The Nominal Approval Of Measures Initiated
By The Resident And Agreed To In Council, And The Signing Of
Death-Warrants, Are Among The Few Prerogatives Which "His Highness"
Retains.
Then a petition for a pension from Rajah Brean was read, the
Rajah, a slovenly-looking man, being present.
The petition was refused,
and the Sultan, in refusing it, spoke some very strong words about
idleness, which seems a great failing of Rajah Brean's but it has my
strong sympathy, for -
" - Why
Should life all labor be? -
There is no joy but calm;
Why should we only toil, the roof and crown of things?"
During the reception a richly-dressed attendant sat on the floor with
an iron tube like an Italian iron in his hand, in which he slowly
worked an arrangement which might be supposed to be a heater up and
down. I thought that he might be preparing betel-nut, but Mr. Douglas
said that he was working a charm for the Sultan's safety, and it was
believed that if he paused some harm would happen. Another attendant,
yet more richly dressed, carried a white scarf fringed and embroidered
with gold over one shoulder, and two vases of solid gold, with their
surfaces wrought by exquisite workmanship into flowers nearly as
delicate as filigree work. One of these contained betel-nut, and the
other sirih leaves. Meanwhile the police, with their bayonets flashing
in the sun, and the swarthy, richly-costumed throng on the palm-shaded
slopes, were a beautiful sight. The most interesting figure to me was
that of the reforming heir, the bigoted Moslem in his gold-colored
baju, with his swarthy face, singular and almost sinister expression,
and his total lack of all Western fripperies of dress. I think that
there may be trouble when he comes to the throne, at least if the
present arrangements continue. He does not look like a man who would
be content to be a mere registrar of the edicts of "a dog of an
infidel."
The Sultan has a "godown" containing great treasures, concerning which
he leads an anxious life - hoards of diamonds and rubies, and priceless
damascened krises, with scabbards of pure gold wrought into marvelous
devices and incrusted with precious stones. On Mr. Douglas's suggestion
(as I understood) he sent a kris with an elaborate gold scabbard to the
Governor, saying: "It is not from the Sultan to the Governor, _but from
a friend to a friend_." He seems anxious for Selangor to "get on." He
is making a road at Langat at his own expense; and acting, doubtless,
under British advice, has very cordially agreed that the odious system
of debt slavery shall be quietly dropped from among the institutions of
Selangor.
When this audience was over I asked to be allowed to visit the Sultana,
and, with Mrs. Ferney as interpreter, went to the harem, accompanied by
the Rajah Moussa. It is a beautiful house, of one very large, lofty
room, part of which is divided into apartments by heavy silk curtains.
One end of it is occupied by a high dais covered with fine mats, below
which is another dais covered with Persian carpets. On this the Sultana
received us, the Rajah Moussa, who is not her son, and ourselves
sitting on chairs. If I understood rightly that this prince is not her
son, I do not see how it is that he can go into the women's apartments.
Two guards sat on the floor just within the door, and numbers of women,
some of them in white veils, followers of the Sultana, sat in rows also
on the floor.
It must be confessed that the "light of the harem" is not beautiful.
She looks nearly middle-aged. She is short and fat, with a flat nose,
open wide nostrils, thick lips, and filed teeth, much blackened by
betel-nut chewing. Her expression is pleasant, and her manner is
prepossessing. She wore a rich, striped, red silk sarong, and a very
short, green silk kabaya with diamond clasps; but I saw very little of
her dress or herself, because she was almost enveloped in a pure white
veil of a fine woolen material spangled with gold stars, and she
concealed so much of her face with it, in consequence of the presence
of the Rajah Moussa, that I only rarely got a glimpse of the
magnificent diamond solitaires in her ears. Our conversation was not
brilliant, and the Sultana looked to me as if she had attained nirvana,
and had "neither ideas nor the consciousness of the absence of ideas."
We returned and took leave of the Sultan, and after we left I caught a
glimpse of him lounging at ease in a white shirt and red sarong, all
his gorgeousness having disappeared.
After we returned to the bungalow the Sultan sent me a gift. Eight
attendants dressed in pure white came into the room in single file, and
each bowing to the earth, sat down a brass salver, with its contents
covered with a pure white cloth. Again bowing, they uncovered them, and
displayed the fruitage of the tropics. There were young cocoa-nuts,
gold-colored bananas of the kind which the Sultan eats, papayas, and
clusters of a species of jambu, a pear-shaped fruit, beautiful to look
at, each fruit looking as if made of some transparent, polished white
wax with a pink flush on one side. The Rajah Moussa also arrived and
took coffee, and the verandas were filled with his followers. Every
Rajah goes about attended, and seems to be esteemed according to the
size of his following.
We left this remote and beautiful place at noon, and after a delightful
cruise of five hours down the Jugra, and among islands floating on a
waveless sea, we reached dreary, decayed Klang in the evening.
I. L. B.
LETTER XV
Tiger Mosquitoes - Insect Torments - A Hadji's Fate - Malay Custom - Oaths
and Lies - A False Alarm
THE RESIDENCY, KLANG, February 7.
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