HISTORY OF BORNEO 25 



their oppressors. Under the nominal authority of 

 the Sultan, these Bruni nobles, many of whom were 

 of Arab descent, had brought all the north-western 

 part of Borneo to a state of chronic rebellion. They 

 had taught the Sea Dayaks of the Batang Lupar and 

 neighbouring rivers to join them in their piratical 

 excursions, and, being to some extent dependent 

 upon their aid, were compelled to treat them with 

 some consideration ; but all other communities were 

 treated by them with a rapacity and cruelty which 

 was causing a rapid depopulation and the return to 

 jungle of much cultivated land. 



Brooke sailed for Sarawak in August 1839, and 

 found the country torn by internal conflicts. The 

 Sultan had recently sent Muda Hasim, his uncle 

 and heir-presumptive to the throne of Bruni, to 

 restore order ; but this weak though amiable noble 

 had found himself quite incapable of coping with 

 the situation. Brooke spent some time surveying 

 the coast and studying the people and country, and 

 gained the confidence of Muda Hasim. After an 

 excursion to Celebes, Brooke sailed for a second 

 visit to Sarawak just a year after the first, and 

 found the state of the country going from bad to 

 worse. Muda Hasim besought him to take com- 

 mand of his forces and to suppress the rebellion. 

 Brooke consented, and soon secured the submission 

 of the rebel leaders on the condition that he 

 (Brooke), and not any Bruni noble, should be the 

 governor and Rajah of Sarawak. Muda Hasim had 

 offered to secure his appointment to this office as 

 an inducement to him to undertake the operations 

 against the rebels; Brooke therefore felt himself justi- 

 fied in granting these terms. And when later Muda 

 Hasim, no longer threatened with disgrace and 

 failure, showed himself disinclined to carry out this 

 arrangement, Brooke, feeling himself bound by his 

 agreement with the rebel leaders, whose lives he 



