Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-21

How the Sultan B1ufed the Admiral.
i as L looked at our unarmed American par
| ty l thought of the danger that might
arise in case of a dispute and remembered
story which heard the other day of how
| the father of this sultan once intimidated
| an English admiral during his visit to this
| very island. There had been some trouble
as to accounts between the English and the
| Moros, and the sultan proposed to settle ii
| by giving a number of pearls The admiral
| wanted hard cash He grew insolent and
| said to his majesty:
IF you don't pay what l ask 1 will 60
back to my boat, and then"
Here the old sultan raised his hand with
a significant gesture, and every one of his
hundred retainers about him drew. his bolo,
or kris, and raised it ready to strike. The
admiral had only small party with him
and the delegation could have easily been
| chopped into mincemeat AS the krises
came out the admiral stopped in his SEN
tence. and the sultan took up his words,
saying in an fnterrogative, but significant.
| tone:
oh said the admiral, land then we will
settle 1t in some other way" Had he ut
tered the threat he intended to make Eng
lane land would probably have had a war on
IT'S hands from the loss of an admiral, and
the Sulu nation would probably have been
wiped out of existence.
The Power of the Sultan.
The present sultan looks to me very weak
but he is man of great power among the
Moros. and he could, if he would cause the
United States no end of trouble. He has
been very automatically managed in the
first place by Gen. Bates and of late by
Major Owen ]. Sweet. He is YOU know
the greatest of our Filipino Mohammedans,
being reverenced by them not only because
he is the heir Of royal line of sultans but
also because he has made pilgrimage to
mecca, and Is supposed to have his Moham-
mechanism direct from the fountain source
He Is the ruler in the Sulu Islands alone of
about 10000 Moros. and is also the head of
the Moros of North Borneo. He has some
kind of authority over the Moros of Min
danao, but it is more nominal than real
and such dates as Mandi and others hardly
acknowledge him.
Here in Sulu he is supposed to have the
power of life and death over his subjects.
His power is limited, however somewhat
like that of the kings in the days of feudal-
ism. Some of the dattos refuse to obey him
and make war upon him In case his de-
mands do not suit their ideas and plans.
He has always more less trouble with
can without causing rebellion.
The Income of the sultan
A large part of the income of the sultan
comes from fines. He has his men watch to
sec which of his subjects are making money
and as soon as man gets something ahead
he is charged with some crime and the re-
suit Is a fine. If man has amassed $500
for instance, he will have him accused of
some crime and sentence him to pay at
once into the royal treasury $1,000. The
failure to pay means death in most cases,
and the mans friends have to make up the
balance. The safest thing in case of trou-
bic is to settle such matters yourself. The
other day Moro in SLASH had cow
stolen. He accused the thief to the sultan
and his majestys officers caught him. The
thief was sentenced to pay s105 into the
royal treasury. while the sultan confiscated
the COW.
The other day the sultan learned that one
of his subjects had about $1,000. He charg-
ed him with fishing for pearls without
license and fined him 5000 straightway.
He sent his bodyguard and the crown prince
to the village to collect the fine, and the
people rather than be attacked Joined to-
gether and paid II.
According to the laws here every pearl
which is found of value of about s160 goes
to the sultan, and ] am told that he has a
great fortune in pearls stored away in his
barn of a palace. Just before he went to
Mecca he sold pearls to the amount of
$4,000. He carried lot of pearls with him,
and during his stay at Singapore he was
robbed of about $4,000 worth of jewelry.
Some one broke open his box one night and
stole his crown rings. some pearls and
other jewels.
Another source of the royal income is
the tribute which the sultan receives from
llle NOFlN oOrncO company LOT the lease
of the lands about Sandakan. This pays
him 5000 a year, but 1 am not sure
whether it is in silver or gold. We pay him
an annual tribute of 5000 in silver.
The Sultan's Harem.
The sultan is like Solomon in that he
has numerous wives. I am told that he has
in the neighborhood of a Dozen in addition
to the many females of his royal harem.
His first wife. who is a princess has left
him on account of a multiplicity of his
loves. She did not object to the four wives
provided for by the Koran, but when his
majesty demanded a score. she began to get
jealous and got a divorce. She now lives on
the opposite side of the island in big white
house at Mabu, a Moro village some dis
lance east of Jolo. The divorced sultana is
said to be a very bright woman, and she is
the only wife that his majesty has had who
is Of royal blood. On this account, provided
he does not marry the daughter of a datto
and have children by a princess. he will be
succeeded by his brother, for the laws are
that the succession can only go to the OFF,
spring OF the sultan and princess 1 am
told that his majesty has proposed to the
daughter of Datto Kalbi. but that the datto
refuses his consent. At present his brother
Rajah Muda, is in the direct line of sue
cession.
His First Audience.
The sultan's first audience with our people
was some time before General Bates came.
IL WIS Will Sdptdll VINO naQ
taken possession of Jolo. The sultan came
across the island on horseback Captain
Hagadorn has told me the circumstances Of
the meeting. Said he
The sultan appeared before the walls Of
the town on a white horse. accompanied
by fifty or sixty as wicked looking chaps
as ever cut throat. They were dressed
in brilliant colors. all wearing turbans and
all carrying big barongs and krises. Some
had long spears and others were armed
with rifles.
The sultan himself was in evening dress
although 1t was 10 o'clock in the morning
His white shirt was dirty and he wore no
collar. He had large pearl ring on the
little finger of his left hand. and three big
diamond studs accentuated the dirt of his
shirt bosom. ! met him and took him to
the governor of Jolo, who was then Capt
Pratt, and we held there conference which
lasted several hours We had no cuspi-
doris, and some of tho sultan's attendants
went to the ash barrels and secured tomato
cans to be used spittocns. The sultan
himself scorned to do this and dyed the
floor Of the audience room q brilliant red
with his approximations.
The sultan left with protestations of
frin ndc,f xr-hf oh, L.