ODOARDO BECCARI. 
173 
solutely opposed on principle. He has no wish that the 
country he rules should be taken advantage of bv unscrupulous 
speculators of European nationalities for their own special bene- 
fit alone . . . Any honest trader, and better still any able 
agriculturist, who earnestly wishes to deal well with the natives, 
may always be sure of a hearty welcome in the dominions of 
Rajah Brooke. 
“ The Rajah’s Government is eminently impartial towards 
the many and varied races it lias to rule. In Sarawak all 
religions are tolerated and equally protected . . . And on 
his part, the second European Rajah of Sarawak, devoted to the 
sole task of increasing the welfare of his native subjects, by 
directing the energy of the Dyaks and Kayans towards peace- 
ful avocations, by favouring Chinese immigration, and by 
developing trade and encouraging agriculture has given to 
the country he rules a prosperity which could hardly have been 
hoped for, when one looks back at the condition of Sarawak 
prior to the advent of the Brookes.” 
The death of Beccari removes one of the last connecting links 
with the period of Sarawak’s romantic up-hill struggle against 
difficulties of every conceivable kind. His name will live in the 
annals of that country together with the names of Hugh Low, 
Spenser St. John and Wallace, whose narratives have done much 
to give us a true idea of the conditions prevailing in Sarawak dur- 
ing its early years under the White Rajahs. 
Beccari’s connection with our Society, although not personal, 
is none the less intimate and lasting both on account of his botani- 
cal work and his travels in this part of the world. His adoption 
of the name “ Malesia ” for this zoogeographical subregion is of 
interest in view of the remarks of our Society’s first President, 
Bishop Hose, who, in his inaugural address to the Society in 1878, 
commented on the need for some collective name. Lie selected 
“ Malaya ” as the name which appeared to him most suitable. Re- 
cent writers, including Mr. Boden Kloss, have adopted “ Malaysia ” 
for the more restricted area comprising the Malay Peninsula, 
Borneo, Sumatra, Java and adjacent small islands. Both Beccari 
and Bishop Hose embraced the islands as far East as New Guinea 
in their names. 
Although Beccari is dead, his work lives. The problems which 
interested him will continue to interest Members of this Society, 
and reference to his opinions will long be made. To those of us 
who have felt the fascination of Malaysia it will cause no surprise 
that Beccari maintained his interest in this our chosen field of work 
throughout his long life. 
J. C. Moulton. 
R. A. Soc., No. 83, 1921. 
