“Sultan Mahomet had two illegitimate sons, who were competitors for the throne, but the claims of neither were attended to, and they continued in a state of vagrancy and poverty until the Dutch and English governments, for their own purposes, thought it necessary to patronize respectively one of the parties. One of them, now acknowledged Sultan of Johore, and who still resides in the island, came over to it a short time after our first occupation, and was, in due course, placed upon our pension list. It was with this individual, and the inferior chief already named, that a treaty for the cession of the island was concluded in August, 1824. They received for the sovereignty and fee-simple of the island, as well as of all the seas, straits, and islands lying within ten miles of its coasts, the sum of sixty thousand Spanish dollars, with an annuity of twenty-four thousand Spanish dollars during their natural lives; and it was farther guaranteed that they or their successors should receive a donation of thirty-five thousand Spanish dollars, should they be desirous at any time of quitting the British territory and retiring into their own dominions. Other articles of the treaty provided that neither party should interfere in the domestic quarrels of the other; that their highnesses should receive at all times an asylum and a hospitable reception at Singapore, should they be distressed in their own dominions; and that slavery, under whatever name or modification, should have no existence within the British territories. “This last subject had been a source of great annoyance, both to the native chiefs and to the local administration. Their highnesses claimed as slaves, not only their own retainers, but every Malay, coming from whatever part of the state of Johore. Their followers, where every one else was free, and labour well rewarded, were naturally impatient of this assumption; and the disputes which arose were the frequent cause of serious difficulties, both in maintaining the peace of the settlement, and in the administration of justice. At present slavery is totally unknown in the island, for the treaty emancipated even the retainers of the native chiefs.”[50] I have quoted the foregoing extract to serve as an explanation of the first treaty, and to show how the possession of the island was permanently obtained by the British, which will be interesting to the many who may not have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the circumstances.