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personal violence to myself, which is not to be thought of for a moment.
Etamo accompanied me to Langat on the 25th inst., and will probably return here to-morrow, when I may get further information from him. Etam assures me that Rajah Assil has no intention of making any farther disturbances in Salangore, and this is confirmed by all that I hear from other sources; but still Rajah Assil's conduct and declarations may all be intended to deceive, though I am inclined to think not.
I wish now to call attention to the Sultan's conduct in this matter, which I think is most unsatisfactory. From the entry in my journal on September 30, it will be seen that I had a conversation with the Sultan on that day; that His Highness then denied all knowledge of Rajah Broman, and that although Sultan Poasah's name was mentioned on that occasion in connexion with Rajah Broman and his armed party, the Sultan did not tell me that he was then in Langat, or had asked for a pass to bring 200, or any other number of men from either Perak or Uloo Birnam to Uloo Langat, when, in fact, Sultan Possah had asked for and was waiting at Langat to get, if he had not then got, the pass from the Sultan. The Sultan was quite aware of the active part which Sultan Poasah took in the last disturbances, and that the Mandaling men were the strongest. party in opposing his Viceroy during these disturbances. He could not help knowing that the appearance of such a number of these men in the interior without notice of their intention would excite alarm among the Chinese miners, and almost necessarily lead to disturbances, but he withheld from me the fact of the application for or granting of this pass, when from the nature of our conversation on September 30, it must have been present to his mind, and he never communicated to me or bis Viceroy or any one else, so far as I can ascertain, that the pass had been granted until yesterday, when by u direct series of questions, I extracted the fact from him. Indeed, the fact of this pass having been granted, seems to have been kept secret, and though it was known to some people at Langat that the pass had been applied for, the impression was that it had been refused. We have then the fact of the Sultan being in communication with Rajah Mahdie's brother and active agent, and being ready to permit him to take away 20 kegs of gunpowder from his own magazine for use in Perak. He then secretly gives a pass to do what he knows must almost to a certainty create a disturbance in Klang, and communicates it to no one interested in keeping the peace of that district, and, unless remonstrated with, would have permitted to go out of his own magazine a quantity of gunpowder, which he must, at least, have suspected was to be used against the peace of a portion of his own territory. I must explain that the Sultan of Salangore, though an opiumi smoker, is not the weak, unthinking old man he has been described to be, but is a very shrewd, money-loving man, with the full use of his faculties. As all experience has shown he is utterly unreliable in word or action, except when there is some one beside him to see him carry out his promises. It may be asked, what does the Sultan expect to gain from disturbances in his own country, and the answer to this question is easy enough. At present, the revenue of the Klang river, which is the only portion of the territory yielding any considerable revenue, is all collected by the Resident, and applied for the purposes of Government and paying off debts, and the Sultan scarcely gets a portion of it, but he collects all the revenue from the Langat river for his own use. If disturbances arise in Klang, and the river becomes unsafe, the tin from Klang will be carried over from it to the Langat river, and the royalty and other duty on it collected there for the Sultan's personal benefit, and in the same way opium, &c. will be imported into the Langat river for use in Klang, and the duty collected for the Sultan's own benefit. That the Sultan has on two former occasions fostered disturbances in Klang, for the selfish purpose I have mentioned is notorious, and, although I do not mean to say that he intends to do so now, I am indicating what possibly may be in his mind, as his conduct on the present occasion is to my mind wholly inconsistent with s desire to maintain in the Klang district.
peace
In connexion with what I have just stated, it should be recollected that when I left Salangore to go to Perak on 1st September, Rajah Moosah was at Langat and remained there till about the 13th of that month.
Before going to Langat on that occasion, Moosab showed the greatest friendship towards Tunku Dia Oodin, lived in his house, and ordered about his servants as if they were his own; but, on his coming from Langat to Klang about 14th September in expec tation of meeting the Governor there, his manners had completely changed. Moosah left Klang and went back to Langat on the 16th September, and came bere again on the 19th. He slept that night in his boat, and went out on the following day to go to Singapore without visiting or communicating with Tunku Dia Oodin. Something must
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have occurred at Langat about the beginning of September to produce this marked #hange, but I have not been able to discover what it was.
I have written to Sultan Possah to come here and explain what he has been doing, and warned him that if he neglects to do so I shall treat him as an enemy to the peace of this State. Should he refuse or neglect to come, I intend to go on to Kadjang and either arrest him or drive him from the place. Many people believe that he does not want further disturbances, and think that he is at present influenced by Rajah Kabar. What further steps may be necessary will depend on subsequent information, but I think my presence in the interior for some time is absolutely necessary. I may mention that I have arranged for getting early information from Slim of any movement from that quarter.
I have endeavoured to put the present state of matters here as clearly as possible, and, though they are somewhat alarming, I shall be able to put all right without assistance from Singapore, unless indeed Moosah has put his people up to make disturbances at Jerom and Salangore. I am much in want of an intelligent European in the meantime to watch the Sultan and his people at Langat, and inform me what is going on there.
I have, &c.
(Signed) J. G. DAVIDSON, Her Britannic Majesty's Resident, Salangore.
Langat, October 26, 1875,
Ally Mahomed states :-Some days after the Resident was last here Rajah Kabar told me that Sultan Poasah knew two of the men who had committed the outrage at Podoh.
I proposed to go and see Poasah at once, but Kahar offered to go with me and detained me for a long time at his house. When we got to Poasah's place he had left and gone
up the river. Kahar after that told me that Panghina Busar was one of the men who was concerned in the Podoh outrage.
Sultan Poasah was here when the Resident was last here, and I am told that Rajah Broman was with him, but I do not know the man. Several people have complained to me about Sulian Possah appropriating their goods without payment.
Rajah Kamza came to Langat one day before the Resident last came, I learnt that he had been at Tampoi for some days before he came on to Langat. He and Kahar were much together, and many letters passed between them. Kahar was angry with me for bringing Kamza's boat, and leaving it at the Kooboo (police station). Kamza came and told me that the Sultan had ordered me to give him 20 kegs of powder from the magazine to take to Perak. I refused, and told the Sultan he had better not allow Kamza to take away any powder to Perak as he might get into trouble. He then told me not to give it out. These 20 kegs of powder belonged to Rajah Muhdee, and were stored in the Sultan's magazine sometime last year. About eight days ago Kamza left this, saying he was going straight to Perak and did not intend stopping anywhere. I saw him as far as the Jugra Hill. I am told that be was at Tampoi the day before yesterdry. Rajah Kamza and Sootan Poasah had a meeting at Tanjong duablas, about 12 miles up the river from this, but what it was about I don't know. I sent policemen to get information, but they could get none. Kamza and Poasah used to meet frequently in Langat, when they were both there together. Kamza had a boat with four men only. He took away other two men with him belonging to Juche Karri. Juche Karri and Rajah Kamza lived in the same house together. One of Kamza's men told me that Kamza burnt two or three letters, which he received from Rajah Kahar, immediately after reading them. My suspicions were first excited about these men by finding a letter from Kahar to Kamza at the bottom of a basket of fruit, which the former was sending to the latter. The Sultan gave me 810 to give Kamza to get rid of him. The Sultan does not wish to have anything to do with Kamza,
Shaik Mahomed Ally, of Uloo Klang, states:-
October 23, 1875.
On the Shaban 27 (September 27), Paha, a Menangkabow man, informed me that Rajah Broman and 36 men, all armed with muskets and other weapons, were at Uloo Gombah, about four days before the day he reported this to me. Rajah Broman, in reply
to inquiries from some of our people, said he had come from Slim and was going to Uloo Langat. I heard this at Qualla Lumpor.
• I was at Langst on 29th and 30th September.
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