CHAPTER I

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[Illustration: J Brooke.]

[Illustration: C Brooke]

A HISTORY OF SARAWAK UNDER ITS TWO WHITE RAJAHS 1839-1908

by

S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.

Author of 'The Tragedy of the Caesars,' etc.

and

C. A. BAMPFYLDE, F.R.G.S.

Late Resident of Sarawak

London

Henry Sotheran & Co.

37 Piccadilly, W., and 140 Strand, W.C.

1909

DEDICATED

WITH HIGH APPRECIATION OF THE WORK DONE BY THEM

UNDER THE TWO RAJAHS

TO THE OFFICERS

ENGLISH AND NATIVE, PAST AND PRESENT

OF THE

RAJ OF SARAWAK

PREFACE

As I have been requested to write a preface to _The History of Sarawak

under its Two White Rajahs_, one of whom I have the honour to be, I

must, first of all, assert that I have had nothing to do with the

composition or writing of the book, and I do not profess to be a writer,

otherwise than in a very ordinary sense, having left school at the age

of twelve to enter the Navy.

In that service I remained for ten years, when I obtained my

lieutenancy, and then received two years' leave, which the Admiralty

were glad to grant at that time (about 1852), as they thought naval

officers were of a type likely to be of service in the development of

the colonies and the improvement of native states. I then went to

Sarawak to join my uncle, the first Rajah, with and under whom I

remained, and consequently had to retire from the Navy; but I will admit

that my ten years' service gave me what I probably could not have gained

from any other profession—the advantages of having been taught to obey

my seniors, and of having been disciplined; and I very firmly adhere to

the rule that no one can make a successful commander unless he has

learnt to obey. It further taught me those seafaring qualities, which

have been so useful ever since, of being able to rough it and put up

with one's surroundings, the lack of which so often makes the men of the

present day, in their refined and gentlemanly way, not quite suited to

handle the wheel of a ship at sea or the plough on land.

Now I will pass on to say how this book, good or bad as it may be—and I

am not competent to pass judgment either way—came to be written. I was

asked by more than one if I had any objection to the writing of my

biography, and I, as far as I can recollect, gave no decided answer one

way or the other; but I thought if I handed over the correspondence and

all records that related to Sarawak and its Government that the

distinguished author, Baring-Gould, and my friend, Charles Bampfylde,

might be enabled to form a truthful account, and at the same time give

the public a readable book.

I thought that some interest might be felt in the story of a life such

as mine has been for the last sixty years, coupled with an account of

the institutions, manners, and customs of the inhabitants of Sarawak,

and especially of the way in which we have always treated the native

population, finding much profit by it, more in kindliness and sympathy

than in a worldly point of view, by making them our friends, and I may

say associates, though they are of a different creed and different

colour; and how we gained their hearts by living among them and really

knowing them, not as superiors, but as equals and friends; and I thought

being brought out during my life by the pen of the able author and that

of my old and much-esteemed officer, Mr. Bampfylde, it would be more

likely to give a correct impression than if some one took up the pen

after my death and gained material from some good and some rather

scratchy works that have been written on Sarawak, since such an one

would probably make up a work that would be, no doubt, very readable and

well adapted to take the fashion of the day, but not so truthful as a

man of long personal experience could do, and has, I think, done it; and

this I can aver, that what is written are facts, however plain and

uninteresting they may prove. The work is not the history of my life

more than that of the late Rajah, and I may flatter myself that we—he as

founder and myself as builder of the state—have been one in our policy

throughout, from the beginning up to the present time; and now shortly I

have to hand it to my son, and I hope that his policy may not be far

removed from that of his predecessors.

My life draws towards its close, but the book, if and whenever brought

out, will stand in the future as a record of events that may be

considered as the work of private individuals who stood alone and

unprotected in a far distant land, and who were, I may also say,

fortunately, scarcely ever interfered with, or the policy of Sarawak

could not have been as successful as it has proved. It will, I have

reason to believe, attract more attention in comparatively new

countries, such as America and Australia, where the story of Sarawak is

perhaps better known than in England. One word more, and that is, that

the native element has always been our base and strong point: and our

lives are safe with them so long as they are wisely treated and relied

on with thorough trust and confidence.

C. BROOKE,

_Rajah_.

CHESTERTON, _8th January 1909_.

CONTENTS

PREFACE Page vii

MALAY TITLES Page xxi

CHAPTER I

BORNEO

Geographical and geological description—Its jungles—Natural Pages 1-35

history—Races of men in Sarawak—Census—Area—Climate

CHAPTER II

EARLY HISTORY

Early Chinese and Hindu-Javanese influence, and settlements— 36-60

Rise of the Malays—Their sultanates in Borneo—European

intercourse with Northern Borneo from 1521-1803—Decline of

Bruni—Earliest records of Sarawak—English and Dutch in the

Malayan Archipelago and Southern Borneo from 1595—Trade

monopolies an impulse to piracy—How the Sea-Dayaks became

pirates—Cession of Bruni territory to Sulu—Transferred to

the East India Company—Events in Bruni that led to Rajah

Muda Hasim becoming Regent—His transfer to Sarawak—

Oppression and depopulation of the Land-Dayaks—Condition

of North-West Borneo in 1839—List of the Sultans of Bruni

CHAPTER III

THE MAKING OF SARAWAK

Early life of James Brooke—First visit to Sarawak—Condition 61-91

of the country—Dutch trading regulations—Brooke offered

the Raj-ship—He suppresses the insurrection—The intrigues

of Pangiran Makota, and the shuffling of the Rajah Muda—A

crisis: Brooke invested as Rajah—Makota dismissed—Sarawak

and other provinces—The Sherips—Condition of the country—

The Datus—Laws promulgated—Redress of wrongs—Measures

taken to check the Sekrang and Saribas pirates—Sherip

Sahap receives a lesson—Brooke visits Bruni—Bruni and its

court—Cession of Sarawak to Brooke confirmed—Installation

at Kuching—Makota's discomfiture, and banishment—Reforms

introduced—Suppression of piracy and head-hunting—Captain

the Honourable H. Keppel induced to co-operate

CHAPTER IV

THE PIRATES

A general account of the pirates—Cruise of the _Dido_— 92-152

Brushes with the pirates—Expedition against the Saribas—

The Rajah visits Bruni—Sir Edward Belcher's mission—The

Rajah joins a naval expedition against Sumatran pirates—Is

wounded—_Dido_ returns to Sarawak—The Batang Lupar

expedition—Sarawak offered to the British crown—The

Rajah's difficult position—Return of Rajah Muda Hasim to

Bruni—The Rajah appointed H.M.'s Agent in Borneo—Visits

Bruni—Intrigues of Pangiran Usup—Sir Thomas Cochrane—

Usup's downfall—The pirate's stronghold in Marudu Bay

destroyed—Death of Usup—Fresh troubles on the coast—Rajah

Muda Hasim and his brothers murdered—Bruni attacked and

captured by Cochrane—Further action against the Lanun

pirates—Submission of the Sultan—His end—Sarawak becomes

an independent state—Labuan ceded to the British—Jealousy

and pretensions of the Dutch—Treaty with Bruni—Defeat of

the Balenini pirates—The Rajah visits England, 1848—

Honours accorded him—Captain James Brooke-Brooke joins the

Rajah—The Sarawak flag—The Rajah establishes Labuan—Visits

Sulu—Depredations by the Saribas and Sekrangs—Action

taken—The Rajah revisits Sulu, and a treaty is concluded—

The battle of Beting Maru—Venomous attacks upon the Rajah

and naval officers—A Royal Commission demanded in

Parliament to investigate the Rajah's conduct negatived—

Diplomatic visit to Siam—Recognition by the United States—

The Rajah returns to England, 1851—Public dinner in his

honour—Commission granted by coalition ministry—The Rajah

returns to Sarawak, 1853—Attack of small-pox—The

Commission sits in Singapore in 1854—Complete breakdown of

charges against the Rajah—Gladstone unconvinced—Mischief

caused by the Commission

CHAPTER V

RENTAP

Commencement of the present Rajah's career in Sarawak in 153-184

1852—Entitled the Tuan Muda—At Lundu—The situation in the

Batang Lupar—Rentap—Death of Lee—The Tuan Muda at Lingga—

Lingga and the people—Fresh concessions of territory—

Expeditions against Dandi and Sungie Lang—The Tuan Muda in

charge of the Batang Lupar and Saribas—Disturbed state of

the country—Kajulau attacked—Saji's escape—First attack on

Sadok, 1857—Expedition against the Saribas—A station

established there—Defeat of Linggir—Second (1858) and

final (1861) attacks on Sadok—End of Rentap

CHAPTER VI

THE CHINESE REBELLION, AND SECRET SOCIETIES

The Chinese in Sarawak—The Secret Society, or Hueh— 185-206

Circumstances that led to the rebellion—Kuching captured

by the rebels—They form a provisional government, and

retire up river—Their return—Malay town burnt—How the

situation was changed—Flight of the Chinese—Pursued and

driven over the border—Their after fate—Action of the

British and Dutch authorities—The rebellion the outcome of

the Commission—Comments by English papers—After the

rebellion—The Hueh dormant, not extinct—Gives trouble in

1869—In open revolt against the Dutch, 1884-85—Severely

punished in Sarawak in 1889, and again in 1906

CHAPTER VII

THE SHERIP MASAHOR

The Datus—The Datu Patinggi Gapur—Sherip Masahor—Gapur's 207-245

misconduct and treachery—His punishment—Muka in a state of

anarchy—Pangiran Matusin kills Pangiran Ersat—S. Masahor's

cold-blooded revenge—The Tuan Muda at Muka—S. Masahor

punished—The Rajah reforms the Bruni Government—Thwarted

by the Sultan—Fort built at Serikei—The Rajah intervenes

at Muka—He goes to England—Makota's death—The Tuan Muda in

charge—Commencement of conspiracies—Kanowit—Troubles at

Muka, and the Tuan Muda's action there—Murder of Steele

and Fox—The conspiracy—Disconnected action—The general

situation—The murderers of Steele and Fox punished—

Ramifications of the plot—Its repression, and the fate of

its promoters—Indifference of the British Government—The

Rajah in England—Paralysis—Failure to obtain protection—

Pecuniary difficulties—The Borneo Company, Limited—Miss

Burdett-Coutts—The first steamer—Public testimonial—

Burrator

CHAPTER VIII

MUKA

The Honourable G. W. Edwardes Governor of Labuan—Supports 246-266

Sherip Masahor, and condemns the Tuan Muda—Muka closed to

Sarawak traders—The Tuan Besar attempts to open friendly

negotiations with the authorities at Muka—A declaration of

war—Muka invested—Governor Edwardes interferes—The Tuan

Besar protests, and withdraws his forces—Evil caused by

Edwardes' action far-reaching—Disapproved of by the

Foreign Office—Transfer of Muka to Sarawak—Banishment of

S. Masahor—Territory to Kedurong Point ceded to Sarawak—S.

Masahor's end—His cruelties—The Tuan Besar becomes Rajah

Muda—The Tuan Muda follows the Rajah to England in 1862

CHAPTER IX

THE LAST OF THE PIRATES

The revival of piracy in 1858—Inaction of the Navy, a fruit 267-278

of the Commission—Destruction of a pirate fleet by the

_Rainbow_ off Bintulu—Cessation of piracy

CHAPTER X

THE KAYAN EXPEDITION

Return of the Rajah to Sarawak—The Rajah Muda retires—The 279-294

recognition of Sarawak as an independent state granted—The

Kayan expedition—Submission of the Kayans—The murder of

Fox and Steele fully avenged—The Rajah bids farewell to

Sarawak

CHAPTER XI

THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE

The opening and closing of the first stage—The Rajah's 295-306

retirement—His general policy—Frowned upon—What England

owes to him—Paralleled with Sir Stamford Raffles—The

Rajah's larger policy—Abandoned—Recognition—Financial

cares—At Burrator—Death, June 11, 1868—Dr. A. R. Wallace's

testimony—The Rajah's opinion of his successor—Principles

of government

CHAPTER XII

THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND STAGE

Charles Brooke proclaimed Rajah—Improvements needed—The 307-325

Datu's testimony—System of governing—The two councils—

Administration in out-stations—Malay courts—Native chiefs—

The Rajah's opinions and policy—Slavery—Relations with the

Dutch—The Rajah's duties—Commercial and industrial

development—Disturbances between 1868 and 1870—The Rajah

leaves for England—His marriage

CHAPTER XIII

BRUNI

Its story—Inconsistency of British policy—Sultan Mumin— 326-372

Feudal rights—Oppression and misgovernment—Trade

interfered with—Apathy of the British Government—Labuan a

failure—Its governors inimical to Sarawak—The Rajah visits

Bruni—A treaty and its evil results—The Rajah visits

Baram—The situation in that river—Bruni methods—The Kayans

rebel—The Sultan disposed to cede Baram to Sarawak—The

British Government disapproves—The reason—The Rajah

recommends a policy—Adopted by the Foreign Office too

late—The late Rajah's policy and that adopted in regard to

the native states of the Malay Peninsula—Mr. Ussher

Governor of Labuan—A change—Baram taken over by Sarawak—

Troubles in the Limbang—Trusan ceded to Sarawak—Death of

Sultan Mumin—Sultan Hasim—His difficult position—The

Limbang in rebellion—The Rajah declines to help the

Sultan—The Sultan advised by Sir F. Weld—Bruni becomes a

protectorate, but a Resident is not appointed—The Limbang

people hoist the Sarawak flag—The Rajah annexes Limbang—

The Sultan refuses to accept the decision of the Foreign

Office—His real motives—Sir Spenser St. John's comments—

Present condition of Limbang—Muara and its coal-fields—

Tenure and rights of the Rajah—Lawai—Murut feuds

suppressed—Bankrupt condition of Bruni—Responsibility of

the British Government—Tutong and Belait—Transfer of Lawas

to Sarawak—British Resident appointed to Bruni—

Alternatives before the Foreign Office—The worst adopted—A

poor bargain—Death of Sultan Hasim—A harsh tax—The Rajah

protests—His position at Muara—Comments on the policy of

the British Government

CHAPTER XIV

THE SEA-DAYAKS

Three stages in the Rajah's service—A fourth added—Sea-Dayak 373-392

affairs to 1907—The character of the Sea-Dayaks—The

Kayans, Kenyahs, and other inland tribes—Tama Bulan

CHAPTER XV

THE RAJAH AND RANEE

Their arrival in Sarawak in 1870, and their welcome— 393-424

Description of Kuching—1839, a contrast—The Rajah and

Ranee visit Pontianak and Batavia—Their return to England—

Deaths of their children—Birth of the Rajah Muda—The Vyner

family—Lord Derby's compliment—Lord Clarendon—Lord Grey's

interest in Sarawak—Difficulties in the interior—Birth of

the Tuan Muda—The Rajah's narrow escape—Birth of the Tuan

Bongsu—Extension of territory—Limbang—Protection accorded—

A review of the progress of Sarawak after fifty years—The

Rajah's speech—The annexation of the Limbang—The Rajah

Muda proclaimed as successor—Proposal to transfer North

Borneo to Sarawak—Keppel's last visit, and his last letter

to the Rajah—The Ranee obliged to leave Sarawak—The Rajah

Muda joins the Service—Is given a share in the Government—

The Natuna islands—Steady advance—The Rajah's policy—Its

main essential—Malay chiefs—The Datus—What the Brookes

have done for Sarawak

CHAPTER XVI

FINANCE—TRADE—INDUSTRIES

Revenue and expenditure—Chinese merchants—The Borneo 425-438

Company, Limited—Trade from the early days to 1907—

Agriculture—Land tenure—Jungle produce—Minerals—Mechanical

industries

CHAPTER XVII

EDUCATION—RELIGION—MISSIONS

The education of native children a problem—Schools—Islamism— 439-450

Paganism—The S.P.G. Mission—Roman Catholic Missions—

American Methodist Mission

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The late Rajah. From an engraving after the painting by _Frontispiece_

Sir Francis Grant, P.R.A.

The present Rajah. Photo, Bassano i

Nepenthes and Rafflesia. C. R. Wylie 1

Mt. St. Pedro, or Kina Balu. C. R. Wylie. From St. 2

John's _Life in the Forests of the Far East_

Ukit Chief, wife and child. Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 13

A Punan. Photo, Lambert and Co., Singapore 14

A Kayan girl. Photo, Lambert and Co., Singapore 17

Group of Muruts. Photo, Mrs. E. A. W. Cox 20

Land-Dayak Chief, with his son and grandson. Photo, Rev. 22

J. W. Moore

Sea-Dayak Chief (Pengulu Dalam Munan). Photo, Tum Sai On 23

Sea-Dayak girl. Photo, Buey Hon 26

Satang Islands. C. R. Wylie 35

Mercator's map. C. R. Wylie 36

Old jar ("Benaga"). Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 36

Figure at Santubong. Photo, Lambert and Co. 39

Kuching, 1840. From _Views in the Eastern Archipelago_. 61

J. A. St. John

Tower of old Astana. C. R. Wylie, from a photo by Buey 61

Hon

The _Royalist_ off Santubong. C. R. Wylie 63

Land-Dayak village. Photo, C. Vernon-Collins 76

Land-Dayak head-house. Photo, Rev. J. W. Moore 81

Kuching, present day. Photo, Buey Hon 91

H.E.I.C. _Phlegethon_. C. R. Wylie 92

H.M.S. _Dido_. From _Expedition to Borneo_. Keppel. C. 92

R. Wylie

The present Rajah as a midshipman 105

Attack on Sherip Usman's stronghold. C. R. Wylie. From 151

_Views in the Eastern Archipelago_

Old Sekrang fort. C. R. Wylie. From _Ten Years in 153

Sarawak_

Sea-Dayak shield and arms. C. R. Wylie 153

On the war-path. Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 184

Government station at Bau. Photo, Buey Hon 185

Old Chinese temple, Kuching. Photo, Lambert and Co. 196

Chinese procession 205

Malay lela (cannon) and spears. C. A. Bampfylde 207

Sherip Masahor's spear. C. R. Wylie 207

Kanowit. C. A. Bampfylde 244

Native tools and hats. C. A. Bampfylde and C. R. Wylie 246

Melanau sun-hat. C. R. Wylie 246

Plan of operations at Muka 249

Sarawak flag: execution kris. C. R. Wylie 267

Sulu kris. C. A. Bampfylde and C. R. Wylie 268

Native musical instruments. C. A. Bampfylde and C. R. 279

Wylie

Kayan mortuary. C. A. Bampfylde and C. R. Wylie 279

Punan mortuary. Photo by Mrs. E. A. W. Cox 283

Kayan mortuary. Photo by Mrs. E. A. W. Cox 288

Sea-Dayak house. From a photo by Lambert and Co. C. R. 295

Wylie

The Rajah's grave. Photo by Major W. H. Rodway 295

Kuching. C. R. Wylie, from photos by Buey Hon 299

Fort Margherita, Kuching. C. R. Wylie, from photo by 307

Buey Hon

Berrow Vicarage. C. R. Wylie, from a photo 307

Fort Brooke, Sibu. Photo, Lambert and Co. 324

H.H.S. _Zahora_. C. R. Wylie, from a photo 325

Daru'l Salam. C. R. Wylie. From _Life in the Forests of 326

the Far East_

Bruni gong. C. R. Wylie 326

The Sultan's palace. C. R. Wylie, from a photo by Mrs. 332

E. A. W. Cox

Trusan Fort. Photo, Mrs. E. A. W. Cox 345

On the Lawas river. Photo, M. G. Bradford 363

The _Gazelle_. Photo, Buey Hon 372

Sea-Dayak war-boat. Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 373

Land-Dayak weapons. C. R. Wylie 373

The Sarawak Rangers. Photo, Lambert and Co. 376

Rangers in mufti. Photo, Buey Hon 377

Kapit Fort. Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 380

Fort Alice, Simanggang. Photo, Lambert and Co. 385

Sea-Dayak war-boats. Photo, C. A. Bampfylde 391

The Astana. C. R. Wylie, from photos 393

Kuching, from down river. Photo, Buey Hon 394

Drawing-room, Astana. Photo, Lambert and Co. 397

Dining-room, Astana. Photo, Lambert and Co. 397

The Esplanade, Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 399

Hospital, Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 403

The Malay Members of Supreme Council. Photo, Buey Hon 407

The Police. Photo, Buey Hon 409

Chinese Street, Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 413

Interior of Museum, Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 415

Buildings in Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 421

General Market, Kuching. Photo, Lambert and Co. 423

Chesterton House, Cirencester. Photo, W. D. Moss 424

The Borneo Company's Offices, Kuching. Photo, Buey Hon 425

A pepper garden 434

Chinese sluicing for gold. Photo, Buey Hon 436

Brooketon coal-mines. Photo, Buey Hon 437

Cyanide works at Bau. Photo, Buey Hon 438

St. Joseph's and St. Thomas's Churches. Photo, Buey Hon 439

Malay mosque. Photo, Buey Hon 439

S.P.G.'s boys' school. Photo, Buey Hon 441

S.P.G.'s girls' school. Photo, Buey Hon 442

R.C. boys' school. Photo, Buey Hon 443

Chinese temple 450

_Map at end of volume._

TITLES

SULTAN.—Supreme head of the once large Bruni Sultanate, which is now

only a corner or enclave within the raj of Sarawak. Iang di

Pertuan, the Lord who Rules, is the correct supreme title in

Bruni, and the one most generally in use.[1]

SULTAN MUDA, heir-apparent. Lit. young Sultan, but seldom used. Iang

di Pertuan Muda is the more correct Malay title. Cp. Pangiran,

_infra_.

RAJAH (fem. Rani, or Ranee).—The old title of the Bruni sovereigns.

It is a Sanskrit word, and means king. But in Bruni it was

improperly assumed by those (male and female) of royal descent.

This has fallen into disuse, that is, none of them now bears such

a title, but in referring to the princes of Bruni generally the

term Rajah Rajah[2] would be used. Rulers of districts were never

entitled to the title _ex officio_. Such rulers are feudal chiefs

with the title of Pangiran, and their chieftainship is generally

hereditary.

RAJAH MUDA, heir apparent. Lit. young Rajah.

PANGIRAN is the highest Bruni title. Pangiran Muda—sometimes

Pangiran Muda Besar—is another title of the heir-apparent to the

Sultanate. (Rajah Muda is only used in Sarawak.) It is a Javanese

title and means prince. It is not, however, now confined only to

persons of royal descent as formerly, and the title has become

very common, especially as illegitimate as well as legitimate

children of all pangirans assume it.

DATU.—Lit. great-grandfather (by extension—ancestor). This is a high

title in the Malay Peninsula, and the highest in Sarawak, but not

in Bruni, though it is in Sulu. It can be conferred by the Ruler

alone, and is an official title and not hereditary. It is only

granted to Malays.[3]

BANDAR (Persian).—The meaning of this word is a port. Datu Bandar,

one of the highest titles in Sarawak, would mean the chief of the

port or town.

SHAH BANDAR means the Controller of the Customs.

BANDAHARA (Sanskrit.).—A treasurer. The Pangiran Bandahara is the

chief of the four Wazirs of Bruni. The present Bandahara is Regent

of Bruni.

TEMANGGONG.—Another high official title, meaning Commander-in-Chief.

The Pangiran Temanggong is one of the Bruni Wazirs.

DI GADONG AND PEMANCHA.—Also high official titles, the meanings of

which are uncertain. The Pangiran di Gadong and the Pangiran

Pemancha are the titles of the other two Bruni Wazirs.[4]

PATINGGI (from Tinggi—elevated, exalted; hence Maha-tinggi, the most

high). The Datu Patinggi was the highest or premier chief in

Sarawak.

PENGLIMA.—A Malay title, also sometimes formerly given to Dayaks;

means a Commander.

ORANG KAYA.—Lit. rich man. A title generally given to Malay chiefs

of inferior rank and to the Dayak chiefs.

SHERIF.[5]—An Arab title meaning noble. A title assumed by half-bred

Arabs claiming descent from Muhammad. These men also take the

exalted Malay title of Tunku or Tungku[6] by which princes of the

royal blood are alone addressed, but more especially the Sultan.

HAJI.—One who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

TUAN.—Master, Sir, Lord, Mistress, Lady. Tuan Besar—High Lord. Tuan

Muda—Young Lord.

NAKODA.—Shipmaster, merchant.

PENGULU.—Headman. A title given to Dayak district chiefs.

INCHI.—Mister—a lower title than Tuan. A title foreign to Sarawak,

and in that country only assumed by foreign Malays.

ABANG.—Lit. elder brother. Datu's sons are styled Abang, and also

Malay Government chiefs below the rank of Datu.

LAKSAMANA.—An Admiral.

IMAUM.—High Priest.

HAKIM.—A Judge: lit. a learned man.

AWANG.—A title sometimes given to the sons of Pangirans.

DAYANG OR DANG.—Lady of rank. A title given to daughters of Datus

and Abangs.

WAN.—Another title given to Sherifs, but more generally to their

sons. It is probably derived from the Arabic word Awan, meaning a

helper or sustainer of Muhammad.

The following Malay geographical terms should also be noted:—

BUKIT, a hill.

DANAU, a lake.

GUNONG, a mountain.

PULAU, an island.

SUNGI, a river.

TANJONG, a cape.

KAMPONG, a village, or subdivision of a town, a parish.

-----

Footnote 1:

Sultan is a title foreign to the Court language of Bruni.—Sir Hugh

Low, G.C.M.G., _Sarawak_, 1848.

Footnote 2:

_Rajah_, correctly Raja. Plural is expressed by duplication.

Footnote 3:

In Bruni this title also is now debased by being granted to all

natives, Chinese included.

Footnote 4:

St. John gives the di Gadong as Minister of Revenues, and the Pemancha

as Minister for Home Affairs.—_Forests of the Far East._

Footnote 5:

Pronounced by Malays Sherip, or Serip. Fem. Sheripa, Seripa. Sayid is

another, though in the East less common title, assumed by descendants

of the Prophet. Sir Richard Burton in his _Pilgrimage_ says the

former, men of the sword, the ruling and executive branch, are the

descendants of El Husayn, the Prophet's grandson; and the latter, men

of the pen, religion, and politics, are descended from the Prophet's

eldest grandson, El Hasan. Siti is the female title.

Footnote 6:

A corruption of Tuan-ku (Tuan aku), my Lord, as it is often so

pronounced.

CHAPTER I

BORNEO

[Illustration:

NEPENTHES, AND RAFFLESIA TUAN-MUDÆ.]

Next to Australia and New Guinea, Borneo[7] is the largest island in the

world; it is larger than the whole of France. It sits astride on the

equator, that divides it nearly, but not wholly, in two; the larger

portion being to the north of the Line.

The belt of islands, Sumatra, Java, and the chain to Timor and the

Sarwatty group, represents a line of weakness in the crust of the earth,

due to volcanic action, which still makes itself felt there. But the

axis of elevation of Borneo is almost at right angles to this line, and

in it are no active vents, and if there be extinct volcanoes, these are

in the extreme north only. In Sarawak there are several hot springs, the

water of which is impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. The island

owes its origin, as far as we can judge, to a great upheaval of plutonic

rock that has lifted aloft and shivered the overlying beds, but the

granite does not come everywhere to the surface. Something analogous may

be seen in Exmoor, where the superincumbent clay-slate has been heaved

up and strained, but the granite nowhere shows save in Lundy Isle, where

the superposed strata have been swept away, leaving the granite exposed.

[Illustration:

MOUNT ST. PEDRO, OR KINA BALU, 13,700 FEET.]

Borneo is about 850 miles in length and 600 in breadth, and contains an

area of 286,000 square miles. The centre of Borneo is occupied by broken

hilly highland, with isolated mountains, of which the finest is the

granite peak of Kina Balu (13,700 feet). Hills come down in places to

the sea, as in the south of Sarawak, where they attain a height of from

2000 to over 5000 feet, and die into the sea at Cape Datu. The plains,

chiefly swamps, are composed of the wash of the mountains, overlaid by

vegetable mould, and these fringe the coast, extending inland from ten

to thirty miles, with here and there isolated humps of hill standing up

out of them.

The island is probably the best watered in the world. On every side are

numerous rivers, mainly rising in the central highlands, at first

dancing down the mountain ledges in cascades, then, forming dangerous

rapids, enter the plain, and there swelled by affluents and widening out

advance with no strong current to the sea. Owing to the width of the

river-mouths, and to the configuration of the coast, some of them, as

the Batang Lupar, the Sadong, and Saribas, have tidal bores, as is the

case with our River Severn, that run up as many as seventy miles into

the interior, and most have deposited troublesome bars at their mouths,

and have embouchures clogged by shoals. To the slight fall is largely

due the remarkable way in which several of these rivers descend into the

ocean through plural mouths, thus forming a network of lateral

waterways, called Loba and Trusan, whereby they mix and mingle with

other rivers, and, very much like the Rhine after entering Holland, lose

their identity and are frittered away in many channels. The Rejang, for

instance, finds issue through five mouths, and the land between the

Rejang and Igan entrances, which meet at Sibu, the apex of the delta, is

a vast unbroken swamp, 1200 square miles in area. The same phenomenon is

noticed in the Sarawak river, and in the Limbang to a smaller degree.

The rainfall in Borneo is so great, the rainy season lasting from

October to April,[8] that the rivers are very numerous and copious,

rolling down large volumes of water. Severe droughts are, however, not

uncommon during the fine season of the S.W. monsoon.

Between Kuching and Bruni are the Sadong, Batang Lupar, Saribas, Kalaka,

Rejang, Bintulu, and the Baram rivers, all available as waterways for

trade with the interior. For fifteen miles only from its mouth is the

Batang Lupar navigable by steamers, above that, though a fine broad

river, it is obstructed by dangerous shoals. The Rejang is navigable by

steamers for 170 miles, nearly as far as the first rapids. This noble

river descends many stages by as many plunges from terraces. Between the

rapids the river is deep, sluggish and broad for many miles. Boats that

can be hauled up past the rapids can ascend a distance of 650 miles from

the mouth. The Baram river is navigable by steamers for some twenty

miles above Claude Town, that is, eighty miles from the mouth, but owing

to the exposed position of the bar and to the heavy seas breaking over

it, and also to the silting up of the mouth during the N.E. monsoon,

only very small craft can then enter, but during the S.W. monsoon it can

be entered by steamers of light draught.

In Dutch Borneo as well there are magnificent rivers. The same cause

that has made some of the rivers so uncertain in their mouths has

produced vast stretches of morass, overgrown with the nipah palm and

mangrove, and infested with mosquito swarms; but the beach is almost

everywhere of beautiful white sand, reaching to where the graceful

casuarina tree grows as a belt above the reach of the tide. The tropical

heat, added to the great rainfall, makes Borneo a vegetable paradise;

indeed, it presents the appearance of one vast surface of sombre

evergreen forest, starred with flowering orchids, and wreathed with

creepers, of a richness perhaps unsurpassed even in South America.

The hills and ranges of upland consist of blue metamorphic limestone on

which is superposed a thick series of sandstones, conglomerates, and

clay-shales. Piercing these beds are granite and a variety of plutonic

rocks, as diorite, porphyrite, etc. These latter are developed in

greatest abundance in the antimony districts, where they are in

immediate contact with the limestone that has been fissured and tortured

by upheaval. The sandstone shales have also been tilted and distorted;

nevertheless in places they retain their original horizontal position.

They are usually found to be impregnated with peroxide of iron. It is in

this formation that the cinnabar deposits occur.

Both lime and sandstone have been extensively denuded, and the latter

rises in isolated tabular mountains, or short peaky trends, to an

altitude occasionally of 1500 feet above the sea, the ridges separated

by undulating valleys, in which the limestone comes to the surface.

Sometimes these denuded masses form low hilly tracts varying in

elevation from 200 feet to 1200 feet; sometimes they appear as solitary

crags, but invariably present long lines of ancient sea-cliff, and bold

scarped faces, fissured and jointed in every conceivable direction.

In the intervening lowlands is a deposit of dark yellow felspathic clay

varying in depth from a few feet to eighty feet and more, derived from

the degradation of the hills by water. Associated with this clay and of

more recent date are superficial deposits of pudding-stone and river

gravels. The intrusive igneous rocks show mainly in the form of dykes,

seaming the stratified rocks; consequently volcanic action took place

subsequent to their deposition, but it was also antecedent to the more

recent of the superficial deposits. It is in immediate connection with

those plutonic dykes that we find the deposits of arsenic and cinnabar,

occupying the fissures produced in the stratified rocks by volcanic

upheavals, and we are led to the conclusion that these mineral lodes

were deposited after the cessation of the upheaval.

Gold occurs in the form of fine sand in the alluvial deposits, and in

the gravel of the rivers over a great part of Sarawak; and also in

pockets of the limestone, in which it has been allowed to fall by water.

Nuggets are of extremely rare occurrence, but Sir Spencer St. John

mentions having seen one of seven ounces taken from the auriferous clay

at Krian near Bau. The gold dust is usually in a state of finest

comminution. So far no gold reef has been come upon.

In former days gold was extensively washed by Chinese at Bau and Paku in

Upper Sarawak, which auriferous district commences at the confluence of

the two branches of the Sarawak river, and extends back to their sources

and the boundary of Dutch Borneo. As gold and antimony were known to

abound here, the Chinese of Sambas and the lower Kapuas had made several

endeavours to establish themselves in the district, but were much

harassed by the Malays until the accession of the late Rajah Brooke,

which made it possible for them to settle there and pursue in peace

their business of gold mining. Then gold was washed extensively, and the

fine reservoirs and "leats" which the Chinese constructed to sluice the

alluvial soil remain to this day. They increased and became a thriving

community, but they were not sufficiently looked after, and, falling

under the machinations of socialistic Secret Societies, gradually got

out of hand and broke into open rebellion in 1857, as shall be related

in the sequel. It is sufficient to say here that this ended in dire ruin

to themselves, and that the few who escaped were driven over the

borders; but it also ruined the gold-mining industry, and, though some

of the rebels returned and others came with them, the industry never

fully recovered, and later on it received a further check by the

introduction of pepper planting, which gave the Chinese a more

profitable occupation, and gradually Upper Sarawak became covered with

gardens of this description. Though gold mining under the Chinese

practically died out, modern scientific and engineering skill has now

placed it in a far higher position than it had ever previously attained,

or could have attained under the primitive methods of the previous

workers.

Quicksilver was discovered _in situ_ about the year 1871, by Messrs.

Helms and Walters of the Borneo Company, who prospected over the whole

of Sarawak Proper, and ultimately succeeded in tracking the small

fragments of cinnabar that are scattered over the district to a hill on

the right bank of the Staat river. The hill is called Tegora, and rises

to an elevation of 800 feet. In the upper portion of this hill, the ore

was found deposited capriciously in strains and pockets with here and

there a little metallic mercury.[9]

In former years a large quantity of quicksilver was exported, but for

some time this mineral product has ceased to appear as an item in the

exports, the large deposit of cinnabar at Tegora having apparently been

worked out. The existence of this mineral in other parts of the state is

proved by traces found in several places, and the same may be said of

antimony, of which there are indications of rich deposits; but the

discovery of these minerals in paying quantities is a matter of chance.

Antimony is still worked by the Borneo Company, Ltd., and a recent rise

in the price has been an inducement to Chinese and Malay miners to

increase the production, and the export of 1906 was more in quantity

than it was in 1905, though small as compared with what it used to be.

Black bituminous coal, which occurs in the Tertiary strata, has been

found in different parts, and two collieries are owned and worked by the

Government, at Semunjan in the Sadong district, and at Brooketon.

Several hundred Chinese are employed as miners under European

supervision, and large sums have been expended upon machinery, etc.

Oil, a crude petroleum, has been discovered in two places; it is of good

quality, and is an excellent lubricant.

It is not impossible, or indeed improbable, that diamond deposits in

Sarawak will be found and exploited. No systematic operations in search

of these precious stones have been attempted, the dense jungle which

covers the country being an obstacle. The only people who wash for

diamonds are the Malays, and these carry on their work in a very

desultory and imperfect manner.

But agriculture and jungle produce have been, and will be, the main

source of revenue to Sarawak, and prosperity to the country. We shall

deal with these products, as well as with those that are mineral, more

fully in a subsequent chapter.

The Bornean forest is so varied and so different at different hours

and seasons that no description can possibly convey an adequate idea

of it to those who have not known it. Infinite and ever changing are

its aspects, as are the treasures it hides. Its beauties are as

inexhaustible as the varieties of its productions. In the forest man

feels singularly free. The more one wanders in it, the greater grows

the sense of profound admiration before nature in one of its

grandest aspects. The more one endeavours to study it, the more one

finds in it to study. Its deep shades are sacred to the devotee of

Science. Yet they afford ample food for the mind of the believer,

not less than to that of the philosopher.[10]

And we would add, to the superstitious native, to whom the jungles teem

with ghosts and spirits.

The Bornean jungles are full of life, and of the sounds of life, which

are more marked in the early mornings and in the evenings. Birds are

plentiful (there are some 800 species), some of beautiful plumage, but

few are songsters. Insect life is very largely represented, and includes

many varieties of the curious stick and leaf insects,[11] hardly to be

distinguished from the twigs and leaves they mimic. Also the noisy and

never tiring cicadas, whose evening concerts are almost deafening, and

frogs and grasshoppers who help to swell the din. There are many

varieties of beautiful butterflies, but these are to be found more in

the open clearings. Though there are no dangerous animals, there are

many pests, the worst being the leeches, of which there are three kinds,

two that lurk in the grass and bushes, the other being aquatic—the

horse-leech. Mosquitoes, stinging flies, and ants are common, and the

scorpion and centipede are there as well. Snakes, though numerous, are

rarely seen, for they swiftly and silently retire on the approach of

man, and one variety only, the hamadryad, the great cobra or

snake-eating snake, is said to be aggressive. The varieties of land and

water snakes are many, there being some 120 different species. Natives

often fall victims to snake bites. Pythons attain a length of over

twenty feet;[12] they seldom attack man, though instances have been

known of people having been killed by these reptiles, and the following

story, taken from the _Sarawak Gazette_, will show how dangerous they

can be. At a little village a man and his small son were asleep

together. In the middle of the night the child shrieked out that he was

being taken by a crocodile, and the father, to his horror, found that a

snake had closed its jaws on the boy's head. With his hands he prised

the reptile's jaws open and released his son; but in his turn he had to

be rescued by some neighbours, for the python had wound itself around

his body. Neither was much hurt.

Of the wild animals in Sarawak, wild cattle and the rhinoceros have

nearly disappeared before their ruthless destroyer, man; and such would

have been the fate of that huge, though harmless, anthropoid, the maias,

or "orang-utan," at the hands of collectors, had not the Government

placed a check upon them by limiting the number each may collect.[13]

Deer, the sambur, the muntjac or barking deer, and the little

mouse-deer, and also wild pig, of which there are several species,

abound.[14] Numerous too are the monkeys and apes, and numerous are the

species; the more peculiar of the former being the proboscis monkey, a

species confined to Borneo, and of the latter the gentle gibbons, who

announce the dawn, making the woods ring and echo with their melodious

gurgling whoops. There are two kinds of diminutive bears, the

tree-leopard, wild cat, the scaly ant-eater, the porcupine, the otter,

the lemur, and other small animals, including the flying fox, flying

squirrel, flying lizard, flying frog, a peculiar kind of rat with a tail

which bears a close resemblance to a feather,[15] and huge toads nine

inches in height.[16] But to the casual traveller in the dense jungle

with but a limited view, excepting an occasional monkey, or a pig or

deer startled from its lair, few of these animals will be visible.

Of the valuable products of the jungle it will be sufficient to note

here that gutta, camphor, cutch, and dammar-producing trees abound; also

creepers from which rubber is extracted; and rattans of various kinds.

There are trees from the nuts of which excellent oil is expressed; and

many kinds of useful woods, some exceeding hard and durable, and some

ornamental.

Man's greatest enemy is the crocodile, and this voracious saurian

becomes a dangerous foe when, driven perhaps by scarcity of other food,

it has once preyed upon man, for, like the tiger, it then becomes a

man-hunter and man-eater. It will lurk about landing and bathing-places

for prey; will snatch a man bodily from a boat; and one has been known

to seize a child out of its mother's arms while she was bathing it. The

_Sarawak Gazette_ records numerous deaths due to crocodiles, though by

no means all that happen, and many thrilling adventures with these

reptiles. Two we will give as interesting instances of devotion and

presence of mind. A little Malay boy, just able to toddle, was larking

in the mud at low water when he was seized by a crocodile, which was

making for the water with its screaming little victim in its jaws, when

the child's sister, a girl of twelve, and his brother of eight, rushed

to his assistance. The boy hopelessly tried to stop the crocodile by

clinging to one of its fore-paws, but the girl jumped upon the brute's

back, and gradually working her way to its eyes which were then just

above water, succeeded in gouging out one with her fingers. This caused

the crocodile promptly to drop its prey, but only just in time, as it

was on the point of gliding into deep water. By the girl's vigorous

intervention it not only lost its prey but also its life, for two men

coming up hacked the brute to pieces. The little heroine had remembered

the story of how her grandfather had formerly saved his life in the same

way. To scoop out the eyes is the only chance of escape for one taken,

and it must be done promptly. The little boy was scarcely hurt. The

girl's courageous deed duly received a graceful recognition from the

Ranee.

Another girl, a Dayak girl this time, rescued her mother, who was

dragged out of a boat, in which they were together, by a large

crocodile. She threw herself upon the monster, and by thrusting her

fingers into its eyes compelled the brute, after a short but sharp

struggle, to release its prey.

Death caused by a crocodile is one of the most horrible of deaths, and

it is often a protracted one, as the victim is borne along above water

for some distance, then taken down, bashed against some sunken log, and

brought up again. "May I be killed by a crocodile if I am guilty" is a

common invocation made by Malays in protestation of their innocence; in

other words, they invoke the most dreadful death that comes within their

ken. So did once a young Malay woman in the Simanggang Court on being

convicted of a serious crime. That evening, whilst she was bathing, a

smothered cry, that she had barely time to utter, announced that her

prayer had been heard.

There are several kinds of crocodiles, broad and long snouted. In the

Perak Museum is a specimen nearly twenty-five feet in length, but the

longest that has been caught in Sarawak, and authentically measured, was

nineteen feet. The Government gives a reward for killing these pests,

which is paid upon some 250 to 300 annually brought to the police

station at Kuching. More are killed in the various districts of which no

record is kept.

Sharks of several species abound, but cases of injury by these are very

rare.

Saw-fish are also common, and with their long spiny saws are dangerous

creatures. A fisherman was killed by one of these at the mouth of the

Sadong; he was in a small canoe when the fish, which he had cut at with

his knife, struck him a blow on his neck with its saw, from which he

died almost immediately.

Excellent fish are abundant, such as mackerel and herring, considerably

larger than the English varieties, pomfret, barbel, soles, mullets,

etc., and some of beautiful colours; also crabs, prawns, and oysters.

The dugong (Malay duyong), the sea-cow, is rare in Sarawak, but common

in North Borneo, as is also the whale; in Sarawak the latter are

occasionally stranded on the beach. Turtles abound; these are preserved

for the sake of their eggs, which are considered a great delicacy.

We will now consider the races that occupy Sarawak territory; and the

following brief ethnological notes with regard to those of Indonesian

stock will be all that is necessary for the purposes of this book; to

attempt anything like an accurate classification of the many tribes and

sub-tribes which differentiate the heterogeneous population of the

country would be beyond its scope, even were it possible to trace the

divergence of the cognate tribes from the original stock, and of the

sub-tribes from the tribes. That there may have been earlier inhabitants

of Borneo than those now existing in the island is possible. Traces of

neolithic man have been found, but these may be due to the first

settlers having brought with them stone weapons cherished as charms. Of

paleolithic man not a trace has been discovered.[17] To attempt to

determine the flow of mankind into the country, or to decide which of

the tribes of Indonesian stock now found in Sarawak was the first to

occupy the soil, is to undertake an impossible task.[18] It may be

accepted that the most barbarous peoples, the Ukits, Bukitans, Punans,

and other fast vanishing tribes, were the earliest inhabitants of whom

we know anything, and that they were immigrants. But whence they came we

know not. These tribes are all more or less related in language and

customs, and in Borneo difference in names does not always denote any

essential racial distinction.

[Illustration:

UKIT CHIEF, WIFE AND CHILD.]

[Illustration:

A PUNAN.]

As an instance of this we have the Lugats, of whom only a very few are

left, the Lisums, the Bliuns, a tribe that has quite died out, the

Segalangs, and the Seru Dayaks of the Kalaka, a tribe which is fast

disappearing. The above sub-tribes take their name from rivers widely

apart, and though their names differ they are of the same race,

sub-tribes of the Ukits. Their tradition is that three or four hundred

years ago the Ukits lived in the Lugat (now the Gat) river, a branch of

the Baleh (hence we have the Lugats now living in the Anap), but they

were driven out by the Kayans. Some went to the Lisum river (hence we

have the Lisums), and some to Kapit, where they built strong houses on

the site of the present fort, but these they were eventually forced to

evacuate, and again they migrated down river, first to Tujong, near the

Kanowit, and afterwards farther down again to Bunut, by Benatang. From

Bunut they were driven out by their implacable foes, and they dispersed

to Segalang (in the Rejang delta), to Bliun (in the Kanowit), and to

Seru in the Kalaka.[19] This tradition is supported by the strong

evidence of language, and there is little reason for disregarding it.

After being driven out of Lugat, some of the Ukits went over to the

Kapuas, where, as in the Baleh, to which river some eventually returned,

they are still known as Ukits. The Bliuns, Segalangs, and Serus became

civilised owing to contact with the Malays and Melanaus. The Ukits,

Bukitans, and Punans, with the exception of the Punan Bah of Balui, are

the wildest of all the races in the island. The Ukits are light in

complexion; tall and well knit, and better looking than other inland

tribes. Formerly they did not reside in houses, or cultivate the soil,

but roamed about in the jungle, and subsisted on wild fruit and the

animals they killed. But some of these have begun to erect poor

dwellings, and do a little elementary farming. They are expert with the

blow-pipe, and in the manufacture of the upas-poison, with which the

points of their needle-like arrows are tinged. But it is quite open to

question whether these poor savages may not be a degenerate race, driven

from their homes and from comparative civilisation by more powerful

races that followed and hunted them from their farms to the jungle.

Beccari (_op. cit._ p. 363) says that they "are savages in the true name

of the word, but they are neither degraded nor inferior races in the

series of mankind. Their primitive condition depends more than anything

else on their nomadic or wandering life, and on the ease with which they

live on the produce of the forests, and on that of the chase which the

sumpitan (blow-pipe) procures for them. This has no doubt contributed to

keep them from associating with their fellow-beings, and from settling

in villages or erecting permanent houses. I believe that these, although

they must be considered as the remnants of an ancient Bornean people,

are not descended from autochthonous savages, but are rather the

present-day representatives of a race which has become savage." And

Beccari is of opinion "that it is difficult to deny that Borneo has had

older and perhaps more primitive inhabitants." The natives have legends

of former races having occupied the land; the most powerful were,

according to the Punans, the Antu-Jalan, who lived in the Balui, around

the mouth of the Belaga, where the fort of that name now stands. They

disappeared, but have now returned in the persons of the white men. So

the Punans believe, and other tribes hug other myths. These savage

people are, or rather were, the bitter enemies of the Dayaks, and a

terror to them. Silently and unperceived, they would steal on their

hereditary enemies whilst these latter were collecting jungle produce,

or employed on their farms, and wound them to death with their poisoned

arrows.

In former days, when they were more powerful, the Bukitans would openly

attack the Dayaks, and as late as 1856 they destroyed one of the large

communal Dayak houses on the Krian, and also attacked the Serikei

Dayaks. The Ukits do not take heads, and the Punans do not tattoo. The

latter and the Bukitans are clever makers of rattan mats, which are in

demand by Europeans and Chinese. The Ukits and the Bukitans reside on

the upper waters of the Rejang, Baleh, and Kapuas; and the Punans in the

Baram and Balui.

The Banyoks and the Seduans are, like the Segalangs, with whom they have

intermixed, probably off-shoots of the Ukit tribe. They have recently

merged, and occupy the same village in the Rejang below Sibu fort. Like

the Tanjongs and the Kanowits they are clever basket makers.

The Sians, another off-shoot of the Ukits, live below Belaga fort.[20]

All these small tribes inhabiting the interior, though a few are found

near the coast, are dwindling away, mainly in consequence of in-and-in

breeding. Of some of the tribes of the same stock only a few families

are left, and in others only a few people, while one or two have totally

disappeared within quite recent years.

The next Indonesian tribes to follow were the Kayans and then the

Kenyahs, two that are closely allied, and both, according to tradition,

came from the south, probably from the Celebes. They took possession of

the Belungan (or Batang Kayan) river-basin, and overflowed into those of

Baram and Balui (the right hand branch of the Rejang). These powerful

tribes found these river-basins unoccupied except by scattered families

of the tribes above mentioned, whom they drove into the jungle. In the

Baram they remained undisturbed, as also in the Rejang till recent

years. Down the latter river they spread as far as Kapit; at that time

both the Sea-Dayaks and Malays were there, and over them the Kayans

domineered, driving the former from their settlements at Ngmah,[21] and

harassing the latter in the Kanowit, and even in the Sekrang.

Eventually, however, the Kayans were forced to fall back before the ever

increasing Dayaks, and to retire to the head-waters of the Balui, and

now, with the exception of one small settlement, all reside above the

Belaga.

When we consider the large area occupied by the tribes of Kayans and

Kenyahs, who may be classed together, it will be seen how important they

are. Besides inhabiting the upper waters of the Baram and Rejang, they

are found in very large numbers on the Batang Kayan. The Mahkam (Koti or

Coti) is also thickly inhabited by Kayans, and many live on the Barito

(Banjermasin), and on the Kapuas. The Kayans and Kenyahs are tattooed,

as are most of the savage people of Indonesian origin in the interior.

When the children are young the lobes of the ears are pierced, and by

the insertion of heavy lead or copper rings the lobes become gradually

so distended as to hang down to the shoulders, and, with elderly women,

often lower. That this is a very old custom, and not peculiar to these

people, is shown by the sculptures in the ancient Boro Budor temple in

Java, where men and women are figured with such elongated ear lobes,

having ear pendants and plugs exactly similar to those in use by the

Kayans and Kenyahs. Most Indonesian tribes of the interior retain this

fashion.[22] These Kayans and Kenyahs are on a slightly higher grade of

civilisation than the Sea-Dayaks, building finer houses, having more

rule and order among themselves, and being expert in the manufacture of

excellent weapons, extracting their iron for that purpose from the

native ore. In character they are vindictive and cruel, but brave, and

not without some good qualities. Formerly they practised hideous

cruelties on their captives and slaves, and impalement was a common form

of punishment. The women were even more barbarous than the men, being

the most ingenious and inhuman in devising tortures. The Kayans under

Sarawak rule have been checked in these matters, and human sacrifices

have become a thing of the past. But that these propensities are only

dormant is instanced by a case that occurred but a few years ago, far up

the Balui. Four young Dayaks, survivors of a party of gutta-percha

collectors, who had been cut off and killed by the Punans, after

wandering for many days in the jungle, arrived destitute and starving at

a Kayan house, and asked for food and shelter. Instead, the Kayans bound

the young men, and, after breaking their legs and arms, handed them over

to the women, who slowly despatched them by hacking them to pieces with

little knives. And in the Baram, in 1882, a Kayan chief caused two

captives to be bound and thrown down from the lofty verandah of his

house to the ground, where they were decapitated—quite in Ashantee

manner.[23]

[Illustration:

KAYAN GIRL, SHOWING ELONGATED EARS.]

Among the Kayans and Kenyahs a broad distinction exists between the

classes. There are but the chiefs and their families, and only serfs and

slaves under them. The chiefs are not chosen by the people, as is the

case among the Dayaks. They assume their position by right of birth, or

by might. The position of the serf is little better than that of the

slave, and all they may gain by their industry is seized by the chiefs.

It is the difference that existed in Germany between the Freie and the

Unfreie; in England in Saxon times between the thegn and the villein.

Although the Kayans take heads in warfare, they do not value them as do

the Dayaks, and will part with them to the latter; and they are not

head-hunters in the strict sense of the term. The Kayans are a

decreasing race, not so the Kenyahs. Both are capable of improvement,

especially the latter; and they are improving, notably in the Baram,

where they are directly under the control of the Government, since that

river district was ceded to Sarawak in 1883.

The Tanjongs, Kanowits, Kajamans, and Sekapans,[24] are cognate tribes,

probably of the same stock as the Kayans and Kenyahs. Formerly they were

large tribes, but are now each reduced to a solitary village. They are

to be found only on the Rejang. The dialects of the two first are

intermediary between those of the Melanaus and the Kayans, and they live

in an intermediary position. The other two tribes live close to Belaga

fort in the Kayan country; their dialects vary.

The Malohs of Kapuas in Dutch Borneo formerly had a large village at

Kanowit, but nearly all have returned to their own country, and the

tribe is now represented by a sprinkling only among the Sea-Dayaks. They

are wonderfully skilled workers in brass and copper, and manufacture the

peculiar brass corsets worn by the Sea-Dayak women, and their armlets,

anklets, leg and ear-rings, and other personal ornaments; and they have

been known to turn their talents to making counterfeit coin. They bear a

great reputation for bravery, and are dangerous men to cross.

The Lanans live amongst the Kayans, to whom they are allied, in the

Balui, and have seven or eight villages.

The Sebops and Madangs are Kenyah sub-tribes.

The Melanau, a large and most important tribe inhabiting the coast

between Kedurong point and the mouths of the Rejang, is also of

Indonesian stock, though, like the Malays, but in a lesser degree, they

are of mixed breed. In speech these people are allied to the Kayans, and

are regarded by some as a branch tribe. Certain of their customs are

similar, and if they differ from the Kayans in many respects, this is

due partly to environment, but mainly to the majority of them having

embraced Muhammadanism, and to their having intermarried with the

Malays, with whom they are now to a certain extent assimilated in

customs. They cultivate sago on a large scale, and since the exit of

their old Bruni rulers—or rather oppressors—are able to enjoy the fruits

of their labour, and have increased their plantations considerably. At

Bruit, Matu, Oya, Muka,[25] and Bintulu, there are jungles of sago

palms, and these places supply by far the largest proportion of the

world's consumption of sago. The people being industrious and thrifty

are well off. The above-named places are now large towns, and Muka is as

large as Bruni. The Melanaus are skilled in working iron, are good

carpenters, and excellent boat builders. Though they are by nature, like

the cognate Kayans, vindictive and quarrelsome, serious crime is not

common among them, and they are a law-abiding people. Formerly among the

Kayans and Melanaus when one of their houses was about to be built, a

hole was dug in the ground, a slave woman together with some beads

placed in it, and the first iron-wood supporting post was levered up,

and then driven through her into the ground. This was an oblation to the

Earth Spirit.

The Kadayans do not appear to be allied to any of the races in N.W.

Borneo; those in Sarawak have migrated from Bruni within recent times to

escape oppression. They are a peaceful and agricultural race, and many

of them are Muhammadans.[26]

[Illustration:

MURUTS.]

The Muruts and Bisayas are considerable tribes inhabiting the Limbang,

Trusan, and Lawas rivers in Sarawak, and beyond. They are of Indonesian

stock, and of them a full and interesting account has been given by Sir

Spenser St. John in his _Life in the Forests of the Far East_.

The heads of all these tribes are dolichocephalic or boat-shaped. They

are yellow-stained, with hair either straight or slightly waved.

The Land-Dayaks, so named by Europeans in consequence of their not being

accustomed to go to sea, or even to the use of boats, either for trading

or piratical purposes, number several tribes, with some variations in

language. They occupy localities up the rivers Sadong, Samarahan,

Sarawak, and Lundu. The remains found among them of Hinduism, such as a

stone-shaped bull,[27] and other carved monumental stones, and the name

of their deity, Jewata, as also the refusal among them to touch the

flesh of cattle and deer, and the cremation of their dead, show that

they must have been brought into intimate contact with the Hindus,

probably at the time when the Hindu-Javanese Empire of Majapahit

extended to Borneo.[28] In customs and appearance they differ

considerably from the other tribes. They have a tradition that they

arrived from the north in large ships, possibly from Siam or

Cochin-China. Having been oppressed and persecuted and hunted for their

heads by the Sea-Dayaks they have retreated to the tops of hills and

rocky eminences.

Of the Land-Dayak Captain the Hon. H. Keppel[29] says:—

In character he is mild and tractable, hospitable when he is well

used, grateful for kindness, industrious, honest, and simple;

neither treacherous nor cunning, and so truthful that the word of

one of them might safely be taken before the oath of half a dozen

Borneans (Malays). In their dealings they are very straightforward

and correct, and so trustworthy that they rarely attempt, even after

a lapse of years, to evade payment of a just debt. On the reverse of

this picture there is little unfavourable to be said, and the wonder

is that they have learned so little deceit and falsehood where the

examples before them have been so rife.

[Illustration:

LAND-DAYAK CHIEF, WITH HIS SON AND GRANDSON.]

It is difficult, perhaps impossible now, to assign the position of the

Land-Dayaks with regard to the other native peoples. Their language is

quite different from the others, and in many other essentials they

differ.

Distinct from all these races in physical character and language are the

Sea-Dayaks. These are proto-Malays, that is to say they belong to the

same ethnic family, but represent that stock in a purer, less mixed

stage. Radically their language is the same as the Malay. They are

brachycephalic, bullet-headed, with more or less flattened noses, are

straight-haired, almost beardless, with skin of olive hue, or the colour

of new fallen leaves. They migrated from the west, probably from

Sumatra, at a period previous to the conversion of the Malays to Islam,

for their language, which with slight dialectic differences, is purely

Malay, contains no Arabic except of very recent introduction. The

Sea-Dayak inhabits the Batang Lupar, Saribas, Kalaka, and Rejang rivers.

They are gradually spreading into the rivers of the north-east, and

there are now a good many in the Oya, Muka, Tatau, and Baram districts.

[Illustration:

SEA-DAYAK CHIEF.

(The Pengulu Dalam, Munan)]

A Sea-Dayak is a clean built man, upright in gait, not tall, the average

height being 5 ft. 3 inches. The nose is somewhat flat, the hair

straight with no curl in it. The face is generally pleasing from the

frankness and good nature that show in it. The women have good figures,

light and elastic; well-formed busts, with interesting, indeed often

pretty, faces; the skins are, as already stated, of so light a brown as

to be almost yellow. They have lustrous dark eyes and black, straight

hair.

The Dayaks are very fond of their parents, brothers, sisters, and of

their children, and often a strong attachment exists between man and

wife that lasts for life. The Dayaks have each but one wife, but it does

not follow by any means that the first union lasts. A young couple may

find incompatibility of temper after a week or two, and the union is

dissolved on the plea of a dream inimical to its continuance.

Incest is considered to be the worst of crimes, bringing a curse on the

country. Both incest and bigamy were formerly punishable by a cruel

death, now by heavy fines, but for the former offence the fine is far

heavier than for the latter.

The Sea-Dayaks are most hospitable, indeed a breach of hospitality is

regarded as a punishable offence. They obtained their designation from

the English who first came in contact with them, on account of their

skill in navigating the sea along the coast, although living inland, and

to differentiate them from the Dayaks of Sarawak proper, who were styled

Land-Dayaks, because these latter were inexpert boatmen, and very few of

them could paddle or swim. As shown farther on, Dayak really signifies

an _inland man_.

The Sea-Dayak is now the dominant race in Sarawak, and in time will

become so over the whole of the north-west of Borneo. The spread of this

stock in former years appears to have been slow, owing to continual

intestine wars, but since the advent of the white man, the

discontinuance of these feuds, and the forced adoption of a peaceable

life, these people have increased enormously in numbers. Fifty years ago

there were but few of them to be found outside the Batang Lupar,

Saribas, and Kalaka river-basins, but now, though the population on

these rivers has grown considerably, it is less than that of the same

race on the Rejang alone, and they are spreading into the Oya, Muka,

Tatau, and Baram river-basins. The Melanau population of the two

first-named rivers live entirely either on the coast or near to it, and

the Dayaks found the upper reaches unoccupied.

The Sea-Dayaks have many good qualities that are more or less lacking in

the other inland tribes. They are industrious, honest and thrifty, sober

and cheerful, and comparatively moral. But the characteristics that

mainly distinguish them are energy and independence. They are

exceedingly sensitive, especially the women, and will seek refuge from

shame in suicide;[30] like the Malays the men will sometimes, though not

often, _amok_ when suffering from depression caused by grief, shame, or

jealousy, for in the East this peculiar form of insanity is by no means

confined to the Malay as is popularly supposed.[31] Amongst them general

social equality exists, and it is extended to their women. They do not

suffer their chiefs to abuse their powers as the Kayan and Kenyah chiefs

are allowed to do, but they are quite ready to submit to them when

justness and uprightness is shown. They are superstitious and restless,

and require a firm hand over them, and, "being like truant children,

take a great advantage of kindness and forbearance, and become more

rebellious if threats are not carried into execution." This was the

advice given by the present Rajah to the Netherland officials some years

ago. Their inherited desire for human skulls, and their old savage

methods of obtaining them, still, in a degree, have a strong hold on the

Sea-Dayak character, but against this it can be said to their credit

that they are free from cruelty, and never torture a captive as do the

Kayans and other tribes. They are kindly to their captives, and treat

them as members of the family; and they were a peaceable people before

they were led astray by the half-bred Arabs and the Malays.

The Sea-Dayaks are the collectors of jungle produce, in search of which

they go on expeditions far into the interior—to Sumatra, the Malayan

States, and North Borneo—and are away for months at a time.

The Dayak custom of head-hunting is founded on the same principle as

that of scalp-hunting among the North-American Indians. A young man

formerly found it difficult to obtain a wife till he had got at least

one head to present to the object of his heart as token of his prowess;

but it was quite immaterial whether the head was that of man or woman,

of old or young. If a Dayak had lost a near relative it became his duty

to obtain a head, for until this was accomplished, and a head feast had

been given, the family must remain in mourning, and the departed

relative would have no attendant in Sembayan (the shades); and so in the

event of a chief dying it was incumbent upon the warriors of the tribe

to procure one or more heads, in order that his spirit should be

properly attended by the spirits of those sacrificed in his honour. Thus

head-hunting became more or less a natural instinct, and an obligatory

duty.

[Illustration:

SEA-DAYAK GIRL.]

The ancient Chinese jars,[32] held in great esteem among the natives,

and very highly prized, being supposed to be possessed of supernatural

powers and healing virtues,[33] are of various kinds and value. The Gusi

is the most valued, and is treated with great care and veneration, and

stands about eighteen inches high. Then comes the Lingka, then the

Benaga,[34] about two feet high, ornamented with the Chinese dragon. The

Rusa[35] is the least valued. From a note made in 1890 these are the

lowest prices they fetch—Gusi tuak, $1000; Gusi bulan, $700; Gusi

chendanum, $500; Galagiau, $400; Lingka, $310; Rusa, $150, In 1890 $7 =

£1. These jars are all brown in colour. The Dayaks and Kayans possess a

few fine blue and white, and pink and white, old Chinese jars, some over

five feet in height.

About forty years ago an enterprising Chinese petty dealer took samples

of the jars to China and had clever imitations made. He realised a large

sum by the sale, and started as a merchant on a large scale, grew rich,

waxed fat, and became the leading and wealthiest Chinese merchant in

Kuching. The Malays are clever in "faking" jars, especially such as are

cracked, but the Dayaks are not now to be deceived by them.

The Dayak village, like those of all interior tribes, is a communal

establishment. It does not consist of separate huts occupied by any one

family, but of large common halls on platforms, sometimes 800 ft. long,

upon which the dwelling-rooms abut. They are constructed of wood, and

are supported on poles sometimes 20 ft. to 40 ft. above the ground, the

poles being from 6 to 18 inches in diameter. The largest will contain

some 300 people. The following is a description of the Dayak village of

Tunggang from the late Rajah's journal:—

Tunyang[36] stands on the left hand (going up) close to the margin

of the stream, and was enclosed by a slight stockade. Within this

defence there was _one_ enormous house for the whole population. The

exterior of the defence between it and the river was occupied by

sheds for prahus (boats), and at each extremity were one or two

houses belonging to Malay residents.

The common habitation, as rude as it is enormous, measures 594 ft.

in length, and the front room or street is the entire length of the

building, and 21 feet broad. The back part is divided by mat

partitions into the private apartments of the various families, and

of these there are forty-five separate doors leading from the public

apartment. The widowers and the young unmarried men occupy the

public room, as only those with wives are entitled to the advantage

of a separate room. The floor of the edifice is raised twelve feet

from the ground, and the means of ascent is by the trunk of a tree

with notches cut in it—a most difficult, steep, and awkward ladder.

In front is a terrace fifty feet broad, running partially along the

front of the building, formed like the floors, of split bamboo. This

platform, as well as the front room, besides the regular

inhabitants, is the resort of dogs, birds, monkeys, and fowls, and

presents a glorious scene of confusion and bustle. Here the ordinary

occupations of domestic labour are carried on. There were 200 men,

women, and children counted in the room, and in front, whilst we

were there in the middle of the day; and allowing for those who were

abroad, or then in their own rooms, the whole community cannot be

reckoned at less than 400 souls. The apartment of their chief is

situated nearly in the centre of the building, and is larger than

any other. In front of it nice mats were spread on the occasion of

our visit, whilst over our heads dangled about thirty ghastly

skulls, according to the custom of these people.

The Malay is the latest immigrant. He is of mixed breed, and the link

that holds the Malays together is religion, for they are Mahomedans,

whereas the Kayans, Land and Sea-Dayaks, and other tribes, are pagans.

To accept their own traditions, the Bruni Malays came from Johore,

whereas the Sarawak Malays, like those of the Malay peninsula, came

direct from the ancient kingdom of Menangkabau. Between them there is a

very marked difference in language, character, and appearance. Whence

the proto-Malay stock came is a moot point, but it may be of Mongolian

origin, subsequently blended with many other distinct ethnic types, such

as the Arab and Hindu, and in the case of the Bornean Malay with the

Indonesian peoples of their and the neighbouring islands. The Malays

form the main population of Kuching, the capital, and of the towns

Sadong, Simanggang, Kalaka, and Sibu. They have villages on the Lundu,

Saribas, and lower Rejang, are scattered along the coast between Capes

Datu and Sirik, and are to be found in the principal settlements beyond.

The Malay has been very variously judged. The Malay Pangiran, or noble,

was rapacious, cruel, and often cowardly. But he had a grace of manner,

a courtesy, and hospitality that were pleasing as a varnish. The evil

repute that the Malay has acquired has been due to his possession of

power, and to his unscrupulous use of it to oppress the aboriginal

races. But the Malay out of power is by no means an objectionable

character. Sir James Brooke, the first Rajah, thus paints him:—

The feeling of the Malay fostered by education is acute, and his

passions are roused if shame be put upon him; indeed the dread of

shame amounts to a disease, and the evil is that it has taken a

wrong direction, being more the dread of exposure or abuse, than

shame or contrition for any offence. Like other Asiatics truth is a

rare quality among them, and they have neither principle nor

conscience when they have the means of oppressing an infidel.

They are thus depicted by Mr. Horace St. John in a work somewhat

ambitiously entitled, _The Indian Archipelago, its History and present

State_, vol. ii. p. 267 (published 1853).

Under the heading "Malays," we find the following:—

The Malays are Mahomedans, living under the rule of the Prophet's

descendants, a mongrel race of tyrants, gamblers, opium-smokers,

pirates, and chiefs, who divide their time between cockfighting,

smoking, concubines, and collecting taxes.

That Mr. Horace St. John had never been in the Archipelago to which his

history relates, was doubtless a matter of little consequence to many of

his home-staying contemporaries. Sir Spenser St. John, brother to the

author of the above-quoted _Indian Archipelago, etc._, who certainly

wrote from a long personal experience of the people and country, offers

us in his _Forests of the Far East_ an opinion on the character and

conduct of the Malay from which every one who has lived amongst these

people will find no important cause to differ. Sir Spenser writes:—

The Malays are faithful to their relatives and devotedly attached to

their children. Remarkably free from crimes, and when they are

committed they generally arise from jealousy. Brave when well led,

they inspire confidence in their commanders; they are highly

sensitive to dishonour, and tenacious as regards their conduct

towards each other, and being remarkably polite in manner, they

render agreeable all intercourse with them. Malays are generally

accused of great idleness, and in some sense they deserve it; they

do not like continuous work, but they do enough to support

themselves and families in comfort, and real poverty is unknown

among them.

The author here refers to the Malays of Sarawak.

Sir W. H. Treacher,[37] who knows the Malay intimately, paints him in

favourable colours, now that he is restrained from tyrannising over the

weak. He says:—

I am frequently asked if treachery is not one of their

characteristics, and I unhesitatingly answer _No_. This

particular misconception was probably initiated by the original

merchant-adventurers, and we can imagine what a reception a body

of strange, uninvited, white infidels would receive at the hands

of Mahomedan Malays, whose system of warfare, taking its rise

from the nature of the thickly jungle-covered country they

inhabit, is adapted more for ambuscade than for fighting at

close quarters. Add to that, being Mahomedans, they were by

their religion justified in indulging in piracy and murder where

the victims were infidels. The Malay is possessed of at least as

much passive courage as the average Englishman, and is probably

less troubled by the fear of death and the hereafter than many

Christians.

On the other hand I must admit that the Malay, owing to his

environment—the balmy climate making no severe calls upon him in the

matters either of food, artificial warmth, or clothing, has not the

bustling energy of the white man, nor the greed for amassing wealth

of the Chinaman, nor does he believe in putting forth unnecessary

energy for a problematical gain; he is like the English tramp who

was always willing—that is, to look on at other people working, or

like that one who complained that he was an unfortunate medium, too

light for heavy work, and too heavy for light work.

The natural savagery of the Malay continually threatens to break out,

and not infrequently does so in the form of the _amok_ (running amuck),

the national Malay method of committing suicide.

Apart from this tendency, when under control the Malay character has

much in common with the Mongol, being, under ordinary circumstances,

gentle, peaceable, obedient, and loyal, but at the same time proud and

sensitive, and with strangers suspicious and reserved.

The Malays can be faithful and trustworthy, and they are active and

clever. Serious crime among them is not common now, nor is thieving.

They have a bad propensity of running into debt, and obtaining advances

under engagements which they never fulfil. They make good servants and

valuable policemen. All the Government steamers are officered and manned

throughout by Malays, and none could desire to have better crews. They

are the principal fishermen and woodsmen. Morality is perhaps not a

strong point with them, but drinking is exceptional, and gambling is not

as prevalent as it was, nor do they indulge in opium smoking.

With regard to the Chinaman, it will be well to let the present Rajah

speak from his own experience. He says that—

John Chinaman as a race are an excellent set of fellows, and a poor

show would these Eastern countries make without their energetic

presence. They combine many good, many dangerous, and it must be

admitted, many bad qualities. They are given to be overbearing and

insolent (unless severely kept down) nearly to as great a degree as

Europeans of the rougher classes. They will cheat their neighbours

and resort to all manner of deception _on principle_. But their

redeeming qualities are comparative charitableness and liberality; a

fondness for improvements; and, except in small mercantile affairs

or minor trading transactions, they are honest.

They, in a few words, possess the wherewithal to be good fellows,

and are more fit to be compared to Europeans than any other race of

Easterns.

They have been excluded as much as possible from gaining a footing

in Batavia,[38] under the plea of their dangerous and usurious

pursuits; but the probability is that they would have raised an

unpleasant antagonism in the question of competition in that

country. The Chinaman would be equal to the Master, or White Man, if

both worked fairly by the sweat of his brow. As for their usury, it

is not of so dangerous a character as that which prevails among the

Javanese and the natives.

Upon my first arrival I was strongly possessed by the opinion that

the Chinamen were all rascals and thieves—the character so generally

attached to the whole race at home. But to be candid, and looking at

both sides, I would as soon deal with a Chinese merchant in the East

as with one who is European, and I believe the respectable class of

Chinese to be equal in honesty and integrity to the white man.

The Chinese may be nearly as troublesome a people to govern as

Europeans, certainly not more so; and their good qualities, in which

they are not deficient, should be cherished and stimulated, while

their bad ones are regulated by the discipline of the law under a

just and liberal government. They are a people specially amenable to

justice, and are happier under a stringent than a lenient system.

Of the Chinese the _Sarawak Gazette_ (November 1, 1897) says:—

The characteristics of this extraordinary people must at once strike

the minds of the most superficial of European residents in the East.

Their wonderful energy and capacity for work; their power of

accumulating wealth; their peculiar physical powers, which render

them equally fertile, and their children equally vivacious, on the

equator as in more temperate regions, and which enable them to rear

a new race of natives under climatic conditions entirely different

from those under which their forefathers were born, are facts with

which we are all acquainted. Their mental endowments, too, are by no

means to be despised, as nearly every year shows us, when the

results of the examination for the Queen's Scholarship of the

Straits Settlements are published, and some young Chinese boy

departs for England to enter into educational competition with his

European fellows.

Chinese get on well with all natives, with whom they intermarry, the

mixed offspring being a healthy and good-looking type. They form the

merchant, trading, and artisan classes, and they are the only

agriculturists and mine labourers of any worth. Without these people a

tropical country would remain undeveloped.

The only census that appears to have been attempted in Sarawak was taken

in 1871. Judging by the report that was published in the _Gazette_ this

census was made in a very imperfect manner.[39] Of the interior

population it includes Sea-Dayaks, but no means were obtainable for

ascertaining the numbers of Kayans, Kenyahs, and many other tribes that

go to make up the population of the State. It makes no separate mention

of the large coast population of the Melanaus, who were presumably

lumped with the Malays.

The census gives the following figures:—

Malays 52,519

Dayaks 70,849

Chinese 4,947

Indians 364

———————

128,679

Allowed for evasions and omissions

10 per cent 12,867

———————

Total 141,546

The report concedes it was the generally received opinion that the

population was nearer 200,000, and if we include the Kayans, Kenyahs,

etc., and accept the approximate correctness of the above figures, that

estimate would be about correct.

In 1871, the State extended as far as Kedurong Point only, but since

that the territorial area has been nearly doubled. The population is now

estimated at 500,000, though this is probably too liberal a calculation,

and the following is a fairer estimate:—

Coast population, Malays and Melanaus 100,000

Interior population, Land and Sea-Dayaks, Kayans and 250,000

Kenyahs

Interior population other than these 18,000

Chinese population 45,000

Indians, Javanese, Bugis, etc 3,000

———————

416,000

The names by which the various tribes are known are those given to them

by others, mostly by the coast people, or are taken from the name of the

river on which they reside, or from which they came. _Daya_ (as it

should be spelt, and as it is pronounced) in the Melanau and Bruni Malay

dialect means "land," "in-land." So we have _Orang daya_, an inlander.

_Ka-daya-an_ is contracted into _Kayan_; _Ukit_ and _Bukitan_ are from

the Malay word _bukit_—a hill; and _tanjong_ is the Malay for a cape or

a point round which a river sweeps. Hence _Orang Ukit_ or _Bukitan_, a

hill-man,[40] and _Orang Tanjong_, riverside people.

As in ancient Germany the districts were known by the names of the

rivers that watered them, and each was a _gau_, so it is in Borneo,

where the rivers are the roads of communication, and give their names to

the districts and to the people that inhabit them. Indeed, in Borneo one

can see precisely at this day what was the ancient _Gau-verfassung_ in

the German Empire.

The area of Sarawak is about 50,000 square miles, and the coast line

about 500 miles.

The climate is hot and humid; it is especially moist during the N.E.

monsoon, and less so during the S.W. monsoon. The former commences and

the latter ends sometimes early and sometimes late in October, and in

April the seasons again change. The months of most rain are December,

January, and February; from February the rainfall decreases until July,

the month of least rain, and increases gradually after that month. The

average yearly rainfall is 160 inches. The maximum in any one year,

225.95 inches, was recorded in 1882, and the minimum 102.4 in 1888. The

heaviest rainfall for one month, 69.25 inches, occurred in January,

1881, and the least, .66 inches, in August, 1877. The most in one day

was 15.3 inches on February 8, 1876. Rain falls on an average 226 days

in the year. These notes are taken from observations made in Kuching

extending over thirty years.[41] At Sibu, the average rainfall for five

years was 116 inches, at Baram 92 inches, and at Trusan 167 inches.

Except in the sun at mid-day and during the early hours of the afternoon

the heat is hardly ever oppressive, and the mornings, evenings and

nights are generally cool. In 1906, the maximum average temperature was

91°.6, and the minimum 71°.2 Fahrenheit; the highest reading was 94° in

May, and the lowest 69°.6 in July.[42]

In few countries are thunderstorms more severe than in Borneo, but

deaths from lightning are not very common, and hail falls so rarely that

when it does fall it is an awe-inspiring object to some natives.

Archdeacon Perham records that during a very severe hailstorm in 1874

some Dayaks collected the hailstones under the impression that they were

rare charms, whilst others fled from their house, believing that

everybody and everything in it would be turned into a petrified rock, a

woeful monument to future generations. To avert this catastrophe they

boiled the hailstones and burnt locks of their hair.[43]

[Illustration:

SATANG ISLANDS, DATU BAY.]

-----

Footnote 7:

The name Borneo is a corruption of Burni, itself a corruption of

Beruni or Bruni, the capital of that ancient but now decayed Sultanate

bearing the same name, and of which Sarawak, and a great part of

British North Borneo, once formed parts. It was the first place in

Borneo with which the Spanish and Portuguese had any dealings, and in

their old chronicles it is referred to as Burni, and Borneo

subsequently became the distinguishing name of the whole island to

Europeans. The natives themselves have none, except perhaps the

doubtful one of Pulau Ka-lamanta-an, the island of raw sago, so named

in recent times by the merchants and traders of the Straits

Settlements as being the island from which that commodity was brought,

and in those settlements it has since become the native name for

Borneo. But in Sarawak this name is known to the Malays alone, and in

other parts of Borneo, perhaps only a few have heard of it. In fact,

it is applicable to Sarawak only, for in former days sago was exported

to the Straits solely from that country, and the trade was carried on

by Sarawak Malays, first with Penang and subsequently with Singapore.

An old English map of about 1700 gives to the town of Bruni, as well

as to the whole island, the name of Borneo. Mercator (1595) also gives

Borneo to both.

Bruni is variously spelt Brunai, Brunei, Bruné, Borneo, Borney,

Bornei, Porne, and Burni by old writers; all corruptions of Bruni. The

Sanskrit word Bhurni, meaning land or country, has been suggested as

the origin of the name.

Footnote 8:

See page 34.

Footnote 9:

Everett (A. Hart). "Notes on the Distribution of the Useful Minerals

in Sarawak," in the _Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal

Asiatic Society_, 1878. Mr. Everett was a distinguished naturalist. He

served for eight years in the Sarawak service, and died in 1898.

Footnote 10:

Odoardo Beccari, _Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo_, 1904.

Footnote 11:

Probably the first European to discover these strange insects was the

Italian Pigafetta, who in 1521 noticed them in the island of Palawan,

to the north of Borneo, and thus quaintly describes them: "In this

island are found certain trees, the leaves of which, when they fall

off, are animated, and walk." He surmised they lived upon air.—

_Magellan, Hakluyt Society._

Footnote 12:

St. John mentions one that was killed at Brooketon 26 feet 2 inches in

length.—_Life in the Forests of the Far East_, 1863.

Footnote 13:

With regard to the collection of orchids it has also been found

necessary to do this. Collectors would ruthlessly destroy all orchids,

especially the rarer kinds, which they could not carry away, in order

to prevent others from collecting these.

Footnote 14:

In about 1825 a large bone was found in a cave at Bau which was

pronounced to be that of an elephant. These animals are common in

parts of N. Borneo, and Pigafetta found them at Bruni in 1521.

Footnote 15:

The _Ptilocercus Lowii_, only found in Borneo. It has been awarded a

genus all to itself, and is one of the rarest of Bornean curiosities.—

J. Hewitt, _Sarawak Gazette_, September 1, 1908.

Footnote 16:

"According to Mr. Boulanger, Borneo can boast of producing the longest

legged frog and the longest legged toad in the world."—_Idem._

Footnote 17:

"Mr. St. John (_Forests of the Far East_, p. 190) mentions stones or

pebbles of a dark colour considered by the natives as sacred. Some

such, found at Quop, were said to have been lost during the civil

wars. They are possibly paleolithic implements."—Beccari, _op. cit._

p. 367.

Footnote 18:

The late Rajah wrote in 1838: "We know scarcely anything of these

varieties of the human race beyond the bare fact of their existence."

We have since learnt something of their languages and customs; of

their origin nothing.

Footnote 19:

Mr. F. D. de Rozario. The _Sarawak Gazette_, September 2, 1901. Mr. de

Rozario, the officer in charge of Kapit Fort, has been in the

Government service for some fifty years, of which nearly all have been

spent in the Upper Rejang, and his knowledge of the natives, their

customs and languages, is unique.

Footnote 20:

See note 2, page 18.

Footnote 21:

The Indra Lila (brother of the Lila Pelawan, who was the present

Rajah's Malay chief at Lingga over fifty years ago), was their chief.

Trouble arose owing to Akam Nipa, the celebrated Kayan chief, who will

be noticed hereafter, having fallen in love with a Malay girl of rank.

His suit being rejected, he threatened to forcibly abduct the lady, a

threat which he could have carried out with ease, so the Malays fled

with her to Lingga. This occurred some eighty years ago.

Footnote 22:

One of Magellan's chroniclers records that in 1521 men were found in

Gilo (Gilolo or Jilolo, to the east of, and near to the Celebes),

"with ears so long and pendulous that they reached to their

shoulders."—_Magellan, Hakluyt Society._ Marsden, _History of

Sumatra_, says that the people of Neas island off the west coast of

Sumatra elongate their ears in the same manner; so do the Sagais of

Belungan. The sculptures above mentioned, and the fact that this

curious custom still exists in southern India, point to it being one

of Hindu origin.

Footnote 23:

Human sacrifices are still in vogue amongst the Kayans and Kenyahs in

the Batang Kayan and Mahkam rivers.

Footnote 24:

The Kajamans, Sekapans, Sians, and Lanans are said to have been the

first to cross over from the Bantang Kayan (Belungan) into the Balui

(Rejang). They were probably then one tribe.

Footnote 25:

_Muka_ is the Malay for face. The word has been carried into the

English language as mug, contemptuously "an ugly mug," from the

Sanskrit word _muhka_, the face.

Footnote 26:

Mr. E. A. W. Cox, formerly Resident of the Trusan, and latterly of the

Bintulu, says the Kadayan tradition is that many generations back they

were brought from Deli in Sumatra by a former Sultan of Bruni. They

have always been the immediate followers of the sultans, forming their

main bodyguard. They have no distinctive language of their own, and

talk a low Bruni patois; their dress is peculiar; and their system of

rice cultivation is far in advance of all other Borneans.

Footnote 27:

The Hindu sacred bull.

Footnote 28:

Writing of the _Rafflesia_, "those extraordinary parasitical plants,

whose huge and startling conspicuous flowers spring from the ground

like gigantic mushrooms," Beccari (_op. cit._ p. 102) says, "The

Land-Dayaks called the variety he found at Poi (and which he named R.

Tuan-Mudæ, in honour of the present Rajah) 'Bua pakma'; evidently a

corruption of 'patma' or 'padma,' the sacred lotus (_Nelumbian

speciosum_) of the Hindus, which is not a native of Borneo. This is,

no doubt, one of the many traces of the ancient faith once professed

by the Dayaks, who have preserved the memory of the emblematical

flower, transferring its name to that of another plant conspicuous for

its size and singular appearance. In Java, as well as in Sumatra, the

_Rafflesia_ is known as 'Patma'; but there the fact is not surprising,

for the prevalence of Hinduism in those islands is a matter of not

very remote history." Pakma or patma is the Malay name for the lotus.

The late Sir Hugh Low notes that the Land-Dayaks, who (in common with

most of the inland tribes) regulate their farming seasons by the

motions of the Pleiades, call that constellation _Sakara_, probably

from the _Batara Sakra_ of the Hindu-Javan mythology, to whose

particular care the earth was confided.—_Sarawak._

Hindu gold ornaments and a Persian coin, bearing a date corresponding

with the year 960 A.D., have been discovered up the Sarawak river, and

some in the centre of the Land-Dayak country, which shows that the

people of the ancient Hindu-Javan settlement at Santubong must have

spread into the interior, and have mixed with the natives.

Footnote 29:

Afterwards Admiral of the Fleet.

Footnote 30:

Disappointment in marriage and unkindness or harshness on the part of

relatives are common causes of suicide by man or woman, but the most

common motive is shame, particularly in cases of an unmarried woman,

when _enceinte_, being unable to prove to the tribe who the father of

her child is. A whole family has been known to poison themselves to

escape the consequences and disgrace which would have befallen them

owing to one of them having been the accidental cause of a long

communal house being destroyed by fire. Suicide is invariably

committed by eating the poisonous root of the tuba plant, _derris

elliptica_.

Footnote 31:

The worst on record in Sarawak was committed in 1894 by a half-bred

Chinaman (his mother was a Segalang, and he was brought up as one) at

Seduan village, three miles from Sibu, in the Rejang. This man, who

had just been discharged from jail, arose in the middle of the night,

and speared or cut down all the inmates of the house—thirteen women

and children, of whom only two or three survived. He was shot by Mr.

Q. A. Buck, then the Resident at Sibu (joined 1874, retired 1899), who

was quickly on the spot, and was the means of preventing a further

loss of life.

Footnote 32:

The Sea-Dayaks say that they were constructed by the gods when they

made the sky, out of a small surplus of the blue.

Footnote 33:

St. John, _op. cit._, mentions that the late Sultan Mumin of Bruni had

an ancient jar which was reputed to be able to speak, and that it

moaned sorrowfully the night before his first wife died. He refused

£2000 for it.

Footnote 34:

_Naga_, a dragon; _benaga_, having a dragon.

Footnote 35:

Meaning a deer in Malay and Sea-Dayak.

Footnote 36:

A misprint for "Tunggang."

Footnote 37:

Late Resident-General of the Federated Malay States.

Footnote 38:

This was written in 1866.

Footnote 39:

Amongst Eastern people any attempt to make a systematic census is

liable to be misapprehended, and to give rise to a bad feeling, and

even to dangerous scares, and for that reason no census has been made

by the Government. This census was an approximation based upon the

amount paid in direct taxation, such as head and door taxes, allowing

an average of so many people to a family.

Footnote 40:

And so _Orang-Murut_ means a hill-man, _murut_, or more correctly

_murud_, meaning a hill—_bulud_ in _Sulu_.

Footnote 41:

Mr. J. Hewitt, B.A., Curator of the Sarawak Museum in the _Sarawak

Gazette_, February 2, 1906.

Footnote 42:

Kuching Observatory.

Footnote 43:

The _Sarawak Gazette_.

[Illustration:

FROM MERCATOR'S MAP.]