ir r i~ti — i — —- - 
 
 " lomcisa D'fiCfiOEnitj 
 
1 
 
 LIBRARY^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of California. 
 
 Class 
 
) 
 
 MALAY SKETCHES 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 UNADDRESSED LETTERS 
 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. Third Edition 
 
 "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." — The Athenceum. 
 
 ' ' His narrative style is admirable, and his episodes 
 are always interesting. One could read for many 
 hours of the clever mongoose and tigers and croco- 
 diles. ... Sir Frank Swettenham has a pretty 
 humour. . . . The style in which these • Unaddressed 
 Letters' is written is excellent." — The Pall Mall 
 Gazette. 
 
 THE REAL MALAY 
 
 PEN PICTURES 
 Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 "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. " — The Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 "Sir Frank Swettenham understands perhaps 
 better than any other roving Englishman ' The Real 
 Malay.' " — The Morning Post. 
 
BY 
 
 SIR FRANK ATHELSTANE SWETTENHAM 
 
 JOHN LANE : THE BODLEY HEAD 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK MDCCCCIII 
 
 5r $ •$ 9f & 
 
 OF THE ^ 
 
PRESERVATION -,<. <r© -2- 
 
 COPY ADDED %SS^. 
 
 ORIGINAL TO BE CaL 
 
 RETAINED b ' 
 
 MAR 6 1995 
 
 THIRD EDITION 
 
 Printed by Ballantynk Hanson & Co. 
 London & Edinburgh 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGT? 
 
 INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 I. THE REAL MALAY . . . . I 
 
 II. THE TIGER 12 
 
 III. A FISHING PICNIC 19 
 
 IV. THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER .... 25 
 
 v. meng-gSlunchor . . .... 31 
 
 vi. Amok 38 
 
 VII. THE j6get ........ 44 
 
 VIII. THE STORY OF MAT ARIS .... • 53 
 
 IX. LlTAH 64 
 
 X. THE ETERNAL FEMININE 83 
 
 XI. IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 92 
 
 XII. VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO 103 
 
 XIII. THE PASSING OF PRNGLIMA PRANG SRMAUN . . 112 
 
 XIV. BBR-HANTU 147 
 
 XV. THE KING'S WAY l6l 
 
 XVI. A MALAY ROMANCE 1 79 
 
 XVII. MALAY SUPERSTITIONS I92 
 
 XVIII. WITH A CASTING-NET ... . 211 
 
 XIX. JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH .... 227 
 
 XX. A PERSONAL INCIDENT 248 
 
 XXI. NAKODAH ORLONG 27O 
 
 XXII. EVENING 28l 
 
 163942 
 
PREFACE 
 
 r I 'HIS 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 The traveller will come in time, and he will 
 publish his experiences of Malaya and the Malays ; 
 but while he may look upon the country with a 
 vil 
 
PREFACE 
 
 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 por- 
 trayed. 
 
 FRANK SWETTENHAM. 
 
 The Residency, 
 
 Perak, 28 March 1895. 
 
 rffl 
 
"Quel est done ce pays, disaient- 
 ils Tun a l'autre, inconnu a tout le 
 reste de la terre, et ou toute la na- 
 ture est d'une espece si differente 
 de la notre?" 
 
 VOLTAIRI 
 
 T MAGINE yourself transported to a land of eternal 
 A summer, to that Golden Peninsula, 'twixt Hin- 
 dustan 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. 
 
 And Man? 
 
 Yes, he is here. Forgotten by the world, passed 
 by in the race for civilisation, here he has remained 
 iz 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 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. 
 
 Malaya, land of the pirate and the amok, 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. 
 
 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, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 but they will change, and the process of " awaken- 
 ing " has in places already begun. 
 
 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 inter- 
 esting to the observer. This is the moment of 
 transition, and these are sketches of the Malay 
 as he is. 
 
Jetons-nous dans cette petite barque, laissons-nous 
 aller au courant : une riviere mene toujour* a quelque 
 endroit habite ; si nous ne trouvons pas des choses 
 agreables, nous trouverons du moins des choses 
 nouvelles 
 
 " ' Allons,' dit Candide, ' recommandons-nous a la 
 Providence ' " 
 
 VOLTAIRI 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 I 
 
 THE REAL MALAY 
 
 He was the mildest manner'd man 
 That ever scuttled ship or cut a 
 throat 
 
 Byron, Don Juan 
 
 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 under- 
 stand the inner man, and this knowledge can there- 
 fore only come to those who have the opportunity 
 and use it. 
 
 So far the means of studying Malays in their own 
 country (where alone they are seen in their true 
 
 I A 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 The real Malay is a short, thick-set, well-built 
 man, with straight black hair, a dark brown com- 
 plexion, 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 trust- 
 worthy 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 
 z 
 
THE REAL MALAY 
 
 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 im- 
 portance. 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. 
 
 A Malay is intolerant of insult or slight ; it is 
 something that to him should be wiped out in 
 
 3 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 amok. 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Though the Malay is an Islam by profession, and 
 would suffer crucifixion sooner than deny his faith, 
 
THE REAL MALAY 
 
 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 begin- 
 ning 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. 
 
 Christian missionaries of all denominations have 
 apparently abandoned the hope of his conversion. 
 
 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 com- 
 pulsory exile on earth. 
 
 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 
 
 5 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 when he is hungry, has no toys, is never whipped, 
 and hardly ever cries. 
 
 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 Koran 
 in a language he does not understand. 
 
 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 civilisa- 
 tion, 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 use- 
 fulness 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. 
 
 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 
 
THE REAL MALAY 
 
 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 padi field, 
 but she is kept out of the way of all strange men- 
 kind. 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 com- 
 plexion, 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. 
 
 Unmarried girls are taught to avoid all men 
 except those nearly related to them. Until mar- 
 riage, 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. 
 
 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 
 
 7 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 participatidh in the fetes and pleasures of Malay 
 society, is looked upon as a jealous, ill-conditioned 
 person. 
 
 Malays are extremely particular about questions 
 of rank and birth, especially when it comes to 
 marriage, and mesalliances, as understood in the 
 West, are with them very rare. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
 8 
 
THE REAL MALAY 
 
 are still a rugged simplicity and untidiness, absolutely 
 devoid of all sense of order. 
 
 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 hob- 
 nail boots, and no screaming viragoes — because a 
 word would get rid of them. All forms of mad- 
 ness, mania, and brain-softening are extremely rare. " A 
 
 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. 
 
 9 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 10 
 
THE REAL MALAY 
 
 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." 
 
 It is possible that thus she becomes acquainted 
 with truth. 
 
 ii 
 
II 
 
 THE TIGER 
 
 Yon golden terror, barred with ebon 
 
 stripes 
 Low-crouching horror, with the cruel 
 
 fangs 
 Waiting in deathly stillness for thy 
 
 spring 
 
 Anon. 
 
 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 delibe- 
 rately 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. 
 But how describe an Eastern dawn ? Sight 
 alone will give a true impression of its strange 
 beauty. Out of darkness and stillness, the transi- 
 
 12 
 
THE TIGER 
 
 tion 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 A woman dressed in the sarong, 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 
 
 f OF THE A 
 
 If MNIVFRSITY I 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 speech- 
 less 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. 
 
 It takes little time to tell the story, and the men 
 of the house, armed with spears and krises and an 
 old rusty gun, quickly spread the news throughout 
 14 
 
THE TIGER 
 
 the kampong, 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 ka-tua 
 kampong, 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 out- 
 skirts of the wide surrounding ring of beaters where 
 15 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 pre- 
 vent him reaching and pulling down the youth who 
 fired it. 
 
 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 pre- 
 vent the tiger "running up the spear" and killing 
 his opponent. 
 
 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. 
 
 By this time, all the principal people in the neigh- 
 bourhood have been collected. The copse is sur- 
 16 
 
THE TIGER 
 
 rounded 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. 
 
 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 
 n b 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 tiger is pinned to the ground and dies under the 
 thrusts of many spears. 
 
 The general result of a tiger hunt, under such 
 circumstances, is the death or serious injury of one 
 or two of the pursuers. 
 
Ill 
 
 A FISHING PICNIC 
 
 I have given you lands to hunt in, 
 I have given you streams to fish in, 
 Filled the river full of fishes 
 
 LONGTILLOW 
 
 NOW come to a Malay picnic. 
 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. 
 
 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 
 19 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 which with the rice and salt, will make the coming 
 feast. 
 
 The road lies through six or seven miles of 
 open country and virgin forest, and it is 9 or 
 10 a.m. before the river is reached, the elephants 
 hobbled, and the men of the party ready for 
 business. 
 
 In days gone by, the method would have been to 
 tuba 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 de- 
 tonator 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 
 
A FISHING PICNIC 
 
 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 
 klah and tengas, 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. 
 
 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 re- 
 sponsible for the keen appetites is not worth 
 
 31 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 bouille-abaisse, 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
A FISHING PICNIC 
 
 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 am- 
 munition having run out, there is nothing left but to 
 count the damage done. 
 
 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 
 *3 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 94 
 

 IV 
 THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER 
 
 It is a damned and bloody work, 
 The graceless action of a heavy hand 
 King John 
 
 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 Penghulu, 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. 
 
 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 
 
 25 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 there were no marks of violence on the corpse, which 
 was duly buried. 
 
 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 know- 
 ledge 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. 
 
 The details of the story as told in evidence are as 
 follows, and they are very characteristic of the 
 Malay : 
 
 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 
 26 
 
THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER 
 
 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. 
 
 That evening, at 8 p.m., 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. 
 
 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 
 27 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 The witnesses of this tragedy appear then to have 
 returned to their homes and slept peacefully. 
 Several of them naively 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. 
 
 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 appa- 
 rently 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 
 28 
 
THE MURDER OF THE HAWKER 
 
 eye-witnesses going on a similar errand, he per- 
 suaded him to give a qualified promise to help in 
 denying Ngah Prang's complicity while convicting 
 the others. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 kampong 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 
 29 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 5° 
 
MENG-GELUNCHOR 
 
 And falling and crawling and sprawl- 
 ing, 
 
 And driving and riving and striving, 
 
 And sprinkling and twinkling and 
 winkling, 
 
 And sounding and bounding and 
 rounding, 
 Dividing and gliding and sliding, 
 
 And trumping and plumping and 
 bumping and jumping, 
 
 And dashing and flashing and splash- 
 ing and clashing 
 
 Southiy 
 
 THE Malays of Pfirak occasionally indulge them- 
 selves 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 01 our time, I offer it to the iaded 
 pleasure-seekers of the West. 
 
 Given a fine sunny morning (and that is what 
 most mornings are in Perak) you will drive four or 
 3i 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 mZng-gtlunchor and to take part in the 
 picnic which forms a recognised accompaniment to 
 the proceedings. 
 
 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 suc- 
 cession 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 in- 
 viting lynn not more than four feet deep. On either 
 
MENG-GELUNCHOR 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 nrtng-gllunchor. It is to slide, and the game is to 
 "toboggan" down this waterfall into the lynn at its 
 base. 
 
 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 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 33 c 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 meng-gZlunchor 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 de- 
 scription, 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 
 
 34 
 
MENG-GELUNCHOR 
 
 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 mbig- 
 gllunchor with the best of them, nor be the first to 
 cry " hold, enough." 
 
 It is usual for the men, when sliding down the 
 rock, to sit upon a piece of the thick fibre of the 
 plantain called upih. 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. 
 
 By I p.m. 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. 
 
 The intelligent reader will realise that this is a 
 game abounding in possibilities, but the players 
 35 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 should be chosen with discrimination and with due 
 regard to individual affinities. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Puffed sleeves and a bell skirt, Louis XIV. 
 heels and an eighteen inch waist, would be incon- 
 venient and out of place when sliding down a 
 waterfall in the hope of a safe and graceful plunge 
 into a shallow lynn. 
 
 But if the company be well chosen, the venue 
 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 appli- 
 cation of Art to Nature, the Eastern pastime is 
 capable of easy and successful acclimatisation in 
 36 
 
MENG-GELUNCHOR 
 
 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 Mtng-gZlunchor. 
 
VI 
 
 Amok 
 
 There comes a time 
 When the insatiate brute within the 
 
 man, 
 Weary with wallowing in the mire, 
 
 leaps forth 
 Devouring .... and the soul sinks 
 And leaves the man a devil 
 
 Lewis Morris 
 
 MENTION has been made of the Malay amok, 
 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. 
 
 Mbtg-amok 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, kill- 
 38 
 
AMOK 
 
 ing and wounding all who come in his way, regard- 
 less of age or sex, whether they be friends, strangers, 
 or his own nearest relatives. 
 
 Just before sunset on the evening of the nth 
 February, 1 891, a Malay named Imam Mamat (that 
 is Mamat the priest) came quietly into the house 
 of his brother-in-law at Pasir Garam on the Perak 
 River, carrying a spear and a golok y i.e. a. sharp, 
 pointed cutting knife. 
 
 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, imme- 
 diately stabbing her fatally in the abdomen with the 
 golok. 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 ot 
 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. 
 
 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 
 39 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 He greeted the Imam respectfully, and said, " You 
 recognise me, don't let there be any trouble." 
 
 The Imam replied, " Yes, I know you, but my 
 spear does not," and immediately stabbed him twice. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 40 
 
AMOK 
 
 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. 
 
 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 p.m. 
 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. 
 
 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 golok. 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. 
 41 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Here is the official list of killed and wounded — 
 
 Killed. 
 
 Alang Rasak, wife of Imam Mamat 
 Bilal Abu, brother-in-law of Mamat 
 Ngah Intan, wife of Bilal Abu 
 Puteh, daughter of Bilal Abu . 
 Mumin, son of Bilal Abu 
 Uda Majid . . 
 
 Wounded. 
 
 Kasim, son of Bilal Abu 
 Teh, daughter of Bilal Abu . 
 
 Mat Sah 
 
 Lasam • • • • 
 
 4* 
 
 aged 
 
 33 
 
 H 
 
 35 
 
 »» 
 
 32 
 
 »> 
 
 4 
 
 tt 
 
 7 
 
 tt 
 
 35 
 
 aged 
 
 14 
 
 n 
 
 6 
 
AMOK 
 
 It is terrible to have to add that both the women 
 were far advanced in pregnancy. 
 
 Imam Mamat was a man of over forty years of 
 age, of good repute with ilis 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 suffer- 
 ing 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. 
 
 An autopsy was performed on the murderer's 
 body, and the published report of the surgeon says : 
 11 I hereby certify that I this day made a post-mortem 
 examination of the body of Imam Mahomed, and 
 find him to have died from haemorrhage 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/' 
 
VII 
 THE JOGET 
 
 Every footstep fell as lightly 
 As a sunbeam on the river 
 
 Longfellow's Spanish Student 
 
 MALAYS are not dancers, but they pay profes- 
 sional performers to dance for their amuse- 
 ment, and consider that M 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 accom- 
 panied 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 enter- 
 tainment has an undoubted fascination for Malays 
 but it generally forms part of a theatrical perform- 
 
 44 
 
THE JOGET 
 
 ance, and for Western spectators it is immeasur- 
 ably dull. 
 
 In one of the Malay States, however, Pahang, 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 u J6get " — a 
 real dance with an accompaniment of something like 
 real music, though the orchestral instruments are 
 very rude indeed. 
 
 The dancers, budak jdget, belong to the Raja's 
 household, they may even be attached to him by a 
 closer tie ; they perform seldom, only for the amuse- 
 ment of their lord and his friends, and the public 
 are not admitted. Years ago I saw such a dance, 
 and though peculiar to Pahang 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. 
 
 I had gone to Pahang on a political mission 
 acompanied by a friend, and we were vainly 
 courting sleep in a miserable lodging, when at 
 I a.m. a message came from the Sultan inviting us 
 to witness a jdget. We accepted with alacrity, 
 and at once made our way to the astdna, a 
 picturesque, well-built and commodious house on 
 45 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 the right bank of the Pahang 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 cur- 
 tain. The three steps were to provide sitting 
 accommodation according to their rank for those 
 admitted to the astdna. 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 dais. 
 
 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. 
 
 On their heads they each wore a large and 
 curious but very pretty ornament of delicate work- 
 manship — 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 
 46 
 
THE JOGET 
 
 and gold. The girls' hair, combed down in a fringe, 
 was cut in a perfect oval round their foreheads and 
 very becomingly dressed behind. 
 
 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 I J 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. 
 
 Round their waists were belts fastened with large 
 and curiously worked pinding 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 sarong), 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 On their arms the dancers wore numbers of gold 
 bangles, and their fingers were covered with diamond 
 47 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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* 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 p.m. till 5 a.m. 
 
 The harmonicon is called by Malays chelempong, 
 and the inverted bowls, which give a pleasant and 
 
 * The attitude is that obtained by transferring the body 
 directly from a kneeling to a sitting position. 
 48 
 
THE JOGET 
 
 musical sound like the noise of rippling water, a 
 gambang. 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 chdnang. 
 
 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 execu- 
 tion counts for excellence they proved the justice of 
 the praise. 
 
 The Hall, of considerable size, capable of accom- 
 modating 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 our- 
 selves I question whether there were more than 
 twenty spectators, but sitting on the top of the dais 
 near to the dancers it was hard to pierce the sur- 
 rounding gloom. 
 
 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. 
 
 From the elaborate and vehement execution of 
 49 d 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 S^mbah 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 till- 
 ing of the soil, the sowing of the seed, the reaping 
 So 
 
THE JOGET 
 
 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 informa- 
 tion. 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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, 
 hantu mZndri 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 
 5« 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 p.m., was over. 
 
 The Raja, who had only appeared at 4 a.m., 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 
 
 As we left the Astana, 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. 
 
 c;v, 
 
 52 
 
VIII 
 THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 I smote him as I would a worm, 
 With heart as steeled, with nerve as 
 
 firm ] 
 He never woke again 
 
 Whittier 
 
 IT was in the year 1876 that a man named Mat 
 Aris, of no occupation and less repute, per- 
 suaded one Sahit to take his wife Salamah 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 Sahit and possess himself 
 of the woman Salamah, for whom he had conceived 
 an overmastering passion. 
 
 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' 
 S3 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 journey through the primaeval 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. 
 
 Sahit 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Malaya, 
 and one is apt to exaggerate one's own troubles. 
 Whatever gruesome peculiarities there are about 
 
 54 
 
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Under them, however, there is an undergrowth 
 so thick as to beggar description. Every conceiv- 
 able kind of palm, of bush, of creeper, flourishes 
 there with a luxuriance, with a prodigality of vege- 
 table 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 
 55 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 crawl- 
 ing, 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 oppor- 
 tunity. 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. 
 56 
 
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 To force a way through such a place is an im- 
 possibility, even on all fours it could not be crawled 
 through, the only means of progress is by cutting a 
 path. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
 57 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 civilisa- 
 tion, progress through the succession of holes filled 
 with water and mud which marks the track of 
 elephants is neither rapid nor pleasant. 
 
 That is the jungle of daylight. 
 
 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. 
 
 Such were the surroundings in which Sahit and 
 his wife found themselves compelled to spend a 
 night in the company of Mat Aris and his Sakai 
 acquaintance. 
 
 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 
 
 58 
 
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Head- 
 man 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 Kota Tampan, the first police station, 
 he hurried on and gave the information he pos- 
 sessed. 
 
 When Mat Aris arrived at Kota Tampan he 
 landed, and was at once arrested by the native 
 sergeant in charge of the station, who accused him 
 of murdering Sahit. Mat Aris denied the charge, 
 but the woman said her name was Salamah, and the 
 sergeant said he must take them both to his Divi- 
 sional 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 
 59 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 oppo- 
 site bank and they both disappeared. The police 
 had enough to do, hampered by their uniforms, to 
 get out of the river with their lives. 
 
 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 neighbour- 
 hood, levying black mail on all who passed his way. 
 Mat Aris was the ringleader, and even more serious 
 crimes were laid at his door. 
 
 The woman Salamah was known to be living with 
 Mat Aris as his wife, and it was also known that 
 she had a child by him. Of Sahit nothing more was 
 seen or heard. 
 
 Meanwhile the Government of Perak had estab- 
 lished a station in the neighbourhood of the spot 
 where Sahit had disappeared, and complaints of the 
 
 lawless proceedings of Mat Aris were constantly 
 60 
 
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 made to the officer in charge of it, but he was help- 
 less, for the outlaw was beyond his reach. 
 
 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. 
 
 This time the prisoner was conveyed in safety 
 to Kuala Kangsar, where he was duly tried. 
 
 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 Sahit, and that 
 was Pah Patin the Sakai, but Pah Patin did not 
 speak, and Mat Aris and Salamah 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? 
 
 As for Salamah, like the Sabine women, she 
 seemed to have reconciled herself to her captor. 
 
 But the strange part of this story is that, impos- 
 sible as it may seem, there was a witness who 
 
 61 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 saw what took place in that hut in the forest, 
 whither the unsuspecting Sahit had been lured 
 with his wife under the escort of Mat Aris. 
 
 That witness was a Sakai man who had been 
 collecting getah (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. 
 
 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. 
 
 It will be remembered that Sahit 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 Salamah, and then Sahit; 
 on the other was the Sakai. 
 
 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. 
 62 
 
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS 
 
 Half an hour later Mat Aris rose up softly and 
 with a kris stabbed Sahit 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 Before daylight Pah Patin left Mat Aris and 
 Sal£mah still sleeping by the corpse, and by order 
 of Mat Aris fetched two more Sakais, and these 
 three buried Sahit by the bank of the river in the 
 presence of Mat Aris and the woman. 
 
 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 land- 
 marks were no longer the same, and possibly the 
 exact site of the grave was missed. 
 63 
 
IX 
 LATAH 
 
 Ofttimes he falleth into the fire and 
 oft into the water 
 
 Matthew xvii. 14 
 
 IN the spring of 1892 I was privileged, by the 
 kindness of a friend and the courtesy of Dr. 
 Luys, to visit the Hospital de la Charite in Paris, 
 where I witnessed some very remarkable and in- 
 teresting 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 sujets whose nervous organisations 
 seem to be specially susceptible, and there was the 
 astonishing influence of the magnet over these same 
 sujets when already hypnotised. There is some- 
 thing more than usually uncanny in the sight of a 
 64 
 
LATAH 
 
 person filled with an inexplicable and unnatural 
 delight in the contemplation of the positive end 
 of a magnet, and when the negative end is sud- 
 denly turned towards him, to see him instantly 
 fall down unconscious as though struck by light- 
 ning. 
 
 The sujets (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 hesi- 
 tating words and with every appearance of dread, 
 that there also was a flame, but a red one of fearful 
 and sinister import. 
 
 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. 
 
 Amongst Malays there is a well-known disease 
 (I use the word for want of a better) called latah ; 
 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 
 6rang latah to be found in every kampong in Krian, 
 where the Malays are mostly from Kedah, in other 
 6 5 e 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 parts of Perak it is rare to ever meet a latah 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 pro- 
 bably 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 latah 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. 
 
 In 1874 I was sent in H.M.S. Hart to reside 
 with the Sultan of Selangor. Though His High- 
 ness's personal record was one of which he might 
 be proud, for he was said to have killed ninety-nine 
 men (sd rdtus kurang sdtu) 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 
 
 66 
 
LATAH 
 
 inquiry appeared to be the perpetrators, had been 
 executed (the Sultan lending his own kris 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. Bandar Ttrmdsa, 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Later on I was encouraged by the statement that 
 Bandar TSrmasa, for all its unpromising appearance, 
 67 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 was a place for men, where those who had a differ- 
 ence settled it promptly with the krts, 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." 
 
 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 kris she had brought for 
 that purpose. 
 
 That was then the state of society in Bandar 
 Termasa. 
 
 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 
 68 
 
LATAH 
 
 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 
 Hart and slung between two posts, while the men 
 slept on the walls of the stockade. 
 
 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 sur- 
 roundings 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. 
 
 With the second batch of police had come an 
 European inspector, and he and I were the only 
 white men in the country. 
 
 Amongst the twenty-five police were two men of 
 
 the name of Kasim ; they were both natives of 
 
 Amboina, but very different in disposition, and they 
 
 were known among their comrades as Kasim Bhar 
 
 69 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and Kasim Kkhil — that is Kasim Major and Kasim 
 Minor. 
 
 Kasim Major was a quiet, reserved, silent man of 
 about twenty-five, and I afterwards realised that 
 he had a somewhat violent temper when roused. 
 Kasim 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. 
 
 I used often to be away on the coast and up 
 river, and on my return from one of these expedi- 
 tions I noticed the men teasing Kasim Minor, and 
 saw at once that he was latah. 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 p.m., he saw Kasim 
 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, Kasim came down. 
 
 Now, it is no easy matter to climb a coco-nut 
 
 tree ; it requires a special training to do it at all, 
 
 and Kasim did not possess it. But the inspector 
 
 ascertained that the other police had found out by 
 
 70 
 
LATAH 
 
 accident that their comrade was latah, 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, u Do you 
 see this snake ? I will tie it round the tree, and 
 then you can't come down," and so left him from 
 IO A.M. till the afternoon, when the inspector 
 returned and released him. 
 
 The time of Kasim'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. 
 
 I made Kasim 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 Kasim Major was also latah. 
 
 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 what- 
 ever they were told to do, but whatever was sug- 
 gested by a sign. 
 
 I have seen many latah people, male and female, 
 71 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 but never any quite like these two, none so sus- 
 ceptible to outside influence, so ready to blindly obey 
 a word or a sign. 
 
 The kindly disposition of Kasim Minor made him 
 quite harmless, but the other Kasim was rather a 
 dangerous subject to play tricks with, as I will pre- 
 sently explain. 
 
 The latah 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 
 ob cene, having no reference at all to the circum- 
 stance which has suddenly aroused attention. As 
 a rule it is necessary to startle 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 
 latah person ; for one reason because it is so exceed- 
 ingly easy, for another because they are inclined on 
 the spur of the moment to do ludicrous things or 
 say something they would under ordinary circum- 
 stances be ashamed of. Almost invariably latah 
 72 
 
LATAH 
 
 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 them- 
 selves (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 Idtah" as a full explanation 
 and excuse. 
 
 If any one present accidentally drops something on 
 the floor, if a lizard falls from the roof on to or near 
 a Idtah person, if the wind blows the shutter of a 
 window to with a bang, a Idtah 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. 
 
 I have never seen a Idtah boy or girl, but I know 
 they are to be found, though the disease certainly 
 becomes more evident as the subject grows older. 
 
 It must be understood that except when under 
 influence, when actually showing the evidences of 
 this strange peculiarity, Idtah people are undis- 
 tinguishable from others. It is sufficient proof of 
 this that amongst my twenty-five police there 
 should have been two men more completely Idtah 
 than any I have seen before or since. 
 73 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 I took occasion to carefully observe the two 
 Kasims. 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 latah 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. 
 
 If the attention of either of these men was 
 arrested, as I have said by word, sign, or a mean- 
 ing glance, from that moment until the influence 
 was removed, the latah 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 latah 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. 
 
 A curious thing about both these men was that, 
 74 
 
 i 
 
LATAH 
 
 having attracted the attention of either, if you said, 
 " Kasim, 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, Kasim would say, 
 11 It was not I who hit you, but that man who 
 ordered me." 
 
 I have seen Kasim 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 " Tolong Kasim " ("help! 
 Kasim "), the instant he heard it he would jump up 
 and crying " Tdlong Kasim," 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. 
 75 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 Kasim 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 Kasim went 
 up to the watch-tower for it until that supply was 
 exhausted. 
 
 The path from the stockade to the village was in 
 sight of the stockade throughout its length, and one 
 day I noticed Kasim 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 
 76 
 
LATAH 
 
 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 throw- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Kasim 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 
 
 77 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 
 Kasim 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. 
 
 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 Kasim 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. 
 
 About this time a friend came and shared my 
 loneliness for a fortnight. He had had experience 
 of latah people before, but the two Kasims were 
 rather a revelation, and he was perhaps inclined to 
 doubt what I told him they could be made to do. 
 78 
 
LATAH 
 
 One morning we were bathing as usual at the pond, 
 and Kasim the younger was in attendance carrying 
 the towels, &c 
 
 The bath was over, and we were all three stand- 
 ing on the bank, when my friend said to Kasim : 
 
 "Mart, kita terjun" (come, let us jump in), at 
 the same time feigning to jump. Kasim instantly 
 jumped into the pond, disappeared, came up splut- 
 tering, and having scrambled out, said : " Itu tidak 
 baik, Titan " (that is not good of you, sir). 
 
 My friend said, " Why, I did nothing, I only said 
 let us jump in and went like this," repeating his 
 previous action, when Kasim immediately repeated 
 his plunge, and we dragged him from the water 
 looking like a retriever. 
 
 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, 
 79 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 about four feet high and two-and-a-half feet in 
 diameter naturally remained unopened. 
 
 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 danc- 
 ing and singing round the fire. Under such circum- 
 stances 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 Kasims, in his 
 character of an drang latah, for the benefit of the 
 strangers, and one of the men was inspired to fetch 
 the roll of matting, and solemnly presenting it to 
 Kasim the younger, said, "Kasim, here is your 
 wife." 
 
 Even now I do not forget the smile of beatitude 
 
 and satisfaction with which Kasim Minor regarded 
 
 that undesirable and figureless bundle. Breathing the 
 
 words in a low voice, almost sighing to himself, 
 
 " Kasim, here is your wife," he embraced the 
 
 matting with great fervour, constantly repeating 
 
 " My wife ! my wife ! " Some one said, " Kiss 
 80 
 
LATAH 
 
 her!" and he kissed her — repeatedly kissed her. 
 Then by another inspiration (I do not say from 
 whence), some one brought up the other Kasim, 
 and introducing him to the other side of the roll 
 of matting, said, also very quietly, " Kasim, this 
 is your wife ! " and Kasim the elder accepted 
 the providential appearance of his greatly-desired 
 spouse, and embraced her with not less fervour 
 than his namesake and rival. 
 
 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 Kasims 
 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. 
 
 It is a detail, which I only add because some 
 readers hunger for detail, that neither of the Kasims 
 possessed a wife. 
 
 I do not pretend to offer any explanation of the 
 cause of this state of mind which Malays call latah. 
 
 81 F 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 I imagine it is a nervous disease affecting the brain 
 but not the body. 
 
 I have never met a medical man who has in- 
 terested himself in the matter, and I cannot say 
 whether the disease, if it be one, is curable or not — 
 I should doubt it. 
 
 I have somewhere read that individuals similarly 
 affected are found amongst the Canadian lumber- 
 men. 
 
 82 
 
X 
 
 THE ETERNAL FEMININE 
 
 Le bonheur de saigner sur le cceuf 
 d'un ami 
 
 Paul Virlaine 
 
 THERE was a woman of Kelantan named Siti 
 Maamih ; 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. 
 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. 
 83 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 inter- 
 ference. Grant was not even remotely connected 
 with the matter, but he was white, and under such 
 circumstances a want of discrimination is not un- 
 common. 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. There- 
 fore he went about his work and took no special 
 precaution, fearing no attack. 
 
 But his hut was isolated, there was only one 
 other white man anywhere near him, no police 
 within miles, and Maamih, who understood Malays 
 better than her protector, was on the watch for 
 trouble. 
 
 To expect is, sometimes, to go half way to meet, 
 and the trouble came quickly. 
 
 One morning two Malays appeared at Grant's 
 house, and, having given some trivial excuse for 
 their presence and looked about the premises, took 
 8 4 
 
THE ETERNAL FEMININE 
 
 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 pro- 
 bably convinced himself that none were necessary ; 
 as for arms, he does not appear to have had any. 
 
 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 con- 
 nection with the Malays then in arms. 
 
 The day wore on, Grant had been out all morn- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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 
 
 85 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 per- 
 sonally 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. 
 
 He was still resting when, about 4 p.m., 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 At this moment Maamih appeared, and instantly 
 86 
 
THE ETERNAL FEMININE 
 
 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. 
 
 These last stopped some twenty yards from Grant 
 and the woman, and she said, "What harm have 
 we done ? " The answer was * Titah " — 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." 
 
 Then several men said, " If you do not go, we 
 will kill you as well as the white man." 
 
 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, 
 m There is Death," and doubtless instinct also said, 
 41 Death is disagreeable : shun it." 
 
 It is commonly reputed that there are people who 
 87 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 do not know what fear is ; to them in such a situa- 
 tion 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. 
 
 A shot was fired, and the bullet shattered Maamih'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. 
 
 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 
 Maamih'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. 
 
 The murderers took no further notice of the 
 woman, except to try and rob her of the jewellery 
 88 
 
THE ETERNAL FEMININE 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 89 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 accom- 
 plish it in their hands. 
 
 The motive which kept Maamih 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. 
 
 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 pro- 
 bably 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 
 90 
 
THE ETERNAL FEMININE 
 
 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. 
 
 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 re- 
 solve which, vanquishing fear, faces the unknown in 
 the spirit described by the Persian who, writing 
 eight centuries ago, has found so worthy an inter- 
 preter in the author of the lines — 
 
 •• So when the Angel of the darker Drink 
 At last shall find you by the river brink 
 And, offering his Cup, invite your Soul, 
 Forth to your Lips to quaff— 
 
 You shall not shrink." 
 
XI 
 IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 Her soul upheld 
 By some deep-working charm 
 
 Kirkje Whits 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 92 
 
IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 That is as far as physical features go. The 
 mud-flats have their denizens, but they are not over- 
 attractive. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 particu- 
 larly 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 stand- 
 ing just in the tiny ripple of the smallest wavelets 
 93 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 her 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. 
 
 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 
 94 
 
IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 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 con- 
 suming desire to slay the whole brood will seize you 
 then and remain with you for all time. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 95 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 neighbour- 
 hood of a fishing village is the favourite resort of 
 the crocodile. 
 
 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. 
 96 
 
IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 It was in the month of Ramthan, 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. 
 
 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 p.m. 
 as was their wont. 
 
 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 land- 
 wards by that dark fringe of mangroves, the thick 
 forest forming a striking contrast to the moonlit 
 beauty of the glistening shore. 
 
 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. 
 
 All the village slept, except the one Guardian of 
 97 o 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 the Peace, who showed his devotion to duty by 
 punctually striking the hours on a huge metal gong. 
 
 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 foot- 
 steps 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. 
 
 The constable called out, " What is the matter, 
 Che Mat ? " 
 
 Che Mat replied, " I was asleep, but awoke hear- 
 ing the child crying for its mother. I could not see 
 her anywhere, and she did not answer when I spoke. 
 Then 1 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 ? " 
 
 The constable had heard nothing, but there was 
 evidently something uncanny about this disappear- 
 ance, for, in a village such as this, where the houses 
 are more in the water than on land, where the path- 
 less 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. 
 
 The man on guard roused his comrades, and, as 
 98 
 
IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 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. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 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 moon- 
 light, the woman on the ground being literally 
 worried by three crocodiles, each six or eight feet 
 in length. 
 
 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 
 99 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 sea, but with half a mile of mud between you 
 and anything like dry land, and at the same time 
 assailed by three crocodiles quite big enough to kill 
 you, is calculated to shock the strongest nerves. 
 
 After a short but exciting fight, the police beat 
 off the scaly beasts with difficulty, and found the 
 i woman had been badly torn in legs, and arms, and 
 neck. 
 
 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 : 
 
 " I was sleeping," she said, u 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 companion- 
 ship 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 
 
 100 
 
IN THE NOON OF NIGHT 
 
 legs, and, neck, while I screamed for help until you 
 came and rescued me." 
 
 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. 
 
 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 soles 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. 
 
 So the men bore her home, not wondering over- 
 much, 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. 
 
 The woman herself, her husband, and the police 
 were satisfied as to the means, but found the end 
 too hard for their understanding. 
 xox 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 The ideal woman, the product of higher educa- 
 tion 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 women. We 
 have preserved it and handed it down from one 
 generation to another of our own sex unsullied."* 
 
 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. 
 
 The same idea is, however, more happily con- 
 veyed 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 ; She will help you." 
 
 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. 
 
 * "The Heavenly Twins," book iii., chap. iii. 
 
 102 
 
XII 
 VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO 
 
 How loved, how honoured once, avails 
 
 thee not, 
 To whom related, or by whom begot, 
 A heap of dust alone remains of thee 
 Popi 
 
 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. 
 
 Selangor was then an absolutely independent 
 Malay State, so independent in fact that the principal 
 and almost only employment of its inhabitants was 
 fighting. 
 
 103 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 recog- 
 nised 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 in- 
 dulgent eye, provided they did not interfere with 
 his opium cum dignitate and his immediate sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 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 dis- 
 turbances 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 state- 
 ment was constantly being dinned into my ears, I 
 took the liberty of asking his Highness what it meant. 
 
 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, " btnar ka-pdda dia, bukan btnar ka-pdda 
 kamt" which being interpreted means, u correct in 
 their view, not in mine." He was evidently tickled 
 104 
 
VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO 
 
 by this happy inspiration and laughed heartily at 
 his own ingenuity. 
 
 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 irrespon- 
 sible chatter. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Kedah. 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 
 
 105 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 The Viceroy and his friends recovered possession 
 of Klang and secured the friendship and assistance 
 of the Chinese miners at Kuala Lumpor. 
 
 These Chinese were led by one Ah Loi, a re- 
 markable man, styled the * Capitan China," whose 
 instincts were distinctly warlike and his authority 
 with his countrymen supreme. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 106 
 
VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO 
 
 scarcity, and the other side, having raised some 
 money, would in their turn gain an advantage. 
 
 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 com- 
 plete 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 irrecover- 
 able. 
 
 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 sup- 
 plied him with funds. That was the price of his 
 qualified approval. 
 
 It was at this time that the Viceroy's party, being 
 in funds, conceived the plan of raising a force in 
 107 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Singapore with which they hoped to deal an effective 
 blow to their enemies. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 They were all strangers in the country, and they 
 108 
 
V r OF / 
 
 VAN HAGEN'AND CAVALTERO 
 
 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. 
 
 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 discip- 
 line, 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. 
 
 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 
 Pataling, 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. 
 
 Pataling was held by a considerable body of the 
 enemy under two Malay Rajas, and the weary 
 109 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 wanderers walked straight into their arms and gave 
 themselves up without a struggle. 
 
 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 Pataling. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 uncomfort- 
 able, but on them depended the working of the 
 mines, and they were allowed to purchase their 
 lives. 
 
 I do not think this alternative was offered to 
 Van Hagen and Cavaliero. They were escorted 
 from Pataling to Kuala Lumpor, and, arrived there, 
 they were taken out and shot. 
 
 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 
 no 
 
VAN HAGEN AND CAVALIERO 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 in 
 
XIII 
 
 THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG 
 SEMAUN 
 
 Oh vengeance ! thou art sweet 
 
 Lewis Morris 
 
 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. 
 
 More than twenty years ago there dwelt in this 
 village a man named Megat Raja, married to a par- 
 ticularly well-favoured girl named Meriam. 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 Ban- 
 dar were fired by the description of Meriam's 
 charms, and one of them, a boy of good family, 
 position, and means, got sight of and fell in love 
 with her. 
 
 112 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 The husband, Megat Raja, was conveniently 
 called away to accompany the Sultan on a journey 
 to Penang and Che Nuh, the youth aforesaid, pro- 
 fiting by that opportunity, pushed his addresses 
 with such fervour and success that he became the 
 lady's lover. 
 
 Late one night when Che Nuh was in the house 
 of his mistress, Megat 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 
 Meriam 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. 
 
 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 Megat Raja waiting on 
 the ground beneath them. 
 
 He drew back, but not before his presence had 
 been perceived. 
 
 Megat Raja called out "Who is that ?" 
 
 Che Nuh replied " It is I, Che Nuh." 
 
 The husband, drawing his kris, said u What are 
 113 h 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 you doing in my house at this time? Come down on 
 to the ground." 
 
 Mat Nuh was alone and Megat Raja was accom- 
 panied by two other men, but the youth unsheathed 
 his kris and went down ready to accept the chances 
 of a hand-to-hand struggle. 
 
 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, there- 
 fore, the certainty of retaliation should they kill him, 
 and the uncertainty of his guilt, for Meriam was not 
 the only woman in the house. As the men stood 
 mutually on the defensive, Megat Raja asked him 
 whom he had come to see, and Che Nuh replied that 
 it was a girl in the house. Thinking to assure him- 
 self on this point, the husband entered the house 
 and questioned one of the servant-women, but dis- 
 satisfied with what he heard he dashed out again 
 determined to attack Che Nuh. 
 
 The latter had, however, taken advantage of 
 Megat 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. 
 114 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLTMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 In reply to a call, Che Nuh bid his adversary 
 come outside the gate and he would give him any 
 satisfaction he pleased. 
 
 That of course meant an internecine struggle 
 between the two parties, and Megat Raja declined 
 it, for the odds were now against him, and he was 
 still uncertain whether his wife were unfaithful or 
 not. 
 
 On the strong suspicion that he held, his inclina- 
 tion 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. 
 
 This action was considered a very serious indig- 
 nity by Meriam's friends, and it so happened that 
 she possessed a relative named PSnglima Prang 
 Semaun, an adherent of the Sultan's Wazir, the 
 Raja Bendahara, and he was reputed one of the 
 principal warriors in the country. 
 
 Penglima Prang SSmaun called upon the Chief of 
 "5 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Bandar and laid a formal complaint against Megat 
 Raja, demanding to know why he had taken the law 
 into his own hands and treated Meriam in a manner 
 to put all her relatives to shame. 
 
 The Chief of the village of Bandar was also one 
 of the great officers of State named the Orang Kaya 
 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. 
 
 He listened politely to Penglima Prang Semaun, 
 and when the latter wound up his complaint by 
 saying he would certainly attack Megat Raja if he 
 obtained no redress, the Shabandar put his advice 
 in the form of this ancient saw : 
 
 " 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." 
 
 The advice was meant in good part and not as a 
 taunt, but Penglima Prang Semaun 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 
 kris." 
 
 116 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 Then he returned to his own home to think how 
 this was to be worked out. 
 
 The Penglima Prang Semaun's house was between 
 these of the Shabandar, up stream, and Megat 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 im- 
 portant, and then deal with Megat Raja at his 
 leisure. 
 
 Meanwhile, Che Nuh had expressed his desire to 
 marry MSriam, but as his relatives recognised that 
 such an open avowal of his liaison must lead to 
 trouble with Megat 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, Penglima Prang Semaun. 
 
 I have said that this bravo, for that was his 
 tntfier t was the henchman of the Raja BSndahara, 
 the highest authority in the State after the Sultan. 
 PSnglima Prang Semaun, having determined to kill 
 the Shabandar, felt it necessary to report the inten- 
 tion to his master and, mindful of possible wrath to 
 come, to ask his sanction. 
 "7 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Accordingly the Penglima went up river to Blanja 
 where the Bendahara lived, told his tale and asked 
 for leave to kill the Shabandar. 
 
 The reply of the Bendahara was, " If you think 
 you are able to do it, go on." 
 
 That was enough. Penglima Prang Semaun 
 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. 
 
 The Sultan was at Pasir Panjang (only a few 
 miles above Bandar), with a large following and a 
 crowd of boats, and the Penglima and his friend 
 determined to wreak their vengeance on the Sha- 
 bandar on the Rdya Haft, the day to which the 
 most religious Muhammadans prolong the fast of 
 Ramthan. 
 
 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. 
 
 On the following day, however, in the afternoon, 
 Penglima Prang Semaun, Haji Ali, and three others, 
 made a formal visit to the Shabandar, obtained ad- 
 mission to his house, and found in it no one besides 
 himself and a Sumatran Raja, a visitor from down 
 118 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 river. I say no one else but, as Penglima Prang 
 well knew, there were in the Shabandar's house two 
 aged ladies, the mother of the Sultans children and 
 her sister. 
 
 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 un- 
 attended, accompanied him to the river-bank and 
 there bid him farewell. 
 
 This was the moment for the development of the 
 plot. 
 
 Penglima Prang Semaun took leave of the Sha- 
 bandar 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 Datoh towards him, and the reply to his 
 question of what this meant was a stab in the back 
 from Penglima Prang Semaun's iris. 
 
 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. 
 
 Then the Penglima threw away the useless 
 weapon, and, seizing another kris, 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. 
 119 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Penglima 
 and his party reinforced by their own men who had 
 been awaiting the denouement. 
 
 Then gates and doors were closed, windows 
 barred, cannon, pivot-guns, and muskets loaded, and 
 Penglima Prang Semaun 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. 
 
 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 wellnigh sure to 
 come to harm in the assault. 
 120 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 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 Penglima, Haji AH, 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. 
 
 The moment the deed was done, Penglima Prang 
 Semaun proclaimed that he was merely the instru- 
 ment of the Sultan's Wazlr, and that he had acted 
 on the authority of the Raja Bendahara. That, if 
 true, complicated the case considerably, and as 
 matters had arrived at an impasse, a parley was 
 called, and it was arranged that the Penglima and 
 his people should be given a safe-conduct to the 
 Sultan at Pasir Panjang. 
 
 Accordingly, the Penglima Prang, Haji AH, 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. 
 
 Arrived at Pasir Panjang, Penglima Prang at 
 once sent a messenger to the Raja Bendahara to 
 inform him of the state of affairs and ask his aid. 
 The Bendahara responded to this appeal by taking 
 boat, and, with a great following, descended the 
 
 121 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 river to Pasir Panjang. Once there, he availed 
 himself of an ancient custom called tkat-diri- — 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 dmpun 
 Tuan-ku, be-ribu-ribu dmpun — u Pardon, my lord, a 
 thousand-thousand pardons." 
 
 After a quarter of an hour's waiting, while the 
 air was filled with this plea for mercy, and the 
 Bendahara 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 Amongst those who had received the message of 
 peace, and who entered into the presence, were the 
 Penglima Prang Semaun, Haji Ali, and the three 
 other murderers of the Shabandar. 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 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 Datoh 
 Shabandar in succession to the dead man, in the 
 hope that the gift of this dignity might make for 
 the general peace. 
 
 The Raja Bendahara, accompanied by Penglima 
 Prang and his friends, then returned to Blanja. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Sultan said the request must be preferred to 
 the Raja Bendahara, for so long as the Penglima 
 Prang was in his village he could not be attacked 
 without the Wazir's sanction. Application was duly 
 made to the Bendahara, who replied that it would 
 be contrary to custom to attack the Penglima 
 Prang while living at his door, but that if they 
 could get him away they might do what they 
 pleased. 
 
 The Penglima 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 
 123 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Mecca a man called Haji Musah, nearly related to 
 the late Shabandar. 
 
 Haji Musah was at this time a rather small, spare 
 man of middle age, but his heart was out of propor- 
 tion to the size of his body, and when he heard 
 what had recently taken place in Bandar, and how 
 Penglima Prang Semaun and Haji Ali had got away 
 unpunished, his anger knew no bounds. 
 
 He promptly waited upon the Sultan and begged 
 for permission to attack the Penglima, and, if 
 necessary, to include in the operations his protector, 
 the Raja Bendahara. 
 
 The Sultan hesitated to give the desired permis- 
 sion, but the fact that the proposal had been made 
 very soon reached Blanja and the ears of both the 
 Wazir and Penglima 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 Musah to silence so 
 arrogant a foe. 
 
 The Raja Bendahara enraged at the idea that 
 his name should have been mentioned with so little 
 respect, and apprehensive that Haji Musah might 
 find the means (as he knew he had the will) to 
 carry out his suggestion, cordially approved the 
 
 Penglima's proposal. 
 
 124 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 It did not take long to collect from the neigh- 
 bouring village of Lambor enough men to fill two 
 boats, and, as that was all the Penglima wanted for 
 his purpose, the party had started for Batak Rabit 
 (Haji Musah'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. 
 
 In Japan they say, " If you have not seen Nikko 
 you cannot say gekko," 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 know- 
 ledge of the beauties of Malay scenery is very in- 
 complete. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 The setting sun strikes in great beams of saffron 
 125 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 On the edge of such a field was the home of 
 Haji Musah. 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 
 nipah palm. 
 
 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 
 126 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 separated from the main building, was connected 
 with it by a platform. 
 
 It was here that Penglima Prang Semaun, Haji 
 AH, and the rest of their crew arrived one morning 
 before daylight and quickly landed under the cover 
 of darkness. 
 
 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. 
 
 Penglima Prang Semaun had, however, cal- 
 culated the chances, and he counted on a suc- 
 cessful surprise and, if need be, the pursuit of 
 those tactics which he had already, at Bandar, 
 found so useful. 
 
 Once on shore the palisade of Haji Musah's house 
 was cautiously approached, and, the gate being 
 locked, it was scaled, and the whole party noise- 
 lessly established themselves beneath the house and 
 waited for daylight. 
 
 It so happened that the house contained only two 
 men and two women — Haji Musah and his wife, 
 127 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Haji Hawah, and their daughter and son-in-law, the 
 latter named Haji Sahil. 
 
 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 situa- 
 tion, caught hold of the other and tried to pull her 
 within the door, an effort which she seconded with 
 all her might. 
 
 A real tug-of-war was carried on for a few 
 moments, and Haji Ali was joined by another man. 
 
 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 Musah 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 Musah, drawing his wife 
 
 into the house and believing he had wounded Peng- 
 128 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 lima Prang Semaun, shouted as he closed the door, 
 " That has wetted you, Penglima ! " 
 
 Wetted him with blood. 
 
 Haji Ali called to the Penglima, " Help me, a 
 1 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. 
 
 The Penglima, 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. 
 
 In the scuffle before the door was closed Haji 
 Musah 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. 
 
 Penglima Prang Semaun now summoned Haji 
 Musah to surrender, but the reply was, u I will not 
 surrender." 
 
 "Then," said the Penglima, "I will riddle the 
 house with bullets." 
 
 " Shoot away," was the reply. 
 
 " I will burn the house down." 
 
 "Burn it," said Haji Musah, "and do whatever 
 else you like, but I will not give in." 
 
 139 i 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 11 Let us burn it," said the Penglima. But Haji 
 AH 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?" 
 
 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. 
 
 An evil inspiration came to the Penglima, and he 
 told Haji Ali to get Haji Musah 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 
 Musah's voice, and tying the gun to a post just 
 beneath the spot where he thought the Haji must be 
 standing, fired it. 
 
 A large hole was rent in the floor, and, the 
 various missiles scattering in all directions, one of 
 them struck Haji Musah in the thigh, seriously 
 wounding him and placing him hors de combat. 
 His wife was also hit, but only slightly injured. 
 
 The assailants realised the effects of the shot 
 irom what they heard said within and again called 
 130 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 upon Haji Musah to yield, but he declined utterly 
 to do so. 
 
 His wife said, " What is the use, you are wounded 
 and cannot fight, so am I and so is Haji Sahil, what 
 can we do, better make terms with them ? " Haji 
 Musah stubbornly declined to listen to this persua- 
 sion and only said, "Let them do their worst, I 
 will not yield." 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 131 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 came out, no one had particularly noticed the girl 
 or ever thought of entering her hiding-place. 
 
 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 Musah called out that he would yield 
 if his daughter were given back to them. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Penglima 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 Musah 
 declined to give himself up. 
 
 Shortly after, however, the loss of blood and 
 pain of his stiffening limb made movement impos- 
 sible and compelled Haji Musah to abandon all idea 
 of further resistance. 
 
 132 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 The Penglima and his friends having gained the 
 house proceeded to make themselves comfortable 
 and did not attempt to disturb or annoy Haji Musah 
 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. 
 
 Meanwhile the Shabandar, informed by messenger 
 of what had taken place, hurried back to the neigh- 
 bourhood and reinforced the adherents of Haji Musah, 
 who so far had contented themselves with building 
 and occupying stockades to command Haji Musah's 
 house. 
 
 The Penglima'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. 
 
 The Penglima'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. 
 
 The Penglima's own two boats were chained to 
 the landing-stage where they were safe, for it would 
 133 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 have been impossible to seize them without being 
 exposed to fire from the house, to which no reply 
 could be made. 
 
 A month went by, and in that time Haji Musah, 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Penglima, Haji Ali, and a number 
 of their men slept peacefully on the other side of 
 i34 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 the sheltering curtain that gave privacy to the 
 women. 
 
 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. 
 
 Penglima Prang Semaun and his friends were 
 awakened from sleep by the banging of jingals and 
 muskets and a hail of various missiles. 
 
 A moment's search showed that the prisoners had 
 escaped, and the Penglima instantly realised that he 
 was in the toils. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Penglima 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 
 
 135 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 run the gauntlet of the guard-boats, where capture 
 was, as he said, certain. 
 
 The men of the band, the wretched Lambor con- 
 tingent, elected, as the Penglima 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. 
 
 Of these deplorable eventualities they took no 
 thought ; there was little time for hesitation ; tight- 
 ening 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. 
 
 This was exactly what Penglima Prang Semaun 
 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. 
 
 A very wily man was the Penglima. 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 
 
 136 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 after him in full cry. Still there was just a trifle of 
 uncertainty about it, and that was the Penglima's 
 one chance of salvation. 
 
 The slightest hesitation now, the smallest of false 
 steps, and neither the Penglima 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, against the tide, he gave orders that no man 
 should speak, undertaking the whole responsibility 
 himself. 
 
 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 ? " 
 
 " It is I," replied the Penglima, " I bring the 
 Shabandar's orders to you to keep a good look-out, 
 they are attacking the Penglima 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. 
 
 No one of course suspected a ruse under such a 
 *37 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 bold disguise as that, and, pulling straight for the 
 down-stream boats, steering right on and through 
 them, the Penglima called out, " Jdga-jdga, l be on 
 your guard,' the Shabandar sends orders to watch 
 for the Penglima Prang Semaun, he is trying to 
 escape, I am warning all the boats." 
 
 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. 
 
 The Shabandar on his part made no long tarry- 
 ing, but eager to revenge the murder of his brother, 
 and feeling that at last the Penglima and Haji Ali 
 were in his power, he determined to mZng-dtnok, to 
 rush the house at once without waiting for day- 
 light. 
 
 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 
 Musah's house, only to find it empty, the renowned 
 Penglima and his amiable friend gone, and with 
 138 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 them a considerable quantity of dollars and every- 
 thing that was both valuable and easily portable. 
 
 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 Penglima 
 Prang Semaun. 
 
 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 Penglima Prang Semaun had justified 
 his reputation for both daring and resource. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Penglima meanwhile had wasted no time. 
 139 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 '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. 
 
 Here the fugitives lay all day, and watched the 
 boats of their enemies pass by intent on the fruitless 
 search. 
 
 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. 
 140 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 Whilst the Penglima 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. 
 
 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 krised 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. 
 
 None of this band returned to Lambor, and if 
 they sought their fate and made an unprovoked 
 attack upon Haji Musah it is not altogether sur- 
 prising that to this day there is no wasted affection 
 between the people of Lambor and the Lower Perak 
 Chiefs. 
 
 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 
 
 141 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 refuge would be found in those inhospitable depths, 
 the Penglima and his little band lay close in their 
 concealment and longed for sheltering night. 
 
 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. 
 
 Then an hour or two of the new-born moon, and 
 after that thick darkness. 
 
 The Penglima 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. 
 
 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 a.m. and 5 a.m., in the last reach, 
 they saw a line of boats guarding the river's mouth. 
 
 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. 
 
 At this final juncture the Penglima's Familiar did 
 not desert him. 
 
 Of course the earth ought to have opened and 
 142 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAUN 
 
 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. 
 
 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 miser- 
 able skins ? 
 
 It cannot be said that anything very unusual hap- 
 pened, 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. 
 i43 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 parti- 
 cular 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 Penglima Prang Semaun was on such terms 
 with Fortune that he knew exactly the psycholo- 
 gical moment at which to take her. Here he 
 remembered that the Malays call these floating 
 islands dpong, 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 So passed the Penglima Prang Semaun ; 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. 
 
 One can almost hear him chuckle as he sails 
 144 
 
THE PASSING OF PENGLIMA PRANG SEMAU 
 
 through that last danger and watches his enemies' 
 efforts to get back into their places. 
 
 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." 
 
 A day or two of pleasant coasting, a walk across 
 country, and Penglima Prang Semaun, with Haji 
 Ali and a considerable booty, arrived safely at Blanja 
 and received the congratulations of his master, the 
 Raja Bendahara. 
 
 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. 
 
 Unfortunately, the practice has fallen into desue- 
 tude ; 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. 
 
 145 * 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Malays are perhaps, in some respects, a few 
 hundred years behind the age, and I like to think 
 that in this veracious story the Penglima Prang 
 Semaun made his first appearance as the champion 
 of a lady in distress. 
 
 146 
 
XIV 
 BER-HANTU 
 
 Striving to reach the mystic source 
 of things, the secrets of the earth 
 and sea and air 
 
 L. Morris 
 
 WE could all see the tunggul merah, 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. 
 
 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 ricefields which 
 cover that fertile plain. But the Sultan's house, a 
 palm-thatched wooden structure, three houses on 
 147 
 
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MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 thou- 
 sands 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. 
 
 The extraordinary charm of this scene intoxicated 
 us as with draughts of nectar, and in that enravish- 
 ment, kings, omens, and ghostly warnings were 
 forgotten. 
 
 But hark ! Yes, there is the cry, wailing in the 
 distance — now much nearer, and now — before our 
 very eyes the banshee itself ! 
 
 Sailing slowly through the air between the 
 feathery leaves of the palms, like a lost soul wend- 
 ing its uncertain, purposeless way through the 
 balmy Eastern night, was a creature with heavy 
 
BER-HANTU 
 
 dark wings, a head disproportionately large, and 
 horns, veritable horns ! As it slowly passed and 
 mcaned its childlike plaint, no reasonable being 
 could doubt that he had heard and seen the mes- 
 senger of death. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 ex- 
 crescence forming the kitchen. 
 
 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 
 151 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 con- 
 cluded His Highness lay. 
 
 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 
 Ber-hantu. That seemed to me to fall in very well 
 with the tunggul merah and the banshee, and I was 
 therefore quite prepared for the raising of the Devil 
 or any other uncanny manifestation. 
 
 I may as well say here that hantu is a ghost, 
 devil or spirit, and ber-hantu means to devil, 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 be~r- 
 hantu, nothing will satisfy them but to have it, and 
 
 if the sick man or woman dies during the perform- 
 152 
 
BER-HANTU 
 
 ance, 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. La~ 
 illahd il- Allah, Muhammad Rasul- Allah — " There is 
 but one God, and Muhammad is His Prophet." 
 
 This pious confession of faith has, however, 
 nothing to do with the btr-hantu; it comes in after- 
 wards 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 btr-hantu is, of course, a survival of 
 prae-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 
 
 To return to the King's house. In the middle 
 of the floor was spread a puddal, 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 sarong, and a scarf fastened 
 tightly round her waist. At the other end of the 
 mat was a large newly-lighted candle in a candle- 
 stick. Between the woman and the taper were two 
 or three small vessels containing rice coloured with 
 turmeric, parched padi, and perfumed water. An 
 attendant sat near at hand. 
 i53 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 The woman in male attire was the Pdwang, 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. 
 
 Shortly after I sat down, the proceedings began 
 by the Pdwang 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 Jin, or Spirit, and the 
 invocation, after reciting his praises, besought him 
 to come from the mountains or the sea, from under- 
 ground or overhead, and relieve the torments of the 
 King. 
 
 As the song continued, accompanied by the 
 
 rhythmical beating of the drums, the Pdwang sat 
 
 with shrouded head in front of the lighted taper, 
 
 holding in her right hand against her left breast a 
 
 i54 
 
BER-HANTU 
 
 small sheaf of the grass called daun sambau tied 
 tightly together and cut square at top and bottom. 
 
 This chddak she shook, together with her whole 
 body, by a stiffening of the muscles, while all eyes 
 were fixed upon the taper. 
 
 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 Jin was introducing himself into 
 the candle. By some means the Pdwang, 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 per- 
 fumed 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 Jin, called upon 
 him to come and relieve the King's distress. 
 
 I ascertained that each Malay State has its own 
 special Spirits, each district is equally well provided, 
 i55 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and there are even some to spare for special indivi- 
 duals. In this particular State there are four prin- 
 cipal Jin; they are the Jin ka-rdja-an, the State 
 Spirit — also called Junjong dunia uddra — Supporter 
 of the Firmament ; Mdia uddra, the Spirit of the 
 Air ; Mahkota si-rdja Jin, the Crown of Royal 
 Spirits ; and Stan AIL 
 
 These four are known as Jin druah, Exalted 
 Spirits, and they are the guardians of the Sultan 
 and the State. As one star exceeds another in 
 glory, so one Jin 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 BHuan 
 (singer) of the royal family. The Jin ka-rdja-an 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. 
 
 There are common devils who look after common 
 iS6 
 
BER-HANTU 
 
 people : such as Hantu Songkei, Hantu Maldyu and 
 Hantu Blian; the last the " Tiger Devil/' but out 
 of politeness he is called " Blian," to save his 
 feelings. 
 
 Then there is K&ndla ajdib, the "Wonderful 
 Jewel," Israng y Raja Ngah's special familiar, and a 
 host of others. Most hantu have their own special 
 Pdwangs, 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. 
 
 Meanwhile a sixteen-sided stand, about six inches 
 high and shaped like this diagram, had been placed 
 on the floor near the Pdwang's 
 mat. The stand was decorated 
 with yellow cloth; in its centre 
 stood an enormous candle, 
 while round it were gaily de- 
 corated rice and toothsome 
 delicacies specially prized by Jin. There was 
 just room to sit on this stand, which is called 
 PHrdna panchaldgam (meaning a seat of this 
 i57 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 chddak of grass, calmly 
 awaited the coming of the Jin Ka-rdja-an, while the 
 minstrels shouted for him with all their might. 
 
 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 per- 
 formed, His Highness was conducted back again to 
 his couch, and the Pdwang continued her minis- 
 trations alone. 
 
 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 Pdwang 
 fell down. The cause of offence was removed, and 
 the performance continued. 
 
 There are other spirits who cannot bear the 
 barking of a dog, the mewing of a cat, and so on. 
 
 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 
 158 
 
BER-HANTU 
 
 all appearance in a swoon. The Jin Ka-rdja-an 
 had taken possession of the sick body, and the mind 
 was no longer under its owner's control. 
 
 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. 
 
 So ended the stance. 
 
 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 That reminds me of the ba shee. 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 Toh ka-tampi. 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, 
 i59 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and it shares this reputation with two other owls, 
 which are called respectively Tumbok larong, that is 
 "Nail the coffin/' and Chdrek kafan, "Rend the 
 cloth for the shroud." Toh ka-tampi means u 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." 
 
 160 
 
XV 
 THE KING'S WAY 
 
 We know what Heaven or Hell may 
 
 bring 
 But no man knoweth the mind of 
 
 the King 
 
 Rudyard Kipling 
 
 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. 
 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 
 161 L 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 indis- 
 putable, and the opportunity came when they might 
 be satisfied, he at last attained to the position 
 which was his by right. 
 
 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 hauteur, 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 ex- 
 tent by the difficulty of understanding one whose 
 teeth were few, and whose tongue was plainly 
 
 over -large. 
 
 162 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 The King affected gay colours, and his appear- 
 ance, when he took his walks abroad, was striking, 
 not to say remarkable. A tartan silk jacket, com- 
 bining 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 
 Koran. 
 
 In his waist-cloth the King usually carried a short 
 knife in a polished wooden sheath, and when walk- 
 ing 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. 
 163 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 deter- 
 mined 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 con- 
 sulted 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 ; vin- 
 dictive 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 con- 
 cerned, decidedly unreliable. He was not an opium- 
 smoker, nor was he in any sense a religious man, 
 164 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 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 vil- 
 lage 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. 
 
 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 mis- 
 guided individual somehow obtained a summons 
 against His Highness to appear before a local 
 tribunal and answer to the plaint. 
 163 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 The King, being informed, expressed his extreme 
 unconcern, and said that, as it was the priest's busi- 
 ness 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. 
 
 Then " a private pique arose " between King and 
 Priest as to who should finally pay for these play- 
 things. For the first time these firm friends 
 appeared in opposition to each other, and both 
 parties gave their respective versions of the trans- 
 action before a highly edified and delighted Council 
 of Arbitration. 
 
 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. 
 
 As for the tricycle, how in the name of misfortune 
 could a tricycle concern him ? The bare idea of a 
 166 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 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 con- 
 jured 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 padi 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 under- 
 stand 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 
 167 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 sum- 
 mons because of the priest's extravagant tastes, 
 and, while any one who liked might pay, it would not 
 be he. 
 
 Then the Priest : 
 
 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 imperti- 
 nent 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. 
 168 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 The people who trafficked in these goods could not 
 be taken into the presence of his master, and, in- 
 deed, 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, dis- 
 cussed 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 
 169 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 under the house, and the King looked upon the 
 machine and said it was good and cheap and would 
 eat nothing. 
 
 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." 
 
 So Church and State quarrelled, and the priest 
 170 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 found no more favour in the sight of the King. 
 But there were many who said : 
 
 "S2pMi Nasruan dbtgan Bahtek 
 Bbr-satu rangkesa 
 B2r-ch2rei jadi sentosa" 
 
 "They are like Raja Nasruan 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 some- 
 times 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. 
 
 The King had a clerk who had served him faith- 
 fully 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. 
 
 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, 
 171 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 liaison 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 
 sarong* belonging to the man. 
 
 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. 
 
 I have elsewhere stated that Malays try to wipe 
 
 * The Sdrong is the Malay national garment, a sort of skirt, 
 usually in tartan, worn by men and women alike. 
 172 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 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 amok. 
 
 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, con- 
 sented to share the royal smiles, and the King 
 immediately applied on her behalf for the usual 
 civil list. The application, however, was not suc- 
 cessful, though several times renewed. 
 
 Then the King fell ill of some fell disease that 
 no native medicine-man could diagnose, and the 
 i73 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 evil spirit, with which he seemed to be troubled, 
 had its will of him, so that all men said the King 
 must die. 
 
 During an interval of temporary return to con- 
 sciousness, 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. 
 
 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 conscious- 
 ness and intelligence, and sitting by him the wife, 
 Raja Sarefa. 
 
 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 thank- 
 fulness 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 
 i74 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 After a respite of eighteen months, the evil spirit 
 again took possession of the King, and this time 
 made short work of him. 
 
 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. 
 
 It is the custom in the country of which I now 
 write to, in a manner, canonise its Sultans. At the 
 i75 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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-merhum or 
 Medium Pasir Panjang (that is, "The Sultan who 
 died at Pasir Panjang"), Merhum Kahar- Allah 
 (° The late Sultan to whom God gave strength "), 
 and so on. 
 
 When this King was buried, the name conferred 
 upon him was Merhum Rafir- Allah, and the meaning 
 is, " May God pardon him." 
 
 Note. — Since writing the above, I have read the 
 following in the Home News : 
 
 "In the Lord Mayor's Court on Oct. 14, before 
 the Assistant Judge and a jury, the case of i Fischer 
 v. Brown' was concluded. This (says the Times) 
 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 
 176 
 
THE KING'S WAY 
 
 Tikah Sahib, Rajah of Patalia, as a birthday present 
 by his secretary, Sham Shir Sing. The perambu- 
 lator 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 per- 
 ambulator, 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 per- 
 ambulator 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 
 177 m 
 
 s 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 could not be done in time, and it was implied by 
 the orders he gave (which were that the perambu- 
 lator should have elephant-headed handles and 
 papier-mache 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." 
 
 178 
 
XVI 
 A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 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 
 
 Justin McCarthy's Omar 
 Khayyam 
 
 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. 
 
 She was a girl of royal descent ; her name, Raja 
 Maimunah. 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 
 179 
 
fen* iwi 
 
 nn Ip- a& Mtefcol 
 
 C - 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 When oat of toon, the Raja Maimdnah would 
 wear a veil of darkest blue, Mack or white gossamer 
 embroidered with very narrow fold ribbon, a moat 
 
 Over this, again, waa held coqtsettishly, to conceal 
 the face from male eyes, a scarf of rich Malay-red 
 
 one or two more silken $drong§ of varying coloor 
 and richness of material were worn over the under- 
 skirt, 
 
 fffdflm seen wit hoot diamond ffl fftafr cs hi the ears 
 and n lumber of di a m ond rings on her fingers, 
 <n State o cca si o n s she wore heavy gold 
 
 1 cannot draw an fn iMffy attract ive picture of 
 Raja lakander, the husband of this lady, He 
 about thirty years of age, while she waa 
 
 r. . nmmmmmmmj imnmmi snm <* nmm mm 
 with a do w n w ard torn at the 
 perpetual expresmon of extrex 
 
 His vanity was inordjnate, mn 
 
 a* 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 At the time of which I write, Raja Iskander had 
 been married to Maimunah 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 considera- 
 182 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 tion, 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 enor- 
 mously exaggerated when the wife is of high birth, 
 and the favourite only a woman of the people. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Amongst the visitors attracted to this spot at this 
 time was a man called Raja Sleman, a stranger from 
 a neighbouring State. 
 
 183 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 It might have been the cock-fighting or the 
 gambling always to be found in the society of Raja 
 Iskander that drew Raja Sleman to the place. It 
 might also have been the congenial society of 
 another opium-smoker, or possibly the fame of Raja 
 Maimunah's attractions. Whatever the lodestone, 
 Raja Sleman appeared with two boats and about 
 fifteen followers, and, once arrived, he elected to 
 lemain. 
 
 Raja Iskander passed most of his time on the 
 water, but Maimunah 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 con- 
 sisted of a closed-in verandah, one large room, and 
 a kitchen tacked on behind. 
 
 The edges of the muddy river were fringed by the 
 nipah palm, which is never seen beyond tidal influ- 
 ences; the banks were covered by rank grasses, 
 the country was flat and desolate, the jungle insig- 
 nificant, 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. 
 
 184 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 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. 
 
 Under such circumstances and amidst such 
 surroundings, Raja Sleman came into the life of 
 Maimunah. 
 
 He was about the same age as Raja Iskander, 
 but in other respects there was a striking difference 
 between the two men. Sleman 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. 
 
 One day as Sleman sat in his boat he saw 
 Maimunah 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 hope- 
 lessly 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 
 185 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 moments when she slowly wended her way from 
 house to river and back again. 
 
 Meanwhile, Maimunah, suffering from the spretce 
 injuria formce and chafing under the monotony of 
 existence, had heard all about the arrival of Sleman 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Sleman and Maimunah had already mutually 
 declared themselves without the exchange of a 
 syllable, and it was with perfect confidence that 
 Sleman sought a closer intimacy by the friendly aid 
 of a messenger. 
 
 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 
 186 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 realised the state of affairs he would not have been 
 indifferent to the disgrace that must be his, should 
 his wife's liaison become public property. It is un- 
 likely that he had any suspicion of Sleman, 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 Mai- 
 munah 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. 
 
 In this, however, he was misled by the suave 
 manners of the quiet stranger. 
 
 Sleman's suit prospered, and he was not satisfied 
 to continue indefinitely filling the role of false friend 
 to Iskandcr 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 Maimunah his own 
 at all hazards if she were prepared to face the risk. 
 
 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. 
 
 187 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Once in Sleman'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. 
 
 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, 
 Sleman ordered the men to pull in to the bank, 
 fasten up the boat and rest. 
 
 It seemed a foolhardy proceeding to waste the pre- 
 cious 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. 
 
 Raja Sleman'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 Maimunah, 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. 
 i83 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 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. 
 
 Neither Iskander nor any of his people ever 
 started on that quest, and Raja Sle*man carried 
 Maimunah in safety to his own country. 
 
 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 con- 
 science. It is a painful fact that this conduct 
 earned him not the admiration but the contempt 
 of his people. 
 
 Iskander had one revenge : he discovered amongst 
 Maimunah'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 in- 
 continently strangled. 
 
 As for Sleman and Maimunah, they were duly 
 married, and she bore him a daughter in all respects 
 like her mother, though not, the old people say, her 
 189 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 peer in beauty. The laudator temporis acti is a 
 common and flourishing plant in Malaya. 
 
 In the two children born before the elopement, it 
 is difficult to trace any resemblance to their mother. 
 
 Maimunah died years and years ago, the victim 
 of a malignant disease ; but Slgman still lives in his 
 own country, his hair is getting grey, but otherwise 
 he shows few signs of age. Time has only inten- 
 sified 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. 
 
 There are no local bards to record Sl€man'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 them- 
 selves the luxury of burning mora! convictions. I 
 have never seen a missionary proselytising amongst 
 the Malays, but many years ago I was told that a 
 Christian missionary came to Malaya full of zeal 
 and confident of success. He began with a man 
 who seemed an earnest, truthful person, anxious to 
 190 
 
A MALAY ROMANCE 
 
 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, M If that had happened to my wife, I should 
 have killed her." 
 
 I9X 
 
XVII 
 MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 There are more things in heaven and 
 
 earth, Horatio, 
 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy 
 Hamlet 
 
 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 Malaya 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 suc- 
 ceeded the original Spirit Worship. 
 
 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. 
 
 I have already referred to what is known as bfr- 
 
 haniu, the practice of a kind of witchcraft for the 
 192 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 healing of the sick ; it reminds one of a casting out 
 devils in the name of Beelzebub the Prince of the 
 devils" — and I might here give some of the incan- 
 tations 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 : 
 
 Heigh ! thou Spirit whose name is Jin Pari of 
 the Jin Aruah ; Rabiah Jamil was thy mother's, 
 Imam Jamil thy father's name ; thou art the grand- 
 child of Hakim Baisuri, the great-grandchild of 
 Malim of the Forest. Thou Spirit of the path 
 Lorin, Spirit of the rising ground Sri Permatang, 
 Spirit of the ant-hill known as " Piebald Horse." 
 Heigh ! you white ants Sekutanai, why do you, 
 Sekutapa, 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 ? 
 
 I know your origin, spawn of Hell's spouting 
 flame ; do not any longer torment this person. 
 
 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." 
 
 The final threat to drive out the demon by using 
 the name of the Almighty is curious as showing 
 
 193 N 
 
MALAY %KWTCHU 
 
 hew the e*ordst seeks by a judicious blending of 
 tradition with his latter-day Faith to get the better 
 
 u\ Mir l/#M««-nior. 
 
 A very wtdeepreid superstition is that certain 
 
 pirieHI »">/' l.u/.il/.n -.puil. //I,., will, ;.t tM 
 
 instance of their owner*, enter into and plague any 
 one whom it may be deeired to injure. These evil 
 
 :,J,.l.l .... I -.,..■//.. ..:: /w/,,///;, /'n/nn,;, I 'th.it, ;,||f| 
 
 Langriior, the last being a female spirit. They are 
 
 hiIim jiii.«niMi«ii iiM|inif.i i, y ii, f practice of witch- 
 craft, and the way in which their possession it 
 
 !»»....,/!. i i, ...... i.. .»ii v ".« ".i i idr .'immunity U 
 
 i 'i tie reasonable as the "proof" of the exerciM 
 
 ..I .-,.,,.,1.,, ,„,w. .-..n (In W. I. in will Ji mil .«» in.iny 
 
 '«.. •',<:•• 
 
 ' i« in •' vlll .,;. I. .11 . .11 ..I ,, ro.npl. .lilt, Hit* 
 
 b V IM|.l..lli:, -I will. I. .... ...... U..I , III. I. Ill.iy l.r 
 
 convulsions, unconsciousness, or delirium, possibly 
 the attacks, The relatives will call ••• ■ native 
 
 .1... I.. I, ....I dl III . (I.. . .. ...Ily .... ..... i< III I. mil. ) 
 
 suggestlm. m without It, in Impression will arise 
 
 H'«l "" I'.'l' II" V" "... ..I .. ,\, ,.<„;; ',.„ Ii.ill 
 
 »'"!"• ' I"'- ' l\ •!« - I'M' '"h. .. ii.i. ..i N .....I my 
 
 I. .11. tX.ll „,.,., ., ||„ ,,UM. I -.1 II, .V.I • ,....1 
 
 mrlliiMl ..I v...h... r il.. u piri.m i:, In U.,.1 (.11 ll.r 
 
 104 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 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 he able to ascertain 
 
 the truth. 
 
 A further and convincing proof is then to call in 
 a " P *w *H£ * skilled in dealing with wixards (m 
 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 mil off as though the raior had 
 been applied to his head instead of to the vessel I 
 That is supposing he & the culprit; if not, of 
 course he will pass through the ordeal without 
 fctiMfn 
 
 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 corre- 
 sponding 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 
 *95 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 of the place lodge a formal complaint against the 
 supposed author of these ills and desire that he be 
 punished. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 bdjang, and the present Sultan, 
 who was then the principal Malay Judge in the 
 State, told them he would severely punish the 
 bdjang if they would produce it. They went away 
 hardly satisfied and shortly after made a united 
 representation to the effect that if the person sus- 
 pected 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. 
 
 The hereditary bdjang comes like other evils, the 
 unsought heritage of a dissolute ancestry, but the 
 acquired bdjang is usually obtained from the newly- 
 buried body of a stillborn child, which is supposed 
 196 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 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 bdjang to come 
 forth. 
 
 Polong and PHsit are but other names for Bdjatig, 
 the latter is chiefly used in the State of Kedah 
 where it is considered rather chic to have a pelsit. 
 A Kedah lady the other day, eulogising the advant- 
 ages 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 : 
 
 " 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 jampi 
 (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, 
 i97 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 pelsit is yours." 
 
 It sounds easy enough, and one is not surprised 
 to hear that everyone in Kedah, who is anybody, 
 keeps a pelsit. 
 
 Langsuior, the female familiar, differs hardly at 
 all from the bdjang 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. 
 
 It is all very well for the Kedah ladies to sacrifice 
 their shadows to obtain possession of a pelsit, 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 
 198 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 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 bdjang. I have also been assured 
 that the bdjang, 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. 
 
 The following legend gives the Malay conception 
 of the origin of all Jin, hantu, bdjang, and other 
 spirits. 
 
 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. 
 
 The Creator then formed another clay figure, but 
 199 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 proto- 
 type the first failure. 
 
 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." 
 
 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 ! 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 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 ! 
 
 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 Chenaku in 
 the interior of the Korinchi country. Even there, 
 however, it is only those who are practised in the 
 elhnu stht'r, the occult arts who are thus capable 
 of transforming themselves into tigers, and the 
 Korinchi people profess themselves afraid to enter 
 the Chenaku district. 
 
 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 
 
 201 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 in it long without seeing phenomena that are not 
 always explained by modern text- books on Natural 
 Philosophy. 
 
 I was first introduced to an Arab of very remark- 
 able 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 pro- 
 perty 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 Jin, it was only necessary to ask him to conjure 
 
 202 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 My friend was not, however, at the end of his 
 203 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 resources, and, though only an amateur in divina- 
 tion, 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 
 wentwith 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 Koran 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. 
 
 I was asked to write the name of each person 
 present in the house when the robbery was com- 
 mitted 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 
 204 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 men placing each the middle joint of the fore-finger 
 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 Koran, 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." 
 
 It was the name of the person already mentioned 
 by him. 
 
 I did not, however, impart that piece of informa- 
 tion to the company, but went on to the end of my 
 papers, nothing more happening. 
 
 I said I should like to try the test again, and as 
 205 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 seance 
 
 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. 
 
 The name disclosed by this experiment was 
 206 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 certainly that of the person whom there was most 
 reason to suspect, but beyond that I learnt nothing. 
 
 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. 
 
 Yet another plan is to place in the hand of a 
 pdwang, 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. 
 
 A great many Malays and one or two Europeans 
 may be found who profess to have seen water 
 drawn from a kris. The modus operandi is simple. 
 The " pawang " (I dare not call him conjurer) 
 works with bare arms to show there is no deception. 
 He takes the kris (yours, if you prefer it) from its 
 wooden handle, and, holding the steel point down- 
 wards 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, 
 207 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 moving his fingers up and down the blade. After 
 a little while a few drops of water fall from the 
 point of the krt's, and these drops quickly develop 
 into a stream that will fill a cup. The " pawang " 
 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 krt's the 
 " pawang " can render it again so hard that it cannot 
 be bent. 
 
 The only drawback to this trick or miracle is 
 that the process ruins the temper of the steel, and a 
 kris that has been thus treated is useless. 
 
 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 guru, 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 : 
 
 " First praise to God, the Giver of all good, a 
 Fountain of Compassion to His servants. 
 
 "From Haji Wan Muhammad, Teacher of His 
 Highness the Sultan of Perak, to the Resident who 
 administers the Government of Perak. 
 208 
 
MALAY SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 •'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. 
 
 "I make ten thousand salutations. I wish to 
 inquire about the practice of b&r-hantu, 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 rayats, and then they 
 make elaborate preparations of food, killing a buffalo 
 209 o 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 or fowls, and all this is thrown away as already 
 stated. According to the Muhammadan religion 
 such proceedings lead to destruction. 
 
 u I salute you many times, do not be angry, for 
 I do not understand your customs, Mr. Resident. 
 
 "(Signed) Haji Muhammad Abu Hassan." 
 
 aio 
 
XVIII 
 WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 Where fountains of sweet water run 
 
 between, 
 And sun and shadow chequer-chased 
 
 the green 
 
 JJLmi 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
 211 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 when Albuquerque was striving to effect a landing 
 on the shores of Malacca. 
 
 For ages it has been a practice of the Sultans of 
 Perak to reserve certain waters for their own fish- 
 ing, 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. 
 
 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 tuntong or river-turtles ascend the Perak River 
 in considerable numbers and lay their eggs on cer- 
 tain convenient sand stretches in the neighbourhood 
 of Bota, about ioo miles from the river's mouth. 
 
 The most frequented of these laying grounds 
 is a place called Pdsir TZlor (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. 
 
 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. 
 
 212 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Directly the watchers report that the turtles 
 have made the second nests, the Sultan and his 
 f mily, with the neighbouring chiefs and their 
 families, take boat and paddle down the stream to 
 Pasir Telor. 
 
 Fifteen or twenty large house-boats and several 
 213 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 214 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 The ladies are in their smartest garments 
 and wear their costliest jewels. It is a blaze of 
 brilliant-coloured silks, of painted sarongs, cloth-of- 
 gold scarves, and embroidered gauze veils ; of bright 
 sunshades, gold bracelets, necklaces, and bangles ; 
 of curious jewelled brooches, massive hair-pins, and 
 rings flashing with the light of diamonds and 
 rubies. 
 
 The men appear in jackets, trousers, and sarongs 
 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 
 215 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 all this wealth of bravery moves slowly across the 
 strand. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 216 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 eggs. Anything over twenty-five is considered a 
 satisfactory find. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 seritnai, with jest and 
 
 laughter, pennons waving, and bright eyes sparkling 
 
 behind the rainbow-coloured blinds, the picturesque 
 217 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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 dyer mdtt\ 
 the " dead water," from the living hurrying stream. 
 
 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. 
 
 In this feudal and conservative country when 
 the people eat they mdkan t but the Raja does not 
 mdkan, with him it is santap. When " the masses" 
 bathe they niandi, but the same operation in the 
 case of a Raja is called seram; a chief or a beggar 
 may sleep and that is tidor, but when the Raja 
 sleeps he is said to ber-ddu. This does not mean 
 
 that a wide gulf divides Malay classes, there is 
 218 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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 distinc- 
 tions that mark fine shades of rank or age. Boys 
 and girls are as careful in the observance of these 
 courtesies as are their elders. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 219 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 are rare, and when not actively engaged in amusing 
 themselves they are lotus-eating, sometimes figura- 
 tively, sometimes in reality. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 pas- 
 sage 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. 
 
 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 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 By 3 p.m. 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. 
 
 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 
 
 221 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 dis- 
 engaged from the fine meshes and thrown into the 
 boat under the bamboo grating. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Sometimes every net makes a good haul, some- 
 times 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 attrac- 
 tive. 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 
 
 222 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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. 
 
 The game looks 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 cordon 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 
 223 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 ot 
 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 extraordi- 
 nary 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." 
 
 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 
 
 224 
 
WITH A CASTING-NET 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 IO p.m., when they return thoroughly tired out, but 
 happy in the knowledge that the bag numbers over 
 ten thousand fish. 
 
 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 excite- 
 ment of the netting in the discomfort of the dug- 
 outs. 
 
 That is how the Sultan of Perak's annual fishing 
 party takes its pleasure, and about the very same 
 time His Highness of Pahang will be leading a 
 similar expedition in the quiet waters of an old 
 channel of the Pahang River. 
 
 There, however, the method is rather different — 
 
 the water is poisoned with the juice of the tuba 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 
 225 p 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 than by the means employed in Perak. It is not 
 however, perfectly easy to spear even drugged fish 
 without both skill and practice. 
 
 In Pahang, 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 Harim 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. 
 
 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 comer 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 226 
 
XIX 
 JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 Such was our friend, formed on the 
 
 good old plan, 
 A true and brave and downright 
 
 honest man 
 
 Whittiir 
 
 ON the 2nd November 1875, Mr. James 
 Wheeler Woodford Birch, British Resident 
 of Perak, was assassinated by Malays at a place 
 called Pasir Salak on the Perak River. I propose 
 to describe why and how this murder was com- 
 mitted. 
 
 Mr. Birch began life as a midshipman in the 
 Royal Navy. He abandoned the sea for Govern- 
 ment employment in Ceylon, where he spent the 
 best years of his life, and was promoted to be Gov- 
 ernment 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 
 227 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Clarke, R.E., then Governor of the Straits Settle- 
 ments, 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. 
 
 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 power- 
 lessness to enforce an order, he had undertaken a 
 well-nigh impossible task. At that time the Malay 
 Peninsula was a terra incognita to white men, and 
 the characteristics, customs, peculiarities and pre- 
 judices of the Malay had yet to be learnt. 
 
 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. 
 
 It had a large Malay population, people whose 
 ancestors had for generations belonged to the place 
 and who were saturated with ancient customs, pre- 
 judices, and superstitions that had to be learned, 
 and with many of which it was difficult to sym- 
 pathise. It had an unusual number of Rajas and 
 Chiefs, each with some kind of privilege or vested 
 228 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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 oiher 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. 
 
 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 ac- 
 knowledge defeat, and the consequence was that his 
 extraordinary energy in travelling about the country, 
 " spying out the land," and his persistence in attempt- 
 ing 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 
 229 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 those who disliked interference, and preferred the 
 state of uncontrolled lawlessness to which they were 
 accustomed. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 press- 
 ing 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 feel- 
 ing there was none, wherever Mr. Birch went there 
 were people who had to thank him for some kind- 
 ness, 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 
 230 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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. 
 
 By September 1875, matters had come to a dead- 
 lock. 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 opposi- 
 tion 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. 
 
 Then there was another claimant to the Sultan- 
 ship in the person of the Raja Muda Jusuf, who 
 lived still further up country, and while his claims 
 were undoubtedly the best, his personal unpopu- 
 larity was so great that the people would not accept 
 him as Sultan. 
 
 The success of the Residential idea (for no one 
 had attempted to formulate any scheme or system) 
 231 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 administra- 
 tive authority, collecting revenue, and otherwise 
 carrying out the provisions of the Pangkor Treaty. 
 
 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. 
 
 It was the Malay fasting-month, the bulan pudsa, 
 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 
 232 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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. 
 
 In Lower Perak during this particular month of 
 Ramthan, 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. 
 
 This man, the Maharaja Lela, was a chief of con- 
 siderable rank, after the Sultan he was the seventh 
 in the State. He lived at Pasir Salak, 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. 
 
 During the month, Sultan Abdullah, who was 
 
 then with his boats at Pasir Panjang, a couple of 
 
 miles below the Maharaja Lela's house, summoned 
 
 his chiefs and informed them that he had given over 
 
 233 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 Maha- 
 raja Lela said, u 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 Mentri 
 and the Penglima 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 
 Pasir Salak." 
 
 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." 
 
 Another chief, the Datoh Sagor, who lived on the 
 other side of the river, exactly opposite to Pasir 
 Saiak, said, u What the Maharaja Lela does I will 
 do." 
 
 The Sultan then got up and withdrew. 
 
 Two or three days before the end of the month 
 the Sultan called another meeting of his chiefs at a 
 place called Durian Sa'batang, ten miles below the 
 small island on which the Resident's hut stood. 
 At that meeting the Sultan produced the proclama- 
 tions which were to be issued, placing the ad- 
 234 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 ministration in the hands of British officers, and 
 asked his chiefs what they thought of them. The 
 Laksimana, an influential chief, said, u Down here, 
 in the lower part of the river, we must accept the 
 proclamations " ; but the Maharaja Lela said, u 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." 
 
 The Maharaja Lela immediately left, and having 
 loaded his boats with rice, returned up river to his 
 own kampong. 
 
 Pasir Salak 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 ordin- 
 arily substantial kind, round which he had for 
 months past been digging a great ditch and throw- 
 ing up a formidable earthwork crowned by a 
 palisade. These preparations had been duly noted 
 by the Resident. 
 
 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. 
 
 235 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 him- 
 self. The people then dispersed. It was one or 
 two days after this that Mr. Birch arrived at Pasir 
 Salak. 
 
 Before describing the events of the 2nd Novem- 
 ber I must go back for a moment. 
 
 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. 
 
 I found the Resident had met with an accident ; 
 236 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 lie 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. 
 
 Mr. Birch undertook to distribute the proclama- 
 tions himself in the down-river districts, and 
 directed me to go up river, to interview the ex- 
 Sultan Ismail, the Raja Muda, the Raja Bendahara, 
 and other up-country chiefs, and, having distributed 
 the proclamations at all important villages from 
 Kota Lama downwards, to try to meet him at 
 Pasir Salak on the 3rd November. There, he told 
 me, he expected trouble for which he was quite 
 prepared. 
 
 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. 
 
 He must have got through his part of the work 
 
 more rapidly than he expected, for he reached 
 
 Pasir Salak with three boats at midnight on the 
 
 1st November, and anchored in midstream. The 
 
 237 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 1st November was the Hdri Raya, the first day 
 after the Fast. At daylight his boats went along- 
 side 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 Pasir Salak. 
 
 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 fire-arms 
 and Malay weapons, besides other property. 
 
 Directly after their arrival Mr. Abbott borrowed 
 a small boat from the Chinaman and went across 
 the river to Kampong Gajah to shoot snipe, the 
 Chief of that place, the Datoh Sagor, returning in 
 the boat to Pasir Salak, where he at once sought 
 an interview with Mr. Birch. 
 
 After this conversation, which was held in the 
 
 Resident's boat, the Datoh Sagor and Mr. Birch's 
 
 interpreter went to the Maharaja Lela's house, and 
 
 the interpreter said to the Maharaja Lela that the 
 
 238 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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. 
 
 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 krises, and Mr. Birch asked the Datoh 
 Sagor what they wanted, and that they should be 
 told to stand further away. The Datoh 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 under- 
 stand these ominous signs, but his boatmen heard 
 and realised that trouble was brewing. 
 
 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. 
 239 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 chiefs 
 dictum, was u 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. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Birch had handed to his inter- 
 preter 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. 
 
 It was now about 10 a.m., and in spite of the 
 threatening attitude of the large crowd of armed 
 
 Malays standing in groups and passing between 
 
 240 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 the river-bank and their chiefs 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. 
 
 They had not long to wait. The interpreter 
 was still replacing the proclamations on the China- 
 man's hut, when Pandak Indut and a number of 
 other men came quickly from the Maharaja Lela's 
 house. 
 
 The crowd asked, "What are the Chiefs 
 orders ? ■ 
 
 Pandak Indut replied, M He leaves the matter to 
 me." 
 
 Going straight up to the Chinese shop, he began 
 tearing down the newly-posted papers ; the inter- 
 preter 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 over- 
 took 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. 
 
 241 Q 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 amok, dmok t they leapt on to the floating 
 timbers and thrust their spears through the open 
 space in the front of the house. 
 
 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 Siputum, slashed 
 the Resident over the head with a sword. He sank 
 and was not seen again. 
 
 The Sikh orderly, standing with a revolver at the 
 door of the bath-house, jumped into the river with- 
 out any warning to his master, swam off to one of 
 the boats and saved himself. 
 
 The river- bank was now the scene of a general 
 melee. 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 
 242 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 The attack, the murder of the Resident, his in- 
 terpreter, 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, Siputum, 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 
 243 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and said, " Go and tell the Laksamana that I have 
 killed Mr. Birch." The message was delivered the 
 same day, and the Laksamana said, " Very well, I 
 will tell the Sultan." 
 
 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. 
 
 These are the facts about Mr. Birch's assassina- 
 tion, 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 244 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 The Maharaja Lela and his neighbour the Datoh 
 Sagor, having " burnt their ships," proceeded to 
 stockade their villages, and those stockades were 
 subsequently taken, the rebels driven out, and their 
 villages destroyed. 
 
 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. 
 
 The first man captured was Siputum. 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 
 Pdwang, 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 state- 
 ment 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 
 245 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 actions was a doctrine that was strange to him, 
 and he learnt it too late to profit by it. 
 
 In December 1876, the Maharaja Lela, the 
 Datoh Sagor, 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 Pasir Salak on the 2nd 
 November 1875. 
 
 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. 
 
 Sultan Abdullah, and other Chiefs whose com- 
 plicity 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. 
 
 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 
 246 
 
JAMES WHEELER WOODFORD BIRCH 
 
 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. 
 
 «47 
 
XX 
 
 A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 Haud multum abfuit quin interfi- 
 ceretur 
 
 Horacx 
 
 From Captain Speedy, Queen's Commissioner, 
 
 Larut, to H.E. Sir William Jervois, 
 
 Governor of the Straits. 
 
 TExtract :1 Larut, November gth, 1875. 
 
 "TN the second report, that of 7th instant, Sergeant 
 A Din states that he was told by one Kulup 
 Riau that Mr. Swettenham had been murdered by 
 the Raja Lela at Pasir Salak 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. Swetten- 
 ham) at 2 p.m. on 4th instant, but, on his arrival, 
 248 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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 Pasir Salak 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." 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Pasir Salak about the 3rd 
 November. 
 
 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 re- 
 spected accordingly. His latest exploit had been 
 
 to take command of a body of Malays in an engage- 
 249 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 ment 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 re- 
 cognition 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, 
 250 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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 un- 
 known 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. 
 
 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 ot 
 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 in- 
 troduced, 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 
 251 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 Blanja people, disturbances (war, they called it) were 
 imminent. 
 
 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. Un- 
 fortunately, 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. 
 
 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 Kota Lama. The shops in Kuala 
 Kangsar were all closed, and everyone was waiting 
 for the bursting of the storm. 
 
 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 Patani) walking past with his wife and 
 two children. When the man got opposite Raja 
 Alang's house he raised his trousers to keep them 
 252 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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 mon- 
 strous 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 chil- 
 dren to raise the amount of the fine. Just at dawn 
 on the following morning the Patani man got up, 
 took from a Malay lying near him a kris, 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 inci- 
 dent, at the time of my arrival, was, with rumours 
 of war, dividing the interests of the people of Kuala 
 Kangsar. 
 
 On the ist November I read and posted the pro- 
 253 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 clamations in Kuala Kangsar, and on the following 
 day I went to see the Raja Bendahara, 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 Bendahara 
 some copies, which I asked him to have posted. 
 
 Amongst the crowd was Raja Alang, who gave 
 me his version of the amok, and denied that he had 
 ill-treated the Patani man. I see from the journal 
 I kept in those days that I expressed my surprise 
 that such things were not of daily occurrence, look- 
 ing 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 taubat (a reformed cha- 
 racter), 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 ! 
 
 On the 3rd November I distributed the proclama- 
 tions in villages between Kuala Kangsar and Larut, 
 and in the afternoon went with Raja Mahmud and 
 one boat up river to Kota Lama. This village had 
 then, as indeed it has still, the unenviable reputa- 
 tion of being the most impossible place in Perak. 
 It was a very large village, and the people in it 
 254 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 prided themselves on their independence ; their 
 neighbours called it impudence. A few months 
 before Mr. Birch had visited Kota Lama, 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. 
 
 I had been in Kota Lama 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 
 sireh, 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 calcu- 
 lated 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. 
 
 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 
 255 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 pro- 
 clamations, 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 Kota Lama. 
 
 He said they only acknowledged one chief in 
 Kota Lama, and he was the Raja Bendahara, and 
 they would do nothing without his orders. I told 
 them I would ask the Bendahara 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. 
 
 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 
 256 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 not been there. On our way back he told me he 
 was so amazed at the way the Kota Lama men talked 
 that he felt it wiser not to join in the conversation. 
 
 Arrived at Kuala Kangsar, I found the Raja 
 Muda Jusuf, and told him the result of my visit to 
 Kota Lama. The Raja Muda's feelings towards the 
 Kota Lama people were quite beyond expression, 
 and they were very cordially reciprocated. 
 
 The next morning, the 4th November, my work 
 being done, I started down river at 8.30 a.m. 
 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." 
 
 Little as he thought it, the time for force was at 
 hand, for some was already past ; but if his pre- 
 diction was right, his estimate of the means required 
 to settle matters was over-sanguine. 
 
 Stopping only for breakfast, my boats reached 
 Blanja at 4 p.m. It was my intention to spend 
 the night there, interview ex-Sultan Ismail, and 
 continue my journey the next day. 
 
 257 R 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 This Haji Ali, a tall, well-made man in the prime 
 of life, was the genial person of evil reputation 
 who, with Penglima Prang Semaun, 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. 
 
 Haji Ali seated himself in my boat and at once 
 stated that Mr. Birch had sone to Pasir Salak, that 
 there he and sixteen of his people had been mur- 
 dered by the Maharrja 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 
 258 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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. 
 
 At Haji Ali's first words Raja Mahmud had 
 caught up his kris, and was now tightening his 
 waist-belt and preparing for instant trouble. 
 
 The Haji completed his information by con- 
 siderately telling me that the Maharaja Lela and his 
 people had staked the river right across at Pasir 
 Salak, 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. 
 
 I thanked him, and to get rid of him asked him 
 to go back and say that I was coming. 
 
 As soon as he had left the boat I held a hasty 
 consultation with Raja Mahmud, who said it would 
 259 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 The idea of returning up-river was unpleasant and 
 well nigh impossible, it was therefore discarded at 
 once. 
 
 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 volun- 
 teered 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. 
 
 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 
 260 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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." 
 
 He was still standing in the same place when 
 we had gone some distance, and as we passed out- 
 side 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 261 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 The Resident, we were told, had been murdered 
 at Pasir Salak, 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 Pasir 
 Salak 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 Pasir Salak was staked from bank 
 to bank, and if so no boat could pass that barrier. 
 
 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 conspi- 
 cuous 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 Pasir Salak in anything like 
 twelve hours, and we calculated, therefore, that we 
 should reach the point of greatest danger in broad 
 daylight, probably about 9 a.m. 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 a.m., they had had one meal, 
 and now there was a night's work before them and 
 no time to stop for cooking. 
 
 If the conditions were as they had been stated, 
 262 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 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. 
 
 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 un- 
 wise to waste the time and rouse the whole village. 
 As we passed the boat we could see no one in or 
 about it. 
 
 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 p.m. a thick white mist came 
 down and enveloped the river in impenetrable fog. 
 This was very confusing, for, while it lasted, it was 
 263 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 impossible to see half a boat's length in any direc- 
 tion. 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! 
 
 That discovery gave us rather a bad shock, for 
 we calculated that we had lost half an hour of pre- 
 cious 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 I had told them to rouse me when we got near 
 to Pasir Salak, for now, to our great surprise, it 
 264 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 seemed evident that we should reach the place 
 hours before dawn. About 1.30 a.m. Mahmud 
 quietly woke me, and the boatmen nerved them- 
 selves for the final effort. 
 
 We knew that to get past Pasir Salak it was 
 necessary to go right under one bank or the other, 
 and the deepest water was on the left or Kampong 
 Gajah 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 qui vive. As noise- 
 lessly 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. 
 
 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 
 265 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 our way through or take one of the enemy's boats 
 on the down-stream side of the stakes. 
 
 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 imagina- 
 tion 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. 
 
 Just as I was thinking a very sincere thanks- 
 giving, 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. 
 
 Two of our men with poles were making super- 
 human 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 ? " 
 266 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 was the next inquiry, and the reply was, "Blanja." 
 " Where are you for ? " and other questions fol- 
 lowed, 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 every- 
 one 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 con- 
 veniently en Evidence. 
 
 Ten miles lower down the river, it being then 
 only 3 a.m., 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, 
 267 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and in a few seconds we were alongside a Selangor 
 steam-launch. 
 
 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 nad snown m 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. 
 
 The Maharaja Lela and his friends professed 
 themselves both surprised and disappointed when 
 they found I had arrived at Bandar Bharu, having 
 passed Pasir Salak without their knowledge. I 
 daresay, however, that some of them were not alto- 
 gether 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 Penglima Prang Semaun with a number of their 
 men were sent after us in fast boats on a mission 
 similar to the one they had previously undertaken 
 268 
 
A PERSONAL INCIDENT 
 
 and successfully carried out. As we saw nothing 
 of them I conclude they did not exert themselves to 
 overtake us. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 t69 
 
XXI 
 NAKODAH ORLONG 
 
 Two things greater than all things 
 
 are, 
 One is Love and the other War 
 
 Rudyard Kipling 
 
 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. ioth Regiment, together 
 with the Superintendent of the Penang Police (Hon. 
 H. Plunket) and twenty native constables armed 
 with rifles. 
 
 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. 
 
 270 
 
NAKODAR ORLONG 
 
 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. 
 
 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 Pasir Salak 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 The distance from Bandar Bharu to Pasir Salak 
 was five miles, every yard of it covered with 
 vegetation of some sort, the only road a narrow 
 path by the river-bank ; moreover, Pasir Salak 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 
 271 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 We were up at 4.30 a.m. on the 7th, got all the 
 men into boats, and made a start by 7.30 a.m., 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 unfor- 
 tunate 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 
 272 
 
NAKODAH ORLONG 
 
 means delay and hard work, but, whatever the 
 trouble and delay, hardly any consideration will 
 justify an attack without at least one gun. 
 
 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 ioth, 
 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 
 ioth Regiment. 
 
 We began the march gaily enough, not expecting 
 to meet with any resistance till near Pasir Salak. 
 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. 
 
 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 
 273 s 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 We were talking and laughing (being still a long 
 way from Pasir Salak) 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, M 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. 
 
 Nakodah Orlong fell without uttering another 
 sound, and, the enemy maintaining a brisk fire, our 
 position was so uncomfortable that my own inclina- 
 tion 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 exis- 
 tence was due simply to their want of skill. 
 
 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 
 274 
 
NAKODAH ORLONG 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 back of his thigh. Once 
 also the Sikhs made a determined attack on the men 
 with me as we were trying to outflank the Malays, 
 275 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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 en masse at an even earlier hour, and 
 explained afterwards, with much force, that it was 
 not for this kind of work that they had engaged. 
 
 The enemy's stockade was a long rampart im- 
 penetrable 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 Pan dak Indut, foremost of Mr. Birch's 
 murderers. 
 
 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 leav- 
 ing the howitzers behind. The rockets, an old pattern, 
 were ineffective, and as they all went over the top of 
 276 
 
NAKODAH ORLONG 
 
 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 en- 
 abled us, a week later, to carry this and a succession 
 of other stockades without the loss of a man. 
 
 About 1 p.m. (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. 
 
 Though we had gained nothing by rushing the 
 277 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. Per- 
 sonally 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. 
 
 We reached our boats at 3 p.m., and the Residency 
 a quarter of an hour later. 
 
 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. 
 
 About 8 p.m. they returned with Alang and the 
 body of his chief ; they had met the lad swimming 
 down the river with his master's body. 
 278 
 
NAKODAH ORLONG 
 
 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 kris, 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 ot his where- 
 abouts. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 through- 
 279 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 out a long day to guard his chiefs dead body, with- 
 out thought of gain or praise, only determined that 
 none but loving hands should be laid upon the 
 voiceless, pulseless clay he once called master. 
 
 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. 
 
 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? 
 
 280 
 
XXII 
 
 EVENING 
 
 Phoebus loosens all his golden hair 
 Right down the sky 
 
 Eric Macxay 
 
 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 some- 
 thing 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. 
 
 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 fat- 
 ness — these are the home of the Malay, the back- 
 ground against which he stands. 
 
 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 
 281 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 and the magnificence of tropical jungle, and look 
 down on the land for the last time. 
 
 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 alti- 
 tudes and a new flora, would excite in the stranger 
 feelings of wonder and rapturous delight. 
 
 The road itself is cut through soil of a deep 
 shade of terra cotta, 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 deepen- 
 ing 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. 
 
 The path twists and winds, often by sharp zig- 
 zags, up the face of the hill, across a narrow saddle 
 282 
 
EVENING 
 
 and then by an even steeper ascent, till at last we 
 gain the summit of the mountain. 
 
 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. 
 
 That faint blue peak in the north, hazy and 
 indistinct, is Gunong Jerai in Kedah, 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 man- 
 grove, 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 
 283 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 And those pools of water all around the town, 
 what are those? 
 
 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. 
 
 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 insig- 
 nificant 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 
 284 
 
EVENING 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 285 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 same valley through which the river, plainly visible 
 twenty miles away, winds in a silver streak. On 
 the right stands Gunong 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 Pahang. Those hills fading 
 out of sight in the far-away south are near the 
 borders of Perak and Selangor. 
 
 As we turn our faces back to the setting sun, 
 the great disc, now grown a deep crimson, is sink- 
 ing 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. 
 
 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 
 286 
 
EVENING 
 
 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 up- 
 ward 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. 
 
 Meanwhile the darkness which seemed to be 
 settling over the distant eastern ranges is gradually 
 suffused with soft tints of rose doree, 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 steal- 
 ing borrowed glory from the sky. 
 
 Soon this light wanes ; purple turns to grey, the 
 287 
 
MALAY SKETCHES 
 
 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. 
 
 Here, at this elevation, the night is not quite 
 yet. 
 
 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, gor- 
 geously 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. 
 
 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 
 288 
 
EVENING 
 
 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. 
 
 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 
 
NOTE ON THE COVER DESIGN 
 
 \ 
 
 r'HE colours used on the cover of this book are those 
 recognised as " Roya/" colours in one or other of the 
 Malay States. Throughout the Peninsula yellow is the special 
 colour toorn or used by those oj % s aja 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 
 or 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 %aja class. 
 
 It is a universal practice to put letters addressed to Malay 
 rulers {when they are of %dja birth) into covers of yellow 
 cotton cloth or yellow satin, while those addressed to %ajas 
 who have no official position, or to chiefs of importance but not 
 of7{aja birth, are stitched into covers of white cotton. 
 
 In some of the States the royal fag is yellow, in others it is 
 white or black, while in several of the more important States 
 
NOTE ON THE COVER DESIGN 
 
 of Sumatra (as for instance in dcheen), black garments are the 
 special privilege of the %aja class. 
 
 In Terak the three highest native authorities in the State, 
 the Sultan, his heir {sty ted %aja Muda), and his Wazir 
 {the %aja Bendahdra), fly fags of white, yellow, and black 
 respectively, and these three colours united have, for the last 
 twenty years, been adopted as the Perak State flag. 
 
 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. 
 
 F. J. S. 
 
 Xmat day, iS^J. 
 
 ' <*:? 
 

 
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