TRINGANO, correetly IRINGGANU, is the name of the second Malay state on the
eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, counting from its southern extremity. I t is
bounded on the south by the principality of Pahang, to the north by that of Kalantan,
and to the west by that of Perak, the central range of mountains parting it from the last.
Ot its area nothing certain is known, nor does it seem of much consequence that there
should be, since nearly the whole is one continuous jungle, in its present state of
very little use to man. The inhabitants consist of the dominant people, or Malays
converted to Mahommedanism,—some wild tribes of the same race unconverted, a
few of the Negritos in the mountains, and a few Chinese engaged in trade or in tin-
mming. The total population of the state has been computed at 37,500. Of this
number, the town of the same name, situated on a small river not far from the sea,
has been estimated to contain from 15,000 to 20-,000 inhabitants, or about one-half the
population of the state. Among the inhabitants of the town are about 600 Chinese
settlers. A little gold, some black pepper, and some tin are the staple products of
lrmgano, the tin being by far the most important, and said to amount yearly to about
480 tons. This state is one of the hereditary tributaries of Siam, but has long and
at present successfully, resisted the assumed supremacy of the Siamese.
TRIPANG, the name of a species of Holothuria, is found in most of the shallow
seas of the Malay and Philippine Archipelagos. The word tripang is Malay, and the
animal is called by the people of Celebes, siiala, which our traders write swalloe.
I t is the beche de mer, or sea-worm of the Portuguese, and our own “ sea-cucumber ”
for in appearance and shape, although not in 001001”, for it is a dirty brown, it greatly
resembles a cucumber. The esculent holothuria is. by no means confined to the
seas of the Archipelago; it is found in the upper part of the Gulf of Siam
and is so abundant on the northern coast of Australia, that the people of Celebes’
receiving advances from the resident Chinese, have been long in the habit of making
annual voyages thither in quest of it. Gutted, dried in the sun and smoked it is
considered cured, and fit for its only market, that of China, to which many hundred
tons are yearly sent for the consumption of the curious epicures of that country.
The fishery of the tripang is to China what that of the sardine, tunny and
anchovy is to Europe. It is, for the most part, caught by hand, for it has little
power of locomotion, but in deep water sometimes by diving. This is the account
given by Mr. Windsor Earl of the fishery on the shores and banks of the Aroe
islands, where this animal appears to be very abundant. “ But the great sources of
wealth are the pearl and tripang banks, which lie on the eastern side of the group.
These extend the entire length of the islands, and are often several miles in width
being intersected by deep channels, some of which will admit vessels of burthen.
V1® trip3-0!?, or sea-slug, is of several varieties. The greater portion is caught in
shallow water, where it can be picked up off the bank without diving.” Journal of
the Indian Archipelago, Vol. 4, p. 480. The tripang, although an article of considerable
importance m the trade of the Indian Islands, is never found in the printed
price-currents of an European emporium, because never dealt in by Europeans, which
wises from nice or rather capricious distinctions in their quality, which no European
is competent to appreciate. I can discover no mention of the tripang in the early
Portuguese writers; which seems to be another proof that the Chinese, who carry on
the trade and advance the funds, had not yet settled in the Archipelago when the
Portuguese first appeared in it.
TROTTO (Pulo), correctly TRUTAO, is the name of one of the numerous islands
at the western end of the Straits of Malacca, close to the coast of the Peninsula and
belonging to the state of Queda. I t is barren, covered with forest, and uninhabited.
TREBU. This is the name of a fish, the scientific appellation of which I have not
ascertained, but of which the salted and dried roes form a very considerable article
of trade in the western parts of the Malayan Archipelago. It seems to be local, and
like salmon and some other fish, to frequent rivers for the purpose of spawning. Its
favourite resort is the muddy eastern coast of Sumatra, and more especially the
narrow strait which divides Banealis and some other low islands from the main land
and into which the river of Siak disembogues. At a place called Bukit-batu (rock-
hill), a considerable fishery of the trubu is carried on, which is thus noticed by Mr.
Anderson ’ The river of Bukit-batu is a very small stream, close to the mouth of
which stands the town of Bukit-batu, which is a place of considerable trade, the grand
staple being roes of thetrobo-fish, or telur-trobo (trubu roes, or eggs), as they are called.
Her« there is a very extensive fishery, and three or four hundred boats, with two and
three men in each, often go out at a time to the fishery, which is outside the Straits
of Tanjung-Jati” (teak-tree promontory).—Anderson’s Mission, p. 335. The fishery
of the trubu is of immemorial antiquity, and is referred to by De Barros as existing
on the arrival of the Portuguese just as it does at present. “The rivers” (of Sumatra),
says he, “ contain a great variety of fish, and in some of them, such as that of Siaca
(Siak) they catch small shads (saves), of which the people of the country use the roes
only, and of these they have a greater abundance than we have of the fish themselves.”
—Decade 3, Book 5, chap. 1.
TUB AN. The name of a district, and formerly of an ancient province of Java,
and now forming part of the Netherland province of Rembang.
TURAJA. The name of a mountainous country in the very centre of the island
of Celebes. The inhabitants are described as savages who have not adopted the
Mahommedan religion, and in the same social condition as the Dayaks of Borneo.
By the Malays, indeed, they are called Dayaks. Little is known about them, as
they seem never to have been visited by Europeans.
TURKEY. This bird has been long naturalised in Java and the Philippines,
but is bred only by Europeans and' their descendants, for, preposterously,
the Mahommedans consider its flesh unlawful food, although the bird was unknown to
any of them for near nine centuries after the time of their prophet. The prejudice
arises, it is said, from the tuft on the breast, which bears some resemblance to a
hog’s bristles. The name given to the turkey by the natives sufficiently points to the
source from which they derived it,—ayam-Yuropa and ayam-Holanda, the “ fowl of
Europe,” and the “ fowl of Holland.”
TU WAJU, or WAJU, is the name, of a tribe of the B.ugis or Wugi nation of
■ Celebes, by far the most industrious and enterprising people, not only of that island
but of the whole Malay Archipelago. Their parent country is in the centre of the
south-western peninsula, between the third and fourth degrees of south latitude, its
sea-board being on the Gulf of Boni, and its boundary to the south, th e , great lake
of Labaya. But they are, at present, found as settlers in almost every trading port
of the Archipelago, native and European, having in some of the ruder countries, as
Floris and Borneo, independent settlements. In Singapore, although of such recent
origin, they already number .from 2000 to 3000. Besides this, they perform voyages
from one end of the Archipelago to the other,—to the eastward as far as New
Guinea, and to the westward as far as Sumatra. In fact, they conduct most of the
native carrying trade, and seem, in this respect, to occupy now the same position
which the Malays and Javanese did before the arrival of Europeans. I can find no
mention whatever of them in the early Portuguese writers, and therefore conclude
that their rise, as a mercantile people, is of comparatively very recent origin. I copy
the following account of this people in their own country, from notes which I took in
1823, from communications made to me by respectable members of the tribe trading
to Singapore:—“ There are large Waju villages on the banks of the great lake
(Labaya), all of which carry on a considerable foreign trade. The trading praus are
tracked up the stream of the Chinrana river, the voyage being performed in about
thirty-six hours, while that from the lake to the sea does not occupy above one half
that time. The depth of water in the river is abundant during the rainy season for
the largest praus, but not so in the dry. The tribe of Waju consists of a confederation
of forty princes. By these, assembled in council, the general affairs of the whole
nation are conducted, and the council, like an English jury, must be unanimous.
Its chief is elected by the other members, and holds his place during good conduct.
He goes under the title of Arung-matuwa, which may be rendered ‘the prince-elder."’
Six of the princes, under the name of Bati-lumpo, literally ‘ great banners,’ form a
select council to advise and assist the president in his ministerial functions. These
councillors are hereditary in particular families, the choice of the individual being
made by his own particular tribe. The Waju people pay no taxes, direct or indirect
being even exempt from import or export duties. The princes are supported from
their own domains, the Arung-matuwa, or presiding prince, alone receiving three days’
corvée labour,—one at the time of ploughing, another at that of planting, and a third
at harvest. The Waju men of all ranks, unlike the rest of the Bugis people, have full
liberty to go abroad and to return at pleasure, at once a caaise and effect, it may be
presumed, of their independence, enterprise, and prosperity.”
TYPHOON, it is to be presumed from the Arabic word tufan, a storm. This is
the name by which those frightful equinoctial gales are known to Europeans, which