PRESENT CONDITION OF SARAWAK—RAJAH AN IRRESPONSIBLE
RULER—SARAWAK COUNCIL—GENERAL COUNCIL—RESIDENTS AND
TRIBUNALS—EMPLOYMENT OF NATIVES—AGRICULTURE—TRADE RETURNS—THE
GOLD REEFS—COAL DEPOSITS—VARIED POPULATION—IMPOLITIC SEIZURE OF
LIMBANG—MISSIONS—EXTRAORDINARY PANICS—REVENUE—ADMINISTRATION OF
JUSTICE—CIVIL SERVICE—ALLIGATORS—SATISFACTORY STATE OF SARAWAK
I have found materials for writing this chapter in the numbers of the
Sarawak _Gazette_, an official journal published once a month. I have
read its contents with great interest, as every district to which it
refers was once familiar to me, and I am able to trace clearly the
changes which have taken place since I left Borneo. I might rather
have used the word expansion, as in truth the changes have not been
so great as might have been expected.
The Government is carried on as it was in the old days. The Rajah is
_de facto_ an irresponsible ruler, though he can summon the Sarawak
Council to meet and advise him as to any new law, or any modification
to be made in the financial arrangements of the country; and I
understand that the Rajah always consults them on such occasions.
This Council is composed of the Rajah and two of the senior English
officers, and four native chiefs of Sarawak Proper. It was the Earl
Grey of 1855 who recommended its establishment to the old Rajah, and
it has proved itself exceedingly useful. Its first meetings took
place in 1856.
There is also a General Council composed of the chiefs of the various
districts under the rule of the Rajah, with a due proportion of
English officers. They assemble about once a year, to the number
of from forty to fifty. Though it is not often that business is
submitted to their deliberations, they are addressed by the Rajah
on subjects of general interest, and are afterwards invited to dine
at the Palace. It is a decided step in advance that this meeting of
native and European officers should take place, as it tends to efface
local prejudices, and to consolidate the Government. This General
Council was not summoned during the lifetime of Sir James Brooke,
though he often talked of doing so, and would have carried out his
intention had he lived.
The country is divided into five chief districts under English
Residents: Sarawak Proper, Batang Lupar, Rejang, Baram and Limbang.
In each of these there are also several assistants to look after
the management of the sub-districts. All these officers hold courts,
but there is an appeal from the findings of the junior officers
to the Resident of the district, and all very serious sentences
are ultimately referred to the capital for the Rajah’s decision
or approval. From the reports in the _Gazette_, I gather that
very substantial justice is administered. The notions of equity
entertained by some of the junior officers may be rather crude;
but the power of appeal enables anyone who is dissatisfied with a
sentence to refer the matter to the Resident, and the natives often
make use of this privilege with results satisfactory to themselves.
The Government of Sarawak is a kind of mild despotism, the only
government suitable to Asiatics, who look to their chief as the sole
depositary of supreme power. The influence of the old Rajah still
pervades the whole system, and native and European work together in
perfect harmony. Though the head of each district is an Englishman,
every effort is made to employ the natives in responsible positions,
as collectors of revenue, as judges with the Rajah or the Residents
in the superior courts, as sole judges in the native tribunals, which
try all cases where their religion or racial customs are affected,
and as chiefs of the different tribes and local communities, and, on
the whole, the results appear to be satisfactory.
The old Rajah used to write that the development of native states
must be slow in order to be permanent, and the development of
Sarawak has been very slow, slower than most people would have
expected, as the introduction of steamers on the coast pointed to
more rapid progress.
Agriculture is the mainstay of every Asiatic country. In the early
years of the old Rajah’s Government the natives only grew rice
sufficient for their own consumption, and the Chinese confined
themselves to a little gardening near their small settlements;
but when, in 1850, the Chinese flocked from Sambas into Sarawak,
Captain Brooke saw the necessity of encouraging as many as possible
of those accustomed to agriculture to settle on the fertile soil
near the river’s banks, and began by establishing colonies of these
industrious immigrants at places about eight miles above the capital,
at Sungei Tungah and Batu Kawa. These flourished until the year 1857,
when the Chinese insurrection interfered with their progress for a
time.
The financial distress which followed this great upheaval prevented
any further assistance being given to agriculturists, until, in
1875, the present Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, determined to encourage
gambier planting, and this he followed up by introducing the
cultivation of pepper, coffee, including the Liberian variety, cocoa
and the oil palm. Of these coffee appears the most popular among
the Malays and Dyaks, who have carried its cultivation into most of
the districts of Sarawak, on a small scale, it is true, but as the
plants bear, and the returns come in, many more are now encouraged to
cultivate this useful shrub.
Only one English Planting Company tried its fortune in the country,
and this failed for want of capital to enable it to await results. In
1895, 500 cwts. of coffee were exported, whilst in 1896 the export
rose to 1483 cwts., nearly treble the amount, and there is every
probability that the annual produce will proportionally increase;
gambier rose from 26,250 cwts. in 1895 to 29,285 cwts. in 1896; and
pepper, a very valuable article, was exported in both years to the
amount of over 18,000 cwts. These three important cultivations were
introduced into the country by the present Rajah, and their products
were valued in 1895 at £46,820, and in 1896 at £44,082.
The planting of sago, an indigenous palm, has been much encouraged,
and the export of the manufactured flour in 1896 amounted to over
15,000 tons, of a value of about £70,000. A little tea is grown but
is not exported. There is no doubt that the Sarawak Government has
done much to encourage agriculture, but it has failed as yet to
attract European capital. I notice that lately the Borneo Company
has commenced to plant gambier. One of the causes of the failure
above referred to is, that European capitalists are not tempted by
the prospect of having their enterprises under the control of an
irresponsible ruler, however just and capable he may be, as all
might change on the advent of a successor. But they might reflect
that the Borneo Company have been carrying on their business for the
last forty years without any difficulties arising.
There are millions of acres in the Sarawak territory which are open
to European capitalists; hundreds of thousands of acres on the great
river of Rejang alone, where water carriage would be at their door,
and produce could be shipped direct to Europe, and that is only one
out of the many districts awaiting foreign enterprise.
It is curious that an agricultural population like that of Sarawak
does not grow sufficient rice for its own consumption. In 1896 it
had to import of this grain to the value of about £42,000. It is
true that only a portion of the population is really industrious—the
Chinese and the Seribas and Sakarang Dyaks. The former are otherwise
employed, whilst the latter devote much of their energy to the
collection of jungle produce. And yet in the district of Samarahan
alone sufficient rice might be cultivated to supply the whole country.
If we compare the trade returns of Sarawak for the years 1876 and
1896, and take only the dollar value, the increase is striking,
but if you turn the amounts into sterling the results are very
disappointing. In 1876 the exchange value of the dollar was four
shillings, whilst in 1896 it had fallen to two shillings only. This
depreciation of silver certainly aids those countries where the
dollar and rupee circulate by the great nominal augmentation of the
value of their produce, whilst it enhances the price of European
goods by a hundred per cent. when paid for in silver.
In 1876 Imports from Foreign Countries, £169,000
” 1896 ” ” 227,000
” 1876 Imports Coasting Trade, 94,000
” 1896 ” ” 142,000
” 1876 Exports to Foreign Countries, 186,000
” 1896 ” ” 242,000
” 1876 Exports Coasting Trade, 98,000
” 1896 ” ” 113,000
These figures may relate principally to the trade of Sarawak Proper,
as each of the large districts has a small direct trade with
Singapore, but the indications are to the contrary, as the coal
exported from Sadong is included in these returns, and the sago flour
from some at least of the out-stations.
The export of antimony has fallen off considerably, and cinnabar
has been nearly worked out. Jungle produce continues to be found in
large quantities, and gutta-percha, India rubber, rattans, beeswax
and timber considerably swell the trade returns; but coal and gold
are, I think, destined to develop Sarawak in a remarkable manner. The
Borneo Company, which until lately had not been able to invest much
capital in their operations on account of the difficulties attending
the first working of coal in Sarawak, as a result of the scarcity of
antimony and the gradual failure of the great deposits of cinnabar,
has now entered on a new phase of activity.
Gold has been known to exist for many years. Even on the arrival of
the first Rajah, the Chinese were working it on a small scale, but
only in the alluvial deposits. I was with the late Dr MacDougall,
Bishop of Sarawak, when, in 1854, he picked up a piece of quartz with
specks of gold distinctly visible in it, but it was not until many
years later that great reefs of gold-bearing quartz were discovered,
and although good results were obtained in the laboratory, the
industry could not then be worked on a commercial basis. Lately,
however, the Borneo Company has found that by the cyanide process it
can make the working of the stone pay, and it has now erected very
extensive and elaborate machinery, which, when in full operation,
will crush three hundred tons of quartz a day. This will be the
salvation of Sarawak, for there is no reason, if the working of
the present plant prove a mercantile success, why a dozen similar
establishments should not be erected, as the stone is practically
inexhaustible, the reefs having been traced for about thirty miles.
The latest reports from Sarawak show that the machinery is doing well
in the Company’s establishment at Bauh, and so satisfied are the
directors with the results that they are putting up a considerable
plant at Bidi, where the quartz is richer in quality. Both these
places are in the interior of Sarawak Proper.
The benefit to Sarawak will be twofold, as the Government is to
receive five per cent. of the gold produced, and large numbers of
Chinese, whom the Company finds can alone be relied on for regular
operations, must be imported to work the plant and quarry the stone.
The ‘farms’ and the import duties will benefit by this influx of
labour, and it may enable the Sarawak Government ultimately to
abolish all export duties on agricultural produce. We used to reckon
that each Chinaman on an average increased the revenue by two pounds
sterling per annum.
The washing for gold by the Chinese in the alluvial soil has not for
many years proved very productive; in fact, it has been thought that
the discontent of the Chinese, before the great insurrection of 1857,
arose partly from the fact that the gold workings did not pay, and
the coolies began to look with suspicion on the integrity of their
chiefs.
Coal, though worked for many years, produced at first no practical
results, but in 1896 nearly 23,000 tons were exported, and the amount
increased greatly during 1897 and 1898. This also must affect the
revenue both directly and indirectly in a very satisfactory manner.
The only factories which have proved successful in Sarawak are those
that produce sago flour. These will doubtless increase, as in many
places the natives have for several years past augmented their
plantations, and it is a cultivation which suits their indolent
habits, for after tending the young plants during the first year,
little or no care is subsequently given to the palm trees.
The population of Sarawak is very varied. In all its districts, with
the exception of the Milanau rivers and Baram, there is an indigenous
Malay population, who are born traders and fishermen, and only
cultivate as it were under protest, but they do grow a little rice, a
few rough vegetables, and lately some have made small coffee gardens.
As a rule they neglect the last, or overcrowd the plants with other
products.
In Sarawak, Samarahan and Sadong the interior is inhabited by Land
Dyaks, a very primitive race, who are, however, slowly advancing,
while some, as those in Samarahan, must be getting rich, as a
Resident reports seeing the girls dancing in silks and brocades,
with strings of silver dollars hanging round their waists. It was
a pleasure to read of this advance, as many previous accounts had
pointed to a great deterioration in their condition.
But the pride of Sarawak must always be the Sea Dyaks who live on the
Batang Lupar, the Seribas and the right-hand branches of the Rejang.
These were the destructive pirates of the coast, who put to sea in
large fleets of fast vessels, and ravaged every district they could
reach. When the expeditions of Captains Keppel and Farquhar had put
down their piracies at sea, and the land operations, principally
conducted by the present Rajah, then chief Resident on the Batang
Lupar, had subdued them in the interior, they began to look to other
fields of activity. Even as early as 1853 I sent a report home
about their energetic work in the antimony mines. Now, they are
the most industrious of the collectors of jungle produce, and have
spread wherever that is to be found, whether in the interior of the
Rejang, Baram, or Limbang districts. One hears of them also in the
territories of the British North Borneo Company, where they should
be welcome immigrants, not only on account of their industry, but of
their readiness to support the established Government. Owing to this
last amiable trait in their character they have been recalled by the
Sarawak Government under the penalty, in case of disobedience, of
being declared outlaws. This was a mistake, as they would be equally
useful to the North Borneo Company, which is combating lawlessness
as much as the Sarawak Government, and among a far more dangerous
population. In looking over my Sarawak correspondence I find that
they were accused of acting against the regulations of the Company,
particularly in the interior of Padas, but this appears to have
arisen from the foolish restrictions placed on the Dyaks and others
by the subordinate officers in that district, which were strongly
condemned by the Resident at Labuan, the late Mr Maxwell, a man of
remarkable intelligence and experience, the latter acquired when in
the Sarawak service.
These Sea Dyaks even ventured across the China Sea, and sought for
jungle produce throughout the Malay Peninsula, but I hear that they
also have been recalled, why or wherefore it is difficult even to
guess. In reading through these _Gazettes_, I have come across
references to a Dyak selling gutta-percha in Singapore for $1200; to
another having disposed of produce in the bazaar to the amount of
$1500; and to a prahu being swamped with $2000 worth of goods or cash
on board. These Dyaks are indeed a valuable population.
The next to be noticed are the Milanaus, who live at the mouths of
the rivers Rejang, Oya and Muka, and are apparently a race apart.
They are perhaps a little more industrious than the Malays, and
devote themselves to planting and roughly manufacturing sago. A
portion of this population has been converted to Mohammedanism,
whilst the rest cannot bring themselves to abandon pork.
In the far interior of the Rejang, the Bintulu, and all through the
Baram districts, are the numerous tattooed tribes, as the Kayans
and the Kineahs; the mongrel villagers called Kanowits; and the
wildest of wild tribes, the Punans and Pakatans. As yet none of these
tribes have made their mark either in the field of battle or in any
industry, except in the working of iron ores or their products, but
it is comparatively lately that they have come under the influence
of the English. The Sarawak Government appears to have a very
intelligent Resident in Baram, Mr Hose.
The Chinese will no doubt gradually fill up the different districts
of Sarawak, but the progress is slow. They do not seem to take kindly
to Borneo in general, probably because wages are low, the native
seldom receiving more than twenty-five cents or sixpence a day,
though the wages of the Chinese are doubtless considerably higher.
In many villages, however, where they are permitted to settle, you
will be sure to find Chinese shopkeepers, who carry on a thriving
trade. They have the reputation of not being very honest dealers, as
false weights are too often resorted to, in order to enable them to
pay a price nominally higher than the market rate, which renders fair
competition impossible. I could never understand why restrictions
were so often placed on their settlement among the interior tribes,
except where the Dyaks themselves objected to their presence. It is
true they are not very honest, but in my time we found the natives a
match for them in this line, as they used to insert stones into the
large lumps of gutta-percha. As might be expected from the low class
of Chinese who immigrate into Sarawak, the principal occupants of the
prisons are found among their ranks.
Limbang and Trusan, to the north of the Sultan’s capital, are the
latest acquisitions of Sarawak. They contain a mixed population of
Kadayans, Muruts and Bisayas, with no very marked characteristics.
I am loath to write anything which may appear as an adverse criticism
of the conduct of the present Rajah, with whom I have been friends
for over fifty years, but unless we are to adopt the principle that
‘the end justifies the means,’ it is difficult to approve the action
of Sarawak in seizing by force any part of the Sultan’s dominions.
A little gentle, persevering diplomacy would have secured Limbang
without violating any principle of international law. I am convinced,
however, that the present Rajah was deceived by someone as to the
political position of that district, as he wrote that, for four years
previous to his action, Limbang was completely independent of the
Sultan, which his officers subsequently found was not the case.
The Sultan is the Suzerain Lord of all the possessions of the present
Rajah, with the doubtful exception of Sarawak Proper, and Great
Britain is the Protector of Sarawak and Brunei alike, yet the Sarawak
_Gazette_, the official organ of its Government, thus refers to the
Brunei under British protection: ‘Brunei has long been a disgrace,
a blot on the map of Borneo. There murder and robbery thrive, and
criminals from all around find a refuge from the punishment merited
by their evil deeds, with the knowledge and sanction of the Sultan,
and under the protection of the British flag.’
To use an expressive, but not very elegant, phrase, the writer has
‘let the cat out of the bag.’ It is probably true that the British
Government would not permit Sarawak to seize Brunei and depose the
Sultan, but there are other and more peaceful means of putting an
end to Brunei, if it be the sink of iniquity described. Already the
Kadayans are taking up their permanent residence in Baram under the
Sarawak flag, and many Borneans and Kadayans are moving to Limbang;
while a certain number have already established themselves in Padas
under the flag of the North Borneo Company. By degrees the population
of the capital will completely disperse and settle in the surrounding
districts, and the capital will cease to exist as a centre of
authority.
That the inhabitants of Limbang rejoiced to be placed under the
protection of the Sarawak flag there can be no doubt. I knew them
well, and how they suffered from the exactions of the Pangerans
and their rapacious followers, and no one would have more rejoiced
than myself to hear they had been put under Sarawak rule in a less
forcible way. As poverty increased in Brunei, so had the exactions
augmented, and Limbang, being near, suffered the most. Perhaps some
of my readers may think that in this case ‘the end _did_ justify the
means.’ At all events, that appears to have been the view taken by
our own Foreign Office.
As far as I can judge from the notices in the Sarawak _Gazette_, and
from my private correspondence, neither the Missions nor education
have made much progress, though there are schools at the capital, and
both the Anglicans and the Roman Catholics have establishments in the
country. The Mission schools appear to educate from two to three
hundred pupils, but little is evidently done at the out-stations, and
the Dyaks in general are left to themselves, although at one time the
field appeared most promising. I fear that the explanation is that
the true missionary spirit is dead in our Church. It is no longer
looked upon as a field for talent, and those who would not pass
muster in an English parish are sent off to vegetate in a Bornean
out-station, where their influence is _nil_.
I notice it reported in a private letter that the Catholic Mission is
the more prosperous, as it appears to be well provided with money,
erects substantial buildings, and has a very competent staff.
How little the influence of European rule touches the inner life and
belief of the native, whatever may be his race! I remember being in
Singapore at the time the Government was building a new church, when
it was reported that the convicts were seizing people at night and
murdering them in order to bury their heads under the foundations
of the new building. A panic prevailed for a considerable time, and
natives only ventured out in strong parties. And this occurred in a
British settlement after our Government had been established there
over thirty years. I discussed this unaccountable panic with my
Chinese butler, who spoke English well, and had lived all his life in
European families. His only answer to my repeated questions was that
he hoped it was not true, that he did not know, but he understood
it was generally believed. Our missionaries in China have the same
experience.
Another intelligent native remarked that the English must have been a
barbarous race, as formerly they sacrificed a human victim every time
they prepared to take the sacrament, but that in more modern days
they had become more civilised, as they now only sacrificed dogs, a
reference to the periodical destruction in British settlements of all
stray animals. What a perverse interpretation of missionary teaching!
After fifty years of English rule in Sarawak a similar panic
occurred. I will quote the Sarawak _Gazette_ of September 1, 1894:
‘Some months back a most unaccountable scare took possession of the
Asiatic population of Sarawak Proper—Malays, Chinese, Dyaks and
others being similarly affected. It was at first rumoured that the
Government required human heads to place under the foundations of
the new high level reservoir at the waterworks, and that men were
sent out at night to procure these.... Other equally absurd stories
followed and were fully believed, many natives going so far as to
assert that they had met with these head hunters about the native
town at night. The people no longer ventured out after dark; coolies
whose work would preclude their return to their own homes at night
were unobtainable, not a boat could be obtained to cross the river
after dark, and the majority of persons whose business took them
further than the limits of the bazaar, carried arms.’
The entire article is too long to quote; the panic spread all along
the coast, invaded the Dutch territories, and found its way to the
furthest out-stations. Numerous murders were really committed, and
at first the natives were afraid to report them. Gradually, however,
people came to their senses, but only to fall into another panic,
on the ground that robbers were wandering under the Malay houses,
which are built on piles, and stabbing at the inmates from below.
A few deaths from this cause did, in fact, occur, which gave an
excuse for the alarm, and some ingenious thieves bored holes through
boxes resting on the floor and extracted their contents. It must be
remembered that these floors are not of planks, but of laths of the
nibong palm with interstices between them, and are generally covered
over with matting.
It is almost incredible that people who had been governed by the
old Rajah and his successor, and governed in the most benevolent
and generous manner for over fifty years, should have believed that
their rulers could be capable of seeking their heads to bury under
the foundations of the new waterworks. It appears as if there were no
common ground on which the intellect of the white and coloured races
can meet; they never understand us and we shall probably never fully
understand them.
Finance has never been the strong point of the Sarawak Government.
The Revenue in 1876 (Exchange 4s.) £36,636
” ” ” 1896 ( ” 2s.) 49,376
The treasurer’s financial statement for the year, 1896, is too full
of trivial details to be satisfactory, but the tables which are
published in the same number of the _Gazette_ enable one to form a
very clear idea of the financial state of the country.
The ‘farms’ are the most important source of revenue, and those that
are legitimate are the opium and spirit farms; the gambling farm
is no doubt suitable to the Chinese, and discourages play among
the Malays and Dyaks. But the objectionable farms are the pork,
the fish and the pawnbroking. The pork farm was abolished in 1896,
as it was found to restrict the supply of good meat, and raise its
price to the industrious Chinese labourer, who could only obtain an
inferior article, while it brought in but little to the revenue. The
Government slaughter-houses are as profitable, and do not interfere
so much with trade. The _Gazette_ notices that after the abolition of
this farm the supply of meat became more plentiful, and was of a much
finer quality, with a reduction in price. The fish market is equally
objectionable. The monopolists pay so poorly for the supply, that,
according to the _Gazette_, the fishermen earned less than fourpence
a day, whilst the price of fish was so raised that the Government
imposed a maximum; but this paternal measure did not answer, and
it was repealed. The fish farm should go the way of the pork farm.
There are also obvious objections to a pawnbroking farm. A system of
licenses would pay better, and be much less liable to abuse.
Though the export duties on agricultural produce are light, they are
unsound in principle, interfere with trade, and lessen the profit of
the industrious steady planter; and they only bring in about £2500
a year. It would be better to add to the list of imports subject to
duty. The probate duties are quite unsuited to a half or quarter
civilised people, and must render the Residents unpopular with the
best of the population. No sooner is the news received of the death
of a Dyak chief than the nearest English officer has to start off
to the spot to see that the Government dues are not evaded, and the
wages, or their equivalent, of the boat’s crew must often exceed the
amount received. There is another tax which checks what might become
a considerable industry—the duty on salt. This prevents any real
development of the extensive fisheries of the coast, as not only is
a necessary product taxed, but a duty is also raised on the exported
salted fish, which has thus to bear a double weight. A bounty might
be granted equivalent to the amount of the duty on the salt used. The
stamp duty has only lately been imposed, and may possibly be useful
in the administration of justice, but it will have to be worked with
very great caution.
If the Borneo Company succeed with their new gold working machinery,
and there is no apparent reason why they should not do so, the
increase in the revenues may enable the Rajah to do away with or
modify those taxes and duties, which impede commerce and hinder the
progress of the country. It must have been uphill work to carry on
the Government with revenues so inelastic.
When I first arrived in Sarawak I do not think the cattle exceeded
a dozen, and these were at a place about fourteen miles above the
capital, and were very much neglected. At present we find cattle at
every station, and English bulls are often imported to improve the
breed. The natives also in several districts have cattle of their
own, and under gentle pressure are paying more attention to them. I
do not remember that during my long residence in Sarawak we had beef
even once a year.
The Sarawak courts are not influenced by maudlin pity, and punish
by heavy fines all those who by carelessness, or any action of
their own, cause the death or wounding of any human being. Many
casualties are said to occur from men supposing that a noise in the
brushwood was caused by a wild beast, and firing at once and thus
slaying a fellow hunter; these never escape deserved punishment. The
setting of traps to kill pig or deer often caused the infliction of
injuries or even death on the unwary, and the setter suffered in
consequence. I wish this system of punishing wanton carelessness
were introduced into English practice. We might then hear of fewer
cases of criminally careless people presenting guns at their friends,
and, when a fatal result follows, saying glibly that they thought the
weapon was not loaded.
In outlying stations, the killing for the purpose of securing heads
would have been a very constant practice had not the present Rajah
sternly resolved to insist on the death penalty whenever the culprits
belonged to tribes who thoroughly understood the law; whilst upon
others who had but recently come under the sway of Sarawak, and were
still almost in the savage state, he was content to impose heavy
fines. This judicious administration of justice is having a very
salutary effect, and will gradually extinguish the evil.
It sounds curious to read of both parties in a case being fined, but
very often both are to blame in a greater or less degree, and are
punished in proportion. But what must have taxed a Resident’s gravity
was the hearing a case of two privates in the Sarawak Rangers,
accused of working a charm, in order to compass the death of an
ex-comrade, and fining the victim as well as the culprits.
The Rajah is kept well informed as to what passes throughout his
extensive territories, as he insists on the Residents and Assistant
Residents sending monthly reports of all occurrences in each of
their districts, and I understand that every one of them also keeps
a diary of events. This methodical system must be very useful to
the Government. The reports from Baram and Limbang are especially
interesting, and I could have wished them fuller.
For the information of those who may desire to enter the Sarawak
service, or are interested in the subject, I will mention the
salaries which were fixed from January 1, 1898. I may premise by
saying that I have taken the dollar to represent two shillings, the
exchange value, but that by no means represents its local value, as
prices and wages in dollars have not increased in anything like the
proportion of the fall in the exchange. In some cases wages do not
appear to have increased much since my time, when the dollar was
always worth more than four shillings.
MAXIMUM SALARIES IN STERLING.
Divisional Residents, £540 per annum.
With allowances from £120 to 240 ”
Treasurer, 480 ”
Second-Class Resident, 360 ”
Medical Officer in charge, 420 ”
Assistant Residents, 240 ”
Cadets on joining, 120 ”
Do., of one year’s standing, 144 ”
Postmaster, 360 ”
Police Inspector, 360 ”
The treasurer, second-class Residents and medical officer have also
allowances, the amount of which is not stated; military commandant,
etc., according to respective agreements. Of course, to turn these
salaries into dollars you have only to multiply by ten.
The terms for furlough pay are very liberal, leave being generally
granted on full pay, and the dollar valued at four shillings.
Pensions are given, after thirty years’ service, at the same rate of
exchange, half pay for life—furloughs in Europe not included.
I have remarked before how difficult it is to induce English ladies
to associate with natives, but I have heard that the Ranee, Lady
Brooke, has been in the habit of visiting the Malay ladies and
receiving their visits in return, and I noticed in one of the
_Gazettes_ that Mrs Maxwell, the wife of the late chief Resident,
gave an elaborate picnic to the daughters of the principal Malays.
This is as it should be, and must have a good effect. It is
interesting to read that cricket has been introduced among the native
lads, and that some of them take to it with zest.
I have noticed an occasional remark in the _Gazette_ on the hostility
displayed by Singapore towards Sarawak. That there was in Sir James
Brooke’s time a great jealousy both of Sarawak and Labuan there
can be no doubt. It was founded on a foolish idea that these two
places might become centres of independent trade with Europe to the
detriment of Singapore. The far-seeing knew that it would not be so,
and that instead of being rivals they would become feeders of our
great free-trade port, but it would seem that among a few of the
narrow-minded this jealousy still exists.
Among the dangers to life in Sarawak are the crocodiles or
alligators. Some naturalists declare that one of the two species—I
believe the latter—is not found in Asia, but I think that those who
have had the measurement of those reptiles, to estimate the amount
of reward for their destruction, must have noticed that there are
apparently two species—one very broad in the head, the other very
long and narrow. It is true we never examined their teeth, by which
we might have distinguished them. It is said on good authority that
there is a third species only found in fresh water, living for
preference in the deep pools of the far inland reaches of the rivers.
Sir Hugh Low saw them in the interior of the Rejang, and I often
heard of them in Sarawak. I remarked to a native chief that it was
curious that this species should have fixed its habitat away from the
deep water. ‘Not more curious,’ he answered, ‘than seeing you white
men in Borneo.’
Whatever the true name of these brutes may be, the destruction of
life traceable to them is considerable. They seize people bathing
on the banks of rivers, catch unwary children, and snatch people
from their canoes. They will often swim on the surface of the water
with their victims in their mouths, and the _Gazette_ mentions one
instance where the alligator appeared with the body on the second
day. As they are called alligators in Borneo, I will not change their
name.
Many a tale of quiet heroism may be told connected with these
attacks. One day a mother and daughter were paddling up the Linga
river, when the former was snatched from the boat by an alligator.
It did not attempt to sink with its victim, which gave time to the
daughter to spring on its neck, and, leaning forward, she gouged out
the eyes of the reptile, which instantly let go the mother and dived
to the bottom of the stream. I have known of several instances of
these heroic attempts to save relations.
There was an alligator which created a panic among all those who had
to pull by the entrance of the Siol stream on the Sarawak river, so
many had been its victims. It was ultimately taken, and measured, it
is said, over twenty-four feet in length.
When I was living in Brunei a similar panic occurred. So many people
were snatched from their boats that there was talk of a crusade being
undertaken against the alligator which caused it. But as that did not
come off, I proposed to my six boatmen that we should attempt the
destruction of the brute. I armed my men with muskets, and I took for
my own use a Minié rifle. We arranged that I should have first shot,
and if I missed, they were to fire a volley at the enemy. We pulled
down quietly to the haunted spot, and then floated with the stream.
We had not been there many minutes when my head man said, ‘There he
is.’ I looked round, and all I could see were a pair of prominent
eyes, a broad forehead and a streak of its back. It was coming at us
with all its speed. I waited until it was within about twenty-five
yards, and then fired. The heavy ball struck it between the eyes,
then bounded off, and fell into the water many a yard away. There
was great commotion as the alligator dived beneath the surface. My
men, who had wonderfully sharp eyes, said that the bullet had torn
the skin off the forehead, and that the beast must die, as the worms
with which these waters swarm would get into the wound. A week or
two subsequently, some fishermen told me they had seen an immense
alligator, at least twenty feet in length, lying on the mud bank of
a small stream. All the flesh on its head and neck was rotting away,
and it was evidently nearly dead, as it scarcely moved on their
approach. At all events, the man-eater never appeared again. The
largest alligator which I ever measured myself was only seventeen
feet six inches long, but Sir Hugh Low tells me that he has himself
measured one which touched twenty-six feet in length.
I think it highly probable that hunger has driven the alligators
to be as aggressive as they have been during the last few years.
When the rinderpest was killing cattle in the Malay Peninsula,
some similar disease attacked the wild pigs, and they died by
hundreds. About the same time a like mortality occurred in Borneo.
The principal food of the alligator is the wild pig, which is taken
whilst swimming across the rivers in search of jungle fruits. When
the pest occurred this supply of pork was much lessened, and the
alligators became more voracious.
The wild animals in Sarawak must be rapidly disappearing as
cultivation and population increase, and also as a ready market is
found for venison. Wild pig and various species of deer are the only
animals which were ever plentiful in Sarawak. In its last acquired
districts, however, such as Baram and Limbang, there are large herds
of wild cattle—splendid beasts.
This account of the present condition of Sarawak I feel to be very
meagre, but I have been unable to obtain any information except from
the _Gazette_, which, being written for a special purpose, only
enters into the minor details required to keep the superior officers
informed of what is passing in the interior and at the out-stations.
If the old Rajah could see the present state of his adopted country,
he would have every reason to be proud of the results of his work,
for although it has not become what he hoped—a second Java—it is
progressing. As the present Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, was brought
up to his work under the old influences, he has carried out the
views and projects of his uncle in a very satisfactory manner, and
it is only to be hoped that whenever his son may succeed him he may
be thoroughly imbued with those traditions which have secured the
success of one of the most striking enterprises of modern times.
The old Rajah relied entirely for his position in Borneo on the
support of the natives themselves, and the present Rajah does nearly
the same.[12] They both had a corps of English officers (civilians)
to aid them in governing the country, but the military forces are
purely native, and these also constitute the bulk of the civilian
employés, from the Datus, those valued members of the Supreme
Council, to the humblest policeman. The more one reflects on the
subject the more one is disposed to admire the system which has
produced a unique Government, the like of which has never been seen
before. But whilst we admire the system introduced by the old Rajah,
we must not forget those who have so admirably carried it out, at
the head of whom is the present Rajah, with his staff of trustworthy
assistants.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: There are now a few Sikh police.]