( 26 ) 
The great difficulty however was that of ascer- 
taining accurately the real ownership of the land, in 
a flat country, with a dense peasant population almost 
entirely illiterate, which for generations had acquired 
waste land merely by application to the local Head- 
man, and had conducted all dealings in land by word 
of mouth. Further complications arose from the 
grant by rulers of large areas to members of the 
royal family or to officers of State for their main- 
tenance. These grants were sometimes in writing, 
but in many cases there was considerable doubt as 
to their extent. 
Seeing that the officials employed in the early 
measurement and settlement were untrained, it is 
scarcely a matter for surprise that, before many 
years passed, it was found that the old deeds could 
not be used as conclusive proof of ownership, and 
later that the issue of grants had to be stopped, 
pending reorganisation of the Land Office. A re- 
survey and resettlement were started with a trained 
staff, using accurate instruments, and separate Land 
Courts to deal with disputed cases of ownership and 
succession. The present highly esteemed Judge of 
the Land Court at Kota Bharu was appointed by 
Sultan Mansur as clerk when the Land Office was 
first opened, and has given nearly thirty years 
service to it. His post is no sinecure. 
The present system, briefly is that of title by 
registration. For small holdings, which are surveyed 
by plane table and theodolite, the title is by entry 
in a register, a copy of the entry, with a plan on 
it, being given to the landowner. For large estates, 
or for town lands, grants are issued, on a theodolite 
survey, a duplicate being filed in the Land Office. 
In either case, the holder is in possession of a title 
