Raffles sailed from Pinang for Singapore on 22 May 1819 on board the Indiana and arrived there nine days later. He spent nearly four weeks in the island completing the necessary administrative arrangements and issuing Farquhar with instructions for the future governance and layout of the settlement.155 On 26 June he made specific “Arrangements” with the Sultan and Temenggong, “for the better guidance of the people of this Settlement”, by indicating “where all the different castes are severally to reside, with their families, and captains, or heads of their campongs”.156
Earlier, on 8 June, he had written to Hastings giving him a summary statement of the progress of the settlement:157
Letter 14
Raffles to Hastings
8 June 1819
Private
Singapore 8th. June 1819
My Lord,
I have the honor to inform your Lordship of my return to this Station on my way to Bencoolen, and to report the general prosperity and rapid advancement of our new Establishment. The exertions of Major Farquhar during my short absence have been indefatigable – the Country has assumed a new appearance, the Harbour is filled with shipping and our defences are already very respectable – a Population of not less than five thousand souls has accumulated under our protection and the number is daily increasing – Ambassadors and Chiefs from the different Native States in the Vicinity have been deputed to court our friendship and alliance and upwards of two hundred Native trading Vessels have arrived since our first Establishment – The principal Battery has been compleated and the Guns mounted – The Cantonments are spacious and the Troops healthy – Provisions in abundance and labour cheap – in a word, as far as the time has admitted every object has been accomplished which could have been expected – Confidence has been reestablished and it is no longer in the power of the Dutch to deprive us of our due share in the Eastern Commerce –
I shall have the honor to address your Lordship more fully by the Transports now under dispatch – by them I shall also forward my official despatches – and in the mean time it may be satisfactory to your Lordship to know that I shall be able to reduce the Military Establishment to the standard first contemplated, namely three Companies of the 20th. Regiment with a small party of Artillery – the four relieved Companies are now under orders for embarkation for Bengal, and on my arrival at Bencoolen I shall lose no time in sending from thence to Penang two of the Companies now stationed there, so as to divide the 10 Companies of this Battalion equally between my authority and that of the Government of Prince of Wales Island –
I have the honor to remain,
with the highest respect,
your Lordship’s
most obliged and
very obedient humble St
T S Raffles
The Most Noble
The Marquess of Hastings K.G. KGC
&c &c &c
On the following day, 9 June 1819, Raffles informed his London agent, John Tayler,158 of his founding of Singapore:
You will I am sure be happy to hear that the Settlement I had the satisfaction to form in this very centrical and commanding Station has had every Success, and that our Port is already crowded with shipping from all the Native Ports in the Archipelago – We only require confidence in the permanency of our tenure [for it] to rise rapidly into importance – My proceedings have met with the unreserved approbation of Lord Hastings159 and altho I have had much to contend with from the narrow views of the Penang Government there is little reason for apprehension provided we can manage the Dutch –.160
Two days later, he gave Charlotte, Duchess of Somerset, a more detailed account of Singapore’s rapid progress:161
Your Grace has been fully apprized of my anxiety to establish a British Station in this neighbourhood, and I am sure it will delight you to hear that I have been in every way successful – The situation I selected proves to be most eligible in every respect and my new Colony thrives most rapidly – We have not been established four months and it has received an accession of Population exceeding five thousand souls, principally Chinese and their number is daily encreasing; it is indeed with difficulty we find room for them – Native and other vessels from all parts of the East already frequent our Harbour, and if the authorities at home only confirm and support what I have done, Singapore bids fair to become the great commercial Emporium of this part of the World – It is not necessary for me to say how much interested I am in the success of the place – it is a Child of my own – and I have made it what it is – You may easily conceive with what zeal I apply myself to the clearing of forests, cutting of Roads, building of Towns, framing of Laws &c – I am literally as the Malays say ‘making a Country’ and to give you an idea of its importance I need only tell you that I have this morning given audience to one Sultan and received Ambassadors from four other neighbouring Kings courting my alliance – …
Our capital is situated on the Island usually called Sincapore in the Straits of the same name – and we are not distant from China above a weeks’ sail and less from Siam – … All our differences with the Dutch are referred to Europe – they are greatly enraged against me and declare they can have no peace while I am allowed to remain – I hope our Ministers will at last think it worth while to consider the numerous interests involved in the question which is left to their decision –
In a further private letter to Hastings from Singapore dated 17 June 1819, Raffles reported his engagement in Calcutta of the two French naturalists, Pierre Diard162 and Alfred Duvaucel,163 to accompany him to Bengkulu to undertake research into the fauna of Sumatra on the same basis as Dr. Horsfield had conducted his natural history researches in Java:164
Letter 15
Raffles to Hastings
17 June 1819
Private
Singapore 17th June 1819
My Lord,
I have taken the liberty to forward by the present opportunity a Representation respecting the two French Naturalists who were introduced to me by Mr Ricketts and who at his suggestion accompanied me to the Eastward165 –
The extensive Collections and interesting discoveries they have already made and the zeal and devotion with which they are forwarding their labours, promise very important results to Science and Knowledge in general, and I sincerely hope that in the Request I have made to consider them on the same footing in Sumatra that Dr. Horsfield166 was considered in Java will not be thought unreasonable – The arrangements made with regard to Dr. Horsfield were entirely approved by the Court of Directors who now possess in their Museum the whole of his Collections while Dr. Horsfield has himself proceeded to Europe for the purpose of superintending the publication of such Selections as may be thought fit to be generally communicated167 – Sumatra and the adjacent Islands, properly Malayan, offer a more novel and extensive field – The Island of Java had already been partially explored but the larger Island of Sumatra, with the exception of its Coasts remain[s] to this day almost unknown –
One of these Gentlemen is the Stepson of M. Cuvier,168 and they are both eminently qualified for the task they have undertaken as set forth in an Address which I received from them some time since, and which I do myself the honor to enclose for your Lordship’s perusal –
The encouragement which has always been held out to similar pursuits by the Honble Court of Directors emboldens me to hope that they will not object to what is proposed, but I am more prompted to make the request on the grounds of your Lordship’s established Reputation as the Patron of every undertaking calculated to extend the sphere of human knowledge and improve the condition of Society – Humble as our pretensions may be, we trust that our labours may be found not altogether undeserving of notice, and honored & encouraged by such illustrious patronage, it would be our study to render them as extensively useful as possible –
The Botanical Department is under the immediate direction of Dr Jack who is attached to me as a Medical friend,169 and in Mineralogy we all occasionally assist – My object is to collect during my residence in these Islands materials for the Natural History of Sumatra and the adjacent Countries, and the leisure which may be afforded from the limited nature of the duties of Bencoolen, promises me sufficient time for the general Superintendence of such an undertaking – In my public application I have not represented the extent of the interest which I take on the occasion, because I have not yet proceeded sufficiently far to authorize the expectation of any defined plan, and more particularly because I am not yet assured how far I may calculate on your Lordship’s approval and patronage, without which, all my views must necessarily be foregone – Animated and encouraged by your Lordship’s exalted protection and support, many difficulties which now lie in our path would be removed, and no exertion of human labour mind or body wanting to render the results in some degree worthy of the patronage under which they would be obtained –
I have the honor to be, with the
highest consideration and respect,
Your Lordship’s
most obedient and
devoted humble Servt
T S Raffles
The Most Noble
The Marquess of Hastings K.G. KGCB
&c &c &c
Fig. 24
Dr. Thomas Horsfield (1773–1859), the pioneering American naturalist in the East Indies.
Portrait by J. Erxleben.
On 17 June 1819 Raffles informed Hastings of the despatch to Calcutta of three companies of the 20th Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry which he had earlier ordered to proceed from Bengkulu by way of Singapore in case they were needed to reinforce the local garrison. As he had issued this order to the officer in charge immediately on his departure from Calcutta in December 1818, it resulted in his being severely reprimanded by Hastings for interfering in military matters while still within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Government.170
Letter 16
Raffles to Hastings
17 June 1819
Private
Singapore 17th. June 1819
My Lord,
In dispatching for Bengal the three Companies of the 20th. Regiment lately relieved from Bencoolen, I feel myself called upon in a particular manner to communicate to your Lordship the obligation under which I feel myself to Captain Manley171 for his zealous cooperation and ready attention to my views and wishes as well at Bencoolen as in coming round to this Station – and as that officer has for some years commanded at Bencoolen and has since had an opportunity of estimating the comparative advantages of his position in a military point of view, I take the liberty of referring your Lordship to him for any further information that may be required beyond what is communicated in my public Despatches –
At the urgent request of Captain Manley and in consideration of the unexpected delay the Native Troops have already met with in their passage from Bencoolen, I have authorized Major Farquhar to order the Transports to proceed direct to Calcutta, instead of touching at Penang as originally intended – a measure which as it originates in an attention to the Military Department, and in an obvious saving of time and expense, will I trust meet your Lordship’s approbation –
On my arrival at Bencoolen it is my intention to despatch from thence to Prince of Wales Island one or two of the Companies now stationed there, so as to divide the ten Companies equally between the respective authorities – under this arrangement I propose that three Companies should still continue and form the permanent Garrison of Singapore, [and] that of Bencoolen being gradually reduced as low as practicable –
From the experience and peculiar qualifications of Captain Manley I regret that the rules of the Service did not authorize my detaining him in this Command; but in the event of any change being contemplated, I take the liberty of pointing him out to your Lordship, as an officer in every respect worthy of confidence and attention –
I have the honor to be, with
the highest consideration and respect,
your Lordship’s
most obedient & faithful
humble servant
T S Raffles
His Excellency
The most Noble the Marquess of Hastings
KG. KGCB &c &c &c
In a final private letter to Hastings from Singapore dated 22 June 1819,172 six days before leaving the island, Raffles wrote of the defences of the settlement, and, irresistibly for him, considering his recent founding of Singapore, of “an opening”, he perceived, “for the establishment of the British influence in Borneo”, the details being included in an official letter he wrote to the Supreme Government on the same day.173
Letter 17
Raffles to Hastings
22 June 1819
Private
Singapore 22d June 1819
My Lord,
My official despatches will convey to your Lordship every information on the progress and present state of this Establishment, but as Major Farquhar is not yet prepared with the detailed Plan of the defences, I do myself the honor to forward under a private cover a rough Sketch shewing the position and division of the Town &c and the disposition of the principal works proposed for its defence – This Sketch does not include a considerable Native Establishment to the Westward of the River nor any part of the Eastern Bay & is perhaps more calculated to shew the situation of our present Head Quarters than to convey an adequate idea of the extent to which the Town is already spreading174 –
It is impossible to conceive a Situation better calculated for Military defence, the position is only open to attack in one direction, and the natural advantages even in that quarter are very great – If the proposed Fort on the Hill were of sufficient magnitude to justify such an appropriation, I should have ventured on the liberty of dignifying it by the appellation of “Fort Hastings” and if I may be permitted to estimate the importance of the Work rather by its political consequences than the value of the materials by which it may be composed, I would still hope that the success which has hitherto attended the enlightened plans of your Lordship’s Government, even in this remote quarter of our Indian Empire, may be crowned by the auspicious application of a name as immortal as it is revered and respected –
The extreme caution with which I have confined all our present views to the immediate interests of this particular Station, will I hope prove to your Lordship that my first and only object is to act in strict compliance with your Lordship’s wishes, and to devote the humble portion of my Services in aid of the great and enlightened views which distinguish your Lordship’s brilliant & unparalleled administration – Moderate and limited as your Lordship’s views may at present be in this quarter, the conduct of other Nations and the general interest of benevolence and humanity may eventually lead to their extension, and at all events the World will have to thank your Lordship for the establishment of at least one Station beyond the Ganges whence the Arts and Improvements of Civilized life may be extended to the largest portion of Mankind, and where the British Interests may advance with their natural impulse without any of the obstructions and disabilities which have so unfortunately marked our previous Establishments to the Eastward –
These considerations induce me to solicit your Lordship’s attention to the command which our present position affords us over Siam and Borneo, countries hitherto most imperfectly known but interesting and important in the highest degree in every point in which they can be viewed – Reserving such observations as occur to me for improving our relations with the former State, until the further progress of this Establishment may authorize such an extension of our views, I take the liberty of submitting to your Lordship the present situation of the principal States on the West Coast of Borneo – and I am the more anxious to do this on the present occasion, because in my official communications to the Supreme Government I have avoided further allusion to the subject than was indispensably necessary –
The three States in which the Dutch have attempted to establish an influence are Pontiana [Pontianak], Mempawa [Mampawah] and Sambas – at each of these places they have a Resident and a small force, the total amount of which does not at present exceed 300 men – At Pontiana the recent death of the Sultan and the disputed succession to the Throne, has occasioned the greatest confusion, and the party opposed to the Dutch which appears to include nine tenths of the Population are on the eve of removing to some place where they expect to find an asylum from the oppressions they have recently experienced – At Mempawa, the country is equally unsettled and at Montradak [Monterado] where the principal Chinese population under Sambas reside, not only has the Dutch Flag been several times pulled down and rent in pieces, but very recently the Amboinese Guard were made Prisoners and disarmed & the Resident and his Writer wounded – The general opinion is that unless a force of nearly two thousand men is sent from Batavia, the Dutch will not be able to subdue the refractory Chinese, whose numbers are estimated at not less than a hundred thousand, principally miners and labouring People – The Expense of these Establishments to the Dutch is so great, and their failure to enforce a corresponding Revenue so general, that considering the urgent demand for their Troops in the Moluccas, where a new Insurrection is stated to have broken out, it is very probable they will be rather inclined to abandon their plans on Borneo than to extend them with the efficiency that is indispensible for their safety –
But whatever may be their policy in this respect, an opening appears to be still left for the establishment of the British influence in Borneo, should such a measure be deemed advisable – The Messenger or Deputy who has visited this place from Pontiana, while he is authorized to inform me that the principal Chief of that State and a large proportion of the population of the other places which have fallen under the sway of the Dutch are anxious to remove under our protection, is accompanied by a respectable Chieftain of the Matan Empire who is entitled by inheritance, if not to the Government, at least to the principal influence at Kadawang, a province situated on the large River of that name which disembogues between Succadana and Banjar Masin – This part of Borneo, never fell under the Dutch authority at any period of their History, and the Sultan of Matan in consequence of his residence in the interior has hitherto escaped their notice and policy –
The object of these Chiefs is to obtain the alliance of our Government under which they propose opening the Trade of the River and establishing a Port of general commerce – Without this security, they are justly apprehensive that their efforts will no sooner be attended with success than they will be paralized by Dutch interference – With it, they feel that their proposed Establishment will soon become the most important in Borneo – It is situated to the Southward but in sight of Caramata, there are several Islands lying off the mouth of the River which cover the anchorage and as far as their statements can be depended upon, as a Port, it has greater natural advantages than any place yet known on the West Coast, it is within three days sail of this place, and exactly in the position that would be convenient for our China ships passing through the Straits of Sunda, being not very distant from Point Sambar or what is generally considered the South Western Point of Borneo –
The Residence of the Sultan of Matan is at a considerable distance inland, where the Population in Dayaks or Native Borneans is said to be more dense than any other part of the Coast – The produce of the country Gold and Diamonds with the usual productions of the Malayan Islands – and the interior penetrable in most directions by navigable Rivers, on the Banks of which cultivation has been considerably extended – Were our protection once afforded, the influx of Chinese and the produce of the mines might of course be extended ad infinitum –
I will not however detain your Lordship by further particulars at present on a subject on which you may not be desirous to enter – but in stating my conviction that the Dutch have no claims whatever to oppose to our Establishment in that quarter, request your permission, should the subject be considered of sufficient interest, to submit to your Lordship at an early period such connected observations in the shape of a Memoir, as may enable your Lordship to judge of the practicability and advantage of the measure – If in a general and more extensive political view, your Lordship’s attention should be directed to this vast and hitherto unexplored Island, it will afford me the highest gratification to submit such detailed information and suggestions as may be convenient for reference – In the mean time I shall privately as well as publicly refrain from encouraging any expectations of our interference or assistance175 –
Having requested Major Farquhar to state explicitly the nature of his communications with the Dutch Commissioners at Malacca with regard to the Dependence of the Islands to the South of the Straits on the Dutch continental possession I do myself the honor to enclose for your Lordship’s perusal the Letter which he has addressed to me on the occasion – and which I hope will prove satisfactory –
Since I had the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship’s Letter of the 6th. April, it has occurred to me as possible that in attending to my acting under a modification of my official Instructions Colonel Bannerman may have referred to the discretion which I stated to him I understood to be personally given to me of proceeding to the Eastward in preference to Acheen, in the first instance should circumstances authorize such a measure – This I certainly did state to him both personally and in my official correspondence because I had so understood your Lordship and Mr Ricketts – but this did not imply any modification or alteration in the Instructions themselves; I had the honor to be deputed on two Missions and I conceived it to be left to me to enter first on that which was most pressing – but in deference to the opinion and wishes of Colonel Bannerman I consented to waive my own judgment on the occasion –
It is my intention to proceed from hence to Bencoolen in the course of a few days – and I trust the arrangements which have been made for the duties of this Station and the prosecution of your Lordship’s views, will have been such as to meet your approbation and ensure a continuance of the prosperity which has hitherto attended our efforts – The expences attending the first Establishment, have been in some respects heavier than I could have wished, but yet will I trust be considered small compared with the advantages obtained – the Establishment is on the most limited scale, and I can assure your Lordship that while my first and principal attention has been devoted to the main object of success, I have not been inattentive to the importance of the strictest economy –
Your Lordship will perceive that on my departure from Singapore I leave a Balance in the local Treasury of upwards of a lac of Rupees to answer the demands of the current year – This will of course render it unnecessary for Major Farquhar to draw on Bengal for some time, but as money can always be obtained from the shipping touching at the Port cheaper than it could be forwarded, I have thought it advisable to authorize him eventually to draw when the state of the Treasury might require it –
I have the honor to be, with the
highest respect and consideration,
your Lordship’s
most obliged and
devoted humble Servt
T S Raffles
The Most Noble
The Marquess of Hastings KG. KGCB
&c &c &c
[Enclosure: Major William Farquhar’s letter to Raffles dated 22 June 1819.176]
Letter 17 encl.
Farquhar to Raffles
22 June 1819
To
The Honble Sir Stamford Raffles
&c. &c. &c.
Honble Sir
In reply to your note of this morning wishing to know whether the Dutch Commissioners at Malacca did ever specify to me the Islands at the mouth of the Straits as Dependencies on their Continental Possessions, I beg leave to inform you that to the best of my recollection during the whole course of our official Proceedings, the Commissioners never once particularized the Islands in question as such Dependencies. At the opening of the Commission a question was put to me by Admiral Wolterbeek relative to what I considered to be the Dependencies of Malacca and whether Rhio and Perak were not so. My reply was decidedly in the negative with respect to those places, and I further stated that Malacca had no other dependency than the inland district of Nanning, when the conversation dropped. The Admiral some time afterwards in speaking of the Carimon Islands, observed that he considered the Rajah of Rhio as a vassal of the King of the Netherlands, and all the Johore dominions as falling under the control of the Dutch.
It does not occur to me that any thing further took place on this subject, than what has already been stated in my official Correspondence with the Dutch Commissioners.
I have the honor
To be
Honble Sir,
Your most obedient
Humble Servant
Wm Farquhar
Resident
Singapore
June 22nd 1819
Raffles sailed from Singapore for west Sumatra on 28 June 1819 aboard the Indiana and arrived at Bengkulu on the evening of 31 July. He reported his arrival in a private letter to Lord Hastings three weeks later, declaring at the same time that in accordance with his instructions he had handed over the former Dutch settlement of Padang to the Netherlands authorities and withdrawn the British posts from the Minangkabau highlands and Semangka Bay. This represented a humiliating end to his attempts to extend British power and influence in Sumatra, although in his letter to Hastings he attempted to put a more positive gloss on the matter:177
Letter 18
Raffles to Hastings
20 August 1819
Duplicate
Private
Bencoolen Augt. 20th. 1819
My Lord,
I have the honor to inform your Lordship of my return to this Settlement on the 1st Instant.
After so long and unexpected an absence it was natural for me to find some arrears and irregularities but I have much satisfaction in reporting that nothing essential has occurred out of the usual course and that in a very few weeks every thing will be again in order –
The Settlement of Padang was duly transferred in May last,178 but from what I can learn the Dutch have not met with a very welcome reception on the part of the Inhabitants – They have doubled the duties and in some instances raised them still higher, which has had the effect of transferring some of the trade to this place – where under the sanction of your Lordship’s authority all Custom Duties have been abolished – It will be satisfactory to your Lordship to know that no difficulty was experienced in explaining to the Native Chiefs of Menangkaboo the circumstances under which my previous engagements with them could not be approved179 – They had considered them entirely provisional and subject to your Lordship’s approval or rejection, and we were able to withdraw without any compromise of character – The Native Chiefs are satisfied that I did my utmost to save them from the blow which has fallen upon them, and that I did not succeed they consider more as their misfortune than my fault –
No time was lost in withdrawing the Establishment from the Straits of Sunda180 – and since the 1st. of January last when a communication and agreement on the subject of boundaries took place between one of our Parties in the Hills and the Dutch Authority at Palembang – no intercourse or interference has existed in that quarter – About that period a Report had gained circulation that I had proceeded to Palembang from Bengal and the person in charge of the Interior was anxious to ascertain the fact and effect a communication with me – This brought him in contact with the Dutch Authority at the head of the Palembang River, and the result was an Agreement on both sides that neither of them should pass certain boundaries than previously defined.
I am particular in mentioning this occurrence to shew that in the more recent occurrences at Palembang and which have terminated so much to the disgrace of the Dutch, they cannot lay the blame on us –
It is with extreme regret that I find since my arrival, by the recei[p]t of letters from England down to the beginning of March and even the Public Prints to February, the part which has been taken by Opposition in consequence of my Protest which it appears had then been received from Java – Nothing could have been further from my intention or indeed my interest than a public discussion of the kind – and I feel it particularly unfortunate for personal considerations that the part I had taken should have been unexpectedly espoused by the Party adverse to Ministers –
Your Lordship is already aware of the situation in which I was placed and the difficulty of remaining neutral with any feeling of patriotism or public spirit – I may have done wrong, but my motives cannot be questioned and in the kind and indulgent consideration of your Lordship I received the most liberal judgment – On this kindness I still rely, and I can with the utmost sincerity assure your Lordship that I would willingly suffer any pain or privation rather than be supposed for one moment to abuse it –
I have the honor to remain
With the highest respect & consideration
your Lordship’s
most obliged and
devoted humble Servt
T S Raffles
His Excellency
The Most Noble the Marquess of Hastings
KG KGCB &c &c &c
