British Borneo Part 3

A favourite occasional amus.e.m.e.nt is _tuba_ fis.h.i.+ng. The _tuba_ is a plant the juice of which has strong narcotic properties. Bundles of the roots are collected and put into the bottom of the canoes, and when the fis.h.i.+ng ground is reached, generally a bend in a river, or the mouth of a stream which is barred at low tide, water is poured over the _tuba_ and the juice expressed by beating it with short sticks. The fluid, thus charged with the narcotic poison, is then baled out of the canoes into the stream and the surface is quickly covered by all sorts of fish in all stages of intoxication, the smaller ones even succ.u.mbing altogether to the poison.

The large fish are secured by spearing, amid much excitement, the eager sportsmen often overbalancing themselves and falling headlong into the water to the great amus.e.m.e.nt of the more lucky ones. I remember reading an account of a dignified representative of Her Majesty once joining in the sport and displaying a pair of heels in this way to his admiring subjects. The _tuba_ does not affect the flesh of the fish, which is brought to the table without any special preparation.

The princ.i.p.al export from Brunai is sago flour. The sago palm is known to the natives under the name of _rumbiah_, the pith, after its first preliminary was.h.i.+ng, is called _lamantah_ (_i.e._, raw), and after its preparation for export by the Chinese, _sagu_. The botanical name is _Metroxylon_, _M. Laevis_ being that of the variety the trunk of which is unprotected, and _M. Rumphii_ that of the kind which is armed with long and strong spikes, serving to ward off the attacks of the wild pigs from the young palm.

This palm is indigenous in the Malayan Archipelago and grows to the height of twenty to forty feet, in swampy land along the banks of rivers not far from the sea, but out of the reach of tidal influences. A plantation once started goes "on for ever," with scarcely any care or attention from the proprietor, as the palm propagates itself by numerous off-shots, which take the place of the parent tree when it is cut down for the purpose of being converted into food, or when it dies, which, unlike most other palms, it does after it has once flowered and seeded, _i.e._, after it has attained the age of ten or fifteen years.

It can also be propagated from the seed, but these are often unproductive.

If required for food purposes, the sago palm must be cut down at its base before it begins to flower, as afterwards the pith or _farina_ becomes dried up and useless. The trunk is then stripped of its leaves and, if it is intended to work it up at its owner's house, it is cut into convenient lengths and floated down the river; if the pith is to be extracted on the spot the trunk is split in two, longitudinally, and is found to contain a ma.s.s of starchy pith, kept together by filaments of woody fibre, and when this is worked out by means of bambu hatchets nothing but a thin rind, the outer bark, is left. To separate the starch from the woody fibre, the pith is placed on a mat in a frame work over a trough by the river side; the sago washer then mounts up and, pouring fresh water over the pith, commences vigorously dancing about on it with his bare feet, the result being that the starch becomes dissolved in the water and runs off with it into the trough below, while the woody fibre remains on the mat and is thrown away, or, if the washer is not a Mahomedan, used for fattening pigs. The starch thus obtained is not yet quite pure, and under the name of _lamantah_ is sold to Chinese and undergoes a further process of was.h.i.+ng, this time by hand, in large, solid, wooden troughs and tubs. When sufficiently purified, it is sun-dried and, as a fine white flour, is packed in gunny bags for the Singapore market. At Singapore, some of this flour--a very small proportion--is converted into the pearl sago of the shops, but the greater portion is sent on direct to Europe, where it is used for sizing cloth, in the manufacture of beer, for confectionery, &c.

It will be seen that the sago palm thus affords food and also employment to a considerable number of both natives and Chinese and, requiring little or no trouble in cultivation, it is a perfect gift of the G.o.ds to the natives in the districts where it occurs. It is a curious fact that, though abounding in Sarawak, in the districts near Brunai and in the southern parts of British North Borneo on the West Coast, it seems to stop short suddenly at the Putatan River, near Gaya Bay, and is not found indigenous in the North nor on the North-East. Some time ago I sent a quant.i.ty of young shoots to a Chief living on the Labuk River, near Sandakan, on the East Coast, but have not yet heard whether they have proved a success.

A nasty sour smell is inseparable from a sago factory, but the health of the coolies, who live in the factory, does not appear to be affected by it.

The Brunais and natives of sago districts consume a considerable quant.i.ty of sago flour, which is boiled into a thick, tasteless paste, called _boyat_ and eaten by being twisted into a large ball round a stick and inserted into the mouth--an ungraceful operation. Tamarind, or some very acid sauce is used to impart to it some flavour. Sago is of course cheaper than rice, but the latter is, as a rule, much preferred by the native, and is found more nutritious and _lasting_. LOGAN, in the _Journal of the Indian Archipelago_, calculates that three sago palms yield more nutritive matter than an acre of wheat, and six trees more than an acre of potatoes. The plantain and banana also flourish, under cultivation, in Borneo, and Mr. BURBIDGE, in his preface to the _Gardens of the Sun_, points out that it fruits all the year round and that its produce is to that of wheat as 133 : 1, and to that of the potato as 44 : 1. What a Paradise! some of my readers will exclaim. There can be no want here! I am sure the figures and calculations above quoted are absolutely correct, but I have certainly seen want and poverty in Borneo, and these tropical countries are not quite the earthly paradises which some old writers would have us believe. For our poor British "unemployed," at any rate, I fear Borneo can never be a refuge, as the sun would there be more fatal than the deadly cold here, and the race could not be kept up without visits to colder climates. But if sago and bananas are so plentiful and so nouris.h.i.+ng, as we are taught by the experts, it does seem somewhat remarkable, in this age of invention, that some means cannot be devised of bringing together the prolific food stores of the East and the starving thousands of the West.

Both before, during and after the day's work, the Malays, man and woman, boy and girl, solace and refresh themselves with tobacco and with the areca-nut, or the _betel_ nut as, for some unexplained reason, it is called in English books, though _betel_ is the name of the pepper leaf in which the areca-nut is wrapped and with which it is masticated.

A good deal of the tobacco now used in Brunai is imported from Java or Palembang (Sumatra), but a considerable portion is grown in the hilly districts on the West Coast of North Borneo, in the vicinity of Gaya Bay, by the Muruts. It is unfermented and sun-dried, but has not at all a bad flavour and is sometimes used by European pipe smokers. The Brunai Malays and the natives generally, as a rule, smoke the tobacco in the form of cigarettes, the place of paper being taken by the fine inner leaf of the _nipa_ palm, properly prepared by drying. The Court cigarettes are monstrous things, fully eight inches long sometimes, and deftly fas.h.i.+oned by the fingers of the ladies of the harem.

Some of the inland natives, who are unable to procure _nipa_ leaf (_dahun kirei_), use roughly made wooden pipes, and the leaf of the maize plant is also occasionally subst.i.tuted for the _nipa_. It is a common practice with persons of both s.e.xes to insert a "quid" of tobacco in their cheek, or between the upper lip and the gum. This latter practice does not add to the appearance of a race not overburdened with facial charms. The tobacco is allowed to remain in position for a long time, but it is not chewed. The custom of areca-nut chewing has been so often described that I will only remind the reader that the nut is the produce of a graceful and slender palm, which flourishes under cultivation in all Malayan countries and is called by Malays _pinang_.

It is of about the size of a nutmeg and, for chewing, is cut into pieces of convenient size and made into a neat little packet with the green leaf of the aromatic betel pepper plant, and with the addition of a little gambier (the insp.i.s.sated juice of the leaves of the _uncaria gambir_) and of fine lime, prepared by burning sea sh.e.l.ls. Thus prepared, the bolus has an undoubtedly stimulating effect on the nerves and promotes the flow of saliva. I have known fresh vigour put into an almost utterly exhausted boat's crew by their partaking of this stimulant.

It tinges the saliva and the lips bright red, but, contrary to a very commonly received opinion, has no effect of making the teeth black. This blackening of the teeth is produced by rubbing in burnt coco-nut sh.e.l.l, pounded up with oil, the dental enamel being sometimes first filed off.

Toothache and decayed teeth are almost unknown amongst the natives, but whether this is in some measure due to the chewing of the areca-nut I am unable to say.

It used to be a disagreeable, but not unusual sight, to see the old Sultan at an audience remove the areca-nut he had been masticating and hand it to a small boy, who placed it in his mouth and kept it there until the aged monarch again required it.

The clothing of the Brunai Malays is simple and suitable to the climate.

The one garment common to men, women and children is the _sarong_, which in its general signification means a sheath or covering, _e.g._, the sheath of a sword is a _sarong_, and the envelope enclosing a letter is likewise its _sarong_. The _sarong_ or sheath of the Brunai human being is a piece of cotton cloth, of Tartan pattern, sewn down the side and resembling an ordinary skirt, or petticoat, except that it is not pleated or attached to a band at the waist and is, therefore, the same width all the way down. It is worn as a petticoat, being fastened at the waist sometimes by a belt or girdle, but more often the upper part is merely twisted into its own folds. Both men and women frequently wear nothing but this garment, the men being naked from the waist up, but the women generally concealing the b.r.e.a.s.t.s by fastening the _sarong_ high up under the arms; but for full dress the women wear in addition a short sleeved jacket of dark blue cotton cloth, reaching to the waist, the tight sleeves being ornamented with a row of half-a-dozen jingling b.u.t.tons, of gold if possible, and a round hat of plaited _pandan_ (screw-pine) leaves, or of _nipa_ leaf completes the Brunai woman's costume. No stockings, slippers, or shoes are worn. Ladies of rank and wealth subst.i.tute silk and gold brocade for the cotton material used by their poorer sisters and, in lieu of a hat, cover their head and the greater part of the face with a _selendang_, or long scarf of gold brocade. They occasionally also wear slippers. The gold brocade is a specialty of Brunai manufacture and is very handsome, the gold thread being woven in tasteful patterns on a ground of yellow, green, red or dark blue silk. The materials are obtained from China. The cotton _sarongs_ are also woven in Brunai of European cotton twist, but inferior and cheap imitations are now imported from Switzerland and Manchester. In addition to the _sarong_, the Brunai man, when fully dressed, wears a pair of loose cotton trowsers, tied round the waist, and in this case the _sarong_ is so folded as to reach only half way down to the knee, instead of to the ankle, as ordinarily.

A short sleeved cotton jacket, generally white, covers his body and his head dress is a small coloured kerchief called _dastar_, the Persian word for turban.

The n.o.bles wear silks instead of cottons and with them a small but handsome _kris_, stuck into the _sarong_, is _de rigueur_ for full dress. A gold or silver betel-nut box might almost be considered as part of the full dress, as they are never without one on state occasions, it being carried by an attendant.

The women are fond of jewellery, and there are some clever gold and silversmiths in the city, whose designs appear to be imitated from the Javanese. Rings, earrings, broaches to fasten the jacket at the neck, elaborate hairpins, ma.s.sive silver or gold belts, with large gold buckles, and bracelets of gold or silver are the usual articles possessed by a lady of position.

The characteristic earring is quite a specialty of Brunai art, and is of the size and nearly the shape of a very large champagne cork, necessitating a huge hole being made for its reception in the lobes of the ear. It is made hollow, of gold or silver, or of light wood gilt, or sometimes only painted, or even quite plain, and is stuck, lengthwise, through the hole in the ear, the ends projecting on either side. When the ladies are not in full dress, this hole occasionally affords a convenient receptacle for the cigarette, or any other small article not in use for the time being.

The men never wear any jewellery, except, perhaps, one silver ring, which is supposed to have come from the holy city--Mecca.

The Malay _kris_ is too well known to need description here. It is a dagger or poignard with a blade varying in length from six inches to two feet. This blade is not invariably wavy, or serpentine, as often supposed, but is sometimes quite straight. It is always sharp on both edges and is fas.h.i.+oned from iron imported from Singapore, by Brunai artificers. Great taste is displayed in the handle, which is often of delicately carved ivory and gold, and just below the attachment of the handle, the blade is broadened out, forming a hilt, the under edge of which is generally fancifully carved. Age adds greatly to the value of the _kris_ and the history of many is handed down. The highest price I know of being given for a Brunai _kris_ was $100, paid by the present Sultan for one he presented to the British North Borneo Company on his accession to the throne, but I have heard of higher prices being asked.

Very handsomely grained and highly polished wood is used for the sheath and the two pieces forming it are frequently so skilfully joined as to have the appearance of being in one. Though naturally a stabbing weapon, the Malays of Brunai generally use it for cutting, and after an _amok_ the blade employed is often found bent out of all shape.

The _parang_ is simply an ordinary cutla.s.s, with a blade two feet in length. As we generally carry a pocket knife about with us, so the Brunai Malay always wears his _parang_, or has it near at hand, using it for every purpose where cutting is required, from paring his nails to cutting the posts of which his house is built, or weeding his patch of rice land.

With this and his _bliong_ he performs all his carpentry work; from felling the enormous timber tree in the jungle to the construction of his house and boat. The _bliong_ is indeed a most useful implement and can perform wonders in the hands of a Malay. It is in the shape of a small adze, but according to the way it is fitted into the handle it can be used either as an axe or adze. The Malays with this instrument can make planks and posts as smooth as a European carpenter is able to do with his plane.

The _parang ilang_ is a fighting weapon, with a peculiarity in the shape of the blade which, Dr. TAYLOR informs me, is not known to occur in the weapons of any other country, and consists in the surface of the near side being flat, as in an ordinary blade, while that of the off side is distinctly convex. This necessitates rather careful handling in the case of a novice, as the convexity is liable to cause the blade to glance off any hard substance and inflict a wound on its wielder. This weapon is manufactured in Brunai, but is the proper arm of the Kyans and, now, also of the Sarawak Dyaks, who are closely allied to them and who, in this as in other matters, such as the curious perforation of a part of their person, which has been described by several writers, are following their example. The Kyans were once the most formidable Sub-Malay tribe in Northern Borneo and have been alluded to in preceding pages. On the West coast, their headquarters is the Baram River, which has recently been added to Sarawak, but they stretch right across to the East Coast and Dutch territory.

There are many kinds of canoes, from the simple dug-out, with scarcely any free-board, to the _pakerangan_, a boat the construction of which is confined to only two rivers in North Borneo. It is built up of planks fastened together by wooden pegs, carvel fas.h.i.+on, on a small keel, or _lunas_. It is sharp at both ends, has very good lines, is a good sea boat and well adapted for crossing river bars. It is not made in Brunai itself, but is bought from the makers up the coast and invariably used by the Brunai fishermen, who are the best and most powerful paddlers to be found anywhere. The trading boats--_prahus_ or _tongkangs_--are clumsy, badly fastened craft, not often exceeding 30 tons burthen, and modelled on the Chinese junk, generally two-masted, the foremast raking forward, and furnished with rattan rigging and large lug sails. This forward rake, I believe, was not unusual, in former days, in European craft, and is said to aid in tacking. The natives now, however, are getting into the way of building and rigging their boats in humble imitation of the Europeans. The _prahus_ are generally furnished with long sweeps, useful when the wind falls and in ascending winding rivers, when the breeze cannot be depended on. The canoes are propelled and steered by single-bladed paddles. They also generally carry a small sail, often made of the remnants of different gaily coloured garments, and a fleet of little craft with their gaudy sails is a pleasing sight on a fresh, bright morning. At the sports held by the Europeans on New Year's Day, the Queen's Birthday and other festivals, native canoe races are always included and are contested with the keenest possible excitement by the compet.i.tors. A Brunai Malay takes to the water and to his tiny canoe almost before he is able to walk. Use has with him become second nature and, really, I have known some Brunai men paddle all day long, chatting and singing and chewing betel-nut, as though they felt it no exertion whatever.

In the larger canoes one sees the first step towards a fixed rudder and tiller, a modified form of paddle being fixed securely to one _side_ of the stern, in such a way that the blade can be turned so as either to have its edges fore and aft, or its sides presented at a greater or less angle to the water, according to the direction in which it is desired to steer the boat.

I was much interested, in going over the Pitt-Rivers collection, at the Oxford University Museum, to find that in the model of a Viking boat the steering gear is arranged in almost exactly the same manner as that of the modern Malay canoe; and indeed, the lines generally of the two boats are somewhat alike.

To the European novice, paddling is severe work, more laborious than rowing; but then a Brunai man is always in "training," more or less; he is a teetotaller and very temperate in eating and drinking; indeed the amount of fluid they take is, considering the climate, wonderfully small. They scarcely drink during meals, and afterwards, as a rule, only wash their mouths out, instead of taking a long draught like the European.

Mr. DALRYMPLE is right in saying that a State visit is like a Quakers'

meeting. Seldom is any important business more than broached on such an occasion; the details of difficult negotiations are generally discussed and arranged by means of confidential agents, who often find it to their pecuniary advantage to prolong matters to the limit of their employer's patience. The Brunai Malays are very nice, polite fellows to have to deal with, but they have not the slightest conception of the value of time, and the expression _nanti dahulu_ (wait a bit) is as often in their mouths as that of _malua_ (by-and-by) is by Miss GORDON c.u.mMING said to be in those of the Fijians. A lady friend of mine, who found a difficulty in acquiring Malay, p.r.o.nounced _nanti dahulu_, or _nanti dulu_ as generally spoken, "nanty doodle," and suggested that "the nanty doodles" could be a good name for "the Brunai Malays."

As writing is a somewhat rare accomplishment, state doc.u.ments are not signed but sealed--"_chopped_" it is called--and much importance is accordingly attached to the official seals or _chops_, which are large circular metal stamps, and the _chop_ is affixed by oiling the stamps, blacking it over the flame of a candle and pressing it on the doc.u.ment to be sealed. The _chop_ bears, in Arabic characters, the name, style and t.i.tle of the Official using it. The Sultan's Chop is the Great Seal of State and is distinguished by being the only one of which the circ.u.mference can be quite round and unbroken; the edges of those of the Wazirs are always notched.

By the aboriginal tribes of Borneo, the Brunai people are always spoken of as _Orang Abai_, or Abai men, but though I have often enquired both of the aborigines and of the Brunais themselves, I have not been able to obtain any explanation of the term, nor of its derivation.

As already stated, the religion of the Brunais is Mahomedanism; but they do not observe its precepts and forms with any very great strictness, nor are they proselytisers, so that comparatively few of the surrounding pagans have embraced the religion of their conquerors.

Many of their old superst.i.tions still influence them, as, in the early days of Christianity, the belief in the old heathen G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses were found underlying the superstructure of the new faith and tinging its ritual and forms of wors.h.i.+p. There still flourishes and survives, influencing to the present day the life of the Brunais, the old Spirit wors.h.i.+p and a real belief in the power of evil spirits (_hantus_) to cause ill-luck, sickness and death, to counteract which spells, charms and prayers are made use of, together with propitiatory offerings. Most of them wear some charm to ward off sickness, and others to s.h.i.+eld them from death in battle. If you are travelling in the jungle and desire to quench your thirst at a brook, your Brunai follower will first lay his _parang_, or cutla.s.s in the bed of the stream, with its point towards the source, so that the Spirit of the brook shall be powerless to harm you.

In caves and on small islands you frequently find platforms and little models of houses and boats--propitiatory offerings to _hantus_. In times of general sickness a large model of a boat is sometimes made and decked with flags and launched out to sea in the hope that the evil spirit who has brought the epidemic may take his departure therein. At Labuan it was difficult to prevail on a Malay messenger to pa.s.s after sunset by the gaol, where executions took place, or by the churchyard, for fear of the ghosts haunting those localities.

Javanese element, and Hindu work in gold has been discovered buried in the island of Pappan, situated between Labuan and Brunai. Mr. INCHE MAHOMET, H. B. M.'s Consular Agent in Brunai, was good enough to procure for me a native history of Brunai, called the _Telselah Besar_, or princ.i.p.al history. This history states that the first Mahomedan Sovereign of Brunai was Sultan MAHOMET and that, before his conversion and invest.i.ture by the Sultan of Johor, his kingdom had been tributary to the State of Maj.a.pahit, on the fall of which kingdom the Brunai Government transferred its allegiance to Johor. Maj.a.pahit[8] was the last Javanese kingdom professing Hinduism, and from its overthrow dates the triumph of Mahomedanism in Java. This occurred in A.D. 1478, which, if the chronicle can be trusted, must have been about the period of the commencement of the Mahomedan period in Brunai. Inclusive of this Sultan MAHOMET and of the late Sultan MUMIM, who died in May, 1885, twenty-three Mahomedan Sultans have reigned in Brunai and, allowing eighteen years for an average reign, this brings us within a few years of the date a.s.signed to the overthrow of the kingdom of Maj.a.pahit, and bears testimony to the reliability of the chronicle. I will quote the first few paragraphs of the _Telselah_, as they will give the reader an idea of a Brunai history and also because they allude to the connection of the Chinese with Borneo and afford a fanciful explanation of the origin of the name of the mountain of Kinabalu, in British North Borneo, which is 13,700 feet in height:--

"This is the genealogy of all the Rajas who have occupied the royal throne of the Government of Brunai, the abode of peace, from generation to generation, who inherited the royal drum and the bell, the tokens from the country of Joh.o.r.e, _kamal almakam_, and who also possessed the royal drum from Menangkabau, namely, from the country of Saguntang.

"This was the commencement of the kingdom of Brunai and of the introduction of the Mahomedan religion and of the Code of Laws of the prophet, the beloved of G.o.d, in the country of Brunai--that is to say (in the reign of) His Highness Sultan MAHOMET. But before His Majesty's time the country of Brunai was still infidel, and a dependency of Maj.a.pahit. On the death of the Batara of Maj.a.pahit and of the PATIH GAJA MEDAH the kingdom of Maj.a.pahit fell, and Brunai ceased to pay tribute, which used to consist of one jar of the juice of the young betel-nut every year.

"In the time of the Sultan BAHTRI of the kingdom of Johor, Tuan ALAK BETATAR and PATIH BERBAHI were summoned to Johor, and the former was appointed Sultan MAHOMET by the Sultan of Johor, who conferred on him the royal drum and a.s.signed him five provinces, namely, Kaluka, Seribas, Sadong, Samarahan and Sarawak. PATIH BERBAI was given the t.i.tle of Bandhara Sri Maharaja. After a stay of some little time in Johor, His Highness the Sultan MAHOMET returned to Brunai; but His Highness had no male issue and only one daughter. At that time also the Emperor of China ordered two of his ministers to obtain possession of the precious stone of the dragon of the mountain Kinabalu. Numbers of Chinese were devoured by the dragon and still possession was not obtained of the stone. For this reason they gave the mountain the name of Kinabalu (_Kina_ = Chinese; _balu_ = _widow_).

"The name of one of the Chinese Ministers was _Ong Kang_ and of another ONG SUM PING, and the latter had recourse to a stratagem. He made a box with gla.s.s sides and placed a large lighted candle therein, and when the dragon went forth to feed, ONG SUM PING seized the precious stone and put the lamp in its place and u the dragon mistook it for the precious stone. Having now obtained possession of the precious stone all the junks set sail for China, and when they had got a long way off from Kinabalu, ONG KANG asked ONG SUM PING for the stone, and thereupon a quarrel ensued between them. ONG KANG continued to press his demand for the precious stone, and ONG SUM PING became out of humour and sullen and refused to return to China and made his way back to Brunai. On arriving there, he espoused the Princess, the daughter of Sultan MAHOMET, and he obtained the t.i.tle of Sultan AHAMAT.

"The Sultan AHAMAT had one daughter, who was remarkably beautiful. It came to pa.s.s that a Sheriff named ALLI, a descendant of AMIR Ha.s.sAN (_one of the grandchildren of the prophet_) came from the country of Taif to Brunai. Hearing of the fame of the beauty of the Sultan's daughter, he became enamoured of her and the Sultan accepted him as his son-in-law and the Government of Brunai was handed over to him by His Highness and he was styled Sultan BERKAT. He enforced the Code of Laws of the beloved of G.o.d and erected a mosque in Brunai, and, moreover, ordered the Chinese population to make a stone fort."

The connection of the Chinese with Brunai was an important event in Borneo history and it was certainly to them that the flouris.h.i.+ng condition of the capital when visited by PIGAFETTA in 1521 was due. They were the sole planters of the pepper gardens, the monopoly of the trade in the produce of which the East India Company negotiated for in 1774, when the crop was reported to the Company to have been 4,000 pikuls, equal to about 240 tons, valued on the spot at 17-1/4 Spanish dollars per pikul. The Company's Agent expressly reported that the Chinese were the only pepper planters, that the aborigines did not plant it, and that the produce was disposed of to Chinese junks, which visited the port and which he trusted would, when the exclusive trade in this article was in the hands of the Company, be diverted from Brunai to Balambangan.

The station at this latter island, as already mentioned, was abandoned in 1775, and the English trade with Brunai appears soon afterwards to have come to an end.

From extracts from the Journal of the Batavia Society of Arts and Sciences published in _The British North Borneo Herald_ of the 1st October, 1886, the first mention of Brunai in Chinese history appears to be in the year 669, when the King of Polo, which is stated to be another name for Bunlai (corruption of "Brunai"), sent an envoy to Pekin, who came to Court with the envoy of Siam. Again, in the year 1406, another Brunai envoy was appointed, who took with him a tribute of the products of the country, and the chronicle goes on to say that it is reported "that the present King is a man from f.u.kien, who followed CHENG HO when he went to this country and who settled there."

This account was written in 1618 and alludes to the Chinese s.h.i.+pping then frequenting Brunai. It is by some supposed that the northern portion of Borneo was the destination of the unsuccessful expedition which KUBLAI KHAN sent out in the year 1292.

Towards the close of the eighteenth century a Government seems to have arisen in Brunai which knew not ONG SUM PING and, in 1809, Mr. HUNT reported that Chinese junks had ceased visiting Brunai and, owing no doubt to the rapacious and piratical character of the native Government, the pepper gardens were gradually deserted and the Chinese left the country. A few of the natives had, however, acquired the art of pepper cultivation, especially the Dusuns of Pappar, Kimanis and Bundu and when the Colony of Labuan was founded, 1846, there was still a small trade in pepper with those rivers. The Brunai Rajas, however, received their revenues and taxes in this commodity and their exhorbitant demands gradually led to the abandonment of its cultivation.

These rivers have since pa.s.sed under the Government of the British North Borneo Company, and in Bundu, owing partly to the security now afforded to life and property and partly to the very high price which pepper at present realizes on account of the Dutch blockade of Achin--Achin having been of late years the princ.i.p.al pepper-growing country--the natives are again turning their attention to this article. I may remark here that the people of Bundu claim and shew evidence of Chinese descent, and even set up in their houses the little altar and joss which one is accustomed to see in Chinamen's shops. The Brunai Malays call the Chinese _Orang Kina_ and evidence of their connection with Borneo is seen in such names as _Kina-batangan_, a river near Sandakan on the north-east coast, _Kina-balu_, the mountain above referred to, and _Kina-benua_, a district in Labuan. They have also left their mark in the very superior mode of cultivation and irrigation of rice fields on some rivers on the north-west coast as compared with the primitive mode practised in other parts of Northern Borneo. It is now the object of the Governments of Sarawak and of British North Borneo to attract Chinese to their respective countries by all the means in their power. This has, to a considerable extent, been successfully achieved by the present Raja BROOKE, and a large area of his territory is now under pepper cultivation with a very marked influence on the public revenues. This subject will be again alluded to when I come to speak of British North Borneo.

It would appear that Brunai was once or twice attacked by the Spaniards, the last occasion being in 1645.[9] It has also had the honour in more recent times, of receiving the attentions of a British naval expedition, which was brought about in this wise. Sir JAMES, then Mr. BROOKE, had first visited Sarawak in 1839 and found the district in rebellion against its ruler, a Brunai Raja named MUDA Ha.s.sIM, who, being a friend to the English, received Mr. BROOKE with cordiality. Mr. BROOKE returned to Sarawak in the following year and this time a.s.sisted MUDA Ha.s.sIM to put down the rebellion and finally, on the 24th September, 1841, the Malay Raja retired from his position as Governor in favour of the Englishman.