OCCASIONAL NOTES. 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



11 Notes on the Sultanate of Siak " by H. A. Hymans van 

 Anroij. — Under this title a most interesting treatise on Siak has 

 recently appeared. The writer has been living for years in 

 the Dutch Residency, East Coast of Sumatra, and, as an offi- 

 cial in continual contact with the native population, has had 

 better opportunities for prosecuting his researches than a pri- 

 vate individual would have had. 



Siak is the largest of the Malay Independent States on the 

 East Coast of Sumatra. Its relations to the Dutch are in some 

 degree the same as those of the Malay States of the Peninsula 

 in respect of the English, although probably its independence is 

 greater than that of Perak, &c. 



A few extracts from this very interesting book will, no doubt, 

 be welcome to the members of the Society. 



The Sultan, who is assisted by a minister, the Mangkubumi 

 (formerly Paja Muda), naturally receives the largest part of 

 the taxes due to the Government ; he has besides the right to 

 certain prerogatives pertaining exclusively to the Royal Office, 

 amongst which are the so-called barang larangan or larangan 

 raja. 



We find similar prerogatives in Western monarchies, in a 

 different shape. 



The principal revenues of the Sultan of Siak are : — 



1. The taxes on Imports and Exports collected on the 



different rivers in his dominions, 



2. The tax on the terubuk fishery. 



3. A tax on strangers passing through his lands. 



