Rajah Brooke

by Sir Spenser St. John

Gold has been known to exist for many years. Even on the arrival of the first Rajah, the Chinese were working it on a small scale, but only in the alluvial deposits. I was with the late Dr MacDougall, Bishop of Sarawak, when, in 1854, he picked up a piece of quartz with specks of gold distinctly visible in it, but it was not until many years later that great reefs of gold-bearing quartz were discovered, and although good results were obtained in the laboratory, the industry could not then be worked on a commercial basis. Lately, however, the Borneo Company has found that by the cyanide process it can make the working of the stone pay, and it has now erected very extensive and elaborate machinery, which, when in full operation, will crush three hundred tons of quartz a day. This will be the salvation of Sarawak, for there is no reason, if the working of the present plant prove a mercantile success, why a dozen similar establishments should not be erected, as the stone is practically inexhaustible, the reefs having been traced for about thirty miles. The latest reports from Sarawak show that the machinery is doing well in the Company’s establishment at Bauh, and so satisfied are the directors with the results that they are putting up a considerable plant at Bidi, where the quartz is richer in quality. Both these places are in the interior of Sarawak Proper.

The benefit to Sarawak will be twofold, as the Government is to receive five per cent. of the gold produced, and large numbers of Chinese, whom the Company finds can alone be relied on for regular operations, must be imported to work the plant and quarry the stone. The ‘farms’ and the import duties will benefit by this influx of labour, and it may enable the Sarawak Government ultimately to abolish all export duties on agricultural produce. We used to reckon that each Chinaman on an average increased the revenue by two pounds sterling per annum.

The washing for gold by the Chinese in the alluvial soil has not for many years proved very productive; in fact, it has been thought that the discontent of the Chinese, before the great insurrection of 1857, arose partly from the fact that the gold workings did not pay, and the coolies began to look with suspicion on the integrity of their chiefs.

Coal, though worked for many years, produced at first no practical results, but in 1896 nearly 23,000 tons were exported, and the amount increased greatly during 1897 and 1898. This also must affect the revenue both directly and indirectly in a very satisfactory manner.

The only factories which have proved successful in Sarawak are those that produce sago flour. These will doubtless increase, as in many places the natives have for several years past augmented their plantations, and it is a cultivation which suits their indolent habits, for after tending the young plants during the first year, little or no care is subsequently given to the palm trees.

The population of Sarawak is very varied. In all its districts, with the exception of the Milanau rivers and Baram, there is an indigenous Malay population, who are born traders and fishermen, and only cultivate as it were under protest, but they do grow a little rice, a few rough vegetables, and lately some have made small coffee gardens. As a rule they neglect the last, or overcrowd the plants with other products.

In Sarawak, Samarahan and Sadong the interior is inhabited by Land Dyaks, a very primitive race, who are, however, slowly advancing, while some, as those in Samarahan, must be getting rich, as a Resident reports seeing the girls dancing in silks and brocades, with strings of silver dollars hanging round their waists. It was a pleasure to read of this advance, as many previous accounts had pointed to a great deterioration in their condition.

But the pride of Sarawak must always be the Sea Dyaks who live on the Batang Lupar, the Seribas and the right-hand branches of the Rejang. These were the destructive pirates of the coast, who put to sea in large fleets of fast vessels, and ravaged every district they could reach. When the expeditions of Captains Keppel and Farquhar had put down their piracies at sea, and the land operations, principally conducted by the present Rajah, then chief Resident on the Batang Lupar, had subdued them in the interior, they began to look to other fields of activity. Even as early as 1853 I sent a report home about their energetic work in the antimony mines. Now, they are the most industrious of the collectors of jungle produce, and have spread wherever that is to be found, whether in the interior of the Rejang, Baram, or Limbang districts. One hears of them also in the territories of the British North Borneo Company, where they should be welcome immigrants, not only on account of their industry, but of their readiness to support the established Government. Owing to this last amiable trait in their character they have been recalled by the Sarawak Government under the penalty, in case of disobedience, of being declared outlaws. This was a mistake, as they would be equally useful to the North Borneo Company, which is combating lawlessness as much as the Sarawak Government, and among a far more dangerous population. In looking over my Sarawak correspondence I find that they were accused of acting against the regulations of the Company, particularly in the interior of Padas, but this appears to have arisen from the foolish restrictions placed on the Dyaks and others by the subordinate officers in that district, which were strongly condemned by the Resident at Labuan, the late Mr Maxwell, a man of remarkable intelligence and experience, the latter acquired when in the Sarawak service.

These Sea Dyaks even ventured across the China Sea, and sought for jungle produce throughout the Malay Peninsula, but I hear that they also have been recalled, why or wherefore it is difficult even to guess. In reading through these Gazettes, I have come across references to a Dyak selling gutta-percha in Singapore for $1200; to another having disposed of produce in the bazaar to the amount of $1500; and to a prahu being swamped with $2000 worth of goods or cash on board. These Dyaks are indeed a valuable population.

The next to be noticed are the Milanaus, who live at the mouths of the rivers Rejang, Oya and Muka, and are apparently a race apart. They are perhaps a little more industrious than the Malays, and devote themselves to planting and roughly manufacturing sago. A portion of this population has been converted to Mohammedanism, whilst the rest cannot bring themselves to abandon pork.