Hospital.
Gaol.
Kwala Kangsa
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to be well suited to their purpose, clean and well ventilated, and they stand in a consi. derable space of sand-covered land, which forms the drill ground. At present there are no quarters for married policemen. The Chief Commissioner's house is at one end o this ground, and the Inspector's at the other. The police force at present consists o 486 officers and men; a considerable number of these are stationed in Larut, where they act as a reserve in case of emergency.
The hospital is situated on the side of a small hill, the top of which holds a com. manding position with regard to the town of Taiping, the gaol, and the surrounding country generally. The hospital is, I believe, similar to the district hospitals in Province Wellesley. It is built to contain 50 patients, and is under the charge of a qualified apothecary, Mr. Bonner. When I visited it there were 16 inmates, nearly all policemen. No patients have, so far, paid hospital fees.
The building is cool and airy, and appeared well taken care of.
The apothecary has not yet been supplied with surgical or other instruments, at least there are none in the hospital now, and consequently there are no means of dealing with cases needing surgery or of making a post-mortem examination.
A new gaol has just been built at a cost of about $6,000; the gaoler's quarters only remain to be finished, and they are far advanced.
The gaol is on a good site, away from the town, but immediately under the gune the hill on the side of which the hospital is situated.
of
Inside the gaol there are four large wards, one of them being a hospital ward: they are airy and substantial. There are no separate cells.
There are two kitchens, one for Chinese and one for Mahomedans.
The ground inside the gaol is being raised by the prisoners, and I believe the Resident intends eventually to cover it with concrete.
The gaol is surrounded by a high wooden palisade, and at one side of the building a stream runs through the enclosure.
The palisade did not appear very safe at the points where the stream enters and leaves the enclosure, and I think some better and stronger means than the present arrangement of gratings and palisades should be devised to prevent escape here.
The cook houses have tiled roofs, but the wards only attap. The danger of fire appears considerable.
When I visited the gaol it contained 106 prisoners, 10 of them in the hospital ward. I believe the arrangements for warders, &c. have not yet been completed; meanwhile there is a strong guard of Seikhs posted inside the gaol.
Of the other Government buildings, the Assistant Resident lives on a hill, in near proximity to the buildings I have named, and his office is in his house, but the treasury is at Kota, quite a mile distant, and the telegraph is almost as far.
The want of a building in which all the officers of this district could have their offices is very much felt, and, as I experienced in my short visit, leads to great inconvenience, besides considerably lessening the control of the Assistant Resident over the various officers under his orders.
The expense of such a building would be considerable, and is, I fear, a conclusive argument against its construction for some little time to come.
The Court-house is placed on the top of the hill to which I have already referred. It
is an old building, and falling to pieces. Here again want of the necessary funds delays the construction of a new court-bouse.
The only Government buildings at this station are the Resident's house, the police quarters, the court-house and telegraph station, and quarters for the clerks.
The Resident's house is capitally situated on what used to be Che Mida's Hill; it is small but comfortable, and, I believe, well answers its purpose.
The police quarters are in want of repair, being old buildings. The other buildings have been erected comparatively recently. There is but one other place in Kwala Kangsa needing notice, the burial grounds.
Sixteen Englishmen are buried here; the ground is railed in and kept in good order, and a cross marks each grave.
Since I was last in Kwala Kangsa the village has been for the most part reconstructed, roads laid down through it, and there is a considerable increase in the houses and popu- lation. A good substantial bridge has also been built across the Kangsa River.
Raja Dris has built himself a house below the Resident's, and the Raja Muda is occupying the late Raja Bandahara's house at Saiping, on the opposite bank of the
river.
I understand it is intended to build for Raja Muda a more fitting residence during the current year.
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The Lower Perak station used to be situated at Banda Bahru, the site chosen by Durian Mr. Birch. It has, however, been removed to Durian Sabatang, a spot 10 miles lower Sabatang. down the river, on the left bank of the Perak River, and in the angle formed by the junction of the Durian Sabatang and the Perak Rivers. For all revenue purposes the change has proved a good one, the new station being, besides other advantages, accessible to steamers and large Native craft, whilst only small Native boats could reach Bandar Bahru.
The village of Durian Sabatang, twice burnt down within a few years, has now been arranged on a proper plan, with wide streets, and more substantial houses.
The place has not yet the appearance of un important and busy port, but as the rich country on the Perak, Kinta, Bidor, and Batang Padang rivers becomes developed, it seems likely that Durian Sabatang will grow in proportion to an increased trade.
The Superintendent of Lower Perak has at this station a well-arranged but somewhat
frail house situated on low ground on the bank of the Perak River.
The court-house and Superintendent's office are placed in a convenient and roomy building near by. There are separate quarters for the Seikh and Malay police, whilst the collecting station is a large store-house with a strong jetty accessible to vessels of a considerable tonnage leading from it to the river.
I visited this district, also Selamah, Ulu Selama, and (joh at the Resident's special Krian. request.
The Collector's house at Parit Buntar is on the left bank of the Kriau River, just on the Perak side of the new boundary with Province Wellesley; the house is half an hour's walk after crossing the Krian River from Nihong Tebal, that is if you go through Boo Ann's estate, across which there is a road in a direct line to the house.
I understand, however, that Boo Ann will allow neither Mr. Dennison nor any of the Malays of the district to use this road, thereby compelling them to follow the road to Teluk Ipel, more than three miles long.
There is little doubt that Boo Ann, by the right of might and money, has absorbed into his sugar estate a number of properties to which Malays of this district had a prescriptive claim, and that since he found they fell within British territory. If he be allowed to retain them, it would seem a just concession to ask of him, and a small one for him to give, a right of way through his estate over a road already made.
The last couple of hundred yards of this road goes round the corner of a cane field, but it might better be kept straight, when it would come out exactly opposite the
Collector's house.
The Collector's court-house and offices are combined in one good commodious building, and the police quarters are close by.
A small landing stage for boats gives easy access to and from the river.
The Collector has made a path 14 miles long by the side of the boundary line, which cuts at right angles the new road from Teluk Ipel to the boundary. This last r. ad and a wide ditch has been continued for three miles to Pinang Tunggal, and on both sides of it land has been taken up, and is now bearing a fine crop of paddly. On all sides I heard that the present is an exceptionally favourable season for paddy in this and in the adjoining districts, and the same proved to be the case in Ulu Selamah and Ijoh.
I believe it was at one time intended to push on this last road as fast as possible from Pinang Tunggal to the Kuron River, but there does not appear to be any immediate necessity for this course; and looking to the present financial difficulties of the country, I should be inclined to advise that the road be continued from year to year as there ure funds available, spending as far as possible the revenues of the Krian district in that district, but not draining the resources of the general treasury unless for a work of
absolute and immediate need.
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As this road is continued the land on each side of it will be probably taken up, but not to a sufficient extent to justify the experiment of seeing whether the increased quit rents would pay the expenses of making the road in all its length, say in a single year. Several Malays who spoke to me here, said that a narrow path such as the three miles already made was quite sufficient for thein, that no carriage road was likely to be needed for years, and they deprecated matters being pushed on too hastily.
It is also proposed to carry a fresh-water canal from the Krian River to Pinang Tuggal, and thence to Bagan Tiang, to supply the inhabitants of the latter place with good drinking water in the dry season.
Such a work would no doubt be beneficial, though I fear the cost would be con- siderable, but it is not a question on which I have sufficient knowledge to give a useful opinion.
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