Map to illustrate the Siamese question.

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"done, the payment will be perpetuated, sinee for its sake the
" Siamese Government will, for so long as any of the descendants
" of the Raja just noticed remain, place one of them as Governor
" over Kedah, or at least, as now has been done, the central por" tion of it. There is, it may be added, no scarcity of scions of the
" stock of the Raja of Kedah.
" The original intention in securing Penang was purely of a
" general commercial nature, and for the purpose of erecting docks
" and building ships, and to be a naval dept-and to this agricul" tural and other objects were mere adjuncts. It became one in
" the chain of trading colonies with which the British have since
" girded the world."
I extract the following to shew that, in 1848, though a
strong partizan of Siam, Colonel Low writes Trengganu and
Kelantan as "Independent," though I believe that at that
time both these States sent the "Bunga Mas" to Siam, while
Pethni is called " Dependent on Siam":" The population of the Peninsula, excluding the British posses" sions, may probably stand thus at the utmost:" Independent.
" Johor and its dependencies) 40000
"and Pahang, j 40,000
" Trengganu,......... 30,000
" Killantan,......... 40,000
" Perak,......... 25,000
'Selangor,......... 3,000
" Dependent on Siam:" P tAni,......... 50,000
" Kedah,......... 25,000
213,000 "
Immediately afterwards, hlie tells how Petani became dependent:
" About this time (July, 1786) the Siamese over-ran the
" Ptani country which had refused to pay the usual homage. The
" population of this country amounted then to about 115,000, but
" it was easily reduced to its former state of submission. Hajis
" abounded in it, as they now do, and it is well known that this
" class of Malays, both from bigotry and religious pride, are ever
" ready to foment rebellions. They gain little indeed by the Haji
" beyond these two qualifications."
I quote the following paragraph on the terms of the occupation of Penang to shew that Colonel Low calls the question
of affording assistance to Kedah a "new subject" (in Decem