A History of Sarawak under Its Two White Rajahs 1839-1908

"On looking over our force, and counting those passing, I calculated that we must number five hundred large boats, containing about fifteen thousand men – Dyaks of some twenty different branch tribes, who had mostly been each other's enemies in former times."

On the return of the expedition, Kanowit was reached on the 17th, and thence the Tuan Muda went back to his station at Sekrang, and waited there for nearly a month before a deputation of Kayans arrived, bearing the flag that had been left with the captive woman. They numbered seventy men, and came to profess their desire for peace in the future. They reported that their chief Oyong Hang had summoned the people to a conference, and then and there had cut down Talip, and his followers had put Sakalai to death, but Sawing, suspecting what would be the determination of the Kayans, had escaped a few days previously.288

Accordingly the month of August was appointed for the gathering of a large assembly of the tribes to conclude a peace with the Kayans. There were, however, several hitches, and the meeting did not take place until October.

"The Kayan peace was concluded this month, when the chiefs arrived at Kanowit for that purpose. They met the Dyaks, and a pig was killed, according to custom. The terms and points to be sacredly attended to were all discussed before the Resident of the place. Some of the chiefs of the Keniah country were also present, and expressed a desire for trade and friendship. They talked of removing down the river. At this meeting there were representatives of 25,000 souls, who were all strangers to us, although living within the limits of Sarawak territory. This peace had been the great event of the year 1863, and leaves Sarawak without an enemy in her dominions, and without an intertribal war of any description. This is the first time the country has had peace."

In December, Sawing, the last of the murderers of Fox and Steele, was given up, tried, and executed.

"And now," says the Tuan Muda, "the deaths of those who were private friends and public servants, and who had occupied a distant and isolated out-station, have been completely avenged."

The Rajah remained in Sarawak till after the subjection of the Kayans, and then, having handed over the Government to the Tuan Muda, left in September, 1863, and "bade farewell to the people and the country he was never to see again."

CHAPTER XI

THE END OF THE FIRST STAGE

We are drawing near to the close of the first stage in the History of Sarawak. It had opened with great hopes. To his mother the Rajah had written in 1841: "I trust there may be marked out for me a more useful existence, that will enable me to lay my head on my pillow and say that I have done something to better the condition of my kind, and to deserve their applause," and again, "I hope that thousands will be benefited when I am mouldering in dust," and these hopes have been fulfilled. But the last period of the Rajah's life was clouded with sorrow, disappointment, and pecuniary anxieties.

He had practically given up the government in 1863, though he reigned for five years longer, and could make his will felt when need be. His health had broken down, and he wrote on May 29, 1863: "I cannot stand the climate and work," and in that year he left Sarawak for good, having installed his nephew, the Tuan Muda, as administrator. He was then only sixty, but for over twenty years his life had been full of anxiety, and had been a continual struggle against adversities, the most serious caused by the "malignant and persevering persecutions"289 of his own countrymen, to whom he had turned for a little sympathy and a little help, which would have cost England nothing. In his policy and his actions he had been guided by no personal ambition; the great desire of his heart had been throughout the extension of British influence in the Far East, the improvement of trade, the suppression of piracy, the horrors of which he had witnessed, and the amelioration of the lot of the oppressed and suffering natives, whom he had come to love and esteem for their many good qualities.

With regard to the other countries included in the general policy of the Rajah, this book has little to do. It suffices to note that had that policy not been discredited, Siam,290 the Sulu archipelago, the whole of New Guinea, and a greater part of Borneo might now have been under British influence. To the Rajah's unaided efforts, frowned upon at home, England owes it that Sarawak, Bruni, and Labuan are not now Dutch Residencies, and North Borneo, through conquest from the Spaniards, an American colony.

By his enterprise Sarawak, weakened by civil war and oppression, was converted into an independent and cogent State, and became a check upon any further advance of the Dutch northwards; and their strong diplomatic objections to the Rajah's presence in Sarawak shows what they had in view. Moreover, the treaty he effected with the Sultan of Bruni in 1847 effectually prevented any settlements other than of an English character being established in northern Borneo.

From southern Borneo England had retired in favour of the Dutch, and, previous to this, after the disaster of Balambangan, and its withdrawal from Bruni, had ceased to take any further interest in northern Borneo, nor was any attempt made to re-establish its prestige there, or to suppress piracy, even after Singapore had been founded in 1819. As usual, England had to wait for a man of action and resolution, and twenty years afterwards, though, fortunately, when not too late, he appeared in the person of the late Rajah. Such a man also was Sir Stamford Raffles, who saved Singapore and the Malay peninsula to England. It is almost a parallel case.

The members of the East India Board were furious, and the Ministers of the Crown were "excessively angry." Indeed had it not been for Raffles … it is certain that Singapore would have been abandoned by the British. Raffles made it, and Raffles saved it… Raffles' genius and patriotism were rewarded by endless worry, by the disapproval of his employers, and by public censure from his country's Ministers.291

But the Rajah abandoned the larger policy as hopeless, and devoted his life and his means to his adopted country; and here the British Government, influenced by Gladstone, Cobden, Sidney Herbert, and their Little England followers, did its best to paralyse his efforts.

"My duty has been done at any cost," he wrote sadly, "and the British Government will be responsible for the consequences which must follow upon its abandonment of Sarawak. I do not mention the treatment I have personally received at its hands, for I seek no favour, nor expect justice, and I shall close a troubled career with the conviction that it might have been useful to my country and honourable to myself and a blessing to the native race, but for the indifference, the inconstancy, and, I regret to say, the injustice of the British Government."292

In an introduction to his nephew the Tuan Muda's Ten Years in Sarawak, written in January 1866, he expressed what had been the ambition of his life, and his disappointment at its nonfulfilment.

I once had a day-dream of advancing the Malayan race by enforcing order and establishing self-government among them; and I dreamed too that my native country would desire the benefit of position, influence, and commerce, without the responsibilities from which she shrinks. But the dream ended with the first waking reality, and I found how true it is, that nations are like men, that the young hope more than they fear, and the old fear more than they hope – that England had ceased to be enterprising, and could not look forward to obtaining great ends by small means perseveringly applied, and that the dependencies are not now regarded as a field of outlay, to yield abundant national returns, but as a source of wasteful expenditure to be wholly cut off. The cost ultimately may verify the old adage, and some day England may wake from the dream of disastrous economy, as I have awakened from my dreams of extended usefulness. I trust the consequences may not be more hurtful to her than they have been to me.

Since this, I have found happiness in advancing the happiness of my people, who, whatever may be their faults, have been true to me and mine through good report and evil report, through prosperity and through misfortune.

From the very commencement of his career in Borneo he had invited the support of the British Government "to relieve an industrious people from oppression, and to check, and if possible, to suppress piracy and the slave trade." He was anxious to see a British Settlement established, under the direction of others if necessary, and he was prepared to transfer his rights and interests to any successor. He looked upon himself in the light of "an agent whom fortune had enabled to open the path," and he felt "if a case of misery ever called for help, it is here, and the act of humanity which redeems the Dayak race293 from the condition of unparalleled wretchedness will open a path for religion, and for commerce, which may in future repay the charity which ought to seek for no remuneration." His wish had always been that the country should be taken under the wing of England, and, though he at first justly asked that what he had sunk into it of his own private fortune should be repaid him, he was finally prepared to waive this consideration if only England would adopt the struggling little State. Failing this, he desired that the British Government would extend a protectorate over the State, so that capitalists should be encouraged to invest money for the development of its resources. But even recognition of Sarawak as an independent State was not granted till 1863. Protection was not accorded till 1888, and then it was offered, not asked for, and was granted, not in the interests of Sarawak, but for the safeguarding of Imperial interests, lest some other foreign power should lay its hands on the little State.

Recognition, for which the Rajah had striven for so many years, being at last granted, filled him with the greatest satisfaction. But considering the past history of Sarawak, and bearing in mind how well that country has since done without extraneous aid, it would seem to have been a pity that Sarawak ever attracted the attention of England, and that the Rajah ever sought for encouragement or protection there. Sarawak has stood the test of nearly seventy years as an independent State, and continues its prosperous career, without owing anything to any one, and requiring only to be let alone. But financial troubles had overtaken the State in the latter days of the Rajah, and to him these were an endless source of worry and anxiety. From 1863, to the time of his death in 1868, his letters to his representative in Sarawak, the Tuan Muda, were almost always on this subject. To matters relating to general policy, there is in them little reference to be found; though throughout they express constant forebodings in regard to the future of the raj. "Alone, burdened with debts, with few friends and many foes, how are you to stand without support," he wrote to the Tuan Muda; the last years of his life were clouded by a dread of evils, for he placed too much weight on public opinion, which was generally as erroneous as it was inimical.294 In 1863, the whole responsibility was thrown upon the present Rajah's shoulders, to whom it was left to find a way to establish the revenue on a sound basis, and to reduce a large debt without sacrificing efficiency. The Government under the present Rajah practically commenced in that year.

Sir Spenser St. John says, in his Rajah Brooke: —

"In the autumn of 1866 he (the Rajah) received a severe shock. His nephew, the Tuan Muda, wrote that he had sold the steamer Rainbow to pay off a debt due to their Singapore agent – a debt incurred through careless extravagance in carrying out his many public works at a time when funds were scarce. For a moment it almost stupefied him, as this steamer had not yet been paid for," and "Sarawak without a steamer, he felt assured, would sink back into its old state of insecurity; and therefore another steamer must be had. By great exertion, he succeeded in raising the necessary funds, and purchased a vessel which was christened the Royalist."

Sir Spenser must have trusted to his memory, which played him false. The Sarawak Government had then another and a larger steamer, the Heartsease,295 and the Rajah was having the Royalist296 built in England to carry mails and merchandise to and from Singapore. He was consulted about the sale of the Rainbow and sanctioned it, for he wrote to the Tuan Muda on March 6, 1865, "We are quite agreed as to the advisability of selling the Rainbow," the purchase money to go towards paying for the new vessel he was having built. The Singapore agents were instructed to remit the money home, but, without the knowledge of the Tuan Muda, kept it to cover an over-draft. This over-draft was not incurred to pay expenses of public works, but for absolute necessaries. The Rajah had but little trouble to raise the balance due on the Royalist; and even this was not necessary, for a Singapore Bank at once advanced an amount equivalent to the balance due on the Rainbow, which was remitted to England.

At Burrator, his little out-of-the-world Devonshire seat, on the edge of the moors, the Rajah was perfectly happy so long as not troubled with bad news from Sarawak. He devoted himself to the country-side folk, who were greatly attached to him. His life was one simple and contented; he enjoyed the exceeding quietude, and he was happy in trying to make others happy. Riding and shooting, so long as his health permitted, were his amusements, parish affairs, and the improvement of his little property, his chief interests.

The longing to return to his people was strong upon him. But, as time advanced and his strength diminished, he foresaw that what had become the desire of his life would be denied him. Some three years before his death he wrote to the Tuan Muda, "Farewell, think of me as well content, free from anxiety, and watching your progress with pride and pleasure."

Largely assisted by the late Sir Massey Lopes, who owned the land in the parish, he "restored" the Parish Church, and was instrumental in a new school being provided. The church contained a magnificent rood-screen, richly carved and gilt, extending across the nave and aisle; indeed it was the finest specimen in that part of the county. Unhappily neither the Rajah nor Sir Massey could appreciate its artistic and antiquarian value, and it was ruthlessly swept away. No architect was employed, only a local builder, and the new work done in the church is as bad as can be conceived, such as was likely to proceed from the designs of a common ignorant builder.

On June 11, 1868, Sir James Brooke died at Burrator, leaving the succession of the raj to his nephew Charles Brooke, and his male issue, failing such to his nephew H. Stuart Johnson and his male issue. In default of such issue, the Rajah devised his said sovereignty, "The rights, privileges, and power thereto belonging, unto her Majesty the Queen of England, her heirs and assigns for ever."

He was buried in the churchyard at Sheepstor, and a memorial window to him has been placed in the church.

Dr. A. Russel Wallace, in The Malay Archipelago, 1869, says: —

That his Government still continues after twenty years, notwithstanding frequent absences from ill health, notwithstanding conspiracies of Malay chiefs, and insurrections of Chinese gold-diggers, all of which have been overcome by the support of the native population, and notwithstanding financial, political, and domestic troubles – is due, I believe, solely to many admirable qualities which Sir James Brooke possessed, and especially to his having convinced the native population, by every action of his life, that he ruled them, not for his own advantage, but for their good.

Since these lines were written, his noble spirit has passed away. But, though by those who knew him not, he may be sneered at as an enthusiast, adventurer, or abused as a hard-headed despot, the universal testimony of every one who came in contact with him in his adopted country, whether European, Malay, or Dayak, will be that Rajah Brooke was a great, a wise, and a good ruler – a true and faithful friend, a man to be admired for his talents, respected for his honour and courage, and loved for his genuine hospitality, his kindness of disposition, and his tenderness of heart.

Writing in 1866, the old Rajah said of his nephew: —

He is looked up to in that country (Sarawak) as the chief of all the Sea-Dayaks, and his intimate knowledge of their language, their customs, their feelings, and their habits far exceed that of any other person. His task has been successfully accomplished of stamping out the last efforts of piratical Malayan chiefs, and their supporters among the Dayaks of Saribas, and of other countries. He first gained over a portion of these Dayaks to the cause of order, and then used them as his instruments in the same cause, to restrain their countrymen. The result is that the coast of Sarawak is as safe to the trader as the coast of England, and that an unarmed man could traverse the country without let or hindrance. It is a great gratification to me to acknowledge my nephew's devotion to the cause to which my own life has been devoted. It is well that his strength has come to supply my weakness, and that his energies and his life (if needed) should be given to establish the governorship, and promote the happiness of the people of Sarawak. My career draws to its close, but I have confidence that no consideration will turn him from the work which I shall leave for his hand to do.

How deserved this trust was, has been made manifest by the present Rajah's own life-long devotion to the interests of the people he was ordained to govern. On his accession, no change was made in the wise and liberal policy of his predecessor. Only such reforms and improvements, administrative or otherwise, consistent with that policy have been made. Up to the time of the first Rajah's death, no great progress commercially and financially had been effected, and it was left to his successor to promote the commercial and industrial advancement of the State. The Sea-Dayaks and tribes of the interior still required a strong hand and a watchful eye to keep them in order, and the subsequent large additions of territory entailed greater responsibility and harder work.

In the gradual establishment of a government suitable to the country and its people, the main principles that have guided the late and the present Rajah are – that the natives should, through their chiefs, have a full though subordinate share in its administration and its councils; that their own laws and customs should be respected, though modified where necessary in accordance with the first principles of justice and humanity. That no sudden and wholesale changes disquieting to the native mind should be made, and that reforms should be very carefully considered from both the white man's and the native's point of view before being introduced, and that if carried out, it should be done gradually. Thus, without giving rise to any opposition or discontent, slavery, which was at one time in a cruel and oppressive form, by a gradual process of ameliorating the condition of the slaves, enlarging their privileges, reducing the powers of owners and increasing their responsibilities, in course of time ceased to be a profitable institution, and died a natural death without any sudden and violent legislation.

How that was done will be shown in the following chapter.

Among the Spartans a drunken helot was produced, staggering and imbecile, to show the young into what a disgraceful condition a man fell who gave way to liquor. And in Borneo, in the Sultanate of Bruni, the people had before their eyes a reminder of what was a bad, irresponsible government.

The old Rajah left behind him one of the noblest records of a life devoted to the cause of humanity, and of a task completed, which has been equalled by few men. His motives, untarnished by any desire for honours or for worldly advancement, were as pure as was his chivalry, which was without reproach. No better man, and few greater, have lived.

That those who vainly sought by the degradation of his position to enrich themselves should have turned round upon him, and have vilified a character whose humane and lofty views were foreign to their own, is not so surprising as that ministers and politicians of the highest repute should have lent ready ears to their libellous and unfounded statements, and have treated with a total absence of a spirit of fair play a man whose policy and methods merited their fullest recognition and support.

Ergo Quintilium perpetuus soporUrguet? cui Pudor, et Iustitiae soror,Incorrupta Fides, nudaque VeritasQuando ullum inveniet parem?Horace, Od. i. 24.

CHAPTER XII

THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND STAGE

1868-1870

Charles Brooke was proclaimed Rajah on August 3, 1868, throughout the territory. The ceremony in the capital and at the out-stations was simple. The people were assembled, the proclamation read, and the Rajah's flag saluted. He did not then take the oath, but this was administered at the next meeting of the General Council, on October 11, 1870, when the Rajah solemnly bound himself to respect the religion, rights, privileges, and institutions of the people; that no laws or customary laws would be changed or modified without the sanction of the chiefs assembled in Council, that he would uphold the late Rajah's will in respect to the succession to the raj, that the people should have a voice in the selection of their chiefs, and that all cases arising amongst Muhammadans in respect to marriage, divorce, and inheritance should be settled by the Malay chiefs in accordance with Muhammadan law. At this meeting of the Council the English and native members took the oaths to endeavour to the best of their abilities to advise truthfully and justly for the good of the country, and to uphold the authority of the Rajah. This oath is administered to every new member upon appointment.

As has been mentioned, the Rajah had already been ruling the State for five years previous to his accession, and, though troubled with a few internal disorders among the Dayaks in the far interior, the general peaceful state of the country, which he had done so much to bring about, left him free to devote more of his time and attention to many needed improvements in the administration, and reforms in certain customary laws, which could only be effected as time smoothed out party feelings, racial jealousies and distrust, and all had settled down tranquilly under a government acceptable to the whole population, and which all were willing to uphold. How the Rajah succeeded as a wise and tactful administrator, the sure and steady advance of the country, its revenue and trade sufficiently testify. Not only has this been fully acknowledged by outside witnesses in a position to judge, but, what he values more, has won the approbation and confidence of his people.

No one was in a better position to bear testimony to this than the old Datu Bandar, Haji Bua Hasan, who, in spite of evil report and good report, won the respect of all classes. As already mentioned, he was a son of the gallant Patinggi Ali, and was appointed Imaum when Haji Gapur was degraded, and shortly afterwards was raised to the rank of Datu. He held his rank and office for over sixty years, and became the trusted friend of both Rajahs and of all his "English brethren." This is the simple testimony he bore on the opening of the new Court-house and public offices during the absence of the Rajah in England, acting as he did as spokesman for his countrymen, and in the presence of many hundreds of them.

English brethren, datus, and people all at present within the Court. I am happy in being here in company with you to hail the anniversary of the Rajah's birthday, and to join with you in opening this our new Court-house.

I am here to bear testimony to the fostering care which the Rajah has ever taken of his children; we, who in years gone by were not only poor, but sunk under oppression, and heaviness of heart, by his assistance have become rich, and our hearts have waxed light within us under the blessing of freedom.

The Rajah is but following out the good work begun by his uncle in our regard many years ago.