WCP361

[1] [p. 59]¹

TO HIS MOTHER

Sarawak. Christmas Day, 1855.

My dear Mother,— You will see I am spending a second Christmas Day with the Rajah².... I have lived a month with the Dyaks and have been a journey about sixty miles into the interior. I have been very much pleased with the Dyaks. They are a very kind, simple and hospitable people, and I do not wonder at the great interest Sir J[ames]. Brooke takes in them. They are more communicative and lively than the American Indians, and it is therefore more agreeable to live with them. In moral character they are far superior to either Malays or Chinese, for though head-taking has been a custom among them it is only as a trophy of war. In their own villages crimes are very rare. Ever since Sir J[ames]. has been here, more than twelve years, in a large population there has been but one case of murder in a Dyak tribe, and that one was committed by a stranger who had been adopted into the tribe. One wet day I got a piece of string to show them how to play "scratch cradle," and was quite astonished to find that they knew it better than I did and could make all sorts of new figures I had never seen. They were also very clever with tricks with string on their fingers, which seemed to be a favourite amusement. Many of the distant tribes think the Rajah cannot be a man. They ask all sorts of curious questions about him, whether he is not as old as the mountains, whether he cannot bring the dead to life, and I have no doubt for many years after his death he will be looked upon as a deity and expected to come back again. I have now seen a good deal of Sir James, and the more I see of him the more I admire him. With the highest talents for government he combines the greatest goodness of heart and gentleness of manner. At the same time he has such confidence and determination, that he has put down with the [2]³greatest ease some conspiracies of one or two Malay chiefs against him. It is a unique case in the history of the world, for a European gentleman to rule over two conflicting races of semi-savages with their own consent, without any means of coercion, and depending solely upon them for protection and support, and at the same time to introduce the benefits of civilisation and check all crime and semi-barbarous practices. Under his government, "running amuck," so frequent in all other Malay countries, has never taken place, and with a population of 30,000 Malays, all of whom carry their "creese" [Malay: kris] and revenge an insult by a stab, murders do not occur more than once in five or six years.

The people are never taxed but with their own consent, and Sir J[ames].'s private fortune has been spent in the government and improvement of the country; yet this is the man who has been accused of injuring other parties for his own private interests, and of wholesale murder and butchery to secure his government!... — Your ever affectionate son,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

"I have now lived a month in a Dyak's house, and spent a day or two in several others, and I have been very much pleased with them. They are a very kind, simple, hospitable people, and I do not wonder at the great interest Sir James Brooke¹ takes in them. They are more communicative and more cheerful than the American Indians, and it is therefore more agreeable to live with them. In moral character they are far superior to either the Malays or the Chinese, for though head-taking was long a custom among them, it was only as a trophy of war. In their own villages crimes are very rare. Ever since Sir James Brooke has been rajah, more than twelve years, there has only been one case of murder in a Dyak tribe, and that was committed by a stranger who had been adopted into the tribe. One wet day I produced a piece of string to show them how to play 'cat’s cradle,' and was quite astonished to find that they knew it much better than I did, and could make all sorts of new figures I had never seen. They were also very clever at tricks with string on their fingers, which seemed to be a favourite amusement. Many of the remoter tribes think the rajah cannot be a man. They ask all sorts of curious questions about him — Whether he is not as old as the mountains; whether [2] [p. 182]² he cannot bring the dead to life; and I have no doubt, for many years after his death, he will be held to be a deity and expected to come back again.

"I have now seen a good deal of Sir James, and the more I see of him the more I admire him. With the highest talents for government he combines in a high degree goodness of heart and gentleness of manner. At the same time, he has so much self-confidence and determination that he has put down with the greatest ease the conspiracies of one or two of the Malay chiefs against him. It is a unique case in the history of the world for a private English gentleman to rule over two conflicting races — a superior and an inferior — with their own consent, without any means of coercion, but depending solely upon them both for protection and support, while at the same time he introduces some of the best customs of civilization, and checks all crimes and barbarous practices that before prevailed. Under his government 'running-a-muck,' so frequent in other Malay countries, has never taken place, and in a population of about 30,000 Malays, almost all of whom carry their kris, and were accustomed to revenge an insult with a stab, murders only occur once in several years. The people are never taxed except with their own consent, and in the manner most congenial to them, while almost the whole of the rajah’s private fortune has been spent in the improvement of the country or for its benefit. Yet this is the man who has been accused in England of wholesale murder and butchery of unoffending tribes to secure his own power!"