Children of Borneo

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Gomes Edwin Herbert. Children of Borneo

CHAPTER I. THE ISLAND OF BORNEO – JUNGLES – THE DYAKS – DYAK LIFE IN THE OLD DAYS

CHAPTER II. THE COMING OF THE WHITE RAJAH – THE MISSIONARIES

CHAPTER III. A DYAK VILLAGE HOUSE

CHAPTER IV. DYAK BABIES AND CHILDREN

CHAPTER V. MANNER OF LIFE – OCCUPATION

CHAPTER VI. HEAD-HUNTING

CHAPTER VII. BIRDS AND BEASTS IN BORNEO

CHAPTER VIII. SOME CURIOUS CUSTOMS

CHAPTER IX. DYAK FEASTS

CHAPTER X. THE WITCH DOCTOR

CHAPTER XI. SOME ANIMAL STORIES

CHAPTER XII. OMENS AND DREAMS

CHAPTER XIII. MARRIAGES AND BURIALS

CHAPTER XIV. A DYAK LEGEND

CHAPTER XV. DYAK BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS

CHAPTER XVI. CONCLUSION

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Away down in the Indian Ocean there is a long chain of islands that stretches from Burmah to Australia. One of these is New Guinea which is the largest island in the world (leaving out Australia), and Borneo comes next in size. It is nearly four times as large as England. One quarter of it – the States of Sarawak and British North Borneo – is under British influence. The rest is all claimed by the Dutch, excepting one small State, Brunei, between North Borneo and Sarawak, which is governed by a Malay Sultan, who is a Mahommedan. Sarawak is governed by an English Rajah, or King, Sir Charles Brooke, who succeeded his uncle, Sir James Brooke, in 1868; – British North Borneo is owned by an English Trading Company, called the North Borneo Company, who appoint an Englishman as Governor to rule it for them.

If you look at a map of Borneo you will see that the Equator divides the island into two parts, so that Borneo is right in the middle of the Torrid Zone. The climate is therefore tropical, that is to say there is no spring, autumn or winter, but only summer, and it is always much hotter in Borneo than it is in the hottest summer in England. So, if an English boy went to live in Borneo, he would find his English clothes too thick and warm for him to wear there, and he would have to have thin cotton garments.

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The whole country in those old days was in a great state of disorder. The Dyaks were constantly at war, tribe against tribe, and no Dyak village was safe from sudden attack. Many human lives were sacrificed because the Dyaks wished, not only to obtain booty, but to satisfy their lust for blood, and indulge in their favourite pursuit of head-hunting, and gain glory for themselves by bringing home human heads to decorate their houses with.

The putting down of piracy, and the suppressing of the terrible custom of head-hunting among the Dyaks, were the first steps that Sir James Brooke took in civilizing his subjects. But he knew that as long as the Dyaks held to their old superstitious beliefs in evil spirits, there would always be a danger of their returning to their evil ways. So he began to think of establishing a Christian Mission in Sarawak. He knew that it was not enough to put down evil customs: if the Dyaks were to improve, they must have the true Faith planted in their hearts.

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