Trade and Travel in the Far East Part 11

MEMORANDUM ON BORNEO, AND MR. BROOK'S SETTLEMENT ON THAT ISLAND.

Mr. Brook has no warmer admirer than myself; and I trust the territory of Sarawak, which has been ceded to him by the Sultan of Borneo, will eventually become a flourishing British Colony.

The Government of this country cannot but be fully alive to the value of such a point on the north-west coast of Borneo with reference to the protection and security of the vast trade carried on by British subjects to and from China; not to mention the great intrinsic advantages of an establishment on one of the largest and most valuable islands in the world. Little or nothing is yet known of the interior of this vast country; but what we do know already with regard to several portions of its coast must lead us to the conclusion that it will one day become of infinite importance in a political as well as commercial point of view.

There is reason to believe that it contains the most rich, varied, and extensive mineral deposits, and is capable of producing, in the greatest abundance, every variety of tropical production, including some that appear to be peculiar to its soil and climate. Protection from the complicated evils of piracy and oppression is alone wanting in order to stimulate the growth and industry of the population, and to give a new aspect to the face of this fertile region. The very fact of a British Settlement being established would exercise a most powerful influence in bringing together all the elements of a rapid civilization amongst a people at present the prey of ignorance, superst.i.tion, and oppression.

Considering the smallness of the means at his disposal Mr. Brook has already done much: the seeds have been sown, and, up to a point, nourished by the force of his character; for their further development the influence of the British Government unreservedly exercised, but with due caution, is alone required.

As one of the very best means of defence against riot or disturbance in a country like Sarawak, whether held by Queen Victoria or by my friend Brook, I would recommend the raising of a corps of Hill Rangers, to be composed of 400 or 500 natives of the country, in their native dress; distinguished from their countrymen simply by a belt thrown over the shoulder, with S. H. R.[30] on a bra.s.s plate in the middle of it, and a small sword by their side; the whole under a European captain, four lieutenants, and a dozen native _jimedars_. Ten guilders per month, allowed as pay to each man, would secure the choice of the population; and no force would equal them for the maintenance of peace in such a country. Sir Stamford Raffles tried a similar plan at Bencoolen, and found it answer admirably. I need say no more in its favour. No better man exists for raising and organizing such a corps, than Mr. Brook himself: witness his performances of a similar nature during the Burmese war. These Hill Rangers must be divided into companies, and should be stationed at convenient places throughout the country, to keep their eyes on evil-doers, and to act as police-men more than as soldiers.

Their captain must be _locomotive_, and superintend the whole corps.

[Footnote 30: _i. e._ Sarawak Hill Rangers.]

I will now proceed to state my ideas as to the way in which Mr. Brook can most profitably avail himself of the extensive territory of Sarawak.

In the first place, he must have the whole District competently and correctly surveyed, and laid out in portions (not of square miles, New-South-Wales fashion, without any regard to natural boundaries, but) of different sizes according to the topographical features of the country. On the completion of this survey, the plan or map should be lithographed, to exhibit to parties intending to purchase or hold land.

Mr. Brook should then publish in India his intentions, giving a sketch of the facilities he can offer, of the capabilities of the country, &c.

&c. &c. Tenants will not suit him, in my opinion, so well as purchasers.

The possession will be too unwieldy for him to hold, even as landlord: I speak from my experience in Java. The purchasers he wants, are men of capital, say from 5000l. to 10,000l. each, to whom he must give credit for the land, and leave them unhampered to carry on their operations.

All lands fit for the growth of coffee or sugar must be worked by these capitalists on their own account: they must send to Java for experienced overseers, (Europeans,) to conduct the works; and to Bally, Lombok, or the Coromandel coast, for labourers. The natives of the former two are preferable, but, I fear, could not be obtained in sufficient numbers.

Not a China-man should be employed on an estate of mine as a field-labourer, though the Chinese answer remarkably well, _under Europeans_, in sugar-mills. An experienced overseer from Java will point out to them the best lands for coffee and sugar, and the best modes of planting and rearing both. It is also a very good plan, to contract with a party to grow the cane, (the proprietor helping him with small advances,) which the landlord engages to take at so much per thousand when ripe, to be delivered at the mill door. The grower, in such cases, is generally a poor man, and require aid for the first year, to buy buffaloes, ploughs, and provisions. In Java, nine-tenths of the cane are produced in this way; and the landlord saves both risk and trouble by it. No cane, no pay, is the rule there; so that, although the mill-owner may lose his time in a bad season, he sacrifices no outlay. The Chinese cannot be trusted to _manufacture_ the sugar: they are conceited bunglers at that work, as stubborn as mules, and use too much lime, in spite of all one can say or do to prevent it. Coffee may also be planted by contract; though, in Java, where men can be got for three guilders per month and their rice, worth two guilders more, the plan is not generally adopted.

A party purchasing land, ought to have it selected so as to have portions of it fit for coffee, sugar, and rice, and to try all three. In rice-cultivation, a different plan, however, must be pursued. In Java, a proprietor of rice-land encourages as many people to sit down on his property as he can possibly obtain; charges them no rent in money, but helps them each to build a hut; lends them money to buy two buffaloes; and gives them rations of rice and salt for the first twelve months; taking care, in the meantime, that the man, his wife, and his children are as busy as bees, planting and looking after a few rice-fields,--the more the better; seeing also, that the family do a fair day's work, and as much as they are well able to perform. From these fields, when harvest arrives, the squatter will pay his rent. And then is the time that the European overseer and his deputies require to have their eyes open, in order to see that fair play is dealt to the proprietor, who is ent.i.tled to one-fourth of the crop, by way of rent, delivered in bundles of paddy, at his barn-door, by the grower. The reaping and binding must be watched, and the bundles be counted on the field; otherwise the grower will, probably, carry more than his share to his own barn, in place of his master's. Now is the time, also, if the season has been a favourable one, to make the squatter pay off the whole, or a portion of his debt, for the advance made to him early in the year. If he gets well through the first year, he will, in all probability, take a liking to the place, and fix himself there for good. One of the very best plans for attaching Javanese to their residence on an estate, is, to see that lots of cocoa-nut and betel-nut trees are planted in every desirable locality. With half a dozen cocoa-nut trees, even in a bad season, a native family will manage tolerably well; and in all my wanderings among the Malayan islands, I never came to a place where even a single cocoa-nut was not current, like money, for its full value in rice.

Another great advantage arising to the proprietor from rice-grounds well-occupied, is, that he is ent.i.tled, by immemorial custom, to the labour of every male on the estate one day in seven, in virtue of a sort of feudal law. A friend of mine in Java, on whose estate were fifteen thousand adults, seven thousand of whom were males, had thus the command of the labour of one thousand men per day _free_. On a new estate, these are the men to clear jungle, to make roads, to trim coffee-trees, and to take a turn with a hoe among the sugar-canes, when the hired labourers are busy at crop time, or when, from any other cause, labour may be scarce.

Mr. Brook must take things leisurely. Let one capitalist be established with a fair prospect, and he will soon be followed by dozens, who will gradually creep into the forests, and make the place a second Java.

Before these capitalists make their appearance, however, he must, by every means in his power, encourage squatters, and get them to work on patches of rice-land, here and there. Let him but treat those men kindly, help them through the first year, and set them fairly on their legs; they will then never leave the place.

Touching the diamond and gold mines which Mr. Brook wants to work, I hardly know what to advise, but think that his best plan would be, to get my friend Tok Sing, or some other wealthy China-man in Singapore, to procure him "head men," whom he would _secure_, _i. e._ bind himself to make good any thing lost or stolen by them. This, of course, he would not do gratis; but his guarantee in such an undertaking would be invaluable: his wealth is very considerable, while his name and influence would be beyond calculation useful.

Over every thing, Mr. Brook must himself keep a watchful eye; and, above all things, he must keep the peace. He must not attempt too much at first; but must raise his Rangers as they may be required; and, with his talent for such operations, a moderate share of patience and perseverance, and sufficient capital, all will go well, and he will meet with the complete success that he so richly merits.

THE END.