THE NORTH BORNEO HERALD
AND
THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE
EDUCATIONAL SERIES BY BORNEO HISTORY
No. 1. - VOL.1. KUDAT, THURSDAY, 1st MARCH, 1883.
The North Borneo Herald.
THUSRDAY, 1st MARCH, 1883
REVIEW OF RECENT OFFICIAL PAPERS.
- DIARY of Mr. L. B. von Donop during
a trip from Papar to Kimanis, via Tambunan and Lobo and Limbawan. May and June,
1882.
- Report and estimates, by L. B.
von Donop, Superintendent of Agriculture. March, 1882.
- Mr. C. Bampfylde's report on the
bird's nest caves of Gomanton. 9th August, 1882.
- Diary of Frank Hatton, Esq., F.C.S.,A.I.C.,
&c., during a mineral exploring journey up the Labuk river and overland to Kudat.
19th June, 1882.
The
above are the titles of four interesting pamphlets embodying the reports of the
Superintendent of Agriculture, the Sub-Resident of the East Coast District and
the Scientific Explorer, which have been printed in England by order of the Court
of Directors and several copies of which have just been received here. That by
Mr. von Donop is a report on the agricultural resources of the country in the
vicinity of the Papar and Kimanis rivers on the West Coast, the Kimanis being the
southern boundary of North Borneo on that coast.
Mr.
von Donop is well qualified to report on such a subject by the experience of
ten years of assiduous work on plantations in, Ceylon. His diary, carefully written up from day to
day apparently; is interesting and conveys valuable information- as to the
general characteristics of the district he examined, and as to the occupations
and demeanour of the aboriginal inhabitants. We cannot, however, help thinking
that the object of such a journey, which is to afford to intending planters and
settlers a trustworthy idea of the nature of the country, would be better
served were Mr. von Donop's views and conclusions thrown rather into the form
of a report than published in the shape of a diary, with the addition of a
succinct itinerary showing the time occupied in passing from point to point,
which would be most useful to future travellers. It would appear-that near the
coast, in the vicinity of the Papar, Benoni, and, Kimanis rivers is an extensive
table land, in parts swampy and cultivated with rice and sago, and in parts
covered with a fine forest growth. The soil, except just along the banks of the
rivers, where Mr. von Donop describes it as "very rich,'' is not of the
best quality-the formation being sedimentary and stone, and the soil partaking
of the sandy nature of the rock whence it is derived.· Nevertheless, the
explorer expresses his opinion to the effect, that if drained-and he deems the
drainage of the low land apparently quite feasible to a great extent-the
country would be available for the cultivation of sago, tapioca, &c. As is
well known, sugar is most successfully grown in the Straits Settlements, at
Province Wellesley; on land which not only originally required draining, but
which was actually mangrove swamp below the level of high water, and has been
reclaimed from the influence of the tides by embankments and dykes. The same
system, we believe, obtains in British Guiana and British Honduras. The sago
palm abound in the Papar river and the raw sago is roughly elaborated from the
trees by the natives and exported to Labuan in prahus; where it is subjected to
further washing at the hands of Chinese operators, and is re-exported as sago flour
to Singapore. Sago flour is the chief export from Sarawak and from the coast to
the northward of that territory as far as the Papar river, which is the only
one in North Borneo where this product is cultivated and exported.
Mr.
von Donop found cocoanuts in plenty at ten cents per hundred, and he also
noticed in the native gardens the jack fruit, areca nut, and the bamboo. Rice
is cultivated, but as a rule only in sufficient quantity for the Natives' own
consumption, No regular system of irrigation is adopted, the ground is roughly
and superficially ploughed with a wooden plough drawn by a buffalo, and but one
crop is raised in a year. Traces are still visible of cultivation of pepper by former
Chinese settlers, and by the Natives and it is not many years ago that the
whole revenue of this part of the country was paid to the Brunei Sultan and
Rajahs in this article. Bad government and the rapacity of the Malay rulers,
however, drove away the Chinese, and the cultivation of the pepper vine has
been discontinued, to be revived, we hope, under the , present Government,
possibly by the Hakka Chinese Christians whose delegate is now visiting the country
with a view to the selection of an agricultural district for occupation by
large numbers of these people. Mr. von Donop remarks, " I could not help
thinking what a change I might expect to see in this locality a few years
hence, as it has, every facility for John Chinaman to cultivate rice, pepper,
indigo and many other productions."
Tame
water-buffaloes are common in the district, and on one occasion twenty-three
were seen "enjoying themselves in the water," while further inland
they are described as being as fine "as I have ever seen." So much
for the low land on the sea coast, which is evidently not the dismal, unhealthy
and unproductive swamp; which certainly does exist in some parts of Southern
Borneo, and which the imagination of hostile critics has pictured as surrounding
the whole island. Indeed, nothing so attracts the attention of visitors from
the south as the totally different and distinctive character of North Borneo West-coast,
with its ranges of picturesque mountains, one behind the other, culminating in
the imposing mass of Kinabalu over 13,000 feet high.
A
day's journey inland suffices to bring the traveller to the first of these
ranges of hills, the maximum height of which is 4,500 feet. The soil is.
described as "rather sandy" though" tea, cinchona, and cardamoms
should do well in this locality." As the explorer goes further inland,
passing other ranges of hills, he finds the nature of the soil improve. On May
19th he has reached a point where " the soil here is good;" May 23rd
"the soil is good," May 26th "the soil good," May 27th
" the soil I have seen appears to be a rich clay, fairly free of
sandstone," May 26th "the soil has been improving of late and instead
of · sandstone I noticed the presence of quartz and another stone of a slatey
appearance. We may now be said to be on the Madai range." June 1st,"
the soil here (2,280 feet in altitude) appeared rather clayey, but on examination
did not appear stiff ; in fact, seemed more of a loam nature with an absence of
stone." June 3rd "the soil was rich." June 6th "the soil
was rich und the usual Dusun products were growing luxuriantly," and so
on. The highest elevation attained was 7,000 feet, on the Madai range, 11nd.the
pass here was named by Mr. von Donop after Sir- Rutherford Alcock, the Chairman
of the Company. The soil of the range is reported to be" good," but
the lay of the land" steep," and " in this locality I would say,
roughly speaking, there must be close on 10,000 acres suitable for tea,
cinchona and cardamoms, &c." The Madai range was reached after 10
days' journey on foot, with native paths most of the way, but with steep
ascents and descents and in very wet weather. We are unable to discover from
the diary whether Mr. von Donop took the
shortest or most direct route. to the range, or one which would give him the best
opportunity of Judging of the capabilities of the interesting country. Two plains
were passed: one, the Tambunan, situated 1,870 feet above the level of the sea,
and the other, the Nabai, 900 feet. Mr. von Donop seems to have been much
struck with Tambunan, and after his journey in the monotonous jungle the
grass-covered plain -was a refreshing sight. The plains might be utilized by Chinese
settlers, but the absence of the jungle on them would prohibit their being
selected by European planters, who invariably ask for virgin soil with unfelled
forest. The two plains seem to be fairly well populated, pigs plentiful and padi
cultivated in parts after the usual rough method of Borneo aborigines. The
natives were scantily clad in homespun garments, and though in the vicinity of
plenty of water, are described as being averse to ablution-the coats of the
country, made of bark, are said to last five years, but do not stand washing ! As is usual amongst savage
tribes the various villages appear to be not always on the best of terms with
one another, blood feuds being handed down from generation to generation, so
that they are incapable of joining together in a common cause-an advantage in favour
of the newly established European government.
Mr.
von Donop found the late Mr. Witti at Limbawan. Mr. von Donop parted with this
lamented officer on the 8th June, and was the last European who saw him alive,
he being murdered about a month later in Dutch Borneo, by the savage and
unchecked subjects of that Power; and this after he had roamed all through
North Borneo, from west to east, with but few followers and had met with
nothing but kindness and respect from the subjects of the North Borneo
Government.
The
natives met with by our author appear to be possessed of characters
fascinatingly simple-but few skulls were noticed, and even these "did not
appear good specimens." On one occasion a leaf out of a novel was bartered
for a fowl, on another "a broken glass and an empty biscuit tin also
procured two of the feathered tribe for us." Tambunan appears to have proved
a veritable Capua to the Malay followers, and they were only able to make a
very short first day's journey on leaving, " having hardly got over their
week's recreation at Tambunan."
The
diary gives evidence of the existence of a much less sparse population in the
district visited than in the rest of North Borneo. The buffaloes, the padi, the
bamboos, sago, cocoanuts, jack fruit and areca palms which are found in Papar-Kimanis
growing luxuriantly in the table land on the coast are all conspicuous by their
absence on the East Coast. The presence of this population, easily governed and
tractable as it has proved to be for the last four years, is not an unmixed
advantage, for it makes grave inroads on the virgin soil so dear to the hearts
of European planters, and we can easily understand Mr. von Donop's feelings as
a Ceylon planter, when "at 2,600 feet I obtained a splendid view of the country
before me, but what a sight met my eyes! I was prepared to see a certain amount
of chenaing going. on, but not in the
wholesale manner I now saw before me; for as far as the eye could reach to the
north, south, east and west, the work of destruction had been done or was then
being carried on. Only the ridges of hills at high elevations were left, except
a few strips of jungle adjoining a Dusun garden, and which I have no doubt by
the end of the year will have been felled and planted with padi, sugar-cane and
tobacco. One crop or perhaps two will be gathered and then the squatter will
move on to another suitable locality." Again he says," The system of chenaing is one that requires the early
attention of the government, but in the present unopened state of the country
will be a very difficult question to settle. Chinamen will, I hope, take up the
abandoned pieces of land and plant suitable products, such as tea, cocoa,
indigo, &c., &c., while others will, I hope, teach the Dusun the system
of rice irrigation,· and thus stop their steady and destructive advance through
the country ; the people themselves appeared to me to be a race which would
improve rapidly with civilisation." To this we may add the, testimony of
Resident A. H. Everett, who after long residence in Sarawak is able to compare
the aborigines of the two territories, and who awards to our Dusuns the superiority
in the science of agriculture over their brethren under Sarawak rule. As to the
evil effects of chenaing we do not
take quite the same dismal view as our author.
To very poor soils, owing any little fertility they possess to a thin
covering of vegetable mould formed by the decay of the leaves of the ancient
jungle, the removal of the jungle, the source of t vegetable mould, would
doubtless be almost fatal and after one crop the land would have to be left
fallow for at least seven years, hut on ordinary samples of ;North Borneo soil
there is no doubt but that so long as the crops are varied on a rational system
the same: land could be used for several years in succession without the application
of manure. To show that we are not alone in holding this opinion, we may allude
to the fact that the experienced sugar planter settled at Sandakan is quite
ready to hand over large tracts of his concession to tobacco planters on the
condition that they return the land to him after one crop has been taken off
the ground, when he would at once plant the cleared land with cane. The Chinese
immigrants, too, are on the lookout for chenaied
land, as they are rather terrified at the enormous jungle covering the face of
the country, so different to anything they are accustomed to in their own land.
It
is to be regretted that no sketch map accompanies the diary, but for the
benefit of those unacquainted with the country we may say that Mr. von Donop's
report refers to a comparatively speaking· small district on the South-west
border, and in his opinion the least fertile portion of the territory, owing to
the conformation of the rock, which is a recent sedimentary sandstone. Mr. von
Donop has made several other journeys in different parts of the territory,
reports of which will doubtless be published in due time, when we shall find
that as one travels northward, approaching the great Kinabalu range, the
sandstone becomes gradually displaced by or mixed with other rocks such as
quartz, granite, limestone, &c., with the result that the soil is superior.
The
second pamphlet on our list is the report and estimates by the same officer.
These it is not in our province to criticise as we do not possess the mystic
lore which would enable us to predicate that in North Borneo pepper, cocoa,
vanilla, &c., will yield so much or so little per acre, that the jungle can
be felled for so much, holing performed at a certain rate, and so forth. We can
only take on faith the dicta of those whose work in life it has been to gain
knowledge on such matters. Nevertheless we cannot but think that it will be
some little time before labour at 19 cents a day is readily procurable in North Borneo, though Mr. von Donop, from what he knows of the Indian coolie in Ceylon,
thinks that the cry of 19 cents a day, regular employment and rice at $1.50 per
bushel would prove an irresistible bait to this class. Permission would,
however, have to be obtained from both the Indian and Ceylon Governments before
North Bornean planters could fish for coolies in those waters, and we are not
aware that our Government has as yet taken any steps in the mutter-perhaps
because they would prefer to see Chinese labour introduced as being more "
taxable" than the subtle Indian with his few wants. The Government" rate
of pay at present for Chinese coolies is at the rate of $7 to $8 a month, which
will probably be reduced as the country becomes developed and the necessities
of life more cheaply procurable. We understand that the sugar estate of Delissaville
in the Northern territory of South Australia was successfully opened with
Chinese labour at the rate of £1 per week. We notice that in each year an estimate
is taken of $1 an acre for the lease of the land. This is incorrect, as a
reference to the published land regulations will show that land for estates is
sold on a 999 years' lease for a premium of $1 an acre free of quit-rent.
Those
who are desirous of learning the way to make a fortune by the growth of tea,
cocoa, pepper, nutmegs and so forth m North Borneo have only to consult the
pages of this little p!lmphlet and its alluring appendices which show in a
concise tabular form the increasing profit year by year which await the North
Bornean planter.
The
consideration of the two remaining papers on our list we must defer until our
next issue.
In Borneo the foundation and launching of
the British North Borneo Company was the most-important event affecting the Far
East commercially which has occurred for a considerable period. By its successful
operation a large field has been opened for enterprise of all kinds, and once
more British energy has outstripped that of its competitors. During the few
months which have elapsed since the company was formed a great deal has been accomplished,
and great numbers of Chinese and others have flocked to the country. As to Dutch
Boneo there is nothing to chronicle. Sarawak has passed through, an uneventful
twelve months, and the little State steadily progresses. The Dyaks have given a
little trouble, but nothing which calls for remark. Extract from the summary of
events for last year in the London and
China Express of Dec. 29th, 1882.
-/sj
