Sunday 28 October 2018

The North Borneo Herald. THUSRDAY, 1st MARCH, 1883 REVIEW OF RECENT OFFICIAL PAPERS.

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.

  1. DIARY of Mr. L. B. von Donop during a trip from Papar to Kimanis, via Tambunan and Lobo and Limbawan. May and June, 1882.
  2. Report and estimates, by L. B. von Donop, Superintendent of Agriculture. March, 1882.
  3. Mr. C. Bampfylde's report on the bird's nest caves of Gomanton. 9th August, 1882.
  4. 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.



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