BORNEO 
259 
more intolerable extortion, on the part of the orang 'kayos , 
until they have ended in revolt. Of the ultimate fate 
of this corrupt and ill-governed state there can be no 
doubt. Brunei is destined before very long to become 
incorporated with one or other of the European colonies 
by which she is hemmed in. It may be said that the 
large annual payments made in consideration of land 
grants by the Baja of Sarawak and the British North 
Borneo Company have alone enabled her to preserve her 
autonomy so long. 
Sarawak. 
The territory of Sarawak, on the north-western coast 
of Borneo, is in many respects one of the most interest¬ 
ing spots in the whole vast extent of the tropical world, 
for here an English gentleman rules as absolute monarch 
over a considerable population of Malays and Dyaks, to 
the complete satisfaction and contentment of both. The 
English rule has now lasted fifty years, and appears 
to be firmly established. It has withstood the early 
machinations of discontented Malay chiefs, an insurrection 
of Chinese miners, and the death of its founder; but, as 
it has not relied for support upon either force or fraud, 
but has always existed for the well-being and through 
the goodwill of the people governed, it has taken firm 
root in the soil, and seems likely to endure for many 
generations, if the wise policy of its founder continues 
to be the guiding star of his successors. From the 
career of Sir James Brooke, Baja of Sarawak, lessons of 
inestimable value in the management of a colony of 
uncivilised Asiatics may be learnt. 
Early in 1839, Mr. Brooke reached Sarawak in a 
vessel of his own, and finding the country in a state of 
