THE NORTH
BORNEO HERALD AND THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE
EDUCATIONAL
SERIES BY BORNEO HISTORY
No. 8 -
VOL.XL. JESSELTON, TUESDAY, 18TH APRIL 1922.
The North
Borneo Herald.
TUESDAY, 18TH APRIL 1922.
THE WILD MEN OF BORNEO
THEN AND NOW
(From our own
Correspondent)
Jesselton 17th
March
In
the issue of Singapore Free Press of
March 17th there is a copy of a critique from the Times of Mr. Ivor
Evans’ new book, ”Among Primitive People in Borneo”. In this it refers in the
last paragraph to “indolent people whose birth right was sold to a Company over
their heads by a few interested Chiefs”. That was forty years ago and what was
the birthright that was sold? Absolute insecurity of life and property,
birthright slavery for some, a swift early death for others and always the
vagaries of “interested chiefs” who cared less for their people than they did
for their hunting dogs. The birthright of these “indolent people” to-day is
absolute security of life and property, lands demarcated for which they hold
the most unimpeachable of titles, and white chiefs whose sole interest is the
welfare of the people.
Could
the “interested chief” of 1800 have placed within the narrow confines of a ship
representative of every tribe in the country and take them like a party of
school children to see the wonders of a new land? That ship would have been a
shambles inside twenty four hours. Today the descendants of hereditary enemies
pack themselves without protest check by jowl with men whose fathers killed all
who crossed the boundary of their holdings. Dusuns, Muruts, Bajaus, Sulus,
Besayas and Illanus sailed from Jesselton on March 21st
and with them the white men who bought their birthright. These same tribesmen
will form a vastly interesting group at the great exhibition in Singapore for
they are the living justification of the British Empire. Would a Murut of the
Inferior willingly face the sea and the terrors of a journey to a strange land?
Never! But he will do it now, not because he wants to but because the District
Officers says there is nothing to be frightened of.
Piracy's of Old Days
If the Singaporean who has the time or
the inclination will visit the Borneo section and talk to Orang Kaya Kaya Haji
Arsat of Tempasuk, Enduat of Pensiangan or Haji Abdullah of Sandakan he will
hear things which are good for him to hear, and when next he spies head-lines
in the papers of atrocities and of slavery in Borneo he will consign paper to
its proper place, the waste paper basket.
We admit that twenty years ago even we
could not have sent such a party to Singapore as we are doing to-day. The
business of reconstructing the birthright of those indolent and primitive
people was then but half done and it will have been a difficult matter to
persuade any but our Dyak police to trust themselves to a sea voyage. Ask Panglima
Gandi, who is headman of the Binadan craft that you will see in Singapore
harbor, what his father was doing only some 15 years ago and you will probably
hear that he tried conclusions with Mr. Little in or about Marudu Bay when
piracy was yet unsuppressed.
Haji Arsat can tell endless stories of
the stirring times of the Mat Salleh rebellion and if Enduat can be persuaded
to talk about Muruts and their little ways, he will be worth listening to
Keruak of Tempasuk is versed in all the tricks of the cattle thief and carries
with him a presentation walking stick, the reward for capturing a notorious
character who had broken jail.
Where They Come From
Under such chiefs we are sending
people from all parts of the country, The Muruts come from the Sematalun
district and are the most primitive people in the country. Their traditions are
those of hunters and warriors. Thought the perpetration of head hunting raids
may be said to be a thing of the past, its suppression is of so recent a date
that It would require little inducement to bring about a return to their old
ways. A European Officer lives amongst them and the influence of white rule has
now taken a strong hold. The habits if these people are typically those of forest
folks and are not too pleasing to Western ideas. Their knowledge of the jungle
and their skills in hunting is as profound as that of similar tribes all over
the world and their peculiar genius is in the use of blowpipes of which many
specimens will be seen at the Exhibition.
The
Dusuns, one party of whom have been selected from the Tuaran district, and one
from the Interior from the largest tribe in the country. By some they are
suspected to be of Chinese origin but grave doubts may be cast upon correctness
of any such statements. They are probably pure aborigines and are scattered
throughout the country except in the Murut area. Some are hill dwellers, some
plain dwellers, others inhabit the rivers of the East Coast and are known as
Orang Sungai. In places they assume or have been given tribal names such as the
Tahbanua and Dumpas tribes. Since the sale of birthrights they have been the
first to accept our rule and have always been open to persuasive ways of
missionaries. Consequently flourishing Missions are found in several areas. In
their natural state they worship spirits and hold certain jars, known as Gusi,
in great veneration. The Sulus who came from the Sandakan districts are the
descendants of those who elected to remain after the cession of that part of
the country by the Sultan of Sulu and known as Sabah. They have generally been
regarded as a treacherous people, given to piracy and slave raiding. To-day
they own good coconut gardens and inhabit the most picturesque of villages on
the East Coast of Borneo.
The
Illanuns who are skilled weavers and were one time equally skilled warriors are
a race whose origin is in the island of Mindanao on the Philippines. There are
two settlements in North Borneo, one on the Tempasuk plains and one at Tungku
on the East Coast.
The Bajaus
are a race originally of a nomadic boat dwelling type many of whom have settles
on land. They are the black sheep of the country, skilled cattle thieves, not
averse to a row and a little bloodletting but withal the best sportsmen we
have. They will ride with equal facility an unbroken pony or half wild steer
over rough country and their delights is in hunting deer over plains. For this
many of their sins are forgiven them and they know the best way to get out of a
scrape is to be “first spear” in a sporting day’s hunting.
The Besaya
dwells among the unpleasant haunts of the sago tree. He is a man of mud for his
country is mostly swamp. He is credited with having the gentle art of poisoner
at the tips of his finger and as such has never enjoyed much popularity with
his neighbours.
Lastly the
Binadan, whose boats go with them to Singapore, are like the Bajaus ashore the
erstwhile “mauvais sujets” of
the sea. They have or had the speediest boats afloat, which helped them to
pounce upon their victims or show a clean pair of heels to their pursuers.
Steam has settled their hash for them and to-day they follow the Tuan even to
the gates of Singapore.
The Chief And Visitors
Such
briefly are the types that our indefatigable organising secretary, Mr. G. N.
Owen has, with the help of the District Officers, shepherded to Singapore. With
them he is taking every imaginable kind of thing that grows or is made in the
country. We are not going to attempt a description if these exhibits for the
very good reason that we are not too sure what they all are, but Singapore will
have the chance of seeing them and judging for itself of their interest and
merits. The decisions to send with the expedition, for expedition is must be
called, our Constabulary band certainly ought to be popular; we hope to hear
praise of their work from those who hear them in Singapore.
The
European Community will be represented by His Excellency A. C. Pearson, C.M.G.,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Constabulary, Mrs. Pearson, Mr. G.
Summerfield, Private Secretary, Mr. C. F. A. Pryke, General Manager of
Railways, Mr. D. M. Matthews, General Manager of the British Borneo Timber Co.,
Mr. Logan, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Mr. E. Bateson, Director of
Agriculture, Mr. E. G. Grants, District Officer of Interior, Mr. B. R.
Cole-Adams, Assistant District Officer, North Keppel, and Mr. B.
Scott-Keasberry, who is personal assistant to Mr. Owen.
Native
Chiefs include Orang Kaya Haji Mohammed Arsat, North Keppel, Orang Kaya Kaya
Pengiraan Haji Omar, South Keppel, Orang Kaya Kaya Imam Saman, Beaufort, Orang
Kaya Kaya Habib She, Tawau, Haji Abdullah, Sandakan, Haji Salahudin, Kudat,
Haji Mohammed Noor, Kinabatangan, Keruak, Tempasuk, Datu Merdun, Tempasuk,
Panglima Gandi, Mantanani, Anggor, Tuaran, Enduat, Pensiangan.
O. K. K.
Haji Arsat claims to be the only one who has mastered the pronunciation of the
words Prince of Wales, of which his rendering after much practise is Prinz op
Wah-liz-.
Animals
and Stamps
The
Menagerie, collected from various parts of the country, is an interesting
exhibit. Visitors will find tree bears, cobras, adjutant birds, lemurs, “orang
utan”, a gibbon and other smaller birds and animals. The collection has been
under the care of Dr. H. Keith who has already tamed many of them. We
understand that the collection is to be presented with other collections to the
Prince of Wales by whom they will be sent to the London Zoo. Our hunters and
trappers have not been able to obtain specimens of the larger animals.
Stamp
collectors will be interested to know that a limited number of surcharges
postage stamps of the country will be on sale at our Kiosk. These are made up
in sets, each costing $2, and should prove most attractive and a good
speculation.
Pamphlets
on various subjects such as the industries and agricultural conditions of the
country and big game shooting have been written specially for the exhibition
and will be given away at the North Borneo Kiosk. Curio hunters will find a
great many attractions in the Borneo section where natives arts and crafts are
well represented.
The
forestry exhibit should prove of special interest. It will contain specimens of
every kind of timber from the rough log to complete articles of furniture.
The sago
industry is well represented and will include if practicable a demonstration of
the extraction of the sago from the log and the preliminary cleaning as done by
the Besayas.
We
wish our Borneo section all success and many honours in this. Singapore’s first
great exhibition. Results can only be known by comparison with others and we
realise that we have a lot to learn and perhaps have something that we can
teach our neighbours.- The Singapore Free
Press-/ss
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