254 BEMBATT. 



part of the country was agreed on by three chiefs from Menang- 

 kabau ; one Dato' Laut of Paya Kumboh ( x ) selected a stream called 

 Layang : from him Dato' Si Maharaja ( 2 ) is descended : another Dato' 

 Putili from Sri Lemak took the stream called Lubok Rusa ; from 

 him is descended Dato' Sinda Maharaja :( 2 ) another Dato' Inda Petra, 

 a man of Batu Balang took the stream of Bintongan ; he was the 

 ancestor of Dato' Andika. ( 2 ) 



These three all began planting in the places named. They 

 claimed from the sources of the streams to their junction with the 

 main stream. While engaged in clearing, they heard the sound of 

 many trees falling down stream within the range of their claims, 

 on going to see the cause, they found one Dato' Pdteh Kepala a 

 Sri Melenggang man of Menangkabau occupied in clearing. (Dato' 

 Mandelika ( a ) descends from him.) The place was called Batu Ham- 

 par. Then there was a dispute between the three chiefs and Dato' 

 Puteh Kepala, the former claiming from the gullies to the mouths 

 of their streams, saying they had settled there first ; the latter 

 claimed the same, and their claims were equally strong, for they had 

 been all recognised from Johor. Later on authority came from the 

 Penghulu dividing the land between them, and making the boundary 

 from Batu Menunggul to Tunggal Merbau in the Batu Besar jun- 

 gle, and thence to Tunggal Chachar, on to Kwala Auak Ayer 

 Hit-am in the Sepri stream ; whoever went up the Leng stream must 

 be under Dato' Si Maharaja, whoever went up the Lubok Rusa 

 stream must be under Dato' Sinda Maharaja, and any one settling 

 up the Bintongan stream must be under Dato' Andika. So the 

 Tiga Batu people under Nang Besar, who went up the Bintongan, 

 were under the jurisdiction of Dato' Andika. So likewise in the 

 case of the Sepri, Dato' Penghulu Uban brought two men from 

 Johor, Dato' Chindei Luatan (a Beduanda, from whom descends 

 Dato' Setir Maharaja), and a Menangkabau man of the Paya 

 Bidara brauch of the Batu Harnpar, (from whom Siltan Bendahara 

 is descended), and told them to settle on the Sepri. They worked 



(1) Name of a rush-like grass growing in swampy ground. 



(2) Lembaga " di-darat.'' 



