QHAT. VI.] OPJXIO^'S OF SIR JJMES BROOm 93 



chiefs. Tlieir wives and cliildreu were often captured aud 

 sold into slavery, and hostile tribes pui'chased permission 

 from their cruel rulers to plunder, enslave, and murder 

 them. Anything like justice or redress for theso injuries 

 was utterly unattainable. From the time Sif James ob- 

 tained possession of the country, aU this was stopped. 

 I^^iual justice was awai'ded to ^Mtilay, Chinaman, and Dyak. 

 Tne remorseless pirates from fhe rivers farther east were 

 punished, and finally shot np within their own territorie^s, 

 and tlie Byak, for' the ilrst time, ct.>u]d sleep in peace. 

 His wife and children were now safe from slavery ; his 

 honse was no longer burnt over his head j his crops aud 

 his fruits were now his own, to sell or consume as lie 

 pleased. And the unknown stranger who had done all 

 this for them, and asked for nothing ui return, what could 

 he be? How was it possible for them to reaUze his 

 motives ? Was it not natural that they should refuse to 

 believe he was a man ? for of pure benevolence combined 

 with gi-eat power, they had had no experience among men. 

 They naturally concluded tlmt he was a superior being, 

 come down upon earth to confer blessings on the afHicted 

 In mn^iy villages where he had not been seen, I was asked 

 strange qnestioTis about him. Was he not as old as the 

 mount-ains ? Could he not bring the dead to life ? And 

 they firmly believe that he can give them good harvests, 

 and make tlieir fruit-trees bear an abundant crop. 



In forming a proper e8timat<3 of Sir James Brooke's 

 government, it must ever be remembered that lie held 

 Sai-dwak solely by the goodwill of the native inhabitants. 

 He had to deal with two races, one of whom, the 

 Mahometan Malays, looked upon the other race, the 

 Dyaks, as savages and slaves, only fit to be robbed and 

 plundered. He has effectually protected the Dyaks, and 

 liaa invariably treated them as, in his sight, equal to the 

 Malays; and yet he has secured the affection and good- 

 will of both.* Notwithstanding the rehgious prejudices 

 of Mahometans, he has induced them to modify many of 

 their worst laws and customs, and to assimilate their 

 criminal code to that of the ci^iliaed world. That his 

 government still continues, after twenty-seven years — 

 notwithstanding his frequent absences from ill-health. 



