155 



Britisla, slie will, now tbat she is visited again by 

 peace, and enjoys the advatitage of being inter- 

 sected by good military roadi? iu various directi- 

 ons, rise rapidly in the scale of prosperity. Her 

 population h apparently on the increase, and, 

 wherever the soil, on either side of the road, is 

 adapted for the plough, it is gradually coming 

 into cultivation ; the road to Soongei Barro is a 

 remarkable ini?tance of tliis : a year as:o before it 

 was cut, it was a difficult and narrow pathway 

 leading through a thick jungle— it is now bor- 

 dered a great portion of the way by rice fields. 

 1 purpose reverting to this subject when treating 

 of the revenue!^ of the state, meanwhile, i must 

 proceed with the thread of ray narrative. 



In consequence of the refusal of the Panghoo- 

 loo of Nanoing to appear at Malacca in 1828, no 

 alternative was left for the Government but that 

 of despatching a Commissioner. Mr. Church of 

 the Pinang Civil Service, and Deputy Resident 

 of Malacca, accordingly proceeded, in the subse- 

 quent year, into the interior, with instrnctiuns to 

 levy the tenth ; to forbid the Pangbooloo from 

 asi?nintiig the right of puni^shing offenders, wtio 

 were directed to be sent to Malacca for trial ; 

 and to restrain him from inflicting fines : in lieu 

 of these privileges, he and his four Sookoos were 

 offered pensions from Government. The missi- 

 on was totally unsucceasful, as the Panghooloo 

 unequivocally rejected each stipulation- 



1 have, I trust, demonstrated the righi of the 

 Government to the tenth ; the poUc^ of demand- 

 ing it is another question : the tax, as I have 

 previously stated, was very obnoxious to the 

 mass of the mhabitantfi, although the odium of 



