LONDON; LONGMAN & CO. 1848
The communications and demands we had to make were carried on through Mr. Williamson, the interpreter. The speakers were Mr. Brooke, our captain, the sultan's prime minister, Muda and Bud-ruddeen, the sultan occasionally nodding his head in approval of replies made by his prime minister. The whole of the conversation was carried on in so low a tone as not to be heard except by those sitting nearest to the throne. The subject of it was, however, no secret; and it was as follows:—
Near to the mouth of the river, is an island called Pulo Cheremon, on which the sultan has built some forts. On our entering the river, one of our boats had been fired at from one of these forts, although the English flag was hoisted at the time. The demands made in this conference were, that the proper respect should be paid to the English flag, that the forts upon Pulo Cheremon should be dismantled, and that the sultan should reinstate Muda and Bud-ruddeen in offices becoming their rank. Now, that the first demand was reasonable must be admitted; but what right we had to insist upon the forts being destroyed, and the sultan's uncles put into office, I really cannot pretend to say.
Seraib Yussef, who was inimical to the English, expressed his disapprobation of their demands in very strong terms: as for the sultan, he had very little to say. As it appeared that there was no chance of our demands being complied with without coercion, the conference was broken up by our principals pointing to the steamer, which lay within pistol-shot of the palace, and reminding the sultan and the ministers that a few broadsides would destroy the town. Having made this observation, we all rose to take our departure, stating that we would wait for an answer to our demands upon the following day. Our situation was rather critical, only eight Europeans among hundreds of armed natives taking their sultan in this manner by the beard, when, at a signal from him, we might have all been despatched in a moment. More than one chief had his hand upon his kris as we stalked through a passage left for us out of the audience chamber; but whatever may have been their wishes, they did not venture further without authority. On reaching the platform outside, a very strange sight presented itself. With the exception of a lane left for our passage to the boat, the whole space was covered with naked savages. These were the Maruts, a tribe of Dyaks who live in the mountains. The word marut signifies brave. These naked gentlemen, who are very partial to the sultan, had come down from the mountains to render assistance in case of hostility on our part. They were splendidly framed men, but very plain in person, with the long matted hair falling over their shoulders. They were armed with long knives and shields, which they brandished in a very warlike manner, occasionally giving a loud yell. They certainly appeared very anxious to begin work; and I fully expected we should have had to draw and defend ourselves. I was not sorry, therefore, when I found myself once more in the stern sheets of the barge, with our brass six-pounder loaded with grape, pointed towards them. The poor fellows little knew the effect of a shower of grape-shot, or they would not have been so anxious for a "turn-up."
The sultan had offered a house for the accommodation of the Europeans during our stay at Bruni. It was a small wooden building over the water and resting upon piles. It communicated by a platform with the Mahomedan mosque, which was built of brick and of tolerable dimensions. The interior of this mosque had no other furniture in it except a sort of pulpit painted, which stood in the centre. Outside on a raised platform was a very large tom-tom or drum, upon which a native played from morning to night, much to our annoyance, as it was so close to us. Religious worship appears at a very low ebb at Bruni, for during the whole time that we remained there I did not see one person enter the mosque.
At the back of the mosque there was a piece of green sward, which separated us from the royal buildings. Passing through the mosque we strolled over this piece of pasture, when, close to the water's edge, we discovered several fine old brass 32-pounders, dismounted and half-buried in the swamp. On inspection we found them to be Spanish, bearing the inscription of Carolus Tertius, Rex Hispaniorum, with the arms of Castile above. How they came into the sultan's possession we could not find out. He was said to value them exceedingly; if so, he did not show it by the neglect paid to them.
Bruni on a calm day presents a novel and pretty appearance. The masses of houses appear to float on the water, and the uniformity is broken by gay flags and banners, which indicate the rank and the office of them who hoist them. The large square sails of the prahus, the variety of boats and canoes, the floating bazaar, and the numerous costumes continually in moving panorama before you, all combine to form a very admirable picture. Add to this the chiming and beating of gongs and tom-toms in every cadence, and from every quarter, and you are somewhat reminded of an Asiatic Bartholomew fair.
The right-hand side of the river, which is opposite to the town, consists of a series of small hills, which are partially cleared, but present little appearance of cultivation. Here we were shown a specimen of the upas tree: it was growing close to a small stone fountain in the vicinity of some straggling huts. It was a solitary tree, tall and red-stemmed, with the foliage branching out in a canopy at the top.
So much has been said for and against this tree, usually supposed to be fabulous, that we looked upon it with great curiosity; and although aware that its noxious qualities have been much exaggerated, we were anxious to test its powers, if we could. We procured a ladder, which we raised against the tree, and one of our party ascended to the uppermost branches without experiencing the fainting sensation ascribed to be produced by close contact with its foliage. We then tapped the tree at the bottom, and there issued from it a white viscous fluid, which the natives asserted to be a virulent poison, and used by them for dipping the points of their arrows. We carried off a bottle of this poison, and having drunk from the fountain beneath the tree, without fear and without injury, we went away. This was the only specimen of the upas tree that I saw in Borneo. The lower orders at Bruni, in addition to a jacket and trousers, wear an immense straw hat of a conical shape, with a brim as wide as an umbrella. This hat, unless thrown back on the shoulders, entirely conceals the face. At times, when the river is crowded with canoes, nothing is to be seen but a mass of these straw hats, which present a very strange appearance. But the greatest novelty at Bruni is the floating bazaar. There are no shops in the city, and the market is held every day in canoes. These come in at sunrise every morning from every part of the river, laden with fresh fruit, tobacco, pepper, and every other article which is produced in the vicinity; a few European productions, such as handkerchiefs, check-cotton prints, &c., also make their appearance. Congregated in the main street the canoes are tacked together, forming lanes through which the purchasers, in their own canoes, paddle, selecting and bargaining for their goods with as much convenience as if the whole was transacted on terra firma. Iron is here so valuable that it is used as money. One hundred flat pieces an inch square are valued at a dollar, and among the lower classes these iron pieces form the sole coin. They are unstamped, so that every person appears to be at liberty to cut his own iron into money; but whether such is really the case I cannot vouch.
We remained at Bruni for a week, during which time a great deal of diplomatic duty was got through by the seniors of the party, leaving the juniors to amuse themselves with discovering fresh objects of interest, and illustrating every thing worthy of notice.