A new spirit had come over the Governors of Labuan, and the somewhat ignoble spite, bred partly of ignorance and partly of jealousy, which had characterised their conduct with regard to Sarawak, and the Rajah in particular, was exchanged at last for generous and honest recognition of the excellence of his rule, and of the injustice of forcing the natives against their will to remain under the cruel oppression of this Old Man of the Sea astride on their shoulders.
The subsequent administrators of Labuan were favourable to Sarawak, but in 1889 the Colony was handed over to the British North Borneo Company. Their officials had no authority outside of Labuan and did not correspond with the Foreign Office, and Consuls were appointed to Bruni.
In June, 1883, the Rajah visited Bruni, and was received by the aged Sultan with special marks of distinction. The Sultan waited at the entrance of the audience chamber, and taking the Rajah by the hand, led him to the throne where he seated him by his side. Negotiations for the cession of Baram and the rivers and districts lying between that river and Bintulu were at once entered upon, and speedily concluded, and on the 13th, the deed of cession was finally sealed and delivered.
The cession of this district gave great satisfaction to the inhabitants, and most of those who had migrated to Sarawak returned by degrees. A fort was erected at Claudetown[[312]] (Merudi) about sixty miles up the Baram river, and here Chinese and Malay traders soon settled, and a brisk trade rapidly sprang up. Minor stations were also established at Miri and Niah. The turbulent Kayans and Kenyahs speedily became pacified, and existing feuds were settled. Now, this district is one of the most peaceful and prosperous in the State.[[313]] The entrance to the river is, and has been, a great hindrance to trade, the bar being very shallow and exposed, so that it is unsafe for sailing vessels and screw steamers. The Government accordingly had a special steamer of 200 tons built in England to carry the trade. She is practically flat-bottomed, and is propelled by paddles. Another, larger, was added as the trade increased. In January, 1884, the Rajah was notified by Earl Granville that her Majesty's Government had no objection to the exercise of jurisdiction over British subjects by the judicial authorities of the Government of Sarawak in this newly-acquired territory.
Only one chief in Baram gave any trouble; and he was Aban Jau, chief of the Tinjar Kayans. He persistently interfered, and thwarted the policy of Government as much as he could without bringing himself into open conflict with the authorities. He maintained a position of semi-independence, and flew his own flag. But in May, 1884, he committed an intolerable act, and had to be humbled. As the affair is illustrative of the iniquities allowed at Bruni until quite recently, the particulars may be given. To appease the manes of his daughter-in-law, Aban Jau sent to Pangiran Nipa of Tutong, asking for a slave, so that he might immolate the unhappy wretch. His messengers went to Bruni, where two pangirans, Matusin and Tejudin, handed them a slave, an old and decrepit man, whom they sent as a present to Aban Jau. The Resident at Claudetown, hearing of this, had the party intercepted and arrested, but too late to save the slave. He had been killed and his head taken, as he was too old to walk, and the messengers did not care to trouble themselves to carry him. Aban Jau was severely punished; he submitted, and his power was broken. He was no better than an aged savage, and there was some excuse for him, as he was complying with ancestral customs; but there was none for the Muhammadan Bruni pangirans for despatching a miserable old slave to a death by torture.
In June, 1884, by the Sultan's orders, a Dusun village was attacked—the time for the attack being chosen when nearly all the able-bodied men were absent, and over twenty women and children were killed. Oppression became so rife that many refugees crossed the frontier into Sarawak territory, abandoning in so doing their property and plantations. In August of the same year, the people of Limbang broke out into open rebellion.
The Limbang river waters a wide district that is fertile and populous. The people possessed extensive sago plantations, and were comparatively prosperous. On this account they were all the more oppressed by the pangirans. There was no protection for person and property, and women and girls were carried off to fill the harems of Bruni. This was the people that suffered such cruel wrongs at the hands of the Pangiran Makota, and it was in this river that he met his death in 1860.
The trouble began with two of the agents of the Pangiran Temanggong, the then Regent and heir apparent, being killed whilst extorting taxes. The pangiran thereupon went up in his steam-launch with a large following, and proposed that the chiefs should meet him at a certain place and discuss matters. The proposal was made in guile, his real purpose being to seize the opportunity for slaughtering them. But these people had had many years' experience of pangirans and their little ways, and met guile with guile. The proposal was acceded to, but whilst the pangiran was on his way to the appointed rendezvous he himself fell into an ambuscade.
Fire was opened on his party, and he was forced to beat a retreat, his launch damaged, seventeen of his men killed, and more wounded. Bruni was thrown into panic, and stockades were erected to resist an expected invasion. The Limbang people followed up their advantage by raiding the suburbs of the town, and a house was attacked within half a mile of the Sultan's palace.
The Sultan, then in his dotage, was helpless, and appealed to the acting Consul-General, Mr. Treacher (now Sir William Treacher, K.C.M.G.), to help him out of his difficulties. Mr. Treacher knew that the Limbangs had been driven to rebellion by the intolerable exactions to which they had been subjected, and he declined to interfere, unless the Sultan and his wazirs should concede a charter releasing the Limbangs from all arbitrarily imposed taxes, and limiting taxation to a small poll tax, and a 5 per cent ad valorem duty on gutta percha, granting them at the same time immunity for their property and sago-plantations, and engaging that no more tax-collectors should be sent from Bruni to the river, and that a general amnesty should be accorded.