THE SULTAN'S ISTANA AND THE "HILL OF TEARS."
A moonlight ride--A fragrant weed--The Istana--Modern
armament--"Gelah"--Royal hospitality--A social servant--The
Sultan--State sword or "Barong"--A Sulu dinner--A long
audience--Curiosity of the ladies--Departure to the
mountain--A newly-made grave--Orchids at home--A treat for
our cattle--Rough climbing--Ferns and mosses--The summit--Good
views--Old traditions of the mountain--A picnic under cocoa-nut
palms--"Gelah" v. Hennessy--Return to the Istana--Further
audience of the Sultan--Former civilisation--Carved wood-work--Old
manufactures--Old enemies--Physique of the Sulus--A pearl among
the swine--Market-people--Slavery--Language--Land culture--Native
food products--Domestic animals--Sea fruit.
One evening about sundown, immediately after an early dinner on board,
we set off to the Sultan's Istana, which is situated just at the foot
of Bu'at Timantangis, the highest mountain in the island. The distance
from the harbour at Meimbong is seven or eight miles, a pleasant ride
indeed across an undulating and tolerably well cultivated plain. We
had ordered our ponies to be in readiness at the Orang Kayu's house,
and the boatmen who accompanied us from the ship soon saddled them for
us and made all ready. Mr. Anson Cowie accompanied me. We had three
ponies, two for ourselves, and one for a Sulu lad who had charge
of our stores, guns, &c., and who came to attend to the ponies and
accompany us up the mountain, to ascend which was the main object of
our journey. All the little details requisite at starting attended to,
it was nearly seven o'clock as we rode through the market gate, just
opposite the headman's house--a veritable needle's eye--there being
barely room for a slim Sulu pony and its rider to squeeze through. The
moon was in the full, and rose as we started over the plain. We had
a delightful gallop, and had no need of a guide, as the horses knew
the way perfectly well. It had been a remarkably hot day, but it was
now deliciously cool, the soft air being gratefully redolent with the
odour of a mint-like plant (Hyptis) before mentioned. We laughed and
sang to our heart's content, and doubtless much to the surprise of
the few Sulus we met hurrying homewards.
It seems strange that these beautiful and well cultivated islands
should be still the last great stronghold of piracy in the eastern
seas. This has been the great blot on the Sulu character for centuries;
and they are also credited with having poisoned many of the traders
who formerly visited the island, and to whom they had become largely
indebted for goods. We reached the Istana soon after eight o'clock, and
tying our ponies to the verandah we ascended to the audience-chamber
above. Here, in this chamber, we noticed two small Armstrong guns
mounted on low carriages, and a Gatling gun or mitrailleuse was also
conspicuous. The presence of the modern armament here would have
been rather puzzling had we not known that the Sultan had obtained
these guns from the steam-ship America, as the first instalment of
the rental or payment which has to be made annually to the Sultan
on account of his having ceded Sandakan and his territory in North
Borneo to Baron Overbeck's Company.
Velvet-lined armchairs were immediately placed for us at a round
table below the raised platform, and refreshments consisting of
excellent chocolate and sweet biscuits were brought in. The Sultan's
own servant or "boy," "Gelah," a most amusing fellow, saw that
we were properly attended to, and told us that His Highness would
soon be in to welcome us. After the chocolate, brandy and excellent
Manilla cigars appeared under the direction of "Gelah," who seemed
to know the habits of Englishmen tolerably well. He spoke Malay
better than most of the others, and this language formed the only
means of communication we had. The attendants not having brought a
corkscrew, he sent off to fetch one, and then poured us out a glass
each. It was Three Star Hennessy, and very good. After helping us,
the imp took up one of the chocolate cups, poured a little water
into it to rinse it, and then slung it out at the open door. He then
very coolly nearly filled the cup with brandy and tossed it off neat
without wincing; he also helped himself to the cigars as though to
the manner born. As soon as we entered several boys, superintended
by an old woman, had brought in a lot of cushions and arranged them
on the platform near us. A lamp, and fancy betel and cigarette boxes
were next brought and arranged. The Sultan himself appeared on the
platform soon after we had finished eating, and shook hands with
us very affably before he reclined on the cushions which had been
placed for him. He came in with a dignified step and reclined very
gracefully; but as conversation warmed up he sat upright on the edge
of the platform with his legs dangling down in front, apparently as
free and easy as a schoolboy on a rail fence. A good many Sulus came
in during the evening, so that at ten o'clock the space between the
platform and the door was pretty well filled. Some of his people had
evidently told him of my propensity for sketching, and he asked to see
my sketch-book. Amongst other things therein was a rough sketch of a
"barong" or sword, and its carved sheath belonging to the old Orang
Kayu at Meimbong, which His Highness at once recognised, and he sent
off "Gelah" to fetch a valuable one of his own, which was, as he told
me, of Sulu manufacture. The blade was beautifully finished, having
an inlaid representation of a scorpion on one side and a centipede on
the other, together with some Arabic dates of important events. The
handle was of ivory, carved and mounted in chased gold and pearls. I
made a sketch of this weapon, at which he was greatly pleased, and
he watched every line and touch with great interest.
We had dined previous to our leaving the ship, and I had congratulated
myself earlier in the evening at having been lucky enough to escape
eating more than a biscuit with my cup of chocolate; but even after ten
o'clock our table was loaded with more edibles. There were dishes of
snowy rice, biscuits, excellent fish, curried fowl, eggs boiled, and
some bananas and other fruit. The whole was daintily cooked and well
served. With a graceful wave of the hand he requested us to satisfy
the hunger which, as he said, he felt sure had been occasioned by
the long ride we had been so good as to undergo in order to visit
him. Of course there was nothing for it but to fall to; and I must
say that we both enjoyed the fresh fish and rice, and the well-made
curry very much. Clean water and glasses were placed on the table,
and chocolate was again brought in. After this meal more brandy and
water and cigars were introduced to our notice by "Gelah," and we
kept up a conversation with His Highness until after twelve o'clock,
when he withdrew after having had a peep to see that our sleeping
apartment was in good order. As soon as his back was turned towards
us--almost before, "Gelah" pocketed all the surplus cigars and took
another cup of neat brandy,--his example being followed by one or
two of the other attendants.
We retired to our room for the night; and then the Sultan's son,
Datu Mahomed, and "Bottelah," the Sultan's secretary, together with
two or three others, including "Gelah," came in for a chat, so that we
did not get a chance of sleeping a wink until after two o'clock. Even
when we were alone in our sleeping apartment, and had reclined just
as we were in our clothes on the cushions and finely worked mats
spread out for us, I somehow felt conscious that we were watched;
and once I caught a glimpse of a dark figure gliding past a square
opening in the wall above. Our room communicated with the audience
chamber which we had just left, by a window-like opening about two
feet square. The lights in the large chamber had been extinguished,
while we, as is customary in the East, had a glimmering oil lamp in our
room, so that any one in the audience chamber could see us plainly,
without being themselves seen. We had no fear of treachery, and yet
could not help feeling a creeping sensation of uneasiness as shadow
after shadow passed the opening to the right of which we lay. At
length a shadow lingering longer than usual, I sprang to my feet and
put my head through the opening. A little suppressed scream, and the
patter of bare feet on the platform on the other side, followed by
muffled titters and whispering, told the tale.
The ladies of the court, debarred by etiquette from seeing us publicly,
had taken advantage of the darkness to obtain a peep at us. Barefooted,
they had moved more silently than mice on the platform in the
next room, and had satisfied their curiosity by stealing to the
opening one after another, and looking down on us to their hearts'
content. After this we got an hour or two of rest, and awoke at
daybreak, when everybody was astir. We found our breakfast ready,
and our ponies were saddled and at the door.
The men whom the Sultan had promised us as guides, and a buffalo
to carry down plants, were also waiting, and "Gelah" was eager to
accompany us by order of his royal master. Breakfast over, we started
off in excellent spirits up a gently rising path leading past a burial
ground, and beneath some of the finest Durian trees in the island. A
newly made grave ornamented with flowers and the young flower-stems
of the betel-nut palm, was pointed out to us as being that of a man
who had been shot at the Istana in a squabble about one of the ladies
of the court. It appears that the man's wife having died he wanted to
carry off a relation of his who now belonged to the Sultana's suite,
and in the row which followed he met with his death.
Our ride was a very pleasant one, and led us up through several
cultivated patches with here and there a belt of jungle. Soon after
leaving the Istana an aerides was seen flowering very freely on the
trees, also the ubiquitous Dendrobium crumenatum, with pseudo bulbs
four feet in length, the flowers much larger than usual. Cymbidium
aloifolium was everywhere plentiful, clustering in large masses on
the boles of large trees in the clearings. At an elevation of about
1000 feet we came to a village and fruit grove, and here we stayed
to rest awhile as the sun was now very hot overhead, and a drink of
cocoa-nut milk proved very grateful. On the trees here I obtained
a greenish yellow flowered dendrobium, which proved to be a new
species very similar to the D. d'Albertisii of New Guinea. At about
1500 feet we reached the skirt of the old forest, and had to dismount
and do the rest of the ascent on foot. We had brought ropes with us,
and removing the saddles and other gear we tethered the horses and
buffalo to bushes in a little natural meadow where they could make
a good meal off the fresh mountain grass. This was a great treat to
them, as the coarse herbage of the plains was at this season very dry,
and the horses in Meimbong were being fed on cocoa-nut leaves owing
to the dearth of other fodder. We descended a gully, and crossing
a little stream commenced the ascent on foot, leaving a Sulu lad
in charge of our goods and animals. We had at first a rough climb
over tree roots and loose stones. In one place the ascent was nearly
vertical, and the boulders being easily detached from the dry soil,
it was dangerous for our followers below. An areca palm bearing
large clusters of small scarlet fruit below a spreading crown of
dark green leaves was very handsome, and both ferns and selaginellas
were luxuriant in the shade. I collected specimens of all I saw for
scientific purposes. Pigeons and paroquets and other birds were seen
here on the trees overhead, but although we shot at several and saw
them fall, the branches overhead were so dense that they lodged there,
and we could not induce any of our followers to climb for them on
account of the deadly tree snakes, which are said to infest the place.
Our guides did not like the ascent, and tried to make us believe that
the point of the ridge was the top of the mountain, but we insisted in
pushing further up the ridge and at length were rewarded by reaching
the summit. The air was very fresh and cool here, and by climbing
a low-branched tree we obtained splendid views of the surrounding
plains and hill-tops and of the sea. We rested here for some time. A
strong-growing species of pentaphragma, bearing pure white flowers
in the axils of its oblong fleshy leaves grew here plentifully,
and an aucuba-like shrub bore clusters of red berries as large
as peas. Tree ferns also grew up to the top, and their stems were
draped with long green moss, which looked very fresh and pretty. Two
or three species of anæctochilus also grew here, their rich velvety
leaves being illuminated with gold and silvery veins. From one spot
in the descent we could see the coast and the outlying islets very
plainly, also more newly-formed coral islets inlaid with lagoons. We
saw abundant evidence of wild pigs and deer up this mountain, but the
wild cattle which formerly existed plentifully are now quite extinct.
During our conversation about this mountain last night the Sultan
told us some wonderful stories of birds' nest caves, and of a cavity
or hole at the top lined with mother of pearl (tepoy) large enough
for several men to bathe in at the same time, also of the wild men
who lived in the forest, making their habitations in the trees,
and of other wonderful things, all of which he discreetly added we
should not be able to see without we had supernatural assistance. The
gods truly were unpropitious, for we saw none of the mysteries of the
mountain to which he had referred. Wild men may formerly have inhabited
the trees of the forest here, as the "jakuns" still do in Jahore,
and what he told us may have been a well-worn old tradition handed
down for many generations. It is not improbable that his reference
to the crater at the top was the remains of an old tradition of the
volcanoes which once, without a doubt, did exist here in the island.
We descended to the village, leaving the men to bring on the horses
and gear, and here "Gelah" procured us some hot water, and we sat
down under the shady trees and enjoyed our lunch of chocolate and
biscuit. "Gelah" told us he did not care for chocolate and asked
for some brandy. I gave him half a tumblerful, which he drank and
became very communicative. He lighted one of the cigars he had
appropriated last night--indeed he had been smoking them all the
morning--and then he told us that many of the Sulus were bad men
and great thieves, adding that he was a good man himself, and that
was why the Sultan liked him. He then helped himself to more brandy,
tossing it off undiluted as before. He then launched out into a long
story of a pirate fleet having left Tawi-Tawi about a year before,
and remarked that they had but just returned with a good deal of
plunder. Wallace mentions [5] that these Sulu pirates sometimes
visit the Aru islands near New Guinea and Ceram on their predatory
expeditions. They only attack small trading prahus now, but in former
times even large sailing vessels were not safe from their attacks.
We now mounted our ponies and retraced our steps to the Istana,
which we reached at dusk pretty well tired. We rested some time and
gave the Sultan an account of our ascent. He pressed us to remain
all night, but this we did not care to do, and thanking him for his
hospitality and assistance, we mounted our ponies once more and rode
back to Meimbong in the moonlight. Arriving at the Orang Kayu's house
we found the boat there to meet us and take us on board, but it was
then low water in the river, and we had to wait some hours, so we went
into the headman's house, and lying down, slept until near midnight,
when our men awoke us and rowed us up the river and across to the
ship. It is a common opinion, and in the main I believe a correct one,
that the Sulus are great thieves. I never lost anything among them,
and a small bag I left accidentally at the headman's house containing
two or three dollars, a knife, ammunition, and other trifles, was
handed on board in the morning untouched. From what I saw of Sulu and
the inhabitants it appeared to me very evident that civilisation had
formerly been much higher than it is at present. This is especially
to be seen in their old buildings and manufactures. Thus the oldest
of the dwellings had beautifully carved woodwork over the windows
and doors, and had been erected of wood and with much more careful
taste and labour than is now devoted to the same kind of work.
Nowhere else in the East did I see more evidence of tasteful purpose
in design than here in Sulu. Here is a little sketch I made of
a carved wood heading to the door of the Sultan's Istana. Motive
two conventional alligators holding a disc on which is written a
Malay inscription in Arabic characters, the whole surrounded by
open work. Some old knives were also most beautifully decorated,
the blades being of splendid finish, and the hilts and sheaths of
hard wood, carved very artistically. In Brunei city I had noted a few
lattice windows in the older pile dwellings rather pretty in design,
but not at all equal to the free and vigorous carving of the Sulus.
The older manufactures again, such as krisses, barongs, spear-heads,
betel-boxes, indeed metal work generally, and particularly the
artistic element, were formerly much finer than is now the case. The
Sulus themselves, a well-built and originally a brave race, have
deteriorated, and after resisting the incursion of their old enemies,
the Spaniards, for generations, indeed centuries, are now utterly
dispirited. Some of their chiefs indeed have intrigued with their old
foes, and the result is that their country, and probably the last of
her Sultans, is virtually under Spanish rule. The Sultan himself is
a bright and intelligent man, but given to opium smoking, and some of
his headmen and Datus composing the "ruma bichara," a council chamber
by which the Sulu has long been governed, taking advantage of his
ease-loving nature have beguiled him with flattery, and advised him
to sign one treaty after another until the entire Sulu Archipelago may
now be considered as virtually belonging to the Philippine government.
As a race the Sulus are well developed, taller, and paler in colour
than the Malays generally. The women are often very pleasing, with
luxuriant hair and bright expressive eyes. Some of them, notably the
wives and daughters of the chief men, are very pale, white almost in
comparison with the women of the island, who are more often exposed
to the effects of climate and labour. Several ladies of the court
were pale in colour, with regular Italian-like features, and one of
the wives of Datu Haroun--a sweet gentle creature--might readily have
been mistaken for a European. She was essentially lady-like in voice
and manner, and deserved a far better fate than that of nominal wife,
but virtually slave of a crafty and cruel traitor to his country. Upon
the women here, as throughout Borneo, devolves a large share of
the everyday labour, and nearly all the trading in the markets is
conducted by them, while their lords and masters stand listlessly by
spear in hand, or gather in little groups to talk. Everywhere we saw
them at work making mats or baskets, or met them in dug-out canoes
and outriggers going to or coming from market, or from the place where
the fresh water is daily obtained, below the Orang Kayu's house. The
women of the better class spend much of their time in embroidery and
in cooking, indeed we were assured that the food set before us at the
Istana had been prepared under the Sultana's personal supervision,
which I can well believe, and I do not think English ladies could have
prepared such a repast as it was in a better way; indeed the snowy bowl
of rice would, I think, prove inimitable to most of our lady cooks at
home. Riding is fashionable in Sulu, and none but the very poorest walk
far. Anything seems acceptable as a steed, and if the aristocratic grey
pony with somewhat of Arab fleetness and gentleness is not obtainable,
buffaloes, and even the cows, are taken as substitutes.
It is really a very pretty sight to see the market people coming
to market from the hills, men and women alike, mounted on ponies
or cattle with their baskets, bags, and bundles of produce flung
across the saddle before and behind. The men, especially, mounted on
their high wooden saddles, armed with the national spear, and clad in
chain armour tunic, forcibly reminded one of the illustrations of Don
Quixote, a resemblance considerably heightened by the gaunt leanness
of their steeds. A plurality of wives is general with the Datus, and
others who have means to keep up an establishment, and these women are
for the most part purchased from their parents, although formerly they
were not unfrequently captured during piratical excursions. St. John
[6] mentions an instance where a pirate chief from Tawi-Tawi captured a
Spanish schooner in 1859, and finding the captain's daughter on board,
he made her his principal wife and treated her with every attention;
she subsequently bore him a child, the Spanish authorities having
failed in their attempts to recover her.
As I have before intimated slavery is still common in Sulu, although
there is no regular great slave mart such as existed only a few years
ago at Sugh, the former capital. It is no uncommon occurrence for
parents to sell their daughters, and visitors to Sulu are solicited
even now to purchase wives at prices varying from fifty to two
hundred dollars. I knew of one instance in which a trading captain
presented his native wife, a Sulu girl, to the captain of another
steamer, and the officers of Dutch vessels trading here in the Malay
Archipelago nearly always keep native wives on board, and as a rule
I believe these women are kindly treated. Throughout Malasia woman's
position is unfortunately a very low one. If possessed of personal
attractions she is directly or indirectly sold to the highest bidder,
and while her youthful charms last she may be spared actual toil,
while her less attractive sister labours daily in house or field,
but eventually a younger, fairer wife supplants her, and during her
declining years she is--
"In daily labours of the loom employed,
Or doom'd to deck the bed she once enjoyed."
All this is, of course, a very unsatisfactory state of things here as
in other nations eastward, nor is it likely to be much improved under
Spanish rule. And yet we must never forget that it is a time-honoured
institution, and is not, to say the least, more objectionable than
polyandry as practised among the tribes who live on the banks of the
Upper Jumna and Upper Ganges. Polygamy is sanctioned by custom, and
"custom is religion in the East." Each Mahomedan is permitted to have
four wives. Before we blame a religion so wide spread and powerful,
however, we must not forget that it is a religion which practically
preserves its millions of followers from other forms of intemperance,
and notably from the use of intoxicating liquors, that great bane of
many Englishmen everywhere, and especially of many of those who live
in the Eastern tropics.
The language spoken in Sulu, notwithstanding that it contains many
Malay words and others of Arabic origin, is yet practically very
distinct, approaching much more nearly that spoken by the inland tribes
of Northern Borneo. In physique and bold fearless bearing there is
also a striking resemblance between the north Borneans and the Sulus,
while both races display the same acuteness, mingled with suspicion,
in all matters of trade. So striking is the resemblance in physique,
language, and conduct, as to suggest the possibility of their having
originally descended from one common stock, and I am inclined to
think that the same language was used by them before the advent of
the now dominant Malays, who had Arabic blood in their veins, and to
whom is doubtless due the introduction of the Arabic character and
Islamism, and whose language is now the lingua franca of Malasia. The
government of the island, although in a great measure in the hands
of the Sultan, can scarcely be called despotic, since the people are
represented in the council chamber, or "ruma bichari," by their Datus
or headmen, and but few if any important matters were decided by the
Sultan personally, without the opinion of the native chiefs. During
our visit to the Istana His Highness regretted very much that he had
not power to drive out the Spaniards.
The cultural capabilities of the island are considerable, and
in the hands of the Spaniards they are likely to be still better
developed. The principal cultivated crops are rice, maize, coffee,
manilla hemp, cocoa (Theobroma Cacao), tobacco, and tapioca. During
the rides I took in the island I had good opportunities of seeing the
arable land, and I was much impressed with the produce obtainable
from the soil at a slight expenditure of labour. The deep soil is
loosened by a rude plough, drawn by a single buffalo. This is done
in the dry season, and seed sowing and planting commence with the
rainy weather. I saw coffee bushes growing apparently wild around the
little farm-houses on the cool hill-sides, especially on Bu'at Dahau,
which I ascended a few days after our return from Bu'at Timantangis,
and every leaf was fresh and green without a trace of the leaf fungus
which of late years has proved so hurtful in Ceylon. The cocoa-yielding
Theobroma does equally well and fruits freely, forming indeed what may
be called the national beverage in Sulu. Excellent tobacco is grown
here, and this, if skilfully prepared, would furnish cigars equal to
those of Manilla. Cotton would do well, and the highest red land on
the mountains, rich as it is with ages of forest débris, might be
advantageously planted with coffee or other crops. Rice, tapioca,
tobacco, and sugar cane would do best on the plains. An immense
quantity of fruit is produced in the island, especially mangoes and
bananas. The fragrant durian is also plentiful, together with langsat,
and several other kinds. I noticed two distinct varieties of cocoa-nut
cultivated here, one bearing small oblong fruits of a bright orange
yellow colour, the milk of which was delicious in flavour, and another,
the outer husk of which could be eaten in its young state, it being
white as ivory, and very sweet and tender.
I have already alluded to a breed of ponies as being peculiar to
the island. These are larger and in every way better than the Deli
breed, imported to Singapore from Sumatra. They are never shod,
nor is emasculation ever resorted to. Goats and poultry are very
abundant. Of the former, a dark brown race resembling deer in
gracefulness and activity, are kept by the hill people. The fowls
of Sulu are distinct from those of Borneo, and are believed not to
be many degrees removed from their wild prototypes. Of the other
natural produce of the island the frutto del mare deserves notice,
being especially valuable, worth, indeed, many thousands of dollars
yearly. Pearls of all colours in quantity and of excellent quality,
are obtained here yearly by the divers, most of whom are of the
ubiquitous Badjow or Sea gipsy race. Tons of pearl shell (tepoy)
and sea slug or beche de mer (Holothuria), of different kinds, are
also exported annually.
This last repulsive-looking product is picked off the coral reefs
at low water, and after being dried is esteemed a great delicacy by
the Chinese, to whom it is sold. The pearl-shell obtained here is of
fine quality, each valve being frequently as large as an ordinary
dinner-plate, and an inch in thickness. At least a dozen kinds of
salt-water fish are obtainable, and I frequently saw the fishing-boats
off the town at night, each with a light gleaming over the water,
and I noticed that they all seemed to have secured a fair supply of
fish when they came alongside in the morning.