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SARAWAK;

ITS INHABITANTS AND PRODUCTIONS

NOTES DURING A RESIDENCE

IN THAT COUNTRY WITH

HIS EXCELLENCY MR. BROOKE.

BY HUGH LOW

/•/

COLONIAL SECRETARY AT LABUH-AN.

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
^ubltsfjer in ©rtu'ttarg to $^*r Jflajestg.

1848.

570 796

. \o

LONDON :
B. CLAT, PKINTKR, BREAD BTRKKT HILL.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY

JAMES BROOKE, 'ESQ. D.C.L.

GOVERNOR OP LABUH-AN,

HER MAJESTY'S COMMISSIONER IN BORNEO,

RAJAH OF SARAWAK, ETC.

MY DEAR MR. BROOKE,

IN availing myself of your kind permission
to dedicate to you the following Work,
I discharge with pleasure the duty under
which the author of the first Volume pro-
fessing to treat of the inhabitants of Sarawak,
lies ; and if I am fortunate in securing for it
your approbation, I shall consider the time
I have devoted to it to have been profitably
spent.

IV DEDICATION.

You know the circumstances of haste
under which it has been written, and I trust,
in consequence, much to your kind indulgence
for its many imperfections ; but should the
Volume be found to contain any new or
interesting particulars, I shall have the
greatest satisfaction in acknowledging that
your great kindness, and the facilities and
protection you afforded me, alone enabled
me to collect and supply them.

With sentiments of the deepest respect
and gratitude,

I am,

MY DEAR MR. BROOKE,

Your most obedient and humble Servant,

HUGH LOW.

LEYDEN,

Dec. 13, 1847.

PREFACE.

THE remarks contained in the following
pages have been prepared from notes col-
lected during a residence of about thirty
months in Sarawak, and the west coast of
Borneo. My object, (the collection of plants
and seeds,) led me more into the country,
and amongst the tribes of aborigines, than
any other Englishman who has yet visited
the shores of this Island ; and I trust that,
though very incomplete, this Work may, in
the absence of others on the subject, be
found to contain some interesting informa-
tion respecting the domestic economy of the
people.

On my arrival in England, in October last,
I had no intention of publishing any account

VI PREFACE.

of the Island ; and, in consequence, many
of my notes, particularly those on the sub-
ject of the languages and superstitions of
the various tribes, were left in Borneo, my
purpose being to present them to the public,
when a longer residence and further in-
quiries in the country should have rendered
them less unworthy of attention.

Though thirty months may seem to pro-
mise a less meagre and unsatisfactory account
than that contained in the pages which
follow, it must be recollected, that a great
part of that time was spent before I had
sufficiently acquired the native languages to
trust my remarks on paper, so that these
may be considered as but the result of one
year's inquiry.

A further cause of their present imper-
fection is the want of time under which I
laboured in their preparation for the press,
consequent on the necessary arrangements
for an early departure for the East. It is
with the greatest diffidence I now offer them
for the public approval, and crave for them

PREFACE. Vll

that indulgence which, under other circum-
stances, could not be expected or allowed.

I wish in this place to acknowledge my
obligations to the numerous friends, both
here and in the East, who were kind enough
to interest themselves in my proceedings.
To the Earl of Auckland I am under the
greatest obligations for letters to the Official
Residents in the Straits Settlements, parti-
cularly for one to the Honourable the
Governor, Lieutenant- Colonel Butterworth,
C. B., who on all occasions, and by every
means in his power, forwarded the objects
of the expedition, and by his and his
lady's kindness during my frequent visits
to Singapore, has placed me under infinite
obligations. To Drs. Oxley and Martin, and
C. Carnie, Esq., with many other friends in
Singapore, I am indebted for many favours ;
but 1 am only one of many who have had
occasion to record their kindness.

I need not mention the name of Mr. Brooke,
as his amiable character is too well known ;
but to the other gentlemen of Sarawak I may

Vlll PREFACE.

express my thanks for their kindness, and
assure them that in whatever manner the
remainder of my time may be spent, the
period I passed in their company will ever be
remembered with pleasure.

I return my thanks to the gentlemen of
the British Museum for the list of Zoology
in the Appendix, and very much regret that
family affliction has prevented E. Doubleday,
Esq., of that Institution, from furnishing the
Catalogue of the Lepidopterous Insects.
Many other skins and animals than those
enumerated have been sent to England, but
have not yet been examined.

HUGH LOW.

UPPER CLAPTON,
Dec. 22d, 1847.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION xiii

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF BORNEO BRITISH AND DUTCH

SETTLEMENTS ON THE ISLAND ITS MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, LAKES,

AND VOLCANOES — THE ERUPTION OF TOMBORO COAL FOUND

IN THE ISLAND OF LABUH-AN THE MODE OF WORKING

ANTIMONY ORE — MINERALS IN BORNEO GOLD FOUND IN

SARAWAK THE MODE OF WORKING IT IN THE ISLAND, AND

ITS PRODUCE ESTIMATED BY SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES GOLD

AN EXPORT OF SARAWAK — DIAMONDS IN BORNEO . . .

CHAPTER II.

i

THE TEMPERATURE AND SOIL OF BORNEO — THE VEGETABLE

PRODUCTIONS OF THE ISLAND DESCRIBED IN SUCCESSION THE

SUGAR CANE — SPICES — THE NIBONG THE BAMBOO — RICE

THE COCOA-NUT — SAGO THE GOMUTI PALM ITS USES — THE

BETEL, OR ARECA NUT— RATTANS AND CANES THE NIPAH

AND MANGROVE CAMPHOR VEGETABLE OILS THE GUTTA

PERCHA THE UPAS TREE, — DAMMAR WILD CINNAMON AND

COTTON PEPPER AND COFFEE GAMBIER AND TOBACCO

TIMBER TREES — ORNAMENTAL AND SCENTED WOODS — FLOWERS 30

a

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

PAGE

THE FRUITS :OF BORNEO — ANIMATED NATURE — THE RHINOCEROS

THE TAPIR — THE BEAR — DEER THE KIJANQ AND PALAN-

DOK THE PANTHER VARIETIES OF CATS ANECDOTE OF AN

ORANG UTAN MONKEYS — ALLIGATORS — THE ALLIGATOR

DOCTOR THE MODE OP OPERATION LIZARDS — SNAKES AND

VIPERS THE COBRA AND FLOWER-SNAKE — INSECTS FISH

AND FISHING ESTABLISHMENTS BUFFALOES HARES GOATS

PIGS — DOGS — DOMESTIC FOWLS 71

CHAPTER IV.

THE KINGDOM OF BORNEO — THE MALAYS THE BUGI8 PEOPLE OF

CELEBES THE ABORIGINES — DUTCH AND ENGLISH SETTLE-
MENTS— MAJOR MULLER'S EXPEDITION — MR. MURRAY KILLED

PRESENT STATE OF THE CAPITAL — THE SULTAN SARAWAK

AND MR. BROOKE'S POSSESSIONS — DESCRIPTION OF SARAWAK

ITS CHIEFS ITS NATIVE MERCHANTS AND INHABITANTS

DYAK SLAVES IN BORNEO THEIR TREATMENT AND PRICE IN

THE MARKET — SLAVE DEBTORS 93

CHAPTER V.

ARAB DESCENDANTS OF THE PROPHET — THEIR IMPOSITIONS AND
SUPERSTITIONS — PIRACY — ACTION OF THE NEMESIS GAM-
BLING AND OPIUM SMOKING — CRIMINAL TRIALS AND PUNISH-
MENTS— IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SARAWAK — MANNERS OF

THE PEOPLE EDUCATION — DRESS AND APPEARANCE OF MALAY

WOMEN — OIL FOR THE HAIR — A SUPERSTITION — MARRIAGES
— PRICE OF A WIFE RUNNING A-MUCK — ARTS AND MANU-
FACTURES— PALACE OF THE SULTAN — MARKET OF BRUNI —
MALAY FISHING — TRADERS AT SARAWAK — WARS OF THE
PEOPLE — THEIR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION WITH EUROPEANS . 123

CONTENTS. Xi

CHAPTER VI.

PAGE

SEA-DYAKS — TRIBES OF LUNDU, SAKARRAN, AND SAREBAS — DYAK

HOUSES LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND SUPERSTITIONS THE

MANANG, OR VILLAGE DOCTOR — DRESS OF DYAKS AND OF

THEIR WOMEN SEVERAL OF THEIR CHIEFS ANECDOTE OF

ONE — HEAD- TAKING GRATITUDE TO MR. BROOKE PIRACY OF

SEA-DYAKS — ITS SUPPRESSION DYAK LAXITY OF MANNERS

THEIR LOVE OF THEIR CHILDREN — DUTIES AND LABOURS OF

THE MEN AND WOMEN — CAPTIVE DYAK CHILDREN COOKERY

OF THE DYAKS — THEIR FUNERALS AND FUNERAL CEREMONIES 165

CHAPTER VII.

TREATMENT OF A CAPTURED HEAD SEA-DYAK GAMES — THEIR

PROGRESS IN THE USEFUL ARTS — THE BLACKSMITH THEIR

WEAPONS WARS — BALANCE OF HEADS —PRESERVATION OF

ENEMIES' HEADS — HEAD-HUNTING — SEA-DYAK BOATS — BOAT
ENGAGEMENTS BRAVERY OF THE CHIEF OF LUNDU DEFEN-
SIVE WARFARE MODE OF ROWING A CHIEF'S SUPERSTITION

— DYAK AGRICULTURE PREPARING LAND FOR A FARM PADI

AND INDIAN CORN GRANARIES — MODE OF REAPING THE PADI

DYAK GARDENS THEIR PRODUCE FRUIT TREFS TRAPS

FOR DEER AND PIGS — CAGE-TRAPS AND SPRINGES FOR BIRDS —
STRANGE MODE OF FISHING 206

CHAPTER VIII.

THE HILL DYAKS THEIR CHARACTER THEIR RELIGION AND

SUPERSTITIONS THEIR DEITIES — INVOCATION OF THEM — PRO-
PITIATION OF THEM AND OF THE RAJAH — CEREMONY PER-
FORMED BY MR. BROOKE THE PAMALI, OR " TABOO" A DYAK

FUNERAL — A PECULIAR SUPERSTITION OF THE DYAKS THEIR

ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD ANCIENT DYAK MONU-
MENTS AND DRAGON-JARS THEIR VENERATION FOR CERTAIN

PLANTS — SUPERSTITION OF THE DYAKS OF SARAWAK — SPE-
CULATIONS AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE DYAKS 239

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IX.

MM

LAND DYAK VILLAGES AND HOUSES THE PANGAH DYAK FOR-
TIFICATIONS—THEIE PATHS AND BRIDGES — MODE OF TRA-
VELLING— THE ORANG KAYA DYAK ASSEMBLIES, OR PARLIA-
MENT — THEIR POPULATION — VILLAGES DYAK TRIBES IN

SARAWAK — THEIR MORALITY AND MARRIAGE CEREMONIES —

A CURIOUS AND SALUTARY CUSTOM HEAD-TAKING DYAK

DISEASES, MEDICINE AND SURGERY MODE OF CURE MUSICAL

INSTRUMENTS AND SINGING — WEAPONS THE TAPANG TREE

MODE OF PROCURING WAX AND EDIBLE BIRDS' NESTS — AGRI-
CULTURE— LANDOWNERS 278

CHAPTER X.

THE KYAN8 — THEIR COMMERCE — THE KYANS FOES OF THE DYAKS

TATTOOING KYAN DRESS — IMPUTED CHARACTER OF THE

KYANS — THEIR WAR DRESSES — THEIR WEAPONS — THE SAMPIT-

AN THEIR SWORDS AND KNIVES THEIR COURAGE THEIR

SHIELDS — HUMAN SACRIFICES KYAN MODE OF TRANSACTING

BUSINESS — THE MILANOWES AND THE MERI PEOPLE — AN

ALBINO— THE REJAN8, KADYANS, AND OTHER TRIBES THE

SEA-GIPSIES OPENINGS FOR .BRITISH ENTERPRISE PROBA-
BLE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS BY DR. HOOKER . . . .321

CHAPTER XI.

ILLUSTRATIONS 350

CHAPTER XII.

ILLUSTRATIONS 373

CHAPTER XIII.

ILLUSTRATIONS 388

APPENDIX 407

INTRODUCTION,

IT has been suggested, that a short notice
of Mr. Brooke should precede this work;
since it is to his exertions that the details
contained in the following pages will owe
their chief interest. This concise memoir is
offered without comment, for a reason which a
glance at the title-page will enable everybody
to understand.

Mr. Brooke was born on the 29th of April,
1803, at Coombe Grove, near Bath. He was
the second, but is now the sole surviving son
of the late Thomas Brooke, Esq., who was
long employed in the civil service of the
East India Company ; and, descended by both
parents from ancient families, is the lineal

XIV INTRODUCTION.

representative of Sir Robert Viner, Baronet,
Lord Mayor of London in the reign of
Charles II. Sir Robert was honoured by an
intimacy with his Sovereign, of which a plea-
sant story is told in " The Spectator," and
did the Crown many great services. Such
was his loyalty, that he willingly permitted
a great portion of his large fortune to find
its way into the Exchequer of the Merry
Monarch, to whose memory he raised a
monument in Stock's Market.

Designed for the military service of the
East India Company, Mr. Brooke received
a suitable education; and went out to India
at a very early period as a cadet. He spent
the first years of his active life in Bengal,
where he held several advantageous appoint-
ments ; and on the breaking out of the Bur-
mese war he accompanied his regiment to
Assam. In an action with the enemy his
gallantry was so conspicuous that he received
the thanks of the Government; but, being shot
through the lungs, his native air was deemed
necessary to his recovery, and he returned
to Europe.

INTRODUCTION. XV

Once more at home, he resumed the
studies of his boyhood, and made himself
master of several modern languages. He
travelled also through France, Switzerland,
and Italy, a tour which his recent literary
pursuits had prepared him to enjoy.

The period at length arrived when it was
necessary that he should return to India, and
he embarked, but the ship was wrecked on
the Isle of Wight. This mishap occasioned
such a loss of time, that when he reached
Madras, his leave of absence had expired,
and he found that to regain the position he
had involuntarily forfeited, a prolonged and
tedious correspondence with the Home Autho-
rities would probably be necessary. Accord-
ingly, he at once relinquished the service, and
decided on proceeding with the ship to China.

This step was the most important of his
earlier life. Then, for the first time, he saw the
islands of the Indian Archipelago, with their
natural riches and incomparable beauty. The
notion of one day visiting and exploring them
insinuated itself into his mind, but the resolve

XVI INTRODUCTION.

was not suddenly made. The value and
variety of the products of the Archipelago
were in some measure disclosed to him during
his stay at Canton. He returned to Europe,
by this time full of his design, and in con-
junction with another gentleman, fitted out a
ship of large burden, and proceeded once
more into the China seas ; but circumstances,
which, considering his ardour and the pur-
pose he had at heart, must have been
numerous, or indeed deterring, prevented at
that time the accomplishment of his wishes.
He gave up the idea of carrying out his plan
in company with another, and again visited
Europe, to " bide his time, to wait a happier
hour."

On the death of his father, Mr. Brooke
succeeded to a handsome fortune ; and in
October, 1838, eight years after his first
entrance into the China seas, he set sail
from England in his yacht, the ' Royalist,'
a handsome schooner of 142 tons, with a
picked crew of more than twenty men.
The sailing qualities of his vessel, and the
thorough seamanship of his crew, he had

INTRODUCTION. XV11

previously tested in a voyage up the Medi-
terranean.

On reaching Singapore, where he stayed
nearly two months, Mr. Brooke saw reason
to modify his original intention, and to restrict
his researches for a time to the north-west
coast of Borneo. He learned that Borneo
Proper was under the rule of the Rajah Muda
Hassim, who was represented to be humane
and generous, and well-affected to the Eng-
lish. Muda Hassim was then at Sarawak —
his occasional residence only — but at which
he was detained by a rebellion in the in-
terior. Taking with him such presents as
were likely to prove most agreeable to the
Rajah, Mr. Brooke stood down the Strait,
visited Borneo, and proceeded up the river
Sarawak, anchoring abreast of the town of that
name on the 15th of August, 1839. He was
received by the Rajah with courtesy and
kindness, but soon found that the rebellion,
of which his host had spoken lightly, was a
serious matter, and he had cause to believe that
Muda Hassim wished him to stay as an intimi-
dation to the rebels. He, however, obtained

XV111 INTRODUCTION.

permission from the Rajah to visit parts of
his country, of which he availed himself, mak-
ing several excursions to various Dyak tribes.

On his return to Sarawak, he had several
conferences with the Rajah, touching the estab-
lishment of commerce between that place and
Singapore; and on the whole was encouraged
to endeavour to effect it. Carrying with him
letters for the merchants of Singapore, and a
list of the imports and exports of Sarawak,
Mr. Brooke took a cordial leave of the Rajah,
and set sail for the former port.

Mr. Brooke's second visit to Sarawak was at
the end of August, 1840. He found the civil
war pretty much as he had left it, but the
Sultan of Bruni (Borneo) was now bestirring
hjmself, and his measures excited Muda Has-
sim to action. Still, it was found that little
or nothing decisive could be achieved without
the co-operation of our Englishman, which,
after some persuasion, he consented to render.
The rebellion was at length put down, the
chief surrendering at discretion, and it was
not without much difficulty that Mr. Brooke

INTRODUCTION. XIX

succeeded in prevailing upon the Rajah to
spare their lives.

By this time the Rajah was tired of
Sarawak, the government of which was
handed over to his valuable associate in the
extinction of the civil war. The agreement
was drawn out, signed, and sealed, on the
24th of September, 1841.

V

After many months occupied in the ardu-
ous duties of establishing his government,
Mr. Brooke, accompanied by Muda Hassim,
sailed for Borneo Proper, and had several
interviews with the Sultan, by whom at
length he was, with all solemnity, confirmed
in his government. Everything now went so
prosperously in the interior of his territory,
that he found he could with safety proceed
once more to Singapore. In his journal he
observes, " My motives for going are various ;
but I hope to do good, to excite interest, and
make friends ; and I can find no season like
the present for my absence. It is now two
years since I left Singapore, ' the boundary
of civilization.' I have been out of the civi-

XX INTRODUCTION.

lized world, living in a demi-civilized state,
peaceably, innocently, and usefully." He
sailed on the 8th of February, 1843.

The Honourable Captain Keppel, on the
termination of the war with China, was or-
dered by his commander-in-chief, Sir William
Parker, to proceed with his ship, the ' Dido,'
to the Malacca Straits, to protect the trade
and put down piracy. Borneo was included
in the station, and the captain, being on
duty at Singapore, made the acquaintance
of Mr. Brooke, who returned with him in his
vessel to Sarawak. At Borneo, the captain
found enough to do, and did much towards
the suppression of piracy, with the assistance
of his friend ; but he was recalled to England
in August, 1844. Mr. Brooke in his journal
thus speaks of that event, " The departure
of the ' Dido' left me sad and lonely, for Cap-
tain Keppel had really been my companion
and friend ; and he so thoroughly entered into
my views for the suppression of piracy, and
made them his own, that I may not expect
any successor to act with the same vigour and
the same decision. Gallant Didos ! I would

INTRODUCTION. XXL

ask no farther aid or protection than I re-
ceived from you."

Shortly after Captain Keppel's departure,
H.M.S. ' Samarang' and ' Phlegethon' visited
and inspected the island of Labuh-an, of
which final possession has since been taken,
and which is now a British settlement.

In February, 1845, H.M.S. 'Driver 'brought
Captain Bethune to Sarawak, bearing a letter
from Lord Aberdeen, appointing Mr. Brooke
confidential agent in Borneo to Her Majesty.
This letter enclosed one to the Sultan and
the Rajah Muda Hassim, replying to their
request for the assistance of the British
Government to extinguish piracy. The cap-
tain and Mr. Brooke instantly proceeded to
Borneo (Bruni) city, where the letter was
received by the Sultan with firing of guns
and streaming of banners, and every personal
demonstration of respect. The Sultan ex-
claimed, " it was good, very good," — wanted
to know when the English would occupy
Labuh-an, and observed that he wanted to
have the Europeans near him.

XX11 INTRODUCTION.

Hearing of hostile demonstrations on the
part of certain formidable pirates, Mr. Brooke
went to Singapore, and had several inter-
views with Sir Thomas Cochrane. The ad-
miral proceeded to Borneo Proper, accom-
panied by Mr. Brooke, with a fleet of seven
vessels, and had an interview with the Sultan
and Muda Hassim, and an action was shortly
after fought with the pirates, in which they
were completely routed, but not without some
loss on the English side. " Never," said the
Borneons, " was such a war in Bruni." All
tendered their submission to Muda Hassim,
and the Sultan and Mr. Brooke returned in
triumph to Sarawak.

Scarcely had these events taken place, when
the Sultan, who had been accounted imbecile
and a mere cypher, was discovered to be not
without treachery, and the means of effecting
it. He caused Muda Hassim and many others
to be murdered, because they were friendly to
the English ; and he had employed a wretch,
Mr. Brooke's greatest and most inveterate
enemy, although his life had been three times
interceded for by his intended victim, to

INTRODUCTION. XX111

poison him, or to get him dispatched by any
cowardly and safe means. On hearing of
these occurrences, Sir Thomas Cochrane lost
not a moment in taking measures to bring
the Sultan to account, unmoved by an
apologetic letter which the traitor trans-
mitted to him.

The fleet ascended the river, which was
stoutly defended from forts and batteries,
but on reaching the city it was found that
the inhabitants had deserted it, and that
the Sultan had effected his escape. In a
few days, the dispersed inhabitants became
reassured, and returned to their homes, when
a proclamation for the Sultan was confided
to the chief person in the town, remind-
ing him how utterly he was at the admiral's
mercy, and warning him of the consequences,
should he again offer hostilities to England.
Sir Thomas Cochrane then left Captain
Mundy to complete such operations as might
be necessary.

This officer, accompanied by Mr. Brooke,
made some vigorous and successful demon-

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

strations against the pirates, at the termi-
nation of which, the Rajah of Sarawak
returned to Bruni, for the purpose of re-
storing order, a task which had been con-
fided to him by the admiral. Thence he
returned to Sarawak, taking Muda Hassim's
son with him, and the rest of the ill-fated
Rajah's family.

In about a month after his flight, the
Sultan was permitted to return to Bruni,
whence he wrote Mr. Brooke a penitential
letter, imploring forgiveness and promising
amendment. A similar letter was also des-
patched to Her Majesty Queen Victoria,
but his power, as a source of offence to the
British Government, is gone for ever.

WEAPONS AND UTENSILS USED

FIG. 1.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 2.

K1G. 8.

FIG. 9.

FIG. 6.

FIG. 7.

FIG. 10.

EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES.

Flo I.— Ordinary Dyak Parang, or chopping knife, sometimes used in war.

Fio 2. — Shenth of the same.

Fio 3. — Dyak Tambuk, or small basket, and worn on the left side, and for carrying Sirlh leaves, betel-nut, fcc

Fio 4. — Land l)yak sword.

Fio 5.— Its sheath.

Fio 6. — Sea Dyak sword.

Fio 7. — Its sheath

Fio 8. — Ornamented spear of the Sadong Dyaks.

Fio !>.— Shield of the Dyakg.

Fio 10. — Juah, basket, carried on the back by the strap which crosses the forehead.

BY THE NATIVES OE BORNEO.

FI<*. 11.

FIG. 12.

KIG. 13.

FIG. 14.

FIG. 17.

FIG. 15.

FIG. 16.

FIG. 18.

EXPLANATION OF THE FIGURES.

Fio. II. — Kyan sword, called by the Malays Parang Hang, showing its ornamented convex side.

Fio. 12.— Sheath of the Hang, beautifully carved, with belt and fastenings.

Fio. 13. — Sumpit-an, with sight and spear as used by the Kyans.

Fio. 14. — Shield of the Kyan chiefs, ornamented with human hair.

FIG. 15. — Case of the darts of Sumpit-an, with charms, and small case for the poison.

Fio. 16. — Dart blown from the Sumpit-an.

Fio. 17. — Kyan war-jacket, made of tiger-cat's skin, and ornamented with tail feathers of the Rhinoceros

hornbill.
Fio. 18. — Cap of the Kyans when going to war.

SARAWAK.

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF BORNEO BRITISH AND DUTCH

SETTLEMENTS ON THE ISLAND ITS MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, LAKES,

AND VOLCANOES THE ERUPTION OP TOMBORO COAL FOUND IN

THE ISLAND OF LABUH-AN — THE MODE OF WORKING ANTIMONY

ORE MINERALS IN BORNEO — GOLD FOUND IN SARAWAK THE

MODE OF WORKING IT IN THE ISLAND, AND ITS PRODUCE ESTI-
MATED BT SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES — GOLD AN EXPORT OF SARAWAK
DIAMONDS IN BORNEO.

BORNEO, one of the largest islands of the world,
occupies portions of both the first and second grand
divisions of the Eastern Archipelago, as established by
Mr. Crawfurd; the eastern boundary of his first or
western division, 116° of east longitude, running
through the island a little to the eastward of the
town of Bruni, more commonly known as Borneo
Proper, so that the western and greater portion of the
island belongs to his first and most favoured division,
which includes also Sumatra, Java, and the Malayan
peninsula. That part, east of the above-named me-
ridian, is comprised in the second division, which also

B
€ *

Z (iEOGKAl'HY OF

includes the island of Celebes and others, to the meri-
dian of 124° east, and to the parallel of 3° north
latitude. A portion of the island enters the fourth
geographical division of the above-named author, but
this appears to be a superfluous one, as the inhabitants
and productions of Magindanau, Soolu, &c., very
much resemble those of the second division ; the
vegetables on which stress is laid, particularly the
nutmeg and sago, being abundant on those parts of
Borneo which are included in the former divisions :
the first of them, however, is not the kind so valued
for its aromatic flavour, and though there are several
species, they are all valueless in commerce, the fine
ones being confined to the Moluccas.

The name Borneo, by which the island has been
always distinguished on European charts, and which
was probably applied to it by the Portuguese from
information received previously to any of their visits
to the island, is a corruption of the word Burni, ths
name of a kingdom and town on the N. W. coast of
the island — Bruni being called by the inhabitants of
the Malayan peninsula, where the Portuguese first
settled after their conquest of Malacca, under the
celebrated Albuquerque, in 1511, Tanah Burni, the
land of Burni, it being rarely the custom of the
natives to apply a distinguishing name to the whole
island collectively, but to designate each part by
the name of the most powerful kingdom situated
in it. Thus it is said that the southern part of this
island is named by the Javans, Tanah Banjarmasin,

BORNEO.

from the Malayan or rather Javanese kingdom of that
name. The natives of Borneo in general have no idea
that their country is an island : it is only the Malays
and inhabitants of the sea-coasts, whose maritime
pursuits have necessarily forced upon them the know-
ledge of its insular position, who have one compre-
hensive term for the countries which compose it.
These call it Tanah Kalamantan, and occasionally Pulo
Kalamantan, or the island Kalamantan ; but this term
is usually restricted to what we should call an islet,
large countries being designated Tanah, or land — a
word nearly similar in signification to our term conti-
nent— their language having no other expression
equivalent to that geographical term, and consequently
more appropriate to this land, than the term Pulo.

Though this large island has been long known to
Europeans, settlements were not for many years after
its discovery attempted upon it, and it is remarkable
that the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch, who so long
contended for the spice trade of the Moluccas, should
have so neglected the rich island of Borneo, the pro-
ductions of which must have been well known to
them all. In 1747, the Dutch made a settlement at
Banjar, on the southern coast, which was abandoned
by Marshal Daendels, the Governor- general of Nether-
lands, India, in 1810; the sultan paying them, by
agreement, the sum of 50,000 Spanish dollars for
the forts and buildings. They had previously, in
the year 1687, attacked Sucadana, at the instigation of
the Sultan of Bantam, for the purpose of replacing the

B 2

4 BRITISH AND DUTCH

disinherited sultan, Gura Laya, on his throne. This
territory was afterwards ceded to the Dutch by the
then Sultan of Bantam in 1778, in which year they
established a fort and factory at the neighbouring
flourishing Malay settlement of Pontianak, from which
they destroyed the rival flourishing and independent
states of Mampawa and Sucadana. Pontianak itself,
says Mr. Crawfurd, " soon fell in consideration under
their influence, until their removal and unrestricted
trade once more restored it in our times." They occu-
pied it at this time during fourteen years. In 1823,
they again possessed themselves of Pontianak, which
they now retain. Soon after the Dutch had left Ban-
jar, in 1810, the Earl of Minto received at Malacca
an embassy from the sultan, requesting the English to
settle, which was accepted ; and when Java was taken
possession of by the British in 1811, a factory was
established there. This settlement was delivered over
to the Dutch on the restoration of Java, and they
still retain it. The remaining Dutch settlement is at
Sambas, on the western coast : it was formed in
1823, the Hollanders paying a sum of money to the
sultan for the monopoly of the trade. It had previously
been a nest of pirates, who were destroyed by Eng-
lish ships of war, sent from Batavia for that purpose,
in 1812. With the exception of a British residency
formed from Balambangan during our short occupation
of that island, at Bruni, and which was soon after-
wards abandoned on account of internal commotions
in that state, these are the only settlements which

SETTLEMENTS. 5

have been established by Europeans on the island,
and none of them have ever prospered; even those
which the Dutch now maintain being reported to be
an annual expense to the government. The English,
in the year 1773, formed a settlement at Balambangan,
an island off the northern coast of Borneo, which had
been ceded to them by the Soolus, together with a
portion of the opposite coast, from the river Kimanis
on the west, to the great bay on the eastern side of
the island. Two years after the settlement had been
made, the English were attacked by the Soolus, and
driven from the place in February, 1775. In 1803 the
settlement was again attempted, but soon voluntarily
abandoned. The above comprise the whole of the
settlements which had been made on the island pre-
viously to the establishment of Mr. Brooke at Sara-
wak, and the failure of all of them is to be attributed
to the monopolies and illiberal principles of the Euro-
pean nations or companies which formed them.

In consequence of the languid state of the Euro-
pean settlements, the true geographical position of the
points and headlands of its shores has to this day
remained unascertained ; but the recent survey of Sir
E. Belcher, of H.M.S. ' Samarang,' which has lately
returned, and Lieut. Gordon, of H.M.S. 'Royalist,' who
is now engaged on the northern part of the island, will
soon enable the Admiralty to furnish a more correct
chart of the western shores, though the eastern are
still unexplored. These, however, cannot long remain
unknown, as the settlement to be formed at Labuh-an

0 MOUNTAINS.

will probably soon find it necessary, for the extermi-
nation of the piratical inhabitants, to have them fully
investigated.

In geographical features this island presents us
with great variety. It has high mountains, magnificent
rivers, extensive lakes, and probably, in the northern
part of the island, considerable plains. The mountains
are disposed in a range which traverses the island
from its N. E. extremity in a south-westerly direction ;
in the northern division they are very high, Kina Balou
being nearly 14,000 feet. They appear gradually to
decrease in height as they approach the south-western
shore; about the middle of the island they are
observed inland of Tanjong Barram 8,000 and 9,000
feet high ; but westerly, in the Pontianak country, as
they approach the sea, they are from 2,000 to 4,000
feet in height.

The heights of many of the principal peaks of the
northern part of the island have been recently ascer-
tained by Lieut. Gordon, but as his observations are
not yet published I am unable to avail myself of them.
Kina Balou (the Chinese widow), which is situated
about eighteen miles inland, and at the foot of which
is Malludu Bay, is supposed much to exceed any of
the others in height. I have been informed by the
Rajahs of Borneo that it derives its name from the cir-
cumstance of its summit having been in former times
the residence of a female spirit of great beauty, of
whom it is said a Chinese prince of Bruni (before the
time of its conversion to the religion of Mahomet),

RIVERS. 7

became enamoured, and, wishing to obtain her in
marriage, made a journey intending to visit her resi-
dence, but, losing his footing, fell over one of the rocky
precipices near the top, and was killed. Hence the
spirit has been denominated the Widow of the China-
man, and the mountain, after her, named Kina or
China Balou ; the Borneans not pronouncing the ch
soft, as is the practice amongst Malayan nations.

From these mountains issue innumerable rivers,
which empty themselves into the sea on all sides of
the island. On the north coast the largest are those
of Bruni, Rejang, Sarebas, of Sakarran, and of Sara-
wak; on the west coast are the enormous rivers of
Sambas and Pontianak ; on the south the great
river Banjar; on the south-east that of Passir; and
further north that of Coti : beside these are very
many others, all of which will be found of the greatest
service hereafter, in diffusing trade and civilization
from our new settlement ; but those above named are
selected on account of their great size. Between the
province of Sarawak and the town of Bruni are
upwards of twenty considerable mouths of rivers, with
settlements frequented by Malay boats, for the pur-
poses of trade ; indeed, it is probable that, with the
exception of the west coast of Africa, no country in
the world is better watered than this island. The
purposes of navigation will be greatly facilitated in
these rivers by tides, which, for a great distance, flow
up the larger of them ; those of the greatest size being
found in the flattest parts of the island. This is the

8 RIVERS

case particularly with the Rejang on the north-west,
and the Banjar on the south, side of the island : the
same applies also to the Sambas and Pontianak,
together with all the other rivers which, as on the
north coast, do not immediately descend the moun-
tains to the sea. These have frequently fresh water at
their mouths, not having to traverse any level country
before they disembogue.

Lakes of considerable extent are asserted by the
natives to exist in the interior of the island. One
called the Danau Malayu, or Malay Lake, situated on
the head waters of the river of Pontianak, was visited
by an expedition from that Dutch settlement in the
year 1823. It ascended the river to the distance of
250 miles, when it was found to open out into a lake
of twenty-five miles in length, and nine in breadth,
but of no considerable depth, the average being three
fathoms. It was abundantly stored with excellent fish,
and in the centre were two islands, to which European
names were attached by the expedition ; one being
that of the Baron Van der Capellen, the then governor
of Netherlands, India. Before arriving at this lake
they had passed many falls, one of the height of
twenty-five feet ; the lake itself was not estimated to
be situated more than 100 feet above the level of
the sea. The great river Batang-Lupar, of which the
Sakarran is a branch, takes its rise very near this lake,
on the banks of which one or more Malay states are
established, with which, if the disturbances of the
Sakarran river were settled, a lucrative commerce would

AND LAKES. 9

be carried on by the Malay traders of Sarawak. A
large lake is also said to exist amongst the ranges
of mountains near Kina Balou; and on the Dutch
charts a chain of lakes is laid down between this and
the Danau Malayu already noticed, and consequently
stretching across the island ; but, as no one has visited
any of them, they must be laid down from native
information, which they alone have been able to ob-
tain, or, what is more probable, they have been placed
there without any information at ah1 respecting their
existence.

In surface the island is usually low and undulating
towards the sea shore, and for a long way into the
interior in the north-west, and south, and south-
east parts of the island. The belt of undulating land
on the west coast is not so broad, as the general
and continuous ranges of mountains of the north
are here much broken, and at first sight appear to be
scattered about in a solitary manner, and without
any order ; they approach nearer to the sea than in the
centre of the island, so that the west coast, particularly
approaching the territories of Sarawak and Sambas,
has a mountainous appearance at a little distance in-
land, quite foreign to the southern and western districts.
The sea shores are all of fine sand, and lined with a
hedge of the beautiful arroo tree, (Casuarina,) which,
from their resemblance, are usually called firs by the
Europeans. The mouths of the rivers are generally
muddy and overflowed for some few miles by the
tides j here the nipah palm and the mangrove delight to

10 VOLCANO

grow, and forests and swamps of these useful trees
abound in all such situations : they give shelter to in-
numerable mosquitoes, which render it impossible to
sleep at night in their vicinity.

Situated in the centre of islands, most of which
abound in volcanoes of the most frightful activity, one
would expect earthquakes and other indications of
their vicinity to be frequent in Borneo ; but as far as
has yet been discovered, no volcanoes or other indica-
tions of subterraneous fire are found, and if they ever
existed, it must have been at a period so remote that
even to tradition the remembrance of them is lost.
The Philippines to the north, and Java and other
islands to the south, are frequently disturbed by these
fearful phenomena, and I have seen many inhabitants
of the western coast of Borneo, who perfectly re-
collected the great eruption of the mountain Tomboro,
in the island of Sumbawa, which happened in April,
1815,* the effects of which are distinctly stated to

* The following interesting account of this eruption, given by
Sir Stamford Raffles, is extracted from his excellent History of
Java : —

" In order to give the reader some idea of the tremendous vio-
lence with which nature sometimes distinguishes the operations
of the volcano in these regions, and enable him to form some con-
jecture, from the occurrences of recent experience, of the effects
they may have produced in past ages, a short account of the
extraordinary and wide spread phenomena that accompanied the
eruption of the Tomboro mountain, in the island of Sumbawa, in
April, 1815, may not be uninteresting. Almost every one is
acquainted with the intermitting convulsions of Etna andVesuvius,
as they appear in the descriptions of the poet and the authentic

OF TOMBOKO. 1 I

have been perceptible at Sarawak, though distant, in
a straight line, 800 miles.

I have been told that on the Samarhand river is a
small spring of warm water, and at Borneo are one or

accounts of the naturalist, but the most extraordinary of them can
bear no comparison, in point of duration and force, with that of
Tomboro. This eruption extended perceptible evidences of its
existence over the whole of the Molucca Islands, over Java, a
considerable portion of Celebes, Sumatra, and Borneo, to a cir-
cumference of 1000 statute miles from its centre, by tremulous
motions, and the report of explosions ; while within the range
of its more immediate activity, embracing a space of 300
miles around it, it produced the most astonishing effects, and
excited the most alarming apprehensions. On Java, at the
distance of 300 miles, it seemed to be awfully present. The
sky was overcast at noon-day with clouds of ashes, the sun was en-
veloped in an atmosphere, whose ' palpable ' density it was unable
to penetrate ; showers of ashes covered the houses, the streets, and
the fields, to the depth of several inches ; and, amid this dark-
ness, explosions were heard at intervals, like the report of artillery
or the noise of distant thunder. So fully did the resemblance of
the noises to the report of cannon impress the minds of some
officers, that, from an apprehension of pirates on the coast, vessels
were despatched to afford relief. Superstition, on the other hand,
on the minds of the natives, was busily at work, and attributed
the reports to an artillery of a different description to that of
pirates. All conceived that the effects experienced might be
caused by eruptions of some of the numerous volcanos on the
island ; but no one could have conjectured that the showers of
ashes which darkened the air, and covered the ground of the
eastern districts of Java, could have proceeded from a mountain
in Snmbawa, at the distance of several hundred miles. Conceiving
that it might be interesting and curious to preserve an authentic
and detailed account of the information that could be gained of
this wonderful phenomenon, while the event was still recent and
fully remembered, I directed a circular to the different residents,

12 ERUPTION OF

two small mineral springs, and one of naphtha, but this
will not be thought sufficient to prove the present
existence of subterranean fires.

Coal is exceedingly abundant in Pulo Labuh-au,

requiring them to transmit to the Government a statement of the
facts and circumstances connected with it, which occurred within
their own knowledge. From their replies, the narrative drawn
up by Mr. Assey, and printed in the ninth volume of the Batavian
Transactions, was collected; the following is an extract from
that paper.

" ' The first explosions were heard on this island (Java) in the
evening of the 5th of April : they were noticed in every quarter,
and continued at intervals until the following day. The noise
was, in the first instance, universally attributed to distant cannon ;
so much so, that a detachment of troops was marched from
Djocjocarta, under the" apprehension that a neighbouring post
had been attacked ; and along the coast boats were in two in-
stances despatched in quest of supposed ships in distress. On the
following morning, however, a slight fall of ashes removed all
doubt as to the cause of the sound ; and it is worthy of remark,
that as the eruption continued, the sound appeared to be so close,
that in each district it seemed near at hand, and was generally attri-
buted to an eruption either from the mountains Merapi, Klut, or
Bromo. From the 6th the sun became obscured ; it had every-
where the appearance of being enveloped in a fog. The weather was
sultry and the atmosphere close, and still the sun seemed shorn
of its rays, and the general stillness and pressure of the atmo-
sphere seemed to forbode an earthquake. This lasted several days.
The explosions continued occasionally, but less violently and less
frequently than at first. Volcanic ashes also began to fall, but in
small quantities, and so slightly as to be hardly preceptible in the
western districts. This appearance of the atmosphere continued,
with little variation, until the 10th of April ; and till then it
does not appear that the volcano attracted much observation, or
was considered of greater importance than those which have occa-
sionally burst forth in Java. But on the evening of the 10th,

TOMBORO. 13

and the kingdom of Borneo Proper, on the mainland,
being situated near the surface of the earth in thick
and apparently inexhaustible veins, it will prove of
the greatest value to our increasing steam communi-

the eruptions were heard more loud and more frequent ; from
Cheribon eastward the air became darkened by the quantity of
falling ashes ; the sun was nearly darkened, and in some situations,
particularly at Solo and Rembang, many said that they felt a tremu-
lous motion of the earth. It was universally remarked in the more
eastern districts, that the explosions were tremendous, continuing
frequently during the llth, and of such violence as to shake the
houses perceptibly. An unusual thick darkness was remarked
all the following night, and the greater part of the next day.
At Solo candles were lighted at 4 P.M. of the 12th; at M&gelan
in Kedu, objects could not be seen at 300 yards' distance. At
Gresik and other districts more eastward, it was dark as
night in the greater part of the 12th April, and this saturated
state of the atmosphere lessened as the cloud of ashes passed along
and discharged itself on its way. Thus, the ashes that were eight
inches deep at Banyuwangi were but two in depth at Sumenap,
and less in Gresik, and the sun does not seem to have been
actually obscured in any district west of Semarang.

" 'All reports concur in stating, that so violent and extensive
an eruption has not happened within the memory of the oldest
inhabitant, nor within tradition. They speak of similar effects in
a lesser degree, when an eruption took place from the volcano of
Karang Asam in Bali, about seven years ago ; and it was at first
supposed that this mountain was the seat of the eruption. The
Balinese in Java attributed the event to a recent dispute between
the two Rajahs of Bali Baliling, which terminated in the death of
the younger rajah by order of his brother.

" ' The haziness and heat of the atmosphere, and occasional fall
of volcanic ashes, continued until the 14th, and in some parts of
the island until the 17th of April. They were cleared away uni-
versally by a heavy fall of rain, after which the atmosphere became
clear and more cool ; and it would seem that this seasonable relief
prevented much injury to the crops, and removed an appearance

14 ERUPTION Of

cation with the East. It has been tried by various
government steamers, the engineers of which pronounce
it to be of the finest quality, superior to that imported
to Singapore from England, and in all its properties

of epidemic disease which was beginning to prevail. This was
especially the case at Batavia, where, for two or three days pre-
ceding the rain, many persons were attacked with fever. As it
was, however, no material injury was felt beyond the districts of
Banyuwangi. The cultivators everywhere took the precaution to
shake off the ashes from the growing padi as they fell, and the
timely rain removed an apprehension very generally entertained,
that insects would have been generated by the long continuance
of the ashes at the root of the plant. In Rembang, where the
rain did not fall till the 17th, and the ashes had been con-
siderable, the crops were somewhat injured ; but in Banyuwangi,
the part of the island on which the cloud of ashes spent its force,
the injury was more extensive. A large quantity of padi was
totally destroyed, and all the plantations more or less injured.
One hundred and twenty-six horses and eighty-six head of cattle
also perished, chiefly for want of forage, during a month from the
time of the eruption.

" ' From Sumbawa to the part of Sumatra where the sound was
noticed, is about 970 geographical miles in a direct line. From
Sumbawa to Teniate is a distance of about 720 miles. The
distance also to which the cloud of ashes was carried, so quickly
as to produce utter darkness, was clearly pointed out to have
been the island of Celebes and the districts of Gresik on Java :
the former is 217 nautical miles distant from the seat of the
volcano ; the latter, in a direct line, more than 300 geographical
miles.'

" The following is an extract from the reports of Lieutenant
Owen Phillips, dated at Bima on the island of Sumbawa. ' On
my trip towards the western part of the island, I passed through
nearly the whole of Dompo and a considerable part of Bima. The
extreme misery to which the inhabitants have been reduced is
shocking to behold. There were still on the roadside the remains
of several corpses, and the marks of where many others had

TOMBORO. 15

having the greatest affinity with the best canal coal.
One great advantage it has over English coal for a hot
climate is, that it requires but little " stoking," as it
does not cake about the bars of the furnace, but burns

been interred ; the villages almost entirely deserted and the
houses fallen down, the surviving inhabitants having dispersed in
search of food. The Rajah of Sang'ir came to wait on me at
Dompo, on the 3d instant. The suffering of the people there
appears, from his account, to be still greater than in Dompo. The
famine has been so severe that even one of his own daughters died
from hunger. I presented him with three coyangs of rice in your
name, for which he appeared most truly thankful.

" ' As the rajah was himself a spectator of the late eruption, the
following account which he gave me is perhaps more to be de-
pended upon than any other I can possibly obtain. About
7 P.M. on the 10th of April, three distinct columns of flame burst
near the top of the Tomboro mountain (all of them apparently
within the verge of the crater), and after ascending separately to
a very great height, their tops united in the air in a troubled
confused manner. In a short time the whole mountain next
Sang'ir appeared like a body of liquid fire, extending itself in
every direction. The fire and columns of flame continued to rage
with unabated fury, until the darkness caused by the quantity of
falling matter obscured it at about 8 p. M. Stones, at this time,
fell very thick at Sang'ir ; some of them as large as two fists, but
generally not larger than walnuts. Between 9 and 10 P. M. ashes
began to fall, and soon after a violent whirlwind ensued, which
blew down nearly every house in the village of Sang'ir, carrying
the ataps, or roofs, and light parts away with it. In the
parts of Sang'ir adjoining Tomboro its effects were much more
violent, tearing up by the roots the largest trees and carrying
them into the air, together with men, horses, cattle, and what-
ever else came within its influence. (This will account for the
immense number of floating trees seen at sea.) The sea rose
nearly twelve feet higher than it had ever been known to do before,
and completely spoiled the only small spots of rice land in
Sang'ir, sweeping away houses and every thing within its reach.

1C COAL IN LABUH-AN.

away to a clear white ash. In using it, however,
there is no saving in quantity, as the ' Nemesis,' in
steaming from Bruni to Singapore in June last, used
nearly the same quantity as she would have burnt of
English coal. It is probable that the whole of the
sandstone formation of the north and east coasts will
be found to produce this useful mineral in abundance,
it having been already found by the Dutch on the
great Banjar river, but in such a situation, and at such
a distance from the coast, as to render it unavailable
on account of the difficulty of transporting it. One of
the principal reasons which has caused our govern-
ment to form the settlement at Labuh-an is the value
that this mineral will prove both in time of peace and
in case of war.

Next in abundance to the coal, as far as is yet

The whirlwind lasted about an hour. No explosions were heard
till the whirlwind had ceased, at about 11 A.M. From midnight
till the evening of the llth, they continued without intermission;
after that time their violence moderated, and they were only heard
at intervals, but the explosions did not cease entirely until the
15th of July. Of the whole villages of Tomboro, Tempo, con-
taining about forty inhabitants, is the only one remaining. In
Pek£te no vestige of a house is left : twenty-six of the people,
who were at Sumbawa at the time, are the whole of the population
who have escaped. From the most particular inquiries I have
been able to make, there were certainly not fewer than 12,000
individuals in Tomboro and Pek&te at the time of the eruption,
of whom only five or six survive. The trees and herbage
of every description, along the whole of the north and west sides
of the peninsula, have been completely destroyed, with the excep-
tion of a high point of land near the spot where the village of
Tomboro stood.'"

ANTIMONY ORE. 17

known, is the antimony ore ; it is found in several
parts of the western coast, in the interior of Sambas,
at Sarawak, and several other places ; but, from the
wild state of the inhabitants, its distance from the
coast, and other causes, it can only be at present
effectually worked at Sarawak. It was first brought
to Singapore, soon after the establishment of that
settlement, by some people who had touched for
water at Sarawak on their return from a voyage to
Bruni. The ore being of a much richer nature than
the antimony produced in Europe, the Rajahs of
Borneo were soon informed that it would readily
find a sale at the British settlement ; and being en-
couraged by some merchants of that place, the needy
rajahs were not long in visiting a part of their
dominions hitherto neglected, and the Pangeran Der
Makota, who governed Sarawak, caused the Dyaks,
unaccustomed to such labour, to work at the anti-
mony mines : beads and brass were distributed to a
very small amount as the price of their labour, the
Pangeran with the Princes of Bruni sharing the profits
of their reluctant work.

From this time are to be dated the troubles of the
Dyak and other populations of Sarawak : all were
obliged to labour to satisfy the demands of the nobles,
to whom the Europeans regularly advanced large
quantities of goods. After ten years of this oppres-
sion the inhabitants rebelled, and were still at war
with their rajahs on Mr. Brooke's arrival, as will be
hereafter stated. The trade in antimony of course

o

18 WORKING OF ANTIMONY ORE.

ceased from the beginning of the rebellion till peace
was restored.

In Sarawak the antimony is found in the limestone
districts, both in large boulders of rock, upon the
surface of the ground, and in rich veins in the lime-
stone rock a little below the surface : it is worked by
the Chinese and Malays, who split the upper rock by
fire until the vein of antimony is laid bare ; the heat
causes beautiful chrystals of sulphur to form amongst
the antimony, which abounds with this mineral : in
smelting the ore, nearly eighty per cent, of the sul-
phate of antimony is obtained. A manufactory for
reducing it to this state has been for some time
established at Sarawak; but the metal undergoes
another smelting to reduce it to regulus of antimony,
which is the metal pure, all the sulphur being ex-
tracted by a chemical process. It is in this state, in
which it resembles silver, that it enters into the com-
position of type-metal, the various descriptions of
plate, &c. The ore of the richest quality is obtained
from a limestone hill called Batu Bidi, on the
western branch of the Sarawak ; here it is worked by
Malays, but the greatest works are in the neighbour-
hood of the Chinese settlement at Tundong, on the
same branch of the river.

Iron in various forms is found in abundance
over the whole island. It is said to have been
smelted in former times by the Chinese, who cast guns
from it; but it is not of sufficiently good quality
to lead us to suppose that it will ever engage the

METALS IN BORNEO. 19

capital of the European. It is said still to be dug
and smelted by the Kyans, a people afterwards to be
described, who inhabit the interior of the island. Their
weapons, which, it is asserted, are manufactured from
the native iron, are of excellent quality and temper,
and are in general valued by the other tribes, who
form theirs of bar-iron brought from Europe.

Tin has been recently discovered in the alluvial soil
in the country of the Suntah Dyaks, on the eastern
confines of the Sarawak territory: it is of that de-
scription called stream tin, which is so abundant in
Malacca, and the Malayan peninsula. By digging, a
vein of it will probably be found ; and it is likely to
be a valuable metal to the island, as the working of
it generally pays the European miner a greater profit
than gold.

Nickel is found over the whole territory of Sarawak,
particularly in the tin and gold districts : in the for-
mer it is very abundant combined with iron and
cobalt : it has not yet been worked.

Quicksilver is known to exist in several parts of the
island, but has not yet been obtained in sufficient
quantities to render it an article of exportation ; it is,
perhaps, common in the unexplored Kyan countries up
the Rejang and Bintulu rivers, as a weapon which I
received from them has its sheath ornamented with it.

Of the precious metals, gold is abundant ; silver
being unknown in the East in these latitudes, though
it abounds in China and Japan. The gold is found in
three situations; — in crevices of limestone rocks, in

c2

20 GOLD IN SARAWAK,

alluvial soil, and in the sand and gravel of the
rivers : it is found chiefly on the western and southern
portions of the island, but is not obtained in any
quantities to the northward. In Sarawak, Sambas,
Sangow, and Banjar, it appears most to abound.
In Sarawak it is found in all parts of the country on
the right-hand, or western branch of the river, beyond
the influence of the tides : it is found also in the
southern branch, but in less considerable quantities.
In the crevices of the limestone above mentioned, it
is worked by Malays.

Last year I accompanied Mr. Brooke on a visit to
the rocks. The place they were then working was
about four miles inland from the river, and about
that distance from Seniawan and Tundong. This
place was called Battu Kaladi, and was a limestone
hill about 200 feet in height, the surface of which
was worn, like all the limestone rocks of the country,
apparently by water, into ridges so sharp that it
would have been exceedingly dangerous to have
fallen upon them. Amongst these ridges were holes,
very small, continuations of which penetrated into
the heart of the mountain, some of them being forty
or more feet in depth. The only difficulty appeared
to be in the labour of making the aperture sufficiently
large to admit the miner ; but, this accomplished, on
his descent he found the bottom, which invariably
opened to a cave, covered with earth of a loamy
nature. This, on being brought to the surface in
baskets, was washed, and we were told produced a

AND HOW IT IS WORKED. 21

bengkal of gold, about one and three quarters of an
ounce, from each bushel of earth ; from six to ten or
twelve bushels being found in each cave, according to
its size. It was accordingly a very gainful speculation,
and the working it was carried on by all the idle and
poorer classes of the community of Sarawak ; so much
so, that it was difficult to hire men for ordinary work.

Gamblers repaired to this employment, and a few
weeks' exertion soon repaired their ruined fortunes; so
that, by supplying them with funds to encourage them
in this vice, it is, perhaps, no advantage to the settle-
ment. The Chinese, who were not permitted by the
Malays to work in the rock, were quietly trenching
the earth at the foot of the hill, which they had long
worked for the same purpose, and with more certainty
of profit, as it is not always that the caves, after the
labour expended in getting into them, are found to
produce the coveted metal.

How the gold should be discovered in these fissures
at all is very remarkable, and perhaps may afford a
curious fact for the study of geologists and mineralo-
gists : it cannot have descended from any place
higher, as the caves are found on the highest as well
as on the lowest parts of the surface of the flat-
topped hill ; nor, after repeated examinations of
the limestone, is the slightest trace of the metal
discoverable in it : the surface of the rock is but
scantily furnished with earth, and that is of a vegetable
nature. It is true that the whole of the soil of the
surrounding district is alluvial, and strongly impreg-
nated with gold, but not to nearly so great an extent

22 GOLD IN SARAWAK,

as that found in the fissures above described ; hence
the soil in these differs in the relative quantities it
contains. The golden shower into which Jupiter is
fabled to have transformed himself, appears to have
fallen here.

Antimony is found in a vein in the same rock, the
fissures of which produced the gold above described.

The gold which is found in alluvial soils is that of
which the supply is most to be depended on. This is,
in Sarawak, found and worked in many places prin-
cipally by the Chinese, though the Malays also occa-
sionally work it on a smaller scale. The earth in
which it is found is a yellow clayey loam ; this being
removed to a series of large troughs, into which the
water of a pond, previously dammed up for the pur-
pose, is turned, the heavier particles of earth are
removed. What remains is washed away by hand in
small shallow wooden dishes, until nothing, or very
little, but the pure gold remains, — the refuse in melt-
ing that which is cleaned by the Chinese never exceed-
ing the ai part. It is not found in veins in any part
of Sarawak, but in small particles distributed through
the soil ; nor does it extend to any great depth. In
particular cases, the smaller grains are preferred by
purchasers to the larger, as they are generally much
cleaner than the latter, the crevices of the granulated
particles of which render them more difficult to be
thoroughly cleansed.

The gold which is found in the river is of the
same description as that last mentioned, and is
probably washed from the alluvials during heavy

AND HOW IT IS WORKED. 23

rains. It is sought for by numberless Malays during
the dry season, when the water of the river is low.
They are much exposed to agues, from their manner
of standing up to their waists in water during the
time they are washing it ; which is for the convenience
of having the strength of the stream to carry off the
gravel and sand, the gold, by its greater weight, fall-
ing to the bottom of the flattish implement before
described. This is usually a profitable employment,
and suits the indolent Malays much better than the
method followed by the Chinese.

The following account of the state of productive-
ness of the gold mines of Borneo is extracted from
the work of Sir Stamford Raffles, who, from his high
official position, had the best means of arriving at an
accurate computation : —

'' GOLD. — From a calculation recently made, it appears that
the number of Chinese employed in the gold mines at Mentrada
and other places on the western side of Borneo, amounts to not
less than 32,000 working men. When a mine affords no more
than four bengkals (weighing about two dollars each, or some-
thing less than a tahil) per man in the year, it is reckoned
a losing concern, and abandoned accordingly. Valuing the
bengkal at eighteen Spanish dollars, which is a low rate of
estimation, and supposing only four bengkals produced in the year
by the labour of each man, the total produce is 128,000 bengkals,
worth 2,224,000 Spanish dollars, equal to 556,0001., at the rate
of five shillings the dollar. But it is asserted, that upon the
general run of the mines, seldom less than six bengkals per head
has been obtained, and in very rainy seasons seven. Taking the
medium at six-and-a-half bengkals, the 32,000 Chinese will pro-
cure 208,000 bengkals, which, at eighteen Spanish dollars the
bengkal, is 3,744,000 Spanish dollars, equal to 936.000Z. Such

24 ESTIMATED PRODUCE OF GOLD IN BORNEO,

is the result of a very moderate calculation of the produce of these
mines. According to an estimate made in the year 1812, the
annual produce of the mines on the west coast of Borneo was
estimated at 4,744,000 Spanish dollars, being an excess of a
million sterling. The quantity of gold procured in Sumatra,
the supposed golden Chersonesus of the ancients, is, according to
Mr. Marsden, about 30,800 ounces, which, at 4£. sterling the ounce,
is worth 123,200L, equal to 492,800 Spanish dollars.

" With respect to the disposal of the gold from the mines of
Borneo, it may be observed, that every native Chinese, whether
employed in the mines, in agriculture, as merchant or artificer,
manages every year to remit at least the value of one tahil, more or
less, of gold to his relations in China. These remittances are gene-
rally made by the junks in gold, as it saves freight, is more easily
smuggled on shore without the notice of the rapacious mandarin,
and remitted overland to the residence of their families. Taking
the Chinese male population who can thus remit at double the
number employed in the mines, and supposing one half to be born
the country, most of whom may not remit to China, this
remittance would amount to 34,000 bengkals or tahils, which at
eighteen Spanish dollars is 612,000 dollars, or 153,000£

" It is calculated that, one year with another, at least
500 Chinese return in the junks to their native country with
a competency. Several have been known to take away 1,000
bengkals of gold, many from 100 to 530 ; but very few return
before they have cleared a competency of 2,000 dollars, or from
100 to 120 tahils of gold. This goes partly in gold; though
they prefer investing a part of it in tin from Banka, opium, and
other articles. Say, however, that they remit one half in
gold ; 500 men, at 1,000 dollars each, will give 500,000 dollars,
which added to the small family remittances, accounts for an
amount exceeding 1,000,000 dollars, or 250,OOOZ. This calcula-
tion, however, seems to be far within the mark, and gives less by
one-half than what is usually stated to be remitted to China from
the Bornean mines, which has been estimated at a loose guess at
2,000,000 dollars, or 500,000?.

" A further amount of not less than the value of 1,000,000
dollars, or 250,0001. is supposed to find its way annually to
Western India, and principally to Bengal, via Batavia, Malacca,

BY SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES. 25

and Pinang, for the purchase of opium, and piece goods. The
surplus enriches Java and some of the other islands, in exchange
for salt, tobacco, coarse cloths, &c.

" As the mines are worked with so little expense of machinery,
the funds necessary for commencing an undertaking of the kind
are small ; and as the property of the soil belongs to the first
occupant, almost every Chinese would become a proprietor, but
Jbr the mode by which their services are, in the first instance,
secured by the council of proprietors, or kongsis. A parcel of
half-starved Chinese, enchanted with the prospect of wealth on
the golden shores of Borneo, readily find a passage in the annual
junks that sail from the mother country to Borneo at ten dollars
a-head. On their arrival, being unable to pay the passage-money
and the tax of a dollar per head established by the native
authority, while their immediate wants for food and habitation
are urgent and imperious, the proprietors of the mines find it easy
to engage their services for three or four years. In some other
cases, agents are employed to obtain men from China, on stipulated
agreements, to work for a number of years : the usual rate of pay-
ment to the miners so engaged is not considered to average less
than five Spanish dollars a-month. No sooner, however, are
these engagements concluded with their masters, than a number of
them club together with the funds they have been able to save,
and commence a new mine upon their joint account, in a few years
acquiring a competency to return to their native country.

This computation at that time would have included
the gold produced by Sarawak, with the exception of
such portions of it as were collected by the Malays ;
the Chinese who work its gold being all members of
the great Kung Si, or company of their countrymen
settled in the territory of Sambas, and to whom all
their collections are remitted four times a-year; the
Kung Si having officers in all the districts it occupies,
who manage all their affairs, and are in constant com-
munication with Montradak and Sambas. It is pro-
bable that the export of gold from Sambas has been

26 EXPORT OF GOLD FROM SARAWAK.

rapidly decreasing since 1823, as immigration from
China has in a great measure ceased, on account of the
bad understanding which exists between the Dutch
and Sultan of Sambas, and the Chinese, the former
holding the monopolies of the opium, salt, tobacco,
and other things, without which the Chinese cannot
exist. The export of gold from Sarawak has, on the
contrary, greatly increased ; but as no duties or taxes
are levied by its government on the mines, and no
notes kept of the quantity exported, it is impossible to
arrive at anything near the true result, each person
taking out and bringing into the country what he
pleases. One of the nakodas (merchants) of Sarawak
who deals in gold very extensively, told me that he
considered that quite one picul of gold was annually
exported from the settlement by Malay traders to
Singapore ; and as this includes very little gathered
by the Chinese, which finds its way to Batavia and
Singapore by way of Sambas, I have no doubt that
four times this amount is collected in this little coun-
try. I should suppose, from the number of men
employed (about 700), that at least 7,000 ounces are
annually collected.

The diamonds of Borneo have long been celebrated
as equal to any from India or Brazil in abundance and
beauty. They are found principally in the greatest
numbers in Sangow, Landak, and Banjarmasin.
They were also formerly worked at Sarawak, but never
very extensively : a few years since, some fine ones
were obtained by the chief Patingi Ali, in a large
hole daring a very dry state of the river. At the other

DIAMONDS IN BORNEO. 27

three places they are worked to a small extent by
the Chinese and Malays.

The mines of Landak have supplied the Malays
with diamonds ever since their first settling on the
island ; those of Sangow and Banjar are more recent.
It is said by Sir Stamford Raffles, that " few courts
of Europe could perhaps boast of a more brilliant
display of diamonds than, in the prosperous days
of the Dutch, was exhibited by the ladies of
Batavia, the principal and only mart then opened
for the Bornean diamond mines." The diamonds
are found in a gravelly stratum, at various dis-
tances below the surface : in Sarawak the gravel in
which they are found is in some places not more than
six feet, in others as much as eighteen below the
surface. They are found in abundance in the soil,
but are generally small in size, though of the most
brilliant water. Large ones are also occasionally met
with, and it is said that at Sangow and Landak, dia-
monds of from twelve to sixteen carats are not un-
common. The diamond of the Sultan of Matan is
known to be one of the largest in the world. It is as
yet uncut, and weighs 367 carats, so that if cut
and polished it would be reduced in size to 183J
carats. Its value is stated by Mr. Crawfurd to be
269,378/., being less by 34,822/. than that of the
Russian diamond: and 119,773/. 10s. more than that
of the Pitt diamond : its present shape is that of an
egg indented on one side. I have been informed by
a person, who supposed himself to be a good judge of
diamonds, that the sultan possesses the real stone,

28 DIAMONDS IN SARAWAK.

which he had seen, but that a crystal is shown to
strangers, as the sultan, who has been already robbed
of his territory, fears that this last emblem of royalty
will be also taken from him by his powerful and
avaricious neighbours at Pontianak.

The mines which I have seen at Sarawak are of the
most simple construction : shafts are sunk in the
earth to the stratum that contains the diamonds
(which varies in thickness from two feet to much
more), at the distance of about twenty feet apart ; the
soil is then extracted from each by the miner, who
excavates it for ten feet on each side of the shaft, so
that the workers in the different shafts communicating
with each other ; the whole of the gravel is removed ;
this is passed up in baskets and washed in troughs,
as already described, in the gold mines, or rather
ditches, as the native word signifies (parit).

The Malays of Banjarmasin and Landak are very
anxious to work the diamonds at Sarawak, but being
generally very bad characters, the government has not
thought proper to encourage their immigration.
Many diamonds are, however, obtained by the people,
who wash for gold in the river ; and on one occasion
I saw a person get three small ones at one washing,
together with a considerable portion of gold. With
capital, and proper superintendence, it would pro-
bably turn out a gainful speculation if properly con-
ducted, more particularly as gold is found in the
same soil, though not in such abundance as in some
other kinds of earth.

Though in the neighbourhood of Siam and the Birman

PORCELAIN CLAY IN BORNEO. 29

Empire, which are said to produce rubies and sapphires
superior to those of Ceylon, neither of these or any
other precious stones have yet been discovered in
1 Borneo. A beautifully resplendent sand, the particles
of which resemble amethysts and topazes, and which is
used in the adulteration of gold dust, may perhaps be
thought to indicate the vicinity of other gems : it is
found at Lingah, a branch of the great Batang Lupar
river, not far from its mouth.

The above metals and minerals are, I believe, all
that are as yet satisfactorily proved to exist on the
island, though, doubtless, many more remain to be yet
discovered. Copper, it is said, has been produced by
the Dyaks of the Sambas territory; but the ore has
not hitherto been examined by Europeans. Besides
the metals and minerals, many coloured earths and
valuable clays are in abundance. In the neighbour-
hood of Sarawak is found a white clay of great purity,
such as is used in the manufacture of the finest porce-
lain. It is used by the native goldsmiths for the.
purpose of making the crucibles in which they melt
the gold dust. In proper hands a profitable manu-
factory might, perhaps, be established for the purpose
of making coarse China ware, so much valued by the
Dyaks, from it ; but as this is bought at a very low
price, and in very large quantity, at Singapore, it
would be difficult, on account of the higher price of
labour, to compete with the manufacture of China.

CHAPTER II.

THE TEMPERATURE AND SOIL OF BORNEO — THE VEGETABLE PRO-
DUCTIONS OF THE ISLAND DESCRIBED IN SUCCESSION THE SUGAR

CANE SPICES — THE NIBONG THE BAMBOO RICE THE COCOA

NUT SAGO THE GOMUTI PALM ITS USES — THE BETEL, OE

ARECA NUT — RATTANS AND CANES THE NIPAH AND MANGROVE

CAMPHOR VEGETABLE OILS — THE GUTTA PERCHA THE UPAS

TREE DAMMAR WILD CINNAMON AND COTTON PEPPER AND

COFFEE — GAMBIER AND TOBACCO TIMBER TREES ORNAMENTAL

AND SCENTED WOODS — FLOWERS.

THE climate of Borneo, like that of most of the
Eastern islands, has been found exceedingly healthy
to persons whose avocations do not render great
exposure necessary. The north-east monsoon, or that
which blows from April to October, is the rainy period ;
but a day rarely passes during the south-west, or fine
monsoon, without a refreshing shower : this, with the
constant warmth, causes every thing to grow during
the whole year, the forests being clothed with a per-
petual verdure, which gives the islands, when seen
from the sea, a beautiful appearance, possessed by no
country in the world to so great an extent ; shrubs
(Hibiscus) and flowering trees (Barringtonia) always
overhanging the margin of the ocean, and the inland
mountains are observed covered to their summits with
a dense and luxuriant vegetation.

In temperature it has never been found by Euro-

TEMPERATURE OF BORNEO. 31

peans to be oppressively hot ; the thermometer gene-
rally averaging 70° to 72° Fahrenheit in the mornings
and evenings, and 82° to 85° at 2 P.M., which is
generally the hottest part of the day ; and though in
the dry season the mercury has sometimes ascended as
high as 92°, and occasionally 93°, it has not been felt
so inconveniently oppressive to Europeans as a hot
summer day in England. The houses of the Euro-
peans being built near the rivers, are kept cool and
pleasant by the breeze which generally prevails in
those open situations.

As in all countries within the tropics, thunder and
lightning are so very frequent as to be but little
regarded by the inhabitants, though the former is
more sonorous, and the latter more vivid, than in
Europe. The lightning is, also, very destructive,
several instances of damage and loss of life by it
having happened, although from the smaller number
of inhabitants these are of less frequent occurrence
than in Europe. One of the men belonging to
H.M.S. ' Samarang/ who was cutting wood in the
jungle, near the Santubong mouth of the Sarawak
river, was killed by a tree, which had been struck,
falling upon him. The 'Hazard/ in 1846, was also
struck, and the upper works and masts considerably
injured ; fortunately there was no loss of human life.
In all the quiet seas of the East the lightning is very
much dreaded by European shipping, many vessels
having been lost in the Straits of Malacca and the
Java seas by its effects. A heavy shower of rain is

32 THE SOIL OF SARAWAK.

always preceded by lightning and thunder, and gene-
rally by strong wind.

Though the vegetation of no country in the world
is so luxuriant as that of the Eastern islands, it has
been proved by many writers that the soil of some of
them is not so fertile as the appearance of the forests
would lead the cultivator to expect. This remark
particularly applies to Sumatra, the forests of which
are supported in their luxuriance, in a great measure,
by the moisture of the surrounding atmosphere. Java
has, however, been proved to be, in the very highest
degree, fertile, and capable of producing every thing in
the greatest perfection suitable to a tropical climate ;
and in this respect, from what I have observed of the
soil of Borneo, I should imagine it to be equally pro-
ductive.

The soil of Sarawak, with which I am best
acquainted, and which, from the similarity of produc-
tions over the whole island, may probably be fairly
taken as an example of its whole extent, is of a rich
strong yellow loam, covered to a depth of from six
inches to a foot with black and very productive
vegetable mould, which has been formed by the
decayed vegetation of the forests. Beneath the loam,
which is generally from ten to twenty feet in depth, is
found a stratum of gravel in the districts where
diamonds are found j in others, it rests upon the
sandstone and limestone rocks, in their particular dis-
tricts. It is admirably suited for the production of
the sugar-cane, which here grows amongst the Dyaks

THE SUGAR CANE AND SPICES. 33

without the slightest cultivation, to greater perfection
than I have seen it in Ceylon under the care of
Europeans. The cultivated cane of the Chinese in
Sarawak I have frequently seen eighteen feet in length,
and abounding in saccharine juice of the richest
quality. The natives grow several kinds of sugar-cane,
some of which they assert were formerly found wild in
the island ; but the golden yellow cane, which appears
to have been imported by the Chinese, and is now
cultivated by them, is the most esteemed by the
Malays. It is not cultivated for the purpose of making
sugar, but, the outer skin being thrown off, the inner
is chewed by them much in the manner followed by
the orang utan of their woods, the fibrous part being
throw away after the sweet juice has been extracted.

Some nutmegs, which were planted for experiment
by Mr. Brooke, grew, without manuring or any atten-
tion, remarkably well ; they were left entirely to nature,
the weeds not being once cleared away ; and the result
is satisfactory proof that the cultivation of this valuable
spice, which in Singapore and Penang is pursued at
so great an expense, may be here carried on with the
ordinary cost of cocoa-nut, or other cheap plantations,
merely at the cost of labour sufficient to clear away
the weeds.

Some plants of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and
clove, together with oranges and many other exotic
plants, now growing in the beautiful garden of Mr.
Hentig, an English gentleman resident at Sara-
wak, afford abundant testimony of the suitableness

D

34 VEGETABLES.

of the soil and climate for the production of the finer
spices, should their cultivation be attended to -with
ordinary care.

The heat of the climate, and the constant growth
consequent on its moisture, render it difficult to raise
European fruits and vegetables, though, when roads
are cut through the island, the mountains will be
found to produce these in perfection. In the low
lands it is useless to attempt the cultivation of the
former, though, by great perseverance on the part of
the gentleman above referred to, some kinds of vege-
tables have been obtained in considerable abundance :
of these, French beans, cucumbers, endive, tomatoes, and
asparagus, have succeeded best ; when I left, in June
last, many others, however, were looking very promising.
As on the mountains, the sides of all of which are
covered with productive soil, any climate and tempe-
rature may be obtained, it is probable that the new
settlement of Labuh-an will not be left in the same
destitute state for vegetables as Singapore, where
the few cabbages which are produced are cultivated in
flower-pots, and with great care.

The Chinese in Sarawak have several gardens for
the production of native vegetables near the town. In
these are grown, in great perfection, the egg plants,
the fruit of which, under the name of ' brenjal,' is a
favourite vegetable; a large kind of radish, which,
cooked, very much resembles the turnip in flavour.
Sweet potatoes, yams,earthnuts (Arachis hypogcea), and
various kinds of leguminous plants (kachang), cucum-

THE NIJBONG. 35

bers, and some herbs, are also furnished from these
gardens for the tables of the Europeans. In them are
also grown abundance of sugar-cane and pine-apples
for the Malays, who rarely take the trouble of culti-
vating these things themselves. Some kinds of fern
(paku), the yet unopened fronds of which when boiled
become an excellent vegetable, and, with the excep-
tion of the cabbage of the various palms, are preferred
to most others of the production of the island by
European residents. The fern which produces it is a
strong growing species, (Marrattia) plentiful on the
banks of the rivers : several kinds are eaten, but this
is- preferred.

Of all the vegetables produced in the island, the cab-
bage of the palm, called ' nibong,' is the most esteemed ;
it is taken from the heart of the tree, being formed
of the unexpanded leaves, which are of a delicate
whiteness, and of a very sweet, nutty flavour. It
is preferred to that of the cocoa nut, but is in-
ferior to that of the ' pinang,' or areca nut, which,
however, on account of the value of the tree, is very
rarely used, the extraction of the edible part, in all
cases, causing the destruction of the tree. The nibong
is found in great numbers near the mouths of all the
rivers, and besides producing the esteemed vegetable
above described, is very useful to the natives in house-
building, for forming their posts, flooring, &c. The
stem being perfectly round, and of about six inches
in diameter, no more trouble is necessary than to cut
down the tree, and divide the stem into the requisite

D 2

36 THE BAMBOO.

lengths. Its outside has a rind, and is hard to the
thickness of an inch ; the inside, being, as in all palms,
the most recently formed fibre, is soft, and conse-
quently soon decays. These trees are used principally
by the poorer sort of inhabitants, the richer generally
employing hard wood posts. The posts of nibong will
last from three to four years, so that they have, at the
end of that time, to be either renewed, or the houses
supported by extra ones, when it may be made to
stand for some time longer, though, as house-building
of this description is not at all expensive, the greater
part are pulled down, at the end of this period, and
rebuilt. It forms the rafters to which the roof-cover-
ing and the open flooring are tied. The stems of the
nibong are split into laths, the outer, or hard part,
only being retained for flooring. These are kept
together by rattans interwoven amongst them, each
lath being placed at the distance of about two inches
from that on each side of it ; by this arrangement ah1
the dirt and rubbish passes below the house, which is
generally cleansed by the river at high tides.

The bamboo, the shoots of which are also an
esteemed vegetable, and which, in the hands of
Europeans, make a most excellent pickle, is as useful
to the Dyaks as the nibong is to the Malays, the
one being as abundant in the interior as the other
is on the coasts. There are many kinds of bamboo,
but that most valued is the large kind, called by
the natives ' boolu ayer,' or the water bamboo ; it
grows to a very large size, attaining the height

MODE OF COOKING RICE. 37

of sixty feet, and appears to thrive best on the
sides of mountains, in very rich soil. The other
kinds, of which there are six, are much smaller, but
are very useful to the natives, as they grow in more
attainable situations, generally on the banks of the
rivers, and their stems are said to be of a harder
nature than those of the large bamboo. They are used,
as in India, and in all countries where they are produced,
for an infinity of purposes, and in house-building they
take the place of the nibongs, except in their per-
manent habitations, which have hard wood posts ; the
smaller kinds are used as cooking pots by the natives
when in the jungle, and by those whose poverty pre-
vents them purchasing the pots of earth or brass, called
' priuck,' which the Malays bring to them for sale.

The rice called ' pulut,' hereafter to be described,
is always cooked by the Malays and Dyaks in a green
bamboo, this mode of preparing it being most esteemed
amongst all their tribes. For the purposes of cooking,
the bamboo is cut into lengths of about two to three feet ;
these being filled with the rice or meat cut into small
pieces, and having a sufficiency of water, are placed
over the fire in such a position that the joint of the
bamboo does not come in contact with it, but rests
upon the ground beyond it, the fire being placed under
the green and harder part of the cane, which resists the
effects of the heat and flame until the provisions are
sufficiently prepared ; a bundle of leaves placed in the
mouth of the cane answers the purposes of the lid of
an ordinary cooking pot. This cane is of such value

38 THE COCOA-NUT.

to them that, like the fruit trees, those which are planted
in the vicinity of their villages, are individual property.

Next in order of the vegetable productions, and
equal to either of the above in the estimation in which
it is held by the natives, is the cocoa-nut, which has
been so often and so weh1 described that I shah1 not here
repeat its well-known uses ; though in countries where
cordages of other kinds abound, and where better
thatch for their houses can be easily procured, the
husk of this fruit is not used for the one purpose, nor
its leaves for the other. The wars of the inhabitants
have almost exterminated this useful plant from the
western coast of Borneo ; it is, however, abundant to
the northward ; and the Natunas on the west, and the
Sooloo islands on the east, are said to be covered with
these palms. The supply of Sarawak and the west
coast is drawn entirely from the Natunas islands, the
inhabitants of which trust principally to this commerce
for their supply of rice, which they do not themselves
produce. About fifty of their boats, carrying from six
to twenty tons each, arrive annually at Sarawak, during
the fine monsoon, loaded with nuts, oil, and sugar,
the productions of this tree. The sugar is a coarse
kind, resembling molasses, and is made by boiling
the sap extracted from the flower stem of this palm ;
it also may be procured in less quantities from the
gomuti, nipah, and many others.

The sago palm (Metroxylon) is grown in great per-
fection in some parts of the island, and the rough sago
is exported in large quantities from the west coast to

SAGO. 39

Singapore, and also by the Bugis boats from the
eastern and southern sides of the island. The sago of
commerce is the well-known substance forming the
heart of the plant, and in those parts where it is most
abundant it forms a great portion of the food of the
inhabitants ; but, notwithstanding its nutritive proper-
ties, the natives, who are not so expert in preparing it
as those farther east, much prefer rice; and the
Milanowes, who live on the rivers Egan, Hoya, Mocha,
and Bintulu, and are the principal cultivators of the tree,
always import considerable quantities of grain for their
own consumption. The tree grows in marshy places,
and rarely attains a greater height than thirty feet.

The time for collecting the sago, and in which
state it is most productive, is just before it begins
to show its large and spreading terminal spike of
flowers. It attains this state in from seven to eight
years from the time of planting. While young, it is
beautifully provided by nature with strong and lengthy
spines, which serve to protect it from the wild pigs
which would otherwise destroy it. On its attaining a
greater size, the outer shell of the trunk becoming
sufficiently hard, the spines drop off, the hard wood
protecting the farina of the centre from their attacks ;
after the flower and fruit have perfected themselves,
which occupies a period of two years from their first
appearance, the pith of the centre is found dried up,
the leaves have fallen, and the plant is dead. It is
rarely propagated from the seed, which is generally
unproductive ; but as it freely produces offsets, the
supply is easily raised. Amongst the Dyaks, who grow

40 THE GOMUTI PALM ITS USES.

rice, sago is very rarely used as food except in times
of scarcity, from oppression, or other causes. The
whole of the sago exported from Borneo is in a rough
state, manufactories being established at Singapore
and Batavia for its preparation and refining. In its
rough state it is an ungainly -looking and ungrateful-
smelling substance, and one unacquainted with its
properties would be at a loss to conceive that the
pearl sago of the shops is prepared from it. The
manufacture of the medulla into sago is fully described
by Mr. Crawfurd and other writers.

In general appearance the gomuti-palm (Arenga
saceharifera,) very much resembles the sago, but the
pinnae of the leaves, which are erect in the latter, droop
in the former like those of the nibong and many other
palms. It is valued by the Dyaks, as producing the
best toddy, and in the greatest abundance. It is ex-
tracted from the plant by cutting off the large lateral
bunches of fruit. When these are about half-grown,
they are severed close to the division of the peduncle
or stem, and bamboos being hung to them, a good tree
with two incisions will produce about a gallon daily
for two months ; a fresh surface being constantly kept
on the severed part by a thin slice being daily cut off
the stem or peduncle, so that at the end of the above-
named period it has altogether disappeared. The
toddy is taken from the bamboo twice a-day, and,
when fresh, has a very agreeable taste, and is a re-
freshing drink ; but the Dyaks always place a piece of
a bitter kind of bark in the bamboos which contain it,
and this communicates its flavour to the toddy. The

THE BETEL, OR ARECA-NUT. 41

cordage it produces from the hairy-like filaments,
which, are interwoven round the stem and about the
axils of the leaves, is of excellent quality, and of great
service, on account of its durability, in the house -build-
ing economy of the Dyak. This substance is also
plaited into ornaments for the arms, legs, and neck,
and its deep black and neat appearance renders it, to
the eye of an European, a much more agreeable orna-
ment than either the brass or beads with which they
abundantly adorn their persons, as will be explained
hereafter.

The graceful betel or areca-nut (Areca catechu) palm
is one of the greatest ornaments of Eastern gardens.
It is not here planted in sufficient quantities to form an
article of exportation ; indeed, considerable quantities
are imported, as, like the cocoa-nut, the trees were
destroyed during the wars which, previous to the
arrival of Mr. Brooke on the western coast, desolated
the country. The nut is used for no other purpose
but that of being chewed with the sirih leaves (piper),
lime, and gambier ; this practice of the other natives
of India and the Archipelago being quite as universal
among the Dyaks as the Malays.

This beautiful tree is also much prized by the natives
on account of the delightful fragrance of its flowers,
which, taken just before opening from the sheath or
spathe, in which the inflorescence is enveloped, and
called myang, is requisite in all their medicines and
conjurations for the purpose of healing the sick : it is
also used with other sweet-scented flowers at bridals
and all occasions of festivity. This delightful perfume,

42 RATTANS

and its fine head of plume-like leaves, supported on
a slender and graceful stem, render it the universal
favourite amongst its beautiful tribe.

Of the remaining articles useful to the natives,
either in their own economy or for exportation, the
numerous kinds of rattans and canes are of the great-
est importance. They are produced from many
species of the genus Calamus, and abound in all the
old and dense jungles in damp situations. The leaves
of many of them being furnished with a long and
slender mid-rib, which extends far beyond the pinnae
of the leaf, and furnished with strong curved spines,
are particularly troublesome to persons travelling in
the jungles. Their slender form rendering them in-
visible unless carefully watched, they frequently catch
the clothes, or person, and cannot be detached except
by walking back a pace or two, and carefully un-
hooking them.

The different kinds of rattan vary very much both in
size and in the appearance of the leaves ; some of them
being smooth and spineless, with leaves like those of
the bamboo ; others rough, with spines covering the
stems and ribs of the leaves : of the former class
are all the smaller rattans, such as bear that name in
commerce, while to the latter belong the Malacca cane,
and other strong varieties. The rattans of Borneo are
esteemed finer than those produced in any other part
of the world, and are exported to Singapore and
Batavia in immense quantities from the Coti and
Banjar rivers : on the south and eastern parts of the
island they are collected, and brought down these

AND CANES. 43

streams on rafts by the Dyaks for a very small remune-
ration ; they are principally exported finally from Ba-
tavia and Singapore to India and China.

To the natives themselves they are very useful in the
manufacture of baskets and mats, of great durability,
and very fine workmanship ; they are also of the greatest
importance as cordage, where nails are not known, and
the timbers of houses are secured by them : for this
purpose the outer and hard parts only are used, the
rattans being split, and the inner part carefully re-
moved. The drug called Dragon's Blood is procured
from one of the large species of rattans ; but as its
manufacture in Borneo is peculiar to the southern
parts of the island, which I have not yet visited, I can
give no satisfactory information respecting the method
of preparing it. Large quantities of it are annually
exported from Banjarmasin to Singapore and Batavia,
and thence to China, where it is held in high
estimation.

The nipah (Nipa fruticans), though in growth
amongst the humblest of the palm tribe, in its value
to the natives of this island is inferior to few of them.
It is found on the margins of the rivers as far as the
salt water extends, and large salt marshes at the
mouths of rivers are covered with it to the extent of
thousands of acres; its chief value is for covering
houses, the leaves of which for this purpose are made
into ' ataps/ and endure for two years. Salt is
made in some places from its leaves by burning them,
and in others sugar is extracted from syrup supplied

44 THE NIPAH AND MANGROVE.

by its flower -stem. The fruit, though tasteless, is
esteemed by the natives, and is said to make an ex-
cellent preserve. Its leaves, on luxuriant plants, are
occasionally twenty feet long, all growing from the
centre, the plant having no stem, unless a kind of
rhizoma, which is found on the ground, like that of a
fern, and attached to the old plants, may be called
such.

The mangrove, which abounds in situations similar
to the nipah, is valued an account of its timber,
which is used as the best firewood ; from the aerial
roots of this tree a bitter and coarse salt is made,
similar to that from the nipah.

Such are the principal products of the /vegetables
of the island which are used for home consumption.
We will now notice those which are principally col-
lected for exportation; of these perhaps the first in
rank is camphor, or, as it is called by the natives and
in commerce, the * kapur barus,' or Barus camphor,
to distinguish it from the production of the Laurus
camphora, or Japan camphor. It derives its name of
Barus from a place in Sumatra, where it is produced,
and whence it was probably first exported. The
true Dryobalanops camphora, which produces it,
has not hitherto been found on any of the Indian
islands, with the exception of those of Borneo and
Sumatra, and only on the northern parts of these
islands : the tree is said by Mr. Marsden to be
very common in Sumatra, in the country of the
Battas, but not to be found to the south of the line.

THE KAPUR BARUS, OR CAMPHOR TREE. 45

On Borneo it is found at present towards the north ;
but as I once discovered these trees in Sarawak, near
the Santubong entrance of the river, I think it pro-
bable that they have once been abundant here, but
have been destroyed in extracting the camphor. That
it has been once collected there appears, the more pro-
bable, as one of the three trees above named, on being
felled, was found to have had a large notch cut into
the tree, as is the custom to the northward, to see if
it is likely to produce the camphor. On Labuh-an it
is common, and is one of the noblest trees in that,
the finest jungle I ever saw : it has a fine straight
stem, from which the bark comes off in large flakes ;
the foliage is very dense, forming a well shaped head
to the tree, the stem of which is frequently ninety feet
to the first branches.

A tree of another species, which had fallen down,
measured nearly 120 feet to the branches, but
none of these at all equal the Tapang, of which men-
tion is made in another place. Nearly all the
kapur trees, excepting such as were young, had large
notches cut almost into the centre of the tree :
this was for the purpose of ascertaining whether, on
being felled, it was likely to be productive, as it is
said that not one in ten is found to produce it ; so
that its appearance must be caused by a particular
state, probably of vigour or disease in the tree. It
is said that in those which produce it, the younger
and smaller trees are often found to be quite as pro-
lific as the old and larger trees. The camphor is found
in a concrete state in the crevices of the wood, so that

46 SEVERAL SPECIES OF

it can only be extracted by felling the tree, which is
afterwards cut into blocks and split with wedges, and
the camphor, which is white and transparent, is then
taken out. An essential oil is also found in hollows
in the wood, which the natives crystallize artificially,
but the camphor thus obtained is not so much esteemed
as that found naturally crystallized. The tree is found
on all the northern parts of Borneo, and is said to be
particularly abundant in the country of the Kyans, in
the interior of the Bintulu and Rejang rivers. The
produce, though so valued by the Chinese, is not
used much by the natives, though it is occasionally
taken inwardly as a medicine. The price in China of
the Bornean camphor is said to be higher than that of
Japan, in the proportion of twenty to one : it has been
supposed that this disproportion is caused more by
some superstitions of the consumer, than any real dis-
tinction of properties, for though the trees which
produce them are so dissimilar, the chemical properties
are said nearly to approach each other.

Several trees of the genus Dipterocarpus produce a
nut, that, when compressed, yields a fatty oil, which
having been recently sent to England, has been used
extensively under the names of vegetable tallow and
vegetable wax. Three species of this genus are com-
mon in Sarawak, under the name of ' mencabang ;' one
of them, ' mencabang pinang/ is valued for its close-
grained timber; the others do not grow so large in
size, but have larger leaves and fruit. The one most
valued for producing the oil, is a fine tree growing on
the banks of the Sarawak river ; it attains the height

VEGETABLE OILS. 47

of forty feet ; the leaves being large, and the branches
drooping towards the water, give it a very beautiful
appearance : its fruit is produced in the greatest pro-
fusion about December and January, being as large as
a walnut, with two long wings to the seed. These
nuts are collected by the natives, and yield a very
large proportion of oil, which, on being allowed to
cool, takes the consistence of sperm, and in appearance
very much resembles that substance. The natives at
present only value this as a cooking oil ; but when the
demand for it in Europe becomes better known to
them, they will doubtless increase their manufacture
of it.

In England it has proved to be the best lubricating
substance for steam machinery, far surpassing even
olive oil; and it has been used in Manilla in the
manufacture of candles, and found to answer admir-
ably. As it becomes more common, it will doubtless
be applied to many other purposes. From the quick-
ness of its growth, and the great profusion with which
it bears its fruit, it will, should the demand for it
continue, become a profitable object for cultivation, by
which the quality and quantity would most likely be
improved and increased. It is also found in Java and
Sumatra, and a similar substance has been lately sent
from China. In Borneo it is called by the natives indif-
ferently ' miniak mencabang/ or ' miniak tankawan.'

Another oil expressed from the seed of a tree, called
' katiow ' by the natives, and much valued for cooking,
is, as far as I have been able to learn, entirely unknown

48 VEGETABLE OILS.

to Europe ; but as the tree which produces it is not
found in Sarawak, I have never had an opportunity of
seeing it. The seeds are oblong, pointed, and of a
shining rich brown colour ; the oil which they produce,
on compression, is of a yellow colour, with a perfume
precisely resembling that of almond oil ; and, as it is
very cheap and abundant in the places where it grows,
it would perhaps be serviceable to soap-makers and
perfumers. It is a very fine oil for lamps, burning
with a bright and clear flame, at the same time
emitting an agreeable odour ; it is produced chiefly
on the Sadong, Lingah, and Kallekka rivers, and ex-
ported to Sarawak and other places under the name of
' ininiak katiow.'

The ' miniak kapayang ' is another oil held in esteem
for cooking amongst the natives : it is produced by a
tree called by botanists Pangium edule. The tree
grows to about forty feet high, and is not found wild,
but has been planted by the Dyaks : the leaves are
large, dark green, on long petioles, and the large fruit
is terminal. On opening the fruit it is found to
contain many large seeds embedded in a slight
pulp, which is said by the natives to be deleterious.
When the fruit is ripe, these seeds are extracted, and
when compressed, produce an oil which is much scarcer
than any of the other kinds before enumerated : the
tree bears fruit all the year, and is a very ornamental
plant.

Wood oil, called by the natives of Borneo ' ininiak
kruing,' is extracted from the trees which produce

THE GUTTA PERCHA. 49

it, by simply cutting a large hole in the tree, into which
fire being placed, the oil is attracted. The tree pro-
bably belongs to the order Myrtaceae, but I have never
seen it; it is found plentifully to the eastward, in the
interior of the Samarhand, and Sadong rivers : it is
used by the natives to mix with dammer for paying the
seams of boats, and also instead of linseed oil in mix-
ing their paints, and is of great assistance in preserving
wood from the effects of the weather.

The seeds of many of the forest trees, as the niato,
or gutta percha, of the Malay peninsula, produce edible
oils of fine qualities ; but the natives, possessing such
a choice, rarely take the trouble to express them ; but
in future it will be well worth the study of our
merchants and others whose occupation and oppor-
tunities will permit them to make inquiries respecting
these and many other totally unknown products.

The gutta percha, or niato, is a plant which has
been lately brought before the attention of British
merchants by Dr. W. Montgomerie and Dr. D'Al-
meida, the former of whom communicated some infor-
mation respecting its application to surgical purposes to
the Bengal Medical Board, in 1843. In April, of the
same year, Dr. D'Almeida presented specimens of it
to the Royal Society of Arts in London, who, at the
time, merely acknowledged the receipt of the specimens.
Its character and properties have since been more
fully given to the public by Dr. Oxley, the senior sur-
geon of the Straits settlements ; a gentleman whose
kindness and valuable assistance all who visit the
East for scientific purposes have gratefully to record.

50 THE GUTTA PERCHA.

Dr. Oxley says of it, that it is called, properly, the
gutta suban — the percha being an inferior article —
and is a tree of considerable size, being from sixty to
seventy feet in height, and from two to three feet
in diameter ; in general appearance, much resembling
the genus Durio, which produces the celebrated durian
of the East. It is said to be found in all the forests
of the peninsula of Malacca, of Borneo, Singapore,
and the adjacent islands ; but the quantity is much
diminished, as, to procure the gutta, the natives fell
the trees, and ring the bark at distances of from
twelve to eighteen inches ; a cocoa-nut shell, or some
other receptacle, being placed to receive the sap which
exudes from each incision : this sap is afterwards col-
lected in bamboos and boiled, in order to drive off the
watery particles and inspissate it to the consistence it
finally assumes. Although in large quantities the
boiling may be necessary, the Doctor observes, it will
consolidate and assume the same appearance with-
out it.

The quantity of gutta obtained from each tree varies
from five to twenty catties, each catty being equal to
to Iglb. English. Its great peculiarity, and that
which renders it so very useful, is the effect boiling
water has upon it ; for, on being immersed in water
above the temperature of 150° Fahrenheit, it becomes
soft and plastic, so as to be capable of being moulded
into any required form, which it retains on cooling.
The Malays have manufactured it into whips, baskets,
basins and jugs, shoes, traces, vessels for cooling
wine, and several other domestic uses.

THE GUTTA PERCH A. 51

It has been found by Dr. Oxley to be of the greatest
Value in surgery, particularly as splints for fractured
limbs. Many interesting particulars connected with it
will be found in the original paper from which these
remarks are extracted, and which will be found in the
first or July number of a little but highly interesting
work, published monthly at a trifling expense, under
the superintendence of Mr. Logan of Singapore. It is
entitled the ' Journal of the Indian Archipelago, and
Eastern Asia,' and the numbers already published
contain some valuable and new information on the in-
teresting countries of which it treats.

As has been stated above, the gutta percha has
been found in Borneo, and the same substance is said
by the natives, who know at present nothing of the
manner of collecting it, or of its uses, and who call
it by a different name, ' gutta niato,' to be produced
by several different trees. The same name is men-
tioned by Sir Stamford Raffles, in his ' History of
Java/ (vol. i. page 42, 4to edition), but he con-
founds it with the miniak kawon, or tankawan, already
described ; but the name being the same as that used
by the people of Borneo, it is very likely that both the
trees are found in Java. The gutta percha has been re-
cently referred by Sir W. Hooker to the order Sapo-
tacea3, and to Dr. Wight's new genus, Isonandra, under
the name of Isonandra gutta.

Another substance, similar in all respects to caout-
chouc, might be obtained in quantities in Borneo, as
well as in many other of the islands and on the penin-
sula : it is the produce of a climbing plant of the genus

E 2

52 OTHER VARIETIES OF GUTTA PERCHA.

Urceola, which grows to the size of a man's body. The
bark, which is soft and thick, with a very rough ap-
pearance, on being cut, emits the sap in the greatest
abundance, and without destroying the tree ; very large
quantities might be obtained from a single trunk.

There are three kinds in Borneo, called by the generic
name of ' jintawan ' by the natives ; two are common
in Sarawak, viz. the J. susuh, or milky jintawan, and
the J. bulat, or round-fruited jintawan. They equally
produce the caoutchouc, which, having been analyzed,
is found to differ in no respect from that produced by
the Ficus elastica and other trees. The natives of
Borneo use it to cover the sticks with which they beat
their gongs and other musical instruments. The fruit,
which is large, and of a fine apricot colour, contains
ten or twelve seeds enveloped in a rich reddish pulp,
and though but a jungle plant, is one of the most
grateful fruits of the country to the European
palate.

Many of the other trees produce sap from their soft
and spongy bark, which, on being drawn from the tree,
assumes a concrete form, but they are not known to
the natives as of any use. Perhaps, as in the case of
the oils, the skill and enterprise of Europeans will
discover amongst them properties analogous to those
of gutta percha ; and when a mode of extracting them
less injurious to the tree than that pursued in the case
of the tuban is followed, will prove a source of per-
manent wealth to the island.

The celebrated upas tree, Antiaris toxicaria, is
found upon the island, but not very common. Of a

UPAS TREES. 53

tree which I had an opportunity of observing through
the kindness of Captain Bethune, R.N. C.B., who
allowed me to accompany him to Borneo, in May,
1845, and gave me every facility for examining the
jungles which the disturbed state of the country would
admit, and which were in his power, many absurd
stories were related to me by the natives, similar to
those published by Mr. Foersch, of the Dutch East
India Company, in the 'London Magazine' for Sep-
tember, 1785 ; and it seems very curious that, having
this tree before them, which was surrounded by their
graves, they should tell me it was impossible to go
under it without dying.

On my insisting, however, I got one of them to
climb up to get me some specimens, but they were
neither in flower nor fruit. The poisonous sap flows
freely from the bark when tapped, and Dr. Horsfield,
whose admirable account of it was first published in
the Batavian Transactions (vol. vii.) and afterwards by
Sir Stamford Raffles, (Hist. Arch. vol. i.) tells us that
it is equal in potency, when thrown into the circula-
tion, to any animal poison yet known. Several in-
teresting experiments with it, in prepared and natural
states, are detailed in the paper alluded to. The
tree is called ' Bina ' by the Borneans, and has a
fine appearance. The specimen at Borneo was about
sixty feet high, with a fine stem, the bark of which
was of a very white colour : it was supported at its
base by those processes resembling buttresses, which
are so common to the trees of tropical jungles.

A poison of greater potency was said to be manu-

54 DAMMAR.

factured from a climbing plant which grew in the
neighbourhood of Bintulu : it is perhaps the same as
the ' chitik/ of Java — the botanical name of which is
not yet ascertained. This was called upas by the
natives of Borneo, but I think, with other authors,
that upas is a name for vegetable poisons in general.

Dammar is a resinous gum produced by many kinds
of trees quite different in their character and habit
from the Dammara orientalis figured in Marsden's
1 History of Sumatra/ The dammar is of several
kinds : the white, which is used for the same purposes
as gum copal, is called ' dammar mata kuching,' or
the cat's eye dammar ; it is the least common, and
most valuable, being beautifully transparent. The
' dammar daging,' or flesh-like dammar, takes its name
from its veined appearance, which causes it to resemble
some kinds of agate ; it is not set apart, but used
with the common kinds for paying the seams of boats
and prows ; for which purpose it is pounded and boiled
with wood oil until it becomes of a pitchy consistence.

The various kinds of dammar form an article of
considerable trade between different places in the
Archipelago, and are exported to India and China from
Singapore, at a very low price : they exude sponta-
neously, and are collected after having fallen to the
ground. The Dyaks and Malays form torches of this
inflammable substance, by filling the interior of small
bamboo canes with it, which have been previously
dried for the purpose ; such torches are used only by
the poorer classes of Malays, those in better circum-
stances preferring the more expensive oil of the cocoa-

WILD CINNAMON AND COTTON. 55

nut, which, is burnt in tumblers by means of cotton
wicks generally floating in the oil.

The ' kulit lawang ' of commerce is the aromatic
bark of a wild species of cinnamon, and is produced
in abundance in all parts of the island : it is the true
Cinnamomeum kulit lawan, but I think that other
varieties are also found. It was probably this plant
which induced the earlier voyagers to imagine that the
true cinnamon of Ceylon, which this much resembles,
was found in the Archipelago. The bark is well known
for its clove-like aromatic flavour, and for the essential
oil it produces, which, however, is never extracted
by the natives of Borneo.

Cotton is grown by the Sea Dyaks sufficient in
quantity for their own use, and to make cloths for
exportation. Some of the same kind produced in the
garden of Mr. Hentig, and which was sent to Liver-
pool as a sample, was found to be of superior
quality. Its cultivation will hereafter, probably, form
an important feature in the agricultural pursuits of
the island, as it can be exported to China with great
advantage. Indigo has not been tried on the island ;
but as it succeeds in Sumatra and Java, there can
be no doubt that its culture might be successfully
pursued.

Pepper has been long exported in great quantities
from several ports in Borneo, particularly from Bruni
and Banjar. During the disturbances of Bruni, since
the withdrawal of the English factoiy, the trade has very
much declined, as the Chinese — who, it is said, to the
number of 30,000, cultivated pepper in the neigh-

56 PEPPER AND COFFEE.

bourhood of the capital — have all been obliged to
leave, neither their lives nor property being secure ;
the few who are now in Bruni, and who do not pro-
bably exceed twenty in number, being detained as
slaves. The pepper at present exported from Bruni is
grown by the Kadyans and Meroots, a race of people
resembling the Dyaks, who inhabit the interior of the
Borneo river. It is a curious fact, remarked by all
writers on the East, that this aromatic is universally
esteemed, except by the inhabitants of the countries
which produce it; the Malays never use it in their
cookery, as they ascribe a heating quality to it : the
small kind of capsicums they use largely, and attribute
to them a contrary effect. In 1801 the district of
Banjarmasin alone, on the south coast of Borneo, was
capable of producing 1,500 tons of this spice.

Coffee has been tried in the gardens of the Euro-
peqjis, and thrives remarkably well, producing a fine
and well-flavoured berry. I have been told by the
Malays that it is grown by the Dyaks of the Ponti-
anak river, for the use of that settlement, but its
cultivation on an extensive scale has not been en-
couraged; the government probably not wishing it
to come in competition with Java, which so largely
produces this berry. The hills on the main-land
opposite Labuh-an, would be well adapted for its culti-
vation, since here, as in Ceylon, it might be grown
without the trouble and expense of raising trees
amongst the plantations to protect the bushes from
the sun, as is done in Java. In 'Ceylon the best
elevation for the coffee estates is from 3,000 to

GAMBIER AND TOBACCO. 57

4,000 feet; the berries produced at this height
being of much finer quality and richer flavour than
any others.

Gambier (Uncaria) is not cultivated in the island,
though found wild in many parts of it : that used by
the Malays is brought from Singapore, the Dyaks con-
tenting themselves with chewing the leaves together
with their Sirih, &c. The gambier plantations in
Singapore are said so much to exhaust the land, that
nothing can be grown on their site for many years
after they are abandoned.

Tobacco is grown in small quantities by the Dyaks
and people of Bruni; but they are unskilful in its
manufacture, though the flavour of that of Bruni is
much esteemed by Europeans. Under skilful ma-
nagement, and by introducing a better kind — if the one
now known should not prove a good one — it might
become as profitable to the island as it now is
to the neighbouring ones of the Philippines, Java,
and Bali. The Dyaks might be more readily induced
to cultivate this plant, the nature of which they know,
than indigo and other plants which are strange to
them.

Besides the articles above imperfectly enumerated,
many others, it is highly probable, might be intro-
duced with advantage. The success attending the
partial cultivation of the spices of Amboyna, and the
Banda islands, has been already mentioned, and it is
probable that they may be cultivated at so cheap a
rate, as to be able to compete with the productions of
their native islands, even if all restrictions on the com-

58 BORNEO A PRODUCTIVE COUNTRY.

merce in them were removed by the government.
Vanilla, should the climate not prove too damp, is a
valuable spice, and of easy cultivation. The cocoa-tree
of Manilla (Theobroma cacao) has been proved to be
in every way suited to the soil and climate, producing
fruit of excellent quality. Cotton, it has been already
said, might be cultivated with advantage ; as also the
plantain, (Musa textilis), of which the fine Manilla
cordage is made. Ginger grows well in all the native
gardens, and turmeric is found wild in abundance.
Many kinds of oils might be produced in perfection,
and most of the valuable vegetable productions of India
and the tropics, it is supposed, might be here success-
fully grown, and profitably exported. Now that the
British settler will be cared for and protected by his
own government, the national enterprise will soon
develope some of these immense vegetable resources.

While treating of the vegetable productions, the
many valuable kinds of wood produced by the vast
and magnificent forests of the island must be noticed.
The botanical characters of but few of these are yet
ascertained, so that I am unable at present to furnish
their scientific names. The wood most esteemed
amongst the natives, on account of its hardness and
durability, is called by them * balean ' or ' kyuh balean,'
the term kayu, meaning wood, being always appended
to the names of timber trees.

The balean is a tree of the largest size, and although
its wood is so hard as to be almost incorruptible, the
tree is of quick and vigorous growth : it is found
most abundantly in the low damp forests in the neigh-

TIMBER TREES IN BORNEO. 59

bourhood of the sea and of large rivers. It is much
used by the natives for posts of their houses, which,
amongst the Dyaks, are handed down from father
to son for many generations. Many specimen^
which I have seen, and which must have been in the
river for ages, are as hard when cut as those fresh
taken from the forest, and I have never met with a
piece of this timber in a state of decay. The water
worm (Teredo) is the only insect which attacks it when
in the water ; and though its channelling the wood must
necessarily much weaken the post, the water being
admitted into it does not cause it to rot. On land or
under the earth it equally resists the effects of atmo-
sphere and white ants, so destructive in tropical
countries to most other species of wood. This valuable
timber was formerly an article of export much sought
after by the Chinese ; and in those ports which they
still frequent, is still a source of considerable trade.

Next in value is the ' kayu kapur' a close-grained and
durable timber, much valued by the natives for boat-
building purposes. Several kinds of the puhn of India
grow here in perfection ; they are called by the natives
' bintangur/ and are well known for their value in ship-
building. The 'kayuh rasack' very much resembles the
bintafigur, is close-grained, strong, and tough, and is
used for rudders, masts, and oars for the trading boats.
The mungris is, while fresh, nearly as hard as the iron-
wood, and more difficult to be worked; though it is very
durable, it is not equally so with the balean or iron-
wood; but is a large timber and a very fine tree. The
' rnerbau ' is a fine durable timber, very useful in ship

CO TIMBER TREES IN BORNEO.

and house-building, being easily worked and very
durable.

' Mencabang pinang ' is one of the trees which produce
the vegetable tallow ; it is plentiful in the forests, but
would be more profitable for its fruit (which is of the
small kind, and produces good oil) than its timber,
though for this it is also held in high esteem. The
wood is close-grained, hard, of a reddish colour, easily
worked, and very durable. This tree differs from the
others which produce the vegetable oil, in growing to
a much greater height. The timber of the Kapur
barus, or true camphor tree, is also highly esteemed :
excepting when charged with the valuable drug, it does
not emit the camphor smell, as does the timber of the
Lauras camphora, of which the Chinese manufacture
trunks and boxes, which, from the odour emitted by
the wood, preserve whatever is put into them, from the
attacks of insects of all kinds, particularly of the small
ants, which are so troublesome in hot countries.

The 'neri' is a very hard wood, growing with the man-
grove in salt swamps ; its timber, which has a reddish
appearance, is not large but very abundant. The ' jelu-
tong ' is a larger growing tree with verticillate leaves,
and a bark which, on being wounded, emits plenti-
fully a white milk, which is inspissated by boiling,
but has not yet been discovered to be of any use. The
timber it produces, though large, is not esteemed by
the natives, on account of its early decay when exposed
to the rain and sun : it is white, and, being very soft,
easily worked ; and it is much used by the poorer
Malays for the sides of their houses, which are pro-

TIMBER TREES IN BORNEO. 61

tccted from the rain by the overhanging roofs. The
* maranti,' also a quick-growing timber tree, is held in
much higher esteem than the last. In grain it re-
sembles cedar, and like it is of a reddish colour, and
it is much valued for making packing-cases, planks
for the sides of houses, &c. : when protected from
the weather it is a good and useful timber. The
' dungun ' also belongs to this class : it grows on the
banks of rivers, and though the timber is soft, the
large buttress-like supports at the base of the tree are
very hard, and are valuable for gun carriages, and other
purposes : they would doubtless be useful in turnery.

These that I have enumerated are but a few of the
trees in most general use among the natives j indeed,
I have been informed that the trees which are abun-
dant, and produce excellent timber, amount to up-
wards of sixty species : many of the other kinds, not
useful as timber trees, are valuable, or might be, for
making charcoal, pot-ash, pearlash, &c. Several kinds
of oaks are found in the forests, but being of quick
growth and soft wood, their timber is not esteemed.

Of ornamental woods, though it is improbable that
the island should be destitute of them, many kinds
have not yet been found. The ebony is abundant in
many parts of the island, particularly on the west
coast, but it is said to be inferior to that from the
Mauritius, although it has been found a very profit-
able export to China. In the neighbourhood of the
Lundu river, in the Sarawak territory, are large
forests of it, which the Sebooyoh Dyaks would collect
with gladness, if merchants were established at Sara-

62 ORNAMENTAL AND SCENTED WOODS.

wak to buy it of them. The ' rungas ' is a red wood
handsomely veined, which takes a fine polish, and is
much used at Singapore for the purposes of furniture-
making : like the ebony, it is only the old wood in
the centre of the tree which is of an useful colour.

Of scented woods, ' several are known to exist,
though few are collected, the value of the others not
being yet known to commerce. The ' bidarru,' a yellow
wood of a very agreeable odour, is the most plentiful,
and being of a very hard and durable nature, is much
esteemed for posts of houses and other purposes under-
ground : its perfume will ultimately rescue this
beautiful wood from its present degradation. There
are one or two others, the names of which I have not
preserved, which are all very durable and highly
esteemed woods amongst the natives. The sandal
wood, though it grows on Timor, has not, I believe,
been hitherto found on this island.

Lignum aloes, of which there are several kinds,
called generically by the natives ' kayu garu,' are
produced apparently by diseases in some trees, the
scented and resinous parts not being procurable until
the tree has been cut down and decayed. The garu
has long been an article of considerable export from
this and the other islands to Arabia and China, where
it is burned as incense.

A curious substance called ' plye,' is collected in the
forests, and is the root of a large timber tree of the
same name. It is very light, more so than cork, and
might perhaps be used for the same purposes. A very
similar substance is the root of another tree called

BATIKS AND FRUITS FOR DYEING AND TANNING. 63

' si pait,' or the bitter wood : to the taste it is, as its
name implies, very bitter, and in substance, appearance,
and lightness, precisely resembles its tasteless con-
gener. These plants have never been as yet either
commercially or botanically examined, so that their
uses are at present unknown, but the bitter one may
perhaps prove valuable as a medicinal drug. The
timber of both these trees, though large, is white,
light, and useless, resembling that of the jelutong
already noticed.

Dye stuffs and tannin are the produce of many
barks and fruits of the Indian islands, but from what
has been hitherto ascertained of them, they are not
likely to be of use except for home consumption.

The flowers of Borneo, and of the Archipelago
generally, are not less grateful and beautiful than the
forests are grand and majestic. It has been said,
perhaps too hastily, that no country in the world pro-
duces such ravishing vegetable perfumes as the
Malayan islands ; and the well known and now widely
distributed scents of Kananga, (Uvaria), Champaka,
(Michelia), Melur (Jasminum), and many others,
would seem in a great measure to sustain them in this
enviable pre-eminence ; but though grateful perfumes
are in such profusion, the woods also abound in
shrubs and flowers, which delight the eye and attract
the curiosity by their rich and gaudy colours, or their
delicate and beautiful forms. As in all tropical
countries, the tribe Orchidaceae is in profusion and
beauty ; and on the open banks of the rivers, where
the sun can shed its vivifying influence upon them,

04 THE FLOWERS OF

these delightful epiphytes decorate with their fragile
but showy forms the otherwise naked and unsightly
stumps of decaying forest trees.

The most gaudy are perhaps the various species of
Caslogyne, called collectively by the natives the ' bunga
kasih-an,' or the flowers of mercy ; they are all highly
fragrant, and their white and orange coloured flowers
are exceedingly delicate and beautiful. Several
Vandas, of which the continent of India has produced
so many for the ornament of our gardens, are found
here inferior to none of those from India, many of
which are, by one gigantic species, far surpassed in
beauty. This I have been successful in introducing
into England, and Dr. Lindley has done me the
honour of naming it after me.

One kind of the beautiful genus Cyprepedium, or
Ladies* Slipper, so named from the curious form of the
labellum, far surpasses in beauty any of its tribe from
other countries. The Dendrobiums, which in India
are so gorgeous, here dwindle, for the most part,
into insignificant flowers ; while the species of ^Eria
which are abundant, are so beautiful that, were they
once seen, they would probably raise their hitherto
despised genus in the estimation of the English culti-
vator of these beautiful plants. Of the smaller kinds,
the Cirrhopetalon Bolbophyllum, and some other
genera, though not showy, are curious, delicate, and
beautiful. Several new species and some genera I
have had the pleasure of introducing into England.

On the banks of the rivers, and growing as
underwood in the dense jungles, are found many

OF BORNEO. 65

beautiful species of the genera Ixora and Pavetta,
the former with large bunches of flowers of every
shade, from orange to crimson, the latter with tufts
of pure and delicate white blossoms ; other genera of
the order Rubiaceae abound, and are amongst the most
beautiful wild plants ; many of these are fragrant.

Perhaps the most gorgeous of the native plants are the
various species of the genus Rhododendron, which here
assume a peculiar form, being found epiphytal upon
the trunks of trees, as in the genera of the tribe Orchi-
dacese. This habit, induced probably by the excessive
moisture of the climate, is not, however, confined to the
Ericaceous plants, but also prevails with the genera Fa-
grea, Combreturn, and many others, usually terrestrial;
the roots of the Rhododendrons, instead of being, as
with the species, inhabitants of cold climates, small and
fibrous, become large and fleshy, winding round the
trunks of the forest trees ; the most beautiful one is
that which I have named in compliment to Mr. Brooke.
Its large heads of flowers are produced in the greatest
abundance throughout the year : they much exceed in
size that of any known species, frequently being formed
of eighteen flowers, which are of all shades, from pale
and rich yellow to a rich reddish salmon colour; in
the sun, the flowers sparkle with a brilliancy resem-
bling that of gold dust.

Four other species which I discovered are very gor-
geous, but of different colours, one being crimson and
another red, and the third a rich tint between these
two : of the fourth I have not yet seen the flowers.
Besides the curious nature of the root above noticed,

F

66 FLOWERS OF

botanists may learn that these species differ from others
of the genus in having very small, almost imperceptible,
calyces and caudal appendages to the seeds ; these last
greatly facilitating the attainment of a situation favour-
able for their growth. Four species of the Cleroden-
dron also adorn the banks of the Sarawak river, two of
them bearing white, one scarlet, and one crimson
flowers ; one of the white ones emits a grateful perfume.

The Clerodendron which bears the crimson flowers is
the most handsome of them all ; it grows to a shrub of
ten feet in height, having at the point of every branch
a large loose spike of rich crimson flowers ; the head of
the flowers is frequently three feet in height from the
foliage — rarely less than two — forming with the bracts
and stems, which are equally crimson, a magnificent
pyramid of flowers ; each being relieved by a beauti-
fully white centre and the long protruding stamens ;
the foliage is also fine, being heart-shaped, very large,
and dense. This fine species, which is now growing
we1.! in England, I have named after Captain C. Drink-
water Bethune, R.N., C.B., whose kindness in Borneo
was of the greatest assistance to me, and who, on his
return, was successful in introducing some of the
finest of the Borneo plants.

When the Clerodendron has ceased flowering, the
crimson bracts and calyx which remain are scarcely
less gaudy than the flowers, and each calyx contains
within it a four-seeded berry of the richest blue colour.
Scitaminae, an order not much cultivated in England,
produces some beautiful plants here of the genus
Alpinia, and others. A fine white-fringed flowered Big-

OF BORNEO. 67

nonia is a beautiful and fragrant shrub. An Echites,
which produces its handsome blossoms abundantly in
April and May, grows also on the banks of the rivers;
it emits a delightful perfume. The beautiful Melas-
tomas grow everywhere in open places, and their
soft and pulpy fruit furnishes a never-failing supply of
food to pigeons of every colour.

Of climbing-plants, a new and undescribed species
of Bauhinia is the most showy, covering the trees in
December with its large bunches of gaudy crimson
blossoms. The Hoya imperialis is highly beautiful, its
large and rich purple flowers being relieved by the
white, ivory-like centre ; it is epiphytal. On trees near
the river various kinds of beautiful Combretums may
be added to these ; and Cyrtandraceae produces species
of Lysinotus and ^Eschynanthus, which yield to none
in beauty : that which bears the name of the Earl of
Auckland, (Lysinotus Aucklandii,) far surpasses any
others yet known in the size and richness of colouring
of the flowers, which are produced in bunches frequently
containing twenty-four corollas ; it is distinguished
from others by its undulate and verticillate leaves, and
the woody nature of the stems, which render it more a
shrub than others of its genus.

On the mountains are found plants altogether different
from these : there the genus Dacrydium, and others
of the order Taxacese, resemble the cypresses and firs
of our northern clime. Herbaceous plants of great
beauty are also found on the exposed and damp rocks,
while in mossy places the beautiful golden-leaved
Ansectocheilus and a new and more beautiful species

63 FLOWERS OF

flourish. But of all those above mentioned, though
they excel in beauty, none so much attract our
curiosity as the various and beautiful pitcher-plants,
eight different species of which I discovered in the
western part of the island.

The pitchers, which in some instances would con-
tain upwards of a pint of water, hang from the mid-
rib of the leaf of which they are a formation ; they
precisely resemble pitchers, being furnished also with
a lid. The Nepenthes Rafflesiania produces its
pitchers singly ; they are large and generally crimson :
it grows on rocky islands in the neighbourhood of
Singapore, and it is easily distinguished from its near
ally the native of Borneo and Mount Ophir by its
inferior size, shortness of the column which supports
the lid, the white and powdered appearance of its
stems, and its bushy habit, never exceeding four or
five feet in height, while the largest Bornean one,
which I propose to call Nepenthes Hookeriana, in
honour of Sir W. J. Hooker, the able director of the
Botanic Gardens at Kew, is found growing in deep and
shaded jungles, climbing to the tops of the trees. The
pitcher is nine inches in length, having a large lid
standing on a column, which is a continuation of the
beautiful edge of the pitcher : that part which is
broadest and turned towards the mid-rib of the leaf
from which it depends, is furnished with two broad
wings, which are beautifully ciliated with large ciliae; the
broad pitcher — for this, like the Rafflesiana, produces
two kinds — is generally crimson; the long pitcher differs
from the other in its trumpet shape and green colour,

BORNEO. 69

which is spotted with crimson. The flower I have not
seen, but the leaves, which are moderately large and
broad — at least those of them which produce the
broad pitcher, and which are found near the base of
the plant — are dark green above, and of a fine peach-
coloured red beneath. Six plants of this kind are now
in England, but have not yet produced their pitchers.

The Nepenthes arnpullacea produces its green or
spotted short and broad pitchers in a different manner
from the last : it is also a climbing plant, and found in
thick jungles. The old steins, falling from the trees,
become covered in a short time with leaves and
vegetable matter, which form a coating of earth about
them ; they then throw out shoots which become in time
new plants ; but apparently the first attempts to form
the leaf are futile, and become only pitchers, which, as
the petioles are closely imbricated, form a dense mass,
and frequently cover the ground as with a carpet of
these curious formations. As it continues growing
and endeavouring to become a plant, the laminae of
the leaves gradually appear, small at first, but every
new one increasing in size, until finally the blades of
the leaves are perfect, and the pitchers, which, as
the leaves developed themselves, have become gradually
smaller on each new leaf, finally disappear altogether
when the plant climbs into the trees. This formation
of the pitcher may afford an instructive lesson to
the naturalist, as, though not to the same extent,
the principle is perceptible in all of this curious
tribe, the leaves of seedlings and weak plants always
producing the largest pitchers.

70 FLOWERS OF BORNEO.

The others cannot be enumerated, but one which ap-
proaches the Nepenthes boschianus of the Dutch must
be mentioned on account of the elegance of its foliage
and the beauty of its purple flowers : it produces small
tubical pitchers, but in the greatest profusion ; it is a
climbing plant on low shrubs, generally covering them to
the height of about eight feet : it grows near the sea,
on rocky places, and, as I have said before, is strikingly
handsome ; if it be different from the boschianus, as I
have no doubt it is, I should wish it to bear the name
of the celebrated botanist, Dr. Lindley, whose kindness
and advice have been always most beneficial to me.

It would be out of place, were I to occupy more
space in a work of this nature in enumerating all the
beauties of the kingdom of Flora displayed by the
forests of this beautiful land ; and as they would be un-
interesting to many, I will let those already noticed
suffice, as they are quite numerous enough to show any
one interested in flowers that those of Borneo are in-
ferior to very few of the neighbouring islands or other
tropical countries.

CHAPTER III.

THE FRUITS OF BORNEO — ANIMATED NATURE — THE RHINOCEROS —

THE TAPIR — THE BEAR DEER THE KIJANG AND PALANDOK THE

PANTHER VARIETIES OF CATS ANECDOTE OF AN ORANG UTAN

MONKEYS ALLIGATORS — THE ALLIGATOR DOCTOR THE MODE

OF OPERATION LIZARDS SNAKES AND VIPERS THE COBRA AND

FLOWER-SNAKE INSECTS FISH AND FISHING ESTABLISHMENTS

BUFFALOES HARES— GOATS PIGS DOGS DOMESTIC FOWLS.

THE fruits of the Indian islands since their first
discovery, have been held in the highest esteem, and
though neither care nor expense has been spared in
endeavouring to cultivate them in other countries, as
India, Ceylon, and the West Indian islands, they have
never succeeded, though the fruits of these countries
grow with the greatest luxuriance in the Archipelago.
" Malaya's nectared mangustin" has been by all
writers placed at the head of the native lists of fruits,
its delicious and delicate flavour having gained it a
place in the estimation of Europeans over the rich and
luscious Durian. In my opinion, though both of these
are exceedingly fine, the Lansat (Lancium), when well
ripened, has a peculiar aromatic flavour combined
with all the delicacy of the mangustin, which renders
its firm, transparent, and jelly-like pulp much more
agreeable. The ' mangustin,' or, as the natives call it,

72 TRUITS or

' buah manggis,' (buah, signifying fruit, being prefixed
to all the names of the different kinds as puhn and
kyuh are to trees,) is produced terminally by a tree
which attains the height of thirty feet, called, botani-
cally, Garcinea mangustina; it is a very handsome
tree, the foliage, which is large and opposite, being of
the darkest shining green. The fruit, as large as a
moderate apple, is composed of an outer skin of a
soft and fibrous nature, dark purple on the outside,
but when cut of a bright crimson : the snow-white
pulp which envelopes the seeds, lying within this, has
an appearance no less beautiful to the eye than the
flavour is grateful to the palate ; when cultivated, as
in the peninsula of Malacca, it fruits twice a year,
being ripe in July and December. The durian (Durio
zibethinus), the strong odour from which disgusts many
Europeans, is a large fruit from nine to twelve inches in
length ; when ripe it opens into five divisions, each con-
taining several seeds, which are environed by the rich
and cream-like acid. The tree which produces it is
lofty, frequently sixty or more feet in height. In Borneo
its seasons are irregular, but in favourable seasons it
produces three, and sometimes four, crops in immediate
succession, having the flowers, young fruit, and perfect,
all at one time. The flowers are produced in bunches
from the stem and older branches.

Of this fruit there are many kinds, some of which are
without the offensive odour complained of by Euro-
peans : the most esteemed is called by the natives
' durian esa ;' its coat is furnished with longer but
weaker spines than those of the other kinds. The wild

BORNEO. 73

kind is common in the woods, as is the wild mangustin
in those of Malacca. A species of mangustin pro-
duces the gamboge of commerce, which exudes also
in small quantities from the cultivated varieties.

The fruits of the islands have been so well described
by the writers on the Archipelago, that I will here do
no more than enumerate them, referring to the other
works for particular descriptions of them. The Ian-
sat is one of the finest ; it is small, and produced in
bunches from the stem and branches of the Lancium.
The bread, fruit (Artocarpus) is well known ; two
kinds exist in Borneo, but neither are esteemed by the
natives or Europeans. The ' nangka,' or ' jack,' and the
' champadak,' are varieties of Artocarpus integrifolia,
and differ from each other in the smaller size, and
hairy stems of the latter. The Jack fruit is very
large, and exudes abundantly a slimy matter which
makes excellent bird-lime : a single fruit sometimes
weighs sixty pounds ; they esteem it, as it is constantly
producing its rough looking fruit from the trunks and
large branches. Though the tree grows forty feet
high, it will produce fruit on small ones : a wild
species is found in the jungle.

The ' tampui ' is an orange-coloured fruit produced
on the stems and branches of a small tree, with large
dark coloured leaves, of the order Sapotaceae ; its pulp
is of a sweetish acid ; the fermented juice makes an in-
toxicating liquor much esteemed by the Dyaks. The
' rhambut-an ' (Nephilium) is produced in bunches ter-
minally ; the pulp, which surrounds a seed of the size
and flavour of a cob-nut, is transparent, and of a delicate

74 FRUITS OF BORNEO.

sweetish acid flavour ; it is very plentiful in the woods.
The varieties of mango (Mangifera) are very numerous,
but the island produces none of those of the fine flavour
of the Indian ones : all the species known to Borneo,
probably seven or eight, are found wild. Several kinds
of ' jambu ' (Eugenia) are grown, but are not held in
high esteem for their flavour, though they have a
beautiful appearance. The ' blimbing' (Averoah), of
which there are two kinds, are used by the natives in
cookery, as are also the limes for purposes where acidity
is required. The ' barangan/ a kind of chestnut, is
grown by the Dyaks, and the pomegranate is found
with the fruits of India and America in the gardens
of the Europeans.

To the above an extensive list of fruits produced
in Borneo alone, and peculiar to it, might be added,
but the papers containing it, together with several
others of valuable notes, were left by me in Borneo,
as on my departure for England I had not contem-
plated publishing my remarks on the island. The
fruit trees generally receive little attention from the
natives, and it is probably for this reason, that the
seasons are so irregular. They are surrounded by
the jungle, and, except to the experienced eye, are in
no way to be distinguished from the trees composing
it. In Penang and Malacca, where care is taken of
the trees, they always produce fruit regularly twice a
year — the small crop about July, the large and gene-
ral crop about December.

Having thus, as far as the limited knowledge we
possess will allow, noticed the principal vegetables and

ANIMATED NATURE. 75

vegetable productions of the island, we pass in order
to the animal kingdom, which, however, is not of such
an extensive nature as to detain us so long in its de-
scription, although some of its forms are highly curious
and interesting.

The larger and fiercer animals are not found in
this island ; so that, though its jungles teem with
the smaller carnivora, the tiger, which is so abundant
and destructive to human life in Singapore, on the
peninsula of Malacca, in Sumatra, and in Java,
never molests the traveller in these wilds. Of the
larger animals, the elephant is said by the natives to
exist in the northern parts of the island, but as they have
never been seen by any of my informants themselves,
I have not put much faith in the relation. The rhino-
ceros exists in the interior of the country, but as it is
seldom seen, it must be very rare. An animal resem-
bling the Malayan tapir has also been described to me,
but I have not seen during my travels either of the above
three animals, or even traces of their existence.

The small Malayan bear (Ursus Malayanus) is
found on the west coast, but must be much more
common in the country of the Kyans, as then*
dresses are frequently made of its skin. It is a
well-known species, which feeds principally on vege-
tables, and climbs the trees in search of honey,
frequently going up to the bees' nests on the lofty
tapang. Deer are abundant, and of several kinds.
The large Malayan rusa, common to the whole Archi-
pelago (Cervus equinus), is very common all over the
country, and affords excellent sport to the Europeans of

76 ANIMATED NATURE.

Sarawak in such places as are sufficiently open to allow
of an approach to it. The flesh is coarse, and, being
altogether devoid of fat, it is not esteemed by the
Europeans, though much sought after by the Malays.
It is said by the natives to be found occasionally white ;
it is then called ' rajah-rusa,' or the king-deer. Its
usual colour is dark brown. The rutting season is
about August.

The ' kijang,' or roe, as it is commonly called by
Europeans, is the Cervus muntjack, an elegant
animal, the points of the horns of which are turned
forwards : it is of a light brown colour, about the size
of the antelope, which, with the exception of the horns,
it resembles in general appearance. The elegant little
'palandok' and its varieties are perhaps the smallest of
the deer tribe, some of them being only eight inches in
height at the shoulder. They live in very old woods, and
feed entirely, as does the kijang, on leaves and berries,
and they are particularly fond of the flower-buds of
the beautiful Dillennia speciosa. They are so graceful
and elegant in their forms and movements as to be
universal pets. Their coat is covered with fine and
glossy rich brown fur, and their eyes, which are large
and dark, have all that soft and melting beauty which
has rendered the gazelle so famous. Had the Malayan
countries been as fertile in poets as those of the west,
the palandok had doubtless occupied in their delight-
ful romances the place at present ceded to the gazelle.
They are frequently eaten ; and, notwithstanding their
fitness to adorn the page of poetry, they are not con-
sidered out of place on a well-furnished table.

ANIMATED NATURE. 77

Wild pigs are very plentiful, though they are con-
stantly beset by the Dyaks and their traps in every jun-
gle, so that it is astonishing that they have not been
long since exterminated. They are of two kinds — the
large, long-legged, and bristly brown pig, which is
found most abundant near the sea shore, and the white,
short-legged, and round-bodied pig of the interior.
This is perhaps a mere variety of the Chinese breed,
which has run wild, as it very much resembles those
kept by these people. The flesh of both kinds is
highly esteemed by the Dyaks, particularly at certain
seasons when the fruits are ripe, as then the animal
becomes fat, and its flesh of a better flavour.

Though the tiger itself is a stranger to the island, a
kind of panther (Felis macrocelis) exists, but it is not
of a sanguinary description, nor does its size render it
dangerous. In appearance it is very similar to the hunt-
ing-chita of India. Many species of cat — amongst them
the tiger- cat — are found. Some of them are fine and
beautiful animals. Two or three kinds of otters, the
civet-cat, and the pole-cat are common. The sloth is
also known by the name of ' ka-malasan/ a word having
the same signification as our term, which is, perhaps,
but a translation of the Malayan one. The great ant-
eater (Manis), called by the Malays ' peng-goling,' or
the animal which rolls itself up, which this animal
does, like the hedgehog, being in this position better
defended by the scales with which its body is
covered, is also to be found here. Many kinds of
Lemur are seen in the woods. Some of the flying ones,
particularly a long-tailed species (a species of Pteromys)

78 ANIMATED NATURE.

with very rich brown fur of a fine texture, are very rare
in Europe, and others are unknown to zoologists.
Squirrels are very numerous, and some of them are of
great beauty. The little Sciurus Rafflesiana is amongst
the most common and pretty. One species is very
large, and of a black colour ; another resembles in
form the hare, being also nearly equal in size. Their
flesh is much valued by the Dyaks, and they will doubt-
less hereafter be prized for the tables of Europeans.

Monkeys are found in infinite variety, and of the
most rare and curious kinds : the true orang utan is
a native of no other country, and notwithstanding the
fabulous accounts of its resemblance to the human
species, which have so often amused the world, there
is still a sufficient degree of similarity to render the
comparison disgusting. It is found in the old jungles
on the banks of rivers in some parts of the island,
but not in the Sarawak territory, nor in that of Sam-
bas; the tract of country between the Sadong and
Batang Lupar rivers extending across the island
in the direction of Pontianak, are the favourite haunts
of this strange animal. Two species of it have been
seen by Europeans, the larger called ' mias pappan,'
and the smaller, or ' mias rambi.' They are dis-
tinguished from each other by the greater size, more
abundant and long red hair, and the large processes
on each side of the head of the former ; though both
are found in the same forests, the breed is said by
the natives never to be mixed : they do not attain the
large size which has been attributed to them, and it is
probable they rarely exceed five feet when measured from

ANECDOTE OF AN ORANG UTAN. 79

the heel to the top of the head ; those, the heights of
which have been often given to the public as exceeding
this, have been measured to the toes, the foot being of
very great proportionate length.

In the jungle they are indolent animals, never jump-
ing from tree to tree, as do the more active monkeys,
but carefully securing their safety by previously
catching hold with their hands ; they do not make
houses or huts in the jungle, but live in every respect
as other large monkeys. Fruits are their food, and.
during the fruit season many of them are destroyed
by the Dyaks stealing the, to them, prohibited food ;
they also occasionally do injury to the sugar-cane of the
Dyaks. A story was once related to me of this animal
by a Malay, which, though I cannot vouch for its truth,
may perhaps amuse the reader :

" A Dyak, whose farm had been visited every
night by the orang utan, watched for him carefully on
a clear night, armed with a spear. Soon after night-
fall the niias came, and, while seated on the fallen
trunk of a tree masticating and extracting the sweets
of the sugar-cane, was carefully approached by the
Dyak, who succeeded in wounding him with the spear ;
but, as these animals when wounded fight desperately,
he was also provided with a sword, which, however,
in this instance, was not necessary, as the mias on
turning to see by whom or what he was wounded,
perceived coming down the trunk of the tree towards
him, a bear, probably with the intention of only
sharing his meal ; but the mias, who did not see the

80 ANECDOTE OF AN ORANG UTAN.

man, fancied the bear the aggressor, and began to
punish him accordingly. The Dyak fearing that perhaps
they might see the real offender, and both set upon
him, and terrified besides at the grunting of the one,
and the growling of the other combatant, ran away as
fast as possible ; but on returning in the morning he
found the bear dead on the field, and the mias also
dead not far distant, his spear wound having much
disabled him." If the story be true, the Dyak might
thank the bear for interfering, as a full-grown mias is
quite a match for a naked man, and generally before
he can be killed contrives to bite off two or three
fingers, or otherwise maim the individual. I have
seen several Dyaks thus mutilated by them.

The long-nosed monkey (Semnopithecus nasicus)
is exceedingly rare in the collections of Europe :
it is remarkable for its very long nose ; it is a
very fine monkey, in size approaching the orang
utan, but much less disgusting in appearance.
It is furnished with a very long tail, and its
fur is particularly fine, and of a pretty fawn
colour ; its eyes are very small, and bright ; its
teeth sharp and long ; its head is small ; it feeds on
fruits. The curious nose of this species is long and
fleshy, the bones of it not being larger than those of
other monkeys of its size; the hands and feet are
short, but very powerful, and the whole frame more
muscular in proportion than that of the mias.

The 'wa-wa' (Hylobates) or long-armed ape, is the most
beautiful of all the monkey tribe. This species has been

MONKEYS. 81

introduced into England, to the gardens of the Zoo-
logical Society, but has not, I believe, lived long.
The fur of this gentle little animal is grey ; its face,
hands, and feet, are jet black; in features it more
resembles those of the human race than the orang
utan, or any other I have seen ; it has no tail, and
feeds on fruits and insects; is delicate, and does
not, though it becomes very gentle, live long in con-
finement. It is abundant in the jungle, and in the
morning may be heard, close to the houses at Sarawak,
uttering its peculiar note, which has been aptly com-
pared to the noise made by water being poured out of
a bottle. The moniet is a pretty little monkey, with
a long tail and grey fur, easily tamed, and very
amusing. The bruk, (Innuus nemestrimus), is a large
and disgusting short-tailed animal of the baboon kind.

Besides these are many others not distinguished by
particular names ; many of them are perfectly unknown
to the naturalist, and would be very interesting to the
learned of this country. As all kinds of monkeys are
destructive to the rice-fields, the Dyak is equally their
enemy, and as these people esteem their flesh as an
article of food, no opportunity of destroying them is
lost; they are very abundant, and at night, about
sunset, all the trees on the banks of the river are
absolutely alive with them, they are in such aston-
ishing numbers.

Reptiles, so abounding in moist and hot countries,
are found, as might be expected, in abundance here ;
and the large size of the alligators (Crocodilus

G

82 THE ALLIGATOR DOCTOR.

biporcatus) and some kinds of serpents, testify the
suitableness of the climate for them. The alligator is
in some of the rivers of the west coast plentiful and
voracious. It is said, that on the Sambas river it is
dangerous in the highest degree to sleep in boats :
they do not swarm in the river Sarawak as in that
just mentioned, though they are numerous, and occa-
sionally destructive. Many superstitions are observed
by these half Mahometans respecting them, for it is
supposed that they cannot be caught without the
assistance of a person who charms them, called the
' dukun buaya,' or the alligator doctor.

In November, 1845, two persons having been
taken by the alligators, the dukun was sent for
to Sadong, a town and river to the eastward : the
traps were set by him, which merely consisted of a
cage made of bamboo and placed on posts above the
water. In this was confined a Pariah dog, that by his
barking and howling he might attract the alligators
to the true bait which was hung beneath : it was a
dead monkey, through the body of which had been
passed a stout stick with a fine small rattan made
fast to the centre. During the night the bait was
taken away, and the doctor, accompanied by a great
many men, went to search for the rattan, which, being
small, passes between the crevices of the teeth so that
the animal cannot bite it, and it remains attached to
the stick, which by this time the alligator, in his at-
tempts to evacuate, has got athvvartwise in his throat.
The top of the rattan floating soon discovers the

HIS MODE OF OPERATION. 83

retreat of the alligator, and then the conjuror's work
begins. The alligator is addressed by all sorts of
dignified and pathetic names ; and it is asserted, that
he is as quiet as possible in their hands, and suffers
his hands and feet to be bound without a struggle.
Certain it is, that the one now referred to was
soon brought down the river, slung between two
large boats, and escorted by the greater part of the
male population of the town, with flags and banners
flying, and drums and gongs beating. No native
present spoke of the beast as the alligator, but always
as the rajah, addressing it in such terms as these :
" Will the rajah come ashore ?" " Will the rajah
please to be quiet?"

On reaching the grand wharf a large rope was
bound round the body of the already powerless rajah,
and 200 or 300 people soon dragged him ashore ;
now all consideration with all fear of him ended, and
every one considered himself entitled to play- the part
of the ass in the fable, and they accordingly insulted
in every way the now powerless monster. A heavy
' parang/ or chopping knife, was delivered to a man
whose child had been taken, and he soon revenged
himself by cutting off his victim's head. Till this time
the animal had shown nothing but passive endurance,
but, on feeling the knife, struggled furiously, but
being bound every way was dispatched by his many
executioners.

This animal was seventeen feet in length ; but the
doctor said it was not a mischievous one, so he set

G2

84 LIZARDS.

his traps again, and in two days we had the pleasure
of seeing another brought down the river, which the
dukun insisted upon being the wicked one ; and when
he was killed, the prediction was verified by the bones
and clothes of a man being taken from his stomach. It
was not so large as the former one, being only about
fifteen and a half feet in length: a large piece had been
broken off its bony nose by fighting with others of its
tribe, and it was probably from this outward evidence
of its disposition that the doctor was enabled to pro-
nounce so confidently on its character. Since that
one was destroyed we have not been troubled with
them in Sarawak, though they are still numerous.

The ' biawak ' of the Malays, called by Europeans
the iguana, is plentiful in creeks near houses where
poultry is kept, to which it proves very destructive.
In appearance it resembles the alligator, but rarely
attains a greater length than six feet. A smaller
animal, called by the same name, which lives in woods
and climbs trees, is much valued by the Dyaks as a
delicate article of food. Many other kinds of the
lizard tribe, under various names, are also abundant
in trees and in grassy places, amongst old houses, &c.
The most beautiful are the green ones, resembling the
chameleon, of which there are several kinds ; they live
on flies and other insects.

The flying lizard (Draco volans) is a curious and
harmless little animal, which is frequently found
about the pinang, and other trees, in the vicinity
of the European houses. The ' chichak ' is a little

SNAKES AND VIPERS. 85

lizard found in houses, running along the walls
and ceilings in search of flies ; the structure of their
feet enabling them to do this by creating a vacuum
beneath the foot : this is proved by their not being
able to sustain themselves on cloth, which often forms
the ceilings of houses in Borneo. They sometimes
fall, and their tails get broken off, but, being possessed
of the power of reproduction, the loss is soon supplied
— a new tail growing in its place.

The land-tortoises are of at least two species, one
of which attains considerable size : I once had one in
my possession which was nearly two feet in length.
They are found in the thick and damp woods : their
food is vegetable ; their eggs are long and linear,
rounded at the ends, hard, like that of the alligator,
not with a soft shell, as that of the turtle.

All the marshes abound with frogs, which croak
their dismal notes during the whole night ; they are
fed upon by the snakes, which are in great numbers
in the same situations. Many of the snakes of Borneo
are unknown to European naturalists. The crested
cobra of India is found here, and called by the
natives ' ular tadong ' — but I think that tadong is a
generic name, applied to many of the venomous ones,
— and the beautiful but deadly ' tadong matahari/ or
the sun-snake (Tortrix), and the e tadong chinchin mas/
or golden -ringed viper (Dipsas dendrophila), deriving
its name from the beautiful golden rings with which its
black body is adorned : this kind is very common in
mangrove swamps, ascending the trees to sleep at
high water, and descending to search for its prey

80 THE COBRA AND FLOWER-SNAKE.

when the tide has receded. The ' ular ledong ' (Trigo-
nocephalus Waglerii), or, as it is called by Europeans,
the hammer-headed viper, from the great proportionate
breadth of its head, is also very venomous ; its body is
short and thick, and it is of very sluggish habits.

There are many other kinds which have poisonous
fangs ; but, notwithstanding their number, accidents
rarely occur from them. Those which are poisonous
rarely are large, the cobra never exceeding six feet
in length, while the green hammer-headed viper
does not attain that length. The largest of the
snake tribe are the different kinds of the ' ular sawah '
(Python), found in damp and marshy places : they are
called boa by Europeans. I never met with them
larger than fourteen feet in length; but while I was
in the country a native killed one, which had an
undigested deer with horns in its stomach, and must
have been considerably larger. None of these large
snakes are venomous, being provided with strength
sufficient to ensure the capture of their prey : those
not venomous are more numerous than the others.

Amongst them is a small one, called ' ular bunga '
(Dryophis prassina), or the flower- snake ; it is of
the most rich and beautiful green colour above, re-
sembling velvet, and yellow beneath, with a slender
and graceful form ; it is very pretty, and a favourite
animal with the Malays. A very venomous one
resembles it; and, during my stay, a fatal acci-
dent had nearly occurred to an European gentleman,
who, having one of them brought to him, thought it
had been a flower-snake, and was putting his hand

INSECTS. 87

into the basket to take it out, when fortunately the
native observed it in time to prevent the fatal conse-
quences. In the river are various kinds of water-
snakes, some of them very large ; they are also
common in the sea, and of beautiful colours ; many of
them are said to be poisonous.

The woods of this island, and every other part of
it, teem with insect life. The butterflies are large, and
of gaudy colours, many of them of very curious forms ;
they appear to be irregular in their seasons, at some
periods being very plentiful, at others rarely seen.
Beetles are very scarce, and, excepting three or four
fine kinds, which are occasionally met with about
the lamps in the houses at night, are difficult to be
procured. Many species of garden bugs are found,
which, though beautiful to the eye, are of a very
unpleasant odour.

The spiders, so disgusting in appearance in many
other countries, are here of quite a different nature,
and are the most beautiful of the insect tribe : they
have a skin of a shell-like texture, furnished with •
curious processes, in some long, in others short, in
some few, in others numerous; but are found, of this
description, only in thick woods and shaded places :
their colours are of every hue, brilliant and metallic as
the feathers of the humming-bird, but are, unlike the
bright colours of the beetle, totally dependent on the
life of the insect which they beautify, so that it is
impossible to preserve them.

The noisy cicadas sing their shrill notes from

88 FISH AND

every tree, and the chorus is always supplied by
the numerous varieties of grasshoppers which every-
where abound. No one who has not walked in
similar jungles, can imagine the noisy concert pro-
duced by the loud and shrill voices of so many insects
during the whole day, which is increased towards
evening by the many lizards, frogs, snakes, &c., so as
to be almost deafening. Bees, of different descriptions,
are found in the woods in great abundance, and this
is the only country of the Archipelago where those
little insects are known to be kept in a domestic
state.

Having noticed the productions of the land sufficiently
for our purpose, those of the sea and waters claim our
attention. The fish of the Archipelago are very nu-
merous, and some of them particularly fine. The
pomfret, or ' ikan bawal,' two kinds of mullet, and the
sole are much esteemed by Europeans. The natives
seldom eat their fish in a fresh state, but it is for the
most part salted and dried in the sun, and in this
state forms an extensive article of trade between the
sea coasts and the interior country. Large fishing
establishments are found at the mouths of all the
principal rivers during the S. W., or fine monsoon ;
the fishermen usually leaving them during the N. E.,
or boisterous monsoon, and returning to the town,
where they pursue other avocations until fine weather
again brings the shoals of fish to their shores. One
kind of fish, the ' ikan trobuk,' is caught in great
numbers during this season on the west coast : it is

FISHING ESTABLISHMENTS. 89

valued for its large roe, which, being extracted, is
salted and dried, and sent to those parts of the coast
which do not possess it.

The ' blachang ' is a kind offish paste of several quali-
ties. That most in esteem is made of a species of very
small shrimp, which, in the fine season, is found in
enormous numbers on the borders of the sea : it is
salted and pounded in a mortar, and being made up
into little parcels is sent into the interior, where
it is highly esteemed. The inferior kind is made of
all kinds of little fish — shrimps, &c., in the same way,
but does not bear so high a price : they both have an
odour which renders them offensive to Europeans.

Sharks' fins and ' tripang,' or sea slug, are exported
by the Bugis boats from the eastern parts of the
island ; they are first sent to Singapore, afterwards
to China. Tortoise-shell is also found in these seas,
but not in such abundance as amongst the islands
further to the eastward. The turtle is very common
on the small islands off the coast. Its flesh is not
eaten by the natives, but its eggs form a considerable
article of trade. Shell-fish of several kinds are found
upon the coasts, the oysters being of very great abund-
ance, and of very fine flavour. The pearl and the
mother-of-pearl oyster also abound, and the fishery
of the Soolu islands has been long known and highly
valued : in proper hands it would be the finest in the
world; but pearls are produced in plenty all along
the northern coast. The prawns produced by the seas
and rivers of this island are of the very finest flavour,

90 BUFFALOES.

and many other edible shell-fish are in perfection.
The sperm whale is found amongst the quiet seas of
the eastern coasts, and the fishery is often profitable
to the American vessels employed in it. There is
little doubt, should our new settlement at Labuh-an
prosper, and form a colony in these seas, that to the
above list of marine productions many will soon be
added.

Ambergris is found in the Indian seas, but I am
not certain that those of the coast of Borneo produce
it. Under the fostering care of the British govern-
ment, the natives themselves will in a great measure
assist in developing the resources of this rich island ;
and when European skill and capital are employed,
as they are likely to be, we may soon see its valuable
productions forming a larger, and much more impor-
tant item than they have hitherto done in the com-
merce of the Archipelago.

Of the domestic animals but few are kept on the
west coast of Borneo, though the buffalo (kerbau) is
well known on the south and north, at Banjarmasin
and Borneo ; they are probably abundant on the east
coast. I have not heard of their having ever been
found wild in the island, and from their scarcity
should think they have been introduced. They are
sometimes brought to Sarawak by the chiefs for their
festivals, from the Natunas islands, where they are
plentiful. The cow is of the Indian breed, having a
hump at the shoulders ; they are small, but prettily
shaped cattle, and when furnished with good pasture

HORSES, GOATS, PIGS. 91

afford excellent beef : they are plentiful at Bruni and
to the northward, but not on the west coast, and are
sold to the ships of war at a very cheap rate. The
cows of this breed kept at Sarawak do not give much
milk, though the little they produce is very rich.

About the river of Tanjong Barram, and on the
Sangow river, is a breed of wild cattle called by the
name of ' banting,' (Bos Sondiacus), they are said to
be very wild and fierce, living chiefly in bamboo forests,
on the young shoots of which they feed. Were they
not in such inaccessible parts of the country, they would
furnish excellent sport to the Europeans ; and if in very
great numbers, their hides and tallow might become
an article of commerce. Horses, of a small breed, are
also plentiful in the northern and southern parts of the
island, though unknown on the western coast. In
Banjarmasin, as in Celebes, they are trained to hunt
the deer, which are caught by a lasso, the loop of
which being carried on a light bamboo is passed over
the head of the animal. This sport can only be followed
in open countries, which are not found on the western
coast. It is a favourite amusement with the Bugis
nobles of Celebes, and has been by them introduced
into the south and east coasts of Borneo.

Amongst the Kyans and sea Dyaks, and in most
of the Malayan towns many goats are kept, but the
land Dyaks have none of them, as their superstitious
belief, hereafter to be mentioned, prevents their using
the flesh of these animals. They are of a small breed, and
are killed by the Kyans and sea Dyaks on festival days ;
but their flesh is not so much esteemed as that of the

92 DOGS, CATS, DOMESTIC FOWLS.

pigs, which they keep in large quantities. The Dyak
pig very much resembles the breed of China, being
short and broadly made little animals ; when fattened
and kept by the Chinese, who purchase them from the
Dyaks, their flesh is valued at the European tables
on the west coast, where neither beef nor mutton is
procurable except at rare intervals. The Dyaks have also
a small kind of currish looking dog, which is very useful
to them in the jungle, in hunting the wild hog, the deer,
and the palandok : these little animals are of a reddish
colour in general, though they vary as do the dogs of
Europe. The Chinese settlers have a larger breed,
which, when young and well fattened, form an
esteemed dish at their tables.

The cats of the Malays have been mentioned, and
described by many writers, their peculiar tails having
always attracted attention. The joints of the tail are
crooked, so that the tail appears, as it were, tied in a
knot, nor can the animal itself straighten it : this
breed being mixed with the European for some gene-
rations does not entirely lose this remarkable deformity.

Of domestic poultry both ducks and fowls are kept
by the Malays, the latter only by the Dyaks. Mr.
Brooke has attempted to introduce others, and has
for this purpose distributed many geese among these
people. He has also endeavoured by the introduction
of the larger Cochin China breed of fowls to improve
the small race now kept by the Dyaks. Pigeons are
occasionally, though rarely, seen amongst the Malays ;
but I have never seen them in the Dyak villages.

CHAPTER IV.

THE KINGDOM OP BORNEO — THE MALAYS — THE BTTGIS PEOPLE OF

CELEBES THE ABOBIGINEES DUTCH AND ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS

— MAJOR MULLER'S EXPEDITION — MR. MURRAY KILLED — PRESENT

STATE OF THE CAPITAL THE SULTAN SARAWAK AND MR.

BROOKE'S POSSESSIONS — DESCRIPTION OF SARAWAK — ITS CHIEFS —

ITS NATIVE MERCHANTS AND INHABITANTS DYAK SLAVES IN

BORNEO THEIR TREATMENT AND PRICE IN THE MARKET — SLAVE

DEBTORS.

HAVING in the foregoing chapters given a general
description of the island of Borneo, or Kalamantan,
and having enumerated such of its vegetable, mineral,
and other productions, as cannot with equal propriety
be introduced into other parts of the work, it becomes
necessary to notice the political divisions of the land,
and to inquire, as far as our at present very limited
knowledge will allow, into the situation of the many
tribes inhabiting it, and their relations to each other.
The island has been, from its first discovery by Euro-
peans, separated into several kingdoms, the limits and
power of which have been constantly changing, their
extent and influence generally depending on the talent
and tastes of their respective chieftains. The Malays,
who settled here on the north coast during the nourish-
ing periods of the kingdoms of Singapore, Malacca,
and Johore, have become so mixed with the Javans
who colonized the western and southern shores, as to

94 THE KINGDOM OF

have given their name to the whole of the people in
these districts ; but though it is very common to
call the people of each town or kingdom the Malays
of such or such a place, it would be much more cor-
rect to designate them by a term derived from the
name of the town or kingdom of which they are
inhabitants ; for though they have a very considerable
general resemblance to the Malays of Sumatra and the
peninsula, any person accustomed to see both people
can readily distinguish one from the other. Though this
distinction is so perceptible, that even the descendants
of the different races which have colonized the various
parts of the island are to this day easily separated, it is
more difficult to reduce it to writing. No person
conversant with these people would be for an instant
at a loss to distinguish one of the natives of the town
of Bruni from a person descended from the Javan
colonists of Sarawak, and yet these differ from the
present natives of their parent island, as much as from
the people of Bruni.

The kingdom of Bruni is said by the natives
themselves to have been first formed by large settle-
ments of Chinese ; and in Forrest's Voyages he
relates that the brothers of Serif Ali, the first
sultan of Magindanau, of the Mahommedan religion,
became King of Borneo towards the latter part of the
fifteenth century. It is probable that these brothers,
with another who became Sultan of Soolu, had in
their capacity of zerifs, or descendants of the prophet,
gathered many followers on their road from Mecca at

BORNEO. 95

the Malayan kingdoms on the peninsula, and thus
have appeared, at the kingdoms of which they after-
wards became the sovereigns, not only as spiritual
teachers, but also as temporal princes. It is not likely
that the three came at one time, but the Sultan of
Magindanau being himself successful, perhaps invited
the other two.

There still existed during the lifetime of the late
rajah, Mudah Hassim, the genealogical tree of the
royal family of Borneo, and annals of its history,
but after his lamented death I could not learn what
had become of them ; and the surviving brother,
the present rajah, Mudah Mohammed, feared that
these relics, which had been preserved through gene-
rations with the most religious care, had perished in
the flames of the houses of the murdered pangerans.
These Mahometans, being more proud of their ancestry
than those of the eastern world will allow themselves
to be, take the greatest possible care of the his-
tories of their families. On returning to the island
I shall not fail to try by every means to obtain these
papers, or copies of them, if they should be found
still to exist.

The Arab xerif, or serif from Mecca, is said to
have married the daughter of the last of the infidel
kings, and thus the Malays were established in this
part of the island; but it is curious, that, if this
had been a powerful Chinese settlement, so few
traces of their language or customs exist; and I
should rather be inclined to suppose, in the absence of
authentic documents, that the Chinese population was

96 THE MALAYS.

not considerable, nor, previous to the arrival of the
Arabs and Malays, the kingdom either extensive or
influential. Abundant proof exists, both in the tra-
ditions of the inhabitants, and the written histories of
Java, that colonies from that island were the first
foreign settlers on the southern and western coasts, as
far north as Sarawak ; and during the thirteenth
century we find the whole of the southern and western
shores of Borneo, which are described as having at that
period no regular government, protected by the sultan
of the powerful Hindu state of Majapahit, in Java,
against the piratical inhabitants of Lampung in Su-
matra, who thus early appear to have been dangerous
in those seas.

After the fall of Majapahit, and the triumph of
the Mahometan religion in Java, A. D. 1478, the
colonies of the coasts of Borneo are said to have be-
come independent ; but in 1643 we find the chief of
the Javanese colony of Banjarmasin, and in 1653 the
Sultan of Sucadana, sending missions of homage to the
then Sultan of Motarem in Java. In 1687 the Dutch
attacked Sucadana at the instance of the King of
Bantam, whose right to interfere in their country
was, however, denied by the people of Sucadana.

As has been previously observed, the descendants of
the Javanese colonies are all now denominated Malays,
and they call themselves ' orang Malayu/ and ' orang
laut' — meaning, respectively, Malay men, and men
from the sea. These descendants of Javans have
mixed more with the aborigines of the countries than
any other tribes of the coast, and it is probable that

THE BUGIS PEOPLE OF CELEBES ABORIGINES. 97

it is this mixture of race which serves to distinguish
them in person, as already noticed, from the present
inhabitants of Java, as the mixture with the Chinese
may have altered the race of the kingdom of Borneo
from the true Malay of Sumatra. The east coasts of
the island appear to have been occupied by the Bugis
people of Celebes, who have kept themselves more
distinct, and their blood more pure than the other
races, so that the Bugis of Pasir or of Coti is in no
way distinguishable from his countryman on the
opposite island of Celebes. These are all the tribes
inhabiting the sea-coast : they profess the Mahometan
religion, and from the power given to them by being in
possession of the mouths of the rivers, they have
always continued to hold the Dyaks, the Kyans, and
other aboriginal tribes in some degree of subjection,
though in general, when the weakness of the Malayan
governments, or other causes, presented opportunities
of throwing off their allegiance, these have been duly
seized ; and the Kyans of the Barram, Bintulu, and
Rejang rivers, and the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran,
at present allow of no coast government's interference.
The aboriginal inhabitants, which, doubtless of
the same race as their more civilized and power-
ful neighbours, but now differing much from them,
have, though divided into several families, so great
a general resemblance as to mark them undoubtedly
equally the offspring of the great Polynesian race.
At present they are distinguished by the Malays, and
after them by the Europeans, as the orang Dyak and

H

98 DESCENDANTS OF THE MALAYS.

the orang Kyan ; the orang Milanowe, Tedong, Kad-
yan, Idaan, and Merut, and some others, being smaller
divisions, and differing in some particulars from either
of the two first and greatest divisions. The peculiarities
of each will be described in portions of the work which
will be devoted to them ; and as here it is more our
object in mentioning them to facilitate our description
of the division of the country into Malayan kingdoms,
it will suffice to say that, independent of their simi-
larity of language and many customs, the great and
distinguishing feature of their character — the barbarous
custom of taking and prizing as objects of pride and
triumph the heads of their enemies— is equally common
to all the ramifications of their tribes.

The descendants of the Malays of the peninsula
appear to have formed no other kingdom in the island
than that of Bruni, which has been of sufficient import-
ance to have caused strangers to apply to the whole
island the appellation of Borneo, a corruption of the
name of this state. During the time of its greatest
power, in the 16th and 17th centuries, it governed the
whole of the north-west coast, from Tanjong Dattoo, in
long. 109° 41' east, and lat. 2° 5' 22" north, to the oppo-
site or eastern shores. All the tribes of the many rivers
in this extensive district are said to have acknowledged
its sway ; and it was divided into provinces, each of
which was governed by wise though rigorous laws,
administered under the immediate superintendence of
a pangeran, or noble, sent directly from the capital,
which, when visited by Pigafetta, the companion of the

THE SOOLUS. 99

celebrated Magellan, about the year 1521, contained
25,000 families. He says of it, that " La ville est
batie dans la mer meme, excepte la maisou du roi et
de quelques principaux chefs. Elle contient vingt-cinq
milles feux ou families. Les maisons sont construites
de bois, et portees sur de grosses poutres pour les ga-
rantir de 1'eau ; lorsque la maree monte, les femmes qui
vendent les denrees necessaires traversent la ville dans
des barques." (Pigafetta, extracted from Mr. Crawfurd,
vol. i. p. 172.) Excepting in size, and the wooden
structure of the houses, the description is suitable to
the present town.

In 1645 the Malays of Borneo, in conjunction with
their allies, the people of Soolu, attacked the Spanish
settlements in the Philippines, doing much damage.
This was in revenge for the repeated but unsuccessful
attacks of the Spaniards on the Soolu islands. Soon
after, the Spaniards burnt the city of Borneo, and took
many of the inhabitants prisoners, but were disgrace-
fully beaten by the Soolus in 1751, in their last great
attempt upon that island. Since that time the
kingdom has gradually lost its importance.

In 1776 we find, by Forrest's account, that the
Soolus were the deadly enemies of the Borneans,
these latter alleging that the former had encroached
upon their territories • which was doubtless the case,
as the people of Soolu had ceded to the English
the whole of the northern part of the island, from
the Kimanis river on the west, to the great bay on
the east, to which territory they had no other right

H2

100 DUTCH AND ENGLISH

than that of conquest. In 1774, we find one of the
terms of agreement between the Sultan of Borneo and
the government of Balambangan, — the settlement
established by the English in the previous year, —
respecting the establishment of a trading factory in
Bruni, to be, that the English should protect his
kingdom against his enemies the Soolus, on condition
of having the monopoly of the Bornean pepper.
Neither parties, it is said, fulfilled the agreement
contracted by Mr. Jesse, though the residency at
Borneo was continued for several years after the aban-
donment of Balambangan. It was finally withdrawn,
the intestine troubles of the state, and consequent
anarchy, rendering it unproductive.

Of the Javanese settlements on the west and south-
ern coast, Sucadana and Banjarmasin have been the
most considerable. The territory of the former was,
as has been previously mentioned, ceded to the Dutch
by the Sultan of Bantam in 1778. It was destroyed
by them, and the new and rival state of Pontianak,
where they established a fort and factory, was en-
couraged, but soon fell into insignificance under their
protection, and was abandoned by them after an occu-
pation of fourteen years. In 1823 they again returned
to Pontianak, and purchased the monopoly of the
diamond mines of the sultan for 50,000 dollars :
they have since retained possession of the place, though
it is not supposed to be profitable to them.

Banjarmasin, in the south of Borneo, is another
Javanese state which, on account of its exports, has

SETTLEMENTS. 101

always enjoyed consideration ; and, notwithstanding
the occupation of the Dutch, is still a place of great
trade, exporting quantities of gold, diamonds, pepper,
rattans, and dragon's blood. In 1706 the English
attempted to establish a factory at Banjar, but before
their forts were finished their haughty and insolent
behaviour brought down upon them the vengeance of
the sultan, who attacked and burnt their settlement
in the night with 3,000 men ; but as the Euro-
peans had received notice of his intention, they had
retired to their ships, which, to the number of four,
were in the harbour ; but these also were attacked by
the infuriated sultan and his injured subjects, so that
though the larger two escaped, the two smaller ones
were burnt, together with the greater part of their
crews. Soon after, the sultan, rinding the loss of
trade affected his revenues, informed the English
that a free trade might be carried on with his domi-
nions, but that he would never suffer them, nor any
other nation, to fortify themselves in his country,

In 1714 the English company, wishing to restore its
trade and factory at Banjar, sent Capt. Daniel Beeck-
man, a gentleman of great discretion and ability.
This person had an opportunity of - seeing the great
odium in which the company was held ; but by his
conciliatory conduct, and by giving the natives to
understand that the ships were in no way connected
with the company, but private traders, he succeeded in
getting cargoes of pepper, though he found it impos-
sible to get permission to re-establish the factory. In

102 MAJOR MULLER'S EXPEDITION.

1747 the Dutch succeeded in establishing a settlement,
which, as has been before stated, was continued till
1810, when it was formally abandoned by the then
Dutch governor- general, Marshal Dsendals ; it was
soon after re-occupied by the English from Java, at
the invitation of the sultan, and was, together with
the other possessions of the Dutch in the East which
the English had occupied during the Avar, delivered
over to that nation at the general peace.

Coti, the largest of the Bugis kingdoms on the
island, has been but little known to Europeans : the
inhabitants are of the same commercial disposition as
those of their countrymen in the other parts of the
Archipelago. In 1825 the Dutch sent an expedition for
the purpose of exploring the river, which is said to be
one of the largest in the island. It was commanded
by Major Muller, a gentleman who had been long
employed surveying on the western coast, but it was
unfortunate in its termination. The major and his
attendants were murdered by the Dyaks at the insti-
gation of the Bugis who accompanied him, after having
ascended the river upwards of 300 miles from its mouth.

It is said that Major Muller, on his first arrival,
had made an arrangement with the sultan, by which
the latter had agreed to permit the Dutch to settle,
and monopolize the commerce of the place, they
paying annually the sum of 80,000 guilders into
the royal treasury. When this compact became known
to the nobles, with whose interests it would have
seriously interfered, they remonstrated so strongly

MR. MURRAY KILLED. 103

with the sultan that he regretted having made the
agreement, and, to destroy all evidence of it, caused the
Dyaks to assassinate Major Muller and his party.
Since then the unfortunate death of the Honourable
Mr. Murray, in 1845, while gallantly fighting his two
ships down the river, has brought the place under the
notice of the English and protection of the Dutch,
as the sultan, fearing that Mr. Murray's death might
be revenged by the English, consented to the estab-
lishment of a Dutch residency, and a gentleman of
that nation now resides at Semerindem, the Bugis
capital. The Sultan of Coti does not appear to have
been to blame in his conduct to Mr. Murray, that
gentleman appearing to have insulted him grievously,
and by his conduct to have brought upon himself the
displeasure of the nobles and other orders in the place.

Pasir is another Bugis settlement, a little to the
south of Coti, but has never been so important. The re-
mainder of the eastern coast to the northward of Coti,
is nominally tributary to the kingdom of Soolu, the
people of which have large settlements on it ; but
there are also several wild and independent tribes.

Besides the kingdoms of the coast above enume-
rated, there are several other small settlements of more
recent formation on the south and western coasts; of
Bugis, and the Javanese Malays, who are the chiefs of
them, as of the settlements of Soolus and Magindanau.
Pirates on the northern and eastern parts of the island
frequently arrogate to themselves the title of sultan,
though their states are of little power or consideration.

104 KINGDOMS ON THE WESTERN COAST.

Sambas, on the western coast, formerly a piratical
station, but destroyed by the English, has become a
kingdom of some consideration: the Dutch established
themselves there in 1823, for the purpose of hemming
in, and thus stopping all the supplies of the refractory
Chinese gold-workers of the country situated between
the Sambas and Pontianak rivers, whom they could
not otherwise reduce : they pay the sultan an annual
sum for the monopoly of the trade, which they farm
out to the Malays at a great profit.

Prom the preceding sketch of the several — and as
they are generally called collectively and to distinguish
them from the Aborigines — the Malayan nations, it
will be seen that the principal kingdoms on the western
coast are those of Sambas and Pontianak, to the latter
of which the large settlements in the diamond and
gold districts of Landak and Sangau are nominally
tributary. On the southern coast Banjarmasin is the
most powerful, Sucadana having fallen into insignifi-
cance, and on the eastern the kingdom of Coti ; and
on the northern and north-western the state of Bruni, or
Borneo Proper, of which the principality of Sarawak is
a large and flourishing settlement.

As it is not our wish or in our power to furnish
complete histories of these kingdoms, we shall pass
on to the description of the inhabitants of the island,
in their different classes, merely premising, that what
is said of the Malays applies more particularly to the
descendants of the Javanese on the western coast,
except when it is stated expressly to the contrary ;

PROBABLE RESTORATION OF BORNEO. 105

these people being selected from the other Mahometans,
since they are those with which the English have had
the greatest communication, and whose habits they have
in consequence had the best opportunities of observing.

It is certain that none of the Mahometan kingdoms
of the island possess at present so much influence, or
such extensive territories, as during the flourishing
periods of their history, — the first and second cen-
turies after their conversion to Islamism. The power
of Pontianak, the pet settlement of the Dutch, is con-
siderable, but its sultan is a mere puppet in the hands
of that nation. Had the talented rajahs of Borneo,
who, in the beginning of last year, fell a sacrifice to
their patriotic exertions for the rescue of their country
from its fallen state, been spared, we might have hoped
to have seen it soon restored in some measure to its
ancient power and consideration; but as if Providence
had ordained that it should not be at this time
renovated, every one of the royal family possessing
the least good sense, principle, or talent, fell a sacrifice
to the cruelty of the most ignorant and brutal of
princes that ever disgraced even an eastern throne.

Some hope, however, yet remains for Borneo, from
the family of the murdered rajah, Mudah Hassim ; his
sons, though still young, showing indications of a high
order of intelligence ; and as they are residing at
Sarawak, where the European missionaries will shortly
be established, it is to be hoped that these gentlemen
will have opportunities, and be successful, in instilling
into their minds such principles as will hereafter

106 THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CAPITAL.

enable them to fill, with profit to the nation and honour
to themselves, the high station in it which they are
born to occupy. The great fear is, that should the
life of the present unprincipled and idiotic tyrant
be long continued, his maladministration, or, more
properly speaking, that of his corrupt advisers, may
reduce the country to so low a state, that to raise it
again will be impossible ; but the talents and energy
of Mr. Brooke, the governor of the new settlement at
Labuh-an, are a sufficient guarantee, that if it should be
thought advisable to continue Omar Ali in the govern-
ment, he will be surrounded by advisers who will have
at heart more than their master the interests of the
kingdom and of the heirs to the throne.

We have seen that at the visit of Pigafetta the capital
alone was estimated to contain 25,000 families : 200
years after, it was computed to be only 40,000 persons,
with a Chinese population in its neighbourhood, em-
ployed in the cultivation of pepper, amounting to
30,000 persons. At present the town may be said to
be in ruins ; the houses being no longer built of wood,
and on those strong posts described by Pigafetta, but
of atap leaves and on nibong posts, which are fre-
quently in a very tottering condition.

The present native population is not estimated to
exceed 12,000, and the Chinese have altogether
disappeared, the very few that are occasionally seen
having been reduced by the Borneans to slavery ;
thus by the dissensions of the nobles and princes has
a once powerful and flourishing state been reduced

THE SULTAN. 107

to the condition of a miserable village. Before the
abandonment of the town by the Chinese, several
large junks annually visited Borneo, and many were
built at the town, of the fine timber with which the
country abounds. These were sent to China loaded
with the produce of the island, and on being sold in
that country, realized a profit exceeding 300 per cent. ;
as timber, fit for the purposes of ship building, is very
expensive in China.

The government of Borneo appears to have been
despotic, or oligarchical, according as the power
and talent of the prince or the nobles prevailed.
The great officers of state appear usually to have
been selected from the royal family. The title
of the prince was formerly lang-de-per-tuan, which
has been translated, " The lord who rules ;" but
" the ruler" appears to be equally appropriate.
The second person in the kingdom was formerly
styled the Rajah Mudah, arid was the successor to
the throne ; but the present sultan, Omar Ali, has
never been properly invested with the supreme title of
lang-de-per-tuan, and is, consequently, only styled
sultan by courtesy — a title foreign to the court lan-
guage of Borneo.

The character of the present ruler of Borneo has been
frequently before the English public during the last few
years. He is a man of upwards of fifty years of age, of
dark complexion, and stupid features. On his right
hand he has a malformation resembling a thumb,
which stands at an angle from the true thumb. This

108 CHARACTER OP THE SULTAN:

alone, according to the laws of Borneo, would have
disqualified him for the throne ; for these provide that
no person in any way imbecile in mind, or deformed
in person, can enjoy the regal dignity, whatever title
his birth might have given him. His mind also is
weak, approaching to idiotcy; he is, nevertheless,
possessed of a wicked disposition, by encouraging
which his worthless advisers have held their sway over
him; amd by these means it was that the insolent
rebel, Pangeran Usuf, possessed his undue influence in
the councils of the kingdom. His weakness of intel-
lect, combined with the depravity of his dispo-
sition, causes him to be swayed by the advice
of the last speaker, and the worst and most wicked
counsels are sure to be the most acceptable to him.

His object being immediate gain, his covetous dis-
position eagerly seizes upon all means of supplying
his cupidity ; and it was by their knowledge of this
trait in his character that the pangerans, who insti-
gated the murder of those rajahs that insisted upon
the suppression of piracy, gained the consent of their
avaricious lord. These unprincipled men are reported
to have laid before the sultan a statement of the riches
which would accrue to him from murdering his rela-
tions ; and the weak old man is said so eagerly to have
coveted the goods of his kinsmen, that so soon as the
murder and pillage were accomplished, his agents car-
ried the plunder to the anxiously expecting sultan.

This consisted principally of the presents which had
been made to the rajahs by Mr. Brooke and the

HIS CONDUCT AND MORALITY. 109

English government through Captain C. Drinkwater
Bethune, R.N. C.B. The whole of the property for
which this man murdered eleven of his relatives could
not have exceeded the value of a few hundred dollars ;
the rajahs during their absence, while attempting to
quell the insurrection of Sarawak, having been de-
spoiled of the revenues of their estates by the sultan
and the Pafigeran Usuf, then his prime minister.

He has been happily described by a person who
saw him and knew him in Borneo, as possessing the
" head of an idiot, and the heart of a pirate." He
has frequently said, that provided he be supplied with
money, and his harem be filled with women, he does
not care who governs the country, or in what manner
it is done.

The two men who are called by the sultan his
sons, Pafigeran Hassim and his brother, are the
well-known offspring of two Bornean nakodahs, or
merchants, introduced to the harem by the sultan
himself, nature having fortunately denied this im-
becile the power of propagating his like. Neither
Pafigeran Hassim nor his brother have had at any
time thoughts of being successful in any attempts to
succeed the sultan, though it had been the declared
intention of Pafigeran Usuf, — who was driven from
Borneo by the admiral, in 1845, for having detained
slaves, and for having fired at the admiral's own ship,
and who was afterwards killed by the Pafigeran Bed-er-
ed-din, at Kimanis, — in the event of the sultan's death
to endeavour to place himself on the throne. Since

110 SARAWAK AND

the murder of the rajahs, and the attack on Borneo
in consequence, by Admiral Sir Thos. Cochrane,
last year, the sultan has been quiet, and has given
repeated assurances of protection to the two sur-
viving brothers of Bed-er-ed-din and Mudah Hassim,
if they will return from Sarawak to Bruni: in his
letters to them he has also stated, that the murder
of their relatives took place against his wish, and that
it was perpetrated by Pafigeran Hassim and the others
of the party friendly to the late Pangeran Usuf and his
piratical practices, and of consequence inimical to their
relations with the English. The sultan has moreover
promised to govern according to the councils of the
Pangeran Moulrnein, the brother-in-law of the late
Rajah Mudah, and the other nobles recommended
to him by Mr. Brooke on the part of the British
government. The country is now quiet, and the near
vicinity of our new settlement will probably keep it so;
but the intriguing and restless nature of the Borneans
will probably cause petty disturbances to be of frequent
occurrence.

The flourishing settlement of Sarawak promises
soon to eclipse in power and importance the capital
of the kingdom to which it is tributary. Through
the work of Captain Keppel, the enterprise and cha-
racter of Mr. Brooke have been laid before the public ;
and the hero of the work is now in London, receiving
the rewards and honours which a country proud of his
achievements and character are liberal in bestowing
on him. The discovery of the antimony ore, the

MR. BROOKE'S POSSESSIONS. Ill

oppression to which it gave rise, the rebellion in
consequence, its continuance and suppression, are all
related in the above work in the words of the
Rajah of Sarawak. His principality, which is situated
in the north-west corner of the island, extends from
the Tanjong Dattu on the west, to the river Samarhand
on the east, comprising an extent of coast in a straight
line of about seventy geographical miles in length :
it varies, but the average depth is between seventy and
eighty miles, being bounded on the west by Sambas, on
the south by Sangau, and on the east by Sadong and
Samarhand ; but though this country is the actual prin-
cipality and property of the rajah, his influence and
government extend over a much greater space, but
weaker, of course, in proportion to the distance at which
the respective countries are situated from his residence.
Samarhand, Sadong, and Lin gah have equal or nearly
equal reason with Sarawak to rejoice in his govern-
ment ; for, by the authority granted to him by the
rajahs of Borneo, and at the prayer of the natives
themselves, he has been enabled to correct many
abuses, and in particular to stop the kidnapping of the
Dyaks for slaves in the Sadong territory, which
formerly prevailed to as great an extent as in the
immediate territory of Sarawak. This province, not
being cursed by an indigent nobility, as is the capital,
where princes, nobles, and their slaves and followers,
form a large proportion of the population — but the
people being in a more inartificial state, and of more
simple and less intriguing natures — has been brought

112 DESCRIPTION OF SARAWAK.

by the perseverance of Mr. Brooke into the prosperous
and peaceful state it now enjoys.

The people of Sarawak (we are now speaking of the
viceroy, the Malays of the town), at the retirement of the
former Pangeran Makota, formed a population of about
2,000 souls. At present the town is supposed to contain
nearly 8,000 inhabitants ; this great and increasing
population having flocked from the misgoverned towns
along the coast to a settlement where their persons were
inviolate and their property secure. The town is situated
on the river of the same name, and was called by the
natives Kuching ; but the name of the river is now
universally employed also to designate the town. The
houses of the natives are built on each side of two
reaches of the river, and are divided into karapongs or
clusters, which are generally named after the chief or
other principal person about whose house the others
are collected ; they are also frequently named from
other circumstances, as the ' kampong bharu,' or the
new kampong, and the c kampong Pa-mutus' or the
kampong inhabited by the people who settled here
from Pa-mutus in the Batang Lupar river, on its
destruction by Captain Keppel.

The Chinese occupy a kampong on the bank of the
river, opposite to the residences of the Europeans, which
occupy hills on the left bank. The fort is a six-gun bat-
tery, commandingthe reach immediately belowthe town,
being situated ontheright-hand bank, below the Chinese
houses : it is garrisoned by twenty-five Malays under
the command of a native officer formerly in the Ceylon

\

ITS PRINCIPAL NATIVE CHIEF. 113

rifle regiment. Their business is very light, their
principal duty being to hail and report every boat
which passes the fort during the twenty-four hours :
they are armed with muskets and bayonets, and have
barracks adjoining the fort : they are each paid six
Spanish dollars per month, and found with a certain
portion of rice ; the jemadar and corporal having pro-
portionately higher pay.

The town is governed by three native chiefs called
Dattus, whose authority is derived from the rajah
for the time being ; though their office is not strictly
hereditary, the son of a chief, if he be of age, and
otherwise fitted to conduct the business of the office,
usually succeeding his father ; or, if the deceased
chieftain has not children of the requisite age, ano-
ther relation is appointed, who enjoys it for life ;
but, on his decease, it reverts to the family of his
predecessor.

The principal native chief of Sarawak is styled
Dattu Patingi Gappur ; he is a fine character, and
high in the confidence of Mr. Brooke, to whose
intercession he owes his life, forfeited to the Rajah
Mudah Hassim on account of his having been one
of the chief rebels in the Seniawan war. It was
with great difficulty that Mr. Brooke prevailed upon
the rajah to spare the lives of this and the other
chieftains, although, when they had submitted, he had
stipulated for them. The Dattu Patingi was one
of the greatest sufferers by the oppression of the
Pangeran Makota, the pafigeran having seized all his

i

114 OTHER CHIEFS.

revenues, and destroyed the Dyaks by whom he gained
his subsistence as chief.

The patingi was, during all the troubles of Sara-
wak, the friend of the Dyaks, and assisted them by
every means in his power, and for this the Dyaks
have a grateful remembrance of him, never mentioning
him but with respect. He is now a firm friend and
active supporter of Mr. Brooke's government ; and,
being a person of good ability, is of great service in
carrying out his views, and during Mr. Brooke's
absence is of the greatest assistance to Mr. Crook-
shank, the gentleman in charge of the settlement,
from his knowledge of the customs and usages of the
people.

The second chief is the Dattu Bandar, a young man
of mild, pleasing, and elegant manners, the son of that
brave chief, the Dattu Patingi Ali, who, together with
Mr. Stuart of Sarawak, perished with an advanced
party of the expedition up the Sakarran river. At
present the young Bandar does not interfere much
with the affairs of the state : though he regularly
attends the court, he always defers his opinion to
the more experienced patingi. The Bandar is very
anxious to learn English, and provided the mission-
aries do not at first interfere with his religious belief,
of which he is a strict observer and zealous advocate,
they will find this young chief of great service to them.

The chief third in rank in the Sarawak river is
the Dattu Tumungong, a hale old man, and finely
and strongly made, but heretofore of very bad cha-

MR. BROOKE'S POLICY WITH REGARD TO THEM. 115

racter, and still of very questionable loyalty. He
delights in telling stories of his adventures and nar-
row escapes from the Dyaks and Chinese in his
numerous marauding expeditious against them ; and
he would doubtless, had he the opportunity, act over
again the whole of his former achievements. On
account of his many injuries to them, the Dyaks hold
him in abhorrence, and probably nothing but the fear of
the rajah's displeasure would allow them to permit him
to return safe out of any of their countries ; but the old
man wanders about amongst them, constantly trading,
as he fortunately has no wish to interfere in the
government, and when he visits a tribe which he has
in former times severely injured, he never fails to remind
them of the different circumstances under which he
had previously seen them : during all his relations of
this nature, he laughs as if he were recounting an
excellent joke, and any successful piece of treachery
or duplicity practised on the Dyaks calls forth an
increase of his merriment.

These officers it has been Mr. Brooke's wise policy
to perpetuate in their offices, in preference to trusting
the affairs of the province to Borneans or other men
of hereditary rank. Their revenues have been duly
secured to them, and more considerable profit and
dignity is now attached to their offices than they
ever before enjoyed, or than probably ever previously
appertained to the rank of Dattu. Nor have the
chiefs alone to congratulate themselves on this better
state of things ; but the nakodahs, or merchants — who

116 THE NAKODAHS OR MERCHANTS OF SARAWAK.

are of great respectability, and though without any
definite place in the councils, are always allowed
to give an opinion — have their properties secured to
them, which were previously taken from them by their
rajahs ; and of what these, their principal oppressors,
left, their followers despoiled them.

During the residence of the Pangeran Makota at
Sarawak, and generally under the native princes, their
wives and daughters were frequently taken from the
respectable classes of the people to gratify the passions
of these tyrants. On the return of the rajahs to Bruni,
a great number of women, daughters of the chiefs and
most respectable people of Sarawak, were left behind
with their own families at Mr. Brooke's request. This
favour was obtained for the parents with difficulty from
the rajahs, who prefer the women of the Sarawak as
concubines before the women of the north, those of
the western parts of the island being more fair and
beautiful from their mixture with the Dyak races.
The nakodahs of Sarawak are now men of wealth and
traders on a large scale, some of the boats recently
built being as large as 100 tons. They sail annually to
Singapore, carrying sago and the other productions of
the coast, which they exchange for European goods,
Javanese cloths, and brass-work, and the coarse basins
and earthenware manufactured in China, and brought
down by the junks. Until within very recent times,
none of these people would have been known to possess
money sufficient to build a boat, knowing that it would
assuredly have been taken from them. Their improved

ITS INHABITANTS — THEIR EMPLOYMENTS. 117

condition is also seen in the appearance of their houses,
which, three years since, were built entirely on nibong
posts and of atap leaves ; but, finding that the Euro-
pean influence is likely to be permanent — which at first
they feared might not be the case — all the better classes
have, within the above-named period, raised houses on
posts of balean, and with wooden sides, which would
be considered palaces in the capital city of Bruni.
Roads along the town to the court-house and offices
of business have been constructed, so that the natives
can now communicate with each other by land, whereas
formerly the only method available was by water.

The other classes of the inhabitants of Sarawak com-
prise the poor people who are free, and the slaves and
slave debtors. The amba raja, or followers of the
princes, are not known here. In Sarawak the poorest
man can always without difficulty ensure to himself a
comfortable subsistence, as at present the amount of
labour is not in proportion to the demand ; but as
the Malay is averse to working for hire, and much
prefers gaining a livelihood by trading, it generally
happens that having gained a few dollars as a
servant, or labourer to the Europeans, these are laid
out in a stock of beads, salt, and brass wire, with
which he starts up the country on a trading expedition
to the Dyaks ; and though, notwithstanding the com-
petition caused by so many pursuing the same course
of life, the profits are usually very large, and no ex-
penses are incurred beyond the first purchase of the
trading stock, as the trader always expects to be fed

118 DYAK SLAVES IN BORNEO.

by the village at which he is staying, he contrives to
live easily and idly.

Another means of livelihood to which those of the
poorer classes have often recourse — at least such of
them as are not averse to a little exertion — is the
never-failing gold mines. As no tax is put upon the
produce, and no restrictions are laid upon the work-
ing of them, the extravagant, the dissipated, and the
gambler, always supply their exhausted funds, so that
Malayan labour, such as European settlers would re-
quire, would never be available, and it would, in the
event of large settlements being made, be necessary to
introduce the Malabar or Chinese labour, similar to
that employed by the proprietors of the Pinang and
Singapore estates.

Slavery in the east has always been of a more mild
and gentle character than that which in the west has
so disgusted the intelligent nations of Europe. The
slaves (ulun-ulun) in Borneo are generally Dyaks and
their descendants who have been captured by the
rulers of the country for the purposes of slavery, and
swelling the number of their immediate dependants.
During the misgovernment of the western provinces
of the kingdom of Bruni by the Arabs, Sereib Saib,
and his brother, Sereib Muller, and their relations, it
was no uncommon thing for these tyrannical chiefs,
heretofore, and in Sadong after Mr. Brooke's arrival,
to send up parties to the Dyaks to bring down all the
young girls and boys they could catch. I have been
told by Dyaks, and by dependants on the sereib, that

THEIR EA.SY CONVERSION TO ISLAMISM. 119

300 girls and boys have frequently been brought
down at one time ; such of these as the chief selected
as likely to be suitable to his purposes were reserved,
the remainder were sold to whoever would buy them,
the chief taking a considerable share, though his ser-
vants who had kidnapped the poor children generally
contrived to cheat him of a considerable portion of the
produce, to which they had perhaps as good a right
as he.

With regard to slavery, the Malays strangely dis-
regard the instructions of the Koran, which tells them
that no true believer can be retained in slavery, so that
the nations of the west are always obliged to find some
method of proving that their prisoners are not of the
orthodox faith before they keep them in slavery. The
Malays, on the contrary, rarely allow infidels who have
by any means come into their hands long to remain
in ignorance of the true faith. The first act of their
masters is to cause them all, both men and women, to
be circumcised ; nor do the Dyaks in general exhibit
the least reluctance to embrace Islamism, considering it
more as consisting in the use of the better clothes of the
Malays than as a ceremony affecting their future state,
of which, during their adoption of their new faith, they
hear very little ; but they look upon the Malays always
with respect, and consider that an appeal to the book —
as the Koran is called — is unanswerable, though it is
believed that no person residing in the town of Sarawak,
priest or layman, could translate a single chapter of it.

It follows from the listlessness they display in em-

120 THEIR TREATMENT AND

bracing the Mahometan religion that, should they by
any chance return to their tribe, they soon throw it off,
and, without the least thought on the subject, embrace
their old habits of life. This, however, rarely happens.
Those Dyaks who have long resided with the Malays,
appear to fall into their ways of life, and the women
particularly, to whom the finer clothes and less hard
work are great temptations, seldom return to their
tribes, even when opportunities are afforded them.

The slaves generally in Sarawak belong to the Dat-
tus and merchants, and are treated with great libe-
rality. Their duties consist in assisting their master,
who always works with them, in his house or boat-
building occupations, accompanying him on his trading
expeditions, assisting in the navigation of his boats, &c.
Their masters generally allot them wives from amongst
their female domestics, and in this respect, where wives
are not to be obtained without money, and where love
is seldom a cherished and pure natural affection, they
are much better off than their free but poorer neigh-
bours, who are often obliged to pledge their own per-
sons to obtain the object of their choice. Many slaves
acquire so much of the confidence of their masters as
almost to turn the scale, and become the masters of
their lords ; but amongst a people so naturally saga-
cious and clever as the Malays, this undue inflftence
less frequently occurs than amongst the more enervated
Asiatics of the continent.

When the male slaves are not wanted by their
masters, they are at liberty to hire themselves by the

PRICE IN THE MARKET. 121

day to other employers, and the proceeds are kept
by themselves. The price of a slave in Sarawak is
from thirty to sixty dollars, but as the trade is being
as gradually and quickly suppressed as possible,
without too much shocking the prejudices of the
inhabitants, they have of late become very scarce
and difficult to be bought. The slave boys purchased
by Europeans, who bring them up as servants, are
necessarily free as soon as they enter the settlement,
but are not often anxious to go away, as, being without
friends, they might be again captured and sold to some
other place, whereas with the Europeans they get, in
addition to their freedom, their clothes, food, and two
or three Spanish dollars per month pocket money.

Slave girls are frequently more harshly treated than
their husbands and brothers, the Malayan ladies whom
they serve being more commonly difficult to please than
their lords. Should a girl be so unfortunate as to be
possessed of personal attractions, so as to excite the
jealousy of her mistress, her case is, indeed, pitiable ;
but, under the circumstances, the girl has generally
redress by causing herself to be purchased by another
person, if her proofs of bad treatment are sufficiently
clear. Any slave girl having been used as a concubine
is free by the law, and she can, if she likes, accordingly
depart ; but as virtue amongst the lower classes is but
little regarded, they find it better to live at the expense
of their master, though they receive the constant
attentions of a lover equally favoured. The price
of a girl varies according to her age and other quali-

122 SLAVE DEBTORS.

fications, from thirty to 100 dollars, but at Sarawak
they are even more difficult than men to be obtained.
Slave debtors differ but little in the estimation jn
which they are held, and in their duties, from slaves,
but they have the privilege of freeing themselves if
they can raise the money to pay the debt with its
enormous accumulation of interest. Another privilege
is, that they cannot be sold or transferred but with
their own consent. No institution of the Malays has
been more abused than this system of taking the per-
sons for slaves of such as have become indebted to
them. I have seen instances where, for the trifling
amount of a very few dollars, borrowed from the pan-
geran to pay perhaps an exaction of his own, which by
the accumulation of interest, perhaps fifty per cent,
monthly, had increased to so large an amount that
whole families were obliged to submit themselves
as slave debtors to their creditor. As it is impossible
for them ever to raise the constantly increasing amount,
this state of slavery is hopeless. I need scarcely add
that this abuse of the practice of usury, as also the
state of the slaves in general, received the prompt
attention of the Rajah of Sarawak, and many are
the slaves in the settlement whom he has freed by
the sacrifice of his money.

CHAPTER V.

ARAB DESCENDANTS OF THE PROPHET THEIR IMPOSITIONS AND

SUPERSTITIONS — PIRACY ACTION OF THE NEMESIS GAMBLING

AND OPIUM SMOKING CRIMINAL TRIALS AND PUNISHMENTS

, IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF SARAWAK — MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE

EDUCATION DRESS AND APPEARANCE OF MALAY WOMEN

OIL FOR THE HAIR — A SUPERSTITION MARRIAGES PRICE OF A

WIFE RUNNING A-MUCK ARTS AND MANUFACTURES— PALACE

OF THE SULTAN MARKET OF BRUNI — MALAY FISHING — TRADERS

AT SARAWAK WARS OF THE PEOPLE THEIR WEAPONS ASSO-
CIATION WITH EUROPEANS.

THE Malays of Sarawak are all of the Mahometan
religion, and having received the faith through mis-
sionaries from Arabia, are all of the orthodox or Sunni
sect. The Princes of Borneo, and of the other Ma-
layan nations of the coasts, though professing the
religion of Islam, were always very neglectful of its
tenets, the only precept strictly observed being the
destruction and reducing to slavery of their infidel
subjects and neighbours. The Arabs, who were. at
one time numerous on the coasts, and are still so at
Pontianak, all pretending to be sereibs or seriflfs,
descendants of the Prophet, have always been held in
high consideration. They are always addressed by
the title of tuan-ku, or " your highness," and on state
days and festivals occupy a position more eminent
than that of the highest hereditary nobles. These

124 ARAB DESCENDANTS OF THE PROPHET.

priestly hypocrites, constantly interfering for the pur-
pose of promoting their own ends, caused more of the
troubles which have afflicted the Malayan kingdoms of
this island than have been produced by any other
means. On one occasion a man of rank, who ought to
have known better, informed me seriously that a cer-
tain vagabond of this class, called Mulana, who had
cajoled the rajah out of the government of the Ka-
lekka river, had only been prevented by the earnest
entreaties of Sereib Sahib from removing the island of
Pulau Barong, opposite the Sadong river, to the neigh-
bourhood of the Kalekka river. As this threat and
entreaty took place before a large assemblage of peo-
ple, it is probable that the two hypocritical Arabs had
contrived the scene to impress the vulgar with an awe
of their persons. The generality of the natives of
Pa-mutus believe, or pretend to believe, that had not
Sereib Sahib so earnestly entreated him to desist, the
Tuan Mulana, as he was called, would have ordered the
island to remove, and that it would accordingly have
stationed itself opposite Kalekka. This Mulana, who
died last May, was discovered to be an Arab, who,
having arrived poor at Pinang, was befriended by a
rich countryman, who advanced him goods to the
amount of 4,000 dollars that he might go on a trading
voyage to the Archipelago. It is useless to add that
the friendly merchant never heard again from his holy
debtor ; but having accidentally found out the place
of his residence, he sent his son to demand the debt.
It was not denied, and a box was offered to the young

THEIR IMPOSITIONS. 125

man which was said to contain jewels, &c.? to the
amount. The merchant could never recover any of
his money, the Tuan Mulana having spent it on his
numerous concubines and slaves. He was in the
habit of sending charms and jackets which were
inscribed with the verses of the Koran to the chiefs of
Sarawak as presents, of course expecting a valuable
consideration in return, but of late years the old
gentleman did not find this plan of raising money at
all productive ; and as the Rajahs of Bruni had
removed from Sarawak, he was able to draw but little
revenue from the natives of the settlement, who,
though in general they pretend to be good Musselmen,
never contribute, if they can possibly avoid it, to the
support of their religion. Until very recently the only
mosque in the town was in such a dilapidated condi-
tion that it was dangerous to enter it, and when the
inhabitants were called upon for subscriptions to raise
a new one, not a fourth of the necessary sum could be
procured by the priests.

The Klings, or natives of the Malabar coast, who
have a flourishing bazaar in the town, have recently
built a respectable mosque, being, though few in
number, very zealous for their religion. I believe
they are of the Shiah sect, which is that prevalent in
Persia, and between the advocates of which and the
orthodox sect so deadly a hatred subsists on the con-
tinent of Asia; but here, if the distinctions be un-
derstood, the hostile spirit does not exist, though the
Malays rarely worship in the same building with them.

126 MALAY SUPERSTITIONS.

That doctrine to which the Malays of Sarawak most
rigidly adhere, is the aversion in which the unclean
animal is held. The Princes of Borneo do not scruple
to drink wine when it is procurable, and I have fre-
quently seen them partake of it before the Malays,
their dependants, without the least sense of impro-
priety, or fear of their being openly seen thus to
violate the inculcations of the Koran.

From what has been stated respecting their reli-
gion, it will be easily seen that the intolerant bigotry
of the western Mahometan is entirely unknown to
these people ; and I am strongly inclined to believe
that a rigid Turk, being set down in their country,
would scarcely allow that they had a chance of safely
skating over the narrow bridge into the paradise of
the Prophet. Many superstitions are mixed with their
religious belief, such as charming out the spirits which
are supposed to possess a sick or mad person ; these,
and many others, the relics of a former idolatry, are
unknown to the purer precepts of the Koran.

Their marriages and burials are performed according
to the ceremonial ritual of the Koran, but as far as I
have been able to observe, the respect paid by most of
the Mahometans to the graves of their ancestors does
not prevail here, as their graves are neglected, and fre-
quently all traces of them taken away without the
slightest remonstrance on their parts. A little stone,
or a piece of wood which soon decays, are the most
frequent and only memorials of the persons, the sole
indications of the tenements of the dead. The modern

THE MALAY CHARACTER. 127

burial-place at Sarawak is kept in better repair,
and the graves have various attentions shown them,
being frequently planted with flowers ; of these the
pinang appears to be the most esteemed. I have
never seen the bufiga kamboja in such situations,
though it is so commonly employed for this purpose in
other Malayan countries.

The Malays, natives of the western coast of Borneo,
do not practise many of the vices for which their
nation in general has become so famous. In their
character they are a mild and quiet people, devoid of
the cunning and treachery of the natives of Sumatra,
whom the dissolute inhabitants of the capital more
nearly resemble. They are not, like the inhabitants of
the piratical states, fond of desperate adventure, and
not being possessed of a great share of physical
courage, and their tastes inclining them to follow the
more peaceful pursuits of trade, under a government
which will encourage commerce, they live happy and
contented. In capacity the Malays are probably not
inferior to any of the nations of Europe, and in their
trading expeditions, and other intercourse with
foreigners of several nations, particularly the Chinese,
their ability in managing their affairs protects them
from the frauds which are constantly attempted by
these unscrupulous traders.

In the government of Sarawak Mr. Brooke has
generally found the view of a political question
taken by the principal natives and chiefs to be the
most sound and profitable which, under the circum-
stances, could be adopted. Piracy, which is con-

128 PIRACY.

sidered in Europe to be proper to the nature of
every Malay, has never been carried on by the na-
tives of the western coast of Borneo. It is true that
formidable fleets were sent from Sambas, and that
many ships were taken at Bruni, but the chiefs of
both these towns, the inhabitants of which are by far
the most dissolute on the island, were Illanons, or at
least intimately connected with them. The son of one
of the most formidable of the chiefs who defended
Sambas against the English in 1812, is now living a
peaceable inhabitant of Sarawak : his father came with
his followers from Magindanau and settled at Sambas,
as did those to the northward which have been more
recently destroyed by Sir Thomas Cochrane.

Though the pirates were encouraged by the rulers
of the west coast, it does not appear that they have
succeeded in inducing the natives of it themselves
to go on piratical cruises. Teluk Serban, a bay inside
of Tanjong Dattu, and opposite to the islands Telang
Telang, was a station occupied during the S.W.
monsoon by the pirates of Soolu and Migandanau.
Here their principal fleet lay anchored, while small
and fast cruisers in the offing constantly communi-
cated to them the appearance of a sail : a force
deemed sufficient was immediately sent out to cap-
ture it, when, if it proved to be from a distance,
the slaves or goods were sent into the Sarawak or
Sadong rivers to the sereibs, who then governed
this part of the coast, in exchange for provisions and
other necessaries, of which their long absence from
home had exhausted their stock ; the prisoners cap-

PIRACY. 129

tured in the neighbourhood were handcuffed and
bound until their captors were ready, on the approach
of the boisterous monsoon, to return to their island
homes. Thus the whole trade of the coast was destroyed,
and it was for protection against these people that the
government of Borneo stipulated with Mr. Jesse, when
it granted to the settlement of Balambangan the mo-
nopoly of the pepper of Borneo.

Piracy does not therefore appear to have been proper
to the native inhabitants of the west coast of Borneo,
though frequently carried on from its ports ; at present
the coast is annually infested by the fleets from the Soolu
Archipelago, which, leaving their own islands, situated
on the N.E. of Borneo, about the middle of the N.E.
monsoon, sail round the island with a fair wind,
stretching across to the coasts of Java, Banca, Singa-
pore, and the peninsula, and visiting all the islands in
the way, attacking all the trading boats they meet, and
carrying their crews into slavery, frequently landing and
capturing the whole of the inhabitants of small villages.

They generally pass the western coast of Borneo
about June or July, arriving in August at the
Soolu islands laden with plunder. The number of
boats which sail from this Archipelago cannot be ac-
curately ascertained, but they must be very numerous,
as not less than six squadrons of from five to eleven
boats each, were seen to pass the Sarawak river during
the past season. A large trading boat belonging to a
native merchant of Sarawak was captured a little to
the eastward of the river; her valuable cargo being

K

130 ACTION OF THE 'NEMESIS/

taken out, she was scuttled and sunk ; the crew saved
themselves by their boats. This was in April last.
Another boat, coming from the Natunas to Sarawak
laden with oil, was chased by five boats to the small
island Satang, opposite the western entrance of the
Sarawak river, and two large boats, the property of
merchants of this town returning from Singapore in
March, sustained an action which lasted several hours,
but the boats being well armed, and containing cargoes
which rendered them worth defending, succeeded in
beating off the pirates.

The action of the ' Nemesis ' in June last is
fresh in the recollection of our readers ; of eleven
boats which were caught by that ship in the act
of piracy, chasing a small merchant-man near the
mouth of the Borneo river, five were sunk, and of the
six which escaped three only were enabled to reach
Soolu from the damages they had received. This
action, conducted by Captain Grey, of H. M.S. 'Colum-
bine,' and Captain Wallage, H.C.'s steam-ship, ' Ne-
mesis,' has been the severest lesson the pirates have ever
received at sea, of the force of European nations, and
their determination to suppress piracy : by this action
the pirates suffered very severely, and several slaves
which were bound in the boats were released. The
pirates, who deserted their sinking boats and fled into
the jungle, were captured by the parties sent against
them by the Sultan of Bruni, in his anxiety to convince
the English of the goodness of his intentions. It is
rumoured that the fine frigate lately commissioned by

GAMBLING AND OPIUM SMOKING. 131

Captain the Honourable Henry Keppel, who has pre-
viously so much distinguished himself in those seas, is
intended to act particularly against the people of
Soolu and Magindanau, though from the nature of
their strong-holds, their numbers, and the confidence
they have from having hitherto defeated all the expe-
ditions sent against them by the Spaniards, a large
additional force will be necessary to insure success.

The natives of the coast of Borneo are not addicted to
the vice of gambling, which amongst the natives of
Celebes and the Malays of the peninsula and Sumatra,
is carried to so great an excess ; it is, however, much
practised in the two capitals of Bruni and Sambas,
together with opium smoking and other kinds of
debauchery. In the town of Sarawak, gambling, except
to a trifling extent by the Chinese and other foreigners,
is unknown ; the natives of Sarawak, or those of other
coast towns which have settled there, never being
known to indulge in either of the above-named vices.
Cock-fighting is not practised, except amongst the
debauched nobles and their followers in the capital
towns, and thefts and robberies are always traced to
the natives of Sambas and Borneo. During a residence
of upwards of two years in Sarawak, no native of the
town was ever convicted of either gaming, using
opium, or stealing ; and were it not for the strangers
and traders from other towns, the magistrate of Sara-
wak would, perhaps, not have to adjudicate on half-a-
dozen cases in a year.

The government of Sarawak is carried on, in the

K2

132 CRIMINAL TRIALS AND

rajah's absence, by his deputy, Arthur Crookshank,
Esq., assisted by the three Dattus ; but, as has been
previously noticed, the Dattu Tumungong seldom at-
tends. These magistrates try, in the court-house, all
cases brought before them, in the presence, generally,
of a large assemblage of natives, who have free access
during the hours of business. The class abang-abang,
who are the merchants and respectable people, and
from whom the dattus are chosen, are permitted to
offer any proper and pertinent remark they please
after the evidence has been heard. The rajah, after
summing up the case to the chiefs, leaves them to re-
turn the verdict, which, as justice is here administered,
free from the subtleties and technicalities of law, is
generally unanimous, and according to evidence. When
it happens that a Dyak, or any of the more simple
classes of inhabitants, are brought before this court,
they always make, immediately on being called upon,
a simple and artless confession ; but the Borneans,
and people of Sambas, and the Chinese, who are much
more frequently the accused, always most stoutly deny
the charges, even in the face of the most positive evi-
dence, and sometimes those known to be the greatest
rascals will appeal to the court in the most impudent
manner, and inquire whether the people present could
conceive them capable of the actions laid to their charge.
The punishments awarded by their laws were very
severe, resembling those of the Javans, from whom
they are descended; but these have been all modi-
fied, and tortures and mutilations are now totally

PUNISHMENTS. 133

abolished. Formerly the slightest and most paltry
theft, if, during the supremacy of the native rajahs,
the culprit had no powerful friend to protect him, was
punished by the loss of his hand ; and, at the present
day, many of these mutilated objects may be seen at the
town of Bruni, where, notwithstanding thefts are of
daily occurrence, the followers and slaves of the Parig-
erans of Borneo were formerly allowed, and are still —
excepting in countries under the influence of Sarawak —
to commit any excesses, without the fear of punishment,
as followers — ' amba-raja' — of the princes and power-
ful nobles, who frequently themselves employed them
in robberies and extortions on the poorer and indus-
trious classes of the people.

Murder is, at present, the only crime in Sarawak
punishable with death ; and, during its recent history,
occasions which have called for this extreme penalty
are of very rare occurrence : for the most part the
crimes are of so light a nature, that fines and banish-
ment are considered sufficient punishments ; the
money collected from the former is spent on the ex-
tension and improvement of the roads and government
buildings, though the rarity of fineable offences prevents
this fund from ever becoming sufficient to be of any con-
siderable service to the purposes to which it is applied.

No duties or exactions are levied on any ships or boats
entering the port, all being allowed to come and go as
they please, provided only that they report their arrival
and departure to the government. The trade of the place
has increased in the same proportion as its size and

131 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS.

population, and, during the year, there are now upwards
of 120 boats of large tonnage enter the river of Sarawak
for the purposes of trade. Before the present govern-
ment was established, the trade was carried on by about
one-tenth of that number. A schooner sails monthly to
Singapore, carrying the produce of the settlement,
and it is visited frequently during the year by junks,
and other merchant vessels, from Sambas, Java, Bali,
&c. Besides the above-named trading vessels a great
number of small boats are employed in the coasting
trade, which is, as is also the foreign business,
steadily and rapidly on the increase. The exports
from Sarawak are antimony, gold, diamonds, sago,
bees'-wax, birds'-nests, tortoise-shell, sharks' fins,
vegetable tallow, dammar, rice, ebony, rattans, Malacca
canes, salt fish, and many other articles, as the valu-
able camphor, which are brought here by the coasting
vessels from the eastward. They import, salt, opium
(consumed by the Chinese), silks, cocoa-nut oil, brass
wire, and brass cooking-pots ; with Javanese handker-
chiefs, and European cloths and earthenware, and
also much of the coarser earthen manufacture of China.
The Klings have a well-stocked bazaar in the town,
and make expeditions from it to all the towns along
the coast. These people and the Chinese, who culti-
vate gardens and work the gold and antimony mines,
are always found where the Europeans residing afford
them protection. The Klings successfully compete
with the native merchants for goods of European manu-
facture, which they bring over, of a damaged descrip-

SHIPPING OF SARAWAK. 135

tion, they having been sold at Singapore at less than
their original cost. This the Klings buy from their cor-
respondents at Singapore cheaper than can the Malayan
traders who visit that settlement ; and as they are not
at the expense of sailing ships of their own, but get
their things on freight by the schooner, the Malays ge-
nerally leave this branch of the commerce to them, and
confine themselves to trading in the goods of Javanese
and Chinese manufacture, the prices of which do not
fluctuate. The Kling merchants, after living here for
two or three years, become so rich that they are soon
enabled to return to their own country, which, as they
bring no wives with them, and have no ties in the
island, they are all anxious to do.

The vessels belonging to the Malayan nakodahs
of Sarawak are sailed at an inconsiderable expense.
A person having the capital to build a boat, when
it is finished finds no difficulty in getting sailors to
navigate it; the sailors, being all merchants on a
smaller scale than the owner and captain of the vessel,
engage with the nakodah to sail with him, and assist
in navigating and keeping the ship in repair, on
condition of having a certain quantity of the ton-
nage of the vessel for their own purposes. Thus,
if a nakodah gives out that he intends to sail his
boat to Singapore, all the persons wishing to go to
Singapore apply to him, and he grants them passages,
or such of them as he has room for, on the above
conditions. Quarrels respecting amount of tonnage
allowed to each are very rare, and every thing pro-

136 MANNERS OF THE

ceeds quietly and orderly during the voyage. The
most experienced persons, under the captain, are
the juro-batu, or pilot, and the juro-mudi, or steers-
man; these act in the capacity of officers of the
prauh. As the Malays are never in a hurry, they
remain at one place as long as any trade can be
carried on, when they either sail to another port, or
return home as circumstances seem to render most
profitable. The nakodahs sometimes have wives at
each of the different places they are in the habit of
visiting annually, so that wherever they go they have
a home for their reception. Their taste for the
pursuits of trade is quite a passion, and during all
their early life they look steadily and anxiously
forward to the time when they shall be able to indulge
it with profit to themselves. It is from this principle
being so rooted in their natures, that the kings and
princes have been found, in all periods of their
history, to be the greatest merchants in their state ;
and a tomb a little below the town of Bruni is that
of one of the most powerful sultans who governed
the kingdom in its flourishing times, and who is
called by the natives by no other name than that of
nakodah Ragam, or captain merchant Ragam.

The people of Sarawak, and the west coast generally,
possess none of the disgusting and cringing servility
of the natives of continental India ; but their
manners are distinguished for their politeness and
freedom. The peasantry of Europe would lose much
by comparison on this head with the poorest of the

PEOPLE OF SARAWAK. 137

Malays, whose manners are rendered attractive by
a natural courtesy quite unknown to the lower orders
of Europeans : excepting in places where their inter-
course with foreigners has corrupted them, as in
Bruni and Sambas, an impertinent person is unknown.
Europeans visiting these countries are frequently
astonished at the elegant manners and dignified
bearing of the higher classes of Malays. The late
lamented Pangeran Bed-er-ed-din displayed an air and
carriage which would have adorned an European
prince ; and the gentlemen who had opportunities
of seeing him, delight in recounting anecdotes of the
high generosity and considerate feeling which occurred
in their intercourse with him.

From what has been said of the character of the
people of Sarawak and the west coast of Borneo
generally, with the exception of those in the imme-
diate vicinity, and under the influence of the de-
bauched natives of the capital, — it will be easily seen
how susceptible their condition is of improvement, and
with what facility they may be brought to become
useful members of society under the influence of a
good government. The reader will also notice, that
the terms of treacherous, and other equally abusive
epithets, are no more applicable to them than we may
suppose they would be to European nations in cir-
cumstances when, reduced by oppression, they could
not revenge themselves by open and honest means.
Though the natives of Sarawak are quiet, and accord-
ingly easily governed, it is not to be supposed that on

138 SCHOOLS AND STATE OF EDUCATION

this account they will long endure oppression without
complaint, or that they will allow themselves to be en-
tirely trodden down without resistance. The history of
the settlement proves the contrary, and the tyrannical
sereibs and pangerans, who formerly governed the coun-
try, now perhaps regret the measures they pursued, and
envy the prosperity of the settlement which they had
well nigh ruined by the civil wars their extortions
occasioned. At the present time, Sarawak presents
the rare prospect of a government, the people living
under which are prosperous, contented, and happy;
and when the state in which it was found by its rajah
nine years ago is considered, the English nation may
well admire the energy and enterprise of Mr. Brooke.
Many schools are established in Sarawak for the
education of the children, as the neglect of providing
instruction for those of the better classes reflects
disgrace upon the parents. The sons only are edu-
cated in these establishments, which are generally
kept by priests : their course of instruction comprises
the reading and writing of their own language, the
reading of the Koran in Arabic, and the repetitions of
the various forms of prayer enjoined by the Maho-
metan religion. The children are not supposed to
understand a single word of the book, nor could their
teachers translate it; and as it cannot be translated
into any language and remain pure, according to the
instructions of the prophet, the forms of the religion
are preserved by the oral precepts of the hadjis who
have visited the holy city. The children in the schools

IN SARAWAK. 139

are only taught to give it in reading the proper into-
nation, and to repeat its precepts in the singing, chant-
ing method supposed to be practised in the temple of
Mecca. The great use of their learning to read the Ko-
ran at all is, that by using a chapter of it they pretend
to be able to drive away the spirit which is supposed
to possess an insane person, or one in a fit. The different
periods of the progress of the sons' advancement in edu-
cational knowledge afford the parents an opportunity
of giving feasts to their relations, when the son is exa-
mined by the master in the presence of his family and
connexions, who, in consideration of the liberal and
expensive feast usually provided for them, congratulate
the father on the splendid talents of the son ; at these
entertainments the principal part of the feast consists
of rice, fish, and fowls. The rice is brought up in large
dishes, some of which contain the grain coloured, and
disposed in fanciful combinations. The dishes are
also garnished with sweet-scented flowers ; the fish
and fowls are curried with vegetables, and in the
number of different flavours given to these two articles
consists the principal secret of their cookery. They
have so many of them, some of which are, however,
only to be distinguished by the nicest palate, that I
cannot give their numbers, nor is it probable that they
themselves know. The Malayan curries, when made
by the natives, have a flavour which is frequently pre-
ferred to those made by the natives of Madras, into
the composition of which, I believe, the cocoa-nut, so
liberally employed by the Malays, does not enter.

140 FOOD OF THE MALAYS.

On occasions of great festivals, goats are killed, and
buffaloes, which are brought from the Natunas islands :
the woods also are ransacked for the different species
of deer. The Malays in general are abstemious in
their eating, and not partial to animal food. Fowls
and ducks are rarely killed by them excepting on high
occasions; of eggs, both of the fowl and the turtle, they
are very fond; the former, coloured variously, and
having flowers and other patterns upon them, formed
by the colouring matter being picked off so as to
expose the white shell of the egg, are a part of all
their entertainments. Salt fish is preferred by them
to fresh, in which state it is seldom eaten : the Malays
eat none of the animals of the jungle which are not
used by the Europeans, and are equally clean and par-
ticular in the preparation of their food. Their rice is
beautifully boiled, as is generally the case in the East,
where it forms so great a portion of the food of the
inhabitants.

The Dattu Patiiigi of Sarawak, and many other
Malays, eat no flesh whatever, declaring that the
flavour of it is coarse, and not equal to that of
fish, of which they constantly partake, and which is
caught in abundance during the fine season or south-
west monsoon, at the mouths of all their rivers.
Few of the Malays eat more frequently than twice a-
day, though those of the higher classes frequently
partake of tea out of small cups, in the manner of the
Chinese, from whom they have adopted the practice :
all classes and sexes use the sirih and betel, which they

ATTRACTIONS OF THE WOMEN. 141

are constantly chewing ; this renders their teeth black,
and spoils the appearance of their mouths : an
exciting effect is attributed to its use.

In person these people, together with those inhabit-
ing the other islands, are below the average stature of
European nations : they are, however, finely formed,
and well made in their persons, and of a strong,
robust constitution, which renders them capable of
enduring, when called upon, excessive fatigue ; their
women, at least those of the higher classes, are, as in
other countries where the profession of Islamism pre-
vails, carefully excluded from the gaze of strangers ;
some whom I have had opportunities of seeing have
astonished me by the fairness of their complexion, and
the comparative beauty of their features. They are
generally short in stature, but of the most beautifully
symmetrical figures, and their long and slender fingers,
with the small and pretty hands, wrists, feet, and ankles,
are seldom seen amongst the western fair ones in any
thing approaching such perfection. Their long black
hair, which falls on their backs in the greatest pro-
fusion, and in many cases reaches nearly to the ground,
has, if we may believe the reports of the vendors of oils
and unguents said to be used by them, been long the
envy of the ladies of the west. But, notwithstanding
these advantages of figure, and of the greatest orna-
ment of female beauty, they can never approach the
combination of perfection which constitutes loveliness in
the west ; their too flat noses, and the want of clear-
ness and brilliancy in their complexions, and of anima-

142 MALAY PASSION FOR FLOWERS.

tion in their features, are the great natural bars to
their successful rivalry ; while their totally uncultivated
minds, and the absurd practice of blacking their
teeth, to heighten, as they imagine, their beauty,
renders them disgusting to intelligent Europeans :
should the Malays themselves become more improved,
it is probable that these women, who at present are
in so ignorant and debased a state, will also rise in
the scale of civilization ; but unless they can be per-
suaded to relinquish the religion of Mahomet, it is
much to be feared that neither of these desirable results
can take place.

The women adorn their hair with beautiful and fra-
grant flowers, of which they are passionately fond. The
sweet unopened buds of the bufiga melur (Jasminum
sambac), and the bufiga gambir, both of them species of
jessamine, are the favourites for this purpose ; the buds,
being gathered in the morning, are strung in wreaths by
the girls, who afterwards weave them into their hair, also
concealing amongst the folds some flowers of the bunga
kananga (Uvaria), and of the delightful golden cham-
puka, both of which trees they cultivate for this purpose.
The strong but ravishing perfume of the flower called
sundal malam, or harlot of the night, the tuberose of
European gardens, is also esteemed by them, as is the
ganda suli, a species of Hedychium, and the Gardenia
florida, a variety of the Cape jessamine : these, with
many other flowers, are usually planted by the women,
or their slaves, near to their houses. As the Malays
of Sarawak do not make gardens, the flowers are often

DRESS OF MALAY WOMEN. 143

difficult to be procured, except by purchase, when they
are very expensive. A garden or two at Sarawak, for
the purpose of supplying the Malays with sweet-scented
and other flowers, would pay well if the Chinamen
could be induced to undertake it, and so refined a taste
amongst these people it would be well to encourage.
At present the families of the chiefs are supplied with
flowers from the bushes and trees in the garden of
their rajah, the liberty of taking which they value
highly. The Malay women are also, like their sex in
general, fond of fine clothes and jewellery, and their
extravagance is the frequent cause of unpleasantness
between them and their husbands. Their dress is
simple, and consists of the kain tape, or cloth, which
has been described as a wide sack open at both ends ;
this extends from below the breast to the ground. It
is fastened by being merely folded and tucked in ; it
is of silk or satin amongst the higher orders, and of
cotton cloth of their own, or European manufacture,
amongst the poorer classes. The jacket is the next part
of their dress ; this also is of dark-coloured satin, and
made to fit close at the neck when fastened, and with
tight sleeves for the arms ; it reaches to the waist, so
as to cover the folds of the tape : it is buttoned at the
wrist with nine large gold buttons, which extend up
each sleeve towards the elbow, and is fastened at the
neck with a large gold clasp. The front, which covers
the breast, is also adorned with a profusion of gold
plates of various shapes and patterns, so as with rich
people entirely to conceal the jacket, or badju, as it is

144 DRESS OF MALAY WOMEN.

called. The only other article of apparel is the kain
sarong. This is worn by them loosely folded round
the waist when in the house, but abroad it is opened
so as to cover the whole upper part of the person, as a
veil, being extended over the head, and supported by the
hands. It is of the same form as the cloth first de-
scribed, but when not of a rich silk of a tartan pattern,
it is made of the cloth called kain bentabur, which is
satin, with threads of gold wire forming the pattern of
it. These cloths cost about forty to fifty Spanish
dollars, SI. to 1 0/. sterling. They wear no head-dress,
and their hair, which is but loosely confined, without
the aid of combs or other contrivances, but the greater
part being doubled and passed under a few hairs
separated from the rest, hangs at the back of the head,
in a large and loose knot.

It is difficult to conceive how the women of the upper
class pass .their time confined in the harems of the great :
the apartments allotted to them are small and dark, and
each wife or concubine has a number of slaves of her
own, with whom the other wives do not interfere ; their
cookery, and all their proceedings, appear to be carried
on entirely independent of each other. The indolent,
enervated persons who now form the principal part of
the nobles of Bruni and Sambas, confine themselves to
the apartments of the women during the whole of the
day, what little business they transact being done about
ten or eleven at night, which is to them what the day
is to other people. They are fond of playing at chess,
and those of them who are industrious, as were several

IGNORANCE OF THE NOBLES OF BRUNI. 145

of the murdered pangerans, employed themselves in
the manufacture of krises, and the carving and polish-
ing of their beautiful sheaths and handles; in this
work they excelled all their subjects. The education
of the existing nobles of Bruni has been much neglected,
and the greater part of the young nobles, with the
sultan at their head, can neither read nor write ; of
such a state of things the middle classes of Sarawak
would, as has been already observed, be ashamed.

The men amongst the Malays do not, as do the
Javans, suffer their hair to become long, but have it
always cut short, and their heads very frequently shaved ;
they do not wear beards, and are naturally without them.
The greater part carefully shave off the few hairs they
have upon their faces, but some encourage to a great
length three or four straggling hairs on the upper lip,
and evidently contemplate with satisfaction this con-
temptible approach to what is generally supposed a sign
of manhood.

It may be useful to mention, that the only oil
used by the women in the cultivation of their hair
is that freshly expressed from the cocoa-nut : this
is perfumed by allowing the flowers of the various
plants, previously mentioned as being used in the
adornment of their hair, to remain for some time in it,
the fat oil of the nut extracting and retaining the
essential oil of the fragrant flowers. I have been told
by Mr. Brooke that in Macassar, and on the coasts of
Celebes, the rajahs' domestics prepare, with great care,
an oil for the use of their women which is supposed

L

OIL FOR THE HAIR. — A SUPERSTITION.

to be of a highly invigorating quality, but it is proba-
ble that the luxuriance of the hair of the women of
these countries is, in a great measure, constitutional;
although it cannot be denied that they take the
greatest possible care of it, and pride themselves on
its profusion. Should it be falling from weakness,
many superstitious practices are resorted to for the
purpose of preventing it : in these cases the fat ex-
tracted from venomous snakes and of crocodiles is
foolishly considered very efficacious ; for the feet to come
in contact with the ground during the period when
they use these, and similar remedies, is supposed to
destroy their good effects; and even when the hair is
in the finest condition, such parts of it as separate from
the head during the operations of dressing it, are care-
fully preserved, never being thrown out, or burnt,
or otherwise destroyed, as bad consequences are sup-
posed to follow such treatment of any part of it to the
remainder. Perhaps the vendor of the next oil pur-
porting to be that used by the natives of the Indian
islands may profit by the above remarks, and recom-
mend to the ladies of Europe the fat of snakes and
crocodiles instead of bears and other animals ; it may be
remarked, however, that that which the old women who
recommend its use to the young girls in Sarawak sell to
them, is seldom the fat of those animals, but usually some
vegetable oil, which is made to answer the purpose,
snakes and alligators being more difficult to obtain.

As the women here are more scarce than the men,
as in all countries where polygamy prevails, on mar-

THEIR MARRIAGES. 147

riage the bridegroom has to pay for his wife instead
of receiving a dowry with her : this does not so much
obtain amongst the higher ranks as in the middle
classes of life ; so that for a man of the class abarig-
abang to marry is a very expensive and difficult affair ;
he has, perhaps, to pay slaves, goods, and money, to
the value of several hundred dollars for a girl whom he
has never seen, and who, when he does see her, may,
perhaps, soon give him cause to repent of his bargain ;
but though, under the Mahometan law, divorces are
easily obtained, they do not often proceed to this ex-
tremity, as were the wife to be divorced without her
own consent, the husband being unable to prove
against her adultery, or any other cause of equal weight,
he would lose the whole of the money and property he
had given for her, and which it had, perhaps, been
difficult for him to collect ; so that they generally find
it convenient to agree together, — the husband con-
soling himself sometimes,but not frequently, with taking
another wife or concubine or two.

Polygamy, however, is very seldom practised by the
people of the middle class, though tolerated by law ; the
rajahs and nobles alone keeping large numbers of con-
cubines. Many of the respectable people of Sarawak
have frequently told me that one wife was quite as many
as they could govern, and that in many instances they
themselves were governed by that one. On account of
the practise above detailed of paying for their wives, it
frequently happens that free people of the poorer
classes are unable to get married, unless they sell

L 2

J48 PRICE OF A WIFE.

themselves into slavery, or become bound to serve for
their wives. In former times their services never
expired, but they are now limited, a certain reduction
being made monthly for the services of the man ; if he
has married a slave. The price paid amongst the poor
people for their wives is generally about the same as
that at which the woman would be valued if a slave.
In consequence of this scarcity and demand for women,
daughters are not, as in some other Eastern countries,
considered a burthen, but are nourished and cherished
with the same care as the sons, who are always well
treated by their parents, the Malays being passionately
fond of their children. Instances in which children are
neglected or unkindly treated are very rare, while those
in which an excess of fondness is injurious to their
offspring are of frequent occurrence : the avaricious
old Dattu Tumunggong of Sarawak is the only instance
which came under my notice of a father treating his son
unkindly. This was caused by the notice taken by the
Europeans of the youth, who is a highly respectable
trader of the town. The old man fancied that his son
envied his title, and wished to gain sufficient influence
with the Europeans to induce the rajah to supersede
him, and confer his rank upon the son, who was already,
by successful trade, quite independent of the Dattu.

The peculiar feature of the Malayan character which,
under circumstances of dejection of spirit, of fear, or of
losses, causes their madness to assume that wild and
destructive form known to the English as running
a-muck, and by the natives themselves called meng-a-

RUNNING A-MUCK. 149

muk, has yet to be spoken of. One case which
occurred during my stay at Sarawak arose from fear :
the man had, however, been previously subject to fits of
insanity. It was during a rumour of an attack on the
settlement caused by the firing of some guns early in
the morning before the inhabitants were stirring : the
person in question seized a large and heavy sword in one
hand, and a spear in the other, and rushing out of the
house, struck at indiscriminately any one he met ; nine
persons being severely wounded by him before he
reached the jungle whither he directed his course. Five
of these people died of their wounds ; the insane mur-
derer was killed afterwards by the Dyaks, in an attack
which he made on one of their villages some days after
he had first fled into the jungle ; during the interval,
he was the terror of the inhabitants, who durst not
venture into the forests about their ordinary avocations,
while they were tenanted by so dangerous a character.
Another case happened without the least appear-
ance of previous madness, but was unattended by
serious consequences, except to the deranged person ;
and other instances were fortunately prevented before
the afflicted person had been able to accomplish any
serious injuries. This peculiar form of madness, which
has been usually ascribed to the restless temperament
of the Malays acting upon diseases of the brain, is not
known to exist in other nations ; and though madness
amongst the Dyaks of Borneo is not of unfrequent
occurrence, it never takes this destructive form. What
has been previously said of the quiet and peaceful

150 MALAYAN ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

character of the people of Sarawak, would not interfere
with the solution of the causes leading to it above
referred to, as in all the cases above mentioned the
afflicted individuals were foreigners; and that first
described, and which was so much more than the
others destructive of human life, was perpetrated by an
Illanon, a native of one of the piratical states of
Magindanau. The same term meng-amuk is used
by the Malays to designate furious fighting- in battle.

In arts and manufactures the Malays of Borneo
have not surpassed their neighbours on the peninsula
and in Sumatra, and are certainly inferior to those of
Java ; in the construction of their houses they display
no skih1 or taste, and their uncouth appearance makes
them precisely resemble an English barn upon posts :
the causes of the inferiority in neatness of construc-
tion, and also in durability of the materials of which
they are built, are to be found in the insecurity of
property consequent on the uncertain and oppressive
government which has prevailed in the kingdom of
Bruni during the past forty or fifty years.

We have seen that during the visit of Pigafetta the
town of Borneo was built of wood on strong and sub-
stantial posts ; it is now constructed entirely on nibongs,
which soon decay, and is thatched with the nipah-leaves,
of which the sides also are composed : under a good
government the natives would, however, soon improve
in the construction of their houses, and the people of
Sarawak are rapidly substituting houses of large
dimensions and durable materials for the small and

HOUSES IN BORNEO. 151

inconvenient huts they previously inhabited. The
houses in all parts of Borneo are built upon posts
generally about four or five feet from the ground, but
sometimes more : the object of this originally was for
the purposes of health, and as a means of preservation
from noxious reptiles, and in some instances, hereafter
to be described, as a protection against their enemies.
The towns are always situated on the banks of rivers,
and such low places are often chosen as are overflowed
by the tide ; perhaps these spots have been fixed upon
that the water might cleanse the impurities which are
frequently allowed to accumulate beneath their resi-
dences. Borneo and Kalekka are the only two towns
which I have seen built entirely in the water, the whole
of the houses, with the exception of that of the sultan
and one or two of the nobles, being built upon posts
fixed in the mud banks of the river. That such situa-
tions should have been chosen is the more strange, as
at low water a stench, which cannot be of a healthy
nature, arises from the mud, which to an European, or
stranger not accustomed to it, is very offensive ; the
natives of the town affirm that this does not affect
their health. The river at the place where the town
is situated is very wide, and receives the waters of the
Sungie Kadyan, a tributary stream; the main river
forms the principal street of the town, and on it are
situated the large houses of the nobles and princes.
The houses are disposed with more regularity than in
most Malayan towns, being intersected by water-lanes
at right angles from the main water-street, so that the

152 PALACE OF THE SULTAN OF BRUNI.

whole town is divided into a number of solid squares
of houses, each of which communicates with one of the
streets of the town. The palace of the sultan is a
large building of wood, situated on the neck of land
formed by the Kadyan river, and a few hundred feet
from its mouth : it is surrounded by a high pagar of
split and flattened bamboo, neatly plaited into a close
fence, so that nothing can be seen from the outside ;
strangers are never admitted into the interior. Every
thing about the palace had a much neater and cleaner
appearance than the other parts of the town (May,
1845), and the landing-place to it was defended by
six small brass guns on handsomely carved carriages ;
both the general audience- hall and the private recep-
tion-room were situated outside the enclosure of the
palace. On the low point of land, which was not
occupied by the buildings of the sultan's residence,
were lying several fine large brass guns without
carriages, some of them fifty-six pounders, which had
been cast in Borneo in earlier times, others were said
to have been presented by the Kings of Spain to former
Sultans of Bruni ; the whole of these guns have been
captured by the British since this account of Borneo
was written. The palaces of the rajahs, which are
ungainly looking, but very large wooden buildings, are
the only ones of this construction, and most of these
are in a dilapidated condition ; their mosques, of which
there are several in the town, are in an equally ruinous
state.

The public market in Bruni presented an unique

PUBLIC MARKET OF BRUNI. 153

and interestingly novel appearance, being held upon the
water by the women, who arrive every morning from
the country with fruit, vegetables, and other articles
for sale ; the vendors are generally two or three in
each boat, every one of them provided with a large
hat made of palm-leaves, and of an umbrella shape,
which serves to protect the whole person from either
the sun or rain. They each have also a paddle, with
which they manage their little canoes — which are almost
level with the water's edge — with the greatest dex-
terity. Early in the morning the market boats
assemble ; first about the middle of the town ; but
floating up quietly with the sluggish tide, or down, if the
water be ebbing ; during the day, it is seen moving
slowly in and out of the different streets with an
occasional purchaser, who is making a bargain with a
market woman separated from the rest, in the eager-
ness of trade having forgotten to direct her little boat
in the same course as the others, but, the purchase
completed, she soon joins the remainder, and is lost in
the crowd. This fleet of market boats numbers gene-
rally from 150 to 200, and the whole business trans-
acted in them is conducted by women. It has
generally entirely dispersed by noon.

Houses built of stone are never seen in Borneo, but
traces of images arid Hindu sculpture, hereafter to be de-
scribed, prove that during the prevalence of the Hindu-
Javan power in the island, stone-work was known, though
perhaps never practised by the natives of the country, the
few images to be found having, perhaps, been brought

154 MALAY BOAT-BUILDING.

from Java. Even in working in wood, though not un-
skilful, the Malays have very bad and inadequate tools.
Their planks for house- building they generally purchase
of the Chinese carpenters and sawyers at Sarawak, as
they themselves do not use the large saw for cutting
up timber, their boat-planks being formed with great
labour and waste of wood with the bileong, a small
kind of adze, which is the only cutting instrument
employed also in making their fine posts of balean and
other hard woods. They are, from their great prac-
tice, very dexterous with this instrument, and the sur-
face of the posts formed by them is as smooth as if the
plane had been used to them, and the square form is as
well preserved as if they had been cut out by the saw.

In boat-building they have attained much greater
perfection than in other carpenters' work, and
in this art they have lately very much improved, and
endeavour as much as possible to imitate the strength
and durability of English ships in the construction of
their large boats. Thus they now copy the ships of
Europe; and all the boats of Sarawak have sails of light
canvass, and cordage of excellent quality, instead of the
clumsy mats and inelegant rattans formerly in use.

The people of Sarawak and of the west coast of
Borneo, and indeed of the island generally, are far
behind the natives of Celebes and Java in the manu-
facture of cloths. They grow no cotton, and the cloths
they make are from cotton thread which they annually
import from Singapore. They have no variety of
patterns, all their cloths being variations of a red

MANUFACTURE OF CLOTH. 155

tartan. The sarongs, or cloths worn round the waists
of the men, and into which the kris is frequently
stuck, manufactured on the coast, are, however, much
preferred to any cloths the produce of Europe, or of
Celebes or Java, on account of their great durability.
The sarongs from Celebes, which, next to their own, are
most esteemed, sell in the bazaar for two dollars each ;
the coarsest of those of the town sell for three, and the
finest and those brought from Kalekka for four or
five dollars. A much finer and dark-coloured kind,
the produce of the looms of Soolu and Magindanau,
are very highly esteemed. They cost on the west
coast from eight to twenty dollars, and are rarely to be
purchased ; at Bruni, where they are more commonly
used by the people of rank, their price is very little
lower, though the supply is greater and more regular.
It is curious that the price of these cotton cloths
should be more than that of silk of the same size, the
produce of other countries where the art of weaving is
in greater perfection. All the fabrication of cloths is
carried on by the females, and a slave who is clever
at this branch of industry is proportionately valued.
Though silks are much worn by the women, they do
not attempt themselves to manufacture them ; they
are all brought from Singapore, and those manufac-
tured at the Anambas islands, particularly at Siantan,
are generally used. They are of the same patterns as
the other Malayan cloths, and cost in Sarawak about
three to four Spanish dollars, or 12s. 6d. to IQs. 8d.
sterling. Those brought from Palembang and Tring-

156 MANUFACTURE OF MATS.

ganu are of stronger quality and thicker texture, and
of course are higher in price, sometimes reaching ten
Spanish dollars.

The satins and silks of other patterns used are
the manufacture of China. The kain benang mas
and kain bentabur, or cloth of gold thread, are
brought from Singapore, and are principally the manu-
facture of Sumatra. Most of the women practise
embroidery with gold arid silver thread, to adorn the
ends of their square pillows or the corners of their
beautiful mats of open work, which are brought from
the Natunas islands ; but though this accomplishment
occupies much of their time, they have not attained to
any great perfection in it. Were they instructed in the
art from Manilla or China, they would, as they have a
natural taste for the employment, soon excel in it.

The mats mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
though not produced on the island itself, are strictly to
be counted amongst its manufactures, as the Natunas,
where they are made, though not politically, are geo-
graphically a portion of it. I have not had opportu-
nities of seeing this manufacture carried on, but under-
stand that it occupies the time of the women of Sir-
hassen, as the produce of the silk cloths does those of
Siantan. The mats are made of a beautifully soft and
white rush, the larger ones having a broad border of
open work of pretty patterns round the edges, and
which is larger as the mats decrease in size, they being
always made in sets, until the smallest one, which lies
above, is formed entirely of the open work, through

or GOLD. 157

which the under mats are seen ; but in fine and larger
sets two or three of the upper ones are generally
similar to the small ones above described : they are
very expensive in Sarawak, but this is on account of
their rarity, and I presume that a fine set in the
islands would not be very costly. This manufac-
ture seems to be carried on in no other part of the
Archipelago, and the produce of these islands is gene-
rally seized by the Rajah of Lingin, in the Straits of
Rhio, who, on the ground of his unjust title to the
kingdom of Johore, claims the sovereignty of these
islands. They export to Sarawak numbers of mats
made of the same material as those above described,
but without the open work ; these are sold for about
one rupee each.

It would have been reasonable to suppose that
where gold is so plentiful and so highly valued, and
much used as an ornament, that the natives themselves
would have been at least as clever in the manufacture
of it as the Sumatrans and Javanese, but it does not
seem that they have ever even attempted themselves
to form it into ornaments, but trust entirely to foreign
nations for their supply of artisans in the precious
metals. Some of the Borneans were workers in gold,
but their masterpieces were of the coarsest description,
seldom exceeding in beauty the productions of the
Sea Dyaks. The Javanese carry on this profitable
trade at Sarawak, but these do not equal the gold-
smiths of Sumatra, and are ignorant of the manufac-
ture of the beautiful filligree work of that island, so
much valued in former times in England. The orna-

158 IRON AND BRASS

ments, for which purpose alone the gold is used,
are the pieces or thin plates for the jackets of the
women ; these are of various forms, according to the
taste of the wearers ; the patterns are stamped upon
them from the inside ; they are worn, by such as can
afford it, in three rows of nine plates each upon the
breast, and two rows of smaller plates of the same
number, in the shape of stars, are frequent in addition
to the others. About three bengkals (five ounces) of
pure gold would be necessary to make the ornaments
for the jacket of a dattu's daughter ; besides these the
ear ornaments and buttons for the wrists, with brace-
lets for the. younger girls, consume a great quantity.
The ear ornaments are small and neat ; they are not
pendant, but generally of the shape of an eight-rayed
star ; they fasten by a nut which screws into the
tube passing through the lobe of the ear, instead of a
ring. To all their gold they give the high rich colour
so much admired amongst the Sumatran nations :
this is termed sapoh, and is performed by a powder
made of nitre, common salt, and alum, which is laid
on the gold, being kept over a slow fire until it dis-
colours, and becomes yellow or red, according to the
time it remains in this situation, and the intensity of
colour the gold is wished to retain.

Blacksmiths are more common among the natives
than any other workers in metals. The iron they use
is all purchased from Singapore, the ore of the country
not being smelted, though I have been told that the
Chinese once smelted the ore of a richer quality in the
neighbourhood of Tanjong Dattu. The bellows used

MANUFACTURE. 159

by the blacksmiths are formed of two wooden or
bamboo cylinders, with pipes leading from the bottom
of them into the fire ; the wind is forced through these
pipes by two stout sticks, to which are attached large
bunches of feathers. These are worked, alternately,
by a boy seated high enough for the purpose, and
throw a strong and constant stream of wind into the
fire. Their fuel is charcoal ; — even where coal is found
the natives never use it. The skill of the blacksmiths,
which is considerable, is principally exhibited in
making their instruments of carpenters' work and
weapons, and a person skilful in the manufacture of
the kris and spear can always obtain abundance of
employment. The adze and axe of their own manu-
facture are preferred to those sent from. England,
which are frequently of a very inferior quality. None
of the smiths have attained sufficient skill to be able
to make a musket, though these, and large guns, have
been made in former times in the capital. The Bugis
people of Celebes prefer their own clumsy rifles, which
are fitted with locks from Singapore, to the finer ones
from Europe. These people practise rifle shooting
much, and have generally been found in Singapore equal
to Europeans who supposed themselves skilful in
shooting at a mark at long distances.

Brass, though the manufacture of it was formerly
extensively practised in Borneo, is now only worked,
and to a very small extent, by a few artisans from
Java. They make dishes, cooking-pots, and other
utensils of it, but not in nearly sufficient quantities to
supply the demand for these articles, large quantities

160 MALAY FISHING.

being annually imported from Java. Copper is not
used, but being mixed with gold, forms a beautiful
compound metal, much valued by the Borneans for
ornamenting the handles of their long krises.

In their apparatus for the capture of fish, they have
attained greater perfection than in any of the mecha-
nical arts, and the contrivances for the capture of this
favourite article of food are very numerous. The prin-
cipal are the inclosures of stakes, drag-nets, casting-
nets, traps, placed so as to swing to each tide ; and
with hook and line : prawns, shrimps, and small fish
are taken with hand-nets in the fine season. The
quantity of fish taken by these various contrivances
is enormous. They are salted and dried, as has been
before stated, and sent into the interior parts of the
country. The river fish in general are not so much
esteemed as those taken at sea, though they also are
frequently caught, principally by means of hooks and
lines attached to the light wood called plye, already
described. Pieces of the wood, cut into the shape of
birds, may frequently be seen floating down with the
tide, to each of which is attached at the neck a strong
line supporting a baited hook. The proprietor is gene-
rally not far off, and, on the float bobbing under
water, soon seizes it, and captures the fish which has
taken the hook, but though large, cannot keep the
light float under water. A fine fish called by the
natives 'ikan malang/ is the one most frequently caught
in this manner.

The Malays of Sarawak seldom apply themselves to
gardening or agriculture, trusting entirely for their

TRADERS AT SARAWAK. 161

supplies of rice and fruits to the industrious Dyaks of
the interior, and to the Chinese gardens in the town
for the vegetables they require. Some of the chiefs
and principal persons who have slaves about them
from agricultural countries, generally employ them in
making and taking care of farms and gardens at a
distance from the town, to which they regularly bring
the produce to their masters. Many of the traders
have latterly expressed a desire to become planters,
and it is probable that young and profitable planta-
tions of the cocoa-nut, betel-nut, and fruit trees, will
soon become common ; at present they import the
whole of the quantities now so largely consumed of
these two former useful articles, and it is to be feared
that the ease with which large profits are gained in
trade, and in working the gold mines, will for a long
time prevent any considerable progress in agriculture,
and until competition shall have reduced the one to
its proper standard, and taxes restrict the working
of the other, we cannot expect to see any great
improvement in the cultivation of the land, or in the
mechanical arts, though perhaps the instructions of
missionaries may assist in diffusing a desire to becbme
greater proficients in these branches of industry
amongst them.

In war, as far as the English have had opportunities
of observing their behaviour, the people of Sarawak
have not been found deficient in courage, though they
seldom show that carelessness of life which makes other
tribes altogether regardless of danger; the feats

M

162 WARS OF THE SARAWAK PEOPLE.

of courage displayed by the late Patingi All, who
accompanied the forces under Captain Keppel against
the pirates of Sakarran, were of such distinguished
fearlessness as to call forth the voluntary acclamations
of the Europeans engaged. The wars of Sarawak are
like those of most nations in a similar state of civiliza-
tion, long, protracted, but very bloodless, and the
account of the manner of conducting the operations
against the rebels of Sarawak, detailed in Mr. Brooke's
Journal, published in Keppel's book, is the narrative
of all their bloodless campaigns. The present forces
of Sarawak comprise all the male inhabitants capable
of bearing arms, who are obliged to attend their chiefs
on any expeditions which they may have decided as
necessary for the good of the state, government sup-
plying them with food during their continuance.
There are now belonging to Sarawak, and which are
kept constantly ready for service, eight large war-boats,
which can each carry sixty men, and one six-pounder
gun ; most of them carry in addition to this two
lelahs, or long brass swivel guns, and small arms in
proportion, the whole of which, with the ammunition,
are provided by the government. The weapons in
use amongst the natives are principally spears and
swords, the kris being not here so much in repute as
amongst the people of the north, whose krises are much
larger and more serviceable weapons than those used
by the Javaiis and Malays in the western part of the
Archipelago : the blades are also without the damasked
appearance which renders them valuable amongst

THEIR WEAPONS. 163

these latter people ; the steel is better tempered, and
being heavy and two-edged, they are used to cut as
well as thrust. Bucklers made of a round form, small,
and of rattans firmly plaited, which are serviceable to
resist the stroke of a sword or the thrust of a spear,
are in general use among them. The bow and arrow,
if they ever used these weapons, have now entirely given
way to the musket, which is in such general repute
among the nations of the Archipelago as to be an
article of greater traffic that almost any other com-
modity of European manufacture. It is by the dread
the natives of the interior have of fire-arms that the
Malays are suffered to occupy the coasts, and thus
tyrannize over the people of the interior. The Dyaks
of Sakarran and Sarebas have often told me, that were
it not for the noise of two or three old muskets which
they possess, they should never be able to stand
against the Kyans, whom they own to be a more
brave and dangerous enemy than any of the others
they have to encounter.

At the marriages and other festivals, music is in
high repute, but generally of the coarsest and most
noisy description. Until the recent introduction of
some of the Javanese musical instruments, those of
the Sarawak people consisted only of the gongs of
different descriptions, and the tom-toms, or drums,
similar to those used by the natives of India. At
these feasts dancing girls are never introduced, they
not being known in the settlement, except to such as
have seen them in Pontianak, Singapore, or Java.

M 2

164 ASSOCIATION WITH EUROPEANS.

In conversation I have learned from the chiefs that
they consider dancing as an indecorous and unbecoming
amusement. Singing and recounting romances are
practised at all their festivities, and of these amuse-
ments they are very fond. The practice of the religion
of the Prophet restrains the Sarawak people from
drinking; but to all kinds of boisterous mirth they
are naturally averse. They are not, however, averse to
society, and are fond of associating with the Euro-
peans ; many of them used nightly to visit Mr.
Brooke's house, where chairs were placed for the
principal personages : they entered readily and sen-
sibly into all conversations on subjects which were
familiar to them, and always evinced a strong desire
to be informed on such points as they were ignorant of,
never, like the conceited Chinese, pretending to despise
what they did not comprehend. The extent and im-
portance of the English nation was a subject on which
they perpetually were asking questions. The variety
of our manufactures, and the application of steam-
power to machinery, were subjects on which they
exhausted us of information. There is no doubt that,
should nothing interfere to prevent the carrying
out the measures of the present ruler of Sarawak,
it will ere long become a state of the greatest com-
mercial importance : the facilities which the character
of the people, and the richness of its productions, offer
for the profitable employment of British capital and
skill, will doubtless soon be made available in develop-
ing its valuable resources.

CHAPTER VI.

SEA-DYAKS — TRIBES OF LUNDU, SAKAREAN, AND SAREBAS — DYAK

HOUSES LANGUAGE, RELIGION, AND SUPERSTITIONS THE MANANG,

OR VILLAGE DOCTOR— DRESS OF DYAKS AND OF THEIR WOMEN —

SEVERAL OF THEIR CHIEFS ANECDOTE OF ONE — HEAD-TAKING

GRATITUDE TO MR. BROOKE — PIRACY OF SEA-DYAKS — ITS SUPPRES-
SION—DYAK LAXITY OF MANNERS THEIR LOVE OF THEIR CHIL-
DREN DUTIES AND LABOURS OF THE MEN AND WOMEN — CAPTIVE

DYAK CHILDREN COOKERY OF THE DYAKS — THEIR FUNERALS, AND

FUNERAL CEREMONIES.

IN pursuance of the plan it is our intention to
follow in describing the inhabitants of the island in
the order in which they are best known to us, which
will nearly correspond also with their relative political
importance, the Dyaks next present themselves to our
notice, sufficient we trust having been said to give the
reader a general idea of the Malays of the coast
of Borneo, and to leave on his mind a more favourable
impression of the character of some of them than the
nation generally has hitherto enjoyed.

The Dyaks appear to be divided by many customs and
usages naturally into two classes, which have been called
by Mr. Brooke, Land and Sea Dyaks ; the latter appear
to have been the more savage and powerful, the former
the more quiet and easily managed. Amongst the sea
Dyaks the practice of preserving the heads of their
enemies, anciently instituted that they might be kept

166 SEA DYAKS. HEAD-HUNTING.

as memorials of triumph, has degenerated, from its
originally sufficiently barbarous intention, into a passion
for the possession of these horrid trophies, no matter
how obtained. Amongst the land Dyaks the custom
still remains as it was probably at first instituted,
and no wish for the possession of a head would tempt
these people to take one unless it were that of their
enemy with whom they were avowedly at war. These
land Dyaks differ more decidedly in other particulars
from those who frequent the sea, all of which shall be
related in the chapter upon their customs and manners.
The sea Dyaks, or such as are in the constant habit
of frequenting the ocean for the purposes of carrying
off the heads of fishermen, or any other persons whom
they may find in a situation not capable of defence,
inhabit principally the countries lying in the interior
of the great rivers Sarebas and Sakarran, with their
numerous and large branches. Settlements of them,
which, however, appear to differ in some measure, are
also found on the Kenawit and the neighbouring
branches of the river Rejang, and one tribe also be-
longing to this division has its chief settlement at
Lundup, pronounced Lundoo in the Sarawak territory.
As it is from this tribe that the following remarks are
principally drawn, except where it is expressly stated to
the contrary, I think it right to give the reader a just
idea of its geographical position. This tribe, the name
of which is Sebooyoh, misprinted Sibnowan in Captain
Keppel's book, came originally from the country

THE SEBOOYOH TRIBE. 167

situated about the sources of the western branch of
the Batang Lupar river, in the direction of the lake
Danau Malayu and the Pontianak river. They were
expelled from thence by their enemies, and descending
the Batang Lupar, established their villages on a small
river named Sebooyoh, from which they are now
designated. This river is situated a little to the west-
ward of the mouth of the Batang Lupar, between it
and the Sadong rivers. From this they carried on
war with their old enemies of Sakarran with various
success, but were finally compelled, about ten years
before the new era of Sarawak, again to decamp
farther westward, when they divided into three tribes,
and settled in the villages they now occupy. That
portion which followed the chief orang kaya of the
tribe, and whose family has for many generations pro-
duced its chief, settled at Lundu, which has now
become a beautiful fortified village, and from which
the gallant old chief has frequently made successful
expeditions against his hereditary enemies.

The river of Lundu is situated to the westward of the
Santu-bong, or western entrance to the river of Sara-
wak : this river, which is not large, has its rise in the
Sarawak territory and country occupied by the land
Dyaks of Singhie. Another large village of the Se-
booyoh Dyaks is established on a creek of the Sarawak
river about a mile below the Malayan town ; the creek
is called Pedungan, and the Dyaks are often desig-
nated as orang or Dyak Pedungan — the men or

168 THE DYAKS OF LUNDU,

Dyaks of Pedungan. The village established here is
well built, and contains about sixty families ; it is not
fortified in any way, though the Dyaks possess some
small brass guns. The other divisions of the tribe,
which are equally under the protection of the govern-
ment of Sarawak, have villages on the Samarhand and
Sadong rivers, but many little clusters of houses are to
be found scattered about in the country near the mouths
of the above-named streams, nominally belonging- to
the tribe, though not residing at any of the principal
villages. The Dyaks of Lundu have been a pet tribe
of Mr. Brooke's, on account of the heroic gallantry
displayed by them and their chief on many occasions
of difficulty and danger. The conduct of the orang
kaya, and his assistance to Mr. Brooke in the Seni-
awan war, are fully detailed in the Hon. Captain
Keppel's work, whom they also accompanied in his
expeditions against Sakarrau and Sarebas, which are
their favourite places of attack, they being always
anxious to revenge themselves on these people, who
have caused them so much loss and trouble during
their residence in their former villages.

The country occupied by the sea Dyaks on the great
rivers is generally flat towards the sea, but more un-
dulating in the interior. It is covered in many parts
with dense forests, and the soil is rich and productive,
so that, when peaceably disposed, they are large ex-
porters of rice, and all kinds of fruits are abundant
and very cheap in their districts. As far as is yet

AND THE SAKARRAN AND SAREBAS TRIBES. 169

known of the products, gold is not one of them, nor
have I seen specimens of any other metals which have
been extracted from their soil. Small paths intersect
the forests between the villages of all the Sakarran and
Sarebas tribes, so that a constant communication is
easily kept up, and as their practices and interests are
identical, the good understanding which has long
existed between these powerful tribes of savages is
likely to be maintained, as they probably very well
know that a quarrel between them would only end in
the ruin of both, their enemies being so numerous, and
anxious to revenge upon them the many injuries they
have sustained at their hands.

Though the Dyaks generally build their villages near
the river for the convenience of launching their boats,
there are many of them situated so high towards the
sources of the streams as to be unnavigable from the
rapids; £he people inhabiting such join the boats belong-
ing to-'some village situated lower down, and are thus
ei'iibled to participate in their piratical practices. The
villages of the sea Dyaks are formed upon one plan,
the houses being, if the tribe be small — that is to say, of
about sixty families — all collected under one roof. Each
house has its separate door, which opens into a broad
verandah covered in by a continuation of the pitch of
the roof, and which answers all the purposes of a
street, being floored with laths of bamboo or nibong,
and on a level with the flooring of the houses. One

o

terrace of such buildings is often 500 or 600 feet

170 DYAK HOUSES.

in length, and the houses being built on very strong
posts with wooden sides, and covered with atap,
they present frequently a neater and more comfort-
able appearance than the frequently ruinous houses
of the Malays. Besides the door opening into the
verandah, they have on each side of their dwellings,
which consist only of one room, a door communicating
with the residence of the next family, so that, if it were
an advantage, a person could traverse the whole length
of the terrace without appearing on the verandah at
all. The windows of their houses are part of the roof,
which, in the construction of the house, has been sepa-
rated for that purpose ; it is raised and supported
open by a notched bamboo or other stick, and when
shut is un distinguishable from the rest of the roof.
The ataps composing the thatch are not each tied to
the rafters, but being bound into large sheets are
secured only in a few places, so that in case of fire, by
the few fastenings being cut, they are easily slid from
the steep sloping roof, and prevented from adding fuel
to the, without them, too inflammable dwellings.

The large covered shed or verandah above described
is the place where all the in-door occupations of the
men and women are carried on, and when not engaged
in out-door occupations, they may be all seen here
together pursuing their varied avocations ; the men in
preparing weapons of the chase or war, or instruments
of agriculture, the women in cleaning rice from the
husk, making mats, baskets, &c. As the inhabitants

DYAK HOUSES. 171

of the different villages combine to repair or rebuild
them all at the same time, their houses and terraces
have always an uniform appearance, and are all of the
same size. In the interior arrangements of their
houses the fire-places, of which there are two, are
placed on each side of the principal entrance; each
is formed of a kind of shallow box, or framework, of
strong pieces of wood filled with clay; this is sup-
ported on strong wooden posts reaching through the
flooring to the ground, and extending to the top of
the house. On the clay are four or five stones
of a convenient size, which serve for sustaining the
cooking pot over the fire, which is placed in the space
left between them, and is always of wood, a large
supply of which, split and ready, is always kept dry on
another framework above the fire-place, and supported
by the same posts. This it is the duty of the women
constantly to replenish from the trees which have
been felled in clearing the ground, and which are
strewed abundantly all over their farms. As the roofs
are high in the centre, and slope at a sharp angle,
much room in the top of the house is rendered avail-
able by the Dyaks, who erect another flooring over
the one they constantly use; thus they have a large
and useful loft where they stow their baskets, mats,
and implements of agriculture during the season they
are not in use. As may be supposed, people in their
state of barbarity have little need of furniture, which
for the most part is used to administer to the purposes

172 DYAK MODE OF EATING.

of luxury. The Dyaks eat their food from the ground
for a table ; each having taken a portion of rice
which he considers sufficient for him, this, if he be not
provided with a plate, which many of them are, is
placed upon a clean leaf of the Dillenia speciosa, and
he dips his hand into the common stock of salt which
is placed in the centre of the group. If they have
flesh to their repast it is partaken of in a similar man-
ner to the salt. They never drink during their meal,
but on rising wash their hands and mouths, and after-
wards take a draught of water from the bamboos,
which are always kept full near the fire-place. Though
they eat from the ground or floor of their houses, they
rarely sit cross-legged upon it like the Malays, but
have each a small block of wood about three inches in
thickness, which they use as a seat by day and a
pillow by night.

Around the walls of the apartment hang the
gongs and other musical instruments, and such por-
tions of their dress as they do not happen to be
using, together with their spears, shields, and instru-
ments of war. One side of the house always contains
a rack, in which are placed the naked swords of the
family, the sheaths hanging by their side. The doors
of their houses are protected on the inside by a bar,
but as pilfering is rare amongst these people, it is
perhaps more to prevent intrusion when they wish for
privacy, than as a protection against robbers. This is
rendered evident by the doors, which cannot be fas-

LANGUAGE OF SEA DYAKS. 173

tened on the outside, being closed when they are at
their farms by the mortar in which their rice is
cleaned, and which always stands outside the door in
the verandah, or some other heavy piece of wood
being merely placed against it. The whole of their
buildings, though of so substantial and good appear-
ance, are formed and fastened together without the
assistance of nails, their place being supplied by rat-
tans and other cordage.

The language of the sea Dyaks, though altogether
different in such parts as having not been adopted
from the Malay, is merely a less refined dialect of the
language spoken over all Polynesia, and its connexion
with that of the other wild tribes, particularly those of
Sumatra, is easily to be traced. It is not nearly so
melodious in sound, or so copious in its extent, as the
Malay, though the Dyaks do not scruple to extend it
by adding foreign words whenever they find it neces-
sary, so that a great portion of the words of their
vocabulary are from the Malay : the intercourse, which
has been generally friendly, between the two nations
has also encouraged this adoption of foreign terms.
Specimens of their language are given in the work of
Captain Keppel, from the vocabularies of Mr. Brooke,
and as I can vouch for their correctness, it is not
necessary to repeat them here. The different tribes
into which the sea division of the Dyaks is again sepa-
rated have each dialects, which differ in a trifling
measure from that generally spoken, but as far as I

174 RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS.

have been able to learn, not nearly so much so as
amongst the land Dyaks, and never so much but that
the tribes belonging to this division, situated most
distant from each other, are prevented from the most
free communication. This greater similarity of dialect
amongst these many villages, than prevails amongst
the land tribes, may easily be accounted for, by the
greater friendship and intercourse which has subsisted
perhaps from the time of their separating from each
other : as far as is known, at no period of their history
were they ever at war with each other, but were always
the foes of the Kyans and land Dyaks in their vicinity ;
the land tribes, on the contrary, appear always to have
been at war with all the tribes in their neighbourhood,
which, though perhaps they did not cause the yearly
average of a single death, effectually prevented all
friendly communication.

The religious observances of these people are very
little known, but in their state of civilization it cannot
be supposed to extend beyond a few superstitions
and belief in spirits of woods and mountains ; their
chief deity is called Batara, a pure Sanscrit term for
God, but this appears to be the only relic left them
of their former intercourse with the Javan Hindus,
who seem never to have possessed so much influence
over the sea Dyaks as over the land tribes, none of
the peculiar Hindu customs of these latter obtaining
among them. The doctor and priest of the village,
who is termed manang, is a very curious and mys-

DOCTOR AND PRIEST OF A DYAK VILLAGE. 175

terious character, and I have not been able to learn
that a similar functionary exists amongst the wild
tribes of the other islands, but as far as my inquiries
in Borneo are concerned, the curious practice of priest-
craft which follows is peculiar to the sea Dyak tribes.
The manang is a person of great consequence in the
village, all diseases being brought to him for cure ; to
perform this, if the disease be internal, he calls together
all the friends of the sick person, and by making, with
the assistance of others playing on gongs and tom-
toms, a deafening noise, sufficient to kill a person
in ordinary health. He pretends to converse with the
spirit which troubles the afflicted person. This method
of treating diseases is not very conducive to the restor-
ation of health, but if the strength of the person is
sufficient to bear him through, it is well; but should he
die, no blame is attached to the manang, but it all
devolves upon the malignant spirit, who is certainly
not so black as, on these occasions, he is painted.

I have not been able to hear correctly whether the
pamali, or the taboo, hereafter to be described, is
practised on these occasions, but as it is an institution
anterior to the introduction of the Hindu religion on the
west coast, I should suppose it here to be practised
with the same rigour as amongst the land tribes.

But to return to the dress and habits of life of the
manang. He is generally old, and rich from the many
presents and payments made to him by those who
require his services : his dress precisely resembles

176 THE MANANG, OR VILLAGE DOCTOR.

that of a woman, wearing no chawat, or waistcloth,
as the men, but the bedang, or short dress of the
other sex, hereafter to be described, together with the
appropriate ornaments. Not satisfied with the assump-
tion of the dress of the women, the manang, the more
to resemble them, takes unto himself a husband, who
is generally a widower having a family, and who, in
expectation of inheriting the manang' s property, is
glad to comply with his caprices : he is treated in
every respect as a woman, and does not go to war
with the men ; he sees little of his husband, and the
fact of calling a person by this name appears only to
be necessary to render his assumed character more
complete. I could never learn any thing of the history
of this curious institution from the Dyaks themselves,
they declaring they knew nothing of it, and merely
saying that it was an old custom, and laughed with us
at its absurdity : perhaps it originated in persons of
natural imbecility, being compelled by the tribe to
assume the garb and habits of women, and thus have
become through time a custom followed by men who
were apparently in every respect fitted for the ordinary
intercourse of society. I do not know whether they
are brought up to this profession, but I rather think
that they enter it after having attained a considerable
age. I never saw any one who had a wife or children
of his own, though they might have perhaps been
married while young ; they are permitted to adopt the
children of other people, and this they frequently do.

APPEARANCE AND DRESS OF SEA-DYAKS. 177

Perhaps they only become manangs after having
proved themselves incapable of becoming the fathers
of families, but I am not inclined to believe that such
is the case.

In general appearance the sea Dyaks have the
advantage of the Malays and land tribes, being of a
higher, though still short, stature, well made, and
with limbs of excellent proportions ; a subdued and
cairn, but resolute air ; an imposing carriage, walking
with a light and graceful step, and peculiarly self-
possessed bearing ; these qualities impress the stranger
more favourably than the smaller stature, less elegant
figures, darker features, and more cunning expression
of the countenance of the Malays.

The dress of the sea Dyaks is very simple, the prin-
cipal article of it being the chawat, a long, narrow
cloth, which passing several times round the waist,
and being brought between the thighs, has its broader
and ornamented ends hanging before and behind to
the knees. The ends hanging thus have very much
the appearance of broad tails at a distance, and when
these are made of the inner bark of trees, as is fre-
quent among the land Dyaks, might easily suggest the
idea of tails j and we consequently find that a race of
men with these appendages inhabiting the interior is a
notion very prevalent along the coast. In ordinary
weather, and when about their usual occupations, the
chawat above described is their only clothing, but in
wet or cold days they wear a coarse jacket of cotton,

N

178 DRESS

coloured brown ; these jackets and chawats are manu-
factured by the Dyaks of Sakarran and Sarebas, as are
also the cotton bedangs of the women, and in times of
peace they form an article of export to all the tribes
of the neighbouring countries, the natives .of none of
which manufacture them for themselves.

A war party, or individuals of the Dyaks of Sakarran
and Sarebas, are immediately recognised by the members
of the other tribes by the abundance of their brass or-
naments, and particularly the number of rings in their
ears, the outer cartilage of that organ being pierced with
holes along its edges for its whole length for their re-
ception : the hole in the lobe of the ear contains the
largest and greatest number of these ornaments, three or
four being frequently found in it, sometimes equal tothree
inches in diameter. The whole number contained in
each ear of the Dyak varies from six or eight to four-
teen, and in young men, occasionally to eighteen ;
these gradually decrease in size towards the top of
the ear, where they are very small. Other ornaments
of brass* wire are distributed in profusion about their
persons, particularly on their legs and arms; these
latter are frequently covered with numerous rings of
very strong brass-wire about an eighth of an inch in
thickness, the elbow joint is the only part left bare,
and it is frequently adorned with a large white bracelet
made of the kima-shell ; occasionally these rings of
brass are flattened and stamped in various patterns,
but the more general taste is to leave them round and

OF DYAKS. 179

plain, taking great care to keep them highly polished,
One would think that the necessary weight of so much
brass would be an inconvenient and cumbrous burden,
but habit, and the taste for finery, soon reconcile this
people to the load, and having been inured to it from
their earliest infancy, they do not feel it so much as
strangers would necessarily do. Large rings of this
wire also adorn the legs of the young men from
immediately below the knee to the middle of the calf
of the leg, and on their necks strings of the teeth of
their enemies, and of bears, panthers, and other wild
animals, are their favourite ornaments.

In peace, their head-dress is a handkerchief, or a piece
of the inner bark of a tree, dyed of a bright yellow, and
is so disposed that its ends stand up from the forehead ;
their hair is cut in such a manner as to give to their
features the most savage-looking appearance, being
shaved from that part of the head near the temples in
an arched form, so that the ends of the two arches
meet in the middle of the forehead in a fine point :
the hair is cut short in front, but left long and flowing
behind. In war, they wear jackets of a thicker texture,
which are also padded with cotton to such a thickness
as to enable them to resist the blow from the point of
a wooden spear. Their head-dress on these occa-
sions is a kind of fillet, about two inches broad, made
of red cloth ornamented with very small white cowrie
shells, or beads, worked into different patterns ; from
these fillets rise feathers of different kinds of birds, but

N 2

180 DRESS OP

the white tail feathers, each having a broad black band
across it, of the rhinoceros hornbill, are preferred ;
they have no covering or protection for their thighs or
legs, but leave them as on ordinary occasions ; their
parang, or large chopping knife, is suspended from
their left sides, and another string supports on the
opposite side the little basket which contains their
sirih leaves, betel-nut, and lime, for chewing ;
these are placed in little cases of bamboo orna-
mented with brass or silver, and very much carved,
but after a very rude manner. A similar bamboo
case, and which is generally also carried in this little
tambuk, or basket, contains their tinder, flint, and
steel ; a long knife is generally attached to it.

The women of these tribes are, like their husbands
and brothers, short in stature, generally more stoutly
made than the Malay women, and with well-developed
figures ; they are very much fairer than they, or even
than the men of their own tribes : while young many
of them would be thought very pretty, but soon, from
their hard duties and other causes, they become stout
and plain, and when old are frequently very ugly.
When brought up amongst the Malays they continue
much longer in their prime, and are generally thought
prettier than the women of that nation : their hair,
though naturally as good, from want of care and culti-
vation never attains such length and profusion amongst
those who reside in their own villages, though in cir-
cumstances which give them time for the adorn-

DYAK WOMEN. ] 81

ment of their persons it attains equal length and
luxuriance.

They are, like the men, fond of ornaments of brass
or silver, and display them liberally on their persons ;
their principal article of dress is the bedang, a very
short petticoat of their own cotton fabric of a coarse
texture, and dyed of various patterns, but always of a
brown or black colour. This scanty garment reaches
from the hips to the knees, and is sustained in its
position by being tucked in and fastened by a belt of
fine brass chain-work, with a clasp, which encircles it ;
amongst those tribes that are richer than others,
silver chain is often substituted for brass, and amongst
the poorer ones, split rattans, coloured, or black, are
frequently used : above and round this belt, and the
upper part of the bedaug, are innumerable folds of
chain of brass, silver, and rattans, and when the
wealth of the individuals will admit of it, strings of
small silver coins are employed.

Their necks and breasts usually support numbers of
folds of the same materials, with the occasional addition
of beads ; but these they do not so much esteem as the
Dyaks of the hills : their arms are adorned with brace-
lets of silver very neatly made, being formed of thin
plates of a broad and convex shape, so that they
stand out from the arm ; they have the patterns
stamped upon them from the inside, and wear them
from the wrist up the arm to the elbow, eight or
nine in number; they do not, like the women of

182 DKESS OF DYAK WOMEN.

some other tribes, wear brass-wire above the elbow
joint. The women of the Sebooyoh and other tribes
wear in their ears ornaments of gold or silver, which
are of such an extent of surface as entirely to conceal
that organ : like the bracelets, the pattern is stamped
upon them from the back, and the thin plate is
soldered to a small tube which passes through the
hole pierced in the ear, and is fastened by a nut in
the manner of the more elegant ear-ornaments of the
Malayan women before described. When about their
household employments, these ornaments and this
dress are generally worn by the females, but when
they pursue their out-door duties a jacket similar to
that of the men, but of a little finer texture, envelopes
the upper part of their persons, and protects them from
the thorns of the jungle. In the house they wear no
head-dress, but abroad a large hat, made of coloured
rattans very finely woven, protects them from the
weather : in size it approaches that of the market-
women of Bruni, but is more peaked at the top,
and of a much more elegant appearance.

From the little friendly intercourse between the town
of Sarawak, and the Sarebas, and Sakarran Dyaks,
I have not been able to collect such accurate details as
I could have wished respecting the government esta-
blished amongst the people of these rivers, which
differs considerably from that of the hill tribes, and
more nearly approaches that of the orang Kyan, to
the eastward of them, in many of their institutions.

THE CHIEFS PA-MANCHA AND GASING. 183

The sea Dyaks appear to form a connecting link
between the land tribes and the Kyans, showing
that they are all of the same family; and, perhaps,
these three great and distinct divisions are but the
descendants of three different emigrations at periods
remote from each other, and when peculiar causes
might have altered, as we now see them, the characters
of each. All the tribes of Sarebas, though each has
its particular chief, acknowledge in war the authority
of the orang kaya Pa-mancha ; but it does not appear
that, excepting when his orders and instructions agree
with their own wishes, the petty chiefs, who com-
mand their own boats and the people of their own
villages, pay particular attention to them, but still
they always look up to this old man — who has distin-
guished himself by his bravery — with respect, and his
opinion possesses great weight in their councils, more
particularly, as, from his sanguinary nature, and the
long practised custom of taking heads, his store of
which he is always anxious to increase, the counsels of
peace are seldom those he offers to the nation.

In Sakarran they have several chiefs of great au-
thority ; that part of the country which lies nearest to
the sea is under the authority of one head chief, named
Gasing : he is a man in the prime of life, a very
sensible and fine-looking fellow; and is, I believe,
anxious to be at peace with the English, but finds it
impossible to control his followers, and the other
chiefs of tribes, who are of a different opinion. At a
council, which met at the junction of the Sakarran

184 THE CHIEFS BULAN

and Batang Lupar rivers, an embassy sent by Mr.
Brooke from Sarawak in the end of 1845, I heard
this man declare, before several chiefs and many
people, that he would with his own hand kill the first
who committed piracy on the ocean, or in any way
departed from the wishes of Mr. Brooke ; several
other chiefs asserted the same, but we afterwards
heard that they were compelled ultimately to join the
war faction, by their people deserting to the villages
of the interior, whose chiefs were all of the opposite
party.

Gasing, in this part of the Sakarran country,
is acknowledged to have very considerable influence,
if he has not lost it by his advocacy of peaceable
measures. Under him is a chief named Bulan, or
the moon ; he is called the war-chief, and directs all
the operations at the encounter of a hostile fleet or on
the attack of a village. He appeared to us a man
of but little intellect, who had attained his rank by
nothing but his bull-dog courage. During the council
above mentioned, he sat without taking the least notice
of the proceedings, and, as soon as it was over, came
to our boats to solicit cloths and handkerchiefs as
presents. This man once led an attack against Ban-
ting, the village of the Balow Dyaks, allies of Sarawak,
while his son and nephew were in our hands ; so that
judging, as he must have done, that his son and
nephew would be put to death by the Europeans, he
must have made up his mind to sacrifice them to his
passion for heads.

AND LINGIE. 185

His son and nephew had been sent to Singa-
pore at Mr. Brooke's expense, and at their own re-
quest, during the short interval of quietness, which
occurred after the peace above mentioned; they
had received from Mr. Church, and other gentlemen
of Singapore, much attention and many presents, and
were about returning to Sarawak in the schooner,
when their relation broke the peace by attacking our
allies. They were very much afraid that we should
revenge ourselves upon them, but, as may be sup-
posed, they were sent back to Sakarran, with all their
valuables, unharmed. Though the effect of this
generosity, and of the general conduct of the govern-
ment of Sarawak to these people has not yet been
visible, it is doubtless working, and must soon appear;
and, though such a savage as Bulan can, perhaps,
never be affected, there is a strong party favourable to
the English rising in their tribes.

Besides the two principal chiefs above named, they
have one called Lingie, who is designated the
trading chief, and who appears to have the regulation
of the commerce of the river. This man has given
several proofs, at the risk of his life, of his anxiety to
prevent war between his river and the settlement of
Sarawak : on one occasion he came, pulling night and
day, in a small boat, at Casing's request, to inform
Mr. Brooke that a fleet of eighteen boats was going to
descend the upper part of the river on a cruise : by
his information they were all captured. The com-

180 ANECDOTE OF LINGTE.

mander of the fleet heard that he had gone to give
this intelligence, and followed him for about fifty
miles j if he had been caught, his life, with that of his
people, would have been sacrificed to his anxiety to
maintain peace.

In several conversations I have had with Lingie
he has painted, in striking colours, the benefits
which would arise to this great agricultural country
from the preservation of peace, and the miseries
entailed upon them by being at war with Sarawak,
which prevents them bringing their padi and bees'-
wax, cloths, &c., to market, and supplying them-
selves with salt, which is almost as necessary as rice
to the existence of a Dyak, and their supply of which,
being all obtained from the coast, is easily, and gene-
rally, stopped on their rupture with the Malayan
powers. This man related to me an anecdote of himself,
which, notwithstanding the defence they made, proves
the actual fear in which they held the force under
Captain Keppel. Lingie was in his house cooking
a pot of rice (his wife and family having been pre-
viously sent into the jungle for security, together with
those of the other men inhabiting his village), and
listening anxiously for information of the English
force, which had attacked the town of Pa-mutus, and
which Sereib Sahib, who defended it, had assured the
Dyaks could never be taken by the orang putih, or
white men, when a gun, discharged below his resi-
dence on the river, informed him that Pa-mutus was

OTHER CHIEFS. 187

taken, and that the English were ascending the stream.
Alarmed by the report, he seized his cooking pot and
rushed out of the house, the door of which he reached
in time to see his friends and followers scampering off
to the jungle for protection ; he lost no time in
imitating their example, with his rice-pot in his hand ;
and so great was his haste that his chawat, or cloth,
having become unfastened and fallen to the ground,
he rejoined his companions in a state of perfect nudity,
not daring to stop to pick up his fallen covering. He
told me that he was not ashamed to confess himself
afraid of the English, on account of their fire-arms,
but that if swords and spears were their weapons he
would not mind them so much.

Besides these three principal chiefs of the Sakarran
Dyaks, each village has its head, who, in the general
council of the nation, has an influence proportioned to
the individual character of each one. Of these a fine
young man named Mata-hari, or the sun, has already
distinguished himself in their piratical expeditions, and
is a general favourite with their tribes. No other chief
is allowed to interfere in the government of these vil-
lages, their internal management being left entirely to
a council of the old men, by whose advice the orang
kaya generally guides his conduct.

As the interior of the countries of Sakarran and
Sarebas has never been visited by Europeans, excepting
on hostile occasions, we have no means of judging of
the number of villages it contains ; but according to

188 HEAD TAKING.

the best native authorities, they are more numerous
and thickly inhabited than the villages of the poor,
and till recently oppressed, land Dyaks, many of whose
women and children have been taken from their homes,
and now swell the number of these tribes of their ene-
mies. Having always preserved peace amongst them-
selves, these two powerful nations have been able to
preserve their country from invasion, and to inspire
terror wherever they carried their arms. The only
exception to this appears to be the Kyans, who have
always been able to repel the invasions of these, who,
amongst the weaker tribes, have sustained, from their
uniform success, the reputation of a courage which they
suppose themselves to be incapable of withstanding.
The passion for head-hunting, which now character-
izes these people, was not formerly so deeply rooted
in their characters as it is at present, and many of the
inhabitants of Sarawak have assured me that they
well recollect the tribes first visiting the sea with that
ostensible and avowed object. In a limited extent the
custom is probably as ancient as their existence as a
nation ; but though other tribes appear to be equally
addicted to the practice, there can be little doubt that
it is a corruption of its first institution, unless, as
Forrest says of the Idaan of the north of Borneo, they

•/ «/

consider human sacrifice the most pleasing to the
divinity, and lose no opportunity of presenting it ; but
having conversed with the Dyaks frequently respecting
this practice, they gave no such reason for it, and merely

HEAD-TAKING. 189

accounted for it, in their usual method, by saying, that
it was the adat ninik, or custom of their ancestors.

The Malays themselves, who now frequently feel its
bad effects upon their persons and nation, have been in
a great measure instrumental in encouraging this bar-
barous practice. During the prevalence of the Arab
power in Sadong under the Sereibs Sahib, Muller, and
their relations, and the misrule of the chiefs of Sarawak
during the ten or twelve years previous to Mr. Brooke's
arrival, these unprincipled chieftains found the practice
of head-taking amongst the Sakarrans might be made
serviceable to their interests. The poor hill Dyaks,
who had been previously protected from the ravages
of the fierce Sakarrans only by the Malays residing
between them and their foes, and having been robbed
of every thing calculated to excite the rapacity of their
rulers, made an effort to save their wives and daugh-
ters from the slavery which threatened them, by con-
cealing themselves in the jungle. The Sakarran Dyaks
were then called in by the extortionate and foolish
rulers, and, assisted by a party of Malays with fire-
arms, generally found the hill Dyaks an easy prey.
Thus an opportunity was presented to them of ac-
quiring abundance of victims, whose heads the Malayan
chieftains allowed them to retain, while they took all
the plunder, and shared the slaves. In these expe-
ditions, several of which occurred annually, the greater
part of the Dyaks of Sarawak and Sadong were at-
tacked, their men and women slain and decapitated

190 DYAK GRATITUDE TO MR. BROOKE.

under the most cruel circumstances, and the virgins
and children were carried by their parents' destroyers
into captivity. Those who, by concealment, had suc-
ceeded in escaping the sword of the oppressor, from
their hiding-places beheld the flames consume their
remnants of property and their villages. It can
easily be imagined after this account of their suffer-
ings, which might easily be swelled by an enumera-
tion of horrors common to civilised, and many pecu-
liar to barbarian warfare, with what pleasure they
hailed the return of peace, which Mr. Brooke's arrival
promised them ; and the gratitude they now feel, and
the affection with which they regard the man who
saved their residue from starvation, slavery, and
death, is equal to the sufferings from which his
humanity delivered them ; and the only fear which
has hitherto, since the establishment of his government,
alloyed their happiness is, that any accident should
interrupt the protection they have hitherto received ;
but now they have gained so strong a hold upon the
sympathy of the generous British nation, there is little
prospect of this fear being ever realised.

By such encouragement the sea Dyaks have been con-
firmed in the practice of head-hunting, and taught to
consider the divided and weaker tribes of the hills
their natural prey. It is difficult to conceive how their
rulers could have been so blind to their own interest,
as so to oppress the people from whom they gained
their revenues and subsistence, and for the sake of

SEA-DYAKS. — PIRACY. 191

a trifle more at one time than they were in the cus-
tom of demanding, to destroy their only hope of a
future supply. Perhaps the Arab Sereibs, whom Sir
Stamford Raffles in describing truly says, " hold like
robbers the offices they obtain as sycophants, and
cover all with the veil of religious hypocrisy," thought
that after they had destroyed the land tribes, they
would subsist entirely by piracy on the part of the
sea Dyaks, and by their piratical relations with the
Soolu and other nations who frequented the coasts
and bays of their territories. Pa-mutus in the Sakar-
ran river was the scene of their overthrow, and
though the Sereibs were not taken, the principal of
them, Sereib Sahib, has since died, and the remainder,
scattered about amongst the tribes of Sarebas and
Sakarran, are in a great measure the cause of the bad
conduct of these tribes. At the capture of the eigh-
teen boats formerly mentioned, three of them were
present, and fled in such haste to the jungle that their
gold ornaments and fine clothing fell into the hands
of the Balows.

As these Dyaks constantly retreat before a superior
enemy into the jungles and fastnesses, it has been
found almost impossible to bring their forces
either on shore or at sea to a general action.
Could their fleet be once caught in a bay, or other
situation in which European sailors could teach them
the fatal effects of grape and canister, they would be
careful in venturing again to disturb the peaceful
navigation of the sea. Prom the lightness of their

1(J2 SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY.

construction, their swiftness, and their light draft of
water, they are always able to evade the boats of our
cruisers; but should it be found advisable on the
establishment of Labuh-an, to reduce these people,
who are now — no less than the Lanuns and Soolus,
though in a narrower sphere — the terror of the coast,
they can be easily and effectually blockaded, and thus
soon reduced to quietness. At present, though they
have seen the gallant Captain Keppel in their river,
and at their own doors, they have no adequate idea
of our power, and fancy, as they have frequently
committed piracies since they were last visited, with
impunity, that no further notice will be taken of
them. It is to be wished that they may soon find this
an erroneous notion, and learn, though circumstances
may for a time prevent their punishment, that the
trade and interests of civilised nations cannot be
interrupted with impunity.

So difficult is it at present to induce them to leave
off, as a body, their piratical habits, that though the
first act of Mr. Brooke in the country, even before he
assumed the government of Sarawak, was to turn
back a fleet of ninety boats which had been invited
by the rajah to attack a land tribe, they have fre-
quently since had the ignorance or impertinence to re-
quest his permission to destroy towns and villages under
his protection. Their first act of piracy since the expe-
dition of the 'Dido' was to send out the fleet of
eighteen boats, previously mentioned as having been
captured by our allies, the Balow Dyaks. This

BULAN AND OTHER WAR CHIEFS. 193

occurred in October, 1845. In November the late
Mr, Williamson, then Mr. Brooke's secretary, was
sent to them accompanied by a considerable force,
and having with him the Balow chiefs. They were
met at the Malay village, at the junction of the Sakar-
ran and Batang Lupar, by Casing, Lirigi, Rantap,
Bulan, and other chiefs of Sakarran, and a treaty of
peace was agreed upon, a pig being killed, as is their
custom. This, however, was not long observed. In
March, 1846, a large fleet, led by Bulan, the war-
chief of Sakarran, attacked the village of the Balow
Dyaks, and killed thirty -five persons, though they had
some Malays in the place, and one or two small guns,
which were taken. The success which attended this
expedition was on account of their having surprised
the village when the men were all absent at the farms.
During the past season, the Sambas and Sakarran
Dyaks attacked one of the kampongs of Kalkeka, the
next considerable river eastward from Sarebas, and in
the government of the Dattu Patengi Abdulraham, of
Serekei, who, however, assisted by a force of the Kyans
who inhabit the interior of his country, so amply
retaliated, that upwards of fifty of the people of Sare-
bas were killed or taken captive.

On another recent occasion the son of the old Orang
Kaya Pa Mancha, the principal chief of Sarebas, was
slain by our Dyaks, who accompanied a fleet in search
of these pirates, and this has given them another
opportunity of swearing to possess themselves of the

194 SAKARRAN AND SAREBAS.

head of the Rajah of Sarawak, and annihilating his
settlement. A stage for drying the much coveted
head has been accordingly erected, and one of their
rare and much valued jars has been prepared for its
reception.

At the attack on the Balow village, in the height
of their excitement, Bulan is reported, with others,
to have called out to the assailed, that his only
wish was that a steam-ship, of which in reality they
have the greatest possible dread, might heave in
sight, as he would then have the pleasure of
showing the Balow people how he would treat their
friends, the English, previously to taking their own
heads. A similar cry, taunting the Princes of Borneo
with their relations to the English, was raised at their
unfortunate massacre, and the arrival of British ships
was in the same manner spoken of in derision ; but on
Admiral Cochrane's appearance in the river they
quickly retired from their forts. It has been before
stated, that while the taunting expressions above
recited were used by Bulan, the son and nephew of
this thoughtless savage were in the hands of the Eng-
lish : he is reported to have said, when reminded of
this circumstance, that his sons were clever in the
jungle, and that he trusted to their making their escape
as soon as the news reached Sarawak.

Though from their friendly intercourse with the
Malays they have adopted some of the customs, and
have borrowed considerably from the language of that

DYAKS. 195

people, they have not introduced polygamy, or, with
the exception of slavery, any other of their reprehen-
sible practices. The ceremony of marriage, as far as
I have learnt, is very simple, and consists merely in
the persons, who have previously agreed upon the
point, living together, and a feast being made on the
occasion to which all who choose may repair. Their
marriage feasts, like all the others, usually end in the
whole of the persons assembled becoming intoxicated
with a fermented beverage which they make from rice,
and which they affirm they were taught by the Chinese.
The state of morality amongst the Sakarran and Sam-
bas Dyaks is strangely more lax than in any of the
other tribes. It is affirmed, and they themselves have
frequently told me, that it is the common custom for
the unmarried women to have amongst the similarly
situated of the other sex, lovers to whom they are
liberal of their favours : this proceeds with the know-
ledge and consent of the parents for some time, but
if the girl should prove pregnant, the father of the
child must take the mother for his wife ; but if the
connexion should long continue without the attain-
ment of this desired result, the acquaintance is dis-
continued, and they each seek new sharers of their
loves. Should they not be constant to each other
during this stage of their intimacy, the offence, though
public, never becomes an occasion of scandal to
either person concerned, and nothing is said of it
except, perhaps, by the one who has been deceived.

196 LAXITY OF MANNERS.

Though virtue before marriage is thus little respected,
faithlessness after the marriage feast has taken place
is a grave and serious offence in which the whole
village is concerned. I believe it is punished by fine,
but the offence is of such rare occurrence that no person
to my knowledge ever incurred the penalty. The
license granted to the young women appears amongst
these people only to extend to their own nation, but
it is probable, and in fact certain, in some tribes, that
their favours are liberally extended to the Malays,
should any happen to reside in their vicinity. This
laxity of manners has been carried so far, that I have
been assured that should a chief, or distinguished
warrior of another tribe, travelling through the country,
rest for a night at a village, it is a necessary part of
their hospitality to provide a girl for his companion ;
but my information on this particular is derived from
the Malays. I, however, think it correct, as a similar
custom is always followed by the Kyans.

The promiscuous intercourse between the unmar-
ried of the two sexes above described is a curious
institution, and not known to the hill tribes. From
the father of a child being compelled to marry its
mother, and from their never being known to have
any reluctance to do so, it would appear to have been
originally practised as a precautionary measure arising
from then' fear of not becoming the fathers of families,
which the Dyak would consider the greatest possible
misfortune, though, from the facility with which they

DYAK LOVE OF THEIR CHILDREN. 197

can separate, but which they seldom avail themselves
of, such a practice would not seem necessary. All the
Dyaks are exceedingly fond of their children, and
proud of their families in proportion to the number of
them. The curious practice of sinking their own
name on the birth of the first child, and being after-
wards denominated by its name with the prefix of
the particle Pa, is strongly illustrative of their family
pride. The Pa placed before the name of the child is
a contraction of the word bapa, and gives a stranger
immediately to understand that Pa Such-an-one is the
father of children. Thus the chief of the land Dyaks,
who is, or was, named Nimuk, is called Pa Jaguen,
Jaguen being the name of his eldest child. This
curious custom is also mentioned by Mr. Marsden as
being prevalent among the inland tribes of Sumatra.
The term Ma, a contraction of the word ama, is
mother, and is also occasionally used as a polite method
of designating the mother of a family ; but they are
always called in the village by their own names. It
may be observed of this custom, that, should the eldest
child be dead, or lost, having become a slave to the
enemies of the tribe, the parent is called after the next
surviving one, or the next in seniority which remains
with him. Thus Pa Jaguen was called Pa Belal until
his daughter Jaguen was restored to him from Sakarran
slavery by the assistance of the Rajah of Sarawak.
I have had frequent proofs of the love they bear their
children, and the longing with which they desire the

198 DUTIES AND LABOURS OF

return of such as have been carried into slavery. Mr.
Brooke lias been the means of restoring many of those
objects of their solicitude by his negociations with the
Sakarran and Sarebas Dyaks, although this has not
been accomplished without a large pecuniary sacrifice :
the gratitude they show for the happiness he has
conferred upon them has amply repaid him for his
liberality. The girls are equally the objects of the
tender care of their parents with the boys; and
though, in their prayers, the Dyaks always ask
for male children, the females, who are nearly
equally useful to them, are not treated with less kind-
ness, and are never neglected. Amongst the sea
Dyaks are no houses erected, as of the hill tribes,
to be hereafter described, for the reception of the
unmarried men ; but though they are supposed gene-
rally to sleep in the verandah of the village, the
interior of the houses is not denied to them.

The duties of the women are various and nume-
rous; though the whole care of the house devolves
upon them, they are not exempted from participation
in the labours of the field. They always rise before
day-break, and, if it be the season, accompany their
husbands to the farm, carrying with them their
breakfast of rice which has been previously cooked ;
but as they generally have a hut at the farm, they
often cook their rice there. Their labours of hus-
bandry consist in clearing away the brushwood, while
the men fell the larger trees, in sowing their padi

DYAK WOMEN. 199

seed, and weeding the plants after they have sprung
up, and in collecting the harvest when the crop is
ripe ; this, as the padi seldom all ripens together,
is a tedious and laborious occupation, as they have to
cut off each ear, or head of the padi, separately. They
generally return to their houses half an hour before
the men, who arrive at dark, so that they may have
their plain and simple food prepared for them ; this
seldom consists of any thing but rice and salt, except
when their traps are successful in procuring them
better fare. Though they have numbers of fowls,
pigs, and goats, about their houses, they seldom kill
them excepting on occasions of general festivity.
When they can afford to purchase salt fish from
the Malays, they much prefer it to animal food.

Nor after the harvest has been gathered, and the la-
bours of the farm have for a time ceased, are the women
allowed to be idle ; they have constant employment
in making cloth of the cotton, as already noticed ; fine
mats of rattans worked into pretty patterns ; baskets
for the next season, made of split and coloured rat-
tans, which they carry on their backs, suspended by a
band which crosses the forehead ; clearing padi from
the husk, so that it may be brought to market as rice,
or preparing it for their own use; these, together
with their household duties, attending to their chil-
dren, and carrying wood and water for their families,
fully occupy their time, and the cheerful alacrity
with which these are all undertaken by them, is alike

200 LABOUR OF DYAK MEN.

pleasing and instructive to the beholder. But while
so many employments and labours fall to the lot of
the women, the men, unlike those described as the
inhabitants of the South Sea, and other more eastern
islands of Polynesia, do not dissipate their time in
debauchery or indolence, but are equally active and
industrious with their weaker helpmates. The heaviest
labours of the farm, the management of their trade
with the Malays, building and repairing their houses
and boats, making their implements of husbandry and
war, employ all the time remaining from their expe-
ditions of hunting and piracy. It is very probable
that, from the number of slaves in their possession,
the sea-Dyaks, particularly those of the Sarebas and
Sakarran tribes, do not personally labour so heavily as
those of the hills ; this may account for their finer ap-
pearance, which has been constantly observed by the
residents at Sarawak. Not being stunted by hard
work, and frequent scarcity of food, their limbs more
freely develope themselves than those of the poor and
hitherto oppressed hill-Dyaks, who, having lost their
only assistants by their children being carried into
captivity, where they perform for their enemies those
services which had otherwise assisted them, are com-
pelled themselves to toil from day to day for the
subsistence of such as remain, and to endeavour
to procure money to purchase back the absent. The
slaves of the sea-Dyaks do not in general appear
to be hardly treated, as in their wars only such as

CAPTIVE DYAK CHILDREN. 201

are young are taken captive ; these, after living with
their captors for some years, lose the remembrance
of their families, or, perhaps, only recollect that they
were destroyed, and consequently fall into the customs
and practices of the people amongst whom they live,
and from whose power they soon lose all hope of de-
liverance. In many instances children, who have
been taken from the land-Dyaks, become so endeared
to their conquerors, that these latter adopt them as
their own, and they are then admitted to all the pri-
vileges of the free-born of the tribe, and inter-marry
with the sons and daughters of the other inhabitants
of the village. Instances are not uncommon when
children thus treated have forgotten their parents,
and expressed, when the opportunity of returning
to their tribe has presented itself to them, an un-
willingness to avail themselves of it, thus causing
to the parents who had so tenderly cherished the
remembrance of them, infinite agony ; but, when
they have once arrived at their native village, and ex-
perienced all the kindness of parental affection, these
impressions soon wear away, and they are always
finally glad that they had been restored. In the
villages the slaves are not distinguishable from their
masters and mistresses, as they live all together, and
fare precisely the same, eating from the same dish, and
of the same food ; this, as has been before observed,
is principally of a vegetable nature, though no super-
stitious observance prevents them from partaking of

202 COOKERY OF TUE DTAKS.

the flesh of animals, as amongst the inland tribes.
Nearly all the beasts of the forest are eaten by these
people, even monkeys, alligators (if small), snakes and
other reptiles are esteemed. Like the French, they
regard frogs as a delicate dish, and bestow consider-
able pains in procuring them: their rice is cooked in
brass or earthen pots, called priuks, which they pur-
chase from the Malays ; and plates of English manu-
facture have recently become very general among
them. They eat from the plates with their right
hand, compressing the rice (which is not cooked
dry as that of the Malays) into a ball of convenient
size. They know no way of cooking flesh but by
boiling it, which they do in bamboos, having pre-
viously cut the whole animal into small pieces.

I once saw some Dyaks roasting a monkey, but did
not stay to observe whether they did not boil it after-
wards, as they generally partially roast these animals
to free them from the hair. They have very little
idea of flavouring their food except with salt, though
they sometimes employ chilis, or small capsicums,
turmeric, and ginger for that purpose. The Se-
booyohs, who have lived more intimately with the
Malays than the other tribes, have very much im-
proved upon their cooking, the methods having been
copied from their Mahometan neighbours. As they
have no occasion for fire except for the purposes
of cooking, their houses have no chimney, and the
little smoke which is created finds its way through

DYAK FUNERALS.

the crevices of the roof; and, as they rarely, with
the exception of the Sebooyohs, who affect Malayan
habits, indulge in the luxury of mosquito curtains,
the smoke is rather beneficial than otherwise, as it
protects them in some measure from the attacks
of these tormenting insects, which, though not nu-
merous in the interior, are, with sand-flies, very
abundant on the sea-shore. They generally carry
with them in their tambuk a flint and steel, for
the purpose of making fire ; but should these not be
with them, but little difficulty is experienced in ob-
taining it from two pieces of bamboo, or by friction of a
hard and soft stick, the latter of which soon takes fire.

The whole of the sea tribes dispose of their dead
by burial, which, together with their not abstaining
from the flesh of animals, induces me to suppose that
the Hindu religion never influenced them, as it evi-
dently has the land tribes; or that, if they knew any
thing of its institutions, the impressions having been
less strong have been by time altogether removed. A
person having died, the manang, or doctor, who has
been in attendance during the sickness, has also the
superintendence of the interment, and the grave being
prepared, the body of the deceased, dressed in his finest
apparel, is placed in it, together with his sword,
spear, gongs, and other property : if the family has
been rich, the ornaments of gold and silver are added,
and frequently a sum of money, amounting to forty or
fifty dollars, in addition, and the earth covers the whole.

204 FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF

No ceremony attends the interment at the grave, but
a pig is killed in the village, and the rite is terminated
much in the manner of an Irish wake. This practice
of burying property was practised by the Indians of
North America, and probably by those of the southern
division of that continent, and must have originated in
a belief in the future existence of the deceased person,
and that he would require these things in another
state ; but at present, as far as I could learn, these
people have no idea of the sublime belief of the soul's
immortality ; and though some of them have asserted
that the spirits of deceased persons wander amongst
the mountains, the more frequent answer was, that
they knew nothing of their fate. The memory of a
person, and the respect paid to him, is not supposed to
be obliterated at the festival on the day of his burial,
but, at long and uncertain intervals, other feasts are
made, when some of the relics of the deceased, as a por-
tion of his clothes or weapons, are treated with a place
of ceremony at the banquet, and looked upon with
great respect. The whole of these and their other fes-
tivals end in the same manner. On account of the
ignorant custom of burying such valuable property as
above described with the bodies of their deceased
relations, it frequently happens that a father, unfortunate
in his family, is, by the death of his children, reduced
to poverty.

On one occasion, the Europeans of Sarawak having
been invited to be present at one of these wakes

THE DYAKS. 205

of the last son of the chief of the Pedungan village,
the old man lamented that, having with each of his
children, who had all died successively, buried a
considerable portion of his property, he was now
not only childless but penniless. Of this he did
not complain, but that having deprived himself of his
wealth, in accordance with a sacred custom of the
Dyaks, the repose of his children had been violated,
and the sacrilegious Malays had opened the graves, for
the purpose of abstracting the treasures which had
been placed there. Mr. Brooke, to whom the com-
plaint was made, very properly consoled the old man
by telling him that, if by any means the perpetrators
of this act could be brought to justice, they should be
severely punished ; and, turning to the Malayan chiefs
in attendance on him, requested them to assist in dis-
covering the offenders. This was comfort to the Dyak
chief, as during the government of the Malayan rajahs
he durst not have complained of such an offence, it
being no transgression to defile the grave of the
infidel.

CHAPTER VII.

TREATMENT OF A CAPTURED HEAD SEA-DYAK GAMES — THEIR PRO-
GRESS IN THE USEFUL ARTS — THE BLACKSMITH THEIR WEAPONS

WARS — BALANCE OF HEADS— PRESERVATION OF ENEMIES' HEADS

HEAD-HUNTING — SEA-DYAK BOATS — BOAT ENGAGEMENTS BRAVERY

OF THE CHIEF OF LUNDEU — DEFENSIVE WARFARE MODE OF ROW-
ING— A CHIEF'S SUPERSTITION — DYAK AGRICULTURE — PREPARING

LAND FOR A FARM PADI AND INDIAN CORN GRANARIES MODE

OF REAPING THE PADI DYAK GARDENS THEIR PRODUCE — FRUIT

TREES TRAPS FOR DEER AND PIGS CAGE-TRAPS AND SPRINGES

FOR BIRDS STRANGE MODE OF FISHING.

LIKE the whole of the aboriginal inhabitants of Borneo,
the sea-Dyaks hold periodical feasts, which usually end
in scenes of debauchery and drunkenness. Many occa-
sions give rise to these, particularly the planting and
harvesting of the padi, and the capture of the heads
of their enemies : the latter is a disgusting ceremony
to an European, though the Dyaks view it only with
sentiments of satisfaction and delight. The fleet,
returning from a successful cruise, on approaching the
village, announce to its inhabitants their fortunes by a
horrid yell, which is soon imitated and prolonged by
the men, women, and children, who have stayed at
home. The head is brought on shore with much
ceremony, wrapped up in the curiously folded and
plaited leaves of the nipah palm, and frequently
emitting the disgusting odour peculiar to decaying

TREATMENT OF A CAPTURED HEAD. 207

mortality ; this, the Dyaks have frequently told me,
is particularly grateful to their senses, and surpasses
the odorous durian, their favourite fruit. On shore
and in the village, the head, for months after its arrival,
is treated with the greatest consideration, and all the
names and terms of endearment of which their
language is capable are abundantly lavished on it :
the most dainty morsels, culled from their abundant
though inelegant repast, is thrust into its mouth, and
it is instructed to hate its former friends, and that,
having been now adopted into the tribe of its captors,
its spirit must be always with them : sirih leaves
and betel-nut are given to it, — and finally, a cigar is
frequently placed between its ghastly and pallid lips.
None of this disgusting mockery is performed with
the intention of ridicule, but all to propitiate the spirit
by kindness, and to procure its good wishes for the
tribe, of whom it is now supposed to have become a
member.

The head having been thus cared for, the whole of
the tribe partake of the pigs, rice, fish, and other
food, which have been provided in the greatest pro-
fusion for the joyous occasion. These pigs, taken
always from the largest and fattest in the village, have
been previously valued by the old men, and their
owner is paid for them by rice, which is raised by
contributions from the whole tribe, the proprietor of
the pig remitting his share of its cost. After having
eaten sufficiently, the tobacco is produced, and they

208 SEA-DYAK GAMES.

chew betel and smoke cigars, drinking at the same
time large quantities of the liquor of the fermented
rice before mentioned, or of the toddy of various palms
provided for the occasion : during the drinking the
dancing generally commences ; this is performed with
the recently-acquired heads suspended from the
persons of the actors, who move up and down the
verandah with a slow step, and corresponding move-
ments of their out-stretched arms, uttering occasionally
a yell, which rises fierce and shrill above the discordant
noises of the gongs, chanangs, and tortewaks, to which
the dancers move. Another amusement at these fes-
tivals is carried on by two persons standing or walking
with a theatrical air and peculiar step, and with canes
in their hands, reciting to each other in a rude ex-
tempore verse, the heroic deeds of their fathers and
their ancestors, to which, if they live under a Malayan
government, and the prince has any share in their
affections, they add his memorable achievements and
exploits. I heard them once, in this interesting manner,
recount the whole of the events of the Seniawan war,
the arrival of Mr. Brooke, &c.

The " harvest home," and other feasts of a more
pacific character than that above described, like it,
consist in eating, drinking, and dancing, but in these
the heads are not introduced, and the women take
part. Games are also practised at them, some of
which astonished us by their similarity to those
practised by the peasantry of Europe, particularly

PROGRESS IN THE USEFUL ARTS. 209

that of climbing up a large pole, the being able to
do which is also a necessary qualification of a pan-
glima, or lighting chief,) previously greased to
render the achievement difficult of performance,
and to the top of which a piece of pork is at-
tached. This meat is the reward of the person whose
agility renders him the first to attain this eminence,
and the frequent failures in the attempts call forth
from the gazing crowd bursts of laughter, as loud and
long continued as from those who gaze at the similar
spectacle at an English country fair.

In the useful arts, excepting such as their habits
render absolutely necessary, the Dyaks have made but
little progress, though more than many of the similarly
situated neighbouring tribes. It has been before re-
marked that they make the ' chawats,' jackets, and
' bedangs ' in general use amongst their own and the
more western tribes ; but as this manufacture is carried
on only by the Dyaks of Sakarran and Sarebas, I have
no means of describing the method of its workman-
ship. Iron being necessary in the formation of their
weapons of war, they have studied, and brought to
greater perfection its workmanship than others of the
mechanical arts. It is probable that before the intro-
duction of European bar-iron into the country, the
natives fused and wrought the ore of the island, as
many of the Kyan and other tribes, who have little in-
tercourse with the coast, do to the present day. The
blacksmith, with the exception of the 'manang,' or

p

210 A SEA-DTAK BLACKSMITH.

doctor, is the only person in the village whose time is
solely occupied by a profession or trade. If the black-
smith of a village be celebrated for the goodness of his
work, he is not only employed in the manufacture of
the arms and instruments necessary for his tribe, but
those made by him sell for higher prices than those
of his neighbours, and he is sure of plenty of employ-
ment and considerable profit. The smith's shop is
always a little apart from the houses of the village, to
prevent accidents from the fire ; the bellows precisely
resemble those of the Malays, the two bamboos, or
hollow trees, before described ; a stone is generally the
anvil, but when a heavy piece of iron can be obtained
it is preferred. His instruments are all of his own
making, and rude in their construction ; the vessel in
which the water for cooling his work is held is a block
of wood hollowed out. The 'parangs,' or chopping-
knives, and 'pedangs,' or swords, of which there are
several denominations, spear-heads and fish spears,
are the principal articles of their manufacture. The
chopping-knife, which the Dyak always carries by his
side, is a rough and awkward looking instrument,
though the Dyaks use it with facility : the blade,
which is broadest towards the end, and small and
square towards the base, is generally from twenty-four
to thirty inches in breadth, the hilt being bent from the
blade backwards, which makes it appear clumsy ; the
axe fits into a wooden handle, and the blade, which
is round or square at the end, is preserved by a sheath

SEA-DYAK WEAPONS. 211

made of two pieces of wood bound neatly together
with plaited rattans, and bands of brass or silver.

The sword amongst the sea-Dyaks, though often pre-
cisely similar to the ' parang,' is frequently, amongst
the Sebooyoh Dyaks, of a curved shape, the broadest
part of the blade being at the point of its curvature,
but not having the backward bend of the handle. It is
altogether a more serviceable weapon, the hilt being
generally made of deer's horn, very rudely carved.
An ornament projecting from the lower part of the
weapon, near the handle, serves as a guard for the
hand; the handle of the weapon is generally ornamented
with brass and silver; the sheath with a large bundle
of the fine feathers of the argus pheasant, from which
the quill has been pared, which, by its rigidity, would
prevent the wind causing the feathers to wave about.

The spears of the sea-Dyaks are made of several
forms, but those most used are the broad, double-
edged blades, which are about one foot or more in length;
these are attached to handles about six to eight feet long,
as are also the sagittate blades, which are next in esteem.
They are frequently made in pairs, so that their blades fit
into a double case ; they are then carried as one weapon.
The fsumpitan,' which is a tube of eight to ten feet in
length, through which arrows or darts of nine to twelve
inches are blown, the points of which are generally
poisoned with the upas, are sometimes used by those
Dyaks in the vicinity of the Kyans, from whom they
have perhaps borrowed the practice ; neither bows nor
arrows are known in the islands.

p 2

212 WARS OF THE SEA-DYAKS.

In action, the left hand of the Dyak supports a
large wooden shield, which covers the greater part
of his body. It is made of the light wood of the plye
or jelutong, about three feet long, and twenty inches
broad, convex towards the centre, and of the same
breadth throughout, but cut off angularly from each
side at the ends, so that its greatest length is the
middle. The 'badju tilam,' or padded jacket, has been
before noticed. The spears used for throwing at the
enemy, and with which an engagement is usually com-
menced, are about three feet long, made of durable
wood, which is further hardened by fire : they seldom
do much injury to the enemy if he be prepared to
receive them: they are thrown with great force but
little skill, as they never practise during peace the use
of the weapons of war.

The wars of the sea-Dyaks are very frequent, and
much more bloody than those of the Malays or the
land tribes. Many of the feuds in which the Dyaks
of Sarebas and Sakarran are now engaged, are quar-
rels which arose in the times of their ancestors ; and
the ostensible object in carrying on of which now is,
that their balance of heads may be settled ; for these
people keep a regular account of the numbers slain on
each side on every occasion: these memorandums have
now, perhaps, become confused amongst the sea-tribes,
but amongst those of the hills, where fewer people are
killed, and fighting is less frequent, the number to
which each tribe is indebted to the other is regularly
preserved. A hill chief once told me that he durst

BALANCE OF HEADS. 213

not travel into another country, which he wished to
visit, as their people were the enemies of his tribe ;
when I asked him in surprise, having supposed that
he was at peace with every one except the people of
Sakarran, he told me that in the time of his grand-
father the people of the other tribe had killed four of
his, and that in retaliation his tribe had killed three of
the other, so that there was a balance of one in his
favour, which had never been settled, nor had any
hostilities been carried on for many years, yet all
intercourse between the tribes had ceased, and they
could only meet in a hostile character. It is by these,
and similar causes, that the hill Dyaks, unable to
unite to form any combined plan of defence, so easily
fall, one by one, before the league of Sakarran and
Sarebas. Should peace be brought about, it may be
done by the tribe, which, in balancing accounts, is found
to have taken most heads, paying for the difference to
the other tribe in goods ; in this computation the value
of males is estimated at about twenty-five dollars,
5/. 4s. Zd., and females from fifteen to twenty dollars
each ; when the difference is thus adjusted the two
contracting tribes feast and dance together, and are
friends until some new occasion of quarrel happens,
and disturbs their amity. The sea-Dyaks, however,
rarely adjust their differences with the other tribes,
they having gone on so long, and their debt being so
large to so many tribes, that were they to attempt the
payment, they would find themselves bankrupts im-

214 PRESERVATION OF ENEMIES* HEADS.

mediately; and I suppose that were they to give them-
selves in exchange for the slain, they would not, with
their wives and children, be sufficient in number to
compensate for them.

The heads of their enemies are, amongst the
sea-tribes, preserved with the flesh and hair still ad-
hering to the skull, and these trophies are not, as
amongst the land-tribes, the general property of the
village, but the personal property of the individuals
who capture them, though the honour of the tribe is
augmented by their being in the village. The skull
being freed from the brain, which is extracted by the
occiputal hole, the head is dried over a slow and smok-
ing fire until all the animal juices have evaporated : they
are preserved with the greatest care, and baskets full
of them may be seen at any house in the villages of
the sea- tribes, and the family is of distinction accord-
ing to the number of these disgusting and barbarous
trophies in its possession ; they are handed down from
father to son as the most valuable property, and an
accident which destroys them is considered the most
lamentable calamity. An old and grey-headed chief
was regretting to me one day the loss he had sus-
tained in the destruction by fire of the heads collected
by his ancestors. As I heard nothing of his property,
which had been very considerable, I supposed that he
had succeeded in saving it, until, on making inquiries,
he told me that it had been all destroyed, but he
would not have regretted it so much if he could have

HEAD-HUNTING. 215

saved the trophies of the prowess of his fathers. It is
said that the practice of head-hunting, for which pur-
pose alone their piratical expeditions are now under-
taken, has been carried so far, that a Dyak cannot
marry until he has at least once obtained a head.
The chief of the Lundu village told me that such was
the custom, but that in his tribe it had been dispensed
with, as the difficulty of getting heads was so great
under Mr. Brooke's government, the wars being un-
frequent, and cruising parties not being allowed to go
out. The old gentleman seemed to think it a pity that
a custom so calculated to inspire the men with
courage should be set aside from motives of humanity,
and is decidedly of opinion that " none but the brave
deserve the fair."

On one occasion Lingir, a chief of one of the
Sarebas tribes, appeared at Sarawak with his head
shaved, and in his most desolate and ragged attire,
but attended by thirty-three boats, to request per-
mission of the rajah to attack the Dyaks of Lundu or
Samarhand; he gave as a reason for the strange request,
that his brother had died, and that he could not
celebrate his funeral until he had somewhere obtained
a head. This resembles the custom of those nations
who sacrificed their slaves on the funeral pile of their
deceased masters ; and it is said that in the countries
of the Kyans, which bounds that of the Sarebas
Dyaks on the south and east, this custom of sacrificing
slaves is still prevalent on the death of a chief. From

216 SEA-DYAK

the above anecdote of Lingir, it would appear necessary
before a man can marry, or bury a deceased relative,
that he embrue his hands in human blood ! and thus,
how many victims must be sacrificed to this sanguinary
and ferocious custom. Lingir, of course, was un-
successful in his application to Sarawak, and being
desired immediately to return with his fleet, he cap-
tured the heads of four unfortunate fishermen, with
whom he fell in, on his return.

Boats being so necessary to the sea-Dyaks for their
cruises, they have attained to greater perfection in
building them than in most other arts, and have suc-
ceeded in getting them of so light and fast a construc-
tion, that they surpass in this respect the canoes of
Siam and some other more civilized and powerful
states. They appear long since to have left the simple
canoe, or boat formed of a single tree ; and at present ;
though these are the only ones of the land-Dyaks, the
smallest boats for river purposes are not formed on
this principle. Their war-boats, which are called
'bankongs/ are generally of great length, frequently
as much as seventy feet. They are built very high
abaft, and high forward, so that, when they have not
their crews on board, they appear merely to touch the
waterin the middle ; when laden, though high fore
and aft, they are not above one plank from the water
in the middle, and being built without a sharp keel,
are very crank ; but, as they carry no sail, they are not
afraid of capsizing. They are built from a flat keel

BOATS. 217

without timbers of any sort, the planks being merely
sewn one to the other, or rather tied by rattans,
through holes about eighteen inches apart, and, thus
supporting each other, they are caulked with the soft
bark of a tree of the tribe Myrtaceae, and payed with
the preparation of dammar and oils, as used by the
Malays for their trading prows. They are fancifully
painted, and sometimes decorated with a dragon,
or some other monstrous figure-head ; and painted on
a board at the stern are frequently human figures in
indelicate positions.

They are steered sometimes with a rudder, but
more frequently by paddles, and from the assistance
the men paddling are enabled to give, they turn
as on a pivot, and consequently lose so little time in
this evolution, that before an English boat could
accomplish it, they would be far a-head, being con-
siderable gainers by the manoeuvre. Formerly they
had no protection for the men paddling the boat
excepting from the weather, which was afforded them
by mats, called 'kajangs,' made of the unexpanded
leaves of the nipah palm sewn together and dried in
the sun. These were of sufficient length to reach
across the boat, and were so light that they were of
no inconvenience, but having recently feared to meet
the war-boats of Sarawak, and the gun-boats of the
English cruisers, they have added two heavy planks
of wood along the side of each boat above the heads
of the rowers, which they suppose to be grape-proof.

218 DYAK BOAT ENGAGEMENTS.

These encumbrances must take much from the light-
ness of the boat, and consequently from its speed, pro-
bably without much assisting the security of those
whom it necessarily delays.

When going into action, the boat is cleared by its
' kajangs' being all thrown towards the stern, where the
steersman sits. The panglimas and warriors rise to their
feet in the centre of the boat, a sufficient number to
paddle being left sitting down on the bamboo laths
which form the platform, or open deck. By the side of
each warrior is a large bundle of the wooden spears for-
merly described, with which the action commences at
the distance of fifteen or twenty yards, and when the
boats have approached closer, it is carried on with the
iron-pointed spears, which, being too valuable to throw
away, are kept for close quarters. As their naval
engagements for the most part occur near the shore,
one party generally jumps overboard, and with a
yell of triumph the victors decapitate the slain ; and
if they think themselves of sufficient strength, or are
not satisfied with the heads already captured, they pur-
sue the fugitives into the jungle, where they generally
get a few more heads. These boat engagements sel-
dom happen, it being the universal practice of Dyak
warfare never to attempt by force, an object which they
can accomplish by stratagem ; so that we constantly
see that their successful expeditions are always directed
with the view of surprising their enemies, their object
not being to acquire glory or military renown, but

BRAVERY OF THE CHIEF OF LUNDU. 219

being actuated solely by the desire of procuring heads
without exposure to themselves.

Their history would show us but few examples of
that personal courage and distinguished bravery which
dazzle the imagination of politer nations; there are,
however, many examples in which individual gallantry
has distinguished the Dyak character, and these abound
as much in the land as the sea division. The chief of the
Sow (hill) tribe, the orang Kaya, Pa-Mancha of Sarebas,
and the chief of Lundu, have on several occasions thus
distinguished themselves.

The latter, on one occasion returning from a
cruise against his old enemies of Sakarran, and
being at anchor with two 'bankongs' in the mouth
of the Batang Lupar river waiting for the ebb tide,
found himself surrounded by a large returning fleet
of these people. It was in the dawn of morning,
while the mist lay upon the water, and their approach
had been made known to him by the quick and regular
stroke of the paddles. His force being so inferior, he
would not have ventured to attack them, but they
perceived him, and, imagining they should obtain an
easy victory, attacked him at once on all sides ; but the
discharge from several lelahs and muskets in their faces,
at the distance of but a few paces, made the bravest of
them recoil. They, with frantic yells, returned to the
charge again and again, but were each time repulsed
with a severe loss, and their attacks were less spirited
than at first. Meantime, the old chief seeing this, and

220 BRAVERY OF THE CHIEF OF LUNDU.

fearing the exhaustion of his stock of ammunition,
which alone gave him any chance with his numerous
foes, had weighed, and during the latter part of the
action was paddling towards home with all hands that
could be spared from his lelahs (brass swivel-guns carry-
ing half-pound shot), followed by his occasionally at-
tacking enemies, who did not leav j him, so much would
they have valued the head of this their oldest and most
formidable foe, until he had gained his own river ; at
which, when he arrived after a whole day's pulling,
his ammunition was exhausted, as well as the strength
and courage of his men. Though several of his people
were wounded, he had the satisfaction of knowing
that he had fought for hours against a large fleet of his
enemies, of whom many were slain ; but he had not
the only pleasure for which he then longed — the op-
portunity of bringing away their heads in triumph.
Both the Sakarran and Sarebas Dyaks have frequently
attacked this chief in his stronghold, the beautiful vil-
lage of Lundu, but have always been repulsed by the
guns supplied to him from Sarawak, in which his
safety alone consists, and which enable him to defeat ten
times his numerical strength. He delights in avenging
the many ills his tribe has suffered from the people of
Sakarran, and is always anxious to be let loose against
them. Excepting on this difficult to be eradicated
custom of barbarism, he is the most respectable and
well-behaved of the Dyak chiefs tributary to Sarawak,
and is truly the father of the people under his charge,

DYAK DEFENSIVE WARFARE. 221

on all occasions sacrificing his own interest to the good
of the settlement of Lundu, which, though under the
government of a Dyak, is also a Malayan Town.

In defensive warfare the Dyaks surround their
village with a high palisading of palm or other trees,
and about all the woods in the neighbourhood are
planted 'ranjows,' or small sharp-pointed bamboos,
which, on account of the mass of decaying vegetables,
are with difficulty detected, and are in consequence,
together with pit-falls and other contrivances, of great
annoyance to a bare-legged invader. As the sea-
Dyaks only go on cruises in the fine season, or from
April to October, their boats are taken to pieces
during the bad monsoon, by cutting the rattans adrift
which hold the planks together.

Forrest notices an instance in which a fleet of the orang
Tedong, a piratical people of the east coast of Borneo, and
who very much resemble the sea-Dyaks, being shut up in
a bay by a Spanish cruiser, which probably hoped they
would surrender, they evaded their enemy by cutting
the rattans of their boats, which are of similar con-
struction, and carrying away the planks through the
jungle ; this can very easily be done by the crews of
the boats. The sea-Dyaks, during the wet season,
lay up the planks of their boats in sheds until the
returning fine monsoon invites them again to venture
on the ocean. As these planks cost the Dyaks, who
are unacquainted with the use of the saw, or any other
instrument for forming them but the 'biliong' or adze
of the Malays (which can also be used as a chopper,

222 DYAK BOATS.

the blade being turned in the haft, which is adapted
to it either way), their preservation is an object of
no small importance, two only being obtained from a
large tree with infinite labour, it being very necessary
that the planks of the boat, on account of her con-
struction, should all be of the same length as the
' bankong.3 These boats, according to their size, carry
crews of from thirty to ninety men, and it is com-
puted that, without making any extraordinary exer-
tion, the rivers of Sarebas and the Sakarran branch of
the Batang Lupar could send to sea 200 of them,
averaging fifty men each. From the nature of these
boats, and the slightness of their build, it may easily
be imagined that they are not manageable in a sea-
way, their length causing them to open at the seams :
on such occasions, should they not be near enough to
the land to run into smooth water, the crew all jump
overboard, and hang by the side of the boat : this I
have been assured they have done for many succes-
sive hours when the squalls, which are usually short
in these tranquil seas, have been prolonged, so as to
render it necessary. In this situation they take it by
turns for one or two to enter the boat, and cook and
eat their rice, until the squall is past.

The Dyaks, on their cruises, are capable of enduring
great fatigue, and, if they meet with reverses, have fre-
quently to contend with the pangs of hunger. It is no
uncommon thing for the Dyaks to pull for eighteen
hours, with only short intervals of rest sufficient to boil
and cook their rice, and this, from the beautiful regu-

MODE OP ROWING. 223

larity of their strokes, and their being long accustomed
to the practice, does not appear much to fag them; in
smooth water, and, without tides, at their regular
stroke, they pull about six miles an hour, but when
exerting themselves fully can double that rate of speed.

The 'tambangs,' or sharp built sampan boats of Sin-
gapore, which are so renowned throughout the East
for their speed, are soon lost sight of by the Dyak
' bankongs/ and I should think it probable that no
boats in the world could equal them for speed. Each
tribe of the Dyaks has peculiar strokes in which it de-
lights, so that in the dark a Sarebas or Sakarran boat
could tell whether an approaching one was of Lundu,
of the Balows, or a Malay. The Malays also have
many methods of paddling, in which the Borneans,
or natives of the town of Bruni, excel the inhabitants
of the other villages on the coast. On their cruises
the Dyaks, who are not, in their sober moments, friends
of boisterous mirth, never make use of the cheering
and inspiriting songs of the Malayan boatmen : the
noise made by each paddle beating time on the gun-
wale of the boat is to them sufficiently enlivening,
and they want no other encouragement to exertion
when it is necessary.

When they have met with reverses on an expedition —
such as when they lose their boats and are forced to
find their way through the jungle, without food, to
then- homes, perhaps at a great distance — famine is
very oppressive to them, though some parts of the
woods produce ferns and other edible roots in abun-

224 A CHIEF'S SUPERSTITION.

dance ; but these generally grow on the river's banks,
and in open places where the fear of the enemy pre-
vents the fugitive Dyak from searching for them : on
those occasions he has recourse to the bark and leaves
of trees ; and sometimes, to still the cravings of hunger,
an oily earth, which is found in some places, is eaten.
On one occasion the men from a fleet of Sakarran
Dyaks having been driven ashore, they were twelve
days in reaching their homes, having lost five persons
by famine, and many by their unrelenting enemies.
The difficulties they had to encounter in walking
through forests belonging to the enemy, and which
were unknown to them, in crossing rivers, and eluding
pursuit, were innumerable. Two poor fellows of this
party were discovered crossing, on a log of wood, one
of the numerous creeks ; and another party, which had
taken possession of a deserted house, were found in
it by their enemies, who had no pity upon their miser-
able condition.

About this time (1845) Gila Beranhi, one of the
chiefs of Sakarran — who had been one of the most
relentless pirates — before his death, which occurred
after only two days illness, is reported to have
called his tribe about him, and exhorted them to
leave off piracy, as the failure of the expedition just
recorded, and his own approaching death, were all
brought about by the supernatural power of the Rajah
of Sarawak, whom he said it was impossible to with-
stand ; so that we see the first slight check to the
conquests of these hitherto invincible tribes, leads

DYAK AGRICULTURE. 225

their ignorant minds immediately to attribute to
superhuman influence, the results which the most
common prudence must foresee will attend their op-
posing the regular force of a civilized enemy. The
cognomen of this chief, Gila Beranhi, may be literally
translated, " the madly brave," in allusion to the
ferocious courage displayed in his wars with the
enemies of his tribe.

Though agriculture is so generally practised by the
Dyaks, they have not made in it so much progress
as, from its necessity to their existence, might have
been expected. The cause of their never having at-
tained to greater perfection in this art is probably te
be found in the immense productiveness of the soil
they cultivate, which, with little care beyond the
planting of the seed, yields such heavy crops, that
the most moderate skill and attention are repaid so
amply, that the inducements to improvement, which
excite more civilized, but less favoured nations, have
no existence here.

In July and August the Dyak, having previously fixed
upon a spot convenient for a farm, begins the labour of
felling the forests ; in this he is assisted by the females
of his family, who clear away the brushwood; slaves and
male children fell the larger trees. The extent cultivated
by each head of a family depends upon his industry,
and the wants of his household : an industrious per-
son always prepares more than will be necessary for the
supply of his household, so that, with the surplus, he

226 PREPARING LAND FOR

may be enabled to buy little luxuries for himself, and
brass wire, &c., for his daughters and children, from
the Malays, who always come to the villages to trade
when the harvest has been gathered in. Having
felled as much forest as he thinks sufficient for his
purpose, which — considering the only instrument they
employ is the ' biliong,' or small chopper of theMalays —
is accomplished with astonishing quickness, the fallen
giants of the jungle are allowed to remain prostrate,
until a succession of dry days has so parched them,
that, being set on fire in several places on the wind-
ward side of the field when a fresh breeze is blowing,
sthe whole is, in a few hours, consumed with a flame,
and smoke, and crackling noise, which, at a distance,
is awfully beautiful, and the sublime appearance of
which, when many farms are thus burning together,
can scarcely be conceived : the heavy dark cloud which
hangs over the country, caused by the smoke, for
many miles previously to the ascent of the flames, has
frequently been mistaken for one of the thunder
clouds which are seen to gather, of this solid and
black appearance, only in tropical countries. So great
is the resemblance, that persons accustomed to the
appearance have frequently remained undeceived, until
a gust of wind carried the bright flames high above
the intervening jungle, and displayed to the spectator
a scene of the most majestic beauty, which certainly
equals, and probably surpasses, the burning of the
grass on the plains of North America.

A FAKM. 227

When the fire has exhausted itself, and the ground is
again cool, which, from the frequency of rain, is soon
the case, the Dyaks collect, from the black and charred
trunks of the trees, the smaller ones suited to the pur-
pose, and commence making their ' pagar/ or fence, for
the protection of the future crop against the inroads of
the deer and wild hogs, which would soon injure and
destroy it. The method generally used in constructing
this fence, is by raising one pole above another, hori-
zontally, and sustaining them in this position by stakes
driven into the ground, at an angle, and opposite to
each other, so that the bar rests upon the crutch
formed by their crossing each other. The pagars, or
fences, are about six feet high, and the bars about
fifteen inches one above the other; they are strong
enough to resist the encroachments of wild animals
for one season : for more they are not required, being
then split up, and used in the houses for fire-wood.

In parts of the country more populous than others,
it frequently happens that the Dyaks have not, in
their territory, old jungle; or it is at such a disr
tance from their houses, that the labour of carrying
the produce to them would be very oppressive in a
country where the services of no domestic animal are
available for this purpose. Such situations are not
so laborious to prepare, but being destitute of that
rich layer of vegetable mould, and the fertilizing
properties of the burnt wood, are not nearly so pro-
ductive. The pagars of these farms, in which bamboo

Q 2

228 PLANTING PADI AND INDIAN CORN.

always abounds, are frequently made of this light and
easily worked material, the ends being stuck into the
ground, and supported by cross bars, which run along
the whole length of the fence, and to which the per-
pendicular stakes are attached by lashings of rattan, or
other suitable substance. The burning being finished,
and the pagar made, though this latter operation is fre-
quently delayed until the seed has sprung up, no
other preparation of the ground is deemed necessary.
The plough, and other instruments for turning up the
soil, the inventions of nations more advanced in the
art, are to them unknown; but if the former were
introduced, it would be useless in many places,
as the sides of steep hills are frequently chosen for
the farm.; and, in all cases, it would be unavail-
able while the natives continued to leave their fields
after but one year's cultivation, as the labour of
removing the trunks of the large trees, which are now
allowed to decay in the field, fertilizing it .as they
crumble into earth, would not be compensated by the
produce of the ground they occupy, if the field were
not cultivated for a succession of seasons.

The padi seed, which is saved with the greatest care
from the choicest of the preceding season, is planted in
holes, made by a blunt-pointed stick, at the distance of
from fifteen to eighteen inches apart every way. Three
or four seeds are dropped into each hole by the women
and children, who cover them by scraping a little earth
or ashes over them with their feet. 'Jagong/ or

DYAK FARM, HUT, AND GRANARIES. 220

Indian corn, or maize, as it is frequently called in
Europe, is planted sparingly at the same time ; and as
it is ripe and off the ground in three months from the
time of sowing, it does not injure the padi, amongst
the rows of which it is sown ; and as it comes in at a
season when the rice is getting exhausted, and the
second crop not ready, it is of great use to the Dyaks,
though not so much esteemed as rice as an article of
food. On the larger collections of ashes they also sow
the seeds of gourds, pumpkins, a kind of melon without
flavour, and cucumbers, of which they are very fond.
These trail along the ground amongst the stems of the
padi, to which they appear to do no injury, and con-
tinue bearing for some time after the rice crop has
been gathered in,

After the field has been all planted, the Dyak
and his family occupy themselves in building a hut
on some elevated position in the field, for the con-
venience of being able to reside at it constantly
during the periods when it most requires their care,
and for storing the harvest when ripe from the rain,
until they can carry it to their granaries, which are
generally near, but apart from the houses of the vil-
lage. The ' dangau,' as this hut is called, is always
upon posts, and with a raised but not covered plat-
form before it, for the convenience of drying, the
padi before it is placed in the baskets in- which it
is to be conveyed to the granary. During its growth
the field is always weeded twice : this, as they are
assisted by no tools, with the exception of their parang,

230 MODE OF REAPING

is a very toilsome occupation, which is always carefully
accomplished by the industry of the Dyak, as the rapid
growth of the weeds would soon spoil his crop, and
render unavailing all the labour his farm had pre-
viously cost him.

About March or April, or from six to seven
months after the period of its sowing, the padi puts
on the beautiful appearance which informs the de-
lighted husbandman of the approach of the reward
of his labours. At this season the field of the Dyak
presents a more lovely picture to the eye than the
farms of Europe. The yellow padi is everywhere
relieved by the gaudy flowers of the bay am, a kind
of vegetable, which resembles the Amaranthus, or
prince's feather of our gardens, and its large tufts
of orange and crimson enhance the beauty of the
pleasing scene. As the heads of padi seldom all
ripen together, or so regularly as the ears of other
grain in England, no sickle is used in reaping, nor
are the stalks bound into bundles. Every person in
the family of the Dyak, armed with his or her basket
and knife, is employed in going regularly over the
field, and taking off all the ripe heads, with but a
few inches of the straw, the bulk of which is left-
standing on. the ground, where it decays, and nourishes
the earth which produced it. Each person, when the
basket is full, carries it to the dangau, where it is
rubbed from the ear, frequently by the hands ; but
this irksome method is, by those who have large farms,
avoided by a sieve which they erect outside the hut,

AND WINNOWING THE PADI. 231

with split rattans fastened into a frame-work, and
supported by four posts, over which also the roof is
extended : a mat is placed under the sieve, and the
heads of padi, being put into it above, are worked back-
wards and forwards over the fine rattans of the sieve
with a wooden instrument which they have for the
purpose, until the padi, being freed from the stalks, falls
into the receptacle below, whence it is taken, and being
well dried in the sun, is finally conveyed to the granary
of the family, until wanted for the purposes of trade
and of home consumption.

Every year the series of operations above detailed is
repeated ; the soil, perhaps, being exhausted by the
enormous crop it sometimes produces in favourable
seasons. Last year was one of those, and I saw hun-
dreds of acres of padi which had fallen to the ground
for want of hands to gather it ; the crop having been
so much larger than the Dyaks, who generally calcu-
late these matters very shrewdly, and plant no more
than their own family can conveniently manage, had
anticipated. The Dyaks themselves, however, do
not suppose that the soil is in any way incapable of
bearing further culture ; but give always as a reason
for deserting their farms, that the weeds and grass
which immediately spring up after the padi has been
gathered, are less easily eradicated, than ground oc-
cupied by old jungle is prepared. They never return
to the same spot until after a period of seven years has
elapsed, which they say was the custom of their an-

232 INSECT DESTRUCTION OF THE PADI.

cestors ; and then they find that the trees, which have,
during that time, covered the ground, to the destruc-
tion of the deleterious lalang grass and other weeds,
are easily felled, and the ground prepared ; though, as
has been before noticed, the crops from such land are
not so abundant as those from the ' utan tuah/ or old
forest, which in consequence is, notwithstanding the
greater proportionate amount of labour requisite to bring
it under cultivation, always, when procurable, preferred.

It will be seen from the above statement that the
farms of the Dyaks are prepared towards the end of
the dry season, so that they have the wet monsoon to
bring the padi to maturity, and the beginning of the
following fine weather, April and May, to ripen the
grain. Some tribes have a succession of farms coming
in a few weeks later than each other, but never more
than three. The hill Dyaks seldom plant their farms
till a month or two later than the sea tribes, who con-
sequently have the first of the market ; new rice always
selling for a higher price than the old, the former being
esteemed' sweeter and more nourishing by the Malays,
who are the purchasers.

From the mode of pounding the padi in mortars, to
free it from the husk, adopted by the Dyaks and
Malays, none of the rice, the produce of the island,
can be kept for any length of time : the grains being
broken, and the enamel which protects them from the
wevil being destroyed, that insect soon takes advantage
of the circumstance to attack and destroy it ; in the

DYAK GARDENS THEIR PRODUCE. 233

husk, or padi state, it may be kept for years without
injury, and is in this respect supposed to be equal to
the production of India or America.

Besides the farms above described, the Dyaks have
small gardens, usually the property of women, in which
they plant vegetables of different kinds, principally
the ' trong,' brenjal of the East, and egg-plant of
Europe, sugar-cane, plantains, yams, sweet potatoes,
chilies, &c. A few plants of tobacco are generally
found in their farms, the leaves of which they prepare
by drying for their own use. Sisawi, a kind of
mustard, and a species of millet, are also planted
amongst the padi in small quantities. The sugar-cane,
which grows very freely, is only esteemed for its
saccharine juice, which they extract like the Malays,
by chewing. Of the plantains they have several fine
varieties ; that most esteemed is the ' pisang amas,' or
golden plantain ; its fruit is small and not angular, the
bunch is, however, uncommonly large — it is of a rich
golden yellow colour, and much finer flavour than
most of the other kinds. The ' pisang merah,' or red
plantain, called ' pisang udang/ or prawn plantain, by
the Malays, and ' pisang baddat,' are the next in esteem,
and resemble each other, except in colour, which in the
former is red, in the latter yellow, with green ends;
many others are very fine, but as the varieties are so
numerous it is unnecessary to particularize them : the
* pisang tandok,' or horn plantain, bears fruit of from
twelve to eighteen inches in length, and is a well-

234 FRUIT TREES.

flavoured variety. Pine-apples are seldom cultivated
by the Dyaks, though they are found apparently in a
wild state about most of their villages j in such situ-
ations the fruit is small and of little flavour, and it is
remarkable that the Dyaks, who delight in the culti-
vated ones from the Chinese gardens at Sarawak, should
take no care of their own.

The ancestors of the Dyaks having for many cen-
turies occupied the countries these people now inhabit,
fruit trees are scattered in abundance all over its
surface, particularly near the banks of rivers, and all
jungles abound with them. The most esteemed kinds
surround their villages, and these, with other in
easily accessible places, are individual property; but
those of the jungles are not owned, and the fruit of
them generally becomes the property of the squirrels,
monkeys, and birds, which frequent the forests con-
taining them, unless the destructive Malay should see
them, who, ever thoughtless of the future, immediately
cuts down with his hatchet a tree which has taken many
years to attain its fruiting state, and for the purpose of
gathering a few for himself, destroys what might at
some future time be of service to the Dyaks or others,
who might, for the purposes of mining or agriculture,
be compelled to reside in the vicinity.

As the woods of the country of the sea-Dyaks abound
in pigs and deer, and the tribes are not prevented by any
superstitious prejudice from eating the flesh of either of
these animals, various contrivances are in use for their

TRAPS FOR DEER AND PIGS. 235

capture. The most common for the purpose of catching
the larger game is called by them ' peti :' it is a strong
spear of bamboo, laid in a horizontal direction above
the ground, about the height of the body of a pig or
deer. A sapling, bent for the purpose, forms the spring
by being held back ; a string crosses the path of the
animal, the least touch on which pulls the trigger by
which the sapling is retained, and which, springing
forward, forces the bamboo in a straight line across the
path, and consequently through the body of any
animal that may happen to be passing. As these traps
are so placed as to be with difficulty discovered in the
jungle, the traveller has to be careful, as to be trans-
fixed with one of these spears set for deer, would
occasion death. The Dyaks themselves, though very
careful, have frequently met with such accidents.

A few weeks before leaving the country one of my
men, who was bringing to the hut where we were stay-
ing, with his companions, a deer which had been shot
for our dinner, missed the path in the dark, and struck
his foot against a trap of this nature, which had been
set for pigs ; the spear transfixed his thigh, making a
large and ragged wound, from which, however, he fortu-
nately recovered ; had it been a deer-trap instead of a
pig-trap, the spear would have passed through his
waist, and have certainly killed him. Pigs are also
caught in pit-falls ; ranjows, or sharp bamboos, being
placed at the bottom, on which they fall. Ranjows are
also planted on the steep sides of mountains, so that

236 CAGES, TRAPS, AND SPRINGES FOR BIRDS.

the pigs, in hurrying down the declivity, often receive
them in the breast, and being thus staked, soon bleed
to death, and are discovered by the Dyaks. The
smaller kinds of game, such as porcupines, palandok,
or mouse-deer, small pigs, pheasants, and partridges,
are caught in springes, and by those alone a clever
woodsman can daily supply his family with this kind
of food in abundance, the cord made use of for the
springes is of their own manufacture, very fine and
strong; it is made from the inner bark of several
kinds of trees. They have also cage-traps, into which
the squirrels and mouse-deer are attracted by choice
food, and which fall upon and detain them. Pigeons
and other birds are caught with springes and bird-
lime placed in the trees which they frequent for food,
particularly the different species of ' kayu ara' (Ficus),
which are very abundant, and on which the many
species of these birds delight to feed.

A practice of fishing, used by the Dyaks of all de-
scriptions, and which has been observed also of the
natives of South America, with whom these people
have many things in common, deserves particular
notice. It is called fishing with tuba, and is thus
carried on : large quantities of the tuba being col-
lected, which is the root of a climbing plant (Meni-
spermuin), though the same effect is produced by the
fruit of a tree grown extensively for that purpose,
the tribe intending to fish proceed in their boats to
the mouth of a small river, or creek, which has a bar

STRANGE MODE Of FISHING. 237

of sand at its entrance, so that, at low water, it has
little or no communication with the sea ; and having
distributed the bundles of tuba in equal proportions
to all the boats present, the persons in them proceed
to beat up the roots on the thwarts of the canoes,
frequently pouring water on them, until the whole
of the narcotic principle is extracted and collected
in the bottom of the boat, in the water which, during
the process of beating, has been poured over the
roots, and which has now become of a white milky
colour. At low water, and at a signal given by
the chief, all the boats simultaneously commence
baling out the water charged with the narcotic into
the river, and this, spreading through the waters in
every way, stupefies the fish. The smaller ones, being
most readily affected, first float upon the surface, and
are taken with the light and sharp-pointed spears of
the Dyaks. Soon the larger ones, beginning to feel
its influence, also come to the top ; then it is that
the best of the sport commences : fishes of the largest
size, together with small alligators, appear for an
instant struggling to free themselves from the lethargy
occasioned by the infected waters. The Dyaks, who
are ever on the alert, paddle instantly towards them,
and three or four of the barbed spears are immediately
thrust into their scaly bodies by the different boats,
which arrive together at the scene of their strug-
gles : occasionally a large fish, in his dying agony, is
too powerful for his assailants, one or two of whom

238 STKANGE MODE OF FISHING.

are sometimes dragged into the water, where, if the
place be shallow, they dispatch their prey with their
parangs or knives. Many other ludicrous accidents
occur, which, when large crowds are assembled (as
is the case when the tuba is collected at the expense
of and for the amusement of the Europeans, and on
which occasions the whole country is invited to be
present, and those who wish to share in the sport),
afford merriment to those who are merely spectators.
From the first appearance of the fish the sport lasts
about two hours, when the influx of water from
the rising tide dissipates the narcotic, and such fish
as remain recover from its effects. Other kinds of
fishing are not much practised by the Dyaks, who
trust almost solely to the Malays for their supply.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE HILL DYAKS — THEIR CHARACTER — THEIR RELIGION AND SUPER-
STITIONS THEIR DEITIES — INVOCATION OF THEM PROPITIATION

OP THEM AND OF THE RAJAH CEREMONY PERFORMED BY MR. BROOKE

THE PAMALI, OR " TABOO " A DYAK FUNERAL A PECULIAR

SUPERSTITION OF THE DYAKS THEIR ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL

FOOD ANCIENT DYAK MONUMENTS AND DRAGON- JARS — THEIR

VENERATION FOR CERTAIN PLANTS SUPERSTITION OF THE DYAKS

OF SARAWAK SPECULATIONS AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE DYAKS.

THE Hill Dyaks, or as they call themselves, " Orang
Gunong," or Men of the Hills, differ in many pecu-
liarities from the Dyaks of the Sea tribes. The
principal tribes of the Dyaks of the country of Sarawak
are of this division, and they are consequently the
people whose miserable and oppressed condition has
recently called forth so much of the attention and
sympathy of our country. This division of the Dyak
race occupies the most western portions of the island.
The tribes of the Malayan states of Pontianak, of Sambas,
of Sarawak, and of Sadong, all belong to it, and the
hilly interior of these countries is peopled entirely by
them. In personal appearance, the Dyaks of the Hills
very much resemble those of the other tribes already
described ; but they have a more grave and quiet expres-
sion of countenance, which gives to their features a
melancholy and thoughtful air. It is very probable,

240 THE HILL DYAKS.

that their many miseries may have much increased this
appearance, though it is natural to them, being observ-
able, in a less degree, in all the tribes of both divi-
sions. Their countenance is an index to the character
of their mind, for they are of peculiarly quiet and mild
dispositions, not easily roused to anger, or the exhi-
bition of any other passion or emotion, and rarely
excited to noisy mirth, unless during their periodical
festivals. Their dress, when they have property suf-
ficient to obtain one, is the long cloth, or " chawat," the
manufacture of the Sakarran Dyaks ; but poverty more
frequently compels them to supply its place with a
rough substance made of the bark of several trees,
particularly that of the genus Artocarpus, which
produces the bread-fruit. Their head-dress is of the
same material, being a strip of the bark dyed yellow, and
twisted into folds, after which it is bound round the
head. For ornaments, they wear bracelets of the red
wood of the heart of the Tapang tree, which, after
exposure to the air, becomes black as ebony, and being
without its brittle qualities, is more durable ; and broad
armlets, which are made of the shell (Kima) from the
coast of Celebes, and which, when polished by length of
use among the Dyaks, resembles ivory, but never acquires
its yellow tinge, always remaining of the purest white
colour.

The young men, who affect gallantry, wear in-
numerable strings of beads around their necks, and
also cover the upper portion of the arm with rings of

HILL DYAK WOMEN. 241

the black iju, or horsehair-like substance formerly
described, plaited very neatly. This, to the eye of an
European, is the most becoming of all their adornments,
the dark black of the material contrasting agreeably,
but not too decidedly, with the brown colour of their
skins. They, also, like the Sakarran Dyaks, wear their
sword, or parang, on the left side, and the little basket
(tambuck) in which are their sirih leaves, and to which
the knife is attached, on the right, and these, together
with a single ring in their ears, usually of broad flat-
tened wire, but frequently of the very smallest dimen-
sions, together with a jacket of Sakarran manufacture*
in wet weather, complete their clothing, ornaments and
accoutrements for ordinary occasions.

The women, in appearance, differ but little from those
previously noticed. Being, however, used to harder
labour, they have not so much time to spend upon their
toilette, and their hair is consequently coarser and less
luxuriant. Some of them are fond of ornaments of opaque
and very small beads, which by the Semproh, Sebongoh,
and other tribes on the southern branch of the
Sarawak river, are worked into very pretty head-dresses.
This ornament is made of the strung beads of various
colours, disposed in broad transverse bands : they are
about four or five inches in breadth, and open at the
top, so that they resemble a broad fillet.

The young girls of these tribes, also, like the men, wear
beads on their necks, and their arms are covered with
brass wire, excepting such parts as are reserved for the
displaying of the valued shell bracelets already mentioned,

R

242 HILL DYAK CHILDREN.

of which two on each arm are the favourite numbers.
Their dress is the " bedang" of the Sakarrans, with the
rattans and appropriate ornaments, as among the women
of the Sea tribes. Silver or gold is, however, never seen
amongst them, their poverty effectually preventing any
display of this kind.

Amongst the tribes on the western branch of
the Sarawak river, the dress of the women is in-
creased by the addition of an article, called by them
" Saladan :" it is made of a bamboo, split, flat-
tened, pared thin, and dyed black : being thus pre-
pared, it is fitted to the body, and secured in its form
and position by brass wires passing across its breadth,
which also serve for the purposes of ornament : they
are placed at the distance of about one inch apart
from each other. Girls begin to wear it at the age
of five or six years, and as it is too small to be
taken off and on, being made on the body, it is only
removed by destroying it, when the condition of the
wearer renders a larger one necessary.

This curious article of dress is confined to the tribes
of Sarawak, called Singhie, Sow, Serambo, Bombuck,
and Peninjow, who in their dress also differ from the
other tribes of the Hills in this, that their women wear
no beads for ornament, and the men only those of two
colours — black and white. Transparent beads are not
esteemed by any of the tribes I have visited ; small and
opaque ones alone being valued by them. The colours,
most in demand, are the two above mentioned ; but
yellow and red are also much sought after. The girls of
the tribes on the western branch of the Sarawak river

CHARACTER OF THE HILL DYAKS. 243

never wear the brass-wire above the elbow-joint of the arm,
nor have I seen them use the white bracelets, so common
in the others of the southern river, the use of which
amongst these tribes is apparently confined to the men.

In travelling amongst the Dyaks, it is well to
be provided with a stock of brass-wire and small
beads, together with Java tobacco, with which to requite
their services ; but as, since confidence has been restored
among them, they are in the habit of visiting Sarawak,
and making their own purchases, in those tribes where
the use of money is understood, it is always preferred as
payment for their labour.

The Hill Dyaks are a more amiable people than
the Sea tribes, previously treated of: their morality
is of a higher standard, their gratitude is undoubted,
and their hospitality to strangers well ascertained.
It has been previously mentioned, that the Malays, who
spend amongst the Dyaks, for the purposes of trade,
that portion of their time which, during the pre-
valence of the boisterous monsoon, they are prevented
from navigating the ocean, never think of carrying with
them, on leaving their houses, more than sufficient pro-
visions to last them till they reach the first village at
which they intend to begin their barter, the Dyaks
always freely supplying them with such as they have.

During the two years which I spent for the most part
amongst their tribes, I always found them obliging, and
anxious to perform for me any service in their power,
and on leaving a village, they wished to load me with
rice, fowls, and fruits, which I was always obliged to

ii 2

244 THEIR HONESTY.

insist upon their retaining, as they were useless to
me.

On many occasions, I have known that, towards the end
of the season, before the new rice was ripe — which is gene-
rally a time of scarcity with them — and when there was
very little to eat in the village, these people have brought
it out to present to me ; but at this season I never taxed
their liberality, but always brought with me a supply from
the town sufficient for my wants, and was frequently able
to return, in their necessity, that with which they had
so freely parted, earlier in the year. In travelling also, I
found them willing, on all occasions, to furnish me as many
men as I might require for the transport of my luggage,
which was usually, on a long journey, from twenty to
thirty ; by these means, my traps followed me from
village to village, all over the country, without any
person with them, every thing being left to the care and
known honesty of the Dyaks ; and though many of my
things were the articles they would most have valued
for dress or ornament, an instance of the slightest pilfer-
ing never occurred, though it might have been constantly
committed, without the slightest danger of immediate
detection.

On leaving a village, my property, which had been in
use, was left strewed about the house in which I had
been staying, my Malays rarely troubling themselves to
see anything properly packed ; but the scrupulous careful-
ness of the Dyaks prevented the loss of anything, and I
have been followed by them with articles which had been
thrown away, but which they feared might be of service.
Having intimated to the chief the village to which I was

THEIR SUPERSTITION. 245

going, I generally found that my baggage was there
nearly as soon as myself. It is difficult, however, to
engage them to assist the adventurous traveller in the
ascent of mountains, from the superstitious dread they
have of the spirits with which the summits of the
higher hills are supposed to be peopled : everything upon
them is sacred to the spirit of the place, and having got
them to the top, it was difficult to teach them to be of
any service. They would by no means be instru-
mental in destroying a stick, or shrub, to make us a
tent or fire, until they had seen that no harm occurred
to the Malays, who had no scruples of the kind ; and
had any one of my attendants unfortunately died, or had
an accident of any serious nature happened to them
after any of these excursions, I should probably have
never been able to obtain another to accompany me.

Their whole lives being spent in the jungle, these
Dyaks are of the greatest possible assistance to Euro-
peans, whose pursuits lead them into its gloom. When
overtaken by night, in the forests, or on the mountains,
their burdens being placed on the ground, they dis-
tribute themselves around, and soon return with sticks
and palm leaves, of which excellent tents are speedily
formed, in which to pass the night ; the floors of
these are always raised above the ground, to preserve
the inmates from the attacks of the leeches which
abound amongst the dead leaves on the ground,
and which are a great annoyance to the traveller in
these wilds. The roof of such a tent is impervious to
the weather, and the whole time employed in the con-
struction does not exceed half-an-hour : fires are lighted

246 THEIR GRATITUDE.

in them, and the traveller having changed his wet and
disorderly apparel for a clean and dry suit, may proceed
to cook his provisions. The nearest bamboo bush will
furnish him with an excellent candlestick, and the
rattan will answer all the purposes of a corkscrew, if
the benighted wayfarer be fortunate enough to have
occasion for its services.

Gratitude, which is too frequently found a rare and
transitory virtue, eminently adorns the character of these
simple people, and the smallest benefit conferred upon
them, calls forth its vigorous and continued exercise.
It cannot, then, be wondered at, that this amiable quality
should lead them, in their simplicity, to consider with a
reverence bordering on adoration, the great benefits
they have received from European influence in their
country. When we consider the oppression of which
they were the objects, and the state of misery to which
the tyranny of their former rulers had reduced them,
and from which the kindness and power of an indivi-
dual of a race, distinct from any of which they had
previously heard — differing not only in features and
complexion so remarkably, but also in the feelings
with which he regarded their poor, distressed and
destitute condition — we can scarcely blame them, that
in the excess of their thankfulness, they should have
considered as supernatural, the person who relieved them
from their wretchedness, and by whose cherishing care
and protecting kindness, they once more enjoyed the
lives and liberties with which the great Creator had
endowed them. We accordingly find that several of
their tribes have ascribed to Mr. Brooke the attri-

THEIR MORALITY. 247

butes and powers of a superior being ; and believe that
he can, by his word, shed an influence over their
persons or property, which will be beneficial to them.
In all their prayers, he is named with the gods of their
superstitions, and no feast is made at which his name
is not invoked. This misdirected gratitude shows the
force with which that virtue influences their minds, and
promises, when the Missionaries shall have arrived at the
scene of their holy labours, to be a feature of their
character which will be of the greatest advantage and
assistance to them, if properly directed.

The amiability of the Dyaks of the Hill tribes is
of a superior character to that of those before
described ; the licentious intercourse between the
sexes is not here permitted ; and so strict are these
people in encouraging virtue amongst their children,
that the young and unmarried men are not permitted to
sleep in the houses of their parents, after having attained
the age of puberty, but occupy a large house, of peculiar
construction, which is set apart for their use in the
village, and will be hereafter noticed. Neither has
the passion for taking the heads of their fellow creatures,
for the mere purpose of complying with a brutal
custom, and satisfying a barbarous appetite, ever
entered their civil institutions, though to preserve the
skulls of their enemies, as memorials of their triumph,
has prevailed. The practice of slavery does not disgrace
their usages, nor is piracy practised by their tribes.
Crime is so rare amongst them, that its punishments
are only known from tradition ; and they live at present

248 THEIR RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS.

in a state of happiness and contentment, which, perhaps,
is at this time enjoyed in so high a degree, by no other
people upon earth.

The language used by the tribes of Land Dyaks,
though differing very much from that of the Sea tribes,
has very great affinity with it ; but like the dialects of
the natives of America, all the little tribes differ con-
siderably from each other, though it generally happens
that a cluster of these, whose villages are not far
apart, and the origin of which can generally be traced to
one which is the most ancient, and parent of the others,
do not differ in dialect so considerably as to prevent oral
communication : thus the tribes on the southern branch
of the Sarawak river all understand the language of
the Suntah and Sempoo people, two nations to which
they owe their existence.

Amongst these people, nothing is more difficult, and
requires more study and a better acquaintance with
their manners and habits, than to procure anything like
accurate information respecting their religious belief
and superstitious observances. My residence in the
country was too short, and my knowledge of the
language too imperfect, to allow me to inquire so
much concerning them, and to understand so well as I
could have wished, and hope at a future period to be
able to do. In their superstitions appear to be strangely
blended the observances of the Hindus and the rites
of the natives of Eastern Polynesia; the existence of
the "taboo" of the latter people proving that the
influence of the religion of the Brahmins was never

THEIR DEITIES. 249

strong enough, altogether to abolish the more ancient
superstition of these tribes. At the present time, they
believe in a number of divinities, or different orders of
spirits, the chief of which, though they vary in many
villages, is the god called " Tuppa" by most of the
tribes ; though amongst some, a deity named Jerroang,
has the precedence.

To a stranger asking them the name of their
God, they universally answer " Juwata ;" but on
closely questioning them, they call this deity Juwata
Laut ; meaning that they have received the knowledge
of him from the Malays, and that his divinity has
no proper place in their mythology. Few people will
hesitate in pronouncing Juwata to be a corruption of the
Sanscrit word " Dewata," which has been adopted into
the Malayan language, and is a term for an order of
celestial beings in the Hindu mythology. In the belief
of the Dyaks, Tuppa and Jerroang are supposed to be
eminently powerful and beneficent beings, controlling,
not only the actions of men, but those of the spirits
of an inferior order. They delight in doing good to
the human race, and have been the bestowers of all the
most sacred gifts to the Dyaks, who say that in ancient
times they received the Padi from the former : other,
but less powerful spirits, are the Perchaah, the Jim,
the Kamang, and the Triu, all of which are generic
terms for classes of beings. The Perchaah appear to
be the ministers of the two powerful divinities (or
classes of divinities), Tuppa and Jerroang. " Jim,"
is, perhaps, a corruption of the term " Jin," evil spririts

250 THE TRIU AND THE KAMANG.

of the Arabians ; and this is the more likely, from
their being considered of the same nature by these people,
and inimical to mankind. They are thought to be
inhabitants of the lower regions of the air, but not
to ascend to the loftier residences of the good and
beneficent gods. The Triu and the Kamang are
spirits of the woods and mountains ; and the martial
genii of these people — the Triu — are inhabitants of the
forests and lofty hills, who constantly descend from
them to visit and bless the houses of their votaries,
whom they also accompany in their expeditions against
their enemies. In person, they are supposed to
resemble the Dyaks themselves, whom they delight in
benefitting.

Far different from this mild and benevolent charac-
ter, is that of the genii of the hideous and savage
Kamang, whose joy is in the misery of mankind,
and who delight in war and bloodshed, and all the
other afflictions of the human race. They mix per-
sonally in the battles of their votaries, not from any
wish to assist them — though they may be, in some
measure, propitiated by feasts in their honour — but that
the carnage may be increased, for they are said to
inspire desperate valour. In person, they are as dis-
gustingly ugly as they are barbarous and cruel in their
dispositions : their bodies are covered, like those of the
Oran-utan, with long and shaggy red hair: they are
mis-shapen and contorted, and their favourite food
is the blood of the human race. They, like the spirits
called Triu, of whom they are supposed to be the enemies,

INVOCATION OF THEIR DEITIES. 251

and to whom their power is reported to be equal, reside
on the earth, in the woods and mountains. Such is all the
information I am able to offer respecting the spirits
and divinities, in the existence of which these tribes
believe. I am perfectly aware that there are many others
whose names I have not recorded ; but that these are
the only ones supplicated on ordinary occasions I am
sure, having made repeated inquiries, and been present
at many invocations of them, some of which will be
described in the course of the work.

Tuppa or Jerroang is always invoked at their
agricultural and other peaceful feasts, and, together
with the sun, moon arid stars, and the Sultan of Bruni,
and their own Rajah, are requested to shed their
beneficent influence over the seed Padi, and to render
the season propitious to its growth. They regulate
their agricultural seasons by the motions of the heavenly
bodies, particularly the Pleiades, which they call
' Sakara,'* and to the several stars, on which they bestow
the attributes of gods. On all occasions of great festi-
vities, such as the planting the seed, or gathering in
of the harvest, a stage of bamboo is erected in front of the
door of the village chief, on which the offerings to the
gods are placed, consisting of the choicest morsels from the
plentiful feast which is always provided on these occa-
sions. From this food, the gods are supposed to extract
the essence, and the remnants are eaten by the Dyaks as
sacred morsels at the conclusion of the festival. The
Triu and Kamang spirits of war are only invited to

* Is this the Batara Sakra of the Hindu Javan mythology, to
whose particular care the earth was confided ?

252 INVOCATION OF THEIR DEITIES.

the feasts connected with, or occasioned by blood-
shed.

These fierce spirits are invoked in a manner peculiar
and different from the more powerful divinities. The
person who is deputed to call them, and who is
generally the chief of the tribe, having prepared a
sirih leaf with lime, betel-nut and tobacco, places
it in his mouth, and, having chewed it for some time,
commences the prayer, speaking in a very fast manner,
and occasionally blowing towards the top of the moun-
tains the betel and sirih he has been masticating.
The invocation ends in a loud, long-continued and
most ludicrous squeak, during which I had the greatest
difficulty to keep the Malays, who accompanied me, from
interrupting the ceremony by their noisy laughter. This
invocation is carried on in the Dyak language — at least
such of the words as I could catch were of it — though
the missionaries of Banjar assert that the Kyans of that
part of the country have a language peculiar and sacred
for this purpose : some specimens of it are published in
the Journal of the ' Halle Missionary Society,' from the
pen of the Rev. C. Hupd

On being questioned, the Dyaks have told me that
they have not a distinct language for their religious
purposes ; and I think that amongst those of Sarawak,
the apparent difference is to be accounted for in the
peculiar intonation they give to the syllables when using
them in their prayers. Some of the Dyaks, whom I
had an opportunity of examining on this point, spoke
Malay well, having lived while children in the Malayan
villages ; so that I think there could be no mistake,

THEIR SUPERSTITION. 253

unless they willingly misled me, of which I do not
think them capable. Nevertheless, some remnants of
the ancient language of Java may be found amongst
the people of Banjar, as from the more frequent
occurrence of Hindu remains in the southern parts
of the island, that religion has evidently been more
prevalent there than in other places ; but if the language
is still preserved, it is curious that the customs have
so entirely disappeared, for, so far as I have been
able to learn, no indications of their former existence
are to be found amongst the southern tribes; and I
am inclined to think that the ancient religion of Java
was confined, in the southern parts of the island of
Borneo, to the colonists from that country, and never
had any considerable influence on the customs or habits
of the aboriginal tribes.

Though the Dyaks, excepting on festival occasions,
pay but little reverence to their divinities ; in situations
in which they consider themselves particularly exposed
to their powrer, they are much in dread of the malig-
nant spirits. Their fear of disturbing the repose of
these on the tops of mountains has been previously
alluded to ; and in such situations we seldom slept
until they had recounted many stories concerning them.
On the ' Gunong Matang,' a mountain about eight
miles from the town of Sarawak, was a path beaten,
probably by wild animals, to the very peak of the hill,
which had never been previously ascended by the
Dyaks : they pointed this out to me as the road
leading to the residence of the Kamang, and which

254 THEIR SUPERSTITION.

they used in their ascent of the hill ; nor was I
fortunate enough to find the tracks of animals, to
undeceive them on this point.

On all feasts which have connection with war, the
Triu and Kamang are invoked to be present, and a
portion of the food is set apart for them, as on other
occasions for the god, Tuppa, who is supposed not
to attend with the Kamang and Triu, since his more
pure and beneficent nature looks upon war with horror
and disgust. The offerings to the Kamang and Triu
remain exposed four days and nights, after which
they are eaten, in a decaying state, by the Dyaks,
who by doing this, suppose they perform a sacred duty.

At their feasts on less warlike occasions, their more
powerful and good spirits are petitioned by prayer and
supplication to be present ; but as these festivals are
intimately connected with their religious observances,
I will in this place describe one which was made on
my arrival at the village of the Sebongoh Hill Dyaks, in
August, 1845, in honour of the first European visit
to them. After having consented to remain while
the chief collected the tribe, I sat down in the verandah
of the house, which had been prepared for my reception
by being covered with fine white Sirhassan mats : similar
ones were also strewed from my boat to the houses,
which are built on the banks of the river, so that I might
not soil my feet in the ascent to them. Soon after I
was seated, the Orang Kaya (chief of a village) requested
me to give them a little piece of cloth, and a small silver
coin — they wishing to cut off the string of a pillow-

PROPITIATION OF THEIR DEITIES. 255

case for the first, but I gave them a grass-cloth hand-
kerchief, which very much delighted them : the old chief
brought out his wife to receive it, and the lady told
me that it was to be hung up in the house as a memo-
rial of my visit, and to preserve the village from evil
influence.

When the feast was about to begin — or rather the
preparations for it — I was desired by the Orang Kaya
to accompany him to the stage before the verandah, which
is used by the Dyaks for drying their Padi (Indian-corn),
Jagong (maize), &c. Having determined, for the purpose
of seeing the ceremony, to be quite passive in their hands,
I accordingly rose, and went with him. The old man
held in his left hand a small saucer, filled with rice,
which had been made yellow by a mixture with
Kunyit, or Turmeric, and other herbs. He then
uttered a prayer in Malay, which he had previously
requested me to repeat after him. It was addressed
to Tuppa, the sun and moon, and the Rajah of
Sarawak, to request that the next Padi harvest might
be abundant, that their families might be increased
with male children, and that their pigs and fowls might
be very prolific : it was, in fact, a prayer for general
prosperity to the country and tribe. During its con-
tinuance, we threw towards heaven small portions
of the rice from the saucer at frequent intervals, and
at the commencement of every fresh paragraph of the
supplicatory address. After this had been finished,
the chief repeated the prayer in the Dyak language
by himself, throwing the rice towards the sky, as

256 PROPITIATION OF THEIR DEITIES.

before ; which, when he had finished, we returned
together into the verandah, and the Orang Kaya tied
a little hawk-bell round my wrist, requesting me at the
same time to tie another, with which he furnished me
for the purpose, round the same joint of his right
hand. After this, the noisy gongs and tomtoms
began to play, being suspended from the rafters at
one end of the verandah, and the chief tied another
of the little bells round my wrist : his example was
this time followed by all the old men present, each
addressing a few words to me, or rather mumbling
them to themselves, of which I did not understand
the purport.

Every person who now came in, brought with him
several bamboos of cooked rice; and each, as. he
arrived, added one to the number of my bells, so that
they had now become inconveniently numerous, and I
requested, as a favour, that the remainder might be
tied upon my left wrist, if it made no difference to
the ceremony. Those who followed, accordingly did
as I had begged of them in this particular. Soon
after, a spotted fowl was brought in, having its legs
tied together: it was held out to an old man, who
also tied its wings, and the person who had brought
it then made it fast to one of the posts of the door-
Immediately after, a white one was brought, which was
secured in the same manner. In half-an-hour the
spotted one was again produced, and its legs being
loosened, it was given into the hands of the Orang
Kaya, who swinging it backwards and forwards over

COMPLETION OF THE CEREMONY. 257

the heads of the seated people, repeated the same invoca-
tion as that previously used by the chief and myself outside.
Having finished, the white one was given to me, and walk-
ing up and down the place, I went through the same cere-
mony. After this, the white one was presented for my
acceptance, and another was given to my servant and
people. The spotted one was then held by the Orang
Kaya over the saucer containing the remainder of the
rice we had not used outside : another man cut off
its head with a sharp piece of bamboo ; and the bloody
rice was then carried out by the chief and myself,
who went through the praying ceremony again. This
finished, the gongs and tomtoms again began to
play, the boys being the performers. The pig, which
forms the principal part of the festival, was then
killed with a spear, and being first partially roasted
over a fire, was cut up into small pieces, put into
green bamboos, and boiled on the spot; all the
persons present assisting at this, to them, pleasing
labour. After it was put upon the fires, the people
all dispersed for about an hour: when they returned,
everything was ready to be eaten.

I was now getting very tired of the proceedings,
and should have been glad to get away; but retreat,
without giving offence, was impossible. Everything
being ready, and the feast served to the seated
people, the fish, fowls and pig, of which it con-
sisted, were soon made to disappear, together with a
very large quantity of rice. They drank the palm
toddy, and finished what wine I had with me. By

s

258 COMPLETION OF THE CEREMONY.

the time this was accomplished it had become quite dark,
so that I requested to be allowed to eat my own dinner,
not having the slightest wish to taste the many things
which the Dyaks had placed before me, and which they
doubtlessly considered the most delicate parts of the
entertainment. Having finished my meal, and lighted
my cigar, the dancing was commenced by the old men
of the tribe, who were tottering under all the fine
clothes the village could produce. This uninteresting
performance consisted in placing and sustaining their
bodies in the most contorted positions* and moving up
and down the verandah with the slow and shuffling
step, and shrill scream of the Sea Dyak dances, which,
excepting in the exhibition of heads, this performance
much resembled. The actors were occasionally cheered
by the spectators, on having performed dexterously
some more difficult and inelegant contortion than
ordinary ; but as I did not sufficiently appreciate its
beauties, I was unable to echo them. My Malays,
however, who were living at the expense of the Dyaks,
were liberal in their commendations. No drunkenness,
or other indecent behaviour, was exhibited at this
festival.

On taking my departure on the following day, I
made presents to the principal people of the battik
handkerchiefs, beads, and other trinkets they so much
value. Had I permitted them, they would have laden
my boat with rice and fowls, which, when I descended
from the houses, I found waiting at the landing-place.
At the feast above described, women did not dance,

CEREMONY PERFORMED BY MR. BROOKE. 259

as they were too bashful to perform before a stranger ;
but I have had opportunities of witnessing them on
other occasions, and am enabled to say that the
performance differs in no respect from that of the
men : like them, they dress in all the fine clothes
they can find, not in the least caring whether or not
they are elegant in appearance.

In other particulars, though they differ in some
trifling matters, the feasts of the other Land tribes
precisely resemble this of the Sebongoh people. When
Mr. Brooke visits their residences, instead of suppli-
cating him, they each bring a portion of the Padi-seed
they intend to sow next season, and with the necklaces
of the women, which are given to him for that pur-
pose, and which, having been dipped into a mixture
previously prepared, are by him shaken over the
little basins which contain the seed, by which process
he is supposed to render them very productive. Other
tribes, whom from their distance he cannot visit, send
down to him for a small piece of white cloth, and a
little gold or silver, which they bury in the earth
of their farms, to attain the same result. On his
entering a village, the women also wash and bathe
his feet, first with water, and then with the milk
of a young cocoa-nut, and afterwards with water again :
all this water, which has touched his person, is preserved
for the purpose of being distributed on their farms,
being supposed to render an abundant harvest certain.

On one occasion, having remarked that the crops of
rice of the Samban tribe were thin, the chief imme-

s 2

260 THE PAMALI, OR " TABOO."

diately observed that they could not be otherwise, as they
had never been visited by the Rajah, and he begged of
me to try and induce Mr. Brooke to visit them, to remove
the causes which had rendered their crop a small one.

The Pamali is a curious practice, resembling the
" taboo" of the South Sea Islands, and is intimately
connected with their festivals, and other religious or
superstitious observances. The Pamali is of different
kinds, and used on several occasions ; but to describe
the three principal ones, will be sufficient in a small
work of this nature. These are the " Pamali Mati," or
" taboo," for the dead; the " Pamali Peniakit" or that for
sickness ; and the " Pamali Omar" or that for the Padi
farms.

The first, Pamali Mati, is on a house, and on every
thing in it for twelve days after the decease of any person
belonging to it : during this time, no one, who is not an
inhabitant of the dwelling can enter it, nor are the
persons usually residing in it allowed to speak to such,
nor can any thing, on any pretence whatever, be removed
from it, until the twelve days of the prohibition be
expired : its conclusion is marked by the death of a fowl
or pig, according to the circumstances of the family.

The Pamali Peniakit is undertaken by a whole village
during any sickness which prevails generally amongst
the members of the tribe ; it is marked by a pig slain,
and a feast being made in order to propitiate the divinity
who has sent the malady among them ; in its severest
form, it is of eight days' continuance, and during this
period every thing in the village is at a stand still, the

THE PAMALI PENIAKIT. 261

inhabitants shutting themselves up from all intercourse
with strangers. This form of Pamali prevented my
personally visiting the Brang and Sipanjang tribes, as
they were under the taboo when I was in their
vicinity, for a kind of dysentery which was prevalent
among them.

The Pamali Peniakit is also undertaken by individuals
when any member of the family is sick ; thus, parents
often put themselves under its regulations, fondly hoping
that by denying themselves for a time the pleasures of
intercourse with their fellow creatures, they will prevail
upon the malignant spirit, which is supposed to have
shed its withering influence over their offspring, to
restore it to its wonted health and strength. Bye
Ringate, the chief of the Sennah Dyaks, was dying from
a severe dysentery ; his children told me, sorrowing,
when I visited their village, that pigs had been killed,
and the great Pamali had been tried in vain, and that a
person who had come from a distant tribe had also
failed to effect a cure, and as a last resource, they wished
to have some medicine from the Europeans. On
returning, I sent some pills to him which Dr. Treacher,
the clever surgeon at Sarawak, had given me for the
purpose ; and though, when he found himself get better
from their effects, he took more of them than he should
have done, we had the satisfaction of hearing that he had
perfectly recovered. I never visited the tribe after this
occurrence ; but should suppose that it must have shaken
their belief in the Pamali, and established the reputation
of the European doctor in its place.

262 A DYAK FUNERAL.

The Pamali Omar, or taboo on the farms, occurs
immediately after the whole of the seed is sown : it lasts
four days, and during that period, no person of the tribe
enters any of the plantations on any account ; a pig and
feast are, according to their practice, also necessary.
The proper observance of these various forms of Pamali
is probably amongst the most ancient of their customs,
and was practised by their tribes previously to the intro-
duction of the Hindu religion.

The Land Dyaks have not among their tribes any of
the peculiar functionaries described as " Manangs " in
the preceding chapters ; at least, none who assume their
effeminate character and ridiculous habits; and they
consider it a very strange custom in their neighbours.
The only person who appears amongst them to be pro-
fessionally connected with their religious observances, is
the " Balean," who prepares the piles for the burning of
the dead, as these Dyaks do not dispose of their dead
relations by burial.

These piles are generally erected at the foot of the hill
on which the village is built, and the body is conveyed
to the place as soon as it has been prepared. It is borne
by the male relations of the deceased, and followed from
the brow of the hill, where the female relatives station
themselves ; by their cries and lamentations, though
these are not of that kind which are intended merely to
attract the sympathy of passers-by, but are such as are
caused alone by heartfelt and genuine sorrow. The body,
being surrounded and covered with wood, is altogether
consumed by the flames, the ascent of which, and of the

THEIR BELIEF IN A FUTURE STATE. 263

smoke, are carefully watched by their assistant relations,
who draw from its perpendicular direction, an augury
favourable and satisfactory to them. Should, however,
the smoke ascend, from wind or other causes, in a
slanting manner, they depart, assured that the Antu,
or spirit, is not yet satisfied ; and that soon, one or
another of them will become his prey. This, however,
gives them but little uneasiness; as death, to their
ignorant and unenlightened minds, displays no terror; and
though they shun it with that instinctive fear which is
common both to animals and men, they have by no
means the dread of the King of Terror common to more
enlightened nations.

Though a knowledge of a future state has evidently
been, at some time, prevalent amongst these people,
many of them, at the present time, have no idea of
the immortality of the soul ; though some have a
slight and confused conception of it. These say
that the spirit of a deceased person haunts the house
and village it had formerly inhabited during the twelve
days of the Pamali ; but the Dyaks of the western
branch of the Sarawak, who do not practice the Pamali
so rigorously as those of the southern river, say that it
departs, at the burying of the body, to the woods or
mountains, or goes they know not where. One in-
stance came to my knowledge inferring a partial belief
in the transmigration of the soul ; but as it is a solitary
example, I merely give the anecdote without any com-
ment.

It occurred in October, last year, as I was on the
road to the Gunong Pennerissen, which I intended to

264 A PECULIAR SUPERSTITION.

ascend in search of plants, and which is situated on the
confines of the Sangow and Sarawak territories. Walk-
ing through a jungle between the villages of Sennah and
Sudoish, a large snake crossed our path ; and when I
inquired of the Sennah Dyak, Pa-Benang, who was
walking before me, his reason for not killing it — his
parang having been drawn, and his arm arrested when
raised to strike — he told me that the bamboo bush
opposite to which we were then standing, had been a
man, and one of his relations, who, dying about ten
years previously, had appeared in a dream to his widow,
and informed her that he had become the bamboo tree
we then saw, and the ground in its immediate neigh-
bourhood, and everything on it, was sacred on this
account. Pa-Benang told me, that in spite of the
warning given to the woman in the vision, that the
Dyaks should respect this tree, a man had once had the
hardihood to cut a branch from it, in consequence of
which he soon after died ; his death being considered by
the tribe as a punishment for his sacrilegious act. A
small bamboo altar was erected before the bush, on which
were the remnants of offerings which had been, but not
recently, presented to the spirit of the tree.

Besides the trace of the Hindu religion, which we
have recorded, in the disposal of their dead by fire,
other relics are to be discovered in their customs, par-
ticularly in that which induces them to abstain from the
use of animal food of several kinds. This practice — as
indeed all those which have any connection with Hin-
duism— is observed more strictly amongst the Sin-
ghie, Sow, and other tribes of the western branch of

ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD. 265

the Sarawak, than amongst those of the Southern
stream, where the old Polynesian customs are more
venerated. Thus it is that the Pamali is less practised
amongst the former than amongst the latter tribes ; and
from this we are led to infer that this country was, most
likely, the boundary of the spread of the religion of the
Brahmins, and that its influence had not extended to
the eastward, as the Dyaks of Sadong retain but few
traces of its existence, and those of Sakarran and Sarebas
none at all. Some of the tribes of the Sadong River,
situated farthest to the eastward, are said to bury their
dead, as do all the Dyak tribes beyond them.

The ox, the buffalo, the deer, the goat, fowls
and some kinds of vegetables, are forbidden food to
some or other of these tribes. Of these animals, those
which are held most sacred are the bull and cow, and
nothing would induce a Dyak of any of the tribes
of Sarawak, to eat anything into the composition or
cooking of which either the flesh of the animal, or
any part of its productions has entered ; so that, if
offered any of the food which has been prepared for
an European, they immediately ask if it has been
cooked with butter or ghee ; in which case they will
not partake of it. So strongly is this superstitious
prejudice rooted in their minds, that Dyaks, who have
become Mahomedans at the age of five to seven years,
and who since that period had resided among Malays,
still adhered to the practice ; and at the feasts of
these latter people, and when on other occasions they
have opportunities, never partake of such food. The

266 FURTHER INSTANCES OF IT.

prohibition against the flesh of deer is much less
strictly practised, and in many tribes totally disregarded.
As usual with the relics of the religion of the Brah-
mins, it is less prevalent on the southern than on
the western branch of the river of Sarawak, many of
the tribes of the former having totally set aside the
custom. In the large tribe of Singhie, it is observed
in its fullest extent, and is even carried so far, that
they will not allow strangers to bring a deer into their
houses, or to be cooked by their fires. The men of
the tribe will not touch the animal, and none but the
women or boys, who have not been on a war expedi-
tion, which admits them to the privileges of man-
hood, are allowed to assist the European sportsman
in bringing home his bag.

It is amongst this, the Sow, and other tribes on the
same branch of the river, that goats, fowls, and the fine
kind of fern (paku), which forms an excellent vege-
table, are also forbidden food to the men, though the
women and boys are allowed to partake of them, as
they are also of the deer's flesh amongst the Singhie
Dyaks. The tribe of Sow, whose villages are not far
from the houses of Singhie, does not so rigorously
observe the practice. Old men, women, and boys may
eat of its flesh ; the middle-aged and unmarried young
men only being prohibited from partaking of it. I
think, however, that the practice of using the flesh of
the animal in question is one of recent introduction, and
probably first used by them in the scarcity of food,
in the time of the native Rajahs of Sarawak, by whom,

ABSTINENCE FROM MILK. 267

more than any of the others, this tribe was oppressed.
I am induced to entertain this opinion, from having
observed several of the men deny themselves its use,
and from the abundance of the herds in their district of
country. In those places where the tribes have had,
for a long time, no scruple regarding the use of its
flesh, the animal is never plentiful, on account of
their ingenuity in catching or destroying it.

Their not using the milk or butter of the cow, in
which the Hindus delight, has been accounted for on
the supposition that, at the first introduction of the
animal into Java, from whence it came to Borneo, this
was a precautionary measure to encourage the breed, by
not depriving the calves of their natural sustenance.
None of these animals are now to be found in Sarawak,
with the exception of the few belonging to the Euro-
peans, and introduced by them from the northern parts
of the island, where large herds of the descendants of
some brought thither by the Spaniards about two
hundred years ago are found. They are reported to
have been kept in considerable numbers by the natives
of Sarawak, until the disturbances, when they were all
destroyed. The Malays make no use of the milk of
the animal, nor do the inhabitants of Java.

From the prevalence of the indications of the in-
fluence of the Hindu religion, observed in their customs
above detailed, we might suppose that the traces of
its monuments in the arts of building and sculpture, so
common in some parts of Java, might be also found
here ; but, as has been previously observed, it is

268 ANCIENT MONUMENTS.

probable that this and the neighbouring river of Samar-
hand, were the most eastern confines of its sway,
and that the people were neither sufficiently numerous,
nor zealous enough in the exercise of its precepts,
to render it advisable to incur the necessary expense
of bringing these things from Java, or of importing
Hindu artists from thence. One positive monument
of these people has, however, been found in Sarawak,
though in a much mutilated state. It is the image of
a bull, carved in stone, and in a crouching position,
similar to one sketched in Sir Stamford Raffles's History
of Java, fig. 5, in the plate from subjects in stone, found
near Singa-Sari, in the district of Maling, in Java.

The Borneo specimen is too much disfigured to
ascertain whether its trappings had been the same.
This relic was much venerated by the Dyaks, who
protested against its being removed, declaring that the
country would be deluged by rain, and that other
supernatural events would occur, if it were allowed to
go out of the province. They were finally prevailed
upon to permit its removal to Sarawak, by the argu-
ment, that an object of such veneration should not
be permitted to be exposed in the jungle, and that
it should be placed under a shed in the town, where
it now accordingly stands.

Two other objects, the workmanship of a people who
had attained to some degree of skill in the art of working
stone, have been discovered; the one at a point of the river,
about six miles above the town of Sarawak, called Battu
Kawa ; the other on the Samarhand river, near Lcdah

ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 269

Tanah, and called by the Malays, Battu Berala, or the
Idol Stone. The best idea of the shape of this last will
be given by the accompanying engraving.*

The Battu Kawa is not in any way reverenced by
any of these people, and from the square hole in the
centre, and its being situated in a place where Moham-
medans are known to have been buried, I have thought
that with a post, which may have decayed, placed in the
hole of the stone, it may have served to commemorate
the interment of a saint, or some other distinguished
person of that religion. But the Malays deny all know-
ledge of its uses, or the period of its construction, and
none of them are now capable of producing anything
like it in stone.

The Battu Berala, on the contrary, is highly vene-
rated by the surrounding Dyaks, who suppose the
slight elevation on which it is placed, to be the resi-

* Dimensions of the Battu Berala: — 2 feet 7 inches across the
upper surface. Diameter of the round hole, 12 inches ; diameter
of the square hole, on the lower surface, 7 inches. Thickness of
the whole stone, 6 inches ; thickness of the upper edge, 4 inches.

270 ANCIENT MONUMENTS.

dence of some great spirit, in whose honour, once
a year, the Dyaks are said, at this spot, to hold
a great feast, bringing the pigs and provisions from
their village for this purpose. I exceedingly regret
that during the time I visited the stone, it was
impossible to proceed further up the river, which be-
comes small at this distance from the sea, to learn
from these Dyaks themselves the whole of the par-
ticulars concerning it. Such information as I was
able to obtain respecting it, is derived entirely from the
Malays who are well acquainted with the customs of
the Dyaks of the river, and many of whom speak their
language with facility. None of the Dyaks will cut
down the trees or make their farms near this place,
as they fear to draw upon themselves the anger of the
divinity residing in it. Other stones lay about the
Battu Berala, one of which appeared to have formed
part of the shaft of a column, but they were so broken,
that nothing certain, as to their original shape or uses,
could be gathered from these fragments.

Though these stones are few in number, the image of
the bull alone, and the veneration in which it and the
Battu Berala are held, are sufficient evidences that the
religion which introduced and used them, has had
some influence in this part of the island. In the
southern provinces, and those of the south-west,
where the colonies of Javanese were larger, and their
communication with the parent country more frequent
and regular, images of brass and stone are abundant ;
and even small temples are said, by the Dutch, to have

ANCIENT DRAGON-JARS. 271

been found in the vicinity of Sukadana and Banjar.
Some jars and other earthenware, similar to that
used in India in the present day, have been dug up
close to the town of Sarawak, in the garden of
Mr. Hentig, an European gentleman residing there.
In one of the earthen jars, which resembled the chatty,
used for cooking by the Hindus, were discovered the
golden ornaments of the face, which are common
amongst the people of Hindustan : this jar had, per-
haps, contained the ashes of a person whose body had
been burned.

Amongst the Dyaks are found jars, held by them
in high veneration, the manufacturers of which are
forgotten ; the smaller ones, amongst the Land and Sea
Dyaks, but particularly with the latter, are common.
They are called Nagas, from the Naga or dragon,
which is rudely traced upon them. They are glazed on
the outside, and the current value of them is forty dol-
lars ; but those which are found amongst the Kyan tribes,
and those of South Borneo and amongst the Kadyans,
and other tribes of the north, are valued so highly as
to be altogether beyond the means of ordinary persons,
and are the property of the Malayan Rajahs, or of the
chiefs of native tribes.

I have never had an opportunity of seeing one of
these valued relics of antiquity, but am told that,
like the Nagas, they are glazed, but larger. They
have small handles round them, called ears by the
natives, and figures of dragons are traced upon their
surface: their value is about two thousand dollars.

272 DYAK VENERATION.

In the houses of their owners, to whom they are a
source of great profit, they are kept with pious care,
being covered with beautiful cloths. Water is kept in
them, which is sold to the tribe, and valued on account
of the virtues it is supposed to possess, and which it
derives from the jar which has contained it.

By what people these relics were made, and by
what means they have been thus distributed, and
the veneration for them so widely spread, cannot be
at this time determined. Some of the jars were
sent from Banjar Massin to China, by the Dutch,
who hoped to make a profitable speculation by their
credulity; but the artists of that country could not,
though famed for their imitative powers, copy these with
sufficient exactness to deceive the Dyaks, who imme-
diately discovered that they were not those they esteemed;
and, consequently, set no value upon them. From their
price, it is presumed that these jars are very rare.

I think that I have now mentioned all the relics of a
former superstition — but more recent than those proper
to the Polynesian character — which are known to exist
in the western and north-western provinces of the
island. The veneration for certain plants, now to be
described, seems to be more ancient than the intro-
duction of the Brahminical religion, excepting in two
instances, those of the Draccena and the yellow bamboo
— which, from their being natives of India, may have
come with it.

The Draccena resembles the species known to
Botanists as "Dracaena terminalis," and is not a

FOR CERTAIN PLANTS. 273

native of the island. It is planted near their houses
and around the " bulu gading," or ivory bamboo,
which is held in great reverence. This beautiful cane,
one or more tufts of which are found near every village,
grows to the height of the largest of the genus : its
stems are of a bright yellow colour, with a smooth and
ivory-like appearance. Beneath its shade, and amongst
plants of the crimson and pink-leaved Dracaena, is
generally erected a little bamboo altar, covered in winter
from the rain with a roof, but more frequently open.
When protected, a ladder is usually placed for facilitating
the ascent of the spirit to the offerings upon the
stage, which are placed there on all their festival
occasions : when the altar is roofed, it in general
resembles a Dyak house, and thus becomes a little
temple. No worship is paid to the tree, but the place
on which it stands is considered sacred ; and a plant is
always procured and tended with care in every village,
until it becomes a large and handsome bush. Its
gracefully beautiful stems and foliage probably first
attracted the attention of these people, and induced
them to suppose plants, which were to them of so
pleasing an appearance, equally the favourites of the
gods.

The Bunga Si-kudip, as it is called by the Dyaks of
the southern branch of the Sarawak river, and amongst
whom it is held in the greatest esteem, though known, I
believe to all the tribes, is the plant described by botanists
as the Pancratium Amboinense or Eurycles coronata, a
native of the Moluccas and other islands to the east-

T

274 SUPERSTITIONS OF THE

ward ; but as far as is at present known, a stranger to
the flora of Borneo, in the western parts of which, the
order Amaryllidea, to which it belongs, is only repre-
sented by one species of Crinum, which is found on the
muddy banks of the river. By the Si-booyoh Sea
Dyaks, this plant is called Si-kenyang. By the Dyaks
of the southern river, the roots of this bulbous plant are
preserved with jealous care, being always taken up when
the Padi is ripe, and preserved amongst it in the grana-
ries, to be planted again with the seed-padi in the
following season. It bears a beautiful crown of white
and fragrant flowers, which rise about a foot above the
bulb ; the only plant which I saw in a flowering state
was at Sennah, and no consideration would induce the
owner to part with it.

These and other Dyaks assert that the Padi will
not grow unless a plant of the Si-kudip be in the
field, and on being asked respecting its origin they
answered, that Tuppa gave it to mankind with the Padi,
and requested them to take care of it, which they now
do. The plant I saw in flower at Sennah, had a
bamboo altar erected over it, on which were several
offerings, consisting of food, water, &c.

I think there can be little doubt that the plant has
been brought with the Dyaks from the country whence
they first emigrated to Borneo, and as it is not at
present known to be an inhabitant of any country west
of the island, it would follow that the people came from
the eastward, perhaps from the opposite island of
Celebes ; but conclusions of this nature cannot be drawn

DYAKS OF SARAWAK. 275

until the habitat of the plant be better ascertained.
Should it be found to be held in the same veneration
amongst the Kyan tribes, and the wild inhabitants of
Celebes and the Arafouras of the different islands to the
eastward become better known, the fact of this plant
having been carried westward may be of considerable
importance, in setting at rest the long agitated question
regarding the direction in which the tide of population
in the eastern islands flowed. That this island was
peopled originally from the eastward, is, I think, to be
deduced from the relative positions of the tribes : — the
Kyans, the most strong and powerful, occupying the
eastern coast, having driven the Sea Dyaks, the descend-
ants of former emigrants, to the westward, who had pre-
viously forced the Land Dyaks, the first immigrants to
the island, to retreat before them in the same manner.

Connected with the subject of their religious and
superstitious observances, must be mentioned the faith
they place in omens, which are principally drawn from
the noises of insects ; they are esteemed favourable, or
otherwise, according as they are in particular directions
from the person wishing to consult them : they have also
omens of other kinds, but I am not sufficiently ac-
quainted with the subject to detail them. I may add,
from my own observation, that they will never start on
any journey, however short, until they ascertain from
these practices, whether it will end favourably ; and
should the omens not be at first as they wish them,
they seldom have to wait long before a promising one is
heard, as, from the number of insects which supply

T 2

276 SPECULATION AS TO THE

them, this necessarily cannot be long before it occurs.
A seat is made at the approach to every village, at
which all persons leaving their houses wait the wished-
for signal, which shall announce a happy termination to
the labours of the day, or other business on which they
may be departing.

I have not observed amongst the Dyaks of Sarawak,
that they hold in superstitious dread any species of
birds, though such may be the case in some parts
of the country, as it is mentioned by one or two
writers, though by none from personal observation. 1
have shot all kinds of birds in their presence, and they
never showed the least wish to prevent me, but were
always amused at seeing them fall, and ready to eat such
as I did not want for the purpose of preserving their
skins.

From the foregoing very imperfect account of the
customs of these people, connected with a religious pro-
fession, it will be seen that several of the customs and
observances of the Hindus have been grafted on the
original and more ancient superstitions general among
the inhabitants of Polynesia. All writers on the East
have uniformly declared that, with the exception of the
Papuas, or black race, inhabiting some of the more eastern
of the islands, all the various tribes of the Archipelago
have originated from one people, which Mr. Crawfurd
considers a distinct race, and peculiar to those islands.
I am not capable of giving an opinion on a matter so
weighty ; but certainly think with the high authority
above quoted, that they are not of the Tartar race, as

ORIGIN OF THE DYAKS. 277

had been formerly supposed ; though the Javanese, who
are the most distinct from the other races of the island,
bear considerable resemblance to that division of the
human family.

The natives of the continent of South America are
little known, and I have met with no vocabulary of the
languages of the central tribes of that continent. Usages
cannot be depended on, as the same circumstances would
produce similar habits among people who had no com-
munication ; but the use of the Sumpit-an, which pre-
vails among the South Americans, is also common in
Borneo, and is known to some more eastern islands.
The Taboo, or Pamali, assimilates the Dyaks with the
islanders of New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean ; and,
should the inquiry be properly carried out by persons
residing on the spot, and who may have leisure and
opportunity to pursue an investigation so interesting, we
may hope, in time, to connect the inhabitants of all the
islands closely one with another ; and, finally, annex them
to the continent of South America, or establish them —
which is, perhaps, more probable — as a distinct race from
any of those of Asia or the Western World. It will be
my study, if opportunities occur, during a contemplated
residence, which I hope may be long continued, on the
island of Labuh-an, to prosecute these inquiries ; and I
hope that others, with similar advantages, will assist in
the elucidation of the confused but interesting history of
these nations.

CHAPTER IX.

LAND DYAK VILLAGES AND HOUSES — THE PANGAH — DYAK FORTI-
FICATIONS THEIR PATHS AND BRIDGES MODE OF TRAVEL-
LING— THE ORANG KAYA DYAK ASSEMBLIES, OR PARLIAMENT

THEIR POPULATION VILLAGES DYAK TRIBES IN SARAWAK

THEIR MORALITY AND MARRIAGE CEREMONIES — A CURIOUS

AND SALUTARY CUSTOM HEAD-TAKING DYAK DISEASES,

MEDICINE AND SURGERY — MODE OF CURE — MUSICAL INSTRU-
MENTS AND SINGING WEAPONS THE TAPANG TREE MODE OF

PROCURING WAX AND EDIBLE BIRDS* NESTS AGRICULTURE

LANDOWNERS.

THE nature of the relations which, until recently, existed
amongst the tribes of the Land Dyaks, rendered it of
paramount importance that the situation of each village
should be such as was easily capable of defence. We
accordingly find all the hills of the interior of the western
portion of the island, on which springs of water are
found, to be occupied by one or other of their commu-
nities ; and one or two of these, which were possessed by
numerous tribes, have been considered sufficiently strong
to resist the Sakarran Dyaks, and have, accordingly, been
unmolested by these ruthless spoilers, excepting in some
instances, where small parties were discovered at a dis-
tance from their villages, or living at their farm-houses,
and who were generally cut off; but in other cases, the
difficulties of ascent have been overcome by the invaders,

LAND DYAK VILLAGES. 279

and the tribes massacred and destroyed. This, however,
the Sakarran Dyaks could not themselves have accom-
plished, had they been unassisted by the fire-arms of the
Malays.

In appearance, the villages of the Hill tribes differ
considerably from the houses of the Sea Dyaks pre-
viously described : though they are built much upon the
same principles Though these are by no means so well
carried out, the same terrace-like arrangement is adhered
to, where the nature of the ground will admit of it, but
this arrangement is never seen in such perfection as
amongst the Sea tribes, on account of the inequalities
of the surface, and the rocky nature of the sides of
mountains, chosen for their position.

For these reasons, a row of houses seldom contains
more than from six to ten residences, and these rows
are scattered in all directions, no regularity of position
being attempted in the arrangement of the village, but
each terrace being placed as near as possible to the
others, for the purposes of defence and mutual pro-
tection. The houses, like those of the Sea Dyaks, are
raised upon posts of Balean, or some other hard wood,
though the latter are by no means so stout and large :
more of them, consequently, are necessary to support
the building. Their houses, individually, are generally
much smaller and less commodious, particularly among
the poorer tribes. But I have observed that those who
have most felt the cherishing influence of the European
government, have built houses equally commodious and
substantial with those of the other divisions. This is

280 LAND DYAK HOUSES.

observable to a great degree in the Sow, Sennah, and
Sempro tribes. In the interior, these houses differ from
those formerly noticed, only in having at the end of
the house, farthest from the door, a raised platform,
about two feet higher than the floor of the apartment.
This serves as a seat for the family by day, and is set
apart for the use of the unmarried females of the house
by night. The roofs of these houses are lower, gene-
rally, among the poorer tribes ; and, amongst all, are
formed from a different palm from the Nipah, with
which those of the Sea Dyaks are composed. The
palms they use are of several kinds; and though not
gathered with such facility, on account of their greater
scarcity, they are reported to last much longer than the
other/

The furniture of the houses differs in no respect from
that of those already described; and the flooring on
which the married people, with their younger children,
sleep, is of the same construction. One or more
cradles, formed of the hollow stem of the Sago-palm,
or a block of wood, in which a cavity has been made,
slung from the beams of the house by ropes attached to
both ends of it, adorn the room ; and a notched pole
serves them as a ladder to ascend to the loft of the
house.

In the villages of all the tribes of Land Dyaks are
found one, and sometimes more houses of an octagonal
form, with their roofs ending in a point at the top.
They always stand apart from the others ; and
instead of having a door at the side, these, which are

THE PANGAH.

281

never built with verandahs, are entered by a trap-door at
the bottom, in the flooring. These houses vary in size,
according to the wants of the hamlet by which they are
built; but are generally much larger than ordinary
domiciles. The term by which they are distinguished

is " Pangah," " Ramin," being the Dyak word for an
ordinary house. The Pangah is built by the united
efforts of the boys and unmarried men of the tribe,
who, after having attained the age of puberty, are
obliged to leave the houses of the village ; and do not
generally frequent them after they have attained the age
of eight or nine years. A large fire-place, of similar
construction to those of the ordinary residences, is placed
in the centre of this hall, and around its sides are plat-

282 THE DURIAN.

forms similar to those used by the women in the other
dwellings of the village.

The Pangah, being generally the best house in the
place, is set apart for the use of strangers visiting
the tribe ; and in it all the councils of the old men
are held, and all business connected with the welfare
of the people is transacted. A large drum, formed
of the skin of some animal, stretched upon the end
of a hollow tree, is placed above the heads of the
persons on the floor, for the purpose of apprising the
village of any approaching danger. From the timbers
which cross the house and support the slight flooring of
the loft, where the young men keep their sleeping-mats
and other things by day, usually depend the skulls
collected during ages, by the tribe. But on account of
the bloodless nature of their wars, these are seldom
numerous ; and frequently would not equal in number
the heads in the possession of a single family of the Sea
Dyaks.

The villages of the Hill tribes are always, where the
situation has been long the residence of a tribe,
surrounded, to a great extent of country, by orchards
of the delicious fruits of these climes ; and on approach-
ing their houses during the season when these are in
blossom, or loaded with their delicate fruits, the
perfume exhaled by them is most grateful to the
traveller, who is generally not long in seating himself
under the dense foliage of the beautiful mangusteen,
or the lofty and more spreading branches of the
durian ; in which position the Dyaks attending, soon

DYAK FRUITS. 283

supply him with abundance of the choicest fruits of
the earth.

Any one accustomed only to eat the fruits of the
Malayan bazaars, cannot imagine the superior delicacy
of flavour in those fresh plucked. In this state,
the durian, which, after it has been gathered for a
day or two sends forth a most offensive smell, is one
of the most delightful of fruits, and its odour neither
strong nor unpleasant. No one who has been used to
this fruit in perfection, would never think of touching
those of the bazaars ; one taste of the garlic-like flavour
— which if the offensive odour has not been sufficient —
usually prevents the European from enjoying this fine
fruit. To have it in perfection, it must be eaten
immediately on its falling from the tree ; those which
are plucked, and ripen afterwards, being equally useless
with those which have been two or three days from
the orchard.

The Dyaks are passionately fond of this fruit, and
distinguish it by the name " dien," which signifies
" the fruit," par excellence ; " dien," being the term for
fruit in general, as well as for this species in particular.
Its seeds, which are large, are roasted, when they
resemble chesnuts, and are carefully preserved by the
people, to be eaten when the season of fruits is past. To
keep up the succession of these forests of fruit-trees, no
care on the part of the Dyaks is necessary, so that they
never think of planting young trees, but trust to
Nature, which is here so prodigal of its care for a
continuance of the supply, that a constant succession of
young plants is kept up by the fallen fruits, precisely

284 DYAK FORTIFICATIONS.

in the same manner as the ordinary trees of the
jungle. The fruit seasons are, however, very pre-
carious, from the inattention with which the owners
regard their trees. The brushwood is allowed to grow
beneath them, and parasites and Epiphytes, both
injurious, but the former particularly so, as they sap
the fluids of the tree which supports them, are allowed
frequently to cover the branches.

It is proved in the gardens of Europeans, in the
Straits of Malacca, that all the fruits of the Archipelago
will produce regularly, with ordinary care and culture,
a large and a small crop annually ; but here the trees
bear three, and sometimes four crops, in immediate
succession and in the greatest profusion, and are then
barren for two or three years, appearing to have
exhausted themselves in their unnatural efforts, so that
were it not for a few trees which are always unproductive
when the others bear, and vice versd, the Dyaks
would frequently be without fruit for many seasons in
succession.

Near the houses are always planted the cocoa-nut
and betel-nut trees of the tribe; but so far inland,
and at any considerable elevation, they are long before
they come to a fruit-bearing state ; and then their
productions are small, and not to be compared to
those grown in the vicinity of the sea. They add,
however, much to the beautiful appearance of the
Dyak villages, over the houses of which they hang
above the surrounding fruit-trees, from the branches
of which their ripe productions may often be gathered
by merely reaching out of the skylight-shaped windows,

THEIR ROADS AND PATHS. 285

which open all round the roof of the Pangah, or " Head-
House," as it has been injudiciously translated by the
Europeans.

The fortifications of the villages consist principally
of a strong palisading of bamboo stakes, or sometimes
of hard wood, which are strengthened and fastened
together by split bamboos being woven amongst the
perpendicular posts, the ends of which, sharpened to
points, project outwards in all directions, presenting an
impassable barrier of spikes, like chevaux-de-frize, to the
invader. This pagar or fence, is about six feet high, and
surrounds all the village, in accessible positions : two
gates are made in it, over each of which the worked
spikes are carried, and when the entrance is shut, it
presents an uniform appearance with the remainder
of the fence. To complete their defences, Ranjows,
and other means of annoyance to the enemy are resorted
to, as by the Sea Dyaks, which have been mentioned
in the chapter devoted to the description of their tribes.
If the Dyaks, in a fortified village, such as that above
described, are enabled to resist their invaders for one or
two days, they generally escape, but should these be
assisted by fire-arms, they have little chance, as they are
so terrified at the report of them, that they generally
desert their houses, and seek protection in the depths
of the forests and the caves of the mountains.

The hilly country occupied by the Land Dyaks, is
everywhere traversed by paths, which connect the dif-
ferent villages ; these are carried over hills and swamps,
without much attention to the nature of the ground, the
Dyaks always endeavouring to keep their road as nearly

286 DYAK BRIDGES AND

as possible in a straight line. The object of the paths,
until recently, has seldom been to connect the villages,
and render communication between them easy, but this
has generally been fortuitously brought about by the
paths leading to the farms of the neighbouring tribes
meeting each other.

All the paths of the Land Dyaks are formed of the
stems of trees, raised two feet above the ground, on
supports placed under them. Sometimes larger trees
are employed for this purpose, but the usual size is
about three inches in diameter: the bark from the
upper surface, as they lie in their horizontal position,
together with a portion of the wood, is cut off, so
as to leave a flat rough surface for the foot of the
wayfarer : in good roads, and where bamboos are abun-
dant, these canes are employed ; two large ones, laid
parallel with each other, forming the breadth of the
path ; but as bamboos more readily decay than the wood
of which the more common paths is made, these,
though much preferable when new, and in dry weather,
are more troublesome when old and decaying, or from
the slippery surface of the bamboo on rainy days.

Should a river, or torrent, obstruct the way, the diffi-
culty is soon removed by the Dyaks, who having
previously sought and found two large trees opposite
each other, which, as much as possible, overhang the
river, carry the road up to a suspension bridge formed
of bamboo, and hung by large rattans fastened above
to the strong branches of the trees: the breadth of
the path of the bridge, is never more than that of one
bamboo, and a rail of the same material is carried along

MODE OF TRAVELLING. 287

its length, to afford a more apparent than real protec-
tion to the timid that may pass that way. The rail
slopes away from the footpath of the bridge at so con-
siderable an angle, that the two sides cannot be reached
at the same time by stretching both the arms, and
they are so fragile, that it is dangerous to trust one's
weight upon them, so that Europeans find considerable
difficulty in crossing them, more particularly in such
of them as are agitated by the least motion of the
passengers, or of the wind. The Dyaks cross over them
with heavy burdens on their heads, without requiring
the assistance of the parapet, and merely balancing
themselves with a light cane held in their hands.

The great height above the water, frequently sixty
feet, and the foaming and boiling torrent dashing
amongst the rocks below them, have no effect upon their
practised nerves, but are obstacles which nothing but
necessity would induce the European to face. The
Dyaks, in this species of tight-rope dancing, have a
great advantage over the nations of Europe, in the
prehensile nature of their feet, their toes being as
useful to them as the fingers of their hands; and they
may frequently be seen seated with a knife between
their toes, with the back of its blade towards them,
cutting, by drawing the object they wish to sever towards
them, across the blade : flesh is always cut in this way.

For travelling on roads of this nature, shoes, with
soles of the least possible thickness, are preferable to
any others, as with them the feet are of considerable
service, and after six months' experience, the traveller will
be astonished at the proficiency he has attained in using

288 THE ORANG KAYA, OR CHIEF.

these curious paths ; and when, by chance, he meets
a muddy and much worn one, he will soon wish that
he were again in the vicinity of one such as we have
been describing. Such paths as are most constantly in
use, and those which are near the villages, are all put
into repair before the feast, ' Makan Taun,' which
resembles the harvest-home of the English, and at this
necessary preliminary to the festival, all the men of the
tribe assist.

The government of the Hill Dyaks, excepting in the
chiefs, which rule over several tribes of the Sakarrans,
resembles that of these latter people, and is of the most
patriarchal character. The Orang Kaya, or chief, is
elected by the people, though amongst tribes, tri-
butary to the Malays, the Pafigeran, or Datta, to whom
the tribe pays revenue, is always required, or arrogate
to himself the right of confirming or rejecting the
appointment. In large tribes, two Orang Kayas are
frequently found : but the elder one has usually a slight
pre-eminence. Others of the principal inhabitants of
the village, are called " Panglimas," " Pangarahs," or
righting chiefs, and these are raised to their position on
account of the courage and ability in war which they
are supposed to possess.

The Orang Kaya does not appear to possess the
slightest arbitrary power : the office is not hereditary,
and the person filling it, is generally chosen on account
of the wisdom and ability he displays in the councils
of the tribe, and which appear to fit him for the duties
of their representative in all their relations with their
Malayan masters, or with the neighbouring villages.

DYAK ASSEMBLIES. 289

The only real advantage which accrues to the chief
of a tribe, besides the standing and consideration his
title gives him amongst his people, is the assistance he
receives in his agricultural operations, the whole people
combining to construct and take care of one large
farm yearly for his benefit, the produce of which he
receives. But in many tribes, this institution is neg-
lected, and has dwindled into occasional assistance,
when the chief chooses to demand it, on the land
cultivated by his family.

All affairs connected with the prosperity or welfare
of the village, are discussed by a council of the men
of the tribe, which is always held in the " pangah,"
and at which every male of the hamlet may be
present, though seldom any but the opinions of the
old men are advanced — the younger people paying
great respect to the advice of the elders at this coun-
cil. If the chief be a man of known and reputed
ability, his opinion, which is generally given in a long
and forcible oration, while the speaker is seated, and
without much gesticulation, excepting the waving of the
head, is of very great weight, and his arguments most
frequently convince the assembly, unless some other
opinion be advanced and supported with equal ability,
when the approvers of each, in succession, address the
members of this little parliament — a fair and impartial
hearing being given to all — though the discussions
are often protracted till near morning from the preceding
dusk, when one party either yields its opinion to the
other, or the minority is compelled to give way —

u

290 POPULATION OF HILL DYAKS.

these assemblies are never riotous, but always con-
ducted in a quiet, grave, and business-like manner.

As has been previously remarked, these Dyaks, in their
different tribes, do not acknowledge the authority of one
chief, who has rule or influence over several of them ;
though when a tribe is divided into several large villages,
each having an OrangKaya of its own, respect is nominally
paid to the chief of the original stock ; and when the
history of the Sakarrans shall be known better, perhaps
it may be found that such chiefs as Casing, and the
Orang Kaya Pamancha, of Sarebas, derive their
authority from the circumstance of their tribes being
the most ancient, and the parents of the others. But
at present I am more inclined to believe that they are
chosen from the chiefs of tribes in the same manner as
the village chief is chosen from the wiser of the people,
solely on account of the reputation they have acquired
for discretion and valour.

It is difficult to ascertain the number of persons
composing the many tribes of the Hill Dyaks, but the
number in the territory of Sarawak may be approxi-
mated. They are divided into twenty-one tribes, which
are settled in twenty-nine villages, containing 1,500
families, or rather houses, which at the average of seven
persons to a house, not a large one, as two families
frequently occupy one residence, gives a total Hill Dyak
population of Sarawak of 10,500 persons; to which,
if 1 1 0 families of Sebooyah Sea Dyaks be added at the
same average, we have the total result of the Dyak
population of this territority, 11,270 persons. Of these

DYAK VILLAGES. 291

tribes, six have their villages on the western branch of
the Sarawak, the remainder on the southern stream.

The Orang Gumbang are situated on the con-
fines of the Sarawak and Sambas territories ; though
as they, to use their own expression, eat the waters of the
Sarawak (makan ayer Sarawak), which means, that the
lands producing their vegetables are watered or drained
by this river — they belong to its territory. They are
divided into two villages, the one at Teringush, on a
mountain of that name ; the other on a well watered
hill, called Gunong Api, or the fire mountain ; though
I have not been able to learn why this name, usually
that of a volcano, should be applied to this quiet and
peaceful- looking hill. Both Gunong Api and Terin-
gush abound in springs, which form the sources of
the western branch of the river of Sarawak, and
meandering amongst the undulating land at their base,
unite at the landing place of the village of Gunong Api,
Teringush being situated about six miles from the
latter hill in a southerly direction.

The two villages contain, each about sixty
families, or doors, as the term " lawang," more
properly is translated. On descending the stream,
which, after leaving the position above named, be-
comes clear and tranquil, flowing over beds of sand
and gravel, you pass first the village of Klokong,
situated on the high left-hand bank, and near which
several fine bridges, in excellent repair, cross the
stream. It contains twenty-five families : in two hours
more we pass the mouth of the Sungei Jaguoi, which

u 2

292 DYAK VILLAGES.

has its rise on a hill, about six miles inland of the left-
hand bank of the Sarawak river : on it is a village con-
taining sixty doors, and immediately below the mouth
of the stream, and on the right-hand bank, is the small
village of Pasir Bruang, containing fifteen houses.

Following the stream, we pass successively the Battu
Bidi, a limestone hill, in which antimony of the richest
quality is procured by the Malays, and the great cave,
called Lubong Angin, or the wind hole, in which a few
swallows' nests are procured. These are both on the same
bank of the river with the village last named. The
next Dyak houses are placed on the high left bank, near
Bow, where the greatest gold works are carried on, and
which are situated on the opposite side of the river from
that occupied by the Dyaks.

This village, at which is an excellent bridge, is called
Subah, and contains forty houses : the four last-named
villages all belong to the Sow tribe of Dyaks, whose
principal station is on a hill called Rat, at the base of
which flows the Sungei, or Ayer Tubah, a tributary of
the Sarawak, which discharges itself on the left-hand side
about four miles below the landing-place to the Bow
gold mines. The village at Rat contains sixty houses,
and has been the most oppressed, or amongst the most
oppressed, of the Hill Dyaks of this country. They
succeeded in defeating the Sakarran Dyaks, who, with
a party of Malays, headed by Sereib Jaffir, were
shamefully vanquished ; but on a second attempt, were
more successful, as they surprised the Sow village,
which was then on a mountain of the same name,

THE SINGHIE DYAKS. 293

opposite to that they now occupy, while the men were
absent at their ordinary avocations, and the women and
children alone were in the place. They killed many of
the occupants, and carried upwards of 200 women and
children into slavery.

It is this division of the Sow tribe, which on Mr.
Brooke's arrival, was found to be almost entirely with-
out women ; but many have since been restored to
them, though numbers still remain in captivity. On
account of the destitute state in which he found it,
this tribe has been the peculiar care of Mr. Brooke, and
under his fostering kindness, the village has been built
on Rat, a much stronger position than that they
formerly occupied, and the houses are now amongst the
most comfortable and well-built of any belonging to the
tribes of Sarawak : — the people also are prosperous, and
their families increasing.

Next in order, following the downward course of the
stream, we observe, after passing Tundong, on the
right, the principal station of the Chinese, employed in
the produce of vegetables for the use of their country-
men working in the neighbouring gold and antimony
mines; and about two miles inland, on the left-hand
bank of the river, the Mountain of Singhie, which is
occupied by the Dyaks of the same name, whose houses
are about one hundred and forty in number, under the
care of two Orang Kayas.

This tribe has the character of being the least cultivated
of those of Sarawak ; they have always been able to pre-
serve their villages from the ravages of the Sakarran tribes,
though many of their people were cut off at their farms

294 DYAK VILLAGES ON THE BANKS

in the low lands, at the base of the hill. Some years
since, Mr. Brooke had occasion to demand, for the
purposes of justice, two of their chiefs, who had been
convicted of frequent murders for the purpose of
obtaining heads, against his repeated warnings and
authority. After some demur, they were given up, and
since that time they have been a peaceable and con-
tented tribe.

On the several occasions when I visited them, they
were uniformly hospitable, but great beggars ; they ask
for every thing they see, but are as scrupulously honest
as the other Land tribes, never thinking of helping them-
selves to any thing. The penkallan, or landing-place, of
this tribe is about twenty- eight miles, by the river, above
the Malay town of Sarawak, the residence of the Rajah,
and capital of the province.

About eight miles lower down the stream, and half a
mile inland from the right-hand bank, is situated the
pretty mountain of Serambo, on which three friendly
tribes have been long settled, and are probably but
divisions of one. The porphyry sides of this hill are
steep and rugged, and the path to the top is very
fatiguing. The hill is covered with fruit trees, the pro-
perty of the Dyaks ; and the three villages are situated
in beautiful groves of the cocoa-nut and betel-nut trees,
which, by their graceful foliage, mark the situation of
the houses from the river.

Bombuck and Serambo, containing respectively fifty
and sixty houses, are placed about two-thirds of the
way up the mountain ; on the shoulder of which, near
the top, is the village of "Peninjow," a collection of

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 295

forty houses. From this village, a beautiful view of
the whole of the country of Sarawak, towards the sea,
is obtained ; and from this height (900 feet,) the
Mountains of Sadong, of Lingah, and the mouth of
the Batang Lupar are easily discernible. At the foot
of the hill, is situated the now decaying village of
Seniawan, the seat of the war which ravaged the
country on Mr. Brooke's arrival, the particulars of
which may be found in Captain Keppel's work. The
few Chinese who now reside here, subsist by the
cultivation of vegetables, which they sell to the Malays,
who pass the place on their way to the Dyaks' villages
for the purposes of trade. Seven miles below Senia-
wan, the western branch of the river is joined at
Ledah-tanah, or the tongue of land by that from the
southward ; and, together, they form the fine stream on
which the town is built, about fourteen miles below their
confluence.

The southern branch of the Sarawak river has its
sources in the Gunong Penerissen : the highest land
in this part of the island. Penerissen, or Besuah, as it is
sometimes called, is a table-topped mountain, about
4,700 feet in height, situated between sixty and seventy
miles from the coast in a direct line. One of the
tributary streams of the great Sangow River, which
itself is but a branch of the still larger Pontianak,
flows past its southern base ; where also the Dyak
tribe, S'Impio, who belong to the Pangeran, at
Karang-an-Amas, a Malay village, two days' down
the stream. The Pangeran is a vassal of the Rajah
of Sangow, himself a tributary to the Sultan of Pon-

296 OTHER DYAK VILLAGES.

tianak, and, consequently, of the Dutch, whose creation
this potentate is. But neither the Sultan nor his allies
are respected by this rich and powerful vassal, except
when it suits his own convenience.

On the same waters, but higher up towards the river's
source, are found the Dyak villages of Goon and Si-
panjang, containing each sixty families : those of Goon,
in two villages ; that of the same name with the tribe,
and a smaller one, called Betah. Near them, but to
the northward, and in the Sarawak territory, are the
tribes of Baddat, of sixty, and the Tabiah, of fifty
families. These, with a large independent tribe, called
Secong, on a mountain of that name, all frequent the
Penkallan Ampat, for the purposes of trade with the
Malays of Sarawak, who bring their goods thither.

On the Sarawak, or northern side of the mountain,
about four or five miles from its base, is situated,
amongst the most beautiful groves of fruit trees, and
on either bank of a quiet and crystal stream, the well-
built houses of the Sennah Dyaks. They have also
another village, called Sudoish, to the eastward of this,
which is composed of about thirty families.

This, however, is their principal village, and the resi-
dence of the Orang Kaya Bye Ringate, a chief respected
and referred to by all the surrounding people. The
Sennah village contains about sixty houses. These
people succeeded in saving their property when attacked
by the Sakarran Dyaks, having had notice of their
intention ; but about sixty of the tribe were killed, and
many taken prisoners. This village, situated on the
level banks of the river, is not capable of any defence.

THE SAMBAN RIVER. 297

Near it, but inland, towards the east and north-east,
and towards the Sadong river, are situated the houses of
the Dyaks of Tumma and Sinang-kan, the former con-
taining about fifty, the latter about sixty families, many
of them refugees from the extinct tribe of Crow and
others, sold into slavery by Serieb Sahib. Descending
the stream from Sennah, about two hours in a fast
boat brings us to the Penkallan Ampat, on the left-
hand bank of the river, at a point of land formed by
the junction of a smaller and more turbulent stream :
it is called the Penkallan Ampat, from the four tribes,
for the use of which it was first established, viz. Goon,
Tabiah, Baddat, and Sipangjang ; though, as has been
previously stated, the Sicong and other tribes also make
use of it for the purposes of trade.

The Sicong tribe contains three hundred houses,
and has never been attacked by the people of Sakar-
ran.

Below Penkallan Ampat, about half a mile, is the
dangerous rapid called the Rheum Ledong, which has
proved fatal to many Chinamen and others unskilful in
the use of their paddles and management of their boats.
About an hour after passing it, by following the down-
ward course of the stream, we reach the landing-place
of the Brang Dyaks, a poor tribe, much destroyed by
the Sakarran people. The village, situated on a lime-
stone, rocky and precipitous hill, a little way in-shore,
contains about forty houses.

Another hour in a fast boat brings us to the junction
of the Samban river, which flows from Gunong
Seroung, a mountain 2,627 feet high, situated to

298 DYAK TRIBES IN

the south-west, on which live the Dyaks, bearing the
same name as the stream. Though the hill is very steep,
the Sakarran Dyaks succeeded in destroying the houses,
cutting down the fruit trees, and desolating the place.
The village contains about fifty houses, and these
Dyaks are the most poor and ignorant I ever visited.
Passing the mouth of the Samban, we soon reach
the fine village of Sebongoh, the well-built houses of
which are seen peeping out from a forest of fruit
trees on both banks of the stream, to the number of
sixty. These people, though also attacked by the
Sakarran Dyaks, appear now to be in a flourishing and
happy state. Here I saw a woman whose body was
monstrously swelled by dropsy. The Dyaks said that
she was " bunting naga," or, pregnant with a dragon.

The next tribe is situated about two hours' fast
pulling lower down; one rapid, but not a dangerous
one, intervening. The houses of the Sempro Dyaks
occupy both banks of the river, at the foot of the
precipices Se-bayet and Gigi. The scenes of country,
and the beauty of the banks of the river above this
village are not to be surpassed. The limestone moun-
tains rise suddenly from the plain in the most curious
forms and rugged precipices; and the river runs
quietly, smoothly, and brightly through this rock, the
waters having worn it away, so that it overhangs them
on each side, forming sections of deep natural arches,
under which large boats take shelter from the passing
showers.

The Sempro tribe numbers sixty families, and is
one of the most happy and prosperous of them all. A

SARAWAK AND SAMBAS. 299

little below the village are two large and dangerous rapids.
Near to the higher one, the waters of the small river
Segou disembogue. It flows from the eastward, and
on its banks are three small and impoverished tribes,
that of Segou containing thirty, that of Staang twenty,
and one other of twenty families. No other tribes
are met with descending the river, until we come to
the mouth of the Suntah stream. On the right-hand
side, the inhabitants of a small village of Sempro Dyaks
cultivate the land up this river, where diamonds are
found in the greatest abundance. Suntah is an hour
and a half fast pulling with the stream below Se-bayet ;
and Ledah Tanah is about eight miles below the mouth
of the Suntah river.

To the eastward of the river Segou is the ancient
tribe of Suntah, situated on the Quap mountain. From
three hundred these people have been reduced to sixty
families, by the Arab pirate, Sereib Sahib. Their
landing-place is on the Quap river, which discharges
itself into the Sarawak, about eight miles below the
town. The situation and numbers of the different
divisions of the Sebooyah villages and tribes have been
noticed in the preceding pages, which will give the
reader, we trust, a more correct idea of the territory
of Sarawak, and of its inhabitants, than the public are
at present possessed of.

Besides the tribes now inhabiting the country
of Sarawak, many more are anxious to be admitted
from the territory of Sambas, and the countries of
native princes ; but, wishing to live on friendly terms
with all its neighbours, as far as possible, this immigra-

300 DYAK MORALITY.

tion has been discouraged by the Government of
Sarawak, in all cases where it could by its influence
ensure their protection, without changing the site
of their villages Much good has been thus done
in Sadong, the Dattu of which place, a weak and
easily swayed person, would, ere this, had the Sarawak
Government not interfered, have sold the whole of
his tribes of Dyaks into slavery; excepting such as,
to escape this fate, would have fled to Sarawak for
protection.

The chastity of the women of these tribes has been
previously incidentally mentioned, and the reader has
seen the care with which the young men are separated
from the girls. They may marry at an early age,
and the girls are frequently married very young. I have
never observed that they have any particular ceremony on
entering the marriage state, more than that of killing a pig,
or fowl, according to the circumstances of the persons ;
though I must confess that my inquiries have been lax
on this point. Adultery is a crime unknown, and no
Dyak ever recollected an instance of its occurrence.

They marry but one wife, though I have seen two
or three instances where a chief had two : the Chief
of Tabiah is one of these, and in consequence of break-
ing through the custom of the tribe, had lost all his
influence with its members. Incest is held in abhor-
rence, and even the marriage of cousins is not allowed.
During my visit to Betah, a village of the " Goon"
tribe, in 1846, the Baddat Dyaks came with presents
of fowls and rice, their village being about ten miles
distant. They had also a serious complaint to make

SLAVE DEBTORS. 301

against one of the chiefs of their tribe, for having
disturbed the peace and prosperity of their village by
marrying his own grand-daughter! — his wife and the
girl's mother, his own child, being still alive. The
chiefs who visited me, said, that since the occurrence of
the above event, no bright day had blessed their terri-
tory ; but that rain and darkness alone prevailed, and
that unless the plague-spot were removed, the tribe
would soon be ruined.

I told them that I had no power to interfere, but
that I would lay their complaint before their Rajah,
and in the meantime advised them to follow their
own customs in the punishment and degradation of
the offending chief; knowing that it was not Mr.
Brooke's wish to interfere in the internal disputes of
the tribes, when their own established usages were
sufficient to restore order. They accordingly fined him
heavily, and degraded him from the rank of Orang
Kaya ; but I do not know whether the girl was separated
from him, although I believe not. They described the
ludicrous scenes between the young wife — who was
said to be about thirteen years of age — and the old
one, as of very frequent occurrence ; and that the whole
village was disturbed by their altercations ; as the young
one wished her grandmother, on all occasions, to do
the heavy work, to which the old lady would by no
means quietly assent.

Though slavery, in its degrading form of trading
in the liberties of our fellow creatures, is not practised
by them, the system of slave-debtors is carried on,
though to a very small extent. In scarce seasons,

302 A CURIOUS AND SALUTARY CUSTOM.

poor families are compelled to borrow of the rich, and
it sometimes happens, that being unable to repay the
debt, they live in the houses of their creditors, and
work on their farms. They are just as happy, however,
in this state, as if perfectly free, enjoying all the liberty
of their masters, who never think of ill-using them.
Since the security of property, consequent on the
prevalence of European influence in the country, no
persons have become slave-debtors; as, with industry,
every individual can raise sufficient, and more than suffi-
cient, to provide himself with food, and to pay the
few demands upon him.

One curious custom of the Dyaks of the Hills,
which was doubtless intended, in its original institution,
to prevent the prevalence of indolence, is, that no
Dyak can, under any circumstances, eat of new rice,
until his own be ripe ; and this is so strictly observed
amongst the Sow and Singhie tribes that, when their
own supply was finished, a few days before their har-
vest was ripe, though they had not eaten rice for four
days, I could not induce them to partake of that I
had brought with me from the town, because it was
of the produce of that year's harvest, having been
grown by the Sea Dyaks, who always make their farms
earlier than the Hill tribes. Could they eat of new
rice, many of them would, perhaps, from idleness, delay
the preparing of their farms, hoping to borrow, and
thus become indebted to their more industrious neigh-
bours ; but with this curious, but useful practice before
them, they all plant at one time, and are, conse-
sequently, not burdensome to each other, and can only

HEAD-TAKING. 303

become indebted towards the end of the season ; when,
even those who have had the greatest supply, have
none to spare, as they generally run themselves so
short, by selling their Padi to the Malays, as to be
very frequently reduced to roots and sago for the
month preceding the ripening of the coming crop.

The custom of head-taking, it has been before noticed,
is not so deeply rooted in the habits of these people,
as to prevent our hope of its being easily eradicated ;
though amongst the Sea Dyaks, it will probably be
long before this desirable result be attained. A person
afflicted with madness, and who had destroyed several
others by running-a-muck, was killed by the Peninjow
Dyaks, in an attempt upon some farm-houses and
their occupants belonging to that tribe. The un-
doubted custom was, that they should have the head;
but some of the most civilized of the Dyak tribes,
and who constantly frequent Sarawak for the pur-
poses of trade, replied that they might bury it with
the man, as they did not care about it: this shows
with what facility they .may be brought, by proper
care and instruction, to the practice of better habits
of life than they formerly led, and holds out an
encouraging prospect to the Missionaries of their speedy
conversion to the doctrines and practices of our Holy
Church.

The heads of the enemies of these tribes are not
preserved with the flesh and hair adhering to them,
as are those of the Sakarran Dyaks ; the skull only is
retained, the lower jaw being taken away, and a piece
of wood substituted for it. These ghastly objects are

304 HEAD-TAKING.

hung up in the Pangah, which Capt. Keppel facetiously
calls the " skullery," and are often painted with lines
of white or red all over them, they are occasionally
blackened with antimony, and have cowrie shells placed
in the apertures of the eyes, with the flat, or
white side outwards ; which, in some measure, resem-
bles the closed eye, the little furrows appearing like
eyelashes.

To have been on a war-party, is necessary before boys
can be initiated into the privileges of manhood ; but at
none of their ceremonies is the shedding of human
blood practised, and such a thing would be thought of
amongst them with horror and disgust. So much
have these people been maligned, when called cannibals,
that if told such a race of people do exist, they cannot
credit it, and do not believe such enormities possible.
When two or more tribes of Land Dyaks combine to
attack another tribe, and one head only is obtained,
it is divided, so that each may have a part ; in honour
of this moiety, all the same ceremonies are observed, as
if they had a whole head. I notice in Forrest's Voyages,
and other works, that amongst the people of New
Guinea, and other of the eastern islands, the bachelors
of the tribes sleep apart, in houses appropriated to
their use ; but as no particular description is given
of them, it is presumed that they do not differ in
their construction, from the ordinary dwellings of the
villagers.

The diseases which are most common among
them are those incident to their exposed manner of
life. Agues and diarrhoeas are the most prevalent,

DYAK DISEASES. 305

though opthalmia, in various forms, is very frequent,
and sometimes occasions the loss of sight, from cataract,
though a weakening discharge is the most common
appearance. The skin diseases, common to the nations
of the other islands, are also prevalent here. They
are not infectious, and appear to be caused by bad
and insufficient food. Several persons having been
affected with them, on entering the service of the
Europeans have soon lost the disease, though the
marks and the discolouration of the skin remain.

At Sennah, I observed a small hut erected in a
Rhambut-an tree, far above the ordinary houses of
the village, and though in sight of, at some distance
from them. I was told that it contained two persons
afflicted with a loathsome disease, which caused large
pieces of their flesh, particularly from the extremities,
to drop away. Whether this was one of the forms of
leprosy, or some other disgusting disease, I cannot tell.
These two unfortunates, a man and woman, were
debarred the society of the tribe, and were never
permitted to descend from their aerial habitation ; but
were constantly supplied with food by their relations
from the houses below. The loathsome diseases of the
bazaars are unknown amongst the Dyaks, as far as I
could ascertain; but madness is said to be not uncommon
among them: this may arise in some measure from the
practice almost constantly adhered to, of marrying from
their own tribe, which though they avoid it as carefully as
possible, amongst their immediate relations, must make
the whole of the inhabitants one family in the course of

x

306 DYAK DISEASES.

time, though the affinities and relationships are not re-
membered by the people themselves. Madness is sup-
posed amongst the Singhie Dyaks, to be the punishment
inflicted on the hardy offender against the Pamalion
deer's-flesh, and a man is now living in that tribe
who committed the horrid crime of parricide to save
his family from the disgrace incurred by his father
running about the woods in a state of nudity, making
the noises and imitating the habits of a deer, of the
flesh of which animal he was supposed to have eaten.

The wens, or goitres, common among the people of
the hilly countries of Sumatra and Java, are met with
here amongst the tribes inhabiting the Sangow River.
I observed them at S'Impio, and am told they are much
more common at Secong and Si-Panjang. On account
of their great size and length, they must be very
inconvenient, though the persons afflicted with them
suffer no pain from them, nor is their general health
at all affected by them. I have myself seen young
women with them, so long as to hang below the breasts,
and was informed that amongst other tribes they were
frequently thrown over their shoulders by the people
troubled with them. They appeared to me to be more
frequent amongst the women than the men. I did not
see them exceed more than two in number on one
individual.

This disease cannot be attributed to the effects
of an elevated atmosphere, as those living on
the borders of the rivers, not more than 100 feet
above the level of the sea, are troubled with them

MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 307

quite as much as those, the situation of whose houses
is more elevated. Nor can it be here — as it has been
supposed to be in the mountains of Europe — from the
effects of drinking water which has been frozen, for
neither ice nor snow are known; and if it were, as Marsden
supposes, from the fog prevalent in the mornings in
the valleys between the mountains, how is it that amongst
tribes similarly situated, it should be prevalent in some
and unknown to others ?

Parturition, from the more hardy and robust frames
of the women, is not here attended with the danger
and consequent weakness peculiar to more civilized and
polite nations. Amongst the delicately-kept women
of the Malayan harems, child-birth is almost as much
dreaded as by the ladies in Europe, and they are
quite as long in recovering their strength. I have been
told that women among the Dyaks are rarely confined
to the house more than two or three days, and fre-
quently are seen at their ordinary employment within
that time : their attendants, during the period of labour,
are the old women of the tribe.

In the practice of medicine and surgery, we cannot
look for much skill amongst so simple a people ; yet
they are not ignorant of a kind of phlebotomy, and
practice both bleeding and cupping in particular
cases. The former operation is performed very rudely,
by cutting large gashes in the limb which pains them.
The cupping process is curious, and, as far as I know,
peculiar to the people. The wounds being made with
u sharp knife, or a piece of bamboo, a small tube of

x 2

308 DYAK MODES OF CURE.

this cane is placed over them, with fire on its upper end,
so that the air of the tube being exhausted by the action
of the fire, the blood flows readily, and the operation
is successfully carried on. Wounds are always covered
with a kind of paste, made of pounded turmeric roots,
and other herbs, which entering the sore, keep it
in an unclean state, and prevent rather than assist
the cure. From the simple nature of their food,
and their way of life, inflammation in wounds or
sores is rare amongst them, and generally to a small
extent.

Rheumatic pains are very common, and they are
grateful for the relief Dr. Treacher aifords them at
Sarawak, with his blisters, mustard-poultices, and
other appliances. For the cure of internal diseases,
turmeric and spices, taken in monstrous quantities, are
the favourite remedies ; but for anything at all serious,
recourse is had to the ' Pamali,' both in medical
and surgical cases. They have great faith in the
medicinal powers of the Europeans, and fancy that all
of them are doctors.

In travelling through their tribes, I found great
advantage in carrying a little laudanum, quinine, and
castor oil with me; by the assistance of these, ad-
ministered in smnll doses, I frequently had the satisfaction
of seeing those afllicted with agues, diarrhseas, and
stomachic pains, recover ; but some cases brought to me,
were beyond my very moderate skill, and one I think
would have puzzled the first doctors of our country.
It was that of a young woman who, being married

DYAK MODES OF CURE. 309

to an old man, was childless, and she requested me to
give her some medicine which would cause her to have
children which she felt persuaded^I could do.

In one case, when a man was dying of dysentery,
those attending him had prescribed the frequent use
of plantains as his only food. Honey enters largely
into their medical practice, and to it they ascribe heating
qualities. The Malay women of bad character use it
with hot spices, which they swallow in great quantities,
to procure abortion, a practice which, amongst the
Dyaks, is never resorted to under any circumstances.
They have not that antipathy to the use of castor oil
so frequently observed amongst other people ; but, on
having taken one dose, generally hold out the glass
and ask for another, saying at the same time that it
is very good. European medicines have great effect upon
their constitutions, so that, in all cases, smaller doses
than usual must be prescribed for them. Mr.
McDougall, the head of the Borneo mission, will be
a great acquisition to the Dyaks ; his surgical education
fitting him as well to relieve their temporal ailments, as
their spiritual destitution.

The domestic animals of the Land Dyaks are few,
consisting of pigs, which in the time of harvest are
carried to the farm, and penned up under their houses,
— as by the Arafouras of Magindanau, and other places
— that they may, with their owners, partake of the plenty
of that joyous season. In killing a pig, which is done
at all the village festivals, the length of the animal
is carefully measured while it is still alive, and should,

310 DYAK DOGS AND CATS.

after death, he be found a little longer, as from the
distension of the muscles in the dying agony is gene-
rally the case, the omen is accepted as one of prosperity
to the tribe in all its undertakings for the ensuing
season ; but if, on the contrary, the pains of the
slaughtered animal should cause it to contract its limbs,
the omen portends misfortunes to the tribe.

Goat's flesh being, as has been elsewhere observed,
prohibited to the Dyaks by their customs, none of
these animals are kept about their villages, as is the
case amongst the Kyan and Sea Dyak tribes, where no
superstition forbids the people the use of these hardy
animals. Small dogs are kept occasionally, they are not so
well-trained or practised as those of the Sea tribes. It
is astonishing how such little curs can bring the fine
stag and the wild boar to bay, but such is the case,
and while the trembling deer defends himself from the
snapping of the curs around him, he is speared by the
Dyaks who have followed the dogs. It is said that the
deer are so terrified by the dogs, that when the Dyaks
come up, they find the trembling stag an easy prey, his
quivering limbs almost refusing him their wonted
support.

A few cats, generally in a half-starved condition, are
found about the Dyaks' houses : they are of the Malayan
breed, with curled tails. Fowls are plentiful, but pre-
served more for sale to the Malays, than the use of
the families who rear them. Like the Malays and
others, they are more partial to the flesh of fish, which
the Malays bring to them in an almost putrid state,

DYAK ANGLING. 311

particularly the large " ikan-pari," or skate. I have
seen them also carefully gather up the body of a pig
which had been overlooked in their traps, until it was
falling to pieces, so that they evidently admire a
" gamey" flavour more than the epicures of Europe.

On the Sangow, and other large rivers, the Dyaks are
very expert with the rod and line, which is constructed
with a reel and spare line, precisely like those of Europe.
Having hooked a large fish, they play him with a
dexterity which would delight old Izaak Walton, and
finally, having exhausted him, land him with a net
in the most skilful manner. Their hooks are of brass,
of which also their shining bait is manufactured. The
rod and line, are, I believe, used both for trolling and
fly-fishing, but I never saw them practise the former.
They destroy, in a great measure, the supply of fish in
the upper part of the streams by the use of the " tuba,"
the narcotic before described. The fish most common
and most esteemed resembles a perch, and is barred
with black bands across the back. With this I was
abundantly supplied during my stay at the S'Impio
village by these dexterous anglers ; at the same place,
I observed the children playing at peg-top, precisely as
do those of England ; but their tops had no iron pegs,
and more resembled those which at school we used
to called whipping-tops. I looked on at the game with
delight, and saw the spinning top, the mark for the
others, receive several smart blows, but they appeared
to be of very hard wood, and though driven to some
distance, were never broken.

312 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND SINGING.

Besides the gongs and their varieties, the chunang
and tertawak, which differ only in being smaller and
more harsh sounding, and the tomtoms which they
have borrowed from the Hindus, the young men and
children may be frequently seen amusing themselves
with a kind of pipe, which resembles a child's penny
wooden whistle, and is formed precisely on the same
principle, being about a foot long, and made of reeds,
which have five or six holes in the lower part of the
tube, on which the fingers are made to act like keys.
Another instrument, of more soft and melodious sound,
is sometimes seen : it is formed of a joint of bamboo,
which having been dried so that it cannot shrink, is cut
lengthwise sufficiently deep, but not through the cane,
into narrow strips, about half an inch apart from each
other: these strips of the outer skin of the bamboo
are then stretched and raised above the surface of the
cane by small pegs or wedges forced under them at
each end, and being played upon by the fingers, as are
the strings of the harp and guitar, produce very melo-
dious sounds, and it is a pity that the Dyaks do not
endeavour to improve this instrument, rather than use
the deafening and disagreeable noisy gongs.

When they sing, which they rarely do, it is in a low
and plaintive voice ; but as I did not sufficiently under-
stand the Dyak language, I could never learn anything
respecting the composition of their songs. I never heard
them but at night, when most of the inhabitants of
the village were asleep. They do not practise vocal
music at any of their festivals.

DYAK WEAPONS. 313

The weapons used by the Hill tribes in their wars,
are very like those described as appertaining to the Sea
Dyaks. The swords of the Hill tribes differ, however,
in having no wooden handle ; this part of the weapon
being of iron, and a mere continuation of the blade.
The handle of this weapon and its sheath are orna-
mented with hair, instead *of the feathers of the argus
pheasant. But this is put on sparingly, and in small
tufts only at the extremities. The sheath is always
stained red, and very rarely carved, and if such decora-
tion be attempted, it amounts to nothing better than
mere scratching.

The spears are formed, as to the blade, like those of
the Sakarran people ; but among the Land tribes, par-
ticularly those of Sadong, each family generally possesses
one, the haft of which is made of balean wood, and
towards the brass plate, which binds the blade into the
handle, are carved rude representations of the human
figure in high relief. These stand with their backs to
each other, and are from three to five in number :
like those on the war-boats of the Sea Dyaks, these
figures generally represent indecent attitudes. Their
spears are also ornamented with sheets of tin foil,
with which the haft of the weapon is covered, and
also with the feathers of the argus pheasant and the
rhinoceros hornbill, which latter are usually stuck on
three little prongs, into which the handle has been cut
for that purpose.

Their shields are precisely like those of the people
of Sarebas, but they do no use the sumpit-an, and are
without the padded jacket of the Sea tribes* It is,

314 MODE OF PROCURING

perhaps, their poverty more than custom that renders
the latter article rare amongst them.

These people, expert in all their employments in
the jungle, particularly exercise their dexterity in the
search for the wax produced in their forests, and the
birds' nests of the mountain caves. The former
valuable production is found on the sheltered sides
of rocky precipices, and on the lofty Tapang. The
Dyaks ascend by ladders of bamboo. When their
nests are to be built in the former position, the bees
always select such places as are kept dry by the over-
hanging precipice, so that they can only be obtained
with difficulty and danger; but for the value of two
or three dollars' worth of wax, and by the assistance
of rattans and bamboo ladders, the Dyaks never fail
to overcome all obstacles, and carry off the coveted
prize in spite of the stings of the enraged architects.

The wax is more frequently found on the gigantic
Tapang-tree than in the rocks. The genus of this tree
which, from any elevated position, may be seen just throw-
ing out its branches, when its main stem has shot past the
tops of the foliage of the surrounding jungle, I have not
been able to determine, as I never could procure either its
flowers or fruits. It appears, however, to belong to the
great genus Ficus, or the fig tribe, species of which
are common in the islands : it rises with a straight and
beautiful stem, to a height which would be thought
incredible, far surpassing the most lofty of its gigantic
neighbours, which frequently attain a height of a
hundred feet of clear stem. The bark is white, soft,
and very milky. The wood is white and soft, excepting

WAX AND BIRDS* NESTS. 315

near the heart of the tree, where it is of a chocolate
colour, and very hard and tough ; it turns black on
long exposure to the atmosphere. The branches are
large, and extend high above the tree, being long as
the stem itself, over which, with the small light green
leaves, they form a round, regularly and beautifully
formed head.

The bees generally place their nests on the under-
side of the larger branches, and the Dyaks ascend to
these by torchlight, by means of spikes of bamboo,
which are driven in a sloping direction between the
bark and wood of the tree. These are about two feet
apart, and project about twelve inches from the stem.
They are connected by a rail of bamboo, which is placed
perpendicularly along them, and attached to each by
rattans, and this ladder is all the assistance to the
Dyak in his perilous undertaking; which, when we
consider the height from the ground, the time at which
the ascent is made, and the tormenting and sharp
stings of the large wasp-like bee (Lanyeh), must
make us wonder how the temptation of a few dollars
can cause the Dyaks to expose themselves to so much
danger.

One ascent I witnessed : a little boy who had never
been up before, accompanied his brothers, who all
ascended, singing and making as much noise as possible,
and with torches in their hands. The little fellow
got safely to the top, but when the nests were disturbed
and the bees began to sting, as their domiciles were
placed in the baskets on the backs of the Dyaks, his

316 EDIBLE BIRDS' NESTS.

cries were pitiful, and he had nearly fallen, but saved
himself by catching hold of the leg of one of his
brothers, who brought him safely down, in addition
to the bees' nests and basket with which he was
burdened. On reaching the bottom, the boys were
swollen all over from the effects of the stings; but
no cry or complaint had been uttered by them, and
they, together with their father, who waited below
quietly, began to separate the honey from the wax, and
place the former in the bamboo.

The honey produced by the Lanyeh is very fine and
rich, equal to the honey of Europe ; but the nests con-
tain but very little of it. A smaller bee, called Nuang,
by the Hill Dyaks, and which is sometimes domes-
ticated in hives of bamboo, or bark, about their houses,
makes very little wax, but gathers abundance of honey,
which is, however, of a very inferior quality. It is
very plentiful along the coast, and at Hoya, Egan, and
Mocha, is sold very cheap, a gantang being procurable
for a shilling. In its wild state the Nuang, of which
there are several varieties, builds its nest in the holes of
decayed trees.

The edible nests of the little swallows are all of the
black kind, the beautiful white ones being only found
in the rocky caves on the borders of the ocean : they
are built by two different and quite dissimilar kinds of
birds, though both are swallows. That which produces
the white nest is larger and of more li vely colours : its
belly is white, but as these birds are very rare in Sarawak,
I could not get specimens, though, on one occasion,

EDIBLE BIRDS' NESTS. 317

I had opportunities of observing them, but as I was
without my gun, I could not secure one. Skins of
the smaller and darker bird, which inhabits the lime-
stone mountains of the interior I have sent home. This
kind is never found on the sea-coast, nor does the
other bird ever frequent inland places.

The nest produced by the small bird is of a much
inferior kind, being, like the bird itself, of a dusky colour,
and mixed with feathers : that of the coast is white and
transparent, and resembles a net-work of isinglass.
Feathers are not mixed with this, and it is free from all
other impurities: it is this kind which sells for so high a
price in China. The nests are found in deep and dark
caves, in situations extremely difficult of access, sticking
to the sides of the rock in considerable numbers. Stages
and frames of bamboo are erected along the sides of the
precipices leading to the caves, and on these fragile
pathways the Dyaks advance to their mouths ; in other
situations they are let down by rattans from the heights
above. Both means are highly dangerous, and accidents
are said frequently to occur. The black kind are sold in
Sarawak at four rupees per pound, but the price varies
according to the demand and supply.

In their agricultural operations these Dyaks differ in
no respect from the tribes already described, excepting
when they have land of an easily flooded nature,
as is the case with the two tribes of Sow and Singhie,
but with none of the others. In these places the
Padi Sawah, or wet land Padi, is cultivated : it is quite
different from that grown on the hills, its stems being

318 DYAK AGRICULTURE.

stronger, its foliage broader and of a dark green colour.
The land being prepared by burning down the weeds
and grasses, the small brooks which run through the
valley are dammed up with stakes, which support an
embankment of weeds and rubbish. The field is divided
by ridges into parcels of land of different levels, and the
water is so managed by attention to levels, that any of
these can be flooded or drained, as the growth and
appearance of the crop may render necessary. The Padi
seed is not planted in the fields, but sown in another
piece of land, and taken up and transplanted into the
wet land of the farm.

The rice of the wet land growth is of a larger and
coarser grain than that produced on the hills, and does
not fetch so high a price in the market as the other
kinds ; it being said not to keep long either in the rice
or Padi state. The crop from it is, however, larger and
more certain than that from the dry farms ; the prospe-
rity of which, more than the other, depends upon the
quantity of rain which falls.

They have no implements for the cultivation of wet
land Padi different from those employed on the other
farms ; but in these situations buffaloes and ploughs
of a simple construction might be introduced with
advantage. I am not aware that the Dyaks possess
more than one kind of wet rice, but of the upland Padi
they have very many: the one most esteemed and in
most general cultivation, is the Padi ber-sabong, a good
kind and an abundant bearer. There are others of a
whiter nature and smaller grain, but these are not so

LAND-OWNERS. 319

productive, and are consequently less grown. The
Padi-pulut is a curious species, each family grows a
little of it ; it is a fine strong growing kind, but when
cleaned and boiled, is of a peculiar clammy nature,
and is much used by the Malays in their cooking for
Juadahs and sweet-meats : the Europeans also use it for
puddings. It bears a higher price than the other kinds
in the market, and is never eaten by the Dyaks unless
it has been cooked in a green bamboo, as they suppose
that the priuk, or cooking pot, spoils the flavour, and the
Malays also are of this opinion.

Land being so abundant, in proportion to the number
of inhabitants, but little of it is the property of indivi-
duals ; though each tribe has its limits, which have
been handed down from father to son for ages, so that
every old man of a tribe knows the exact extent of its
district. But, as in a country where beasts of burden
do not exist to assist the farmer in bringing home the
produce of his lands, it is a very great advantage to
the cultivator to have his field as near to the village
as possible, we find that the tribes situated at a
distance from the banks of the river, or where the
brooks are too small to admit of the use of the
canoe, the property in the vicinity of the houses
divided into plots, which are the acknowledged property
of certain individuals. During one of my visits to
the Sennah tribe, a farm of about fifty acres was
sold by one Dyak to another, the purchaser giving in
exchange one large jar, said to be of the value of sixty
rupees, or six pounds English.

320 LAND-OWNERS.

The rich men of a tribe often possess four or five
such pieces of land in the favoured situations, and
are, consequently, enabled to farm one piece every
year near their own villages, as well as a larger
farm at a distance, and in the vicinity of others
of the tribe. In choosing the place for their farms,
the locality is generally settled in a council of the
tribe, so that one road may lead to all, at the making
of which the whole village is called upon to assist.
On the death of a Dyak, his land, together with his
other property, is divided equally amongst his children,
without distinction of age or sex.

CHAPTER X.

THE KYANS THEIK COMMERCE THE KYANS FOES OF THE DYAKS

TATTOOING KYAN DRESS IMPUTED CHARACTER OF THE

KYANS — THEIR WAR DRESSES THEIR WEAPONS THE SAMPIT-

AN THEIR SWORDS AND KNIVES THEIR COURAGE THEIR

SHIELDS HUMAN SACRIFICES KYAN MODE OF TRANSACTING

BUSINESS THE MILANOWES AND THE MERI PEOPLE AN

ALBINO THE REJANS, KADYANS, AND OTHER TRIBES THE

SEA-GIPSIES OPENINGS FOR BRITISH ENTERPRISE PROBABLE

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS BY DR. HOOKER.

OF the remaining tribes, differing from each other suf-
ficiently to be classed under separate titles, the Kyans, as
the people most numerous and powerful, first claim our
attention. Personally, little is known of their divisions by
the English, though the Netherlands' (India) Government
has been supplied by its officers with many particulars
concerning those who inhabit the south and south-east of
the island. These people, differing however in various
customs, are found on the great rivers Banjar, Pasir, and
Coti, and probably on all the rivers of the eastern coast.
The Orang Tedong are, most. likely, a tribe of the great
Kyan division of the nations of the island. On the north
and north-west parts of the island, they are found in
the interior of the Bintulu, Barram, Rejang, and other
great rivers, as far west as the country of the Sarebas
Dyaks, but they only occupy the inland parts, at a

Y

322 THE KYANS.

great distance from the coast ; always having between it
and them other tribes, and frequently Malayan states ;
which latter have, by their intrigues, in a great measure
prevented our acquiring that knowledge of them, which
the settlement at Sarawak might otherwise have ob-
tained.

The Kyans of the rivers Banjar, Coti, and Pasir,
appear to have been always subject to the European or
Malayan power, which held the mouth of their respective
streams. But the Kyans of the north-west have always
been feared by the inhabitants of the Malayan towns of
the coast; and the chiefs of Hoya, Mocha, Egan, and
Serekei, have always eagerly sought alliances with their
barbarous, but powerful neighbours ; and, on several
occasions, such as have quarrelled with them, have found
to their cost, that they were implacable foes, several
coast towns having been burnt by them to the ground.
The populous town of Sarebas was last year attacked
by them, in conjunction with their ally, Dattu Patingi
Abdulrahman, of Serekei, to whose assistance they are
reported to have come, with ninety boats, under three of
their Rajahs, or most powerful chiefs.

In their government, they are said to resemble the
Sea Dyaks, each village being under one chief, who is,
however, much more subservient to the authority of a
higher chief, than either the Sarebas or Sakarran Orang
Kayas. The country is divided into little states, each of
which contains many villages, tributary to that in which
the Rajah of the province, as he is said to term himself,
resides. The principal chief of this kind is the Rajah

THEIR EXPORTS. 323

Nipa, on the head waters of the great Rejang river, and
he is very much feared by the neighbouring tribes of
Dyaks, Milanowes, &c. He is the ally of the Chief of
Serekei, who, though a Mahometan, is not of the pure
Malayan race, his mother having been a Kyan woman.

The country of the Kyans is reported, by all who have
visited it, to be very populous ; much more so than any
other parts of the island. In some parts of it, gold and
diamonds are found. On the Banjar river the people
are said to wash the earth for these precious com-
modities, as do the Dyaks of Suntang, in the inte-
rior of the western branch of the Batang Lupar river.

Bees'-wax and camphor are exported by them largely
from Bintulu and Serekei, at which towns these valuable
commodities are collected by the Mahometans, who
ascend these rivers for the purpose, and by whom the
whole of this valuable trade is carried on, in exchange
for salt, cloth, beads, brass-wire, and ivory. The bees'-
wax and camphor are reported to be so plentiful, that
the Dyaks never collect them until the arrival of the
trader from the sea ; who, having delivered his cargo
into the hands of the chief, and having fixed his price
for the whole of it, either waits until the day stipulated
for payment has arrived, or returns in time to receive
his goods in exchange, which he knows are more valu-
able to him than money. So punctual are these people
said to be in their payments, that if when the day has
arrived, the Malay merchant is not there to receive his
return cargo, they consider he has forfeited his right
to the security of his property, and, after the time

Y 2

324 THE KYANS FOES OF THE DYAKS.

has elapsed, the chief no longer holds himself respon-
sible if any portion of the stipulated quantity should be
wanting.

The houses of the Kyans are built, like those of the
Sea Dyaks, in one long terrace, with the verandah front-
ing its whole length. They are said to be formed of
the most substantial materials, the posts being always of
the very hardest wood, and the roof of planks of the
same material. In the south of Borneo, where there
are tribes who live only to desolate each other, all the
villages are said to be surrounded by a high and strong
pagar ; but the low country of the south of Borneo
has its effects upon the customs of the people, as
there are no paths in that flat and swampy part of the
island, as in that of the country of the Kyans of the
north ; and all communication between the tribes of the
Banjar river, even far inland, is carried on by boats.

The Kyan tribes of the north are not engaged in
incessant conflicts with each other, nor do they seem to
have any foreign enemies whom they dread. They are
the hereditary foes of the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran,
than whom they are more powerful ; although I once
heard a chief of these rivers say, that the report
merely of two or three muskets which they possessed,
sufficed to beat the Kyans, of whom, I believe, in
reality they have great dread. They are allowed by all
their enemies, and others who have known them, to
possess in a much higher degree personal courage, than
any of the other tribes inhabiting the island. Their
bodies are beautifully tattooed, of a blue colour, in

TATTOOING. KYAN DRESS. 325

various patterns; but images of the sun, moon, and
stars, are amongst the most frequent.

It is reported that some of the tribes on the Barram
and Bintulu rivers do not tattoo the persons of the
males, and that the practice is there confined to the
women, who thus discolour their arms and legs only.
The Kenawit Dyaks, whose country borders that of the
Kyans, also practice tatooing, as do the Orang Tatow,
who live near the Bintulu river, and more towards the
coast than the Kyans. These people also call them-
selves Dyaks, but the races appear to be so easily traced
through the Tatows, the Kenawits and other tribes, to
the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran, that there is no
doubt that one comprehensive term, whether it be Dyak
or Kyan, is applicable to all their divisions ; and the
whole of the inhabitants of the island are certainly of
the same race.

The Dutch authors always speak of the Kyans
of south Borneo, as the " Dyah Kyan," including all
the infidel natives of the island under the former
term, and using the names of divisions and tribes as
specific names of this generic appellation. In dress and
person, the Kyans very much resemble the Dyaks ; the
women wearing the small bedang, and the men the
chawat : this latter is said to be uniformly of greater
length and width than those used by the Dyaks, and to
be frequently made of European cloth, though the
women are expert in the manufacture of coarse kinds,
both from cotton, and it is said, also from the fibres of
the pine-apple leaves, which are abundant in this country.

326 IMPUTED CHARACTER

In south Borneo, the bedang of the women is
quite narrow, and so tight at the lower ends, that in
walking, they find great difficulty and inconvenience
result from the practice, which has, perhaps, for its
intention, the greater preservation of decency, but, as
has been observed by Mr. Marsden, in speaking of
the longer clothes of the coast women of Sumatra,
their greater attention to appearances does not always
portend really more genuine virtue and modesty, and if
the statements I have heard from gentlemen who have
resided in that country be correct, this opinion is
strikingly illustrated ; for a German missionary, who
resided for some time among them, attributes to them
the most offensive vices and loathsome crimes, for the
gratification of which, public prostitution of females,
and worse institutions, have gained a place among
them; but I cannot imagine these observations to be
correct, and think that such revolting practices as have
been thus attributed to them, may have originated in
some misunderstanding between the Missionary and his
informants, more particularly as the vices attributed to
them are those which have never been found in such a
state of society, and the public practice of them is
against all that we know of the principles of human
nature ; such nations as the Chinese, who are addicted
to such vile habits, being the most strenuous in denying
their existence.

In the south of Borneo, they are said to be carried
on publicly, the wretched beings who gratify the public
vices, inviting their associates by the sound of gongs and

OF THE KYANS. 32?

other descriptions of music. As far as I know of
the Dyak character, and as far as I have been able to
learn, by strict enquiry of those best acquainted with
the customs of the northern Kyans, no word for pros-
titution exists in their language, much less can any
term for more degrading vices be found among their
tribes. As no such practices are mentioned by Mr.
Dalton, who resided for some time amongst the Kyans of
Coti, very near those of the Banjar river, I am contented
at present, to hope, as I previously stated, that this
conclusion has been hastily adopted, from the difficulty
of conversing freely with the Kyans, who, if they are
like the Dyaks in this respect, speak badly and under-
stand with difficulty the European pronunciation of the
Malayan tongue.

These observations of the German missionary are,
I believe, intended not to apply to the whole of the
Kyans of the Banjar river, but to one village of them,
not far above the Malayan town. If such be found
really to be the case, their vicinity to the Chinese of
Banjar may account for it ; but the same gentleman who
gave me the information, assured me that the Chinese
had at no time influenced them in any way.

The dress of the Kyan women of the Bintulu
river, I am informed, consists of two cloths, a little
longer than the bedang, which are tied on opposite sides
of the person, the one covering lapping over the other ;
but I have seen their dresses from the Rejang, and
found them made like the bedang. The jacket of the
Kyan women is not loose, like that of the Dyaks,

328 THE WAR DRESSES

but fits closely to the person, and is longer than the
cotton ones of the Hill tribes : it is also frequently made
of the pine- apple fibre.

In war, the dress of the men differs much from
the Dyaks of other denominations. The jackets they
wear on these occasions are made of the skins of
beasts ; those of the panther and the bear are the most
esteemed, but those of goats and dogs are sometimes
substituted in a scarcity of the others. The jacket is
formed by a hole being cut in the skin, at about the
neck of the animal, through which the head of the
warrior is thrust, the skin of the head of the animal
hanging down over his breast, ornamented with little
shells, placed over one another, like scales, and to the
end of which a large mother-of-pearl shell is attached,
which reaches to the middle. The broad part of the
skin forms the back part of the jacket, the edges of which
are bound with wide strips of red cloth. Bunches of
feathers of the rhinoceros hornbill, which seems to be
the war-bird of all their tribes, depend from little
strings of beads, fastened to the skin, and dangle in
the breeze as they move about. Strings, fixed in the
inside of the skin, and long enough to tie round the
body, protect the dress from being inconveniently blown
about, as, were it loose, it would be. Their head-dresses
in war are also peculiar to these people, and unknown
to the other inhabitants of the island : they are of various
descriptions, but the favourite ones are caps made in
the fashion of a man's face caricatured, and those which
represent the faces of animals.

OF THE KYANS. 329

The caps, which represent monstrous masks, or faces,
are formed of a framework of rattan, covered with
bears' skin, or the skin of some other animal. Two
round pieces of bone are tied by a string, which runs
through them, for eyes ; and a triangular piece serves
for the nose. The mouth is formed of very small
cowrie shells, to resemble the teeth; and two of the
large canine teeth of the panther, or bear, are fastened
as tusks to its extremities. The top is surmounted
with the tail feathers of the domestic cock on each side,
and at the back by the barred tail-feathers of the great
rhinoceros hornbill, or of the argus pheasant.

Another kind of cap is formed round, and surmounted
by the head of the rhinoceros hornbill, with its great
beak ; the skin of the bird's neck being distended so as
to form the covering of the framework of the cap.
Other kinds are merely ornamented with feathers of
the hornbill and argus pheasants, being all, however,
covered with the skins of monkeys, or of some other
animals. The caps are not generally made to fit to the
head ; but another framework, inside the outer and
larger one, is generally adapted for that purpose.

The ornaments of the women are said to consist of
brass and ivory armlets, the latter being purchased at
Singapore, and brought to them by the Malays — the
elephant not being found in their country, though the
rhinoceros is not uncommon.

The weapons of the men are the sumpit-an or blow-
pipe : this is a long tube of hard wood, through which
small poisoned arrows, or darts, having on their end a

330 WEAPONS. THE SUMPIT-AN.

piece of pith, or some other light substance adapted to
the size of the bore of the tube, are blown with great
force and accuracy of aim. The sumpit-an has, at its
farthest end, an iron sight, by which they regulate their
aim. It is also at this end furnished with a large
double-bladed spear. Both the sight and the spear are
nicely bound on with rattans, which are woven over
them. The dart used is poisoned with the ipoh, which
is the same as the upas and chetik of Java, described
by Dr. Horsefield ; the darts, which are very thin and
about ten inches in length, are pointed with the sharp
teeth of fish, neatly bound on to them.

The case which contains the darts is supported by
the sword belt, and is made of a bamboo joint, the lid
of it being of the same material, and fitting nicely. It
contains many charms, consisting of stones, and bezoars,
which are abundant in their country, and which are said
to be taken from the heads of monkeys. The arrows
which are ready prepared for use, are kept separate
from the others, a sack of monkey's skin being carried
in the case for their points ; as by the friction on the
hard bamboo, these would be otherwise injured.

A Meri man, in my employ, was very expert with the
sumpit-an, and, at the distance of from fifteen to twenty
yards, could readily transfix a bird of the size of a
starling with one of the little darts. The whole
distance to which the arrow can be blown with any
thing like effect, is sixty yards; and, at that distance
they would probably not pierce the skin. The sumpit-
an varies in length, being from seven to ten feet. It

KYAN SWORDS. 331

is used also by the Mui people, the Benkatan, and the
Tatows, and by all the tribes of the east coast. The
Idaan or Meroots, are said, by Forrest, also to possess it.
I have seen specimens from the river Essiquibo, in
South America, where they were collected by my friend,
Mr. Henchman, which precisely resembled those of the
Dyaks in appearance and size, but were without the
sight and the spear to the end. The darts used were
also similar, but poisoned with the urali instead of the
upas.

The swords of the Kyan tribes are of very peculiar
construction. The iron from which they are formed
is said to be the production of the country, and pre-
pared by the natives themselves. This may be the case
in some places, as it is well known that excellent ore
exists in many parts of the interior. In the manu-
facture of their swords, the Kyans display considerably
more ingenuity than the most improved of the Dyak or
other wild tribes are masters of. The blades are
convex on one side, and concave on the other ; so
that they can only be used in cutting from right to
left ; though in that manner they cut more deeply
than a common weapon. They are generally about
two feet long, and two inches and a half in breadth
at the broadest part; towards the point they are
all ornamented with patterns, cut right through the
steel of the blade — by what process I am unable to
learn. Towards the back of the weapon, and frequently
down its whole length, are figures of the sun, moon,
and stars, of brass, inlaid into the iron of the blade,

332 SWORDS. KNIVES.

The handle is of huck's-horn, beautifully carved ; and
one which I have before me, and which was the
property of a Kyan chief, presented to me by the
Patingi Abdulrahman of Serekei, is so elaborately carved,
as to put one in mind of the ivory of the Chinese,
the work being executed so as to resemble the head and
open mouth, in which are seen the teeth and tongue of
some curious and monstrous animal.

The handles of all these weapons are ornamented
abundantly with human hair, stained of a red colour.
The sheath of the weapon above referred to, and which
is represented in the plate, is the most beautiful I have
seen amongst numbers of them. The iju, or horse-
hair-like substance, beautifully plaited, is made to pass
under the beautiful carved work on the sheath; this,
from the thinness of the sheath itself, must have been
a work of great nicety. The carving is executed with
the greatest care, and far surpasses the most beautiful
specimens of the South Seas ; though it must be taken
into consideration, that these people have iron to assist
them, which, when the South Sea Islanders excelled in
carving, they had not.

On the inside of the sheath of the ilang, is a
smaller sheath for holding the knife used in cutting
rattans, and in carving, &c. It is a clumsy blade,
about three inches long, and fixed in a handle which
is a foot in length ; the sheath which contains it, is
made generally of the scape which covers the. inflores-
cence of the betel-nut tree, previous to its bursting into
flower ; and to it, and not to the sheath, which is made

KYAN COURAGE. 333

of beautiful red or veined wood, the red and black
hair is attached. The belt is made of fine rattans,
prettily plaited: one end being formed into a loop,
the other supports a large piece of mother-of-
pearl, or some other substance, which, together with
the tassels of various colours depending from it, are
passed through the loop, which catching the mother-of-
pearl, supports the sword on the person, and the
ornamental little tassels, which are gathered into
bunches, hang down before. The spears used by them
in their wars, have all short and broad points. They are
not thrown ; those used as missiles being formed
of hard wood, pointed. The dress and weapons above
described, and the tattooed bodies of these people, must,
with their fine persons, have a savage and imposing
appearance : their long black hair flows over their back,
but like the Dyaks, it is cut short in front in a straight
line across the forehead to the ears.

I have already said that these people possess a high
character for" courage, and from all we can learn, the
Dvaks of every tribe have given way before their superior
prowess, and gradually retreated to the westward of the
country they formerly occupied. They must be very
numerous. The tribes on the Coti river, were reported
to Mr. Dalton, who resided for the purposes of trade for
fifteen months in the years 1825 to 1826 at the Dyak
(Kyan) town of Tongarron, above the Bugis settle-
ment of Semerindem, to be above 270,000 in number ;
and if we may judge from the tribes of the west, this
number is not likely to be an exaggeration, but on the

334 SHIELDS.

contrary, as the Dyaks who pay tribute to Malays —
and these are said to do so — invariably state the number
of their people at much less than they actually are, in
order to evade the payment of the head-tax imposed
by the Malay rulers. This number was given to Mr.
Dalton, by the chief of Tongarron, who was the most
powerful of the three who ruled, in different districts,
their many villages. Mr. Dalton was adopted by this
chief as his brother, by means of a ceremony which has
been used by other nations, consisting of each drinking
a little of the blood of the other mixed in water ; but this
is not practised amongst the Dyaks of the western coast.
Notwithstanding this comparatively large population,
Mr. Dalton informs us that head-hunting is practised to
a frightful extent, and that desolating wars are con-
stantly carried on for the purpose of obtaining these
ghastly trophies. In war they, as well as the Kyans
of the north, wear shields ornamented with the hair
of their foes — a piece of iron also runs along the
centre, for the greater security against the sword cuts
of their foes. Generally, these shields are orna-
mented with small and regular tufts of the black hair,
without being dyed ; but I have seen one belonging to a
chief of Bintulu, which was covered with long hair
dyed of a bright red colour. It is said in south
Borneo, that these shields, so ornamented, are only worn
by chiefs ; but, from their number in the north, I am
inclined to a different opinion, though I have seen some
on which were only the paintings peculiar to them all, .
and the pattern of which, the Missionary before referred

HUMAN SACRIFICES. 335

to informed me, served amongst the tribes of the
Banjar river, to distinguish their tribes, as did that of
the tartan, the clans of the highlanders of Scotland.

Both sexes of the Kyans practise the custom of dis-
tending the lobes of the ears to an extraordinary extent.
Two Dyaks of Kenawit, or some of the tribes bordering
on, if not belonging to the Kyans, whom I saw at Egan,
had this part of that organ hanging nearly to the
shoulders; and I have been told that these were very
small indeed. No ornaments were worn in them, but
they had been distended by the use of heavy brass
rings while young. These two men were finely
tattooed in beautiful patterns ; the shades of blue
colouring were so soft, as to resemble a well-executed
painting.

Notwithstanding the remarks on their moral cha-
racter previously made, I must not neglect to mention
that the manners of the young females resemble those
of the Sea Dyaks ; but, that adultery after marriage is
punished by death to the man, who, under whatever
circumstances the criminal action takes place, is always
considered the guilty and responsible party concerned.
On the death of a person, it is said that a head must
be procured previous to his burial, and it appears
evident that, in south Borneo at least, but I believe
also in the north, human victims are massacred on
the death of a chief, and on other occasions. Those
slain on the death of a chief, are supposed to become his
attendants and slaves in a future state ; their bodies are,
with those of the chief, placed in ornamented houses

336 KYAN MODE OF

erected for the purpose, of carved hard wood, on posts
of some height above the ground ; or occasionally, as
I have been informed, in hollowed trunks of trees.

Notwithstanding the barbarity they display on these
occasions, and the bloody and ferocious tastes which
lead to their wars, they are not, as they have been
hastily stigmatised, cannibals ; nor does any race, which,
like the Battas of Sumatra, practise the horrid custom
of feeding on the bodies of their own species, exist on
the island. To turn to the brighter side of their
character; they are said to be in the highest degree
hospitable, and confiding in the honour of strangers
who may have intercourse with them : they are like the
Hill Dyaks, of the most scrupulous integrity, so that the
Malayan trader never fears to leave his cargo in their
hands, being sure that the full amount for which he has
sold it will be forthcoming at the time stipulated.

On reaching the Kyan village from the sea, the
Malay trader first makes known his arrival to the chief,
who appoints him a house to reside in. During his
stay he is at liberty to help himself to anything he may
see which is outside the doors of the houses : such
as, fowls, fruit, &c. ; but to take anything from the
inside would be considered a robbery. The Kyan
expects, on going to other villages, the same privileges ;
so that when they visit Serekei, which they never do in
small numbers, but only in large fleets, attending their
Rajahs, the inhabitants are glad to see them gone again,
as their helping themselves is troublesome. They go
to the trading-boats in the river, and take cocoa-nuts,

TRANSACTING BUSINESS. 337

and other things ; but only such as they require for
immediate use. On a recent occasion, being invited
by the Patingi of Serekei to assist him, they had nearly
come to blows about this custom with the traders at
that time in the town, as they insisted upon being done
to as they did to the Serekei traders who came to them,
and they were too resolute and numerous to be re-
fused.

The Malays trading to them, are not only allowed
to help themselves to the fowls and goats which, as
well as pigs, are said to be very numerous about their
villages, but are plentifully cared for, during their stay,
by the chief of the tribe ; who, by his taking all the
arrangements into his own hand, appears to monopolize
the trade of his people. He is said (Rajah Nipah)
to be attended with great state and ceremony, being
covered with umbrellas, which are carried over him.
These customs he has doubtless borrowed from the
Malays, whose settlements he has frequently visited,
and where he is treated with great respect.

Next in numbers to the Kyans, but of much more
peaceful habits and practices, are the Orang Milanowes,
who inhabit the mouth of the great Rejang river, and
the small rivers to the eastward of Point Sirik. Their
principal towns are Egan, on the river of that name,
which is, however, but a mouth of the Rejang, being
that most to the eastward; Hoya, on a small river
twenty miles east of Egan ; and Mocha, on another,
fourteen miles east of the last- mentioned settlement.

The Milanowes have been more affected by the customs

338 THE MILANOWES AND THE MERT PEOPLE.

of the Malays, than any of the wild tribes previously
described. Nearly all of the inhabitants of the large
tribe of Rejang, on that river, have adopted the dress,
and many of them the religion of the Malays. Those
of Palo Egan, and the other places at which they reside,
and which are situated close to the sea, and are fre-
quented by the Malays for the purposes of trade, have
been similarly tainted by the practices of these people.
But the tribes further inland, on these rivers, are said
still to preserve their original customs, and to clothe
themselves as the Dyaks do. Their mild and peaceful
characters seem to approach those of the Land or Hill
Dyaks, more than any of the other divisions of the
inhabitants of the island ; and though they pursue, like
them, the practice of keeping the heads of their enemies,
from their peaceful dispositions it is rare that a new
one is added to their store. At Hoya, where they
enjoy a moderately good government, under the care
of a Pafigeran, who is anxious to promote the welfare
of his province, they have fine flourishing villages,
or towns, in the interior; but are much disturbed by
the Dyaks of Kenawit, and others in the interior of
their own, and the Rejang rivers, who make constant
descents upon them.

In 1846, while we lay at the town of Hoya, in the
steam-ship, ' Phlegethon,' a party of Milanowes, coming
from their village to visit Mr. Brooke, was attacked
by some of these marauders, who were fortunately worsted
in the conflict; and having two men killed, jumped
overboard, and left their boat in possession of the

THEIR COMMERCE. 339

Milanowe victors. It is from the Milanowe settlement,
particularly from Hoya and Mocha, that the greater
part of the sago from the west coast of Borneo is
exported, which is cultivated by the Milanowes, to
the same extent that rice is amongst the other tribes.
The traders of Sarawak, and of Serekei, and boats
belonging to the place, carry this produce in its rough
state to Singapore, where it is manufactured; and
being purified by continued washings, is prepared for
the European market, to which it has recently been
sent, with profit to the cultivator and the manu-
facturer.

The " Meri" people, who live on the coast near the
Bintulu and other rivers in that neighbourhood, appear
very much to resemble the Milanowes, and like them,
cultivate much sago, though they export, in addition,
much camphor and bees'-wax to the capital of Borneo,
where they are compelled to send it by the nobles, who
annually send agents from among their unprincipled
followers to collect the produce of these villages. By these
Borneons, who have settled at Mocha in considerable
numbers, the trade of that place has also been much
injured ; but the Pangeran of Hoya, with Mr. Brooke's
assistance, has been able to keep them away.

In personal appearance, the men of the Milanowes
have much resemblance to the other races inhabiting
the island, from whom they cannot, by their features, be
distinguished. The women, however, enjoy the reputation
of being far more beautiful than those of any of the
other tribes, and slaves from this nation are sold for a

z 2

340 AN ALBINO.

much higher price than girls from any other of the
many divisions of the inhabitants of the island. I had
only opportunities of seeing those of the Rejang tribe
who live at Serekei, and cannot say that I observed
their great superiority. They were dressed in the manner
of Malayan females, and perhaps their long clothing
may have better concealed their personal defects : their
hair was kept in better order, and their faces were much
fairer than is general amongst the other tribes.

At Hoya, amongst the other people who came to
visit us, was an Albino, who was introduced to us as an
" Orang putih," or white man of the country : his skin
was white, but of a reddish or pink tinge, and rather
rough ; his hair was yellow and flaxen, his eyes greyish
blue. He said that he enjoyed perfect health, though his
eyes were weak in the glare of the sun, and his sight
most vigorous and acute in the mornings and evenings.

Albino varieties of the human race are well known
to most of the tribes inhabiting the island, though I
never previously saw one. Some others of this man's
family were said to present the same remarkable
features of complexion.

The houses of the Rejang tribe of Milanowes at the
town of Serekei were built on very large posts of hard
wood, about fifteen to twenty feet from the ground. A
village they possess, and which they frequent during the
fine monsoon or fishing season, has the posts of its
houses much higher; in other respects the houses
resemble those of the Sea Dyaks, and the villages are
built upon the same plan. The posts are much more

AN ATTACK OF DYAKS. 341

numerous and the dwelling, individually, very much
larger, though not divided into rooms, as are the larger
houses of the Malays. They affirm that these high posts
of hard wood are necessary for their protection against
the Kenawit and Sarebas Dyaks, by whom they have
been repeatedly attacked, and who recently burnt and
destroyed the settlement of these people, on the Palo
mouth of the Rejang river, situated a little to the east-
ward of Tangong Jereji, its most western mouth. The
method of attack pursued by the Dyaks on this occa-
sion, who were very numerous, was, with their large
shields placed over their backs, to work steadily at the
posts of the houses, notwithstanding the spears, boiling
water, stones, &c., which were showered down upon
them by the besieged. Two or three being employed at
each post with their hatchets, the houses soon fell, and
the Rejangs were murdered, or carried into captivity by
the Dyaks : their houses were plundered and burnt.

The few who escaped came to Mr. Brooke for his
assistance, which, as far as it was possible, was given to
them, and a letter was despatched to the Patingi Abdul-
rahman, in whose territory the Kenawit Dyaks live, but
over whom he is supposed to have but very little power,
representing their conduct to him , and requesting him at
his own peril, to use his best endeavours for the suppres-
sion of their piratical habits, though it is probable that
the attack was made at the suggestion of this chief
himself, who wished the Rejangs to leave their settle-
ment at Palo, to swell the numbers of the inhabitants
of Serekei, the town at which he resides, and where,

342 THE REJANGS AND KADYANS.

as has been previously stated, the remainder of this
tribe of Milanowes has its houses.

The Rejangs are very expert in catching fish, and
their large establishment for this purpose at the mouth
of their river exports large quantities, in a dried state,
along the coast and to the interior of the island, to
which their fine stream gives them easy access. All the
tribes are said to practice slavery, but the other vices of
the Malays are rare among them. Each person contents
himself with one wife, and polygamy and concubinage
are unknown among them. They appear to be amongst
the most simple and easily governed of all the inhabi-
tants of the island ; and if good government be secured
to them, their industry will develop the resources of
the country they inhabit, with but trifling assistance from
without. The new settlement at Labuh-an will confer
a great boon upon their towns by regulating the amount
of taxation to be paid to the Borneo government, and
preventing repetition of the extortions of which they
have been too frequently the subjects.

The Kadyans are the native inhabitants of that part
of the island in the immediate neighbourhood of Bruni,
the capital. Many of their tribes are converted to the
Mahometan religion ; and they have, for the most part,
adopted the customs of the Malays. Like the other
tribes, they preserve the skulls of their enemies, but
the practice is now much disused, having given way to
the Malayan influence. They are a quiet agricultural
people, much oppressed : they are compelled to culti-
vate pepper, and search for bees'-wax and camphor for

OTHER TRIBES. 343

the Rajahs of Borneo, amongst whom their tribes are
divided. The Idaan, or Meroots — as they are more
properly called — inhabit the more hilly districts towards
the north, in the vicinity of the great mountain, Kina
Balou. They resemble the Kadyans, and some of their
tribes, who being nearer to the capital, are, more than
others, under the influence of its nobles, are, like them,
compelled to plant pepper, and collect the other pro-
duce of the country for their masters. These people
appear anxious for an intercourse with Europeans, and
during our temporary occupation of the islands Balam-
bangan and Labuh-an, eighty years ago, they came in
numbers, in their little boats, bringing with them for
sale, hogs, fruit, and other productions of their country.
They are said to resemble the Kyans in the sacrifice of
human victims on particular occasions.

Scanty as is our knowledge of the tribes above
enumerated, the inhabitants of the east coast are still
less known to us. They are said to be Dyaks, i. e.
Kyans of a ferocious description. The Orang Tedong
which inhabit the interior of some of the large rivers
opposite the Soolu Archipelago, go to sea in fleets
regularly, as do the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran, but
their cruises are not confined within such narrow limits
as those of these people. Their boats frequent the
islands of the Phillippine group, and are said occasionally
to cruise as far down the western coast as the island of
Labuh-an. They are settled on the Koran and other
rivers, in towns, mixed with the inhabitants of the Soolu
Solands, and many of these places being fortified as

344 THE BADJUS OR SEA-GIPSIES.

regular piratical establishments, fleets are annually
equipped at them for the purposes of this illegal practice.
The whole of the east coast, as far south as Coti, is
divided amongst these people, all of whom are, more or
less, under the influence of the Soolu Rajahs, though
many of their chiefs arrogate to themselves the title of
Sultan. They are said to treat their prisoners with much
cruelty, and head-hunting is carried on amongst them
to the same extent as amongst the worst of the Dyak and
Kyan tribes. Their boats appear to be built on the
principle of those of Sakarran and Sarebas, being easily
taken to pieces and put together again as occasion may
require.

The Badjus, or as they are commonly called, Sea-
Gipsies, are found in considerable numbers in the sea
which lies between the east coast of Borneo, and the
west coast of Celebes. These curious people are said to
have come originally from Johore, in the Malayan penin-
sula, the inhabitants of which they much resemble in
features and habits. Many of them are settled in per-
manent villages on the east coast of the island, but the
greater number live in their boats, which are from five
vO ten tons' burden; during the whole year, and shift
their position with the changing monsoon, so as always
to keep on the lee side of the island, and, consequently,
in fine weather. They all profess the Mahometan
religion, and differ but little, except in their maritime
habits, from the Malays, though they are said to
adhere less strictly to the tenets of Islamism : the men
are employed in fishing for the trepang, or sea-slug, (a

THEIR QUALIFICATIONS. 345

dirty looking animal, which forms one of the many
strange articles of luxury of the Chinese nation,) and
for tortoiseshell, and the other productions of these
seas. Unless they are wronged by the Malays, they also
do a little, in a quiet way, in piracy, but are never
reported to follow it as a profession, and as it is practised
by the Soolus and others, with whom they come in
contact.

During our stay at Balambangan, these people were
found of great service in supplying the settlement with
provisions, which they purchased from the Meroots of
Borneo, and from the Tedong, Koran, and other people
of the eastern Coast, in exchange for a kind of bitter
salt, which they manufacture from the ashes of sea-
weed, nipah leaves, and other vegetables found in salt
marshes. Such of them as reside in permanent habi-
tations, have fowls about their houses, and, in all respects,
resemble the other Mahometans. Their villages are
built on posts, and always over the water, and close to
the sea, or the mouths of large rivers, in which the
eastern part of the island abounds. They are expert
divers, and would be useful in this manner, if European
capitalists should think proper to fish the rich banks of
the pearl and mother-of-pearl oysters in Malludu Bay,
and amongst the islands of the Soolu Archipelago,
which, from having been so long neglected, would
doubtless, be found immensely productive.

Many of the Badjus, are situated in the seas of
Celebes, about the Dutch settlements, and are found very
useful in carrying despatches, &c. ; they are mostly em-

346 OPENINGS FOR

ployed by Chinese merchants to fish for them, and, it is
said that these cunning traders invariably contrive to keep
these poor people in debt, so as to secure their continued
services, and that so scrupulously honest are they, that
though nothing could detain them, they are never known
to leave a place to evade their creditors.

We have now mentioned the greater part of the
inhabitants of the large, rich, and beautiful island of
Borneo; but, from our little communication with it,
this is all that can at present be done. The Kyans,
those numerous and interesting people, have never yet
been visited by Europeans ; and though the Malay
Chief of Serekei will throw every obstacle in their way,
in the ascent of the Rejang river to the country of
Rajah Nipah, before described, it will not be long
after the new settlement shall be formed, before this
powerful tribe is in communication with it ; Rajah
Nipah having frequently intimated his wish to visit
Sarawak, or that Mr. Brooke should send some one
to visit him. This information has been frequently
communicated to us by natives of Serekei, who are
constantly in the habit of trading with the Kyans,
and who further informed us — what we very well
knew — that the Patingi Abdulrahman in every way
discouraged such intentions on the part of the Kyan
chieftain.

Other openings for British enterprise, and which
are free from Malayan influence, exist in the facilities
of communication presented with the Kyan countries
by the livers Bintulu and Barram, which have hitherto

BRITISH ENTERPRISE. 347

been urivisited by Europeans, excepting at their mouths,
and then only on one occasion. We shall not long —
provided the settlement of Labuh-an flourish — remain
in our present ignorance regarding this and the other
inhabitants of the western and eastern coast. At
present, even the outline of the latter is incorrectly
laid down, and the mouths of its numerous and very
large rivers are not inserted on our charts. The
Government have recently done much towards our
better geographical acquaintance with the island, and
the yet unpublished surveys of its coasts by Sir
Edward Belcher, and the continuation of them by
the talented and industrious officer who has succeeded
him as the surveying officer of the station (Lieut. D.
Gordon, H.M. surveying ship ' Royalist,') will not
suffer the coasts of the island much longer to remain
the disgrace to our admiralty charts, which they have
hitherto been.

Of all nations, the Dutch have, perhaps, with the
exception of the English East India Company, acquired
the best information regarding their colonies ; and their
many expeditions into the interior of Borneo, up the
Pontianak, the Banjar, and the Coti rivers, must have
put them in possession of facts relative to the interior
of the island, which it will be years before our own
Government can obtain. The museums of Holland team
with collections of all kinds from their possessions in
the east ; but hitherto that Government has guarded
with jealous care all the information, on whatever
subject, which its servants and scientific expeditions

348 PROBABLE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS.

have collected. But now a more liberal spirit seems to
have actuated it, and the magnificent national work on
the colonies of Netherlands India, will be such as, when
completed, no other nation can boast. At the present
time there are two expeditions in Borneo ; one on the
west, the other, consisting of three scientific gentlemen,
on the southern parts of the island ; and the examination
and survey of the fine River Banjar Massing, must be
now nearly completed, as I judge, from the time they
have been engaged in it.

Notwithstanding the exertions of the Government of
Holland, a fine field yet invites the attention of that
of Britain, and the lovers of science will be glad to
hear that the fine mountains, valleys, plains and lakes,
which render the north of Borneo, the most majestically
beautiful of any part of the island, have had appointed
for their investigation, Dr. Joseph Hooker, who has
already so distinguished himself by his researches
during the Antarctic Expedition, the account of which
has been published under the patronage of the Admi-
ralty. This selection of our Government is peculiarly
happy, as, in addition to the great acquirements of
Dr. Hooker in Botany, he possesses a skill in the
investigation of minerals, zoology, and other depart-
ments of science, which are rarely combined in one
individual.

The lofty mountains, hitherto untrodden by the foot
of civilized man, will doubtless be found as rich, or
more rich if possible, in minerals, than the lower
portion of the island ; and it is well known that the

DR. HOOKER. 349

rich botanical productions of the country, are com-
paratively unknown ; so that on the arrival of Dr.
Hooker, which it is to be regretted, will be deferred
for two years, we may look for many mineral and
vegetable products, hitherto strangers to the commerce
of the island.

The absence of Dr. Hooker from the scene of his
future labours, during the two years he is to spend
in India, may have this advantage, that on his arrival,
he may find the coast in a more settled state, and
be able to travel with greater facility ; but during that
period, if it should be found difficult to travel on the
main-land, which I do not anticipate, Labuh-an itself
would, though small, present him with an ample and
interesting field for mineral and botanical research.

CHAPTER XT.

THE Malayan, or Malayan and Dyak town of Serekei,
having been frequently mentioned in the preceding
pages, a short narrative of a visit to it, extracted from
my journal, may be interesting to the reader.

The expedition left Sarawak on Wednesday the 6th of
April, 1845, its object being to carry a letter to the
Patingi of Serekei from Mr. Brooke, the late Mr.
Williamson, then interpreter to the Rajah of Sarawak,
being the Ambassador, assisted by the Dattu Bandar,
and a man of high rank and ability, Serieb Hussein.
Mr. Williamson, the Dattu, and myself were in the
" Buaya " (Alligator) war-boat of seventy feet in
length, and carrying a six pound brass gun and
two swivels, with a complement of fifty men : the
Tuanku, (his highness), Serieb Hussein, was in a
smaller boat, also carrying a gun.

Having left the town at 2 P.M., we lay during the
night off the fishing village at the Moratabas entrance

JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO SEREKEI. 351

of the river. Got under weigh at noon on the 17th,
and towards evening entered a small creek, where were
the houses of a few fishermen : — this creek is situated
to the eastward about twenty miles from Sarawak
River. Here we remained for the night : early on the
morning of Friday, the 18th, we again started, and
having a fine breeze passed the mouths of the Sadong,
Batang Lupar, and Sarebas Rivers, with several other
smaller ones. Early in the afternoon, we entered the
mouth of the Kalekka River, which is about sixty
miles from the Sarawak ; at 4 P.M. we anchored
abreast of the house of the Tuan Mulana, an old Arab
hypocrite, who, by fawning and flattery, has obtained
this appointment from the Rajah Muda Hassim. The
village, which is small, containing perhaps about six
hundred people, principally slaves and followers of
Mulana, is built like Borneo, on posts, upon a
mud bank in the river. There are said to be other
larger villages of Malays, under a Dattu Laxsamana,
a little distance up the river : both the priest, arid the
Laxsamana are tributary to, and under the orders of
the Patingi of Serekei.

The whole coast, as far as we could see inland, after
having passed the Batang Lupar River was flat, low,
and covered with jungle to the edge of the sea, where
the waters have formed a sandy beach. The beautiful
Arroore tree (Casuarina littorea) is always found growing
in rows just above high-water mark, but where mud
forms the boundaries of the waters, the mangrove is

352 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

the first vegetation, and is immediately succeeded by
the ordinary trees of the jungle. The country between
the Sarawak river, and the Batang Lupar, including
the Samarhand, Sadong and Lingah territories, appeared
to be beautifully studded with mountains, not disposed
in ranges, but, for the most part, solitary. The Gunong
Penerissen, inland of the Sarawak river, and on the
borders of the Sangon country, appeared to be the
highest. (It has been since ascertained, by barometrical
observation, to be about 4,700 feet in height).

Soon after we had anchored, we waited upon the old
chief, Mulana, (which is not his name, but an Arabic
word signifying teacher), in a tumble-down kind of
audience hall. He was delighted to see Williamson,
whom he had previously known at Sarawak, and the
apartment was crowded with the inhabitants of the
place. Several verses from the Koran, in large Arabic
characters, were displayed on its decaying sides, under
one of which the chief was seated, and white mats were
spread for Williamson and myself, with our Tuanku
by my friend's side : our Dattu sat with the other men
of consideration a little lower down, but on the right-
hand side of the priest.

When we were seated, tea and cigars were handed
to us, the former in small china cups, without sugar or
milk. The latter are made of Borneo tobacco, which is
very pleasant, neatly rolled up in the young straw-coloured
leaves of the Nipah palm, and bound with crimson silk.
They are about nine inches long, and contain much

TO SEREKEI. 353

tobacco. Williamson and the Mulana had a long
conversation respecting the political relations between
Kalekka and Bruni, which I but imperfectly under-
stood.

After having remained about two hours, we took
our departure, the old gentleman himself accompanying
us to the ladder of his landing-place, which was intended
as a mark of his most distinguished consideration. On
descending to our boat, the ebbing tide having left
the mud quite dry, our senses were saluted with the
disagreeable stench which is prevalent also in Borneo ;
and which one would think must certainly render the
place unhealthy ; but such is not the case, the people
here and in Borneo enjoying as perfect health as those
of any other towns in the island. One thing which has
astonished me, in all the Malay towns I have visited,
is the larger number of children seen about them in
proportion to the number of houses ; this I find is easily
accounted for, by the custom of two or three families
living in the same habitation.

In the evening we were waited on by Pafigeran
AUa-ed-din and Nakodah Serudin, the former nick-
named Paddy Graham, for what reason I cannot teD,
and the latter Bull-dog, from his short figure, large
head, and ferocious character. The Pangeran has been
sent, or professes to have been sent, by the Rajah
Muda Hassim to collect revenue. The latter left
Sarawak six months ago, with a large boat loaded
with the property of the Rajah Mudah, which he left
behind him, when conveyed by Sir E. Belcher to

A A

354 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

Borneo. They are equally bad characters, and are here
terrifying the people of the place, and extorting goods
from the Dyaks of the interior.

The instructions of Mr. Williamson are to impress
upon the native chiefs the necessity of resisting such
demands, as the Rajah and Sultan have agreed to sub-
stitute a fixed revenue, instead of the exactions of such
people as these, who, collecting property in the name of
their masters, keep by far the greater share of it for
themselves. The contents of Mr. Brooke's letter to
the Patingi having been made known to the Mulana, he
has sent a message to Mr. Williamson, to beg him
to read a copy of it to these two men, in the presence
of the people of Kalekka, to-morrow.

April 19 th. — In the morning, we again visited
Mulana, having previously sent on shore to inform him
that we were coming, according to his request of
last night. As this was expected to be an important
meeting, our young Dattu took more than ordinary
pains in dressing himself. His jacket was of blue
cloth of very fine texture, and plentifully but neatly
embroidered with gold; his seluars were of crimson
silk with gold-thread worked into it in very pretty
patterns. His sarong or waist- cloth, was of the
finest make of Sarawak, and his Kris, which was
stuck into its folds, was beautifully ornamented with
gold. The dustar or head-dress, was a dark silk hand-
herchief, with a broad edge of gold lace, and folded
with great taste. He looks remarkably well in this
finery, being of a pleasing countenance, and elegant
and slender figure. He is the son of the old chief,

TO SEREKEI. 355

the Patingi All, whose heroic courage is narrated in the
Narrative of the Expedition of the Dido.

Pangeran Alla-ed-din and the Nakodah had been
summoned to hear a copy of the letter read, but on our
arrival, the former only had come, so the proceedings
went on without the other, his partner in mischief having
been previously warned to convey the substance of it
to him. All present — and the hall and verandahs
were crowded — seemed very much pleased with it, and
on its being finished, a murmur of approbation ran
through the crowd. That which most delighted them,
was the promise of assistance from the Rajah of
Sarawak, in resisting the illegal demands of such men
as those then in the town, whose people were at that
moment acting in opposition to the request it con-
tained.

Pafigeran Alla-ed-din had sent a tertawak (a musical
instrument resembling a gong), two or three days
before our arrival up the country to the Dyaks, for
which he demanded forty dollars in money, well
knowing that there was not a tenth of that amount
amongst all their tribes. The real value of the tertawak
was about ten dollars. On being informed by the
Dyaks that they had no money, he said, that in that
case he would take Padi, to the amount of one hundred
dollars, in exchange, and ordered them to pay it im-
mediately : of this we had been told by all the residents
at Kalekka. Williamson accused the Pangeran of this
before the assembled people, and though the fact was so
notorious, he instantly, and in a loud voice, denied

AA 2

356 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

it ; and challenged any one present to say to his face
that he had done so.

None of the number present had courage to accuse
him, so that Williamson could do nothing but warn
him to leave the place as soon as possible, and return
to Borneo ; but this he will probably not be in a hurry
to do. Thus are these people terrified at the name and
rank of Pangeran, and dare not resist his demands,
more particularly as he is backed this time by his own
desperate crew, and that of Nakodah Serudin, who has
many of the Rajah's guns, and much of his ammuni-
tion on board, which he would not scruple to use, as he
has formerly often done, against any one who may
offend him, and whom he thinks himself sufficiently
powerful to attack.

After Williamson had finished his business, I took
my gun, and with a small boat, and accompanied by
the Bandar, went up the river to see the country,
though the natives tried to persuade me that I should
very likely meet with some of the Sarebas Dyaks,
with whom we were then on bad terms. We went
about six miles, five of which were through a salt
marsh, apparently of immense extent, and covered with
the Nipah palm, which here grows most luxuriantly.
Inland, the ground was slightly undulating, and
covered with fine jungle, in which the nearest springs
of water to the town are to be found, so that the
inhabitants have to fetch all their fresh water from
a distance of five or six miles. We passed several
salt-making establishments on the banks amongst the

TO SEREKEI. 357

Nipahs, from the ashes of the leaves of which it is made.
It is much used by the Milanowes and Dyaks, but is
very bitter and of an unpleasant flavour, and very dirty
appearance.

On my arrival at the boat in the evening, I found
that Williamson had received a dinner from Mulana.
It consisted principally of rice cakes, and sweetmeats
of rice flour, and curries in small dishes. Spoons
which were also sent, were made of the young leaves
of the useful Nipah, which being folded into the proper
form, were secured in it by small pegs. In the evening,
many people visited Williamson, and some sent
presents. Mulana sent fowls and ducks with a fine
sarong — for the manufacture of which this place is
celebrated — for each of us. Pafigeran Alla-ed-din had
the impudence to send a similar cloth in the evening for
Williamson's acceptance.

April 20th. — Weighed anchor at three A.M., under a
salute of — I cannot tell how many — guns from the
impertinent Pafigeran and Nakodah, who were, doubt-
less, glad to get rid of us with the expense only of a
little powder which did not belong to them. During
the morning we coasted along to the eastward with a fine
breeze, until we opened the mouth of the western
branch of the great Rejang river. There are four
or five other larger mouths to the eastward, but none
of them so deep as this. Egan is the furthest to the
east, but is very shoaly, not having more than nine feet
on the bar at low water. The natives assured us that,
in the channel, the branch we had entered was six

358 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

fathoms in the shallowest part. On doubling the point
Tanjong Lallang, we had a fear of the large fishing
establishment of the Rejangs, a tribe of the Milanowe
race, who have houses at which they reside during
the bad monsoon at the town of Serekei. On each of
the houses, or rather ranges of houses, was displayed
a white flag, in token either of fear or welcome, probably
the latter, as they had, doubtlessly, heard of our arrival
at Kalekka, which is distant about sixteen miles from
Tanjong Lallang. We passed the village and sailed
about twenty miles up the river with a strong flood-
tide. The banks are well wooded, the trees, as in all
the other rivers, overhanging the water. Here the
wind failing, the ebb tide forced us to anchor at half
past six P.M. We were informed that about ten miles
further up the stream, is the mouth of the small
river Serekei, on which the town we intend to visit
is situated.

April 21st. — Having weighed early with the morn-
ing flood, we paddled up the river, the banks of which
were here a little cultivated by scattered farms, until
we reached the mouth of the Serekei. The town is
about five miles from its junction with the great
Rejang, which itself, about six miles further up, joins
the still greater Palo branch of this mighty river : the
banks of the Serekei are all clear of wood, having
been recently cultivated as Padi fields. We anchored
at seven A.M. about half a mile below the town, and
sent to inform the Patingi Abdulrahman of our arrival.
He immediately sent back some of his principal men to

TO SEREKEI. 359

beg us to wait for a little while, that Mr. Brooke's
ambassador and letter might be properly conducted
into the town. About two hours afterwards, while we,
having dressed, were waiting for our breakfast, a fleet
of large boats with drums (i. e. tomtoms), and trumpets
(i. e. gongs), were seen coming towards the place where
we lay. We supposed from the number of boats that
the Dattu himself was coming, and in a few minutes
ascertained that such was the case. He was in a
covered boat, pulled by about twenty men, and followed
by twenty other boats, some larger than that he occu-
pied, all of which, when he came alongside of us, drew
up in a line on the right-hand side of the river.

The chief inquired of us whether we were ready to
enter the town, and begged us to excuse him from coming
out of his boat to ours, as he had a disease in the bone
of one of his legs which prevented his using it. His
house, he said, had been burnt down some time since,
and he had since constantly resided in this boat. As
soon as we signified to the chief that we were ready to
proceed up to the town, a signal was made from his
boat to those on shore, on which they immediately took
a hawser from each of our two boats, and towed us
slowly through the town until we came opposite the
Balei or Town-Hall. The town was everywhere decorated
with flags of all shapes and colours ; the music of the
noisy gongs and tomtoms was also in high requisition,
and brass guns were fired on all sides of us : during
our triumphal entry nothing they could devise was
neglected to give us a high idea of the estimation in

360 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

which they held the honour of this first European visit
from any of the Rajah of Sarawak's people. All the
houses on the river side were crowded with women and
children in all the gaudiness which pink and yellow
dresses could display.

The Balei is situated on the right bank of the river,
in nearly the centre of the town, on a small hill which
is covered with fruit trees : this, with the exception of
a similar one on the same side of the river, and near to
the former, and on which the Dattu is now building
a large and fine house, is the only rising ground
within sight of the town, the remainder being flat, and
occasionally inundated at spring tides. After having been
some time at our anchorage, a deputation of people
appointed by the Patingi came to inform us, that if
convenient to Williamson, everything was now pre-
pared for the reception of the letter ; the epistle was
accordingly placed on a brass waiter with a foot to it,
between two cloths richly ornamented with gold em-
broidery, one of the persons appointed to conduct it
then placed the waiter on his head, and carrying it in
this manner, was followed by Williamson and myself,
and by the Dattu Bandar, the Tuanku, and the people
of the Dattu Patingi, and many others, to the number
of three or four hundred, to the Town Hall, a distance
of fifty yards, where it was to be received. The path
leading to this building was decorated on each side with
flags, and the moment the letter was landed, it was
saluted by many guns, which seemed to me to be in
dangerous proximity to us, as they not unfrequently

TO SEREKEI. 361

burst ; but this time the important epistle was landed
without accident. The bearer of the letter and its atten-
dants soon reached the room, and the letter-carrier
seated himself, or rather knelt before a chair at the
farther end of the chamber, which was covered with
beautiful Sirhassen mats : similar ones were placed on
the right of the chair for our use, the adopted son of
the Patingi sitting with us.

We had been all thus placed about ten minutes, and
I was anxiously watching the hangings of the room,
expecting the chief immediately to make his appear-
ance, when I heard his nephew and adopted son,
a fine-looking youth, dressed in silks and gold, ask
Williamson if the letter might now be opened. On his
giving assent, the person who had charge of it, on his
knees, and with his head bent on the ground, placed
the salver containing it upon the chair, with many
tokens of respect, intended, I suppose, both for the
letter and the representative of the Patingi, which the
chair undoubtedly was. Another person then shuffled
to the chair on his hands and knees, and took the letter
which was finally opened and read to an admiring
audience ; but few remarks were made upon it, as
though it had been read to the representative of the
Patingi, the chief himself had not heard its contents.

The chair, which had been so conspicuous through
these proceedings, was neither a new chair, nor a good
chair, but a very old and very bad one. It was so
small, that it could not have contained the portly person
of the chief, though it was thought sufficiently large for

362 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

his dignity. It was made of common wood, and was
very dirty, and I should have remained a stranger to the
mystery of its appearance, had not a gust of wind through
the crevices of the room raised one of the white and
beautiful mats which covered its unsightliness. The foot-
stool was a common deal box, as old as the chair, and
like it covered with mats. The hangings of the room
were crimson and white cloth. After Mr. Williamson
had made some remarks to the assembled people on Mr.
Brooke's intention in sending this " friendly epistle," we
adjourned, by especial desire, to the boat in which the
Patingi lived ; which, after some trouble, on account of
the difficulty of walking on the sticks which had to serve
for paths through the mud, we reached.

I had fallen from one of the sticks — doubtless much to
the amusement of the people, who, however, like all
Malays, were much too well bred to express it visibly —
into a puddle of dirty water which had reached to my
knees, so that, having been dressed entirely in white, I
presented myself to the chief in mottled attire. The
Dattu received us very kindly ; he had been anxiously
waiting for our visit ; and, having read the letter, told
us how much he was delighted with Mr. Brooke for
having sent it, more especially that he had caused Mr.
Williamson to be the bearer of it, of whom, as Mr.
Brooke's secretary, he had often heard from his people,
by whom he was much liked. The chief is a stout man
of about fifty years of age, with dark complexion and an
intelligent expression of countenance ; but his appearance
is spoiled by his having no teeth, and by his being in the

TO SEREKEI. 363

constant habit of preparing and chewing sirih-leaves and
betel-nut. He has two or three long, ugly hairs growing
from his neck, much below his face, which he appears to
cultivate with great care. His conversation with Wil-
liamson was respecting his wish to govern the country
of Serekei as Mr. Brooke did that of Sarawak.

He frequently expressed his anxiety to attempt a
reformation, but said that many things at present inter-
fered to prevent him, particularly the unsettled state of
the countries bordering on his province, and the fear in
which he and his people lived of the Dyaks of Sarebas ;
by whom, he told us, small parties were constantly cut
off, both in this and his other river of Kalekka. The
Dyaks are said to lie concealed in their boats in the
vegetation of the banks of the rivers, until the unsus-
pecting Malayan boat passes their hiding-place, when
they rush out, and without any parley, take the heads
from their victims, which they carry up the country in
triumph.

This conversation lasted during two hours, at the
expiration of which time we rose to return. By some
mistake the Dattu fancied I was intending to leave the
boat without shaking hands with him, on which he
seized me by the left, and having hauled me towards
him, heartily shook my right hand. In this ceremony
he was imitated by all those whose consideration entitled
them to a seat in the boat. In the cabin kind of place
in which the Dattu sat, was behind him a curtain
drawn across : during our audience I had frequently
seen large black eyes peeping from behind it, which be-

364 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

longed to some fair faces — I suppose those of his adopted
daughters.

In the evening I got a small boat to take me to see
the remainder of the town. The right-hand bank of the
river contains the Malayan Kampongs ; the left those
of the Rejang Milanowes and the Seboo Dyaks. The
houses on the left-hand side are built on posts of
very hard wood, about sixteen or twenty feet from the
ground. They are constructed on the principle of the
Sea Dyak houses, that is to say, each row is an assem-
blage of domiciles, all of which open into a large
common verandah, where the women were about their
ordinary employments. The women here make baskets,
called " umpuk," of a square form very neatly ; the
rattans they use are all coloured, and these are worked
into very beautiful patterns.

I accidentally stopped at the house of the head man of
the tribe : he was a fine-looking man, named " Galong,"
and when he saw me land, descended to assist me
up to his aerial mansion. It was a very large house
inside, and instead of the notched pole generally used
by the Dyaks for steps, it had a broad and good
ladder to ascend by. These houses were much better
built than any Dyak habitations I have hitherto seen,
and few Malay houses are so strongly put together.
Galong told me that they were obliged to build their
houses thus high, to prevent the Dyaks of Sarebas
thrusting spears through the open flooring at night,
and thus killing the people while they sleep. The
women and men I saw were all dressed like the

TO SEREKEI. . 365

Malays, and the chief informed me that he himself
and a great many of his tribe, had embraced the
Mahometan faith; but that the Milanowes, in general,
held much the same notions of religion as the Dyaks.

Lower down the river are the houses of the Siboo
Dyaks; they are not so large or well built as those
of the Rejangs I had just left. These people still
retain their Dyak dresses and customs, and many of
them had stars tattooed on their persons. This, and
the peculiar Parang called the Parang Hang, shows
that they have been infected, in some measure, by the
customs of the Kyans, whose country is in the inte-
rior of the Rejang river.

The ilang is remarkable for its convex and concave
blades, (described in the preceding chapter.) The
Dyaks rarely laid aside their swords and spears, even in
their boats : this would seem to argue a state of inse-
curity incompatible with the size of the place; unless,
notwithstanding the friendship they profess for us, they
are in reality jealous of, and afraid of our intentions.

On the right hand of the river, are the houses of
the Malays — miserable residences, built on Nibong posts,
and of Atap or Nipah leaves. They appear, however,
to contain very many inhabitants, and are placed thickly
together along the bank on each side of the hills ; on
which stand the Balei, and the large new house which
the chief is building. I should suppose the whole
population of the place to be between four and five
thousand. Though the houses are poor in appearance,

366 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

a great trade is carried on by their proprietors, who
must, consequently, be as rich as the generality of their
class ; but, perhaps, they fear to attract the avarice of
the Patingi, who, as far as his power extends, would
probably treat them as their Rajahs did those of Sara-
wak ; but being himself one of the people, the same
reverence is not paid to his title as to that of the noble
of high descent, and, consequently, he cannot be so
despotic.

We saw a great number of large prows hauled
up on the beach, most of which were repairing and
getting ready for sea ; this being the beginning of the
south-west or fine monsoon. They export rice in very
large quantities; also sago, fine cloths, bees'-wax, &c.
They import iron, coarse china ware, Turkey red cloths,
&c. Gold is found in the country, but not worked to
any extent.

In the evening, many people came off to our boats ;
some to see if they could do a little trade with our
people, who trade wherever they go, and others to see
Williamson, and talk politics and business. Many of
them wished him to let them accompany us to Sara-
wak ; but, as they cannot do this without the permis-
sion of the Patingi, and he is naturally averse to it,
Mr. Williamson gives them no encouragement. At
present, the numbers of persons who flock to Sarawak
is perfectly astonishing — whole tribes of Dyaks, and
villages of Malays. At this time, a Dyak tribe, be-
longing to the Sambas territory, are anxious to come

TO SEREKEI. 367

in, and sent, some short time since, their chief men to
beg Mr. Brooke to allot them a territory, and take them
under his protection.

April 22nd. — At 10 A.M. we went to the Patingi.
During this visit, the conversation was turned by the
chief, on European nations, their customs and manu-
factures. The only two people he had ever heard of,
were the English and Dutch; and he asked us many
questions relating to each. He fancied that Holland
was a much greater and more powerful nation than
Britain; he inquired more particularly about our
steam-ships, of which he had been told by his people
who had seen them. It was difficult to make him
understand how they could be made to go along by
smoke, for he knew no word for steam ; so that
Williamson translated it, "Asup ayer panas," the
smoke of hot water. He was filled with amazement,
when told that we considered it a trifle to go ten
miles an hour in a steam-ship, and that the distance
between Borneo and Sarawak could be travelled, in
our own country, in thirteen or fourteen hours by land.
His most anxious inquiries were reserved for our cloth
manufactories ; and he wanted to know how we could
possibly make so much cloth of different kinds, when
it took his women so long to make him a sarong.
We explained this and other things to him as well as
we could ; but his inquiries seemed as if they would
never end; so great was his anxiety for knowledge of
this description. He wanted to know about our wars,
our armies, and our navies, and wished us to tell him

368 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

the cost of a large ship of war, which — when we had
given some large amount, at a venture — he said, all
his country, if it were sold, would not produce. We
had been with him two hours, answering such ques-
tions, when Williamson rose to go ; but the old gentle-
man pressed us to stay. Williamson, however, said
he would call again, and so we departed.

Williamson is anxious to be home; as, in Mr.
Brooke's absence from Sarawak (at Singapore) he is
very much wanted. I was very much pleased with this
man's intelligence and anxiety for information; and
think that if Mr. Brooke and he can once thoroughly
understand each, the character of the other, that the
present good understanding existing between them will
be strengthened. On account of his leg, he cannot
bear the motion of his boat at sea, or he says that
he would go to Sarawak. At present, Mr. Brooke has
too much to do to think of coming here.

The Patingi has no legitimate children to succeed
him: those of his relatives who are with him, are
either too little liked, or not possessed of sufficient
energy or talent to acquire the necessary authority to
become the chief of this trading community. Should
his life terminate before a successor springs up
amongst his nephews and adopted children, this
settlement will, probably, be split by factions, and,
in a great measure, broken up. If such be the case,
many of the families will immediately emigrate to
Sarawak, where the government is more liberal and
secure.

TO SEREKEI. 369

At six P.M. we went to take leave of the Patingi,
and to thank him for some fowls and goats he had
sent us as presents ; dropped down with the ebb tide,
and about midnight came to anchor in the Rejang,
having met the flood.

April 23rd. — In the morning, with the ebb tide, we
reached the Rejang fishing village, at the mouth of the
river. The houses are built on the trunks of trees,
from thirty to forty feet high. They were filled
with inhabitants, all of whom were occupied in catch-
ing and preparing fish, great quantities of which, in a
dried and salted state, are exported to the towns along
the coast, and to the inhabitants of the interior. They
are much molested by the Dyaks of Sarebas and
Sakarran, who, during the fine season, are constantly
cruising about their fishing grounds. Shrimps form an
important branch of this trade ; they are dried in the
sun, and esteemed a delicacy : along the coast, they
make excellent curries in this state.

The women of these people, who are said to be the
most beautiful of the natives of Borneo, are fairer and
with more decided features than any others I have seen.
On the whole, neither Williamson nor myself deemed
the reputation they have obtained unmerited.

These people were very much astonished at my double-
barrelled gun : at first, they did not understand how the
two reports were produced in immediate succession, but
their astonishment was extreme, when they saw two
swallows drop, which were flying over their houses. They

B B

370 JOURNAL OF A VISIT

had never seen shot before, and had no idea that birds
could be killed on the wing. After having staid ashore
about two hours, we returned on board, and were
detained another hour in taking in dried fish, which the
inhabitants brought off in abundance as presents to
Williamson, who gave it to our natives who were pulling
the boat. This gentleman's knowledge of their
language, and kindness of disposition, have gained him
a name amongst these, and many other tribes which
he has never seen, that will ensure him everywhere
a kind reception, whenever, in the course of his duty,
he may have to visit them. At last we got under
weigh, but soon brought up again in sight of the
houses on the sandy beach, at the right-hand point of the
mouth of the river, as the natives could not be induced
to go to sea till they had another tide. We humoured
them, and I went on shore with my gun, accompanied
by the Tuanku, who is an excellent shot, and very fond
of sporting, particularly deer shooting. There were large
flocks of sand-pipers, curlew, and plovers, on the beach,
amongst which we made sad havoc — as we wished to
bag enough to feast all the men, many of whom followed
us for the purpose of cutting the throats of the birds,
without having done which, they, being Mahometans,
cannot eat them. At each double discharge, we
generally knocked over two dozen birds of all descrip-
tions. During the night, we made a fresh start, but
were soon aground, as our people did not know, or
pretended not to know, the channel — they said there

TO SEREKEI. 371

was too much sea outside, and that we must put into
a little inlet to the westward of Tangong Lallang, which
we accordingly did, much against our will.

April 24th. — Morning cloudy and threatening, but as
we had been brought here against our will, so we deter-
mined to get out of it at all risks, though the Malays
protested that we should be swamped in going over the
bar, on which the sea broke heavily. We, however,
pushed safely through it, though not without con-
siderable difficulty, and having shipped a good deal of
water, to the injury of our stock of rice : the smaller
boat would not attempt to face the surf, and found a
passage where the water was less boisterous, close in
shore. By the favour of a fine breeze, we reached the
Batang Lupar river the same night, and anchored in
the first reach, which is about ten miles long, at a
distance of five miles from its mouth.

April 25th. — The morning flood took us up to
Lingah, situated five or six miles up a branch of the
Batang Lupar, which flows from the westward. I
went with Williamson to the court-house, a ruinous
building, and the whole of the small Malayan village
seemed equally miserable. It is situated at the foot of
a table-topped mountain, the sides of which are covered
with fruit-trees, the property of the Balow Dyaks, who
call their village, which is close to that of the Malays,
Banting. This tribe belong to the sea division, and
has always maintained an equal contest with the tribes
of Sakarran and Sarebas. The Indra Lelah, Lelah
Wangsa, and Lelah Palawan, are the Malayan chiefs ;

B B 2

372 JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO SEREKEI.

but I fear the settlement does not flourish under their
management. The whole of this country is under the
immediate influence of the Governor of Sarawak. The
exports are birds '-nests, wax, scented oil (Miniak Katiow),
and large quantities of rice.

Williamson having delivered the message with which
he was charged, we left with the ebb, and anchored
at a creek on the left bank of the Batang Lupar for
the night. Here one of our men, who had been ill all
the voyage, died : we tore off part of one of our sails,
and having wrapped him in it, made all haste for
Sarawak, where we arrived at six o'clock on the following
day, just in time for dinner, which we were glad to eat
again in a civilized manner, our food having been, during
the greatest part of our voyage, boiled rice and curried
fish or fowls.

del

CHAPTER XII.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Extract from Journal, containing description of the
cave Lubong Angin, or the Wind-hole, and of a visit
to the country of the Gumbang Dyaks.

Nov. 21st. 1845. — Left Sarawak with the flood-
tide, in my fast boat, which is a canoe, thirty-six feet
in length, and with five feet beam, to visit the cave of
Lubong Angin, of which I have heard strange stories.
It is situated on the western branch of the river, about
forty-five to fifty miles above the Malayan town. Euro-
peans have not, hitherto, been so far up the river. In
the evening, arrived at Seniawan, the Chinese village,
situated at the foot of Mount Serambo, but did not
land. Dined and slept in the boat, being much
troubled with musquitoes, and in some dread of alli-
gators, from the body of one of which animals, I saw
the bones of a man taken a few days since. He had
been drawn out of his boat by the voracious beast.

Nov. <2Q,nd.— Left Seniawan at 8 A.M., and pulled
against a strong current to Tundong, the next Chinese
settlement. This village is occupied entirely by Chinese

374 THE CAVE OF LUBONG ANGIN,

belonging to the Kungsi, or Company of Sambas,
who have here a Juro-Tulis, or clerk, who manages
their affairs in Sarawak. Part of the members work
the gold at Bow, and part the antimony. In-shore of
this place, those residing here are employed in the
production of vegetables and other food for the miners,
all sharing equally in the profits. The whole company
at Sambas, and elsewhere, is said to comprise 30,000
members. In the dry season, the flood-tide reaches
this place, but in heavy rains does not reach above
Ledah-Tanah, the junction of the two rivers, fourteen
miles above the town of Sarawak ; and during freshes,
it does not even extend to the town.

At half-past one P.M., we reached the landing-place
of Bow, opposite to which is the Dyak village of
Subah, belonging to the Sow Tribe. Two hours' more
contest with the current, brought us to the Lubong
Angin, where we intended to pass the night. Since
leaving Subah, below which is a rapid dangerous in
the dry season — but now the rocks are, for the most
part, covered with water — the river has been confined
by banks of limestone, in which are dispersed per-
pendicular veins of quartz, in some places numerous,
in others not visible. The limestone is much water-
worn ; but the overhanging projections, so beautiful on
the southern branch, are not common here. The
scenery is not so beautiful from the river, as the moun-
tains do not, like those of the other river, rise from its
bed. The still river, winding its way amidst the
limestone, which is shaded with over-hanging trees,

OR THE WIND-HOLE. 375

is, nevertheless, very pretty; and the hill opposite to
which we now lie, rises in a precipice 200 feet above
our heads, its face being covered with climbing plants,
and the projections of the rocks covered with ferns
and other plants, among which I observed the bright
flowers of the beautiful and new yellow Rhododendron
Brookeanum, and the elegant fern-like foliage of a
large-leafed, stemless palm.

The entrance to the cave is a large, curved fissure
in the rock ; the base of which is now a few inches below
the level of the river, so that I have drawn the boat
into the cave, and our fires for cooking are made on
a platform of the rock to the left of the entrance. This
part of the rock, as is that of all the limestone I have
seen in the country, has its surface in little ridges, like
that of the sand of the sea-beach, which is caused
by the rippling of the retiring tide. I was anxious
just to look into the cave, while my servant was pre-
paring my dinner, but having been told by the Malays,
none of whom had ever entered it, that it extended
a very long way into the country, that it had no outlet,
and that it was the habitation of dragons and bad
spirits, I had no intention of exploring it till the
morrow. Having lighted a little lamp I had with
me, and requested one of my men to follow, much against
his inclination, I followed the course of a little stream
which was flowing out of it, in the water- worn and
slippery bed of which I walked ; the channel being
very narrow, and the limestone rising on the left hand,
and a bed of alluvial soil on the right : this has been

376 THE CAVE OF LUBONG ANGIN,

deposited here by the freshes of the river, which have
caused the water, at some seasons, to rise very high
in the cave. About ten yards from the entrance, the
cave turned suddenly to the right, and I could see
by the light of the lamp, that a platform above me
seemed to be the main flooring of the cave. The rocks
rising high on each side of the channel through which
the water flowed, I climbed up the bed of soil until
I found a firm footing on the broken and decayed
stalactites, which formed the flooring of a very large
apartment, the roof of which was arched and water-
worn, in the manner described of the limestone at the
entrance.

I found that the stream was occasioned by the drip-
ping of water from the highest part — about forty feet —
of the roof of this apartment, which was not decorated
by the stalactites of ordinary limestone caves ; though
some decaying ones were seen on the walls of the cavern.
While admiring the vaulted roof of this place, I heard
a noise precisely similar to that of a gale of wind, which
terrified the man who accompanied me. I was sure
that there must be an outlet at the other side of the
mountain, from the draught through the place, and which,
from being always perceived at its mouth, has given the
cave its name, and thought that the noise I now heard
must be caused by the wind in the crevices and con-
fined passages of the cave ; and I had not advanced
fifty paces further, before I saw light through an
orifice in the rock at a little distance before me, and
myriads of large bats fluttering about the roof over

OR THE WIND-HOLE. 377

my head, and crowding to the two orifices, another
being perceptible on my right, to which I advanced,
as it was the nearest to me.

I was followed now by my man with pleasure, who
seeing the light, lost his fear of traversing the cavern.
It proceeded from a hole in a hollow projection of the
rock above us, which looked, with the stalactites on all
sides of it, like the inside of the steeple of a church.
Here we had no difficulty in procuring specimens of
the bats, which we knocked down with our caps in
numbers. I then returned to the centre of the cave,
and followed the direction of the greater orifice before
me, which I rightly judged to be the main opening
of the cavern on its southern side. This we approached
with some difficulty, on account of our feet being
without shoes, the slippery nature of the wet limestone
at the entrance of the cavern having caused us to throw
them aside for the greater safety in walking on it.
This hole was a considerable height above the cavern,
and could only be reached by climbing up the ridges of
limestone, which had been worn by water until the
edges were so sharp as much to endanger our hands
and feet. I was encouraged to ascend by seeing many
land shells, which had been brought into the cavern
by water, and I hoped to find some live and perfect
specimens of them on the outside. At last I succeeded
in reaching it; but could not prevail upon my man to
follow.

On the shrubs which were growing amongst the
fragments of rock, I found four or five specimens of a

378 THE CAVE OF LUBONG ANGIN.

small shell, covered with spines, and a plant or two of a
beautiful Anoectocheilus, with golden veins traversing
its velvet-like leaves, as in the Ancectocheilus setaceus,
or * Gauna Rajah,' King of the Jungle of Ceylon. Two
uninteresting species of Begonia were also found with
it, and a species of Justicia, with purple and pink flowers.
In returning, we found the remains of torches which
had been used by the Dyaks in taking the birds' nests,
and on lighting them we saw the stages before us they
had used in ascending the narrow crevices in the roof
of the cave, which seemed to be very deep and dark.
We passed over large beds of " Guano," or some such
substance, produced by the many bats, and were soon
convinced that the sound of wind we had at first heard,
was caused by the flapping of the wings of these animals
which, having now disappeared, the noises were no
more perceptible. The whole cavern may be about
200 yards in length, and twenty to thirty in breadth :
in height it varies from twenty to fifty feet.

On our reaching the outside, I found myself indebted
to my men for three plants of the yellow Rhododendron,
which they had insisted it was impossible to obtain ;
but which the offer of a dollar for each had caused
them to exert themselves to procure. In coming here
up the river, many shrubs were in flower, particularly
the sweet-scented kinds of Anthoscephala, which
attracted many beautiful butterflies. We had passed
several of the gigantic Tapang trees, and two large
shrubs of the magnificent Clerodendron Bethuneana
which were in full flower. At night we slept in our

VISIT TO THE GUMBANG DYAKS. 379

boat, and were free from the attacks of mosquitoes.
Though sand-flies had been troublesome during the
day they did not disturb us at night. During the evening,
the man who had accompanied me through the cave,
related the particulars of his wonderful adventure to an
astonished audience.

Nov. 23rd. — Left Lubong Angin at eight A.M.,
intending to call again on our return to look for more
Rhododendrons, and Anoectocheilus : those we have
already, having been planted in a box, are placed
under the shade of a large Malvaceous plant opposite
the cave. In three quarters of an hour — the river still
passing over its limestone bed — we passed the village
of Incotong, or Passir Bruang, belonging to the Sow
Dyaks. On a fine bamboo hanging bridge were
standing some of the Dyaks, who wished us to stop at
their houses ; but this I did not do, as I wished to get
on to Gumbang while the fine weather lasted. Oppo-
site a little gravelly islet, just above the village, I
observed on a high tree a large mass of a new species
of Tanda in full flower : the spikes of the flowers numbered
upwards of a hundred, each being from 9 to 10 ft.
long. The foliage of the plant is very fine, being 1 8 to
24 in length, and of a dark green colour; the chains
of flower rise out from amongst the leaves : the roots,
which are very large, are all confined to the hard and
woody base of the stem of the plant, and never arise from
amongst the leaves, as is common to the various species
of Banda JErides, &c. Each flower was three inches
in diameter, of a light sulphur colour, transversely

380 VISIT TO THE

barred with bands of rich cinnamon brown : the small
labellum is purple in the centre, and spotted with
brown towards the edges. The flowers as they get
old, do not fall off, but gradually lose the rich brown
colour, until blotches of it only remain, and finally,
these also being lost, the flower retains a deep
golden yellow, which colour it gradually acquires as
the brown fades, apparently for some weeks before
it finally drops off. (I have since ascertained that it
remains many weeks in perfection.) The peduncle of
the flower is protected by a sheath over its upper
surface; and this, with the footstalk and the flower-
stem, are all densely covered with a beautiful mossy
substance, like that which gives its name to the
favourite of the rose tribe.

Having been delayed half an hour to secure this prize,
we pushed on to Battu Bidi, at which place we arrived
at half past ten A.M. Here are two or three Malayan
houses, the occupants of which are employed in getting
antimony ore from a rich vein in a limestone hill, half
a mile inland. In another hour we passed the mouth
of the Sunghie Jagusi, on a hill of the same name,
near the sources of which is a large village of the Sow
Dyaks. Near this place, I saw two fine horned owls of
a very large size, but could not get a shot at them,
though I had procured several specimens of other birds
during the morning. We had also passed, above Bidi,
many specimens of small fossils in the limestone on
the sides of the river, but did not observe any of
the very large ones, so abundant below the Rheum

GUMBANG DYAKS. 381

Panjang, or Long Rapid, on the southern branch. At
half-past two P.M., we past Sunghie Kirit, a small creek
on the right bank (left going up), and soon after went
under another fine bridge, (there being one also opposite
Kirit), in the neighbourhood of which are situated on
the left high bank, the Dyak village of Klokong, also
belonging to the great tribe of Sow, whose chief village
is at a place called Gunong Rat, inland of the Subah
village formerly mentioned.

The country we have passed to-day, for more than
half the distance, is limestone which supports a rich
alluvial soil : the rock occasionally breaks through in
round-topped precipitous hills, of from one to three
hundred feet in height, as at Bidi ; but soon after
leaving the Jaguoi river, the limestone is succeeded
by a soft kind of yellowish-coloured sandstone, which
is seldom seen, being lower than the limestone. The
banks above this rock rise higher, and the ground is
much more undulating ; the soil is yellow loam of great
depth, the banks are beautifully wooded, and the trees
overhang the water. Early in the day we had observed
some trees of the gorgeous Lagerstrcemia regia, covered
with its beautiful bunches of lilac flowers, but these are
not so common as about Ledah Tanah, and other places
within the influence of the tides. We rested for the
night on a pebbly bank, on the side of the river, a little
above the village of Klokong.

November 24th. — Started again on our ascent of the
river this morning soon after 7 A.M. ; at 8 passed
a small stream on the left bank of the river called

382 VISIT TO THE

Serekin, and Lubok Pilin, a wide part of the river im-
mediately after. At half-past 9 A.M. we reached the
Sunghie Tubah on the left, and an hour afterwards
passed on the opposite bank another stream of small
size, of which I did not learn the name : here I gathered
a pretty climbing plant with bunches of fragrant white
flowers in the axils of the leaves. At 1 0 A.M. we passed
a bed of large pebbles, called Karangan Kaladi, over
which the now shallow river ran with great velocity.
At 11,1 found a small and very minute Arum growing
on stones under the waters of the river, which were
clear as crystal, with transparent colourless flowers, and
leaves with very short petioles. At half-past 1 1 , we
reached Sunghie Kandong on the right, and three
quarters of an hour after, passed Sunghie Kasong on
the left A little farther on I saw a plant of the very
magnificent new scarlet JEschynanthus Aucklandite,
which I have described. When first discovered, this plant
like all the others of it I have seen, was hanging from a
tuft of the beautiful bird's nest fern (Aspleniuni), which
is common in the jungle. We have also passed some
plants of the Acrostichum grande, and plenty of the
Polypodium quercifolium is to be found on every tree.

Wild sirih leaves (piper) were gathered by my
men, and in a tree near I found a curious and beau-
tiful flower of the genus Hoya, growing in the hole of
a tree, in extracting which I was bitten, till the blood
flowed from the wounds in my hands, by a species
of large black ant, which had also located itself
in the same place as the roots of the plant. The flowers

GUMBANG DYAKS. 383

of this Hoya hang in long umbels from the axils of the
leaves : the inside of the petals is of a rich brownish pur-
ple, which is beautifully relieved by the white ivory-
like parts of fructification : the leaves are opposite and
large, of a leathery texture; and the plant is of a
climbing habit, and when wounded, plentifully emits a
milky-looking sap.

We have ascended to-day between high banks of rich
yellow loam, the water clear as crystal, and flowing
over a sandy and pebbly bed. Many fruit trees were
on the banks of the river, some of which having ripe
fruit upon them, were plundered by my people. On
account of the shallowness of the water, we have had
much difficulty in getting the boat over, several of the
karangans or gravelly places, and fallen trees having
obstructed our progress. At 3 P.M. we arrived at the
junction of two streams, which appeared of about equal
size, that coming from the north being named Sebuloh,
that from the west being the main river of Sarawak,
coming from the hill of Teringush. They were both too
small and too much obstructed to admit our boat more
than a few yards, so that we stopped at the landing-
place of the Gumbang Dyaks just inside the Sebuloh.
We are now much higher than any European has
hitherto penetrated into the Sarawak country, they
having confined their visits to the deer-grounds of the
Rat and Singhie Dyaks, the former situated on a river,
a little above the Tundong Chinese village. It being
too late to start for the houses, and rain falling, we
stopped here for the night.

384 VISIT TO THE

Nov. 25£/t. — We started early for the village, and
found the road very bad. We crossed the Sebuloh
several times, and were told by the Dyaks that it has its
rise from springs on the Gunong Api, the mountain, at
the foot of which the village of Gumbang is built. We
walked about six miles from the boat, and as we
approached the village, the jungle was composed entirely
of fruit trees of the ordinary kinds. Mangusteens,
called by the Dyaks, Secup, are as common as the others :
they were all now in fruit, and most of them nearly
ripe, and the perfume which filled the air we breathed
was very delightful, and fully rewarded our wretched
walk, which I was just beginning to regret I had ever
undertaken. Many sago trees were growing in all the
swampy places, and cocoa-nut and betel-nut trees were
plentiful about the houses. In our slight ascent to the
houses, we passed many springs of delightful water,
which running down the hill, form the Sebuloh at its
base, abundantly supplying these Dyaks with excellent
water. The tribe is situated on the confines of the
Sarawak territory, and immediately to the westward of
the mountain, begins that of Sambas, the river of which
is not more than three hours' walk from the village we
are now at. The chiefs were very glad to see me ;
though an European, Mr. Hupe', a German mission-
ary, having once passed through this village, on his
way to Sarawak, from Sambas, I was not the first they
had seen.

These people are not clever with paddles and boats,
so that they rarely descend the river to Sarawak. I

GUMBANG DYAKS. 385

went over the village, which contains upwards of sixty
houses, not built in one row, but in several, accompanied
by one of the Orang Kayas ; there are two in the
village. The houses are more commodious and clean
than most of those I have visited amongst the Land
tribes, though not nearly so large or well built as those
of the Sea Dyaks of Sebooyoh. It has two Pangahs,
or head-houses, in one of which I took up my
residence ; but they do not contain many skulls,
which, as this is an ancient tribe undisturbed by the
Sakarrans, is a proof of the bloodless character of their
wars. The houses look very pretty from the head-
house, among the fruit-trees and boulders of porphyry
which cover the face of the hill. In the evening I held
a levee in the head-house, at which all the inhabitants
of the village attended, each bringing a basket of fruit
as a present. My servant distributed beads and tobacco
amongst them, and I gave the chiefs each a Battik
handkerchief, which very much delighted them. They
begged of me to stay for two or three days to eat fruit
with them, and that they might get up a feast ; but I
did not wish to do so, as I wanted to take the plants I
had collected to Sarawak.

Nov. 26. — Having refused all entreaties to stay, on
account of the plants in the boat, I left the village at
10 A.M. with many Dyaks following laden with fruit.
One of the Orang Kayas accompanied me, the other
sent his son, begging me to excuse his personal atten-
dance, as one of his children was ill. At 1 P.M. we left
the landing-place of these friendly Dyaks, and I re-

c c

386 VISIT TO THE

gretted that I could not stay ; but the plants I had
collected were too rare and valuable to be thrown away.
On our way down, we gathered two more plants of the
(Eschynanthus Aucklandia, the flowers of which, ex-
cluding the exserted stamens, were 4^ in. in length : the
tube yellow at the base, and orange-coloured scarlet
towards the limb, the throat of which was barred with
black inside. The leaves were undulate and verti-
cillate, many in a whorl ; the stem 4 ft. long, woody ; the
seed-pods 10 in. long and terete. At half past 3 P.M.
we arrived at the Klakong village, where we determined
to remain for the night. On ascending to the houses,
I found them to be thirty or forty, well built, in a single
row, with a Pangah for the bachelors at one end. No
fruit trees but plantains surrounded it, as the village
has been but recently established. These people, who
were then living with the tribe at Sow, were great
losers by the destruction of that village by the Sakarran
Dyaks, who still held many of their children in slavery.
They very anxiously inquired concerning our relations
with those Dyaks, and expressed regret that peace was
concluded with them, expressing their conviction that
the Sakarran Dyaks would never abide by the promises
they had made.

Nov. '27th. — Started at daylight, and breakfasted at
Incotong. This Sow village contains twenty houses,
the tide, or rather current, flowing very strong, a
slight fresh having been raised by the rains of last
night. We soon reached Lubong Angin, and I suc-
ceeded, with two of my men, in reaching the top of the
hill. It is of limestone, worn everywhere into sharp

GUMBANG DYAKS. 387

ridges, with knife-like edges, and contains many caves,
in and out of which numerous bats and swallows were
flying. In its highest part it is about 250 feet, and
having cut down some trees, we obtained a beautiful
view of the white limestone-hills to the southward. We
obtained three more plants of the Rhododendron
epiphytal on trees, and found many of the beautiful
Anoectocheilus growing on the moss-covered rocks.
Dead land-shells are strewed about, but I could only
find, with the greatest difficulty, two or three live ones.
A large snake, called by the Europeans the hammer-
headed viper, was on a tree or bush in our path. The
reptile had drawn back its head in act to strike at
the first of us who should approach him, but was
fortunately perceived by one of my men. We did
not suffer him to live long, and as he never attempted
to escape, a sharp parang severed his head from his
body. It is the kind called Ledong (Trigonocephalus
Waglerii) by the natives, and is very venomous.
Having descended the hill, and packed the plants care-
fully in the boat, we reached Tundong at half past
four P.M., where we dined. Pulling hard after dinner, we
soon passed Seniawan, and at midnight arrived at
Sarawak.

c c 2

CHAPTER XIII.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

As a narrative of one of my visits up the southern
branch of the Sarawak river will contain some notices,
not in the preceding pages, I extract the following from
my journal of 1845.

Dec. 1st. — Left Sarawak at 2 P.M., intending to
ascend the left-hand river as far as the village of the

O

Sennah Dyaks, the most distant of the tribes of
Sarawak, excepting those of Si Panjang and Goon, on
the Sangow waters, to the S.W. of the Sennah village
My crew, which consists often stout young men, pulled
well; so that, having passed the junction at Leduh
Tanah at 4 P.M., we stopped at Karangan Landi, a
little above the river Staat, a small stream, which comes
from the westward, and on which, in a limestone hill, is
a small but rather pretty cave, formerly said to have been
a retreat of the Dyaks from persecution. The Karangan
Landi is a large bed of gravel, amongst which are many
pretty agates, and being above the ordinary height of
the river, is much used as a resting-place by the Malays,

ff Williams, del.

X

London RichardBentLey ,1048

THE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE SARAWAK. 389

who pass it on their trading expeditions to the Dyaks.
Here the limestone formation begins: the hills below,
such as Gunong Serambo, Singhie, and Suntah, are
of porphyry, as I am informed by Mr. Williams,
the geologist sent out by the Admiralty. Slate is
found at Gunong Matang, in the Singhie country,
and marble at the Santubong entrance of the river.
Granite has nowhere yet been discovered on the western
part of the island.

At Landi, which is overhung by the leaves of a beau-
tiful species of palm and some large fig-trees, we cooked
our dinner, and slept, unannoyed by musquitoes or
sand-flies, though the former are found in numbers
a little way down the river, as I have proved on
many distressing nights; they do not appear to be
so numerous in the river beyond the influence of the
flood-tide, which at this season does not reach within
four miles of this place, though in the dry season it
sensibly affects the water four miles higher up. Landi
is about twenty miles from Sarawak.

Dec. 2nd. — Started again at daylight, and soon
reached Dampul, a temporary farm village of the Sempro
Dyaks, since abandoned. A mile and a half further
brought us to the mouth of the Suntah river, where we
stopped ; and walking about the same distance, we
reached the Bungalow, in the nutmeg plantation belong-
ing to Mr. Brooke. The nutmegs are neglected and
covered with weeds, but many of them flourish not-
withstanding. The house, which is now tumbling
down, was erected when the diamonds, which abound in

390 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

this district, were attempted to be worked, three years
ago. It is situated eighteen or twenty feet above the
ordinary level of the river, which often overflows its banks
after heavy rains, so as to come up to it ; it appears to
have done so quite recently. At present it flows in a
clear and tranquil stream over its sandy and gravelly
bed. A large trench, situated close to the house, and
which was dug at a great expense, has been neglected ;
as the river, the course of which it was intended to turn
into it, broke down the dams, and insisted upon running in
its old bed, and covering from the cupidity of the miners
the valuable minerals which are found in its sands.

Some Banjar miners have recently been digging in
the trench ; and I saw some small diamonds, on a
previous visit, which they had obtained ; but they say
there are no large ones. These cunning fellows fear to
tell us that they find any of value, as they suppose the
working them would be immediately taxed. We knew,
however, that they have been offering good diamonds
for sale. I took a small canoe, and with two men went
up the river, in search of plants, but did not find any
which I had not previously observed. Opposite the
house, the Bunga Bungor (Lagerstramia regia) was
flowering beautifully : Durians and Lansats were ripe on
the banks of the stream, and we enjoyed, to our hearts'
content, their delicious fruits. On a point of land which
we passed, was a place, under the shade of palm-trees,
railed in, where, I was told, the Sempro Dyaks bury
the bones of their dead, after the bodies have been
burnt. It may be so in this tribe — I had not an oppor-

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 391

tunity of inquiring of them — but other tribes have fre-
quently assured me that the bones of the dead are all cal-
cined by the fire, and that they bury no part of the corpse.

Dec. 3rd. — I sent one of the men to the Dyak
village, situated at the foot of the Gunong Coum, a hill,
or rather limestone rock, about 600 feet high. In a
straight line it does not appear more than half a mile
from the house, and presents from it a white and naked
precipice of unstratified stone : it is, like most of the
limestone hills, of a round form, and the top is covered
with jungle. It is said that it can be ascended from
the opposite side, which is not so precipitous. Between
it and the house, rises a lofty Tapang, high above the
other jungle trees. The village at the foot of the hill,
to which I sent my man for fowls and eggs, belongs to
the Sempro Dyaks, who farm in this neighbourhood.

I went myself, with my butterfly net, into the jungle,
in search of flowers and insects ; of the latter I caught
some fine specimens of a large butterfly, with semi-
transparent wings, covered with black spots. This
insect usually flies so high, that I had been hitherto
unable to procure it, as it is not common ; but here it
was plentiful, and came near the ground. Its lazy flight
is exceedingly beautiful, as in the sun it looks like a
falling flake of snow, gilded with metallic colours. A
specimen of a rare and magnificent species of Papilio
was also captured; the flight of this was near the
ground, and rapid as that of a swallow. I could never
have captured it in the jungle, had it not, in flying past
me, accidentally rushed into my net.

392 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

I followed the course of a small rill, in search of a
little plant I found at its mouth, which conducted me to
a great many holes, dug in the ground, at some distance
from each other ; they were about nine feet deep, and
all connected by the gravel having been taken out of
them at the bottom : these I had no difficulty in recog-
nizing as pits for the working of the diamonds. A little
further on, I came to the dams and other works which
had been employed in cleansing the precious stone from
the soil which contains it. These are the works of some
Banjar men, who have been caused to desist, as they do
not wish to pay any revenue for the jewels they obtain.
They are now working successfully in the main river,
which is free to them. I was not successful in finding
any plants, excepting Scitamince. A scarlet flower of
this order was very pretty, and a beautiful Alpinia was
growing on the banks of the streams, with its stems
drooping towards the water.

Dec. 4th. — Returned early this morning to the boat,
and ascending the river, stopped, at 8 A.M., to break-
fast, on the left bank, (right, going up), at a place called
Bajuk, where was a Dyak farm-house, at which we
cooked our rice and fowl for breakfast. Notwithstand-
ing the lateness of the season, many men are employed
in the river, washing gold. They tell me that they are
very successful, though the height of the water makes it
more injurious to their health, as many of them stand
nearly up to their armpits in water, all day, at this
employment. At noon we passed the Rheums Panjang
and Besar, meaning long and great rapids ; having passed

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 393

/

over the strata of fossils at the Battu Lichin and Battu
Tikus. The Battu Tikus, or rat-stones, have taken
their name from the curious fossils which project from
the limestone rocks which line the river. They are not
arranged in any particular order, but scattered on the
surface, from which they stand out in high relief, the
softer limestone having been worn away by the action
of the water.

On the left-hand side of the river is a hill, also of
limestone, about 100 feet high, on the steep sides of
which numbers of small specimens, principally shells
and reptiles, are observed ; but in the bed of the river
are many strata of enormous fossils, like roots of trees,
or the gigantic relics of the animal monsters of a former
world. These are disposed in parallel strata, and cross
the river in south-east and north-west directions, though
in some instances, the parallel direction is departed
from. These also stand out from their rocky bed ;
and in July, form a rheum, or rapid; and by their
hard angles and edges, are formidable to canoes, which
on account of the shallowness of the water, necessarily
come in contact with them. It is to be regretted that
these remains have not been examined by a competent
person, as they were not discovered till just as the
geologist, formerly mentioned, was recalled to England,
so that he had not time thoroughly to examine them.

Soon after noon, we reached the village of Sebayet,
situated at the foot of a mountain of limestone, the face
of which, towards the river, is about 1,000 feet high,
displaying a naked precipice of limestone. Opposite to

394 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

it, and on the right side of the river, where also are
some houses, is the peaked rock, called Si Gigi: this
is higher than Sebayet, and, like it, is precipitous.
Si Gigi is the end of a round-topped range of limestone
hills, which is continued along the banks of the river.
The village of Sebayet is the head-quarters of the
Sempro Dyaks, who were at this time absent at the
farms ; but as I intended to stay for the night, I went
up to the houses, and took up my residence in that of
the chief. This was situated in the middle of a long
row of finely-built houses, before which stood the
Pangah, or house for bachelors, universally found in the
villages of the Hill Dyaks.

About dark, the family of the Orang Kaya returned,
though he himself stopped at the farm, not knowing of
my arrival. His wife and I were old friends, as it is her
unfailing custom to dun her visitors for bottles, who
by this means recollect her. I found that bottles were
still in demand ; and after having concluded a bargain
for some rice for my men, for which, to her delight,
I paid her the Sarawak price, I gave her two or three
empty bottles, in consideration of the use of her house,
of which I had so unceremoniously possessed myself.
Others of the tribe came in the evening, bringing small
presents of fruit, rice and eggs, for which they received
Javanese tobacco and beads, with which they were
delighted. The river, which near here is very tortuous,
flows peacefully along between its steep banks over
beds of sand and gravel, though the rapids below, and
the high walls of limestone which endeavour to confine

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 395

it lower down, give it, in many places a boisterous
and turbulent character.

Dec 5th. — Breakfasted a little above the village, in
one of the prettiest spots imaginable, and where I delight
to stay. It is a large bank of pebbles, on the left-hand
side of the river, overhung with beautiful trees and grace-
ful bamboos. Opposite me, the high mountain, Si Gigi,
comes sloping down until near the water, when it takes
suddenly a precipitous form, past the base of which the
river peacefully glides ; though a little above, where it
flows over a bed of large pebbles, a rippling disturbs its
surface, and causes a murmuring sound. The moun-
tain is beautifully wooded, and graceful palms and ferns
have sprung out of the crevices, and adorn the pre-
cipitous sides, which overhang the water. The moun-
tain before us is pierced with innumerable fissures and
caves, the residence of the pretty little mouse-coloured
swallow (Hirundo esculentaj, which is now flying over
our heads, catching its insect food. The nests of this
bird form a source of considerable profit to the Sempro
Dyaks of Sebayet and to all those tribes inhabiting the
limestone districts, in which alone this species of bird
builds, caves being most abundant in this formation.

Having taken our meal, and enjoyed this delightful
solitude, disturbed only by the harsh notes of the horn-
bills from the neighbouring mountains, and a solitary
species from a Tapang-tree, close to us, at which I fired
without effect — shot being useless for birds on these high
trees — we started, and pushed on slowly up the stream,
several hornbills and pigeons being disturbed by our

296 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

approach, from their feast off the fruit of the Kayu Ara, a
species of fig. A hornbill flying over, makes such a
rushing noise with the action of his powerful wings upon
the air, even though he be at a great height, that I have
never observed the like in any other large bird. They fly
with a steady, regular, and straight flight, like a crow.
The highest woods on the most lofty mountains are the
favourite places of their residence ; but they frequently
are tempted by the fruit to the plains. They are gene-
rally seen in small flocks of from three to six individuals.
There are many species of them in Sarawak ; but the
largest and most common is that known as the rhi-
noceros hornbill fBuceros RhinocerusJ. Of pigeons
and doves we procured many kinds, and shall have a
famous feast off them at night. The kinds of doves, or
small pigeons, called " punei" by the natives, are very
tender and excellent eating ; the large " preggam," or
wood-pigeon, though excellent when young, is generally
tough when old. They are very large birds, and some
just shot weigh as much as a good Dyak fowl. Nothing
smaller than No. 3 shot will bring them from their
lofty perches.

Shooting as we went, and having made a good bag, it
was noon before we reached Si Budah, a temporary
farm village of the Sempro Dyaks, situated at the foot
of the mountain of the same name, which, like the
others, is limestone, and precipitous It appears higher
than either Sebayet or Si Gigi, peaked on the face,
towards the north, and appearing to be a narrow ridge on
the top, as, through a large hole, which pierces the lime-

OF THE SARAWAK RTVER. 397

stone, the sky can be seen. There is a hanging bridge
at this village, but not so fine a one as that of Sempro,
or any of those on the western river, in the territory of
the Sow Dyaks. The river we have passed to-day is
still confined within its limestone barriers ; but so much
has it undermined the rock, and overhangs in many
places so much, that two or three larger boats than
mine might lie abreast of each other protected from
the weather. Rapids from rocks and fallen trees have
been frequent, and karangans, or gravelly shallows,
numerous. Generally, the limestone tracks, traversed
by the river between two rapids, are very deep, and the
water still, a current being only perceptible at the angles
of the stream. Here small aligators and large fish are
sometimes seen.

We collected the Dyaks, and requested them to show us
the cave in the mountain Si Budah, which we had been
informed existed there. After some delay, the Dyaks were
got together, and we walked along the base of the mountain
and bank of the river about three hundred yards, till we
came to a small brook, up the course of which we turned,
and were soon at the entrance of a large cave from which
the stream came. Having lighted our torches, we
followed the gravelly stream of pure and cold water
through a lofty passage into a very large and high
chamber of a tent-like form, the stream running through
the centre of it.

It was a magnificent apartment, the walls being
hung with stalactites, which are all in a decaying
state : we passed on among limestone, through

398 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

which the stream had worn a narrow passage, through
a corridor about a hundred yards in length, which con-
ducted us to the open air on the other side ; so that we
had passed, as through a tunnel, under the mountain.
This stream does not, like that in Lubong Angin,
rise from the interior of the cave, but passes through
it from the side on which we now stood. In a country
like Italy and Spain, what a romantic and beautiful
retreat for banditti, or any similar curse of those
countries ! A troop of cavalry, a thousand strong, might
reside here, with shelter for man and beast at hand, and
the luxury of a delightful stream running through their
dwelling.

Having gained the opposite side, I tried to ascend the
lofty rock by a path used by the Dyaks for reaching the
caves to get the birds' nests which abound in them.
Having succeeded in getting half way to the top, I found
it impossible to proceed without very great danger, a
single stick, not thicker than my wrist, being the only
ladder by which an overhanging rock was surmounted.
I climbed up to the top of the rock, but looking below
me at the rocky depth over which I hung, and not
seeing any good hold above, I returned, much to the
amusement of the Dyaks, who had told me the path was
very difficult, and accessible only to Dyaks — who they
truly said were like monkeys.

Descending the stick and hill, we returned through
the cave, which is a regular road of the Dyaks to the
village, where we intended to remain for the night.
I had collected some plants of the fine Ixora, which I

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 399

had discovered previously ; but neither flowers nor seeds
of it were procurable. At night I purchased some
spears and other weapons from the Dyaks, in exchange
for beads and brass wire. Slept in the boats, the houses
being small and dirty.

Dec. 6th. — Left early for Sebongoh, and passed
through beautiful mountains of limestone. One at the
back of Sibudah, which has a reddish and stratified
appearance, is in shape exactly resembling the face of
a pyramid, and looks as if it had been built, so correct
is its outline : it has no trees upon it. One mountain
near it had had all its trees destroyed about twelve
months since, by a fire which had been ignited by the
intensity of the sun's rays on the rock beneath, and
which had so dried the vegetation, that it spontaneously
took fire, and the whole were destroyed. Nothing but
a succession of very wet summers can again restore it.
About three miles from the village is the Rheum
Sebongoh, a large, but not dangerous rapid. The
houses of this tribe are situated on both banks of the
river, which here again runs through banks of sparkling
sand and beautiful pebbles. Fruit trees surround the
village, and, during the day, -we have passed through
immense numbers of them, the property of this tribe.
The fruits are ripe, and the Dyaks brought me baskets
of all kinds in the evening as presents. I did not go up
to the houses, but staid in the boat, in which I was
visited by the chief people. The Orang Kaya wanted
medicine for cataract in the eve, which, if he does not

400 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

take care, will soon blind him. I advised him to go to
Sarawak, and be operated upon for it by the doctor, but
he does not seem to consider it of sufficient importance.

These Dyaks seldom use paddles in this shallow
stream, but propel their boats with long canes of
bamboo, which they use more adroitly than any other
tribes I have visited : the women are equally expert
with the men. Of some pigeons we had killed, fowls,
fish, yams, fern shoots, and fruit, we made an excellent
dinner, and having supplied the people with tobacco,
slept soundly, undisturbed by dreams, in our very com-
fortable boats. My bed is a hearth-rug laid on the
flooring of the boat with fine mats over it. We are
protected irom the rain by an awning of Kajangs, or
mats made of the leaves of the Nipah palm, impenetrable
to all weather. These last two days we have journeyed
very slowly, as I have been gathering plants and enjoy-
ing this most beautiful part of the river, through which
it had been a sin to hurry.

Dec. 7th. — We left Sebongoh early, and passing the
mouth of the Samban, a shallow river which comes
from the Gunong Seroung to the westward, reached the
landing-place of the Brang Dyaks, where is a fine sandy
beach. Some Malays, who were here trading with the
Dyaks, informed me that the Brang village was under
the Pamali, so that I could not visit it without causing
them to break through a custom which I had no desire
to do. They live on a high limestone, round-topped
mountain, half a mile in-shore. Having collected some

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 401

fern, which is plentiful on the loamy banks where
the limestone does not prevail, we cooked our break-
fast on the sandy beach, and had, in addition to our
usual fare, an omelet made of eggs we had obtained at
Si-bungoh. 'Whilst waiting here, a boat, which had
been sent after us by Mr. Williamson, reached us, with
a letter for me, requesting me to assist the bearer in
collecting a debt for the Tuan-Ku Sireib Hussin of
Sarawak, from the Tumma Dyaks. I had promised to
assist him, if he obtained Mr. Brooke's permission ; and
this was contained in Williamson's note. Accordingly,
having breakfasted, we pulled up against the stream
for about six miles in a heavy rain to the Rheum
Ledong, a rapid formed by limestone banks, which
contracts the stream, leaving a narrow passage for the
water, which rushes through with great velocity and a
boiling torrent-like appearance. It is rendered dangerous
to boats descending the river by a large rock just under
water, directly opposite to the passage, so that to avoid
it, boats must turn suddenly to the left while shooting
the rapid, and again to the right, to avoid the rocky
bank. This requires considerable practice and dex-
terity ; and Chinamen, who visit the Dyaks in search of
pigs, have frequently lost their porkers, and sometimes
themselves, by their boat splitting on the centre rock,
or filling, in the strong ripple occasioned by the velocity
of the current over its rocky bed. A mile above this
rheum, is the Pinkallan Ampat, at a point of land where
a torrent from the Tabiah country falls in from the
westward.

D D

402 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

We kept up the river leading to Sennah, which
is small and shallow, and filled with boulders of a
hard porphyritic rock, the limestone disappearing at the
Rheum Ledong. The Padi farms of the Sennah Dyaks
are on the sloping banks on each side of us. The delight-
ful, lively green of its young foliage is a welcome relief
to the eye from the more sombre tints of the jungle,
the thick foliage of which admits but seldom the rays of
the sun. The rain has cleared away, and the sun is
now shining beautifully on the industry of these Dyaks.
Their farms appear very extensive, and each has a plot
of yams and other garden stuff, close to the waters
of the river. The land here is beautifully undulating ;
in the limestone districts it is more flat, but broken by
the immense mountains of that rock, which arise in all
directions from it.

At five P.M. we reached the Sennah village, and
remained in the boats until the return of the people
from their farms, a few women and children only being
present in the village. The Orang Kaya Bye Ringate
is in his house, but has some days since placed himself
under the " pamali" hoping by this means to recover
from a severe sickness a favourite child. On the arrival
of the men at dark, we were escorted by the relatives of
the chief to a new and very nice Pangah, where we took
up our abode, being able to gather the ripe fruit of the
seebow or rhambutan from the windows. Having
cooked and eaten our food, we were waited upon by the
people of the village as usual, bringing presents of rice,
fruit, eggs and fowls. The eggs we get amongst the

del el Uth

im Slag Beetle.! CLADOGNATHU5 TAHANDLIS.(Tlumb-)
X f.ow's Brush-horn tteeile.( SAROTHROCERA LOWIIX While)

Richard Brntley)LondOTvl8'Ul

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 403

Dyaks are frequently not good, as they never remove
them from the nest, and on a visitor's arrival, take them
from under the hen, and bring them to him, so that
they are frequently nearly hatched. In this state, they
are eaten by the Dyaks themselves, as well as when fresh.
In return for their presents, my servant gave them
tobacco, &c. Bye Ringate, the chief, sent Pa-pata and
Pa-Benang, his sons-in-law, to inquire if I had any
bechara, (business conversation) for the tribe ; so I told
them what I had come for, and requested them to send
a man to call the chiefs of Tumma early to-morrow
morning.

Dec. 8th. — Pa-pata himself started early for Tumma,
which is said to be half a day's journey in an easterly
direction from Sennah. I amused myself by looking
about the village, which consists of several rows of
houses, at some distance from each other, on both sides
of a beautifully quiet stream about knee-deep, flowing
over a bed of yellow sand. Extensive groves of fruit-
trees surround the place in every direction, amongst
which are the Krakak (a small fruit resembling the
lansat,. but growing in terminal bunches) ; the Langyir,
a large fruit, resembling the mangusteen in size, but of
a curious sickly flavour ; the Kinan (rambye) ; Rham-
but-an Barangan (chesnut) ; Manggis (mangusteen) ;
Tampuri (Durian) ; Blimbing (an acid fruit) ; Champadak;
Nangka (jack) ; Tankallah (Parrit), and many others.
All of these are now ripe, and have a beautiful appear-
ance.

In a Rhambut-an tree was a small hut, the residencs

D D 2

404 TRIP UP THE SOUTHERN BRANCH

of persons afflicted with a kind of leprosy which has
been described previously. In this village, while waiting
for the Tumma chiefs, I collected a good deal of infor-
mation respecting the customs of the Dyaks (see chapter
on Hill Dyaks). They say that after a person deceased
has been burnt, his spirit haunts the house in which he
lived for four days, during which period rice is spread
daily on the floor, from the door across the house to the
window; at the expiration of that time, a basin is
broken outside the door, and the rice swept away ; after
which, the spirit departs to the mountains. They also
said, that on a person's decease they burnt a portion of
his property with his body.

Dec. 9th. — In the evening, the chiefs of Tumma and
of Sinangkan, and of other neighbouring tribes who had
heard of my arrival, came to visit me, and brought fowls,
rice and fruit in great quantities. I gave each of
the chiefs a battik handkerchief and some beads, brass
wire, and tobacco, as well as similar things to their
numerous attendants, none of whom had come empty-
handed. I laid the business I was charged with before
Bye Ringate, the chief of Sennah — who had broken
through the Pamali to attend this gathering — and the
Tumma men. They allowed the claim, and agreed to
pay the rice, forty pasus at once, with the exception of
ten, which they wished to remain till next season.
This I had no doubt the Tuanku would do, so I settled
the arrangements to the satisfaction of all parties con-
cerned. The original debt was the price of a slave
which belonged to the Tumma tribe, and having been

OF THE SARAWAK RIVER. 405

purchased by the Tuanku at Sadong, ran away to his
friends on being brought to Sarawak.

At night these people made a great feast, to which
I descended, walking on gongs and other musical in-
struments of brass placed for the purpose, to the
verandah. When the dancing was to take place, I was
conducted to a kind of couch, which they had made of
bamboo, and covered with their finest cloths, as my
particular seat : a canopy of scarlet cloth hung over my
head ; by the seat were placed immense baskets of Padi
and rice, to which many fowls were secured, which I
found were all intended for me ; but which I represented
to them that, as I was not going any further, I should
not want, and refused as well as I could. I was
obliged, however, to take some, so chose a basket of
delicious fruits. The dancing was similar to that
described in former parts of the journal ; but my Malays
were requested not to come in while the girls were
present. As I have never seen this practised before,
I fancy there must be some particular reason for this
prohibition. I retired early, but the music and dancing
were continued during the night. Though a pig had
been killed, none of the people were intoxicated when I
left.

Dec. 10th. — At 9 A.M. left Sennah on our return.
The heavy rain last night has caused a considerable
fresh in the river, so that — the stream being very strong,
and the rocks all covered — we were carried down with
great speed, though accompanied with some danger
from the sunken rock. I collected a good many seeds of

406 THE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF THE SARAWAK.

the fine new Ixora, and many other plants, but did not
observe any thing which I had not previously seen. I
have three hives of bees, which are from the Sennah
Dyaks, who keep them hanging from their houses.
The bees are of two kinds ; one hive of small yellow
ones, and two hives of a brown-coloured one, both
different from the honey-producing bee of England.
These are said to yield much honey, but very little wax.
Staid during the night at Sebongoh.

Dec. llth. — Before leaving Sebongoh this morning,
we were overtaken by a boat belonging to Bandery
Samsu. They informed us that another boat had been
lost in passing the Rheum Ledong, with a valuable
cargo of brass goods, &c. We ourselves when passing it
yesterday expected to have been swamped from the
rippling of the water caused by the heavy rains, which
have so deepened the river, that the rocks of the rapid
are all covered, but with a great swell on them. Left
Sebongoh at 9 A.M., and with the heavy fresh reached
home at 3 P.M., feeling unwell with diarrhoea.

APPENDIX.

ANIMALS OF BORNEO.

Borneo appears to teem with animal life, and is especially
rich in kinds : as yet the country may be said to be an
untrodden field.

The Dutch Naturalists have collected and sent to Leyden
some of the more prominent species, which have been
described by M. Temminck, Schlegel, and Dr. Miiller :
some of the more showy have been figured in the illustrated
work of the latter author.

Amongst the few animals collected by Mr. Low, and sent
to the British Museum, there appears to be several species
not noticed by the Dutch authors ; and as soon as these
species can be prepared and examined, they will be de-
scribed.

MAMMALIA.

List of Animals from Borneo, which are contained in the
collection of the British Museum.

Simia Satyrus.
Nasalis larvatus.
Presbytes chrysomelas.

,, frontatus.

„ rubicundus.
cristatus.

408 APPENDIX.

Tarsius spectrum.

Stenops tardigradus.

Galeopithecus variegatus.

Rhinolophus trifoliatus.

Cheiromeles torquatus.

Felis planiceps.

Viverra zibetha.

Hemigalea zebra (Viverra Boei, Mull.)

Paradoxurus leucomystax.

Paradoxurus rausanga.

Cynogale Bennettii (Potamophilus barbatus, (Mull.)

Linsang graeilis.

Hylogale Javanica.

,, ferruginea.
Pteromys tana.

„ nitidus.
Sciurus ephippium.

„ melanotis.

„ exilis.
Bos Bantiger.
Sus barbatus.
Moschus Napu.

Dr. Miiller (Verhandelingen, Leiden, 1845), gives the
following additional species as also inhabiting Borneo : —

Hylobates concolor.
Cercopithecus cynomolgus.
Inuus nemestrinus.
Pteropus funereus.
Macroglossus minimus.
Pachysoma brachyotis.
Dysopes tenuis.
Vespertilio pictus.

APPENDIX.

Vespertilio macellus.

„ tenuis.
Nycticejus Temminckii.
Hylogale murina.
Sorex Myosurus.
Aonyx Horsfieldii.
Lutra Simag.
Canis rutilans.
Felis macrocelis.

„ minuta.
Mustela nudipes.
Ursus Malayanus.
Sciurus Rafflesii.
„ nigrovittatus.
„ modestus.
„ lati-caudatus.
Mus Decumanus.
Atherura fasciculata.
Manis Javanica.

Rhinoceros ?

Elephas Indicus.
Tapirus Indicus.
Cervis equinus.
„ rusa.
„ muntjac.

409

BIRDS.

Pontosetus ichthysetos.
Spizsetus cirrhatus ?
Hierax.

Poliornis liventer.
Athene scutellata.

410 APPENDIX.

Ephialtes mantis.
Syrnium leptogrammicum.
Trogon flagrans.
„ fasciatus.
„ Diardii.
Halcyon concretus.
Nectarinia simplex.
„ mystacalis.

„ Hasseltii.

„ hypogrammica.

„ phoenicotis.

„ lepida.

Arachnothera clirysogenys.

„ longirostra.
Phyllornis Cochin-Chinensis.

„ Malabaricus.
Orthotomus atrogularis.
Pitta cyanoptera.
„ Baudii.
„ atricapilla.
„ granatina.
Timalia maculata.
„ poliocephala.
„ trichorrhis.
„ nigricollis.
„ atricapilla.
Muscicapa pyrrhoptera.
Khipidura Javanica.
Pardalotus thoracicus.
„ maculatus.
Artamus sanguinolentus.
Cracticus gymnocephalus.
Glaucopis aterrimus.

APPENDIX.

Buceros galeritus.

„ antracicus.

„ corrugatus.

„ gracilis.

„ convexus.

„ rhinoceros, var. Borneonensis.

„ Malabaricus.

„ Malayanus.

„ galeatus.
Bucco chrysopogon.

„ mystacophanos.

„ frontalis.

„ corviniis.

„ fuliginosus.
Indicator archipelagicus.
Calobates radiceus.
Cuculus lugubris.

„ flavus.
Treron cinnamomeum.

„ aromaticum.
Euplocouius ignitus.

411

REPTILES.

LIZARDS.

Tachydromus sex-lineatus, Daud.

Norbea Brookei, Gray, List of Reptiles in British

Museum^. 102.

Tiliqua rafescens, (Shaw), Gray, I c. 109.
Euprepis Belcheri, Gray, I. c. 116.
Hemidactylus Brookii, Gray, I. c. 153.
„ vittatus, Gray, I. c. 155.

412 APPENDIX.

Platyurus Schneiderianus (Shaw), Gray, I, c. 157.
Gecko monarchus, Gray, L c, 161.
Tarentola Borneonensis, Gray, L c. 165.
Heteronota Kendallii, Gray, L c. 174.
Monitor bivittatus.

EMYDO-SAURIANS.

Mecistops Journei, (Bory.), Gray. Gavialis Schlegelii,

Mutter.
Crocodilus biporcatus.

SNAKES.

Homalopsis Schneider!.

Apr
,, .n.ei .

Naja tripudians, var.
Pelamis bicolor.

„ — n. sp. Zool. Sulph. t.
Hydrus.

BATRACHIANS.

Rana cancrivora.

Bufo.

Hyla.

FISH.

Echeneis.

Tetraodon argenteus.
Monoplerus Javanicus.
Conger „

Leuciscus cirrhipes.
Helostoma Temminckii.
Glyphysodon unimaculatum.
Trichopus trichopterus.
Rhynchobdella gigantea.
Osteoglossus formosus.

APPENDIX. 413

Osphromemus oefex.

Rohuta senea.

Eleotris puella.

Silurus, n. sp.

Ophiocephalus.

Pleuronectes.

Blennicus.

Periopthalmus.

Balistes.

Acanthurus.

Agriopus.

Scorpsena.

II. Descriptions of two species of Beetles brought from Borneo
by HUGH Low, ESQ. ; by ADAM WHITE, F.L.S., Assistant
Zool. Dep., British Museum.

The Fauna of Borneo, so far as annulose animals are
concerned, seems to be extraordinarily rich : insects of all
orders, and spiders of numerous genera, abounding in the
woods ; while the Myriapoda found in damp forests, especially
those allied to our globe millipede (Glomeris) are gigantic,
and, compared with it and many of its allies, seem rather
as if they had belonged to some primaeval creation. Of these
which are large species of Zephronia, there appear to be
several ; and of the Polydesmi, many of the species are as
pre-eminent for their size, as they are for their beauty and
curious appearance.

The seas are plentifully supplied with Crustacea, belonging
to families (such as the Leucosiada} but feebly represented
in our temperate climate ; and the peculiar position of
Borneo, brings to its shores the crabs of the Chinese seas,
Indian Ocean, and north-east coast of Australia. In the
works of Schonherr and Dehaan, and other authors, many
of the annulose animals brought to Europe by the Dutch,

414 APPENDIX.

are described ; while many more are scattered in European
collections without names.

In the British Museiim we have not a few, principally
brought over by Hugh Low, Esq., Arthur Adams, Surg.,
R.N., and other officers of H.M.S. " Samarang." It would
take a long time to get these together, and to describe them,
and so far as Crustacea go, Mr. Adams and the writer of
this notice are engaged in describing them, and in figuring
the new species.

As a sample of the Coleoptera of the island, the two
following fine species may be described, more especially as
the accompanying figures will make these descriptions
plainer.

It is only with a very limited and narrow portion of the
coast that we are yet acquainted, and even of this part the
productions are but very slightly known : much, however,
is expected from the energy of Mr. Brooke and the Colonial
Secretary; while the enterprise and curiosity of colonists
will soon make us better acquainted with the animals, and
add to our too limited collections.

I subjoin the descriptions of two very fine Coleoptera,
sent by Mr. Low, with several other Borneo insects.

Family LAMIAD^E.
Genus SAROTHROCERA, White.

The antennae in this genus have the basal joint thick,
and furnished at the end on the inside with a tuft of hairs ;
the second joint is very small, with one or two hairs ; the
third to the seventh joints are fringed behind with longish
hairs, those on the third and fourth joints very thickly
distributed, and extending over a considerable part of the
hind edge.

The Thorax is almost as long as it is wide, the sides are
nearly parallel, somewhat depressed above, with a short spine

APPENDIX. 415

on each side. The Scutellum is somewhat elongated, the
sides parallel. The Legs have the femora compressed, espe-
cially above ; the tibise are much compressed, slender at the
base, getting thicker towards the middle, and from that to
the end wide, with the sides parallel. The tarsi are very
wide. The elytra are strongly angled, almost aculeated on
the shoulders, rounded and simple at the end.

This genus comes close to Cerosterna, Dejean, Serville,
with which and Batocera it has several characters in
common, as well as a general resemblance.

Of this genus I have only seen one species, which in the
Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Vol. XVIII), is
amed in compliment to Hugh Low, Esq., the author of
this work, who found it in Borneo.

Sarothrocera Lowii, White, /. c. 47, t. I./. 6. See fig. 2
of the plate of Insects.

Of a rich brown, slightly tinged with ochraceous; the
hairs on the antennae are of a very dark brown or black ;
the scutellum is of a pale yellow ; the base of the elytra is
finely verrucose above, the small warts not extending to the
middle, but running further along the outer margin than
they do towards the suture. The length of the specimen is
1 inch and 8| lines.

Family LUCANID^E.
Genus CLADOGNATHUS, Burmeister.

Cladognathus Tarandus (Thunb.). See Fig. 1 of the Plates of
Insects. Var. Lucanus Dehaanii, Westw. Burm. Handb.
V. 375.

This fine species of Stag beetle has longer jaws than any
other species of the genus I am acquainted with ; the jaws
are depressed, considerably curved upwards a£mt the middle,

' t •.'

and then depressed toward the tip, which is sharp and
slightly hooked, and with a strong tooth on the inside, not

416 APPENDIX.

far from the tip, the edge between this tooth and the tip
being crenulato-denticulate ; there is another strong tooth on
the inner edge, considerably before the middle, and between
that and the base a few slight irregular projections on the
edge. The head is very wide in front, the eyes nearly
globular, the front hollowed out, and forming a small part
of a circle. The elytra and femora above are of a fawn
colour, with a slight metallic tinge, the suture of the elytra,
particularly, bronzed with metallic green; the mandibles,
head, thorax, legs, and under parts, of a greenish bronze
colour, on the mandibles passing into reddish. The legs
are slim, and without teeth on the edges of the tibiae, at
least, in the males.

Professor Thunberg first described this species in the
" Memoires des Naturalistes de Moscou," tome I. 1806,
p. 190, and gives a rough but recognizable figure (t. 12,

f. i.r

Dr. Burmeister seems to think the L. Dehaanii a distinct
species; but has some doubt of it. I can see no difference
between our two specimens in the Museum and Thuuberg's
description and figure. The figure is from the larger of two
specimens in the British Museum, and is of the size of
nature.

On some other occasion I hope to be able to draw up a
list of such Borneo species as we have in the Museum,
adding references to those which have been described by
Schcenherr, Dehaan, Burmeister, Erichson, and others.

END.

LONDON:
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