xxiv] INTERCOURSE WITH THE CHINESE 



of what is best and most precious to man, and is considered there- 

 fore most acceptable to the gods, with the idea of propitiating 

 them, of obtaining new favours or the pardon of past offences ; 

 and above all to avert pestilence and epidemics, always considered 

 by primitive people as a visitation brought about by the anger 

 of the Divinity. 



Much has been done to complete our knowledge of the life 

 and manners of the natives of Borneo, and extensive ethnographical 

 material has been collected by the Rajah of Sarawak in the museum 

 at Kuching. But nowadays it is not sufficient to know that such 

 and such an object belongs to the Kayans, to the Dyaks, or to 

 whatever tribe it may be, because the natives along each river, 

 I might say of each village, although belonging to the same " gens," 

 have peculiarities of their own in the shape and ornamentation, 

 etc., of weapons and implements of all kinds. An exact, 

 methodical, and comparative examination of these is a crying 

 need before the increasing facilities of communication and the 

 influence of Western civilisation renders the task impossible. 



I have already given a brief notice of most of the various tribes 

 and peoples of Sarawak ; but as to their origin and as to how they 

 came to inhabit Borneo, little indeed has been added to our meagre 

 knowledge of thirty years ago. Archaeological discoveries in Sarawak 

 are also extremely restricted in their results. At Santubong a 

 primitive rude statue representing a human figure lying prone 

 with extended arms, has been found, but the epoch cannot be 

 determined. From the same locality come two monumental 

 stones, also of unknown origin and age, which are now in the 

 Kuching Museum. They are carved with leaves in relief. At 

 Pankalan Ampat some antiquities have been discovered, amongst 

 others a large gold Persian coin of the year 960 of our era, together 

 with some gold jewels. 



The hypothesis that the Chinese knew and traded with Borneo 

 at a very remote epoch has gone on gaining ground, supported by 

 new facts which all tend to prove its truth. Dr. Posewitz (Op. cit., 

 p. 312) mentions that in the year 977 a.d. a Bornean Prince, ruling 

 a State lying between the Sambas and Landak rivers, sent an em- 

 bassy to the Emperor of China. In 1888, at Santubong, at the 

 entrance of the Sarawak river, fragments of gold jewellery, crockery 

 ware, glass beads, stone crucibles and ancient Chinese coins, some 

 of a period as far back as 600 B.C., were discovered. 1 The 

 tajau jars, so precious now to the Dyaks, and especially the 

 varieties known as " Gusi," " Russa " and " Naga," and perhaps 

 certain ceramics found amongst the Mellanaos, also come under 

 the head of Chinese antiquities. 



Although the Chinese have no doubt influenced and modified 

 1 Sarawak Gazette, 1888, p. 87 • and 1889, p. 23. 

 365 



