BOENEO 259 



more intolerable extortion, on the part of tlie orang hayas, 

 until they have ended in revolt. Of the ultimate ifate 

 of this corrupt and ill-governed state there can be no 

 doubt. Brunei is destined before very long to become 

 incorporated with one or other of the European colonies 

 by which she is hemmed in. It may be said that the 

 large annual payments made in consideration of land 

 grants by the Eaja of Sarawak and the British North 

 Borneo Company have alone enabled her to preserve her 

 autonomy so long. 



Sarawak. 



The territory of Sarawak, on the north-western coast 

 of Borneo, is in many respects one of the most interest- 

 ing spots in the wliole vast extent of the tropical world, 

 for here an English gentleman rules as absolute monarch 

 over a considerable population of Malays and Dyaks, to 

 the complete satisfaction and contentment of both. The 

 Eriglish rule has now lasted fifty years, and appears 

 to be firmly established. It has withstood the early 

 machinations of discontented Malay chiefs, an insurrection 

 of Chinese miners, and the death of its founder ; but, as 

 it has not relied for support upon either force or fraud, 

 but has always existed for the well-being and through 

 the goodwill of the people governed, it has taken firm 

 root in the soil, and seems likely to endure for many 

 generations, if the wise policy of its founder continues 

 to be the guiding star of his successors. From the 

 career of Sir James Brooke, Eaja of Sarawak, lessons of 

 inestimable value in the management of a colony of 

 uncivilised Asiatics may be learnt. 



Early in 1839, Mr. Brooke reached Sarawak in a 

 vessel of his own, and finding the country in a state of 



