CHAPTER XII

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THE CHINESE IN BORNEO.

Intercourse between China and the Northern Part of Borneo--References to the Chinese--Names of Places and Rivers--Sites of Gardens and Houses--One of the original Settlers--The Sultan’s Recollections--Chinese numerous in his Youth--Reasons for their Disappearing--Anecdote of a Murut Chief--Aborigines speaking Chinese--Mixed Breed--Good Husbands--Chinese at Batang Parak--At Madihit--Pepper Planters--Origin of the Borneans--Chinese Features observed also among the Aborigines--Careful Agriculture--A remnant of Chinese Teaching--Traditions of a Chinese Kingdom--Effect of Treaty with Brunei--Unsuccessful attempt to revive Pepper Planting--Chinese scattering on the North-west Coast--A Spark of Enlightenment--Attempt to prevent Intercourse between the Chinese and Aborigines--Decay of Junk Trade--Cochin Chinese--Conduct of the Chinese--Papar--Anecdote--Fatal Result of Insulting a Woman--Skirmish--Misrepresented in Labuan--Question of British Protection to the Chinese--Their Insolence--Anecdote--Unpleasant Position--A Check--Difficulty of obtaining Information--Cause of former Disputes--Insurrection of the Chinese of Brunei--Sarawak--Early efforts of the Chinese to establish themselves there--Lawless Malays--A Murder--Retaliation--Defeat of the Chinese--Arrival of Sir James Brooke--Mixed Breed in Sambas--Form Self-governing Communities--Defeat of the Dutch Forces--Subjugation of the Chinese--The Pamangkat Agriculturists--Flight into Sarawak--Change in the appearance of the Country--Mission School--Visit the Interior--Kunsis, or Gold Companies--Appearance of the Country--Method of Gold-working--The Reservoir--The Ditch--The Sluice--Wasteful method of working--Abundance of Gold--Impetus--Failure of first Agricultural Schemes--A great Flood--Troublesome Gold-workers--Successful Scheme--Disturbance in Sambas--Flight of Chinese--Illiberal Regulation--Tour through the Chinese Settlements--Agriculture--Siniawan--Chinese workings--Hot Spring--Gold at Piat in Quartz--Antimony Works--Extensive Reservoirs--Arrival of Chinese from Sambas--Denial by the Kunsi--Hard Work at the Gold Diggings--Scenery--Path to Sambas--Chinese Station--Numbers of the Chinese before the Insurrection.

The first thing that strikes an inquirer into the intercourse which was formerly carried on between China and the northern part of Borneo, is the prevalence of names referring to these strangers. They are called in Malay, Orang China; by the Land Dayaks of Sarawak, Orang Sina; and by the Borneans, Orang Kina, men of China; and north of the capital, we find Kina Benua, the Chinese land, in Labuan; Kina Balu, the Chinese widow, the name of the great mountain; Kina Batañgan, the Chinese river, on the north-east coast; and we have Kina Taki, the name of a stream at the foot of Kina Balu and Kina Bañgun, a name of a small river of the north north eastern coast. Around Brunei we continually come across terraces cut on the sides of the hills, where the pepper-plant was grown, particularly on the eminence below the Consulate: and the places where the Chinese had levelled the ground on which to build their houses are often to be met with; one of the most distinct was in my own garden. Their graves are also numerous, and may easily be traced on the slopes of the hills, though time has worn down their edges, and left but a slightly swelling mound.

My object is not to write a history of the Chinese intercourse with Borneo, but to notice what impress it has left on the manners and thoughts of the people, and what remembrances of them may still be gathered. At present there are scarcely any of the original settlers left. I only remember one very old man, who cultivated a garden a few miles above the town; and although he had lived there for sixty years, arriving as a child, he had not mastered the language of the country, and could only say that in old days the Chinese were numerous.

The reigning sultan used often to converse on the subject, and told me that his own father was the nobleman appointed to superintend the Chinese; and that about fifty years ago they were very numerous to the westward of the town, and that when he was a youth, he was fond of strolling in their pepper and vegetable gardens. He did not know “how many there were, but there were many.” He accounted for their almost total disappearance by saying that for the last sixty or seventy years they had received no recruits from China, and that the Chinese gardeners near the town seldom had wives, but those up the country and in the neighbouring districts lived among the Murut and Bisaya tribes, and that their descendants had mixed with the native population and adopted their dress and habits.

An occurrence which took place whilst I was in Brunei tended to confirm this. A Chinese pedlar, married to a Murut girl, came to me one day to complain of the conduct of a Bornean nobleman who had been oppressing the aborigines. I sent him with the Malay writer attached to the Consulate to explain his case to the sultan, as I could not interfere myself.

The following week the chief of the Murut tribe arrived to support the complaint, and went with the pedlar into the shop of the principal Chinese trader in Brunei, baba Masu, who began questioning him in Malay. The man answered in a stupid manner, as if he scarcely understood him, upon which the baba turned to the pedlar and said in Hokien Chinese, “What is the use of your bringing such a fool to support your case?” The chief’s face brightened directly, and he observed, in good Chinese, “I am not such a fool, but I don’t understand Malay well.” The trader, very much surprised to be thus addressed in his own language by a Murut, made particular inquiries, and found that this was the grandson of an immigrant from Amoy, who had settled among the aborigines, and had taught his children his own language, and his eldest son marrying the daughter of an orang kaya, their son had succeeded to the chieftainship of the tribe.

Subsequently, I questioned some of the Chinese pedlars who were accustomed to trade in the districts on the coast to the north of the capital, which are known by the general name of Saba, and they found there were many of the Bisayas and Muruts of Kalias, Padas, Membakut, and Patatan, who could speak Chinese very fairly, and who acknowledged their mixed descent from the Chinese and the aborigines. Wherever the former settle, they always seek wives among the people, though few comparatively have the good fortune to procure them. However, when they do, the women soon become reconciled to them as husbands, and find a manifest improvement in their condition, as the Chinese do not like to see their wives do more than the real domestic work of the house, performing all the more laborious duties themselves, even to cooking the dinner.

My friend, the orang kaya of the village of Blimbing, on the Limbang, said he remembered the Chinese living at a place called Batang Parak, about eighty miles from the mouth of the river. He himself could only call to mind seven who were cultivating pepper-plantations in his time, but his father had told him that before the insurrection the whole country was covered with their gardens. Of this insurrection, I could obtain few particulars, though they pointed out a hill at the mouth of the Madalam where the Chinese had built a fort, but had been defeated by the Bornean forces.

A hundred and fifty miles up the Limbang, on the banks of the Madihit branch, and beyond all the worst rapids, the Muruts told us the Chinese formerly had very extensive pepper-plantations; but within the remembrance of their oldest men, they had all died away, no new recruits joining them, and their descendants were lost among the surrounding tribes.

There is but one objection to the theory that the Borneans derive their origin in great part from the former Chinese settlers: it is that they are even darker than the other Malays; otherwise, the squareness and heaviness of feature, particularly observable among the lower classes, would seem to mark them as descendants of the labouring Chinese who form the bulk of the emigrants from China, though I have often observed that many of the children of the undoubtedly mixed breed were very dark. I have noticed in my account of our first expedition to Kina Balu the fact of the young girls at the village of Ginambur having the front of their heads shaved after the manner of the Chinese. I do not remember having seen any female of the other tribes of aborigines disfigured in the same way. When we were at the village of Kiau, at the base of Kina Balu, we continually remarked faces which showed distinct indications of being descended from the celestials.

I have before noticed the superior style in which the natives to the north of Brunei carry on their agricultural operations. I find my description of the method pursued by the Bisayas of Tanah Merah in cultivating pepper exactly agrees with that of the Chinese mentioned by Forrest in his account of Borneo Proper. And the natives of Tawaran and Tampasuk cultivate their rice as carefully as the Chinese, following their example of dividing the fields by low embankments, so as to be able to regulate the supply of water; and in no other part of Borneo are to be found gardens as neat as those we saw on the plain of Tawaran. It is evident they have not yet forgotten the lessons taught to their forefathers by the Chinese, though their improved agriculture appears to be almost the only impress left on the people. Instead of their following the more civilized race, the latter appear to have completely blended with and become lost among the numerous population around.

The tradition is still well known among the natives, of the whole country being filled with those immigrants; and they say that in very ancient days there was an empire ruled by one of the strangers, and the Sulus have still the tradition current among them that in former days these islands formed a part of a great Chinese kingdom, whose seat of government was in the north of Borneo. Forrest having mentioned that the Sulus in his day had such a tradition, drew my attention to it, and it may refer to the time subsequent to the invasion of the country by Kublai Khan’s general. The following is an extract from the genealogy of the sovereigns of Borneo, which is in the possession of the pañgeran tumanggong:--“He who first reigned in Brunei, and introduced the religion of Islam, was his Highness the Sultan Mahomed, and his Highness had one female child by his wife the sister of the Chinese rajah, whom he brought from Kina Batañgan (Chinese river), and this princess was married to Sherif Ali, who came from the country of Taib, and who afterwards governed under the name of his Highness Sultan Barkat (the Blessed), and it was he who erected the mosque, and whose Chinese subjects built the Kota Batu, or stone fort.” This appears to refer to some kind of a Chinese kingdom.

In 1846 there was scarcely a Chinese left in the capital; but no sooner was our treaty made in 1847, than traders from Singapore began to open shops there. At first, it appeared as if a valuable commercial intercourse were about to commence, as it was supposed the Chinese, as of old, would soon begin to form pepper-plantations, and the expectation was partly fulfilled. A rich shopkeeper obtained permission from the sultan, and a grant of land having been made, he set to work to form a garden. He planted fruits, vegetables, and pepper, the last grew luxuriantly, though the soil appeared unpromising; but no sooner was it known to be yielding, than crowds of idlers from the capital flocked there, and soon stripped it of everything eatable. In despair, he gave up his project, and no one has had the courage to try again; in fact, it would be useless as long as the present system of government holds.

Since our colony of Labuan was established in 1848, a few Chinese have left it to spread along the coast. As yet they have had little effect, since most of them have married into native families, and done little else than carry on a petty trade, or manufacture arrack. Lately, however, a few have commenced pepper-gardens, but the districts are too unsettled to promise much, yet it is a movement to be encouraged. When I have asked the Chinese why they did not emigrate there, the invariable answer has been, “Will you afford us protection? if not, as soon as our plantations are productive, the nobles will force the produce from us.”

The sultan, in a moment of enlightenment, determined to encourage planters, and actually sent for a dozen from Singapore, paid their expenses to Brunei, and promised a monthly allowance till the produce of their vegetable-gardens enabled the Chinese to support themselves. These regular payments, however, soon became very distasteful to him, and every month be gave them less, till at last from want of food they all dispersed, and the experiment has not been tried again.

The Brunei government makes every effort to prevent the Chinese mixing with the aborigines, as it tends to destroy the monopoly of trade they seek to establish, and they fear also the teaching of the Chinese, who would never counsel submission to oppressive rulers, though when employed by the nobles as agents, they can be more systematically grinding than the Malays.

It is evident that the intercourse between Borneo and China, which undoubtedly was once very active, has been decreasing for above a hundred years, and the cause was doubtless the anarchy into which the country fell and the consequent want of protection. Fifty years ago, the junk trade appears entirely to have ceased; and even in 1775 it had been reduced to about seven a year, although they continued to build vessels at Brunei.

With regard to the accounts of old travellers, that the north of Borneo was formerly peopled from Cochin China, I have heard nothing to support the theory, beyond the tradition that in ancient days a great trade was carried on between Annam and the north-west coast, when many Cochin Chinese settled in Borneo. In fact, in the Champa country, in the southern portion of the Kambodian peninsula, there is a people whose language contains a considerable number of Malay words; so that the effect on these two countries may have been mutual, though Champa, doubtless, was more influenced by settlers from the Malay peninsula.

I have before alluded to the Chinese wandering from our colony of Labuan to settle in small numbers in the districts on the coast to the north of that island. A favourite place was Papar, as the Dusuns there were wealthy, and, being numerous, cared little for their nominal ruler, pañgeran Omar; and among the Chinese settlers were two men, who lived in a small house on the banks of the river. One day, early in the year 1859, the wife of the chief of a neighbouring village was passing that way, when one of these men attempted to pull off her petticoat, which constituted her only covering. Her screams bringing some friends to the spot, the man let her go and ran into his house. In the evening, the chief came to demand satisfaction for this very gross insult, but said, as the offender was a stranger, and perhaps did not know the customs of the country, he should only fine him the value of a goat. The two Chinese ordered him to leave their house, and, to enforce it, took up their carrying-sticks, with which the one who had insulted the woman struck him. The Dusun chief, who had his spear in his hand, stabbed the offender and wounded his companion, who came up to join in the attack. This affair caused great commotion in the district, and all the Chinese clamoured for vengeance.

Pañgeran Omar inquired into the case, fined the Dusun, and ordered the amount to be paid over to the dead man’s friends. They were not, however, satisfied with the amount of the fine, and determined to revenge themselves. Collecting a body of about twenty of their countrymen, on the pretence of a pig hunt, they marched to attack the chief’s village; upon which the Dusuns, beating the alarm gong, soon apprised their neighbours that they were in danger; and the Chinese, as usual, arrogant when there was no opposition, but cowards in circumstances of peril, immediately on finding their first volley did not frighten their enemies, fled with precipitation, and were pursued by the Dusuns, and the larger portion of them killed.

The case was misrepresented in Labuan, and some demands were made for satisfaction; but it was evident the Chinese had brought this disaster on themselves; and I know of no worse policy than to consider all those, whether British subjects or not, who leave our colony to settle on the coast as entitled to our protection. If we can be of service to them, it is as well to use our influence to insure them the best treatment, but we should never let the Chinese imagine we intend to give them the protection of the British flag on all occasions. Yet it is a subject which requires delicate handling, for, if we entirely abandoned their interests, they would be plundered and massacred; and without them there will never be any progress on the coast, or developement of trade and agriculture on a large scale; and if we claim them as British subjects, which a few are in reality, their insolence to the natives is often unbearable.

I have generally found that those Chinese who come direct from their own country are better adapted to succeed with the native chiefs than those who have resided long in our own settlements, where they acquired an independence almost amounting to lawlessness. I once nearly lost my life through the reckless conduct of one of these Singapore Chinese, who had been accustomed to treat the Malays there with great contumely. When he arrived in Brunei, he did the same thing with a crazy man belonging to the Pablat section of the town, and the Chinese quarter was thrown into confusion. I sent both men to the sultan, but in the meantime the report spread among the Malay’s relatives that the Chinese had ill used him, and 150 men immediately came down, shouting that they would run amuck among the Chinese. A respectable Bornean trader came hastily into my room, saying, if I did not immediately go down to the scene, there would be a massacre. I caught up my sword and hurried to the Chinese village, to find the Pablat men in the act of assaulting the strangers; and had one wound been given, there would have been no stopping the mischief.

I need not dwell on all the particulars, but it was with the greatest difficulty I turned the Malays back from their purpose. To me they behaved with great civility, after the first excitement was over; but the glare their chief gave me, when I put the hilt of my sword to his breast to prevent him using his spear on an unfortunate Chinese trader, who had nothing to do with the quarrel, was a very savage one. His hand in a moment sought his kris; but on my saying, in a very quiet tone, “Don’t draw your kris on me,” he dropped his intention at once, and although his followers drew their weapons and urged him to the attack, he began to explain to me the reason of his coming with that force at his back. I knew if I could check the rush for five minutes, things would be safe, as by that time some friends, who were staying at the house, would be down with all my armed followers; and so it proved. But the insolence of the Chinese was effectually checked by this demonstration, and I had no further trouble with them, as they thought I might not always be there to stand between them and death.

This is but a meagre account of the results of that extensive Chinese intercourse with the northern portion of Borneo, which was carried on for so many hundred years; but in a country so uncivilized there are no antiquities; and although the tradition exists among the people that formerly numerous immigrants arrived and settled, still they can relate few facts concerning them. There can be little doubt, judging from the character of the two people, that the nobles would endeavour to squeeze out of the foreign planters as much as possible; that they would fine them heavily for very slight faults, till they would drive the Chinese to resistance, and insurrections would as surely follow among a people who always unite against other races. They are no match for the Malays and Dayaks in wild warfare; and it is only their organization which enables them to offer any resistance to the desultory attacks of their enemies.

It has been said that in the great insurrection of the Chinese the Muruts joined them, and that the Borneans were compelled to seek the assistance of the Sulus to repress it, but I did not hear any mention of the latter statement, and it appears improbable. Internal dissention is the more likely cause of the failure of the attempt to throw off the yoke of the Malays, the Muruts being bribed to leave their allies. At all events, the Bisaya tribes were engaged in its suppression, as the grandfather of the orang kaya of Blimbing assisted in taking the fort at the entrance of the Madalam river. The Chinese insurgents, driven from the lower country, attempted to make a stand on a rounded hill there, but lost their fort, either by a panic or by treachery, my informant did not appear certain which.

Between Brunei and Sarawak the Chinese do not appear to have established themselves; but to the latter country the gold-workers of Sambas occasionally sent parties of men to try the soil, as auriferous ore was reported to be plentiful. But during the distractions consequent on the civil war, they found it impossible to pursue their peaceful industry, and those who were successful in obtaining gold were exposed to the attacks of lawless Malays.

One man, who is now a very respected member of society, a haji of mark, who has for the last twenty years conducted himself in the most exemplary manner, was once tempted to commit a crime by the report that a party of Chinese was returning to Sambas with sixty ounces of gold. He and a few of his relations waylaid the travellers, and, surprising them in the dark forest, murdered them and obtained the treasure.

This naturally aroused the anger of their countrymen, and an expedition was fitted out at Sambas to revenge the deed. They marched into the Sarawak territory, and advanced nearly as far as the town of Siniawan, then occupied by Malays, but found a strong stockade built across the path. The Chinese numbered about seven hundred men, while their opponents were at first scarcely twenty, but protected by their position and numerous guns. Confident in their numbers, the assailants rushed to the attack, almost reaching the foot of the defences, but receiving a severe fire from the guns in position, loaded with nails, bits of old iron and shot, they were beaten back. The Malays acknowledge the Chinese kept up the attacks all day; but, after their first repulse, they principally confined themselves to a distant fire, though they occasionally made attempts to turn the position, but were repulsed by the ever-increasing numbers of the Malays.

Towards evening the Chinese withdrew to the banks of the river, and made preparations to pass the night; while the Malays, who had been reinforced by many of their friends, determined to try the effect of a surprise. They were commanded by the gallant patinggi Ali, whose exploits and death are recorded in the _Voyage of the Dido_; and just at sunset they started in their light boats with a gun in each, and pulled with an almost silent stroke towards the Chinese encampment, where they found their enemies cooking rice, smoking opium, or shouting or talking, in fact, making so great a noise as to prevent the possibility of hearing the sound of paddles, cautiously pulled.

When all were ready, patinggi Ali gave the signal to fire, and the next moment they yelled and sprang ashore. The startled Chinese fled, and were pursued relentlessly by the Dayaks, who had come down from the hills to share in the struggle. It is said half the invading force was destroyed, and that the old, dried skulls I had noticed in the Dayak villages were the trophies of the fight.

Being thus exposed to every kind of ill-treatment, it is not surprising that the Chinese did not care to settle in the country; but, after Sir James Brooke was established in Sarawak, they began to increase in numbers, though always inclined to be troublesome. When I arrived, in the year 1848, it was considered there were about six hundred living there, mostly engaged in gold-working, and even these were much inclined to have an _imperium in imperio_, though too weak to carry out their views. They had formed themselves into an association called the Santei Kiu kunsi, or company.

I must notice that these Chinese are not the pure emigrants from China, but the half-breeds, descendants of the early settlers, who obtained Malay and Dayak wives, and are more warlike in their habits than the pure Chinese, and many have much of the activity of the aborigines. Settled in Sambas before the arrival of the Europeans in those seas, they gradually formed self-governing communities among the weak Malay States around, and by intermarriage with the women of the Dayak tribes in their neighbourhood, formed both political and social alliances with them.

It was not to be expected that this state of things could long exist without serious disputes arising with the Malay chiefs; however, they generally managed to prevent a total estrangement; but when backed by the Dutch officials, the Sultan of Sambas endeavoured to coerce them into submission, the Chinese gold-working communities refused to obey, attacked the small force sent against them, captured the forts, and drove the Dutch troops to their steamers, and left in their possession little more than the town of Sambas. This, of course, roused the officials, and a strong expedition was sent from Java, which within a year subdued the refractory Chinese, who, in fact, submitted with very little opposition. But during their success they managed to give Sarawak a considerable lift.

At the mouth of the Sambas river there is a place called Pamañgkat, where several thousand Chinese agriculturists were engaged in raising fine crops of rice. These men had not joined their countrymen in their resistance to the Sambas Government, and were therefore marked out for punishment during their brief success. In their alarm, the Pamañgkat Chinese fled to Sarawak, arriving in great numbers during the year 1850, whilst I was absent with Sir James Brooke on his mission to Siam; some came by sea, others fled overland to Lundu and to the interior.

I found on my return in October, after nearly a year’s absence, that a great change had taken place in the appearance of the town of Kuching: dozens of fresh houses were built and building, while the surrounding forest was falling rapidly before the axes of the fugitives. Many of them had arrived destitute of all property, and I learnt that three hundred and ten families were entirely supported by the food and money furnished by the Sarawak government, besides hundreds of others having received presents of tools and temporary assistance. It was calculated at the time that about three thousand had arrived, many of whom immediately joined the gold-workers in the interior. We found also that the mission school had received a great addition in the form of about twenty remarkably intelligent-looking little boys and girls, whose destitute parents had gladly handed them over to the care of the clergy.

Sir James Brooke, hearing that there was much confusion in the interior, from the numerous freshly-arrived Chinese, and from the Dayaks being alarmed by this sudden influx into their neighbourhood, started with a party to visit it. We soon reached Siniawan, the little Chinese trading town I have previously described, which was but now advancing to importance. We continued our course up the river to Tundong, where there is a ghàt used by the gold-working company to land their supplies. Nearly all the gold that is worked in Borneo is done by kunsis, or companies, which sometimes numbered several thousand men; in fact, they say that at Montrado nearly the whole of its Chinese population and that of the neighbourhood, estimated at 50,000 men, were included in one kunsi. Generally, however, they consisted, as at Sarawak, of a few hundred members, though they might still be in connexion with the parent company. The great influx of Chinese had now, however, swelled the Santei Kiu kunsi to inconvenient dimensions.

At Tundong we found a few store-houses and a very tolerable path leading over to Bau, the principal Chinese settlement. The views on either side of us, as we advanced, were sometimes exceedingly picturesque; for, as we reached the summits of low hills, a fine undulating country was spread out beneath us. The path led through shady forests, then open Dayak clearings, along the sides of hills, and over pretty streams spanned by very primitive bridges.

As we approached the town of Bau we met a band of Chinese musicians who had come forth to greet us, and gun after gun was discharged in honour of the rajah’s visit. Our procession was a very motley one, half a dozen Englishmen, followed by a long line of Malays, Chinese, and Dayaks, marching in Indian procession, some carrying spears, others muskets, or flags.

At last we reached the kunsi’s house, prettily situated in the valley of Bau, which was on two sides flanked by black-looking perpendicular hills. The house itself was a substantial one, built of ironwood posts and good planks, and roofed with excellent ironwood shingles.

I will describe one of their gold-workings. They dammed up the end of the valley at the back of the kunsi’s house, thus forming a large reservoir of water, perhaps a quarter of a mile in length. The dam was very neatly constructed, being completely faced with wood towards the water, and partially on the outside, to enable it to resist the very heavy rains which fall in this country. A ditch, about four feet broad, was cut from the reservoir towards the ground which the overlooker of the company had selected as a spot likely to produce a good yield of gold, and a well-made sluice-gate was constructed in the dam to supply the ditch with as much water as might be required; minor sluice-gates to the main ditch enabled the smaller ones also to receive supplies of water. When this was all prepared, the sluice-gates were opened, and the earth in its neighbourhood thrown into the ditch, and the rushing water carried off the mud and sand and allowed the particles of gold to sink to the bottom. After three or four months they cleaned out the ditch and carefully washed the residue, which generally yielded them sufficient to make a tolerable division among the workmen after all the expenses had been paid.

It is a very wasteful system of working gold; in fact, when we were there, all the women and girls, lately arrived from Sambas, had the privilege given them of washing the earth which had been swept away by the rushing water, and I believe they obtained as much in proportion to the number working as was divided among the men, who had had all the labour of constructing these extensive works. No one has yet taught them deep sinking; in fact, it is to be regretted that none of their countrymen accustomed to the method of procuring this precious metal in our Australian colonies have yet visited Sarawak.

That there is an abundance of gold to be found there I verily believe, and, as an instance, I may notice that in November, 1848, a great landslip took place, and the face of the Trian mountain was laid bare. Some Malays, observing small pieces of gold mixed with the clay, began a strict search, and having great success, the news soon spread, and several thousand people flocked to the spot, where they worked till the heap of earth and stone was cleared away. All had fair success, and we heard of none who got less than an ounce and a half per month. The work lasted above six weeks. I saw one nugget picked up, which weighed about seven ounces.

The influx of the Pamangkat Chinese gave great impetus to the search for the auriferous ore, and new reservoirs, dams, and ditches, were appearing in every direction; but yet the new-comers, being only accustomed to agriculture, did not take very kindly to gold digging. Sir James Brooke was anxious to remove a large body to some district which they could cultivate; but they were too poor to be able to support themselves while waiting for their crops. The gold company was not willing to part with these people, and promised them every assistance if they would stay at Bau.

Nearly all the early efforts to assist these immigrants in developing the agricultural resources of the country had but little success. They commenced rice farms at Si Jinkat on the Muaratabas, and also at the foot of the Santubong hill; but though they were supplied with food and tools by the Sarawak government, they abandoned both attempts, and scattered themselves either among the gold-workers in the interior, or removed to the district of Lundu, where, as I have already mentioned, they made beautiful gardens. It was a matter of regret that they should have abandoned Santubong, as the soil is of a very fine description. I believe the non-success, however, arose from defective management and inefficient superintendence.

Everything appeared to go on very quietly till January 1852, when a fortnight’s continued rain rather injured their reservoirs, and laid the country under water. Such a flood, they say, never before or since came upon them. At Kuching it was necessary in the Chinese town to move from house to house in boats. At Siniawan it rose to so great a height that the inhabitants had to abandon their houses, and an unfortunate Chinese, seeking safety in his garret, was drowned, being unable to force his way through the roof; and up the country we saw afterwards the dried grass left by the stream at least forty feet above the usual level of the river.

In 1853, the gold company gave the government considerable trouble, and had to be curbed by a great display of armed force; but they submitted without any necessity of proceeding to extremities. The case was this: the government had issued an order to the company that they should not make any fresh reservoirs or gold-workings among the Dayak lands without obtaining permission from the authorities, as on several occasions quarrels had arisen between them and the neighbouring tribes, on account of their taking possession of the best farming ground in the country.

The Pamangkat Chinese were never quite satisfied with their position as gold-workers, and constantly made applications to the government for assistance in order to recommence their old style of living as rice cultivators. At last they fixed on a good spot, and food and rice were supplied to several hundreds. This well-managed movement might have been increased to any extent, as all the late immigrants preferred a quiet rural life; and by the commencement of 1856 nearly five hundred were established at a place called Sungei Tañgah, about six miles above the town.

I may observe that during the four previous years the Dutch had kept the Chinese within the boundary of their settlements in very strict order; but, in 1856, some dispute taking place, a Dutch officer and a party of troops were cut off by the workmen of the Lumar kunsi, one of the large gold companies, about three hundred of whom escaped over the borders into the Sarawak territories, while the rest were captured, and many suffered condign punishment for their crime.

I will notice here a regulation which obtains in the Dutch territories of Sambas and the other border states, which is so illiberal that I can scarcely believe it to be authorized by any of the superior authorities, but must be the work of a very narrow-minded local official. No Chinese, whether man, woman, or child, can leave the Dutch territories without first paying a fine of 6_l._; so that as very few workmen can save that amount they are practically condemned to remain there all their lives, unless they can evade the blockade kept upon them, thus running the risk of the cat-o’nine-tails, a fine, and imprisonment. The reason for this regulation is that no Chinese in Borneo would willingly remain under Dutch rule who could possibly escape from it; and if liberty were given to them to leave the country, nearly every man would abandon it. Therefore, gunboats watch the coast, and on the frontiers soldiers, Malays, and Dayaks, are ordered to stop any Chinese who may attempt to escape from the Dutch territories.

In the spring of 1856, I made a tour through the Chinese settlements established in Sarawak, commencing with the rice plantations and vegetable gardens established at Sungei Tañgah. I have never seen in Borneo anything more pleasing to my eye than the extensive cultivated fields which spread out around the scattered Chinese houses, each closely surrounded by beds of esculent plants growing in a most luxuriant manner.

Every day appeared to be adding to the area of cultivation; because, as the agriculturists became more wealthy, they invited the poorer gold-workers to join them, and were thus enabled to employ many labourers. Already the effect of this increase of produce was perceptible on prices, so that vegetables, fowls, and ducks, were beginning to be bought at reasonable rates. On the other side, the right-hand bank of the river, near the little mount of Stapok, about forty Chinese had commenced gardens without any assistance from Government, and appeared to be very prosperous. To this spot a road had been cut through the forest from the town, which afterwards became memorable in Sarawak annals. Altogether, as I have before observed, there were about five hundred people assembled here engaged in a war against the jungle.

Continuing our course towards the interior, we met with no Chinese houses until we reached the village of Siniawan, at that time governed by the guns of the little fort of Biledah, admirably situated on a high point jutting into the river, and on the same spot where the Sarawak Malays during the civil wars had their strongest stockade. The town was remarkably flourishing, and we here heard a confirmation of the reports that a great many Chinese were arriving from Sambas. As we were anxious to be thoroughly acquainted with the actual condition of the gold-working population, we determined to walk across from Siniawan to the head-quarters of the gold company at Bau. The paths were in very good condition, quite suited for riding over, except when we reached the bridges thrown across the deep gullies which intersect the country.

From Siniawan all the way to Bau, a distance of ten miles, there was a constant succession of reservoirs and gold-workings; and judging from the new houses springing up in every direction, we felt sure the population was increasing. About a third of the way along the road, a branch path led to a place called by the Chinese “Shaksan,” where there was an excellent hot spring, over which Mr. Ruppell had built a little house. We diverged to this spot to indulge in the unusual sensation of a hot bath, and found the temperature of the water so warm that it was almost unbearable; but for any one suffering from rheumatism it would be excellent. We noticed in the neighbourhood many limestone rocks water-worn into fantastic shapes, exactly similar to those I subsequently observed near the base of the mountain of Molu.

There are near the main path some large reservoirs in which very fine fish are found, and the road being led along the banks, or over the broad dams, it was very picturesque, particularly near the limestone hills of Piat, where we found a large party of Malays seeking gold in the quartz which lines the crevices and the caves of these hills. A very pretty specimen was shown us with the particles of gold sparkling as if imbedded in crystal.

As it was my companion’s duty to inspect all the stations, we diverged to the right to visit the antimony mines of Busu. We found there upwards of fifty Chinese apparently working at the rock on the steep face of a hill, burrowing here and there in the limestone. The rocks were very much like those of the mountain of Molu, and climbing over their sharp surface into little out-of-the-way corners, we found two or three Chinese scattered here and there, picking out lumps of antimony from the crevices of the limestone, or perfectly imbedded in it, and requiring much labour to procure.

These are not really mines--no vein is found, but merely lumps of ore scattered in every direction.

Just at the foot of the hill in the forest we came upon two Malays who had just discovered a lump of antimony weighing several tons which was but a few feet below the surface, and having cleared away the superincumbent earth, were now covering it over with dry wood, in order to split the metal, by first raising the temperature by fire, and then suddenly reducing it by water.

Near Bau the reservoirs increased in number and extent, while the population became more numerous, and as at each Chinese house there were several ferocious dogs kept, it was necessary to be perpetually on one’s guard. The town of Bau was much more extensive than I could have supposed; I counted above one hundred shops, and there were many houses besides.

Our attention was particularly drawn to one long, enclosed shed, filled with Chinese, who evidently, from their appearance and conduct, were strangers. On arriving at the gold company’s house, we made inquiries respecting these late arrivals, and the principal people positively denied any had reached Bau, which was evidently untrue. These kunsis are regular republics, governed by officers selected by the multitude: a common workman may suddenly be elevated to be their leader. They generally choose well, and look chiefly to the business character of the man put up for their selection.

Though, perhaps, gold-working pays on the whole more than other labour, the men are kept so very hard at work that the ranks are not easily filled; yet they are allowed five meals a day, with as much rice as they can eat, a good supply of salt fish and pork, and tea always ready. At their meals the Chinese are very fond of drinking their weak arrack, or samshu, raw, but as nearly approaching a boiling state as the lips can endure.

Our tour then led us to the neighbourhood of the antimony mines of Bidi, where the Bornean company are at present working that metal with success.

The country here is very picturesque: fine open valleys bordered by almost perpendicular limestone hills, and with an admirable soil. Occasionally the whole length of a precipice is undermined, forming extensive open caves, with huge stalactites hanging down at the extreme edge, giving a beautiful yet fantastic appearance to these natural dwellings.

We spent a night at a village of the Sau Dayaks, whose long dwelling was built on a steep hill on the banks of the Sarawak river; and from thence on nearly to the borders of the Sarawak territory, was an admirable path constructed by the Chinese to facilitate their intercourse with Sambas, but unfortunately for travellers, they had not completed it to Bau.

A four hours’ walk brought us to the last Chinese station, which was evidently more intended as a resting place for wayfarers than because its inhabitants were actually much engaged in gold-working there. We ascended the hills to the village of the Gombang Dayaks, and heard that a continual stream of small parties of Chinese was constantly passing within sight of their village. So there was little doubt that the Chinese population was increasing.

From all the inquiries we made as to the numbers engaged directly and indirectly in gold-working, we considered there were nearly three thousand living between the town of Siniawan and the border. There were about five hundred agriculturists in Suñgei Tuñgah and its neighbourhood, and perhaps eight hundred in the town of Kuching, the sago manufactories, and the surrounding gardens; but these were soon after recruited by the three hundred fugitives from Sambas, to whom I have before referred; so that the Chinese population of Sarawak amounted to above four thousand five hundred before they rose in insurrection, and while seeking to overthrow the government, ruined themselves.

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