[253]. Sir Thomas Fairbairn, Bart.

CHAPTER VIII
MUKA

In 1856, the Honourable G. W. Edwardes had been appointed Governor of Labuan; Mr. Spenser St. John being Consul-General at Bruni. The Governor was known to have imbibed all the prejudices and antipathies fostered in England by Mr. Gladstone and his tail; and he was eager in everything to hamper the development of the little State of Sarawak. He was not, however, authorised to interfere in the relations between Bruni and Sarawak, nor in the internal affairs of these States, where he had no jurisdiction; but when the Consul-General left on leave early in 1860, the Consular Office was handed over to him, and he was then placed in a position to give vent to his bias, and, as Sir Spenser St. John remarks, "he was delighted to get a chance of giving a blow to Sarawak." With regard to Sherip Masahor, "he acted against his better judgment," and with regard to the subsequent events at Muka "against the strong advice of his own experienced officers."[[254]]

Sherip Masahor, after having been driven out of Sarawak, retired to Muka, and, having established his family and numerous followers there, passed on to Bruni to lay his case before the Sultan. Consul-General St. John was then on the point of leaving, but before his departure he received information from the Sultan which left little doubt "that Masahor had instigated the murder of—had, in fact, by his paid agents, murdered—Messrs. Fox and Steele."[[255]] On his way to England Mr. St. John visited Kuching, and there obtained evidence which quite convinced him of the Sherip's guilt, and he then wrote to the Sultan, calling upon him to deliver up the Sherip to the Sarawak Government. But this letter passing into acting Consul-General Edwardes' hands was suppressed by him. He had seen the plausible Sherip, who had been sent to him by the Sultan, and not only declined to believe in his guilt, but advised the Sultan that his detention was not justifiable, and that he should be permitted to return to Muka; there to watch and if needs be oppose the aggression of the Rajah's nephews. To add fuel to the flame, he led the Sultan to believe that prosperous Sarawak would soon be restored to Bruni—a tempting prospect for the covetous and plundering nobles.

Writing to the Tuan Besar, under date July 4, 1860, Governor Edwardes says:—

After careful consideration of the documents sent, and examination of the case, I am unable to arrive at the conviction that Sherip Masahor is guilty of instigating the murders of Messrs. Fox and Steele, or of such complicity to justify me to induce his Highness to surrender him.

His Highness, and the Rajahs, have expressed the most earnest desire to further the ends of justice, and to afford every assistance to the Sarawak Government. I have full confidence in their sincerity.

I have not hesitated to inform his Highness and the Rajahs that I consider the evidence insufficient and that he (Sherip Masahor) could not with justice be surrendered.