To Do This, I Had To Return To Singapore, And Thence, After A
Two Days' Voyage, I Arrived At Kuching, The Capital Of Sarawak.
Except
for a Chinese towkay, I was the only saloon passenger, as strangers
rarely visit this country.
Kuching is about twenty-five miles up the Sarawak River, and contains
about thirty thousand inhabitants, chiefly Malays and Chinese,
with about fifty Europeans, who are for the most part government
officials or belong to the Borneo Company, Limited. This company is
very wealthy and owns the only steamship line, plying between Singapore
and Kuching. It has several gold mines and a great quantity of land
planted to pepper, gambier, gutta percha and rubber. The Rajah will
not allow any other company or private individual to buy lands or
open up an estate, neither will he allow any traders in the country.
It would be difficult to imagine a more picturesque town than
Kuching. It chiefly consists of substantial Chinese dwellings of brick
and plaster, with beautiful tile-work of quaint figures, while temples
glittering with gold peep out of thick, luxuriant, tropical growth. Two
miles out of the city you can lose yourself in a dense tropical forest
of the greatest beauty, and in the background is a chain of mountains,
some of them of extraordinary shape. The reigning monarch or Rajah
is an Englishman, Sir Charles Brooke, a nephew of Sir James Brooke,
the first Rajah, who was an officer in the British Navy and who,
after conquering Malay pirates, was made Rajah of the country by the
grateful Dayaks.
Though Sarawak is supposed to be under British protection, and though
all his officials are Britishers, Rajah Brooke considers his country
independent and will not allow the Union Jack to be flown in his
dominions. He possesses his own flag, a mixture of red, black and
yellow, and his own national anthem; moreover his officials refer
to him as the King, and to his son, the heir to the throne, as the
"young King" (or "Rajah Muda").
Two days after my arrival, the Rajah left on his steam yacht for
England, but the day before he left, he held a great reception at his
"palace" (or "astana," as it is called in Malay). It was attended
by all his officials, by high Malay chiefs and the chief Chinese
merchants. The reins of government were formally handed over to his
son, the Rajah Muda, after which champagne was passed round. The chief
resident, Sir Percy Cunninghame, then introduced me to the Rajah. He is
a fine-looking old man with a white moustache and white hair, and is
greatly beloved by every one. He conversed with me for some time, and
asked me many questions about the Chartered Company in British North
Borneo. It was rather embarrassing for me, with every one silently and
respectfully standing around listening to every word. He wished me
success in my travels in the interior, and told his officials to do
all in their power to help me.
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