The Little Steam-Launch
Moosmee (In Reality By Far The Greatest Risk Of All) Has Been Brought
Into The Stream Below The Stadthaus, Ready For An Early Start
To-Morrow, And A Runner Has Been Sent To The Resident To Prepare Him
For Such An Unusual Incursion Into His Solitudes.
I. L. B.
A CHAPTER ON SUNGEI UJONG
The Puzzles of the Peninsula - Sungei Ujong - A Malay Confederation - Syed
Abdulrahman - The Revenue of Sungei Ujong - Scenery and Productions - The
New Datu Klana - A "Dual Control"
I had never heard of this little State until I reached Singapore, and
probably many people are as ignorant as I was. The whole peninsula,
from Johore in the south to Kedah in the north, is a puzzle, what with
British colonies, Singapore, Malacca, and Province Wellesley, and
"Protected States," Sungei Ujong, Selangor, and Perak, north, south,
and east of which lie a region of unprotected Malay States, with their
independent rulers, such as Kedah, Patani, Tringganu, Kelantan, Pahang,
Johore, etc.* In several of these States, more or less anarchy
prevails, owing to the ambitions and jealousies of the Rajahs and their
followers, and a similar state of things in the three protected States
formerly gave great annoyance to the Straits-Settlements Government,
and was regarded as a hindrance to the dominant interests of British
trade in the Straits.
[*A number of small States are united into a sort of confederation known
as the Negri Sembilan, or Nine States. Their relative positions and
internal management, as well as their boundaries, remain unknown, as
from dread of British annexation they have refused to allow Europeans to
pass through their territory.]
In 1874, Sir A. Clark, the then Governor, acting in British interests,
placed British residents in Perak, Selangor, and the small State of
Sungei Ujong. These residents were to advise the rulers in matters of
revenue and general administration, but, it may be believed, that as
time has passed, they have become more or less the actual rulers of the
States which they profess to advise merely. They are the accredited
agents of England, reporting annually to the Straits Government, which,
in its turn, reports to the Colonial Office, and the amount of pressure
which they can bring to bear is overwhelming.
It is not easy to give the extent and boundaries of Sungei Ujong, the
"boundary question" being scarcely settled, and the territory to the
eastward being only partially explored. It is mainly an inland State,
access to its very limited seaboard being by the Linggi river. The
"protected" State of Selangor bounds it on the north, and joining on to
it and to each other on the east, are the small "independent" States of
Rumbow, Johol, Moar, Sri Menanti, Jelabu, Jompol, and Jelai. The Linggi
river, which in its lower part forms the boundary between Selangor and
Malacca, forks in its upper part, the right branch becoming for some
distance the boundary between Sungei Ujong and Rumbow. It is doubtful
whether the area of the State exceeds seven hundred square miles.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 92 of 229
Words from 47959 to 48465
of 120530
