With the Dyaks of Borneo: A Tale of the Head Hunters

by F. S. Brereton

"How do you know?" demanded Tyler, turning upon him in surprise.

"Li Sung him know because him once pirate too," was the simple reply. "Him sail from Singapore for Borneo with plenty dollar in him pocket, and get captured by de pirates. Dis Dutchman deir leader, wid anoder of de same country."

"Christian van Sonerell!" exclaimed Tyler, listening eagerly to the news which the Chinaman was giving him. "He is dead, for he fell when my friend and I captured the schooner."

"Den he one velly bad man out of de way, massa. Him cruel man and beat and kick poor Li Sung till him shout for mercy. But me tellee you all. Dis pirate makee me slave, and set me to pull de oar of one of de prahus. Dere Li sit for many days, and wid de prahu him go to de Sarebus tribes."

"The Sarebus tribe! Why, they are notorious pirates," said Tyler. "My friend who owned the schooner which the pirates captured, and which we stole from them again, told me that the Malays and Dyaks of the Sarebus were bloodthirsty in the extreme, and were for ever raiding the coast. And you went there?"

"Many times, massa. Li Sung him chained to de oar wid many anoder slave, and him pull and pull until de hands blister and get sore, while de lash of de pirates cutee him shoulders. But massa not knowee allee about dese Sarebus men. Dey havee plenty fine prahus, and often dey put to sea wid fifty or more ships and many hundred men. Den dey cruise along about Borneo, sometimes going as far even as de China Sea, and ebery day dey pounce upon de merchant-ships. Sometimes him a native filled with birds'-nests or gum. And den it am a ship wid white-faces on board. Dey all suffer de same. De crew am killed wid the kriss, and de ship am sunk after all her cargo am taken. Dey fear no man, dese pirates, and de Dutchman am now deir leader. Him follow for sure, massa, and him send news to de Sarebus tribe to lie in de way."

The Chinaman became suddenly silent, as if the prospect which he had so suddenly opened out were too much for him. As for Tyler, the news amazed him, and filled his mind with anxious forebodings. He, too, had heard of the pirates about Borneo, and had had many a chat on the subject with Mr. Beverley, from whom he had learned their history. The Archipelago was, in fact, overrun with these sea-robbers and murderers, and it had been at first somewhat difficult to realize who were the peaceful natives and who the piratical ones. But at length Tyler had come to know that Borneo was peopled with many races, and that the Malays inhabited many of the coast towns. For years they had beaten down their Dyak neighbours, and though as a general rule the latter would have preferred to live quiet lives and till the soil, they had been compelled to join the Malays simply because of the fact that existence was impossible in any other way. Still, numbers who lived farther inland would have nothing to do with the pirates, and had they had the opportunities would have become contented tribes. But here again the baneful influence of the new-comers was evidenced, for the Malays ground down these poor people and fleeced them shamefully. And so, finding that in spite of diligence and hard work they could not better their condition, the inland tribes took to making war upon one another.

Head-hunting, which had always been the vogue, became a mania with many of the tribes, and bloodshed was of daily occurrence. To marry or to make any change in his existence a man had to obtain a head or heads, and it mattered little how he came by the trophies. Often he waylaid his enemy in the forest and slew him without a word of warning, returning in triumph as though he had done the bravest deed. The death of a king or chief, a birth, in fact any unusual occasion, had to be celebrated by the taking of heads, and often, too, by the slaying of slaves.

Again, slavery was common, and the Malays were for ever raiding these inland tribes by means of the rivers, for the purpose of making captives, whom they sold. And thus when Tyler landed on the coast of Borneo it was to find the country in a state of chaos and misery, except perhaps in the neighbourhood of Sarawak, where James Brooke had settled. Elsewhere all was given over to violence and piracy, the Dyaks of the land fighting one another and taking heads, while the Malays and the Dyaks of the coast, known as the sea Dyaks, ravaged the river towns and cruised in the open sea. Within a hundred miles of Sarawak there were many of their strongholds, and perhaps the most important of all was that at Sarebus, where dwelt the ruffians under Hanns Schlott's command.