ABSTRACT
When Sir William Jervois left Singapore, early in 1877, he was succeeded by a civilian, Sir W. C. F. Robinson, who never visited the Malay States during the eighteen months he remained in Singapore. As funds became available and the administrative machine was built up bit by bit, the Resident collected about him a number of men, Europeans, Eurasians, Malays, Chinese, and Indians to help him in his task. In the first instance, the Resident was quite alone; then he had a clerk or two; a native or a European non-commissioned officer at the head of his police; a Eurasian apothecary in charge of his first hospital; a Malay warder to look after the flimsy building dignified by the name of prison. The miners, the back-bone of the revenue, declared that, if introduced, it would put a stop to their enterprise and ruin the country.
