A JOURNEY IN JOHORE
A JOURNEY IN JOHORE
By the Revd. P. Favre, Apostolic Missionary, Malacca.
The many difficulties I had met with in the several journies I had already undertaken in the Malay countires, from the petty chiefs who are established in each village, convinced me that it was almost impossible to succeed in such journeys without having previously obtained a regular passport from the rules of the Malayan States. In September 1846, I therefore repaired to Singapore to obtain from His Majesty the Sultan of Johore, and His Highness the Tummongong of Singapore the necessary permission to travel in the Johore territory. As I was acquainted with the mother of His Majesty the Sultan, I had taken the precaution of obtaining from her a letter of recommendation to the Sultan; by these means I found the way of communicating with His Majesty free from obstacle. I was received by him with remarkable familiarity and kindess, and a few days after the requested document, duly authenticated with the Sultan's seal, was delivered to me.
I likewise asked the same from His Highness the Tumungong of Singapore. I was neither received by him so familiarly nor so kindly; he gave me however the permission requested; but he gave it by word only, saying that the document already given by the Sultan was sufficient, and assuring me that the authority of the Sultan and his own were unum et idem.*
I left Singapore on the fifth of September; I was accompanied by an Indo-Portuguese boy as servant, and by a Chinese as cooly; the boat which conveyed me was of a small size, having two Malabar men as rowers, in case the wind should fail, and one as pilot.+ My provisions consisted of a few gantangs of rice, and a small quantity of dried
- So far is this from being the case that the Tumumgong exercises all the authority and receives all the revenues of the Sovereign. Had M. Favre been aware of this and gone direct to eh Tamungong for a letter, he would have fared better in his journey. The Malays look upon the Sultan of Linga as the Sultan of Johore, and the British authorities apparently acquieace in this, for although they have recognized Tunku Alli as the successor of his late father the Sultan of Johore (by whom [?] the late Tumumgong Singapore was ceded to us) no steps have been taken to make this recognition more than nominal.- ED.
+ More mistakes. All the men should have been Malays, and furnished by the Tamungong, who takes great pleasure in obliging Europeans who desire to visit Johore. - ED.
