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 Mrs. W. B. PRYER.
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 A DECADE IX BOKNEO.
 
 run liIGH I. 
 Entered ni Stationers' Hall. London 
 
 t tered in accordance with the provisions of Ordinance Ko. M 
 ,,i 1888, :n the office of the Registrar i rcneral, 
 Supreme • 'onrl I foiise, I [ongkong
 
 A 
 
 DECADE IN BORNEO 
 
 BY 
 
 Mrs. \Y. B. PRY PR. 
 
 -»>- ***■ 
 
 LOS I H in : 
 E£X3 TOHINSON c& co^Il'AXV. 
 
 ICEIjL'Y" & WALSH, LIMITED 
 HOXGKOXO SHANGHAI, Yokohama & HIXOAPORN. 
 
 ] si >••;.
 
 PREFACE. V ^ SU 
 
 Tins little book does not presume to giv< 
 more than a bare outside of the events connecte'd 
 with the acquisition of North Borneo and the 
 matters that led up to the formation of the 
 British North Borneo Company, beyond which 
 point I do not think the time has yet am\ 
 when it is advisable to continue the history. 
 
 I here take the opportunity of offering m\ 
 thanks to Mr. Horace Cox, proprietor of " The 
 Field" lor his courtesy in allowing me to r< 
 produce certain papers which originally appeared 
 in the columns ot his paper. 
 
 I pen this preface in a clearing in the heart 
 of the Bornean forest, whilst all the varied work 
 in connection with the opening ol a large Coffee 
 and Manila-Hemp Estate is in lull operation, 
 and I sincerely venture to hope that this little 
 book may at least have the effect ^l attracting 
 greater interest and attention to the unrivalled 
 agricultural advantages ol this fertile land. 
 
 ADA PRYER. 
 
 Kabeli River Weade Estate 
 i 8th [anuary, 1893. 
 
 1363512
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The names of Fryer and British North 
 Borneo are in my mind almost synonymous. 
 
 When some years ago I sat down under the 
 inspiration of Sir Alfred Dent to write the first 
 hook upon the new Company of exploration and 
 settlement which was published under the title oi 
 "The New Ceylon," the travel notes and experi- 
 ences of Mr. W. B. Pryer were among the most 
 valuable documents with which I had to deal. 
 Captain Wifti's diaries were intensely interest- 
 ing-. The Austrian officer looked at things 
 from the traveller's points of view, with here and 
 there a suggestion of commercial possibilities 
 thrown in; but Mr. Fryer's diaries never for a 
 moment lost sight of the business side ot the- 
 great Borneo question. Planting, mining, the 
 cultivation of this, and the mercantile value ot 
 the other were foremost considerations with him, 
 coupled with the condition of tribes and races 
 in so far as they might be amenable to civilizing 
 influences and become factors in the peaceful 
 and commercial development of the country.
 
 ii [NTRODUGTIOX. 
 
 The first white resident in the territor 
 of the British North Borneo Company and one 
 of its most enthusiastic officers, Mr. Pryer, in 
 taking up an independent position in the countr) 
 as he now has done, should be able the better 
 to advance its interests. His faith in the futur* 
 has long been established by his making North 
 Borneo his home, and his wife is none the less 
 earnest than himself in the work of realizing their 
 unbounded faith in one (A' the most patriot!' 
 mi idem enterprises. 
 
 Mrs. Pryer in the following pages has 
 added much to our knowledge of Borneo, and 
 she keeps well in view the main objects oi 
 the founders of the latest British posses 
 sion. 1 feel honoured in being asked to write 
 a few lines by way of Preface to a work which 
 so happily combines utility with romance and 
 constitutes a new and stirring chapter in the 
 history ^i the Eastern Seas. 
 
 My feeling for Borneo is more or less 
 sentimental, but it begins with the first great 
 efforts of London to plant there a British Colon), 
 a new national possession; and my heart goes 
 out to a hit of jungle near Elopura, where a new 
 cemetry bears witness to the heroism of men 
 and women who have contributed their lives to 
 the new state.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is a piece of great good fortune that Mr. 
 Pryer has been spared to put the finishing 
 touches to many schemes, to drive home some 
 of the ambitious hopes of dead and gone col 
 leagues who had caught his own faith and the 
 belief o( such authorities as Sir Alfred Dent, 
 Sir Rutherford Alcock, Mr. R. Biddulph Martin. 
 Baron Overbeck, Mr. W. M. Crocker and others 
 in the future of North Borneo as a competitor 
 for the sale of tropical products in the gnat 
 markets of the world. 
 
 JOSEPH HATTON. 
 
 Garrick Club, London 
 1893-
 
 ( ^OXTKXTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 GrEXERAL AM) IXTItoiM ("l( >B V. 
 
 Borneo.— Size and position "f. —How divided. — Early history. — 
 Piggafetta. -Beeckuian. — Pepper contracts. — Pirates and 
 head-hunters . — Depredations of . — Population destroyed 
 by. — Extracts from Dalton, Carl Bock, Witti. and Spencer 
 St. John.— Desperate state of affairs in I87(i 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 Starting the Colony. 
 
 Fitting out the expedition . — Its members. — The " America." 
 Obtaining the Brunei and Sulu concessions. — War between 
 Spaniards and Sooloos. — Pearls.— -Installation of VV. at San- 
 dakan. — Unit's house flag adopted. — Sandakan, its trade. 
 „Vr. — The first act of administration. — Notification I. — W. 
 to be burnt out. — Emaum Jelanee.— Skirmish with head- 
 hunters. — Establishing law and order. — Mahomedan civili- 
 zation. — Administering Nakoda Meyer's estate. — -Anderson 
 jees the devil. — Birdsnest caves.- -Pangeran Sama. atrocities 
 l>v. — Expedition against. — The Kina Batangan opened to 
 trade ' ... 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 Sandakan. 
 Seed-pearl oysters.—* lollcction of. — Lingcabo.— Labuk river. — 
 Head-hunting raid. — K iici Balu lake, Non-existence of. 
 proved, commented upon by President Geographical Society. 
 -Coal. — Buludupies. — Visit of the " Marquis del Duero" — 
 Bombardment threatened.— The danger averted. — Explora- 
 tion for new site. — Pirates getting troublesome. — Sea fights, 
 description of — The [llanuns. — The Balignini, raid by. 
 < >pportuue arrival of the " Far East " — Mr. ( -owie recaptures 
 a boat. — Presented with a barong. — Sandakan burnt. — 
 Ltemoval to new site — Cutting down the first tree 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 Elopt ua. 
 Selection of new town-site. — A masked battery. — Turning the 
 tables.— The Spanish ship " Sirena." — I>ato Haroun A I 
 Raschid.— Arrival of II.M.s. " Kestrel." — Capture of Tuncu. 
 Visit to Silam. — Reinforcements for the police. Vi-it of 
 II.M.s. •• Egeria." — Visit to the Upper Kinabatangan. 
 
 21
 
 ii ( ONTENTS. 
 
 Pangeran Samah. — Head-hunters. — Pangeran Samahs 1 
 trencher] outwitted. Gold.— Stations established al Pe- 
 
 nungnh Qunr te and Angsoan.— The Company's Charter 
 
 granted :;s 
 
 ( HAPTEB V. 
 
 Biudsxestixg. ami \ Hunt in Bobneo. 
 
 \ Bornean 1 se-boat. Beautiful scenery.— Lazy Erahaus. — 
 
 hunting. Rhinoceros sumatranus in Borneo. A native 
 reception. A terrible weapon. -Gay dresses. —Visit to Sega- 
 Inng birds'-nesl caves. Native boats. Pangeran Laufc— 
 
 Giaul orchid.— Native was candles. — Limesl :aves. — A 
 
 rough scrambled Timba inata. — A beautiful island. Native 
 yarns.— Oysti rs. Fishing. — Visit to Madai birds' nest caves. 
 Keema. -Sea produce-, Elephants.- Dangerous rock- 
 climbing '•' 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 l> THE RlVER K i n a I'.at \v. an. 
 
 Xlie launch " Saline." — Bahalla. — The Mumiang.— Mangrove 
 swamps.— Batu Tummungong cave. — Its legend. — Melapi. 
 Bilct. — Wealthy natives. — Perils of birdsnesting. Con- 
 ferring a patent of nobility. Sebongan. Crocodiles.— Wild 
 animals.— Orang-utans. Lamag. Rhinoceros for dinner. - 
 A river flood. Crocodile steaks. Crocodile hunting- Our 
 noah's ark- Miss Champaka's wooing. - Reluctance of dogs 
 to swim rivers. — A proboscis monkey's dilemma.— Sand- 
 flies.— Ordeal bj boiling water— Short of food. — Replen- 
 ishing the larder. The gymnura.— Spiny rats. Toiling 
 through mud-banks ,;;! 
 
 • IIAl'TKi! VII. 
 
 Up THE Riveb Kin\ Batangak.— (Continued). 
 
 forest scenery over-rated. — Orchids. — Deserted gardens. 
 Vungalis trees. -Bees' nest'}.- Blut. Dtu's house.— Cham- 
 paka's ladies.— Wild cattle.— Karangans, Malubuk River.— 
 Quarmote River. — Alexandra Falls. Sonepis — Tunbun- 
 wahs.— Tungaras. -Native costumes. — Tobncco growing. — 
 Summungup. A revolting custom.— Kinabalu the Borneo 
 Valhalln.— Bonts of the Sick spirits. — Domingol. — Lanteens. 
 —Reception at Douaingol.— Establishing a Fair.— Cotton. — 
 Karanioork River.— Frightened children.— A main balut/si. 
 River Trade.- Further up the river. A durian feast. — 
 Native mode of climbing trees. — Sundyaks. — The river 
 shallows.— Our return journey. — Malay trailers. — Native 
 Cloth.— Deer shooting.— Home agnin 77
 
 CONTENTS. ill 
 
 CHAHTER VIII. 
 
 Among the Bdludupies and Bajows. 
 
 Buludupies. Former population. —Physical characters of the 
 Buludupies. - Dr. Rey's researches. — Forest produce. — 
 Trade with China. — Chinese settlers. — A change for the 
 worse. — W's. arrival.— Sad decay of the native population. — 
 Origin of the Buludupies. — Born of Satan.— Clever fire- 
 makers.— The Bajows coloured sails.— Sea Gypsies — Origin 
 of the Bajows. Legend of Vyesha. — Ibrahim's story. — 
 Skill as fishermen. — Spearing fish.— The Balignini pirates. 
 Omadal settlement. — Unpleasant experience. Bajow raid 
 on Bulungan traders.—! basing the pirates.— Fired on by 
 Escape of the pirates. — Silam in a state I siege. — 
 Native allies. — Threat- from Omadal. — Reinforcements 
 sen! for. The women in the forest. — Arrival of S.S. Pali nam. U 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sroi.no AND THE SOOLOOS. 
 
 land of — Bad characters. — Pugnacity. — Sea fight. — Pirates. — 
 Costumes. FT; — Coast Sool ' icul- 
 
 turists. P of— Sooloo Village. — Amenability. — 
 
 Pioneers in Sooloo. — Difficulties ol Sooloo language. — Pearl 
 diving. — Pearls. — Ponies. — Viciousness of — Spaniards. — 
 Amuk. — Faithfulness of Sooloos. — Anecdote. — Jealousy ... 1 12 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 M si.ws. 
 
 Character. — Appearance. — Women's costume. — Religion. — 
 Indolence. —Prodigality of nature. -Contentment. -Music— 
 Dancing-houses. — Property. — Language. — Domestic rela- 
 tions. — Divorce. — Kindness.— Children. — Massage. — Edu- 
 cation. — Ornaments. — Polygamy. — Anecdote. — Marriage. — 
 Needlework. -Sirih chewing 122 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Singapore to Sandakan. 
 
 Scenery of — Docks. — Beautiful roads.— street scenes. — Jinrick- 
 shas.— Gharries.— Whompoa's garden. — VVhompoa's history. 
 — Insects. — Animal cillectors. — X" poverty. — Meaning of 
 Singapore.— Shipping. — odour. — < lhangie. — Johore. — Tigers 
 — Hospitality. — Local boats. — Cockroaches. — Malay 
 prisoners. — Crowded steamer-. — Labuan. — Resources of. — 
 Government House. — Fruit trees. — Gaya. — Kina Balu. — 
 Kudat. — Sunsets.— Fishing I3t
 
 !\ 
 
 ( OXTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Sandakan. 
 
 Kandakan Bay. — Bahalla heads.— The Town. —Steam launches. — 
 b'ort Pryer. — Govern men! Offices. -Fish market. — Popula- 
 tion. Revenue. Farms. Laws. Slavery. Constabulary. 
 -Roman Catholic Scl Is. — Health — Temperature -Sea- 
 sons. Rain. Length of day. — Elopdra 148 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 M [SCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Snakes, scarcety of. — Adventure with. — Wild pigs. — Native 
 dogs. — Centipedes. — Wild animals. — Rhinoceros. — Adven- 
 ture with. — Orangutan. -Three shot— Crocodile. — Man 
 eaten by. Dragon procession. — Chinese funeral.— Shops. 
 I'hii system. -Treasury notes. — Anecdote. -Bamboo. 
 Rattans. -Turtles. -Turtle eggs.— Wild turkey eggs.- 
 Agar-Agar. Sea bathing, — [kan Buntal. Birds. -Horn- 
 bills. Flower show. -Vegetables 
 
 lf»7 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Coffee Plantikg. 
 
 Gigantic trees. Price of felling.— Land selecting. — Selups and 
 rentices.- Seedbeds. -Mode of tree felling. Axes.— Native 
 labour. -Chaos. — Burning off. Building. -Holeing and 
 lining. Planting. Liberian Coffee 189 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Hopes and aims .—Minerals .—Frank Hatton. — The soil the 
 country's chief mainstay.— Comparison with Java and tbe 
 Philippines. Resources still undeveloped 
 
 m 

 
 k DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 (' II A PTEB I . 
 
 General and Introductory. 
 
 Borneo.— Size and position of. — How divided. — Early history. — 
 Pjggafetta. — Beeckman. — Pepper contracts. — Pirates and head- 
 hunters. — Depredation of. — Population destroyed by. — Extracts 
 from Dalton. — Carl Bock. "Witt i. and Spencer St. John. — 
 Desperate state of affairs in 1876. 
 
 BORNEO is such a far away island and so much a 
 terra incognita to the general British public, that, 
 without suggesting in any way a lark of geographical 
 or other knowledge on the part of the reader, I venture 
 to preface the account of my experiences in this remote 
 part of the world by giving a short sketch of its 
 position and early history, especially as there are not 
 many authorities who afford much reliable information 
 on the subject, and such books as do exist are principally 
 from the pens of long passed away travellers and arc 
 therefore somewhat difficult to obtain. 
 
 Borneo is the largest island in the world, being 
 about 820 miles from North to South, and 600 in its 
 greatest breadth. It lies to the East of the Straits 
 Settlements, having Java and Australia to the South, 
 the Philippines and China to the North, and Celebes 
 
 A
 
 1 \ DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 and the Moluccas to the East. It exi inds from 7*30 
 
 N. to 4'° S., the equator thus, it will be seen, runs 
 through the centre of the island. By way of comparison 
 1 may mention that it is rather more than three times 
 the size of Great Britain and contains an area of 
 2S0.000 square miles. 
 
 it is divided as follows: — the greater portion of 
 the island southwards is claimed by the Dutch; to the 
 West lies Sarawak, ruled over by Rajah Brooke: above 
 his territory is situated an independant native state, 
 the Sultanate of Brunei; whilst the northern part 
 of the island constitutes the British Protected State oi 
 North Borneo, and ranks in size 11th on the list of all 
 England's colonies. The little island of Labuan lies 
 off Brunei. The native name of the whole island is 
 Pulo Kalamantan. 
 
 The whole of Borneo may be roughly spoken of 
 as one vast virgin forest, intersected by large rivers. 
 The greater portion of the land to the South is flat 
 and probably not very healthy: further northward it 
 becomes more hilly, culminating in the grand mountain 
 oi' Kina Balu. Hi TOO ft. high. North Borneo is tie 
 most interesting and picturesque, as also the most 
 healthy portion, of the whole island. 
 
 Though it has n -ver at any time been thickly 
 populated, when it was hist discovered by Europeans 
 there were a great many more people in the island 
 than is the case at present: a fairly strong government 
 maintained passable order, a large trade existed with 
 China, and Chinese immigration Mas in full swing. 
 Pepper gardens abounded in various parts and matters 
 generally Mere in a sufficiently prosperous state.
 
 GENERAL AM) [NTRODUCTORY. 3 
 
 Piggafetta, who visited Brunei, the capital, so 
 long ago as 1521, gave a particular and very interesting 
 account of his stay there, from which we gather that 
 
 the town then contained many thousands of houses: 
 gaily caparisoned elephants walked through its solid 
 street-: affairs of state were administered in a proper 
 way: trade and agriculture were in progress; and 
 there was every evidence that authority was maintained 
 and lawlessness repressed. 
 
 For the next 200 years, or thereabouts, things 
 went on much in the same way. and Captain Beeckman, 
 who visited the Banjer-massing district in 1716, found 
 the country ruled by Sultans in a strong if somewhat 
 high-handed manner: the junk trade with China was 
 well maintained, and the country tolerably thickly 
 inhabited. He was able at once to make a contract for 
 the delivery of from oOO.OOO to 700.000 lbs. of pepper 
 at one single place, at the low price of about 3<f. per lb., 
 which affords a good indication of the extent of the 
 trade then existing, as well as of the size of the rural 
 population. 
 
 During the next hundred years a change came 
 over the state of affairs. The influence of Europeans, 
 Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch, gradually extended. 
 The arrogant and grasping native Sultans and Rajahs 
 came face to face with people as arrogant and grasping 
 as themselves, but with more power. Monopolies were 
 declared and enforced; trade was restricted; the junk 
 trade with China put an end to : the revenues of the 
 native princes curtailed, or stopped altogether; their 
 authority upset, and themselves driven to desperation 
 in various ways ; and as little or no attempt was made. 
 
 \ 2
 
 I A DECADE IN BORXEO. 
 
 in Borneo, at Least, to substitute any other governraenl 
 for those destroyed, everyone struggled for his own 
 hand, and chaos supervened. 
 
 About the beginning of the present century all the 
 powers of evil seemed let loose to do their worst in the 
 beautiful and fertile land on a scale rarely witnessed 
 in the world's history. Pirate flotillas continually 
 -wept the coast, not confining themselves to operations 
 at .sea simply, but burning and plundering villages 
 and placing whole districts under contribution: the 
 endeavours of the Dutch to enforce taxation were the 
 cause of devastating wars, particularly against the 
 Chinese, who, to the number <>f some quarter of a 
 million, then inhabited the West coast of Borneo. The 
 Dyaks of the interior freely, and without restraint, 
 indulged their passion for head-hunting, and even put 
 to sea in large fleets lor the purpose of ascending 
 neighbouring rivers to conduct their massacres on a 
 wholesale sale: human sacrifice (bought slaves being 
 usually the victims) was frequent nearly everywhere, 1 
 the native Rajahs endeavoured to make up their 
 decreasing revenues by increasing their extortions; 
 the dreaded Illanuns, goaded to desperation by the 
 Spaniards, swept the seas from Manila on the North, 
 to Batavia on the South, attacking, plundering, and 
 murdering all they met, as many, even of our own 
 merchantmen, found to their cost-': the less manly, 
 but not less ferocious. Balignini crept everywhere along 
 
 1 f >f 4,000 persons kidnapped amongst the Sooloo [slands, :i* 
 late as the year 1878, and sold in the Sambakong river, it was 
 jtimated thai fullj one half were thus murdered. 
 
 - One pirate chief alone had four European women, who had 
 been captured from vessels, in his house ;it one time.
 
 GENERAL AM) INTRODUCTORY. T> 
 
 the coast and amongst the islands kidnapping people 
 at night, even in the Bay of Manila itself. 1 
 
 From various authorities, dating from the early 
 rears of tin- century, we gather such statements as the 
 following : — 
 
 "It is a deplorable fact that within the lest ten or 
 twelve vears piracy has, in various parts of this archi- 
 pelago, increased in a frightful manner, it has novi 
 become a trade and is carried on systematically by the 
 principle Bugis Rajahs." 
 
 '•In November, 1S27. a chief of pirates, named 
 Sindow, made a descent upon Mamoodgo with !."> 
 prahus, burned three-quarters of a kampong, some 
 scores of men were killed, and 300 made prisoners. 
 besides women and children. During my stay there, 
 leu weeks, the place was visited by two other pirate 
 chiefs; between them they had 131 prahus of all sizes: 
 the Kylie Rajah, who first arrived, fired into the 
 kampong night and day. Of Mamoodgo the people 
 are estimated at 35.000; Markammar contains about 
 3.000 inhabitants, and there are here. Marpow, a 
 106 Dyak Rajahs, each having from 300 to 1.000 
 men." — ]>'i//<>it'.-< Papers <>» Borneo.' 2 
 
 1 The following is a list of depredations committed by [Uanuns 
 alone, in six months of the year 1814: "One Spanish brig from 
 ■• Manila; 20 smaller craft captured amongst the Philippines; 1,000 
 •• people kidnapped from the Spanish Islands and sold as slaves ; one 
 •■ large boat from Macassar ; five or six smaller craft, under English 
 •• colours : the boat's crew of an English brig ; and the watering 
 ■■ party of II. M.S. •■/',..,■"— in all 2:, Europeans." As recently as 1872 
 when W. was travelling in the Philippines, three villages in the 
 same island he was on were attacked at night by Balignini, and 
 partly burned, and several persons, principally young women, carried 
 oil during tin- confusion. 
 
 - All these statements refer to unite another part of the island 
 to where the Illanun depredations already mentioned took place.
 
 6 \ DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 With regard to the head-hunters we read : — 
 "The Rajah of the country, Wagoo, has TO chiefs 
 under him, Si dgen lis- 50, while S ilgie has more than 
 110. 11' calculates the people under his sway at 
 150,000. The ravages of these people are dreadful. 
 Li August, 1828, Selgie returned from an expedition, 
 his party had been three weeks absent, during which 
 time, besides detached houses, he had destroyed IT 
 kampongs (villages] with the whole of the men and old 
 women, the young women and children were brought 
 prisoners. No Dyak can marry unless he has previousl) 
 taken a head or two. The burial places are encircled 
 with strong bamboos upon which fresh heads are placed. 
 From the Last excursion Selgie's people brought with 
 them TOO heads." Dyaks of Borneo, Dalton, 1831. 
 
 Extracts such as these from contemporary 
 authorities could be multiplied indefinitely. With all 
 these causes operating no wonder the population rapidly 
 decreased, but not so rapidly but that years after 
 this we find Ci the population on the coast of these 
 •• large islands Borneo (East Coast) and Celebes 
 • was immense," while that of North Borneo was 
 spoken of as large. From Malludu to Sibuco and 
 beyond there were said to be tens of thousands oi 
 people, but this district and particularly the Sibuco 
 part of it, by I860, had not only virtually, but 
 absolutely, become depopulated; still, however, there 
 were a good many people left in the Paitan, Sugut, 
 and neighbouring districts, as Spencer St. John testifies. 
 .Most of these have since disappeared. In the year 1810 
 a gleam of hope appeared on the South-West Coast, 
 where Sir .lames Brooke interposed between the native
 
 GENERAL AND [NTRODU< L'ORY. < 
 
 Dyaks and their Brunei oppressors; stopped the wars 
 and massacres then in progress ; took over the 
 government of the Sarawak district, and established 
 peace and order within his boundaries; thus accom- 
 plishing one of the finest, if not the finest, work ever 
 undertaken by one individual man. Everyone has, 
 I suppose, read of the tough but triumphant struggles 
 he had with the Malay Rajahs, the Seribas and Sekarran 
 Dyaks, wholesale murderers (now two of the most 
 obedient and tractable tribes), and finally with the 
 Illanun pirates. The present Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke. 
 has worthily followed the footsteps of his great 
 predecessor, carrying the reign of law and order further 
 and further into the land. 
 
 The following extracts from Carl Bock and Witti, 
 show the state of affairs existing up to virtually the 
 present time : — 
 
 ••Births and namings, marriages and burials, cannot 
 be properly celebrated unless the heads of a few enemies. 
 more or less, have been secured. It is a rule, among all 
 the tribes, that no youth can regularly wear a weapon, 
 or be married, or associate with the opposite sex, till 
 he has been on one or more head-hunting expeditions. 
 Head-hunting is the keystone in the edifice of Dyak 
 religion and character, its perpetual practice is no doubt 
 one great cause of the rapid extinction of the race. 
 At a trivah feast not only arc the captives who have 
 been taken prisoners sacrificed, but the richer members 
 of the_ community give a number of slave-debtors 
 to be put to death. Mr. Perelaer describes a trivah 
 at which 10 slave-debtors were slaughtered." — Vide 
 Carl Bock's " Head-hunters of Borneo."
 
 S A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 '•'The two adjacent districts of Nabai and Peluan 
 have a feud; killed by Nabai Hi people, 10 per contra 
 Peluan- page 16. I said they could no longer receive 
 
 a slave for the purpose of sacrificing her in amends 
 for the murder of Ah Hook, a Chinaman — -page 16. 
 Ankaroi complained that Jeludin and party carried ofl 
 his wife and two little children, girls, and pul them all 
 three to death in the cruel manner called ambirno 
 /"/•/< 23. The interview would have left no unpleasanl 
 impression on my mind it' 1 had not seen a human hand 
 and forearm, perhaps a fortnight old, nailed up on a 
 door-post — page 26. And so on ad lib." 
 
 Vide Witti's last Expedition. 
 The Northern part of Borneo generally had been 
 gradually bur steadily deteriorating, the acreage of 
 cultivated land had become less and less: on the 
 East Coast, Sooloo Datos : on the West Coast. Brunei 
 Pangerans wrung a large proportion of what crops 
 were raised from the unfortunate people; irruptions of 
 head-hunters destroyed individuals, parties, and even 
 from time to time whole villages: no boat dared to 
 go to sea without being fully equipped and manned 
 for a struggle with pirates. The decreasing population 
 was .so harassed and driven from place to place that 
 no permanent cultivation of the soil was possible. 
 Brunei itself degenerated into being nothing better than 
 a town of tumbledown mat-sheds, standing on rutting 
 poles over the water, the streets being wood-work 
 erections above the river, in a dilapidated condition, 
 while the Sultan's house itself was but a large old barn : 
 the whole being a sad contrast to the prosperity and 
 state which existed I .">() years before.
 
 GENERAL AND INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 Iii the year 1S7(>. matters on the N.E. Coast were 
 about as bad as they could bo. 
 
 The rivers Paitan, Labuk, Sugut, and Kina- 
 batangan, had to be ascended for a distance of sixty 
 miles before the first villages were arrived at : whilst 
 the rivers Moanud, Blocking, Segama and Sibuco 9 all 
 of which had ones been well populated, had not a 
 single inhabitant left! Outside Sandakan Bay four 
 villages only existed on the whole shore line, three of 
 them inhabited by men of d mbtful character, and freel} 
 resorted to by pirates, whose ranks they frequently 
 augmented; whilst the fourth. Tuncu, was a pirate 
 village pure and simple, under th ; charge of the famous 
 Illanun chief. l>ito Kurunding, a man who used to show 
 a barong with which he boasted he had taken 120 live-. 
 The birds' nest caves of Gomanton in the one direction. 
 and of Madai and Segaloong, in the other, caused the 
 existence of two small trading communities, always 
 under the protection of powerful Sooloo Datos, notwith- 
 standing which, however, they were usually attacked, by 
 some one or other, every two or three years. During 
 this year, it was computed, that 100 persons had been 
 either murdered or captured by the pirates along the 
 coast. 
 
 Sandakan Bay. the only place in which there 
 were Chinese trading shops, had been raided twice : 
 once, by head-hunters from the South, who took. 
 amongst others, the head of the second most powerful 
 Bajau chief of those parts, and once by Balignini; and 
 the whole country was one forest of millions of acres, in 
 which there existed, all told, but ten villages ; most of 
 them built on piles over the water, with scarcely a tree at
 
 10 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 their backs felled: roads or paths there were absolutely 
 i, "He, with the exception of two tracks, one to the 
 Gomanton birds' nest caves, and the other to those of 
 Madai in Darvel Hay. All rice was imported, and was 
 bartered in exchange for forest and sea produce, at 
 prices never less than $6 or ^7 a picul, and occasionally 
 as high as $20. Every man moved about armed, and 
 blood was spilt on the slightest provocation. 
 
 Such was Borneo in the Old Days, but anew era 
 was about to commence- the history of which I will 
 now proceed to narrate.
 
 (' II A PTEB I I . 
 
 Starting the Colon v. 
 
 Fittin the expedition. -Its membars. The " Inwriea." — 
 
 Obtaining the Brunei and Sool :oncess:ons. — War between 
 
 Spaniards and Sooloos. — Pearls. — Inst illation of W. at S.mdakan. 
 
 — Unit's house fl.ig adopted. — Sandakan, its trade, &c. — The 
 
 .hi of a Iministrati m. — Notification I. — VV. to be burn out. 
 — Euiaum Jelanee. — Skirmish with head-hunters. — Establishing 
 law ami order.— Mahomedan civilization. — Administering Na- 
 koila Mej er's estate. — Anderson sees the de\ il. — Birdsnest caves. 
 
 — I'angeran Fama. atrocities by, expedition against. — The Kina 
 Batangan opened t-> tra le. 
 
 DURING tli i early part of the seventies, the fertility 
 of the soil and the fineness of the climate had 
 attracted attention, and on i or tw i bond /< I attempts to 
 establish a better state of affairs in the country had 
 been made, with varying success, but at last a properly 
 organized expedition was fitted out, in 1877. by Mr. 
 Alfred Dent (now Sir Alfred Dent. K..C.M.G.) which was 
 under the immediate c immand of Baron Overbeck. who 
 left England with a stall' of two or three, of whom my 
 husband was one. to see what could be effected. 
 
 The journey to Singapore was uneventful, but in 
 November the party — consisting of the Baron ; Mr. 
 Prcttyman ; my husband, \V. B. Pryer : with Mr. lorry, 
 T. S. Consul at Bangkok — left that port on their ad- 
 venturous voyage in the steamer "America" specially 
 chartered and fitted up for the expedition.
 
 12 A DECADE IX BORNEO. 
 
 All the preparations were conducted with great 
 secrecy, but the suspicions of the Dutch and Spanish 
 consuls avcvc aroused, and the smallest movements in 
 connection with the " America " were keenly watched, 
 telescopes being brought to bear upon her as she lay in 
 the harbour making ready. Sundry applications to try 
 i" prevent her starting, in which the word •'• Buccaneer " 
 was freely used, were made t i the authorities, but 
 without avail, and the alarm of the several consuls was 
 not diminished by the fact of her steaming alongside 
 the powder hulk and taking on board a large supply 
 of ammunition. This alarm was not confined to the 
 people on shore alone, as. next morning, when well out 
 to sea, the staff of Chinese servants, on seeing the hold 
 opened and various guns and cannon brought on deck, 
 went to the captain in a body and demanded to be pul 
 on shore at once, although the nearest land was by that 
 time 100 miles away. 
 
 At Brunei, after considerable difficulty, the treaty 
 of 20th December. 1877, was obtained: it was a 
 matter of touch and go whether they were likely to 
 get it or not, for after several days spent in fruitless 
 negociations, the "America" was ordered down the 
 river, and the steam launch was lying, with steam up, 
 ready to follow her, whilst a last effort was being made 
 to conclude the matter satisfactorily : at this critical 
 moment H.M.S." Hart " was unexpectedly seen steaming 
 up the river. 
 
 Before she rounded into Brunei, however, the 
 mgociations. had, at last, been successfully accomplished, 
 and the papers had just been signed and sealed a few 
 moments previously ; otherwise, matters might have
 
 STAR TINT, THE COLONY. 13 
 
 been much prolonged, and even, perhaps, broken off 
 altogether. The treaty having been successfully 
 arranged at Brunei, the "America" got up steam 
 and, after touching at Labuan, where the party was 
 augmented by Mr. Cowie, started for Sooloo, accom- 
 panied by H3I.S. " Hart" with the Consul-General 
 for Borneo on board. Upon arriving at Sooloo it was 
 found that the Spaniards were making war upon the 
 Sooloos, in connection with which a fortunate set of 
 incidents to which, however, 1 cannot at present allude, 
 helped forward the negociations. 
 
 The war that was then being waged in Sooloo 
 presented some curious features, over a thousand 
 Spanish troops, in addition to a fleet in the roads, were 
 cooped up behind the walls of the little city by a much 
 inferior native force. The actual siege was conducted 
 by eight men who had, between them, four rifles; four 
 men mounting guard over the city full of Spaniards, 
 whilst the other four slept and ate. The party of 
 Englishmen were able to move about the island at 
 will, whereas had they been Spanish they would have 
 been amooked by the first Sooloo the)' met. 
 
 During this visit the Sultan gave a dinner, at 
 which the plates used were huge pearl oyster shells 
 with pearls to the value of several hundred dollars 
 embedded in them. 
 
 Having arranged matters in Sooloo. thus settling 
 the cross claims of both the Sultan of Sooloo and Brunei, 
 the "America " steamed across to Sandakan, where my 
 husband was duly installed as the Governor of the 
 N.E. Coast, receiving his commission (which was 
 as Resident only, however) from Baron Overbcck,
 
 I I A DECADE IX BORI* EO. 
 
 and. on the llth of February, 1S7S. the "America" 
 again hauled up her anchor and left him in charge; his 
 entire staff for the inauguration of law and order, along 
 a coast line of ^00 miles, infested by pirates and 
 marauders of the worst type, being a West Indian black 
 named Anderson, a half-cast Hindoo named Abdul, and a 
 couple of China 1> >ys. For provisions they had a barrel 
 of flower and 17 fouls: the artillery consisted of half a 
 dozen Snider rifles. 
 
 The flag adopted was the old Paou Shun 
 (Dent & Co.'s house flag). 
 
 At this time, the entire population of Sandakan 
 Bay consisted of the inhabitants of three villages hidden 
 away in one of the numerous side arms of the Bay. 
 screened by mangroves— a spot specially selected on 
 account of its being difficult to find without a guide 
 chosen for the sake of concealment, as it had been a 
 blocacle running depot by a foreign firm who used to run 
 their cargoes across to Sooloo from there. The place 
 had not long before been attacked by head-hunters, and 
 a fierce battle had also been fought by its inhabitants 
 against a fleet of pirates from the South. One oft lie 
 villages, Oopak, was inhabited by a considerable 
 number of Bajaus (sea-gipsy tribe) : the second. Tim- 
 bong, was the head-quarters of a trading Sooloo, Dato 
 Hadji Mohamed Ansurudeen; and the third, Sandakan 
 proper, although it only contained 17 houses, was the 
 centre of trade of the whole district. Its population 
 was a mixed one, comprising. Chinese, Arab, Malay 
 and Sooloo traders, while the amount of business done 
 was somewhat out of proportion to the size of tin 1 place, 
 as what jungle produce was permitted to be brought
 
 STARTING THE COLONY. 15 
 
 out of the rivers Kinabatangan and Labuk, as well as 
 the Lincabo seed-pearls and the Gomanton birds' nests 
 (edible), mostly passed through the hands of its traders. 
 W.'s first act of administration was the issuing of 
 regulations imposing duties upon all trade passing- 
 through the port. 1 and I may say that from that day tu 
 this a customs' tariff has been systematically enforced. 
 At this step there was naturally some dissatisfaction 
 expressed amongst the population, at first, but W. 
 called together the head men. pointed out to them 
 that they had been hitherto exposed to extortions 
 and plunder at the hands of all outsiders, whereas, 
 if they all worked together under him. they could 
 
 1 The following lias an interest as being a copy of the first 
 notification ever issued in North Borneo, marking the eomuiencemenl 
 of a new order of things in the country : — 
 
 CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT. 
 
 Notification 1. 
 All vessels arriving here from Foreign Ports will pay Tonnage 
 die- as under — 
 
 Vessels under 200 tuns s :, 
 
 „ over Sin 
 
 All foreign goods arriving will pay Import duty, 4 per cent, 
 
 after which they are subject to no further charge. 
 All goods, the produce of the country, will pay, when exported, 
 
 4 per cent. 
 All foreign goods landed at SandaUan and re-exported will pay 
 
 a duty of 1 per cent. 
 No duty is chargeable en goods not landed although they may 
 he transhipped from vessel to vessel in harbour provided 
 they are re-exported t<> foreign ports. 
 All vessels arriving here from Foreign Torts must hand in a 
 manifest of their cargo to the Custom House and no cargo is tu he 
 delivered without a permit from the Resident. 
 
 All Native boats and prahus of whatever size with any cargo 
 on hoard, however little, arriving from any place, must hand in a li~i 
 of their cargo, although it may not be subject to duty. 
 
 Sandakan. llth February, is;s. 
 
 W. B. PRYER, 
 
 "Resident.
 
 If! A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 defy intruders : the traders had had to give long 
 credit ; sometimes when thej ascended the rivers to 
 collect .their debts they were plundered and iiltreated j 
 while the Bajaus and others were oppressed by Sooloo 
 chiefs who sold them goods at impossible prices, 
 demanding instant payment, sometimes seizing them as 
 slaves in default, while all were alike subject to attack 
 by pirates, head-hunters, and freebooters generally, and. 
 in fact, every person's hand was against everybody 
 elses : and that all this had to be put right. The 
 Bajaus did not at all fall in with this idea at first, but 
 held two meetings at which the advisibility of burning 
 W. out was freely discussed. Their head chief, Emaum 
 Jelanee, being absent at the time, a boat was sent for 
 him in order to bring him back, that his advice might 
 be heard before any serious steps were taken. 
 
 Before his arrival, however, an event happ 
 which tended very much to throw the position into 
 \V.*s hands. A boat came in hurriedly from Timbong, 
 after nightfall, reporting that the village was being 
 attacked by head-hunters. W. instantly called together 
 the men of Sandakan and. after assigning to them the 
 positions they were to occupy behind the stockade 
 erected in the rear of the village, on purpose to nice! 
 such a possibility, he took some of the men he could 
 place most reliance upon and went oft' with them to the 
 assistance of Timbong. There he found everything 
 in great confusion, a little skirmish had taken place, 
 the stockade was lined with armed men. whilst the 
 women were hurriedly pitching their goods and chattels 
 into boats. W. made a short expedition into the 
 surrounding country, but without seeing anyone, the
 
 STARTING THE COLONY. 17 
 
 marauders having retreated into the forest, and after 
 returning and reassuring the people by his presence for 
 sometime, he left them some of his men and. with the 
 balance, rowed back to Sandakan, from whence he, at 
 mre, sent a boat across to Oopak, commanding the 
 chief there, Panglima Abdul Rahman, to come across with 
 a hundred of his men next day to assist in fighting tin: 
 head-hunters, their mutual enemies. 
 
 Next morning, accordingly, there was a general 
 assembly; the Bajaus, under the charge of a Mr. Martin, 
 who was in charge of a trading store, M'cre sent round 
 up another arm of the sea and told to line the shore 
 it the back of Timbong; whilst W., with a force of 
 Sooloos, Buludupies and Malays, marched across from 
 Timbong inland. The enemy had occupied some huts 
 in the centre of the island, but fled, and the effort to 
 drive them into the Bajau lines was unsuccessful, but 
 the main result of the whole affair was that everyone 
 had become accustomed to be ordered about by W. and 
 matters ran along much more easily afterwards. 
 
 Taan Emaum, the Bajou chief, returning a day 
 or two later, W. sent for him. and pointed out to him 
 that at present the people, disunited, were at the mercy 
 of everybody who attacked or oppressed them : where- 
 is. united, they need not fear anyone, and might order 
 and enforce a better state of things everywhere within 
 striking distance of Sandakan. The Emaum was a 
 little scared at first, but finally consented to throw in 
 his lot with him, and from that time his men, up to 250 
 in number, were always ready whenever required by W. 
 The next step was to establish a Court of Justice. 
 W. at first had some difficulty in making the head-men 
 
 B
 
 Is A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 understand that British justice was irrespective ol 
 person, and thai all men were equal before it. hut he 
 firmly insisted upon his decisions being carried into 
 effect and, although their was sonic grumbling and 
 discontent, the voice of general opinion was behind 
 him, and people sooner got into the way ol' obeying 
 his judgments than might have been supposed. 
 
 The following ex trad from VWs diary gives a 
 glimpse into the home-life «>t the people : 
 
 ••.March 24th, ISTS. Sunday. Visited Nacoda 
 Meyer at Oopak, he appear- very ill and seems likel\ 
 to die. In 1 has a large house ami is apparently the 
 richest man in the harbour. His part of a large and 
 airy house is partitioned of! with scarlet hanging-, 
 the floor is well matted and strewn with pillows 
 covered with red-figured silk. Hadji Omar. Panglima 
 Abdul Rahman, ami one or two other Hadjis and 
 Nacodas, were there, dressed in bright-coloured silk-. 
 with handsome creeses, ike, and while we were there, a 
 prahu, which had that morning arrived from Palawan. 
 sailed over from Sandakan with two more Hadjis and 
 a Nacoda. Chocolate, with small cakes, was served 
 on good dishes, and as I noticed the bright and 
 handsome arrangements of the room, the dignified but 
 determined carriage of the men all accustomed to face 
 danger, the cleanliness of everything, and the grave 
 and polished manners of the guests, all betokening 
 civilization, 1 could not but think more favourably 
 .if Mohammedanism." 
 
 There was no monotony,, however, in the daily lite. 
 and the above-mcution"d civilization did not prevent 
 the men from crimes of violence : three following
 
 STARTING THE rOI.ONY. 15> 
 
 paragraphs in W.'s diary refer, one, to a murder uj> 
 country; one to a trial of thieves; and one to a possible 
 attack on the village itself. 
 
 The most serious affair which happened about this 
 period, beginning of April, 18TS. came about in connec- 
 tion with the above-mentioned Nacoda Meyer's estate. 
 He having- died a day or so after W. visited him, his 
 brother Nacoda Ah Hung, thereupon loaded a lot of his 
 dead brother's goods into a prahu, proposing to sail 
 away to Sooloo with all these goods and thus defraud 
 the creditors. Hearing of this, W. sent and told him 
 to come over to attend a meeting of those interested; 
 but Ah Hung sent answer that if he did come it would 
 be with 50 men armed with creeses. This defiant, 
 attitude could not be allowed to pass, or else W.'s 
 authority would have ended, so, in the middle of that 
 night, without any previous warning. W. called out a 
 lot of men, including some of the traders who were 
 creditors, and he and his party paddled across the Bay 
 in three or four prahus, quietly landed at Ah Hung's 
 house, and suddenly rushing into the room, told his 
 men to "order arms" alongside the Nacoda's bed. The 
 prahu was then seized and taken across to Sandakan 
 with all the goods for adjudication. 
 
 The Nacoda tried to pay a return visit the next 
 night and had very nearly got his boat under the mat- 
 shed W. was living in (which was built on poles 
 over the sea) with the intention of setting it on tire. 
 but was seen in time and prevented from carrying his 
 intention into effect. 
 
 Ludicrous incidents sometimes occurred. On one 
 occasion Anderson saw the devil. The following 
 
 B 2
 
 20 \ DE< A.DE IN BORNEO. 
 
 i e an account of the interview ; it was about !) 
 o'clock : — 
 
 "He had been talking to Nakoda Gumbah's son and 
 to I Lass, at the end of the jetty, and then strolled up the 
 jetty oast his own door towards the Chinaman's, C 
 Ko's, at the door of the godown in front : there on the 
 jettj was the devil j at first he appeared like a rather 
 strange dog, but, while he looked at him, his colour 
 chan t white to black and he increased larg 
 
 in size and his eyes became Like blazing Lamps. 
 Anderson was afraid and fled to the house, where he 
 told Chang Lock, who refused to come out, so he took 
 :1 pistol and returned alone, there was the devil still. 
 but in the guise now of a man or something like 
 with his face turned the wrong way and his eyes like 
 flaming lamps. Anderson aimed at it but the pistol 
 refused to go off, and Anderson felt bis hair rising 
 ,,ii his bead so that it lilted bis cap oil' (rather a 
 difficult accomplishment considering bis close woolly 
 crop) : the devil made as though it was coming towards 
 him and he made the sign of the cross on the ground, 
 
 ated a prayer, and retreated backwards with his 
 face towards it until out of its sight. Meeting some 
 one on the j"tty. be returned again, but there was 
 nothing there only a bad smell. He then came into 
 my house, in an utterly unnerved condition." 
 
 There was plenty to keep W. occupied, the main 
 object was. of course, to get the district into something 
 like order and discipline, and after that to extend his 
 influence to more- distant parts of the territory; but. 
 besides that, in addition to holding courts., interviewing 
 native head-men and so forth, there was the necessity
 
 STARTING THE COLONY. 21 
 
 of keeping all the accounts of the station and customs. 
 and issuing such notifications from time to time as 
 tended to the establishment of law and order, besides 
 reporting fully upon all matters to England. As soon 
 as matters in Sandakan Bay had been brought into a 
 somewhat better state, W. began to appreciate the 
 necessity of turning his attention to bettering tie 
 condition of things elsewhere. 
 
 The first matter to claim attention was clearly the 
 necessity of opening to trade the Kinabatangan. This 
 river, the most important in British North Borneo, ba- 
 its oriarin in the far interior, vagues rumours of the 
 importance of the district, its large population and 
 wealth, reached W.'s ears from time to time. Edible 
 birds' nest caves of reputed great value were said to 
 exist at several places, large districts were said to be 
 under cultivation and the forest to be full of natural 
 products. It was, at all events, certain that one birds' 
 nest cave possessing many thousands of dollars' worth 
 of nests, existed, as large quantities of these nest 
 passed through Sandakan in the course of trade. The 
 river had to be ascended some GO miles before the 
 first villages were reached: these villages were under 
 the dominance of a certain chief, Pangeran Sam a by 
 name, a man of very bad character, determined and 
 cruel, who levied heavy taxes on all goers and comers. 
 and sought to bring the natives of the higher river 
 under his sway. From time to time rumours of the 
 atrocities he committed reached W. and when he sent 
 up to demand the amount of tribute nests due to the 
 Sultan of Sooloo, but now transferred to the association 
 which W. represented, he returned an insolent reply and
 
 22 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 immediately adopted an arrogant demeanour towards 
 the Sandakan traders then in his village, culminating 
 in his plundering and illtreating two of them, seizing 
 all their go »ds, and leaving one of them for dead. The 
 other promptly come down to Sandakan and reported 
 the matter to \\ .. who at once appre iated the fact that, if 
 lie was to have command of the country, this man must 
 without delay be dealt with : so he gathered together 
 i flotilla composed of Bajaus, Sooloos, Malays, Bugis 
 and even Arab traders, and with this polyglot force 
 procei ded up tlie river to the head-quarters of Pangeran 
 Sama, Melapi. 
 
 It took five days to ascend the river, but at last 
 Melapi was reached. Dato Hadji Ansurudeen's house, 
 to which \V. was bound, was above that of Pangeran 
 Sama's, and as the Pangeran had a whole lot of small 
 cannon pointing from some stockaded forts over the 
 river, and had threatened to blow \\ . to pieces as he 
 rowed l>v. and wenl about with two creeses in his 
 sash to keep his men up to the mark. W. felt somewhat 
 uncomfortable as he passed, expecting a volley every 
 minute. However, he was allowed to go by without 
 molestation, and safely reached the Dato's house, from 
 whence he sent orders for the Pangeran to come to 
 him : as he did not oomph \Y. finally sent him notice 
 that, unless he pei'sonally made his submission in three 
 days, he would be attacked. The Pangeran made a 
 great show of arming his men. fully 500 in number, but 
 of inferior physique to the brawny Bajaus who 
 accompanied W. |}<>th sides had their spies out and 
 had full information of each others movements. On 
 the third morning W. gave orders feo Ins whole force to
 
 STARTING THE COLONY. 2.'i 
 
 arm and assemble preparatory to attacking; upon hearing 
 which the Pangeran hurriedly sent in word that he 
 would come directly. Preparations of as imposing 
 
 i character as circumstances permitted were made to 
 receive him. A large empty case, turned up side-ways 
 and covered with red cloth, represented the table, inside 
 which a revolver was placed nut of sight, hut ready to 
 his hand in case of need. Anderson was in charge of 
 a guard of men. armed with rifles, who lined the back 
 of the room, while the head-men, the chiefs, and traders, 
 -(platted in a semi-circle on either side of W., and the 
 men. some 200 in number, all fully armed, occupied 
 the back-ground in case the Pangeran should attempt 
 any treacherous move, of which he was fully capable. 
 The appointed hour arrived, all preparations were 
 completed, but the Pangeran still did not appear, so 
 another peremptory message was despatched, which had 
 the effect of producing him at last. He placed his 
 gold-hilted creese on the table and kneeling at W/s 
 feet kissed his hand and tendered his submission. 
 
 \fter this, negotiations proceeded apace, the stolen 
 goods were restored, the Pangeran and his relatives 
 Nvho had participated in the robberies were fined, the 
 river was declared open to trade without duties or 
 exactions of any kind, the birds' nest tribute question 
 was settled, and W. returned in triumph to Sandakan, 
 having greatly increased his authority and power in 
 the whole countrv, and that without bloodshed.
 
 Gil A I'T EE I I I 
 
 S ANDAKAX. 
 
 Seed-pearl oysters. Collection of. Lingcabo. Labul» river.— Head- 
 hunting raid. -Kina Balu lake, Non-existence of, proved, 
 commented upon b] Presidenl Geographical Society.— Coal.— 
 Buludupies. —Visit of the " Uarquin <L j l Duevo," — Bombardment 
 
 I. The danger ai erted. - K tpL n ation for new 
 Pirates getting troublesome. -Sea fights, description of — The 
 [llanuns.— The Balignini, raid by. -Opportune arrival of the 
 •• i'nr East" — Mr. Cowie recaptures a boat. -Presented with 
 :\ barong.— Sandak.au burnt. — Removal t>> new site. — Cutting 
 down the firsl tree. 
 
 HAVING so far arranged matters in Sandakan l)a\ 
 and up the river, \V. then pi I to giv< 
 
 his attention to the country to the North. 
 
 In both Sandakan and Lalmk Bay- there were 
 valuable beds of the seed-pearl oyster, which had b 
 the source of no inconsiderable revenue in the past. 
 Some exceedingly heavy rain- occurring soon after \\ .'s 
 arrival, unfortunately spoilt the crop, as this oystei 
 ran only thrive in rather brackish water, and 
 great an infusion of either fresh, or salt, water, has a 
 deleterious effect on them, so thai sometimes, season 
 after season, the crop is lost. The following is an 
 extract from W's. diary explaining the mode of working 
 the beds before the rains occurred:- — 
 
 "On the way across the Bay, just behind the 
 island, found about a dozen canoes with most of thu
 
 SANDAKAN. 25 
 
 Sandakan people in them pearl-oyster fishing. It was 
 an amusing scene, about loO almost naked brown 
 bodies plunging and splashing about in all directions, 
 each fresh find being announced by a series of 
 yells, and. as oysters were common, there was much 
 noise and excitement. It was a very low lid*', with the 
 water about up to their necks, and the common plan 
 seemed to be to grope with the feet till an oyster was 
 felt, and then to turn upside (\<_>wn and bring it up. 
 Moolah and Sandoo (two of our men) had not been at 
 work more than half an hour and had got nearly 100 
 each: Moolah took bolder dives than most of them, 
 groping along the bottom with his hands for nearly 20 
 yards at a time, always bringing up one and sometimes 
 two. There was one canoe manned entirely by women 
 who had their children with them, many of whom, even 
 of the .smallest, were kicking and splashing about 
 famously in the water. There were nearly 20 people 
 altogether in this canoe, and the women had got quite 
 a lot of oysters." 
 
 The main beds existed at Lingcabo in Labuk Bay 
 and news having reached Sandakan. of troubles up the 
 Labuk. W. combined the two matters and went oft' 
 there, railing on the way at the island of Lingcabo to 
 see after the seed-pearl collection as well, ling- 
 was a well-known resort of sea rovers, the chief of 
 the place being a Sooloo of some force of character, 
 open to trade with any one quite in the Sooloo style. 
 as the Sooloos, alhough not actual pirates themselves. 
 have always maintained an attitude of not unfriendly 
 neutrality towards professional pirates, for which amount 
 of countenance they had several advantages, as for
 
 26 A DE< ADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 instance, the Sultan of Sooloo used always to have the 
 pick of an j captives broughl by the Balignini; al the 
 same time, it" the pirates caught a Sooloo boa! al sea, 
 they would capture it and deal with the crew in exactly 
 the same way thej would if it had been a Bugis or 
 Brunei one. 
 
 After admonishing this chief 1" have nothing to 
 do with evildoers, W. proceeded on his way up the 
 Labuk to the limit of navigation for his boat, and then, 
 moving into a smaller one, went still further up the river 
 which is a very rapid one abounding in shallows. He 
 enquired at the villages which had been raided by the 
 so-called head-hunters and heard their tales and saw 
 some of the wounded, mostly women and children, and 
 then went on to the villages of the people who had 
 committed the raid. No doubt was left in his mind 
 that the latter had been subjected to a good many 
 abuses, their crops taken and themselves oppressed in a 
 
 1 many different ways, of which the custom known 
 as "• sarar " seemed to be the principal. On his return 
 to Sandakan, \V. sent up an intelligent native with 
 a few men who opened a station between the two 
 districts and prevented oppression on the one hand 
 and retaliatory raid- on the other. 
 
 For many years past there had existed a tradition 
 with regard to a great lake said to lie to the eastward of 
 Mount Kina Balu, on some of the maps it was marked 
 as being as much as 10 miles across and was supposed 
 to be of great importance, with a large population on 
 its banks. W. travelled within the limits of the lake, 
 as marked on the map, for many miles. Enquiries 
 from natives failed to elicit any information as to the
 
 SANDAKAN. -< 
 
 existence of any large sheet of water anywhere in these 
 parts, and W. therefore duly reported home the non- 
 existence of the supposed Kina Balu lake, which fad 
 
 was made known to the Grographical Society and was 
 subsequently commented upon by the President in his 
 animal address. 
 
 About this time danger arose from a most unex- 
 pected quarter, which might easily have ended fatally, 
 both as regards W. and the whole enterprise, hut by a 
 little tad and judgment, and a firm stand, matters were 
 arranged amicably, although at one time it appear d 
 •is though the Sooloo interest had been forced to assume 
 a hostile hearing to the Association. 
 
 Great hopes had been placed upon the probable 
 existence of minerals in the country, and W. had been 
 unremitting in his enquiries and researches, but with 
 very little effect beyond some tales which seemed to 
 confirm the old tradition of the existence of gold in the 
 north-west part of Darvel Hay. However, coal in small 
 quantity was brought to him by some of the true 
 inhabitants of the district, the Buludupies, who at 
 length, on the promise of a reward, conducted him to 
 the spot where they had obtained it: there was not 
 much sign of a true seam here, however, although some 
 coal was found lying about. 
 
 The Buludupies are a somewhat interesting race, 
 they inhabit the district from the Labuk on the North, 
 some distance up the Kinabatangan. to the Segama on 
 the South. They are the true aborigines of the district 
 and are a mild and pleasant race with full eyes and 
 other slight Caucasian characteristics. They had been a 
 good deal oppressed and bullied by Sooloos and others,
 
 28 A I'll .\l)i; IN BORNEO. 
 
 and their numbers had been considerably diminished in 
 consequence; at one time they had been a very numerous 
 tribe, but now, comparatively, there were scarcely any 
 left. Their tastes are essentially agricultural and. being 
 timid by nature, they readily yielded to the strou 
 arm. There was a small but very interesting commu- 
 nity of them up the Segaliud river; they were reduced 
 to dispair when W. arrived amongst them and had 
 almost abandoned cultivation, as the Sooloos used ti 
 come and seize their products, as soon as ripe, on 
 une pretext or another, and in a Near or two mor< 
 no doubt they would have disappeared; but, profit 
 by the new order of things, they plucked up theii 
 courage again and have gone on increasing thi ir fields 
 and plantations year after year, and are now quite a 
 prosperous body of people. They became great cronies 
 of W.'s, acting as his guides in the forest when 
 hunting, instructing him in forest crafl and nativi 
 agriculture, and telling him long legends about the 
 country. 
 
 In addition to the event - b 01' i spoken of, which 
 somewhat tended to detract from W.'s authority, but 
 which need nol be further alluded to, Dato Haroun 
 was trying to shake his influence with the Bajaus 
 the one side, while, on the other. Pangeran Sama was 
 intriguing to increase complications, and altogether 
 matters were then less comfortable than at any othei 
 time during the early days. It was at this some- 
 what critical juncture that an event happened which 
 promised to put an end to all these conflicting parties, 
 us well as British interests also, at one fell swoop, 
 but which in the event turned out t<> be of tin-
 
 SANDAKAN. 20 
 
 greatest service by welding them all together again and 
 rendering W/s position more secure than ever. 
 
 On the 'J th September, the Spanish man-of-war 
 "Marquis del Duero" steamed up the harbour and 
 anchored in front of the town. At first W. thought it 
 was an ordinary visit, and attached no particular 
 importance to it. though being quite watchful as to 
 anything that might happen ; but, in the evening, a 
 report reached him that a special commissioner was 
 on board, whose mission it was to take possession of 
 the place on behalf of the Spanish Government and 
 annex it. W. at once sent for most of the principal 
 people in the Bay. who attended a meeting that night, 
 and all of them promised to stand by him to the last 
 man, the Bajaus, as usual, being foremost in their 
 offers of assistance. An appointment was then made 
 for earlynext morning for another meeting at Timbong. 
 W. then went on board and asked the Captain (Capt. 
 Lobe) if the report was true, and. as he said it Mas, W. 
 lodged a protest against any such proceeding, and said 
 that it would be resisted, if necessary, by force; Capt. 
 Lobe, however, said he must stand by his orders. 
 
 Early next morning he went to the meeting called 
 over night and a document was drawn up and signed 
 by all present, declaring their contentment with the 
 present government and their determination to resist 
 any effort to oust it, and it was arranged that all the 
 men in the Bay, properly armed, should at once 
 rendezvous at Sandakan. 
 
 Capt. Lobe and Capt. Alejo, the commissioner, 
 came to tiffin with him that day: to protect them he 
 had to draw up round the house a large force of men
 
 30 \ DE< \Di; IN BORNEO. 
 
 he could lelv upon to prevent any chance of an attack 
 upon them by the excited Sooloos. It may illustrate 
 the extreme scarcity of food to mention that, having 
 nothing whatever else in the house to give them, W 
 had to sacrifice a pet argus pheasant and have it cooked. 
 
 Throughout all these matters Cape Lobe and W 
 were privately on the most friendly terms, while officially 
 everything was done with the utmost courtesy. 
 
 The " Far East " arrived at daylight on the 6th. 
 Shortly afterwards a message was brought on shore 
 that, if the Spanish flag was nol hoisted at noon, the 
 "Marquis del Duero" would open fire upon th< 
 town: the consequence of this was an immediati 
 exodus of the women and children, but the men showed 
 the greatest determination. W. ran the British flag 
 u>) over the houses of two British subjects in the town. 
 ;md the " /•'"/• East," under the orders of Mr. Oowie, 
 obligingly took up a position partly across the line 
 of fire and covering part of the town: and bodies oi 
 Sooloomen and Bajaus— dressed in their best clothes, 
 as is customary with them when any lighting is toward 
 ■ — moved about from place to place in the town and 
 amongst the hills immediately at the back of it. The 
 threatened bombardment did not occur, and shortly 
 after 12 my husband went on board and had a long 
 palavar with the Captain, in the course of which he 
 was told that the Spanish flag must be hoisted the next 
 dav, to which he replied that lie would do nothing of 
 the kind. The interpreter then said that if it was not 
 hoisted the Captain would have to take steps of an 
 unpleasant character with regard to him. W. replied 
 that the Captain could do whatever he liked, but that
 
 SANDAKAN. 31 
 
 the Spanish flag would not be hoisted nor the Paou 
 Shun flag l>e pulled down. At last, after a long 
 discussion, the Captain said lie would be off the next 
 morning to report to the Captain-General of the Philip- 
 pines, and to ask for an increased force to return with, 
 and at 1- a.m. the next morning, to W.'s intense relief. 
 off they steamed accordingly, thus putting an end to 
 a period of considerable tension and strain. 
 
 \V. next set about looking- for an eligible site for 
 a new town at the mouth of the Bay, but had much 
 trouble in finding a place that he thought would do. 
 On the North side of the Bay the hills were too steep 
 and too close to the waters edge, while on the South 
 side the land was too flat and swampy and tin- water 
 too shallow for a long distance from the shore, while 
 there was no fresh water. Indeed so many objections 
 were there to every place examined, that he rejected 
 them all at this time, but subsequently determined to 
 make the best of it and start at a place just inside 
 the harbour on the North side. 
 
 Pato Haroun al Raschid, the former Sooloo viceroy of 
 Sandakan, followed closely all that occurred in Sandakan 
 and sent messengers to endeavour to order, or persuade, 
 the Bajous to go down to Taw i -Taw i, there to meet him, 
 his real object being to <ret the main bodv of W.'s allies 
 awa\ from him so that he could not oppose any direct 
 movement of the Dato's on Sandakan, when he chose 
 to attempt a coup d'etat. The Bajau Emaum informed 
 W. of this and of hi- (the Emaum's) intention not to 
 leave him (W.). 
 
 So far the pirates hail not been particularly 
 troublesome, a few boats were captured from time t<>
 
 32 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 i Line, and various murders were recorded, but they had 
 been held somewhat in check by the knowledge of the 
 advent of white men on the coast: however, rinding after 
 a time that W. was absolutely alone, they plucked up 
 
 age and grew bolder in their operations, capturing 
 boats, even in the Bay of Sandakan itself. 
 
 To illustrate the ease with which the raosl terrible 
 wounds heal amongst these rice-eating temperate pei >ple, 
 it may be mentioned that on one occasion after one of 
 the numerous skirmishes with them, one of W.'s men 
 was brought in with a wound reaching from the 
 shoulder to the thigh, in the whole length of which 
 the hand and arm might have been laid ; with care and 
 attention, however, this man quite recovered and was 
 all right again in a few weeks. 
 
 Intelligence as to the doings of the pirates grew 
 more and more serious, and the Bay of Sandakan was 
 absolutely blockaded; an attack on the town itself was 
 feared nightly. The entire tribe of Bajaus had gone 
 away rattan collecting, Hadji Dato's men from Timbong 
 were all up the Kinabatangan and. on Ws going round 
 to consolidate his forces, he found that there were only 
 ll able-bodied men left in the whole Bay, in addition 
 io the few Buludupies up the Segaliud river, and they 
 refused to come down Io help. With these few men, 
 including three or four Chinese, W. had to keep 
 unremitting guard night and day. with weapons all 
 ready, in expectation of an hourly attack. Luckily, at 
 this particular juncture, the first commencement of a 
 constabulary force to help him arrived from Singapore 
 in the shape of half a dozen Somalis. and from this 
 time forward he felt far more secure.
 
 H AND AK \ \ . 
 
 33 
 
 These sea fights more usually resemble a game than 
 a stern encounter; when an action occurred between 
 two fleets of about equal number, they would range 
 themselves in opposed lines about 300 yards aparl 
 with much beating of gongs and shouting, until one 
 boat, having some one desirous of distinguishing himseli 
 on board, would paddle towards the other line, the 
 hero standing up in the bow. gun in hand, shouting 
 out "I am Alloc of Loke, 1 defy you all. I killed 
 •• your fathers and brothers and am going to kill yon 
 •• all. and burn your village and cany off all your 
 ••' young women. You set of boys come hero and b 
 •• slain by a man," — and so on. only that Malay 
 languages are much too courteous to lend themselves 
 to very keen vituperation — naughty -swear" words 
 being unknown. All the time he held forth he would 
 be dominating the position, looking out for an easy 
 shot, while the people in the other line ducked behind 
 their wood barriers : finally, thinking he was neai 
 enough, he would blaze away : once his gun was empty 
 the others am add jump up and paddle after him as 
 fas< as they could, his boat fleeing for protection to 
 his own line, part of the game being to see, if. in the 
 ardour of the chase, he could entice one or two ot the 
 other boats so far, that, before thej could turn and 
 regain their own line, they would be surrounded, in. 
 which case it would go hard with their erews. As 
 for the tiring, what between the badness of the guns 
 and the uncertainty of aim caused by the tippling 
 about of the canoes, it was very rarely the case thai 
 anyone got hurt, but if two boats closed, half the meii 
 were down, in a very few seconds, with ghastly wounds
 
 :;| A M.i \Di: IX BORNEO. 
 
 caused by the Sooloo heavy chopping barongs or long 
 Ulamm creeses. 
 
 In the spring W. heard reports that an alliance 
 had been made between the Illanuns and the Balignini. 
 M<>si or perhaps even all sea-goers of Malay race have 
 a weakness for piracy it" a favourable opportunity offers, 
 but these two tribes arc the only ones that took up piracy 
 .1- a regular profession, and of these two it was the 
 Illanuns that carried on their operations in the boldest 
 manner. In former times for a range of 1.000 miles 
 in any direction they used to boldly sail the seas, all 
 other tribes fleeing for refuge whenever the presence of 
 an Illanun fleet in their waters was known, and on one 
 or two occasions they even fought stiff actions with 
 British men-of-war. The Balignini. on the other hand. 
 
 ?ed to skulk along the shore cutting off fishermen's 
 boats, kidnapping girls on the beach, and so on, and 
 carrying off their captives for sale in Sooloo and 
 
 l-i'v. here, and taking great cave to keep out of danger. 
 Illanuns murdered nearlj everyone that fell int< 
 their hands and did their pirating almost solel) for the 
 plunder, while tie main object of the Balignini was to 
 
 it>h people tn sell as slaves, and to this day there art 
 
 many people from the Philippines, Java, Singapore am! 
 
 where, in Sooloo, who were caught when they were 
 
 young ami sold there In the Balignini. Pressure had 
 
 been gradually brought to bear upon both Illanuns and 
 
 lalignini, however, and as, in addition to the loss the) 
 
 littered in their numerous encounters with men-of-war 
 of all nationalities, they were constantly Inning tights 
 amongst themselves, they rapidly dwindled away in 
 numbers and in these latter days had not a shadow of
 
 SANDAKAN. 3.") 
 
 their former strength; still, when \Y. heard of their 
 joining forces, lie was rendered rather anxious, his 
 anxiety not being lessened when he heard that a fleet 
 of the combined forces of the two had been into Ling- 
 cabo for provisions, and sure enough shortly afterwards 
 accounts came in, thick and fast, of a pirate raid on a 
 large Male on the coast. What was to be done was 
 not very clear. W. fitted out a boat and thought of 
 going along the coast himself, but the Chinese and 
 Malay traders waited upon him and dissuaded him as 
 his going away with his six Somalis Mould have too 
 much enfeebled the place and laid it open to attack, 
 and the value of the cargo in the shops had much 
 increased, so there seemed nothing to do but to sit 
 down and wait. However, the pirates wore not to have 
 it entirel) their own -way. On the 19th May. three 
 boats, travelling together for safety, coming into the 
 harbour were attacked by five pirates, there were only 
 about 12 Sandakan men against some ,50 pirates and 
 <»ne boat was captured with three men in it, two other 
 being wounded, but the other two boats escaped — the 
 pirates did not escape altogether scot free, two or three 
 of them getting large slashes. Their fleet was undei 
 the command of a man named Armee, who also acted 
 as pilot, he being a man that W. had helped only a 
 few months before when he himself had been attacked 
 and some half do/en of his men killed. 
 
 At tiiis juncture the little " Far East " turned up, 
 and \V. arranged with Mr. Cowie to look in along the 
 coast wherever he could, a warrant being given to two 
 of the police to examine and. if necessary, apprehend 
 any suspicious looking people. 
 
 c 2
 
 36 A DECADE IX BORNEO. 
 
 As particular luck had it. when the " Far East " 
 neared the mouth of the harbour, two boats were seen, 
 one of which was immediately identified by two of the 
 Sooloos who had been at the fight, as their boat which 
 had been captured. Off they went, and away went the 
 "Far East" in chase. They were full of men and 
 paddled hard, and one of them got round the end of 
 Bahalla and escaped, but the other one, keeping too 
 • lose in shore, got inside a reel' and found itself in a 
 cul de sac. ->[r. Cowie immediately lowered a boat 
 and. taking command himself, with the two policemen. 
 the two Sooloos, and some of his crew, cut her oul 
 from the beach under fire from the pirates concealed 
 in the bushes. Two of the pirates were killed in this 
 encounter. The ■■ Far East" returned that night with 
 tlic recaptured boat in tow, and the nexl morning, 
 with a strong force, with W. in command, went back : 
 the force landed and drove the island from end \<< 
 end. but the pirates had escaped in the night. Thej 
 found "in- of the boat's crew, however, who had 
 managed t" give hi- captors the -lip in the scrub, who 
 ■j ive full particulars of the pirates, who were under the 
 chief command of Emaum Janjowi of Tawi Tawi and 
 of Dato'Kurunding of Tuncu. A barong that was in 
 the captured boal W. pressented to Mr, I '"w ic <>n the 
 i> 'i of Hie previous day's encounter. Sixty (he Bajau 
 women and children were captured on this raid, the adult 
 males all being killed, creese in hand, defending their 
 families. The captives were taken down to Buloongan 
 and there sold. 
 
 Qu (he loth June, the greater purl ion of the town 
 was burnt down bv accident, mosl of the houses being
 
 SANDAKAN. 37 
 
 destroyed; The fire originated owing to the carelessness 
 i >t' a man named Sabtu, who disappeared when he saw 
 what mischief he had occasioned, fearing that he would 
 be murdered by the Sooloos. The scene was naturally 
 one of greal confusion, there was no time to save 
 anything, the fire running from house to house with 
 the upmost rapidity, and in three-quarters of an hour 
 from its commencement it was all over, and the police 
 were groping about in the shallow water for their 
 rifles, &c, which they had pitched hastily out of their 
 1 1 aises to prevent their being burned. One man had 
 to dash a hole through the side of his house and drop 
 his children into the water through it to avoid the 
 flames. Many thousands of dollars worth of trade 
 Is and produce were destroyed and nearly all the 
 stores of rice. 
 
 \Y. immediately made up his mind that it was no 
 use rebuilding at Sandakan. and the remove had better 
 bi at once made to the new Elopura site. Next 
 morning, W., wondering what had become of Sabtu was 
 asking after him, when from underneath a table, which 
 was covered with a cloth whose ends hung down to 
 the floor, a small voice was heard stating that Sabtu 
 was there : and not only he, but his wife also, emerged 
 from their hiding place in my husband's bedroom. 
 
 Two or three boats were at once prepared and a 
 start was made for the entrance to the Hay. On the 
 21st of June, 1879, W cut down the first tree on the 
 site of the new town.
 
 V II A PTEB I V 
 
 l'i on i; \. 
 
 Peleotion i>f new town-site. —A masked battery-— Turning tlu ables 
 The Spanish ship '" Sirena.''- - 1 >: 1 1 ■ » Harem A.1 Raschkl. 
 Arrival of II. M.S. '•Kestrel.' 1 ' — Capture of Tuucu. — \ i-ii 
 to Silani. Reinforcements for the police. — Visit of H.M.S. 
 " Ege )'/V/.' Visil to the Upper Kinabatangan. Pai a ran Sa- 
 uiah. — J f . •: i < 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 • rs. Pangeran Samah's treachery outv itted. 
 Gold. Stations established al PennngahQuarnioteand A igsoan. 
 — The < 'ompanj 's ( Uiarter grante 1. 
 
 r ~T^HE spol selected for trie new town was situated 
 :it the mouth of the Bay, aboul twelve miles 
 distant from the old Sandakan site. The whole district 
 was primeval forest down to the water'- edge, the 
 nearest houses of any kind were 1 1 1 < > < c- at the old town. 
 It was therefore starting a town in an absolutely fresh 
 and uninhabited fount ry. 
 
 W.'s first proceeding was to fell tin trees al sonic 
 little distance inland, clear the ground of the fallen 
 trunks and branches, and build some temporary houses 
 there, intentionally leaving a thick fringe of forest al 
 the water's edge to act as n screen, so that passing 
 pirate boats, of which there were many, should not 
 see thai anything unusual was in progress. He then 
 stockaded in a rocky headland and mounted on its 
 summit three guns in a sort of fort, one of these gnus 
 a 7 pr. breech-loader kindly lent by Mr. Cowie.
 
 ELOPURA. 39 
 
 Those preparations having been completed, the 
 forest fringe was then knocked over, the fort unmasked. 
 and the commencement of the town disclosed. 
 
 Instead of waiting to bo attacked by the pirati - 
 W. now assumed an offensive attitude towards them : 
 all passing sails were pursued and the pirates .- 
 realized that they were over-matched in those waters 
 for the time being, but they breathed vows of ven- 
 geance and declared their intention of returning with 
 an overwhelming force in a short time. 
 
 Difficulties now occurred fast and thick. Pangeran 
 Sama, hearing that W. had been burnt out, came down 
 from the Kinabatangan with a large force, hoping that 
 an opportunity would present itself of' finally ridding 
 himself of the new comers. The Spaniards propos d 
 to deal finally with the issues raised by the " Marqx 
 del Duero's" visit and make good their claim to the 
 country, ousting the British, while Dato Haroun Al 
 Raschid, who was in their councils, thought the time 
 had come for him to push forward his claim to I 
 Viceroyalty. The consequence was that the Spanish 
 man-of-war " Sirena" left Sooloo, with the Dato on 
 board, bound for Sandakan, her intention being I i 
 bombard the place if she could not get poss< ssion of "' 
 otherwise. 
 
 A protest, however, against Spanish interfere] 
 in North Borneo having boon lodged by the British 
 Government at Madrid, was from thence forwarded 
 on to Manila, and the authorities there, seeing that an 
 awkward crisis would arise if the "Sirena" carried 
 out her programme, sent a b )at down specially t > 
 cut her off at Balabac where she had to call bei
 
 10 A HI.* \l>i: IN BORNEO. 
 
 proceeding to Sandakan. Thus the struggling enter- 
 prise was delivered of the gravest peril thai perhaps 
 ever threatened it. The Date., however, was pluckj 
 and stuck to his intentions, and as the "Sirena" 
 would iK>i proceed, he left her, coming on with his 
 retinue and followers in five prahus, which dulj 
 arrived in Sandakan. Somewhat t" W.'s consolation 
 the position of affairs was then very involved, neither 
 the Dato nor the Pangeran dared take any hostile Btep 
 for fear of finding the other on W.'s side, while ah 
 were afraid that any weakening of their forces inighl 
 lend opportunity to the pirates to destroy them all. 
 I nder these circumstances the Dato thoughl it hot to 
 -it down and wait and see what mighl turn up and 
 what allies he could gain: altogether a quadrangular 
 
 - sjle. 
 
 The three factions in the town met together 
 freely and the leaders exchanged visits. W. of cours< 
 was on the alerl to guard against any sudden rush on 
 his stockade and so matters went on lor awhile: W. 
 being pretty well informed by his friend- of all tin 
 Pangeran's and halo's movements from da} t" day. 
 
 At one of tiie public receptions the Dato asked \Y. 
 what lie would do should he one day find his flag down 
 and his (the Dato's) flying in its [.lace. To this 
 W. replied that he should go straight tor the Dato, 
 \ herever he might happen to he. and blow the top 
 < t his head off with his revolver. This made the Dato 
 pause in his projected operation- until he should have 
 the position more in his own hands, and his efforts to 
 enter into an alliance w ith the Pangeran were redoubled. 
 \V. at this time was informed that the alliance was
 
 BLOPURA. I I 
 
 on the point of being cemented, when, at the critical 
 moment, a personal quarrel broke (.'tit between the two 
 on the question of sonic old debts, and a< the Bajau 
 lmaum turned up at this juncture, and Dato Hadji also 
 arrived on the scene with a number of followers from 
 Melapi (both of them having been sent for by W.), 
 the position was greatly improved from W.'s poinl 
 of view. 
 
 There were at this time several hundred men at 
 Elopura, and the small number of houses were over- 
 flowing. 
 
 A total change in the aspecl of affairs was wrought 
 by the arrival on the scene of II. M.S. "Kestrel,' 
 Capt. Edwardes. Pangeran Sama forthwith returned 
 to Melapi, and Dato Haroun, quite realizing that the 
 game was up, hoist< d up sail and went oft' to Palawan 
 of which island he assumed the government, and 
 remained in charge for the following year or two. He 
 now, with the aid of his friends the Spaniard-, occupies 
 the thn >ne of Sooloi >. 
 
 Capt. Edwardes then proceeded to enquire into 
 
 the Balignini and Illunan raids. After careful 
 
 investigation, to assure himself that it was really piracy . 
 
 viz., indiscriminate robbery of boats captured on tin/ 
 
 high seas; such action being in no way influenced 
 
 by tribal feuds, feelings, or jealousies, he was dealing 
 
 with.' Captain Edwardes steamed down to Tuncu, their 
 
 head-quarters, and attacked and captured the place. 
 
 destroying sixteen pirate boats with fortified side- all 
 
 ready to proceed to sea. 
 
 1 With regard to these Balignini ami lllanun, no such question 
 could arise as was the ease when Rajah Brooke dealt with the 
 Seribas and Sekarran Dyaks.
 
 \- A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 Thinking this a good opportunity to extend his 
 influence southwards, W. made a trip into Darvel Bay 
 
 an it li a number of his men. and landing at Silam hoisted 
 the Association's flag there and obtained the allegiance 
 of the people. 
 
 Reinforcements of police were sent shortly after 
 this from Singapore, from which time forward the 
 security of Elopura was never again in doubt, and the 
 •very trying and anxious time W. had for three years, 
 during the whole of which period he was always more 
 or less threatened with attack from one quarter or 
 another, came to an end. 
 
 The town grew apace and an era of rapid prosperity 
 set in. a grateful change after the long period of anxictj 
 that had preceeded it: jungle produce flowed down the 
 opened rivers Kinabatangan, Labuk, and Sugut, and 
 came across the sea to Sandakan, the people being 
 no longer afraid of capture by pirates on the way. 
 "Capt. Johnston, of H.M.S. " Egeria" who then visited 
 Elopura, reported that he found a rising town of 
 some 600 persons with a good many shops and an 
 increasing trade. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing incidents, there were 
 from day to day difficulties and awkwardnesses of all 
 kinds continually cropping up, in several of which blood 
 flowed freely, many of them demanding the exercise of 
 force in being dealt with, but those narrated are the 
 principal ones, and those more particularly having a 
 bearing upon the progress of the country. The slightest 
 miscalculation or mistake, in the total absence of 
 any support to fall back upon, or the presence of any 
 one to fill W.'s place had he been killed or disabled,
 
 ELOPURA. 4U 
 
 would inevitably have resulted in the loss of the 
 territory. In the moments of peril which occurred 
 almost daily, had he held back or flinched; his authority 
 would have been upset, with the same result. 
 
 Some short time after this. W., wishing to see for 
 himself the state of affairs on the Kinabatangan river, 
 made an expedition up it. lie went in a steam-launch 
 as far as it was navigable, some 130 miles, for the 
 whole of which distance the river is deep and sluggish, 
 the shores flat and forest-covered, and the waters 
 virtually tidal. So far it was very uninteresting, being 
 almost uninhabited, as their were only two villages for 
 the whole of this distance. The swampy nature of 
 the country causes it to be very unhealthy. Arrived 
 at the limit of launch navigation, the river got swifter 
 and shallow rapids at each bend necessitated the use 
 of light draft canoes, but the banks became higher 
 and the country healthier. Here another element of 
 disturbance come in. for down the Quarmote, a large 
 tributary river, marauding gangs of head-hunters used 
 to come, killing everybody in the neighbourhood : so it 
 was not until main miles past the point where this 
 river joined the main stream that population commenced, 
 but from here onwards there was a fair sprinkling 
 of people. One of W.'s intentions was to make personal 
 enquiries on the spot a-, to how Pangeran Sam ah stood 
 with the people of the upper river, and whether he 
 had any real influence on them, about which he 
 heard conflicting accounts. The Pangeran was a 
 man of peculiar character, who would very likely 
 have made his mark had he been born in any other 
 country, or been given larger opportunities. As if
 
 1 I A DEI AUK l\ BORNEO. 
 
 was, he, by the exercise of several differcnl qualities, 
 had obtained the chieftainship of a tribe of somewhal 
 timid people, in whose possession there happem <l to be 
 the valuable Gomanton caves, producing some $25,000 
 worth of nests yearly. This tempting bail broughl 
 down a continual stream of high-class marauders 
 to try and get a portion of this prize, and in the 
 endeavour to baffle them, the Pangeran found a del 
 field for the exercise of his particular gifts of cunning, 
 cruelty, and ferocity, combined with great organizing 
 powers, ('wing to the difficulty of collecting the nests 
 at the top of caves, some two or three hundred feel 
 high, with wet and slippery sides, it is only the mosl 
 practised climbers thai can get them, so thai new 
 comers could not secure any for themselves, but had 
 to allow the Buludupies to collect the nests first, and 
 then tn trasfer a.> many of them as they could 1" 
 their own pockets afterwards. At one time, tin 
 Pangeran told \\ .. there were ten powerful chiefs 
 with numerous followers at Melapi, each trying 
 t< gel as much as he could for himself, bul some fell 
 sick and died, others quarrelled, fought, and killed 
 each other, others were deserted by their followers 
 and left si landed and losl their influence, and ultimately 
 all came to grief in some way or another, the result < 
 as \Y. afterwards heard, of either direct violence oi 
 intrigue by the Pangeran himself. Evidently he 
 classed W. as one of the same set, to be poisoned, 
 murdered, or outmanoeuvred in a similar way. 
 
 \V. went on his way up the river much interested 
 iii all he saw: the soil was extremely fertile, the crops 
 heavy, the people lazy, and the air was pure and healthy
 
 ELOPUB \. I 5 
 
 the higher the river was ascended, and the night-; 
 cool and pleasant. Everyone went about armed, tin; 
 slightest dispute led to bloodshed, human sacrifice was 
 still a custom, tribe foiighf against tribe, and everywhere 
 there was a fear of head-hunting raids: at one house 
 he stopped at, he found two freshly cut off human 
 heads hanging up, taken from a neighbouring village. 
 But on the whole he was very much impressed by the 
 possibilities latent in the country inland for supporting 
 a very large population. Well acquainted with some 
 of the thickly inhabited parts of China, he was oi 
 opinion that this district was a- well qualified in every 
 respect to support as large a population as the finest 
 parts of the Chekiang or Fokien provinces. 
 
 \\ . soon found that the Pangeran possessed but 
 very little influence on the upper river, and that the 
 people, a simple and unpolished set of countrymen, 
 wished to have nothing to do with him. as in order 
 to assert and maintain a show of authority and to strike 
 terror amongst them, he, on several occasions, seized one 
 of their men on some frivolous pretext and had him 
 hacked to pieces in public. 
 
 While visiting different villages, gaining the 
 confidence, finding out the ideas of the people, and 
 making arrangements fir the future, rumours reached 
 W. that the Pangeran was endeavouring to raise the 
 country behind him and thereby cut off Ins retreat. 
 He left immediately, hurrying down stream without 
 stopping, and. travelling night and day readied Melapi 
 early one morning, where he found that the Pangeran 
 had called an assemblage of the head-men of the tribe 
 for that afternoon. He at once took steps to frustrate
 
 HI A in. i AUi: l\ BORN l.'». 
 
 the Pangeran's movement, and calling to his aid all 
 
 the Sooloos and traders and their men then in the 
 neighbourhood, ['laced a cordon round the Pangeran's 
 house and entering it with four men found him asleep. 
 On advancing towards him, the Pangeran sprang 
 up, drew his lung creese, which he always kepi at hand, 
 and would have cut VV. down had he not instantly covered 
 him with his revolver. Two of W.'s men jumped on to 
 the largo elevated bed-place waiting W.'s order to 
 attack the Pangeran. one of whose wives, springing 
 to his side, threw off her clothes to her waist in a 
 moment, and, seizing a spear from the root", stood 
 ready at his right hand. \Y. then ordered two of his 
 men with loaded rifles to aim at the Pangeran, and 
 asked him why. standing there with weapons drawn 
 against the Government, he should not be shot down. 
 The Pangeran replied that VV. might shoot him if he 
 liked, but that no Sooloo was going to put his hands 
 upon him without a fight. VV. then accused him of 
 intending to murder him mi Ins way down the river, 
 whereupon the Pangeran, evidently thinking his last 
 moment had arrived, sang a death sung to the effect 
 that In' had always held -way >>u the Kinabatangan 
 and that no one. orang putih or orang Suluk 
 (white man or Sooloo), should ever oust him from it. 
 and a good deal more to the same eti'eet. VV. kept the 
 Pangeran on his legs until lie was fairly worn out 
 and asked to he allowed to -it down and drink som< 
 water. .Finally he made emphatic promises of improved 
 behaviour. Two or three of his nun who came in to 
 his rescue gave up their arm-: VV. threatening to shoot 
 them if the\ refused.
 
 ELOPURA. 17 
 
 A\ . then went off to the place the Pangeran's 
 chiefs were to assemble at, and reached it just as 
 they were arriving. After conferring with them they 
 declared that they Mould never again support the 
 Pangeran in any project he might entertain against 
 I he Government. 
 
 During his stay at Melapi on this occasion, W. 
 received fairly reliable information from the Pangeran's 
 Chinese goldsmith of the existence of gold in that 
 district, and having had sent to his assistance about that 
 time a European, from Singapore, who was supposed to 
 have some knowledge of metals, W. sent him to Melapi 
 "ii a mission to the Pangeran, but with secret orders 
 to find out the Chinaman, without the Pangeran's 
 knowledge, and get all the information he could from 
 him. This was not the first occasion W. had delegated 
 men, the only assistants he had had up to this time, 
 to Melapi on different missions: but the Pangeran, a 
 shrewd observer of human nature, had found out their 
 weak points, and through them discovered what their 
 errands were, one of them yielding to wine and a second 
 to beauty, but W. had hoped he might have relied on 
 a European. The Pangeran. crafty old diplomat, very 
 soon managed to find out his weak spot also and 
 soon afterwards arrived at the knowledge of his 
 true errand. He at once assured the European that 
 tlie Chinaman should be sent for, but instead of 
 doing anything of the kind, had the man. who was in 
 the very next house at the moment, sent away to the 
 next village and poisoned that night. 
 
 As a consequence of this trip, stations were made 
 at. Quarmote, and subsequently at Penungah on the
 
 |S A Dl'.i \l)i: l\ BORNEO. 
 
 Kinabatangan, while as a result of hie l.abnk journey, 
 a start had already been made at the mouth of the 
 Angsoan on the Labuk, leading to further increase of 
 the trade of the town, boats beginning to find their wa) 
 thence to Elopura. Admiral Coote in the " Vigilant," 
 after calling at Sandakan, went to Manila and gave 
 notice there that no interference bj the Spaniards 
 would be allowed in North Borneo; the police force 
 was increased to M) men and finally the B. N. B. C. 
 was started in May, 1882, the Royal' Charter having 
 ilreadv been given on the 1st November, ISM.
 
 C II A PTER V 
 
 BlRDSXESTING, AND A ill \T IN" BORXEO. 
 
 \ Bornean house-boat. -Beautiful scenery.— Lazy Eralians. -Pig 
 hunting. -Rhinoceros sumatranus in Borneo.— A native 
 ceptioii. A terrible weapon. — Gay dresses. -Visit to Segalung 
 bird's-nesl caves. Native boats. — Pangeran Laut.- i 
 orchid.— Native wax candles. — Limestone caves. A rough 
 scramble. — Tiuiba mata. — A beautiful island. Native j'arns. — 
 Oysters. — Fishing. — Visit to Madai birds' nes< caves.— Keema. 
 Sea produce.- -Elephants. — Dangerous rock-climbing. 
 
 OX board a trim little craft, not a trading boat 
 evidently, for the forepart of her is chiefly 
 devoted to a large saloon with omnibus windows like 
 a Shanghai house-boat, and conveniently furnished 
 with everything that could reasonably be desired : not 
 a yacht either, for everywhere within easy reach there 
 are stands of rifles, boarding- pikes. &c, while on th • 
 fore-deck there is a seven-pounder properly fitted on 
 its traverse and evidently meant for business. The 
 crew too, in their smart uniforms, are more numerous 
 than either a yacht or a trading boat would require. 
 
 Nor are we in England; nowhere in England :< 
 then- such lovely scenery as one glance round from 
 the deck discovers. We appear to be in a huge lake 
 studded everywhere with beautiful islands, green to tl. ■ 
 water's edge except for the gleaming white strip of 
 beach that marks the margin of the deep blue v. 
 < >n the mainland close by is a Hue mountain clothed 
 to its summit with high forest trees and with a 
 pretty little village nestling at its feet, off w
 
 ."»() A DECADE IX BORNEO. 
 
 Lie anchored. All around us are ranges of hills and 
 mountains, rising <>ne beyond the other as far as tin 
 eye can reach. The ah- is warm and balmy although 
 the month is January: and the, sturdy active crew an 
 Malays. 
 
 We arc mi hoard the B. X. B. Coy.'s revenue boa! 
 "Sabine," in Looc Sabahan (Darvel Bay) on a bird's- 
 nesting expedition. 
 
 W., went ashore and had a talk with 1 >atoTumongong 
 Gumbah in charge of the Company's station at Silam, 
 als.. with [nchi Hassan, the agent for the bird's — 
 nest cave contractor for this year. They were both 
 of opinion that, without a good deal of urging tin 
 Erahans,from sheer laziness, would delay the collection 
 of nests until they had all gone bad. \\ . sent for 
 Pangeran Amas one of their head chill's who had 
 " tangoonged " (guaranteed) this year's collection, and 
 put through much other business and in the afternoon In 
 went out hunting. 
 
 I here quote from his diary the accounl of th< 
 afternoon's sport: — 
 
 "The leading spirit of the hunt was decidedly a 
 Bisayah or Indian from the Philippines (better known 
 to English readers as Manilamen, though perhaps thej 
 have never been near .Manila in their lives) named 
 Esnine a particularly muscular specimen of humanity, 
 who entered keenly into the sport. The dogs wer< 
 four queer little brown animals rather long in the body, 
 rather short in the leg, with sharp jackally noses, prick- 
 ears, and a half sly. half numerous, twinkle in the back 
 of their eyes. The}- were the property of Sheriff Byassin, 
 who armed with a spear, came with us. We went to
 
 BIRDSNESTING, AND A HUNT IN BORNEO. "> I 
 
 Look for a buffalo which Esnine had put up thai 
 morning, which he thought he had marked down, but it 
 was very soon evident that, with the dogs and the motle) 
 following of Sooloos, Malays, &c, not forgetting Esnine 
 we must make the best of whatever turned up. 
 
 •'•The forest was very open and easy going, and we 
 had not been a quarter of an hour in it when suddenly 
 one of the little dogs gave tongue, and with a shorl 
 sharp little 'week, week, week,' away the whole pack 
 went, and away after them went we. However, in less 
 than five minutes some of the notes became more long 
 drawn, while others were quicker and more yapping 
 in their tone, and it was clear the quarry was being 
 bayed. On rushing up we found a little pig had 
 taken refuge amongst the roots of a tree with the dog- 
 surrounding it. one of them occasionally rushing in 
 and having a snap at it. Poor little piggie was quickly 
 secured alive, its legs tied up, and it was left under 
 a tree till we returned again. On once more, and up a 
 steep hill, on the top of which it was just possible 
 the buffalo might be, but before we got there 'week, 
 week, week, week." again from the dogs. In the forest 
 there is no seeing more than thirty yards in any 
 direction owing to the tree trunks, saplings, dwarf 
 palms, wild ginger. &c, so we could not tell what we 
 were after; but following the dogs again to the bottom 
 of the valley and then down stream, torn by thorns, 
 dashing wildly through the bushes, stumbling in our 
 haste over the big rough stones of the brook, some- 
 times in the water, sometimes out, and sometimes again 
 making short cuts through the forest, the little dogs 
 • weeking ' away in front and bringing the game up 
 
 D 3
 
 52 \ DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 every now and then for a few moments. Esnine was 
 Car ahead; at last there was a shot, and on getting up 
 we found that a large pig had been bagged. The little 
 dogs had boon unable to hold the pig at bay, but as 
 
 it broke away. Esnine wounded it with his sp 
 whereupon it wheeled round and charged. He dodged 
 it and again sent his spear well in, but before it could 
 charge again one of the fortmen came up and sen' a 
 Snider ball through its body: even then it was some 
 time before ir succumbed. The above will serve for a 
 description of all the runs we had, of which there 
 were five in all. a kill resulting every time Esnine 
 got first spear three times. 
 
 " The next afternoon, after sundry preparations in 
 connection with the nest-collecting had been made and 
 other matters settled, we went away to explore a 
 path said to lead towards the gold district, the more 
 particularly that on it there was said to be good large 
 game country. The track was a very fair one. and 
 good going; and after an hour and a half's walk, 
 during which we had seen the old tracks of elephants 
 in two places, basides those of buffalo, deer, and heaps 
 of pig. we came to what was said to be the best place ; 
 but after an hour's wandering about, not seeing any 
 more traces, half of us gave il up and returned. The 
 others did not come back till nightfall, having come to 
 a place where there were fresh rhinoceros tracks, but 
 they saw nothing of the animal. 
 
 ••1 may take this opportunity of mentioning, as ir 
 has lately been said in the pages of The Field that 
 there was still some uncertainty as to what species the 
 Borneo) rhinoceros belongs i >. that <A something like
 
 BIRDSXESTIXG, \M> A HUNT !\ BORNEO. ■>■> 
 
 n dozen skulls examined .ill were R. sumatranus. Our 
 elephant also is probably the Sumatran variety* 
 icus, Imt this is not quite certain." 
 We had a reception afterwards; amongst other 
 p ople, Dato Buginda Etam brought his four wives 
 aboard. Dato Buginda I Jam is the good Dato as 
 distinguished from Dato Buginda Putih the bad Dato : 
 they both coin-' from Tuncu, a celebrated pirate village, 
 old pirate chief, Dato Kurunding, is dead: this 
 is the man who used to show people a crees-bai 
 la weapon somewhere between a large bowie-knife 
 and a Roman sword), \\ itli which he boasted he 
 had himself killed one hundred and twenty people. 
 I! ojinda Putih, his son, exhibited a desire to emulate 
 hi- father's exploits ; but was soon controlled by thi 
 growing strength of the government, and had to fly, 
 deserted by most of his followers, to Spanish territory. 
 Hi- cousin. Dato Buginda Etam it is who was on 
 board us to-day with his wives, as well as Sheriff 
 Byassin's, &c. A.S usual, they were gorgeously arrayed 
 in all the brilliant hues of the rainbow, purple and 
 orange-coloured jackets, sarongs of dark green, or elsi 
 red and yellow plaids, worked with silk. Their masses 
 of jet black hair, well anointed with fresh cocoanut oil. 
 was combed up high on the crowns of their heads, 
 and tied in knots, which as they do not know the use of 
 hairpins, continually descends, and has to be re-dressed. 
 They usually cut a small square fringe round their 
 foreheads. They had nothing whatever to say for 
 themselves, but sat huddled up all together with their 
 attendant slaves, staring at us, and could hardly be 
 prevailed upon to sip the over-sweetened tea we gave
 
 >l A DECADE IN B0R2»E0. 
 
 them. Dato Buginda himself wore short purple tights. 
 smbroidered with gold, coming half-way down his 
 thighs, and a Little thin muslin jackel over a vest, 
 the jackel decorated with tiny frills, coloured braid, 
 and buttons of gold. On his head he wore a dark 
 purple silk handkerchief, also elaborately embroidered 
 
 in gold, and with a knowing little tail sticking \\\ >r 
 
 the left ear. 
 
 All matters being ready for the real business of 
 the expedition, we started the next morning for Sapa 
 Doongan and Sapa Cood. At the former place we found 
 Pangeran Laut true to his word, expecting us; and 
 as so m as Rahmee began to heat the gong, announcing 
 our approach, nil' he came in his boat, Hying the Sabah 
 flag from the stern. These native boats are very 
 quaint and curious, and have a charming effeel when 
 scudding nut to sea, their parti-coloured sails full of 
 wind. Their foundation is nothing else than a ca 
 upon the centre par, of which is fixed a sort of large 
 platform, with long outriggers attached, so that there 
 is not the least fear of l> dng upsel : a masl i> then 
 fixed, and a sail >>{' many c >lours, usually in broad 3l ripes, 
 prepared. A.s protection against the sun, they place 
 a kadjang over the centre portion of the boat, beneath 
 which von have to squat. These boats are called 
 dapongs, and il was usually in them that the pirates 
 used to mike their raids. 
 
 At Sapa Cood we found Pangeran Amas and his 
 men. who are the most important persons of all. for 
 they are the birdsnesl collectors. W. had been afraid 
 they would beg for a further delay, for these people 
 are dreadful daw dlers, and always put off doing anything
 
 BIRDSNESTING, AM) A HUNT I \ BORNEO. 55 
 
 is Long as ever they can ; but to our satisfaction, we 
 found five or six I mats full of men and women ready 
 to accompany us. the Pangeran promising thai the rest, 
 if his men should join us in a day or two at Segalung. 
 
 The boats were then attached in a long tail to tin- 
 stern of the 'Sabine/ and away we went, bound for the 
 opposite side of the bay, which was so far distant that 
 the hills were all lost in a vague mist. It took us all 
 day to reach the beautiful inland sea behind the island 
 of Tanna Balu, for we had to go at half-speed, both on 
 account of the numberless coral shoals, and also that 
 we might not swamp the boats forming our comet-like 
 tail : so that it was nightfall (the sun always setting in 
 this part of the world about (> \).m. or 6.10) before Ave 
 reached an anchorage. Pangeran Laut undertook to 
 pilot us, and exhibited much care and caution. He 
 brought with him his little child, a girl about five or 
 six years old, of whom he appeared extremely fond, 
 although she was a most unattractive object, being 
 
 red with a mass of sores, owing to the low diet 
 and bad food these people have. She wore no clothes 
 except a little sarong; and as a rule, in this warm 
 climate it is very difficult to get children to keep any 
 clothes on. 
 
 Next morning everyone was astir at daybreak, 
 making preparations for work. We dressed and had 
 breakfast, and then went off in Pangeran Laut's b 
 bound for the caves of Segalung. The way was up a 
 narrow river, thickly bordered by mangrove trees, which 
 grew luxuriantly in the rich black mud. as they like 
 brackish water. We saw a magnificent specimen of 
 the orchid grammatophyllum, which was too huge to
 
 A DECADE IN" BORNEO. 
 
 move. It had been in bloom, and Osinan climbed up 
 and got me some of the greal seedpods, which are as 
 1 [g as small cucumbers. At last we pulled through 
 ■d p mud. it being low tide, to the ba sriant 
 
 ■stone hill, which was thickly clothed with tr 
 i of the experienced nest collectors had already sel 
 to work, had mad" a fire, and were preparing beeswax 
 < andles and woodi n-pronged forks, the one to hold th< 
 light, the other to detach the nests from the rocks. 
 ■ ''andles the}' made by taking a long-piece of thick 
 wick of rolled cloth, and. having warmed a lump oi 
 ] i -wax. squeezed it thickly round the wick : ordinal*) 
 candles do not answer, as they spoil the nests. Thi 
 pronged fork- are made out of thin saplings ; they ar< 
 (at in different lengths, the top end is split into four. 
 and to keep the ends apart little wedges of wood 
 arc inserted at the base of the slits and bound int< 
 place by rattans, and the beeswax candle is secured 
 just below. 
 
 Having watched these preparations, we followed 
 three guides, who led the way through the thin foresl 
 in an upward direction. Soon we came t.> a grotto 
 formed by a greal mass of overhanging limestone rock. 
 .all bare and jagged, on the outside of which tin 
 common begonia was growing luxuriantly, and below 
 was a great cool pool of water. At the back were dark 
 caverns and recesses that we could not see the end of. 
 We imagined this was the entrance, but our guides 
 said no: soon we went, following them through the 
 foresl round the base of the cliff, coming every now and 
 then upon detached masses of limestone, all worn and 
 riddled like honevcomb. At last we arrived at a great
 
 Ill i;Hs\i;sTi\'i,. \\'l> A III XT l.\ BOKXEO. • >< 
 
 ivern, whose approach was blocked \>\ ureal boulders 
 of rock : this they said, was the entrance to one cave. 
 Lying about were remains of wooden coffins, with 
 rough carvings upon them, and probably very old, as 
 they arc made of billian, which is a very lasting wood. 
 they were in a very worm-eaten and rotting condition. 
 \ twithstanding this there were no remains of 
 In i tes. 
 
 Now Miir difficulties began, scrambling from boulder 
 to boulder across little precipices, up jagged rocks, and 
 into all sorts of huge chambers and tunnels in the hill. 
 \. w and then there was a rent in the side which 
 admitted sufficient light to show us our -way. and then 
 would occur a great opening showing us the sky above. 
 Still the guides led us on into narrower twilight 
 passages. Vt one point it was necessary to climb 
 over Osman's body to reach a point above ; at anothei 
 \\' had to wriggle our bodies along a narrow ledge 
 with a great hole below, and the ceiling of limeston< 
 nol IS inches above, SO that, you had to lie prone 
 on your stomach and to creep down a black hole in 
 the floor of one cave, which dropped into a passagi 
 leading to a cave below, and at Las! we stood in a 
 birds' nest cave. It was only a small one, but they 
 had specially selected it for its accessibility. Then 
 the guides lit their candles, and showed us how t<> 
 lift them high so as to throw a full light on the 
 roof. It was full of niches, but. to our disappointment, 
 we could find no nests worth taking, as evidently 
 some men had been before us and robbed the cave. 
 There were, however, plenty of tiny nests in course of 
 construction, very white ones of the best quality, worth
 
 58 A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 $15 a catty, so we retraced our steps. Hassan and 
 Pangeran Amas had better luck, as they brought some 
 very fine nests to the launch in the evening, and were 
 quite hopeful, as some more collectors had arrived, and 
 others were expected. 
 
 On the next <lav the collectors, some seventy or 
 eighty in number, being busy exploring the caves to 
 see where the nest really was, and making other 
 arrangements, we went off to Timbamata, at the further 
 end of Tanna Balu, al the end of which there is a 
 fine grassy slope much frequented by herds of deer. 
 Pangeran Laut took us in his depong, and we sailed 
 away gaily before the strong fresh wind, rushing over 
 the bright water in a mosl exhilarating and delightful 
 manner. We were in an inland sea. all around us were 
 great and small islands, as well as the headlands, points, 
 and coves of Tanna Balu on the one side, and the 
 mainland on the other, on which hand there were hills 
 beyond hills and mountains beyond mountains, and 
 all islands, headlands and mountains forest-clothed to 
 the water's edge. The nearest approach to it. perhaps, 
 is the Inland Sea in Japan. Yet, as far as the eye 
 c iuld see, this beautiful world is utterly uninhabited — 
 a great unpeopled land, ourselves and our company 
 the only human beings in it. It seems strange that 
 such a land of promise, so full of natural beauties and 
 valuable products of all kinds, should be unknown and 
 unvisited by man. On arriving at Grassy Point, it 
 was found that tin; deer had sought the shade, as it was 
 the middle of the day. and though several were seen, 
 they were all too far off. From the top of one of the 
 hills there was a magnificent view of the great bay,
 
 BIRDSXKSTIXG, VXD A IIL'XT IN RORXEO. • >!) 
 
 ^\\- 1 r 1 1 its many islands dotted about, with snug harbours 
 and coves, and the beautiful light green of the water. 
 where the rural shoals contrasted with the darker green 
 
 of:' the trees, and the deep blue of the sky and the - a. 
 To gaze to the right and to the left, over all those 
 miles of sea and land, and think there was not a living 
 soul near us, was awe-inspiring; but it was a grand 
 and wonderful sight, and one never to be forgotten. 
 
 We sailed hack to the launch before the sea br 
 the wind having, as we had calculated, obligingly 
 turned round in our favour again, and on the way the 
 Pangeran related little tales of adventures by sea and 
 land, invariably ending with some of the other side 
 being killed — notably an anecdote of how he managed 
 to corner a whole lot of head-hunting S igais, and with 
 his own hind slaughtered fourteen of them before I 
 could break away: for the Pang nan, though a very 
 mild and pleasant man to look at, and by no means 
 muscular has the character of being one of the mot 
 determined fighters of all the desperate characters in 
 the Bay. 
 
 We landed at one place, and found the sh >r i 
 strewn with rock oysters, of which there was simply 
 an inexhaustible supply to be had for the picking up. 
 On the far side of Timbamata there are quantities of 
 seed-pearl oysters, for the sea in these parts is full of 
 produce, which is to be had for the mere trouble 
 of collecting. 
 
 Having arrived at the launch, we bathed, dressed 
 and dined and afterwards went oul fishing by moonlight 
 with a'Mnmbnt," or cast net, catching quantities of 
 rather small fish and some enormous prawns, which we
 
 (iU A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 forthwith cooked and indulged in an imp. omp'u 
 supper. After this again Ooman went out fishing with 
 line and hook from a canoe, and caught thirteen small 
 sharks! 
 
 The first real collecting took place to-night. It 
 is so pitch dark ■within the large caves, where the 
 hulk of the nests are, that night an 1 day are alike 
 there, and the men prefer to collect at night, as it is 
 cooler. We did not stop to see the result, however, 
 hut started off at daybreak for Madai. Afterwards 
 we learnt that in the course of the first day or two's 
 collection, about a picul of white nests, or say, twelve 
 hundred dollars' worth — had been obtained. 
 
 Our way to Madai lay between more islands and about 
 midday we arrived oil' the mouth of the river ; but it was 
 too shallow for us to go in. so we had to anchor outside, 
 and. ever calm though the hay is. there was quite swell 
 enough to make the "Sabine" wobble about disagreeablj . 
 At low tide all hands — about one hundred people — 
 landed on a coral reef to search for their evening meal, 
 and lots of keema, trepang, and other things were soon 
 found. Keema is a huge mollusc, a bivalve, something 
 like an enormous cockle. On the coast of Tawi Tawi 
 there is said to be one as big as a house! but no mention 
 is made of what sized house. The Largest shells we 
 got to-day, however, were not above a foot broad though 
 we have found some three feet. The trepang was 
 obtained by looking for little depressions in the sand, 
 and making a rapid plunge with the fingers at the centre 
 of it. when something hard and slippery is felt and 
 seized. The other hand then loosens the sand in the 
 neighbourhood, following the slimy body along till it
 
 BIRDSXESTIXG, WD A HINT IN BORNEO. (JI 
 
 has ii" further power of grasping, and then, with a jerk, 
 a hideous, whitish, slithery object, like an enormous 
 fat worm, is pulled oilt. This, the Sooloos saw is the 
 besl kind of trepang, much bet tor than the common 
 kind, which is found on the bottom of the sea and nut 
 in the sand. We also got many beautiful shells, some 
 with long spine-., others round and tortoise-shell- 
 coloured, cowries, and the like. After this Ave rowed 
 up the river to the landing-stage, where there were 
 sixteen depongs, each with not less than ten people 
 in it. Preparations for collecting were in progress, 
 rattan ladders made in long lengths, beeswax candles 
 i wisted, &c. 
 
 Shortly after daybreak next morning nearly one 
 hundred men started, carrying provisions, rattans. &c. 
 Flie caves are about four miles inland, and the path 
 lies through the forest, which was thickly covered with 
 fresh elephant tracks, and in one place an elephant was 
 heard, but went off before the party with rifles could 
 get up; it had been wallowing in the mud of a small 
 marsh. Later on. however, one gang of men on the 
 path were charged by a tusker, which ran amongst 
 them, scattering them right and left, so that they 
 threw down their loads and climbed up the trees. 
 
 There is no difficulty in going into the Madai caves, 
 which are much larger than those \\ e saw at Segalung : 
 huge caverns opening, one beyond the other, into 
 enormous, domed transepts or chambers, dimly lighted 
 here and there by splits or rents in their sid<'s. 
 The nest is faintly seen in the lighter places like 
 a dark shade on the roof, which is most irregular, 
 some lines with deep incisions going sharply out of
 
 (i2 A DECADE IX BORNEO. 
 
 sighl into black darkness, and in others rough rocks full 
 of niches and holes, so that how anybody can reach 
 them seems incredible. It is managed, however, by men 
 swinging: strings weighted with stones to other men 
 20ft. or 30ft. off, both clinging on to the slippery rock, 
 at perhaps. 100ft. from the ground, and then dragging 
 rattan ladders up and fixing them across from one t< 
 the other, so that they can crawl on the ladders to the 
 more inaccessible places. The men must be finished 
 athletes. 
 
 Leaving nearly a hundred men at the caves, where 
 they will reside for another month. \Y. walked back 
 through the forest, and got on board shortly befor< 
 dinner, and the next day we steamed back to Silam. 
 when it was arranged that a third party of collectors 
 should start for Baturong, so that by the time our 
 labours were finished some three hundred men were 
 busy collecting. This was t\\o first time the nest had 
 ever been properly collected from all these caves, as 
 it is impossible for the natives to organise matters 
 sufficiently well themselves, and a large quantity of it 
 has always gone bad. to the heavy loss of the natives 
 themselves and of the country generally.
 
 GHAPTEB VI 
 
 Up the River Kinabatangan. 
 
 The launcli " Sabine. " — Bahalla. —The Muiniang. — Mangrove 
 swamps. -Batu Tummungong cave. It- legend. — Melapi. — 
 Bilct. — Wealthy natives.- -Perils of birdsnesti ng. — Conferring 
 •i patent of nobility. — SeboDgan. — Crocodiles. — Wild an iin:i I s. — 
 Orang-utans. — Lamag. — Rhinoceros for dinner. — A river flood. 
 Crocodile steaks. — Crocodile hunting. — Our noah's ark. — Miss 
 Champaka's wooing. Reluctance of dogs to swim rivers. — 
 A proboscis monkey's dilemma. -Sandflies.— Ordeal by boiling 
 water.-— Short of food. — Replenishing the larder. — The 
 gyinnura. Spinj rats. — Toiling through mud-banks. 
 
 THE following is an account of another journey up 
 country : — 
 
 We left Elopura in a houseboat named the 
 '• Waterlily" in tow of the Government steam launch 
 "Sabine." The " Waterlily" is a boat built on the 
 Shanghai houseboat model, her main cabin being of fair 
 size. She boasts, besides, of a pantry, and has accom- 
 modation of a very limited kind at the stern for the crew 
 and servants, where is also fitted up a fireplace for 
 cooking, designed on a most primitive plan. In each 
 bow there is a big projecting goggle eye, the boat having 
 been made by a Chinese carpenter, who held the theory, 
 like the rest of his race, that if at night " no got eye, no 
 can see." We took a sufficient supply of loose planks to 
 lay across the cabin from locker to locker, on which 
 at nights we had our bed arranged, with a mosquito 
 curtain -suspended from nails in the roof. 
 
 Our intention was to ascend the Kinabatangan. 
 one of the finest rivers in North Borneo, from the truth 
 of which, augmented bv that of the Labuk, situated
 
 <J| UP THE RIVER KINABAT i.NG W 
 
 to the north of Sandakan Hay. the town of Elo] 
 has, up to the presenl time, owed it- prosperity. 
 Thefirsl poinl ofinteresl wepassed was the is] 
 if Bahalla, whose richly coloured and precipitous 
 sandstone cliffs rise to a height of 600ft. above a white 
 sandy beach, with here and there a pretty fcn 
 surrounded cove and a fisherman's hut, built on p 
 »ver the sea, to complete as peaceful and charming 
 a scene as can be imagined. Then followed a two 
 hours' sea passage, at the end of which time we 
 reached the Mumiang mouth of the Kinabatangan, the 
 nearest entrance to the river from Elopura. For some 
 twenty-five miles further down the coast one mouth 
 succeeds another, the whole forming a great network of 
 waterways, by means of which this fine river discharges 
 itself into the sea, the water frequently being fresh or 
 brackish for a mile or so outside. The Mumiang 
 intrance resembles a great bay or inlet, some two miles 
 broad and several miles long, into which numerous 
 small streams empty themselves, the whole forming a 
 most puzzling place for an inexperienced navigator to 
 find himself in. all the surrounding swamps b 
 thickly fringed with mangrove tree-, so that one stream 
 has no distinguishing features from another. 
 
 The mangrove swamps being passed, the nipa 
 swamps succeed. From the bark of the mangi 
 valuable dyeing and also tanning extract is obtained ; 
 whilst to the nipas, which in their -row tli much resemble 
 gigantic ferns, we are indebted for our house-building 
 materials ; of them are made attaps for routing, and 
 kadj iings for the walls of our bungalows. Twenty- 
 miles of this monotonous scenery have to be pa
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 65 
 
 before we reach the true forest-covered banks of the 
 river, and we then have to steam another thirty miles 
 or so ere reaching the first village. Before arriving 
 at Melapi, we were called upon to sacrifice at Ihe Batu 
 Tummungong caves, the small entrance to which is 
 decorated by numberless offerings in the shape of tiny 
 Hairs of white and red cloth, stags' antlers, packets of 
 rice, pieces of dried fish, small bundles of Chinese 
 tobacco, incense sticks, and all sorts of odds and ends 
 placed there by travellers. There is a story connected 
 with these caves, but it is not a satisfactory one, as 
 it appears to have no proper beginning, and ends in 
 nothing particular. A party of brothers are supposed 
 to have gone into the cave to sleep, when, for reasons 
 unexplained, the rock at the entrance slowly closed 
 down and shut them in, and it is to their imprisoned 
 spirits that the offerings arc made, in order that 
 the fates may be propitious to the travellers who place 
 them at the shrine. The scenery at this particular spot 
 is lovely : a high sandstone bluff juts sharply on to 
 the river, the top of it crowned with fine forest trees, 
 and its face clothed with rich vegetation, amongst 
 which spread great palm-shaped ferns, with fronds 
 often 8ft. long. There are no villages below Melapi, 
 owing to the fear the natives used to have of the pirates 
 who ravaged the coast line and drove all the more 
 peacefully disposed people far up into the interior; and 
 though this state of affairs has within the last ten years 
 been put an end to, the natives have not yet ventured 
 nearer the mouths of the rivers. As to Melapi, it is 
 nothing better than a collection of tumble-down old 
 shed-like houses, with a few cocoanut trees and bananas 
 
 E
 
 V)G A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 here and there. There being nothing to detain us at 
 tliis place, we steamed on to the next village that night. 
 
 J3ilet is a much more imposing and prosperous 
 looking village, being inhabited by the Gomanton birdV- 
 ncst collectors, which caves yield a yearly revenue of 
 $25,000, and make the owners so rich that they art- 
 able to buy anything they want or desire. In the 
 old days they used to spend their surplus money in 
 purchasing gong-, brass trays, basins, kettles, and 
 boxes, native cannon manufactured at Brunei, and 
 such like articles, which it was their custom to hide 
 or bury in the forest, fearing lest, by keeping too much 
 wealth in their houses, they might provoke the attacks 
 of hostile tribes. The two yearly collections of birds'- 
 nests used to be attended by a motley crowd of several 
 hundred persons, Avho picked up a living in miscella- 
 neous ways, such as cake-selling, coat-making, peddling 
 in all its branches, and begging. All these per 
 used to get big pickings, as the collectors were most 
 prodigal with their wealth. A bundle of Chinese 
 tobacco, worth 25 cents, would be exchanged for four 
 catties of nest, worth $1 per catty; salt fish, value 12 
 cents per catty, was exchangeable for an equal weight of 
 nest ; and so on. One amongst other cave customs 
 was, that if a person below called out '"forfeit," the 
 collector above had to throw down a nest, so that by 
 
 ■ means alone the hangers-on made a good living. 
 
 Collecting birds' nests is a very hazardous occupa- 
 
 . the rattan ladders being in some instances 200ft. 
 long. As the caves arc dark, it is necessary to use 
 lights, and candles made of bee- wax arc employed, as 
 ordinary wax or composite candles injure the nests
 
 DP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. G7 
 
 should tlie wax fall on them. In the Gomanton caves 
 both white and black nests arc obtained, the former 
 worth $8, and the latter $1 per catty — a catty equals 
 l^lb. The swiftlets which make the nests are of two 
 kinds, the one which makes the black nest having a 
 slightly larger head than the other. I do not know 
 whether this fact is scientifically known. 
 
 The head man of the village was absent on a 
 pilgrimage to Mecca, and had taken his family with 
 him. The No. 2 man. my husband had authority to 
 confer a title upon ; so early next morning, all the 
 inhabitants having been summoned, the governor's 
 titah (or letters patent of nobility) was read by W. 
 This done, there followed much banging of cannons 
 and guns: some of the former refused to no off. how- 
 ever, and recourse had to be made to red-hot pieces of 
 inm to the touch holes. Having safely passed through 
 this ordeal, we steamed off on our up-country journev. 
 and after passing a few groups of houses, near Bilet. 
 hardly to be dignified with the term of villages, no othe 
 houses were seen all day. 
 
 Towards evening we reached Sebongan, 120 miles 
 up stream. This point is tidal limit. There are now no 
 houses at this place, the people having deserted it and 
 moved nearer Bilet, owing to the number and ferocity 
 of the crocodiles hereabout. Altogether over thirty 
 individuals have been devoured by these awful brutes, 
 and some of the accounts are very harrowing ; but, 
 with the usual apathy of the Malay nature, no attempts 
 at reprisals were made. The story runs that it 
 was in consequence of a feud between the chief of the 
 village, Pangeran Amai, and the crocodiles, that they 
 
 e 2
 
 68 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 were so bloodthirsty, he having in his youth sworn 
 that he hoped he might be devoured by a crocodile if a 
 statement he made was not true, well knowing that 
 h<" was swearing falsely. The curious point of the 
 tale is that, after the villagers had all moved down to 
 Bilet. Pangeran Amai went to the Mumiang to collect 
 nipas for roofing his new house-, and whilst there, was 
 dragged out of his boat at night by a huge crocodile, 
 and was never more seen again, although there were 
 six or seven other men in the same boat. 
 
 The deserted fields and gardens here, being now 
 covered with grass, afford food for large numbers of 
 deer, bison (Bos banting), rhinoceros, and elephants. 
 We saw the footprints on the muddy banks where one 
 of the latter animals had landed after a swim across 
 the river. On a former occasion on this spot my 
 husband, having failed to come up with a herd of about 
 forty elephants, was returning through the forest, 
 when his men discovered some orang-utans sitting in a 
 tree. He himself objects to shoot these animals, but 
 the men began firing at them before he could stop 
 them. The female, with a little one clinging to her, 
 made off into the forest; but, being wounded, stopped 
 in a high tree. Hearing a rustling behind him, he 
 turned round and saw the male animal coming to his 
 wife's assistance, although it clearly understood the 
 danger, and was in fact shot by the men — a sad sacrifice 
 to conjugal affection. 
 
 Early the next morning we arrived at Lamag, 
 having passed through nearly sixty miles of tropical 
 forest without seeing a single house, although if the 
 country were China it would support hundreds of
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 69 
 
 thousands of people, possessing as it docs all Un- 
 necessary elements for the support of a large population. 
 
 Having reached this place (Lamag), we sent the 
 " Saline " back, as we intended making a long stay, and. 
 furthermore, proposed continuing our journey into the 
 far interior when W. had finished his work at this 
 place. There is a large native village here, and we 
 saw a good deal of the people. On the day wo arrived 
 the natives had killed a rhinoceros, which their dogs 
 had brought to bay when out pig-hunting. The 
 men went in with their spears and killed it. The 
 Lainagites, not being Mohamedans, do not scruple to 
 cat anything that offers — snakes, monkeys, &c. — so they 
 regarded the rhinoceros as affording an opportunity for 
 a big feast. They offered W. a cut of steak, which he 
 accepted, and ordered to be cooked for dinner, to my 
 disgust. He protested that it was very good eating. 
 and was something like pork and venison; but I 
 declined to try it — indeed, I did not like to use the 
 knives, forks, or plates for some days afterwards. 
 Our cook, Lam Chong, a Chinaman, bought the animal's 
 small horn for five bundles of tobacco, as his country- 
 men prize all manner of strange and curious things as 
 medicine, and no doubt he made a good profit over the 
 transaction when he returned to Elopura. I possess 
 one valued at $25. 
 
 There Mas with us Mr. A., a naturalist, whose cook 
 was provided with a camp oven; so he and our cook 
 used to have great baking matches, preparing and 
 subsequently baking bread on a sandbank. One night 
 the river rose nearly twenty feet, submerging the said 
 sandbank. We usually lay at anchor in mid-stream.
 
 70 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 but on this and some other occasions,, after heavy rains 
 in the mountains of the interior, we had to haul our 
 boat close in to the bank, to prevent ourselves being 
 carried away by the big floating logs which swirled 
 past us in numbers. 
 
 At this place the natives very wisely turn the 
 tables on the crocodiles, preferring to eat them rather 
 than be eaten by them. No less than sixty-seven had 
 been caught in the preceding twelve months, some of 
 very large size, and nearly 20 ft. long. I first found 
 out that the natives had acquired a taste for crocodile 
 flesh in the following way: At daybreak one morning 
 the orderly came and called my husband, saying there 
 was a big wild pig on the river bank close by. He 
 got up immediately, and shot it from the boat. Having 
 consequently a large supply of fresh meat, and knowing 
 that the natives at this place would be glad of some, 
 I, seeing a long dug-out canoe making its way up the 
 river, hailed the occupants, intending to give them a 
 portion of poor piggy. As they came alongside, the 
 man in the bow put his head in at one of the cabin 
 windows, and asked if we would like some 'ekan 
 besar ' (big fish). An instant later, to my intense 
 surprise, I found the 'big fish' he offered was nothing 
 else than crocodile. They had just captured it, and 
 had hewn it into great steaks. This culinary delicacy 
 we politely declined. The brute must have been about 
 12 ft. long; its skull is now in the Sandakan Museum. 
 The mode of capturing these creatures is by firmly 
 driving two stout but pliable poles into the river bank, 
 and tying them together. To the lower one is attached 
 a long single rattan, at the end of which half a dozen
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABA.TANGAN. 71 
 
 lines arc made fast to a short stout stick to which is 
 bound a dead monkey, or other such bait. A crocodile 
 however large, once swallowing this, and getting the 
 stick crossways in his stomach, cannot drag away the 
 apparently weak sticks, and is found and secured by 
 the men when they go round to examine the lines. 
 
 As the accommodation for our boatmen was very 
 limited, some of them made an upper storey on the roof 
 of the boat. They bound poles to the sides of the boat 
 with rattan, and then covered in the framework with 
 kadjangs made of the ever useful nipa palm. In this 
 country one never seems to be at a loss for this sort of 
 thing. Rattans are always to be found close to hand, 
 and, when split up into lengths, answer all the purposes 
 of rope or string. Saplings abound everywhere, so 
 that if you provide yourself before starting on your 
 travels with a kadjang or two, you can make a snug 
 enough little hut on very short notice. Our boat, when 
 this addition had been made, looked like a big edition 
 of a child's Noah's ark; however, she answered her 
 purpose, and everyone on board, though packed like 
 sardines in a tin, was now able to find a comfortable 
 corner. 
 
 Amongst other bicharas — signifying in this 
 instance a slave case — demanding W.'s attention, was 
 that of a slave woman, rejoicing in the name of 
 Champaka. "Champaka" is the name of a very sweet- 
 smelling flower. Natives in this part of the world, and 
 especially Sooloos sometimes give their children very 
 odd names. For instance, I have known a man called 
 'Ular' (snake); another, 'Ubi' (potato); and another, 
 'Kalug' (worm). But to return to Miss Champaka,
 
 72 A DEI AMI IN BORNEO. 
 
 who had run away from her mistress; she was not 
 quite so youthful as she had been, and doubtless she 
 thought it high time she got settled in life; so, the 
 opportunity offering, she ran away with one of the 
 river traders, to ask help from my husband. Her 
 mistress followed her down to Lamag a day or two 
 afterw ardsj accompanied by her daughter Fatima. Both 
 these ladies were resplendent in silks of all hues of the 
 rainbow — yellow silk trousers (Sooloo women, like 
 Chinese women, always wear trousers); short emerald- 
 green jackets, with exceedingly tight and long sleeves, 
 that must be most uncomfortable to wear and difficult 
 to get on and oft; and to complete their costumes they 
 wore the usual native garment, the sarong, dyed in a 
 peculiar patchy way in dabs of magenta, yellow, green, 
 and orange, hanging from their right shoulder, and 
 partially concealing their forms. These aristocratic 
 ladies wept copiously at losing their handmaiden, for, 
 alter a long and solemn bichara, Champaka was 
 declared a free woman, and shortly afterwards married 
 the man of her choice. 
 
 For three days a native dog wandered up and down 
 the river bank, howling in a most distressing manner. 
 He looked lean and miserable at first, and seemed 
 to be growing hourly thinner; it was quite evident that 
 he wished to cross the stream to get back to his home. 
 and to this end we sent help on two occasions, but. 
 not knowing the men or the boat, he refused assistance. 
 No doubt he was taken out hunting by his owners and 
 lost in the forest. All the native <\>"j;* are clearly alive 
 to the danger of venturing into the rivers, and never 
 do so unless under great excitement. At last the poor
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 73 
 
 animal was driven to such straits that he cunningly 
 
 made his plans, and when a large log came floating 
 down nearer to the bank than usual, plunged into 
 }he stream, swam to it, and got upon it, and so was 
 assisted some yards further across the river; then, 
 finding the log was drifting too far down, he again 
 jumped into the water, striking out bravely for the 
 shore, where he arrived safely in a very short time. 
 
 A somewhat similar case occurred a day or two 
 later, the animal in distress this time being a proboscis 
 monkey, nearly 1 ft. high- This odd and dissipated 
 looking old gentleman we discovered sitting on a post 
 hanging over the water. It was clear that he also 
 could not make up his mind to trust himself to the 
 dangers of the river. He sat there cogitating for some 
 time with a most melancholy expression on his queer 
 face, his big red flabby nose, nearly two inches long, 
 adding to his droll expression. As after a long time 
 no help offered, he determined to plunge in, and in due 
 time, although the current was flowing rapidly and he 
 had to exert his full strength, he safely reached the 
 opposite bank. 
 
 Every evening at sundown wc were much tor- 
 mented by the myriads of sandflies that swarmed about 
 us ; their bite is very irritating for a short time, the 
 irritation returning again after a lapse of twenty-four 
 hours. It Mas lucky that they did not trouble us 
 for long ; they cleared away after an hour's sport, to 
 leave us in peace until the same hour the following 
 evening. 
 
 Whilst taking our coffee one morning, wc heard 
 a srrcat shoutimr and calling in the forest. W. sent to
 
 74 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 inquire the cause, and was informed that the ordeal 
 by hot water was being undergone by a man who 
 refused to acknowledge a debt. This test was perfectly 
 voluntary. It appears that this method of settling 
 disputes is often resorted to by natives. When these 
 men came out of the forest, my husband called for 
 them, wishing to personally inspect the hands that 
 had been in the boiling water; they did not seem any 
 the worse for it. and we do not know how the matter 
 was managed; but, at any rate, the debtor was quite 
 satisfied, for he told W. so. When the man's hand is 
 in the hot water he relieves his feelings by loudly 
 calling on Heaven to help him, and bear witness to 
 the truth of his statements. 
 
 Owing to some mismanagement at Sandakan. our 
 supplies of food were not sent forward to us, and Ave 
 were left almost without ' chow-chow.' We could not 
 look to the natives for much, sweet potatoes being the 
 most substantial part of their diet, and such delicacies 
 as crocodile steak, monkey stew, and snake pie, not 
 being much to our taste. They rear no fowls for fond. 
 although they keep a few, and if they happen to have 
 a few eggs they hoard them up until they are bad - 
 On this occasion, hearing we were short of food, one 
 of the principal villagers brought us an offering of four 
 eggs, which wo had boiled for breakfast ; on opening 
 them with hopeful expectation, we were, as usual, 
 doomed to find them all uneatable. 
 
 We now had recourse to trapping. We set one 
 of the men to make *j arrets,' or hedges formed of 
 branches and leaves, with gaps at intervals, each gap 
 being supplied with a noose. These traps were visited
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 75 
 
 twice daily, and sometimes yielded us a mouse-deer, 
 no bigger than a hare, a plump partridge of gorgeous 
 plumage, or a lovely fire-back pheasant; but, sad to 
 relate, more often it was a civet cat. a huge monitor 
 lizard (here called iguana), or a sort of skunk that was 
 trapped; whilst sometimes, when something good for 
 the pot had been noosed, one of the uneatable creatures 
 had been beforehand with us, and all that was left was 
 a handful of feathers. Our larder was so reduced that we 
 were at last obliged to make our breakfast, tiffin, and 
 dinner off sweet potatoes, and the men were almost as 
 badly off as ourselves, for their rice was almost all finished. 
 
 Amongst other curious creatures caught in the 
 traps was a gymnura, a little white creature not much 
 bigger than a guinea-pig, with a pig-like face and a 
 bare rat-like tail. I believe no specimen of this animal 
 has ever been imported into England, for the reason 
 that the smell they emit is insufferable, and hangs 
 about for such a long time ; it is so overpowering, that 
 I have been once or twice awakened from a sound sleep 
 owing to one of these animals having simply passed 
 below the house. Another curious creature caught 
 was a prickly rat ; it appeared to be a true rodent, but 
 in place of hair was provided with little epulis like a 
 hedgehog. Little squirrels no bigger than mice weir 
 common in this locality. 
 
 At last the fresh stores which we had been expect- 
 ing arrived, and we were then able to resume our 
 journey. From this point our progress was very slow 
 and most difficult, for our unfortunate crew had to tow 
 our boat. The banks of soft black mud were cut 
 across by numerous side streams and ditches. Along
 
 7b A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 these slippery banks the men plunged wearily hour 
 after hour — now in the water, now out, wet to the skin 
 all day. with a blazing tropical sun pouring down upon 
 them always at the least ankle-deep in the black, 
 holding slime, and often sinking up to their km 
 Vet there was never a murmur from any one of them, 
 but they toiled along bravely and cheerily, changing 
 gangs once in two hours. It was dreadfully unhealthy 
 work, and we were very anxious about them. I do not 
 think that in any other country one could have found 
 such good-tempered and ready workers.
 
 C II A PTEE VI I 
 
 Up thk River Kinabatangan — (continued.) 
 
 Forest scenery ovei"-rated. —Orchids. — Deserted gardens. — Mungalis 
 trees. — Bees' nestf>. — Blut. — Utu's house. — Champaka's ladies. — 
 Wild castle. — Karangans, Malubuk River. — Quarmote River. — 
 Alexandra Falls.— Sonepis — Tunbunwahs. — Tungarns. — Native 
 costumes.- -Tobacco growing. — Summungup. — A revolting cus- 
 tum.— Kinabalu the Borneo Valhalla. — Boats of the Sick 
 spirits. — Domingol. — San teens. — Reception at Dimingol. — Esta- 
 blishing a Fair.— Cotton. — Karamoork River. — Frightened 
 children. — A main balugoi. — River Trade. — Further up the 
 river. — A durian feast. — Native mode of climbing trees. — 
 Sundyaks. — The river shallows. — Our return journey. — Malay 
 trader-. — Native llnth. — Deer shooting. — Home again. 
 
 THE usual accounts of tropical scenery are much 
 overdrawn, so far as my experience extends ; at 
 any rate, with regard to the number of flowers to be met 
 with. As a rule, the forest itself is one uniform dark 
 crreen. Orchids are often to be seen; but their flowers 
 are rarely conspicuous. There are, of course, exceptions, 
 but they grow so high up in the forks of the trees that 
 unless the tree is felled or a ladder made there is no 
 getting them, climbing being practically impossible. 
 for the great forest trees grow from 100ft. to 150ft. 
 before they spread out a single branch in their search 
 for light and air, their trunks being as straight as the 
 columns of a cathedral aisle. On the river bank, how- 
 ever, one tree was often seen which proved an exception 
 to this rule, this being doubtless the season for its 
 blooming ; rising to a height of 30ft. or so, it was 
 smothered in flowers of a bright lilac hue, and looked 
 not unlike a rhododendron.
 
 78 A DECADE IV BORNEO. 
 
 As wo glided along we noticed many charming 
 little patches of park-like scenery — places once under 
 native cultivation, but now deserted and become grass 
 land, which afford food to numerous deer and wild 
 cattle, that make these pretty peaceful glades their 
 feeding grounds. One could not help indulging in 
 a desire to pitch one's tent and make a garden in one 
 of these inviting spots. 
 
 The most noticeable tree in the forest is the 
 mungalis, with its smooth white trunk, which springs 
 straight up, towering high above all others before it 
 spreads out its branches. For some reason or other, 
 the wild bees that abound in this country seem to have 
 a predilection for these trees, and sometimes one may 
 count as many as twenty and even thirty bees' nests 
 hanging from the branches of a single tree. The 
 natives rarely exert themselves to obtain the wax, 
 though it has a good market value, whilst the honey 
 is simply wasted altogether. 
 
 On and on we went, wearily and slowly, our boat- 
 men always good-tempered, and ready to make the best 
 of a bad situation, never a grumble, never a murmur, 
 making fun of each other when a companion sank t<» 
 his armpits in soft ooze, pulling and tugging and 
 laughing and swimming by turns. We passed no 
 houses; we met no boats for days, except at a small 
 village called Blut. In this campong there is only one 
 decent house, but we found the Utu, proprietor, at home 
 who showed us his new domicile with great pride. He 
 had recently paid Elopura a visit, and had become 
 inspired with a desire to posses a better abode than 
 his neighbours, so had erected one on the Sandakan
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 7U 
 
 model. This man had a wonderful tale about a coal 
 mine, which W. promised to inquire further about on 
 the first possible occasion. 
 
 Champaka's mistress and her two daughters live 
 here — ladies of quite the highest aristocracy of the 
 country, the same persons who visited us during our 
 stay at Lamug in gorgeous array of purple, scarlet, 
 green, and gold. Their home, however, we found to 
 be a most wretched shanty, in which it was barely 
 possible for them to stand erect, and so old and dilapi- 
 dated that in wet weather the rain must have poured 
 in upon them like water through a sieve. The ground 
 underneath the house (for all houses in this country are 
 built on piles) was in a most horrible and unsanitary 
 condition, being wet with green slime, and all tin; 
 refuse from the house — fish scrapings, potato parings. 
 and everything else — being got rid of through the open 
 flouring above, and had putrified and created a most 
 evil smell; yet here were these people living above in 
 utter unconcern, just as though deprived of the senses 
 of sight and smell. It is needless to say I did not 
 venture into this shed to return the owner's visit. 
 
 My husband went out shooting at dusk in some 
 large fields prettily dotted here and there with trees and 
 clumps of feathery bamboo. Whilst trying to stalk a 
 deer that was uttering its sharp, loud cry, in walked 
 a herd of wild cattle or buffaloes, which rushed off 
 again with a noise like a charge of cavalry ; but, 
 unfortunately, owing to the falling night, and the moon 
 not being up, he could not sec to take aim. 
 
 Above Blut the river gets much swifter, and pebbly 
 shallows occur, called karangan.8 up which our crew
 
 80 A DECADE IN" BORNEO. 
 
 had great difficulty in dragging the boat, the water 
 lushing and splashing amidst the stones and rocks, and 
 eddying round the bodies of the men, who were all in 
 the water, hauling away with all their strength at two 
 ropes, one from either bow, and fending us off from 
 the rocks. On the third day from Blut we passed 
 the Malubuk, a river with a mouth nearly fifty yards 
 broad, but quite uninhabited. On the evening of the 
 fourth day we reached the Quarmote, a fine stream, 
 whose head waters rise far away in the interior. No 
 Europeans have ever been up this river, which has a 
 very strong and rapid current; four days' journey up 
 it are Alexandra Falls, a fine caseads, said to descend 
 forty yards — the entire river, in fact, rushing over 
 rocks into a basin below. 
 
 Proceeding on our way up the Kinabatangan, 
 which did not perceptibly decrease in width or volume. 
 we soon arrived at a village called Sonepis, and from 
 this time forward were never Ion"- without seeing 
 houses. The people inhabiting this district are known 
 as Tunbunwhas; the majority of whom are not Moham- 
 medans, and consequently do not regard pigs as unclean 
 beasts. Pigstyes, therefore, are often to be seen below 
 their houses or in their gardens; these pigs are fattened 
 up from time to time for their high feasts and holidays. 
 The Mohammedan religion is fast gaining ground in 
 the centre of Borneo however, and soon there will be 
 very few people left who are not followers of the 
 Prophet; but the Tunbunwhas find the necessity of doing 
 away with their pig feasts a great stumbling block. 
 
 At this place we saw some Tungaras, whose proper 
 district is up the Quarmote, a much wilder race than the
 
 UP THE RIVER KJNABATANGAN. 81 
 
 Turburwahs. Hearing they were here, W. sent to call 
 them ; but, as the men were afraid to come themselves, 
 they sent a deputation of their women. I think we 
 were the first Europeans they had ever seen; at any 
 rate, they had never seen a white woman before. Wc 
 regaled these persons with very sweet tea and sugared 
 biscuits, presenting them on their departure with gifts 
 of tobacco (for all native women enjoy cigarettes), 
 some matches, which they highly prize — their usual 
 mode of obtaining lights and fire being by means of 
 a bamboo, bit of pith, and a broken piece of pottery— 
 as well as some salt fish and rice. 
 
 I am unable to say that these Tungara ladies could 
 boast of great personal attractions, when judged by 
 our western standard of beauty. They load their bodies 
 with all manner of ornaments, chiefly coils of brass 
 wire, which they twist into wide waistbands, bangles 
 for arms and ankles, also necklaces and ear-rings. 
 One woman wore a kind of coronet formed of beads 
 and wire, which hung in a sort of fringe over her 
 forehead; tassels of beads also hung suspended from 
 her ears, and her fingers were adorned with man)' rings, 
 \s for her coiffure, it was a sort of chignon at the back, 
 puffed and padded with a handful of dried u-rass. 
 
 Further up the river we saw some nice tobacco 
 growing amongst the paddi. The leaves were very 
 fine and large. The natives do not attempt to ferment 
 it. but simply dry it, cut it up small, and use it in 
 their pipes or rolled into cigarettes, the covers of which 
 are thin young leaves of the nipa palm. No doubt in 
 days to come this will be a very prosperous tol 
 growing district. 
 
 F
 
 82 A DECADE 1\ BORNEO. 
 
 Our boat-boys, "with tho usual patience character- 
 istic of the Malay race, used (<» constantly devoti 
 their spare time to fishing, with but very poor result-. 
 One uight, however, they met with unusual luck, 
 and returned to the houseboat with two pail-f 
 of beautiful silvery fish, off which we all feasted tin 
 
 day. 
 
 For the next few days our journey was very tedious 
 and uneventful. One gets tired even of admiring this 
 tine river, and the unbroken line of forest trees grows 
 dreadfully monotonous. Villages, however, occurred 
 much moi»c frequently than they did below Quarmote, 
 and avc stopped at each one, as there 1 were bicharas 
 ind quarrels to settle at nearly all of them. At one 
 place a small chief came forward to make a request 
 The weather had been unusually dry. and as a means 
 of inducing rain -for need of which the crops were 
 suffering much— this wicked old wretch asked that he 
 might be allowed to summungup one of his sla 
 Summungupping is a most revolting and barbarous 
 
 .in. which the natives of the interior would like 
 to carry into effect if permitted to do so. It is needless 
 ay that this requesl was promptly refused, and tin 
 man was cautioned not to pursue such practices in 
 future. Tiie ceremony of summungupping is a- follows: 
 Having obtained a slave for the purpose, the unfortunate 
 being is bound with ropes and tied to a post; there- 
 upon all the villagers approach armed with spears ? 
 which they thrust a short distance into the slave's 
 body, at the same time requesting him to convey 
 
 lages to their deceased relations on Kina Balu. (1 
 i lay here explain that Kina Balu, the largest mountain
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. OO 
 
 in the B.N.B. Company's territory, represents the heaven 
 of these people. The good individuals who die ascend 
 the rocky heights and live in joy at the summit: 
 whilst the bad ones, ceaselessly and ineffectively try to 
 scramble up its cold and rugged sides to the abode of 
 bliss above.) 
 
 Whilst continuing our May up stream we saw a 
 miniature house floating down towards us. It was 
 gaily decorated with flags, and was fitted on to a 
 lanteen or raft. I wished to have it. but the boatmen 
 refused, in their usual courteous Malay fashion, to 
 interfere with it. explaining that someone in a village 
 above must be ill, and that this little house had been 
 launched on the river in the hope that the illness would 
 be floated away in it, and the boatmen were afraid 
 that if they took it, the sickness, which they imagined 
 to be on board it. would attack us or some member 
 of our party. 
 
 At a point near here we found a boat full of men 
 awaiting us. sent down to assist us by the thoughtful 
 kindness of Pangeran Dermatuan, who had received 
 news of our approach by Panglima Banjer, whose boat 
 being a swift gobang or dug-out canoe, travelled faster 
 than out heavy houseboat. The river from this point 
 was more thickly populated. At Termoy there were 
 some sago and cocoanut palms growing, almost the first 
 we had seen. The same day we arrived at Domingol, 
 our place of halt. 
 
 Domingol is charmingly situated: the first sight 
 we caught of it as we rounded a bend of the river much 
 surprised and pleased us. Panglima Dermatuan's 
 house, a large and roomy structure, stands in a 
 
 r 2
 
 Si' A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 commanding position at the point of a promontory 
 surrounded by cocoanut and other fruit trees, with 
 the B.N.B. Company's flag flying above it. The 
 surrounding country is cleared and under cultivation 
 for a comparatively long distance back from the river 
 hanks. Here and there, dotted aboul amongsl paddi 
 and sweet-potato fields, are the houses of Panglima 
 Dermatuan's followers, cadi crowning a little liiil : 
 whilst, forming a background to this rural and peaceful 
 scene of contentment and plenty, rose in the far 
 distance ranges of hills and mountains all fores! 
 clad to their summits. 
 
 On the river were many lanteens (rafts) completing 
 their cargoes of rattans. In some cases quite large 
 houses were erected upon these lanteens, with verandahs 
 in front. I should think ii must he mosl comfortable to 
 travel in this way. Unfortunately they can only be 
 used to lliai down stream, a- it would not lie p issible to 
 ■ past karangans or up rapids. There was also 
 quite a little licet of traders' I'm' 3 Ul i h< - elements 
 afforded a very attractive and gratifying picture, and 
 1 to the wealth of the surrounding foresl -. 
 The Panglima received us with much banging oJ 
 native cannon, and escorted us to his house, in which, 
 on an elevated platform, he had arranged a seat of 
 honour gorgeously draped with silks of all the colours 
 of the rainbow. A number of the chief villa 
 collected and squatted round about the edge of the 
 platform, and certain matters were discussed, i.» be 
 cone bito more l'ullv on a later occasion. 
 
 only from a distance was Domingol attractive, 
 but, unlike mosl native villages, we were surprised and
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 85 
 
 glad to find that Panglima Dermatuan induce- his 
 
 people to devote some attention to sanitary matters, so 
 that the open spaces below the houses here arc all kept 
 clean and tidy. I think very special praise is due t<> 
 the Panglima, for it is solely in consequence of his 
 example that these people keep their houses so well, as 
 Domingol is situated in the heart of Borneo, and no 
 European influence is brought directly to bear upon 
 them. 
 
 There being a fairly large campong here, and the 
 Malay traders enjoying a little recreation, the male 
 portion of the inhabitants usually collected on a small 
 plat of an evening to play at ball — "main-raga" they 
 call it. This game is not played as in England, with 
 the hand or a bat, but the ball, which is a light one 
 made of rattan, is kept in motion by kicks given by 
 the inner side of the ankle of the right, foot, and much 
 -kill is shown in keeping it in the air. Such persons 
 amongst the circle of players as aspire to be dandies 
 airily wave bright-coloured silk handkerchiefs in their 
 right hands. 
 
 At Domingol we found some very fine cotton 
 growing, which no doubt would prove a very profitable 
 article of commerce if more largely cultivated. 
 
 Thinking it might give an impetus to trade, my 
 husband declared that a market should be held beneath 
 the trees near the Panglima's house, and messeng 
 were sent to ask people to come from all the nearest 
 \illages, and bring with them whatever they had to sell, 
 on a certain given day. Wishing to make the affair 
 a success, amongst other things we instigated an old 
 Sooloo woman to make cakes, advancing her sufficient
 
 3 i \ DECADE IX BORNEO. 
 
 apital for the purchase of the try rice-flour, 
 
 sugar, and cocoanuts. She sat up mosi of the nighl 
 Lng her bake-meats, and on the market morning 
 a supply of cakes of many kinds and shapes, bul 
 all, I believe, of much the same flavour, which attra< 
 many customers. She and her cakes were, in fact, 
 the chief feature of the market, which, unfortunal 
 went off rather flatly, the natives on the first occasion 
 ely understanding what was going to occur. 
 One evening we made a short trip up the Kara- 
 moovk river in a large canoe, manned by our eighl 
 boat-boys. They made a smart little crew in tl 
 form white trousers, blue blouses with sailor 
 lis, red dustahs on their heads, and red sa 
 round their waists. As they rowed they sang Malay 
 lat-songs, keeping time to the splash of their 
 and gardens line the banks of the 
 Kinabatangan on both sides above Domingol; hut 
 the Karamoork, which i- a tributary, is very thinly 
 
 2 to its neai a head-hunl 
 
 tribe on the north side, who not many months bi 
 
 iver and taken twenty-two heads, mostly 
 
 f women and children. As we rounded a bend 
 
 of the river, we saw several little boys enjoying an 
 
 ning bathe. When they discovered us they roared 
 
 lustily, rushing off like lightning to hid Acs. 
 
 nking doubtless that we were a party of the dreadful 
 
 d-hunters. A little distance further up we landed. 
 
 and [iaid a visit to a house standing in a large potato 
 
 !. \V. recognised the proprietor. It seems that he 
 
 cut down and killed a man leaving his wife's mosquito 
 
 curtain, lb' afterwards travelled all the way to Elopura
 
 UP THE RIVER KJNABATANGAN. 87 
 
 to report himself and be tried. Circumstances, it 
 proved, justified his conduct, so he was acquitted and 
 sent back to his country. Being a strong-nerved man 
 he had been put in one of the farthest houses up the 
 Karamoork. 
 
 On the night of the market at Domingol we were 
 invited to be present at a " main-balugsi " given by 
 the Panglima. From the time it began at about 8 p.m.. 
 until broad daylight the next morning, the dancing 
 continued without intermission. Two or three men 
 step out into the centre of the house, join hands in 
 a circle, and commence to move round and round, 
 chanting a dirge-like solo, the rest joining in the 
 choruses. The songs are " topical " ones, referring to 
 anything of local interest. 
 
 We were some days at Domingol, and had plenty 
 of time to look about us and admire the fine plank 
 walls the Panglima was putting round his house, and 
 how his wife Fatima's paddy-planting prospered: besides 
 which, there was a most important case brought into 
 court, about one man's goats, who were accused oi 
 eating up another man's sweet potatoes, and man; 
 other matters of absorbing local interest. 
 
 The trading transactions which took place at 
 Domingol were not insignificant. Having rattan-cut- 
 ting rights on the Karamoork river, the Panglima 
 was carefully preserving the rattans there, instead of 
 allowing them to be exterminated by indiscrimii 
 collection, as was the case in other parts of the river, 
 and a constant and steady outflow of produce is the 
 consequence. Every day a few bundles of rattans were 
 added to the different traders' stocks, and placed on the
 
 88 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 lanteens, which, when full, arc floated away down 
 stream. 
 
 At last we proceeded on again, and ascended thi 
 Kinabatangan beyond its junction with the Kara- 
 mo ork. The river did not seem to get a bit smaller. 
 but, although it was just as broad, we soon found it 
 was not so deep, and some seven or eight miles above 
 the Karamoork our progress was brought to a stop 
 altogether by shallows up which the boat could not 
 possibly pas<. At this point we were, according to the 
 map, over 10001't. above sea level in the boat, and in 
 the centre of this part of Borneo. 
 
 The country Mas very nice: houses and gardens 
 lined both sides of the river. A " main-balugsi " was 
 held in our honour in the house opposite which we had 
 moored our boat, and was attended by a rather larger 
 number of girls than usual, all dressed in the most 
 gorgeous silks of all the lines of the rainbow. These 
 Tunbunwha girls Merc rather good-L>oking. Next daj 
 \V. [went mi an exploring trip up the Bod Tinkah 
 Hills, the firs! European who had ascended them. His 
 intention was to try and find a flat of land, at an 
 elevation of 2000ft. or so, on which a house could be 
 erected for the officer in charge of the district. The 
 search was not altogether successful, as the ridges were 
 too narrow and steep; but a heavy thunderstorm, 
 attended by a deluging rain, drove the party back to 
 the boat before their explorations were full}- accom- 
 plished. In the course of their excursion they had 
 come across a durian tree in bearing, and as this is a 
 fruit I am verj loud of, we went off in the afternoon 
 to try and get some. We found a few ripe ones on
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAX. 89 
 
 the ground which had fallen but our appetites were 
 only tantalised by these, for the natives are equally 
 fond of them, and assisted us at our feast. We tried 
 to get some more, and a particularly well-built Sulu, 
 the strong man of our crew, who said he should cry all 
 night if he could not have a durian or two, volunteered 
 to ascend the tree, which was about 4ft. thick, and 
 rose straight up for 100ft. without putting out a single 
 branch ; there was, however, a smaller tree alongside 
 it, by ascending which Hagheer thought to get over 
 into the branches of the durian. So up he went ; but 
 when about 30ft. from the ground he disturbed a 
 wasps' nest, and. roaring lustily, tumbled rather than 
 climbed down to earth again. Not dismayed by this 
 contretemps, however, another of our crew, a slight 
 little fellow, who said he was impervious to wasp 
 stings, essayed next. As he neared the nest he crept 
 up so quietly and softly that his limbs were hardly 
 seen to move, but some of the wasps came out, and he 
 was stung half a dozen times, enduring tha pain most 
 stoically : but, after all, he had to return disappointed. 
 for he could not reach across to the durian tree. He 
 a\;is determined, however, not to be beaten. We then 
 summoned a lot of villagers to our aid, with a promise 
 <>f a large gift of rice if they would get the durians ; 
 so, a larger party than ever, we started off again in 
 quest of the much-coveted fruit early the next morning. 
 The Sundyak (Sundyak is the general term in use for 
 the Tunbunwhas, Romanows, and other neighbouring 
 tribes) method of ascending trees is very curious. 
 Appearing to regard the tree itself as one side of a 
 ladder, they seek to fix the missing side to it, and plac
 
 90 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 the rungs between the two. This they accomplish in 
 the following manner: First of all, they cut a lol oi 
 wooden pegs about a fool in length, which they sharpen 
 at one end. These are the run--, the sharp end of one 
 of which is driven into the tree about five feet from the 
 ground. A pole some fifteen fee! or so long is then 
 tied securely to the outer end of the peg. At intervals 
 of lour feet or so apart two more pegs are driven into 
 the tree, the workman ascending on th g driven 
 
 in, when he fixes one above; and the pole being tied 
 iach of these pegs, there is a ladder left below, 12ft. 
 r, to begin with. Bui the most puzzling part of 
 the work now begins. It is all ven easy to make the 
 first part of the ladder, with the ground as a support 
 for the first pole: but what support can there be for 
 the second one up in the air? This problem, however, 
 presents no difficulties to the Sundyak's mind, lie 
 ime three feet of the bottom end of the next 
 to the 3ft. of the top end of the first one. and 
 then, putting in his rung, ties the second stick to it. 
 and. ascending as before, continue-, to lengthen his 
 ladder i iy. This being accomplished, a second 
 
 difficulty presented itself, for the tree was full of bull- 
 headed black ants, which fastened with ferocity on 
 everyone who went up; and after a dozen durians had 
 been obtained from the lower branches, the men came 
 
 .,f the tree di daring that they could not stand the 
 
 dreadful ants. Bui again Mathassan, 
 
 ;he slightly built boat-boy, came to the rescue, and, 
 
 ig up, did not leave the tree until he had thrown 
 down the last durian. When he regained the ground 
 he was perfectly black with ants, which had to be
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. ( .H 
 
 swept off him in handfuls. Wo all had a fine feast of 
 durians, and returned to the boat happy. 
 
 My husband had intended to ascend to Penungah, 
 the furthest inland of the Government stations, where 
 there is a garrison of five men, who are considered 
 quite sufficient to maintain order in that district : hut 
 the want of water in the river and the great karangans 
 prevented it, for it was quite impossible to get our 
 gobang past them (we had left our houseboat and 
 migrated into a dug-out canoe, hoping by this means 
 to be able to accomplish our purpose) ; so we had 
 to return to our houseboat again after only a few 
 hours' absence. 
 
 Penungah is quite a busy trading place as well as 
 Government station. The Kinabatangan proper ends 
 at this place, and divides into four rivers, all of them 
 fairly well populated: so, from its central position, as 
 population increases it is clearly destined to become 
 i place of considerable importance in course of time. 
 At present it is the p >int which most of the traders 
 tiding the river make their goal. The mode of 
 inducting trade in these parts is curious; three or 
 four responsible Malays club together in Sandakan, 
 and going to a Chinese shop, borrow goods to the 
 value of about $500 or so. seldom giving anything in 
 the way of security. Storing these goods in a long 
 narrow canoe suitable for river work, they ascend the 
 Kinabatangan, usually only making a stay of a day 
 or two at the lower villages to rest, catch fish, or buy 
 potatoes, as there is not much to do in the way oi 
 trade with these places, they being in touch with 
 Sandakan itself, from which place they draw their
 
 92 \ DECA.DE IN BORNEO. 
 
 own supplies. Farther up their stops at tlic different 
 villages grow longer and longer as customers increase 
 in numbers one to buy a pair of Chinese trousers. 
 another 6 yards "i' grey shirting, a third half-a-dozen 
 cheap and gaudy plates, a fourth 101b. of salt, a fifth 
 a brass box to hold his betel-nut appliances in, and 
 so forth. Nearly all these things are sold on credit. 
 tlic buyer promising to pay half-a-dozen bundles of 
 rattans, a few catties of beeswax or indiarubber, or 
 some other article of foresl produce on the trader's 
 return journey, but the mainstay of the trade is rattans. 
 Proceeding from village to village in this way, it is 
 usually eight or nine months before Penungah is 
 reached, where a longer stay than ever is made, while 
 the traders get rid of the balance of their stock at the 
 besl price they can. Penungah is a place flowing over 
 with milk and hone}-, figuratively speaking — a fine 
 and healthy climate, good soil, field produce (except 
 rice) so cheap that it can be had for the asking, and 
 fish plentiful. The traders while away their time 
 attending '•main-mains" (native dances) or solemn 
 assemblages for reading the Koran at each other's 
 houses, or sometimes making excursions to far-off 
 villages to sell off anv goods that hang on their 
 hands. 
 
 When they propose t<> descend the river they make 
 raft- of bamboo about 30ft. across, and usually as broad, 
 upon which they build a palm-leaf house. This raft 
 they load up with whatever goods they have obtained 
 by barter, and drop down from village to village, 
 collecting their debts of kind as they go along, and in 
 about a year from die time of their starting away they
 
 UP THE RIVER KINABATANGAN. 93 
 
 once move find themselves in Sandakan, with produce 
 worth $1,000 or so, which they take to the shop of the 
 Chinaman who originally fitted them out. After 
 paying him off they usually have enough money left 
 to divide 080 or $90 amongst themselves. There arc 
 of course, no wages to pay, whilst as for food they 
 have eaten very little besides sweet potatoes, tapioca, 
 bananas, and other such things which the native give 
 them, and the fish they catch with their own cast nets : 
 and this lazy existence exactly suits the calm and placid 
 Malay character. The confidence with which the 
 Chinese shopkeeper sees a gang of men taking away 
 several hundred dollars' worth of his stock, disappearing 
 with it for months up rivers or to far-off islands, is 
 very remarkable, and is rarely abused. 
 
 The natives, too, pass a pleasant slothful existence : 
 they know no want, and have very few cares ; a verj 
 little labour in their fields and gardens yields them 
 paddy, sweet potatoes, maize, pumpkins, cucumbers, and 
 melons, bananas, and the like in larger quantities than 
 they can consume; a week or two's forest produce 
 collecting provides them with plenty of rattans and 
 other things which they can barter for cloth, brass 
 ware, and other small necessaries for their households 
 Their houses are usually fairly large and cool, and 
 
 them nothing except labour ; two or three broods 
 of chickens [tick up a living for themselves in the paddy 
 fields; and the pigs, kept below the ho si an 
 
 armful of sweet potato tops flung to them once a day, 
 whilst they in turn provide the chief joints, served 
 up on high days and holidays; and dozens of big 
 earthenware jars, the only things to which they attach
 
 94 A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 any ideas of value, are stored away in every span 
 place. What more do these people want? 
 
 Nol being able to go any farther, we at last pulled 
 up our anchor and proceeded to float down stream, 
 which was a most pleasanl mode of progression. Seated 
 upon deck in the cool of the evenings, we slowly and 
 smoothly glided along, passing houses, gardens, fruit 
 trees, grassy glades, clumps of feathery bamboo, with 
 the soft winds murmuring in their leaves, and strips 
 of fores! now and then intervening; tying up at ni 
 to a tree in a covered bend of the river. We found 
 that by proceeding in this manner we could shool mon 
 game than in any other way; gliding noiselessly al 
 we two or three times floated close to where deer \ 
 unsuspiciously nibbling the grass and leaves near the 
 river bank, affording easy shots \ t> "W.'s gun, and 
 their meat was a most welcome change of diet for 
 our crew. 
 
 When still five or six days short of Sandakan, W., 
 gol ilk and I became mosl anxious to ge< him 
 quickly home. Oar men were very good; tying a rop< 
 from the large canoe to the houseboat, they towed 
 day and night without stopping, one half the crew 
 relieving the other at, stated intervals. By this means 
 our return was much hastened, and in a verj short 
 time we arrived at Elopura, having made a ven 
 pleasant and interesting trip bul for its unfortunati 
 conclusion. 
 
 The healthy climate of Sandakan and fresh sea 
 
 ;es, so m restored my husband, while as for myself 
 1 had been quite well the whole journey through.
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Among the Buluduples and Bajows. 
 
 The Buludupies Former population. — Physical characters of the 
 Buludupies. — Dr. Rey's researches. — Forest produce. — Trade 
 with China. — Chinese settlers.— A change for the worse.— Ws 
 arrival. — Sail decay of the native population. — Origin of the 
 Buludupies. — Born of Satan. — Clever fire-makers. — The Bajows 
 coloured sails. — Sea Gypsies — Origin of the Bajows. — Legend 
 of Ayesha. — [braticen's story. — Skill as fishermen. — Spearing 
 fish. — The Balignini pirates. — Omad das settlement. — Unpleasant 
 experience. — Bajow rain on Bulungan traders. — Chasing the 
 pirate-. — Fired on by police. — Escape of the pirates. — Silam in 
 a state of siege. — Native allies. — Threats from Omaddal. — Rein- 
 forcements sent for. — The women in the forest. — Arrival of 
 S.S. J 'a kilt i ni. 
 
 IN the early days before Europeans disturbed the 
 semi-order that then existed, Borneo was a fairly 
 well populated and smiling rural country. Of the 
 various tribes the Buludupies were one of the most 
 flourishing. The character of the face of these people 
 differs in some degree from that of the more typical 
 Mongolian type, their eyes being so round and the 
 bridge of the nose so developed, that Dr. Rey a French 
 scientific man, who visited North Borneo in 1881 was 
 inclined to think, that they were of semi-Caucasian 
 ancestry. However this may be, in the times I write 
 ni'. they inhabited the country from the Sugut on the 
 North, to the Segama on the South; their fragile boats 
 sailed about trading and fishing amongst the green 
 islands that plentifully dot the shallows and ever-calm 
 sea, their paddy fields were large, their orchards scat- 
 tered over many thousands of acres, their young men
 
 96 A DE< A.DE IX BORNEO. 
 
 could mount inside the steepest and slipperiest caves 
 for bird- nests, or the highest and thickest trees for 
 beeswax, and to this tribe almost solely was confined 
 the art of extracting from the tree the valuable barus 
 camphor so highly prized in China. Their old men 
 peacefully guided the affairs of the different villages, 
 and in the mellow warmth of an ever-balmy climate. 
 life glided tranquilly along. Then it was, that clumsj 
 junks from A.moy running before the northerly monsoon 
 came through the Philippine Islands to Sulu, and from 
 then passing Tawi Tawi arrived on the Borneo coasl 
 dropping their goods as they went, crockery, ironware, 
 silks and the like; and taking on board birdsm 
 beeswax and rattans, cuttle fish, keema and trepang 
 at the various islands they touched at on their wa\ 
 back . 
 
 Junks at this time maintained a good trade with 
 Brunei and other ports on the west coast, and Chinese 
 traders settling down in many places married native 
 girls and to a large extent mixed with the people of 
 the country, infusing a good many Chinese cust 
 and habits into their daily life, such as the wearing 
 Large rings and circles of brassware, their liking for 
 . and veneration for old jars and many others. 
 Bui a change was to come over this tribe as over 
 all other things in tin' whole of Borneo. There was 
 to be an end of the quiet, easy, slightly dreamy Life 
 under a pleasant warm sky. where the rich soil gave 
 back a hundred fold the slightesl attention paid to it. 
 where the produce of the forest, of the birdsnesl cave--. 
 or tic rattan swamp were within easy teach, and were 
 il on ■ exchangeable for rich silk- a),:! other commo-
 
 AMONG THE BULUDUPlES AM) BAJOWS. !*7 
 
 Jities from China. No Longer were the heavy junks to 
 come lazily down the Sulu seas, nor the Buludupies 
 to cultivate their fields in peace. The only traders were 
 to be Parang men, inhabitants of one of the fiercest 
 districts "t - Sulu. but men with commercial instincts, 
 capable of giving back blow for blow with the pirates ; 
 the population of whole" districts was to disappear, and 
 the land so late a smiling garden was to revert to 
 dense jungle, tenanted only by the elephant and the 
 
 ng nt an. 
 When W. arrived in North Borneo, but a miserable 
 
 M.-mi existed of what had been one of the most 
 numerous and most prosperous tribes in Borneo. Of a 
 mild and gentle disposition, they were particularly 
 unfit ' with the troublous times that 
 
 e, and were rapidly on the road to total extinction. 
 Of all those inhabiting the Sandakan district, but 
 seventeen adult males survived in villages up the 
 
 iliod river, and worried by the Sulus and almost 
 driven to despair by repeated head-hunting raids, they 
 wine on the point of abandoning cultivation altogether 
 when he came on the scene, and by intervening between 
 them and the Sulu-. gave them fresh courage and 
 
 I)] d them to gather for themselves the fruit- of 
 
 ir own fields without 2 d under one 
 
 by hectoring Sulu , hiefs. 
 
 The}- showed their appre of W. in various 
 
 5, and Ibrahim their chief in particular became a 
 
 great crony of ing as his guide on hunting 
 
 . instructing him in wood-craft and native 
 
 iculture, and telling him long U about the 
 
 itry. Amongst other tales, he alleged that his tribe 
 
 o
 
 98 A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 was descended direcl from Satan, giving the following 
 account of their ;. 
 
 Once upon a time, a certain old lad} who had two 
 daughters, wished to boil her rice but could nol produce 
 the light wherewith to kindle the fire. She then called 
 upon her two daughters who also tried and tailed, anil 
 she was verj angry with them, which put one of them 
 in such a passion that she ran oil' to a tree and offered 
 to give herself to "Satan" if he would help her to 
 produce fire, whereupon en trying again she struck 
 a light easily. Thai nighl she disappeared. Three 
 ui rhts afterwards, the mother dreamed that if she went 
 to a certain tree in the forest she would find her 
 daughter, and upon doing so found her accordingly. 
 In the course of time the girl gave birth to a son -who 
 was the ancestor of the Buludupies. 
 
 However all this ma) be, the fact remains that the 
 Buludupies seem to have the knack of extracting fire 
 from many most unpromising substance.-, and are nevei 
 at a loss for a light for their cigarettes, even though 
 the) have no lucifer matches. Their usual wa) oi 
 producing fire is to take a piece of dry bamboo about 
 .'. of an inch thick, scrape it until they have produced 
 a flock) substance, then with a little bit of broken 
 pottery, a piece oul of any old plate or tea-cup, held 
 between their finger and thumb, holding some of the 
 flock to the pottery with the thumb, they strike it 
 smartly against the edge of the bamboo and a spark is 
 produced which kindles the Hock. 
 
 Many of the Buludup) women are (pule fair, 
 almost if not quite as white as Portuguese or 
 Spaniards.
 
 VMONG THE liULUJOUPIES AND BAJOWS. 99 
 
 Vbout the shores of these seas, small boats borm 
 along by bright parti-coloured sails are frequentl) 
 to be seen. Sometimes' these sail- are made of alter; 
 blue and white stripes, sometimes red pre-dominates, 
 while occasionally they are a combination of red, whin 
 and blue. As a rule these are Bajow boats. 
 
 The Bajows or Sea gipsies are a strong muscular 
 dark race, the darkest of all the Malay tribes. They 
 have the appearance of having been pickled and pre- 
 served by the salt sea, breezes which they love so well, 
 and the hot direct rays of the brilliant tropical sun. 
 The children of this tribe go about absolutely unclothed 
 until an advanced age. They lead a free roving life 
 in boats, here to-day, gone to-morrow, very rareh 
 settl ■ on the land, and when they do, always select 
 lonely spots along the sea-shore: they are a reck- 
 less, feckless race, living from hand to mouth: they 
 never think of planting anything and take flight 
 like a flock of scared sea-birds on the slightest 
 provocation. 
 
 The ancestry of the Bajows is somewhat doubtful. 
 Certain it is that they are not true aboriginals of this 
 part of Malayu, and an account of the conversion of the 
 Kingdom of Brunei to Mahomedanism, taken from 
 Brunei chronicles, (of which a vivacious account was 
 given in the pages of "'All the Year Round" a tew 
 years ago) probably supplies the clue as to their origin. 
 corroborated as it is by a tale told by Ibrahim of the 
 first appearance of the Bajows in these waters. It doe- 
 not quite fit in with what the Bajows themselves say. 
 without there is a place named Gorangtalo in Johore, as 
 that (Gorangtalo) is where thev claim to come from. 
 
 g 2
 
 100 \ DECADE i\ BORNEO. 
 
 Once upon a time, so the stor) goes, .1 certain 
 Sultan of Johore was the father of a beauteous dai 
 ter, bearing the style and name of Dayung A;, 1 
 Glowing accounts of her charm of face and feature 
 travelled to the distan I courts of the Sultans of Brunei 
 and Stdn. so that the Sultan- of those kingdoms 
 beyond the seas, desired much to obtain her for n 
 bride. Her lather naturally l'a\ >ured the suit of the 
 Sultan of Sulu (Sulu in those days being the most 
 iniportanl state of the three, which accounl tallies very 
 well with what we gleam from other chroniclers who 
 assign to the Sulu archipelago the seemingly incre- 
 dible populati 'ii of 200,000 persons). Dayung Ayesha 
 self meantime seems to have come-more closely into 
 '•intact with and lost her heart to the Sultan of Bru 
 who we are told succeeded in surreptitiously visiting 
 the Astana at Johore. A day however arrived, when 
 all preparations being completed, the obdurate fal 
 turning still a deaf ear to the prayers of his weeping 
 daughter, compelled the loveh Ayesha to embark 
 in a specially constructed boat and starl for Sulu. 
 
 ded bj a fleet as com oy, and under the charg 
 many fighting men, to whose care she was particularly 
 committed, to become the bride of the Sultan of Sulu. 
 
 and favouring winds filled the parti-coloured sails, 
 and gentlj rippling waves bore the charming but 
 still weeping princ ;afeiy across the intervening 
 
 sea without incid tnt, until th ■ ii >tilla neared the sh 
 of Borneo. No thought of surprise entered into the 
 minds of the fighting men, her protectot . who lay 
 lazily on the decks of the prahus, basking in the 
 brilliant sunshine, chewing sirrih or meditatively rolling
 
 wioM. tiii: urn m lUE.s and bajows. I'M 
 
 <■'._ irettes. Bui suddenly, when off their guard, and 
 under cover <>!' the falling night, a desperate onslaught 
 
 was made by the Sultan of Brunei, who Led a fleet to 
 the attack, and a fight ensued. When the fight was 
 ,-ii its fiercest, the Sultan himself, in a speciallj 
 prepared and fast prahu, came alongside Dayung 
 Ayesha's boat. She jumped on board, and leaving the 
 two struggling fleets to fight it out. the loving couple 
 rapidly disappeared into the night. 
 
 Next morning found the Johove fleet in a \er\ 
 an pleasant predicament. Bereft of their special charge, 
 t" return to Johore would be simply courting death 
 at the hands of the enraged father. Verj little better 
 treatment could they expect if they went on to meet the 
 disappointed Sulu Sultan, while they had just been 
 fighting the fleet ol the Sultan of Brunei, whose coast 
 they were then off, so it would seem judging from the 
 iv>ults land always supposing that this series of tales 
 is true), that the) made over towards Celebes. But 
 meeting strong winds they did not make much way ; 
 and. their stores exhausted, they had to take by force 
 "i- otherwise pick up, as well as they could, such 
 provisions as tiny were able: and finally became 
 outcasts, or a species of Flying Dutchmen as it 
 were, living by stealth, and in time carrying "If 
 young women fur wives whenever they could catch 
 them, every man's hand being against them. Tin 
 weather-beaten boats; were replaced by smaller new 
 ones, built by themselves in unfrequented places, 
 mostly sandy island.-, and gradually the) d (generated 
 into the Sea Gypsies thej now- are. On a few sandy 
 undesirable islands thev have settlements, but as a
 
 102 A DECADE !\ BORNEO. 
 
 ink' they perfer living on the water, each familj in 
 
 ■ it to it><.li". 
 
 According to [brahi.ni (and it is rather curious to 
 confirmatory evidence from such a quarter as this. 
 as it is extremely unlikely that Ibrahim ever heard of 
 tlic Dayung Ayesha and the matters in connection with 
 her marriage) in the long past two large boats, much 
 larger than the ones the Bajows now use (the theory 
 being that they were two of the original Johore fleet) 
 ippearecl off Baliala, and the Buludupies, whose main 
 district in this immediate neighbourhood was then the 
 Blocking, a river at the back of the Mumiang harbour, 
 senl off some of their old men to parley with the 
 strangers. This again, by the way, i< quite character- 
 istic of the Buludupies. The reception accorded to the 
 unfortunate castsways by all other tribes in these waters, 
 was (if the "'eave 1 aaif a brick at 'is 'ead " order, 
 whereas the timid Buludupies, a\ erse to the use of force, 
 immediately begin to treat. The Bajows, finding what 
 sort id' folk they had to deal with, seem to have 
 put on threatening airs: a compromise was arrived 
 at. whereby the Buludupies agreed t < • retire into 
 Sandakan Bay, resigning their foreshore rights, and 
 the small birdsnest caves on Balhalla to the Bajows, 
 who for their pari agreed not to make any settlement 
 on shore. This agreement, Ibrahim added, had been 
 adhered to until quite recently. 
 
 The} are, par excellence, the fishermen oJ this part 
 of this world, seemingly half fishes themselves, their 
 powers of swimming and diving are remarkable; they are 
 the prim-ipal collectors of the sea-produce, shark's fins, 
 beche de mer, keemah, tortoiseshell, turtle eggs and
 
 v\lo\i: THE BULUDUPIES AND BAJOWS. 103 
 
 pearls. Their food includes all kinds of oysters, 
 limpets, and such like creatures gathered upon the 
 shores. So improvident are they, that T may cite as an 
 instance, that once a Bajow, having received in barter 
 for some find of extra value, more rice than he cared 
 to carry in his boat, simply throw half of it away 
 rather than be at the trouble of conveying it to a safe 
 place. 
 
 They throw three-pronged fish-spears with greal 
 dexterity, and coasting in the shallows, a Bajow will 
 secure at .*>() or (50 feet distant a comparatively small 
 fish, darting across the front of his boat, as adroitly as 
 •t sportsman will drop a pheasant, a wonderful feat 
 ■ sidering that he has to allow nol only for the pace 
 the fish is swimming, but also for the deflection caused 
 'i\ the refract ion of water. 
 
 Owing to the nature of their surroundings the 
 Bajows are of a lawless character. The far famed and 
 greatly dreaded Balignini are one of their sub-tribes ; 
 these people were justly feared in all these waters on 
 account of the systematic raids they used to make, not 
 only on the tribes near home, but also to far distant 
 countries, solely for kidnapping purposes; and all 
 references to the annals of countries as far away as 
 the Straits Settlements, Dutch Borneo, and Java bear 
 testimony to their ferocity. 
 
 In but two or three places have the Bajows made 
 proper settlements, one of these being the Omaddal 
 district situated in the S.TC. of our Territory. For long- 
 past these people have been in possession of tin; 
 neighbouring seas, regarding as their lawful prey 
 anything or anybody that came along their way.
 
 101 A DEI A!>r; |\ BORNEO. 
 
 There are some thousands of them, a big, stro ig, bold, 
 bronzed race unscrupulous to a degree. 
 
 My experiences of them havi been verj unpleasant. 
 < >u one occasion when W., was in charge "1' the Darv< 1 
 Bay district, we came to close quarters with them; he 
 was informed that a boatful <>f people coining up for 
 trading purposes from Bulungan, had been captured 
 while passing across their front; their goods seized 
 and themselves -<>!<1 a- slaves. On hearing tin-. W., 
 immediately sent down the steam launch to demand 
 their release, and also the surrender of the men who 
 bad captured them, Knowing full well the desperal 
 nature of the Omaddalites, lie gave the Serang, (thi 
 man in charge of the launch) orders nol to drop anchor 
 or to let off steam, bul to keep moving slowly about, 
 in older that he should nol be surprised by a sudden 
 rush of boats, neither was he to allow any of the 
 Bajows, except those he demanded, on board. Several 
 of the raptured people were handed over, but the boats 
 and goods were retained, and the persons who had 
 committed the act of piracj were declared nol to be 
 known, which was of course untrue, bul naturally such 
 desperadoes do nol -tick at a lie. 
 
 The real fad of the case became apparent soon 
 after. I) turned oul that these particular persons had 
 h ft Omaddal for Silam in their boats before the arrival 
 of the launch, consequently thej Knew nothing of what 
 had occurred, or of the "Sabine's" visit to theii 
 stronghold, or the rescue i f the captured men and theii 
 removal to Silam. Accordingly, the day after the 
 Bulungan people arrived in Silam. who should presenl 
 themselves there bul two BajoM boats, manned by tin
 
 AMONG THE BULUDVPIES A.XD BAJOWS. 105 
 
 pirates, come to l>u}' rice, &c, and little guessing ^ ]i:ir 
 was in store for them, and also no doubt believing that 
 their misdeeds had not reached W.'s curs. How ?ei 
 one of the kidnapped men happening to be sitting on 
 the wharf at the time, and at once recogniged his 
 captors, and went without delay to the native magis- 
 trate to reporl the fact, who in his turn came to nrj 
 liusband for orders. 
 
 W. gave instructions to him to call our the police 
 immediately, who were to hold themselves ready for fur- 
 ther orders, while he himself went at once without delay 
 to the wharf where the pirates were said to be. < m ar- 
 rival there, he found that the) had already taken alarm. 
 had flung down the bags of rice they had bought, and 
 were paddling off in their two boats as fast as they could. 
 In order to catch them. \V. saw that immediate steps 
 must be taken. Jumping into the first boat handy with 
 two or three men he gave chase, issuing at the same 
 time orders for the proper row-boat to be brought round 
 from the boat-house and manned with armed police. 
 
 \\ . was gaining on the pirates, who on their part. 
 were dashing up the water with their paddles as thej 
 skimmed over the sea, when to his surprise the police 
 on shore suddenly opened fire. By this time the i 
 of what was occurring had spread from house to ho isi 
 like wild-tire, every man. woman and hoy in the 
 place who could find a weapon turned out and 
 rushed off to the shore: Adasiah. the native mag 
 trate's wife, came to me in wild disorder, her 
 raven locks streaming in the breeze, a kris in her 
 hand, to share in the matter. The scene of confu 
 thai ensued can be imagined. Meanwhile the polici
 
 106 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 rushed madlj along the shore and continued to blaze 
 away recklessly, regardless alike of friend and foe. 
 The pirate boats bounded over the shimmering sea, 
 the men paddling with the energj of despair, each 
 vigorous stroke sending up a cloud of spray two or 
 three feet high. While W. in his boat was rapidly 
 gaining on them, I stood on the end of the wharf 
 watching the chase, full of alarm as to what mighl 
 happen next, for the stupid police still continued to fire 
 as fast as they could recharge their guns. Suddenlj 
 one of the boats faltered, then the two closed up 
 together, the men from one sprang overboard into the 
 water, and quick as though! scrambled into the other, 
 seized their paddles and rowed on with increased speed, 
 the number of oars being now doubled. 
 
 The police all this time com inued their mad course, 
 rushing along the shore, taking pot shots as they went, 
 and the row-boal being in the line of fire, the balls were 
 whizzing all about it : one of them carried away the 
 dustah, or head cloth, of one of W's. men as he - at 
 beside him. 
 
 After a mile or so had been covered, a mangrove 
 swamp luckilj prevented the police from further p is- 
 suing their reckless course, and W. was left to continue 
 the chase by himself. 
 
 Pursuer and pursued were progressing al equal 
 
 -j d. and W. was so close thai he was able to put 
 
 two or three shots through their sails without fear of 
 hitting any of the occupants. Finding that they could 
 • hold out much longer, the pirates rapidly pulled 
 in towards the mangrove swamp, jumped into the 
 -hallow water and disappeared amongst the tangled
 
 VMONG THE BULUDUPIES VXD BAJOWS. 107 
 
 net-work of the roots. W. followed them a short 
 distance through the mud. but could not gel up to them 
 as it was fast growing dark. He could easily have 
 si it them while still in the boat had he so thought 
 tit. He started back with one boat, picking up the 
 forsaken one halfway back, when he discovered a great 
 splash of blood at the stern. On arriving at Silam 
 examination showed that out of 11- cartridges 
 expended, the two boats had been hit five times. 
 
 An inquiry into the conduct of the police resulted 
 in them all being fined, and the Sergeant in cha 
 disrated. 
 
 It soon became apparent that we were in rather 
 an unpleasant predicament. These occurrences had 
 i seen by other boats which had not yet reached 
 Silam. and which promptly returned to Omaddal car- 
 rying the news of what had happened. A declaration 
 of war from Omaddal was the immediate consequence. 
 
 \V. senl out hunts to try to pick up the 1 men in 
 the forest, hut so did the Bajows, who found and 
 carried them off. minus the one. who shot in the hack. 
 had tumbled overboard, and whose body was never 
 seen again. Inning been probably devoured by sharks. 
 
 IV natives at the upper end of the Bay rallied 
 round us to a man. Panglima Laut in particular coming 
 in with all the men he could collect, to our aid. while 
 Pangeran Amas and Dato ^.sivee also lent their boats 
 and men To act as scouts. 
 
 'The police force consisted of thirteen men. one of 
 whom, a big black Somali took the opportunity "t 
 going mad. and required the constant attention 
 of two others to control him. The sergeant could
 
 108 \ DE< \l»i: !\ ROUNKO. 
 
 only speak Hindoo and Chinese, neither language being 
 of much use under the circumstances; about half th< 
 rifles vvere defective, and what ammunition remained. 
 
 was most of it bad; and as by this time messages of an 
 unpleasanl character still continued to arrive, it will 
 be understood thai our position was not exactly an 
 enviable one, more (specially as the fori was nol 
 calculated to withstand the rush of such a number 
 of desperadoes as was threatened to be brought 
 against it. 
 
 Amongsl the characteristic me wg - n such as 
 these "That they (the Omaddal people) intended to 
 come and pick up our heads as they would gather shells 
 on the sea-shore." ••That the) would sweep the 
 ground with the carcase of Date Gumbah (the native 
 magistrate) and holy stone it with the head of Panglima 
 Laut." 
 
 W. had sent off the "Sabine'' with the news of 
 these occurrences, at the same time asking for aid. 
 while we waited in daily expectation of an attack. 
 
 The fort was strengthened in a hasty and rough 
 manner, a pallisading of -.'.nit forest-sticks w as put 
 round it. and broken bottles were planted on the grass) 
 embarkment surrounding it; the police were put on 
 duty all night and allowed all da) tor rest. A cordon 
 of Kraan boats acted a- - hind the islands some 
 
 miles in the front of Silam, to give notice if a flotilla 
 was seen advancing. Several of the native women and 
 children went oil' to a house which had been hastil) 
 made for their reception in the depths of the fori I 
 behind the place, and W. put me into a -mall house 
 on an adjacent hill, from whence, had the town been
 
 AMONG THE BULUDUPIES AM) BAJOWS. 109 
 
 attacked. I and the women who remained with me 
 could have been hastily hidden in the jungle, while 
 a flanking fire could have been poured into any party 
 attacking the fort. 
 
 Here I stayed for three or four nights, the rescued 
 Bulungan men lying in a circle 'heads and feet ' with 
 their weapons ai hand, while 1. Dato Gumbah's wife 
 and others, slept in the centre, 
 
 This tentative state of affairs continued until at 
 last we were gladdened by sighting in the far distance 
 the smoke of a steamer. By and by the tops of the 
 masts came into sight, and finally we made out that it 
 was the old Pahnam coming down to our assistance 
 with supplies "t men and ammunition. 
 
 These experiences occurred during the month of 
 December 1885, ami the Paknam being much overdue, 
 our supplies were all exhausted, and our Christmas 
 dinner that year consisted of plain boiled rice and 
 boiled duck !i' peas, no seasoning, no apple sauce, 
 and worse than all no Christmas pudding, whilst our 
 drinks consisted of Adam's ale. and tea in which we 
 toasted our absent friends. 
 
 On another o :asi » ; . when going his rounds in the 
 li Sabine," W. was informed thai these same Omaddal 
 people had again been committing various acts of piracy 
 and murder, and that several persons captured by them 
 
 i at a little village called Pakerangan; accordingly 
 we went there. W. landed with a few police and 
 s i ed (be place, but the Bajows took the alarm <ni the 
 launch's approach and fled Into the forest at the back, 
 taking with them two or three of the captured persons, 
 including a woman whose husband thev had murdered.
 
 110 A DK< \IH. IN BORNEO, 
 
 The " Sabhu " was anchored but ;t couple of hundred 
 yards off the place, and I -aw tic Dyaks rush along a 
 plank bridge into the chiefs house, from whence wild 
 yells and crashing sounds immediatelj proceeded, 
 giving in tin' impression ilia! a severe struggle was 
 in progress. I watched with the anxiety m\ 
 
 husband balancing himself on tin' narrow pole leadi ig 
 to the house until he disappeared in it, but my fears 
 proved groundless, as there was no one in the h 
 except our own people, and if turned oul that the 
 Dyaks were simply celebratiug the opportunit) b\ 
 -limiting and smashing everything thai came in their 
 way and slashing at the kadjang walls, a- there were 
 in. persons to attack. Seven men were recovered <>u 
 tliis occasion. 
 
 Once when W. had to go down to punish the 
 Bajows for committing another ac< of lawlessness, these 
 same Omaddal people rushed across to the other side 
 of the little island and getting into their boats, the men 
 lay down in the bottom, the women poling them off, 
 as they arc 'cute enough when it suits their pur] 
 and were well aware that no order w.mld he given t ■ 
 fire on them if their women were in danger. 
 
 In places where the Bajows have been brought 
 under the direct influence of the Company's officials 
 they are settling down very satisfactorily, building 
 houses and becoming the main suppliers of firewood and 
 attaps for thatching. They are even begining to show 
 a slighl disposition to plant, and no doubt if an officer 
 was permanently stationed in the Omaddal district, a 
 change for the better would be soon effected there. The 
 absence of an official, on the other hand, is hardly fair
 
 A MONO I ll r. I'.i 1. 1 Dl PIES A\ I) I", \.i<>\\ s. Ill 
 
 to these people, as the onlj occasions when they conn 
 into contact with Western civilization is on one o] 
 other of these punitive expeditions: and no influence 
 has yet been used to encourage them to adopt better 
 habits. 
 
 Omaddal, owing to its position, the number of 
 it- inhabitants, and the amount of sea produce thai 
 exiscs in the seas round about, is one of the most 
 important districts in tin' country, and would well repaj 
 attention.
 
 C II A PTKB ! X 
 
 SULU AM) THE SULUS. 
 
 Island of— Bad characters.— Pugnacity. -Sea fight. Piral 
 imes. — Handsome barongs.- -Coast Sulus. — Agriculti 
 Physiqui of Sulu Village. — Amenability. -Pioneers in Sulu. — 
 Diffii Sulu language.— Pearl diving.— Pearls. -Ponies. 
 
 3] miards. — Amuk.— Faithfulness of Amuk. 
 Anecdote. ■ Jealousy. 
 
 Sll.l is a small but very fertile and beautiful island 
 situated in the Eastern seas about 21- hour's 
 steam from Sandakan. If has been claimed by the 
 Spaniards for some 250 years or thereabouts. It 
 may appear rather out of place to devote a chapter of 
 this book to it, but the connection between it and 
 
 lakan lias always been very rinse, and the g 
 and coming between the two places, has bi en and is 
 very considerable, Sandakan drawing much of its 
 supply of fruit, poultry, ponies. &c, from thence, 
 besides which a large proportion of our population are 
 Sulus. 
 
 The numerous island- constituting the Sulu group 
 
 are of volcanic origin and very fertile. Sugh, as the 
 
 Sulus call the main island, is a perfect gem of the i, 
 
 ther with Tapul and other islands, consists of 
 
 park-like glades, the tree- for the m >s< part being 
 
 mango, durian, or other large fruit tree-:, or teak. 
 
 i h ' land* are small, the atmosphere is cool, a plea-ant 
 
 always blowing, and the inhabitants 
 
 and healthy as well as numerous, and 
 
 were if not for their combative nature which leads 
 
 , a< ' of bloodshed, the population would
 
 SI U' AND THE SULUS. ! 1 .'5 
 
 rapidly increase and overflow. As it is, the Mar with 
 the Spaniards which they ceaselessly wage is a con- 
 tinual drain, irrespective of the numerous village feuds 
 which are always in progress. Yet notwithstanding 
 this, these islands constitute the chief source of supply 
 of immigrant- to North Borneo. 
 
 Since the earliest records the Sulus have not borne 
 a good name. Though not themselves actually pirate-;, 
 communities of Illanuns and Balignini were always 
 to be found haunting their neighbourhood,, the Sultan 
 and other headmen having the first pick, free of cost, 
 of all persons captured by them in return for the shelter 
 and encouragement they afforded these desperadoes. 
 One of the consequences of this is, that the population 
 is a very mixed one, Manilamen, Banjermassins, 
 Singapore people, and others kidnapped by the pirates. 
 forming no inconsiderable portion. Although the 
 Sulus did not themselves practice piracy as a commu- 
 nity, the more desperate and adventurous spirits amo 
 them frequently joined the pirates for a voyage or two. 
 just for the fun of the thing, and would designate this 
 as "jadi Balignini." but more frequently tin 
 as sailors on board the trading boats, which, heavily 
 manned, used to pass to and fro between the numerous 
 islands and the mainland. It was only owing to 
 the existence of such a class of reckless and 
 
 ions sailors, prepared to fight a* am (ment's notice, 
 that trade was able to be carried on at all in face of 
 the chaotic state of affairs existing in these water 
 recently as twelve years ago. 
 
 The innate love of combat was such, that they 
 did not care who it was they fought so long as there 
 
 H
 
 Ill A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 was a fight. I remember the animation with whi< 
 young Sulu narrated an account of a sea-fight between 
 Dato Beginda Putih and Dato Beginda Etam. The 
 former (son uf the well known pirate Dato Kurunding) 
 having taken the seas, had already captured two or 
 three trading prahus bound from Darvel Bay ti 
 La! man. murdering every soul on board, when he cami 
 across his own cousin Dato Beginda Etam. and as 
 when a pirate fleet is at sea it attacks every boat 
 it meets regardless of ties of nationality or family. 
 he at once went for his cousin, who fled, and a run- 
 ning fight ensued. Gelanee related with the keenesl 
 animation and delight the brave way in which the 
 Hags and banners flew; the deafening and defiant boat- 
 ings of the gongs on both sides, as the long narrow 
 boats bounded across a lively sea, their red, yellow and 
 blue sails filled with the stiffbreeze; the whoops and 
 yells of both pursuers and pursued, (who quite entered 
 into the spirit of the thing): the popping of th< 
 rifles, and the wild splashing as they frantically paddled 
 through the dancing waters beneath a cloudless sk) and. 
 a brilliant sun. The whole affair for those who love 
 warfare and tic sea must have been most exhilarating. 
 There were some thirty boats in the engagement, 
 l>ut 1 did not gather which side Gelanee was on, hits 
 however was quite a detail. 
 
 The Stilus have a great love for brilliant colouring, 
 and in their way. and according to their ideas, go in for 
 verj gay costumes. The cut of their clothes, though 
 jaunty, is certainly no- conducive to comfort, and in 
 fact tic;, acrifice much to effect; the arms of their 
 coats arc so long and s i tight that they lit like skins :
 
 SULU AND Tilt: sri.L's. 1 1 ."> 
 
 and sometimes they are obliged to have their trowsers 
 sewn on them or buttoned about the calves of their 
 legs and ancles, so tight are they. Not only in 
 the tit of their clothes are they great dandies but 
 their garments are much decorated with embroidery, 
 in which the Sulu women excel. It is no unusual 
 thing to see trowsers of striped blue, magenta, and 
 purple silk worn in conjunction with a coat of bright 
 green satin, through which a gold pattern in stars i< 
 woven. A gay head-dress formed of a large square 
 handkerchief much embroidered round the border is 
 twisted about the head, one corner nattily screwed up 
 over tin- left ear, with a very jaunty effect: round 
 the waist a gay sash or cummerband, formed of two or 
 three strips of brilliant coloured flannel sewn together. 
 gives a finish to the costume. In the folds of the sash 
 the sirih box is concealed, and also stuck through 
 it is a handsome wooden sheath, which contains the 
 broad and dangerous Sulu barong or sword withoul 
 which no costume is complete. 
 
 The handles of their " barongs " are often very 
 handsome, made of ivory, gold or silver, and beautifully 
 chased, and in the ease of ivory, skilfully carved. Th< 
 buttons of their coats are often of gold or silver: they 
 have a great love of jewellery and wear many rings, 
 preferring those of very large size set with agates and 
 cornelians or a greeny blue si one. The women often 
 u ear white bracelets and rings cut out of a sea shell which 
 they call galung tucyang. They are not behind the men 
 in their love and go in for many startling combinations. 
 
 When on the war path, the Sulu dandy shaves 
 off one side of his moustache (if he boasts of such a 
 
 it 2
 
 116 \ DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 facial decoration). This produces a very startling effect 
 and is an intimation that lie is ready to challenge the 
 first comer. 
 
 The above remarks applj more particularly to the 
 Coast Sulus: the " orang gimber " or agriculturists arc 
 not by any means such gay sparks, and furnish a 
 
 of much more reliable hard-working men. When 
 threatened with oppression, however, they are found 
 to be very stubborn, determined characters, though 
 not so reckless as the "orang hut.*" nor do they love 
 tiffhting for its own sake in the same way. The former 
 I are very questionable additions to tin; population 
 of a country, but the latter make a very useful and 
 bard working community. 
 
 A.s regards their physique, the Sulus are rather 
 above the i rdinary Malay standard; they are verj lithe. 
 wiry and athletic rather than muscular, although there 
 are exceptions, some of them being very strong and 
 thick set. 
 
 On our estate, the Beal couraged 
 
 a great many Sulus to settle, preferring the "orang 
 gimber." There is iioav quite a large and prosperous 
 villa* m all comfortably settle I, the houses filled 
 
 to overflowing, a omei mstantlj arriving 
 
 to visit their friends. Many of these eventually settle 
 down to a quiet agricultural life in a country where 
 they are undisturbed and allowed to reap the fruits of 
 their labours. From time to time, as occasion offers, 
 we give them employment and find them on the whole, 
 
 i fairly dealt with and not too hard pressed, a very 
 satisfactory aid reliable set of people, and quite law 
 abiding.
 
 SULU A\h THE si l.i S. 117 
 
 The latter fact is all the more curious, as at 
 
 In nun in Sulu they do not boar this character at 
 all, and it serves to illustrate the force of habit and 
 surroundings, as the same people we are told, when 
 they return to Sulu, immediately assume a totally 
 different attitude, and are most difficult to deal with. 
 
 The relationship existing between ourselves and 
 them is of a feudal nature, the Sulus being expe 
 to turn out and help in any way whenever occasion 
 demands, they receiving for their labour their day's 
 food and tobacco only. There is a sort of committer 
 of head-men. who are responsible for the good behaviour 
 of the whole body, and upon whose recommendation 
 new comers are allowed to settle and enj »y the 
 advantages along- with the others. They are a happy, 
 thriving and increasing body, and do well by the sale 
 of their surplus bananas, pineapples, sugarcane, tapioca, 
 and chickens. 
 
 The two following instances give an idea as to 
 what sorl of men the Sulus are when at home in Sulu. 
 Pioneers there have an uncomfortable time, especially 
 if they do not show consideration to the natives. The 
 front door of a European house was quietly unhinged 
 one night and laid on the lawn in front, where the 
 inmates found it next morning: this was intended as a 
 gentle hint that the people within were in the power of 
 the natives, :\nd must take greater rare as to wounding 
 their susceptibilities in the future or something more 
 unpleasant would occur. On another occasion, some 
 other Europeans, who had cut down fruit trees belong- 
 ing to some Sulus, had a volley fired through their 
 house over their heads as a warning.
 
 118 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 The Sulu language is, in pronunciation, quite 
 
 unlike Malay, being hard and gutteral, but when looked 
 
 into, it is found that most of the words have their 
 
 origin in Malay, though there arc many which seem 
 
 to point to a totally distinct root, hut from whence 
 
 these arc derived I am unable to say. As for instance 
 
 water Malay ayei Sulu toobig 
 
 house Malay rumah Sulu bai 
 
 sea Malay laid Sulu dargat 
 
 1 may mention here, that W. says tic Sulu words 
 signifying water, hous '. and sea. in Sulu. are in usi 
 the Philippines also. 
 
 The Sulu Archipelago is chiefly famous for the 
 pearls and pearl shells found in large beds in its shal- 
 low .seas. The pearls are of great purity and value 
 and occur in the large oyster, the same species as that 
 found off the coast of Australia. Each individual shell 
 is a- 1 trg ■ a- a pie [date, and they are valued at about 
 £40 per ton. The pearls are found in hut i'vw of them: 
 ♦Ic fishery operations being really carried on for the 
 ■ •I' the shells, and what pearls are obtained are 
 regarded as prizes. Occasionally very large and tine 
 
 are found, the largesl I ever heard of was valued at 
 $10,000, whilst the finest J myself ever saw was said 
 to be ivorth $2,000, and was in size as large as the top 
 join! of my thumb; it was however far from perfect, 
 being neither good in shape or colour. 
 
 China is a great market for pearls, and a large 
 proportion of those from the Sulu seas are sent there, 
 is the prices the Chinese give arc very high and thej 
 do not. attach the same importance to shape and colour 
 as we do.
 
 SULU AND THE SULUS. 1 U> 
 
 There is no regular system of taxation in Sulu, 
 but the Sultan reserves to himself the right of demand- 
 ing as tribute all pearls above a certain size, when 
 found, and there is a sort of myth extant, that the 
 mother of the late Sultan lias a measure, equal to a 
 quart pot, full of them. 
 
 It is curious to see a poor-looking Chinaman take 
 out of his pocket a little red rag. tied up into a parcel 
 with a bit of string, and opening it display to one's 
 view half a dozen pearls worth collectively, several 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 All Sulus arc quite amphibious; some of them arc 
 remarkably good divers, and can descend to depths 
 of 60 and 70 ft. without any apparatus or weighl 
 whatever, and bring up the oysters from the bottom. 
 
 As already mentioned, seed pearls are found in 
 various places along our coast: these also command a 
 price in China, where they are ground down to powder 
 and used by the women, under the delusion that it will 
 impart a pearly hue to their complexions. 
 
 The large grassy plains in Sulu. support a good 
 many half-wild ponies, and it is from thence that we 
 obtain our supplies. The Sulu ponies arc small weed) 
 vicious animal of which act as possessed by some 
 evil spirit. They shy, bite, kick, and tight, and arc 
 altogether the most unreliable wicked little beasts 
 sver invented. The only attempts yet made to put 
 them between shafts, have ended in the speedy and 
 entire destruction of the vehicle attached. One has 
 been known to incapacitate three men in one after- 
 noon, who all had to be borne to the hospital to bo 
 patched up.
 
 120 A DEI ADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 The Sulu style of saddlery is primitive, the women 
 ride astride as well as the men, and one make of .-addle 
 answers fur both. The saddles proper arc made of wood 
 upon which a cushion is placed, the bridle is madi 
 of rop ■. a loop meeting at the back of the pony's neck, 
 from which a single end extends, which is all that is 
 grasp d by the rider: a tufl of horse hair by wa\ oi 
 ornamentation is placed over the front of the head 
 halter, which should have the effect of making the 
 animal squint. 
 
 tie fifteen years ago, the Spaniard^ determined 
 to subjugate Sulu; the work lias not advanced very far 
 as yet, as, with the exception of the oije walled citj 
 of Tiangai they have no foothold in the island: they 
 dare not go outside its gates, and the walls are 
 constant!) patrolled by a cordon of sentinels. For 
 some time after they oci upied the place, the walls were 
 of no great height, and were composed of palisades; 
 it became a favourite amusement of the reckless Sulus 
 to scramble over the barriers, rush through the town, 
 cutting down every person they met, and then escape 
 on the other side. On one or two occasions the town 
 was nearly rushed altogether, and once at leasl the 
 Spaniards closely missed being massacred. All t In- 
 tended to cause the Sulus to regard the Spaniards with 
 considerable scorn. Quite recently, a Spanish governor, 
 reproving a young boy and striking him with his 
 umbrella to give his word . effect, was instantly 
 
 cut down by the arrogant little imp. 
 
 The Sulus however have their good qualities, and 
 they like and trust to those are very true and staunch : 
 Dato Haroun al Raschid came to Sandakan just before
 
 SULU AND THE SI M S. 121 
 
 he was made Sultan of Sulu; the first time he had 
 come here since his hostile visit in 1880. Hi- went 
 to pay his visit of ceremony to W. accompanied by a 
 somewhat numerous retinue, all beautifully dressed 
 and decorated, and fully armed also, as is customary. 
 Just before he arrived however, Ave were somewhat 
 astonished by the appearance of a still stronger body 
 of Sulus. many of whom we knew personally. They 
 waited about squatting in the verandah during 
 the whole time the Dato was with us. and stopped 
 after he had taken his farewell. When the Dato 
 had gone we enquired the object of their visit, and 
 after some time discovered it. for a Malay never 
 comes direct to the point but always beats about the 
 bush, and only discloses his real object just as 
 he is leaving. It appeared they were aware of the 
 Dato's intended visit, and knowing his ambitious 
 nature, and former ill feeling, had come up to support 
 us in case he should have tried any sudden coup. 
 One of them told me they had a number of boats 
 fully manned and armed close by, but hidden by fort 
 Pryer ready for any emergency. 
 
 It was on this occasion, when conversing with the 
 wife of one of the head-men. I enquired as to her ideas 
 concerning polygamy. She said it did not put her 
 about much. Her husband had once, taken a second 
 wife but. she laughingly added " I stuck a knife in her. 
 and s urn got rid of her, and since then he has not 
 tried it on any more."
 
 CH A PT E K X 
 
 j\] A L A YS . 
 
 < !haracter. — Appearance. Women's costume. Religion. — Indo- 
 lence. — Prodigality of nature. -Contentment. — Music. — Dancing- 
 houses. Property. —Language.— Domestic relations. — Divorce. 
 Kindness -Children. — Massage. Education. -Ornaments.— Po- 
 lygamy.— Anecdote.— Marriage. —Needle work. — Si ri li chewing. 
 
 A MORE charming or courteous race of people 
 than the Malays, I have never come in contact 
 with: from the highest to the lowest all .are alike 
 blessed with a charm of manner, that is very attrac- 
 tive; though deferential, there is not the faintest 
 suspicion of servility ab tut them, but they arc perfectly 
 easy and natural in manner. On -visiting them. 
 one is pleasantly received, conducted gracefully to 
 the best place in the house, where a mat is spread 
 to sit on, while the members of the household collect 
 about, squatting upon the floor, and converse topics 
 of local intent:. Meanwhile orders have been given 
 for choc ilate which in due course is served with swe t 
 biscuits, the mistress of the house doing the honours 
 verj prettily. 
 
 There is nothing boisterous, assertive, or rude in 
 the Malaj nature; in fact such characteristics are 
 utterly Licking in their temperament, and there is about 
 them nothing of the cringing servility of the Indian 
 i ic is. When once they know and respect anyone, the 
 faith they repose is unbounded; they will come seeking 
 advice, which given, is followed implicitly in the most 
 childlike manner, and their devotion to those they
 
 MALAYS. 123 
 
 love and trust, I have never seen equalled. In colour 
 they vary from light to dark brown, the generality 
 being of a coffee colour much like the Japanese. 
 Many of the higher class women, and such as do not 
 often leave their houses, are quite light in hue., resem- 
 bling in complexion Southern Europeans. The type 
 of face is Mongolian, the bridge of the nose almost 
 flat, high check bones, and elongated eyes: the hair 
 straight, luxuriant, and black : hands and feet small 
 and delicately made. 
 
 They arc personally wry clean, bathing night and 
 morning; and are very particular about washing 
 their hands before eating, (which is the more necessary, 
 as they eat with their fingers) neither do they omit to 
 cleanse their mouths after every meal. 
 
 The women are very neat and spruce in their 
 attire, which they change daily, their sarongs or skirts 
 are often of very pretty patterns and colours, while 
 their long loose kabyahs or jackets, which reach to 
 their knees or below, are nicely made and finished oft 
 with a little edging. Their ornaments are brooches 
 of a peculiar make, there being no catch to hold the 
 pin. hair-pins, earrings, rings, and often bracelets. 
 They affect no head coverings as a rule, but when 
 they wish to be smarter than usual, throw large 
 flowing \eils of white or black net over their heads 
 and decorate their hail' with sweet smelling flowers 
 and gold or silver pins. Although Mohammedans, 
 they are never secluded, in Borneo at all events. They 
 go barefooted, and dye their finger and toe nails 
 with henna, Were it not that they make their mouths 
 so offensive by the disgusting habit they all indulge
 
 124 A DE( A.DE IN BORNEO. 
 
 in of chewing sirih, they would be fur more attractive- 
 looking; as it is, their teeth are black and their mouths 
 have the appearance of being full of blood. They have 
 a strange way of filing their teeth across the front 
 The holes iii the lobes of their ears are verj large, 
 often the size of a threepenny piece, and the- style 
 of earring much resembles a solitaire stud. It' nol 
 possessed of earrings, they make little rolls of cloth, 
 and stuff them through the holes, and sometimes push 
 their cigarettes in them, for the women as well as the 
 men smoke. 
 
 The Mohammedan religion, and the devout senti- 
 ments it instils into the heart- of the followers of the 
 Prophet seems to me to be worth] at least of respect. 1 
 thiid< a good deal of misunderstanding exists amongst 
 Englishmen with regard to this faith. The root 
 of the matter appears to be. that while the Jews 
 had the Old Testament only, the Christians have 
 the < 'Id as well as the New Testament, and the 
 Mahommedans have the Old, the New, and yet another 
 new gospel in addition, which thej contend supercedes 
 the New Testament in the same manner as the New 
 Testament with us supercedes the Old: it is not that 
 they refuse belie!' in either the Old or the New 
 Testaments any more than we Christians refuse beliei 
 in the Old Testament because we have received the 
 New also. 
 
 There is no doubt of the sincerity of the Moham- 
 medan, his open avowal of his faith quite puts to shame 
 our pallid and deprecating treatment of religious mat- 
 ters in every day life. Wherever a Hadji may be at 
 sundown, he then and there kneels down, his face to
 
 MALAYS. 12.> 
 
 the setting sun, and says his prayers with clasped 
 hands and upturned face, at intervals bowing his head 
 to the -round. It is a difficult, and indeed an almost 
 impossible matter, to convert a Mohammedau to the 
 Christian faith; the only chance is by working amongst 
 the children whose ideas are not yet formed, and edu- 
 cating them up f > our creed. Another instance of 
 their steadfastness to their religious principles is their 
 
 ranee to its precepts whatever they may be; they 
 are the strictest teetotalers simply because forbidden by 
 their religion to drink wine, and not because they have 
 any dislike to it. 
 
 Much as I like the Malays, I must confess, however. 
 they are not a hard working race. I fear their destiny 
 is to disappear off the face of the earth at no very distant 
 period, merged in the shoals of Chinese, Indians, blacks 
 and others who are always turning their faces to this 
 part of the world. It is not that they die out in the 
 face of British, civilisation, for they thrive and do 
 remarkably well under if, but that, not being a 
 numerous race to commence with, and spread as they 
 are over wide areas, they inter-marry with < I 
 Easterns and tend to form a mixed community in 
 which their individuality is lost. 
 
 With regard to their laziness I am fain to sug 
 in their defence that, under like circumstances, even the 
 go-a-head Anglo-Saxon face might degenerate and 
 become as inert as they are. Nature is so lavish and so 
 kind in her gifts in these favoured latitudes, that there 
 is no incentive to labour; the smallest amount of work 
 bestowed on the soil produces rich results, clothes are 
 only needed for decency's sake, fuel only required
 
 126 A DE< A DE IX BORNEO. 
 
 for cooking and there is always more wood lying about 
 than one knows what to do with, house-room is obtain- 
 able by the least amount of labour, and all the expi nsivi 
 tastes and habits which we are so rapidly augmenting 
 in t liis nineteenth century, they know nothing about, 
 and knowing nothing, have no desire or ambition to 
 acquire wealth. Neither is there that keen struggle 
 for existence, the incentive to labour, such as forci 
 the swarming Chinese to work from early morning to 
 late at night for a bare pittance. 
 
 The}- carry their disregard tor creature comforts in 
 the matter of food to such an extenl that it becomes th< 
 reverse of a virtue, in thai they have one inducement, 
 Less to labour: they certainly do not: live to cat bui eat 
 to live; anything as long as it staves oft" the cravings oi 
 hunger suffices for a meal, a few handfuls of plain 
 boiled rice and a tiny bit of sail fish dried to a chip 
 Over a fire, satisfies them. 
 
 The Malays naturally are very musical, but their 
 instruments arc of a most primative description, gongs 
 and drums being the chid'. A " Kalingtangan " is a 
 series of small gong- of differing sizes placed in series 
 on strings in a frame so that a scale of notes is obtained. 
 The gongs are beaten with wooden hammers producing 
 a very simple tunc. This affords them great pleasure, 
 however, and when once a mine-mine is started it goi 
 on without intermission lor three days and nights ; the 
 performers replacing one another at intervals. The 
 sound carries a long way and is often plainly 
 discernable two or three miles off, and is not disagreeable 
 even to European ears. The drums are made of deer 
 01 snake skin stretel ' a r '< the lattei skin
 
 MALAYS. 127 
 
 being the more valued for this purpose. Of European 
 
 made musical instruments, so far as North Borneo is 
 concerned, they give the preference to the concertina. 
 They have concocted one tune of half a dozen bars 
 which they play night and day: it is to be hoped 
 for the sake of variety that they will soon learn or 
 compose another. Some few aspire to the fiddle, but 
 have not arrived at any particular tune. When paying 
 visits to European houses the pianos arc a source of 
 great wonder, delight, and admiration, and they listen 
 with the most rapt attention and pleasure to anyone 
 performing, and are also greatly interested in the 
 construction of these instruments. 
 
 Dancing of a sort, is an amusement of which they 
 are fond, but it is chiefly the men who indulge in it 
 They make one or two shuffling steps to a species of 
 waltz tunc,, but it is chiefly posturing they go in for, 
 gay silk handkerchiefs being much in request, which 
 they wave about in a light and airy fashion. The 
 Sulu dances are entirely posturing; the performers 
 scarcely move from one spot, but, with outstretched 
 arms twist and turn the fingers and move the hands : 
 a little of this for an on-looker goes a long way, and 
 after a couple of hours becomes even monotonous. 
 
 The houses are by preference built over the sea. 
 The flooring is composed of lengths of split nebong (a 
 kind of palm whose wood is very hard) placed at 
 intervals, and through the interstices, which are 
 numerous and wide, all the rubbish of the household 
 is thrown into the sea below, so that when the tide 
 rises it is carried away, and the space beneath the 
 house left clean and tidv without the inhabitants having
 
 128 A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 any trouble. Malay houses arc not safe places to keep 
 small articles in as they would quickly disappear like 
 the household rubbish, but they are so barely furnished 
 that there is hardly anything loseable through the 
 floor. The open spaces are sometimes so numerous 
 and large that if is positively alarming to walk ab tut, 
 while even in some of the best, it is almost equivalent 
 to being educated for the tight rope to move in 
 them : it is even possible to lie in bed and fish through 
 the floor, and W. tells me that when first he arrived 
 in Borneo and lived in a native house, he has actually 
 done so. One portion of the house has a raised platform 
 a couple of feel or so in height.: this is set apart as the 
 sleeping place of the married couple, and is surrounded 
 by gaudy bed-curtains and surmounted by a canopy 
 called a "lawang" also very brilliant in hue. In the 
 day time the curtains are drawn up and reveal the 
 contents of the platform, a mattress spread on the 
 ■ surmounted by a perfect mountain of pillows, 
 behind which boxes are piled containing all the 
 portable property of the family, pieces of T. cloth, 
 ehint/. silk sarongs, and clothing of all sorts; be 
 
 rays, boxes, tea-kettles and such like 
 articles. Otherwise there is no furniture whatever in 
 the house, chairs and tables b ing unknown as the 
 natives always sit tailor-fashion or squat on their heels; 
 now and then one may come across a rough bench, 
 but that marks a decided step towards civilization, 
 .ally, if the house-owner is rich, several 
 expensive gongs ma}' be seen hung upon the walls, 
 while there is always a creese or barong within 
 reach.
 
 MAI.AVs. I'J ( .) 
 
 The Malay language is a soft and pretty one, easj 
 
 to Irani; one is not troubled by irregular verbs or 
 any such intricacies as make European lauguages so 
 difficult, yet it is almost as expressive. 
 
 No great affection exists between husbands 
 and wives, but the mothers arc always very much 
 attached to their children. When a divorcee marries 
 a new husband lie is expected to provide for her whole 
 family should she possess children, which he always 
 does very cheerfully, and is as kind to the children as if 
 they were his own. All natives in tact are very fond of, 
 and good to children. Frequently stray children, known 
 as "ariak artim," are to be found in Malay villages 
 belonging to nobody in particular, but taken care of by 
 the community at large. It certainly does not cost much 
 for clothing, as, until they are four or five years old, they 
 wear little or no clothing beyond a necklace or bangles. 
 The houses are so elastic that an odd two or three 
 children can always find corners to curl up in, one finds 
 them absolutely swarming with little naked brown 
 creatures all very happy and dirty. The youngsters are 
 prettily formed little things, very shapely and graceful, 
 and resemble little animated bronze statues. Not Malay 
 children only, but young Easterns of all countries are 
 tar less troublesome, noisy, and tractions than Euro- 
 peans; they rarely cry or become a nuisance to any 
 body. The babies even are comfortable, contented 
 mites, and when able to toddle amuse themselves 
 splashing and swimming about in the shallow seas, 
 and rarely seem to get into real mischief or trouble, 
 
 Malay children are never carried in the arms as 
 with us. but ride astride the mother's hip, she having 
 
 i
 
 l.'iO \ I'M AIM. IN BORNJ 
 
 to bend her body to accommodate the child, her arm 
 being placed around ii for support. Malay ideas with 
 regard to the treatment of children arc very elemental") 
 ami incorrect, and it results in the survival of the 
 fittest: they have not the faintesl notion of medicine, 
 or the cause of sickness, and Consequently are quite 
 unable to apply any remedy. Whenever anybody is ill 
 they always set it down to ,{ demuin" (heat or fever) 
 or "auging tulong" (wind in the bones), however wide 
 of the mark this diagnosis may be. They have some 
 idea of massage, however, and frequently by this means 
 relieve pain; I have often been afforded relief in this 
 way wheu suffering from a stiff neck or slight rheuma- 
 tism across the shoulders. A Malay woman kneads and 
 manipulates one very gently and pleasantly, in fact all 
 their act inns are languerous, soft and graceful. 
 
 The mothers adopt very queer ways of arranging 
 their childrens' hair: sometimes it is all shaved offj 
 at another the head is entirely shaved with the 
 exception of the top, where the hair is allow ed to grow 
 into a long straggling lock which tails over the 
 unfortunate child's lace and must he very teasing 
 to the little one. In one instance 1 noticed the hair 
 all shaved with the exception of two round spots, 
 one on either side of the head which has a very comical 
 effect. 
 
 According to their lights and know ledge, the Malays 
 educate their children : the chief object is to teach them 
 to repeat passages of the Koran by heart, and frequently 
 through the thin walls of the houses one may hear 
 all intoning together in a manner that a High Church 
 curate would much envy.
 
 MALAYS. 131 
 
 The Malay women have great quantities of straight 
 raven-black hair which they profusely anoint with 
 eoeoa-nut oil, and dress very neatly in a thick coil at 
 the back of the head. They do not consider the toilet 
 complete till they have stuck a series of gold or silver 
 pins round the coil, or arranged a wreath of tiny sweet- 
 smelling flowers around it. which is a very pretty 
 fashion. Sometimes a small fringe of hair is cut and 
 arranged across the forehead in European style. 
 
 A Mohammedan is allowed by his religion to have 
 four tine wives, but must never exceed that allowance : 
 he may go in for the full complement at once if it so 
 please him. and he feed competent to support so many 
 at one time. As a rule Sulus have but one. while 
 Malays often have two or three. In one family that I 
 am well acquainted with, the husband has three. For 
 a long time he had only one. but she went off her head, 
 and after a few years he married another. Wife Xo. I 
 was very peaceful, though vacant, a perfect cypher in 
 the household after her calamity overtook her. poor 
 woman, so Xo. 2 assumed the entire management of 
 the home: but one fine day, to every body's intense 
 astonishment, after a. period nearly approaching seven 
 years mental collapse. Xo. 1 woke up in full possession 
 ot her faculties. Then ensued an uncomfortable time 
 tor No. 12 : squabbles, quarrels and jealousies of all 
 kinds daily occurred, and the poor husband at last was 
 driven to a third marriage for the sake of getting a 
 little peace and comfort in his home. 
 
 Marriages are great opportunities for display, 
 feasting, and merry making. A Malay girl is as much 
 concerned about her bridal garments as an English
 
 132 A DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 belle. The ordeal is asomewhal long and trying one, 
 for with ;i whitened face like thai of a clown in a 
 pantomine, she squats motionless, expressionless and 
 silent, for hours a( a stretch, beneath ;i gorgeous 
 canopy, with curtains festooned and drawn asidi 
 that slic may be seen by the assembled company. \ 
 girl to support her on each side, performing in fact the 
 duty of bridesmaids, while the gay throng circulate 
 about the house laughing, chatting, smoking cigarettes, 
 and chewing sirih, through all which the bride has to 
 preserve an impassive and stolid countenance. Every- 
 body naturally wears their best clothes and the 
 mingling of colours reminds one of ;i gaj parterre. 
 While in the back premises much preparing and 
 cooking of comestibles is in progress. 
 
 The women, as I have mentioned elsewhere, arc 
 many of them very clever at embroidery, but the 
 materials they employ are' usuallj very inferior, which 
 is a pity when one considers the hours devoted 
 to the adornment of a single garment. They stretch 
 the materials on a frame, before which they sit i i 
 legged or squal on their lieels, passing the needle up 
 and down so regularly and beautifully that the back of 
 their work is as go »d as the front, and it is difficull to 
 tell which is which. The patterns are traced in 
 the regulation way bj pricking, and rubbing chalk 
 through the holes. The designs in vogue are scrolls 
 and conventional patterns; bul nol floral effects so far as 
 1 know. The silks in use are of Chinese manufacture, 
 very fluffy and difficult to work with, but their clever 
 fingers have a knack of twisting if slightly and making 
 ii work in very smoothly and evenly. Their combina-
 
 MALAYS. 133 
 
 tions of colour leave something - to be desired according 
 to westeril notions of art, and the shades and colours 
 obtainable are naturally somewhat restricted as well as 
 crude in dye. 
 
 The Brunei women are great adepts at gold work, 
 and embroider very elaborate mats and bolster ends 
 in gold thread on scarlet cloth, which are very hand- 
 some and effective. They also weave bright coloured 
 garments, sarongs more particularly, and have a mode 
 of dving Chinese white silk in a series of large spots 
 of varied colours which they greatly admire, and use it 
 much for trowsers and handkerchiefs. The decoration 
 on the coats is often very elaborate, applique designs 
 sometimes being laid on with great effect. It is chiefly 
 the men's clothes that are ornamented with embroidery 
 &C, the wives of the household vicing with each other 
 in the production of gay coats and turbans for the 
 adornment of their lord and master. 
 
 Every Malav carries a sirih box, without which his 
 toilette would not be complete; just as in the old days 
 our great grandfathers and grandmothers carried their 
 snuffboxes; both habits I consider repulsive, and do 
 not see much to choose between them. Women as 
 well as men are adicted to this horrid habit. The 
 sirih boxes are usually made of brass, prettily chased, 
 but now and then silver boxes are used. They contain 
 three or four tiny recepticles. also of brass, for the 
 lime. etc.. and a pair of betel-nut cutlers, and a 
 tiny spoon with which to spread the lime on the 
 sirih leaf. Fresh sirih leaves, small bits of betel 
 (or areca) nut, resembling fragments of nutmeg, lime 
 made from burned and pounded sea shells, and a cub"
 
 134 v decade i\ BORNEO. 
 
 or two of gambier arc the necessary ingredients; n 
 small atom of each wrapped up in the leaf affords 
 
 much enjoyment. It is also said that sirih chewing 
 allays thirst and sustains persons when travelling, 
 about this I cannot speak personally for I have never 
 been able to get up sufficient courage to try.
 
 OH A PTER X I. 
 
 SINGAPORE TO S AN DAK AX. 
 
 Scenery of — Docks. — Beautiful roads. — Street scenes. — Jinrickshas. — 
 ( I Larries. — YVhoinpoa's garden. — Whompoa's history. — Insects. — 
 Animal collectors. — No poverty. — Meaning of Singapore. — 
 Shipping. — Oddiir. — Changie. — Johore, — Tigers. — Hospitality. — 
 Local l)i iats. — Cockroaches. — Malay prisoners.— Crowded stea- 
 mers. — Labuan. — Resources of. — Government Mouse. — Fruit 
 trees. — Jaga. — Kina Balu. — Kudat. — Sunsets. — Fishing. 
 
 THE voyage from England to Singapore has been 
 so often related that a description of the four 
 weeks spent upon a P. & 0. steamer would be but 
 wearisome repetition, so I Mill pass over that part of 
 the journey and begin this paper with an account 
 dating from Singapore. 
 
 I have not been a great traveller, consequently my 
 experience is not very extensive, but in the course of 
 my wanderings I have never visited a more delightful 
 place than Singapore, and the opportunity of describing 
 it I cannot resist. The scenery at the westward en- 
 trance to the Harbour is very lovely, narrow straits 
 dotted with islands, some large, some smaller, but all 
 clothed with luxuriant foliage to the water's edge, 
 while a brilliant sun sheds a glamour over the scene, 
 the rippling water reflects the blue heavens above, and 
 the white sails of little boats skimming to and fro, 
 complete as delightful a picture as can be desired. 
 
 The Docks at Singapore are situated a long way 
 from the town. The drive to the European quarter 
 through the native portions of the settlement is a very 
 uninteresting one, for the way lies through newly
 
 136 a dei aim; in Borneo. 
 
 reclaimed land and a wilderness of bricks and mortar, 
 cuttings into stiff clay hills, halt' built houses etc.; no 
 trees line the way and the sun pours down on dusty 
 roads with overwhelming strength. I think that many 
 travellers who arc merely passing through with only a 
 limited time at their disposal, do nol gain a fair idea of 
 the beauties of the place, their explorations rarely 
 extending beyond a drive to the town, a tiffin at an 
 hotel, a few purchases from Bombay or Chin se stores, 
 and the return drive along that same hot, dusty and 
 tiring road to Tanjong Paggar Wharf, or beyond, wher- 
 ever their steamer may lie. 
 
 Singapore as 1 know it is a perfect paradise, lull of 
 Bhady avenues of flowering trees, waving palms, great 
 leaved bananas and huge clumps of feathery bamboos, 
 through whose thin leaves the winds murmur a soft 
 lust ling song all day long, smooth velvety lawns, well 
 kept gardens in whose centres lie- the great cool houses 
 surrounded by broad shady verandahs; even the hedges 
 are made of the gorgeous scarlet-flowered hibiscus, and 
 the lovely yellow alamanda with its large glossy leaves 
 grows in great clumps, adding with the bourgain villea, 
 flamboyant and scarlet flowered tulip tree, touches 
 of welcome colour amongst tin 1 profuse and luxuriant 
 masses of greenery. 
 
 As for the roads they are superb, leaving nothing 
 to be desired. Even in England I have seen none better 
 kept, while as to the has' they are unrivalled. Great 
 channels on either side carry oil' the heavy rainfall, 
 avenues of trees shade them from the hot sun: and 
 driving in the early morning or cool evening is very 
 interesting and enjoyable, added to which all the
 
 SINGAPORE TO SANDAKAN. 137 
 
 objects that meet the eye are totally unlike those 
 at home. One after another are to be seen Indian 
 coolies carrying bundles of long grass for their ponies 
 to eat, carts full of pine apples, unwieldly buffaloes, 
 two prosperous looking celestials seated side by side in 
 a Victoria driven by a Malay syce, and drawn by a pair 
 of very fine horses, a row of Chinamen squatting upon 
 their heels on the top of a low wall. Then a market is 
 passed by, full of mal-odorous jack fruit, lying side 
 by side with delicious mangostecns, luscious pines or 
 refreshing oranges. 
 
 Next is seen a chetty (Hindoo banker) clad in an 
 ■elongated bath towel with a dab of whitewash on his 
 forehead, then a gang of shiney black spindle-shanked 
 Kling road-makers lightly attired in bathing drawers 
 and big turbans. 
 
 The conveyances chiefly affected by the lower 
 classes in Singapore are jinrickshas, a sort of peram- 
 bulator with shafts like miniature hansomo cabs drawn 
 by Chinese coolies, usually very lean but with an 
 enormous development of the muscles of their calves. 
 It is wonderful to remark the strength with which 
 a man, a perfect bag of bones, drags along the ricksha 
 in which are seated, pleasantly conversing or fanning 
 themselves, two big fat men of his own nationality who 
 regard their unfortunate countryman merely as a beast 
 of burden, and worthy of no more pity or sympathy 
 than a dog or mule. These rickshas are only used by 
 the Chinese and natives: Europeans and half castes, 
 as well as wealthier Chinamen affect hack carriages 
 called gharries, vehicles not unlike our growlers, drawn 
 by fiery little Battick ponies. These tiny animals 
 
 K
 
 138 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 arc perfect wonders of strength in their way, prettj 
 little creatures scarcely bigger than Shetland ponies, 
 with flowing tails and manes, fiery restless eyes and 
 dilating nostrils, dashing along at reckless speed in 
 the most undaunted manner, although they may havi 
 a load of five persons besides the carriage behind 
 them. 
 
 Tin European residents drive victorias, landaus 
 and buffsries drawn l>v fine Australian horses. The 
 Singaporeans pride themselves on their know ledge of 
 horse flesh and are very fond of racing. 
 
 One of the show places is Whompoa's garden. 
 Whampoa, as his name denotes. Mas a Chinaman and 
 the talc I was told about him. is that in his early days 
 he was employed in a Hongkong bakery at a tiim 
 when China was at, war with England. Certain man- 
 darins conceived the idea of ridding themselves of the 
 entire English garrison and everyone else in Hongk 
 :il one bold stroke, and to this end they incited the 
 bakers to mis arsenic in the bread. Whompoa, one 
 of the men. having a partiality for the English info; 
 the British officers. This information arrived almost 
 too late, for the bread had already been delivered. 
 Warning was at once sent round and in nearly all cases 
 the mischief vvas prevented, nevertheless sev< ral p< i 
 were very ill. and one or two 1 believe died. The 
 authorities being fully alive to the fate which would 
 have overtaken Whompoa had he remained in Hong- 
 kong, sent him to Singapori and set him up in business 
 there. He throve and prospered and finally became very 
 wealthy and much respected. Such is the tale as it 
 was told to me.
 
 SINGAPORE TO SANDAKAN. 139 
 
 The garden covers a large extent of ground and is 
 full of curious and interesting trees, shrubs and flowers 
 as well as several animals. There are also large tanks 
 in which flourish the magnificent Victoria Regia lilv. 
 Trees cut and trimmed into the shapes of grotesque 
 animals and birds stand at most of the corners of the 
 paths, and here, as elsewhere in Singapore, elk horn 
 terns hang pendant in great masses from the branches 
 of the higher trees. 
 
 A curious feature which strikes a new comer and 
 will probably keep him. if staying in the country or 
 surburbs, awake the first night, is the ceaseless whirring 
 and buzzing sounds made by myriads of insects and 
 other creatures of all kinds, which commence at sun 
 down and do not cease until morning. Cicadce, mole 
 crickets, night grasshoppers, distant frogs and goat 
 suckers, besides many others go to make up the chorus, 
 the result being a soft ceaseless murmuring sound, very 
 soothing and pleasant when once one is accustomed 
 to it. 
 
 When staying in Singapore it is not uninteresting 
 to visit an animal collector's premises, there arc usually 
 two or three such establishment to bo found hidden 
 away in the native town. At such a place you may 
 find newly trapped and very savage tigers in very small 
 and apparently insecure cages, baby orangutans, small 
 elephants, monkeys by the dozen, parrots, mynahs, 
 argus and fire-back pheasants, peacocks, apes, &c, and 
 sometimes a real curiosity such as a black leopard, a 
 tapir or rhinoceros, all waiting for shipment to distant 
 Zoos. 
 
 K 2
 
 I 10 A DE< \Di: [N BORNEO. 
 
 One point which strikes the observer is the absence 
 of squalid and grimy poverty such as is so apparent in 
 England. The people may be, and no doubl often are, 
 poor enough, but their wants are few and easily 
 
 ipplied and hunger is virtually unknown. Clothes 
 are merely required for decency's sake, and with such 
 bright genial surroundings, .their spirits are more 
 buoyant than would be possible in this eold grey 
 England of ours ; in a word, brightness colour and 
 prosperity seem to me the chief attributes of this 
 thriving and delightful little colony. The brilliance 
 of the sun reflected in the sparkling water of the 
 harbour, the greens of the trees, the lovely flowers 
 which grow in such profusion, the waving palms, the 
 clumps of feathery bamboos through whose rustling 
 leaves the soft winds sigh, the velvet-like laures which 
 never grow parched or dry, tin 1 tine red roads, the cos- 
 mopolitan crowds which throng tin' bus) . the 
 
 strange chatter of a babel of unknown tongues and the 
 unac< 1 sights which meel the eye al every turn, 
 
 are full of fascination to the uninitiated and for me 
 they have a never failing charm. 
 
 The meaning of Singapore is, Shiga to call, and 
 Pura a city, or otherwise port of call, a name it justly 
 rves, for the number of ships which look in there 
 is very consi lerable, lying "ii 'he high road between 
 Europe and India on the one side and China on the 
 other, while it. is tin- centre of a large transhipment 
 trade between Batavia, Sumatra, Borneo, North and 
 South. Australia, Bangkok, Malacca, Macassar, all the 
 Native States, the Eastern and Australian Islands gene- 
 rally, an 1 Saigon, China and Japan beyond. It is the
 
 SINGAPORE TO SANDAKAN. 141 
 
 second biggest coaling port in the world and probably 
 the largest distributor of rice, which brought from 
 Siam and neighbouring parts by thousands of tons, is 
 sent off by the local boats to the islands eastwards 
 which do not raise sufficient for their own consumption. 
 Important though Singapore is, it is only yet in the 
 infancy of its prosperity compared with what it will be in 
 the future when the Native States and the Islands of 
 the Eastern Seas are furthur developed than at present. 
 As to the number of ships that call there now, I 
 remember on one occasion when looking out for the 
 arrival of a relative from England, that no less than 
 seventeen vessels were signalled at the signal station 
 on Fort Canning as coming in through the westward 
 passage alone, between the hours of six and seven o'clock 
 one morning, besides several from the eastwards. 
 
 A curious odour of its own pervades Singapore, not 
 by any means unpleasant, and mainly suggestive of 
 spices, pineapples and flowers. It is sometimes plainly 
 discernible when the steamer is still some miles out at 
 sea if the wind is blowing off the land, but is not so 
 perceptible when you are once there. 
 
 A drive across the whole breadth of the little 
 island to Changie the police station opposite to the 
 mainland of Johore is very interesting. The way lies 
 past cocoanut groves, indigo fields, lemon-grass estates, 
 tapioca plantations and other un-English cultivations 
 with here and there a jungle covered hill in which 
 often lurk tigers. The road all the way is excellent 
 wide, hard, red, and kept in splendid condition, flanked 
 on either side by deep dykes to carry off the heavy 
 rain-fall, while most of the way it is sheltered from the
 
 142 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 ardent sun's rays by avenues of flamboyant trees whose 
 gorgeous scarlel blossoms in conjunction with the full 
 green of these trees is very pleasing to the eye. 
 
 The town of Johore as regarded from Changie, is 
 extremely pretty : every heighl is crowned with a hand- 
 some building in the centre of a fine garden. The Sultan's 
 palace occupies tin- right foreground, while Mosques, 
 schools and other public buildings, besides the private 
 residences of Europeans embosomed amongst rich tro- 
 pical foliage, are scattered across a frontage of some two 
 miles. The Strait itself is about .1 of a mile across. 
 I may take this opportunity of tendering my thanks to 
 the Sultan for his many arts of thoughtful kindness in 
 placing at our disposal steam launches and other 
 facilities, for getting about whenever we have visited 
 Johore. 
 
 The return drive to Singapore, it made towards night- 
 fall, gains an additional interest from the fact that tigers 
 arc nearly always known to frequent some parts of the 
 way; 1 have often had my heart in my mouth when 
 turning a bendin the road near to which there may be 
 a remnant of jungle left, but although the tigers are 
 nndoutedly not far off, yet they have never been known 
 to attack a carriage, and are metin-spirited beasts,never 
 making a bold front attack. In 1883 when W. was 
 crossing the island, a tiger was caught in a pig pit 
 within 100 yards of the road, and was lying at the 
 bottom of it when he passed. 
 
 The hospitality always shown by the Singaporean* 
 to new comers or passers through accredited with letters 
 <>f introduction is a very pleasant feature in ;t ■visit to 
 this delightful place, making the break in the voyage
 
 SINGAPORE TO SAND AK AN. 143 
 
 particularly enjoyable; the large spacious houses, the 
 great cool verandahs, and big airy rooms being no small 
 Luxury after the confinement and heat inseparable from 
 ship-life, added to which the genial welcome is a 
 (•harming contrast to the chilly insular reserve one is 
 accustomed to at home. 
 
 I am told that I have been very fortunate in 
 having cool weather on my several stays in Singapore, 
 still I could have wished it two or three degrees cooler. 
 
 In addition to the number of steamers alongside 
 the extensive wharves, many more lie anchored in the 
 roads opposite the town, men of war of all flags and 
 merchantmen lending much interest and variety to the 
 scene as viewed from the Esplanade, while numerous 
 boats and lighters, here called sampans and toongkongs 
 ply between the shore and the ships carrying passengers 
 and cargo. The change from the fine comfortable 
 P. and 0. steamer to the little local boat in which the 
 remainder of the voyage to Borneo has to be under- 
 taken, is very great and cannot be accounted an 
 agreeable one, especially when crowded by coolies as 
 they sometimes arc. Most of them boast of a parti- 
 cularly fine and large description of cockroach, a 
 most loathsome beast. Coolies sometimes occupy every 
 available inch of the deck, and what between them 
 above and cockroaches below, the life of a first class 
 passenger is not a very enjoyable one, though I freely 
 and gratefully acknowledge that the captains do all in 
 their power, even to the lending of their own deck cabins, 
 to alleviate the discomforts one has to put up with. 
 There are cabins in the saloon but they are rarely used 
 oxcept as dressing rooms, being far too hot and confined,
 
 I tl \ DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 not to speak of the aforesaid cockroaches and rats, 
 to allow of sleeping in, so, when night time conies, 
 
 the China boys may be seen wandering about with 
 mattresses and bedding, making little camps at different 
 points of vantage on deck, such as the sky-light which 
 is always a favourite refuge, the top of the hatch if 
 big enough etc When one has retired to rest, one's 
 slumbers may probably be broken by the incessant 
 chatter of a group of Sikhs, in charge perhaps, of a batch 
 of prisoners : after a time one gets impatient and cries 
 "Diam," be quiet, whereupon a more considerate Mala) 
 prisoner (who ma\ perhaps be charged with murder) 
 suggests to his guard that the "mem" (lady) wants to go 
 to sleep. It is a very public state of existence this. Malay 
 women with their babies, Chinese coolies, Dyak gutta 
 hunters. Arab traders, ponies, cattle, pigs, chickens, 
 ducks, all crowd the deck in the most chaotic confusion, 
 yet all seem happy, and most good naturedly make the 
 besl of the circumstances. The men squeeze themselves 
 as small as they can when one is treading over their 
 prostrate bodies, and the mothers sweep their numerous 
 progeny out of the way. and 1 must say that tin) are 
 far less objectionable than a similar crowd of low 
 class English would be under like circumstances. They 
 all take a very kindly interest in me. and I remember 
 on one occasion how an Arab trader commiserating 
 my sufferings from sea-sickness, undertook to cure me 
 with a decoction of pepper and lemon juice, but the 
 poor man's good intentions were of no avail as I found 
 the remedy much worse than the disease. 
 
 The passage money, notwithstanding all these 
 discomforts, is proportionately much higher than that
 
 SINGAPORE TO SAXDAKAX. 145 
 
 of the P. & 0. or Messagerie lines, the fact being that 
 competition so far as passenger steamers is concerned 
 has not set in. The time required to accomplish the 
 journey between Singapore and Sandakan varies from 
 five to seven days, according to the length of stay made 
 at the different ports on the way. It takes from three 
 to three and a half days to steam from Singapore to 
 Labium, during which time one sights no land except 
 the group of islands known as the Xatunas. and 
 steamers are rarely met with. 
 
 Labuan is a small island off the main island of 
 Borneo, and it is the smallest of British colonies. In 
 days gone by. it was a far more populous place then at 
 present, though latterly it has been coming to the fore 
 again, and will no doubt in time become of more 
 importance than it is at the moment, as it possesses 
 coal of good quality and unlimited quantity, while tin 1 
 trade of the several rivers of importance opening on 
 to Labuan Bay. will in time, as population grows, cause 
 it to become a considerable depot and centre. 
 
 The grounds attached to Government House at 
 Labuan are charming, and quite park like in their 
 effect and the house itself is a big rambling but- 
 very convenient building. Labuan boasts of many 
 orchards and gardens, and from it, and the island of Sulu, 
 North Borneo has hitherto chiefly drawn its supplies of 
 fruit. Here arc to be seen plantations of cocoanuts. 
 orange, lime, and mangosteen, besides durian. langsat, 
 rambutan, banana, and most other tropical fruits. The 
 Labuan mango has been brought to great perfection, 
 chiefly owing to the attention bestowed upon it by 
 Sir Hugh Low, when Governor of the colony. Most of
 
 1 1(1 \ DE( \l»l. l\ BORNEO. 
 
 these fruits take from* to LO years to come into bearing, 
 mangosteens even longer, and as North Borneo only dates 
 back a few years, and other more pressing matters had 
 to be attended to before planting was taken in hand. 
 there lias hardly yel been time for the fruil trees here 
 to come to maturity. 
 
 Having let't Labuan, the resl of the voyage is 
 accomplished by skirting the coast line : the next call 
 is at Cava which is the first of the B. N. B. Company's 
 ports, and boasts of grand and majestic scenery. From 
 here one gets a view of Kina Balu the largest mountain 
 in all Borneo, nearly 1 1,000 feet high, a fine and 
 cloud-capped object in the landscape, far out- topping 
 its compeers, though some of them are of no mean height. 
 The stay at Gaya dors not extend beyond a few hours. 
 barely allowing time for the shipment of some native 
 cattle, pigs etc.. and then a hurried departure is made 
 to save dav light, for the entrance to the station is 
 dangerous and cannot be accomplished after dark. 
 Delay means money lost to the owners of the ship. 
 
 Some twelve hours or so later Kudat is reached, the 
 centre of distribution of supplies tor the Maludu Bay 
 Tobacco Estates. The sunsets at these northern port- are 
 wonders of colour and beaut) r , so clear, vivid and intense 
 are the lights and shadows. The rays of the setting 
 sun reflect their beauties on the rippling waters of the 
 Hay. while the land beyond and around deepens in hues 
 of blues and purples, and the coral shallows shine forth 
 in vivid tender greens. A stillness reigns supreme, 
 broken only by the incessant chatter of gathering 
 flocks of birds, collecting in the feathery top of a tall 
 palm tree, their usual roosting place.
 
 SINGAPORE L'O SANDAKAN. 117 
 
 Only a short stay is made here, and once again the 
 anchor is weighed, the order for departure given and 
 
 we are off on our way once more. About this part of 
 the voyage the day's monotony is not unfrequently 
 broken by the capture offish. The mode of fishing is 
 somewhat odd: a long line is procured with a large 
 strong hook at the end. the bait consisting of a piece 
 of white rag. in-board a bight is taken in the line and 
 tied by a piece of twine, and a bell is attached to this 
 part. When a fish, springing at the white rag is 
 hooked, it breaks the twine causing the bell to ring. 
 upon which there is a general rush of every body to the 
 -[Hit. it frequently needing the combined efforts of three 
 or four men to haul in the capture, while everyone 
 waits in anxious suspense to see the result. Sometimes 
 the fish overjumps the hook and escapes, but usually 
 he is safely landed, generally a fine "alo-alo," a large 
 pike-like fish of up to 60 lbs. in weight, which affords 
 a welcome change to our dinner-table, as well as that ot 
 the crew and many other passengers, as they are very 
 uood catinsr .
 
 <• II A PT EK X I 1 
 
 S WDAK.W. 
 
 Sandakan Bay. — Bahalla heads. The Town. -Steam launches. — 
 Fori l'i-.\ er.— Governmenl Offices.— Fish market. — Population. — 
 Revenue. Farms. Laws. Slavery.— Constabulary. — Roman 
 Catholic Schools. — Health' — Tempcratun S as. — Rain. — 
 Length <>i' day. — Elopura. 
 
 SANDAKAN is situated on the N. E. coast of 
 Borneo just within the bay whose name it bears. 
 It is distant about seven days steam from Singapore, 
 while from Hongkong it is four and a half to five days. 
 The communication with Singapore is most irregular 
 although there are lour steamers on the run, two of 
 which proceed to the eastward as far as the Moluccas. 
 The connection with Hongkong is more to be depended 
 on, one steamer being regularly employed to run 
 between Borneo and that little but most important and 
 thriving colon) to the north of us. Telegraphic com- 
 munication there is none, so that we are whollj dependent 
 on the steamers foi news. It will therefore be understood 
 with what interest we look tor their arrival, and our 
 impatience when we get no. mails for three or four 
 w ( eks. 
 
 Sandakan Bay is a very fine natural harbour. The 
 entrance is one and a half miles broad. Inside the 
 headlands it increases to seven miles in breath, while 
 its length is about twenty miles: about seventeen more 
 or less navigable rivers flow into it. The entrance is 
 guarded bv the errand and defensive sandstone cliffs of
 
 SANDAKAN. 1 1-9 
 
 Bahalla, whoso precipitous faces softly toned to all the 
 varying shades of reds and purples, face the eastern 
 sky, while at their feet luxuriant foliage flourishes, and 
 little palm-leaf houses peep out from amidst the greenery 
 and dot the gleaming white shore. A fort erected on 
 the top of Bahalla would make Sandakan perfectly 
 secure from the attack of any enemy, while the splendid 
 land-mark the bold cliffs afford, enable Captains of 
 vessels to steam safely into port at any hour of the day 
 or night without a pilot. 
 
 After rounding Bahalla you will soon find yourself 
 opposite the town, which, lying on the north side of the 
 bay, is concealed from sight until you are along side it. 
 It has a frontage of over two miles, but no depth, steep 
 hills springing up but a short distance from the shore, 
 except in one part where there is a gradual rise inland ; 
 as a comparison I may mention that it much resembles 
 Dover. These hills are capped by houses, the home.- of 
 the European residents, and at night when the lamps 
 are lit in the bungalows, the effect is a bright and 
 pretty one as viewed from the sea. 
 
 The business portion of the town lies at the foot 
 ^t' this hills, a considerable number of the streets being 
 built over the sea, on piles made of iron-wood or brick, 
 and raised jetties for foot passengers, answering the 
 purposes of roads and side walks run along the front 
 of them. There are no wheeled vehicles of any kind 
 allowed in Sandakan. even the despised ricksha being 
 interdicted! while it will be understood that they arc 
 hardly suited even for ponies to pass along. All the 
 conveyance of baggage, rice, stores &c, &C is done by 
 carry-coolies who bear the loads slung on ropes.
 
 150 A hit A.DE IN BORNEO. 
 
 suspended [bj poles from shoulder to shoulder. The 
 shops themselves are made of either wood or brick 
 according to the means of the owner. There is nol 
 much uniformity about them ; some are tall, sumo are 
 squat, some are painted a bright yellow while others 
 arc green or red, and others again boast of no paint at 
 all; there is a delightful irregularity about them, ever) 
 man being his own architect and house decora).. 
 that the effect is bizarre in the extreme. 
 
 The Government jetty is some (it)') feet long with 
 a T head. At the end is a coal godown and a store, 
 while halt' way down the length of the wharf is 
 Custom House flanked by its barricade. Within the 
 over-lapping heads of the pier lie the steam launches 
 belonging to the various <-.t m1 . ■<. -mart little crafts 
 ready to steam off with the great lighters in tow, 
 carrying to the estates on the rivers live stock, doors 
 and windows, cases of Pilsener beer, bags of rice and 
 salt fish, and attaps for house thatching, while perched 
 upon the top of all this heterogeneous cargo are seated 
 the newly arrived coolies with their modest bagg 
 
 The chief object to the right, as viewed from the 
 sea, is Fort Pryer, from which floats tin I!. X. B. Co's 
 flag. It is a small round natural hill occupied by the 
 police, thoroughly commanding the town, so that in the 
 case of a riot the Constabulary would have every 
 advantage. There are several sfuns there which how- 
 ever have only so far been needed for saluting purpo 
 To the right of the fort and immediately behind it 
 are the barracks and gaol, all dominated over by 
 the Commandant's house which is perched on a hill 
 above.
 
 SAM) A KAN. 151 
 
 The Government offices are situated in the centi 
 of the town, not far from which are two large well 
 built brick hotels., while the new Club House, a less- 
 pretentious, but solid wood building, is fast ncaring 
 completion. These buildings all look upon the Lawn 
 Tennis ground. Government House lies to the left of 
 the town on a slight eminence, but hidden from view 
 by clumps of bamboo and African oil palms. Beyond 
 again, and further along the shore, are two large Saw 
 Mills. In a convenient position, with a garden 
 surrounding it, is the hospital and dispensary with 
 coolie wards in the rear. 
 
 The town proper is mainly composed of traders* 
 shops, built over the water, for the convenience of the 
 native traders who are thus able to bring their boats, 
 containing jungle and sea produce to the foot of the 
 ladders communicating with the houses. Roads, 
 bridges, barracks, gaol, offices, government quarters, the 
 town lighting by means of kerosene lamps, are looked 
 after by the P." W. D. 
 
 The fish market i> quite a feature of the place, and 
 is daily supplied with a fine and varied assortment of 
 fish, from prawns to rock cod. Situated as it is over 
 the water it is easily kept clean. Here and in tin- 
 neighbouring shops there is a sort of bazaar, in which 
 are sold fruit, vegetables, salt fish, cakes and other 
 commodities. The one trade of sirih leaf selling, alone. 
 employs a good many persons. 
 
 The places of worship are many and various, there 
 is an Anglican Church with a well attended school for 
 boys, while the establishment of the Roman Catholics 
 is but a few hundred yards distant. Here again is a
 
 152 H DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 flourishing boys' school, while at the Convent, the five 
 
 is are doing good work in educating little girls 
 and rescuing tiny deserted babies. A substantial Joss 
 House) where the Chinese worship, is closer to the town, 
 while behind the Government offices is situated the 
 Mosque to which the Mohammedans flock on Fridays, 
 while close to the barracks is a Sikh temple. 
 
 The population is a very cosmopolitan one 
 composed of British, Germans, Dutch, Malays which 
 includes Singapore and Penang men. Bruneis, Dyaks, 
 Bajows, Sulus, Bugis, Banjermassins, Javanese, Chinese, 
 Sikhs, Indians. Arabs, Somalis, &c. The total population 
 as shown by the last census was over 6,000 persons, 
 of whom 12!) were Europeans, a very considerable 
 number being ladies and children. When first I came 
 to Sandakan there was only one other English woman 
 in the place. 
 
 The chief source of revenue, leaving land .sales out of 
 the question, is derived from what are termed "farms;" 
 that is, the letting of the sole monopoly of dealing 
 in any particular commodity OUl to certain persons 
 or firms such as the Spirit farm, t lie Opium farm, the 
 Gambling farm, and the Pawnbroking farm. Except 
 for spirits, opium and tobacco, Sandakan is a tree port. 
 I' :porl <>t jungle produce and such like have to pay 
 a royalty of 10 per cent : ibis is in lieu of the persons 
 who collect, having to pay lor licences. 
 
 The laws in force in the territory arc taken from 
 the best and most suitable sources, and include the 
 Indian Civil ami Penal Codes. A Mohammedan priest, 
 known as an Imaum appointed and paid by Government, 
 dispenses justice amongst the Mohammedans, and
 
 SANDAKAN. 153 
 
 presides over a divorce court, as it is necessary that lie 
 should regulate all matters of a domestic nature amongst 
 followers of the Prophet. His time is a good deal 
 taken up in Court, as these people seem to pass most 
 of their spare time in marrying and giving in marriage, 
 and then getting divorced, after which they usually 
 start again on the same round. 
 
 A European police court magistrate always sits, 
 and Sessions Courts are held from time to time as 
 required. Appeals from the lower Courts are taken by 
 the Governor in the Supreme Court. Sentences of 
 <leath in the Sessions Court have to be confirmed by 
 the Governor, who issues the death warrant. 
 
 The Land laws provide for a certain amount of 
 work being done on all land sold, or else after a speci- 
 fied lapse of time the grants are confiscated. 
 
 In accordance with the terms of the Royal Charter, 
 slavery is not yet entirely abolished, but measures have 
 been taken to modify it. and its ultimate extinction is 
 a mere matter of time. All children born of slave 
 parents since 1883 are free, while the importation of 
 any fresh slaves is prohibited, neither are slaves allowed 
 to be bought or sold in the territory. 
 
 The Constabulary force of some 300 men officered 
 by Europeans, is mainly composed of Sikhs and Dyaks, 
 who have to undertake the duties either of policemen 
 or regular soldiers as occasion demands. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Establishment under the 
 guidance of Father Byron is doing much good work in 
 aquiet unobtrusive way amongst the children (Chinese, 
 Japanese and Malay). Father Byron knowing well that it 
 is almost an impossibility to convert adult Mohammedans 
 
 L
 
 154 A DECADE l.\ BORNEO. 
 
 or Chinese, wisely devotes himself to the education of 
 such children as he can get to attend his school, while 
 the Mother and Sisters ably assist the good work 
 forward by instructing the little girls, and caring for 
 the small babies. 
 
 The health of Sandakan is very good ; as a testi- 
 mony to this, 1 may mention that nearly all the 
 members of the government staff in 1882 are still here, 
 and absences from office on account of ill health are 
 very rare. If there arc any cases of sickness they are 
 usually to be attributed to carelessness, or inattention 
 on the part of the sufferer, such for instance, as turning 
 over the soil below or near the house, standing about 
 in wet clothes in an airy verandah after violent exercise. 
 or taking quinine when suffering from a slight touch 
 of sun, under the mistaken idea that it is fever: or 
 some other such infringement of common sense laws. 
 
 The temperature rarely rises above 8G D in the 
 houses, or falls below 72 . Wo always need a covering 
 over us at night, and although wo had a punkah above 
 our dining table, for three years I never once saw it 
 in motion. This is a significant fart when one considers 
 that we are situated in latitude 5. N. Although it is 
 extremely hot in the afternoon, we are never driven to 
 the expedients for cooling the air, such as they have 
 to adopt in houses in India ami China in the hot season, 
 and all the doors and windows arc thrown open to let 
 in the breeze instead of being closely shut to keep 
 out the heat as in those countries. 
 
 Tin' differences in the seasons arc; not strongly 
 marked. At Christinas and New Year time we usually 
 have a greater rainfall than at any other, we also
 
 SAND AK AN. 155 
 
 get a second sub rainy spell about June, the rest of 
 the year the rain-fall is fairly evenly distributed. We get 
 four to five times as much rain in one year ns falls in 
 England in the same period of time. The rain certainly 
 does not descend in a half hearted manner but in a 
 perfect deluge. It is very curious and interesting to 
 hear the rain storms advance ; first you are dimly 
 conscious of a soft rushing sound afar off; this 
 augments and approaches minute by minute, then the 
 leaves on the surrounding trees begin to rustle, the 
 sound increases and comes nearer, squalls of wind shake 
 the house causing a frantic skurry to shut up all 
 doors and windows, a few premonitory drops patter 
 on the ground, and then with a sudden roar, torrents 
 of blinding, sweeping rain are upon you. 
 
 Being so near the equator there is very little 
 difference in the length of the day at either solstice In 
 June the sun rises at ten minutes to six and sets at 
 ten minutes past. In December it rises at ten minutes 
 past six and sets at ten minutes to, there thus being a 
 total variation in the course of six months of forty 
 minutes in the days' length. It is customary to say 
 that there is no twilight in tropical countries but this 
 is not quite correct, as in June there is a perceptible 
 difference in the length of the day, in addition to the 
 twenty minutes above referred to. 
 
 Elopura, the name originally given by W. to the 
 new town, has been superseded by that of Sandakan 
 (the name of the old settlement), which has led to 
 considerable confusion, as the original name yet 
 appears on most maps and several title deeds and 
 documents. 
 
 L 2
 
 15G A DECADK IN BORNEO. 
 
 The houses we live in may be roughly described as 
 bi<_; airy barns, built above ground on poles, with 
 thatched roofs and palm leaf walls. There is a certain 
 kind of novelty suggestive of a perpetual pic-nic about 
 life in them, and when I first arrived it appeared to me 
 rather unwise opening my baggage, an I storing my 
 belongings in such a fragile and airy tenement, i as though 
 one was asked to take up one's permanent abode in a 
 summer house — indeed, even summer houses at h 
 are more substantially built and shut in than are our 
 domiciles. A large open umbrella might perhaps be 
 a better comparison. For coolness and suitability 
 however they are not to be excelled, and being all on 
 -me floor there is no tiresome running up and down 
 stairs. 
 
 They are surrounded by broad verandahs m >st 
 delightful lounging places, liberally furnished with long 
 bamboo chairs and ornamented with trophies of the 
 chase, such as deer and buffalo horns, and rendered 
 more attractive still by stands of flowers, foliage plants 
 ■uid lovely ferns. It is customary to take early coffee 
 and afternoon tea in the verandah, and it is also a cool 
 resorl after dinner. 
 
 The house, or bungalow properly .-peaking, is 
 
 illv situated in the centre of a flower garden, w hich 
 
 i> always more or less open, while to the house itself 
 
 there is also no entrance door, so that any one can 
 
 walk up into the verandah. 
 
 The garden is bright and gay all the year round 
 with mam kind of handsome Mowers, hibiscus of four 
 or live different kinds, double and single, from full red to 
 creamy white, and also the fuchsia variety, alamandas,
 
 SAN DAK AN. 157 
 
 oleanders, bourgainvilleas, gardenias, roses, jassmines 
 of two or three sorts, honey suckle, lillies red and 
 white, begonias, chlorodendrons of three species, passion 
 flowers, Honnlnlu creeper and many others whose 
 names I do not know, all nourish and bloom to 
 perfection in the open air, and need bat little care. 
 
 The servants arc usually Chinese, and if Chinese, 
 generally Hainans, people coming- from the island of 
 that name not very far from Hongkong*. Our servants 
 aie Cantonese, I prefer them to the Hainans, as they are 
 smarter in appearance, and tidier than the latter. 
 The Chinese are a most conservative race and very 
 cliquey ; I have often been amused to hear a boy 
 talking the most infamous and incomprehensible Malay 
 to a fellow countryman, and have said "Boy, what for 
 you talkee Malay along that Chinaman " to which the 
 reply is a scornful '■ He no belong true Chinaman, he 
 belong Shanghai man. he no can savee my talkee." 
 
 Our boy and cook we have had for many years, 
 and very good servants they are. The cook has a very 
 suggestive name for a man of his profession, — Lam 
 ('hong,- — who more usually goes by his sobriquet of 
 '• Lamb Chops," he is a most honest fellow of a lugu- 
 brious cast of countenance, but he always rises to the 
 occasion, and the greater the difficulties he has to 
 encounter, the more cheerful he becomes. He h as- 
 accompanied us on many an up country journey and 
 behaved most loyally, surmounting all obstacles. When 
 making these long journeys up rivers to the far 
 interior, he has provided us with our meals quite 
 regularly, and prepared as well, and in almost as great 
 variety as though we had been at home, yet the only
 
 158 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 fire he had, was a very primitive arrangement ; a 
 clay fire-basket made in a turned up box tilled with 
 sand. 
 
 His sole duty is to provide our meals and to 
 do the necessary marketing; to this end he every 
 morning makes an early journey to the town, a baskei 
 on his arm and an umbrella in his hand. At the 
 market he buys Meat, fish, vegetables, bread, etc. 
 sufficient for the day's consumption. Lam Chong 
 a most conscientious account keeper: he and 1 
 frequently have differences of opinion as to the total 
 of the score, and (he matter has to be held over for 
 W's arbitration when he is usually found to be correct. 
 At first I did not understand his strange and gloomy 
 manner of coming back after live minutes absence, and 
 placing 20 cents by 1113 side declaring in a positive 
 manner that the account "no belong ploper." 
 
 Some pei refer contracting with their cooks to 
 
 r for them at so much a day : during the last three 
 years the charge per day has risen from $1.00 to -1 50 
 per head, which shows how the price of provisions has 
 gone up. Servants' wages have also risen in a propor- 
 tionate d The reason of this upward tendency is 
 the inadequacy of the local supplies. Fresh market 
 
 lens, piggeries, poultry yards, and fruit and \ 
 table patches are constantly being opened in the 
 . and this matter will no doubt work its own 
 cure i i i »urse of time, at any rate it is to be 
 hoped SO. The' extreme cost of provisions however is 
 largely due to tic high prices at which the restricted 
 number of Market stalls are sold month by month at 
 iui tion.
 
 SANDAKAN. 150 
 
 Lam Chong belongs to a Dinner giving Club. 
 Sometimes after these festivities soup is about ten 
 minutes late and when it is served is very bad, after 
 which a long wait ensues before fish arrives, about this 
 period Lam Chong's voice in loud declamation is heard 
 from the cook-house ; a conjunction of these three 
 circumstances always leads us to guess that it has 
 been one of his Dinner Club evenings. Occasionally he 
 gets very bad indeed, throws himself on his bed, tears 
 down his mosquito curtain, smashes the bed posts and 
 involves all his surroundings in one general chaos. 
 This does not happen often, however, and we have to 
 put up with his occasional excentricities on account of 
 his general good conduct and faithfulness, and as he 
 once with the aid of our Doctor, by his nursing largely 
 contributed towards pulling my husband through a 
 nearly fatal illness, my partiality for him will be 
 understood. 
 
 Once Lam Chong was sent for by his mother, who 
 had nominated a wife for him, and considered it high 
 time for him to lay aside his bachelorhood. Lam 
 Chong begged leave of absence, which granted (he 
 Inning previously provided us with a man to act as 
 his substitute during his absence) he obediently set 
 sail for China and disappeared into space, and I thought 
 1 had lost him for ever. The new cook did not answer 
 at all — and for three months I was driven from pillar 
 to post by a succession of inc;>pables, until at last in 
 despair I sent general messages up to China, that I. am 
 Chong must come back. I had not the faintest idea 
 where he was, but sure enough by the next steamer two 
 or three persons brought me messages that he would
 
 UK) A I>i:< A.DE IN BORNEO. 
 
 return at once, and accordingly in about three 
 weeks, true to his promise, he once more presented 
 himself. * 
 
 A system of division of profits at the end of the 
 Chinese year exists throughout all China, even the 
 smallest regular contributor to a shop's business 
 participating in the profits, so that Lam Chong though 
 in no Avay squeezing my purse, gets a small dividend 
 through dealing at particular shops. 
 
 At the present moment there is a Javanese boy, 
 Ulitian by name, a most all round useful and cxrellcnt 
 servant, who is lost to our sight somewhere in the 
 centre of that thickly populated island. When we 
 return, Ave will give general orders to all the Javanese 
 Ave come in contact with for him to return t<> us. He 
 owes us some $20 for which Ave hold no security what- 
 ever, but we fully expect to see him within three 
 months of our return to Sandakan. 
 
 The head-house boy, Kai Yip. is a man of about 
 I."), of a most stately and commanding presence: his 
 personal appearance is a matter of great Importance t>> 
 him. and whenever he accompanies us out to a dinner 
 parly (in the Easl one always takes one's bo) with one 
 when dining nut) attracts general admiration. 1 1 * 
 always wears fine silk coats of a pale french grey, and 
 his feet and ankles are neatly clothed in ornamental 
 Chinese shoes and stockings. His one passion is flowers ; 
 his methods for making plants grow are peculiar, 
 he mixes human hair as avcII as feathers in the soil. 
 
 * Poor Law Chong, since the abo\'e was penned, has joined the 
 greai majority; through his death we have lost :i \ ery Faithful servant 
 
 I'he Javanese boy, Allitian, referred to has since returned to us 
 ;i> anticipated.
 
 NAXDAKA.V 161 
 
 and utilizes the entrails of fish and fowls besides 
 other things, and even the water in which the day's 
 supply of fish is cleaned is turned to account. The 
 effects arc undoubted, anything he manipulates thrives 
 and blossoms in a surprising manner. To see him 
 perambulating the garden in the cool of the morning- 
 arrayed in a huge Chinese hat some three feet in 
 diameter, a tart fruit bottle half full of milk in one 
 hand which he thumps 300 times in the palm of the 
 other to produce butter, whilst he stops and gazes on 
 his particular pets is indeed an amusing sight. Usually 
 when we are taking our early coffee he brings us a 
 flower or plant to admire, which he designates as being 
 a "welly beauty piecee."' His enthusiasm is carried 
 to such lengths that even after a heavy night's rain, 
 in the early morning he yet may be seen going round 
 with a watering pot, having a theory that night rain 
 contains salt which will damage the plants and must be 
 washed off. I shall never forget his disgust at a new 
 flower which he had imported at some trouble from 
 Penang and brought into bloom after some months of 
 care, as being " too muchee fooloo piecee, alia have 
 spoilum " was his verdict when they all drooped and 
 faded so that he was unable to use them for a dinner 
 table decoration. His table decorations arc very 
 tasteful, his only failing being a weakness for too much 
 mingling of colour, but when I venture to suggest any 
 modification, the only reply I can get is ' ; that no belong 
 China custom." 
 
 One of my chief difficulties in life is getting the 
 clothes washed. It is a perpetual fight and struggle 
 with the-Dhobie (washerman) be he Kling or Chinese:
 
 162 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 if the weather is fine the excuse for keeping the clothes 
 for a most unwarrantable time— 3 or 1 weeks is nothing 
 unusual — is, that the stream has been fouled by the 
 piggeries, if the weather has been raining the water is 
 muddy, or the clothes wont dry, there is always some- 
 thing: perhaps he has not had money to buy charcoal 
 to heat the irons, it does not matter what the excuse is 
 there is a stereotyped list of them. The mode of 
 cleansing clothes is not condusive to their longevity. 
 They are beaten and slashed on stones in the bed of 
 a stream, it" the Phobic is so considerate as to use a 
 board in lieu of a stone to whack the clothes upon, he 
 is accounted a most considerate man ; this is not all. 
 they have a most objectionable habit of augmenting 
 their incomes by renting out ones clothes to other 
 persons whose wardrobes are not so extensive; this 
 I believe to be the real reason why it is so difficult to 
 2:et the clothes back when once the Dhobio has become 
 possessed of them. 
 
 There is always something lost or spoilt, that 
 soes as a foregone conclusion. On one occasion I 
 recollect saying casually to the Dhobie "what have 
 you spoilt this time ? " "This time" he replied "il is 
 the mosquito curtain " and to my dismay, sure enough 
 ] found the whole of one side mangled and haggled to 
 pieces. It appeared that the Dhobie had washed it 
 and laid it out on the grass to dry; there were some 
 very bad goats there who desired to eat the grass, and 
 get at it they had to eat through the curtain, hence 
 the mangled remains brought to me. 
 
 Ladies are all victims to the tyranny of Durzies 
 (India tailor.-) there being no choice but to employ
 
 SAX DAK AX. 163 
 
 them, for the Chinese* tailors are utterly incapable of 
 manufacturing ladies' garments, whereas these Indians, 
 if one can but. persuade them to do it are very clever at 
 any kind of work, and will make any garment, lady's 
 or gentleman's, cover umbrellas, hats, make curtains, 
 cover chairs and in a word do anything and everything. 
 Their work too is always beautifully neat. It is 
 strange at first to see these men squatting on a mat 
 in the verandah busily cutting out a dress, making use 
 of their toes as well as their hands in the operation. 
 They are mean-spirited creatures, and if they once get 
 you in their debt, woe betide you ; you never can get any 
 work out of them again, while on the other hand if 
 you refuse to lend them money they will sit down in 
 a corner of the verandah, rub their eyes till their tears 
 come, and bother you to such an extent that at last you 
 weakly yield. The contrast between their moral attri- 
 butes and those of the Malays and Chinese is very great. 
 
 Their costume is a sort of white night dress 
 curiously fashioned, beneath which they wear wide 
 white cotton trousers ornamented with embroidery; 
 perched on their greasy black locks which hang in 
 tight corkscrew curls, a sort of meat-safe arrangement 
 by way of a cap, completes their get up. 
 
 In houses surrounded by jungle the advent of day 
 is proclaimed by a pretty gurgling sound as of running 
 water, which is in reality nothing but the call of the 
 wah-wah ape, this is followed by the loud shout of the 
 argus pheasant, and the mournful cry of a bird that 
 
 * Since writing the above, a. little Cantonese tailor has set up in 
 business here and lias proved himself a deliverer from the persecu- 
 tions of the Dhurzies.
 
 Kii a DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 utters a peculiar sound, three notes on a descending 
 scale. Then all the day insects waken up and begin 
 their songs, the cicada most noticeable amongsl the 
 crowd. 
 
 The most enjoyable time of the whole day is the 
 early morning; during the hours from (> to 8 a.m. 
 a delightful breeze blows, the sun shines and sheds a 
 glory everywhere, and its heat does not become un- 
 comfortable until 9 o'clock or so. 
 
 It is the custom of most persons to rise at day 
 break and take a light breakfast of coffee, v^-, toasl 
 and fruit : the early morning is usually spent in the 
 garden, in interviewing the cook and superintending 
 household matters. A great many people take rides 
 and walks while the day is still cool. 
 
 The office hours are from ten to four, after which 
 time the European population disperses to lawn tennis, 
 ritling. billiards, and other amusements. Dinner parties, 
 and occasionally dances, follow. It would be rather a 
 novel sight for any (me, not used to Eastern life, to 
 ii- start tor a dinner party, the lady in ordinal-) even 
 costume, but the gentleman (supposing it is not a 
 Government House dinner, at which function black dress 
 is d rigueur) is arrayed in white duck trousers, short 
 white mess jacket and bright hued curamerbu in lieu 
 of a waistcoat. The lady's conveyance is a light 
 bamboo sedan chair, slung on two long slender poles, 
 which are borne on the shoulders of a couple oi stout 
 Canton coolies ; Chinese lanterns are suspended before 
 and behind, the boy leads the procession with another 
 lantern, and his master's shoes tied up in a silk pocket- 
 handkerchief: the lady in her chair follows, and the
 
 SANDAKAX. 165 
 
 gentleman brings up the rear on pony back. It is 
 customary in the East when dining out to take your 
 boy with you to wait upon you at table, a very 
 excellent plan. The swinging motion when being 
 carried in a chair is not an unpleasant one if the 
 coolies are chair carriers by profession, but if they 
 arc not accustomed to the work, it is almost as bad 
 as being at sea, added to which one has the idea that 
 the bearers are being oppressed by one's weight. I 
 have often been carried by comparatively small men 
 quite easily, whereas stronger men sometimes labour 
 and struggle with palpable distress, the whole secret 
 being that the former understood their business whilst 
 the others did not. They prefer to go at a good jog 
 trot, and it is surprising how fast they can travel with 
 their bare feet. 
 
 No form of entertainment in the East is more 
 enjoyable than a moonlight pic-nic on a large and 
 comfortable steam launch, provided the night be calm 
 and fine; the Bay of Sandakan is perfect for a trip of 
 this sort owing to its large size, and many inlets and 
 pretty islands, verdure-clad to the waters' edge. Some 
 nights it is almost as bright as day, and with a 
 delicious breeze blowing, it is very cool and refreshing. 
 One of the chief and most beautiful features is the 
 phosphorescence in the water, which at certain periods 
 is much brighter than at others. I have seen the Bay 
 turn apparently milky white, the track of every fish, 
 even the tiniest, denoted by a line of light, and the 
 ripplets made by the bow of the launch cutting through 
 the water being like pale blue liquid fire, at other times 
 the whole horizon is one series of twinkling blue lights ;
 
 1()<) A DECADE IN' BORNEO. 
 
 experienced sailors have told me that no where else 
 have they seen phosphorescence so bright, and beautiful 
 as in Sandakan Harbour.
 
 CHAPTER XII T 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 Snakes, scarcety of. — Adventure with, — Wild pigs. — Native don's. — 
 Centipedes. — Wild animals. — Rhinoceros. — Adventure with. — 
 Orangutan. — Three shot — Crocodile. — Man eaten by. — Dragon 
 procession. — Chinese funeral. — Shops. — Chit system. — Treasury 
 notes. — -Anecdote. — Bamboo. — Rattans. — Turtles. -Turtle vgg*. 
 Wild Turkey eggs. — Agar-Agar. — Sea bathing. — Ikan Buntal. 
 Birds. — Hornbills. — Flower .show. — Vegetables. 
 
 THERE seems to be a general impression, that 
 wherever you turn in tropical countries, you 
 are bound to come face to face with a snake. I have a 
 friend who used to think that I found one under my 
 pillow every night. I don't know how it may be in 
 other countries, but snakes ate quite scarce in North 
 Borneo ; I do not suppose, though we lived virtual!) 
 on the borders of the jungle I have seen more 
 than half a dozen all the time I have been here 
 during a period of ten years; none of these were 
 poisonous ones. 
 
 Once however 1 had rather an alarm, I went to 
 look for an empty wine box, intending to convert it into 
 a foolstool and on looking inside it, saw what I thought 
 was a piece of oil cloth, wondering where this could have 
 come from I looked more closely, and found that it was 
 a snake curled up asleep. I quickly shut down the 
 cover and shrieked for W. who came, captured it with 
 a noose and transferred it to a buttle of spirits. The 
 horrid thing had been visiting my fowls' nests and had 
 swallowed five eggs, which were clearly visible owing 
 to the way the body bulged at intervals.
 
 1()8 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 The reason why there arc not more snakes, is the 
 abundance of wild pigs which eat them, hence ridding 
 us of a nuisance, though they themselves we regard 
 with no friendly eye, for the_ ravages they commit in 
 the vegetable gardens are most distressing. It is also 
 rather alarming, when coming home at night fall, to hear 
 a crashing and crackling in the dry undergrowth, as a 
 big pig runs away from the close neighbourhood of the 
 garden gate. Some of the boars have very long tusks 
 as compared with those from the Malay States. They 
 arc great enemies to the Sulus on our estate as they do 
 much damage to their paddy fields and banana patches, 
 and often of a morning one hears wild yells and the 
 yapping of a pack of dogs in the forest, and knows that 
 a pi 1 ? hunt is in progress. The native and town dogs 
 are very clever, forming parties on their own account 
 fur hunting, we used often to see them trot by our 
 house to attend the meet without anybody being with 
 them at all. European dogs do not make good pig 
 hunters, they arc too plucky and u r 't terribly ripped and 
 scored about, while the native dogs always take 
 to keep out of danger, but they always kill and cat the 
 pigs they once settle down in chase of, and capture. 
 
 What 1 have mure fear of then snakes and regard 
 with more aversion, are centipede-, these are of the 
 Largest and most loathsome type. They are not 
 infrequently to lie met with in the houses, especially if 
 repairs to roof or walls be in progress. Their bite is 
 very painful and causes greal swellings. They are 
 wonderfully active and seem to have an innate know- 
 Ledge that iii.iii is their natural enemy, and disappear 
 down a crack in tin' floor or other crevice with
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 1GD 
 
 astonishing celerity when once perceived. Scorpions 
 are also nasty things and their sting is even more 
 painful, but they luckily are not so common. 
 
 There are a good many animals of one kind and 
 another in the forest, monkeys, squirrels and so forth, 
 besides the larger game; if one keeps chickens it is 
 soon realized that there arc many more animals then 
 are usually supposed, for if one has not got two or three 
 dogs about, musangs, civit cats, big monitor lizards up 
 to eight feet long, snakes, rats and all manner of vermin 
 are constantly making inroads on the poultry yard. 
 There is no harm in any of these animals as far as one 
 is concerned, and in fact the musangs can even be 
 partly tamed. 
 
 But there are larger animals in the forest. We have 
 had deer bound across our garden, and on one occasion 
 a rhinoceros frequented a gully at the back of our 
 house for two or three nights running, the dryness of 
 the season having lured him down to our water supplv. 
 as they are fond of bathing. We wondered the first 
 night what the loud grunting noise was, and stood on 
 the verandah to hear him crushing amongst the herbage 
 ■down below, whenever he came across a log in his 
 path, against which he knocked his shins in the 
 darkness, he swore after rhinoceros fashion and 
 grumbled. One night he actually came up the water 
 coolies' path, and made his way along the hill top 
 towards the town, but when ho turned the corner and 
 saw lights ahead he became alarmed, and returned to 
 his accustomed haunts: his peregrinations were clearly 
 traceable next morning. They went after him two or 
 three times but failed to come up with him, though 
 
 M
 
 170 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 they found a pool nil muddy which he had lately been 
 bathing in. 
 
 •lust before avc left Borneo W. stumbled across 
 three in the forest, and had to get up a tree to escape 
 from one, having no gnu with him. but directly after- 
 wards, his boy rushing up with the necessary lire arm. 
 he pursued one and killed it. They are nasty ugly 
 brutes but have not so far displayed any of those vices 
 with which they are accredited. 
 
 The animal most peculiar to Borneo is the orang- 
 utan; a family of three came down to the edge ot 
 the forest close to our house once. W. and I wen 
 returning from the estate to our house, when w< 
 .-aw a little group of Sulus below a tree, into whos< 
 top they were all gazing intently. It appeared thai 
 when they sent up the youngest of their partly to 
 get some fruit (the tree being in bearing) he almosl 
 went into the arms of the horrible animal. That boj 
 came down much more quickly than he went up, but 
 the poor creature only tried to hide itself in the leaf) 
 crest of the tree. We should not have touched it a- 
 they are harmless brutes, but it is very unpleasant to 
 have them for such near neighbours, so I went for 
 \\"s gun. and he shot ii. It was a dreadfully hideous 
 beast, enough to tjive one the nightmare, with a 
 froeioiis expression of countenance of which the stuffed 
 specimens in museums give no adequate idea. This 
 was the male, a few days later he shot the mother and 
 child, they were not half so ugly. A curious feature 
 about these animals is that they seem to contract 
 lasting unions, and always go about in families of 
 three, father mother and child.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 171 
 
 The Chinese have a strange infatuation for all 
 sorts of extraordinary things, which they use as medi- 
 cines, rhinoceros horns and the gall of the orangutan 
 being amongst them, to obtain either one or other they 
 will pay high prices. 
 
 The most ferocious creature we have is the croco- 
 dile, and he certainly is to be feared. Rarely a month 
 passes but news reaches us that some one or other has 
 been killed by one: they are most audacious and come 
 right up to the town. Not long before we left, a China- 
 man picking up drift wood on the shore was siezed by 
 one of these brutes, which proceeded to drag him away; 
 his loud cries however caused his friends to rush to his 
 rescue, and he was recovered, but in a very mauled 
 condition ; this happened just below the house we were 
 living in at the time, which was situated in the centre 
 of the town and we heard his cries plainly. 
 
 One of our men at Pulo Bai went out fishing with 
 his son at night time in a long u gobang"' (canoe). 
 The boy went to sleep, but was suddenly awakened by 
 the boat tipping over: he cried to his father but got no 
 answer, and the father has never been heard of or seen 
 since : no doubt a crocodile upset the boat and carried 
 the man off. This old man had shortly before brought 
 me some charms, which he said would preserve tin 
 bearer from harm, as W. was going on an expedition 
 which involved danger: it was owing to the absence of 
 these charms that his friends attributed the occurence. 
 
 From crocodiles to dragons is but a short step. 
 Our Chinese sometimes indulge in very fine dragon 
 feasts, the dragon being 150 feet long. This creature 
 lias a huge and grotescpue head, the body is composed 
 
 M 2
 
 172 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 of many yards of coloured silk fastened round the 
 ribs, each rib being supported by a man. The mouth 
 is immense and open, and it has great goggle eyes. 
 A man carries a ball in front of it which if 
 supposed to be pursuing. As the procession passes 
 dung, the owners of the houses w hich line the way, fling 
 out lighted crackers which make a great noise and 
 smoke, and the dragon pretends to revel in the fire, 
 wagging its head and opening and shutting its mouth 
 as though devouring the smoke. It is attended by 
 bands, playing the mosl excruciating music and all 
 -Mits of other extraordinary arrangements are carried 
 behind it. All this seeming child's play affords the 
 greatest interest to our celestial neighbours. 
 
 While on the subject of processions, I will describe 
 one that I met, it turned out to be the funeral of a well 
 known Chinaman who had died of heart desease. Firsl 
 came a band, followed by persons carrying baskets in 
 which were a large supply of square pieces of paper in 
 the centre of which were dabs of gold and silver, tin-' 
 they scattered to right and left as they went along, 
 the object being that the evil spirits, in their greed for 
 wealth, would seize these and be so much occupied with 
 them, that they would not have time to molest the 
 spirit <>f the deceased. Then came what appeared to 
 lie a huge bolster covered with coarse sacking, upon tin- 
 top of winch a white cock, tied by the the leg. fluttered 
 about, much objecting to the situation. This must 
 have been the coffin : the object of the cock being there 
 was that he might tight any demon which tried to 
 intefere with the spirit. Tor my part I should think 
 the bands of the departed weird music, and the loud
 
 Mix ELLANEOUS. 173 
 
 incessant beating of instruments, which emitted a din 
 like children [(laying on tin tea trays (Chinese gongs) 
 much more likely to frighten them away. 
 
 The shops in Sandakan are quite open in the front. 
 there are no windows at all. consequently all their goods 
 are exposed to view. The shop-keepers squat on plat 
 forms which do duty instead of counters, or stand on 
 them to reach down the various articles for inspection. 
 At night the whole shop front is closed by shutters. 
 All the every day necessaries of life are obtainable in 
 these shops, or at the stores kept by Europeans, of which 
 there are three or four. 
 
 What is known as the chit system in China is 
 usually adopted in North Borneo, no one ever thinks 
 of carrying about the cumberous silver dollars of 
 .Mexico and Japan which are current, and instead, when- 
 ever anything is bought, all one does is to give the 
 shop-keeper an I. 0. U. for its value. At the end of 
 the month, these are all brought in for payment. 
 There is verv little small silver currency, and our trans- 
 actions of less than a dollar are conducted in North 
 Borneo cents. They are packed in rolls of 50 which 
 are very cumbersome and weighty. 
 
 British North Borneo notes are issued by the 
 Treasury the values being si. >"). and $25. these save a 
 good deal of inconvenience, a $25. note being no trouble 
 to carry, while that number of dollars is exceedingly 
 heavy. 
 
 On one occasion an astute Malay from foreign 
 parts practiced a mean trick upon some of our unsophis- 
 ticated natives living beyond the centre of civilization. 
 This man took one of the labels out of a Huntley and
 
 17 1 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 Palmers' biscuit box and palmed it off as a V->"> note, 
 it being of somewhat the same size and appearance, 
 and having reproductions of prize medals upon i' 
 which Looked like stamps to our credulous and bucolic 
 friends: complaint was made to W. about it. and 
 he had the man captured and gave him two years' 
 imprisonment. 
 
 Bamboos throughout the East are most useful, 
 being adapted for endless purposes, amongst them is 
 thai of doing duty for a water bucket, a good large 
 one with knots far apart, is often employed for this 
 purpose and is carried over the shoulder. Rattans are 
 also equally useful, as rope, string and ties, in lieu of 
 nails, for house building. Large kinds in the interior 
 are even used as flooring for houses. 
 
 The islands off the coast are frequented by turtles, 
 which are preserved, as their eggs form quite an item 
 of the people's food supply. These turtles go ashore 
 at night and scratch holes in the sand, in which they 
 lay a lot of eggs, whereupon the native- who have been 
 on the look .nit. go and collect them all and bring 
 them to Sandakan, where they are sold by hundreds 
 in the Fish Market. The right to collect these eggs is 
 reserved as a Government Monopoly, ami granted to 
 chief men amongst the Bajows, as before this system 
 was adopted the collection "f these eggs led to much 
 quarrelling, ami even fighting. The eggs are round 
 and soft, the shell not being hard like that of a hen's 
 igg, but tough and leathery, so that wherever one 
 touches them they become indented. I could never 
 summon up courage to try them but I have been told 
 thev are Ljood in omelettes.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 1 7 ."> 
 
 The esnrs of a small wild tuvkev are collected in a 
 somewhat similar manner. These turkeys make huge 
 nests formed of twigs, earth, leaves and grass, into a 
 sort of mound about 15 ft. across, in the middle of 
 which they bury their eggs. These arc of course 
 nothing like so numerous as those of the turtle but 
 their nests are to be found all along the coast line 
 These eggs are very large, as compared to the size of 
 the bird, and are very good eating. 
 
 Agar-agar is a sort of sea weed, much like Iceland 
 moss 1 should imagine; it is found in coral seas, is ;i 
 greeny hue when first collected, but turns white when 
 dried and bleached. It abounds in our seas and may 
 be collected by the hundred weight. It is used to 
 make a sort of jelly, but is not to be classed with 
 isinglass and I do not like it. Cuttle fish, tripang or 
 beehe-de-mer. keema, besides sharks' fins. etc. are 
 always being collected along the foreshore by the 
 wandering Bajows. 
 
 Sea bathing is a pastime that can only be indulged 
 in fear and trembling : not only are crocodiles and 
 sharks to be apprehended, but the water is full <it 
 -tinging medusa 1 or jelly fish, whose trailers twist them- 
 selves round the rash bather and sting him with more 
 "i- less severity. On two occasions I have known oi 
 native children having been stung to death by them, 
 and to others they have occasioned great pain, and what 
 between shells with sharp spines, a podgy black creature 
 with numerous black thorns protruding, and fish that 
 sting, wading in shallow water also has its drawbacks. 
 Amongst the many curious objects to be seen in 
 the pools left by the receding tide, arc queer little
 
 176 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 fish known as •■ ikan buntal ; " whose mouths resemble 
 parrots' beaks : when lifted oui of the water they have 
 the extraordinary power of blowing out their skins 
 until they are as round as a ball, and as hard. When 
 they blow off the air they do so with a little squeaking 
 sound. Some of these fish grow to a foot and over 
 in length. 
 
 There are not so man}" birds to be .-ten as might 
 be supposed, nor are the bright plumaged ones the 
 commonest, at the same time, now and again one gets 
 an assurance that one is in the tropics by catching a 
 glimpse of some gorgeously coloured specimen. One oi' 
 the prettiest ones that is more often seen, is a little 
 long-billed kind resembling a humming-bird, which 
 i- so tame that it builds its ne.»t from stray rattan ends 
 hanging down from the roof in the verandah.it has a 
 bright metallic blue green head and yellow wings. 
 These little birds are honey-eaters and we have often 
 watched them while hovering about the great red 
 flowery heads of a species of chlorodendron which 
 grows luxuriantly in our garden, wage big sparring 
 matches with large papilio butterflies who desire to 
 sip the sweets from the same blossoms. 1 need hardlj 
 say that the bird with hi- long sharp formidable 
 beak is of course always the victor. Amongst thos< 
 commonest in the forest are large horn-bills which sit 
 on the tops of trees beyond gun-shot, and utter the mosi 
 discordant skwarks and screams. They have enormous 
 bills, out of all proportion to the size of their bodies. 
 sometimes very brightly coloured, rosey pink and 
 yellow. Their plumage is black pied with white. 
 The Dvaks are very fond of using the heads of these
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 177 
 
 birds with the bills, to decorate the front of their war 
 caps, sticking- the long tail feathers of the Argus 
 pheasant through the crowns of them. 
 
 Once a year, usually at Chinese New Year, which 
 is a moveable feast depending on the moon, but which 
 alwavs occurs early in our New Year, oftenest about 
 February, a Flower show is held : this however does 
 riot cover all the facts of the case as in addition 
 monkies, coral, bricks, bread, needlework, geese, fowls, 
 native arms and Natural History specimens are shown, 
 as well as small quantities of general produce such as 
 coffee and sugar cane which latter usually attracts very 
 marked praise as it is often exceedingly fine. Added 
 to the above prizes are offered for fruit and vegetables. 
 In fact anything and everything that anyone likes t> 
 bring can finds admission. 
 
 The flowers as may be supposed make a very pretty 
 and attractive show, the bouquets and table decorations 
 are often very tasteful. The foliage plants, caladium- 
 and colcuses. always command a foremost place, the 
 terns also often being very handsome. The show of 
 pot-plants would always do greater credit to the 
 various gardeners, were it not for the high rate of coolit 
 labour which deters many from competing as they all 
 have to be carried by hand, so that the prize winners 
 only recoup their outlay, whilst the unsuccessful 
 exhibitors are entirely out of pocket. 
 
 There is always keen competition amongst the mar- 
 ket gardeners for the vegetable prizes. Our vegetables 
 though not choice are numerous. I have seen as many 
 as 36 kinds exhibited by one man, of which tomatoes^ 
 cucumbers, brinjals, and Chinese radishes were perhaps
 
 ITS \ DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 the best. A.s for our french beans they grow by the 
 yard, four or five when cut up are sufficient for a dish. 
 
 The huge forest that covers the country consists of 
 some six hundred different kinds of trees, which are 
 mostly of great height, their crowns of leaves being 
 .ft en two hundred feet above the ground, while the 
 enormous trunks spring up column-like some a hundred 
 feet and more before the first branch spreads, itself 
 forth. Many of them have great buttresses proceeding 
 from the main trunk near the ground, making reces 
 many feet deep. These trees nearly all afford timber 
 ►f more or less value, and vary in quality from the 
 hardest of hard woods down to some almost cork-like 
 in their substance : among them there are a great 
 variety of fruit trees, including several sorts of wild 
 Mango, besides the Durian, Langsat, rambutan, and 
 others, while two or three species of wild nutmeg 
 ire not uncommon on low flat lands. Considerable 
 portions of the Coasl are fringed with broad mangrove 
 swamps, from the bark of which a valuable tanning 
 material is obtained, whilst the wood is found to make 
 good fuel for steam launches. 
 
 The usual idea of a tropical forest is somewhat 
 wide of the mark, as, except lor the size of the 
 enormous trees, there is little difference between it and 
 in English wood, the palm tree-, which are supposed 
 to comprise the principal ['art of the vegetation being 
 rarely seen. Perhaps what strikes one most is the 
 presence of numbers of large creepers which at intervals 
 interlace the trees. Amongst these the most useful is the 
 rattan which is itself a palm, although very unlike the 
 palm trees seen in conservatories in Europe, as its
 
 \IIM ELLANEOUS. IT5> 
 
 aumei'ous stems are long, thin, leafless and thorny as 
 far as one can see, the only leaves it has being merged 
 in the general mass of foliage far overhead. 
 
 The forest, even at mid-day, when the sun is at its 
 highest, is cool, gloomy and silent: at day break the 
 monkies call, and the myriads of insects raise a pleasant 
 and not unmusical chorus, but beyond this and the 
 occasional call of a bird very few sounds are heard. 
 
 There are but few really dangerous animals to be 
 met with, although the rhinoceros, perhaps the most 
 disagreable of them, is far from uncommon, beside-, 
 which there is also a small kind of bear but I have 
 never heard of any one being hurt by either of these 
 animals- Monkies abound, from the large red-coated 
 orangutan with his immense span of arm and tremendous 
 muscular strength to the smallest ape; the most 
 interesting of the latter being the kalawat, or wah-wah, 
 whose pretty soft grey coat and shiny black face and 
 funny wrinkled foreheads are the most attractive, their 
 great black eyes always have a pleading look in them : 
 they do not rebel in captivity if they arc greatly petted, 
 but quickly the if much attention is not bestowed 
 upon them. 
 
 Elephants are not infrequently heard of but they 
 are not by any means often seen : wild cattle, wild 
 pigs and deer are not uncommon, the smallest of the 
 latter being a very diminutive creature most delicately 
 fashioned; it chiefly goes by the name of mouse-deer. 
 It is generally caught in traps and its poor little legs 
 being so slender, are often in consequence broken. 
 
 Of birds there are very many kinds including the 
 .handsome fire back and argus pheasants, gay plumaged
 
 180 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 pigeons of several varieties, partridges and many others, 
 not omitting the bul-bul as well as a bird that has a 
 strange mournful cry, five minor notes on a descending 
 
 scale. 
 
 Perhaps the most unpleasant inhabitants of 
 the forests are the leeches which swarm everywhere 
 wriggling their thin ugly browny-yellow bodies from the 
 tips of leaves, waiting some passing object whether 
 man or beast to which to attach themselves. If the 
 blood is not in good condition their bites cause much 
 trouble, making sores which in some cases, do not 
 heal for weeks. On the other hand, it' the person 
 bitten is in good health the leeches have but little 
 effect on him. Mosquitoes there are. of course, and sand- 
 flies, the latter being perhaps the worse plague of the 
 two hut neither kind of these tiresome little flies can 
 be said to be very plentiful except in certain localities. 
 At night-time the feathery clumps of bamboo and 
 bracken are made beautiful by the lovely fire-flies which 
 Hit about them flashing their bright rays of light at 
 short intervals, reminding one forciblv of falling stars : 
 glo\i worms are to be found on every bank and some- 
 times various kinds of fungi which emit ;i phospho- 
 rescent light, and even dead leaves may occasionally 
 be met with which have the appearance of being coi end 
 with luminous paint. 
 
 There are not SO many snakes as is generally 
 imagined, sometimes it is true a big python is noosed 
 and brought into town, while occasionally a slim grass 
 green snake is seen gracefully winding its way through 
 the bushes, or amongst the flowery creepers which 
 form arches in our gardens, but they are quite harmless
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 1<S I 
 
 and as a matter of fact poisonous snakes are very rare, 
 though, at long intervals, a hamadryad is reported; 
 this latter is of course one of the most baneful, not 
 only being provided with very poisonous fangs but 
 also is one of the very few that sometimes shows ;i 
 disposition to attack man. On a recent occasion a huge 
 python having swallowed a deer which was distinctly 
 observable in its body, was captured in a dormant 
 condition on our land, and a case of the same kind 
 occurred not long ago in the Ulu Kinabatangan. Each 
 of these snakes was over twenty feet long, and although 
 so large in size, yet the bodies of the animals devoured 
 stood out in bold relief through the expanded skin, 
 which was strained to such an extent that it was on 
 the point of bursting. 
 
 A not uninteresting elephant hunt occurred not 
 long ago on a newly opened estate. An elephant 
 espying some young and succulent banana plants 
 valiantly ventured into the clearing in the middle of 
 the day. The coolies shouted and made demonstrations 
 hoping thereby to frighten him away, but he refused 
 to retreat and charged right at them : a fight thereupon 
 ensued, the men prodding him with their wood- 
 knives and spears whilst the elephant chased them about. 
 Finally, one man more valiant than the others, in the 
 excitement of the encounter, sprang on to a great log and 
 from thence on to the beast's back, from which point 
 of vantage he succeeded in dividing one of the animal's 
 spinal vertebral'. 
 
 < Orangutans make platforms of branches and leaves 
 in the forks of the trees, for their sleeping places. Two 
 orangutans that I knew and which were kept in
 
 1 82 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 captivity for ;i lung while were very amusing in their 
 habits. Although they were half grown they were 
 not kept in ;i cage or even chained, but lived quite 
 happily and comfortably in a couple of small trees by 
 the cook-house, and they were so tame that they would 
 take their masters' hand and walk about with him. 
 They were most deliberate in all their movements. 
 scorning anything so undignified as haste. The male 
 used often to amuse himself for hours by climbing to 
 the top of the roof of the cook-house, and then in the 
 most solemn sober manner, curl himself together and 
 roll down like a ball. They had a very human way 
 of shading the sun from their eyes when peering at an 
 object in the distance, when the sun interfered with 
 their view, placing their spread hands in a slow 
 contemplative manner across their foreheads as a man 
 would do under similar circumstances. 
 
 Ii was very odd to watch them when rain came, try 
 to cover their heads with a handful of long grass a> a 
 protection against the downpour, but what they liked 
 better for this purpose was an old kerosine oil tin, and 
 it' there happened to be cue lying anywhere about, it 
 tvas esteemed a great treasure and a most enviable 
 defence againsi a tropical shower. I have seen thi 
 male snatch one of these tins in a most ungallant 
 manner from his wife. In fad the poor little lady had 
 generally rather a rough time of it. her husband not 
 having been remarkable for his kindness to her, he 
 would greedily snatch anything she was eating from her 
 in a very ungentlemenly fashion, while she, poor thing, 
 submitted meekly like an ill-used wife whimpering only 
 a pitiful protest. At one time he gobbled up the food
 
 MIS< ELLANEOUS. 183 
 
 so fast that she was a quite desreputable object, being 
 se poorly nourished, and for this reason the male was 
 at last chained up. When she died however, her 
 widower greatly mourned her loss, took t<> sadlj 
 intemperate habits and finally, after no long period, 
 succumbed to the combined effects of remorse, grief and 
 intemperance. 
 
 There are many lovely butterflies of great varieties, 
 from the large transparent ghost butterfly which 
 slowly flaps about in gloomy places, and the richly 
 coloured black and yellow omithoptera, a span's 
 breadth across the wings, to the tiny blues with their 
 delicate markings which flicker over every bank of 
 flowers. The moths which fly into the houses at 
 night time are no less beautiful and their varieties 
 exceed even those of the butterflies. 
 
 Orchids abound, though they arc not so easilj 
 obtainable nor so often seen in blossom as seems to 1» ( 
 generally supposed, and unless a patch of jungle i- 
 being felled, whether for timber purposes or for 
 planting, they are very difficult to get. The greatei 
 proportion of them are very small and insignificant, 
 hut we have some that would delight the hearts oi 
 orchid collectors at home, the most beautiful being the 
 phalcenopsis amabalis, and two other kinds whos< 
 names I do not know have been acquired up the rivers 
 in Sandakan Hay: their flowers arc very much aliki 
 in character but their leaves and bulbs quite different 
 each from the other. 
 
 The curious pitcher plants can be found anywhere 
 where there is dry sandy soil and begonias thrive in 
 the vicinity of lime stone rocks.
 
 184 A DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 Orchid collecting is not quite such easy work as 
 those at a distance may suppose. Labels are not 
 attached by nature to orchids as they grow in the 
 forest, as many people in England from the way they 
 write would seem to think, and as many of them very 
 closely resemble one another, it is provoking, alter 
 carefully pampering for some months a sort which 
 looks as though it ought to have tine large handsome 
 blossoms, to find it result in flowers of almost miscros- 
 copical dimensions. Nor is this the only awkwardness. 
 Difficulties of all kinds arise in orchid collecting; the 
 following is an instance. My husband's brother who 
 visited us some years ago wrote back to us saying 
 that he had identified an orchid he saw in the forest 
 
 is a very valuable species and giving us directions 
 where to find it. After a little exploring it was 
 discovered at the place refered to, at the extreme top 
 
 >f a high tree. It looked large but not particularly so. 
 .My husband ordered the tree to be cut down, which 
 was done with the unfortunate result that it fell upon 
 
 i government bridge on the main road about 150 feel 
 off, smashing it entirely. 
 
 The orchid itself, a grammatophyllum. when we 
 got close to it we found was large enough to fill a 
 couple of carts, it was knocked all to fragments how- 
 
 ver by the fall, but some of these- several mens' 
 loads we carried off and placed in a gully at the back 
 of the house in the hope that they Mould strike, but 
 that night there was very heavy rain and next 
 morning not a vestige of it remained, so there Mas an 
 end of that orchid and all the expense connected with 
 it, and all we had to do was to build another bridge.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 185 
 
 The weather is .sometimes rough but the winds 
 never freshen to a gale, and for the most part I am told 
 it is very pleasant to cruise about in these waters ; 
 (being an exceptionally bad sailor myself. I unluckily 
 ■cannot endorse this opinion.) At mid-day, -when the 
 sun is shining, the white sandy beaches dotted with 
 little native houses, backed by luxuriant foliage, with 
 the bright green and blue coral shaded^ water lapping 
 the shore, forms a bright and pleasant picture. On 
 calm still nights, usually towards the close of the year, 
 the phosphorescence is so great that the waters of the 
 Bay tarn a milky white, with brilliant fiery lights 
 glowing here and there where the fish or a boat breaks 
 up the sea into ripplets. Beneath the tiny wavelets 
 bloom perfect sea-gardens with banks of blue, green, 
 yellow and red and other colours ruled by the pre- 
 dominating shade of the masses f coral, whilst among 
 them flit fish of brilliant hues, turquoise blur to vivid 
 scarlet. 
 
 I lie most terrible scourge we have in Borneo is 
 the crocodile. This cruel monster which in most other 
 countries occurs in fresh water 'inly, is often with us 
 found far out to sea. and there are one or two species 
 which never seek fresh water at all. Other kinds on 
 the contrary keep to the rivers only, inhabiting and 
 abounding in the shallow lagoons at the back of the 
 main rivers. The sea is so full of sharks that their fins 
 salted and sun-dried form a main article of trade in 
 some places. 
 
 There is a remarkable absence of unpleasant 
 natural phonomena in North Borneo, volcanos and earth- 
 quakes are quite unknown on the East Coast, and 
 
 N
 
 186 V DECADE IN BORNEO. 
 
 tvplioons never reach us. The volcanic belt passes 
 round to the eastward of us some hundreds of miles, 
 Itl may record here thai the Krakatoa eruption in 
 August 1883 was distinctlj heard at Sandakan notwith- 
 standing that the scene of it lies no less than 1,200 
 miles away, whilst so recently as 7th June, 1892 we 
 again heard heavy muffled explosions which were at 
 once pronounced by some persons to be caused by an 
 eruption. This proved to be true as we afterwards 
 were informed that an eruption had taken place on the 
 evening of that da) at Sangir Island nearl) <i<>(* 
 
 I lies tO the e;is| of US. 
 
 \n far a- is known there art' Kut lew minerals 
 (i metals in Borneo. Coal outcrops occur in two or 
 three places especially in the S. \Y. district, uhih 
 the existence of gold in the upper Segama has bcei 
 Lo _ known; the following extract from Dalrymple 
 o doubt refers to it. "Unsang; this district produces 
 •■ plenty <>t verj fine gold which is soft like wax: tin 
 •• most remarkable for this is Talassam, within Giong, 
 •• but the river disembogues in the North Sea betweet 
 •■ Tambisan and Sandakan/' 
 
 It was while on ajournej up the Segama, under- 
 ; iken at, m\ husband's request, in seach of the gold 
 district referred t<> in the above extract, that tin 
 • ntbrtunate Prank Hatton met his death while elephant 
 shooting, the was the first European to put a bullet in 
 n Bornean elephant): hi- sad death brought the expedi- 
 on to a summary close. Had he lived, no doubt 
 vears ago, the whole question of the real value "t 
 the gold deposits in North Borneo would have been 
 < i termined.
 
 MISCELLANEOUS, 1ST 
 
 Slavery though not absolutely prohibited by l;i\v 
 i> largely restricted and has almost died a natural 
 death: since 1883 all children born of slave parents 
 have been free. W. on his first advent in the country 
 had great difficulty in making the people understand 
 that there was any other condition than that of slavery. 
 
 It must not be supposed that slavery in these parts 
 partook of anything after the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" 
 form, there were no overseers, long whip in hand, to 
 stand over gangs of men ami crack them up with a 
 long lash, no tracking - of runaway men and women by 
 blood hounds, slaves Mere often a> well if not better 
 clothed than their masters and loafed through life 
 much in the same lazy manner, and if hard work was 
 demanded of them they thought themselves very ill- 
 used, in fact they considered that the raison d'etre of 
 a master was before all things to support his slaves in 
 ci mifort. 
 
 The footing on which they stood w ith their masters 
 may be gathered from the following entry in W's 
 diary of llih October 1S7S. "Bought Juan of 
 •• Mohamed Ascalee for $90, told him he was a free 
 ■• man which he seemed to regard from the heritage 
 •• of woe point of view and was very melancholy 
 •• about it. Mohamed addressed a feu words to him 
 •• on handing him oxer and then burst into tears. 
 •• Juan wept and Mohamed's wife howled, altogether 
 '• it was most affecting." 
 
 It was difficult to make then comprehend the 
 dignity of freedom. One man who \Y, freed, on being 
 met with after some months later, was discovered 
 again as a slave. < hi enquiry it turned out that he had 
 
 \ 2
 
 188 A HI' \I»K 1\ BORNEO. 
 
 sold himself for a concertina with which he wanted to 
 capture the affections of a young native lady. On 
 another occasion a man came to W. for advice aboul 
 a slave; -die would not sew, she refused to cook, she 
 would do nothing but sit in the verandah and chew 
 sirrih. VV. advised the master to cut down her rations, 
 hut this was no use, she went and helped herself when 
 the food was prepared. \Y. then suggested he had 
 better --ell the woman, hut here again occurred a 
 difficulty, 1'or no one could he found hold enough to buy 
 her or even take her as a gift, so had a reputation 
 did she bear. It was then proposed that the master 
 should turn her out of the house, hut this was no use 
 as there are no front doors, so she -imply walked in 
 again. As a last and extreme resource W. hinted 
 that perhaps he might even go so far as to administer 
 a little very mild correction but this was courting i 
 climax. In half an hour, in rushed the master with 
 a very disordered appearance and blood streaming down 
 his face. He -aid that would never do as sin was 
 tin stronger and beat him instead.
 
 C II A I»T E R XIV. 
 
 Coffee Planting. 
 
 Gigantic trees .— Price of felling. — Land selecting . — Selups and 
 scntices. — Seed beds. — Mode of tree felling. — Axes. — Native 
 labour. — Chaos. — Burning off. Building Holeing and lining. 
 Planting. — Liberian Coffee. 
 
 "\ T 7( >RK in connection with tin- opening of an 
 \ \ estate or plantation of any kind i- very 
 interesting. To a person unused to agricultural opera- 
 tions in the tropics, as he stands in I he primeval 
 forest and glances around him, noting the size and 
 circumference of the giant trees which seem to defy 
 the i>un\ strength of flesh and muscle, the hope and 
 d< -ire to convert such a tract of fores! into smiling 
 districts <>i food producing land, or into waiving fields 
 of vellow paddi or sweet scented coffee gardens, seem- 
 almost appaling and well nigh impossible. 
 
 Gazing above and around him lie sees trees varying 
 in size from tie' thickness of hi- arm to ;t diameter of 
 five tret and perhaps even more, springing np straighi 
 and column-like to a height of 200 feet overhead, 
 whilst the ground at his tret i- a tangle of roots. The 
 prospect in truth is not encouraging, and indeed many 
 Chinamen, who have at one time or another been 
 attracted to Borneo on the promise of cheap fertile land, 
 have after a single walk in the silent and gloomy forest 
 depths fled back to China straightway, while even
 
 190 \ i»i:» \i>i: in BORNEO. 
 
 Englishmen not used to it, frequently look upon the 
 task of merely felling those forest monsters as the work 
 of a giant endowed with super-human powers, and 
 have devised steam felling machines and other such 
 appliances for the more sure and speedy felling of such 
 trees, whereas for four dollars an acre, any number of 
 Malay gang foreman can be found to undertake eon- 
 tracts to laj it low, the charge for an acre, being I 
 suppose, nol much more than English labourers would 
 demand for felling a single tree, and yet these huge 
 trees stand close together and our virgin forests hold 
 often twentj of such to an acre to say nothing of the 
 hundreds of from one to two feel thick. 
 
 We will supp >se that it is a coffee estate that is r<> 
 be the scene of operations. Naturallj the first thing is 
 I i - led the land. In North Borneo this is nol a vcrj 
 difficult matter, the required description of ground 
 existing almost everywhere, long undulating hillocks 
 as near sen level as possible. Care must also be taken 
 to select ih" land on the banks of a navigable river 
 in nnler to ensure cheap transport, whilst n most 
 important point to be kepi in mind is not to be at 
 any great distance from your base <>t supplies, upon 
 which the price of rice and provisions for the coolies 
 greatly depends, a matter which may make jus; the 
 difference between a profit and a loss in the days to 
 come. (liven those advantages, if exactly the proper 
 description of soil can be combined, the planter can 
 start work without misgivings. 
 
 \i rived at this point, it is usual to engage a gang 
 of men on day wages, and the exact spot for the com- 
 menceinent having been settled upon, a small clearing
 
 COFFEE PLANTING. 191 
 
 iii the forest is made. Here arc run up hastily a series 
 of leantos, "selups" as they are called, diminuitive mat 
 sheds long and narrow, raised above the ground on 
 poles with the ever useful Kadjangs mats thrown over 
 them. Selups for twenty men can easily be made in a 
 day. A rough shelter having thus been made, the next; 
 morning the planter throws his men into the forest 
 with orders to cut long straight lines or lanes known 
 technically as " rentices," with again other "rentia - " 
 at right angles at distances of every two hundred yards, 
 thus cutting up the block into a series of squares like 
 i chess board of little over eight acres each, which are 
 known locally as •■ pajuks." 
 
 The blocks having thus been marked out, the next 
 thing is to make contracts for the felling of these 
 "pajuks," the price depending upon the nearness to the 
 town of the forest and usually ranging from $26 to |32 
 each, a contractor taking two to four such "pajuks " 
 iccording to the size of his gang. The cleverest fellers 
 in North Borneo arc either Bornean Malays. Kadyans 
 or Sooloos. 
 
 It is considered by most planters advisable to leav< 
 strips of low forest standing sonic thirty or t 
 feet broad in two or three directions to act as wii ' 
 screens. 
 
 Matters having progressed thus far, the next care 
 of the planter is directed to his seed beds; unless he 
 has been able to secure promise of the necessary young 
 plants he proceeds to prepare nurseries (beebits) with 
 as little delay as possible, as the coffee beans take eight, 
 to nine months from the time they are put in. until 
 they are strong young plants ready for the fields.
 
 192 V DECADE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 The forest felling gangs at mice get to work ; first 
 
 of all armed only ■with their long wood knives known 
 
 •■ parangs." These implements are of different shapes, 
 
 but are usually curved or scimeter shaped blades some 
 
 eighteen inches in length, \\ ith which they cut over all 
 
 the small undergrowth, saplings and young trees up to 
 
 four and five inches thick: this done over the whole 
 
 I Lock of land, they nexl attack the larger tree- up to 
 
 feet or so in diameter; now heavier tools become 
 
 ssary, either a light American axe or more often 
 
 • ieir own " billiongs," insignificant little weapons to 
 
 . at. hatchel shaped, bound with rattan to a Long 
 thin pliable piece of wood made of a root for handle, 
 which bites deep into the hearts of all bul the hardest 
 i I hard \\ oods. 
 
 By tlii- time there remain standing but the giants 
 
 the forest, trees measuring frequently uj> to six feet 
 
 and even more in diameter, many of them having 
 
 buttressess reaching out on all sides and stretching 
 
 to a height often of twelve feel from the ground: 
 
 : ...\r these buttresses the forest teller- proceed to 
 
 (Met a Light staging or platform [upon which they 
 
 their stand, attacking the tree on opposite sides. 
 
 ■ en thuSj the men seem very pigmies a-> compared 
 
 with the great monster they are about to attack 
 
 and theii weapons utterh unfitted for such work of 
 
 d struction ; but see, the arms are already Lifted high, 
 
 little - billiongs " are already at work, and a sound 
 
 reaches the ear while the chips of wood fly right and 
 
 • it. those sharp Little axes are already beginning 
 t<> eat their way into the heart of the giant with 
 a stonishing rapidity.
 
 i OFFEE PLANTING. l!>.'i 
 
 After an hour's work, or it may be more, according 
 to the size of the tree and the quality of the wood, a 
 
 faint crackling sound is detected by experienced ears; 
 the fellers proceed with mure caution and strike with 
 less rapidity, for that was a note of warning and the 
 end is not far oft'. After chipping with care and a 
 listening ear, one of the unit descends from tin* platform 
 while his comrade continues lus tapping, pausing" 
 frequently to listen for ominous sounds such as his 
 accustomed ear quickly detects. At lasi a hauler 
 darkling sound is heard, the fibres begin to strain, and 
 throwing aside his axe the wood man utters a wild 
 yell of warning, hastily clambers down from his 
 platform and escapes to a place of safet\ with all the 
 agilitj of a nimble squirrel. 
 
 The tree top sways and bends his leaf} crown, the 
 branches shiver, the crackling sounds augment, tin 
 mighty crest bows ami bends, and then with an 
 increasing rushing sound and a terrific crash falls to 
 the ground making i I shake amid-: the exultant yells 
 of the excited SooloOS. 
 
 This feat successfully accomplished, unlike an 
 English labourer who would require a tankard of ale 
 to refresh his exhausted system after such a spell oi 
 hard work, the small lithe natives squal on their heels 
 on a prostrate log, and roll up ami smoke a cigarette 
 while the) calmh contemplate the surrounding tree- 
 ami decide which one they will next attack. 
 
 Often they will half cut through a number of tree-. 
 and then fell one larger and heavier than the resl 
 in such a clever manner as to bring them all down 
 together: at other times they will, a- it were, take aim
 
 I! )| \ l>i:< V.DE l\ BORNEO. 
 
 with one tree at another and turn it over roots and 
 all, without having even touched it with their axe. 
 
 Tin- felling concluded, the scene is now one of the 
 wildest, wreck ami confusion: huge trees lying one 
 over another in all directions, while an impenetrable 
 tangle of broken branches, boughs and leaves si\ feel 
 or so deep covers the ground, so that it is only possible 
 i.i gel aboul at all by passing from one prostrate 
 tree trunk to another, which it needs a nimble and 
 experienced fool to accomplish in safety. 
 
 To a novice, introduced now to such a scene "I 
 chaos, with instructions that he i> t" evolve an orderly 
 well planted coffee estate upon the site of havoc and 
 
 confusion before him, tl ffect is almosl appalling, 
 
 it -reining all but an impossibility even to gel the 
 ground cleared of such tons of timber. 
 
 In the case of opening a coffee estate, it is usual 
 to wait until a spell of hoi sunn> weather shall have 
 made the whole mass of leaves and branches so dry 
 thai the fire will easily spread and run, so devouring 
 them all withoul artificial aid and even to some extent 
 burning off the larger logs which hamper the ground, 
 or leaving them to smoulder away -lowly. It is a 
 most impressive sight to see a large acreage being 
 devoured by fire in this manner. Enormous tongues 
 if flame leap up thirty and fortj feet in the air, vast 
 
 Columns of smoke ascend and darken the sky, while 
 
 the intense heat, loud crackling and sputtering noises 
 .,(' the (lames consuming the huge logs of wood is quite 
 awful. I speak of an area, as large as that occupied 
 by St. James' Park, one sea of flames. Owing to the 
 humidity under the forest shade these fires never
 
 COFFEE I'l.WII Ni.. 195 
 
 extend into tin- surrounding district as might be 
 anticipated. 
 
 The time has now arrived when it becomes neces- 
 sary to think about the erection of more roomy and 
 ■comfortable quarters for the staff, from Manager to 
 coolies, and house building is taken in hand. The 
 selection of suitable sites for the now habitations is 
 most important, and rising or hilly ground should b • 
 chosen, but as a rule sufficient attention to this most 
 important point is not given, and too often they are 
 made on the flat, which in rainy seasons becomes damp 
 and unhealthy and is the cause of much sickness. 
 
 Clearing is the next operation after burning; if 
 the latter has been a good one this is soon finished. 
 but in wet weather or with a had burn, it becomes 
 one nt' the most expensive operations connected with 
 planting. 
 
 It will he understood that even the best burn still 
 leaves large logs 100 feet in length and more, lying 
 piled up m the ground, while the stumps, many of them 
 of huge size, still remain standing all over the estate 
 waiting the process of slow decay, (ploughing is of 
 course quite out of the question) but they are not, as 
 ;i rule, found to interfere much with the next process, 
 that of holeing and lining, which i^ done by a good 
 many couples holding out stretched lines crossed bv 
 other similar lines the same distance apart eight to 
 nine feet. Whenever the lines cross, a wooden peg is 
 put in to indicate the spots where the holes are to be 
 made in which the coffee seedlings will be planted. 
 Eight and a half feet is considered to be the best 
 distance apart by most planters.
 
 |<)(> \ DE< AM'. IN BORNEO. 
 
 The lining finished, contracts arc then usually 
 given to Chinese to dig so many holes, usually eighteen 
 Inches broad by eighteen inches deep: after which these 
 holes arc filled with surface earth mingled with the 
 wood-ash produced by the burning of the forest. All 
 is now ready for planting which is usually proceeded 
 with when a period of two or three successive days' 
 rain has made the ground thoroughly damp. 
 
 I suppose every planter (litters slightly in his mode 
 of conducting this operation, hut the one object in view 
 is of course to pul in a< strong and healthy plant- 
 as can be procured, giving them the best advantages 
 possible. Whether you shade them more or less, or 
 whether the tap-root is stumped 01" not, whether you us< 
 a parang or a hoc or the hands for planting, are all 
 methods which vary according to the idea of the planter. 
 The estate now planted up. the planter, like the farmer 
 ;ii home, proceeds according to my experience to grumble 
 at the weather whatever it may be. The coffee shows 
 its first blossom when it is about eleven months of age, 
 and yields its first cherries in about its twentieth month. 
 
 Liberian coffee is always a fine handsome plant 
 with its large dark green leaves and it- big jassmine 
 like flowers and exquisite perfume, after a spell ol 
 rainy weather it throws out a flush of pure white 
 blossoms which make ii still more attractive. 
 
 These flushes of bloom do not occur at anj stated 
 intervals but seem to come out all the year round, 
 whenever the weather is favourable, the consequence 
 is that on the same shrub, flowers and the cherry in 
 all stages from tiny pea like berries, up to the ripe 
 scarlet berry are to be seen.
 
 (' II A I'T E R X V 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Hopes and aims. -Miuerals. Frank Hatton. -The -nil the country'* 
 chief mainstay. — Comparison with .lava ami the Philippines. — 
 Resources still undeveloped. 
 
 '"T^HE end that W. had in view from the first 
 beginning of all things, and from which he has 
 never tor a moment wavered was to get the country into 
 such a peaceful and orderly state that capitalists 
 should be attracted to develop its resources, as it was 
 not the intention of the Association first, or of the 
 15. N. Borneo Co. afterwards, to do more themselves 
 than administer the country. 
 
 It was at first hoped that minerals would be found, 
 and steps were at once taken to discover what minerals 
 or metals there were. To this end, Frank Hatton was 
 engaged to explore the country ; the story of his 
 travels, researches and untimely end are relate 1 fully 
 elsewhere." lie went very thoroughly over a good deal 
 of the country and left but little doubt but that, it 
 there were any metals to speak of. they would require 
 much closer examination to bring to light, than he was 
 commissioned to make, a conclusion which time has 
 only tended to confirm. 
 
 * North Borneo. Explorations and Adventures on tin' Equator.
 
 198 A Itl'.i Alii: IN BORNEO. 
 
 This being the case, there only remained n> the 
 country's mainstay, the fertility of its soil, the enor- 
 mous acreage, concentrating upon some <>t' the finest 
 harbours in the world and the healthiness of its climate. 
 It Mas quite certain that these, especially in the 
 Sandakan districl were unquestionable, and that these 
 very evident advantages Mould attract attention 
 seemed to W- only natural, that in fact Great 
 Britain, which had hitherto not possessed any 
 tropical colony possessing much fertility oi soil, would 
 seize with avidity the opportunity <>f developing the 
 resources of a country that vied with the Philippines 
 and Java in all their best points, lacking at tin- 
 same time a good many of the disadvantages <>t 
 those islands, seemed probably and he hoped that it 
 would not lie long before Borneo would begin to fulfil 
 its obvious destiny of c< ming to the fore a> one of the 
 main producers of tropical commodities for the world, 
 supporting a large and ever increasing population of 
 its own, its one enormous stretch of forest gradually 
 receding and giving place to fields and plantations of 
 all kinds, while towns and villages slowly grew up of 
 their own a?cord at the most suitable centres. 
 
 So far, these expectations have not been fulfilled, 
 hut it does ii"i remain with me to explain the reason 
 and cause of this delay: suffice it to say. that the 
 soil and natural advantages are not at fault. Tin 
 vast agricultural resources remain intact, virtually 
 undeveloped, notwithstanding the hundreds of 
 thousand^ of acres of land adapted for sugar, coffee, 
 Manila-hemp, cocoanuts and india rubber, and many 
 other tropica] products known to give very profitable
 
 CONCLUSION. 109 
 
 results to the cultivator if only inaugurated iu districts 
 near to a port of shipment, for hero (unlike Africa, 
 where the fertile districts are far distant from the coast 
 so that the cost of carriage to a port must necessarily 
 he one of the chief items of calculation in connection 
 with tin 1 export of produce), cast acreages centre on 
 wood shipping harbours, so that exports can he shipped 
 off at the lowest possible expense. 
 
 The day cannot be far oil. however, when North 
 Borneo's enormous capabilities must perforce demand 
 attention and attract notice to this the finest tropical 
 agricultural country that Great Britain possesses. * 
 
 END- 
 
 These lines were written in January L893.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Blut visited, 78. 
 
 
 Boar, wild, 50, 70, 168. 
 
 
 Boats, native, 54. 
 fetish, 83. 
 
 Adventure at Silam, J 08. 
 
 Agar-agar, 175. 
 
 Bock, C. quoted, 7. 
 Borneo : 
 
 Alexandra Falls, 80. 
 
 America S.S., voyage of, 11. 
 
 area &c, 1. 
 
 Anak artim, 129. 
 
 population, 2. 
 
 Animals, wild, 68, 74. 
 
 Chinese element, 2. 
 
 Attack on Mr. Pryer, 22. 
 
 divisions of, 2. 
 
 
 history, 1 ct seq. 
 
 B 
 
 Brooke, Rajah, 7. 
 
 
 Brunei, decadence of, 8. 
 
 Bahalla, battle of, 36. 
 
 treaty of 1877, 12. 
 
 described, 64. 
 
 Buffalo, wild, 79. 
 
 Rajow tribe. 99 ct seq. 
 
 Buludupies, characteristics, 
 
 Balignini, 4, 41. 
 
 27, 95 et seq. 
 
 origin, 103. 
 
 Burning off cleared land, 194. 
 
 raid, 104. 
 
 Butterflies, 183. 
 
 declare war, 107, 1 13. 
 
 
 Bamboos, 174. 
 
 c 
 
 Bank notes, Borneo, 173. 
 
 fraud upon, 173. 
 
 
 Barongs, 1 15. 
 
 Capture of Tuncu, 41. 
 
 Battle of Bahalla, 36. 
 
 Caves, birds nest, 45, 55 e: 
 
 Baturong caves, 62, 
 
 S2q., 66. 
 
 Batu Tummungong caves, 
 
 Centipedes, 168. 
 
 tradition, 65. 
 
 Chinese medicine, 171. 
 
 Bcche de Mer, 60. 
 
 dragon, 171. 
 
 Beebits, 191. 
 
 funeral, 172. 
 
 Beeckman's voyage, 3. 
 
 new year, 177. 
 
 Bees nests, 78. 
 
 Chit system, 173. 
 
 Betel nut chewing, 125, 133. 
 
 Climate of Sandakan, 1 $4. 
 
 Bilet, described, 66. 
 
 Climbing trees, 89, 90. 
 
 Birds, 176. 
 
 Coal, 27, 79, 186. 
 
 Birds' nest caves, 45, 49 et 
 
 Coffee planting, 189 ct seq. 
 
 .sv</., 66. 
 
 Coffins ancient, 57. 
 
 Birds' nests, edible, 21. 
 
 Conferring a title, 67.
 
 INI) E \ 
 
 Coote, admiral, 48. 
 Cotton, native, 85. 
 Court of Justice, establish- 
 ed, 17. 
 Cowic, Mr., 13, 3°- 35- 
 Crocodiles, 171. 
 
 adventures with, 67, 70, 
 171, 185. 
 
 mode of capture, 70. 
 Customs established, 15. 
 
 early difficulties, 16. 
 Customs, native, 82. 
 
 D 
 
 I ulton on Borneo pirates, 5. 
 Dancing, 127. 
 Darvel Bay, 42. 
 
 described, 49. 
 Dent, Sir A., 1 1. 
 Depopulation ofN. Borneo, 9. 
 Dermatuan, Panglimah, 83. 
 ] >evil appears, 19. 
 Divers, pearl, 119. 
 Dogs, instinct of, 7-- 
 Domingol, 83. 
 
 clean houses, 83. 
 
 market established, 85. 
 Dragon, 171. 
 
 Dress, women's. 53. 81. 115. 
 123. 
 
 men's, 54, 1 1 5 • 
 Durian fruit, 88. 
 Dutch, taxation, 4. 
 
 E 
 
 Education, 130. 
 Edwarctes, Capt. R. N., 41. 
 Egeria, 11. M.S. visit of, 42. 
 
 phants, 68, 179, 181. 
 Elopura, founded, 38. 
 Embroidery, 132. 
 
 Factions, native, 40. 
 Far East, S.S., 30. 
 
 fight with pirates. 35. 
 Fetish bo. its, 83. 
 Fights, sea, described, 
 
 35' -"-*■ 
 Fire, at old Sandakan, 36. 
 Fire making, 98. 
 Fishing, 59. 
 Fish spears, 103. 
 Forest, character of. 178. 
 Funeral Chinese.. 172. 
 
 G 
 
 ( ralung tucyang, 1 15. 
 C.ames, 85, 87, 88. 
 Came, 68. 
 
 trapping, 74, 79. 
 Gardens at Labuan, 145. 
 ( ',old. 47, 186. 
 ( iomanton Caves. 45. 66. 
 Gongs, 126. 
 ( lovernment House, Labuan. 
 
 145. 
 Grammatophyllum, 55, 184. 
 Grassy Point, 58. 
 Gypsies, Sea, see Bajow. 
 
 H 
 
 Hair, dessing, 130. 
 Hart, II. M.S., 12. 
 I baton, F. Mr. 186, 197. 
 Head hunters, 6, 7, 9, 43. 
 House boat, 49. 
 Houses, native, 93, 127.
 
 I X li K X 
 
 in 
 
 Ikan buntal, 176. 
 Illanuns, 4, 41, 1 13. 
 Instinct of dogs, 72. 
 
 Johnston, Capt. R. X.. 42. 
 
 K 
 
 Kalingtangan, 126. 
 Karamoork river, 86. 
 Karangans, 79. 
 Kcema, 60. 
 
 Kestrel, H.M.S., arrival of, 41. 
 Kidnapping, 4, 704. 
 Kinabalu Mt. height. 2. 
 Kinabalu Lake, 26. 
 Kinabatangan River, visit- 
 ed, 43, 63 et seq. 
 
 soil, 44. 
 
 suitability for plant- 
 ing, 44- 
 
 trade encouraged, 21. 
 Krakatoa eruption, heard. 186. 
 Kudat, 146. 
 
 Labuan, 145. 
 
 Labuk R., first ascent, 26. 
 
 Lamag, 68. 
 
 Lanteens, 84, 92. 
 
 Laut, Pangeran, 54, 107. 
 
 Leeches, 180. 
 
 Lin<jcabo,. seed pearls, 25. 
 
 Low, Sir Hugh, 145. 
 
 M 
 
 Madai Caves, 61. 
 Main balugsi, 87, 88. 
 Main raga, 85. 
 Malays, 120 et seq., 
 
 characters, 122. 
 
 dress, 123. 
 
 music, 126. 
 
 language, 129. 
 Malubuk river, 80. 
 Market, establishing a, 85. 
 Marqitis del Ducro, Spanish 
 Man-of-war, threatens San 
 dakan, 29. 
 Marriage, 131. 
 Medicine, Chinese, 171. 
 Melapi, 44, described, 65. 
 Minerals, scarcity of, 197. 
 Monkeys, 179. 
 Monkey, proboscis, 73. 
 Monopolies established, 3. 
 Mosquitos, 1S0. 
 Mungalis tree, 78. 
 Music, 126. 
 
 N 
 
 difficulties 
 
 Nacoda Meyer. 
 
 with, iS. 
 Names, native, 71. 
 New Year, Chinese, 177. 
 
 o 
 
 Omaddal, 103, 
 
 pirate raid, 104, 109, 
 declaration of war, 107. 
 
 Orang gimber, 116. 
 laut, 116. 
 
 Orang utan, 170, 181.
 
 INK K X 
 
 Orchids, 183, 184. 
 Ordeal by hot water, 73. 
 Orphans, 129. 
 Overbeck, Baron, 13. 
 Oysters, rock, 59. (See Parr/). 
 
 Pajuks, 191. 
 Pak nam, S.S., 109. 
 Pangeran Laut, 54, 107. 
 Pangeran Samah's opposi- 
 tion, 43. 
 Panglimah Dermatuan, 83. 
 
 Laut, 54, 107. 
 Pearl, oyster, 1 :8. 
 
 divers, 1 19. 
 
 seed, 24. 
 
 fishing, 25, 1 19. 
 Penungah, station formed, 47, 
 
 described, 91. 
 Pepper, 3. 
 Pheasants, 179. 
 Phosphorescence, sea, 185. 
 Pigafetta's voyage, 3. 
 Pig wild, hunting, 50, 70. 
 
 destroy snakes, 168. 
 
 tusks, 168. 
 Piracy, origin of, 4. 
 
 statistics, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9. 
 
 in Sandakan Bay, 32, 
 33, 36, 104. 
 Pirates, friendly, 53. 
 Pitcher-plants, 183. 
 1'olice, 42, 
 
 heroism, 105. 
 Polygamy, Sulu, 121. 
 
 Malay, 131. 
 Ponies, Sulu, 119. 
 Prawns, 59. 
 Proboscis monkey, 73. 
 Python, 180, 
 
 Q 
 
 Quarmote River, station form- 
 ed, 47, 80. 
 
 R 
 
 Rafts, 84, 92. 
 Rattans, 87. 
 Rcntices, 191. 
 Rhinoceros, 169, 179. 
 killed, 69. 
 River traders, 91. 
 Romanow, tribe, 89. 
 
 Sabine, Steam Launch, 50, 
 
 104, 108. 
 Sandakan. old, 14, 24 et >r</. 
 
 Spanish threats, 29. 
 
 burnt, 36. 
 Sandakan new : 
 
 founded, 31, 38. 
 
 situation, 148. 
 
 harbour, 148. 
 
 Fort Pryer, 150. 
 
 fish market, 151. 
 
 places of worship, 151. 
 
 population, 152. 
 
 revenue, 152. 
 
 laws, 152. 
 
 police, 153. 
 
 health, 154. 
 
 climate, 155. 
 
 houses, 156. 
 
 servants, 157. 
 
 tradesmen, 162. 
 
 pic-nics, 165.
 
 I N 1) K X 
 
 Sandflies, 73, 1.S0. 
 
 bapa Dungan, 54. 
 Cooci, 54. 
 
 Sen fights, described, 33, 114. 
 
 Sea-Gypsies, (see Bajau). 
 
 Sebongan, described, 67. 
 
 Segalung caves, visited, 55. 
 
 Sharks, 60, 185. 
 
 Silam, flag hoisted, 42, 50 
 besieged, 108. 
 
 Singapore, general descrip- 
 tion, 135 ?t scq. 
 
 Sireh chewing, 125, 133, 
 
 Sirena Spanish warship, des- 
 patched to Sandakan, 39. 
 
 Slavery, 187. 
 
 Slave, story of, 71. 
 
 Snakes, 167, 18c. 
 
 Soil of Kinabatanngan, 44. 
 
 Spaniards, cause piracy, 4. 
 threaten N. Borneo, 29, 
 
 39- 
 
 in Suln, 113, 120. 
 Spears, fish. 103. 
 Sport, pig hunt, 50. 
 
 various, 68, 79. 
 Sulu. war in, 13; 1 12, et seq. 
 
 warlike traits, 113. 
 
 love of colour, 1 14. 
 
 clothing, 1 15. 
 
 war dress, 1 15- 
 
 faithfulness, 117, 121. 
 
 language, 118. 
 
 ponies, 119. 
 Summungup custom, 82. 
 Sundyaks, 89. 
 
 Tanna Balu, 55, 58. 
 Termoy, 83. 
 Timbamata, visited, 58. 
 Titah, conferred, 67. 
 Tobacco, native. 81. 
 Torture, 82. 
 Traders native, 91. 
 Tradition, Bajow, 99. 
 
 Buludupy, 98. 
 
 Baligniui, 103. 
 
 Batu Tummonggong/^. 
 Trapping game, 74. 
 Trees, 77. 
 
 mungalis, 78, 
 
 climbing, 88, 89. 
 
 felling big, 189, 1 92. 
 Trepang, 60. 
 
 Tunbunwah, tribe, 80, SS, 89. 
 Tuncu, capture of, 41. 
 Tungara, tribe, 80. 
 
 dress, 81. 
 Turtles, 175. 
 
 Vigilant, H.M.S., 48. 
 
 w 
 
 Waterlilly, cruise of, 63. 
 Wild animals, 169. 
 Witti, quoted, 8. 
 Wounds, rapid healing, 32.
 
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