FASCICULI MALATENSES 
xxiii 
The town was situated, in 1901, on the east bank of the stream, about a 
mile and a half from the sea, but in the course of its history it has frequently 
been moved from one bank to the other, and in the summer of 1902 prepara- 
tions were being made to build a new town across the stream. It is divided 
into two quarters, one occupied by Mahommedans, the other by Chinamen and 
Siamese, and the government buildings, consisting of a post and telegraph office, 
a police station, and the commissioner’s residence, are situated between them on 
the river bank. Here also are the buildings of a Siamese wdt, or monastery 
(almost the only solid buildings in the place except the mosque in the Malay 
quarter) ; they are surrounded by a balustraded wall with ornate gateways in 
Chinese style, and separated by a row of fine sugar palms from the river, over 
which a gorgeously painted and gilded guest-house has lately been built. 
The Chinese quarter, in which the greater part of the local trade is con- 
ducted, contains numerous large houses of brick and rubble, and in its shops 
articles of European manufacture, such as crockery, hardware, cotton goods, 
and a limited selection of tinned provisions, can be bought at prices but little 
in excess of those current in the Singapore bazaars. Much of the purchasing, 
however, is carried on by means of little perforated pewter coins of Malay 
manufacture, and only current in the state of Patani, of which eight hundred 
go to the Straits dollar. 
The Malay quarter, in which we rented a house during six months of our 
stay in the Patani States, is much less pretentious, and also less odorous, than 
the Chinese, consisting chiefly of a few large compounds belonging to the raja 
and other wealthy Mahommedans, and a street of small houses with open booths 
in front of them. This street leads from the raja’s compound, in the open 
space in front of which a daily market is held, to a landing stage on the river, 
and in the opposite direction the town gradually merges into the cluster of 
hamlets which surround it, large open spaces being left for the cemetery and 
for cultivation. Two broad sandy roads, excellent except for their heat in dry 
weather, lead to Jambu and to the sea from the Malay quarter. 
When we talk of ‘ Patani,’ we refer to the town, unless it is otherwise 
stated or inferred. 
The trade of Patani is probably less extensive than it was even at the 
middle of last century, and is carried on, as far as imports are concerned, almost 
exclusively with Singapore. A certain amount of jungle produce and a small 
quantity of inferior tin are brought down from the interior, and silk garments 
woven in the town, are exported to Kelantan and Trengganu, being of better 
quality than the rather shoddy goods manufactured in these places ; but the 
staple industries are the curing of salt-fish and the manufacture of salt in brine 
