CONCLUSION OF THE BORNEO INVESTIGATION. [From the "Watchman,"July 16.]

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 600, 14 January 1852, Page 3

CONCLUSION OF THE BORNEO INVESTIGATION. [From the "Watchman,"July 16.]

On Thursday evening, Mr. Hume brought forward }iis motion relating to Sir James Brook and the pirates of Borneo. '1 lie discussion, involving the interests and process of a consuletable portion of the human r.ico in lisi-stein Asia, lias terminated by an overwhelming 1 majority, —2ll ?>gains>t 19, —atqintting Sir James Biooke of those chaiges with which his opponents have most unrelentingly endeavoured t >aspetse his cliai.icter. It vvaa bcaicely possible it should Lave been otherwise, seeing that the allegations by which it was sought to criminate that distinguished individual, have one by one, been shown to be utterly untiue. It ha& been Bs~ei ted that the D\ al.s of Borneo were never knov/n to be engaged in acts of piracy, and, theiefore, those of Saietms ami Sakarnn, whom Sir James Brooke attacked on the 31st of July, 1819, were not pirates. Now, what is, the real state of this question'! We have before us a list of Jiiitish TPssels attacked and plundered by pnates oft the coast of Borneo, presented by Mr. Hunt to ihe late Sir Stamford H.iflles, in which the D_ aks of Saiebas aie expressly mentioned as having been the puncipal actors. Anothir statement, vuifii'd by tha Secrelaiy at Lloyd's, shows that between the 15th of August, 18,39, and the 20th of February, 1851, the ftJalay and Dyak pnates attacked, captmed, plundered, oi molested, from thirty lo forty nnreliant vessels. Two masters of native trading vessel-., examined bv the Butish aiitlioniies at Singapore, deposed that the Saiebas were known to be habitual pnates. The question whether tlio Dyakb of Saiebas ueie piiales, or not, has been, on two other distinc' occasions, the subj< ct of judicnl inquiry and dctei mutation , on both of which the learned judges pionounced their opinion, that the pi oofs ot piracy wire conclusive. The three Admirals on the Gtalion were al-o convinced th.it the Dyaks of Sarebas and S.ik.nan wcip puale."-, and dp.ilt with them as such. Under this conviction Cnpiain Keppel attacked their strongholds in 18' H. That £iv T. 13moke should have been able to deceive all the Cominnndeis on the coast, and peisiindo (hem lo dispose of the naval foico in .such a mannei a> to seive bis ppi^oiul purpose's, and defend bis puncipalit v, bear-, the st imp of linpiob.ibility upon the face of it. Col. Bull'th urili, who entei tanu d no feelings o( i>uti:dity lowaids Sir J. liioolm, and vould not h.ivo put (oiwaid nnv paitial leptcsenfttiou conci'inmn; biin, lefeinn^ to the destruction ol the btroiijibolds of the Sareb.is and Sakarans l)y Cajji-mi Keppel, dt sciibe tli'Mit as "men wiio have been the facourge of tho»o beas for yeais ])asl, and whose courage and cruelties aie proverbial." JYloreo\er 7 an irn-

poilant document, printed ii Ihillmd, oonl. lining .111 | i!iuiileriii|it' j d n.iiMtue <it 1 1 1 0 mcas'iies adopted. 1';, the j Dutcli Government, fioiu liilO to loJ", ioi the (impose of bup|ire-sin;> pn.icy in the l.iVd.i A rc ! ii,K-l i"O, distinctly M.i'e- thai thcl)\akso( S.ucb.'H .no ndlouous |'ii. lies .iiul descubes the peculiar manner 111 which lht»\ cany on then piratical opoi -lions. Tlie\ .up fond ol iiyht .md small vessel-, . in d use as weapons, swoids, javelins, and -pen's.; and are de-uib<d as living- on islets almost unapjiioac-liable, on account of the locks bv which t-iej aie suiioumlml, whence they sally forth to at tat l«. s'icli native piahus, 01 Euione in ships is come within then li'.uh, m.i-saciejng their uews> and all on bo.ud, it uu.ibio to sell them ,\-, slave-'. Oenoially speakii'4, the Borneo pn ites, when the\ consist sulelv of Dwiks, hive but lew fire aim-. 1m older to utideis'aud a 1 ii;lit appaieutly conflicting statements on this point.it is important to beai 111 mind what Sir James Brooke has stated in his Menionndum 1 elating' to the supptcs-ion o piracy in the K.i-tuin Archipelago, lie s aj f s, and the pasxige is a. key to numeiou- perplexities, : — '• The pirates on the coast of Borneo may bo classed into those who make long voyagesin large heavy-armed piahus, such as the lllanuns, JJalainqui, &c, a r id the lighlei l)y\]\. fleets, w Inch make shoi t but destructive excursions 111 suilt prahus, and seek to surpnse rather than openly to attack their prey ; a thud and probably the woist class, aie usually half-bied Aiab sheiifis, w ho, possessing- themselves of the territory of some Malay state, foim a nucleus for piracy — a rendezvous and maiket for all the roving fleets; and although occasionally sending out their own followers, they moie frequently seek profit by making advances in food, anus, and gunpowder, to all who will a^ie-*, at an exorbitant late, to repny them in slaves. The Dyaks of Saiebis and Sak.nan «eie under the influence oi two Arab SlseniK who employed them on pnaticnl excursions, and shnieil in equal paits theplundei obtained. I had once tlie oppni luuity of counting ninety-eight boats about to stait on a ciuise, and reckoning the crew of each boat at the modeiato aveiage of twenty-five men, it gives n body of 'J,150 men on a pnaucal excursion. The pnacies of these Arab sheiiffd and thinr D\.\ks were bo notoiious that it is needle-s to detail them here, but 01m curious feature wlnt h throws a liglit on the state of society I cannot foibear mentioning. On all occasions of a D'.ak fiVet bcm<£ about to make a pnatical exclusion, a gong (drum) was beat round the town oidenng a parucular number of AJala> s to embark, and 111 case any one tailed to obey, he wa.s fined the bum. of thirty lupees by the shend of the place." When Captain Keppel, in 1843 inflicted punishment upon the Dja'vS of S.uebas and Sakaian, they were acting under the influence of these Arab sheriffs, and weie supplied by them with file aims. Guns of \anous sizes weie taken fioin them as well as a vast quantity ol ammunition. Their ni-shoie- batteiies had also to he attacked Two hundred boats weie at that time de-tioyed. It was thought, that after Mich an example had been given some piovisions had been m-ide to pievent the restoiation of those piratical communities; in a few yeaia, howevei, they lesoited to their foimer pr.icitces. In the beginning of 1840", they wtie again at sea with a foice of seventy piabus, and 1 ,200 men, peipctratmg i.ua^es, making descents upon the coast, burning, cniijni'j; oft' the women and children into slaveiy, and la.uig' waste the countiy wheiever their arms could roach. In Sir J. Brookes journal under this date, the following pnssage oeeii's: — '' 1 find that measuies of ui'idness iind conciliation a»e entnely thrown away, and that it will be necps-ai y to give these pnates ano'her severe lesson." lie oxpivss"? regiet ths.t this should be needful, but showed no h stem taking &te| s for that puipose, as appeals horn the following testimony of SirT- Cochrane, the Commander-in Chief in those sp.is: — " With legaid to the attack on the harebis and Sakaian pirate-, 1 deiive my peisuasion that the measure was only icsoited to as one of absolute necessity, from the fact thai, on ni) (j i st or second visit to Saiawak, having heard that those ppople weie distiubing that settlement as well as oilier pints of the c mst, 1 offered to pluva force at Sir J. Biooke\s disposil, in oider to hi ing them to reason ; but bo far from hastily availing himself of my offer, he infoimed mo that be was trying, by gentle and peaceful means, to lead them to a quiet and industiious life.'' As lespects the conduct of Sir James Brooke on the occasion of the 'attack on the Saieb.ia, •"■ % id Sakman piiatei, in the year JUi'), Captain F.ii^.'har states, that he was piesent at a consultation on board Sir James |jiook<'\ boat, after the attack on the puatical llout, and ,S0()() of ti c pnates having e-c.J[ied, H waspioposed 10 (ut oil the fugitives b) 1 occisj)\ in^ ct-rtam places, and lining the banks of tlio nvii, bat that Sir J. Mro^ke le- ; 'cted the propo-i.'il, bpiause it would have ocinsioned a much gieat.i shedding of blond, and that it was only thiough the influence of Sir J, Uiooke's personal cliai.icter, and the weiyhl of hio opinion, that this was pin en'ed. But it Ins b"en asked, why, in. place of inflicting summary punishment on those pnates, they were not oaplutcd and biou»lit to tnnl 9 Snnplv because it \\a-a impiMctiCiible to do so. Sir '1 homas Cochrane, a most competent authoiity on this point, says tint it is uupos-ible to give, and hopeless to expect, quarter in icnon with this singular people, they have such an extraoulinaiy contempt for life; that a fatal confidence of their possessing the feelings of ordin.it y men led to a lesult, on board one of the ships umlei his c mimaud, by \\ l.ith many valuable lives -were lost ; and that an attempt to i>ive qunitei in action would put to hazard the success of the day. j SirJ. Brooke has done much to instruct, civilize, and lendei happy, a people whom he found in a state of deep ignoiauce, baih.nism. and mi.-cry. Sir Thomas Cochsane, with whom lie had lived dunng different periods, either on boaid his flag-bhip, or in Ins house on shore, say--, lespecting him — " I found him one of the most mild, considerate, and single-minded men I over met with, and one who, in everj conveisation 1 had with him on the subject of Borneo, expressed himself in the leims of a father and fripnd to that people, and I had ample opportunity of witnessing how entiiely they responded to that feeling. It was singular and striking that on paits of tlie coast wheie I am certain no Euiopean had been previouslyseen, almost the first word pronounced by the people was the name of Brooke." The Bishop of Calcutta, who had recently visited Sarawak, in a letter, addressed to the Secretary of the Society for tlie Piopagation of the Gospel, dated Januaiy 24, 1831, speaks also in the highest terms of Sir J. 13rooke, and of the plnlanthiopic operations in which he is ensja^pd — chaiactenses him as a gentleman of benevolence, talent, and singular wisdom and tact for government, who is> devoting his time, his fortune, his K°iil, his health, his body and mind, to the benefit of the inhabitants. He moieover states that the late attack on the pirates has produced most salutaiy effects, — has humbled and alarmed the whole tribe, — that the chiefs are sending messengers to Sarawak promising to betake themselves to honest occupations, and that the peace thus established, like that of the Roman empire at the incarnation of our Loid, (such i> tho Bishop's expression,) prepares for the gospel, and renders the diffusion of it practicable. A Dissenting minister, writing also fiom Borneo, says — '' We have among us the chief of the Dyaks. He has always been against pitacy. and, now that his people have agreed to give it up, the trader will be vastly benefitled. 1 ' Although Sir James Brooke has retired from this investigation with unblemished honour, it is much to be reg r etted that ho should have found it needful to interrupt his benevolent labours, and travel over half the ciicumference of the globe, in order to vindicate himR(>\t from the malicious calumnies of the emissaries of a paity whose objects aro incompatible with the interests and progiess of the native iaces of tho Archipelago, and whose trucking, huckstering, and unfair dealings, Sir Jame.s Biooke will not countenance. The public Press, in this mattor, has been grossly imposed upon, and has, unwittingly, exeicised a most unhappy influence on many minds. The snaie might have bepn avoided but foi an undue haste in catching at rumouis. " Credulity is the adamant of lies." We are thankful that the law granting head-money for the captuie of pirates lias been repealed. It was a most odious one, and tended to pioduce the worst 0 fleets.