Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER III

  SOMETHING ABOUT BORNEO AND ITS PEOPLE

  "I don't think we know much of anything about Borneo," said Scott, asthe Blanchita continued on her course up the Sarawak, after the dinnerof roast pork.

  "We all heard the lecture of Professor Giroud on board the ship,"replied Louis.

  "I should like to hear it over again, now that we are on the ground,"added the captain.

  "Sure, we're not on the ground, but on the wather," suggested Felix.

  As the reader did not hear the lecture, or see it in print, it becomesnecessary to repeat it for the benefit of "whom it may concern." Theprofessor, after being duly presented to his audience in ConferenceHall, proceeded as follows:--

  "Australia is undoubtedly the largest island in the world, and somegeographers class it with the continents; but Chambers makes Borneo thethird in size, while most authorities rate it as the second, makingPapua, or New Guinea, the second in extent. Lippincott says Papuadisputes with Borneo the claim to the second place among the greatislands of the world; and I do not propose to settle the question.Chambers gives the area of Borneo at 284,000 square miles, thepopulation in the neighborhood of 200,000, and the dimensions as 800 by700 miles.

  "It has a coast-line of about 3,000 miles, nearly the whole of which islow and marshy land. A large portion of the island is mountainous, asyou may see by looking at the map before you;" and the professorindicated the several ranges with the pointer. "One chain extends nearlythe whole length of the island, dividing in the middle of it into twobranches, both of which almost reach the sea on the south. Near thecentre of the island are two cross ranges, one extending to the east,and the other to the south-west. It would be useless to mention theMalay names of these ranges, for you could not remember them over night.The general idea I have given you is quite enough to retain.

  "The interior of Borneo is but little known; and when Mr. Gaskette makesanother map of the island twenty or thirty years hence, it will probablydiffer considerably from the one before you. In the extreme north is thepeak of Kini Balu, the height of which is set down at 13,698 feet, withan interrogation point after it. Other mountains are estimated to befrom 4,000 to 8,000 feet high. There are no active volcanoes.

  "In the low lands on the coast, it is hot, damp, and unhealthy for thosewho are not acclimated; but in the high lands among the mountains, thetemperature is moderate, from 81 deg. to 91 deg. at noon, and it is sometimesworse than that in New York. From November to May, which is the rainyseason, violent storms of wind with thunder-showers prevail on the westcoast. In hot weather the sea-breezes extend a considerable distanceinland. Vegetation is remarkably luxuriant, as our young hunters willfind in their explorations. The forests produce all the woods of theIndian Archipelago, of which you know the names by this time. Brunei, onthe north-west coast, produces the best camphor in Asia, which is aboutthe same as saying in the world."

  "What is camphor, Professor?" asked Mrs. Belgrave. "I have used it allmy life, but I have not the least idea what it is."

  "Camphor is an oil found in certain plants, mostly from the camphorlaurel. This oil is separated from the plant, and then undergoes theprocess of refining. It is mixed with water, and then boiled in a sortof retort. It makes steam, which is allowed to escape through a smallaperture, which is then closed, and the camphor becomes solid in theupper part of the vessel. This is the article which is sent to market.

  "All the spices and fruits of the Torrid Zone are produced in Borneo,with cotton and sugar-cane in certain parts. The animals of the islandare about the same as in other parts of the Archipelago. The monkeytribe is the most abundant, including the simia, the gibbon, theorang-outang, found in no other island, except very rarely in Sumatra,where our hunters did not find even one; tapirs"--

  "What are they?" asked Uncle Moses.

  "They are a sort of cross between an elephant and a hog. They are foundall over South American tropical regions and in this part of Asia. Theanimal is more like a hog than like an elephant, though it has the samekind of a skin as the latter. It is about the size of the averagedonkey. It has a snout which is prehensile, like the trunk of anelephant, but on a very small scale.

  "What does that mean?" asked Mrs. Blossom.

  "Capable of taking hold of anything, as the elephant does with hisproboscis. The tapir is one of the gentler animals, and may be easilytamed; though it will fight and bite hard when attacked, or harried bydogs. They take to the water readily, though the American swims, whilethe Asiatic only walk on the bottom. One book I consulted calls thetapir a kind of tiger, to which he bears hardly any resemblance.

  "The other animals are small Malay bears, wild swine, horned cattle, andpuny deer. The elephant and rhinoceros are found, few in number, in thenorth. The birds are the eagle, vulture, argus-pheasant,--a singular andbeautiful bird,--peacocks, flamingoes, and swifts."

  "What in the world are swifts?" inquired Mrs. Woolridge.

  "They are a kind of swallow, of which you may have seen some as we camedown from Rangoon. They make the edible birds'-nests which are so greata delicacy among the Chinese when made into soup. The rivers, lakes,and swamps swarm with crocodiles, the real man-eaters. Leeches are anuisance when you bathe in the rivers and ponds, and various kinds ofsnakes abound. There are plenty of fish in the sea, lakes, and rivers.Diamonds, gold, coal, copper, are mined in the island.

  "All of New England and the Middle States, with Maryland, could be setdown in Borneo, still leaving a considerable border of swamp and jungleall around them. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland couldbe slapped down upon it like a flapjack, and there would still be morethan space for another United Kingdom, without covering up all the mudof Borneo. We do not see how big it is when we look on the map.

  "The larger portion of the island is included in the Dutch possessions.Banjermassin, of which something was said as we passed the mouth of theBarito River, on which it is located, contains 30,000 inhabitants, andis the most important in the island. Borneo proper is in the north-west,and is under the government of the Sultan of Brunei. He lost nearlyone-half of his territory, taken by the North Borneo Company, and thatin the west, which is now Sarawak, of which I shall have something moreto say later. The island of Labuan lies six miles west of the northernportion of Brunei. It was ceded to the English by the sultan, and isprincipally valuable as a coaling-station, though it has a considerabletrade.

  "Sabah is the country of the North Borneo Company. An American obtainedthe right to this territory in 1865, and transferred it to the presentcompany. It has an area somewhat larger than the State of Maine. Nodoubt they will develop and improve the country.

  "Sarawak has a territory nearly as large as that of the State ofPennsylvania, and larger than the State of Ohio. Its history is involvedin the life of Sir James Brooke, who was originally created the rajah,or governor of the country, by the Sultan of Brunei, and retained thetitle till his death in 1868. He was born in Benares in 1803, andeducated at Norwich, England. In 1819 he entered the East Indian army,and was severely wounded in the Burmese war. He returned to England; andhis furlough lapsed before he could rejoin his regiment, and with it hisappointment. He left the service. He next conceived a plan for puttingdown piracy in the Indian Archipelago, and of civilizing the savageinhabitants of these islands, a grand and noble scheme to be carried outby a single individual on his own responsibility.

  "He bought a small vessel, and made a voyage to China, probably with theintention of improving his finances for the work he had in view. In 1835he inherited $150,000 at the death of his father. After a cruise in theMediterranean, he sailed in a schooner-yacht from London for Sarawak,where he arrived in 1839. The uncle of the sultan was engaged in a warwith some tribes of rebels, and Brooke rendered him importantassistance. He returned to Kuching with the title of rajah, hispredecessor, a native, having been compelled to resign.

  "The new governor immediately went to work very vigorously to establisha better government, introducing free tra
de, and framing a new code oflaws. At this time the atrocious custom of head-hunting prevailed in theisland. Enemies killed in battle were decapitated simply for the sake ofthe head, and the Dyak who obtained the greatest number of them wasesteemed the most valiant warrior.

  "A Dyak girl would not accept the addresses of a young man who had notobtained a head, in the earlier time; and murders were often committedfor the sole purpose of obtaining the head of the victim, either toconciliate some dusky maiden, or as a trophy for the head-house, ofwhich there is one in every village. The heads were 'cooked,' as theycalled it, though the operation was merely drying and cleaning theskull. Rajah Brooke made the penalty of this kind of murder death,without regard to the customs and antecedents of the natives; and hesoon abolished head-hunting in his dominion.

  "The sultan, either directly or by 'winking at it,' encouraged piracy;and the crime was as common as in the vicinity of the Malay states fiftyyears ago. Sir James Brooke resolutely attacked the pirates, and withthe means at his command soon vanquished and drove them from the sea andthe land. The Dyaks, in spite of their head-hunting propensities, wererather a simple people; while the Malays of the island were cunning,dishonest, treacherous, and cruel. The simple Dyaks were no match forthem, and were cheated and abused in every possible way. There was nosuch thing as justice in the land. The new rajah corrected all theseabuses.

  "Having established his government on the basis of right and justice toall, Brooke went to England in 1847. He was invited to Windsor by theQueen, and created a K. C. B. (Knight Commander of the Bath), adistinguished honor in Great Britain. The next year he was made governorof Labuan. He was charged in the House of Commons with receivinghead-money for pirates killed; but the charge was disproved.

  "Brooke continued to hold his position as Rajah of Sarawak while atLabuan; but in 1857 he was superseded at the latter, and returned to hisgovernment. The Chinese, of whom there are a great many in Borneo,became incensed against him because he prevented the smuggling of opiuminto his territory. A large body of them attacked his house in thenight, and destroyed a great amount of his property.

  "But the rajah was not a man to submit quietly to such an outrage. Heimmediately collected a force of Dyaks and Malays, and attacked theCelestials. He razed a fort they had constructed, and thoroughlydefeated them in several successive battles. He was very prompt anddecided in action, and to see an abuse was to remedy it withoutunnecessary delay. He established and maintained a model government, andthe country prospered greatly under his mild but decisive rule.

  "He found a town with 1,000 inhabitants, and left it with 25,000. Hedied in 1868, and was succeeded by his nephew, Sir C. T. Brooke, whoextended his territory, and ten years ago placed it under the protectionof the United Kingdom. This is the history of a noble man and a modelcolony."

  "But what are Dyaks, Professor?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave.

  "They are natives of Borneo, though all the people are not known by thisname. They are divided into Hill Dyaks and Sea Dyaks. At the presenttime they are a high-toned class of savages; for they do not steal orrob, and they have many social virtues which might be copied by thepeople of enlightened nations. Head-hunting and piracy are known amongthem no more. They are the farmers and producers of the island. There ismuch that is very interesting about them. They build peculiar houses,some of them occupied by a dozen or more families, though they alwayslive in peace, and do not quarrel with their neighbors. The young womenselect their own husbands, and a head is no longer necessary to open theway to an engagement.

  "If any of the party wish to learn more of the Dyaks, their manners andcustoms, present and past, you will find a work in two volumes, by theRev. J. G. Wood, entitled, 'The Uncivilized Races of Men;' and you willfind that the author often quotes from Rajah Brooke."