Rajah Brooke

by Sir Spenser St. John

In the far interior of the Rejang, the Bintulu, and all through the Baram districts, are the numerous tattooed tribes, as the Kayans and the Kineahs; the mongrel villagers called Kanowits; and the wildest of wild tribes, the Punans and Pakatans. As yet none of these tribes have made their mark either in the field of battle or in any industry, except in the working of iron ores or their products, but it is comparatively lately that they have come under the influence of the English. The Sarawak Government appears to have a very intelligent Resident in Baram, Mr Hose.

The Chinese will no doubt gradually fill up the different districts of Sarawak, but the progress is slow. They do not seem to take kindly to Borneo in general, probably because wages are low, the native seldom receiving more than twenty-five cents or sixpence a day, though the wages of the Chinese are doubtless considerably higher. In many villages, however, where they are permitted to settle, you will be sure to find Chinese shopkeepers, who carry on a thriving trade. They have the reputation of not being very honest dealers, as false weights are too often resorted to, in order to enable them to pay a price nominally higher than the market rate, which renders fair competition impossible. I could never understand why restrictions were so often placed on their settlement among the interior tribes, except where the Dyaks themselves objected to their presence. It is true they are not very honest, but in my time we found the natives a match for them in this line, as they used to insert stones into the large lumps of gutta-percha. As might be expected from the low class of Chinese who immigrate into Sarawak, the principal occupants of the prisons are found among their ranks.

Limbang and Trusan, to the north of the Sultan’s capital, are the latest acquisitions of Sarawak. They contain a mixed population of Kadayans, Muruts and Bisayas, with no very marked characteristics.

I am loath to write anything which may appear as an adverse criticism of the conduct of the present Rajah, with whom I have been friends for over fifty years, but unless we are to adopt the principle that ‘the end justifies the means,’ it is difficult to approve the action of Sarawak in seizing by force any part of the Sultan’s dominions. A little gentle, persevering diplomacy would have secured Limbang without violating any principle of international law. I am convinced, however, that the present Rajah was deceived by someone as to the political position of that district, as he wrote that, for four years previous to his action, Limbang was completely independent of the Sultan, which his officers subsequently found was not the case.

The Sultan is the Suzerain Lord of all the possessions of the present Rajah, with the doubtful exception of Sarawak Proper, and Great Britain is the Protector of Sarawak and Brunei alike, yet the Sarawak Gazette, the official organ of its Government, thus refers to the Brunei under British protection: ‘Brunei has long been a disgrace, a blot on the map of Borneo. There murder and robbery thrive, and criminals from all around find a refuge from the punishment merited by their evil deeds, with the knowledge and sanction of the Sultan, and under the protection of the British flag.’

To use an expressive, but not very elegant, phrase, the writer has ‘let the cat out of the bag.’ It is probably true that the British Government would not permit Sarawak to seize Brunei and depose the Sultan, but there are other and more peaceful means of putting an end to Brunei, if it be the sink of iniquity described. Already the Kadayans are taking up their permanent residence in Baram under the Sarawak flag, and many Borneans and Kadayans are moving to Limbang; while a certain number have already established themselves in Padas under the flag of the North Borneo Company. By degrees the population of the capital will completely disperse and settle in the surrounding districts, and the capital will cease to exist as a centre of authority.

That the inhabitants of Limbang rejoiced to be placed under the protection of the Sarawak flag there can be no doubt. I knew them well, and how they suffered from the exactions of the Pangerans and their rapacious followers, and no one would have more rejoiced than myself to hear they had been put under Sarawak rule in a less forcible way. As poverty increased in Brunei, so had the exactions augmented, and Limbang, being near, suffered the most. Perhaps some of my readers may think that in this case ‘the end did justify the means.’ At all events, that appears to have been the view taken by our own Foreign Office.

As far as I can judge from the notices in the Sarawak Gazette, and from my private correspondence, neither the Missions nor education have made much progress, though there are schools at the capital, and both the Anglicans and the Roman Catholics have establishments in the country. The Mission schools appear to educate from two to three hundred pupils, but little is evidently done at the out-stations, and the Dyaks in general are left to themselves, although at one time the field appeared most promising. I fear that the explanation is that the true missionary spirit is dead in our Church. It is no longer looked upon as a field for talent, and those who would not pass muster in an English parish are sent off to vegetate in a Bornean out-station, where their influence is nil.

I notice it reported in a private letter that the Catholic Mission is the more prosperous, as it appears to be well provided with money, erects substantial buildings, and has a very competent staff.

How little the influence of European rule touches the inner life and belief of the native, whatever may be his race! I remember being in Singapore at the time the Government was building a new church, when it was reported that the convicts were seizing people at night and murdering them in order to bury their heads under the foundations of the new building. A panic prevailed for a considerable time, and natives only ventured out in strong parties. And this occurred in a British settlement after our Government had been established there over thirty years. I discussed this unaccountable panic with my Chinese butler, who spoke English well, and had lived all his life in European families. His only answer to my repeated questions was that he hoped it was not true, that he did not know, but he understood it was generally believed. Our missionaries in China have the same experience.