IV.— Stories of tii k First EIrixei <oxqeests ox the 
Sarawak (oast. —By A. E. Lawrence, 
Resident of Bintulu. 
The following account of the conquest by Brunei of 
all the Milano coastal districts from Tutong and Be- 
lait to the Rejang delta, was for the most part obtained 
from natives at M'ukah some three years ago. 
At that time I had no means of testing the story in 
any way, or even of fixing the period when the events 
enumerated were said to have taken place, the only 
thing insisted upon being that the Brunei people were 
not yet Mohamedan. 
Lately however, on looking up the “Selisilah of the 
Rajas of Brunei" in the Sarawak Museum Library, 
(Journal Roy. Asiatic Soc. Straits Branch, No. 5, June 
1880) the following facts came to light. In this story 
Alak Betatar was ruler of Brunei when the conquest 
took place, and Pateh Berbi was his fighting chief. In 
the Selisilah Alak Betatar is mentioned as the first 
ruler of Brunei to become Mohamedan, being con¬ 
verted during his rule together with his chief minister, 
Pateh Berbi. 
Alak Betatar, who took the name of Mohamed and 
the title of Sultan on conversion, ruled about 1400 a. d. 
Pateh Berbi is sometimes given in Brunei records as a 
younger brother of Alak Betatar, and it is so also in 
this story. 
This verifies the names of two important people, and 
gives an approximate date to the events narrated. 
In those days the most powerful and populous Milano 
settlement along the coast was in the Igan river* and 
* For the benefit of those readers who are unacquainted with the geography 
of Sarawak I append a brief description of the names of rivers and places 
mentioned in this article. 
The Sarawak Coast here mentioned stretches from the mouth of the Belait 
River south-west to Tanjong Datu. The river Tutong is north of the Belait 
Biver, in Brunei Territory. Proceeding south-west, after the Belait Bivtr 
comes the Baram Biver , then a long stretch before coming to Kedurong 
Point near which the Bintulu Biver flows into the sea. Continuing along 
the coast we come to Mukah, Oga and the Igan Biver of which the Butus is 
a tributary. Main lies between this and the delta of the great Biver Bejang. 
