Copy 1, Volume 1

Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, during the years 1843-46; employed surveying the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; accompanied by a brief vocabulary of the principal languages / by Captain Sir Edward Belcher ; With notes on the natural history of the islands, by Arthur Adams, assistant surgeon.

  • Edward Belcher
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, during the years 1843-46; employed surveying the islands of the Eastern Archipelago; accompanied by a brief vocabulary of the principal languages / by Captain Sir Edward Belcher ; With notes on the natural history of the islands, by Arthur Adams, assistant surgeon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    87/474 (page 31)
    1848.] INFLUENCE OF MR. BROOKE. 81 wonderful; this great philanthropist has in a compara- tively short period entirely overcome the antipathy felt by the Malay to the residence of an European and a Christian amongst them; by representing the sovereign ruler and proprietor of the Sarawak district, he has, moreover, advanced to an elevation, unparalled in the history of any remote aboriginal tribe. The Malay has yielded up his tyrannical sway over the Dyak; and his systematic pursuit of piracy, the terror of their tribes, has been successfully arrested. With the example and influence of Mr. Brooke, the Malay, Dyak, and English have combined their forces, and, under the command of one of our spirited captains, have entered the strong- holds of their lawless neighbours, and dealt a blow from which piracy will never recover; the particulars of which have already been forcibly narrated by my friend Capt. Keppel. The next question which naturally suggests itself is, what is to be the end of the splendid advantage resulting from the energy of our countryman? Are the unfor- tunate Dyaks, and no less unfortunate Malay rulers to be left to the savage vengeance of the neighbouring pirates, by the withdrawal of British protection, upon the bare plea that the occupation of Borneo is against the spirit of our Treaties with Foreign Powers ? Let us refer to our Treaty with Holland, and I think it will be clear to any unprejudiced mind that it contains no article inimical to our taking possession of any part of Borneo, even by force :—