CO882-(3-4) — Page 128

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

CO. 882

3

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

SIR.

30

No. 29.

COLONIAL OFFICE to SIR HARRY ORD, C.B.

4 Confidential.

Downing Street, July 15, 1876.

I AM directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you confidentially for your consideration copies of two despatches* from the Governor of the Straits Settlements Submitting to his Lordship his proposals for the future government under British pro- tection of the native states of "Sri Menanti," in the neighbourhood of Sungie Ujong.

2. The first of these despatches was written before the Governor had received Lord Carnarvon's telegram of the 28th of April stating that Her Majesty's Government would not sanction the protection or government of these states, and his Lordship is disposed to instruct Sir W. Jervois to reconsider his proposals in regard to the nine states, so that they may be brought into harmony with the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards native states generally described in his Lordship's despatch of June 1st.

3. Her Majesty's Government are unwilling to make any further extension of the system of Residents until they have further experience of those already established elsewhere. It will be observed that the Governor states that Rajah Ahmat would be accepted by the people over whom it is proposed to place him, but it is not clear in what manner be will be able to clear the country of the freebooters who now infest it, or to maintain order and protect the person of the Resident should one be assigned to him. Moreover the proclamation as drafted seems to his Lordship to be open to the same objections as those which Lord Carnarvon has felt it his duty to take respecting the conduct of affairs in Perak subsequent to the Pangkore engagement.

4. As Malacca is bounded by Sungie Ujong, which is quiet, and by Rainbow Johole and Moar States, said to be adequately governed by their existing Datus who therefore are not to be displaced, his Lordship does not understand how there can be dangers on the frontier of Malacca from freebooters coming down through those well-governed States from the highlands of Sri Menanti, Jumpole, and Ulu Moar, or why it should be necessary in order to secure the frontiers of Malacca from the harassing incursions to which they are liable, to adopt the Governor's proposal to extend the responsibility of the Colonial Government by taking under British protection the three States of Sri Menanti, Jumpole, and Ulu Moar, under the direct government of Rajah Ahmat, and by the appointment of a British agent to assist him.

5. Lord Carnarvon will be obliged by a confidential expression of your opinion on these points.

I am, &c.

SIR,

Sir Harry Ord, C.B.

(No. 163.)

(Signed)

No. 30.

ROBERT G. W. HERBERT.

THE EARL OF CARNARVON to GOVERNOR SIR W. F. D. JERVOIS,

K.C.M.G., C.B.

Downing Street, July 15, 1876.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch, No. 209, of the 27th of May,† informing me that the sentence by hanging passed by Rajah Dris upon the prisoner Seputum was carried out on the morning of the 20th of May in the presence of Sultan Abdullah and the principal chiefs in the vicinity of Bandar Bahru.

Governor Sir W. Jervois,

&c.

&c.

&c.

I am, &c. (Signed)

CARNARVON.

• No. 82 of Eastern 17a and No. 19 of this paper.

↑ No. 27.

(No. 216.)

31

No. 31.

GOVERNOR SIB W. F. D. JERVOIS, K.C.M.G., C.B., to the EARL OF

Mr LORD,

CARNARVON. (Received, July 17, 1876.)

Government House, Singapore,

June 7, 1876.

In paragraph 19 of my Despatch, No. 196, of the 13th ultimo,* relating to States in the neighbourhood of the settlement of Malacca, I informed your Lordship that when the messengers of the Maharajah of Johore, whom I had requested to send for Tunku Antar, arrived in the northern part of Johore, they found that that chief had left for Jumpole, and I mentioned that had been informed that he had been wounded at one

of the skirmishes between the Malay bands and the police. I also stated that I still proposed to adopt conciliatory measures and to endeavour to induce him, as well as other chiefs associated with him, to settle down peaceably and quietly.

2. I, therefore, requested the Maharajah to send again a messenger upon whom he could place implicit reliance, to inform Tunku Antar that I wished to see him, and that I had no desire to treat him as an enemy, but that, on the contrary, I wished to show every kindness to him and the other chiefs referred to, with a view to restoring peace and order in their country. The Maharajah, who has afforded me every assistance in the matter, immediately despatched on this mission one of his most trustworthy subjects, Inche Andar by name, his headman on the Moar River, which forms a portion of the northern boundary of Johore.

Enclosure I

3. I subsequently received the enclosed letter from the Acting Resident of Salangore, stating that he had been informed that Tunku Antar was willing to give himself up to the Sultan of Salangore, and that the Sultan would hand him over to any officer 9 May 1976. appointed by me. I determined, therefore, to take advantage of the Sultan's mediation, in case the mission despatched by the Maharajah of Johore proved unsuccessful, and I caused the Acting Resident of Salangore to be informed that Tunku Antar should be sent to Singapore, and that he should be told that he need have nothing to fear in coming

to see me.

4. On the 5th instant, I received a communication from the Maharajah that Tunku Antar had arrived at Johore, in charge of Inche Andar, and that he was accompanied by one of his wives, two nephews, and five retainers. to two causes: firstly, that, as stated in the letter of the Acting Resident of Salangore I attribute his surrender principally (Enclosure 1), the treatment which ex-Sultan Ismail had received has created a very favourable impression, and had given Tunku Antar faith in the clemency and justice of the British Government, and that, therefore, he could place reliance on the promises which I had caused to be conveyed to him; secondly, that the presence of the military detachments in Sri Menanti and Jumpole has shown the disaffected that we are determined to establish peace and order, and that the disaffected have therefore lost confidence and strength.

5. On the 6th instant Tunku Antar came to see me, accompanied by two nephews. The information which I had received that he had been wounded, turns out to be incorrect.

Tunku Antar is a proud truculent looking character, and apparently possesses much determination. My interview with him, however, was very satisfactory. He promised that he would settle down peacefully in Johore, and at my request the Maharajah, who was present at the interview, consented to give him and his people every facility for living comfortably in that State. Tunku Antar assured me that it was now his desire to be friendly with the British Government, and that he had done his best to induce the Datu of Moar, the Datu Jumpole, the Datu of Terrachee, the Datu of Gunong Passir, the Datu of Eenas and Baginda Tan Mas (whom he named as now being the leaders of the disaffected) to come in, but that he had not been successful in persuading them to do so. He stated that all these chiefs believe that there is a reward placed upon their heads by the British Government, but I assured Tunku Antar that they were entirely mistaken, and that all we wanted was to induce them to settle down quietly and peaceably.

6. After some conversation, Tunku Antar promised to do all he could to bring these chiefs in, and I have made arrangements that he shall proceed to Lingga, a village on the Moar River in the territory of the Maharajah of Johore, where he will summon them to meet him.

* No. 19.