I Was Covered With Mire, And Wet From Head To Foot, And
Disappeared, But When We Sat Down To The
Long-delayed dinner I saw from
Mr. Low's silence and gloomy manner that he had been really much
annoyed; however,
He recovered himself, and we had a very lively
evening of conversation and discussion, though I had a good deal of
pain from the inflamed bites of the bloodsuckers in the swamp. Malay
scouting parties had been sent in various directions. Rajah Dris was
away with one, and the Sikh police were all ready to do nobody knows
what, as there were no dogs. Major Swinburne said that his fears did
not travel farther than the river, which he thinks is dangerous to
cross at night in a "dug-out;" but Mr. Low had before him the
possibility of our having been assailed by bad characters, or of our
having encountered a tiger in the jungle, and of my having been carried
off from my inability to climb a tree!
Eblis is surely dying. He went to the roof, where the half-tamed
siamang was supporting him hour after hour as gently as a mother would
support a sick child. This wild ape has been very gentle and good to
Eblis ever since he became ill. I went out for a short time with Mr.
Low, and on returning he called Eblis, but the little thing was too
weak to come, and began to cry feebly, on which the wild ape took him
by one of his hands, put an arm round him, gently led him to a place
from which he could drop upon Mr. Low's chair, and then darted away,
but while daylight lasted was looking anxiously at Eblis, and at 6 A.M.
had so far conquered his timidity that he sat on the window-sill behind
Mr. Low, that he might watch his sick friend. The little bewitching
thing, which is much emaciated, clings to its master now the whole
time, unlike other animals, which hide themselves when they are ill,
puts out its feeble little arms to him with a look of unspeakable
affection on its poor, pinched face, and murmurs in a feeble voice ouf!
ouf! Mr. Low pours a few drops of milk down its throat every half hour,
and if he puts it down for a moment, it screams like a baby and
stretches out its thin hands.
It is very interesting and pleasant to see the relations which exist
between Mr. Low and the Malays. At this moment three Rajahs are lying
about on the veranda, and their numerous followers are clustered on and
about the stairs. He never raises his voice to a native, and they look
as if they like him, and from their laughter and cheeriness they must
be perfectly at ease with him. He is altogether devoted to the
interests of Perak, and fully carries out his instructions,* which
were, "to look upon Perak as a native State ultimately to be governed
by native Rajahs," whom he is to endeavor to educate and advise
"without interfering with the religion or custom of the country." He
obviously attempts to train and educate these men in the principles and
practice of good government, so that they shall be able to rule firmly
and justly. Perak is likely to become the most important State of the
Peninsula, and I earnestly hope that Mr. Low's wise and patient efforts
will bring forth good fruit, at all events in Rajah Dris.
[*See Appendix A.]
Mr. Low is only a little over fifty now, and when he first came the
Rajahs told him that they were "glad that the Queen had sent them an
_old_ gentleman!" He is excessively cautious, and, like most people who
have had dealings with Orientals, is possibly somewhat suspicious, but
his caution is combined with singular kindness of heart, and an almost
faulty generosity regarding his own concerns, as, for instance, he
refuses to send his servants to prison when they rob him, saying: "Poor
fellows! they know no better." He is just as patiently forbearing to
the apes. Mr. - - - told me that he had made a very clean and careful
copy of a dispatch to Lord Carnarvon, when Mahmoud dipped his fingers
in the ink and drew them over a whole page, and he only took him in his
arms and said: "Poor creature, you've given me a great deal of trouble,
but you know no better."
This is my last evening here, and I am so sorry. It is truly "the
wilds." There is rest. Then the apes are delightful companions, and
there are all sorts of beasts, and birds, and creeping things, from
elephants downward. The scenery and vegetation of the neighborhood are
beautiful, the quiet Malay life which passes before one in a series of
pictures is very interesting, and the sight of wise and righteous rule
carried on before one's eyes, with a total absence of humbug and
red-tapeism, and which never leaves out of sight the training of the
Malays to rule themselves, is always pleasing. I like Kwala Kangsa
better than any place that I have been at in Asia, and am
proportionately sorrier to leave it. Mr. Low would have sent me up the
Perak in the Dragon boat, and over the mountains into Kinta on
elephants, if I could have stayed; but I cannot live longer without
your letters, and they, alas! are at Colombo. Mr. Low kindly expresses
regret at my going, and says he has got quite used to my being here,
and added: "You never speak at the wrong time. When men are visiting me
they never know when to be quiet, but bother one in the middle of
business." This is most amusing, for it would be usually said: "Women
never know when to be quiet." Mr. Maxwell one day said, that when men
were with him he could "get nothing done for their clatter." I wished
to start at 4 A.M. to-morrow, to get the coolness before sunrise, but
there are so many tigers about just now in the jungle through which the
road passes, that it is not considered prudent for me to leave before
six, when they will have retired to their lairs.
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