194 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
no native who worked for me ever had cause to 
complain. 
Nor had the Sultan himself; for I often found 
ways of helping him when the treasury was at low 
ebb. He looked to me to bring him news of the 
outside world and to interpret the news for him in 
terms that were understandable. Several hours of 
each day I spent at the palace, in discussing the 
affairs of the country with the Sultan and his Prime 
Minister, Mahommed Yusuf. Yusuf was a tunku 
bésar (big prince) and was formerly the Sultan of 
Lingga. He was driven from his country by the 
Dutch and had sought refuge with his brother, the 
Sultan of Trengganu. There he lived as an object 
lesson of what might happen if Europeans were 
allowed to come into the country. 
It was inevitable that Trengganu should eventu- 
ally be taken over by the British, but the Sultan 
fought the idea at every turn. He could see in such 
a possibility nothing but ruin for himself, and he 
was determined to hold out as long as he lived. 
In our long talks we discussed every phase of his 
situation, and I pointed out to him that other sultans 
had prospered under the British. He was inter- 
ested in that fact and asked for more information. 
Finally, it was arranged that Sir Frank Swetten- 
ham, who was governor-general of the Straits Set- 
tlements, should make a visit to Trengganu. That 
was the entering wedge. A few years later, an 
agreement was reached by which the country be- 
