Rajah Brooke

by Sir Spenser St. John

The miserable fugitives, reduced to two thousand, of whom above half were women and children, sat down among the houses of the village of Sidin, and many of them, it is said, wept not only for the loss of friends and goods, which they had suffered owing to the insensate ambition of the Gold Company, but also because they had to give up all hope of ever returning to their old peaceful homes.

That Company, which on the night of the surprise had numbered six hundred, was now reduced to a band of about one hundred, but these kept well together, and being better armed than the others, formed the principal guard of the Tai-pé-Kong, a sacred stone, which they had, through all their disasters, preserved from the profane hands of their enemies. Several times the assailants, who mistook it for the gold chest, were on the point of capturing it, but on the cry being raised that the Tai-pé-Kong was in peril, the men gathered round and carried it securely through all danger. At Sidin, however, all immediate apprehension being over, the discontent of those who had been forced to join the rebels burst forth without control, so that from words they soon came to blows, and the small band of the Company’s men was again reduced by thirty or forty from the anger of their countrymen.

Continuing their disorderly retreat, they were met by the officers of the Dutch Government, who very properly took from them all their plunder and arms, and being uncertain which was their own property, erred on the safe side by stripping them of everything. The Dutch officers sent back to Sarawak all the loot the Chinese had taken either from the Government or from private individuals.

Thus terminated the most criminal and causeless rebellion that ever occurred, which during its continuance displayed every phase of Chinese character, arrogance, secrecy, combination, an utter incapability of looking to the consequences of events or actions, and a belief in their own power and courage which every event belied. The Chinese, under their native leaders, have never fought even decently, and yet up to the very moment of trial they act as if they were invincible.

This insurrection showed, in my belief, that though the Chinese always require watching, they are not in any way formidable as an enemy; and it also proved how firmly the Sarawak Government was rooted in the hearts of the people, since in the darkest hour there was no whisper of wavering. Had the Chinese been five times as numerous, there were forces in the background which would have destroyed them all. Before the Chinese had fled across the frontier, the Seribas and Sakarang Malays and Dyaks, under Mr Johnson, had arrived, and the people of Sadong were marching overland to attack them in rear, while the distant out-stations were mustering strong forces, which arrived to find all danger past.

I believe that it was almost worth the disaster to show how uniform justice and generous consideration are appreciated by the Malays and Dyaks, and how firmly they may become attached to a Government, which, besides having their true interests at heart, encourages and requires all its officers to treat them as equals. The conduct of the Malay fortmen, of Kasim and Gapoor, the generous enthusiasm of Abang Patah, the gallant rush at the Ledah Tanah stockade by the Bandhar and his followers, showed what the Rajah had effected during his tenure of power. He had raised the character of the Malay, and turned a race notorious for its lawlessness into some of the best-conducted people in the world.

I may add that the results of the Chinese insurrection were very curious in a financial point of view. Though about three thousand men were killed or driven from the country, yet as soon as quiet was thoroughly restored, the revenue from the Chinese soon rose, instead of falling, which proves what an extensive system of smuggling had been carried on. The breaking up of the Gold Company was felt by all the natives as a great relief. It is worthy of remark that while the Chinese were still unsubdued in the interior, boats full of their armed countrymen arrived from Sambas, fully believing that Kuching was now in the hands of the Kungsi, but on their proceeding up the river to join them, were met by the Malays, driven back and utterly defeated.

The Dutch authorities behaved with thorough neighbourly kindness on this occasion, for as soon as they heard of the rebellion of the Chinese, they sent round a steamer and a detachment of soldiers to the assistance of the Sarawak authorities. Fortunately by that time all danger was past, but the kindness of the action was not the less appreciated. H.M.S. Spartan, Captain Sir William Hoste, also came over to Sarawak, but I fear that his instructions were less generous: he could aid in protecting British subjects, but not the Government of Sarawak. The shadow of that baneful Commission still hung over the operations of our navy.

While the Rajah was struggling with all these difficulties, the Sir James Brooke, which had been sent to Singapore for supplies, now returned, bringing a large party to join him—his nephew, Captain Brooke, and Mrs Brooke, Mr Grant, Mr Hay, a new recruit, of whom the Rajah said: ‘A gentlemanly man, young, of good family, and of the right stamp,’ in truth, the only class of officer suitable for the work. There came also many people connected with the Borneo Company, including Mr Harvey, the managing director, Mr Duguid, the head of the Sarawak branch, and others. In giving me an account of the arrivals, the Rajah wrote: ‘Our domestic intelligence is of the best and pleasantest. Brooke’s wife is a sweet, sensible, but playful creature, charming in manners.’

When the news of the Chinese insurrection reached Seribas, all the chiefs were anxious to go to the help of the Government, and while many of them were away in Sarawak, our old Sakarang adversary, Rentab, of Lang Fort reputation, attacked the villages of our friends. The Rajah therefore determined to punish him, and started for Seribas himself to encourage the well intentioned, and Captain Brooke visited the Rejang, while Mr Charles Johnson was ordered to attack Sadok, the chief’s mountain stronghold, with his Malays and Dyaks. The attack failed, however, though Charles Johnson exposed himself to every danger to secure success.