"He bought a small vessel, and made a voyage to China, probably with the intention of improving his finances for the work he had in view. In 1835 he inherited $150,000 at the death of his father. After a cruise in the Mediterranean, he sailed in a schooner-yacht from London for Sarawak, where he arrived in 1839. The uncle of the sultan was engaged in a war with some tribes of rebels, and Brooke rendered him important assistance. He returned to Kuching with the title of rajah, his predecessor, a native, having been compelled to resign.
"The new governor immediately went to work very vigorously to establish a better government, introducing free trade, and framing a new code of laws. At this time the atrocious custom of head-hunting prevailed in the island. Enemies killed in battle were decapitated simply for the sake of the head, and the Dyak who obtained the greatest number of them was esteemed the most valiant warrior.
"A Dyak girl would not accept the addresses of a young man who had not obtained a head, in the earlier time; and murders were often committed for the sole purpose of obtaining the head of the victim, either to conciliate some dusky maiden, or as a trophy for the head-house, of which there is one in every village. The heads were 'cooked,' as they called it, though the operation was merely drying and cleaning the skull. Rajah Brooke made the penalty of this kind of murder death, without regard to the customs and antecedents of the natives; and he soon abolished head-hunting in his dominion.
"The sultan, either directly or by 'winking at it,' encouraged piracy; and the crime was as common as in the vicinity of the Malay states fifty years ago. Sir James Brooke resolutely attacked the pirates, and with the means at his command soon vanquished and drove them from the sea and the land. The Dyaks, in spite of their head-hunting propensities, were rather a simple people; while the Malays of the island were cunning, dishonest, treacherous, and cruel. The simple Dyaks were no match for them, and were cheated and abused in every possible way. There was no such thing as justice in the land. The new rajah corrected all these abuses.
"Having established his government on the basis of right and justice to all, Brooke went to England in 1847. He was invited to Windsor by the Queen, and created a K. C. B. (Knight Commander of the Bath), a distinguished honor in Great Britain. The next year he was made governor of Labuan. He was charged in the House of Commons with receiving head-money for pirates killed; but the charge was disproved.
"Brooke continued to hold his position as Rajah of Sarawak while at Labuan; but in 1857 he was superseded at the latter, and returned to his government. The Chinese, of whom there are a great many in Borneo, became incensed against him because he prevented the smuggling of opium into his territory. A large body of them attacked his house in the night, and destroyed a great amount of his property.
"But the rajah was not a man to submit quietly to such an outrage. He immediately collected a force of Dyaks and Malays, and attacked the Celestials. He razed a fort they had constructed, and thoroughly defeated them in several successive battles. He was very prompt and decided in action, and to see an abuse was to remedy it without unnecessary delay. He established and maintained a model government, and the country prospered greatly under his mild but decisive rule.
"He found a town with 1,000 inhabitants, and left it with 25,000. He died in 1868, and was succeeded by his nephew, Sir C. T. Brooke, who extended his territory, and ten years ago placed it under the protection of the United Kingdom. This is the history of a noble man and a model colony."
"But what are Dyaks, Professor?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave.
"They are natives of Borneo, though all the people are not known by this name. They are divided into Hill Dyaks and Sea Dyaks. At the present time they are a high-toned class of savages; for they do not steal or rob, and they have many social virtues which might be copied by the people of enlightened nations. Head-hunting and piracy are known among them no more. They are the farmers and producers of the island. There is much that is very interesting about them. They build peculiar houses, some of them occupied by a dozen or more families, though they always live in peace, and do not quarrel with their neighbors. The young women select their own husbands, and a head is no longer necessary to open the way to an engagement.