Multan

“ The Multán division consists of the six districts of the S.W. Panjáb, Montgomery, Lyallpur, Jhang, Multán, Muzaffargarh, and Dera Ghází Khán. Muhammadans are in an overwhelming majority. Wheat and cotton are the chief crops. ”

“ Says Marco, “The heat of the sun can scarcely be endured; if you put an egg into any river, it will be boiled before you have gone any great distance.” (iii. 25.)
[104] The reason of the reference to Multán is obscure. The allusion would seem to be to the conquest of the Carnatic and Malabar by the generals of the Khilji sovereigns of Delhi, Alá-ud-din and Mubárik (A.D. 1310-1319) . The Khiljis were Turks by descent. Mooltan was at this time subject to Delhi (Elphinstone’s History, pp. 343, 348, and Briggs’s Ferishta) . ”

“ Herbert Edwardes, a subaltern of that distinguished corps the 1st Bengal Fusiliers, was already on the spot with a large force of irregulars, who, owing to his personal magnetism, had flocked to our standard; but the Sikhs, aware of the approach of the British force, busied themselves steadily in strengthening the works at Multan. It was not until the commencement of September that the whole of the siege-train was present, and then Whish summoned the Sikhs to surrender. ”

“ The pipe is smoked. Are not our hearts as one? Is there not perfect trust between us? Now let us talk. First of all, Multnomah desires wise words from his brethren. Last winter one of the tribes rose up against Multnomah, saying that he should no longer be elder brother and war- chief of the tribes. But the rebels were beaten and all of them slain save the chief, who was reserved to be tried before you. You in your wisdom shall decide what shall be done with the warrior who has rebelled against his chief and stained his hands with the blood of his brethren. ”

“ The manner in which you have acted on the discovery or supposition of wrong-doing on the part of the chiefs in the district of Lebak, and your attitude towards your superior, the Resident of Bantam, have excited, in a high degree, my displeasure. In your acts there is not only a want of the deliberate judgment, caution, and prudence so indispensable to a functionary intrusted with power in the interior of Java (sic) , but also notions of insubordination to your immediate superior. ”

“ And the Resident at Serang, who is lord of the region of Bantam, where five times a hundred thousand people dwell, wishes that justice be done in his territory, and that righteousness shall rule in the lands that obey him. But when there is injustice, it is far from his dwelling. And whoever does evil hides from his face for fear of punishment.
“And the lord Adhipatti, who is the Regent of South-Bantam, desires that all shall live who practise goodness, and that there shall be no shame in the district which is his regency. ”

“ Certainly never was a person accused of high treason more agreeably surprised. A short time afterwards, the Assistant Resident of Mandhéling was suspended from his office because of all sorts of deficiencies, about which I do not care to express an opinion. Now Jang di Pertoean, who, after having been for some time at Padang in the General’s house, and treated by him with the utmost distinction, returned through Natal to Mandhéling, not with the self-esteem of one found innocent, but with the arrogance of a person who stands so high that he needs no declaration of innocence. ”

“ To maintain justice, to protect the poor against the powerful, to defend the weak against the superior power of the strong, to recover the ewe-lamb from the folds of the kingly robber:—well, all this makes your heart glow with pleasure at the idea that it is your lot to have so noble a vocation;—and let any one in the interior of Java, who may be sometimes discontented with his situation or pay, consider the sublime duty which devolves upon him, and the glorious delight which the fulfilment of such a duty gives, and he will not be desirous of any other reward. ”

“ Take them away, and you drain the blood from his veins; you break his spirit; he becomes a squaw."
"But my people love and forgive, yet they are not squaws. They are brave and hardy in battle; their towns are great; their country is like a garden."
And he told Multnomah of the laws, the towns, the schools, the settled habits and industry of New Eng land. The chief listened with growing impatience. At length he threw his arm up with an indescribable gesture of freedom, like a man rejecting a fetter. ”

“ Can you sway council and battle to your will as the warrior bends his bow? No; it takes men, men strong of heart, to rule the races of the Wauna. Therefore there is but one way left me whereby the line of Multnomah may still be head of the confederacy when he is gone. I must wed you to a great warrior who can take my place when I am dead and shelter you with his strength. Then the name and the power of Multnomah will still live 83 among the tribes, though Multnomah himself be crumbled into dust. ”

“ Assistant Resident, such a thing shall not happen in Lebak.”
“Well then, gentlemen, chiefs of Bantam-Kidool! let us be glad that our province is so poor. We have a noble work before us. If Allah preserve us alive, we shall take care that prosperity comes. The ground is fertile enough, the population willing; if every one is suffered to remain in the enjoyment of the fruits of his labour, there is no doubt that within a short time the population will improve, as well both in the number of souls as in possessions and civilisation, for these things generally go hand in hand. ”

“ At Natal he was a prisoner. He therefore expected—guilty or not guilty, which made no difference to the case, as he had been charged with high treason by competent authority—that at Padang also he would arrive as a prisoner. Surely then he must have been somewhat astonished to learn on disembarking that not only was he free, but that the General, whose carriage was waiting for him when he landed, would count it an honour to receive him and offer him hospitality in his house. No man accused of high treason has probably ever received a pleasanter surprise. ”

“ He spoke little; but could have spoken more, for he was not alone.——I do not refer to the twenty or thirty Javanese servants, ‘mantries,’ and overseers, who sat squatting on the ground in the ‘pendoppo,’ nor to the numbers who incessantly ran in and out, nor to those of different rank, that held the horses outside, or rode on horseback;—the Regent of Lebak himself, Radeen Adhipatti Karta Natta Negara, sat facing him. To wait is always tiresome: a quarter of an hour seems an hour; an hour half a day, and so on. Verbrugge might have been more talkative. ”

“ He, with the whole population of Battah, had recently been converted by the paderies [5] to the true faith; and new converts are generally fanatical.
“The consequences of this true or supposed discovery was, that Jang di Pertoean was apprehended and conveyed to Natal, where the Controller shut him up in the fortress and sent him by sea, on the first opportunity, to the Governor of the west coast of Sumatra at Padang, to whom were submitted the documents, in which the heavy accu­sations had been set forth that justified the severity of the measures already taken. ”

“ At length the chief spoke, this time very gently.
“Now I shall talk to you not as to a girl but as to a woman. You are Multnomah’s only child. When he dies there will be no one but you to take his place. Are your shoulders strong enough to bear the weight of power, the weight that crushes men? Can you break down revolt and read the hearts of plotters,—yes, and detect conspiracy when it is but a whisper in the air? ”

“ The war-chief gazed at him earnestly. In that troubled, determined look, superstition struggled for a moment and then gave way to the invincible obstinacy of his resolve.
“No. Multnomah knows that his own heart is strong and will not fail him, come what may; and that is all he cares to know. If you told me, the tomanowos would be angry, and drain your spirit 72 from you and cast you aside as the serpent casts its skin. And you must be the most eloquent of all at the great council; for there the arm of Multnomah and the voice of Tohomish must bend the bad chiefs before them.” ”

“ Again he tried to speak of the ways of peace, but the chief checked him impatiently.
“That is talk for squaws and old men. Multnomah does not understand it. Talk like a man, if you wish him to listen. Multnomah does not forgive; Multnomah wants no peace with his enemies. If they are weak he tramples on them and makes them slaves; if they are strong he fights them. When the Shoshones take from Multnomah, he takes from them; if they give him war he gives them war; if they torture one Willamette at the stake, Multnomah stretches two Shoshones upon red-hot stones. ”

“ You know how every inaccuracy ends in loss: inaccuracy never increases money. It is pretended that I was short of thousands. But, observe, they did not tell me that so long as I was at Natal. Quite unexpectedly I received an appointment in the highlands of Padang. You know, Verbrugge, that in Sumatra an appointment to the Padang highlands is considered as more profitable and more agreeable than one in the Northern Residency. As the Governor had visited me a short time before—by and by you will know why, and how—and things had happened in my house, in which I thought I had acted as a man ”

“ Chiefs of Lebak! Who then shall do justice in Bantan Kedool?
“But should there happen to be among us those who neglect their duty for gain, who sell justice for money, or take the buffalo from the poor man, and the fruit that belongs to those who are hungry . . . who shall punish them?
“If one of you knew it, he would prevent it. And the Regent would not suffer such things to happen in his Regency. And I also shall prevent it wherever I can. But if neither you, nor the Adhipatti, nor I knew it . . .
“Chiefs of Lebak! Who then shall do justice in Bantan-Kedool? ”

“ For that observation when translated is as follows:—“The evil which you combat does not exist, or not in such a high degree, because the native is not like your Saïdjah: there is not in the ill-treatment of the Javanese so much evil as there would be if you had rightly drawn your Saïdjah. The Soondanese do not sing such songs, do not love so, do not feel thus....”
No, Colonial Ministers! no, Governors-General in retirement! [354] you have not to prove that. You have to prove that the population is not ill-treated, whether there are sentimental Saïdjahs amongst this population or not ”

“ The multitude were silent; the spell of the prophet's lofty and mournful eloquence still lingered over them. Multnomah rose. With him rested the decision as to who was the greatest orator. But the proud old war-chief knew that all felt that Tohomish had far surpassed his competitors, and he was resolved that not his lips but the voice of the tribes should proclaim their choice.
"Multnomah was to decide who has spoken best, but he leaves the decision with you. You have heard them all. Declare who is the greatest, and your word shall be Multnomah s word." ”

“ His accents had the same undertone of arbitrary will, of inflexible determination, that had been in them when he spoke in the council. Though the shadows fell more and more ominous and threatening across his path, to turn back did not occur to him. The stubborn tenacity of the man could not let go his settled purpose.
“Tohomish will be at the council and speak for his chief and his tribe?” asked Multnomah, in a tone that was half inquiry, half command; for the seer whose mysterious power as an orator gave him so strong an influence over the Indians must be there. ”

“ But—you see that again I at once have the contrast at hand!—but then in the choice of the means he certainly was a little . . . free, and, as Van der Palm, I believe unjustly, said of Napoleon: ‘Obstacles of morality never stood in his way!’ Well, in that way, of course, it is certainly easier to attain one’s object than if one did consider oneself bound by such a thing.
“So the Assistant-Resident of Padang had sent in a report that was favourable to the suspended Controller, whose suspension thus assumed an appearance of injustice. ”

“ The chief of the Chopponish presented him with a fine horse, the best belonging to his tribe. Multnomah accepted it, and a slave led it away. Then came Snoqualmie, bringing with him Cecil Grey. The chief’s hour of vengeance was at hand.
“Behold the white man from the land where the sun rises, the white shaman of whom all the tribes have heard. He is thine. Let him be the white slave of Multnomah. All the chiefs have slaves, but who will have a white slave like Multnomah?” ”

“ But this happened in those days very often: matters in Northern Sumatra were, soon after the pacification of Baros, Tapos, and Singkel,1 so confused, all was so turbulent, that fault could not be found with a young man who was more inclined to be on horseback than at the desk, or in keeping cash-books in order. It could not be expected that everything would be in such strict order as if an Amsterdam bookkeeper had been in charge with nothing else to do. The Battah-countries were in revolt, and you know, Verbrugge, how all that happens there reacts on Natal. ”

“ Every evening at dusk, the widow of the rebel sachem went out into the woods near the camp and wailed her dead. Every night that wild, desolate lament was lifted and rang through the great en campment, a cry that was accusation, defiance, and lament; and even Multnomah dared not silence her, for among the Indians a woman lamenting her dead was sacred. So, while Multnomah labored and plot ted for union by day, that mournful cry raised the spirit of wrath and rebellion by night. ”