VI.] THE SULTAN OF BRUNEI. 129 



We entered the palace and were shown into the audience 

 chamber. Happy is it for Mrs. Loftie that fate has never led her 

 to Brunei. The room was a poor, whitewashed apartment some- 

 what like a church, with a sloping roof and two side aisles. At the 

 farther end was a triptych -shaped door opening into a small 

 chamber which contained the throne — a piece of furniture composed 

 of an arm-chair mounted on a carved and gilded sofa. We were 

 given seats in the nave, and had time to take stock of our 

 surroundings before the Sultan appeared. There were two rough 

 tables covered with red tablecloths. The leg of one of them had 

 been knocked off, and its place was supplied by a piece of rough 

 planking. Two strips of dirty stair-carpet covered the floor, 

 flanked by two other strips of kamptulicon. On the walls the 

 only decorations were eight dilapidated old mirrors which had once 

 been gilt. 



In a few minutes the Sultan made his appearance, and we 

 were struck at once by his likeness to Pio Nono, which has been 

 remarked by former travellers. He entered half pushed, half 

 supported by his attendants, and after shaking hands with us, was 

 hoisted on to his throne, where he sat pufiing away at his roko. 

 He was little better than an imbecile, and was evidently unable to 

 realise our visit or to understand what was going on, and in a 

 short time he was shuffled off again on the plea of a bad headache. 

 Few of us look forward to becoming a bridegroom at the age of 

 ninety-eight, yet we were told that barely a fortnight previously 

 he had married a girl of fifteen. 



Some disturbances had been anticipated upon the death of the 

 Sultan, more especially between the Pangerang Anak Besar — a 

 well-known character in the court at Brunei — and the Datu 

 Tumonggong, who was the rightful heir according to Bornean law ; 

 but happily these anticipations have since proved incorrect. We 

 could not help pitying the poor old Sultan, who, if he had any 

 capability for reflection left, must have sighed over the gradual 

 absorption of his kingdom. On the one side the North Borneo 

 VOL. II. K 



