CHAPTER XXIV 



Sarawak ten years Later — The " Astana," Residence of the Rajah — 

 A Glance at the History of Sarawak — Rajah Sir James Brooke 

 — The Chinese Rebellion — The Present Rajah — Extent and Boun- 

 daries of the Kingdom of Sarawak — Our Present Geographical 

 Knowledge of the Interior of Borneo — Wild Tribes — Absence 

 of Negritos in Borneo — Cannibalism and Human Sacrifices — 

 Population of Sarawak — Intercourse of the Chinese with the 

 Island — Archaeological Discoveries in Sarawak — Stone Adzes — 

 Archaic Writing — Products of Borneo — Agriculture — Preserva- 

 tion of the Forests — Earthquakes and Volcanic Phenomena — 

 Mineral Wealth of Borneo — Kuching — Political Divisions of 

 Sarawak — Commerce — Revenue and Customs — Form of Govern- 

 ment — Religions and Missions — Conclusions. 



WHAT I have written in the previous chapters refers to many- 

 years back, and Borneo has in the interval made marked 

 progress towards a more civilised condition, while its political and 

 commercial importance have enormously increased since my first 

 visit. I have therefore thought it best to give in this last chapter 

 a short summary of the present conditions of Sarawak. Some of 

 the changes which have taken place since I left the country in 1868 

 I have been able to witness myself, but for more recent events. 

 I have chiefly had recourse to the Sarawak Gazette, the official 

 publication, which since 1870 has been uninterruptedly issued at 

 Kuching. 



At the end of 1877, after a hurried journey across Northern 

 India and Burma, I happened to be at Singapore with my friend 

 Captain Enrico A. D'Albertis, awaiting a steamer to convey us 

 to Australia, via Torres Straits. We had a few days to dispose of, 

 and as the mail steamer for Sarawak was in the roads ready to start, 

 I proposed to my friend that we should profit by the occasion and 

 pay a visit to the dominions of Rajah Brooke. It was to me an 

 unspeakable pleasure to be able to revisit Sarawak. Ten years had 

 elapsed since I first landed at Kuching — ten years spent in almost 

 constant travel in New Guinea, the Moluccas, Celebes, and Java, 

 as well as in Abyssinia. 



We reached Kuching on the last day of 1877. The next, the 

 New Year, was welcomed with similar festivities to those in which 

 I had taken part when I was last in the country, a period which 

 I still look back to as the happiest of my life. 



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