152 OCCASIONAL NOTES. 



4. The monopoly of the sale of opium and salt, and 



the excise farms generally. 



5. Statute labour. 



6. A tenth on produce. 



7. Money levies on his subjects whenever required. 



8. The serah-an * trade in some parts of Siak proper, 



particularly in the Western dependencies. 



The first four of the above-named taxes have been taken 

 over, in consideration of a yearly fixed sum, by the Dutch 

 Government, who also dispute the right of the Sultan to the 

 serah-an trade in the dependencies. 



The Sultan claims further the right to purchase at four-fifths 

 or even at three-fourths of its value all the bees' wax collected in 

 Siak; he ma} r also sell to third persons the right to open settle- 

 ments and collect produce, &c, on rivers not yet occupied; he 

 may sell licenses for the felling and cutting of wood ; and may 

 give out lands for the laying out of plantations, &c. 



It is, however, always understood that an y rights possessed 

 by native occupants to grounds so disposed of by the Sultan 

 are properly settled for by him. 



The above-mentioned barang larangan or larangan raja are 

 such articles as are considered to be the exclusive property 

 of the Sultan. Whoever collects or becomes possessed of such 

 articles within Siak limits, is bound to give them up to the 

 Sultan. Though not without value, they must be considered 

 curiosa rather than preciosa, and as such are to be taken 

 less as a source of revenue than as a perquisite of royalty. 

 They are : — Gading (ivory), sumbok badak (rhinoceros horn), 

 guliga ( bezoar ), gaharu merupa, chula tupei, jaring napoh 

 and miisang chabu, and, to a certain degree, camphor. (This 

 latter article is however treated somewhat differently, as will 

 be shown further on.) 



Of every male elephant, killed or found dead in the jungle, 

 one of the tusks is to be given to the Sultan, the second 

 remaining the property of the finder. Should the Sultan wish 



* The " serah-an " trade is a monopoly for the sole right of the 

 sale of salt and iron (particularly tools like parangs, &c). — F. K. 



