,
1763. Il est bon de remarquer ici que presque toute la cote occidentale
avoit ete reduite par la flotte du Sieur Pierre de Bitter en 1664.
L'annee suivante, les habitans de Pauw massacrerent le Commissaire Gruis,
etc.; mais apres avoir venge ce meurtre, et dissipe les revoltes en 1666,
les Hollandois etoient restes les maitres de toute cette etendue de cotes
entre Sillebar et Baros, ou ils etablirent divers comptoirs, dont celui
de Padang est le principal depuis 1667. Le commandant, qui y reside, est
en meme temps Stadhouder (Lieutenant) de l'Empereur de Maningcabo, a qui
la Compagnie a cede, sous diverses restrictions & limitations, la
souverainete sur tous les peuples qui babitent le long du rivage" etc.)

DIVISION OF THE GOVERNMENT.

In consequence of disturbances that ensued upon the death of a sultan
Alif in the year 1680, without direct heirs, the government became
divided amongst three chiefs, presumed to have been of the royal family
and at the same time great officers of state, who resided at places named
Suruwasa, Pagar-ruyong, and Sungei-trap; and in that state it continues
to the present time. Upon the capture of Padang by the English in 1781
deputations arrived from two of these chiefs with congratulations upon
the success of our arms; which will be repeated with equal sincerity to
those who may chance to succeed us. The influence of the Dutch (and it
would have been the same with any other European power) has certainly
contributed to undermine the political consequence of Menangkabau by
giving countenance and support to its disobedient vassals, who in their
turn have often experienced the dangerous effects of receiving favours
from too powerful an ally. Pasaman, a populous country, and rich in gold,
cassia, and camphor, one of its nearest provinces, and governed by a
panglima from thence, now disclaims all manner of dependence. Its
sovereignty is divided between the two rajas of Sabluan and Kanali, who,
in imitation of their former masters, boast an origin of high antiquity.
One of them preserves as his sacred relic the bark of a tree in which his
ancestor was nursed in the woods before the Pasaman people had reached
their present polished state. The other, to be on a level with him,
possesses the beard of a reverend predecessor (perhaps an anchorite),
which was so bushy that a large bird had built its nest in it. Raja
Kanali supported a long war with the Hollanders, attended with many
reverses of fortu