COLONIAL GOVERNMENT IX BORNEO 361 



mention that their method of counting is as follows : Some one men- 

 tions the names of all th6 families in each house, and as he does so 

 a man tells each name off on his toes; when five have been counted, 

 another man catches hold of the counted foot, and so on until his ieet 

 and hands have all been told off, when another man is used, and this 

 continues until all the names are mentioned, when the}' halt to see 

 how man}' men have been used, and where the last one ended." This 

 extraordinary willingness to i)ay tribute on the part of savages who 

 had never before seen a white man is noticed by Professor Haddon, 

 wlu) says that they pay it " because then they can feel that they ai'e 

 citizens of the Raj, they really do belong to the government, and bar- 

 barians are by no means fools. They know well that by paying two 

 dollars a year they will-have peace, be able to trade, and have all the 

 advantages of a settled government, and they feel it is really a good 

 investment for their money." 



Before leaving, Mr Hose arranged for a similar ])eace-making be- 

 tween the Baram and Madang chiefs at his official residence, Claude- 

 town. This was done soon after, six thousand natives Ijeing ]>resent. 

 At one of the meetings a ^ladang chief" made a very eloquent and 

 remarkable s])eech, in which he ex})lained that his ])eoiile had for 

 years been compelled to fight on all sides in order to bold their own, 

 but were now fully able to a]:)])reciate the benefits of peace under the 

 Sarawak government and of friendly intercourse and trade Avith the 

 peoples of the Baram and surrounding districts — a condition of things 

 which he would do all in his i)ower to strengthen." 'I'he substantial 

 outcome of this peace-making and the ])roof of the chief's sincerity 

 was that last year 200 Malay traders went among the INladangs, who 

 had collected large quantities of jungle i)roduce, "and these very 

 people, once so hostile to all, are now being used as a means to bring 

 al)Out friendly relations between our ])eop]e and the border tribes." 

 As Professor Haddon says, the barbarians are no fools, and native 

 chiefs in the neighboring Sultanate of Biunei liave time after time 

 asked Mr Hose to ))er.suade the I'ajah to take over their territory, and 

 natives living in Dutch Borneo, seeing how the people of Baram can 

 live in peace and safety, are coming over the l)order in order to ])ut 

 themselves under the administration of Mr Hose. A few months ago 

 he received a message from the i)riiicii)al chief of one of the most 

 important border tribes, accompanied liy a clod of earth, syniltolizin^ 

 the identity of his ]»cf»ple with the races of the 15arani. " 'Jhe mes- 

 sage lie sent (translated lit<-rally ) was to the effect that his people 



