780 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



A man is allowed to marry as 

 many wives as he can maintain : lie 

 builds a house for every woman, as 

 two wives never live together. One 

 of them, I believe the first, inherits 

 his estate. 



If a man has an inclination to take 

 a wife, he makes application to the 

 head rajah, who calls together ail 

 his chiefs; anfl if the parent-, of both 

 parties consent, the bridegroom 

 makes a present to the father of the 

 bride. 



During the timcof the warbetv/een 

 the inhabitants of Dungally and 

 Parlow, a piratical proa arrived at 

 Dungally from iMagindano, or Min- 

 daneo : she was owned b)' a rajah 

 named Tomba, who was an elderly 

 man, and wlio was then on board 

 with his son, a young man about 

 twenty years of age.: both the rajah 

 and all the people in the proa were 

 well acquainted with Tuan liadjce, 

 as he had lived formerly in Magin- 

 dano. 



The son of rajah Tomba saw the 

 daughter of Tooa, the rajah of Dun- 

 gaily, who had resigned the govern- 

 ment to his son Arvo, who was now 

 become the reigning rajah of Dun- 

 gally. The young man fell in love 

 with this rajah's daughter, who was 

 a fine girl, about nineteen years of 



age, and applied to Tuan Hadjec 

 for his assistance. The priest was 

 employed in the negotiation for se- 

 veral days, when it was agreed, that 

 the young man or his father, rajah 

 Tomba, should give three brass swi- 

 vel guns, and twenty pieces of white 

 cloth, which was reckoned a great 

 dowry. The parties were all taken 

 to the longar^ or house of public 

 business, and there carefully exa- 

 mined, before consent was obtained 

 to give the young woman in mar- 

 riage. 



The wedding was a singular, as 

 well as a splendid and interesting 

 sight. I can only shortly describe 

 it thus :— When the day was ap- 

 pointed for the marriage, all the war 

 men of the place were armed, and 

 about one o'clock in the day, the 

 young man, with the rajah his father, 

 and all the men belonging to the 

 proa, came on shore armed as if for 

 battle. Tuan Hadjec and the rajah 

 Arvo, of Dungally, met them as they 

 came on shore. They conducted 

 them to a small shod, which had 

 been raised for the occasion. Tuan 

 Hadjee there dressed the young man 

 with a long pair of silk trowsers, 

 and put on him five silk gowns of 

 different colours, a small silk ciip, 

 and over that a turban. To com- 

 plete 



which was in value ahout two thousand dollars; and tiint he was thus reduced to 

 his present low state. 



He was about sixty \cars of age, and his family consisted of a wife about fixtecn 

 years of a!;e; two sons grown up, by a former wife, and seven servants, wl)om he 

 had purchased. Dungally was his principal place of residence, where he lived 

 comfortably ; hut he often took jaunts from one town to another, and at alljjlaces 

 was well received and much respected, from liis being a tuan hadjec. Wc were 

 n»t uumindt'ul to pay him i;rcat attention, as it not only f^ave him weight and respect 

 Among the Malays, but created a stronger attention from him to us. Though he. 

 never aided us in n)aking our escape, he made our situation niore comfortable ; and 

 I am bound to he thus thankful to him. 



From beins; able to speak the Malay language, I often used to converse with him, 

 ■and I found him intelligent, and that he had been a great traveller and voyager. He 

 was very fond of drafts, and played the game well — but he was rather nettled, when 

 I occasionally got the better of him. 



