KAYAN WAR KNIFE.
Gold, diamonds, and antimony have been obtained in remunerative quantities at the Sarawak mines, which were originally worked by the Chinese settlers, but are now in the hands of a company. Mining operations are very difficult owing to the enormous rainfall; and it is only the abundance of cheap Chinese or native labour which renders it possible in such a climate. Coolies from Hong Kong may be obtained for seven to eight dollars per month, or for less if their food is provided; and natives will work sometimes for five to seven dollars per month. A good Chinaman as a labourer, is however worth two Malays.
The largest rivers in the island are supposed to be the Kinabatangan and the Pontianak; the former is said to be navigable over two hundred miles from its mouth, and at the farthest point reached it was fifty yards wide, and there was seven fathoms of water. Dutch steamers have ascended a long way inland up the Pontianak which lies south of Sarawak. Most of the rivers on the north-west coast are very shallow, having dangerous bars at their mouths; and that at the mouth of the Brunei was partly blocked by large rocks about the time of the siege of that city by the English.
Gambling and opium smoking are the bane of the Chinese settlers and of many of the well-to-do Malays; and of all forms of intemperance surely this last must be the most degrading and otherwise hurtful in its effects. The manufactured drug as imported from Benares and other opium producing districts, is in the form of balls six inches in diameter, covered with the dried petals of poppy flowers. This product is the inspissated juice of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), and is of a dark brown or black colour. Before it is used for smoking, however, it has to be still further prepared by boiling and stirring in shallow pans over a bright fire; and as the pure product is very high in price, it is often subjected to adulteration. In our eastern colonies it is usual to let or farm out the right to prepare and sell or export opium to an enterprising native or Chinese merchant, and the revenue thus obtained is often enormous as compared with that on spirits and tobacco, or other duty-paying goods.
An opium-smoking establishment consists of a few gloomy rooms furnished with cane-bottomed couches, and on little stands are the pipes, tiny lamps, and other implements used by the smokers. The smell is generally sufficient to deter Europeans entering an opium-smoker’s haunt from motives of curiosity; or if under guidance one does venture into the ill-ventilated and malodorous apartments behind, it is with feelings of relief that the sweet outer air is again gained. The smokers lie on the bamboo couches, and a little stand is brought, on which are one or two flute-like pipes, a pill or two of the drug, and a little glass lamp. In some cases an attendant manipulates the drug and fills the pipes; as a rule, however, this is done by the smokers themselves. There is no mistaking an habitual opium smoker; his eyes are dull, his complexion sallow, and in general a listless bearing, with a frame more or less emaciated, betokens his being a degraded victim. Without a supply of his favourite drug he is miserable; and when under its influence he is useless. Here he lies holding a morsel of the black drug on a needle over the flame of the lamp, twirling it round and round, and toasting it in the flame until the proper consistence is attained. It is then introduced into the pipe, and the needle, on being withdrawn, leaves a tiny air-hole through the mass as it fits like a plug in the bowl. The smoker now holds the bowl to the lamp, and obtains a light, and then he draws a long whiff or two as the burning morsel of opium rapidly decreases in the bowl.
CHAPTER VIII.
A CITY OF LAKE DWELLINGS.
Brunei the Capital—Market Chinese traders—Gun foundry—The Istana—Weak government—The Sultan Moumein—Native jewelry—Native smithy—Public executions—Punishment for robbery—Sago factories—Inter-marriage—Morality—Old Mission Church—Boat journey inland—Murut hospitality—Canoe travel—Forest travel—New aroids—Native insects—Day flying Moths—River travel by moonlight—Sago-washing station.