CHAPTER 10: A Mission By Sea.
A Fortnight after Harry's return, he was again sent for by Lord Mornington.
"Captain Lindsay, I am about to employ you on a mission of a somewhat delicate character.

There have been many complaints that ships trading among the islands have been attacked and, in some cases, captured and the crews massacred, by Malays.

We recently received a communication from a native chief, or rajah, who owns the southern point of the Malay Peninsula.

He says that the Dutch, in Java, greatly interfere with his trade; as all vessels trading in the East are bound to touch at Batavia, on their way to Europe, and consequently very few of them visit the Peninsula, as to do so would greatly lengthen their voyage to Batavia.

He asks that we should make a settlement at the end of the Peninsula, so that our ships may trade with him; and would be willing to place us in possession of an island, two or three miles from the extreme southern portion of his dominions.
"There can be no doubt that the position would be an extremely valuable one; lying, as it does, on our trade route to the East.
But it is also certain that a settlement of that kind would be viewed with extreme jealousy by the Dutch; whose possessions, in Java and other islands, render them practically masters of the whole Malay Archipelago.
"Certainly, at present, our hands are much too full here to permit of our engaging in any enterprise of this kind but, at the same time, it is desirable that we should obtain some reliable information as to the situation there, the power of this rajah, and the advantages that the island offers in the way of ports, the salubrity of its climate, and other similar particulars.