X WAR 183 



have seldom given trouble, after once placing 

 themselves under the established governments. In 

 the Baram river, in which the Kayans form prob- 

 ably a larger proportion of the population than in 

 any other, no such expedition against them has 

 been necessary since they accepted the government 

 of H.H. the Rajah of Sarawak nearly twenty-five 

 years ago. 



In organising such an expedition, the European 

 governments, especially that of Sarawak, have 

 usually relied in the main on the services of loyal 

 chiefs and their followers, acting under the control 

 of a European magistrate, and supported usually by 

 a small body of native police or soldiers armed with 

 rifles. There is usually no difficulty in securing 

 the co-operation of any desired number of native 

 allies or volunteers ; for in this way alone can the 

 people now find a legitimate outlet for their innate 

 and traditional pugnacity. Sometimes the people 

 to be punished desert their village, hiding them- 

 selves in the jungle ; and in such cases the burning 

 of their houses is usually deemed sufficient punish- 

 ment. In cases of more serious crime, such as 

 repeated wanton bloodshed and refusal to yield to 

 the demands of the government, it becomes necessary 

 to apprehend the persons primarily responsible, and, 

 for this purpose, to pursue the fugitives. These 

 sometimes establish themselves on a hill-top sur- 

 rounded by precipices which can be scaled only 

 by the aid of ladders, and there defy the govern- 

 ment forces until the hill is carried by assault, or 

 by siege, or the defenders are enticed to descend. 

 One such hill in the basin of the Rejang (Sarawak), 

 Bukit Batu by name, consists of a mass of porphyry 

 some 1500 feet in height, and several miles in 

 diameter, with very precipitous sides. This has 

 been used again and again as a place of refuge by 

 recalcitrant offenders, being so strong a natural 



