by  torchlight — the  bearers  (wearing  yellow  and  red)
lit  up  the  grounds,  and  there  were  Chinese  fireworks  ;
a  very  fine  scenic  effect.  We  got  home  at  1.30
after  a  very  enjoyable  but  fatiguing  week."

This  somewhat  exhausting  holiday  over,  Weld
set  himself  to  work  to  tackle  a  job  which  had  con-
fronted all  his  predecessors  in  turn,  but  which  so  far
had  never  been  successfully  dealt  with.  This  was
to  reduce  to  order  the  chaos  which  prevailed  in  the
land  courts  owing  to  the  diversity  of  land  tenure  in
the  Straits  Settlements.  Writing  privately  to  the
Under  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  Sir  Fred-
erick says  :  "  Everybody  told  me  on  my  arrival  here,
If  you  can  only  put  the  land  affairs  in  order  you  will
be  the  greatest  benefactor  the  colony  has  ever  had."
To  this  difficult  and  intricate  task  Weld  brought  a
great  power  of  work,  and  the  very  useful  qualifica-
tions of  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the  working  of
Land  Acts  in  three  different  colonies.
