Reflections on the new year.--The plundered village, and other
wrongs.--Means for their suppression.--The new government
proceeds to act.--The constitution.--Preparations for an
expedition against the Sea Dyaks.--Form of a treaty.--Wreck of
the Viscount Melbourne.--Administration of justice.--Difficulties
and dangers.--Dyak troubles.--Views and arrangements of the
Chinese.--Judicial forms.--Wrongs and sufferings of the Lundus.
"_Jan. 1st, 1842._--The past year is in the bosom of eternity,
into which bourne we are all hurrying. Here we have no merry-making,
no reunion of families, no bright fires or merry games, to mark the
advent of 1842; but we have genial weather, and are not pinched by
cold or frost. This is a year which to me must be eventful; for at its
close I shall be able to judge whether I can maintain myself against
all the circumstances and difficulties which beset me, or whether
I must retreat, broken in fortune, to some retirement in my native
land. I look with calmness on the alternative, and God knows no selfish
motives weigh on me; and if I fail, my chief regret will be for the
natives of this unhappy country. Let the year roll on, let the months
pass; and whatever they bring--whether it be life or death, fortune
or poverty--I am prepared; and in the deep solitude of my present
existence I can safely say that I believe I could bear misfortune
better than prosperity. In this, probably, I am not singular; for
there is something in prosperity which, if it does not make us worse,
makes us more foolish and more worldly--which decks passing time with
wreaths of gay flowers, and gilds the things of this life with tinsel
hopes and wishes, to the exclusion of the pure gold of reflection for
the life to come. What are all these gewgaws, these artificial flowers,
these momentary joys, these pleasures of the sense, before the war
of time? Nothing! And yet, if exertion can benefit our race, or even
our own country--if the sum of human misery can be alleviated--if
these suffering people can be raised in the scale of civilization and
happiness--it is a cause in which I could suffer, it is a cause in
which I _have_ suffered and _do suffer_; hemmed in, beset, anxious,
perplexed, and the good intent marred by false agents--surrounded
by weakness, treachery, falsehood, and folly, is suffering enough;
and to feel myself on the threshold of success, and only withheld by
the want of adequate means, increases this suffering. Hail, however,
1842! Come good, come ill, still hail! and many as are the light
hearts which have already greeted thee, mine will be more ready to
bow to the decrees of Providence which thy twelve months will develop.
"_Jan. 3d._--I have mentioned that the Sanpro had been attacked from
Sadong; and I now learn that, at the time, the men were out of the
village, and thus the women and children alone suffered; twenty-two
have been carried away into slavery. The village was burned after
being plundered, and the unfortunate people have since been living
in the jungle, with only such food as they could get there. The head
of the tribe and about six of his followers came down the river on a
raft to ask assistance from me, and I had the story from them. They
were relieved as far as my means admitted, and returned far happier
than they came. The very same day arrived news that six men of the
Sows were cut off by a wandering party of the Sakarrans.
"This leads me naturally to consider the means by which these
atrocities may be prevented. I propose first to send letters to
Seriff Sahib of Sadong, Seriff Muller of Sakarran, and Seriff Jaffer
of Singe, stating that I wish to be on good terms with my neighbors,
but am determined to attack any place which sends Dyaks to rob in my
country; and that I call on them to restrain their subjects from making
incursions here. In case this warning is neglected, I must strike one
blow suddenly, as a farther warning, and keep a good lookout at sea to
destroy any Dyak fleet that may be prowling outside. A good-sized boat,
with a six-pounder and a swivel or two, will effect the latter object,
backed by two or four light, fast-pulling boats, with musketry, which,
when the Dyak prahus fly, may keep pace with them and thin their
pullers, till the heavier boat can come up. To carry one of their
campongs, I must have twenty-five Europeans, and from some thirty to
fifty Bugis, who, coming from Singapore, may proceed at once to Sadong,
or, rather, the campong Tangi. Seriff Sahib is a great freebooter,
and dispatches his retainers to attack the weak tribes here for the
sake of the slaves, calculating, on the rajah's presumed weakness,
that he can do so with impunity. He may find himself mistaken.
"Seriff Muller is a brother of Seriff Sahib, and lives at Sakarran,
which powerful Dyak tribe are always willing to be sent by either
brother on a forage for heads and slaves. It is certain, however,
that they could never come from the Sadong side without Seriff Sahib's
permission; and on the late attack on Sanpro they were accompanied
by a party of Malays.
"Seriff Jaffer is by no means mixed up with these brothers, and there
is no love lost between them; nor would he, I think, do anything to
annoy me. This is the foreign policy.
"The domestic policy is as disturbed as the foreign. The rajah weak,
Macota intriguing, and my ministers--viz., the Patingi (Abong Mia),
the Bandar, and Tumangong--all false and foolish, and Macota's men;
with me, however, are the Siniawans.
"_Jan. 6th._--The Sambas brig returned, having been baffled and beat
about, and nearly lost at sea, unable to weather Tanjong Datu. The
crew say she was one hour under water. She now remains here to wait
the change of the monsoon, and her intriguing Pangerans return by land.
"_8th._--Seriff Hussein returned from Sambas, having been nearly
stabbed while there. The assassins, it was understood, were here,
and I endeavored to apprehend them; but, having heard of the seriff's
arrival, they made off.
"_10th._--This day the first laws and regulations are to be promulgated
in Sarawak; and as the event is a rare one, I here inscribe a copy
for the benefit of future legislators, observing that there is an
absolute necessity for mildness and patience, and that an opposite
course would raise such a host of enemies as to crush every good seed;
for, as it is, the gentlest course of justice brings down much odium,
and arouses intense dislike among a people who have had no law but
their own vile intrigues to guide or control them.
"Two cases have lately come to notice, which will serve as examples
of their singular crimes.
"One poor man owed another sixteen reals, and the debtor was away
trading for a few days, when the creditor sold the daughter (a free
woman) for thirty reals, to a person of influence.
"The second case, a respectable man, or a respectably born man, owed
a Pangeran fifty peculs of ore, and proposed to make over to him in
payment, a slave woman and her four children. The woman _had been_
a slave of his grandfather's, but was adopted as his daughter, and
enfranchised publicly; yet by intimidation, they were near getting
her and her offspring. Here the Pangerans and Nakodas bully a man
into silence and acquiescence; and the people dare not, as yet, bring
their complaints to me. But I hear these things, call the parties
together, and often prevent the commission of a premeditated crime;
by which means I save myself from the odium of punishing.
"There is great difficulty in acting at once with temper and firmness,
so as to appear the benefactor rather than the tyrant. It is, indeed,
an arduous and troublesome task; but _I think I see_ a ray of light
to encourage me.
"Here are the regulations, which I had printed at Singapore in the
Malayan language:--
"James Brooke, esquire, governor (rajah), of the country of Sarawak,
makes known to all men the following regulations:--
"'1st. That murder, robbery, and other heinous crimes will be punished
according to the ondong-ondong (_i.e._ the written law of Borneo);
and no person committing such offences will escape, if, after fair
inquiry, he be proved guilty.
"'2d. In order to insure the good of the country, all men, whether
Malays, Chinese, or Dyaks, are permitted to trade or labor according
to their pleasure, and to enjoy their gains.
"'3d. All roads will be open, that the inhabitants at large may seek
profit both by sea or by land; and all boats coming from others are
free to enter the river and depart, without let or hinderance.
"'4th. Trade, in all its branches, will be free, with the exception
of antimony ore, which the governor holds in his own hands, but which
no person is forced to work, and which will be paid for at a proper
price when obtained. The people are encouraged to trade and labor, and
to enjoy the profits which are to be made by fair and honest dealing.
"'5th. It is ordered that no person going among the Dyaks shall
disturb them, or gain their goods under false pretences. It must be
clearly explained to the different Dyak tribes, that the revenue will
be collected by the three Datus, bearing the seal of the governor;
and (except this yearly demand from the government) they are to give
nothing to any person; nor are they obliged to sell their goods except
they please and at their own prices.
"'6th. The governor will shortly inquire into the revenue, and fix
it at a proper rate; so that every one may know certainly how much
he has to contribute yearly to support the government.
"'7th. It will be necessary, likewise, to settle the weights, measures,
and money current in the country, and to introduce doits, that the
poor may purchase food cheaply.
"'8th. The governor issues these commands, and will enforce obedience
to them; and while he gives all protection and assistance to the
persons who act rightly, he will not fail to punish those who seek
to disturb the public peace or commit crimes; and he warns all such
persons to seek their safety, and find some other country where they
may be permitted to break the laws of God and man.'
"_Jan. 11th._--I have frequently said that all law and custom have
been long banished from this country; but I may here retrace the
customs which once obtained, the best of which I wish to restore.
"The inhabitants were all considered the property of the sultan--serfs
rather than slaves--and were divided into four classes. Imprimis, the
Dyaks (the aborigines); the Bruni, or people of the soil, probably
the descendants of the first Malay emigrants; the Awang-Awang, the
meaning of which I am ignorant of; and the Hamba Rajah, or rajah's
slaves. There is every reason to believe the Dyaks are an aboriginal
people; but between the Bruni and Awang-Awang it is difficult to
decide the priority. The Hamba Rajah speaks for itself.
"These three distinctions have been long confounded by intermarriage;
and the names rather than the reality are retained. The governors
of the country are the Patingi, a Bandar, and a Tumangong, who are
appointed from Borneo. Each of the classes was formerly ruled by its
particular officer, and the Dyaks were appropriated likewise among
them; the Patingi holding the tribes on the right-hand river, the
Bandar to the left, and the Tumangong on the sea-coast. The annual
revenue paid to Borneo was 300 reals; but they were subject to extra
demands, and to the extortions of the powerful chiefs.
"The government of the Dyaks I have already detailed; and though we
might hope that in a more settled state of things they would have been
more secure from foreign pillage, yet they were annually deprived
of the proceeds of their labor, debarred from trade, and deprived
of every motive to encourage industry. The character of their rulers
for humanity alone fixed the measure of their suffering, and bad was
the best; but it seems to be a maxim among all classes of Malays,
that force alone can keep the Dyaks in proper subjection; which is
so far true, that force alone, and the hopelessness of resistance,
could induce a wild people to part with the food on which they
depend for subsistence. At a distance I have heard of and pitied
the sufferings of the negroes and the races of New Holland--yet
it was the cold feeling dictated by reason and humanity; but now,
having witnessed the miseries of a race superior to either, the
feeling glows with the fervor of personal commiseration: so true is
it that visible misery will raise us to exertion, which the picture,
however powerfully delineated, can never produce. The thousands
daily knelled out of the world, who lie in gorgeous sepulchres, or
rot unburied on the surface of the earth, excite no emotion compared
to that conjured up by the meanest dead at our feet. We read of tens
of thousands killed and wounded in battle, and the glory of their
deeds, or the sense of their defeat attracts our sympathy; but if a
single mangled warrior, ghastly with wounds and writhing with pain,
solicited our aid, we should deplore his fate with tenfold emotion,
and curse the strife which led to such a result. Among the thousands
starving for want of food we trouble not ourselves to seek one; but
if the object is presented before our eyes, how certain a compassion
is aroused! To assist is a duty; but in the performance of this duty,
to be gentle and feeling is god-like; and probably between individuals,
there is no greater distinction than in this tender sympathy toward
distress. Poor, poor Dyaks! exposed to starvation, slavery, death! you
may well raise the warmest feelings of compassion--enthusiasm awakes
at witnessing your sufferings! To save men from death has its merit;
but to alleviate suffering, to ameliorate all the ills of slavery, to
protect these tribes from pillage and yearly scarcity, is far nobler;
and if, in the endeavor to do so, one poor life is sacrificed, how
little is it in the vast amount of human existence!
"_18th._--A Chinese boat with four men was chased into the river by
four Dyak prahus, and escaped with difficulty. On the intelligence
reaching me, I, with some trouble, mustered three canoes, and we
proceeded down, about one o'clock in the morning, in search of the
enemy. After rowing in the dark for some hours, we discovered a
light gliding up the river, and gave chase, but did not succeed; and
at daybreak returned, wet and tired, without seeing anything more,
when we learnt that the chase was a Sarawak boat, which, mistaking
us for Dyaks, as we did them, pulled with all speed home, and gave
the alarm of being nearly captured.
"In the evening I ordered a fine boat to be prepared for the war
with Sarebus and Sakarran, which appears to me inevitable; as it
is impossible, laying all motives of humanity aside, to allow these
piratical tribes to continue their depredations, which are inconsistent
with safety, and a bar to all trade along the coast. Eighty prahus
of Sarebus and Sakarran are reported to be ready, and waiting for
further reinforcements before putting to sea.
"_19th._--Information of three more of my Dyaks being cut off in the
interior by the predatory tribes.
"_20th._--Opened the subject of restoring the old Patingi, Bandar, and
Tumangong, and found Muda Hassim quite willing, but wishing to wait
till he hears from Borneo; at the same time telling me that I might
employ them in their respective situations. This matter I consider,
therefore, settled; and as these men are natives, and have the command
of all the common people, and are, moreover, willing to serve under
me, I conceive it a great advance in my government. Since my return
here they have proved themselves faithful and ready; but though true
in adversity, will they continue equally so in prosperity? I hope the
best from them, especially as their circumstances will be easy; and I
will endeavor to pay them as much as I can. Pay well, and men may be
trusted. Either way, it is a great advance; for every change will not
occur immediately; and, in the mean time, I shall be strengthened by
in-comers, especially Chinese, so that the parties may be balanced, and
each look to me as the link which holds them together. The government
must be a patchwork between good and evil, abolishing only so much of
the latter as is consistent with safety. But never must I appear in the
light of a reformer, political or religious; for to the introduction
of new customs, apparently trivial, and the institution of new forms,
however beneficial, the disgust of the semi-barbarous races may be
traced. People settled like myself too often try to create a Utopia,
and end with a general confusion. The feeling of the native which binds
him to his chief is destroyed, and no other principle is substituted
in its stead; and as the human mind more easily learns ill than good,
they pick up the vices of their governors without their virtues, and
their own good qualities disappear, the bad of both races remaining
without the good of either.
"We are in active preparation to fit out a fleet to meet the
piratical Dyaks. The rajah has a fine prahu, which I have taken in
hand to repair, and I have purchased a second; and the two, with
three or four small canoes, will be able to cope with a hundred or
a hundred and fifty Dyak boats. The largest of these boats is worth
a description. Fifty-six feet in length and eight in breadth; built
with a great sheer, so as to raise the bow and stern out of the water,
and pulling thirty paddles, she is a dangerous customer when mounting
four swivels and carrying a crew of twenty men with small arms. She is
called the 'Snake,' or 'Ular.' The second boat, somewhat shorter and
less fast, is named the 'Dragon;' her complement of paddles twenty, and
her fighting-men twenty, make one hundred and forty in, two boats. The
long canoes carry fifteen men each, which will bring the force up to
one hundred and eighty-five; and one boat of the rajah's will complete
two hundred men, of whom nearly one hundred are armed with muskets.
"To show the system of these people, I may mention that one of the
principal men proposed to me to send to Sakarran and Sarebus, and
intimate that I was about to attack Siquong (a large interior tribe),
and invite them to assist. 'They will all come,' he said: 'nothing
they will like so well; and when they are up the Samarahan river, we
will sally forth, attack; and destroy them at one blow.' My answer was,
that I could not deceive; but if they did come, I would attack them.
"_Feb. 1st._--Matari, or 'the Sun,' the Sakarran chief I have already
mentioned, arrived with two boats, and paid me several visits. He
assured me he wanted to enter into an agreement, to the effect that
neither should injure the other. To this treaty I was obliged to
add the stipulation, that he was neither to pirate by sea nor by
land, and not to go, under any pretence, into the interior of the
country. His shrewdness and cunning were remarkably displayed. He
began by inquiring, if a tribe, either Sakarran or Sarebus, pirated on
my territory, what I intended to do. My answer was, 'To enter their
country and lay it waste.' But he asked me again, 'You will give me,
your friend, leave to steal a few heads occasionally?' 'No,' I replied,
'you cannot take a single head; you cannot enter the country: and
if you or your countrymen do, I will have a hundred Sakarran heads
for every one you take here.' He recurred to this request several
times: 'just to steal one or two!' as a schoolboy would ask for
apples. There is no doubt that the two tribes of Sakarran and Sarebus
are greatly addicted to head-hunting, and consider the possession as
indispensable. The more a man has, the greater his honor and rank; nor
is there anything without to check or ameliorate this barbarous habit;
for the Malays of all classes, on this coast, take the same pride in
heads as the Dyaks themselves, with the exception that they do not
place them in their houses, or attach any superstitious ideas to them.
"I asked Matari what was the solemn form of agreement among his tribes;
and he assured me the most solemn was drinking each other's blood,
in which case it was considered they were brothers; but pledging the
blood of fowls was another and less solemn form.
"On the 26th of January the Royalist's boat, with Captain Hart and
Mr. Penfold, second mate, of the Viscount Melbourne, arrived here. The
reason, it appears, of the Royalist coming was, to seek the missing
crew of the Viscount Melbourne, a large ship wrecked on the Luconia
shoal. The captain in the launch, with some Coolies; the first and
third mates, with Colonel Campbell of the 37th, M.N.I., in a cutter;
the second mate, Mr. Penfold, and the surgeon, in the second cutter;
a fourth boat with twenty-five Lascars, and the jolly-boat, making
in all five boats, left the vessel well provisioned, and steered in
company for the coast, which they made somewhere between Borneo and
Tanjong Barram. The fourth boat was missed the night they made the
land; and being all at anchor, and the weather fine, it was strongly
suspected that the twenty-five Lascars deserted with her.
"The other four boats proceeded a day or two, when the first cutter,
with Colonel Campbell on board, went in the evening in search of water;
and though the rest showed lights all night, returned no more. They
were, on the following day, attacked by a prahu, which fired into
them and severely wounded one man, and succeeded in capturing the
jolly-boat; but finding nothing in her, set her on fire--Lascars and
all. The crew, however, was rescued, and she was abandoned; and the
two remaining boats, in course of time, arrived at Singapore. The
Royalist was taken up by government to seek the missing boats, and
just touched here for an hour or two, the boat coming up while the
vessel kept the sea.
"_Feb. 9th._--Mr. Williamson returned from Sanpro, where I sent
him to watch a party of natives who had gone among the Dyaks; the
Panglima Sadome, of the tribe of Sanpro, came with him, and brought
the lamentable account of the death of eight more Dyaks, cut off by
the Sakarrans. It frets me dreadfully; however, on the whole I see
a vast improvement, and a degree of confidence in me arising among
the Dyaks, greater than I expected.
"_14th._--I have now entered on the most difficult task, and the one
most likely to cause an ultimate failure in my undertaking, but which
is indispensably necessary. I mean, the administration of justice. As
long as my laws are applied to the people of the country, there is
no trouble; but directly _equal_ justice is administered, it causes
heartburn and evasion; the rajahs and Pangerans are surrounded by
a gang of followers who heretofore have robbed, plundered, and even
murdered, without inquiry being made. It was enough that a follower
of the rajah was concerned, to hush up all wrongs; and any of the
oppressed, who were bold enough to lodge a complaint, were sure to
rue it. All the rascals and ruffians who follow the great men find
this species of protection the best and the only reward; and as the
slaves are looked upon as personal property, any punishment inflicted
upon them is likewise inflicted upon their masters. I have all along
foreseen these obstacles, and the necessity of at once combating
them--whether successfully or not signifies little; but they must be
encountered, and the result left to the Almighty.
"Equal justice is the groundwork of society; and unless it can be
administered, there can be no hope of ultimate improvement. The
country may have bad laws; but such laws as it has must be enforced,
gently and mildly as may be toward the superiors, but strictly toward
the guilty; and all crimes coming under my cognizance must meet
with their punishment. These remarks are preliminary to two cases,
in which the rajah's followers have been concerned.
"The first of these was a man stealing sago, which is stored without
the houses at the water's edge; he was convicted. The other occurred
some time since, but has only just been traced. A party at night
gutted a house, getting a booty of upward of 200 reals; the goods
have been discovered; but the three followers of the rajah have
absconded since the affair has been blown; whether to return or not
is uncertain. There can be no doubt, however, that they have been sent
away to keep clear of the consequences, by one of the rajah's brothers
named Abdul Khadir, who, when they were off, accused two accomplices,
people of the country!
"Another most shameful mode of exaction and tyranny is practiced
by these Borneo people, particularly their Nakodas. It consists in
lending small sums of money to the natives (that is, Sarawak people),
and demanding interest at the rate of fifty per cent per month; by this
means a small sum is quickly converted into one which is quite out
of the power of the poor man to pay; and he, his wife, and children,
are taken to the house of the creditor to work for him, while the debt
still accumulates, and the labor is endless. I intend to strike at
this slavery in disguise, but not just yet; the suppression of robbery,
the criminal department of justice, being more immediately important.
"_15th._--I may, in continuation of yesterday, mention another instance
in illustration of this oppressive system. Si Pata (a Siniawan), son
of the Tumangong, lost in gambling to Nakoda Ursat eighteen reals,
which in eighteen months has now arisen to a debt of 170 reals; but
all prospect of payment of such an accumulated sum being impossible
from a poor man, Nakoda Ursat consigns the debt to Pangeran Abdul
Khadir, who can demand it by fair means or by foul; and if Si Pata
cannot pay, make his father pay. Thus a gambling transaction is run
up to ten times its original amount, and a whole family involved in
distress by these iniquitous proceedings. Such things must not be;
and odious as they seem to a European, and indignant as they make
him, yet he must not proceed with the strong hand. Reflection, too,
teaches us that vice is comparative; and in forming a judgment, we
must not forget a man's education, the society in which he lives,
the absence of restraint, and the force of example from childhood;
so that what would be heinous in a Christian long under a settled
government, is light by comparison in a Malay, who is a nominal
professor of Islam, and brought up with the idea that might makes
right, and has no one external cause to deter him from crime.
"_March 12th._--On the whole getting on very well, but with many
reasons for vexation, and more for anxiety. The chief of these is,
whether Mr. Bonham will come here, as I have suggested, or rather
pressed. Another feature of inquietude is from the Chinese of Sipang,
who certainly aim at greater power than I shall allow them, and
perhaps, some day or other, it will come to a struggle.
"Petty troubles I do not reckon, though there are enow on all sides,
and for the last few days I have felt as if sinking under them;
but that is not my usual temperament. I now look impatiently for
intelligence. Blow, fair breezes, and waft Royalist here!
"_25th._--A period of wearing uncertainty since my last, having news
neither of the Royalist nor of Mr. Bonham, and kept on the _qui vive_
by a schooner or two at the entrance of the river. The plot thickens
in and around; and for the sake of keeping up a register of events in
something like order, I will here mention the leading features. Seriff
Sahib, of Sadong, pretends to be friendly, but is treacherous in his
heart, as is his brother, Seriff Muller of Sakarran. We have been
quite clear of Dyaks, and our own tribes enjoying rest and peace;
and one tribe from without, namely Serang, has come in and claimed my
protection. The only tribe at all troublesome is the Singe, the chief
of which (the Orang Kaya Parembam) is decidedly opposed to me, and
swears by Macota. I am given to believe, however, that the majority
of his people do not agree with him; and I shall dispossess him of
his dignity, and substitute a friendly chief. The Singe Dyaks are
the most powerful and numerous in my territory, and the only ones
who have not been attacked and plundered by the Sakarrans.
"At Lundu are the Sibnowan Dyaks, under the Orang Kaya Tumangong; and
the Lundu Dyaks, once a flourishing tribe, now, by ill-treatment of
all sorts, reduced to twenty persons. I may mention among my other
difficulties, that many, nay most, of the Dyak tribes are held
as _private property_: any rascally Borneon making a present to
the sultan, gets a grant of a Dyak tribe, originally to rule, now
to plunder or sell; and in this way the portion of the Sibnowans
settled at Lundu are under Bandar Sumsu; but, being a resolute
people, he cannot do them much wrong. This Bandar Sumsu has lately
been disturbing the Lundu Dyaks in the following manner: a Sibnowan
Dyak lived with the Lundu Dyaks, which gave him an opening to demand
of the Lundus the sum of fifty reals (100 rupees), which was paid;
but unluckily the Sibnowan died in the course of a few months, still
with the Lundus, and a farther sum of eighty reals, or 160 rupees,
was demanded, which not being raised, the daughter of one of the head
people was seized, and sold for that sum to a Chinaman!
"Pangeran Macota has likewise been injuring these poor people,
though I shall find it difficult to bring it home to him. His agent,
Bandar Dowud (a man involved in debt), took fifteen Dyak cloths and
sold them, or rather forced them to take them, at an exorbitant rate;
in a month or two after, he returns and demands 200 reals over and
above the large price already paid for articles worth seven or eight
reals; the poor Dyaks not being able to pay, he seizes the chief's
daughter (a married woman), and demands four other women in lieu
of the sum. Happily for the poor Dyaks, this news came to my ears,
and I sent to Lundu in haste. They had all fled, having _stolen_
their two women, one from each Bandar, and carried them away. On the
Patingi and Tumangong reaching Lundu, they found two of the tribe, one
the Pangeran, the other the father of the girl sold to the Chinaman,
after a long search in the jungle. These two men I have now with me,
and wait for the Orang Kaya Tumangong before going into the case. The
Pangeran is the same Dyak whose conversation I have detailed at large
on my first visit to the place. He is a man of intelligence; and this
tribe (if it may yet be so called) has always borne the character of
being the most hospitable and generous among the Dyaks. I may at some
future time revert to them.
"There is a rumor of war between the Sarebus and Sakarran Dyaks, in
consequence of the former tribe seizing a Balow woman on the territory
of the latter, and refusing to restore her. Let these two predatory
tribes employ and weaken one another, and it will be well for us and
all the other people of this country, and they will afterward be the
more easily brought into subjection.
"From Borneo we have news, but as uncertain as everything else
regarding the capital. A hundred vessels, it is reported, are coming
to attack them; and they, in consequence, are building _a fort_. The
Royalist had been there and departed.
"Pangeran Usop, it is said, was about to come here, when the arrival
of the Royalist induced him to postpone his design.
"There is every reason to believe that the Chinese of Sambas,
particularly those of Montrado, are extremely dissatisfied; and a
report yesterday states that a man sent by the sultan to demand gold
had been killed by them, and that the sultan's letter to the Kunsi,
after being defiled, was publicly burned. Our own Chinese of Sipang are
certainly intriguing with Sambas; and, as the rajah well expresses it,
'their clothes-box is here, but their treasure-chest is at Sambas.'
"It is impossible to say what quantity of gold the Kunsi may get;
but their pretence that they _get none_ must be false, when every
common Malay obtains from half to one bunkal per month.
"To counteract the chance of evil, I have intimated that the Simbock
Kunsi are to come here; and on the whole, they (of Sipang) have taken
it more quietly than I expected. They are not in a state for war;
but they have vague notions and intentions provided they can keep out
opposition, to make this place subservient to them, as it would indeed
be, provided they were allowed to strengthen themselves while the other
parties remained stationary. But 'divide and rule' is a good motto in
my case; and the Chinese have overlooked the difference between this
country and Sambas. There they have numerous rivers in the vicinity
of their settlements--here but one; and, the Dyak population being
against them, starvation would soon reduce them to terms. The Royalist
arrived about the end of March, and sailed again on the 9th April.
"I have before mentioned the difficulty of administering justice;
and experience teaches me that the risk to myself, on this score,
is more to be apprehended than on any other. The forms I have not
much alluded to; and the following is as nearly as possible the Malay
custom:--The rajah's brothers and myself sit at one end of the long
room in my house; at the sides are the Patingis and Tumangong, and
other respectable people; in the center the parties concerned; and,
behind them, anybody who wishes to be present. We hear both parties;
question, if necessary; and decide--and from this decision there is
no appeal. One only condition I insist upon; and that is, that in
any intricate case, or whenever I dread confederacy, I do not allow
the witnesses to hear each other. The laws of evidence, in a _free
country_, prohibit any leading questions being put to witnesses: here,
for the purposes of justice, it is indispensable; for the people, being
ruled by fear, and apprehensive of consequences, often falter before
the face of the accused, and their testimony has to be wrung from
them. To decide also according to the technicalities of construction
would be here ridiculous, and defeat the ends of justice. The people
are rude and uncivilized; their oppressors crafty and bold, who have
no hesitation about lying, and bringing others to lie for them. Oaths
are a farce to them. The aggrieved are timid, vacillating, and simple,
and cannot readily procure even necessary evidence; for their witnesses
are afraid to speak. Under these circumstances, I look at the leading
features of the case, the probability, the characters, the position of
parties, and determine according to my judgment. It is not, indeed,
a very difficult task; for the disputes are generally glaring, and,
when bolstered up, usually fail in their most important links; and
at a touch of cross-questioning, the witnesses, resolved to tell
the same story, fall into opposite ones. In one case, about a slave,
three witnesses had resolved on the sex; but, questioned separately
as to size and age, all disagreed. They were not prepared. One
represented her a woman grown and marriageable; another, as high as
my walking-stick; the third, a little child.
"I have now on hand a serious matter, of robbery to a large extent,
and three of the rajah's followers are implicated. Would it were over
and well!--but done it must be. How little can those at a distance
know my difficulties--alone, unaided, the unceasing attention by day,
the anxiety and sleeplessness by night, the mountain of doubt upon
mountain piled, and the uncertainty of necessary support or assistance!
"The Pangeran of the Lundu Dyaks lived with me three weeks, and
I was able to do him substantial justice; and hope for the future
that his life, and that of the remnant of his tribe, may be rendered
more endurable.
"His residence with me was doubly advantageous, as it enabled me to
ascertain his character, and him to see something of our habits and
manners. The impression on my part was highly favorable; for I found
him a quiet, intelligent man, and a keen observer; and I believe
the impression he received was equally favorable. The _poetry_ of
the Dyak expressions is remarkable; and, like most wild people, they
seem to delight in oratory, and to be a good deal swayed by it. For
hours I have talked with the Pangeran, listened to his history,
heard his complaints, sympathized in the misfortunes of his tribe,
and shuddered at the wrongs and sufferings they have endured. 'We are
few,' he exclaimed, 'and therefore our oppressions are aggravated;
the same demands are made upon us as though we were many, and we have
not the means of resisting or complying. We fly to the jungle; we are
like deer--we have no home, no perch. Our wives and children are taken
from us; our sufferings are very great.' On another occasion he said,
'I have felt my sufferings to be so great, that I wished to die, if
Jovata would permit it. I wished to die; for I remembered how happy
we were once, and how miserable now.' I could dwell largely on these
and suchlike language and descriptions, which appear to me highly
pathetic and touching--at least I found them so in reality; and I
cannot forbear adding one or two more such, highly characteristic.
"'Our home,' said the Pangeran, 'was a happy one; none who came to
us wanted. The fruit on the trees was saved; the fish in the river
near us was never destroyed. Rice was plenty; if it was scarce, we
kept it, and fed ourselves upon vegetables, that we might give it to
those who visited our habitation. The fish, the fruit, and the rice
were preserved, [14] that the men of the seas (Malays) might eat of
them; yet they had no pity on us. We were free men, yet they treated
us worse than slaves. We are now but few; and unless you protect us,
we shall soon cease to be.' Again: 'The Tumangong was severe to us;
and when Macota came, he said the Tumangong was a bad man, and he
would shield us; but he was much worse than the Tumangong. Now, you
say you will cherish us; we believe you; but you are at a distance,
and perhaps may not be able.' Further: 'Pangeran Macota kept me nine
months in his house, and wanted to make me a slave; but I escaped,
and traveled through the woods, and swam the rivers, till I came to my
own country. He thought the Dyak had no eyes except in the jungle;
he thought he had no ears except to listen to the bird of omen;
he thought he had no wit except to grow rice; but the Dyak saw, and
heard, and understood, that while his words were sweet, his heart
was crooked, and that, whether they were men of the sea or Dyaks,
he deceived them with fair sayings; he said one thing to one man,
and another to a second; he deceived with a honied mouth. I saw and
understood it all while I lived in his house. How could I trust him
afterward?' These expressions were concluded by significantly twisting
his two fore-fingers round each other, to show the intrigues that were
carried on. I grew very fond of this poor naked savage; for if honesty
and a kind heart entitle a man to our esteem, he is worthy of it.
"I had a long conference with Si Nimook, the Sow Dyak, and hope to
recover his wife. Amid all the wealth and all the charity of England,
how well bestowed would a small portion be for the purpose of restoring
one hundred and fifty women and children to their husbands and parents,
and releasing them from slavery! A small rill from the plenteous river
would cheer this distant misery, and bestow the blessing of fertility
on the now barren soil of these poor Dyaks. Oh, that I had the brass
to beg--to draw out a piteous tale so as to touch the heart!"