An old Royal Cemetery at Pekan in Pahang. 
By WARREN D. BARNES. 
(With three plates.) 
The plates to this paper are from photographs of the “ Makam 
Chondong” at Pekan which lies at no great distance from the Istana 
of His Highness the Tungku Besar. The name ©“ Makam Chon- 
dong” should in strictness mean the graves with a leaning shrine 
over them and it is very probable that the graves were once roofed 
in and that the building over them fell into decay and became out of 
the perpendicular. No trace however of such a building is to be 
seen. The local explanation of the name is that the surround- 
ing trees all “ chondong” to the “ makam’’ doing obeisance to it. 
The graves are on a platform of earth about 50 feet square, 
three or four feet high, and surrounded by a shallow ditch.. On 
one side is a large hollow from which the earth to make the mound 
was perhaps obtained. It appears probable that the sides of the 
platform were once vertical and faced with bricks. A number of 
these bricks are still to be seen; they are really flat tiles measuring 
ten inches by five by two and a half. All the graves are on the 
Northern side of the platform, the rest 1s unoccupied. 
His Highness the Tungku Besar informs me that he has a 
distinet recollection of visiting this cemetery about twenty years 
ago and finding on one of the stones the name Mahmud”’ in gold 
letters. His Highness says that he took particular care to turn the 
stone over with the inscription downwards. The inscription has 
however disappeared and an examination of the photographs will - 
show that the names on all the stones have been chipped away, 
doubtless to obtain the gold used to make them. 
IT am told that about twenty or thirty years ago a herd of wild 
elephants did a good deal of damage to the graves.. Mr. J. B. 
Serivenor the Federal Geologist to whom I submitted a fragment 
from one of the stones said that 1t was a fine grained sandstone 
of no particular interest. 
Tt will be seen that two of the large graves are male and one 
female. ‘To the west of them and only shown in the small scale 
photograph is a grave with two plain stones; it is probably 
a female grave. In the centre of the platform are the fragments of 
two large grave stones similar to those shown in the larger scale 
photographs. It is probably on one of these that the name Mah- 
mud was found. Alongside them is an unimportant female grave. 
My suggestion that the most important person would be buried in 
Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc., No. 60. I9II, 
