BRITISH BORNEO. 87 
The law relating to the protection of estate coolies and 
labourers has been already referred to. 
The question of domestic slavery was one of the first with 
which the Company had to grapple, the Royal Charter having 
ordained that ‘‘the Company shall to the best of its power 
discourage and, as far as may be practicable, abolish by he- 
grees, any system of domestic servitude existing among the 
tribes of the Coast or interior of Borneo; and no foreigners 
whether European, Chinese or other, shall be allowed to 
own slaves of any kind in the Company’s territories.” Sla- 
very and kidnapping were rampant in North Borneo under 
native regime and were one of the chief obstacles to the un- 
animous acceptance of the Company’s rule by the Chiefs. At 
first the Residents and other officers confined their efforts to 
prohibiting the importation of slaves for sale, and in assisting 
slaves who were ill-treated to purchase their liberty. In 1383, 
a Proclamation was issued which will have the effect of gra- 
dually abolishing the system, as required by the Charter. 
Its chief provisions are as follows :—No foreigners are allowed 
to hold slaves, and no slaves can be imported for sale, nor 
can the natives buy slaves in a foreign country and introduce 
them into Borneo as slaves, even should there be no inten- 
tion of selling them as such. Slaves taking refuge in the 
country from abroad will not be surrendered, but slaves be- 
longing to natives of the country will be given up to their 
owners unless they can prove ill-treatment, or that they have 
been brought into the territory subsequently to the 1st Novem- 
ber, 1883, and it is optional for any slave to purchase his or 
her freedom by payment of a sum, the amount of which is to 
be fixed, from time to time, by the Government. 
A woman also becomesfree if she can prove that she has co- 
habited with her master, or with any person other than her hus- 
band, with the connivance of her master or mistress; and 
finally ‘‘all children born of slave parents after the first day 
of November, 1883, and who would by ancient custom be 
deemed to be slaves, are hereby proclaimed to be free, and 
any person treating or attempting to treat any such children 
as slaves shall be guilty of an offence under this Proclama- 
tion.” The punishment for offences against the provisions 
