The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

72 THE JIALAY ARCHIPELAC40. [chap.been overcome by the support of the native population, andnotwithstanding financial, political, and domestic troubles—isdue, I believe, solely to the many admirable qualities which tSirJames Brooke possessed, and esi^ecially to his having convincedthe native poi^ulation, by every action of his life, that he ruledthem, not for his own advantage, but for their good.Since these lines were written, his noble spirit has passedaway. But though, by those who knew him not, he may besneered at as an enthusiastic adventurer, or abused as a hardhearteddespot, the universal testimony of every one who camein contact with him in his adopted country, whether European,Malay, or Dyak, will be, that Rajah Brooke was a great, a wise,and a good ruler—a true and faithful friend—a man to be admiredfor his talents, respected for his honesty and courage, andloved for his genuine hospitality, his kindness of disposition,and his tenderness of heart.^CHAPTEPt VII.iI SPENT three months and a half in Java, from July 18th toOctober 31st, 1861, and shall briefly describe my own movements,and my observations on the people and the natural history ofthe country. To all those who wish to understand how theDutch now govern Java, and how it is that they are enabled toderive a large annual revenue from it, while the population increases,and the inhabitants are contented, I recommend thestudy of Mr. Money's excellent and interesting work, How toManage a Colony. The main facts and conclusions of that workI most heartily concur in, and I believe that the Dutch systemis the very best that can be adopted, when a European nationconquers or otherwise acquires possession of a country inhabitedby an industrious but semi-barbarous people. In my accountof Noiiihern Celebes, I shall show how successfully the .samesystem has been applied to a people in a very different state ofcivilization from the Javanese ; and in the meanwhile will statein the fewest words possible what that system is.The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain thewhole series of native rulers, fi'om the village chief up to princes,who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districtsabout the size of a small English county. With each Regent is1 The present Rajah, Charles Johnson Brooke, nephew of Sir James, seems to havecontinued tlie government in tlie spirit of its founder. Its territories have been extendedhy friendly aiTangement with the Sultan of Bruni so as to include the larger part of thenorth-west district of Borneo, and peace and prosperity have everywhere been maintained.Fifty years of government of alien and antagonistic races, with their ownconsent, and with the continued support of the native chiefs, is a success of which thefriends and countrymen of Sir James Brooke may well be proud.