, when its opposite is the very
picture of blight and decay.]

[Footnote 10: Radin, a noble next in rank, in the Malay world,
below a Rajah.]

The transfer of this settlement to the Dutch (in exchange for Malacca)
in 1825, was a severe blow and great disappointment to all the natives,
both high and low. At a meeting of chiefs held at the Government house,
at which the English and Dutch authorities were both present, for the
purpose of completing the transfer, the senior Rajah rose to address the
assembly, and spoke to the following effect:--"Against this transfer of
my country I protest. Who is there possessed of authority to hand me and
my countrymen, like so many cattle, over to the Dutch or to any other
power? If the English are tired of us, let them go away; but I deny
their right to hand us over to the Dutch. When the English first came
here, they asked for and got a piece of land to build warehouses and
dwelling-houses upon. That piece of land is still defined by its
original stone wall, and is all they (the English) ever got from us. We
were never conquered; and I now tell the English and Dutch gentlemen
here assembled, that, had I the power, as I have the will, I would
resist this transfer to the knife. I am, however, a poor man, have no
soldiers to cope with yours, and must submit. God's will be done." This
was a bold, straight-forward speech; but it was thrown away upon the
callous ears of the hearers. Delivered in pure Malay, it sounded
stronger than in this translation. The speaker was an old man, with
whose power and will for mischief, in former days, the British had good
cause to be acquainted.[11]

[Footnote 11: This chief will long be remembered in Bencoolen
for his reckless daring, when a desire of vengeance for any
insult, real or imaginary, stirred the devil within him. Many a
midnight murder was laid at his door, and with justice too, if
I am not very much mistaken. The last time I saw him, he was
very near his end, and spoke of his death as calmly and
tranquilly as if he had lived the purest life imaginable. He is
long since in his grave, and his family has sunk into
insignificance. I do not believe a more thorough villain ever
walked the earth.]

The country round Bencoolen is, with the exception of the
spice-plantations, covered with a thick forest. The soil is rich, and,
as I have said, might be turned to good account, by means of a small