122 MALAY LAND TENURE. 



Not long after the Perak war it became necessary to acquire 

 the piece of land at Kuala Kangsa, in Perak, on which the 

 British Residency now stands. The bargain was effected in 

 strict accordance with Malay law, and the sum which was paid 

 was calculated as the value of the fruit-trees and houses stand- 

 ing on the land. It was clearly understood on both sides that 

 the soil was vested in the State, and that all that the proprie- 

 tor could dispose of was the proprietary right ; the transaction 

 was *trictly one of pulang bela nja. Speaking of this purchase 

 to Raja Muda Yustjf at Sayong soon afterwards, I was asked by 

 him in a pointed manner whether the late proprietor had sold 

 me the land; the explanation that the proprietor had merely 

 been compensated for her interest in the land, namely, her 

 trees and houses, quite satisfied him and others that Malay 

 custom had been observed, and that the rights of the Raja or 

 State had not been invaded by an undue claim, on the part of 

 a subject, to the soil. This principle has always been recog- 

 nised in all sales of land in Malay districts in Perak which 

 have come under my notice. But the Malay cultivator is 

 always ready to claim from British officers, whom he may think 

 likely to be ignorant of the real conditions of native land 

 tenure, a larger interest than Malay law gives him, in fact, as 

 large an interest as can be conceded. The official who hears the 

 words " sell''' ( jual ) and u buy " ( bell ) used in connection with 

 the transfer of land under native tenure, is apt to conclude that 

 a title to the soil has been passed by the transaction, and he 

 very possibly recognises, or allows to be recognised in a general 

 way, this view of the matter, and so people get to believe, or 

 are allowed to assert, that their position in respect to the State 

 is something quite different from what it really is. This, though 

 it may cause embarrasment in administering the land-revenue 

 of a district, cannot, of course, affect the legal status of the cul- 

 tivator, for ignorant administration of the law does not alter 

 the law itself. Nothing can be more certain than the fact 

 that no subject in a Malay State can lawfully claim to hold 

 any property in land approaching our freehold or fee simple 

 tenure. 



As the Malay pulang belanja differs widely from our idea of 

 a sale of land, so the jual janji (conditional sale), the only 



