are more
accessible to us, and they know more of our power than those dwelling
in the hill country; and, secondly, because they depend largely upon the
revenue that they derive from taxing all goods passing up and down, and
which they not unreasonably think they might lose if we were to become
paramount. No doubt there is much that Hassan said of Sehi that is true
and is applicable to other chiefs who have placed themselves under our
protection--namely, that they have so injured trade by their exactions
as to incur the hostility of their neighbors. Of course, I am not
speaking of such men as the Rajahs of Johore and Perac, who are
enlightened men, and have seen the benefits to be derived from
intercourse with us. Their people are agriculturists, and they are
really on a par with the protected states in India.

"There is a great future before the country; gold is found in many of
the rivers, tin is probably more abundant than in any other part of the
world, and the exports are now very large; there are immense quantities
of valuable timber, such as teak, sandalwood, and ebony. The climate is,
except on the low land near the rivers, very healthy; nutmegs, cloves,
and other spices can be grown there, and indigo, chocolate, pepper,
opium, the sugarcane, coffee, and cotton, are all successfully
cultivated. Some day, probably, the whole peninsula will fall under our
protection, and when the constant tribal feuds are put a stop to, the
forests cleared, and the ground cultivated, as is the case in our own
settlement of Malacca, it will be found one of the most valuable of our
possessions. Any amount of labor can be obtained from China, and it is
probable that the races who inhabit the mountainous districts, who are
said to be industrious and peaceable, will also readily adapt themselves
to the changed conditions. They are not Malays like the people of the
lowlands, but are a black race with curly wool, like the natives of
Africa, and probably inhabited the whole peninsula before the arrival of
the Malays."

"How funny that there should be niggers here," Harry said.

"They are not exactly negroes, but one of the races known as negritos,
having, of course, many negro characteristics, but differing from the
African negroes in some important particulars. To them our supremacy
would be an unmixed blessing; their products would reach the coast
untaxed, and they would obtain all European goods at vastly cheaper
rates. A minor bene