BRITISH NORTH BORNEO.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2471, 8 April 1909, Page 2

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO.

A LAND OF ETERNAL SUMMER

(By Orlando H. Baker, American

Consul.)

This is a country under the protection of England where, as in Australia, the people speak of England as “home.”/ Borneo is the second island in size in the world, the southern part, of which (more than three-fourths of the whole) is under the control of Holland, and is rich in gold mines, precious stbnes, and petroleum; the trade of which, as of Sumatra and Java is controlled by the Netherlands Government. As yet, British North Borneo can boast of none of these sources of wealth. • North and west of the Dutch possessions, bordering on the sea, lies Sarawak, the kinddom of Rajah Brooke, ruling'under English protection. Sir James Brooke, ttajah (Malay'forking), -acquired the territory from the Sultans, then ruling the wild natives; in 1841, and broko up piracy on that coast. . , ... • ; v . I . As my letter is to be concerning British North Borneo,. I cannot stop to describe Sarawak. ' Bordering on Sarawak, Dutch Borneo, and the. Sulu sea, lie the possessions of the British. North, Borneo. Company, reaching from .the fourth degree of north latitude to the seventh, covering--31,000 square miles of territory; mountainous, containing the highest mountain of Borneo (13,698 feet); grand, forests, with numerous rivers, jnavigable for small boats, and inhabited by from 150,000 to 200,000 semi-civilised yellow people, of supposed Malay origin. By the way, ; the first Rajah of North Borneo was an American named Tarry, who, by purchase, had obtained a claim to the territory from a _ Consul of the United States at Brunei, who has . acquired it from the Sultan.. The Consul’s name was Moses. Mr Torry sold his claim to the English syndicate. • The English began de novo negotiations with the Sultans, and by them a tribute of about £2332 annually,: became absolute owners of the land, with the royal right to govern the inhabitants. > . - ■

A royal charter was granted the company in 1881, since which time the company has governed the. country through the officials appointed by the Court of Directors—seven members—a close corporation—office in 37 Threadneedlestreet, London. Sandakan is the capital, situated on a fine bay of the same nme, 8000 to-10,-000 Asiatics, and from 50 to 60 Europeans. The white inhabitants consist of the employees of the Government and the heads of the two mercantile companies. Asiatics fill all subordinate clerkships in the Government offices and the European firms. There is a force of 600 men in the constabulary, all Asiatics except the chief officers, with no hope or even a wish to make Borneo a “white man’s country.” The retail merchants, the artisans, the fishermen, the gardeners, and the proprietors of the-pawnshops and the gambling-houses, are all Asiatics speaking the Chinese or Malay languages. Government white employees are mostly young, unmarried men from ‘London, of good-families, well educated, and typical Englishmen; as also are the employees of the English importing firm. ’

They have a club-house, tennis, and cricket grounds (where they meet for recreation); there are also a few Germaris'diere, who join heartily in the son cial life of the place.: The. Governor and his lady, are people of high character and exemplary habits. They come on. contract to remain five years. Sandakan is a city set on more than “seven hills,” and is picturesque in the extreme. Almost every house commands a beautiful view of the hay and the small islands rising like emeralds out of the water. There is a deep gorge cutting the site into about equal parts, with hills, on either side —almost mountains. Winding along this gorge, under, the hills,"at a gentle elevation, is the fine road leading from the wharf and business part of the town to the Governor's residence. The road, covered with metal and. sand, is kept smooth with a great iron roller, drawn constantly! by four buffalos. Branch roads go off this around the hills, all kept in good order. This can be said , only of the roads in the -town. A short distance out they become muddy footpaths. Borneo'is noted for its lack of ro.ads. Rivers take the place of roads. The conveyances are mostly twq--wheeled; dog-carts, drawn each by a small pony, owned privately; there is no livery; stable or any place where a conveyance can.be hired. If you do not possess a cart you must walk. A few people keep Sedan chairs or -jinrikshas. Occasionally a lady and gentleman arc seen early in the morning or late in the afternoon riding on horseback. Motorcars have not yet invaded North Borneo. To meet conditions, the niotor would need to be a climber. Traffic, for the most part, is done by coolies, who carry their loads swung on bamboo poles. There are a few two-wheeled carts of primitive, construction; most are for a single buffalo. Some of the carts are roofed for protection from sun and rain. ' , , The , vegetable gardens are hidden back among tlie hills, being cultivated by a tribe of Chinese called ‘Hakkas. The women carry the vegetables m baskets attached to a bamboo pole, to market from one to three miles. Besides the. baskets, the woman will sometimes have a babe on her back, some*, times she has the babe in one or the baskets to balance the vegetables ■ m-the other. . . - These women are small, straight, and /walk rapidly . with their loads. : There are .hundreds of them on the march down the main road every morning at daylight. Sometimes a man is seen walking . with them carrying a load, but more ‘often-without. From the broken character of the ground on which the' 1 town is built, drainage is about perfect and rapid. Consequently the. place has very little sickness.. Bordering the 1 shores of the hay, there is a narrow flat space on which the Chines© quarters are located, and on which the greater part;ol the population is crowded together. The houses are two stories, lower story for shops, and'the upper for dwellings. The Chinese seem to defy all sanitary-laws .and it is a wonder that sonie pestilence does not sweep them .-of!/ but tlie; plague and cliolera are unkn own. The. feve rs that are treated in the Sandakan hospital have generally been contracted on the tobacco and rubber estates in the “jungle.;” All. reports as to deadly fevers, and other dreadful, diseases, dangerous reptiles, terrific storms, and out-, rages by natives are exaggerated and false, and are spread by ignorant .per-: s.j-h .o u.tcni.-li the::- auditors, and appear wise. People some-

times die from hardships and exjiosure hero, as they do in all parts of the world.

A very small part of the 31,000' miles has been alienated. There aro ten tobacco companies, six rubber plantations, each having several estates. There are also two coffee companies. The cultivation of coffee has not been a success. The total number of hands employed in these and other in 1907 was 10,467-, mostly indentured Chinese coolies.Coal is mined on the island of Labaun, off the west coast of North Borneo, and on the oast coast, near the Dutch possessions, at Cowie Harbor. The coal from Cowie Harbor is brought to Sandakan in lighters, and stored at the wharves to supply steamers calling here. Total amount mined in 1907 was 9259'tons,'employing seven white men and 563 coolies. As is seen, coolies do all the manual labor. .Steamers make fortnightly trips from Sandakan to Hongkong,'loaded with Borneo timber, and ; planks sawn at the two Sandakan mills. Heavy-forests border the rivers entering the Sandakan Bay whence come the logs. . , • { • •, r; s ln these* forests roam elephants, rhinoceros,, wild dogs, deer, and other animals. Monkeys and oiirang-utans play in the tree tops. These animals sometimes invade the tobacco,fields and ■ rubber estates, damaging' the plants. Crocodiles ana; sharks also- abound. I cannot dwell on the wonders of these forests, nor describe: how the natives subsist, their habits, and customs. Wars among the tribes and “head-hunting-no longer exist. There is a. fine field among them for the missionary, only partly occupied; • ' ; - The Government operates telegraph and telephone lines-—B6O miles—which, connect with ocean cable to all parts of the world. ' ' r ; y

The' post-office, system consists of ten post - offices, most of which; are also reached by telegraph. About 120 miles of railway is in operation on the west coast, none from Sandakan.

It is one eternal summer, with nearly always a pleasant breeze. Vegetation never ceases growing, and fruits are always ripening on the trees. This is the rainy season: now the rains come down in thick mist as if the clou3s themselves had settled; now in floods that make roaring waterfalls all the hill sides.

We often wish some of it could be passed over to the interior of Australia. From 10 a.m. to .4 p.m., when the sky is clear, the heat in the open is not so hot as it appears, but produces a peculiar effect on those not acclimatised, a dizziness, sometimes severe head pains. Even in the house, one. has a feeling of weariness. The mornings and nights are simply glorious; no dust, no flies, and but few mosquitoes, That you may. see how we are situated, I give distances to principal places from Sandakan-:—Manila, 660 miles; Singapore, 1000 miles; Hongkong, 1200 miles; the nearest Philippine Islands are but a few hours’ sailing, and we are often visited by the island revenue cutters looking after smugglers.