614 AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF 
Siamese troops. The Rajah saved himself by timely concessions. 
The Siamese court in order to try the temper of the British chief 
at Pinang, sent an embassy to him requiring, if not demanding, 
the aid of two vessels loaded with rice to be used in their war with 
the Burmese. The request was met with a present of some iron 
and nails I 
1792. —Total estimated value of Exports Drs 317,414, ditto of 
Imports 1,400,000. The revenue had increased from Drs 992 in 
1,788-9 to Drs 23,292.21 in 1793, the total for six years having 
*been 68,777.82. 
While the local government had been making rather wild esti¬ 
mates, and proposing to cast the chief burden of taxation upon the 
cultivators of the soil and landholders, the supreme government 
directed that every improvement in agriculture should be encouraged. 
So much for the exclusiveness and short sightedness of local legis¬ 
lation. 
1793. —The Supreme Government especially enjoined that parti¬ 
cular attention should be paid to the cultivation of the nutmeg tree. 
It had been supposed that the tree was indigenous to the Pinang 
mountains, but the tree supposed to be it, was a wild variety in¬ 
digenous to various tropical countries and worth nothing almost in 
commerce. 
1793.—The disbursments, civil, military, and marine, including 
two Bombay Cruizers, and the ex Rajahs stipend were Drs 104,797; 
and the receipts were 116,694, these last being entirely derived 
from excise—thus 
Arrack. 6,200 
Opium. 3,600 
Gambling.. 14,673 
Small dues. 644 
Shop tax. 431 
Hog tax. 90 
25th February 1793.—The home government at last sent out 
the ultimatum that “no offensive and defensive alliance should he 
made with the Majah of iLeddah.” Captain Light died about the 
latter part of this year. 
Although the rather implicit credence which he gave at first to 
the Rajah’s assertion of his independence of Siam, might have led 
to more serious consequences than it did, still it would appear that 
lie was a man of sound sense, probity and judgement—active, 
practical, and moderate—that certainly reprehensible credence 
however secured to the British merchant and to the world the 
port of Pinang, the most eligible one at this extremity of this 
straits. 
After Captain Light’s death the Superintendents were successively 
Mr P. Mannington and Mr Pigou who acted only. 
1795.—Malacca was surrendered by the Dutch in the year 1795 
to the British expedition under Major Brown and Captain New- 
