The Rajah of Dah, by George Manville Fenn.
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Here is another book by George Manville Fenn, full of mystery, suspense
and terror--to coin a phrase. Ned, a boy of sixteen, who has just left
school, and who has been brought up by an uncle who is a naturalist and
who is often away, begs that he may be allowed to come on the uncle's
next expedition. By the way, how could he have been brought up by an
uncle who was often away? Simple, he was placed as a boarder in the
house of a local clergyman, who educated a few boys in his house: this
was often the case in the nineteenth century.
They get to somewhere in Burma, and travel up a river till they come to
a settlement where there are some British. At that time Burma was a
British Protectorate. The local Burmese ruler is an absurd and
loathsome tyrant. Ned makes friends with a local English boy, Frank,
and they have various adventures together, including the capture of an
eighteen foot crocodile. However, the British people in the settlement
fall out with the Rajah, who has his eye on a 21-year-old British girl,
and wishes to add her to his harem. This is where the major perils
begin.
Some of the perils are similar to those in "The Middy and the Ensign",
which is not surprising, as the action takes place in the same part of
the world.
As always with this author, it is a brilliant read or listen.
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