MEMOIR OF CAPTAIN LIGHT. 3 



anchorages. At last, on the 17th, he "disembarked Lieut. 

 " Gray with the Marines upon Point Penagger — a low sandy 

 " point covered with wood — and employed them in clearing 

 " the ground." This ground is the present Esplanade, 

 which with great foresight he reserved when so freely giving 

 away all other lands. He took formal possession of the 

 Island on the iith^ August. 



1 he place was practically unoccupied; the only Malay in- 

 habitants heard of were 52 Malays who came over, apparently 

 from near Tanjong Tokong, to help in felling the forest. 



Shortly afterwards an ancient clearing with coco-nuts, fruit 

 trees and a burial-ground came to notice at Datoh Kramat; 

 and in 1795 a grant of this clearing (measuring 13 orlongs) 

 was given to Maharaja Setia, on the express ground that he 

 was a '^ relation by descent of the Datoh Kramat w^ho cleared 

 " the ground 90 years before." 



With these exceptions, the whole place w-as one great 

 jungle. t Clearing w^ent on with energy; wells were dug which 

 yielded water that was fit to drink, but uninviting through 

 being stained red by the roots of the penaga tree. Huts were 

 run up for the marines and lascars, the tents which the set- 

 tlers had brought not affording sufficient room. A month 

 passed away quietly enough in the performance of these 

 first labours, and the littl© party on the point was still unmo- 

 lested by prying and undesirable intruders. But this was not 

 to last long. Writing to Mr. Andrew Ross of Madras, Cap- 

 tain Light says: "Before we could get up any defence we 

 " had visitors of all kinds, some for curiosity, some for gain, 

 "and some for plunder." 



No Malay wearing a kris was at first allowed ashore, and care 

 was taken to confine to their boats parties of those Achineso 



* By a curious error this event came afterwards to be celebrated on the 12th 

 August, and is so kept in Penang even now. It is easy to explain how the 

 nnistake occurred; the 1 2th August was the Prince Regent's birthday, after 

 whom the Settlement was named. So far back as 1823, the 12th is given as 

 the date of foundation in a minute on Land Administration by Mr. Phillips, 

 who came to Penang with Sir George Leith in 1800. 



t The island had been cleared by Kedah of its piratical inhabitants about 

 1750- 



