Within the territory of Sarawak there are, as I have said, many districts totally unoccupied—as Samarahan and Sadong, with its population of Land Dayaks. And the branches of the great river Batang Lupar, occupied by Sea Dayaks, are all free to new-comers, except Lingga. The Seribas, the Kalaka, the Rejang, and the rivers flowing out of the hundred and thirty miles of coast between the last and Bintulu, are totally untouched by the missionaries.
What a field it offers to brave and earnest men! No officer who has dwelt among these people has left them without regret: the desertion of so many missionaries must be ascribed to defects of management rather than to dislike of the country. In Sarawak missionaries possess this great advantage, that they associate freely, and of course on terms of the most perfect equality with all the officers of the government, an advantage which I have heard said is not extended to them in India. It is useful in many ways, as it shows the Dayaks that all the English take a warm interest in their religious welfare; and the very fact that many of the missionaries have accompanied the government officers on their official tours has not been lost on these tribes.
I may repeat that I am not sufficiently acquainted with the practical working of our great Religious Societies to know what action could be taken on this question, but I am convinced it is an important one, and that all missionaries who go to convert the Dayak, and spread our religion in Borneo, will be heartily welcomed by the Sarawak government.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
DAYAK LANGUAGES.
SAMBAS TO BATANG LUPAR.
In forwarding me the four vocabularies which I now insert, the Rev. William Chalmers mentioned that the Lara people say they came originally from the neighbourhood of Brunei, the capital.
Note.