j#*l#r A»

ih-rit'm, urf to ix votuUi/end «* official.

— -■ ■ ■

No. ML
GOVERNMENT.

NOTIFICATION.

THE IM'liLH AUL HKHi:
1) Y hifonoed that all Pflrwyty
%ol<Iin£ l.an<ts. on ihf Ih1.,iu. irt'
Eiognpore, under (Jnuiix iwin-<I hf
SirT. S. Itum>, Lieut <-<>\<r-
»or, f>r odder authority of Iah-.uu-
pit Tickfi- r.>.(j\.'l from tin- I itr
TRrsiil.-i.t Mr. Crawfurd* awl who

tn»i' compiled with ihv cnoditioMn
e-f ih<'*-aurf\ an minimi t«> retjirn
It,,.*,. Document* Ntte l*w Oifcoe
©!' the IjiihI Surveyor, whan tlw*y

'will bfl fiirtiisiwH >\ilh frettli <*runt*

■author./..! »od oou6rrued bj th.-
fciiehi Honorable the < imuntor tiu-

| ill CullIHll.

All Penon who h« ,

in fulfil rum the tan
: final Contract to .leer

on tin* LhihI «o b»to\vul, are rr-
. quired to tfnmplata ikeij, ^nAft-

UX ut* OU or U'lun- ihf 1-1 91 M .J

m-vi, in (k'&ult of vthifli. ilia

' land- hf miiil rtllMMl|lfUn *'U wi

• ft-*um,-<l by, ami rererl to, Ibe
' Honorable ('otujxvay a* Projini*-

• tors of the Soil.

It is -limber to be nnoVratood
that no tli-[x»U: '.11 of bftbibl »»it,
v\ future. !*• m.idf b> tK«* Rati*
cVnt (.'ftimt-ilUr, without tbo »ur>
tion < : i . .

*nr in t innl , I I
1-1 nul, Hini^tMors nml Msl.wtvi.

B) Order. I
Governor m Council ui '
^V;il^s Island Smgajaxv and Mt-

lades.

joiin i»uiNt :i;.

IU^ihent C i .ciLLOK.

NOTICE

Til E KUU.NOS OP TtlK
LAI r.Mii T. s ItAPFLKS,

unxi'.iis to «i.nmKii

Stttlrmwit. }*% Uwic i- -:-

!.■ rnl"i»n

IuImIuI;, th»t h*f.

■
mitniiKK-ut on 1 1 fll to

Li- M'luury a SulwCnpttoi It*t h«K

lag tlew of tbe delivery of opium,
riurifu; tUe mouth or December »»d

the Siivck on hand outbe Ut of tbo

IV, * »W«. M**m ■

Ihv,

■iit-d at llio llou.**

t tt'l.i^miwd wh.Tr all

(lllfi ritrlti.it MimtM' \>tl! 1*p lliM'l
.1. U I. en il iw kti<t«

wli.it the amount nf -.

b. hk(-l) to I*.', .1 imrfinir or til

r<>h I.o\nus oh AMTtt
Tv land iMi*4?Hfrr i
Ota**'/.

rwi ii i: ii m. ship

I (I /./..v. A I, C«pt. Wst,

h .- Iir:ir

I) ilo- wlmUkOf In-f rarifo i '
uiul will l'-iv<- tl»- .boat the tilth
umxuno. i he llciiiilt^ i^ ;i |iooj»
< .rtiei arMOr^ou and h

iHKi'l..

\ .<\. Hi Ml II

I. I I I.I. .

Thursday J*»f. IMU I'-il
B) tin- IV...I )'.«~|ft X~»|.toii<
ftray, , wt*twYB le&b*4 ttfvta

i y J i' I....I...I-1

NlUlCU

ri.di.it: lis

Mfti« •■' 4 ot' Jwiiiwrv

l'.<iu ..,« H.*..i ■. «J • M«t >**•■

,i»I IU)(i»UJC

itr »nd

' MnilU M-ii

that the t'nptain Iihy-

olliir, itracJE

ui imnusdiateb/

I., Kim ; tlmt tkooth.'r Mf

took |i»rt with the iiiur-

iibat'lB

■ ilffio and

U>|.'i. Its. I'OI'lt KtHlfd,

, , o: tii • pi ifti
ih.- liowsfiaw

up. but. ikiwrn
BtuMtrkm,

I I M Jmiiiary. Pi«d di
roiupljla? willi' 1 :i- m|'ii-Ki"ii T»

■ r of M nulla i:»l>ri»«d •»
llilvnti'ill of ■•..!, lunlllilt t a fi'rjf

. i,l. ||..itiT. •imflol

t!i« ™co»b«^ of tin- v •

Oil tbr aiifij.i-l of • mOMItllan' '»
Sir Slumlord Riffle* »>« "■ | '' r " ,r
rr-ilrr. l<» A OOticc ivlin h
linn and a l«"« ""d"' "" "
Itani af A- <" » >->i'>c l"ti>» Cdumu.

#iilii -■"•■ '

,,i,,l ,: HI l,iiutoU. I
U H in -i ut dot ;'.iMJU- ^ « -■

ONE OF THE EARLIEST COPIES EXTANT OP THE " SINGAPORE CHRONICLE.'

CHAPTER III.

Early Days — The First Newspaper.

During the period of Crawfurd's adminis-
tration Singapore was under the control
of the Supreme Government ; but in 1826
the settlement was incorporated with Pinang
and Malacca in one Government, and Mr.

1 Resident-General's Report, Journal of the Indian
Archipelagp, ix. 468.

copy of the paper before i83i,and "there is not
probably one in existence." Mr. Buckley,
happily for the historian of Singapore, is
mistaken. At the India Office there is preserved
a practically complete file of the paper, com-
mencing with the seventy-third number,
published on January 4,' 1827. From inscrip-
tions on the papers it appears that copies were
regularly forwarded to Leadenhall Street for
the information of the Court of Directors, and
were bound up and kept for reference among
the archives of the Secret Committee. It is
unfortunate that the three earliest years' files

over the press in these settlements as in other
territories under the administration of the East
India Company. In the second number of the
surviving copies of the journal we are con-
fronted with this letter :

" Sir, — By desire of the Hon. Governor in
Council I beg to forward for your guidance the
enclosed rules applicable to the editors of
newspapers in India and to intimate to you
that the permission of Government for the
publication of the Singapore Chronicle and
Commercial Advertiser is granted to you with

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OP BRITISH MALAYA

the clear understanding that you strictly adhere
to these regulations.

"As you will now refrain from publishing
anything in your paper which will involve an
infringement of these rules it will no longer be
necessary for you to submit for approval the
proof sheet of each number of the Chronicle
previous to its publication.
" I am, Sir,

" Your obedient servant,
"John Prince,
" Resident Councillor.
" Singapore, Feb. 20, 1827."

The " Hon. Governor in Council " of this
communication was, of course, Mr. Fullerton.
This gentleman came from India filled with
the characteristic hatred of the Anglo-Indian
official of a free press. The smallest criticism
of official action he resented as an insult ; a
slighting reference to himself personally he
regarded as lese majeste. Apparently he had
expected that his edict would be received with
submissive respect by those whom it concerned.
But he had reckoned without the spirit of
independence which characterised the budding
journalism of the Straits. The editor of the
Chronicle, in publishing the Resident Coun-
cillor's letter, accompanied it with this
comment :

"We cannot err in saying that we receive
these regulations with all the deference which
an intimation of the wishes of the Government
ought to command. They can form, however,
but a feeble barrier against ' offensive remarks '
whilst there is a press in England over which
the sic volo, sic jubeo of Indian authority can
have no control. The rulers of India might as
well attempt, like a celebrated despot of old, to
enchain the waves as to place restrictions upon
the press of England, and whilst that is the
case their measures will be unsparingly cen-
sured whenever they shall deserve it, and the
remarks issuing from that source, no matter
how contraband, will find their way round the
Cape, and will be here read by all those, to a
man, who would have read them had they
been printed originally on the spot. When
this is so very plain, it is really no easy matter
for the governed to discover the object of such
regulations, unless, indeed, it be to prevent the
evil effect which the remarks of wicked editors
might be expected to produce upon the ' reading
public ' among that lettered, and to the in-
fluence of the press most susceptible people,
the Malays."

This was bad enough in the eyes of the
autocrat of Pinang, but there was worse to
follow. On February 15, 1827, the editor, in
referring to the suspension of a Calcutta
editor for criticisms of official action in the
Burmese War, remarked sarcastically that
" however culpable the editor may have been
in other respects, he has not perpetrated in his
remarks the sin of novelty." Mr. Fullerton
was furious at the audacity of the Singapore
scribe, and caused to be transmitted to him
what the Chronicle in its issue of March 29th
described as " a very severe secretarial re-
primand." He Was still not intimidated,
as is shown by the pointed announcement in
the same number of the issue in Bengal of " a
very ably conducted paper " under the name of

the Calcutta Gazette, with the motto, " Freedom
which came at length, though slow to come."
However, the official toils were closing around
him. Peremptory orders were issued from
Pinang for the muzzling of the daring jour-
nalist. The editor seems to have got wind of
the pleasant intentions of the Government, and
indulged in this final shriek of liberty :

" Ghost of the Censorship.

"We thought that the censorship had been
consigned to the ' tomb of the Capulets,' that
common charnel-house of all that is worthless.
Either we were mistaken, however, in sup-
posing it thus disposed of, or its ghost, a spirit
of unquiet conscience, continues to haunt these
settlements. It is said to have been wandering
to and fro, and to have arrived lately from
Malacca in a vessel from which we would it
had been exorcised and cast into the sea.

" The paper is going to the press, and we
have but brief space in which to say that we
have this moment heard that it is currently and
on strong authority reported that Government
has re-established the censorship in this settle-
ment. That this is not yet the case we know,
having received no official intimation to that
effect, and until we receive this 'damning
proof we will not believe that Government
can have lapsed into a measure which will
reflect on them such unspeakable discredit.
We have heard much alleged against the
present Government of Pinang, some part of
which, since kings themselves are no longer
deemed impeccable, may be just . . . but we
never heard our rulers deemed so weak, so
wavering, so infirm of purpose, as to promul-
gate a set of admirable regulations to-day, and
presto ! to revoke them to-morrow, restoring a
censorship which of their own free motion and
magnanimous accord they had just withdrawn,
for what reason no sane person will be able to
divine, unless it should chance to be for the
very simple one of putting it on again. Should
the Government have been guilty of an im-
becility such as report assigns them, the world
(if it ever hears of it) will very naturally
conclude that the removal of the censorship
was a mere bait for applause in the expectation
that Government would never be called upon
for the exercise of the virtues of magnanimity
and forbearance, and that editors could on all
occasions shape their sentiments and the ex-
pression of them by the line and rule of
secretarial propriety."

The "intelligent anticipation" displayed by
the editor in this clever and amusing comment
was speedily justified by facts. On the morning
following the publication of the paper in which
it appears, the journalist received a letter from
the Government at Pinang informing him that
in future he must submit a proof of his paper
previous to publication to the Resident Coun-
cillor. The official version of the episode is to
be found in a letter from Mr. Fullerton to the
Court of Directors, dated August 29, 1827. In
this the Governor wrote : " In consequence of
some objectionable articles in the Singapore
Chronicle, we considered it necessary to estab-
lish rules similar to those established by the
Supreme Government in 1818. This order was
given under the supposition that the press was
perfectly free, but it appearing that the censor-

ship had been previously imposed and that the
very first publication subsequent to its removal
having contained matter of a most offensive
nature, we were under the necessity of re-
imposing the censorship and censuring the
editor. The proof sheet of each paper was
also directed to be submitted in future to the
Resident Councillor, which was assented to by
Mr. Loch."

From this point the Singapore Chronicle
presents the spectacle of decorous dulness
which might be looked for in the circum-
stances. But the Old Adam peeps out occa-
sionally, as in a racy comment on the intimation
of a Batavian editor that he intended to answer
all attacks on Dutch policy in his journal, or
in the rather wicked interpolation of rows of
asterisks after an article from which the
stinging tail has obviously been excised.
Later, Mr. Loch again got into collision with
Pinang, and there must have been rejoicing in
official altitudes when, on March 26, 1829, he
intimated that he was retiring from the editor-
ship. The new editor was a man of a somewhat
different stamp, judging from his introductory
article. In this he intimated that he made no
pretensions whatever to literary or scientific
attainments. "The pursuits to which from a
very early age we have been obliged to devote
ourselves," he wrote, " have precluded the
possibility of our giving much attention to the
cultivation of letters, so that our readers must
not expect such valuable dissertations on the
subjects we have alluded to as appeared in
the first and second volumes of this journal."
While the new editor was thus modest about
his qualifications, he was not less strong in his
opposition to the censorship than his pre-
decessor. Shortly after he was inducted into
the editorial chair he thus inveighed against
the apathy of the general public on the subject :
" An individual here and there touched with
plebeianism may entertain certain unmannerly
opinions as old-fashioned as the Glorious Revo-
lution, but Monsieur noire frere may depend
upon it that the mass of the public are not
affected by this leaven, nor can be spurred into
complaint by anything short of a stamp regula-
tion or some other process of abstraction, the
effects of which become more speedily tan-
gible to their senses than the evils arising
from restriction upon the freedom of publi-
cation."

Harassed by official autocrats and hampered
by mechanical difficulties, the Singapore jour-
nalism of early days left a good deal to be
desired. Nevertheless, in these "brief and
abstract chronicles" of the infant settlement
we get a vivid picture of Singapore life as it
was at that period. Sir Stamford Raffles's
shadow still rested over the community. Now
we read an account of his death with what
seems a very inadequate biography culled
from " a morning paper" at home, and almost
simultaneously appears an account of a move-
ment for raising some monument to his honour.
Later, there are festive gatherings, at which
" the memory of Sir Stamford Raffles " is drunk
in solemn silence. Meanwhile, a cutting from
a London paper gives us a glimpse of Colonel
Farquhar as the principal guest at an influen-
tially attended banquet in the city. Local
news consists mostly of records of the arrival

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

of ships. Occasionally we get a significant
reminder of what " the good old times " in the
Straits were like, as, for example, in the
announcement of the arrival of a junk with a
thousand Chinese on board on the verge of
starvation because of the giving out of supplies,
or in the information brought by incoming
boats of bloody work by pirates a few miles
beyond the limits of the port. Or again, in a
report (published on September II, 1828) of the
arrival of the Abercrombie Robinson, an East
Indiaman from Bombay, after a voyage during
which twenty-seven of the crew were carried
off by cholera. On April 17, 1827, there is
great excitement over the arrival in port of the
first steamship ■ ever seen there — the Dutch
Government vessel, Vander Capcllan. The
Malays promptly christen her the Kapal Asap,
or smoke vessel, and at a loss to discover by
what means she is propelled, fall back on the
comfortable theory that, her motion is caused
by the immediate agency of the evil one.
Socially, life appears to run in agreeable lines.
Now the handful of Europeans who compose
the local society are foregathering at the
annual assembly of the Raffles Club, at which
there is much festivity, though the customary
dance is not given, out of respect for the
memory of the great administrator who had
just passed away. At another time there is
a brilliant entertainment at Government House
in honour of the King's birthday, with an
illumination of the hill 'which evokes the
enthusiastic admiration of the reporter. Some
one is even heroic enough to raise a proposal
for the construction of a theatre, while there is
a lively polemic on the evergreen subject of
mixed bathing.

From the point of view of solid information
these early Singapore papers are of exceptional
interest and value. In them we are able to
trace political currents which eddied about the
settlement at this juncture, threatening at times
to overwhelm it. One characteristic effusion
of the period is an editorial comment on an
announcement conveyed by a Pinang cor-
respondent that the Government there was
framing some custom-house regulations for
Singapore, and was about to convene a meeting
of Pinang merchants for the purpose of
approving them. " Offensive remarks levelled
at Councillors are prohibited," wrote the scribe
in sarcastic allusion to the press regulations,
"otherwise, though not disciples of Roche-
foucauld, we might have ventured to doubt
whether the merchants of Penang are precisely
the most impartial advisers that Government
could have selected as guides in a course of
custom-house legislation for the port of Singa-
pore.

" It is to be hoped the merchants of Penang
may be cautious in what they approve. Trade
may be as effectually injured by regulations as
by customs-house exactions, and every new
regulation added to the existing heap may be
looked upon as an evil. Here it is the general

1 " On the 17th April the Dutch steam vessel Vander
Capellan arrived here from Batavia, having made the
passage from the latter place in seven hours. She is
the first vessel that has ever been propelled by steam
in these Straits, and the second steam vessel em-
ploved to the eastward of the Cape, the Diana, of
Calcutta, which proved of much service in the
Burmese War, being the first." — Singapore Chronicle,
April 26, 1827.

opinion that the extent of the trade of these
ports is already known with sufficient accuracy
for every wise and beneficent purpose ; that
perfect exactness cannot be attained, and if it
could, would be useless ; but that if the Court
of Directors shall, notwithstanding, with the
minuteness of retail grocers, persist in the
pursuit of it and adopt a system of petty and
vexatious regulations (the case is a supposed
one), it will be attended with inconvenience to
the merchants and detriment to the trade and
prosperity of these settlements." *

These spirited words are suggestive of the
prevalent local feeling at the time as to the
interference of Pinang. Obviously there was
deep resentment at the attitude implied in the
reported statement that the concerns of Singa-
pore were matters which Pinang must settle.
Singapore at this time was decidedly " feeling
its feet," and was conscious and confident of its
destiny. A Calcutta paper having ventured
upon the surmise that " Singapore is a bubble
near exploding," the editor promptly took up
the challenge in this fashion :

" Men's predictions are often an index to
their wishes. Fortunately, however, the pros-
perity of Singapore is fixed on too firm a
foundation to be shaken by an artillery of
surmises. Those who lift up their voices and
prophesy against this place may, therefore,
depend upon it they labour in a vain vocation
unless they can at the same time render a
reason for the faith that is in them by showing
that the causes which have produced the past
prosperity of the settlement either have ceased
to operate or soon will do so. Till this is done
their predictions are gratuitous and childish."

Side by side with this note appeared a de-
scription of the Singapore of that day written
by a Calcutta visitor. It was intended, it
seemed, as a refutation of the bursting bubble
theory, and it certainly is fairly conclusive
proof of its absurdity. " Here," wrote the
visitor, "there is more of an English port
appearance than in almost any place I have
visited in India. The native character and
peculiarities seem to have merged more into
the English aspect than I imagined possible,
and I certainly think Singapore proves more
satisfactorily than any place in our possession
that it is possible to assimilate the Asiatic and
the European very closely in the pursuits of
commerce. The new appearance of the place
is also very pleasing to the eye, and a great
relief from the broken down, rotten, and decayed
buildings of other ports in the peninsula. The
regularity and width of the streets give Singa-
pore a cheerful and healthy look, and the plying
of boats and other craft in its river enlivens the
scene not a little. At present here are no fewer
than three ships of large burden loading for
England. The vessels from all parts of the
archipelago are also in great numbers and
great variety. At Penang and Malacca the
godowns of a merchant scarcely tell you what
he deals in, or rather proclaim that he does
nothing from the little bustle that prevails in
them ; here you stumble at every step over the
produce of China and the Straits in active
preparation for being conveyed to all parts of
the world."

These shrewd observations speak for Ihem-
■ Ibid., March 15, 1827.

selves, but if additional evidence is needed it is
supplied by the population returns of the period
which figure in the columns of the paper.
Exclusive of the military, the inhabitants of
Singapore in 1826 numbered, according to
official computation, 10,307 males and 3,443
females. The details of the enumeration may
be given, as they are of considerable interest :

Males.

Females.

Europeans

Armenians

Native Christians

128

Arabs

Chinese

5,747

341

Malays

2,501

2,289

Bugis

666

576

Javanese

174

Natives of Bengal ...

209

Natives of the Coast

of Coromandel

772

Coffries

Siamese

Totals

10,307

3,443

The points of interest in this table are the
smallness of the European population and the
numerical strength of the Chinese community.
The latter, it will be seen, numbered more than
half the entire population and considerably
exceeded the Malays. The circumstance shows
that from the very outset of Singapore's career
the Chinese played a leading part in its deve-
lopment. Keen traders as a race, they recog-
nised at once the splendid possibilities of the
port for trade, and they no doubt appreciated
to the full the value of the equal laws and
opportunities which they enjoyed under the
liberal constitution with which Raffles had
endowed the settlement.

Mr. Fullerton, besides placing shackles on
the press, distinguished himself by a raid on
"interlopers," as all who had not the requisite
licence of the East India Company to reside
in their settlements were regarded. Most
writers on Singapore history have represented
his action in this particular as an independent
display of autocratic zeal. But the records
clearly show that he was acting under explicit
instructions from the Court of Directors to call
upon all European residents in the settlement
to show their credentials. The circular which
Fullerton issued brought to light that there were
26 unlicensed persons in the settlement, besides
those who had no other licence than that of the
local authority. The matter was referred home
for consideration, with results which appear in
the following despatch of September 30, 1829 :

" The list which you have furnished of
Europeans resident at this last settlement
(Singapore) includes a considerable number
of persons who have received no licence from
us. We approve of your having made known
to each of these individuals his liability to
removal at our pleasure. Under the peculiar
circumstances of this settlement it has not been
our practice to discourage the resort of Euro-
peans thither for the purpose of following any
creditable occupation, and we perceive that all
those who have recently arrived there have
obtained respectable employment. We there-
fore shall make no objection to their con-
tinuance at the settlement while they fulfil

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

what you are to consider as the implied con-
dition of our sufferance in all such cases, that
of conducting themselves with propriety." *

This incident made Mr. Fullerton very un-
popular with the European inhabitants, and
about the same time he incurred the disfavour
of the native population by the introduction of
drastic land regulations based on the Madras
model. The necessity for some action seems
to have been urgent, judging from the tenor
of an entry in the Singapore records under date
August 29, 1827. It is here stated that during
the administration of Mr. Crawfurd great laxitv

payment at the rate of two rupees per acre of
the land surveyed. Up to September 18, 1829,
the ground covered included 4,909 acres of
Singapore, 1,038 of St. George's in Blakang
Mati Island, and 215 of Gage Island. It was
then recommended that the survey should
embrace the Bugis town, Rochar river, and
Sandy Point, " by which the brick kilns and all
the unoccupied land in that direction will be
brought into the survey, as well as all the forts
connected with the plan of defence." The pro-
posals were adopted, and the survey finally
completed by Mr. Coleman.

demurred to this, and declined to make any
advance without direct authority. Thereupon
the Recorder refused to proceed to Malacca
and Singapore. Finding him obdurate, the
Governor himself went to discharge the
judicial duties in those ports. Before leaving
he made a call for certain documents from the
Court of Judicature, and received from Sir J. T.
Claridge a flat refusal to supply them. Not to
be frustrated, Mr. Fullerton summoned a full
court, and he and the Resident Councillor, as
the majority, carried a resolution directing the
documents to be supplied, and as a consequence

rt^Zrr*^ igjT'

MXP or THE

WROXS

MAP OF SINGAPORE IN 1837.

was manifested in respect of the grant of loca-
tion tickets. Those outstanding issued by Mr.
Crawfurd alone (all for land in the vicinity of
the town) amounted to within 14,000 acres of
the whole computed area of the island, " although
but a very inconsiderable space is cleared, and
the greater part of the island is still an imper-
vious forest." An almost necessary outcome of
the new land system was the commencement
of a topographical survey of the island. The
work was entrusted to Mr. George D. Coleman,
the gentleman responsible for the act of van-
dalism narrated in the previous chapter. Mr.
Coleman erred on this occasion, but his name
will always be linked with some of the most
useful work associated with the building of
Singapore. The survey was undertaken by
Mr. Coleman independently on the basis of
1 " Straits Settlements Records." No. 195.

CHAPTER IV.

Introduction of the Judicial System — The
Dawn of Municipal Government.

The arbitrariness shown by Mr. Fullerton
in his administrative acts was extended to
his relations with his official colleagues, and
brought him into collision more than once with
them. The most violent of these personal con-
troversies, and in its effects the most important,
was a quarrel with Sir J. T. Claridge, the
Recorder, over a question relating to the
latter's expenses on circuit. Sir J. T. Claridge
contended that the demand made upon him
under the new charter to hold sessions at
Singapore and Malacca entitled him to special
expenses, and that these should be paid him
before he went on circuit. Mr. Fullerton

they were supplied. Following upon these in-
cidents Sir J. T. Claridge paid a visit to Cal-
cutta, with the object of consulting his judicial
brethren there on the points at issue in his
controversy with the Governor. Apparently
the advice given to him was that he had made
a mistake in declining to transact his judicial
duties. At all events, on returning to Pinang
he intimated his readiness to proceed • to
Malacca and Singapore. The journey was
undertaken in due course, but on arriving at
Singapore Sir J. T. Claridge cast a veritable
bomb into Government circles by a declaration
from the bench that the Gaming Farm, from
which a substantial proportion of the revenue
of the settlement was derived, was illegal.
Reluctantly the authorities relinquished the
system, which had proved so convenient a
means of filling their exchequer, and which

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

they were prepared to defend on the ground
even of morality. In the meantime the struggle
between the two functionaries had been trans-
ferred to Leadenhall Street, and from thence
came, in the latter part of 1829, an order for Sir
J. T. Claridge's recall. The Recorder was at
first disposed to complete the judicial work
upon which he was engaged, but Mr. Fullerton
would not hear of his remaining in office a
minute longer, and he eventually embarked for
England on September 7, 1829, much, no doubt,
to the relief of his official associates at Pinang.
On arrival home Sir J. T. Claridge appealed to
the Privy Council against his recall, but with-
out avail. The Council, while holding that no
imputation rested upon his capacity or integrity
in the discharge of his judicial functions, con-
sidered that his conduct had been such as to
justify his dismissal. The effect of the decision
was to re-establish the court under the old
charter, and Sir Benjamin Malkin was sent
out as Recorder. He assumed his duties in the
Straits in 1833.

The introduction of a regular judicial system
had one important consequence not contem-
plated probably by the officialdom of the
Straits when the charter was given. It
opened the way to municipal government.
Early in 1827 a body called the Committee
of Assessors was appointed in Pinang to super-
vise the cleansing, watching, and keeping in
repair of the streets of the settlement, and
the following editorial notice in the Singapore
Chronicle of April 26th* of the same year
appears to indicate that an analogous body
was set up in Singapore :

" We adverted a short time ago to the im-
provements carrying on and contemplated by
the Committee of Assessors, and we hope that
the kindness of our friends will enable us in a
future number to give a detailed account of
them all. We understand that the Govern-
ment, with their accustomed liberality wherever
the interests of the island are concerned, have
not only warmly sanctioned, but have promised
to bear half the expenses of the projected new
roads ; and we hope that their aid will be
equally extended to the other improvements
which are projected."

The editor went on to suggest the holding of
a lottery as a means of raising funds. This
question of funds was a difficulty which appa-
rently sterilised the nascent activities of the
pioneer municipal body. At all events its
existence was a brief one, as is evident from a
presentment made by the grand jury at the
quarter sessions in February, 1829, over which
Sir J. T. Claridge presided. The grand jury
requested the authorities "to take into con-
sideration the expediency and advantage of
appointing a committee of assessors, chosen
from amongst the principal inhabitants of the
settlement, for the purpose of carrying into
effect without delay a fair and equitable assess-
ment 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." The suggestion called
forth the following observations from the
Recorder :

" As to that part of your presentment which
relates to roads and bridges and that which
relates to the police, I must refer you to the

printed copies of the charter (page 46) by
which the court is authorised and empowered
to hold a general and quarter sessions of the
peace, and to give orders touching the making,
repairs, and cleansing of the roads, streets,
bridges, and ferries, and for the removal and
abatement of public nuisances, and for such
other purposes of police, and for the appoint-
ment of peace officers and the trial and punish-
ment of misdemeanours, and doing such other
acts as are usually done by justices of the peace
at their general and quarter sessions in England
as nearly as circumstances will admit and shall
require." The Recorder then stated the manner
in which these matters were conducted in
England, and concluded by observing that
"as it would be nugatory to empower the
court of quarter sessions to give orders touch-
ing the several matters specified unless they
have also the means of carrying such orders
into effect, I think the court of quarter sessions
may legally make a rate for the above purpose."

In consequence of this the magistrates con-
vened a meeting of the principal inhabitants to
discuss the matter. At this gathering they
proposed as a matter of courtesy to admit a
certain number of merchants to act with them
as assessors, but at the same time gave the
meeting to understand that they alone pos-
sessed the power to enforce the payment of
the assessments. None of the merchants,
however, would consent to act. They declined
on the ground that as they possessed no legal
authority to act they could exercise no efficient
check. They intimated, furthermore, that they
had complete confidence in the integrity of the
present bench. Subsequently the magistrates
issued a notification that a rate of 5 per cent,
would be made on the rents of all houses in
Singapore. There was at the outset some dis-
position on the part of the officials to question
the legality of this assessment, but in the end
the magistrates' power to make a rate was
acknowledged and Singapore entered smoothly
upon its municipal life.

Some years later the Committee of Assessors
here and at Malacca and Pinang developed
into a Municipal Board, constituted under an
Act of the Legislative Council of India. The
authority consisted of five Commissioners, two
of whom were nominated by the Government
and three elected by ratepayers who con-
tributed 25 dollars annually of assessed taxes.

Though to a certain extent these were days
of progress in Singapore, some of the official
records read strangely at the present time,
when Singapore is one of the great coaling
stations and cable centres of the world. Take
the following entry of June 21, 1826, as an ex-
ample : " We are not aware of any other
means of procuring coal at the Eastern settle-
ments excepting that of making purchases from
time to time out of the ships from Europe and
New South Wales. Under instructions received
from the Supreme Government we made a pur-
chase a short time since of forty tons of the article
from the last-mentioned country at the price of
14 Spanish dollars per ton." The spectacle of
the Singapore Government relying upon passing
ships for their supplies of coal is one which will
strike the present-day resident in the Straits as
comic. But it is not, perhaps, so amusing as
the attitude taken up by the Leadenhall Street

magnates on the subject of telegraphy. In 1827,
the Inspector-General having urged the ex-
pediency of establishing telegraphic communi-
cation between several points on the main
island, the local Government directed him to
submit an estimate of the probable cost of
three telegraph stations, and meantime they
authorised the appointment of two Europeans
as signalmen on a salary of Rs. 50 a month.
In due course the minute relating to the subject
was forwarded home, with a further proposal
for the erection of a lighthouse. The Court of
Directors appear to have been astounded at the
audacity of the telegraphic proposal. In a des-
patch dated June 17, 1829, they wrote : " You
will probably not find it expedient to erect at
present the proposed lighthouse at Singapore,
and we positively interdict you from acting
upon the projected plan for telegraphic com-
munication. We can conceive no rational use
for the establishment of telegraphs in such a
situation as that of Singapore." " No rational
use" for telegraphs in Singapore ! How those
old autocrats of the East India Office would
rub their eyes if they could see Singapore as it
is to-day — the great nerve centre from which
the cable system of the Eastern world radiates !
But no doubt the Court of Directors acted
according to the best of their judgment.
Singapore in those far-off times wanted many
things, and telegraphic communication might
well appear an unnecessary extravagance
beside them. For example, the island was
so defenceless that in 1827, on the receipt of
a false rumour that war had been declared
between Great Britain and France and Spain,
orders had to be given for the renewal of the
carriages of guns at the temporary battery
erected on the occupation of the island and for
" the clearing of the Point at the entrance to
the creek for the purpose of laying a platform
battery." About the same time we find the
Resident Councillor urging the necessity of
erecting public buildings, "the few public
buildings now at Singapore being in a very
dilapidated state, and others being urgently
required to be built." Meanwhile, he intimates
that he has " engaged a new house, nearly com-
pleted, for a court-house and Recorder's
chambers at a yearly rental of 6,000 dollars
for three years, it being the only house in the
island adapted for the purpose." Another
passage in the same communication states that
owing to the " very improper and inconvenient
situation of the burial ground on the side of
Government Hill" the Inspector-General had
selected " a more suitable spot in the vicinity
of the town, which we have directed to be
walled in."

Sir J. T. Claridge's judicial dictum that
"gambling was an indictable offence" was a
source of considerable embarrassment to the
Government. The substantial sum derived from
the farming of the right to keep licensed
gaming-houses could not be readily sacrificed.
On the other hand, it was manifestly impossible
to disregard the opinion of the highest judicial
authority in the settlements. Acting in a spirit
of indecision, the Government reluctantly sus-
pended the Gaming Farm system. The dis-
organisation to the finance which resulted from
the action was considerable, and with the de-
parture of Sir J. T. Claridge it seems to have

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

been felt that his opinion might be disregarded.
The machinery consequently was set in motion
again after the issue of a minute by Mr. Fuller-
ton affirming the legality of this method of
raising the revenue. The effect upon the
revenue was very marked. The receipts
advanced from Rs. 95,482.11.10 in 1829-30 to
Rs. 177,880.15 in the year 1830-31.

The Singapore administration as a whole at
this juncture was in a state of no little con-
fusion, owing to changes which were impending
in the constitution of the Straits. In 1827 Lord
William Bentinck, the Governor-General, had
descended upon the settlements infused with
what the local officialdom regarded as an un-
holy zeal for economy. On arriving at Pinang
he professed not to be able to see what the
island was like for the number of cocked hats in
the way. Forthwith he proceeded to cut down
the extravagant establishment maintained
there. He visited Singapore, and his sharp eye
detected many weak points in the adminis-
trative armour. The official shears were exer-
cised in various directions, and retrenchment
was so sternly enforced that Mr. Fullerton felt
himself constrained to withdraw the official
subsidies, or, as they preferred to regard them,
subscriptions, from the local press. The Malacca
editor kicked against the pricks, and found
himself in difficulties in consequence. At
Singapore a more philosophical view was
taken of the Government action. It was
argued that if Government was at liberty to
withdraw its subscription the editor was free

to withhold his papers and close his columns
to Government announcements. Acting on
this principle, he informed the authorities that
they could no longer be supplied with the

LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK.
(From an engraving in the British Museum.)

eleven free copies of the journal they had been
in the habit of receiving. The officials retorted
with a more rigorous censorship. And so the
battle was waged until Mr. Fullerton finally

shook the dust of the Straits from his feet in the
middle of 1830. Before this period arrived a
great change had been made in the govern-
ment of Singapore. As a result of Lord
William Bentinck's visit the settlement, in com-
mon with Pinang and Malacca, were in 1830
put under the control of the Government of
Bengal. The change was sanctioned in a
despatch of the Supreme Government dated
May 25, 1830. In this communication the
headquarters of the new administration was
fixed at Singapore, with Mr. Fullerton as
" Chief Resident " on a salary of Rs. 36,000.
Under him were a First Assistant, with a salary
of Rs. 24,000, and a Second Assistant, with
Rs. 10,000. The chief officials at Pinang and
Malacca were styled Deputy-Residents, and
their emoluments were fixed at Rs. 30,000 for
the former and Rs. 24,000 for the latter. Two
chaplains, with salaries of Rs. 9,600, and a
missionary, with Rs. 2,500, were part of the
establishment.

Mr. Fullerton remained only a few months in
chief control at Singapore. Before he handed
over control to his successor, Mr. Ibbetson, he
penned a long and able minute on the trade of
the three settlements. He gave the following
figures as representative of the imports and
exports for the official year 1828-29 :

Imports
Fxports

Rs.
1,76,40,969!

i.58,2S,997i

This paragraph relative to the method of

SINGAPORE FROM THE ESPLANADE.
(From Captain Bethune's "Views in the Eastern Archipelago," published 1847.)

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

trading followed in Singapore is of interest
from the light it throws on the early commercial
system of the settlement : " In considering the
extent of the trade at Singapore, rated not in
goods but in money, some reference must be
had to the peculiar method in which all com-
mercial dealings are there conducted ; the
unceasing drain of specie leaves not any
scarcely in the place. Specie, therefore, never
enters into any common transaction. All goods
are disposed of on credit, generally for two
months, and to intermediate native Chinese
merchants, and those at the expiration of the
period deliver in return not money, but articles
of Straits produce adapted to the return cargo ;
the value on both sides of the transaction is rated
from 25 to 30 per cent, beyond the sum that
would be paid in ready cash ; and as the price
current from which the statement is rated is
the barter and not the ready money price, the
real value of the trade may be computed 30 per
cent, under the amount stated." "

About this period a curious question, arising
out of the occupation of the island, gave a con-
siderable amount of trouble to the authorities-
By the terms of the Treaty of 1815 the United
States trade with the Eastern dependencies of
Great Britain was confined to Calcutta, Madras,
Bombay, and Pinang. The construction put
upon this provision by the Straits officials was
that Singapore, even when under the govern-
ment of Pinang, was not a port at which the
citizens of the United States could trade. The
consequence was that American ships, then very
numerous in these seas, touched only at Singa-
pore and proceeded to Riau, where they
shipped cargo which had been sent on from the
British port. The practice was not only irk-
some to the Americans, but it was detrimental
to British trade in that it diverted to the Dutch
port much business which would otherwise
have been transacted at Singapore. Eventually,
in March, 1830, the Singapore Government,
yielding to the pressure which was put upon
them, agreed to allow American vessels to
trade with Singapore. But they intimated that
" it must be understood that such permission
cannot of itself legalise the act should other
public officers having due authority proceed
against the ships on the ground of illegality."
The concession was freely availed of, and the
mercantile marine of the United States played
no small part in the next few years in build-
ing up the great trade which centred at the
port.

Mr. Ibbetson retired from the government in
1833, and was succeeded by Mr. Kenneth Mur-
chison, the Resident Councillor at Singapore.
After four years' tenure of the office Mr. Mur-
chison proceeded home, handing over charge
temporarily to Mr. Samuel G. Bonham. Mr.
Church was sent out from England to fill the
vacant office, but he remained only a few
months. On his departure Mr. Bonham was
appointed as his successor, and held the ap-
pointment until 1843. During his administra-
tion the trade of the port greatly increased.
Ships of all nations resorted to the settlement
as a convenient calling place on the voyage to
and from the Far East, while it more and more
became ■an entrepot for the trade of the Eastern

1 " Report of the East India Company's Affairs,
1831-32," Part II. p. 656.

seas. On I the outbreak of the China War its
strategic value was demonstrated by the ready
facilities it afforded for the" expeditious despatch
of troops and stores to the theatre of war. For
nearly three years it formed the rendezvous as
well as in great measure the base of the expedi-
tionary force, and unquestionably no small
share of the success of the operations was due
to the fact that the Government had this
convenient centre with its great resources at
their disposal. These were halcyon days for
Singapore merchants, and, indeed, for residents

imagine that these waters were almost within
living memory infested with bloodthirsty
pirates, who prosecuted their operations on an
organised system, and robbed and murdered
under the very guns of the British settlements.
Such, however, was the case, as is attested not
merely in the works of passing travellers but in
the formal records of Government and the pro-
ceedings of the courts. Singapore itself, without
doubt, was, before the British occupation, a nest
of pirates. Thereafter the piratical base was
transferred to the Karimun Islands, and from

A MALAY PRAHU.
(From a sketch in the India Office. I

of all descriptions. So flourishing was the
settlement that there were some who thought
that the progress was too rapid to be really
healthy. One writer of the period confidently ■
declared that the trade of the port had reached
its maximum, and that the town had attained to
its highest point of importance and prosperity.
"Indeed," he added, "it is at the present
moment rather overbuilt." Alas ! for the repu-
tation of the prophet. Since the time his pre-
diction was penned Singapore has considerably
more than quadrupled in trade and population,
and its maximum of development is still
apparently a long way off.

CHAPTER V.

Piracy in the Straits — Steam Navigation
— Fiscal Questions.

A blot, and a serious one, upon the government
of the Straits Settlements up to and even beyond
this period was the piracy which was rife
throughout the archipelago. At the present
day, when vessels of all classes sail through the
Straits with as little apprehension as they navi-
gate the English Channel, it is difficult to

1 " Trade and Travel in the Far East," by G. F.
Davidson, p. 69.

time to time, even after the Dutch annexation of
the islands in 1827, these were a favourite resort
of the roving hordes which battened on the trade
of the new British port. The native chiefs were
usually hand in glove with the pirates, and
received toll of their nefarious trade. Thus we
find Mr. Fullerton, in a communication to
Government, writing in April, 1829: "Of the
connection of the Sultan of Johore, residing
under our protection at Singapore, and his
relatives, the chiefs of Rhio and Lingen, with
the pirates to the eastward there is little doubt,
and there is some reason to believe that the ex-
Raja of Quedah, residing under our protection
at this island [Pinang], if he does not directly
countenance the piratical proceedings of his
relatives, does not use any means seriously to
discourage them."' The usual prey of the
pirates was the native junks which traded
between China and the Straits ports. But
European vessels were attacked when the
venture could be undertaken with impunity,
and interspersed in the prosaic records of the
dull round of ordinary administration are
thrilling and romantic accounts of captive
Englishmen, and even Englishwomen, de-
tained in bondage in the then remote interior
by native chiefs to whom they had been
sold by pirates. ' Spasmodic efforts were
made by the authorities from time to time

1 "Straits Settlements Records," No. 184.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

to grapple with the evil, but, apart from a
little bloodshed and a liberal expenditure of
ammunition, the results were practically nil.
The elusive pirates, in the face of the superior
force which went out after them, showed
that discretion which is proverbially the better
part of valour. They lived to fight another
day, and not infrequently that other day was
one in the immediate future, for the intelligence
system of the bands was well organised, and
they usually knew the exact limits of the
official action.

The commercial community of Singapore
waxed very restive under the repeated losses to
which they were subjected by the piratical
depredations. In an article on piracy on June
17, 1830, the Singapore Chronicle stigmatised in
sharp terms the supineness of the British and
Dutch authorities in permitting the organised
system of piracy which then existed in the
Straits. After stating that there was a total
stagnation of trade owing to rovers hovering
within gunshot of Singapore river, the writer
proceeded: "Our rulers say: 'Let the galled
jade wince.' They wander the Straits in well-
armed vessels and may well feel apathy and
security, but were one of the select, a governor
or resident or deputy, to fall into the hands of
pirates, what would be the consequence ? We
should then have numerous men-of-war,
cruisers, and armed boats scouring these seas.
Indeed, to produce such an effect, though we
wish no harm, and would exert ourselves to the
utmost for his release, we would not care to
hear of such an event. We have heard or
read of a bridge in so dilapidated a condition
that in crossing it lives were frequently lost.
Xo notice was ever taken of such accidents !
At length, woe to the time ! on an unlucky
morning the servant maid of Lady Mayo, un-
fortunately for herself and the public, let a
favourite pug dog (a poodle) drop over the
parapet into the water. The poor dear animal
was drowned. What was the consequence of
such a calamity ? Was the bridge repaired ?
No, but a new one was built ! "

The lash of the writer's satire was none too
severe, and it seems not to have been without
effect, for shortly afterwards a man-of-war was
sent to cruise about the entrance to the har-
bour. But the measure fell very short of what
was needed. The pirates, fully advertised of
the vessel's movements, took care to keep out
of the way, and when some time afterwards it
was removed from the station their operations
were resumed with full vigour. So intolerable
did the situation at last become that in 1832 the
Chinese merchants of the port, with the sanc-
tion of the Government, equipped at their own
expense four large trading boats fully armed to
suppress the pirates. The little fleet on sally-
ing out fell in with two pirate prahus, and
succeeded in sinking one of them. The
Government, shamed into activity by this
display of private enterprise, had two boats
built at Malacca for protective purposes. They
carried an armament of 24-pounder guns, and
were manned by Malays. It was a very inade-
quate force to cope with the widespread piracy
of the period, and the conditions not materially
improving, petitions were in 1835 forwarded by
the European inhabitants of Singapore to the
King and to the Governor-General, praying

for the adoption of more rigorous measures.
In response to the appeal H.M. sloop Wo// was
sent out with a special commission to deal with
the pirates. Arriving on March 22, 1836, she
conducted a vigorous crusade against the
marauders. The pirates were attacked in
their lairs and their boats either captured or
destroyed. One of the prahus seized by the
Wolf was 54 feet long and 15 feet beam, but
the general length of these craft was 56 feet.
They were double-banked, pulling 36 oars — 18
on each side. The rowers were of the lower
castes or slaves. Each prahu had a stockade
not far from the bow, through which was
pointed an iron 4-pounder. There was another
stockade aft on which were stuck two swivels,
and around the sides were from three to six
guns of the same description.' The brilliant
work done by the Wolf was greatly appreciated
by the mercantile community at Singapore.
To mark "their grateful sense of his unwearied
and successful exertions " the European and
Chinese merchants presented to Captain Stan-
ley, the commandant of the Wolf a sword of
honour, and a public dinner was given to him
and his officers on June 14, 1837, at which
most complimentary speeches were delivered.
Severely as the pirates had been handled by
the Wolf, the iniquitous trade had only been

•

PEBBLES ENCLOSED IN BASKET.

(A substitute for shot, used in old times by the Malay
pirates. From a sketch in the India Office )

scotched. It developed into activity again and
again subsequently, and was not finally wiped
out until after repeated expeditions had been
conducted against the marauders. As far as
piracy on the open sea was concerned the
development of steam navigation did more
than anything else to remove the curse from
the Straits. The first experience of the ruffians
of the new force had in it an element of grim
amusement. In 1837 the Diana, a little steam
consort of the Wolf, was cruising in the Straits
when she fell in with a pirate flotilla. The
marauders, thinking she was a sailing-boat on
fire, and therefore an easy prey for them, bore
down upon her, firing as they approached. To
their horror the Diana came up close against
the wind and then suddenly stopped before
the leading prahu, pouring a deadly fire into
the pirate ranks. The process was repeated
before each craft of the flotilla, with the result
that the force in the end was almost annihilated.
Profiting by their bitter experience on this and
other occasions, the pirates confined their opera-
tions to those parts of the coast on which the
shallow waters and numerous creeks provided
a safe refuge in case of attack by war vessels,
and so they contrived to postpone for years
the inevitable end of the system which had
flourished for ages in the archipelago.
' " Anecdotal History of Singapore."

The introduction of steam navigation into
the Straits had such wide-reaching effects on
the trade of Singapore that a reference to the
subject falls naturally into a survey of the his-
tory of the settlement. In an earlier part of
this work we have seen that to the Dutch
belongs the honour of placing the first steam
vessel on the Straits. The V antler Capcllan
was not what would be considered in these
days a success. It steamed only a few knots
an hour, could keep the sea merely for a very
short time, and its passages were frequently
interrupted by breakdowns of the machinery.
Still, its performances were sufficiently re-
markable to suggest the enormous possibilities
of the new force in the usually calm waters of
the Straits. After its appearance a scheme-
was mooted for the establishment of a steam
service between Singapore, Batavia, Malacca,
Pinang, and Calcutta. The expectation was
that the passage from the former port to
Calcutta, which in the case of sailing ships
occupied five weeks, would not take more than
eight days. Nothing came of the project im-
mediately. The pioneers were before their
time. They had to reckon with an immense
amount of prejudice on the part of vested
interests and a still larger degree of honest
incredulity as to the financial practicability of
working so expensive an agency as steam
appeared to be. We get a vivid impression of
the doubtful attitude of the Singapore commu-
nity in the columns of the Singapore Chronicle
in 1828. The Malacca paper about the middle
of that year published an article enthusiastically
recommending the introduction of steam navi-
gation. The Singapore editor in the issue of
his paper of October 23rd, commenting on this,
said : " That it would be an agreeable, if not in
other respects a very useful, thing to have a
steam vessel between the settlements, which
might visit now and then Calcutta, Java, or
China, everyone is agreed. The only ques-
tion, but rather a material one, is — would it
pay ? Supposing the vessel purchased and
ready for sea, would the money received for
freight and passage pay the interest of the
outlay ? Would it pay the heavy and constantly
recurring charges of a competent commander,
an engineer, a crew, fuel, the expenses of
frequent repairs, including the loss of time
consumed in them ?" The Malacca scribe,
not deterred by this copious dash of cold
water, reiterated his strong belief in the vir-
tues of steam power. Thereupon the Singapore
Chronicle remarked that it did not know how
its Malacca contemporary reconciled his con-
tempt of rhetoric " with the bold dash of it
contained in his assertion that a steam vessel
or two in the Straits would have the marvellous
effect of doubling the commerce of those settle-
ments." The Malacca journal retorted by
citing the fact that fifty years previously it
took more than a fortnight to go from London
to Edinburgh, while the proprietors of the
wagons used to adveriise days previously
for passengers. "Now," he went on, "there
are no less than two thousand coaches which
daily leave and arrive at London from all parts
of the kingdom." He argued from this that
steam navigation, despite its costliness and the
difficulties which attended it, was bound to be
successful. While this lively polemic was

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

proceeding the Government of the settlements
had before it a serious proposal to provide a
steamer to maintain communication between
Pinang, Malacca, and Singapore. The sug-
gestion arose out of the difficulty of holding
the courts of quarter sessions at each of the
three ports at the regular periods enjoined in
the charter. Sir J. T. Claridge, the Recorder,
pointed out that if sailing vessels were used at
least two months of his time would be occupied
annually in travelling between the ports. He
urged that the solution of the difficulty was the
provision of a steamer, which would enablehim
to do the journey from Pinang to Singapore in
three days, and to return viii Malacca in the
same period. The Supreme Government de-
clined to provide the steam vessel on the
ground that the cost would be prohibitive.
After this the question of steam navigation
slumbered for some years. When next it was
seriously revived it was in the form of a pro-
posal for a monthly service from Singapore to
Calcutta. A company was formed under the
name of the New Bengal Steam Fund, with
shares of Rs. 600 each. As many as 2,475
shares were taken up by 706 individuals, and
the project, with this substantial financial back-
ing, assumed a practical shape. Eventually, in
1841 the committee of the fund entered into an
agreement with the P. & O. Company, and
transferred its shares to that company. From
this period development of steam navigation
was rapid, until the point was reached at which
the Straits were traversed by a never-ending
procession of steam vessels bearing the Hags of
all the great maritime nations of the world.

An early outcome of the establishment of
steam navigation in the Straits was the intro-
duction of a regular mail service. The first
contract for the conveyance of the mails was
made between the P. & O. Company and the
Government in 1845. Under the terms of this
arrangement the company contracted to
convey the mails from Ceylon to Pinang in
forty-five hours, and from thence to Singapore
in forty-eight hours. The first mail steamer
despatched under the contract was the Lady
Wood, which arrived at Singapore on
August 4, 1845, after an eight-day passage
from Point de Galle. She brought the mails
from London in the then marvellous time of
forty-one days. The first homeward mail was
despatched amid many felicitations on the
expedition which the new conditions made
possible in the carrying through of business
arrangements. Unhappily, before the mail
steamer had fairly cleared the harbour it was dis-
covered that the whole of the prepaid letters had,
through the blundering of some official, been
left behind. This contretemps naturally caused
much irritation, but eventually the community
settled down to a placid feeling of contentment
at the prospect which the mail system opened
up of rapid and regular intercourse with Europe
and China and the intermediate ports.

From time to time, as Singapore grew and
its revenues increased, attempts were made to
tamper with the system of Free Trade on
which its greatness had been built. As early
as 1829, when the temporary financial difficulty
created by the enforced suspension of the
Gaming Farm system necessitated a considera-
tion of the question of creating new sources

of revenue, we find Mr. Presgrave, who was
in temporary charge of the administration at
Singapore, suggesting a tax on commerce as
the only means of supplying the deficiency.
He expressed the view that such an impost
would not injure the rising commerce of the
island provided judicious arrangements were
made for exempting native trade from some of
those restrictive measures usually attendant on
custom-house regulations. "The policy of
exempting the trade from all impositions on
the first establishment of Singapore," he pro-
ceeded to say, " cannot, I imagine, be called
in question ; but as the trade has now passed
the stage of its infancy I am of opinion there
is little to apprehend from casting away the
leading strings." 1 The "leading strings " were,
fortunately, not cast away. The Supreme
Government was opposed to any change and
the Court of Directors, though not con-
spicuously endowed wilh foresight at this time,
were wise enough to realise that Singapore's
prosperity was bound up in its maintenance
as a free port. The re-establishment of the
Gaming Farm set at rest the question for the
time being ; but there was a fresh assault
made on the principle in 1836, when the
efforts for the suppression of piracy imposed a
burden upon the Supreme Government which
it was disinclined to bear. The idea then
mooted was the levying of a special tax on
the trade of the three settlements to cover the
charges. A draft bill was submitted to Mr.
Murchison, the Resident, for his opinion, and
he in turn consulted the mercantile com-
munity. Their reply left no shadow of doubt
as to the unpopularity of "the proposals. A
public meeting of protest, summoned by the
sheriff, held on February 4, 1836, passed
strongly worded resolutions of protest and
adopted a petition to Parliament to disallow
the scheme. In August, Lord Glenelg, the
Secretary for the Colonies, wrote saying that
the measure was deprecated by the Govern-
ment and would find no countenance from
them. In November the India Board directed
the Supreme Government to suspend the
proposals, if not enacted, and if enacted to
repeal them. The Indian authorities, defeated
on the question of a direct impost, in 1837
returned to the charge with a tonnage duty
on square-rigged vessels. The scheme came
to nothing at the time, but it was revived
about twenty years later. A protest was
promptly forwarded to the home authorities
from Singapore against the project. The
Court of Directors, on receiving this, wrote to
the Governor-General on March 25, 1857, to
inquire if there was any foundation for the
statement that dues were to be levied. "You
are doubtless aware," the Court wrote, "that
when this subject was under our consideration
in the year 1825 we signified our entire appro-
bation of the abolition of port dues at Singa-
pore ; and that in the following year we
expressed our opinion that the establishment
of duties on imports and exports at that settle-
ment would be inexpedient. The success which
has hitherto attended the freedom of trade at
these ports has confirmed the opinion ex-
pressed to you in these despatches, and we
should deprecate the imposition of any burden
1 " Straits Settlements Records," Xo. 153.

on the commerce of the Straits Settlements
excepting under circumstances of urgent
necessity."

The Government of India replied that they
had no intention to impose customs duties at
Singapore. They explained that with regard
to the levy of port dues, after the Port Regu-
lation Act of 1855 was passed a request was
made to the Straits Government, in Common
with other local administrations, for certain
information to enable the Government to
pass a supplementary Act for the regulation
of port due fees. On February 10, 1856,
the Governor of the Straits replied that if not
considered to interfere with the freedom of
the port he was inclined to agree with the
imposition of a due of half an anna per ton on
all square-rigged vessels, and would further
recommend that all native ships clearing out
of the harbour should pay a fee of two rupees
for junks and one rupee for boats of all
descriptions. " The amount so realised would,"
the Governor said, " provide for all present
expenses and enable us to do all that may be
necessary for the efficient management of the
harbours and their approaches." The de-
spatch pointed out that dues were abolished
at Singapore in 1823, not because they were
contrary to any sound principle, but because
they were unfairly assessed and were incon-
siderable in amount. The strong expression
of opinion from the Court of Directors was
not without its effect. The scheme was con-
veniently shelved, and amid the larger ques-
tions which speedily arose in connection with
the transfer of the government of India to the
Crown it was forgotten.

Apart from this matter of imposts on the
trade, there was from time to time serious
dissatisfaction with the control of the Govern-
ment of India of the settlement. In [847
the discontent found vent in two petitions to
Parliament, one with reference to an Indian
Act (No. III. of 1847) transferring the appoint-
ment of police officers from the court of
judicature and quarter sessions to the Crown,
and the other asking that municipal funds
should be placed under the management of a
committee chosen by the ratepayers, which
had always been the case, but which practice
was rendered doubtful in the opinion of the
Recorder (Sir W, Norris) by another Act. An
able statement in support of the petition was
drawn up by Mr. John Crawfurd, a leading
citizen. The facts set forth in this document
constituted a very striking picture of the
progressive growth of the settlement. Mr.
Crawfurd wrote :

" The industry of the inhabitants of Singa-
pore has created the fund from which the
whole revenues are levied. This is made
evident enough when the fact is adverted to
that eight-and-twenty years ago the island,
which has now fifty thousand inhabitants, was
a jungle with 150 Malay fishermen imbued
with a strong propensity to piracy and no
wealth at all, unless it were a little plunder. At
the present time the entire revenues may be
safely estimated at not less than £'50,000 per
annum, being equal to a pound sterling per
head, which is equal to about five-fold the
ratio of taxation yielded by the population of
Bengal.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

"The revenues are divided into two
branches, although the division be in reality
little better than arbitrary — the general and the
police ; or taxes and rates. The first consists
of excise on wine, spirits, and opium ; of quit-
rents ; of the produce of the sale of wild
lands ; of fees and fines ; of postages, &c. The
second is a percentage on the rental of houses.
The general revenue amounted in 1845-46 in
round numbers to £14,000 and the local one to

industry of the inhabitants — a fund wholly
created within the short period of twenty-eight
years. I cannot see, then, with what show of
reason it can be said that the Executive
Government pays the police, simply because it
is the mere instrument of disbursement."

Mr. Crawfurd went on to say that the
practice with respect to the colonies under the
Crown had of late years been rather to extend
than to curtail the privileges of the inhabitants.

RIVER IN THE PRIMEVAL FOREST, JOHORE.

( From " Skizzen aus Singapur und Djohor.")

£7,000, making a total of £21,000- a sum
which, if expended with a just economy, ought
to be adequate to every purpose of government
in a small sea-girt island, with a population for
the most part concentrated in one spot.

" From this statement it is plain enough that
whether the police force is paid wholly out of
the police revenue or partly from the police
and partly from the general revenue, it must,
in any case, be paid out of the produce of the

and he expressed a hope that the East India
Company would be prepared to follow a course
" which, by conciliating the people, secures
harmony, strengthens the hands of the local
Government, and consequently contributes
largely to facilitate the conduct of the adminis-
tration." In this statement, as Mr. Buckley
suggests in his work, we have possibly the
commencement of the movement which led
twenty years afterwards to the transfer of the

settlements from the control of the Government
of India to that of the Colonial Office. How-
ever that may be, the mercantile community of
Singapore was unquestionably becoming less
and less disposed to submit their increasingly
important concerns to the sole arbitrament of
the prejudiced and sometimes ill-informed
bureaucracy of India.

One notable interest which was at this time
coming rapidly to the front was the planting
industry. One of Raftles's first concerns after
he had occupied the settlement was to stimu-
late agricultural enterprise. On his initiative
the foundations of a Botanical Department
were laid, and plants and seeds were distributed
from it to those settlers who desired to culti-
vate the soil. The first-fruits of the under-
taking were not encouraging. Compared with
Pinang, the settlement offered little attraction
to the planter. The soil was comparatively
poor, the labour supply limited, and the island
was largely an uncleared waste, ravaged by
wild beasts. Gradually, however, the best of
the land was taken up, and, aided by an
excellent climate, the various plantations
flourished. A statement prepared by the
Government surveyor in 1848 gives some
interesting particulars of the extent of the
cultivation and the results accruing from it.
There were at that time 1,190 acres planted
with 71,400 nutmeg-trees, the produce of which
in nutmegs and mace amounted to 656 piculs,
yielding an annual value of 39,360 dollars.
There were 28 acres planted with clove-trees.
Coconut cultivation occupied 2,658 acres, the
number of trees being 342,608, and the produce
yielding a value of 10,800 dollars. Betel-nut
cultivation absorbed 445 acres, and upon this
area 128,281 trees were planted, yielding 1,030
dollars annually. Fruit trees occupied 1,037
acres, and their produce was valued at 9,568
dollars. The gambler cultivation covered an
extent of 24,220 acres, and the produce was
valued at 80,000 dollars. The pepper culti-
vation was stated at 2,614 acres, yielding
108,230 dollars annually. Vegetable gardens
covered 379 acres, and the produce was stated
at 34,675 dollars. The siri or pawn vines
extended to 22 acres, and yielded 10,560 dollars,
while sugar-cane, pineapples, rice, or paddy
engrossed 1,962 acres, and the estimated
produce was valued at 32,386 dollars. The
quantity of ground under pasture was 402
acres, valued at 2,000 dollars annually. The
total gross annual produce of the island was
valued at 328,711 dollars.

At a later period the planting industry sus-
tained a disastrous check through the failure of
the crops consequent upon the exhaustion of
the soil. Many of the planters migrated to
better land across the channel in Johore, and
formed the nucleus of the great community
which flourishes there to-day.

In 1845 the question of providing dock
accommodation at Singapore was first seriously
broached. The proposal put forward was for a
dock 300 feet long, 68 feet wide, and 15 feet
deep, to cost 80,000 dollars. Inadequate support
was accorded to the scheme, and the question
slumbered until a good many years later, when
the famous Tanjong Pagar Dock Company
came into existence and commenced the great
undertaking, which was taken over by the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Government in 1906 at a cost to the colony of
nearly three and a half million pounds.

The dock scheme was suggested by the
growing trade flowing through the Straits, with
Singapore as an almost inevitable port of call.
Identical circumstances led irresistibly a few
years later to an eager discussion of the prac-
tical aspects of telegraphic communication.
The authorities had outgrown the earlier
attitude which saw " no rational use " for a
telegraphic system in Singapore, but they were
still very far from realising the immense
imperial potentialities which centred in an
efficient cable system. When the subject was
first mooted in a practical way in 1858 by the
launching of a scheme by Mr. W. H. Reed for
the extension of the Indian telegraph lines to
Singapore, China, and Australia, the Australian
colonies took the matter up warmly, and
promised a subsidy of £35,000 for thirty years,
and the Dutch Government, not less enthu-
siastic, offered a subsidy of £8,500 for the
same period. But the Home Government
resolutely declined to assist, and though re-
peated deputations waited upon it on the
subject, it refused to alter its policy. Never-
theless the project was proceeded with, and on
November 24, 1859, Singapore people had the
felicity of seeing the first link forged in the
great system of telegraphic communication
that now exists by the opening of the electric
cable between Singapore and Batavia. Con-
gratulatory messages were exchanged, and the
community were getting used to the experience
of having their messages flashed across the
wire, when there were oniinous delays due to
injuries caused to the cable either by the
friction of coral rocks or by anchors of vessels
dropped in the narrow straits through which
the line passed. Not for a considerable time
was the system placed on a perfectly satisfactory
basis. In 1866 a new scheme was started for a
line of telegraphs from Rangoon through Siam
to Singapore, from Malacca through Sumatra,
Java, and the Dutch islands to Australia, and
through Cochin China to China. This project
was not more favoured with official counten-
ance than the earlier one, and it remained for
private interests alone to initiate and carry
through the remarkable system by which
Singapore was brought into touch with every
part of the civilised world by its cables
radiating from that point.

In political as in commercial matters the
policy of the East India Company in relation
to the Straits Settlements was narrow-minded
and lacking in foresight. In some cases it
showed an even more objectionable quality — it
was unjust. It is difficult to find in the whole
range of the history of British dealings with
Asiatic races a more flagrant example of
wrong-doing than the treatment of the Sultan
of Kedah, or Quedah, from whom we obtained
the grant of the island of Pinang. The story
is told in the section of the work dealing with
Pinang, and it is only necessary to say here
that, having obtained a valuable territorial
grant under conditions agreed to by its repre-
sentative, and tacitly accepted by itself, the
Government declined to carry out those condi-
tions when circumstances seemed to make rati-
fication inexpedient. At Singapore an almost
exact parallel to the Company's action, or, to

speak correctly, inaction in this instance, was
furnished in its dealings with the Sultan Tunku
Ali, the son of Sultan Husein, who, jointly with
the Dato' Temenggong Abdul Rahman, had
ceded the island to the British Government in
1819. Sir Frank Swettenham is at great pains
in his book to unravel the rather tangled facts,
and it is with a sense of humiliation that they
must be read by every self-respecting Briton

small account, but the influx of Chinese planters
created a revenue, and it became important to
know to whom that revenue should be paid.
Governor Butterworth, in a communication to
the Supreme Government of October 21, 1846,
spoke of the Temenggong having " irregu-
larly " collected the small revenue — an impost
on timber — previously existing, and recom-
mended that the proceeds of an opium farm

PATH IN THE PRIMEVAL FOREST, JOHORE.

(From " Skizzen aus Singapur und Djohor.")

who values the name of his country for fair
dealing. The narrative is too long to give in
detail here, but briefly it may be said that the
dispute turned on the respective rights of the
Sultan and the Temenggong. The controversy
directly arose out of a request made by Tunku
Ali that he should be installed as Sultan of
Johore. The matter first assumed importance
in the early days of the Chinese migration to
johore. Before that Johore was a territory of

just established should be equally divided
between the two. Accompanying this letter
and recommendation was an application which
had been made by Tunku Ali that he should be
acknowledged and installed as, Sultan. The
reply of the Government was to the effect that
" unless some political advantage could be
shown to accrue from the measure the Honour-
able the President in Council declined to adopt
it." In 1852 the question was again raised by

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Mr. E. A. Blundell, who was officiating as
Governor at the time. This functionary ex-
pressed his inability to find any ground of
expediency to justify the step, but he strongly
urged the impolicy of allowing "such an
apparently clear and undisputed claim " as
that of Tunku Ali to remain any longer in
abeyance. An unfavourable reply was given
by the Supreme Government to the proposal.
Mr. Blundell, undeterred by this, raised the
matter afresh in a letter dated January 14,
1853. In this communication Mr. Blundell re-
affirmed with emphasis the justice of Tunku
Ali's claims to recognition, and intimated that
he had induced both the Sultan and the
Temenggong to agree to an arrangement
under which the revenue, calculated at 600
dollars per mensem, should be divided between
the two for a period of three years, at the ex-
piration of which time a new calculation should
be made. The Supreme Government on March
4, 1853, sent a curious answer to Mr. Blundell's
proposal of compromise. They intimated that
they had no concern with the relations between
the Sultan and the Temenggong, but that " if
the arbitration in question should be proposed
and the Temenggong should be willing to
purchase entire sovereignty by a sacrifice of
revenue in favour of the Sultan, the Governor-
General in Council conceives that the measure
would be a beneficial one to all parties.''
There was, of course, no question of the
Temenggong purchasing entire sovereignty by
a sacrifice of revenue. What had been sug-
gested was an amicable agreement as to reve-
nues of which the Sultan had hitherto been, to
adopt Colonel Butterworth's phrase, " irregu-
larly " deprived. Broadly speaking, however,
the despatch may be accepted as sanctioning
the proposal put forward by Mr. Blundell. An
interval of some months elapsed after the
receipt of the communication, and when the
subject again figures on the records it assumes
a different aspect. Colonel Butterworth, who
had been away on leave, finding Tunku Ali
" entangled with an European merchant at
Singapore," declined to arbitrate, and went to
Pinang. Afterwards negotiations apparently
were carried on by Mr. Church, the Resident
Councillor, and finally, as an outcome of them,
a proposal was submitted to the Supreme
Government that Tunku Ali should be installed
as Sultan, should be allowed to retain a small
strip of territory known as Kesang Muar, in
which the graves of his ancestors were situated,
that he should receive 5,000 dollars in cash, and
that he should be paid 500 dollars a month in
perpetuity. In consideration of these conces-
sions he was to renounce absolutely all sove-
reign rights in Johore. After a considerable
amount of negotiation between the parties
these terms were embodied in a treaty dated
March 10, 1855, which Tunku Ali reluctantly
signed. Sir Frank Swettenham, whose sym-
pathies are very strongly displayed on the side
of the Sultan, significantly mentions that the
annual revenues of Johore "have amounted to
over a million dollars for some years, and they
are now probably about 1,200,000 dollars, or,
say, £140,000." The later phases of this dis-
agreeable episode may be related in his; words.
" Sultan Ali is dead, and his son wouk^gtill be
in receipt of 500 dollars a month frorr$Johore

(originally about £1,200 a year), but the district
of Muar has also passed away from him and
his family to the Temenggong's successors.
When that further transfer took place about
twenty years ago, the allowance was by the
efforts of Governor Sir Wm. Robinson raised
to 1,250 dollars a month, divided amongst the
late Sultan's family. Lastly, it must be noted
that, though the second condition in the terms
submitted by the Temenggong on April 3,
1854, read, ' Tunku Ali, his heirs ami sueeessors lo
be recognised as Sultan of Johore,' the son and
heir of Sultan Ali was never more than Tunku
Alam, while the son and heir of the Temeng-
gong became ' the Sultan of the state and terri-
tory of Johore,' and that is the title held by his
grandson, the present Sultan. The grandson
of Sultarj. Ali is to-day Tunku Mahmud. If
Sultan Ali sold his birthright in 1855 to secure
the recognition of his title by the Government
of India he made a poor bargain. The Govern-
ment of India loftily disclaimed any concern
with the relations between the Sultan and the
Temenggong ; however indifferent the plea, it
is one to which neither the local nor the British
Government can lay any claim in their subse-
quent proceedings."

CHAPTER VI.

estaiil.ishmknt of thk crown' colony
System.

WHILE this act of injustice was being perpe-
trated the sands of the Indian government of
the Straits Settlements were running out. In
the two and a half centuries of its connection
with the archipelago the East India Company
had never shown conspicuous judgment in its
dealings with its possessions. Its successes
were achieved in spite of its policy rather than
because of it, and if there is one thing more
certain than another about these valuable pos-
sessions of the Crown, it is that they would not
be to-day under the British flag if the govern-
ing power, represented by the autocracy of
Leadenhall Street, had had their way. The
failings of the system did not diminish with
age ; rather they developed in mischievous
strength as the settlement grew and flourished.
The mercantile community chafed for years
under the restrictions, financial and adminis-
trative, imposed upon the colony. At length, on
the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, the feeling
burst out into an open movement for the trans-
fer of the administration from the Government
of India to the Crown. The petition presented
to the House of Commons in 1858 as a result
of the agitation based the desire for a change
in the system of administration on the syste-
matic disregard of the wants and wishes of the
inhabitants by the Government of India, and
the disposition of the Calcutta authorities to
treat all questions from an exclusively Indian
point of view. It was pointed out that the
settlements were under the control of a
Governor appointed by the Governor-General.
" Without any council to advise or assist him,
this officer has paramount authority within the
settlements, and by his reports and suggestions
the Supreme Government and Legislative
Council are in a great measure guided in

dealing with the affairs of these settlements.
It may, and indeed does in reality frequently,
happen that this functionary, from caprice,
temper, or defective judgment, is opposed to
the wishes of the whole community, yet in any
conflict of opinion so arising his views are
almost invariably adopted by the Supreme
Government, upon statements and representa-
tions which the public have no knowledge of
and no opportunity of impugning." The me-
morialists pointed out that measures of a most
obnoxious and harmful character had been
introduced by the Government of India, and
had only been defeated by the direct appeal of
the inhabitants to the authorities at home.
Moreover, Singapore had been made a dump-
ing ground for the worst class of convicts from
continental India, and these, owing to the
imperfect system of discipline maintained,
exercised a decidedly injurious influence on
the community. In a statement appended to
the report it was shown that, exclusive of dis-
bursements for municipal purposes, the expen-
diture in 1855-56 amounted to£i3i,375, against
an income of £103,187, but it was shown that
the deficiency was more than accounted for by
charges aggregating £75,358 imposed for mili-
tary, marine, and convict establishments —
"charges which are never made against a
local revenue in a royal colony."

Lord Canning, in a despatch discussing the
question raised by the petition, wrote in favour
of the change. The only object which he
could conceive for maintaining the govern-
ment of the Straits Settlements on its then
footing was to have all the possessions in the
East under one control. But, he pointed out,
this consideration was quite as applicable to
Ceylon, which had not in recent times been
under the Government of India. He went at
length into the whole question of the transfer,
and then summarised his views in this form :
" I consider it to be established, first, that no
good and sufficient reasons now exist for con-
tinuing the Straits Settlements on their present
footing ; secondly, that very strong reasons
exist for withdrawing them from the control of
the Indian Government and transferring them
to the Colonial Office ; and, thirdly, that there
are no objections to the transfer which should
cause her Majesty's Government to hesitate in
adopting a measure calculated to be so advan-
tageous to the settlements themselves." The
Indian Government asked to be reimbursed
the cost of new recently erected barracks for
European troops ; but the Home Government
objected to this, and the point was waived by
the Indian authorities. Even then the Imperial
Government were not at all eager to accept the
charge. They haggled over the cost which, in
their shortsighted vision, the settlements were
likely to impose upon the imperial exchequer.
The Duke of . Newcastle, the then Colonial
Secretary, in a despatch on the subject, esti-
mated the probable deficiency in the revenue at
from £30,000 to £50,000. But in his calculation
was included an extravagant contribution for
military purposes. It did not dawn upon the
sapient rulers of that day that there was an
imperial interest in maintaining a fortress at
the entrance to the Straits of Malacca through
which the world's trade from the West to the
East passes. It was left to Lord Beaconsfield,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

in an eloquent passage of a memorable speech,
to bring home to the people of Great Britain
the vast strategic value of Singapore.

The financial doubts raised by the Home
Government led to the despatch to the Straits of
Sir Hercules Robinson (afterwards Lord Ros-
mead) to investigate on the spot a point which
really should have been plain enough if the
Colonial Office had been endowed with ordi-
nary discernment. Sir Hercules Robinson's
report was favourable, and the Government,
acting upon it, 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 was made on April I, 1867. It
was preceded by some rather discreditable
blundering in reference to the executive. The
arrangement made between the India and the
Colonial Offices was that all uncovenanted
officials should remain, but that the covenanted
servants should revert to their original appoint-
ments in India.

The functionaries concerned were not for-
mally notified of the change, but were left to
gather the information from the newspapers.
Even then they did not know the conditions
under which their transfer was to be carried
out. The question was raised in the House of
Commons on March 8, 1867. In the course of
the discussion Mr. John Stuart Mill commented
severely on the action .of the Government in
withdrawing these experienced officials at a
time when their knowledge of local affairs
would be of great value. " He wanted to
know what the colonial system was. He
hoped and trusted there was no such thing.
How could there be one system for the govern-
ment of Demerara, Mauritius, the Cape of
Good Hope, Ceylon, and Canada ? What was
the special fitness of a gentleman who had
been employed in the administration of the
affairs of one of those colonies for the govern-
ment of another of which he knew nothing,
and in regard to which his experience in other
places could supply him with no knowledge ?
What qualifications had such a man that should
render it necessary to appoint him to transact
business of which he knew nothing in the
place of gentlemen who did understand it, and
who had been carrying it on, not certainly upon
the Indian system, and he believed upon no
system whatever but the Straits Settlements
system ?" As a result probably of this protest
the arrangement for the withdrawal of the
old officials was not carried out. But the
Government, instead of appointing as the
first Governor some man acquainted with the
peculiar conditions of the Straits, sent out as
head of the new administration Colonel Sir
Harry Ord, C.B., an officer of the corps of
Royal Engineers, whose administrative experi-
ence had been gained chiefly on the West
Coast of Africa. Though an able man, Sir
Harry Ord lacked the qualities essential for
dealing with a great mercantile community.
He was autocratic, brusque, and contemptuously
indifferent to public opinion. Moreover, he
had an extravagant sense of what was necessary
to support the dignity of his office, and rushed
the colony into expenditure which was in
excess of what it ought to have been called

SIR HARRY ORD.

(First Governor of the Straits Settlements under the
Crown Colony system. Taken at Government
House. Singapore, in 1860.)

region of small commercial importance. The
penalty of our shortsightedness in making the
bargain was paid in the Ashanti War, and it is
small consolation to reflect that the Dutch on
their side have found the transaction even less
advantageous, since they have been involved
in practically continuous warfare with the
Achinese ever since.' Sir Harry Ord erred in
this matter and in others of less importance
through a blindness to the great imperial
interests which centre in the Straits. But it
must be conceded that his vigorous administra-
tion, judged from the standpoint of finance, was
brilliantly successful. When he assumed office
the colony was, as we have seen, not paying
its way, and there was so little prospect of its
doing so that the Home Government hesitated
to assume the burden. On the conclusion of
his term of office the revenue of the settlements
exceeded the expenditure by a very respectable
sum. His administration, in fact, marked the
turning-point in the history of the Straits.
From that period the progress of the colony
has been continuous, and the teasing doubts of
timid statesmen have changed to a feeling of
complacent satisfaction at the contemplation of
balance-sheets indicative of an enduring pros-
perity.

Some facts and figures may here be ap-
propriately introduced to illustrate the mar-
vellous development of the settlements since
the introduction of Crown government. The
financial and trade position is clearly shown
in the following table given in Sir Frank
Swettenham's work and brought up to date
by the inclusion of the latest figures :

Expenditure in
Dollars.

Trade.

Year.

Revenue in Dollars.

Value of Imports

Value of Exports

in Dollars.

1868

1,301,843

1,197,177

42,119,708

37,993.856

1869

1,313.046

1,164,354

43,986,222

40,583,322

I87O

1,378,748

1,259,376

54,449,388

47,989,953

1871

1,405,703

1,254,1"

56,016,661

51,807,601

1872

1,536,274

1,20,311

63,650,222

62,149,329

1873

i,S02,094

1,415,828

64,795,135

60,312,143

1874

1,458,782

1,679,210

67."7,979

62,643,195

I«75

1,538,854

1,805,229

63,137,716

62,493.328

1880

2.361,300

2,038,947

83,718,103

78,051,739

1885

3,508,074

3,593.149

110,356,7^6

100,513,222

I89O

4,269,125

3,757,691

147,297,317

127,923,682

I«95

4,048,360

3,782,456

198,218,306

172,974,953

IQOO

5,386,557

6,030,744

314,089,860

262,617,345

1904

10,746,518

10,848,989

383,942,088

326,193,851

I905

11,657,424

10,980,391

332,233.916

282,960,785

upon to bear. His worst defect, however, was
his ignorance of Malay affairs. Knowing
nothing of the special conditions of the archi-
pelago and of the peculiar characteristics of the
inhabitants of the colony, he perpetrated many
blunders which a man differently equipped
would have avoided. His worst mistake was
his support of the exchange of our interests in
Sumatra for Dutch concessions which made us
masters of the inhospitable wastes of the Gold
Coast in West Africa. By this transfer we
renounced rights centuries old in one of the
richest islandi of the tropics for the dubious
privilege of exercising supremacy over hostile
tribes and a dominion over a fever-stricken

After the grant of Crown government to the
settlements the administration broadened out
into a system which, as years went by, became
more and more comprehensive of the interests
of Malaya. In other sections of the work will
be found a detailed description of the origin
and growth of the existing arrangements by
which to the government of the three original
settlements is added the control of the Protected
Malay States, a vast territory rich in mineral
and agricultural wealth and of high future com-
mercial promise. All that it is necessary to
note here is that the marvellous development
of this important area had its natural influence
on the trade of Singapore as the chief port of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the Straits. Another and still more potent
(actor was the opening of the Suez Canal and
the consequent impetus given to steam naviga-
tion. In 1868 the tonnage of Singapore was
1,300,000 ; twenty years later it had increased
to 6,200,000 ; and to-day, after another twenty
years, it is over 13,000,000 tons. The popula-
tion of the city has shown an equally remarkable
increase. In 1857 an official return issued by
the Supreme Government placed the number of
the inhabitants at 57,42 r. Each successive year
there was a large accession to the number of
inhabitants until 1881, when the census showed
a population of 139,308. Ten years later the
number of inhabitants had risen to 184,554, ar| d
in 1901 the return gave a population of 228,555.
To-day the population of Singapore is estimated
to be above 250,000, or nearly rive times what
it was fifty years since. Remarkable as the
growth of the port has been in the past, its
progress seems likely to be not less rapid in the
future. Sir Frank Swettenham anticipates the
time when Singapore will have at least a
million inhabitants. As it is, the port — in the
volume of its trade — is the largest in the British
Empire next to London, Liverpool, and Hong-
kong. Side by side with commercial progress
there has been a steady growth in municipal
efficiency. The history of the municipality is
treated in detail elsewhere, but it may be noted
here that the municipal revenue, which in 1859
amounted to 90,407 dollars against disburse-
ments totalling 129,30 dollars, in 1905 reached
the enormous sum of 2,149,951 dollars, as com-
pared with an expenditure of 2,158,645 dollars.
In the five years ending 1905 the municipal
income was almost doubled.

A question hotly debated for a good many
years in the Straits was the contribution exacted
by the Imperial Government from the colony
for military defence. The view of the settle-
ments as a purely local territory which had
obtained in the years of the East India
Company's administration was one which
Whitehall adopted with complacency, and
forthwith it proceeded to charge against the
revenues of the colony the very heavy cost of
maintaining a garrison which, if it had any
raisou d'etre at all, was placed where it was
to uphold imperial as distinct from colonial
interests. When the Imperial Government
assumed the control of the colony the annual
contribution of the colony towards the military
expenses was fixed at £50,145. At or about
this figure it remained until 1889, when, follow-
ing upon the completion of an extensive system
of fortification associated with the general
scheme of protecting naval coaling stations
abroad, the Colonial Office presented a
peremptory demand for the increase of the
contribution to £100,000. There was a feeling
akin to consternation in the settlements at the
action of the imperial authorities. With a
rapidly falling exchange and a practically
stationary revenue, the doubling of the mili-
tary contribution constituted a grievous burden
upon the colony. The payment of the larger
sum meant the complete stoppage of many
useful works urgently needed in the develop-
ment of the settlements. Alarmed at the
prospect which was opened up, and irritated
at the despotic manner in which the change
was introduced, the mercantile community of

Singapore set on foot a vehement agitation
against the proposal. Official opinion in the
colony was in strong sympathy with the
movement, but the terms of the despatch of
Lord Knutsford, the Secretary for the Colonies,
in which the demand was preferred gave the
local government no option in the matter.
Accordingly on February 13, 1890, the neces-
sary resolution to give effect to the Home
Government's views was introduced in the
Legislative Council and passed. The circum-
stances under which the vote was sanctioned,
however, left no doubt as to the view taken by
official and non-official members alike. While
the latter delivered strenuous protests against
the action of the Imperial Government and
voted without exception against the resolution,
the former maintained an eloquent silence.
The official reticence was confined to the
debate. When the proceedings of the Council
were sent home the Governor, Sir Clementi
Smith, accompanied them with a powerfully
reasoned plea against the increase, and this
was supplemented by minutes of the same tenor
from other members of the Government.

LORD CANNING, VICKROY OF INDIA.

Though hopelessly worsted in argument,
Lord Knutsford declined to be moved from
his position. He brushed aside with a few
out-of-date quotations of earlier opinions of
Straits people the view emphatically asserted
in the communications he had received that
Singapore is a great imperial outpost, the
maintenance of which in a state of military
efficiency is an imperial rather than a local
concern. The Government, he said, did not
think that the contribution was excessive or
beyond what the colony could easily pay, and
they would make no abatement in the demands
already made. On the receipt of the despatch
(of January 10, 1891) embodying this decision
of the Colonial Office to persist in their ex-
tortionate claim, the fires of agitation were
kindled with new vigour in Singapore. When
the votes came up at the Legislative Council
for sanction on March 5, 1891, strong language
was used by the non-official members in

characterising the attitude assumed by the
Home Government on the question. One
speaker declared that the interests of the
colony were being "betrayed" ; another re-
marked "that this 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 is a disgrace to
civilised government" ; while a third reminded
her Majesty's Government " that loyalty is a
hardy plant which asks for a fair field and no
favour ; it withers under injustice." Once
more a great number of protests were poured
into the Colonial Office against the demand.
The only jarring note to the chorus of con-
demnatory criticism was supplied by Sir
Charles Warren, the officer commanding the
troops, who took the view that the Singapore
people got good value for their money in the
military protection afforded them and were
quite able to bear the burden. Lord Knutsford,
entrenched behind the ramparts raised by an
exacting Treasury, still declined to make any
reduction in the contribution. He promised,
however, that " if unfortunately the revenues
of the colony should decrease," her Majesty's
Government would be prepared to review the
situation. The revenues of the colony un-
fortunately did decrease in 1890 and in 1891
as compared with 1889, and promptly a request
was preferred to the Colonial Office for the
redemption of the pledge.

After a considerable amount of additional
controversy and a vigorous agitation of the
question both in the Straits and at home,
the Marquess of Ripon, who had succeeded
Lord Knutsford as Colonial Secretary on the
change of Government, in a despatch dated
November 6, 1894, announced that the Govern-
ment were prepared to reduce the colonial
contribution to £80,000 for 1894 and £90,000
for 1895. At the same time it was intimated
that the contributions for the years 1896-97-98
were provisionally fixed at £100,000, £110,000,
and £120,000. This re-arrangement of the
contributions left the ultimate liability pre-
cisely where it was, and not unnaturally the
colony emphatically declined to accept Lord
Ripon's view that " sensible relief " had been
afforded. A further period of agitation fol-
lowed, culminating as a final protest in the
resignation of three members of the Legislative
Council, of eighteen justices of the peace, and
of the whole of the members of the Chinese
Advisory Board — an important body which is a
link between the Government and the Chinese
community. This dramatic action convinced
the Imperial Government at length that the
inhabitants of the Straits Settlements were in
earnest in their determination not to submit to
the burden of the heavy military contribution.
In a despatch dated June 28, 1895, ^ord Ripon
intimated that the Government were prepared
to settle the question of a military contribution
on the basis of an annual payment equivalent
to 17J per cent, of the total revenue of the
colony. In this arrangement the colonists
were compelled perforce to acquiesce. But
they have never acknowledged the justice of
the principle upon which the payment is fixed.
The imperial authorities on their part have
every reason to congratulate themselves on the
change introduced in the method of assessing

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the payment, for the military contribution in
1905 was 1,911,585 dollars — practically double
the amount which the colonists regarded as
so excessive.

Singapore's development as a great imperial
outpost and commercial entrepot is proceeding
on lines commensurate with the magnificence
of its strategical position and the vastness of its
trade. The acquisition by Government of the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company's property in
circumstances which are fully dealt with else-
where in these pages has strengthened the
naval position enormously by providing under
absolute Government control a base for the
refitting and repair of the largest vessels of
his Majesty's navy in Far Eastern seas. On
the purely commercial side an equally im-
portant step forward has been taken by the
acceptance of the tender of Sir John Jackson,
Ltd., for the construction of new harbour
works involving an immediate expenditure of
about a million and a quarter sterling. With
these striking evidences that the importance of

Singapore both for imperial and trade purposes
is fully realised in the highest quarters, there is
every reason to hope that "its future will be one
of uninterrupted and ever-increasing prosperity.
It has been said that you cannot set limits to
the march of a nation. He would be a wise
man who would set limits to the march of
Singapore. With the great markets of China
still to be opened up to trade, and with the
Malay countries only as yet in the first stage
of their development, it may very well be that
the port, phenomenal as its past progress has
been, is only on the threshold of its career.
Certainly nothing short of a calamity which will
paralyse the trade of the world is likely to put
a period to its advancement to a position in
the very first rank of the cities of the Empire.

As we began this historical survey of Singa-
pore with a reference to its great founder, so
we may appropriately end it by quoting the
eloquent words used by Sir Frederick Weld,
the then Governor of the Straits Settlements, in
unveiling the Raffles statue at Singapore on

the occasion of the Jubilee celebration in 1887.
"Look around," said his Excellency, "and a
greater monument than any that the highest art
or the most lavish outlay can raise to Raffles is
visible in this, that his name is still held in
affectionate veneration by all our races, that all
acknowledge the benefits that have resulted
from his wise policy. See that crowd of
splendid shipping in the harbour in front of
his statue. Cast a glance at the city which
surrounds it, on the evidences of civilisation —
churches, public buildings and offices, law
courts, educational establishments— in the
vicinity of this spacious recreation ground on
which we stand and near which he landed.
Were this all, it would be still sufficient to say,
Si mouumentiim queens circumspicc. But this
is only a small part of the monument. Look
for it in other parts of the colony. Look for it
in the native States. . . . Look for it in the con-
stantly increasing influence of the British name
in these parts, and you will say with me that in
Raffles England had one of her greatest sons."

PINANG (INCLUDING PROVINCE WELLESLEY AND THE DINDINGS).

CHAPTER I.
The Foundation of the Settlement.

PINANG, like Singapore, owes its existence
as a British possession mainly to the
statesmanlike foresight, energy, and diplomatic
resourcefulness of one man. Raffles's prototype
and predecessor in the work of Empire-building
in the Straits was Francis Light, a bold and
original character, who passed from the
position of trader and sea captain to that of
administrator by one of those easy transitions
which marked the history of the East India
Company in the eighteenth century. Light
was born at Dallinghoo, in Suffolk, on Decem-
ber 15, 1740. His parentage is somewhat
obscure, though the presumption is that he
came of a good stock, for he claimed as a
relative William Negus, son of Colonel Francis
Negus, who held high office in the court of
George I., and who was the owner of extensive
estatesat Dallinghoo and Melton. Light received
his early education at the Woodbridge Grammar
School, and afterwards was sent into the navy,
serving as midshipman on H.M.S. Arrogant.
In 1765 he quitted the service and went out to
India to seek his fortune, after the manner of
many well-bred young men of that day.
Arrived at Calcutta, he was given the command
of a ship trading between India, Lower Siam,
and the Malay ports. From that time forward
he found practically exclusive employment in
the Straits trade. An excellent linguist, he
speedily acquired the Siamese and Malay
languages, and through their medium, assisted
no doubt by the sterling integrity of his char-
acter, he won the confidence of the native
chiefs. His headquarters for a good many
years were at Salang, or Junk Ceylon, as it
was then known, a large island on the north-
west side of the peninsula. Here he lived
amongst the Malay population, honoured and
respected. The ties of intimacy thus formed

with the native population brought abundant
fruit in a prosperous trade and, what is more
to our immediate purpose, a close personal
knowledge of native politics. Experience of
the Straits taught him, as it taught Raffles a
good many years later, that if British influence
was to hold its own against Dutch exclusive-
ness a more efficient and central settlement
than Bencoolen must be found. Impressed

WARREN HASTINGS.
(From a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.)

with this idea he, in 1771, laid a definite pro-
posal before Warren Hastings, the then
Governor-General, for the acquisition of
Pinang as "a convenient magazine for Eastern
trade." The great man had already, in his
statesmanlike vision, seen the necessity of
planting the British flag more firmly in this
sphere of the Company's influence. But for
some reason Light's proposal was coldly re-
ceived. Undismayed by the rebuff, Light
continued to press the importance of establish-
ing a new settlement, and in 1780 he proceeded

to Calcutta to lay before Hastings a definite
scheme for the creation of a British port on
Salang. The illustrious administrator received
him kindly, and probably would have fallen in
with his views had not the outbreak of war
with the French and the Dutch diverted his
attention to more pressing issues. The matter
was shelved for some years, and then Mr.
Kinloch was despatched by the Supreme
Government to Achin to attempt to found a
settlement in that part of the Straits. The mis-
sion was an entire failure owing to the hostile
attitude assumed by the natives. Light chanced
to be in Calcutta on Mr. Kinloch's return, and
he seized the opportunity afforded by the con-
tretemps of again pressing the desirability of
the acquisition of Pinang upon the attention
of the authorities. In a communication on the
subject dated February 15, 1786, he pointed out
to the Government that the Dutch had been so
active in their aggression that there was no
place left to choose from but Junk Ceylon,
Achin, and Quedah (Kedah). He went on to
show that Achin could not be adopted without
subduing all the chiefs, and that if Junk Ceylon
were chosen it would take six or seven years
to clear the jungle sufficiently to furnish enough
produce to supply the needs of the fleet, though
the island was rich in minerals and could be
easily fortified. There remained for considera-
tion Quedah, or (as in deference to modern
spelling we had better call it) Kedah, and in
regard to this situation Light stated that he
was able to report that the Sultan of Kedah
had agreed to cede the island of Pinang. He
enclosed a letter from the Sultan, in which the
chief set forth the terms upon which he was
willing to make the cession. The communica-
tion was as follows : —

" Whereas Captain Light, Dewa Raja, came
here and informed me that the Rajah of Bengal
ordered him to request Pulau Pinang from me
to make an English settlement, where the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

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 the west

COL. WILLIAM LIGHT, SON OF THE

POUNDER OP PINANG.

(From a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.)

should come to attack us the Company would
regard them as enemies also and fight them, and
all the expenses of such wars shall be borne by
the Company. All thips, junks or prows, large

and small, which come from the east or the
west and wish to enter the Kedah river to trade
shall not be molested or obstructed in any way
by the Company, but all persons desirous of
coining to trade with us shall be allowed to do
as they please ; and at Pulau Pinang the
same.

"The articles of opium, tin, and rattans are
monopolies of our own, and the rivers Muda, •
Prai and Krian are the places from whence tin,
rattans, cane, besides other articles, are obtained.
When the Company's people, therefore, shall
reside at Pulau Pinang, I shall lose the benefit
of this monopoly, and I request the captain will
explain this to the Governor-General, and beg, as
a compensation for my losses, 30,000 dollars a
year to be paid annually to me as long as the
Company reside at Pulau Pinang. 1 shall permit
the free export of all sorts of provisions, and
timber for shipbuilding.

" Moreover, if any of the agents of the Com-
pany make loans or advances to any of the
nobles, chiefs, or rajahs of the Kedah country,
the Company shall not hold me responsible for
any such advances. Should any one in this
country become my enemy, even my own
children, all such shall be considered as enemies
also of the Company ; the Company shall not
alter their engagements of alliance so long as
the heavenly bodies continue to perform their
revolutions ; and when any enemies attack us
from the interior, they also 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 confi-
dential agent to Pulau Pinang 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 Government were impressed, as well they
might be, with the facts and the letter brought
to their notice by Light, and in a little more
than a week from the receipt of his communi-
cation the Governor-General formally expressed
his approval of the scheme for the settlement of
Pinang on the terms outlined. The Govern-
ment themselves appear to have earlier un-
successfully endeavoured to obtain a grant of
the island from the Sultan, and there were many
speculations at the time as to the means by
which Light had succeeded where the
authorities had failed. Out of the gossip of the
period arose a romantic but quite apocryphal
story that Light had received the island as a
dower with his bride, who was a daughter of
the Sultan. Light had certainly married a
daughter of the country a few years before this
period in the person of Martina Rozells, a lady
of Siamese-Portuguese or Malay-Portuguese
descent, but she was not related to the Raja of
Kedah, and she was not a princess. Romance,
however, dies hard, and so it is that the tradi-
tion of royal ancestry for Light's descendants

PULO PINANG EARLY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
(Sketch by Captain R. Elliott, R.X., published in Fisher's "Views in India, China, and the Shores of the Red Sea.")

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

has been handed down until we meet with it in
an official publication so recent as the last
catalogue of the National Portrait Gallery,
where Colonel Light, the founder of Adelaide,
Francis Light's eldest son, is described as
"Son of a commander in the Indian navy and
a Malayan princess."

Light, having convinced the authorities that
the time had come for action, found them eager
to carry the negotiations through with as little
delay as possible. Early in May, 1786, he
sailed from Calcutta with definite instructions
to complete the engagement with the Sultan of
Kedah for the cession of Pinang. He reached
Kedah Roads near Alor Star on June 29th, and
landed on the following morning under a salute
from the fort and three volleys from the
marines. A leading official received him, and
from him he learned that war was proceeding
between Siam and Burma, and that the Sultan
feared that he himself, might be involved.
Light re-embarked and landed again on the 1st
of July in due state. There was some little
delay in his reception by the Sultan, owing to
the state officials demurring to the presents
which Light brought on the ground of their in-
adequacy. Eventually, on the 3rd of July Light
was ushered into the Sultan's presence. He
found him greatly troubled at a passage in the
Governor-General's letter which seemed to him
to threaten pains and penalties if the arrange-
ment was not made. Light diplomatically
smoothed the matter over, and the treaty was
duly signed, subject to the approval of the

authorities in London. On the 10th of July
Light took leave of the Sultan, and four days
later, having re-embarked his escort and suite,
proceeded in the Eliza, the Prince Henry and
the Speedwell accompanying him, to Pinang.
The little flotilla dropped anchor in the harbour
within musket shot of the shore on the 15th of
July. Two days later Lieutenant Gray, of the
Speedwell, with a body of marines, disembarked
on Point Pinaggar, a low sandy tongue of land,
which is considered by some to be now the
Esplanade, but which is by Messrs. Culiin and
Zehnder deemed to be the land near the Fort
Point, between the end of Light Street and the
Iron Wharf opposite the Government buildings.
Lieutenant Gray's advance party was reinforced
on the following day by the Europeans, and
thenceforward the work of establishing the
occupation proceeded with the utmost expedi-
tion. Soon a little town of atap houses arose
about the shore, with, on one side, a small
bazaar accommodating a number of Kedah
traders who had been attracted to the spot by
the prospect of lucrative business. The artillery
and stores were landed on the nth of August,
and H.M.S. Valentine opportunely arriving in
harbour the same day, Light deemed that the
occasion was auspicious for taking formal pos-
session of the island. The ceremony took place
about noon, the captains of the ships in harbour
and some gentlemen passengers, with a body of
marines and artillerymen, assisting. After the
Union Jack had been hoisted on the flagstaff and
the artillery and the ships had thundered out a

salute, the proclamation was made that the
island in future would be known as Prince of
Wales Island, in honour of the Heir Apparent
(afterwards George IV.), whose birthday fell the

CHARLES, FIRST MARQUESS CORN-

WALLIS.

(Governor-General of India during the period immediately

following the occupation of Pinang. From a portrait

in the National Portrait Gallery.)

next day, and that the capital would be known
as Georgetown, out of compliment to the sove-
reign, George III. There were mutual con-
gratulations on the birth of the new settlement,

VIEW FROM HALLIBURTON'S HILL, PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND.
(From Daniell's "Views of Prince of Wales Island," published early in the nineteenth century.)

5-2

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

which everyone recognised was destined to have
before it a useful career.

The faith of Light and his associates in the
future of the settlement was based rather on an
appreciation of the natural advantages of the
situation than on any material attractions in
the island itself. Truth to tell, the Pinang of
that day was little better than an uninhabited
waste. Supplies of all kinds had to be obtained
from Kedah, for there was practically no culti-
vation. Roads of course there were none, not
even of the most rudimentary description. The
interior was a thick jungle, through which
every step taken by civilisation would have to
be by laborious effort. Still, the town was laid
out with a complete belief in the permanency of
the occupation. To each of the native nation-
alities separate quarters were allotted. The
European or official quarter was marked out on
imposing lines. As a residence for himself and
a home for future chief administrators of the
colony Light built a capacious dwelling, which
he called, in compliment to the county of his
birth, Suffolk House, and which, standing in park-
like grounds, bore more than a passing resem-
blance to the comfortable country houses in the
neighbourhood of Melton, in Suffolk, with which
he was familiar. The new settlement early
attracted emigrants from various parts. From
Kedah came a continual stream, prominent
amongst the intending settlers being a consi-
derable number of Indians, or Chulias as they
were then known. Malays, good and bad, put
in an appearance from various quarters, and a
French missionary transferred himself with his
entire flock from the mainland with the full ap-
proval of Light, who thoroughly realised that the
broader the base upon which the new settlement
was built the more prosperous it was likely to
be. Almost every ship from the south brought,
too, a contingent of Chinese. They would
have come in much larger numbers but for the
vigilance of the Dutch, who were jealous of the
new port and did their utmost to destroy its
prospects of success. In spite of this and other
obstacles the settlement grew steadily. Within
two years of the occupation there were over 400
acres of land under cultivation, and a year or so
later the population of the settlement was re-
turned at the respectable figure of io,ooo. The
trade of the port within a few years of the
hoisting of the British flag was of the value of
more than a million Spanish dollars.

Associated with the early history of Pinang
is a notable achievement by Admiral Sir Home
Riggs Popham which created a great stir at the
time. Popham, who at that period was engaged
in private trade, in 1791 undertook to carry a
cargo of rice from Calcutta to the Malabar coast
for the use of the army employed there. He-
was driven out of his course by the monsoon
and compelled to bear up for Pinang. While
his ship was refitting Popham made an exact sur-
vey of the island and discovered a new channel
to the southward, through which, in the early
part of 1792, he piloted the Company's fleet to
China. His services earned for him the grati-
tude of the East India Company and the more
substantial reward of a gold cup, presented by
the Governor-General. Popham was one of
the most distinguished sailors of his time,
and his name is well deserving of a place in
the roll of eminent men who at one time or

another have been connected with the Straits
Settlements.

At the earliest period in the life of the settle-
ment the question of fiscal policy arose for con-
sideration. In a letler to Light, dated January
22, 1787, Sir John Macpherson, the Governor-
General, outlined the views of the Government
on the point as follows :

"At present our great object in settling
Prince of Wales Island is to secure a port of
refreshment and repair for the King's, the
Company's, and the country ships, and we
must leave it to time and to your good manage-
ment to establish it as a port of commerce. If
the situation is favourable, the merchants will
find their advantage in resorting with their
goods to it, and, as an inducement to them, we
desire you will refrain from levying any kind
of duties or tax on goods landed or vessels
importing at Prince of Wales Island, and it is
our wish to make the port free to all nations."
Thus it will be seen that Pinang was originally
cast for the role of a free port, but fate — in plain
truth, expediency — decided against the adoption
of a Free Trade policy, and it was left to Sir
Stamford Raffles to give effect to Sir John
Macpherson's views in another sphere with
the happiest results. Light's own opinions on
the subject were given in a communication he
forwarded in the first year of the occupation in
response to a request from the Supreme Govern-
ment to say how he proposed to meet the
growing expenses of the Pinang administra-
tion. Light suggested the adoption of a middle
course between the opening of the port abso-
lutely to all comers and the adoption of an
all-round system of custom duties. "To levy a
general duty on all goods which come to this
port would," he wrote, "defeat the intention of
Government in making remittances to China by
the barter of the manufactures of India for the
produce of other countries. The present situa-
tion of the surrounding kingdoms, distracted by
foreign and civil wars which deprive their in-
habitants of the privilege of bringing the
produce of their lands to this port, added to
the various impediments thrown in the way of
the English trade by the Dutch, who prevent
the Chinese junks and the Malay and Bugis
prows from passing Malacca, while by threats
they cause some of the Malay States and by
force oblige others to desist from trading with
the English, are obstacles too great to admit of
the levying with success any general duties."
Light went on to say that in his view the island
ought to be treated as a colony, and the expense
of maintaining it drawn from land and not from
the trade, which should be encouraged as much
as possible, to the end that the export of manu-
factures of the Company's territories in India
might be extended, and the remittances to
China by the sale of these manufactures in-
creased. Still, he recognised that money had
to be found for immediate needs, and he
accordingly suggested a system of customs
duties on foreign goods or goods imported in
foreign vessels. The chief imposts were : 4 pet-
cent, upon all India goods imported in foreign
vessels ; 4 per cent, upon all goods imported in
Chulia vessels not immediately from any of the
Company's settlements ; 6 per cent, upon all
China goods without distinction ; 6 per cent,
upon all tobacco, salt, arrack, sugar, and coarse

cloths, the produce or manufacture of Java or
any other Dutch possession to the eastward ;
6 per cent, upon all European articles imported
by foreign ships unless the produce or manu-
facture of Great Britain. The Supreme Govern-
ment gave their assent to these proposals, and
they were introduced with results so unsatis-
factory that the system was abandoned in favour
of a more uniform system of duties. Eventually,
as will be seen, all imposts were abolished, and
Pinang became, like Singapore, a free port.
Meanwhile, a series of excise farms were set
up to raise money for specific administrative
purposes. These constituted for many years
the backbone of the revenue system, and they
still form a not unimportant part of it.

Politically the affairs of the new settlement
ran none too smoothly in the early period of its
existence. Apart from the obstructiveness of
the Dutch, Light had to deal with the serious
discontent of the Sultan, arising out of the in-
terpretation put by the Supreme Government
upon their arrangement with him. Sir Frank
Swettenham, in his work, enters at great length
into a consideration of this question, and he
does not hesitate to characterise in the strongest
terms what he regards as the bad faith of the
Supreme Government in their dealings with
the Sultan and his successors. The point of
the whole matter is whether, in return for the
cession, the Government pledged themselves to
defend the Sultan's territories against aggres-
sion, and especially Siamese aggression. Sir
Frank Swettenham emphatically affirms that
they did, and the mass of documentary evidence
which he adduces in favour of that view is cer-
tainly fairly conclusive on the subject. Light
himself appears to have regarded the extension
of British protection to the State as an essential
feature of the bargain. He again and again
urged upon the Supreme Government with
much earnestness the desirability of affording
the Sultan the protection he demanded. He
pointed out that the success of the Siamese
would have very injurious effects on the Com-
pany's interests. " If they destroy the country
of Kedah," he wrote, "they deprive us of out-
great supplies of provisions, and the English
will suffer disgrace in tamely suffering the
King of Kedah to be cut off. We shall then
be obliged to war in self-defence against the
Siamese and Malays. Should your lordship
resolve upon protecting Kedah, two companies
of sepoys with four six-pounder field pieces,
and a supply of small arms and ammunition,
will effectually defend this country against the
Siamese, who, though they are a very destruc-
tive enemy, are by no means formidable in
battle ; and it will be much less expense to
give the King of Kedah timely assistance than
be obliged to drive out the Siamese after they
have possessed themselves of the country."
The Calcutta authorities turned a deaf ear to
this representation, as they did to others not
less urgent that Light forwarded. Their hands
were doubtless too full at the time with the
struggle against the French to be easily turned
towards the course to which a nice honour would
have directed them. In July, 1789, Light wrote
to the Government at Calcutta informing them
that the Sultan had declined to accept a mone-
tary compensation for the island, and at the
same time had "endeavoured to draw a full

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

promise that the Honourable Company would
assist him with arms and men in case an attack
from the Siamese should render it necessary."
This demand Light said he had met with the
evasive answer that no treaty which was likely
to occasion a dispute between the Company and
the Siamese could be made without the appro-
bation of the King of Great Britain. The
Sultan, rinding that diplomacy had failed to
secure what he wanted, resolved to attempt to
oust the English from the island. Early in 1790
he assembled a formidable force of ten thousand
men and a fleet of twenty war prahus manned
by pirates at Prye. Here a stockade was
erected, and only "a propitious day" was
wanting for the attack. This never came, for
Light anticipated the Sultan's move by an
attack of his own, conducted by four hundred
well-armed men. The stockade was captured
and the fleet of prahus dispersed. Ultimately,
on the 16th of April the Sultan sued for peace,
and Light concluded a new treaty with him.
This instrument, which was afterwards approved
by the Supreme Government, provided for the
exclusion of all other Europeans not trading or
settling in Kedah, the mutual exchange of slaves,
debtors, and murderers, the importation of food
stuffs, and the payment of an annual subsidy of
6,000 dollars to the Sultan. The question of
British protection remained in abeyance until
1793, when the Home Government issued the
definitive instruction that " no offensive and
defensive alliance should be made with the
Rajah of Kedah." Here, as far as Light was
concerned, the controversy ended, as he died
in the following year, and an opportunity did
not occur in the interval of raising the question
afresh in the face of the direct mandate from
home. But to the end of his days he is believed
to have felt acutely the injustice of which he
had been made the unwilling agent.

A few months before his death Light in-
dited a communication to Sir John Shore,
who had succeeded Macpherson as Governor-
General, urging the necessity of establishing a
judicial system in the island. The letter is a
long and able document, setting forth the
peculiar conditions of the island, the charac-
teristics of the various elements in the population,
and the inadequacy of the arrangements which
at that time existed for administering justice.
Light concluded his survey with these remarks,
which show the liberal, far-seeing character of
the man: "A regular form of administering
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 superintendent should have
it in his power to exercise an arbitrary judg-
ment upon persons and things ; whether this
judgment is iniquitous or not, the mode is still
arbitrary and disagreeable to society." The
Supreme Government, in response to the
appeal, framed certain regulations for the
administration of law in the settlement, and
these remained in force until a regular judicial
system was introduced in May, 1808, with Sir
Edmond Stanley, K.T., as the first Recorder.
It will be of interest before passing from this
subject to note that one of the magistrates
appointed under the regulations was Mr. John
Dickens, an uncle of the great novelist, who
previous to his appointment at Prince of Wales

Island had practised with considerable success
at the Calcutta Bar. An amusing story illus-
trative of life in Pinang in those early days
figures on the records. One morning Mr.
Dickens was taking his usual ride when he
met an irate suitor — a certain Mr. Douglas —
who required " an explanation and satisfaction "
of him relative to a case just concluded, in
which Douglas appeared as the defendant.
Mr. Dickens replied spiritedly that he was
surprised at the man's daring to interrogate
him in that manner, and told him that he would
not permit him or any man to expect that he
would explain his official conduct as judge.
Upon this Douglas said he would have ample
satisfaction, and swore that he would have the
magistrate's blood. Mr. Dickens, not to be
outdone, " 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, "that he
had no pistols, but if he had he would." Mr.
Dickens, in transmitting his account of the
episode to Raffles, who was then Colonial
Secretary, cited it as "another instance of the
injurious effects resulting from the Hon.
Governor-General in Council compelling me
lo examine into complaints against British
subjects, whose judicial respect and obedience
to my judicial opinion I not only cannot com-
mand, but who think themselves authorised to
resent as a private personal injury the judicial
duties I perform in obedience to the injunctions
of the Hon. Governor-General in Council."
No doubt this protest of Mr. Dickens had no
small influence in bringing about the establish-
ment of the judicial system already referred to.
Before this incident occurred, as we have
mentioned, Light had been removed by death.
His demise occurred on October 21, 1794, from
malarial fever. He left behind him a widow,
two sons, and three daughters. The elder son,
William Light, was sent to England to the
charge of Mr. George Doughty, High Sheriff of
Suffolk, a friend of Light's foster parents. He
entered the army and served with distinction in
the Peninsular War, finally becoming aide-de-
camp to the Duke of Wellington. Later he
achieved fame in quite another field. As the
first Surveyor-General of South Australia he laid
out the city of Adelaide, and he did so on lines
which have won for the place the designation of
" the Garden City." Every year at the elec-
tion of mayor of Adelaide the " Memory of
Colonel Light" is solemnly drunk. It is a
recognition of his title to the position of
father and founder of the city. Light's second
son, Francis Lanoon Light, had a somewhat
chequered career. At the time of the British
occupation of Java he held the position of
British Resident of Muntok, in Banka. Later
we find him a suitor for charity at the hands of
the East India Company on the ground that he
was " labouring under great affliction from
poverty and distress." The Directors, in view
of the services of his distinguished father,
granted him on July 4, 1821, a pension of ^."100
a year. He died on October 25, 1823, so that
he did not live long to enjoy the rather nig-
gardly bounty of the Company.

CHAPTER II.

Early Years.

AFTER Light's death the Company appear to
have had a cold fit on the subject of Prince of
Wales Island. The first brilliant expectations
formed of the settlement had not been realised.
The trade did not grow in proportion to the
expenses of administration, and there were
numerous political difficulties to be contended
with. In the circumstances the Government
were disposed to lend an ear to the detractors
of Light's enterprise, who had from the first re-
presented the settlement as one of the Company's
bad bargains. A proposition actually enter-
tained by them was the abandonment of the
settlement in favour of one on one of the Anda-
man Islands, where a convict station and' har-
bour of refuge had already been established.
The Government sent Major Kyd to report on
the respective merits of the two situations.
This officer set forth his conclusions in a com-
munication dated August 20, 1795. They were
opposed to the removal of the Company's centre
of influence from Pinang. Major Kyd pointed
out that Port Cornwallis, the alternative situa-
tion in the Andamans, was out of the track of
regular commerce, and that a station there
would answer no other purpose than a harbour
and a receptacle for convicts, while Prince of
Wales Island was well calculated for defending
the Straits of Malacca and for securing commu-
nication to the eastward. The writer doubted,
however, whether the island could pay its way,
though he acknowledged that if the Dutch
authority to the eastward were not re-estab-
lished the intercourse with Malay merchants
would be greater and the revenues proportion-
ately increased. The report was conclusive as
to the superior advantages of Prince of Wales
Island. But the Court of Directors, in dismissing
the idea of abandonment, sardonically remarked
that revenue at the settlement arose from the
vices rather than the industry of the inhabitants
— a reference to the fact that the opium and
gaining farms were the leading items on the
credit side of the settlement's balance-sheet.

It is in the period immediately following
Light's death that we first discover traces of
the growth of a municipal system. In June,
1795, Mr. Philip Manington, who had suc-
ceeded the founder of the settlement as Super-
intendent, appointed, on a salary of Rs. 150 per
month, a Mr. Philip Maclntyre as clerk of the
market and scavenger, " because of the intoler-
able condition of filth in the streets." In approv-
ing this appointment the Supreme Government
wrote inquiring " how far in Mr. Manington's
opinion the imposition of a moderate tax on
houses and grounds within the town for the
purposes exclusively of obtaining a fund for
cleansing and draining the town and keep-
ing the streets in repair is practicable." The
Superintendent, writing on September 25, 1795,
reported the enforcement of a tax on houses
and shops in the bazaar belonging to natives
according to the extent of the ground occupied.
He proceeded : " Since the above period the
gentlemen and other inhabitants, owners of
houses and ground situated on what is called the
Point and within the limits of Georgetown,
have had a meeting, and have given it as their

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF HRITISH MALAYA

opinion that the most equitable mode to adopt
would be that a committee of gentlemen should
be appointed to tix a valuation on every par-
ticular house, and that so much per cent, on

" But," he added, " I have to observe that the
tax I have recommended will be more than
double sufficient to answer all expenses what-
ever that can be incurred in the bazaar."

which reference has been made above, the
value of Prince of Wales Island was abundantly
proved. In 1797 the Government of India had
in contemplation an expedition against Manilla,

\ 'm

PLAN OF

GEORGE TOWN

in 1803.

1 Government House

2 Court House

3 PubHc Offices

4 Ground reserved for a Chi
' 5 Mash-

6 N'-w Rice Godowng

7 Jail

8 Fish Mark**!"

9 Fowl Market

10 Mosque built bv tl

nea Church

12 Sepoys' Unts

13 Admiral's Ho

14 Large Well
t5 Government AitiHcers
1-. N«w Store Rooms
17 Partly fitted UP

14'

PLAN OF GEORGETOWN (PINANG) IN 1803.
(From Sir George I.eith's " Short Account of Prince of Wnles Island," published 1804.1

that valuation should be levied." In reference
to the Government's particular inquiry, Mr.
Manington reported that he was of opinion
that the levying of any tax over and above
that he had recommended would for the
present "become a great burden on the native
inhabitants in the bazaai, hundreds of whom
still remain in very indigent circumstances."

Nothing further appears to have been done at
this juncture to establish a municipal system.
But some years later the suggested body to
assess the value of property was created under
the designation of the Committee of Assessors,
and from this authority was developed the
existing municipal constitution.
Two years after Major Kyd's mission, to

and they got together a considerable force for
the purpose. Prince of Wales Island, as the
most advanced post of the Company, was made
the rendezvous of the expedition. Here, in
August of that year, were gathered five thou-
sand European troops with a large native
force under the command of General St. Leger.
The famous Duke of Wellington (then simple

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Colonel Wellesley) was present in command of
the 33rd Regiment, which formed a part of the
expedition. He seems to have been commis-
sioned to draw up a paper on the settlement,
for a " Memorandum of Pulo Penang " from his
pen figures in the archives. The great soldier
saw at a glance the value of the place to the
British. He emphasised its importance as a
military station, and showed how it could be
held by a comparatively insignificant force
against all comers. He concluded with
some general remarks on the question of ad-
ministration, recommending that the natives
should be left under the direction of their head-
men, while at the head of the magistracy of the
island there should be a European magistrate
"who should inform himself of the methods of
proceeding and of the laws which bind the
Chinese and the Malays." The report had its
due weight with the authorities. Then more
than ever it was realised that there could be no
question of abandonment. But the administra-
tion of the settlement was beset with too many
difficulties for the Supreme Government to be
altogether elated with their possession. Apart
from financial drawbacks, there were serious
causes of dissatisfaction arising out of the in-
adequate policing of the settlement. The
incident already related in which Mr. Dickens,
the magistrate, figured, points to the chief
direction from which trouble came. Major
Forbes Macdonald, who succeeded to the
government of the island on Light's death,
gives a further and deeper insight into the
matter in a report he drew up for presentation

to the Supreme Government some little time
after assuming office. _He there relates how
he has made himself acquainted with the

MJPa

Br- ^K9

y^^^JjrSQ

THE MARQUESS WELLESLEY.

(Governor-General of India from 1707 to 1806. From
the portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.)

people, their modes and customs. " I am
persuaded," he wrote, " I have gained their

confidence, although I may perhaps owe much
of that to the fiery ordeal through which I have
persevered, not seldom in their defence, ad-
ministered to me by the European settlers, who
affected to hold in contempt such feeble and,
as they argued, not believed, upstart control.
To the Europeans alone, to their interested
motives, to their spirit of insubordination, must
be attributed the general laxity of every depart-
ment, for where could vigour, where could
with propriety any restrictive regulation operate
while the most conspicuous part of the com-
munity not only holds itself sanctioned, but
preaches up publicly a crusade against all
government ? Police we have none, at least no
regulation which deserves that epithet. Various
regulations have been made from time to time,
as urgency in particular cases dictated, but they
have all shared the same fate — neglect where
every member of the community is not bound
by the same law, where to carry into effect a
necessary regulation arrangement a mandate
is issued to one class, a request hazards a
contemptuous reception from the other."

Major Macdonald clearly was not happy in
his relations with the European community.
Whether the fault was entirely on the side of
the settlers is a question which seems to be
open to considerable doubt in the light of the
records. Macdonald appears to have been of
the fussy type of autocrats who must always
be doing something to assert their authority.
Early in his administration he brought obloquy
upon himself by demanding from the settlers
the proofs of their right to reside in the settle-

VIEW OF THE NORTH BEACH FROM THE COUNCIL HOUSE, PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND.

(From Daniell's "Views of Prince of Wales Island.")

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

ment. One of the community, a Mr. Mason,
made this reply, which perhaps is responsible
for the allusion to the contemptuous reception
of requests in Major Macclonakl's report :

" Sir, ... I beg leave to inform you, for the
information of the Governor-General in Council,
that my authority or permission to reside in
India is from his Majesty King George the
Third — God save him ! — also from Superinten-
dent Francis Light, Esquire, the public faith
being pledged for that purpose. . . . And as
to my character, I shall take particular care that
it be laid before the Governor-General in
Council."

and Commander-in-Chief. One of the earliest
measures adopted by the new administrator was
the despatch of Mr. Gaunter, the First Assistant
at the settlement, to Kedah to negotiate with the
Sultan for a transfer of territory on the main-
land. The necessity for this extension of the
Company's sphere of influence had been ap-
parent from the beginning, and with the
growth of the trade of the port the matter had
become more pressing, owing to the depreda-
tions of pirates who, established on the Kedah
coast, were able to raid vessels entering or
leaving Pinang with practical impunity. Mr.
Caunter discharged his mission successfully,

THE

VERNMENT GAZETTE.

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IV v

PINANG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.
(One of the earliest copies of the first newspaper published in the Straits.)

When the writer of this letter was afterwards
asked regarding the nature of the royal au-
thority which he pleaded, he is said to have
referred Major Macdonald for particulars to his
Majesty King George the Third.

Major Macdonald died in 1799 while away
from the island. His successor was Sir George
Leith, who in 1800 assumed the reins of office
with the exalted title of Lieutenant-Governor

but not without difficulty. There were impedi-
ments raised at first to the transfer, but on
adopting a hint given and making " a little
present " to the ladies of the Sultan's household,
he got his treaty. On Monday, July 7, 1800,
Sir George Leith took formal possession of the
new territory, which was named Province
Wellesley, after the Marquess of Wellesley, the
then Governor-General of India. The acqui-

sition did not at the time or for many years
afterwards appear to be of any great value
apart from its uses in conducting a campaign
against pirates. Thus, one writer of the early
part of the last century, alluding to the transfer,
says : " The amount of purchase money, 2,000
dollars for nearly 150 square miles of country,
was not great, but it was probably the full
value." There are many who would be glad
to get even a decent sized piece of ground in
Province Wellesley at the present day for the
price. So much for confident assertions based
on superficial knowledge. The consideration
paid for this new territory was a good deal
more than the 2,000 dollars mentioned by the
writer. That sum was a mere extra — " the
little present for the ladies." The real pay-
ment was an annual subsidy of 10,000 dollars
" so long as the English shall continue in
possession of Pulo Pinang and the country on
the opposite shore."

In consequence possibly of the greater re-
sponsibility arising out of this increase of
territory Pinang, in 1805, was made a presi-
dency. The new regime was ushered in with
befitting pomp on September 18th of that year.
On the day named the East Indiaman Ganges
arrived with the first Governor, in the person of
Mr. Philip Dundas, a brother of the Chief
Baron of Scotland. With Mr. Dundas were
three councillors and a staff of 26 British
officials, whose united salaries, with the
Governor's and councillors' emoluments,
amounted to £"43,500. Notable in the official
throng was Raffles, who filled the position of
Colonial Secretary, and in that capacity gained
experience which was turned to account in
Java and later in the virgin administrative field
of Singapore. The imposing reinforcement
to the European community which the new
establishment brought stirred the dry bones of
social life in the settlement, and Pinang took
to itself airs and graces which were unknown
in the days of Light's unassuming rule or even
in the Macdonald regime. Very early in the
new administration the settlement equipped
itself with a newspaper. This journal was first
known as the Government Gazette. It was an
official organ only in the sense that the pro-
prietor, a Mr. Bone, was subsidised from the
local exchequer and set apart a portion of his
columns for official announcements. The news
columns were largely filled with extracts from
home newspapers — poetry, anecdotes, and
gossip — calculated to interest the exile. Local
news occupied little space as a rule, but
occasionally the reporter would give a glimpse
of some social function of more than ordinary
interest. Thus, we find in the issue of Satur-
day, August 16, 1806, the following :

" Tuesday last being the anniversary of the
birth of H.K.H. the Prince of Wales and of the
establishment of this settlement, the Prince of
Wales Island Club held an extraordinary meet-
ing at Mr. Nicoll's hotel, for the purpose of
commemorating the day. An elegant enter-
tainment was served up by Mr. Nicoll to the
members and their friends, who continued to
keep up the festivities of the day with the
greatest harmony and good humour till an
early hour the following morning.

" Amongst the toasts were —

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

"H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and many
happy returns of the day to him.

" Prosperity to the island.

" The King.

"The Queen and Royal Family.

" The Navy and Army.

"The memory of Mr. Light, the founder of
the settlement.

" The immortal memory of Lord Nelson.

" A select few also met to commemorate the
anniversary of the birth of H.R.H. as Grand
Patron and Grand Master of Masonry. They
sat down to a neat dinner provided at the
house of a brother, and the evening was spent
with the highest conviviality and good-fellow-
ship. Among others the subjoined toasts were
drunk with great applause :

"H.R.H. George Augustus Frederick, Grand
Master of Masonry.

"The Mystic Tie.

" Virtue, Benevolence,.and Peace to all man-
kind.

" King and the Craft.

" Queen and our sisters.

" The immortal memory of Lord Nelson.

" The revered memory of Marquess Corn-
wallis.

"All Masons round the globe."

Mr. Bone's journalistic enterprise continued
for some time in the sun of official favour, but
after a year or two the title of the paper was
changed from rhe Government Gazette to the
Prince of Wales Island Gazette. Under this
designation it prospered after a feeble fashion,
with several changes in the proprietorship,
until it fell from official grace and was ex-
tinguished in circumstances which will be
hereafter related.

The elevation of Prince of Wales Island into
a presidency was due to a somewhat exag-
gerated view of the value of the settlement
created by the report which Colonel Wellesley
had furnished on the return of the Manilla
expeditionary force to India. In official circles
both in Calcutta and Leadenhall Street the
expectation based on the favourable opinions
expressed here and elsewhere was that Pinang
would become a great naval and military
centre and a flourishing commercial emporium.
This over-sanguine estimate led to many
blunders in policy, not the least important of
which was a decision to restore Malacca to the
Dutch. From this false step the Court of
Directors was, as we shall see when we come
to deal with Malacca, saved mainly by the
action of Raffles, who, after a visit to the
settlement, penned a powerful despatch, in
which he set forth with such convincing force
the arguments for retention that the Court can-
celled their instructions. It was this despatch
which mainly brought Raffles to the notice of
Lord Minto and paved the way to the position
of intimacy which he occupied in relation to
that Governor-General when he conducted his
expedition to Java in 1811. Pinang, as has
already been stated in the opening section of
this work, was the advanced base of this impor-
tant operation. Over a hundred vessels were
engaged in the transport of the force, which
consisted of 5,344 Europeans, 5,777 natives,
and 839 lascars. The resources of the settle-
ment were heavily taxed to provide for this

great force, but on the whole the work was
successfully accomplished, though there was
considerable sickness amongst the European
troops owing to the excessive fondness of the
men for pineapples, which then as now were
abundant and cheap.

In these opening years of the nineteenth
century Prince of Wales Island witnessed
many changes in the Government, owing to
an abnormal mortality amongst the leading
officials. In March, 1807, Mr. J. H. Oliphant,
the senior member of Council, died, and the
next month Mr. Philip Dundas, the Governor,
expired. The new Governor, Colonel Norman
Macalister, retired in 1810, and was succeeded
by the Hon. C. A. Bruce, a brother of the Earl
of Elgin. Mr. Bruce only lived a few months
to enjoy the dignity of his high position, his
death taking place on December 26, 1810, at
the early age of forty-two. His successor, Mr.
Seaton, was also removed by death within a
very short period of his appointment, and
strangely enough the two following Governors,
Mr. Wm. Petrie and Colonel Bannerman, did
not outlive their respective terms of office. In
less than fourteen years Prince of Wales Island
had six chief administrators, of whom no fewer
than five died and were buried on the island.

Notwithstanding the frequent changes in the
administration and the confusion they neces-
sarily caused, the progress of the settlement at
this period was uninterrupted. The population,
which in 1791 was 10,310, had risen in 1805 to
14,000, and in 1812, when Province Wellesley
was first brought into the reckoning, the return
showed a total of 26,000 inhabitants for the
entire administrative area. Ten years later the
figure for the united territory had risen to
51,207. Meanwhile, the revenue, though sub-
stantial, was not adequate to discharge the
excessively heavy liabilities imposed upon the
settlement. There were recurring deficits, until
in the financial year 1817-18, the excess of
expenditure over income reached no less a figure
than 164,000 dollars. A financial committee
was appointed to investigate matters, but as the
only satisfactory remedy was a severe cutting
down of salaries, including those of the mem-
bers of the committee, naturally little or nothing
was done. It remained for Lord Wm. Bentinck,
on the occasion of his historic visit in 1827, to
use the pruning shears to some effect upon the
bloated Pinang establishment. The amazing
thing is that the remedy was so long in being
applied. But nepotism at that time was rife in
the Company, and doubtless the numerous well-
paid official posts in Prince of Wales Island
were very useful to the dispensers of patronage
in Leadenhall Street.

The establishment of an educational system
dates to this early nineteenth century period
with which we are dealing. The facts, as set
forth in a report prepared for the information
of the Court of Directors in 1829, will be of
interest. In November, 1815, at the suggestion
of the Rev. R. S. Hutchins, chaplain of the settle-
ment, a committee was formed, consisting of
seven gentlemen, who were entrusted with the
establishment of a school for the instruction
of native children in the most useful rudiments
of education. The school, it was stipulated,
should be conducted by a superintendent, and
should be open for the reception of all children

without preference, except for the most poor
and friendless. It was further agreed that
all children should be educated in reading and
writing English, and in the common rules of
arithmetic, and, at a proper age, in useful
mechanical employments. Great care was
to be taken to avoid offending the religious
prejudices of any parties, while the Malays,
Chinese, and Hindustanies were to' be in-
structed in their own languages by appointed
teachers. Children were to be admitted from
four to fourteen. The East India Company con-
tributed 1,500 dollars, to which was added an
annual grant of 200 dollars, afterwards reduced
to 100 dollars in pursuance of orders from the
Court of Directors. The Government of Prince
of Wales Island also granted a piece of ground
called Church Square for the erection of two
schoolhouses, one for boys and the other for
girls. This ground being required for the
church erected about thjs time, another site was
chosen, upon which the schools were built. In
July, 1824, the school was reported in a pros-
perous state, it having on the rolls at that time
104 boys of different ages, and having sent forth
several promising youths, six of whom had been
placed by regular indenture in the public ser-
vice. In January, 1819, the Rev. H. Medhurst, a
missionary of the London Missionary Society,
submitted to Government the plans of a charity
school for the instruction of Chinese youth in
the Chinese language by making them ac-
quainted with the ancient classical writers of the
Chinese and connecting therewith the study
of the Christian catechism. The Government
granted a monthly allowance of 20 dollars
for the furtherance of the scheme, to which was
added a further grant of 10 dollars per month for
a Malay school. In 1821 a piece of ground for
the erection of a schoolhouse was also granted
to the society. In May, 1823, the sum of 400
dollars towards the erection of a missionary
chapel in Georgetown was also granted by the
Government. In July, 1819, the Bishop of Cal-
cutta being at Pinang, a branch was established
there of the Society for the Promotion of
Christian Knowledge, to which the Govern-
ment granted a donation of 200 Spanish dollars.
In April, 1823, on the representation of Mr.
A. D. Maingy, the superintendent of Province
Wellesley, four Malay schools were estab-
lished there, the Government grant being 32
dollars per month. In November, 1824, the
Government made a grant of 100 dollars for
the repair of the Roman Catholic church and 30
dollars for the support of three Roman Catholic
schools. In 1816 the Government also sanc-
tioned the grant of a piece of land at Malacca
to Dr. Milne, on behalf of the London Mission-
ary Society, for the erection of a mission
college, and in 1818 the college was built.
Such were the beginnings of the splendid
educational system which now permeates the
settlements.

CHAPTER III.

Siamese Invasion of Kedah — Development
of Province Wellesley.

Troubles arising out of Siamese aggression in
Kedah greatly retarded the commercial deve-
lopment of the settlement in 1815 and the

C**

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OP BRITISH MALAYA

following years. The Sultan who had con-
cluded the first treaty with the British had
died, and his son reigned in his stead. But
the idea that the British in accepting Pinang
had bound themselves to protect Kedah from
invasion had survived, and in 1810 the new
Sultan had addressed a powerful appeal to
Lord Minto as he passed through Pinang
on his way to Java, imploring him to carry out
the — to him — essential condition of the original
contract. The letter, which is given in full in
Anderson's " Conquest of .Quedah and Perak,"
concludes as follows :

" I request that the engagements contracted
for by Mr. Light with my late father may be
ratified, as my country and I are deficient in
strength ; the favour of his Majesty the King
of England extended to me will render his
name illustrious for justice and beneficence,
and the grace of his Majesty will fill me with
gratitude ; under the power and majesty of
the King I desire to repose in safety from
the attempts of all my enemies, and that the
King may be disposed to kindness and favour
towards me, as if I were his own subject, that
he will be pleased to issue his commands to
the Governor of Pinang to afford me aid and
assistance in my distresses and dangers, and
cause a regulation to be made by which the two
countries may have but one interest ; in like
manner 1 shall not refuse any aid to Pinang
consistent with my ability. I further request a
writing from the King and from my friend, that
it may remain as an assurance of the protection
of the King and descend to my successors in the
government. I place a perfect reliance in the
favour and aid of my friend in all these
matters."

In his comment on the letter Anderson
says: "The whole of Mr. Light's correspon-
dence is corroborative of this candid exposition,
and it was quite inconsistent with reason to
suppose that Pinang was ceded without some
very powerful inducements in the way of
promises by Mr. Light, which, no doubt, in
his eagerness to obtain the grant, were liberal
and almost unlimited, and that his inability to
perform them was the cause of much mental
suffering to him." It does not appear that any
answer was given to the Sultan's letter. The
request for aid at all events was rejected, and
the Sultan was left to his fate. This was
somewhat long deferred, but the blow was
swift and remorseless when it was delivered.
Equipping a large force, the Siamese in 1821
appeared in the Kedah river, and landing there,
commenced to slay and pillage without provo-
cation or warning. They conducted a ruthless
warfare for days, leaving behind them wher-
ever they went a track of wasted country and
slain and outraged victims. The Sultan with
difficulty escaped to Province Wellesley and
thence to Pinang, where he was kindly
received by Mr. W. E. Phillips, Colonel Ban-
nerman's successor in the government. He
was granted an allowance for his maintenance
and a force of sepoys as a guard. A few days
after his arrival an insolent demand was made
by the Raja of Lingore, on behalf of the
Siamese, for his surrender, and when this was
refused in emphatic terms, a fleet of one
hundred war prahus was sent into Pinang
harbour to take possession of the unfortunate

Sultan by force in default of his peaceful sur-
render. The answer to this impudent move
was the despatch of the gunboat Nautilus to the
vicinity of the leading war prahu, with orders
to the Siamese commodore to leave the harbour
instantly or prepare for action. The hint was
immediately taken. In a very brief space of
time every prahu had left. The Sultan chafed
under the loss of his territory, and the other
Malay chiefs were not less indignant at the
wanton aggression committed upon one of their
number. In a short time the fugitive prince's
residence became the centre of plots and in-
trigues for the recapture of the lost territory.
The local Government, with a lively fear of
complications with the Siamese before them,
did their utmost to put a stop to these man-
oeuvres, but without much success. On April
28, 1823, an attempt was actually made by a
force commanded by Tunku Abdullah, the
eldest son of the Sultan, to oust the Siamese.
It was completely unsuccessful, and Tunku
Abdullah was left a prisoner in the Siamese
hands. A protest was lodged with the British
against the use, of Province Wellesley for the
equipment of this expedition. The reply made
by Mr. Phillips to the communication was that
he could not prevent such inroads without
imitating Siamese methods, which was out of
the question. At the same time the Govern-
ment were seriously alarmed at the anomalous
state of affairs created by the continued
residence of the Raja at Pinang, and after
repeated and ineffectual warnings that his
efforts to reconquer his territory would not be
tolerated, they shipped him off to Malacca to
keep him out of mischief. He closed his life
in exile, a victim, it is to be feared it must be
admitted, of an unfulfilled contract.

An immediate effect of the conquest of
Kedah by the Siamese was the filling of
Province Wellesley with great bodies of
refugees! In the early days of the invasion
thousands of these unfortunates crossed the
border to escape the diabolical cruelties prac-
tised by the Siamese upon all who fell into
their hands. Many of them were in a starving
condition, and without resources of any kind.
The Government authorities in the province
exerted themselves to succour the wretched
fugitives, and with such success that soon a
considerable number of them were settled on
the land in comparative comfort. It was
fortunate that at this period the local direction
of affairs was in the capable hands of Mr.
Maingy, a humane and resourceful man, who
took a real interest in developing the latent
resources of the province. Under his super-
vision roads were made in various directions
by convicts, and convicts were also employed
in cutting drains and channels for irrigation of
paddy fields and in opening arteries of com-
munication between different rivers. He made
small advances to each of the cultivators to
encourage cultivation, and obtained at his own
expense from Calcutta indigo seeds, together
with a person competent to teach the process
of concreting the dye, in order to establish
a system of indigo cultivation. Meanwhile,
with the support and sanction of Govern-
ment, he opened native schools at Teluk Ayer,
Tawar, and Prye, for the education of natives.
The rapid growth of the agricultural interest

in the province had, somewhat earlier than
the period at which the events just narrated
occurred, induced the Government to establish
a regular system of administration in the main-
land area. The province in 1820 was divided
into four distinct districts, each under an
official, who was provided with a police estab-
lishment and a small military guard. The
whole was under a superintendent. These
and other beneficent measures had their due
effect, and soon the province, which had
hitherto been a sort of Malayan Alsatia to
which all sorts of bad characters resorted,
became a centre of thriving industry.

It is to this period we may date the rise
of the great planting industry which now
occupies so important a place in the com-
mercial life of the settlements. A communica-
tion written by Mr. Phillips on September 18,
1823, reported to the Court of Directors the
commencement of a system of coffee planting
on a large scale. Some passages from this
document may be quoted, as they throw an
interesting light on the history of the industry.
Mr. Phillips stated that he had received a
letter from Mr. David Brown, " the most exten-
sive landholder, and certainly one of the most
intelligent and public-spirited Europeans on
this island, reporting that he has planted
upwards of 100,000 coffee trees and cleared
forests to enable him to complete the number
to 300,000, and requesting our sanction to his
extending the cultivation, as the progress of
the coffee plants hitherto planted by himself
and others engaged in this speculation holds
out every prospect of the successful production
of this article on the island and no doubt on
the adjacent continent. We shall, of course,
lose no time in complying with Mr. Brown's
request." Mr. Phillips went on to submit
certain considerations as to the expediency of
improving the agricultural and other resources
of the settlement. He proceeded :

" Our climate is temperate and without any
sudden or great vicissitudes throughout the
year, and our lands are never subject to such
parching heats or destructive inundations as
those of Bengal, whilst our inhabitants enjoy
the blessings and security of a British system
of government and law, of the want of which
at Java the English residents there seem to
be daily more and more sensible. No appre-
hensions also against colonisation are enter-
tained here, and European settlers have always
been allowed, as appears by our President's
minute of the 15th of August last, to possess as
much land as they please and to hold it as
freehold property. Hitherto the want of
adequate capital and the paucity of enterprising
individuals have restricted our objects of culti-
vation to pepper, which has never received
any encouragement from your Honourable
Court, and which is one of the most expensive
articles of culture, and to cloves and nutmegs,
which private individuals have continued to
cultivate, notwithstanding all public encour-
agement was withdrawn in the year 1805,
and which now at last promise to be bene-
ficial to them, a very favourable report of
some samples lately sent to Europe having
been just received. Mr. Brown and other
persons, however, in the year 1821, conceiving
that the soil and climate of our hills were

VIEWS OF PINANG AND PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND.

I, The Chinese Mills, Pinaxg. 2. The Great Tree. 3. Glugor House and Spice Plantation.

(From Paniell's " Views of Prince of Wales Island.")

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

well adapted for the production of coffee,
applied to us for permission to clear lands for
the purpose, and we are happy to acquaint
your Honourable Court that whatever may
be the success with which these gentlemen
may eventually have to congratulate themselves,
one very decided and important advantage
has already accrued to the public from the
exertions which these public-spirited in-
dividuals have made to introduce the cultivation
of coffee on the island. They have found
employment for hundreds of our new settlers,
the miserable refugees from Kedah.and opened
to our poor a prospect of much additional
employment, particularly for our old Chinese
settlers. Were your Honourable Court to
make known generally in England the advan-
tages of this island in point of climate, situa-
tion, and other circumstances, and to encourage
the resort hither of respectable individuals,
in possession of small capital, desirous of
emigrating, we are confident that many per-
sons would see cause for agreeing with us that
this settlement affords a finer field for agri-
cultural enterprise, and for obtaining an easy
and secure livelihood, and ultimately a com-
fortable competency, than Java, the Cape of
Good Hope, or Canada." '

The coffee experiment unfortunately did not
prove the success that was anticipated, but
the exertions of Mr. Brown and other pioneer
planters were not without their influence in
the development of the territory under the
Straits Government. One indirect consequence
was the institution of a regular system of land
settlement. The arrangements for land transfer
had up to this period been in a very confused
state, owing to the laxity observed in the trans-
actions. At the outset, to encourage settlers,
Light had caused it to be known that free
grants of land would be made to all suitable
applicants. This pledge had been confirmed
by Government, and land from time to time
was taken up. Changes were subsequently
introduced without any particular method, so
that eventually there were no fewer than
seven different systems of tenure. New regu-
lations were formulated as a consequence of
the influx of settlers, and the entire system was
put on a more business-like footing. Meanwhile,
a complete survey of Pinang and of the
boundaries of Province Wellesley had been
made. In a letter of August 24, 1820, to the
Court of Directors, the Governor, referring
to this survey, said it was " likely to prove of
more interest than any hitherto prepared at
such enormous expense by successive sur-
veyors. A document of the kind has long
been required to regulate the distribution of
grants of land to the numerous claimants who
have made application to clear the land on the
opposite shore. The present state of the coast
entirely demands -our earliest consideration
with reference to the advantages it may be
calculated to afford to this island in supplying
provisions, &c, and also in extending and
promoting our agricultural interests."

Simultaneously with the development of the
planting industry was carried through a series
of public works with the object of opening
up the country and improving the means of
communication between the different parts of
' "Straits Settlements Records," No. 183.

the territory. The most important of these
enterprises was a road through the hills at
the back of Georgetown. Colonel Bannerman
initiated the work in 1818, and under his
energetic direction the first section was rapidly
constructed with convict labour. Shortly after
his death the work was suspended for lack of
funds, and was not resumed until many years
later, when it was pushed to completion, greatly
to the advantage of the island. Colonel Ban-
nerman was not in some respects a wise ad-
ministrator, but it is to his lasting credit that
he was the first to grasp the essential fact that
the progress of the colony was dependent upon
the improvement of the means of communica-
tion, which up to that period had been almost
entirely neglected.

The development of Province Wellesley
went hand in hand with an extension of the
Company's influence in the adjacent native
States. Actuated by a fear of Dutch aggression
in the immediate vicinity of Pinang, Colonel
Bannerman in 1818 despatched Mr. W. S.
Cracroft, an able official, to Perak and Selangor
to conclude treaties with the rulers of those
States. His mission was a complete success.
He brought back with him agreements which
pledged the two chiefs to maintain ties of
friendship with the British and not to renew
obsolete agreements with other Powers which
might tend to exclude or obstruct the trade of
British subjects. Subsequently a subsidiary
arrangement was made with the Raja of
Seiangor by Mr. Anderson, the author of the
well-known work on Kedah from which a
quotation has been made above, by which
the Prince contracted to supply the Company
with a certain quantity of tin for sale. Under
the contract a considerable amount of tin was
brought down to the coast by way of the
Muda river and there sold. In 1819 the sales
amounted to 650 bahars or 1,950 piculs. The
tin was purchased by the commanders of the
Company's ships General Harris and Warren
Hastings at the rate of 18 dollars per picul
(£72 10s. 8d. per ton). After deducting all
charges against the import there was a clear
profit on the transaction of 5,396.41 Spanish
dollars. Mr. Anderson, who was designated
the Government Agent for Tin, received one-
third of the amount. The Government were
well satisfied with the results of the transac-
tion. They decided, however, that it would
not be wise for them to prosecute the tin trade,
but rather to leave it to individual merchants
" who would be more particularly concerned
in its successful prosecution." After this the
trade was carried on intermittently, but in
1827 we find in the official records an ex-
pression of regret that " the jealousy and
aggrandising spirit of the Siamese authorities
at Kedah has hitherto rendered ineffectual out-
endeavours to prosecute the tin trade with
Patani."

In another direction we have evidence that
at this juncture in the life of the settlement the
importance of a widened sphere of influence
was being recognised. In or about the year
1819 a Captain John Mein approached the
Pinang Government with an offer of the island
of Pangkor, which he said had been given to
him by the King. In forwarding the com-
munication to the Court of Directors the

Governor wrote : " We do not know what
claim Captain Mein may be able to establish —
it was evident that the late King of Perak was
not of sound intellect, and it appears that the
reputed grant to Captain Mein of this island
was not made valid by the seals and signa-
tures of the constitutional authorities of the
country." * Captain Mein's ambitious venture
in islandmongering missed fire, but at a later
period, when Sir Andrew Clarke concluded the
Treaty of Pangkor in 1874, the island, with a
strip of territory on the mainland, was brought
under British rule, the whole being officially
designated the Dindings.

The history of the question subsequent to the
rejection of Captain Mein's offer maybe briefly
related. On October 18, 1826, a treaty was
concluded between the Straits Government and
that of Perak, by which the latter ceded to the
former " the Pulo Dinding and the islands of
Pangkor, together with all and every one of the
islands which belonged of old and until this
period to the Kings of Perak, because the said
islands afford a safe abode to the pirates and
robbers who plunder and molest the traders on
the coast and inhabitants of the mainland, and
as the King of Perak has not the means to drive
those pirates, &c, away." It does not appear
that the Government ever took formal posses-
sion of the islands. In the sixties, Colonel Man,
then Resident Councillor at Pinang, pointed
out to the local Government that it would be to
the interest of the settlements to occupy these
islands, and he was authorised to visit them
in the Government steamer, with the view of
ascertaining what steps it was advisable to take.
Colonel Man's views of the advantages of
taking possession of the island were fully
confirmed by his visit, but he found it very
difficult to ascertain precisely what territory
had been ceded, and the prospect of an early
transfer of the settlements to the Crown put a
stop to all further action except that a grant
was given to two men to clear 130 acres of
land in the island known as Pulo Pangkor Laut.
On Sir Harry Ord's arrival in the Straits,
Colonel Man brought to his notice the right
which the British possessed to the islands, and
urged the advantages which would accrue from
taking possession of them. At the same time
he pointed out the difficulty of ascertaining
exactly what land had been handed over by
the treaty, and suggested that, as there were
only two islands standing out in the sea
opposite the Dinding river and a small one to
the west of it, the other islands " must be
sought for in some of the land at the mouth of
these rivers, which was separated from the
mainland by the numerous creeks traversing it."

As a result of this communication Sir Harry
Ord instructed Colonel Man to enter into
negotiation with the Laksamana, a high officer
of the Sultan of Perak, who was then in
Pinang, with the view to the completion of an
understanding on this point. Colonel Man
followed out his instructions, but left for India
before the negotiations were completed.
Later they were carried on by Captain Playfair,
and meanwhile Sir Harry Ord paid a visit to
the Dindings and convinced himself that the
cession of 1826 included portions of the land
at the mouth of the Dindings opposite Pulo
1 Ibid., No. 182.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Pangkor, because " the cession would have been
perfectly useless for the suppression of piracy,
since on the appearance of our vessels or boats
off Pulo Pangkor the pirates could at once have
taken refuge among these islands, where they
would have been quite safe from pursuit."

The Sultan of Perak at this time was not
inclined to do business on the basis required,
and as direct orders had come out from
England that no action involving the occupation
of disputed territory should be taken without
specific instructions, the matter was allowed to
drop for the time being. Sir Andrew Clarke-
had some little difficulty in securing adhesion
to his proposals, which took the most compre-
hensive view of the original arrangement. But
eventually the question was satisfactorily
adjusted. In this way command was obtained
of the entrance to the river, a position of
considerable strategical value and of some
commercial importance.

At the same time that Sir Andrew Clarke
concluded this excellent bargain he arranged a
useful readjustment of theboundariesin Province
Wellesley. The matter related to the southern
boundary, which as originally drawn had been
found extremely inconvenient for both police
and revenue purposes. On this point the
chiefs displayed an accommodating spirit, and
by arrangement the British territory was
extended so as to include all the land in the
watershed of the Krian, the tracing out of the
boundary bejng left for a commission to carry
out subsequently.

CHAPTER IV.

plxanu made a free port — government
Regulation ok the Press.

The occupation of Singapore had a very
injurious effect upon Pinang trade. Native
vessels from China, which formerly made
Pinang their principal port of call, stopped
short at the new settlement, which, besides
being more conveniently situated for their
purposes, had the considerable advantage of
being absolutely free. The mercantile com-
munity of Pinang, feeling the pinch acutely,
petitioned the Government for the extension
to the settlement of the unrestricted system of
trade which obtained at the rival port. The
reception their demand met with was not
particularly cordial. The Governor, in a de-
spatch to the Court of Directors on the subject
on September 18, 1823, made note of " the
extraordinary circumstance of a body of
merchants allowing themselves to recommend
to the Government under the protection of
which they are enabled to conduct a lucrative
commerce such a measure as the immediate
abolition of one of the most important branches
of its establishment." The Governor stated
that in his reply to the petition he remarked
that it was politic and reasonable that every
possible freedom should be given at Pinang
to the sale of the staples of continental India
and to the property of the merchants of the
other presidencies, as these had already con-
tributed towards the revenues of those places,
" but that as a valuable portion of the commerce

of this station does not consist in those staples,
it appeared no more than just that the trade
which our merchants' conduct with Europe
and China, and which, taken to other ports in
India, would there be subject to duty, should
contribute something towards the maintenance
of this port, of which they make such profitable
use, and particularly as duties in such cases
must ultimately be borne by foreigners and
not by the subjects of British India." After
a reference to the lightness of the port dues
the despatch proceeded : " We earnestly
wished to impress upon their minds the con-
viction that, independent of such share of the
commerce of the Eastern Archipelago as
might come on to them from Singapore, the

articles of the Pegu country must always
attract from Europe, China, and India a large
and profitable commerce to centre and flourish
here ; and to these more natural branches
of our trade we particularly invited their
attention." The despatch ended as follows :
" We cannot conclude without soliciting your
Honourable Court's particular consideration of
the difficulties noticed in our President's
minute of the 12th July last, which we have
experienced and still experience in discoun-
tenancing and allaying everything like jealousy
between Singapore and this island, and in
establishing a bond of union and sisterly
affection between the two settlements. As
long as that factory, placed as it is in the

VIEW OF THE CASCADE, PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND.
(From Daniell's "Views of Prince of Wales Island.")

situation of this island with respect to the
pepper staple of the east and west coasts of
Sumatra, betul nut of Achin, tin of Junk
Ceylon and Malayan Peninsula, bird's nest
of Mergui, and oil, teak-wood, and other

immediate neighbourhood of this island, is
governed by a distant authority and different
system of government, and enjoys an exemp-
tion from all duties, your Honourable Court
cannot be surprised that the personal exertions

(52

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

of this Board cannot accomplish the objects
of our increasing wish and endeavour — the
putting a stop to the baneful effects of mer-
cantile jealousy and of those differences which
unhappily occurred on the first occupation of
Singapore." '

The obvious aim of the despatch was not
to obtain an immunity from imposts for the
trade of Pinang, but to secure the abandon-
ment of the Free Trade system in Singapore.
The Court of Directors, however, were too
sensible of the advantages to be derived
from the maintenance of the open door at
Singapore to listen to the specious reasoning
of the Pinang Government. They confined
their action to sanctioning a rearrangement of
port dues at Pinang, by which the shipping
trade derived some relief. The Pinang mer-
cantile community found little comfort in the
concession made to them. They were the
less disposed to take a roseate view of affairs
as the Company at this critical juncture had
instructed China ships not to call at Pinang.
Even the Government were alarmed at the
situation the order created. They wrote home
beseeching the Court " not to be so harsh and
severe to this settlement as to put a stop at
once to the valuable trade which our merchants
have conducted by means of our ships with
Europe and China during the last thirty-five
years." The obnoxious order was modified,
but the mercantile community of Pinang had
to wait until the year 1827 before they were
placed on an equal footing with their com-
petitors in Singapore by the abolition of the
customs duties at the port. Two years before
this step was taken Mr. Fullerton, the Governor
of the united settlements, had written home
bringing to the notice of the Court the advan-
tage that might result from the use of a few
steamboats in the Straits. " Perhaps," he
said with prophetic vision, " there is no place
in the world where they would be so useful —
those of a smaller class in following pirates,
and the larger in towing vessels in and out
of the harbour, and even down the Straits,
where calms so constantly prevail." With a'l
his prescience, Mr. Fullerton could not antici-
pate the time when steamboats would make
the entire voyage and the sailing ship would
be almost an anachronism in the Straits as
far as the main through trade was concerned.

The abolition of the customs duties at
Pinang coincided with the establishment of
a regular market system. Up to 1827 the
privilege of holding a market, together with
the right of levying certain duties on grain
to defray the charges of maintenance, was
leased out. The last lessee was Mr. David
Brown, the enterprising planter to whom
reference has already been made. Mr. Brown
had a ten years' lease dating from May, 1817.
He died before it terminated, but the market
was carried on by his son. On the expiration
of the term of the lease the Government,
" considering the system of taxing grain
extremely objectionable, especially as the port
has been relieved of all duties," took measures
to establish a new market on the principle of
the Singapore market, where the revenue was
raised from the rents of the stalls. Mr.
Brown offered the old market to the Govern-
1 "Straits Settlements Records," No. 183.

ment for 25,000 dollars ; but the offer was
declined and 10,000 dollars were sanctioned
for the construction of a new building.

In an earlier portion of this historical survey
there is an account of the launching of a news-
paper at Pinang and of its happy existence in
the light of official favour. In 1829 this journal
— the Penang Gazette, as it had by this time
come to be designated — changed its proprietors,
for reasons not unconnected with official objec-
tions to the manner in which the paper was
conducted. Under the new proprietor the
journal was issued as the Penang Register and
Miscellany, and the opening number seemed to
indicate that the altered title was to be asso-
ciated with a more reverential attitude towards
the great, the wise, and the eminent of the Pinang
official hierarchy. The editor in his opening
confession of faith spoke of the restrictions
upon the press as having been " no doubt
wisely " introduced, and when taken to task by
a Singapore scribe for this subserviency, he
ingenuously argued that the press was really free
if it liked, but that as it accepted official doles
the Government naturally demanded their quid
pro quo. The writer supported his views by
quoting the remark of "an odd little body at
Malacca." " What ! " said this individual, " do
you think we are fools enough to pay these
gents for picking holes in our Sunday coats ? "
This free-and-easy theory of the censorship as
a matter controlled by the subsidy did not find
favour in exalted quarters, and there was in-
creasing friction between the newspaper office
and the secretariat. A crisis was at length
reached when one day the editor, finding that
a paragraph had been deleted by the censor,
had the offending matter printed on a separate
slip of paper and circulated throughout the
settlement. Mr. Fullerton was furious at this
flagrant defiance of authority, and caused a
letter to be sent to the editor, a Mr. Ballhotchet,
demanding an explanation. The missive was
returned unopened. What the next step was
history does not reveal, but we have a record of
a hot correspondence between the offending
journalist and the Secretary to Government,
terminating in the issue of an edict that the
proprietor of the paper, a Mr. Mclntyre, who
was a clerk in the office of the Superintendent
of Lands, should be dismissed from his office,
and that Mr. Ballhotchet's licence to reside in
the settlement should be withdrawn. This
drastic action was subsequently modified to the
extent that the expulsion decree in the latter's
case was withdrawn "in consideration of the
measure of punishment he has already re-
ceived," and on the understanding that he
would have to go if he "misconducted" himself
again. Almost needless to say, the Penang
Register and Miscellany did not survive this
cataclysm. But Pinang was not left without a
newspaper. In this crisis in its history the
Government gallantly stepped into the breach,
and issued a paper of their own under the old
title of the Government Gazette. The editor of
the official journal entered upon his duties with
becoming modesty. In his opening address to
his readers he opined that " a new paper lies
under the same disadvantages as a new play —
there is a danger lest it be new without
novelty." " In common, therefore, with all
other periodical compilers," he proceeded, "we

are fully sensible that in offering a work of this
nature to the public the main reliance for suc-
cess must be the support we receive from the
favours of correspondents. This island doubt-
less contains an abundance of latent talent. Be
it our humble office to bring these treasures to
light, and thus offer to the man of business an
elegant relaxation and to the idler a recreation.
. . . We beg, however, thus early to express
an aversion to satire as being rarely free from
malice or personality, and in no way according
with the motto we have assumed." The editor,
true to his professed mission of offering
" elegant relaxation to the man of business and
to the idler recreation," filled the columns of
the paper with fashionable gossip, quaint stories
and sentimental poetry. But he was not well
served by his contributors. One of them sent
him as an original effusion a poem which had
previously appeared in Blackwood's Magazine.
The Singapore Chronicle, which had no reason
to love this new venture, took good care to
point out the plagiarism, and no doubt there
were some heart-searchings in the official
editorial sanctum at Pinang. The sands of the
paper's existence, however, were by that time
running out. The cost of the production was
greater than had been anticipated. Moreover,
the change in the system of government by
which the settlements were brought under the
direct control of the Supreme Government was
impending, and a new era of freedom for the
press throughout the dominions of the East
India Company was dawning. Hence the
orders went out for the stoppage of the
Government Gazette, and on July 3, 1830,
the last number was issued. In a farewell
note the editor thus addressed his readers :
" Accident rather than choice led us to assume
a character which previous experience little
qualified us to discharge with ability. So cir-
cumstanced, we cannot ask, like Augustus, to be
accompanied on our departure with applause,
but must rest satisfied in the hope that we may
have afforded temporary amusement to those
whose severer labours prevented them from
looking for it elsewhere." So the last vestige
of official domination of the press fades out, and
Straits journalism commences that honourable
and distinguished career which has given it a
worthy pre-eminence amongst the press of the
Crown colonies.

CHAPTER V.

Later Years.

When the united settlements were brought
under the government of Bengal in 1830,
Pinang, which had suffered a severe eclipse
politically as well as commercially by the rise
of Singapore, receded still further into the back-
ground. Its population became stationary or
nearly so, the increase in the number of
inhabitants on the island and in Province
Wellesley between the years 1835 and 1857
being only from 86,009 to 91,098. On the
other hand the settlement more than main-
tained its reputation as a costly appanage of
the East India Company. In 1835-36, compared
with an expenditure of Rs. 253,328 was a
revenue of only Rs. 178,930. The position

VIEWS OF PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND,
j. View from the Convalescent Bungalow, 2. Mount Erskine and Pulo Ticoose Bay. 3. Suffolk House. 4. View from Strawberry Hill.

(From Darnell's "Views of Prince of Wales Island.")

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

became worse as years went by, for in 1845,
against the smaller revenue of Rs. 176495 had
to be set the enormously increased expenditure
of Rs. 346,659. In the " Report on the Moral
and Material Progress of India for 1859-60"
we find this paragraph relative to Pinang :
" At this station, owing to their poverty, no
undertaking of importance has been projected
by the Commissioners during the past year.
The funds at their command barely sufficed to
enable them to meet the calls made upon them
for the payment of the police force, to execute
the ordinary repairs to the roads in Prince of
Wales Island, with a few slight repairs to those
in Province Wellesley, to purchase some of the
materials required for a proposed new market,
and to make some little progress towards com-
pleting the works necessary for bringing into
the town the much-needed supply of water."
The settlement appeared to have got into a
backwater from which it did not ever seem
likely to emerge.

A circumstance which militated seriously
against its prosperity was the prevalence of
piracy about the coast. Piracy in this part of
the Straits, even more than elsewhere, was the
staple industry of the coastal inhabitants. The
native chiefs took an active hand in it. Indeed,
there was reason to believe at the time that
more than one of them derived their chief
source of revenue from the toll levied on
commerce by the rovers. The Government
routed these freebooters out from one strong-
hold after another in and about the island, but
still the nefarious trade flourished. It derived
not a little of its strength in later years from
the anarchical state into which the native
States of Perak and Selangor lapsed through
the weakness of the native government, or
what passed for such. The policy of non-
interference in native affairs traditionally pur-
sued by the British in the Straits compelled
the Pinang officials to look on with arms
folded while these States, by their disorder,
were producing a chronic state of lawlessness
along the coast and in the territory immediately
bordering on Province Wellesley. At length,
owing to a particularly menacing development
of piratical enterprise off the Larut river,
and outrages in Province Wellesley and the
Dindings and even in Pinang itself by one of
the piratical factions, the Government took
action. They sent a naval force to the chief
centre of the pirates' enterprise off the coast of
Perak, and for months the coast was patrolled.
Owing to the shallow nature of the waters
hereabouts the operations were most difficult
and little progress was made. Sir Frank
Swettenham, who speaks from personal ex-
perience, gives in " British Malaya " an inter-
esting description of these pirate hunts in the
early seventies. "It was," he writes, "im-
possible to land, for the coast was nothing but
mangroves and mud, with here and there a
fishing village, inhabited, no doubt, by pirates
or their friends, but with nothing to prove
their complicity. These mangrove flats were
traversed in every direction by deep-water
lagoons, and whenever the pirates were sighted,

as not infrequently happened, and chase
was given, their faster boats pulled away
from their pursuers with the greatest ease,
and in a few minutes the pirates would be
lost in a maze of waterways, with nothing to
indicate which turn they had taken. The
whole business became somewhat ludicrous
when native craft were pirated (usually by
night) under the eyes of the British crews, and
when their boats got up to the scene of action
there was not a trace to show what had oc-
curred or where the pirates had gone. Finally
the boats of H.M.S. Midge were attacked in
the estuary of the Larut river, and after a
longish engagement the pirates were beaten
off, having seriously wounded two British
officers. The net result of these excursions
was that about 50 per cent, of the crews of
the gun-vessels were invalided, and not a
single pirate boat or man had been captured."
Matters drifted on until 1874, when a particu-
larly impudent case of piracy at the entrance
of the Jugra river, a tidal creek connecting
with the Langat river at a point where the
Sultan of Selangor was then living, led to a
naval demonstration in which the then Governor
of the Straits, Sir Andrew Clarke, joined. The
Sultan was duly impressed with the powerful
arguments presented to him in the shape of a
very serviceable portion of the China Squadron,
and though one of his own sons was implicated,
gave full authority for the trial of the men
who had been taken prisoners by the British
authorities, and on their being subsequently
condemned to death, sent a kris to be used at
the execution. This episode had a great moral
effect in the Straits, but the decline and final ex-
tinction of piracy is to be traced more to the de-
velopment of the Federated Malay States under
British guidance than to coercive measures.

In another section we shall have occasion to
describe this great movement in some detail,
and it is therefore unnecessary to follow here
the course of events in these States, though
their influence on Pinang was at times con-
siderable. It must be noted, however, that the
rise of the Federation has brought to Pinang a
great accession of prosperity and restored to it
something of its old prestige as a port. The
settled conditions of life and the progressive
system of government which replaced the old
anarchy not only stimulated the coast trade
which centred at Pinang, but they had a vivify-
ing influence on the territory included within
the area of the settlement. For a long
period European capitalists were shy of in-
vesting their money in Province Wellesley and
the Dindings. The conditions under which the
Government were prepared to grant land were
not sufficiently liberal to tempt them. More-
over, there was little faith in the future of
agricultural enterprise, hampered as it then
was by adverse labour conditions and a
general state of unrest which seemed to
afford a precarious tenure to any who might
be bold enough to sink their money in the
operations then open to the planter. As
Perak and Selangor were brought more and
more under a settled administration and

immense, far-reaching changes were made by
the opening up of the country by roads, the
value of the Pinang territory as a field of
enterprise was recognised, and the country
shared in the wonderful prosperity which
marked the progress of those States in common
with the whole federated area. The rise of
rubber helped on the movement, for much
of the land in Province Wellesley and the
Dindings is suited to the cultivation of this
most important article of commerce, and capi-
talists have not been slow to realise the fact.
Lastly, the introduction of railways has been
an immense boon to the Pinang administra-
tive area, and is likely to have even more
marked results as the system in the peninsula
is more developed. Although it is only since
1903 that the line through Province Wellesley
has been open to traffic, the effects on Pinang
trade have been remarkable. The municipal
revenueof the town — a good test of prosperity —
has risen from 568,695 dollars in 1903 to 819,531
dollars in 1905, and it is now almost double
what it was in 1900. The population of the
island is now more than 100,000, and it is
increasing at such a rate that, unless some great
calamity should befall the settlement, it will
probably be double that figure before another
quarter of a century has elapsed.

For a century or more Pinang was largely
the grave of disappointed expectations, but it
is now justifying the faith reposed in its future
by its founder. Indeed, Light in his most
sanguine moments could not have pictured for
his settlement a destiny so brilliant as that
which even now it has achieved. The trans-
formation from a colony slow, unprogressive,
and exceedingly costly to a thriving centre of
commercial life with a buoyant revenue and an
ever-increasing trade is due largely, if not
entirely, to the remarkable work of administra-
tive organisation which has been carried on in
the Malay Peninsula by a succession of able
British officials in the past thirty years. But
it ought never to be forgotten that much of
that work would have been barely possible if
there had been no Pinang and no Province
Wellesley to provide as it were a base for the
diffusion of British influence. Light, as his
writings show, clearly recognised in his day
how important Pinang was, viewed in the
aspect of a centre from which to dominate the
Northern Malay States. His representations
were unheeded by shortsighted bureaucrats in
India, and only the proverbial British luck in
such matters prevented the whole of the
remarkably wealthy territory which is now
peacefully and happily under British protection
from passing into foreign hands. The debt
which the Empire owes to Light is second
only to that which it readily acknowledges as
the due of Raffles. In the adjudgment of
posthumous honours by the arbiter elegauti-
arum of colonial history it can scarcely be
claimed that the unpretentious sea captain
and trader of Junk Ceylon has had his due.
But however ignorant the British public as
a whole may be of Light's great services,
Pinang people are not likely to forget them.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

MALACCA.

EARLY HISTORY.

Nil ALACCA, slumberous, dreamy, and
J. picturesque, epitomises what there is
of romance in the Straits Settlements. Singa-
pore, by right of seniority, lias pride of place
in the history of Malaya. But, as we have
seen, little or nothing remains of her ancient
glories but traditions, none too authentic.
Malacca, on the other hand, has still to show
considerable monuments of the successive
conquerors who have exercised sway within
her limits. On a hill overlooking the settle-
ment are the remains of an ancient Portuguese
church, whose stately towers, with graceful
rinials outlined against the intense blue of a
tropical sky, tell of that strenuous period in

sway, and lorded it in their peculiar fashion
over the inhabitants of the ancient Malay port.
In the outskirts of the town are not a few old-
world gardens, charmingly suggestive of an
age in which the steamboat was unknown, and
life rippled on in an even, if monotonous, cur-
rent. Further away, hemming in the houses
in a sea of tropical vegetation, are plantations
and orchards, with, as a background, a vista
of blue-coloured hills. It is a scene typically
Oriental, and carries with it more than a
suggestion of that commercial stagnation that
has left Malacca in a state of suspended anima-
tion, while its upstart neighbour to the south
has been progressing at a feverish rate. But
there are not wanting evidences that Malacca
is awakening from its long sleep. Agricultural

last seems to be dawning. It may not be a
great day, but it will be almost certainly one
which will contrast very remarkably with any
that it has previously known in its chequered
history.

The ancient history of Malacca, like that of
Singapore, is enveloped in a considerable
amount of doubt. Practically the only guide on
the subject is the " Sejara Malayu," or " Malav
Annals," the work already referred to in the
section dealing with Singapore. This com-
pilation is distrusted by most modern Malay
authorities because of its manifest inaccuracy
in matters of detail, and it is usually only cited
by them as a legendary record which, amidst a
great mass of chaff, may contain a few grains
of solid fact. The narrative, as has been noted,

GATE OF THE OLD FORT AT MALACCA.

Straits history when the priest and the soldier
went hand in hand in the building up of Lusi-
tanian power in the East. Hard by is the old
Dutch Stadt House, solid and grim-looking,
recalling the era when the Netherlanders held

development is touching with its magic wand
the territory along the coast on each side and in
the Hinterland, and slowly but surely is making
its influence felt on the trade of the port.
Malacca's day as a modern trading centre at

describes the final conquest of Singapore in
1252, and the withdrawal of the remnants of
the Malay population to Malacca, to found
there a new city. The founder was Raja
Secunder (or Iskander Shah, the erstwhile

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

chief of Singapore. According to the record,
this Prince, while out hunting one day, was
resting under the shade of a tree near the coast
when one of his dogs roused a moose deer.
The animal, driven to bay, attacked the dog
and forced it into the water. The Raja, de-
lighted at the incident, said, "This is a fine
place, where the very pelandooks (moose deer)
are full of courage. Let us found a city here."
And the city was founded and called Malacca,
after the name of the tree under which the
Prince was resting — the malacca tree (Phyl-
lanthus Emblica). Perhaps this explanation
of the founding of Malacca is as authentic as
most stories of the origins of ancient cities. It,
at all events, must serve in the absence of
reliable historical data. Raja Secunder Shah
died in 1274, and was succeeded by Raja
Kechil Besar. In the reign of this potentate
the Malays are said to have been converted to
Mahomedanism. The next two centuries wit-
nessed a great development of the trade of the
city. The place is represented in 1509 as being
one of'the first cities of the East, and its ruling
chiefs are reported to have successfully resisted
many attempts of the Siamese kings to subdue
them. The Annals give a picturesque descrip-
tion of Malacca as it existed at this period.
" From Aver Leleh, the trickling stream, to the
entrance of the Bay of Muar, was one uninter-
rupted market-place. From the Kling town
likewise to the Bay of Penagar the buildings
extended along the shore in an uninterrupted
line. If a person went from Malacca to Jagra
(Parcelar Hill) there was no occasion to carry
fire with one, for wherever he stopped he would
find people's houses." Another vivid descrip-
tion of Malacca at the beginning of the sixteenth
century is to be found in an ancient manuscript,
which is attributed by the Hon. E. J. Stanley,
its translator, to Magellan. "This city of
Malacca," says the writer, "is the richest trad-
ing port, and possesses the most valuable
merchandise and most numerous shipping and
extensive traffic that is known in all the world.
And it has got such a quantity of gold that the
great merchants do not estimate their property
nor reckon otherwise than by bahars of gold,
which are four quintals each baliar. There are
merchant among them who will take up singly
three or four ships laden wiih very valuable
goods, and will supply them with cargo from
theii own property. They are very well made
men, and likewise the women. They are of a
brown colour, and go bai e from the waist up-
wards, and from that downwards cover them-
selves with silk and cotton cloths, and they wear
short jackets half way down the thigh of scarlet
cloth, and silk, cotton, or brocade stuffs, and
they are girt with belts and carry daggers in
their waists, wrought with rich inlaid work :
these they call querix (kris). And the women
dress in wraps of silk stuffs, and short skirts
much adorned with gold and jewellery, and
have long, beautiful hair. These people have
many mosques, and when they die they bury
their bodies. They live in large houses, and
have gardens and orchards, and pools of water
outside the city for their recreation. They have
got many slaves, who are married, with wives
and children. These slaves live separately, and
serve them when they have need of them.
These Moors, who are named Malays, are

very polished people and gentlemen, musical,
gallant, and well-proportioned."

In the section of this work dealing with the
Federated Malay States the story of Portuguese
and Dutch ascendancy in the Straits is fully
related. It is, therefore, only necessary here
to touch lightly upon this period in Malacca
history. The town was captured by Albu-
querque in 151 1. For one hundred and
thirty years it remained in the occupation of
the Portuguese. Under their government the
place became an important centre for the
propagation of the Roman Catholic faith.
The great Church of Our Lady of the Annun-
ciation, whose splendid ruins still dominate the
settlement, was built, and within its walls
officiated during an eventful period of his life
St. Francis Xavier, " the Apostle of the East."
The proselytising zeal of the Portuguese went
hand in hand with commercial enterprise.
They built up a considerable trade in spices
and other Eastern products, revitalising in
new channels a commerce which went back
to Roman times, if not beyond. Malacca, as
the chief port in these waters, was the centre
to which the merchandise was brought for
shipment. Vessels richly freighted sailed from
its wharves with fair regularity on the perilous
voyage round the Cape, carrying with their
enormously valuable cargoes to Europe an
impression of the greatness of the Portuguese
settlement in the Straits of Malacca which,
perhaps, was scarcely justified by the actual
facts. That Malacca in the palmy days of the
Portuguese occupation was a highly flourishing
city is, however, beyond doubt. A graphic
picture of it as it existed in the early years of
the seventeenth century is given by Manuel
Godinho de Eredia in a manuscript written at
Goa in 1613 and discovered in quite modern
times in the Royal Library at Brussels. Within
the fortifications, which were of great extent,
were the castle and palace of the Governor,
the palace of the bishop, the hall of the
Council of State, and five churches. The walls
of the fortress were pierced by four gates
leading to three separate quarters of the town,
the principal of which was known as Trail-
quiera. Living in the fortress were three
hundred married Portuguese with their families.
Altogether the population of the settlement
included 7,400 Christians, and there were 4
religious houses, 14 churches, 2 hospitals, with
chapels and several hermitages and oratories.
Eredia writes with en.hus asm of the climate of
Malacca. "This land,' he says, " is the freshest
and most agreeable in the world. Its air is
healthy and vivifying, good for human life
and health, at once warm and moist. But
neither the heat nor the moisture is excessive,
for the heat is tempered by the moist vapours
arising from the waters, at the same time that
it counteracts the dampness of the excessive
rains of all seasons, especially during the
changes of the moon."

In the seventeenth century the Dutch and
English appeared in the Straits to contest the
practical monopoly of trade which the Portu-
guese had long enjoyed in these latitudes.
The English were content to leave the Portu-
guese to the possession of the territory they
had long held. The Dutch, more ambitious,
and more conscious of their strength, deter-

mined to put an end to Portuguese rivalry
by the summary process of eviction. In 1642
they sent an expedition against Malacca, and
without much difficulty occupied the place-
They took with them to their new possession
their characteristic trade exclusiveness, and
also their stern methods of dealing with the
natives. The policy had its natural fruits in
a waning commerce and a diminishing popu-
lation. Before the end of the seventeenth
century Malacca had sunk into a position of
comparative unimportance as a port. But its
possession brought to the Dutch a certain
degree of prestige and indirect advantages in
the facilities it afforded for extending Dutch
influence in the native States. Had the Nether-
landish officials grasped the essential features
of a policy of expansion — or, to give it its most
modern designation, peaceful penetration —
they might have anticipated to a considerable
extent that great work which is now being
done under British auspices in the Malay
States. Their political outlook, however,
was as characteristically narrow as was their
economic policy, and though they entered
into relations with some of the native chiefs,
their diplomacy was directed rather to the
exclusion of rivals than to practical ends. So
though the Dutch power was seated for up-
wards of a century and a half at Malacca, its
active influence at the end of the period
extended little beyond the confines of the
settlement, save in two or three instances
where interests were created for ulterior
purposes.

Valentyn, the well-known Dutch missionary
whose great work on the East Indies, published
at Dordrecht and Amsterdam in the year 1726,
is one of the classics of Indian historical litera-
ture, gives a minute account of Malacca as it
was in the middle period of the Dutch occupa-
tion. The region in which the town is situated,
he states, was called by Ptolemy and the ancients
Terra or Regio Aurifera, or the gold-bearing
country, and Aurea Chersonesus, or the Golden
Peninsula, the latter name being conferred on
account of its being joined to the countries of
Tana-sery (Tenasserim) and Siam by a narrow
neck of land.

"The town is 1,800 paces or about a mile in
circumference, and the sea face is defended by
a high wall, 600 paces in length. There is also
a fine stone wall along the banks of the river to
the north-west, and to the north-east is a stone
bulwark, called St. Domingo. A wall called
Taypa runs along the water-side to the port
St. Jago, and there are several small fortresses
with two more bulwarks on the south-east side,
which contribute much to the strength of the
place. ... In the upper part of the town lies
the Monastery of St. Paulo ; and those of the
Minnebroeders (foster brothers) and of Madre
de Dios are erected on neighbouring hills, be-
yond which the land is everywhere low as
on the sea coast, where the slope is so gradual
that the mud bank which fronts the shore is
dry at low water to the distance of two musket
shots, and so soft and muddy that great diffi-
culty is experienced in landing. . . There are
several handsome and spacious streets in the
town, but unpaved ; and many fine stone
houses, the greater part of which are built after
the Portuguese fashion, very high. They are

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

r>7

arranged in the form of a crescent. There is
a respectable fortress of great strength, with
good walls and bulwarks, and well provided
with cannon, which, with a good garrison,
would stand a hard push. Within the fort

population of two or three hundred mentioned
as inhabiting the fort was doubtless the Euro-
pean and Eurasian community. Outside the
walls there was probably a much larger body
of native inhabitants. Still, the settlement had

officer of the British troops was to command
the fort ; and in consequence of the expenses
incurred by the King of Great Britain in equip-
ping the armament, the British garrison was to
be maintained at the expense of the Dutch, who

A VIEW OF OLD MALACCA UNDER THE DUTCH.
(From an old print.)

there are many strong stone houses and regular
streets, all bearing tokens of the old Portuguese
times ; and the tower which stands on the hill
has still a respectable appearance, although it
is in a great state of dilapidation. This fortress,
which occupies the hill in the centre of the
town, is about the size of Delfshaven, and has
also two gates, with part of the town on a hill,
and the outer side washed by the sea. It is at
present the residence of the Governor, the public
establishment, and of the garrison, which is
tolerably strong. Two hundred years ago it
was a mere fishing village, and now it is a
handsome city. In former times the fort con-
tained eleven or twelve thousand inhabitants,
but now there are not more than two or three
hundred, partly Dutch and partly Portuguese
and Malays, but the latter reside in mere altap
huts in the remote corners of the fort. Beyond
it there are also many handsome houses and
tidy plantations of coconut and other trees,
which are occupied chiefly by Malays."

This account of Valentyn's makes it clear that
under the Dutch domination Malacca sank into
a position of comparative insignificance. The

obviously retrograded considerably — was, in
fact, only a shadow of what it once was. With
unimportant variations it continued in this con-
dition of comparative insignificance until the
usurpation of Dutch power by Napoleon, at the
end of the eighteenth century, brought Great
Britain and Holland into a position of mutual
hostility, and indirectly led to the British occu-
pation of several of the Dutch colonies, Malacca
amongst them. The conquest of the straits
port was easily accomplished. A small British
squadron, under the command of Captain Xeiv-
come of the Orpheus, appeared off the place in
November, 1795. As it entered the port "a
Dutch ship which had run aground fired at the
Resistance, of forty-four guns, Captain Edward
Pakenham. This was returned and the ship
struck her colours. The fort also fired a few-
shots on the troops on their landing, and sur-
rendered on the opening of our fire : for which
acts of hostility the settlement, as well as the
ships in the harbour, were taken possession of
as the property of the captors, subject to the
decision of his Britannic Majesty. In the capi-
tulation it was agreed that the commanding

were- to raise a sum in the settlement for that
purpose. The British commandant was also
to have the keys of the garrison and give the
parole ; all military stores of whatever descrip-
tion were to be placed under his control ; the
armed vessels belonging to the Government of
Malacca to be put likewise under the orders
of the British Government. The settlements
of Rhio and Perak, being dependencies of
Malacca, were ordered to put themselves under
the protection of the British Government." '
The town was not at the outset actually incor-
porated in British territory, but was occupied
for the Prince of Orange, who had been driven
from his throne by the revolutionaries. The
fact is made clear by the following general
order issued by the commandant of the British
troops on November 17, 1795: "The Dutch
troops having taken the oath of allegiance
to his Britannic Majesty, George III., now
in strict alliance with his Serene Highness,
William the Fifth, Prince of Orange, the same
respect and deference is to be paid to the Dutch
officers and men when on or off duty as is paid
Brenton's "Naval History," i. 360.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

to the British officers and men, by whom they
are to be considered and treated on all occasions
as brother soldiers in one and the same allied
service."

Malacca was to have been restored to the
Dutch in 1802 as a result of the conclusion of
the Peace of Amiens ; but war breaking out
again in May, 1803, before the transfer was
made, and the Dutch falling once more under
the domination of France, the status of the
settlement was not changed. The British,
however, were not at all enamoured of their
trust. The place imposed a heavy drain upon
the Company's resources without bringing any
corresponding advantage. If the territory had
been absolutely British the responsibility might
have been faced, but it did not appear to the
authorities of that day to be worth while to
continue the expenditure on the port with the
possibility of its being reoccupied by the Dutch
on the conclusion of a general peace. In
the circumstances Lieut. -Colonel Farquhar (not
to be confused with Major Farquhar, of Singa-
pore fame), the Governor of Prince of Wales
Island, recommended that the Europeans and
the whole of the establishment should be with-
drawn and the place delivered over to the
neighbouring native force. The policy was
fully approved and ordered to be carried into
effect by the authorities in Europe. Strong
protests were made against the measure by the
inhabitants and by the Resident. But the work
of demolishing the fortifications was put in hand
immediately in accordance with the instruc-
tions. The Portuguese had built well, and it
took the Company's workmen two years, and
cost the Company £4,000, to undo the work
which they had created. When the act of
vandalism had been completed, an order was
received from the Supreme Government
directing the suspension of all further pro-
ceedings in connection with the evacuation.
This striking change in policy had been
brought about by a communication which
Raffles had made to the superior authority as
the result of a visit he paid to Malacca in
September, 1808. Raffles had been profoundly
impressed by what he had seen and heard
during his sojourn in the settlement, and he had
immediately set to work to put on paper a
statement showing the grave blunder that was
on the point of being committed. This mono-
graph is one of the most masterly of his
numerous public communications. He com-
menced by stating that having lately had an
opportunity of noticing the destruction of the
works at Malacca, and being impressed with a
conviction that the future prosperity of Prince
of Wales Island was materially involved in the
impending fate of the place, he had felt it a
duty incumbent upon him to submit to the
Board the result of his observations. He pro-
ceeded :

"The object of the measures taken with
regard to Malacca appears to have been two-
fold — to discourage, by the destruction of the
works, any European Power from setting a
value on the place or turning it to any account
in the event of it falling into their hands, and
to have improved the settlement at Prince of
Wales Island by the transfer of its population
and trade. These objects were undoubtedly
highly desirable and of great political impor-

tance. The former, perhaps, may in some
degree have been effected by the destruction of
the works and removal of the ordnance and
stores to Pinang, but with respect to the latter
much remains to be done. . . .

"The inhabitants resident within the territory
of Malacca are estimated at 20,000 souls. . . .
More than three-fourths of the above population
were born in Malacca, where their families
have settled for centuries. . . . The Malays, a
class of people not generally valued as subjects,
are here industrious and valuable members of
society. . . .

" The inhabitants of Malacca are very dif-
ferent from what they appear to have been
considered. Three-fourths of the native popu-
lation of Prince of Wales Island might with
little encouragement be induced to remove,
having no fixed or permanent property ;
adventurers ready to turn their hands to any
employment. But the case is very different
with the native inhabitants of Malacca. . . .
The inhabitants are mostly proprietors of
property or connected with those that are ;
and those possessing independence from their
gardens, fishing, and the small trade of
Malacca. The more respectable, and the
majority, accustomed to respect an indepen-
dence from their childhood, will ill brook the
difficulties of establishing themselves at a new
settlement. . . . The present population must,
therefore, be considered as attached to the soil,
and from every appearance it seems they have
determined to remain by Malacca, let its fate be
what it will. Into whatever hands it falls it
cannot be much more reduced than at present,
and they have a hope that any change must be
for the better. The offer made by Government
of paying the passage of such as would embark
for Pinang was not accepted by a single
individual. . . .

" The population of Malacca is, in a great
degree, independent ; and when it is considered
that no corresponding benefit can be offered to
them at Pinang, it cannot be expected that they
will remove ; admitting even that they are
indemnified for the loss of their fixed property,
they would feel but little inclination to adven-
ture at Pinang, where they must either purchase
land and houses from others or undertake the
clearing of an unhealthy jungle.

"The natives consider the British faith
pledged for their protection. When the settle-
ment 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 willing to make great
sacrifices ; and they pay the heavy duties im-
posed on them with the cheerfulness of faithful
and obedient subjects. The revenues of Malacca
are never in arrear."

The eyes of the Court of Directors were
opened by Raffles's communication, and while
issuing orders for the cancellation of the
evacuation measures, they thanked him for his
able report. Thus Raffles's name is identified
as honourably with Malacca as it is with
Singapore. While he may be regarded as the
creator of the latter settlement, he deserves with
equal justice to be looked upon as the saviour
of the former at a turning-point in its history.

In 181 1, during the period of the second
British occupation of Malacca, the settlement
was used as a base for the expedition to Java
to which allusion has already been made.
Lord Minto conducted the expeditionary force
in person, and it was at Malacca that he had
the series of conferences with Raffles which
terminated in the adoption by the Governor-
General, in defiance of the opinions of other
authorities, of the route recommended by the
administrator for the passage of the flotilla.
Those were lively days for Malacca, and how
greatly the natives enjoyed the experience is to
be gathered from the pages of the Hikaiat
Abdullah. The faithful Abdullah, with the
minuteness almost of a Pepys, sets down in his
journal all the incidents of the period. His
description of Lord Minto's arrival and of his
landing does infinite credit alike to his observa-
tion and his descriptive powers. " When I
saw Lord Minto and how he bore himself," he
writes, "I was amazed. For I had imagined to
myself what he would be like, his height, his
appearance, his dress. Then I thought of the
Malay proverb which says, ' Fair fame is better
than a fine appearance,' and I bit my finger.
To me he appeared to be a man of middle age
with a spare figure, charming manners, and a
pleasant countenance. I said to myself that I
did not think he could lift as much as 30 lbs.
He wore a dark coat and dark trousers, and
beyond that there was nothing to remark in his
dress. And all the great men who were there
to welcome him stood a long way off ; and not
one of them dared to offer his hand ; they only
raised their hats and perspired. Then the
commander of the soldiers shouted an order,
and every musket was brought to the salute.
And as he [Lord Minto] came forward he
looked to left and right, and bowed to either
hand, and then walked slowly through the
guard of honour, while the guns kept thunder-
ing the salute, and he never ceased raising 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
everyone 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 all these poor
folk — Chinese, Malays, Tamils, and Eurasians —
and he smiled as he returned their 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 ! . . . After waiting a moment
to return the salutations he walked on slowly,
bowing to the people, until he reached the
Stadt House and entered it. Then all the great
people of Malacca, and all the great amongst
those recently arrived, went to meet him ; and
I noticed that amongst all those distinguished
people it was Mr. Raffles who was bold enough
to approach him ; the others sat a long way
off. A few moments later everyone who had
entered and met the Governor-General with-
draw, and returned to their oWn quarters.
Then the troops fired three volleys in succession
and they also returned to their camp." There
is a naivete about Abdullah's description which
gives it a peculiar charm ; and it has its value

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

as a piece of self-revelation on the part of a
Malay in the days when Western ideas had not
penetrated very deeply in Malaya. A further
memento of Lord Minto's visit is a portrait of
the Governor-General which hangs in the
Stadt House at Malacca. The figure of the
Governor-General is painted against a back-
ground representing Malacca, and there is
little doubt that the work was executed shortly
after the period of the Java Expedition.

Malacca remained in the somewhat anoma-
lous position of a British settlement governed
by Dutch law, administered by a Dutch
judiciary, until the final overthrow of Napoleon
paved the way for a general adjustment of the
international position. The events of that
memorable period followed each other so
rapidly that the first intelligence received by
the Pinang Government of the close of the
war was the announcement of the conclusion
of the Treaty of Vienna, which inter alia
provided for the retrocession of Malacca. A
feeling akin to consternation was aroused at
the action of the home authorities in acquiescing
in the rendition of the settlement, the value of
which had become more and more evident
with the revival of Dutch influence and pre-
tensions in the Straits. Earnest remonstrances
were immediately transmitted to the authorities
in Europe by the Pinang Government against
the measure. Major Farquhar, the Resident,
also addressed to the Court of Directors a
strong plea for the reconsideration of the
question. This official's representation took
the form of a lengthy paper, in which the
position and resources of Malacca were de-
scribed with a knowledge born of long residence
in the settlement and a thorough acquaintance
with the country about it. It is probable that
the production was inspired by Raftles's earlier
effort in the same line, which, as we have
noted, had such striking results. However that
may be, the document is of exceptional interest
from the light it throws on the position of
Malacca at that period, and the prescient
wisdom displayed in regard to its future
prospects in relation to the Malay States. As
the compilation has been overlooked to a large
extent by writers on Malaya, the more im-
portant portions of it may profitably be re-
produced here.

Major Farquhar, at the outset of his com-
munication, remarked that, having regard to the
situation of Malacca, commanding as it did the
only direct passage to China, they could not
but be very forcibly impressed with the
importance of the- place alike from a political
and commercial point of view, as well as with
the many evils which would inevitably arise
should it again fall into the hands of a foreign
Power. He proceeded to point out that when
Malacca was before in the hands of the Dutch
they were able to seriously harass and hamper
the British trade which centred at Pinang by
bringing into Malacca every trading prahu
passing up or down the straits.

" A doubt therefore cannot exist," he wrote,
" that should the settlement of Malacca be
restored to the Dutch, their former influence
will be speedily re-established, and probably
on a more extended basis than ever ; so as to
cause the total ruin of that advantageous and
lucrative commerce which at present is carried

on by British subjects through these straits.
Independent [sic) of the above considerations
Malacca possesses many other local advan-
tages which, under a liberal system of govern-
ment, might in my opinion render it a most
valuable colony. Nature has been profusely
bountiful to the Malay Peninsula in bestowing
on it a climate the most agreeable and salu-
brious, a soil luxuriantly fertile, watered by
numerous rivers, and the face of the country
diversified with hills and valleys, mountains
and plains, the whole forming the most
beautiful scenery that it is possible for the
imagination to figure to itself ; in contem-
plating which we have only to lament that a
more enterprising and industrious race of
inhabitants than the Malays should not have
possessed this delightful region, and we cannot
but reflect with pain and regret on the narrow
and sordid policy of the European Powers (who

"There is a great quantity of the richest kinds
of soil in the vicinity of Malacca adapted to
the growth of everything common to tropical
climates. The sugar-cane is equal to any pro-
duced in Java, and far exceeds in size that of Ben-
gal. Coffee, cotton, chocplate, indigo, pepper,
and spices have all been tried and found to thrive
remarkably well ; but as yet no cultivation to
any extent of those articles has taken place,
principally owing to the uncertainty of the
English retaining permanent possession of
Malacca, and to the apprehensions the native
inhabitants entertain of being obliged to desist
from every species of agricultural pursuit
should the settlement revert to the Dutch. . . .

" The mineral productions of the Malay
peninsula might likewise become a source of
considerable emolument if thoroughly explored.
Indeed, I have little doubt that the gold and tin
mines in the vicinity of Malacca, if scientifically

THE STRAND, MALACCA.

have had establishments here since the fifteenth
century), by which every attempt at general
cultivation and improvement was discouraged ;
and to such a length did the Dutch carry their
restrictions that previous to the capture of
Malacca by the English in 1795, no grain
of any kind was permitted to be raised within
the limits of the Malacca territory, thus ren-
dering the whole population dependent on the
island of Java for all their supplies. Under
such a government it is not surprising that
the country should have continued in a state of
primitive nature ; but no sooner were these
restrictions taken off by the English and full
liberty given to every species of agriculture
than industry began to show itself very rapidly,
notwithstanding the natural indolence of the
Malay inhabitants, and the Malacca district
now produces nearly sufficient grain for the
consumption of the settlement, and with proper
encouragement would, I have no doubt, in the
course of a few years, yield a considerable
quantity for exportation. . . .

worked and placed under proper management,
would prove of very great value. At present
they are very partially worked, and with so
little skill that no comparative advantage can
be derived from them. The Malays and
Chinese who are employed at the mines con-
tent themselves with digging open pits to the
depth of from 6 to 10 feet, seldom going
beyond that, and removing from place to place
as the veins near the surface become exhausted.
. . . The tin mines are all within a circuit of
35 miles of Malacca (with the exception of those
of Perak), and produce at present about 4,000
piculs of tin, which will yield nearly 80,000
Spanish dollars. But this quantity, were the
mines under proper management, might be
easily quadrupled. Indeed, I have not the
least doubt that the mines of Malacca would
very soon be brought to rival those of Banca."
Farquhar went on to suggest that it would be
easy to make arrangements with the native
chiefs for the working of the mines, and this
thought led him to a general dissertation on the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

advantages of extending British influence in
the peninsula. With shrewd judgment he
remarked : " It becomes an object of the highest
interest that some means should be adopted for
establishing, under British influence, a regular
system of government throughout the Malay
Peninsula, calculated to rescue this delightful
region from the tyranny and ignorance which
at present so completely shuts up every avenue
-of improvement."

The paper closed with this glowing descrip-
tion of the climatic advantages of Malacca :

" Malacca enjoys regular land and sea
breezes, but during the height of the NE.
monsoon the sea breezes are very faint, and
the winds from the land at this season frequently
blow with considerable force and little varia-
tion for several weeks together. They are not,
however, at all of a hot and parching nature
like those on the continent of India, owing, no
doubt, to their passing over a considerable tract
of country so thickly clothed with woods that
the earth never becomes heated to any great
degree. The mornings at this season are par-
ticularly agreeable, the weather being quite
serene and the air sharp and bracing. Very
little variation takes place in the barometer at
Malacca. . . . The salubrity of the climate may-
be pretty fairly judged of by the number of
casualties that have occurred in the garrison for
the last seven years, which on a correct average
taken from the medical registers of those men
who have died from disease contracted here
does not amount to quite two in the hundred, a
smaller proportion than will, I fancy, be found
in almost any other part of India."

Such was the report which Farquhar sent
home. It was reinforced by petitions from the
mercantile community, all representing in the
strongest and most earnest language the grave
impolicy of allowing the settlement to get back
into Dutch hands. The fiat, however, had gone
forth for the transfer, and however much the
home authorities might have liked to retrace
their steps they could not do so without a viola-
tion of treaty obligations. Events in Europe
prevented the immediate fulfilment of the Treaty
of Vienna. It was not, in fact, until November
2, 1816, that the Government order was issued
for the restoration of Malacca. Even then the
Dutch did not appear to be at all anxious to
enter into possession. They were more con-
cerned with consolidating their position in other
parts of the Straits. Riau was occupied, and
lodgments were effected at various advan-
tageous positions on the coast of Sumatra.
Malacca, stripped of its fortifications and bereft
of the most profitable part of its trade by Pinang,
they appeared to consider was of minor im-
portance to these positions which could be
used with effect for the execution of the long-
cherished design of securing a monopoly of the
Straits trade for the Dutch. That "profligate
speculation," to adopt Lord Hastings's phnfse
as we know, was defeated, thanks to Raftles's
foresight and energy ; but it can be readily
understood that in the early stages of the plot it
seemed good policy to keep the British hanging
on as caretakers at Malacca while the Dutch
forces were careering about the Straits picking
up unconsidered trifles of territory in good
strategic positions.

It was not until the year 1818 was well

advanced that the Dutch found time to turn
their attention to Malacca. After some pre-
liminary negotiations the settlement was handed
over to the Dutch Commissioners on September
2 1st of that year. An interesting ceremony
marked the transfer. At sunrise the British
colours were hoisted, and at seven o'clock all
the British troops in garrison marched to St.
Paul's Hill, where they were joined by the
Dutch contingent. The British Resident (Major
Farquhar) and the Dutch Commissioners, with
their respective staffs, proceeded in procession
to the vicinity of the flag-staff, and on arrival
were received by the united troops with pre-
sented arms. The British proclamation an-
nouncing the retrocession was then read by the
Resident, and it was subsequently repeated in
the Malay and Chinese languages. Afterwards
the Master Attendant began slowly to lower the
Union flag, the battery meanwhile firing a
royal salute and [the troops presenting arms.
Simultaneously the Dutch men-of-war in the
harbour thundered out a royal salute. After-
wards the British troops took up a new position
on the left of the Dutch line and the Dutch pro-
clamation was read and explained by the Com-
missioners. The Dutch colours were then
hoisted full mast under a royal salute from the
British battery and from the Dutch squadron.
The ceremony of transfer was completed by
the Dutch troops relieving the British garrison
guards.

During the progress of the arrangements for
the surrender of the town, Major Farquhar
advanced a claim on behalf of the British for
the reimbursement of the expenses incurred
over and above the revenue since the capture
of the place in 1795. He did so on the ground
"that the laws of Holland as they existed under
his Serene Highness previous to the revolution
in 1794-95 have been the only civil laws in force
in this settlement, and that all the decrees of
the Courts of Justice have continued to be
passed in the name of their High Mightinesses
the States General, even subsequent to the
Peace of Amiens, and further that none of the
former Dutch civil or military servants were re-
tained but such as professed a strict adherence
to the cause of the Stadtholders." The Dutch
Commissioners declined emphatically to enter-
tain the claim. They agreed, however, to ac-
cept responsibility for the additional charges
incurred from the date of the conclusion of the
treaty to the period when the transfer was
made, less the costs of the time covered by
Major Farquhar's absence on mission duty.

One of the last public appearances of Far-
quhar at Malacca was at the laying of the
foundation-stone of the Anglo-Chinese College
on November 11, 1818. The retiring British
Resident discharged the principal part in this
ceremony, but the Dutch Governor, Thyssen,
attended with many of his leading colleagues,
and so gave the sanction of the new regime to
an enterprise which, though entirely British in
its inception, was of a character to appeal to
broad sympathies. The founder of the college
was the Rev. Dr. Morrison, a well-known
missionary associated with the London Mission-
ary Society. Dr. Morrison's idea was to spread
a knowledge of Christianity amongst the better
class Chinese, and at the same time to provide
for the reciprocal study of European and

Chinese literature. He gave out of his own
means a sum of one thousand pounds towards
the cost of the building, and in addition pro-
vided an endowment of one hundred pounds
annually for the succeeding five years. At a
later period, when the British resumed the
occupation of Malacca, the Company granted an
allowance of twelve hundred Spanish dollars
per annum until 1830, when the grant was
discontinued. Attached to the college was an
English, Chinese and Malay Press, from which
in process of time issued several interesting
books. On the occupation of Singapore an
effort was made by Raffles to secure the trans-
fer of the college to that settlement and its
amalgamation with the Raffles Institute. But
the proposal met with much opposition and
eventually had to be reluctantly abandoned.

The second period of Dutch dominion thus
inaugurated was brief. When the time came
in 1824 to arrange a general settlement of
matters in dispute with the Dutch, the agree-
ment was come to for the British to cede to
the Netherlands Government Bencoolen in
Sumatra in exchange for Malacca and the small
Dutch establishments on the continent of
India. It has often been thought that in this
transaction we have exemplification of the truth
of Canning's lines which affirm that —

" In matters of commerce, the fault of the Dutch
Is offering too little and asking too much."

But though if we had remained in Sumatra we
might unquestionably have developed a great
trade with that island, it is extremely doubtful
whether we could ever have secured advan-
tages equal to those which have accrued from
the possession of Malacca. With Malacca in
Dutch hands the spread of our influence
throughout the Malay peninsula would have
been impossible. Our line of communications
would have been broken, and a wedge would
have been driven into our sphere of action, to
the effectual crippling of our efforts. As things
are, we have an absolutely clear field, and what
that means is being increasingly demonstrated
in the marvellous development of the Malay
States under British auspices.

On the receipt by the Pinang Government
of a despatch from the Supreme Government
announcing the conclusion of the treaty with
the Dutch, Mr. W. S. Cracroft, senior civil
servant, was in March, 1825, sent with a
garrison of 100 men to reoccupy the fort.
Formal possession was taken on April 9th. A
question was raised at the time as to whether the
" dependencies of Malacca " included Riau. It
was referred home, and finally answered in a
negative sense. As far as Malacca itself was
concerned, there was little in the situation
which the British found on resuming the con-
trol of the settlement to excite enthusiasm. In
the first place, the trade had been reduced
almost to vanishing point by the competition of
Singapore, whose superior conveniences as a
port attracted to it nearly the whole of the
commerce which formerly centred at Malacca.
The disastrous character of the rivalry is strik-
ingly illustrated in the revenue returns of the
settlement. In 1815 the export and import
duties and harbour fees amounted to 50,591
Spanish dollars. In 1821, two years after the
establishment of Singapore, the receipts fell to

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

23,282 Spanish dollars, and in 1823 there was a
further fall to 7,2 17 Spanish dollars. Practically,
therefore, Malacca had been wiped out as a
port for external trade. This commercial de-
terioration was not the only difficulty which
the new administration had to face. On the
reoccupation it was found that scarcely a foot
of land, with the exception of a few spots near
the town, belonged to the Government. The
proprietary rights in the soil had been given
away in grants to various individuals by the
Dutch, with the mere reservation of the right
to impose a land tax on the whole. Mr. Fuller-
ton caused a careful inquiry to be instituted
into the whole system. This took a consider-
able time and involved much research. The
system in vogue was found to be based upon
the ancient Malay custom which constituted the
sovereign the lord of the soil and gave him
one-tenth of the produce. Under this system
a landowner might hand down the trees he
planted and the house he built, but he could
not alienate the land. It followed that the
individuals called proprietors, mostly Dutch
colonists resident at Malacca, were not such in
reality, but merely persons to whom the Gov-
ernment had granted out its tenth, and who
had no other claim upon the produce, nor upon
the occupiers, not founded in abuse. The occu-
piers, in fact, were, under Government, the real
proprietors of the soil. Another point brought
out by the investigation was that a class called
Penghulus, who occupied a dominant position
ih the management of Malacca landed property,
were merely the agents of Government or of
the person called the proprietor, for collecting
the tenth share and performing certain duties
of the nature of police attached by custom to
the proprietorship. In order to revive the pro-
prietary rights of Government, Mr. Fullerton
elected to purchase the vested interests of the
so-called proprietors for a fixed annual pay-
ment about equal to the existing annual receipts
from the land, and to employ the Penghulus to
collect the rents on behalf of Government.
This arrangement was finally carried out with
the sanction of the Court of Directors at a cost
to the Government of Rs. 16,270 annually. For
many years the Government lost heavily over
the transaction, the receipts falling a good
many thousands short of the fixed annual dis-
bursement. There can be no question, how-
ever, that the resumption of the Government
proprietorship of the soil was a statesmanlike
measure from which much subsequent good
was derived.

The alarming decline in the trade of the
settlement created a feeling akin to despair in
the minds of the inhabitants. In 1829 a memo-
rial was forwarded by them to Pinang, drawing
attention to the position of affairs and suggest-
ing various measures for the recovery of the
settlement's lost prosperity. In a communica-
tion in reply to the memorial, Mr. Fullerton
remarked that the memorialists had overlooked
the principal reason for the decay of Malacca,
which was the foundation of Pinang at one end
of the straits and Singapore at the other.
Henceforth, he said, the prosperity of Malacca
must depend more upon agricultural than com-
mercial resources. Seeing that she was as far
superior to the other two settlements in the
former respect as she was inferior to them in

the latter, there was no reason to doubt, he
thought, that under a wise government Malacca
might regain nearly ars great a degree of pros-
perity as she formerly enjoyed.'

If the mercantile community had cause to
complain of the hardness of the times, the East
India Company had not less reason to feel
anxious about the position at Malacca. The
settlement was a steady and increasing drain
upon the Company's resources. The following
figures illustrate the position as it was a few
years after the resumption of the territory :

Revenue.

Rs.

1831-32 ... 48,800

1832-33 ••• 69>800

1833-34 ■•• 60,700

Expenditure. Loss.

Rs. Rs.

184,500 135700

359,800 290,000

526,200 465,500

It may be acknowledged that not a little of
the excessive expenditure was for objects which
were not properly debitable to Malacca — con-

ordinate officials fifty dollars per annum, pro-
vided that they would transfer their lands to
Government in order that the tenth might be
levied upon them in the same way as at
Malacca. The proposals met with a flat re-
fusal, and Mr. Lewis had to return to head-
quarters. Another attempt was made in the
following year to bring about the desired
result. On that occasion Mr. Church, the
Deputy Resident, was despatched with instruc-
tions to inform the Penghulu that Naning was
an integral part of Malacca territory, and that
it was intended by Government to subject it to
the general regulations affecting the rest of the
Malacca territory. He was further instructed
to take a census and to make it known that all
offenders, except in trivial matters, would in
future be sent down to Malacca for trial. As a
solatium for the loss of their power, Mr. Church
was instructed to offer the Penghulu and the
other functionaries a pension. The pill, though

VIEW OF MALACCA.

victs, military, &c. Still, when every allowance
is made for the influence of the tendency of the
Indian authorities to place liabilities in the
Straits, we are faced with a position which
leaves us in wonder at the patience of the East
India Company in maintaining the settlement.
They were probably much in the historic posi-
tion of Micawber — waiting for something to
turn up. Something did turn up eventually, but
not until long after the Company's rule had
faded out.

When Mr. Fullerton had settled the land
system of Malacca proper, as has been narrated,
it occurred to him that it would be well also to
take in hand the adjustment of the land ques-
tion in the neighbouring territory of Naning.
Accordingly, in 1828 Mr. Lewis, the Assistant
Resident, was despatched to Tabu, the capital of
Naning, to interview the chief with a view to
the introduction of the system. He was em-
powered to offer the Penghulu the sum of six
hundred Spanish dollars, and each of the sub-
1 " Straits Settlements Records," No. 195.

thus gilded, was not more palatable than it
had proved before. Mr. Church was allowed
to take the census, but his mission in other
respects was a failure. These evidences of an
obstinate disposition to disregard the Com-
pany's authority led Mr. Fullerton to take
measures for the despatch of an expedition to
bring the recalcitrant chief to his bearings.
Pending a reference of the matter to the
Supreme Government, no forward movement
was made, but on the forcible seizure and de-
tention of a man within the Malacca boundary
by order of the Penghulu, a proclamation was
issued declaring that Abdu Syed had forfeited
all claims, and was henceforth no longer Peng-
hulu of Naning.

At length the sanction of the Supreme
Government to the expedition was received,
and on August 6, 183 1, the expeditionary
force commenced its march. It consisted
of 150 rank and file of the 29th Madras
Native Infantry, two 6-pounders, and a
small detail of native artillery, the whole

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

being under the command of Captain Wyllie,
Madras Native Infantry. On the oth the de-
tachment reached Mullikey, a village about
i- miles from Malacca and about five from
Tabu, the residence of the Penghulu. Owing
to the non-receipt of supplies and the unex-
pectedly severe resistance offered by the
Malays, Captain Wyllie deemed it best to
retreat. The force withdrew to Sungie-Pattye,
where it remained until August 24th, when
orders were received for its return to Malacca.
The heavy baggage was destroyed and the re-
treat commenced the same evening. On the
following morning the somewhat demoralised
force reached Malacca after a little fighting and
the loss of its two guns, which were abandoned
en route. This rather discreditable business
created a considerable sensation at the time in
Malacca, and there was some apprehension for
the safety of the town, which, until the arrival
of reinforcements from Madras, was almost
at the mercy of the Malays. However, the
Penghulu was not enterprising. If he had any
disposition to trouble it was probably checked
by the fact that the British authorities had con-
cluded a treaty of alliance and friendship with
the Kembau chiefs, who had assisted him in
his rebellion. In January, 1832, a new ex-
peditionary force was organised at Malacca
from troops which had arrived from Madras in
answer to the summons for aid. It consisted
of the 5th Madras N.I.,a company of rifles, two
companies of sappers and miners, and a detail
of European and native artillery. The troops,
which were under the command of Lieutenant-
Colonel Herbert, commenced their march early
in March. They encountered considerable re-
sistance near Alor Gajeh, and were compelled
for a time to act on the defensive. Reinforce-
ments, consisting mainly of the 46th Regiment,
were ultimately received from Pinang, and on
May 21st offensive operations were resumed
with such success that Tabu fell on the 15th
June. The Penghulu fled, and his property
and lands were confiscated to Government.
In 1834 he surrendered unconditionally to
the Government at Malacca, and was per-
mitted to reside in the town and draw a
pension of thirty rupees from the Government
treasury. Xewbold described him as " a hale,
stout man, apparently about fifty years of age,
of a shrewd and observant disposition, though
strongly imbued with the superstitions of his
tribe." " His miraculous power in the cure of
diseases," Xewbold added, "is still as firmly
believed as that of certain kings of England
was at no very remote period, and his house is
the daily resort of the health-seeking followers
of Mahomed, Foh, Brahma, and Buddha."

The operations from first to last cost the
Company no less than ten lakhs of rupees. For
some time after the expedition it was deemed
necessary to maintain a body of Madras troops
in the territory ; but the native population soon
settled down, and within a few years there was
no more contented class in the Company's
dominions.

Naning comes to us in direct descent from
the Portuguese, who took possession of it shortly
after the capture of Malacca by Albuquerque
in 151 1. Previously it had formed an integral
part of the dominions of Mahomed Shah II.,
Sultan of Malacca, who, on the fall of his

capital, fled to Muar, thence to Pahang, and
finally to Johore, where he established a king-
dom. Naning remained nominally under the
Portuguese until 1641-42, when, with Malacca,
it fell into the hands of the Dutch. Valentyn
asserts that the treaty between the Dutch and
the Sultan of Johore was that the town should
be given up to the Dutch and the land to the
Sultan of Johore, the Dutch reserving only so
much territory about the town as was required.
This reservation was so liberally construed by
the Netherlander that they ultimately brought
under the control an area of nearly 50 miles
by 30, including the whole of Naning up to the
frontiers of Rembau and Johore. This line
at a later period was extended beyond Bukit
Bruang and Ramoan China to the left bank of
the Linggi river, which it now comprehends.

One of the questions which arose out of the
reoccupation of Malacca was tlie status of the
slaves resident in the settlement. In British
dominions at this time, as the poet Cowper had
proudly proclaimed a few years before, slaves
could not breathe —

" If their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free ;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall."

But poetry and law are not always in harmony,
and they were not so in this case. At all
events, there was sufficient doubt as to the
application of the famous Emancipation statutes
to give the authorities a considerable amount
of trouble. The most divergent views were
expressed locally on the subject. The main
question was whether slaves duly registered and
recognised as such under the previous Dutch
Government could be considered in a state
of slavery on the transfer of the settlement to
the British. The inhabitants petitioned the
Pinang authorities to accept the state of bond-
age on the ground of the confusion and loss
which would be caused by emancipation. Mr.
Fullerton, the Governor, in reply, called atten-
tion to the importance of putting a stop to
slavery within a certain period. Thereupon
the inhabitants met and passed a resolution
agreeing that slavery should cease at the ex-
piration of the year 1842. Meanwhile the
matter had been referred to Calcutta for legal
consideration, and in due course the opinion of
the law officers was forthcoming. It was held
that owing to the peculiar circumstances under
which Malacca had become a British settle-
ment the state of slavery must of necessity be
recognised wherever proof could be brought
forward of the parties having been in that state
under the Netherlandish Government. Eventu-
ally the question was settled on the basis of the
compromise suggested by the resolution of the
inhabitants at their public meeting. Thus
Malacca enjoyed the dubious honour of having
slaves amongst its residents many years after
slavery had ceased to exist in other parts of the
Empire.

The discussion of the slavery question
incidentally led to a sharp controversy on the
subject of press restrictions. The local news-
paper, the Malacca Observer, which was printed
at the Mission Press, in dealing with the points
at issue ventured to write somewhat strongly
on the attitude of the Government. Mr. Fuller-
ton, who took a strictly official view of the

functions of the press, and never tolerated the
least approach to freedom in newspaper com-
ments, peremptorily ordered the withdrawal of
the subsidy which the paper enjoyed from
the Government. Mr. Garling, the Resident
Councillor, in conveying the orders of his
superior to the offending newspaper, appears
to have intimated that the stoppage of the
allowance carried with it the withdrawal of the
censorship. Great was Mr. Fullerton's indig-
nation when he learned that his directions had
been thus interpreted. He indited a strongly
worded communication to Mr. Garling, direct-
ing him to re-institute the control overthe press,
and acquainting him that he would be held
responsible for any improper publication that
might appear. Not content with this, the angry
official caused a long letter to be written to Mr.
Murchison, the Resident Councillor at Singa-
pore, expatiating on the magnitude of the
blunder that had been committed, and warning
him against a similar display of weakness in
the case of the Singapore paper. " The partial
and offensive style adopted by the editor of the
Malacca Observer in the discussion of local
slavery had," he said, "tended completely to
destroy the peace, harmony, and good order of
the settlement, and as that question had been
submitted to the Supreme Government it was
most desirable that the subsisting irritation
should be allowed to subside, and that, pending
reference, publications at a neighbouring settle-
ment having a tendency to keep it alive, and
coming professedly from the same channel,
should be discouraged." He therefore directed
that no observations bearing on the question
of local slavery at Malacca should be permitted
to appear in the Singapore Chronicle. After
pointing out that the printers were responsible
with the publishers, the letter proceeded : " That
a Press instituted for the purpose of diffusing
useful knowledge and the principles of religion
and morality should be made the instrument
for disseminating scandalous aspersions on the
Government under which they live, is a point
for the consideration of the managers in
Europe." Accompanying the letter was a
minute penned by Mr. Fullerton on the sub-
ject of the outrageous conduct of the newspaper
in writing freely on a matter of great public
interest. This document showed that the irate
Governor had a great command of minatory
language. He wrote : "A more indecent and
scurrilous production has seldom appeared,
and I can only express amazement that, with
all previous discussions before him connected
with the paper, Mr. Garling should have
thought of removing restraints, the necessity
of which was sufficiently demonstrated by
every paper brought before him." He ex-
pressed " the firm conviction that unless
supported by Mr. Garling himself such obser-
vations would never have appeared, and that
he has all along had the means of putting an
end to such lucubrations. The Government
contributes to the Free School 210.8 dollars per
month ; the editor is the master of the school,
drawing his means of subsistence from the
contribution of Government ; the printers are
the members of the Mission, alike supported by
Government, and I must repeat my belief that,
unless supported by Mr. Garling, the editor
never would have hazarded such observations,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

THE BEACH, MALACCA.

. . . These circumstances only show how
utterly impracticable the existence of an unre-
stricted paper is to the state of the settlement,
and the endless wrangling and disputes it must
in so small a society create, and as I presume
the paper will now cease, any further measure
respecting it will be unnecessary ; the experi-
ment will no doubt be duly remembered should
any future applications be made to Government
to sanction such a publication." 1 Mr. Fuller-
ton's anticipation that his drastic measures of
discipline would be fatal to the Malacca Obser-
ver was realised. Soon after the withdrawal
of the subsidy the issue of the journal was
stopped, and a good many years passed be-
fore another newspaper was published in the
settlement.

Mr. Fullerton had a great opinion of the
conveniences and capabilities of Malacca. So
strongly indeed was he drawn to it that in 1828
he seriously proposed making the settlement
the capital. He urged as grounds for the
change that Malacca had been the seat of Euro-
pean Government for more than two hundred
years, that it had a more healthy climate than
Pinang, was more centrally situated, was
within two days' sail of Pinang and Singa-
pore, and had more resources than either of
those settlements for providing supplies for
troops. Furthermore it, being on the conti-
nent, commanded an interior, and owing to
the shoal water no ship could approach near
enough to bring its guns to bear on the shore ;
1 ''Straits Settlements Records," Xo. 128.

it had an indigenous and attached population,
and in a political view it was conveniently
situated for maintaining such influence over
the Malay States as would prevent them from
falling under Siamese dominion, and was near
enough to the end of the straits to enable the
proceedings of the Dutch to be watched. It
was said afterwards by Mr. Blundell, Governor
of the Straits, that there was much force in the
arguments, but that it had become so much the
habit to decry Malacca and pity the state into
which ic was supposed to have fallen, that the
argument would at that time only excite a smile
of ridicule. ■

After the first shock of the Singapore com-
petition the trade of Malacca settled down into
a condition of stagnation from which it was
not to recover for many years. The com-
mercial transactions carried through almost
exclusively related to articles of local produc-
tion. The staple exports were gold-dust and
tin. In 1836 it was stated that annually about
Rs. 20,000 worth of the former and Rs. 150,000
of the latter were exported, chiefly to Madras,
Calcutta, Singapore, Pinang, and China. The
produce filtered through from the native States
in the Hinterland, and small as the annual
exports were, they were sufficient to show what
wealth might be drawn upon if only a settled
system of government were introduced into the
interior. As regards gold, the bulk of the pro-
duce came from Mount Ophir and its neigh-
bourhood. But from time to time there were
1 '' Anec.lotal History of Singapore," i. 22S.

rumours of discoveries in other directions.
For example, in the records for 1828 is a Malacca
letter reporting the discovery of a gold mine in
the vicinity of the settlement. The mine was
said to yield a fair return to the 80 Chinese
engaged in working it, but the results were not
sufficiently good to promise any permanent
material advantage.

In later years the course of Malacca life has
been uneventful. •' Happy is the nation that
has no history," writes the poet. We may
paraphrase the line and say, " Happy is the
settlement that has no history." If Malacca
has not been abundantly blessed with trade she
has had no great calamities or serious losses to
lament. She drifted on down the avenue of
time calmly and peacefully, like one of the
ancient regime who is above the ordinary sordid
realities of life. A few years since the inno-
vating railway intruded upon the dull serenity
of her existence, bringing in its wake the bustle
of the twentieth century. This change will
become more pronounced with the extension
of the railway system throughout the peninsula.
Trade from the central districts will naturally
gravitate to Malacca, as the most convenient
outlet for all purposes on this part of the coast,
and the settlement will also benefit both directly
and indirectly from the development of the
rubber industry which is proceeding on every
hand. In this way the old prosperity of the port
will be revived, and she will once more play an
active part in the commercial history of the
Straits.

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THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES

By ARNOLD WRIGHT

{With cliapters on the early history of the Malays and the Portuguese and Dutch periods by- Mr. R. J. Wilkinson,

Secretary to the Resident of Perak).

CHAPTER I.

I X T R () DCCTOK Y

ANY successes have been
accomplished by British
administrators in various
parts of the Empire, but
there is perhaps no more
remarkable achievement
to their credit than the
establishment of the
Federated Malay States
on their existing basis. Less than a half-
century since, the territory embraced within
the confederation was a wild and thinly in-
habited region, over which a few untutored
chiefs exercised a mere semblance of authority.
Piracy was rife on the coast, and the interior,
where not impenetrable jungle or inaccessible
swamp, was given over to the savagest anar-
chical conditions. There was little legitimate
trade ; there were no proper roads ; the towns,
so called, were miserable collections of huts
devoid of even the rudiments of civilised life ;
the area was a sort of no-man's-land, where
the rule of might flourished in its nakedest
form. To-day the States have a revenue
approaching twenty-five million dollars, and
they export annually produce worth more
than eighty million dollars. There are over
2,500 miles of splendid roads, and 396 miles
of railways built at a cost of 37,261,922 dollars,
and earning annually upwards of four million
dollars. The population, which in 1879 was
only 81,084, ' s now close upon a million, and
there are towns which have nearly as many
inhabitants as were to be found in the entire
area before the advent of the British. A net-
work of postal and telegraph agencies covers
the land ; there are schools accommodating
nearly sixteen thousand pupils, and hospitals
which annually minister to nearly sixty thousand
in-patients and one hundred and twenty thou-
sand out-patients. We may search in vain in
the annals of colonisation for a more brilliant
example of the successful application of sound
principles of government in the case of a
backward community residing in a wild, un-

developed region. And yet it would seem
that we are little more than on the threshold
of this great venture in administration. Such
is the richness and promise of this region that
the statistics of to-day may a few decades hence
pale into insignificance beside the results which
will then be presented. It is truly a wonderful
land, this over which the favouring shadow of
British protection has been cast, and the Briton
may point to it with legitimate pride as a con-
vincing proof that the genius of his race for
rule in subject lands exists in undiminished
strength.

Though the influences which have given this
notable addition to the Empire are almost en-
tirely modern, the importance of extending the
protecting influence of our flag to the Malay
States was long since recognised. Mr. John
Anderson, in his famous pamphlet on the con-
quest of Kedah, to which reference has been
made in the earlier historical sections of this
work, argued strenuously in favour of a for-
ward policy in the peninsula. " In extending
our protecting influence to Quedah and de-
claring the other Malayan States under our
guardianship against foreign invasion, we
acquire," he wrote, " a vast increase of colonial
power without any outlay or hazard, and we
rescue from oppression a countless multitude
of human beings who will no doubt become
attached and faithful dependents ; we protect
them in the quiet pursuits of commerce, and
give life and energy to their exertions. We
shall acquire for our country the valuable pro-
ducts of these countries without those obnoxious
impositions under which we formerly derived
supplies from the West Indies." These saga-
cious counsels were re-echoed by Sir Stamford
Raffles in his " Memoir on the Administration
of the Eastern Islands," which he penned after
the occupation of Singapore. " Among the
Malay States," he remarked, " we shall find
none of the obstacles which exist among the
more civilised people of India to the reception
of new customs and ideas. They have not
undergone the same artificial moulding ; they
are fresher from the hand of Nature, and the
absence of bigotry and inveterate prejudice
leaves them much more open to receive new
74

impressions. . . . With a high reverence for
ancestry and nobility of descent, they are more
influenced, and are quicker discerners of supe-
riority of individual talent, than is usual among
people not far advanced in civilisation. They
are addicted to commerce, which has already
given a taste for luxuries, and this propensity
they indulge to the utmost extent of their
means. Among a people so unsophisticated
and so free from prejudices, it is obvious that
a greater scope is given to the influence of
example ; that in proportion as their inter-
course with Europeans increases, and a free
commerce adds to their resources, along with
the wants which will be created and the
luxuries supplied, the humanising arts of life
will also find their way ; and we may antici-
pate a much more rapid improvement than in
nations who, having once arrived at a high
point in civilisation and retrograded in the
scale, and now burdened by the recollection
of what they once were, are brought up in a
contempt for everything beyond their own
narrow circle, and who have for centuries
bent under the double load of foreign tyranny
and priestly intolerance. When these striking
and important differences are taken into ac-
count, we may be permitted to indulge more
sanguine expectations of improvement among
the tribes of the Eastern Isles. We may look
forward to an early abolition of piracy and
illicit traffic when the seas shall be open to the
free current of commerce, and when the British
flag shall wave over them in protection of its
freedom and in promotion of its spirit." Here,
as usual, Raffles showed how completely he
understood the problems underlying the exist-
ence of British authority in the Straits. But
his and his brother-official's views were dis-
regarded by the timid oligarchy which had
the last voice in the direction of British
policy in Malaya at this period. Kedah,
as we have seen, was given over to its
fate. A little timely exertion of authority
would have saved that interesting State and
its people from the horrors of the Siamese
invasion, and have paved the way for the great
work which was commenced a half-century
later. But the Government in Calcutta shrank

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

from the small risk involved in the support of
the Raja, and a ruthless despotism was estab-
lished in the area, to the discredit of British
diplomacy and to the extreme detriment of
British trade.

Before entering upon a narration of the
various steps which led up to the establish-
ment of British influence in the greater part
of the Malay peninsula we may profitably
make a retrospective survey of this important
area in its ethnological and historical aspects.
For this purpose it will be appropriate to
introduce here some valuable chapters kindly
contributed by Mr. R. Wilkinson, of the
Federated Malay States Civil Service, who has
given much study to the early history of
Malava.

CHAPTER II.
Wild Aboriginal Tribes.

It is a matter of common knowledge that the
Malays were not the first inhabitants of the
peninsula. Although they intermarried with
the aborigines, and although they show many
traces of mixed blood, they failed to completely
absorb the races that they supplanted. The
new settlers kept to the rivers ; the older races
lived on the mountains or among the swamps.
Some of the old tribes died out, some adopted
the ways of the Malays, but others retained
their own language and their primitive culture
and are still to be found in many parts of
British Malaya.

The negrito aborigines collectively known as
Semang are usually believed to have been the
first race to occupy the peninsula. As they are
closely akin to the Aetas of the Philippines and
the Mincopies of the Andamans, they must at
one time have covered large tracts of country
from which they have since completely dis-
appeared, but at the present day they are mere
survivals, and play no part whatever in civilised
life. Slowly but surely they are dying out.
Even within the last century they occupied the
swampy coast districts from Trang in the North
to the borders of Larut in the South, but at the
census of 1891 only one negrito, who, as the
enumerator said, "twittered like a bird," was
recorded from Province Wellesley, and in 1901
not one single survivor was found. Although
present-day students — who naturally prefer the
evidence of their own eyes to the records of
past observers — are inclined to regard the
Semang as a mountain people, it is quite
possible that their more natural habitat was
the swamp country from which they have been
expelled. Whether this be so or not, the
negritoes of British Malaya are usually divided
up by the Malays into three : the Semang Paya
or Swamp-Semangj (now almost extinct) ; the
Semang Bukit or Mountain Semangs, who in-
habit the mountains of Upper Perak ; and the
Pangan, who are occasionally found in some of
the hills between Pahang and Kelantan.

The culture of some of these negrito tribes
is very primitive. The wilder Semangs 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.
Such statements would not, however, be true
of the whole Semang 'race. A few tribes have
learned to plant ; others to use the blowpipe ;
others have very beautifully made quivers.
Some go so far — if Mr. Skeat is to be relied
upon — as to include the theft of a blunderbuss
in their little catalogues of crime. Unless, how-
ever, we are prepared to believe that they
invented such things as blunderbusses, we have

If identity of language is any criterion of
common origin, the Northern Sakai racial
division includes the tribes known as the
" Sakai of Korbu," the " Sakai of the Plus,"
the " Sakai of Tanjong Rambutan " and the
" Tembe," who inhabit the Pahang side of the
great Kinta mountains. As these Northern
Sakai are rather darker than the Sakai of
Batang Padang, and not quite as dark as the
Semang, they have sometimes been classed as

^^•>" <s*sj£y£'l> Jn&jfrhrf (MojU*

A PAGE OF THE " MALAY ANNALS," THE GREAT HISTORICAL RECORD

OF THE MALAY RACE.

to admit that they must have borrowed some
of their neighbours' culture.

A few Semang are still to be found in the
mountains between Selama and the Perak
valleys. Others doubtless exist in the little
known country that lies between Temengor
and the river Plus ; but south of the Plus we
come to a fairer race, the northern division of
the numerous tribes that are often grouped
together as " Sakai."

a mere mixed race, a cross between their
northern and southern neighbours. This is
not necessarily the case. Their rather serious
appearance, for one thing, does not suggest an
admixture of the infantile physiognomy of the
Semang and the gay boyish looks of the Sakai
of Slim and Bidor. Moreover, their industrial
art — to judge by blowpipes and quivers — is
higher than that of their neighbours. They
practise agriculture, and live in small houses

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

raised above the ground— the commonest type
of house throughout Indo-China.

The expression " Central Sakai " has been
used to cover a group of tribes who live in the
Batang Padang mountains and speak what is
practically a common language — though there
are a few dialectic differences in the different
parts of this district. Mr. Hugh Clifford was
the first to point out the curiously abrupt racial
frontier between the " Tembe " to the north
and the " Senoi " (his name for the Central
Sakai) to the south. But all the secrets of this
racial frontier have not yet been revealed.
Although the Sakai who live in the valleys
above Gopeng speak a language that very
closely resembles the language of the Sakai
of Bidor, Sungkai and Slim, they seem still
closer akin — racially — to their neighbours in
the north. Moreover, if we look up from

than those of their northern and southern
neighbours. Linguistically we are still in the
" Central Sakai " region.

Near Tanjong Malim (the boundary between
Perak and Selangor) the type suddenly changes.
We come upon fresh tribes differing in appear-
ance from the Central Sakai, living (in some
cases) in lofty tree huts, and speaking varieties
of the great " Besisi " group of Sakai dialects.
The men who speak these Besisi dialects
seem to be a very mixed race. Some — dwell-
ing in the Selangor mountains — are a singularly
well built race. Others who live in the swamps
and in the coast districts are a more miserable
people of slighter build, and with a certain
suggestion of negrito admixture. Their culture
is comparatively high. They have a more
elaborate social system, with triple headmen
instead of a solitary village elder to rule the

TYPES OF SAKAI QUIVERS.

A, B, c, D, Seinang Quivers.

H, Quiver from Slim.

F, Northern Sakai Quivers.
I, J, Besisi Quivers.

o, Batang Padang Quiver.
K, Kuantan Quiver.

Gopeng to the far mountains lying just to the
north of Gunong Berembun, we can see clear-
ings made by another tribe — the Mai Luk or
" men of the mountains," of whom the Central
Sakai stand in deadly fear. These mysterious
Mai Luk have communal houses like the
Borneo Dyaks, they plant vegetables, they paint
their foreheads, they are credited with great
ferocity, and they speak a language of which the
only thing known is that it is not Central Sakai.
As we proceed further south the racial type
slowly changes until — in the mountains behind
Tapah, Bidor, Sungkai and Slim — we come to a
distinct and unmistakable type that is compara-
tively well known to European students. The^e
Mai Darat, or hill men, are slightly lower in
culture than the Northern Sakai ; they live in
shelters rather than huts; their quivers and
blowpipes are very much more simply made

small community. This form of tribal organisa-
tion — under a batin, jeuatig, and jckra (or jtint
krali) — is common to a very large number of
tribes in the south of the peninsula, and is also
found among the Orang Laut, or Sea-gipsies.
The Besisi tribes cultivate the soil, build fair
houses, have some artistic sense, are fond of
music, possess a few primitive songs, and
know something of the art of navigation. They
are found all over Selangor, Negri Sembilan,
and Malacca.

In the mountains of Jelebu, near the head-
waters of the Kongkoi and Kenaboi rivers, are
found the Kenaboi, a shy and mysterious people
who speak a language totally unlike either
Central Sakai, Besisi, or Malay. So little is
known about the Kenaboi that it would be
dangerous to commit oneself to any conjecture
regarding their position in the ethnography of

the peninsula, but it is at least probable that
they represent a distinct and very interesting
racial element. In the flat country on the
border between Negri Sembilan and Pahang
we meet the Serting Sakai, an important and
rather large tribe that seems at one time to
have been in contact with some early Mon-
Anam civilisation. Moreover, it is said that
there are traces of ancient canal-cuttings in the
country that this tribe occupies. By the upper
waters of the Kompin river there live many
Sakai of whom very little is known. They
may be " Besisi," " Serting Sakai," " Jakun,"
or "Sakai of Kuantan." The term "Jakun " is
applied to a large number of remnants of old
Malacca and Johore tribes that have now been
so much affected by Malay civilisation as to
make it impossible to ever hope to clear up the
mystery Of their origin. A few brief Jakun
vocabularies have been collected in the past, a
few customs noted. It is perhaps too much to
expect that anything more will ever be done.

The aborigines who inhabit the country
near Kuantan (and perhaps near Pekan, and
even further south) speak a language of their
own, of which no vocabulary has ever been
collected, and use curious wooden blowpipes
of a very unusual type. They may be a dis-
tinct race, as they seem to have a primitive
culture that is quite peculiar to themselves.
In the mountainous region lying between
this Kuantan district and the Tembeling river
there is found another tribe of Sakais, who wear
strange rattan girdles like the Borneo Dyaks,
and speak a language of which one observer,
though acquainted with Malay, Central Sakai,
and Northern Sakai, could make out nothing.
In the mountain mass known as Gunong
Benom (in Pahang) there are found other
tribes of Sakais speaking a language that has
some kinship with Besisi and Serting Sakai.
Very little else is known about them.

We possess fairly good specimens — vocabu-
laries of the languages of all the better known
Sakai and Semang dialects. With the single
exception of Kenaboi, they have a very
marked common element, and may be classed
as divisions of the same language, although the
peoples that speak them show such differences
of race and culture. This language is compli-
cated and inflected, and it has an elaborate
grammar, but so little is known of the details
of its structure that we dare not generalise or
point to any one dialect as being probably
the purest form of Sakai. It is impossible also
to say which race first brought this form of
speech to the peninsula. It would, however,
be rash to assume that Sakai and Kenaboi are
the only two distinctive types of language used
by these wild tribes. Nothing sufficient is yet
known of the speech of the Mai Luk, of the
dialects of Kuantan, and of the old Jakun lan-
guages. Far too much has been inferred from
the customs of what one may term the " stock "
tribes of Sakai — the tribes that are readily acces-
sible and therefore easy to study. Such peoples
have been visited again and again by casual
observers, to the neglect of the remoter and
lesser-known tribes, who may prove to be far
more interesting in the end. When we
consider the physical differences between tribe
and tribe, the differences of language, the
differences of culture evinced in types of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

dwellings, in tribal organisation, in weapons,
and in mode of life, we may perhaps be ex-
cused for thinking that the racial elements in
the peninsula will prove to be more numerous
and important than scientists are apt to believe.
Meanwhile the peninsula presents us with a
curious historical museum, showing every grade
of primitive culture. It gives us the humble
negrito who has not learnt'to till the ground,
but wanders over the country and lives from
hand to mouth on the products of the jungle.
It gives us the same negrito after he has learnt
the rudiments of art and agriculture from his
Sakai neighbours. It gives us the Sakai who
grows certain simple fruits and vegetables, and
is nomadic in a far slighter degree than the
primitive Semang. A man who plants is a
man who lives some time in one place, and
therefore may find it worth his while to build
a more substantial dwelling than a mere shelter
for a night. Here, however, primitive culture
stops. Even the man who has learnt to plant
a crop in a clearing must abandon his home
when the soil begins to be exhausted. The
boundary between primitive culture and
civilisation cannot be said to be reached
until habitations become really permanent,
and until a comparatively small area can
support a large population. That boundary
is therefore crossed when a people learn to
renew the fertility of land by irrigation or by
manuring, or by a proper system of rotation of
crops. The Malays, with their system of rice-
'planting— the irrigated rice, not hill rice — have
crossed that boundary. But no Sakai tribe has
yet done so.

Mr. Cameron, in his work on Malaya, gives
an interesting description of the aborigines. A
few passages relative to the tribal beliefs may
be cited.

"The accounts of their origin," he says, "are
amusing. . . . Among one tribe it is stated,
and with all gravity, that they are descended
from two white apes, Ounkeh Puteh, who,
having reared their young ones, sent them
into the plains, where the greater number
perfected so well that they became men ;
those who did not become men returned once
more to the mountains, and still continue apes.
Another account, less favourable to the theory
of progressive creation, is that God, having in
heaven called into life a being endowed with
great strength and beauty, named him Batin.
God, desirous that a form so fair should be
perpetuated, gave to Batin a companion, and
told him to seek a dwelling upon •earth.
Charmed with its beauties, Batin and his
companion alighted and took up their abode
on the banks of the river of Johore, close to
Singapore, increasing and multiplying with a
rapidity and to a degree now unknown, and
from these two, they say, all the tribes of the
peninsula are descended."

Another tribe, the Binnas, give an account
of their origin which strongly recalls the
Noachian story of Scripture. " The ground,
they say, on which we stand is not solid. It
is merely the skin of the earth (Kulit Bumi).
In ancient times God broke up this skin, so
that the world was destroyed and over-
whelmed with water. Afterwards he caused
Gunong Lulumut, with Chimundang and Bech-
nak, to rise, and this low land which we

inhabit was formed later. These mountains
on the south, and Mount Ophir, Gunong Kap,
Gunong Tonkat Bangsi and Gunong Tonkat
Subang on the north (all mountains within a
short radius), give a fixity to the earth's skin.
The earth still depends entirely on these
mountains for steadiness. The Lulumut
mountains are the oldest land. The summit
of Gunong Tonkat Bangsi is within one foot
of the sky, that of Gunong Tonkat Subang is
within an ear-ring's length, and that of Gunong
Kap is in contact with it. After Lulumut had
emerged a prahu of pulai wood, covered over
and without any opening, floated on the
waters. In this God had enclosed a man
and a woman whom He had made. After
the lapse of some time the prahu was neither
directed with nor against the current, nor driven
to and fro. The man and woman, feeling it to
rest motionless, nibbled their way through it,
stood on the dry ground, and beheld this our
world. At first, however, everything was
obscure. There was neither morning nor
evening, because the sun had not yet been
made. When it became light they saw seven
Sindudo trees and seven plants of Ramput
Sambau. They then said to each other, 'In
what a condition are we, without children
or grandchildren ! ' Some time afterwards
the woman became pregnant, not, however,
in her womb, but in the calves of her legs.
From the right leg was brought forth a male
and from the left a female child. Hence it is
that the issue of the same womb cannot inter-
marry. All mankind are the descendants of
the two children of the first pair. When
men had much increased God looked down
upon them with pleasure and reckoned their
numbers." The Mantra tribe bebjnd Mount
Ophir have a somewhat similar legend.
"They say that their fathers came originally
from heaven in a large and magnificent ship
built by God, which was set floating on the
waters of the earth. The ship sailed with fear-
ful rapidity round and about the earth till it
grounded upon one of the mountains of the
peninsula, where they declare it is still to be
seen. Their fathers disembarked and took up
their abode on the new earth, some on the
coast, some on the plains, and others on the
mountains, but all under one chief called
Batin Alam."

Their descriptionof the probable end of the
world, as given by Mr. Cameron from notes
supplied him by Father Bone, a Roman
Catholic missionary to the Jakun near
Malacca, may be given as a pendant to these
curious traditions : " The human race having
ceased to live, a great wind will arise accom-
panied by rain, the waters will descend with
rapidity, lightning will fill the space all around,
and the mountains will sink down ; then a
great heat will succeed ; there will be no more
night, and the earth will wither like the grass
in the field ; God will then come down
surrounded by an immense whirlwind of flame,
ready to consume the universe. But God will
first assemble the souls of the sinners, burn
them for the first time and weigh them, after
having collected their ashes by means of a
fine piece of linen cloth. Those who will
have thus passed the first time through the
furnace without having been purified will be

successively burned and weighed for seven
times, when all those souls which have been
purified will go to enjoy the happiness of
heaven, and those that cannot be purified—
that is to say, the souls of great sinners, such
as homicides and those who have been guilty
of rape — will be cast into hell, where they will
suffer the torments of flames in company with
devils ; there will be tigers and serpents in hell
to torment the damned. Lastly, God, having
taken a light from hell, will close the portals
and then set fire to the earth."

CHAPTER III.

Early Civilisation - .

Although the British possessions in Malaya
are not absolutely destitute of archaeological
remains, they are singularly poor in relics of
antiquity when contrasted with Java and Cam-
bodia, or even with the northern part of the
peninsula itself. Ancient inscriptions have
been found in Kedah, in the Northern District
of Province Wellesley, in the Central District
of Province Wellesley, and, as has been noted,
in the island of Singapore. That in Kedah has
been completely deciphered ; it is a Buddhist
formula, such as might have been written up
in the cell or cave of an ascetic. That in the
north of Province Wellesley was carved on a
pillar that seemed to form part of a little
temple ; it has not been completely deciphered,
but from the form of the written character it is
believed to date back to the year 400 a.d., and
to be the oldest inscription in this part of the
world, unless, indeed, the Kedah writing is
slightly more ancient. The rock carvings at
Cheroh Tokun, near Bukit Mertajam, belong to
various dates and are too worn away to be read
in connected sentences ; the oldest seems to go
back to the fifth century and another to the
sixth century a.d. As the monument in Singa-
pore was blown up by the Public Works
Department in order to make 100m for some
town improvements, it is no longer available
for study, but from a rough copy made before
its destruction it seems to have been in the
ancient Kawi character of Java or Sumatra.
It probably dates back to the thirteenth or four-
teenth century a.d. Another inscription, pre-
sumably of the same class, is to be seen at Pulau
Karimun, near Singapore.

Near Pengkalan Kampas, on the Linggi
river, there are a number of broken monu-
ments which, though they seem to be of
comparatively recent date, are of considerable
interest. On a curious four-sided pillar there
are four inscriptions, two in clear-cut Arabic
and two in the fainter lettering of an unknown
script. Below these inscriptions there is a
circular hole cut right through the pillar and
just large enough to permit of the passage of a
man's arm— it is, indeed, believed that this pillar
(which has been much used for oaths and
ordeals) will tighten round the arm of any man
who is rash enough to swear falsely when in its
power. Near this pillar is another cut stone
on which the lettering of some old non-Arabic
inscription can be dimly seen. As there are
many other fragments of carved stone that go to

D *

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

make up the kramai, or holy place, of which the
inscriptions form part, the Malays have invented
a legend that these monuments represent the
petrified property of an ancient saint — his
spoon, his sword, and his buckler. Maho-
medan zeal seems also to have carved the holy
name of Allah on the sword of the saint, and to

some curious old bronzes resembling bells that
have been dug up at Klang, in Selangor, (2) in
a little bronze image suggestive of a Buddha
that was discovered in a Tanjong Rambutan
mine at a depth of some 60 feet below the
surface, (3) in an old Bernam tomb beautifully
constructed of thin slabs of stone and con-

M^lCM.

■j

I ^3

INSCRIPTION FROM NORTH PROVINCE WELLESLEY.

(See p. 77-)

have 'converted the first line of the inscriptions
into the well-known formula, "In the name of
God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." Frag-
ments of other monuments may be seen lying
low in the swamp near which this Linggi
krmnat is built up.

Besides these inscriptions, traces of ancient
non-Malayan civilisations have been found (1) in

taining some broken pottery and three cornelian
beads, and (4) in pottery and iron mining tools
that are continually being met with in old
mining workings. More impressive, however,
than any of these small relics are the galleries,
stopes, and shafts of the old mines at Selinsing,
in Pahang — the work of a race that must have
possessed no small degree of mechanical skill.

Who were the men who left these remains ?
If it is true (as the condition of the Selinsing
workings seems to suggest) that the mines were
suddenly abandoned in the very midst of the
work that was being done, such a fact would
lend further support to the natural conjecture
that the miners were only foreign adventurers
who exploited the wealth of the peninsula and
did not make the country their permanent
home. The Malays say that these alien miners
were " men of Siam." Is this true ? Students
are apt to forget that " men of Siam " — seven
or eight centuries ago — would refer to the
great and highly-civilised Cambodian race who
occupied the valley of the Menam before the
coming of the " Thai," from whom the present
Siamese are descended. It is therefore pro-
bable enough that the Malays are right, and
that the mining shafts of Selinsing are due to
the people who built the magnificent temples
of Angkor. Further evidence — if such evidence
is needed — may be found in the fact that the
Sakai of certain parts of Pahang use numerals
that are neither Siamese nor Malay nor true
Sakai, but non-Khmer.

The general conclusion that one is forced to
draw from the traces of ancient culture in the
peninsula is that the southern portions of the
country were often visited, but never actually
occupied by any civilised race until the Malays
came in a.d. 1400. Such a conclusion would
not, however, be true of the Northern States —
of Kedah, Kelantan, Trang, and Singgora.
There we find undoubted evidence of the
existence of powerful Buddhist States like that
of Langkasuka, the kingdom of nlang-kalt suha
or of the Golden Age of Kedah, still re-
membered as a fairyland of Malay romance.
This Langkasuka was a very ancient State
indeed. It is mentioned in Chinese records as
Langgasu as far back as 500 A.D., and was then
reputed to be four centuries old ; it appears (in
Javanese literature) as one of the kingdoms
overcome by Majapahit in a.d. 1377 ; its name
probably survives to this day in the " Langkawi"
islands off the Kedah coast. But the ancient
States of Northern Malaya lie outside the
scope of this essay. They are interesting
because they probably sent small mining
colonies to the south, and thus claimed some
sort of dominion over the rest of the peninsula.
The great Siamese invasion changed all that.
By crushing the Northern States during the
thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries
A.D., it ruined their little southern colonies, and
left the territories of Perak, Johore, Malacca,
and Pahang a mere no-man'sr-land that the
Malays from Sumatra could easily occupy.

CHAPTER IV.
The Coming of the Malays.

According to a tradition that is accepted in
almost every portion of Malaya, the founder
of the most famous native dynasties was a
Prince named Sang Sapurba, son of Raja
Suran, the " Ruler of the East and of the
West," by his marriage with a mermaid, the
daughter of the kings of the sea. This Prince
first revealed himself upon the hill of Sigun-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

tang, near Mount Mahameru, in the hinterland
of Palembang. Two young girls who dwelt
upon the hill are said to have seen a great
light shining through the darkness of night.
On ascending the hill in the morning they

r-7,,.1

THE "SWORD OF THE SAINT.'
(See p. 76)

found that their rice-crops had been trans-
formed—the grain into gold, the leaves into
silver, the stalks into golden brass. Proceeding
further, they came across three young men, the
eldest of whom was mounted on a silver-white
bull and was dressed as a king, while the two
younger, his brothers, bore the sword and
spear that indicated sovereign power. " Who,
then, are you — spirits or fairies ? " said the
astonished girls. " Neither spirits nor fairies,
but men," said one of the brothers ; " we are
Princes of the race of the Great Alexander; we
have his seal, his sword, and his spear ;
we seek his inheritance on earth." " And
what proof have you of this ? " said the girls.
" Let the crown I wear bear me witness if
necessary," replied the eldest Prince ; "but
what of that ? Is it for naught that my coming
has been marked by this crop of golden
grain ? " Then out of the mouth of the bull
there issued a sweet-voiced herald, who at
once proclaimed the Prince to be a king
bearing the title of Sang Sapurba Trimurti
Tribuana. The newly - installed sovereign
afterwards descended from the hill of Sigun-
tang into the great plain watered by the
Palembang river, where he married the
daughter of the local chief, Demang Lebar
Daun, and was everywhere accepted as ruler
of the country. At a later date he is said to

have crossed the great central range of Sumatra
into the mountains of Menangkabau, where he
slew the great dragon Si-Katimuna, and was
made the king of a grateful people and the
founder of the long line of Princes of Menang-
kabau, the noblest dynasty of Malaya. Mean-
while, however, his relatives in Palembang
had crossed the sea, first to the island of
Bintang and afterwards from Bintang to the
island of Tamasak, on which they founded the
city of Singapore. " And the city of Singapore
became mighty ; and its fame filled all the
earth." Such, at least, is the story that is told
us in the " Malay Annals."

It is very easy to criticise this story — to
point out that the tale of the Macedonian origin
of Malay kings is too absurd for acceptance,
and that the miraculous incidents do not
commend themselves to the sceptical historians
of the present day. It is also possible to show
that there are actually two entirely different
versions of the story in the manuscripts of the
" Malay Annals," and that both these versions
differ from a third version given by the
annalist himself to his contemporary, the author
of the Malay book known as the " Bustanu's
salatin." No one need treat this legend of
Sang Sapurba as actual history. But the
ancient kingdoms of Singapore and Palembang
are no myth ; the latter, at least, must have
played a great part in history. Nor is the
legend in any way an invention of the author
of the " Malay Annals " ; it occurs in still earlier
books, and is folklore throughout Perak at the
present day. The Sultan of Perak claims
direct descent from Sang Sapurba ; one of his
chiefs, the Dato' Sri Nara Diraja, is the lineal
representative of the herald who came out of
the mouth of the bull. As late as February,
1907, the Raja Bendahara was installed (in the
High Commissioner's presence) by the Dato'
Sri Nara Diraja reciting over him the mystic
words — in a forgotten tongue — that the latter
chief's ancestor is said to have used at the
proclamation of Sang Sapurba himself. The
origin of these ancient legends and old-world
ceremonies is lost in the dimness of past
centuries, but it may, to some extent, be
explained by the light that Chinese records
throw upon Malay history.

We know with absolute certainty from the
accounts of Chinese trade with Sumatra that
the kingdom of Palembang was a powerful
State certainly as far back as the year 900 A.D.,
perhaps even as far back as the year 450 a.d.
We even possess the names (often mutilated
beyond recognition by Chinese transcribers) of
a large number of the old Kings of Palembang.
We can see that these ancient rulers bore
high-sounding Sanskrit titles, almost invari-
ably beginning with the royal honorific sri
that is still used by great Malay dignitaries.
But while the Malay annalist allows a single
generation to cover the whole period from the
founding of the State of Palembang by Sang
Sapurba down to the establishment of the city
of Singapore, we are in a position to see that
the period in question must have covered
many centuries, and that even a millennium
may have elapsed between the days of the
founder of Palembang and those of the
coloniser of Tamasak or Singapore. Although
Sang Sapurba may be nothing more than a

name, the ancient legend is historical in so far
that there must have been a time when an
Indian or Javanese dynasty with a very high
conception of kingly power supplanted the
unambitious Palembang headmen, who bore
homely titles like Demang Lebar Daun, and
claimed no social superiority over their fellow-
villagers. The story given us in the " Malay
Annals" is only an idealised version of what
must have really occurred. The most mys-
terious feature in the legend is the reference
to Mount Siguntang. Although this famous
hill (which is believed by all Malays to be the
cradle of their race) is located with curious
deliniteness on the slopes of the great volcano,
Mount Dempo, in the hinterland of Palembang,
there is no local tradition to guide us to the
exact spot or to suggest to us why that locality,
above all others, should be singled out for
special honour. The culture of the Malay
States that accepted the Hinduised Palembang
tradition differs completely from that of the
primitive Sumatran communities who have
not been affected by foreign influence. Such

INSCRIPTION NEAR PENGKALAN
KAMPAS.

(See p. 77.)

differences could not have been brought about
in any brief period of time. The history of the
State of Palembang must go back extremely
far into the past ; and, if only we could

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

unearth some real records, they might explain
why the proud rulers of the country thought it
an honour to claim descent from some still
more ancient dynasty associated with the name
of a hill district from which all traces of
imperial power have long since passed away.

In the reign of the Chinese Emperor Hsiau
Wu (A.D. 454 464), a kingdom of " Kandali "
sent articles of gold and silver to China. In
a.d. 502 a king of this same Kandali sent an
envoy to China with other valuable gifts.
In A.D. 519, and again in A.D. 520, similar
missions were sent. After this date " Kandali "
disappears from history. Although Chinese
records positively identify this country with
San-bo-tsai or Palembang, all that contem-
porary Chinese notices tell us about Kandali
is that it was a Buddhist kingdom on an island
in the Southern Sea, that its customs were
those of Cambodia and Siam, that it produced
flowered cloth, cotton, and excellent areca-nuts,
and that its kings sent letters to the Chinese
Emperor congratulating him on his fervent
faith in Buddhism. Still, as one of these
kings is reported to have compared the
Chinese Emperor to a mountain covered With
snow, we may take it that the accuracy of even
this meagre account of Kandali is not above
suspicion. We can perhaps see traces of
Javanese influence in the reference to " flowered
cloth," as the words suggest the painted floral
designs of Java rather than the woven plaid-
patterns of the Malays.

In a.d. 905 Palembang reappears in Chinese
records under the name of San-bo-tsai. In

BRONZE IMAGE FROM TANJONG
RAMBUTAN.

(See p. 78.)

that year the ruler of San-bo-tsai " sent tribute"
to China and received from the Emperor the
proud title of "the General who pacifies Distant
Countries." In a.d. 960 "tribute" was again

sent — twice. In A.D. 962 the same thing oc-
curred. From a.d. 962 onwards we have a
continuous record of similar tribute-bearing
missions until the year 1 178, when the Chinese
Emperor found that this tribute was too expen-
sive a luxury to be kept up, so he " issued an
edict that they should not come to court any-
more, but make an establishment in the Fukien
province." After this date the Palembang
merchants ceased to be tribute-bearers and
became ordinary traders — a change which
caused them to temporarily disappear from
official records. " Tribute " was, of course,
merely a gift made to the Emperor in order
to secure his permission to trade ; it flattered
his pride, and was invariably returned to the
giver in the form of titles and presents of very
high value. So much was this the case that
Chinese statesmen, when economically in-
clined, were in the habit of protesting against
the extravagance of accepting tribute. Xone
the less the Emperor encouraged these men of
Palembang, for in A.D. 1156 he declared that
" when distant people feel themselves attracted
by our civilising influence their discernment
must be praised." One Malay envoy received
the title of " the General who is attracted by
Virtue," a second was called "the General who
cherishes Civilising Influence," a third was
named " the General who supports Obedience
and cherishes Renovation." The manners of
the men of San-bo-tsai must have been as
ingratiating as those of their successors, the
Malays of the present day.

The Kings of San-bo-tsai are said to have
used the Sanskrit character in their writings
and to have sealed documents with their signets
instead of signing them with their names.
One king is mentioned (a.d. 1017) as having
sent among his presents " Sanskrit books folded
between boards." Their capital was a fortified
city with a wall of piled bricks several miles in
circumference, but the people are said to have
lived in scattered villages outside the town and
to have been exempt from direct taxation. In
case of war " they at once select a chief to lead
them, every man providing his own arms and
provisions." From these Chinese records we
also learn that in a.d. 1003 the Emperor sent a
gift of bells to a Buddhist temple in San-bo-tsai.
As regards trade, the country is recorded as
producing rattans, lignum-aloes, areca-nuts,
coconuts, rice, poultry, ivory, rhinoceros horns,
camphor, and cotton-cloth. In the matter of
luxuries we are told that the people made in-
toxicating drinks out of coconut, areca-nut, and
honey, that they used musical instruments (a
small guitar and small drums), and that they
possessed imported slaves who made music for
them by stamping on the ground and singing.
In a.d. 992 we hear of a war between the
Javanese and the people of Palembang. It
seems, therefore, quite certain that Palembang
— between the years 900 and 1360 a.d. — was a
country of considerable civilisation and import-
ance, owing its culture to Indian sources and
perhaps possessing very close affinities to the
powerful States of Java. What, then, were the
events that brought about the downfall of this
great Malayan kingdom ?

The close of the thirteenth century in China
saw the Mongol invasion that ended in making
Kublai Khan the undisputed overlord of the

whole country. That restless conqueror was
not, however, satisfied with his continental
dominions ; he fitted out great fleets to extend
his power over the Japanese islands in the

A TOMBSTONE FROM BRUAS.
(See p. 78)

north and over the island of Java in the south.
He began a period of war. during which we
hear nothing of the trade with the States in the
Southern Seas.

The advent of the Ming dynasty (a.d. 1368)
commenced a new era of peace and commerce,
in which we again find mention of the State of
Palembang. Great changes had, however,
taken place since the last reference to the
country in a.d. 1178. San-bo-tsai had been
split up into three States. We hear (a.d. 1373)
of a King Tan ma-sa-na-ho — probably the
King of Tamasak or Singapore. We hear also
(a.d. 1374) of a King Ma-na-ha-pau-lin-pang
— probably the King of Palembang. The
King Tan-ma-sa-na-ho died in a.d. 1376, and
his successor, Ma-la-cha Wu-li, ordered the
usual envoys to go to China, and was sent in
return a seal and commission as King of San-
bo-tsai. The Chinese annalist goes on to say :

" At that time, however, San-bo-tsai had
already been conquered by Java, and the
King of this country, hearing that the Emperor
had appointed a king over San-bo-tsai, became
very angry and sent men who waylaid and
killed the Imperial envoys. The Emperor did
not think it right to punish him on this
account. After this occurrence San-bo-tsai
became gradually poorer, and no tribute was
brought from this country any more."

Chinese, Malay, and Javanese historical
records all agree in referring to a great war

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

of conquest carried on by the Javanese Empire
of Majapahit and ending in the destruction of
Singapore and Palembang, as well as in the
temporary subjugation of many other Malay
States, such as Pasai, Samudra, and even
Kedah, Kelantan, Trengganu, and Pahang.
The Chinese records enable us to definitely
fix the date— A. D. 1377. It is a great landmark
in Malay history, for the fugitives driven by the
Javanese from Palembang and Singapore settled
down in the peninsula and founded the famous
city of Malacca.

We come now to the founding of Singapore,
which, although dealt with in our opening
section, may be referred to at greater length
in this survey of Malay history. The name of
Singapura was only an honorific title given
to an island that was known and continued to
be known as Tamasak. Of the existence of
this old Malay State of Singapore or Tamasak
there can be no doubt whatever, as Chinese,
Siamese, Malay, and Javanese records agree
upon the point. Of the fact that Singapore
was a colony from Palembang there can also
be no doubt, since both the Chinese and the
Malay records bear out this version of the
origin of the city. An inscription in the Kawi
character was found by Rattles at Singapore,
but it was blown up at a later date by a dis-
creditable act of vandalism, and from the
fragments left it is impossible to say definitely
whether it was carved by the Palembang
colonists or by the Javanese conquerors who
'destroyed the city in a.d. 1377. The "Malay
Annals " tell us a gocd deal about the place,
but tell us nothing that is really reliable. They
say that Sang Nila Utama, the founder of the
State, was driven to the island by a storm of
wind, in the course of which he lost his royal
crown — a story suggesting that the founder
was not a reigning prince when he came to
settle in the island, and that his followers had
to invent a story to explain away his lack of
the usual insignia of royalty. He was, how-
ever, probably of royal blood, since the Chinese
envoys were afterwards willing to recognise
his descendants as rulers of Palembang. The
" Annals " also tell us that five kings reigned in
Singapore, as shown in the following table :

If this pedigree is to be accepted, the old
State of Singapore must have lasted for several
generations, but the- annalist who drew it up
gave another pedigree to his friend, Nuru'ddin
Raniri al-Hasanji, the author of the "Bustanu's
salatin." The other pedigree is as follows :

ends with the ominous words that the blood
of the boy who saved the city from the sword-
fish, and was put to death lest his cleverness
should prove a public danger, rested upon the
island as a curse to be wiped out in days to
come. The story of Tun Jana Khatib is the

Raja Suran
(King of the East and West)

Sang Sapurba
(King of Menangkabau)

Sang Baniaka
(King of Tanjong Pura)

Sang Nila Utama
(First King of Singapore)

Raja Kechil Besar

(Paduka Sri Pekfrma diraja,

second King of Singapore)

Sri Rana Adikarma

(Iskandar Shah, third King of

Singapore and first of Malacca)

Sultan Ahmad Shah
(Second Sultan of Malacca)

Raja Kechil Muda

This second pedigree gives a much shorter
life to the old State of Singapore, and (since it
came from the same source as the other
pedigree) shows that neither account can be
considered altogether reliable. It also suggests
its own inaccuracy, since " Iskandar Shah " is
not a name that any non-Mahomedan prince
of Singapore would have borne at that period.
The probability is that the ancient kingdom of
Tamasak was a mere off-shoot of the State
of Palembang, that it did not last for any
length of time, and that it came to a sudden
and terrible end in the year of the great
Javanese invasion, a.d. 1377.

The account of Singapore in the " Malay
Annals " is entirely mythical — from the open-
ing tale about the lion that Sang Nila Utama
discovered on the island down to the conclud-
ing stories about the attack made by the
sword-fish upon the city, and about the fate of
Sang Ranjuna Tapa, the traitor who betrayed
the city to the Javanese and was turned into
stone as a punishment for his sin. Yet in all
this mythical account there is a suggestion of
infinite tragedy. The story of the sword-fish

Raja Suran
(King of the East and of the West)

Sang Sapurba
(King of Menangkabau)

I
Xila Pahlawan

Kisna Pandita

Sang Maniaka

Sang Nila Utama
(First King of Singapore)
I

Raja Kechil Besar

(Peduka Sri Pikrama Wira,

second King of Singapore)

Raja Muda

(Sri Rama Wirakrama,

third King of Singapore)

Paduka Sri Maharaja

(Fourth King of Singapore)

Raja Iskandar Dzu 1-karnain

(Fifth and last King of Singapore

and first Sultan of Malacca)

Raja Kechil Muda

(Tun Parapatih Parmuka

Berjajar)

Tun Parapatih Tulus

tale of another awful deed of wrong. The last
tale in the narrative is that of the injury which
maddened Sang Ranjuna Tapa into treason —
the cruel fate of his daughter, who was publicly
impaled on a mere suspicion of infidelity to her
lover, the King. More than once does the
annalist seem to suggest the Nemesis that
waits upon deeds of oppression. In the end
the Javanese came ; the city was betrayed ;
" blood flowed like water in full inundation,
and the plain of Singapore is red as with blood
to this day." A curse rested on the place. In
a.d. 1819, more than four centuries later,
Colonel Farquhar found that not one of the
people of the settlement dared ascend Fort
Canning Hill, the "forbidden hill" that was
haunted by the ghosts of long-forgotten kings
and queens. The alien Chinese who now
inhabit the town believe to this day that — for
some reason unknown to them — a curse laid
on the island in times long past makes it
impossible to grow rice on it, rice being the
staple food of the Malays. All these legends
seem to suggest that the fate of the ancient
city must have been one of appalling horror.
Many Malay towns have at different times
been captured, many were doubtless captured
by the Javanese in that very war of a.d. 1377,
but in no other case has the fall of a city left
such awful memories as to cause men four
centuries later to refuse to face the angry
spectres that were believed to haunt so cruelly
stricken a site.

The fall of Singapore led to the rise of
Malacca. A number of fugitives, headed (if the
" Annals " are to be believed) by their king
himself, established themselves at the mouth
of the Malacca river, and founded a city that
was destined to play a much greater part in
history than the old unhappy settlement of
Singapore itself. The "Annals," however, are
not a safe guide. Although it is indeed prob-
able that a party pf refugees did do something
to found the town of Malacca, it is extremely
doubtful whether they were headed by the
fugitive "Iskandar Shah." Be the facts as
they may, the new town did not delay its rise
very long. In a.d. 1403, as Chinese records
tell us, the ruler or "Paramisura" of Malacca

D * *

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

sent envoys to China ; in a.d. 1405 he was
recognised as King and received a seal, a suit
of silk clothes, and a yellow umbrella from the
Emperor; in a.d. 141 1 he travelled himself to

gave us a real key to the chronology of the
period. From these records it is quite clear
that Singapore fell in a.d. 1377, and not in
A.D. 1252, as the " Malay Annals " would

to be identical with Xaquendarsa, and to have
come to the throne in a.d. 1414, it will be fairly
obvious that the Malay version allows too
many generations between -him and iMudzafar

RUINS OF THE PANGKOK BLOCKHOUSE.

China and was most hospitably entertained.
In the year 1414 tri£ son of this Paramisura
came to China to report his father's death, and
to apply for recognition as his father's successor.
This son's name is given in Chinese records as
Mu-Kan-Sa-U-Tir-Sha. He died about the year
1424, and was succeeded by his son, who is
described in Chinese as Sri Mahala.

At this point it is advisable to say something
about Malay chronology. The dates given in
Sir Frank Swettenham's " British Malaya,"
in the " Colonial Office List," in Valentyn's
" History of Malacca," and in many other
works, are all obtained from the " Malay-
Annals " by the simple process of adding to-
gether the reputed lengths of the reigns of the
various kings. Such a system is usually unreli-
able. In the case of the " Malay Annals " the
unreliability of the method can be proved by
taking the history of ministers who served
under several kings, and must have attained to
impossible ages if the reign lengths are really
accurate. The point was brought out clearly
for the first time by Mr. C. O. Blagden in a
paper read before an Oriental Congress in
Paris. Mr. Blagden began by showing that
the Malay dates were inaccurate, and then
went on to prove that the Chinese records,
though meagre and unreliable in many details,

suggest. From the same source it may be
shown that the various kings of Malacca
reigned between the year 1400 and the year
151 1. But we are not in a position to prove
conclusively who all these kings were. The
royal names, as given to us by different authori-
ties, are here shown in parallel columns :

Shah, who seems to have been reigning in
a.d. 1445.

It is quite impossible to reconcile the lists ;
but some facts may be inferred from what we
know for certain. A Chinese work, the " Ying
Yai Sheng Lan," dated a.d. 1416, speaks of the
Malacca Malays as devoted Mahomedans, so

Chinese Records.
Palisura (1403-14)
Mukansautirsha (1414-24)
Sri Mahala (1424)
Sri Mahala (1433)

Sri Pamisiwartiupasha (1445)

Sultan Wutafunasha (1456)
Sultan Wangsusha (1459)
Mahamusa (undated)
Sultan Mamat ('' who fled
from the Franks ")

Albuquerque's List.
Paramisura
Xaquendarsa

Modafaixa
Marsusa

Alaodin

M ah a mat

The great names of Malacca history are
common to all three lists, but the minor names
differ considerably. Those in the " Malay
Annals " would naturally have been considered
the most reliable, were it not that Mahomedan
names like Iskandar Shah occurring before the
Mahomedan period suggest the certainty of
serious error. If also we take Iskandar Shah

Malay Annals.

Iskandar Shah
Raja Bgsar Muda
Raja Tengah
Muhammad Shah
Abu Shah id
Mudzafar Shah
Mansur Shah
Alaedin Riayat Shah

Mahmud Shah

that it would seem that the conversion to Islam
took place as early as the reign of the Para-
misura, and not in the time of his grandson or
great-grandson, Muhammad Shah. But the
explanation that seems to clear up the difficul-
ties most readily is the probability that the
author of the pedigree in the " Malay Annals "
confused the two Princes who bore the name

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

of Raja KSchil Besar, and also confused Sultan
Ahmad - with Sultan Muhammad. If the title
Muhammad Shah and the conversion to Islam

AN ACHINESE.

are ascribed to the first Rajah Kechil Besar
instead of to the second, the difficulty of
explaining the Mahomedan names of Iskandar
Shah and Ahmad Shah disappears at once, and
the pedigree is shortened to a reasonable
length. The amended version would read as
follows :

Raja Kechil Besar

(Paramisura, Sultan Muhammad Shah)

Iskandar Shah

Raja Besar Muda

(Ahmad Shah)

Raja Kasim

(Mudzafar Shah)

Raja Abdullah

(Mansur Shah)

Raja Husain

(Alaedin Riayat Shah I.)

Raja Mahmud
(Sultan Mahmud Shah).

We can now pass to the reigns of these
different kings.

The Chinese account of Malacca, written in
a.d. 1416, gives us a very convincing picture of
the settlement. It tells us that the inhabitants
paid very little attention to agriculture, that

they were good fishermen, that they used dug-
outs, that they possessed a currency of block
tin, that they lived in very simple huts raised
some four feet above the ground, that they
traded in resins, tin, and jungle produce, that
they made very good mats, and that " their
language, their books, and their marriage
ceremonies are nearly the same as those of
Java." The town of Malacca was surrounded
by a wall with four gates, and within this
fortified area there was a second wall or
stockade surrounding a store for money and
provisions.

This description bears out Albuquerque's
statement that the town was created by the
fusion of fugitives from Singapore with a local
population of " Cellates " or Orang Laut. The
men from Singapore brought their old Indo-
Javanese civilisation, the language, the books,
and the marriage ceremonies that were so
closely akin to those of Java ; the Orang Laut
were simply fishermen, living by the sea and
using the rude dug-outs that impressed the
Chinese historian. But there was a third
element. The Chinese account tells us that
the tin industry, both in trade and actual
mining, was important. As this industry
would be quite unknown to the Orang Laut
and could hardly have been introduced from
Singapore, we are left to infer that traders in
tin had visited the country long before the
advent of the Malays, and had taught the
aborigines the value of the metal and the
proper means of procuring it. These early
traders were, in all probability, the Cambodian
colonists whose homes in the north had just
been conquered by the Siamese, but who — up
to the fourteenth century — appear to have
exercised some sort of dominion over the
southern half of the peninsula.

According to both Chinese and Portuguese
records the first ruler of Malacca was a certain
" Palisura " or " Paramisura " ; but, unfortu-
nately, this word only means king, and conse-
quently gives us no clue either to the Hindu
or to the Mahomedan name of the prince in
question. It would seem waste of time to
discuss points relating to mere names were
it not that these issues help us to unravel the
complex chronology of the period. Every
king— at this tfme of conversion — must have
had a Hindu title before taking an Arabic name,
so that serious errors may have been imported
into genealogies by kings being counted twice
over. Omitting the mythical elements, let us
collate the first names of the four lists that we
possess :

Malay Annals.

(1) Raja Kechil Besar,
Paduka Sri Pekerma Wiraja.

(2) Raja Muda,

Sri Rana Wikrama.

(3) Paduka Sri Maharaja.

Bustanu's salatin.

Raja Kechil Besar,
Paduka Sri Pekerma Diraja.
Sri Rana Adikerma,
Sultan Iskandar Shah.
Raja Besar Muda,
Sultan Ahmad Shah.

Chinese.

(1) Palisura.

(2) Mukansautirsha.

(3) Sri Mahala.

Portuguese.

(1) Paramisura.

(2) Xaquendarsa.

The only point that we have to suggest is
that these lists refer to the same men in the
same order. If this is admitted, there is no
difficulty in giving the pedigree of the Kings of
Malacca ; but the acceptance of this view
disposes at once of the theory that the line of
the Malacca Kings covers the earlier dynasty of
Singapore. The truth seems to be that the
author of the " Malay Annals " had only the
Malacca pedigree to work upon, but by attach-
ing Singapore legends to the names of Malacca
Kings he represented the genealogy as one

(3)

AN EXECUTION KRIS.

which descended from the mythical Sang
Sapurba of Palembang through the Kings of
Singapore (whose very names he did not

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

know), down to the family with which he was
really acquainted.

As Malay tradition seems to insist that the
first Mahomedan sovereign took the name

stones, and with horses and saddles. His wife
got a cap and dresses.

" At the moment of starting he was enter-
tained by the Emperor, and again got a girdle

JAVANESE AND MALAY CLOTH COMPARED.

of Muhammad Shah, and as the Paramisura
of Albuquerque was undoubtedly the first
Mahomedan sovereign, we are justified in
believing that the King Paduka Sri Pekerma
Diraja took the name Sultan Muhammad Shah
on his conversion. He ascended the throne
before A.D. 1403, but was first recognised
by the Chinese Emperor in a.d. 1405. He
visited China in A.D. 141 1. The following is
the account given of this visit in the records of
the Ming dynasty :

"In 1411 the King came with his wife, son,
and ministers — 540 persons in all. On his
arrival the Emperor sent officers to receive
him. He was lodged in the building of the
Board of Rites, and was received in audience
by the Emperor, who entertained him in
person, whilst his wife and the others were
entertained in another place. Every day
bullocks, goats, and wine were sent him from
the imperial buttery. The Emperor gave the
King two suits of clothes embroidered with
golden dragons and one suit with unicorns ;
furthermore, gold and silver articles, curtains,
coverlets, mattresses — everything complete.
His wife arid his suite also got presents.

" When they were going away the King was
presented with a girdle adorned with precious

with precious stones, saddled horses, 100 ounces
of gold, 40,000 dollars (kwan) in paper money,
2,600 strings of cash, 300 pieces of silk gauze,
1,000 pieces of plain silk, and two pieces of silk
with golden flowers."

It is not surprising that kings were willing to
" pay tribute " to China.

The policy of Muhammad Shah seems to
have been to ally himself with the Mahomedan
States and with the Chinese, and to resist the
Siamese, who were at that time laying claim to
the southern part of the peninsula. As the
Siamese had conquered the Cambodian princi-
palities that had sent mining colonies to the
Southern States, the King of Siam had a certain
claim to consider himself the suzerain of
Malacca. But the claim was a very shadowy
one. The fall of the Cambodian kingdoms in
the north seems to have killed the Cambodian
colonies in the south. The Siamese themselves
had never exercised any authority over Malacca.
The very title assumed by the Siamese King —
" Ruler of Singapore, Malacca, and Malayu " —
shows how very little he knew about the
countries that he claimed to own. Nevertheless
Siam was a powerful State, and its fleets and
armies were a constant menace to the prosperity
of the growing settlement of Malacca.

The Paramisura Muhammad Shah died about
a.d. 1414. He was succeeded by his sbn, Sri
Rakna Adikerma, who took the title of Sultan
Iskandar Shah — the Xaquendarsa of the Portu-
guese and the Mukansutirsha of the Chinese
records. This prince, who reigned ten years,
paid two visits to China during his reign, one
visit in a.d. 14 14, and the other in A.D. 1419.
He pursued his father's defensive policy of
alliances against the Siamese.

Sultan Iskandar Shah died in A.D. 1424. He
was succeeded by his son, Raja Besar Muda,
who bore the Hindu title of Paduka Sri Maha-
raja, and assumed the Mahomedan name of
Sultan Ahmad Shah. This ruler is not men-
tioned by the Portuguese, but he appears in

A GOLDEN KRIS.

Chinese records as Sri Mahala. He seems to
appear twice — perhaps three times — in the
" Malay Annals ": first as Paduka Sri Maharaja,
son of Sri Rakna Adikerma (Iskandar Shah's

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Hindu title), and secondly as Raja Besar Muda,
son of Iskandar Shah. He is also confused
with Muhammad Shah, whose place he ought
to be given in the pedigree. It is therefore
difficult to say whether he or the first King
of Malacca ought to be credited with the
numerous rules and regulations drawn up for
the guidance of Malay courtiers, and given at
great length in the " Malay Annals " as the
work of " Muhammad Shah." In any case,
from this time forward the use of yellow was
confined to men of royal birth, the most rigid
etiquette was enforced at all court ceremonies,
the relative precedence of officers was fixed,
and other rules were made regarding the
proper attire and privileges of courtiers. The
author of the " Malay Annals " discusses all
these points at great length, but European
students are not likely to take much interest
in them. Happy is the country that has no
more serious troubles than disputes about
etiquette ! The first three Sultans of Malacca
must have governed well to bring about such a
result as this.

Sultan Ahmad Shah (Paduka Sri Maharaja)
died about the year 1444. His death was
followed by a sort of interregnum, during
which the reins of power were nominally held
by his son, Raja Ibrahim, or Raja Itam, after-
wards known as Abu Shahid, because of his
unhappy death. This interregnum ended in a
sudden revolution, in which Raja Ibrahim lost
his life, and Raja Kasim, his brother, came to
the throne under the name of Sultan Mudzafar
Shah, the Modafaixa of the Portuguese and the
Sultan Wu-ta-funa-sha of Chinese records.
The new ruler began his reign in the usual
manner by sending envoys to China, but he
did not go himself to pay his respects to the
Emperor. He had to wage war against the
Siamese, who seem at last to have made some
sort of effort to enforce their claim to suzerainty
over the south of the peninsula. Malay records
are not very trustworthy, and we need not
believe all that they tell us about victories over
the Siamese ; but we can see from the change
in the policy of the State of Malacca that it
must have been successful in its campaigns
against its northern foe, since the Malays,
suddenly becoming aggressive, carried the
war into the enemy's country. From this
time onwards the town of Malacca becomes
a capital instead of an entire State.

Mudzafar Shah died about the year 1459 a.d.
According to Portuguese authorities he con-
quered Pahang, Kampar, and Indragiri ; but,
if the "Malay Annals " are to be believed, the
honour of these conquests rests with his. son
and successor, Mansur Shah. Sultan Mansur
Shah, we are told, began his reign by sending
an expedition to attack Pahang. After giving
a good descriptive account of this country, with
its broad and shallow river, its splendid sandy
beaches, its alluvial gold workings, and its huge
wild cattle, the " Malay Annals" go on to say.
that the ruler of Pahang was a certain Maha-
raja Dewa Sura, a relative of the King of Siam.
Chinese records also say that the country was
ruled by princes who bore Sanskrit titles, and
who must have been either Buddhist or Hindu
by religion ; but they add that the people were
in the habit — otherwise unknown in Malaya —
of offering up human sacrifices to their idols

of fragrant wood. Their language also does
not seem to have been Malayan. Pahang was
conquered after very .little resistance, and its
prince, Maharaja Dewa Sura, was brought
captive to Malacca. Of the expeditions against
Kampar and Indragiri we know nothing except
that they were successful.

court, and to his being sent to rule over
Pahang alone, under the title of Sultan Mu-
hammad Shah. By a Javanese wife the Sultan
had one son, Radin Geglang, who succeeded
his stepbrother as heir to the throne, and was
afterwards killed while trying to stop a man
who ran amuck. By a' daughter of his chief

MALAY MATTING.

Sultan Mansur Shah married five wives. By
a daughter of the conquered Maharaja Dewa
Sura he had two sons, one of whom he desig-
nated as heir to the throne ; but a murder
committed by the prince in a moment of
passion led to his being banished from the

minister, the Bendahara, the Sultan left a son,
Raja Husain, who ultimately succeeded him.
By a Chinese wife the Sultan left descendants
who established themselves as independent
princes at Jeram, in Selangor. By his fifth
wife, the daughter of a chief (Sri Nara Diraja),

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the Sultan only had two daughters. The fol-
lowing table shows how the kingdom of
Malacca was divided up :

severe conflict, in which most of his relatives
were slain. But that is not the account given
us in the " Malay Annals." The proud chief is

Raja Kasim
(Sultan Mud/.afar Shah)

Raja Abdullah
(Sultan Mansur Shah)

Raja Ahmad

(Sultan Muhammad Shah

of Pahang)

Paduka Mimat

(whose family ruled

in Jeram)

Raja Husain

(Sultan Alaedin Riayat Shah I.

of Malacca)

Raja Menawar

(Sultan Menawar Shah of

Kampar)

Raja Muhammad

(Sultan Mahmud Shah of

Malacca)

The policy of war and conquest initiated by
Mudzafar Shah and Mansur Shah was a fatal
one to a trading port like Malacca. It turned
the Malays into a sort of military aristocracy,
living on the trade of the foreign settlers in
their city. Trade is not, however, killed in a
day. The foreign merchants from India and
China, though they continued to frequent the
harbour of Malacca, began to look upon the
Sultan and his people as a mere burden on
the town— as indeed they were. The Sultan
needed money for his pleasures, his followers,
and his wars ; he increased his exactions from
year to year. But for the coming of the Portu-
guese, the fate of Malacca would ultimately
have been the same as that of Pasai, Samudra,
Perlak, and the other trading ports that enjoyed
at various times a temporary spell of prosperity
as emporia in the Eastern seas. Even as it
was, Albuquerque found the foreign settlers
in the city perfectly willing to rise in revolt
against their Malay masters.

Mansur Shah was succeeded by his son, Raja
Husain, who took the name of Alaedin Riayat
Shah. This Prince is said by the Portuguese
to have been poisoned at the instigation of the
rulers of Pahang and Indragiri. He was suc-
ceeded by his son, Sultan Mahmud Shall, the
last of the Kings of Malacca. Sultan Mahinud
Shah seems to have been a weak ruler, who
gave himself up to his pleasures, and ultimately
delegated all his powers to his son, the Prince
Alaedin, whom he raised to sovereign rank
under the name of Ahmad Shah. The most
important event in his reign — apart from the
Portuguese conquest — was the mysterious revo-
lution of a.d. 1510, in which the most powerful
chief in Malacca, the Bendahara Sri Maharaja,
lost his life. This event is mentioned by Albu-
querque, and is described with great vividness
by the author of the " Malay Annals," who,
being a member of the Bendahara's family,
was extremely anxious to represent his great
ancestor's case in the best possible light.
According to his story, one of the great
ministers of state was induced, by a very
heavy bribe, to bring a false charge of treason
against the Bendahara — " for there is truth in
the saying, ' Gold, thou art not God, yet art
thou the almighty ' " — and the Sultan was
tempted by an illicit passion for the Benda-
hara's daughter into consenting to his min-
ister's death — " Love knows no limitation and
passion no consideration." It is probable that
the great minister was only overthrown after a

said to have consented to die rather than lift a
finger in opposition to the King : " It is the
glory of the Malay that he is ever faithful to
his ruler." The Sultan's messenger approached
and presented him with a silver platter, on
which rested the sword of execution. " God
calls you to His presence," said the messenger.
" I bow to the Divine will," said the Bendahara.
Such was said to have been his end, but there
is a curious epilogue to this tale of loyalty. In
a.d. 1699 the last Prince of the royal line of
Malacca was slain by his Bendahara, the lineal
representative of the murdered minister of
a.d. 1510, and of his successor and champion
the courtly author of the " Malay Annals." It is
therefore quite possible that the Bendahara of
a.d. 1510 was only conspiring to do what the
Bendahara of a.d. 1699 eventually succeeded in
doing.

CHAPTER V.

The Portuguese Ascendancy.

The famous expedition of Vasco da Gama,
the first European navigator to appear in the
Eastern seas, took place in 1498. Within ten
years Da Gama had been followed to the East
by many other famous adventurers — Francisco
de Albuquerque, Alfonso de Albuquerque, Fran-
cisco de Almeida, Tristano d'Acunha, Jorge de
Mello, and Jorge de Aguyar. In 1508 the whole
of the Portuguese " empire " in the East was
divided into two viceroyalties, one stretching
from Mozambique to Diu in India, the other
from Diu to Cape Comorin. Francisco de
Almeida was appointed Viceroy of Africa,
Arabia, and Persia ; Alfonso de Albuquerque
was Viceroy of India. Two other Admirals
were sent out in that year to carve out vice-
royalties for themselves. Of these two, one
— Diego Lopez de Sequeira — was destined for
Malaya. He left the Tagus with four ships
on April 5, 1508, sailed to Cochin (the head-
quarters of the Indian Viceroy), borrowed a
ship from the Portuguese fleet at that port,
and finally, in August, 1509, sailed to Malacca.
As soon as Sequeira cast anchor in the
harbour a boat put off from the shore to ask
him, in the name of the Bendahara, who he
was and why he came. The Portuguese
Admiral answered that he was an envoy from
the King of Portugal with gifts for the Sultan
of Malacca. Messages then seem to have been
interchanged for several days, and ultimately

a Portuguese of good position, one Teixeira,
was sent ashore and conducted to the palace
on an elephant. He handed the Sultan an
Arabic letter signed by Emmanuel, King of
Portugal ; he also gave the Malay ruler some
presents. This interview was followed by the
usual interchange of compliments and friendly
assurances ; permission to trade was given,
and, finally, Teixeira was conducted in honour
back to his ship.

. But in the town of Malacca all was excite-
ment. The wealthy Indian merchants could
hardly have viewed with equanimity the
presence of strangers who threatened them
with the loss of their trade. The suspicious
rulers of the city feared the powerful fleet of
Sequeira. The Bendahara wished to attack
the Portuguese at once ; the Laksamana and
the Temenggong hesitated. The Sultan in-
vited the strangers to a feast — perhaps with
the intention of murdering them ; Sequeira,
with a rudeness that may have been wise,
refused the dangerous invitation. Meanwhile
the Bendahara's party had begun to collect a
small flotilla behind Cape Rachado so as to be
ready for all emergencies. The position was
one of great tension. The Portuguese who
landed at Malacca do not seem to have been
molested, but they could hardly have failed to
notice the nervous hostility of the populace.
The " Malay Annals " — written a century later
— contain echoes of this old feeling of fear and
dislike of the strangers, the popular wonder at
these " white-skinned Bengalis," the astonish-
ment at the blunt bullet that pierced so sharply,
the horror at the blunders in etiquette com-
mitted by the well-meaning Portuguese. " Let
them alone, they know no manners," said the
Sultan, when his followers wished to cut down
a Portuguese who had laid hands on the sacred
person of the K^ng in placing a collar round
his neck. At such a time very little provoca-
tion would have started a conflict ; a mis-
understanding probably brought it about.
Suspecting the crews of the Malay boats of
wishing to board the Portuguese vessels, a
sentry gave an alarm. A panic at once
arose ; the Malays on deck sprang overboard ;
the Portuguese fired their guns. Sequeira
avoided any further action in the hope of
saving those of his men who were on shore
at the time, but the sudden appearance of the
Malay flotilla from behind Cape Rachado
forced his hand. The Portuguese sailed out
to meet this new enemy and so lost the chance
of rescuing the stragglers. When they re-
turned it was too late. The city was now
openjy hostile ; the Europeans on shore had
been taken ; the fleet was not strong enough
to take the town unaided. After wasting some
days in useless negotiations, Sequeira had to
sail away. His expedition had been an utter
failure. After plundering a few native ships
he sent two of his own fleet to Cochin, and
returned to Portugal without making any
attempt to redeem his mistakes.

King Emmanuel of Portugal was not the
man to submit tamely to a disaster of this
sort. Fitting out three more ships under
Diego Mendez de Vasconcellos, he sent them
— in March, 1510 — to organise a fresh attack
on Malacca. This fleet was diverted by the
Viceroy de Albuquerque to assist him in his

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Indian wars; but in May, 1511, the great
Viceroy himself set out to attack Malacca,
taking 19 ships, itoo European troops, and 600
Malabar sepoys. He first sailed to Pedir, in
Sumatra. There he found a Portuguese named
Viegas, on$ of Sequeira's men, who had

that was bearing the news of his approach to
Malacca. He caught this vessel and slew its
captain. Still sailing on, he captured a large
Indian trading ship, from which he learnt
that the rest of Sequeira's men were still alive
and in bondage to the Malays, the leading man

Ali I >\-< 1 1 ).\l Rl (QUER<

ntarie's cj ualhoquerque, by permission of tin
liivl So. H't\ .

escaped from captivity in Malacca and who
reported that there were other Portuguese
fugitives at Pasai. The Viceroy sailed to
Pasai and picked them up. He was well
received by the people of Pasai, but he sailed
on at once in order to overtake a native ship

among them being one Ruy d'Aranjo, a per-
sonal friend of the Viceroy. On July 1,
1511, Albuquerque and his fleet of nineteen
ships sailed into the roadstead at Malacca
with trumpets sounding, banners waving,
guns firing, and with every demonstration

that might be expected to overawe the junks
in the harbour and the warriors in the town.

At the sight of the powerful Portuguese fleet
the native vessels in the roadstead attempted
to flee, but the Viceroy, who feared that any
precipitate action on his part might lead to the
murder of his fellow-countrymen in the town,
ordered the ships to stay where they were, and
assured them that he had no piratical inten-
tions. The captains of three large Chinese
junks in the harbour then visited the Por-
tuguese Admiral and offered to assist him in
attacking the town ; they, too, had grievances
against the port authorities. The captain of a
Gujerat trading ship also came with a similar
tale. Early on the following day there came
envoys from the Sultan to say that the Malay
ruler had always been friendly to the King of
Portugal, and that his wicked Bendahara — who
had recently been put to death — was entirely
responsible for the attack on Sequeira. Albu-
querque made every effort to impress the
envoys with a sense of his power, but he
replied with the simple answer that no
arrangement was possible until the prisoners
had been released. The prisoners were,
indeed, the key of the situation. The Admiral
was sure that any attack on the town would
be the signal for them to be massacred ; the
Sultan vaguely felt that to give them up would
be to surrender a powerful weapon of defence.
So the days passed ; the Malays were arming,
the Portuguese were examining the roadstead
with a view to devising a good plan of attack,
but neither side did any overt act of hostility.
At the Malacca Court itself the usual divided
counsels prevailed, the war party being led by
the Sultan's eldest son and by the Sultan's son-
in-law, the Prince of Pahang. After seven
days of futile negotiations a man from the
town slipped on board the Admiral's ship with
a letter from Ruy d'Aranjo, the most important
of the prisoners, strongly advising Albuquerque
to abandon all idea of rescuing them and to
begin the attack without further delay. The
Viceroy was not prepared to take advantage
of this heroic offer of self-sacrifice on the
prisoners' part, but he felt that his present
policy could lead to nothing. By way of a
demonstration, he burnt some of the Malay
shipping in the harbour and bombarded a
few of the finer residences on the seaside.
The demonstration produced an unexpected
result : Ruy d'Aranjo was at once released.
He brought with him the news that many of
the townspeople were hostile to the Sultan
and would be prepared to turn against the
Malays should the opportunity present itself.
This information probably settled the fate of
the city.

More negotiations followed. Albuquerque
asked for permission to build a fortified factory
in the town of Malacca, so that Portuguese
merchants might be able to trade there in
peace and safety ; he also asked for the return
of the booty taken from Sequeira, and for an
indemnity of 300,000 cruzados (about ^33,500).
He found that the Sultan was not indisposed
to make concessions, but that the younger
chiefs were clamorous for war. Ultimately,
as often happens in Malay councils, the Sultan
decided to stand aside and to let the opposing
parties — the Portuguese and the Princes —

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

fight il out. He himself stood on the defensive
and refused either to make concessions or to
lead an attack. As soon as this decision was
arrived at, the Prince Alaedin and the Sultan
of Pahang set about the defence of the town,
while the Javanese communities seem to have
assured the Admirals that the coming conflict
was no concern of theirs, and that they were, if
anything, well disposed to the Portuguese.
In order to understand the plan of attack, it

MALAY SKAL.

is necessary to appreciate the difference between
the Malacca of 151 1 and the Malacca of the
present time. It is often supposed that the
harbour has silted up and that the conditions
cannot be reproduced, but it should be remem-
bered that the Portuguese ships were small
vessels of light draught that could lie much
closer to the shore than the deep-draughted
steamers of to-day. The great change that has
come over the harbour is due to the shifting of
the river channel after it enters the sea. The
old maps of Malacca show that the Malacca
river on reaching its mouth turned sharply to
the right, and had scooped out a comparatively
deep channel very close to the northern shore,
where the houses — then as now — were thickly
clustered. This channel was the old harbour
of Malacca ; it enabled light-draught ships to
lie very close to the land, and it explains how
the Portuguese with their guns of little range
could succeed in bombarding the houses on
the shore. Landing was, however, another
matter. The deep mud-banks made it ex-
tremely difficult to land under cover of the
guns of the fleet ; the true landing-place,
then as now, lay just inside the river itself.
Above the landing-place, then as now,
there was a bridge, but the old Malay bridge
was a little further up the river than the
present structure. This bridge, since it com-
manded the landing-place and maintained
communications between the two sections of
the town, was the key of the whole situation.
Both sides realised how matters stood. The
Malays strongly fortified the bridge, and
stationed upon it a force of picked men under
an Indian mercenary named Tuan Bandam.
The high ground immediately to the south of

the river— St, Paul's Hill, as it is now called —
was the true Malay citadel. It was covered
with the houses of the principal adherents of
the Sultan, and was the site of the Sultan's
palace itself. It protected the bridge, and
was garrisoned by the followers of the war
party, the Prince Alaedin and the Sultan of
Pahang. It was felt by all that the landing-
places and the bridge would be the centre of
the coming struggle.

Behind all this show of Malay strength there
was, however, very little true power. The
Malays themselves were nothing more than a
military garrison living on the resources of
an alien community. The trading town of
Malacca was divided up into quarters under
foreign headmen. The Javanese of Gersek
held Bandar Hilir to the south of the river ;
the Javanese and Sundanese from Japara and
Tuban held Kampong Upeh to the north of the
river. The Indian merchants also possessed
a quarter of their own. These alien merchants
did not love the Malays. All they wanted was
to trade in peace ; at the first sign of a struggle
they began to remove their goods to places of
safety, and had to be forcibly prevented from
fleeing inland. The Sultan of Pahang with
his fire-eating followers was not a very reliable
ally ; he had no real interest in the war. The
conflict ultimately resolved itself into a trial of
strength between the personal retainers of the
Sultan and the 1,400 soldiers of Albuquerque,
but the advantage of position was all on the
side of the Malays.

The Viceroy's preparations for attack lasted
several days. He spent his time in tampering
with the loyalty of the Javanese and other
foreign communities, and in constructing a
floating battery of very light draught to enter
the river and bombard the bridge. This
battery was not altogether a success. It
grounded at the very mouth of the river, and
was exposed for nine days and nights to inces-

and forced the floating battery up to a more
commanding position, whence it made short
work of the bridge itself. The battery had now
done its work and had made communication
between the two banks of the river less ready
than it had previously been, but the fight was

MALAY TIN CURRENCY (WITH
CASTING MOULD).

sant attacks from both banks. Its commander,
Antonio d'Abreu, had his teeth shot away at
the very first attack, but he stuck doggedly to
his post and saved the battery from capture.
At last Albuquerque landed a strong force,
obtained temporary possession of bolh banks.

CHINESE "CASH" AND MALAY COINS.

(The " tree " shows how Malay tin coins are cast.
The hole in the cash is square.)

by no means over. The Prince Alaedin and his
men furiously attacked the landing party and
were only beaten off after the Portuguese had
lost 80 men in killed and wounded. The Viceroy
tried to follow up his success by attacking the
mosques and palace on St. Paul's Hill. Be-
wildered in a maze of buildings, the Portuguese
again suffered heavy loss, and had to beat a
confused retreat to their landing-place. There
they entrenched themselves and were able to
hold their own. Their only substantial success
had been the capture of the outworks built by
the Malays to protect the landing-places ; the
fortifications of the bridge itself were still un-
raptured.

The next attack took place on St. James's
Day, July 24, 151 1. The Viceroy landed bodies
of men on both banks of the river and advanced
again upon the bridge. The Portuguese on the
south bank were furiously attacked by a Malay
force of about seven hundred men, headed by the
Sultan in person. The battle appears to have
been a very terrible one, and to have raged
principally about the south end of the bridge,
where the high ground of the hill approaches
nearest to the river. From their vantage
ground on the slopes, and under cover of their
buildings, the Malays poured an incessant stream
of poisoned darts upon the Portuguese, who
replied by burning the houses and endeavouring
to drive the Malays out of their cover. En-
cumbered with armour and weapons, the Portu-
guese found that the heat of the fire was more

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

than they could resist. To add to their troubles,
the Laksamana Hang Tuah brought down a
flotilla of boats and fireships that harassed the
flanks and threatened the communications of
the Viceroy's forces. Albuquerque decided to
retreat. He retired to his ships, taking with
him 70 of his men who had been struck
down with poisoned darts ; of these 7° men
twelve died, and the rest suffered from con-
stantly recurring pain for a long period of
time. The Malay losses will never be known.
The Sultan of Pahang, whose houses had been
burnt and whose property had been plundered,
left his father-in-law in the lurch and returned
to his own country. The fire-eating youths of
Malacca, who had egged on their Sultan to
war, had now had enough of the fighting. The
foreign merchants had learnt that their Malay
masters were not necessarily omnipotent.
Although the Viceroy had been consistently
repulsed, his very pertinacity had practically
secured the victory. When he landed again
on the following day all organised resistance
was over. The foreign subjects of the Sultan
refused to expose their lives in a hopeless cause
that was not their own. The Sultan's retainers
found that the profit of war was not worth its
risks. The Sultan himself fled. A few untam-
able spirits like the Laksamana continued to
carry on a guerilla warfare against the Portu-
guese, but with no real hope of success. The
foreigners all submitted — first the Peguans, then
the various sections of the Javanese community ;
they even joined the Portuguese under the
brothers De Andrade in an expedition to destroy
the stockades of the Prince Alaedin. After this
the Malay Prince saw the futility of further
resistance ; he followed his father in his flight
to the interior. A few scattered bands of out-
laws represented all that was left of the famous
Malay kingdom of Malacca.

The spoils taken by the Portuguese are not
exactly known. According to some authorities,
the value of the plunder was 50,000 cruzados,
or about £6,000 ; others say that this only
represented the King's share of the spoil. It
was also said that several thousand cannon —
either 3,000 or 8,000 — were captured. This ex-
pression may refer to mere firearms, but it
must be enormously exaggerated even with
this limitation. The Malay forces were very
small, and they inflicted most damage with
poisoned darts. Moreover, we are specially
told that Albuquerque sent home as his only
important trophies one or two cannon of Indian
make and some Chinese images of lions. Had
it not been for the foreign elements in the
population of the town of Malacca, the capture
of the city would have been an act of useless
folly. As it was, the victory was a valuable
one. It substituted a Portuguese for a Malay
ruling class without destroying the trade-
tradition of the place. It gave the Portuguese
a naval base, a trading centre, and a citadel
that they could easily hold against any attacks
that the Malays might organise.

The Viceroy could not afford to garrison
Malacca with the force that had sufficed to
take it. He had captured it with the whole
of the available forces of Portuguese India —
19 ships, 800 European soldiers, and 600 sepoys.
If anything was needed to show the unreality
of the wealth and power ascribed by some

imaginative writers to these old Malayan
"empires" or "kingdoms," it would be the
insignificance of trie Portuguese garrisons
that held their own against all attacks and
even organised small punitive expeditions in
reply. The loss of ten or twelve Portuguese
was a disaster of the first magnitude to the
" captain " in charge of the town and fort of
Malacca. A small Portuguese reverse on the
Muar river — when the gallant Ruy d'Aranjo
was killed — enabled the Laksamana Hang
Tuah to entrench himself on the Malacca
river and to " besiege " the town. This
famous Malay chief, whose name still lives in
the memory of his countrymen, was a man of
extraordinary energy and resource. He fought
the Portuguese by sea, in the narrows of the
Singapore Straits ; he surprised them off Cape
Rachado ; he harassed the town of Malacca
from the upper reaches of its own river ; he
intrigued with the allies of the Portuguese ;
he even induced a Javanese fleet to threaten
Malacca. This indefatigable fighter died as he

PORTUGUESE TIN COINS OF
MALACCA.

had lived, desperately warring against the
enemies of his race. With his death, and with
the destruction in 1526 of the Sultan's new
stronghold on the island of Bintang, the Malay
power was utterly destroyed. From 151 1 to
1605 the Portuguese were the real masters of
the Straits.

The history of Malacca from the date of
Sequeira's expedition (a.d. 1509) to the time
when it was captured by the Dutch (a.d. 1641)
reads like a romance. It is associated with
great names like those of Camoens and St.
Francis Xavier ; it is the story of desperate
sieges and of the most gallant feats of arms.
Tradition has it that once when the garrison
had fired away their last ounce of powder in
the course of a desperate battle against the
Achinese, the suspicious-seeming silence of
the grim fortress terrified the enemy into flight.
We are not, however, concerned with the
romance of its history so much as with its
political aspect. There is something significant
in the very titles 01 the officials of Malacca.
The Portuguese Governor of Malacca was
its " captain," the heads of the native com-

munities were "captains" too. Indeed, Albu-
querque went so far as to appoint the Javanese
headman, Ultimuti Raja, his bendahara. The
high officials of the Dutch bore trading names
such as " first merchant " or " second mer-
chant " ; the civil servants of our own East
India Company were " writers." There is no
arrogance about any of these descriptions ;
they only showed what their bearer's really
were. What, then, are we to make of titles
such as those of the " Viceroy of Africa,
Arabia, and Persia " and the " Viceroy of
India " ? They hardly represented realities ; did
they symbolise any national policy or ambition ?
The aim of all the European Powers in the
Far East- whether Portuguese or Dutch or
English — was to capture the rich trade of these
countries. Sequeira asked for permission to
trade ; Albuquerque asked for permission to
build a fortified factory at Malacca ; the East
India Companies of the Dutch and English were
merely trading concerns. Yet there was this
difference. The imperial idea — which, in the
case of the Dutch and English, took centuries
to develop — seems to have existed from the
very first in the minds of the Portuguese. It
was not the imperialism of the present day ;
Albuquerque did not seek to administer, even
when he claimed suzerainty. He allowed his
Asiatic subjects a wide measure of self-govern-
ment under their own " captains " in the very
town of Malacca itself. Although he did not,
indeed, try to administer, he tried to dominate.
The Portuguese power would brook no rival.
The garrisons were small — they were not
sufficient to hold any tract of country — but the
striking force of the viceroyalty was sufficient
to destroy any trading port that refused to bow
to the wishes of the Portuguese or that set
itself up in irreconcilable hostility against them.
Again and again — at Kampar, in the island of
Bintang, and on the shores of the Johore river
— did the Portuguese expeditions harry the
fugitives of the old Malay kingdom and destroy
the chance of a native community rising to
menace their fortified base at Malacca. What
they did in these Straits they also did on the
shores of India and Africa. The titles of the
old Portuguese Viceroys were not misnomers,
though they did not bear the administrative
significance that we should now attach to
them. The Portuguese fleet did really domin-
ate the East. The weakness of this old Portu-
guese " empire " lay in the fact that it could not
possibly survive the loss of sea-power. It
consisted — territorially — of a few naval bases
that became a useless burden when the com-
mand of the sea passed into the hands of the
English and Dutch. The fall of Malacca may
be truly said to date from a.d. 1606, when the
Dutch Admiral Cornells Matelief gained a
decisive victory over the Portuguese fleet in
the Straits of Malacca. From that time for-
ward the doom of the town was sealed. Trade
went with the command of the sea ; apart
from its trade, Malacca had no sufficient
revenue and became a useless burden to the
Viceroys of Goa. Portuguese pride did indeed
induce the Viceroys at first to send expeditions
to the relief of their beleaguered countrymen
in the famous fortress, but as siege succeeded
siege it became obvious that the fate of the city
was only a question of time. It fell in 1641.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

After Sultan Mahmud had been driven out
of Malacca he fled to Batu Hampar, while his
son, the Prince Alaedin, built a stockade at
Pagoh. Pagoh was soon taken by the Portu-
guese. The Malay Princes then took refuge
for a time in Pahang, after which they estab-
lished themselves far up the Johore river, where
they were relatively safe from attack. Settle-
ments far up a river are, however, of very
little use either for trade or piracy, so — as
the Malays regained confidence — they moved
southwards and established themselves on the
island of Bintang, Sultaii Mahmud at Tebing
Tinggi and the Prince Alaedin at Batu Pela-
bohan. This Prince Alaedin had been raised
to sovereign rank and bore the title of Sultan
Ahmad Shah, to the great confusion of historical
records, which confuse him both with his
father, Sultan Mahmud, and with his brother,
who afterwards bore the name of Sultan
Alaedin. In any case the Sultan Ahmad died
at Batu Pelabohan and was buried at Bukit
Batu in Bintang ; if Malay rumour is to be
believed, he was poisoned by his jealous
father. Sultan Mahmud then installed his
younger son as Raja Muda, but did not confer
on him the sovereign dignity borne by the
murdered Ahmad Shah. After this, the Sultan
moved his headquarters to Kopak. There
another son was born to him, this time by his
favourite wife, Tun Fatimah, the daughter of
the famous Bendahara who had so bitterly
opposed Sequeira. This child was given the
title of Raja Kechil Besar, and was afterwards
allowed (through his mother's influence) to
take precedence of his elder brother, the Raja
Muda, and to be raised to sovereign rank as the
Sultan Muda or Sultan Alaedin Riayat Shah II.
Meanwhile the Malay settlement at Kopak had
increased sufficiently in importance to attract
the notice of the Portuguese. In 1526 it was
surprised by the Viceroy Mascarenhas, who
utterly destroyed it. Sultan Mahmud, again a
fugitive, took refuge at Kampar in Sumatra.
By a high-handed act of policy the Portuguese
had just abducted the ruler of Kampar and had
thereby incurred the deadly hostility of the
inhabitants of that Sumatran port. The aged
Sultan Mahmud was welcomed and was recog-
nised as sovereign in the absence of the local
chief. He died shortly afterwards, leaving the
throne to his son, Alaedin Riayat Shah II.
The new Sultan was not left in peace by the
Portuguese. Driven out of Kampar, he ulti-
mately settled at a place on the Johore river.
He died there and was succeeded by his son,
the Raja Muda Perdana, who took the title of
Sultan Mudzafar Shah II. This Mudzafar
Shah established himself at Seluyut (Johore
Lama) but he had outlying stations on the
trade routes. At a later date these stations
were destined to become important.

The Sultans of Perak claim descent from a
" Sultan Mudzafar Shah," an elder son of the
Sultan Mahmud who was driven from Malacca
by the Portuguese. The present Sultan of
Perak has asserted that this " Sultan Mudzafar
Shah " went to Perak because he had been
passed over for the succession by his younger
brother. If this tradition is correct, the
" Sultan Mudzafar Shah " of Perak would
not be the poisoned Alaedin (Sultan Ahmad
Shah), but the young Raja Muda, who was set

aside by his father in favour of the Raja Kechil
Besar, afterwards Alaedin Riayat Shah II.
All that we know about this member of the
royal line is that he married a daughter of
Tun Fatimah by her first husband, Tun Ali,
and that he had a son, Raja Mansur. This
accords with the Perak story that Sultan
Mudzafar Shah was succeeded by his son, a
Sultan Mansur Shah. The following table
shows the line of descent

in the sight of the Malays. From this time
onwards the Dutch came constantly to Johore.
Their factor, Jacob Buijsen, resided continu-
ously at his station and seems to have done
a good deal to turn an insignificant fishing
village into an important centre of trade and
political influence. In this work of develop-
ment he received every assistance from the
Sultan's brother, Raja Abdullah, who was
anxious to make a definite alliance with Holland

Sultan Mahmud Shah
(of Malacca and Johore)

Alaedin
(Sultan Ahmad Shah)

" Raja Muda "

(Sultan Mudzafar Shah I.

of Perak)

Raja Mansur

(Sultan Mansur Shah I.

of Perak)

I
Raja Kechil Besar
(Sultan Alaedin Riayat
Shah II. of Johore)

Raja Muda Perdana

(Sultan Mudzafar Shah II.

of Johore)

This pedigree would go to prove not only
that the Sultan of Perak represents the senior
line of the oldest Malay dynasty, but also that
he is directly descended from the famous line
of Bendaharas whose glories are the subject
of the ''Sejarah Melayu."

Sultan Mudzafar Shah II. seems to have
reigned in comparative peace at Johore. The
only incident of any importance recorded
about him was his secret marriage under
rather suspicious circumstances to a Pahang
lady, the divorced or abducted wife of one
Raja Omar of Pahang. Sultan Mudzafar Shah
did not live long. When he died the chiefs
placed his son, the boy Abdul Jalil, on the
throne. The new sovereign, Abdul Jalil Shah,
suffered great tribulations at the hands of the
Portuguese, who burnt Johore Lama and drove
him to the upper reaches of the river, where
no ships could follow him. He settled ulti-
mately at Batu Sawar, which he named Makam
Tauhid. He died at this place, leaving fwo
sons (Raja Mansur and Raja Abdullah) by his
principal wife, and three sons (Raja Hasan,
Raja Husain and Raja Mahmud) by secondary
wives. It is said that the last three became
rulers of Siak, Kelantan and Kampar respec-
tively. Raja Mansur succeeded to the throne
of Johore under the title of Alaedin Riayat
Shah III. It was in the reign of this Alaedin
Riayat Shah that the Dutch and English first
came to Johore.

CHAPTER VI.

The Dutch Ascendancy.

About the end of a.d. 1602 a Dutch navi-
gator of the name of Jacob van Heemskerck
visited Johore and left a factor behind, after
satisfying himself that the factor's life was
not likely to be endangered by any peace
between the Malays and the Portuguese. By
doing this he attracted to Johore the unwelcome
attentions of the Governor of Malacca, who at
once sent a few small vessels to blockade the
river. However, in a.d. 1603 two Dutch ships
that came to visit the factor drove away the
Portuguese flotilla and obtained great honour

and to obtain some permanent protection
against Portuguese attack. A Malay envoy
was actually sent to Holland, but died on
the journey, and no treaty was made till
A.D. 1606, when Admiral Cornelis Matelief
with a powerful fleet arrived in the Straits of
Malacca.

The Dutch account of this expedition tells us
that the old Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah had been
a great fighter and had waged a long war
against the Portuguese. At his death he left
four sons. The eldest, the " King Yang-di-
Pertuan " (Alaedin Riayat Shah III.) was in
the habit of getting up at noon and having a
meal, after which he drank himself drunk and
transacted no further business. His second son,
the King of Siak, was a man of weak character,
who rarely visited Johore. His third, Raja
Abdullah, is described as a man of about thirty-
five years of age, fairly intelligent, far-sighted,
quiet in disposition, and a great hand at driving
hard bargains. The fourth brother, Raja Laut,
is depicted as " the greatest drunkard, murderer,
and scoundrel of the whole family. ... All
the brothers drink except Raja Abdullah ; and
as the rulers are, so are the nobles in their
train." Such, then, were the men whom the
Admiral Cornelis Matelief had come to succour.
But we must not condemn these men too
hastily. The Bendahara or prime minister of
these Princes was the author of the " Annals,"
our great source of information on Malay history.
The royal drunkard, Alaedin Riayat Shah, was
the man who ordered the "Annals "to be written.
The "great hand at driving hard bargains " —
Raja Abdullah — is the patron of the history :
" Sultan Abdullah Maayat Shah, the glory of
his land and of his time, the chief of the
assembly of true believers, the ornament of
the abodes of the Faithful — may God enhance
his generosity and his dignities, and perpetuate
his just government over all his estates."
These men must have been something more
than mere drunkards ; the historian has reason
to be grateful to them.

On May 14, 1606, Admiral Matelief arrived
off the Johore river and received a friendly
letter of greeting from Raja Abdullah ; on May
17th he entertained the Prince on board his
flagship. The interview must have been
amusing, for it is quite clear that the Dutch

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

had come to the Straits with the most ex-
aggerated ideas about the greatness of Johore.
On boarding the Dutch ship Raja Abdullah
greeted his host most cordially and presented
him with a "golden kris studded with stones
of little value." In welcoming the sailors to
Malay waters, the Raja prolonged the compli-
ments to such an extent that the impatient
Admiral tried to lead him up to business by
a pointed inquiry regarding the nature and
extent of the help that might be expected from
Johore if the Dutch attacked Malacca. In this
matter, however, the Prince was anxious not
to commit himself. He explained that he was
an orang miskiu, a person of little wealth and
importance, subordinate in all things to the
will of his royal brother. " In short," says our
angry Dutch chronicler, " all the information
that we could obtain from this Prince was that
he was a very poor man indeed ; had he been
able to fight the Portuguese by himself, would
he have sent to Holland for assistance ? "
This was unanswerable. The Admiral gave
up all hope of obtaining any real armed assist-
ance from Johore.

Nevertheless a treaty was signed. It is the
first Dutch treaty with Johore arid is dated
May 17, 1606. Its terms are interesting.

The new allies began by agreeing to capture
Malacca. After capturing it, they were to
divide up the spoil — the city was to go to the
Dutch and the adjoining territories to the
Malays, but the Dutch were to possess the
right to take timber from the nearest Malay
jungles for the needs of the town and its
shipping. The permission of the future Dutch
Governor of Malacca was to be obtained
before any European could be permitted to
land on Johore territory.

As this treaty seemed a little premature until
the capture of Malacca had been effected,
Admiral Matelief set out at once to carry out
that portion of the arrangement. He gained
a decisive victory over the Portuguese fleet
but failed to take the town, and ultimately gave
up the enterprise as impracticable. On Sep-
tember 23, 1606, he made an amended treaty
under which a small portion of Johore territory
was ceded to the Dutch as a trading station in
lieu of the town and fort of Malacca, the rest
of the treaty remaining the same as before.
After concluding this agreement he sailed
away, and only returned to the Malay Pen-
insula in October, 1607, when he visited the
factory at Patani. He then found that a com-
plete change had come over the position of
affairs at Johore. The Portuguese — having
lost the command of the sea — had reversed
their policy of unceasing hostility to native
powers, and were now prepared to make an
alliance with the Sultan. The Dutch factor
had fled to Java, and the Admiral summed up
the situation in a letter dated January 4, 1608 :
" The chief King drinks more than ever ; the
chiefs are on the side of the Portuguese ; Raja
Abdullah has no power." The Dutch East
India Company had invested 10,000 dollars at
Johore and 63,000 dollars at Patani.

Admiral Matelief could do very little. As
he had sent most of his ships home and was
expecting the arrival of a fleet under Admiral
van Caerden, he tried to induce Admiral van
Caerden to change his course and threaten

Johore, but he was too late, as the Admiral had
sailed already from Java on his way to the
Moluccas and was too far away to give any
assistance. Nothing could be done till the
autumn. In the end a Dutch fleet arrived
under Admiral Verhoeff to bring the Sultan
to reason. Sultan Alaedin Riayat Shah seems
to have defended himself by the very logical
argument that he wished to be at peace with
everybody and that Dutch friendship, to be of
value, should accord him permanent pro-
tection. This permanent protection was
promised him by a new treaty, under which
the Dutch agreed to build a fort at Johore and
to station two guardships there to defend the
place against Portuguese attack. Having
made this arrangement, the Admiral sailed
from Johore with a letter from the Sultan
begging for Dutch aid to prosecute a personal
quarrel between himself and the Raja of Patani.
In fact, nothing could have been more fatuous
than the policy of this Alaedin Riayat Shah.

Dutch residents in the factory. The Achinese
did not treat their prisoners very harshly.
The Sultan of Achin — the famous Iskandar
Muda or Mahkota Alam — gave his sister in
marriage to Raja Abdullah and even joined
Alaedin in the convivial bouts that were so
dear to the Johore Princes. A reconciliation
was effected. On August 25, 1614, Alaedin
Riayat Shah was back in his own capital, but
he does not seem to have learned much
wisdom from his stay in Achin. Accused of
lukewarmness in helping the Achinese in
their siege of Malacca, he brought upon him-
self for the second time the vengeance of the
great Mahkota Alam. Johore was again
attacked — this time by a force which an eye-
witness, Admiral Steven van der Haghen,
estimated at 300 ships and from 30,000 to 40,000
men. Johore was taken, but the Sultan him-
self escaped to Bintang. Bintang was next
attacked. The unfortunate Sultan received
some help from Malacca, but only just enough

MALAY CANNON.

Surrounded by powerful enemies, he was
content to think only of the pleasures and of
the passions of the moment, leaving all graver
matters to the care of his cautious brother,
Raja Abdullah.

In a.d. 1610 the marriage of the Sultan's
eldest son to his cousin, the daughter of the
Raja of Siak, led to a complete change in the
attitude of the fickle Alaedin Riayat Shah
towards Raja Abdullah and the Dutch. The
Raja of Siak, a friend of the Portuguese,
became the real power behind the throne of
Johore. Again, as in 1608, the Dutch might
well have written : " The King drinks more
than ever ; the chiefs are on the side of the
Portuguese ; the Raja Abdullah has no power."
But vengeance overtook the treacherous Ala-
edin from a most unexpected quarter. On
June 6, 1613, the Achinese, who were at war
with Malacca, suddenly made a raid on Johore,
captured the capital, and carried the Sultan off
into captivity along with his brother Abdullah,
the chief Malay Court dignitaries, and the

to seal his destruction. He was now unable
either to repel the attack of his enemies or
to clear himself of the charge of allying him-
self with the Portuguese infidel against whom
Mahkota Alam was waging religious war.
Alaedin Riayat Shah was taken prisoner and
died very shortly afterwards ; tradition has it
that he was put to death by his captors.

Incidentally it may be observed that the
"Malay Annals," though dated a.d. 1612, refer
to "the late Sultan Alaedin Riayat Shah, who
died in Achin." This reference shows that
the book, though begun in A.D. 1612, was not
actually completed till some years later. It
is very much to be regretted that the Malay
historian should have confined his work to the
records of the past and should have given us
no account whatever of the stirring incidents
in which he personally, as Bendahara, must
have played a most prominent part.

Sultan Alaedin Riayat Shah III. was suc-
ceeded by his brother Raja Abdullah, who
took the title of Sultan Abdullah Maayat Shah.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The new ruler possessed many good qualities
and he had the advantage of being married to
a sister of Mahkota Alam, but was extremely
unfortunate in being forced to contend against
so jealous a potentate as his brother-in-law.
He seems to have led the wandering existence
of a Pretender-King. In A.D. 1623 he was cer-
tainly driven out of the island of Linggi by
an Achinese force. In a.d. 1634 the Dutch
records speak of Paliang and Johore as being
incorporated in the kingdom of Achin. No
Dutch ships ever visited Abdullah during his
sultanate ; no Dutch factors were ever sta-
tioned at his Court. He was deserving but
unfortunate — a mere claimant to a throne that
the Achinese would not permit him to fill.
He died in a.d. 1637.

He was succeeded — if indeed we can speak
of succession to so barren a title — by his
nephew, Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah II., son of
the Sultan Alaedin RiayatShah III. who died at
Achin. The new ruler was more fortunate
than his predecessor in that the Achinese
power was now on the wane. The mighty
Mahkota Alam, the most powerful and most
ambitious of the rulers of Achin, was dead ;
his sceptre had passed into the hands of
women. These years — from 1637 onwards —
may be considered years of revival among the
Malay States that had been reduced to vassal-
age by Achin, for they gave a new lease of
life to the kingdoms of Johore, Pahang and
Perak. In a.d. 1639 the Dutch, who were
anxious to procure native assistance for the
siege of Malacca, made overtures to the Sultan.
Possessing the command of the sea, they
wanted Malay auxiliaries to assist them with
supplies and transport and to help in hem-
ming in the Portuguese by land. The Dutch
Admiral Van de Veer accordingly entered into
an agreement with Abdul Jalil Shah and defi-
nitely secured him as an ally in the war
against Malacca. This time the Portuguese
stronghold was captured (a.d. 1641).

In spite of the fact that the military com-
manders at Malacca were not altogether satis-
fied with the help given them by their Malay
allies, the Dutch civil authorities did their best
to show gratitude to Johore and to restore it
as much as possible to its old position. They
arranged peace between Johore and Achin,
and gave various other assurances of their
goodwill to the Sultan Abdul Jalil Shah. We
hear of various complimentary missions being
exchanged between Johore and Batavia with-
out much practical result. What else, indeed,
could we have expected ? Johore became
useless to Holland as soon as the capture of
Malacca gave the Dutch a better station in the
Straits than the old trading factory of Batu
Sawar had ever been. Johore had no indus-
tries, no trade, no productive hinterland ; it
was bound to decline. Sultan Abdul Jalil lived
long enough to see a great calamity overwhelm
his country. A quarrel with the Sultan of
Jambi led in a.d. 1673 to a war in which
Johore was plundered and burnt and its aged
ruler driven into exile. The death of the old
Sultan — who did not long survive the shock
of the destruction of his capital — brought to an
end the direct line of the Johore dynasty.

He was succeeded by a cousin, a Pahang
Prince who took the name of Sultan Ibrahim

Shah. The new ruler's energy infused fresh
life into the State ; he established himself at
Kiau in order to carry on the war against Jambi
more effectively than from Johore Lama ; he
allied himself with the Dutch, and in time
succeeded in regaining what his predeces-
sor had lost. But he did not live long. On
February 16, 1685, he died, leaving an only
son, who was at once placed on the throne
under the title of Sultan Mahmud Shah. As
the new Sultan was a mere boy, his mother
became Regent, but she allowed all real power
to be vested in the Bendahara Paduka Raja,
the loyal and able minister of her late husband,
the victorious Sultan Ibrahim. She was wisely
advised in so doing. Peace was assured ; the
traditional friendship with Holland was loyally-
kept up by the Bendahara ; internal troubles
of all kinds were avoided. Unfortunately the
Bendahara died, and his headstrong ward took
the government of the State into his own hands.
In a.d. 1691 we hear of him as ruling from
Johore. This young Sultan, Mahmud Shah II.,
the last Prince of his race — ruler of Pahang
and Riau as well as of Johore — is the most
mysterious and tragic figure in Malay history.
He was said to be the victim of one of those
terrible ghostly visitants, a Malay vampire,
the spirit of a woman dead in childbirth and
full of vengeance against the cause of her
death. He is accused, by Malay traditions from
all parts of the peninsula, of having slain in
the most fiendish manner those of his wives
who had the misfortune to become pregnant.
Probably he was mad ; but no form of madness
could have been more dangerous to a prince
in his position. The frail life of this insane
and hated Sultan was the only thing that stood
between any bold conspirator and the thrones
of Johore, Pahang, and Linggi. The end
came in A.D. 1699. As the young ruler was
being carried to mosque at Kota Tinggi on the
shoulders of one of his retainers he was stabbed
to death. All Malay tradition ascribes this
assassination to the Sultan's minister, the
Bendahara Sri Maharaja, head of the great
family that is described in the " Malay Annals "
as glorying in the tradition of fidelity to its
Princes. With the death of the Sultan Mahmud
Shah II. the dynasty of Malacca, Johore, and
Pahang disappears from the page of history.
In the records of this long line of Kings the
point that most impresses the student is the
curiously personal character of Malay sove-
reignty. In Europe, where all the Continent
is divided up under different rulers, there is
no place for a fallen king except as a subject.
In the thinly populated Malay world the
position was entirely different. So long as
a fugitive prince could induce a few followers
to share his lot, he could always find some
unoccupied valley or river in which to set up
his miniature Court. The wandering exile
Raja Abdullah (a.d. 1615-37), whose movements
cannot be traced and the date of whose death
is uncertain, was nevertheless a king— "Sultan
Abdullah Maayat Shah, the glory of his land
and of his time." He was born in the purple.
But to less highly born adventurers the
acquisition of royal rank, as distinct from
mere power, was a very difficult matter. All
Malay popular feeling is against the " worm "
that aspires to become a "dragon." If a bad

harvest or a murrain or any other misfortune
had overtaken the subjects of an upstart king,
all Malaya would have explained it as the
Nemesis that waits on sacrilege, the result of
outraging the divine majesty of kings. Royalty
was a mere matter of caste, but a great Sultan
might create minor Sultans, just as the Emperor
of China made a Sultan of the Paramisura
Muhammad Shah, or as Sultan Mansur Shah
divided his dominions between his sons, or as
Sultan Mahmud Shah I. gave sovereign rank to
his son Ahmad Shah, or as Queen Victoria may
be said to have created the sultanates of Johore
and Pahang. Titular dignity was one thing ;
real authority was another. Powerful dc facto
rulers such as (in recent times) the Bendahara
of Pahang, the Temenggong of Johore and the
Dato' of Rembau, and great territorial magnates
like the Maharaja Perba of Jelai, were kings
in all except the name. The glamour of titles
and of royal descent is so great that it often
obscures realities. The Dutch when they
negotiated their treaty with the Sultan of
Achin found, when too late, that he was
Sultan in rank only, not in power. The
sympathy that has been lavished upon the
dispossessed princely house of Singapore is
based upon a misconception of the meaning
of Malay " royalty." Royal rank meant prestige,
position, influence— the things that lead to
power. Royal rank was a great thing in
Malay eyes and justified the attention that they
devoted to pedigrees and to the discussion of
the relative importance of the articles that made
up a king's regalia. But the student of Malay
things who mistakes mere rank for power will
constantly be surprised to find, as Admiral
Matelief was astonished to discover, that a
Malay Prince is often an orang miskin — a very
poor person indeed !

Immediately after the death of the unhappy
Mahmud Shah, his murderer, the Bendahara
Sri Maharaja, ascended the throne of Johore
and Pahang under the title of Sultan Abdul
Jalil Riayat Shah. Like most Princes who
obtain a crown by violence, he found that his
position was one of ever-growing danger from
malcontents at home and enemies abroad.
Two new disturbing forces had entered the
arena of Malayan politics. The first was the
great Menangkabau immigration ; the second
was the continued presence of Bugis fleets and
colonies on the peninsula coast. A constant
stream of industrious Sumatran Malays had for
some time past been pouring into the inland
district now known as the Negri Sambilan.
These men, being very tenacious of their own
tribal rights and customs, resented any inter-
ference from Johore. The Bugis were even
more dangerous. They were more warlike and
more energetic than the Malays ; they built
bigger ships ; they were ambitious, and they
seemed anxious to get a firm footing in the
country. In A.D. 1713 Sultan Abdul Jalil Riayat
Shah tried to strengthen his position by a
closer alliance with the Dutch ; but such a
policy, though it might assist him against
foreign foes, was of very little avail against the
enemies of his own household. In a.d. 1617
(or a little earlier) an incident occurred that
may be described as one of the more extra-
ordinary events in Malay history. A Menang-
kabau adventurer calling himself Raja Kfchil

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

appeared in Johore. He gave himself out to be
a posthumous son of the murdered Mahinud
Shah and stirred up a revolution in the capital.
But the strangest part of the incident was its
termination. The upstart Sultan Abdul Jalil
Riayat Shah consented to revert to his old
position of Bendahara Sri Maharaja and to
serve under the impostor, Raja Kechil, whose
claims he must have known to be false. To
cement this alliance between murder and fraud
the ex-Sultan agreed to give his daughter,
Tengku Tengah, in marriage to the new Sultan,
who took the name of Abdul Jalil Rahmat
Shah.

It is difficult to exactly trace the course of
events after this point because we have two
Malay partisan histories written from opposite
points of view. One history accepts this Raja
Kechil as a true son of the murdered Sultan
Mahmud ; the other treats him as a scoundrel
and an impostor, and makes a martyr of the
deposed assassin, Sultan Abdul Jalil Riayat
Shah. There can be no doubt that the Benda-
hara's relatives conspired with the Bugis
against their new master, but the details of
the plot are not very clear. According to one
account ; a woman's jealousy provoked the
trouble. Raja Kechil had jilted Tengku Tengah
in order to marry her younger sister, Tengku
Kamariah. This little change in the original
plan did not injure the Bendahara, but it made
a great deal of difference to the ambitious
Tengku Tengah and caused further dissension
in a family that was already divided by personal
jealousies. As the children of the Bendahara
who were born after his accession to the throne
denied that their elder brothers, who were
born before their father became a king, had
any right to call themselves princes, it is
not surprising that intrigues and conspiracies
should have been begun. It happened that
there was at this time in Johore a Bugis adven-
turer named Daeng Parani. Tengku Sulaiman,
eldest son of the Bendahara, went to this man
and appealed to him for help in overthrowing
the upstart Raja Kechil. Daeng Parani hesi-
tated ; the odds against him were too great.
Tengku Sulaiman then tried to win over the
Bugis adventurer by promising him the hand
of his sister, Tengku Tengah, in marriage.
Daeng Parani again refused. At this juncture
Tengku Tengah herself came forward and
made a personal appeal to the love and chivalry
of the Bugis chief. Daeng Parani now con-
sented to act. With great holdness — for he
had only a handful of men in the heart of a
hostile capital — he surrounded the Sultan's
residence and endeavoured to slay Raja Kechil
and to abduct Tengku Kamariah. He was
only partially successful ; the Sultan escaped.
Daeng Parani fled to Selangor, leaving his
fellow-conspirators behind. Tengku Sulaiman
and Tengku Tengah fled to Pahang. The aged
Bendahara, father of Tengku Sulaiman and
Tengku Tengah, feeling that he would be
suspected of having taken a part in the con-
spiracy, followed his children in their flight,
but was overtaken and murdered at Kuala
Pahang. He is the Sultan known as marhuin
kuala Pahang. Tengku Sulaiman, however,
managed to make good his escape and ulti-
mately joined his Bugis friends.

After these incidents Raja Kechil — or Abdul

Jalil Rahmat Shah as he styled himself —
abandoned Johore Lama, the scene of so many
misfortunes to Malay Kings, and made a new
capital for himself at Riau. He carried on
with great courage and success a desultory
war against the Bugis, but was ultimately out-
manoeuvred and lost his position as Sultan of
Johore, because the Bugis ships, having enticed
the Malay fleet to Kuala Linggi, doubled back
during the night and suddenly appeared before
Riau. In the absence of its King and his
followers, Riau could offer no resistance. The
Bugis proclaimed Tengku Sulaiman Sultan of
Johore under the title of Sultan Sulaiman
Badru'1-alam Shah. The principal Bugis chief,
Daeng Merowah (or Klana Jaya Putra) became
"Yang-di-Pertuan Muda" of Riau, with the title
of Sultan Alaedin Shah, while another Bugis
chief, Daeng Manompo, became " Raja tua "
under the title of Sultan Ibrahim Shah. This
seems to have occurred on October 22,
A.D. 1721, but the formal investiture only took
place on October 4, 1722. To strengthen their
position, the Bugis chiefs allied themselves in
marriage with the Malays. Daeng Manompo
married Tun Tepati, aunt of Sultan Sulaiman ;
Daeng Merowah married Inche' Ayu, daughter
of the ex-Temenggong Abdul Jalil and widow
of the murdered Sultan Mahmud ; Daeng
Parani had married Tengku Tengah ; and
Daeng Chelak sought to marry Tengku Ka-
mariah, the captured wife of Raja Kechil.
Other Bugis chiefs — Daeng Sasuru and Daeng
Mengato — married nieces of Sultan Sulaiman.

As the Bugis accounts of the Raja Kechil
incident differ very materially from the Malay
version, we can hardly hope to get a thoroughly
reliable history of the events that led to the
establishment of Bugis kingdoms in the Straits
of Malacca. We may, however, consider it
certain that Raja Kechil was not a posthumous
son of Sultan Mahmud Shah. Dutch records
prove that Raja Kechil was an extremely old
man in A.D. 1745 ; they even provide strong
evidence that he was fifty-three years of age
when he seized the throne of Johore. He
must therefore have been an older man than
the Prince whom he claimed as his father. In
all probability Raja Kechil won his kingdom by
mere right of conquest, supplanting a murderer
who was quite ready to give up an untenable
throne and to take a secure position as Benda-
hara under a strong ruler. In later years, when
the Malays became savagely hostile to their
Bugis masters, they were doubtless ready to ac-
cept any tale and to follow a Menangkabau
ruler, who was at least a Malay, in preference
to the Bugis pirates and their miserable tool,
Sultan Sulaiman Shah. But when Raja Kechil
died the Malays rallied to the side of his
younger son (who had a royal Malay mother)
and treated the elder son as a mere alien with-
out any claim to the throne. The murder at
Kota Tinggi in a.d. 1699 had divided the alle-
giance of the Malay world and contributed
greatly to the success of the Bugis. It was
only at the close of the eighteenth century
that the old Johore communities again recog-
nised a common ruler.

The Bugis chiefs at Riau paid very little
attention to the puppet-Sultans that they set
up. They so exasperated Sultan Sulaiman
that he soon left his sultanate and fled to

Kampar. After this incident the Bugis felt
that they had gone too far, and they made a
new treaty with their titular sovereign and
induced him to return to Riau. It should be
understood that even with Sultan Sulaiman's
help the Bugis position at Riau was very in-
secure. Raja Kechil, who had established
himself at Siak, gained many victories and re-
peatedly attacked his enemies in their very
capital. In a.d. 1727 he even abducted his
wife, Tengku Kamariah, who was held captive
at Riau itself. In a.d. 1728, with the aid of
Palembang troops, he laid siege to Riau and
was repulsed. In a.d. 1729 the Bugis block-
aded Siak and were repulsed in their turn.
The history of the whole of this period of Bugis
activity (1721-85) is extremely involved, but
it is fully discussed in Dutch works, especially
in the thirty-fifth volume of the Transactions
of the Batavian Society. We can only briefly
refer to it.

The policy of the Dutch — so far as their
general unwillingness to interfere allowed of
any policy — was that of supporting the Malays
against the restless and piratical Bugis. It was
a difficult policy, this assistance of the weak
against the strong, but it proved successful in
the end. Looking at it in the light of ultimate
results, we can compare two exactly similar
situations, one in 1756 and the other in 1784,
and notice the difference in treatment. On
both occasions Malacca was attacked.

On the first occasion the Dutch, after re-
pelling the attack on their fortress, allied
themselves with the Malays (Sultan Sulaiman,
his son the Tengku B£sar, and his son-in-law
the Sultan of Trengganu), and forced the Bugis
to come to terms (a.d. 1757) and to acknow-
ledge the Sultan of Johore as their lawful
sovereign. This plan did not work well, as
Sultan Sulaiman had great difficulty in en-
forcing his authority. To make matters worse,
his death (August 20, 1760) occurred at a time
when his eldest son, the Tengku Besar, was
on a mission to the Bugis Princes of Linggi
and Selangor. If Malay records are to be
believed, the Bugis chief, Daeng Kamboja,
was not a man to waste an opportunity. He
poisoned the Tengku Besar and then took his
body, with every possible manifestation of
grief, back to Riau to be buried. At the burial
he proclaimed the Tengku Besar's young son
Sultan of Johore under the title of Sultan
Ahmad Riayat Shah, but he also nominated
himself to be Regent. When the unhappy
boy-King was a little older, and seemed likely
to take the government into his own hands,
he too was poisoned, so as to allow a mere
child, his brother, Sultan Mahmud Riayat Shah,
to be made Sultan and to prolong the duration
of the Regency. The Dutch plan of securing
Malay ascendancy had completely failed.

On the second occasion (when Raja Haji
attacked Malacca in 1784) the Dutch, after
repelling the attack and killing the Bugis
chief, followed up their success by driving the
Bugis out of Riau and recognising the young
Malay Sultan Mahmud Riayat Shah as the
ruler of Johore. But on this occasion they felt
that they could not trust any native dynasty to
maintain permanent peace. They accordingly
made a treaty with the Sultan, and stationed
a Resident with a small Dutch garrison at Riau.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

This plan did not work very well at first ; it
pleased neither the Bugis nor the Malay chiefs.
The fifth Bugis " Yamtuan Muda " attacked
Riau ; the Malay Sultan fled from his capital
to get up a coalition against the Dutch ; even
the Ilanun pirates made an attack upon the
place. In time, however, when the various
chiefs came to recognise that the glories of
independence were not sufficient compensation
for losing the creature-comforts of security
and peace, both the Sultan Mahmud Shah
and the Bugis Yamtuan Muda settled down
definitely at Riau and accepted the part of
dependent Princes.

The following pedigree shows the branches
of the Bugis family that ruled in the Straits.

derived a considerable portion of their slender
revenue from piracy. Generally, the condition
of the country was anarchical. There was
little trade and less agriculture, and the popu-
lation was very scanty. The Dutch had a
great opportunity of extending their influence
throughout the peninsula, but they lacked the
conciliatory qualities which are essential in
dealing with so proud and highly intellectual
a people as the Malays. Their power, such as
it was, was greatly shaken by a " regrettable
occurrence " in Selangor in 1785 which dimmed
the lustre of their laurels. The State, as we
have seen, was settled in the eighteenth cen-
tury by a Bugis colony from the Celebes, and
at the period named it was under the govern-

Upu Tanderi Burong
(a Bugis chief)

Daeng Perani Daeng Merowah, Daeng Chelak,

(died 1725 a.d.) Klana Jaya Putra, Sultan Alaedin Sultan Alaedin Shah II.

Shah I. (First Yang-di-Pertuan (Second Yang-di-Pertuan Muda
Muda of Riau, 1721-28) of Riau, 1728-45)

Daeng Kamboja,

Sultan Alaedin Shah III.

(Third Yang-di-Pertuan Muda,

1745-77)

Raja Ali

(Fifth Yang-di-Pertuan Muda)

Sultan Mahmud Riayat Shah of Johore died
in the year 1812 a.d., leaving two sons,
Tengku Husain and Tengku Abdurrahman.
The latter was at once proclaimed Sultan by
the Bugis Yang-di-Pertuan Muda of Riau.
Tengku Husain, who was absent in Pahang
at the time of his father's death, returned to
Riau, but appears to have made no effective
protest against his younger brother's accession.
Sultan Abdurrahman was recognised as Sultan
of Johore and Pahang by both the Dutch and
the English until January, 1819, when it suited
Sir Stamford Raffles to repudiate that recog-
nition and to accord to Tengku Husain the
title of Sultan of Johore. From this time the
line of Sultans divides into two, one branch
reigning under Dutch protection in the island
of Linggi, the other living under British pro-
tection in the town of Singapore itself.

Raja Lumu,
Sultan Seiaheddin Shah
(First Sultan of Selangor)

I
Raja Haji
(Fourth Yang-di-Pertuan Muda
of Riau, 1777-84)

CHAPTER VII.

The Early British Connection with the
States.

When the British occupied Pinang at the
close of the eighteenth century the situation
on the mainland was a confused one. The
Dutch held Malacca, and their power extended
over Naning, and to a less extent over Rem-
bau and the Negri Sambilan, and they had
a factory in Selangor which they utilised for
the enforcement of their tin monopoly. In
the north were the Siamese hovering about the
confines of Kedah and menacing Trengganu
and Kelantan. The separate States were ruled
by chiefs whose power was despotically exer-
cised, and who, in the majority of instances,

ment of Sultan Ibrahim, a sturdy chief who
commanded a great reputation amongst the
people of the area. In 1784 the Sultan, with his
ally the Muda of Riau, Raja Haji, attacked
Malacca, plundered and burned the suburbs
of the city, and would probably have com-
pleted the conquest of the place but for the
timely arrival in the roads of a Dutch fleet
under Admiral Von Braam. The Dutch suc-
ceeded in defeating the combined forces, and
later carried the war into the enemy's country.
But Sultan Ibrahim, deeming discretion the
better part of valour, fled to Pahang, leaving
the Dutch to occupy Selangor without opposi-
tion. Subsequently Ibrahim crossed the penin-
sula from Pahang with about two thousand
followers, and made a night attack on the
Dutch fort on June 27, 1785. Panic-stricken,
the Dutch garrison abandoned their fort in a
disgraceful manner, leaving behind them all
their heavy artillery, ammunition, and a con-
siderable amount of property. The Dutch
threatened reprisals, and Ibrahim made peace
with them by restoring the plunder and
acknowledging the suzerainty of the Nether-
lands East India Company. The chief, how-
ever, was never reconciled to the connection,
and he made repeated overtures to the authori-
ties of Pinang for the extension of British
protection to his State.

When Malacca was handed back to the
Dutch in 1818, under the terms of the Treaty
of Vienna, there was, as we have already noted,
a feeling of alarm excited amongst the British
community at Pinang. Not only was the retro-
cession regarded as in itself a serious blow to
British prestige, but there were apprehensions
that the re-establishment of the Dutch at this
fine strategical centre would effectually pre-
vent the extension of British influence in the

peninsula. The Pinang merchants on June 8,
1818, wrote to the Government on the subject
of the desirability of the adoption of a more
active policy in the Malay peninsula. In the
course of their communication they adverted
to the extensive commercial intercourse then
carried on by British subjects from Pinang
with Perak, Selangor, Riau, Cringore and
Pontiana, and other ports in Borneo, and ex-
pressed apprehension that the Dutch on
reoccupying Malacca would endeavour to
make exclusive treaties with the chiefs of
those States very detrimental to British trade.
They therefore earnestly pressed the Governor
(Colonel Bannerman) to lose no time in en-
deavouring to enter into friendly alliance
with the chiefs of these countries, which
would secure for British merchants equal
privileges with those of the subjects of other
nations. The Government, acting promptly
upon the suggestion, despatched Mr. Cracroft,
Malay translator to the Government, to the
adjoining States of Perak and Selangor for the
purpose of forming treaties which would at
least prevent a monopoly on the part of the
Dutch, and secure for Pinang a fair partici-
pation in the general trade of the States.
There was at the time war raging between
Kedah and Perak over the question of the des-
patch of a token of homage by the latter to the
Siain Court. Mr. Cracroft was instructed by
the short-sighted autocrat of Pinang to urge
submission to the demand, and as the Perak
people were little disposed to yield, his
mission was for a time imperilled by the
attitude he assumed. Eventually, however,
by clever diplomacy, he managed to obtain
the desired treaty. Proceeding to Selangor,
Mr. Cracroft concluded a similar treaty there.

At or about this time efforts were made by
the Pinang Government to revive the tin
trade, which had greatly suffered by the
transfer of the island of Banca to the Dutch.
A reference has been made to this in the
Pinang section of the work, but a more ex-
tended account of the transactions may be
given here. The movement was prompted
by offers from the Sultans of Perak, Selangor,
and Patani to furnish supplies of the product.
The Sultan of Perak was especially friendly.
As far back as 1816 he not only made an offer
to the Government of a tin monopoly, but
tendered also the island of Pangkor and the
Dinding district on the mainland for the trifling
consideration of 2,000 dollars a year. This
Sultan was the same chief who expelled the
Dutch from Selangor in 1785. In these favour-
able circumstances Mr. John Anderson was
despatched with full powers to negotiate
with the chiefs named for the re-establish-
ment of the trade.

In conformity with his instructions, Mr.
Anderson proceeded to the States of Perak,
Selangor, and Colong. An interesting rela-
tion of what befel him is given in a pamphlet
he issued some years later under the title of
" Observations on the Restoration of Banca
and Malacca." From this we may sum-
marise the facts. Despite the circumstance
that Perak was in a state of anarchy at
the time of his arrival, the result of his
mission was by no means unfavourable even
there, while at Selangor and Colong, although

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

considerable difficulties were encountered, the
objects attained fully realised the expectations
formed, an engagement having been made
for 1,500 piculs of tin annually to the Com-
pany at the low price of 43 dollars per bahar,
which was considerably less than expected.
The contract was a perpetual one, but it
appeared to Mr. Anderson that the establish-
ment of native agents at the different States,
as had been suggested by a Committee which
had sat in Pinang before he left, would not
only be ineffectual for the purposes intended,
but involve a heavy expense without any corre-
sponding benefit, and be much less adapted for
the purpose of extending and encouraging the
tin trade than the formation of a small factory
at an island near the chief port where the tin
was procured, to which natives of their own
accord would resort for the sale of tin. He
consequently recommended the establishment
of a factory on the island of Pangkor, near the
Dindings, and distant from the Perak river
about 12 miles. It was pointed out by Mr.
Anderson that the island was peculiarly well
situated for the contemplated purpose. It
abounded in canes, rattans, wood-oil, dammar,
and crooked timber for ships. The water was
particularly excellent, the harbour safe, and in
tine the island possessed almost every advan-
tage that could be desired for the purpose
stated. Independently of its occupation being
important in a commercial sense, it would, he
pointed out, be the means of preventing pirates
resorting there, as they had been in the habit
of doing. The Government at Pinang approved
the scheme, and obtained the sanction of the
Supreme Government to establish a factory at
Pangkor, "provided a cession of the island
could be obtained from a power competent
to grant it, and there was no probability of
difficulties afterwards arising as to the legality
of the occupation." The circumstances were
not immediately favourable for the execution
of the plan suggested by Mr. Anderson. The
Sultan of Perak had long claimed the island as
a dependency of that State, but the Sultan of
Selangor had, with more propriety, made a
similar claim, and his son was in fact in
possession of the island and part of the main-
land district known as the Dindings. Mean-
while, the Sultan of Kedah, having invaded
Perak territory, was disposed to regard it as
his by right of conquest. To this potentate
Mr. Anderson applied in January, 1819, for the
cession of the island, and for permission to
allow his chiefs to continue disposing of the
tin collected to the British agents in Perak.
The Sultan of Kedah replied that he could not
comply, as he was under the authority of
Siam, and pending a communication from the
King of Siam as to how matters were to be
settled he could do nothing. While these
negotiations were proceeding the Government
of Pinang had been taking steps to forward the
tin trade with Patani. Their operations were,
however, hampered by the Sultan of Kedah's
agents, and were ultimately completely nulli-
fied by the imposition of what was practically
a prohibitive export duty. Shortly afterwards
a new complication was introduced into the
tangled thread of Perak politics by the intru-
sion of a Dutch mission into the territory with
the object of founding a settlement there.

Both the Kedah and the Perak people were
extremely averse to the Dutch designs, and
an urgent representation in favour of inviting
British interference was made by the Benda-
hara of Perak to the Sultan of Kedah. The
withdrawal of the Dutch mission to Malacca
relieved the situation, and nothing came of
the proposal immediately. But two months
later, when the Kedah forces evacuated Perak,
the Bendahara wrote to Mr. Anderson offering
to enter into a treaty with him for the supply
of tin. The Dutch Government about this
time sent an embassy to Selangor and in-
sisted upon the King renewing an obsolete
treaty which prejudiced British interests.
The Sultan promptly communicated the fact
to Pinang, and at the same time expressed his
desire to fulfil his engagements. In June Mr.
Cracroft was despatched again to Colong and
Selangor, and on his return availed himself of
the opportunity of bringing up 310 bahars of
tin which were ready for Mr. Anderson.

The death of Colonel Bannerman rendered it
expedient to suspend the execution of the con-
tract with the Sultan of Selangor and to dis-
continue the collection of tin on account of the
Company. The whole of the tin collected,
about 2,000 piculs, having been properly
smelted, was ultimately sold at the price of
18 Spanish dollars per picul. There was a
gain on the adventure of 5,39641 Spanish
dollars, besides the Custom House duties,
which amounted to 800 dollars more. The
Hon. Mr. Clubley, in a minute on the subject,
expressed the view that sufficient had been
done for the beneficial purposes contemplated.
" I quite agree with the Hon. the President
in the justice of his ideas, that we shall best
encourage the trade in tin by endeavouring, as
much as lies in our power, to remove the
barriers which, at present, either the selfish
or timid policy of the neighbouring Malay
Governments has opposed to the free transit
of that article. The opening of a free com-
munication with the Kwala Muda will be
highly desirable in this view on the one side,
and on the other, the possession of Pankor, if
it could be done with propriety, would facilitate
trade with Perak and render it liable to the
least possible obstructions. I am aware, how-
ever, of the justice and propriety of the Hon.
the President's objections against our occupa-
tion of Pankor at present, in view to avoid
any cause for jealousy either from the Dutch
Government or from that of Siam under
present circumstances. It does not appear to
me, however, that any objections do arise from
any other quarter to prevent this desirable
measure being attained, and when the discus-
sions which have been referred to Europe shall
be adjusted, I certainly hope to see that island
an integral part of this Government and
forming (as it will essentially do) a great
protection to the passing trade, especially of
tin from Perak and Selangor, and a material
obstruction, when guarded by a British detach-
ment, to the enormous system of piracy that
at present prevails in that part of the Straits. . . .
From the foregoing observations, it is needless
to add I consider, as the Hon. President does,
that it becomes unnecessary to persevere in
enforcing our treaties with the Rajas of Perak
and Selangor for our annual supply of tin.

Yet, if circumstances had been otherwise, I
would assuredly have added my humble voice
in deprecating and resenting the overbearing
assumptions of our Netherlands neighbours at
Malacca, who in the most uncourteous, if not
unjustifiable, manner have prevailed on the
Raja of Selangor to annul a former treaty
he had concluded with this Government, for
the purpose of substituting an obsolete one
of their own. The superior authorities will
no doubt view in this procedure a continuation
only of the same system which has been
practised universally by the Dutch since they
resumed the government of the Eastern
islands."

The Siamese connection with the affairs of
the Malay Peninsula cannot be overlooked in a
general survey of the history of the federated
area. From a very early period, as has been
noted, the Siamese had relations with the
northern portions of the region. Their influ-
ence varied in degree from time to time with
the fortunes of their country ; but they would
appear to have effectually stamped the impress
of their race upon the population at the period
of the occupation of Pinang. On the strength of
their position as the dominant power seated at
the northern end of the peninsula, they put for-
ward claims to supremacy over several of the
principal Malay States, notably Kedah, Patani,
Perak, and Selangor. These claims were
never, there is reason to think, fully conceded,
but occasionally, under stress of threats, the
chiefs of the States rendered the traditional
tribute, known as the Bunga Mas, or flower
of gold. Kedah conceded this degree of
dependence upon the Siamese power early
in the nineteenth century, but when demands
were made upon it for more substantial
homage it resolutely declined to submit, with
the result that the State, in November, 1821,
was overrun by a horde of Siamese under
the Raja of Ligore, and conquered in the
circumstances of hideous barbarity related in
the Pinang section of this work. What fol-
lowed may be related in the words of Mr.
Anderson in his famous pamphlet previously
referred to ' : " Having effected the complete
subjugation of Quedah and possessed himself
of the country, the Raja of Ligore next
turned his attention to one of its principal
dependencies, one of the Lancavy islands, and
fitted out a strong, well-equipped expedition,
which proceeded to the principal island, which,
independent of possessing a fixed population
of three or four thousand souls, had received
a large accession by emigrants from Quedah.
Here, too, commenced a scene of death and
desolation almost exceeding credibility. The
men were murdered and the women and
female children carried off to Quedah, while
the male children were either put to death
or left to perish. . . . Several badly planned
and ineffectual attempts have at different times
been made by unorganised bodies of the King
of Quedah's adherents in the country to cut off
the Siamese garrison in Quedah, but these
have all been followed by the most disastrous
results ; not only by the destruction of the
assailants, but by increased persecution towards

1 " Considerations on the Conquest of Quedah and
Perak bv the Siamese."

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the remaining Malayan inhabitants. The King
himself for some time was anxious to have
made an effort to regain his country, in concert
with some native powers which had promised
him aid in vessels and men ; but he was dis-
suaded from so perilous and certainly doubtful
an enterprise by those who were interested in
his cause, and who apprehended his certain
overthrow and destruction from an attempt of
the kind. There is no doubt the Siamese were
too powerful and too well prepared for any
such ill-arranged expedition as it could have
been within the compass of the Quedah Raja's
means to have brought against them to have
had any chance of success ; and it would have
been inconsistent with the professed neutrality
of the British Government to have permitted
any equipments or warlike preparations within
its ports, the more particularly so as a mission
had just proceeded to Siam from the Governor-
General of India.

" However much disposed the Pinang
Government might have been on the first
blush of the affair to have stopped such
proceedings on the part of the Siamese and
to have checked such ambitious and un-
warrantable aggression, however consistent
and politic it might have been to have treated
the Ligorean troops as a predatory horde and
expelled them at once from the territories of an
old and faithful ally of the British Government,
the mission from the Supreme Government of
Bengal to the Court of Siam, and the probable
evil consequences of an immediate rupture,
were considerations which could not fail to
embarrass the Pinang Government and render
it necessary to deliberate well before it em-
barked in any measures of active hostility ;
while the disposable force on the island,
although fully adequate to the safe guardian-
ship and protection of the place, and sufficient
to repel any force that the Siamese could
bring against it, was yet insufficient for pro-
secuting a vigorous war, or maintaining its
conquests against the recruited legions which
die Siamese power could have transported
with facility, ere reinforcements could have
arrived from other parts of India. Under all
these circumstances the policy of suspending
hostilities was manifest, and it was deemed
proper to await the orders of the superior
and controlling authorities. ... It was ex-
pected that the mission would have produced
some results advantageous to the interests of
our ally, by the mediation of the Ambassador,
and that, at all events, the affairs of Quedah
would have been settled upon a proper footing.
So far, however, from any of these most
desirable objects which were contemplated
being attained, the Siamese authorities not only
assumed a tone of insolence and evasion to all
the reasonable propositions of the Ambassador,
but signified their expectation that the King of
Quedah should be delivered up to them.

"The King of Ligore, not satisfied with the
conquest of Quedah, and grasping at more
extended dominion, under pretence of con-
veying back some messengers from Perak
who had carried the Bunga Mas, or token
of homage, to Quedah, requested permission
for a fleet to pass through Pinang harbour,
which, being conducted beyond the borders
by a cruiser, proceeded to Perak, and, after a

short struggle, his (the King of Ligore's) forces
also possessed themselves of that country,
which had been reduced by the Quedah
forces in 1818, by the orders of Siam, in
consequence of a refusal to send the Bunga
Mas, a refusal thoroughly justified, for the
history of that oppressed State affords no in-
stance of such a demand ever having been
made by Siam or complied with before."

It was understood that Selangor was to
be the next place attacked, but the timely
preparations of, and the determined attitude
taken up by, the Raja of that country deterred
the Siamese from making the attempt. But it
was evident from their actions, Mr. Anderson
thinks, that they contemplated the total over-
throw and subjugation of all the Malayan
States on the peninsula and the subversion
of the Mahomedan religion. Raffles, with his
clear-sighted vision, had an equally strong
opinion of the subversive tendencies of Sia-
mese policy. In a letter dated June 7, 1823,
addressed to Mr. John Crawfurd, on the occa-
sion of his handing over to that official the
administration of Singapore, he drew attention
to the political relations of Siam with the Malay
States in order to guide him as to the line he
should adopt in his political capacity. After
stating that in his opinion the policy hitherto
pursued by the British had been founded on
erroneous principles, Raffles proceeded : " The
dependence of the tributary States in this case
is founded on no rational relation which con-
nects them with the Siamese nation. These
people are of opposite manners, language, re-
ligion, and general interests, and the superiority
maintained by the one over the other is so
remote from protection on the one side or
attachment on the other, that it is but a simple
exercise of capricious tyranny by the stronger
party, submitted to by the weaker from the law
of necessity. We have ourselves for nearly
forty years been eye-witnesses of the pernicious
influence exercised by the Siamese over the
Malayan States. During the revolution of the
Siamese Government these profit by its weak-
ness, and from cultivating an intimacy with
strangers, especially with ours over other Euro-
pean nations, they are always in a fair train of
prosperity ; with the settlement of the Siamese
Government, on the contrary, it invariably
regains the exercise of its tyranny, and the
Malayan States are threatened, intimidated, and
plundered. The recent invasion of Kedah is a
striking example in point, and from the infor-
mation conveyed to me it would appear that
that commercial seat, governed by a prince of
the most respectable character, long personally
attached to our nation, has only been saved
from a similar fate by a most unlooked-for
event. By the independent Malayan States,
who may be supposed the best judges of this
matter, it is important to observe, the connec-
tion of the tributary Malays with Siam is looked
upon as a matter of simple compulsion. Fully
aware of our power and in general deeply
impressed with respect for our national
character, still it cannot be denied that we
suffer at the present moment in their good
opinion by withholding from them that pro-
tection from the oppression of the Siamese
which it would be so easy for us to give ; and
the case is stronger with regard to Kedah than

the rest, for here a general impression is abroad
amongst them that we refuse an assistance that
we are by treaty virtually bound to give, since
we entered into a treaty with that State as an
independent Power, without regarding the
supremacy of Siam, or even alluding to its
connection for five-and-twenty years after our
first establishment at Pinang. The prosperity of
the settlement under your direction is so much
connected with that of the Malayan nation in its
neighbourhood, and this again depends so much
upon their liberty and security from foreign op-
pression, that I must seriously recommend to
your attention the contemplation of the probable
event of their deliverance from the yoke of Siam,
and your making the Supreme Government im-
mediately informed of every event which may
promise to lead to that desirable result."

Raffles was so impressed with the vital
importance of the question that, besides inditing
this suggestive letter of advice to his successor,
he wrote to the Supreme Government urging
the necessity of a strong policy in dealing with
the Siamese. "The conduct and character of
the Court of Siam," he wrote, " offer no open-
ing for friendly negotiations on the footing on
which European States would treat with each
other, and require that in our future communi-
cations we should rather dictate what we con-
sider to be just and right than sue for their
granting it as an indulgence. I am satisfied
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 terri-
tory. 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 expected in a
similar manner to destroy the truly respectable
State of Tringanu, on the eastern side of the
peninsula." Raffles went on to suggest that
the blockade of the Menam river, which could
at any time be effected by the cruisers from
Singapore, would always bring the Siamese to
terms as far as concerned the Malay States.

The wise words of the founder of Singapore
had little influence on the prejudiced minds of
the authorities in India and at home. They dis-
liked the idea of additional responsibility in this
region, and they adopted the line of the least
resistance, which was the conclusion of a treatv
with Siam accepting the conquest of Kedah as
an accomplished fact and compromising other
disputed points.

The treaty, which was concluded on June 20,
1826, provided, inter alia, for unrestricted trade
between the contracting parties " in the English
countries of Prince of Wales Island, Malacca,
and Singapore, and the Siamese countries of
Ligore, Merdilons, Singora, Patani, Junk Ceylon,
Quedah, and other Siamese provinces ;" that the
Siamese should not "obstructor interrupt com-
merce in the States of Tringanu and Calan-
tan"; that Kedah should remain in Siamese
occupation ; and that the Raja of Perak should
govern his country according to his own will,
and should send gold and silver flowers to
Siam as heretofore, if he desired so to do.
Practically the effect of the treaty was to con-
firm the Siamese in the possession of an

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

enormous tract of country over which their hold
would, in other circumstances, have been of a
very precarious character, and supply them with
an excuse for further aggression at a later period.
The shortcomings of the arrangement were
recognised at the time by the most experienced
of the Straits administrators, but the full realisa-
tion of the nature of the blunder committed in
giving the aggressive little people from the
North a substantial stake in the peninsula was
left to a later generation of officials, who were
to find the natural expansion of British influence
checked by claims arising out of this Treaty of
Bangkok of 1826.

CHAPTER VIII.

Anarchy in the States-
Intervention.

■British

For a considerable period following the com-
pletion of this compact between Great Britain
and Siam the course of events in the Malay
Peninsula ceased to engage the active attention
of British officials in the Straits. The expedi-
tion to Naning, described in the Malacca section,
was the one exception to the rule of inactivity,
and that was but a local and passing episode
which did not touch the larger question of con-
trol in the peninsula, since Naning had long
been regarded as an essential part of the Malacca
territory. The abstention from interference was
due to a variety of reasons, but chiefly to the
indifference of the Indian authorities to the
interests which centred in the Straits. The dis-
tance of the area from the seat of government
prevented that intimate knowledge of the
country which was essential to a proper
handling of the difficult and delicate problems
arising out of the position of the Malay chiefs,
and, moreover, there was no apparent compen-
sation to be gained for thrusting a hand into the
Asiatic wasps' nest which the region for gene-
rations had proved to be. Could the Supreme
Government have seen the Federated Malay
States as they are to-day — a marvellously
prosperous centre of industry, not only hand-
somely paying their way but acting as a feeder
to the trade of the established British settlements
— they would doubtless have acted differently.
But those things were in the lap of the gods.
All that was visible to the somewhat narrow
political intelligence of the Calcutta bureaucrats
was a welter of anarchical tribal despotism, out
of which nothing could come more tangible
than a heavy financial responsibility to the Com-
pany should it be rash enough to intervene. So,
forgetting the lessons inculcated by Raffles,
Marsden, and Anderson of the vast potentialities
of this region for trade, it was content to ignore
the existence of the Western Malay States save
on those occasions, not infrequent, when some
unusually daring act of piracy perpetrated by
the inhabitants aroused it to transient activity.

The indifference of the Government of the
Straits to affairs in the Malay States survived
for some years the authority of the Govern-
ment of India in the settlements. The Govern-
ment at home sternly discountenanced any
exercise of authority beyond the limits of
British territory, and knowing this, the local

officials turned a blind eye on events which
were passing across the border save when, as
has been said, flagrant acts of piracy committed
on British subjects galvanised them to spasmodic
action. This policy of masterly inactivity was
possible when the trade of the peninsula was
small and steam communication was little
developed in the Straits. But when the tin
mines of Larut became, as they did in the later
sixties, an important centre of Chinese industry
and a valuable trade flowed from them through
Pinang, the attitude of aloofness could not be
so easily maintained. The commercial com-
munity of Singapore and Pinang chafed under
the losses to which they were subjected by the
eternal warfare of the anarchical elements
which pervaded the Western States, and again
and again urged the Government in vain to
adopt a more energetic policy for the protection
of what even then was a valuable trade.
Matters at length got so bad that the Govern-
ment could no longer ignore their plain respon-
sibilities. The events which led up to interven-
tion may be briefly described. In 1871 a
daring act of piracy committed on a British
trading boat by Chinese and Selangor Malays
led to the bombardment by H.M.S. Rinaldo of
the forts at the mouth of the Selangor river.
The situation in Selangor itself at the time was
about as disturbed as it could possibly be. On
the one side was the brother-in-law of the
Sultan, a Kedah chief named Tunku Dia Oodin,
acting as a sort of viceroy under the authority
of the Sultan, a curious old fellow whose motto
seems to have been "Anything for a quiet life "
— his idea of quietude being freedom from
personal worry ; and on the other were the
Sultan's sons, who set themselves indefatigably
to thwart the constituted authority at every
turn. Three of these sons, the Rajas Mahdie,
Syed Mashoor, and Mahmud, were mixed up in
the act of piracy which led to the bombardment
of the Selangor forts, and the British Govern-
ment preferred a demand to the Sultan for
their surrender, and at the same time an-
nounced that they would support Tunku Dia
Oodin. For some reason the demand was not
pressed, and the three lively young princelets,
with other disaffected members of the royal
house, threw themselves heart and soul into
the congenial task of making government by
Tunku impossible. In July, 1872, a number of
influential traders at Malacca petitioned the
Singapore Chamber of Commerce to take up
the question of the disturbances in Selangor.
They represented that on the faith of the
Government assurances of support to Tunku,
and with full confidence in his administration,
they had invested large sums of money in the
trade of Selangor, more particularly in the tin
mines. The Singapore Chamber sent the
petition on to Government, and elicited a reply
to the effect that every endeavour was being
made to induce the chiefs to submit to the
authority of the Sultan and his viceroy, but
that it was the policy of the Government " not
to interfere in the affairs of those countries
unless (sic) where it becomes necessary for the
suppression of piracy or the punishment of
aggression on our people or territories ; but
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, under these circumstances it is im-
possible for Government to be answerable for
their protection or that of their property." The
Singapore Chamber sent a respectful protest
against the views enunciated in this communi-
cation. They urged that the Malacca traders
had made out a just claim for the interference
of the British Government for the " punishment
of aggression on our people," and that even if
the Malacca traders had been induced solely by
" prospects of large gains " to run considerable
risks, that alone would not warrant the Govern-
ment in refusing its protection. Finally the
Chamber, while deprecating any recourse to
coercive measures, urged upon the Government
"the absolute necessity of adopting some
straightforward and well defined policy in
dealing with the rulers of the various States of
the Malay Peninsula, for the purpose of pro-
moting and protecting commercial relations
with their respective provinces, as there is every
reason to believe they would readily accept the
impartial views and friendly advice of the British
authorities."

Somewhat earlier than the date of this
Malacca petition — in the month of April — the
Governor, Sir Harry Ord, had been induced by
the news which reached him of the disturbed
conditions on the peninsula to despatch the
Auditor-General, Mr. C. J. Irving, who had
warmly supported the cause of Tunku Dia
Oodin, to the Klang and Selangor rivers to
ascertain exactly what was the condition of
affairs, and whether it was likely that any
arrangement could be come to between Tunku
and those Rajas, especially Mahdie, Syed
Mashoor, and Mahmud, who were still holding
out against his and the Sultan's authority. Mr.
Irving brought back word that Tunku Dia
Oodin had practical possession of both the
Selangor and Klang rivers, and possessed
communications with the Bernam river on the
north and the Langat river on the south, on
which latter the Sultan resided, and were thus
enabled to send down to the coast, though not
without difficulty, the tin raised in the interior,
and with it to obtain supplies of arms and food.
Constant warfare prevailed between the two
parties, and there were repeated attacks and
captures of posts in which neither party seemed
to gain any great advantage. Raja Mahdie
was then out of the country trying to organise
a force with which to return to the attack.
Tunku Dia Oodin expressed himself ready to
make any arrangement by which peace could
be restored to the country. He had, he said,
put the Sultan's sons in charge of the Selangor
river, but partly through weakness and partly
through treachery they had played into the
hands of his enemies, and he had been com-
pelled to displace them. He endeavoured to
interfere as little as possible with the trade of
the country, but so long as the rebel Rajas
could send out of it the tin and get back in re-
turn supplies, so long would the war continue ;
and with the view of putting a stop to this he
had been compelled to enforce a strict blockade
of the two rivers, which was naturally giving
great offence to those merchants who had
made advances on behalf of the tin.

After completing his inquiries at Selangor,
Mr. Irving proceeded to Larut, in Perak, where

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

serious disturbances threatening the trade of
the country with Pinang had broken out. He
found the state of affairs quite as bad as it had
been represented to the Government at Singa-
pore. On the death of the Sultan of Perak,
his son, the Raja Muda, should in the natural
course'of events have succeeded his father, but
he, having given great offence to a number of
chiefs by absenting himself from the funeral
ceremonies, was superseded by another high
official, the Bendahara, who had, with the chiefs'
consent, assumed the suljtanship. Each party
appealed to the Government for countenance
and support, and was informed that the British
authorities could not interfere in any way in the
internal affairs of the country, but that as soon
as the chiefs and great men had determined
who, according to their native customs, was the
proper successor to the Sultan, the Government
would be happy to recognise him. Mr. Irving
saw the Raja Muda, but not the Bendahara, who
made excuses to avoid meeting him. He was
of opinion that the Raja Muda had stronger
claims, but owing to his being an opium
smoker and a debauchee he had no great
following nor much influence with the people.
Mr. Irving strongly urged on the three Rajas
and their chiefs the importance of a peaceful set-
tlement of their differences, and suggested that
there should be a meeting of all the great chiefs
to determine the question of the succession.
He added that he would with pleasure send
an officer of rank to be present at their delibera-
tion and to communicate their selection, which
they might rest assured would be accepted by
the British Government. Mr. Irving returned
to Singapore on April 29, and on May 3rd he
went back again with letters from the Governor
strongly impressing on the disputants the ex-
pediency of settling their differences in the
way that had been suggested. He found the
Raja Muda willing to accede to the proposal,
but not the Bendahara and his adviser, the
Raja of Larut.

Such was the position at Perak. At Larut,
where thousands of Chinese were employed
upon the mines, serious faction fights had
broken out amongst these people earlier in the
year, with the result of the victory of one party
and the driving away of the vanquished. It
was hoped that matters had quieted down, but
in October the faction fight broke out afresh
with renewed violence. The defeated party,
having obtained assistance, largely from
Pinang, attacked their former opponents, and
after a severe struggle succeeded in driving
them from the mines, of which they took
possession.

Meanwhile, matters in Selangor were going
from bad to worse. When Raja Mahdie
escaped from Johore he made his way up the
Linggi river, which forms the northern
boundary of Malacca, and with the connivance
of the chief of a small territory called Sungei
Ujong (one of the Negri Sambilan States),
through which the northern branch of the
river runs, he made his way to the interior of
Selangor and joined his brother rebel chiefs.
Although bringing neither men nor arms, his
mere presence seems to have acted strongly on
his party, and the result was a series of attacks
on Tunku Dia Oodin, ending in the recapture
of the forts at the mouth of the Selangor river,

which gave them the entire possession of that
river, and later of two forts on the upper part
of the Klang river. Tunku Dia Oodin, being
now hard pressed, applied for assistance to
the Bendahara of Pahang, with the assent of
the British authorities. But before this could
reach him Tunku, irritated with the favour
shown to Mahdie by the chief of Sungei Ujong,
prevailed on the chief of Rembau, another of
the Negri Sambilan group of States, to reassert
some old claim which he had to a place called
Sempang in Sungei Ujong, and on the banks
of the Linggi river, which communicates in
the interior with the Langat, Klang, and Selan-
gor rivers. As the immediate effect of this
would have been to prevent the Sungei Ujong
people from getting in their supplies or getting
out their tin, they immediately applied to the
Straits Government for protection, offering to
hand their country over to the British Govern-
ment if they would accept it. Thinking that
his interference might tend to bring about
some arrangement of the matter, Sir Harry
Ord sent his Colonial Secretary to the chief of
Rembau, and this individual, on being seen, at
once expressed his willingness to leave in the
Governor's hands the entire settlement of his
difference with Sungei Ujong. The Sungei
Ujong chief being equally ready to accept the
proposal, Sir Harry Ord proceeded on October
29th to Sempang, where he met the chief of
Sungei Ujong but not the Rembau chief, who
appears to have mistaken the day of meeting.
As Sir Harry Ord had an appointment with
the Sultan of Selangor on the next day but one,
and the day after was the Rdmazan festival, on
which no business could bd done, it was im-
possible for him to wait, and he conducted
his inquiries in the absence of the Rembau
chief. He was glad to find, after discussing
matters with the Tunku and the chief of
Sungei Ujong, that the latter stated that he
would do all in his power to prevent any
assistance whatever from reaching Tunku's
enemies. With this assurance Tunku expressed
himself satisfied, and the idea of his occupying
the Sungei river was allowed to drop. On
leaving Sungei Sir Harry Ord proceeded to
Langat to meet the Sultan of Selangor. He
was accompanied by Tunku, and knowing that
Mahdie was in the neighbourhood and that
some of the Sultan's people and relatives were
ill-affected towards Tunku, he deemed it pru-
dent to ask to be accompanied by the armed
boats of H.M.S. Zebra and a small escort of
the 88th Regiment. Before landing he had a
long interview with Tunku Dia Oodin. He
pointed out to him the apparently precarious
nature of his position, and that although he
had the nominal support of the Sultan and was
well backed up by people who were satisfied
of his ultimate success, yet that he had immense
difficulties to contend with in the open hostility
of the rebel chiefs and lukewarmness, if not
treachery, of the Sultan's sons. Sir Harry sug-
gested that if he did not feel very sanguine of
success it would be better for him to retire
from the contest while he could do so with-
out loss or disgrace, and that if he decided
on this he (Sir Harry) would, in his inter-
view with the Sultan, pave the way for his
doing so in an honourable and satisfactory
manner. Tunku Dia Oodin, while acknow-

ledging the justice of much that Sir Harry
Ord had said, stated that he did not con-
sider his situation desperate so long as he
had the prospect of the aid that had been
promised him from Pahang. Tunku admitted,
however, that this was his last chance, and
offered to hand back to the Sultan the authority
that had been given him on being reimbursed
the expenses he had been put to in endeavouring
to carry it out. Sir Harry Ord did not think it
necessary to accept this offer, and was glad
to find in his interview with the Sultan that
individual expressed the utmost confidence in
Tunku. The complaints about the blockade-
were abandoned on Tunku's explanation of the
difficulties which compelled him to take this
step. At Sir Harry Old's suggestion it was
agreed that any future difficulties should be
left for adjustment between Tunku and Raja
Yacoof, the Sultan's youngest and favourite-
son.

Sir Harry Ord hoped rather than expected
that in the arrangement he had made he had
advanced a good step towards adjusting the diffi-
culties which had for so long a period existed
in Selangor. But he had not taken sufficient
account of the strength of the elements of dis-
order which were in active being all over
the peninsula. Before very long the position
changed materially for the worse. The
assistance asked of the Bendahara of Pahang
by Tunku Dia Oodin was duly forthcoming,
and with its aid the tide was soon turned in
Tunku's favour once more. One after another
the "rebel" forts were captured, and finally,
after a long blockade, Kuala Lumpor, the chief
town of the State, now the flourishing head-
quarters of the Federation, fell into Tunku's
hands. The advantage was somewhat dearly
purchased, for the intrusion of the Pahang force
introduced a fresh disturbing factor into this
truly distressful land.

In October, 1873, Sir Harry Ord left for
England, bearing with him a vivid impression
of the increasing gravity of the situation which
he left behind him. Some little time earlier
he had forwarded home a suggestive memorial,
signed by practically every leading Chinese
merchant in the Straits, representing the
lamentable condition into which the Malay-
States had been allowed to fall, and imploring
the Government to give their attention to the
matter. As evidence of the overwhelming
desire there was at the period for British
intervention on the part of the peaceful native
community, the document is of great interest.
But perhaps its chief value to-day lies in its
impartial testimony to the beneficent fruits of
British rule. After drawing a lurid picture
of the anarchy which everywhere prevailed,
the memorialists contrasted the condition of
the disturbed country with that of Johore :
" As an example of what the moral influence
of Great Britain can effect in a native State we
would point to the neighbouring territory of
Johore, whose prosperous and peaceful con-
dition and steady progress is due as well to the
liberality and foresight of its present ruler as
to the English influences which have of late
years been brought to bear upon the Maha-
raja's rule. This territory we are informed
from the highest authority contains some
seventy thousand Chinese, amongst whom are

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

twenty or thirty Chinese traders, who are
possessed of property and capital valued at from
twenty thousand to thirty thousand dollars.

" Your Excellency will thus see that the above
circumstances have so restricted the field for
trade round the British settlements in these
waters that it becomes necessary for us to seek
elsewhere openings for commerce, and our eyes
anxiously turn to the Malayan Peninsula, which
affords the finest field for the enterprise of
British subjects, and from whence we may
hope to reinvigorate that commercial pros-
perity which our industry has hitherto secured
for us.

" In former days it was the duty of the
Governors and Resident Councillors of the
settlements to maintain intimate relations with
the States of the peninsula. If complaints
were made of misconduct on the part of the
native chiefs or any of their headmen, or
of outrages committed by them on the legiti-
mate trader, an investigation was ordered and
redress afforded. By a constant attention
to the state of affairs in these territories, and
by the rendering of advice and assistance
in their regulation, the officials of Government
obtained such an influence over the native rulers
as to be enabled without the use of force
to insure the security of the trader and the
order of the country."

The policy pursued by the Government of
the day might, the petitioners said, be in
accordance with the view which European
Governments took of their responsibilities to
each other, but "its application to the half
civilised States of the Malay Peninsula (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 memorialists concluded :
" 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 enter-
prise of her representative in this colony, she
will restore peace and order again in those
States, so long connected with her country,
not only by treaty engagements but by filial
attachment, but which, in consequence of the
policy now pursued towards them, are rapidly
returning to their original state of lawlessness
and barbarism."

It was impossible for the Home Government
to ignore a memorial couched in such pointed
language without doing grave injury to British
prestige, not merely in the Straits Settlements
but throughout the Far East. Accordingly,
when at the close of 1873 Major-General Sir
Andrew Clarke, R.E , went out as Sir Harry
Ord's successor, he took with him definite
instructions from Lord Kimberley to make
a new and important departure in the policy
of dealing with the Malay States. In a letter
dated September 20, 1873, in which acknow-
ledgment of the receipt of the petition of the
Chinese traders is made, Lord Kimberley
wrote :

" Her Majesty's Government have, it need
hardly be said, no desire to interfere in the
internal affairs of the Malay States. But look-
ing to the long and intimate connection between
them and the British Government, as shown
in the treaties which have at various times been
concluded with them, and to the well-being
of the British settlements themselves, her
Majesty's Government feel it incumbent upon
them to employ such influence as they possess
with the native Princes to rescue, if possible,
these fertile and productive countries from the
ruin which must befall them if the present
disorders continue unchecked.

" I have to request that you will carefully
ascertain, as far as you are able, the actual
condition of affairs in each State, and that you
will report to me whether there are, in your
opinion, any steps which can properly be
taken by the Colonial Government to promote
the restoration of peace and order and to
secure protection to trade and commerce with

LIEUT.-GEN. SIR ANDREW CLARKE.,

the native territories. I should wish you espe-
cially to consider whether it would be advisable
to appoint a British officer to reside in any of
the States. Such an appointment could, of
course, only be made with the full consent
of the native Government, and the expenses
connected with it would have to be defrayed
by the Government of the Straits Settlements."
Sir Andrew Clarke's responsibilities were
enormously lightened by these instructions,
which practically conceded the principle for
which traders and officials alike in the Straits
had been pleading for many years. But the
situation he had to face when he reached
Singapore on November 4, 1873, was not of a
character to inspire a hopeful feeling. In the
weeks preceding his arrival the troubles all
round had increased in seriousness. The chief
storm centre was Larut. As- has been briefly
noted, the country was the battle-ground of
two Chinese factions — the See Kwans (or four
district men) and the Go Kwans (or five

district men). These men, from different parts
of China, were traditionally at enmity, but their
feud had blazed into stronger flame owing to
the absence of any controlling authority in the
disturbed area. For a proper understanding
of the position we may with advantage quote
from a memorandum drawn up by Mr. Irving,
the Auditor-General, a survey of the history of
Larut anterior to these events. In the reign
of a previous Sultan, Jafaar of Perak, there
was a trader of considerable importance at
Bukit Gantang, several miles beyond the tin
mines, of the name of Inchi Long Jafaar. This
individual was placed by the Sultan in charge
of a district, which was then limited to the
river and the mines, without any title, and in
this office he probably received all the revenues
of Larut. Each successive Sultan confirmed
the appointment on attaining to power, and
when Inchi Jafaar died, his brother Inchi
Nghar Lamat succeeded him. In turn Inchi
Nghar was succeeded by Nghar Ibrahim.
Before this last-named personage attained to
power the long protracted feud of the Chinese
factions had broken out. The first attack was
made by the Cheng Sia (or Go Kwans) upon the
Wee Chew (or See Kwans), and the latter came
off victorious. Nghar Ibrahim appears to have
sided with the victorious party, and it is
certain that he dated his rise in fortune from
this point. One of the leaders of the defeated
party, a British subject, complained to the
Resident Councillor of Pinang of the loss he
had suffered. This resulted in two visits to
Perak of a man-of-war carrying letters from
Governor Cavenagh with a demand (enforced
by a blockade of the river Larut) for an indem-
nity amounting to 17,447 dollars to recoup the
defeated party the injury done. The Sultan
treated the indemnity as a forfeiture due from
Nghar Ibrahim. He, moreover, confirmed
the government of Larut upon Xghar Ibrahim.
This appointment was apparently in considera-
tion of his having found the indemnity money.
The Sultan soon afterwards promoted Nghar
Ibrahim to the high office of Orang Kaya
Mantri of Perak, one of the Mantri Ampat or
four chief officers, and before long he was
acknowledged to be practically the indepen-
dent ruler of Larut, including a district
between the river Krian on the north and the
river Bruas on the south. The Laksamana's
name seems to have been added merely to
give weight to the appointment ; he had never
held authority in Larut. From that period
until 1872 the Mantri enjoyed all the royalties
and other revenues of the country. These had
much increased with the growth of the
Chinese population, whose numbers at the close
of 1871 amounted to forty thousand, while the
imports that year into Pinang of tin, the
greater part of which came from Larut,
amounted to 1,276,518 dollars. Circumstances,
however, had already occurred to show that he
was losing his control over the miners ; and
when, in February, 1872, disturbances com-
menced between the two factions, he was
practically powerless. As has been stated, the
fighting resulted in the complete defeat of the
Go Kwan party and their expulsion from the
country. With August, 1872, opened the
second stage of the Larut disturbances. On
August 27th the Mantri addressed a letter to

100

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the Lieutenant-Governor of Pinang (Mr. Camp-
bell), in which he made bitter complaints of
" the trouble that had now befallen him." He
asserted that the Go Kwans were collecting to
attack him, and that many of his relatives were
siding with them. On the 6th of September
the Lieutenant-Governor, in forwarding papers
on the subject, reported that he feared there
was much bad feeling abroad, as evidenced by
the attempt made a few days before to stab Ho
Gie Siew, the chief of the victorious See Kuan
faction. Later in the sanie month, on the 28th,
Too Tye Sin, one of the principal Chinese in
Pinang, forwarded a petition signed by forty-
four Chinese traders directly accusing the
Mantri of having assented to the proceedings
of the See Kwans, and claiming protection
from the Government. This seems to have
been designed as an announcement of their
intention to recommence hostilities. It was
followed, at all events, on the 16th of October
by the departure from Pinang of a large junk
manned with one hundred Chinese and armed
with twelve 4-pounder guns. In anticipation of
lighting, the Lieutenant-Governor proceeded
in H.M.S. Nassau to Larut. He returned to
Pinang on the 18th. The Governor, in com-
menting on his proceedings, observed that he
should have required the junks to desist from
their illegal proceedings, •vhich were in
contravention of the provisions of the Penal
Code. In consequence of this a proclamation,
was issued in Pinang citing the sections of
the Code bearing upon the matter. But the
mischief had then been done. The two
factions were engaged in a deadly fight, and,
thanks to the assistance from Pinang, the See
Kwans were ousted from the mines. With
them went the Mantri, who had got into bad
odour with both parties.

Meanwhile, affairs along the coast had
assumed a condition of such gravity as to
necessitate the adoption of special measures by
the British authorities. Early in August, owing
to attacks on boats and junks near Province
Wellesley, H.M.S. Miti^c had been sent to
patrol that part of the straits. Some piratical
craft were captured, but the force available
was too small to cope with the marauders, who
skilfully and successfully evaded the man-of-
war's boats by sending their larger vessels to
sea and concealing their war boats and prahus
in the numerous creeks along the sea-board.
On September 16th the Midge's boat, while
proceeding up the Larut river, was fired upon
by the faction opposing the Mantri, who held
the banks. The fire was briskly returned, but
owing to the native pilot bolting below on the
firing of the first shot, the boat got ashore and
the position of the inmates was for a time one
of some danger. It was got off eventually, but
not before two officers had been seriously
wounded. In consequence of this outrage
Captain Woolcombe, the senior naval officer on
the station, proceeded in H.M.S. Thalia to the
Larut river, and on the 20th of September an
attack was made under his direction upon the
enemy's position. The stockade was carried
in a brilliant manner, and three junks form-
ing part of the defences were also captured.
Having dismounted all the guns and spiked
them, and thrown the small arms found in the
stockade into the river, Captain Woolcombe

burnt the junks. Afterwards he directed his
forces against another stockade further up the
river. By this time the enemy had lost their
zest for the fight, and the British contingent
met with little further opposition. The punish-
ment administered had a great moral effect on
the piratical faction. From three thousand to
four thousand of the See Kwans there and
then tendered their submission, and there can
be no doubt that if the success had been
followed up an end would have been made to
the struggle which had for so long a period
raged in the district. As things were, the
fighting continued in a desultory fashion for
some time longer, a hand being taken in the
later phases by Captain T. C. Speedy, who
had resigned his post as Port-Officer of
Pinang to assist the Mantri with a specially
recruited force of Indians.

Sir Andrew Clarke's first business on taking
up the reins of government was to thoroughly
acquaint himself with the situation in all its
aspects. He was not long in coming to the
conclusion that the anarchy must be stopped

MB. W. A. PICKERING.

by the action of the Government, but as to
what that action should be he was not quite
clear. A proposal to invoke the intervention
of the Malay rulers was rejected as absolutely
hopeless, and a suggestion that the Chinese
Government should be asked to send a man-
darin to play the part of mediator was found
equally objectionable. Direct intervention
appeared to be also out of the question because
the Government was suspect owing to its
having favoured one party. Eventually, as a
last resource Sir Andrew Clarke empowered
Mr. W. A. Pickering, an able official who
had charge of Chinese affairs at Singapore, to
seek out the headmen and sound them infor-
mally as to whether they would accept the
Governor as an arbitrator in their quarrel.
Such was Mr. Pickering's influence over the
Chinese and their trust in his integrity, that
he had little difficulty in persuading them to
submit their dispute to Sir Andrew Clarke for
adjustment. This important point gained, Sir
Andrew Clarke lost no time in taking action.

He immediately issued invitations to the Perak
chiefs and the Chinese headmen to a con-
ference, which he fixed for January 14th at the
Dindings. Arriving at the rendezvous on the
13th, the Governor had several interviews with
the chiefs, separately and together. He was
agreeably surprised to find the Raja Muda a
man of considerable intelligence, and possess-
ing perfect confidence in his ability to maintain
his position if once placed in Perak as its
legitimate ruler. All the chiefs except the
Mantri of Larut were prepared at once to
receive him as their sovereign. Therefore, at
the final meeting on the 20th of January, Sir
Andrew Clarke announced his intention to
support the Raja Muda. As regards the
Chinese disputants, an arrangement was come
to under which the leaders of both factions
pledged themselves under a penalty of 50,000
dollars to keep the peace towards each other
and towards the Malays and to complete the
disarmament of their stockades. A commission
of three officers was appointed to settle the
question of the right to the mines and to
endeavour to discover and release a number of
women and children held captive by the
victorious party.

As an outcome of the conference we have
the Treaty of Pangkor of June 20, 1874, giving
force to the arrangements already detailed as
to the Dindings and Province Wellesley, and
containing these important provisions :

"That the Sultan receive and provide a
suitable residence for a British officer, to be
called Resident, who shall be accredited to his
Court, and whose advice must be asked and
acted upon in all questions other than those
touching Malay religion and custom.

"That the collection and control of all
revenues and the general administration of
the country be regulated under the advice of
these Residents."

Thus at one stroke the British Government,
for good or for evil, was committed to that
active intervention in Malay affairs from which
it had shrunk with almost morbid dislike for a
century. It was not without trepidation that
Sir Andrew Clarke reported what he had done
to the Colonial Secretary. " I am perfectly
aware," he wrote, " that I have acted beyond
my instructions, and that nothing but very
urgent circumstances would justify the step I
have taken, but I have every confidence that
her Majesty's Government will feel that the
circumstances at the time — the utter stoppage
of all trade, the daily loss of life by the
piratical attacks on even peaceful traders and
by the fighting of the factions themselves, and
the imminent peril of the disturbances ex-
tending to the Chinese in our own settlement —
justified me in assuming the responsibility I
have taken." The Governor did not lack
backing at this important juncture. The Straits
Settlements Association addressed a communi-
cation to the Colonial Secretary on March 6,
1874, expressing entire satisfaction with the
proceedings and intimating that they con-
sidered the negotiations so successfully carried
out by Sir Andrew Clarke as constituting " the
most important step that has for many years
been taken by the British Government in the
Straits of Malacca " — for they were not only
valuable in themselves, but involved principles

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

101

" capable of a wide and beneficent extension in
the neighbouring territories."

It now remained to give effect to the
arrangements which Sir Andrew Clarke had
made under cover of the general instructions
given to him by Lord Kimberley. The task
was not an easy one, for the country had been
so long under the domination of the fomenters
of disorder that it was difficult for a mere
handful of Englishmen, backed by no physical
force, or very little, to win it over to the paths
of peace. However, the Commissioners, three

women and children, and finally crossed the
defile between the Larut and Perak valleys,
reached the bank of the Perak river at Kuala
Kangsa, secured a country boat, and in her
paddled a hundred miles down the Perak
river to the village of Sultan Abdullah, where
they found their steamer and returned to
Pinang, having completely accomplished their
mission."

About the same period as the Commission
was prosecuting its investigations a portion of
the China Fleet, under the Admiral. Sir Charles

the Sultan's village in his yacht and invited the
chief to visit him to talk matters over. The old
fellow obeyed the summons, and proved a
most interesting, and, in some respects, enter-
taining guest. Mr. Irving, who saw him at the
time, described him as "an elderly-looking
gentleman of fifty or sixty years of age, an
opium-smoker, but not to excess, having his
senses perfectly about him, and quite able to
manage his affairs if he pleased ; but from
indolence he had got into the habit of not
himself interfering so long as he was left at

A GROUP OF BRITISH OFFICIALS WHO WERE CONCERNED IN ENFORCING THE PROVISIONS OF THE TREATY OF

PANGKOR, BY WHICH THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES CAME UNDER BRITISH PROTECTION.

(The photo was taken at Pangkor, in the Dindings.)

Sir Win. Drummond Jervois, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, is seated in the middle of the group. Standing on his left, with his hand upon a sword, is Mr. T- W. Birch,
the lirst British Resident of Perak, who was murdered in 1875 ; while the youthful tigure leaning upon the banister on the extreme right of the picture is Mr. (afterwards
Sir) Frank Swettenham. On the Governor's immediate right is Lieut, (now Sir) Henry McCalluni, then Assistant Colonial Engineer of the Straits Settlements, and next to
him is Captain Innes, R.E., who was killed at the attack on the stockade at Pasir Salak in 1875. The tall bearded officer standing upon the steps is Captain Speedv,
of Abyssinia fame.

British officials and a Chinaman, the head of
the See Kwan faction, embarked upon their
duties with a resolute determination to succeed,
if success were possible. Sir Frank Swetten-
ham, who was one of the trio of officials,
gives in his book a moving picture of the
obstacles encountered by the Commissioners in
what were then the almost impenetrable wilds
of Larut. " The Commission," he says in
summarising their proceedings, " visited many
out-of-the-way places in the Larut, Krian, and
Selama districts, in search of the captive

Shadwell, was demonstrating off Selangor the
determination of the Government to suppress
once for all the piracy which was rife off that
coast. The incident which had led to this dis-
play of power was the pirating of a large
Malacca boat at the entrance of the Jugra
river, a tidal creek communicating with the
Langat river. The case was a bad one, and
it lost nothing of its gravity in the eyes of the
British authorities from the circumstance that
the Sultan's sons were implicated in it. Sir
Andrew Clarke went up the Langat river to

peace to enjoy himself in his own way — a rather
careless heathen philosopher, who showed his
character in one of the conversations on the
subject of piracy, when he said, ''Oh! those
are the affairs of the boys " (meaning his sons).
" I have nothing to do with them." Sir Frank
Swettenham knew the Sultan intimately, and
he gives a sketch of him which tallies with
this description. The Sultan was supposed, he
said, to have killed ninety-nine men with his
own hand, and he did not deny the imputa-
tion. He was "a spare, wizened man, with a

E *

102

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MAEAYA

kindly smile, fond of a good story, and with
a strong sense of humour. His amusements
were gardening (in which he sometimes
showed remarkable energy), hoarding money
and tin, of which he was supposed to have a
very large store buried under his house, and
smoking opium to excess."

Sir Andrew Clarke took the old fellow in
hand, and gave him a thoroughly undiplomatic
talking to on the disgraceful state of affairs in
his State. The Sultan, so far from resenting
this treatment, entered quite into the spirit of
the Governor's plans, and promised to do his
utmost to forward them. He was as good as
his word ; and when in due course the
prisoners had been tried by the Viceroy and
sentenced to death, he sent his own kris for
use at the execution. The episode had a most
salutary effect upon the pirates of the locality.
There was plenty of trouble afterwards in the
State itself, but piracy did not again raise its
head in a serious form. Meanwhile, affairs
were proceeding satisfactorily in Larut. Mr.
Birch, the Colonial Secretary, who made a
tour of the area early in 1874, was greatly
impressed with all he saw. He found the
Resident busily engaged in laying out streets and
building lots, and was surprised to find many
respectable and substantial houses already
constructed. All around was an animated
scene of industry and good-fellowship, where
only a few weeks before there was nothing
but misery, ruin, and bloodshed. The road to
the mines, which had been given over to the
Go Kwan Chinese, was in very fair order for
carts along eight miles of its length, shops
were rapidly being opened, and large bodies
of men were engaged in reopening the mines.
Mr. Birch added these details, which are of
interest as an indication of the whole-hearted
way in which the settlement arranged by Sir
Andrew Clarke had been accepted :

" The See Kwan mines are situated about two
miles further, and here also a small township
was forming rapidly, and it is anticipated that a
few months hence this road also will be com-
pleted. The miners here are already at work,
and although a short time ago a deadly feud
of some years' duration existed between these
two factions, the See Kwan miners are now
to be seen daily bartering at the shops and
feeding at the eating-houses in the Go Kwan
town. The Chinese have already opened
gardens, and even in these few weeks a fair
supply of vegetables was available.

" The results of the tour may be considered
to be satisfactory. The greatest courtesy and
kindness were exhibited by the chiefs and in-
habitants of all the villages except Blanja ;
and in the interior a good deal of curiosity
was evinced by the natives, some of whom
had never seen a white man before. The
whole country traversed was at peace, and
there is reason to anticipate that the appoint-
ment of British Residents will foster the
feeling of security that now prevails, and thus
tend to develop the resources of the peninsula."

Unhappily, these sanguine expectations were
not realised ; but it was so generally believed
that the Residential principle would cure once
for all the grievous malady from which the
Malay States were suffering, that when, on
September 15, 1874, the Government of the

Straits Settlements had occasion to seek sanc-
tion for an expenditure of 54,000 dollars on
account of the expenses incurred in putting
the new arrangements into operation, the grant
was made by the Legislative Council with
unanimity, and even enthusiasm.

CHAPTER IX.

The Development ok the Residential
System — Mukder of Mr. Birch.

When the Residential system was introduced
into the Malay States by Sir Andrew Clarke in
the circumstances described in the previous
chapter, it was hoped that at last a remedy had
been found for the misgovernment and anarchy
under which the country had been groaning
for generations. Neither the authorities on the
spot nor the Government at home had, how-
ever, made sufficient allowance for the tenacity
of the evil system which it was hoped to
obliterate by moral suasion exercised by a few
British officials. Too much reliance was prob-
ably placed on the successful working of the
Residential system in India. It was forgotten,
or at least overlooked, that the conditions under
which this form of supervision was exercised
in that country were totally different to those
existing in the Malay States. In India the
native chiefs had been accustomed by gene-
rations of usage to regard the British official
placed in their midst as an authoritative ex-
ponent of the views of the suzerain Power.
Experience, oftentimes bitter, had taught them
that it was useless to kick against the pricks,
and they knew that though an official might
be changed the system would exist, dislike it
as they might. Quite different was the position
in Malaya, where a sturdy race, with marked
independence of character, and with their
naturally pugnacious qualities sharpened by
generations of incessant strife, had to be
brought to the realisation of the existence of
a new influence which meant for many of
them the loss of much that went to make life,
if not enjoyable, at least interesting. It was
the old story of Britain trying to accomplish
a great work with inadequate means. The
Government wanted to bring the Malay States
under their control, and they foolishly, as it
seems to-day, as it ought to have appeared even
then, expected they could achieve the desired
result by simply placing their agents at par-
ticular points to direct the perverse Malay
character into the paths of peace rather than
into those of rapine and demoralising inter-
necine war. A rude awakening awaited the
authorities before the new arrangements had
been long in operation.

The new regime was ushered in by a pro-
clamation issued by Sir Andrew Clarke in
November, 1874, announcing the introduction,
with the sanction of the Secretary for the
Colonies, of arrangements for the control of
the Malay States, and intimating that the
Government would hold those concerned to
the strict observance of their engagements.
At the same time the following appointments
were made public : Mr. J. W. Birch, Resident
of Perak on a salary of £2,000 a year, with

Captain Speedy as Assistant-Resident at Larut
on £ 1,500 a year ; Mr. J. G. Davidson, Resident
of Selangor (attending on the Viceroy Tunku
Dia Oodin) on £1,500 a year, with Mr. (after-
wards Sir) E. A. Swettenhain as Assistant on
£750 a year. Captain Tatham, R.A., was
appointed, as a temporary measure, Assistant-
Resident of Sungei Ujong. At the outset all
seemed fairly plain sailing. The Residents'
authority was outwardly respected, their advice
was listened to, and the revenue in Larut,
which under the Treaty was to be collected
by the British, was got in without trouble.
But beneath the surface there was a smoulder-
ing discontent ready to burst into flame, given
the proper amount of provocation. And the
provocation was not wanting. It was forth-
coming in numerous ways from the moment
that the British officials, with their notions of
equity and justice and their direct methods of
dealing, came into contact with the life of the
States. The collection of revenue in Larut
touched the Mantri on a raw spot, and the
Mantri was an influential personage whose ill-
will meant much in a situation such as that
which existed at the time. He was not alone
in his dissatisfaction at the turn of events.
Raja Ismail resented Abdullah's recognition
as Sultan, and the people generally sided with
him. Raja Yusuf was, if anything, more-
inimical to the new regime. He did not even
trouble to conceal his intention to upset it if he
could. Sultan Abdullah himself fretted under
the chains which the new dispensation im-
posed upon his ill-regulated methods of what,
for want of a better term, we may call govern-
ment. While there was this disaffection
amongst the chiefs, there were influences in
operation disturbing the minds of the general
body of the population. Mr. Birch, with the
honest Briton's hatred of oppression, interested
himself energetically in the righting of wrongs,
of which Perak at that period furnished abun-
dant examples. One practice against which he
set his face resolutely was the custom of debt
slavery, under which individuals — even women
and children — were held in bondage to their
debtors for payments due. How this degrading
usage worked is well illustrated by a story told
by Captain Speedy in one of his early reports.
One day a Malay policeman asked him for the
loan of 25 dollars. On inquiring the reason
for this request, Captain Speedy was told that
the money was required to secure the libera-
tion of an aunt who was a slave debtor to a
man in a certain village. She had fallen into
slavery under the following circumstances.
Some six months previously the woman was
passing by a village when she met an acquain-
tance and stopped to converse with her. Taking
a stone from the roadside, the man's aunt
placed it on the pathway, and sat down to rest
meanwhile. When she departed she left the
stone on the path. About an hour afterwards
a child from the village came running along
the path, and her foot catching against the
stone, she fell, and slightly cut her forehead.
Inquiries were made as to how the stone came
in the path, and the fact of the aunt having
placed it there becoming known, she was
arrested, and sentenced to pay 25 dollars.
Being poor and totally unable to pay, she
and her children became, according to the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

103

Malay phrase, " bar-utang " — or slaves — to the
father of the child who had been hurt. Cap-
tain Speedy paid the fine, and secured the
release of the woman and her children, but
not without considerable difficulty. Such a
system, of course, was utterly subversive of
all personal rights, but it was a usage which
had immemorial sanction amongst the Malays,
and they adhered to it with a tenacity charac-
teristic of a people who are deeply attached
to their national habits. Mr. Birch's efforts to
suppress it, persistently and resolutely prose-
cuted, were bitterly resented, and by none
more than by the chiefs, who were amongst
the worst offenders. The almost natural
results followed. " The chiefs of every grade,"
says Sir Frank Swettenham, " made common
cause against a Resident who scoured the
country, inquired into and pushed home their
evil deeds, and endeavoured to put a stop to
them. Therefore, some began to conspire to
compass his death or removal, and others
looked idly on, conscious of what was brew-
ing, but not anxious to take a hand if they
could avoid it. Only the poor and oppressed
recognised and were grateful for all the many
kindnesses they received from the Resident ;
for when he was not busy finding out all about
the country and its resources, or writing in-
structions and suggestions for its development
and administration, he was tending the sick or
giving generous help to those most in need of
it. Unfortunately, he did not speak Malay or
understand the customs and prejudices of the
people, and to this cause more than any other
his death must be attributed."

Before the circumstances under which Mr.
Birch was killed are narrated, it is necessary
to make a survey of the general position as it
existed in the months immediately preceding
the deplorable event. When Sir W. F. D.
Jervois arrived in Singapore as the successor
to Sir Andrew Clarke at the end of May,
1875, he found himself confronted with reports
from the Residents revealing a very unsatis-
factory state of affairs in the Malay States.
There was considerable unrest and an in-
creasing disposition on the part of the chiefs
to oppose the Residents. The new Governor
set himself to study very carefully the problem
with which it was obvious he would soon have
to deal — the problem of harmonising British
supervision of the States with a proper regard
for native rights and susceptibilities. He came
to the conclusion, after several months' investi-
gation, that it would be wise for him to examine
the situation on the spot, with the help of those
best in a position to give him advice and assis-
tance. Accordingly he proceeded to Perak,
interviewed Sultan Abdullah, Raja Ismael,
and Raja Yusuf, conferred with Mr. Birch
and Mr. Davidson, and then returned to Singa-
pore. The impression he obtained from his
journey was that the arrangements made by
his predecessor had broken down, and that a
change in methods was imperatively de-
manded. He therefore determined on his
own authority to make a new departure of a
rather striking kind. He decided to convert
the Residents into Commissioners, and to give
them with the new title a more tangible status
as advisers in the States. A proclamation em-
bodying the Governor's views was drawn up,

and the Sultan Abdullah was required to sign
documents accepting the new policy. He
resolutely declined" for a time to do what was
required, but with the exercise of considerable
pressure, and after he had received not obscure
hints that he would be deposed if he did not
yield, he appended his signature. In adopting
the course he did Sir Win. Jervois was doubtless
actuated by the best motives, but it must be
acknowledged that he took to himself an
astonishing amount of liberty, having regard
to the grave issues involved. At least it might
have been expected that he would have in-
formed the Government at home by cable of
the fact that he had been driven to inaugurate
changes. He, however, failed to do so, and
later, as we shall see, drew upon himself an
uncommon measure of rebuke for his inde-
pendent action.

When the proclamations had been fully
prepared, arrangements were made for their
distribution in the districts concerned as an
outward and visible token of the determination
of the Government to make their supervision
of the States a reality. Mr. Swettenham took

SIR "WILLIAM JERVOIS.

with him from Singapore a bundle of the docu-
ments and handed them over to Mr. Birch at
Bandar Bharu. " I found him," writes the
gifted administrator (whose vivid narrative of
this tragic episode in the history of the Malay
States is the best account of the occurrences
extant) " suffering from a sprained ankle and
only able to walk with the help of crutches.
Lieut. Abbott, R.N., and four bluejackets were
with him, and on the night of my arrival the
sergeant-major of Mr. Birch's Indian guard
(about eighty Pathans, Sikhs, and Punjabis)
behaved so badly that he had to be confined
in the guard-room, while his men were in
a state bordering on mutiny.

" It was then arranged that I should go up
river to a village called Kota Lama, above
Kuala Kangsa, a village with the worst repute
in Perak, and distribute the proclamations in
the Upper Country, returning about the 3rd of
November to meet Mr. Birch at Pasir Salak,
the village of the Maharaja Lela, five miles
above Bandar Bharu. Mr. Birch, meanwhile,
was to go down river and distribute the pro-
clamations amongst Abdullah's adherents,

where no trouble was expected, and we were
to join forces at Pasir Salak because the
Maharaja Lela was believed to have declared
that he would not take instructions from the
Resident, and it was known that he had built
himself a new house and had recently been
protecting it by a strong earthwork and
palisade. Therefore, if there was to be
trouble it would probably be there! What
was only disclosed long afterwards was that,
as soon as he had consented to the new
arrangement, Abdullah summoned his chiefs
(including the Maharaja Lela and the Dato'
Siigor, who lived at Kampong Gajah, on the
opposite bank of the river to Pasir Salak) and
told them that he had handed over the
government of the country to Mr. Birch. The
Maharaja Lela, however, said that he would
not accept any orders from the Resident, and
if Mr. Birch came to his Kampong he would
kill him. Asked whether he really intended
to keep his word, he replied that he certainly
meant it. The Dato' Sagor also said that he
was of one mind with the Maharaja Lela.
The meeting then broke up and the members
returned to their own villages. Later, when
the proclamations arrived, the Sultan again
sent for the chiefs, showed them the papers,
and asked what they thought of them. The
Laksamana said, ' Down here, in the lower
part of the river, we must accept them.' But
the Maharaja Lela said, ' In my Kampong, I
will not allow any white man to post these
proclamations. If they insist, there will cer-
tainly be a fight.' To this the Sultan and the
other chiefs said, ' Very well.' The Maharaja
Lela immediately left, and, having loaded his
boats with rice, returned up river to his own
Kampong."

Mr. Swettenham left Bandar Bharu at noon
on October 28th, and as he went up stream
Mr. Birch was proceeding down. The further
Mr. Swettenham went up the river the more
threatening became the talk. He, however,
posted his proclamations at various points
without encountering any overt act of hostility.
On November 4th, his work being done, he
started down river, intending to spend the night
at Blanja ; but on arriving there he was told that
Mr. Birch had been killed by the Maharaja
Lela's people at Pasir Salak on November 2nd.
The news induced him to continue his journey,
and though he had been informed that the river
had been staked at Pasir Salak with the object of
intercepting him, his boats passed that danger
point without being challenged. At daylight
the next morning he returned up the river to
Bandar Bharu and there and afterwards heard
the details of Mr. Birch's assassination.

He had done his work in the low country
more quickly than he expected, and reached
Pasir Salak at midnight on November isi
with three boats, containing the Resident.
Lieut. Abbott, R.N., a guard of twelve Sikhs,
an orderly, a Malay interpreter, and a number
of boatmen. In all the party numbered about
forty men, and they had plenty of arms and
ammunition. They anchored in midstream for
the night, and at daylight hauled to the bank,
when Mr. Abbott crossed to the other side of
the river to shoot snipe, and Mr. Birch sent a
message to the Maharaja Lela to say that he
would be glad to see him, either at the boats

104

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

or in his own house. To the interpreter who
carried the message the chief said, " I have
nothing to do with Mr. Birch."

•' Some days earlier the Maharaja Lela
had summoned all his people and told them
that Mr. Birch would shortly come to Pasir
Salak, and if he attempted to post any notices
there the orders of the Sultan and the down-
river chiefs were that he should be killed. The
people replied that if those were the orders
they would carry them out, and the Maharaja
Lela then handed his sword to a man called
Pandak Indut, his father-in-law, and told the
people to take Pandak Indut's directions as
though they were his own. Directly Mr.
Birch arrived messengers were sent out to
collect the people, and, before the sun was hot,
there were already about seventy armed men
on the bank above Mr. Birch's boats. The
Dato' Sagor had come over from the other side
(in the boat which had taken Mr. Abbott
across), and he had seen and spoken to Mr.
Birch and was now with the Maharaja Lela.
By Mr. Birch's orders the interpreter posted a
proclamation on the shop of a Chinese gold-
smith, close to the bank, and this paper was
torn down by Pandak Indut and taken to
the Maharaja Lela, the occurrence being at the
same time reported to Mr. Birch. The crowd
on the bank were showing distinct signs of
restiveness - but the boatmen began to make
fires to cook rice, and Mr. Birch went to take
his bath in a floating bath-house by the river
bank, his Sikh orderly standing at the door
with a loaded revolver. The interpreter was
putting up another copy of the proclamation
when Panduk Indut tore it down, and as the
interpreter remonstrated, Pandak Indut thrust
a spear into him and cried out, ' Amok !
amok ! ' The crowd instantly rushed for the
bath-house, and attacked the boatmen and any
of the Resident's party within reach. Spears
were thrust through the bath-house, and Mr.
Birch sank into the river, coming to the surface
just below the bath-house, when he was im-
mediately slashed on the head with a sword
and was- not seen again. Mr. Birch's Sikh
orderly had jumped into the river when the
first rush was made at the bath-house, and he
swam to a boat, taking great care to save the
revolver, which he had not fired, from getting
wet ! The interpreter struggled to the river,
and was helped into a boat by two of Mr.
Birch's Malays, but he died very shortly after-
wards. A Sikh and a Malay boatman were
also killed, and several of the others were
wounded ; but the rest with great difficulty got
away. Mr. Abbott, on the other bank, was
warned of what had occurred, and managed to
get a dugout and escape, running the fire from
both banks.

"Then the Maharaja Lela came out and asked
who were those who had actually had a hand
in the killing. Pandak Indut and the others at
once claimed credit for the deed, and the chief
ordered that only those who had struck blows
should share in the spoils. Then he said, ' Go
and tell the Laksi'imana I have killed Mr.
Birch.' The message was duly delivered, and
the Laksamana said, ' Very well, I will inform
the Sultan.' The same evening the Maharaja
Lela sent Mr. Birch's boat to Blanja, with the
letter to ex-Sultan Ismail describing what he

had done. Ismail was much too clever to keep
the boat, so he sent it back again. All the
arms and other property were removed to the
Maharaja Lela's house, and orders were given
to build stockades, to stake the river, and to
amok the Resident's station at Bandar Bharu.
The party sent on this last errand returned
without accomplishing their object ; for when
they got near the place it began to rain, and
the people in the house where they took shelter
told thein that they would get a warm recep-
tion at Bandar Bharu, and it would be quite
a different thing to murdering the Resident."

By the help of a friendly Malay, a foreigner,
Mr. Birch's body was recovered and buried at
Bandar Bharu on November 6th.

The news of Mr. Birch's assassination
speedily reached Singapore and created a pain-
ful sensation. There had often been trouble
with the Malays, but in the whole history of
British dealings with the race, from the time that
British power had become firmly established
in the Straits, there had never been previously
a case in which a leading official had been put
to death in the treacherous circumstances
which marked this incident. Sir William
Jervois took immediate steps to strengthen
the British forces in the disturbed area. A
detachment consisting of two officers and
60 men of the 10th Regiment was sent
immediately from Pinang, and arrangements
were made for further reinforcements. The
Governor believed at the time that the murder
was an isolated incident which might be dealt
with without difficulty, and he cabled to the
Government at home in that sense. But he
was speedily disillusioned. The Pinang de-
tachment, reinforced by four bluejackets and a
small body of Sikhs, on attempting to carry
Pasir Salak, failed. Meanwhile ominous
rumours were daily coming in of serious
trouble in Selangor and the Negri Sambilan.
In the circumstances Sir William Jervois
deemed it wise to make a requisition on the
home Government for a considerable force
of white troops to overcome the disaffected
elements in the States and restore British
prestige. The demand seriously disturbed the
equanimity of the authorities in Downing
Street, whose natural dislike of " little wars "
in this instance was accentuated by a belief
that the trouble had been brought on by the
high-handed policy of the Governor. Lord
Carnarvon peremptorily cabled out for informa-
tion and wanted to know why a force of 1,500
bayonets, with artillery, 50 miles of telegraphic
apparatus, and a million of cartridges — the
specific requisition made — should be required
to deal with an " isolated outrage."

Sir William Jervois was absent from Singa-
pore directing the preparations for the sup-
pression of the disturbances when the message
arrived. Receiving no reply, the Secretary for
the Colonies telegraphed again in urgent terms,
intimating that the Government disapproved
altogether of the Governor's policy, and that
the troops which were being sent " must not
be employed for annexation or other political
objects." " Her Majesty's Government," the
message proceeded, " cannot adopt the prin-
ciple of the permanent retention of troops
in peninsula to maintain Residents or other
officers ; and unless natives are willing to

receive them on footing originally sanctioned
of simply advising the ruling authorities I
doubt whether their continuance in the country
can be sanctioned." Lord Carnarvon followed
this communication with a despatch by post
in which he referred severely to ''the grave
errors of policy and of action" which had
marked the Governor's policy. Sir William
Jervois explained by cable that the large body
of troops asked for was required for the re-
assertion of British authority, and to prevent
the spread of the disturbances in adjoining dis-
tricts. At a later period Lord Carnarvon
again, and at much greater length, addressed
Sir William Jervois, the despatch being a
review of the latter's own despatch of October
1 6th previously, in which he for the first time
described the new policy which he was in-
augurating. The Secretary for the Colonies
referred particularly to a passage in this
despatch in which the Governor said that
before "his interviews with the chiefs he had
inclined to the opinion that the best course
to adopt would be to declare Perak British
territory ; but that on weighing well the im-
pressions conveyed by the interviews with the
chiefs, it did not appear to be expedient at
present that this course should be adopted,
and he had therefore determined, if the Sultan
could be induced to agree, to adopt the policy
of governing Perak by British officers in his
name. Commenting on this, Lord Carnarvon
acridly remarked that he did not know how-
far this middle course differed from an as-
sumption of actual sovereignty, but what had
been done constituted " large and important
changes as to which you had no ground for
supposing that her Majesty's Government
would approve a very material departure from
the policy which had been previously sanc-
tioned as an experiment." It would, of course,
have been right and proper, if he were con-
vinced of the inefficacy of the existing
arrangements, if he had laid his proposals
before Government. But instead of doing
that he at once issued a proclamation which
altered the whole system of government and
affected in a more or less degree avast number
of individual interests, provoking apparently
the crisis with which they had now to contend.
The despatch suggested that if it had been
found necessary to introduce a change of
policy the telegraph ought to have been used.
" I am altogether unable to understand how
you came to omit this obvious duty," proceeded
Lord Carnarvon. " I can only conclude that,
being convinced of the soundness of your own
judgment, you acted in lamentable forgetful-
ness of the fact that you had no authority
whatever for what you were doing." Sir
William Jervois's reply to these strictures
cannot be described as convincing. He argued
that he had not really changed the policy of
dealing with the States. The action he had
taken was, he said, merely a natural develop-
ment of the policy introduced by Sir Andrew
Clarke with the sanction of the Government.
With more force he maintained that the con-
dition of disorder into which the States had
fallen could not have been allowed to continue
without serious detriment to British interests
immediately, and possibly creating a situation
later which would menace the stability of the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

105

British possessions themselves. Lord Carnar-
von, in acknowledging the despatch, reaffirmed
his views, and gave emphatic instructions that
no step affecting the political situation was to
be taken by the Straits Government pending
the consideration of the question of future
policy by the Home Government. On June I,
1876, Lord Carnarvon wrote sanctioning the
continuance of the Residential system, and
also approving the institution of Councils of
State in the protected States. The despatch
strongly insisted upon the exercise of caution
in the execution of this policy.

While this angry controversy was proceed-
ing a strong British force was operating in the
disturbed area. At quite an early stage in the
little campaign the local troops, reinforced by
a naval brigade, had wiped out the initial
failure at Pasir Salak, in which Captain Innes,
R.E., had been killed, and two officers of the
10th Regiment severely wounded, by carry-
ing the stockade at that point, and burning the
villages of the Maharaja Lela and the Dato'
Sagor. But the country by this time was
thoroughly aroused, and the expeditionary
force proved none too large for the work in
hand. The troops consisted of the 3rd (Buffs)
Regiment, 600 strong, 300 officers and men of
the 80th Regiment, 200 officers and men of the
10th Regiment, a battery and half of Royal
Artillery, the 1st Gurkhas, 450 strong, and a
party of Bengal sappers numbering 80 men.
There was also a strong naval brigade, drawn
from H.M.'s ships Mocieste, Thistle, Philomel,
Ringdove, and Fly. The whole were under the
command of Major-General the Hon. F. Col-
borne, C.B., and Brigadier-General John Ross.
With the headquarters of the China troops
established at Bandar Bharu, and with the
Indian troops based at Kuala Kangsa, a series
of expeditions was organised against the dis-
affected Malays under the Maharaja Lela,
the Dato' Sagor, and the ex-Sultan Ismail.
Transport difficulties hampered the movements
of the troops considerably, but eventually the
Maharaja Lela was driven across the border
into Kedah, and the country settled down.
Perak continued to be occupied by British
troops for some little time after the restoration
of peace. Their presence had a good effect in
convincing the natives that the old order had
been changed irrevocably, and when at length
they were replaced with a police force, the out-
look was perfectly peaceful. Meanwhile, how-
ever, the situation in the Negri Sambilan was
causing a good deal of anxiety. An attack on
a survey party, despatched from Sungei Ujong
across the border into Terachi, led up to a series
of military operations of a somewhat arduous
character. The Malays fought with determi-
nation, and it required a very considerable
force to dispose of them. They were ultimately
driven off, thanks to the courageous action of
Captain Channel - , who, with a party of Gur-
khas, rushed a stockade which commanded the
rest of the position. For this gallantry Captain
Channer was awarded the Victoria Cross — a
decoration which he had richly earned, for his
act was not only a singularly brave one, but it
was the main factor in bringing to a successful
conclusion what might have been a long,
wearisome, and costly business.

On the termination of the military operations,

it only remained to mete out justice to those
who had been directly concerned in Mr.
Birch's assassinafion. Information collected
by a Commission specially appointed to in-
vestigate the troubles plainly pointed to the
Sultan Abdullah, the Mantri, the Dato' Laksa-
mana, and the Dato' Shabandar as the accom-
plices of the Maharaja Lela and Pandak Indut
in the crime. The four first mentioned were
all exiled to the Seychelles at a comparatively
early period of the investigation. The Maha-
raja Lela and others, after eluding pursuit for
several months, in July, 1876, gave themselves
up to the Maharaja of Johore, and by him
were handed over to the British authorities.
They were tried at Larut by a special tribunal
composed of Raja Yusuf and Raja Husein,
with Mr. Davidson and Mr. W. E. Maxwell as
British assessors. They were found guilty and
condemned to death. The Maharaja Lela,
the Dato' Sagar, and Pandak Indut were
executed. In the case of the other prisoners
the sentences were commuted to imprisonment
for life. Thus was a foul crime avenged. The
punishment, though severe, was necessary to

SIR W. C. F. ROBINSON.

bring home to the population of the Malay
States the determination of the British Govern-
ment to protect its officials, and the certainty
of retribution in cases in which injury was
done to them. The Malays recognised the
substantial justice of the sentences. The more
influential of them took the view expressed by
the two Rajas in announcing their judgment —
that the accused had not only been guilty of
murder, but of treason, since they had taken
upon themselves to assassinate one who had
been invited to the State by the responsible
chiefs, and was in a sense the country's guest.
Politically the trial and its sequel had a great
and salutary influence throughout the penin-
sula. It was accepted as a sign that the
British Government now really meant to
assert itself, and would no longer tolerate
the conditions of misgovernment which had
for generations existed in the States. Opposi-
tion there continued to be for a good many
years, as was natural, having regard to the
Malay character, and the immensity of the
change which the new order made in
the national system of life. But there was
no overt act of hostility, and gradually, as the

benefits of peace and unhampered trade were
brought home to them in tangible fashion, the
inhabitants were completely won over to the
side of progressive administration. Thus Mr.
Birch, as Sir Frank Swettenham aptly says,
did not die in vain. " His death freed the
country from an abominable thraldom, and
was indirectly the means of bringing inde-
pendence, justice, and comfort to' tens of
thousands of sorely oppressed people."

Lord Carnarvon's instructions that the Resi-
dential system was to be reintroduced with
caution were interpreted very literally by the
Singapore authorities. They dealt with crush-
ing severity with an official who seemed to
them to go a little beyond the strict letter of
his instructions. The offender was Captain
Douglas, the Resident of Selangor. In the
early part of 1878 a report was made to him
that Tunku Panglima, the Panghulu of Kau-
chong, near the entrance of the Jugra river, a
member of the Mixed Council on 50 dollars a
month, had offered a bribe of 40 dollars to
Mr. Newbrunner, the Collector and Magistrate
of the district, to influence him in a judicial
proceeding. Captain Douglas had the peccant
chief arrested, and subsequently ordered his
removal from the Council and the reduction of
his allowance by half to bring home to him
the enormity of his offence. The matter was
reported in due course to headquarters at
Singapore, with results little anticipated by the
Resident of Selangor. The Executive Council
same to the unanimous resolution that the
action of the Resident " was uncalled for and
extra vires, and that he should be instructed to
advise the Sultan to reinstate the Panglima
Raja as a member of Council." Not content
with this drastic measure, Sir W. C. F. Robinson,
who in 1877 had succeeded Sir William Jervois
as Governor on the latter's appointment to
report on the defences of Australia, issued the
following ''Instructions to Residents ": "His
Excellency desires that you should be reminded
that the Residents have been placed in the
native States as advisers and not as rulers, and
if they take upon themselves to disregard this
principle they will most assuredly be held
responsible if trouble springs out of their
neglect of it." Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, the
successor of Lord Carnarvon as Colonial Secre-
tary, took a very tolerant view of Captain
Douglas's lapse. He approved the action of
the Governor, as he was bound to do, having
regard to the instructions issued from Downing
Street by his predecessor, but he spoke of
Captain Douglas's action as an " error of judg-
ment," and indulgently remarked that he fully
recognised the delicacy of the task imposed
on the Residents, and was aware that much
must be left to their discretion on occasions
when prompt and firm action was called for.
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach's broad way of look-
ing at this episode, we may assume, was not
without its effect upon the Government at
Singapore and the Residential officials. It
was, at all events, in the spirit of his despatch
rather than in consonance with the letter of the
" Instructions to Residents " that the administra-
tion of the Malay States proceeded during the
next few years. It was well that it was so, for
a lack of courage at the outset — indecision on
vital matters of principle — would have militated

E :;: *

10G

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

seriously against the success of the work in
hand. Indeed, it may be questioned whether
the magnificent result which we see to-day
would have been possible if British officials of
those early days, when everything was in the
melting-pot, had stood idly by while the native
chiefs were manipulating the alloys after their
own fashion. The Residents, who were all
officials selected for their special knowledge
of Malays, were not the type of men to accept
a role of this sort. They knew that British
administrative capacity and even the national
prestige was at stake ; they knew further that
here was a splendid heritage for the Empire to
be had only for the asking ; so, nothing fearing,
they kept steadily on their course. They were
not " rulers," but they were pre-eminently the
power behind the throne. The ship of State
was directed whither they wished it to go, and
they wished it go along the path of good
government, which was also the high-road
to commercial prosperity.

One of the earliest developments of the re-
constituted Residential system was the estab-
lishment of advisory Councils of State. This
was a very astute move, for it did more to
secure the support of influential Malays and
reconcile them to the new regime than any
other step taken in these early days. The
Councils, on which there was a mixed repre-
sentation of chiefs, local officials, and leading
men, transacted the ordinary business of an
executive council. They discussed and passed
legislative enactments, considered revenue ques-
tions, and the civil and pension lists, and con-
ferred with the Resident on important matters
affecting the welfare of the State. The first of
these Councils was established in Perak, and
was an immediate success owing to the intelli-
gent co-operation of the Malay chiefs and the
general goodwill of the leaders of the foreign
native community. Selangor later was en-
dowed with a Council, and the other States,
after further intervals, followed on the same
path. "The institution," Sir Frank Swettenham
says, " served its purpose admirably. The
Malay members from the first took an intelli-
gent interest in the proceedings, which were
always conducted in Malay, and a seat on the
Council is much coveted and highly prized. A
tactful Resident could always carry the majority
with him, and nothing was so useful or effective
in cases of difficulty as for those who would
have been obstructive to find that their opinions
were not shared by others of their own class
and nationality."

Perak, as the chief seat of the troubles which
led to British intervention, was watched anxi-
ously by the authorities in the period following
the cessation of hostilities. Happily in Mr. (after-
wards Sir) Hugh Low the State had an adviser
of exceptional ability and strength of character.
His previous service had been in Borneo,
but he thoroughly understood the Oriental
character and quickly adapted himself to the
special characteristics of the Malay. His was
the iron hand beneath the velvet glove. Firm
and yet conciliatory, he directed the ship of
State with unerring skill through the shoals
and quicksands which beset its course in those
early days when the population, or an influ-
ential part of it, was smarting under the sense
of defeat. Perhaps his tact fulness was in no

direction more strikingly shown than in his
treatment of the delicate question of debt
slavery. It was obvious from the first that the
system was incompatible with British notions
of sound and just administration. But to in-
augurate a change was no easy task. The
practice was, as we have said, a cherished
Malay custom, and cut deeply into the home
life of the people. Moreover, abolition meant
money, and the State at that time was not
too well endowed with funds. The masterful
Resident, however, was not to be deterred by
these considerations from taking up the ques-
tion. He worked quietly to secure the good-
will of the chiefs, and having done this, formu-
lated a scheme by which the State should
purchase the freedom of all bond slaves, paying
to their masters a maximum sum of 30 dollars
for a male and 60 dollars for a female slave.
The proposals were duly laid before the Perak
Council, and after discussion unanimously

SIR HUGH LOW.

adopted, December 31, 1883, being fixed as
the final date for the continuance of the state
of slavery. The emancipation measures were
attended by some interesting results. Very
few freedmen consented to leave their masters
or mistresses, while the latter on their part
almost universally said that they set the slaves
free " for the glory of God," and refused to take
the State's money. " How can we take money
for our friends who have so long lived with us,
many of them born in our houses ? We can
sell cattle, fruit or rice, but not take money for
our friends." "Such expressions," Sir Frederick
Weld wrote in a despatch dated May 3, 1883,
"have been used in very many cases in
different parts of Perak. Many slave children
whose own mothers are dead always call their
mistresses 'mother,' and the attachment is
reciprocal. In fine, this investigation has
brought into notice many of the fine qualities
of a most interesting and much maligned race,

and affords conclusive proof that the abuses
which are sure to co-exist with slavery could
not have been general, and bore no comparison
with those formerly often accompanying negro
slavery in our own colonies."

A rather unpleasant incident, which threatened
at one time to have very serious consequences,
arose out of the edict for the manumission of
slaves. Soon after the arrangements had been
put in force the inhabitants of the sub-district
of Lomboh, on the Perak river, a centre in
close proximity to the scene of Mr. Birch's
murder, declined to pay taxes, giving as one of
their reasons the abolition of slavery. They
refused to meet the Resident excepting by
proceeding as an armed body to Kuala Kangsa,
and declared that if they were defeated they
would disperse in small bands and harry the
country.

Everything was done by the British officials
and the Malay chiefs to bring the malcontents
to reason, but they stubbornly refused to listen,
and when approached, beat the mosque drum
as a call to the inhabitants to arms. In the
circumstances Mr. Low, the Resident, had no
alternative but to make a display of force, for,
as Sir Frederick Weld, the Governor, remarked
in his despatch to the Secretary of State on the
subject, " to have yielded to threats would have
destroyed all the good work we have done in
civilising and pacifying the country." He there-
fore ordered a force of 100 armed police and
two guns to proceed down the river from
Kuala Kangsa, and himself proceeded up the
river from Teluk Anson with 40 men. The
Lamboh people, seeing the Resident's deter-
mined attitude and impressed by the proximity
of his highly disciplined and effective force,
made a complete submission. They now
willingly paid their tax, and, expressing deep
contrition, promised most humbly never to
repeat the offence, but to petition in a quiet
way if they had a grievance. Accepting their
plea that they were " poor ignorant jungle
people," Mr. Low withdrew his warrant for
the arrest of the ringleaders, and so terminated
happily an episode which might with less
skilful handling have set the whole peninsula
aflame once more.

In 1884, on Sir Hugh Low's retirement from
the Residency of Perak, Sir Cecil Smith, the
officer administering the government of the
Straits Settlements, reviewed the work done in
the State since the introduction of British
supervision. In 1876 the revenue of Perak
amounted to 213,419 dollars, and the expendi-
ture to 226,379 dollars. In 1883 the revenue
had reached a total of 1,474,330 dollars, while
the expenditure had grown to 1,350,610 dollars.
During the period of Sir Hugh Low's adminis-
tration debts to the amount of 800,000 dollars
incurred in connection with the disturbances
had been paid off, and the State was at the
period of the review entirely free from such
liabilities. There was a cash balance at the
close of the year of 254,949 dollars. As to
trade, the value of the imports was calculated
in 1876 at 831,375 dollars, and the exports at
739,970 dollars. Similar returns for 18S3 showed
the imports to have been valued at 4,895,940
dollars, and the exports 5,625,335 dollars. Put
in sterling, the aggregate value of the trade
was £2, 000,000.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

107

Sir Hugh Low in his farewell report himself
•summarises the results of his administration
in these graphic sentences : " When I first
entered upon the duties of the position of
adviser to the State there was only one steamer
trading between Pinang and Larut, which was
subsidised by the Government and made the
voyage once in five or six days. There are now
twelve steamers trading between Pinang and
Perak, two or three of which arrive at and
depart from Larut daily ; there are others
plying to and fro between Pinang and Singa-
pore, calling at the intervening ports, so that,
as is also shown by the returns, the trade has
undergone a large development. The country
has been opened up by excellent roads in the
most important positions, and by a very exten-
sive system of bridle paths in places of less
consequence. Progress has been made in
rendering rivers more navigable. A military
police, consisting of infantry, artillery, and
cavalry, second to none in the East, has been

which has a most abundant supply of excellent
water conveyed to it in three miles of 8-inch
pipes, is lighted with kerosene lamps, and in
process of being connected with a new port by
a metre-gauge railway eight miles in length.
Very excellent barracks, large hospitals, courts
of justice, commodious residences for all officers
except the Resident, and numerous police
stations and public buildings have been erected
at the chief stations ; a museum with a scientific
staff and experimental gardens and farms
established ; the native foreign Eastern popu-
lation conciliated ; ancient animosities healed
up, and all causes of disquietude removed. As
compared with 1876, when 312,872 dollars were
collected, the revenues of the State are now
more than quadrupled, and the Treasury,
rescued from insolvency, now contains a large
balance available for further development of
the resources of the State."

Sir Frederick Weld, who was Governor of
the Straits Settlements from 1879 to 1887, took

made. It was his practice during his term of
office to be continually on the move through
the States, seeing for himself the needs of the
territory and keeping constantly in touch with

SIR HUGH LOW AND THE SULTAN OF PEEAK.
(From a photograph taken during Sir Hugh Low's term of office as Resident of Perak.)

recruited, disciplined, and most fully equipped,
and also supplies a most efficient fire brigade
for the town of Taiping. Two considerable
and prosperous towns have been built, one of

a deep interest in the development of the
Malay States, and to his energetic initiative
and persistent advocacy was due in large
measure the steady uninterrupted progress

SIR FREDK. A WELD, K.C.M.G.

local opinion. He not only informed himself,
but he took good care to keep the authorities
at home thoroughly posted on all matters of
importance. Bright little descriptions of his
journeyings were sent to the Colonial Office, and
the staid officials there, amid details of official
receptions, read gossipy accounts of camp in-
cidents or adventures with wild beasts. A few
excerpts from these despatches may be appro-
priately introduced, as they give a sketch of the
early administration of the States which is
both lively and informing. Writing of a tour
made in March, 1883, Sir Frederick Weld
furnishes an interesting description of Kuala
Lumpor. " The improvement in the town,"
he says, " was marked. The main road has
been improved ; neat, inexpensive police
stations and good bridges have replaced de-
cayed old ones, whilst several new buildings
are in progress." A visit paid subsequently to
Larut and Lower Perak was productive of an
equally favourable impression. " At Teluk
Anson, the headquarters of the last named
district, I found great changes in progress.
Many good buildings have been erected and
the streets are well laid out. The canal, which
saves eight miles of river navigation, is likely
to be a success, and is nearly finished. The
hospital is commodious and in good order."

Later in the year Sir Frederick Weld was
again in Selangor, and he makes these refer-
ences to his visit: "At Ranching, about 15
miles north of Kuala Lumpor, we passed
through and by a considerable forest of
camphor trees, many of them 200 feet high.
This tract occupied by camphor trees is the
largest of the kind known in the peninsula,
and the only one on the western side of the
range. The Malays fear to cut the trees, as
they say the smell gives them fever. Mr.
Gower, who is putting up tin-mining machinery
in the neighbourhood, got seven Japanese to
attempt cutting a tree, and they all actually did
get fever. This is very remarkable, as camphor
is usually considered to be a febrifuge. This
forest must become of enormous value, and I

108

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

have directed that it be reserved to the State
and preserved.

" In the inhabited districts all the villages
were decorated, always tastefully and some-
times very beautifully. I was welcomed with
dancing and singing ; they emulated their
ancient legends of the programme of the pass-
age of certain great Rajas in ancient times, and
there is little doubt but that I had at least the
advantage in the heartiness of the welcome.
Even the wild Sakais and Semangs, the
aborigines, came down from the mountains,
bringing with them their women and children
to meet me. They one and all assured me
that under our rule the Malays have ceased to
molest them, and one said that if they did
he should go straight off to find a European
magistrate and the police. They themselves
are a most harmless, kindly, and good-tempered
race."

CHAPTER X.

Continued Progress — Federation — Magni-
ficent Results of British Interven-
tion—Conclusion.

What Sir Hugh Low accomplished in Perak
was done in a minor degree in the other States.
In the Nine States progress was for a time
retarded by the mutual jealousies of the chiefs
and the slumbering resentment of the popula-
tion, who did not take too kindly to some of
the changes wrought by British supervision.
Owing largely to these causes the inevitable
federation of the group of States was delayed.
In 1876 six of the nine States united, agreeing
to work together under the headship of Tunku
Antar, who was given the title of Yam Tuan of
Sri Menanti. The dissenting States, Sungei
Ujong, Rembau, and Jelebu, after a few years'
independent life, thought better of their
refusal, and entered the federation, the formal
act being registered in an agreement under
which they acknowledged Tunku Muhammad,
C.M.G., the successor of Tunku Antar, as their
Raja, with the title of Yang-di-Pertuan of Negri
Sambilan. In Selangor, first under Mr. David-
son and later under Mr. Swettenham, rapid
progress was made when once the country had
settled down. The revenue grew from 193,476
dollars in 1876 to 300,423 dollars in 1882. The
next year there was a further advance to
450,644 dollars. After the lapse of another five
years the receipts had grown to the large
figure of 1,417,998 dollars. Thus in twelve
years the revenue of the State had increased
sevenfold. The expenditure kept pace with
the receipts, because at the outset there were
heavy liabilities to be liquidated, and through-
out the period there were demands ever grow-
ing for public works absolutely essential for
the development of the territory. The general
situation of the States in these early years is
illustrated by these figures showing the total
receipts and expenditure of Perak, Selangor,
and Sungei Ujong at particular periods from
1876 to 1888 :

Year. Revenue. Expenditure.

1876 $500,997 «585,l89

1880 881,910 794,944

1884 2,148,155 2,138,710

1888 3,057,073 3,013,943

The revenue system adopted in the States
under British supervision differed materially
from that of the British settlements. Its lead-
ing features at the outset were an import duty
on opium, spirits, and tobacco, a farm of the
sole right to open gambling houses, various
licence fees, quit rents, etc., an export duty of
10 per cent, ad valorem on all jungle produce
and salt fish, and an export duty on tin. The
last-named import was the backbone of the
system. To it is mainly due the remarkable
development of the States. Without the steady
and increasing flow to the exchequer of the tin
receipts, the magnificent public works which
are the most conspicuous feature of the fede-
rated area would have been luxuries beyond
the attainment of the administration. Refer-
ences to these works are made elsewhere in
this volume, and it is only necessary to touch
lightly upon the subject here. The earliest
works undertaken were almost exclusively con-
cerned with the improvement of communica-
tions. As was stated at the beginning of this
historical sketch, when the British first inte-
rested themselves in the concerns of the Malay
States they found a practically roadless
country. About the mines in Larut a few
miles of ill-kept track, dignified by the name of
road, served for purposes of transporting the
tin to the coast, but this was an isolated
example of enterprise. Communications, such
as they were, were carried on for the most
part by the numerous rivers and waterways in
which the coast abounds. The British Resi-
dents quickly realised that if the States were
to prosper there must be a good system of
internal and ultimately of inter-State communi-
cation established. The efforts were directed
to two ends — the improvement of the water-
ways by the clearing of channels, and the
construction of roads. The former was a com-
paratively easy task, as in many cases all that
was required was the expenditure of moderate
sums on labour with the object of removing
vegetation, which had accumulated to such an
extent as to render the streams useless for
navigation. The roads, on the other hand, had
to be driven for the most part through virgin
forest land, and the work was a troublesome
and costly business. The Resident of Selangor
in 1882-83, i" order to meet the demand for
increased means of communication without
putting too heavy a strain upon the public
resources, hit upon the expedient of making
the initial roadway a bridle-path 6 feet wide
without metalling and with very simple and
cheap bridges. Traffic arteries of this type
were constructed at the low cost of £150 a
mile, and they served all reasonable needs
until the period when the growth of the State
revenue justified the heavier expenditure in-
volved in the provision of a macadamised road
with permanent bridges. This plan was finally
adopted in all the States with markedly
successful results. The bridle-paths attracted
settlers to the districts through which they
passed, and soon- a thriving population was to
be found in districts which previously had
been an uninhabited waste. When the popula-
tion was large enough to justify the expendi-
ture, and funds permitted, the permanent road
was provided. In this way, bit by bit, was
created a network of splendid roads, the like

of which is not to be found anywhere in Asia,
excepting perhaps in India. Side by side with
road construction the Government prosecuted
measures for the settlement of the country.
" Efforts," says Sir Frank Swettenham in his
work, "were made to encourage the building
of villages all over the country, and round the
headquarters of every district settlers congre-
gated, small towns were laid out, shops and
markets were built, and everything was done
to induce the people to believe in the perman-
ence of the new institutions. The visitor who
now travels by train through a succession of
populous towns, or who lands at or leaves busy
ports on the coast, can hardly realise the
infinite trouble taken in the first fifteen years
to coax Malays and Chinese and Indians to
settle in the country, to build a better class of
house than the flimsy shanties or adobe struc-
ture hitherto regarded as the height of all
reasonable ambition. As the villages grew and
the roads joined up the various mining fields
and scattered hamlets, village councils, styled
Sanitary Boards, were instituted to regulate the
markets, sanitation, slaughter houses, laundries,
water supply, and the hundred and one
improvements of rapidly growing centres of
population. Every nationality is represented
on these boards, and the members take an
intelligent interest in municipal administration."

The construction of railways was an inevitable
accompaniment of the commercial development
of the States, The pioneer scheme was a line
eight miles long between Taiping, the chief
mining town in Larut, and Port Weld, on a
deep-water inlet of the Larut river. Another
and more ambitious scheme undertaken some
little time before the line was opened for traffic
in 1884 was a railway between Kuala Lumpor
and Klang in Selangor, a distance of 22 miles.
Funds for this work were lent by the Straits
Settlements Government, but the loan was re-
called long before the work was completed, and
the State authorities had to get on as best they
could without external aid. Fortunately the
revenue at the time was in a highly satisfactory
condition, and no great difficulty was experi-
enced in financing the venture out of current
income. The line was an immediate success.
In the first few months of working it achieved
the remarkable result of earning a revenue
which yielded a profit equal to 25 per cent, on
the amount expended. From these compara-
tively small beginnings grew the great railway
system which already has linked up the western
districts of the peninsula, and which is destined
probably in the not remote future to be the
important final section of a great continental
system of railways.

On the purely administrative side the work
of supervision was not less effective than in the
practical directions we have indicated. A
judicial system was built up on lines suited
to the needs of the population, educational
machinery was started with special provision
for the principal racial sections of which the
inhabitants were composed, a land settlement
system was devised, hospitals and dispensaries
were started, and a magnificent police force —
partly Indian, partly Malay— was created. In
fine, the States were gradually equipped with
all the essential institutions of a progressive
community. The story of how these various

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

109

departments of the Federated Malay States
Government grew may be left to be told by
other writers. It is sufficient here to say that,
with trivial exceptions, the work has been
marked by a measure of successful achieve-
ment which is worthy of the most brilliant
examples of British administration.

In 1888 the British responsibilities in the
peninsula were increased by the addition of
Pahang to the list of protected States. This
State stood suspiciously apart when the other
States were brought into the sphere of British
influence, and it resolutely repelled all over-

authorities at Singapore, who saw in it only
another indication of the perverse indepen-
dence of the chief. They had, however, only
to wait for an opportunity for intervention. It
came one day when a more than usually brutal
outrage was perpetrated upon a British subject
with the connivance of the ruler. Satisfaction
was demanded by Sir Clementi Smith, the then
Governor of the Straits, and was refused. The
position was becoming critical when the chief,
acting mainly on the advice of the Maharaja of
Johore, expressed regret for what had occurred
and asked for the appointment of a British

the adjoining States, there to be either killed or
captured by the Siamese. Pahang has never
had reason to regret the decision taken by its
chief to join the circle of protected States. In
the seventeen years ending 1906 which followed
the introduction of the Residential system, its
revenue increased tenfold and its trade expanded
from an insignificant total to one approximating
five million dollars in value.

The remarkable progress made by the pro-
tected States and the consequent widening of
the administrative sphere brought into promi-
nence the necessity of federation in order to

GROUP TAKEN AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SINGAPORE, DURING SIR F. WELD'S ADMINISTRATION.
The figure in the centre is Sir F. Weld ; seated on his left are Sir Hugh Low and the Sultan of Perak.

tures. On one occasion the Straits Government
had to bring the chief to reason by a bombard-
ment of his capital. After that there was little
or no intercourse, until one day a British war
vessel dropped into harbour to see what was
doing in that part of the world. The captain
landed to pay his respects, and on being ushered
into the presence of the chief, found him seated
on a pile of cannon balls which had been fired
from the British warships on the occasion of
the bombardment. The humour of the situa-
tion appealed to the British representative, but
the incident was not so much relished by the

Resident. The amende was accepted, and Mr.
(now Sir) J. P. Rodger was appointed Resident,
with Mr. Hugh Clifford as Assistant. The new
order was not accepted peacefully by an im-
portant section, represented by a group of petty
chiefs. These resented the British intrusion
and all that it implied in ordered administration
and restraints on oppression, and they took up
arms. A long and expensive campaign was
involved in the suppression of this rising ; but
eventually, thanks largely to Mr. Hugh Clifford's
exertions, the revolting element was either
hunted down or driven across the border into

deal more effectually with questions of common
interest which were continually arising. In
1893 Sir Frank Swettenham, who since the
conclusion of the military operations in Perak
had filled the post of Secretary for Malay Affairs
to the Straits Settlement Government, drew up
a scheme for the federation of the four States,
and this in due course was forwarded to the
Colonial Secretary. When Sir Charles Mitchell
was appointed to the government of the Straits
Settlements in succession to Sir Clementi Smith,
in 1896, he carried with him instructions to
report upon the desirability and feasibility of

110

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF 1SRITISH MALAYA

the project. Sir Charles Mitchell, after mature
consideration of the question, forwarded a re-
commendation in favour of the scheme, subject,
however, to its receiving the approval of the
ruling chiefs. Mr. Chamberlain in his turn
gave conditional sanction to the federation idea

SIR CECIL CLEMENT! SMITH, G.C.M.G.

on these lines, and Sir Frank Swettenham was
entrusted with the duty of securing the adhesion
of the Residents and chiefs to his plans. His
mission was entirely successful. The Resi-
dents welcomed the scheme, though it made a
striking change in the system of government
by putting over them a Resident-General, who
was given executive control under the direction
of "the High Commissioner for the Federated
Malay States," otherwise the Governor of the
Straits Settlements. The chiefs also gave the
project their cordial approval. They were in-
fluenced in its favour, Sir Frank Swettenham
says, because it did not touch their own status
in any way, and because they believed that as
a federation they would be stronger and more
important, and that their views would be
more likely to receive consideration should a
day come when they found themselves at
variance with the supreme authority, be it
High Commissioner at Singapore or Secretary
of State in England. A further consideration
was the financial advantage which would
accrue from the change. "Two of the States,
Perak and Selangor, were then very rich ;
Negri Sambilan had a small debt, but was
financially sound ; while Pahang was very
poor, owed a ftirge sum to the colony, and,
though believed to be rich in minerals, had no
resources to develop the country. By federa-
tion the rich States were to help the poor ones ;
so Pahang and Negri Sambilan hoped to gain
by the arrangement, while the rulers of Perak
and Selangor were large-minded enough to
welcome the opportunity of pushing on the
backward States for the glory and ultimate
benefit of the federation. Further, they wel-
comed federation because it meant consistency
and continuity o( policy. It meant the abolition
of inter-State frictions and jealousies, and the

power to conceive and execute great projects
for the benefit of the partnership without refer-
ence to the special interests of any partner.
Above all, they not only accepted but desired
federation, because they believed that it would
give them, in the Resident-General, a powerful
advocate of their needs and their views, a friend
whose voice would be heard further and carry
more weight than that of any Resident, or of all
the Residents acting independently."

The new system was formally introduced
on July i, 1896, with Sir Frank Swettenham as
the first Resident-General. Kuala Lumpor
was selected as the headquarters of the federal
departments, and here gradually grew up a
series of fine public buildings in keeping with
the importance of the federated area. Now,
with an important trunk railway running
through it, a network of roads radiating from
it to all important points, and a considerable
residential population, it vies in dignity and size
with the chief towns of many Crown colonies.
In matters of government the fruits of the
federation were quickly seen in various direc-
tions. A Judicial Commissioner (Mr. Lawrence
Jackson, Q.C.) was appointed to try capital
charges and hear appeals from the magisterial
courts. Simultaneously there was a reorganisa-
tion of the magisterial system, and counsel for
the first time were admitted to plead in the
Malay State Courts. At a later period the
judicial bench was strengthened by the addition
of two Assistant Commissioners, and a Public
Prosecutor was appointed to facilitate criminal
procedure. Other changes were the appoint-
ment of a Financial Commissioner, and the
reorganisation of the whole financial system,
the amalgamation of the police forces and
the Public Works Departments of the several
States, and the institution of a Railway Depart-
ment, with a General-Manager as head of the
entire system. Further, a regiment known as
the Malay States Guides was constituted for
purposes of defence. This is a splendid
force, 900 strong, recruited from the war-
like Indian races and officered by officers
seconded from the British Army. Finally, an
elaborate trigonometrical survey has been set
on foot on a uniform system, a department for
the conservation of forests has been created,
Geological and Agricultural Departments estab-
lished, and an institute for medical research
under the direction of a highly-trained patho-
logist provided.

This was the practical outcome of federa-
tion as it affected the administration. In less
tangible ways it has worked a great change in
the States. One of its most notable influences
has been the tightening of the bonds of sym-
pathy between the various parts of the federated
area and the creation of a sentiment of pride
in the prosperity and greatness of the common
country. This phase of federation was brought
out very strongly in July, 1897, when a Con-
ference of Malay rulers, members of State
Councils and chiefs was held at Kuala Kangsa,
the seat of the Sultan of Perak, to celebrate the
introduction of the new system. Every chief
of importance was present, and the proceedings
were marked by absolute harmony and even
enthusiasm. Sir Frank Swettenham, in his
official report, summed up the results of the Con-
ference in the following interesting fashion :

" From every point of view the meeting has
been an unqualified success, and it is difficult to
estimate now the present and prospective value
of this unprecedented gathering of Malay
Sultans, Rajas, and chiefs. Never in the history
of Malaya has any such assemblage been
even imagined. I doubt whether anybody has
ever heard of one ruler of a State making a
ceremonial visit to another ; but to have been
able to collect together in one place the
Sultans of Perak, Selangor, Pahang, and the
Negri Sambilan is a feat that might well have
been regarded as impossible. People who do
not understand the Malay cannot appreciate the
difficulties of such a task ; and I confess that
I myself never believed that we should be able
to accomplish it. It was hardly to be expected
that a man of the great age of the Sultan of
Selangor could be induced to make, for him, so
long and difficult a journey, and to those who
know the pride, the prejudices, and the sensi-
tiveness of Malay Rajas, it was very unlikely
that the Sultan of Pahang would join an
assemblage where he could not himself dictate
the exact part which he would play in it. It is
not so many years since the Governor of the
Straits Settlements found the utmost difficulty
in getting speech with Malay Rajas in the
States which are now federated ; Sir Frederick
Weld, even though accompanied by the present
Sultan of Perak, by Sir Hugh Low, and the
present Residents of Selangor and Pahang, all
officers accustomed to deal with Malays, had to
wait several hours on the bank of the Pahang
river before any one could persuade the Sultan
of Pahang to leave a game of chance in which
he was engaged with a Chinese in order to
grant an interview to his Excellency. It is
difficult to imagine a greater difference than
between then and now, and, though the Sultan
of Perak has been far more nearly associated
with British officers than any other of the.
Sultans, he has always been extremely jealous
of his rights as a ruler. I was, therefore, sur-

SIR FRANK SWETTENHAM, K.C.M.G.

prised to hear the frank way in which, at the
Council, he spoke of British protection, which
he did not hesitate to describe as control.

" The deliberations of the Council were both
interesting and useful, and there is no doubt
that, in some respects, we could not have

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

111

arrived at the same ends by any other means
than the meeting of the Rajas of the Federated
States and their responsible advisers. All the
proceedings of the Council were conducted in
the Malay language, and I am convinced that, if
ever it were necessary to introduce interpreta-
tion, no such successful meetings as those just
concluded could ever be held. The Sultans
and all their chiefs spoke on all the subjects
which interested them, without either hesita-
tion or difficulty, and on matters concerning the
Mahammadan religion, Malay customs, and
questions which specially touch the well-being
of Malays, it would be impossible to find else-
where such knowledge and experience as is
possessed by those present at the recent
meetings. Nothing can be decided at the
Council, which is only one of advice, for no
Raja has any voice in the affairs of any State
but his own. This was carefully explained
and is thoroughly understood. But it is of

and depicting the gradual change in the
feelings of the people, an attitude of distrust
and suspicion of ^British officials giving place
to one of confidence and regard. In these
Conferences we have the crowning triumph
and vindication of British intervention. They
may be regarded as the coping-stone of the
edifice of administrative efficiency and pro-
gress reared on the blood-stained ashes of the
old anarchical regime which once made the
name Malaya a byword for ruthless bar-
barism and the cruellest despotism.

Figures are usually dull things, but only
figures can properly bring home to the under-
standing the immensity of the change which
has been worked in the peninsula under British
direction. We make no excuse, therefore, for
introducing the following official table, which
illustrates the position of the Federated States
from the year 1889, when Pahang came under
British protection.

perusal of the table. If they study it with even
a moderate disposition to be fair, they will
arise from the exercise with minds attuned to
a new view of the capacity of their fellow-
countrymen who are bearing the white man's
burden in distant regions, and of the material
advantages which accrue from the wise ex-
tension of British influence. And the glory of
the success is that it has been won, not by the
sword, but by peaceful methods directed with
the aid and co-operation of the most influential
elements of the native community. The power
has been there, but it has been sparingly used.
Moral suasion is the force which has worked
the transformation from a territory weltering
in the most ferocious form of internecine war,
with trade paralysed and agriculture neglected,
to a land of plenty, with mineral and agricul-
tural wealth developed to the highest extent,
and with a twenty-fold larger population living
a contented and law-abiding existence. In

FEDERATED MALAY STATES.
Special General Return.

Trade.

Duty on
Tin.

Land
Revenue.

Forest
Revenue.

Postal
and Tele-
graph

Railway
Receipts.

Population.

Year.

Revenue.

Expenditure.

Negri
Sanibilan.

Year.

Imports.

Exports.

Revenue.

Perak.

Selangor.

Pahang.

Total.

•

1889

5,013,000

4,091,078

15,653,456

19,720,689

1,750,008

190,538

—

26,027

359,025

—

1889

1890

4,840,065

5,237.275

15,443,809

17,602,093

1,609,401

166,054

—

37,742

406,032

—

1890

1891

4.572,3io

5,554.800

14,889,942

18,495,554

i.573,44 T

199,680

—

44,286

414,889

214.254

81,592

70,730

57,642

424,218

189't

1892

5,347.189

5.883,407

19,161,159

22,662,359

2,097,274

300,680

—

53,630

537,"'

—

1892

1893

6,413,134

6,797,538

21,896,117

27.373.760

2,602,380

347,600

—

73,941

723,934

—

1893

1894

7,511,809

7,162,396

24,499,615

32,703,147

3,238,000

457,262

—

89,790

986,617

—

1894

1895

8,481,007

7,582,553 22,653,271

31,622,805

3,379,813

468,239

—

1 io,793

1,294,390

—

1895

1896

8,434,083

8,598,147

21,148,895

28,395,855

3,126.974

5",237

—

140,230

1,344,994

—

1896

1897

8,296,687

8,795,313

25,000,682

31,148,340

2,716,263

636,054

—

141,328

1,294,139

—

1897

1898

9,364,467

11,110,042

27,116,446

35,241,003

3,210,699

636,927

—

173,709

1,394,720

—

1898

1899

13,486,410

11,499478

33,765,073

54,895.139

6,181,542

639,899

—

166,838

1,722,475

—

1899

1900

15,609,807

12,728,930

38,402.581

60,361,045

7,050,382

712,898

—

191,525

2,254,742

—

1900

1901

17,541,507

17,273,158 ; 39,524.603

63,107,177

6,968,183

626,114

287,548

202,121

2,377.040

329,665

168,789

96,02s

84,113

678,593

I9°I t

1902

20,550,543

15,986,247

45.757,240

71,350,243

8,438,775

661,668

288,053

241,944

2,856,640

—

1902

I9°3

22,672,567

16,219,872

47,700,059

80,253,944

9,590,505

721,304

514,657

278,715

3.608,054

381,500

216,920

117,820

85,000

801,240

1903 1
1004'
1905 }

1904

22,255,269

19,318,768

46,955,742

77,620,084

8,814,688

801.959

589,707

317,639

3,605,029

400,000

234.404

118,747

85,000

838,151

1905

23,964,593

20,750,395

50,575,455

80,057,654

9,249,627

887,593

622,009

296,323

3,940,599

400,000

240,546

"9,454

100,000

860,000

*igo6

27,223,476

18,899,425

50,926,606

80,832,325

10,036,798

1,437,753

598,999

437,487

4,564,100

413,000

283,619

118,408

100,000

915,027

1906

Note.— The total Revenue and the total Expenditure of Perak, Selangor, and Negri Sambilan in 1875 were respectively $409,394 and $436,872. Figures for Pahang first
appear in i88y. Federation dates from July l, 1896.

Revenue. Expenditure.

* Perak $[4,282,484 ... $8,776,478

Selangor 9,803,184 ... 6,414,257

Negri Sambilan 2487,000 ... 2,274,337

Pahang 650,718 ... 1,434,353

t A census of the population was taken in 1891 and in 1901. The population of Perak in 1879 was estimated at 81,084, and in l88 9 at 194,801 ; that of Selangor in 1884
at 46,568 and in 1887 at 97,ic6. No figures for the other States are given prior to 1891.
X Estimated for 1903, 1904, and 1905.

great value to get together the best native
opinions and to hear those qualified to do so
thoroughly discuss, from varying points of
view, questions which are similar in all the
Federated States. On several important
subjects the members of the Council expressed
unanimous views, and it now only remains to
take action in the various State Councils to
secure identical measures embodying the
opinions expressed."

There was a second Conference on similar
lines at Kuala Lumpor in July, 1903. It was
equally as successful as the initial gathering.
One striking feature of the proceedings was a
notable speech by the Sultan of Perak, dwelling
upon the enormous advantages which had
accrued to the States from British intervention,

If there is romance in statistics it is surely to
be found in this wonderful table. Where in
the history of modern government can the
progress revealed by it be paralleled ? In
India, British government has worked mar-
vellous changes ; in Ceylon a splendid suc-
cess has been achieved ; even in the Straits
Settlements themselves we have an example of
the genius of the race for the government of
alien communities. But we may ransack the
Imperial records in vain for an instance in
which in so short an interval a great possession
has been built up. Those pessimists who
bewail the national degeneracy, equally with
the section of political extremists who are for
ever decrying the achievements of the British
Colonial official, may be commended to a

this fact lies the highest justification of the ex-
periment reluctantly and timidly entered upon
less than forty years ago. In it is to be
found the most splendid testimony to the
ability of the British administrators who have
been concerned in this most striking example
of Empire-building.

SUPPLEMENTARY.

The Peninsular States.

Perak. — The history of Perak may be divided
into four periods. Of the first period (during
which the seat of government was at Bruas, in

112

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the Dindings) we know next to nothing. A
few carved tombstones represent all that is left
of this very ancient capital — and even these
are of late Achinese make and throw no light
whatever on the early history of the country.
If Malay tradition is right in saying that the
great arm of the sea at the Dindings was once
an outlet of the Perak river, we can easily
understand the importance of Bruas, combining
as it did the advantages of a perfect landlocked
harbour with a commanding situation at the
mouth of the greatest waterway in the western
half of the peninsula. Although Bruas was
powerful — the " Malay Annals " tell us — before
even the mythical ancestors of the Malacca
dynasty appeared on the famous hill of Sigun-
tang, it had begun to decline as the river silted
up. In the days of Sultan Mahmud (a.d. 1500)
Bruas had so far fallen that its King did homage
to Malacca in mere gratitude for assistance
against a petty rival village. After the Achi-
nese invasion the place entirely disappears
from history.
The second period of Perak history stretches

Kings, down to the extinction of his direct
male line in the wars with Achin. This period
covers a century — from 1530 to 1630 a.d. — and
is marked by the reigns of nine Sultans :

younger brother, Alaedin Riayat Shah II. It
goes on to tell us that this disinherited Prince,
after having first settled in Selangor, was
invited to fill the throne of Perak, and that he

Mudzafar Shah I.

(First Sultan)

I
Mansur Shah I.
(Second Sultan)

Mansur Shah
(Sultan of Achin)

Tajuddin Shah
(Third Sultan)

I
Raja Kechil

Taj-ul-arifin Shah
(Fourth Sultan)

A daughter

Alaedin Shah
(Fifth Sultan)

I
Mansur Shah II.
(Seventh Sultan)

A daughter
(m. the tenth Sultan

Mukadam Shah
(Sixth Sultan)

I
Mahmud Shah I.
(Eighth Sultan)

Selaheddin Shah
(Ninth Sultan)

Perak tradition identifies its first Sultan, Mud-
zafar Shah, with a son of Sultan Mahmud I.
(of Malacca), who was born about a.d. 1505,

THE REGALIA OF THE SULTAN OF PERAK.

from the cominj
reputed founder

of Mudzafar Shah I., the
if the long line of Perak

and was at one time heir to the throne of
Johore, but was passed over in favour of his

reached his new kingdom after various adven-
tures, such as the slaughter of the great serpent,
Si-Katimuna, with the sword Chura Si-
Mandong Kini. As will have been seen, the
Perak tradition does not hesitate to borrow
from the legend of Sang Sapurba. Mudzafar
Shah was succeeded by his son, Mansur Shah.
After the death of this latter Prince, his widow
and children were taken prisoners by Achi-
nese invaders and carried off to Kota Raja,
where fortune favoured them in that the eldest
son — another Mansur Shah — succeeded in
marrying the Queen of Achin.

After restoring his brothers to Perak, this
Achinese Mansur Shah perished in a revolu-
tion in a.d. 1585. Early in the sixteenth
century the great Iskandar Muda or Mahkota
Alam, Sultan of Achin, subjugated Perak and
led ruler after ruler to captivity and death, until
the direct male line of Mudzafar Shah had
completely died out and Perak had become a
mere province of his empire. About the year
1635 Mahkota Alam died, and his successor,
Sultan Mughal, sent a certain Raja Sulong
(who had married a Perak Princess) to
govern Perak as a tributary Prince under
the name of Sultan Mudzafar Shah II. This
event begins the third period of Perak
history.

As regards the truth of this story, there seems
very little doubt that there was a Raja Mudza-
far who was disinherited by Sultan Mahmud
Shah in the manner described by Perak
tradition. It is also true that this Raja Mudza-
far married Tun Trang and had a son Raja
Mansur, as the Perak tradition tells us. It also
seems true enough that the Achinese invaded
and conquered Perak. The only evidence
against the truth of this story is negative
evidence. The " Malay Annals " are absolutely
silent as to Raja Mudzafar having gone to
Perak, though they give an account of the
second Mudzafar Shah, who was unquestion-
ably Sultan of Perak and who may possibly
have been confused with the first.

The third period of Perak history begins
with the accession of Mudzafar Shah II.
(a.d. 1635) and goes down to the death
of Mudzafar Shah III. (a.d. 1765). The
Sultans with whom tradition fills up this
period of 130 years are given in the following
table :

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

113

Mudzafar Shah II.

(Tenth Sultan)

Muhammad Iskandar Shah

(Eleventh Sultan)

Alaedin Riayat Shah
(Twelfth Sultan)

Mudzafar Shah III.
(Thirteenth Sultan)

Muhammad Shah
(Fourteenth Sultan)

It should be added that the eleventh Sultan is
said to have reigned for in years, and that the
next three Sultans were his nephews by birth
and his sons by adoption.

This period presents great difficulties. Raja
Sulong, who married a Perak Princess and was
sent by the King of Achin to rule over Perak,
is a real figure in history. His mother was
a daughter or niece of the author of the " Malay
Annals." But (if we are to believe the " Malay
Annals") this Mudzafar Shah II. was succeeded
by Raja Mansur "who is reigning now." The
Perak account itself speaks of the twelfth,
thirteenth, and fourteenth Sultans as grandsons
of a certain Mansur Shah, who is not given in
the pedigree. The Perak account also states
that the Bugis chiefs, Klana Jaya Putra and
Daeng Chelak, invaded Perak in the days of
Alaedin Riayat Shah. As the Klana died in
a.d. 1628, the m-year reign seems to need
some modification. Again, the Bugis Raja
Lumu is said to have been created Sultan of
Selangor by Sultan Mahmud Shah of Perak in
a.d. 1743 ; who is this Mahmud Shah ?

Putting aside these questions of royal
descent, we know that this period (a.d. 1655-
1665) was one of extreme turbulence, and
probably of civil war. In a.d. 1650 the Dutch
opened a factory on the Perak river ; in a.d.
165 1 the factory was destroyed and its inmates
massacred. Hamilton, writing in a.d. 1727,
speaks of Perak as " properly a part of the
kingdom of Johor, but the people are untract-
able and rebellious, and the government
anarchical. Their religion is a sort of
heterodox Muhammedanism. The country
produces more tin than any in India, but the
inhabitants are so treacherous, faithless, and
bloody that no European nation can keep
factories there with safety. The Dutch tried
it once, and the first year had their factory cut
off. They then settled on Pulau Dinding,
but about the year 1690 that factory was also
cut off. The ruins of the blockhouse on the
island of Pangkor are still to be seen." In
justice to the Malays, it should be added that
the Dutch, in their anxiety to secure a trade
monopoly, treated the selling of tin to any one
but themselves as a serious offence, and even
as a casus belli. It is not therefore surprising
that disputes were frequent and sanguinary.

The first half of the eighteenth century in
Perak was marked by internal anarchy and
foreign invasions. There were three Kings in
the land — the Sultan of Bernam, the Sultan of
Perak, and the Regent ; the chiefs were at war
with each other, and the Bugis kept raiding
the country. About a.d. 1757 things had so far
settled down that the Dutch were able to
establish a factory at Tanjong Putus on the
Perak river. They subsequently sent a mission
to Sultan Mudzafar Shah about a.d. 1764, and
concluded a treaty with his successor, Muham-
mad Shah, in a.d. 1765.

The exact position of the next four Sultans in
the Perak pedigree is a matter of doubt, but
they seem to have been either brothers or
cousins of one another, and to have belonged
to the generation immediately following
Mudzafar Shah III. and Muhammad Shah.
From the eighteenth Sultan onwards the pedi-
gree is officially stated to have been as follows :

seems to have taken rather more of this
revenue than the local chiefs would willingly
have given him, Raja Jumaat, the principal
Lukut chief, succeeded at Sultan Muhammad's
death in diverting the succession from the
Sultan's son to a weak nominee of his own,
who belonged to another branch of the family.
The new ruler, Sultan Abdul-Samad, did not
interfere with the Lukut Princes, but he allowed
himself to be influenced by a stronger will
than his own, and ultimately surrendered all
true power into the hands of his son-in-law,
the Kedah Prince, Tengku Dzia-ud-din. He
thereby exasperated many of his subjects, who
did not like to see a foreigner become the real
ruler of the country.

Politically the State of Selangor has never

Ahmadin Shah

(Eighteenth Sultan)

Abdul Malik Mansur Shah
(Nineteenth Sultan)

Abdullah Muadzam
(Twentieth Sultan)

Raja Ahmad

I
Raja Inu

Shahbudin
(Twenty-first Sultan)

Jafar

(Twenty-third Sultan)

Abdullah

(Twenty-sixth Sultan)

Raja Alang
Iskandar

Sultan Idris

(now reigning)

Ali

(Twenty-fourth Sultan)

Raja Abdurrahman

Abdullah Muhammad
(Twenty-second Sultan)

Yusuf
(Twenty-seventh Sultan)

The special interest of this table lies in its
illustration of the curious law of succession
under which the three branches of the royal
house take it in turn to provide the reigning
Sultan.

Selangor. — The present reigning dynasty of
Selangor traces its descent to Raja Lumu, son
of Daeng Chelak, one of the Bugis chiefs who
overthrew the old State of Johore in a.d. 1722.
It should be added, however, that Raja Lumu
appears to have become Raja of Selangor
through his mother and not through his father.
In any case, he was recognised as Sultan of
Selangor in a.d. 1743. He maintained a close
alliance with his Riau relatives and with the
Bugis of Kuala Linggi. In a.d. 1756, and
again in a.d. 1783, the combined Bugis forces
attacked Malacca, but were repulsed with
heavy loss. On the second occasion the Dutch
followed up their success by attacking Kuala
Selangor and ultimately forcing the Sultan to
come to terms.

There have been five Sultans of Selangor :
Sultan Selaheddin, who founded the dynasty ;
Sultan Ibrahim, who made the treaty with the
Dutch in a.d. 1786 ; Sultan Muhammad, who
reigned from a.d. 1826 to 1856 ; Sultan Abdul-
Samad, who accepted British protection, and
Sultan Sulaiman, the present ruler. The prin-
cipal events in the history of this State during
the last century were the development of
Lukut as a mining centre and the civil wars
between Raja Mahdi and Tengku Dzia-ud-din.
The Lukut mining led to a great influx of
Chinese immigrants, who paid a poll-tax to the
Bugis chiefs for their protection, and who
were kept in order by the splendid old fort
on the hills near Port Dickson. As the Sultan

been interesting. Piratical and anarchical, it
never developed any organised system of
government, nor did the authority of the Bugis
chiefs ever extend very far beyond their own
little settlements on the rivers or near the mines.

Negri Sambilan. — About the middle of
the seventeenth century, after the decline of
Achin and before the coming of the Bugis
pirates, a large number of Menangkabau
Malays migrated in small detachments from
Sumatra into the peninsula, where they founded
the little confederacy of States now known as
the Negri Sambilan. Extremely proud of their
origin, for Menangkabau is the purest-blooded
kingdom of Malaya, the descendants of these
immigrants still speak of themselves as "we
sons of Menangkabau, who live with the
heavens above us and the earth beneath our
feet, we who once dwelt on the slopes of the
mighty volcanoes as far as the Great Pass,
through which we came down to the plains
of Sumatra in the isle of Andalas." The early
settlers taught this formula to their children so
that their history might never be forgotten.
But they taught more. These sons of Me-
nangkabau were passionately devoted to the
old legal sayings, in which is embodied a most
extraordinary old system of matriarchal law.
They are the most conservative people in
Malaya. To their everlasting honour it should
be added that they most loyally observed the
covenants by which they first obtained posses-
sion of their lands, and that to this day,
although all real power has long since passed
out of the hands of the aborigines, the proud
"sons of Menangkabau" acknowledge as ruling
chiefs in Rembau and Johol men who are
avowedly the representatives of the humble

114

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Sakai race. The migrations seem to have been
peaceful. The first comers occupied the nearest
lands in the district of Naning ; the next
arrivals settled in Kembau ; the latest settlers
had to go further afield — to Sri Menanti, to
Inas, to Sungei Ujong, and to Jelebu. In the
development of their peculiar systems of con-
stitutional Jaw and statecraft, treaties or con-
ventions (muafakat) probably played a great
part. In Naning succession to the chieftaincy
went by descent in the female line ; a Dato' Sri
Maharaja was succeeded by his eldest sister's
son. This little State has been absorbed into
the settlement of Malacca, but the representa-
tives of the old rulers still receive a great deal
of popular respect and were even given a small
allowance of about £40 a year by the British
Government up to a few years ago, when the
allowance was withdrawn because the then
"Dato' of Naning" omitted to call on Sir
William Maxwell when that officer was passing
through the district.

Next in antiquity to Naning comes Kembau.
Tradition has it that the first settlers in Rembau
were headed by two chiefs, Dato' Laut Dalam
and Dato' Lela Blang. These men, though
they settled in different localities, made an
alliance and arranged that their descendants
(in the female line) should take it in turn to be
rulers of the country. With the craving for
high-sounding names that is so striking a
feature of Malay character, these two chiefs
sought and obtained from the then Sultan of
Johore the titles that their descendants still bear.
The present ruler is the thirteenth Dato' of
Kembau and the seventh " Dato' Sedia Raja,"
the other six being " Dato' Lela Maharaja."

The founders of the State of Kembau were
followed to the Negri Sambilan by many other
headmen of small immigrant parties, until at
last a whole aristocracy of petty dignitaries
was established in the country. Far from
their homes in Sumatra and surrounded by
possible foes, the early settlers had looked to
Johore for protection and recognition ; but the
last comers, finding themselves strong and
Johore weak, began to seek for a Prince of their
own from the royal line of Menangkabau. In
their own words :

"The villager owes obedience to the village
elders,

The village elders to the district chief,

The district chief to the provincial chief,

The provincial chief to the ruler of the State."
This ruler of the State was the Yamtuan Besar
of Sri Menanti. He occupied a position of
great dignity, but of very little real authority
over great provincial chiefs like the Dato' of
Kembau ; but of late years he has had his
office strengthened by British support. The
principal provincial chiefs are :

The Dato' Klana of Sungei Ujong,

The Dato' Akhirzaman of Jelebu,

The Dato' Johan Pahlawan of Johol,

The Dato' of Rembau,

The Dato' Bandar of Sungei Ujong,

The Ruler of Tampin, and

The Dato' Muda of Linggi.

Pahang.— The early history of the State of
Pahang — as usually given — is brief and in-
accurate. Even so authoritative a work as the
present edition of the official " Handbook of
the Federated Malay States " sums it up in two
statements, both of which are incorrect. It
says : " The first ruler of Pahang of whom
there is any record was a son of the Sultan
Mahmud, who fled to Pahang from Malacca
after the capture of that town by the Portuguese
in a.d. 1511. A reputed descendant of his was
Bendahara Ali, who died in the year 1850 or
thereabouts."

We know from Portuguese as well as Malay
sources that -when Albuquerque arrived at
Malacca he found the city engaged in festivities
over the marriage of Sultan Mahmud's daughter
to a Sultan of Pahang. The statement in the
" Handbook" is, therefore, singularly unfortun-
ate, since "a son of Sultan Mahmud" is obviously
the only thing that the Sultan could not have
been. There is, however, no mystery about
the origin of the old line of Sultans of Pahang.
The country was conquered by Mansur Shah
or Mudzafar Shah, and was first created a
separate sultanate by the former ruler, who
bestowed it upon his eldest son. This family
continued to reign over Pahang till 1699, when
Mahmud Shah II., the latest Prince of the line,
was murdered by his Bendahara. Mahmud
Shah II. was succeeded as Sultan of Johore and
Pahang by this Bendahara, who took the title
of Abdul Ja.lil Riayat Shah. As after the Bugis
conquest of Linggi the Sultans were practi-
cally hostages and had to reside at Riau, they
deputed their principal ministers to govern in
their name, the Bendahara in Pahang and the
Temenggong in Johore. These ministers con-
tinued, however, to visit Riau from time to
time, and to take part in the decision of im-
portant matters, such as questions of succession
to the throne. At the death of Sultan Mahmud
Riayat Shah (A.D. 1812), the Bendahara came
up from Pahang and seems to have accepted
Sultan Abdurrahman as his suzerain, though
he must have personally favoured the other
candidate, Tengku Husain, who was his own
son-in-law. When the Riau family divided
into the Singapore branch under British pro-
tection and the Linggi branch under Dutch
control, the Bendaharas of Pahang acknow-
ledged the Linggi rulers, while the Temeng-
gongs of Johore threw in their lot with the
English. In time, however, both of these
great feudatories began to pay less attention
to their titular suzerains and to assume the
position of independent Princes, until at last
the British Government recognised the real
position by converting the Bendahara into a
Sultan of Pahang and the Temenggong into a
Sultan of Johore.

Malay history is a record of great vicissitudes
of fortune. Time after time the connecting
link between one period and another is a
mere band of fugitives, a few score refugees.
Such was the case in 1511, in 1526, in 1615,
in 1673, and in 1721. It should not, there-

fore, be imagined that the new States that
were built up after each successive disaster
were made up entirely — or even largely — of
men of true Malay blood. The bond connect-
ing the peninsular States is unity of language
and religion more than unity of blood. The
Northern Malay is physically unlike the Southern
Malay ; the one has been compared to a cart-
horse and the other to a Batak pony. The
Malay population of Perak, Pahang and the
Negri Sambilan must be largely Sakai, that of
Selangor is Sakai or Bugis — where it is not
made up of recent immigrants. Moreover, the
Malays have accepted many of the traditions
and beliefs of the people who preceded them
in the possession of the land ; they still worship
at the holy places of the people of the country
and believe in the same spirits of disease. Any
one who is a Mahomedan and speaks the Malay
tongue is accepted as a Malay, whatever his
ancestry ; there is no real unity about Malay
tradition. Still, there are three systems of
government that are essentially Malayan. The
first is what one may call " river " government.
The State was a river valley ; the Sultan lived
near the mouth and levied toll on all the
produce that travelled up and down the great
highway of communication. Such a State
could be controlled with comparative ease,
since the great feudal chiefs who governed
the reaches and the tributaries of the main
stream were dependent for their imports and
exports on the goodwill of the King. Pahang,
Trengganu, Kelantan and Perak all furnished
good examples of this type of feudal govern-
ment. The second type of Malay kingdom
was the predatory State — a Malay Sultan with
a sort of military aristocracy living on the
foreign settlers in his own country or terroris-
ing smaller Malay communities into paying
blackmail or tribute. Malacca, Johore Lama,
Achin, Riau and Pasai were instances of this
type of predatory rule ; the Larut and Lukut
settlements in the nineteenth century show how-
it could be applied to comparatively modern
conditions. The third type is represented by
the matriarchal communities of Menangkabau
or Negri Sambilan. Self-sufficing, independent
of trade, and rather averse to war, a Negri
Sambilan village might be established at some
distance from any navigable river, and was
not usually amenable to the control of central
authorities. It led to the evolution of a most
interesting and successful type of government
that one might almost call constitutional.
But annalists do not, as a rule, take much
interest in the humble politics of village com-
munities, nor do they care much about the civil
wars of river States. It is always the lawless
predatory government that makes most noise
in the world. The great names of Malay
history are those of men like Mansur Shah of
Malacca and Mahkota Alam of Achin. None
the less, the best political work of the Malay
race was done in the little villages that have
no history — the matriarchal communities in
the highlands of Sumatra and in the valleys
of the Negri Sambilan.

CHRISTMAS ISLAND, THE COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS,

AND LABUAN

ASSOCIATED In an ad-
ministrative sense with
the Straits Settlements,
though geographically
somewhat remote from
the chief centres of
**J] / ^£^C-iJl authority in British

it ^3 yVn- g »;.:«■.■ i^ Malaya, are a number
of islands in the Indian
Ocean, which, though of small area, present
many points of interest. These outposts of
the Straits Settlements are Christmas Island,
an isolated islet off the coast of Java, and a
group of coral atolls known as the Cocos-Keel-
ing Islands, a considerable distance to the
south, about midway between Java and Aus-
tralia. Held under leases from the Govern-
ment, these islands are centres of considerable
commercial activity, and contribute in a modest
way to the prosperity of the Straits Settlements
as a whole.

Christmas Island came conspicuously before
the public eye in the United Kingdom a few
years ago as the result of a scientific expedition
sent out, in 1900, to investigate the flora and
fauna and geological characteristics of the
place. Mr. Charles W. Andrews, B.A., B.Sc,
F.G.S., of the British Museum, the chief mem-
ber of the expedition, on his return prepared
an elaborate monograph embodying the results
of the investigations of the party, and this was.
officially published. The work, besides giving
a mass of valuable scientific facts, supplies
much information relating to the history of the
island. From it may be extracted some details
which are of general interest. The island lies
in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean in
S. latitude io Q 25', E. long. 105 42'. Java, the
nearest land, is about 190 miles to the north,
while some 900 miles to the south-east is the
coast of North-west Australia. A little to the
south of west, at a distance of 550 miles, are
the two atolls of Cocos and North Keeling,
and to the north of these Glendinning Shoal.
The submarine slopes of the island are very
steep, and soundings of upwards of 1,000
fathoms occur within two or three miles of the
coast. To the north is Maclear Deep, in which
3,200 fathoms were found, and to the south and
south-west is the more extensive Wharton

Deep, with upwards of 3,000 fathoms. The
island, in fact, forms the summit of a sub-
marine peak, the base of which rises from the
low saddle which separates these two abysses,
and on the western end of which the Cocos-
Keeling Islands are situated. The first men-
tion of Christmas Island occurs in a map by
Pieter Goos, published in Holland in 1666, in
which it is called Moni. In subsequent maps
this name and that of Christmas Island are
applied to it indifferently, but it is not known
by whom the island was discovered and named.
Dampier landed at the island in 1688, and a
description of it is to be found in his
" Voyages." Next the island was visited in
1718 by Captain Daniel Beckman, who in a
hook he wrote on the subject gives a sketch of

THE ISLAND OF CHRISTMAS.
(From Captain Beckman's " Voyage to Borneo.")

the island "in which the heights are ridicu-
lously exaggerated." In 1771 the Pigot, East
Indiaman, attempted to find an anchorage but
failed. The crews of this and other passing
vessels reported the occurrence of wild pigs,
coconut palms, and lime-trees, none of which
really existed. The first attempt at an explora-
tion was made by the frigate Amethyst in 1857.
From this vessel a boat's crew was landed
with the object of attempting to reach the
summit, but the inland cliffs proved an insu-
perable obstacle, and the ascent was aban-
doned. In 1886 the surveying vessel Flying
Fmli (Captain Maclear) was ordered to make
an examination of the island. A number of
men were landed, and collections of the plants
and animals were obtained, but since the island
seemed of little value no serious attempt at
us

exploration was made. In the following year
H.M.S. Egeria (Captain Pelham Aldrich) called
at the island and remained about ten days.
Captain Aldrich and his men cut a way to the
top of the island, and sent home a number of
rock specimens obtained on the way, and Mr.
J. J. Custer, who accompanied the expedition
as naturalist, made extensive collections both
of the fauna and flora, but had not time to
penetrate to the middle of the island. The
island was formally annexed by H.M.S. Ini-
pcrieuse in June, 1888, and placed under the
Straits Settlements Government. In 1800 H.M.S.
Rtdpolc called at the island for a few hours,
and Mr. H. N. Ridley, of the Singapore Botani-
cal Gardens, who was on board, collected a
number of plants not previously recorded. It
seemed desirable that a more complete exami-
nation of the spot should be undertaken, and
in 1896 Sir John Murray generously offered to
pay the expenses of an expedition. Mr. C. W.
Andrews, author of the monograph already
referred to, obtained leave from the trustees of
the British Museum to join the expedition. Mr.
Andrews left England in the beginning of May,
1897, and arrived off the island on July 29th.
His sojourn extended over ten months, and
during that period he and his companions
accumulated a most valuable series of natural
history and geological specimens, which now
form a part of the national collections at South
Kensington.

Mr. Andrews describes the climate of the
island as both pleasant and healthy. During
the greater part of the year, he says, the
weather is much like that of a hot dry English
summer, tempered nearly always by a steady
sea breeze from the ESE., which is generally
fairly cool and keeps the temperature very
even day and night. Except for showers at
night, almost the whole rainfall occurs from
December to May inclusive. During these
months there are sometimes heavy downpours
lasting several days, but as a rule the mornings
are fine. In the dry season (May to December)
the vegetation is kept fresh by very heavy dews
and occasional showers at night.

The soil is a rich brown loam, often strewn
with nodules of phosphates, and here and
there with fragments of volcanic rock. One of

116

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the most notable features about the island is the
depth to which in many places the soil extends.
A well was sunk by Mr. Ross for 40 feet without
reaching the bed-rock. Mr. Andrews surmises
that this great depth of soil is accounted for by
the decomposition of volcanic rock.

At the time of the visit by H.M.S. Egcria in
1887 the island was totally uninhabited. In
November, 1888, following upon the annexa-
tion of the island, a settlement was established
at Flying Fish Cove by Mr. G. Clunies Ross, of
Cocos- Keeling Islands, and since that date this
gentleman's brother, Mr. Andrew Clunies Ross,
with his family and a few Cocos Island Malays,
has resided there almost continuously. By
them houses were built, wells were dug and
small clearings for planting coffee, coconut
palms, bananas and other plants were made in
the neighbourhood of Flying Fish Cove. In
February, 1891, Sir John Murray and Mr. G.
Clunies Ross were granted a lease of the island
by the British Government, and in 1895-96 Mr.
Sidney Clunies Ross made explorations in the
higher part of the island, resulting in the dis-
covery of large deposits of phosphate of lime.
Finally, in 1897, the leaseholders sold their
lease to a small company, in the possession of
which the island still remains.

Writing on the flora and fauna of the island,
Mr. Andrews says that they are on the whole,
as might be expected, most nearly related to
those of the Indo-Malayan islands, but of this
there are some exceptions in the case of certain
groups. "Of the 319 species of animals re-
corded 145, or about 45 per cent., are described
as endemic. This remarkably high percentage
of peculiar forms is, however, no doubt largely
due to the fact that in some groups, particularly
the insects, the species inhabiting Java and
the neighbouring islands are still imperfectly
known, and many now described for the first
time from Christmas Island will probably be
found to exist in other localities."

The main group of the Cocos-Keeling Islands
is situated between 12° 14' and 12° 13' S. and
96° 49' 57" E. A smaller island belonging to
the group is in ii° 50' N. and 91 50' E. The
islands were discovered in 1609 by Captain
Keeling on his voyage from Batavia to the
Cape, and until quite recent times had an inde-
pendent existence as an outlying possession of
the Crown. In 1878, following upon their
occupation for commercial purposes, they were
attached to the Government of Ceylon. Four
years later the supervision of the group was
handed over to the Straits Settlements Govern-

ment, who were rightly regarded as being
better placed to discharge the not too exacting
duties required. At different times the islands
were visited by scientific travellers, making a
tour of investigation. The most distinguished
of these visitors was Charles Darwin, who
during the famous voyage of the Beagle put in
at the islands in 1836 and remained there some
little time. It was from observations made
during his sojourn in the group that he formed
his famous theory of the formation of coral
reefs — a theory which it may be remarked
is discredited by subsequent investigations and
experience on the same spot.

The islands are held under a lease from the
Crown of one thousand years by Mr. George
Clunies Ross, and this gentleman, with the
members of his family, carry on a lucrative
trade mainly in the produce of the coconut
tree, which flourishes in the islands. Only
three of the islands — Settlement, West, and
Direction islands — are inhabited. The total
population of the group in 1903 was 669,
of whom 567 are Cocos born, the remainder
representing Bantamese coolies and other im-
ported labour. The entire population is en-
gaged under Mr. Ross's direction in the
cultivation of the coconut and the preparation
of copra for export. In the Government report
on the islands for 1901 the number of coconuts
gathered on the islands was given at seven
millions. But in the early part of 1902 a severe
cyclone swept across the group, uprooting no
fewer than 300,000 trees. This was a severe
blow to the trade of the islands, and it will be
years probably before the mischief is entirely
repaired.

Long completely isolated, the islands have
been quite recently brought into intimate
touch with the rest of the world by the estab-
lishment of a station of the Eastern Telegraph
Company on Direction Island. This link with
civilisation was forged as the result of the
sittings of the Cables Communication Com-
mittee, which, in its report issued in 1902,
recommended the construction of a cable
from Rodriguez to Perth in Western Australia
via the Cocos Group. The station is equipped
with the latest appliances in telegraphy, and
a speed of 120 letters a minute can be
maintained on either cable without risk of
error from indistinct signals. It is hoped that
some day a cable from the islands will be con-
structed to Ceylon and an "all-British route"
thus provided. Meanwhile, there is reason to
believe (says Mr. A. S. Baxendale, of the Feder-

ated Malay States service, in his official report
on the islands for 1903) that the islands will
soon become an important signalling station
for vessels steaming between Colombo and
Fremantle. " The islands lie directly in the
track of these vessels, and sometimes — as for
instance occurred in April in the case of the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany's steamship Himalaya the name of the
passing mail steamers can be read from the
shore. It is probable that if the steamship
companies concerned desired that their vessels
should be afforded facilities for communicating
by means of wireless telegraphy with the Cable
Company's office, the company would be will-
ing to establish on Direction Island a station on
the Lodge- Muirhead system."

Besides the islands referred to above, the
Straits Settlements Government has since 1906
been associated with the administration of
Labuan, an island lying about six miles from
the north-west coast of Borneo in the Malay
Archipelago. The island, from 1890 until the
period of its transfer to the Straits Settlements,
was under the government of the British North
Borneo Company. Though not large — the total
area is only 30J square miles — the territory
is one of some commercial promise. It has
rich coal deposits, and there is considerable
scope for planting enterprise. The trade at
present, apart from coal, is largely in sago,
gutta percha, indiarubber, wax, &c, imported
from Borneo and other islands and exported
to Singapore. The population in 1901 was
estimated at 8,411. It consisted chiefly of
Malays from Borneo, but there was a consider-
able Chinese colony, and there were also thirty
European residents. The capital of the island
is a settlement of 1,500 inhabitants to which the
name Victoria has been given. The trade of
the island amounted in 1905 to .£130,135 in
exports and £108,766 in imports, as compared
with £153,770 exports and £157,068 imports in
the previous year. The tonnage entered and
cleared in 1905 was 321,400, against 311,744 in
1904. The great bulk of the trade being with
Singapore, the trade with the United Kingdom
direct is infinitesimal. The revenue of the place
is derived from retail licences and customs
duties on spirits, wine, tobacco, &c. The tiny
colony is in the happy position of having no
public debt. It also possesses the advantage of
direct communication with the outer world, as
the cable from Hongkong to Singapore touches
on its shores, and there is also telegraphic com-
munication with the mainland.

-=S£L

<=^?r

J2^^

"3^

THE PRESENT DAY

O R L D - \V I D E as the
colonising influence of
the United Kingdom
has been, it is doubtful
whether its beneficent
results have ever been
more strikingly manifest
than in British Malaya.
The Straits Settlements
can look back over a century of phenomenal
prosperity under British rule, and the prospect
for the future is as bright as the record of the
past. Pinang and Singapore have been the
keys which have unlocked the portals of the
Golden Peninsula, so that its wealth in well-
laden argosies has been distributed to the four
corners of the earth. And by a natural process
the spirit of enterprise and progress has com-
municated itself to the Hinterland, which is
being rapidly opened up and bids fair to
become a veritable commercial El Dorado.
Krom this territory the world derives no less
than two-thirds of its total supply of tin, while
vast areas of land are being placed under
cultivation for rubber, which promises to
become a great and increasing source of
revenue year by year.

Until the early part of 1907 the Straits Settle-
ments were in the happy position of having a
balance of 3,200,000 dollars to their credit. In
the opening months of the year, however, they
raised a loan of £7,861,457 for the purpose of
acquiring the Tanjong Pagar Docks and
improving the Singapore harbour. The sum
paid for the docks amounted to about three
millions and a half sterling, and in respect of
this the undertaking will be called upon to pay
4 per cent, per annum. For the expenditure
upon the harbour the Government will be in
some measure reimbursed by the sale of
reclaimed land, which is expected to produce
a large sum. The revenue of the colony has
increased from 7,041,686 dollars in 1901 to
9,631,944 dollars in 1906, while the expenditure
within that period has grown from 7,315,000
dollars to 8,747,820 dollars. More than one-
half the total revenue is derived from the opium
traffic.

The financial position of the Federated
Malay States is exceptionally sound. Perak,
Selangor and Negri Sambilan show excess
assets amounting to 36,576,569 dollars, and the
excess liabilities of Pahang, amounting to

5,788,303 dollars, represent only loans advanced
free of interest by the other three States for the
development of the country. The revenue of
the Federated Malay States has increased from
5.013,000 dollars in 1889 to 27,223,476 dollars in
1906. To the latter sum the export duty on
tin contributed no less than 10,036,607 dollars.
The expenditure has risen from 4,091,078
dollars in 1889 to 18,899,425 dollars in 1906.

Except for an excise duly on opium and
alcoholic liquors, all the ports of the colony
are free, and the only charge on shipping is a
light due of a penny a ton in and out. It is
this freedom which in a large measure explains
the pre-eminence of the colony over its older
Dutch rivals, where trade is hampered by
heavy duties on imports. The exports of
merchandise from the colony, excluding inter-
port trade, were valued in 1906 at 281,273 and
the imports at 3 17,85 1 million dollars. Together
these exceeded by 14,392 million dollars the
return for 1902, when the figures were 273,622
and 31 i,uo million dollars respectively. The
gross aggregate trade, including the movement
of treasure, showed, however, a falling off of
about 2,645 million dollars when compared
with the figure for 1902. In order to appreciate
correctly the comparisons instituted, it is
necessary to bear in mind that the value of
the dollar in 1902 was only is. 8Jd., whereas in
1906 it was 2s. 4d.

It is gratifying to observe the increasing
growth of the import trade with the United
Kingdom. The commodities purchased from
the mother country exceeded in value those
from the Continents of Europe and America
by III million dollars during the ten years
1887-96 and by 129^5 million dollars in the
following decade. The exports to the United
Kingdom are worth about double as much as
those to America, which comes next amongst
Western nations as a purchaser of the colony's
products and ranks second only to Germany as
a shipper. The greatest portion of the colony's
trade is with the Malay Peninsula, the United
Kingdom, the Netherlands Indies, British India
and Burma, Siam, Hongkong, China, and the
United States of America in the order given.

In the Federated Malay States the only
import duties are on spirits and opium, except
in Pahang, where tobacco is also taxed. Duties
are collected on all the commodities sent out
of the country. The duty on tin varies accord-
117

ing to the market price of the metal, while
cultivated rubber, tapioca, gambier, and pepper
pay an ml valorem export duty of 2J per cent.
The value of the exports (excluding bullion)
from the Federated Malay States in 1906 was
79,178,891 dollars as compared with 29,402,343
dollars, ten years previously. To this total tin ore
contributed no less than 71.104,191 dollars, culti-
vated rubber 1,855,486 dollars, sugar 1,044,625
dollars, and tapioca, coffee, copra, gambier, padi,
pepper, gutta percha, and dried fish 5,000,000
dollars. The equivalent of 331,234 dollars was
exported in gold from the mines of Pahang. The
imports amounted to 44,547, 133 dollars as against
20,074,531 dollars in 1897, and consisted chiefly
of opium, provisions, cotton textiles, hardware,
and iron-ware. The bulk of these exports and
imports are shipped through Singapore and
Pinang.

Shipping is as the breath of life to the Straits
Settlements. Singapore is the seventh port of
the world, and is a port of call for vessels
trading between Europe or India and the
Far East, the north of Australia, and the
Netherlands Indies. Pinang is the emporium
for all the trade for the northern parts of
Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The total
tonnage of the shipping cleared at Singapore,
Pinang,and Malacca in 1906 was 11,191,776 — an
increase of 466,490 tons over the return for the
previous year. The aggregate tonnage of the
shipping cleared at Singapore, which is a port
of call for most of the shipping of the colony,
was 6,661.549, or 2,667,944 more than in 1896.
During the period under review the tonnage of
British shipping increased from 2,630,472 to
3,602,126 tons, and of German from 484,447 to
974,241 tons. Amongst the smaller competitors
Japan has made the most headway, advancing
from the position of eighth on the list, with a
tonnage of only 54,172 tons, to that of fifth with
a tonnage of 238,454 tons.

At the present time British shipping in the
colony is unfairly handicapped by the immunity
which foreign competitors enjoy from regula-
tions which vessels flying the red ensign are
obliged to observe. Under the existing law
foreign shipping can demand a clearance
though overloaded to the deck-line, and it runs
no risk of detention on the ground that hull,
equipment, or machinery is defective. These
inequalities will be removed by a measure,
framed on the model of the Merchant Shipping

118

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MAEAYA

Acts of 1894 and 1900, which is now engaging
the attention of the Attorney-General of the
Straits Settlements. This measure will provide,
also, for the consolidation of the merchant
shipping laws of the colony, which are now
in a state bordering upon chaos, and will
probably contain a clause prohibiting masters
and mates of foreign ships from obtaining local
pilotage certificates.

All the important shipping lines calling at
Singapore and Pinang have combined for
some years past to charge uniform rates for
the conveyance of freight and passengers to
and from the colony. Their practice is to grant
a rebate equal to 10 per cent, per annum to
all shippers who use their lines exclusively,
5 per cent, being paid at the end of the first six
months and another five in respect of that
period six months later. In this way the steam-
ship companies always hold a considerable sum
in hand, and prevent the local shipper from
seeking relief elsewhere. The possibility of
competition being thus precluded, the combine
is in a position to name its own terms, and the
natural consequence has been a considerable
increase in freight rates. In proof of this it
may be mentioned that the charge for carrying
tin has been raised from 6s. jd. per picul
(133J lbs.) in 1892 to 28s. 4d. in 1906. But
this does not constitute the whole of the
indictment alleged against the combine. A
system of preference is adopted whereby some
local firms benefit at the cost of others. For,
in addition to the rebates already referred to,
a further 5 per cent, on the total freight
carried by the combine is distributed amongst
a limited number of privileged firms or persons.
Again, as all transhipment cargo is excluded
from the tariff, the combine is free to accept at
any rate foreign goods shipped via Singapore
on through bills of lading. The British manu-
facturer is handicapped by the fact that certain
goods, such as tin and gums, can be delivered
in America at a cheaper rate than they can be
placed in any port of the United Kingdom
except London. This is notably the case with
tin, which costs 5s. a ton more to Swansea
than to New York. These facts are generally
admitted, but it is urged in mitigation of
them that the combine has provided the colony
with better, faster, and more regular shipping
opportunities than existed in the days of
cheaper, but more speculative, freights, and
that this has tended to create easier financial
facilities. On the other hand it is contended
that these advantages are the outcome of a
natural process of evolution. Since the forma-
tion of the combine the shipments from the
colony, which were increasing, have fallen, and
the matter is engaging the attention of a Royal
Commission.

As has already been stated, the Government
of the Straits Settlements have recently acquired
the Tanjong Pagar Docks, and are carrying out
a number of works for the improvement of
Singapore harbour. A progressive policy is
also being adopted in regard to the port of
Pinang, where, however, some little feeling of
dissatisfaction prevails in consequence of what
is thought to be the preferential treatment of
Singapore. On the Malay Peninsula the
harbours are chiefly interesting by reason of the
possibilities which they offer for future develop-

ment. It seems to be generally agreed that
Port Swettenham is destined to outstrip its rivals,
the intention of the Government being appa-
rently to concentrate there the shipping of the
central and southern portion of the Federated
Malay States, by developing to the utmost the
natural advantages of the port. The east coast,
the navigation of which is attended with much
danger to small shipping during certain seasons
of the year, is singularly destitute of accommo-
dation for shipping, but at the mouth of the river
Kuantan, in Pahang, there is a deep-water front
extending for some considerable distance.
Steps are being taken to remove the sand-bar
at the mouth of the river, and these may be
followed by the construction of a groyne to
prevent further silting.

Opium is a very fruitful source of revenue to
the Straits Settlements, contributing no less a
sum than five or six million dollars, or rather
more than one-half of the total revenue of the
colony. In the Federated Malay States, also,
the Government derives about two and a half
million dollars annually from the drug. The
quantity imported into the Federated Malay
States, however, is three times as great as in
the Straits Settlements. The difference in the
sum yielded is attributable to several causes.
In the colony the exclusive right to import,
manufacture, and sell opium is farmed out to
the highest bidder, but in the Federated Malay
States, except in the coast districts — a com-
paratively small area — anyone may import
opium on payment of the import duty, which
now stands at 560 dollars a chest. Again, the
miners in the Federated Malay States are paid
to a considerable extent in kind, including
opium, and the opium smokers are more ex-
travagant than in the Straits Settlements, where
the drug is a much more expensive luxury. It
must be remembered also that the figures of
opium consumption in the Straits Settlements
are those of the drug imported by the farmers ;
but it is a well known fact that thousands of
dollars' worth of opium — much of it from the
Federated Malay States — are smuggled into the
colony, and this cannot well be stopped, as
there is no Customs department in the Straits
Settlements. In the Federated Malay States
there is a Customs department, and there is less
inducement to smuggle owing to the low price
at which the drug is retailed there.

The Chinese are inveterate gamblers, and
recognising this fact, the Federated Malay
States Government have legalised gambling in
properly licensed premises. The monopoly of
conducting these gambling houses is farmed
out, after being submitted to tender. A sub-
stantial revenue accrues to the Government
from this source. In the Straits Settlements,
however, gambling is prohibited, and the law
is enforced by severe penalties.

The tin mining industry in the Federated
Malay States provides employment for 212,660
labourers, the greater proportion of whom work
upon the " tribute " system, under which tiieir
earnings are to some extent dependent upon the
success or failure of the mine. The total area
of land alienated for mining purposes at the
close of 1906 was 263,800 acres, more than one-
half of which area is in the State of Perak.
Upon only a small portion of this acreage, how-
ever, are mining operations actually in progress.

The primitive methods adopted by the Chinese
for the winning of tin ore are now being
superseded largely by more modern systems,
which have been rendered necessary by the ex-
haustion of the more easily won tin-bearing
deposits. It seems almost certain that the
future of the tin mining industry in the Fede-
rated Malay States will depend upon the
economical development, on a large scale, of
low-grade propositions. The methods of work-
ing in vogue fall into three classes — the open-
cast system, the underground workings, and the
alluvial washings known as "lampans." In
not a few instances also the pay-dirt is washed
down from the sides of the hills by hydraulic
pressure, the water being sometimes brought
from great distances in order to secure a suffi-
cient head. After the "karang" has been
washed down it is treated in the ordinary way
by means of wash-boxes or riffles.

Next to the tin industry, and promising soon
to outrival it in importance as a commercial
and revenue producing factor, is the great
rubber-planting industry. Though quite in its
infancy it is already taking a prominent posi-
tion in the finances of the federated territory,
as will be seen from the figures given else-
where. A simple statement of fact will bring
home to readers the truly remarkable develop-
ment which the States are undergoing as a
result of the rise of rubber. At the end of 1905
there were in the States 40,000 acres under
rubber ; twelve months later the area under
cultivation was 100,000 acres. Nor is the end
yet by a long way. Immense areas still await
the attention of the pioneering planter, and
without doubt they will receive it. Thus a
splendid future awaits planting enterprise in
the Federated States unless some great calamity
occurs, or, what at the moment seems highly
improbable, some efficient substitute for rubber
is discovered.

Owing to the difficulty which has been
experienced by certain estates in the Federated
Malay States in obtaining an adequate supply
of labour, the Government have decided to
levy a poll-tax, not exceeding five dollars per
coolie, on all employers of this class of labour,
for the purpose of forming a fund for the estab-
lishment of a labour recruiting agency. From
this source mine managers and estate agents
will be able to obtain all the labour they require
for the development of their properties, without
incurring the expenditure of bringing over from
India Tamils who frequently abscond in order
to take up temporary employment of a more
remunerative nature before they have repaid
the sums advanced to them for the cost of
transit, &c.

The Government of the Federated Malay
States have not failed to keep pace with private
enterprise. The country is intersected with
excellent roads, which are being rapidly ex-
tended, and a well-equipped railway runs from
Prye, the northern extremity of Perak, opposite
Pinang, to the borders of Johore, with branch
lines to the various ports on the seaboard. This
railway was constructed entirely out of the
revenue of the States, and has already paid
dividends equal to 40 per cent, of the capital
expenditure. Several extensions of the system
are under consideration, and it is almost certain
that before long a line will be carried into

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

119

Pahang, the least-developed of the four States
comprised in the Federation. At the time of
writing, a line of 120 miles in length is being
constructed through the independent State of
Johore with money advanced by the Federated
Malay States. When this project is completed,
some time in 1909, it will be possible to travel
by rail from Singapore to Prye, and it is con-
sidered probable that some day in the future
connection may be established with Calcutta by
means of a trunk line through the intervening
territory.

Scarcely any steps were taken by the Govern-
ment to provide education in the colony until
1872, in which year the Education Department
was formed. In 1906 the Education Depart-
ments of the colony and the Federated States
were amalgamated under one head, and Mr.
J. B. Elcum, B.A. Oxon., was appointed
Director of Public Instruction. It is hoped
shortly to assimilate entirely the educational
systems in the two territories. The codes now
in force, though very similar, contain certain
important differences, and the methods of
administration show even greater differences.
In 1906 there were in the Straits Settlements
35 English-teaching schools and 174 vernacu-
lar schools, while in the Federated Malay
States the numbers were 22 and 263 re-
spectively. All the vernacular schools, except
a few in which Tamil and Chinese are
taught, are purely Government schools for
the teaching of Malay. The English schools
and the Chinese and Tamil vernacular
schools receive a grant-in-aid from the Govern-
ment based on attendance, merit, organisa-
tion, and discipline. Apart from expenditure
upon school buildings, the net cost of education
during 1906 was in the Straits Settlements
328,635 dollars, or 15.42 dollars per pupil,
and in the Federated Malay States 263,876
dollars, or 15.45 dollars per pupil.

The total average number of children in
the Government schools of all kinds has
materially increased of late years. In 1906 it
was approximately 38,380, but exact figures
are not available for Pahang, where educa-
tion is still very backward. The average
attendance of pupils was 83-6 per cent.
These figures appear small in comparison
with the population, but it must be remem-
bered that only among the Eurasians and
Malays, who alone are settled under normal
conditions, is the proportion of children to
adults as large as in most countries. The
cause of education is severely handicapped,
too, by the fact that the Malays and Chinese
are almost indifferent as to the instruction of
their female children ; the Chinese, however,
are very much alive to the advantage of an
English education for their sons. Thus it

happens that, although nearly half the
children of school-going age are girls, only
4,260 girls attended school in 1906, as com-
pared with 34,120 boys.

At all the large and important English
schools there are classes for the continued
instruction of boys who have passed Standard
VII., and generally between 100 and 200
candidates are presented each year at the
Cambridge Senior and Junior Examinations
held at Singapore and Pinang. These
examinations were dropped in the Federated
Malay States for a few years, but Kuala
Lumpor was again made a centre in 1907.
The great inducement to take up secondary
work in the Straits Settlements has been the
Queen's Scholarship, of the value of £'250
per year, tenable for not more than five
years at an English University. Hitherto
two of these scholarships have been awarded
each year, but it is now proposed to dis-
continue one and devote the money to the
improvement of local education. An occa-
sional scholarship on the same lines has also
been given in the Federated Malay States.
Special grants and prizes are offered for boys
who are trained in a commercial class in
shorthand, typewriting, bookkeeping, and
composition, but, so far, very little advantage
has been taken of these offers in the
Federated Malay States. Attempts to provide
technical instruction have not proved popular,
but a large and satisfactory science class has
been established at Rattles Institute, Singapore.

The Straits Settlements are administered by
a Governor, an Executive Council, composed
entirely of officials, and a Legislative Council
containing a minority of representatives of the
general community appointed by the Governor.
The germ of the principle of popular election
is seen in the privilege accorded to the Singa-
pore and Pinang Chambers of Commerce of
each nominating a member for the Legislative
Council. The Governor of the Straits Settle-
ments is also High Commissioner of the
Federated Malay States. Subordinate to him
are the Resident-General and four British
Residents — one for each of the States com-
prised in the Federation. The system of
government is tantamount to a bureaucracy,
and the territory is for all practical purposes
as British as the neighbouring colony itself.
The Sultans rule but do not govern, and
although it is provided that no measure can
become law until it has been passed by the
Council of each State to which it applies,
these bodies are, in reality, merely advisory.

As regards local government there are in
Singapore, Pinang, and Malacca Municipal
Commissions, with powers very similar to
those possessed by Urban District Councils in

Great Britain. The members are partly nomi-
nated by the Governor and partly elected by
popular vote. This vote is limited to adult
male British subjects occupying or possessing
property of a certain rateable value. In the
Federated Malay States the chief centres of
population are administered by Sanitary-
Boards, consisting of civil servants and an
unofficial minority chosen by the Government.
The trend of things at the present day is,
undoubtedly, in the direction of extending the
principle of federation. Each year similar
departments, which formerly existed inde-
pendently of one another in each of the States,
are being amalgamated, in order to establish
uniformity and promote efficiency. At the
present time the Public Works, Railways,
Post Office, Land and Survey, Mines, Forests,
Agriculture, Fisheries, Finance, Police, Prisons,
Trade and Customs, Immigration, Education,
Museum, and Printing Departments are each
under one head. The Judiciary, the military
forces, and the Chinese Secretariat are also
Federal institutions. By an elaborate system
of bookkeeping an attempt is made to keep
the finances of the different States distinct
from one another, but their interests are so
very closely interwoven that it is only
possible to appear to do this on paper. It is
probably only a matter of time before even
this attempt will be abandoned, and, con-
temporaneously with this, one may expect to
see the establishment of a system of Federal
Government, something on the lines of the
Executive and Legislative Councils in the
Straits Settlements. The mining and planting
communities, to whom, of course, the pros-
perity of the Federated Malay States is mainly
due, appear to think that they are entitled
to some more effective voice in the manage-
ment of the country than they possess under
the existing system. But the principle of
unification seems not unlikely to spread
even beyond these limits. Not only is the
Governor of the Straits Settlements High
Commissioner for the Federated Malay States,
but quite recently a Director of Education,
an Inspector-General of Hospitals, a Con-
servator of Forests, and a Secretary for
Chinese Affairs have been appointed for the
Straits Settlements and Federated Malay
States conjointly. An arrangement, too, has
been made whereby the Puisne Judges of the
Straits Settlements and the Judicial Commis-
sioners of the Federated Malay States will
be interchangeable. Gradually the colony and
the Federated Malay States, with their mutual
commercial interests and interdependent
business relationships, are being drawn more
and more closely together for administrative
purposes to their common advantage.

o^gsS \0

"%0

0\%

GOVERNORS OF THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

ilPPENDED is a list of
the Governors and Ad-
ministrators of the
Straits Settlements since
these were taken over
hy the Colonial Oftice
in 1867 :
Colonel Harry St. George Ord, R.E., C.B.,

April I, 1867, to March 3, 1871.
Lieut. -Colonel Archihai.d Edward Har-
bord ANSON, K.A., Administrator,
March 4, 1871, to March 22, 1872.

Major-General Sir Harry St. George Ord,

C.B. (G.C.M.G.), March 23, 1872, to

November 2, 1873.
Lieut. -Colonel Archibald Edward Harbord

Anson, R.A., Administrator, November 3,

1873, to November 4, 1873.
Colonel Sir Andrew Clarke, K.E., K.C.M.G.,

C.B., November 4, 1873, to May 10,

1875-
Colonel Sir William Francis Drummond

Jervois, R.E., K.C.M.G., C.B. (Major-

General, G.C.M.G.),
April 3, i«77-

May 10, 1875, to

Colonel Archibald Edward Harbord Anson,
R.A., C.M.G., Administrator, April 3,
1877, to October 29, 1877.

Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson,
K.C.M.G., October 29, 1877, to February
10, 1879.

Major-General Sir Archibald Edward Anson,
R.A., K.C.M.G., Administrator, February
10, 1879, to May 6, 1880.

Frederick Aloysius Weld, C.M.G., Adminis-
trator, May 6, 1880, to March 28, 1884.

Cecil Clementi Smith, CM. G., Administrator,
March 29, 1884, to November 12, 1885.

Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, K.C.M.G.,
November 13, 1885, to May 13, 1887.

John Frederick Dickson, C.M.G., Adminis-
trator, May 14, 1887, to June 19, 1887.

Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, G.C.M.G.,
June 20, 1887, to October 17, 1887.

Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, K.C.M.G., October
20, 1887, to April 8, 1890.

Sir J. Frederick Dickson, K.C.M.G., Admin-
istrator, April 8, 1890, to November n,
1890.

Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, K.C.M.G.
(G.C.M.G.), November 12, 1890, to
August 30, 1893.

William Edward Maxwell, C.M.G.
(K.C.M.G), Administrator, August 30,
1893, to January 31, 1894.

Lieut. -Colonel Sir Charles Bullen Hugh
Mitchell, K.C.M.G. (G.C.M.G.), Feb-
ruary 1, 1894, to March 27, 1898.

Sir James Alexander Swettenham, K.C.M.G.,
Administrator, March 28, 1898, to Decem-
ber 29, 1898.

Lieut. -Colonel Sir Charles Bullen Hugh
Mitchell, G.C.M.G., December 30, 1898,
to December 7, 1899.

Sir James Alexander Swettenham, K.C.M.G.,
Administrator, December 8, 1899, to Feb-
ruary 18, 1901.

Frank Athelstane Swettenham,
K.C.M.G., Administrator, February 18,
1901, to September 25, 1901.

Frank Athelstane Swettenham,
K.C.M.G., September 26, 1901, to October
12, 1903.

William Thomas Taylor, C.M.G., Adminis-
trator, October 13, 1903, to April 15, 1904.

Sir John Anderson, K.C.M.G., April 15, 1904,
to March 1, 1906.

Sir William Taylor, K.C.M.G., Administrator,
March 2, 1906.

Sir John Anderson, K.C.M.G., present time.

Sir

THE POPULATION OF MALAYA

By Mrs. REGINALD SANDERSON.

s^ff*fe^Eci^^))*ri

ISl

^^s

1111

oyiL^if

IT has been truly said that
Singapore, in the in-
finite variety of its popu-
lation alone, is like no
other place in the world,
with the possible excep-
tions of Constantinople
and Cairo. Races from
all parts of the globe
inhabit this island and spread over into the
Malay Peninsula. The Chinese predominate ;
indeed, it is calculated that, out of the forty
or more different nationalities represented in
Singapore, at least two-thirds belong to the
Celestial Empire. Year by year, nay, week by
week, many thousand immigrants arrive from
China. Some of them remain in the port,
while others move on into Pinang, Malacca,
and the native States.

From ancient records we learn that the first
Chinese traders in these parts were called
Gores, and hailed from the Loochow Islands.
" When they arrive at any port," says one
quaint account, " they do not bring their
merchandise out at once, but little by little ;
they speak truthfully, and will have the truth
spoken to them, and are men of very
reserved speech." All of which is a fairly
accurate description of the Chinese trader of
this century, certainly as compared with the
Bombay merchants and Japanese hawkers,
who possess the opposite characteristics.

A mixed multitude are these selfsame
Chinese. Men from the northern province
of the Middle Kingdom cannot understand
the speech of the men from the south.
Even ports in China which are almost ad-
jacent speak a strange dialect, the characters
only in which the language is written re-
maining identical. Of the multitudes of
races from India who emigrate to Malaya,
almost the same may be said — they cannot
understand each other's tongue. The Arabic
characters are familiar to numerous differing
languages and dialects. And so it is that
one finds public notice-boards written in
Chinese, Arabic, and Tamil for the guidance
of the different members of the community,
who can only communicate with one another
in quickly acquired colloquial Malay.

The Straits-born Chinese, who are desig-
nated Babas, differ from their fellow-country-
men in endless ways. They have grafted the
latest benefits of Western science on to their
more ancient civilisation, which is, in point
of fact, the oldest in the world, yet of a

precocious development inexplicably arrested.
Their brain-power is abnormal, and from the
highest grades of society to the lowest they
excel in whatever they undertake. Young
men return from British and American
Universities imbued with tremendous zeal
for uprooting archaic customs — eager for
their womenkind to be educated, resolved to
curtail the tedious ceremonies and prepos-

Buddhist high priest, all in carriages, in
advance of whom, again, is a seemingly
endless procession of flags, bannerets, and
musicians of all ages playing all sorts of
Chinese instruments. Alongside the coffin
itself walk the male relatives of the deceased,
all clothed in sackcloth ; they are followed by
many hundreds of funeral guests; and last of
all come the female relatives of the deceased,

A CHINESE FUNERAL.

terous expenses at marriages and funerals,
anxious that the rule prohibiting young people
from meeting before marriage should be
rendered obsolete, and determined to abolish
the useless towchang and foot-binding.

The funeral of a rich Chinaman is well
worth seeing. From 3,000 to 5,000 dollars is
not considered too lavish a sum to spend on
the arrangements. Preceding the sandalwood
coffin are preappointed " guides " and a

attired as mourners. On arrival at the ceme-
tery the coffin is placed temporarily in a
mortuary, there to await interment at some
future date to be arranged by astrologers.
The proceedings are characterised by great
reverence.

At present marriages are still arranged by
go-betweens, who exchange the presents and
settle money matters, and, in the majority of
cases, the bridegroom gazes on his bride for

122

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the first time after the ceremonies, when he
takes off her black-lace wedding veil before
the assembled guests. An elaborate and
extravagantly gorgeous feast is prepared at
both weddings and funerals, and there are

other schools which encourages their in-
structors.

With regard to the immigrant class from
China, a stranger visiting these parts would
undoubtedly first come in contact with the

SAKAIS OF BATANG PADANG, PERAK.

costly processions with much music and
waving of embroidered banners and scrolls,
besides bands of coolies in ceremonial garb
carrying Sedan chairs, baked sweetmeats, and
curiously designed devices. A bride has her
hair cut over the forehead in a fringe, and is
expected to stay in the house after being
married until her hair has grown long enough
to be put back. The women as a general
rule live secluded lives, while girls, or Nonyas,
are properly only taken out for three days'
pleasure at China New Year. At other times
they can only leave the house in closed car-
riages or covered rickshas. This restriction
does not equally apply to Christians, though
many of them are still kept in retirement.

The Straits Chinese have exhibited con-
siderable generosity in giving towards hos-
pitals and public and private charities, and
they add greatly to the stability of the British
Empire in Malaya. Their children show an
aptitude for learning in the Government and

Hylams, who form the majority of the
domestics. As servants they are smart and
unscrupulous. They earn high wages, but
their money does no good to Malaya, being
almost wholly remitted to their native pro-
vince of Hainan to support their families.
No Hylam woman is legally permitted to leave
her country. Cases have been known of girls
coming over disguised as house-boys, but they
were promptly repatriated. The Hylams have
strong guilds, which uphold them in every
possible way, even going so far as to boycott
a house should the servants be dissatisfied.
At the same time it must, in fairness, be added
that a Hylam will guard his own Tuan's
property with the utmost fidelity, if put on
his honour, and his talent for cooking is
proverbial. In Malacca one class of Hylams
work on the rubber and other estates, another
pull rickshas, while others are petty shop-
keepers and shop coolies. The Hainan decree
that women shall not leave the country is a

wise rule for the province — Lycurgus himself
could hardly have framed a better — as thereby
the State is not mulcted of its revenue, but
gains riches from other lands. Hylam stewards
and Kranis on board ship reap bountiful har-
vests, and in time retire comfortably to their
native land. Many Hylams are honest and
upright, and become indispensable as clerks in
offices. The Hylam freely spends his money
on Jubilee or Royal processions, such as those
. which were given to welcome the Duke of
Connaught and Prince Arthur, when the
Hylam Guild was conspicuous for its gor-
geousness.

In close proximity to the domestic class, as
adding to the comforts or discomforts of Euro-
peans, come the much-abused ricksha-pullers,
who, as a general rule, are either from
Foochow or Hokien. At the present time
the majority are from Foochow, and their
dialect is entirely different from the Hylam
clan, who are dissociated from them in every
way and will not take service in the same
house. These coolies usually contrive to
obtain some less degrading work. Apart from
the degradation, the actual work is not so
exhausting as a British navvy's, and is cer-
tainly nothing in comparison with the labour
in a coal-mine. The ricksha-man is underfed
and badly housed. Some live together in
wretched tenements, others bring their families
to equally undesirable places, and the wives
sit outside all day stitching at old clothes,
renovating servants' clothing for a few cents,
and re-lining ancient sun-blinds. These Sew-
Sew women carry their baskets everywhere.
The ricksha coolies at times seek a temporary
elysium by a sojourn in one of the opium dens.
A glimpse through the open doorway reveals
within a motley crew of emaciated beings
looking remarkably like corpses as they lie
stretched on mat beds slowly sucking the
small but tempting pipe. In lonely tin mines,
on rubber estates, and in places with large
contracts for road-making, the Chinese are
often found more peaceable as opium-smokers
in moderation. Returning to the ricksha-

ffih\

SAKAI CHIEF, BATANG PADANG,
PERAK.

pullers, running in this tropical climate en-
genders thirst, and itinerant vendors of iced
drinks drive a brisk trade. The perspiring
coolie, mindful of his impatient fare, swallows
a black or yellow mixture at one gulp and

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

123

hastens onwards. The Malays and Indians,
especially, treat hiin with scant courtesy, often
withholding the rightful fare, and escaping
hefore the breathless puller can hail a police-
man to state his grievance.

JAVANESE SERVANT.

Hokiens, though living in China at Amoy,
six hours by sea from Foochow, have few
similar words in their dialect. Take, for
instance, the word " our." Men from Foo-
chow say " itguai-gauk-neng," while a Hokien
enunciates clearly " goa " — that is all.
Hokiens are remarkably adept at starting
small shops. They buy produce from the
Teochews, who stagger in from the country
in the early morning with baskets of
mangosteens, rambutans, pineapples, the evil-
smelling durian, and the ubiquitous pisang,
or banana.

Hakkas are sometimes ricksha men, but the
majority keep shops and are more or less
wealthy silk merchants.

From Canton, spoken of in the same
breath as being the dirtiest city in the world
and the home of the beautiful flower-boats,
come scores of rattan makers, who, like
the furniture makers, keep stowed away in
their darksome dwellings old catalogues from
Bond Street and Regent Street, and engage
to copy anything in reason, at a moderate
figure. From Canton come the greater num-
ber of the amahs, whose uncouth chatter may
be daily heard in the fine Botanical Gardens,
as they discuss their various " mems' " pecca-
dilloes while their small charges wander
round. Shoemakers, who live, like all Chinese
tradesmen, in streets or rows peculiar to their
handicraft alone, boast of Canton or Hong-
kong as their original home.

Teochews are the chief agriculturists of
the peninsula. Their industry is untiring, and
is in marked contrast to the indolence of the
Malays. The indigenous native is content
with a paddy-field for his rice and a few
pisang-trees. He has no kind of garden,
seldom even a cleared space, except a plot
for drying clothes. His house is made of
trees cut from the jungle, thatched with one

kind of palm and floored with another. The
coconut-tree supplies him with fruit, vegetables,
spoons, basins, curry, sambals, and so on ; the
pisang bark makes invaluable medicine, and
the leaves serve for plates and umbrellas. The
Chinaman, on the other hand, has a neat
garden, full to overflowing of market produce,
with flowers for ornament ; a chicken-run ; a
pineapple plantation, if he is lucky ; and,
amongst it all, a small shed set apart for his
gods, to whom fruit and rice are daily offered.
Where there are many Christians they have a
country church, which they attend and main-
tain with the same zeal that they show for
their work. A Chinaman from any part of
the Middle Kingdom is noted for his contempt
of pain and his powers of endurance under all
circumstances. At night, in the fruit groves,
the Teochews sit in wooden sentry boxes, and
are in readiness for unwary marauders. In
durian and other lofty trees they hang lanterns
to scare the flying foxes and similar depre-
dators.

Chinese wayangs, or travelling theatres, are

ingly. Amongst the Chinese an actor's pro-
fession is considered the lowest grade to
which a man can fall ; it is even beneath
that of a Buddhist or Taoist priest, whose
office is also contemptible. Akin to a slave's
existence is that of a young Chinese lad sold by
his parents to serve in a wayang for a certain
number of years. In the daytime these wan-
dering companies are to be met with every-
where, the painted faces of the weary actors
looking grotesquely incongruous in the bright
sunlight of these tropical climes as they loll
in rickshas, trying to catch a scanty sleep.

Chinese temples abound in Malaya, where
there are many varieties of Buddhist sects.
Shrines to the dreaded Taoist gods, who are
supposed to be always hovering round in need
of propitiation, are placed by the wayside and
hung with bits of coloured cloth, while incense
sticks smoulder there continually. A wonderful
Buddhist temple at Pinang attracts thousands
of sightseers, besides the ordinary devotee. In
Singapore island the Hylams are completing a
gorgeous temple. Inside, there are golden gods

SAKAIS OP PAHANG.

to be met with everywhere in Malaya. On
wedding or birthday feasts a high platform is
erected outside a Towkay's, or rich man's,
house, and until the small hours of the
morning the actors perform almost unceas-

of gigantic stature ; outside, representations of
sacred animals and flowering shrubs, wrought
in delicate porcelain. Dirt and disorder reign
supreme in these temples, unregarded by the
bands of yellow-robed priests, who chant

124

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Buddha's praises, perform divers incantations,
and receive the pilgrims' donations. In the
compound are small rooms, each specially
devoted to particular idols. In the principal
temple petitioners in need of a cure for disease
shake a fortune-spill case. Each spill is num-
bered, and they take the one that drops out to
a priest, who has fortunes with corresponding
numbers. The man may suffer from sore eyes
and receive a cure for toothache ! There is no
reverence shown in these temples. The ser-
vices ended, the priests disrobe, indulge in
various antics, and chaffer with itinerant
vendors of fruit and cakes who throng the
temple steps.

Old superstitions die hard. Quite lately a
fisherman picked up a turtle floating in the
sea ; on its back the name of the sailor's god
was scored, the indentations being filled with
red sealing-wax. Through a hole cut in the
shell was inserted a piece of wire threaded
with cash. Hylam servants, it was eventually
discovered, had bought the turtle, fattened it
on rice for a week, and attached the coins to
it, thus imploring the turtle to rise up out of
the sea and save them or any of their friends
who might be in danger of drowning. This
done, they bore the live turtle to Johnston's
Pier at night, and cast it into the sea to work
its will.

The uneducated Chinese have a superstitious
dread of deaths taking place in their private
houses, and therefore, when any one is ill
beyond hope of recovery, he or she is removed
to a " death-house," or, if there be no such
place available, to the nearest piece of waste-
ground.

Shanghai is the port in China from which
hail the " number-one " carpenters, furniture
makers, and washermen. Their dialect has a

peculiar twang of its own, of which they are
proud. Should a man have lived in Singapore
from childhood, he will, nevertheless, boldly

A JAVANESE HADJI.

state on his sign-board that he comes from
Shanghai.

The immigrant classes from all parts of
China are now experiencing a wave of en-
thusiasm for education, have given up their
expensive Chingay processions, and are estab-

lishing schools for their children suited to
the needs of each dialect. That there are
slaves amongst the Chinese in Singapore and
the States is often insisted upon, and as often
denied. The truth of the matter seems to be
that children are bought by wealthy people,
and, when old enough, work as household
drudges, having food and clothes provided,
but no wages. At times they are cruelly
treated, and, later on, the females are sold as
wives. They are called by the Chinese Isn-
loh-kai, which literally signifies servant.

Wherever Chinese live they would be lost
without their pawnshops. Behind the grated
bars always hover an anxious crowd bartering
their old clothes, stolen jewellery, and much
besides. Through a hole in the ceiling of
the dark inner room a basket is constantly
let down with redeemed pledges or drawn up
with fresh hauls. The gold and silver orna-
ments are concealed in iron safes, which,
nevertheless, are subject to surprise visits from
the police, who are also at liberty to check the
entries in the day-books.

The great aim of the Celestial, in whatever
walk of life he may be, is to amass money, and
in this he usually succeeds. It is a curious fact
that in the same family one brother may be
a rich Towkay, with carriages and horses,
possibly with motors, while another, on whom
he will not be ashamed to call, may be a hard-
working coolie in the country, a third may be
a cook, and yet a fourth a doctor, profiting by
a European education.

Before proceeding to the rest of the immi-
grant population of Malaya, let us mark the
rightful inhabitants. They are a kindly and
likeable people, but, shunning most forms of
work, they look on with utter nonchalance
while the alien robs them of their birthright.

CHINESE RICKSHA PULLER. CHINESE RATTAN WORKER.

CHINESE HOUSEBOY. CHINESE LOCKSMITH. CHINESE HAWKER.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

125

They are, however, keen sportsmen and ex-
pert fishermen and boatmen. In the police
force the Malays do good work, and in the
Post Office and other Government depart-
ments they have earned many encomiums.

The Malay is somewhat prone to revenge,
and his chief attribute is jealousy. His wife is
entirely subservient. Her face is still often
hidden with a sarong, and at railway-stations
stern matrons may be seen guarding a group of
young wives, whose faces are only unveiled in
the privacy of the waiting-room. Little brides
of eleven years old get very weary on their
wedding-day, seated in the decorated arbour
inside a warm house, wearing heavy headgear
and being freely gazed at and criticised by
hosts of visitors, who meanwhile partake of the
marriage feast. The bridegroom, soon released,
enjoys a quiet pipe with his friends. To chew
the betel-nut is the one luxury allowed to a
Malay girl after marriage, but it is prohibited
before. The Mahomedan faith, though prac-
tised in Malaya, is mingled with ancient Dyak
superstitions and magical observances. These
are not much in evidence and entail careful
research. A Malay will be found wandering
round one's garden collecting a yellow blossom
here and a red bud there to charm away some
serious sickness in his home. Ailing babies
will wear tiny indiarubber bracelets to ward
off the Evil One. Trees possessed with
demons are held in dread, and white rags are
tied on their branches. Every village or
settlement has a public praying-place, with a
big drum slung from a beam. This is sounded
vigorously on Thursdays, the eve before the
day of rest — Friday. To these teak buildings,
which are often prettily carved, the people
resort when the nearest mosque is at an incon-
venient distance. Women are not allowed to
enter ; they have no souls and therefore no
future existence, so why trouble further ? They
can fast for their sins, and, as a Malay would
say, " sudah habis." All this refers to the
ordinary Malays and not to the Sultans and
high officials, who are bent on benefiting their
country. The funeral ceremonies of this people
are carried out with Mahomedan ritual. It is
a pathetic sight to see a child-burial. The
little body, wrapped up carefully, is covered
with a gaily-embroidered pall and carried in a
man's arms, with a bearer holding the inevitable
yellow silk umbrella over all.

The aborigines of the peninsula, the Sakais,
are now getting very few in number. They
are a quiet, simple folk, who often live in huts
erected on high platforms, or else revert to
their old tree-dwellings. A hunter will be
cordially received by them, and should he kill
a tiger and then allow them to use their charms
upon it his fame is assured. They believe that
each wild beast has an evil spirit, which, unless
exorcised, will come to them when the animal
is killed. To ward off this direful catastrophe
they draw long tree-ferns up and down the
dead body in the form of a cross, after
which they rest satisfied. They have no
religion, but have an instinctive worship of
Nature and the Unknown Creator. For
weapons of defence they carry blow-pipes,
through which they discharge poisoned arrows.

Arabs are amongst the wealthiest inhabitants
of these parts. Occasionally they are called
" the sharks of the Orient " — this chiefly by
Malay and Javanese pilgrims who are working
for them for a certain number of years to
repay money lent them for the purpose of
making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Arab mer-
chants, if we can believe their ancient records,
were the first discoverers of these shores.
Accounts by the early explorers are preserved
inscribed in Sanskrit. There is a flourishing
Arab Club at Singapore, and when numbers
are seen together, as at a funeral, in their
flowing white robes and their bronze-yellow
turbans, or "keffiahs," twisted round with
small shawls patterned like the old-fashioned

Paisley, they present a sight not easily
forgotten.

Armenians,' again, have amassed much
wealth in the East. Amongst them women
occupy quite an exalted position. After a
husband's death the widow poses as a kind of
queen, before whose authority children and
their husbands and their grandchildren must
perforce bow down. In Singapore they have
built a fine church. Their ritual approaches to

and drive a brisk trade amongst unwary ship-
ping men in stale cigars and inferior articles of
clothing.

Bagdad Jews are successful as opium dealers,
and have to do with the handling of such cargo
from the ships. They walk about in their
white gowns with embroidered zouaves and
red fez, and wear a Brisk, preoccupied air.
Their families, on the contrary, look bored and
listless, the women clad in morning gowns and

A SIKH PRIEST.

that of the Greek Church. One of the oldest
translations of the Bible is in the Armenian
tongue, and there are also works of great
antiquity dealing with the Christian doctrine in
the same language. Like the Jews, they are
scattered everywhere, yet retain a passionate
regard for their native land, which com-
prises the mountains beyond the west of the
Euphrates.

Of the Greek nation there are here a few
traders, who speak a kind of English lingo,

Eastern slippers. Once a year, at the Passover
time, they have a look of joyful anticipation,
and can be seen hurrying from house to house
partaking of the specially prepared meals.
The Bagdad Jews have two synagogues in
Singapore which they alone frequent, the
German Jew keeping himself strictly apart
from this offshoot, and being, as often as not, a
Rationalist.

The laziest nationality represented in Malaya
is, without doubt, the Siamese— those un-

I-' *

126

iHVEtfTI^TH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

wanted in their own country, where every-
thing is progressing rapidly. Here they live
somehow or other, and in the country districts
some of the men indulge in their national
games. The women wear a sarong, arranged
as a divided skirt, and gay muslin blouses — an
incongruous combination. Their language is
softer and more sibilant than the Chinese,
though to a European the number of tones is
equalling confusing, giving one word a variety
of meanings according to the way in which it
is pronounced. Buddhist priests in yellow robes
appear amongst these immigrants on festival
occasions.

A few Annamese are to be found, quite out
of their element, in domestic service. Their
proclivities lean towards righting, at which they
are adepts. In the Boxer troubles in China the
Annamite, though, like the Gurkha, small and
wiry, was dreaded in the same degree as he for
bulldog tenacity on the field of battle.

B'rom Java, that most prolific of all tropical
places, troop coolies in ever-increasing numbers,
and kabuns or gardeners. These last insist on

New Guinea. The Kampong Bugis in Singa-
pore is built on piles at the edge of the sea.
All round their settlement are Chinese, en-
gaged in constructing junks and other boats.
To walk from one house to the other of the
Bugis requires some temerity, for the stages
are contrived of rough, uneven, and sometimes
decayed planks of wood, with occasional gaps,
revealing the water beneath. Inside a hut will
often be found an aged man engaged in making
silk sarongs. On his right arm he wears a
band above the elbow to make it knal
(strong for weaving), and on his wrist a sea-
weed bracelet, in appearance like ebony, as
a charm against the Evil One. The women
hasten away at the mere sight of a stranger.
Even white women they will only peep at
from beneath their closely drawn sarongs.
This tribe are much lighter skinned than the
Malays, with whom they do not fraternise.

Natives of Burma are found all over the
Straits Settlements and the Federated States.
The women are passionately fond of flowers
and dancing. As a nation their religion is

their peculiarities of dress, and their diversity
of speech. Both Singapore and Malacca
were at one time ruled by Hindu kings,
who were dispossessed by the Portuguese and

NATIVE MUSICIANS.

being given Friday as their Sabbath, though
they often employ the day working at other
houses. They are more docile then the Malay,
and give their wives more liberty, even allow-
ing them to join in the country dances in their
own island home.

Battas, who come over from Sumatra, are
taller and darker than the Malay. Their
women have several husbands, and trie Married
Woman's Property Act is amongst them an
ancient custom.

The Boyanese, another island race, have
formed a little settlement in Singapore. When
fresh families come over it is curious to see the
frightened rows of women, with faces wholly
concealed in the useful upper sarong. They
excel in making wooden clogs, but like better
to become syces, and as such are preferred to
Malays. Yet even they drive with one rein in
each hand, thereby giving themselves little
control over the horses.

Bugis, who are enterprising merchants and
sailors, come to Singapore from the Celebes,
sailing their own boats, which are from fifty
to sixty tons burden. They can navigate these
vessels from the farthest port of Sumatra to

nominally Buddhism, but, left to themselves,
they worship the spirits, or nals, of the moun-
tains, rivers, trees, clouds, wind, and, in short,
all Nature. In common with several Eastern
peoples they believe that it is dangerous to
wake a man suddenly out of sleep ; for, say
they, his spirit, in the form of a butterfly, leaves
his body when asleep, and may not return in
time. In Singapore there is one tiny Burmese
temple, presided over by an aged priest, who
in years gone by was jaga at Government
House. A clever physician, according to his
lights, he doctors the natives, and gives his
gains to provide food and light for the gods,
and, at lucky times, jewels for the treasure-
room.

Portuguese, once "the kings of the East,"
with a Royal Court at Malacca, have left
descendants amongst the fishermen of that
ancient town. These hardy folk boast of
grand old Portuguese names, but now they
live in diminutive huts and eke out a scanty
living in the bay, where they row to and fro,
wearing queer mushroom-shaped hats.

Singapore being in close proximity to India,
black races are conspicuous for their numbers,

CHINESE BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM.

henceforth relegated to the position of traders
only.

Klings is a name given to the lowest classes
of native immigrants, who clear the jungles,
do the rough part of road-making, and drive
bullock-carts, while the most degraded become
herdsmen to the natives and wander round
with the water buffaloes, half starved, and
barely clothed in strange fragments of rags.
The designation Kling was originally by no
means a derogatory term ; it signified only the
tribe of black traders from the ancient king-

A CHINESE ACTOR.

dom of Kalinga. This poor class of Tamil are
patient and enduring. They have developed
some amount of muscle with hard work, and
walk with an upright carriage. Even the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

127

women and children might have been drilled
in the best gymnasiums. Once a year they
rejoice in the Pongul Feast, when they first
troop down to the sea to wash away all sin in
the flowing waters and then feast for three
days. Those who drive bullocks paint the
horns alternately red and blue, adorning them
with brilliant tassels and tinkling bells. A
Tamil woman's marriage dowry consists of
her gold ornaments, and they are inscribed
in legal documents as such when she is handed
over to her lord and master. Religion has no
meaning for her, men teaching that they alone
have another existence. But the wife may
make solemn vows in time of sickness, and
fulfil them by walking over red-hot coals at
the god Siva's loathly yearly celebrations.
And, strange to say, the women never flinch
from this ordeal in our settlements, where
human sacrifices and the Juggernaut are for-
bidden. Young mothers, even those with

A KLING (TAMIL) BOY.

babies in their arms, may be seen enduring
the ordeal by fire. Some of the men rush
through to the water beyond, but the women
are distinguished for their hardihood. Gold is
holy, and not to be defiled by contact with the
ankles and toes, which are adorned with silver
rings, most of the coolies wearing a silver toe-
ring. Women wear nose-rings, in which some-
times a single ruby is inserted. The women's
dress is remarkably picturesque, being com-
posed of many gracefully disposed folds of
soft-coloured cottons. Amongst the upper
classes this beauty is enhanced by Indian silk
of divers shades. Their castes are innumer-
able ; in the Indian Empire they are computed
to number about two hundred. When a man
has performed his daily ablutions and accom-
panying devotions, he smears his body with a
mixture of white ashes in patterns of one, two,
or three diagonal or horizontal stripes. The
pottti, or round spot placed on the forehead,
is worn by men and women, in either red or
yellow, saffron being a favourite decoration.

The Telegus are another variety of Indian
from the C.oromandel coast. They have not
the same stamina as the Tamils. They are easily
overcome by sickness and fever, and find dif-
ficulty in rearing their children. Amongst other
work they are engaged in road-making in the
native States, women earning slightly higher
wages than the men for carrying on their heads
light baskets of earth. Their one real pleasure
is play-acting, and great is their felicity when
the Tuan sends for them to perform before his
friends, with the prospect of square-faced gin
and not a few cents to follow. Their theatrical
properties are simple — three large pots of vege-
table dye, with which they obtain startling
results. Striped tigers, accurately marked,
and a bleeding captive, crowned with jungle
fern and apparently pierced through the neck
by a spear, are realistically presented. The
King of the Tigers with his cubs, ornamented
with blue and green, perform wild and un-
couth dances round the unfortunate victim, to
the sound of a drum violently beaten. At
intervals the party retire behind the trees,
where the women have lighted fires, to stretch
the parchment, while they pour fresh red paint
over the repulsive-looking captive's chest.

Tamils proper are exceedingly disdainful of
the pariah classes, considering them even as
of distinct nationality. They themselves are
of poor stature, but their brain-power is con-
siderable, and consequently they are valued
as clerks, schoolmasters, and railway officials.
They hail from Ceylon, and get homesick away
from their flowery island, even saying that the
water in their own country is so nutritious that
they could exist on it for three days. Very
many are Christians, and live up to their
professions in a marked degree.

We next deal with the Chetties — the Shy-
locks of the East — by whom numbers of callow
youths from the home countries have been
ruined. The shaven-headed Chetty, fat and
oily, piles up money, possibly buys property,
or more frequently wins it in his comfortable
way, and walks or drives up and down the
land colonised by the white man. His dress,
regardless of by-laws, consists of a few, a very
few, yards of white muslin. His money is not
spent in these lands, but is remitted to the
Coromandel coast. Once a year gilt-edged
invitations are sent to prominent Europeans
in the different towns to attend the Siva Fes-
tival, when the silver car is taken out and
drawn by sacred white oxen. Those who
accept the invitations will probably be shocked
by the sight of gruesome self-inflicted tortures,
annoyed by the invariably filthy state of the
temples, and sickened by the odour of well-
oiled bodies, counteracted in part by cheap
scent, which, with decaying flower garlands
and buttonholes that have first been laid before
the gods, are freely bestowed on all comers.

The Sikh is a splendid fighting man whose
soldierly qualities are hereditary. As a tribe
the Sikhs used to worship the God of All Steel,
of which the steel quoits flashing in their
turbans were an emblem.

Differing from the Sikh in every favourable
characteristic we see the indolent Bengali,
whose one ambition is to be spoken of as a
Sikh. These people are frequently employed
as jagas, or watchmen, and carry rattan or
canvas couches to stores and lie all night
on guard. In the compounds of hotels and
private houses sleep is tabooed, but in country
places, though they have a gong to sound the
hours, sleep is indulged in surreptitiously.
Their women's national dress is suited to the
cooler climate of the Punjaub. Tight cretonne
leggings are the principal feature.

The Madrassee is an obsequious, servile
being, who spends his time as a dirzec, or
lady's tailor. He wears a round white linen
embroidered cap, and is an inveterate gossip.
Some of his kind hawk a sticky brown fluid, in
cans with a long spout, in the streets.

Parsees emigrate from Bombay, but always
speak regretfully of their original home in
Persia, whence they were driven by violent
Mahomedan persecutions, being themselves of
the Zoroastrian, or fire-worshipping, sect. Their
capabilities for amassing wealth are proverbial.
In this they are second only to the Jews. Unlike
the Chetties, however, they do benefit the place
in which they live. One may recognise the
Parsee, as he drives in a fashionable rubber-
tyred pair-horse carriage, by his peculiar head-
gear.

A few Africans find their way to the East.
Some have a rough-hewn log outside their
small houses, and on sunny days, before the
swift darkness falls, the men may be seen
thoughtfully smoking, with their feet on these
logs, dreaming, no doubt, of happy days in the
home kraal.

A KLING (TAMIL) CHILD.

There are a few Japanese merchants and
commercial men of acknowledged standing, but
for the most part the Land of the Rising Sun is
represented by an undesirable class.

Dyaks from Borneo, who have lost their old
head-hunting propensities, are seen here, and
their ancient customs and superstitions are
fully exhibited in Raffles Museum, Singapore.

To gather an idea of how this huge hetero-
geneous population has come to cover Malaya,
it is helpful to hark back for a moment to its
early history. The aborigines of Malaya be-
longed to scattered, wandering tribes, who
never built permanent villages. As early as
1160 a.d. the pioneers of the Malays came over
from Sumatra and settled on Singapore island,
where was founded the original ancient city of
Singhapura. So prosperous was the settlement
that the Kings of Java cast covetous eyes upon
it, and, after many unsuccessful attempts, they
contrived to obtain a footing about the year
1252. Thus the Javanese element was intro-
duced, and the original settlers retreated to
Malacca, where, in 151 1, they were attacked

128

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

and dispossessed by the Portuguese, aided by
a force of Malabar soldiers. In 164 1 the Dutch
took Malacca from the Portuguese, and retained
possession of it (with the exception of a short
interim, during which it was held by the

a settlement of the East India Company, soon
became the chief centre of population and trade,
and attracted many Malays from Malacca and
some natives from India.

But when Singapore was established in 18 19

■

A KLING (TAMIL) GIRL.

British) till 1824, when it finally passed into
the hands of Great Britain. Hence the strong
traces of Portuguese and Dutch descent in this
part of the peninsula.
Pinang, which had been founded in 1786 as

it speedily attracted natives from the neighbour-
ing settlements, as well as Chinese, Javanese,
Bugis from the Celebes, Klings from India, and
Boyans from Bawain. Only four months after
it became a British settlement its population

A JAVANESE WOMAN.

had received an accession of five thousand,
principally Chinese, and their numbers in-
creased daily. By the end of 1822 the popu-
lation had been doubled. In 1824, when the
first census was taken, it showed that there
were resident in the settlement 74 Europeans,
16 Armenians, 15 Arabs, 4,580 Malays, 3,317
Chinese, 756 natives of India, and 1,925 Bugis,
&c. By the year 1829 the population had
risen to nearly 16,000, exclusive of sailors,
soldiers, and convicts (of whom a number had
been sent from India on account of the un-
healthiness of the convict settlement on the
Andaman 1 slands). Five years later the number
of inhabitants was 26,000, and at the beginning
of 1850 the population had reached 60,000, of
whom 198 were Europeans, 304 Eurasians, and
24,790 Chinese. By this time the immigration
of Chinese coolies for the cultivation of gambier
and pepper plantations on the island had
assumed large proportions, no fewer than
11,000 arriving from China in the course of
one year. The colony was taken over by the
Colonial Office in 1867, and the last census
taken before that event was in i860, when the
population was approximately 90,000, of whom

JAVANESE GARDENERS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

129

Europeans and Eurasians represented 2,445
and Chinese 50,000.

From the time of the transfer onwards to the
present day the colony's population has con-
tinued to grow, and Singapore and Pinang have
become distributing centres for the vast army of
immigrants, Chinese and Indian, who annually
come to the Straits Settlements en route to the
plantations and tin mines of the Federated
Malay States and the Dutch possessions of the
archipelago. When the last census was taken
in 1901 the total population of the colony was
returned at over half a million. To this total
Singapore contributed 228,555 070,875 males
and 57,680 females) ; Pinang and its depen-
dencies, 248,207 ; Malacca, 95,487 ; Christmas
Island, 704 ; and the Cocos Islands, 645. The
increase since 1891 was 59,907, or 1169 per
cent. The resident population of Europeans
and Americans increased by 669, or 205 per
cent. The various nationalities were appor-
tioned thus :

Eurasians

Chinese ...

Malays and 'Other natives of the arch

pelago ...

Tamils and other natives of India .
Other nationalities

7,663
28i,933

215AS8

57,150

5,378

The population of the Federated Malay
States on March 1, 1901, was 678,595 — an in-
crease of 62 per cent, over the return for 1891
— made up as follows :

Perak

Selangor ...
Negri Sambilan
Pahang ...

320,665

168,789

96,028

84,"3

Europeans and Americans (including
British military, 495)

5,048

In 1906 the approximate number of immi-
grants was 274,798, apportioned thus :

Singapore 173,131

Pinang and Province Wellesley ... 109,491
Malacca 176

— whereas the number of emigrants from these
three ports of embarkation was only about

32,000. It is therefore clear that in a majority
of cases the immigrants from India and China
elect, at the end of their contract service, to
stay in Malaya, where work is plentiful and
wages are correspondingly high as compared
with those paid in their own countries.

The least advantageous terms for which a
" Sinkheh," or unpaid Chinese passenger, now
contracts are a total of three hundred days'
work in return for free food and lodging and a
wage of five cents per day. In many cases
much higher remuneration is offered. The
wages for which contracts are signed by
Indian immigrants are 7 annas (28 cents) for
men and 5 annas (20 cents) for women, without
rations.

Nearly all the Chinese immigrants into the
colony and the Federated Malay States come
from Southern China, while the Indian immi-
grants are mostly from the Coromandel coast.
To this immigration is due the opening-up of
the Malay Peninsula, with its incalculable tin-
mining resources, which, even in their present
comparative unexploited state, yield two-thirds
of the world's supply of tin.

A MALAY LADY.

THE MALAYS OF BRITISH MALAYA

By B. O. STONEY,
Hon t . Sec. of the Malay Settlement, Kuala Lumpor.

i]HE exact position of the
Malay race i n the genea-
logical tree of the great
family of the universe
has never been satisfac-
torily determined. Some
writers have urged that
the Malay is descended
from the same stock as
the Mongol of Central Asia. Others have
asserted that he is of Indonesian origin.
Others, again, have traced his descent from
one of the tribes which inhabit Southern
India. The matter is one which admits of no
definite solution, and perhaps the safest course
is to refrain from any attempt to go back beyond
the one fairly established fact, namely, that
the Malays who now claim the peninsula as
their home are descended from a people who
migrated thither from the coast of Sumatra
about a thousand years ago. To what stock
that people originally belonged cannot now be
ascertained. Sir Frank Swettenham, in his
" British Malaya," which is, perhaps, the most
recent publication bearing on the subject, gives
it as his opinion that the " Malays are the de-
scendants 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 most central and
fertile States — Palembang, Jambi, Indragiri,
Menangkabau, and Kampar." The Malays
themselves are not much given to speculation
on the subject of their national ancestry, and
they are, for the most part, quite ready to
accept without demur the account contained
in the books of Malay Annals of the conquest
and colonisation of the Malay Peninsula by a
people who came from Palembang, in Sumatra.
The fact that in Palembang there exists a
stream called Sungei Malaya is, to the Malay
mind, sufficient evidence in itself that this
account is substantially correct. In any case
it appears to admit of no doubt whatever that
the Malay Peninsula was largely colonised in
the distant past by immigrants from Sumatra.
Long before the founding of Singapore and
Malacca the people of Sumatra had reached a
comparatively advanced state of civilisation,
and their merchandise was being carried in
ships all over the archipelago. To win new
fields for their commercial enterprise they
gradually established a line of trading-ports
all along the coast of the peninsula, driving
back the local aborigines into the interior and

wresting the land from them without meeting
with any very determined opposition. The
process of immigration was probably a gradual
one, extending over a number of years, and

A MALAY MAN.

the Malay Peninsula was only one of the many
lands which were colonised in this manner.
Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the other islands
of the archipelago all fell an easy prey to this
enterprising people, some of whom went still
further afield, even to the Philippines and the
islands of the Pacific.
The Malay inhabitants of British Malaya may
131

conveniently be divided into two classes — native
and foreign Malays. The division is an arbi-
trary one : it is geographical rather than ethno-
logical. The term " foreign Malays " will then
include those who have come across the border
from Kedah, Petani, Kelantan, and the other
southern Siamese States. These, indeed, differ
very little, if at all, from the natives of the
British portion of the peninsula. It will also
include all those who have come from across
the seas — Achinese and Javanese Korinchis,
and Mendelings, Malays of Menangkabau,
Palembang, and Rawa, of Borneo, Sarawak,
and Labuau, and Bugis from the island of
Celebes. In these the difference is greater,
but it is for the most part a difference of speech
and customs only, not of physiognomy or con-
stitution ; for they all belong to the same
family as the Malays of the peninsula, and
the differences which do exist are only such
as can be attributed to the influence of other
local conditions. The native Malays proper
are the descendants of the old Sumatran
colonists, who have to some extent intermarried
with the local aborigines and with subsequent
immigrants. They are the real natives of the
soil, and it is with them only that this account
of the Malays of British Malaya will deal, the
term " Malay " being in most cases used in this
restricted sense.

When a stranger first sets eyes upon a new
race of people he is apt to think that they are
all very much alike. It is only when he be-
comes more closely acquainted with them
that their features become individualised. The
first impression that a stranger would get of
the Malay in this way would be that he was
a man with a brown complexion, somewhat
broad features, squat nose and large mouth,
slightly prominent cheek-bones, straight black
hair, and big dark eyes, which sparkle merrily
from time to time. There is another type —
less common, perhaps — in which the features
are fine and clear-cut and the complexion
much lighter. The fortunate possessor of
such traits is accounted a " veritable beau " by
his friends, a fair skin being in itself an attribute
of beauty. As regards his figure, the average
Malay is of rather less than medium height,
" iron-jointed, supple-sinewed." He is quick
and steady on his feet. His arms are long, and
hang well back behind his shoulders as. he
walks. He is usually thick-set, but his limbs
move easily and without any trace of stiffness.
Nature has given him the body of an athlete
to enable him to face the perils of the forest-
life, in which one slip or one false step might
well prove fatal.

In disposition the Malay is not unlike an

132

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Irish country gentleman of birth. He is quietly,
never effusively, courteous. His manners are
easy and genuine, not forced or assumed. He
is always good company, has a keen sense of
humour, and is ready to laugh as heartily at a
joke against himself as at any other. Being
naturally ready of speech, he keeps a sharp
curb upon his tongue, lest he should say some-

Orientals do. A thorough country squire at
heart, he scorns the drudgery of manual labour
and leaves it to be done by others, or not at all.
Give him work which interests him, which has
a spice of danger or excitement about it, and
you will find him almost indefatigable. He is
proud, and exacts due deference from those
below him ; at the same time he never fails in

NOBLE MALAY LADIES.

thing that were better left unsaid. He loves to
speak in riddles, vaguely hinting at thoughts
to which he is afraid to give direct expression.
He chooses his words with the utmost care ;
for clumsiness of speech is not only a sign of
bad breeding, but also a possible source of
danger, in that it may offend the spirit world
and bring its wrath upon him. He has a sense
of dignity and self-respect which forbids him
to cringe before Europeans as some other

respect towards his superiors. He has a proper
reverence for constituted authority, and he is
most careful to treat his chieftains with all the
homage which is due to them. His domestic
life is almost idyllic. Towards his servants he
is considerate and friendly. He knows quite
well that unless they are treated almost as
members of the family and not as slaves they
will not give him loyal or willing service. He
is indulgent to his wife, and perhaps even

more so to his children, whom he generally
spoils. He has no luxurious tastes ; the simple
home-life suffices to keep him amused and
interested. On the whole, he is easy-going
and tolerant. He hates to be worried himself,
and he is not tempted to worry others. He
supports his own relatives through thick and
thin, but his sense of charity does not take him
far beyond the family circle. He is content to
live his own life in th? bosom of his family, like
a " frog beneath a coconut-shell," shutting his
eyes to the world beyond.

The most important article of Malay attire
is without doubt the sarong. It is a comfort-
able garment, with no buttons and no fastenings
whatever. It has often been described as a
shirt, perhaps because it is worn shirt-wise,
but it is neither made to measure nor shaped.
On the contrary, it is cut quite straight all the
way down, with a uniform girth of, say, 70
inches, and a depth of about 4 feet, which
just brings it down to the ankles. It is fastened
round the waist by making two inward pleats,
one on each side, and rolling down the top
edge in front until it is taut. Made in silk or
cotton, the colouring is generally bright, and
the pattern most affected is very much like
that of a Scotch tartan. Its use is almost uni-
versal ; the men wear it either over their
trousers or in place of trousers, and the
women use it both as a skirt and as a head-
covering. It serves as a cradle for the baby, as
a basket to bring back vegetables from market,
and as a shroud for the dead. It often ends
its days doing duty as a scarecrow in the
rice fields. The Malay coat is a loose, long-
sleeved blouse, open at the neck and reaching
well below the waist. It is made of silk or
cotton, according to the means of the wearer.
The women wear a longer coat, which is
fastened down the front with brooches of gold
or silver or other metal. Xo man is held to be
correctly dressed unless he is wearing trousers.
This custom is, however, not strictly observed
by the present-day Malays, who appear to con-
sider the sarong alone quite sufficient as a
nether garment for any but ceremonial occa-
sions. The correct head-dress for a Malay is
a coloured handkerchief, in the tying of which
there is much art. It is said that a different
style is laid down for each Malay chief, accord-
ing to his rank. This form of head-dress is,
however, now being gradually discarded in
favour of a small round or oval velvet cap,
resembling a smoking-cap. When wearing
European dress, as many Malays now do, a
short sarong is often worn round the hips,
with a few inches of it showing below the
coat. Strictly speaking it is immodest for a
Malay to appear in public without a sarong
over his trousers.

The orthodox religion of the Malays is
Mahomedanism. Their conversion to the
creed of Islam dates probably from the four-
teenth century, when their trade brought them
into contact with the Sunnite Mahomedans of
Southern India. Previous to this they had
come under Hindu influence, and in their
earliest days they were probably Nature-wor-
shippers, believing that the whole of Nature
was endowed with life. Although the Malay
now professes Islam, he has never entirely
shaken off the influence of his earlier beliefs.
His Mahomedanism is tinged with Hindu
beliefs and with primitive animistic supersti-
tions, which he reconciles as best he can with
his more orthodox professions. He professes
his belief in the one true God ; in reality he
acknowledges the existence of many others.
He even goes so far at times as to play off one
against the other. If the one true God of
Mahomed fails him, he turns to the Hindu god
Siva, and if Siva does not at once come to his
rescue he proceeds to curry favour with the
" Spectre Huntsman," a forest spirit of great
potency. This tendency is most visible in the
rites by which the ordinary domestic occur-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

133

rentes, such as birth, marriage, and death, are
attended. In many of these ceremonies the
Mahomedan element plays but a small part,
greater attention being paid to charms, in-
cantations, and taboos, which find no place
in the pure faith. But for this tendency to
revert to the beliefs of his primitive ancestors,
the Malay is, on the whole, a good Mahomedan.
He is extremely loyal to his creed ; no attempt
to convert him to another faith is ever suc-
cessful, and loyalty is, after all, the great
criterion of true faith : ritual observances are
only a secondary consideration. Certainly in his
performance of the ritual ordained by the Koran
he is rather lax. It is not every Malay who

qua nan of the faith, when in reality it is not
obligatory at all.

The writer once asked a Malay whose wife
had recently given birth to a child to describe
to him the ceremonies connected with child-
birth. For some time he protested that there
were no such ceremonies, and it was only by
questioning him with obdurate persistence that
he was induced to give any information what-
ever. He was a young Selangor Malay, about
twenty-two years of age, and it was his wife's
first child. He lived in a small Malay village
in the house of his mother-in-law, a lady of
considerable means. The house was of the
pattern usually affected by the more wealthy

solely for the use of the women. The third
portion consisted of a large room, which served
as general reception-hall and as a place in
which the men and their guests could both eat
and sleep. There was no furniture to speak
of in any part of the house — a few mats, a
tray containing " sireh " requisites, and here
and there a spittoon — that was all. At night
more mats were unrolled, mosquito curtains
were hung up, and pillows were brought out,
and with these few changes the dining-room
was converted into a dormitory. The windows,
which were placed almost on a level with the
floor, were about 4 feet long and 2 feet
deep. Each was closely barred, while outside

MALAY LADIES AT WEAVING AND FANCY WORK.

prays the requisite five times a day and attends
mosque with proper regularity on Fridays.
The fasting month is observed after a fashion,
but not by all. The pilgrimage to Mecca, which
has to be performed by all who can afford to
do so, is perhaps the one form of devotional
exercise for which the Malay displays any con-
siderable zeal. He reads the Koran religiously,
but as he reads it in a language of which he
can scarcely understand a word, one need not
be surprised if his interpretation of the text is
somewhat illogical. He considers that to eat
pork is an absolutely unpardonable sin, and
yet he is quite ready to condone the drinking
of spirits, which, according to the Koran, is
just as sinful. He is, moreover, peculiarly
strict about circumcision, making it a sine

Malays. The front portion was built of good
hard timber, on brick pillars about 6 feet
high, with a tiled roof, and a long flight of
cement steps leading up to the main entrance.
This part was practically never used except
on ceremonial occasions and for the reception
of guests of high standing. The family were
content to live in the less pretentious back pre-
mises, which were built of cheaper materials
and in a less solid architectural style. These
consisted of three parts, each part practically
a separate house with a separate gable and
roof, but each connected with the front and
with one another like the parts of a telescope.
The extreme back end formed the kitchen,
which was joined by an open platform, used
as a scullery to the next, which was reserved

there was a solid wooden shutter for use during
the night. The room had three entrances — one
leading into the front part of the house, one to
the back, and one opening on a side door with
the usual ladder steps leading to it. The women
entered their part of the house by a set of
ladder steps leading to the scullery. The
house was surrounded and almost hidden by
coconut-palms, the fronds of which afforded
the most perfect shade from the sun. The
lady who owned the house was called
Aminah. She was a middle-aged woman,
rather stout and big, and, like most mothers-
in-law, she was credited with a bad temper
and a surly disposition. Certainly both her
daughter and her son-in-law stood in great
fear of her, and her word was law to them

134

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

and to most people who visited the house.
Puteh, her daughter, was in many respects
unlike her, though it was possible to trace a
distant family resemblance. Her figure was
slim, and she moved with that graceful swing
of the hips which is peculiar to Malay women.
She had an abundance of long black hair, large

dark eyes, and a nose which was rather flat,
but not noticeably so. Her mouth was prettily
shaped, her chin round and smooth, and her
eyebrows well arched, in the manner the
Malays admire so much. Her teeth had
once been beautiful ; they were now dis-
coloured with betel-nut and sadly mutilated
by the ceremony of " filing," which takes
place prior to marriage. Altogether she had
the features of an ordinary good-looking
Malay girl. She was pleasant-faced without
being beautiful.

Some months before the child was expected
the services of a " bidan," or Malay midwife,
had been retained, a small fee being paid in
advance. During the last period of his wife's
pregnancy, Mat Tahir, the husband, had been
compelled to exercise the greatest caution not
to offend the birth spirits. Before child-birth
a number of " taboos " have to be observed
both by the husband and by the wife. It is
forbidden to take the life of any animal, or to
strike or threaten any living thing. The husband
may not even cut his hair, nor may he or any
other person " cut the house in half" — that is to
say, enter by the front and go out by the back.
He must also forego the pleasure of sitting, as
he loves to do, in the doorway at the top of his
ladder steps, for it is most unlucky to block the
doorway, and dreadful . consequences might
ensue. Mat Tahir had observed all these
taboos with the greatest care, and the constant
fear lest he should unwittingly transgress any
one of them, added to his anxiety for his wife,
had proved a great strain upon his nerves.
Late one night Aminah bade him go at once to
fetch the bidan. He crept noiselessly out of
the house, and made his way rapidly along a
small path underneath the canopy of tall palms,
which shook faintly in the night-breeze and
made the moonlight shadows tremble under his

feet. On every side he heard the monotonous
chirping of innumerable cicadas, and now and
again the hoot of an owl or the mellow note
of a night-jar made him start with fright. He
was in that state of nervous excitement which
only prolonged suspense can induce. At last he
reached the house he sought. It was a small
attap-roofed shanty, built on wooden posts, in
two parts, with ladder steps leading to the
front door. The walls were of plaited bamboo.
The back half served as kitchen and the front
as dining-room, drawing-room, and bedroom.
It was a miserable hovel ; for Mak Sadiah, the
bidan, like many a Malay woman whose
husband has died and left her solitary, was
very poor. Mat Tahir tapped the door gently.
He was afraid to rouse the bidan from her sleep
with a start. The Malays believe that the soul
is temporarily absent during sleep, so that if a
sleeper is awakened suddenly it has not time to
return to the body. Quickly and silently they
made their way along the path by which Mat
Tahir had come, back to the house where
Aminah awaited them anxiously. The first
thing to do was to select a lucky spot within
the house for the birth. When the bidan was
satisfied that she had found the best spot, the
girl was laid there. About an hour afterwards
the child was born. At the moment of birth
the Bital, who lived some distance off, and had
some days previously been invited to stay in
the house until the birth took place, at once
invoked a blessing on the child. Then the
umbilical cord was cut with the sharp edge of
a piece of split bamboo, a dollar being first
laid below it to bring prosperity. During the
cutting the Bital called upon the father to give
the child's name, and, as it proved to be a boy,
he christened it Mat Sahid. The child was
then bathed ; after that it was danced in the
air seven times by the bidan, and then it was
laid to rest on a mat which had been carefully
prepared for its reception. Next the mother
was purified by being bathed in warm water
in which certain herbs were mixed. After this
the child was carefully swathed in bandages
from head to foot, the idea being that this
would prevent it from straining itself and
becoming deformed. In the morning the
mother had to undergo the ceremony of
" roasting," which is one of the strangest
customs connected with child-birth. She was
suspended over a " roaring " fire, which was
lighted by the bidan in the centre of the house.
There she was left for about two hours until she
was thoroughly "roasted." This ceremony was
repeated in the afternoon, and continued twice a
day during the whole of the forty-four days of her
purification. It is a wonder that Malay mothers
ever survive this terrible ordeal.

As the Malay child travels along the path of
life he is attended on his way, from start to
finish, by Dame Ceremony. She meets him as
he sets foot upon the threshold of the world,
and she remains at his side until he bids the
world farewell. Her presence in some form
or other is required for almost every event
throughout his life — for the first shaving of his
head, for his circumcision, for his betrothal and
his marriage, for the sowing of rice and the
harvest, for house-building and for hunting, for
fishing and for mining, and, lastly, for the heal-
ing of every form of sickness that his flesh is
heir to. In his youth he is a jovial little soul,
boisterous and full of fun. Sir Frank Swetten-
ham has described him as " often beautiful, a
thing of wonderful eyes, eyelashes, and eye-
brows, with a far-away expression of sadness
and solemnity, as though he had left some
better place for a compulsory exile on earth."
On the whole he appears to enjoy his exile ; he
is spoilt by his parents, he runs wild and does
as he likes, and nothing — not even the indiges-
tible messes with which he is fondly encouraged
to stuff himself— appears to upset his hedonistic
philosophy of life. The Malay girl in early
youth is seldom attractive. She has a round.

almost doll-like face, which lacks both interest
and expression. She is generally shy and uny
communicative. On the whole she receives,
and perhaps deserves, less attention than her
brother. For some years Malay children, boys
and girls together, run about in a state of utter
nakedness, except, perhaps, for a charm hung
round the neck or girth. Soon after it becomes
necessary for the girls to wear clothing they are
kept in seclusion, no strangers of the other sex
being allowed near them. And so the girl
grows up, doing odd jobs about the house,
such as sewing and cooking, feeding the poul-
try, and driving the cattle out to graze, or help-
ing her mother in the padi fields at the annual
harvest. The friendships of her childhood are
forgotten, and she waits impatiently for the day
when a deputation will arrive from the parents
of some marriageable youth in the village to
seek her betrothal to their son. To remain un-
married is shameful, and to get married may
mean greater freedom, wider interests, and,
perhaps — who knows ? — mutual love. The
deputation is received with due courtesy and
with all the ceremony which the occasion re-
quires. Sometimes the girl is called in for
inspection, and, if the inspection proves satis-
factory, the proceedings are terminated by the
offering of betel-nut and the payment of the
betrothal money. The prospective bridegroom
takes no part in the proceedings. Often he is
mated to a girl whom he has never seen. He
may have exchanged furtive glances with the
girl, meeting her first by chance as she went
riverwards to bathe, or as she returned from
the padi fields after the day's work was done.
Subsequently the meetings may have been
carefully premeditated, but no open recognition
could be tolerated, and each time he went by
the girl would draw her head-covering forward
to conceal her face, with an affectation of
modesty which custom made compulsory.
Even then the ultimate choice of a bride lay
with the parents, but no doubt the youth could
find arguments to bring home to them the great
advantages which a marriage connection with
that particular family would entail. After the
betrothal it is customary to exchange presents
— from a distance, of course, because the engaged
couple are on no account allowed to meet.

A Malay wedding is a very big and very
important affair. It involves the expenditure
of large sums of money by the families of both
parties, and it also entails a great deal of work
in the preparation of the wedding trousseau,
the decoration of the houses of both bride and
bridegroom, and the cooking of the customary
wedding-feast dishes. These preparations take
some days. The wedding ceremony proper
commences with the bergantong-gantong, or
" hanging up." This usually takes place on a
Friday. At each house friends and relatives
arrive in crowds. Striped curtains and orna-
mental ceiling cloths are hung up, mats are
spread, and the houses are made generally gay
by a lavish display of decorative paper flowers
and bright-coloured trappings. In the recep-
tion-hall of the bride's house a magnificent dais
or throne is prepared for the sitting-in-state of
the bridal pair. The bridal chamber is also
carefully decorated, special attention being
paid, of course, to the bridal couch. The dais
is raised about 3 feet above the floor, with
two steps leading up to it. On it a mattress is
laid, and at the back large pillows, varying in
number according to the rank of the bride-
groom, are piled, with their richly embroidered
ends exposed to view from the front. Over
the dais a light framework of bamboo is built,
and the whole structure is gaily decorated, until
it presents a perfect blaze of colour, framed in
a glittering mass of gold and silver tinsel.

Meanwhile certain preliminary ceremonies
are being performed on the bride and bride-
groom to prepare them for the wedding. Their
teeth are filed, if this has not already been done.
Locks of hair are cut from the head above the

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

135

temples and across the brow. The finger-nails
and certain portions of the feet are stained
with a scarlet dye obtained from a mash of
compressed henna leaves. In the case of the
bride this staining ceremony is conducted in the
seclusion of an inner chamber, and is therefore
called the "hidden henna-staining."

The second day is marked by the ceremony
of the public henna-staining. The bridegroom-
elect proceeds in state to the house of the bride
and ascends the dais, where he sits cross-legged
while the stain is applied first by seven men,
then by seven women, each in turn. A short
prayer concludes the proceedings, after which
he is escorted back to his house by his friends.
It is not until he has left the house that his
fiancee makes her appearance and goes through
the same ceremony. It is the custom in
wealthy families, provided that the houses are
fairly close together, for the bridegroom to be
"stained "in his own house and the bride in
hers, so that the bridegroom does not have to
go to the bride's house until the third day
of the ceremony, which is called the "hari
langsong," or concluding day.

The " hari langsong " begins with the cere-
monial " bathing," first of the bridegroom and
then of the bride. Early in the morning the
bridegroom is escorted to the bride's house.
A chair is placed on the bathing platform near
the kitchen, and over it a curtain is hung. The
bridegroom takes his seat on this chair under
the curtain. He is then bathed, or, speaking
strictly, sprinkled with the ceremonial rice-
paste, which consists of rice-Hour mixed with
water. This mixture is sprinkled upon him by
seven persons of each sex in turn, each using
for the purpose a brush composed of the leaves
of certain carefully selected plants, which are
supposed to have the power of neutralising the
possible evil effects of the spirit world. The
ceremony over, the bridegroom again returns
to his house, and when he is well out of sight,
the same ceremony is performed upon his
fiancee.

At about half-past four in the afternoon the
bride sends a present of cakes to her fiance.
These cakes are partaken of by the bridegroom
and his friends, and care is taken that not a
crumb is left upon the dishes when they are

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MALAY BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM.

sent back to the bride. The present of cakes
is followed by a similar present of saffron-
stained rice. By about half-past five the bride-
groom begins to don his wedding-garments.

These consist of a long flowing robe of bright
colour, silk trousers, embroidered slippers, and
a turban-like head-dress of gold-embroidered
red cloth with a tassel of artificial flowers on
the right-hand side. A bunch of artificial
flowers is placed behind each ear, and the
bridegroom is loaded with as much jewellery
as he can carry. His first duty is to take leave
of his parents, which he does by prostrating
himself before them and making obeisance to
them by raising his hands to his face with the
palms placed together. Both the parents and
their son are expected to shed tears during this
solemn leave-taking. On descending from the
house, sireh and betel-nut are administered to
him to brace him up for the ordeal through
which he has to pass. It is a noticeable
characteristic of the Malay wedding ceremony
that the attributes of royalty are, for the time
being, bestowed upon the bride and bride-
groom. Each is attended all through the
ceremony by a Tukang Andam, a sort of
master or — in the case -of the bride — mistress
of ceremonies. All through the ceremony they
are treated as if they were quite powerless and
incapable of making even the smallest move-
ment without assistance. They take the whole
performance very seriously, and hardly ever
smile, even though their friends take a mis-
chievous delight in attempting to make them
do so. The procession starts from the bride-
groom's house with much shouting and beating
of drums. He himself is often carried on the
shoulders of a friend, while an umbrella is held
over him to keep off the sun. On his leaving
his own house, and again on arrival at the
bride's house, his friends invoke a blessing by
shouting round him three times " Peace be
with thee."

His entry into the bride's house is nearly
always barred by a rope or string tied across
the path, and a mimic conflict ensues to force
a way in. The resistance is never very stub-
born, and often the garrison are persuaded to
capitulate by bribery — a ring or some other
article of jewellery being thrown into the
enemy's camp by the besiegers. On obtaining
an entry, the bridegroom signifies his humility
by divesting himself of all his jewellery and
changing his silk attire for garments of a
meaner fabric. He takes his seat on a mat on
the verandah, and a charcoal incense-burner is
placed beside him. The priest who is waiting
to perform the ceremony, as required by
Mahomedan law, is then taken by one of the
bride's relatives into the bridal chamber, where
he formally asks the bride-elect whether she
consents to wed the man who has been selected
for her. For a time she is overcome with
modesty, and the question has to be repeated
three times before she signifies her consent.
The priest then comes out to proceed with the
wedding ceremony, which he performs upon
the bridegroom alone in the presence of the
relatives and friends of both parties. Taking
the bridegroom's hand in his, he repeats the
words, " I wed you A to B, daughter of C, for
a portion of two bahars," to which the bride-
groom replies, " I accept this marriage with
B for a portion of two bahars." The bride-
groom is then taken into the bridal chamber
to see his bride, and, being now her lawful
husband, he is allowed to toucn her with his
hand — a very great concession according to
Malay etiquette, for a Malay unmarried girl
may not expose herself to the gaze, much less
to the touch, of a person of the other sex. His
next duty is to prostrate himself before the
bride's relatives, after which he gets back into
his gala attire. While he is dressing, the bride
comes out and, with the assistance of her
Tukang Andam, ascends the dais, where she
squats with her feet tucked under her and her
knees to the front. The bridegroom soon takes
his place at her side, sitting cross-legged. The
ceremony of feeding one another with cere-
monial rice now begins. Each holds out a

hand, palm upwards. A pinch of rice is then
placed in each of the outstretched hands of the
bridegroom by one of his relatives, and in the
bride's by one of hers. The hands are then

A MALAY CARRYING A STATE SPEAR.

carried across by the two Tukang Andam until
the bridegroom's hand is opposite the bride's
mouth and the bride's hand is opposite the
bridegroom's mouth. Properly speaking, the
rice should then be placed in the mouth, but
as the performance has to be repeated until
first seven male and then seven female relatives
on each side have offered rice in this manner,
the bridal pair are spared the danger of being
choked by the Tukang Andam surreptitiously
removing the rice when it is opposite the lips.
The ceremony is often made the occasion for a
race, the result of which is awaited with great
excitement. When this is over, the couple are
assisted to their feet, and, hand-in-hand — or
rather, with little fingers interlocked — they
move slowly through the reception-hall, lean-
ing all the while on their attendants' arms, to
the bridal chamber. Here the bridegroom
again divests himself of his ceremonial robes,
and, clothed once more in his elaborate dress,
bids his bride farewell for a time and rejoins
his friends upon the verandah. At about 8 p.m.
he re-enters the bridal chamber, attended by
about a dozen of his chosen friends, to partake
of a meal, at which his wife presides. She
herself is too much scared to eat. She is sup-
posed to eat off the same plate as her husband,
but the most she can be induced to do is to sit
with her hand on his plate in make-belief that
she is sharing his meal. After the meal is over,
the bride retires to sleep with her female rela-
tives in the back portion of the house, while

136

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

the bridegroom sleeps in the bridal couch in
solitary state.

On the fourth day the ceremony of bathing
the bride and bridegroom together is per-
formed. They are seated side by side on two
chairs between two jugs of specially conse-
crated water. First of all they are sprinkled
with rice-paste water, and then with water
from the two jugs. After this the guests, who
have carefully provided themselves with squirts
made of bamboo, proceed to deluge first the
bride and bridegroom and then one another,
until a regular water-fight ensues, in which,
amid shrieks and shouts of laughter, nearly
everybody, women included, is drenched to the
skin. Later on the wedded couple hold a recep-
tion. The guests, dressed once more in their
smartest clothes, come in and squat round the
reception-hall in front of the dais, where the
bride and bridegroom sit solemnly enthroned.
When the hall is full, first the bridegroom and
then the bride is taken slowly round the room
by the Takang Andam and made to salute
each person in succession. On returning to
their places on the dais the master of cere-
monies reads out to them the list of presents
and their donors. As each name is read out
the recipients signify their thanks by raising
their hands in salute. After this, the husband
again sleeps alone in the bridal chamber.

On the evening of the following day the hus-
band is requested to absent himself from the
house, and not to return till about two o'clock in
the morning. The bride is then taken into the
bridal chamber, when she is sung to sleep by
some aged drone. Shortly after two o'clock
the husband returns, and enters his wife's
room. Outside, the relations of both parties
assemble. All are in a great state of excite-
ment, the girl's parents most of all. For some
time they are kept in suspense ; at last the
husband comes out, and if he announces that
all is well the news is received with a great
sigh of relief. Had the verdict been otherwise
there would have been trouble, and the girl's
family would have suffered everlasting disgrace.

The concluding ceremony is the attendance
of the husband, in full bridal attire, at the
mosque on Friday. After the service he
invites those of his friends who have attended
mosque on that day to partake of a meal at his
wife's house.

When a Malay dies the relatives place the
corpse on its back with its feet towards Mecca.
The hands are folded over the breast, and a
piece of metal is laid below them to prevent
the recurrence of an accident which is believed
to have occurred long ago. For it is related that
once upon a time a cat stepped over a corpse
and that the spirit of the cat entered the corpse
and made it stand upon its feet. The relatives
were naturally much scared, and the incident
created a sensation throughout the country.
Ever since it has been customary to take pre-
cautions against the repetition of such a terrible
catastrophe. After the corpse has been ar-
ranged in the manner described above, the
very best sarongs that the family possesses are
brought out to serve as a covering. Some-
times they are laid on five or six deep, shroud-
ing the body completely from head to foot.
Meanwhile messengers have been despatched
to carry the sad news from house to house, and
to summon all the friends and relatives. There
is plenty of work to be done. Some set to
work to make a coffin ; others are engaged
on the shroud ; others, again, are set to
make the bier and superstructure on which
the coffin is borne to the grave. The corpse,
too, requires further attention. As soon as the
persons competent to perform the task are
found, the body is stripped and washed several
times with different preparations, the greatest
care being taken to clean the nails of the fingers
and toes. The next step is to close the ears,
nostrils, eyes, and mouth with cotton wool.
When this is done the corpse is wrapped in

a large white shroud, which is tied round it
with long strips of cloth torn from the selvedge
edge of the shroud itself. When sufficient
time has been allowed for the company to
assemble, the priest summons them to prayer
in the house. After this the corpse is carried
in procession to the grave, the company chant-
ing verses to a tune which, to European ears,
sounds more joyous than sad. At the grave
the coffin is taken off the bier and placed on the
ground. Then generally ensues a lively alter-

A DYAK WOMAN.

cation as to which end of the coffin contains
the head and which the feet ; but when this
has been satisfactorily settled the coffin is
lowered into the grave, where there are people
ready to receive it. The body is then un-
shrouded, the bands being removed, and great
care is taken to fix it in a position on its side
so that the eyes look directly towards Mecca.
Pieces of earth are often used to prop it up to
make sure that the position is secure. The grave
is then filled in, and rude wooden grave-posts are
put in to mark the place. Then follows a short
service, in which the priest reads the Talkin,
which is a sort of sermon addressed to the
deceased. The deceased, in fact, is reputed to
come to life especially to hear it, and it is not
until the hand comes in contact with the torn
selvedge that the corpse realises that it really is
not alive. The Talkin ended, the company
repeat some responses after the priest, rocking
from side to side as they do so. The ceremony
at the grave generally concludes with the dis-
tribution of alms. But this is by no means the
end of the death ceremonies. On the third,
the seventh, the fourteenth, the fortieth, and
the hundredth day after the death feasts have
to be given and prayers said for the deceased.
If the deceased was a married man, his widow
is expected to remain under the roof of the
house in which he died until all these obser-
vances have been performed. After that she
may return to her parents or remain, as she
thinks fit.

The chief Malay industry is the cultivation of
rice. The Malay is satisfied with one crop per
annum, and he relegates the larger portion of
the work of cultivating it to his women-folk. He
uses a buffalo harnessed first to an old-fashioned
wooden plough, and then a wooden harrow to
prepare the soil for the planting. He also culti-

vates coconuts, but seldom on a large scale.
He plants them all about his house, and inter-
mingles with them every description of fruit-
tree, from the quickly growing pisang to the
durian, which takes years to come into bearing.
In addition he plants sirih and also betel-nut
trees, the bloom of which spreads a fragrant
odour, not unlike that of the English primrose,
all around the kampong. With rice, coconuts,
fruit, poultry which he rears himself, and fish
which he catches in the river or the sea — which-
ever is most handy — his dietary requirements
are fully satisfied.

The Malay is at his best on the river. There
he has no equal. See him coming down stream,
standing, with marvellous balance, in the bow
of a narrow dug-out, while a small boy paddling
in the stern keeps the boat's head straight.
The boat is carried with a rush over fast
eddying swirls down a boulder-studded rapid.
Suddenly the fisher's well-trained eye sees the
glint of a silver-bellied fish just beyond him.
Swiftly but surely he takes aim, and the net —
which just now was hanging in limp folds over
his shoulder and forearm — extends its wings to
the full, settling like a great vampire right
over the spot where the fish lies hid. The boat
may rock in the current, but the fisherman's
aim is always true, and he never makes a faulty
throw. Sometimes the net gets caught in a
snag on the bed of the river. In an instant he
is in the water, swimming and diving till he
finds the spot. This does not take him long ;
for in the water he is almost a fish, and is able,
by swimming under water, to make headway
against the strongest current.

Modern civilisation has had one sad effect
upon the Malay race, in that it is largely
responsible for the almost total disappearance
of the old Malay arts and industries. This is
partly due, perhaps, to the natural disinclination
of the Malay for work of any sort. But it is
due, also, in a great measure, to the introduction
into the peninsula of the highly-finished pro-
ducts of European manufacture, which have
made the Malay ashamed of the rude articles
of his own old-world handicrafts. The Malay
cannot understand that real Malay hand-made
articles are more valuable than their more
flashy counterparts from Manchester. He is
apt to argue that it is useless for him to spend
ten whole days in the fashioning of a thing
which the " white man " can turn out in ten
minutes by using modern machinery. He
himself would much prefer the machine-made
article after all.

The future of the Malay race in British
Malaya is a question about which opinions
differ very considerably. It has often been
asserted that the Malays are too indolent by
nature to be able to hold their own against the
more enterprising Asiatic races with whom
circumstances make it necessary that they
should compete. It is said that their doom is
sealed, that as time progresses they must go
to the wall, and that they will survive only
as objects of scientific interest to the ethnologist
and the historian. There is no doubt that at
present they are somewhat handicapped by
the lack of those qualities which help the
Chinaman and the Tamil to play a useful part
in the economic development of the pen-
insula.

As an economic factor at present the Malay
need scarcely be taken into account. He
tends to retard rather than to stimulate pro-
gress. But there is one point in his favour
which must not be overlooked, and that is the
fact that he is a " brown man," living in the
" brown man's " zone, and, therefore, more
suited to the climatic conditions in which he
lives than the "yellow" Chinaman or the
" black " Tamil. It may be found, as time goes
on, that the other races are unable to stand the
peculiar climate of the Straits, and that their
energy will be sapped, their health will break
down, and their breed deteriorate. The Malay

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

137

has been here so long that the climate has by
this time done its worst for him. It only re-
mains to find some way to correct the faults
which he has inherited. Government inter-
ference is the remedy which first suggests
itself to the mind. There are, of course, many
arguments against the preferential treatment of
any one class or race of people by the Govern-
ment, and these arguments hold good in this
case. They are, however, to a great extent
counterbalanced by the fact that in the case of
the Malay, in the Protected States at any rate,
the Government is in the position of trustee,
bound by treaty to advise for the good of the
people of the country. What is now a solemn
duty, a matter of conscience, may in the long
run prove the best policy economically. The
Government can best keep the Malay active by
inducing him to do Government work. This
object can be attained either by offering higher
rates of salary, or by reducing the hours of
duty, or by a combination of both methods.
At present the Malay candidate for Government
employment is, on the whole, rather worse off
than the Tamil or the Chinaman. He has, of
course, a reputation for laziness, which, whether
justified or not, always stands in his way. More-
over, the rates of salary offered to him are in
some cases actually less than those offered to
other Asiatics in the Federated Malay States.
It was only quite recently that the Malay police
were allowed the higher rate of salary which
the Sikh police had enjoyed for years. The
official schedule of wages for Chinese coolies
is still higher than that for Malays. A Malay
assistant teacher gets a lower salary than a
Tamil peon. Jaffna Tamil clerks are allowed
leave to return to their homes on half-pay,
while a Malay clerk who wishes to visit his
parents on leave is granted no pay at all. To
get half-pay leave he must go abroad.

Generally speaking, it is only from those
officers of the service who have that affectionate
regard for Malays which is the natural outcome
of intimate acquaintance with them that they
really get any degree of preferential treatment.
It is laid down by Government as a general
maxim that the Malays should be encouraged.
But the desire for departmental efficiency is
generally so strong that the maxim is more
honoured in the breach than in the observance.

Still, much has been, and is being, done for the
Malays. A residential college has been founded
at Kuala Kangsa to train young Malay rajas
and nobles for the Government service, in the
hope that they will be able to perform the
duties now undertaken by officers of the cadet
service. Here and there Malays are being
raised to responsible posts — especially in Perak,
where, during the last few years, Mr. G. W.
Birch, C.M.G., the British Resident, has done
much to advance the interests of the Malays.

A DYAK.

In Kuala Lumpor a special residential reserve
has been created to enable Malays to live close
to the town where they are employed, under
conditions similar to those obtaining in a Malay

kampong, or village. Work is being found for
them in several Government Departments,
particularly as surveyors, mechanics, draughts-
men, and motor-car drivers. Finally, the
Government has recently decided to make
officers who have newly joined study the
Malay character more closely and make them-
selves familiar with their laws and customs,
their arts and industries, their prejudices and
superstitions, and their religious beliefs.
This is a step in the right direction, which
should do much to awaken a real interest in
this attractive, but somewhat disappointing
people.

On the whole, there seems to be sufficient
ground for the hope which is shared by all
who have learnt to love the Malay, that he will
in time be something more than an ornamental
member of society. It must be remembered
that he has only been in touch with European
civilisation for some thirty years, that he has
never had to work hard for his living, and that
the climate in which he lives is more than
ordinarily enervating. The Chinaman and the
Tamil, who are now his chief rivals in the
peninsula, come from countries where the
struggle for existence, which is always very
hard, is rendered still harder at times by floods,
famine, and plague. They are born to a
strenuous life, and it is no matter for surprise
to find them more keen and more energetic
than the Malay. When the shoe begins to
pinch, as it will, perhaps, in time, the Malay
will have to exert himself, and, if he is kept
going till then, so that his capacity for work is
not entirely lost, he will prove a dangerous
rival to all other competitors. He has physical
strength, courage, ability, deftness of hand ; in
fact, nearly all the requisites for success in life
— a term which is frequently used now as a
synonym for the acquisition of wealth. He
only lacks application and industry.

The writer has pleasure in acknowledging
the great assistance which he has derived from
Sir Frank Swettenham's " The Real Malay,"
Major McNair's "The Malays of Perak," Mr.
Skeat's " Malay Magic," and other books upon
Malay subjects ; and also from Raja Alang
Iskandar, who very kindly read through
this article and made many excellent sug-
gestions.

MALAY LITERATURE

[Abridged from the Government Publications on the Subject.]

HE Malays possess a
national literature
which, though open to
much adverse criticism
if judged from a Euro-
pean standpoint, never-
theless contains not a
little that is of real
literary promise. Evi-
dence is not wanting that the Malays have
been travelling along much the same literary
road as Western nations, even if they have
not yet advanced so far. They may, indeed,
be likened to the European child who prefers
the story of " Jack the Giant-Killer " to the
masterpieces of Milton and Shakespeare, but
is, in his way, a good judge of a fairy-tale.
The chief value of their literature lies, of
course, in the insight which it gives into the
history and character of a people who are
apt to be very much misunderstood by the
casual observer.

Every Malay author is an amateur philologist
— a " lover of words " in the most literal sense
— and some of the attempts at tracing the deri-
vation of words are more ingenious than
accurate. One native writer assures us that
Malacca was so named from the Arabic word
malakat, an emporium, because the town
afterwards became a great trading centre.
Another asks us to believe that the Bugis
Princes of Celebes must be descended from
King Solomon, because Bugis is plainly the
same as Balkis, the legendary name of the
Queen of Sheba. How comes it that the Malay,
who is by heredity a mere trapper or fisherman
— perhaps even a pirate — displays such a deep
interest in the study of words ? The explana-
tion is simple. According to Malay theory, a
proper command of language is essential to
success even in hunting and fishing. Loose
language on the sea may bring on a storm ;
a careless word in the jungle may expose the
speaker to the attack of a tiger ; the use of a
wrong expression may drive out the tin from
a mine or the camphor from a forest. An
Englishman objects to slang in the presence
of ladies ; a Malay avoids expressions of undue
familiarity in the presence of all superior
powers, human or superhuman. The Malay
has his " Court diction," his "everyday speech,"
his " business language," his special vocabulary
for camphor-collecting, and his list of tabooed
words in mining, hunting, and fishing. As a

By R. J. WILKINSON.

result of this regard for words, a Malay's idea
of literary composition is to string together
(karang) beautiful words and sayings ; he
describes a story as a necklace of pearls, or
a crown of diamonds, or a garland of flowers.
He does not consider the parts of a story to be
mere accessories to the story as a whole ; they
are the pearls, while the narrative is the thread
necessary for stringing them together.

The ancient unwritten literature of the
Malays was the work of villagers. It appears
to have consisted of proverbs, of conventional
descriptions, of old sayings on all kinds of
topics, of short proverbial verses, of fables in
which the mouse-deer played the part of Brer
Rabbit, and of short stories about comic per-
sonages, like the typical Irishman of English
anecdote. The earliest Malay books must date
back to the sixteenth century, but the Augustan
period of Malay literature was the first half of
the seventeenth century, and was associated
with the period of the kingdom of Achin's
greatest prosperity. Among the most noted
Malay works of this period are the "Taju's-
Salatin" ("Crown of Kings"), dated 1603 ; the
" Sejarah Melayu" ("Malay Annals"), written
at Achin in 1612 ; the " Bustanu's-Salatin "
(" Garden of Kings "), and a version of the
" Iskandar Dzu'l-Karnain " (" Romance of
Alexander ").

Generally speaking, Malay literature may
be classed under the four headings : Romance,
History, Poetry, and Fable or Anecdote.

ROMANCE.

The first point that strikes any one who
examines the old Malay romances is the like-
ness they bear to the tales that interested
medieval Europe. Solomon's proverb that
there is nothing new under the sun finds many
counterparts in the Indian Archipelago. The
tale of the founding of Carthage (by the simple
device of asking for as much land as an ox's
hide would encompass) has an exact parallel
in a Malay account of the taking of Malacca.
The myth of Hercules and Antreus is identical
with the myth of the earth god, the Maharaja
Boma, in the Malay romance of " Sang Samba" ;
while, as an episode in the same Indonesian
legend, we have the myth of the war between
the Titans and the gods. The whole panorama
of Eastern romance is filled with the cannibal
ogres, the lovely princesses, the winged horses,
the monstrous birds, the men in animal shape,
and most of the other details that make up the
folk-lore of the European child. The most
common form of composition in the classical

138

literature of the Malays is the hikayat, or
romantic biography. The hikayat never plunges
into the middle of a tale ; it generally begins
by relating the history of the hero's parents,
and in some cases (when the story is of Indo-
Javanese origin) it tells us who the hero and
heroine were in their earlier incarnations. The
hero is invariably a prince, "extremely hand-
some, with a glowing countenance and a com-
plexion like polished gold, and without a peer
among the princes of his time." He generally
begins his adventures at the age of fourteen or
fifteen. The heroine is always a princess,
"very beautiful, with a face like a fourteen-
day-old moon, a brow like a moon of three
days, hair like the opening blossom of the
paim, eyes like the star of the morning, eye-
brows curving like the spurs of a fighting-cock,
ears like the flowers of the Rcpayang, cheeks
like shelled eggs, a nose that is straight and
sharply cut, a mouth like a bursting pome-
granate, a tapering neck and sloping shoulders,
a slender waist and a broad chest, fingers like
the quills of the porcupine, and a figure that
sways like the stalk of a flower." Of these
stereotyped descriptions the Malay never seems
to tire. The trouble which separates the lovers
is due sometimes to a monster who lays waste
the lady's land and scatters its inhabitants,
sometimes to a rival suitor who is refused her
hand in marriage, and sometimes to a wander-
ing god (generally the Hindu divinity Kala),
who carries off the princess or turns her into a
man, or causes her to vanish from the ken of
her betrothed.

Such, then, is the framework of Malay
romance. Its material is drawn from several
distinct sources — from Arabian and Persian
legends, from Indian epics, and from the
Javanese heroic cycle of Sira Panji — but it
has to work this material into the framework
of the conventional plot. As any departure
from Malay convention is, in Malay eyes, a
serious blunder, it often comes about that much
foreign literature is spoilt when converted into
Malay. For instance, in the Javanese romance
of " Ken Tambuhan," a young prince loves and
secretly marries a captive maiden attached to
his mother's court. On finding that the lovers
are not to be otherwise separated, the mother
determines to do away with the girl so as to
enable the prince to marry a lady of his own
rank. She accordingly sends the girl a message
inviting her to join the prince in the forest
where he is hunting. The girl suspects a
snare, but she is helpless ; she writes a tender
letter of farewell and goes forth to meet the
doom prepared for her. On learning her fate,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

139

the prince slays himself over her body. The
whole tale is narrated with great simplicity
and pathos, but the canons of Malay convention
demand a happier ending ; the lovers are
brought to life again by Siva (Betara Guru)
and the whole pathos of the tragedy is lost. It
must be borne in mind, however, that native
writers do not claim to reproduce the legends
that they study ; they simply use certain inci-
dents in those legends as a background for
their own tales of love and war. Thus, when
a native operatic company stages " Hamlet" in
Singapore, it stages a comedy. It does not
want to ridicule or parody the original ; it
simply takes the outline of the Hamlet story as
a peg on which to hang the work of its own
professional humourists.

HISTORY.

Every Malay romance is believed to relate
true history, but certain books are looked upon
as more authentic than others, and have con-
sequently received special attention at the
hands of students. The best known of these
chronicles are the " Malay Annals," the " Kedah
Annals," the " History of Pasai," and the second
book of " Bustanu's-Salatin." Of these four,
the " Malay Annals " is the most important. It
is an anecdotal history ; its kernel is the pedi-
gree of the royal house of Malacca, its flesh
the legends and gossip associated with that
royal house. It has been proved that the
various Malay histories are unreliable in their
chronology, and that their legends are only
echoes from Indian and Persian literature.
For many years, for instance, native history
has been allowed to supply us with an in-
correct chronology of early events, such as the
foundation and fall of the ancient city of Singa-
pore, the establishment and growth of the
Malay kingdom of Malacca, and the names
and biographies of various Malay kings. The
Colonial Office List for 1907 still perpetuates
this chronology in the statement, " There is
some evidence of Singapore having been an
important trading centre in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, and the tradition is that
the place was attacked and devastated in
a.d. 1252 by the Javanese." An examination
of Javanese and Chinese records has made it
clear that the old city of Singapore flourished
and was destroyed in the fourteenth century.

But it would be unwise because of these
weaknesses to discard Malay chronicles as
altogether worthless. The "Malay Annals"
have the merits and failings of all anecdotal
history ; they may often sacrifice truth to the
point of a story or to the interests of a pedi-
gree ; they adorn many anecdotes with un-
reliable details as to private interviews and
secret conversations that could never have
taken place, but they must be true to the ideas
and to the spirit of the age. They furnish
a very lifelike picture of the times. They tell
us tales of the tyranny and profligacy of the
old Malay kings, of the corruption of the court,
of the bribery of officials, of murders and
judicial trials, of feuds, vendettas, intrigues,
and elopements, and of the attitude of the
people to all these episodes. Such matters
are of very real importance to the scientific
historian, who cares more about the condition
of the people than about the biographies of
individual monarchs.

POETRY.

The Malays are emphatically a songful race.
" For hours and hours," says Major McNair, in
his account of a trip to Mount Ophir, "these
people kept up quite a little social entertain-
ment by improvising amusing stories which
they set to their own native music and sang
aloud to harmonious airs, the whole joining in
a chorus after every line." Every year sees a
new crop of topical songs. Every native

operatic troupe has its own versifier to write
words to well-known tunes. Verses, jokes,
songs of praise or amusement, all are com-
posed to meet the needs of the moment, and
(unless they possess very exceptional merit) are
forgotten when the play or festival is over.
The horror of literary piracy which charac-
terises European work has no place among
primitive peoples. A Malay song-writer who
objected to other people using his songs would
be regarded by his fellow-countrymen much
as we should regard a man who went to
Stationers' Hall and applied for permission to
copyright his own conversation. It thus comes
about that the cleverer verses are stored up in
the memories of a Malay audience, just as an
English audience remembers a good story and
repeats it. It must not, however, be supposed
that the Malay looks upon verse merely as a
means of expressing contempt, or compliment,
or jest ; he loves the rhythm of poetry for its
own sake, and he finds in it a relief for his
feelings, especially for his sense of melancholy
longing :

" For a heart oppressed with sorrow some solace
lingers yet
In the long low notes of the viol that sweeten a
song of regret."

(Apa lah ubat hati yang dendam ?
Gesek biola tarekkan nyanyi.)

This love of poetry cannot be altogether a
new thing, since it enters into the very life of
the people, and is shared by the other races of
the archipelago ; and yet, curiously enough, it
seems to be new in form if ancient in spirit.
Malay poetry is expressed mainly as topical
and operatic songs, sliaers, or metrical ro-
mances, and pautuns, or quatrains. The last-
named is the true racial verse of Indonesian
peoples. It is usually described as a quatrain
in which the first line rhymes with the third
and the second with the fourth — a description
which is insufficient rather than incorrect.
The peculiarity of the fantun lies in the fact
that its first pair of lines and its last pair seem
to have little or no connection in meaning with
each other. To explain the real character of
the fantun it must be pointed out that in the
oldest peninsular literature the word is used to
signify a proverbial metaphor or simile. Now,
Malay proverbial expressions are of two kinds
— metaphorical proverbs of the European type,
such as " Pagar makan parti" — "The fence
eats up the rice"; and proverbs by sound-
suggestion, such as " Surtah gahaiu chenrtana
ptila " — " It was eagle-wood, and now it is
sandalwood again," an apparently meaning-
less expression, suggesting by its sound the
words "Surtah tahu bertanya pula" — "You
have been told, yet you come asking the
same question again." This method of sound-
suggestion gives the key to the otherwise
incomprehensible pantun. The following
English rendering of a Malay quatrain will
give a fair idea of the nature of sound-
suggestion :

u The fate of a dove is to fly —
It flies to its nest on the knoll ;
The gate of true love is the eye.
The prize of its quest is the soul"

The theory of this form of composition is
that the first pair of lines should represent a
poetic thought with its beauty veiled, while
the second pair should give the same thought
in all its unveiled beauty. The gradual self-
revelation of the poet's idea, as its true signifi-
cance grows upon the mind, is one of the great
charms that the pantun possesses in the eyes
of its votaries.

FABLES.

The type which of all types of Malay story,
pure and simple, is probably the earliest and
has the widest geographical range is the fable.

The fables of the peninsula fall into two
classes : there are those of avowedly foreign
origin, and there are those that are apparently
Indonesian. Of the latter, the pre-eminently
important are the Malay beast fables. The
best of these centre in the cycle of mouse-deer
stories. Mouse-deer is not unfit to stand beside
Brer Rabbit. He is ." a small chevrotain, to
be found in almost every part of the jungles of
Malaya. He is commonly called the mouse-
deer, but, in spite of the name, belongs rather
to the antelope tribe, the heel-bone of the
hinder leg projecting in a fashion never seen
in the true deer. The eye-teeth, too, are
curiously long and projecting, and the hoofs
are cloven to an extent which in so small a
creature is really remarkable. At the same
time he is a most beautiful little animal, with
big, dark, pleading eyes and all the grace and
elegance of a gazelle." In the cycle of mouse-
deer stories there may be detected several
stages of evolution. First, there is the simple
" guile " story, like the tales of " How Snail
outran Mouse-deer," " How Mouse-deer es-
caped Crocodile." In this stage Mouse-deer
is a delightfully pagan knave, pitting guile
against strength in the struggle for existence.

The following story of " How Mouse-deer
cheated Tiger" is a good example:

Mouse-deer took counsel with himself :
" What shift is there for me to save myself
alive ? " And he came to a wild wasps' nest.
" Good," said he, " I will bide by this nest."
Presently Tiger found him and asked him his
business. "I guard Xabi Sleyman's gong,"
said Mouse-deer, pointing to the nest. " May
I strike it?" asked Tiger; "of all things, I
should like to strike it ; and, if you let me do
so, I will not eat you." " You may," answered
Mouse-deer, "but, with your leave, I will go a
long way off first, or Nabi Skyman will be
angry." "All right," replied Tiger. Mouse-
deer went a long way off till he came to a
clump of bamboos, and there he waited. Then
Tiger smote Nabi Sleyman's gong and all the
wasps came swarming out and stung him till
his face was swollen. So he bounded away in
a rage and went to where Mouse-deer stood.
" Knave, villain ! " said he, " see my face all
swollen. Now I will kill you. But what is this
bamboo you are watching ? " " It is Nabi
Skyman's viol," said Mouse-deer, pointing to a
slit stem, in which the wind sounded. " How
do you play it ? " asked Tiger. " Lick it here
with your tongue," said Mouse-deer, pointing
to the slit. " May I ? " asked Tiger. " Yes,"
said Mouse-deer, " but, with your leave, I will
go along way off first, or Nabi Skyman will be
angry." "Ail right," said Tiger. Mouse-deer
went a long way off and stood by some filth.
Then Tiger licked the bamboo ; and a gust
blew and closed the fissure, so that the end of
Tiger's tongue was pinched off : and that is
why tigers are short-tongued to this day. So
he bounded away in a rage and went to where
Mousedeer watched over the filth. "See the
hurt you have done me, accursed one," said
Tiger, showing his tongue ; " now, of a truth, I
will slay and eat you. But, first, what is this
filth, that you guard it ? " " It is Nabi Sky-
man's nasi Kunyct," said Mouse-deer. " May
I eat it ? " said Tiger ; " of all things I should
like to eat it ; and if you let me do so, I will
not kill you." "You may," said Mouse-deer,
" and perhaps it will cure your tongue ; but,
first, let me go a long way off, or Nabi Skyman
may be angry with me." "All right," said
Tiger. And Mouse-deer went a long way off
and stood by a coiled snake. Then Tiger
tasted the filth. " Why is it so bitter ? " said
he ; " beast, this is not rice, but filth only."
And he rushed in a rage to where Mouse-deer
waited. " Now, indeed, your hour has come,"
said Tiger ; " make ready to die. But, first,
what is this you are guarding? " and he looked
at the coiled snake. " This is Nabi Skyman's
turban," said Mouse-deer. " May I wear it ? "

140

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

asked Tiger; " of all things I should like to put
it on ; and if you let me do so, perhaps I may
spare your life." " You may put it on," said
Mouse-deer, " but first let me go a long way off,
or Nabi Slcyman may be angry with me."
" All right," said Tiger. Then Mouse-deer
went a long way off and looked on gleefully.
So Tiger began to unwind the coils, but the
snake awoke, his tongue darting like flame,
and fought with Tiger and overcame him and
killed him. "Ha! ha!" laughed Mouse-deer,
and went on his way, up hill and down dale,
by jungle and plain.

In the next stage, Mouse-deer has become
possessed of an ideal of justice, and exercises
his wit for unselfish purposes. Here, Islam
has entirely corrected the unorthodox anim-
istic outlook by ousting him from his pride of
place and admitting him only as a servant or
assessor to Solomon the Prophet, under whose
charge is the jungle world. In one of these
fables a rich man claims a hundred gold pieces
from orphans on the ground that they had
grown fat upon the smell of his larder. He is
brought before the stock Oriental just poten-
tate, and the claim is disposed of by Mouse-
deer, who directs the orphans to count over
one hundred pieces behind a curtain, and says
the sound of the money is as valuable as the
smell of the larder.

MALAY PROVERBS.

Malay proverbs afford a pretty reliable index
to the national character, and they reveal much
admirable philosophy. The native of the pen-
insula regards courage, patience, and industry
as mere subsidiary qualities ; intelligence is
paramount. He sees that he cannot snare
game or catch fish or rob the forest of its
precious products merely by trusting to hard
work. He is not an idler, or he would not be
a fisherman, working, according to the state of
the tide, in all weathers and at all hours of the
day or night. But he avoids useless risks, and

has proverbs that ridicule waste of strength or
energy :

" If you pole down stream, the very croco-
diles laugh at you."
" Who goes out of his way to dye the sea

green ? "
The true Malay admires the intelligence that
can secure great results at little cost :

" When you kill a snake, do not break your

stick."
" When you spear a fish, take care not to
injure the spear."
His detestation of worry is expressed in the
query :

" If there are worms in the earth, need one

dig them up ? "
The old aristocratic government of the
country has made him amazingly tolerant
of the vices of others. He thinks it natural
enough that a prince should gratify his
passions whenever he has the chance. After
all, says he :

" The python likes his chicken."
The peasant looks upon the chiefs as a race
apart :

"They are hornbills, we are sparrows.
How can we possibly fly in the same
flock ?"
The idea of seeking vengeance against the
tyrant excites his bitterest ridicule :
" The flea wants to fight the eagle."
" The cock thinks that, by refusing to crow,

he will prevent the sun from rising."
The Malay does not rejoice over the suffering
of his neighbours. He says :

" When the lower frond falls, let not the
upper frond be amused."
But he knows that it is as much as a man can do
to protect his own interests. He would laugh
to scorn the idea of an English statesman
troubling himself about the affairs of Finland
or Armenia :

" Why put aside your own child so as to
suckle some monkey from the jungle ?"
This cynical indifference to the wrongs of
others is typified by the reply of a powerful
chief to a subject who considered himself
injured :

" Men must stores of grain possess
If they hope to earn success ;
Men, when caught without a gun,
From their enemies must run ;
When insulted, men who lack
Cannon never answer back."
This reply has become proverbial.

" One may as well be hanged for a sheep as
for a lamb " has many equivalents in Malay :
" If you must die, it is nobler to be taken by
a big crocodile than to be nibbled to
pieces by little fish."
The essence of good breeding, according to
the Malays, lies in the word "bahasa" — true
courtesy, sympathetic tact, gentleness of speech
and manner — not in the —
" Soft tongue that breaks bones," or
"The mouth of man that is sharper than
swords or spears."
Much of this, however, only represents an
ideal. Malay deceit (Scmu Melayu) is also
proverbial, and other proverbs dismiss the men
of the various States as follows :

" Wheedlers are the men of Malacca.
Exaggerators are the men of Menangkabau.
Cheats are the men of Rembau.
Liars are the men of Trengganu.
Arrogant are the men of Pahang."
The natural wealth of the peninsula and the
sparsity of its population have always made it
easy for a peasant to earn the bare necessaries
of life ; the short-sighted greed of his chiefs
made it useless for him to earn more. Religion,
though it combated the native princes on many
points, agreed with them in considering that
money was bad for the people :

" Wealth is a harlot, wisdom is faithful — lust
not after the treasures of this world that
cannot follow you to the world to come."
For our proverb " An Englishman's home is
his castle " the corresponding Malay saying is :
" A man is a prince on his own sleeping-
platform."
The Malay's attachment to his home and his
native village is illustrated by the following :
"Though it rain silver and gold abroad,
though it rain daggers and spears at
home — still, home is better."

NATIVE ARTS AND HANDICRAFTS

By L. WRAY, I.S.O., M.I.E.E.,

F.Z.S., M.R.P.S., Local Correspondent, Anth. Institute, etc.,
of Museums, Federated Malay States.

Director

ABORIGINAL.

HE various wild tribes
which for convenience
may be called the abor-
igines of the Malay
Peninsula are in such
a low state of civilisa-
tion that their know-
ledge of handicrafts is
very rudimentary. But
primitive though they are, any account of the
arts of the Malay Peninsula would be incom-
plete without a passing reference to them and
their works.

In basket-work they are fairly proficient,
but both the shapes of the articles and
the methods of plaiting in vogue are very
limited. The baskets are mostly those for
slinging on the back, in which to carry their
belongings. They are made usually of split
rattan, and the method of plaiting is very
similar to that of the familiar cane bottoms to
chairs. That is, with two sets of rattans
crossing one another nearly at right angles a
network is formed, leaving holes either square
or diamond-shaped, while another set of rattans
crosses these at an angle of 45 degrees, at or
near the intersections of the first series, thus
producing more or less hexagonal holes. They
are cylindrical or slightly conical in shape, and
are not strengthened with thicker pieces of
cane. In the photograph (Fig. 1) two of these
baskets are shown — one, at the lower left
corner, of coarse plaiting, and the other, at
the top, of fine.

The caps or covers of the quivers for blow-
pipe darts are sometimes made of basket-work.
In this case a thin round strip of rattan is
coiled into the desired shape, and is held in
place by an interlacing of fine, flat strips of
rattan, which bind the individual coils together.
These appear to be the only two methods of
cane-work known to the aborigines, and no
attempt at variation of the manner of plaiting,
so as to produce a pattern, is to be seen in any
of their basket-work.

Mat-work, made of the split leaves of some
of the various species of Patidanus, is also
used for making carrying-baskets and for
lining those of rattan. Bags of various sizes,
some of the most beautifully fine workmanship,
are in use. Sleeping mats and the greater
part of the covers to the blow-pipe quivers are
also made of mat-work. The plaiting is of

the straightforward right-angled form, and
patterns are rarely attempted, except when
Malay work has been copied. A mat carrying-

basket is shown at the lower right-hand corner
of the photograph. The small mat bag above
it is for betel-nut, and a rice bag will be seen

Fig. 1.— SAKAI AND SEMANG MAT AND BASKET WORK.
141

142 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Fig. 2.

-BARK CLOTH AND PLAITED GARMENTS, WITH WOODEN
MALLETS FOR BEATING OUT THE CLOTH.

on the left. The sleeping-mat on that side
has a zigzag pattern, painted in yellow, on it,
and the other mat has a few dark-coloured
strips of leaf plaited into it, dividing it up into
diamond-shaped spaces, and it also has some
irregular yellow spots.

String used for fishing lines and for making
fishing nets is manufactured by the aborigines.
Some of it is very fine and strong ; conse-
quently, it is valued by the Malays, and is in
certain places a recognised article of barter.

The next step in advance — that is, weaving —
has never been taken, but very fair cloth is
made out of the bark of several trees. The
way in which this is done is by beating the
bark with a wooden club carefully all over, until
it can be separated from the stem of the tree.
It is then soaked in water and beaten again
with a sort of bat, somewhat like that used by
French washerwomen, but with the surface

deeply scored, until it is thin and flexible
enough to wear. The best cloth is prepared
from the bark of the Ipoh or Upas tree
(Antiaris toxicaria). This is the same tree
which yields the most deadly poison with
which they coat their blow-pipe darts and
arrows. The bark cloth is used for loincloths
and head-dresses, and the large pieces for
blankets ; for many of these people live high
up on the hills, where the nights are quite cold
and covering of some sort is a necessity.
Plaited rattan, the black fungus called akar
batu, and other materials are used for women's
dresses, bracelets, leglets, and head-dresses.

In the accompanying illustration |Fig. 2) a
loin-cloth of Ipoh bark (marked A) is shown,
painted with a pattern in yellow and black.
Another piece of bark cloth (B), painted with
white and black, and the blue string and bark
(C), are head-dresses. Figure F is a Semang

woman's dress of plaited akar batu, and E
is a man's head-dress of plaited leaves. The
mallets (D) are those used by the Semangs to
beat out the bark cloth. The Sakais use much
cruder ones for the same purpose.

The material out of which they fashion the
greater portion of the articles in everyday use
is bamboo. From it they make their weapons
— blow-pipes and quivers, spears, and the shafts
of the arrows used in the north of the Fede-
rated Malay States. From it also they make
theh%musical instruments, cooking vessels, and
innumerable other things. The surface of
bamboo lends itself very readily to decora-
tion by scratching, by removing parts of the
outer covering, and by burning. It will be
found that all these methods are employed.
These people undoubtedly have much artistic
feeling, and take great pains in the ornamenta-
tion of their simple belongings. Not only do
they put ornament where it can be seen, but
very often it is also put on places which are
ordinarily hidden from view, such as on the
inner tubes of their blow-pipes. Objects which
have only a transient use, such as the bamboos
in which rice is cooked, are also often decorated
with incised lines. The patterns employed
are very various, but are traceable in many
instances lo some natural object, often, how-
ever, much conventionalised. Sometimes the
ornament consists of really good representa-
tions of plants, leaves, or flowers, while the
figures of animals and men are also occasion-
ally introduced.

The bamboo combs and pin (A, Fig. 3) are deco-
rated by incised lines, and also by removal of the
outer skin. The earring (B) to the right has
the pattern burned in, and in the other it is cut.
The blow-pipe quiver (D), the tobacco pouch
at the top left-hand corner, and the box at the
bottom of the same side have cut patterns.
The box is very noticeable on account of the
excellent representations of plants and leaves

Fig. 3.— BAMBOO ARTICLES ORNA-
MENTED WITH INCISED, BURNED,
AND PAINTED PATTERNS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

143

with which it is adorned. The long water-
bamboo (C) is painted in red and black, while
the pouch to the left of C was painted in red,
black, and white, but the red has faded a great
deal.

To a very limited extent these people are
acquainted with the use of dyes and paints.
They use a yellow dye for ornamenting mats
and bark cloth, also" a red dye for the same
purpose ; and white China clay and lampblack
are used, with oil, as paints. These substances
are employed for colouring mats, bark cloth,
and bamboo articles, and they are also used to
paint the faces and sometimes the breasts of
the women. In this latter case the method is

-SAKAI WOMAN OF BATU
PIPIS, PERAK.
(The face is painted in red, black, and white.)

fairly constant. Broad lines of red are drawn,
and these are enriched by working on them
with narrow lines and dots of black and white.
Elaborate patterns are thus produced, which,
they consider, add greatly to the charm and
beauty of their women. It is, however, only
applied on occasions when people in a higher
level of life would put on their " Sunday
best." In the photograph (Fig. 4) of a young
Sakai woman of Hatu Pipis, Perak, it will be
noticed that there is a broad line from the hair
down the forehead, nose, and upper lip to the
chin, with two lines forming a V on the fore-
head, two others from the outer corners of the
eyes to the ears, two horizontal ones from the
nose, across the cheeks, and two others from
the corners of the mouth obliquely downwards.
The bamboo water-jar in her right hand is also
elaborately painted with the same colours as
her face.

MALAYAN.

Basket-work is in quite an advanced state.
For the most part the material used is rattan,
but split bamboo, the rind of the leafstalks of
several palms, and the inner portion of the
stems of some species of climbing ferns are
also employed.

Carrying baskets are of two sorts : large
conical-shaped ones, which are slung over the
shoulders, like those used by the wild tribes, only
larger and supported and strengthened by thick
pieces of round rattan ; the other variety made in
pairs and carried on a yoke over the shoulder.
They are shallow and cylindrical in form. Of

other shapes, mention may be made of the
round, flat baskets called Kuciai, and also others
of the same name made in the form of the
water-jar called Buyong. These baskets are
often ornamented with silver plates, and have
silver wire handles. They are used to carry
provisions, and are, in fact, luncheon-baskets,
while the smaller ones of the same shapes
serve as work-baskets. Two of these Kudai
are shown on the right-hand side of the top
row in Fig. 5.

It would be quite impossible to specify within
the limits of this article the very various forms
and uses of the baskets to be found in the
peninsula. It may be said that the Malay lives
in a basket-work house ; that the fittings to his
boats, the fences of his gardens, the trappings
of his elephants and buffaloes, his fishing and
bird traps, and even the hat he often wears,
are all made of basket-work. These hats are
fez-shaped, and made of the inner portion of
the stem of one of the climbing ferns called
Rcsam. They are very finely plaited, are trans-
parent, and have the appearance of rather
coarse black net. One is shown on the left
of the middle row. The methods of plaiting
are as various as the shapes and uses of the
articles, the most primitive of all being formed
by taking a piece of bamboo, splitting it up
into thin strips, opening these out and then
putting interlacings of rattan at intervals so as
to hold the strips in place. Such a basket is
shown in the plate, the second from the right
of the bottom row. The one to the extreme
right answers the same purpose as the string-
bag. The centre basket of the same row is a
Pahang shape, and that to the left is a padi
basket. The one to the right of the centre row
is a stand for a round-bottomed cooking-pot or
water-jar.

Closely related to actual basket-work is the

Chinese sawyers and carpenters, planks were
very costly, as they were all made by the
primitive method of splitting up a tree trunk,
by the aid of wedges, into two or more pieces,
and then laboriously working these slabs into
planks by cutting them down with the native
axe, called a Beliyong, and finishing them off
with an adze, known as a Patil. It may,
therefore, be easily understood that only a-
few rich people could afford to build wooden
houses.

Tufas is of two kinds, one being made of
split bamboo and the other of the outer cover-
ing of the leafstalks of the Beriam palm. The
latter form is the more durable and makes the
better walls. Long strips of the outer covering
of the leafstalks are laid side by side on the
ground, and then others are inserted at right-
angles to them so as to form a large sheet of
basket-work. The technique is much the
same as weaving, only in place of threads
there are long thin strips of hard, though
flexible, material.

Tufas is a fabric which naturally lends itself
to the production of patterns. If one set of
strips are turned so as to expose the outside,
and the others at right angles to them are
turned so as to expose the inside, a bicoloured
chequer pattern results, and it is easy to see
how, by varying the plaiting, the patterns can
be increased almost indefinitely. In addition
to taking advantage of the natural colours of
the material, the Malays enhance the effect by
the use of pigments. It is usual to plait the
Tnpas in pieces of the sizes and shapes suited
to the requirements of a building. When
finished they are bound round the edges with
rattan, lifted into position, and tied in place.
The natural colours are two shades of brown.
Four varieties of plaiting are shown in the
photograph ( Fig. 6), made of the natural-coloured

Fig. 5.— MALAY BASKETS.

material called Tufas. It is employed for the
walls of houses and boats and (a very coarse
variety) for the fencing of fields and gardens.
The walls of native houses are only occasion-
ally made of planks. Before the influx of

Beriam. This is the size that is used for the
finer species of wall-work, the Bertam being in
strips of about one and a half inches in width.
The 6-inch scale in the centre serves to show
the relative proportions of the patterns.

144

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

I» , .l , 'u%* r |i r, ll' 1

BPsOT

■ - III ..IIIL-X..IIIM.D

;i, , i"j 11 'r.T 1 » I

T^yy WwrjSf r ' v tL dfl

IT w Hj^h Hlt< ' ^< n * El i' ' 1

K^ * LHPBT mj | mi J -1 iBK IaSi HB flB^HRI bT Bi ■

I^^llfcStf

HWP? " vOBIsl* ;.iT, JMVfl' 1

Fig. 6.— FOUR VARIETIES OF PLAITED TUPAS.

mented with openwork, through which the red
cloth shows. C is a very ornate praying-mat
in many colours. D is also coloured ; it is a
square sitting-mat.

Besides those already mentioned, there are
many other ways in which mat-work is used.
Mat bags for rice, and finer ones for holding
Sirih requisites, are to be seen in every house.
These bags are flexible, and can be rolled or
folded up, but what are known as Malacca
baskets are stiff in texture. As usually made,
they consist of nests of differently shaped
covered boxes, and have raised patterns on
them. This variety of plaiting is known as
Aiiyam gila, or " mad weaving," from its great
complexity. This " mad weaving " is not con-
fined to Malacca, but is practised there to a
greater extent than elsewhere, and quite a con-
siderable trade is done in Malacca in these
mat baskets.

Of late years a fairly large industry has
sprung up in Negri Sambilan in the manufac-
ture of mat hats. They are of fine texture and
resemble the coarser sorts of Panama hats.
They are much worn locally by Europeans of
both sexes, and many are sent to Europe for
sale. The finer are of Pandan leaves, and the
coarser of Mtnghucwg leaves. Some are plaited
single, and others double, while several shapes
and sizes are made.

In the centre of Fig. 9 is a pile of five
Malacca baskets, each of which fits into the
next size larger. This is the way they are
usually made for sale. There are two other
examples, on either side of the central pile, of
different shapes. The two birds and the
curious mat bags under them are made for the
purpose of holding new rice. It is customary
at harvest time to give these fanciful baskets of
rice as complimentary presents to friends, after
the manner of Easter eggs. They are made
in a great many shapes, and some of the bags
are ornamented with cut paper and in other
ways. At the bottom to the left is a Port Dick-

It is in the State of Perak that this particular
art has been carried to the greatest perfection.
Each of the many patterns has a name, such as
the Rhinoceros' footprint, the Ginger flower,
the Sand-piper's footprint, and the Chess-
board.

The painting is done when the material is in
place on the house. The colours used are
black, white, yellow, and red. The effect is
decidedly pretty, and is reminiscent of the
fancy brick and flint gables of some of the
old houses in the Isle of Thanet. Fig. 7
gives specimens of nine varieties of painted
Tupas. The colours used on these examples
are black, white, and pale yellow. They are
from Bukit Gantang, in Perak. H is the Sand-
piper's footprint, G the Chessboard, and M
the Rhinoceros' footprint.

Mat-work is again closely connected with
Tupas, but owing to the greater flexibility of
the materials of which it is composed, the
texture is much closer and finer. The floors of
most Malay houses are made of an open grid
of narrow strips of bamboo or palm stems.
This flooring is called Lantai. It is generally
more or less covered with coarse matting, on
which smaller mats of finer quality for sitting,
sleeping, and praying are laid. No chairs,
tables, or bedsteads are to be found in a proper
Malay house ; consequently, mats play a very
important part in the furnishing of a house.
The smaller mats are ornamented by patterns,
formed by varying the method of plaiting.
Others have openwork which has the effect
of coarse lace, while others again are plaited
with previously dyed strips of leaf, the plainest
being of black and white and the more ornate
of red, blue, green, and yellow. Some of the
designs are quite beautiful, and are carried out
with much taste. The long mat (A, Fig. 8) is from
Upper Perak. The centre one (B) is white-
edged and backed with red cloth. It is orna-

c lVaVaV^

*/ V

Fig. 7.— NINE VARIETIES OF PAINTED TUPAS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA 145

-t*-*,

■

fes;

\f>J^ii-^S.i.i.i.M.t jit ...i j ijt 1

■^

B * 3

■*•• 1

r -' •V'"'--'' ' ." " ' Sin

; :

j^fV.^^fc/^lsiiSiS

"',

——--J

Fig. 8.— THREE LONG MATS AND ONE SQUARE ONE.

son hat of Metlgkuattg leaves and to the right
one of Patidan leaves, while between them
is one partly made to show the method of
plaiting.

Spinning by means of the whorl and spindle
has practically become extinct, but these primi-
tive implements are still employed for making
fishing-lines and string for fishing-nets. The
implement is of two sorts : in the one a slender
stick is fastened into a pear-shaped piece of
hard wood, and in the other a piece of tin is
cast on the end of it. The stick is the spindle,
and the wood or tin is the whorl. These imple-
ments are whirled by placing them on the
thigh, which is held in a slanting position, and
rapidly pushing the open hand downwards
along the thigh, a rotary motion thus being
given to the spindle. There are now very few
places in the world where this original method
of making thread is still in vogue. Formerly
cotton was grown and prepared for spinning
in the Malay States. It was passed through a
pair of wooden rollers and then bowed and
finally twisted up on to a stick, which served
as a distaff.

String and cordage are still prepared from
many fibrous substances, with the aid of an
implement called a Peleting. It is difficult to
understand how, with such a rude appliance,
it is possible to make really good string and
cord. A much more complicated apparatus is
used in Pahang for the same purpose. It is a
very ingenious contrivance for twisting three
strands at one time by pulling a cord back-
wards and forwards.

Following the art of making yarn, naturally

comes that of weaving. The loom employed
(Fig. io) is a very simple one, almost exactly jike

the common hand-loom which is still worked
in England. The cloth is nearly invariably
coloured, sometimes in stripes, but more
generally in checks or plaids. Both silk and
cotton are used, and gold thread is extensively
introduced in the finer qualities of silk cloths.
For the most part 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, transverse lines
or bands are desired, the gold thread is used in
the ordinary way in the shuttle, but where
detached floral or other patterns are required,
separate 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.

The cloth at the top left-hand corner of
Fig. ii was made at Sitiawan, in Lower
Perak. It is red, with a pattern in gold thread
woven into it. The two showing below it are
scarves. The patterns are produced by the
Kaiu Limau method and by weaving, and
the whole is enriched by the addition of gold
thread. The cloth at the right is a sarong,
a sort of petticoat that is worn .by Malays
of both sexes. In this also the patterns are
produced by the same combination of methods.

Another way in which patterns are pro-
duced is a species of tie and dye work. In
this the warp threads are dyed before being
woven. They are tied up with waxed thread
and strips of banana stem in such a way as
to expose only the portion of the warp that
is intended to form the ground colour. (A
small portion of silk warp thread tied pre-
paratory to dyeing is shown in Fig. 12.
The thick dark-coloured ties are banana stem
and the thin are waxed thread.) This portion
having been dyed, the parts which are to be,
say, blue are unwrapped. These are next
dyed, and so on until finally the white parts
are untied. By this method the whole of the
threads for the warp have a pattern produced
on them. They are then put in the loom and
woven in the ordinary manner with a woof of
the colour of the ground. The effect of these
Kaiu Limau cloths is very charming and
harmonious. A great deal of their beauty is

Fig. 9.— MAT BASKETS AND HATS.

146

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

undoubtedly due to the woof being of the
ground colour, so that each portion of the
pattern is mixed with this colour, whereby all
crudity of colouring is avoided.

pattern. It is then burnished with a cowry
shell. These cloths, though very beautiful
when new, do not stand wear well and can-
not be washed. The whole process is very

Fig. lO.— A MALAY WOMAN OF PERAK WEAVING A CHECK SILK SARONG.

Another method of tie and dye work is prac-
tised. White cloth is stamped with an outline
pattern in some light pigment with wooden
stamps, and is then tied up so that the pattern
will remain white when the cloth is immersed
in the dye for the ground. It is next untied,
and other colours are added locally to the
portions remaining white. These cloths are
called Kain Pelangi, or rainbow cloth, and
are, as their name indicates, of very brilliant
colouring.

There is represented in Fig. 13 a silk cloth,
one portion (A) of which is Kain Limau and
the other (B) is Kain Pelangi. The ground
colour of the latter is bright yellow, while
that of the former is a rather dull red. It
was made by tying and dyeing the warp
threads for the Limau portion, leaving the
rest white, then tying and dyeing the white
part by the Pelangi method.

Cloth, both cotton and silk, is ornamented
by gilding. This cloth is known as Kain
Tclepoh. The cloth, which is usually of some
dark-coloured, indistinct plaid, is starched and
then polished by laying it upon a piece of
hard, smooth wood and pushing a cowry shell,
attached to a strong wooden spring, over it. In
the photograph (Fig. 14), which was taken in
Pekan, Pahang, a man is seen calendering a
cloth. He has hold of the wooden spring just
above the cowry shell, and is pushing it from
him. The upper end of the spring is attached to
the eave of the roof of the house. Only a narrow
strip of the cloth is polished at each stroke of
the shell. The kerchiefs worn as head-dresses
are often got up in this manner, as well as those
which are to be gilt. A number of wooden
stamps with portions of patterns carved on
them are used by covering their surface with
a gummy substance and impressing them on
the cloth. Gold leaf is then laid on to the
sticky impressions, and when the gum is dry
jt is dusted off, except where it adheres to the

similar to the gilding of book-binding. The
Telepoli sarong shown (C, Fig. 13) is of indigo-

Patani, in the Perak Museum, numbers fifty-
five pieces. There is another set of twenty-six
pieces from Pahang.

After the production of cloth comes the idea
of ornamenting it by working over its surface.
It has been mentioned that even the aborigines
have endeavoured to enrich their bark cloth by
painting designs on it. This desire to super-
impose ornamental figures on various fabrics
appears to be universal. In Malaya many
methods of embroidery are practised, and prob-
ably the greatest efforts have been lavished on
the adornment of their mats.

The method of embroidery called Sufi Timba
is that which is employed for the finest of all
this class of work. The design is drawn on
paper and the paper cut out. From this is
prepared a pattern of thin card, which is laid
on the ground of the intended work and neatly
covered over with gold thread. Floral designs
are thus produced, in gold, on a ground usually
of some rich shade of velvet. The beautiful
embroidery shown in Fig. 15 was designed
and worked by H.H. the Raja Permaisuri,
the second wife of the Sultan of Perak.
At the bottom is a long mat and at the top
a square mat. These are covered with Sufi
Timba. On the right is a round pillow and
on the left an oblong one, both with Sufi
Timba ends. In the centre is a gold repousse
box, and behind it is a gold-mounted kris lying
on its cushion, the top of which is embroidered.
These were the presents which the Sultan of
Perak gave toT.R.H.the Prince and Princess
of Wales when they visited Singapore in 1901.
The Raja Permaisuri is acknowledged to be
one of the most artistic designers and workers
in the country, and these mats may be taken to
represent the best work of their class to be
found in Malaya.

There are many other forms of embroidery
in use, some of which are also employed in
Europe. One form which occurs in certain
districts is the application of gilt paper patterns
to a ground of cloth. They are stitched very
neatly all round the edges, and the gilt paper

Fig. 11.— FOUR COLOURED SILK AND GOLD THREAD CLOTHS.

blue check, with a gilt pattern. In the corner (D)
are some of the wooden stamps used in gilding
these cloths, A full set of these stamps, from

takes the place of the gold embroidery in the
Sufi Timba work.

Closely related to this is cut-paper work, for

■■,

o
g

H-i

K
O

■

a
B

148

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

(he adornment of baskets, dish-covers, and
other similar stiff objects. Gilt, silvered, and
coloured papers are cut and stuck or stitched,

wood lashed together with rattan, and with a
thatched, gable-ended roof, the floor being
raised on high posts. The better class houses

> > I /:i

.C'JJ.C :-** ""'•

»:♦:■

V./ V/ a.\./

b - ■ • • • •.. . ■

:' V/V/-V,

!>. / V.VV" /• »

Pig. 13.— KAIN LIMAU, PBLANGI, AND TELEPOH CLOTH.

(A cloth of Kain Limau and Kain Pelangi is on the left and another of Kain Telepoh is on the right.
the corner are stamps for gilding the latter.)

one on the top of the other, to produce the
desired effect. In another variety coloured
bamboo is employed in place of paper. This
material is prepared from the inner portion
of the cane of the bamboo called Buloh P!ang
(Batubiisa Wrayi).

Crochet is employed to ornament the short
white trousers worn by those Malays who have
made the pilgrimage. It is done in the same
way as in Europe, but the cotton used is very
fine and the resulting work is consequently
lace-like in appearance (Fig. 16).

The only other form of lace which is made
locally is the so-called Biku. It is a pillow
lace, and the manufacture of it was intro-
duced into Malacca by the Portuguese some
two centuries ago. Biku is generally formed
of coloured silks, though white lace is also
made. It is, as a rule, quite narrow, and many
beautiful patterns are to be had. The lace
which is most distinctive is that made with
the brilliantly coloured silks which appeal to
the Malays. The art is, unfortunately, con-
fined to Malacca. Fourteen different patterns
of Biku are shown in the illustration. Counting
from the top, the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth
are of white silk and the remainder of bright
coloured silks.

Netting for fishing nets is, both inland and
on the sea coast, quite an extensive industry,
but as it does not differ in any material respect
from netting in other parts of the world, it
only requires a passing notice here.

A little has already been said about house-
building, but further details are required to
make it intelligible. Broadly speaking, the
true Malayan house is a structure of round

back the kitchen and offices. The walls are
either of Tupas, or of bark, or of coarse palm-
leaf matting.

On all the rivers there are many boats, from
the smallest dug-out, capable of holding one
person, to large house-boats. The former are
made out of a log of wood. The selected log
is gradually dug into, and by the aid of fire is
extended laterally so as to form a boat. Boats
of 70 feet in length and over 7 feet in width
are thus constructed. It is also usu;il in build-
ing a large boat to take as the foundation a
dug-out and build upon it. Some of the largest
house-boats are thus constructed. These large
boats are used to a great extent by traders, and
are, in fact, travelling shops, the owner and
his family living in them. As a general thing
it may be said that they are poled up-stream
and paddled down. The Malays are also quite
celebrated for building sea-going craft, some of
which are large and rigged as schooners. The
most graceful of all the boats is the Pahang
Kolch (Fig. 17). It has a keel of a semicircular
outline, with high stem and stern posts following
the same outline. It is usually gaily painted,
and has a curious curved arm at the stem, in the
shape of a swan's neck, to hold the mast and
sail when lowered.

In Negri Sambilan the art of wood-carving
has in the past reached a high standard of
perfection. There still remain some superbly
carved houses, but unfortunately the modern
work is not up to the level of the old. In all
the States the smaller articles of household use
are often embellished with carving. Coconut
scrapers, work-frames, rice-stirrers, and the
handles and sheaths of weapons and imple-
ments are often loaded with ornament. Boats,
particularly in Pahang, have carved figure-
heads, besides being otherwise decorated with
carving. Some of the river boats belonging
to the chiefs are much ornamented in this
manner.

Coconut shells are carved and made to serve
many purposes, such as spoons, drinking-cups,
and censers, while carved horn and ivory is
much used for the handles of weapons.

The carving of stone is practically unknown.
A few old tombstones are to be found, but they

Fig. 14.— A MALAY CALENDERING CLOTH WITH A COWRY SHELL.

are in three blocks, connected with covered
ways. The front block is the audience-hall,
the middle contains the living rooms, and the

have been imported from Achin. There is
one species of pottery, however, which should,
perhaps, be mentioned here. It has evidently

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

149

Pig. 15.— EMBROIDERED
(Presented to T.R.H. the Prince and Princess

been formed of clay, allowed to dry, and then
been elaborately carved, after the manner of
wood-carving and with the same patterns as
are found on that material. Subsequently it
was baked. Its place of origin is uncertain, but
it appears to be of local production.

The ordinary Malayan pottery is of special
interest, as it is all built up by hand, in the
manner prevailing in the British Islands in
the far-away Bronze Age. The potter's wheel,
which has been known in almost all countries
from the earliest historic times, is still unknown
to the Malays. The vessels are built up by
adding successive rings of clay and working
one ring into the one below it, and then
beating the whole together with a bat-shaped
piece of wood. Globular-shaped water-bottles
are formed with a flat bottom in the first
instance, and when the upper portion is fairly
hard the lower is wetted, patted with the bat,
and, by blowing into the neck of the bottle,
expanded till of the desired shape. The photo-
graph of the old potter (Fig. 18) was taken at
Saiong, in Perak. She is in the act of form-
ing a water-bottle, such as is seen on the left-
hand side of the picture. Others in various
stages are near her, and so are the simple
implements used in the art.

Patterns are produced by pressing into the
still damp clay small wooden stamps, which
have dots, lines, flowers, &c, carved on them.
When dry, the ware is burned, either on the

MATS, PILLOWS, ETC.

of Wales in iyoi by the Sultan of Perak.)

surface of the ground or in a shallow pit. It
is then often coloured black, by different means

in various localities. In Krian and Negri
Sambilan coloured patterns are produced by
painting with a pigment composed of a fer-
ruginous clay before the ware is burned. The
shapes of the water-bottles are derived from
the bottle-gourd. Large water-jars and cook-
ing-pots are also made. The ware is unglazed,
except for the application of resin to the lower
portions of some of the water-bottles. These
latter are often mounted with silver and some-
times with gold, having stoppers of the same
metals.

The pottery illustrated (Fig. 19) comprises
water-bottles and jars. Beginning from the top
and taking them from left to right, the first is
a gourd-shaped water-bottle from Pahang. It
should be noticed that there is a small hole
near the mouth. In use this is covered by a
finger, and the admission of air through it
controls the flow of water. Although used^to
drink from direct, it is not allowed to touch
the lips of the drinker. The next is a gourd-
shaped bottle, so like the natural vessel that it
could not be differentiated from it, except by
the closest inspection. The central one is a
modified form, with a foot, and is mounted
with silver. The remaining bottles on the top
row are also modifications of the gourd.
These four are all from Perak. On the second
row is a water-jar with a spout designed for
drinking from ; ft is from Pahang. The next
is a Perak form of water-jar called Buyong,
then a covered water -jar with a tall foot and
another of the spouted type from Negri
Sambilan. On the bottom row is a water-jar
called Glok, from Perak, a Pahang form of
Buyong, and then two from Krian, in Perak.
These are coloured, the one with red and the
other with red and white. They stand in
dishes and have covers and drinking-cups. It
is to be noted that only in Pahang and part of
Negri Sambilan are any spouted vessels to be
met with. Each district also has its distinctive
shapes and patterns of pottery.

Probably the first metal to be worked in the
peninsula was tin, and it is still applied to
many purposes for which, in other countries,
different and more suitable metals are used.
For instance, the old coinage was of tin, and
bullets, sinkers for fishing lines and nets,
weights, and many other articles are, or were,
made of tin. There is no record of when it
was first discovered and became an article of
commerce, but it was certainly in very remote
ages. Up till comparatively recent times the
industry remained in the possession of the
Malays, but since the advent of the Chinese

Pig. 17.— A PAHANG KOLEH.

150

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

nearly all the mining has passed into their
hands.

It is impossible to omit in any account of
Malayan crafts mention of tin mining, which
in the past was the most important of all. The
Malay mines are worked by two methods.
The first, which is called Liris, is only suited
to hilly land. A stream of water is led to the
place to be worked, and the earth is dug down

accumulate in them that it would be impossible
to lift it without a pump.

The cleaned tin ore is, or rather was, smelted
in a small furnace, built of clay, the blast being

up so as only to allow enough air to get in
to keep the fire slowly burning. As the fire
progressed, successive portions of the trunk
were covered up with earth, till the whole

Fig. 18.-

-A MALAY WOMAN MAKING
POTTERY.

so that it falls into the water. The stream
carries away all the light portions of the soil,
and the tin ore, being very heavy, remains in
the bottom of the ditch, from which it is lifted,
rewashed, and finally cleaned in a large round
shallow wooden tray, called a Dulaiig. The
second method, which obtains on flat land and
is called Lumboug, is by digging pits of some
15 feet or so square, and lifting out the wash-
dirt with baskets. The tin-bearing earth
known as Karang is subsequently washed in
long wooden or bark troughs, to separate out

Fig. 20.— MALAYAN TIN TOYS.

furnished by a piston bellows, made out of a
hollowed tree-trunk. The fuel was charcoal.
The tin, having been smelted, was cast into
ingots and was ready for sale.
The charcoal was burned in a very primitive

Fig. 19.— HAND-MADE POTTERY.

the ore. The water is baled out of the pits in way. A tree was felled and allowed to lie in

buckets during work. It is, therefore, only the jungle till it was dry. Earth was then

possible to work shallow land, and the pits built up round the lower part of it and it

cannot be made large, or so much water would was set on fire, being kept carefully covered

tree was converted into charcoal. Should the
fire from any cause go out, it was never
relighted. For this reason, and because only
the best timber-trees in the country will burn
in this way, the method was prohibited many
years ago. Charcoal-burning is now entirely
done by the Chinese.

Alluvial gold occurs with the tin in several
localities, and is mined in the above-described
ways. Taking advantage of the different
relative weights of the two substances, the gold
dust is afterwards washed out of the tin sand
by the skilful use of a Dulaug.

In all the States tin money and ingots of tin,
which in former times passed as money, have
been found, and up to the last decade of the
nineteenth century the so called " hat money "
was current in Pahang. In Trengganu and
the Siamese States round perforated tin money
is still in use. The Pahang coins were cast in
brass moulds, as were also those in circulation
in Negri Sambilan.

The Malays used to make very curious tin
toys. These were cast in the shape of animals
(rig. 20). This was doubtless wrong, accord-
ing to Mahomedan ideas, and possibly they are
survivals from pre-Mahomedan times. These
toys are of two classes — one cast in sand from
wooden patterns, like the ordinary ingots of
tin, the other cast in piece moulds made out
of soft stone. The first are the commonest,
and the animal most usually represented is the
crocodile ; but elephants, birds, tortoises, turtles,
fish, grasshoppers, snails, and mountains are
also depicted. They are very quaint and gro-
tesque, and at the present time are difficult to
obtain.

The chains for sinking cast-nets are cast in
wooden, stone, iron and brass moulds. The
common way is to cast simple rings, which
are afterwards cut and made into a chain.
But in one variety of mould a set of rings is
first cast, then they are taken out and put into
the mould again, in recesses made on purpose,
and other rings are cast through them, so that
a chain is made up of solid links, and' no
cutting and soldering is necessary.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

151

There are very clever smiths amongst the
Malays, and the most perfect development of
ironwork is to be found in the kris blades, the
damascening on some of these weapons being
as fine as anything produced elsewhere. The
kris, which is the distinctive Malayan weapon,
is a dagger of many shapes, and varies in
length from a few inches up to 2 feet.
Some are straight, while others are waved.
Those with a single bend in them are counted
as three-waved, and the numbers go from this
to five, seven, nine, and so on up to as many
as forty-seven waves. " The waves, according
to the Malay method of counting, always come
to odd numbers, and there are no four, six, or
eight-waved krises. The long kris, which is
the one with which criminals used formerly
to be executed, has a blade which sometimes
reaches 24 inches in length. The criminal
was made to kneel down, and the executioner,
who stood behind him, pushed the long thin
blade downwards into his left shoulder just
above the collar-bone. If properly inserted,
the weapon went straight through the heart
and produced almost instantaneous death. A
small pad of cotton was then placed on either
side of the blade and held in position by the
finger and thumb of the executioner, so that the
blood was wiped off as the blade was with-
drawn. It was considered unworkmanlike to
spill a drop of blood.

The variety of weapons is very great. There
are swords both of the European pattern with
Crusader hilts and of the true broad-ended
Malayan pattern (called Lading), many species
of daggers and ripping knives, besides spears
with variously shaped blades.

In Fig. 21, A is a curved sword with
a Malayan type of handle made of carved ivory

curve of the blade enables a draw cut to be
given with great ease) ; D is the kris-shaped
sword known as Sundong ; E is a weapon
resembling the old European bill (the long

is of ivory, and is in the semblance of a
grotesque human head with a very long, tip-
tilted nose. G is a gold-mounted forty-seven-
waved kris, and its sheath ; H is a five-waved

Fig. 23. — SPECIMENS OF MALAYAN SILVER WORK.

handle is to permit of both hands being used
to wield it) ; F is a straight kris with its sheath.
This particular one is of the Patani pattern.

! """ b 1 y^)

Fig. 21.— REPRESENTATIVE MALAYAN WEAPONS.

and silver ; B is a straight sword with a brass
Crusader hilt ; C is the broad-ended Malay-
sword called Lading (this last has a horn
handle with a coloured tassel ; the backward

Unlike all others, it is worn at the back, stuck
into the belt, with the handle towards the left
side. The other forms of kris are worn in the
belt, or sarong, over the left hip. The handle

inlaid kris, which is particularly mentioned
hereafter ; I is a long or execution kris, with
silver-mounted sheath ; and J is a ripping
knife called Sabit. This is held in the right
hand, the forefinger going through the hole
in the handle and the blade projecting out-
wards from the little-finger side of the hand.
The stroke is made in an upward direction
when it is desired to use the weapon, and the
lower part of the body is the point of attack.
K is a dagger known as Tumbok lada, or
pepper-crusher ; it has many varieties, like all
the above-mentioned weapons.

The blades of all the weapons are made of
Damascus steel, and are treated with a pre-
paration of arsenic, which colours them in
much the same way as better class gun-barrels
are coloured. The process is a complicated
one and cannot be described here. If it is
carried out properly the results are very good,
some portions of the blade assuming a dead
black colour, while others are left silvery white,
with numerous intermediate shades of grey
between them.

Iron cannons were formerly made by coiling
a piece of bar-iron round a mandrel and then
forging it into a solid tube. Small arms do
not seem to have been attempted in the
peninsula ; at any rate none are in existence.
Although such clever blacksmiths, the Malays
do not appear ever to have acquired the art of
casting iron.

Copper, bronze, and brass have been much
worked in the past, and there are still Malay
artificers who make various articles from these
metals. Most of the copper appears to be old,
and was fashioned by hammering.

Bronze was used for casting cannon of
considerable size. These are often elaborately
ornamented. The beautiful-toned Malay gongs
are also of bronze. They are cast roughly to
shape and finished by the use of the hammer.
Weapons such as spears, daggers, and krises
are sometimes made of bronze. This is an
interesting survival, as cutting implements of
bronze have long since been superseded by
those of steel in almost all other parts of the
world.

The older brass, called red brass, and the
modern yellow metal are cast, and then either
filed or turned up to shape on a rude form of

152 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Fig. 22.— BRASS AND COPPER WORK.

lathe. The casting is all done by the wax
process. A model of the intended article is
made in beeswax ; it is then coated with fine

then poured in, and takes the place previously
occupied by the wax. The clay is chipped off,
and the article can then be finished up. Cook-

Fig. 24.— JADAM AND NIELLO WORK.

clay, and successively with coarser qualities,
till the mould is judged to be thick and strong
enough. Having been dried, this is heated
and the wax is poured out. Molten metal is

ing-pots, water-jars, lamps, and the boxes and
cups for holding Sirih and the various things
which are chewed with it are the principal
utensils which are made of brass.

In Fig. 22, beginning at the top and taking
them from left to right, the articles are :
a brass cup for water, called Batil, a water-jar
with cover and drinking-cup, a brass kettle for
hot water, a hammered copper dish, an oblong
brass tray with perforated edge, a cooking-pot
and stand, a water-jar stand with pierced
edging, a large brass sweetmeat-tray with
perforated edge, and a large covered brass
box with handles.

In Trengganu a white metal is worked by
the same methods, and some well-made things
are manufactured from it. The metal appears
to be a sort of German silver. The wax pro-
cess is employed in casting it.

The Malayan silver-work is universally
admired. The place of origin of the art is
uncertain, but apparently, judging by the pat-
terns, its source was India. It is evident that
there were several centres from which it
started, for distinctive patterns and shapes are
found in different States. So much is this the
case that in many instances it is easy to deter-
mine with certainty where a particular example
was made. Briefly stated, the method of work-
ing is this : Sufficient silver is taken to make
the intended article. It is melted in a small
clay crucible on a sort of forge, the blast being
obtained by a piston bellows, and charcoal
being used as fuel. An ingot is then cast.
This is beaten out by hammering into the
intended form, and is frequently softened by
heating and quenching in water during the
process. The form having been obtained, the
patterns are then proceeded with. The piece
is put on to a lump of softened gum-resin, and
with the aid of punches the work is begun
from the back. When as much as it is possible
to do has been effected, it is removed from the
" pitch " and turned over and worked at from
the front. This is continued until the pattern
is complete. During this process it has to be
softened several times if the relief is high.
No gravers are used for any portion of the
work, everything being done with punches of
different forms. The relief in some pieces is
extremely high, and the metal is reduced very
greatly in thickness in these portions. Very
considerable skill must be necessary to produce
these results. The above-described method is
that which is known in England as repousse ;
and one other method of ornamentation is
practised corresponding to chasing. It is,
however, by the aid of small chisels and
a hammer that the pattern is cut into the
silver.

On the top row of Fig. 23 are a silver
kettle, water-jar, and water-bottle, then a
covered dish for food and a Smigku, which
is used for washing the fingers and mouth
after eating. Hanging up under these are two
tobacco-boxes, the round one being of the
Perak form and the octagonal one of the
Negri Sambilan and Selangor form. The
other articles between these are variously
shaped pillow-ends, two being of pierced
work. The four objects on the second row
and the seven on the third are called Chimbah,
and are used to hold the various things which
are chewed with Sirih leaves and betel-nut.
The two covered bowls and the large un-
covered one are for water, while the two small
ones at the end of the third row are drinking-
cups. The plate on the left of the lower row
has an enamelled edge ; next to it is the bottom
of a workbag in silver-gilt. In the centre is a
large pillow-end for use at weddings, and then
come two silver plates.

Inlaying the precious metals into the baser
is of comparatively rare occurrence, but there
are in existence some kris blades which are
very finely inlaid with inscriptions in gold and
silver. One of these is in the Perak Museum,
and is reproduced above. According to native
tradition, the artisan who made it also made
nine others. The Sultan for whom he worked,
not wishing him to go on with the manufacture

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

153

of them and so depreciate the value of those
already made, had him put to death. True or
otherwise, there is a 'very distinctly Oriental
flavour about this narrative ; and it will doubt-
less be remembered that a similar case actually
occurred to an unfortunate Russian architect.

The iron or steel cutters used for cutting up
betel-nuts are occasionally inlaid in the most
elaborate manner with silver, while some of
the bronze cannon have inscriptions on them
also inlaid in silver.

A quite distinctive art is the inlaying of
wooden articles, like walking-sticks, handles of
weapons, &c, with tin. The design is cut into
the wood, care being taken that it is slightly
undercut. It is then covered with clay and
dried. Molten tin is next poured in through a
gate which has been left for the purpose.
When cold the clay is removed, and the
surface of the tin filed up and polished.

The art of enamelling is also known to the
Malays. The ware is called Jadam, which is
equivalent to niello in England. The piece is
prepared by chiselling out the pattern rather
deeply, or, more correctly, by cutting out that
portion which is to be the ground of the
pattern. The depressions are then filled in
with the enamel, and the piece is fired so that
the enamel melts. It is next ground down and
polished. The result is a silver design with a
blue-black ground. An inferior variety is filled
in with a material resembling hard pitch. This,
however, is generally used on brass articles
only. Another form of this work resembles
cloisonne. The base is copper, and the pattern
is chiselled out in it. Then gold is carefully
fitted into the recesses and the copper hammered
so as to fix the gold firmly in place. It projects
from the copper, and this space between the
gold lines is filled with black enamel, which is
melted and subsequently polished. In this
ware the design is of gold and the ground of
polished black enamel.

There are shown in Fig. 24, at A, B, and C,
three Pending*, or waist buckles of Jadam
ware. The central one, C, has inscribed on it
an Arabic charm. D is a silk-winder of the
same ware, while E is a silver Pending which
is cut out ready for enamelling. The buckle
(G) is of brass and black enamel, and the
tobacco-box (F) is of the gold and enamel
Malayan form of cloisonne.

Gold is worked by the same methods as
silver. Several qualities are used, the fineness
being reckoned by parts in ten ; so that Mas
lajmn, that is " eight gold," is an alloy in
which there are eight parts of gold to two
parts of copper ; this is the quality used on
good work, and is equal to 19-carat gold. A
copper-coloured alloy of lower standard than
9-carat gold is known as Swasa. Besides the
repousse work, golden articles are often em-
bellished with wire-work, spangles, and faceted
beads of gold.

Malayan gold is coloured a deep red by
chemical means, as the natural-coloured gold
is not admired. This colouring, however, soon
rubs off, and requires frequent renewal on those
articles which are subjected to much wear.

The uses to which gold and silver are
applied are more numerous than would be
supposed by those who have seen little of the
home-life of the natives. Chimbals — the small
covered metal boxes in which the betel-nut,
lime, gambier, and other things chewed with
the Sink-leaves are kept — are very often made
of silver, or silver and gold, or wholly of the
latter metal. Water-jars, drinking-cups, plates,
and spoons, as well as pillow-ends, the mount-
ings of weapons, and objects of personal
adornment, are frequently made of one or
other of the precious metals.

In recent years the coarser and cheaper
work of Chinese silversmiths has, to a great
extent, replaced that of the Malay smiths. At
my suggestion an attempt has been made by
the Government to counteract this regrettable

MALAYAN JUNGLE PRODUCTS.

tendency by instituting an Art School at Kuala
Kangsa. In it various Malayan arts and
crafts are taught by native teachers. It is too

of pictures in colours, or even in monochrome,
is quite unknown to the Malays. Religious
feeling is probably responsible for this to a

MALAY HANDIWORK.

early to say what will be the results of this
endeavour, but a fair number of pupils have
been and are being trained in the school.
Painting, by which is meant the production

great extent, for they obey to the letter the
prohibition contained in the second command-
ment, and carefully avoid representing both
men and animals.

FAUNA

By H. C. ROBINSON, Curator, Selangor Museum.
With Photographs by Fred W. Knocker, F.Z.S., Curator, Perak State Museum.

XTENDING as it does
through more than ten
degrees of latitude, with
mountains ranging in
height to over 7,000
feet, the Malay Penin-
sula presents such
variety in local con-
ditions and environ-
ment, that, as might naturally be expected, its
Fauna can vie in richness with that of any

other area of equal extent on the earth's
surface.

Dealing with the origin of the fauna, we
find that at least three elements are clearly
defined, each of which probably represents a
definite phase in the geological history of the
country. There is, first, what may be termed
the coastal zone, which covers the greater
portion of the inhabited districts, including the
valleys of the larger rivers for some consider-
able distance from their mouths. Secondly,

we have the submontane tract, extending over
all mountain ranges under about 3,000 feet in
height, as well as the lower slopes of the
loftier mountains up to about that height ;
and, finally, the mountain zone proper, com-
prising the remainder of the peninsula above
3,000 feet on the main range as well as certain
of the loftier detached ranges, such as the
Larut Hills in Central Perak and the Tahan
Range in Northern Pahang.

It is with the fauna of the first of these zones
alone — the coastal — that the average European
inhabitant of the Malay Peninsula is familiar,

1. ELEPHANTS AT WORK ALONG THE KUALA KANGSA RIVER.
2. ELEPHANT KRAAL NEAR TAPAH, PERAK. 3. NEWLY CAUGHT ELEPHANTS IN A KRAAL NEAR TAPAH, PERAK.

154

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

155

though to the student of natural history it is
the least interesting of the three. It comprises
species of mammals, birds, and reptiles that
are widely spread throughout the further East

MONKEY OF MALAYA.

from Burma to Cochin China, including the
coastal districts of the large islands of the
Indian Archipelago. In the submontane tract
are found animals that are known mainly from
the Sunda Islands, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java,
and from the forest districts of Tenasserim and
Lower Burma, but which are not, as a rule,
met with either on the plains of Burma or in
India proper. These must be regarded as the
representatives of the true Malayan fauna
which existed in its present haunts while the
alluvial flats beneath were still a shallow sea,
such as the Strait of Malacca is at the present
day. Finally, we have the true mountain zone,
which is inhabited either by species known
in no other locality, or which are identical,
or very nearly so, with forms found either in
the Himalayas or on high mountains in Java,
Sumatra, and Borneo. These species are

THE ORANG TJTAN.

probably survivors of a period when the land
area of the peninsula was very much more
restricted than is the case at present. A
continuous land connection with the mountains
of Tenasserim and possibly with high land in

Sumatra must have existed even then, though
at some later date the former was broken
somewhere- in the latitude of Kedah and
re-united later. The larger mammalia are
very numerous throughout the region, but
space will not permit of more than a very brief
account of the commoner species, which are
dealt with seriatim in the following pages.

Commencing with the monkeys, the anthro-
poid apes are represented by three or four
species, of which the siamang (Hylobates
syndactylus) is the largest as well as the
rarest, though it is found sparingly throughout
the Federated Malay States from the North of
Perak to as far south as Negri Sambilan. The
siamang is a large and powerful monkey, with
very long arms, having a spread in old indi-
viduals of over five feet. In colour it is
uniform black, occasionally with a whitish
muzzle, and with a bare pouch under the chin.
It is not infrequently kept in captivity, and is
a gentle and affectionate pet when young ; old
males, however, are apt to become savage and
treacherous, and can inflict a dangerous bite
with their long canine teeth.

One species is found among the mangroves of
the coast, another among casuarinas in similar
situations, but they are more common in virgin

'JEMMIE," A WHITE WHITE-HEADED

MALAYAN GIBBON.

Now in the London Zoological Gardens.

Allied to the siamang, though much smaller
and less powerful, are two or three species of
gibbons known to the Malays as wau-wau or
imgka, the former name being derived from
the call of one of the species — a penetrating
and pathetic wail, which carries for great
distances, and is often heard in the early
morning in jungle districts. One species is
sooty black with a white ring round the face
and with white hands and feet ; another is
uniform black ; while white, or rather yellowish
white, varieties of all the forms are frequently
met with. They are docile in captivity and
make charming pets, being cleanly in habits
and affectionate in disposition, but are very
delicate and rarely survive a journey to
Europe.

Another group of equally common monkeys
are the Leaf Monkeys, or Lotong, which are
allied to the Langur of India. Several varieties
exist, which do not differ materially from each
other, and agree in having very long tails and
either black, dull grey, or silvery black fur.

A YOUNG MALE KEA OR CRAB-
EATING MACAQUE.

(Macaats cynomolgus.)
Now living in the London Zoo.

jungle, in the neighbourhood of hills, ascending
the mountains to as high as 4,000 feet. They
are found on high trees in parties of from five
or six to as many as sixty individuals, and but
rarely descend to the ground. They do not
lend themselves to domestication, and are only
occasionally seen in captivity.

The only other monkeys which claim atten-
tion are the " broh," or coconut monkey, and
the " kra," or crab-eating macaque, both of
which are extremely common in captivity, and
familiar to every European resident in the

ft*, ■ -^

A YOUNG FEMALE KRA OR CRAB-
EATING MACAQUE.

(Macaats cynomolgus.)

Straits. The former is an inhabitant of low-
country jungle, and in its wild state is some-
what local in distribution. It is much sought

156

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

A FEMALE KRA OR CRAB-EATING MACAQUE.

(Macacus cynomolgus.)

This animal lived in captivity in its native country for some seven or eight years, during which time it gave birth
to three young ones — one female and two males — all by different fathers. She is now living at the Zoological
Gardens, London, whither she was taken in March, 1906.

AN OLD MALE KRA OR CRAB-EATING
MACAQUE.

(Macacus cynomolgus.)

after by country Malays, who capture it when
young and train it to climb the coconut palms
and to pick any individual nut indicated by its
owner. In some districts, indeed, this monkey
is in such universal use that the trees are not
even notched for human climbers, as is the
case nearly everywhere. The specimens of the
broh usually seen in captivity are somewhat
dwarfed, but males of a size approaching that
of a retriever dog are occasionally met with,
both wild and in domestication. Such animals
are powerful and savage brutes, and have been
known to attack human beings when molested,
and to inflict serious injuries. The broh has a
short, stumpy tail, and its hind limbs are very
much shorter than the fore limbs, as is the case

with baboons, to which the animal bears a
strong superficial resemblance. The colour is
a dull earthy brown, much darker on the
crown, and the hind-quarters are furnished
with naked callosities which at certain seasons
of the year are coloured bright red.

The " kra " monkey, though closely related to
the "broh," is very different in appearance,
having both fore and hind limbs of approxi-
mately equal length and a tail slightly longer
than the body. In colour it is dull greyish,
the back and head frequently tinged and
speckled with golden brown. With the excep-
tion of the hill country, it is widely distributed
throughout the Malay Peninsula, but is
commonest in the mangrove swamps, where at

low tide large numbers may be seen searching
the mud for crabs, small fish, and molluscs,
of which its diet largely consists. Though a
powerful swimmer, its method of crossing
narrow creeks, which has been noted by more
than one observer, is curious, as, instead of
progressing on the surface, it sinks and walks
along the bottom. The habit is probably due
to the fear of crocodiles, to which many
monkeys must fall victims, as is shown by the
number of mutilated animals that may be seen
on the flats.

Mention must also be made of the slow
loris, one of the family of Lemurs, which are
closely allied to the monkeys, and are found
principally in Madagascar. This curious little

FEMALE KRA AND YOUNG.

(Macacus cynomolgus.)
It is very rare for monkeys to breed in captivity, but this old Macaque did* so freely.
The Kra is by far away the commonest monkey in the Malay Peninsula.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

157

animal has somewhat the appearance of a
sloth, and is often known to Europeans by that
name. The colour of the fur varies from
silvery grey to rusty brown, with usually a

A YOUNG WHITE (PALE GREY) LUTONG
OR LEAF-MONKEY.

(Semiiopilhccus ob&iirus.)

These are very difficult to rear in captivity, the subject
of the portrait only living for about three months.

darker median stripe from the nose to the
rump, but the most characteristic point about
the animal, which is the size of a small cat,

carried on Malay ships, the idea being that
its presence will always insure a favourable
wind.

Chief among the carnivora of the peninsula
is, of course, the tiger, which, though it does
not attain the size of large Indian specimens,
or of the magnificent Manchurian variety, is,
nevertheless, a formidable animal. In the
Malay Peninsula the average total length of
the male is about 8 feet 4 inches, though
specimens of 9 feet 6 inches have been
obtained, while tigresses are about a foot
shorter. The tiger is common throughout
the Malay Peninsula, especially in Perak, in
the Ulu Langat district of Selangor, in certain
portions of Pahang, and in Johore, while stray
specimens from the latter State are met with
almost annually in Singapore itself. It has
been seen near the summit of Batu Puleh, one
of the highest mountains in Selangor, but its
scarcity or abundance in any given district
depends mainly on the presence or absence
of deer and pigs, which probably form its
principal food, though the stomach of one
fine male shot near Kuala Lumpor contained
nothing but frogs.

Man-eating tigers are by no means rare,
though it would appear that the Malayan tiger
does not take to this form of diet so readily as
its Indian brother, possibly because the Malay
or Chinaman does not form so toothsome a
morsel as the Kling or Bengali ! One specimen
shot in 1906 in Ulu Langat had been respon-
sible for the death of over twenty Chinamen,
and, contrary to the usual rule, was by no
means decrepit or mangy, though a slight
injury to the foot had probably rendered it
difficult for the beast to pursue prey more
agile and less slow-footed than human beings.

During the year 1906 police rewards were
paid for the destruction of seventy tigers, of
which half were killed in Pahang, while during

regarded as distinct species, are exceedingly
abundant throughout the Peninsula. The
black leopard, or panther, is by far the com-
monest, the spotted form, which in India far

A TIGER HUNT.

is the very large, round, and prominent eyes.
In habits it is purely nocturnal, and is very
rarely seen in its native haunts. It is, however,
not uncommon in captivity, and is frequently

the same period seventeen leopards were
brought in.

Next in importance to the tiger comes the
leopard, of which two varieties, commonly

QUEER PETS.

outnumbers it, being regarded as a comparative
rarity. Leopards are comparatively harmless
to human beings, and but few cases are on
record of fatal injuries through their agency ;
they are exceedingly destructive to goats, and
are especially partial to dogs ; they are often
caught by Malays inside the hen-roosts of
country villages. A much rarer animal than
the common leopard is the clouded leopard,
which is distinguished by its smaller sides,
more greyish coloration, and by having the
spots very much larger and less regular and
defined in outline. Its habits are not well
known, but it is believed to live almost entirely
in trees. Rembau, Kuala Pilah, and Gemen-
cheh, all in Negri Sambilan, are among the
few localities recorded for this beautiful species.

Besides the above-mentioned species, which
are all over 5 feet in total length, there are
several smaller species of wild cat, which live
in the deepest recesses of the jungle and are
only rarely encountered. The commonest is
known to the Malays as the rimait aiijing, or
" dog-cat," and is about the size of a setter and
of a beautiful golden colour above, paler
beneath. Another species somewhat resembles
the British wild cat, but has a much longer tail.
All varieties, even when captured as kittens,
are very savage and intractable, and rarely live
long in confinement.

Besides the tigers and wild cats, the Felid;e
are represented in Malaya by numerous species
of civet-cats, of which the most abundant is the
palm-civet, which is a common inhabitant of
houses in towns as well as in country districts.
The civets, generally, are distinguished from
the true cats by the more elongated head, and
especially by the strong odour that nearly all
varieties possess. The most striking member
of the group is the biiituroitg or bear -cat, a
medium-sized animal, about 4 feet from nose
to tip of tail. The fur is long, black, and
shaggy, sometimes with white tips to the hairs,
and the ears are tufted like those of the lynx.
It is arboreal in Habits and but rarely met with.
When captured young it is readily tamed and
makes an amusing pet.

Two species of mongoose and as many
weasels are also to be found. They are,
however, quite unknown to the ordinary
resident and even to the majority of Malays,
and need not be mentioned further.

158

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Jackals are unknown in the Malay Peninsula,
and the only representative of the dog tribe
is the srigala, which is closely allied to the
dhole or red hunting dog of India. In the

THE BINTURONG OR BEAR-CAT.

(Arctictis binturong.)

This animal has troubled the classificatory powers of
zoologists for many years now, but still remains a zoo-
logical problem. As the English name signifies, it has
characteristics of both the cats and bears, but such is the
uncertainty surrounding it that it is placed in a separate
family, of which it is the only known representative. Its
principal peculiarity is that the last two or three inches of
its tail is prehensile.

northern parts of the peninsula, in Upper Perak
and in Pahang, they are not uncommon, but in
the more settled districts they are now very
rare.

The Malay hunting dog is a handsome
animal, foxy red in hue, with a bushy tail,
black at the tip and sometimes entirely of that
colour. It hunts in packs of five or six up
to forty individuals, and in some districts
creates great havoc among the domestic
animals, goats, cattle, and even buffaloes.
Malays consider it most unlucky to meet this
animal. Their view is that disaster is inevi-
table should the dogs bark without their being
forestalled in the act by those who are so
unfortunate as to meet them. The same
superstition prevails with regard to the urine
of the srigala as that held by the Ghonds and
other Indian tribes regarding that of the dhole,

viz., that contact with it causes blindness, and
that the dogs make use of this quality by
urinating against the trunks of trees on which
their prey is likely to rub itself and among
bushes and long grass through which it may
pass.

Otters are common in the peninsula, occasion-
ally inhabiting the mangrove swamps and
swimming some distance out to sea. In habits
and appearance they closely resemble the
English otter, though one variety considerably
exceeds it in size.

Birds are exceedingly numerous in species in
the Malay Peninsula, no less than 617 varieties
being known to occur between Southern
Tenasserim and the Singapore Straits. Dealing
first with the birds of prey, we find that the
vultures are represented by three species, one
of which, the king vulture (Octogyps calvas), is
a very handsome bird, black in plumage, with
a white ruff round the neck, and with the legs
and bare skin of the head and neck brilliant
red. The other two varieties are dingy brown
birds. Curiously enough, the vultures are
hardly, if ever, seen much south of Pinang, and
very rarely there, probably owing to improved
sanitation in the British possessions and protec-
torates ; but in the Siamese States north of
Pinang on the west coast and as far south as
Trengganu on the east coast they are very
abundant.

Eagles and hawks are very numerous in
species, but not many varieties are at all
common, and the ordinary resident in the
Straits Settlements is not acquainted with more
than six or seven species, though more than
four times that number are to be met with in
the more remote parts of the country and at
rare intervals.

Three species are common on the coast, and
may be met with in numbers in every fishing
village, viz., the Brahminy kite, the large
grey and white fishing eagle and the osprey.

that at the turn of the tide it flies up the
estuaries and creeks uttering its long-drawn
scream, which warns the shell-fish of the
return of the water.

BOS GAURUS HTJBBACKI (MALAYAN
BUFFALO).

Other fairly common hawks are the little
sparrow-hawk or raja ivali (Accipilcr gularis),
which creates great havoc in the native poultry-
yards, and the Serpent Eagle (Sjnlornis),z large
bird of handsome ash-brown plumage varie-
gated with white and a long black crest. The
bird frequents the edges of the rice-fields and
is very sluggish in its habits, sitting for hours
on the tops of dead trees. It feeds mainly on
fresh-water crabs, lizards, small fish, and an

HEAD OF A SELADANG (MALAYAN BUFFALO).
(Shot by J. S. Mason.)

The latter is identical with the form inhabit-
ing Europe which is so great a rarity in the
British Isles. It is known to the Malays as
the latig-jsiput or oyster hawk, as they say

occasional rat. Interesting as being the smallest
known bird of prey is the black and white
falconet, known to the Malays as the lang
bclalaiig or grasshopper hawk, a small bird

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

159

YOUNG RHINOCEROS HORN-BILLS.

{Bucerot rhinoceros.)

The " Ung-Gong " of the Malays. The common Horn-hill of the Malay Peninsula.

considerably less in bulk than the thrush, but
which will attack and kill birds more than
twice its weight.

Among the more uncommon species, mainly
denizens of deep jungle, and therefore seen
only at rare intervals and great distance, are
three species of forest eagles, handsome birds
of variegated plumage, somewhat smaller than

D. MAW.
(A Singapore Shikari.)

the golden eagle and furnished, when adult,
with long pointed crests, which can be erected
at will.

The honey buzzards are represented by two
species very similar in appearance and habit to
the British bird, and the peregrine falcon also
occurs during the winter months. Finally, the

bat hawk must be mentioned. It is exceed-
ingly rare, being known as yet only in three
or four localities in the Malay Peninsula.

Three species of crocodiles are met with in
Malaya, of which one, Crocotiilus patustris, the
marsh crocodile, is very rare, and, indeed, of
somewhat doubtful occurrence except in the
more northern portions of the peninsula within
the territorial limits of Siam. Another, Tomis-
toma sclicgcli, the Malayan gavial, which can be
at once recognised by its long and narrow
snout, is also somewhat rare and hitherto has
only been actually met with in the Perak,
Pahang, and Selangor rivers and certain of
their tributaries, though skulls referred to it
have been seen on the shores of the Tale Sap,
the great lake in Senggora, on the north-east
coast of the peninsula. The gavial is said to
feed entirely on fish and not to attack man.
The largest specimen recorded from the Malay
Peninsula is about 13 feet in length, but in
Borneo and Sumatra much larger ones have
been procured. The third species, Crocotiilus
forosus, the estuarine crocodile, is exceedingly
abundant in every river and tidal creek
throughout the peninsula, but is much com-
moner on the west than on the east side of
the peninsula, which is probably due to the
greater prevalence of mangrove on the western
side. It attains a very large size, specimens of
over 24 feet in length having been captured in
the peninsula on more than one occasion, while
from other parts of its range individuals of over
30 feet are on record. Though commoner
within tidal influence, the crocodile ascends
the river for very considerable distances, and
is not infrequently found in the deep ponds
formed by abandoned mining operations which
have no direct connection with any river. It
has also been seen 30 miles from land, in
the centre of the Straits of Malacca. It is
probably the cause of more loss of human life
in the peninsula than even the tiger, and large
specimens have been known to attack the small
Malay dug-outs and seize their occupant. The
Government consequently offers a reward for
their destruction, and 25 cents per foot is paid
for each crocodile brought to the police-station
and 10 cents apiece for eggs. Considerable
sums are annually disbursed on this account.
Many Malays make a regular practice of fishing
for crocodiles, the usual bait being a fowl at-

tached to a wooden hook in such a way that
when the bait is taken two wooden spikes are
driven into the palate and throat of the crocodile.
The line for some distance above the hook
is made of separate strands of rattan, which
cannot be bitten through.

The Malays recognise many rarities, which,
however, are based merely on differences in
colour, due, as a matter of fact, to age, and not
to any specific differences. Very aged speci-

A CROCODILE.

(Showing eggs in nest.)

mens of a dingy grey or greyish brown, fre-
quently due to a growth of alga on the scales,
are occasionally met with. Such specimens are
usually regarded as " kramat," or sacred, by the
local Malays. They are supposed not to attack
human beings, and any interference with them
entails misfortune on the rash being who
undertakes it.
A " kramat " crocodile frequented Port Weld,

160

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAY A

in Perak, for many years, and was regularly
fed by the inhabitants, and a similar individual
was well known at Port Swettenham during the
building of the wharfs. The Port Weld one
fell a victim to an unsportsmanlike European,
who had it called up to be fed and then
shot it.

rarely found in the Straits of Malacca, and a
tine specimen captured many years ago in the
vicinity of Singapore is in the Raffles Museum
of that city. The species attains a total length
of 8 or g feet and a weight which may approxi-
mate to three-quarters of a ton. It produces
nothing of commercial value.

A Study.

The Favourite Perch.

Waiting for the Mid day Meal. The FAVOURITE Position' (on One Leg).

THE ADJUTANT OR MARABOUT STORK— " BURONG BABI " (PIG BIRD)

OF THE MALAYS.
(Lt'ptoptilus javanicus.)

The next order of reptiles, the Chelonia, or
turtles and tortoises, is very well represented
in the Malay Peninsula and adjacent seas, no
less than twenty-three species being recorded
from the region. The largest of all existing
species of turtles, the luth or leathery turtle
(Dermochclys coriacca), is occasionally though

Far commoner than the leathery turtle are
the green or edible turtle (Chelone mydas) and
the hawksbill turtle (Chelone imbricata). The
former is met with in abundance on both
coasts of the peninsula, and lays its eggs on
the sandy shores of small islands, or occasionally
on lonely beaches on the mainland. All these

places are well known to the natives, and
during the laying season are jealously guarded.
In the native States the privilege of collecting
the eggs is a prerogative of the ruler of the
State and is usually farmed out, considerable
sums being paid for the right. The eggs are a
favourite delicacy among all classes of natives
and command a high price, anything from
three-quarters to two cents apiece being paid
for them. Though famed as an aldermanic
luxury in Great Britain, the turtle is not much
eaten in the Straits Settlements.

The flesh of the hawksbill turtle is inedible,
nor are its eggs much sought after. It is, how-
ever, the principal source of the tortoiseshell of
commerce, of which a very large amount passes
through Singapore, though not much is collected
locally.

Another species, the loggerhead, is also found
in the Straits of Malacca. It maybe recognised
by the very large head and strongly hooked
beak, in which respect it resembles the hawks-
bill. This strongly developed beak is correlative
with the habits of the species, which are carni-
vorous, whereas the edible turtle feeds entirely
on seaweed and vegetables. All three varieties
attain approximately the same size, which is
about 4 feet in length of carapace.

The four species just dealt with are exclusively
marine in their habits, but we now come to a
group known as the Trionychida;, or soft tor-
toises, which, though often found in estuarine
waters and not infrequently far out to sea, are
mainly inhabitants of rivers. The head and
limbs are large and powerful, and can be com-
pletely retracted within the carapace, which is
quite devoid of horny shields and is leathery in
texture. They are savage in disposition, and
can inflict dangerous bites with their powerful
jaws, the peculiar structure of the bones of the
neck enabling them to dart out their head with
great rapidity. The flesh is much eaten by
Chinese and Klings, and specimens are fre-
quently to be seen exposed for sale in the
markets of the peninsula. About five species
occur locally, which present only technical
differences between themselves. The largest
specimens attain a size of about 3 feet across
the back.

The remaining tortoises of the peninsula,
fourteen in number, are comprised in a group
known as the Tcstudinida;, or land tortoises,
though as a matter of fact some of them are
almost as fluviatile in their habits as the soft
tortoises. All have a hard and bony carapace,
into which the head and limbs can be com-
pletely retracted, while in some species the
lower portion of the carapace is hinged, so that
when alarmed the animal is completely en-
closed and quite impervious to attack. These
species are known as box-tortoises (Cyclcmys),
and are by no means uncommon in marshy
situations.

Three species of large tortoises, which attain
a length of 20 inches and more, are confounded
by the Malays under the name tuntottg. In
most of the native States, Perak especially,
these tortoises are regarded as royal game, and
their capture is prohibited under penalty of a
heavy fine. The tuntong lays its eggs in sand-
banks by the side of the larger rivers, and
hunting for these eggs is the occasion for
water picnics, in which the ladies of the Court
take part. The eggs are elongated and have a
hard shell, and are not round and leathery like
those of the edible turtle.

Over seventy-five species of lizards are
known to the systematist as denizens of the
Straits Settlements, but most of these are rare
and local or present only minute differences
among themselves. Several varieties of
geckoes are common in houses, but some
of these have been introduced from other parts
of the world, and are not really indigenous to
the peninsula. In the northern parts of the
peninsula and in Singapore, where it has been
brought from Bangkok, a very large species,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

161

grey with small red spots and nearly a foot in
length, is sometimes to be found. It is known
as the tokay, from its note, and according to
natives its presence in a house indicates great
good fortune to the occupants. A somewhat
similar species, but of duller colouration, is
fairly common in deep jungle, living in hollow
bamboos, but owing to its habits is rarely met
with, though its note is often heard. Mention
should also be made of the flying gecko,
which is characterised by having a large but
variable number of flaps of skin along each
side of the tail, and by having the skin of the
sides of the body flattened and extensible so
that the animal can parachute through the air
and even rise slightly at the end of its course,
though flight in the strict sense of the word is
impossible. Several species of flying Draco
are also found in the jungles of the peninsula,
while one is also very common in orchards,
frequenting chiefly the trunks of the coco and
betel-nut palms. In this reptile the ribs are
extended to support a lateral membrane which
serves as a support when gliding through the
air, though, like the flying gecko, no flight in
an upward direction can take place. The
colour of these flying lizards is generally of a
mottled grey and brown, but the throat is in
most species ornamented by a scaled append-
age, which is brightly coloured, yellow, blue,
scarlet, or maroon, varying with the species and
sex. Other common lizards belonging to the
same group as the flying lizards, but without
their power of flight, are several species of
Calotes, incorrectly called chameleons by
Europeans, from their powers of colour change,
but known to the Malays as sumpa sumpa, or
cursers, from their habit of frequently opening
and shutting the mouth when irritated or
alarmed. The common species in the Straits
is in large specimens about eighteen inches
long, of which the long and slender tail
accounts for considerably more than half, and
in colour is a light emerald green, which
changes to almost black when the animal is
irritated or alarmed.

The largest lizards in the Malay Peninsula
belong to the genus Varanus, and are called
monitor lizards by the Europeans and biawak
by the Malays. Two species are common, of
which the largest may attain a length of over
seven feet, such specimens being often mis-
taken for small crocodiles by inexperienced
persons. One species is largely fluviatile in its
habits, but the other is common round towns
and villages, and is a very foul feeder, living
on carrion, garbage, and offal of all descriptions.

A very large proportion of the peninsular
lizards are included in the family of Scincidas
or Skinks, or hcngkaroug in Malay. These are
small and inconspicuous in their habits, being
usually found among dry leaves, &,:., in jungle,
though some are fond of basking in the sun in
hot and open situations, and one species, the
largest of the genus, is frequently met with in
houses. The species vary much in appearance,
and particularly in the size of their limbs,
which are frequently rudimentary, or in some
cases absent, so that the animal has a super-
ficial resemblance to a slow-worm or a snake.

The only representative of the family to
which the common English lizard belongs is
a species hitherto found only in the northern
parts of the peninsula. This species (Tachy-
dronms sexliiicatus) is characterised by a very
long and slender tail three or four times the
length of head and body, and has a total length
of about fifteen inches. Jt is called by the
Malays ular bengkarong, or the lizard - like
snake, in allusion to its appearance, and in-
habits fields of long and coarse grass (lalang),
over the tops of which its attenuated body
enables it to travel.

The fourth and most important- division of
the Keptilia is the Ophidia, or Snakes. Though
the ordinary observer is not likely to come
across even a tithe of the number, over a

hundred and thirty varieties are known to
naturalists as occurring within the limits of the
Malay Peninsula. Only a very small propor-
tion 'of these, however, are poisonous or in any
way harmful.

The first group that merits attention is that
known as Typhlopidae, or burrowing snakes.
These snakes, which are almost entirely sub-
terranean in their habits, are all of small size,
rarely exceeding a foot in length. They are
practically devoid of eyes, and their scales,
which are small, smooth, and shining, are of
the same character all round the body, the
ventral ones not differing from the others as is
the case with most snakes. The tail is very
short and blunt, so much so that one of the
Malay names for the species of the group is
" the snake with two heads." Unless carefully

while specimens of over twenty-four feet are
quite common. The python is the centre of
many Malay folk-tales, and its gall-bladder is
of very high value for medical and magical
purposes, while its flesh is also eaten by
Chinese from certain provinces. The python
is not a poisonous snake. It kills its prey by
constriction, but it possesses such formidable
and recurved teeth that it can inflict most
dangerous and even fatal bites.

Two families, the Ilysidae and. Xenopeltidae,
need only be mentioned. The former, repre-
sented by two species, are burrowing snakes,
similar in habits to the Typhlopid;e, while the
latter is a carnivorous species feeding on other
snakes and small mammals. Both families are
very rare in the peninsula. They are not
poisonous.

THE KAMBING GRUN OR MALAYAN GOAT ANTELOPE.

sought for by digging or turning over loose
rubbish these snakes are practically never
seen, but very occasionally, when very heavy
rain in the afternoon is followed by hot sun,
they may emerge. They are absolutely harm-
less, though some Malays and most Javanese
consider them as poisonous in the extreme.

The next family is the Boid:e, or Pythons,
very frequently, but incorrectly, called boa-
constrictors by Europeans. Three species are
entered in the peninsular lists, but one, an Indian
form, is of somewhat doubtful occurrence as
a truly indigenous animal, while a second
is of extreme rarity. The best known one,
Python rcticulatus, or ular sawa (rice swamp
snake), is very common, and commits depreda-
tions among the poultry and goats of the
natives. It is one of the very largest of existing
snakes, and there is good evidence that indi-
viduals may attain a length of over thirty feet,

We now come to the family Kolubrida;,
which comprises the vast majority of the
snakes found in the Malay Peninsula. This
group has been divided by certain peculiarities
in the dentitions into the following sections : —

Aglyfha. — All the teeth solid. Harmless.

Opisthoglyplia. — One or more of the teeth in
the back of the upper jaw grooved. Suspected
or slightly poisonous.

Protcroglypha. — Front teeth in upper jaw
grooved or perforated. Poisonous.

The first section, the Aglypha, contains a
considerable majority of the total number of
snakes inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, but
only two or three demand special notice.

Acrochordus javanicus is a very curious form
which inhabits fresh water and lives chiefly
on fish. In colour it is reddish brown mottled
with black ; its total length in full-grown
specimens is about five feet, and its skin, which

162

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

is uniform round the body, is granulated like
shagreened leather. The Malays call it ular
belalei gajah from a fancied resemblance to
an elephant's trunk. The snake is very thick
for its length, and its stumpy tail and flattened
triangular-shaped head give it the superficial
appearance of a viper, so that most persons
consider it very poisonous, though as a matter
of fact it is perfectly harmless.
Another very interesting species belonging

MALAY TAPIRS.

to this section is Coluber ttvuiurus var. Ridleyi.
Though very widely distributed throughout
Asia, the form inhabiting the Malay Peninsula,
which is slightly paler and less mottled than
specimens from other countries, is practically
never found outside the large limestone caves
which are very numerous throughout the
Federated Malay States, and also in Kedah and
Patani. Inside these caves, however, one may
be certain to find two or three specimens a
house. They live exclusively on bats, and
attain in large specimens a length of over
seven feet. Malays call them ular bulan, or
moon-snakes, and the Chinese venerate them as
tutelary deities of the caves they inhabit, and
will on no account interfere with them.

The section of possibly poisonous snakes
comprises about twenty-five species in the
Malay Peninsula, which, so far as local experi-
ence goes, are quite innocuous to human
beings, though possibly their bite has a slight
paralysing effect on small mammals. About
half of them are water-snakes, living in fresh
and brackish water and only occasionally
found on dry land, while the remainder are
arboreal forms, often of very brilliant coloura-
tion.

Of these may be mentioned Dryophis
prasinns, the green whip snake, of very
slender form, about five feet long and of a
brilliant emerald green with a vivid yellow
down each side. In some individuals the
edges of the scales in the region of the neck
are silvery turquoise blue. This snake is
common everywhere, except in old and lofty
jungle. It is usually found in small bushes,
with which its colouring harmonises so well
as to make it very difficult of detection.

Another common but much larger snake of
the same group is Dipsadomorphus dendrophilus,
which is also of very handsome colouration.
The body colour is a deep glossy black with a
slight bluish cast and with regular vertical bars
of brilliant chrome yellow. The Malay name
for the snake is ular katam icbu, katam tcbu

being pieces of sugar-cane peeled and stuck
on skewers. This snake, though not poisonous,
is very vicious. It feeds on other snakes,
small birds and their eggs, and slugs.

The third section, Proteroglypha, all very
poisonous snakes, is represented by over thirty
species in the Malay Peninsula and adjacent
seas. Of these, however, about twenty-five
are sea-snakes, which may be distinguished
from the innocuous water-snakes by possessing
a tail flattened like an oar. As a rule these
snakes never leave salt water and are quite
helpless on land. One species, however, in-
habits a fresh-water lake in the Philippines,
and another has been found in jungle in
Sumatra some miles from the sea. The bite
of all without exception is most dangerous
and very generally fatal. Their virulence
seems to vary with the season of the year, and
a bite at the commencement of the north-east
monsoon (November) is considered much more
serious than one at any other season. Though
quite common in the Straits of Malacca these
sea-snakes are much more abundant on the
east coast of the peninsula, where they annually
cause a certain loss of life amongst the
fishermen, whose familiarity with them causes
them to treat them with carelessness. The
poison appears to act somewhat slowly, and
cases that ultimately terminate fatally often
survive for three days or more.

We now come to a small group of snakes
that comprises the most poisonous Asiatic
species, whose bite is almost invariably fatal
within a few hours of its infliction. Chief
amongst these, and the largest of all poisonous
snakes, attaining in well authenticated instances
a length of over fourteen feet, is the king
cobra, or Hamadryad, which is by no means
uncommon in the Malay Peninsula. This
species is reputed to be of the most ferocious
disposition, so much so that it is stated to
attack human beings unprovoked, though
except in the breeding season or in the
vicinity of its eggs it is somewhat doubtful
if this is really the case. Old specimens are
dull yellowish brown on the anterior two-
thirds of the body, with the posterior third
chequered with blank. The under surface is
much lighter, sometimes with a yellow throat,
and the skin of the neck is dilated and can be
erected into a hood when the snake is irritated.
The principal food of the Hamadryad is snakes,
including cobras and other poisonous species,
to whose venom it is probably immune.

~T7^

Wr?

THE WILD PIG OF MALAYA.

Even commoner than the Hamadryad is the
cobra, which is almost as poisonous, though
very much smaller, rarely exceeding a length
of 6 feet. Malay specimens, as a rule, lack the
spectacle mark on the hood which is generally
seen on Indian ones, and are generally much
darker, almost black, in colour. Occasionally
a brilliant turmeric yellow variety is met with
and in certain districts in the northern parts
of the peninsula this is the dominant form.

The cobra affects all types of country except
the higher mountains and _the mangrove
swamps, but is perhaps commoner in the
neighbourhood of towns and villages than in
true jungle. Curiously enough, on certain
small rocky islands in the north of the Straits
of Malacca it is so abundant that the greatest
care has to be exercised in traversing them,
but, speaking generally, the death of a human

CAPTURING THE TAPIR.

being from snake-bite (other than from that of
marine snakes) is of very rare occurrence in
the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay
States, though in the States under Siamese in-
fluence such fatalities are more frequent. Even
after allowing for the far less dense population,
the mortality from this cause is quite in-
significant when compared with that attributed
to snake-bites in British India.

Three species of " krait " are on record from
the Malay Peninsula, but only one, the banded
krait, is at all common. The bite of these
snakes is almost as dangerous as that of the
cobra, though slower in its effect. The common
species, Bitngarus fasciatus, has a strong
superficial resemblance to a harmless species
of Dipsadomorphus.

Of the two remaining genera of Protero-
glyphous snakes, represented in the peninsula
by four species, the only form worthy of note
is Doliophis bivirgatus,kno\vn to the Malays as
the ular seudok mati liari, or sunbeam snake,
one of the most beautiful of its order. Its
head and tail above and below are bright coral
red, the under surface is the same colour, and
the upper surface Oxford blue, separated from
the red of the lower parts by a narrow lateral
line of pale blue. Nothing is on record with
regard to the effect of its poison on human
beings, but Malays regard it as one of the most
poisonous of all snakes. Its bite proves very
quickly fatal to small birds and mammals, and
it is a significant fact that the poison glands
are relatively larger in this snake than in any
other species, actually displacing the heart from
it normal position.

The Amblycephalidae are a small family of
medium-sized snakes, represented in the
peninsula by five species, all of considerable
rarity and of no general interest. They are
nocturnal in their habits, and feed on small
mammals, frogs, lizards, &c.

The last family of snakes to be dealt with
here are the Vipers, of which only one section,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

163

the pit-viper, is met with in the Malay Penin-
sula. All are exceedingly poisonous snakes,
but the physiological action of their poison is
quite different from that of the cobras and
their allies. Their bite is not invariably fatal,
but even if the sufferer escapes death, serious
constitutional disturbances are set up that may
last for some months. The pit-vipers may be
recognised by their flat triangular head and
sharply constricted neck and by possessing a
deep pit between the nostril and the eye. Six
species belonging to two genera occur in the
peninsula and are widely spread throughout
the region. The genus Ancislrodon, which has

hitherto only been found in the north of the
peninsula, though its representative species,
Ancislrodon rhodostoma, is common in Siam
and Java, can be distinguished from the other
genus, Lachesis, by having the head covered
with large symmetrical shields instead of small
scales. It is a heavily built and sluggish snake
of mottled greyish brown colouration, and is
found usually among dead leaves in under-
growth. Together with several allied species,
it is called by Malays the ular knpak datin, or
leaf axe snake, the word " axe " referring to
the shape of the head.

The species of the genus Lachesis are also

thick-set snakes, usually with a considerable
amount of green in the colouration, often varied
with red, purple, yellow, and black.

Lachesis sitmatranus and L. gramoneus are
almost uniform green, usually with red tips to
the tail, which is prehensile. They are arboreal
in their habits, and are not common except at
considerable altitudes. Lachesis wagteri fre- .
quents the mangrove swamps, where it is much
dreaded by Chinese woodcutters. It is green
in colour, mottled, and starred with yellow and
black, but no two specimens are alike in
arrangement of pattern. The other two species
are rare and only occasionally met with.

SPORT

THE HUNTING OF BIG GAME.

By THEODORE R. HUBBACK,

Author of " Elephant and Seladang Hunting in the Federated Malay States."

LTHOUGH during the
last ten years all the
better-known parts of
the Federated Malay
States have been opened
up to such an extent
that the hunter in search
of big game has now
to go much farther
afield than formerly, the increasing facilities
of transport probably equalise the greater
distances to be travelled, and places that, a
decade ago, required several days to reach can
now, with the help of rail and motor-car, be
considered well within a day's journey. To
enumerate all the places in the Federated
Malay States where big game can still be
found would scarcely come within the province
of this article ; let it suffice to say that the State
of Pahang at the present time offers the best
sport.

The big game to be found in the Malay
Peninsula consist of the Indian elephant
(Elefhas maximus) ; two species of wild cattle
embracing a local race of Gaur (Bos gaurus
hubbacki), generally known as the seladang ; a
local race of Bantin (Bos sondaicus butlcri),
which appears to be very scarce and does not
probably exist south of the Bernam river on the
west coast or south of the Pahang river on
the east coast ; two species of rhinoceros — the
Java rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), which
has only one horn, and the Sumatran rhinoce-
ros (Rhinoceros sumatreiisis), which has two
horns and is the common rhinoceros of the
Malay Peninsula ; the Malay tapir (Tapirus
indicus) ; the tiger (Fclis tigris) ; and the
leopard (Felts pardus), commonly known as
the panther.

Practically all big-game hunters in this
country confine themselves to the pursuit of
the elephant and the seladang. Rhinoceroses
are occasionally obtained ; most of those shot
by Europeans have been in Perak ; and tigers
also afford a certain amount of sport, but the
common method of shooting them — waiting in
a tree or on a built platform over a beast that
has been previously killed — while exciting
enough, scarcely comes within the category of
hunting. Panther-shooting also comes under
this head, these beasts being sometimes

obtained after committing severe depredations
on one's fowl-house.

The tapir is, I think, hardly ever hunted ; it
carries no trophies and, as far as I know, its
meat is not used for food except by Sakais, the
aborigines of the peninsula, who will eat
anything. Although tapirs do not appear to be
sought in their native haunts, that they can
afford excellent sport is shown by an article on
the subject in Mr. George Maxwell's charming
book " In Malay Forests," and as it is a very
common beast in many parts of the Malay
States where the nobler game is not to be
found, it may well repay the attention of
sportsmen.

To undertake a hunting trip in the Federated
Malay States the sportsman would expect to
bag specimens of elephant and seladang,
possibly a rhinoceros, and, with great luck,
a tiger, so the equipment for his trip would
have to be laid out on such lines. Considering
the required battery first, as being the most
important part of the outfit, it must be borne in
mind that all hunting of elephant, seladang,
and rhinoceros is conducted on foot, and as
90 per cent, of the shots at these beasts will be
taken within a range of 25 yards — frequently
very much less than this — it is obvious that the
hunter requires to be armed with a weapon so
powerful that, even shooting through the thick
bush, it is possible to inflict a wound so severe
that the animal's entire attention will be
occupied with its hurt and, for a few moments
at least, diverted from the hunter. In recent
years the cordite rifle has been brought to such
a state of perfection that the heavy bore black
powder rifles are now out of date, and
although the old 8-bore rifle, firing 10 drams
of powder and a 2-oz. spherical bullet, was a
most useful weapon at close quarters, it cannot
be compared for handiness with a cordite rifle
of 450 or 500 bore. Personally, I prefer a
•500 as being the most useful class of gun now
on the market for large game in the Malay
States, but many experienced hunters state
that the '450 cordite is powerful enough for
anything, and quite equal in stopping-power to
an 8-bore. A double-barrelled rifle is a neces-
sity ; it may be essential to use both barrels in
a remarkably short space of time when you are
within a few feet of a wounded elephant or
seladang in jungle so thick that your clear
vision is limited to a radius of five or six yards.
A magazine rifle requires a mechanical move-
ment to bring another cartridge into action,
164

a double-barrelled rifle merely the movement
of a finger the fraction of an inch.

All cordite cartridges should be put up in
sealed tins containing ten cartridges each.
Few cartridges are used even on a long trip.
The opportunities for shooting are never
numerous, and cartridges that have been lying
about for some time, exposed to the influences
of the atmosphere, should be avoided. On a
two or three months' trip, when communica-
tion with civilisation is almost impossible, the
hunter should take with him at least two rifles
and a shot gun, which would be useful to
secure any small feathered game that might
come his way. A pair of cordite rifles, or
a cordite rifle and an 8-bore black powder rifle,
would make a good battery for the heaviest
game, but the battery taken is largely
influenced by the pocket of the hunter, and the
above should merely be taken as the minimum
battery required I do not think that the
ordinary express rifles firing black powder are
heavy enough for hunting dangerous game in
the Malayan jungles.

Going into the heart of the peninsula in
search of game, it becomes necessary for the
hunter to take with him from one of the chief
towns sufficient stores to carry him through
the entire trip, also a camp bed, two or three
waterproof sheets, and a small stock of useful
medicines, as well as a liberal supply of jungle
clothes and boots. Khaki is not a suitable
colour to hunt in ; a dark green cloth must be
procured, and for a two months' trip at least
six suits should be taken. It is most important
to put up all one's stores in suitable cases, so
that no single case will exceed a coolie load.
The 60-lb. load of Africa is more than a coolie
load in this country ; a limit of 40 lbs. should
not be exceeded if one wishes to keep one's
porters together. Directly the hunter leaves a
main road, or, if he be using a river as his
highway, his boat, all his goods have to be
carried over indifferent or bad jungle paths,
and frequently over no track at all, except that
made by the beast he may be pursuing. A
coolie carrying 40 lbs. on his back in such
circumstances is, after all, well loaded, and
generally earns his day's wages. Keeping in
mind that the sportsman is entirely dependent
on the natives, Malays or Sakais, for trackers
and carriers, it is necessary to consider as
much as possible <he feelings of the coolie,
who will not be very anxious to go at all, and
certainly will not remain with you if asked to

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

165

carry too much or walk too far for his day's
pay. Native trackers can generally be picked
up who will be able to track to a certain
extent, and who may try to find game for the
sportsman ; really good trackers are scarce,
and are not obtainable without the assistance
of some one well acquainted with the country
and the ways of the native.

The cream of hunting in the Malay States is
undoubtedly the pursuit of the seladang. The
largest of the ox tribe now existent in the
world, its grand proportions and the noble
trophy which its head produces make it an
especially fascinating beast to try to obtain.
Add to this the extreme difficulty of approach-
ing it in thick jungle, where it is generally
found, and its great cunning when once
alarmed, and it becomes a prize to be striven
after with all a hunter's energy and resource.

Occasionally seladang are found feeding in
open clearings, but only in the very early
morning or late in the evening. They are
then sometimes killed comparatively easily, but
this method of getting them is the exception
rather than the rule, and most of the hunter's
trophies will be obtained after many hours,
even after many days, of hard tramping and
careful stalking through the densest of jungles.

A seladang is often represented as being
a very dangerous beast to hunt, a favourite
expression of the uninitiated in the art of hunt-
ing but well initiated in the art of talking being
that a seladang charges at sight. This is quite
a mistaken idea. If seladang were so inclined,
it would be impossible to hunt them for long
without coming to grief, and they would
certainly be left alone even by the hardiest of
sportsmen. All wild animals hate the smell of
man ; to see him is bad enough, but to smell
him is worse, and the seladang is no exception.
In addition to a keen scent he has a very sharp
pair of eyes, and his hearing is more than
ordinarily acute, so it may easily be imagined
that it is a difficult matter to approach seladang
in thick jungle.

But a seladang, like most other animals in
this respect too, if he only sees a human being
and does not scent him, will sometimes, not
always, hesitate a few seconds, staring hard at
the intruder before dashing off, thus possibly
giving the hunter a chance. If he winds one,
however, he never hesitates in any circum-
stances, never looks round, just disappears like
a flash, crashing through the densest jungle,
creepers and rattans giving way like so much
pack-thread before his mighty bulk. You
follow him up, you hope he may not have gone
far, you pretend to make yourself believe that
he was not alarmed very much ; he certainly did
not see you : how could he have done so ? — his
stern was towards you ; surely you must get up
to him again in half an hour or so. Your tracker,
if he be experienced in the ways of seladang,
will smile and say nothing ; it is his lot to do
what his master wills. Six hours later, with an
empty water-bottle, footsore and weary, ten
miles from your camp, only a hazy idea of
your locality, you begin to speculate on the
seladang and his ways, and to wonder if the
game of hunting such an extremely timid
beast is really worth the candle. Of course,
you never see him again ; but remember next
lime to do your best to keep to leeward of
him ; do not give him a chance of smelling
you, because the smell of you is a very horrid
thing to a seladang.

But a wounded seladang is quite another
beast to tackle. Although many of them do
not show fight — probably because the wound
is so severe that they have no longer any heart
or strength to fight, yet are able to get a long
distance away — a large proportion of them do,
their pluck and vitality being astonishing. I
will cite two personal incidents to illustrate
what I mean. A seladang, whose head I possess
as a valued trophy, was killed by me about
three years ago in the Jerang Valley, in the

State of Negri Sambilan. I had wounded it
with a shot that went through one lung and
just nicked the other, and, after giving it half
an hour's grace, I followed the tracks, which
were fairly sprinkled with blood, until they
crossed the Jerang river, where the blood trail
stopped. ' I deduced from this that the beast
had drunk at the stream, and I expected that
the water would soon tell on his damaged
lungs. Sure enough, not a hundred yards
from the river bank — a steep hill rose almost
from the river — I caught a glimpse of the beast
far up the hill-side standing quite still with its
head hanging low, apparently in great distress.
I followed up the side of the hill, but the
farther I went the less I was able to see of the
seladang — the undergrowth was very thick —
and when I did get another shot at it the result
was not very satisfactory, the beast, with a
heavy lurch to one side, disappearing alto-
gether, and I could hear it crashing up the hill.
The bullet I found afterwards had taken it much
too far back. The beast stopped quite .close to
the top of the hill, for we soon saw the daylight
through the trees which indicated the top, and
presently a loud snort and rush told us of his
whereabouts. I thought he was coming down
on the top of us, and expected to see his huge
form at any moment, but the snort was evi-
dently one of alarm rather than rage, and
nothing happened. Being now in close prox-
imity to a wounded seladang, and feeling sure
that he would not go far without stopping
again, I followed him with the greatest caution,
but when we reached the top of the hill we
could neither see nor hear him. His tracks
led along the ridge of a steep spur, and when
going along this ridge I saw him about fifteen
yards below me walking in the opposite direc-
tion to that in which we Were going, having
doubled right back on his tracks. He seemed
to see me at the same moment that I saw him,
and, turning round, came straight up the hill
at me. Now, this hill- side was so steep that a
human being could not walk up it or down
it without holding on to the saplings to enable
him to keep his footing, yet this badly wounded
seladang actually tried to charge up such a
place. A bullet in the chest stopped him easily
enough, but subsequently I examined his tracks
and found that he had actually come up five
yards of the intervening fifteen in the space of
time that it took me to throw up my gun and
fire at his chest. It does not require a great
stretch of the imagination to speculate as to
what he could have done on the level even in
such a badly wounded stale. On another
occasion I had a shot at a bull seladang just as
he rose from a morning siesta ; he was about
twenty yards from me in fairly thick jungle,
and almost broadside on. I hit him- too high,
but broke his back. I immediately fired again
at the black mass that I could see in the under-
growth — he fell, of course to the first shot —
and then I moved away from my original
position to reload my rifle and to get a better
view of him. My rifle again ready, I was
unable to see the beast at all until an exclama-
tion from one of my men directed my attention
to a spot much closer to me than I had been
looking, and, behold, there was the seladang
within seven or eight yards of me, wriggling
his way through the undergrowth for all the
world like some huge prehistoric monster, with
his useless quarters trailing behind him ! The
spirit was willing, nay, anxious to fight, but
the flesh was weak. It is always so with
seladang. When dying they will face the
point of danger if their strength permits, and
if the hunter happens to be close to them, they
will certainly try to make some sort of demon-
stration. The largest authentic seladang head
ever obtained in the Malay States was shot by
Mr. C. Da Prah, in the Jelai Valley, in the
State of Negri Sambilan. This head is a
world's record for outside span of horns. The
dimensions were : —

Widest outside span of horns, 46 inches ;
widest inside span of horns, 40 inches ; width
between tips of horns, 33 inches ; tip to tip of
horns across forehead, 78J inches ; circum-
ference of base of horns, 20J inches.

The horns of a good head of a full-grown
bull seladang will measure between 30 and
34 inches outside span of horns, and about ■
18 inches in circumference at the base ; but
there is a great number of types whi-ch vary
a good deal in the different localities where
seladang are found, and no general rule can
be laid down. An old bull seladang will stand
between 17 and 19 hands at the shoulder,
and will measure between 8 feet 6 inches and
9 feet 6 inches from nose to rump, measurements
taken between perpendiculars.

If seladang-hunting is to take the first place.
elephant-hunting certainly runs it very close,
and there is little to choose between them for
excitement. Elephant-hunting is probably a
little less difficult than seladang-hunting, a
seladang having the advantage over the ele-
phant in keener eyesight and keener hearing.
In fact, an elephant has wretched eyesight,
and it is not surprising that it does not hear
much, owing to the habit it has of continually
flapping its ears. Of course, if it is alarmed at
all it will keep its ears quite still for long
periods, during which I have no doubt that it
can hear well enough. An elephant seldom
makes any mistake though, when once it has
got the scent of the human animal, and, in the
case of an uninjured beast, it leads for parts
unknown immediately ; in fact, an elephant
can disappear in an instant in a way that no
one would credit who had not been through
the experience.

A wounded elephant will often wait just off
his track for the hunter, and probably, as soon
as he has got his wind, will charge home if
not stopped with a heavy ball. I do not think
that an elephant will attack without first getting
the position of his adversary from his scent.
Elephants when wounded sometimes behave
in a very extraordinary manner, an instance of
which I will give. I was returning from a
trip down the Triang river, in Pahang, and came
on the tracks of a big bull elephant on a sand-
spit early one morning. I left my boat and
followed up the tracks, which almost imme-
diately joined those of a herd of five or six
smaller beasts, who had been feeding about
the river bank all night. We got up to them
in a quarter of an hour, and I was fortunately
able to locate the bull at once, but could not
see his head clearly enough to get a shot at it.
I manoeuvred for a minute or two but with
no success, and, becoming nervous lest the
elephant should wind me, I decided to try a
body shot. He moved slightly forward and
exposed that part of his body which gave me
a good chance for his heart, at which I aimed.
He was about fifteen yards from me, but nothing
appeared to happen to him. The other ele-
phants stampeded, but he remained in exactly
the same place. The smoke from my 8-bore
clearing away, I gave him the second barrel,
which seemed to wake him up a bit, and
he moved forward a few steps and swung
round to the other side. He now commenced
to roar, but not very loudly, and, getting hold
of a single 10-bore rifle that I had with me,
I brought him down with a shot in the
shoulder. Almost immediately he got up
again and moved on a little bit. I reloaded
my 8-bore, but by this time he had moved
away about a dozen yards into a very thick
patch of thorn jungle, and I could no longer
see him, although I could hear him quite
plainly. I approached a few steps and, mak-
ing out his form through the tangled mass,
I fired both barrels one after another, as
quickly as I could, at the point of his shoulder.
The result was very startling. He came flying
out of the thicket like a rocket, lurched round
in my direction, and charged straight at the

166

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

smoke. I was not there. He came over in
his stride two large dead trees which were
quite three feet from the ground, and fell dead
with a crash on the other side. Subsequent
examination showed that the first shot had hit
him right through the heart. I might have
saved my other cartridges had I known this,
but it is very easy to be wise after the event.
He was a big elephant, and carried a nice pair
of tusks.

Those who wish to hunt in the Malay
Peninsula must be prepared for a great deal
of hard work for a numerically small reward.
But to those whose keenness for sport is
greater than their desire for a colossal "bag,"
the sport provided in Malaya in the pursuit of
big game will, I feel sure, satisfy them. The
best authentic bag that I know of as ever
having been obtained by a white hunter in the
Federated Malay States on a single continuous

trip consisted of three elephants and three
seladang. These were obtained during nine
weeks of hard work by an experienced hunter,
assisted by first-class native trackers.

In a concluding word let me advise the
would-be hunter not to be discouraged if at
first his efforts are fruitless. The game is in
the country and can be obtained, and to those
who really strive hard, and in other walks of
life, the reward is often very great.

SNIPE AND CROCODILE SHOOTING.

By W. D. SCOTT, District Officer, Kaub.

ON the west coast of the Federated Malay-
States the seaboard is not very inviting at
close quarters, except to the sportsman. Miles
of swampland, dead level, stretch between the
limit of semi-civilised life and the sea, or river,
where the rice-fields join the mangrove or
nipah swamps, to the line of demarcation
between the snipe-grounds and the haunts of
the crocodile. Beyond doubt, the best snipe-
grounds are to be found in the district of Krian,
in Perak, and in Province Wellesley, the main-
land opposite Pinang. Good sport may be
obtained inland in many places, but the
grounds are very restricted, and the popula-
tion is far more dense than in the coast
districts. The rice-fields and the low scrub
jungle in the vicinity are the feeding-ground
and resting-place of the snipe.

The snipe is a migratory bird. He usually
arrives from the north about the beginning of
September, and is away again on his flight
northwards towards the end of February. It
is joyful news to the jungle wallah to hear that
the snipe are in ; it is news which brings with
it fresh energy to the listless and tired Euro-
pean, who gets up betimes in the morning in
the happy pursuit of the bird. The early
mornings in the East are fresh and cool, and
the sportsman starts on his day's shooting full
of vigour and enthusiasm. It is not for long
that he can keep dry-shod, for the narrow bands
of turf between each little padi-field require the
nerve and skill of a Blondin to negotiate them.
One tries to keep out of the water, but the
inevitable soon happens, and after that one
splashes about for the rest of the day. The
first feeling is akin to that produced by putting
on a wet bathing-suit ; but once really wet it
does not matter. And then "kik !" up gets a
snipe ; " bang ! " down comes the first bird, and
one forgets all about being wet and muddy to
the knees. It is hard work getting through
the rice-fields when the padi is young, for the
ground has been dug up and ploughed, or
churned by buffaloes before the young plants
are placed out from the nursery. Frequently
between field and field a quaking morass has
to be crossed. It heaves up and down as one
walks over it, and then pop ! in goes one foot,
and the gunner sinks in sideways to the groin,
his other leg being in a position like one of the
three in the Manx coat-of-arms. " Kik ! " again,
but one is in an impossible position to fire. The
sun gets up and the snipe desert the padi-field
for the shade of the scrub ; it is now that the
best sport is obtained. The keen sportsman
will, if he have the time and opportunity, burn
off the scrub-jungle in the dry season just
before the rain sets in. Then he has firm
ground underfoot, fairly open ground to work
over, and the certainty of many a sporting shot
as the snipe top the brushwood. Once back

again in the road, there is a dryness of the
throat accentuated by the dampness of the
body ; a long drink, into the buggy with a
full snipe stick, and what could a man want
more !

With the rapid march of civilisation the
shooting does not improve. Twenty guns are
out now where there used to be only one. The
railway brings down week-end parties to spoil
our pet grounds, but we still have a place or
two known only to the select few. The sports-
man may seem selfish, but the keeping of good
things for an intimate friend is highly to be
commended.

Messrs. E. W. Birch, C.M.G. (Resident of
Perak), and F. J. Weld still hold the record bag
for the Federated Malay States, iooj couple
obtained on November 15, 1893, in the Krian
padi-fields. The year 1893 was a particularly
good one for snipe, and some big bags were
made by these two gentlemen and by Sir Frank
Swettenham, Mr. Conway Belfield, and the late
Mr. G. F. Bird. No fewer than 834 couple fell
to Mr. Birch's gun.

In certain favoured spots a snipe-drive can
be worked ; and driven snipe require a good
man behind the gun to make a decent bag.
Then there is the poacher's dodge of shooting
snipe just at dusk, when the birds alight on the
ground. A gleam of silver-white is seen as the
snipe " tilt " just before dropping their feet to
the ground ; and one shot brings down, per-
haps, from one to twenty victims. This form
of shooting, however, is only recommended
when the larder is empty and there are guests
to dinner. Vale, Snipe ! you are a sporting bird
and a toothsome morsel ! (N.B. — Grill a snipe's
head in brandy ; it cannot be beaten.)

And now for the wily crocodile. I remember
a little ditty that Walter Passmore used to sing
in the "Blue Moon." It ran like this : —

" Now, children all, both large and small, when walking
by the Hoogly,
If ever you should chance to view a tail just like a

' Googlie,'
'Twill only show that close below there crawls a fear-
some creature ;
For a crocodile perhaps may smile, but all the same he'll
eat you."

Truth to tell, he is a fearsome creature, and
the warning, although culled from a comic
opera, is worth heeding. It is only a few yards
from the snipe-ground to our local Hoogly ; past
a belt of nipah palm, and we are on the river-
bank. As the tide is running out, take a Malay
sampan and go with the stream, and have a
Malay well versed in the wiles of the crocodile
with you. Again I must revile civilisation !
In the good old times no disguise was neces-
sary. The crocodile, although a hardened
sinner, had still things to learn. But now he

has profited by past experience, and the gleam
of the sun on the white helmet of the detective
on his track is quite sufficient to induce him to
make himself scarce. The European must dis-
guise himself as a Malay if he really wishes to
bring back the " Uriah Heap" of the river with
him for his reward. There is a sort of holy
joy in shooting a crocodile. His cruel jaws,
backed by his fishy green eyes, and flabby web
feet, give one at first glance an insight into his
character. Again I repeat the advice to take a
good Malay with you, for he will see the croco-
dile long before you will, unless you are well
versed in the ways of the beast. He has the
wiles of a pickpocket, gliding along unnoticed
by any one, and picking up tit-bits here and
there. You will see a V-shaped ripple in the
stream, which you may mistake for the current
breaking against a submerged stick, but it is
due to the snout of the crocodile. As you
approach, the ripple will cease, and it will be
followed by a swirl of the water as the olive-
green tail propels the crocodile along. Do not
shoot at him in the water ; you will not gather
him if you do, and you may disturb another of
his kin just round the next bend. The tide has
now receded, disclosing the oozing mud, the
playground of numberless little crabs — black,
light blue, and pink, but all alike in one strange
deformity, for each has one large and one small
claw — the large to slay with, the small to con-
vey food to the mouth. Then there are weird,
unholy-looking mudfish playing and feeding on
the mud — strange-looking fish, all head and
eyes, that can stand on their tails, all fit com-
panions for the loathsome croc ! Softly your
boatman whispers to you, "There he is," and
points out what at first sight looks like a nipah
palm frond stuck in the mud. It is a croc
right enough, enjoying his mid-day siesta in his
mud bath. But he sleeps with one eye open,
and with a splutter is waddling fast through
the mud, making for the water. Do not fire at
his shoulder ; take aim at his neck, just behind
the base of his skull. Bravo ! you've got him !
Did you notice how he opened and snapped
his jaws ? That was a sure sign that he won't
move again. Had you hit him in the shoulder
he would probably have died, but he would
first have given a tremendous swirl with his
tail and toboganned down the mud into the
river, with the result that you would not have
gathered him.

Every year the crocodiles take their living
toll from amongst the river folk. Here is the
story of one of their crimes. I quote from a
letter written to me in December, 1896, by my
old friend, Dr. F. Wellford, who was shot dead
in the Boer War : " Shortly after I arrived here
this morning (before you were up probably)
the Tuan Haji Duaman came with a lot of
Malays to tell me that a man had just been

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

167

taken by a crocodile at Tanjong Sarang Sang
(on the Selangor river, near Kuala Selangor),
which is at the end of the reach my bungalow
overlooks. It seems that he was throwing the
jala (cast-net) from a sampan with his brother.
The croc seized his arm as he was leaning
over the side of the boat and pulled him down.
His brother caught hold of his other arm and
was so pulled into the river too, the sampan
being capsized. The brother swam safely
ashore. The Malays wanted me to go out on
the chance of getting a shot at the brute, so I
went up to the place with four of them in my
boat. About eight other boatloads turned out
to watch for the croc. Some men on the spot
said they had seen him come up once or twice.
Thinking it now likely that he would go down-
stream, I paddled down some way, and after
some three hours, as we were paddling home,
some men in another sampan higher up shouted
out that they were following the croc down,
and almost immediately afterwards, nearly in
mid-stream, a great black head came up, and

then the shoulders and back. He was close to
us, and I got a shot at him with my elephant
rifle. The smoke prevented me from seeing
anything, but the men who were with me are
certain he was hit ; they say he threw his head
and shoulders out of the water with his mouth
wide open, and that he was hit somewhere
about the left forearm. All I saw was a great
commotion of the water. On the whole, I think
he is probably done for — the boat was steady
and we were fairly close, and I got a good,
steady aim. I also think it likely that he is the
criminal, as he was very big and black, as the
poor boy whose brother was grabbed described.
If he is dead now his body will come up in
three or four days, and of course I am very
keen on getting his skull. Also I want the
men who were with me to get the Government
reward, and I have promised them 5 dollars
for his skull and, if he is really as big as they
say, for his bones. My point in writing is to
ask if any one brings in the croc to refrain
from giving the reward till you have ascer-

tained who killed it. There is an avaricious
beast who has gone down the river on spec,
and he will probably be hunting about for it
for the next three days or so. Odd this, after
talking of crocs last night ! If the beast does
come up near here and is at all approachable,
I shall have a look inside his ' tummy ' to see if
he has swallowed any of the boy. I can't see
how a croc negotiates such a big morsel as a
human being."

Well, to make a long story short, Dr. Wellford
did not shoot the brute that he was in quest of,
for about two months afterwards a huge
crocodile over 18 feet long was caught on a
line and brought alive to Kuala Selangor for
my inspection. I executed him on the jetty,
and afterwards held a post-mortem examination.
I discovered in his belly the ornamental buffalo-
horn ring of the jala, and two finger-rings were
identified by the father as belonging to the
unfortunate lad who was seized on December 26,
1896, at Sarong Sang. Is it any wonder that I
hate crocodiles ?

■*■ — ■ -f-B

HORSE-RACING.

THE existing records of horse-racing in the
Straits Settlements are very meagre, the
Library documents having suffered from the
ravages of white ants, while those formerly.in
the possession of Mr. C. E. Velge, of the Straits
Racing Association, were unfortunately de-
stroyed by fire. It would appear, however, that
races were first held at Singapore in 1843. These
took place on Thursday and Saturday, Feb-
ruary the 23rd and 25th, the programme open-
ing at 11 a.m. with the race for the Singapore
Cup of 150 dollars. This was won by Mr.

W, H. Read. There were four races the first
day and three the second, with several matches
to fill up time. The events were decided over
the same course as at present, but the stand
was on the opposite side, near Serangoon
Road, and the progress of the competitors
could only be seen partially by the spectators,
as the centre of the course had not then been
cleared of jungle. A Race Ball was held on
the following Monday at the residence of the
Hon. the Recorder, the stewards being Lieu-
tenant Hoseason, Messrs. Lewis Fraser, Charles

Spottiswoode, W. H. Read, William Napier,
James Guthrie, Charles Dyce, and Dr. Moor-
head.

In the next year the races were held in
March. They took place on Tuesday, Thurs-
day, and Saturday — as at the present day — but
in the morning. On the evening before each
race day a dinner was given at the Race Stand,
to which all members were invited. In March,
1845, the races were held only on two days,
and in the afternoons. They were attended
by Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane and

THE RACECOURSE, PINANG.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS ON STRAITS SETTLEMENTS AND FEDERATED MALAY STATES RACECOURSES.

Nereus.

Vanitas
Residue.
Pawnbroker.

Jim GosriiR.
Battenberg. Ban ester.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

169

a large party from his flagship, the Agin-
court.

From that time onward the races have been
an "established institution " in Singapore, and
now there are two meetings every year — each
extending over three days— one in May and
the other in October. The oldest member of
the Sporting Club at present in the colony is
Mr. Charles Dunlop, who acted as secretary
and clerk of the course in the early years of
the club's history. The racecourse was granted
to the club by the Government, and is vested
in a body of trustees. It has a track of a mile
and a distance (83 yards) in length, and the
turf is of excellent quality. Originally the
racing was confined to gentlemen riders,
but professionalism was introduced about the
time when the Imperial Government took over
the colony from the Indian Government in
1867. Now the trainers and jockeys are nearly
all professionals from Australia.

Racing in the Straits Settlements is con-
trolled by the Straits Racing Association, on
which body there are representatives from the
Singapore Sporting Club, the Pinang Turf
Club, the Perak Turf Club, the Kinta Gymkhana
Club, the Selangor Turf Club, and the Seremban
Gymkhana Club.

At the Spring Meeting of the Singapore
Sporting Club there are on the first day seven
races, of which the most important is the
Singapore Derby over a distance of a mile and
a half for a cup presented by the committee,
with 2,000 dollars added money. On the second
and third days the premier events are the Club
Cup, value 1,500 dollars, and the Stewards'
Cup, value 1,000 dollars. At the Autumn
Meeting the principal race on the first day is
for the Governor's Cup, with 2,000 dollars
added money ; and on the second and third
days, as at the Spring Meeting, the chief
events are respectively the Club Cup and the
Stewards' Cup. On each day also there are
two handicaps for griffins, which are brought

racecourse. The stands and lawn are occupied
chiefly by Europeans, but the course inside the
track is thronged with multitudes of Chinese,
Malays, and Indians, who evince great interest
in the racing and organise numerous sweep-

share of pool 900 dollars, dividend 6 dollars.
Third horse, 15 tickets ; share of pool 900 dol-
lars, dividend 60 dollars.

The records for the Singapore course are
as follows :

Year.

Horse.

Weight.

Distance.

Time.

st. lb.

m. s.

1904

Oberon

Round course (1 m. 83 yds.)

I 52

1904

Architect

9 7

Ditto

I 52f

1898

Culzean ..

10 9

J m.

I 17

1898

Locky... ...

9 11

ij m.

2 Hj

1904

Idler

10 4

ijm.

2 4ii

1897

Vanitas

11 7

Round course and a distance

2 7

1900

Residue ...

9 10

Singapore Derby (ij m.)

2 42$

1904

Essington

8 10

Ditto

2 42$

stakes on the various events. No betting is
allowed on the course, except through the
Totalisator (or Parimutuel), which is under
the management of the committee. This
system is well known and generally followed
in India and Australia, but a few words of
explanation here may not be out of place.
Each horse is numbered. Those who desire
to bet may buy as many tickets as they choose
for any horse they fancy. The tickets cost
5 dollars each. All the takings are pooled,
and after each event the pool (less 10 per cent,
commission) is divided between those who
have placed their money on the winning
horse. In the place Totalisator the rules
are rather more complicated. There is no
betting when less than four horses start.
When there are more than six horses in the
race the pool is divided between the holders
of the tickets for the first and second horses ;
when there are more than six it is divided
between first, second, and third. For example :

ON THE RACECOURSE, KUALA LUMPOR.

up from Australia in batches and apportioned
bv lot among the members of the Sporting
Club.

At race time the Singapore course presents
a striking contrast in appearance to an English

Total number of tickets taken on seven starters,
600. Value of pool 3,000 dollars — less 300 dol-
lars club's commission = 2,700 dollars. First
horse, 90 tickets ; share of pool 900 dollars,
dividend 10 dollars. Second horse, 150 tickets ;

THE TURF CLUB.

The Turf Club in Pinang was founded as
long ago as 1867. Mr. David Brown, a well-

E. H. BRATT.
(Official Handicapper.)

known sportsman, was the first president, and
in later years he was succeeded by Mr. J. F.
Wreford, who has done much to further the
interests of the turf in the settlement. At the
outset the Government liberally assisted the
young institution by the free grant of land for
a course. On this the first stands and buildings,
of wood and attap, were erected in 1869, and
small annual meetings were started. These
gatherings were in the nature of gymkhanas,
and the total prize money never exceeded
600 dollars a year. But as the population of
the island increased the club grew in import-
ance, and by 1898 two meetings annually were
being held. These extended over two days in
January and two days in July, and the prize
money for the year totalled 5,950 dollars. In
1900 new and substantial stands were erected,
and the present prosperity of the club is
indicated by the fact that, in January, 1907,
prizes to the value of no less than 26,000
dollars were distributed during a three days'
meeting. The entries include horses from the
Federated Malay States, Singapore, the Nether-
lands India, Burma, and India.

The membership of the club numbers 500.
The prettily situated course, surrounded by a
wealth of tropical verdure, presents an attrac-

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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

171

tive spectacle on race-days, with its brightly-
dressed crowd largely composed of natives.
The days of the race meetings in January and
July are observed as holidays in the settle-
ment. Mr. A. R. Adams is the president of
the club, Mr. D. A. M. Brown is the secretary
and clerk of the course, Dr. P. V. Locke and
Messrs. A. K. Buttery, G. H. Stitt, Jules Martin,
C. G. May, and Lee Toon Tock constitute the
committee.

On the Pinang course the following records
have been established :

Residue four years previously ; indeed, such
good form did Essington show that his owners,
the .Bridge Kongsee, entered him for the
Viceroy's Cup, in India, but he was left at the
post. Nasib, trained in Kuala Lumpor, when
competing in the Singapore Derby, was con-
sidered almost unworthy of notice by the
experts, but he was ridden by his owner, Mr.
Win. Dunman, one of the best amateur riders
ever seen in the peninsula, and was first past
the post after a memorable and exciting con-
test. It is needless to recall the names of all

Year.

1899
1900

1905
1898
1900

1898

Horse.

Great Scott
Bittern ...
Essington
Vanitas ...
Reward ...

Rill

Weight.

lb.

9
6

1 m.

| m.

1 m.

ij m.

Round course

(7 f. 8lf yds.).

1 49
1 19s

1 44s

2 13

2 42*

1 39

The history of the turf in the Federated
Malay States, like most histories, tells of gradual
change — a change from the days of amateur
racing and gymkhanas to the present day of
meetings organised under the code of rules
now almost universally adopted ; from the
days when the only racecourse for ordinary
racing was that at Taiping, to the present day
when the Kuala Lumpor, Batu Gajah, and
Negri Sambilan courses have quadrupled the

the horses who enjoyed local fame, but mention
may be made of Why Not, Mattie, Jimmy,
Cadenas, Reward, Lyon, Malleolus, Lulworth,
Banester, Juindo, Benedic, Lady Joe, Flora,
Xerxes, and Duchess.

Racing began in Selangor under the patron-
age of the late Sir Win. Maxwell, the then
resident, who was instrumental in securing for
the purposes of public recreation a course
situated where the Federal Home for Women

THREE CHINESE SPORTSMEN OF SINGAPORE.
Lim Koox Yang. Lee Pek Hoox. lee Toon Poon.

opportunities for this, the most popular form
of sport.

To take the horse first, the earlier races were
run chiefly by Burma and Java ponies, but
they soon gave place to Australian griffins, the
importation of which began about the year
1890. As the interest increased so the sup-
porters of racing made more and more strenu-
ous efforts to improve their studs, with the
result that to-day the Federated Malay States
can boast that more than one horse trained in
the States has won the blue ribbon at Singa-
pore. Essington, in 1904, ran the Derby in
2 min. 423 sec, equalling the record time of

now stands. The course was made entirely at
Government expense, and a grand stand was
provided. There was in the title, however, a
proviso that only amateurs should be permitted
to ride, and the men chiefly interested found,
as time went on, that the sport could not be
continued profitably with amateur racing only.
Sir Win. Maxwell, who had meanwhile become
Governor of Singapore, was asked whether
he would allow professional riding, but he
returned an emphatic negative, whereupon
Mr. Geo. Cumming and two or three other
prominent racing men took the matter in hand,
and were able to secure the present racecourse,

which is situated on the right-hand side of the
Ampang Road, Kuala Lumpor. It was neces-
sarily of a very primitive description, with attap
buildings ; but since then any profit made by
the club has been spent upon improvements,
until, Selangor can now boast of a racecourse
as fine almost as any in the peninsula.
The Selangor Turf Club may claim to have

P. W. GLEESON
(Well-known Totalisator Manager.)

inaugurated the thoroughbred griffin scheme.
Three lots have now been imported, and,
although the scheme met with considerable
opposition at first, the griffins have proved to
be the mainstay of racing in the country. The
griffins must be certified to be clean thorough-
breds, with sire and dam entered in the Aus-
tralian stud-book ; they are subscribed for, and
the subscribers draw lots for them. Mr. Geo.
Redfearn, son of Mr. James Redfearn, the well-
known Caulfield trainer, is the leading local
trainer, and has brought over a good many
horses of his father's stables. There are several
horses in the Federated Malay States sired by

ARCHIE CAMPBELL.
(Popular Trainer of Pinang.)

Malvolio, which, with Geo. Redfearn up, won
the Melbourne Cup in 1891.

Of the many gentlemen who have been
directly interested in the turf in the Federated
Malay States the names most impressed on the
memory are those of Messrs. H. Avlesbury,
W. H. Tate, H. Ord, Geo. Tate, Wm. Dunman,
A. C. Harper, T. W. Raymond, J. W. Welford,

172

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

MR. CHUNG THYE PHIN'S DEVILMENT.
(Winner of Singapore Derby, 1905, &c.)

and K. Douglas Osborne. In later days Capt.
Talbot, Dr. Travers, Messrs. W. W. Bailey,
W. McD. Mitchell, Alma Baker, and Chung
Ah Yong have been among the most enthusi-
astic supporters of the turf. Nor has the sport
lacked its devotees among prominent Govern-
ment officials — the late Sir William Maxwell
did all he could to promote the interests of
racing in the anti-professional days, and himself
figured successfully in many a race as a gentle-
man rider ; whilst Mr. J. P. Rodger, when
Resident of Selangor, encouraged racing in
every way.

Of gentlemen riders past and present other
names which may be recalled are those of
Messrs. J. Paton Ker, T. W. Raymond, W.
Dunman, Noel Walker, C. B. Mills and J. R. O.
Aldworth, F. O. B. Dennys, J. Magill, and
Dr. Braddon. Of professionals the most suc-
cessful recently have been V. Southall, E.
Fisher, O. Randall, R. Bryans, S. Banvard,
J. Duval, and J. R. Elliott — jockeys well known
in the colony and States as well as further
afield.

The Perak Turf Club has been in existence
for over twenty years, and has now a member-
ship of about 250. Five members form the
committee, Mr. E. W. Birch is the president,
and Mr. W. H. Tate acts as hon. secretary
besides representing the club on the committee
of the Selangor Racing Association, to which
association the club was affiliated early in 1896.
H.H. the Sultan of Perak and the British
Resident are hon. members. The meetings
usually take place in August, the present course,
which is 7 furlongs 157J yards in length, being
at Taiping. It was on the old course, situated
about three miles from Taiping, that racing, as
known at the present day, was cradled. At

that time — 1886 — Burma ponies provided
most of the racing, and the meetings were
primarily social functions. The record times
on the Taiping course are :

The course is 7 furlongs ; an excellent inside
track has been completed, and both tracks are
in good order. The meetings are usually held
during the Chinese New Year festival.

The Seremban Gymkhana Club was founded
on December 20, 1901. It took the place of the
Negri Sambilan Turf Club and consists of
about 135 ordinary and visiting members. Dr.
Braddon acts as hon. secretary and clerk of
the course, and also represents the club on the
Straits Racing Association committee. The
meeting takes place in June, on the racecourse
at Gedong Lallang, three miles from Seremban.
The course is the longest and widest in the
peninsula, being I mile 93 yards in length and
66 feet wide.

The Klang Gymkhana Club has a circular
race-track of four furlongs, overlooked by the
Klang club house, which is used as a grand
stand. A race meeting, held annually about
May, was inaugurated some years ago, and the
formation of a track was commenced, but the
project was abandoned owing to its principal
promoter being transferred to another district.
In May of 1903 Mr. H. Berkley and others
revived the race meeting, which had been
discontinued, and through his good offices the
track was finished. The training and riding
of horses appearing at the annual meetings is
confined to amateurs, and there are both flat
and hurdle races. The first batch of griffins im-
ported were Java ponies, and the second batch
were Chinese, but now galloways are brought
from Australia. There are no money stakes,
the prizes consisting of cups. The club,
however, organises lotteries on all races, and
these are open to owners and members. Mr.

F. Bede Cox is president of the club, and
the committee consists of Messrs. R. W.
Harrison, R. A. Crawford, O. Pfenningwerth,
H. A. Wootton, and Dr. M. Watson.

The Selangor Club was on January 1, 1896,
associated with the Straits Racing Association.
Captain Talbot is president of the club, Mr.

G. Cumming vice-president, Mr. D. E. Topham
secretary. The club has about three hundred

Year.

Horse.

Distance.

Time.

1900
1897
1900
I898
1890

Lucifer * ... ... ... ... ...

Why Not

Silvertone...

Puritan

Leichol ... ...

I m. 67 yds.

1 m. 67 yds.

J m.

1 m.

l£ m.

m. s.

1 56«
1 53

1 21

« 5I|

2 4»i

* The Maiden Plate.

The Kinta Gymkhana Club was founded in
1890, and now consists of over 300 members.
The race meetings are held at Batu Gajah, the
course and training stables being situated on a
plateau about 350 feet above the sea level.

15
10

active members, the subscription being
dollars a year, with an entrance fee of
dollars.

The following are the best times which have
been recorded on the course : —

Date.

Horse

Distance.

Time.

Dec, 1904

Ladv Joe and Flor<

t (dead heat) ... 4 f.

in. s.

June, 1904

Xerxes

1 5i

June, 1906

Ladv Joe

5f-

1 51

June, 1900

Lyon

6f.

1 183

tune, 1904

Meros

6f.

1 18J

July, 1907

Lady Brockleigh

Round course, 1 m. 75J yds.

1 49$

July, 1907

Kington

Round course and distance

2 7

June, 1904

Duchess

lim-

2 I3l

Dec, 1904

Banester

ij m.

2 41

CONSTITUTION AND LAW

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

HE history of the con-
stitution and law of our
Straits Settlements is
like the history of the
British Empire itself in
this respect — that it is
one of gradual growth
and accretion, of a sub-
stantial superstructure
built upon small but sound foundations bor-
rowed from those massive and enduring
pedestals upon which tower the might and
consequence of Greater Britain. From being
originally an appanage of the Honourable the
East India Company, the Straits Settlements
have come to be a leading Crown colony of
the Empire. Passing, with the demise of
" John Company," under the control of our
Indian Government, the Straits Settlements
were finally transferred to the care of the
Secretary of State for the Colonies by an
Order in Council dated April i, 1867.

The seat of government is the town of
Singapore, on the island of the same name,
and the Government consists of a Governor,
with an Executive and a Legislative Council.
This latter body is composed of nine official
and seven unofficial members, of whom two
are nominated by the Singapore and Pinang
Chambers of Commerce. The nine official
members constitute the Executive or Cabinet.
In each of the' settlements there are also muni-
cipal bodies, some of the members of which
are elected by the ratepayers, while others are
appointed by the Governor.

To make matters clear, it may be well to out-
line briefly the colony's general history, with
which is seen the gradual development of her
constitution and law. At the present time the
colony consists of the island and town of
Singapore, the province of Malacca, the island
and town of Pinang, the Dindings, Province
Wellesley, the island of Labuan, the Cocos
Islands, and Christmas Island — the two last
having been acquired in 1886 and 1889 respec-
tively. Pinang was the first British settlement
on the Malayan peninsula, being ceded to the
British by the Raja of Kedah in 1785. Malacca,
which had been held successively by the Portu-
guese and the Dutch, was acquired by Great
Britain under treaty with Holland in 1824,
though it had been held previously by the
English from 1795 till 1818. The founding of
Pinang led to a transference of most of the
trade which had previously gone to Malacca.
In 1819 Singapore was acquired, and in 1826

this settlement, together with Malacca, was
incorporated with Pinang under one govern-
ment, of which Pinang remained the centre
of administration until 1830, when Singapore
became the headquarters of the Government.

With the systems of administration which
obtained in Pinang and Malacca before that
date we need trouble ourselves but little.
Malacca had been held by European nations
since 1511, and Pinang had been under the
East India Company since its acquirement in
1785 ; but it was not until the fusion of the
three settlements under one head that the con-
stitution and law of the colony became concrete
and solidified. At the time of the British
occupation of Singapore, Pinang and Malacca
were administered by a Governor appointed by
the Governor-General of India. There was
also a Lieutenant-Governor (Sir Stamford
Raffles) at Bencoolen, and it was under his
regime that Singapore was first placed, when it
became a British settlement, with Major Far-
quhar as Resident. In those days the govern-
ment of a people or community in the Malayan
archipelago was carried out very much by rule
of thumb. The Resident or Governor was
absolute, and a free application of the Mosaic-
law was considered adequate to meet such
cases as came up for adjudication. As the Straits
Settlements grew in population and importance,
however, properly constituted courts of law had
to be established, and the laws as applied in
India were adopted generally, with adaptations
to meet local requirements. In 1819 the Resi-
dent of Singapore performed the dual duties
of Magistrate and Paymaster, his only official
colleague being the Master Attendant, who had
also to act in the capacity of Keeper of Govern-
ment Stores. A few years later, however, the
Governor appointed a number of civil magis-
trates to administer the laws of the infant
settlement.

Only a year after Singapore was founded
there arose a difference of opinion between the
Governor and the Resident in respect of a
matter which has been a fruitful source of
controversy ever since — namely, the opium and
spirit traffic. The Resident proposed to establish
farms for these commodities. Sir Stamford
Raffles wrote from Bencoolen that he con-
sidered this proposal highly objectionable
(though there were such farms at Pinang and
Malacca), and inapplicable to the principles
upon which the establishment at Singapore
was founded. But the leases of the farms were
sold, nevertheless, and rents were exacted
from the opium and arrack shops and
gaming tables. Law and order in the settle-
ment were now maintained by a superintendent
of police with less than a dozen native con-

stabulary, which body in 1821 was augmented
by a force of ten night watchmen paid for by
the merchants of the place.

Two of the civil magistrates sat in the court
with the Resident to decide civil and criminal
cases, and two acted in rotation each week to
discharge the minor duties of their office.
Juries consisted either of five Europeans, or
of four Europeans with three respectable
natives. Indiscriminate gambling and cock-
fighting were strictly prohibited. In 1823,
owing to the Resident having been severely
stabbed by an Arab who had " run amok," the
carrying of arms by natives was abolished. In
a memorable proclamation which he issued in
the same year regarding the administration of
the laws of the colony, Sir Stamford Raffles
pointed out how repugnant would be the direct
application, to a mixed Asiatic community, of
European laws, with their accumulated pro-
cesses and penalties, adding that nothing
seemed to be left but to have recourse to first
principles. The proclamation proceeded :
Let all men be considered equal in the eye

of the law.
Let no man be banished the country without
a trial by his peers, or by due course
of law.
Let no man be deprived of his liberty without
a cause, and no man detained in confine-
ment beyond forty-eight hours without a
right to demand a hearing and trial.
Let the people have a voice through the
magistracy by which their sentiments may
at all times be freely expressed.
This last clause of Raffles's pronouncement
embodies the first recognition of popular con-
trol, or the municipal idea, as it might more
properly be called, which is now seen in its
more developed form in the ratepayers' re-
presentation on the Municipal Board and
the unofficial element on the Legislative
Council.

The proposed abolition of the Gambling
Farms furnished a subject round which waged
a fierce war of opinions for several years.
On the one hand the continued existence of
the farming system was advocated as a moral
duty leading to good regulation of an ad-
mittedly immoral practice ; and on the other
hand it was discountenanced on sentimental
grounds. It was formally abolished by decree
in 1829, but this led not only to surreptitious
gambling but also to corruption of the police,
and, however much the latter of these two
regrettable results has been minimised, the
former is as much an established fact to-day
in Singapore as it was in those early years
of the colony's history.

In the Protected Native States there are

H *

174

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

Gambling Farms now, as there always have
been, the principle underlying these institu-
tions being that the vice may be controlled
through a Farm, because it is then necessarily
conducted in public, and the farmers (like the
opium and spirit farmers, who still exist in
the colony) will prevent private gaming in
their own interests. It is recognised, too, that
the evil cannot be suppressed by an inefficient
force of police who are exposed to unlimited
corruption.

In consequence of a report received from
the Resident complaining of the great incon-
venience arising from the want of a resident
Judge at Singapore, the Court of Judicature of
Pinang, Singapore, and Malacca was estab-
lished by Letters Patent on November 27, 1826.
On March 6th in the following year it was
opened by notification of Government, the
Resident's Court was closed, and suits for sums
above 32 dollars were removed to H.M. Court. Sir
John T. Claridge took up his office as Recorder
in August, and arrived from Pinang on the
4th of September. At about the same time
Courts of Requests were established in the
settlements. In 1828 the first Criminal Sessions
were held in Singapore and Malacca. During
all these years the administration of the affairs
of the colony was vested entirely in the
Governor, subject to the Court of Directors
of the East India Company ; while municipal
assessments, &c, were left in the hands of
the Court of Magistrates, official and non-
official, whose findings were subject to the
Governor's approval.

In 1832, about the month of December, the
seat of government was transferred from
Pinang to Singapore, which had become the
most important of the three settlements. A
Resident Councillor was appointed for each
of the three towns, and the Governor visited
each in turn to assist in the administration
of justice and in any other matters requiring
his attention. Meanwhile the Recorder system
continued in the Court of Judicature. In 1855
two Recorders were appointed. This arrange-
ment was still in force in 1867, when the
government of the Straits Settlements was
made over from the Indian Administration
to the Colonial Office. The intervening years
from 1830 to 1867 show no change in the
governmental or judicial systems except such
as are incidental to the remarkable growth
and development of the colony's trade and
population. The civil establishment had, of
course, to be increased, and the scope of the
judicial courts extended from time to time
to meet the needs of the community.

For many years before the latter date there
had been a growing agitation against the colony
remaining under the dominance of the Indian
Government, who, it was held — and rightly
so — had not done justice to the Straits Settle-
ments, but had administered them in ignorance
of their requirements and vastly enhanced im-
portance. After long and tedious delays the
Home Government at length sanctioned the
transfer to the Colonial Office, and it was
finally effected on April 1, 1867, on which
date the Straits Settlements were advanced
to the dignity of a Crown Colony, with Colonel
Harry St. George Ord as first Governor and
a fully constituted Executive and Legislative
Council. From that date up to the present
time there has been no change in the form
of administration.

The Executive Council consists of the senior
military officer in command of the troops (if
not below the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel)
and the persons discharging the functions of
Colonial Secretary, of Resident Councillor in
any of the settlements, of Attorney-General,
of Treasurer, of Auditor-General, and of Colonial
Engineer. The Governor must, in the exercise
of all his powers, consult with the Council
unless, in his opinion, the public service would

sustain "material prejudice" thereby, or the
matter to be decided is too unimportant to
require the Council's advice or too urgent
to admit of its being taken. In any such case,
the Council must be made acquainted with all
the circumstances at the earliest opportunity.
The Council cannot meet unless summoned by
the Governor, who may call a meeting in any
settlement in which he may happen to be. A
quorum consists of the President and two other
members. The Governor is alone empowered
to submit questions for consideration, but it is
competent for any member to make written
application for a subject to be discussed, and,
in the event of his Excellency withholding his
permission, to require the application and the
ground of its refusal to be recorded in the
minutes, which are transmitted to the home
authorities every six months. The Governor
may, if he think fit, disregard the advice of
the Council, but the circumstances under which
he does so must be reported to the Home
Government at the first convenient oppor-
tunity.

The Legislative Council is composed of the
nine members of the Executive, together with
five gentlemen nominated by the Governor
from the general community and two members
appointed by the Governor on the nomination
of the Singapore and Pinang Chambers of
Commerce — all seven of whom hold office
for three years each. A majority of " official "
members is thus always assured. The Council
has full power " to establish all such laws,
institutions, and ordinances, and to constitute
such courts and offices, and to make such
provisions and regulations for the proceedings
in such courts, and for the administration of
justice, and for the raising and expenditure
of the public revenue as may be deemed
advisable for the peace, order, and good
government " of the settlements. It is com-
petent for any three members, including the
Governor or member appointed by him to
preside, to transact business. Every member
is entitled to raise for debate any question
he may think fit, and, if it be seconded, it must
be decided by a majority of votes. The re-
servation, however, is made that all propositions
for spending money must emanate from the
Governor, and that his Excellency's assent
must not be given, save in very extreme cases
and then only under certain conditions, to —

1. Any Ordinance for the divorce of persons
joined together in holy matrimony.

2. Any Ordinance whereby any grant of
land or money, or other donation or gratuity,
may be made to himself.

3. Any Ordinance whereby any increase or
diminution may be made in the number, salary,
or allowances of the public officers.

4. Any Ordinance affecting the currency of
the settlements or relating to the issue of bank-
notes.

5. Any Ordinance establishing any banking
association, or amending or altering the con-
stitution, powers, or privileges of any banking
association.

6. Any Ordinance imposing differential
duties.

7. Any Ordinance the provisions of which
shall appear inconsistent with treaty obliga-
tions.

8. Any Ordinance interfering with the dis-
cipline or control of the Imperial forces by land
or sea.

9. Any Ordinance of an extraordinary nature
and importance, whereby the prerogative of
the Crown, or the rights and property of
British subjects not residing in the settlements,
or the trade and shipping of the United
Kingdom and its dependencies, may be pre-
judiced.

10. Any Ordinance whereby persons not of
European birth or descent may be subjected or
made liable to any disabilities or restrictions to

which persons of European birth or descent are
not also subjected or made liable.

11. Any Ordinance containing provisions to
which the assent of the Crown has been once
refused, or which have been disallowed.

Under the standing orders of the Council
Bills are read three times, but in cases of emer-
gency, or when no important amendment is
proposed, a measure may be carried through
all its stages at one sitting with the approval of
a majority of the members present. All Ordi-
nances are subject to the veto of the Home
Government.

The law administered in the colony consists
of local Ordinances passed by the Legislative
Council and not disallowed by his Majesty,
together with such Acts of the Imperial Parlia-
ment and of the Legislative Council of India as
are applicable, a Commission having decided
which of the Indian Acts should continue in
force in the colony. The Indian Penal Code
and Code of Criminal Procedure have in the
main been adopted and from time to time
amended. The Civil Procedure Code is based
on the English Judicature Acts. Peculiar to
the locality are the anti-gambling laws, which
are very stringent, as must necessarily be the
case where a race so addicted to the vice as the
Chinese is concerned ; the opium laws, under
which the traffic in opium is " farmed out " to
the highest bidder for a term of years, thus
relieving the Government of the responsibility
for preventive measures against smuggling and
other incidental abuses ; and the Indian and
Chinese immigration laws, by which are regu-
lated the immense army of coolies who come
to the colony every year en route, mostly, for
the Federated Malay States and the Dutch
islands of the archipelago.

The courts for the administration of the civil
and criminal law are the Supreme Court, the
Court of Requests, Bench Courts (consisting of
two magistrates), Coroners' Courts, Magis-
trates' Courts, and the Licensing Court, con-
sisting of Justices of the Peace. The Supreme
Court consists of a Chief Justice and three
Puisne Judges. It sits in civil jurisdiction
throughout the year ; and, as a small-cause
court with jurisdiction up to 500 dollars, it
holds a weekly session in Singapore and
Pinang.. Assizes are conducted every two
months in Singapore and Pinang, and every
quarter in Malacca, when civil work is also
taken. The Supreme Court is also a Vice-
Admiralty Court and the final appeal court
of the colony.

In the Courts of Requests a magistrate sits
as Commissioner in causes for sums not exceed-
ing 100 dollars. Magistrates' Courts hear and
determine cases within their jurisdiction in a
summary way. Justices of the Peace and
Coroners are appointed by H.E. the Governor.

The expenses of the Civil Establishment of
Singapore when Sir Stamford Raffles left in
1823 amounted to 3,500 dollars a month, the
Resident drawing 1,400 dollars, the Assistant
Resident 300 dollars, and the Master Attendant
300 dollars. The present Governor receives
£6,000 per annum ; the Colonial Secretary
£1,700 ; the Resident Councillors of Pinang
and Malacca 9,600 dollars and 7,800 dollars
respectively ; and the Master Attendant £780.

It may be mentioned in conclusion that the
direct administration of Labuan by the Govern-
ment of the Straits Settlements was only re-
sumed on January I, 1906, after having been in
the hands of the British North Borneo Com-
pany since 1890. Labuan was ceded to Great
Britain by the Sultan of Brunei in 1846, and
taken possession of in 1848. It is situated off
the north-west coast of Borneo, from which it
is distant about six miles, and has an area of
30J square miles. It is the smallest British
colony in Asia, the white population numbering
only about forty or fifty. The island produces
about 14,000 tons of coal annually.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

175

THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES.

WHEN Great Britain obtained a footing
on the Malay Peninsula by securing
the territories of Malacca and Province Welles-
ley, she came into violent contact with the
neighbouring native States, which were then
seething with turbulence and anarchy. It was
not, however, until 1873 that the perpetual
tribal quarrels became so acute as to call for
the active interference of the Imperial Govern-
ment. In that year the disturbed condition of
the country was accentuated by troubles among
the Chinese in the Larut district, who divided
themselves into two camps and engaged in
organised warfare. After much bloodshed the
defeated party betook themselves to piracy,
with the result that for a long time the
coast was virtually in a state of blockade,
and even the fishermen were afraid to put
to sea.

In this crisis, Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew
Clarke, Governor of the Straits Settlements,
arranged a meeting with the Perak chiefs with
a view to settling definitely the disputed suc-
cession to the Sultanate. He pointed out to
them the evils of maladministration from which
the State was suffering ; showed that tran-
quillity, trade and development were the chief
desiderations ; and held out prospects of peace
and plenty under British protection in place of
strife and irregular revenues. The assistance
of British advisers at Perak and Larut was
offered and accepted on the understanding that
the sovereign powers of the chiefs would not
thereby be curtailed. A similar arrangement
was also concluded with the Sultan of Selangor.
Such great success attended the introduction of
this new system that the example set by Perak
and Selangor was followed a few years later by
the adjoining State of Negri Sambilan, and in
1888 by Pahang.

Under this regime the affairs of each of the
four States were independently administered
on behalf of the Sultan by the British Resident
and the usual staff of Government officials, act-
ing under the direction of the Governor of the
Straits Settlements. By a treaty signed in July,
1895, the States were federated for administra-
tive purposes, and a Resident-General was
appointed with an official residence at Kuala
Lumpor, which was chosen as the federal
capital. The terms of the treaty stipulated
that the native Rulers were " to follow the
advice of the Resident-General in all matters
of administration other than those touching the
Mahomedan religion," and "to give to those
States in the Federation which require it such
assistance in men, money, or in other respects,
as the British Government, through its duly
appointed officers, may require." At the same
time it was explicitly stated that the "obliga-
tions of the Malay Rulers towards the British
Residents " would not in any way be affected by
this arrangement.

Subject, therefore, to the direction of the
Resident-General, who is subordinate to the
High Commissioner, the administration of each
of the four States proceeds upon nearly the
same lines as were formerly followed. The
supervision of finance, forests, mines, police,
prisons, and railways is vested in the federal
officials, but all other matters are dealt with in
each State by the State Council, which consists
of the Sultan (who presides), the British Resi-
dent and his Secretary, the principal native
chiefs, and one, or more, of the most influential
European or Chinese residents. No measure
can become law until it has been passed by the
Council of the State to which it applies, but,
when it is remembered that the proposed enact-

ments often relate to technical subjects, such as
electric lighting and mechanical locomotion,
of which the native mind has no previous know-
ledge, it will readily be understood that the
legislative powers of the Council are more
apparent than real. Every member is entitled
to raise any question with the approval of the
president, and, of course, to offer any sugges-
tion for the consideration of the Resident. A
privilege highly valued by the native members
of the Council is that of travelling free of charge
over the railway system.

In the raising of revenue and the expenditure
of money the State Council has no voice. A
separate account is kept for each State, and
federal expenditure and revenue are appor-
tioned on an equitable basis. Each of the
States, except Pahang, has a large surplus,
which is invested in Indian Rupee Paper, Tan-
jong Pagar Dock shares, the municipal stock of
the neighbouring colony, the Federated Malay
States and Johore railway system, and in other
sound securities that are from time to time sug-
gested by the High Commissioner, who is the
Governor of the Straits Settlements. Fixed
allowances, varying in amount in each State,
are guaranteed to the Sultans out of the public
funds by the British Government. An annual
sum is voted for the upkeep of a regiment of
Malay States Guards, which, in the event of
war breaking out between Great Britain and
any other Power, may be requisitioned by the
Governor for service in the Straits Settle-
ments.

Each State is divided into districts, varying
in size according to their industrial importance
and population. These districts are presided
over by district officers, who are directly
responsible to the British Resident. Each
district again is subdivided into Mukims or
parishes, which are under the supervision of
Malay officials styled Penghulus, who render
assistance to the Land Office and act in the
capacity of minor magistrates and go-betweens
in matters of domestic dispute among natives.
The Penghulus are generally relatives of the
chiefs of the States in which they act, and
they are appointed by the Sultan in Council,
subject to the veto of the Resident. In the
chief centres of population there are sanitary
boards, composed of State officials and a
nominated unofficial element.

Originally the Resident was the head of the
Judicial, as well as of the Administrative,
Department in each State. But when the
States were federated in 1896 a Judicial
Commissioner was appointed, and that change
was accompanied by the admission of prac-
titioners at the Bar, consisting of persons
possessing legal qualifications recognised in
the United Kingdom, of advocates and solici-
tors in the Straits Settlements, and of persons
who passed the prescribed local examination
in law.

Until the Courts Enactment of 1905 came
into operation, the Judicial Commissioner tried
only capital charges and appeals from the
court of the senior magistrate in each State.
The senior magistrate, who did not necessarily
possess a legal diploma, was supposed to be a
quasi-executive officer invested with extensive
powers to review the actions and decisions of
other magistrates. The office has now been
abolished, and two additional Commissioners
have been appointed, the Judicial Commis-
sioner of former days being now styled the
Chief Judicial Commissioner. He and one
other Judicial Commissioner reside at Kuala
Lumpor, and hold frequent assizes in the Negri

Sambilan and Pahang. The third Judicial
Commissioner resides at Ipoh, in Perak.

The court of a Judicial Commissioner exer-
cises full jurisdiction jn all civil and criminal
matters, divorce only excepted, and hears
appeals from the lower courts. In hearing
appeals from the native courts a Judicial Com-
missioner is required to summon to sit with
him " one or more of the principal Mahome-
dans of the State to aid him with advice."
Attached to the court of a Judicial Com-
missioner there is a Registrar, and, in some
cases, a Deputy Registrar, who discharges
duties ordinarily performed in England by a
Master in Chambers, a Registrar of the
Supreme Court, or a Clerk of a Criminal Court.

In all cases where the punishment of death
is authorised by law the accused is tried with
the aid of two assessors, selected from the
most prominent members of the heterogeneous
community. In the event of both assessors
taking a different view from the judge, a new
trial is ordered. Until the end of the last
century the jury system was in vogue, but it
was then discontinued owing to the difficulty
of securing men to serve whose intelligence
and integrity could be relied upon to do justice
between the prisoner and the State.

The Supreme Court of Appeal consists of
two or more Judicial Commissioners. Death
sentences, even when confirmed by this court,
are reviewed by the Council of the State in
which the capital charge was originally pre-
ferred. In a civil action involving a sum of
not less than £500, a final appeal may be made
to his Britannic Majesty in Council.

In all the principal centres in the States there
are magisterial courts, and these are of two
grades. A first-class magistrate is empowered to
try cases the maximum penalty for which does
not exceed three years' imprisonment. Until
the end of 1905 he could try cases the penaltv
for which did not exceed seven years' imprison-
ment. His maximum power of punishment,
however, has been throughout limited to a
sentence of one year's imprisonment or a fine
not exceeding 500 dollars. Cases beyond his
jurisdiction, or for which he deems his power
of punishment inadequate, are committed to the
Supreme Court. A first-class magistrate may
hear and determine civil suits when the value
in dispute does not exceed 500 dollars. A
second-class magistrate is empowered to im-
pose a sentence of three months' imprison-
ment or a fine not exceeding 250 dollars,
which sum is also the limit of his civil
jurisdiction.

There are two native tribunals, called re-
spectively the Court of a Kathi and the Court
of a Penghulu. The first is an ecclesiastical
court for the trial of minor Mahomedan
causes. The second deals with petty offences
or disputes. Each can inflict a fine up to
10 dollars.

The Bench of the Supreme Court of the
Federated Malay States is becoming practi-
cally identified with that of the Straits Settle-
ments, for arrangements are now being made
under which the Puisne Judges of the settle-
ments and the Judicial Commissioners of the
Federated States will be interchangeable.

The general law of the States is codified in a
large number of enactments. The Criminal
Procedure Code is adapted from that of the
Straits Settlements, while the Civil Procedure
Code closely follows that of India, which was
formerly accepted as law, so far as it was
applicable, in most parts of the Federated
Malay States.

lliWl'' >>.v\ w /Vy^ WlrrA

if * rvf K» * ^^ V<_ JU ^

cCi\H y^^s^^^^isir * . v ^yZ/77 •* Y I iff «-*^52v%4iT^ -/Q \fJ*

RAILWAYS

N no direction has the
beneficent result of
British influence in
Malaya been more
strikingly manifest than
in the opening up of
the territory, with all
its rich commercial
possibilities, to the
outer world by the introduction of rapid means
of communication between the important
mining and agricultural centres and the coast.
This enterprise has served not merely to
cheapen the cost of transport, and give a
remarkable fillip to trade, but it has also
yielded a large and direct revenue. Credit for
its conception is mainly due to Sir Frank
Swettenham, a former Governor of the Straits
Settlements and High Commissioner for the
Federated Malay States, who was responsible
for the Malay States lines, with the exception
of the eight-miles branch in Larut, from Taiping
to Port Weld, and the twenty-four-miles branch
in Sungei Ujong, from Seremban to Port
Dickson, which was built by a private com-
pany. When he first recommended the
construction of the Province Wellesley line it
was disapproved, but when he repeated all the
arguments in favour of the project and pressed

to be allowed to undertake it, Mr. Chamberlain,
who was then Secretary of State for the
Colonies, gave his sanction on the ground

that, if the value of a great work could be
satisfactorily demonstrated, the sooner it was
taken in hand the better.

IPOH STATION.

ENGGOR BRIDGE.

Until a quarter of a century ago railways
were unknown in the jungle-clad peninsula,
but within the next year or so a line will
traverse the whole of the east coast States from
Prye on the mainland, opposite Pinang in the
north, to Singapore in the south, a distance of
nearly five hundred miles, with outlets to the
seaboard at Port Weld, Teluk Anson, Port
Swettenham, Port Dickson, and Malacca. At
the present time the line terminates on the
frontiers of Johore, but, with the consent of the
Sultan, who is an independent ruler, a railway
of 120 miles in length is now in course of
construction through this State.

When this is completed a night passenger
service will be inaugurated, and the question of
conveying the mails overland will, no doubt,
be considered. Some day in the future it is
probable that through communication will be
established with Calcutta by means of a link-
line through the intervening territory. In the
meantime consideration will have to be given
to the East Coast States — Kelantan, Trengganu,
and Pahang — if they are to share in the
prosperity which is now enjoyed by their
neighbours. Railway routes through a part of
this country have already been surveyed.

176

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

177

THE FEDERATED MALAY
STATES RAILWAYS.

Like the history of the Federated States
themselves, the history of railway enterprise
and development in the Malay Peninsula
affords an instance of remarkable progress in

Malay States Railway became one concern,
establishing through communication between
Pinang and Seremban. The first through
passenger train from Perak was that conveying
H.H. the Sultan of Perak and suite from Kuala
Kangsa to Kuala Lumpor on July 17th of that
year to attend the Conference of Chiefs of the
Federated Malay States. The regular service

added, bringing the total up to 31,060,657
dollars, apportioned roughly as under :

Perak

Selangor ...
Negri Sambilan

19,000,000

10,000,000

2,000,000

THE YARD, KUALA LUMPOR.

recent years. Railway construction was started
in a modest way in Perak, and the first section
— an eight-mile line running between Taiping
and Port Weld — was opened for traffic in June,
1885. The construction was carried out by
two divisions of Ceylon Pioneers, lent by the
Government of Ceylon. Before this work was
completed a more ambitious scheme was em-
barked upon by Selangor, with the result that
Kuala Lumpor was connected with Klang, 21
miles distant, in 1886, and with Port Swetten-
ham three years later. The track lay through
difficult country, with a considerable bridge
over the Klang river. The colony advanced
the necessary funds, but long before the line
could be completed the colony, being in want
of money, applied for immediate repayment,
and it was fortunate that the rapid progress of
the State made it possible to satisfy this
demand and complete the line out of current
revenues. Soon afterwards the railway was
opened for traffic, and earned a profit equal to
25 per cent, on the capital expended. For both
the Selangor and the Perak railways a metre
gauge was adopted, and that system has been
maintained in all subsequent railway construc-
tion in the Malay States ; but the weight of the
rails, originally 46J lbs. to the yard, has been
increased. A very high standard of excellence
was adopted in this early work, no gradient
being steeper than 1 in 300, and no curve more
severe than 15 chains radius. Later on,
however, it was found advisable to rel?.x
these conditions.

Extension of the systems proceeded but
slowly until after the federation of the Protected
Malay States, in 1896, when increased activity
in the work was evinced. The disconnected
sections of railway in the States were linked
up by a main trunk line, and the Federated

commenced a month later. At that date there
were 339 miles of line open for traffic, 65 miles
having been completed since the beginning of
the year.

Up to 1903 the capital account of the Federal
railways was 22,734,816 dollars, and in that
year a further sum of 8,325,841 dollars was

The dividend earned on this capital was 606
per cent., as compared with 5'88 per cent, in
1902. The average capital outlay per mile of
line open was 91,365 dollars. The total
revenue amounted to 3,685.834 dollars, and the
working expenses to 1,804,149 dollars. The
proportion of working expenses to gross re-
ceipts was 4895 per cent., compared with 5344
in 1902, and was the lowest for ten years.

The continuation of the main trunk line from
Seremban to Tampin, and thence to Malacca
during 1905 constituted another notable ad-
vance in railway communication in the
Federated Malay States. A through daily
mail train service was started on February 1st
between Kuala Lumpor and Pinang, calling at
the principal stations. The distance, about 242
miles, was covered in 11 hours 2 minutes, the
longest stops being at Ipoh, 10 minutes, and
Taiping, 8 minutes. Another service started
towards the close of 1905 was from Kuala
Lumpor to Malacca, and vice versa in the day,
a distance of 196 miles for the return journey.

In October, 1906, the last section of the main
line between Tampin and Gemas, a distance
of over 32 miles, was opened, thus completing
the railway to the southern frontier station of
the Federated Malay States, a total length from
Prye (on the mainland opposite Pinang) of 351
miles. In addition to the 429 miles of main
and branch lines that were open to traffic at
the end of the year, there were 61 miles of
sidings, thus bringing the total mileage of
railroad in operation up to 490 miles. Ex-
cluding the sidings, the railway system now
comprises :

Main Line, Prye to Gemas Station
Branch lines (77 miles 54 chains)

Taiping to Port Weld

Tapah Road to Teluk Anson ...
Batu Junction to Batu Caves ...
Kuala Lumpor to Port Swettenham
Tampin to Malacca

Cli.

351

Total

428 67

CENTRAL WORKSHOPS, KUALA LUMPOR.

178

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The passenger fares are 6, 4, and 2 cents per
mile for the first, second, and third classes
respectively.

During 1906, 4,013,0X3 dollars was added to
capital account, which on December 31st stood
at 41,275,000 dollars, the apportionment in

Federated Malay States. The average capital
outlay per mile of line open was 96,248 dollars
at the end of 1906, or 2,248 dollars more than
in the preceding twelve months. The gross
receipts amounted to 4,774,124 dollars. To this
sum passengers, goods, &c, contributed

SEREMBAN STATION.

respect of all works executed and lines con-
structed being as follows :

Pinang (including steam ferries)
Province Wellesley

Perak

Selangor ...
Negri Sambilan ...
Malacca Territory

578,200.15

2,247,235.69

17,075,108.51

12,032,856.71

7,621,892.76

1,719,712.03

•41,275,005.85

4,564,099 dollars, an increase of 715,438 dollars
over the figures for 1905. The net weekly
earnings per train mile were 85 cents, as
against 1-07 dollars, the decrease of 22 cents
being due principally to charging to revenue
the cost of re-laying part of the line with
heavier rails during this year. Between
September and December of 1906, 25,554
dollars was paid into the treasury to the credit
of general reimbursements, Federated Malay
States Government, instead of to the railway

KUALA KTJBU STATION.

The net profit for the year's working was
l,57 2 ,337 dollars, being 381 per cent, on the
capital, as compared with 4-46 per cent, in
1905. The net profits earned since ,1885
amounted to 15,064,024 dollars, or 36J per
cent, of the total outlay on railways in the

revenue, which had hitherto been the practice.
A sum of 960 dollars was received from the
automobile service, being the collection for
December for the conveyance of 223 first-class
and 2,545 third-class passengers on a single-bus
service between Tapah Road station and

Tapah town, introduced at the beginning of
that month ; while a sum of 57,140 dollars was
added to capital account as first capital expen-
diture on the introduction of road automobile
services to run in connection with train
services. Working expenses for the year
under review amounted to 2,991,762 dollars,
being an increase of 714,211 dollars over those
for 1905. Of this increase, 516,744 dollars was
due to re-laying certain sections with heavier
rails, 80 lbs. to the yard, and the balance to the
cost of maintaining a longer length of line
than in 1905. The proportion of working
expenses to receipts was 65-55 per cent., as
against 5780 per cent. Train mileage totalled
',851, 516 miles, an increase of 307,890; goods
carried amounted to 589,580 tons, an increase
of 75,354: passengers numbered 6,171,596, an
increase of 657,147 ; and live stock 98,973, an
increase of 25,386. Out of 16,590 tons of goods
traffic forwarded from Prye station, coal (which
during the year was introduced as fuel in the
mines in the Federated States) accounted for
11,965 tons. The following list is interesting
as showing the principal items of goods traffic
forwarded during 1905 and 1906 respectively :

1905,

1906.

Rice (bags)

i,i93,7io

1,215,494

Tin (slabs)

294,024

286,152

Tin ore (bags)

1,332,991

1,213,093

Opium (chests) ...

4,340

4,800

Coffee (bags)

25,53S

23,650

Kerosene (tins) ...

598,749

653,900

Poultry (baskets) ...

33,884

44,6.35

Pigs

68,182

78,065

Firewood (trucks)

19,148

19,742

Timber (trucks) ...

5,724

5,383

In connection with the great growth that has
taken place in the goods traffic over the whole
system, one of the most interesting develop-
ments has been the rise of Port Swettenham,
where ocean-going steamers now load and
unload direct, instead of transhipping freight
into smaller craft as formerly. Thirteen ocean-
going steamers called here during 1906 with
cargoes direct from England.

The total engine mileage in 1906 was
2,074,441 compared with 1,757,719 during 1905,
an increase of 329,722, or 18 per cent., with
fewer engines available to do the hauling.
The consumption of engine fuel (bakau fire-
wood) was 18,220 tons more than during
1905, and the cost per engine mile was
1399 cents compared with 1251 cents in
1905, the cost per train-mile being 1567 cents
compared with 14-25 cents. The increase in
the cost of fuel per engine and train-mile
is attributed to the decrease in the steaming
quality of the wood, which was cut from less
mature trees, and to the heavier loads hauled
per train. At the beginning of 1907 coal fuel
was introduced on the northern division of
the railways, but wood is still used in the
southern section.

The mileage of the ferry boats was 37,720
compared with 33,804, the cost per mile being
1.08 dollar, as against 92 cents.

Six new stations were opened to traffic dur-
ing the twelve months, thus raising the total to
93. There were also seven flag stations, mak-
ing 100 stations in all. The number of tele-
graph offices was increased from 87 to 93.
The length of railway telegraph, telephone,
and bell wires was extended from 794 to 862
miles, and 83 additional miles of postal tele-
graph wires were erected on railway poles,
making a total of 745 miles.

Seven engines of a new type, weighing 75
tons 6 cwt., i.e., 24 tons heavier than the six-
wheeled coupled tender engines then available,
were ordered, but did not arrive until after the

180

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

MARBLE HILL, IPOH.

close of the year. Fourteen new bogie car-
riages, 26 four-wheeled goods wagons, and
three goods brake-vans were added to the
stock, which at the end of the year comprised
66 engines, 153 bogie passenger-coaches, 55
four-wheeled coaches, and 1,572 goods wagons.
A new and much improved type of bogie pas-

senger coach was introduced, running on 2 feet
9J inches diameter wheels, instead of 2 feet dia-
meter wheels, such as the old stock have. The
coaches are 56 feet 1 1 inches over headstocks,
8 feet 9J inches wide over mouldings, and the
height from the rail level to the top of the roof
is 11 feet 7J inches. These coaches weigh

about 20 tons, and are the largest and most
comfortable on any metre-gauge extant.

The new railway workshops at Kuala Lum-
por are very extensive and most up-to-date.
At present they are equipped with machines
removed from the old Perak and Selangor
Railway shops, supplemented with modern
tools. The power employed is electricity, and
the intention is to obtain up-to-date heavy
high-speed machines capable of dealing with
any class of railway work. Coaches and
wagons are constructed here with the excep-
tion of the steel under-frames, wheels, axles,
&c, which are obtained from England. When
the new plant is installed these shops will be
in a position to turn out coaches and wagons
complete in every respect. Locomotives are
dismantled, thoroughly overhauled, and re-

NEW TYPE COACHING STOCK.

paired, but it would not pay at present to
build new locomotives.

The total expenditure during the year 1906
on construction and surveys of new lines in the
Federated Malay States, Johore, and Malacca
amounted to 3,924,728.39 dollars, compared
with 3,629,914.60 dollars, and was made up as
follows :

Negri Sambilan Extension

490,266.79

Malacca Branch ...

116,942.81

Johore State Railway

3,221,761.51

Gemas-Kuala Semantan Perma-

nent Survey

60,494.53

Kuala Semantan to Kuala Lipis

(stopping at Kuala Tembeling)

Trial Survey

6,665.13

Ditto via Bentong

1 1.°47-55

Kuala Semantan to Kuantan

11,183.78

Light Railway Permanent Sur-

vey, Tronoh to Ipoh ...

4,79674

Light Railwav Temoh to Chen-

deriang ... ...

i,509o5

Total ...

$3,924,728.39

KUALA LUMPOE STATION.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

181

The most important feature of railway de-
velopment in the Malay Peninsula at present
is the Johore State Railway, in course of con-
struction. This railway, which is 120J miles
in length, is a continuation of the main trunk
line connecting Pinang with Singapore. It
commences at the River Gemas on the
northern frontier of Johore and terminates
at Johore Bahru on the southern frontier of
Johore, opposite the terminus of the Singapore-
Kranji Railway at Woodlands, situate on the
island of Singapore. The two railways will
be connected by a wagon or train ferry, and
the recent extension of the Singapore-Kranji
Railway to the Docks opens up through com-
munication between the towns of the Federated
Malay States and the Singapore wharves at
Tanjong Pagar. The Federated Malay States
Government, through its Railway Department,
is constructing the Johore Railway for the
Government of Johore and is advancing the
necessary money, estimated at 12,460,881
dollars. Up to the end of 1906, 4,286.429
dollars had been spent, of which sum
3,221,761.51 dollars was expended during the
year under review. The work done included
the clearance of 1 10J miles of jungle, the con-
struction of 3,778,189 cubic yards of earthwork,
or well over one-third of the total quantity ;
and the completion of 13 bridges and 131 cul-
verts. There were also 13 bridges and 55
culverts in progress. The permanent way was
linked in for 25J miles — viz., 10 at Gemas end and
15J at Johore Bahru — not counting the length

TAIPING STATION.

OLD STYLE ENGINE AND PRESENT-
DAY LOCOMOTIVE.

of sidings. The telegraph line for 70 miles and
the majority of the buildings were completed.
In connection with this line the question of
carrying the railway over the Straits between
Singapore Island and Johore (about three-
quarters of a mile wide) by a bridge was
considered, but, in view of the heavy expendi-
ture that would be incurred (about 1,400,000
dollars), the project was abandoned. The
General Manager advocated a train ferry for
all traffic, but this suggestion did not meet with

the Government's approval ; and it has now
been decided to build a wagon-ferry for the
transport of goods trains across the waterway.
This will cost, approximately, three-quarters of
a million dollars.

At the present moment the Federated Malay
States railways have the heaviest engines and
rails and the largest passenger carriages to be
found on any metre-gauge railway in the
world, a departure which has proved in every
way successful. The rails used are 80 lbs. to
the yard, and the engines weigh 75J tons. Mr.

and trains can be run direct from Johore to
Pinang, a night service will be inaugurated.

Altogether the Federated Malay States rail-
ways are forging ahead, and if the present
progressive managerial policy is continued
there will be great and important extensions
and developments to record within the next
few years. A notable fact in the history of
these railways is that the whole of the expendi-
ture for construction work has been met by
the Federated Malay States out of current
revenue.

MAIL TRAIN.

MOTOR BUS.

C. E. Spooner, the General Manager, had a
great deal of opposition to overcome before he
prevailed upon the authorities to replace the old
46J-lb. rails on the trunk line with heavier
metal, but the wisdom of the step which he
recommended has now been abundantly proved.
The bridges are being strengthened and the
main line will shortly be in excellent condition
for fast traffic. On all sections of the line
traffic is heavy, the railroads are working at
high pressure, and already many goods trains
are run every night. An all-night stop, how-
ever, is made at Kuala Lumpor by the mail
train from Pinang to Malacca, the entire
distance of 340 miles being covered in about
sixteen hours. As yet no passenger trains are
run at night, but as soon as the trunk line is
opened from Johore into the Federated States,

SUNGEI UJONG RAILWAY.

The only privately-owned railway line in the
Federated Malay States is that of the Sungei
Ujong Railway Company. This line, which is
24J miles in length, connects Port Dickson, in
Negri Sambilan, with Seremban, the capital of
the State. It was originally established under
a Government guarantee, and in July, 1908, it
is to be taken over by the Federated Malay
States Railways. At present two or three
passenger trains run daily between Port
Dickson and Seremban, whilst goods trains
are despatched as often as required. In the
district through which the line passes there are
a number of important rubber estates. The
General Manager is Mr. James McClymont
McCIymont.

i. Felling Timber for Sleepers.

FEDERATED MALAY STATES RAILWAYS.
Cutting on Section Taiping-Padang Rengas. 3. Bidor Bridge, near Telle Anson.

5. Blkit Pondu, near Padang Rengas. 6. A Tunnel.

4. A Trolley.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

183

i. Port Dickson Station.

SUNGEI TJJONG RAILWAY.

2. The Pier, Port Dickson.

(See p. 181.)

3. James McClymont (Manager).

SINGAPORE AND KRANJI
RAILWAY.

The Singapore Government Railway, which
connects Singapore and Johore — by rail as far
as Woodlands on the north of the island, and
by ferry from Woodlands to Johore — was
opened in 1903, and cost nearly two million
dollars.

Though it is of quite recent construction, a
line connecting Singapore with Johore was
projected over thirty years ago. As far back
as 1874 Sir Andrew Clarke raised the question
with a view to guaranteeing, if necessary, any
railway that might be constructed on the island,
but nothing practical ensued, and the scheme
was relegated to the limbo of forgotten things
until 1889, when Sir Cecil Smith, speaking in
the Legislative Council, expressed the hope
that the Government would soon be able to
embark on the work of constructing a railway
across the island to the Johore Straits. For a
second time, however, the matter was shelved.
A few years later a proposal was made to meet
the long-felt want by private enterprise, .put
this suggestion was rejected by the Govern-
ment, who in 1898 began seriously to tackle
the question of constructing a line themselves.
Plans were prepared, and the cost of the
undertaking was estimated at a million dollars.
Vigorous opposition was offered to the scheme
in the Legislative Council by the unofficial
members, who held that the prospective
advantages did not justify so large an out-
lay. They pointed out that there would be
practically no goods traffic, as there were
cheap and adequate means of conveyance by
water, and, although they admitted that the
line would be useful for passengers, they said
they could not agree to the expenditure of

more than half the sum estimated. The pro-
ject received the approval of Mr. Chamber-
lain, who was then Secretary of State for the
Colonies ; but, in spite of this, when the Budget
was discussed in the Legislative Council on
November 7, 1898, the estimates for the rail-
way were rejected by a majority of one vote.
This brought rejoinders from Downing Street,
and, after negotiations and discussions, the

scheme was eventually approved by the
Legislative Council on August 22, 1899, with
only two dissentients.

The ceremony of cutting the first sod was
performed on April 16, 1900. With the ex-
ception of swamps, no special difficulty was
met with in laying the line. The work was
carried out by sub-contractors, under the super-
vision of a resident engineer appointed by

TANK ROAD STATION, SINGAPORE.

184

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

&£****

"tirum^

RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER SINGAPORE RIVER.

the Crown Agents, and Chinese labour was
principally employed. The metre gauge
(3 feet 3§ inches) was adopted. A notable
feature of the line is that in the compara-
tively short distance of 19! miles there are
no fewer than fifty-five gate-crossings, includ-
ing twenty-three public level-crossings, where
gatemen have to be maintainep.

It was on January 1, 1903, that the first
section from Singapore to Bukit Timah was
formally opened for traffic, and on April 10th
the remainder of the line to Woodlands was
available. Another four and three-quarter
miles from the Singapore station at Tank
Road to Passir Panjang, has quite recently
been completed, under the supervision of Mr.

C. E. Spooner, C.M.G., adviser on railway
matters to the Colonial Government.

One of the chief arguments used in favour of
the construction of the line was that it would
diminish the congestion of Singapore by in-
ducing people to live some distance inland, but
this anticipation has not been realised to any
great extent. In April, 1903, there were 19
season-ticket holders, and at the time of writing
there are 223. The number of passengers
carried, however, has increased from 426,044
in 1903 to 525,553 in 1905. The heaviest traffic
is always on Sunday ; for on that day the pro-
prietors of the gambling farms of Johore pay
the return fares of all who come from Singa-
pore to gamble on their premises. As many

as 500 third-class return passengers are carried
on Sunday for gambling purposes, and the
first and second class carriages are usually
crowded.

The fares are 8, 5, and 3 cents a mile
for first, second, and third class passengers
respectively, with an extra charge to first-class
passengers of 10 cents each way for the use
of the ferry. The traffic is carried across
the Straits of Johore in two steam ferry-boats,
the Singapore and the Johore, each of which is
capable of accommodating 160 passengers.
The revenue from the general goods traffic
has grown from 1,883 dollars in 1903 (eight
months only) to 6,266 dollars in 1904, and to
8,940 dollars in 1905.

The rolling stock, which has all been made
in England, comprises 25 passenger coaches,
46 six-ton goods wagons, 4 four-wheeled couple
locomotives, with 10 by 16 inch cylinders and
side tanks, capable of pulling 99 tons up a
gradient of one in a hundred at 15 miles an
hour ; and 2 larger locomotives, with 12 by
18 inch cylinders, capable of drawing 160 tons
up a gradient of one in a hundred also at 15
miles an hour. The ferry-boats were built at
the Tanjong Pagar Docks, Singapore.

The passenger service at the present time
consists of nine trains each way (though one or
two do not travel the whole distance). Formerly
the goods wagons were attached to the passen-
ger trains, but now a special goods train is run
every day between the two termini.

Although the outlay has been nearly double
the original estimate — up to December 31, 1906
(excluding the new section from Tank Road
to Passir Panjang) it amounted to 1,967,495
dollars, or about £231,470 — the line has yielded
a progressive revenue, with the exception of a
slight falling off for 1906.

Considering the exceptionally heavy outlay,
the undertaking may be said to have justified
its existence, and to have yielded a satisfactory
return ; for it was never anticipated or desired
by the warmest supporters of the scheme that
a big profit should be made, and when the rail-
way through Johore is completed, as it will be
shortly, it will be of great advantage to the
colony to have the town of Singapore con-
nected by rail with all the Federated States.

RAILWAY STATION, SINGAPORE.

BOTANY

By H. N. RIDLEY, M.A., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.R.H.S., etc., Director of the Botanical Gardens, Singapore.

jjERHAPS the first thing
that strikes the visitor
to the equatorial regions
of Malaya is the very
large proportion of trees
and shrubs to smaller
herbaceous plants. Ex-
cept where the land
has been cleared and
planted by man, almost the whole of the Malay
Peninsula consists of one immense forest.
From any of the higher hills in the Malay
Peninsula a view is obtained of undulating
country, densely covered with trees. In the
woods huge damar-trees (Dipterocarpe;e), oaks,
and chestnuts (Quercus and Castanopsis), figs
(Ficus), Euphorbiacea:, Eugenias, and trees of
all natural orders are mixed with seedlings
springing up towards the light, with shrubby
Urophyllums, Lascanthus, Ardisias, and other
smaller plants, while stout and slender woody
climbers tangle all together and make a dense
and almost impenetrable thicket. Here and
there in damp spots are Gingers (Scitumineae),
with their scarlet, yellow, or white flowers
almost embedded in the ground, ferns, and
Selaginellas, and a certain proportion of herbs,
but the greater number of species are trees.
Ascending the mountains to about 5,000 feet, the
vegetation has the same character, but the trees
are more stunted and herbaceous plants more
abundant and conspicuous. The number of
species in the Malay forests is extraordinary.
With very few exceptions, the forests contain
so great a variety of kinds that it is quite rare
to find two trees of the same kind together.

The older trees, and especially those at an
elevation of 3,000 feet and upwards, bear
innumerable epiphytic plants ; orchids, ferns,
scarlet ^Eschynanthi, rhododendrons, red or
white, vacciniums, and many other charming
plants form a veritable garden on the upper
boughs.

Conspicuous among the trees are the
Dipterocarpea; — vast trees with a straight
stem, ending in a dense crowd of foliage.

This region is the headquarters of the order
which supplies many of our finest timbers,
as well as the resin, known as damar, used for
native torches, and exported in considerable
quantities for making varnish. Like the amber
of Europe, it is often found in masses in the
soil of the forest, where it has dripped from
a wounded tree. Some of these trees produce,
instead of the hard damar, a more liquid resin,
known as wood oil. This is obtained by
making a deep square-cut hole into the trunk

and lighting a fire of leaves and twigs within.
The oil then exudes, and is collected in tins
for export, being used in varnish.

To the same order belongs the camphor-
tree of Malaya (Dryobalanops camphora),
which produces a highly valued camphor and
also camphor oil. This tree has no relation-
ship with the camphor-tree of Japan and
Formosa, which produces the camphor of
commerce, but is, indeed, the original camphor,
known many centuries before that of Formosa.
The tree is found in very few localities in the
peninsula, and- it is peculiar in its habit of
forming small forests of its own, to the

Another resin-producing tree is the benzoin,
or gum-Benjamin-tree {Styrax benzoin), from
which the sweetly-scented resin so largely
used in incense is obtained by making incisions
in the trunk. Gutta-percha is also a product
of the forests. It is produced by the tree
Dichopsis gittta, one of the Sapotaceae, an
order of big trees which contain a milky latex
in the bark. Cuts are made in the bark of the
tree and the latex is collected as it runs out,
and is made into large balls or oblong blocks.
Owing to the great demands for the product,
the tree ran a great risk of being exterminated,
as the natives, in order to save themselves

lb"

Era

> CUttcr )<>.

GUTTA-PERCHA TREE.

exclusion of almost every other kind of tree.
The camphor is secreted in cracks or holes in
old trees, but is so scanty that it is too costly
for commerce. All attempts to extract the
camphor artificially from the tree have proved
failures, though the wood and, indeed, all parts
of the tree abound in camphor oil.

185

trouble, used to fell the trees to collect the
valuable sap. This has of late years been
prevented by the Government. Gutta-percha
is used for surgical instruments, golf balls, &c,
but its greatest value is as an insulating
medium for deep-sea cables, and it may be said
that, but for its discovery in Singapore in

186

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

1845, submarine telegraph)' would have been
impossible.

Indiarubber in a wild state is not wanting
from the peninsula. The well-known Fiats
elastica, called here Rambong, occurs in Perak,
and we have several rubber vines (Willughbeia

basket-work, chairs, canes, and a great variety
of uses. The Malacca cane is produced by
one of these large rattans, and is much in
request for walking-sticks, good sticks being
sometimes valued at as much as 100 dollars.
In the forests and by the river edges are

A UNIQUE COCONUT PALM, THE ONLY ONE OF ITS KIND IN

THE COUNTRY.

and Urceola) which produce a quantity of good
rubber. The plants are strong woody climbers,
as thick as the arm. They climb to the tops of
the trees, and cover them with a dense mat of
foliage, so heavy that not rarely the weight in
a storm brings down the tree supporting it.

Palms are very plentiful all through the
forests, and form a conspicuous feature in the
vegetation. They are of all forms and sizes,
from dwarf kinds (Licuala triphylla, Pinanga
acaulis, &c.) only a few inches above the
ground, to the great Caryotas and Pholido-
carpus, 40 to 60 feet in height. Especially
abundant are the climbing palms or rattans
(Calamus, Korthalsia), armed with innumer-
able sharp spines, and climbing by the aid
of long slender whips furnished with strong
sharp hooks. The rattans are much sought for

frequently to be seen Pandans (Pandanus),
often popularly known as Screw pines, the
stiff, long, grassy leaves of which are used for
the roofs of houses, covers to carts, hats, ciga-
rette-cases, baskets, and many other purposes.
The strange Nipa palm, with its great creeping
rhizome and huge erect leaves, is abundant
along the tidal rivers, and is a very con-
spicuous feature of them. The leaves are used
for thatching, and a portion of the young leaves
is much in request for cigarette-papers. The
albumen of the seed is eaten, also, like that
of the coconut. The Sago palms {Sagns rum-
phii and Sagus Icevis), though not natives of the
peninsula, are abundantly cultivated, and the
flour is prepared for the market by Chinese.
The Sugar palm (Amiga saccliarijcra) is
another prominent and very useful palm. It

attains a great size, and is to be seen in every
village. The stout trunk is covered with a
black fibre, which is made into ropes of great
strength and durability. By cutting through
the flower-bud and attaching a bamboo tube
below, a sugary liquid is obtained, which is
boiled into a sugar, or treacle, known as " Gula
Malacca,'' or Malacca sugar, a highly appre-
ciated sweetmeat. Sugar is similarly obtained
from the coconut and Nipa palms. Many of
the forest palms are popular in cultivation as
ornamental plants, and none more so than the
beautiful red-stemmed or sealing-wax palm
(Cyrtostachys lacca), which grows in damp
woods by rivers. This charming plant is most
attractive from its brilliant red sheath and mid-
rib of the leaves. Many fine clumps of it are
to be seen in the Botanic Gardens.

Though the variety of orchids to be found in
the Malay Peninsula is very large, the number
of showy kinds is not as great as in. many
other regions. They are most abundant in
the hill districts, so much so that on Kedah
Peak, north of Pinang, they form dense' thickets
through which it is necessary to cut one's way.
One of the finest is the Leopard orchid (Gram-
inatophyllum speciosum), a plant of immense
size. There are specimens in the Botanic
Gardens of Pinang and Singapore measuring
40 feet in circumference. The plants flower
in August and September, throwing up spikes
of flowers 6 to 10 feet tall, and bearing an
abundance of large blooms, 3 inches across,
yellow with brown spots. Another well-known
orchid is the Pigeon orchid (Dcndrobium cru-
mcnatum), the flowers of which resemble in
form small white doves. This orchid is
peculiar in the fact that all the plants in
any district flower simultaneously, about once
in nine weeks. The flowers open in the early
morning and wither by the evening. It is
very abundant on the roadside trees, and the
effect of the whole country being suddenly
covered with the snowy, fragrant flowers is
very striking. Other beautiful orchids to be
met with are the white and orange, fragrant
Ccvlogync asperata and C. Cumiugi and the

CURIOUS BURNT STUMP ON
ESTATE, TAIPING.

TRONG

green and black C. pamlnrata ; the Scorpion
orchid Renanthera tnoschifera, with its strange
green, brown, and white flowers scented
strongly of musk ; the white, pink, and red
Rcnanihcras ; the Namla Hookeriana, scramb-
ling over bushes in hot open swamps ; the

SINGAPORE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
The Lake, a View in the Gardens, "Celogyxe Paxdurata," Victoria Regixas, axd Lake Flowers.

CLOVE, PINEAPPLE, GAMBIER, COFFEE, AND PEPPER PLANTATIONS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

189

or tree, with thick, leathery, white, trumpet-
shaped flowers as large as a hat. A fine
specimen of this striking plant is in the Botanic
Gardens at Singapore.

Very characteristic of the Malay region are
the Gesneracea;. Every mountain range seems
to possess its own species of Didymocarpus,
Didissandra or Cyntandra. These beautiful
plants, with their trumpet-shaped flowers of
every colour — blue, crimson, red, yellow, white,
or purple — are. often very abundant on the
banks of the hill forests, and are very
attractive, while the scarlet-flowered yEschy-
nanthi hang epiphytes from the trees, and
Agalmyla wreathes itself round the trunks with
its great tufts of brilliant red flowers.

The forests are very rich in bizarre forms of
plants, adapted for the peculiar circumstances
of the deep, dark, wet forests with which the
whole peninsula is covered. Besides the
strange Rafilesia already mentioned, we have
such curious plants as Amorphophallus, Thisinia,
Tacca, the strange black lily Tupistra, the
minute Sciaphila, and many saprophytic orchids
and aberrant forms of all orders.

Among the orders poorly represented are the
Composite and the grasses. This is due to
there being no original open country for these
plants.

The variation in the floral regions is not so
great as in many other countries. Besides the
forest flora, which occupies the greater part of
the whole peninsula, we have a distinct flora in
the Mangroves, a rather peculiar sandhill flora,
on a few patches of sandy open country on the
East Coast, and a distinct flora in the limestone
hills scattered over the peninsula, along the
flanks of the main granitic range of hills. This
latter flora is closely connected with that of
Tenasserim. The forest flora is typically
Malayan, and is very closely allied to that of
Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, very distinct from
the floras of India and Ceylon, and possessing
no connection with the Siamese or Cochin-
Chinese flora. This is, to a large extent, due
to climate. The complete absence of any
regular season and the permanent wetness of
the country make this region quite distinct in
its flora, both in species and in peculiar forms
adapted to the rain forest region of the
equator.

TRAVELLERS' PALM.

beautiful bamboo orchid, Arunderia speciosa,
in the mountain streams ; Cypripcdium bar-
batum, on rocks at an elevation of 3,000 feet ;
the exquisite little foliage orchids, with their
purple leaves netted with gold (Anajctochilus),
hiding in the gloom of the primaeval forest ;
and many others.

Pitcher-plants or monkey-cups (Nepenthes)
are by no means rare in the open grassy edges
of woods and on the tops of the hills. Six or
seven species occur. They are climbing plants,
the stems of which are used for tying fences
and such purposes. The leaves are partly
developed into green, purple, red, or spotted
cups, containing a quantity of water exuded
by certain glands, into which fall many insects,
whose decaying bodies are absorbed by the
plant. The Nepenthes may be considered to
be quite' characteristic of the Malay flora, as
very few occur outside this region.

The Rafilesia, though local, is not very rare
in Perak, where it is collected by the Malays as
a medicine. It consists of a solitary large
brownish-red flower, parasitic on a kind of
vine. The flower of this plant is perhaps one
of the largest in the world, though it is hardly
as large as the one described from Sumatra
by Sir Stamford Raffles.

Another flower of extraordinarily large size
is that of the great Fagrira impcrialis, a shrub,

A TAIPING CONSERVATORY.

AT THE KUALA KANGSA HORTICULTURAL SHOW, 1907.
Exhibits of Tapioca, Vegetables, Fruit, and Rubber,

AGRICULTURE

By R. DERRY, Assistant Superintendent, Botanical Gardens, Singapore.

ilEW, if any, areas in the
world enjoy a more
kindly, equable climate
than the Malay Pen-
insula, and it is to this
and to the many fer-
tilising springs and riHs
which feed rich rice-
fields, throw alluvial
deposits on the lowlands, and afford good
drainage, that the country owes its agri-
cultural wealth. The mean annual rainfall
exceeds 100 inches, which, though not ex-
cessive, is abundant. A month seldom passes
without some rain, while a periodical dry
season, such as is experienced in India,
Burma, and the West Indies, never occurs
here.

By reason of this humidity such favourite
fruits as the mangosteen and durian nowhere
attain to a higher state of perfection than in
the Malay Peninsula, but oranges and man-
goes, requiring a drier climate, are below-
average quality. Pinang nutmegs and cloves
command the highest market prices, and that
valuable tannin and dye-stuff, gambier, is
essentially Malayan. Gutta-percha (Diclwpsis
gutta, or Palaquium oblongifolium) is indigen-
ous to the soil, and for a long time the world's
supply was largely drawn from the peninsula.
The yield of this product depends upon climatic
conditions, as is the case with Para rubber
(Hcvca brazil icnsis) and Rambong rubber
(Fiats elastica), for the cultivation of which
the Malayan plantations enjoy a world-wide
reputation. Castilloa (Castilloa elastica) and
Ceara (Maniliot Glaziovii), however, require a
drier region, and for the same reason locally-
grown cotton and tobacco have never been
more than moderate in quality.

Yet, despite all the natural advantages en-
joyed by the country — a genial climate ; soils
varying from fairly good loam to clayey patches
on a laterite formation on the coastal regions,
with granite mountain chains intersecting the
interior ; a rich accumulation of humus ; and
numerous rivers and streams — little progress
was made in agriculture before the arrival of
Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, although Malacca
had been an important trading centre since the
fifteenth century. After the British occupation,
however, Singapore became the emporium, as
it is to-day, for rattan-canes and damar, and
some years later for gutta-percha also, for
which the advance of telegraphy created a
big demand.

Two small economic gardens which had
been started in Pinang and Singapore respec-
tively were both lost sight of after the depar-
ture of Raffles. Later, the tapioca industry
was established in Malacca, where for centuries

while many so-called tropical growths are
really sub-tropical. Sugar, tea, quinine,
China-grass (Bodmcria micca, var. tcnacissima),
from which the so-called commercial ramie is
obtained), tobacco and cotton, for instance, are

SINGAPORE FRUIT.

many tropical fruits had been grown — some
for exportation — though the yield of rice then,
as now, never exceeded local consumption.

Several attempts were made to start an
Agricultural Society in Singapore, but they
proved abortive. In 1874, however, the pre-
sent Botanic Gardens became a Government
Department on an organised basis. From that
time onwards economic plants of any probable
tropical value have been collected, cultivated,
distributed, and otherwise experimented with
in order to ascertain their latent possibilities.
In prosecuting research of such a nature as
this, it has to be remembered that the Malay
Peninsula is essentially a tropical country,

not strictly equatorial products. Apart, there-
fore, from other considerations, it was im-
portant to find out how far such products
could be successfully acclimatised. Liberian
coffee was introduced. The first batch of
Para rubber seedlings and seeds from Brazil,
via Ceylon, were tended here and eventually
became the parent stock of the present great
local Para rubber industry. In the same way
fruits, oils, fibres, beverages, gums, dyes,
drugs, spices, rubbers, fodder-plants, and
timber trees received attention, and at the
present time some oils and fibres which have
long lain dormant under observation are be-
ginning to awaken public interest.

192

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The Botanic Garden of Pinang, established
in 1884, has aided in experimental work in
sugar, gutta, and ramie. Occupying a
picturesque site, the garden is now well known
for its fine collections of orchids, palms, aroids,
ferns, and foliage plants. The first sugar-canes
raised from seeds in the Malay Peninsula, if not

work will be now possible. The Garden also
contains a useful herbarium, in which there is
a representative collection of the flora of
Pinang. The annual cost of maintenance
is £950.

With the arrival of Sir Hugh Low from
Borneo, the agriculture of the western native

Liberian coffees, tea and cinchona were tried
at different elevations.

Many new and improved fruits were intro-
duced, and the first Para rubber seedlings from
Singapore were planted in the Kuala Kangsa
garden. Cinchona failed to produce bark from
which quinine could be extracted, but the other

A TYPICAL MALAYAN ESTATE.j

in the East, were germinated at this garden,
and very useful experiments with gutta, rubber
and ramie have been carried out here. The
Forest Department of the Island of Pinang was
commenced and all the reserves demarcated
by the Superintendent of Gardens. During
1907 a small piece of land was added
to the garden, and further experimental

States of the peninsula received serious atten-
tion. With a well-stocked Botanic Garden at
Singapore to draw on, small plantations of
coffee, cocoa, and pepper were started in
Sungei Ujong and Perak and a miscellaneous
collection of economic plants was cultivated at
Kuala Kangsa. At the same time plantations
of pepper on different soils, Arabian and

products were successfully cultivated. Excel-
lent tea was grown and prepared in Perak, but
owing to the economic conditions which then
obtained — viz., a scanty population and all the
best labour drawn to the tin mines — the in-
dustry failed to become established ; and some
years later, these plantations having served their
object by proving how such products as pepper,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

193

cocoa, and coffee could be grown profitably,
were all leased or sold to European planters,
excepting the Kuala Kangsa garden.

From Kuala Kangsa garden, fruits, cocoa,
pepper, and coffee seedlings were supplied to
those natives who desired them. Para seed-
lings were more extensively planted in the

carried on by natives for profit ; but, with the
large immigrant population on the estates and
mhies, it falls far short of actual requirements,
and many fruits are imported in enormous
quantities. Possibly no tropical country affords
more variety of fruits than is to be found in
the bazaars of this country. Chikus, the South

"~f^w r nn*ii II ■ t- "

A BUFFALO PLOUGHING A PADDY FIELD.

tropical lemon grow well, but are not largely
enough planted ; and although oranges are
only good in a few special areas, pomelloes
(shaddock) are excellent. Pisangs (bananas)
represent an industry by themselves ; indeed,
it would be possible to collect as many as
seventy varieties, the best of which are superb.
There are also rambutan', duku, langsat, pulasan,
jambu, anonas, and many other fruits of poorer
flavour.

Only one fruit is preserved for export outside
the colony, and that is the pineapple. This in-
dustry is in the hands of Singapore Chinese. No
fewer than 548,000 cases, valued at 2§ million
dollars, were despatched to various countries
in 1905. Vegetables, too, are almost exclusively
grown by Chinese, but the supply falls much
below actual requirements. Some interest is
being taken by European planters in fibres, of
which the Botanic Gardens at Singapore con-
tain a fine collection.

Except coconuts, very few oils are produced
beyond domestic requirements. A little citron-
ella is still grown, and its more extended
cultivation, particularly as a catch-crop on
rubber estates, is being attended to. The same
may be said of ground-nuts, which have long
been cultivated by the Chinese for exportation
intact.

Of spices, pepper is the most largely grown,
and is cultivated by Europeans, Chinese, and
Malays. But by far the major portion of that
exported from Singapore and Pinang is not
raised in the country. Nutmegs and cloves
are mostly in the hands of Chinese, as also is
ginger, which does not appear to be grown
beyond bazaar requirements.

The principal dyes are gambier, indigo, and
"dragon's blood." The first of these is chiefly
exported for a tan stuff, and, like indigo, is
Chinese grown. Both appear to be decreasing.
" Dragon's blood," like certain gums, is brought

garden, and some were distributed to the
Kamuning estate, Perak, the Linsum estate,
Sungei Ujong, and other parts of Perak, as
well as to natives. The indigenous Rambong
rubber was first tried here as a terrestrial
plant, and it proved a phenomenal success as
a rubber-producer when compared with the
wild epiphyte growing on rocks and trees,
with only a few roots available for tapping.

Owing to the failure of Arabian coffee from
the ravages of leaf fungus (Hemilcia vastatrix)
in other parts of the world, and the prospective
profits to be derived from the cultivation of
Liberian coffee in the peninsula, several estates
were opened by European planters in different
parts of the country, particularly in the State of
Selangor, on what is known as the " Klang
alluvial " — a large area, rich in deposits, on the
estuary of the Klang river. The enterprise
proved an unqualified success for some time ;
but with increased activity in planting Arabian
coffee in Brazil, the price of Liberian fell from
40 dollars to 15 dollars per picul (133I lbs.
avoirdupois), and the industry was practically
paralysed. A few estates were abandoned.
All those that rallied turned their attention
partly to coconuts, and particularly to Para
rubber. Those which were devoted to the
cultivation of the latter were rewarded in 1902
by favourable market reports on the result of
the tapping of Para rubber-trees, which was
first carried out at the Kuala Kangsa garden.

European enterprise in Malayan agriculture
is really of recent date, and, as may be ex-
pected, all the subsidiary cultivations are in
the hands of natives. Malacca, the oldest and
for a long time the most important settlement
of the country, had, in a desultory way, grown
Arabian coffee, chocolate, pepper, coconuts,
and, more extensively, rice and fruits — of the
last named an excess large enough to export to
neighbouring ports. At the present time fruit
cultivation in all the States and settlements is

SORTING SPICES.

American sapodilla, are unusually large and of
excellent flavour ; and papayas, according to
some connoisseurs, are unrivalled. The deli-
cious mangosteen and the evil-smelling durian,
of which it may be said that no other fruit in
the world sells at so high a price in scarce
seasons, are both plentiful. Limes and a fine

to the market from the forests by promiscuous
collectors.

A list of subsidiary industries would not be
complete without reference to the strictly
native ones of plaiting, thatching, and the
making of brooms, baskets, and various utensils
from the stems and leaves of certain palms and

194

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

pandans of the screw pine (Pandanits atrocarpus
and P. fasciculai'is). Rice, too, is almost ex-
clusively cultivated by Malays.

Sugar is grown and manufactured for export
on large estates in Province Wellesley and
Perak. Nearly every Chinese squatter culti-
vates a small patch of cane, the expressed juice
being a favourite roadside drink. Native sugar,
called "Joggery" or " Gula Malacca," a palm

total area would be approximately 150,000 acres.
The age at which trees first produce fruits
varies according to the conditions under which
the trees are planted. On the alluvial lands of
Perak it is claimed that some varieties fruit as
early as the second year, while in other places
on stiff soils from seven to ten years may elapse.
But wherever grown (unless too far from the
coast) no other cultivated plant responds so

JAMBU AYER FRUIT.

juice {Amiga saccharifcra), is fairly abundant
and largely prepared in Malacca.'

Although nowhere extensively grown, sago
is scattered all over the peninsula and is pre-
pared by Chinese for export. Until recently
tapioca was extensively exported, and the rise
in price is attracting considerable attention to
the industry at the present time.

By far the largest cultivations are represented
by coconuts and rubber.

Coconuts.

It is estimated that there is an area of 100,000
acres of coconuts in the native States, of which
fully half have reached the bearing age ; and,
if to this area is added that of the colony, the

readily to the effects of rich soil, manuring,
and liberal treatment.

At one time the industry was seriously
threatened, and indeed a few plantations were
lost, owing to the ravages of the elephant and
rhinoceros beetles. To cope with this evil an
Ordinance was passed, and inspectors were
appointed to visit all estates and gardens and
destroy the breeding-places of the beetles ;
and although the pest is not yet eradicated,
it has been so mitigated by continuous destruc-
tion that the industry is now in a very flourish-
ing condition and is increasing each year.
The value of the coconut plantations may be
estimated at not less than 20,000,000 dollars.

In addition to meeting the local demand, a
large export trade in coconuts is done with

Burma and the Siamese ports, prices varying
from 3 to 8 cents a nut. Copra (sun- and kiln-
dried) is also prepared for export ; but now
that oil-mills are established in the native
States as well as in the colony, it is probable
that less copra and more oil will be exported ;
and with continual railway extension and
increasing demands from other manufactures,
the industry promises to be a very sound
investment.

The Rubber Industry.

After long and careful investigation, the
rubbers most favoured are Rambong and Para.
The former is an indigenous plant ; the latter
is a native of Brazil, and has been under obser-
vation in the country since 1876. Although
its plantation cultivation did not commence
seriously until 1889-1900, it is now far more
largely cultivated than any other kind in
Malaya, and is the most valued of all rubbers.
On ordinary soils the growth of the tree is
remarkably rapid, and after three years re-
presents an annual increment of girth at 3 feet
from the ground of from 4 to 6 inches. The
best guide as to the age at which a tree can be
tapped is by measurement, for the yield of latex
depends more on the size than on the age of
the tree. Trees of from 7 to 8 inches in dia-
meter are considered large enough for tapping.
This dimension may be obtained on favoured
sites in 4J years, and on stiff clay or Iaterite
soils in seven years. The ratio of caoutchouc
to latex (or the strength of the rubber) is not,
however, so high with young or small trees as
with older ones, and the first samples of rubber
tried on the London market were valued at
10 per cent, lower than Para rubber from
Brazil. Since then an immense industry has
been developed on a sound, practical, and
scientific basis. New tools and appliances
have been introduced and are being frequently
improved. Vacuum drying has superseded the
primitive method of jungle-smoking, and to-day
pure factory-prepared rubber from the East is
valued at 15 per cent, higher than the less pure
article from Brazil and elsewhere, although
a few more years must elapse before our oldest
estates reach maturity.

The native States of the peninsula at the
present rate of planting will, within the next
few years, contain 100,000 acres of rubber. Of
this, fully one-half is already planted, including
many estates now in bearing, and the capital
value on a low valuation (say rubber at 3s. per
lb.) when in full bearing may then be estimated
at not less than £20,000,000, or, including the
colony, at £25,000,000.

The industry, too, has directed attention to
suitable catch-crops, and such oils as citronella,
lemon-grass, and ground-nuts are more in-
quired for. Tapioca, chilies, Manila hemp,
Murva fibre, bananas, and pineapple's are also
in demand ; while fodder-grasses and a more
improved and larger variety of vegetables are
required. Gutta-percha, which takes so many
years to reach a bearing age, is planted by the
department of the Government, the growth
being too slow for private enterprise.

To assist the agricultural development of the
country there are the Botanic Gardens of
Singapore and Pinang (under the directorship
of Mr. H. N. Ridley, M.A ), where complete
collections of economic plants are maintained
and continuously experimented upon. A
" Bulletin " of miscellaneous information on all
agricultural matters is published every month,
and a new system of agricultural shows (an
amalgamation of the colony and native States)
has been inaugurated. There is also a new
and important Agricultural Department in the
native States, directed bv Mr. J. B. Carruthers,
F.R.S.E., F.L.S.

S\T

RUBBER

By J. B. CARRUTHERS, F.R.S.E., F.L.S.,
Director of Agriculture and Government Botanist, Federated Malay States.

H E history of planting
rubber in the Malay
Peninsula does not date
back very far. In 1876
a few plants of Hevca
brasil iensis (Para
rubber) were sent out
from the Royal Gardens,
Kew, and were in the
same year planted in the Singapore Botanic
Gardens and also in the grounds behind the
Residency, Kuala Kangsa, Perak. The seeds
from these trees were distributed by Sir Hugh
Low, the High Commissioner of the Malav
States, to various places in the neighbourhood.
Though they possessed a supply of seed and
were instructed by Mr. H. N. Ridley, F.R.S., and
other scientific authorities as to the value of these

A NURSERY.

trees, no planters seriously took up the cultiva-
tion, with the exception of Mr. T. Hyslop Hill
in Negri Sambilan. In 1897 the high price of

rubber and the continual recommendations of
experts in Ceylon jind elsewhere led many
planters to begin to plant rubber-producing
trees. In the Federated Malay States, Para
rubber (Hcvea brasilieusis), a South American
tree of the order Euphorbiace;e, and Rambong
(Ficus elastica), the latter being a native tree,
and therefore, in the opinion of many, more
suitable to the climate and conditions of
Malaya, were planted up over a few acres.

In 1900 there were in Malaya a very small
number of rubber-trees, and only on one or two
small estates systematically planted.

At the end of 1905 there were in the Feder-
ated Malay States alone about 40,000 acres
planted with rubber, at the close of 1906 more
than 85,000 acres — between 6,000,000 and
7,000,000 trees at the beginning of 1906, and
on the 1st of January, 1907, over 10,000,000.
The output of dry rubber was about 130 tons
in 1905, and in 1906, 385 tons, three times as
much. The reason that, while the acreage has
more than doubled, the number of trees has
not proportionately increased so much is that
the number of trees planted per acre during
1906 was not so large as previously.

RUBBER PLANTS IN EARLY STAGES OF GROWTH.

195

THE LEAVES, FLOWERS, FRUITS, AND
SEEDS OF HEVEA BRASILIENSIS.

196

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

LATEX IN SETTLING OR COAGULATING
PANS.

That all the plants, young and old, should have
been alive and vigorous in 1906 is practically im-
possible. Even with skilled care and with per-

fect conditions prevailing, there must be among
plants, as among all other living things, a
certain number of deaths continually occurring.
Drought, excess of moisture, sudden winds,
insect, fungal, and bacterial pests, and many
accidental causes are responsible for a propor-
tion of deaths of plants at various stages of
growth on every estate.

If one in every 300 trees dies each year, this
need not be considered a high percentage in
trees of five years and upwards, and the mor-
tality is greater before that period. So'tthat
we may expect that of the 10,000,000 trees
between 9,000,000 and 10,000,000 will be alive
and flourishing in 1912, and this at I lb. per
tree will give about 4,250 tons, or one thirty-
third of the probable world's consumption in
1912.

The average amount of dry rubber extracted
per tree, calculated by the figures in the table,

gives 1 lb. 12 oz. per tree. Many of the trees in
the Federated Malay States are ten years old, and
some over twenty, and all these give a good
deal more than 2 lbs. a tree ; but even taking this
into consideration, the average is a high one,
and if it is maintained the circumstance means
a very large margin of profit over expenses of
production.

Accurate estimates of the world's rubber
consumption are not easy to make. The only
reliable data available are found in the crude
rubber export and import returns of the five
large rubber-consuming countries, viz., Great
Britain, United States, Germany, France, and
Belgium. The gross import returns include
rubber which is afterwards exported from these
five countries to each other, but also includes
all the rubber which is exported to other
countries whose import returns are not avail-
able.

STATISTICS.

The following statistical table from my Annual Report of 1906 shows the position of affairs
in regard to acreages and numbers of trees for that year, and the figures at the end of this year,
1907, will probably be 50 per cent, greater.

Federated Malay
States.

Number of estates ...

Total acreage

Opened during 1906 — acres

Number of trees planted up to December

31, 1906

Number of trees tapped ...

Dry rubber extracted — lbs.

242
85,579
42,154

10,745,002

441,488
861,732

Straits
Settlements.

ii,34i

4,098

1,987,954
27,076
13,560

Johore.

7
2,310

i,355

147,800
48,350
47,724

254
99,230
47,607

12,980,756
516,914
923,016

TAPPING— FULL HERRING-BONE.

A FINE TWO YEARS' GROWTH. AN EXCEPTIONAL TREE OF SIXTEEN MONTHS.

EIGHTEEN MONTHS OLD RUBBER — TWO VIEWS.

I *

198

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The net import returns, i.e., the import
minus the export, do not give a correct figure
of the world's consumption, and it is probable
that the gross imports of these five countries

The soils in the Malay States are not rich in
the constituents which are required for plant
food, but they are as a rule physically excellent,
and allow roots to grow freely. On many

COLLECTING RUBBER SEED AND LATEX.

are much nearer to the total of the whole
world's consumption than the imports. I
estimate the world's consumption in 1906 to
be approximately 80,000 tons. Of this amount
the Malay Peninsula contributed one-two-
hundredth part, or J per cent. If the whole
of the rubber-trees planted at the end of 1906
are growing vigorously and yielding 1 lb. of
dry rubber per tree, in 1912 the total produc-
tion will be 5,475 tons, which will be one-
twenty-sixth, or little more than 4 per cent.,
of the total rubber required. In order to
estimate the world's consumption in 1912, the
rate of increase (10 per cent.) during the last
seven years has been added, giving a total
estimated consumption for 1912 of 142,352
tons. If we increase the yield to l£ lbs., i.e.,
estimating that every tree planted now will
in 1912 give us i£ lbs. per annum, at that date
the Malay Peninsula will furnish 8,213 tons,
or one-seventeenth of the estimated world's
consumption at that date. These calculations
do not increase the fears so often expressed
that production will in the course of a
short time exceed demand. The question of
how much Brazil will continue to produce,
whether it will increase or decrease, is one
which only those with a knowledge of the
Brazilian jungles can settle, and even such are
not able to tell us whether the supply can be
depended on to continue or may be expected
to grow less in a few years. There are many
reasons for considering that the consumption
of rubber may in the near future increase
more rapidly than in the past. New uses and
expansion of old uses for rubber are constantly
being found ; the consumption of rubber per
head in most countries is extremely small, in
Britain and other European countries less than
in America. If producers are wise they will
not neglect to do everything in their power to
stimulate and expand the rubber consumption.
Money wisely spent in this direction will be
handsomely repaid in the future by a steadily
widening, firm market.

estates the top soil is already of sufficiently
good " tilth " for a rubber nursery, and no
preparation is needed before laying it out.
The conditions of climate more than corn-

year being those suited to rapid growth of
vegetation. For this reason rubber trees in
the Malay Peninsula are larger at all stages
of growth than plants of similar ages in
countries where a cessation of rainfall or a
drought occurs at slated periods. As the
product of the rubber tree, latex or caoutchouc,
may be considered for general purposes as in
proportion to the water supply to the trees,
the conditions which obtain in Malaya are
undoubtedly specially suitable to these
trees, probably more so in the case of Para
rubber (Hcvca brasilicnsis) than in its native
Brazil.

The land chosen for rubber estates in the
Federated Malay States is, with very few
exceptions, virgin jungle, and the processes
by which it is converted into a rubber planta-
tion and the results after the same periods
have elapsed vary very little. The land having
been inspected by means of rentices, i.e., paths,
cut through the jungle and the would-be-
planter having satisfied himself that it is good
land, capable of being well drained, he applies
to the Resident of the State for the piece of
land, describing the boundaries as far as
possible and stating the approximate area con-
tained.

The charges for land are — premium, 3 dollars
per acre ; rent for first six years, 1 dollar per
acre, thereafter 4 dollars. Survey charges
amount to not more than 1 dollar per acre.
Thus the first year's charges are 5 dollars, the
next five years 1 dollar each year, and the
seventh and onwards 4 dollars.

If he considers it as not equal to the best
agricultural land, he may ask that it be rated as
second-class land, which means a reduction of
I dollar per acre on the permanent rent.
The land is often granted provisionally to
the applicant before a survey is made in
order that no delay may be caused in open-
ing up.

Upon receiving the grant of the land, which
is a permanent title giving all the rights of
freehold, if the conditions of rent, &c, are

MAKING BLOCK RUBBER.

pensate for any deficiency in the chemical
composition of the soils. There is in no other
part of the tropics so equable a rainfall and
temperature, the conditions during the whole

duly carried out, the planter proceeds to get
rid of the jungle. This he usually does by
contract and not by employing daily labour, the
native jungle wallahs or Sakais being frequently

PREPARING FOR RUBBER— CLEARING, FELLING, AND BURNING THE VIRGIN JUNGLE.

200

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

used for this purpose, as they are well acquainted
with the best and quickest method of tree
felling and burning.

During the wet weather all trees of the
jungle are cut with the exception of certain

consumed, while in places smouldering trunks
may still be seen. Any pieces which are not
quite burnt off can by means of heaping up
branches be again burnt so as to leave very
little remaining on the ground.

TAPPING— HALF HERRING-BONE.

extremely hard-wooded species, and some-
times of a few of the giants of the forest.
The undergrowth is cleared up and piled in
heaps near branches, so that when the place
is burnt the fire may travel quickly and without
stopping. When all has been prepared after
a spell of dry weather has made the place
ready for "a burn," a suitable dry day is
selected when there is some wind to help the
conflagration, and debris is set on fire at one
side, and if properly arranged the fire gradually
eats up the whole of the timber and branches. I
A field after a good burn presents a most
melancholy sight. Standing out of the soil
are a few tall . stems charred black, and the
remains, also black, of some of the greater
stems and branches that have not been entirely

The big branches and other debris are left
on the soil. It would be better to take these
away and also to cut out all the roots of the
jungle trees, owing to the danger of fungal
diseases and the ravages of parasitic insects,
which are encouraged by the decaying timber
left behind. Planting, however, like other com-
mercial enterprises, has to be managed from
a practical view of pounds, shillings, and
pence, and if it were possible to do as some
writers have suggested, viz., clear the land
entirely from all decaying wood, the present
first few years of profits would all be required
to pay for the extra expenditure incurred. The
presence of so much decaying vegetable matter,
both on the surface and beneath it, does not
seem so far to have caused so much root disease

among the rubber as those having a knowledge
of these evils might have prophesied. This is
due to the fact that there are in the virgin
jungle comparatively few parasitic root fungi,
and also because in the continually moist and
hot climate of the Federated Malay States all
organic matter is easily broken up by the
attacks of insects and by other saprophytic
organisms.

Rubber plants which have previously been
in nurseries for some months are now put in
the field. The length of time which they are
allowed to remain in nurseries varies with the
views of the planter and the time taken to
prepare the land. Plants may be transplanted
when they have grown only a few weeks, and
may, on the other hand, be removed from the
nurseries when a year or eighteen months old.
The general plan is to put them out at about
six months old and to "stump" them, i.e., to
trim the roots and to cut off the green part,
leaving a stump of from 2 to 4 feet in
length. Transplanting brings rubber trees
into bearing more quickly from seed than
stumping, but the latter operation is easier, can
be delayed if necessary, and is suited to estates
where there are long distances between the
nurseries and the clearings. The plants put
out as stumps are kept back for some six
weeks, after which buds appear, and once
having begun to grow and form new roots,
the tree grows continuously in height and
girth, till at the age of four years it is fre-
• quently 50 feet high and 18 inches in girth.
During this time of preparatory growth before
being tapped, the chief cost of upkeep of an
estate is the clearing of the weeds, and the
good planter endeavours to have his fields
always as clean as possible. The cost of this
operation is sometimes as much as 25 dollars
per acre per year, and it is a question which
is now being urged on the planters whether
this large expenditure is repaid in improved
growth of the tree.

That rubber planting in Malaya is at present
one of the most profitable, if not the most pro-
fitable agricultural industry of the world, has
already been shown by the returns of many
estates. The public are apt not to realise the
profitable nature of the return after a rubber
estate has come into bearing, because in the
majority of cases where they are invited to
take shares in Malayan or Ceylon rubber com-
panies the estates have been already started
and often brought to the bearing point, and the
exploiters have to be paid for their outlay.

Estimates of cost of bringing estates into
bearing naturally vary exceedingly. The con-
ditions of labour, the contour of the land, and
many other factors add to or reduce the cost of
opening, planting, and keeping in good con-
dition till the yielding period. One thousand
acres should be opened and upkept for seven
years at a cost of £20,000, not including in-
terest, and in the eighth year interest at the
rate of about 15 per cent, should be earned,
which should increase to double that for the
ninth year and go on increasing till 75 per
cent, or more should be earned in the twelfth
and succeeding years. That the returns on
capital invested do not come for some six
or seven years may deter some investors, but
the returns which may be fairly expected
repay for the loss of interest during these
years. As an interesting and profitable pro-
fession for a strong and healthy young
Britisher, rubber planting may be confidently
recommended. The life is hard, the climate
is not healthy, but by no means dangerous ;
there is no lack of interest in the planter's
life, and the salaries earned are in most cases
liberal. A man of a few years' experience can
command a salary of £500 or upwards, and
has often opportunities of using his savings
to open up either by himself or with others
rubber land of his own.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

201

RUBBER DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYA.

By FRANCIS CROSBIE ROLES.

HISTORICAL.

THE development of Malaya agriculturally
constitutes one of the economic romances
of the tropical belt. In 1876 the authorities
of Kevv Gardens introduced into Ceylon, by
arrangement with the Indian Government, two
thousand Hcvca Brasiliensis seedlings, raised
from seed obtained in Brazil by Mr. H. A.
Wickham. This pioneer acted, on instructions
from Kew, on behalf of the Indian Govern-
ment, but Ceylon was selected as more suitable
than India for the initial experiment of cultiva-
tion in the East. India was to have the first
call upon cuttings and seeds from the trees
grown, the Ceylon Government to take the
rest. Some hundreds of plants started from
cuttings were distributed in various parts of
Southern India and also in Burma in 1878 and
1879. Thus an industry transported from the
other side of the world began. A year or two
later the trees in the Peradeniya and Henerat-
goda experimental plantations of Ceylon bore
seed, and from that time distribution of seed
has been the accepted method. Occasionally,
for long journeys, germinated seeds in Wardian
cases have been despatched, but in place of
this expensive and limited means of distribution
it has been found that, packed in charcoal and
other suitable material, the seeds can be sent
across the world. Brazil itself in 1907 imported
thousands of seeds from trees that are the
lineal descendants of its own Para rubber.
Pioneers in the South Seas, and in Queensland,
and in East and West Africa, are now testing
the suitability of Hcvca Brasiliensis, not only
in the tropical belt, but also in the sub-tropical.
For large developments they then have to wait
until the seedlings imported have become seed-
bearers, when, if labour and climatic conditions
are favourable, progress in extensions will be
rapid. Ceylon freely received, and has as
freely given. At an early stage in the " rush
into rubber " it was proposed by leading
Selangor planters, and also advocated in
Ceylon, that the two countries should impose
a prohibitive export duty on rubber seeds going
to foreign countries ; but those who advocated
this method of confining the new industry as
long as possible to British possessions in the
Old World — thereby also delaying the time when
there will be over-production — can hardly have
expected their representations to be acted upon.
Botanical institutions freely exchange all the
world over, and it would have been too great
a shock for the British authorities to take their
first faltering steps in Protection in the domain
of scientific agriculture.

The popular notion regarding rubber was
that it flourished in the Amazon Valley in
swampy lands, and the new product attracted
very little of the attention of Ceylon planters,
otherwise the destruction of the coffee industry
which provided the opening for tea would have

been availed of for rubber twenty-five years ago
instead of in the present decade.

The situation in Malaya was different. On
the failure of coffee in Ceylon several planters
went to Selangor and started afresh. They
were again to fall upon evil days, not this time
because of disease, but because of unremunera-
tive prices. Then it was — in the early nineties
— that the planters of the Federated Malay
States turned their attention systematically to

The very thing was rubber for the alluvial and
semi-swampy flats of the coastal plains of the
peninsula, and thus, while on the one hand
Brazil by huge yields of coffee dealt a crushing
blow to that product in Malaya, she indirectly
supplied Malayan planters with a substitute
which has advantaged them beyond their most
sanguine dreams. Two instances, one of an
individual and the other of a company, will
illustrate this. A retired planter, who invested

A CREPE AND SHEET EXHIBIT.I

the new product, and sent orders to Ceylon for .£4,000 in developing a rubber estate in Selangor

large quantities of seed. Ceylon itself was
busy cultivating tea and experiencing rapid
appreciation in the value of its estates up to the
height of the first tea boom, reached in 1896.

that now stands in the front rank of dividend-
paying properties, and who took his entire
interest in shares in the company which pur-
chased the property, found in September last

I**

202

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

that his holding represented £250,000. The
Malay States Coffee Company, Ltd., registered in
Colombo, and owning a property in the same
State, received so shrewd a blow when coffee

for the first six years, and thereafter 4 dollars
per acre per annum. (In Pahang the terms
are easier, but the planter there has to create
his labour force and live the isolated life of the

AN ESTATE BUNGALOW.

ceased to pay that its shares of 100 rupees,
nearly paid up, were hawked about at 20 rupees,
while some holders wished to be permitted to
abandon their shares rather than be liable for
the final calls. The estate superintendent
agreed to receive his salary in shares, and
the company persevered under great difficul-
ties, planting rubber in place of coffee. This
was less than ten years ago, and in the latter
half of 1907, when the company consented to be
absorbed by a sterling company, the Damansara
(Selangor) Rubber Company, its shares were
changing hands at 500 rupees.

LAND ALIENATION TERMS.

The sudden general interest taken by the
public in Malaya and Ceylon in 1904 and 1905
produced a demand for land in the Fede-
rated Malay States which fairly nonplussed
the authorities. Their land and survey depart-
ments were inundated with work, and by the
beginning of 1906 speculation in companies,
new and old, had aroused interest in England
which extended considerably outside the circle
of those having direct connection with the
East. The State authorities found themselves
face to face with a remarkable situation. Land
which they were leasing at a maximum of
I dollar per acre annual rent was being put
into companies by the applicants, sometimes
before a single tree had been felled, at £4
an acre. The administrators of the country
wished to curtail these unearned profits, or
rather to divert a substantial portion of them
into the State coffers. In August, 1906, the
new leasing terms were announced. Govern-
ment, as well as the people, had been affected
by the boom, and made no distinction between
land wanted for rubber cultivation and land
required for such a matter-of-fact product as
coconuts. All jungle land in the three western
Federated States has since then been leased
on the terms of 1 dollar per acre per annum

pioneer.) There is a clause in the leasing
terms to the effect that land ranked as "second-
class land " shall pay 3 dollars, instead of
4 dollars, after the first six years.
To obtain this concession, however, the

be entailed before the concession could be
obtained, and as the best land available is
applied for — except possibly where the appli-
cant wants land adjoining that which he
already possesses, or for some other reason of
eligibility — it may be said that practically all
the land leased since the middle of 1906 will
eventually be paying 4 dollars per acre
annually. The other charges are mainly first
charges. There is a premium of 3 dollars per
acre if the land has a road frontage and
2 dollars per acre if it has not. Survey fees
amount to about 90 cents per acre, with 60
cents payable for each boundary mark in-
serted ; and the land is further liable to a
drainage assessment not exceeding 1 dollar per
acre. This charge is to cover any Government
drainage scheme needed for the benefit of
planters in the coast districts, where main
drains, with which estate drains can be con-
nected, are necessary. This drainage assess-
ment does not approximate to a dollar per acre
from actual experience, averaging about 30
cents, while some properties are so situated
that they will not be called upon for any pay-
ment under this head. The cultivation clause
in each grant requires the lessee to cultivate
not less than a quarter of the area in five years.
This condition is not an onerous one. Any
occupier who cannot develop the property at
the rate of one-twentieth annually would soon
find his possession a white elephant, under the
new rental terms especially. Should he fail to
open a fourth of the land in the time specified,
the authorities have the power to enforce
resumption of the balance of the area after
allowing the lessee to keep an acreage equal to
three times the area he has cultivated. The
cultivation term used in the clause is " accord-
ing to the practice of good husbandry," but
the bona fide cultivator who from lack of
capital has not been able to plant up the land
as rapidly as he anticipated will find the con-
ditions liberally interpreted. The object of the
Government is, on the one hand, to open the
country and to attract population, and on the
other to prevent speculators holding land for a

PIONEER BUNGALOW IN A NEW CLEARING.

applicant has to satisfy the Director of Agri-
culture that he is entitled to special terms — that
the land has been damaged by previous cultiva-
tion, for example — and as much delay would

rise in value ; and, short of complete abandon-
ment, the Government has not been in the
habit of enforcing resumption. State owner-
ship in land, which provides a lease in per-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

203

petuity instead of outright sale, is accompanied
by a simple form of land registration known
as the Torrens system, followed in Australia,
New Zealand, and other countries, but un-
known in the United Kingdom. The transfer
of rights from one person to another is sim-
plicity itself. Everything affecting the title to
the actual land must be recorded on both copies
of the grant, one issued to the grantee and the
other riled in the official register. No entry is
made in the Land Office register without the
production of the issue copy to be similarly
endorsed. Each document is always an exact
duplicate of the other ; and any person can
inspect any record in the Land Office on pay-
ment of a fee, and obtain definite information
as to the ownership, and free or mortgaged
condition, of the property he is interested in,
including whether or not the cultivation clause
has been complied with. Naturally, the con-
gestion of work in the Survey and Land De-
partments, and the impossibility of securing
competent and qualified recruits ready made,
has resulted in much delay in the issue of
grants, and a great deal of land has been
transferred on the preliminary notification that
an application had been approved of. The
grant itself, which cannot be issued without
a proper survey, may sometimes be kept back
for two years, and meanwhile the communi-
cation from the British Resident, known as an
" approved application," is accepted.

Much of the land in the Malay States is in
the grip of lalang (Impcrata arundiimcea).
Jungle has been felled in the past, chiefly by
Chinamen, for the cultivation of tapioca and
other exhausting crops, and then has been
abandoned, to be promptly reoccupied by this
pest, which enters into complete possession.
The wind agitates it like the billows of the sea,
but its roots have taken so firm a hold that
nothing but the most thorough and repeated
digging — " chunkling " it is called in Malaya —
can eradicate it. Experiments have been made
to destroy the lalang by spraying arsenite of
soda. The local charge for the material was

tainly cheap and primitive. It is an ordinary

bullock-cart, filled with arsenite of soda, with

, a sheet, half of which is immersed in the

liquid, while the other half is trailed over the

so far made ; but it has not yet been attempted
by any planters on a large scale. They leave
lalang land severely alone, as much as they
possibly can, and are not yet satisfied that any

A RUBBER PLANTATION WITH TREES WELL DEVELOPED.

lalang as the cart moves along. No damage
is done to the roots of any plants growing in
the same ground, as the spray is a leaf poison.
Three or four applications at intervals of a few
weeks, each fresh application taking place when

TREES

MALAYA.

at first prohibitive, but when it had been
imported at reasonable rates there remained
the need for cheap but efficient spraying
" machines," and the cheapest devised is cer-

the lalang is beginning to recover from the
previous dose, are sufficient to entirely kill
the lalang. Such is the claim which the
director makes after the limited experiments

method is superior in effect to the arduous and
expensive " chunkling." Should it be demon-
strated that the arsenite of soda method is all
that is claimed for it, the authorities may hope-
fully look forward to the time when large areas
of land, worse than useless and a blot on the
landscape, will come under legitimate culti-
vation. Special rental terms for lalang land
are offered by the Government of one cent per
acre per annum for the first seven years, and
thereafter one dollar per acre per annum. But
so far applicants continue to prefer virgin jungle
to these weedy wastes.

In 1905 Dr. J. C. Willis, F.K.S., the Director
of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Ceylon, who
has the gift of organisation, was loaned to the
Federated Malay States Government to report
on the organisation of a department of agricul-
ture, and the post of director of the new
department was filled by the appointment of
Mr. J. B. Carruthers, F.L.S., F.R.S. Edin., the
Assistant Director, Peradeniya. Much of Mr.
Carruthers' time since then has been occupied
with the work of organisation and equipment.
Suitable quarters were not provided for some
time, and a year elapsed before a Government
chemist and an entomologist were appointed.
Meanwhile, Mr. M. Kelway Bamber, F.I.C.,
F.C.S., Government Chemist of Ceylon, paid
two visits to the Malay States, and furnished
Mr. Carruthers with a most useful table of
analyses of typical soils taken from different
rubber districts. Mr. Bamber reported that the
soils might be roughly divided into two kinds —

(a) The flat alluvial clays or muds on the
banks of rivers and near the sea coast ;

(/>) The undulating low soils a few miles
inland, where they vary from free sandy loams
to heavy clays.

He stated that "the soils of Malaya are not
specially rich in plant food, but their physical
characters are exceptionally good, and this,
together with the unequalled climate for plant
growth, constitutes conditions for the vigorous
growth of rubber and other crops not to be
found elsewhere."

204

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

TYPICAL COOLIE LINES AND ESTATE HOSPITAL.

In his report for 1906 the Director of Agri-
culture estimated the total acreage of rubber
planted in the peninsula by the end of 1905 at
50,000 acres, and at the end of 1906 at 99,230
acres, with an increase in the number of trees
during the year from 7,000,000 to 12,980,756.
The output of dry rubber rose from 150 tons in
1905 to 412 tons in 1906. The figures for 1907
are not yet available, but the acreage in rubber
at date (January, 1908) may be put at 130,000
acres (a much larger area is, of course, alienated
for planting rubber), and the output for 1907 at
800 tons, which represents less than one-
seventieth part of the world's output. A
greatly increased export should not be expected
for the next two or three years. The trees
generally were vigorously tapped during 1907,
and an increase of 300 tons per annum until
the rubber planted since 1904 comes into
bearing seems to the writer to be a reasonable
estimate.

SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERA-
TIONS IN ESTATE WORK.

In the flat land of Malaya the area to be
felled has first to be drained. Even then,
constant rainfall — rain falling on almost every
afternoon of the year — renders a perfect " burn
off" extremely rare. Heavy clearing work
follows, and then comes the question of
distance for the holing. The tendency is to
wider planting than in Ceylon, because of
the more luxurious growth. " Distance " has
always been an interesting subject for dis-
cussion amongst planters and other students
of the new industry. In the earliest days
much of the planting was 10 feet by 10 feet,
and some even 8 feet by 8 feet. Afterwards
the two favourite distances were 15 feet by 15

feet, and 20 feet by 10 feet, both of which
represent 200 trees to the acre. Even these
distances are close in Malaya, and where they
are employed the reason is partly to reduce
the cost of weeding. The ground is more
quickly covered with shade, which checks the
growth of weeds, and, too, the superintendent
of the estate need not trouble to put in a
" supply " whenever a single vacancy occurs.
Weeds spring up and flourish with a rapidity
and luxuriance which are a revelation to the
Ceylon planter — Ceylon has supplied Malaya
with many able men — and for the first three
years on many estates weeding cannot be effi-
ciently done under ij dollars per acre per
month. When any shortage of labour occurs
clean weeding has often to be abandoned and
simply a space kept cleared, or periodically
mowed down, round each tree. To save some
of the expenditure on weeding — the object of
which is to prevent the harmful competition
of useless plants among the trees — crotolaria
and other leguminous plants are being tried, on
the recommendation of the director and of Mr.
Kelway Bamber, in some cases with a dis-
tinctly good effect. There are, however, ex-
perienced planters who contend that the
aeration of the soil by the sun is worth the
expense of clean weeding.

The following paragraph is extracted from a
brochure entitled " Land and Labour in the
Federated Malay States," by Mr. E. Macfadyen :

" The rainfall [in the Federated Malay States]
differs widely as one approaches to, or recedes
from, the mountains. At Kuala Selangor the
average for ten years was under 77 inches, at
Taiping over 163. There is no place, however,
where rain is not abundant, and a fortnight's
drought is rare anywhere. The driest month
is July, although 4 inches is a very ordinary
measurement for that month. It is impossible

to speak of any season of the year as a dry
season, although certain periods may be recog-
nised as wetter than others. From October to
the end of the year are the wettest three
months. Next in rainfall comes the period
from the end of February to the middle of
May. Practically all the rain falls after 3.30
p.m., rain at midday being rare and in the
morning almost unknown, except right under
the hills."

As proof of the uncertainty of success which
accompanied the pioneer planting of rubber,
coconuts were made the main feature of some
of the profitless coffee estates, and if any rubber
was tried at all it was interplanted with the
coconuts. One case can be quoted where with
coconuts and rubber grown together the rubber
was first cut out in favour of the coconuts, and
then the almost mature coconuts were in turn
supplanted by rubber. This great loss of time
has not prevented the estate becoming a
valuable rubber-bearing property. In the great
majority of cases where the two products were
interplanted the coconuts were cut out when
the rubber-trees required more room, and there
are even instances of coconuts growing by
themselves being cut down to make way for the
" new love." Some cautious men of the present
day are putting part of their properties in coco-
nuts, but are avoiding the old mistake of inter-
planting. Coconuts flourish exceedingly in the
flat lands of Malaya when well drained, and
whatever the meteoric career of Eastern
rubber may be, it will be found difficult to
secure a prouder title than that given to coco-
nuts, " the Consols of IheTi East " — unless
British Consols fall below 80 !

As regards pests, the Director of Agriculture
reported that the general health of the trees of
all ages from seedlings to twenty-five-year-old
trees had been excellent during 1906. The

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

205

rapidly increasing area of rubber, however,
means an increasing danger of spreading
disease and entails an increasing vigilance for
the first signs and promptitude to prevent the
disease spreading. The policy, he says, of
waiting to shut the stable door until the horse
has gone is still not unusual even in the case of
the most capable and practical planter. The
importance of the plant doctor is not yet
recognised as fully as that of the medical man
or veterinary surgeon. This is to a great
extent because the fact is not realised that all
lack of health or vigour is due in plants, just
as in man, to specific causes, either of en-
vironment or the attacks of insects, fungi, or
bacteria.

There is in Malaya a voracious termite, and
the earliest sign of its attacks on a tree should
be detected. On some estates a small gang
of coolies does nothing else but patrol the
estates, watching for these silent but rapid
workers. They generally attack from the roots
upwards, and the earth is dug away from the
roots and a dressing of lime is applied.

Root and leaf diseases have also been
detected in nurseries and older trees, but
nothing has yet been discovered that has not
readily responded to treatment. Abnormal
stem growths are rare, but curious and harm-
less fasciations occur, without apparent cause,
and the practical remedy is to replace the mal-
formed tree with a healthy stump from the
nursery. Barren trees are also found, with
nothing to explain the phenomenon.

LABOUR.

The indigenous Malay will sometimes under-
take felling contracts, but will not take employ-
ment under the planter as a regular estate
labourer. The Kling (Tamil) has chiefly been

employed on the estates of Malaya, as in
Ceylon ; but Javanese, Banjarese and even
Chinese are to be found on the check -roll. The
rate of pay is about 75 per cent, higher than
has been hitherto ruling in Ceylon ; but this
inducement of increased pay was necessary to
attract coolies from South India, owing to
the longer sea voyage and the unhealthy con-
ditions ruling when new land is being opened
up, especially on the swampy flats. Not only
has the death-rate been abnormally high, but
the situation was complicated at a time of
great demand for labour by an outbreak of
cholera, which occurred in August, 1906.
Coolies were several times taken backwards
and forwards between Pinang and Port
Svvettenham, but on each occasion fresh cases
prevented them being landed at the latter
port. The quarantine station at Pinang became
overcrowded, and not even a segregation camp
existed in the Federated States. Steps were
taken to prevent a recurrence of the deadlock,
but it was a long time before recruiters were
able to argue away the complaints which
reached South India descriptive of the risks
encountered by those who attempted to reach
the new El Dorado. So widespread was the
need for more coolies throughout last year that
the Government introduced in the autumn an
Ordinance entitled the Tamil Immigrant Fund
Bill, which met with considerable opposition
on behalf of the older estates, but was
welcomed by the newer ones, which had found
the greatest inconvenience and loss in their
failure to secure the labourers they needed,
after in many cases having felled and burnt
off considerable areas of jungle. The Bill was
duly passed into law, with an undertaking by
the Government that its working would be
carefully watched, and that if it was found to
work hardly on the developed estates the terms

would be modified. The main condition under
the Ordinance was that each estate should pay
1 dollar and 25 cents per quarter for each
Tamil labourer employed ; the mines and the
Government to make a similar contribution,
and the proceeds to be spent in recruiting
labour in the Madras Presidency and for pro-
viding the recruits and their families with free
passages to their destination. If was the
desire of the authorities to bring the new law
into force at the beginning of 1908, and the
Ordinance was passed before the directors of
rubber estate companies registered in Great
Britain were able to represent their views to
the Government. They cabled a protest and
request for delay, but without avail, and the
authorities have already set to work. They
have guaranteed the shipping company whose
steamers bring the immigrants from Negapa-
tam (South India) to Pinang 35,000 passages in
the current year (1908). If this number of
labourers be secured, and no more, the estate
labour in the country will consist of about
100,000 persons, of whom 80,000 will be Tamils.
This matter has brought the older and the
younger estates into conflict. Those members
of the Rubber Growers' Association of London,
formed last year, who are directly interested in
the Malaya industry met under the auspices
of the Association, and passed a resolution of
protest in the interests of the older estates.
Practically all these estates are now owned by
companies registered in London. The private
owner and the working superintendent are
members of the different local planters' associa-
tions. These have just become affiliated in a
central organisation with its headquarters at
Kuala Lumpor, and bearing the title "The
Planters' Association of Malaya." This body
had decided, after some agitation against the
terms of the Ordinance, to await further develop-

CREPE AND SHEET RUBBER MACHINERY.

206

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

merits after it had been in operation for some
time ; and the action of home directors in
seeking to delay the passing of the Ordinance
referred to was sharply criticised by residents
who are in favour of the Ordinance. It is
rarely that planting interests fail to show a
united front in negotiations with the Govern-

numerous, and each estate was ordered to erect
its own hospital. It was realised that on
humanitarian grounds as well as in the interests
of the estates the health of the coolies must be
better conserved, but the order was too sweep-
ing in that some estates possessed no healthy
site, and the supply of dispensers was quite in-

OLD RUBBER TREES IN MALAYA.

TAPPING— SPIRAL.

ment, and the present cleavage of opinion is
but a passing phase of the situation, and but
few years will elapse before most of the
younger estates will find their interests are the
same as those of the older ones.

Another matter in which there has been
some conflict with the Government is the
hospital question. Deaths of coolies have been

adequate. It was consequently conceded that
two or more neighbouring estates might com-
bine and have a joint hospital. All this
additional expenditure, added to the higher
wages paid, was bound to impress absent
directors and owners as well as superinten-
dents ; and with the serious fall in the market
price of rubber at the end of last year, and the

growing proofs of the expensive working of
estates, whereby estimates of expenditure were
being seriously exceeded, the need for greater
economy became imperative, and instructions
are now being received on the estates from
companies in the United Kingdom that means
of retrenchment must be found. As a special
inducement to work regularly those coolies
who have turned out every day of the week
have hitherto been given as a bonus a " Sunday
name," i.e., a seventh day's pay. This is to
be one of the first items of expenditure to be
abandoned.

TAPPING AND COAGULATION.

The plantation industry being still in its
infancy, many matters affecting the economy
of the rubber-tree, its productiveness and
length of life under moderate and heavy
tapping, and the preparation of the caoutchouc
for the market, have yet to be elucidated by
further experience and research. In the first
years of the production of plantation rubber
the trees were much injured by the tappers
cutting too deeply and injuring the cambium.
Less bark, too, is now cut away at each paring,
and much study is being devoted to this sub-
ject of retaining the original cortex as long as
possible. The renewed bark is not at first
protected by a hard, corky layer, and would be
susceptible to attack should some virulent pest
appear. The first renewal of bark is satis-
factory, but little experience is possessed at
present as to the second renewal, and none as
to the third. The bark of many cinchona-trees
flaked off at the second renewal ; and if the
lactiferous tissue of the rubber-tree is wasted,
or the tree is over-tapped, Nature will exact
toll in some form or other. Excessive and too
frequent tapping also produces latex containing
an excess of water and less caoutchouc. The
joint subject of minimum loss of tissue and
maximum percentage of caoutchouc is being
closely studied. Tapping every fourth day
instead of every alternate day is now recom-
mended.

Tapping methods constitute an important
study, and in Ceylon much ingenuity has been
expended in devising tapping and pricking
instruments. Malaya generally has bothered
little about the new paring instruments, the
planters finding that the trained coolies do as
good work with the original gouge as with
more complicated parers. A perfect pricking
instrument, however, should have a great
future before it, because the importance of
saving the original bark of the tree cannot be
exaggerated.

The different methods of tapping need not
be described in detail. The earliest system
was the V cut, with a small receiving vessel at
the base of each V. On a large tree there
would be upwards of a dozen cuts and as many
tins. The system most in use now is the
herring-bone, with a vertical channel to the
base of the tree, with one receiving vessel.
The half-spiral and the full spiral systems have
also been experimented with, but it has been
proved that the full spiral is too exhausting.
Lowlands, with which is associated the name
of the most successful pioneer rubber-planter,
Mr. W. \V. Bailey, was the first to make use of
the parings, which until less than three years
ago were left on the ground. These shavings
are put through the same washing machines
as crepe rubber, and the result is a dark and
inferior crepe which more than pays the small
expense of collecting it.

The current issue of the Bulletin of the
Imperial Institute contains instructive analyses
of sixteen samples of Federated Malay States
rubber forwarded by the Director of Agri-
culture. In eleven samples the percentage
of caoutchouc was over 94 per cent. A thin
pale sheet gave the highest percentage of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

201

caoutchouc, viz., o6'35 P er cent., with 022 per
cent, moisture, 0'2i per cent, ash, rSy per cent,
resin, and 1-35 per cent, proteids. The lowest
percentage of caoutchouc was 9264 per cent.'
from an almost white crepe, and in this case
the resin was 3-58 per cent. Even this quantity
of resin compares favourably with analyses of
wild rubber, and 6 or 8 per cent, of resin
seriously detracts from the value of any
rubber.

In the old days tropical agriculture was
generally market gardening on a glorified
scale ; but to-day the planter and the scientist
work side by side ; and the planter who is
also a student can invest the daily round with
much scientific interest. In a recent issue of
the India Rubber World, the editor of which is
Mr. Herbert Wright, the following statement
on coagulation appeared and is worth en-
shrining in these pages : —

" The physical and chemical changes in-
volved in the phases of coagulation already
recognised are numerous and complex, and
many theories have been put forward to explain
the phenomenon. It may be argued that the
practical planter does not need to trouble
himself about the changes which lead to the
separation of the rubber from the latex, since
this is accomplished by allowing the latex to
stand in a receptacle exposed to the air. We
are of opinion, however, that the methods
adopted on Eastern estates still leave much to
be desired ; if a better knowledge of the
changes incurred during coagulation can be
gained, we feel certain that planters of an
inventive frame of mind will quickly effect
improvements and speedily test the value of
deductions originally made from laboratory
experiments.

" The latices from different species possess
various qualities of resins, proteins, caoutchouc
and inorganic elements, but the behaviour of
these to the same agencies — heat, moisture,
centrifugal force, preservatives, acids and alka-
lies — is widely different ; the phases of coagu-
lation of latices from distinct botanical sources
require separate detailed investigation. Heat,
though it coagulates many latices, has no such
effect on that of Hevca brasiliensis ; formalde-
hyde, though acting as an anti-coagulant with
Hevea latex, appears to coagulate over latices ;
alkalies which help to maintain some latices in
a liquid condition, hasten the coagulation of
others ; mechanical means, while allowing one
to effectively separate large-sized caoutchouc
globules, are useless when dealing with the
latex of Hevea brasiliensis.

" The changes which take place during
coagulation have been variously explained,
some authorities contending that the heat
alone softens the caoutchouc globules, and
thus allows them to unite ; others maintain
that a film of protein matter around each
caoutchouc globule becomes coagulated and
encloses the rubber particles, which then form
an agglutinated mass. The term ' coagulation '
was originally applied to the coagulation of the
protein, but it is now generally used to denote
the separation of the caoutchouc globules and
all those processes which lead to the produc-
tion of a mass of rubber from latex. When
some latices are allowed to stand, the caoutchouc
globules readily agglutinate, when they rise to
the surface ; the cream thus secured is then
coagulated by pressure. When the latex of
Hevea brasiliensis is treated with dilute acetic
acid, the caoutchouc does not cream and then
coagulate ; the latex, according to Bamber,
coagulates throughout its mass, thus including
much protein and suspended matter, and by
its own elastic force then contracts towards the
surface of the liquid, expressing a clear watery
fluid, still containing protein matter in solu-
tion."

It is possible that some day the water, or
whey, left after coagulation will be scientific-
ally treated, and further caoutchouc extracted,

or it may be, in some form or other, returned
to the soil. The oil in the millions of seeds
which will be no longer required for propaga-
tion will also be marketable, and before long
some enterprising individual, or company, will
lead the way in erecting expressing mills.

It has been said that plantation rubber is less
resilient than fine Para (the wild rubber of
Brazil), and it has been much debated whether
this is due to the youth of the cultivated trees
or mainly to some special virtue in the method
of coagulating the wild rubber over charcoal
fires, each thin layer being creosoted in the

Pears' estate in Johore, the celebrated Lanadron
block rubber was first produced, and has carried
all before it at various rubber shows. Wet
block, recommended by the Ceylon scientists
— partly because the high percentage of water
in Para rubber seems to act as a preservative —
is now in its trial. All these new departures
secure the best prices when they first appear,
and it takes time to decide whether the atten-
tion they attract in the home and continental
markets is due to their novelty or to their
superior inherent qualities. One is inclined to
expect the trees to produce superior rubber the

A GIANT RAMBONG TREE.

smoke. The view that plantation rubber is
weaker than Brazilian rubber is not universally
supported, however, and Messrs. Beadle &
Stevens, well-known analytical chemists of
London, are keen supporters of the contrary
opinion.

Interesting experiments are being made as
to the best form in which to supply plantation
rubber, which has been produced in many
varieties of form since the original biscuit.
The Malaya estates have exported much sheet
and crepe rubber, and these of a light amber
colour continue in great demand. On Messrs.

older they grow, and that rubber from a ten-
year-old tree, 20 inches in circumference at the
customary measuring point of 3 feet from the
ground, would be superior to rubber from a
six-year-old tree of the same size. But like
many other suggestions, this is not proved.
Some people contend that the size and not the
age of the tree determines the tensile quality of
the caoutchouc produced. It is difficult to
suppose that a six-year-old rubber estate is as
valuable, pound per pound of produce, as a
more mature estate possessing trees twice that
age.

THE BRUSEH HYDRAULIC TIN MINING COMPANY, LTD.
i. View of the Mine. 2. General View, showing Monitors at Work. 3. Monitors Working on 320 feet Face.

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C : >H

MINING

HE present prosperity of
the Federated Malay
States is chiefly due to
the wonderful develop-
ment of the mining
industry since the
establishment of the
residential system about
thirty-two years ago.
Mining was also to a large extent responsible
for the introduction of that system, as it was
mainly the fighting between rival Chinese
tribes over the possession of the tin-fields in
the Larut district of Perak that caused the
intervention of the British.

The earlier records of mining in the
Federated area are somewhat scanty ; but
there is no doubt that for centuries tin had
been mined and exported. It is probable
that some of the tin used in making the
implements of the Bronze Age came from
the peninsula, for all the early bronze im-
plements have been found to contain one part
of tin to nine parts of copper. In most of
the tin-fields that have been opened traces of
very old workings have been found, and we
know from the records that the Dutch opened
trading stations on the peninsula to trade
for tin.

Statistics are available from 1889, and they
show that the output of tin in that year
amounted to 440,000 piculs. The annual out-
put steadily mounted to 828,000 piculs in 1895,
then fell to 654,000 piculs in 1899, gradually
rose to 869,000 piculs in 1904, and since that
year has declined, the output for 1906 being
816,000 piculs.

The Chinese miners are mainly responsible
for the output, and the evolution of their mining
methods has been interesting to observe.
Their success in the earlier days was largely
due to their ability to control labour and to
their system of payment for work done, which
enabled them to exploit their claims on far
more advantageous terms than were possible
in the case of the Europeans who were tempted
to endeavour to win some of the profit which
seemed to be available from tin-mining.

In Perak mining was first carried on in the
plains of Larut. These — stretching between
the mountains and the sea — were highly
mineralised, and the even character of the
alluvial drifts, combined with the shallowness
of the overburthen, made it an ideal field for
development by the Chinese methods. In the
State of Selangor the fields first developed and
worked by the Chinese were in Serendah,
Rawang, and Ampang.

The method of working universally adopted
at first was simple in the extreme, and to a
great extent prevails to this day. A large
majority of the workings being open, this is
the surest and least expensive means of winning
the alluvial deposits, which are generally found
close enough to the surface to admit of being
worked on the open-cast system.

Deeper deposits are worked by means of
shafts, sometimes to depths of over 200 feet,
and there are also cases in which the tin ore
extends from the surface down to bedrock.

As to the source from which the alluvial tin
in the Federated Malay States is derived but
little is known, owing to the fact that the
geological formation is difficult to trace, the
country being covered by dense forest. There
has been no deep mining to provide means by
which the stratification of the various rocks
could be studied.

The occurrence of tin is so widespread and
the conditions under which it is found are so
various that no theory of its genesis seems to
fit all cases. Generally speaking, it is difficult
to find ground in which tin is not present. It
occurs in all the alluvial flats, in most of the
low hills, on many of the high granite moun-
tains, and on the top of and in the caves of the
numerous limestone hills which are scattered
through the States.

However, the general character of the wash
from which the tin is won shows that it must
originally have been contained in veins run-
ning through the slates and granite. The
absence of lodes in the country and the
richness of the alluvium go to prove that for
ages the rocks containing the mineral in veins
were subjected to erosion and denudation,
until the whole of the mineralised portions had
been disintegrated and carried away by the
action of water. This is proved by the nature
of the detritus in the tin-bearing gravels and
clays, which almost invariably consist of the
constituents of slate and granite rocks, together
with quartz particles, all of which are much
water-worn. The clays, which form the
bottom of most of the deposits, must have
originated from the slates that overlay the
granites.

There is, unfortunately, no evidence to show
the exact form in which the cassiterite originally
occurred, but this only strengthens the theory
that the cassiterite now being exploited is due
to the almost complete denudation of the
original tin-bearing rocks. A Government
geologist has recently been appointed, and in
time his researches will probably throw some
light upon this subject.

The site for mining having been chosen,

either by boring or by the employment of a

pawang, or diviner, and the necessary grants

and permissions obtained from the Govern-

209

ment, a start is made by felling the jungle and
burning it off. Attap sheds are constructed for
the accommodation of the coolies, and the
necessary watercourses cut to bring in water
with which to wash the karang, or pay-dirt,
and to turn a water-wheel for driving a wooden
chain-pump. The excavation of a huge hole
is then commenced, the overburthen being
carried by coolies, who work on task, to some
distance from the hole, round which it . is
stacked, so as to form a dam to prevent the
inrush of surface water during heavy rains.

When the karang is reached it is excavated
by wages men and carried by them to the wash-
boxes. As the karang does not run evenly
and is often mixed with boulders, it would not
pay tc employ men on contract, or task, to lift
it, for they would surely leave behind the
patches most difficult to get at, and those are
generally the richest. Arrived at the wash-
box, the karang is there treated in a stream of
flowing water until nothing remains but the
valuable tin-ore.

The first hole, or paddock, having been
cleared of its karang, the work extends on all
sides, the overburthen now being deposited on
the worked portion of the ground. Operations
are continued in this manner until the land
available has all been turned over and the
karang exhausted.

This was the system almost entirely in vogue
during the early days, when mining was in the
hands of a few Chinese capitalists, who im-
ported from China labourers to whom they
paid little or no wages beyond the food they
ate and the clothes they wore. As was natural,
the coolies, tiring of working for almost noth-
ing, absconded from their employers. They
banded together in small gangs to mine on
their own account, and the success of some of
them led to immigration from China, which,
together with the repeal of the enactment to
regulate indentured labour, gave to the country
a large number of free labourers, and intro-
duced the chabut, or co-operative, system of
mining.

Under this system the person who has
acquired the right to mine a certain piece of
land clears it of jungle and erects coolie sheds.
A notice is then posted in a prominent place
inviting labourers to come in and mine on
terms which are clearly stated in the notice.
Generally speaking, the terms are that the
proprietor for the time being agrees to provide
all the necessary capital for tools, &c, and to
supply the coolies with food, clothes, and small
cash advances during a certain period — gene-
rally six months. The food and clothes are
charged for above market rates, and the cash
is advanced at a substantial discount. Then,
at the end of the period, the accounts are
made up, the tin is sold, and the balance, after

210

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

payment of all expenses, is divided in accordance
with the terms of the notice.

If the mine has proved rich, every one con-
cerned makes a profit. If only sufficient tin
has been won to cover expenses, the proprietor
still makes a profit on everything supplied, and
the coolies get nothing beyond the food, cloth-
ing, and cash which they have received while
working. If the venture proves a failure, the
proprietor loses all he has put into it, while
the coolie loses his time and labour, against
which he has been fed and clothed for six
months.

This is a system deservedly popular with all
classes, and at the present day is responsible
for the majority of the tin won in the Fede-
rated Malay States.

Mining is also carried on in the hills or

waterwheel, and it is curious to note that these
watervvheels were invariably made of the same
diameter. If more power was required, two
wheels or more were used, and, no matter
what the available fall might be, the diameter
of the wheels was never increased.

With the advent of the European centrifugal
steam pumps soon superseded the wooden
kinchar in all the larger mines, but, beyond
these, no machinery of any kind was used until
quite recently. Probably this is owing to the fact
that all the earlier attempts of Europeans to use
machinery for mining ended in failure, and it
was only by working on the Chinese methods
that European-owned mines could claim any
measure of success. This was largely due to
the low price then prevailing for tin, and to the
difficulty of securing sufficient capital, as people

be made to describe the tools and methods
used from the earliest times to the present
day.

In open-cast mines, as the overburthen is
removed the workings are constantly deepened,
and ladders are made by cutting steps at an
acute angle in the trunks of trees, which are
laid down the sides of the workings. Up and
down these the coolies run in endless streams,
carrying baskets of earth slung on either end
of a stick, about 5 feet long, which rests on
the shoulder. Payment is made at a fixed rate
per chang (30 feet square by ]J deep). The
rate used to be 7 dollars, and is now about
13 dollars. When stripping to the top of
the karang is completed, trestles of round poles
are erected across the bottom with single
planks laid across for the coolies to walk on

\>m*#*

YONG PHIN MINE NEAR TAIPING.

wherever water and clearance for tailings is
available by means of lampaning, or ground
sluicing. A dam is made and a watercourse
cut to the scene of the proposed operations.
Then a narrow ditch is cut at a careful grade
just below the ground to be treated, and the
ground is broken into this ditch, in which the
water is kept running, by means of crowbars.
One or two men keep stirring the ground as it
falls into the ditch, and the water carries away
the lighter portions, leaving behind the tin,
which is cleaned up every two days or so.
When the ground has been broken so far back
from the edge of the ditch that it will not
easily fall into it, a fresh ditch is cut close
up to the face. By this means ground which
is very poor in values can be worked profit-
ably.

Thirty years ago no machinery of any kind
was used on the mines beyond the Chinese
wooden endless chain pump and overshot

were unwilling to supply money to develop
properties in an unknown country which, in
the minds of the general public, was chiefly
associated with weird stories of yellow-skinned,
ferocious pirates. Be that as it may, attempts
to mine profitably in Selangor and Perak all
ended in failure where Europeans were con-
cerned, and at the end of 1892 most of the
European-owned mines had ceased to work.
There was one exception — the Societe des
Etains de Kinta, which was the first to com-,
mence operations in Kinta and has a long and
brilliant career. At the present day it is operat-
ing on a large scale, and, with the assistance
of thoroughly up-to-date plant and machinery,
adding each month a large amount to the tin
output. This company is also responsible for
the first hydro-electric power-station recently
installed at Kampau, in Perak.

The various systems of working have already
been outlined, and an endeavour will now

while stripping the next paddock, so that this
work can continue without interfering with the
raising of the karang ; and in the bottom of
each mine a closed drain is carefully con-
structed by which all the water finds its way
to the pump sump.

The karang is washed in a coffin-shaped box
fixed at a grade of about 1 in 12, the slope
being from the wider end. This end is closed
by a baffle-board, about 8 inches deep, over
which the water falls, and through one side,
about 18 inches below the baffle-board, an
aperture is cut, to admit a second stream of
water which flows along the edge of a pile of
karang and carries it into the box. To assist in
this operation, one or two men are constantly
engaged raking and mixing the karang with
the side stream by means of long-toothed
rakes. At the baffle-board stands one man,
or more, according to the size of the box, and
with a long-handled mattock he pulls the

OPEN CAST TIN MINE AT KAMUNTING.
i. The Coolies at Kamunting Mine. 2. Washing Tin Ore.

212

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

karang against the stream of water, constantly
stirring it and splashing water on it as it
gradually heaps below the baffle-board, so that
in time a heap of tin ore accumulates, when
the water is shut off and the tin ore lifted out
into tubs.

Formerly the wash-boxes were about 30
feet long, tapering from a width of 4 feet 6 inches
at the top to 12 or 13 inches at the lower end.
Five men were employed in each. This was
too costly for small parties of tribute coolies,
and consequently when the rush came to Kinta
in 1892, a short box of from 12 to 14 feet was
used, and with so much success, that a longer
box is now seldom seen. In Negri Sambilan
the wash-box used was never.wider than 2 feet
at the top end, and in some of the Siamese
States a box is used having the same width
throughout.

The endless chain pump consists of a
wooden channel about 15 inches deep by 5
wide. In this channel travel a series of flat
wooden slats, cleverly linked together, which
almost fit the section of the channel. The
channel is slightly curved, and the slats, run-
ning up continuously, carry the water to the top,
where it discharges into a ditch cut for the
purpose of carrying it away.

In cases where the overburthen is too deep
or the karang too poor to admit of open-cast
mining, shafts are sunk. If the ground is too
deep, these are roughly timbered and made
oblong in section, 6 feet by 3 feet, in two com-
partments. Rough windlasses are used for
hauling, and as much karang as can easily and
safely be got at is hauled out. Then the shaft
is abandoned and another sunk close by. This
is a wasteful system of working, as though in
theory the workings are supposed to communi-
cate below and all the karang to be taken
out, in practice this is seldom the case unless
the ground is very rich, and, as a conse-
quence, much is left behind and the ground
spoiled.

Most of the tin ore now goes to the Straits
Trading Company's smelters in Singapore and
Province Wellesley, but some Chinese still
smelt their own ore in their crude furnaces. In
these a shallow iron pan is set on legs and
plastered with mud. A mud cylinder is erected
upon this, held together by iron bands, and the
smelter is complete. Tin ore and charcoal are
fed into the top, and the blast comes from a
wooden blower, which is a hollow cylinder
with a flap valve at either end, with a piston in
the centre, which is packed, to make it air-tight,
with bunches of cock's feathers. Power is
obtained by a man walking backwards and
forwards pulling and pushing the piston to
and fro. The tin and slag run down through
a hole in the side of the furnace.

Where, as is the case on many fields, the
karang is of a clayey nature and not easily
disintegrated, it becomes necessary to "puddle"
it before the tin ore can be separated from the
gangue, and in order to do this the karang is
deposited in large square, shallow boxes. At
one end of the box a stream of water is admitted,
which has its outlet at the other end, and a
number of coolies, armed with mattocks, chop
and rake the karang, mixing it with the water
over and over again until the whole of the clay
has been floated away and nothing remains but
the gravel and tin ore.

Another method of recent introduction is a
kind of human elevator, by which the karang is
puddled on its way to the surface. On the side
of the mine are made a series of small stages
or terraces, spaced at about 4 feet. On each
one of these a coolie is stationed, who scoops
up with a small tin dish on a handle the karang
from his stage to the next one above. The
karang being mixed with water, each scoop
assists the disintegration, until on arriving at
the surface the karang is puddled ready for the
wash-box. There are mines where as many
as fifteen lifts are made, but both systems of

puddling are costly and slow, and it was for
this work that the Chinaman first adopted
European methods. He employed the harrow
puddler, which was first introduced by Mr.
John Addis, an old-time Australian miner on
the now famous Tronon Mine.

With the rise in the value of tin which
commenced about 1898, and the consequent
increased profits of the already established
mining companies, the attention of investors
was attracted to the Federated Malay States,
and since that time many companies have
been floated to develop tin properties, generally
with considerable success.

Modern machinery and labour-saving appli-
ances have been extensively adopted, and, as
a result, many propositions are paying good
dividends which, under the old methods, could
not have been dealt with at all.

The hydraulic system of working is one of
the most economical methods of winning tin
ore where a sufficient fall of water can be
obtained. In order to secure this it is some-
times necessary to carry the water for long
distances through large iron pipes. The
enormous pressure given by the head of
water is directed against the sides of the hill
containing the pay-dirt, which is washed down
in large quantities and then treated in the ordi-
nary way, either in wash-boxes or by a sluice
in which riffles are placed to arrest the tin
ore.

The Chinese have not been slow to follow
the example set them by their Western neigh-
bours ; and now no mine is regarded as
properly equipped unless rails, trucks, and
hauling engines are used to replace the coolie.
Puddlers of various kinds are employed to
disintegrate the karang on its reaching the
surface, and the old-fashioned coffin-shaped
wash-box has given way to long sluice-boxes
paved with riffles.

Probably this would not have been the case
had not the more easily won tin deposits been
exhausted, and all expenses greatly increased,
so that it became impossible to work profitably
under the old systems. That tin is more
difficult to win is evidenced by the declining
output during the last few years, in spite of
increased labour supply and abnormally high
price for tin. The day when the Federated
Malay States might be regarded as the happy
hunting-ground for the small miner seems to
have passed, and the future of the tin mining
industry in the States will depend upon the
economical development on a large scale of
low-grade propositions.

Hitherto the tin exported from the States has
all come from alluvial deposits, no lode workings
of any importance having been opened, with
the exception of the mines in Pahang, where
work has been carried on for many years, but
unsuccessfully. Lately these workings have
been reorganised. The lodes are reported to
be very rich, and a bright future is anticipated
for them under new management. There is
also now being developed a promising lode in
the Kledang range of hills near Ipoh.

The Government exercises control over the
mining industries through the Mines Depart-
ment, administered at an annual cost of about
JSS^oo dollars. Revenue to the amount of
40,947.08 dollars was collected in 1906. The
Department issues licences to tin-buyers and

smelters, undertakes the survey of boilers
and the examination of engine-drivers, and
assists prospectors by the loan of boring
tools.

The total revenue from all sources relating
to mining was as follows : —

1906.

1905.

Perak

Selangor
Negri Sambilan
Pahang

5,681,340

3,582,729

1,020,089

304,666

5,097,216

3,342,909

984,346

265,130

Total

$10,588,824

$9,689,501

The revenue was derived from the following
sources : —

1906.

1905.

Warden's office

8
40,946

35,095

Premia on leases ...

216,279

114,230

Kent on leases

264,280

262,332

Individual licences...

1 1,529

10,087

Prospecting licences

4,450

4,250

Export duty on tin ore-

10,036,796

9,249,627

Export duty on \volf-

ram

2,259

2,213

Royalty on gold

11,140

9,830

Commuted royalty on

gold

902

1,609

Ore-buyers and gold-

smiths' licences ...

243

228

Total

$10,588,824

$9,689,501

The total expenditure on the administration
of the Mines Department was 1-45 per cent, of
the revenue derived from all sources relating
to mining.

The statistics regarding the output of tin and
the average prices obtained make an instructive
study, and perhaps the sterling figures are best
for purposes of comparison. In 1889 the total
output was 440,000 piculs, valued at £2,400,000,
or an average of £94 per ton. The output
rapidly increased during the next three years,
but the price remained about the same. In
1893 there began a tremendous fall in price,
the increase in the output, however, con-
tinuing, with the result that in 1895 t ne tin and
tin ore exported amounted to 820,000 piculs,
valued at £3,800,000, or an average of £64 per
ton. In 1896 the average price fell to £62 per
ton for a slightly lower output, but two years
later came a rapid recovery. The year 1900
saw an output of 720,000 piculs, of the value of
£5,500,000, or an average of £130 per ton. A
drop to an average of £108 per ton in the
following year was succeeded by averages of
£116 in 1902, £122 in 1903, £120 in 1904, £138
in 1905, and £174 in 1906.

The output from each State and its value at
the average local prices for 1906 and 1905 — viz.,
89.60 dollars and 80.77 dollars per picul respec-
tively (exchange at 2s. 4d. per dollar) — were as
follows : — •

1906. 1905.

Decrease.

Increase.

Perak

Selangor

Negri Sambilan

Pahang

Piculs.
435,909
268,624

77,765
34,488

Value. Piculs.

$39,057,446 446,781

24,068,710 > 289,867

6,967,745 '' 85,133

3,090,124 | 34,879

Value.
$36,086,512

23,412,558
6,876,192
2,817,166

Piculs.

10,872

21,243

7,367

391

Value.

$2,970,934

656,152

91,553

272,958

Total

816,786

$73,184,025 856,659

$69,192,428

39,873

$3,991,597

OPEN CAST TIN MINE AT KAMUNTING.
General View 2 & 3. Cross Sections.

214

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The highest price per picul in Singapore
during the year 1906 was 102.50 dollars and
the lowest 80.25 dollars. On the London
market the highest price was £215 per
ton and the lowest .£161 10s., the average
price, as quoted by the Mining Journal,
being £180 12s. 9d. The following table
gives the sterling values in each State for
1906: —

labour force at the end of 1906 was, therefore,
approximately 278,100.

The total area of land alienated for mining
purposes at the close of 1906 was 263,800 acres,
namely, 150,376 in Perak, 68,512 in Selangor,
28,476 in Xegri Sambilan, and 16,436 in Pahang.
A net increase of 6,285 acres over the total for
1905 was shown. It must be remembered that
upon only a small portion of the acreage

State.

Perak

Selangor
Negri Sambilan
Pahang

Total ...

Block Tin.

Tons. Cwts.

7,008 18.13

6,962 8

2,826 15.54

56o 14.55

Value in Sterling.
Local Price.

Tons. Cwts.
18,038 1. 14
9,027 3.23
1,802 2.65
1,492 2.77

4,556,702

2,808,016 3

812,903 11

360,514 9

18,258 16.22

30,359 979

£8,538,136 5 o

The figures are obtained by multiplying the
number of tons by the local sterling value per
ton, £175 12s. 3d., the fraction in the dollar
average being ignored.

A large and steadily increasing labour force is
employed in the tin mines, the census returned
at the end of 1906 showing a total of 212,660.
Of that number more than half are employed
in Perak, and the remainder are distributed as
follows : Selangor, 71,243 ; Negri Sambilan,
23,427 ; Pahang, 10,933. Of this labour force,
163,104 are employed in open-cast mines, 20,369
in underground workings, and 29,187 in lampan-
ing. The total may again be divided into 59,259
who work on the contract system, 27,519 who
work for wages, and 125,882 who work on the
tribute system. It is noticeable that the number
of labourers who work on tribute is increasing,
whilst the number of those on contract and
wages is decreasing. The labour force is
supplemented by engines of 8,180 horse-power
— a labour equivalent of 65,440 — Perak con-
tributing more than one-half of this total and
Selangor more than one-fourth. The total

alienated are mining operations actually pur-
sued.

The future of tin-mining in the Federated
Malay States seems on the whole assured.
Lode formations are being discovered in all
the States, and when exploited may help largely
towards the permanence of the tin output on
its present scale. Scientific mining is making
enormous advances in Perak and Selangor.
The outlook in Negri Sambilan is not so pro-
mising, perhaps, but in Pahang there are vast
possibilities, especially in the Kuantan district.

Wolfram is won to a small extent, most of it
coming from Chumor, Batang Padang, and
Liu Gopeng. It occurs with tin. During
1906 2,259 piculs were exported, as against
2,213 ' n tne previous year — an increase of
46 piculs. Taking the price at an average of
25 dollars per picul, the value would be 56,475
dollars. ,

Gold-mining is the only other mining
industry of any importance in the Federaled
Malay States. The total production during
1906 was 11,580 ounces, of which 1,057 ounces

came from Perak, 434 from Negri Sambilan,
and 10,089 from Pahang. The gold won in
1905 amounted to 11,453 ounces. The value
was roughly 397,028 dollars, or £46,320, in
1906, against 392,672 dollars, or £45,812, in
1905, taking the average price to be £4 an
ounce. In Perak a large proportion of the
gold was won at the lode mines at Batu
Bersawah. The remainder was derived from
alluvial washings in Batang Padang, where
the gold occurs in association with alluvial
tin, and is worked in much the same manner
as the tin. The wash-dirt is raised and cleaned
in the ordinary way in a wash-box with a
stream of water, but care is taken that the
tin-sand is not freed from all the sand and
"amang," as this would lead to a great loss
of gold. Further washings are carried out
in shallow wooden dishes or "dulangs," about
20 inches in diameter. These correspond
to the "tin dishes " used in Australia. The
washers are extremely clever in separating
the gold, and after an expert washer has
finished with the sand very little of the
precious metal is lost. The only gold-mine
in Pahang is that in the Kaub district. The
headquarters are at Bukit Koman, where an
up-to-date hydro -electric plant is employed to
supply power to the workings. The current
is generated some miles away on the Sempan
river. The operations were first commenced
under the management of the late Mr. W.
Bibby, and according to the returns from the
mine they ran to an average of nearly an
ounce per ton ; but on sinking the yield
gradually became poorer, and is now about
5 dwts. per ton. The mine has passed under
new management, and with the employment
of modern cyaniding plant there seems to be
every prospect of good profits being made in
the future. The mine is the only gold-mine
in the peninsula where deep sinkings have
been attempted ; it was at one time arranged
that the Government and the Raub Australian
Gold Mining Company should jointly bear
the cost of sinking a shaft in order to prove
the value of the reef to a deep level, but for
some reason this was abandoned.

FISHERIES

j]0 seas in the universe
contain more edible
fish than the seas of
the Malay Archipelago.
The best quality is
found in the compara-
tively shallow waters
bordering the granitic
and sedimentary form-
ations of the peninsula's shores. The principal
edible varieties are bawal, blanah, chencharu,
gelama, kurau, parang-parang, siakap, tenggiri,
yu-laras, yu-parang, slangin, slangat, kidera,
jenahak, gurot-gurot, pari and plata. Prawns,
crabs, and shrimps are also procurable. All
along the Pahang coast sea-turtles abound,
and their eggs, which are found in large
numbers buried in the sand, are much prized
as a food by the natives and are regarded as
rare delicacies in the European settlements.

The Malays are expert fishermen ; they
catch their fish by a variety of devices — by
hook and line, by many kinds of nets, by weirs
and traps, by spearing, and by poisoning the
streams with narcotic juices, of which the
best-known and most generally used is the
juice of the tuba-root. But the Malays are
excelled, even in their own waters, by the
Chinese, who make up for less skill by un-
tiring application. The fishmongers are almost
invariably Chinese.

As the fishing-boats return from the fishing
grounds in the morning, beach sales are
conducted in very much the same way as in
our big fish markets at home. Owing to the
climate, it is impossible to send much fresh
fish to the inhabitants of inland districts, but
dried fish is supplied in large quantities, and
forms a staple article of food for all classes of
natives. The very small fish, together with
the fluid in which the larger kinds have been
cured, are sold as manure to the spice and
coconut planters.

The fishermen on the Malayan coasts do not
often venture far out to sea, but, as a rule,
pursue their calling in inshore waters with
small craft, the most common of these being
the koleh, which carries a crew of three men.
During rough weather, however, this is
abandoned in favour of the jalak, a large
seaworthy boat measuring about 30 feet in
length by 10 feet in beam.

The chief kinds of nets used are the pukat
chang, pukat dalam, pukat tangkul, and pukat
tangkok. Of these, the first-named is the most
expensive, costing about 250 dollars. There

appears to be no reason why trawl-nets should
not be successfully and profitably employed on
many parts of the coast, for although there is
no " close " season, the supply of fish at present
falls far short of the local demand, and a ready
sale is always assured. This is more particu-
larly the case between December and March,
when the north-east monsoon prevails and
renders fishing on the ea*t coast a very
hazardous occupation. At Kuala Pahang a
large net, called by the natives the " ampang,"
is freely employed. Oblong or square in shape,
it is stretched out flat on the mud at low ebb,
the ends being pegged down and the whole
covered with sand or coral to conceal it.
Stakes are driven into the mud at intervals of
30 feet and attached to the net, the outer edges
of which are tied to the stakes with cords.
At high-water the cords are pulled to raise up
the outside skirts of the net, which is after-
wards emptied of its contents at low-water.
The kelong besar, or large fishing stake-trap,
is a permanent structure very generally used
by the Malays. In design, the kelong besar
resembles the salmon-nets to be seen on
British coasts. It consists of four compart-
ments, and is usually constructed of stakes
and rattans. Each compartment is shaped
like the head of an arrow, the last being
narrowest, and when once the fish get into
this, they are unable to get out again.

In Singapore waters nearly 200 fishing-boats
and 249 fishing-stakes are registered, and it
is computed that about 20,000 tons of fish,
worth nearly 2,500,000 dollars, are taken
annually. The trade in salt fish is extensive.
In Pinang Island, the approximate quantity of
fresh fish sold in the town markets and
surrounding villages is 10,000 tons, and of salt
fish 8,000 tons, valued together at about
1,800,000 dollars.

The principal fisheries in the State of Perak
are at Matang, a sub-district of Larut. From
the last report issued by Mr. H. C. Robinson,
Inspector of Fisheries in the Federated Malay
States, it appears that in Perak waters, during
1906, some 1,500 fishermen were actively
engaged, and from their licences 6.477 dollars
was derived, equivalent to an annual taxation
of about 5.75 dollars per head.

In the State of Selangor about 1,300 fisher-
men were engaged in the industry, and the
revenue was 7,934 dollars, taxation thus
amounting to about 6 dollars per head. In the
Kuala Selangor district of this State the larger
fishing-stakes are mainly worked by Malays,
but the fishing industry, nevertheless, is chiefly
in the hands of Chinese. Over 1,200 licences
for nets of the jaring type were issued during
the twelve months. Including 215 dollars for

boat licences, the revenue amounted to 4,614
dollars. The number of fishermen was about
600, and the rate of taxation averaged about
7.50 dollars per head — a higher rate than in any
of the other coastal regions of Selangor. The
exports of fish were valued at 23,500 dollars.
In the Klang district there were 400 fishermen,
90 per cent, of whom were Chinese. Here
the most important branch of the work is the
drift-net style of fishing, the fish being sent in
ice to Port Swettenham and thence to Klang
and Kuala Lumpor. In the Kuala Langat
district of Selangor, 490 fishing boats were
licensed, and the fishermen numbered about
250. Exports of fish from the port slightly
exceeded 1,000 dollars in value, while imports
of the same food-stuff were valued at 2,220
dollars, and consisted of salt-fish and dried
prawns from Bernam for the coolies on the
gambier and pepper plantations at Sepang.

On the coast of the Negri Sambilan the
fishing industry is small, and much of the fish
is caught by hook and line for domestic
requirements. There are about 200 fishing-
boats sailing out of this station.

The principal fishing centres in Pahang are
at Rompin, Kuala Pahang, Penoh, Berserah
and Gebing. The most important of these is
Berserah, in the Kuantan district. The exporta-
tion of fish from the coast of Pahang in 1906
represented in value roughly 60,000 dollars, to
which no less than 58,470 dollars was contri-
buted by the Kuantan district.

In Pahang all Malays have a common right
to fish in the rivers, and each owner of a
swamp or pond has the exclusive right to the
fishing on his property. No restrictions in the
shape of taxes are imposed on river fisheries
in Pahang, for the reason that the fish caught
are intended purely for local consumption by
the peasants themselves, and only in a few
instances are they put on the market for sale.
As many as 43 varieties of fish are to be
obtained from the rivers, but some of them are
not wholesome to eat. Several other kinds
also are found in swamps and ponds, these
being mostly caught for food by the peasants.
In the inland villages most of the river-fishing
is done by women.

A practice that used to be common in Pahang
was that of poisoning streams with powerful
narcotics, which had the effect of stupefying
the fish and bringing them to the surface, where
they were speared and captured in great quan-
tities by the natives. The use of the tuba-root
for this purpose is now prohibited by law, but
it is still occasionally employed in the more
remote river reaches. On State festivals, when
courtesies are exchanged between the native
Rajas, or when the visit of the High Com-

216

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

missioner or some other eminent dignitary is
to be celebrated, tuba fish-drives are organised
on a large scale, and form an interesting and
picturesque spectacle.

Of late years, dynamite was introduced into
the country as a fish-killer, but its use is now
forbidden. A single dynamite cartridge was
sufficient to kill or stupefy all the fish in a pool
or a considerable stretch of river, and the
Malays welcomed this easy method of securing
"a catch ;" but, unfortunately, some who were
inexperienced in handling the dangerous ex-
plosive were " hoist with their own petard."

The only diving fishery in the States is one
conducted on a small scale off the island of
Tioman and the neighbouring islets by Orang
Bersuku or Sakai Laut, natives of the Aor and
Tinggi Islands, who are capable of diving to a
considerable depth and of remaining a remark-
ably long time under water without artificial
aid. These divers obtain beche-de-mer and a
shell known as gewang, from which common
pearl buttons and ornaments are made. They
are a timid and inoffensive people, and are now
so far under control that they take out annual
licences for boats. During the prevalence of
the north-east monsoon, between December

and March, when fishing is impossible, they
return to their homes on the Aor and Tinggi
Islands. In the calm season they live almost
entirely on the water, and may frequently be
met with in the small bays and inlets of Tio-
man, Sri Buat, and other adjacent islands. It
is believed that these divers occasionally bring
up pearl oysters, and it is not considered im-
probable that there may be pearl-beds around
the islands belonging to the State of Pahang.

In every fishing community the fishermen
elect a headman, whom they obey, and upon
whom they depend in all matters concerning
their welfare. Cases are on record of whole
villages moving from one place to another
simply from a desire to follow their headman.

Though great quantities of fish are procured
annually from the fisheries, prices have risen
enormously within recent years, and are more
than double what they were some ten years
ago. The fishing population is increasing, and
the industry promises to become very lucrative
indeed in the near future. The sea fisheries
all round the Federated Malay States coasts
bring in a fair revenue to the Government.
The fishing-boats are licensed, and a small
charge is made for fishing-stakes off the shore

and for nets. There is in Pahang an export
duty of 12J cents per picul (133J lbs.) payable
on all fish sent out of the country. In Negri
Sambilan no export duty is levied and in Perak
and Selangor 10 per cent, ad valorem is
charged.

From an angler's point of view there is very
little sport to be had in the rivers of the
Federated Malay States. Most of the streams
are polluted by the detritus washed out of the
tin mines, and it is necessary to travel far to
get beyond the influence of this. Even then,
in the clear rivers near the hills, though an
occasional fish may be taken by persistent
spinning or live-baiting, there is no certainty
that any sport will be obtained, and a blank
day is the rule rather than the exception.
European fishing tackle rots very quickly in
this climate.

In conclusion, mention might be made of
the karin, a well known and peculiar little
fish native to these waters. The Malays rear
these tiny fish and match them to fight against
one another for sums of money ; and so pug-
nacious are they that the combat only ends
with the death of one of the two miniature
gladiators.

METEOROLOGY

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

R^r^^^^jHK climate of the Straits
Settlements is remark-
able for its equable
temperature and its
humidity. Lying in a
sheltered recess off the
southern coast of the
Malay Peninsula, in
latitude i° 17' N. and
longitude 103 51' E., the island of Singapore is
so situated as to be free from the influences of
either cyclone or typhoon ; therefore the dif-
ference in the readings of the barometer and
the thermometer is not very appreciable. As
will be seen from the appended table of obser-
vations, the highest annual mean barometrical
pressure during the last 38 years was recorded
in 1905 as 29910 inches, while the lowest was
29802 inches, in 1870. Under the caption
"Annual Mean Temperature of Air," it appears
that during the same period the highest maxi-
mum was reached in 1903, when 91-5° F. was
registered, and the lowest minimum in 1884
wiih 71-8° F. In 1906 the rainfall was greater
than in any other year of the period under
review, excepting 1870, the respective figures
being 1 1838 inches in 1906 and 123-24 inches
in 1870. In the year 1905 the rainfall was
83-40 inches. During the time covered by the
annexed table the lowest rainfalls were recorded
in 1877 and 1883, the figure for each of these
years being 58-37 inches. The number of rainy
days during the last ten years has been as
follows : In 1896, 166 ; in 1897, 182 ; in 1898,
189 ; in 1899, 196 ; in 1900, 176 ; in 1901, 169 ;
in 1902, 150 ; in 1903, 183 ; in 1904, 176 ; in
1905, 157 — giving a mean annual return of 175
rainy days for the ten years.

The north-east monsoon generally com-
mences in November, but its direction is not
steadily maintained until December, and some-
times even later, so that during the last two
months of the year the winds, as a rule, blow
from varying directions, usually east, north, and
north-north-east. The north-east monsoon
ceases in March, and is followed by an interval
of a few weeks in which the winds are again
shifty and uncertain in direction. The south-west
monsoon begins usually in April, and some-
times even as late as May. During the pre-
valence of this monsoon, Singapore is often
visited by severe squalls of brief duration,
chiefly in the early morning, known by the
name of " Sumatras." It is also at this time of
the year that the so-called " Java wind " blows

— hot, moist, and unhealthy. The average
velocity of the wind is greatest at this season,
there being comparatively few calms.

From the following list the principal meteoro-
logical records for the last 38 years for Singa-
pore will be seen at a glance.

1906 was 102-21 inches. The wettest month
was November, when there was a rainfall of
13-74 inches ; and the driest month was
March, during which only i-68 inches of rain
fell. The heaviest fall of rain to occur in 24
hours was in April, when 570 inches fell.

AlSSTKACT OK METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN AT SINGAPORE.

Annual Mean

Annual Mean Temperature of

Barometrical

Air.

Radiation.

Pressure
Reduced to

Total Mean

Rainfall.

32° F.

Maximum.

Minimum.

In the Sun.

On Grass.

Inches.

1809

29-846

86-6

74-"

149-2

70-7

90-63

1870

29-802

85-9

73 -5

149-1

70-9

123-24

1871

29-836

85-9

73-2

I47-5

7i-3

I09-45

1872

29-824

86-5

73 '4

144-0

71-0

75jO

'873

29-829

86-6

74-0

1453

7i-9

85-60

J874

29-879

86-3

72-7

150-6

70-2

87-05

1875

29-884

86-0

72-5

147-0

70-1

93-96

1876

29-885

86-6

73 - 3

148-8

70-2

89-91

1877

29-903

87-9

73 '7

15f7

70-0

58-37

1878

29-864

87-4

74 - 9

148-4

72-5

103-16

1879

29-857

86-1

73' 6

147-0

707

116-14

1880

29-863

8 7 -I

73 - 5

148-6

70-9

111-08

1881

29-874

88-0

73-3

I50-9

70-8

94-00

1882

29-863

87-6

72-9

149-6

697

88-16

1883

29-878

86-6

72-2

146-9

69-3

58-37

1884

29-890

86-3

71-8

146-1

6 9'5

80-13

1885

29-889

8 7 -2

72-3

I 4 8-7

69-1

67-32

1886

29-869

87-0

72-5

147-0

71-0

95-19

1887

29-867

85-9

72-7

1447

70-4

112-97

1888

29-892

877

73-2

147-7

71-2

65-56

1889

29-891

87-6

74-2

!44'4

71-8

84-13

1890

29-887

86-1

72-9

145-5

70-3

1 1778

1891

29-878

87-2

73-2

147- 1

71-1

88-48

1892

29-836

86-8

73'5

I47-3

70-6

9970

1893

29-830

86-8

72-3

145-2

68-i

111-41

1894

29-837

86-7

73-3

148-5

70-8

81-24

1895

29-857

86-5

73-6

I46-5

7i-i

98-14

1896

29-877

86-9

74-0

US'"

7o-o

74-07

1897

29-890

87-2

74'9

145-2

69-8

101-58

1898

29876

86-8

74-1

1423

71-2

106-19

1899

29-893

86-9

73'9

I-14-3

71-1

108-60

1900

29-886

88 -o

74-8

I45-5

72-6

90-98

1901

29-890

87-3

73-4

139-2

71-4

83-56

1902

29-8^1

87-1

72-4

I39-3

70-7

82-28

1903

29-826

91-5

73-7

143-0

72-6

i03'95

1904

29-890

86-7

72-8

1397

70-5

101-54

1905

29-910

89-1

74'3

140-6

71-4

83-40

1906

29-897

88-1

747

140-9

72-7

118-38

In Pinang, which is situated in lat. 5 24' N.
and long. 100 20' E., the total rainfall during

Over the whole year the barometrical readings,
corrected and reduced to 32° Fahrenheit, showed

218

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

a mean of 29-908°. The mean air-temperature
was 80-3°, with a maximum of 889° and" a
minimum of 74-4° ; the temperature of radiation
was 148-0° in the sun and 710 on grass ; the
prevailing direction of wind was north-west,
and its mean velocity 231-40 miles.

In Malacca (lat.- 2° 14' N. and long. 102 14' E.)
the rainfall was 80-57 inches ; barometrical
readings showed a mean of 29-834° ; the
mean temperature of air was 79-6°, with a
maximum of 89-2° and a minimum of 707° ; the
temperature of radiation was 151-3° in the sun
and 62-3° on grass. The mean velocity of wind
was 209 miles, and its prevailing direction
north-west.

In Province Wellesley -(lat. 5 21' N. and
long. 100° 28' E.) there was a mean rainfall of
88-79 inches. The mean temperature of air
was 8i-o°, with a maximum of 919° and a
minimum of 74-0° ; and the temperature of
radiation was 143-3° > n the sun and 72-9° on
grass. In the Dindings the rainfall amounted
to 90-34 inches.

FEDERATED MALAY
STATES.

The climate of the Federated Malay States
is very uniform, and can be described in
general terms as hot and moist. Except in dis-
tricts close to the mountain ranges, the annual
rainfall is about 90 inches. In towns, such as
Taiping, Tapah, and Selama, lying close to the
mountains, the rainfall is 50 per cent, more
than this. At Taiping the average of ten years'
rainfall has been 164 inches. There is no well-
marked dry season. Generally speaking, July
is the driest month, but there is seldom a fall
of less than 3$ inches. The wettest season
is from October to December, and there
is another wet season of less marked duration
during March and April. Rain rarely falls
before 11 a.m., so that six hours of outdoor
work can be depended upon all the year
round.

In the low country the average maximum
temperature, occurring between noon and

3 p.m., is just under 90°, and the average mini-
mum, occurring just before sunrise, is just over
70°. The general mean temperature is about
80°. There is very little change in the mean
monthly temperature throughout the vear, the
average of ten years' readings at Taiping
exhibiting a difference of only 3-2° between
the mean temperature of May, the hottest,
and of December, the coldest, month of the
year.

The variation of temperature with altitude
may be taken roughly as a decrease of 3° for
each 1,000 feet increase of height. Thus the
mean maximum and minimum at altitudes of
7,000 feet may be taken as about 70° and 50°
respectively. This rule, however, applies more
closely to the minimum temperature, because
on a bright still day considerable temperatures

Mean Readings of Thermometer.

Place.

Period.

Max. °.

Min. °.

Perak.

Taiping

I 896- I 905

89-22

7359

Kuala Kangsa ...

8922

72-81

Batu Gajah

8963

73-16

Gopeng

»j

8928

69-27

Ipoh

»i

89-46

73'OQ

Teluk Anson

88-70

71-85

Tapah

89-00

7r-3i

Parit Buntar

>»

88-83

73-42

Kampar ...

1 898- 1 904

88-92

71-01

Selangor.

Ulu Selangor

1901-1905

910

7i-5

Kuala Selangor ...

86-7

754

Ulu Langat

88-3

74-1

Kuala Langat ...

86-2

72-2

Kuala Lumpor ...

I 896- I 905

90-0

711

Klang

1901-1905

862

73-6

Negri Sambilan.

Seremban

1897-1905

891

68-7

Pahang.

Kuala Lipis

1901-1905

940

69-5

may be reached even at high altitudes. On
Gunong Ulu Liang, at a height of 6,335 feet,
93° were registered.

The subjoined tables give the average rainfall
and the readings of the thermometer, so far as
they are ascertainable, In each of the four
States for several years.

Average Rainfall.

Perak.

Taiping ...
Kuala Kangsa
Batu Gajah
Gopeng ...
Ipoh

Teluk Anson
Tapah ...
Parit Buntar
Selama ...

Selangor.'

Ulu Selangor .
Kuala Selangor.
Ulu Langat
Kuala Langat .
Kuala Lumpor .
Klang ...

Negri Sambilan

Seremban
Jelebu ...
Kuala Pilah
Tampin ...

Pahang. 2

Kuala Lipis
Temerloh
Pekan
Kuantan...
Raub ...

1 894- 1 903

1 896- 1 903
1 896- 1 900

I898-I9OO

I898-I9O3
I 898-I902

Mean Totals.

I»353

75-50

98-25

1 1029

IOT28

10301

I40-8I

84-98

I32-75

I20-40
76-76
89-31

81-04

I02'02
89-53

8802
7022
71-12

8r8i

97-19

77-19

97-83

104-97

83-59

1 Above shows average for nine years, no record
for 1900 being found.

2 In each case above no records were found for
1900.

GEOLOGY OF THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES

By M. J. B. SCRIVENOR,
Government Geologist, Federated Malay States.

GEOLOGICAL survey
of the mining districts
of the federated Malay
States was commenced
by the writer towards
the close of 1903.
As he was without any
colleagues in this work,
it will readily be under-
stood that ideas concerning the general struc-
ture of so large and so densely wooded a
country must as yet be somewhat vague, and
therefore it is necessary to remark at the out-
set that the arrangement adopted of the rocks
forming ttiis portion of the Malay Peninsula is
provisional, and may be modified in the future
as further facts are brought to light. It is
significant, however, that the pakeontological
evidence already collected points to a close
relationship between the Federated Malay
States and the Netherlands Indies on the one
hand, and with India on the other. It is hoped
that in time it will be possible to produce a
map that will join the work of the Dutch
geologists to that of the Indian Geological
Survey. But the writer's immediate aim is the
Economic Geology of the Federated Malay
States, and a large proportion of his three
years' service has been expended in study-
ing the gold-mining districts. Unfortunately
this industry has given very poor returns,
contrary to the expectations of some, whose
hopes were founded, I fear wrongly, on the
evidence of work carried out by Malays.
But for two points the gold mines have not
afforded anything of great geological interest.
These are the occurrence of scheelite with the
gold on the Raub Australian Gold Mining Com-
pany's land and the existence of a gold-bear-
ing granophyre at Pasoh, in Negri Sambilan.

The physical features of the Federated Malay
States are strongly marked. The backbone of
the peninsula, separating Pahang from the
Western States, is a long range of granite
mountains. On the west subsidiary granite
ranges occur ; while on the east, in the centre
of Pahang, is the huge isolated Benom Range,
also composed of granite. To the north of the
Benom Range lies the Tahan Range, composed
almost entirely, as far as is known, of sand-
stone, shale, and conglomerate. Another
similar, but much smaller range, the Semang-
gol Range, separates Larut from Krian in
Perak ; and in Pahang again other conglome-
rate and sandstone outcrops form a long line
of foothills to the main granite range. In
addition to these ranges there is a third type,
composed of limestone, remarkable for rugged
summits and precipitous sides. This type is

strongly developed in Kinta, the chief mining
district of Perak, but fine examples occur in
Selangor and Pahang as well.

The two largest rivers are the Perak river
and the Pahang river. In their upper reaches
most of the rivers are full of rapids, but once
they leave the hills they meander through
extensive alluvial flats, affording excellent land
for agriculture, and, in some cases, extensive
deposits of rich alluvial tin ore. Near the sea
are large tracts of mangrove swamp, from
which, on the west coast, rise islands of granite
and of schists. The mouth of the Pahang
river is remarkable for being shallow, sandy,
and almost devoid of mangrove.

Two extensive series of stratified rocks have
been distinguished with certainty. The older
series is composed of shale, calcareous shale,
marl, and limestone ; the younger of estuarine
rocks, shale, sandstone, and conglomerate. The
former, named provisionally the Raub Series,
ranges, probably, from the Carboniferous to
the Permian ; the latter, named provisionally
the Tembeling Series, probably from the Trias
to the Middle Jurassic. In the Malay Archi-
pelago the limestones of West Sumatra (Car-
boniferous) and of Timor and Rotti (Car-
boniferous 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 respec-
tively referred to the Productus beds of the
Saed Range and the Upper Gondwana in India.

A further series of rocks, comprising chert
and carbonaceous 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, and is, it
is believed at present, a deep water equivalent
of the Raub Series ; that is to say, the Chert
Series was deposited very slowly and in a
great depth of water far from land, while in
shallower water a greater thickness of calcare-
ous rocks was being formed at a greater rate.

Associated with the Raub and Chert Series
are numerous beds of volcanic ash and lava,
comprising the Pahang Volcanic Series. The
eruptions were chiefly, if not entirely, sub-
marine, and the rocks vary considerably in
composition, ranging from basic andesites to
trachytes. In the conglomerate of the Tem-
beling Series pebbles both of chert and of
rocks of the Pahang Volcanic Series have been
found. This indicates an unconformity between
the Raub and Tembeling Series. At some
period after the deposition of the Tembeling
Series the crust of the earth in this region was
greatly disturbed, being thrown into folds, dis
located, and sheared. This resulted in long
lines of weakness, trending roughly NNW-
SSE, which admitted of the intrusion of masses
of granite, bringing with it the tin which is
now the chief source of wealth to the Fede-
219

rated Malay States. Later denudation de-
molished superincumbent rocks and carved
the granite and Raub, Tembeling, and Chert
Series into the present configuration of the
Malay States and Straits Settlements ; 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 Federated Malay States has been almost
entirely won from alluvium, soil, and soft
decomposed outcrops of stanniferous rocks.

The alluvial deposits, for the most part, are
of no great interest. It is true that many have
proved extraordinarily rich in tin ore, but apart
from ore contents there is little to claim atten-
tion here.

An alluvial tin-field of more than ordinary
interest is the Machi (or Manchis) tin-field in
Pahang. Here no granite is visible in any of
the mines or in the immediate vicinity. The
tin ore, there is good reason to suppose, has
been derived from small lodes in hardened
shale, one of which contains large quantities of
garnet. The ore in the alluvium varies in
grain greatly, and is singularly free from heavy
impurities, such as iron ores.

At Chin-Chin, in Malacca, is an excellent
example of tin ore in soil. Another occurs at
Serendah, 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 Bruseh, in Perak,
quartz reefs projecting into the soil have acted
as natural ripples against tin ore coming slowly
down a hill slope. 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. Pro-
specting 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 lime-
stone.

The exploitation of " lode " tin ore proposi-
tions is claiming more and more attention
from mining engineers. Although it cannot
be said that the development of these ventures
has yet attained great importance, there is
good reason to be sanguine for the future.

The most interesting "lode" deposits, from
a purely geological point of view, are those in
the crystalline limestone of Kinta. Little is
known of them as yet, but two " chimneys " of
ore are being worked at Aver Dangsang and
Changkat Pari, while at Siak a Stockwerk in
limestone has been prospected. At Lahat a
remarkable pipe of ore, the nature of which is
not clearly understood, has been worked for
some years.

With alluvial tin ore, wolframite, scheelite,
corundum, and monazite are not uncommon.
Quantities of wolframite have been exported,
but no market has yet been found for the
corundum or monazite.

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HARBOURS

SINGAPORE HARBOUR.

" Egypt is the Nile and
the Nile is Egypt," as
Lord Rosebery declared
in one of his famous
speeches, it may with
equal justice be said
that "Singapore is the
harbour and the har-
bour is Singapore," for
it was the sheltered and commanding position
of the island at the narrow gateway to the Far

acquisition of the island of Singapore by the
British a local writer stated that " The absorb-
ing sight here is the forest of masts which
graces the harbour. Upwards of fifty square-
rigged vessels may be seen lying in the har-
bour, forming the outer line of shipping.
Inside these, in shallower water, may be
counted from seventy to a hundred junks and
prahus from China, Siam, Cochin-China,
Borneo, and other places."

To-day Singapore is a vast distributing
centre, and occupies the proud position of
the seventh port of the world. Its harbour is
computed to be capable of accommodating the
combined navies of all the Powers.

ENTRANCE TO NEW HARBOUR, SINGAPORE.

East that first attracted the attention of Sir
Stamford Raffles when he was looking for a
station to counteract the influence of the Dutch
in the Malay Archipelago, and that has since
led to the great prosperity and importance of
the settlement, Within twenty years of the

In former days, before the increased steamer
traffic to the East consequent upon the opening
of the Suez Canal, Singapore Harbour pre-
sented an even more imposing appearance than
it does to-day. The sailing vessels used to
remain for several weeks, discharging and
loading in the roads, and there were so many

22o

vessels lying in the harbour that the horizon
could not be seen for their hulls. Now the
huge steamers which visit the port seldom stay
more than a day or so.

The inner harbour extends from Mount
Palmer (or Malay Point), a fortified headland,
to Tanjong Katong. The coast-line here is
crescent-shaped, and a line drawn from one
Jiorn of the crescent to the other would enclose
about 1,500 acres of water. Within this area
is usually congregated as heterogeneous a col-
lection of shipping as can be found in any port
of the world. Here are local coasting passenger
steamers, which are internally fitted up on
much the same lines as the latest ocean grey-
hounds ; there are huge Chinese junks, un-
wieldy but very picturesque when they have
full sail set ; in one part there are huge mail
boats ; in another Siamese sailing vessels ; and,
in addition, there are tramp steamers ; oil
vessels, with their funnels at the stern ; cargo
lighters of all shapes and sizes ; flotillas of
Chinese sampans, with eyes painted on their
bows, and smart launches steaming here and
there. Outside, in the deeper water, four or
five miles from shore, is the man-of-war
anchorage, lying in which two or three gun-
boats or cruisers are to be seen.

The entrance to the harbour is made through
the Singapore Strait, which is bounded on the
north by the Malay Peninsula and Singapore
Island, and on the south by the Batang Archi-
pelago and Pulo Batam and Pulo Bintang, two
large islands. The entire length of the strait is
about 60 miles. Its breadth at the western
entrance is about 10 miles, and at the eastern
entrance about 20 miles ; but south of Singa-
pore, between St. John's Island and Batu
Beranti, it is only 2\ miles wide. Ten
miles from the narrow entrance to the har-
bour vessels pass between the mainland
and a succession of small islands, which
gradually converge till they seem to bar
further progress. The approach to Singapore
is along a channel so narrow that it will only
just admit the safe meeting of two large
vessels. The passage widens at Cyrene Shoal
Light, and the shore of Singapore from the
entrance to Keppel Harbour becomes an inter-
v minable line of wharves, where nearly all the
big ocean-going liners load and unload and
take in coal. Tramps and smaller vessels
anchor in the roads and work their cargoes in
lighters.

The navigation of the Singapore Straits,
which was formerly attended with much
difficulty and anxiety, has been greatly facili-
tated by the erection of the Raffles, Horsburgh,
Sultan " Shoal, and other lighthouses. Even
now the large numbers of surrounding islands,
the sunken reefs, and the variations of the tide
necessitate very careful navigation, which is

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

221

OFF COLLYER QUAY, SINGAPORE.
JOHNSTON'S PIER, SINGAPORE. MOUTH OF THE SINGAPORE RIVER.

only undertaken by experienced pilots. The
pilotage extends from Sultan Shoal light in the
west to an imaginary line drawn from the
obelisk at Tanjong Katong to Peak Island in
the east.

The Government has recently acquired, for
three and a half million sterling, the property
of the Tanjong Pagar Dock Board, a private
company which for many years controlled the
whole of the wharfing accommodation. It has
also approved of an important improvement
scheme, which includes the reconstruction and
extension of the existing wharves, the improve-
ment of docking accommodation, and the con-
struction of three sea-moles, each a mile in
length, for harbour protection, as well as river
improvements, involving a total expenditure of
£4,000,000. There was considerable opposi-
tion, both to the Tanjong Pagar expropriation
and to the scheme for improving the harbour,
on the grounds that the price of the Dock
Board's property was exorbitant and that the
further protection of the anchorage was un-
necessary, inasmuch as there are only a few
days in the year (during the prevalence of the
NE. monsoon) when vessels cannot load and
unload in the roads in perfect safety. Never-
theless the two projects were officially decided
upon, and to carry them out a loan of £7,800,000
was raised by the colony in the early part of
1907. The harbour improvement scheme,
which was prepared by Sir John Coode, Son,
& Matthews, of London, has been entrusted to
the eminent British firm of Sir John Jackson,
Ltd., for execution, but only part of it is being
proceeded with at present. This part is known
as the Teluk Aver Reclamation, and consists of
the construction of a mole a mile long at Teluk
Ayer, which will enclose an area of 270 acres,
and the provision of a new wharf of about the

same length as the mole. Inside this area
there will be 18 feet of water at low tide, but it
will be possible to increase the depth to 24 feet

should this be deemed desirable in future.
When all these works shall have been com-
pleted Singapore will be one of the best-

V.'

ii** «p ;

*9Q»"y. -*r;

'^/WUyjJUB*

...- m.t

MALAY VILLAGE AT PULO BRANI, SINGAPORE.

222

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF MUTISH MALAYA

equipped ports in the world, well able to cope
with its vast shipping trade, which still goes on
increasing from year to year.

TANJONG PAGAR DOCKS.

Established just over forty years ago with
a capital of only 125,000 dollars, the Tanjong
Pagar Dock Company's undertaking has grown
to such gigantic proportions that when it was
expropriated by the Government in 1905 the
amount awarded by the Arbitration Court, over

for a length of 2,250 feet. As the business of
the company expanded the goods and coal-
shed space was increased.

The graving dock was formally opened on
October 17, 1868, by H.E. Sir Harry St.
George Ord, R.E., Governor of the Straits
Settlements, who christened it the Victoria
Dock. Built of granite and closed by a teak
caisson, this dock is 450 feet in length, with
a width at its entrance of 65 feet, and was at
that time considered one of the finest in the
East. At ordinary tides the depth of water on
the sill was 20 feet. The pumping machinery,
consisting of two pairs of chain pumps, was

the company, whose policy ever since has
had to be one of continuous progression and
development in order to keep abreast of the
multiplying trade. The number of vessels
visiting 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 correspond-
ing period of 1872.

As profits increased the wharves were still
further extended, additions were made to the
machine shop and blacksmiths' shop, new
godowns were built, and permanent coal-sheds

t I M O 4 F O

. -v. - .?-— ,*n . ' ■ i. - •• " '.flrfl

.HS2SI

which Sir Michael Hicks-Beach (now Lord
St. Aldwyn) presided, was no less than
28,000,000 dollars, or nearly £3,500,000 sterling.
A considerable extent of sea-frontage at
Tanjong Pagar was purchased by the old Dock
Company soon after its incorporation as a
limited liability company in 1863, and the work
of construction was soon commenced. By
August, 1866, a wharf 750 feet in length had
been completed, affording accommodation for
four ships of ordinary size and containing four
coal-sheds capable of holding upwards of
10,000 tons ; a storehouse, 200 feet by 50 feet,
had been opened ; an iron godown of similar
dimensions was in course of construction ; the
embankments had been strengthened and
extended, and a sea-wall had been completed

capable of emptying the dock in six hours.
Curiously enough, the dock did not prove
remunerative for several years, complaint being
made by the company of scarcity of shipping
and "unreasonable competition." Indeed, in
those days, even after the opening of the Suez
Canal, it was feared that the employment of
steamers in place of sailing vessels — the substi-
tution of iron for wood — would deleteriously
affect docking all over the East. Such fears,
however, proved groundless. A satisfactory
arrangement was come to with the rival com-
pany, styled the Patent Slip and Dock Company
(which had two docks at Keppel Harbour), and
the divergence of trade to the Straits of Malacca
following upon the opening of the Suez Canal
brought ever-increasing traffic in the way of

were projected in place of the existing ones.
This growing prosperity of the company led
to the opening of a second dock — named the
Albert Dock — on May 1, 1879. Constructed of
concrete with a coping of solid granite, this
dock cost £56,000 and took two and a half years
to build. It is 475 feet long, 75 feet wide at the
entrance, and has a depth of 21 feet at average
spring tides.

In sketching the history of Tanjong Pagar,
reference cannot be omitted to the great fire
of 1877. It broke out on the afternoon of
April 13th in one of the carpenters' houses, and
so fiercely did it burn that in a quarter of an
hour it had destroyed all the workmen's
dwellings, covering an area of at least two
acres, and had spread to the police-station and

THE TANJONG PAGAR DOCKS.
I & 4. Slipway, Tanjong Rhoo. 2. Albert Dock from Signal Station. 3 & 5. Albert Graving Dock (entrance). 6. East Wharf, showing Godown Facilities.

THE TANJONG PAGAR DOCKS.

I & 2. THE WHARVES. 3. THE GODOWNS. 4. KEPPEL HARBOUR FROM Bt'KIT CHERMIN. 5. FIRE FLOAT " VARUNA." 6. BRITISH INDIA STEAMER " TEESTA " DRY DOCKED.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

225

other buildings round the reading-rooms.
Finally it reached the coal-sheds. The build-
ings were highly inflammable, being constructed
of wood and roofed with attap (dried palm
leaves). For a whole fortnight the coal-sheds
burned continuously, and out of a stock of
48,000 tons only some 5,000 or 6,000 tons were
saved. The company's losses were estimated
at 53,000 dollars. In place of the attap coal-
sheds that had been destroyed, brick buildings
were erected, bringing the coal storage
accommodation up to 60,000 tons. The
natives employed in the docks, to the number
of some 3,000, were provided in those days
with a village of their own ; substantial houses
were erected for the company's officers ; an
iron and brass foundry, a saw-mill, and a
steam hammer were added to the property,
and improved fire-extinguishing apparatus was
provided. Quite recently a specially designed
and well equipped steel twin-screw fire-float
has been constructed by the Board. It is fitted
with a Merryweather pump, with complete fire
and salvage connections, capable of discharg-
ing 1,800 gallons of water a minute.

It is of interest to note here that during 1878
there were 541 steamers and 91 sailing vessels
at the wharf, their respective tonnage being
639,081 and 72,625 tons. The cargoes landed
at the wharf during the same year were :
Coals, 85,477 t° ns ; general cargo, 21,000 tons ;

New Harbour Dock Company (late the Patent
Slip and Dock Company) in 1881, the acquisition
of the Borneo Company's New Harbour property
for the sum of over 1,000,000 dollars, on July 1,
1885, and the connecting-up of the various
wharves, giving the company a continuous
deep-sea frontage of a mile and a quarter, the
property and plant at Tanjong Pagar practically
assumed their present shape, though, of course,
numerous extensions and improvements have
been made since to meet the growing require-
ments of the port. A railway from one end of
the wharves to the other has recently been
completed to facilitate the handling of cargo,
and new works of considerable magnitude are
now under way, including the reconstruction
of the machine-shops and other buildings in
the dockyard.

The New Harbour Docks are situated about
three miles west of Tanjong Pagar and com-
prise two graving docks of 444 and 375 feet in
length respectively, with sheds, workshops,
&c. These were purchased outright by the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in 1899, and
were included in the sale to the Government in
1905, as also was the company's interest in the
Singapore Engineering and Slipway Company,
Ltd., who are the owners of three slipways,
machine shops, &c, at Tanjong Rhoo. The
respective lengths of the slipway cradles are
155 feet, 116 feet, and 85 feet. The Tanjong

Company's property was unexpectedly expro-
priated some two years ago by the Government.
Various causes led up to this acquisition, and
important results are bound to follow. In the
first place, the Government had in hand a big
scheme for the improvement of the harbour ;
and, secondly, the Dock Company itself was pro-
posing to spend some 12,000,000 or 15,000.000
dollars on the improvement of docking
facilities and the rebuilding and extension of
wharves. Moreover, the belief, prevails that
Imperial considerations had a great deal to do
with the transaction, the object of the Home
Government being, apparently, to establish
Singapore as a great naval base for the
Eastern fleets, for which purpose it cannot
be surpassed as regards geographical and
strategical situation.

It was on December 20, 1904, that the
directors of the company were notified by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies that it was
intended to take over their property on terms
to be mutually arranged, or, failing that, by
arbitration. The share capital of the company
consisted of 37,000 shares of 100 dollars each,
which from 1902 had never fallen below a
market rate of 300 dollars until December,
1904, when, no doubt on account of the big
extension scheme proposed, they dropped to
230 dollars. After the announcement of the
Government's intentions, however, the shares

TANJONG PAGAR ARBITRATION GROUP.

Lcrd St. ALDWTN (Sir Michael Hicks-Beach), President, in the Centre.

(See p. 226.)

and opium 5,570 chests ; making a total of
1 73) r 47 ' ons - Treasure was landed to the value
of 102,000 dollars. The general cargo shipped
during the twelve months was 64,175 tons, in
addition to 1,851 chests, 106,957 tons of coal
taken by steamers, and treasure of the value of
1,083,277 dollars.
By the establishment of a joint purse with the

Pagar Dock Board are also the proprietors of
the graving dock at Prye river in Province
Wellesley, opposite the town of Pinang. This
dock is 290 feet long, and 50 feet broad at
the entrance. There is a slipway for vessels
100 feet long.

As stated at the commencement of this
article, the whole of the Tanjong Pagar Dock

rose consistently in the market until they
reached 500 dollars, at which figure they
remained, with slight fluctuations, until the
final settlement.

In the Legislative Council, when an official
pronouncement was made on the subject on
January 20, 1905, the Governor, Sir John
Anderson, K.C.M.G., stated that one of the

226

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

first papers put before him for his consideration
upon arriving in the colony in the early part
of the preceding year was a request received
by the Government of the Federated Malay
States from the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company
for the loan of 8,000,000 dollars at 3 per
cent, for the purposes of the proposed
improvement scheme. His Excellency found,

was necessary. He purposely said policy, not
management, because the Government would
have nothing whatever to do with the manage-
ment of the company, either then or in the
future.

To consider the proposals made by the
Governor, a meeting was held between the
Colonial Office and the London committee,

PINANG HARBOUR.

upon investigation, that the Tanjong Pagar
Company owned practically all the foreshore of
the colony suitable for wharfage for large
ocean-going steamers, while more than two-
thirds of the capital was held in London ; and
on reviewing the situation, he came to the
conclusion that if any question were to arise
between the community and the shipping
interests of the colony, on the one hand, and
the company, on the other, London would
have to be convinced before Singapore could
effect its purpose. This did not seem to him
right. Therefore he proposed to the Secretary
of State for the Colonies that the Government
of the Straits Settlements and of the Federated
Malay States should take up 18,000 fresh shares
in the company at 200 dollars per share, and
that the two Governments should either
guarantee or lend to the company further
sums required for the extension of works
(amounting, as he then estimated, to some
8,000,000 dollars), with the following provisos :
that the Governor should have the right (a) to
veto the appointment of directors and the
members of the London committee ; and (b)
to nominate two members to the board at
Singapore and one member to the committee
in London ; and (c) to veto any proposed
increase in the charges on shipping and on the
warehousing and handling of goods ; and (<f)
to veto the distribution of any dividends. He
found that the number of shares held in
Singapore was about 10,000, which with the
18,000 he desired the two Governments to
acquire would secure to Singapore the balance
of the voting power. When these proposals
were put forward by his Excellency, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies was doubtful
whether they were adequate to give the
Government and the local community that
control over the policy of the company which

who declined to accept any effective Govern-
ment control unless their dividend of 12 per
cent, were guaranteed to them. This condi-
tion the Colonial Office declined to accede
to, and eventually the Secretary of State
decided upon expropriation. An Expropriation
Bill was forthwith introduced into the Legis-
lative Council, setting out the conditions under
which the property should be acquired. It was
hoped that an arrangement would be possible
without arbitration, on the lines ofHhe London
Water Act of 1902. A Board, to be called the
Tanjong Pagar Dock Board, was to be consti-
tuted. The appointments to it were to be made
by the Governor, one-third of the members re-
tiring by rotation every three years. It was pro-
vided that there was to be no interference by the
Government in the ordinary administration of
the port management. The Board was to pay
into the general revenue of the colony a sum
not exceeding 4 per cent, per annum of the
amount paid by the Government for the under-
taking, the object being that the company
should be self-supporting. It was also stipulated
that any further profits should go to a reserve
fund, available for any purpose connected with
the business of the Board, providing that what-
ever remained over after the necessary charges
had been met should be devoted to works of
improvement or extension, or to the reduction
of charges, if thought desirable. There was
the assurance given also of absolute continuity
of policy on the part of the new Board, as
well as of non-interference by the Government
in the management. This Bill was eventually
passed into law ; the property was taken over
on June 30, 1905, and the new Board was ap-
pointed with eight non-official and two official
members, since reduced to six non-ofticial and
one official member.

In the meantime there had been a meeting

of shareholders to protest against the ex-
propriation and the Government's proposal to
pay for the property at the rate of 240 dollars
per share. It was pointed out that although the
concern had been paying 12 per cent, only,
disbursements, which might rightly have been
charged to capital, had been made out of
revenue representing an additional 24 per
cent., while the liquid assets had been aug-
mented to the extent of a further 6 per cent.,
thus bringing the earnings of the company up
to a figure representing a dividend of 42 per
cent. The shareholders also protested against
Government's refusal to pay the 15 per cent,
compensation usual in the case of compulsory
acquisition of property.

Efforts were made by conferences between
representatives of the Government and of the
company to arrive at an arrangement that
would be satisfactory to both parties, but so
wide was the divergence of opinion on the
two sides that arbitration had to be resorted to
in the end. A Court of Arbitration was
appointed, consisting of Sir Edward Boyle,
K.C., and Mr. James C. Inglis, of railway fame,
as Arbitrators for the company and the
Government respectively, with Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach, M.P. (now Lord St. Aldvvyn), as
Umpire. The Court began its sittings in
Singapore on October 16th and rose on
October 26, 1905. The leading counsel for
the company was Lord Robert Cecil, K.C., and
for the Government, Mr. Balfour Browne, K.C.
The company's claim amounted to 76,510,976
dollars and included 33,539,792 dollars for the
general undertaking at twenty-two years'
purchase, based on the average profit for five
years, and 26,150,200 dollars for prospective
appreciation. The Government's offer was for
11,244,996, being eighteen years' purchase cal-
culated on adjusted profits, plus an allowance
fpr surplus properties. It was not until July
4th of the following year, 1906, that the award
was declared by the Arbitration Court, the
members of which had departed for England
immediately after the conclusion of the evi-
dence and completed their deliberations in
London. Their award amounted to 27,929,177
dollars, together with allowances for reinvest-
ment, &c, representing nearly 760 dollars per
share to the shareholders.

During the last half-year in which the under-
taking was administered by the Dock Company,
viz. the six months ended June, 1905, the net
profit which would, under ordinary circum-
stances, have been available for distribution,
including 206,645 dollars brought forward from
the preceding account, was 891,675 dollars.
From this the directors recommended a dividend
of 24 dollars per share. In the first six months
during which the docks were administered by
the new Board the gross earnings, excluding
work done on the Board's own account,
amounted to 2,335,000 dollars ; in the first half
of 1906, to 2,517,000 dollars, and in the second
half of 1906 to 2,308,000 dollars — making a
total for the eighteen months of over 7,160,000
dollars. These figures include Prye Dock.
After deducting expenditure, the actual profits
in each of the three periods specified were
respectively 663,000 dollars, 702,000 dollars,
817,000 dollars. From this total, three sums
of 222,000 dollars had to be paid to the old
company as interest — a charge which will not
have to be met in future. This shows a steady
growth in the earnings, despite the fact that
there was a considerable decrease in dock
repair tonnage in the last half of 1906, the
figures for the three periods being respectively
1,118,146 tons for 165 vessels, 1,065,320 for 155
vessels, and 838,280 for 144 vessels.

In the meantime, the great Harbour Im-
provement Scheme has been entered upon.
The first part undertaken is that known as the
Teluk Ayer Reclamation, which will embrace
an area of some 70 or 80 acres and add largely
to the shipping accommodation of the port.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

227

The erection of a breakwater and the improve-
ment of the Singapore river also form part of
the scheme which the Government have in
hand, and on which they propose to spend
£2,092,600.

At Tanjong Pagar the works now being
undertaken by the Dock Board are :

(<7) The construction of a wet dock with a

When all these contemplated improvements
and extensions have been carried out, Singapore
will be capable of adequately filling the posi-
tion which she is called upon to hold as a
rallying point and strategic base for his
Britannic Majesty's fleets in Eastern and
Australian waters, and as one of the greatest
commercial ports of the world.

of 18 feet 6 inches at low water during the
prevalence of spring tides. There is a staff of
five competent pilots at the port. They have
their own launches and meet all vessels using
either channel. Within the anchorage, the
rise and fall of the tide is 7 feet in neap tides
and g feet in spring tides.

With the exception of the boats of the

PINANG HARBOUR (ANOTHER VIEW).

depth of water at L.W.O.S.T. of 30 feet. The
entrance to this dock will be 150 feet wide, and
the length of the wharfage 3,840 feet.

(6) The rebuilding of the main wharves in
concrete block work, having a minimum depth
of water alongside at L.W.O.S.T. of 33 feet.

(c) The construction of a graving dock at
Keppel Harbour, 860 feet long by 100 feet
wide at the entrance, with 35 feet of water on
the sill at H.W.O.S.T.

(rf) The removal and concentration of the
workshops at Keppel Harbour, involving the
entire reconstruction of the buildings, which
will be provided with the most modern
machine tools electrically driven from a large
power-station now being constructed at Keppel
Harbour to supply electrical energy to the
whole of the Board's undertaking.

PINANG HARBOUR.

Pinang is the great transhipment centre for
the northern part of the Malay Peninsula and
Sumatra. It possesses a safe and extensive shel-
tered anchorage lying between Georgetown,
on the north and east of the island, and Province
Wellesley, on the mainland of the Malay Penin-
sula. The channel between the island and the
mainland is a little over a mile in width at
this point. All large ocean-going steamers,
whether eastward or westward bound, enter
the port by the north channel, which can be
navigated safely in any state of the tide by
vessels drawing 27 feet of water. The south
channel is only used by small local steamers.
It is studded with small islands, and has a depth

Messageries Maritimes, all the mail-boats to
and from the Far East call at Pinang, and they
usually stay six or eight hours. In addition to
beacons, wigham and other kinds of buoys, the
approaches to the port are shown at night by
three principal lights — one on Muka Head, at
the north-west corner of the island ; one on
Rimau Island, which lies off the south-east of
Pinang ; and one on the flagstaff of Fort Corn-
wallis, in Georgetown itself.

No really bad weather is experienced at
Pinang either in the north-east or south-west
monsoons. Sudden squalls, accompanied by
heavy rain, prevail sometimes during the south-
west monsoon, but they never last more than a
couple of hours, and they are not dangerous to
shipping. They are known locally and by
seafaring men the world over as " Sumatras,"

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

229

from the fact that they blow across from
Sumatra.

A powerful dredger, capable of removing
350 tons of excavated material an hour, is
maintained for the improvement and deepening
of the harbour. During 1907 the harbour and its
approaches underwent a strict hydrographical
survey, and the new chart which is to be
prepared will show a greater depth of water in
many places than is indicated on the present
chart.

Until a few j-ears ago there was no wharfage
accommodation for large vessels, but in 1903
Swettenham Pier was built, with external
berthage of 600 feet, at a cost of 600,000 dollars.
One large liner, or two ordinary steamers, can
berth alongside the front of the pier, which also
provides berthage for a small steamer at the
inner face of the southern portion. The depth
of water off the front of the pier is 30 feet at
low water spring tide, and is sufficient to enable
the largest battleship in the British Navy to
anchor alongside. Plans have already been
approved for the extension of the northern arm
of the pier by 345 feet, and of the southern end
by 225 feet ; while an extensive scheme of
reclamation is now being carried out south
of Victoria Pier. An important subsidiary
port is being formed at the mouth of the Prye
river opposite Georgetown. Extensive wharves
are in course of construction there, and already
a dry dock, foundries, and workshops have been
built for the execution of repairs to shipping.

Situated as it is off the centre of the west coast
of the Malay Peninsula, which is being rapidly
opened up and developed, Pinang has great
possibilities as a shipping centre in the near
future.

MALACCA HARBOUR.

Malacca has neither a natural nor an artificial
harbour which can be properly so designated.
The town is built at the mouth of the Malacca
river, and, although within recent years con-
siderable improvements have been carried out
and the channel has been deepened, all vessels,
except native craft, have to anchor outside,
some distance from the town. Two permanent
rubble groynes have been built up to high-
water-above-spring-tide mark, the one on the
north and the other on the south side of the
channel at the river mouth. The north groyne
is 1,850 feet in length, and the south groyne
at the time of writing is 1,455 feet. Dredging
has been carried on since 1899, and up to the
present time 62,321 tons have been removed.
By this means an area of 26,439 square feet
of land has been reclaimed on the south
and is retained by the groynes. The work of
reclamation on the north side is approaching
completion. As a result of this river improve-
ment, Chinese junks and large cargo-lighters
can now enter the river, and the latter are able
to land their contents quite close to the railway.
These extended facilities have caused a con-
siderable increase in the shipping of the port.
Jn 1906, 1,530 steam vessels of an aggregate
tonnage of 320,121 tons, and 1,241 native craft,
representing 25,832 tons, cleared at the port.
A weekly service of steamers to Pinang, Singa-
pore, and the Federated Malay States ports
calls at Malacca.

FEDERATED MALAY
STATES HARBOURS.

The harbours of the Federated Malay States
are five in number. They are Port Weld and
Teluk Anson in Perak, Port Swettenham in
Selangor, Port Dickson in Negri Sambilan, and
Kuantan in Pahang.

The boom in the trade of the Federated
Malay States during the past few years and the

prospect of remarkable development in the
near future has given rise to considerable
speculation as to which will be the principal
port of the States. There seems now to be a
general consensus of opinion t!iat Port Swet-

dation there, the Government reclaimed the
swamp upon which Port Swettenham now
stands, and built the new port at great expense,
naming it after Sir Frank Swettenham, who
was Governor of the Straits Settlements and

PINANG HARBOUR (ANOTHER! VIEW).

tenham is destined to fill that position. It is
situated at the mouth of the Klang river, which
is sheltered by two islands, Pulo Klang and
Pulo Lumut. By the northern entrance — •
between Pulo Klang and the mainland — Port
Swettenham is six miles from the open sea,

High Commissioner for the Federated Malay
States at the time. There are three substantial
wharves and a passenger jetty resting on steel
piles, alongside of which there is a depth of
water sufficient to berth vessels drawing 16 feet.
Within the last two years large ocean-going

PORT SWETTENHAM— THE RAILWAY SIDING.

and by the southern entrance — between Pulo
Lumut and the mainland — twelve miles.
Originally the port of call for Selangor was
Klang, which is four or five miles further up
the river. Owing to the inadequate accommo-

steamers have put in at the port with increasing
frequency, until in 1906 fifteen vessels called
there direct from Europe. These vessels anchor
in the stream in 7 fathoms of water. The port
is large enough to accommodate at one time

230

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

eight or nine ocean steamers, besides local
shipping. The railway runs on to the wharves,
so that cargo may be quickly despatched to
Kuala Lumpor, the Federal capital, 28 miles

population of over 1,000, has sprung up where
ten years ago was nothing but an uninhabitable
swamp. There is now some talk of extending
the railway line to the end of the point at the

PORT DICKSON.

away, or to any town on the railway system.
In this way large quantities of rubber and
mining machinery are distributed over the
States. A good service of passenger trains
runs from the station adjoining the jetty.
Already quite an important township, with a

entrance to the north channel in order to
concentrate trade.

Formerly the chief port of Perak was Port
Weld, so-named after Sir Frederick Weld, a
former Governor of the Straits Settlements and
High Commissioner of the Federated Malay

States. It is situated at the mouth of the
Sapatang river, and is only seven miles distant
from Taiping, with which it is connected by
rail. Since the completion of the railway to
Prye the shipping of Port Weld has decreased,
and the goods which formerly entered the port
are now carried by rail from the northern
terminus.

Teluk Anson is now the only port of any
importance in Perak. It is situated on the left
bank of the Perak river, about thirty miles
from the mouth. The river is easily navigable
up to Teluk Anson for vessels drawing 15 or 16
feet of water. This port has made wonderful
progress, its shipping having been quadrupled
within ten years. It has regular daily connec-
tion with Pinang and Singapore by vessels
which provide excellent accommodation both
for passengers and cargo.

Port Dickson in Negri Sambilan offers good
anchorage and has regular steamer connection
with Pinang and Singapore.

There is no harbour worthy of the name on
the east coast of the peninsula, unless it be at
the mouth of the river Kuantan, in Pahang,
where there is a deep-water front stretching
for miles up the river. No vessel drawing over
10 feet of water can enter the river, and even
smaller vessels must so time their arrival and
departure as to take advantage of the high-tide,
owing to the presence of a sand-bar at the
river's mouth. Dredging operations are now
in progress, however, to remove the bar, and
later on, if the development of trade should
necessitate it, as seems not unlikely, a groyne
may be run out from Tanjong Gelang to
prevent further silting. A new road which is
being constructed from Kuantan to Raub will
join the existing road at Benta and give through
communication from one side of the Malay
Peninsula to the other. Incidentally, it will
serve to open up a great extent of country
reputed to be rich in tin. A railway line has
also been projected from Seremban to this
district, which promises in the near future to
become of considerable importance.

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THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS

SINGAPORE.

1LAD in a rich mantle of
green that never loses
its freshness, the island
of Singapore may justly
be termed the Emerald
of the British Empire in
the East. Lying at the
foot of the Malay Penin-
sula, from which it is
separated by the Straits of Johore — a narrow
channel varying from three-quarters of a mile
to two miles in width — it is the chief of the
Straits Settlements and the seat of govern-
ment. It has an area of 206 square miles, and
is oblong in shape, its extreme measurement
from east to west being 28 miles and from
north to south 14 miles.

The name Singapore is said to be derived
from the words " singha," a lion, and " pura," a
city. In Malay history it is recorded that Sang
Nila Utama, supposed by Mahomedan his-
torians to have been a descendant of Alexander
the Great, settled on the island with a colony
of Malays from Palembang, in Sumatra, and
founded the city of Singhapura in a.d. 1160,
changing the original name Tamasak to the
present-day title because he saw a singha, or
animal resembling a lion, near the mouth of
the river.

The settlement passed into the hands of the
British under a treaty with the Maharaja
of Johore in 1819. It remained under the
control of the East India Company, by whom
it was administered as an integral part of India
until 1867, when in conjunction with Pinang
and Malacca it was raised to the dignity of a
Crown colony.

The island cannot boast of many hills.
Generally speaking its formation is level, and
the few geographical eminences that are to be
seen are not distinguished by their altitude.
Bukit Timah, the highest, is only some 500
feet above sea-level. The general constituent
of the island is sandstone, heavily impregnated
with ironstone, locally known as laterite, which
is extensively quarried for road-making pur-
poses. In the valleys a peaty substratum is
found, varying from 6 inches to 2 feet in depth,
generally lying on a bed of clay. The plain
upon which the town of Singapore stands is
composed chiefly of deep beds of white, bluish,
or reddish sand, averaging from 90 to 95 per
cent, of silica. The rest is aluminous. Shells
and seaweed found in this soil show that at
one time it was covered by the sea.

On the sea-line of the island there are
extensive plantations of coconut-trees, and on
the uplands of the interior large areas are

covered with pineapples. The cutting down of
the jungle to make way for the pineapple
plantations has tended to reduce the rainfall — ■
to such an extent, indeed, that representations
have been made to the Government on the
subject.

For all this, however, Singapore has a very
humid and equable climate. The rainfall is
evenly distributed throughout the year and
averages 92697 inches. To this the island

monsoon. The north-east monsoon blows
from November till March, after which the
wind veers round to the south-west, and re-
mains in that quarter until September.

Commanding the narrow channel which
unites the Straits of Malacca and the China
Sea, Singapore, with its belt of countless little
islands, possesses a magnificent natural har-
bour, said to be capable of accommodating
the combined navies of the world. Until

SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE CITY.

owes its bright and luxuriant verdure and its
moderate temperature — so remarkable for a
place situated within 80 miles of the equator.
The thermometer seldom registers more than
82-31 degrees of heat or less than 79-55.
Thus it would appear that the mean tempera-
ture is lower by 9-90 degrees than that of many
localities in the same latitude. Furious gales
are of rare occurrence. If exceptional heat
has led to the accumulation of moisture and
electricity, a squall sets in, accompanied by a
heavy shower. The direction from which these
squalls come is determined by the prevailing
231

recent years, the harbour was hardly ever
without the presence of some of his Britannic
Majesty's warships, but in this respect there
has been a great change since the recall of the
British battleships from Far Eastern waters at
the close of the Russo-Japanese war. Nowa-
days it is only occasionally that Singapore is
visited by a warship of the squadron ; doubtless
in future years, when the port has attained
to the full dignity of a naval base, under
Admiral Fisher's scheme of Imperial defence,
there will be a reappearance of British levia-
thans in these waters. In the meantime, the

232

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

only naval congregation is on the occasion of
the annual meeting of the Admirals who com-
mand the British squadrons in the Australian,
Pacific, and China seas. It is not very long
a g°. by the way, that the absence of British
war vessels in Far Eastern ports and rivers,
where hitherto the white ensign was wont to
be an accustomed spectacle, was adversely criti-
cised in Imperial Parliament, and these criti-
cisms were cordially echoed in Singapore,
where Britishers recognise fully the importance
of maintaining national prestige, even at the
expense of a little ostentatious display.

The approaches to the harbour are laid with

volunteer corps, the oldest established section
being the artillery, to which is attached a
Maxim Company. Of more recent formation
is the volunteer infantry, one portion of which
consists of local Chinese and the other of
Eurasians. There are also a volunteer company
of engineers (Europeans) and a cadet corps
drawn from the schools.

It may be added that the first section of the
great harbour improvement scheme has been
commenced by the Government, who have also
had under consideration a plan for deepening
and improving Singapore river. When the
present works are completed the wharves will

harbour by the narrow channel from the west.
There are altogether four docks, with extensive
coal-sheds, stores, workshops, and a lengthy
wharf protected by a breakwater. About these
swarm men of different colours — white and
yellow, brown and black — like ants upon an
ant-hill. On the opposite side of the waterway
stand the Pulo Brani tin-smelting works, the
largest of their kind in the world.

With its busy life and shipping the harbour
presents an animated picture that fascinates the
beholder. There is a constant traffic amongst
the numerous small craft — sampans (rowing-
boats), tonkangs (lighters), launches, fishing-

WESTERN ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR.

mines and are commanded by heavily-armed
forts on the outlying islands of Blakang Mati
and Pulo Brani, manned by British Garrison
Artillery corps, the Hongkong-Singapore
Battalion Royal Artillery, fortress engineers,
and submarine miners. There is always a
British infantry regiment, too, stationed at
Singapore — just now it is the Queen's Own
(Royal West Kent) — besides an Indian regi-
ment (95th Russell's Infantry), and sections of
other military corps, including the Royal
Artillery, Royal Engineers, Army Service
Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, Army
Ordnance Corps, and Army Pay Department.
In addition to the regular troops, there is a

extend from Johnston's Pier, beside the Post
Office, in a southerly direction for a mile, and
an inner breakwater will be constructed, by
which about 80 acres will be added to the
available anchorage of the port. At present,
many of the local steamers using the harbour
work their cargoes as they lie out in the roads,
but the big liners nearly all go alongside the
wharves of Tanjong Pagar Docks. These docks
constitute the largest industrial enterprise in the
colony, and were recently purchased by the
Government at a cost approaching three and
a half millions sterling.

An excellent view of the docks and their
shipping may be obtained when entering the

boats, junks, and dug-outs — which flit to and
fro between the shore and the fleet of sea-going
vessels lying in the roads. The most con-
gested part of the harbour is at the mouth of the
river, which is often so crowded with cargo-
boats carrying goods to the godowns that
collisions seem unavoidable. The boatmen,
however, are experts in the use of the yulo and
scull, which, with punting poles, are the form
of propulsion generally employed.

The town of Singapore stretches in crescent
shape for four miles or so along the south-
eastern shore of the island, and extends inland
for more than a mile. Even beyond this ard
to be found the residential quarters of the well-

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234

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

TANJONG PAGAR ROAD,

to-do European and Chinese. From the harbour
the town presents a very picturesque appear-
ance, with its long sweep of imposing water-
front buildings, dominated by the lighthouse
on Fort Canning's wooded slopes, the clock-
tower of the Victoria Memorial Hall, and the
spire of St. Andrew's Cathedral rising out of a
mass of foliage.

Disembarking at the Borneo Wharf, and
approaching the town by way of Keppel Road
and Anson Road, along which route the electric
tramway runs, the visitor passes through open

country for about a mile, and then through
native bazaars until he reaches Cecil Street,
where the important European houses of busi-
ness begin to make their appearance. Proceed-
ing thence along Collyer Quay, which is flanked
by the spacious godowns of shipping firms, he
comes to Johnston's Pier, and, turning sharply
to the left, enters Battery Road, which, with
Raffles Place, constitutes the chief commercial
centre of the town. Clustered within this
small compass are the banks and principal
European offices and shops. Retracing his

COLLYER QUAY.

steps to the waterside, the visitor notices the
substantial block of buildings occupied by the
Singapore Club and Chamber of Commerce,
the Post Office, and the Harbour Department.
Opposite these are the handsome premises of
the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, while in
the centre of the roadway is the fountain
erected by the Municipal Commissioners to
commemorate the late Mr. Tan Kim Seng's
munificent donation towards the cost of the
Singapore waterworks. Across the Cavenagh
Suspension Bridge, which spans the Singapore
river, are the Departmental offices of the Straits
Settlements Government, the Town Hall, the
Victoria Memorial Hall, in front of which
stand the bronze statue of an elephant, pre-
sented by the King of Siam on the occasion of
his visit to the town about ten years ago, and a
granite obelisk perpetuating the memory of the
Earl of Dalhousie, who, as Governor-General
of India, at one time directed the destinies of
Singapore. At the rear of these are the Supreme
Court, a massive building of the Doric order,
and the Government Printing Offices. Just
beyond lies the Esplanade, a green plain of
about 15 acres in extent, around which runs
a broad and well-kept carriage drive shaded
by a noble avenue of leafy trees. This is the
favourite place of resort for all classes in the
early evening, when the heat from the rays of
the fast declining sun is tempered by soft
zephyrs from the sea. At such a time the
Esplanade — for which the town is indebted
to Colonel Farquhar — is crowded with smart
equipages. The enclosure is used by the
Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore
Recreation Club, both of which can boast large
and well-appointed pavilions of recent con-
struction. In the centre of the plain, facing the
sea, there is a large bronze figure of Sir Stam-
ford Raffles, "the father of Singapore." On
the landward side are seen Adis Buildings,
with the Hotel de l'Europe — a noble pile
harmonising with the adjacent public build-
ings — the Municipal Offices and St. Andrew's
Cathedral, a venerable-looking Gothic edifice
crowned with a graceful spire. Within the
Cathedral compound, which is tastefully laid
out, is a monument to the architect, Colonel
Ronald Macpherson, R.A. Further along are
Raffles Girls' School and Raffles Hotel — one of
the most noted hostelries in the East. Thence
onward the road — at this point known as
Beach Road — is flanked by native shops until
it reaches the Rochore river, where it turns
inland.

Parallel to this road which skirts the sea
runs the busiest thoroughfare of the city. This
is known on one bank of the river as South
Bridge Road and on the other as North
Bridge Road. Its whole length is traversed by
a tramway line. From it radiate streets where
native life may be seen in all its varied forms.
In this neighbourhood are situated the police
headquarters and the police courts, two of
the principal Mahomedan mosques, and the
Chinese and Malay theatres, which are an
unfailing source of amusement to the visitor.
At the rear of South Bridge Road and North
Bridge Road runs another main artery of
traffic, called at different points of its course
New Bridge Road, Hill Street, and Victoria
Street. From New Bridge Street entrance is
obtained to the grounds of the General
Hospital, a Government institution, near which
are also located the Lunatic Asylum and the
Isolation Hospital.

At right angles to all these thoroughfares
four main roads strike inland. The first skirts
the south bank of the Singapore river for a
mile and thence curves round in the direction
of Bukit Chermin and Passir Panjang. The
second, River Valley Road, runs along the
north side of the river to Mount Echo and
Tanglin, and recalls the quiet beauty of a
Devonshire lane. The third is named Stam-
ford Road from the Esplanade to Fort Canning,

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

235

and thence onwards Orchard Road. In
Stamford Road stands Raffles Library and
Museum, containing thirty thousand volumes
and an interesting collection of birds, beasts,
fishes, and reptiles, specimens of native handi-
crafts, weapons, &c. Just beyond this point
Orchard Road is joined by another road from
the water-front. This is Bras-Basah Road, in
which are to be found the Convent of the Holy
Infant Jesus, the Roman Catholic Cathedral
of the Good Shepherd, a cruciform building
surmounted by a spire 161 feet in height, and
St. Joseph's Institution. Close at hand are the
Roman Catholic Churches of St. Joseph and of
St. Peter and St. Paul. The fourth main road
inland is Bukit Timah Road, which is 14 miles
long and crosses the island to Kranji, whence
the passage to the State of Johore on the
mainland is made by boat or steam ferry.

Three other roads traverse the island —
Thompson Road, branching off the Bukit
Timah Road about two miles from town and
reaching the Johore Strait at Selitar ; Gaylang
Road, which crosses the eastern part of the
island to Changi and is the main road to
Tanjong Katong ; and Serangoon Road,
which ends some seven miles out on the bank
of the Serangoon river. Coast roads to the
west and east, in continuation of some of those
already indicated, are in course of construction.
In the town proper the principal streets are
broad, well maintained, and well lighted, but
there is a system of open drains that does not
make for sweetness. The suburbs are very
pretty with their well-kept, tree-lined roads,
along which are dotted fine bungalows sur-
rounded by verdant lawns and almost hidden
from view by luxuriant foliage. Amongst the
many handsome mansions gracing the Tanglin
neighbourhood is Government House, situated
in extensive park-like grounds and occupying
a commanding site. It is built in the Renais-
sance style of architecture, with a square tower
rising from the centre.

Probably at no other place in the world are
so many different nationalities represented as
at Singapore, where one hears a babel of
tongues, although Malay is the lingua franca,
and rubs shoulders with "all sorts and condi-
tions of men " — with opulent Chinese
Towkays in grey felt hat, nankeen jacket,
and capacious trousers ; Straits-born Babas
as proud as Lucifer ; easy-going Malays in
picturesque sarong and baju ; stately Sikhs
from the garrison ; lanky Bengalis ; ubiqui-
tous Jews in old-time gabardine ; exorbitant
Chetties with closely-shaven heads and muslin-
swathed limbs ; Arabs in long coat and fez ;
Tamil street labourers in turban and loin-
cloth of lurid hue ; Kling hawkers scantily
clad ; Chinese coolies and itinerant vendors
of food ; Javanese, Achinese, Sinhalese, and
a host of others — in fact, the kaleidoscopic
procession is one of almost endless variety.
The Chinese, however, constitute about two-
thirds of the population of a quarter of a
million. Though not confined to any one
district, the more lowly sons of the Celestial
Empire are to be found most thickly congre-
gated in the district known as China Town.
This is situated on the inland side of South
Bridge Road in the Smith Street district.
Here are to be seen all phases of Chinese
life and activity. The streets are lined with
shops, in which are exposed for sale a
heterogeneous array of commodities, and so
great is the throng of loungers, pedestrians,
street-hawkers, and rickshas that it is with
difficulty one makes one's way along. At
night-time the traffic is even more dense
than in the day, and the resultant din is
intensified by weird instrumental music and
by the shrill voices of singing-girls that issue
from the numerous brilliantly-lighted hostelries.
A curious combination of Orientalism and
Occidentalism is to be observed on every side.
From the midst of tawdry-looking native shops

BAFFLES SQUARE.

rise modern European establishments of com-
manding appearance ; hand-drawn rickshas
and lumbering ox-waggons move side by side
with electric tramcars, swift automobiles,
and smart equipages ; and the free and un-
fettered native goes on his way regardless of
the conventionalities which are so strictly
observed by the European. East and West
meet, and the old is fast giving way to the new,
but there is, nevertheless, a broad line of
demarcation between them.

The social side of life in Singapore is

ministered to by the Singapore Club, member-
ship of which is limited to the principals of
business houses ; the Teutonia Club, which, as
its name implies, is a German institution, and
possesses very fine premises ; the Tanglin
Club, a suburban club for professional men ;
the Catholic Club ; and the Young Men's
Christian Association. In addition to these
there are numerous athletic clubs, such as the
Cricket Club, the Recreation Club, the Swim-
ming Club, the Ladies' Lawn Tennis Club, and
the Turf Club. The Turf Club counts amongst

CAVENAGH BRIDGE.

236

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

tti-]\«ifU»;l\inu««t(t Bui £jU»»«A«,

RAFFLES MONUMENT AND ESPLANADE.

its members all the best known men of the
settlements. Races are held twice a year — in
the spring and in the autumn — and on these
occasions the whole of Singapore turns out to
witness the sport. There are three days'
racing, spread over a week, and the race-time
is observed as a general holiday. The race-
horses are all imported from Australia, from

which country also come most of the trainers
and jockeys. The club possess an excellent and
well-kept course, leased from the Government.
In the matter of "show places" Singapore is
somewhat deficient. Among the few that can
be mentioned the Botanical Gardens are the
best known. Tastefully laid out and possessing
many fine specimens of the flora of this and

other countries, they well repay a visit. When
the moon is full, a band sometimes plays in
the Gardens, which on such occasions are
thronged with Europeans and Eurasians enjoy-
ing a stroll in the cool of the evening while
listening to the music. But the Reservoir
Grounds, lying off Thompson Road some four
or five miles out of town, appeal more irre-
sistibly to the Western eye, for their soft
and reposeful beauty resembles that of some
of the English lakes. Velvety lawns, studded
with well-kept beds of foliage plants and
shrubs, slope sharply upwards to the dam
which has been constructed at one end of the
reservoir. From this point of vantage, which
forms part of a spacious promenade, a splendid
view is obtained of a broad sheet of water that
glistens in the sunshine like a polished glass,
and stretches away into the hazy distance until
a bend in its course hides it from sight. Its
irregular banks are clothed to the water's edge
with dense masses of beautiful foliage, through
which run shady paths. One of the most
delightful drives in the island is that to the
Gap, which, as its name implies, is formed by
a cleft in the hills. It is situated on the south-
west coast of Singapore, about six miles from
the town. Proceeding some distance beyond
the Botanical Gardens, one comes to Buona
Vista Road, which winds gradually upwards,
through acres of undulating pineapple planta-

BOAT QUAY.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

237

tions, until it reaches a break in a ridge of
hills, where a sharp turn to the left suddenly
brings the sea into full view. Countless little
islands lie scattered about the offing, and
picturesque Malay kolehs and Chinese junks
glide over the shimmering surface of the inter-
vening strait. At sunset, when the outlying
islands are silhouetted against a glowing back-
ground of gold, and the shadows begin to
steal over the silent waters of the deep, the
scene is one of exquisite and impressive beauty.
Krom the Gap the narrow road traverses the
brows of the hills for some distance, and then
gradually descends to Passir Pajang, where,
for a mile or two, occasional glimpses of the
sea are obtained between the groves of coconut
palms that fringe the shore. Another popular
place of resort is Tanjong Katong, which, with
its two hotels standing in the midst of a
coconut-grove and facing the sea, is an ideal
spot for a week-end rest.

Any description of Singapore such as has
been here essayed would be incomplete with-
out a reference to Johore, the capital of the
independent State of the same name. Although
situated in a foreign territory, Johore is only
one hour's journey away from Singapore by
rail and ferry, and is so much frequented by
Europeans from that settlement that it might
almost be likened to a suburb. The chief
attractions of Johore are its natural beauties,
the opportunities it offers for big-game shooting,
and its gambling shops, the last-mentioned of
which are a fruitful source of revenue to the
State.

wards the principle of popular representation
was given effect to by the passing of an Act to
establish a municipality ; and this concession

The town, which has an estimated population
of 235,000 inhabitants, is divided into the
following five wards : Tanjong Pagar (No. 1),

THE MUNICIPALITY.

From a few years after the establishment
of Singapore as a British settlement in 1819,
municipal matters were administered by the
magistrates, whose decisions were subject to
the approval of the Governor. Later on a
Municipal Committee was constituted. In
1854 a strong protest was made to the Govern-

VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL AND OBELISK.

was extended under the first Municipal Ordin-
ance in 1887. Krom that time onwards there
has been no change in the constitution of the
municipal body — five of whose members, in-

STAMFORD ROAD.

ment against the non-representative character
of this body, the members of which were all
nominated by the Governor. Two years after-

eluding the President, are nominated by the
Governor, while five are elected by the rate-
payers.

Central (No. 2), Tanglin (No. 3), Rochore (No.
4), and Kallang (No. 5), each of which returns
one member. Every candidate must be a
British subject, over twenty-five years of age,
able to speak and write English, and resident
within the municipality, and he must either
have paid rates for the half-year in which the
election takes place to the amount of 20 dollars
or upwards as the owner of property within the
municipality or be the occupier of a house within
the same area of the annual rateable value of
not less than 480 dollars. In order to vote a
resident must be over twenty-one years of age,
and must either have paid rates for the half-
year in which the election takes place to the
amount of 6 dollars or upwards in respect
of property of which he is the owner, situated
in the ward for which he votes, or be the
occupier of a house of the annual rateable
value of not less than 150 dollars, or be the
occupier of part of such a house and pay
a monthly rental of not less than 20
dollars.

One-third (or as near as may be) of the
Commission retire by rotation annually, and
the elections take place in December. On
the voters' list there are nearly five thou-
sand persons, but so little interest is taken
in the elections that a contest is a thing un-
known. In cases where an election fails
because the requisite number of people cannot
be induced to go to the poll, the vacancy is
filled by the Governor, who generally appoints
the gentleman who has been nominated, if
there has been a nomination. The reason
for the apathy of the voters seems to be that
any Budget proposals made by the Com-
missioners are subject to the Governor's veto
— an arrangement which has the effect of
converting the Commission into merely an
advisory and subsidiary administrative body.

Ordinary meetings are held fortnightly.
There are also meetings from time to time of
the Finance and General Purposes Committee,
Health and Disposal of Sewage Committee,

238

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

TANJONG KATONG.

Burial Grounds Committee, and Assessment
Appeals Committee.

The Commissioners levy rates and taxes for
general municipal purposes. The consolidated
rate for 1907 was 12 per cent, on the annual
value of all property within the municipality,
with an additional rate of 3 per cent, in respect
of water supply.

In 1906 the assessments on houses and land
amounted to 1,071,784 dollars ; taxes on
carriages, carts, horses, mules, dogs, motors,
&c, to 172,647 dollars ; licences for offensive

trades to 27,560 dollars ; miscellaneous fees
(including 50,809 dollars received for use of the
slaughter-houses) to 74,591 dollars ; rents for
markets to 233,230 dollars ; and water charges
to 435,060 dollars. The revenue from the sale
of gas was 232,366 dollars (showing a profit
for the year of 81,040 dollars), and from the
sale of electric current 8,307 dollars.

The chief items of expenditure were : —
Personal emoluments, 358,303.13 ; other
charges, 113,583.71 ; annually recurrent ex-
penditure, 563,602.04 ; disbursements recover-

BUKIT TIMAH ROAD.

able, r64.866.88 ; special services, 641,405.57 ;
loan charges 210.6c9.86 ; miscellaneous ser-
vices, 202,004.76 — total, 2,254,375.95 dollars.

On loan works the expenditure was as
follows : — New reservoir, 217,495.28 ; Kallang
tunnel works, 59,627.56 ; new water mains,
55,497.05 ; salt water supply for street- watering,
942.03 ; bridge over Singapore river 1,820.66 ;
fire stations, 0.24 ; quarantine camp, 296.39 ; new
markets and extensions, 1,798.17 ; Pearl's Hill
reservoir, 26,748.07 ; Bidadari cemetery,
35,468.45 ; reforming town drains, 8,643.60 ;
Stamford canal, 14,792.20 ; electric power
installation, 87,844.03 ; raising dam, 3.561.57 ;
new cinerators, 25,564.08 ; Mahomedan
cemetery, 45,922.35 ; Tanjong Katong roads,
25,884.23 ; and Cantonment Road, 15,809.16 —
in all, 627,715.12 dollars.

The work of the municipality is spread over
seven departments, viz., the Engineer's, Health
Officer's, Gas, Fire Brigade, Hackney Carriage
and Ricksha, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
and Suppression of Rabies Departments. The
most important of these is the Engineer's
Department, which regularly employs some
three thousand workmen and has charge of
roads and streets ;• piers, canals, and bridges ;
stores and workshops ; buildings, public
grounds, conservancy, water supply, and
electricity. The estimate of expenditure in
1906 for the Engineer's Department out of
revenue was 1,990,122 dollars, including loan
works, of which those now in hand represent
nearly 10,000,000 dollars.

The more important works now in progress
or about to be begun include a new reservoir,
to hold 1,000,000,000 gallons ; new filter beds,
five acres in extent, to filter the present supply ;
new filter beds, six acres in extent, to deal with
future requirements ; a clear water tank, to
hold 3,000,000 gallons ; seven miles of pipes,
30 inches diameter ; a new cemetery, of 45
acres ; an infectious diseases hospital, with a
site 100 acres ; a new bridge over the mouth of
Singapore river, 200 feet span, 75 feet wide ; a
new fire-station, to cost 70,000 dollars ; a new
market, on screw piles over the sea, 100,000
dollars ; market extension in Orchard Road,
25,000 dollars ; alteration to store and work-
shops, 20,000 dollars ; new incinerators for
burning town refuse, 100,000 dollars ; ferro-
concrete bridge, 90 feet long, 35,000 dollars ;
salt-water installation for street watering and
drain flushing, 150,000 dollars ; and a new
Mahomedan cemetery.

The staff of the Health Department consists
of three medical officers and thirteen sanitary
inspectors, with their complement of subordi-
nates. The inspection of dairies and milkshops,
abattoirs, and preserved fruit factories comes
within the purview of this department, which
is also responsible for the sanitation of the place.

Some idea of the growth and extent of the
Health Office's activities may be gathered from
the fact that during 1906 16,239 notices relating
to the making of drains, closing of wells, clean-
ing of houses, repairing of floors, &c, were
dealt with, as compared with 5,422 in 1897.

The vital statistics prepared by the Health
Department show that the average birth-rate
for the last ten years in Singapore was 1853
per 1,000 of the inhabitants, the lowest being
1570 in 1896 and the highest 2236 in 1904. In
1906 the birth-rate was 2038 per 1,000. The
European birth-rate in the same year was 28 - 26.
The average death-rate for the last ten years
was 43-86 per 1,000, the lowest being 36-14 in
1898, and the highest 48-66 in 1896. In 1906
the general death-rate was 37 -93, the European
rate being 1497. The chief causes of death
were phthisis, beri-beri, and malarial fever.
There was also a very large number of deaths
from intestinal diseases. Small-pox, cholera,
and enteric fever were the chief infectious
diseases, the two first-named at times almost
reaching epidemic proportions, while the case
incidence of enteric fever, though constant has

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

239

never attained a high figure. Bubonic plague
made its appearance in 1900, and since then 73
cases have occurred, the largest number in any
one year being 20 in 1904.

A well-equipped bacteriological laboratory
is attached to the Municipal Health Office, and
a lot of good work has been done by it,
especially in the diagnosis of malarial and
typhoid fevers.

There are two slaughter-houses where all
animals are examined before being killed, and
all the meat is stamped before it leaves the
abattoir. The only other supply of meat
allowed to be sold is that of the Cold Storage
Company. The meat supply is plentiful and free
from disease, and, although possibly not so
palatable as that procured in cold countries,
is as nutritious. The milk compares well with
that obtained in cold climates, but the filthy
habits of the dairymen and milk-sellers do not
make it a safe food. In 1906 there were 77
convictions for adulteration, the total number
of samples analysed being 400.

There are 193 registered public and private
burial grounds within the municipal limits.
Of this number only one is used for the inter-
ment of Christians. It is situated in Bukit
Timah Road, and is 19 acres in extent. Another
site of 45 acres on the Bidadari estate in
Serangoon Road was purchased in 1904 as a
Christian cemetery, but this is not yet open.

The waterworks were originally established

IVERNMENT HOUSE.

of a new reservoir, pipe line, filter beds, and
incidental work. The whole of the catchment
area (about 5,000 acres) contributing to the
proposed new reservoir at Kallang was pur-

During 1896 the consumption of water was
about 3J million gallons per day,'\vhereas at
the present time it amounts to 6J million
gallons a day ; that is to say, it has nearly
doubled in eleven years. The water supply
is regarded as safe, but owing to the presence
of a quantity of suspended matter, the colour
of the water is not good. Numerous analyses
are made to insure that the purity is main-
tained. The charges made for water by meter
per 1,000 gallons are as under :

GENERAL HOSPITAL.

by Government with a small impounding reser-
voir near the fourth mile-stone on Thompson
Road, whence water was conveyed to the
pumping-station by a brick conduit and then
raised by pumps of 3,000,000 gallons capacity
a day (in duplicate) to the reservoir at Mount
Emily. These pumps are now out of date, and
are never used. In 1876 the waterworks were
handed over to the municipality, and soon
afterwards steps were taken to introduce iron
pipes from the reservoir to the pumping-station,
to construct filter-beds and a clear-water tank,
build a new reservoir dam, increase the storage
capacity, and install new pumps and boilers (in
duplicate) capable of pumping 4.000,000 gallons
in twenty-four hours. All these works were
completed by Mr. MacRitchie by the year 1894.
Between 1896 and 1901 additional filters were
constructed by Mr. Tomlinson, and the capacity
of the pumps was increased to about 4,500,000
gallons in twenty-four hours. A new service
reservoir on Pearl's Hill was commenced in
1900 and finished in 1904, with a capacity of
6,000,000 gallons. In 1902 a scheme was pro-
posed by Mr. R. Pearce, the present engineer,
for the extension of the water supply to pro-
vide more than double the existing require-
ments at an expenditure of over 8,000,000
dollars. This scheme is now in progress,
contracts to the amount of 1,500,000 dollars
having been entered into for the construction

chased at a cost of about 600,000 dollars. In
1904 new pumps and boilers with a capacity
of 5,000,000 gallons a day were erected.

To shipping over wharves ...
Kor prime movers
To water boats
For manufacturing purposes
For trades —
To Dispensaries ■

„ Dhobies

„ Barbers

„ Cattle sheds and stables

,, Livery stables

„ Recreation grounds, &c..

,, Premises without gardens
,. with „ \

„ „ and/or stables

„ Private stables notattached f
to dwelling-houses J

* Plus meter rent,
f No meter rent.

Dollars.

1-50*
1.00*
1. 00*
0.80*

o-5°t

o.3of

o.4of

MOTOR MEET AT "TYERSALL," THE SINGAPORE RESIDENCE OF
H.H. THE SULTAN OP JOHORE.

240

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

The gasworks were purchased by the
municipality from a private company in
November, iooi, the price paid being
435,761.10 dollars, which was remitted to
London at the bank rate of is. io^fd. per
dollar, The money was raised by means of a
5 per cent. loan. The price of gas since 1906
has been 3.50 dollars per 1,000 cubic feet to
consumers of less than 50,000 cubic feet ; 3
dollars per 1,000 cubic feet to consumers of
50,000 feet and less than 100,000 feet ; and 2.50
dollars per 1,000 cubic feet to consumers of
100,000 feet and upwards. In the first two
cases 5 per cent, discount is allowed when the
payments are made within a month. The
works are situated in Kajlang Road. They

15 per cent, for prospective profits. In the
meantime the company has to pay to the
municipality 5 per cent, of the net profits
annually — a contribution which will be trebled
if the Commissioners should extend the term
of the lease for a further seven years. The
Commissioners have the right of access to
the company's books and records and the
power to inspect all cars, machinery,
wires, &c.

The supply of electricity for light and power
was undertaken by the municipality early in
1906, the energy being obtained from the
Tramway Company's generating station in
McKenzie Road, about a mile and a half from
the municipal electric sub-station, which is

and the number of arc lamps for street light-
ing purposes nine, the latter being 10 amperes
open type. Since then the number of lamp
connections has been increasing very rapidly.

There are five markets belonging to the
municipality, and they are a fruitful source of
revenue, the largest being farmed out at a rental
of 8,500 dollars a month, and the others at pro-
portionate rentals. They are situated at Teluk
Ayer, Rochore, Clyde Terrace, Orchard Road,
and Ellenborough. A sixth market is in course
of construction at Passir Panjang.

The Fire Brigade is undergoing reorganisa-
tion at the hands of its Superintendent, Mr.
Montague W. Pett, who came out from England
to take charge about the beginning of 1005, and

THE FIRE BRIGADE.

were originally erected in 1864, but since then
they have been almost entirely remodelled.
There are now three gas-holders — two with a
capacity of 60,000 cubic feet and one with a
capacity of 38,000 feet — and in a very short
time there will be a fourth with a capacity of
250,000 cubic feet. The consumption of gas
has increased very considerably since the
municipality took over the concern, the num-
ber of private consumers having doubled, and
being now 800. There are 2,000 lamps with
ncandescent burners for public lighting and
80 miles of mains.

The tramways are worked by a private
company under the " leasing system." The
Commissioners have the option of purchasing
the undertaking at the expiration of thirty-five
years at a valuation, to which will be added

situated in the centre of the town. The current
is transmitted on the two-wire system at about
460 volts pressure. From the sub-station the
supply becomes a three-wire one, with the centre
wire earthed, the pressure between each of the
two outer wires and the centre being 230 volts.
The type of distributing cables in use is
Callender's three core and three single jute
vulcanised bitumen-covered cables, laid solid
in earthenware gutters. The cost of energy
to the Commissioners is 12J cents per unit for
lighting, with a discount of 25 per cent, for
motive power. The charge to consumers is
25 cents per unit for lighting purposes, fans,
&c, with a discount of 25 per cent, for cur-
rent for power. In December, 1906, the equiva-
lent number of eight -candle -power lamps
connected with the mains was about 4,000,

under his management it promises very soon to
be brought up to a high standard of efficiency,
both as regards equipment and personnel.
There are three fire-stations at which firemen
are quartered, these being in Cross Street, Hill
Street, and Beach Road. A new central fire-
station is in course of construction in Hill Street,
and it is proposed to build another new station
in the Kampong Glam district and do away
with the Beach Road station. On Mr. Pett's
arrival in Singapore he found that the brigade
had undergone little improvement or extension
for a period of about twenty years, and was
unfit to cope with a serious fire if one should
occur. There were four steam fire-engines,
two of which were accounted too heavy and
unwieldy for rapid handling under the horse-
haulage system, while the others were of small

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

241

pumping capacity and old-fashioned. Among
the recommendations for improving the brigade
made by Mr. Pett to the municipality was the
purchase of a " Merryweather " 400-gallon
motor steam fire-engine, which has now been
working for some time with excellent results.
A second engine of the same type was due at
the time of writing ; and for equipping the new
fire-stations up-to-date time-saving appliances
are to be procured, including a petrol-driven
motor combination tender and fire-escape. The
establishment of a street fire-alarm system and
the provision of a fire-float for the harbour
are two other important items in the reor-
ganisation scheme, as is also the increase of
the brigade staff — European, Chinese, and
Malay.

In 1906 there were only nine calls on the
brigade, a decrease of twenty on the previous
year. The total loss by fire within municipal
limits amounted to 52,855 dollars, a reduction of
209,919 dollars as compared with 1905. There
were five cases of incendiarism in the year, but
this crime received a sharp check by a Chinese
spirit-shop keeper being sentenced to seven
years' penal servitude at the assizes for this
offence. In the first half of 1907 the number
of fires, and the damage done by them, has
been abnormally small. So marked, indeed,
has been the improvement caused by the
brigade's increased efficiency that the Muni-
cipal Commissioners have discontinued the
insurance of their buildings and property
with the insurance companies, and have in-
augurated a Municipal Fire Insurance Fund
on their own account.

From the beginning of 1906 the regulation
and licensing of dangerous trades was trans-
ferred from the Health Department to the Fire
Brigade Department. During the twelvemonth
1,369 licences were issued, an increase of
26, the fees received amounting to 17,529
dollars. There were 76 prosecutions for
offences against the regulations, and in 68
cases the offenders were convicted and
mulcted in fines amounting in the aggregate
to 1,505 dollars.

The Hackney Carriage and Jinricksha De-
partment deals with the issuing of licences,
the inspection of vehicles, &c. During 1906
20,870 ricksha licences were issued, an in-
crease of 1,329 upon the total for the preceding
year. A licence runs for four months. The
number of rickshas plying on the streets on
June 17, 1907, was 7,469, of which 998 were
first class (rubber tyres) and the remainder
second class (iron tyres). The prices at which
rickshas are let out by the owners to the coolies
vary in different localities, but the usual rates
per diem are : First class, 50 to 60 cents ; and
second class, 15 to 32 cents. The day coolies
must return their vehicles by 2 p.m. and the
night men before 6 a.m., otherwise they have
to pay double hire to the owners. There are
865 names appearing on the register as owners
of rickshas, but of that number the majority
are merely brokers, the rickshas being regis-
tered in their names for the convenience of
the real owners, who pay for this service.
Under the present Registrar, Mr. W. E.
Hooper, the system of registration of rickshas
and ricksha-owners has been put on a very
satisfactory working basis. The name, address,
and photograph of each owner is entered in
the register, and he is held responsible for the
good behaviour of the coolies to whom he
hires out his rickshas. Of these coolies there
are over 20,000 employed in the trade. If any
offence is reported against a ricksha-puller,
the number of the vehicle is looked up and the
owner discovered, and the latter is forthwith
obliged to produce the offending coolie or
suffer the detention or seizure of his rickshas.
The same thing applies to owners of dilapi-
dated rickshas, or owners who allow their
rickshas to ply for hire after the licences have
lapsed, a fine of 1 dollar being inflicted for

every day that a ricksha continues to run after
the licence has expired.
Until a few years ago all ricksha offences

than 5,oco cases were disposed of last year in
his court. At the police court the magistrates
dealt with 164 cases. The fines inflicted

THE WATERWORKS.

were dealt with by the magistrates, but the
cases occurred in such numbers that the work
of the police courts became congested, and in

amounted to 4,480 dollars as against 7,893
dollars in 1905. The gross revenue from
licences during the year was 142,956 dollars.

VIEW AT THE BACK OF THE POLICE COURT.

1903 the Registrar was invested with magis-
terial powers. Some idea of the extent of his
work may be gathered from the fact that more

Twenty-four cases were tried by the Acting
Registrar against hackney-carriage owners
and drivers, and they resulted in 16 convictions.

242

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

RAFFLES LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.

By R. HANITSCH, Ph.D., Curator and Librarian.

The Raffles Library and Museum, Singapore,
although a comparatively recent institution, is
directly descended from a proprietary library
founded as long ago as 1844. When, in 1874,
the Government decided to establish a museum
for the collection of objects of natural history
and to combine a public library with it, the old
'• Singapore Library " was taken over, and on
the suggestion of Sir Andrew Clarke, the then
Governor, the double institution was called
Raffles Library and Museum.

The old Library was originally housed in the

1906, and opened to the public on the Chinese
New Year Day, February 13, 1907.

The Library comprises about 30,000 volumes,
and, whilst of a general character, is particu-
larly strong in literature dealing with the
Malay Archipelago. Special mention should be
made of two sections — the Logan and the Rost
collections — to be found in the entrance-hall.
The first-named was collected by the late Mr.
J. R. Logan, of Pinang, the well-known editor
of the Journal of the Indian A rchipelago, and
was acquired in 1880. The other one was

graph of the monument to Sir Stamford Raffles
in Westminster Abbey.

The Museum collections embrace zoology,
botany, geology, ethnology, and numismatics,
and are almost entirely restricted to the
Malayan region.

The zoological section is contained in the
upper floor of the new building. Beginning at
the west wing we see several cases containing
the monkeys, conspicuous amongst them some
fine groups of orang-utan and proboscis
monkeys — the latter reminding one of pictures

RAFFLES MUSEUM, SINGAPORE.

Raffles Institution, but in September, 1862, it
was. removed to the Town Hall, where it
occupied two rooms on the ground floor.
When, in 1874, the Museum was added to it,
the available space soon proved insufficient,
and so in December, 1876, the Library and
Museum were taken back to the Raffles Institu-
tion and housed in the first and second floors
of the new wing. There they remained until
1887.

The present Library and Museum has a com-
manding position at the junction of Stamford
Road and Orchard Road, at the foot of Fort
Canning. It consists of two parallel halves.
The front building, surmounted by a handsome
dome, was opened in 1887, but was soon found
to be too small for its double purpose,especially
as up to 1898 it contained the Curator's quarters
as well. The building at the rear was com-
menced in 1904, finished towards the end of

purchased in 1897 from the executors of the
late Dr. Reinhold Rost, Librarian of the India
Office in London. The two collections are of
a special Malayan character.

The Library is well catalogued. The chief
catalogue, comprising not less than 636 pages,
closes with the year 1900, but it is brought up
to date by means of annual and regular monthly
supplements.

In the early part of 1907 there were about
320 subscribers to the Library, for the privilege
of using which fees of twelve, eight, and four
dollars are charged in the first, second, and
third classes respectively.

There is a spacious reading-room to the right
of the entrance-hall, used chiefly by non-sub-
scribers. The walls of this room are adorned
with portraits of former Governors and princi-
pal residents of the colony, with pictures and
plans of old Singapore, and with a large photo-

in Punch — and nearly forty species of other
monkeys — siamang and gibbons, macaques,
langurs, and lemurs. The big game of the
peninsula is well represented by the seladang,
stuffed and skeletonised, and about twenty-five
heads of it adorning the walls ; many specimens
of deer, rhinoceros, tapir, and wild boar. But,
unfortunately, there are only two young and
diminutive specimens of the elephant. The
beasts of prey are represented by a fine tiger
and black panther, both gifts from the Sultan
of Johore, by a spotted leopard, a clouded
leopard, other smaller cats, and a group of the
harmless-looking Malayan ' bears. Amongst
other mammals are the flying fox and other
bats, shrews, squirrels, and other rodents, scaly
ant-eater, and the aquatic mammals, such as
dugongs, dolphins, and porpoises. A striking
exhibit is the skull of the humpbacked whale
which was stranded about twenty-five years

INTERIOR VIEWS OP THE SINGAPORE MUSEUM.

244

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

ago near Malacca. The animal measured
42 feet.

The birds fill eight large cases. Most of
them have recently been remounted, and show
their plumage to the best advantage. We can
only mention the hawks, the pheasants (with
two specially fine Argus pheasants), the birds
of paradise, the hornbills, and a case of
Christmas Island birds. Amongst the reptiles
the most remarkable object is a crocodile,
15J feet in length, from the Serangoon river,
Singapore. There is a large collection of
snakes in spirit ; there are two specimens of
the python, each about 22 feet in length, one
stuffed and the other skeletonised ; and some
excellent models of snakes, especially one of
the deadly hamadryad. The lizards, turtles,

The marine section comprises crabs and
lobsters, with the uncanny robber crab from
Christmas Island ; shells of all sorts, sea
urchins, starfishes, sea lilies and feather stars,
sponges, and several cases of beautiful corals —
most of them dredged or collected at low tide
from the immediate neighbourhood of Singa-
pore, from Keppel Harbour, and from Blakang
Mati.

The botanical section is only small. It con-
sists of models of local fruit and vegetables,
made of paraffin wax and painted in natural
colours. Samples of local timber and of other
vegetable products, such as oils and fibres, will
shortly be added to this section.

The geological and mineralogical collection
chiefly contains what is most of local interest —

s»

LEONARD WEAY, I.S.O.
(Director of Museums, Federated Malay States.)

DR. R. HANITSCH.

(Curator, Raffles Library and Museum,
Singapore.)

tortoises, and amphibians are well represented.
There are also fishes, large and small, stuffed
and in spirit — amongst them the "sea devil,"
a kind of huge ray, measuring 12 feet across.

Butterflies and moths fill thirty-two cases.
There are also some cases of wonderful beetles,
wasps and bees, cicadas and lantern flies, grass-
hoppers, and stick and leaf insects. Finally,
there are also some fearsome scorpions and
spiders.

F. W. KNOCKER.

(Curator, Perak State Museum,
Taiping )

numerous samples of tin ore from various mines
of the Malay Peninsula, and a huge block of
tin ore weighing half a ton, which in the year
1894 was presented by the Chinese of Kuala
Lumpor to H.E. Sir Charles Mitchell, Governor
of the Straits Settlements at the time, and by
him handed over to the Museum. The com-
mercial value of this block was some years ago
estimated at £70. Its present value would be
considerably more. This section also contains

some of the first few fossils discovered in
Singapore, from Mount Guthrie, Tanjong Pagar.
They are principally marine bivalves, probably
of middle Jurassic age.

The Ethnological Gallery is on the upper
floor of the old building. It contains a fine
display of gruesome-looking Malayan, Javanese,
and Dyak spears, swords, and krisses, some
plain, some silver-mounted ; Dyak ornaments,
shields, and war dresses, amongst the latter a
curious but apparently very serviceable one
made of bark cloth and fish scales ; models of
native houses and native craft, filling nearly a
whole room ; beautifully made spears, clubs,
and paddles from New Guinea and neighbour-
ing islands ; a case illustrating worship and
witchcraft, with specimens of the " kapal
hantu " or " boat of the spirits," which is
said to have the remarkable property of con-
veying sickness away from an infected locality
when launched with due ceremony ; a case of
musical instruments, if the noise produced by
native fiddles, flutes, gongs, and drums may be
called music ; a case of costly sarongs and
other cloth, with models of looms illustrating
their manufacture. There are shelves upon
shelves of mats and baskets, cleverly made of
grass, rattan, and palm (pandanus) leaves. One
case holds baskets from Malacca, finished and
in various states of manufacture, with tools and
photographs, presented by Mrs. Bland, who
greatly fostered that industry in Malacca ; also
samples of Malacca lace, presented by the
same lady. In the centre of one case showing
pottery is a huge earthenware jar from Ban-
jermassin, Borneo, of the kind used there for
human burial. Two other cases show valuable
silver and brass ware, whilst a number of
bronze swivel guns, from Brunei, stand in
various corners of the gallery. One of these
guns is quaintly ornamented with raised figures
of snakes, frogs, crocodiles, birds, and other
animals. Two cases hold a large series of
Buddhist images from Laos, Siam, whilst three
other cases are set apart for the ethnology
of the Bismarck Archipelago, of Timor Laut,
and of Pagi Island respectively. Part of the
walls of the gallery are covered with the
curious figures of the Javanese " Wayang
Kulit " or " Shadow Play." But probably the
most gorgeous exhibit in this section is a state
mattress, with bolsters and pillows of silk,
richly embroidered with gold and silver, as
used by Malay Sultans at their weddings.

The numismatic collection contains gold,
silver, copper, and tin coins from the Straits
Settlements, Johore, Pahang, Kelantan, Treng-
ganu, Siam, Sumatra, the British East India Com-
pany, the Dutch East India Company, Java, Ban-
jermassin, Sarawak, British North Borneo, and
other places. Practically unique is a collection
of Portuguese tin coins, which were discovered
in 1000 during excavations at the mouth of the
Malacca river, collected together by the Hon.
W. Egerton, the then Resident Councillor of
Malacca, and by him handed over to the Raffles
Museum. Additional coins were found a few
years later, and presented to the Museum by
the Hon. R. N. Bland.

The oldest of these tin coins date from the
time when the Portuguese, under Albuquerque,
took possession of Malacca in 151 1, i.e., from
the reign of King Emmanuel (1495-1521).
Later coins are from the reigns of John III.
(1521-1557) and Sebastian (1557-1578). There
is no doubt that these coins are the oldest
archaeological record of the colony. A de-
tailed description of them is given in the
Journal of the Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic
Society, Nos. 39 and 44.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA 245

PINANG.

PINANG has a subtle fascination that it is
difficult to define. It lacks the variety to
be found in Bangkok or Tokyo ; it has not the
same degree of Orientalism to be found in
Pekin or Canton ; and it does not present
the same deep contrasts as are to be met
with in Durban, where the rays from the arc
of an electric lamp may shine on to a path-
way through the jungle. Nor is it a modern
Pompeii, teeming with associations of the dis-
tant past ; while even those " places of in-
terest" so dear to the heart of the common
or garden guide-book manufacturer are re-
markably limited in number. And yet, withal,
its charms attract the "exile" from home as
easily as do the disadvantages of, say, Manila
repel.

Should the visitor arrive by steamer from
Europe or Singapore at an early hour in the
morning, before the Port Health Officer has
had time to come out in a neat little steam
launch to examine the passengers, he will find
but little in the vista before him to anticipate
anything out of the common— that is, if already
he has had on his voyage a surfeit of tropical
scenery. As his vessel takes up her place in
the channel separating the island of Pinang

MUNICIPAL STAFF.

sampans are crowded with a very mixed
" cargo " of Asiatics and luggage of endless
description. The visitor probably expects to
witness a series of accidents and collisions,
only to find that his fears are groundless, for
the swarthy Kling sampan-men are no novices
at their work, and, after depositing their
assorted freight at the nearest jetty or land-
ing-place, are back again within an incredibly
short time for another " load."

Whilst he awaits the shipping agent's launch
or a diminution in the demand for sampans,
the visitor has time to look around him. He
is agreeably surprised to find that the harbour

THE RESIDENCY.

from the Malay Peninsula, the capital, George-
town (called after George, Prince of Wales)
seems to be only a long, thin line surmounted
on the left by a range of hills gently sloping
upward, apparently almost from the water's
edge. Calm and tranquillity appear at that
moment to reign supreme, and the lines of
Goldsmith's " Deserted Village " are recalled
involuntarily.

Presently, however, a veritable little fleet of
sampans (or shoe-boats), steered by dusky
upright Tamil figures, come swiftly out from
the jetty as at some given word of command,
and swarm round the steamer on all sides.
The moment the last native passenger is
"ticked off" by the Port Health Officer the

MUNICIPAL TRAMWAYS.

246

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

is very capacious, and that its maritime trade,
judging by the flags of many nationalities, is
of an international character, both as regards

the Straits Trading Company. Any specu-
lations he may indulge in as to what lies
hidden from view in the hinterland beyond

PINANG IN 1828.

small coasting vessels and large ocean liners.
A cursory glance over at the mainland — at
Province Wellesley (which is part of the
settlement of Pinang) — will unfold to him a
beautiful coast-line fringed with graceful palm-

are disturbed, however, by the arrival of a
steam-launch, which swiftly bears him on his
mission — not to "see Naples and die," but to
see Pinang, and live ever afterwards with only
the most pleasant memories of his visit, be it

trees, and dotted here and there with Malay or long or brief.

101

rf*»~

/•V-

— ^ m "~4tiS^ r '*

SETi-I

[ -1

■

1HHH Hi

PINANG IN 1837.

other Oriental and European habitations, be-
sides a bird's-eye view of the village of
Butterworth and the tin-smelting works of

The short run between the steamer and the
Victoria Jetty will in itself be a " voyage of dis-
covery." Pinang, taken as a unit, is no great

producing or consuming place ; its own ex-
ports and its own imports are as a mere
drop in the bucket ; but it is a distributing
centre to and from the vast and rapidly
developing hinterland of the Federated Malay
States and Siamese Malaya, and to and from
the Dutch East Indies, while it further acts as
an intermediate feeder for Indian trade. Ample
evidence of the nature of Pinang's products (in-
cluding those of Province Wellesley) may be
seen from a cursory glance at the contents of
the innumerable tongkangs, or lighters, moored
alongside the merchant vessels, the principal
being tin, gambier, pepper, copra, gutta-
percha, gum copal, tapioca, and rubber.
Good as the trade of Pinang is, however,
it might easily have been very much larger
had there been greater facilities for carrying
on the trade of a transit port. Within the past
quarter of a century the trade of Pinang has
increased by over 400 per cent.

As the visitor approaches Victoria Pier — a
small covered-in jetty — he will see on his
right-hand side Swettenham Pier, named
after Sir Frank Swettenham, the previous
Governor. This latter pier was opened in
1905, is 600 feet in length, and, it is said, has
taken "nearly twenty years of representa-
tion " to get constructed. Adjoining it are old
barn-like structures called goods-sheds, which
are leased out by the Government to landing
and shipping agents. Close at hand, how-
ever, is a block of newly-built goods stores,
or godowns, which have a more modern
appearance.

Opposite the jetty sheds, as they are termed
locally, a great block of buff-coloured Govern-
ment buildings sweeps from Weld Quay into
King Edward Place and Beach Street, and
thence round into Downing Street. They com-
prise the General Post Office, the Government
Telegraph Office, and the Government Tele-
phone Exchange ; the Governor's Office, for
the use of his Excellency when visiting
Pinang ; the Resident Councillor's Office, the
Audit Office, the Public Works Department,
the Land Office, the Marine Department, in-
cluding the Harbour Master's Office, and the
Office of the Solicitor-General.

Directly opposite the main entrance of the
post office in Downing Street is another buff-
coloured edifice, which is shared by the
Pinang Chamber of Commerce, the Pinang
Turf Club, and the Town Club.

Like Weld Quay, Downing Street is by no
means one of the finest streets in Pinang, not-
withstanding its rather high-sounding name,
reminiscent of its famous namesake in London.
But were the visitor to judge Pinang, or, to
be more particular, Georgetown, by its streets
alone, he would perhaps carry away with
him impressions far from favourable. Of
the fifty odd public roads and streets within
municipal limits there are few within the
business part of the town of any special
note. The majority are badly laid out, and,
strange to say, the greatest offender in this
respect is Beach Street, the very " hub "
of local trade and commerce. It stands at
right angles to Downing Street, and is long,
narrow, irregular, and ungainly — some parts,
especially in what is known as the Chinese
quarter, being extremely narrow — and alto-
gether ill-suited for the requirements of a
go-ahead business community. In years
gone by, before the present development of
Pinang was ever dreamt of, Beach Street, as
its name naturally implies, was not a street but
a sea-shore ; and as, by the evolution of Nature,
the sea receded and the- land was reclaimed,
first one row of shops and houses and then
. another arose in rapid succession, but without
any apparent idea of symmetry on the part of
the builders. The natural effect of this hap-
hazard arrangement is seen in the Beach Street
of the present day.

All the streets west of Beach Street follow a

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

247

rectangular design, which renders the task of
finding one's way about the town simplicity
itself, and within those streets nearest to Beach-
street are to be found the best studies of
Oriental arts and industries. At night this
neighbourhood is badly lighted, for the electric
lighting system, which is a feature of other
portions of the town, has not yet been extended
to Beach Street, despite its commercial im-
portance. As the northern half is confined to
European shops and warehouses, there is not,
of course, the same need for electric light. At
the other end, the proverbial industry of the
Chinese is well emphasised ; for, long after his
European rival in business has not only gone
home for the day, but retired for the night as
well, the Chinaman has his shop brightly lit up
with great hanging lamps, and an army of
assistants, clerks, and coolies are hard at work.

And then there are Asiatics of other nation-
alities, who have, metaphorically speaking,
" pitched their tents" in Pinang in order to
gain a livelihood — the Indian money-changers,
whose stalls are to be seen on every pavement ;
the Chetty money-lenders, whose habitations
are to be found clustered together in a row in
Pinang Street and King Street ; the Sinhalese
silver-ware dealer and vendor of lace ; the
" Bombay merchant," who stocks everything
from curios to cottons ; and the Japanese,
whose special " lines" are curios, hair-dressing,
photography, or tattooing. All these and more
are to be met with in Pinang, which is nothing
if not cosmopolitan. Of the 131,917 persons
who made up the estimated population of
Pinang in 1906 (excluding Province Wellesley),
there were 1,056 Europeans ; 1,759 Eurasians ;
75,495 Chinese ; 33,525 Malays ; 18,162 Indians ;
and 1,920 of " other nationalities." The total
population within municipal limits was esti-
mated in 1906 at 99,400.

A touch of picturesqueness is lent to the
streets at the busiest parts of the day by the
throngs of Orientals of all races, clad in gar-
ments peculiar to their respective countries.
The " nonias " or wives of the "towkays" are
usually resplendent in jewellery worn over a
neat-fitting garment of some bright hue that
envelops them from neck to foot ; but it is
seldom that they discard their own clumsy-
looking Chinese wooden shoes for those of
European pattern. The Malay females also
are fond of colour. They follow their men-
folk so far as the "sarong" is concerned, but
they wear a short cotton jacket, above which
they have a circular piece of cloth with which
they enshroud their heads and faces when they
appear in public.

House rent in Pinang is ridiculously high,
and the European may be considered fortunate
if he can get a fairly comfortable bungalow,
lacking many " modern conveniences," for
between 70 and 100 dollars per month. As the
Europeans, generally speaking, come to the
tropics to make money and not for the benefit
of their health, it naturally follows that their
houses are never extravagantly furnished.
Their " household gods " are mostly made of
rattan or cane, which is cheap, cool, and light.
Hitherto they have not enjoyed the advantage
of any special quarter of the town in which to
reside by themselves, so interwoven with their
houses are those of Eurasians and Asiatics.
Now, however, a European residential quarter
is springing up in the vicinity of the Sepoy
Lines — once upon a time the locale of a British
regiment's barracks. The finest sites and the
most palatial residences in Pinang are monopo-
lised by the wealthy Chinese, many of whom
also live in the heart of the business portion of
the town. The houses of these latter do not,
from an external point of view, betray the
affluence of their occupants; but inside they are
palaces on a miniature scale, with the most
costly furnishings and fittings, both of Oriental
and Occidental manufacture. Other Chinese,
again, in common with the majority of the

Malays and Tamils, live in mere hovels, in
huts built on piles, or huddled together in
cubicles of the filthiest possible nature. And
it is a striking anomaly that some of the most

p -r r K'

greatest mortality occurs in the hottest
months — May, June, and July. Pinang, at the
same time, has never the same stifling, op-
pressive heat that is experienced in, say

THE HOSPITAL.

wretched-looking habitations of the natives are
to be found alongside a huge Chinese club or
residence, or adjacent to a European bun-
galow.

Bangkok, the temperature rarely reaching
94 , while it is sometimes as low as 72 .
The average maximum is about 89-5°, the
average minimum 74-2°, and the mean tem-

CHINA STREET.

Still, notwithstanding the poverty and
squalor of the large majority of its inhabitants,
the average annual death-rate of the Munici-
pality is no higher than 39^43 per mille. The

perature is about 8o - 6o°. Then, besides the
continual cooling breeze from the sea, there is
an abundant rainfall, the average for the last
23 years being I25'43 inches. It will thus be

248

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

concluded that there are many worse places
east of Suez than Pinang for the European to
reside in.

Georgetown is fortunate in having a Munici-
pal Commission, of whose beneficent adminis-
tration there is ample evidence on every hand.
The streets are generally well kept ; the drain-

If the latter begins his "tour of inspection"
from Swettenham Wharf, the first objects to
attract his attention after passing the Govern-
ment buildings in King Edward Place (to
which reference has already been made) will
be the clock tower and Fort Cornwallis. The
clock tower was presented to the town in 1897

<4-

^^ ^

PINANG FROM THE HARBOUR.

age. though not perfect, is receiving greater
attention year by year ; there is an excellent,
though as yet limited, electric lighting system ;
there is an eleven-mile electric tramway, with
a service of eight cars at intervals of eleven
minutes ; and there is a good supply of potable
water from the waterfall at the Botanical
Gardens.

With regard to the topography there is
much to interest the resident and visitor alike.

by Mr. Chea Chen Eok, J. P., one of Pinang's
Chinese millionaires, as a permanent memorial
of the late Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
It is sixty feet in height — a foot for each of the
sixty years of her Majesty's reign up to 1897 —
and cost the donor some thirty-five thousand
dollars. Adjoining the clock tower is Fort
Cornwallis, surrounded by a moat. In the
early days of Pinang the Fort occupied a
prominent position in the affairs of the town,

although there appears to be no reliable data
as to when it was built or how much it
cost. In the official records relating to the
settlement the last document bearing the
signature of Capt. Francis Light, the founder
of Pinang, is dated Fort Cornwallis, January
25, 1794. When the military rule of Pinang
was superseded by a civil administration, and,
subsequently, when the British regiment was
withdrawn from the island, the Fort lost much
of its importance, and at the present day is used
only as a signal station for the shipping of the
port, as quarters for European and Sikh police,
and as a Drill Hall for the local volunteer corps.
The ancient landmark is shortly to disappear,
however, by order of the Straits Government,
to make more room near Swettenham Wharf
for the claims of commerce, and at the time of
writing the Legislative Council have passed a
vote of 22,500 dollars for the purchase of a
vacant site in Northam-road on which to build
a new Drill Hall and Government quarters.

South of Fort Cornwallis — at the end of
Beach Street, properly speaking — are the
Police Offices, adjoining which, again, are
the Police Courts with a frontage to Light
Street. The Police Courts are three in
number, and both internally and externally
are but ill-suited for the needs of the place.

West of Fort Cornwallis is the Esplanade,
a comprehensive name which includes a large
ground on which football, cricket, lawn-tennis,
and bowls are played, and also the promenade
along the sea front. On the Fort side is the
pavilion of the Pinang Recreation Club, whose
membership mainly comprises Eurasians ; on
the opposite side is the pavilion of the Pinang
Cricket Club, on whose membership roll are
chiefly Europeans. At the south side of the
athletic ground is a bandstand, where a Filipino
band plays for an hour or so on Mondays, Wed-
nesdays, and Fridays, besides on special occa-
sions. The ordinary " band night " sees the

THE GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

249

Esplanade thronged with rickshas and carriages,
while the southern portion of the recreation-
ground is for the nonce transformed into a
public park in which Europeans, Eurasians,
and Asiatics alike stroll to and fro listening
to the music. Seaward from the Esplanade
a beautiful panoramic view is presented, a
clear blue sky, the sea dotted with fishing
craft and steamships and the hillocks and
tropical scenery on the mainland opposite
forming an ideal background.

At the north-west corner of the Esplanade
stand the Municipal Offices, an imposing
whitewashed edifice, which is one of the archi-
tectural beauties of the town. Further along,
nearer Light Street, is the Town Hall, which,
like the Municipal Offices, is fitted with electric
light and electric fans. For many years it was
unkempt and antiquated, but it has recently
undergone considerable renovation and im-
provement, on which 10,000 dollars were
expended in 1905 and over 19,000 in 1906.

Passing the Town Hall and a grass-plot, in
the centre of which is a miniature fountain,
we re-enter Light Street, which, as the name
implies, is called after the. founder of Pinang.
Immediately to the right is Edinburgh House,
the domicile of a rich Chinaman, but so named
after H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and Corn-
wall, who visited Pinang in 1901 and stayed
in this house. Opposite Edinburgh House
is Aurora House, also the residence of a
wealthy Chinaman ; its interior is sumptuously
furnished and is well worth visiting, if only
to see how closely the educated Chinese are
following Western ideas.

At the junction of Light Street and Pitt Street
is the new Supreme Court, which was opened
in 1904 on the site of its predecessor, which

had done duty since 1809, previous to which,
again, the Court was held in Fort Cornwallis.
The present edifice is a very handsome one,
with a statue of Justice gracefully occupying
the topmost niche of the main portico roof.
There are two divisions of the Court proper,

In the southern portion of the Supreme
Court building is the Pinang Library, which
receives an annual grant from the Government
and is exceptionally well equipped with books.
As the annual subscription is only five dollars,
the library may be considered one of the

THE MUNICIPAL OFFICES.

so that two judges can hear cases at the same
time, and between the two divisions is ihe bar
library and bar-room for the convenience of the
legal profession. A session of Assize is held
quarterly, when the presiding judge, wearing
a scarlet robe, is preceded by a native Court
official in uniform bearing a sword.

cheapest circulating libraries in the East, and
deserves greater popularity than it at present
obtains.

Within the Supreme Court ground is a statue
erected to the memory of the late Mr. Daniel
Logan, a local lawyer much respected in his day.
He occupied at one time a seat on the Legisla-

THE MARKET.

THE MUNICIPAL ABATTOIRS.

ELTON BELL.
(Municipal Veterinary Surgeon.)

THE PIG MARKET.

250

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

tive Council and acted as Attorney- General ;
his death occurred in 1897.

Curving round into Farquhar Street, we pass
the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus on the

trally situated, albeit lacking the advantage of
a sea-frontage. On the right-hand side is St.
George's Girls' School, managed by a com-
mittee of trustees belonging to St. George's

PINANG CRICKET CLUB.

At the Cricket Club Pavilion on the Occasion of the Annual Match,
Straits Settlements v. Federated Malay States, August, 1907.

right — one of the oldest institutions in Pinang,
which has done and is doing much good work
for members of every sect and denomination.
To the left in Farquhar Street proper stand
the Free School and St. George's Church,
the place of worship of the members of the
Church of England. The Free School, which
has recently been enlarged, was founded in
1816 for the education of children of all classes,
but is purely a boys' school. In early days the
Protestants of the town worshipped in a room
in Fort Cornwallis, but St. George's Church
was built in 1817-18. It is of Greek architec-

Church ; and next door, so to speak, is the
Eastern and Oriental Hotel.

After negotiating a dangerous turning at the
west end of Farquhar Street, we enter Northam
Road, one of the prettiest roads in George-

tropical foliage on every side. The road itself
is well kept, and is beautifully shaded with
lovely overhanging trees. It makes a picture
worth seeing either during the day, when the
sea peeps into view between the bungalows on
the north side, or at night, when the electric
arc-lamps are lighted, their bright rays pene-
trating through the leaves of the trees on either
side. The first building of note is the pagoda-
like residence of a wealthy Chinaman, which
is four storeys in height, from the topmost
balcony of which a splendid bird's-eye view
of the harbour and mainland is obtained. On
the right-hand side, some little distance along,
is the Pinang Club, a building of pink hue,
quite close to the sea-front, with a well-
groomed, spacious lawn and fine approaches
from the roadway. Next to the club are the
headquarters of the Eastern Extension, Aus-
tralasia, and China Telegraph Company, whose
office is kept open night and day for the
transmission of telegrams to all parts of the
world. We then come to the Presbyterian
Church, known as the " Scots Kirk," a peculiar-
looking whitewashed structure, with an un-
completed dome. At the end of Northam
Road is the Masonic Hall, in which are held
the meetings of Lodge Royal Prince of
Wales, No. 1,555, E.C., and Lodge Scotia,
No. 1,003, S.C. On the west side is a palatial
mansion built by a well-known Chinaman ; it
is surmounted by a green dome, and no
expense seems to have been spared in the
work of construction. Altogether it is a
decided acquisition to the landscape in that
vicinity. If the visitor turns into Pangkor
Road, he should turn again at the first cross
road — Burma Road — in which, at the junction
with Pangkor Road, is the Chinese Recrea-
tion Club, with spacious grounds finely laid
out for lawn-tennis, cricket, and football.
Proceeding in a westerly direction brings
him to the village of Pulau Tikus, which is
now really incorporated with Burma Road,
although at one time it was a distinct and
separate district, with associations all its own.

THE FORT.

ture, simple and unpretentious, and is now fitted
with electric light and electric fans.

Passing further up Farquhar Street, which
takes its name from a former Lieut-Gover-
nor of the settlement, we come to the Roman
Catholic Church of the Assumption and then to
St. Xavier's Institution, the latter being a school
and boarding-house for boys, conducted by the
Christian Brothers. It is a magnificent edifice,
harmoniously tinted in various colours. Further
along, at the corner of Farquhar Street and
Leith Street, is the Engineers' Institute, with a
frontage to the latter street. At the opposite
corner is the International Hotel, which is cen-

PINANG AMATEUR DRAMATIC SOCIETY.

town, notwithstanding its proximity to the
business centre. It is the beginning of villadoin
— fine, large residences enclosed in spacious
grounds (locally called "compounds"), with

Like Northam Road, the greater portion of
Burma Road is a pretty avenue, and when
the ansena trees on either side are in bloom,
they are most beautiful to behold. From the

SCENE IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS.
THE GARDENS FROM THE HILL.
RIFLE RANGE ROAD.

BALIK PULAU.

AYER ETAM VALLEY.

252

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

top of Burma Koad to the right along Bagan
Jermal Road the drive leads through some
very pretty scenery, which at certain points
recalls a country road in England— save, of
course, where there are palm-trees and other
tropical foliage. A good specimen of a Malay
village — Tanjong Tokong— is reached, with
attap-covered houses, built on wooden piles,
which stand in patches of slimy-looking mud
and water. As elsewhere round the island, the
view seaward is here very picturesque, en-
hanced as it is by Malay " kolehs " or fishing
boats along the water's edge, a row of fishing
stakes further out from the beach, a coasting
steamer passing in the distance, and the out-

portion of an enjoyable afternoon, and he will,
in all likelihood, defer further sight-seeing till
another day.

One of the beauty spots of Pinang is the
Botanical Gardens, situated about four and a
half miles from the Victoria Jetty. The best
route to take is along Light Street, Farqu-
har Street, and Northam Road, as far as
Larut Road, just before the "Scots Kirk" is
reached. After passing a police-station, with
a gong outside suspended to a tree — which
forms a sort of landmark for the stranger —
the journey leads to the left along Anson
Road, into McAlister Road on the right, up
Barrack Road, past the Criminal Prison, then

with its magnificent open pavilion of rubble,
granite pavements, tile roof, massive granite
tablets bearing the names of 541 Chinese sub-
scribers and erected at a cost of 2,000 dollars,
its colossal statue of Mr. Lee Phee Eow (a
former resident of some note), and its spacious
cooking and dining rooms for the convenience
of the funeral guests. The grounds resemble
lovely gardens, but for the gravestones dotted
here and there in the hillocks.

Passing the Protestant cemetery in Western
Road, the route leads onward through a number
of coconut and fruit plantations into Waterfall
Road. On the left there is a magnificent Chetty
Temple, dedicated to the "God of Fire," which

THE VICTORIA MEMORIAL CLOCK TOWER.

line of Kedah hills furthermost of all. Then
the road suddenly curves inland, is steeper
than before, and brings into view a few bun-
galows, with the island of Pulau Tikus (not
to be confused with the village of Pulau Tikus
already mentioned) in the offing. We are
now at Tanjong Bungah (" Flowery Point "),
which is a popular holiday resort with the
residents of Georgetown. There are not
many bungalows, and the majority of those
which have been built are usually rented by
the day, week, or month. Here, too, are the
headquarters of the Pinang Swimming Club ;
and, if the drive be continued further along,
the village of Batu Feringhi is reached. But
the visitor will find that a drive to the Swim-
ming Club and back to town passes the greater

switches to the right once more into Hospital
Road, in which are situated the General Hos-
pital and the District or Pauper Hospital. We
have now arrived at Sepoy Lines, where are
situated the parade-ground and barracks of
the Malay States Guides (the Sikh Regiment).
To the right are Government House, and, just
beyond, the Racecourse and Golf Club ; and
to the left, in Western Road, is the Residency.
The drive along Western Road leads past the
Roman Catholic and Protestant Cemeteries,
adjoining each other. Incidentally, it might
be mentioned that perhaps the best situated
and finest laid-out cemetery in Pinang is the
Chinese Cemetery at Batu Gantong, which may
also be reached from Western Road. It is a
revelation of what the Chinese can accomplish,

is thrown open to the general public at the
annual " Taipusum " festival. A few minutes
later we arrive at the Botanical Gardens,
situated in an amphitheatre of hills. They are
excellently laid out, with innumerable plots of
grass intersected by pathways, all of which are
invariably ■ in good order. The trees, plants,
and flowers are neatly labelled with their re-
spective technical names, while the plant and
fern houses present a vision of tropical loveli-
ness that it would be hard to excel anywhere.
To the extreme left is a disused swimming
pond, where the youth of the town were once
wont to disport themselves. Now it is in a
neglected condition — the only blot on the other-
wise fair landscape. A slight incline along a
broad pathway leads to the waterfall — by no

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

253

THE AYER ETAM WATERFALL.

THE WATERFALL RESERVOIR.

manner of means a Niagara, but still pretty
to behold. Close at hand is the reservoir which
supplies Georgetown with its water.

Not far from the entrance to the Botanical
Gardens is the pathway most often used by
those who make the ascent to the Crag Hotel
and Government Hill. The journey is usually
made in chairs suspended from bamboo poles,
borne on the shoulders of Tamil coolies. The
beauty of the Malayan forest, with its dense
tropical foliage, has " to be seen to be believed."
Above all, the delicious coolness of the atmo-
sphere at the summit, and the splendid, com-
prehensive view afforded of the whole town,
the harbour, and the hills of Perak in the far
distance, enhance a delightful experience that
should not be missed.

To overtake all the places of interest the
visitor should allot a special afternoon in which
to visit the Chinese Temple at Ayer Etam, the
drive to which opens up some more pretty
country. Or, the journey may be made by
electric tramway at a cost of only twenty cents.
Five miles across the Ayer Etam Hill lies the
village of Balik Pulau, in a world entirely of its
own. It can boast of its own waterworks, a
police-station, post and telegraph office, hospital,
district office and court-house, and a Roman
Catholic Mission Church. The highest point
on the road across the hill is called " Low's
Pass," or " Penera Bukit," from which a fine
view is obtainable, especially on a fine, clear
day.

Returning to town by way of Ayer Etam Road
again, the visitor passes the gaol at the corner
of Dato Kramat Road and then what is locally
known as Dato Kramat Gardens — a large piece
of vacant land now used as a football-ground,
at one end of which is an ancient-looking
statue of a member of the Brown family, who
were among the mercantile pioneers of Pinang.
Close at hand is Jelutong Road, leading to Green
Lane and Coombe Hill. A deviation from
Jelutong Road brings us to Sungei Pinang
("river Pinang"), and Sungei Pinang Bridge,

adjoining which a little "factory suburb" is
fast springing up. There is already a large
rice mill, an ice factory, petroleum " godowns "
or stores, and the electric power-station and

are the municipal abattoirs, pig market, and
animal infirmary — all of them excellently super-
vised and kept scrupulously clean. Leaving
these monuments of municipal progress and

THE ESPLANADE.

tramway depot. A visit to Sungei Pinang will
afford a better insight into the commercial
development of Pinang than tomes of dry-as-
dust statistics. Continuing our way along
Bridge Street, we pass Cecil Street, in which

enterprise, the south end of Beach Street is
entered, along which the " stranger within the
gates " makes his way to the jetty and his
steamer, deeply and most favourably impressed
by all he has seen and heard.

'254

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

MALACCA.

ALACCA, the oldest and largest of the
Straits Settlements, is a triangular
territory situated on the west coast of the
Malay Peninsula. It embraces 659 square miles,
has a coast line of 50 miles, and is adjacent to
the States of Johore and Negri Sambilan.
Malacca is essentially an agricultural country.
The land is largely held by Orientals, and the
chief products are padi, cultivated by Malays,
and tapioca, cultivated mainly by Chinese.
There are close upon 100,000 acres under
tapioca. Since the opening of the railway,
which links the country with the whole of the
Federated Malay States railway system, the
development of the settlement has made rapid
progress. Recently several European com-
panies have planted large areas of land with
rubber, and the Chinese have extensively inter-
planted their tapioca with that product, the
total area now under rubber being estimated at
34,000 acres. The rapidity with which rubber
cultivation has developed is shown by the fact
that in 1906 18,500 lbs. of dry rubber were ex-
ported, as against 3,000 lbs. in 1905. Several
syndicates have lately been formed to work
large areas of tin-mining land.

The country generally is typical of cultivated
Malaya at its best, and is traversed by a net-
work of excellent roads. To drive along any
of these is to witness scenery of great beauty.
On either side are rice fields — emerald green
when newly planted, golden when the grain is
ripe, and brown when it is fallow — and these
are variated with tapioca and rubber planta-
tions and studded with lofty areca-nut palms.
In the distance, hills chequer the sky-line and
form a blue-grey background.

The temperature is lower and the rainfall less
in Malacca than in any other part of the Straits
Settlements. In 1906 the mean temperature
in Malacca was 79-6° as against 80-5° in Singa-
pore and 80-3° in Pinang, while the mean
rainfall was 80-57 inches as compared with
118-38 inches in Singapore and 10221 inches
in Pinang. Malacca is also the healthiest of the
three settlements. In 1906 its birth-rate was
37'°5 P er rnille as against 22-27 in Singapore
and 1679 in Pinang, while the death-rate was
3712 per mille as compared with 3965 in
Singapore and 41-81 in Pinang.

At the census of 1901 the total population
of the settlement was returned at 95,000,
and included 73,000 Malays and 20,000
Chinese. It was estimated in 1906 at 97,387.
The value of Malacca's imports in 1906 was
about 4,900,000 dollars, and of its exports
about 4,700,000 dollars. The great bulk of
both imports and exports are shipped through
Singapore.

The industry of basket-making by Malay

women is almost entirely confined to Malacca.
The material used is the leaf of the Pandanus
fascicularis, locally known as the Bang Kuang.
The basket is built up from a beginning of six
strands woven into a star shape. It takes a
woman a whole month working steadily every
day to make a set of five baskets of ordinary
quality, and three months to make a set of fine
quality. Of the various shapes in which the
baskets are made, the most popular is the hex-
agonal, and for a set or nest consisting of three
or five of different sizes fitted into one another,
from 2.50 to 5 dollars is charged, according to
quality and size. Up to fifty years ago the Malays
of Malacca made a really fine cotton lace.
Whether this art was taught them by the Portu-
guese or Dutch or was indigenous is unknown.
Formerly, this lace was always worn by the
men on their coats and trousers, and it may
still be seen occasionally at weddings. But all
that remains of the industry now is the manu-
facture of Biku, a kind of lace made out of
coloured silk and used for the borders of
handkerchiefs and for veils.

The port and chief town of the settlement is
at the mouth of the river, and is in latitude
2° 10' North and longitude 102 14' East. It is
118 miles distant from Singapore by sea and
250 miles from Pinang. As it was the seat
of the ancient Malay kingdom and has been
occupied by Europeans — first Portuguese, then
Dutch, and finally British — since the beginning
of the sixteenth century, it is of exceptional
historical interest, and, in this respect, is one of
the most notable towns of the East. The first
Chinese settlers in Malaya made Malacca their
headquarters, and all the oldest Straits Chinese
families are consequently descended from
Malacca ancestors.

There is no real harbour at Malacca, and
until a few years ago even small vessels
could not get within three or four miles of
the shore. Dredging operations, however,
have since been carried out, and, as a result of
the deepening of the channel at the river
mouth and the construction of groynes on the
north and south, large lighters and Chinese
junks are now able to enter the river and
discharge cargo alongside the wharf. It is
interesting to note that during the dredging
operations quite a large collection of coins re-
presenting the several periods of the European
occupation of the place and of the ancient
Malay dynasty were unearthed in a bank
across the river mouth. They are referred to in
a special article.

When approaching Malacca from the open
sea, one is impressed by its quaint and
picturesque appearance. It presents the
curious spectacle of a town with its legs in

the sea. The reason for this is that the houses
which face the main street of Malacca have
their backs to the shore, and the rear portions of
the dwellings have been built into the water
upon high red pillars. This is the style adopted
over the whole length of the town on the
north side of the river. On the south side
is the landing pier, and quite close to it, on the
side of St. Paul's Hill, is the Dutch Stadt
House. This solid, old world building is
approached by a flight of steps, and is used as
the Government offices. On the summit of the
hill is the ruined and roofless Church of Our
Lady, built by the Portuguese and afterwards
renamed the Church of St. Paulus by the Dutch.
Many Dutch tombs are contained in it. The
house of the Resident Councillor and the light-
house are also situated on the hill-top. The
view from the summit is enchanting, whether
one looks eastward over the orchards and
villages to Gunong Ledang, called Mount
Ophir (4,200 feet high), or to the hill which
has been appropriated by the Chinese as their
fashionable burying-place, or over the dark-
red roofs of Malacca town, across rice fields
and coconut groves, to Cape Rachado. Stand-
ing prominently behind the houses which line
the shore at the river mouth is the Church
of St. Francis Xavier, a beautiful Gothic
structure.

The town extends inland about a mile. Its
streets are very narrow, and most of the houses
are of Dutch origin. One of the most interest-
ing historical structures in the place is the
gateway of the old fort, which is preserved by
the Government. Upon a mural tablet placed
on the relic appears the following inscription :
"The only remaining part of the ancient
fortress of Malacca built by Alfonso d' Albu-
querque and by him named Famosa in 151 1 ;
near this stood the bastion of Santiago."

The town is administered by a Municipal
Commission, of which the Resident Councillor
is, ex officio, President. Within the municipal
limits there is a population of 18,000, mostly
Chinese and Malays, the only Europeans being
Government officials. There is a good water
supply, and within the next few years the
town " is to be improved by the widening
of its streets, which are lighted with oil
lamps.

The only other townships in the settlement
are Alor Gajah and Jasin. The former is
situated 15 miles up the river from Malacca,
and the latter is about midway between the
two. At both these places Government District
Officers are stationed. There is a hot spring
with valuable medicinal properties at Ayer
Panas, and the Government have recently
constructed a new bath-house there.

■■MMH

VIEWS IN MALACCA.
I. Scene ox the River. 2. A Street Scene. 3. The Quay. 4. The Residency. 5. Old Portuguese Gate. ' 6. Visit of H.E. the Governor.

i. Stadt House.

2. The Strand.

VIEWS IN MALACCA.
3. District Officer of Alor Gajah and Headman of the District.

4. The Fort.

THE FEDERATED MALAY STATES

KUALA LUMPOR.

HE choice of Kuala
Lumpor as the capital
of the Federated Malay
States was a wise one,
for the town is healthy,
offers many natural
advantages as a place
of residence, and, above
all, it is central. When
the Johore section of the Federated Malay
States Railway is completed, Kuala Lumpor

will be about equi-distant by rail from Singa-
pore and Pinang ; it is within an hour's
journey of Port Swettenham, which promises
to be the chief port of the Malay Peninsula ;
and it is only a few miles from Kuala ICttbu,
from which town runs the trunk road into
Pahang. The Federal Government appreci-
ated and developed these advantages, and men
of business find it convenient to locate their
headquarters in the capital by reason of the
exceptional facilities which are offered for

intercommunication with other parts of the
peninsula.

Klang, the seat of the Sultans of Selangor,
was the original capital of the State. In those
days Kuala Lumpor was little more than a
name to the British. A journey to it was an
adventure, owing to the absence of any kind
of road. An attempt at tin mining in Kuala
Lumpor was made in 1857, and two years
later tin was exported. A rush of Chinese
miners to the new fields of enterprise followed.
As their numbers increased friction arose be-
tween the different factions. A series of fierce

KUALA LUMPOR IN 1882.

25/

258

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

GENERAL VIEW, SHOWING GOVERNMENT AND FEDERAL OFFICES.

quarrels broke out, and resulted frequently
in bloodshed. The time produced its strong
man in the person of Yap Ah Loi. Driven
by poverty from his native country to even

greater privation in the land of his adop-
tion, he had, by sheer force of character,
attained to prosperity and great influence, and
when Captain Liu retired, he became the Captain

China. According to Chinese versions of the
history of his time, he succeeded in quelling
the rebellions and restoring the district to a
condition of comparative quiet. He owned
practically the whole of Kuala Lumpor, and is
said to have twice rebuilt the town. He was
the chief employer of labour, and discharged
the functions of a lawgiver. Upon his death
in 1886 Yap Ah Shak became the Captain
China.

The first British Resident of Selangor was
Mr. J. Guthrie Davidson. His successor,
Captain Bloomfield Douglas, held the opinion
that Klang, being a seaport, was the natural
capital of the State, and it was not until 1880,
five years after his appointment, that he made
Kuala Lumpor his headquarters.

In those days the only house of any preten-
sions was that of the Captain China ; what is
now the padang was a swamp, and the only
agricultural products raised in the neighbour-
hood were tapioca and sugar. The mines lay
in the direction of Ampang and Pudoh. There
were no roads. A tree-trunk was the only
form of bridge in existence, and a few clusters
of attap huts constituted the only dwell-
ings. But all this was soon changed. Mr.
(now Sir) F. A. Swettenham initiated reform
and progress. His successor, Mr. J. P. Rodger,
made the welfare of the town his personal
concern. He found it a hotbed of filth and
dirt ; he left it well advanced on the road to
modern cleanliness and sanitation, and his
name will go down to posterity in the annals
of the town and in the name of an important
thoroughfare.

The rapid growth of Kuala Lumpor was,
however, scarcely foreseen, for Government
offices were hardly constructed before they

GROUP OF MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

259

HHHMHH

H.H. ALA'IDIN SULEIMAN BIN ALMERHUM RAJA MUSA, C.M.G., SULTAN OF SELANGOR AND FOLLOWERS.

were found to be inadequate. It is something
iii the nature of an object-lesson to see the
Federal police headquarters on the hill over-
looking the padang, and to reflect that this
unpretentious building once sufficed for the
whole of the administrative offices and courts.
Now that Kuala Lumpor has become the
Federal capital, so vast is the machinery which
has been called into being that even the huge
pile of buildings stretching along one side of
the padang is inadequate, the work in some
departments oozing out of its confines into the
verandahs and odd corners. The idea of the
new Government buildings originated with
Mr. (now Sir) William Maxwell, who was of
opinion that advertisement should not be
neglected even by a Government, and that a
few effective-looking buildings would give
an air of prosperity to Selangor that was lack-
ing in the neighbouring States, and cause the
wavering Chinaman to throw in his lot with
that of Selangor. The result was that in 1894
the foundation-stone of the most imposing
edifice in the Federated Malay States was
laid. The buildings comprise the Govern-
ment administrative offices, Town Hall, Post
Office, and Railway offices. They are in the
modern Saracenic style — the arabesque features
of which are in keeping with the surroundings
and appropriate in a Mahomedan country — ■
and are constructed of red brick, with imitation
stone dressings. A verandah 12 feet in width
runs round each block, the pointed arches giv-
ing good light, and at the same time protection
from the sun. A square clock-tower 135 feet in

^^B* "1, -

•V-:^tHP

■ N-wj^^L.

VIEW SHOWING RAILWAY OFFICES AND RAILWAY YARD.

260

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

height rises from the centre of the administration
block, and forms the main feature of the front,
whilst two lesser towers, of circular shape,
give access by means of spiral staircases to
the upper store}' and form handsome additions
to the facade. The foundation-stone at the base
of the clock-tower bears the following in-
scription :

H.H. Sir Abdul Samat, K.C.M.G.,
Sultan.

H.E. Sir Charles B. H. Mitchell, K.C.M.G.,
Governor, Straits Settlements.

W. H. Treacher, C.M.G.,
British Resident.

This stone was laid by H.E. the Governor
on the 6th day of October, 1894.

A. C. Norman,
Architect.

C. E. Spooner, B.E.,
State Engineer.

Kuala Lumpor is a town of much beauty.
Situated on a small plain, at the junction of the
Klang and Gombak rivers, it is sheltered on
three sides by hills. Kuala Lumpor means,
literally, " mouth (of) mud," though the reason
for the name is not apparent. The area em-
braced by the town limits is extensive, and the
more important bungalows crown the tops of
a cluster of small hillocks. The slopes of these
eminences meet in pleasant little valleys, and
break up the landscape into the most pleasing

the main range, a clear blue outline, in which
the initiated may distinguish the Ginting
Bedai, one of the passes leading to Pahang.
In the heart of the town is the padang, an ideal

"Spotted Dog." It is the focus of European
sporting life, and, without disparagement to
the more aristocratic Lake Club, it has the
widest reputation of any club in the Federated

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THE GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

playground, on which football, cricket, hockey,
and tennis are in turn enjoyed. This grassy
plain is bounded on the east by the Govern-
ment Offices and the new Post Office, on the
west by the railway line, skirting Government
Hill ; on the south by the Chartered Bank and
the Government Printing Office, and on the

Malay States. The Recreation Club, which
fulfils a similar place in the life of people other
than Europeans, also overlooks the padang ;
and many are the hard struggles for supre-
macy in the field which take place between
the two institutions.

So thoroughly have the Asiatics assimilated

SELANGOR HOCKEY CLUB TEAM.

SELANGOR FOOTBALL CLUB TEAM AT WHITSUN, 1907.

combinations, gratifying the beholder with an
endless panorama of charming views. Look-
ing eastwards, the Ulu Klang and Ampang
hills engage the sight, and carry the eye to

north by the modest little English church, and
the road leading to it. Adjoining the padang
is the great social institution of the town, the
Selangor Club, popularly known as the

the sporting proclivities of their instructors
that they not infrequently " better the instruc-
tion." It is doubtful whether anything in the
Federated Malay States has contributed more

SOME GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.

i. The Printing Office.

2. The Barracks.
5. The Railway Station.

3. Bachelors' Quarters for Civil Servants.
6. The Post Office.

4. The Residency.

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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

263

to the furtherance of the intimate understand-
ing which exists between the various sections
of the community than the padangs, scattered
through the States, upon ■ which all classes
meet in friendly emulation.

Early in 1888 it was suggested that it would
greatly enhance the beauty of Kuala Lumpor
if gardens were laid out. The Resident,
Mr. (now Sir) Frank Swettenham, entered
heartily into the proposal, and secured the
High Commissioner's sanction to the expen-
diture of the money required to carry it into
effect. A valley, through which ran a clear
stream, was chosen, the few Chinese living
there were bought out, the jungle was cleared,
and a lake was formed by throwing a bund
across the lower end of the valley. The lake,
completed in February of the following year,
was named the " Sydney Lake," in honour of
the wife of the Resident. In May, 1899, the
gardens were formally opened, in the presence
of H.E. Sir C. C. Smith, G.C.M.G., and H.E.
Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. Since
that date they have been steadily improved,
and now form one of the most charming
features in the neighbourhood. Mr. A. R.
Venning, late Federal Secretary, who took a
prominent part in the formation of the gardens,
has his name perpetuated in a road which runs
through them. A plant-house contains about
three hundred species of foliage and flowering
plants, and quite recently a fern-house and an
orchid-house have been added. The whole
area of the gardens, about 187 acres, has been
constituted by enactment a wild-bird reserve,
whilst the lake has been stocked with fish
specially imported from China. Overlooking
the lake is " Carcosa," a large bungalow occu-
pied by the Resident-General and until recently
providing accommodation for his secretariat.
On the surrounding eminences are the bunga-
lows of leaaing Government officials, and in
the midst of the gardens is the Lake Club,
taking its name from the Sydney Lake.

Situated near the Damansara Road entrance
to the gardens is the Selangor State Museum,
a new building of the Flemish order. It has a
central hall from which run two main galleries.
The removal from the old museum in Bukit
Nanas Road took place in 1906. The exhibits

THE AMPANG WATERWORKS.

ROAD TO THE WATERWORKS.

include a very complete collection of birds
found in the peninsula, a fine collection
of Malayan krises, interesting ethnological
examples, and the nucleus of a representa-
tive zoological collection. A library attached
to the Museum contains several valuable publi-
cations.

Near the Museum is the road leading to the
European Hospital, which, perched on the
summit of a hillock, commands a view well
calculated to induce malingering on the part
of the convalescent. There are two ways of
returning to the town — one past the Museum
and the cemetery, leaving the railway station
. on the right and the General Hospital and the
American Episcopal Methodist Church on the
left ; the other, a devious route via Damansara
Road and Swettenham Road, past the new
quarters of the Agricultural Department, and
skirting the hill on which stands the bungalow
of the British Resident. The latter brings the
visitor out near the little Church of St. Mary
the Virgin, which provides Kuala Lumpor with
a place where the " two or three " of the
Established Church of England may gather
together. It is a simple, unpretentious example
of the Early English Gothic style, cruciform
in plan, with a nave 87 feet by 28 feet and a
chancel 29 feet by 22 feet, with octagonal end.
It was built in 1894 and consecrated by the
Bishop of the diocese early in the following

264 TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

year, the Rev. F. W. Haines being the chap-
lain. The affairs of the church are managed
by a chairman and a committee of six mem-
bers elected by the congregation, and the
chaplain, now the Rev. G. M. Thompson, is
paid partly by the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel, partly by the Government, and
partly by the voluntary offerings of the con-
gregation. A Tamil missionary is also attached
to the church.

From the Town Hall a drive may be taken
along the Batu Road past the Institute of
Medical Research and the District Hospital to
the racecourse. Returning by another road,
a turning to the rear of the Government build-
ings takes the visitor to the business part of the
town, where he will be astonished to find what

of stolid indifference. The principal games
played are poeh, fan-tan, chap-ji-ki, and various
card games.

In the vicinity of Weld Hill, on which stands
the club of that name, are the golf links, with a
well situated pavilion, the old rifle range, and
the Law Courts ; whilst on Bukit Nanas Hill
are situated the headquarters of the Roman
Catholic Mission in the neighbourhood, the
Roman Catholic Church, and the new school,
with accommodation for six hundred boys,
known as St. John's Institution.

Returning to High Street, past the Federal
Dispensary, the Victoria Institute— an English
school with about six hundred boys on the
register— is reached, and on the opposite side
of the road is the Chinese secretariat. In this

THE ENTRANCE TO THE BATU CAVES.

a large proportion of the trade is done by
Chinese. At night-time the streets are a sight
to be remembered, but of all the recollections
which the visitor will carry away with him,
the most vivid will be those of the gambling
shops legalised by the Government. Lit up
with a fascinating brilliance, these popular
places of resort are thronged with men intoxi-
cated by the love for play, but so inured to
the excitement that their faces wear a mask

vicinity, too, lies the Chinese Roman Catholic
Church, a handsome structure dedicated to
Our Lady of the Rosary. Hard by is the
convent, the sequestered scene of the labours
of a devout sisterhood, working for the benefit
of all classes, irrespective of creed or race.

A short journey by rail includes two interest-
ing features of the neighbourhood — the central
railway workshops, equipped with the most
modern machinery for the construction and

repair of engines and rolling stock, and the
famous Batu Caves. By road, the new rifle
range, near the old racecourse, the grand stand
of which is now the Federal Home for Women,
is within four miles of the town, whilst in
another direction lies the Malay Settlement, a
unique experiment made by Government with
a view to meeting unique conditions.

THE MALAY SETTLEMENT.

The original idea of the Malay Settlement
at Kuala Lumpor was to establish an industrial
school for the instruction of Malays in the
making of the silver ware peculiar to the
country, weaving, &c, and to provide Malays
employed in Kuala Lumpor with a reserve in
which they could live according to their own
manners and customs. For this purpose 250
acres of land within the municipal limits were
set aside by the Government under the Land
Enactment, and lots of half an acre were
granted to Malays willing to settle there. The
conditions imposed upon Malays taking advant-
age of this offer were that they should build
their own houses and fence and plant the land.
Their allotment was free of rent or premium.
Certain buildings were erected with a view
to giving the technical instruction already
referred to, and the settlers were required to
devote a certain amount of their time to
learning Malay industries ; but the Govern-
ment found they had not secured the right
class of people. Most of the men, having work
in Kuala Lumpor, could not find time for
weaving and silver work ; and eventually it
was decided to abandon the technical instruc-
tion and allow the settlement to become a
purely residential reserve, where the Malays
can live in surroundings natural to them,
instead of being huddled together in back
streets, burdened with the high rents prevailing
in Kuala Lumpor. Mr. A. Hale, now a District
Officer in Perak, took a great interest in the
settlement when it was first formed, and spent
much time in the endeavour to make it of use
to the Malay community. In recognition of
this his name has been given to the main road
through the reserve. The Raja Muda of Kuala
Lumpor is ex officio chairman of the committee
of management, and the Inspector of Schools is
ex officio vice-chairman. Mr. B. O. Stoney,
the hon. secretary,takes an indefatigable interest
in the welfare of the communitv.

THE BATU CAVES.

Though by no means the most extensive,
the Batu (" Stone ") Caves, of which we give
illustrations, are perhaps more widely known
than any others in the Federated Malay States.
They are distant about seven miles from Kuala
Lumpor, and may be reached either by rail —
the short line to the central railway work-
shops having been extended to the stone
quarries near the caves — or by road. Ten
minutes' walk from the station brings one to
the entrance to the light cave, usually the first
visited. It is a huge dome-like cavern, impres-
sive in its vastness, exciting in the mind a
vague awe. Beyond is a lesser cave, lit by a
circular shaft, covered from top to bottom
with profuse vegetation, a patch of sky, fringed
with a delicate leafy tracery, being visible.
On returning to the entrance to the cave a
charming view opens out and compels a
moment's halt. It is but a short distance to the
dark cave, the exploration of which is an
experience not soon forgotten. Some two or
three hundred yards from the entrance, after
scrambling over some rocky ground, a shallow
stream of water is met crossing the tunnel, and
this must be waded if the inner recesses of the
cave are to be penetrated. There is, however,
no difficulty if acetylene lamps are carried and

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

265

a stick is used to feel the way across. The
main gallery runs on for some distance further,
and enters a large open space, from which
several directions may be taken. Whether the
caves have ever been thoroughly explored it
is not easy to say. In several places there are
considerable drops,which can only bedescended
with the aid of a knotted rope fastened to some
projection. In one of the galleries a narrow
fissure beneath a mass of rock gives access to a
rugged descent, at the far end of which is a
shallow pit. Gaining the bottom of this pit by
means of a rope, a dozen or so paces over
swampy ground lead to what is, apparently, a
fearful shaft, the depth of which can only be
conjectured. " One, two, three, four " may be
counted slowly before the thud of a stone

hurled into it is audible. At no point does tin-
stone strike the sides of the shaft, and it is
possible, if not probable, that the shaft may
penetrate the roof of another immense cavern.
Other galleries radiating from the large open
space already referred to may be explored in
turn, and, if a wavy line or some other mark is
traced across the entrance to each, there need
be no fear of covering the same ground twice
or of leaving any gallery unvisited. Plenty
of curious openings tempt the adventurous,
many of them so slippery with wet guano that
a rope is absolutely necessary to avert disaster.
The caves are inhabited by bats, white
snakes, toads, and insects, with probably a few
of the smaller nocturnal carnivores. The toads
are of extraordinary size ; the snakes, which

live on bats, attain a length of 6 feet, and not
a few of the insects are rare and peculiar to the
limestone caves of the peninsula. The bats
fly in their thousands, and the floor of the caves
is covered with beds of guano, in some places
6 feet or more in thickness. These flitting
creatures fill the air with a subdued roar, as
of the sound of. many waters. The incessant
noise is punctuated by the "chink, chink" of
water, which, charged with carbonate, drips
from the pendent stalactites on to their opposing
stalagmites. Some of these formations are
large and of great beauty.

At the foot of the hill — for the entrances to
the caves described are about half-way up the
cliff — a path leads to other caves, less extensive,
but well worth visiting.

Q.-

PERAK.

PERAK, with an area of 6,555 square miles,
is the largest of the Western States, and
the most important commercially. It extends
from 3 37' to 6° 05' Xorth latitude, and from
ioo° 3' to 101 51' East longitude. Its boun-
daries are Province Wellesley, Kedah, and
Rahman on the north, Selangor on the south,
Kelantan and Pahang on the east, and the
Straits of Malacca on the west. The coast line
extends for about go miles.

The rivers of the State are numerous, and, in
general, are navigable for vessels of shallow
draught. The Perak river, near the mouth of

are the Dinding, Bruas, Larut, Sa'petang, Kurau,
and Krian rivers.

The uplands of Perak may be divided roughly
into two main chains of mountains and a few
detached groups of hills. The highest range is
that which runs along the eastern boundary of
the State and forms the watershed of the
peninsula. Some of the peaks in this range
attain an altitude of 7,000 feet. The other chain
extends from the south of Larut to the northern
boundary of the State, the highest points
being Gunong Bubu (5,450 feet) and Gunong
Inas (5,896 feet). These ranges enclose the

recent date. The main hills are composed
almost entirely of granite. Some of the smaller
hills are of limestone, and, as frequently is the
case in this formation, are penetrated by
numerous extensive caves of great beauty
The alluvial deposits, consisting chiefly of
detritus from the older formation, are richly
impregnated with tin and other metalliferous
ores, including lead, iron, gold, silver, copper,
zinc, arsenic, tungsten, manganese, bismuth,
and titanium. Marble of good quality is
abundant, and is worked to a limited extent in
I poh.

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THE LAKES.

which stands the port of Teluk Anson, takes its
rise in the northern hills and flows due south
for the greater part of its course. It receives
tribute from the Plus, the Kinta, and the Batang
Padang, all of which are deep enough to carry
cargo boats, and during its course it Hows
through some of the loveliest scenery in the
Federated Malay States, notably that surround-
ing Kuala Kangsa. The Bernam river, form-
ing the southern boundary line of the State, is
navigable for 100 miles to steamers of three or
four hundred tons. A canal runs from Utan
Melintan, near the mouth of the river, to Teluk
Anson. Other rivers which may be mentioned

basins of the Perak and Kinta rivers, which arc-
separated by a smaller range of hills.

The geological formation of the State is
primarily granitic ; secondly, a large series of
beds of gneiss, quartzite, schist, and sandstone
is overlaid in many places by thick beds of
crystalline limestone ; thirdly come small
sheets of trap rock ; and fourthly, river gravels
and quaternary deposits. Much, however,
remains to be known as to the various periods
in which the Titanic upheavals responsible for
the present configuration of the country took
place. The scanty data available only permit
of the surmise that they were of comparatively

The climate of Perak is by no means so try-
ing to the European as that of many other
countries at a greater distance from the equator.
The temperature has approximately the same
range as that of Selangor, varying in the low-
lying country between 70 and 90 F. in the
shade, with an average mean of from 80° to
85° F. The nights are always cool, with an
average temperature of 70 F. In the hills at
altitudes of about 3,000 feet there is a con-
siderable fall in the temperature, the average
being 6o° F. at night and 73 by day. The
wettest months in the year are March, April,
May, October, November, and December, but

266

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

these cannot be regarded as true rainy seasons.

The average annual rainfall is about 90 inches.

Perak is by far the most populous State in.

the Federation. In 1901, when the last census

Taiping to Port We'ld and from Tapah Road to
Teluk Ansnn. forms the chief means of trans-
port. It is supplemented by a motor service
between Temoh and Chanderiang and between

THE TOWN IN 1878, FROM THE OLD RESIDENCY.

was taken, the population was returned as
329,665, and in 1906 it was estimated that this
figure had increased to 413,000. The increase
was largely amongst the Chinese. The number
of aborigines in the State was returned as
7,982 at the last census. Perak compares
favourably with other parts of the peninsula as
regards general health.
The State is divided into ten districts — Larut,

Tapah Road and Tapah Town ; whilst 602
miles of metalled roads, 83 miles of earth roads,
267 miles of bridle-paths, and 410 miles of other
paths are available for vehicular and pedestrian
traffic. Telegraphs and telephones extend their
service over 629 miles of line and 1,177 miles
of wire, whilst the postal arrangements in the
State are characterised by efficiency and
despatch.

NEAR THE ESPLANADE.

Matang, Selama, Kinta, Krian, Kuala Kangsa,
Lower Perak, Batang Padang, Upper Perak,
and New Territory. The Federated Malay
States trunk railway, with branch lines from

dollars less than in 1905. The revenue in 1876
was only 273,043 dollars, and the expenditure
289,476 dollars. The enormous wealth of the
State is shown by the fact that the value of the
merchandise exported in 1906 was 41,290,778
dollars. The exports included tin to the value
of 37,234,126 dollars and sugar to the value of
1,044,564 dollars, this latter sum being little
short of that for the whole of the exports in
1877, viz., 1,075,423 dollars. The chief sources
of revenue are the export duty on tin, which
yielded 5,433,709 dollars, as compared with
1,541,442 dollars in 1896 and 140,292 dollars in
1877 ; and licences, which brought in 2,279,475
dollars. The financial returns show excess
assets amounting to 16,721,965 dollars.

The principal industries are, of course, tin
mining and agriculture, and, while Selangor
takes precedence in regard to the output of
rubber, Perak exports far more tin and tin ore,
435,908 piculs, of the approximate value of
38,500,000 dollars, being the quantity sent out
of the State during 1906. A total area of 146,624
acres has been alienated for mining purposes,
whilst the industry gives employment to 107,057
coolies, whose labours are augmented by
machinery representing a force of 39,000 men.

The revenue of the State in 1906 was
14,282,484 dollars, as compared with 12,242,897
dollars in the preceding year. The expenditure
amounted to 8,776,478 dollars, or 1,365,500

THE LATE J. W. BIRCH.
(First British Resident of Perak.)

Of 364,303 acres devoted to agricultural pro-
ducts, about 20,890 have been planted with
rubber, and during 1906 the quantity of rubber
exported was 1,122 piculs, of the value of
316,831 dollars. The other articles of export
include areca-nuts, blachan, coffee, copra, dry
and salt fish, hides, indigo, padi, pepper, pigs,
rice, sugar, and tapioca.

Imports, of the value of 21,710,689 dollars,
consisted of live animals, food, drink, and
narcotics — together representing two-thirds of
the total — raw materials, manufactured articles,
and sundries. The State spends nearly 4,000,000
dollars annually on rice, but, as a supply to
meet the local demand might easily be raised
in the country, the Government is doing its
utmost to encourage padi cultivation.

Taiping, situated in the Larut district, is the
capital of the State, the seat of the British
Resident, and the headquarters of the Malay
States Guides. It contains the principal Gov-
ernment buildings, a Museum which is one of
the most complete of its kind in existence, and
a large prison which has lately been converted
into a convict establishment for the whole of
the Federated Malay States. The Perak and New

THE CENTRAL POLICE STATION.
THE OLD GOVERNMENT OFFICES. THE HOSPITAL.

THE RESIDENCY. THE HOUSE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE RESIDENT.

THE NEW GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

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ABOUT IPOH TOWN.

The Residency.
The Chinese Protectorate.
The Railway Station.

The Malay Kamponi;.
Leech Street.

SCENE NEAR IPOH. THE CAVES.

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THE HOT SPRINGS.

VIEWS OP TELUK ANSON.

The Court House.
The Treasury.

The Clock and Water Tower.

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TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

273

Clubs exist in friendly rivalry, and have in the
padang, which they overlook, a spacious play-
ground. The extensive public gardens are a
popular resort, and there are good, golf links
situated amidst the most delightful surround-
ings. The climate is somewhat enervating, but
relief is to be had in the sanitaria known as
"The Tea Gardens" and "Maxwell's Hill,"
situated in the range of hills above the town
at elevations of 2,500 and 3,500 feet respectively.
It is interesting to note that the first railway in

Perak was that constructed between Port Weld
and Taiping in 1881, some eight years subse-
quent to the British occupation. The name of
Taiping, which means "Grand Peace," is
reminiscent of the pacific settlement of the
faction troubles amongst the Chinese which
led up to that occupation. In 1874 a regular
battle was fought in what was then Geluntong,
and 2,000 lives are said to have been lost. Sir
Andrew Clarke, then Governor of the Straits
Settlements, succeeded in reconciling the rival

leaders, and the name of " Taiping " was
bestowed on the place. The population of
Taiping was returned at 13,331 when the
census was taken in 1901, but there has been
a gradual increase since that date, and a certain
danger of overcrowding exists. The town has
an excellent supply of good water and is well
lighted.

Ipoh, by far the most prosperous town in the
State, lies in the heart of the Kinta valley, the
richest mining district in Malaya.

_S4fei.

PTsS

SELANGOR.

THOUGH ranking next to Perak in com-
mercial importance, Selangor takes
precedence of the neighbouring States by
reason of being the seat of the Government of
the Federation. It has an area of about 3,200
square miles, and is situated on the western
side of the Malay Peninsula. Its boundaries
are Perak on the north, Pahang on the east,
the Negri Sambilan on the south-east, and the
Straits of Malacca on the west and south-west.
It extends from 2° 33' 52" North latitude to
3 48' 46", and from ioo°46' 57" East longitude
to 102 o' 53".

It is well watered. The Burnam river, which
marks the northern boundary of the State, takes
its rise in the range overlooking Tanjong
Malim ; the Selangor river drains the Ulu
Selangor ; and the Klang river runs through
Kuala Lumpor and the extensive rubber
country in the Klang district. The Klang
river is the only river readily accessible to
vessels of deep draught, and Port Swettenham,
situated at its mouth, has in consequence every
promise of a prosperous future.

From the chain of granite hills which forms
the backbone of the peninsula the geological
formation ranges through quartzite, schists,
limestone, sandstones, and clay-slates to peaty
swamps. Extensive alluvial deposits of tin are
found inland, the ore occurring in the form of
tin oxide. If the phrase may be permitted, the
country is saturated with tin, there being hardly
any formation in which it is not to be found.
Iron occurs in large quantities in laterite
formations, but cannot be worked at a profit
owing to the absence of coal. The low-lying
lands are rich in peaty loam, so admirably
adapted for agricultural purposes that the vast
acreages alienated for rubber are being added
to almost daily.

Selangor possesses a climate of uniform
temperature, with a mean of 70 F. by night
and 87 F. in the shade by day. On the hills,
at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the thermometer
registers about ten degrees less by night and
fourteen less by day. The rainfall is large, and
is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year.
In the hilly inland districts it varies from 100
to 200 inches, and in the low-lying country
from 70 to 100 inches per annum.

The State is divided into six districts — Kuala
Lumpor, Ulu Selangor, Klang, Kuala Langat,
Kuala Selangor, and Ulu Langat, with an
estimated total population of 283,619, as
compared with 168,789 shown in the census
return of 1901. The birth-rate in 1906 was
9'942, or slightly less than in the preceding
year, while the death-rate was 26756, as
compared with 29-275 in 1905 — a satisfactory
indication that the general sanitation of
populous centres is improving, and that the
Government appreciates the necessity for the
strict supervision of immigrants.

There are well-made roads between the
principal towns in the State, including 454
miles of metalled cart-roads, 63 miles of
gravelled roads, 57 miles of earth-roads, and

210 miles of bridle-paths. The gradients are
good. The local railway service is most
creditable, and a great point is made of
punctuality ; whilst the recent development of
motor-bus routes has added greatly to the

The principal sources of income are land,
customs, and licences. The total revenue
amounted in 1906 to 9,803,184 dollars, as
compared with 8,857,793 dollars in 1905 and
193,476 dollars in 1876. The principal headings

KLANG CLUB.

facilities for travel. Telegraphic and tele-
phonic communication is maintained over 351
miles of line and 844 miles of wire.

of expenditure are personal emoluments and
other charges, public works, and federal
charges, the total amounting in 1906 to

274

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

6,414,257 dollars, as compared with 7,186,146
dollars" in 1905 and 191,174 dollars in 1876.
These figures give an epitome of the prosperity

mining revenue is steadily increasing, and
realised 3,357,033 dollars in 1906, the amount of
tin and ore exported being valued at 23,831,220

STREET SCENE, KLANG.

of the State under British rule, but this pros-
perity is shown in more detail by a comparison
of the land revenue in 1906, when 342,911
dollars was realised, with that of 1878, when
the receipts from this source were only 1,326
dollars. In ten years the receipts from licences
were trebled, and those from customs rose from
1,816,664 dollars to 4,281,176 dollars. Land
sales, which have only of recent years been
treated as a separate item, realised 86,986
dollars in 1901 and 212,613 dollars in 1906,
whilst in the same period forest revenue
increased from 42,751 dollars to 155,025 dollars.
In 1880 the postal and telegraph receipts were
27 dollars ; in 1906 they were 154,241 dollars.
The export duty on tin brought in 3,357,033
dollars during 1906, as compared with 1 1 1 ,920
dollars in 1878, or, to take a more recent figure,
with 1,377,325 dollars in 1896.

The assets of the State are valued at
18,852,351 dollars, and the liabilities at 308,795
dollars, testifying to a condition of financial
soundness scarcely equalled anywhere in the
world. The expenditure on capital account
incurred by the State up to the end of 1906
was 12,032,856 dollars.

Out of 2,082,382 dollars expended on public
works during 1906, 1,173,413 dollars came
under the heading of special services, and
included 270,180 dollars for new roads and
29,873 dollars for bridge construction, showing
how keenly alive the Government are to the
needs of the country.

Without going into further figures — for an
article on " Finance " appears elsewhere — re-
ference must now be made to the chief in-
dustries carried on in Selangor, and to its trade
in general.

Tin mining and agriculture are the staple
industries. The former is chiefly in the
hands of the Chinese, though of late years
a large amount of European capital has
been profitably invested in mining shares.
The industry gives employment to about 7r,240
labourers — not so large a number as in 1905,
owing to the increased use of machinery. The

dollars. The latest available returns give a
total area of 68,000 acres of land alienated for
mining purposes, the principal mines being in
the neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpor.

matter of offering facilities to planters, reaping
in return an enormous accession of revenue,
with a promise of still larger returns within
the next few years. During 1906 69,968 acres
of agricultural land were alienated, bringing
the total up to 310,000. The Land Offices have
been busy dealing with innumerable applica-
tions for rubber country, the revenue derived
during the year amounting to upwards of half a
million dollars, against 340,360 dollars in 1905
and 322,163 dollars in 1904. The quantity ex-
ported during 1906 was 674,100 lbs., of the
value of 1,234,326 dollars, on which duty was
paid to the amount of 29,386 dollars.

The total area under coconuts at the close of
1906 was estimated at 19,216 acres, and 12,720
piculs of copra of the value of 43,826 dollars
were exported. The most suitable districts for
coconuts lie along the coast, and in the hands
of skilled cultivators the industry is most pro-
fitable.

Padi, or rice, is grown extensively in some
parts of the State, notably in the Kuang dis-
trict, but that it by no means supplies the
demand may be seen from the fact that rice
to the value of 4,134.562 dollars was imported
in 1906.

Coffee cultivation is decreasing. The value
of the 1906 export was 523,361 dollars, against
684,422 dollars in the previous year. The chief
reason is that rubber is fast superseding the
product, coffee being now planted rather as a
catch-crop than as a staple. Areca-nuts to the
value of 20,664 dollars, pepper to the value of
55,675 dollars, and vegetables to the value of
53,185 dollars were exported during 1906, the
last two items showing a marked decrease as
compared with the figures for the preceding
year. No tapioca was expoited.

The total exports from Selangor during 1906
were valued at 26,613,302 dollars, an increase
of 342,348 dollars over the total for the preced-
ing twelve months.

Kuala Lumpor, the capital of the State, is
described in detail under a separate heading.

ON THE KLANG RIVER.

Foremost among the agricultural enterprises
of the State is rubber growing. The Govern-
ment has exerted itself to the utmost in the

Klang, the next town of importance, is the
centre of one of the largest agricultural dis-
tricts in the Federated Malay States, an area of

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

275

84,000 acres having been alienated for cultiva-
tion, of which about 34,000 acres are under
Para rubber. The district has a population of

The chief towns in the Ulu Selangor district
are Kuala Kubu, Serendah, Kawang, Rasu, Ulu
Yam Bharu, and Kalumpong. The principal

perous town of from 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants.
A motor-bus service in connection with the
Federated Malay States Railway runs to Pa-
hang, and passes " The Gap," where a Govern-
ment bungalow invites the traveller to stay
awhile. Another hill-station is situated on
Bukit Kutu, commonly known as "Treacher's
Hill," after a former British Resident of Selan-
gor. There are two bungalows 3,464 feet
above sea-level, and the temperature is re-
freshing to the jaded plain-dweller, whilst the

GENERAL VIEW OF KUALA KUBU.

about 32,000, including over 200 Europeans.
The town itself, which has a population of
8,ooo, lies near the mouth of the river. It is
the seat of the Sultans of Selangor, and origi-
nally was the capital of the State. It was also
formerly the port for Selangor, and it was a
serious blow to the town when Port Swetten-
ham was opened ; but, fortunately, with the
advent of rubber came a rapid rise in its
prosperity. In regard to genera! health Klang
stands a monument to the effectiveness of anti-
malarial measures. Years ago it was one of
the worst fever districts in the State, but drain-
age and improved sanitation have changed it
into a healthy town, in which a European may
live quite comfortably and enjoy complete
immunity from malaria.

The club, which, like the new Istana (or
Sultan's palace), overlooks the padang, has a
large membership, and is the centre of the
social life of the neighbourhood. There is a
little English Church at Klang, and excellent
educational facilities are provided by the Anglo-
Chinese School. The District Hospital has
recently been extended.

A new steel bridge is shortly to be built over
the Klang river at an estimated cost of about
£'20,000. This bridge will consist of four spans
of 140 feet each, supported on cylindrical piers,
each of an estimated depth of go feet. It is
expected that it will be opened for traffic by the
end of igo8. Klang is about half an hour's rail-
way journey from Kuala Lumpor, and the
neighbourhood is opened up by good roads.
There is an abundant supply of good water.

Port Swettenham, though only a small town
at present, is rapidly coming into prominence
by reason of the deep water anchorage it offers
to ocean-going vessels, and because of its prox-
imity to Kuala Lumpor. Liners can wharf
alongside the railway line, and excellent pro-
vision has been made for handling and ware-
housing merchandise. There is a regular
service of coasting steamers between Port
Swettenham and the other ports of British
Malaya.

occupation of the inhabitants is mining, for
which 19,360 acres have been opened up, and
144,300 acres remain available. An area of
58,840 acres has been taken up for rubber

SULTAN'S PALACE, KLANG.

sight of familiar flowers and vegetables is a
pleasant relief after the tropical luxuriance of
the lowlands. The district is traversed by 85
miles of metalled roads, 17 miles of gravelled
roads, and 28 miles of bridle-paths.

Kajang, the principal town in the Ulu Langat
district, is 15 miles to the south-west of Kuala
Lumpor by rail. It is a mining centre, and
latterly a considerable acreage in the neigh-
bourhood has been placed under Para rubber.
Not far from Kajang are the sulphur springs at
Dusun Tua, with a Government bungalow for
the accommodation of Government officials
and other Europeans. The remaining town-
ships in the district are Ulu Langat, Cheras,

OYSTER BED AT PULAU ANGSA (ISLAND OF GEESE).
(Fifteen miles from Port Swettenham).

planting and general agriculture. Kuala Kubu,
which lies on the main line, at a distance of 39
miles from Kuala Lumpor, is a growing, pros-

Semenyih.and Beranang, near the Negri Sam-
bilan border. The district is drained by the
Langat river.

•276

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

NEGRI SAMBILAN.

Gemencheh, and Gemas. Other streams which
empty themselves into the Straits are the Sungei
Sepang, which forms part of the Selangor
boundary line, the Sungei Linggi, and the
Sungei Lukut. On the other side of the range
the Sungei Triang rises, and, after receiving the
waters of the Kenaboi, Pertang, and Jeram
rivers, flows into the Pahang river.

The population of the State, estimated at
121,763, has increased considerably since 1901,
when the census returns showed a total of
96,028, made up of 64,565 males and 31,463
females. This great disparity between the
sexes is noticeable throughout the Eastern
States, and is, of course, due to the large number
of male immigrants.

The chief source of revenue, as with the
other States, is in the export of tin, but this in-
dustry is not conducted on a scale comparable
with Peralc or Selangor. New country is, how-
ever, being opened up by the construction of
roads and railways, and it is hoped that new
fields will thus be found. Rubber planting is
in an exceedingly prosperous condition, and it
is possible to travel for miles by road and rail-
way through country entirely planted with
rubber, or cleared for the cultivation of this
product. Other products are coconuts, tapioca,
coffee, and rice.

The main line of railway runs through the
State from Selangor to Johore, and a new line
is to be constructed immediately from Gemas,
the junction of the Johore line, to run through
Pahang to the north-east of the peninsula.
There is a branch line connecting Seremban
with Port Dickson.

The revenue of the State amounted in 1906 to
2,487,090 dollars, an increase of 151,555 dollars
over that of 1905, and more than twenty times
the amount of the revenue in 1876. The ex-
penditure in 1906 was 2,274,337 dollars, or
60,243 dollars more than in the preceding year.
In 1876 the expenditure was only 104,538
dollars. The State has a credit balance of
1,311,049 dollars.

Negri Sambilan is divided into five districts

A COUNTRY ROAD NEAR
SEREMBAN.

THE Negri Sambilan, or Nine States, origin-
ally consisted of Klang, which has now
been absorbed into the State of Selangor,
Sungei Ujong, Jelebu, Sri Menanti, Rembau,
Johol, Jempol, Inas, and Gemencheh. The
territory now known as the Negri Sambilan
comprises an area of about 2,600 square miles,
extending from latitude 2° 24' North to
latitude 3 11' North, and from longitude
ioi" 50' East to longitude 102° 45' East.
It is, roughly, pentagonal in shape, its boun-
daries being Selangor, Pahang, Johore, Malacca
and the Straits of Malacca. The coastline
extends for 30 miles.

In its physical geography and geology the
State resembles Selangor. The main range of
mountains forms practically a part of that which
traverses the whole length of the peninsula.
It extends from Jelebu in a southerly direction
for 20 miles, and then turns to the south-
east as far as the Malacca boundary. The
principal peaks are the Telapak Berok (a little
less than 4,000 feet), the Gunong Angsi (2,695
feet), and the Gunong Tampin (1,800 feet).
The range forms a watershed in which several
rivers have their source. The largest of these,
the Muar river, runs through Kuala Pilah, and
on through Johore into the Straits of Malacca.
Its tributaries are the Jelei, Jempol, Johol,

THE RAJAS OP NEGRI SAMBILAN AND FOLLOWERS.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

277

for administrative purposes — the Coast, Serem-
ban, Jelebu, Kuala Pilah, and Tampin. The
roads are generally good, and considerable
extensions are in progress, including a road
from Kuala Pilah to the Pahang boundary to
meet the Bentong road.

The town of Seremban, the capital of the
Negri Sambilan and the seat of local admini-
stration, is a prosperous planting and mining
centre, with a population of about five thousand
inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Chinese.
The Government offices and buildings are less
imposing than those of the other Western States,
but a handsome new Residency has recently
been built.

The general sanitary condition of the
town is satisfactory, and there will be an
ample supply of good water when the water-
works, now in course of construction, are
completed. There are excellent schools and
up-to-date hospital accommodation. The
European section of the community consists
mainly of civil servants, planters, and mining
men, and their bungalows are perched on the
eminences surrounding the town. For their
benefit there are two social and several re-
creative clubs, cricket, football, tennis, golf,
and billiards being the chief pastimes.

At Sri Menengok, on Gunong Angsi, at a
height of 2,626 feet above sea-level, is a hill
sanitarium for Europeans.

Port Dickson, the principal town in the Coast
District, is 25 miles by rail from Seremban.
About 70,714 acres have been alienated in the
district for agricultural and mining purposes,
but the mining is, comparatively speaking,
negligible. Para rubber is coming to be the
chief product ; till now the staples have been
tapioca, gambier, and pepper. An important
native industry is that of hat-making. About
five thousand hats are exported yearly — a
larger number than from any other district of
the Federated Malay States. The shipping
of the port is showing a slight tendency to
decrease, owing to the competition of the
railway.

A Government bungalow at Port Dickson,
open to the European public, is a popular resort ;
the air is salubrious, and there are excellent
bathing facilities.

Jelebu is a mountainous district. The chief
town, Kuala Klawang, is about 25 miles by road

VIEW OF JELEBU.

THE FAMOUS BANYAN TREE AT
JELEBU, VENERATED BY MALAYS.

from Seremban. Mining is carried on in the
district, for the most part on a small scale, by
handfuls of Chinese. The famous banyan tree
at Jelebu is an object of great veneration
amongst the Malays, who regard it as a kramat,
or sacred tree. Tradition ascribes great age to
it, and the hill on which it stands was used as a
burial ground upwards of two hundred years
ago. The graves of Tuan Kathi, the head
priest of that time, and his wife are still to be
seen.

In point of size, Kuala Pilah, the centre of
the district of that name, is the second town in
importance in the State. It is 26 miles from
Seremban by road, and lies near the route of
the proposed Pahang extension of the Fede-
rated Malay States Railway. The Martin
Lister Memorial at Kuala Pilah — a photograph
of which appears on page 279 — is probably
the only public tribute ever paid by the
Chinese community to a civil servant in the
State.

Tampin is noted for the fact that large areas
are worked by Malays for agricultural pur-
poses. Nowhere in the Federated Malay
States are more regular, systematic, and
successful methods of culture adopted by the
people indigenous to the country.

The Government Buildings.

VIEWS IN SEREMBAN.
2. THE Residency. 3. The Court House.

4. The Residency Grounds.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA 279

THE MAIN STREET OF KUALA PILAH.

THE MARTIN LISTER MEMORIAL AT KUALA PILAH.

e) =.<? ts

PORT DICKSON.

280

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

PAHANG.

THE HON. MR. CECIL WRAY
(British Resident, Pahang.)

THE total area of the Federated Malay
States is 26,380 square miles, and of this
area more than one-half, namely, 14,000 square
miles, is comprised in the State of Pahang.
This State is bounded on the north by the
Siamese Malay States, Kelantan and Treng-
ganu ; on the east by the China Sea ; on the
south by Johore and the Negri Sambilan ; and
on the west by Perak and Selangor. It lies
between latitudes 2° 30' and 4 50' X.,and longi-
tudes 101 30' and I03°40' E. Parallel to the
coast line, which measures 130 miles, run two
chains of islands — the largest ten miles by five
— which are included in the territory. By far
the larger portion of the State is still covered
with virgin jungle, in which elephants, sela-
dangs, rhinoceroses, tigers, deer, and wild pigs
roam almost unmolested, for only sportsmen of
means and ample leisure can undertake their
pursuit. The rivers abound with crocodile,
snipe, and waders.

The physical formation of the country may
best be understood by a glance at a map of the
Malay Peninsula. Along the western boundary
runs a ridge of granite hills, attaining in places
a height of 7,000 feet. In the northern high-
lands the Gunong Tahan. 7,050 feet, is the
culminating peak of a number of spurs.
Through the intervening valleys run the tribu-
taries of the Tembeling and Jelai rivers, which
commingle in the plains below to form the
broad Pahang river. The next highest summit
is that in which the Semantan river takes its
rise. Other summits are Gunong Benom
(6,900 feet) and Bukit Raka, in the western
hills ; Gunong Kenering and Gunong Bakau in
the north ; Gunong Pallas in the east, from

The principal river in the State is the Pahang
river, swelled by the waters of the Tembeling
and Jelai rivers. These in turn receive tribute
from numerous streams. Into the Tembeling
flow the Sungei Tahan, the Sungei Kendiam,
the Sungei Jentoh, the Sungei Benus, the
Sungei Tekai, and others ; whilst the Jelai
receives the Telom, Serau, Tenom, Kechau,
and Lipis rivers and numerous lesser tribu-
taries. Other main feeders of the Pahang
river are the Semantan river, which brings
down the waters of the Sungei Bentong and
Sungei Bilut ; the Sungei Triang and Sungei
Bera, which flow from the hills on the Negri
Sambilan boundary ; and the Sungei Lui and
Sungei Lepar, which rise in the uplands of the
Kuantan district.

The Pahang is navigable for shallow draught
steamers only. Owing to its sandy bed and to
the absence of rapids it may be navigated with
safety by small cargo boats. The Rompin,
which also flows into the China Sea, has six
feet of water above the bar at low tide, and
there is deep water for nearly a hundred miles
of its course. The Kuantan river rises in the
Trengganu district, whilst the Endau forms the
boundary between Pahang and the State of
Johore.

Geologically, the formation of Pahang is
granite in the western mountain range, and
runs through slate, sandstone, and a con-
glomerate series to the plains. It is interesting

MRS. 'WRAY.

which runs the formidable chain of hills
dividing the Temerloh and Kuantan districts ;
and Gunong Gayong in the south, from which
the Sungei Rompin flows.

to note the difference between the tin-bearing
stratum in Pahang and that on the other side
of the range. In Selangor and Perak by far
the larger proportion of the workings are

VIEWS IN PAHANG.

Sorting Fish on the Beach, Besrah. tuba Fishing in the Pahang River.

On the Kuantan River. Sungei Parlt, Pekan.

* Limestone Mountain on the Kuantan River.

VIEWS IN PAHANG.

Raub.

The British Residency, Kuala Lipis.
The Rest-house at Raub.

Tras Village.
The Motor Garage at Raub.

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

283

lombong ; that is to say, they- are alluvial
■deposits lying beneath many feet of over-
burden, as opposed to lampan workings, in
which the ore is won from alluvial washings.
As explained briefly in reference to the older
States, the rich alluvial deposits there were the
result of detritus from the stanniferous granite
formation. In Pahang there has been less
detritus, with the result that there is less
alluvial tin and less overburden. But while
the lombongs in Pahang are poor, the lampans
are exceedingly rich ; the tin is high up in the
range, most of the paying mines being at
elevations of close upon 2,000 feet. It would
seem from this that the future prosperity of the
State, if it ever has any great prosperity, will
be derived from the treatment of lode ore by
means -of crushing machinery. This applies
to the Ulu districts. Kuantan is an exception
to the rule ; its geological formation differs
entirely from that of the other districts. Tin
is found in lode formation, and in this locality
are the deepest underground mines in the
peninsula. 1

After leaving the granite formation the slate
country is reached, and here; in the centre line
of the State, gold is found. Between the
auriferous chain and Kuantan lies an enormous
tract of country which is only of value for
agricultural purposes.

Pahang possesses a warm, moist climate,
free from extremes of temperature, and differs
from the Western States in that it has seasons
governed by the monsoons. The rainfall
averages from 150 to 175 inches a year, the
wettest period falling between November and
February, when the north-east monsoon pre-
vails. The heavy rains are usually followed
by floods. The thermometer shows a mean
annual temperature of about 75 F. or 8o° F.,
and the European may, if he takes due regard
to the general principles of hygiene requisite
to residence in the tropics, live in tolerable
comfort.

The State is thinly populated. In 1901 a census
returned the number of inhabitants as 84,113.
To-day it is estimated to be about 100,000, an
average of seven persons to the square mile.
There are between seven and eight thousand
aborigines in Pahang, the Lipis valley, parts
of Temerloh and the Pekan district being their
chief strongholds'.

Means of communication in the State are
scanty, b'ut are being extended as rapidly as
resources permit. There are 122 miles of
cart-roads, 5 miles of gravelled roads, 86
miles of earth roads, 28$ miles of bridle-paths,
and 145 miles of other paths. From Kuala
Kubu, in Selangor, an excellent road runs
through Tras, Raub, and Benta to Kuala Lipis,
the administrative capital of the State. From
Tras a road to Bentong opens up a rich tin
country, and will, when the road through the
Sempak Pass is completed, give an alternative
route to Kuala Lumpor, the Federal capital.
An important highway will be the Kuantan-
Benta road, a continuation of the trunk route
across the State from west to east. The line
for this road has been found, and now only
requires tracing. The Kuantan-Lepar road,
which will give access to the tin mines in the
Blat valley, is Hearing completion, and a road
from Kuala Pilah, in Negri Sambilan, to
Bentong is being rapidly pushed forward.
Other than those enumerated, the only trans-
port facilities at present are those afforded by
the rivers and their tributaries ; some are
navigable for cargo-boats and steamers of light
draught, while others are accessible only to
small native dug-outs, or sampans. In time,
however, will come the railway. Already the
permanent survey between Gemas, in Negri
Sambilan, and Kuala Semantan, on the Pahang
river, has been completed, and a commence-
ment will soon be made with this extension.
From Kuala Semantan three trial surveys have
been carried out. The first runs due north to

Kuala Tembeling, roughly following the course
of the Pahang river ; and the second bears to
the westward and then north to Kuala Lipis
via Bentong. The first line, if made, will form
part of the main trunk railway, starting from
Gemas and running to the east of the Guncng
Tahan massif, the main central range ; the
second, it has been decided, is unsuitable for a
main trunk line, but may be carried out as a
branch line to Bentong. The third trial survey
runs from Kuala Semantan to Kuantan, and
this railway, if made, will form a branch line
to the seaport there. It will necessitate the
bridging of the Pahang river by a structure
of six spans, each of 150 feet. There are 76
miles of telegraph wire and 85 miles of
telephone wire in the State.

administrative purposes : Pekan, Kuantan,
Raub, Lipis, Temerloh. The relative import-
ance of these is shown by a comparison of the
revenue derived from each district. Lipis
contributed 141,257 dollars, Raub 252,346
dollars, Temerloh 19,559 dollars, Pekan 53,711
dollars, and Kuantan 159,484 dollars ; and if it
be borne in mind that of a sum of 122,823
dollars, for farm revenue, credited to Lipis as
being the headquarters, three-quarters belongs
properly to Raub and the remaining quarter to
Kuantan — the districts where Chinese are most
largely employed — it will at once be apparent
that Raub and Kuantan are by far the most
important districts in the State.

Kuala Lipis, the capital, was formerly of
some commercial importance as the centre of

H.H. SIR AHMAD MAATHAM SHAH'IBINI ALMERHUM ALI, K.C.M.G.,
OF PAHANG, AND FOLLOWERS.

SULTAN

The revenue of the Slate for 1906 amounted
to 650,718 dollars, and the expenditure to
T >434>353 dollars, as compared with 528,368
and 1,208,176 dollars respectively in 1905, and
with 62,077 and 297,702 dollars in 1890. The
expenses of administration are borne chiefly
by advances from the neighbouring States, the
loan account at the end of 1906 showing
4,366,568 dollars due to Selangor and 1,574,435
dollars due to Perak. These loans are free of
interest, and no period of repayment has been
fixed. The principal heads of revenue in the
financial statement for 1906 include : Land
revenue, 78,329 dollars ; customs, 290,651
dollars ; and licences, &c, 147,907 dollars.
Under expenditure the heaviest item was that
of 653,073 dollars for roads, streets, and bridges
(special services).

The trade returns show on the whole a
gradual improvement. In 1906 the value of
the exports was 3,770,325 dollars. To this total
tin contributed no less than 3,090,124 dollars,
the duty paid on it amounting to 276,672 dollars.
Gold is exported more largely than from any
other State in the Federation, and amounted to
10,728 oz., valued at 367,817 dollars. A con-
siderable trade is carried on in dry and salt
fish. Other articles of export are guttas and
tapioca. The acreage under rubber at the close
of the year was approximately 12,000 acres,
although only two years previously there were
but 245 acres under this product. The imports
during the twelve months under review were
worth 1,194,921 dollars.

The State is divided into five districts for

the gold mining district. Now, all the gold
mines in the neighbourhood have closed down,
and it has dwindled to a town of five or six
hundred inhabitants, only notable because it is
at present the seat of local administration. The
chief Government offices are situated at Kuala
Lipis ; and there are a hospital, a gaol, a rest-
house, -and vernacular schools in the district.
The town is the terminus of the motor service
from Kuala Lumpor. Beyond the small
holdings owned by natives there is practically
no planting industry in the district.

In Raub, which is 45 miles by road from
Kuala Lumpor, is to be found the only gold
mine now working in the State. This mine
is situated on a property of about 12,000 acres
with a proved lode of nearly five miles. It is
worked almost entirely by electricity generated
at a station on the banks of the Sempan river,
the power being transmitted through the jungle
a distance of 7J miles to Bukit Roman, the
headquarters of the mine, two miles from the
town. Not only are the pumps and hoists
motor-driven, but the shafts and the houses are
lit by electricity. It is curious to see native
attap huts illuminated by this means, in a place
where elephants are employed to carry the ore
to the town — to note the contrast between
civilisation and jungle life. Of course, the
more important industry is tin mining, the
district showing an output for 1906 of 18,261
piculs, of which quantity Bentong was respon-
sible for two-thirds. The demand for land is
great, and the revenue from this source shows
a steady increase. There are ten vernacular

284

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

schools, and both Government and privately
owned hospitals in the district.

Bentong is rapidly growing in importance,
and when direct communication is opened up
with Selangor and Negri Sambilan it should
have a considerable access of prosperity.

Kuantan is regarded by many as the coming
district of Pahang. It possesses vast mineral
wealth, and contains good agricultural land, for
which there is an increasing demand. Most
of its tin export during 1906 came from the
Blat valley, in which neighbourhood are some
of the largest mining concessions in the State.

Kuala Kuantan is the only port of any real
value in the State It is situated, as its name
implies, near the estuary of the Kuantan river,
and has commercial potentialities which are
certain to be utilised to the fullest extent as
soon as an enhanced revenue justifies the
necessary expenditure. The Kuantan river is
navigable for cargo boats, and forms the interior
route to the Ulu district.

Temerloh is chiefly an agricultural district,
the population being to a great extent confined
to small villages scattered along the banks
of the rivers. Tembeling, the point to which

one of the trial surveys for the trunk railway
has been carried, is noted for its earthenware ;
incidentally it may be mentioned that the
potter's wheel is as yet unknown.

Pekan, the principal town in the district of
that name, was originally the capital of the
State, and is still the seat of the Sultan of
Pahang, who holds his State Council there.
Pekan is noted for its mat-making and sarong-
weaving industries, which are carried on by
the Malays. Seven miles down the river stands
Kuala Pahang, of little value as a port except
for shallow-draught steamers.

^s£-

J2ZZ*

JOHORE.

THE State of Johore occupies the southern-
most portion of the Malay Peninsula.
It embraces about nine thousand square miles.
On the north it adjoins Malacca, Negri
Sambilan, and Pahang ; on the south it is
separated from Singapore island by the Strait

The first of these is the most important stream
in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula.

The main products of Johore are gambier,
pepper, sago, tapioca, and rubber. The
mineral wealth of the country has not yet
been exploited, but tin mining is carried on in

peans with conspicuous success, especially in
Muar, the north-western portion of the State.
A railway running from north to south is now
under construction, and when completed will
connect Singapore with the Federated Malay
States trunk line, and thus establish through

THE MOSQUE, AND VIEWS OF JOHORE FROM THE FORT.

of Johore ; and on the east and west it is
washed by the sea. Theterritory isstill covered
to a great extent with virgin jungle, and can
only be traversed by indifferent roads. As a
whole, the country is less mountainous than any
other part of the peninsula. The Blumut Hills
(3,180 feet) are the principal mountain group,
and Mount Ophir, which is over 4,000 feet high,
is the highest peak in the State. The three
largest rivers are the Muar, in the north, the
Endau on the east, and the Johore in the south.

one or two districts. Iron is plentiful all over
the State, but so far it has not been worked,
owing to the absence of coal.

The population of the State is, approximately,
250,000, of whom no fewer than 200,000 are
Chinese. The trade is almost entirely in the
hands of the Chinese, and passes through
Singapore. Recently, widespread attention
has been drawn to the commercial potentialities
of the State, and several large tracts have been
opened up and planted with rubber by Euro-

rail communication between Singapore and
Pinang.

Johore is an independent State, ruled by
his Highness Ibrahim, Sultan of Johore, D.K.,
S.P.M.J., K.C.M.G., who came to the throne
ten years ago. In the government of his
country he is assisted by a Council of State,
consisting of ministers and chiefs. This
Council also forms the High Court of Appeal.
The form of government is akin to an absolute
monarchy, and is in accordance with a con-

TWENTIETH CENTURY IMPRESSIONS OF BRITISH MALAYA

285

stitution promulgated in 1895. The annual
revenue of the State is 1,500,000 dollars, derived
principally from import taxes and opium and
gambling farms.

Johore Bharu, the principal centre of
commerce and the seat of government, is a
thriving little town with about 20,000 inhabi-
tants, situated opposite the island of Singapore.
It is easy of access from the town of Singa-
pore, the 15-mile rail and ferryboat journey
occupying about an hour. As seen from
Woodlands, the northern terminus of the
Singapore railway, it presents a very attractive
appearance. Along the sea-front is a broad
well-made road, backed for a short distance
by a row of substantial buildings, of which the
Johore Hotel is the most notable. Over the
calm, sunlit waters of the Strait glide pic-
turesque native craft of varying sizes, with
their brown sails silhouetted against the sky.
Immediately behind the town rise verdure
clad slopes, and further inland appears the
shadowy outline of high hills. Johore Bharu
forms a popular Sunday resort for Singapore
people. Its chief places of interest are the
Sultan's Istana (palace), the Abubakar mosque
— one of the most imposing and beautiful
buildings devoted to the Mahomedan religion
in the Far East — and the gambling saloons, in
which a polygenous crowd may always be met
trying their luck at the Chinese games poh
and fan-tan. The attendance is especially
numerous on Sundays, when train-loads of
people representative of every class of society
in Singapore flock into the town. The Sultan
draws a considerable portion of his revenue
from the Chinese kongsee which runs the
gambling farms.

and rubber produced in the State is grown.
Muar is the centre of administration for a
district embracing about 2,000 square miles
and containing 50,000 inhabitants, and is the
chief port of the State. A daily service of

Independent State of Johore, is the eldest
son of the late Sultan Abubakar, G.C.M.G.,
K.C.S.I., and was born on September 17,
1873. He was proclaimed King on Sep-
tember 7, 1895, and was crowned two

DATO' MAJOR ABDULLAH.

(Stats Commissioner, Muar.)

Besides the capital, the only other township
in the State worthy of note is Muar, situated
at the mouth of the Muar river in the north-
western province of the State. Along the banks
of this river the bulk of the gambier, pepper,

H.H. IBRAHIM, D.K., D.M.J., K.C.M.G., SULTAN OF JOHORE.

steamers runs between Muar and Singapore,
and road and telephonic connection between
Muar and Malacca, 27 miles away, is shortly
to be established.

The Sultan of Johore is a travelled, active,
and enlightened ruler. With the example of
the Federated Malay States before him, he is
doing much to encourage the development of
his country, which in the near future is
likely to share in the prosperity enjoyed by its
neighbours.

His Highness Ibrahim, Sultan of the

months later. Although he has not had the
advantage of a European education, he is,
nevertheless, remarkably conversant with
European affairs, and adopts the manners,
customs, and fashions of Western civilisation.
He takes a close personal interest in the
administration of his country, but even the
active supervision of the various State depart-
ments does not absorb the whole of his energy,
for he finds time to superintend the manage-
ment of several rubber estates of which
he is the owner.

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