The Rajah was pressed to take up his residence in Bruni, and, could he have done so, all might have gone well, but he could not hope that his present intervention would do more than postpone the downfall of the worn-out and vicious Government, for the elements of discord and decay were rife. And directly his back was turned the Sultan failed him. He set aside the advice of his wazirs, and, to gratify his greed, upheld Makota. He had promised that this man should be recalled from Muka, but, instead of doing so, gave him a free hand to deal with the wretched people as he pleased—to plunder for both himself and his master. The Rajah then determined himself "to manage Makota, and to leave the Sultan to rue his own folly"; the two factions in Bruni he trusted "would join together to resist oppression, or, at any rate, forbear with each other."
Early in 1856, the Tuan Muda went with a force from Kuching to erect a fort at Serikei, now deserted by Masahor, and half burnt down by the Dayaks. This was soon built, and an Englishman was placed in charge, who was shortly afterwards replaced by Mr. Fox. The Dayaks around were numerous and hostile. The Tuan Muda found that "in all directions around Serikei and Kanowit there were enemies." Some few came to trade, but refused to pay revenue or obey the orders of the officials. They lived in independence, and the two branches of Dayak employment were simply heads and salt. "As these two requirements could not be found in the same quarter, they in former times usually made peace with one petty Malay chief for the purpose of obtaining salt, while the heads were brought from some other petty Malay chief's village lying in another direction. By this means the Malays obtained a trade with Dayaks as well as a following."
The imposition of a fine on Masahor and the erection of a fort at Serikei may have been regarded as an infringement of the rights of the Sultan. There existed, however, an understanding between the Sultan and the Rajah in respect to the Rejang, the main object of which was, so far as the former was concerned, that the sago districts should be protected from the ravages of the Rejang Dayaks. The Sultan Mumin, a poor, feeble creature, was totally incapable of keeping these unruly subjects of his in check, and the Rajah undertook to do it for him. It, of course, followed that the Rajah had authority over, and a right to punish, these people. Kanowit fort and then Serikei were erected to keep the Dayaks and Sherip Masahor in check. All that was done was done in the mutual interests of Bruni and Sarawak, and at the sole expense of the latter, for the Rejang in those days yielded no revenue.
The house of Ucalegon was in flames, and the fire would extend to Sarawak, unless it were extinguished by Sarawak hands, for their own protection.
Muka and Oya, where Pangiran Nipa had succeeded his father, Pangiran Ersat, in power, being still in a very distracted condition, and the Rajah, now being free of the troubles that had shaken the very foundations of his own Government, and which had unavoidably withdrawn his attention from these places, determined to make another effort to establish order there in the interests of the suffering population, and of the important trade between those places and Sarawak, which had now almost ceased. For this purpose he again proceeded to Bruni in September, 1857, and obtained full power to act at Muka, and authority to intervene was granted him. At Muka the Rajah called together into his presence the rival factions which had been murdering each other, and disturbing the trade for the last four years. There were four hundred persons present, including the Pangirans Matusin and Nipa, besides the chiefs of the country, whose relatives had been put to death by Sherip Masahor. The chaps[[232]]—the Sultan's mandates—were read, ordering peace, and authorising the Rajah to punish any breach of it. The Rajah then spoke to the people, pointing out the advantage of peace, and pledging himself to punish any persons who by their actions should disturb it. This visit of the Rajah was attended with good results, and Muka enjoyed rest for a brief period.
In October, the Rajah proceeded to England, leaving the government in the hands of the Tuan Besar; upon this visit, which was of necessity a prolonged one, owing to the complete breakdown of his health, we will touch later.
The month following the Rajah's departure, Pangiran Makota was violently removed from the scene of his life's iniquities. We have already recorded the manner of his well-merited death.[[233]] Of him the Rajah wrote, "A greater villain it would be impossible to conceive, with heart blacker, head more cunning, and passions more unrestrained. I say this deliberately of a dead man." A fitting epitaph.
In December, Mrs. Brooke died, and the Tuan Besar left for England early in 1859. Upon the Tuan Muda now fell the burden of the government at perhaps the most critical period in the history of the raj. Plot was heaped upon plot, and deceit and treachery faced him on all sides, but by his courage, untiring energy, and determination the State was successfully piloted through these grave troubles, its enemies dispersed, and confidence restored to a panic-stricken people.
Two years previously, Sherip Masahor and the Datu Patinggi Haji Gapur, now known as the Datu Haji, had been pardoned. The former had been allowed to return to Serikei, and the latter to live in retirement at Kuching. It was a mistaken and highly imprudent policy, for neither had forgotten his humiliation, and both commenced active intrigue against the Government; and the party of pangirans at Bruni, hostile to all reforms, were privy to these plots, of which the Sultan himself was aware, and at which he probably connived. Constant intercourse was being kept up between the Sultans of Bruni and Sambas, which could omen no good to Sarawak; and Bruni alone, now once more relapsed into its former evil condition, was without the means of open aggression.
In 1859, the Europeans in Sarawak were startled by a report of the wholesale massacre of Europeans, men, women, and children, at Banjermasin, succeeded by further reports that all white men were being killed in the other Dutch settlements, and that the same fate was to be meted out to those in Sarawak and Labuan.