I had an opportunity of obtaining a copy of the treaty made with the Acheenese, by Sir Stamford Raffles, and ratified by the Marquis of Hastings, then Governor-General of India: it was executed at a village near Pedir, which was pointed out to me from the roadstead, the rajah of Acheen being at that time obliged to reside there, from political circumstances. I annex a copy of the treaty,[1] the origin of which is stated in the “Life and Public Services of Sir Stamford Raffles,” by his widow. (4to. 1830, pp. 396, 397.) And in a letter from Sir Stamford to Sir Robert Harry Inglis, he says the Acheen country “at one period attracted more attention in Europe than most eastern countries, but which has long declined in importance.” “For the last four years, (1819,) the country of Acheen had been a prey to disorder and anarchy. A rich merchant of Penang, Syed Hussain, patronized by the late Mr. Petrie, taking advantage of the unsettled state of the capital, set up claims to the sovereignty; and, having expended an immense sum in briberies and corruption, contrived, by means of his superior naval force, and the advantage of equipping his vessels from Penang, to command the trade of the Acheenese ports, and to invest one of his sons with the title of sultan. The Penang government, taking part with this side of the question, strongly recommended the support of it by the supreme government, and a force of a thousand men was actually applied for, with proper equipments, in order to establish the newly-created king thoroughly on his throne. Captain Coombs, a protégé of Mr. Petrie’s, and who had been employed as the agent of the Penang government, was in Bengal at the time of my arrival, and Lord Hastings asked my opinion. I had no hesitation in giving it, as far as it was then formed; and the supreme government was induced to pause. I was subsequently joined in a commission with Captain Coombs, for the purpose of finally adjusting the question.
“After my arrival at Penang, I was informed that Colonel Bannerman had protested against my interference at Acheen, and had written in such terms to the supreme government, that it was incumbent on me to await the answer. I complied with this request; and while the question was pending, proceeded to this place, (Singapore,) effected my object, and returned to Penang in time to receive the further instructions of the supreme government. These only tended to confirm what I had formerly received, and Captain Coombs and myself accordingly proceeded to Acheen. We remained there nearly seven weeks; during the early portion of which, we were directly opposed in our politics; but at length, after a paper war, which actually occupies above a thousand pages of the Company’s largest sized paper, he came round to my opinion, and was satisfied, that in justice and honour, there was but one course to pursue, namely, supporting the cause of the legitimate sovereign. The spurious claims set up by Syed Hussain were proved to be unfounded, and it was clear he had grossly deceived our government. We therefore concluded a treaty, and effected all the objects we required, namely, the right of having a resident and establishment at Acheen, and to exclude all foreign European nations from having a fixed habitation. All that we had then to do, was to require the governor of Penang to restrict Syed Hussain from further interference, and troops and equipments of course became unnecessary.
“I never had a more disagreeable duty, and consequently was highly satisfied to bring our mission to so desirable a conclusion. It was an object of great importance to take the right side of the question; and had our government been once committed on the other, and troops introduced, we should soon have been so deeply involved, that a worse than Candian war might have been apprehended. In a country like Acheen, by military operations, we had every thing to lose, and nothing to gain.”
It was discovered, when too late, by the supercargo, that the village of Pedir was the worst place on the coast to procure either a quick dispatch or a cheap cargo of the Areka-nut; for the rajah is obliged to treat with merchants, to supply the ship with the requisite quantity which has been agreed upon: the other European vessels had anchored at the village of “Gingham,” about eight or nine miles further to the eastward. At this place, the contracts are made with merchants, not with the rajah; and the merchants pay the rajah his dues. It is always best to contract with the merchants, who can supply it at a quicker and cheaper rate than the rajahs, who must themselves apply at last to the merchants; and the payment proceeding through the hands of the rajah, or his ministers, the latter take care that some remains behind for their special use; and, at the termination of the affair, the buyer will find that he is the loser, not the seller. Sawang, Tellisomoy, and other places on the coast, abound also in the Betel-nut.[2]
Another error which was fallen into by not being acquainted with the custom of the place, was purchasing the nut by the pecul instead of the laxar, by which much loss is sustained by the buyer. The luxur or laxar is in weight one pecul and thirty-five-hundredths of a pecul: it consists of ten thousand nuts, and from ten to twenty-five per cent., according to the bargain previously made, is given over, for nuts which may be rotten or otherwise damaged.
Several vessels, the Eleanor, Helen, Dania, (Denmark ship,) and Peru, were lying in Gingham roads, for cargoes of Areka-nut. I took an opportunity of visiting the village of Gingham, proceeding thither in the ship’s boat. The coast to the eastward still maintained the same picturesque character as about Pedir, except perhaps in some parts where it was more densely wooded with cocoa-nut and other trees close to the beach. We passed a cluster of palm-leaved thatched, bamboo huts, which was the village of Ilbu. The village of Gingham was not visible from the roadstead, being situated a short distance up a river, and hidden by the dense foliage of various kinds of trees growing about it. A short distance further to the eastward, a cluster of habitations formed the village of Buron; and Sawang (or, as called by the Malays, Putukurra) is several miles still further in the same direction.
I have before mentioned, that a Penang brig had been seized by the Acheenese grab, the Nacodar (or master) of which, having been accused of trading in arms and ammunition, with one of the rajahs upon the coast, at present at war with the ruler of Acheen: many of the commanders of vessels then on the coast were desirous of getting, if possible, the vessel returned. She was the property of several native merchants at Penang, and had been chartered by an English merchant there for the Pedir coast, first calling at the Maldive islands for a cargo of dried fish.
A brother of the Acheenese rajah, named Pungarang Ibrahim, a fine and handsome Malay, was on board the grab; and to him application was made for the restoration of the vessel. He had a very intelligent Malabar native as an interpreter, who spoke several European languages—English, French, Spanish, &c.—fluently. The question, whether or not the vessel was a legal prize to the Acheenese government, was discussed by the native party with considerable force and eloquence. The Nacodar was accused of having disposed of arms and ammunition, under British colours, to the rajah mudar of Sambalangang, against the treaty concluded between the British and Acheenese governments, the rajah of Sambalangang being at war with the king of Acheen; and one of the articles of the treaty states, that any British vessel supplying an enemy of the rajah of Acheen with arms and ammunition, is liable to confiscation; and upon this article of the treaty, it was contended that the brig was a legal capture. The Pungarang[3] Ibrahim then produced the original treaty, written in the Malay and English languages, duly signed by the governor-general of India, Sir Stamford Raffles, and Captain Coombs.
The Nacodar stated, in his defence, that he having given, and not sold, the arms and ammunition in question, the brig was not liable to the consequences of a breach of the treaty. The discussion concluded by the rajah declaring, that if the commanders would return in one or two hours, they should receive his final decision, as he would consult the old queen, who has much power, upon the subject. When the commanders returned on board the grab, the queen was present, who was a fine old lady, and received her European visitors in a very cordial manner. The subject relative to the vessel was then renewed: they were anxious to procure the nacodar, (who had sought refuge on board one of the ships,) and take him to Acheen, where, most probably, his life would be sacrificed; or the rajah offered to send him to Penang, in irons, to be tried by the authorities at that place, if any commanders of the vessels going to that port would take charge of him.
In the renewed discussion of the subject, the justice of the case appeared decidedly in favour of the rajah’s party, as it was now ascertained that a shot had been fired from the brig, which had killed a man on board the grab.