APPENDIX
Mr Brooke’s Expedition to Borneo.[13]
Borneo (in the language of the natives Bruni), Celebes, Sulu, the Moluccas, and the islands of the Straits of Sunda and Banca, compose what is commonly called the Malayan group, and the Malays located on the sea shores of these and other islands may with certainty be classed as belonging to one nation.
It is well known, however, that the interior of these countries is inhabited by various tribes, differing from the Malays and each other, and presenting numerous gradations of imperfect civilisation.
The Dyaks of Borneo, the Arafuras of New Guinea, and others, besides the black race scattered over the islands (objects here, as elsewhere, of traffic), present an interesting field of inquiry; and it is surprising, whilst our acquaintance with every other portion of the globe, from the passage of the Pole to the navigation of the Euphrates, has greatly extended, we know scarcely anything of these varieties of the human race beyond the bare fact of their existence, and remain extremely ignorant of the geographical features of the countries they inhabit.
Countries which present an extended field for Christianity and commerce—which none surpass in fertility—rich beyond the Americas in mineral productions, and unrivalled in natural beauty, yet continue unexplored, and spite of the advantages which would probably result, have failed to attract the attention they so well deserve. The difficulty of the undertaking will scarcely account for its non-performance; if we consider the voluntary sacrifices made on the shrine of African research, or the energy displayed and the sufferings encountered by the explorers of the Polar regions, yet the necessity of prosecuting the voyage in an armed vessel, the wildness of the interior tribes, the lawless ferocity of the Malays, and the dangers to be apprehended from the jealousy of the Dutch, would prevent most individuals from fixing on this field for their exertions, and points it out as one which can only be fully accomplished by Government, or some influential body.
It is not my object to enter into any detail of the past history of the Malayan nations, but I may refer to the undoubted fact that they have been in a state of deterioration since we first became acquainted with them; and the records of our early voyagers, together with the remains of antiquity still visible in Java and Sumatra, prove that once flourishing nations have now ceased to exist, and countries once teeming with human life are now tenantless and deserted. The causes of such lamentable changes need only be alluded to, but it is fit to remark that whilst the clamour about education is loud, and extravagant dreams are entertained of the progressive advancement of the human race, a large tract of the globe has been gradually relapsing, and allowed to relapse, into barbarism.
Whether the early decay of the Malay states and their consequent demoralization arose from the introduction of Mohammedanism, or resulted from the intrigues of European ambition, it were useless to discuss; but we are very certain that the policy of the Dutch has, at the present day, reduced this ‘Eden of the Eastern wave’ to a state of anarchy and confusion, as repugnant to humanity as it is to commercial prosperity.
Enough is known of the harshness of this policy, and there is no need of here contrasting it with the energetic, successful, though ill-supported sway of Sir Stamford Raffles—but it is the indirect influence which it exerts that has proved so baneful to the Archipelago, under the assumed jurisdiction of this European power. Her unceasing interference in the concerns of the Malay Governments, and the watchful fomenting of their internal dissensions, have gradually and effectually destroyed all rightful authority, and given rise to a number of petty states, which thrive on piracy and fatten on the slave trade. The consequent disorganisation of society arising from these causes has placed a bar to commercial enterprise and personal adventure, and has probably acted on the interior tribes much in the same way as this fatal policy has affected the Malays. As far as can be ascertained, the financial and commercial concerns of the Dutch have not been prosperous; it is easy to conceive such to be the case, as it will be conceded that oppression and prosperity cannot coexist. In short, with the smallest possible amount of advantage, the Dutch Government has all along endeavoured to perpetuate an exclusive system, aiming more at injury to others than any advantage to themselves, or to the nations under their sway; for where an enlightened administration might have produced the most beneficial results, we are forced to deplore not only the mischief done, and the mass of good neglected, but the misery and suffering inflicted on unhappy races, capable, as has been proved, of favourable development under other circumstances.
The policy of the British in the Indian Archipelago has been marked by vacillation and weakness. The East India Company, with a strong desire to rival the Dutch, aimed at doing so by indirect and underhand means, and shrunk from the liberality of views and bold line of conduct which was perhaps inconsistent with their position and tenure of authority. It was in vain that Sir Stamford Raffles urged on them a line of conduct which, had it been pursued, must eventually have ensured the ascendency of the British over the space from Borneo to New Holland, and have linked her colonies in the East by a chain of posts from the northern part of India to the southern extremity of Van Diemen’s Land. The timidity of the Company and the ignorance or indifference of the then existing Governments not only neglected to carry this bold project into execution, but sacrificed the advantages already acquired, and, without stipulation or reserve, yielded the improving Javanese to the tender mercies of their former masters. The consequences are well known; all the evils of Dutch rule have been re-established, and the British watchfully excluded, directly or indirectly, from the commerce of the islands.