MY LIFE |¥fe^ SARAWAK r* p THE RANEE OF SARAWAK ^J^Tdnj^PiP OF SCALE ""En^.Miles Ports ,...m Villages ^ Govt.Stations A ^rtineiTerriteig. [13 mj/^ ^ 5) t ^-'^^■. \ -j^y^M Jeratqk,' W.^afJ>id«^e, i3*-^-o*x^ Published in tgi3 3no..U, Mo^V.vftH Atu^ Uli. eiie U}.,w.l-^) ■ , - ■ \'- v^ Cornell University Library DS 646 .36.B87 3 1924 021 573 468 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924021573468 PREFACE IT is well for the Malay races of Sarawak that they should find an advocate in their Ranee, for she loves them. To know Ranee Brooke is to know that, and those who read her Life in Sarawak will realize this fact to the full, and will feel that, in the years she spent with these simple people, she must have proved it to them and won their confidence by her sympathy. That is the only way to get at the hearts of a Malay people, and though the native population of this section of Borneo is divided into at least two sections, — Malays and Dyaks, — differing widely in religion, customs, and language, they are still members of the great Malay family which is spread over the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the islands of the Archipelago, and farther afield. It is well for any of the Malay race that they should find a sympathetic writer to tell the world something of their little lives, for they are a silent and exclusive people. They do not understand publicity, they do not want it, so long as they are fairly and justly treated ; indeed, superficial observers might think that Malays do not really care how they are governed, and that it is a matter of viii SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE indifference to them whether they are treated well or ill. Those who take the trouble to win his regard know that the Malay is as keenly interested in his own and his country's affairs as are those of other nationalities. He is humble about his own capacity, and that of his fellow-countrymen, to organize and endeavour, to frame a scheme of righteous govern- ment and to ensue it. He will, if properly approached and considerately handled by Europeans, be the first to admit that they understand the business better, that they are more trustworthy in matters of justice and money, and that they have a conception of duty, of method, and especially a power of continuous application to work, which is foreign and irksome — indeed well-nigh impossible — to him. Treat him fairly, reasonably, justly, remember that he represents the people of the country for whose benefit, as Lord Curzon of Kedleston said, the white man is there, and, though the white man retains in his own hands the principal offices, the real power, and the work which is his burden, the Malay will give him admira- tion, gratitude, and loyal support, and show no sign of jealousy or impatience. If one bears in mind, as indeed one must, that the growth of the white man's influence, and the adoption of that advice which we say makes for good government, mean always the lessening of the Malay's authority and the curtail- ment or abolition of his privileges, — very often bad privileges in our opinion, — it is surely rather wonder- ful and rather admirable that he should accept his ' PREI^ACE ix fate with such a good, often even a charming, grace. The Malay does not always approve of our methods, and sometimes they are really indefensible, but, though he disapproves, what is he to say? To whom is he to complain, and how ? We sometimes learn his language, because that is necessary for our benefit; we even take trouble to inquire about his customs and other matters concerning him and his life ; but very, very rarely does he learn either our language, or enough of our customs, to make himself heard effectively. He realizes this better than almost any other thing, and therefore, being a fatalist, he accepts what comes because he knows there is no other way. Given his nature, his traditions, his way of life through all the generations, and his present disabilities, how (is he to do otherwise ? When you have handed over to others the control of everything you once had, can you complain to them of breach of faith, or even of little things like the neglect of your interests when they happen to clash with your controllers' wishes or ambitions .'' Western people, in humble or subordinate positions, sometimes find it difficult to assert themselves, or what they believe to be their rights ; to the Malay it is impossible. That being so, one would imagine that every white man who comes into a position of authority amongst such a people, so circumstanced, will be doubly and trebly careful to remember that the greater his power, the more need there is not only to seek, with single purpose, the benefit of " the people X SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE of the country," but to champion their cause — when he knows it is right — against all comers, and if need be to his own detriment. To betray Malays, is like taking a mean advantage of a blind man who has put his hand in yours, in the firm belief that he is safe in his blind trust of you. To take advantage of that trust should be unthinkable. I am not writing of the customs of what is called business, nor even of the ways of rival powers ; for in both these cases the means employed are less regarded than the end to be gained, and success justifies all things. I am only dealing with the mission of the white man when, for any reason whatever, he undertakes to administer the affairs of a people who possess a possibly rich territory, but are unskilled in the art of administra- tion. That was the case of Sarawak when Sir James Brooke undertook its pacification and develop- ment in 1 84 1. This is not the place to describe the task set before the first white Rajah of Sarawak, but it is, I think, the opportunity to point the moral of an achievement which probably has no parallel. James Brooke must have been a man for whom the soft life of cities had no attraction, but he did not approach the problem of enforcing peace in a greatly disturbed province of Borneo as large as England, and suppressing piracy on its coasts, in the spirit of an adventurer; he described his objects in the following words : " It is a grand experiment, which, if it succeeds, will bestow a blessing on these poor people; and their children's children shall bless PREFACE XI me. If it please God to permit me to give a stamp to this country which shall last after I am no more, I shall have lived a life which emperors might envy. If by dedicating myself to the task I am able to introduce better customs and settled laws, and to raise the feeling of the people so that their rights can never in future be wantonly infringed, I shall indeed be content and happy." Those were his intentions, and to that end he worked for twenty-six years with a success as remarkable as his own devotion and abnegation of self-interest. When James Brooke died in 1868 he left to his nephew and appointed successor, the present Rajah of Sarawak, a peaceful and contented country, the hearts of whose people he had won by studying them, their interests, their customs, their peculiarities, and their happiness, and to them he gave his life and energy and everything he possessed. It was a remarkable achievement, and he left to the country of his adoption the " stamp " of his heart's desire. Much more than that, he established a precedent on which his successor has acted with unswerving consistency for the last forty-six years ; it is the stamp of Brooke rule, and so long as it lasts all will be well with Sarawak. Interesting and successful as were the methods of administration introduced and established in Sarawak by Sir James Brooke and the present Rajah, I cannot go into them. It is sufficient to say that Sarawak has been ruled by the Brookes " for the benefit of the xii SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE people of the country," and Mr. Alleyne Ireland, who was well qualified to form a sound judgment, wrote in 1905, after spending two months in travelling up and down the coast and in the interior : " I find myself unable to express the high opinion I have formed of the administration of the country without a fear that I shall lay myself open to the charge of exaggeration. With such knowledge of administrative systems in the tropics as may be gained by actual observation in almost every part of the British Empire except the African Colonies, I can say that in no country which I have ever visited are there to be observed so many signs of a wise and generous rule, such abundant indications of good government, as are to be seen on every hand in Sarawak." Again, in the same book, Far Eastern Tropics, Mr. Ireland wrote : " The impression of the country which I carry away with me is that of a land full of contentment and prosperity, a land in which neither the native nor the white man has pushed his views of life to their logical conclusion, but where each has been willing to yield to the other something of his extreme conviction. There has been here a tacit understanding on both sides that those qualities which alone, can ensure the permanence of good government in the State are to be found in the white man and not in the native ; and the final control remains, therefore, in European hands, al- though every opportunity is taken of consulting the natives and of benefiting by their intimate knowledge PREFACE Xlll of the country and of the people." That is high praise from an experienced critic, but not too high, and the last words of Mr. Ireland's sentence cannot be insisted upon too urgently when dealing with Malays. In Sarawak, the fact which is most striking and which must command the admiration of every man, especially of those who have been associated intimately with the administration of Eastern peoples and their lands, is that throughout the long years from 1841 to the present time, the two white Rajahs of Sarawak spent practically their whole lives in this remote corner of Asia, devoting their best energies to the prosperity and the happiness of their subjects, whilst taking from the country, of which they were the absolute Rulers, only the most modest income. That has been the admirable and unusual " stamp " of Brooke rule : to live with the people, to make their happiness the first con- sideration, and to refuse wealth at their expense. Nothing would have been easier — certainly for the present Rajah — than to live at ease in some pleasant Western land, with perhaps an occasional visit to Sarawak, and to devote to his own use revenues which he has spent for the benefit of Sarawak and its people. The State is rich in resources, mineral and agricultural ; to many it would have seemed most natural to fill the place with Chinese or to grant concessions to Europeans Either of these courses would have meant a large accession of revenue, and no one would have thought it strange had the Ruler xiv SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE of the country spent whatever proportion seemed good to him on himself. Only the people of the country would have suffered; but they, probably, would have considered that it was perfecdy natural, and, had they thought otherwise, it would have made no difference, -for it is not their habit to complain publicly of the doings of their Rulers. The Rajahs of Sarawak have made " the benefit of the people of the country" the business of their lives; all honour to them for their high purpose. That the tradition they have established by seventy-two years of devotion, of personal' care of the affairs of Sarawak, should be continued and perpetuated must be the prayer of all who love Malays. I make a final quotation from Mr. Ireland's book. It is this : " Nothing could better serve to exhibit at once the strength and the weakness of a despotic form of government than the present condition of Sarawak, for if it be true that the wisdom, tolerance, and sympathy of the present Rajah have moulded the country to the extraordinary state of tranquil pros- perity which it now enjoys, the power of an unwise or wicked ruler to throw the country back into a condition of barbarism must be admitted as a necessary corollary. The advent of such a ruler is, however, in the highest degree improbable." Every one must hope that a departure from the Brooke tradition is impossible, and as the matter is wholly within the discretion of the present Rajah, who knows better than anyone else what is necessary to PREFACE XV secure the objects set out by his predecessor, and confirmed and secured by his own rule, there is no reason to fear for the future of Sarawak. Any real man would be proud to take up and help to per- petuate so great an inheritance. When the time comes, he will remember the words of the first Rajah Brooke : " If it please God to permit me to give a stamp to this country which shall last after I am no more, I shall have lived a life which emperors might envy," and he will begin his rule with the knowledge that his predecessor spent his whole life in making good the promise of those words. F. A. S. London, 22nd September 1913 INTRODUCTION EVERY ONE has heard of Rajah Brooke. He was my husband's uncle, and this is how he became ruler of Sarawak. Borneo is one of the largest islands of the world. The Dutch occupy three parts of its territory. The British North Borneo Company, a group of English- men, have established themselves in the north, and Sarawak, with its five hundred miles of coast-line and its fifty thousand square miles of land, is situated on the north-west. Until some four hundred years ago, at the time of Pigafetta's visit to Brunei, Borneo was almost unknown to Europe, but ever since then, at various periods, Dutch, Portuguese, and English have attempted to gain a footing in the island. The Dutch, however, were the most successful, for it was only in 1839 that the English obtained a firm hold of a portion of this much disputed land. It must be remembered that owing to the murders of English- men who attempted to trade with Brunei in 1788, 1803, and 1806, the Admiralty issued a warning as to the dangers attendant upon English merchants engag- ing in commercial ventures with the Sultan of Brunei and his people. About forty years went by without xvHi SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE English people making further attempts to trade in that part of the world, until one day, in August 1839, James Brooke, the future white Rajah of Sarawak, appeared upon the scene, and it was due to his bold but vague designs that peace, prosperity, and just government were subsequently established in a country hitherto torn with dissension and strife. James Brooke had always felt a great interest in those lands of the Malayan Archipelago. As a very young man he had held a commission in the army of the British East India Company, and had seen active service in Burmah. He was seriously wounded during the Burmese war, invalided home, and finally resigned his commission. He then made two voyages to the Strait Settlements and to China, and it is to be supposed that his interest in that part of the world dates from that period of his life. At his father's death, he inherited a small fortune, which he invested in the purchase of a yacht of 140 tons, in which he set sail in 1838 for the Eastern Archipelago. In those days, the Sultan of Brunei owned the extreme north of the island, and his terri- tory stretched as far as what is called Cape Datu, now belonging to the Rajah. Whilst staying at Singapore, James Brooke heard rumours of a rebellion by the Malays of Sarawak against their Sultan, for both the Sultan and his Brunei nobles (many of whom were of Arabic descent), in order to enrich themselves, had instituted a tyrannous and oppressive government against the people. When Brooke INTRODUCTION xix arrived in Sarawak, he made the acquaintance of the Sultan's Viceroy, Rajah Muda Hassim, who was an uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, and the acknowledged heir to the Sultanate. Hence his title Rajah Muda and Sultan Muda, meaning heir - apparent. They made friends, when the Malay Governor confided in Brooke and besought his help in quelling the rebellion. Brooke consented, and the rebellion was soon at an end. The rebels, determined not to fall back under the yoke of their former tyrants and oppressors, implored Brooke to become their Rajah and Governor. Rajah Muda Hassim was favour- able to the people's request, and in 1841 Brooke was proclaimed Rajah of Sarawak amidst the re- joicing of its population. Rajah Muda Hassim, as representative of the Sultan, signed a document resigning his title and authority to the Englishman, and in 1842 Brooke, being desirous of obtaining from the Sultan himself an additional proof of his goodwill towards his position in Sarawak, visited the potentate in Brunei, when the Sultan con- firmed his title as independent Rajah of Sarawak. On the other hand, it is interesting to realize that Rajah Muda Hassim was never in any sense Rajah of Sarawak, that country then not being a Raj, but a simple province misruled by Brunei Governors who never bore the title of Rajah, for after all Rajah Muda Hassim did not abdicate in favour of Brooke, but it was the people themselves who insisted on Sarawak being independent of the Sultan's and his XX SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE emissaries' authority, and chose Brooke as their own Rajah, thus regaining their former independence. When James Brooke first became Rajah of Sara- wak in 1 84 1, the area of his country known as Sarawak proper comprised some seven thousand square miles in extent. It might be as well to give a short account of the manner in which the first white ruler of Sarawak organized his Government. The Sarawak Malay nobles, the Datus or chiefs that governed the State before James Brooke's accession to power, and who had been superseded and driven into rebellion by the Brunei nobles, the Sultan's emissaries, were recalled by James Brooke and chosen to help in carrying out his Government. When in the course of years these nobles died, their sons or members of the same aristo- cratic families (but always with the approval of the people) were, and are, chosen to fill the vacant places. The first of these chiefs who helped to inaugurate and establish James Brooke's Government was a gallant Malay gentleman called Datu Patinggi AH, who was a direct descendant of Rajah Jarum, the founder of Sarawak, who led his people against the oppression of Brunei, and found death by the side of James Brooke, sword in hand, fighting for his and his people's cause. His son, the Datu Bandar, Haji Bua Hassan, held office for sixty years, and died a few years ago in Kuching, over one hundred years of age. He was a brave and upright man ; intelligent and wide - minded . in INTRODUCTION xxi Council, and a true friend of the Rajah's, of our sons, and of mine. Datu Isa, to whose menfiory I have dedicated this book, was his wife, and I only wish it were in my power to put into words her charming, sympathetic personality, and make it understood how, in her blameless useful life, she set a high standard of conduct amongst the Malay ' women of Kuching. The present Datu Bandar, Muhammad Kasim, and the Datu Imaum, Haji Muhammad Ali, are the sons of the late Datu Bandar and of Datu Isa. These four great Malay officials are members of the Supreme Council and assistant judges of the Supreme Court. The Datu Bandar, premier Datu and Malay magistrate, is president of the Muhammadan Probate Divorce Court. The Datu Imaum is the religious head of the Muhammadan community. The Datu Tumanggong's title, signifying that of Commander-in-Chief or fighting Datu, is no longer employed in that capacity, but ranks next to the Bandar as peaceful member of the Council, whilst the Datu Hakim is adviser in Muhammadan law. Now that a very short account has been given as to the principal Malayan officials in Sarawak, we must turn back to the year 1841 and take up the thread of our story. At that time the more northern rivers outside Sarawak were infested by pirates, who, under the leadership of Brunei nobles, devastated adjacent lands. The first Rajah, backed by his loyal xxil SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE subjects, made many expeditions against these criminal tribes. In 1849, Her Majesty's ship Dido, commanded by Sir Harry Keppel, came to his aid, when the combined forces of Malays and Dyaks, strengthened by the crew of Her Majesty's ship, completely scoured out the nests of the redoubtable piratical hordes, and an end was put to their devastation in those regions. Little by little the authority and strength of the white Rajah's govern- ment became acknowledged, even by the ci-devant miscreants themselves, and the inhabitants of the more northern rivers, realizing that after all honesty is the best policy, willingly laid down their arms and clamoured to be enrolled in the territory of the great white chief Being monarch of all he surveyed, unfettered by tradition, and owning no obedience to the red-tapeism of Europe, Rajah Brooke laid the foundations of one of the most original and, so far as justice goes, successful Governments that perhaps has ever been known, its most salient feature being that from its very begin- ning the natives of the place were represented by their own people, and had the right to vote for and against any law that was made by their Government. Brooke established stations in the mouths of the principal rivers, and in each of these stations were appointed one or two English officials to represent the white ruler. Billian or iron wood forts were built in each of these settlements, and a small force of Malays, armed with muskets and small cannons, was INTRODUCTION xxiii placed there in order to enforce obedience to the laws of the new Government and to inspire confidence in its supporters. The duty of these officials, called Governors or Residents, was to protect the people from the tyranny of some of the higher classes of Malays, to prevent head-hunting, and to discourage disorder. The co-operation of local chiefs and headmen was elicited to help in this good work, and one cannot repeat too often that such native co- adjutors have been the mainstay of the Rajah's Government, and so they must always remain. The present Rajah and his uncle have strictly adhered to this excellent policy of associating the natives with the government of their country. James Brooke began his law codes in respecting and maintaining whatever was not positively detrimental in the laws and customs as he found them. Instead of impos- ing European made laws upon the people, Muham- madan law and custom has been maintained when- ever it affects Muhammadanism. No favouritism is allowed, and any white man infringing the laws of the country would be treated in exactly the same way as would be the natives of the soil. In the Sarawak Gazette of 1872, the present Rajah at the beginning of his reign wrote these words : "A Government such as that of Sarawak may start from things as we find them, putting its veto on what is dangerous or unjust, and supporting what is fair and equitable in the usages of the natives, and letting system and legislation wait upon oc- xxiv SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE casion. When new wants are felt, it examines and provides for them by measures rather made on the spot than imported from abroad ; and, to ensure that these shall not be contrary to native customs, the consent of the people is gained for them before they are put in force. The white man's so-called privilege of class is made little of, and the rulers of government are framed with greater care for the interests of the majority who are not Europeans, than for those of the minority of superior race." The Supreme Council consists of four Malay officials, together with three or four of the principal European officers ; the Rajah presides over all its de- liberations. The Malay members of the Council always take an active and prominent part in its decisions. Every three years a State Council meets at Kuching, under the presidency of the Rajah, consisting of the members of the Supreme Council, the European Residents in charge of the more important districts, and the principal native chiefs, some seventy in number, who come from all the important districts of the principality. At this meeting questions of general interest as to the government of the country are discussed ; the members are informed of any recent question relating to public affairs, and are told of the general progress achieved in the Government, or of anything pertaining to the State since the Council's last meeting. Each member is formally sworn in and takes an oath of loyalty to the Rajah and his Govern- ment. It would be very tempting to anyone who is INTRODUCTION xxv as interested as I am in the prosperity of the country to give more details regarding the incessant work required in order that each law as it is made should be satisfactory and meet the requirements of the whole of the Sarawak people ; suffice it to say that the Rajah, his English officers, and his Malay chiefs are indefatigable in their endeavours to promote trade and commerce, peace and prosperity amongst the people. I have only a short space in which to speak of these more important matters, and I can only hope that the very slight sketch I have given in the limited space at my disposal of the past and present history of Sarawak may induce those whom it interests to seek further information in the many volumes that have already been written on the subject. It might perhaps not be amiss to mention the two last books published on Sarawak, these being The White Rajahs of Sarawak, by Messrs. Bamp- fylde and Baring-Gould, and The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, by those two well-known English scientists — Dr. Hose and Mr. McDougall. It must be re- membered that Mr. Bampfylde and Dr. Hose occupied for years very important posts in the Rajah's Government, and on that account their experience of the people and the country must be invaluable. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS H.H. The Rajah of Sarawak . . . . Frontispiece * FACING PAGE The Author ....... 2 From a Painting by Mrs. Alfred Sotheby The Rajah's Arrival at Astana, after a Visit to Europe 8 Part of Datu Bay, near Santubong . 1 A Room in the Astana ..... Datu Isa and her Granddaughters . Sea-Dyaks in War Dress .... Sea-Dyak Woman weaving a Cotton Petticoat Mail Steamers' Wharf and Trading Vessels at Anchor near Embankment in Kuching Bazaar . Tuan Muda of Sarawak ..... H.H. The Rajah Muda of Sarawak . Tuan Bungsu of Sarawak with his little Son, Jimmie Brooke ....... The Daiang Muda ...... H.H. The Ranee Muda ..... The Daiang Bungsu ..... The Author and Ima, in the Morning Room at Astana, Kuching ...... Sun setting behind the Mountain of Matang xxvl 14 23 26 34 58 62 102 136 ISO LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxvii FACING PAGE Daiang Sahada, Daiang Lehut, Mrs. Maxwell, and the Author ....... Verandah in Daiang Sahada's House at Kuching Daiang Lehut, Daiang Sahada's Daughter . Inchi Bakar, School Master, Kuching Malay Boy striking Fire from Dry Tinder Salleh, a Tanjong Chief, playing on the Nose Flute, with two Tanjong Attendants . Hut containing Eatables to refresh the God of Sick NESS, Batang Lupar River .... Panau, a Sea-Dyak Chief .... An Encampment up the Batang Lupar River Bachelor House at Munggo Babi, Bertram's Residence during our Stay ..... 158 164 166 174 200 254 260 282 288 298 Map ........ Front Cover MY LIFE IN SARAWAK CHAPTER I WHEN I remember Sarawak, its remoteness, the dreamy loveliness of its landscape, the childlike confidence its people have in their rulers, I long to take the first ship back to it, never to leave it again. How it happened that as a young English girl I came into intimate contact with the people of Sarawak is as follows: In 1868, on the death of the first English Rajah of Sarawak, his nephew and successor came to England and visited my mother, who was his cousin. On his return to Borneo in the early seventies, I accompanied him as his wife. Looking over the diaries I kept in those days, they throw little light upon the new surroundings in which I found myself. I had received the limited education given to girls in that mid- Victorian period ; I had been taught music, dancing, and could speak two or three European languages ; but as regards the important things in life, these had never been thought of consequence to my education. I was sea-sick almost the whole way from Mar- 2 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE seilles to Singapore, so that when we stayed at the various ports on our way out — Aden, Ceylon, Penang, etc. — I was much too ill to take any interest in them. I remember that in Singapore we received invitations from the Governor and from the residents of the place to stay with them on our way to Sara- wak ; but I felt ill, and the Rajah and I thought it best to take up our quarters at an hotel. However, we dined with the Governor and his wife. Sir Harry and Lady Ord, and I do not think I had ever met kinder people. The Chief Justice and his wife. Sir Benson and Lady Maxwell, were also charming to us, asking us to spend a day with them at their country house near Singapore. This we did, and it was all delight- ful and lovely, barring the fact that I met none of the Singapore natives on these occasions. It was at Singapore that I first tasted tropical fruits — mangoes, mangosteens, a fruit called the sour- sop, tasting like cotton wool dipped in vinegar and sugar ; also many other kinds — all of which, under the distempered state of my mind, owing to the journey, I thought positively repulsive. As to the delights of first impressions in the tropics, I must say I did not share in those feelings. I hated the heat, the damp clammy feel of those equatorial regions, and I then thought that I should never find happiness in such countries. After a few days spent in Singapore, we embarked in the Rajah's yacht, the Heartsease. She was a wooden gunboat of 250 tons, and her admirers had THE AUTHOR FROM A PAINTING BY MRS. ALFKED SOTHEBY SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 3 told me she was as lively as a duck in the water. This behaviour on her part was exceedingly annoying to me during the passage to Kuching, a journey which took two days. It was on board the Hearts- ease that I had my first experience of cockroaches and rats, and these kept me in a perpetual state of terror at night. Cockroaches are like black beetles, only much larger, flatter, and tawny brown in colour. At the approach of rain they are particularly lively, and as rain falls daily in this region, their habits are offensive to human beings. They fly or spring from great distances, and alight on their victims. I remember how they startled me by jumping on to my face, arms and hands, as I lay in my bunk trying to get to sleep. The tiny prick of their spiky, spindly legs was a hateful experience. Every one must be familiar with rats more or less at a distance, but the Heartsease's rats were discon- certingly friendly. They glided, up and down the floor of my cabin, sometimes scratching at my pillow, which did not add to my comfort. It was on the third morning after leaving Singapore, that I suddenly felt the ship moving in absolutely smooth waters. This encouraged me to crawl up on deck, and look around me at the scenery. It was the most beautiful I had ever seen. The tide was on the turn, and the morning mist was still hanging about the watery forests on the banks arrd about the high mountains of the interior, and as it swept across th,e river it brought with it that curious. 4 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE sweet, indefinable smell, half-aromatic and half- sickly, making one think unaccountably of malaria. I remember that I felt very cold, for everything I touched was dripping with dew. I could see the high mountain of Santubong, a great green cliff rising almost out of the water to a height of about three thousand feet, covered to its summit with luxuriant forests. At the foot of the mountain was a great expanse of sand, over which enormous brown boulders were scattered, as though giants had been disturbed at a game of ninepins. At the back of the sandy shore grew groves of Casuarina trees (the natives call them "talking trees," from the sound they make when a breeze stirs their lace-like branches), looking as though the slightest puff might blow them all away in clouds of dark green smoke. Brown huts, made of dried palm leaves and built on poles, dotted the beach, ands mall canoes tethered to the shore held little brown naked children, playing and baling out the water. Women were washing clothes on the river-banks. They were clothed in one long, clinging garment, folded and tucked under their armpits, and their straight, long, black hair was drawn into huge knots at the nape of their necks. All this I saw as in a vision ; the people were too far off for me to distinguish their features, and the incoming tide was carrying us up the river at a swift pace. Here and there, on our way up, we met Chinamen standing in the stern of swift, small, narrow canoes, SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE S propelling their boats gondolier fashion, with cargoes of fish for the Kuching market. We passed boats of all sorts and sizes, from the small sampan scooped out of a single tree trunk, with its solitary paddler, to the larger house-boats belonging to Malays, filled with women and children. These wisre roofed in to shelter their inmates from the rain or sun, and were usually propelled by old men sitting in the bows cross-legged, wearing dirty white cotton drawers and jauntily placed conical hats, which sometimes allowed the folds of turbans to be seen, these showing that the wearers had been to Mecca. My attention was attracted by one very small canoe, for I saw, sitting amidships, an old woman huddled up in a cotton scarf. A tiny boy, perfectly naked, was bravely paddling her along, whilst he shouted insults to his poor old lady passenger as our steamer passed by. It was on this morning also, that I made the acquaintance of the Malay crew of our yacht. Like all people suddenly finding themselves for the first time in the midst of an alien race, I thought the sailors all looked alike. I elicited from the Rajah that some were young and some were old, but whether aged eighteen or fifty, I could see no difference in them at all. They all had the same almost bridgeless noses, wide nostrils, thick lips, dark restless eyes, and the lanky hair belonging to their Mongolian race. I tried to make up to them in a feeble way ; I looked at them and smiled as they went to and fro, but they only bent double as they passed, paying no more 6 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE attention to my friendly advances than they did to my cane chair. They were the gentlest moving things I had ever seen ; yet apparently, their work did not suffer, for I was told that they were as efficient as any ordinary European crew. The Rajah was accompanied on the occasion by one of his officers who had come to meet us at Singapore. As we three sat on deck, I thought they were the most silent pair I had ever come across. I wanted to know about the country, and asked questions, but no satisfactory answer could be obtained, and I was gently made to understand that 1 had better find things out for myself. I wanted to know about the mangroves which grew in the mud, and which at high tide stand "knee-deep in the flood." I wanted to know about those great forests of nipa palms, like gigantic hearse plumes, fringing the river-banks, and from which I had been told in Singapore that sixteen different and most useful products to commerce could be obtained. I wanted to know the names of long, slender palms towering over the other vegetation farther inland, whose glossy fronds swaying in the morning breeze looked like green and graceful diadems. Then I saw great things like logs of wood lying on the mud, and when these moved, and went with a sickening flop into the water, I had to find out for myself that they were the first crocodiles of my acquaintance. I saw the black and mobile faces of monkeys peering at us from between the branches overhanging the water SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 7 grimacing like angry old men at our intrusion into their solitude, and to my inquiry as to what kind of monkeys they were, the usual indifferent answer was given. I remember trying to make friends with the English officer from Sarawak, with the object of eliciting from him some facts about the place, but my questions did not meet with any very interesting responses, and I soon found out that I should have to make my own discoveries about the country, and from that moment I simply panted to understand the Malay language and make friends with the people belonging to the place. Although here and there we met a few boats coming up the river, some of the reaches were deserted and silent as the grave. I was exceedingly lonely, and felt as though I had fallen into a phantom land, in the midst of a lost and silent world. But even in such out-of-the-way places pfeople have to be fed, and I remember my first meal in Sarawak, brought to me by the Chinese steward. There were captain's biscuits, lumps of tinned butter slipping about the plate like oil, one boiled egg which had seen its best days, and the cup of Chinese tea, innocent of milk, which the Rajah and his friend seemed to enjoy, but which I thought extremely nasty. The quiet, matter-of-fact way in which they participated in this unpalatable meal surprised me, but I thought that perhaps I, too, might in time look upon such things as mere trifles. At last, after steaming in silence for about two and 8 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE a half hours up the Sarawak River, I heard the boom- ing of guns — the salute fired to the Rajah on his return from England — and rounding the last reach leading up to Kuching, the capital, I saw the Fort on the right-hand bank on a hill covered with closely cropped grass. I also saw the flagstaff from which was flying the Sarawak flag. On the opposite bank to where the Fort was situated stood a bungalow, rather a homely looking house, with gables and green-and-white blinds, the sight of which comforted me. I was told that this was the house of the agent of the Borneo Company, Ltd. This gives me an opportunity of acknowledging, at the outset of my book, the loyal, and at the same time civilizing influence which this group of Scotchmen, ipembers of the firm, have always exerted in their dealings with Sarawak and its people. This house once out of sight, we steamed on past the Bazaar on the river's edge, containing the principal shops of the town, and, a little farther on, the same side as the Fort, I saw the Astana,^ composed of three long low bungalows, roofed with wooden shingles, built on brick pillars with a castellated tower forming the entrance. On the steps of the landing-stage at the bottom of the garden a great many people were standing. These were the officials, English and native, and the principal merchants of the place come to meet the Rajah on his return. I saw four Malay chiefs, and was told that they were prominent members in the 1 Malay word meaning palace. ft. o Pi H < 2 Pi < ffi ing for hours, SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 47 when late in the afternoon we passed Kanowit on the left-hand bank of the river. It was at this spot, in 1859, that Messrs. Fox and Steele, two of the first white Rajah's officers, were murdered through the disaffection of a few natives, and at the instigation of Serip Masahor, one of the very few traitors in Sarawak history. This man ended his days in exile at Singapore. We now came to a series of little hills shelving into the water. The formation of these hills is somewhat peculiar : they are regular in outline and, all being of the same height and wooded with jungle growth, with a few ancient forest trees at their summit, it would seem as though a straight line might be drawn all along their tops, each hill touching the line at its highest point. They rise to a height of 750 feet. There was a kind of brushwood growing on the hills whenever farming had been of recent date, and groves of wild bananas grew here and there. I think the long fronds of the banana plant are amongst the loveliest growing things one can see. When the plants find a sheltered position, unmolested by gales of wind, their long leaves are tinted with the most wonderful colours, as though emeralds and sapphires had been melted together and poured over them ; moreover, a certain bloom rests on them, like that seen on grapes and plums. I think this beautiful effect depends on the light in which the plants are growing, for I have noticed the same bloom spread over ferns growing in dells and shady nooks of virgin forests. It might 48 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE be as well to mention that Malays often use banana fronds to bind up wounds ; their coolness, softness, and purity possessing healing properties absent from ordinary poultices. These wild bananas thrive luxuri- antly on recently abandoned paddy lands, until masses , of other weeds grow up and choke them. The plant possesses an excellent fibre, its fruit being bright green, small, and hard. The look of such deserted farms is exceedingly pathetic as they stretch along the banks of rivers or climb the sides of steep hills. Here and there are trees, once lofty and magnificent, partially turned to tinder, their charred trunks standing brown and shrivelled from out the green vegetation. Sometimes they become draped with parasites and creepers. I remember one such charred skeleton, over whose shrivelled remains the bright yellow blossoms of the allamanda flung a curtain of green and gold. As we proceeded up the river, I remember noticing men in boats fishing inside little creeks, who, I was told, were Sea Dyaks or Kanowits. These little creeks were barred across from bank to bank with bamboo palisades to prevent the egress of fish into the main river, for the streams had been^ poisoned with a root called tuba, a method of fishing preva- lent all over Borneo. This root is pounded with pestles, its juice extracted, and thrown into the river at low tide, when the fishes become stupefied, and rise to the surface, so that the natives find no difficulty in netting or spearing them. These people SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 49 were drawing up nets full of fish as we passed, but, as is their wont, when they saw the vessel and the Rajah's flag flying at the main, they shouted to us, excitedly inquiring where we had come from and where we were going. I sat on the deck looking about me, and, as I thought, taking most things in, when apparently from out of nowhere a boat suddenly appeared full of Dyaks under our com- panion ladder, clamouring to be let in for a few words with the Rajah. The Rajah and Mr. Skelton (both of whom knew every one in the district), could dis- tinguish whether the people were friends or enemies. When friends, the engine was stopped, the companion ladder let down, and the chiefs came solemnly on board, after our wire netting had been opened to allow them to enter. The chieftains' followers re- mained where they were, their canoes drifting astern of our vessel, and were towed up the river while the chiefs held conversation with the Rajah. Before we got to the end of our journey, our ship was towing along a little flotilla of canoes filled with dusky warriors. A place called Ngmah was our destination, where was a Fort built on the top of a hill. We anchored beneath the hill for a night and then returned to Sibu. Our journey up river, against the freshet and tide, had taken us two days to accomplish ; ten hours sufficed to float us back to our headquarters at Sibu, Then our usual life at Sibu began again for another fortnight — the breakfasts, the little bunches of flowers, 4 so SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE and the walks at sunset round the settlement — when the Rajah went up river again. On this occasion he did not take me with him, but he left Mr. Skelton and Mr. Low to look after me in the Fort. The Rajah had not been gone a week, when one morning, just as day was breaking, I was awakened by the noise of two muskets being fired from the Fort. I got out of my mosquito curtains, just as I was, tied a sarong over 'my nightgown, and rushed out of the room. I met Mr. Skelton on his way to warn me that in the semi-darkness preceding dawn, the Sikhs on the look out had noticed what seemed to be two long Dyak boats floating down the river. They had not answered to the challenge from the Fort, and, fresh' from the previous attack, Mr. Skelton imagined another disturbance was im- minent. My room had to be given up to two fortmen, who were posted with armed muskets to defend that portion of the building, and Mr. Skelton, Mr. Low, and myself congregated in the sitting-room. It was an exciting time, for we all thought that at any moment we should hear the yell of the Dyaks rushing up to attack us. I recollect so well Mr. Skelton, fussy and excited, fearing I should be frightened : but I was really rather enjoying all this commotion, never thinking it strange that we should be sitting together in our night garments ; indeed, that fact never entered our heads at all. I suggested to Mr. Skelton, as I did not then know how to manage a musket, that I should sit behind the SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 51 cottage piano I had brought with me from Kuching, as it would serve for a rampart against poisoned art-ows or spears that might find their way into the Fort. Mr. Skelton agreed, and I ignominiously took my post behind the piano. We were all on the look out, our nerves strained to the utmost. Daybreak appeared and we could see all round the Fort, but still nothing happened. I hardly like to confess that I was rather disappointed. Every five minutes, Mr. Skelton invited me to partake of some ham which he had just procured from England, and some soda- water, evidently thinking that these would have a soothing effect on my nerves ! We waited and waited, and at last I thought I might just as well go back to bed. Then a most delightful incident occurred. Our Chinese cook, whom we had brought from Kuching, anxious to show his zeal and valour, offered Mr. Skelton to take his post at my door with his large carving knife. Of course Mr. Skelton allowed him to do so, and, thus guarded, I turned into my mosquito net and had an hour's sleep. When I awakened the sun was shining, and all fear of the attack had passed. It is a well-known thing that Dyaks always choose the hour just before dawn to r^id any settlement. I think Mr. Skelton was rather annoyed at his mistake. When the Rajah returned from his trip, he was vexed at what had taken place, for he did not think it possible that another tribe of Dyaks up the Rejang River would have dared another attack so soon after 52 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the last one. Moreover, it would have been impos- sible for them to have done so, as his gunboat Heartsease, with himself on board, was at the time stationed in the higher reaches of the Rejang River. I fancy the real truth of the matter was, that Mr. Skelton and his fortmen had become over-anxious, and I imagine my presence on the occasion also had something to do with it. It was whispered afterwards that two enormous tree trunks, borne down past the Fort by the current (in the semi-darkness just before dawn when it is difficult to distinguish objects at a distance), were the harmless factors of this scare. Nevertheless, I must again repeat, I was disappointed at the tame manner in which the expected attack fizzed out. CHAPTER VII THE Rejang River deserves a few words of explanation. It is a magnificent roadway to commerce in the interior, and once the head- hunting propensities of the tribes in its neighbour- hood are abolished, it promises to be a great centre of activity and trade. A large number of Kayans and Kenyahs are to be found in its tributaries. These people are, next to the Sea Dyaks, the most important and advanced of the tribes of Sarawak, and are scattered about the country in various rivers. They have attained a fairly high degree of civilization, whilst other tribes consist of primitive people called Punans, Ukits, and Bukitans. These do not cultivate land, but rely on the wild fruits and game they find in the forests. Curiously enough, however, as though to show they have descended from a higher civilization, they are able to manufacture the weapon in use amongst so many Bornean tribes — that thing we call the blow-pipe.^ The Punans make their temporary homes under leafy shelters, in limestone caves, or in the buttresses of huge trees, called 1 Nowadays Punans, Bukitans, and most of the Ukits live in houses and do some farming. 54 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE Tapangs, which afford shelter to whole families. When they have exhausted the surrounding localities of their fruits and game, they wander off to some other spot, where their life begins afresh. Notwithstanding their wild state, these people weave beautiful mats and baskets from palms gathered in the vicinity. They ornament such articles with patterns which must have been handed down to them from time imme- morial — another proof of their probable degradation from a higher form of existence. A favourite pattern of theirs is the Greek " key " pattern. They are very shy, and might perhaps — from fear, but not from malice — kill a stranger wandering near their settle- ments. After remaining some weeks in the Rejang, and when peace had been restored amongst the dis- turbed people, who began to resume work on their farms, the Rajah and I left Sibu and our kind hosts, Mr. Skelton and Mr. Low, for a trip to the Batang Lupar. We embarked once more on the Heartsease, and steamed down the left-hand branch of the Rejang, when, on leaving the mouth of the river, we steered due south, passing the mouths of the Kalakah and Saribas Rivers. We had, alas for me, about four hours of sea to negotiate before we found smooth water again, so that I did not see much of the coast. The sea was supposed to be calm, but a hateful swell drove me to the cabin. I went on deck after we had passed over the bar of the Batang Lupar. I could not believe it to be a river ; the SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 55 shores were so far off, with a stretch of four miles of water between them, and this width continued all down the straight reach as far as Lingga. Lingga was a desolate place. Its Fort was built on a mud-bank. A small Malay village, its houses built on stilts, lined the banks, and were surrounded by cocoa-nut palms, which palms are said to flourish in brackish water. The present Rajah made this place his home for one year, moving from thence in 1854. He resided in this Batang Lupar district for about ten years, whence he led many punitive expeditions into the interior. The old pirate chief, Rentap, who committed so many crimes, murdered so many people, and prevented peace from settling on the land, was entrenched with his mis- creant tribe in neighbouring mountains, and was repeatedly attacked by the present Rajah, who finally dislodged him from his fastnesses, and rendered him harmless by his many defeats. It was from the banks of the Batang Lupar River that the Rajah's friendly Dyaks, sometimes numbering twelve to fourteen thousand men, were gathered together to follow their white chief in his many attacks against the pirate's Fort. For years the present Rajah is said never to have slept securely on account of the incessant alarms and attacks on innocent people by this inveterate head-hunting pirate, who, in spite of a very advanced age, managed to work so much havoc in the neighbourhood. We did not land at Lingga on this occasion, but 5 6 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE went on to a settlement near a place called Banting, where the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had charge dver a thriving community of Christians, Bishop Chambers, whose name can never be forgotten in the annals of Sarawak, here began his work of civilization as a missionary. He was a great friend of the present Rajah, and for many years, these two men, in their different ways, worked unremittingly for the good of the natives. This missionary settle- ment is about fifteen miles by river from Lingga, and it was here that I had my first experience of travelling in a Dyak war-boat. These vessels are comfortable enough, being about seven feet wide amidships by about seventy feet in length. A crew, numbering some fifty, paddled us along. A roofed compartment in the middle of the canoe, furnished with mattresses and pillows, afforded us comfortable accommodation, and curtains hanging from the roof kept off the heat and glare from the river in the daytime ; whilst the rhythmical noise of the paddles, and occasional wild bursts of songs from the crew helped to make the journey a pleasant one. As the crew shipped their paddles, I saw a long Dyak house, propped on stilts about forty feet high, planted some yards from the river-bank. As this place was situated within reach of the tide and we arrived at low water, a vast expanse of mud stretched between us and dry land. I could see nothing in the way of a landing-stage to help our way to the house, SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 57 excepting a few poles dovetailing one another laid across the mud, supported by trestles. I wondered how I was to get across, but not liking to make inquiries of an unpleasant nature, I said nothing ; it is better in any emergency to let events take their course with as little fuss as possible, so that when our canoe was pushed by the side of the supported poles, I kept silent, I remember noticing how cleverly our Dyak crew manoeuvred our boat, plunging knee- deep into the mud in their efforts, and yet moving about quickly all the time. The Rajah led the way and walked along some six or seven yards of the poles leading to the Dyak village. I admired the way in which he kept his balance, never slipping once during the journey. When my turn came, four Dyaks helped me out of the boat. My progress across the poles was not a graceful one, for I found them to be as slippery as glass. My four supporters, two on each side of me, must have suffered severely, as I slid first on one side and then on the other. However, their kindly efforts prevented me from taking headers into the mud. But my troubles were not yet over. I saw, leaning against the house at a steep angle, another long pole with notches cut in it all the way up to the door of the building. I saw the Rajah hopping up this small cylindrical stairway with the agility of a gazelle. No explanation was given to me, but the Dyaks signed to me that I had to do the same, so I tried to climb the pole. It was only about twenty inches in circumference, so it will be S8 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE realized that this was a disconcerting sight to a person unaccustomed to acrobatic feats. However, the Rajah seemed to take it as a matter of coprse, and I tried to do the same, but the difficulty of turning one's feet out to the right angle was very trying at first. I clasped the pole with great fervour as I went up, and one of the Dyaks behind me took hold of my ankles, placing my feet on each notch with great care. A Dyak in front of me held my left hand and with my right I clutched the bamboo pole, and thus, with a good deal of slipping and a great deal of fright, I managed to reach the verandah of the house. An extraordinary thing happened on this visit. In every Dyak house of note — and this was the residence of a great Dyak chief, called Banting — a portion of the building is assigned entirely to the women of the tribe. On this occasion, the women were anxious that I should visit them in their room, which I did. The room was a large one and was simply crammed. A little stool covered with yellow calico and a fine Dyak mat were prepared for me, and the women and children squatted all round me on the floor. They took hold of my hands and pushed up my sleeves to see if my arms were white all the way up. I had with me one of the Mission people, who acted as interpreter. He told me that the women wanted me to give them medicine to make their noses stand out from their faces as mine did ; they also wanted medicine to make their skin white. Babies were brought to me to touch, and I promised to H <1 O O H H K 2; o H H O U o SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 59 send them pills for their various ailments from Kuching. The women gave me a basket they had made for me, and then showed me their mats which they make so cleverly, their hats, and their paddles — much in the same way English women would show their collection of fans. The conversation went on merrily, when suddenly we heard some ominous cracks underneath our feet, and before I knew where I was, the flooring had given way and the women and children, the interpreter, and I, were plunged about four feet through the floor. We hung in bags, as it were, for the mats covering the floor were secured to the sides of the walls, and these prevented us from dropping to the ground below. The Dyak warriors sprang forward and helped me into safety. The women screamed, and I never heard such a noise in all my life. The Rajah, in the distance, sat imperturbably on, as though nothing out of the way was happening. I think he could see there was no great danger and that the mats would support us. When the dignity of the situation allowed him to do so, he came to where the accident had taken place and said to me, " It is all right, the room was overcrowded. You had better come into the verandah and then everything will be quite safe." He was pleased with the manner in which I had taken this catastrophe, and the Dyak chiefs told him it was evident that I knew how to behave in emergencies. We then returned to our boats. To make a long 6o SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE story short, I found the return down the notched pole even more difficult than the going up, but it is wonderful how soon one gets accustomed to anything out of the ordinary run of things, and I went away from Banting very much delighted with my experience in the first Dyak house I had visited. We rejoined the Heartsease at Lingga and steamed to Kuching, which we reached the next morning. CHAPTER VIII SOME months had gone by since the day of my first arrival in Kuching and, odd as it may seem, Europe and all its ways were relegated as it were to an almost imperceptible background in my memory. The charm of the people, the wonderful beauty of the country, the spaciousness, and the absence of anything like conventionality, all enchanted me. Moreover, the people were my own, and every day that passed — and I am not ashamed to own it — little by little I lost some of my European ideas, and became more of a mixture between a Dyak and a Malay. The extraordinary idea which English people enter- tain as to an insuperable bar existing between the white and coloured races, even in those days of my youth, appeared to me to be absurd and nonsensical. Here were these people, with hardly any ideas of the ways of Europeans, who came to me as though they were my own brothers and sisters. They must have thought some of my ways curious and strange, but instead of finding fault with them, they gave way to me in everything. I suppose they saw how ready I was to care for them and consider them as members of my family, and as the country became more familiar to me, little by little, much as when one develops photographic 6i 62 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE plates, some hitherto unperceived trait in their char- acter came out and charmed me. I wish I could give a description of our home in Kuching as it appeared to me then and as I think of it now. How I delighted in those many hours spent on the broad verandah of our house, watching the life going on in the little town the other side of the river. I think I have said before that at high tide the breadth of the river where it runs under the banks of our garden is as broad as the Thames at Westminster Bridge. The little town looked so neat and fresh and prosperous under the careful jurisdiction of the Rajah and his officers, that it reminded me of a box of painted toys kept scrupulously clean by a child. The Bazaar runs for some distance along the banks of the river, and this quarter of the town is inhabited almost entirely by Chinese traders, with the exception of one or two Hindoo shops. The Chinese shops look very much like those in small towns on the Italian Lakes. Groceries of exotic kinds are laid out on tables near the pavement, from which purchasers make their choice. At the Hindoo shops you can buy silks from India, sarongs from Java, tea from China, and tiles and porcelain from all parts of the world, laid out in picturesque confusion, and overflowing into the street. Awnings from the shops and brick archways protect purchasers from the sun, whilst across the road all kinds of boats are anchored, bringing produce from the interior of Sarawak, from the Dutch Settlement, from Singapore, and from adjacent islands ; these boats are SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 63 picturesque in the extreme. The Chinese junks were always a delight to me, with their orange and tawny sails drying in the sun, and the large "eyes" painted in the bows to enable the vessels to see their way during their journeys. Dutch schooners with their hori- zontally striped flag of blue, white, and red are to be seen, and English, French, and Siamese flags also fluttered amongst the many masts carrying the Sara- wak colours. The most important portion of the Bazaar lay behind the wharf, where the mail steamer was moored, then bringing mails every ten days from Singapore. The' Chinese houses of the Bazaar are decorated with coloured porcelains ; one sees green dragons, pink lotuses, little gods and goddesses in grotesque attitudes, all along their fronts. The roofs are of red tiles, some of these being higher than the rest and having the curious Chinese termination at each end, thus breaking the line and making it more picturesque. Behind the Bazaar rise a succession of hills, on which are situated European bungalows sur- rounded by pleasant gardens of flowers and fruit. The houses with their white walls and green and white painted blinds make a charming accessory to the background of forest trees. Churches of the different denominations stand out prominently in the landscape, for all Faiths enjoy the same privileges and freedom at the hands of the Sarawak Government. One sees the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, Chinese temples marvellously decorated, Hindoo shrines, and Muhammadan mosques. Right opposite to the Palace 64 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE stands the gaol and court-house, the latter a broad, low building with a castellated tower at its entrance. The Malay town lies towards the west, along the banks of the river, and beyond the town stretch miles and miles of flat forest land. When I was in Kuching, it seemed to me that the machinery of life was moved by clockwork, the Rajah being the most punctual man alive. At five o'clock in the morning, just before daybreak (we must remem- ber that in those latitudes there is scarcely any differ- ence in the length of days), a gun was fired from the Fort, at which signal the Rajah jumped out of bed. Wishing to do the same as the Rajah, the Europeans, Malays, Dyaks, and Chinese jumped out of bed too. One had to dress and bathe by lamplight, and just as one came out to drink one's morning tea, the sun rose. At six o'clock, Kuching was fairly astir, and the Rajah and I used to go across in our boat (for there is no bridge anywhere over the river) to the landing-place be- low the court-house, where our horses were awaiting us. Mounting our animals was occasionally fraught with difficulty. Our Syces (grooms) in Sarawak weremostly recruited from the Buyan people of an island off Java, who are extraordinarily sympathetic in their treatment of animals. For instance, my pony had been bought in Labuan, chosen from out a herd of wild ponies which roam about the plains of that more northern portion of Borneo. The pony had never been broken in properly, according to our European ideas of what a horse's perfect manners should be, and very often as SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 65 I approached to mount the animal (he was only about thirteen and a half hands high) he would turn round and round. I would say to the Syce, " Try and keep him still," whereupon the Syce would reply, "He doesn't want to keep still ! " Therefore so long as it suited the pony to turn round and round, the Syce turned round and round too. It generally took some time before the pony became amenable, when I would seize the moment and scramble on to his back as best I could. This kind of thing went on nearly every morning before I started for my ride. In those days, with the exception of a few paths in and out of the town^ there was only one well-made road extending for about a mile and a half into the country. Up and down this road, the Rajah and I pounded on our horses for the necessary exercise which every one must take, whether in or out of the tropics. On coming home, we found the gateway into the Palace full of all sorts of people — Malays, Dyaks, and Chinese — anxious to see the Rajah. The Rajah never refused to see any one, and after hearing their complaints, he dismissed them kindly with a few words of advice. The motley morning crowd always re- minded me of pictures in the Bible stories of my childhood, for there were turbaned Hajis in their flowing robes, women draped in dingy folds of cotton from head to foot, youths, maidens, and sometimes little children, crawling, walking, running, or jumping down the path after their interviews, but whether chieftains or beggars, Seripas or women of a lower 5 66 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE class, there was always an innate dignity belonging to these people ; they could not look common or vulgar however much they might try to do so. This business over, the Rajah issued forth from the Astana with the yellow satin umbrella held over him by the redoubtable Subu. Four Malay chiefs, dressed in flowing robes and holding their golden- knobbed sticks, accompanied him to the Court, where five days in the week the Rajah dispensed justice from 8 to 10.30, a.m. A retinue of young men and boys, who had paddled the chiefs to the Palace, followed the procession. I used to watch the boats crossing the river to the landing-place, when Subu once again held the umbrella over the Rajah's head to the door of the Court. There, the umbrella was furled, when Subu, the umbrella, the Rajah and his miiiisters, disappeared from my view into the building. I then went to my rooms, where I usually found some Malay women waiting to see me. On one occasion, I was sitting with two or three Malay friends having coffee in the morning, when a young Chinese girl, in a cotton sarong and Malay jacket, dashed into the room, followed by one of the Guards. Her face was covered with scratches, her arms were one mass of bruises, and round her neck was a red mark as though she had been iialf strangled. She rushed up to me, caught hold of both my knees, and said : " I hope in you because you are the Rajah's wife. The place I am in is a wicked one. I am a servant to a SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 6l Chinese woman who is jealous of her husband. When her husband goes out, she locks me in a room and beats, scratches, and tortures me in every possible way, because she thinks her husband looks upon me with favour, I will stay with you always, I will not leave you, for if I go back to those people the woman will kill me." The girl was very pretty, with a pale yellow skin and beautiful eyes, and I could quite understand that any woman might feel jealous of such an adjunct to her household. I sent the Guard away, and told the girl she might remain in a corner of my room until the Rajah came back from the Court. Meanwhile, her employers, finding she had run away from their house, had straightway gone to the Court, where the Rajah was then sitting, and an application was made for an order compelling the runaway to return. The Rajah, being told that the girl had gone to the Palace and not knowing the rights of the story, sent some police to bring her to him over the water. When I was told that they were below, the girl took hold of my gown, and said that if she was to go across to the courthouse, I was to go too to protect her. I had with me at the time, the wives of the three chief ministers of the Rajah's Council, so we held a discus- sion as to what was to be done. They were all on my side, and urged me not to let the girl accompany the police sent by the Rajah. I must say I felt rather nervous, " Never mind," they said : " if our husbands make any difficulty, when they come home they shall know it. You do the same with the Rajah, and let us 68 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE save the girl if we possibly can. Moreover, when the rights of the matter are known and they see how dreadful the girl looks, they too will not wish to send the girl back to her employers, but will see the justice of our decision," When the Rajah came back from the Court, and heard the details of the story, he decided to keep the girl at the Palace. Meanwhile, the matter was inquired into, and the woman who had been so cruel was punished by having to pay a fine of money to be given to the girl, who became one of my servants, and remained with me some time, until a, kind English lady, then living in Kuching, took a fancy to ber, and with the Rajah's permission took her into her service as lady's maid. In course of time this victim of unjustifiable jealousy found a Chinese husband, and I believe the couple are still living in Kuching under comfortable circumstances. A day or two after this incident, a war-boat full of Dyaks, headed by their chief, arrived in Kuching and came to the Astana to see the Rajah. If I remember rightly, these Dyaks had been, until recently, enemies of the Sarawak Government, owing to the usual failing — their love of head-taking. They had come to lay their submission before their ruler, and to express contrition for their misdeeds, whilst promising to behave better in the future. The Rajah wished to hear what the chief had to say, and gave him an audi- ence in his private room. The chief's followers, about fifty in number, who were not wanted at this interview, were left on the verandah, and the Rajah asked me to SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 69 keep them amused and occupied whilst he was engaged with the chief. As the Rajah and the chief disappeared down the stairway leading to the study, I made signs to the warriors to follow me into our drawing-room, thinking its furniture," so new to them, might prove of interest. They wandered about in a desultory way, and as I could not speak to them (not knowing their language) I opened the piano and struck a note or two. These sounds apparently delighted them, and I made signs to them to sit on the floor whilst I played that ordinary piece of music, the Danse Negre, by Ascher. Grunts of satisfaction and noddings of heads intimated their approval of my per- formance. As I went on, I noticed that the rhythm of the music acted on them somewhat strangely. They reminded me of a number of marionettes with strings attached to their arms and legs, moV^ed by invisible hands in time to the music. Their bodies, arms, and legs jerked spasmodically, and before I quite realized what was happening, they all sprang to their feet and bounded about the room, yelling and waving their arms in the throes of an animated war-dance. I did not know how to stop them, and felt apprehensive for the safety of the furniture and knick-knacks placed about the room ; indeed, one large palm tree standing in a pot in a corner was nearly hurled to the ground. As the noise grew louder, the bounds higher and higher, and I myself playing louder and louder, I wondered what would happen, when, in the midst of all this turmoil, the Rajah and the chief appeared in 70 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the doorway. The warriors stopped suddenly and looked rather sheepish ; some scratched themselves, while others cleared their throats, and they all flopped down in squatting positions on the floor. I went on playing for a little while after the Rajah had come in. The chief said something to his followers, and the Rajah dismissed the company kindly. We all touched one another's hands, and the Dyaks then filed out of the room and disappeared down the verandah. The Rajah was amused and interested at the idea of my rhythmic piano tune having carried the people so completely off their feet, whilst I was rather pleased at the effect of my playing on such a wild audience, and although realizing that my music does not rouse English people to the same frenzy of enthusiasm, I felt that morning I had gained a success that Rubinstein himself might have envied. CHAPTER IX DESPITE my love for Sarawak, there were three great drawbacks to my comfort, namely, malaria, mosquitoes, and rats. One knows that the tropics, especially where the moisture is excessive, are trying to European con- stitutions. When one remembers the abrupt transi- tions from wet to dry, the fierce rays of the sun that beat down on the vegetation, the exhalation of myriads and myriads of leaves drawn up by the heat of the day and cast forth again in poisonous perfumes or evil odours into the atmosphere, all these things must have a pernicious effect on the health of Europeans. But we now also know that these things obvious to our senses are not the sole or the whole cause of some of the worst tropical ailments, but that these are due to the invisible life teeming in earth, air, and water. For instance, it is now established that the disease capable of so many variations, called malaria, is due to the sting of my arch-enemy, the striped black-and-white mosquito. This discovery had not been made when I first visited the tropics, but now I do not wonder at my feelings of repulsion whenever I saw these horrible pests feeding on me. 72 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE A short time after my arrival in the country, I was seized with a somewhat unusual form of malaria. Now the ordinary malaria is known by almost all Europeans who live in the tropics. The Rajah, for instance, suffers from this ordinary but very trying and sometimes dangerous kind of fever, but the way the pest attacked me was of a kind not often experienced by Europeans. My kind was more prevalent amongst the natives. Its symptoms are disconcerting to your friends, for you feel very bad tempered. The palms of your hands get hot and dry, and a feeling of impending disaster takes hold of you. These preliminaries are painless. Then, all of a sudden, more often at sunset, you feel sick : nothing happens, but a band of iron, as it were, presses round your body, becoming tighter and tighter until you imagine that fingers of steel are twisting you up inside. You retire to bed, propped by pillows, for you can neither hold yourself up nor move in any way, and there you remain gasping for breath until the attack is over. It may last half an hour, or continue for half a day, when it returns the next afternoon at the same hour — the attacks resembling those of angina pectoris. Your complexion turns a bright yellow and your face is covered with an ugly rash. These attacks have lasted off and on for two or three months, when life becomes unbearable. You can neither eat nor drink, and get reduced to a shadow. Our English doctor in Sarawak, who was clever and intelligent, never SARAWAK ANt) ITS PEOPLE 73 understood the disease. He prescribed leeches, cupping-glasses, poultices, and fed me up with champagne, brandy, and even port wine, with the result that all these would-be remedies made me very much worse. I became frightfully thin, so that after nearly four years' residence in Sarawak the Rajah decided to take me home, in order to recover my health. One morning, during the first years of my residence in Sarawak, my Malay maid, I ma, rushed into my room and told me that a friend of hers, living in a house near her own, was lying at the point of death owing to continuous attacks of this disease. I could well sympathize with the woman's sufferings, and although powerless to cure myself in such emergencies, decided to try what I could do to help I ma's friend. I took with me a box of pills, a bottle of meat juice, some milk and arrowroot, and, accompanied by I ma, sallied forth to the sick woman's house. I climbed up the ladder that hencoop fashion led into her room, and pushing open the dried palm-leaf door saw a woman rolling about on the floor in paroxysms of agony. Here were the symptoms I knew so well — the bright yellow complexion and rash all over the face. The woman was so weak she could hardly move. I ma went up to her, and lifting her up in her arms said : " Rajah Ranee, who knows of medicines that will make you well, has come to see you." The woman looked at me, and shook her head. I told her I had brought some marvellous remedies, known only to Europeans, and made her 74 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE take two pills and a spoonful of Liebig. When her husband came in, I told him to give her a little milk every hour, and forbade her to touch or eat anything besides what I had prescribed for her. She was carried inside her mosquito curtains, bent double as she was, and gasping for breath. The next morning, when I visited her, I found her better, for the attack had not lasted so long as that of the previous day. I was delighted with the result of my doctoring, and for about a fortnight went to see this woman nearly every day. She was very poor, the wife of a man who earned his living by selling fish which he netted in the river and also by doing odd jobs ih neighbouring pine-apple gardens. The woman finally recovered and remained quite well whilst I stayed in Kuching. As I was sitting writing inside my mosquito house in my morning-room, one day, I heard a fuss going on outside. Our sentry was evidently trying to keep back a visitor who wished to see me. I told I ma to let the visitor in, whoever he might be, when an old and wizened personage, without a jacket, and with garments dripping with mud and water, came in, carrying a net bag in which were a number of crawling things. He ran up to me, deposited the bag at my feet, and catching hold of both my knees, said : " Rajah Ranee pitied my wife, made her well with her medicines and incantations. These shrimps are for Rajah Ranee. I caught them in the river. I nothing else to give. Cook make them SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 75 into curry." I thought this touching on the part of the affectionate husband, and thanked him many times. The sight of the shrimps crawling about in the net, however, greatly disturbed me, for I cannot bear to see animals uncomfortable. I therefore got rid of my grateful friend as soon as I could, and, directly he had left, told I ma (I could not do it myself, for there was a blazing sun outside) to carry the shrimps back to the river whence they had come. I watched her go down the garden path, carrying the net bag, but I question whether she did as I told her. I rather think that she and her husband, Dul, enjoyed shrimp curry that evening. However, I asked no questions — "What the eye does not see the heart does not grieve over ! " This story of the sick woman has a sad ending, for during one of my absences from Sarawak she was again seized with the illness, and died. I was afterwards told that she often used to say : "If Rajah Ranee were here, with her medicines, her visits, and incantations, I should get over it, but I hope no more now, and I know I must die." Until the day of her death, she never wearied extolling my medical skill, and this cure of mine led to some embarrassing situations, for whenever there were serious cases of illness, the people sent for me, begging that I would cure them as I did the fisher- man's wife. On one occasion, a poor woman in the Malay town gave birth to twins, both children being born with hare-lips. The morning of their arrival. 76 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE I ma came to me with an urgent message from the father of the twins, requesting me to go directly to their house and put the babies' mouths straight. I was sorry to have to refuse, but — unlike a good many medical men and women — I realized my limitations in certain cases ! Now for mosquitoes. Nothing one can say or write can give any idea of the tortures one undergoes by the actual biting of mosquitoes. A great many people imagine that these pests only begin to torment one at sunset. This is a mistaken idea. A certain kind of black mosquito, striped with white, is a most pernicious pest. By day and night it harassed me so much that if I wanted to do anything at all, I had to retire behind the shelter of a mosquito house. My Malay friends did not seem to care whether mosquitoes stung them or not ; indeed, they seemed to enjoy the heavy slaps they administered on their faces, hands, or legs, in their attempts to kill the foe. Their methods, however, required a certain amount of skill. The results of their slaps were not pleasant to witness, and when imitating their methods of slaughter, I always had, close by, a basin containing a weak solution of carbolic acid, and a towel. After a bite, the spot was washed, the remains of the mosquito disposed of, and I was ready for another onslaught. Malay women were not so particular, for after killing a mosquito, they would rub off all traces with their coloured handker- chiefs. My paraphernalia of basin, sponge, and SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE TJ towel elicited from them various grunts. They made funny noises in their throats and appealed to Allah at my extraordinary patience in taking these precautions. I now come to rats, which were a far more serious business. A Malay woman once told me she had watched a detachment of rats, four or five in number, trying to get at some fowls' eggs she had laid by for cake-making. She was inside her house (Malay houses are often rather dark), and in the dim light she saw these swift-gliding creatures hovering near the place where the eggs were stored. She waited to see what would happen, and saw a large rat — large as are Norwegian rats — somehow or other get hold of an 6ggr> ™1^ ov^'" °" ^^^ back, holding the &^^ firmly on its stomach with its four paws, when the other rats took hold of its tail, and by a series of backward jerks dragged their companion to a hole in the leafy wall- ing of the store, where it disappeared from sight. I believe this particular story is told with variations all over the world. A great many stories might be related of rats, but the most extraordinary thing I ever saw regarding these animals was a migration which took place one evening at dusk through my bedroom. I was just getting better from a severe attack of malaria, and was lying on the bed inside my mosquito house half awake and half asleep, with my Malay Ayah sitting against the wall in a corner of my room. Suddenly, I saw two or three long objects moving 78 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE across the middle of the room, their black bodies standing out against the pale yellow matting. My room opened on to verandahs from all sides (as every one who is acquainted with the architecture of tropical houses will understand), and it was easy for any animal to climb over the outer verandah and pass through the screened doors leading to the opposite verandah. I watched these crawling creatures, and, being only half awake, wondered what they were. At first I thought it was the result of malaria, making me see things which did not exist, but when the rats were joined by others coming in at one door and going out of the other, in numbers of tens, of twenties, of sixties, then it must have been hundreds, for the floor was one mass of moving objects, I called to the Ayah, who sat motionless the other side of the room. " Don't move," she said ; " they are the rats." I was too frightened not to move, and I screamed out to the Rajah, who I knew was in the room next to mine. As he came in, the rats ran up one side of him, and I remember the dull thud they made as they jumped off his shoulder to the floor. Some fortmen, hearing my screams, also appeared. The Rajah told me to make as little noise as possible, so I had to remain still whilst thousands and thousands of rats passed through my room. This abnormal invasion lasted for about ten or fifteen minutes, when the rats began to diminish in number, until there were only a few stragglers left to follow the main body. It appears that such migrations are well known all SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 79 over Sarawak, and that people fear them because they are accompanied by a certain amount of danger. It is said by the natives that if any one should kill one of these rats, his companions would attack the person in such large numbers that his body would be almost torn to pieces. Looking deeper into the matter, one wonders why these creatures should so migrate, and where they go ; but this no one seems to know. Their area of operations is a restricted one, for it appears that on this occasion my bedroom was the only human habitation through which they went. By the time the last rat passed through my room, and I began to breathe freely again, darkness had come. My room was lit by the dim light of a wick floating in a tumbler of cocoa-nut oil, enclosed in a lantern of glass. The Ayah took up her position again and squatted by the wall without saying a word, nearly petrified with terror at what had happened. I pictured this mass of swiftly-moving, crafty-looking creatures, under the influence of some mysterious force unknown to ourselves, and remembered Cuvier, that great Frenchman, who wrote that when one thinks of the family life of even the most loath- some of creatures, one is inclined to forget any repul- sion one may feel towards them. Rats, however, were a great trouble to me. I have recognized individual rats visiting me on differ- ent occasions. I don't know whether they wanted to make friends, one will never know, but they frightened me dreadfully. I often pitied the way the poor crea- 8o SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE tures were trapped, poisoned, and killed, when after all they were only trying to keep their place in the world, just as we do. On another occasion, I was fast asleep when I woke up feeling a sort of nip. I opened my eyes and saw a large rat sitting on my arm. I shook it off, and it fell to the ground. Being in my mosquito house, I was curious to discover how the rat had got in, and lighting a candle, found that it had gnawed a hole through the muslin to get at some food placed on a table for me to eat during the night. As luck would have it, these rat visitations invari- ably took place when I was ill, so perhaps it magnified the disgust I felt towards these creatures. But think- ing on the matter many times since, I have largely got over my loathing for rats, and I do not think nowadays, I should mind their migrating through my room, because I have become more familiar with animals and their ways. CHAPTER X THERE are certain animals in Sarawak, very little mentioned by travellers, with which we are always surrounded. These are the lizards which run up and dojjvn the walls of all houses in the tropics. They are light grey-green in colour, make a funny little noise, and on this account the natives call them chik-chak. They have the peculiar and rather disagreeable property of shedding their tails ; once or twice they have dropped these append- ages on to my head as they ran to and fro on the ceiling. It sometimes happens that if a picture or a piece of furniture standing against a wall is moved, a very large black chik-chak, about twice the size of an ordinary chik-chak, will come out from behind these shelters. I have noticed that a great many rooms are inhabited by one of these black chik-chak ensconced behind such safe retreats, and these giants of the same species are called by Malays, " Rajah chi- chak." One might also make remarks of an uncompli- mentary nature about centipedes and scorpions, but I know very little about these formidable insects — if they are insects. I only remember on a certain after- noon, when getting up from my usual siesta, I saw on 82 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the muslin walls of my mosquito house a large black thing looking like a miniature lobster. I called the Rajah, who at once recognized it as an enormous scorpion. He took hold of a spear leaning against the wall, so as to kill it, well knowing the awful effects of its sting. I could never have believed what a difficult thing it is to kill a scorpion. Its shell is apparently so thick that it takes a long time to give it its death-blow. I hate seeing anything killed (although on this occasion it was absolutely neces- sary), so I rushed out of the room. Needless to say, the Rajah ultimately dispatched it. As for snakes, I am not going to say a word against them. They are the most beautiful creatures one can possibly see, and in my experience they are not nearly so deadly or so dangerous as people seem to think. The most deadly snake in Sarawak is the much- feared hamadryad. Its dangerous character comes from its very virtues. Whenever a hamadryad is laying her eggs, her mate looks after her safety, and resents the presence of any human being within yards of where she has her nest. One afternoon, one of our Malay servants came screaming up the steps leading from the garden to our verandah, closely followed by one of these hamadryads, and had not a Guard seen her danger and killed the snake, she must have been dead in three or four seconds. Although beasts of prey, such as tigers, panthers, etc., are unknown in Sarawak, the most dangerous reptile in the country is without doubt the crocodile. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 83 I do not think that any statistics have been taken of the loss to human life caused by these creatures in Sarawak, but that their victims are numerous is certain, for every one living in the country has known, or has witnessed, the destructive powers of these creatures. I remember when we were at dinner one evening, we heard the most terrible commotion in one of the little streams running around our garden. They came from a man and from the women folk of his house, and we sent to inquire the cause. We were told that the man had gone to bathe in the creek near his house, and had been seized by a crocodile. The man had laid hold of the log which served as a landing-stage, and the crocodile had managed to tear off one of his legs. He was taken to his house, and although our English doctor did all he could for him, he died the next morning. I have often, in my excursions up and down the river, been followed in our small river boat by these reptiles, and generally the boat boys were the first to see the tiny conical roofs above their eyes — the only portion to be seen above the water — and as these move swiftly towards the boat, you conclude that you are being followed by a crocodile. The experience is not a pleasant one, although it is seldom that the reptile is powerful enough to upset a canoe capable of carrying six or seven people. The danger to the inhabitants of Sarawak lies in the fact that they go about from one house to another on the river- banks in very small canoes, which only hold 84 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE one person. Sometimes the canoe is so small you can hardly see its wooden sides, and its solitary occu- pant appears as though he were sitting on the water, paddling himself along. Both men and women are very skilful in the management of any craft on the waters of these rivers, and despite the fact that croco- diles often with a swish of their tails knock the boats in the air, and seize the occupants as they fall back into the river, paddle in hand, the people seem quite indifferent to the risks they run In these small canoes. A great many years ago, before Kuching became as civilized as it is now, and when it had few steamers on the river, an enormous crocodile, some twenty feet in length, was the terror of the neighbourhood for three or four months during the north-east monsoon — the rainy season of the country. Our Malay quartermaster on board the Heartsease was seized by this monster as he was leaving the Rajah's yacht to go to his house, a few yards from the bank, in his little canoe. It was at night that the crocodile seized him, the canoe being found empty the next morning. Although no one had actually witnessed the calamity, it was certain the poor man had been taken by the monster. This was his first victim, but others followed in quick succession. The crocodile could be seen patrolling the river daily, but it is very difficult to catch or shoot such a creature. At length the Rajah, becoming anxious at the turn affairs were taking, issued a proclamation offering a handsome reward to any one who should succeed in catching SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 85 the crocodile. This proclamation was made with as much importance as possible. The executioner, Subu, bearing the Sarawak flag, was given a large boat, manned by twenty paddles, painted in the Sarawak colours, and sent up and down the river reading the proclamation at the landing-stages of Malay houses. Looking from my window one morn- ing, I saw the boat gaily decorated and looking very important on the river, with the yellow umbrella of office folded inside and the proclamation from the Rajah being read. A few yards behind the boat I imagined I could see, through my opera glasses, the water disturbed by some huge body following it. The natives had noticed this too, and it was absolutely proved that wherever the boat went up or down the river, the monster followed it, as if in derision of the proclamation. A great deal of etiquette had to be observed after the capture of this crocodile. As it was being towed a captive to the place of execution, the process to be ©bserved required that it should be first brought to -the Rajah, and until it was safely landed in the Rajah's garden, the most compliment- ary speeches were made to it: "You are a Rajah"; " You must come and see your brother " ; " You are the light of the day'' ; " You are the sun and moon shining over the land," etc. These flattering remarks were made by the captors as they dragged the huge scaly thing to its doom, but once it was safely in the presence of the Rajah, it was made a target for the most 86 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE insulting language. I saw the crocodile as it lay helpless with its paws tied over its back in the Rajah's garden. The Malays were careful to keep out of reach of the switch of its tail, as one blow from it would have seriously injured anyone who went too near. The Rajah having passed sentence, the reptile was dragged off to be killed by having its head cut off. This done, the body was opened, when human remains, together with the rings and clothes of our unfortunate quartermaster, were found, thus proving our surmises a:s to his death to be correct. Full of excitement and zeal after what had taken place, the Malays who had captured the crocodile considered that the deceased quartermaster's silver ring, in which was set a diamond of the country, should be presented to me. Therefore, Talip, hold- ing the ring between his thumb and forefinger, with many bows and ceremonious speeches, brought it to me for my acceptance. I am sorry to say that my feelings were too strong for me on the occasion, and I could not possibly touch the thing. I was so sorry, and told Talip I was grateful for such kindness, but that I thought the ring ought to belong to the victim's wife or daughter. I sent my thanks for the kind thought, and was very glad when Talip and the ring disappeared from view. So ended the history of the great crocodile, whose doings are even now spoken of in Sarawak. As we are on the subject of animals, we must not SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 87 forget to talk about those very delightful creatures, the monkeys, A most delicious Gibbon exists in Sarawak, which the natives call the wah-wah ; it is the one which imitates the sound of running water in the morning. Wah-wahs are easily tamed, and quickly take to human beings. I was presented with one of these little animals by Datu Isa, wife of the Datu Bandar, and its pathetic little jet black face, its round, beady, frightened eyes, its grey fur fitting its head like the wig of a clown, soft almost as that of the chinchilla but thicker and longer, and its black arms and legs, made it a beautiful little creature. Datu Isa placed the animal in my arms, when it clung to me as children do. The care of this little being, so helpless, so frightened, so full of a want of affection, really made me quite miserable. I tried to give it the food it liked, I took great care of it and kept it always with me when I was in the house, but it went the way of beautiful sensitive animals taken by kind ignorance into the company of human beings. Like most monkeys of its kind in captivity, the poor little wah-wah developed pneumonia a few months after it had been given to me, and died. It was a great grief to me, and I begged my Malay friends, as kindly as I could, not to give me any more such charming and yet such sorrowful presents. The wah-wah cannot live in captivity, for it is the lack of their own natural food that kills these delicate creatures, though they will eat almost anything, even cocoa-nut, which is fatal to them. 88 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE A friend of mine, a Malay woman living in the Malay town near our house, possessed an Albino wah-wah. It was considered a powerful " mascotte," and it lived with her people some time. It must have died during one of my visits to England, for I never heard of it again after I left Sarawak for the first time. On my return, I asked my native women friends what had happened to it, but they were very reticent in giving me news of the little creature. At last they said : " It went to another world, and we would rather not talk about it any more." Another interesting animal in Sarawak is the buffalo. These animals are tiresome when they come into contact with Europeans. In fact, they are dangerous to meet, should they be uncontrolled by natives. Natives, apparently, can do what they like with them. They never ill-treat the animals, but talk to them as though they were human, this treatment making the beasts tame and easy to manage. In one of our settlements, near a coal-mine, where buffaloes were required to drag trucks of coal to and from the mines to the landing- stage, whence it was shipped to Kuching and Singa- pore, the animals were housed In stables made of palm leaves, and their keepers, who were Boyans, stayed with them. In course of time, the stables became unfit for habitation either for man or beast. The Rajah therefore ordered new stables to be built for the buffaloes and their keepers. When the new stables were finished and ready for their reception, it was SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 89 noticed that neither the buffaloes nor their keepers made any use of them. The Rajah, hearing this, made inquiries, when the overseer of the coal-mine, a native who wrote English, sent the Rajah a dispatch inform- ing him that the animals were so much annoyed and put out with their new quarters that they absolutely refused to occupy them, and therefore their keepers, not wishing to incur the displeasure of their friends, preferred to stay in the leaky dwellings. In course of time the question was satisfactorily solved, for the Rajah being of a tactful nature, usually surmounts difficulties that may arise with any of his subjects, men or buffaloes. CHAPTER XI DURING those first four years of my stay in Sarawak, the advent of a little girl and twin boys served to show still more strongly the affection and devotion of the people for their chief. Looking back to that time, I cannot help remember- ing with pleasure the way in which the people took my children to their hearts ; the funny little jingling toys they made to amuse them when they were quite babies ; the solicitude they showed for their health ; the many times they invited them to their houses, when I felt that they were even safer in their keeping than in my own. All this often returns to my mind, and makes me feel more of a Malay than ever. One sad incident I must mention, if only to contradict the common idea that Muhammadans are all fanatics and incapable of sympathy towards the religious feelings of those who are outside their creed. Once, when returning from a journey with the Rajah, I met with a bad accident. I fell down the hold of a steamer, which resulted in one of my children, a son, being born dead. When this happened, the Rajah had been called away by urgent business up some of the far-off rivers of the interior. Naturally, I was very ill, and the four Malay chiefs SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 91 of the Rajah's Council were anxious to show their sympathy with me. When they heard that the child had never lived, they went to the doctor and asked him where it was to be buried. The doctor naturally referred them to the Bishop, who had no other alter- native but to decide that it could not be buried in consecrated ground. But the chiefs thought differently. They came that night to the Astana, bringing with them a coffin and carried the little body to the consecrated ground on our side of the river, where some of the Rajah's relatives are laid. These chiefs dug the grave themselves, and covered it over with a grass mound. I was much too ill at the time to know what was going on, but I was told afterwards that Datu Isa insisted on a tree of frangipani being planted over the spot. I am sorry to say the tree died, but this additional proof of those dear people's sympathy can never fade from my memory. The Rajah returned to Kuching immediately he heard the news, and in a few weeks I began to mend. When I was well enough, Datu Isa sat with me daily, and she said the event of my recovery must be marked by a thanksgiving ceremony, for which an afternoon had to be set apart. "You must lie quiet all the morning, Rajah Ranee," she said, "and think kind thoughts, so that your mind may be serene. I will appear at three o'clock with my women." I did not in the least know what she was going to do. At three o'clock, according to her promise, Datu Isa headed a long procession of my friends, who came to 92 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the door of my room. I was told not to speak, and we were all as silent as the grave. Datu Isa opened the door of my mosquito house ; she carried in one hand a piece of something that looked like dried shark's skin, and in her other she held a ring of pure gold. One of her daughters had a basket containing grains of rice dyed with saffron. Datu Isa rubbed the ring against the " something " two or three times, and then traced signs over my forehead with the ring. She scattered a tiny pinch of gold dust on my hair, and threw a handful of the yellow rice over me. " Thanks be to Allah, Rajah Ranee, for you are well again." I was just going to speak, but she motioned me to be quite silent, and she and her women de- parted. Being somewhat given to superstition, I feel sure that this quaint rite hastened my recovery. Before I close this chapter of the first years of my stay in Sarawak, it would be ungrateful of me did I not mention the tokens of affection and kindness I received from the English ladies of the place, almost all of them having come to live in Kuching since my first arrival there. Mrs. Crookshank, wife of the Resident of Sarawak ; Mrs. Kemp, then the wife of the Protestant Chaplain ; indeed, all the ladies then living in Kuching were always charming to me. We saw a great deal of one another, and whenever any of these ladies left the country, their absence from our tiny English society was very much felt. As regards my relations with the Malay women, the Rajah himself encouraged our friendship ; he approved SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 93 of my methods regarding them, and sympathized with them most completely. Owing to his desire to make the place more agreeable to me, he appointed my brother, Harry de Windt, his private secretary. This was a great joy to me, my brother and I being devoted to one another. I like to imagine that the interest he took in Sarawak, and the many expeditions on which he accompanied the Rajah, first inspired the travelling passion in him and led to his future achievements in the many world-wide explorations, for which (though he is my brother) I think I may rightly say he has become famous. It was also during his stay in Sarawak that he wrote his first book and began his career as an author. So my first four years of residence in Sarawak passed away as a dream, until it was realized that malaria and the climate made it impossible for me to remain in the country without a change to England. Therefore the Rajah made up his mind to go home for a year or so, for he himself, with his incessant work, expeditions, and journeys here and there for the good of the people, had suffered quite his share of fever. As we stepped into the Heartsease, all my women friends congregated on the lawn of the Astana to say good-bye to me. No need now to ask where were the women, and no need now to send for them lest they might be too frightened to come of their own accord. There they were, the best friends I ever^had, or ever hope to possess. I felt inclined to cry as I said good- bye to them all, and had it not been for ill-health, I 94 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE think the idea of a journey to England would have been hateful to me. It was during this voyage that the first great sorrow since my arrival in Sarawak occurred. The three children we were taking home with us died within six days of one another, and were buried in the Red Sea, CHAPTER XII IT might be interesting to explain, as briefly as possible, the position the Rajahs and their people occupied in that great concern we now know under the name of the British Empire. When the first Rajah Brooke undertook the government of the country, he did so, as he thought, temporarily, imagin- ing that the British Government would in time take the country under its protection. Apparently the British Government was not anxious to increase its responsibilities in the Far East, so that for years the first Rajah struggled on protecting his people unsupported and alone. One important fact to be remembered is that ever since the Brooke dynasty has existed in Sarawak, only in very few instances, have the forces of the British Empire been required to help the two Rajahs and their Government against their ejfternal enemies, although these were the enemies of the world at large, for it was only in expeditions against pirates who swept those seas, thus hindering com- merce, that British guns came to the assistance of the white Rajahs. If we view the matter dispassionately and, shall we say, from the standpoint of the man in the street, the position was without doubt a difficult one, both for the British Government, and for the 96 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE Rajahs themselves. Most of us are aware that vast lands of tropical countries — many of them ill-governed by native princes who are only anxious to amass money for themselves, regardless of the welfare of their subjects — have over and over again been exploited for shorter or longer periods by European adventurers. History teaches us that Europeans, from the time of Cortes down to these days, have on different occasions swooped like vultures on almost unknown tropical countries, have gained concessions, the money paid finding its way into the treasuries of the various princes who claimed the soil, and in this way the unfortunate inhabitants, the real owners of the land, have been enslaved and forced by nefarious, cruel, and tyrannical methods to give their very life's blood so that these land-grabbing aliens might be- come rich. Being so intimately associated with the Rajah and his people, it is natural I should be the last to hear the opinions of that portion of the British public unacquainted with the methods of these rulers, but I cannot help thinking that very probably then, and even now, the white Rajahs of Sarawak are classed with such adventurers, and on this account they found it so difficult lo get proper recognition of their sovereignty from the British Government. Here was a country come suddenly into existence, with all the paraphernalia of a good Government, with its Ministers, its Courts of Justice, its safety for life and commerce, all in English hands, and SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 97 owned by private individuals. Communication was slow in those days, and the real position of the rulers and their people was only known to very few and inquiring minds amongst the ^lite of English-speaking people. The Rajahs were, individually, subjects of the British Crown, and, despite of their belonging to an old and very much respected English family, they had few friends at the English Court to push forward their interests. The full recognition of Sarawak as an independent State by England occurred in 1863, whilst Lord Palmerston was Premier and Lord John Russell Secretary for Foreign Affairs. It was then that the first English Consul was appointed to Sarawak as a formal acknowledgment of its independence. War- ships calling at Kuching saluted the Rajah's flag with twenty-one guns, so that within his own country the Rajah was acknowledged by the British Government as an independent ruler. The first Rajah died five years after the appointment of the Consul, for it will be remembered that the present Rajah succeeded his uncle in 1868. On our first visit to England after our marriage, the Rajah was anxious to pay homage to Her Majesty, which was only an ordinary act of courtesy on his part, considering his position as ruler in a portion of the Malayan Archipelago. When he requested leave to attend one of Her Majesty's levees as Rajah of Sara- wak, the answer given by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was somewhat disconcerting, in view 7 98 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE of Sarawak having been recognized as an independent State. The Rajah was informed that Her Majesty's Government did not see their way to present him to the Queen as Rajah of Sarawak, but that he could attend a levee in the private capacity of an English gentleman, simply as " Mr. Brooke." The difficulties of the position were obvious, when one remembers that the Rajah was governing Sarawak for the benefit of his people, the British Government having recognized the country over which he ruled. Owing to the exigencies of his Government, the Rajah had to employ Englishmen to assist him in his work ; these gentlemen, being nominated by him and paid out of the Sarawak treasury, owed no allegiance to the Foreign or Colonial Offices at home. To ensure success in the Rajah's endeavours, these English gentlemen were bound to honour and obey him, and to acknowledge him as their chief, yet here was the British Government absolutely refusing to recognize the Rajah of Sarawak in England as ruler of his own country ! After much correspondence and several interviews with the heads of the different departments in power, the Rajah, a most loyal servant of Her Majesty's, obtained what the Government called the favour of being presented to Her Majesty as Mr. Brooke. The officials insisted that Rajah of Sarawak should be placed in brackets, as though in apology for the Rajah's position ! Very few people even nowadays understand the < O < < Pi w X H X X O c s SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 99 position of the Brookes in Sarawak, and it is difficult to drive into their heads that the Rajah's wish to be recognized as Rajah of Sarawak had nothing to do with his own personality. No one can gainsay the fact that nothing is so dangerous to the prosperity of a country as the anomalous position of its ruler and its Government. Although I had nothing to do with the politics of my adopted country, I shared in my husband's wishes that the position of Sarawak might be protected, and its ruler's position acknowledged by the Queen, in order to give additional security and stability to its Government and its people. How- ever, in spite of the scant personal recognition shown for many years to the Rajah by the British Govern- ment, the country managed to flourish — an obvious testimony to his single-minded and statesmanlike methods. Notwithstanding these purely political preoccupa- tions, the time we spent in England was wholly delightful. I quickly regained my health, and enjoyed the English life very much, but never for a moment did I forget my land of predilection the other side of the world, for I was always looking forward to the time when I should return there and begin again the life amongst my beloved Malays and Dyaks. The present Rajah Muda was born during this visit to England, and his arrival telegraphed to Sarawak, elicited from the people many kind and delightful letters. When the time came for our 100 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE return to our country, our son was six months old, and owing to the sorrowful experience we had had of the dangers of a sea-voyage for young children, we left him in charge of our good friends, Bishop and Mrs. MacDougall. Our baby was to stay with them in England until he had completed his first year, when he was to rejoin us in Sarawak. CHAPTER XIII WHEN we returned to Sarawak, I felt, as it were, a giant refreshed. All symptoms of malaria had gone, and, as we steamed under the landing-place of the Astana, I could see on its broad verandahs my Malay women friends waiting for me. We had lots of things to talk about. Datu Isa Vas the proud possessor of four more grandchildren, and these were duly presented to me, wrapped in the tight swaddling clothes usual to Malayan babies. I was told that Datu Isa and the other chiefs' wives were delighted with the behaviour of their lords and masters during my absence, who had not so much as hinted at the possibility of adding an additional wife to their household. Talip was also radiant at our return, as was the redoubt- able Subu, present with the yellow umbrella, splendid, as usual, in his executioner's uniform of gold and green satin shimmering with ornaments. It was about this time, although I do not know just how it came about, that I got to know Subu better than I ever did before. /-He was an old man then, nearing the end of his career, for he was one of those who had been with the first Rajah Brooke when he was made Rajah of Sarawak. Such stories the old I02 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE man had to tell of his encounters with pirates, also of the difficulty he had with his wives, for, sad as it may seem to relate, he had embarked on three, one less than the number allowed to good Muhammadans by the great Prophet himself. The youngest wife he had married not so long ago gave him a good deal of trouble, "She will not listen to the exhortations of my wife No. i," he would tell me. "This troubles my heart ; it makes me sick. She is too wilful and arrogant in her youth. She is pretty, it is true, but she need not always be counting my eldest wife's wrinkles. It is not the way young people should behave to those who are older than themselves, for even in old wives lie the wisdom of time; young ones are thoughtless, stupid, and unknowing." Notwithstanding these domestic storms at home, Subu's wives always called on me together. They would come in strictly in their precedence. No, I, No. 2, and No. 3, and I am bound to say that so long as they remained with me, the No. 2 and the No. 3 wives always asked permission of the No. i wife before they ventured on a remark. These women, however, were not brilliant specimens of the womanhood of Malaya, so, to be quite truthful, I preferred Subu's visits unaccompanied by these dames. He used to sit on the floor of my room, on a mat prepared for him, and tell me of many events, fights, and hairbreadth escapes he had encountered in his chequered career. His most interesting stories, how- o P5 O or £"] for one of these sarongs. Over this black-and-white sheath, these women wear a jacket of either black or dark blue satin, imported from China. It fastens in front with three huge knobs of gold, and small gold knobs are sewn all up the slashed sleeves. Large round ear-rings, some- SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 147 times very exquisite in design, shaped like open lotus flowers, are thrust through the lobes of their ears. Their scarfs are of quiet colours, devoid of gold thread, but their hats are marvellous. Some- times they are as much as a yard across, so that no two women can walk near one another. They are made of straw, conical in shape, and are ornamented with huge pointed rays of red, black, and yellow, meeting towards the centre. Mr. de Crespigny, who knew of the dresses and habits of these people, told me to look out for the ladies as they wound their way up the path leading to the Fort, and it was indeed a curious sight to see two or three hundred of these discs, one after the other, apparently unsupported, winding slowly up the steep ascent. When the women reached the Fort, they left their hats somewhere — I never fathomed where — before they came into the reception-room. They are pleasant-looking people, these Milanoes of Bintulu, with their square, pale faces and quantities of jet-black hair. Their ankles and wrists are not perhaps quite so delicate as are those of the more southern people, for Milanoes are sturdier in build. They belong to the same tribe as the sago workers of Muka, but, owing to their more sedentary habits, their complexion is paler. Europeans who know them well have many interesting stories to relate regarding their superstitions and incantations, particularly in the case of illness, when the beautiful blossom of the areca-nut palm plays an important part. 148 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE On the night of our arrival at the Fort, native dances were the programme for the evening. A few Kayans from the far interior were present, and we were promised some new and original performances. A large space was cleared in the middle of the reception-room, when a small, rather plump in- dividual, a Kayan, active as a cat, was ushered in, brandishing his parang. At first he crouched down and bounded about the room like an animated frog. After a while he gradually straightened himself, and bounded from one side of the space to the other, jumping with the most wonderful agility, spinning round on one leg, and screaming out his war-cry. His parang, in his rapid movements, became multiplied and appeared like flashes of lightning. Once or twice he came so near to where we were sitting that I fancied the blade caused a draught over my head. I said nothing and sat on unmoved, but, before one could realize what was happening, three Kayans squatting on the floor sprang to their feet, and taking hold of the man, led him out of the hall. The Rajah pulled his moustache. " What is it ? " he said. " Why has the man been taken away ? " We were then informed that this Kayan, who was a famous dancer, had previously, in a country outside the Rajah's jurisdiction, become so excited in his dancing, that he had actually swept the head off one of his interested spectators. The three Kayans who had taken hold of the dancer had witnessed the gruesome scene, and they realized that on this SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 149 occasion he was becoming over-excited. Other dances followed, some sedate and slow, others frenzied and untamed. The evening ended very pleasantly, and at a somewhat late hour the Rajah dismissed his guests and we retired to bed. I thought a good deal about the little dancing man, and came to the conclusion that he must have been an artist in his way ! CHAPTER XVII ONE morning, as I was watching the arrival of the mail-steamer from my verandah at Kuching, I noticed the figure of a tall European lady standing on deck. A few moments after, a messenger brought me a letter from Singapore from the Governor's wife, Lady Jervois, introducing a traveller to Sarawak, whose name was Marianne North. The Rajah was away, so I sent his Secretary on board with a pressing invitation to the lady, of whom I had heard so much, but had not had the pleasure of meeting. Miss North's arrival in Sarawak is a great and happy landmark in my life. Many of my English friends were devoted to her, and I was delighted at the idea of her coming to stay with me. I watched our small river-boat fetching her from the steamer, and went to meet her. She was not young then, but I thought she looked delightful. We shook hands, and the first words she said to me were : " How do you know if you will like me well enough to ask me to stay with you?" From that moment began a friendship which lasted until her death. Many people know the great work of her life, and must have seen the 'J o < o « W H O g £ w o g H H H 2; SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 151 gallery of her pictures which she gave to Kew Gardens. Many of these pictures were painted in Sarawak, The first evening of her stay in Kuching we went for a row on the river, and the sunset behind Matang was, as she said, a revelation. That land of forests, mountains, and water, the wonderful effect of sunshine and cloud, the sudden storms, the soft mists at evening, the perfumed air brought through miles and miles of forest by the night breezes, were an endless source of delight to her. Sometimes as we sat on our verandah in the evening after dinner, a sweet, strange perfume wafted from forest lands beyond, across the river, floated through our house — " The scent of unknown flowers," Miss North would say. Our boat-boys were sent on botanical expeditions for jungle plants, and every morning and evening a great variety of things arrived at the Astana, many of which I had never seen or even heard of. In the morning I would take my work into Miss North's room and sit with her whilst she painted, for I loved her companionship. She it was who first made me realize the beauty, solace, and delight found in trees, plants, and flowers. But sometimes she was very stern ; she thought me young and stupid. She would look at me through her spectacles, very kindly, I must say. " Why, you know nothing," she said, "although you are so late from school! " She once asked me where pitcher-plants were to be found. 1 52 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE " Pitcher-plants," I said ; " I have never heard of them. I don't think there are any in the country." " But this is the land of pitcher-plants," Miss North replied, "and if you like we will try and find them together." I sent for the boat-boy, I remember distinctly the picture she was painting at the time — a clump of sago palms growing in our garden. She told me how I could describe pitcher-plants to the faithful Kong Kong, one of our boat-boys, a Sarawak Malay, an odd and uncouth individual, with long hair flowing over his shoulders. He had been with the Rajah for many years. " Oh yes," said Kong Kong, " I know. They grow where earth is marshy. I can show you where they grow." One> morning Miss North and I got up early and crossed the river almost before sunrise, and with Kong Kong as our guide, went in search of the pitcher- plants. We walked for a little way along the Rock Road, and turned into a path leading through a kind of moor, where the sensitive plant lay like a carpet covering the ground. That curse of agriculturists always delighted me. I felt a certain enjoyment in walking through the great patches of this shrinking stuff with its myriads of leaves closing at the slightest touch. We left a pathway behind us of apparently dying vegetation, but a minute or two after our passage it resumed its normal shape. Malays call it the " Shy " plant. Kong Kong then led the way over a swamp, where logs of wood were laid tg keep passers-by off the mud. Our progress across these logs was not an SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 153 easy matter. We went through a grove of trees, and suddenly, in a clearing, we came to the spot. I do not think anyone who has only seen pitcher-plants growing in the sedate way they do at Kew can have any idea of the beautiful madness of their growth when in a wild state. Here they were, cups long, round, wide, and narrow, some shaped like Etruscan vases, others like small earthenware cooking-pots, the terminations of long, narrow, glossy green leaves. Their colour, too, was perfectly exquisite — a pale green ground, splashed over with rose, carmine, yellow, and brown, the little" lids to the cups daintily poised just above each pitcher. I suppose there must have been thousands of these plants, twisting, creeping, and flinging themselves over dead trunks of trees, falling in cascades of colour above our heads, forming a perfect bower. We all stood still, silently looking at them. At length Miss North remarked : " And you said yesterday there were no such things in the country ! " Miss North remained with us about six weeks, and when I very sorrowfully accompanied her on board the steamer on her return to England, I felt that something new and delightful had come into my life, for she had not only introduced me to pitcher- plants, but to orchids, palms, ferns, and many other things of whose existence I had never dreamed. Miss North was the one person who made me realize the beauties of the world. She was noble, intelligent, and kind, and her friendship and the time we spent 154 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE together are amongst my happiest memories. She used to paint all day, and, thinking this must be bad for her, I sometimes tried to get her away early in the afternoon for excursions, but she would never leave her work until waning daylight made paint- ing impossible. I remember how she painted a sunset behind Matang, which painting she gave to me. She sat on a hill overlooking the river until the sun went behind the mountain. The world grew dark, and the palrfts in the neighbourhood looked black against the sky as she put her last stroke into the picture. She put up her palette^ folded her easel, and was preparing to walk home with me to the Astana, when for some moments she stood quite still, staring at the thread of red light disappearing behind the shoulder of the mountain. " I cannot speak or move," she said. " I am drunk with beauty ! " But there was one thing that Miss North and I did not agree upon. She did not approve of the view I took of our Dyak and Kayan people. She liked to meet Malay ladies, because, as we all know, they have better manners than most Europeans, but she could not bear the thought of either Dyaks or Kayans. I could never eradicate from her mind the idea that they were savages. I used to try and interest her in these people, for I longed that she should accompany us in some of our journeys into the interior, but this she would never do. ^' Don't talk to me of savages," she would say ; "I hate SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE iSS them." " But they are not savages," I would reply. " They are just like we are, only circumstances have made them different." " They take heads : that is enough for me," she would add severely, and would listen to no defence for that curious custom of theirs, for which I could find so many excuses. Missing Page iS8 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE which generally took place in the evening. Clad in our best silks and satins, and stiff with gold brocade, we sat together in my private room with the reciter, poorly dressed in dark cotton clothes, pouring out Wonderful stories of kings, queens, and princesses ; of royal ga!rdens, monkey-gods, peacocks, flowers, perfumes, and such-like things. I could not follow these stories very well, because these old ladies sang every word. Sometimes the voice was low, sometimes very shrill, and when embarrassed for a word, they trilled and quavered, remaining on a very high note until they remembered how the story went, when they gleefully descended the scale, began again, and poured forth further torrents of words. Sometimes they paused, walked rapidly across the room, and spat through the window. " She is full of understanding," Datu Isa would say after one of these journeys to the window. " She knows her work!" "Her words come from ancient times!" " It is beautiful exceedingly ! " Meanwhile, the reciter, holding her draperies firmly round her, left the window, and bending double as she passed us as a sign of respect, took her place once more in the centre of her admiring circle and began afresh, until stopped again in the same way, when the same ejaculatioi>s of admiration came from us all. After one of these evening parties, as Datu Isa and her satellites were sitting*^ talking to me in my room, I suggested that we should all learn to read and write Malay, which language is written in Arabic SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 159 characters. I asked Datu Isa how we had best set to work, for I thought it would be good for the Malay women and myself to be able to read and write Malay for ourselves. " No," said Datu Isa ; " that would never do. Writing amongst women is a bad habit, a pernicious custom. Malay girls would be writing love letters to clandestine lovers, and undesirable men might come into contact with the daughters of our house. I do not agree, Rajah Ranee, with the idea, and I hope it will never come to pass." This was rather crushing, because Datu Isa was a tremendous force in our social life in Kuching, but I was not altogether dismayed, and being anxious for this additional pleasure to come into my friends' lives, I pondered on the subject. A good many months went by before I could put my suggestion into execution. Meanwhile I began to study on my own account, and sent for Inchi Sawal, a celebrity in the Kuching circles of those days. He was called a "Guru" (master of arts). He knew Arabic, was a good Malay scholar, arid had taught a great many of the Rajah's ofificers in the intricacies of the language. Formerly he had been Malay writer to the late Rajah. Malay is easy enough to talk ungrammatically, and one can make oneself understood by stringing together nouns and adjectives, regardless of verbs, prepositions, etc. The natives of Sarawak, although learning the language by ear, speak very good Malay, but it was deplorable, in those' days, to hear it spoken by some of the i6o SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE English people residing in Kuching. The Rajah, however, is one of the best Malay scholars in Malaya, and it is a real pleasure to hear his Malay speeches to his people. Inchi Sawal was a great stickler for grammar. He was a Sumatran Malay, and his face was rounder, his features rather thicker and his complexion darker than our Malays ; moreover, his hair was curly, and his whole appearance was cheerful, genial, and kindly. His functions were numerous. He was, of course, a Muhammadan, and had friendly relations with all the Malay chiefs of Kuching, by whom he was looked upon as a cultured man : in fact, they considered him the arbiter of Malay literature. He was a butcher, and knew exactly what was required in the killing of bullocks for Muhammadan consumption. He was a wonderful confectioner, and made delicious preserves with little half-ripe oranges growing in orchards round Malay houses in the town. He sent me some of this preserve as a present for New Year's Day, and as I liked it so much, I wanted to know how it was made. Accordingly, Inchi Sawal came to the Astana to give me a lesson. It would take too long to tell of the methods he employed in the preparation of the fruit, but it seemed to me that a good deal of religion was mixed up with the cooking of those small, bobbing green balls, as they simmered in the boiling syrup. A number of invocations to Allah secured a good result to his labours. Inchi Sawal had a different appearance during each of his occupations. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE i6i When cooking oranges, a grave, religious aspect seemed de rigueur as he leant over the pot. When talking of bullocks, his victims, a devil-me-care ex- pression spread over his countenance, as though in the slaughter of each beast he had to wrestle with a sanguinary foe. At lessons he became urbane, courtier-like, and mild. When his teachings began, Inchi Sawal brought with him pens made from the mid-ribs of palm leaves, used by most Arabic scholars in Malaya, I am afraid I did not prove a very apt pupil. My tutor pronounced a word, which I said after him. I found great difficulty in giving an adequate sound to the Arabic letter c (aing), awkward for Europeans to pronounce. I read Malay in these characters with him, and it annoyed him very much whenever I let a vowel pass without pronouncing it properly. "The beauty of reading," he would say, " is to look at a word well before you give Vent to its sound. Think over the letters, Tuan, and although it should take a year to master one word, when you have mastered it, it will give your heart relief and comfort." One morning Inchi Sawal was more solemn than usual. " I have spoken to the Datu Imaum about our lessons," he said, as he came into the room, "and he quite agrees that we should together study the Koran. I will bring the book wrapped in many cloths, and, if you do not object, we will wash our hands before we handle its leaves. We might do a II 1 62 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE little of the Koran before we begin our Malay lessons, which will put us in the proper frame of mind for the things we have to learn. The Datu Imaum also approves of your learning to read and write, as he thinks it will be a great incentive to the Malay women to improve their minds and strengthen their hearts." Very gravely he unfolded the wrappings in which the Koran lay, and reverently handled the pages of this marvellous book of wisdom, as we read together the first chapter : — " Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures ; the most merciful, the king of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious ; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who have gone astray. ..." As time went on and Datu Isa found I could read and write Malay, she relented so far as to allow her married daughters and daughters-in-law to join me in my studies. We had great fun over our lessons, and, after some time, Daiang Sahada (Datu Isa's daughter-in-law) began to write almost better than the great Inchi Sawal himself. She commenced to describe the history of Sarawak, from the advent of the first white Rajah, in poetry, and played a prominent part in the education of her sisters. In her comfort- able house, she and her husband, Abang Kasim (now the Datu Bandar), helped me in my efforts by institut- SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 163 ing a school for women and young boys. In a short time the pupils were too numerous for the size of her house, and the Rajah, being interested in this new impetus given to education by the women of Kuching, built a school where Malay reading and writing were taught, and installed Inchi Sawal as master.^ One must mention that even in those days the Mission schools, organized by the Protestant Bishops of Sarawak, their chaplains, and missionaries, had attained considerable proportions, and were doing immense good amongst the Rajah's Chinese and Dyak subjects, but for very good reasons the Muham- madans were never approached by Christian teachers. As the country developed, the Muhammadans (Malays) also longed for educational facilities on their own lines, so the Rajah instituted a school where Arabic was taught. Writing of these educational matters recalls many happy hours I spent in Inchi Sawal's company. I regret to say that some years ago he was gathered to his fathers, and buried in the little Muhammadan cemetery I know so well. I can fancy his weeping women wrapping him in a sheet, according to the Muhammadan custom. I can also picture the little procession of boats, accompanying the canoe in which his body was placed covered with a white umbrella, paddling to the shores of his last resting- place, where his grave had been dug by members of 1 This school became known as Abang Kasim's school, and now has a large attendance. / 1 64 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the Faith — that shallow grave about three feet deep, allotted to followers of the Faithful, from whence, at the resurrection, at the bidding of the Angel Azrail, together with other good Muham- madans, Inchi Sawal shall rise up and be folded in the bosom of Allah — the Merciful, the Com- passionate. Another Malay school, on the opposite side of the river, was founded by Inchi Bakar, the son of old Inchi Buyong, also a Sumatran Malay. Inchi Bakar succeeded his father as Court- Interpreter, and was also the Head of the Customs. He and his family are great friends of mine, and I often paid them visits. He is, perhaps, more a man of the world than was Inchi Sawal. The profession of butcher fell into other hands, nor do I think that Inchi Bakar is an adept at cooking the little oranges of which I was so fond. He is, however, a great light in his way, and his house is a meeting-place for the more educated Malays of Kuching. Whilst retaining his Arabic culture, one can talk to him almost on any subject, for he reads and writes English as well as most Englishmen. He was partial to Chinese society, for amongst the Chinese merchants of Kuching are to be found enlightened and cultured gentlemen. Many a time I have sat on the broad and comfortable verandah of Inchi Bakar's house and witnessed Chinese plays enacted on narrow wooden tables, with their feast of colour, curious costumes, Chinese music, and clashing of cymbals. Although the stage was narrow and there o £ o P H < O w p < o 2; p SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 165 was no scenery beyond curtains of scarlet and gold, on which were embroidered rampant dragons, we could understand the intricacies of the drama better, perhaps, from the fact that so much was left to our imagination. Chinese players often came to Sarawak, and are now permanently established in the Chinese Bazaar, but as it is not customary for Malay women to mingle with a crowd, private parties, at which these dramas were acted for their benefit, were frequent amongst the aristocrats in Kuching. I am happy to say that Inchi Bakar is still living, and I often hear from him. Although he and I may be parted, sometimes for years together, the friendship that exists between us is as strong as it was in the early days of our acquaintance, when he was a young lad visiting me at the Astana with his mother and grandmother. Malays are faithful friends, nor does absence blunt their friendship. I derive great con- solation from that fact, when, as often happens, a sort of home-sickness comes over me, and I feel as though I must take the next ship back to the land I love so well, never, never to leave it again. In those days Inchi Bakar's wife was also included in our edtjcational group. She was a relation of Datu Isa, and she and Daiang Sahada were friends. I should like to draw special attejition to the part played by these two Malay ladies in the education of the women in Kuching, who were much impressed by their kind interest and sympathy. Those were pleasant days for us all, groping about the letters 1 66 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE of the Arabic alphabet, and trying to obtain calli- graphic perfection. After what we considered our hours of hard work, we thought recreation was necessary, so that on most days, as it got cooler and the sun began to sink behind Matang, we would go into the Astana garden in order to " eat the air," as they said. Those walks in our garden were a great delight to them. They loved the roses, the jasmine, the honeysuckle, the tuberoses^ and many other tropical plants which grew in beds on the closely mown lawns round our house. They often asked permission to take some of the flowers home, and their methods of picking the flowers were so refined, gentle, and economical, that they might pick as many as they liked without any devastation being noticeable in the beds after their passage. Malays never pick flowers with their stems ; they only take the heads of flowers which they set floating in saucer^ filled with water. They used to ask me why we ordered our gardeners to break off great branches of blossoms to put in water in our drawing-room. " They are so high up," they would say, "their perfume can never be thoroughly enjoyed. Besides it destroys the plant." So that in my rooms I always had great basins full of sweet-smelling stemless flowers floating on the surface of the water to please my friends. If only we could free ourselves from the conventional ideas, we must realize it is entirely erroneous to imagine that in order to make a room beautiful we must dec6rate it with long stems of flowers and buds. DAIANG LEHUT— DAIANG SAHADA'S DAUGHTER SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 167 I think Malays have much better taste in such matters, because flowers smell quite as sweet and last just as long under the methods they employ of perfuming their houses. Our evening strolls through the Astana grounds reminded fny friends of the legends related by the old lady reciters. " Here we are," they often ex- claimed, " in the Rajah's gardens, playing, smelling sweet perfumes, and looking at ponds over which floats the lotus — just like the old stories." Beyond the miles and miles of forest land stretching to the north between Kuching and the sea, the mountain of Santubong could be seen from our garden towering on the horizon. Viewed from Kuching, the outline of the mountain as it lies against the sky, has the appearance of a human profile, bearing an extra- ordinary resemblance to the first white Rajah of Sarawak. The Malays are aware of this fact, and the women have frequently said to me as we stood looking at the mountain, " The gods knew what they were about, they fashioned Santubong so that the image of the first white Rajah should never fade from the country." Another source of joy on these occasions was the presence of a peahen we kept roaming about at liberty in our garden. The naked feet of the women pattering up and down the paths was, for some mysterious reason, more than the bird could stand. The appearance of my Malay friends was the signal for it to single from out the group one unfortunate 1 68 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE member, when it would rush at her toes and follow her in and out the bushes on the lawn. The victim, half-amused and half-frightened at the pecks, would move quicker than is customary amongst Malay aristocrats. Sometimes the bird got so violent in its attacks, that I had to call the sentry on guard at the door of the Astana. The sentry (either a Malay or a Dyak), in his white uniform with black facings, musket in hand, appeared very courageously at first to protect the woman from her feathered persecutor, until the peahen turned her attention to his toes, whereupon his musket was dropped, and the little figure of the sentry rushing hither and thither in his frantic attempts to escape from the bird caused us much merriment. This was a frequent occurrence, and my Malay friends called it "playing with the peahen " ! I was glad I wore shoes, for I do not think I should have enjoyed the bird's antics quite so much as they did. Sometimes the party stayed until 6 p.m., when, on fine evenings, more punctual than any clock, we heard a shrill trumpeting noise issuing from the woods near the Astana. I believe this came from a kind of cricket. "It is the six o'clock fly telling us to go home," they said, and, at the first sound of this musical alarum, my friends bade me good-night, stepped into their boats, and were paddled to their homes. I often watched them as they went away in their covered boats, the paddles churning up the golden or flame-coloured waters of the river SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 169 tinted by the sunset, ar^d thought how absurd it is that different coloured skins should be a bar to friendship between white and dark people, seeing that kind- ness and sympathy are not confined to any region of the earth, or to any race of men. CHAPTER XIX MALAY people have a great reverence for age, and Datu Isa's many years apparently endeared her still more to the younger generation at Kuching. Her children, grandchildren, and I, were delighted when she would tell us about her early life, and also about the superstitions and legends of her country. Her conversation was always interesting, and I wish I could give an impression of her manner when relating these tales. When sixteen years of age, she, together with several Malay women of Kuching, had been liberated from captivity by the menacing guns of James Brooke's yacht, turned on to the Palace of her captor. Rajah Muda Hassim, who had intended to carry her off to Brunei for the Sultan's harem. This personal reminiscence invariably served as the prelude to other interesting tales. The story of the Pontianak ghost, for instance, was the one which perhaps thrilled us most. Malays almost sing as they talk, and their voices quaver, become loud or soft, or die off in a whisper, the words being interspersed with funny little nasal noises, together with frowns, sighs, or smiles. When about to relate a dramatid incident, Datu Isa became silent for a moment, looked at us with knitted SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 171 brows, although she did not see us, so intent was she on her story. This is the story of the Pontianak. When a baby is about to be born, the father walking under the flooring of his house hears a low chuckle behind him. He turns round, and sees a beautiful woman looking at him. Her face is like the moon, her eyes are like stars, her mouth is like a half-open pomegranate, her complexion is white, her hair intensely red. She wears a sarong round her waist, and no jacket covers her shoulders. Should the husband have neglected to set fire to the bunch of onions, tuba roots, and other ingredients, the smoke of which keeps evil spirits away, the woman stands there for some moments without uttering a sound. Then she opens her mouth, giving vent to peals of laughter. By this time the husband is so frightened that he can think of no spell by which to combat her evil intentions. After a while, her feet rise an inch or two from the ground, and as she flies swiftly past him, her hair flows straight behind her like a comet's tail, when he sees between her shoulder blades the large gaping wound, signify- ing that she is a Pontianak. After this apparition, there is no hope for the woman or the babe about to be born, they are doomed to die, so that the Pontianak is one of the most dreaded ghosts haunting Malay houses. As Datu Isa finished the Pontianak story, we all clamoured for more. The old lady loved to see 172 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE our interest, and went on telling us many other superstitions : Unless you cover the heads of sleep- ing children with black cloth, and put a torn fishing net on the top of their mosquito curtains, the birds, Geruda, Dogan, and Konieh (supposed to be eagles), will come close to them and cause convulsions. You must put knives or pinang cutters near your babies, and when walking out with them you must take these instruments with you, until your babies can walk alone. Then turning to me, Datu Isa would say : "I hope you will never see the sun set under the fragment of a rainbow. Rajah Ranee, for that is a certain portent that the Rajah's wife must die, although rainbows in other portions of the sky do not matter if you know how to address them. When my children and grandchildren are out in the garden, and a rain- bow arches over the sky, we pluck the heads off the more gaily coloured flowers and place them on the children's heads, and say : ' Hail, King of the Sky, we have come out to meet you in our finest clothes.' " It is unlucky for a child to lie on its face and kick up its legs, this being a sure sign the father or mother will fall sick. When a woman expects a baby, the roof of her house must not be mended, nor must her husband cut his hair or his nails. During this time a guest must not be entertained for one night only ; they must stay two. When a woman dies in childbirth, during the fasting month of the Muhammadans, she becomes an " orang alim " (a SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 173 good spirit), and all the sins she may have committed are forgiven her. Datu Isa had great faith in a bangle I possessed, made of a kind of black seaweed found on the Sarawak coast, and she was anxious I should take care not to break it. It was given me in this way : During the first years of my stay in Sarawak, an old gardener employed at the Palace, having in some way misbehaved himself, was dismissed. Shortly afterwards, I met the old man in a state of great depression during one of my walks the other side of the river, and he begged me to use my influence with the Rajah and get him taken back again, promising he would behave better in the future. He was a lazy old man, but as I felt sorry for him, I asked the Rajah to give him another trial. The Rajah agreed, and the man resumed work in the Astana garden in his own desultory way. I often used to watch him pulling up the weeds from the paths ; he would sit on his haunches, stare at the river, and take some minutes' rest after every weed he extracted. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, he was a grateful soul, and on the morning of his reinstalment amongst the Rajah's gardeners he brought me a bangle made of this black seaweed. It was very small and I had difficulty in getting it over my hand, so the old man put it into boiling water to make it more elastic, and, after some little trouble, it was forced over my hand, " Lightning, snake bites, and antus can never harm you," he said, "as long as you keep the bangle 174 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE round your wrist, but should it ever break, it would bring you bad luck ! " The bangle is on my wrist now, and I dread lest anything should happen to it, for should it ever get broken, I should feel just as nervous of the result as would any of my Malay women friends. Some of the Malays in Sarawak use somewhat disconcerting methods to frighten away evil spirits on the occasion of very bad storms. After a frightful gale, accompanied by incessant lightning and thunder, that occurred in Kuching, two or three owners of plan- tations in the suburbs of the town came to the Rajah and complained that some of their Malay neighbours had cut down all their fruit trees during the hurricane, in order to propitiate the spirit of the storm. Nowa- days these drastic measures to other people's property are seldom heard of, because the Rajah has his own methods of dealing with such superstitious and un- desirable proceedings. It took some time to eradicate these curious and unneighbourly customs, but I believe they are now a thing of the past. I must tell one more curious belief existing amongst Malays. Just before I left for England, a Malay woman from one of our out-stations brought me a cocoa-nut, very much larger than the ordinary fruit of the Archipelago, I believe these huge cocoa- nuts are only to be found growing in the Seychelles Islands, and the natives call them "cocoa de mer." The woman told me she had brought me this fruit on account of the luck it brought its possessor; at the INCHI BAKAR— SCHOOL MASTER, KUCHING SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 175 same time assuring me it came from fairyland. I asked her to tell me its story, when she informed me that, as every one knows, in the middle of the world is a place called "The navel of the sea." In this spot, guarded by two dragons, is a tree on which these large cocoa-nuts grow, known as Pau Jinggeh. The dragons feed on the fruit, and when they have partaken too freely of it, have fits of indigestion, causing them to be sea-sick ; thus the fruit finds its way into the ocean, and is borne by the current into all parts of the world. These enormous nuts are occasionally met with by passing vessels, and in this manner some are brought to the different settlements in the Malayan Archipelago. The fruit brought for my acceptance had been given to the woman by a captain of a Malay schooner, who had rescued it as it was bobbing up and down in the water under the keel of his boat. " I thought you would like to have it, Rajah Ranee," she said, " because it cannot be bought for love nor money." The fruit now occupies a prominent position in our drawing-room at Kuching, and is a source of great interest to the natives. With our ideas of European wisdom, we may be inclined to smile superciliously at these beliefs, but we should not forget that a great many of us, do not like seeing one magpie, we avoid dining thirteen at table, we hate to see the new moon through glass, we never walk under a ladder, or sit in a room where three candles are burning ; and how about people one meets who assure us they have heard the scream i;6 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE of a Banshee, foretelling the death of some human being? Putting all these things together, I do not think either Malays or Dyaks show much more superstition than we Europeans do ; after all, we are not so very superior to primitive races, although we imagine that on account of our superior culture we are fit to govern the world. CHAPTER XX DURING my residence ia Sarawak, I witnessed several epidemics of cholera, and to any who have nervous temperaments, its advent is alarming. On one of its visitations, some curious incidents occurred, on account of the super- stitious practices of the Chinese residing in Kuching. In order to allay panic as much as possible, the Rajah and I drove or rode every morning through the Bazaar, where cholera was rife and where the atmosphere was impregnated with the smell of incense and joss-sticks, set burning by the Chinese in order to mitigate the plague. Many devices were resorted to by these people, superstitious and otherwise. I remember one magnificent junk, built regardless of expense, the Chinese merchants and their humbler and poorer brethren giving their dollars and cents ungrudgingly to make this vessel glorious, as a sop to stay the ravages of the infuriated god. The junk was placed on wheels and dragged for three miles down a bad road to a place called Finding, where it was launched on the waters of the river, to be borne by the tide — it was hoped — to the sea. The pro- cession accompanying this vessel was extremely picturesque. Great banners, scarlet, green, and blue. 178 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE on which were embroidered golden dragons, etc., were carried by Chinamen, and the clashing of cymbals made a most frightful noise. Nor was this the only procession organized whilst the cholera was at its height. One morning, after I had been riding round the settlement, and had got off my pony at the door of our stables across the river, I saw in the distance a crowd of people coming along the road, shouting, clashing cymbals, and bearing something aloft. This "something," on coming nearer, turned out to be a man seated on a chair looking like an arm-chair, but formed entirely of swords, their sharp edges forming the back, the seat, and the arms. The man was naked, with the ex- ception of a loincloth and a head-handkerchief. His head rolled from side to side, his tongue protruded, and only the whites of his eyes could be seen. I thought he must be mad or in a ^t, but one of our Syces told me the man was trying to allay the cholera. The mob following him was screeching, yelling, bound- ing about, beating gongs, and making a terrific noise. As it swept close to where I stood, I could see that no one in the crowd took notice of anybody or any- thing in their way. The procession went round the Chinese quarters of the town, and, meanwhile, the man in the chair was apparently immune from wounds. Our English doctor subsequently examined the chair, and having realized for himself the sharpness of its blades, he could not understand how the man could have escaped cutting himself to pieces. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 179 This gruesome procession took place morning and evening during the first weeks of the epidemic, but instead of allaying the scourge it appeared to have the effect of increasing it. Moreover, the minds of the people were in danger of becoming unhinged by this daily spectacle, and the man who sat in the chair was beginning to exercise an undesirable influence over the people in the Bazaar. This senseless proceeding also became a serious obstacle to the more intelligent attempts to stamp out the disease. The Rajah there- fore ordered the procession to be suppressed. The day after the order -was given, the Rajah and I were driving in one of the roads near the town, when we met the forbidden procession with a still more numerous following of Chinamen than hitherto. The Rajah said nothing at the time, but when we reached the Palace he sent a force of police under an English officer to arrest the sword-chair man and imprison him. The following morning, before daylight, a band of China- men encircled the gaol, and somehow managed to liber- ate the fanatic. The Rajah, hearing of this matter, sent for the principal shopkeepers in the Bazaar, and\ informed them that if the man was not restored to the prison before six o'clock that evening he would turn the guns of the Aline on to their houses in the Bazaar, and batter them down over their heads. It was an excit- ng time. I remember seeing the Aline heave anchor and slowly take its position immediately in front of the Bazaar. At five o'clock that evening a deputation of Chinamen asked to see the Rajah. "The man is i8o SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE back in gaol," they said ; " he will not trouble the town any more." The Rajah smiled genially at the news, shook hands with each member of the deputation, and I realized again, as in so many other cases, the Rajah's wisdom in dealing with his people. The man who was the cause of the trouble was subsequently sent out of the country. There are many mysteries regarding these curious Eastern people which Europeans are not able to fathom. Another practice of the Chinese, when in any straits or when about to embark on some new commercial enterprise, is to -lay down burning charcoal for the space of several yards, over which two or three initiated individuals are paid to walk barefooted. If they come through the ordeal un- scathed, which I am given to understand is nearly always the result, the enterprise is considered a favourable one. This practice was once resorted to in Kuching, when a company of Chinese merchants, anxious to open up pepper and gambler gardens in Sarawak, set certain Chinamen to gambol up and down the fiery path unscathed. The pepper and gambler gardens were established, and proved a great success. One can only wonder how it is that these people's bare skins appear to be impervious to fire and to sharp instruments. The outbreak of cholera did not confine itself entirely to the Chinese quarter. It began picking out victims here and there, and the Kampong of my friends, Datu Isa and her relations, also suffered SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE i8i severely. Every morning, notwithstanding, my Malay friends found their way to the Astana, and during one of these visits, whilst we were talking quite happily and trying to keep our minds free from the all-absorbing topic of the sickness that was laying so many low and bringing mourning to so many houses in Kuching, I saw the Datu Tumanggong's wife, a buxom lady of forty years, fat and jolly in appear- ance, suddenly turn the ashy-green colour that reveals sickness amongst these people. She rubbed her chest round and round, and then exclaimed : " Wallahi, I feel vexy ill. " Good heavens ! I thought, she is seized with cholera. Datu Isa said to me, " Wallahi, perhaps the sickness ! " I had recourse to heroic methods. I sent for a bottle of brandy, some hot water, and chlorodyne. I gave the poor lady a strong dose of the spirit (which certainly, being a Muham- madan, she had never tasted before), mixed with about twenty drops of chlorodyne. The mixture filled half a tumbler, and I told her to drink it and she would feel all right. She was trembling and frightened, but did not demur for one instant, and swallowed the draught, making an extraordinary gulp in her throat. She gave me back the tumbler, and immediately sank back on the floor and lay inanimate on the rugs in my room. For one moment I thought I had killed her, and looked at Datu Isa and my other friends to see how they would take it. " You have cured her, Rajah Ranee," they said. " We will go home and leave her to finish her sleep." I 1 82 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE pretended to feel no anxiety, although I must say I did not feel very comfortable. I sent for Ima, and we two stayed in the room to await developments. The lady lay like a log, and her pulse beat very fast. After some time, I saw her colour becoming restored, and in the space of two hours she sat up and appeared to be perfectly well again. " Wallah, Rajah Ranee," she said. " You do understand. You white people have secrets that no, one else can know." Personally, I was not so sure, but I was delighted when I realized she was none the worse, and saw her escorted down the path to her boat by Ima and the boat-boys. Her attack and my remedy did not appear to do her any harm, for, from that day, she always came to me for help in any ailment. The Rajah was called away from Kuching during the epidemic, and I was alone with the children at the Astana. One morning, a chief, whom I knew very well, paid me a friendly call. We sat and talked on the verandah, and I thought he had never been so talkative or seemed so full of life as on that particular morning. About eleven o'clock we shook hands, and he went back to his house. That same day, as I was getting up after my afternoon nap, Talip came to my room and asked whether Datu Mohammed's wife could have some flowers from our garden. " Certainly," I said ; " tell them to pick what flowers they like. But I did not know Datu Mohammed was having a feast to-day." " He is not," SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 183 Talip replied; "he died of cholera at three o'clock." This was said with a smile, for Malays, whenever they have sorrowful or tragic news to impart, always smile, in order, I suppose, to mask their feelings. The death of a favourite cat would elicit sighs and groans, but in any sorrow they hide their tru6 feel- ings, even from their nearest relations. Some of the Malays had curious methods in trying to combat the disease. There was an old lady living in Kampong Grisek, called Daiang Kho, who was beloved by the Malays of Kuching on account of her blameless life, her rigorous attention to religious duties, and above all, because she had achieved the great pilgrimage to Mecca. Daiang Kho had brought with her from Mecca a Muhammadan rosary, and this was made great use of in cases of illness in Kuching. The rosary was placed in a tumbler of cold water over night, and the liquid poured into various bottles the next morning, to be used as medicine, Daiang Kho informed me that the cures performed by the rosary were wonderful, but, as we all know, in some cases mind triumphs over the body, and I was not therefore surprised at hearing that this innocuous drink had sometimes been successful in curing sufferers when attacked by the first symptoms of disease. CHAPTER XXI DURING one of my visits to England our youngest son Harry was born. He is called Tuan Bungsu (the youngest of a family), a title given to the youngest son of the Rajahs of Sarawak. As time went on and our boys were growing up, it became incumbent on me, for obvious reasons, to spend more time away from our country. I had to make my home in England, on account of the education of our sons, but, whenever possible, I hurried over to pay visits to what is, after all, my own land. I think one of the happiest periods of my life occurred just before Bertram went to Cambridge, when he accompanied me to Sarawak. We then stayed there some months, part of which time the Rajah was obliged to be in England. Bertram and I gave many receptions to our Malay friends, and it did not take us long to pick up again the threads of our life in Sarawak. I should like to give an account of some journeys which Bertram and I took to some of the out- stations. For instance, I was anxious we should visit the Rejang district together, and the Rajah, agreeing with these plans, gave us his yacht for our journeys. 184 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 185 * We started one morning from Kuching, accompanied by our great friend Mr. C. A. Bampfylde, then ad- ministering the Government in the Rajah's absence, and Dr. Langmore, who had come with us from Europe, for a round of visits to our Dyak and Kayan friends. We stayed a day or two at the Httle village of Santubong, at the mouth of the Sarawak River, where the Rajah had built a bungalow for the use of Europeans requiring change of air to the sea. The chief of this village is a kindly, well-educated Malay, named Hadji Ahmad. This gentleman has. been to Mecca, and is thought a great deal of both by Europeans and natives. At any of these small settlements in the Rajah's country, Malay gentlemen of the standing of Hadji Ahmad occupy the office of magistrate, and are entitled to inquire into, and try, all the petty cases that may occur even in such simple out-of-the-way and almost sinless communities. As I think I have remarked before, the more serious criminal cases are under the control of the Rajah and his Council at Kuching. When we arrived at the bungalow, we found Heidji Ahmad's wife, sisters, aunts, and female cousins sitting on the floor arrayed in silks and satins with gold bangles, waiting for us. Hadji Ahmad was anxious we should be amused during our stay, and, being an enthusiastic fisherman, he was eager to show us a good day's sport. He offered to erect a fishing-shed for us, with as thick a roof as possible, to protect us from the sun, on the shallow, shelving 1 86 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE bank of sand which at low tide lies uncovered for miles on the Santubong shore. When the hut was built, some twenty fathoms from the shore, Hadji Ahmad asked permission to bring his family to join in the expedition. We started off at ebbtide in a long, narrow canoe, covered with white awnings. The Malay ladies had taken their position in the boat for about an hour and a half before our arrival, and as I stepped into the canoe they almost sent us overboard in their tender attempts to settle me down in the most comfortable corner. Hadji Ahmad's wife was a buxom dame of thirty years. She and her five companions talked incessantly, and one of the elder women kept us amused and the Malay women in a perpetual giggle, at the manner in which she chaffed her brother, who was our helmsman. She was most personal in her remarks, drawing attention to his swarthy complexion, his beard and moustache that sparsely covered his chin and lips (Malay men are seldom adorned with either beard or moustache), but he took his sister's witticisms good-humouredly. The fishing-hut looked like a bathing machine, standing on stilts in the middle of the risen tide. It had been decorated with the beautiful blossom of the areca-nut palm, and mats and all kinds of draperies embroidered in gold (the work of the Malay women of the village) were hung round the hut. We made our way up the wide- rung ladder, some ten feet high, through which the water shone SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 187 and glistened in the most alarming manner. A salvo of Chinese crackers were let off as we entered the hut, causing great delight to my female escort, who highly approved of the din. The hut groaned and creaked as our party, some fourteen in number, took their seats on a small platform jutting out from it over the sea. The construction of these sheds was very ingenious. They were erected upon a series of stout timber poles 'disposed at the back of the leaf building in the shape of a boat's keel. A number of canoes, which had conveyed ten or fifteen of the rhost experienced fishermen in the village, were tied to these poles. Four great poles, acting as levers, swung horizontally each side of the hut, jutting out twenty feet in front, between which the nets were hung. As the tide came in, the excitement of the party grew intense, and the fishermen sang a dirge-like melody, inviting the fish into the net, telling them the Rajah's wife and son were expecting their arrival, and that, therefore, it would only be good manners and loyalty on their part to pay their respects by being caught and eaten by them [ When sufficient time had elapsed, according to Hadji Ahmad's idea, for the net to be full of fish, the fishermen hung on to the poles at the back of the hut, their weight swinging the ends on which the nets were tied out of the water, when we saw a number of fish wriggling in their meshes. Amongst the fish were two or three octopuses, those poisonous masses of white, jelly-like substances which all fishermen in the Straits dread 1 88 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE like the evil one himself, on account of their poisonous stings ; these, when captured, were tossed back again into the sea. After an enjoyable day, we went back to the house for tea, and started off again in the cool of the evening to visit a creek in the neighbourhood, where lies a great boulder of sandstone, upon which the figure of a woman is carved. On this occasion, we travelled in one of the Aline' s boats, our crew having provided themselves with paddles in order to make their way through the aquatic vegetation which abounds in the small streams. Bertram took his place at the helm, and, without asking any questions, proceeded to steer us through a maze of nipa palms and mangroves, twisting in and out of these numerous channels for an hour or so. Dr. Langmore and I, thinking the way rather long, at last inquired whether we were on the right track, when Hadji Ahmad informed us that we were drifting in quite the wrong direction. " But why did you not say so ? " I said to Hadji Ahmad. "We could not set the Rajah's son right until he asked us to do so," he replied. Therefore, had we not inquired the way, I suppose we might even now be wandering about the maze of water, with Bertram at the helm. The Hadji soon put us right, and Bertram was as amused as we were at the extreme politeness of our Malay entourage. At length the stone was reached, and it was indeed a curious object. One had better explain that at the foot of this mountain SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 189 of Santubong, in the alluvial soil washed down by the frequent rain of those tropical countries, traces of a former settlement, in the shape of beads, golden ornaments, and broken pottery have been found lying here and there with the pebbles, gravel, and mud, rolled down from the mountain. Experts who have visited this spot are confident that a considerable number of people once lived here, and, owing to some unknown cause, deserted the spot. Amongst some of the debris, the remains of a glass factory and golden ornaments of Hindoo workmanship have been discovered. This race of people has faded com- pletely from the memory of the present inhabitants of Santubong. The sandstone boulder with its effigy was only discovered during quite late years by a gardener who was clearing the soil in prepara- tion for a vegetable garden. We landed in the midst of mud and fallen trees. Narrow planks of wood, raised on trestles, led us through a morass to the figure. It rests under a roof of iron-wood shingles, erected by the Rajah's orders to protect the carving from the effects of the weather. The carved figure is about life-size, and apparently represents a naked woman flung face downwards, with arms and legs extended, clinging to the surface of the rock ; a knot of hair stands some inches from her head, and all round the figure the stone is weather-beaten and worn. Lower down, on the right of the larger carving, Bertram and I dis- covered the outline of a smaller figure in the same I90 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE position. A triangular mark, with three loops on its upper bar, is to be seen near by on the stone, look- ing like the head of an animal rudely scratched. The natives of Santubong have turned the place into a sort of shrine for pilgrimage, Hadji Ahmad told me that the men and women of his village imagine the figure to have been that of a real woman, given to torturing animals for her amusement, and turned to stone by an avenging Deity. The people of Sarawak, at least all those with whom I have come in contact, are under the impression that anyone guilty of injur- ing, ill-treating, or laughing at animals is liable to be turned into stone by an offended god, and nearly all the stones or rocks to be met with in the beds of fivers, and elsewhere, are thought by the people to be the remnants of a human race, guilty of such crimes. They call these stones Batu Kudi (the stones of curses), but how these legends took root and became so firmly implanted in the minds of Sarawak people remains a mystery to this day. This mysterious Santubong figure puzzles and interests me greatly. There is no one nowadays in Kuching capable of fashioning such a thing. More- over, the tops of carved pillars, and other fretted fragments of stone, have been found in these gravel beds, so that I imagine somewhere on the mountain must be hidden more vestiges of a long-departed people, in the shape of temples and maybe of other buildings. When one remembers Angkor Wat and the manner in which that stupendous work of men's SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 191 hands lay buried for centuries, under its shroud of leaves, which more completely than desert sand ob- literated the works of humanity for a long while, one can almost be certain that Santubong and its mysteries will be unveiled some day. I only wish I could live long enough to see it. Musing over the past history of semi-deserted countries, such as these, entrances and terrifies one. Under the shade of in- numerable generations of trees, men and women have come and gone, struggled to live their lives, raised altars and temples to their gods, with perhaps the quietude of endless previous centuries lulling them into factitious security. Then that " something " happens, when, helpless as thistledown blown about by puffs of wind, such people are destroyed, driven forth or killed, when the relentless growth of the tropics takes posses- sion of their deserted homes, and the trace of their ex- istence is blotted out by leaves. Those great forests of the tropics must hold many secrets, and when stay* ing near the Santubong mountain, its mystery weighed on me, and I longed to know the fate of those who had gone before. For reasons such as these, it is a pity that some of the Europeans who come into touch with natives should do all they can to wipe out from their minds legends and tales bearing on the origin of their race — yarns they call them. Hadji Ahmad was a proof of the manner in which these methods affected him. I was anxious to know what was thought by the Santubong people about this stone. The Hadji said some obvious things, but when I 192 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE pressed him further, he begged me not to do so, for he was afraid Englishmen in Sarawak might accuse him of telHng Hes ; therefore he preferred to keep what he thought about the stone to himself. I cannot repeat too often that such criticisms made by Europeans to imaginative Eastern peoples amongst whom they live are helping to suppress secrets which, if unveiled, might prove of inestimable value to science. Before closing this chapter, I must recount a conversation I had with one of my Santubong friends the evening before our departure to the Rejang. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the mountain of Santubong looked black against the sky. Within a few yards of the house a grove of casuarina trees were swaying in the evening breeze. The murmur of their frail branches made an exquisite sound in the stillness of the night. As we stood on the verandah, my Malay friend said : "If you like to go out by yourself, Rajah Ranee, and stand under those trees at midnight, you will hear voices of unknown people telling you the secrets of the earth." I wish now I had gone out and listened, for I am foolish enough to believe that the secrets told by those musical branches might have been worth listening to, but afraid of the night, of the solitude, and, above all, of the criticisms of my European friends, I refrained. I have since come to the con- clusion that I have lost a wonderful and beautiful experience which may never occur again. " I know a story about the mountain of Santubong. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 193 Would Rajah Ranee like to hear it ? " said my friend, as we stood looking at the mountain. " Say on," I replied ; " I should well like to hear." "In the days of long ago," she began, " a holy man, whose name was Hassan, lived in a house at the foot of this mountain. He was a Haji, for he had been to Mecca, and wore a green turban and long flowing robes. He read the Koran day and night, his prayers were incessant, and the name of Allah was ever on his lips. His soul was white and exceedingly clean, and when- ever he cut himself with his parang whilst hewing down the trees to make into canoes, the blood flowed from the wound white as milk.^ He occasionally visited his brothers and sisters living in Kuching, taking about half a day to accomplish the journey, but he was never away from his solitary home by the sea-shore for very long. He never suspected that a beautiful lady, the Spirit of Santubong and the daughter of the moon, lived on its highest peak, and from thence had watched him admiringly on account of his blameless life. One day she flew down into the valley, entered his house, and made friends with him. Their intercourse ripened into love, they were married, and the daughter of the moon wafted her Haji husband to her home beyond the clouds. Haji Hassan and his spirit-wife lived for some years in this lofty region. They were such good people that it seemed as though nothing could ever happen ^ An idea entertained by some Sarawak Malays that the blood of those who lead holy lives is white instead of red. 13 194 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE to mar their happiness. But as time went on, the good man grew weary of this unalloyed happiness, and sighed for a change. From his home on the mountain-top he could see the roof of his little palm- thatched house, where he had lived alone for so many years, and he could see the lights of the village near it twinkling in the darkness of nights. He thought of his brothers and sisters in Kuching, and of his other friends living there, and a great longing came over him to return, if only for a short space of time, to the grosser pleasures of earth. " One day he spoke these words to his wife : ' Delight of my life and light of my eyes, forgive me for what I am about to say. I want to go to Kuching to see my brothers and sisters, and to stay with them a while.' A great sickness of heart seized the daughter of the moon ; nevertheless, she let him go, pledging him to return to her when a month had gone by. She called her servants and ordered them to prepare a boat to carry her husband to Kuching. So the Haji departed, and the days seemed long to the daughter of the moon. At length the Haji's time had expired, but week after week went by and his wife sat alone on her mountain peak, longing for his return. " Meanwhile, Haji Hassan was enjoying himself with his friends at Kuching. He was made a great deal of ; bullocks were killed for his consumption at great banquets in the houses of his friends, where he was the honoured guest, and always the one chosen to SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 195 admonish his friends and give them lessons in good conduct before the meal began. In fact, he was so lionized that he forgot his wife waiting for him amongst the clouds at the top of Santubong. " Some months had elapsed, when one morning, as the Haji was returning from the river-bank where he had bathed and prayed before beginning the day, he looked towards the north and saw a great black cloud forming over the peak of the mountain ; then he suddenly remembered his wife. He hastily summoned his servants, and, when the boat was made ready, the tide and strenuous paddling of his crew bore him speedily to the foot of Santubong. He clambered its steep sides and reached his home — only to find it empty and desolate, for the daughter of the moon had flown. At this the Haji's heart grew sick and he shed bitter tears. He went back to his relations at Kuching, and there became gloomy and silent, con- stantly sighing for the presence of his wife. " One evening, a man in a canoe passed by the Haji's landing-place, where he was sitting, staring at the river. ' Eh, Tuan Haji,' the man called out, 'your wife has been seen on the top of Mount Sipang,' and quickly paddled off. The Haji sprang into his canoe tied to the landing-place, un- loosed its moorings, and paddled himself to the foot of Mount Sipang. He rushed up to its highest peak, but his wife was not there. Subsequently he heard news of her on Mount Serapi, the highest peak of the Matang range, but on reaching the mountain-top 196' SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE he was again disappointed. Thus from mountain peak to mountain peak the disconsolate husband sought his wife all over Borneo, but the daughter of the moon had vanished out of his life for ever. He went back to Kuching, and soon after died of a broken heart." This was the end of the story, but my friend went on to explain that whenever the peak of the Santubong mountain is bathed in moonlight the people imagine the daughter of the moon is revisiting her old home. It was almost midnight. " I ask your leave to go. Rajah Ranee," my Malay companion said. " I hope you will sleep well." She walked away in the moonlight to her home in the village below, and I went to bed and dreamed about the Haji and his moonshine, whilst the talking trees outside told their secrets to the stars. CHAPTER XXII ONE of my places of predilection in the country is called Lundu. It differs from most of the other settlements in Sarawak by the fact that a good deal of agriculture goes on in the neigh- bourhood, and that the country is flat near the Government Bungalow, We embarked for this place in the Aline, and although the water is shallow on the bar we managed to time our arrival at high tide, when the nine feet necessary to float our yacht enabled us to steer our way comfortably into the river, the banks of which are sandy at the mouth. Groves of talking trees grew close to the sea, and tufts of coarse grass were dotted over the sands. As we proceeded farther the soil became muddy and nipa palm forests appeared. We could see the mountain of Poe, three thousand feet in height, towering inland. It is one of the frontiers between the Dutch country and Sarawak, so that the Rajah and the Dutch Government each possess half of this mountain. It is not so precipitous as is Santubong, and has forest trees growing thickly right up to the top. Fishing stakes were sti-etched across some of the sandbanks at the mouth, but not a living soul was to be seen on the sea-shore. We steamed 198 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE through a broad morass, crossed in every direction by little streams travelling down to the main river. Farther on we noticed, about twenty or thirty yards from the banks, a tree full of yellow blossoms, like a flaming torch in the green gloom of the jungle. No one could tell me what these blossoms were, and I was deeply disappointed at our inability to reach the tree and obtain some of its branches, which might as yet be unknown to science. It would have taken our sailors many hours to hew their way to it, so we contented ourselves with looking through opera glasses, across a jungle of vegetation, at the gorgeous blossoms, although that did not help us to discover what the tree was.^ A little farther on were huts built near the river, and we could see men sitting on the rungs of ladders leading from their open doors to the water. When we arrived at Lundu, our friend Mr. Bloomfield Douglas, Resident of the place and living in the comfortable Government bungalow situated a few yards from the river, came to meet us at the wharf, accompanied by a number of Dyaks. A Dyak chief styled the Orang Kaya Stia Rajah, with his wife and relations, came on board with Mr. Douglas ^ This tree, which no one could tell me the name of at the time, was the only one of its kind I had seen ; therefore, it was not strange I formed the idea it might be unknown to science. Its leafy image persisted in my mind, and the thought of it haunted me. I have now been informed that it is not unknown, and is a creeper, called Bauhinea, and not a tree at all. Seen at a distance, its appearance is like that of a tree in blossom, for it completely covers — and perhaps smothers — the tree upon which it fastens itself. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 199 to take us on shore. Both men and women wore the conical hats of the country, made of the finest straw. A piece of light wood delicately carved to a point ornamented their tops, which were made splendid with bright colours. My old friends, the Dyak women, were affectionate and kind. They took hold of my hand, sniffed at it, and laid it gently back by my side ; some of the Dyak men followed suit. These people never kiss in European fashion, but smell at the object of their affection or reverence. I always felt on such occasions as though two little holes were placed on the back of my hand. On the day of our arrival, the sun was blazing overhead and it was fearfully hot. Our shadows were very short as we moved along, and the people lined the way right up to the Resident's door. We had to touch everybody individually as we marched along, even babies in arms had their little hands held out to touch our fingers. These greetings took some time in the overpowering heat of midday, and it was a great relief when at last we reached Mr. Douglas's pretty room, which he had been wise enough to leave unpainted and unpapered. The walls were made of the brown wood of the country, and were decorated with hanging baskets of orchids in full flower, vandalowis, philaenopsis, etc. — a mass of brown, yellow, pink, white, and mauve blooms, hanging in fragile and delicate cascades of colour against the dark background. Rare and wonderful pots of ferns were placed in my bedroom, and 200 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE quantities of roses, gardenias, jasmine, and chimpakas scented the whole place. In the evening we took a walk round the settle- ment. The many plantations of Liberian coffee trees looked beautiful weighed down with green and scarlet berries, some branches still retaining their snowy blossoms. The contrast of berries and flowers, with the glossy dark green of the leaves, made them a charming picture in the landscape. We went through fields planted with tapioca and sugar-cane, and across plantations of pepper vines. These latter are grace- ful things, trained up poles, with small green bunches hanging down like miniature clusters of green and red grapes. In every corner or twist of the road we met little groups of men and women waiting for us. They stood in the ditches by the side of the paths until we came up to them, when they jumped out, rushed at us, sniffed at the backs of our hands, and retired once more to the ditches without saying a word. During the night I heard the Argus pheasant crying in the woods, in response to distant thunder. These beautiful birds roam about the hill of Gading, which is close by the bungalow and thickly covered with virgin forest. The sound they make is uncanny and sorrowful, like the cry of lost souls wandering in the sombre wilderness of innumerable trees, seeking to fathom the secrets of an implacable world. Any sudden loud sound, as of a dead tree falling or the rumble of thunder, however remote, apparently calls forth an echo of terror from these birds. MALAY STRIKING FIRE FROM DRY TINDER SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 201 The next evening the chief of the village invited us to a reception at his house, situated a short dis- tance from the bungalow. It was a fine starlight night, and we walked there after dinner. The house was built much in the same way as are other Sea Dyak houses, the flooring being propped on innumer- able poles about thirty feet from the ground. A broad verandah led into the living-rooms, but, as usual, we had to climb a slender pole with notches all the way up, leaning at a steep angle against the verandah. The chief, with an air of pomp and majesty, helped me up the narrow way as though it were the stairway of a palace. His manner was courtly and his costume magnificent. His jacket and trousers were braided with gold, and the sarong round his waist was fastened with a belt of beaten gold. The house was full of people : Dyaks who had come from far and near. Chinamen resident in the place, Malays from over the Dutch border, and even a few Hindoos, or Klings, were to be seen. The chief took us to the place prepared for us at the end of the verandah, where was hung a canopy of golden embroideries and stiff brocades. Branches of sugar- canes and the fronds of betel-nut palms decorated the poles of the verandah, A great many lighted lamps hung from the roof, and the floor was covered with fine white mats. Bertram, Mr. Douglas, Dr, Langmore, and I sat on chairs, whilst the rest of the guests squatted on mats laid on the floor. The women and young girls sat near me, one of 202 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the latter, whose name was Madu (meaning honey), being very pretty indeed. Hfer petticoat of coarse dark cotton was narrow and hardly reached her knees, and over this she wore a dark blue cotton jacket, fastened at the neck with gold buttons as big as small saucers. Her eyes were dark, beautiful and keenly intelligent, and her straight eyebrows drooped a little at the outer corners. The high cheek-bones, characteristic of her race, gave her a certain air of refinement and delicacy, in spite of her nose being flat, her nostrils broad, and her lips wide and some- what thick. Her hair was pulled tightly off her fore- head, and lay in a coil at the nape of her neck ; it seemed too heavy for her, and as she carried her head very high, the great mass looked as though it dragged it backwards. Her hair, however, had one peculiarity (a peculiarity I had never seen in Sarawak before) ; it was streaked with red, and this made Madu unhappy, for Malays and Dyaks do not like the slightest appearance of red hair, some of the tribes shaving their children's heads from early infancy until they are seven years old, in order to avoid the possibility of such an occurrence. The little creature looked pathetic, as she sat nursing her sister's baby, around whose wrist was tied a black wooden rattle, like a small cannon-ball. The baby was about two months old, and appeared to be healthy, but a sudden kick on its part removed a piece of calico, its only article of clothing, when I saw that the child's stomach had been rubbed over with turmeric, to prevent it from SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 203 being seized by the demon of disease. The chief told his daughter to leave the child to its nurse, when a very old lady rushed forward and took it away. Refreshments were then handed round. We had glasses of cocoa-nut milk, cakes made of grated cocoa-nut and of rice flour, intensely sweet. There were large trays of pumeloes, cut in quarters, together with oranges, bananas, and mangosteens. Glasses of gin, much diluted with water, were handed to the male guests, and after refreshments a place was cleared right down the room, the chief's native friends sitting on mats on the floor, leaning against the walls. The orchestra was placed on one side of the hall. It consisted of a set of gongs, called the Kromang, seven or eight in number, decreasing in size, fixed in a wooden frame, each gong sounding a different note — a scale, in fact. These gongs are beaten by one individual, and when skilfully played they sound like running water. Other members of the orchestra played gongs hung singly on poles, and there were also drums beaten at both ends with the musician's fingers. These instruments played in concert and with remarkable rhythm were pleasant to listen to. When the band had finished the overture, two young men got up after an immense amount of persuasion, and walked shyly to the middle of the cleared space. They were dressed in Malay clothes — trousers, jackets, and sarongs — and smoking-caps, ornamented with tassels, were placed on one side of their heads. They fell down suddenly in front of us, their hands 204 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE cksped above their heads, and bowed till their foreheads touched the floor. Then they got up slowly, looked at one another, giggled, and walked away. The master of the house explained that they were shy, and thought their conduct quite natural. It was evidently the thing to do, for several other couples went through this same pantomime. At last the first couple were induced to come back, when their shyness vanished, and the performance began. One of the dancers held two flat pieces of wood in each hand, clicking them together like castanets. The other man danced with china saucers held in each hand, keeping time to the orchestra by hitting the saucers with rings of gold which he wore on each forefinger. He was as skilful as any juggler I had seen, for he twisted the saucers round and round, his rings hitting against them in time to the music with wonderful accuracy. The dancers were never still for a second. Their arms waved about, their bodies swayed to and fro, they knelt first on one knee with the other leg outstretched before them, then on the other, sometimes bending their bodies in a line with the floor- — the castanets and the saucers being kept going the whole time. Although the movements looked stiff", it was impossible for them to be ungrace- ful, and at every new pose they managed to fall into a delightful arrangement of lines. The dances were evidently inspired by Malay artists, although per- formed by Dyaks, for they were full of restraint. Other dances followed, all interesting and pretty. SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 205 Sometimes empty cocoa-nut shells, cut in two, were placed in patterns on the floor. The dancers picked up one in each hand, clashing them together like cymbals, whilst hopping in and out of the other cocoa- nuts, this performance being called by the people " the mouse-deer dance," for they imagine that the noise made by clashing the cocoa-nut shells resembles the cry of plandoks (mouse-deer) in the forests. After the men had finished, the women's turn came. These wore stiff petticoats of gold brocade, hanging from under their armpits and reaching almost to the floor, under which were dark blue cotton draperies hiding their feet. The pretty Madu, with the red-streaked hair, headed a procession of about thirty young women and girls, who emerged from the open doorway at the other end of the room, in single file. They stretched out their arms in a line with their shoulders, and waved their hands slowly from the wrists. Their sleeves were open and hung from the elbow weighted with rows upon rows of golden knobs. With their heads on one side and their eyes cast down, they looked as though they were crucified against invisible crosses, and wafted down the middle of the hall. , When they approached us, they swayed their bodies to right and left and extended their arms, beating the air gently with their hands, keeping exactly in line, and followed Madu's gestures so accurately that from where I stood I could only see Madu as she headed the dancers. It would be interesting to know the origin of such dances. I 2o6 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE imagine the Hindoo element pervades them all. How surprised these so-called savages would be if they were present at some ballet, with women in tights and short stiff skirts, kicking their legs about, or pirouetting on one toe, for these natives are innately artistic, if kept away from the influence of European art and its execrable taste. Each time a movement more graceful than the last was accomplished by these young women, the men evinced their approbation by opening their mouths and yelling, without showing any other signs of excitement on their immovable faces. The dances went on for some time, after which wrestling matches took place between little boys of the tribe, about eleven or twelve years of age. When one of these small wrestlers was defeated he never showed bad temper or appeared maliciously disposed towards his conqueror. We all enjoyed ourselves, and it was late when we left this hospitable house. The chief and his daughters offered us more cocoa-nut milk, cakes, and bananas, and the leave-taking took some time. One old Sea Dyak, who had been very conspicuous during the evening, for he had bounded about and joined in the dances, took my hand and put it into the han6 of a friend of his, another Sea Dyak, whom he particularly vvished me to notice. "You make friends," he said, "for my friends are your friends." I hope I responded sympathetically, and after a while we managed to drag ourselves away. Our hosts escorted us back to Mr. Douglas's SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 207 bungalow. I led the way, hand in hand with the chief, and Bertram followed, hand in hand with the chiefs son, who kept assuring Bertram that he felt very happy, because they had become brothers, for was not Rajah Ranee, his mother, walking home hand in hand with his father, and as he was doing the same with her son, that quite settled the relationship. The orchestra followed us the whole way home, and the people sang choruses to impromptu words, com- posed in our honour by the poet of the tribe. The chief told me the song was " manah " (beautiful), as its words were in honour of Bertram and me. A recent shower had left the night fine and the air cool, as we went through avenues of betel-nut palms and over carpets of lemon grass, whose long spikes beaten over the path by the rain gave a delightful fragrance crushed by so many feet. We crossed a little bridge over a bubbling stream, and passed by Chinese houses, whose inhabitants opened their windows to look at our midnight procession. When we reached the bungalow, the arbor tristis or night- flowering jasmine was in bloom all over the garden, and white moon-flower bells hung wide open over the verandah. Half an hour later, as I leaned out of the window of my bedroom, I could still hear the people singing on their way back to the village. The trees in the garden were full of fireflies looking like stars entangled in the branches. We left Lundu the next day with regret. We were sorry to say good-bye to our kind host, Mr. 2o8 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE Douglas, and to the Dyaks of the place, and as we steamed away I felt almost inclined to cry. Although I may be accused of being unduly emotional, I am not ashamed to own that after a visit in any of the Sarawak settlements I always left a piece of my heart behind. CHAPTER XXIII WHEN Bertram and I stopped at Sibu for a few days on our way up the Rejang to Kanowit, he was much interested in all the things I had to tell him about Sibu. The early days of my life were lived over again, and I was delighted to see the interest he took in the smallest details of my first and most interesting stay in these regions so many years before. During this later visit, Mr. Bampfylde told me of a Haji who had experienced an interesting and some- what alarming adventure with a sea-serpent. As I wished to hear the tale from the ijian's own lips, Mr. Bampfylde sent for him the next morning. Haji Matahim was a typical Malay from Sambas. He lived at Sibu with his relations. He possessed a small trading schooner of about 200 tons, and made voyages to the Dutch Settlements, to Rhio, and to Singapore. His face was round and short ; he had a receding chin and a protruding upper lip, shaded by a black and bristly moustache. He was flat between the eyes, and his complexion was rather darker than most Malays, being tanned by exposure and sea air. He told me that about two or three months 14 210 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE before the time of which I write he was sailing from Pontianak, a place in Dutch Borneo, with a cargo for Singapore. One day he was becalmed not far from an island called Rhio, when his ship was suddenly surrounded by an extraordinary shoal of fishes. As the fish swarmed round the ship, the crew managed to haul them up with buckets and baskets, capturing them in enormous quantities. Having no salt on board, with which to preserve the fish, the crew, eight in number, cleaned them there and then on the vessel's deck, and threw the offal into the sea. Haji Matahim was standing in the bows looking at this extraordinary capture, when suddenly the rudder chain snapped. This was nothing out of the way, for it had previously been broken and mended with a piece of wire. The Haji and his crew were busily discussing how best they could remedy the accident, when a man in the stern saw a floating mass of " something," striped white and green, lying motionless under the clear surface of the water. He rushed up to the Haji and told him what he had seen, whereupon the Haji ordered the lead to be thrown over to ascertain the depth at which this unlooked-for object was lying. The lead gave only six fathoms, whereas it is well known that in that particular region the sea is about fifty fathoms deep. Then the Haji saw a flat, monstrous head rising out of the water, some ten or twelve yards from the vessel, the schooner's bows floating between its eyes. The head was Hke that of a fish, and, according to the Haji's SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 211 account, the eyes looked like two round balls stuck at the end of spikes, seven or eight inches long : the time for observation was sufficient, as the monster remained motionless for about half an hour. The Haji and his crew were too terrified to move or speak, but after a time they collected their Wits together sufficiently to procure some tuba and garlic (stowed on board for cases of emergency), which they hung over the side of the ship, whereupon the beast slowly sank and disappeared. I could not find out from the Haji how much the water was troubled when the monstrous head plunged back again into the sea, for if the beast had bpen of such extraordinary dimensions, it must have caused some motion to their vessel, how- ever slowly it went under. The Haji was not very coherent on the subject, and he told me at the time that he intended giving up trading voyages for the rest of his life. Subsequently he changed his mind and continued his trading excursions in the same schooner for some years afterwards. Personally I am inclined to think that the creature, whatever it was, could not very well have remained motionless for the length of time as stated by the Haji, but I give his tale as I took it from his own lips. Mr. Bampfylde told me that he had taken the trouble to question some of the members of the crew separately, and the tale told by the Haji tallied in every respect with theirs. I have related this story because it struck me as interesting, but am not pre- pared to enter into the old controversy as to whether 212 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE the sea-serpent exists or not. It has been said that even the scientists are now keeping an open mind on the question. Well, I am going to do the same. It is perhaps necessary to say that garlic plays a great part in the superstitious rites of some Malays, and I believe the Haji was firmly convinced that the tuba and garlic together were quite sufficient to make the monster disappear. A day or two afterwards we embarked on the Lucille, a small steamer of forty tons kept for the use of the Rajah's officers at Sibu, and started in the cold mists of morning for Kapit. As we forced our way round a somewhat difficult point, through a mass of driftwood borne down by a freshet, after heavy rains during the night, our vessel bumped against and heeled over a snag. Great trunks of trees swirled and eddied round the ship at this spot, and the Malay at the wheel changed from one leg to the other, cleared his throat perpetually, frowned, and stared vacantly ahead until the corner was rounded, the mass of driftwood passed, and the danger over. Although the steersman handled the ropes very gently, as though fearful of breaking them, he got over the difficulties with the greatest ease and with little waste of energy. After this trifling incident, we went on our solitary way, our steam- launch the only living thing in this wilderness of wood and water. Farther up the river the years that had passed by since my first visit to the district had brought peace, comfort, trade, and commerce SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 213 to the river-side, and one or two new settle- ments. It was interesting to notice at Kanowit that the beneficent efforts of our Roman Catholic missionaries were bearing splendid fruit. The mis- sionary fathers have built there a substantial and handsome church ; their school, also, is remarkable for the efficiency of their Dyak and Chinese scholars. A group of nuns have set up a school for girls, near by, which is being well attended and productive of good results in the civilization of the people. The Roman Catholic methods of teaching these native children are excellent. It would take too long to describe them in full, but the blameless lives of these men and women, who have cast away all thoughts of comfort in the world and elected to throw in their lots for ever amongst the aborigines, cannot fail to impress the people amongst whom they live. Spiritually and materially their beneficent influence is felt throughout the land, and when we are gathered to our ancestors and the tales of these rivers are told, I believe it will be known that one of the principal factors in the spiritual advancement of Sara- wak is largely due to the work of Roman Catholic missionaries. Farther up the river, we passed another small settlement of recent growth, called Song, where a small Fort stands on the top of one of the little hills shelving into the river. Along the road, lining the bank, stood a row of Chinese houses, and a footpath, made of wooden planks and supported on poles, was 214 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE crowded with Dyaks and Chinamen. The banks were covered with bundles of rattans, brought from the interior. Mats, baskets, cordage for ships, flooring for houses, etc., are usually made of rattans. The Tanjong people are about the best basket-makers of the country, and the wild Punans make the best mats. At this spot, where the trade in rattans is active, we saw up-river Dyaks hurrying up the steep banks with loads of rattan and gutta-percha, on their way to sell them to Chinamen, A great many boats, full of produce, were anchored to the banks, waiting their turn to be unloaded. The little Bazaar was crowded with almost naked people, for they only wore waistcloths. Even the Chinamen, with their pigtails twisted round their heads, had nothing on but cotton drawers. No women were to be seen, and the men looked like long brown-legged spiders, jumping or clambering in and out of the water. Having passed this spot of activity in a desert of leaves and water, reach after reach was rounded, where we met with no other company but that of hawks flying rather low overhead, of brown moths so large that I mistook them for birds, and of butterflies, blue, yellow, and white, appearing here and there over the mud-banks in clusters of delicate colours. About six in the evening we reached Kapit. The Fort stands on a hill, and steps cut out in the sharp, steep banks lead up to its front door. It stands some forty feet above the level of ordinary tides, but in the rainy season, when heavier freshets than those in the SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 215 fine season collect up river, the water has been known to reach several feet above the flooring of the Fort. As the anchor was dropped near the wooden wharf, a crowd of Chinamen, Dyaks, Tanjongs, and Kayans, rushed from the Bazaar and helped to carry our luggage. We had brought our Chinese cook with us, and he struggled up the bank with cages full of cocks and hens which he had brought from Sibu. Some of the people carried my dressing-bag and rugs, Mr. Bampfylde's, Dr. Langmore's, and Bertram's portmanteaux were seized and borne to the Fort by Kayans with their hair streaming over their shoulders. All these people talked at once, ordered one another about, exclaiming, screaming, and hustling in the most good-humoured and merry fashion. Suddenly the crowd fell back, as a rather stout, dark, middle-aged man came down the path to meet us. This was F. Domingo de Rosario (called " Mingo " by his friends), Commandant of Kapit Fort. His father was a Portuguese from Malacca, and Mingo had come to Sarawak during the reign of the first Rajah Brooke, to whom he was butler. Mingo was born in Sarawak, and was educated at the Protestant Mission at Kuching, and when old enough to join the Rajah's service he was sent to the Rejang district, where he has remained ever since. Mingo is well acquainted with the wild inhabitants in his district, and is much beloved by them. With his burly figure, his dark, kindly face, his utter disregard to personal danger, and, above all, 216 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE for the way he has of looking at life as a huge joke, the Dyaks often compare him to " Simpurei," one of their jolly war-gods, Mingo has been through strange adventures, fought many battles, and on one occasion, many years ago, was attacked in a place called Ngmah, where a Fort had been erected, but which has long since l?een pulled down and dismantled. In these quieter days, when life on the banks of the Rejang is comparatively free from danger, Mingo is sometimes heard to regret the fine old times when his time was spent in per- petual excitement. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, he takes the change philosophically enough. He is married to a Tanjong woman, who takes great care of him, and they have a daughter named Madu (meaning honey), to whom he is much attached. We settled down comfortably in Kapit Fort, and the days passed quickly by. A constant stream of Dyaks and Kayans came from the countryside to see us, for Mr. Bampfylde had made them aware of our intention to visit Bdaga, a place some three weeks' journey by boat, situated at the head-waters of the Rejang — Belaga being the real object of our journey up this river. Knowing my intense wish to visit all the places I possibly could, Mr. Bampfylde had suggested this trip to Bertram and myself. The great charm of the undertaking lay in the fact that to get to Belaga innumer- able rapids had to be surmounted, and we had to go through an interesting stretch of country lying SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE 217 between Kapit and this distant Fort, for it is essenti- ally the land of Kayan people, and here and there along the banks of those higher reaches of the Rejang are to be seen interesting and wonderful monuments of Kayan industry, in the shape of tombs carved by the people containing the remains of their most famous chiefs. On such expeditions, it is customary for the people of the country to paddle the boats in which the Rajah or his family make excursions up these difficult and sometimes dangerous cataracts, like giant stairways, which lead into the interior. Many of the chiefs and people who came to Kapit were old friends of mine, whilst others were strangers, for only the year before a head-hunting craze had broken out in the neighbourhood, and one of the most smiling chiefs, named Rawieng, who came to greet us on this occasion, had been attacked by the Government, his house burned down, and his possessions taken from him, owing to members of his tribe taking heads of innocent people living in the remote interior. Rawieng took his punishment well, for he bore no malice, and stretched his hand out to us all with the utmost cordiality. Although the greetings I received at the hands of these chiefs were usually hearty and affectionate, I thought on this occasion their manner was more friendly than usual, and the reason came out before long. Having been summoned by Mr. Bampfylde to paddle my boat and accompany me to Belaga, they imagined I intended going on the warpath. 2i8 SARAWAK AND ITS PEOPLE This idea pleased them much, and great was their disappointment when Mr. Bampfylde informed them that my journey was quite a peaceful one. But our cherished plans were doomed to failure. When all preparations were completed for our great voyage, the weather behaved in an unexpected manner for that time of the year ; for we were then in July, at which period, in the ordinary course of things, heavy storms of rain are rare. However, the day after our arrival and for many days and nights, heavy storms of rain thundered on the roof of the Fort, and the water of the river almost flooded the banks on which it stood. Tree-trunks, leafy branches, fruits, berries, and even blossoms, were torn from the banks and swept along in the angry stream, and it seemed as though the bad weather would never come to an end. The rapids in the neighbourhood were insurmount- able, and day after day the chiefs, Mr. Bampfylde, Mingo, and ourselves discussed the situation, wondering whether or no it would be safe to face such torrents. The Sea Dyaks, who thickly populate this