The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

HISTORY OF BORNEO 25
their oppressors. Under the nominal authority of
the Sultan, these Bruni nobles, many of whom were
of Arab descent, had brought all the north-western
part of Borneo to a state of chronic rebellion. They
had taught the Sea Dayaks of the Batang Lupar and
neighbouring rivers to join them in their piratical
excursions, and, being to some extent dependent
upon their aid, were compelled to treat them with
but all other communities were
some consideration ;
treated by them with a rapacity and cruelty which
was causing a rapid depopulation and the return to
jungle of much cultivated land.
Brooke sailed for Sarawak in August 1839, and
found the country torn by internal conflicts. The
Sultan had recently sent Muda Hasim, his uncle
and heir-presumptive to the throne of Bruni, to
restore order ; but this weak though amiable noble
had found himself quite incapable of coping with
the situation. Brooke spent some time surveying
the coast and studying the people and country, and
gained the confidence of Muda Hasim. After an
excursion to Celebes, Brooke sailed for a second
visit to Sarawak just a year after the first, and
found the state of the country going from bad to
worse. Muda Hasim besought him to take command
of his forces and to suppress the rebellion.
Brooke consented, and soon secured the submission
of the rebel leaders on the condition that he
(Brooke), and not any Bruni noble, should be the
governor and Rajah of Sarawak. Muda Hasim had
offered to secure his appointment to this office as
an inducement to him to undertake the operations
against the rebels; Brooke therefore felt himself justified
in granting these terms. And when later Muda
Hasim, no longer threatened with disgrace and
failure, showed himself disinclined to carry out this
arrangement, Brooke, feeling himself bound by his
agreement with the rebel leaders, whose lives he