Until late years, the general use of money was unknown in the capital. When I first visited it, ordinary commercial transactions were carried on in pieces of gray shirting, valued at 12s. 6d.; of nankin, valued at 10d.; and of bits of iron, worth about a farthing: the last were manufactured by cutting off pieces of an inch long from a bar of English iron, the common size of which was an inch and a half in breadth by half an inch in thickness. Now, neither the nankin nor the iron circulates, their places being taken by English copper coin and China cash. The gray shirting still holds its place, but its value is fallen, and lately it has ranged from 6s. to 8s. The Brunei government, to prevent the constant disputes that arose, made it a legal tender at 6s. 8d. Mexican dollars are now becoming plentiful.
One other article is also much used as money, and that is brass guns. In buying and selling you constantly hear, “I will give so many pounds, or hundredweights, of gun-metal.”
The Borneans are famous for their manufacture of brass guns, which are constantly cast in their frail houses to the imminent danger of the neighbourhood. They principally turn out small wall-pieces, and now trust much for their metal to selected Chinese brass cash. The Malays are clever at this work: a Javanese has lately cast an excellent 12-pounder brass howitzer for the Sarawak Government. Sulu used to be very famous for its krises; now Brunei is attempting to rival her, and has produced some very handsome weapons. In both places they prefer the iron that is taken off the bales of English cotton goods, as the toughest and the best.
The custom my brother Bayle mentions in his Levantine Family of preserving an article for years, rather than lower its price, is very common in Brunei. Jeludin Hitam, a rich trader, purchased, in his younger days, a large quantity of camphor, white birds’ nests, and pearls, and received, in payment of some other goods, several hundred pieces of gray shirting, at 12s. 6d. The breaking out of the Chinese war of 1841 lowered the price of all articles intended for that market. He tried to sell at former rates, but no one would buy; he refused to lower his price, so kept the goods till his death in 1859. On examining them it was found that the gray shirtings were rotten, and had to be thrown away, while all his other goods were sold for half their former value. A native always asks a higher price than he intends to take, as he knows his customer will “tawar,” or cheapen.
I may add that on the death of Jeludin Hitam the sultan declared himself his heir, and succeeded to all his property, which, however, did not amount to half that was expected, as it was whispered the daughter concealed a large amount of the gold. When Makota was slain, the sultan took possession of his property, but the most active search failed in finding any gold, though it was well known that he had been accustomed to invest all his money in moidores. But the fact was, Makota did not trust his wife, and therefore always carried his wealth about with him in a box, and after his death it was secreted by one of his sons who happened to be in the same district at the time his father was killed.
CHAPTER XI.
SARAWAK AND ITS DEPENDENCIES.
First Visit—Appearance of the Country—Scenery—Lovely Isles—Turtle—Method of Securing their Eggs—Their Enemies—Fish—The Dugong—Method of Capturing them—Graves of Englishmen at Po Point—First Evening in Borneo—A Welcome to the Rajah—Boats—Salute and Manning Yards—The Muaratabas Entrance—The River—The Town of Kuching—Sunset—Arrival—A noisy Procession—Extent of Sarawak—A well-watered Country—The Rejang—Extent of fertile Soil adapted to Sugar—Its Inhabitants—Different Races and Tribes—Population—Kuching, the Capital—Increase—Trade—Sago districts—Cotton—Seed sent by the Cotton Supply Association—Imported Labour required—Increased Production—Inferior Cultivation—Soil adapted to most Tropical Productions—Water communication—Minerals—Coal, Antimony, and Gold—Indications of other Minerals—Former Condition of the Country—Difficulties of Management—Forced Trade—Comfortable Position of the Dayaks—Influence of New System on the Malays—Distant Voyages—Remarkable Honesty—Anecdote—System of Government—An Unteachable Chief—Sons of Patinggi Ali—Their Good Conduct—Effect of Associating the Natives in the Government—The System introduced into all the Dependencies—Effect of Sir James Brooke’s Government—Anecdote of an old Chief—Gradual Development—Necessity for Support—The Chinese an Industrious and Saving Nation—Soundness in the System of Government—England with a Chinese Colony—Future of Borneo—Chinese amalgamate with Native Population—Female Emigration from China—Administration of Justice—The Sarawak Courts—Character of the Malays.
T. Picken, lith.
Day & Son, Lithrs to the Queen.