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Padang Rivers, amounting to about 500 dollars a month at each, nominally for the Sultan, At Batarabit one petty Chief had a gambling but the Sultan has never received it. farm of 66 dollars. At Durian Sabatan the Laxamana had one of 200 dollars. At Batang Padang another petty Chief one of 80 dollars, and at Bandar one of the young Rajah of 20 dollars.
22. At the Qualla Kinta the Bandahara sub-lets to the Rajah Makota a farm of extra Customs duties on every import and export, thus making the miners and inha- bitants on that river pay at least double the amount paid by all other people in the country.
23. One thing very notable in their tariff was, that while rice was charged 4 dollars a coyan on entering the country, and paid nothing else on any other rivers, it here paid 16 dollars again.
24. At Kinta the Pungulu of Kinta takes the royalty of 5 dollars, but I do not know if he ever gives it to ex-Sultan Ismail.
25. At Sengang, where Rajab Yusuf lived, he used to stop every boat up or down, and levy one-tenth of everything, but he has lately given this up.
26. Higher up, where the Sedika Rajah lived, they levied again a tenth on all imports and exports.
27. Several of these are already being arranged for, and I am in hopes, in another month, of knowing that no taxes of this sort are levied anywhere, but at Qualla Perak, and a scale of duties as a temporary measure, submitted by me, has received his Excellency's sanction.
28. On all the tin in Perak the Sultan was supposed to get 11 dollars a bhar; but, in reality, he never got more than the 6 dollars levied at the Qualla. All the mines in the country which have been opened, are supposed to have private owners, and they take 10 dollars a bhar. This makes the real duty taken 21 dollars, which is far more than the tin can pay; the equalization of this is in train, and I think can be easily arranged and reduced to a total charge of 15 dollars, of which 6 dollars on the old mines only would go to the Government, while on all new mines the Crown would receive the whole of 15 dollars a bhar.
29. The Datus are magistrates, and impose fines, which, if not over 15 dollars, they pocketed, and, if over, they handed to the Sultan, or ought to hand to him; while His Highness also found it was more profitable for him, in case of a murder, to fine than to make a public example. I have reason to believe that it was in this matter of fining that the Chiefs' rule bore most hardly upon the people.
30. I hope soon to have ready a short code for the Datus as to what they may and may not punish for, and what must be sent through the police to head-quarters, where I hope to bave an intelligent Hakim.
The
31. I have endeavoured to ameliorate this, and not without some slight success. ryots now come constantly to me with complaints, or for advice, and I and all the Chiefs most ready to meet me, at all events half-way, if not to do all I want, while in many cases the Datus and Sultans themselves refer the ryots to me.
32. I cannot say that I think the Chiefs yet are satisfied with the presence of a British officer, though they are by degrees getting accustomed to it; and once the revenue is properly arranged, which it will now be after another two months, and the allowances to be made to the Chiefs fixed, I think those who signed the Treaty, and who will enjoy salaries, will give the British officer their best support.
33. Even now, however, he is everywhere treated with respect by them, and by the petty Rajahs, except by one or two freebooting Rajahs who live a vagrant life between Kinta and Ilims on the Bernam River.
34. One of the great difficulties is in getting any co-operation amongst the Chiefs, as every one is jealous or suspicious of the other; but I am glad, of late, to see this some- what disappearing, and I can very safely say that the future of Perak may be looked upon as a prosperous one, though we must wait for it with some patience, for it will yet be some time before these personal jealousies cease to be productive of delay and of evil; but once the Sultan is located in his own palace, with the Resident within sight of him, the adminis- tration of justice and all business will be centralized there, and the Chiefs brought more together and in a public manner.
85. Another of the great causes of discontent on the part of the Sultan Abdullah and the Chiefs who range themselves with him, is the non-possession of the regalia, which is retained by the ex-Sultan.
36. As regards the regalia, the country can get on very well without it, or, as soon as it can afford it, a new set can be procured, but it is difficult to convince these native Chiefs of this. They are, however, getting more alive to the fact that they must wait for it. As
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to fighting for it, the Sultan and his side are not in a position to do so, and, however big the Laxamana and Shahbandar may talk, I am certain they would not risk a conflict with the people of the interior, for, though some of the Chiefs and a large number of the ryots up the river are actually in favour of Abdullah, they are so situated by position that they would be compelled to join the force of Ismail and Yusuf.
37. It is not the possession of the regalia, therefore, that need give any anxiety, but the fact that Ismail still holds it leads the people, or many of them, to believe the asser- tions of Yusuf and other interested persons that Ismail is still, and ever has been, Sultan de facto. As long, therefore, as Ismail remains outside the Treaty, and as long as he is called Sultan Ulu by the people of the interior, and has a certain number of Chiefs adherent to him, so long will there be always difficulties to contend with. But, if an officer is firm and courteous to Ismail, he will be able, I have no doubt, to maintain the police all up the interior, and regulate the headman, though, of course, he will often have trouble, and require much patience.
38. Whenever Ismail joins the Treaty and receives his money, all difficulties in the Government of the country will disappear.
39. I made an attempt early in the year to bring the Sultan and ex-Sultan together, and to effect a reconciliation. But to do so I was obliged to assemble all the Chiefs, and it was owing solely to the jealousies of all these Chiefs amongst themselves, to which I have referred before, that a perfect reconciliation was not then brought about.
40. The first step now that demands attention, and one that I was unable to deal with till I became personally acquainted with the locality of the villages, their relative size, &c., is the appointment of Pungulus to the villages, and Datus over clusters of villages, or small districts.
41. I found, upon personal inquiry and visitation, that very few regularly appointed Pungulus existed. In some villages there were the old servants, with proper quassas from Sultan Jaffir, or Sultan Ally; in others, some held quassas from Sultan Ismail; some had been appointed by Abdullah when he was not Sultan, but Rajah Muda; while in other villages there would be two, one claiming the right by virtue of a chop from ex-Sultan Ismail, and the other by a similar one from Sultan Abdullah. In many villages the ryota had no Pungulu, and in others they pretended not to know who he was, and would not recognize him.
42. With such a state of things it becomes necessary to deal, before you can hope for regularity of Government, or security of any sort. As regards the Datus, the country was supposed to be divided among the Chiefs forming" the second class of eight," assisted by their assistants in "the third class of sixteen;" of the eight, however, only five remain, and of the sixteen, as far as I can at present discover, only one. Many of those Chiefs were supposed to have charge of districts where they never resided, and only visited them at all, or sent orders into them, for the purpose of squeezing.
49. The sensible Chiefs, however, and the Sultan are of one accord with me as to the necessity of dealing with this as soon as possible, and, now that I know all the villages, it will be an easy task. The Sultan promises to accompany me to many himself, and where his Highness cannot go to send the Laxamana with me.
44. The people of Perak are singularly averse to doing any work, even for hire, except cultivation on their own lands, or for their own purposes. Some few cultivate sugar and Indian corn in considerable quantities for sale. But even for such work as jungle-cutting, &c., you must look to the men from Rawa, Batu Barra, Mardiling, &c., of whom there are very many in the country. I am endeavouring to conquer this dislike, and have made several attempts to obtain them, through the orders of the Chiefs, for clearing the ground for the residence of the Sultan and for that of myself, offering to supply food daily, but have been unsuccessful. The people seem to have no respect for the orders of any of the Chiefs except the Laxamana, and not much for him. Latterly I have got a few from the villages by coaxing, and by paying 25 cents a day.
45. It would be impossible, therefore, for an intending speculator in land to rely upon labour in Perak, unless he could secure a gang or two of the Rawa, &c., men alluded to before.
46. I cannot help thinking, if experiments were made in pepper planting, that it is a class of cultivation to which the Perak Malay might gradually be brought to turn his attention, and I think it would be worth the while of the Government of Perak to import a village of Achinese and a village of Bugis, giving them the necessary advances, and vory fine soil, attempt thus to introduce the cultivation. There is abundance of land of well fitted for pepper, and close by are to be found several of the hard woods required for the props of the vines.
47. At the present time, and for some years, a very good smokable tobacco has been
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