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Audiobook edition · 6 h 1 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Along the Malayan coast, rivers become roads, jungle crowds the banks, and ports bring empires and ordinary lives together.
In Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines, Rounsevelle Wildman takes you through stories and sketches of Southeast Asia. Traders, sailors, local rulers and coastal people share a world shaped by water. From the Strait of Malacca to Singapore and Borneo, the setting draws you into each encounter.
Wildman writes with close knowledge of the region's ports, rivers and seas, informed by his service as United States consul in Singapore. This collection brings adventure together with a Western writer's colonial outlook. Read it for its coastal world, while keeping sight of how its period shapes the people and power it describes.
What you’ll discover
- A coast of crossroads Explore places where many peoples and several empires cross paths along the shore.
- Rivers into the interior Follow waterways that serve as roads, with jungle pressing close to their banks.
- Lives beside the sea Meet traders, sailors, local rulers and ordinary people who inhabit this coastal world.
- A diplomat's vantage point Discover stories rooted in Wildman's close knowledge of Singapore and the surrounding region.
- A period perspective Consider how a Western writer's outlook shapes his account of peoples and colonial power.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who love tropical adventure, colonial Singapore, jungle hunts, pirate yarns and the daily customs of Malay villages, in the spirit of Kipling or Stevenson.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A coast of comedy and danger
- A child's fear follows different rules
- Hosts change the castaway holiday
- Everyday objects carry a people's history
- Trust gives the Rajah another power
- An arranged marriage leaves love unspoken
- A mountain holds stories of betrayal
- Custom and appearances invite closer attention
- Small encounters reveal a shared world
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Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines
by Rounsevelle Wildman · 1899
A four-year-old boy walks off with a tiger in the Malayan jungle, and the consul follows with a rifle.
Medium level2–5 hours to read16 languages
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“Civilization is only skin deep, and so is barbarism.”
In short
What would you do if your four-year-old son walked off with a tiger? That scene sets the tone for a collection of comedy, danger and close observation.
Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 45 min fast, 4 h 5 min slow
- Length
- 49,100 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1899by Rounsevelle Wildman
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A small boy leads a tiger astray
The first tale, Baboo's Good Tiger, introduces a four-year-old who keeps vanishing from a bungalow near Singapore. He is the son of Aboo Din, the groom. Baboo is bare, brown and cheerful, and he meets every scolding by announcing that he is very bad.
One morning the cry goes up that a tiger has eaten the family dog and taken the child. Aboo Din thrusts a rifle into the consul's hands, and the men cut a path through thick jungle. On wet ground they find tiger prints. Beside them are a child's bare footprints, spaced as far apart as a man's stride. The consul laughs, because the prints prove the boy is alive.
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Details
- First published
- 1899
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wildman, Rounsevelle. Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-the-malayan-coast-from-penang-to-the-philippines.
Wildman, R. (2026). Tales of the Malayan coast from Penang to the Philippines. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-the-malayan-coast-from-penang-to-the-philippines (Original work published 1899)
Wildman, Rounsevelle. Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-the-malayan-coast-from-penang-to-the-philippines.
@book{wildman2026tales,
author = {Wildman, Rounsevelle},
title = {Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/tales-of-the-malayan-coast-from-penang-to-the-philippines},
note = {First published 1899}
}
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What is Tales of the Malayan Coast about?
It is a collection of tales and sketches set in Singapore, Johore, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. It covers jungle hunts, pirates, village weddings, royal courts, a comic monkey and the legend of Mount Ophir.
Who is Baboo in this book?
Baboo is the small son of Aboo Din, the consul's groom. He appears in two tales, where his boldness and cunning carry him through a tiger encounter and a night of imagined pirates.
What is a kris and a sarong?
A kris is the snake-shaped Malay dagger, often with a wavy blade and a carved handle. A sarong is the checked tube of cloth worn as a skirt and belt. The author calls both distinctly Malay.
The author
Rounsevelle Wildman
1864–1901 · American writer and diplomat
Rounsevelle Wildman (1864–1901) was an American writer, editor, and diplomat. He wrote Tales of the Malayan Coast from Penang to the Philippines, published in 1899. He lived in Hong Kong while serving as United States consul. He died when the steamship City of Rio de Janeiro sank near San Francisco in 1901.
“Civilization is only skin deep, and so is barbarism.”
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