large city, the capital of a kingdom. It gave its name to the
whole island and its rulers extended their sway across the
neighbouring seas. Early voyagers from Europe seem to have been
much impressed by its barbaric magnificence. Now, all that
remains of a past empire is a small corner of territory, with
little trade or revenue, and ruled in name only by a petty chief.
Most of the territory shown on the old maps has been ceded to the
British North Borneo Company or to Sarawak. One local industry of
some importance Brunei still possesses; this is the working of
brass, particularly of brass gongs, which still pass as a kind of
currency in the interior. We can visit a whole village of 49
brassworkers, on a creek close by, and see them working in the
open air with primitive bellows made of bamboo, and producing
castings of old-fashioned design. This is merely a survival;
internal decay and attacks from outside have left Brunei only a
shadow of its former power. The trade with China and the Malay
Archipelago, which contributed to its former power, was destroyed
by the attacks of the fierce pirates from the islands to the
north; and British influence came too late to save the kingdom
from its own internal weakness; though, under the guidance of
British officials, and by the help of British capital, the
fragment which remains seems likely to recover some of its
prosperity.
Let us turn from Borneo of the past to Borneo of the future. We
are going to make a voyage round the territory of the British
North Borneo Company. Our trip will be limited to the coast
districts, as much of the interior is difficult to reach and
indeed not yet explored. First let us see what the map can tell
us about the country as a whole.
[Illustration: BRITISH NORTH BORNEO.]
The Company’s territory is in the form of a rough quadrilateral, 50
with a coastline irregular and deeply indented by the sea.
Inland, but nearer to the west coast than the east, stretches a
long backbone of mountains; so that the rivers on the east side
are longer and the lowlands broader and flatter than on the west.
The Equator cuts Borneo almost in the middle, and the whole
island is truly tropical, though there are great differences
between the highlands and the lowlands. The lowlands are hot
all the year round, though the temperature is modified by the
rain and dense vegetation and the nearness of the sea; so that
the climate does not show the extremes of heat and the great
variation which we find in the dry region of Northwest India,
much further away from the Equator. Again, there are not two
strongly marked wet and dry seasons; rain falls more or less
in every month of the year, though spring and autumn are as a
rule the wettest seasons. A total annual fall of from ninety
to two hundred inches reminds us of the wetter parts of India
and the Malay Peninsula, and combined with unvarying heat does
not suggest a climate particularly adapted to occupation by the
white man. In spite of this drawback the country is in course of
development by British capital and under British direction. As an
estate it is increasing in value every year. We will now try to
see something of its products and people.
Seventy or eighty miles north of Labuan we enter another great
bay, with a small island at the entrance; the bay and island of
Gaya. On the south side of this bay is the town of Jesselton,
the western capital of the Territory and the terminus of the
only existing railway. Behind the town is hilly country, and as
we approach we may see in the distance, so far as clouds permit,
the great bulk of Mount Kinabalu, the highest part of the long
mountain chain of the interior. At Jesselton we find European
sports in progress and a mixed crowd is gathered: natives of
the coast region, largely of Malay blood, Sikhs and Pathans of
the Constabulary, with a few Chinese and the white officials.
In the town are the Malay houses built over the water, and near
them a row of Chinese shops; on the slopes above we see the 51
barracks, with the Constabulary at drill, and a few European
residences, with Government House overlooking all. At Jesselton
we have a picture in little of the conditions of the coast
districts.
Before exploring inland we will borrow the Government launch for
a short trip up the coast to Usikaan Bay. Here is a fine 52
portrait of our skipper. He is a typical coastman; his mother a
native of Brunei, his father from Sarawak. He is a Mohammedan,
like most of the coastmen, and is full of the lore and legend
of the island. We land at a little pier and enter a shed, which
is the Custom House. There is no sign of inhabitants, as the
building is used only when the local steamer calls to collect the
up-country produce. We have come here to look at the scenery,
not the people, so we climb the hill above the bay, from which
we can look down on the Abai river, flowing out beyond the next
headland. It is a typical Borneo river. On both banks is the
usual tropical swamp, and all around us is tropical vegetation.
Here we can see the wonderful Pitcher Plant of these regions, 53
though the finest specimens are to be found further inland
towards Mount Kinabalu. Turning away from the sea we have a
view of the long ridge of Kinabalu, with the upper part of 54
the Abai river in the foreground. From this outlook we can gain
a very fair idea of the character of tropical Borneo.
So far we have kept to the outer edge of the island; the railway
from Jesselton will carry us inland, though not very far, as it
runs on the whole parallel to the coast. The inland terminus of
the line is at Tenom, east of Brunei Bay and behind the coast
range of mountains. Here, too, native sports are in progress,
but they are a much more important business than at Jesselton;
they are announced months beforehand and provide a common
meeting-place for the many native tribes of the interior. The
contests are also especially fitted to the tastes and occupations
of the natives, so that we may learn much from them. The raft 55
race is one of the most popular, as the rivers are the only
means of traffic in the interior and the natives are skilled in
handling every form of river craft. Even more interesting to 56
us is the shooting match with the _sumpitan_, the long blowpipe
with poisoned darts which in this region takes the place of
the bow and arrow. Here we find this formidable weapon put to
a harmless use in shooting at the running deer; it is a kind
of native Bisley. The crowds of spectators show us every type
of native face and dress. Here is a group of Muruts with 57
_sumpitans_, and here are some visitors, Sea Dyaks from 58
Sarawak, whose name is associated with piracy and head-hunting.
The Muruts seem to be the aborigines of this part of the
interior; they are unlike the coast people in appearance and they
are pagans, not Mohammedans; but they share with the Sea Dyaks
their liking for head-hunting, and would soon revive the practice
were British control removed.
In the neighbourhood of the railway we begin to find evidence
of the progress of Borneo. One of the most successful crops is
tobacco. Before it can be planted there is much work to be done.
The jungle must first be attacked and rough roads driven through
with ditches at the side for drainage in the heavy rains. Here we
see the work of clearing in progress. Then wide spaces must be 59
prepared for planting, and at length we get our crop. The leaves 60
are then picked by coolies and carried in curious baskets to the
drying and fermenting sheds for further treatment before they
become the tobacco leaf of commerce.
We will now return to Jesselton and resume our voyage. A short
way up the coast we leave the steamer and take to a boat; we
are going up a small river to attend a _tanu_ or local market,
in order to see something more of native life. We call on the
District Officer at his house and accompany him in his barge of
state to the market. Here a crowd of natives waits for the 61
hoisting of a little flag, the signal that they may begin their
bargaining. They have brought down the produce of the interior,
resins, gums and tobacco, to sell to the Chinese dealers; in
return their favourite purchase is brass. There is also a great
buying and selling of fish and fruit. Here we see a native 62
woman of the hill tribes carrying a large crate and wearing great
coils of brass wire round her waist. The husband stands by and
looks on, as is usual here, where the women do most of the heavy
work.
Once more we board the steamer, and after touching at Kudat, a
fine harbour in the great bay at the north end of the island,
turn southward towards Sandakan, the capital of the Territory,
where we shall end our voyage. On the deck of the little vessel
is a crowd of Chinese coolies. The Chinese are the real workers
on all the coasts of North Borneo, just as we found them in
the Malay Peninsula. We reach Sandakan, which stands on a 63
splendid bay running fifteen miles up into the land. The entrance
is only two miles wide, so that the bay is almost landlocked.
Down at the water’s edge is the native town, with many of the
houses built on piles; here too is the Chinese quarter, and
scattered about further up a wooded slope are the houses of the
Europeans. All round the sides of the harbour are smaller native
villages.
Sandakan will probably in the future become an important
commercial seaport, especially in view of its position on
the route between Australia and China. It already boasts a
shipbuilding and engineering yard, and a cutch factory which
sends its products for tanning all over the world. Here also we
may notice timber being floated down in great rafts for export,
especially to China. Not far away up the river is one of the
oldest rubber estates on the island. Borneo produces many kinds
of plants giving rubber or gutta, but it has been found that
the Para rubber tree of Brazil grows well, and there is a great
future for its cultivation here as in the Malay Peninsula.
[Illustration:
_Copyright._) (_See page 95._
SUMPITAN MATCH.]
[Illustration:
_Copyright._) (_See page 91._
MARKET BOATS, BRUNEI.]
[Illustration:
_Copyright._) (_See page 91._
A STREET IN BRUNEI.]
The East India Company made many attempts to establish factories
in Borneo and the neighbouring islands; but all came to
nothing, so that the early history does not concern us here.
One trace of former conditions remained in the nineteenth
century, in the claims of Holland in the south of the island and
of Spain in the north. These claims were revived at the time
of our occupation and were not finally settled until the late
eighties of the nineteenth century. The modern history of the
region begins with the acquisition, by an American syndicate,
of certain concessions in the north from the Sultans of Brunei
and Sulu. Their rights were taken over ultimately by a British
company which obtained a charter from the Crown, in 1881, under
the title of the British North Borneo Company. The charter was a
revival of the old plan for opening up new countries without the
direct intervention or responsibility of the home Government.
It was followed by other charters for African companies; but of
these only one survives, and the North Borneo Company is at the
present day the oldest remaining representative of the system.
So we have a large piece of territory under British Protection
but controlled by a private company. The Company does not trade,
but confines itself to administration, and is supported like any
other Government by duties and taxes of various kinds. It is
largely independent, though the British Government can interfere
if necessary in vital matters.
Malaya and Borneo are tropical estates and can only be developed
by special methods. In dealing with these estates we have given
considerable space to the subject of administration, since
without order and security it is impossible to utilize those
natural resources with which our geography is concerned. These
resources include the minerals and the whole range of tropical
products, together with the available human material, the Chinese
or Indian labourer and the native Malay. Foreign capital, British
or Chinese, under British direction provides the driving force
for progress. In the different parts of the Malay Peninsula and
in North Borneo we have various types of administration and
various stages of progress; but over the whole area there is a
general similarity of conditions which marks it off both from the
Indian Ocean and from the Chinese group which is the object of
our next visit.
LECTURE VI
THE CHINESE STATIONS
Fifteen hundred miles away from Singapore, guarding the northern
outlet of the China Sea as Singapore guards the southern,
commanding also the approach to the great commercial city of
Canton and to the whole coastline of southeastern China, lies 1
the island harbour of Hongkong, the last fortified outpost of
British power in this region of the world. The island is only
one of a large group which fringes the coast round the mouth
of the Canton river, and its area is less than thirty square
miles, or nearly the same as that of Labuan. It consists of a 2
long irregular granite ridge, falling steeply to the sea,
with deep-cut inlets on its southern side. To the north is
the mainland, with long hill ranges ending in a mass of rocky
peninsulas and headlands. Between the island and the mainland
lies the narrow roadstead or harbour of Victoria.
As we round the west point of the island, the Peak is on our
right, and below it are warehouses, wharves and piers, spread
out for three miles along the water front. Behind is the crowded
native quarter, and in the background the city rises in tier
above tier of terraced houses up the lower slopes of the ridge.
On the summit, too, we can see many houses scattered about. 3
Here is a panoramic view of the west end of the city, taken from
the harbour. Notice the fine pile of offices and the European
Club in the foreground of the picture. Our next view, further 4
east, shows the Admiralty dockyard, which makes an ugly break
in the line of the sea front. The white band on the hill behind
is the cable railway running up to the Peak. We pass merchant
steamers, warships, and crowds of junks at anchor, and all about
us the small native boats or _sampans_ are plying busily to and
fro. Opposite the middle of the town, where the low peninsula of
Kaulun juts out from the mainland, the harbour narrows to rather
more than half a mile, and here is the ferry. On our left as we
enter is Stonecutter Island, a long bare rock heavily fortified
and guarding the passage; beyond it to the north the view is
everywhere closed in by the mountain ridges of the mainland. 5
Here are two views from the hill, showing the west end of the 6
harbour, with Stonecutter Island and Kaulun; a third shows the 7
eastern passage, known as the _Lai-i-mun_, by which we shall
leave after our visit.
[Illustration: HONGKONG ISLAND.]
Seventy years ago Hongkong was a mere rock, inhabited by a few
fishermen; its sole value lay in its anchorage beyond the reach
of Chinese troops. For two centuries the East India Company had
traded on sufferance at Canton, but in 1834 its trade monopoly
was abolished and the servants of the Company gave place to a
British official. The Chinese failed to understand the change;
they wished to treat our representative just as they had treated
the merchants. In the end the foreign community was forced to
leave Canton, and we despatched an armed expedition to support
our claim to trade and to place the interests of British subjects
on a secure footing. The war which followed is often styled the
opium war; but the opium trade was only one item in the quarrel
which involved recognition by the Chinese of international
relations.
Our merchants, driven from Canton, and warned off from Macao
by the Portuguese, who feared the Chinese and were jealous of
our trade, took refuge in the roadstead of Hongkong, though
the Chinese placed batteries on Kaulun and threatened to fire
on the ships. In this way we first came to the island, which
was ceded to us by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. In 1860, at
the conclusion of another war, we obtained full possession 8
of the Kaulun peninsula, which we had already leased from the
local authorities as being necessary for the security of the
harbour. Finally, in 1898, we leased the New Territory at the
back of Kaulun, amounting in area to about 370 square miles.
This was just as necessary under present conditions as the
peninsula of Kaulun had been in the past, since Victoria with
its shipping would be at the mercy of long-range artillery
mounted on the hills of the mainland. From the first the Chinese
people, recognizing the value of the security given by British
rule, flocked to the island; so that we now have over 300,000
Chinese residents in the island and peninsula, excluding the
leased Territory, and on the native boats and junks, while the
European population numbers only a few thousand. The Chinese
seem to prefer our system of government to their own. Hongkong
is not merely a fortress; it is a free port, except as regards
the importation of alcohol, and one of the greatest commercial
centres in the world; but without the Chinese its trade could not
be carried on for a single day.
Let us now land and learn something of the city and its 9
inhabitants. We stroll along Queen’s Road, the main artery of
the town from west to east, with its offices and shops and its
general air of prosperity. Then we turn off into a street running
upwards from the harbour; it is Pottinger Street, named after 10
Sir Henry Pottinger, the trainer of the treaty of 1842. The
tall houses and narrow roadway remind us that there is very
little level ground in Victoria and that space is valuable. We
could judge this also from the general views of the Peak which
we saw as we entered. Trade needs money, and there are various
banks in the city; one of the finest buildings is that of the
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, which is well known in England and
has a large branch in London. If we go into one of these banks
we find that many of the clerks and cashiers are native Chinese.
Here is the entrance to the Hongkong and Shanghai bank and 11
here is the back of the great block of fine buildings. The statue
in the corner is that of the late Queen Victoria, and the 12
figures in the foreground are Chinese women carrying pigs in
baskets. The whole of this area, with its open spaces, including
a cricket ground, and the mass of buildings which we saw from the
harbour, has been reclaimed from the sea. In one of the narrow
streets we may see something of native customs. It is New 13
Year’s Day, a great festival among the Chinese; all over the
ground there is a litter of crackers, and we may perhaps see them
solemnly firing a huge cracker in front of some important house
as a kind of New Year’s greeting. At a corner we come on a scene
which reminds us of London: the road is up and labourers are 14
at work, but here they are Chinese. Down on the water front is
another aspect of native life. Here we have a large population 15
living always in covered boats; there are millions of Chinese
living in this fashion on the rivers and waterways of the
mainland.
To see how the Europeans live we must leave the busier part
of the town and climb up the hill. Down below, in the native
quarter, the houses are crowded together and the air is close.
Higher up are trees and gardens and open spaces. Here is a 16
view from Battery Path, on our way up. We end our walk at 17
Government House, where we see the inevitable Chinese gardener at
work.
To get a view of the island we must take the cable railway to the
very summit of the Peak. It is much cooler here and there are
many European houses. Hongkong is on the edge of the Tropics and
is wet and warm in summer, while the town of Victoria is shut off
from the sea breezes by the surrounding heights. But the upper
part of the ridge is open to the Southeast Monsoon winds blowing
in from the sea, and so it is a healthy residence for Europeans
not unlike the hill stations of India.
In the matter of health, the island in past years had not a
good name. On the southeast coast is Stanley, a primitive 18
little village on a beautiful bay; here is the spot where the
British troops first landed in 1840. Further west, behind a
sheltering island, is Aberdeen, which was also occupied for a
time. But both were found to be unhealthy and so the troops
were withdrawn. Stanley is a mere fishing village, though the
graves of the soldiers and their wives are there to remind us
of the price which we pay for our Empire. Aberdeen is a little
more important, as it possesses a dock. But its main industry
is fishing; and here we can see the fishermen, watched by an 19
admiring crowd, dragging out a large rock fish, which will be
towed alive, behind a launch, to the market at Victoria. The
mass of the population of the island is concentrated in Victoria,
which is greatly overcrowded. Much has been done for health by
improved drainage, and the great reservoir at Taitam, in the
southeast corner of the island, with the concrete channels for
gathering the heavy rains on the hill slopes, provides an ample
supply of good water; but the Chinese have peculiar ideas as to
sanitation, and plague and epidemic diseases are frequent, so
that Hongkong has drawbacks as a place of residence, especially
for European children. Though the hill is cooler than the town,
it is damp, so that many prefer the drier Kaulun district on the
other side of the water. Here a new Victoria is growing up with
busy wharves and docks. Land is being reclaimed from the sea, 20
and in the surrounding hills we find granite quarries with 21
abundant material for the building of docks and sea walls.
On a small hill near the landing stands a curious tower, with
masts and flag-staffs around it. This is the observatory, 22
which watches the weather and especially gives warning of the
approach of the dreaded typhoons of the China seas. These are
fierce whirling storms which sweep in, usually in the autumn,
from the ocean to the south-east, and then curve northwards
along the coast of China towards Japan, carrying ruin in their
track. In 1906, the warning failed to come: many large steamers
were sunk or driven ashore; trees were rooted up and buildings
beaten to the ground, and enormous damage was done to the piers
and quays on the water-front. Here is the signal which is 23
hoisted to give notice of the coming of a typhoon.
Behind Kaulun is the New Territory: a land of mountain and
torrent, with here and there a broader valley with fields of
rice and sugar-cane. Here we see some of these rice fields 24
on the route of the new railway. Notice how the ground is 25
flooded. The population, about 100,000 in all, is not very dense
and is grouped in scattered villages. Here is a view of the
picturesque country at the back of Kaulun, with a cattle 26
depôt in the foreground to remind us that the city must be fed
from the surrounding country. Here again we see a street in 27
Tai-wo-shi and a group of villagers gathered round the village
well. Let us pay a short visit to Wun-yin, or “Pottery” village, 28
for a glimpse of a native industry. We see a potter at work, 29
painting the little bowls, but he does not look quite the same
as the ordinary Chinese of the south. He is a _Hakka_, as is 30
also this native woman, who does not seem in the least nervous
in front of the camera. Neither is handsome, but they are very
useful in Hongkong, since they do much of the hard manual work
which is necessary in a great port. The _Hakkas_ are immigrants,
of a different race from the natives of the Canton district, and
they have different habits. Among other peculiarities they do not
bind the feet of their women.
In the New Territory we are already changing the face of the
country. Water is being impounded in great reservoirs for the 31
supply of Kaulun, and a railway twists and burrows through the
valleys and mountains, and connects at the frontier with the
Chinese railway to Canton. So the Territory has a future of its
own, but its real importance is as a protecting barrier to the
harbour of Hongkong.
Hongkong is an excellent instance of the attraction which a
free port, under a Government which gives security for life
and property, and deals out even-handed justice, has for an
industrious native race. The liberality with which the wealthier
Chinese support public objects in Hongkong, such as schools and
hospitals, is the best proof that they appreciate the methods and
value of British rule.