The Bruni Government protects no one. It is wonderful that any Chinese should still trade at a place where riches, however moderate, are sure to excite the cupidity of the Malay nobles, and to be transferred, under some pretext or another, to their own pockets. I rejoice to think that English rule and justice is now to be offered to the inhabitants of the North of Borneo. They expect an Englishman to be just and generous, brave and firm, and they ground this expectation on their knowledge and experience of Labuan and Sarawak, and the lessons which her Majesty's ships of war have from time to time impressed on the corrupt and faithless Bruni people. I trust this experience will never be reversed by unworthy agents or settlers. The climate is too tropical for colonization, no families of emigrants can be reared in such heat. There are, no doubt, more decided seasons in the north of the island than in the centre: it is hotter at one part of the year, and colder at another, than in the lands bordering on the equator, which are the rain nurseries of the world. A less fierce heat, but rain almost every day in the year, was our lot at Sarawak; and though it was very healthy for English men and women, it was not so good for crops: pepper and coffee prefer a drier climate.
There will be one difficulty in the North Borneo settlement which will require wise handling. I mean the slaves which are the possession of every petty chief and every Malay family in the country. All pirates bring home fresh slaves from every expedition. This can be put an end to at once. But it will be as impolitic as impossible to put a sudden end to the state of slavery in which so large a proportion of the inhabitants will be found. In this respect I hope the North Borneo Company will take a leaf out of Sarawak experience. Sir James Brooke, as long ago as 1841, appealed to the English Government "to assist him to put down piracy and the slave trade, which," he said, "are openly carried on within a short distance of three European settlements, on a scale and system revolting to humanity."
The exertions of Sir James Brooke and his nephews, aided occasionally by her Majesty's ships, have indeed nearly put a stop to piracy, and therefore to the kidnapping of slaves. Still the descendants of Dyak slaves remain the property of their masters. Besides these, there are slave debtors, whole families who have sold themselves to pay the accumulations arising from taxes or impositions of the Malays which they had no hope of repaying. Usury, which was the fountain of this evil, has been forbidden at Sarawak, and many are the slave debtors whom the Rajah's purse has freed.
"Slavery in the East," says Mr. Low,[13] "has always been of a more mild and gentle character than that which in the West so disgusted the intelligent natives of Europe. The slaves in Borneo are generally Dyaks and their descendants, who have been captured by the rulers of the country to swell the number of their personal attendants. Their duties consist in helping their master, who always works with them, in his house or boat building operations, accompanying him in his trading expeditions, assisting in the navigation of his boats, etc. Their masters generally allot them wives from amongst their female domestics, and many of them acquire the affection and confidence of their superiors. The price of a slave in Sarawak is from thirty to sixty dollars, but as the trade is being as quickly repressed as possible, without too much shocking the prejudices of the inhabitants, they have of late become very scarce, and difficult to be bought. The price of a girl varies from thirty to one hundred dollars, but at Sarawak they are even more difficult than men to obtain." Thus wrote Mr. Low in the year 1848. By this time, 1882, slavery is almost nominal at Sarawak. I read, in a Sarawak Gazette, six months ago, that Rajah Brooke had proposed to his Supreme Council, which consists of four Malays and two Englishmen, that slavery should be by law abolished in Sarawak territory. He had proposed this, he said, six months previously, and the Malay councillors present assented heartily as far as themselves and the people of Kuching were concerned, but they thought it would be desirable to give six months' notice to the outlying rivers and coasts, where the people were not as advanced in civilization as those at the capital. Now the six months had passed away, were they prepared to assent to the law? They again expressed their cordial approval of the abolition of slavery, but recommended three months more delay before it was enforced on the out-stations. In the same Gazette I noticed a letter from the Resident at Bintulu, one of the farthest stations from Kuching, in which he speaks of a Malay noble, warmly attached to the Sarawak Government, who claimed all the inhabitants of a large district as his slaves. It was merely a nominal claim, as they did no work for him, but he said they belonged to him. Still, when he was assured by Mr. De Crespigny[14] that such a claim would not be allowed by the Rajah, he submitted without complaint. We may hope that such will be the universal acceptance of the new law, but it is easy to see that forty years of past repression and discountenance, and the strong influence of English opinion on the subject of slavery, has effected what would doubtless have caused strong opposition and estrangement if attempted hastily.
I have just received a Sarawak Gazette, dated July 1st, which contains an account of a further cession of territory from the Sultan of Bruni to Rajah Brooke of Sarawak.
This is the passage:
"On Saturday, the 10th June, his Highness the Sultan signified his willingness to cede to the Rajah of Sarawak, and his heirs, all the country and rivers that lie between Points Kadurong and Barram, including about three miles of coast on the east side of Barram Point. Negotiations about the sum to be paid for this hundred miles of coast continued for three days, when the deed of cession was finally sealed and delivered. This deed of cession, sealed with the respective seals of his Highness the Sultan of Bruni and the Rajah of Sarawak, was read out in full court on the 10th June. After which his Highness the Rajah addressed a few words to the people, telling them that he intended going to the river Barram towards the end of this moon, for the purpose of choosing a site whereon to erect a fort, and establishing a government there, to be a nucleus of trade. He added that all those who wished to trade there might now do so without fear."[250]
This is an important addition to the country of Sarawak.
The time may indeed not be far distant when the country of Bruni, now wedged in between Sarawak and the territory of British North Borneo, may disappear altogether, and with it the misrule and oppression of that corrupt Eastern court. Then English people will be responsible for the whole of the north and north-west of the island of Borneo, and a new era of peace and happiness will dawn upon its inhabitants.
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