The ordinary discipline of the jail was carried out in accordance with the "Penang Rules" referred to, and any breach of these rules was punished according to the nature of the offence, at the discretion of the Superintendent. There was then no formal investigation or inquiry into convict complaints or misdemeanours, and no records of them were kept with any show of regularity. It was only after the appointment of the late General Man as Resident Councillor of Penang, Captain Hilliard being Superintendent, that a manifest improvement in the management and control of the convicts took place, and especially in their industrial training. He brought with him the system in force in Singapore, and the new rules and regulations formed with the sanction of the Governor, then Colonel Butterworth, and which were an improvement on the old Penang rules, but were only at this time being tentatively carried out in Penang. By these rules the entire abolition of free warders was approved, and petty officers raised from amongst the convicts themselves fully established, though as the Governor himself said in his letter to the Resident Councillor of Singapore in August, 1854, "I had drawn up these rules as long ago as 1845 in the face of much opposition."
The late General Man held the appointment at Penang from 1860 until 1867, when the Straits Settlements were transferred to the Crown, and from Penang he went to the Andaman Islands to introduce there the system of convict management in force in the Straits Settlements;[3] and with the view to uniformity of practice, the Government of India had previously deputed Major, now General, Forlong to prepare a code of rules based on those in force in the Singapore jail.
When the transfer was fully effected, the new office of Comptroller of Indian Convicts was created, and the whole of those Indian convicts in the three settlements were placed under his charge. The "Butterworth Rules" remained in force, with certain alterations and improvements, until the disestablishment of the whole department in 1873.
As many of the convicts were continued to be employed at Penang and Province Wellesley on roads and works at a distance from the main jail, it was necessary to provide accommodation for them in convict lines, or "commands," as we have said, pronounced "kumman" by the convicts.[4] It will be interesting to give some particulars about them: They consisted of a stockaded fence, constructed of rough poles of wood from four to six inches in diameter, and from ten to twelve feet long, set perpendicularly in a trench about two feet deep, and placed close together, being secured longitudinally by adze-dressed poles nailed securely on the outside and along the top of them. The stockade enclosed an area sufficient for the erection of the dormitory, cooking place, and sheds for the bullocks employed in carts to convey road material, and for protection also against the possible attacks of wild animals. The walls of the dormitory were constructed in what is well known as "wattle and daub." They were made with stout stakes driven firmly into the ground at about one foot apart, twigs of trees were then interwoven, and the whole then thickly plastered with a mixture of clay and cowdung, and when this had become thoroughly dry it was coated with whitewash. This formed both a substantial, and at the same time a sanitary walling, which was frequently treated with a further coating of limewash made thin. The dormitories were ten feet high, with a continuous open grating of wooden bars at the top, under the eaves of the roof, for the purpose of complete ventilation. The sleeping platforms were raised three feet off the ground floor, which was covered with the same composition as that of the walls, and the building was roofed with thatch. In the centre of the dormitory an earthenware brazier of burning charcoal was always maintained day and night, and occasionally crude fragrant gum Benjamin was thrown upon it. The natives believe that an aromatic perfume exhaled by fire keeps off all noxious effluvia; and we certainly found that they were in better health from the use of this incense, and from the fresh plastering of the floor every morning with cowdung diluted with water, which is a common practice in most of the native huts in India. This was regularly kept up by two convicts of the invalid class, who also acted as caretakers. The entrance to the enclosure was secured by a stout gate, which, after the roll was called, was locked every night at nine o'clock. The number of convicts stationed on one "command" averaged about thirty, and they were under the charge of a responsible convict warder of the grade of a tindal, with a peon and two orderlies and a native "moonshi," or timekeeper, to keep account of work done, and to forward reports to the main jail. By a system of surprise visits both day and night occasionally, we rarely found that any irregularities occurred.
It has not been already mentioned that the local jails, or houses of correction, though according to law they were kept distinct from the convict jails at the several settlements, nevertheless were in their superintendence placed under the Superintendent of Convicts and convict petty officers. A good proportion of these local prisoners were employed upon extramural works, under the guard of these convict petty officers, who, being natives of India, had nothing in common with the Chinese and Malays who formed the bulk of these prisoners, and they kept them well under control, and allowed but few escapes, and, moreover, they were never found open to the taking of bribes from the prisoners' relations and friends, who now and again would attempt to offer them forbidden articles.
At Penang there were a considerable number of these Indian convicts upon ticket of leave, who gained their livelihood in a variety of ways. Some of them were the first to discover the palm known by the Malays as "Plas tikoos," and by botanists as the "Licuala acutifida," a small palm, ordinarily not higher than from five to six feet. From this palm, which grew mostly upon the Penang Hill, were constructed walking-sticks called "Penang lawyers," and the process of preparing them was very simple: the epidermis, or exterior coating, was scraped off with glass, and then the stick was straightened with fire, as is done by the Malays in preparing the Malacca canes. Several of these Penang lawyers were sold by the convicts on the spot, and many more were exported to Europe and America.
Footnotes:
[2] There is an old legend in the island that Captain Light, in order to encourage the Malays in the work of cutting down the jungle, pointed a cannon in the direction in which he required it to be cleared, then he loaded it with powder, and instead of a shot he put in several dollars, and firing it off he called out to the Malays, "Now you may have all you can find."
It is said that the eager contest which ensued, of one endeavouring to get the money before another, led to a regular scramble, which considerably helped forward the work.
[3] Now under the able management of Col. R. C. Temple, C.I.E.