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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-05-09 17:21:40 -0700 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-05-09 17:21:40 -0700 |
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diff --git a/76055-h/76055-h.htm b/76055-h/76055-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4814706 --- /dev/null +++ b/76055-h/76055-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9162 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Malay Sketches | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +h2.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +hr { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + clear: both; + width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%; +} + +img.w100 { + width: 100%; +} + +div.chapter { + page-break-before: always; +} + +p { + margin-top: 0.5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +table { + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 40em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +th { + padding: 0.25em; + font-weight: normal; +} + +td { + padding-left: 2.25em; + padding-right: 0.25em; + vertical-align: top; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.tdc { + text-align: center; +} + +.tdr { + text-align: right; +} + +.tdpg { + vertical-align: bottom; + text-align: right; +} + +.adbox { + border: 2px solid black; + margin: auto; + padding: 1em; + max-width: 30em; +} + +.blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 10%; +} + +.caption p { + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 1em; + font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0em; +} + +.center { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; +} + +.epigram { + font-size: 90%; + display: inline-block; + margin-left: 50%; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnotes { + margin-top: 1em; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.larger { + font-size: 150%; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0em; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.poetry-container { + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent0 { + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poetry .indent2 { + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.poetry .indent8 { + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.poetry .indent12 { + text-indent: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent16 { + text-indent: 5em; +} + +.right { + text-align: right; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.allsmcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; + text-transform: lowercase; +} + +.tb { + margin-top: 2em; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 5%; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .epigram { + margin-left: 30%; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp50 {width: 50%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp50 {width: 100%;} +.illowp75 {width: 75%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp75 {width: 100%;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76055 ***</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_i"></a>[i]</span></p> + +<h1>MALAY SKETCHES</h1> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter adbox"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a>[ii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak smaller x-ebookmaker-important" id="BY_THE_SAME_AUTHOR"><i>BY THE SAME AUTHOR</i></h2> + +<h3>UNADDRESSED LETTERS</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo, 6s. Third Edition</i></p> + +<p>“Deep gratitude is due to Sir Frank for giving +these letters to the world ... the lazy descriptions +of Eastern life, the musings on great scenes, the +stories, and the utterances of social wisdom are all +delightful, and add body to a book remarkable for +a rare delicacy and charm.”—<i>The Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>“His narrative style is admirable, and his episodes +are always interesting. One could read for many +hours of the clever mongoose and tigers and crocodiles.... +Sir Frank Swettenham has a pretty +humour.... The style in which these ‘Unaddressed +Letters’ is written is excellent.”— <i>The Pall Mall +Gazette.</i></p> + +<h3>THE REAL MALAY<br> +<span class="smaller">PEN PICTURES</span></h3> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown, 8vo, 6s.</i></p> + +<p>“No pen except that of Mr. Conrad has drawn +the Malay character so faithfully or so graphically.... +It is a combination that is very alluring, and we +confess to finding Sir Frank Swettenham’s book of +Malay sketches most fascinating reading.”—<i>The Pall +Mall Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>“Sir Frank Swettenham understands perhaps +better than any other roving Englishman ‘The Real +Malay.’”—<i>The Morning Post.</i></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" id="title" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/title.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="titlepage larger">MALAY SKETCHES</p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +SIR FRANK ATHELSTANE SWETTENHAM</p> + +<p class="titlepage">JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD<br> +<span class="allsmcap">LONDON AND NEW YORK</span> MDCCCCIII</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv"></a>[iv]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">THIRD EDITION</p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">Printed by <span class="smcap">Ballantyne Hanson & Co.</span><br> +London & Edinburgh</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td>INTRODUCTION</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">ix</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">I.</td> + <td>THE REAL MALAY</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#I">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td>THE TIGER</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#II">12</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td>A FISHING PICNIC</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#III">19</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td>THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#IV">25</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">V.</td> + <td>MĔNG-GĔLUNCHOR</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#V">31</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VI.</td> + <td>ÂMOK</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VI">38</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VII.</td> + <td>THE JÔGET</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VII">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> + <td>THE STORY OF MAT ARIS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#VIII">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IX.</td> + <td>LÂTAH</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#IX">64</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">X.</td> + <td>THE ETERNAL FEMININE</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#X">83</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XI.</td> + <td>IN THE NOON OF NIGHT</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XI">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XII.</td> + <td>VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XII">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIII.</td> + <td>THE PASSING OF PĔNGLIMA PRANG SĔMAUN</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XIII">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIV.</td> + <td>BĔR-HANTU</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XIV">147</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XV.</td> + <td>THE KING’S WAY</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XV">161</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVI.</td> + <td>A MALAY ROMANCE</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XVI">179</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVII.</td> + <td>MALAY SUPERSTITIONS</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XVII">192</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> + <td>WITH A CASTING-NET</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XVIII">211</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIX.</td> + <td>JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XIX">227</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XX.</td> + <td>A PERSONAL INCIDENT</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XX">248</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XXI.</td> + <td>NAKODAH ORLONG</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XXI">270</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XXII.</td> + <td>EVENING</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#XXII">281</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> + +</div> + +<p>This is not a book of travels, nor is it, in even +the smallest sense, the record of a traveller’s +experiences in a foreign land. It is a series of +sketches of Malay scenery and Malay character +drawn by one who has spent the best part of +his life in the scenes and amongst the people +described.</p> + +<p>These pages contain no statistics, no history, no +geography, no science, real or spurious, no politics, +no moralising, no prophecy,—only an attempt to +awaken an interest in an almost undescribed but +deeply interesting people, the dwellers in one of +the most beautiful and least known countries in the +East.</p> + +<p>The traveller will come in time, and he will +publish his experiences of Malâya and the Malays; +but while he may look upon the country with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> +higher appreciation and paint its features with +a more artistic touch, he will see few of those +characteristics of the people, none of that inner life +which, I make bold to say, is here faithfully portrayed.</p> + +<p class="right">FRANK SWETTENHAM.</p> + +<p class="hanging"><span class="smcap">The Residency,<br> +Perak</span>, <i>28 March 1895</i>.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter" id="INTRODUCTION"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span></p> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<p>“Quel est donc ce pays, disaient-ils +l’un a l’autre, inconnu a tout le +reste de la terre, et où toute la nature +est d’une espèce si différente +de la nôtre?”</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Voltaire</span></p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Imagine yourself transported to a land of eternal +summer, to that Golden Peninsula, ’twixt Hindustan +and Far Cathay, from whence the early +navigators brought back such wondrous stories of +adventure. A land where Nature is at her best +and richest: where plants and animals, beasts of +the forest, birds of the air, and every living thing +seem yet inspired with a feverish desire for growth +and reproduction, as though they were still in the +dawn of Creation.</p> + +<p>And Man?</p> + +<p>Yes, he is here. Forgotten by the world, passed +by in the race for civilisation, here he has remained<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span> +amongst his own forests, by the banks of his well-loved +streams, unseeking and unsought. Whence +he came none know and few care, but this is the +land that has given to, or taken from, him the name +of a Race that has spread over a wider area than +any other Eastern people.</p> + +<p>Malâya, land of the pirate and the <i>âmok</i>, your +secrets have been well guarded, but the enemy has +at last passed your gate, and soon the irresistible +Juggernaut of Progress will have penetrated to your +remotest fastness, slain your beasts, cut down your +forests, “civilised” your people, clothed them in +strange garments, and stamped them with the seal +of a higher morality.</p> + +<p>That time of regeneration will come rapidly, but +for the moment the Malay of the Peninsula is as he +has been these hundreds of years. Education and +contact with Western people must produce the +inevitable result. Isolated native races whose +numbers are few must disappear or conform to the +views of a stronger will and a higher intelligence. +The Malays of the Peninsula will not disappear,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span> +but they will change, and the process of “awakening” +has in places already begun.</p> + +<p>It might be rash to speculate on the gain which +the future has in store for this people, but it is +hardly likely to make them more personally interesting +to the observer. This is the moment of +transition, and these are sketches of the Malay +as he is.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>[xii]</span></p> + +<div class="blockquote smaller"> + +<p>Jetons-nous dans cette petite barque, laissons-nous +aller au courant: une rivière mène toujours à quelque +en droit habité; si nous ne trouvons pas des choses +agréables, nous trouverons du moins des choses +nouvelles</p> + +<p>“‘Allons,’ dit Candide, ‘recommandons-nous à la +Providence’”</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Voltaire</span></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> + +<h1>MALAY SKETCHES</h1> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="I">I<br> +<span class="smaller">THE REAL MALAY</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">He was the mildest manner’d man</div> + <div class="verse indent2">That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Byron</span>, <i>Don Juan</i></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>To begin to understand the Malay you must live +in his country, speak his language, respect +his faith, be interested in his interests, humour his +prejudices, sympathise with and help him in trouble, +and share his pleasures and possibly his risks. Only +thus can you hope to win his confidence. Only +through that confidence can you hope to understand +the inner man, and this knowledge can therefore +only come to those who have the opportunity +and use it.</p> + +<p>So far the means of studying Malays in their own +country (where alone they are seen in their true<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> +character) have fallen to few Europeans, and a very +small proportion of them have shown an inclination +to get to the hearts of the people. There are a +hundred thousand Malays in Perak and some more +in other parts of the Peninsula; and the white man, +whose interest in the race is strong enough, may not +only win confidence but the devotion that is ready +to give life itself in the cause of friendship. The +Scripture says: “There is no greater thing than this,” +and in the end of the nineteenth century that is a +form of friendship all too rare. Fortunately this is +a thing you cannot buy, but to gain it is worth some +effort.</p> + +<p>The real Malay is a short, thick-set, well-built +man, with straight black hair, a dark brown complexion, +thick nose and lips, and bright intelligent +eyes. His disposition is generally kindly, his +manners are polite and easy. Never cringing, he +is reserved with strangers and suspicious, though he +does not show it. He is courageous and trustworthy +in the discharge of an undertaking; but he +is extravagant, fond of borrowing money, and very +slow in repaying it. He is a good talker, speaks in +parables, quotes proverbs and wise saws, has a strong +sense of humour, and is very fond of a good joke. +He takes an interest in the affairs of his neighbours<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span> +and is consequently a gossip. He is a Muhammadan +and a fatalist, but he is also very superstitious. He +never drinks intoxicants, he is rarely an opium-smoker. +But he is fond of gambling, cock-fighting, +and kindred sports. He is by nature a sportsman, +catches and tames elephants, is a skilful fisherman, +and thoroughly at home in a boat. Above all +things, he is conservative to a degree, is proud and +fond of his country and his people, venerates his +ancient customs and traditions, fears his Rajas, and +has a proper respect for constituted authority—while +he looks askance on all innovations, and will +resist their sudden introduction. But if he has time +to examine them carefully, and they are not thrust +upon him, he is willing to be convinced of their +advantage. At the same time he is a good imitative +learner, and, when he has energy and ambition +enough for the task, makes a good mechanic. He +is, however, lazy to a degree, is without method or +order of any kind, knows no regularity even in the +hours of his meals, and considers time as of no importance. +His house is untidy, even dirty, but he +bathes twice a day, and is very fond of personal +adornment in the shape of smart clothes.</p> + +<p>A Malay is intolerant of insult or slight; it is +something that to him should be wiped out in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> +blood. He will brood over a real or fancied stain +on his honour until he is possessed by the desire +for revenge. If he cannot wreak it on the offender, +he will strike out at the first human being that +comes in his way, male or female, old or young. +It is this state of blind fury, this vision of blood, +that produces the <i>âmok</i>. The Malay has often been +called treacherous. I question whether he deserves +the reproach more than other men. He is courteous +and expects courtesy in return, and he understands +only one method of avenging personal insults.</p> + +<p>The spirit of the clan is also strong in him. He +acknowledges the necessity of carrying out, even +blindly, the orders of his hereditary chief, while he +will protect his own relatives at all costs and make +their quarrel his own.</p> + +<p>The giving of gifts by Raja to subject, or subject +to ruler, is a custom now falling into desuetude, +but it still prevails on the occasion of the accession +of a Raja, the appointment of high officers, a +marriage, a circumcision, ear-piercing, or similar +ceremony. As with other Eastern people, hospitality +is to the Malay a sacred duty fulfilled by high and +low, rich and poor alike.</p> + +<p>Though the Malay is an Islam by profession, and +would suffer crucifixion sooner than deny his faith,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span> +he is not a bigot; indeed, his tolerance compares +favourably with that of the professing Christian, +and, when he thinks of these matters at all, he +believes that the absence of hypocrisy is the beginning +of religion. He has a sublime faith in God, +the immortality of the soul, a heaven of ecstatic +earthly delights, and a hell of punishments, which +every individual is so confident will not be his own +portion that the idea of its existence presents no +terrors.</p> + +<p>Christian missionaries of all denominations have +apparently abandoned the hope of his conversion.</p> + +<p>In his youth, the Malay boy is often beautiful, a +thing of wonderful eyes, eyelashes, and eyebrows, +with a far-away expression of sadness and solemnity, +as though he had left some better place for a compulsory +exile on earth.</p> + +<p>Those eyes, which are extraordinarily large and +clear, seem filled with a pained wonder at all they +see here, and they give the impression of a constant +effort to open ever wider and wider in search of +something they never find. Unlike the child of +Japan, this cherub never looks as if his nurse had +forgotten to wipe his nose. He is treated with +elaborate respect, sleeps when he wishes, and sits +up till any hour of the night if he so desires, eats<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> +when he is hungry, has no toys, is never whipped, +and hardly ever cries.</p> + +<p>Until he is fifteen or sixteen, this atmosphere of +a better world remains about him. He is often +studious even, and duly learns to read the Korân +in a language he does not understand.</p> + +<p>Then, well then, from sixteen to twenty-five or +later he is to be avoided. He takes his pleasure, +sows his wild oats like youths of a higher civilisation, +is extravagant, open-handed, gambles, gets +into debt, runs away with his neighbour’s wife, and +generally asserts himself. Then follows a period +when he either adopts this path and pursues it, or, +more commonly, he weans himself gradually from +an indulgence that has not altogether realized his +expectation, and if, under the advice of older men, +he seeks and obtains a position of credit and usefulness +in society from which he begins at last to +earn some profit, he will, from the age of forty, +probably develop into an intelligent man of miserly +and rather grasping habits with some one little pet +indulgence of no very expensive kind.</p> + +<p>The Malay girl-child is not usually so attractive +in appearance as the boy, and less consideration is +shown to her. She runs wild till the time comes +for investing her in a garment, that is to say when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> +she is about five years old. From then, she is +taught to help in the house and kitchen, to sew, to +read and write, perhaps to work in the <i>padi</i> field, +but she is kept out of the way of all strange menkind. +When fifteen or sixteen, she is often almost +interesting; very shy, very fond of pretty clothes +and ornaments, not uncommonly much fairer in +complexion than the Malay man, with small hands +and feet, a happy smiling face, good teeth, and +wonderful eyes and eyebrows—the eyes of the little +Malay boy. The Malay girl is proud of a wealth +of straight, black hair, of a spotless olive complexion, +of the arch of her brow—“like a one-day-old +moon”—of the curl of her eyelashes, and of the +dimples in cheek or chin.</p> + +<p>Unmarried girls are taught to avoid all men +except those nearly related to them. Until marriage, +it is considered unmaidenly for them to raise +their eyes or take any part or interest in their +surroundings when men are present. This leads to +an affectation of modesty which, however over-strained, +deceives nobody.</p> + +<p>After marriage, a woman gets a considerable +amount of freedom which she naturally values. In +Perak a man, who tries to shut his womenkind up +and prevent their intercourse with others and a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> +participation in the fêtes and pleasures of Malay +society, is looked upon as a jealous, ill-conditioned +person.</p> + +<p>Malays are extremely particular about questions +of rank and birth, especially when it comes to +marriage, and <i>mésalliances</i>, as understood in the +West, are with them very rare.</p> + +<p>The general characteristics of Malay women, +especially those of gentle birth, are powers of +intelligent conversation, quickness in repartee, a +strong sense of humour and an instant appreciation +of the real meaning of those hidden sayings which +are hardly ever absent from their conversation. +They are fond of reading such literature as their +language offers, and they use uncommon words and +expressions, the meanings of which are hardly +known to men. For the telling of secrets, they +have several modes of speech not understanded of +the people.</p> + +<p>They are generally amiable in disposition, mildly—sometimes +fiercely—jealous, often extravagant +and, up to about the age of forty, evince an +increasing fondness for jewellery and smart clothes. +In these latter days they are developing a pretty +taste for horses, carriages, and whatever conduces +to luxury and display, though, in their houses, there<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> +are still a rugged simplicity and untidiness, absolutely +devoid of all sense of order.</p> + +<p>A Malay is allowed by law to have as many as +four wives, to divorce them, and replace them. If +he is well off and can afford so much luxury, he +usually takes advantage of the power to marry +more than one wife, to divorce and secure successors; +but he seldom undertakes the responsibility of four +wives at one time. The woman on her part can, +and often does, obtain a divorce from her husband. +Written conditions of marriage, “settlements” of +a kind, are common with people in the upper +classes, and the law provides for the custody of +children, division of property, and so on. The +ancient maiden lady is an unknown quantity, so is +the Malay public woman; and, as there is no society +bugbear, the people lead lives that are almost +natural. There are no drunken husbands, no hobnail +boots, and no screaming viragoes—because a +word would get rid of them. All forms of madness, +mania, and brain-softening are extremely rare.</p> + +<p>The Malay has ideas on the subject of marriage, +ideas born of his infinite experience. He has even +soared into regions of matrimonial philosophy, and +returned with such crumbs of lore as never fall to +the poor monogamist.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span></p> + +<p>I am not going to give away the secrets of the +life behind the curtain; if I wished to do so I +might trip over difficulties of expression; but in +spite of the Malay’s reputation for bloodthirstiness, +in spite of (or because of, whichever you please) the +fact that he is impregnated with the doctrines of +Islam, in spite of his sensitive honour and his +proneness to revenge, and in spite of his desire to +keep his own women (when young and attractive) +away from the prying eyes of other men, he yet +holds this uncommon faith, that if he has set his +affections on a woman, and for any reason he is +unable at once to make her his own, he cares not +to how many others she allies herself provided she +becomes his before time has robbed her of her +physical attractions.</p> + +<p>His reason is this. He says (certainly not to a +stranger, rarely even to his Malay friends, but to +himself) “if, after all this experience, she likes me +best, I have no fear that she will wish to go further +afield. All Malay girls marry before they are +twenty, and the woman who has only known one +husband, however attractive he may be, will come +sooner or later to the conviction that life with +another promises new and delightful experiences +not found in the society of the first man to whom<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> +destiny and her relatives have chosen to unite her. +Thus some fool persuades her that in his worship +and passion she will find the World’s Desire, and +it is only after perhaps a long and varied experience +that she realizes that, having started for a voyage +on the ocean, she finds herself seated at the bottom +of a dry well.”</p> + +<p>It is possible that thus she becomes acquainted +with truth.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="II">II<br> +<span class="smaller">THE TIGER</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Yon golden terror, barred with ebon stripes</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Low-crouching horror, with the cruel fangs</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Waiting in deathly stillness for thy spring</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Anon.</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Some idea of what Malays are in their own +country may best be conveyed by taking the +reader in imagination through some scenes of their +daily life. The tiger, for instance, is seldom deliberately +sought; if he kills a buffalo a spring gun is +set to shoot him when he returns for his afternoon +meal, but sometimes the tiger comes about a village, +and it is necessary to get rid of so dangerous a +visitor. Let me try and put the scene before you.</p> + +<p>But how describe an Eastern dawn? Sight +alone will give a true impression of its strange +beauty. Out of darkness and stillness, the transition<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> +to light—intense brilliant light—and the sounds +of awakened life, is rapid and complete, a short half +hour or less turning night into tropical day. The +first indication of dawn is a grey haze, then the +clouds clothing the Western hills are shot with pale +yellow and in a few minutes turn to gold, while +Eastern ranges are still in darkness. The light +spreads to the Western slopes, moves rapidly across +the valleys, and suddenly the sun, a great ball of +fire, appears above the Eastern hills. The fogs, +which have risen from the rivers and marshes and +covered the land, as with a pall, rise like smoke and +disappear, and the whole face of nature is flooded +with light, the valleys and slopes of the Eastern +ranges being the last to feel the influence of the +risen sun.</p> + +<p>That grey half-light which precedes dawn is the +signal for Malays to be stirring. The doors are +opened, and, only half awake and shivering in the +slight breeze made by the rising fog, they leave +their houses and make for the nearest stream, there +to bathe and fetch fresh water for the day’s use.</p> + +<p>A woman dressed in the <i>sârong</i>, a plaid skirt +of silk or cotton, and a jacket, walks rapidly to the +river, carrying a long bamboo and some gourds, +which, after her bath, she fills, and begins to walk<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> +home through the wealth of vegetation that clothes +the whole face of the country. She follows a narrow +path up from the bed of the clear stream, the jungle +trees and orchards, the long rank grasses and tangled +creepers almost hiding the path. Suddenly she +stops spellbound, her knees give way under her, the +vessels drop from her nerveless hands, and a speechless +fear turns her blood to water; for there, in front +of her, is a great black and yellow head with cruel +yellow eyes, and a half-open mouth showing a red +tongue and long white teeth. The shoulders and +fore feet of the tiger stand clear of the thick foliage, +and a hoarse low roar of surprise and anger comes +from the open mouth. An exceeding great fear +chains the terrified woman to the spot, and the +tiger, thus faced, sulkily and with more hoarse +grumbling, slowly draws back into the jungle and +disappears. Then the instinct of self-preservation +returns to the woman, and, with knees still weak +and a cold hand on her heart, she stumbles, with +what speed she may, back to the river, down the +bank, and to the friendly shelter of the nearest +dwelling.</p> + +<p>It takes little time to tell the story, and the men +of the house, armed with spears and <i>krises</i> and an +old rusty gun, quickly spread the news throughout<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> +the <i>kampong</i>, as each cluster of huts and orchards +is called. Every one arms himself with such +weapons as he possesses, the boys of sixteen or +seventeen climb into trees, from which they hope +to see and be able to report the movements of +the beast. The men, marshalled by the <i>ka-tua +kampong</i>, the village chief, make their plans for +surrounding the spot where the tiger was seen, and +word is sent by messenger to the nearest police-station +and European officer.</p> + +<p>Whilst all this is taking place, the tiger, probably +conscious that too many people are about, leaves +his lair and stealthily creeps along a path which will +lead him far from habitations. But, as he does so, +he passes under a tree where sits one of the young +watchmen, and the boy, seizing his opportunity, +drops a heavy spear on the tiger as he passes, and +gives him a serious wound. The beast, with a roar +of pain, leaps into the jungle, carrying the spear +with him; and, after what he considers a safe +interval, the boy climbs down, gets back to the +circle of watchers, and reports what has occurred.</p> + +<p>For a long time, there is silence, no one caring to +go in and seek a wounded tiger—but this monotony +is broken rudely and suddenly by a shot on the outskirts +of the wide surrounding ring of beaters where<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> +a young Malay has been keeping guard over a +jungle track. Instantly the nearest rush to the +spot only to find the boy badly wounded, after +firing a shot that struck the tiger but did not prevent +him reaching and pulling down the youth who +fired it.</p> + +<p>Hardly has a party carried the wounded man to +shelter, than news arrives that, in trying to break +the ring at another point, the tiger has sprung upon +the point of a spear held in rest by a kneeling Malay, +and, the spear, passing completely through the beast’s +body, the tiger has come down on the man’s back +and killed him. The old men say it is because, +regardless of the wisdom of their ancestors, fools +now face a tiger with spears unguarded, whereas in +the olden time it was always the custom to tie a +crosspiece of wood where blade joins shaft to prevent +the tiger “running up the spear” and killing +his opponent.</p> + +<p>The game is getting serious now and the tiger +has retired to growl and roar in a thick isolated +copse of bushes and tangled undergrowth from +which it seems impossible to draw him, and where +it would be madness to seek him.</p> + +<p>By this time, all the principal people in the neighbourhood +have been collected. The copse is surrounded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> +and two elephants are ridden at the cover, +in the hope of driving the wounded tiger from his +shelter. A vain hope, for, when the huge beasts +get inconveniently near to him, the tiger, with a +great roar, springs on to the shoulder of the nearest +elephant and brings him to his knees. The terrified +occupants of the howdah are thus deposited on the +ground, but lose no time in picking themselves up +and getting away. The elephant with a scream of +terror whirls round, throwing off the tiger with a +broken tooth, and, accompanied by his fellow, +rushes from the place and will not be stopped till +several miles have been covered and the river is +between them and their enemy.</p> + +<p>Severe maladies want desperate and heroic +remedies. After a short consultation, a young +Malay chief and several of his friends, armed only +with spears, express their determination to seek the +tiger where he lies. They immediately put the plan +into execution. Shoulder to shoulder and with +spears in rest, they advance to the copse. They +have not long to wait in doubt for the wounded and +enraged beast, with open mouth and eyes blazing +fell purpose, charges straight at them. There is the +shock of flesh against steel, an awful snarling and +straining of muscles and the already badly wounded<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> +tiger is pinned to the ground and dies under the +thrusts of many spears.</p> + +<p>The general result of a tiger hunt, under such +circumstances, is the death or serious injury of one +or two of the pursuers.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="III">III<br> +<span class="smaller">A FISHING PICNIC</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I have given you lands to hunt in,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I have given you streams to fish in,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Filled the river full of fishes</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Longfellow</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Now come to a Malay picnic.</p> + +<p>Again, it is early morning, the guests have +been invited overnight and warned to come on their +elephants and bring “rice and salt.” By the time +the sun is well up there are fifty or sixty people (of +whom about half are women), mounted on twelve or +fifteen elephants, and some boys and followers are +prepared to walk.</p> + +<p>The word is given to make for a great limestone +hill rising abruptly out of the plain, for, close +round the foot of this rock, eating its way into the +unexplored depths of subaqueous caves, flows a +clear mountain-bred stream, and, in the silent pools +which lie under the shadow of the cliff, are the fish<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> +which with the rice and salt, will make the coming +feast.</p> + +<p>The road lies through six or seven miles of +open country and virgin forest, and it is 9 or +10 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> before the river is reached, the elephants +hobbled, and the men of the party ready for +business.</p> + +<p>In days gone by, the method would have been to +<i>tuba</i> the stream above a pool, but this poisoning of +the water affects the river for miles, and dynamite +which is not nearly so destructive is preferred. The +plan is to select a large and deep pool round which +the men stand ready to spring in, while the women +make a cordon across the shallow at its lower end, +ready to catch the fish that escape the hands of the +swimmers. Two cartridges of dynamite with a detonator +and a piece of slow match are tied to a stone +and thrown into the deepest part of the pool, there is +an explosion sending up a great column of water, +and immediately the dead fish come to the surface +and begin to float down stream. Twenty men +spring into the pool, and with shouts and laughter +struggle for the slippery fish; those which elude the +grasp of the swimmers are caught by the women. +It will then be probably discovered that no very big +fish have been taken; and, as it is certain that some<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> +at least should be there, the boldest and best divers +will search the bottom of the pool and even look into +the water-filled caves of the rock that there rises +sheer out of the stream. Success rewards this +effort, and, from the bed of the pool, some sixteen +or eighteen feet deep, the divers bring up two at a +time, great silvery fish weighing ten to fifteen pounds +each. There is much joy over the capture of these +<i>klah</i> and <i>tengas</i>, the best kinds of fresh water fish +known here, and, if the total take is not a large +one, the operation will be repeated in another and +yet another pool, until a sufficient quantity of fish +has been secured and every one is tired of the +water.</p> + +<p>There is a general change of wet garments for +dry ones, no difficult matter, while long before this +fires have been made on the bank, rice is boiling, +fish are roasting in split sticks, grilling, frying, and +the hungry company is settling itself in groups +ready for the meal. It is a matter of honour that +no plates should be used, so every one has a piece of +fresh green plantain leaf to hold his rice and salt and +fish, while nature supplies the forks and spoons. +Whether it is the exercise, the excitement, or the +coldness of the two hours’ bath, that is most responsible +for the keen appetites is not worth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> +inquiring, but thorough justice is done to the food; +and if you, reader, should ever be fortunate enough +to take part in one of these picnics, you will declare +that you never before realised how delicious a meal +can be made of such simple ingredients. Some one +has smuggled in a few condiments and they add +largely to the success of the Malay <i>bouille-abaisse</i>, +but people affect not to know they are there, and +you go away assured that rice and salt did it all. +That is part of the game.</p> + +<p>And now it is time to return, the sun has long +passed the meridian, and there is a mile or two of +forest before getting into the open country. The +timid amongst the ladies feign alarm (Malays are +sensible people who take only the young to picnics, +and leave the old to mind the houses), and a desire +to get away at once, but there are others who know +what is in store for them.</p> + +<p>The elephants are brought up and each pannier +is found to be loaded with jungle fruit, large and +small, ripe and unripe, hard and soft, but generally +hard as stones. Every one knows the meaning of +this and, as the elephants kneel down to take their +riders, you may observe that usually two men sit in +front, two women behind, and the latter are anxious +about their umbrellas and show a tendency to open<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> +them here where, in the gloom of the forest, they +are not needed. The first two or three elephants +move off quickly, and, having turned a corner in the +path, disappear. It is necessary to proceed in Indian +file, and as the next elephant comes to this corner +he and his company are assailed by a perfect shower +of missiles (the jungle fruit) from the riders of the +first section of elephants who are slily waiting here +to surprise those behind. The attack is returned +with interest and the battle wages hot and furious. +The leaders of the rear column try to force their +way past those who dispute the path with them, and +either succeed or put the enemy to flight only to find +a succession of ambuscades laid for them, each +resulting in a deadly struggle, and so, throughout +the length of the forest, the more venturesome +pushing their way to the front or taking up an +independent line and making enemies of all comers, +until, at last, the whole party clears the jungle and, +taking open order, a succession of wild charges soon +gets every one into the fray and, the supply of ammunition +having run out, there is nothing left but to +count the damage done.</p> + +<p>It is principally in broken umbrellas which have +been used as shields, but some garments are stained, +and there may be a few bruises treated with much<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span> +good humour, and, by the time the party has +straightened its dishevelledness, it is found that +miles of otherwise tedious journey have been +passed and every one is home ere the lengthening +shadows suddenly contract and tell the sun has +set.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV<br> +<span class="smaller">THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">It is a damned and bloody work,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The graceless action of a heavy hand</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><i>King John</i></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>One afternoon, in 1892, a foreign Malay named +Lenggang, who made a living by hawking +in a boat on the Perak River, left Bota with his +usual cargo and a hundred dollars which his cousin, +the son of the <i>Penghulu</i>, had been keeping for him. +He was alone in the boat and dropped down stream, +saying he would call at some of the villages that +line at intervals the banks of the river.</p> + +<p>The next day this man’s dead body, lying partly +under a mosquito curtain, was discovered in the +boat as it drifted past the village of Pulau Tiga. +The local headman viewed it, but saw nothing to +arouse his suspicions, for the boat was full of +valuables and a certain amount of money, while +nothing in it seemed to have been disturbed, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> +there were no marks of violence on the corpse, which +was duly buried.</p> + +<p>When the matter was reported, inquiries were +made but they elicited nothing. Some months after +the relatives of the dead man appeared at Teluk +Anson, and said they had good reason to believe that +he had met with foul play, indeed that he had been +murdered at a place called Lambor—a few miles +below Bota and above Pulau Tiga. An intelligent +Malay sergeant of police proceeded to the spot, +arrested a number of people, who denied all knowledge +of the affair, and took them to Teluk Anson. +Arrived there, these people said they were able to +give all the necessary information if that would +procure their release, as they had only promised to +keep their mouths shut so long as they themselves +did not suffer for it.</p> + +<p>The details of the story as told in evidence are as +follows, and they are very characteristic of the +Malay:</p> + +<p>It appears that the hawker duly arrived in his +boat at Lambor, and there tied up for the night to +a stake, about twenty feet from the bank of the +river. Shortly afterwards a Malay named Ngah +Prang, stopped three of his acquaintances walking +on the bank, asked them if they had seen the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> +hawker’s boat, and suggested that it would be a good +thing to rob him. They said they were afraid, and +some other men coming up asked one of those to +whom the proposal had been made what they were +talking about, and, being told, advised him to have +nothing to do with the business and the party +dispersed.</p> + +<p>That evening, at 8 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, several people heard +cries of “help, help, I am being killed,” from the +river, and five or six men ran out of their houses +down to the bank, a distance of only fifty yards, +whence they saw, in the brilliant moonlight, Ngah +Prang and two other men in the hawker’s boat, the +hawker lying flat on his back while one man had +both hands at his throat, another held his wrists, +and the third his feet; but it is said that those on +the bank heard a noise of rapping as though feet +were kicking or hands beating quickly the deck of +the boat. It only lasted for a moment and then +there was silence.</p> + +<p>As those who had been roused by the cries came +down the bank they called to the men in the boat, +barely twenty feet away, and lighted at their work +by the brilliancy of an Eastern moon, to know what +they were doing; they even addressed them by +their names, but these gave no answer, and, getting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> +up from off the hawker, untied the boat, one taking +a pole and another the rudder and disappeared down +the river. The hawker did not move. He was +dead.</p> + +<p>The witnesses of this tragedy appear then to have +returned to their homes and slept peacefully. +Several of them naïvely remarked that they heard +the next day that the hawker had been found dead +in his boat, and it appears that when one of these +witnesses, on the following day, met one of the +murderers, he asked him what he was doing in +Lenggang’s boat, and the man replied that they +were robbing him, that he held the hawker by the +throat, the others by the hands and feet, but that +really they had got very little for their trouble.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the three murderers told several of +the eye-witnesses of the affair that, if they said +anything, it would be the worse for them, and +nothing particular occurred till a notice was posted +in the Mosque calling upon any one who knew +anything about Lenggang’s death to report it to the +village Headman. Then Ngah Prang, who apparently +was the original instigator of the job, as so +often happens, thought he would save himself at the +expense of his friends, and actually went himself to +make a report, and, meeting on the way one of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> +eye-witnesses going on a similar errand, he persuaded +him to give a qualified promise to help in +denying Ngah Prang’s complicity while convicting +the others.</p> + +<p>Needless to say that, from the moment the first +disclosure was made and communicated to the +police, resulting in the arrest of a number of those +who had actually witnessed the crime, every smallest +detail was gradually brought to light, the hawker’s +property, even his own clothes, gradually recovered, +the money stolen from him traced, and no single +link left wanting in the chain of evidence strong +enough to convict and hang the guilty men. That +indeed was the result.</p> + +<p>I have told the story of this crime, which is +devoid of sensational incident, because it will give +some idea of the state of feeling in a real Malay +<i>kampong</i> of poor labouring people far from any +outside influence. The man murdered was a Malay; +the idea that he was worth something which could +be obtained by the insignificant sacrifice of his life +seems to have at once suggested that Providence +was putting a good thing in the way of poor people, +and those who were not afraid determined that the +opportunity was not to be lost. The murder is +discussed practically in public; it is executed also<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> +in public, in the presence of a feebly expostulating +opposition, and then every one goes to bed. The +only further concern of the community in the matter +is as to how much the murderers got. For them +the incident ends there, and, if any one has any +qualms of conscience, they are silenced by the +threats of the men who so easily throttled the +hawker.</p> + +<p>It is only when inquiries are pushed, and things +are made generally unpleasant for every one, that +the truth is unwillingly disclosed, and the penalty +paid.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="V">V<br> +<span class="smaller">MĔNG-GĔLUNCHOR</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">And falling and crawling and sprawling,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And driving and riving and striving,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sprinkling and twinkling and winkling,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sounding and bounding and rounding,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dividing and gliding and sliding,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And trumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Southey</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>The Malays of Perak occasionally indulge themselves +in a form of amusement which, I believe, +is peculiar to them. Though of ancient origin, it is +not well known even here, and, as new sensations +are the desire of our time, I offer it to the jaded +pleasure-seekers of the West.</p> + +<p>Given a fine sunny morning (and that is what +most mornings are in Perak) you will drive four or<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> +five miles to the appointed place of meeting, and +there find a crowd of one or two hundred Malay +men, women, and children, who have been duly +bidden to <i>mĕng-gĕlunchor</i> and to take part in the +picnic which forms a recognised accompaniment to +the proceedings.</p> + +<p>A walk of a couple of miles along a shady jungle +path brings the party to the foot of a spur of hills, +whence a clear mountain stream leaps down a succession +of cascades to fertilise the plain. There is +a stiff climb for several hundred feet until the party +gains a great granite rock in the bed of the stream, +large enough to accommodate a much more numerous +gathering. In a “spate” this rock might be +covered, but now the water flows round it and +dashes itself wildly over the falls below. Up-stream, +however, there is a sheer smooth face of +granite, about sixty feet long, inclined at an angle +of say 45°, and, while the main body of water finds +its way down one side of this rock and then across +its foot, a certain quantity, only an inch or two deep, +flows steadily down the face. The depth of water +here can be increased at will by bamboo troughs, +leading out of the great pool which lies at the head +of the waterfall. At the base of the rock is an inviting +lynn not more than four feet deep. On either<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> +side, the river is shut in by a wealth of jungle +foliage through which the sun strikes at rare +intervals, just sufficiently to give the sense of +warmth and colour.</p> + +<p>It is delightfully picturesque with all these people +in their many-coloured garments, grouped in artistic +confusion, on bank and rock. They only sit for a +brief rest after the climb, to collect wood, make fires +and get the work of cooking started, and you will +not be left long in doubt as to the meaning of +<i>mĕng-gĕlunchor</i>. It is to slide, and the game is to +“toboggan” down this waterfall into the lynn at its +base.</p> + +<p>A crowd of little boys is already walking up the +steep, slippery rock. They go to the very top, sit +down in the shallow water with feet straight out in +front of them and a hand on either side for guidance, +and immediately begin to slide down the sixty feet +of height, gaining, before they have gone half way, +so great a speed that the final descent into the pool +is like the fall of a stone. They succeed each other +in a constant stream, those behind coming on the +top of those who have already reached the lynn.</p> + +<p>But now the men, and lastly the women, are drawn +to join the sliders and the fun becomes indeed both +fast and furious. The women begin timidly, only<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> +half way up the slide, but soon grow bolder, and +mixed parties of four, six, and eight in rows of two, +three, or four each, start together and, with a good +deal of laughter and ill-directed attempts at mutual +assistance, dash wildly into the pool which is almost +constantly full of a struggling, screaming crowd of +young people of both sexes.</p> + +<p>If you understand the game, the slide is a graceful +progress, but, if you don’t, if you fail to sit erect, if +you do not keep your feet together, above all, if you +lose your balance and do not remain absolutely +straight on the slide, then your descent will be far +from graceful, it may even be slightly painful, and +the final plunge into the lynn will be distinctly +undignified. It is well to leave your dignity at +home, if you go to <i>mĕng-gĕlunchor</i> with a Malay +party, for those who do not weary themselves with +tobogganing become absolutely exhausted with +laughing at the sliders. The fascination of the +thing is extraordinary, and, to read this poor description, +you would think it impossible that any +sane person would spend hours in struggling up a +steep and slippery rock to slide down it on two +inches of water, and, having gained a startling +velocity, leap into a shallow pool where half a dozen +people will be on you before you can get out of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> +way. And yet I am persuaded that, if your joints +are not stiff with age and you are not afraid of +cold water, or ridicule, or personal damage (and you +will admit none of those things) you would <i>mĕng-gĕlunchor</i> +with the best of them, nor be the first to +cry “hold, enough.”</p> + +<p>It is usual for the men, when sliding down the +rock, to sit upon a piece of the thick fibre of the +plantain called <i>upih</i>. It is perhaps advisable, but +the women do not seem to want it. It is surprising +that there are so few casualties and of such small +importance—some slight abrasions, a little bumping +of heads, at most the loss of a tooth, will be the +extent of the total damage, and with a little care +there need be none at all.</p> + +<p>By 1 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> every one will probably be tired, dry +garments are donned, and a very hungry company +does ample justice to the meal. An hour will be +spent in smoking and gossip, and, as the shadows +begin to lengthen, a long procession slowly wends +its way back, down the slippery descent, across the +sunny fields, and through the forest, to the trysting-place +where all met in the morning and whence they +now return to their own homes.</p> + +<p>The intelligent reader will realise that this is a +game abounding in possibilities, but the players<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> +should be chosen with discrimination and with due +regard to individual affinities.</p> + +<p>A sunny climate and surroundings of natural +beauty are necessary; but a wooded ravine on the +Riviera or by the shore of an Italian lake, a clear +stream leaping down a steep rocky bed, and the +rest can be easily arranged by a little cutting and +polishing of stone.</p> + +<p>Besides the novelty and charm of the exercise, +the exhilarating motion, the semblance of danger, +the clutchings at the nearest straws for help—there +are infinite opportunities for designing and donning +attractive garments wherein the graceful lines of +the human form would be less jealously hidden than +in the trappings of stern convention.</p> + +<p>Puffed sleeves and a bell skirt, Louis XIV. +heels and an eighteen inch waist, would be inconvenient +and out of place when sliding down a +waterfall in the hope of a safe and graceful plunge +into a shallow lynn.</p> + +<p>But if the company be well chosen, the <i>venue</i> +and the climate such as can be found at a hundred +places between St. Tropez and Salerno, if there is +in the costumes and the luncheon only a fair application +of Art to Nature, the Eastern pastime is +capable of easy and successful acclimatisation in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> +the West. And as the knights and dames stroll +slowly down the wooded glen, and the sinking sun +strikes long shafts of light across their path, +glorifying all colours, not least the tint of hair and +eyes, the pleasure-seekers, if they have not by then +found some more mutually interesting topic, will be +very unanimous in their praise of <i>Mĕng-gĕlunchor</i>.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI<br> +<span class="smaller">ÂMOK</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent12">There comes a time</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When the insatiate brute within the man,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Weary with wallowing in the mire, leaps forth</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Devouring ... and the soul sinks</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And leaves the man a devil</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Lewis Morris</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Mention has been made of the Malay <i>âmok</i>, +and, as what, with our happy faculty for +mispronunciation and misspelling of the words of +other languages, is called “running amuck,” is with +many English people their only idea of the Malay, +and that a very vague one, it may be of interest to +briefly describe this form of homicidal mania.</p> + +<p><i>Mĕng-âmok</i> is to make a sudden, murderous +attack, and though it is applied to the onslaught of +a body of men in war time, or where plunder is the +object and murder the means to arrive at it, the +term is more commonly used to describe the action +of an individual who, suddenly and without apparent +cause, seizes a weapon and strikes out blindly, killing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> +and wounding all who come in his way, regardless +of age or sex, whether they be friends, strangers, +or his own nearest relatives.</p> + +<p>Just before sunset on the evening of the 11th +February, 1891, a Malay named Imam Mamat (that +is Mamat the priest) came quietly into the house +of his brother-in-law at Pâsir Gâram on the Perak +River, carrying a spear and a <i>gôlok</i>, <i>i.e.</i> a sharp, +pointed cutting knife.</p> + +<p>The Imam went up to his brother-in-law, took +his hand and asked his pardon. He then approached +his own wife and similarly asked her pardon, immediately +stabbing her fatally in the abdomen with the +<i>gôlok</i>. She fell, and her brother, rushing to assist +her, received a mortal wound in the heart. The +brother-in-law’s wife was in the house with four +children, and they managed to get out before the +Imam had time to do more than stab the last of +them, a boy, in the back as he left the door. At +this moment, a man, who had heard the screams of +the women, attempted to enter the house, when the +Imam rushed at him and inflicted a slight wound, +the man falling to the ground and getting away.</p> + +<p>Having secured two more spears which he found +in the house, the murderer now gave chase to the +woman and her three little children and made short<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> +work of them. A tiny girl of four years old and +a boy of seven were killed, while the third child +received two wounds in the back; a spear thrust +disposed of the mother—all this within one hundred +yards of the house.</p> + +<p>The Imam now walked down the river bank, +where he was met by a friend named Uda Majid, +rash enough to think his unarmed influence would +prevail over the other’s madness.</p> + +<p>He greeted the Imam respectfully, and said, “You +recognise me, don’t let there be any trouble.”</p> + +<p>The Imam replied, “Yes, I know you, but my +spear does not,” and immediately stabbed him twice.</p> + +<p>Though terribly injured, Uda Majid wrested the +spear from the Imam, who again stabbed him twice, +this time in lung and windpipe, and he fell. Another +man coming up ran unarmed to the assistance of +Uda Majid, when the murderer turned on the new-comer +and pursued him; but, seeing Uda Majid get +up and attempt to stagger away, the Imam went +back to him and, with two more stabs in the back, +killed him. Out of the six wounds inflicted on this +man three would have proved fatal.</p> + +<p>The murderer now rushed along the river bank, +and was twice seen to wade far out into the water +and return. Then he was lost sight of.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> + +<p>By this time the news had spread up stream and +down, and every one was aware that there was +abroad an armed man who would neither give nor +receive quarter.</p> + +<p>For two days, a body of not less than two hundred +armed men under the village chiefs made ceaseless +but unavailing search for the murderer. At 6 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> +on the second day, Imam Mamat suddenly appeared +in front of the house of a man called Lasam, who +had barely time to slam the door in his face and +fasten it. The house at that moment contained four +men, five women, and seven children, and the only +weapon they possessed was one spear.</p> + +<p>Lasam asked the Imam what he wanted, and he +said he wished to be allowed to sleep in the house. +He was told he could do so if he would throw away +his arms, and to this the Imam replied by an attempt +to spear Lasam through the window. The latter, +however, seized the weapon, and with the help of +his son, wrested it out of the Imam’s hands, Lasam +receiving a stab in the face from the <i>gôlok</i>. During +this struggle, the Imam had forced himself halfway +through the window, and Lasam seizing his own +spear, thrust it into the thigh of the murderer, who +fell to the ground. In the fall, the shaft of the +spear broke off, leaving the blade in the wound.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p> + +<p>It was now pitch dark, and, as the people of the +house did not know the extent of the Imam’s injury +or what he was doing, a man went out by the back +to spread the news and call the village headman. +On his arrival the light of a torch showed the Imam +lying on the ground with his weapons out of reach, +and the headman promptly pounced upon him and +secured him.</p> + +<p>The Imam was duly handed over to the police and +conveyed to Teluk Anson, but he died from loss of +blood within twenty-four hours of receiving his wound.</p> + +<p>Here is the official list of killed and wounded—</p> + +<table> + <tr> + <th colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Killed.</span></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Alang Rasak, wife of Imam Mamat</td> + <td><i>aged</i></td> + <td class="tdr">33</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bilal Abu, brother-in-law of Mamat</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">35</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Ngah Intan, wife of Bilal Abu</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">32</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Puteh, daughter of Bilal Abu</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">4</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mumin, son of Bilal Abu</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Uda Majid</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">35</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <th colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Wounded.</span></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Kâsim, son of Bilal Abu</td> + <td><i>aged</i></td> + <td class="tdr">14</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Teh, daughter of Bilal Abu</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Mat Sah</td> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdr">45</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Lasam</td> + <td class="tdc"></td> + <td class="tdr">—</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span></p> + +<p>It is terrible to have to add that both the women +were far advanced in pregnancy.</p> + +<p>Imam Mamat was a man of over forty years of +age, of good repute with his neighbours, and I never +heard any cause suggested why this quiet, elderly +man of devotional habits should suddenly, without +apparent reason, develop the most inhuman instincts +and brutally murder a number of men, women, and +children, his nearest relatives and friends. It is, +however, quite possible that the man was suffering +under the burden of some real or fancied +wrong which, after long brooding, darkened his +eyes and possessed him with this insane desire +to kill.</p> + +<p>An autopsy was performed on the murderer’s +body, and the published report of the surgeon says: +“I hereby certify that I this day made a <i>post-mortem</i> +examination of the body of Imam Mahomed, and +find him to have died from hæmorrhage from a +wound on the outer side of right thigh; the internal +organs were healthy except that the membranes of +the right side of brain were more adherent than +usual.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII<br> +<span class="smaller">THE JÔGET</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2">Every footstep fell as lightly</div> + <div class="verse indent0">As a sunbeam on the river</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Longfellow’s</span> <i>Spanish Student</i></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Malays are not dancers, but they pay professional +performers to dance for their amusement, +and consider that “the better part” is with +those who watch, at their ease, the exertions of a +small class whose members are not held in the +highest respect. The spectacle usually provided is +strangely wanting in attraction; a couple of women +shuffling their feet, and swaying their hands in +gestures that are practically devoid of grace or even +variety—that is the Malay dance—and it is accompanied +by the beating of native drums, the striking +together of two short sticks held in either hand, and +the occasional boom of a metal gong. The entertainment +has an undoubted fascination for Malays +but it generally forms part of a theatrical performance,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> +and for Western spectators it is immeasurably +dull.</p> + +<p>In one of the Malay States, however, Păhang, it +has for years been the custom for the ruler and one +or two of his near relatives to keep trained dancing +girls, who perform what is called the “Jôget”—a +real dance with an accompaniment of something like +real music, though the orchestral instruments are +very rude indeed.</p> + +<p>The dancers, <i>bûdak jôget</i>, belong to the Raja’s +household, they may even be attached to him by a +closer tie; they perform seldom, only for the amusement +of their lord and his friends, and the public +are not admitted. Years ago I saw such a dance, +and though peculiar to Păhang as far as the Malay +States are concerned, it is probable that it came +originally from Java; the instruments used by the +orchestra and the airs played are certainly far more +common in Java and Sumatra than in the Peninsula.</p> + +<p>I had gone to Păhang on a political mission +accompanied by a friend, and we were vainly +courting sleep in a miserable lodging, when at +1 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> a message came from the Sultan inviting us +to witness a <i>jôget</i>. We accepted with alacrity, +and at once made our way to the <i>astâna</i>, a +picturesque, well-built and commodious house on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span> +the right bank of the Păhang river. A palisade +enclosed the courtyard, and the front of the house +was a very large hall, open on three sides, but +covered by a lofty roof of fantastic design supported +on pillars. The floor of this hall was approached +by three wide steps continued round the three open +sides, the fourth being closed by a wooden wall +which entirely shut off the private apartments save +for one central door over which hung a heavy curtain. +The three steps were to provide sitting +accommodation according to their rank for those +admitted to the <i>astâna</i>. The middle of the floor, +on the night in question, was covered by a large +carpet, chairs were placed for us, and the rest of +the guests sat on the steps of the daïs.</p> + +<p>When we entered, we saw, seated on the carpet, +four girls, two of them about eighteen and two +about eleven years old, all attractive according to +Malay ideas of beauty, and all gorgeously and +picturesquely clothed.</p> + +<p>On their heads they each wore a large and +curious but very pretty ornament of delicate workmanship—a +sort of square flower garden where all +the flowers were gold, trembling and glittering with +every movement of the wearer. These ornaments +were secured to the head by twisted cords of silver<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> +and gold. The girls’ hair, combed down in a fringe, +was cut in a perfect oval round their foreheads and +very becomingly dressed behind.</p> + +<p>The bodices of their dresses were made of tight-fitting +silk, leaving the neck and arms bare, whilst +a white band of fine cambric (about 1½ inches wide), +passing round the neck, came down on the front of +the bodice in the form of a V, and was there +fastened by a golden flower.</p> + +<p>Round their waists were belts fastened with large +and curiously worked <i>pinding</i> or buckles of gold, +so large that they reached quite across the waist. +The rest of the costume consisted of a skirt of cloth +of gold (not at all like the <i>sârong</i>), reaching to the +ankles, while a scarf of the same material, fastened +in its centre to the waist-buckle, hung down to the +hem of the skirt.</p> + +<p>All four dancers were dressed alike, except that +the elder girls wore white silk bodices with a red +and gold handkerchief, folded cornerwise, tied under +the arms and knotted in front. The points of the +handkerchief hung to the middle of the back. In +the case of the two younger girls the entire dress +was of one material.</p> + +<p>On their arms the dancers wore numbers of gold +bangles, and their fingers were covered with diamond<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> +rings. In their ears were fastened the diamond +buttons so much affected by Malays, and indeed +now by Western ladies. Their feet, of course, +were bare.</p> + +<p>We had ample time to minutely observe these +details before the dance commenced, for when we +came into the hall the four girls were sitting down +in the usual<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> Eastern fashion, on the carpet, bending +forward, their elbows resting on their thighs, and +hiding the sides of their faces, which were towards +the audience, with fans made of crimson and gilt +paper which sparkled in the light.</p> + +<p>On our entrance the band struck up, and our +special attention was called to the orchestra, as the +instruments are seldom seen in the Malay Peninsula.</p> + +<p>There were two chief performers, one playing on +a sort of harmonicon, the notes of which he struck +with pieces of stick held in each hand. The other, +with similar pieces of wood, played on inverted +metal bowls. Both these performers seemed to +have sufficiently hard work, but they played with +the greatest spirit from 10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> till 5 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span></p> + +<p>The harmonicon is called by Malays <i>chĕlempong</i>, +and the inverted bowls, which give a pleasant and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> +musical sound like the noise of rippling water, a +<i>gambang</i>. The other members of the orchestra +consisted of a very small boy who played, with a +very large and thick stick, on a gigantic gong—an +old woman who beat a drum with two sticks, and +several other boys who played on instruments like +triangles called <i>chânang</i>.</p> + +<p>All these performers, we were told with much +solemnity, were artists of the first order, masters +and a mistress in their craft, and if vigour of execution +counts for excellence they proved the justice of +the praise.</p> + +<p>The Hall, of considerable size, capable of accommodating +several hundreds of people, was only +dimly lighted, but the fact that, while the audience +was in semi-darkness, the light was concentrated on +the performers added to the effect. Besides ourselves +I question whether there were more than +twenty spectators, but sitting on the top of the daïs +near to the dancers it was hard to pierce the surrounding +gloom.</p> + +<p>The orchestra was placed on the left of the +entrance to the Hall, that is rather to the side and +rather in the background, a position evidently chosen +with due regard to the feelings of the audience.</p> + +<p>From the elaborate and vehement execution of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> +the players, and the want of regular time in the +music, I judged, and rightly, that we had entered as +the overture began. During its performance, the +dancers sat leaning forward, hiding their faces as I +have described; but when it concluded and, without +any break, the music changed into the regular +rhythm for dancing, the four girls dropped their +fans, raised their hands in the act of <i>Sèmbah</i> or +homage, and then began the dance by swaying their +bodies and slowly waving their arms and hands in +the most graceful movements, making much and +effective use all the while of the scarf hanging from +their belts.</p> + +<p>Gradually raising themselves from a sitting to a +kneeling posture, acting in perfect accord in every +motion, then rising to their feet, they floated through +a series of figures hardly to be exceeded in grace +and difficulty, considering that the movements are +essentially slow, the arms, hands and body being +the real performers whilst the feet are scarcely +noticed and for half the time not visible.</p> + +<p>They danced five or six dances, each lasting +quite half an hour, with materially different figures +and time in the music. All these dances I was told +were symbolical; one, of agriculture, with the tilling +of the soil, the sowing of the seed, the reaping<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> +and winnowing of the grain, might easily have been +guessed from the dancer’s movements. But those +of the audience whom I was near enough to question +were, Malay-like, unable to give me much information. +Attendants stood or sat near the dancers and +from time to time, as the girls tossed one thing on +the floor, handed them another. Sometimes it was +a fan or a mirror they held, sometimes a flower or +small vessel, but oftener their hands were empty, as +it is in the management of the fingers that the chief +art of Malay dancers consists.</p> + +<p>The last dance, symbolical of war, was perhaps +the best, the music being much faster, almost +inspiriting, and the movements of the dancers more +free and even abandoned. For the latter half of +the dance they each held a wand, to represent a +sword, bound with three rings of burnished gold +which glittered in the light like precious stones.</p> + +<p>This nautch, which began soberly, like the others, +grew to a wild revel until the dancers were, or +pretended to be, possessed by the Spirit of Dancing, +<i>hantu mĕnâri</i> as they called it, and leaving the +Hall for a moment to smear their fingers and faces +with a fragrant oil, they returned, and the two +eldest, striking at each other with their wands +seemed inclined to turn the symbolical into a real<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> +battle. They were, however, after some trouble, +caught by four or five women and carried forcibly +out of the Hall, but not until their captors had been +made to feel the weight of the magic wands. The +two younger girls, who looked as if they too would +like to be “possessed,” but did not know how to +accomplish it, were easily caught and removed.</p> + +<p>The band, whose strains had been increasing in +wildness and in time, ceased playing on the removal +of the dancers, and the nautch, which had begun at +10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, was over.</p> + +<p>The Raja, who had only appeared at 4 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, told +me that one of the elder girls, when she became +“properly possessed,” lived for months on nothing +but flowers, a pretty and poetic conceit.</p> + +<p>As we left the Astâna, and taking boat rowed +slowly to the vessel waiting for us off the river’s +mouth, the rising sun was driving the fog from the +numbers of lovely green islets, that seemed to float +like dew-drenched lotus leaves on the surface of the +shallow stream.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII<br> +<span class="smaller">THE STORY OF MAT ARIS</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I smote him as I would a worm,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With heart as steeled, with nerve as firm;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He never woke again</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Whittier</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>It was in the year 1876 that a man named Mat +Aris, of no occupation and less repute, persuaded +one Sâhit to take his wife Salâmah and +start on a journey through the jungle to a distant +country. The interest of Mat Aris in this couple +was a desire to get rid of Sâhit and possess himself +of the woman Salâmah, for whom he had conceived +an overmastering passion.</p> + +<p>The travellers began their journey at a spot many +miles up the Perak River; their road lay along a +jungle track, and so sparsely inhabited was the +country they were to pass through, that they could +not even find a habitation in which to pass the +night. They had to look forward to many days’<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> +journey through the primæval forest, the home of +wild beasts and Sakai people, aboriginal tribes +almost as shy and untamed as the elephant, the +bison and the rhinoceros, with which they share the +forests of the interior.</p> + +<p>Sâhit and his wife started on their journey in the +company of two brothers of Mat Aris, but meeting +him the brothers returned, Mat Aris undertaking the +part of escort. In the afternoon of the first day’s +march a Sakai named Pah Patin met the three, and, +being known to Mat Aris, that worthy ordered him +to accompany them. Pah Patin did as he was told, +and when evening came on, as there was no dwelling +within miles, a shelter was built in the jungle +wherein the night was to be passed.</p> + +<p>It is as well to understand what a Malay jungle +is like, for a good soil, well watered, in one of the +hottest and dampest climates in the world, produces +a forest that is not altogether the counterpart of all +other forests.</p> + +<p>The reading public, no doubt, believes that the +jungle of Darkest Africa is a place of gloom, terror +and difficulty without parallel. It may be so, but +few of those who know it have visited Malâya, +and one is apt to exaggerate one’s own troubles. +Whatever gruesome peculiarities there are about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> +the African jungle, it seems possible for large bodies +of men and women to make their way through it at +a fair pace without great difficulty. In that respect +at least it has the advantage of the Malay forest.</p> + +<p>To begin with there are the trees of all sizes, +from the smallest shoot to the giants of the jungle, +towering to a height of 150 feet. I know that is +not excessive, but in this forcing climate there are +an enormous number of such trees, treading on each +others roots and crowding the older and feebler out +of existence. These are nothing, they afford a +pleasant shade from the pitiless rays of the sun, and +though this mitigated light cannot by any stretch of +imagination be called darkness, it is possible to take +off your hat without fear of sunstroke. If it were +only for the trees jungle walking would be pleasant +enough.</p> + +<p>Under them, however, there is an undergrowth +so thick as to beggar description. Every conceivable +kind of palm, of bush, of creeper, flourishes +there with a luxuriance, with a prodigality of vegetable +life, that shows how richly Nature deserves +her title of Mother. It is a curious fact, remarked +by every one who has been brought in contact with +the Malay forest, that a very large number of its +shrubs, many of its palms, and most of its creepers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> +are armed with spikes of various length, but all of +about equal sharpness. Some are so formidable +that the thickest skinned beasts avoid contact with +them, and no human apparel has been devised, short +of armour, that will resist their powers of penetration +and destruction. Under the creepers lie fallen trees, +and the ground is covered with ferns, rank grasses, +and what is generally termed undergrowth, so thick +that the soil is often entirely hidden. It may be +added as a minor but unpleasant detail that this +tangle of vegetation harbours every species of crawling, +jumping, and flying unpleasantness; myriads of +leeches that work their way through stockings and +garments of any but the closest texture; centipedes, +scorpions, wasps, and stinging flies, caterpillars that +thrust their hairs into the skin and leave them there +to cause intolerable irritation, snakes poisonous and +otherwise, ants with the most murderous proclivities, +and last, but not least, mosquitoes that, when they +find a human being, make the most of their opportunity. +I have not exhausted the catalogue of pests, +but only given a sample of what any traveller will +meet in a day’s journey through a Malay jungle. +There is a wasp called “the reminder,” a thorn +called “Kite’s talons,” and an ant known as the “fire +ant.” The names are as apt as they are suggestive.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p> + +<p>To force a way through such a place is an impossibility, +even on all fours it could not be crawled +through, the only means of progress is by cutting a +path.</p> + +<p>No one attempts to walk through virgin forest +unless he be in pursuit of game, or has some special +object and the means to clear his way. All Malay +jungle is not as thick as that I have described, and +as the beasts sought by the sportsman naturally +frequent the more open places, tracking is possible, +though severe enough work even at the slow rate +of progress necessary to enable the pursuers to +approach the quarry without being seen or heard.</p> + +<p>The lower and more swampy the country the +thicker the undergrowth, and I have often noticed +that, where a river flows between low banks clothed +with virgin forest, it would be almost impossible for +even a strong swimmer to force his way out of the +water on to the land through the thickly interlaced +tangle of branches, rattans, and other thorny creepers +that stretch their uninviting arms from the bank far +over the water of the stream.</p> + +<p>It will naturally be asked how travellers make +their way through jungle such as I have described. +The reply is that there are existing tracks (not +worthy of the name of footpaths) which have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> +used for ages, originally no doubt formed by the +passing and repassing of wild beasts, then adopted +by the Sakais, and lastly by Malays. In other +cases similar means of passage have been formed by +driving tame elephants through the forest from place +to place. For the pedestrian, especially if he be +clad in the garments and boots of western civilisation, +progress through the succession of holes filled +with water and mud which marks the track of +elephants is neither rapid nor pleasant.</p> + +<p>That is the jungle of daylight.</p> + +<p>When once the sun has set darkness falls upon +everything within the forest, and it is a darkness so +absolute as to give to wide-open eyes the impression +of blindness. Those who have been so unfortunate +as to be benighted in a Malay jungle without torches +or lanterns know that there is nothing to be done +but to sit down and wait for day.</p> + +<p>Such were the surroundings in which Sâhit and +his wife found themselves compelled to spend a +night in the company of Mat Aris and his Sakai +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Mat Aris had a house in this neighbourhood, +and on the day following the events already narrated +a Malay went to the Headman of his village and said +there was a woman in the house of Mat Aris sobbing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> +and saying her husband had been murdered. The +Headman went to the place and saw Mat Aris was +there and a woman with him. Mat Aris had a +reputation which probably induced this Headman +not to attempt to interfere with him further than to +keep a watch on his proceedings.</p> + +<p>In places where there are no roads, and often +when they do exist, Malays live on or close by the +bank of a river, and, on the following day, the Headman +observed Mat Aris and the woman in a boat +going down the stream, here a succession of rapids +and very difficult to navigate. The Headman +followed by a jungle track, and getting near to a +place called Kôta Tampan, the first police station, +he hurried on and gave the information he possessed.</p> + +<p>When Mat Aris arrived at Kôta Tampan he +landed, and was at once arrested by the native +sergeant in charge of the station, who accused him +of murdering Sâhit. Mat Aris denied the charge, +but the woman said her name was Salâmah, and the +sergeant said he must take them both to his Divisional +Headquarters at Kuala Kangsar, distant thirty +miles or more by river. Accordingly the sergeant +and some police entered the boat and a start was +made for Kuala Kangsar. It shortly appeared that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> +the police, who were natives of India, were not very +skilful in the management of the boat, and, as Mat +Aris offered his services to steer and there was no +doubt of his ability, this important post was given +to him. Choosing a convenient place where the +stream was both deep and rapid, Mat Aris upset +the boat and threw every one into the water. Then +seizing the woman, he swam with her to the opposite +bank and they both disappeared. The police +had enough to do, hampered by their uniforms, to +get out of the river with their lives.</p> + +<p>For the next eight years Mat Aris eluded all +attempts at capture. He lived in the jungle beyond +the jurisdiction of the Perak Government, and, with +his brothers, became the terror of the neighbourhood, +levying black mail on all who passed his way. +Mat Aris was the ringleader, and even more serious +crimes were laid at his door.</p> + +<p>The woman Salâmah was known to be living with +Mat Aris as his wife, and it was also known that +she had a child by him. Of Sâhit nothing more was +seen or heard.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Government of Perak had established +a station in the neighbourhood of the spot +where Sâhit had disappeared, and complaints of the +lawless proceedings of Mat Aris were constantly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> +made to the officer in charge of it, but he was helpless, +for the outlaw was beyond his reach.</p> + +<p>Eight years is, however, a long time, especially +to an Eastern, and travellers worth robbing having +grown scarce, Mat Aris, in the consciousness of his +own rectitude, went to the Perak officer and asked +for work. That mistaken step resulted in his arrest +on the strength of the warrant issued eight years +before.</p> + +<p>This time the prisoner was conveyed in safety +to Kuala Kangsar, where he was duly tried.</p> + +<p>It is one thing to give information against a man +who is free, willing, and able to resent it, and quite +a different thing to say what you know when that +man is in the toils. There was a witness who was +likely to know what had happened to Sâhit, and that +was Pah Patin the Sakai, but Pah Patin did not +speak, and Mat Aris and Salâmah were the only +other people who knew what he could say. At +least that appeared to be so, for who else would be +likely to know what happened at night in the depths +of the jungle miles from the nearest habitation?</p> + +<p>As for Salâmah, like the Sabine women, she +seemed to have reconciled herself to her captor.</p> + +<p>But the strange part of this story is that, impossible +as it may seem, there was a witness who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> +saw what took place in that hut in the forest, +whither the unsuspecting Sâhit had been lured +with his wife under the escort of Mat Aris.</p> + +<p>That witness was a Sakai man who had been +collecting <i>gĕtah</i> (gutta-percha), and, attracted by +the firelight, noiselessly approached the hut and, +whilst wondering at the unusual sight of these +strangers sleeping in his wild and lonely jungle, he +saw Mat Aris get up and stab to death the man, +who stood between him and the woman he had +determined to possess.</p> + +<p>The Sakai saw more than that, but when once +he had disclosed what he knew, Pah Patin was +found and induced to tell his tale, and other Sakais +completed the narrative.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that Sâhit and his wife, +Mat Aris and the Sakai Pah Patin had built a +shelter where they proposed to spend the night. A +fire was lighted, food was cooked and eaten, and +the four lay down to sleep. On one side of the +fire Mat Aris, next him Salâmah, and then Sâhit; +on the other was the Sakai.</p> + +<p>The man and his wife slept, the other Malay +pretended to sleep, and the Sakai fell into that +state which passes for sleep with creatures that are +always on the alert for possible danger.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span></p> + +<p>Half an hour later Mat Aris rose up softly and +with a <i>kris</i> stabbed Sâhit in the throat. The +wretched man staggered to his feet, fell and tried to +struggle up again when Mat Aris shouted to the +Sakai to strike him or he would kill him also. +Pah Patin obeyed, and hit the wounded man on the +head with a stick. “Then,” said Pah Patin when +at last he told the story, “there was a little life in +him, but he never moved after I struck him.”</p> + +<p>The woman rushed out of the hut, but Mat Aris +followed her and brought her back to the mat by +the body of the murdered man, and there they +slept together, the Sakai returning to his place on the +other side of the fire. The night was young then.</p> + +<p>Before daylight Pah Patin left Mat Aris and +Salâmah still sleeping by the corpse, and by order +of Mat Aris fetched two more Sakais, and these +three buried Sâhit by the bank of the river in the +presence of Mat Aris and the woman.</p> + +<p>Years afterwards, when the details were known, +an attempt was made to find the body, but it failed; +decomposition in this climate is rapid, even bones +disappear, and the river had many times flooded its +banks, trees had gone and others grown, the landmarks +were no longer the same, and possibly the +exact site of the grave was missed.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="IX">IX<br> +<span class="smaller">LÂTAH</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<p>Ofttimes he falleth into the fire and +oft into the water</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xvii. 14</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>In the spring of 1892 I was privileged, by the +kindness of a friend and the courtesy of Dr. +Luys, to visit the Hospital <i>de la Charité</i> in Paris, +where I witnessed some very remarkable and interesting +experiments in suggestion. There were +patients undergoing successful treatment for nervous +disorders where the disease was in process of gradual +relief by passing from the afflicted person to a +medium without injury to the latter; there was +the strange power of hypnotising, influencing and +awakening certain <i>sujets</i> whose nervous organisations +seem to be specially susceptible, and there was the +astonishing influence of the magnet over these same +<i>sujets</i> when already hypnotised. There is something +more than usually uncanny in the sight of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> +person filled with an inexplicable and unnatural +delight in the contemplation of the positive end +of a magnet, and when the negative end is suddenly +turned towards him, to see him instantly +fall down unconscious as though struck by lightning.</p> + +<p>The <i>sujets</i> (there were two of them, a man and a +woman) described the appearance of the positive end +of the magnet as producing a beautiful blue flame +about a foot high, so exquisite in colour and beauty +that it transported them with delight. As to the +negative end, they reluctantly explained, in hesitating +words and with every appearance of dread, +that there also was a flame, but a red one of fearful +and sinister import.</p> + +<p>I was deeply interested in these “manifestations,” +both for their own strangeness and because I had +in the Malay Peninsula seen equally extraordinary +proceedings of a somewhat similar kind.</p> + +<p>Amongst Malays there is a well-known disease +(I use the word for want of a better) called <i>lâtah</i>; +it is far more common at certain places than at others, +and amongst certain divisions of the great Malay +family. Thus while there is generally one or more +<i>ôrang lâtah</i> to be found in every <i>kampong</i> in Krian, +where the Malays are mostly from Kĕdah, in other<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> +parts of Perak it is rare to ever meet a <i>lâtah</i> person. +Again, speaking generally, the disease seems to be +more common amongst the people of Amboina, in +Netherlands India, than those of Java, Sumatra or +the Malay Peninsula. In both cases heredity is probably +accountable for the result, whatever may have +been the original cause to produce the affliction in +certain places more than in others. I can only +speak of my own experience and what I have +personally seen, for no English authority appears +to have studied the matter or attempted to either +observe <i>lâtah</i> people, diagnose the disease (if it is +one), search for its cause or attempt to cure it. I +can vouch for facts but nothing more.</p> + +<p>In 1874 I was sent in H.M.S. <i>Hart</i> to reside +with the Sultan of Selangor. Though His Highness’s +personal record was one of which he might +be proud, for he was said to have killed ninety-nine +men (<i>sa’ râtus kûrang sâtu</i>) with his own hand, his +State was not altogether a happy one, for it had +been the fighting-ground of several ambitious young +Rajas for some years. An unusually hideous piracy, +personally conducted by one of the Sultan’s own +sons, and committed on a Malacca trading vessel, +had necessitated a visit from the China fleet, and +when the perpetrators, or those who after due<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> +inquiry appeared to be the perpetrators, had been +executed (the Sultan lending his own <i>kris</i> for the +ceremony), I was sent to see that these “boyish +amusements,” as His Highness called them, were +not repeated. The place where the Sultan then +lived was hardly a desirable residence, even from +a Malay point of view, and it has for years now +been almost deserted. <i>Bandar Tĕrmâsa</i>, as it was +grandiloquently styled, was a collection of huts on a +mud flat enclosed between the Langat and Jugra +rivers. It was only seven miles from the sea, and +at high tide most of the place was under water.</p> + +<p>With me there went twenty-five Malay police +from Malacca, and we lived all together in an old +stockade on the bank of the Langat river. Whether +it was the mosquitoes, which for numbers and +venom could not be matched, or whether it was the +evil reputation of the place for deeds of violence is +needless to inquire, but the police were seized with +panic and had to be replaced by another batch from +Singapore, selected not so much on account of their +virtues as their so-called vices. The exchange was +satisfactory, for whatever sins they committed they +showed no signs of panic.</p> + +<p>Later on I was encouraged by the statement that +Bandar Tĕrmâsa, for all its unpromising appearance,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> +was a place for <i>men</i>, where those who had a difference +settled it promptly with the <i>kris</i>, and cowards +who came there either found their courage or +departed. A story that amused the gossips was +that, as a badly wounded man was carried from the +duelling field past the palisade which enclosed the +Sultan’s house, His Highness had asked, through +the bars, what was the matter, and, being told, had +laconically remarked, “If he is wounded, doctor +him; if he is dead, bury him.”</p> + +<p>During my residence in the place a lady, for +jealousy, stabbed a man of considerable note thirteen +times with his own dagger, and sent the next +morning to know whether I would like to purchase +it, as she did not much fancy the weapon. The +man was not killed, and made no complaint. +Another lady, for a similar reason, visited our +stockade one night, pushed the sentry on one +side, and, finding the man she wanted, attempted +to stab him with a long <i>kris</i> she had brought for +that purpose.</p> + +<p>That was then the state of society in Bandar +Tĕrmâsa.</p> + +<p>I have said we lived all together in a stockade. +It was a very rude structure with log walls about +six feet thick and eight feet high, a mud floor, a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> +thatch roof, and no doors. Outside it was a high +watch-tower of the same materials, but the ladder +to it had fallen down. Of roads there were none, +but a mud path ran through the stockade from +river bank to village, distant some 300 yards. My +own accommodation was a cot borrowed from the +<i>Hart</i> and slung between two posts, while the men +slept on the walls of the stockade.</p> + +<p>The place had drawbacks other than mosquitoes, +for the public path ran through it, the tide at high +water completely covered the floor, and the log +walls were full of snakes. The state of the surroundings +will best be understood when I say that +during the many months I lived there I did not +wear boots outside the stockade, because there was +nothing to walk upon but deep mud, and that the +only water fit to use was contained in a well or +pond a quarter of a mile off, to which I walked +every day to bathe.</p> + +<p>With the second batch of police had come an +European inspector, and he and I were the only +white men in the country.</p> + +<p>Amongst the twenty-five police were two men of +the name of Kâsim; they were both natives of +Amboina, but very different in disposition, and they +were known among their comrades as Kâsim <i>Bĕsar</i><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> +and Kâsim <i>Kĕchil</i>—that is Kâsim Major and Kâsim +Minor.</p> + +<p>Kâsim Major was a quiet, reserved, silent man of +about twenty-five, and I afterwards realised that +he had a somewhat violent temper when roused. +Kâsim Minor, on the contrary, was a smiling, +talkative, happy, and pleasant-looking young fellow +of about twenty. They were not related to each +other in any way.</p> + +<p>I used often to be away on the coast and up +river, and on my return from one of these expeditions +I noticed the men teasing Kâsim Minor, and +saw at once that he was <i>lâtah</i>. I questioned the +inspector, and he told me that during my absence +he had one day been away on duty for some hours, +and when he returned, about 4 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, he saw Kâsim +Minor up a coco-nut tree just outside the stockade. +On asking him what he was doing there, he replied +he could not come down because there was a snake +at the bottom of the tree. In reality there was a +bit of rattan tied round the tree, and, this being +removed, Kâsim came down.</p> + +<p>Now, it is no easy matter to climb a coco-nut +tree; it requires a special training to do it at all, +and Kâsim did not possess it. But the inspector +ascertained that the other police had found out by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> +accident that their comrade was <i>lâtah</i>, that they had +ordered him to climb the tree, which he had at +once done, and that then, out of sheer devilry, +some one had taken a bit of rattan, said, “Do you +see this snake? I will tie it round the tree, and +then you can’t come down,” and so left him from +10 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> till the afternoon, when the inspector +returned and released him.</p> + +<p>The time of Kâsim’s penance was probably +greatly exaggerated, but that is how the story was +told to me, and of all that follows I was an eye-witness.</p> + +<p>I made Kâsim Minor my orderly, and as he was +constantly with me I had better opportunities of +studying his peculiarities. About this time also I +learnt that Kâsim Major was also <i>lâtah</i>.</p> + +<p>Speaking generally, it was only necessary for any +one to attract the attention of either of these men +by the simplest means, holding up a finger, calling +them by name in a rather pointed way, touching +them or even, when close by, to look them hard in +the face, and instantly they appeared to lose all +control of themselves and would do, not only whatever +they were told to do, but whatever was suggested +by a sign.</p> + +<p>I have seen many <i>lâtah</i> people, male and female,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> +but never any quite like these two, none so susceptible +to outside influence, so ready to blindly obey +a word or a sign.</p> + +<p>The kindly disposition of Kâsim Minor made him +quite harmless, but the other Kâsim was rather a +dangerous subject to play tricks with, as I will presently +explain.</p> + +<p>The <i>lâtah</i> man or woman usually met with, if +suddenly startled, by a touch, a noise, or the sight +of something unexpected, will not only show all the +signs of a very nervous person but almost invariably +will fire off a volley of expressions more or less +obscene, having no reference at all to the circumstance +which has suddenly aroused attention. As +a rule it is necessary to <i>startle</i> these people before +they will say or do anything to show that they are +differently constituted to their neighbours, and when +they have betrayed themselves either by word or +deed their instinct is to get away as quickly as +possible. Children and even grown-up people +cannot always resist the pleasure of “bating” a +<i>lâtah</i> person; for one reason because it is so exceedingly +easy, for another because they are inclined on +the spur of the moment to do ludicrous things or +say something they would under ordinary circumstances +be ashamed of. <i>Almost</i> invariably <i>lâtah</i><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> +people of this class (and it is by far the most common +one) are very good humoured and never seem to +think of resenting the liberty taken with their +infirmity. If by word or deed they commit themselves +(and that is not uncommon) they either run +away, or appear to be unconscious of having said +or done anything unusual (this however is rare), or +they simply say, “I am <i>lâtah</i>,” as a full explanation +and excuse.</p> + +<p>If any one present accidentally drops something on +the floor, if a lizard falls from the roof on to or near +a <i>lâtah</i> person, if the wind blows the shutter of a +window to with a bang, a <i>lâtah</i> person of the class +I speak of will probably find it necessary to at least +say something not usually heard in polite society. +Of this class by far the majority are women.</p> + +<p>I have never seen a <i>lâtah</i> boy or girl, but I know +they are to be found, though the disease certainly +becomes more evident as the subject grows older.</p> + +<p>It must be understood that except when under +influence, when actually showing the evidences of +this strange peculiarity, <i>lâtah</i> people are undistinguishable +from others. It is sufficient proof of +this that amongst my twenty-five police there +should have been two men more completely <i>lâtah</i> +than any I have seen before or since.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span></p> + +<p>I took occasion to carefully observe the two +Kâsims. It was impossible to always prevent their +companions teasing them, especially in a place +where there was absolutely no form of amusement +and all the conditions of life were as unpleasant as +they well could be, but no harm was ever done, and +I am satisfied that while influence was in any way +exercised over the <i>lâtah</i> man he was not conscious +of his own actions, and directly it was removed he +became his reasoning other self, and the utmost +that remained on his mind, or came to him with the +recovery of his own will, was that he might have +done something foolish.</p> + +<p>If the attention of either of these men was +arrested, as I have said by word, sign, or a meaning +glance, from that moment until the influence +was removed, the <i>lâtah</i> man would do whatever he +was told or signed to do without hesitation, whether +the act signified were difficult, dangerous, or painful. +When once under this influence any one present +could give the order and the <i>lâtah</i> man would +immediately obey it; not only that, but even at +some distance (as in the coco-nut tree incident), he +appeared to be equally subject to the will imposed +on his actions.</p> + +<p>A curious thing about both these men was that,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> +having attracted the attention of either, if you said, +“Kâsim, go and hit that man,” he would invariably +repeat what was said, word for word, including his +own name, while he carried out the order. When +the person hit turned on him, Kâsim would say, +“It was not I who hit you, but that man who +ordered me.”</p> + +<p>I have seen Kâsim the younger, when the man +influencing him put his own finger in his mouth and +pretended to bite it, imitate the action but really +bite his finger and bite it hard. Similarly I have +seen him, in imitation and without a word being +said, take a lighted brand from the fire, and he would +have put it in his mouth if the experiment had been +carried so far. Some one told him one day to +jump into the river, and he did not get out again +till he had swum nearly two hundred yards, for the +stream was both broad and deep, with a terrible +current, and infested by crocodiles. If at any +moment you called out “<i>Tôlong</i> Kâsim” (“help! +Kâsim”), the instant he heard it he would jump up +and crying “<i>Tôlong</i> Kâsim,” dash straight to you +over all obstacles. If then you had put a weapon +in his hand and told him to slay any one within +reach I have not the slightest doubt he would have +done it without hesitation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> + +<p>I have said there was a ladderless watch-tower +outside the stockade. The police wanted firewood, +they were not allowed to burn the logs forming our +walls, but at the top of the watch-tower there were +also log walls that they were told they could burn. +They were lazy, however, and did not see how they +were going to get up, so they ordered Kâsim the +younger to climb up, which he did as he had +climbed the coco-nut tree, and, when once there, +they told him to throw down logs until they thought +they had enough. I watched that operation, and +the feverish haste with which the man swarmed up +one of the supports, gained the platform of the +tower, and threw down huge logs as though his +life depended on it, was rather remarkable. I gave +orders that the man’s infirmity was not to be used +for this purpose again, but in my absence I know +that when more firewood was wanted Kâsim went +up to the watch-tower for it until that supply was +exhausted.</p> + +<p>The path from the stockade to the village was in +sight of the stockade throughout its length, and one +day I noticed Kâsim Minor, as he walked leisurely +down this mud embankment, stop every now and +then and behave in a peculiar fashion as though he +were having conversation with the frogs, snakes and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span> +other denizens of the ditches that bordered the path. +When he had gone half way he stopped and peeped +up into the branches of a small tree on the road +side, then he seemed to be striking blows at an +invisible enemy, ran to the ditch and began throwing +lump after lump of hard mud into the tree. I +had not seen this phase of his peculiarities before +and could not make it out, but suddenly his arms +went about his head like the sails of a windmill, +and I realised that his enemies were bees or hornets, +and that he was getting a good deal the worst of +an unequal fight. I sent some of the men to fetch +him back and found he had been rather badly stung, +and when I asked him why he attacked the nest he +said his attention was caught by things flying out +of the tree and he was impelled to throw at them.</p> + +<p>I understood that the hornets flying out of the +nest appeared to be thrown at him, and he could +not help imitating what he saw in the best way he +could, and so he took what was nearest his hand +and sent it flying back.</p> + +<p>Kâsim the elder was quite as susceptible as his +namesake, but his comrades were a little shy of +provoking him as they soon realised that his temper +made the amusement dangerous. One day they +must have been teasing him, and, when he was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> +allowed to recover his own will, I suppose their +laughter made it evident to him that he had made +himself ridiculous, for he suddenly ran to the arm-rack, +and seizing a sword bayonet made for his +tormentors with such evident intention to use it that +they precipitately fled, and in a few seconds were +making very good time across the swamp with +Kâsim and the drawn sword far too close to be +pleasant. I had some difficulty in persuading him +to abandon his purpose, but after that and a lecture +his comrades did not greatly bother him.</p> + +<p>I remember, however, that on another occasion +we had secured and erected a long thin spar to +serve as a flagstaff, but the halyard jammed and it +seemed necessary to lower the spar when some one +called out to Kâsim the elder to climb up it. Before +I could interfere, he had gone up two-thirds of the +height, and he only came down reluctantly. Had +he gone a few feet higher the pole would inevitably +have snapped and he would have had a severe +fall.</p> + +<p>About this time a friend came and shared my +loneliness for a fortnight. He had had experience +of <i>lâtah</i> people before, but the two Kâsims were +rather a revelation, and he was perhaps inclined to +doubt what I told him they could be made to do.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> +One morning we were bathing as usual at the pond, +and Kâsim the younger was in attendance carrying +the towels, &c.</p> + +<p>The bath was over, and we were all three standing +on the bank, when my friend said to Kâsim:</p> + +<p>“<i>Mâri, kîta tĕrjun</i>” (come, let us jump in), at +the same time feigning to jump. Kâsim instantly +jumped into the pond, disappeared, came up spluttering, +and having scrambled out, said: “<i>Itu tîdak +baik, Tûan</i>” (that is not good of you, sir).</p> + +<p>My friend said, “Why, I did nothing, I only said +let us jump in and went like this,” repeating his +previous action, when Kâsim immediately repeated +his plunge, and we dragged him from the water +looking like a retriever.</p> + +<p>When I was first ordered to Selangor, I thought +it possible that some sort of furniture might be +useful, and I took up a few chairs and other things, +including a large roll of what is known as Calcutta +matting. The things were useless in a place where +the mud floor was often under water twice during +twenty-four hours, and they lay piled in a corner of +the stockade, and whenever a Malay of distinction +came to see me for whom it was necessary to find a +chair, it was advisable to see that the seat was not +already occupied by a snake. The roll of matting,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span> +about four feet high and two-and-a-half feet in +diameter naturally remained unopened.</p> + +<p>Every night, owing to the myriads of mosquitoes, +a large bonfire was lit in the middle of the stockade, +for only in the smoke of that fire was it possible to +eat one’s dinner. One night some Malays from the +village had come in, and the police were trying to +amuse them and forget their own miseries by dancing +and singing round the fire. Under such circumstances +Malays have a happy knack of making the +best of things, they laugh easily and often, and as I +have said elsewhere, they have a strong sense of +humour if not always of a very refined description. +Some one had introduced one of the Kâsims, in his +character of an <i>ôrang lâtah</i>, for the benefit of the +strangers, and one of the men was inspired to fetch +the roll of matting, and solemnly presenting it to +Kâsim the younger, said, “Kâsim, here is your +wife.”</p> + +<p>Even now I do not forget the smile of beatitude +and satisfaction with which Kâsim Minor regarded +that undesirable and figureless bundle. Breathing the +words in a low voice, almost sighing to himself, +“Kâsim, here is your wife,” he embraced the +matting with great fervour, constantly repeating +“My wife! my wife!” Some one said, “Kiss<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> +her!” and he kissed her—repeatedly kissed her. +Then by another inspiration (I do not say from +whence), some one brought up the other Kâsim, +and introducing him to the other side of the roll +of matting, said, also very quietly, “Kâsim, this +is <i>your</i> wife!” and Kâsim the elder accepted +the providential appearance of his greatly-desired +spouse, and embraced her with not less fervour +than his namesake and rival.</p> + +<p>It was evident that neither intended to give up +the lady to the other, and as each tried to monopolise +her charms a struggle began between them to obtain +complete possession, during which the audience, +almost frantic with delight, urged the actors in this +drama to manifest their affection to the lady of their +choice. In the midst of this clamour the Kâsims +and their joint spouse fell down, and as they nearly +rolled into the fire and seemed disinclined even +then to abandon the lady, she was taken away +and put back in her corner with the chairs and +snakes.</p> + +<p>It is a detail, which I only add because some +readers hunger for detail, that neither of the Kâsims +possessed a wife.</p> + +<p>I do not pretend to offer any explanation of the +cause of this state of mind which Malays call <i>lâtah</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> +I imagine it is a nervous disease affecting the brain +but not the body.</p> + +<p>I have never met a medical man who has interested +himself in the matter, and I cannot say +whether the disease, if it be one, is curable or not—I +should doubt it.</p> + +<p>I have somewhere read that individuals similarly +affected are found amongst the Canadian lumber-men.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="X">X<br> +<span class="smaller">THE ETERNAL FEMININE</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<p>Le bonheur de saigner sur le cœur +d’un ami</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Paul Verlaine</span></p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>There was a woman of Kelantan named Siti +Maämih; she was born of the people, neither +good nor beautiful, nor attractive, nor even young, +as youth goes in the East, but she had chosen to +ally herself to a white man whom I will call Grant.</p> + +<p>I know nothing of these two, but that he had +work far away in a Malay jungle and she shared +his loneliness, herself a stranger in that country. +It was apparently an arrangement formed for mutual +advantage, like many others of a more permanent +character. If the connection began without any +semblance of romance, it more than satisfied the +expectations of the contracting parties, and when +the moment of trial came the highest affection and +the most sacred bond could hardly have suggested +a greater sacrifice than this woman offered.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span></p> + +<p>Whilst these two were living their unattractive +lives there came difficulties between white man and +brown—not specially between this white man and +any with a darker skin: the quarrel was between +white authority and Malay resentment of interference. +Grant was not even remotely connected +with the matter, but he was white, and under such +circumstances a want of discrimination is not uncommon. +There followed what is known as “a +state of reprisals.” Uncivilised people, who do not +understand fine distinctions in such matters, called it +war. The disturbance was, however, comparatively +local, Grant’s immediate neighbourhood did not seem +affected, and he was probably unconcerned. Therefore +he went about his work and took no special +precaution, fearing no attack.</p> + +<p>But his hut was isolated, there was only one +other white man anywhere near him, no police +within miles, and Maämih, who understood Malays +better than her protector, was on the watch for +trouble.</p> + +<p>To expect is, sometimes, to go half way to meet, +and the trouble came quickly.</p> + +<p>One morning two Malays appeared at Grant’s +house, and, having given some trivial excuse for +their presence and looked about the premises, took<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> +their departure. There was nothing unusual in +that, and only a very nervous person would have +seen in so simple an event any cause for alarm. +But even ere this, prudence would have told most +white men under similar circumstances that it would +be well to see to their arms and keep them handy. +Grant, however, took no precautions, as he had probably +convinced himself that none were necessary; +as for arms, he does not appear to have had any.</p> + +<p>That morning, or it may have been the evening +before, three large boats and two small ones arrived +in the river close by, but kept out of sight of Grant’s +hut, and he probably did not know they were there. +They belonged to a minor chief who had no connection +with the Malays then in arms.</p> + +<p>The day wore on, Grant had been out all morning +looking after his work, he had returned to +breakfast, been out again, and now he was back and +had thrown himself down to rest, glad to get under +shelter from the oppressive heat. He was a busy +man and his work took him out of doors, but though +he had been about all day he had seen and heard +nothing to arouse his suspicions.</p> + +<p>Seen nothing, certainly. That was not strange, +it was a jungly place, and to be ten yards off in the +jungle is as good, for those who seek concealment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> +and know the jungle, as to be in another district. +As for hearing anything, that too was most unlikely: +the only people he could hear from were Malays, the +only means of communication the Malay language, of +which Grant knew very little, and the only condition +on which information is to be obtained from Malays +about Malays would be an intimacy with and respect +for the threatened man to which Grant could hardly +aspire. There must be some very powerful influence +at work to induce a Muhammadan, who is not personally +in danger, to tell a Christian that there is +a Muhammadan plot against his life. Grant, at any +rate, if he thought about it at all, could hardly +expect that he, a new-comer, possessed friends who +would do so much for him.</p> + +<p>He was still resting when, about 4 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, a party +of nearly twenty armed men suddenly appeared in +front of the house and stood some fifty yards away, +while two of them, carrying only the ordinary jungle +knives, came up to the house and asked Grant if he +wanted to buy fowls. He told the inquirers to take +them to his servant, and got up as the Malays left him.</p> + +<p>The men had no fowls, and instead of going to +the servant’s quarters they rejoined their companions, +and the whole body advanced towards the house.</p> + +<p>At this moment Maämih appeared, and instantly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> +divining that the strangers meant no good, she +screamed out, “They are going to murder us.” +But Grant said that he and she had done no harm +and the Malays could mean none, and, taking the +woman with him, he went out of the house and a +few steps forward to meet his assailants.</p> + +<p>These last stopped some twenty yards from Grant +and the woman, and she said, “What harm have +we done?” The answer was “<i>Titah</i>”—it is by +order of the Raja—and they told the woman to +leave the infidel and go away. But she replied, +“I shall stay with him.”</p> + +<p>Then several men said, “If you do not go, we +will kill you as well as the white man.”</p> + +<p>Grant may not have understood this sentence of +death on himself, he may not have realised how +strangely the times were out of joint, that he who +was the enemy of no man, who had done no wrong, +who represented no cause, should suddenly, in the +broad light of day, hear his own death sentence, and +in the same breath learn that he was facing his +executioners and his account with the world was +closed. There was no time to think: instinct said, +“There is Death,” and doubtless instinct also said, +“Death is disagreeable: shun it.”</p> + +<p>It is commonly reputed that there are people who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> +do not know what fear is; to them in such a situation +instinct no doubt suggests that death is a new +and pleasant experience. With this man it was +different; as he saw here and there a gun raised +and pointed at him from a distance of a few paces, +he probably felt the fear of sudden and violent +death, and if he was in any way responsible for +what he did in that supreme moment his thought +must have suggested that these men would not +harm a woman of their own nationality and religion, +for he took her in his arms.</p> + +<p>A shot was fired, and the bullet shattered Maämih’s +left arm. Then, seeing what had happened, Grant +put her behind him and two more shots were fired, +one of which struck Grant in the breast, and saying, +“They have killed me,” he fell on his face to the +ground.</p> + +<p>A Malay rushed up with a heavy chopping knife, +but the woman threw herself on the body and put +her unwounded arm over Grant’s neck to save him. +The Malay’s first blow inflicted a deep wound on +Maämih’s arm and made her loose her hold; the +man then struck Grant a heavy blow on the back of +the neck, but he was already dead.</p> + +<p>The murderers took no further notice of the +woman, except to try and rob her of the jewellery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> +she wore, but they plundered the house, and having +decapitated the dead man and otherwise mutilated +his body, they threw the remains into the river and +departed.</p> + +<p>The woman was cared for by a countryman of +her own until she could be removed to a hospital, +where, after weeks of suffering, she recovered from +her injuries.</p> + +<p>The motive of this outrage was simply the desire +of an individual and his small following to wipe out +the white man, and as Grant’s isolated position made +him a specially easy prey, he fell a victim. His +only European neighbour was also murdered by the +same band. I know of no similar attack being made +by Malays on a white man within modern times, +and I question whether there is such another instance +of a Malay woman’s devotion—not that they are +not capable of such self-sacrifice, I think they are, +but the circumstances necessary to call it forth very +seldom arise.</p> + +<p>This woman realised what was going to happen +before she left the shelter of the house, she had +time after that to think, her life was not sought, she +was told to go away and warned that if she did not +separate herself from the white man she would share +his fate. Moreover, she knew that no sacrifice of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> +hers could save him, and more than all, as affecting +her woman’s nerves, she saw face to face the men +with murder in their faces and the means to accomplish +it in their hands.</p> + +<p>The motive which kept Maämih by Grant’s side +and which led her, after receiving the first shot, to +interpose herself between his body and the weapons +of his foes, must have been as high as it was +powerful. Just as there was nothing to fear by +standing aside (for none would have blamed her), so +there was nothing to hope from the forbearance of +Grant’s murderers, and that she did not also lose +her life by her devotion to him was the accident of +an ill-directed shot and a well-aimed blow which +sought to sever the woman’s arm and reach the neck +it protected—the neck of a dead man.</p> + +<p>United to the devotion which deemed no sacrifice +too great for one she loved, was that other sort of +courage which comes of knowledge and deliberate +intention. No one can fail to admire the pluck +which takes no thought of danger, the instinct which +impels a wild beast to charge an enemy and probably +achieve thereby its own destruction. Even +then it can hardly be said that the sensation of fear +has never been and cannot be experienced by the +most formidable and gallant denizens of the forest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> +and the desert. All sportsmen know the contrary, +and a child has put a tiger to flight by suddenly +throwing a basket in the face of the beast. Had the +child run away, its death was probable, whereas it +saved the life of an old man already in the tiger’s +clutches, and yet the child’s action was not the +result of courage but of fear.</p> + +<p>This Malay woman, in whom the love of life was +strong, and on whose nerves the horror and certainty +of what awaited her must have had a terrifying effect, +deliberately renounced safety, with that higher resolve +which, vanquishing fear, faces the unknown in +the spirit described by the Persian who, writing +eight centuries ago, has found so worthy an interpreter +in the author of the lines—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“So when the Angel of the darker Drink</div> + <div class="verse indent0">At last shall find you by the river brink</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Forth to your Lips to quaff—</div> + <div class="verse indent16">You shall not shrink.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XI">XI<br> +<span class="smaller">IN THE NOON OF NIGHT</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent8">Her soul upheld</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By some deep-working charm</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Kirke White</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>On the western coast of the Peninsula, more +especially that part of it which forms one side +of the Straits of Malacca, the shore-line is generally +one long stretch of mud, covered with mangrove +trees to the verge of high-water mark and rather +further, for when the tide is up there are thousands +of acres of mangrove whose roots and several inches +of the stems are submerged. Beyond this forest the +receding tide leaves great wastes of evil-smelling +mire, soft and clinging, in which the searcher for +shell-fish sinks almost to his waist.</p> + +<p>Many rivers, small and great, find their way to +the sea through this wide flat. At high water they +look imposing enough, but when the tide is out a +narrow and shallow channel is left winding about<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> +between low slimy banks, and right and left the eye +wanders over a desolation of glistening mud with an +almost imperceptible slope to the edge of the distant +sea.</p> + +<p>Pools of shallow water and tiny channels, through +which the receding tide finds easier road to river +or sea, alone break the monotony of the unsightly +waste.</p> + +<p>That is as far as physical features go. The +mud-flats have their denizens, but they are not over-attractive.</p> + +<p>First, there is the Malay fisherman, hunting for +mussels and other shell-fish. If he is there at all +he will be hard to see, for he pushes his little dug-out +fifty or a hundred yards up a mud creek, leaves +it and fossicks about, sunk above his knees in the +mire.</p> + +<p>Then there are myriads of birds, attracted by the +great possibilities of gain to the industrious searcher +after garbage, stranded fish, and all sorts of particularly +loathsome-looking and foul-smelling dead things +to be found in such a place. These birds are often +strange-looking creatures, vast of size, long and lank +of leg, snaky of neck and spiky of bill. But they +are wary to a degree, they always seems to be standing +just in the tiny ripple of the smallest wavelets<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> +where you instinctively know the mud and sea meet, +and there they watch the gradually receding tide +with melancholy abstraction, as though they took no +real interest in the daily toil of sustaining life.</p> + +<p>Last, there is something else here, and, if you are +not quite a stranger, you will look first, look longest, +and look always for this other thing. Perhaps it is +the extraordinary fitness of her surroundings (I say +<i>her</i> advisedly), perhaps the art with which nature +has designed the body of the saurian to make you +think her a log, or a stranded palm-branch, a half-buried +spar of a wrecked boat, or even a lighter or +darker ridge of the surrounding mud—certain it is +that as the crocodile lies there, basking in the sun +which makes air and water and blistering slime +shimmer and dance before your eyes, you will not +notice the creature, nay, even when pointed out to +you, it is ten to one that you will not even then +realise that she is there.</p> + +<p>But get nearer, speak no word and let your rowers +pull a long and noiseless stroke till some one with a +quick eye and a steady hand can put a bullet in the +reptile’s neck. As that great mouth suddenly opens, +disclosing the rows of shining teeth, as it shuts +again with the noise of a steel trap, as the horrible +scaly claws dig deep into the mud in their agony and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> +the great spiked tail lashes round in fury, as the +loathsome yellow belly slides over the ooze and you +catch sight of the stony cruelty of the crocodile’s +eye, then you will realise what manner of thing she +is, and you will probably conceive for her and all +her kind a deadly horror and loathing, and a consuming +desire to slay the whole brood will seize you +then and remain with you for all time.</p> + +<p>If it should happen to you to have to fight a +wounded crocodile at close quarters, if accident +brings you in contact with a man who has just lost +arm or leg, or with a corpse out of which a crocodile +has torn the life, your feelings towards these river-murderers +will not be softened.</p> + +<p>There are Malay rivers so infested by these +reptiles that at low water for a mile or two from the +river’s mouth they will be seen, in twos and threes +or larger groups, lying on either bank basking or +sleeping in the sun. It repeatedly happens that +they knock people out of their boats and then kill +and devour them, and in places where the creatures +are specially numerous, if a crocodile is shot dead on +the bank, in less than half an hour the carcase will +be dragged into the river and a crowd of the reptiles +will be tearing it in pieces and fighting for the +remains.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> + +<p>Villages on the Malay coast are nearly always +situated on the bank of a river; the sea is full +of fish and the men of a coast village are mostly +fishermen. If the village is of any size and the +industry of any importance, the catching of fish is +supplemented by curing—that is, salting and drying +them.</p> + +<p>The whereabouts of a village of this kind may be +recognised by the traveller on sea or land when he +is yet a great way off. Probably for that reason, +and because the cleaning of thousands of fish loads +the water with food of a kind that is specially +attractive to the saurian, the immediate neighbourhood +of a fishing village is the favourite resort of +the crocodile.</p> + +<p>At the mouth of a wide river on the Perak coast +there is just such a village. It is thriving, and as +there are a number of Chinese as well as Malay +fishermen, it boasts a police-station. The houses +are built for the most part on piles; at high water +the sea washes under them, and the means of inter-communication +are wooden stagings from house to +house. At low water there is mud, great stretches +of mud, running from the edge of the mangrove +swamp which backs the village far out to the west +and the waters of the Straits of Malacca.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span></p> + +<p>It was in the month of Ramthân, when begin +those forty days of fast observed by all good +Muhammadans—though so few of them know why +they fast, or the details of the touching story which +tells the sufferings of the Martyrs of Kerbela—that +one night, past the middle of the month, but when +the moon still lit up the water and made things plain +as day, a strange thing happened at this small coast +village.</p> + +<p>In it there lived a Malay revenue officer with his +wife and child, and on the night in question these +three, being at home, went to sleep about 10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> +as was their wont.</p> + +<p>A slight breeze was blowing off the sea, blowing +against the falling tide, and the moonlight glorified +the hideous expanse of slime till it looked like a +limitless mirror, blending far away with the haze-enshrouded +waters of the sea, but bordered landwards +by that dark fringe of mangroves, the thick +forest forming a striking contrast to the moonlit +beauty of the glistening shore.</p> + +<p>The wind sighed up the river, played through the +great brown nets hanging up to dry, and, scarcely +stirring the tops of the mangroves, swept gently +towards the distant hills.</p> + +<p>All the village slept, except the one Guardian of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> +the Peace, who showed his devotion to duty by +punctually striking the hours on a huge metal gong.</p> + +<p>The night was far advanced, when suddenly he +heard a child crying in the house of the Malay +revenue clerk. Then there was the noise of footsteps +and the voice of the man calling to his wife, +but no answer. After a few minutes there was the +sound of approaching feet, a shout from the Malay, +followed by the man himself.</p> + +<p>The constable called out, “What is the matter, +Che Mat?”</p> + +<p>Che Mat replied, “I was asleep, but awoke hearing +the child crying for its mother. I could not see +her anywhere, and she did not answer when I spoke. +Then I got up and saw at once the door of the +house was open, but she is nowhere to be seen. +Have you heard anything of her?”</p> + +<p>The constable had heard nothing, but there was +evidently something uncanny about this disappearance, +for, in a village such as this, where the houses +are more in the water than on land, where the pathless +mangrove is the background, and the waters of +the river the foreground, there are few places left in +which to look for any one or anything with any +chance of finding them.</p> + +<p>The man on guard roused his comrades, and, as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> +Malays do not sit down and discuss plans of action, +some one at once made a move; the others followed, +and they all walked out to the last house on the +platform, and then listened.</p> + +<p>“Hark! did you not hear something?” Yes, +through the silence of the night, wafted on the +incoming breeze, there was a distinct but faint cry +from the direction of the sea.</p> + +<p>It did not take the men long to get down to the +ground, and first hurrying along the edge of the +trees, they went some distance, hearing the cries at +intervals and ever more plainly, till it became +necessary to strike right out across the mud. By +this time there was no doubt about the source of +the cries, for the voice of the object of their search +was recognised, and that the woman was in sore +distress did not admit of doubt. Making all the +speed they could, sinking above their knees at every +step, stumbling, falling, but ever pressing on, they +saw at last to their horror, in the brilliant moonlight, +the woman on the ground being literally +worried by three crocodiles, each six or eight feet +in length.</p> + +<p>As crocodiles go, six or eight feet is no great +length, but to go to sleep in your own house and +wake up at midnight within a hundred feet of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> +sea, but with half a mile of mud between you +and anything like dry land, and at the same time +assailed by <i>three</i> crocodiles quite big enough to kill +you, is calculated to shock the strongest nerves.</p> + +<p>After a short but exciting fight, the police beat +off the scaly beasts with difficulty, and found the +woman had been badly torn in legs, and arms, and +neck.</p> + +<p>Whilst the men were arranging to carry her back, +no easy matter over half a mile of soft but sticky +wet mud and ooze, she told her tale:</p> + +<p>“I was sleeping,” she said, “and had a vision. +Two radiant Beings appeared to me and bid me +rise and follow them, and they would show me a +sight more glorious than is vouchsafed to mortals. +Transported with joy, I rose and followed them, and +whilst filled with ecstatic rapture by the companionship +of these Celestial Beings, I seemed to be borne +along without effort of my own through enchanted +fields of more than earthly beauty. Suddenly I was +awakened by feeling the teeth of a crocodile in my +leg, and, to my horror, I found I was out here on +this mud-flat half a mile from home, but close to the +sea, with three crocodiles attacking me, no means of +defending myself, and little hope of help. I fell, and +the beasts tore and worried me, biting my arms, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> +legs, and neck, while I screamed for help until you +came and rescued me.”</p> + +<p>Well, after all, there is nothing very strange in +that. A woman of peculiar nervous organisation, a +somnambulist, dreams a dream and walks out into +the balmy atmosphere of a moonlit Eastern night. +She walks rather far, and has a rude awakening. +That is nothing; other sleepers have walked further, +and their awakening has been to the life beyond the +grave.</p> + +<p>Only this was curious: that while the men sank +deep into the mud at every step, the woman had +never sunk in at all. When found, there was only +mud on the <i>soles</i> of her feet, and, though she had +walked half a mile across the flat, and her tracks +were plainly visible in the moonlight, they were all +on the surface, and she had crossed the soft, unstable +mire as easily as though it had been a metalled road.</p> + +<p>So the men bore her home, not wondering overmuch, +for in this thing they saw the hand of the +Celestial Beings who guided her feet with such +consideration, to abandon her to the ferocious +attentions of the crocodiles.</p> + +<p>The woman herself, her husband, and the police +were satisfied as to the means, but found the end +too hard for their understanding.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span></p> + +<p>The ideal woman, the product of higher education +and deep research in divers subjects, supplies +the real clue to the phenomenon, for, when asked +“where the true Spirit of God is,” she modestly +replies, “I can tell you: it is in us <i>women</i>. We +have preserved it and handed it down from one +generation to another of our own sex unsullied.”<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Doubtless—from the time when the Spirit moved +upon the face of the waters, and, later, on the Sea +of Galilee; but it is more difficult to understand how +woman, unaided, has handed anything down from +one generation to another.</p> + +<p>The same idea is, however, more happily conveyed +in the injunction of the President of the +Scraggsville Woman’s Suffrage League to her +husband, when ordering him to go and purchase a +divided skirt. “If you are afraid, pray to God for +courage; <i>She</i> will help you.”</p> + +<p>The mere male has his uses, one of which is to +assist the unsullied sex to perpetuate the Spirit of +God, and another to be within hail when there are +crocodiles about.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XII">XII<br> +<span class="smaller">VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">How loved, how honoured once, avails thee not,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To whom related, or by whom begot,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A heap of dust alone remains of thee</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Pope</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Not many months after my first arrival in the +East I met, in a club in Singapore, an +Italian called Cavaliero. He was quite young, tall, +dark, and good-looking, of a pronounced Italian +type. What his occupation was I have no idea; I +suppose he had some sort of business, but it could +not have been very attractive or profitable, for one +day I was told that he and a Hollander named +Van Hagen had collected about a hundred natives +of all sorts and conditions and had accepted service +with the Viceroy of the Sultan of Selangor.</p> + +<p>Selangor was then an absolutely independent +Malay State, so independent in fact that the principal +and almost only employment of its inhabitants was +fighting.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span></p> + +<p>The Sultan was and is an old gentleman for +whom I have the highest regard, and I desire to +speak of him with the greatest respect. He had +had his own fighting day and was tired of it, he +wished to be left alone, that was all; but he recognised +that boys will be boys, and if the young +Selangor Rajas took their pleasure in this way, he +was inclined to regard their escapades with an indulgent +eye, provided they did not interfere with +his <i>opium cum dignitate</i> and his immediate surroundings.</p> + +<p>The Sultan’s own sons were very much interested +in the guerilla warfare that was then being carried +on throughout Selangor, and the feature of the disturbances +was that every chief said he had the +Sultan’s approval of his proceedings. Some time +later I was myself in Selangor, and, as this statement +was constantly being dinned into my ears, I +took the liberty of asking his Highness what it meant.</p> + +<p>He promptly pointed out that each of these Rajas +in turn came to him, stated his case, and asked the +Sultan if that was not correct. His Highness +always replied, “Quite correct,” but, as he explained +to me, “<i>bĕnar ka-pâda dia, bûkan bĕnar ka-pâda +kami</i>,” which being interpreted means, “correct in +their view, not in mine.” He was evidently tickled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> +by this happy inspiration and laughed heartily at +his own ingenuity.</p> + +<p>The gossips declared that his Highness was +always requested to give a tangible proof of his +approval in the shape of gunpowder and lead, and +that he gave them to every applicant with strict +impartiality. On this point the Sultan told me +nothing, and I was not indiscreet enough to inquire, +but as Selangor is no more free from gossip than its +neighbours, I put the statement down to irresponsible +chatter.</p> + +<p>All this is, however, by the way. Certain Rajas +held certain important strategical points from which +other Rajas kept trying to oust them, and the fight +waxed hottest about Klang, the principal port of +the State, and Kuala Lumpor, the principal mining +centre.</p> + +<p>As to Klang, it had just been captured by a +notable warrior named Raja Mahdi, and its whilom +defenders driven out when the Sultan gave his only +daughter in marriage to Tunku dia Udin, brother of +the Sultan of Kĕdah. The Sultan’s son-in-law +espoused the cause of those who had been driven +from Klang, and, as he was created Viceroy and +had powerful support in Singapore, matters were +further complicated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p> + +<p>The Viceroy and his friends recovered possession +of Klang and secured the friendship and assistance +of the Chinese miners at Kuala Lumpor.</p> + +<p>These Chinese were led by one Ah Loi, a remarkable +man, styled the “Capitan China,” whose +instincts were distinctly warlike and his authority +with his countrymen supreme.</p> + +<p>Raja Mahdi also had friends who were acting +against the Chinese in the interior, and supporters +outside the State who helped him with money, +stores, and arms, and thus the ball rolled merrily +along.</p> + +<p>Dame Fortune was, as usual, fickle, and success +was now with the Viceroy and now with Mahdi and +his friends. The Capitan China did his share in +his own way. He offered fifty silver dollars for +every enemy’s head delivered in the market-place in +front of his house at Kuala Lumpor, and he told me +himself that his man who stood there ready to +receive the hideous trophies and pay the money did +quite a brisk business.</p> + +<p>As with all Malay war, the operations languished +and revived by fits and starts. Plenty of money +meant plenty of men, arms, and ammunition, and +with them a spasmodic effort would be made and +probably a success gained. Then would follow dire<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> +scarcity, and the other side, having raised some +money, would in their turn gain an advantage.</p> + +<p>Thus the tide of battle ebbed and flowed for +months and years, and the only plain and evident +result was that the population of Selangor was +rapidly diminishing, the ground in the immediate +neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpor town being thickly +planted with corpses, for there the battle was always +the hottest, both because of the Capitan China’s +special method and because of the value of the +mines. The survivors on both sides were not only +being reduced to penury, but their leaders were +becoming involved in debts which only the complete +success of one side followed by lasting +peace and order could enable the victors to pay +from the revenues derived from the tin-mines. The +debts of the defeated would naturally be irrecoverable.</p> + +<p>While the State was distracted by all this trouble +the Sultan still secured a comparative tranquillity by +his diplomatic sympathy with the combatants, and +whichever side held the Klang custom-house supplied +him with funds. That was the price of his +qualified approval.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the Viceroy’s party, being +in funds, conceived the plan of raising a force in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span> +Singapore with which they hoped to deal an effective +blow to their enemies.</p> + +<p>I have said I knew little of Cavaliero, but of Van +Hagen, who took command of the recruits, I know +less. I was told that he had been an officer in the +Netherlands army, and that he lost his commission +owing to some breach of discipline, but that he was +a man of birth, character, and courage.</p> + +<p>His heterogeneous force, composed of natives of +half-a-dozen nationalities, went by sea to Klang, +disembarked and made its way with guides through +the jungle to Kuala Lumpor. There they stockaded +themselves on a hill above the town and did valiantly +in its defence. But the place was invested by the +enemy, supplies were cut off, and while the force +was daily harassed by the fire from the enemy’s +works, provisions ran short and the men were +threatened at once with starvation and the probability +of being surrounded and entirely cut off from their +base at Klang, twenty-five miles distant by a jungle +track.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, and probably moved +by the growing discontent of their men, Van Hagen +and Cavaliero determined, ere it should be too late, +to endeavour to make their way back to the port.</p> + +<p>They were all strangers in the country, and they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> +could find no one to guide them through the jungle, +but their difficulties became so great that they +decided to risk the journey as a choice of evils, and +early one morning they set out.</p> + +<p>I have elsewhere tried to describe a Malay jungle, +and the path which these men had to traverse was, +as I know from my own experience, beset with +peculiar difficulty, and led for a great deal of the +way through swamp and water, where, of course, +there was no track visible. It is not surprising that +the party lost its way. Not only that, but weak +from want of food, wanting in cohesion and discipline, +and with the knowledge that they were seeking +blindly for a road unknown to all, a feeling of +despair overcame many of them, and they wandered +off in different directions never to be seen or heard +of again.</p> + +<p>The main body, with Van Hagen and Cavaliero, +after a weary day’s march and no food, arrived in +the evening, utterly exhausted, at a place called +Patâling, only four miles from Kuala Lumpor! +They had been walking in a circle, and had got +back to a point not far from that of their original +departure.</p> + +<p>Patâling was held by a considerable body of the +enemy under two Malay Rajas, and the weary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> +wanderers walked straight into their arms and gave +themselves up without a struggle.</p> + +<p>Another story says that, at the last moment +before leaving Kuala Lumpor, a guide presented +himself and offered his services, which were +accepted; that he led the party hither and thither +through the jungle, and in the evening, when +thoroughly exhausted, took them into Patâling.</p> + +<p>I never heard rightly what became of the rank +and file; they may have been given their liberty +and told to find their own way out of the State. +For the officers was reserved another fate.</p> + +<p>Finding the principal defenders of Kuala Lumpor +had withdrawn, the place was occupied without +difficulty by those who had for so long invested it. +The leading Chinese were made very uncomfortable, +but on them depended the working of the +mines, and they were allowed to purchase their +lives.</p> + +<p>I do not think this alternative was offered to +Van Hagen and Cavaliero. They were escorted +from Patâling to Kuala Lumpor, and, arrived there, +they were taken out and shot.</p> + +<p>In excavating for the foundations of the houses +which now form the town of Kuala Lumpor, it was +usual to dig up a large number of skeletons, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> +bones of those who had fallen during the years of +Selangor’s internecine strife. As many as sixteen +skeletons have been discovered in digging out the +foundations for one house.</p> + +<p>One day, not many years ago, two skeletons +were thus discovered. The bones were larger, the +figures taller, than those usually met with. They +were the skeletons of two men face to face, and +locked in each other’s arms.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIII">XIII<br> +<span class="smaller">THE PASSING OF PĔNGLIMA PRANG SĔMAUN</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh vengeance! thou art sweet</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Lewis Morris</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>On the Perak River, about fifty miles from its +mouth, and just above the tidal influence, +where the water is clear and shallow and the banks +are lined with palm groves and orchards, there is a +large Malay village called Bandar.</p> + +<p>More than twenty years ago there dwelt in this +village a man named Mĕgat Raja, married to a particularly +well-favoured girl named Mĕriam. The +fact of her marriage drew her into some sort of +notoriety, and her attractions were soon the +gossip of the place. The gilded youths of Bandar +were fired by the description of Mĕriam’s +charms, and one of them, a boy of good family, +position, and means, got sight of and fell in love +with her.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span></p> + +<p>The husband, Mĕgat Raja, was conveniently +called away to accompany the Sultan on a journey +to Penang and Che Nuh, the youth aforesaid, profiting +by that opportunity, pushed his addresses +with such fervour and success that he became the +lady’s lover.</p> + +<p>Late one night when Che Nuh was in the house +of his mistress, Mĕgat Raja unexpectedly returned +and the first the lovers knew of their danger was +the demand of the husband to be admitted. The +house was a large one enclosed by a palisade, and +Mĕriam thus suddenly surprised, and fearing instant +death if her husband should discover Che Nuh, +implored her lover to escape by the door at the +back of the house while that at the front was being +opened.</p> + +<p>Che Nuh complied, but the husband had evidently +heard something of what had been going on in his +absence, and, as the lover was about to descend the +steps, he drew back seeing Mĕgat Raja waiting on +the ground beneath them.</p> + +<p>He drew back, but not before his presence had +been perceived.</p> + +<p>Mĕgat Raja called out “Who is that?”</p> + +<p>Che Nuh replied “It is I, Che Nuh.”</p> + +<p>The husband, drawing his <i>kris</i>, said “What are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> +you doing in my house at this time? Come down on +to the ground.”</p> + +<p>Mat Nuh was alone and Mĕgat Raja was accompanied +by two other men, but the youth unsheathed +his <i>kris</i> and went down ready to accept the chances +of a hand-to-hand struggle.</p> + +<p>Seeing that Mat Nuh would defend himself, and +knowing that he was no contemptible adversary, the +three men hesitated. What was of more account in +their minds was that Che Nuh belonged to a +powerful family, and his father was one of the +principal chiefs in the country. There was, therefore, +the certainty of retaliation should they kill him, +and the uncertainty of his guilt, for Mĕriam was not +the only woman in the house. As the men stood +mutually on the defensive, Mĕgat Raja asked him +whom he had come to see, and Che Nuh replied that +it was a girl in the house. Thinking to assure himself +on this point, the husband entered the house +and questioned one of the servant-women, but dissatisfied +with what he heard he dashed out again +determined to attack Che Nuh.</p> + +<p>The latter had, however, taken advantage of +Mĕgat Raja’s momentary absence to get outside the +gate of the palisade, and once there he shouted for +help and was soon surrounded by his friends.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span></p> + +<p>In reply to a call, Che Nuh bid his adversary +come outside the gate and he would give him any +satisfaction he pleased.</p> + +<p>That of course meant an internecine struggle +between the two parties, and Mĕgat Raja declined +it, for the odds were now against him, and he was +still uncertain whether his wife were unfaithful or +not.</p> + +<p>On the strong suspicion that he held, his inclination +was to at least make short work of the woman, +but here again he was deterred by the knowledge +that her relations would certainly be revenged on +him. He, therefore, decided on another course of +action. On the assumption that his wife was guilty +(and of this he became tolerably well assured), he +treated her as though he held the proofs, divorced +her, turned her out of his house, and declined to let +her have any of her own possessions or to remove +any of his.</p> + +<p>This action was considered a very serious indignity +by Mĕriam’s friends, and it so happened that +she possessed a relative named Pĕnglima Prang +Sĕmaun, an adherent of the Sultan’s Wazîr, the +Raja Bĕndahâra, and he was reputed one of the +principal warriors in the country.</p> + +<p>Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun called upon the Chief of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> +Bandar and laid a formal complaint against Mĕgat +Raja, demanding to know why he had taken the law +into his own hands and treated Mĕriam in a manner +to put all her relatives to shame.</p> + +<p>The Chief of the village of Bandar was also one +of the great officers of State named the Ôrang Kâya +Shabandar. He was a man renowned for his +courage, was wealthy, a trusted officer of the Sultan, +the receiver of customs, and lived at the upper end +of the village.</p> + +<p>He listened politely to Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, +and when the latter wound up his complaint by +saying he would certainly attack Mĕgat Raja if he +obtained no redress, the Shabandar put his advice +in the form of this ancient saw:</p> + +<p>“If you have no gold, it is well to sing small; +if you have no pivot-guns (jingals), it is well to put +a pleasant face on the matter; and if you have no +cannon, it is better to be quiet.”</p> + +<p>The advice was meant in good part and not as a +taunt, but Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun took it as the +latter and retired with rage in his heart, saying +“It is well for you who have gold and jingals and +cannon to tell me I have none of these things, +but I will have my revenge of you with only a +<i>kris</i>.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> + +<p>Then he returned to his own home to think how +this was to be worked out.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun’s house was between +these of the Shabandar, up stream, and Mĕgat Raja, +down stream, and he knew that he was not strong +enough to resist a combined attack from both of +them. Therefore he determined that force must be +backed by cunning if he was to achieve his end. +He concluded that his only plan was to attack the +Shabandar, dispose of him first as the most important, +and then deal with Mĕgat Raja at his +leisure.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Che Nuh had expressed his desire to +marry Mĕriam, but as his relatives recognised that +such an open avowal of his <i>liaison</i> must lead to +trouble with Mĕgat Raja and his folk, they declined +to allow him to do this, and Che Nuh’s negative +attitude towards the lady only increased the wrath +of her kinsman, Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun.</p> + +<p>I have said that this bravo, for that was his +<i>métier</i>, was the henchman of the Raja Bĕndahâra, +the highest authority in the State after the Sultan. +Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, having determined to kill +the Shabandar, felt it necessary to report the intention +to his master and, mindful of possible wrath to +come, to ask his sanction.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> + +<p>Accordingly the Pĕnglima went up river to Blanja +where the Bĕndahâra lived, told his tale and asked +for leave to kill the Shabandar.</p> + +<p>The reply of the Bĕndahâra was, “If you think +you are able to do it, go on.”</p> + +<p>That was enough. Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun +returned to Bandar with a kindred spirit named Haji +Ali, another bravo of reputation as evil as his own, +and these two worthies soon settled their plan of +operations.</p> + +<p>The Sultan was at Pâsir Panjang (only a few +miles above Bandar), with a large following and a +crowd of boats, and the Pĕnglima and his friend +determined to wreak their vengeance on the Shabandar +on the <i>Râya Haji</i>, the day to which the +most religious Muhammadans prolong the fast of +Ramthân.</p> + +<p>The day did not, however, suit, there were too +many people constantly about the Shabandar’s +house, and the conspirators had to return home +without effecting their purpose.</p> + +<p>On the following day, however, in the afternoon, +Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, Haji Ali, and three others, +made a formal visit to the Shabandar, obtained admission +to his house, and found in it no one besides +himself and a Sumatran Raja, a visitor from down<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> +river. I say no one else but, as Pĕnglima Prang +well knew, there were in the Shabandar’s house two +aged ladies, the mother of the Sultan’s children and +her sister.</p> + +<p>The five men waited until they saw the Sumatran +Raja take his departure, and in order to do this +visitor honour, the Shabandar unarmed and unattended, +accompanied him to the river-bank and +there bid him farewell.</p> + +<p>This was the moment for the development of the +plot.</p> + +<p>Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun took leave of the Shabandar +and shook hands with him. Haji Ali, a very +big powerful man, then also took leave and grasped +the Shabandar’s hand, but instead of letting it go he +drew the Dâtoh towards him, and the reply to his +question of what this meant was a stab in the back +from Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun’s <i>kris</i>.</p> + +<p>The blade did not pierce the skin, it bent, and the +thrust was repeated with the same result, Haji Ali +all the while holding the unarmed man by the hand.</p> + +<p>Then the Pĕnglima threw away the useless +weapon, and, seizing another <i>kris</i>, plunged it time +after time into the helpless body of the Shabandar, +who fell to the ground, while Haji Ali and each of +the others stabbed him in turn.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p> + +<p>Leaving the body lying on the bank, the men +rushed straight back into the house, shut the gates +of the enclosure and immediately prepared to defend +themselves, taking particular care that the two ladies +already mentioned should not get away.</p> + +<p>The news of a murder perpetrated like this is +carried on the breeze, and for a few minutes the +Shabandar’s adherents rushed up one after the other +to be slaughtered as they arrived by the Pĕnglima +and his party reinforced by their own men who had +been awaiting the <i>dénoûement</i>.</p> + +<p>Then gates and doors were closed, windows +barred, cannon, pivot-guns, and muskets loaded, and +Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun having rifled the house +(which contained the customs collections as well as +the Shabandar’s private property), and thus possessed +himself of all those things which he previously +lacked, sat down to calmly await the development +of events.</p> + +<p>The plot had been cunningly conceived. The +brutal murder of the unarmed chief was certain to be +instantly avenged, and that would have been done +by an attack on the house had it not been that it +contained, besides the murderers, the Sultan’s late +wife and her sister, who were well-nigh sure to +come to harm in the assault.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span></p> + +<p>The risk of that possibility deterred the Sultan’s +people, who had surrounded the house with +stockades, and all that could be done was to prevent +the Pĕnglima, Haji Ali, and their men, from escaping. +The process of starving out the besieged could not +be resorted to, for here also the ladies would have +suffered.</p> + +<p>The moment the deed was done, Pĕnglima Prang +Sĕmaun proclaimed that he was merely the instrument +of the Sultan’s Wazîr, and that he had acted +on the authority of the Raja Bĕndahâra. That, if +true, complicated the case considerably, and as +matters had arrived at an <i>impasse</i>, a parley was +called, and it was arranged that the Pĕnglima and +his people should be given a safe-conduct to the +Sultan at Pâsir Panjang.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the Pĕnglima Prang, Haji Ali, and +the others left their shelter and embarked in boats +provided for them, but they took good care not to +let the ladies, who were their prisoners, get out of +reach.</p> + +<p>Arrived at Pâsir Panjang, Pĕnglima Prang at +once sent a messenger to the Raja Bĕndahâra to +inform him of the state of affairs and ask his aid. +The Bĕndahâra responded to this appeal by taking +boat, and, with a great following, descended the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> +river to Pâsir Panjang. Once there, he availed +himself of an ancient custom called <i>îkat-diri</i>—that +is, to “bind yourself”—and, accompanied by all his +people, he went and stood in front of the Sultan’s +house with his hands loosely tied behind his back +with his own head-kerchief, and, thus uncovered in +the sun, he and all his following shouted <i>âmpun +Tûan-ku, be-rîbu-rîbu âmpun</i>—“Pardon, my lord, a +thousand-thousand pardons.”</p> + +<p>After a quarter of an hour’s waiting, while the +air was filled with this plea for mercy, and the +Bĕndahâra and his company stood like prisoners in +front of the closed house, a door opened, a herald +bearing the Sultan’s insignia appeared and cried +out: “Our lord pardons you, and permits you to +enter into his presence.”</p> + +<p>That settled the affair. The Sultan’s minister +had accepted the responsibility for what had been +done; he was far too great a man to be treated as +a criminal, and, taking advantage of an old custom, +he confessed his fault, offered himself a prisoner, +sought and obtained the Sultan’s pardon.</p> + +<p>Amongst those who had received the message of +peace, and who entered into the presence, were the +Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, Haji Ali, and the three +other murderers of the Shabandar.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p> + +<p>Now, the Shabandar had a brother, and he was +a man of war, and the Sultan well knew that this +method of dealing with the murderers would not +satisfy him, so he at once created him Dâtoh +Shabandar in succession to the dead man, in the +hope that the gift of this dignity might make for +the general peace.</p> + +<p>The Raja Bĕndahâra, accompanied by Pĕnglima +Prang and his friends, then returned to Blanja.</p> + +<p>The new Shabandar had no intention of leaving +his brother’s murderers to boast of their exploit, +and, in a very short time, he asked for the Sultan’s +permission to attack them and wipe out the disgrace +of his relative’s unavenged death.</p> + +<p>The Sultan said the request must be preferred to +the Raja Bĕndahâra, for so long as the Pĕnglima +Prang was in his village he could not be attacked +without the Wazîr’s sanction. Application was duly +made to the Bĕndahâra, who replied that it would +be contrary to custom to attack the Pĕnglima +Prang while living at his door, but that if they +could get him away they might do what they +pleased.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima Prang was, however, far too wary +to be lured away from safety, and matters were in +this state when there returned from a pilgrimage to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> +Mecca a man called Haji Mûsah, nearly related to +the late Shabandar.</p> + +<p>Haji Mûsah was at this time a rather small, spare +man of middle age, but his heart was out of proportion +to the size of his body, and when he heard +what had recently taken place in Bandar, and how +Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun and Haji Ali had got away +unpunished, his anger knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>He promptly waited upon the Sultan and begged +for permission to attack the Pĕnglima, and, if +necessary, to include in the operations his protector, +the Raja Bĕndahâra.</p> + +<p>The Sultan hesitated to give the desired permission, +but the fact that the proposal had been made +very soon reached Blanja and the ears of both the +Wazîr and Pĕnglima Prang. Whatever the latter +was he could not be accused of cowardice, and he +at once offered to anticipate an attack by making +an expedition against Haji Mûsah to silence so +arrogant a foe.</p> + +<p>The Raja Bĕndahâra enraged at the idea that +his name should have been mentioned with so little +respect, and apprehensive that Haji Mûsah might +find the means (as he knew he had the will) to +carry out his suggestion, cordially approved the +Pĕnglima’s proposal.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span></p> + +<p>It did not take long to collect from the neighbouring +village of Lambor enough men to fill two +boats, and, as that was all the Pĕnglima wanted for +his purpose, the party had started for Bâtak Râbit +(Haji Mûsah’s village) before the down-stream +people had the smallest inkling of their intention. +The time was specially well chosen from the fact +that the Shabandar was absent in a remote district.</p> + +<p>In Japan they say, “If you have not seen Nikko +you cannot say <i>gekko</i>,” and if there is anyone who +knows the Malay Peninsula and yet has never +watched the sun set across the rice-fields, when +the ripe grain hangs heavily in the ear, his knowledge +of the beauties of Malay scenery is very incomplete.</p> + +<p>A wide, flat plain covered by the golden harvest, +the rice-stalks standing five or six feet above the +ground from which they have sucked all the water +which nourished them in the earlier stages of +growth. One yellow sea of yellow ears, the green +stalks only discernible in the near foreground.</p> + +<p>This sea is broken by islands of palms and fruit-trees +in which nestle the picturesque brown huts of +cottagers, houses of wood, built on wooden piles +with palm-thatched roofs and mat walls.</p> + +<p>The setting sun strikes in great beams of saffron<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> +light across this wide expanse of grain bounded by +distant ranges of soft blue hills. How greedily one +drinks it all in! and, as the Eye of Day droops +lower, there shoot from between its closing lids +rays of fire which tinge the glistening palms with a +rosy effulgence, followed all too soon by the pale +opalescent shades which proclaim the approach of +the fast-driving chariot of night.</p> + +<p>A grey haze rises from the damp earth, spreads +in thin wreaths across the darkening plain, thickens +to a heavy dead-white vapour, and as the silver +sickle rises over the distant hills it shines upon +clustered plumes of dark fronds mysteriously poised +above a motionless drift of snow-like cloud.</p> + +<p>On the edge of such a field was the home of +Haji Mûsah. Behind stretched the rich plain, in +front a great river, both wide and deep, its banks +lined by groves of coco-nuts in the neighbourhood +of villages, but elsewhere covered by forest and the +<i>nipah</i> palm.</p> + +<p>The dwelling stood a few feet back from the +river, and, as its owner was a man of means, the +structure was of some size, the floor and walls of +stout planks and a strong palisade enclosed the +surrounding yard. The house was, as usual, on +wooden piles, and the kitchen, also on piles but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> +separated from the main building, was connected +with it by a platform.</p> + +<p>It was here that Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, Haji +Ali, and the rest of their crew arrived one morning +before daylight and quickly landed under the cover +of darkness.</p> + +<p>The enterprise they had undertaken was a +perilous one. Their force numbered about thirty +men all told, they had come about ninety miles +right into the heart of the enemy’s country, and, if +there were any failure, retreat was a choice between +a return against the current with a hostile people +on either bank, or a long pull to the river’s mouth +under the same conditions and then the sea.</p> + +<p>Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun had, however, calculated +the chances, and he counted on a successful +surprise and, if need be, the pursuit of +those tactics which he had already, at Bandar, +found so useful.</p> + +<p>Once on shore the palisade of Haji Mûsah’s house +was cautiously approached, and, the gate being +locked, it was scaled, and the whole party noiselessly +established themselves beneath the house and +waited for daylight.</p> + +<p>It so happened that the house contained only two +men and two women—Haji Mûsah and his wife,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> +Haji Hawah, and their daughter and son-in-law, the +latter named Haji Sâhil.</p> + +<p>At daybreak the back door of the house was +opened and the two women came out and went into +the kitchen. In a moment Haji Hawah discovered +that the space beneath the house was full of armed +men, and with a scream she rushed back towards +the door. Ere she could gain it, Haji Ali sprang +upon the platform and seized one of her hands, +while her husband, unpleasantly alive to the situation, +caught hold of the other and tried to pull her +within the door, an effort which she seconded with +all her might.</p> + +<p>A real tug-of-war was carried on for a few +moments, and Haji Ali was joined by another man.</p> + +<p>Local tradition says that Haji Ali experienced +suddenly a feeling that something dire was going to +happen, and he asked his companion to relieve him +of his hold of the woman’s hand. The man took +it, and Haji Mûsah from the inside making a great +effort drew his wife towards him, and at the same +time, with a spear, thrust out beyond her with so +true an aim that he transfixed her would-be captor. +The man released his hold, fell with a groan into +Haji Ali’s arms, and Haji Mûsah, drawing his wife +into the house and believing he had wounded Pĕnglima<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> +Prang Sĕmaun, shouted as he closed the door, +“That has wetted you, Pĕnglima!”</p> + +<p>Wetted him with blood.</p> + +<p>Haji Ali called to the Pĕnglima, “Help me, a +‘watering’ has befallen our friend”; a polite way +of expressing a disaster. By the time they got the +man to the ground he was dead, for the spear had +struck home.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima, furious at this sight, leapt on the +platform, and, finding the door immovable, dashed +open a small side-window with the butt end of a +musket and fired into the house, but hurt no one.</p> + +<p>In the scuffle before the door was closed Haji +Mûsah had accidentally given his son-in-law a flesh +wound on the shoulder, and that had disabled him, +so the defence of the position rested on one man +alone.</p> + +<p>Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun now summoned Haji +Mûsah to surrender, but the reply was, “I will not +surrender.”</p> + +<p>“Then,” said the Pĕnglima, “I will riddle the +house with bullets.”</p> + +<p>“Shoot away,” was the reply.</p> + +<p>“I will burn the house down.”</p> + +<p>“Burn it,” said Haji Mûsah, “and do whatever +else you like, but I will not give in.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p> + +<p>“Let us burn it,” said the Pĕnglima. But Haji +Ali protested. “Are you mad,” he urged, “already +our enemies are collecting outside, you would burn +the house down and these people in it, and then +what should we do? Caught like fish in a basket, +without walls or roof to shelter us, what will +become of us?”</p> + +<p>The wisdom of this advice was apparent, and as +it was necessary to deal with those in the house +quickly the leader set to work to devise another +plan.</p> + +<p>An evil inspiration came to the Pĕnglima, and he +told Haji Ali to get Haji Mûsah into conversation +again while he, having loaded with all manner of +missiles a pivot-gun which he found under the +house, listened attentively to the sound of Haji +Mûsah’s voice, and tying the gun to a post just +beneath the spot where he thought the Haji must be +standing, fired it.</p> + +<p>A large hole was rent in the floor, and, the +various missiles scattering in all directions, one of +them struck Haji Mûsah in the thigh, seriously +wounding him and placing him <i>hors de combat</i>. +His wife was also hit, but only slightly injured.</p> + +<p>The assailants realised the effects of the shot +from what they heard said within and again called<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span> +upon Haji Mûsah to yield, but he declined utterly +to do so.</p> + +<p>His wife said, “What is the use, you are wounded +and cannot fight, so am I and so is Haji Sâhil, what +can we do, better make terms with them?” Haji +Mûsah stubbornly declined to listen to this persuasion +and only said, “Let them do their worst, I +will not yield.”</p> + +<p>Strange to say it was only then that Haji Hawah +realised that her daughter was missing. She +remembered that the girl had left the house with her +and gone into the kitchen, but until that moment, +what with the discovery that the enemy was within +their gates, the struggle at the door and subsequent +events, she had not thought of the girl further than +to suppose she was sitting terrified in some corner +of the never brilliantly lighted house.</p> + +<p>Now, however, it was certain that she had failed +to get back before the door was closed and must +have fallen into the hands of the enemy.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact nothing of the kind had +happened. On the first alarm, seeing the crowd of +strange men and her mother’s struggles to gain the +house, the girl was too terrified to leave her shelter +and had hidden herself in the kitchen. The enemy +being all under the house when the women first<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> +came out, no one had particularly noticed the girl +or ever thought of entering her hiding-place.</p> + +<p>The moment Haji Hawah was convinced her +daughter was not in the house, she became equally +certain she was in the hands of the enemy, and that +was an intolerable idea. She, therefore, besought +her husband to offer to yield provided the girl were +restored. This new factor in the case persuaded +him, and Haji Mûsah called out that he would yield +if his daughter were given back to them.</p> + +<p>At first the besiegers could not understand the +meaning of this proposal, but light very soon came +to them and they argued that if the girl was not +inside the house or in their hands, she must be in +the kitchen, and a search of that place very soon +discovered her.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima accordingly replied that he accepted +the proposal and would restore the girl on condition +her father yielded. The door was then opened and +the girl admitted, but no sooner was she in the +house than it was closed again and Haji Mûsah +declined to give himself up.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, however, the loss of blood and +pain of his stiffening limb made movement impossible +and compelled Haji Mûsah to abandon all idea +of further resistance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima and his friends having gained the +house proceeded to make themselves comfortable +and did not attempt to disturb or annoy Haji Mûsah +and his family. These latter occupied a curtained +portion of the principal room, and underneath their +only window a sentry was placed night and day.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Shabandar, informed by messenger +of what had taken place, hurried back to the neighbourhood +and reinforced the adherents of Haji Mûsah, +who so far had contented themselves with building +and occupying stockades to command Haji Mûsah’s +house.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima’s tactics were again completely +successful, and as it was impossible to fire on the +captors without danger to their imprisoned friends +the Shabandar, who now commanded the investing +force, set himself to devise a plan whereby he might +gain his end by craft.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima’s men occupied the house and one +or two small stockades close by it. The Shabandar’s +party had built a series of enclosing works which +practically cut off escape to landward. In front +was the river and here again, both up stream and +down, there lay a small fleet of guard-boats.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima’s own two boats were chained to +the landing-stage where they were safe, for it would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> +have been impossible to seize them without being +exposed to fire from the house, to which no reply +could be made.</p> + +<p>A month went by, and in that time Haji Mûsah, +his wife, and son-in-law had fairly recovered from +their injuries. Meanwhile the Shabandar, by means +of spies, learned that the prisoners occupied a side +of the house where there was but one window, and +that always guarded at night by the same man. +Through this man there was the best chance of +escape for the prisoners, if only he could be bought +over.</p> + +<p>This sentry, who had some authority over part of +the band, was a foreigner, he was getting tired of +the game and probably did not altogether like the +outlook or see how his party was to turn the +situation to their own advantage. At any rate +communications were opened between the Shabandar +and him, and for a sum of two thousand dollars he +promised to get the prisoners out of the window +and through the lines to their friends.</p> + +<p>In the dead of a dark night (and moonless Eastern +nights can be black as a sepulchre) he assisted the +four prisoners to make their escape through the +window, while the Pĕnglima, Haji Ali, and a number +of their men slept peacefully on the other side of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> +the sheltering curtain that gave privacy to the +women.</p> + +<p>Guided by the traitor, their movements hidden in +Cimmerian darkness, the little party made its way +in safety to the friendly shelter of the Shabandar’s +stockade. He was expecting them, and he had also +prepared an unpleasant surprise for the cuckoos in +temporary occupation of their stolen nest.</p> + +<p>Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun and his friends were +awakened from sleep by the banging of jingals and +muskets and a hail of various missiles.</p> + +<p>A moment’s search showed that the prisoners had +escaped, and the Pĕnglima instantly realised that he +was in the toils.</p> + +<p>He had already shown that he was a man of +resource, and his presence of mind did not desert +him in this dangerous crisis. The darkness alone +protected them, and that would not last; moreover, +he could not tell at what moment his position might +not be rushed. It was clear that for them was +reserved the fate of those who when they got up in +the morning were all dead men.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima called his followers together, +explained the situation and its urgency, pointed out +the choice that lay before them—an attempt to pass +the enemy’s stockades under cover of the night or to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> +run the gauntlet of the guard-boats, where capture +was, as he said, certain.</p> + +<p>The men of the band, the wretched Lambor contingent, +elected, as the Pĕnglima had meant they +should do, to try and force their way through the +enemy’s lines, never thinking that if they succeeded +they would only reach a pathless jungle swamp, +where they, strangers in that part of the country, +must either perish miserably or return to the tender +mercies of the investing foe.</p> + +<p>Of these deplorable eventualities they took no +thought; there was little time for hesitation; tightening +the grasp upon their weapons they went out +into the night, and in a few moments the shouts +from the surrounding stockades showed that their +intention had been discovered.</p> + +<p>This was exactly what Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun +had expected; he had created a diversion, and +seizing his opportunity, accompanied by Haji Ali +and a few of his particular associates, he made for +the river and got into one of his boats, cast off and +pulled out into the stream.</p> + +<p>A very wily man was the Pĕnglima. Every one +in the guard-boats was on the alert, the firing and +shouts from the shore had warned them that the fox +was being hunted in the covert, and the pack were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span> +after him in full cry. Still there was just a trifle of +uncertainty about it, and that was the Pĕnglima’s +one chance of salvation.</p> + +<p>The slightest hesitation now, the smallest of false +steps, and neither the Pĕnglima nor any of those with +him would ever see the dawn. He knew it well +enough, and as he ordered those who had taken the +oars to pull out boldly into the stream, he grasped +the helm and steering straight up the middle of the +river, <i>against</i> the tide, he gave orders that no man +should speak, undertaking the whole responsibility +himself.</p> + +<p>It was still so dark that no one could see quite +whence this boat came, or distinguish who was in it, +but as it moved with plenty of noise and no attempt +at concealment right towards the line of guard-boats, +some one called out, “Who goes there?”</p> + +<p>“It is I,” replied the Pĕnglima, “I bring the +Shabandar’s orders to you to keep a good look-out, +they are attacking the Pĕnglima Prang, and as he +can’t hold out he will probably try to escape by the +river. Be ready for him, I am going to warn the +boats down stream,” and turning round the craft +disappeared towards the other line of river-sentinels.</p> + +<p>No one of course suspected a ruse under such a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> +bold disguise as that, and, pulling straight for the +down-stream boats, steering right on and through +them, the Pĕnglima called out, “<i>Jâga-jâga</i>, ‘be on +your guard,’ the Shabandar sends orders to watch +for the Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, he is trying to +escape, I am warning all the boats.”</p> + +<p>No one could distinctly see who this messenger +was, or even catch more than a shadowy glimpse of +a spectral craft as she glided through the line, and +in the excitement of expectation, the noise of firing +and rival battle-shouts on shore, no one took special +heed as to which way the messengers went, or +whether that was the sound of their oars echoing +faintly in the distance.</p> + +<p>The Shabandar on his part made no long tarrying, +but eager to revenge the murder of his brother, +and feeling that at last the Pĕnglima and Haji Ali +were in his power, he determined to <i>mĕng-âmok</i>, to +rush the house at once without waiting for daylight.</p> + +<p>Whilst summoning his men for the assault, he +heard the cries that told him the besieged were +making an attempt to break through his stockades, +and without further delay he dashed into Haji +Mûsah’s house, only to find it empty, the renowned +Pĕnglima and his amiable friend gone, and with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> +them a considerable quantity of dollars and everything +that was both valuable and easily portable.</p> + +<p>Torches and an examination of the muddy ground +soon established the direction taken, and the missing +boat, coupled with the missing property, convinced +the least astute that by this way went the Pĕnglima +Prang Sĕmaun.</p> + +<p>Many shouted questions from the bank drew forth +many assurances from those on the water that no +enemy had passed that way. The evidence to the +contrary was, however, all too plain, and as the +boats one by one came up to the landing-place, and +the watchers told their tale, it became evident that +once again the Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun had justified +his reputation for both daring and resource.</p> + +<p>He had made for the sea, his party did not +number ten, and they were in one boat. There +was still time to overtake or intercept them at the +river’s mouth, and, as the grey light of dawn began +to lift the veil of mist and the freshening breeze +swept in chilly gusts over the water, a fleet of boats +set off to search the creeks and backwaters, while +others had orders to pull straight to the river’s +mouth, and there take line and see that none passed +out to sea.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima meanwhile had wasted no time.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> +’Twixt the devil behind and the deep sea in front, +he had no difficulty in determining which way lay +safety; but he also realised that it could not be an +hour, it might be only a few minutes before his ruse +would be discovered, and with his crew he could +not hope to reach the sea without being overtaken. +The rowers needed little exhortation to strain every +nerve, and after a few miles had been travelled, the +boat was forced through heavy overhanging branches +into an all but imperceptible creek, so narrow the +entrance and so thoroughly concealed that no one +would dream of its existence. The boat could only +be got a few yards up this ditch, and the party, +leaving it entirely hidden, ensconced themselves in +a tangled mass of jungle foliage from which they +commanded a view of the river.</p> + +<p>Here the fugitives lay all day, and watched the +boats of their enemies pass by intent on the fruitless +search.</p> + +<p>It was not a pleasant place nor did they spend an +altogether happy day, for they were not yet out of +the wood, indeed the chances of escape were still +decidedly against them, but for the moment they +were safe, and whatever was to come could not be +worse than the situation from which their leader +had already extricated them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span></p> + +<p>Whilst the Pĕnglima was running the gauntlet +of the guard-boats his late companions, the men of +Lambor, some twenty or thirty in number, were +having a worse experience on shore.</p> + +<p>Being a large party and in their haste not over-cautious, +they were, of course, discovered as they +tried to break through the line of stockades. Some +were shot, others were speared and <i>krised</i> in hand-to-hand +encounters, while a few got away to the +forest under cover of the darkness. But when +these stragglers fully realised that it was a choice +between the enemy and painful wandering in a +swampy and well-nigh impenetrable jungle, with +the prospect of starvation and a lingering death, they +chose rather to return to the light and a speedier +reckoning.</p> + +<p>None of this band returned to Lambor, and if +they sought their fate and made an unprovoked +attack upon Haji Mûsah it is not altogether surprising +that to this day there is no wasted affection +between the people of Lambor and the Lower Perak +Chiefs.</p> + +<p>All through that sultry day, as one by one these +doomed men appeared from the jungle fastness and +went down before the weapons of their adversaries, +waiting tirelessly expectant in the certainty that no<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> +refuge would be found in those inhospitable depths, +the Pĕnglima and his little band lay close in their +concealment and longed for sheltering night.</p> + +<p>All day long the Shabandar’s boats passed hither +and thither, and with the nightfall many appeared to +abandon the search and returned on the rising tide.</p> + +<p>Then an hour or two of the new-born moon, and +after that thick darkness.</p> + +<p>The Pĕnglima and his friends had regained their +boat, and as, about midnight, the tide began to ebb, +the vessel was pushed noiselessly out into the river +and bracing themselves for a final effort the rowers +gripped their oars, stiffened their backs and put +their whole strength into the work before them.</p> + +<p>The river as it approaches the sea grows wider +at every bend, the searchers were exhausted and +asleep, or had already returned up-stream, the +night was dark and the fugitives were unmolested +until, between 4 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> and 5 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, in the last reach, +they saw a line of boats guarding the river’s mouth.</p> + +<p>There were wide intervals between each vessel, +but even in that uncertain light it was impossible +for a boat to run this blockade without being seen.</p> + +<p>At this final juncture the Pĕnglima’s Familiar did +not desert him.</p> + +<p>Of course the earth ought to have opened and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> +swallowed up this hardened criminal as it did Korah, +Dathan, Abiram, and all their company; he ought +to have been shot or drowned or speared if he were +not being reserved for hanging. At any rate this +was an excellent opportunity for getting rid of two +hardened villains, and a few other passably wicked +men. The Lambor people, whose crimes were as +snow compared to those of these two arch-criminals, +had all met with violent deaths and no miracle, not +even so much as a small streak of luck, like falling +into a well and being tended by a beautiful maiden, +had saved the life of one of them.</p> + +<p>Why was it then that, as these cold-blooded +assassins cowered together and wondered how they +were going to elude the vigilance of their enemies, +a palpable miracle was wrought to save their miserable +skins?</p> + +<p>It cannot be said that anything very unusual happened, +because the thing is of common occurrence, +but it was certainly thoughtfully arranged that at +that moment there should sail round the bend of the +river, in the strongest flow of the ebb-tide (now of +course slackening), an enormous mass of floating +palms, a very island of foliage broken away from +some undermined bank and drifting majestically to +the wider waters of the sea.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span></p> + +<p>If these great clumps of root and branch and +foliage may be seen sailing every day down a +Malay river into the Straits of Malacca, this particular +island was so gigantic, that in size at least it +was miraculous. It is possible that to another man +the passing drift would have suggested nothing, but +the Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun was on such terms +with Fortune that he knew exactly the psychological +moment at which to take her. Here he +remembered that the Malays call these floating +islands <i>âpong</i>, and that boats know very much better +than to get in their way. His craft then he +promptly steered right into the back of this Satan-sent +refuge, and, forcing it in amongst the palms and +covering it as well as was possible, he calmly sat +down and awaited the issue.</p> + +<p>The island sailed slowly along, and when the huge +mass got near enough to the guard-boats for them +to realise their danger, there was a deal of shouting +and pulling of anchors, kicking up sleepy boatmen +and frantic struggles to avoid this river Juggernaut.</p> + +<p>So passed the Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun; not to +the vales and Queens of Avilion, but to the open +sea, from sore stress to safety, from an earthly +death to an earthly life.</p> + +<p>One can almost hear him chuckle as he sails<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> +through that last danger and watches his enemies’ +efforts to get back into their places.</p> + +<p>Malays do not pine for manual labour, they had +already had more than enough of it, and as they +were now being towed idly along, they lay down to +sleep, vaguely wondering, in that moment of tired +but delicious drowsiness, what occult powers this +leader possessed to secure at such a moment the +powerful help of this great leviathan, under whose +green and shady sails they were being wafted to +safety and “the haven where they would be.”</p> + +<p>A day or two of pleasant coasting, a walk across +country, and Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, with Haji +Ali and a considerable booty, arrived safely at Blanja +and received the congratulations of his master, the +Raja Bĕndahâra.</p> + +<p>We read that when it was the fashion for knights +to devote themselves to the service of distressed +damsels, they wrought many startling deeds, which +cannot always be satisfactorily explained without +recognising that devotion in so good a cause was +sometimes supernaturally aided.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the practice has fallen into desuetude; +let us hope it is because the damsels of the +nineteenth century are never in distress, want no +assistance, or despise that of the mere man.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span></p> + +<p>Malays are perhaps, in some respects, a few +hundred years behind the age, and I like to think +that in this veracious story the Pĕnglima Prang +Sĕmaun made his first appearance as the champion +of a lady in distress.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIV">XIV<br> +<span class="smaller">BĔR-HANTU</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Striving to reach the mystic source</div> + <div class="verse indent0">of things, the secrets of the earth</div> + <div class="verse indent0">and sea and air</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">L. Morris</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>We could all see the <i>tunggul mêrah</i>, the crimson +streak which boded the death of the King. +Looking from the top of our green-terraced hill +across the clear wide river late one afternoon, this +curious phenomenon appeared in the sky, above the +last spur of a picturesque range of mountains which +separates the valleys of two considerable streams +whose united waters flow into the Straits of +Malacca.</p> + +<p>Standing on the right bank of the river, a stretch +of level land lies between the opposite bank and the +foot of this range, and the wealth of foliage hides +from view the houses, orchards, and rice-fields which +cover that fertile plain. But the Sultan’s house, a +palm-thatched wooden structure, three houses on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span> +piles joined together by short platforms after the +accepted Malay pattern, stands out clearly enough, +rather down-stream than opposite the point of +view.</p> + +<p>The crimson portent is not visible for long, and +we realise that, whatever it means, it is accounted +for by the segment of a rainbow shining through a +bank of low clouds which obscure the rest of the +“arch of heaven,” and so blur the prismatic colours +that nothing is clearly discernible but a short column +of flame, all the more striking for its dull grey background. +The tradition of ill-omen is of ancient +origin, but the fact that the Sultan now lies grievously +ill gives an air of probability to the gossip of +the prophets.</p> + +<p>That evening, as we sat at dinner, we were +suddenly startled by the cry of the banshee. Up +till that moment we had none of us had any personal +acquaintance with the banshee, but this was it sure +enough. A long-drawn-out distressing wail, as of +a lost child, repeated at uncertain intervals, now +here now there, first on one side of the house and +then on the other, at one moment unpleasantly close, +and the next a piteous little half-choked sob in the +distance. Without any doubt this was the banshee, +and as the moonlight was now streaming fitfully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> +through the clouds across the white pillars of the +verandah, we thought we might have the good +fortune to see this harbinger of doom.</p> + +<p>We walked out on to the moonlit terrace, and the +beauty of the night was so intense that one felt it as +through a new sense.</p> + +<p>The hill on which the house stood was cut into +a series of terraces, and the highest of these, a wide +lawn of velvety grass, was surrounded by tall graceful +coco-nut trees, not close together but each standing +alone with its spiky leaves clearly delineated against +the sky.</p> + +<p>Overhead a moon shedding that wonderful soft +light only seen in the East, where atmosphere, +foliage, and all the surroundings seem specially +designed to make the ascendancy of the Queen of +Night superbly beautiful.</p> + +<p>The exquisite feathery fronds of the bamboo, +bending in graceful curves, with each leaf clearly +defined against a background of grey-blue sky; a +dozen varieties of palms, from the lofty coco-nut +and the stately jagary to the thick clumps of <i>bertam</i>, +like gigantic ferns; picturesque groups of flowering +trees and shrubs on terrace after terrace, carry the +eye down to the shimmering gleam of the wide +river on which the moonlight falls lovingly, throwing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> +into greater contrast the deep shadows that lie under +the overhanging foliage of the banks. Four miles +of glistening water, then the river narrows and fades +into the mist-enshrouded forest.</p> + +<p>Close beneath us twinkle the lights of the village, +the houses spreading from river-brink to the high +ground which rises abruptly on our left. In front +and on either side, range after range of jungle-covered +hills, from fifteen hundred to several thousands +of feet in height. There is a luminous haze +over all distant objects, giving the idea of indefinite +height and distance, making all things vague and +unsubstantial, yet infinitely satisfying that other +sense which only awakes under the influence of +perfect beauty.</p> + +<p>The extraordinary charm of this scene intoxicated +us as with draughts of nectar, and in that enravishment, +kings, omens, and ghostly warnings were +forgotten.</p> + +<p>But hark! Yes, there is the cry, wailing in the +distance—now much nearer, and now—before our +very eyes the banshee itself!</p> + +<p>Sailing slowly through the air between the +feathery leaves of the palms, like a lost soul wending +its uncertain, purposeless way through the +balmy Eastern night, was a creature with heavy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> +dark wings, a head disproportionately large, and +horns, veritable horns! As it slowly passed and +moaned its childlike plaint, no reasonable being +could doubt that he had heard and seen the messenger +of death.</p> + +<p>That weird apparition, sobbing its fateful cry, +broke the spell under which we had stood enthralled, +and though we felt that the King’s fate was sealed, +that did not prevent us from returning to dinner.</p> + +<p>Just after midnight a scared Malay came to say +that it was feared the Sultan was dying. I hurried +down the hill, took boat across the river, and, +stumbling along the bank, reached the house where +the sick man lay.</p> + +<p>I entered upon a peculiar scene. I said the +building was in three parts, the first a sort of ante-room, +beyond which strangers of inferior rank did +not in ordinary circumstances pass; then came the +principal structure, which consisted of one large +room, wooden pillars dividing off verandahs on +either side, while the third house was exclusively +devoted to women, and attached to it was an excrescence +forming the kitchen.</p> + +<p>The unsteady light of several lamps and many +candles showed that both the centre and ante-rooms +were full of people sitting on the mats which covered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> +the floor. There must have been between one and +two hundred present, and I noticed that there were +about equal numbers of men and women, and all the +principal Malays of the neighbourhood were there. +The curtains which usually divided the centre room +were up, but on one side there was evidently a bed, +screened by patchwork hangings, and there I concluded +His Highness lay.</p> + +<p>It was plain from the preparations that, despairing +of effecting a cure by native medicines administered +by native doctors, it was intended to try a little +witchcraft and have a performance of what is called +<i>Bĕr-hantu</i>. That seemed to me to fall in very well +with the <i>tunggul mêrah</i> and the banshee, and I was +therefore quite prepared for the raising of the Devil +or any other uncanny manifestation.</p> + +<p>I may as well say here that <i>hantu</i> is a ghost, +devil or spirit, and <i>bĕr-hantu</i> means <i>to devil</i>, to raise +the devil, or, at any rate, to engage in something as +nearly akin to a witches’ revel on the Brocken as +Malay traditions and surroundings will permit. It +is a treatment commonly resorted to in Perak when +other remedies fail. When, however, the friends of +the patient decide that the time has arrived for <i>bĕr-hantu</i>, +nothing will satisfy them but to have it, and +if the sick man or woman dies during the performance,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span> +there is still the satisfaction of knowing that +everything was done for them which love and skill +could devise, and the issue was with God. <i>La-illahâ +il-Allah, Muhammad Rasul-Allah</i>—“There is +but one God, and Muhammad is His Prophet.”</p> + +<p>This pious confession of faith has, however, +nothing to do with the <i>bĕr-hantu</i>; it comes in afterwards +when the seal of death is so evidently on the +lips of the sufferer that his friends cease to call on +the Devil, and commend the soul of the dying man +to God. The <i>bĕr-hantu</i> is, of course, a survival of +præ-Islam darkness, and the priests abominate it, +or say they do; but they have to be a little careful, +because the highest society affects the practice of +the Black Art.</p> + +<p>To return to the King’s house. In the middle +of the floor was spread a <i>puâdal</i>, a small narrow +mat, at one end of which was seated a middle-aged +woman dressed like a man in a short-sleeved +jacket, trousers, a <i>sârong</i>, and a scarf fastened +tightly round her waist. At the other end of the +mat was a large newly-lighted candle in a candlestick. +Between the woman and the taper were two +or three small vessels containing rice coloured with +turmeric, parched <i>padi</i>, and perfumed water. An +attendant sat near at hand.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p> + +<p>The woman in male attire was the <i>Pâwang</i>, the +Raiser of Spirits, the Witch, not of Endor, but of +as great repute in her own country and among her +own people. In ordinary life she was an amusing +lady named Raja Ngah, a scion of the reigning +house on the female side and a member of a family +skilled in all matters pertaining to occultism. In a +corner of the room were five or six girls holding +native drums, instruments with a skin stretched +over one side only, and this is beaten usually with +the fingers. The leader of this orchestra was the +daughter of Raja Ngah.</p> + +<p>Shortly after I sat down, the proceedings began +by the <i>Pâwang</i> covering her head and face with a +silken cloth, while the orchestra began to sing a +weird melody in an unknown tongue. I was told +it was the spirit language; the air was one specially +pleasing to a particular <i>Jin</i>, or Spirit, and the +invocation, after reciting his praises, besought him +to come from the mountains or the sea, from underground +or overhead, and relieve the torments of the +King.</p> + +<p>As the song continued, accompanied by the +rhythmical beating of the drums, the <i>Pâwang</i> sat +with shrouded head in front of the lighted taper, +holding in her right hand against her left breast a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> +small sheaf of the grass called <i>daun sambau</i> tied +tightly together and cut square at top and bottom.</p> + +<p>This <i>châdak</i> she shook, together with her whole +body, by a stiffening of the muscles, while all eyes +were fixed upon the taper.</p> + +<p>At first the flame was steady, but by and by, as +the singers screamed more loudly to attract the +attention of the laggard Spirit, the wick began to +quiver and flare up, and it was manifest to the +initiated that the <i>Jin</i> was introducing himself into +the candle. By some means the <i>Pâwang</i>, who was +now supposed to be “possessed” and no longer +conscious of her actions, became aware of this, and +she made obeisance to the taper, sprinkling the +floor round it with saffron-coloured rice and perfumed +water; then, rising to her feet and followed +by the attendant, she performed the same ceremony +before each male member of the reigning family +present in the room, murmuring all the while a +string of gibberish addressed to the Spirit. This +done, she resumed her seat on the mat, and, after a +brief pause, the minstrels struck up a different air, +and, singing the praises of another <i>Jin</i>, called upon +him to come and relieve the King’s distress.</p> + +<p>I ascertained that each Malay State has its own +special Spirits, each district is equally well provided,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> +and there are even some to spare for special individuals. +In this particular State there are four principal +<i>Jin</i>; they are the <i>Jin ka-râja-an</i>, the State +Spirit—also called <i>Junjong dŭnia udâra</i>—Supporter +of the Firmament; <i>Mâia udâra</i>, the Spirit of the +Air; <i>Mahkôta si-râja Jin</i>, the Crown of Royal +Spirits; and <i>S’tan Ali</i>.</p> + +<p>These four are known as <i>Jin âruah</i>, Exalted +Spirits, and they are the guardians of the Sultan +and the State. As one star exceeds another in +glory, so one <i>Jin</i> surpasses another in renown, and +I have named them in the order of their greatness. +In their honour four white and crimson umbrellas +were hung in the room, presumably for their use +when they arrived from their distant homes. Only +the Sultan of the State is entitled to traffic with +these distinguished Spirits; when summoned they +decline to move unless appealed to with their own +special invocations, set to their own peculiar music, +sung by at least four singers and led by a <i>Bĕduan</i> +(singer) of the royal family. The <i>Jin ka-râja-an</i> is +entitled to have the royal drums played by the State +drummers if his presence is required, but the other +three have to be satisfied with the instruments I +have described.</p> + +<p>There are common devils who look after common<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> +people: such as <i>Hantu Songkei, Hantu Malâyu and +Hantu Blîan</i>; the last the “Tiger Devil,” but out +of politeness he is called “Blîan,” to save his +feelings.</p> + +<p>Then there is <i>Kĕmâla ajâib</i>, the “Wonderful +Jewel,” <i>Israng</i>, Raja Ngah’s special familiar, and a +host of others. Most <i>hantu</i> have their own special +<i>Pâwangs</i>, and several of these were carrying on +similar proceedings in adjoining buildings, in order +that the sick monarch might reap all the benefits to +be derived from a consultation of experts, and, as +one spirit after another notified his advent by the +upstarting flame of the taper, it was impossible not +to feel that one was getting into the very best +society.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp75" id="diagram" style="max-width: 12.5em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/diagram.jpg" alt="An eight-pointed star (its + outline has sixteen sides)"> +</figure> + +<p>Meanwhile a sixteen-sided stand, about six inches +high and shaped like this diagram, had been placed +on the floor near the <i>Pâwang’s</i> +mat. The stand was decorated +with yellow cloth; in its centre +stood an enormous candle, +while round it were gaily decorated +rice and toothsome +delicacies specially prized by <i>Jin</i>. There was +just room to sit on this stand, which is called +<i>Pĕtrâna panchalôgam</i> (meaning a seat of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> +particular shape), and the Sultan, supported by +many attendants, was brought out and sat upon it. +A veil was placed on his head, the various vessels +were put in his hands, he spread the rice round the +taper, sprinkled the perfume, and having received +into his hand an enormous <i>châdak</i> of grass, calmly +awaited the coming of the <i>Jin Ka-râja-an</i>, while the +minstrels shouted for him with all their might.</p> + +<p>The Sultan sat there for some time, occasionally +giving a convulsive shudder, and when this taper +had duly flared up and all the rites had been performed, +His Highness was conducted back again to +his couch, and the <i>Pâwang</i> continued her ministrations +alone.</p> + +<p>Whilst striding across the floor, she suddenly fell +down as though shot, and it was explained to me +that Israng, the spirit by whom she was possessed, +had seen a dish-cover, and that the sight always +frightened him to such an extent that his <i>Pâwang</i> +fell down. The cause of offence was removed, and +the performance continued.</p> + +<p>There are other spirits who cannot bear the +barking of a dog, the mewing of a cat, and so on.</p> + +<p>Just before dawn there was a sudden confusion +within the curtains which hid the Sultan’s couch; +they were thrown aside, and there lay the King, to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span> +all appearance in a swoon. The <i>Jin Ka-râja-an</i> +had taken possession of the sick body, and the mind +was no longer under its owner’s control.</p> + +<p>For a little while there was great excitement, and +then the King recovered consciousness, was carried +to a side verandah and a quantity of cold water +poured over him.</p> + +<p>So ended the <i>séance</i>.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, the Sultan, clothed and in his right +mind, sent to say he would like to speak to me. +He told me he took part in this ceremony to please +his people and because it was a very old custom, +and he added, “I did not know you were there till +just now; I could not see you because I was not +myself and did not know what I was doing.”</p> + +<p>The King did not die, after all—on the contrary, +I was sent for twice again because he was not +expected to live till the morning, and yet he cheated +Death—for a time.</p> + +<p>That reminds me of the banshee. I saw it sitting +in a Malay house some months later, and they told +me the boys had caught it, that it was an owl, and +its name was <i>Toh ka-tampi</i>. It had very round, +yellow eyes, and there was no mistake about the +horns. It seems that with Malays it is an ill-omened +bird, the herald of misfortune and death,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> +and it shares this reputation with two other owls, +which are called respectively <i>Tumbok lârong</i>, that is +“Nail the coffin,” and <i>Chârek kafan</i>, “Rend the +cloth for the shroud.” <i>Toh ka-tampi</i> means +“Old-man-winnow-the-rice-for-the-burial-feast.” The +names are rather gruesome, and are said to be +suggested by the peculiar cries of these “ghost +birds.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XV">XV<br> +<span class="smaller">THE KING’S WAY</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">We know what Heaven or Hell may bring</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But no man knoweth the mind of the King</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Rudyard Kipling</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>He was the Sultan of an important Malay State, +but to those who knew him best he was, and +will remain, “Craddock’s King,” principally because +he always sent for Craddock whenever he wanted +anything that he thought needed the assistance of +a European officer, and, on the rare occasions when +he travelled outside his own dominions, Craddock +used to go with him as guide, interpreter, and shield.</p> + +<p>The King was one with whom things had gone +badly until the appearance of the white man in his +country. His character had not endeared him to +the people, who should have been his subjects, but +were, almost without exception, his enemies; and +the consequence was that when he ought to have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> +been elected to a high office, and later, when his +birth entitled him to be nominated Sultan, his +claims were ignored in favour of junior men. Up +to the age of fifty or more he had passed his life +in poverty, and even in want, and often in open +resistance to such authority as existed. These +strained relations with his own people made him +loyal to the British, and as his claims were indisputable, +and the opportunity came when they might +be satisfied, he at last attained to the position +which was his by right.</p> + +<p>I will try to draw the man as he was at this +time. Tall for a Malay, rather fair, with grey hair +and a white moustache; very broad-shouldered and +thick-set, a powerful figure, though now inclined +to over-stoutness; a firm, upright carriage; in his +face an exceeding <i>hauteur</i>, and in his manner +something more than this—the plain evidence of +a masterful and overbearing disposition. The +strength of mind, the obstinacy of character, +were writ large in both face and figure; while +an imperious manner was accentuated by a loud +voice and impatient speech, caused to some extent +by the difficulty of understanding one whose +teeth were few, and whose tongue was plainly +over-large.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span></p> + +<p>The King affected gay colours, and his appearance, +when he took his walks abroad, was striking, +not to say remarkable. A tartan silk jacket, combining +many violent colours and fastened at the +neck only, clothed his body; this jacket had a high +collar which enclosed the wearer’s bull-neck and +reached to the ears. The nether garment was a +pair of very wide and loose white silk trousers +fastened by many yards of a scarlet silk waist-cloth. +These trousers reached a point low down on +the calf of the leg, leaving a fair expanse of +uncovered limb between them and the sky-blue +canvas shoes which encased the stockingless feet. +On his head, tilted rakishly over one ear, the King +wore a wonderful round bright yellow cap, flat on +the top with stiff sides, on which were sewn, in +Arabic characters of black cloth, a verse from the +Korân.</p> + +<p>In his waist-cloth the King usually carried a short +knife in a polished wooden sheath, and when walking +he leant upon a spear or long bamboo stick. +Both hands and feet were white with an unnatural +and mottled whiteness, caused, His Highness +averred, by eating the flesh of the white buffalo, +and, in walking, the toes were turned out to such +an extent as to give a decided waddle.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span></p> + +<p>For people with whom loyalty to their rajas is +an article of faith, the dislike in which the King was +held by them was extraordinary. It is charitable +to suppose that early disappointment had embittered +his life, for he possessed good qualities. He was +undeniably intelligent, and had a wider knowledge of +his country and its ancient customs than any other +man in it. He knew his own mind, was determined +to obstinacy, and asked counsel of few. He +was a keen sportsman, courageous, and, having +sought the friendship of the British, never wavered +in his loyalty. If it be said that in this he consulted +his own interest and knew his unpopularity +with his own people, his consistency and good +faith were still a merit. On the other hand, his +defects and vices were numerous, and just those +likely to earn him the dislike of Malays. He was +incredibly mean, he was overbearing to cruelty, +rapaciously grasping, jealous of the good fortune of +any of his subjects, selfish, difficult of access, and +unconcerned with the misfortunes of others; vindictive +to those who offended him or opposed his +wishes, a gambler who nearly always contrived to +win, and in matters where the other sex were concerned, +decidedly unreliable. He was not an opium-smoker, +nor was he in any sense a religious man,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> +and, though the “Defender of the Faith” in his own +country, he observed none of its outward forms. It +cannot, therefore, be said that he was in good odour +with the priesthood and yet one of his firmest friends—for +a time—was the priest of the neighbouring village +who, whenever a witness was needed to support +the King in any action or statement, was ready both +to vouch to supposed facts and prove his master’s +case by the authority of Muhammadan writings.</p> + +<p>The constant appeal to the priest for justification +and the persistence with which this man found +excellent reasons for the King’s peculiar methods +was a little discouraging; but there came an +estrangement. The King, accompanied by the +priest and others, visited a neighbouring British +possession, stayed there some days, and at the +moment of his return was faced by a serious +indignity. It appeared that someone in this place +who did not understand the King’s peculiarities had, +or thought he had, sold to His Highness a tricycle +and a musical-box for which he could not obtain +payment, and, having ascertained that the King was +going and did not care about the things, this misguided +individual somehow obtained a summons +against His Highness to appear before a local +tribunal and answer to the plaint.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span></p> + +<p>The King, being informed, expressed his extreme +unconcern, and said that, as it was the priest’s business +and his only, he could settle it. The priest +raised the amount necessary to meet the bill, and +the party returned to their own State with the +musical-box and tricycle.</p> + +<p>Then “a private pique arose” between King and +Priest as to who should finally pay for these playthings. +For the first time these firm friends +appeared in opposition to each other, and both +parties gave their respective versions of the transaction +before a highly edified and delighted Council +of Arbitration.</p> + +<p>First the King: He knew nothing of any musical-box, +did not like musical-boxes, had no ear for +music, and did not understand the discordant +noises made by these inventions of the white man. +He had seen a thing of the kind in his house, had +heard it, had even himself made it play its absurd +tunes, did not enjoy it in the least, and had done it +without thinking, but knew it would please the priest +as he had bought the thing, and he supposed he +would not have done so unless he wanted to have +it played.</p> + +<p>As for the tricycle, how in the name of misfortune +could a tricycle concern him? The bare idea of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> +man of his age and figure riding a tricycle was +enough to make a dog bark (and here His Highness +laughed consumedly at the spectacle he had conjured +up). Had anyone ever seen him ride a +tricycle? Where was he going to ride it? Was +it on the sandy shore of the river where he lived? +and if not there, then where? He understood that +tricycles would neither go through the jungle nor +across <i>padi</i> fields, and, if he were to take “the +creature” out shooting, he supposed it would not +greatly help him to get a shot at a bison or a +rhinoceros. Did anyone imagine he was going to +carry letters? that he was going to join the Post +Office? If the imputation were not so stupid he +could almost be angry with the priest, a man whom +he had heard over and over again say that the one +thing he desired was a tricycle, something on which +he could take exercise, and at the same time get +about his district. He had even asked him, the +King, to lend him money to buy the machine, but +he had no money to lend and tried to dissuade the +man because he thought that in his inexperience he +might fall and hurt himself. Malays did not understand +things that ran on three wheels without ever +a horse or a bullock, or even a buffalo to pull them. +He saw the tricycle lying under his house, and he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> +heard the priest haggling with someone about the +price, but he would take any oath that the priest or +anyone else could devise that he had never set eyes +on the man who sold the thing. All he knew was +that he had been insulted by the issue of a summons +because of the priest’s extravagant tastes, +and, while any one who liked might pay, it would not +be he.</p> + +<p>Then the Priest:</p> + +<p>Long before they left the State, His Highness +told him that when they made this visit it was his +desire to purchase a musical-box (in the sweet +strains of which his soul delighted) and a tricycle, +the beautiful three-wheeled silent carriage which +cost little to start with and nothing to keep, wanted +no horses, nor harness, nor expensive and impertinent +horse-keepers, which never shied at bullock-carts +or ran away from elephants, and which lasted +through the lives of many beasts. Therefore, he, +the priest, the obedient slave of the King, had +sought the sweet-voiced box and the stomachless +carriage, and after much difficulty he had found +them. By the express order of the King the priest +had bidden the owners bring them to the house in +which the King was lodging, and there the whole +details of the two transactions were arranged.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> +The people who trafficked in these goods could not +be taken into the presence of his master, and, indeed, +the King had expressly declined to see them +(was not the King all-wise?), but they had been +brought into a room of the house across which +hung a heavy curtain, and while he, the priest, discussed +the terms with the seller on one side, the +King sat on the other, and not only heard all that +was said, but in the end, when the priest went +behind the curtain to consult his royal master, had +expressed his entire approval of the price, only +stipulating that he should first hear the box sing +and ride the stomachless horse. This he had +arranged with some little difficulty, because the +sellers were needy men and wanted the money; +moreover, they seemed to distrust his master, the +King, for some reason which he could not fathom. +But he arranged that the singing-box and the seat +on three wheels should stay with his master for four +days, and that then they should be returned or paid +for; those were the orders of the King. So they +stayed, and the King turned the handle of the box +and made it sing, or, more often, from prayer-time +to prayer-time he, the priest, had to turn the handle +and make music, and the King drank in the sound +and was glad. As for the three wheels, they lay<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> +under the house, and the King looked upon the +machine and said it was good and cheap and would +eat nothing.</p> + +<p>These are the words of the Priest: “The four +days went by and the men came to be paid, and I +told my master, but he seemed to be busy with +other things, and I sent them away to come again +the next day. In this way the time passed till the +day for our departure, and I knew the men who +owned the box and the carriage were angry, but I +saw my master wanted the things. When at last +the trouble came, and the King said it was not his +business but mine, I told the men they could take +the box and the carriage back because they did not +please the King, but they would not, and I was +afraid lest shame should come on my master, and I +went out and borrowed the money and paid it. +Could I, who am a priest, play with a box that sings +not of God nor the Prophet? Can I, who am a poor +man, who only live to pray and to preach, to exhort +the living and to bury the dead, can I ride on the +stomachless horse with three wheels, I whose duty +is in the mosque and by the grave? My master +the King knows that in this thing as in others I +have but obeyed the voice of my master.”</p> + +<p>So Church and State quarrelled, and the priest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> +found no more favour in the sight of the King. +But there were many who said:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“<i>Sĕpĕrti Nasrûan dëngan Bahtek</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Bĕr-sâtu rangkêsa</i></div> + <div class="verse indent0"><i>Bĕr-chĕrei jâdi sentôsa.</i>”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">“They are like Raja Nasrûan and his minister +Bahtek; their union brought ruin, their divorce +solace.” Indeed, it was the opportunity of the +proverb-monger, and such sayings as, “It is sometimes +one’s own forefinger which pokes one in the +eye,” and, “While you carry the Raja’s business on +your head, don’t forget to keep your own under +your arm,” were heard on all sides.</p> + +<p>The King had a clerk who had served him faithfully +for twenty years or more. The clerk had a +wife, and the King’s eye fell upon her approvingly; +so the King sent the clerk into a far country to +chase a wild bird, and bestowed his favour upon the +wife who remained under his care. The King also +bestowed upon the lady sundry jewels of price, +things that please poor heathen women with hardly +any moral character and no education to speak of.</p> + +<p>By-and-by the King got tired of the woman, as +unprincipled Eastern kings will do, and he sought +about for some means, not to rid himself of her,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> +that was simple enough, but to get back his gifts +(for they would serve again as they had done +already) and at the same time to throw a little dust +in the eyes of the clerk, who was known to be on +his way back. Accordingly, a youth of no account +was arrested by the King’s people, and charged with +carrying on a <i>liaison</i> with the lady during the +absence of her husband. The crime was, of course, +aggravated by the fact that she was under the +special protection of the King! The clear proof of +guilt was the alleged possession by the woman of a +<i>sârong</i><a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> belonging to the man.</p> + +<p>This charge was sufficient ground for the display +of royal displeasure, and procured the restitution of +the jewels, but it failed to convince anyone that the +man accused by the King had done any wrong, and, +in spite of the strenuous exertions of His Highness +to get the man banished from the country, nothing +was done to him. The plan, therefore, miscarried +to some extent, and when the clerk returned it is +probable that he learnt the facts, for he declined to +further serve the King, and even said bluntly things +about his late master that were not altogether loyal.</p> + +<p>I have elsewhere stated that Malays try to wipe<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span> +out, what in their uncivilised minds they count as +dishonour, in a savage and bloodthirsty fashion, but +this does not apply when the offender is a raja and +the injured man of lesser rank. The person of a +raja is sacred to a Malay, and if he feels that he +has been disgraced beyond bearing, the result will +probably be, sooner or later, an access of blind fury +resulting in a case of <i>âmok</i>.</p> + +<p>The King had as many wives as the Muhammadan +law permitted, and, as his country possessed the +infinite blessing of a civil list which limited his own +income, he was always anxious that whenever he +took to himself a new wife she should receive an +allowance from the State. His Highness made a +special point of this grant to the ladies, because he +said the knowledge that if they divorced him or +compelled him to divorce them they would lose the +allowance, had an excellent effect on their behaviour. +He had succeeded in securing allowances for several +wives, when a new lady, named Raja Sarefa, consented +to share the royal smiles, and the King +immediately applied on her behalf for the usual +civil list. The application, however, was not successful, +though several times renewed.</p> + +<p>Then the King fell ill of some fell disease that +no native medicine-man could diagnose, and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> +evil spirit, with which he seemed to be troubled, +had its will of him, so that all men said the King +must die.</p> + +<p>During an interval of temporary return to consciousness, +when for a few hours the patient +seemed to have a rest from the attacks of the +tormentor, he ordered that a young nephew should +be sent for, also a divorced wife of his own, and a +priest. Then, against the earnest wishes of both +parties, he insisted upon these young people being +married in his presence, and shortly after relapsed +into his former state.</p> + +<p>After weeks of torment, when every day seemed +certain to be his last, the iron constitution prevailed, +and the King recovered. In the first days of his +convalescence I went to see him, and found him +lying on his bed, in his eyes the light of consciousness +and intelligence, and sitting by him the wife, +Raja Sarefa.</p> + +<p>He was weak, spoke slowly and in a small voice, +but said that by God’s grace he only wanted time +to regain his strength. After expressing my thankfulness +at seeing him so well on the way to +recovery, I said that I had often been over to see +him when he was ill, and that the Raja Sarefa had +tended him with extraordinary devotion, never<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> +seeming to leave his bedside. At once he said, +“You noticed that, did you?” I replied that I had +been very much struck by her care of him. “I was +blind,” he said; “I do not know what happened, +but I am very glad you remarked how carefully +Sarefa nursed me, and that you have mentioned it, +for now you will recognise that she ought to have +an allowance.”</p> + +<p>In the presence of the lady, even though she did +not raise her eyes from the floor, it was difficult not +to recognise that, if curses come home to roost, +blessings sometimes go astray.</p> + +<p>After a respite of eighteen months, the evil spirit +again took possession of the King, and this time +made short work of him.</p> + +<p>The scientific explanation, deriding the evil-spirit +theory, said that a tumour on the brain, caused by +no matter what, accounted for the first attack, and +that as sometimes, but rarely, happens, the growth +was for a time arrested, the tumour contracted, and +the pressure on the brain was removed. But the +mischief was there, and a sudden rapid development +of the disease brought on a return of the symptoms, +a violent but hopeless struggle, and death.</p> + +<p>It is the custom in the country of which I now +write to, in a manner, canonise its Sultans. At the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> +burial, when the moment arrives for carrying the +body to the place of sepulture, the dead man is +given a new name, by which he is ever afterwards +known. That name is chosen with some reference +to his earthly life. Thus, there is Al-mĕrhum or +Mĕrhum Pâsir Panjang (that is, “The Sultan who +died at Pâsir Panjang”), Mĕrhum Kahar-Allah +(“The late Sultan to whom God gave strength”), +and so on.</p> + +<p>When this King was buried, the name conferred +upon him was Mĕrhum Rafir-Allah, and the meaning +is, “May God pardon him.”</p> + +<p class="tb"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Since writing the above, I have read the +following in the <i>Home News</i>:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>“In the Lord Mayor’s Court on Oct. 14, before +the Assistant Judge and a jury, the case of ‘Fischer +<i>v</i>. Brown’ was concluded. This (says the <i>Times</i>) +was an action brought by Fischer and Co., a firm +of Bombay merchants, to recover from Messrs. +Brown, Saville, and Co., who carry on business in +this country, the sum of £73, money paid by the +plaintiffs to the defendants, for which they had +received no consideration. It appeared that in July, +1892, the plaintiffs received an order for a special +perambulator, which was to be given to His Highness<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> +Tikah Sahib, Rajah of Patalia, as a birthday present +by his secretary, Sham Shir Sing. The perambulator +was to be painted dark green and old gold, +which were the colours of the Rajah, and there was +to be a good strong musical-box under the seat, and +also an automatic arrangement by which the perambulator, +on being wound up, would run by itself. +This order was given to the defendants by the +plaintiffs on July 4, and the perambulator was to +be ready for shipment to Bombay by Aug. 15, in +order that it should reach the Rajah by Oct. 1, +which was the date of his birthday. The defendants +did not finish the work in time, and the Rajah’s +birthday had passed before the present arrived, and +then the secretary refused to take it, and it had to +be sent back. In the meantime the defendants had +drawn a bill upon the plaintiffs for the price of the +perambulator, and this the plaintiffs had accepted +and had paid the money, which they were now +suing to recover. For the defence it was stated +that the cause of the delay in delivering the perambulator +was Mr. F. Fischer’s interference. The +wheels and springs of the perambulator, it had +been agreed, should be electro-plated, but when +Mr. Fischer heard this he said it would not suit the +Rajah, and they must be gilded. He was told this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> +could not be done in time, and it was implied by +the orders he gave (which were that the perambulator +should have elephant-headed handles and +papier-maché figures of elephants and peacocks) +that a further allowance of time would be given. +The jury found a verdict for the plaintiffs for the +amount claimed.”</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVI">XVI<br> +<span class="smaller">A MALAY ROMANCE</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<p>Every heart in which heaven has set +the lamp of love, whether that heart +inclines to Mosque or Synagogue, if +its name be written in the Book of +Love it is freed from the fear of Hell, +and the hope of Paradise</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Justin McCarthy’s</span> <i>Omar Khayyam</i></p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>A quarter of a century ago there lived on +the bank of a broad river, just at the point +where stream meets tide, a Malay Raja and his +youthful wife. She has been dead for twenty +years, but in this land of brief regrets her memory +is still green, the fame of her wit and beauty has +become a byword with the people.</p> + +<p>She was a girl of royal descent; her name, Raja +Maimûnah. Exceeding fair, for a Malay, slight but +graceful in figure, with very small hands and feet, +an oval face and splendid eyes, glistening blue-white +wells in which floated, lotus-like, the dark +iris, flashing or wooing in changeful expression<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> +from wide-open or half-closed lids deeply shaded by +long black lashes. Her nose was small, straight, +and well cut, and the curved smiling lips disclosed +teeth of perfect shape and singular whiteness. In +either cheek a dimple, <i>lĕsong mâti</i>, as the Malays +call it, the dimple which so fascinates the beholder +that it will lure him even unto death. Her jet-black +hair, fringing the forehead in an oval frame, +was drawn straight back over the well-shaped head +and fastened in a simple knot with four ruby-studded +hairpins; the heads firmly fixed against one side of +the coil, while the golden points protruded for an +inch or more beyond the other.</p> + +<p>Her dress was that worn by all ladies of rank, +and usually consisted of a silk skirt of softly-blended +colours reaching to the ankles and fastened +at the waist by a belt with a large golden buckle. +The only other garment was a satin jacket of some +dark colour on which were stitched cunningly-wrought +designs of beaten gold. This jacket had +a tight collar, and the close-fitting sleeves were +fastened by a long row of jewelled buttons reaching +almost from wrist to elbow; it was loose at the +waist and just covered the belt. Tiny heelless +shoes, embroidered with gold and silver thread, +completed the attire.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span></p> + +<p>When out of doors, the Raja Maimûnah would +wear a veil of darkest blue, black or white gossamer +embroidered with very narrow gold ribbon, a most +becoming head-dress, the product of Arabian skill. +Over this, again, was held coquettishly, to conceal +the face from male eyes, a scarf of rich Malay-red +silk, heavy with interwoven threads of gold, while +one or two more silken <i>sârongs</i> of varying colour +and richness of material were worn over the under-skirt.</p> + +<p>Jewels depend upon the wealth and station of +the wearer, but Maimûnah’s jacket was fastened +with buttons that matched the hairpins. She was +seldom seen without diamond solitaires in the ears +and a number of diamond rings on her fingers, +while on State occasions she wore heavy gold +bangles on her wrists and one or more gold necklaces.</p> + +<p>I cannot draw an equally attractive picture of +Raja Iskander, the husband of this lady. He was +about thirty years of age, while she was one-and-twenty. +He was short and spare for a Malay, and +his distinguishing features were a large ugly mouth +with a downward turn at the corners and an almost +perpetual expression of extreme discontent.</p> + +<p>His vanity was inordinate, his extravagance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> +continually led him into difficulty, and he smoked +opium to excess and to the neglect of all his duties +and his interests; moreover, he lacked courage, and +sought counsel from men of no standing, whose only +thought was their own profit.</p> + +<p>A Malay Raja has many wives. He begins +early and rings the changes often, until (especially +if he have pretensions to become ultimately the +ruler of his country, as was the case with Iskander) +his relatives decide that he should marry a lady +of his own rank. Then, if he is young, her +people usually insist that any wife he has must +be divorced, and, that done, the marriage takes +place.</p> + +<p>At the time of which I write, Raja Iskander had +been married to Maimûnah for about three years; +she was the mother of two children, but her husband +thought he had good reason to doubt her fidelity, +and he was palpably neglecting her for a concubine. +That he should have other wives or concubines was +of course only what she had been educated to +expect, and, in acting on his right, Raja Iskander +was simply following the practice of his ancestors +and the custom of the country. The Muhammadan +law is nevertheless extremely strict in its injunctions +that all wives are to be treated with equal consideration,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span> +and, while their claims are clear, the concubine +has none. To neglect a wife for a concubine is a +dire offence to Malay women, and the slight is enormously +exaggerated when the wife is of high birth, +and the favourite only a woman of the people.</p> + +<p>The house where Raja Iskander then lived was +within a hundred feet of the bank of the stream, an +unattractive spot fifty miles from the mouth of the +river, but yet not far enough to escape the tidal +influence and the unlovely accompaniments of turbid +water, muddy banks, and flat surroundings. Raja +Iskander passed a good deal of his time in boats, +the lazy life suited him and his habits, and, instead +of having to provide a house for each of the ladies +in his harem, he supplied a boat. That was much +more economical, and economy was an object, for, +like many people with extravagant tastes, his +extravagance was purely selfish.</p> + +<p>The boats lay in the river in front of the house, +and as Raja Iskander’s presence was the excuse for +a rendezvous of all the gamblers, cock-fighters, and +opium-smokers of the neighbourhood, a good many +boats besides his own were always in attendance.</p> + +<p>Amongst the visitors attracted to this spot at this +time was a man called Raja Slêman, a stranger from +a neighbouring State.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span></p> + +<p>It might have been the cock-fighting or the +gambling always to be found in the society of Raja +Iskander that drew Raja Slêman to the place. It +might also have been the congenial society of +another opium-smoker, or possibly the fame of Raja +Maimûnah’s attractions. Whatever the lodestone, +Raja Slêman appeared with two boats and about +fifteen followers, and, once arrived, he elected to +remain.</p> + +<p>Raja Iskander passed most of his time on the +water, but Maimûnah lived in the house on shore. +A very modest dwelling it was; a building of mat +sides and thatched roof raised from the damp and +muddy earth on wooden piles, a flight of steps led +into the front of the house and a ladder served for +exit at the back. The interior accommodation consisted +of a closed-in verandah, one large room, and +a kitchen tacked on behind.</p> + +<p>The edges of the muddy river were fringed by the +<i>nipah</i> palm, which is never seen beyond tidal influences; +the banks were covered by rank grasses, +the country was flat and desolate, the jungle insignificant, +and in the heat of the day the oppression +of steaming mud and shelterless plain was so great +that sleep seemed to force itself on insect, reptile, +and every living thing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span></p> + +<p>At night the myriads of fireflies sparkling in the +riverside bushes, their twinkling lights reflected in +the water, gave some relief to tired eyes; but the +gain in the change of temperature and scene was +hardly appreciated when the mosquitoes and sand-flies +began their merciless attacks.</p> + +<p>Under such circumstances and amidst such +surroundings, Raja Slêman came into the life of +Maimûnah.</p> + +<p>He was about the same age as Raja Iskander, +but in other respects there was a striking difference +between the two men. Slêman was a man of +pleasing features, extremely quiet, and of courtly +manners; the casual observer would probably fail +to realise that this outward appearance concealed a +firm determination and a dauntless courage. Of +worldly goods he had little enough, and small +prospect of multiplying them, but in rank he was +almost, if not quite, the equal of Raja Iskander.</p> + +<p>One day as Slêman sat in his boat he saw +Maimûnah and her maidens come down to the river +to bathe. In his country he had never beheld a +woman as beautiful as this one, and he fell hopelessly +in love with Iskander’s wife. Then each day +he watched for her, and never failed, morning and +evening, to follow her with his eyes for the few<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> +moments when she slowly wended her way from +house to river and back again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Maimûnah, suffering from the <i>spretæ +injuria formæ</i> and chafing under the monotony of +existence, had heard all about the arrival of Slêman +and readily listened to the tales of his valorous +deeds. Soon she began to look for him, and as he +was ever watching for her coming it was not long +before their eyes met. He pleased her, and, when +she saw in his face the admiration he had no desire +to conceal, she would drop the covering that hid all +but her eyes, and what he then beheld only increased +his passion.</p> + +<p>Malay ladies are adepts in speaking the language +of the eyes, the chances of verbal speech are but +few, and so carefully is this art cultivated, so +thoroughly understood, that principals and witnesses +never fail to rightly interpret the signs.</p> + +<p>Slêman and Maimûnah had already mutually +declared themselves without the exchange of a +syllable, and it was with perfect confidence that +Slêman sought a closer intimacy by the friendly aid +of a messenger.</p> + +<p>Iskander was too much engaged with his opium +and his latest favourite, too generally satisfied with +himself, to notice what was going on. Had he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> +realised the state of affairs he would not have been +indifferent to the disgrace that must be his, should +his wife’s <i>liaison</i> become public property. It is unlikely +that he had any suspicion of Slêman, but, if +he had, it would never occur to him that any man +would have the courage to do more than carry on a +clandestine intrigue, and of that he suspected Maimûnah +had already been guilty. Least of all would +it seem possible for a foreigner supported by a +dozen followers to brave the power and resentment +of well nigh the greatest chief of a powerful State.</p> + +<p>In this, however, he was misled by the <i>suave</i> +manners of the quiet stranger.</p> + +<p>Slêman’s suit prospered, and he was not satisfied +to continue indefinitely filling the <i>rôle</i> of false friend +to Iskander and fearful lover to his wife. However +much he despised the man, however easily he found +he could profit by Iskander’s indifference, he meant +to play a bolder game and make Maimûnah his own +at all hazards if she were prepared to face the risk.</p> + +<p>Her courage was equal to his own (for failure +meant probably death to her as to him), and one +night, while Iskander lay in his boat dreaming over +his opium-pipe, the stranger was carrying off his +royal spouse within earshot, almost from under his +very eyes.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span></p> + +<p>Once in Slêman’s boat, and the bark had been +silently unmoored and allowed to drift out of sight +and hearing, little time was lost in getting out the +oars and pulling with might and main down river +towards the coast.</p> + +<p>All night long the rowers bent to their work, +but when morning broke and less than half the +distance to the river’s mouth had been traversed, +Slêman ordered the men to pull in to the bank, +fasten up the boat and rest.</p> + +<p>It seemed a foolhardy proceeding to waste the precious +time, for with the dawn the elopement would be +discovered and Iskander would be in pursuit before +the sun had cleared the tops of the jungle trees.</p> + +<p>Raja Slêman’s quiet serenity was not disturbed +by anticipations of capture or fear of the outraged +husband’s fury. On the contrary, he procured a +small boat and a messenger, and he indited a letter +to Raja Iskander, informing him he had carried +away the Raja Maimûnah, but that he had not +gone far, having only reached the place he named. +He added that he would wait there for one night +and one day against the coming of any who might +wish to try and take the lady from him, and that +after that time he should continue his journey to +the coast and thence to his own country.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span></p> + +<p>Raja Iskander received this missive whilst yet +undecided what course to take in the untoward +disaster that had befallen him. The letter did not +greatly help him to arrive at a decision, and he was +still discussing with his chiefs who should have +the honour of pursuing and punishing the abductor +when the twenty-four hours expired.</p> + +<p>Neither Iskander nor any of his people ever +started on that quest, and Raja Slêman carried +Maimûnah in safety to his own country.</p> + +<p>The disconsolate husband, whose ideas were in +accord with a civilisation beyond the education or +sympathetic comprehension of his subjects, decided +to divorce his faithless wife and leave her lover to +marriage and the punishment of his own conscience. +It is a painful fact that this conduct +earned him not the admiration but the contempt +of his people.</p> + +<p>Iskander had one revenge: he discovered amongst +Maimûnah’s women two who had carried messages +between the lovers. One was a woman of twenty-five, +the other a girl of fourteen, and both were incontinently +strangled.</p> + +<p>As for Slêman and Maimûnah, they were duly +married, and she bore him a daughter in all respects +like her mother, though not, the old people say, her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span> +peer in beauty. The <i>laudator temporis acti</i> is a +common and flourishing plant in Malâya.</p> + +<p>In the two children born before the elopement, it +is difficult to trace any resemblance to their mother.</p> + +<p>Maimûnah died years and years ago, the victim +of a malignant disease; but Slêman still lives in his +own country, his hair is getting grey, but otherwise +he shows few signs of age. Time has only intensified +the courteous bearing and quiet repose of +manner which seem to fitly accompany his gentle +winning voice; no one would suspect that this +man, almost single-handed, carried off the chief +spouse of an Oriental prince, and then defied the +whole country to take her from him.</p> + +<p>There are no local bards to record Slêman’s story +in deathless song, and the people are so impregnated +with vice that they seek for no excuses to palliate +his conduct, and have no condemnation for this +ruthless destroyer of Iskander’s happy home. But +they are Muhammadans, and seldom allow themselves +the luxury of burning moral convictions. I +have never seen a missionary proselytising amongst +the Malays, but many years ago I was told that a +Christian missionary came to Malâya full of zeal +and confident of success. He began with a man +who seemed an earnest, truthful person, anxious to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> +learn, a promising subject. The missionary told +him the story of the Immaculate Conception. The +Malay listened to the end, showing great interest in +the miraculous narrative of the Blessed Virgin; then +he said, “If that had happened to my wife, I should +have killed her.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVII">XVII<br> +<span class="smaller">MALAY SUPERSTITIONS</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Than are dreamt of in your philosophy</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><i>Hamlet</i></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Malay superstitions are the survival of a time +antecedent to the advent of the gospel of +Islam, and their strong hold on the people is only +another proof of the conservative tendencies of the +race. What was the Faith of Malâya seven hundred +years ago it is hard to say, but there is a certain +amount of evidence to lead to the belief that it was +a form of Brahmanism and that no doubt had succeeded +the original Spirit Worship.</p> + +<p>I do not propose to attempt to enumerate all the +various forms of superstition, their name is legion, +but only to describe a few that are both curious and +interesting.</p> + +<p>I have already referred to what is known as <i>bĕr-hantu</i>, +the practice of a kind of witchcraft for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> +healing of the sick; it reminds one of “casting out +devils in the name of Beelzebub the Prince of the +devils”—and I might here give some of the incantations +commonly spoken by the exorcist, but one +will suffice. Here is the translation of a most +potent exorcism believed to be efficacious against +the malevolent attacks of a thousand lesser +demons:</p> + +<p>Heigh! thou Spirit whose name is Jin Pari of +the Jin Âruah; Rabiah Jâmil was thy mother’s, +Imam Jâmil thy father’s name; thou art the grandchild +of Hakim Baisuri, the great-grandchild of +Mâlim of the Forest. Thou Spirit of the path +Lôrin, Spirit of the rising ground Sri Permâtang, +Spirit of the ant-hill known as “Piebald Horse.” +Heigh! you white ants Sekutânai, why do you, +Sekutâpa, flying up stream make me think you are +on your way down, and flying down stream give the +impression that you are going to the interior?</p> + +<p>I know your origin, spawn of Hell’s spouting +flame; do not any longer torment this person.</p> + +<p>If you disobey, I will curse you by the name of +the Most High, saying, “By the Grace of God, by +the Grace of God, by the Grace of God.”</p> + +<p>The final threat to drive out the demon by using +the name of the Almighty is curious as showing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> +how the exorcist seeks by a judicious blending of +tradition with his latter-day Faith to get the better +of the tormentor.</p> + +<p>A very widespread superstition is that certain +persons have familiar spirits who will, at the +instance of their owners, enter into and plague any +one whom it may be desired to injure. These evil +spirits are known as <i>Bâjang</i>, <i>Pôlong</i>, <i>Pĕlsit</i>, and +<i>Langsûior</i>, the last being a female spirit. They are +either inherited or acquired by the practice of witchcraft, +and the way in which their possession is +brought home to any member of the community is +as little reasonable as the “proof” of the exercise +of similar powers in the Western witch not so many +centuries ago.</p> + +<p>Some one in a village falls ill of a complaint, the +symptoms of which are unusual; there may be +convulsions, unconsciousness, or delirium, possibly +for some days together or with intervals between +the attacks. The relatives will call in a native +doctor, and at her (she is usually an ancient female) +suggestion, or without it, an impression will arise +that the patient is the victim of a <i>bâjang</i>. Such an +impression quickly develops into certainty and any +trifle will suggest the owner of the evil spirit. One +method of verifying this suspicion is to wait till the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> +patient is in a state of delirium and then to question +him or her as to who is the author of the trouble. +This should be done by some independent person of +authority who is supposed to be able to ascertain +the truth.</p> + +<p>A further and convincing proof is then to call in +a “<i>Pâwang</i>” skilled in dealing with wizards (in +Malay countries they are usually men), and if he +knows his business his power is such that he will +place the sorcerer in one room, and, while he in +another scrapes an iron vessel with a razor, the +culprit’s hair will fall off as though the razor had +been applied to his head instead of to the vessel! +That is supposing he <i>is</i> the culprit; if not, of +course he will pass through the ordeal without +damage.</p> + +<p>I have been assured that the shaving process is +so efficacious that, as the vessel represents the head +of the person standing his trial, wherever it is +scraped, the wizard’s hair will fall off in a corresponding +spot. It might be supposed that under +these circumstances the accused is reasonably safe, +but this test of guilt is not always employed. +What more commonly happens is that when several +cases of unexplained sickness have occurred in a +village, with possibly one or two deaths, the people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> +of the place lodge a formal complaint against the +supposed author of these ills and desire that he be +punished.</p> + +<p>Before the advent of British influence it was the +practice to kill the wizard or witch whose guilt had +been established to Malay satisfaction, and such +executions were carried out not very many years +ago.</p> + +<p>I remember a case in Perak less than ten years +ago when the people of an up-river village accused +a man of keeping a <i>bâjang</i>, and the present Sultan, +who was then the principal Malay Judge in the +State, told them he would severely punish the +<i>bâjang</i> if they would produce it. They went away +hardly satisfied and shortly after made a united +representation to the effect that if the person suspected +were allowed to remain in their midst they +would kill him. Before anything could be done +they put him, his family, and effects on a raft and +started them down the river. On their arrival at +Kuala Kangsar the man was given an isolated hut +to live in, but not long afterwards he disappeared.</p> + +<p>The hereditary <i>bâjang</i> comes like other evils, the +unsought heritage of a dissolute ancestry, but the +acquired <i>bâjang</i> is usually obtained from the newly-buried +body of a stillborn child, which is supposed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> +to be the abiding-place of a familiar spirit until +lured therefrom by the solicitations of someone +who, at dead of night, stands over the grave and +by potent incantations persuades the <i>bâjang</i> to come +forth.</p> + +<p><i>Pôlong</i> and <i>Pĕlsit</i> are but other names for <i>Bâjang</i>, +the latter is chiefly used in the State of Kĕdah +where it is considered rather <i>chic</i> to have a <i>pĕlsit</i>. +A Kĕdah lady the other day, eulogising the advantages +of possessing a familiar spirit (she said that +amongst other things it gave her absolute control +over her husband and the power of annoying people +who offended her), thus described the method of +securing this useful ally:</p> + +<p>“You go out,” she said, “on the night before +the full moon and stand with your back to the moon +and your face to an ant-hill so that your shadow +falls on the ant-hill. Then you recite certain <i>jampi</i> +(incantations), and bending forward try to embrace +your shadow. If you fail try again several times, +repeating more incantations. If not successful go +the next night and make a further effort, and the +night after if necessary—three nights in all. If +you cannot then catch your shadow, wait till the +same day on the following month and renew the +attempt. Sooner or later you will succeed, and,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> +as you stand there in the brilliance of the moonlight, +you will see that you have drawn your shadow into +yourself, and your body will never again cast a +shade. Go home and in the night, whether sleeping +or waking, the form of a child will appear before +you and put out its tongue; that seize and it will +remain while the rest of the child disappears. In +a little while the tongue will turn into something +that breathes, a small animal, reptile or insect, and +when you see the creature has life put it in a bottle +and the <i>pĕlsit</i> is yours.”</p> + +<p>It sounds easy enough, and one is not surprised +to hear that everyone in Kĕdah, who is anybody, +keeps a <i>pĕlsit</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Langsûior</i>, the female familiar, differs hardly at +all from the <i>bâjang</i> except that she is a little more +baneful, and, when under the control of a man, he +sometimes becomes the victim of her attractions, +and she will even bear him elfin children.</p> + +<p>It is all very well for the Kĕdah ladies to sacrifice +their shadows to obtain possession of a <i>pĕlsit</i>, leaders +of society must be in the fashion at any cost; but +there are plenty of people living in Perak who have +seen more than one ancient Malay dame taken out +into the river, and, despite her protestations, her +tears and entreaties, have watched her, with hands<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> +and feet tied, put into the water and slowly pushed +down out of sight by means of a long pole with a +fork at one end which fitted on to her neck. Those +who witnessed these executions have no doubt of +the justice of the punishment, and not uncommonly +add that after two or three examples had been made +there would always ensue a period of rest from the +torments of the <i>bâjang</i>. I have also been assured +that the <i>bâjang</i>, in the shape of a lizard, has been +seen to issue from the drowning person’s nose. +That statement, no doubt, is made on the authority +of those who condemned and executed the victim.</p> + +<p>The following legend gives the Malay conception +of the origin of all <i>Jin</i>, <i>hantu</i>, <i>bâjang</i>, and other +spirits.</p> + +<p>The Creator determined to make Man, and for +that purpose He took some clay from the earth and +fashioned it into the figure of a man. Then He +took the Spirit of Life to endue this body with +vitality and placed the spirit on the head of the +figure. But the spirit was strong, and the body, +being only clay, could not hold it and was reft in +pieces and scattered into the air. Those fragments +of the first great Failure are the spirits of earth and +sea and air.</p> + +<p>The Creator then formed another clay figure, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> +into this one He wrought some iron, so that when +it received the vital spark it withstood the strain +and became Man. That man was Adam, and the +iron that is in the constitution of his descendants +has stood them in good stead. When they lose it, +they become of little more account than their prototype +the first failure.</p> + +<p>Another article of almost universal belief is that +the people of a small State in Sumatra called +Korinchi have the power of assuming at will the +form of a tiger, and in that disguise they wreak +vengeance on those they wish to injure. Not +every Korinchi man can do this, but still the gift +of this strange power of metamorphosis is pretty +well confined to the people of the small Sumatran +State. At night when respectable members of +society should be in bed, the Korinchi man slips +down from his hut, and, assuming the form of a +tiger, goes about “seeking whom he may devour.”</p> + +<p>I have heard of four Korinchi men arriving in a +district of Perak, and that night a number of fowls +were taken by a tiger. The strangers left and +went further up country, and shortly after only +three of them returned and stated that a tiger had +just been killed, and they begged the local headman +to bury it!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span></p> + +<p>On another occasion some Korinchi men appeared +and sought hospitality in a Malay house, and there +also the fowls disappeared in the night, and there +were unmistakable traces of the visit of a tiger, but +the next day one of the visitors fell sick, and shortly +after vomited chicken-feathers!</p> + +<p>It is only fair to say that the Korinchi people +strenuously deny the tendencies and the power +ascribed to them, but aver that they properly belong +to the inhabitants of a district called Chenâku in +the interior of the Korinchi country. Even there, +however, it is only those who are practised in the +<i>elĕmu sĕhir</i>, the occult arts who are thus capable +of transforming themselves into tigers, and the +Korinchi people profess themselves afraid to enter +the Chenâku district.</p> + +<p>It was my misfortune some years ago to be +robbed of some valuable property, and several +Malay friends strongly advised me to take the +advice of an astrologer or other learned person who +(so they said) would be able to give the name of +the thief, and probably recover most of the stolen +things. I fear that I had no great faith in this +method of detection, but I was anxious to see what +could be done, for the East is a curious place, and +no one with an inquiring mind can have lived<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> +in it long without seeing phenomena that are not +always explained by modern text-books on Natural +Philosophy.</p> + +<p>I was first introduced to an Arab of very remarkable +appearance. He was about fifty years old, tall, +with pleasant features and extraordinary grey-blue +eyes, clear and far-seeing, a man of striking and +impressive personality. I was travelling when I +met him, and tried to persuade him to return with +me, but that he said he could not do, though he +promised to follow me by an early steamer. He +said he would be able to tell me all about the +robbery, who committed it, where the stolen property +then was, and that all he would want was an +empty house wherein he might fast in solitude for +three days, without which preparation, he said, he +would not be able to see what he sought. He told +me that after his vigil, fast, and prayer, he would +lay in his hand a small piece of paper on which +there would be some writing, into this he would +pour a little water, and in that extemporised mirror +he would see a vision of the whole transaction. +He declared that, after gazing intently into this +divining-glass, the inquirer first recognised the +figure of a little old man. That having duly saluted +this <i>Jin</i>, it was only necessary to ask him to conjure<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span> +up the scene of the robbery, when all the details +would be re-enacted in the liquid glass under the +eyes of the gazer, who would there and then +describe all that he saw. I had heard all this +before, only it had been stated to me then that the +medium through whose eyes the vision could alone +be seen must be a young child of such tender years +that it could have never told a lie! The Arab, +however, professed himself not only able to conjure +up the scene, but to let me see it for myself, if I +would follow his directions. Unfortunately, my +grey-eyed friend failed to keep his promise, and I +never met him again.</p> + +<p>A local Chief, however, declared his power to +read the past by this method, if only he could find +the truthful child. In this he appeared to succeed, +but when, on the following day, he came to disclose +to me the results of his skill, he said that a difficulty +had arisen because just when the child (a little boy) +was beginning to relate what he saw he suddenly +became unconscious, and it took the astrologer two +hours to restore him to his normal state. All the +mothers of tender-aged and possibly truthful +children declined after this to lend their offspring +for the ordeal.</p> + +<p>My friend was not, however, at the end of his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> +resources, and, though only an amateur in divination, +he undertook to try by other methods to find +the culprit. For this purpose he asked me to give +him the names of everyone in the house at the time +the robbery was committed. I did so, and the next +day he gave me one of those names as that of the +thief. I asked how he had arrived at this knowledge, +he described the method and consented to repeat +the experiment in my presence. That afternoon I +went with him to a small house belonging to his sister. +Here I found my friend the Chief, his sister, and +two men whom I did not recognise. We all sat in a +very small room, the Chief in the centre with a copy +of the Korân on a reading-stand, near to him the +two men, opposite to each other, the sister against +one wall and I in a corner. A clean new unglazed +earthenware bowl with a wide rim was produced. +This was filled with water, and a piece of fair white +cotton cloth tied over the top, making a surface like +that of a drum.</p> + +<p>I was asked to write the name of each person +present in the house when the robbery was committed +on a small piece of paper, and to fold each +paper up so that all should be alike, and then to +place one of the names on the cover of the vessel. +I did so, and the proceedings began by the two<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span> +men placing each the middle joint of the forefinger +of his right hand under the rim of the bowl on +opposite sides, and so supporting it about six inches +above the floor. The vessel being large and full of +water was heavy, and the men supported the strain +by resting their right elbows on their knees as they +sat cross-legged on the floor and face to face. It +was then that I selected one of the folded papers, +and placed it on the cover of the vessel. The Chief +read a page of the Korân, and as nothing happened +he said that was not the name of the guilty person, +and I changed the paper for another. This occurred +four times, but at the fifth the reading had scarcely +commenced when the bowl began to slowly turn +round from left to right, the supporters letting their +hands go round with it, until it twisted itself out of +their fingers and fell on the floor with a considerable +bang and a great spluttering of water through the +thin cover. “That,” said the Chief, “is the name +of the thief.”</p> + +<p>It was the name of the person already mentioned +by him.</p> + +<p>I did not, however, impart that piece of information +to the company, but went on to the end of my +papers, nothing more happening.</p> + +<p>I said I should like to try the test again, and as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> +the Chief at once consented we began afresh, and +this time I put the name of the suspected person on +first, and once more the vessel turned round and +twisted itself out of the hands of the holders, till it +fell on the floor and I was surprised it did not break. +After trying a few more I said I was satisfied, and +the ordeal of the bowl was over.</p> + +<p>Then the Chief asked me whose name had been on +the vessel when it moved, and I told him. It was +a curious coincidence certainly. I wrote the names +in English, which no one could read; moreover, I +was so placed that no one could see what I wrote, +and they none of them attempted to do so. Then +the papers were folded up so as to be all exactly +alike, they were shuffled together, and I did not +know one from the other till I looked inside myself. +Each time I went from my corner and placed a name +on the vessel already held on the fingers of its +supporters. No one except I touched the papers, +and no one but the Chief ever spoke till the <i>séance</i> +was over. I asked the men who held the bowl why +they made it turn round at that particular moment, +but they declared they had nothing to do with it, +and that the vessel twisted itself off their fingers +against their inclination.</p> + +<p>The name disclosed by this experiment was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> +certainly that of the person whom there was most +reason to suspect, but beyond that I learnt nothing.</p> + +<p>Another plan for surprising the secret of a +suspected person is to get into the room where that +person is sleeping, and after making certain passes +to question the slumberer, when he may truthfully +answer all the questions put to him. This is a +favourite device of the suspicious husband.</p> + +<p>Yet another plan is to place in the hand of a +<i>pâwang</i>, magician, or medium, a divining-rod formed +of three lengths of rattan tied together at one end, +and when he gets close to the person “wanted,” or +to the place where anything stolen is concealed, the +rod vibrates in a remarkable manner.</p> + +<p>A great many Malays and one or two Europeans +may be found who profess to have seen water +drawn from a <i>kris</i>. The <i>modus operandi</i> is simple. +The “pâwang” (I dare not call him conjurer) +works with bare arms to show there is no deception. +He takes the <i>kris</i> (yours, if you prefer it) from its +wooden handle, and, holding the steel point downwards +in his left hand, he recites a short incantation +to the effect that he knows all about iron and where +it comes from, and that it must obey his orders. He +then with the thumb and first two fingers of his +right hand proceeds to gently squeeze the steel,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> +moving his fingers up and down the blade. After +a little while a few drops of water fall from the +point of the <i>kris</i>, and these drops quickly develop +into a stream that will fill a cup. The “pâwang” +will then hand round the blade and tell you to bend +it; this you will find no difficulty in doing, but by +making two or three passes over the <i>kris</i> the +“pâwang” can render it again so hard that it cannot +be bent.</p> + +<p>The only drawback to this trick or miracle is +that the process ruins the temper of the steel, and a +<i>kris</i> that has been thus treated is useless.</p> + +<p>One evening I was discussing these various +superstitions with the Sultan of Perak, and I did +not notice that the spiritual teacher of His Highness +had entered and was waiting to lead the evening +prayer. The <i>guru</i>, or teacher, no doubt heard the +end of our conversation and was duly scandalised, +for the next day I received from him a letter, of +which the following is the translation:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p>“First praise to God, the Giver of all good, a +Fountain of Compassion to His servants.</p> + +<p>“From Haji Wan Muhammad, Teacher of His +Highness the Sultan of Perak, to the Resident who +administers the Government of Perak.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span></p> + +<p>“The whole earth is in the hand of the most +High God, and He gives it as an inheritance to +whom He will of His subjects. The true religion +is also of God, and Heaven is the reward of those +who fear the Most High. Salvation and peace are +for those who follow the straight path, and only +they will in the end arrive at real greatness. No +Raja can do good, and none can be powerful except +by the help of God the Most High, who is also +Most Mighty.</p> + +<p>“I make ten thousand salutations. I wish to +inquire about the practice of <i>bĕr-hantu</i>, driving +oneself mad and losing one’s reason, as has been +the custom of Rajas and Chiefs in this State of +Perak; is it right according to your religion, Mr. +Resident, or is it not? For that practice is a +deadly sin to the Muhammadan Faith, because +those who engage in it lose their reason and waste +their substance for nothing; some of them cast it +into the water, while others scatter it broadcast +through the jungle. How is such conduct treated +by your religion, Mr. Resident, is it right or wrong? +I want you in your indulgence to give me an answer, +for this practice is very hard on the poor. The +Headmen collect from the <i>rayats</i>, and then they +make elaborate preparations of food, killing a buffalo<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> +or fowls, and all this is thrown away as already +stated. According to the Muhammadan religion +such proceedings lead to destruction.</p> + +<p>“I salute you many times, do not be angry, for +I do not understand your customs, Mr. Resident.</p> + +<p class="right">“(Signed) <span class="smcap">Haji Muhammad Abu Hassan</span>.”</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XVIII">XVIII<br> +<span class="smaller">WITH A CASTING-NET</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Where fountains of sweet water run between,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And sun and shadow chequer-chased the green</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Jâmi</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>Perak is one of the largest and most populous +of the States of the Malay Peninsula, it is +the one where probably the rulers can claim the +clearest genealogy and the longest recorded descent, +and it is unquestionably here that all ancient rites +and customs have been most carefully preserved.</p> + +<p>Whilst it was to Perak that the first British +Resident was appointed, and this State is now the +most wealthy, advanced, and prosperous of all those +under British influence, the Malays still maintain +their traditions and observe their honoured customs +as though railways and steamers, education and +sanitation had no more part in their lives than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span> +when Albuquerque was striving to effect a landing +on the shores of Malacca.</p> + +<p>For ages it has been a practice of the Sultans of +Perak to reserve certain waters for their own fishing, +and certain jungle tracts (usually surrounding +a hot spring of mineral water) for their own hunting. +There they would resort, annually or oftener, and +with their relatives, chiefs, and followers take their +kingly pleasure, as it was duly chronicled had been +the custom of their ancestors.</p> + +<p>In the lull after the first heavy rains, that is +about the month of December, when the river has +been swollen to flood-height for a couple of months, +the <i>tuntong</i> or river-turtles ascend the Perak River +in considerable numbers and lay their eggs on certain +convenient sand stretches in the neighbourhood +of Bota, about 100 miles from the river’s mouth.</p> + +<p>The most frequented of these laying grounds +is a place called <i>Pâsir Tĕlor</i> (egg-sand), just below +Bota, and it is here that the ladies of the Court +annually assemble to dig up the eggs, which the +Malay considers one of the greatest delicacies +known to him.</p> + +<p>The river-turtle is a great deal smaller than the +sea-turtle, but it lays a larger egg, and one much +more valued by Malays.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span></p> + +<p>As soon as the river rises watchers are stationed +on the sands, and the turtles are said to lay three +times. The nests are dug between two and three +feet under the sand, and contain from about fifteen +to thirty-five eggs each. During the laying season +boats are not allowed to stop at the sands for fear +they should disturb the turtles.</p> + +<p>When the first set of eggs has been laid and the +turtles have returned to the river, the watchers +open the nests and send the eggs up to the Sultan. +The second set of nests is opened by the royal +party, and the third is left to hatch, an operation +that takes six months. There is no sitting, the +young turtles simply emerge from the sand, walk +down into the river and swim away.</p> + +<p>It is said that if the first and second nests are +left untouched, the turtles themselves open them +and scatter and destroy the eggs; but that, after +the third “lay,” they take their departure, having +accomplished their task.</p> + +<p>Directly the watchers report that the turtles +have made the second nests, the Sultan and his +family, with the neighbouring chiefs and their +families, take boat and paddle down the stream to +Pâsir Tĕlor.</p> + +<p>Fifteen or twenty large house-boats and several<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> +bamboo rafts containing about one hundred and +fifty people make an imposing procession. The +rafts are simply floating houses, with mat walls and +a high thatched roof, and are manned by crews of +from four to sixteen polers; but the boats are +graceful and picturesque barges, of which the +foundation is a long dug-out of hard wood drawing +very little water, the freeboard is raised by the +breadth of one or two planks, and over the stern +half of the boat is built a palm-thatched covering +on a slight wooden frame, while curtains secure +privacy. Inside this house, the roof of which rises +in a sharp curve towards the stern, sit and lie on +mats and cushions the owner and his family or +friends. The crew occupy the forward half of the +boat, where they sit to paddle down stream or +stand to pole up. The steersman has a high seat +in the stern, from whence he is able to see clear of +the cabin-roof.</p> + +<p>The covered portion of the barge which carries +the Sultan’s principal wife is decorated with six +scarlet-bordered white umbrellas. Two officers +stand all day long, just outside the state-room, +holding open black umbrellas with silver fringes, +and two others are in the bows with long bamboo +poles held close together and erect. The royal<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> +bugler sits on the extreme end of the prow, and +from time to time blows a call on the antique silver +trumpet of the regalia. Flags are flown, other boats +carry gongs and drums, and altogether the pleasure-fleet +makes a brave show and a considerable noise, +attracting the attention of all the dwellers on the +riverine.</p> + +<p>The journey from the Sultan’s palace at Kuala +Kangsar occupies two days, and on the morning of +the third all the ladies of the party, with all their +attendants and children (a good many still in arms), +disembark for the ceremony of digging out the +turtle-eggs.</p> + +<p>The ladies are in their smartest garments +and wear their costliest jewels. It is a blaze of +brilliant-coloured silks, of painted <i>sârongs</i>, cloth-of-gold +scarves, and embroidered gauze veils; of bright +sunshades, gold bracelets, necklaces, and bangles; +of curious jewelled brooches, massive hairpins, and +rings flashing with the light of diamonds and +rubies.</p> + +<p>The men appear in jackets, trousers, and <i>sârongs</i> +of hardly less striking hues; but the horror of +Western dyes and Western schemes of colour has +not yet demoralised the Malay’s innate sense of +beauty and fitness, and nothing offends the eye as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> +all this wealth of bravery moves slowly across the +strand.</p> + +<p>A scorching sun shines down on the gaily-clad +figures with their background of dark jungle, on the +yellow sands and sparkling river, with its burden +of picturesque boats, and gives light and shadow to +a charming picture.</p> + +<p>The watchers have marked with twigs the various +nests, and each lady of rank, with her little crowd +of attendants, makes for one of these, and with her +hands begins to dig up the sand in search of the +eggs. But the nest is deep down, and the sides of +the hole have a way of falling in on the digger, so +a man or boy is desired to remove the overburden +and make things easy for the lady. The overlying +sand is quickly scooped out until one or two of the +white eggs are disclosed, and then the lady, sitting +on the edge and stooping far down, can just manage +to reach the nest, and the eggs are carefully +handed up.</p> + +<p>Besides the pleasure of actually removing the +eggs with one’s own hand, of displaying to admiring +eyes a vision of taper fingers and rounded wrist, of +showing how little it matters that the costliest +garments should trail in the sand, there is the +rivalry of whose nest yields the largest number of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> +eggs. Anything over twenty-five is considered a +satisfactory find.</p> + +<p>By the time all the nests have been rifled, the +sands are growing so hot under the rays of the +fiery sun that bare feet can hardly endure what is +little short of torture. There is an almost hurried +return to the boats, the finery is exchanged for +simpler garments, and all the men and many of the +ladies take to the river, and there disport themselves +in a manner that is refreshing to sun-scorched +bodies and the eyes of the Western spectator who +is fortunate enough to see how it is possible to be +unconventionally natural and yet perfectly modest.</p> + +<p>It is only on such occasions as this that a +strange man can see these ladies unveiled and even +so he is not expected to look at them or go very +near them; but their bathing-costume differs hardly +at all from that which they commonly wear, and +they thoroughly enjoy this opportunity of revelling +in the clear waters of the sand-bedded stream.</p> + +<p>Then every one scrambles back into the boats, +which are pushed off into deep water, the rowers +seize their paddles and with beat of gong and the +musical notes of the silver <i>serûnai</i>, with jest and +laughter, pennons waving, and bright eyes sparkling +behind the rainbow-coloured blinds, the picturesque<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> +flotilla glides on its course down the long sunny +reach, in and out amongst the islets, round a +heavily-wooded, deeply-shadowed headland, past +the riverside hamlets and the orchards, the stately +palms, the clusters of bamboo that overhang the +water like great plumes of pale green feathers, and +so ever onward through sunlight and shadow till +another bourne is reached.</p> + +<p>The graceful turn of the leading barge towards +a sand-spit flanked by a long inviting backwater, +the roll of a drum and every prow is headed for +the shallows of the bank that divides the <i>âyer mâti</i>, +the “dead water,” from the living hurrying stream.</p> + +<p>The boats arrange themselves in divisions, the +crews land, make fires, and boil the rice for their +mid-day meal, while the cooking and breakfasting +of the members of the “court” is done on board +the various barges.</p> + +<p>In this feudal and conservative country when +the people eat they <i>mâkan</i>, but the Raja does not +<i>mâkan</i>, with him it is <i>santap</i>. When “the masses” +bathe they <i>mandi</i>, but the same operation in the +case of a Raja is called <i>sêram</i>; a chief or a beggar +may sleep and that is <i>tîdor</i>, but when the Raja +sleeps he is said to <i>bĕr-âdu</i>. This does not mean +that a wide gulf divides Malay classes, there is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> +rather that communion as of the members of an +old Scotch clan, but respect and courtesy are +characteristic of the race, a prized legacy which it +is not yet considered a sign of either independence +or good manners to despise. People of the same +class, rajas and chiefs, children and parents, +brothers and sisters, speak to each other with +studied deference and never forget the little distinctions +that mark fine shades of rank or age. Boys +and girls are as careful in the observance of these +courtesies as are their elders.</p> + +<p>Education and contact with Europeans will alter +all this, and in the next century there will be more +equality and probably less politeness and fraternity. +But then also there will be no royal preserves, no +class privileges, and no State junketings where +noble and peasant meet in generous rivalry of skill +with a single desire to snatch from the toil, the +disappointments, and the sorrows of life one week +of pleasure wherein individual joy may grow +greater in the knowledge that it is shared by many.</p> + +<p>Future possibilities do not disturb our friends, +whose guiding principle is rather “insufficient +for the day is the pleasure thereof.” They have +attacks of hatred and gloom, and then they kill, +if the desire is strong enough, but these fits<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> +are rare, and when not actively engaged in amusing +themselves they are lotus-eating, sometimes figuratively, +sometimes in reality.</p> + +<p>This is a time for action, and, the mid-day meal +disposed of, all the men of the party get ready their +casting-nets and don the garments that will least +hamper the free use of their limbs and will not be +injured by a thorough wetting.</p> + +<p>The backwater has a narrow and shallow +entrance on the river, and this entrance is staked +across to guard it from what in the West would be +called poachers. Through the stakes a way has +now been made wide enough to admit of the passage +of boats. The Sultan’s barge and a few other +house-boats have passed the barrier, and these are +accompanied by a fleet of fifty uncovered dug-outs, +each with a light grating of split-bamboos over half +its length, and each carrying two or three paddlers, +one of whom steers and one man standing on the +extreme end of the bow ready to cast the net.</p> + +<p>These nets are of local make, the mesh is small, +the thread of twisted strands of finest cotton, and +the length varies according to the ability of the +owner to cast it. A very short net is five or six +cubits in length from centre to edge, a long one is +twelve or thirteen cubits, and to cast that with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> +accuracy so that it reaches the water perfectly +extended requires a very skilful hand. The bottom +or edge of the net is weighted with small leaden +rings that sink it rapidly through the water, while +a fine cord from the centre is attached to the right +wrist of the thrower. The net is usually dyed a +dark brown with a solution made from the bark of +the mangrove.</p> + +<p>The backwater where this annual netting is done +is a long narrow strip of fairly deep water widening +slightly in the centre and contracting at the ends. +On one side it is bordered by a low grass-grown +shore and on the other by a jungle-covered bank +from which the overhanging branches cast dark +shadows on the glassy surface, stirred here and +there into tiny wavelets by every passing zephyr.</p> + +<p>By 3 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> all is ready; some of the oldest and +most skilful netters stand in the bows of the royal +barges, a dozen young rajas are in dug-outs and +the others are occupied by their owners, men from +the neighbouring villages who have come to join in +the sport.</p> + +<p>The Sultan gives the signal, and the boats move +off slowly and at once form themselves into a +crescent, with the royal barges in the centre. The +horns of the crescent draw towards each other, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> +boats make a simultaneous in-turn, the circle is +completed, and at the moment when it becomes +sufficiently circumscribed every net is cast, covering +the whole surface of the water within the ring of +boats. Directly the nets have been cast they sink, +the paddlers back-water, and each net is slowly +drawn to the surface and the fish taken are disengaged +from the fine meshes and thrown into the +boat under the bamboo grating.</p> + +<p>Almost every net contains fish, and the numbers +vary from two or three to fifty or sixty bright +silvery fishes weighing from half a pound to a +pound each.</p> + +<p>The operation is then repeated, and the fleet of +boats works its way slowly from end to end of the +backwater, a distance of about a mile.</p> + +<p>Sometimes every net makes a good haul, sometimes +only one or two do very well, and all the rest +indifferently. It is no easy matter with such an +insecure foothold to cast a long and heavy net, but, +well done, the act of casting is graceful and attractive. +First the slack of the cord is taken up in +loops in the right hand and after it the net, until the +leaden rings clear the boat and reach to about the +thrower’s knee. Then with his left hand he takes +up part of the skirt of the net and hangs it over his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> +right arm and shoulder. This done he seizes the +balance of the skirt in his left hand, swings his +body backwards and then forwards with a strong +propelling movement of arm, shoulder, and back that +sends the net straight out over the water to fall +perfectly extended, like a huge brown cobweb, the +outer edges sinking instantly under the weight of +the leaden rings and drawing together by reason of +the resistance of the inner surface of the net.</p> + +<p>The game <i>looks</i> easy enough, but try it and you +will probably find yourself in the water at the first +cast with the net tied up into an inextricable knot.</p> + +<p>Watch the experienced hand. The boats are +now at a bend in the middle of the backwater, the +circle is formed, the in-turn is given to the bows, +the ring narrows, and at this moment the scene is +picturesque to a degree and strangely weird.</p> + +<p>Atmospheric changes come quickly here; the sky +has become suddenly overcast, a heavy rain-cloud is +being rapidly driven before a rising wind, and the +water is now dark and gloomy. This <i>cordon</i> of low +black boats, so close to each other that they almost +touch, on every bow a half-bent, quaintly-clad form +with the net hanging in graceful folds from arm and +shoulder, while fifty dark earnest faces gaze eagerly +on the narrowing space. In that instant it flashes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> +across the spectator’s mind that some mystic rite of +fell intent is to be performed within that magic +zone. Then heigh! Abracadabra! The word is +given to cast, and from fifty boats the nets fly out +with a swirl and settle on the water with a gentle +hiss. But the skilful thrower waits for a second or +two, knowing that the fish, frightened by this rain of +lead, will dash for the only spot where there seems +to be a gap. Then deftly he casts a net with a +diameter of forty feet, and the moment he strains +the cord he realises that he has made an extraordinary +capture. He pulls the net up a little way, and +then, plunging his arms into the water, grasps the +meshes on either side and calls for help to raise the +struggling mass of fish. All eyes are fixed on the +lucky Raja, and as the take is lifted into the boat +there are shouts of delight and congratulation and +clapping of hands from the ladies, who are keenly +interested. By this single cast the thrower has +secured one hundred and twenty-one fish, and his +contribution for the afternoon is over seven hundred +“tails.”</p> + +<p>Just as the furthest end of the backwater is +reached the rain, which has been long threatening, +comes down in torrents, and there is a race for +shelter and dry clothes. The dug-outs with three<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> +or four paddlers easily beat the barges with a dozen, +but long before the river is reached the netters are +as wet as the fish, and have a swim in the warm +water of the river before changing into dry clothes.</p> + +<p>Then there is a lull in the storm, and the more +enthusiastic return to the netting and, unmindful of +hunger, darkness, and rain, still cast the nets till +10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, when they return thoroughly tired out, but +happy in the knowledge that the bag numbers over +ten thousand fish.</p> + +<p>Amongst these late comers and most ardent +sportsmen are several ladies who, not satisfied with +the ease and dignity of a royal barge, have braved +the elements and gone fasting to share the excitement +of the netting in the discomfort of the dug-outs.</p> + +<p>That is how the Sultan of Perak’s annual fishing +party takes its pleasure, and about the very same +time His Highness of Păhang will be leading a +similar expedition in the quiet waters of an old +channel of the Păhang River.</p> + +<p>There, however, the method is rather different—the +water is poisoned with the juice of the <i>tuba</i> root, +and the stupefied fish are speared and netted as they +float and swim aimlessly about. The fun is much +the same, perhaps, but the pursuit is less sporting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span> +than by the means employed in Perak. It is not +however, perfectly easy to spear even drugged fish +without both skill and practice.</p> + +<p>In Păhang, also, the pageant is conducted with +much state and ancientry, and, as the nature of the +pastime requires only a moderate effort, the ladies +of the Harîm smile on the proceedings and, armed +with silken nets on hafts of gold, themselves essay +to scoop up the scaly quarry. Amongst the ladies +of the Court are some the exceeding fairness of +whose skin, the perfect oval of their faces, and the +glances of their liquid eyes so embarrass the men +of the party that many a spear flies wide of its +mark.</p> + +<p>There are some things still hidden from the ken +of Cook and the race of Globe trotters, and I do +not fear to reveal the secrets of this remote corner +of the earth, for, if any be thereby induced to visit +the Peninsula in search of such displays as I have +tried to describe, he will meet with disappointment.</p> + +<p>You cannot, in the language of Western culture, +put a penny in the slot and set in motion the wheels +of this barbarous Eastern figure.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIX">XIX<br> +<span class="smaller">JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Such was our friend, formed on the good old plan,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">A true and brave and downright honest man</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Whittier</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>On the 2nd November 1875, Mr. James +Wheeler Woodford Birch, British Resident +of Perak, was assassinated by Malays at a place +called Pâsir Sâlak on the Perak River. I propose +to describe why and how this murder was committed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch began life as a midshipman in the +Royal Navy. He abandoned the sea for Government +employment in Ceylon, where he spent the +best years of his life, and was promoted to be Government +Agent of the Eastern Province, one of the +highest positions in the Island. In 1870 Mr. Birch +was appointed Colonial Secretary of the Straits +Settlements, and when Major-General Sir Andrew<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> +Clarke, R.E., then Governor of the Straits Settlements, +concluded the Pangkor Treaty with the Perak +Chiefs in 1874 and introduced a new departure in +the relations between the British Government and +the Malay States, he selected Mr. Birch for the +difficult post of adviser to the Sultan of Perak.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch assumed his duties in the end of 1874, +and very soon found that, looking to the people +with whom he had to deal and his own powerlessness +to enforce an order, he had undertaken a +well-nigh impossible task. At that time the Malay +Peninsula was a <i>terra incognita</i> to white men, and +the characteristics, customs, peculiarities and prejudices +of the Malay had yet to be learnt.</p> + +<p>Of all the States in the Peninsula Perak was +probably the least well suited for the schooling of a +Resident and the initiation of the interesting but +dangerous experiment of Government by the advice +of a British officer.</p> + +<p>It had a large Malay population, people whose +ancestors had for generations belonged to the place +and who were saturated with ancient customs, prejudices, +and superstitions that had to be learned, +and with many of which it was difficult to sympathise. +It had an unusual number of Rajas and +Chiefs, each with some kind of privilege or vested<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> +interest. The revolting practice of debt-slavery, +under which the slaves often suffered indescribable +wrongs, was rife in the land, and, though contrary +to the Muhammadan religion, was supported and +clung to by all the upper classes. The State was +torn by internal dissensions, the jealousies and +rivalries of opposing claimants to the Sultanship +and other high offices. The rivers and jungle tracks +were the only means of getting about the country. +The white man was an unknown and unfeared +quantity.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch, unfortunately, for all his long Eastern +experience, knew very little of Malays and almost +nothing of their language, and, though he always +had with him a very capable Malay interpreter, the +inability to carry on a direct conversation with chiefs +and people greatly increased his difficulties. He was +not, however, the man to sit down in the face of +opposition either to save himself trouble or to acknowledge +defeat, and the consequence was that his +extraordinary energy in travelling about the country, +“spying out the land,” and his persistence in attempting +to redress grievances, to save lives, to bring the +guilty to punishment, and to induce the then Sultan, +Abdullah and his immediate following to mend their +ways, earned him the determined opposition of all<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> +those who disliked interference, and preferred the +state of uncontrolled lawlessness to which they were +accustomed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch lived in Perak as its Resident for barely +twelve months, but to trace with care the reasons +why his relations with Abdullah grew daily more +strained till matters culminated in the assassination +of the Resident, would be to write a volume. It is +sufficient to state a few of the more prominent +facts.</p> + +<p>First, it is necessary to say in the most positive +terms that Mr. Birch was assassinated solely and +entirely for political reasons, for the reasons I have +already given. He was white, he was a Christian +and a stranger, he was restless, climbed hills and +journeyed all over the country, he interfered with +murderers and other evil-doers, he constantly +bothered the Sultan about business and kept pressing +him to introduce reforms, while every change is +regarded by the Malay with suspicion and distrust. +That was his crime in their eyes; of personal feeling +there was none, wherever Mr. Birch went there +were people who had to thank him for some kindness, +some attention. The Malays have always +admitted this, and, if it seems strange that I should +make a point of the motive, it is because Europeans<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span> +who did not know have suggested that the Resident’s +murder was due to non-political causes, a suggestion +for which there is not a semblance of foundation.</p> + +<p>By September 1875, matters had come to a deadlock. +With the Resident, in what was called the +down-stream country, was a Sultan, Abdullah, +created by the British Government, but declining to +accept the advice of the Resident who had been +appointed at his special request. Abdullah’s opposition +was mainly negative but absolutely effective, +for as the Resident could only tender advice and +had no commission, and no sufficient means to +compel its adoption, his voice was that of one +“crying in the wilderness.” Up-stream there was +another Sultan, Ismail, elected by some of the chiefs +but admitted to have no sufficient claim to the post. +Between the partisans of these rival Sultans, very +strained relations existed.</p> + +<p>Then there was another claimant to the Sultanship +in the person of the Raja Muda Jusuf, who +lived still further up country, and while his claims +were undoubtedly the best, his personal unpopularity +was so great that the people would not accept +him as Sultan.</p> + +<p>The success of the Residential idea (for no one +had attempted to formulate any scheme or system)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> +depended on the existence of mutual confidence and +friendship between Sultan and Resident. That was, +unfortunately, wanting, and, as after many months +of patient effort on the part of Mr. Birch the desired +result seemed further away than ever, the governor +of the neighbouring colony (then Major-General Sir +W. Jervois, R.E.) determined to visit Perak and see +what chance there was of establishing administrative +authority, collecting revenue, and otherwise +carrying out the provisions of the Pangkor Treaty.</p> + +<p>As the result of that visit and of interviews +between the Governor and the Chiefs, a proposition +was made to Sultan Abdullah that the government +of the State should be carried on in his name by +British officers. He hesitated for some days, but, +finding that the Raja Muda and others had at once +and gladly accepted the suggestion, he determined +to do the same, fearing, no doubt, that otherwise he +might be left out of the administration altogether.</p> + +<p>It was the Malay fasting-month, the <i>bûlan puâsa</i>, +when these last events occurred. It is not an +auspicious time for conducting negotiations with +Malays, they do not even attempt to work for that +month, they sleep for most of the day and sit up +most of the night, eating and talking, discussing +affairs and hatching plots. This, at least, is the case<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> +with the upper classes, and it is they only who are +concerned in political movements; the common +people do not fast as a rule, and leave the plotting +to the chiefs, whose business they think it is to +scheme and to direct, theirs to obey.</p> + +<p>In Lower Perak during this particular month of +Ramthân, an unusual amount of discussion had +been carried on between Sultan Abdullah and his +chiefs, and they determined not only that the +British Resident should be got rid of, but one +of them, entitled the Maharaja Lela, undertook to +do the business the next time Mr. Birch visited +him.</p> + +<p>This man, the Maharaja Lela, was a chief of considerable +rank, after the Sultan he was the seventh +in the State. He lived at Pâsir Sâlak, on the right +bank of the Perak River, about thirty miles above +the residence of Sultan Abdullah, and about forty +below that of ex-Sultan Ismail. He avoided Mr. +Birch whenever it was possible (though living only +five miles from him), and managed to keep friends +with both Sultans.</p> + +<p>During the month, Sultan Abdullah, who was +then with his boats at Pâsir Panjang, a couple of +miles below the Maharaja Lela’s house, summoned +his chiefs and informed them that he had given over<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span> +the government of the country to Mr. Birch. This +announcement was received in silence by the others, +to whom it was doubtless no news, but the Maharaja +Lela said, “Even if your Highness has done +so, I do not care at all. I will never acknowledge +the authority of Mr. Birch or the white men. I +have received letters from Sultan Ismail, the Mĕntri +and the Pĕnglima Kinta telling me on no account to +obey the English Government in Perak. I will not +allow Mr. Birch to set his foot in my kampong at +Pâsir Sâlak.”</p> + +<p>The Sultan said, “Do you really mean that, +Maharaja Lela?” and the Chief replied, “Truly I +will not depart in the smallest degree from the old +arrangement.”</p> + +<p>Another chief, the Dâtoh Sâgor, who lived on the +other side of the river, exactly opposite to Pâsir +Sâlak, said, “What the Maharaja Lela does I will +do.”</p> + +<p>The Sultan then got up and withdrew.</p> + +<p>Two or three days before the end of the month +the Sultan called another meeting of his chiefs at a +place called Durian Sa’bâtang, ten miles below the +small island on which the Resident’s hut stood. +At that meeting the Sultan produced the proclamations +which were to be issued, placing the administration<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span> +in the hands of British officers, and +asked his chiefs what they thought of them. The +Laksâmana, an influential chief, said, “Down here, +in the lower part of the river, we must accept the +proclamations”; but the Maharaja Lela said, “In +my kampong I will not allow any white man to post +those proclamations. If they insist on doing so, +there will certainly be a fight.” To this the Sultan +and other chiefs said, “Very well.”</p> + +<p>The Maharaja Lela immediately left, and having +loaded his boats with rice, returned up river to his +own kampong.</p> + +<p>Pâsir Sâlak was the usual collection of Malay +houses scattered about in groves of palm and fruit +trees by the river-bank. Prominent amongst these +was the Maharaja Lela’s own dwelling, a large and +comparatively new building of a more than ordinarily +substantial kind, round which he had for +months past been digging a great ditch and throwing +up a formidable earthwork crowned by a +palisade. These preparations had been duly noted +by the Resident.</p> + +<p>Arrived at his own home, the Maharaja Lela sent +out messengers to summon all the men in his +immediate neighbourhood, and when they were +collected he addressed them and stated that Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> +Birch was coming up the river in a few days, and +that, if he attempted to post any notices there, the +orders of the Sultan and the down-river chiefs were +to kill him. The assembled people said that, if +those were the commands of the Sultan and the +Maharaja Lela, they would carry them out. The +chief then handed his sword to a man called Pandak +Indut, his father-in-law, and directed that everyone +should give to him the same obedience as to himself. +The people then dispersed. It was one or +two days after this that Mr. Birch arrived at Pâsir +Sâlak.</p> + +<p>Before describing the events of the 2nd November +I must go back for a moment.</p> + +<p>A number of officers, of whom I was one, had +accompanied Sir W. Jervois in his journey to +Perak. When the Governor and those with him +left the State I was directed to remain behind with +Mr. Birch to assist him in his negotiations with the +chiefs. A fortnight later I went to Singapore with +important papers and the drafts of proclamations +defining the authority of the Resident under the new +arrangement. These proclamations were printed, +and I returned to Perak with them, joining Mr. +Birch in his house on the 26th October.</p> + +<p>I found the Resident had met with an accident;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span> +he had slipped down and so badly sprained his +ankle that he could not walk without crutches. +Lieut. Abbott, R.N., and four bluejackets were at +Bandar Bharu (the Residency), where were also +quartered the Sikh guard (about eighty men), the +boatmen, and others.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch undertook to distribute the proclamations +himself in the down-river districts, and +directed me to go up river, to interview the ex-Sultan +Ismail, the Raja Muda, the Raja Bĕndahâra, +and other up-country chiefs, and, having distributed +the proclamations at all important villages from +Kôta Lâma downwards, to try to meet him at +Pâsir Sâlak on the 3rd November. There, he told +me, he expected trouble for which he was quite +prepared.</p> + +<p>The Sikh guard was in a state bordering on +mutiny in the evening of the 27th, but by the +following morning they seemed to have returned +to their senses, and about noon I left Bandar +Bharu with two boats for the interior, Mr. Birch +starting down stream at the same time.</p> + +<p>He must have got through his part of the work +more rapidly than he expected, for he reached +Pâsir Sâlak with three boats at midnight on the +1st November, and anchored in midstream. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> +1st November was the <i>Hâri Râya</i>, the first day +after the Fast. At daylight his boats went alongside +the bank, and the Resident’s own boat was +made fast to the floating bath-house of a Chinese +jeweller, whose little shop stood on the high bank +a few feet from the riverside. This was the only +Chinese house in Pâsir Sâlak.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch was accompanied by Lieut. Abbott, +an armed guard of twelve Sikhs, a Sikh orderly, +the Malay interpreter (an eminently respectable +Malay of nearly fifty named Muhammad Arshad), +and a number of Malay boatmen and servants. +There must have been about forty people in the +party. Mr. Birch had with him a 3-Pr. brass gun, +a small mortar, and a number of English firearms +and Malay weapons, besides other property.</p> + +<p>Directly after their arrival Mr. Abbott borrowed +a small boat from the Chinaman and went across +the river to Kampong Gâjah to shoot snipe, the +Chief of that place, the Dâtoh Sâgor, returning in +the boat to Pâsir Sâlak, where he at once sought +an interview with Mr. Birch.</p> + +<p>After this conversation, which was held in the +Resident’s boat, the Dâtoh Sâgor and Mr. Birch’s +interpreter went to the Maharaja Lela’s house, and +the interpreter said to the Maharaja Lela that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> +Resident wished to see him and would go to his +house for that purpose, but if the Chief preferred +it, and would go to Mr. Birch’s boat, he would be +glad to meet him there. The Maharaja Lela said, +“I have nothing to do with Mr. Birch,” and the +interpreter returned to the boat and reported to his +master the result of his interview.</p> + +<p>The news of the Resident’s arrival had been +spread in every direction, and all those in the +neighbourhood were ordered to come in. By this +time, sixty or seventy men had assembled and were +now standing about on the bank of the river close +to Mr. Birch’s boats. They were all armed with +spears and <i>krises</i>, and Mr. Birch asked the Dâtoh +Sâgor what they wanted, and that they should be +told to stand further away. The Dâtoh told them +to move away, and they gave a few yards, but at the +same time began to abuse the Resident, calling him +an “infidel,” and asking what he meant by coming +there asking questions and speaking like one in +authority. Probably the Resident did not understand +these ominous signs, but his boatmen heard +and realised that trouble was brewing.</p> + +<p>Mr. Birch now gave some proclamations to the +interpreter, who took them on shore and posted +them on the shutters of the Chinaman’s shop.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> +Almost immediately, Pandak Indut, the Maharaja +Lela’s father-in-law, tore them down and took them +off to the Maharaja Lela’s house. That chief’s +dictum, was “Pull down the proclamations, and, if +they persist in putting them up, kill them.” Then +it may be supposed he washed his hands of all +responsibility, and Pandak Indut went out to +execute his master’s orders.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Mr. Birch had handed to his interpreter +some more proclamations to replace those +removed, and, after giving directions to prepare his +breakfast, went into the Chinaman’s bath-house to +bathe, leaving his Sikh orderly at the door with a +loaded revolver. This bath-house was of the type +common in Perak, two large logs floating in the +stream, fastened together by cross-pieces of wood, +and on them built a small house with mat sides +about five feet high, and a roof closing on the sides +but leaving two open triangular spaces at front and +back. The structure is so moored that it floats +parallel to the bank, and a person even standing +up inside it cannot see what is taking place on the +shore close by.</p> + +<p>It was now about 10 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, and in spite of the +threatening attitude of the large crowd of armed +Malays standing in groups and passing between<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span> +the river-bank and their chief’s house, the Resident +was composedly bathing in the river, while his +people were some of them cooking on the bank, +others sleeping in the boats, and a few, the Malays, +anxiously expectant, fearing the signs boded a +catastrophe.</p> + +<p>They had not long to wait. The interpreter +was still replacing the proclamations on the Chinaman’s +hut, when Pandak Indut and a number of +other men came quickly from the Maharaja Lela’s +house.</p> + +<p>The crowd asked, “What are the Chief’s +orders?”</p> + +<p>Pandak Indut replied, “He leaves the matter to +me.”</p> + +<p>Going straight up to the Chinese shop, he began +tearing down the newly-posted papers; the interpreter +protested, and, seeing no heed was paid to +him, turned towards the bath-house. He had not +made half a dozen steps, when Pandak Indut overtook +him and thrust his spear into the man’s +abdomen. The wounded man fell down the bank +into the river and caught hold of his master’s boat, +but others followed him and cut him over the head +and hands, so that he let go and struggled out into +the stream.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span></p> + +<p>The interpreter disposed of, Pandak Indut cried +out, “Here is Mr. Birch in the bath-house, come, +let us kill him,” and, followed by three or four others +shouting <i>âmok, âmok</i>, they leapt on to the floating +timbers and thrust their spears through the open +space in the front of the house.</p> + +<p>At that time men in the boats could see Mr. +Birch’s head above the mat wall; it disappeared +without any sound from him, and a moment after he +came to the surface of the water astern of the house. +Some of the murderers were already waiting there, +and one of them, a man called Sipûtum, slashed +the Resident over the head with a sword. He sank +and was not seen again.</p> + +<p>The Sikh orderly, standing with a revolver at the +door of the bath-house, jumped into the river without +any warning to his master, swam off to one of +the boats and saved himself.</p> + +<p>The river-bank was now the scene of a general +<i>mêlee</i>. A Malay boatman and a Sikh had been +killed, but the others had got one of the boats away +from the bank into midstream and towards it two +of Mr. Birch’s Malays were swimming while they +supported the grievously wounded interpreter. +With difficulty they gained the boat and got the man +in. As they dropped down the river Mr. Birch’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> +coxswain urged the Sikhs to fire on the Malays, +but they said they could not do so without an +order! He accordingly gave the order, and some +shots were fired which for a moment cleared the +bank. A small boat with two men in it put out +lower down stream to intercept the fugitives, and +two of them were wounded by shots from these +men. The coxswain then wrenched a rifle from a +Sikh and shot one of these assailants. After this +the boat proceeded unmolested to Bandar Bharu. +Long before they arrived there the interpreter died.</p> + +<p>Mr. Abbott, shooting on the other bank, was +warned of what had taken place, and with great +difficulty got into a dug-out and made his way down +stream under the fire of the Malays on the bank.</p> + +<p>The attack, the murder of the Resident, his interpreter, +the Sikh and the boatman, and the escape +of the rest of the party was the work of a few +minutes. Whilst still the passion of strife and +bloodthirst swayed the crowd, the Maharaja Lela +walked into their midst and asked whose hands had +done the Resident and his men to death. Instantly +Pandak Indut, Sipûtum, and the others, claimed +credit for their murderous work. The Chief said, +“It is well, none but those who struck blows can +share in the spoil.” He then called a man forward<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> +and said, “Go and tell the Laksâmana that I have +killed Mr. Birch.” The message was delivered the +same day, and the Laksâmana said, “Very well, I +will tell the Sultan.”</p> + +<p>That evening the Maharaja Lela sent a letter to +ex-Sultan Ismail describing what he had done, and, +to remove any doubt on the subject, he sent with it +the Resident’s own boat.</p> + +<p>These are the facts about Mr. Birch’s assassination, +and it may be of some interest to add that the +Resident’s two boats were immediately rifled and +all their contents carried up to the Maharaja Lela’s +house.</p> + +<p>An attack upon the Residency was planned, +ordered to be carried out that night, and a number +of men started on the expedition, and even got +within a few hundred yards of Bandar Bharu; but +it began to rain, and a man at whose house the +party called told them they would get a warm +reception, and it would be quite a different thing to +murdering the Resident, so they elected to return +with their object unattained.</p> + +<p>By the help of a friendly Malay, a foreigner, +Mr. Birch’s body was recovered, brought to Bandar +Bharu, and there buried on the night of the 6th +November.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span></p> + +<p>The Maharaja Lela and his neighbour the Dâtoh +Sâgor, having “burnt their ships,” proceeded to +stockade their villages, and those stockades were +subsequently taken, the rebels driven out, and their +villages destroyed.</p> + +<p>Sooner or later punishment overtook every man +directly concerned in this crime, and also nearly +all those who were indirectly responsible. Some +fell during the subsequent fighting, one died an +outlaw in the jungle.</p> + +<p>The first man captured was Sipûtum. He was +brought in to Bandar Bharu late one evening in the +early part of 1876, and I went to see him in the +lock-up about midnight. A wilder looking creature +it would have been hard to find. He was a +<i>Pâwang</i>, a medicine man, a sorcerer. For many +weeks he had been a hunted outcast, and he seemed +to think that capture was almost preferable to the +life he had been leading. He sat on the floor and +described to me his share in Mr. Birch’s murder, +pausing between the sentences to kill mosquitoes +on the wall of his cell. He volunteered the statement +that Mr. Birch was a good man, who had +been kind to him, and that what he did was by +order of his Chief, whom he was bound to obey. +The responsibility of the individual for his own<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span> +actions was a doctrine that was strange to him, +and he learnt it too late to profit by it.</p> + +<p>In December 1876, the Maharaja Lela, the +Dâtoh Sâgor, Pandak Indut, and four others were +arraigned before the Raja Muda Jusuf and Raja +Alang Husein, and charged with murdering Mr. +Birch and the others at Pâsir Sâlak on the 2nd +November 1875.</p> + +<p>They were prosecuted by Colonel Dunlop, R.A., +and myself, on behalf of the Government, and +defended by an able and experienced member of +the Singapore Bar. After a trial which lasted +eight days, they were severally found guilty and +condemned to death, but the extreme penalty was +exacted only in the cases of the three first named.</p> + +<p>Sultan Abdullah, and other Chiefs whose complicity +in the assassination was established by the +fullest evidence, were banished from the State, and +a like sentence was passed upon the ex-Sultan +Ismail and some of his adherents.</p> + +<p>In Mr. Birch the British Government lost one of +its most courageous, able, and zealous officers, but, +by the action which his death made necessary, the +State of Perak gained in twelve months what ten +years of “advice” could hardly have accomplished. +That was not all, for the events of those twelve<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> +months, when they came to be fully known, threw +a light on the inner life of the Malay and his +peculiar characteristics, that was in the nature of a +revelation. It is all too soon to forget the lesson +or disregard its teachings.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XX">XX<br> +<span class="smaller">A PERSONAL INCIDENT</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Haud multum abfuit quin interficeretur</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Horace</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="blockquote"> + +<p class="center"><i>From <span class="smcap">Captain Speedy</span>, Queen’s Commissioner,<br> +Larut, to <span class="smcap">H.E. Sir William Jervois</span>,<br> +Governor of the Straits.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Larut</span>, <i>November 9th, 1875</i>.</p> + +<p class="noindent">[Extract:]</p> + +<p>“In the second report, that of 7th instant, Sergeant +Din states that he was told by one Kulup +Riau that Mr. Swettenham had been murdered by +the Raja Lela at Pâsir Sâlak on the 5th instant. I +regret to state that I have every reason to believe +that the report is but too true. My inspector, Din +Mahomed, reached Kuala Kangsar (where I sent +him with a party of men immediately on hearing of +Mr. Birch’s death, to warn and guard Mr. Swettenham) +at 2 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> on 4th instant, but, on his arrival,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> +he found that Mr. Swettenham had unfortunately +left, to return by the river a few hours previously; +owing to the rapidity of the current, the boats +should have reached Pâsir Sâlak by the following +day. I have sent detectives, both Chinese and +Malay, to inquire into the matter, and to obtain, +if possible, the remains of these unfortunate +officers.”</p> +</div> + +<p>I came across the above passage in a Blue Book, +and I will explain why Captain Speedy had every +reason to believe in the certainty of my death, and +how it was that my remains were not to be collected +just then.</p> + +<p>In the preceding sketch I mentioned that I left +Bandar Bharu at noon on the 28th October with +two boats, and intended, if it were possible, to +meet Mr. Birch at Pâsir Sâlak about the 3rd +November.</p> + +<p>Besides the Malay boatmen, I had with me a very +celebrated Selangor chief named Raja Mahmud, a +man whose whole life had been passed in jungle +warfare, and as he had come through it scathless he +was regarded by Malays as invulnerable and respected +accordingly. His latest exploit had been +to take command of a body of Malays in an engagement<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> +with Her Majesty’s troops in a neighbouring +State (Sungei Ujong), and as I had subsequently +persuaded him to go to Singapore and give himself +up to the Governor, he had attached himself to me +and thoroughly enjoyed the possibility of trouble in +Perak.</p> + +<p>Then I had a Manila boatman, one of the best +coxswains on the river, a marvellous dancer of +hornpipes and no less courageous than Raja Mahmud +himself—more so he could hardly be. Lastly, +Mahmud had a couple of men devoted to himself, +and I had a Chinese servant.</p> + +<p>This being the wet season the river was high, +poling difficult and progress slow, so that it was +not till the morning of the 30th that we reached +Blanja, the village of Sultan Ismail. As Ismail +had been elected Sultan by a number of influential +chiefs who declined to recognise either Jusuf or +Abdullah (though both of them had far superior +claims), and, as by the Pangkor Treaty and recognition +of Abdullah, Ismail no doubt felt aggrieved, +I did not expect a very friendly reception from him, +nor did I suppose that I should be specially welcome +as the bearer of proclamations which could not be +otherwise than distasteful to him. It was only six +weeks since I had been at Blanja with the Governor,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span> +and again a fortnight later I went there alone. Since +then Ismail (or his advisers in his name) had +summoned nearly all the principal people of the +upper country, and a very large number of boats +had arrived at Blanja, bringing all the chiefs and +their retainers. Moreover, to increase his following +the ex-Sultan had resorted to an expedient not unknown +in England; certain high offices of State +were vacant, and into these he inducted his own +adherents—in fact, created peers, to give himself a +majority in the Upper House.</p> + +<p>I waited half the day hoping to see Ismail, but +failed. They said he was asleep and meant to +remain asleep a long time. That is a common form +of Malay diplomacy, and, as I could not afford to +delay longer, I explained the proclamations, left a +number of copies and said I would call on Ismail +on my way back in a few days. As a piece of +news they told me a customs station had been +established at Blanja, and everyone who passed +would be taxed, white men or Malays. I said I +should be glad to see the collector, and he was introduced, +but seemed embarrassed, and assured me +he was only carrying out his master’s orders, so I +continued my journey. If any conclusion could be +drawn from the conversation and manner of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> +Blanja people, disturbances (war, they called it) were +imminent.</p> + +<p>The next day I was at the Raja Muda’s village, +and had a long talk with him. He also was for +war, but did not think the Malays would begin it. +He said no good would be done in the country, till +“the malcontents” had been taught a lesson. Unfortunately, +as far as could be seen, all the chiefs +with very few exceptions, were in that category. +The people hardly count, they are passive and +recognise that they live to obey their leaders.</p> + +<p>That night I reached Kuala Kangsar, and the +then important personage of the place, an old lady +who lived on the hill where now the Residency +stands, informed me that she had been living in +daily fear of attack by the people of a neighbouring +village called Kôta Lâma. The shops in Kuala +Kangsar were all closed, and everyone was waiting +for the bursting of the storm.</p> + +<p>The latest excitement here was that a notoriously +bad character named Raja Alang, living in a house +by the path which led from Kuala Kangsar to the +neighbouring district of Larut, saw a foreign Malay +(a man of Patâni) walking past with his wife and +two children. When the man got opposite Raja +Alang’s house he raised his trousers to keep them<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span> +out of the mud, and as Raja Alang considered this +disrespectful to him, he called to the man and told +him he must pay a fine of a hundred dollars. The +man was of course unable to comply with this monstrous +demand, so the Raja took him, his wife and +children, into the house, and said he would keep +them there till the money was paid. After a couple +of days, during which they were given no food, +Raja Alang said he would sell the woman and children +to raise the amount of the fine. Just at dawn +on the following morning the Patâni man got up, +took from a Malay lying near him a <i>kris</i>, and with +it stabbed the owner to death. Then he struck out +wildly, killing another man, a woman, his own two +children, and a child of Raja Alang, while he +wounded his own wife. Raja Alang hastily left the +house, hurting himself considerably, for he forgot +the steps in the hurry of his exit. The murderer +went next door and killed two more women and +then escaped. Altogether he killed nine people and +wounded three. It is a detail, I mention it only as +showing the state of society, and because this incident, +at the time of my arrival, was, with rumours +of war, dividing the interests of the people of Kuala +Kangsar.</p> + +<p>On the 1st November I read and posted the proclamations<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span> +in Kuala Kangsar, and on the following +day I went to see the Raja Bĕndahâra, the third +highest officer in the State. He lived across the +river, and to him and a large crowd of his followers +I read the proclamation, and gave the Bĕndahâra +some copies, which I asked him to have posted.</p> + +<p>Amongst the crowd was Raja Alang, who gave +me his version of the <i>âmok</i>, and denied that he had +ill-treated the Patâni man. I see from the journal +I kept in those days that I expressed my surprise +that such things were not of daily occurrence, looking +to the infamous way in which the people were +treated by the Rajas, to which he replied that he had +done wrong but was now <i>taubat</i> (a reformed character), +that he wished to go to Mecca (the desire +of all Malays who want to wipe out a bad record +and rehabilitate themselves with society), and would +be obliged if I would lend him a thousand dollars +for the purpose!</p> + +<p>On the 3rd November I distributed the proclamations +in villages between Kuala Kangsar and Larut, +and in the afternoon went with Raja Mahmud and +one boat up river to Kôta Lâma. This village had +then, as indeed it has still, the unenviable reputation +of being the most impossible place in Perak. +It was a very large village, and the people in it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> +prided themselves on their independence; their +neighbours called it impudence. A few months +before Mr. Birch had visited Kôta Lâma, but the +people turned out with firearms, and said that if he +landed they would shoot him. He had no means +of forcing a landing then, nor of compelling an +apology later, and, therefore, he had not since been +to the place.</p> + +<p>I had been in Kôta Lâma a month before this; +I went to see a man who had been shot through +the shoulder the night before by two men who had +a grudge against him, and had settled it in a +truly Irish fashion. They called at his house, and +while engaging him in conversation and eating his +<i>sîreh</i>, had measured the distance of his sleeping mat +from the walls of the house. It was a wooden +building, and, like all Malay houses, the floor was +raised high above the ground. That night they +had got underneath it, and, having carefully calculated +their host’s position, they fired simultaneously +and decamped. One bullet missed the victim’s +head by an inch or two, and the other went through +the floor and the mat and penetrated his shoulder.</p> + +<p>I now went to see this man again and found him +doing badly, and advised his relatives to send him +to Kuala Kangsar. Then we walked about the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> +village, talked to the people, and in the absence of +the headman I sent for his deputy. He came +accompanied by four or five men all armed to the +teeth, and we had a conversation wherein I think +each side did its best to “bluff” the other. It so +happened that we had come away without the proclamations, +and I asked the headman to send to +Kuala Kangsar, when I got back, and I would give +the papers, that he might post them in Kôta Lâma.</p> + +<p>He said they only acknowledged one chief in +Kôta Lâma, and he was the Raja Bĕndahâra, and +they would do nothing without his orders. I told +them I would ask the Bĕndahâra to give the +necessary instructions, but inquired, “What about +the Sultan?” To which they replied that he lived +a long way off. They added, “We won’t hinder +you if you want to post the proclamations,” but +they did not say it in the politest fashion, and I +told them the permission was unnecessary, as, if I +had had the proclamations, I should have posted +them. After this we had a long and comparatively +friendly talk, and it was nearly dark when I left +them.</p> + +<p>Raja Mahmud stood by and said nothing, but +they knew well enough who he was, and it is +possible they might have acted differently had he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> +not been there. On our way back he told me he +was so amazed at the way the Kôta Lâma men talked +that he felt it wiser not to join in the conversation.</p> + +<p>Arrived at Kuala Kangsar, I found the Raja +Muda Jusuf, and told him the result of my visit to +Kôta Lâma. The Raja Muda’s feelings towards the +Kôta Lâma people were quite beyond expression, +and they were very cordially reciprocated.</p> + +<p>The next morning, the 4th November, my work +being done, I started down river at 8.30 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> +I saw the Raja Muda before I left, and, again +referring to my journal, I find that he said: “No +early or permanent settlement can be made without +force, without making an example of some of the +opposition. They are quiet now because you are +here; as soon as you go they will begin again. If +you and Raja Mahmud will come, and we may use +force, we can settle the matter in a fortnight.”</p> + +<p>Little as he thought it, the time for force was at +hand, for some was already past; but if his prediction +was right, his estimate of the means required +to settle matters was over-sanguine.</p> + +<p>Stopping only for breakfast, my boats reached +Blanja at 4 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> It was my intention to spend +the night there, interview ex-Sultan Ismail, and +continue my journey the next day.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span></p> + +<p>The river at Blanja shoals rapidly towards the +left bank, which is bordered by a long and wide +strip of sand. The boats of those who call here +are dragged as close in as possible, and while our +men were engaged in doing this, and still some +distance from the shore, a man called Haji Ali +waded out to my boat and came on board. We +had noticed the unusual number of people on the +sands—not less than two or three hundred—and +of boats alongside there were at least fifty, but we +were hardly prepared for the news that awaited us.</p> + +<p>This Haji Ali, a tall, well-made man in the prime +of life, was the genial person of evil reputation +who, with Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun, had already +distinguished himself by murdering one of the low-country +chiefs. Notwithstanding this fact the Haji +was always anxious to convey the impression that +he was entirely friendly to me, but I distrusted him +in common with the rest of the Blanja faction.</p> + +<p>Haji Ali seated himself in my boat and at once +stated that Mr. Birch had gone to Pâsir Sâlak, that +there he and sixteen of his people had been murdered +by the Maharaja Lela, who had then attacked +and captured Bandar Bharu, killing all the Sikhs +who had not saved themselves by flight. This +news was so startling that I could not believe it and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> +said so, but the man assured me it was true, and +added as a proof that the Maharaja Lela had sent +Mr. Birch’s own boat to Blanja to prove to Ismail +the truth of his statement. Ismail, he said, had +declined to receive the boat, telling the men who +brought it that as the Maharaja Lela had killed +Mr. Birch he had better keep his boat, and the +messengers had accordingly left with it only two +hours before our arrival.</p> + +<p>At Haji Ali’s first words Raja Mahmud had +caught up his <i>kris</i>, and was now tightening his +waist-belt and preparing for instant trouble.</p> + +<p>The Haji completed his information by considerately +telling me that the Maharaja Lela and his +people had staked the river right across at Pâsir +Sâlak, making it impassable for boats, that they +knew I was returning, and were waiting for me, it +being their belief that when once they had got rid +of Mr. Birch and myself they would have no further +interference from white men, as no one else knew +the country. He concluded with an invitation from +the ex-Sultan to go and see him on shore.</p> + +<p>I thanked him, and to get rid of him asked him +to go back and say that I was coming.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had left the boat I held a hasty +consultation with Raja Mahmud, who said it would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> +be madness to land at Blanja, where we should be +like rats in a trap, and the only course was to go on at +once and at all hazards before they had time to stop us.</p> + +<p>The idea of returning up-river was unpleasant and +well nigh impossible, it was therefore discarded at +once.</p> + +<p>All the men in both my boats had heard what +Haji Ali said, and as some of them did not relish +the prospect of trying to run the gauntlet, I decided +to leave one boat and only take those who volunteered +to go. That question was very soon settled, +every Perak man declined the journey; my Manila +boy took the rudder, three foreign Malays and +Mahmud’s two men formed the crew, and Mahmud +and I were the passengers. There was my Chinese +servant, he was not a man of war, and I thought he +would prefer to remain where he was, for they all +realised that the danger would be in staying with +me. When I asked him, however, he smiled a not +quite pleasant smile, and producing a long knife said +he did not mean to move. It was quite clear that +if it came to close quarters he would give a good +account of himself.</p> + +<p>By this time we were ready to start, but just as +the men were preparing to get the boat out into +the stream, Haji Ali appeared again to take us on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> +shore. I at once told him that if his story was +true I could not stop at Blanja and must go on at +once. How far he had been acting before was +doubtful, but his surprise now was genuine enough. +He said, “It is impossible, the whole country down +stream is in arms, you cannot pass, it is certain +destruction.” We told him that whatever it was +we were going, and we pointed out to him that as +the boat was moving into deep water he had not +much time to get out if he wanted to return to +the shore. He got out, and it was rather deep, but +he stood there and shouted, “No doubt you think +yourselves very fine fellows, but you will be killed +all the same.”</p> + +<p>He was still standing in the same place when +we had gone some distance, and as we passed outside +the long line of boats the many people on +shore realised that we had started again and were +rapidly dropping down stream. It seemed to us +that for them the unexpected had happened.</p> + +<p>The pleasure of thinking that we had at any rate +cheated the Blanja people did not last us long and +I believe every man in the boat—certainly I can +speak for myself—believed that he had started on +a journey of which sudden death was the inevitable +bourne.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span></p> + +<p>The Resident, we were told, had been murdered +at Pâsir Sâlak, and we could not well doubt the +truth of that report. Then the people on both +banks of the river for miles above and below Pâsir +Sâlak were on the watch for us; the Residency +was in the hands of the Maharaja Lela’s people, +the Sikhs killed or fugitives in the jungle; worst of +all, the river at Pâsir Sâlak was staked from bank +to bank, and if so no boat could pass that barrier.</p> + +<p>There were two points of minor moment—first, +that the Residency boats were all painted white, we +had one of them, and no native-owned boat in the +country was white. That fact made us so conspicuous +that we did not think it worth while to lower +the Union Jack we carried at the stern. Secondly, +up to that time no house-boat had ever made the +journey from Blanja to Pâsir Sâlak in anything like +twelve hours, and we calculated, therefore, that we +should reach the point of greatest danger in broad +daylight, probably about 9 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> the next morning. +Speed was our best chance, but here again we were +handicapped by the fact that our men had been +paddling since 8.30 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, they had had one meal, +and now there was a night’s work before them and +no time to stop for cooking.</p> + +<p>If the conditions were as they had been stated,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span> +and as we believed them to be, nothing could save +us, for with two rifles and a shot gun we could +hardly hope to force the barrier unless aided by a +miracle.</p> + +<p>The river was high, the current strong, and just +at dusk we reached Bota. Fastened by an island +opposite the village we saw Mr. Birch’s own boat, +the “Dragon,” and with that all doubt as to his +fate was at an end. Raja Mahmud suggested that +we might stop and attack the people in charge. The +idea was attractive and no doubt it would have been +a surprise to them, but we decided that it was unwise +to waste the time and rouse the whole village. +As we passed the boat we could see no one in or +about it.</p> + +<p>The night was moonless but starlit, fine and clear +enough for our purpose, dark enough to conceal us +when we were in the middle of the stream. But +the Perak is a river where the navigable channel +wanders from side to side in a way that often +baffles the most skilful pilot. The height of the +water lessened our difficulties, but for all that we +were driven at times very close to the banks. +Between 9 and 10 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> a thick white mist came +down and enveloped the river in impenetrable fog. +This was very confusing, for, while it lasted, it was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span> +impossible to see half a boat’s length in any direction. +The mist lifted and fell again at intervals all +through the night, and so dense was it that at one +time we lost our way, and at last discovered by a +snag that we had got the boat completely round +and were paddling up stream!</p> + +<p>That discovery gave us rather a bad shock, for +we calculated that we had lost half an hour of precious +time, and if we could make such a mistake +once it might occur again. It was possible because +we dared not have any light, and only smoked with +the utmost precaution.</p> + +<p>I was so tired that about half-past ten I could no +longer keep awake, and several times the wearied +boatmen dropped asleep over their paddles. We +were not at all certain of our whereabouts, but +some time after eleven o’clock we realised, by the +succession of watch-fires on the banks and the +numbers of men moving about, that we were getting +into the zone of danger. It seemed to me, dozing +and waking, that this lasted for a long time; we +were getting callous of the people on the bank when +we found that no one seemed to observe us however +close we were forced to go.</p> + +<p>I had told them to rouse me when we got near +to Pâsir Sâlak, for now, to our great surprise, it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span> +seemed evident that we should reach the place +hours before dawn. About 1.30 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> Mahmud +quietly woke me, and the boatmen nerved themselves +for the final effort.</p> + +<p>We knew that to get past Pâsir Sâlak it was +necessary to go right under one bank or the other, +and the deepest water was on the left or Kampong +Gâjah side. That we decided to take. Huge fires +were blazing on the bank, and round each were +grouped a number of armed men—indeed, the whole +place was apparently on the <i>qui vive</i>. As noiselessly +as possible, but none the less vigorously, the +men plied their paddles, and we made for the deep +water under the bank. Just at this moment the +thick white veil of mist came down over the river, +and under its sheltering cover we glided swiftly +down, the light of the blazing logs, close though +they were, shining vaguely through the fog, while +now and then a man’s figure, of seemingly gigantic +proportions, loomed out from the fire-lit haze.</p> + +<p>Every instant we expected to feel the shock of +the boat against the barrier, and we had determined +that when that happened we would push our boat +along it till we found the usual opening closed by +a floating log and guarded, as we supposed, by +boats. In the darkness we meant to try and force<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> +our way through or take one of the enemy’s boats +on the down-stream side of the stakes.</p> + +<p>We could hardly realise the truth when we +found ourselves at the lower end of the village +without having encountered any obstruction. The +barrier never existed in fact—only in the imagination +of Haji Ali, or, more probably, the Maharaja +Lela had intended to make it, but the Malay habits +of laziness and procrastination defeated his plan.</p> + +<p>Just as I was thinking a very sincere thanksgiving, +the bow of the boat suddenly ran on the +shore and stuck there fast. We were so close to +the bank that this happened without the slightest +warning. For an instant the steersman had given +the rudder a wrong turn, and we were stranded. +To my dismay, I saw on the high bank, exactly +over us, a large fire with eight or ten men round it. +I seized the shot-gun, Mahmud had a rifle, and we +knelt with fingers on trigger covering two of the +figures that were distinct enough in spite of the +mist, for we were hardly ten feet distant from them.</p> + +<p>Two of our men with poles were making superhuman +efforts to push off the boat, when a man on +the bank called out, “Whose boat is that?” One +of our men replied, “Haji Mat Yassin’s,” having +seen his boat at Blanja. “Where are you from?”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span> +was the next inquiry, and the reply was, “Blanja.” +“Where are you for?” and other questions followed, +but by this time the bow of the boat was off +and we were drifting stern-foremost out into the +stream and the sheltering fog. As the distance +widened and shouts came to stop, the answers +returned were derisive and misleading, for everyone +felt that the real danger was past and the life +he had made up his mind to lose would not be +required of him that night after all.</p> + +<p>It was true that we had yet to pass the Residency +at Bandar Bharu, five miles lower down, and we +had been told this was in the hands of the Maharaja +Lela, but there at least there was no barrier, and +we were confident that we had nothing more to +fear.</p> + +<p>We passed Bandar Bharu quietly, we saw a light +on each bank and a man on watch by the light, and +we said to each other that it would be very easy to +shoot the men as they placed themselves so conveniently +<i>en évidence</i>.</p> + +<p>Ten miles lower down the river, it being then +only 3 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, we were suddenly hailed by a voice +threatening death and other penalties if we did not +immediately declare who we were. That was a +very welcome challenge, for I recognised the voice,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span> +and in a few seconds we were alongside a Selangor +steam-launch.</p> + +<p>Only then we learnt that Bandar Bharu had not +fallen into the hands of the enemy, and we had +therefore come ten miles further than was necessary; +but we congratulated ourselves on the forbearance +we had shown in not shooting the sentries, and +later in the morning, when we got up to the +Residency, suggested that if the Sikh felt lonesome +in the night watches it would perhaps be wiser for +him not to stand in the full blaze of a large lamp.</p> + +<p>The Maharaja Lela and his friends professed +themselves both surprised and disappointed when +they found I had arrived at Bandar Bharu, having +passed Pâsir Sâlak without their knowledge. I +daresay, however, that some of them were not altogether +sorry that they had been spared a meeting +with Raja Mahmud, for he was reckoned a mighty +man of valour. In my case he was also a wise +counsellor, for subsequent disclosures proved that had +I landed at Blanja the intention was to immediately +attack and murder me, and when we so abruptly +left that place the ingenuous Haji Ali and his friend +the Pĕnglima Prang Sĕmaun with a number of their +men were sent after us in fast boats on a mission +similar to the one they had previously undertaken<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span> +and successfully carried out. As we saw nothing +of them I conclude they did not exert themselves to +overtake us.</p> + +<p>During the subsequent military operations in +Perak, Haji Ali fell into our hands, and, after some +weeks spent on a British man-of-war, he became +quite a reformed character. I occasionally see him +now, but he seems depressed, and when I find him +looking at me there is no anger in his face, only a +great sorrow as of a man who is misunderstood by +the world and who suffers without resentment.</p> + +<p>I don’t know why, but this expression is a source +of unfeigned amusement to the Malays who happen +to see it. It is very unfeeling of them.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXI">XXI<br> +<span class="smaller">NAKODAH ORLONG</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Two things greater than all things are,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">One is Love and the other War</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Rudyard Kipling</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>On the day after my arrival at Bandar Bharu, +Captain Innes, R.E., came from Penang +accompanied by two officers and sixty men of the +First Battalion of H.M. 10th Regiment, together +with the Superintendent of the Penang Police (Hon. +H. Plunket) and twenty native constables armed +with rifles.</p> + +<p>Captain Innes, an exceptionally able member of +his distinguished corps, was then in civil employ as +head of the Public Works Department in Penang. +When the news of Mr. Birch’s murder reached that +place, the nearest British Settlement, Captain Innes +was sent with a force to take charge of the +Residency.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span></p> + +<p>It is not my intention to detail the subsequent +events except in so far as is necessary for a right +understanding of an incident connected with the +death of a man called Nakodah Orlong, a Sumatran +Malay.</p> + +<p>With the force at our disposal, which included +Lieut. Abbott, R.N., his four bluejackets, and +about fifty so-called Sikhs, it was determined to +attack Pâsir Sâlak before the Maharaja Lela had +time to collect a large following. An immediate +advance was also considered advisable to prevent +the number of our enemies being increased by what +might look like our indecision. With Easterns, to sit +still and stockade your position is probably, under +such circumstances, the worst course possible.</p> + +<p>We knew that the Maharaja Lela was throwing +up works, not only in his village, but outside of it, +and to force them it was decided to take two +howitzers and a rocket-tube.</p> + +<p>The distance from Bandar Bharu to Pâsir Sâlak +was five miles, every yard of it covered with +vegetation of some sort, the only road a narrow +path by the river-bank; moreover, Pâsir Sâlak was +not on our side of the river. It was, therefore, +settled that we should start at daylight the next +morning, the 7th November, in boats, that we<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> +should pole up stream two miles and walk the rest, +the guns being served by the bluejackets from two +boats that would be kept in line with the shore +party.</p> + +<p>All that was wanted was a body of scouts to feel +the way, and I undertook to find these. There +were Raja Mahmud, his two followers, and the +Manila boy already spoken of, but it was hard to +say where any other trustworthy Malays could be +got at such short notice. Late that evening, +however, Nakodah Orlong, whom I knew well, came +in, and when I asked him if he would join us he at +once consented, and said he could bring fourteen of +his own men with him. That made us twenty, and +was enough for the purpose.</p> + +<p>We were up at 4.30 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span> on the 7th, got all the +men into boats, and made a start by 7.30 <span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>, not +without difficulty, however, for we were hard +pressed for hands to do the poling. It was only +after we had started that I learnt the intention of +taking guns had been abandoned, a very unfortunate +change of plan as it turned out. To attack, +without guns, any work defended by Malays means +a certain sacrifice of life, as we found to our cost, +and took care that the mistake was never repeated. +The carriage of guns and rockets through the jungle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span> +means delay and hard work, but, whatever the +trouble and delay, hardly any consideration will +justify an attack without at least one gun.</p> + +<p>The river journey was accomplished without +incident, a landing was effected, and the party +moved off. The scouts were in front, followed at +an interval by half the detachment of the 10th, +Captain Innes and the sailors with a rocket-tube +came next, then the Sikhs and Penang Police under +Mr. Plunket, and last of all the remainder of the +10th Regiment.</p> + +<p>We began the march gaily enough, not expecting +to meet with any resistance till near Pâsir Sâlak. +After walking a mile or so, always close by the +river-bank, we came to a large field of Indian corn. +The plants were eight or ten feet high, and so +thick and close that it was impossible to see more +than three or four yards in any direction; the ground +between the corn-stalks was planted with hill-padi, +and that was a couple of feet in height.</p> + +<p>On entering this field we opened out to cover +as large a front as possible, and, when half way +through the corn, passed a gigantic fig-tree growing +on the edge of the river bank. On my right was +Nakodah Orlong, and to the right of him one of his +men called Alang; on my left was Raja Mahmud<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> +the Manila boy, and the rest of the scouts. We +had been walking fast, and of the rest of the force +we could see and hear nothing.</p> + +<p>We were talking and laughing (being still a long +way from Pâsir Sâlak) when suddenly we came to +the end of the cover, for the last few feet of the +corn had been cut down. At this moment Nakodah +Orlong said, “There they are,” and the words were +hardly out of his mouth when we were greeted by +a volley from the enemy concealed behind a stockade +not a dozen yards in front of us.</p> + +<p>Nakodah Orlong fell without uttering another +sound, and, the enemy maintaining a brisk fire, our +position was so uncomfortable that my own inclination +was unhesitatingly to get out of the way. +Probably my intention was apparent, for Raja +Mahmud said, “Stand fast and shoot.” I was +obliged to him and followed his advice, but as the +Manila boy and I were the only possessors of +shooting-weapons, and the enemy were hidden +behind a rampart of logs and banana-stems, while +we had no shelter whatever, our continued existence +was due simply to their want of skill.</p> + +<p>The absurdity of the situation was apparent, and +its unpleasantness was heightened by the opening +of a brisk fusilade in our rear. That decided us<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span> +and we stepped back under cover, and then moved +to the sheltering trunk of the fig-tree. Arrived +there we found that besides Nakodah Orlong (about +whose fate there was no doubt, for he fell within a +yard of me), Alang was the only one missing. He +was the last man on the right, and, as no one had +seen him, we concluded that he also had been killed. +It was at once proposed that we should go back and +secure the bodies, but our own people keeping up a +merciless discharge in rear, and the enemy doing +their best in front, we were between two fires, and +thought it best to try and stop our friends at any +rate from shooting us.</p> + +<p>We shouted, but that, of course, was no use, no +one could either see or hear us, and it was some +minutes before we were able to let Captain Innes +know of our position. In that time we realised +that even a large tree offers poor shelter from a cross +fire. It did not, however, take us long to decide +that the side towards the enemy was the safest.</p> + +<p>That was only the beginning of misunderstanding; +twice again during the day we were placed in the +same uncomfortable position, and a man kneeling +behind me was shot in the <i>back</i> of his thigh. Once +also the Sikhs made a determined attack on the men +with me as we were trying to outflank the Malays,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span> +and in spite of our shouts only desisted when almost +within touch of us. It is true, of course, that the +cover was so dense they could not see us until the +last moment. They were so dispirited by this waste +of effort, that they incontinently left the place and +went straight home in spite of all Plunket’s attempts +to stop them. That was in no sense his fault, for +they were not his men, and he had never seen them +before the previous evening. The Penang police +had retired <i>en masse</i> at an even earlier hour, and +explained afterwards, with much force, that it was +not for this kind of work that they had engaged.</p> + +<p>The enemy’s stockade was a long rampart impenetrable +to bullets; it was faced by a deep and +wide ditch cut at right angles to the river, with one +end on the bank and the other in high jungle. The +work was backed by a thick plantation of bananas, +affording perfect cover, and those defending it were +commanded by the Maharaja Lela in person, and his +father-in-law Pandak Indut, foremost of Mr. Birch’s +murderers.</p> + +<p>I am not now concerned with the details of the +attack, it is sufficient to say that it did not take long +to prove how serious a mistake had been made in leaving +the howitzers behind. The rockets, an old pattern, +were ineffective, and as they all went over the top of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span> +the stockade were greeted by the jeers of the enemy. +We were close enough to hear even what they said +in the intervals between the firing. Experience is +usually costly, and what we learnt on the 7th enabled +us, a week later, to carry this and a succession +of other stockades without the loss of a man.</p> + +<p>About 1 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> (our force being then reduced to the +officers, the men of the 10th, bluejackets, and Malay +scouts) Captain Innes gave the order to charge the +stockade. That was done, but without guns to clear +the way it was a hopeless task. We could not get +across the ditch in the face of an unseen, protected +enemy, while we were entirely at their mercy. We +had to retire with the loss of Captain Innes killed, +both the officers of the 10th (Lieutenants Booth and +Elliott) severely wounded, and other casualties. If +men with weapons of precision and the knowledge +to handle them had held the work, none of our +party ought to have escaped. But with Malays you +can take liberties; their weapons take some time to +load, but they are deadly enough at a few yards +distance if the men who hold them would not fire at +the tree-tops. The Malay’s idea is to loose off his +piece as often as he can, it makes a noise and that +puts heart into the man who fires, fear into the enemy.</p> + +<p>Though we had gained nothing by rushing the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span> +place, the enemy did not like that style of attack +and retired, only we did not know it then. We were +engaged in counting the cost, picking up the wounded +and organising an orderly retreat, for it was late, we +had some miles to go, and we expected the Malays +would leave their shelter and come after us. Personally +I did not know Captain Innes had been +killed, I was in the centre and he was on the extreme +right. My party was hampered by having to carry +a wounded man, and when we got back to the +middle of the field where Abbott and Plunket were +waiting, Innes and the others had already been +taken away. We had no surgeon, no stretchers, +and the return journey was one that is not pleasant +to recall.</p> + +<p>We reached our boats at 3 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span>, and the Residency +a quarter of an hour later.</p> + +<p>For some time I was very busy trying to attend +to the wounded, but then my Malay friends asked +me for a boat, as they said they must go and fetch +Nakodah Orlong’s body, and see what had become +of Alang. A British soldier was also missing. I +gave the boat and they started.</p> + +<p>About 8 <span class="allsmcap">P.M.</span> they returned with Alang and the +body of his chief; they had met the lad swimming +down the river with his master’s body.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span></p> + +<p>When Nakodah Orlong fell, and the rest of us +got away behind the great tree, this boy stayed by +the dead man, and as he was right in the line of the +thickest cross-fire, Alang pulled the body as close +to the bank as he could, and there remained from +morning till evening, making no sign, but simply +declining to abandon the corpse. A man even +came out from the stockade and attacked him with +a <i>kris</i>, wounding him on the hand, but Alang beat +him off. After the final charge, when our people +passed close by him, it was he who saw the Malays +retire, and he allowed us all to go away and leave +him without giving any indication of his whereabouts.</p> + +<p>Then, the coast being clear, unable to carry the +body so great a distance, he dragged it into the +river and was swimming down stream with it when +the boat met him.</p> + +<p>I went down to the boat to see Nakodah Orlong; +he looked just as I had seen him last, except that +his hair and clothes were drenched with water and +there was a great hole in the centre of his forehead, +marking, no doubt, the track of an iron bullet from +a swivel-gun. Of that, however, he could never +have been conscious, nor yet of the devotion of the +man whose life had been in extremest peril throughout<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span> +a long day to guard his chief’s dead body, without +thought of gain or praise, only determined that +none but loving hands should be laid upon the +voiceless, pulseless clay he once called master.</p> + +<p>Given a glorious sunny day and a good cause, +the idea of ending existence suddenly and painlessly +in the pride of life and in face of the foe has its +attractions, and robs the inevitable of its sting.</p> + +<p>But who can hope that after his death there will +be one other being whose love is great enough to +offer his own life a willing sacrifice to guard the +thing that was to-day a friend and to-morrow will +be corruption?</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="XXII">XXII<br> +<span class="smaller">EVENING</span></h2> + +<div class="epigram"> + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent2">Phœbus loosens all his golden hair</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Right down the sky</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Eric Mackay</span></div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<p>The tale of these little lives is told. If I have +failed to bring you close to the Malay, so +that you could see into his heart, understand something +of his life, and perhaps even sympathise with +the motives that will lead him to acts of high +courage and self-sacrifice, then the fault is mine.</p> + +<p>The glory of the Eastern morning, the freshness +and the fragrance of the forest, the sultry heat of +these plains and slopes of eternal green on which +the moisture-charged clouds unceasingly pour fatness—these +are the home of the Malay, the background +against which he stands.</p> + +<p>Come, we have done with it all; let us leave the +plain, seething in the heat of early afternoon, and +ride up this mountain path, through all the wealth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span> +and the magnificence of tropical jungle, and look +down on the land for the last time.</p> + +<p>Our callous eyes—surfeited with years of gazing +on brilliant colours, great stretches of sea and +forest, huge trees, a bewildering luxury of foliage, +beasts measured by the elephant and rhinoceros, +birds by the argus pheasant and the peacock—are +blind to the infinite beauty of our surroundings. +This path, by which we slowly rise to cooler altitudes +and a new flora, would excite in the stranger +feelings of wonder and rapturous delight.</p> + +<p>The road itself is cut through soil of a deep +shade of <i>terra cotta</i>, the colour all the more vivid by +reason of the hues of green by which it is environed. +The sunlight strikes in rays of brilliant light across +this path, falling on red soil, granite boulder and +massive tree-trunk, intensifying colour and deepening +shadow. Here and there are seen glimpses of +the plains below, the distant sea, the peaks and +valleys of other hill ranges, and the ear constantly +catches the delightful sound of falling water, the +voices of numerous streams dashing down the +steep mountain sides in cascades of sparkling +foam.</p> + +<p>The path twists and winds, often by sharp zigzags, +up the face of the hill, across a narrow saddle<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> +and then by an even steeper ascent, till at last we +gain the summit of the mountain.</p> + +<p>Stand here. The limit of vision is wide; you +will scarce find a grander spectacle in this Peninsula. +We are nearly 5,000 feet above the sea, and from +north to south the eye travels over a distance not +far short of two hundred miles. Eastward, those +distant hills are fully a hundred miles away, and +soon on the western horizon the sun will meet the +sea in a blaze of glory, as though kindling at the +touch of loving arms long waiting for his coming.</p> + +<p>That faint blue peak in the north, hazy and +indistinct, is Gûnong Jerai in Kĕdah, and the island +to the westward, which smiles through a golden +veil, is Penang. A grey streak of water shot with +gleams of sunlight divides it from the mainland, and +the forty miles of country thence to the foot of this +hill, and far south again to those blue islets off the +Dinding coast, lie flat and fertile, a feast for the +eyes. Vivid green patches mark thousands of acres +of sugar-cane and rice-field, but the general effect is +an unbroken expanse of dark jungle, mostly mangrove, +for all this land from hill-base to sea-shore is +of comparatively recent formation, the erosion from +the hills carried down seawards and covered with a +wealth of foliage ever renewed by the excessive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span> +heat and excessive moisture of this forcing tropical +climate. No rocks, no bare hills, no arid plains, +everything covered with vegetation: new graves look +old in a month, the buildings of a year, for all their +seeming, might have stood for half a century.</p> + +<p>Only at our feet does the hand of man make any +mark on the landscape. There, amid trees and +gardens, nestle the red roofs of Taiping. You might +cover the place with a tablecloth for all its many +inhabitants, its long wide streets, open spaces, and +public buildings.</p> + +<p>And those pools of water all around the town, +what are those?</p> + +<p>They are abandoned tin-mines, alluvial workings +from which the ore has been removed, and water +mercifully covers, in part, this desolation of gaping +holes and upturned sand.</p> + +<p>The shore, due west and distant some twenty +miles from the foot of the range on which we stand, +is deeply indented by three great bays. They are +the mouths of three rivers, short, shallow and insignificant +in themselves; it is difficult to understand +why they should make such an imposing entry on +the sea. A mile or two inland from the coast the +eye is caught by twenty little lakes, on which the +sun loves to linger, burnishing them to gold when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span> +the setting in which these jewels lie has turned to +purple. They are fragments of estuaries, deep +waveless lagoons winding through the mangroves, +and showing to the distant spectator only broken +reaches, glimpses of bay and headland.</p> + +<p>The shore-line is a ribbon of glistening light, +bordering the wide expanse of forest trees, whose +roots stand deep in water when the tide is high. +The mangrove cannot live beyond the reach of the +brine from which it seems to draw the sap of life, +and these mud flats, in their gradual accretion, are +as yet scarcely above the level of the sea.</p> + +<p>Turning to the north-east, a deep valley lies +beneath us, the source of a long river, the Kurau. +Miles and miles beyond rise range after range of +lofty mountains, Biong and Inas and Bintang, +running into the heart of the Peninsula. Further +eastward is the country near the sources of the +Perak River, and across the narrow valley, through +which its upper waters dance in a succession of +rapids, may be discerned peaks of the main range +which look down on the China Sea.</p> + +<p>Now we are facing the south-east and the valley +of the Perak River. The ridge on which we stand +divides it from the Province of Larut, and surely +there are few fairer sights in the East than this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span> +same valley through which the river, plainly visible +twenty miles away, winds in a silver streak. On +the right stands Gûnong Bubu, the isolated mass +terminating in a needle-like point nearly 6000 feet +high. The spurs of this mountain spread out in +every direction, north to the Pass from Larut into +the Perak Valley, east to the Perak River, and +southwards nearly to the coast. In the south-east, +across the Perak River, rise five or six ranges of +hills of ever-increasing height. Over the first range +can be seen the valley of the Kinta, with its many +fantastic limestone cliffs standing clearly out; then +follow Chabang, Korbu, and finally the mountains +dividing Perak from Păhang. Those hills fading +out of sight in the far-away south are near the +borders of Perak and Selangor.</p> + +<p>As we turn our faces back to the setting sun, +the great disc, now grown a deep crimson, is sinking +through a bank of clouds into a sea of flame. +The waters beyond the influence of the sun’s light +are a brilliant sapphire, a reflection of the sky above. +There is only one long, low bank of cloud, and that +is on the horizon.</p> + +<p>A moment later and the sun itself has gone, but +from the spot where it disappeared is radiating a +lurid glow which kindles the clouds into fire and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span> +shoots rays of gold over Penang in the north and +the Dinding Islands in the south, seventy miles +apart. This golden light spreads for a space upward +through the bank of clouds, till, paling into a +belt of grey that again deepens into blue, and ever +gaining in intensity, it rises to the zenith and fills +the empyrean.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the darkness which seemed to be +settling over the distant eastern ranges is gradually +suffused with soft tints of <i>rose dorée</i>, transfiguring +peak after peak and clearly defining every ridge and +valley. This aftermath of day, wherein the sun +returns to kiss the hills with one last lingering +caress, fills the whole atmosphere with a rosy +effulgence, then fades reluctantly away. ’Twixt +western sea and eastern hill lies that great sea-indented +plain over which night settles slowly but +surely, while still the sky and hills are vivid with +colour. But even the plain assumes its night garb +with no less grace and beauty. A faint mist has +risen from swamp and river, and, spreading itself +over the land, takes soft hues of opal and heliotrope +deepening into purple, while only the pools and +river-reaches shine out, like scraps of mirror stealing +borrowed glory from the sky.</p> + +<p>Soon this light wanes; purple turns to grey, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span> +colours fade from sky and sea, only the shore-line +keeps its sheen. Then this too dies, and great +white clouds, coming from out the mines and +marshes like a troop of giant spectres risen in their +grave-clothes, stalk slowly round the foothills of +the mountain, through the Pass into the valley of +the Perak River.</p> + +<p>Here, at this elevation, the night is not quite +yet.</p> + +<p>Close around us still the jungle, but the trees are +dwarfed, the boughs are covered with moss and +lichen, orchids and ferns flourish in the forks, gorgeously +blossomed creepers twine round the branches +and hang from tree to tree. The air is full of the +scent of the magnolia, the moss-carpeted ground is +gay with a myriad flowers, some brilliantly plumaged +songless birds flit silently between the trees, and a +great bat sails aimlessly across the waning light. +The shrill scream of the cicada is but faintly heard +far down the height, and night comes, like a closing +hand grasping in resistless darkness all things +visible. The only sound to break the silence is the +fitful and plaintive croak of a wood-frog.</p> + +<p>If night treads closely on the heels of day, there +is no need for regret. The darkness is but for a +moment, and over the eastern peaks spreads a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span> +silvery sheen, herald of that great orb of splendour +which, rising rapidly, clears the mountain and sheds +a flood of wonderful, indescribable, mellow radiance +over forest, plain, and sea, softening what is crude, +pointing with brilliance the most striking features, +and casting into a fathomless shadow the dark +valleys of the western slopes. There is nothing +cold about this Eastern moon. Seen, half-risen, +against the dark foliage of the mountain, it glitters +like molten silver, dazzling the eyes, and as it soars +serenely upward seems the very perfection of beauty, +light, and purity.</p> + +<p>Strange that the delight and glory of mankind +since ever the earth was peopled, the emblem of +unattainable longing, should be only a gigantic +cinder.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> The attitude is that obtained by transferring the body +directly from a kneeling to a sitting position.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> “The Heavenly Twins,” book iii., chap. iii.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The <i>Sârong</i> is the Malay national garment, a sort of skirt, +usually in tartan, worn by men and women alike.</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>[291]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOTE_ON_THE_COVER_DESIGN">NOTE ON THE COVER DESIGN</h2> + +</div> + +<p><i>The colours used on the cover of this book are those +recognised as “Royal” colours in one or other of the +Malay States. Throughout the Peninsula yellow is the special +colour worn or used by those of Raja birth. By the ancient +Malay sumptuary laws the lower classes were not allowed to +wear yellow garments, nor to use this colour in the decoration +of furniture of their houses. These laws are no longer rigidly +observed, but in most Malay States the use of yellow fabrics is +confined to the Raja class.</i></p> + +<p><i>It is a universal practice to put letters addressed to Malay +rulers (when they are of Raja birth) into covers of yellow +cotton cloth or yellow satin, while those addressed to Rajas +who have no official position, or to chiefs of importance but not +of Raja birth, are stitched into covers of white cotton.</i></p> + +<p><i>In some of the States the royal flag is yellow, in others it is +white or black, while in several of the more important States<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span> +of Sumatra (as for instance in Acheen), black garments are the +special privilege of the Raja class.</i></p> + +<p><i>In Perak the three highest native authorities in the State, +the Sultan, his heir (styled Raja Muda), and his Wazîr +(the Raja Bĕndahâra), fly flags of white, yellow, and black +respectively, and these three colours united have, for the last +twenty years, been adopted as the Perak State flag.</i></p> + +<p><i>The three daggers on the cover are good types of the Malay +“kris,” the favourite national weapon. The originals of these +particular specimens are in the Perak museum and were +photographed for this design.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><i>F. A. S.</i></p> + +<p><i>Xmas day, 1895.</i></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp50" style="max-width: 100em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76055 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + |