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Encyclopedia Britannica

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO OR

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 264 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BRI-BUN

BRITISH NORTH BORNEO OR SABAH
Sabah is the name applied by the natives to certain portions of the territory situated on the north-western coast of the island, and originally in no way included the remainder of the country now owned by the British North Borneo Company. It has become customary, however, for the name to be used by Europeans in Borneo to denote the whole of the company's territory, and little by little the more educated natives are insensibly adopting the practice.
Hislory.As has been seen, the British connexion with north-ern and north-western Borneo terminated with the 18th century, nor was it resumed until 1838, when Raja Brooke set out for Brunei and Sarawak. The island of Labuan (q.v.) was occupied by the British as a crown colony in 1848, and this may be taken as the starting-point of renewed British relations with that portion of northern Borneo which is situated to the north of Brunei. In 1872 the Labuan Trading Company was established in Sandakan, the fine harbour on the northern coast which was subsequently the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the North Borneo Company's territory. In 1878, through the instrumentality of Mr (after-wards Sir) Alfred Dent, the sultan of Sulu was induced to transfer to a syndicate, formed by Baron Overbeck and Mr Dent, all his rights in North Borneo, of which, as has been seen, he had been from time immemorial the overlord. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

promoters of this syndicate were Sir Rutherford Alcock, Admiral the Hon. Sir Harry Keppel, who at an earlier stage of his career had rendered great assistance to the first raja of Sarawak in the suppression of piracy, and Mr Richard B. Martin. Early in 1881 the British North Borneo Provisional Association, Limited, was formed to take over the concession which had been obtained from the sultan of Sulu, and in November of that year a petition was addressed to Queen Victoria praying for a royal charter. This was granted, and subsequently the British North Borneo Company, which was formed in May 1882, took over, in spite of some diplomatic protests on the part of the Dutch and Spanish governments, all the sovereign and territorial rights ceded by the original grants, and proceeded under its charter to organize the administration of the territory. The company subsequently acquired further sovereign and territorial rights from the sultan of Brunei and his chiefs in addition to some which had already been obtained at the time of the formation of the company. The Putatan river was ceded in May 1884, the Padas district, including the Padas and Kalias rivers, in November of the same year, the Kawang river in February 1885, and the Mantanani islands in April 1885. In 1888, by an agreement with the " State of North Borneo," the territory of the company was made a British protectorate, but its administration remained entirely in the hands of the company, the crown reserving only control of its foreign relations, and the appointment of its governors being required to receive the formal sanction of the secretary of state for the colonies. In 1890 the British government placed the colony of Labuan under the administration of the company, the governor of the state of North Borneo thereafter holding a royal commission as governor of Labuan in addition to his commission from the company. This arrangement held good until 1905, when, in answer to the frequently and strongly expressed desire of the colonists, Labuan was removed from the jurisdiction of the company and attached to the colony of the Straits Settlements. In March 1898 arrangements were made whereby the sultan of Brunei ceded to the company all his sovereign and territorial rights to the districts situated to the north of the Padas river which up to that time had been retained by him. This had the effect of rounding off the company's territories, and had the additional advantage of doing away with the various no-man's lands which had long been used by the discontented among the natives as so many Caves of Adullam. The company's acquisition of territory was viewed with considerable dissatisfaction
by many of the natives, and this found expression in frequent acts of violence. The most noted and the most successful of the native leaders was a Bajau named Mat Saleh (Mahomet Saleh), who for many years defied the company, whose policy in his regard was marked by considerable weakness and vacillation. In 1898 a composition was made with him, the terms of which were unfortunately not defined with sufficient clearness, and he retired into the Tambunan country, to the east of the range which runs parallel with the west coast, where for a period he lorded it unchecked over the Dusun tribes of the valley. In 1899 it was found necessary to expel him, since his acts of aggression and defiance were no longer endurable. A short, and this time a successful campaign followed, resulting, on the 31st of January 1900, in the death of Mat Saleh, and the destruction of his defences. Some of his followers who escaped raided the town of Kudat on Marudu Bay in April of the same year, but caused more panic than damage, and little by little during the next years the last smouldering embers of rebellion were extinguished. At the present time, though effective administration of the more inaccessible districts of the interior cannot be said to have been established even yet, the pacification of the native population is to all intents and purposes complete. The Tambunan district, the last stronghold of Mat Saleh, is now thoroughly settled. It is some 500 sq. m. in extent, and carries a population of perhaps 12,000.
Geography.The state of North Borneo may roughly be said to form a pentagon of which three sides, the north-west, north-east and east are washed by the sea, while the remaining two sides, the south-west and the south, are bordered respectively by the Malayan sultanate of Brunei, and by the territories of the raja of Sarawak and of the Dutch government. The boundary between the company's territory and the Dutch government is defined by the treaty concluded in June 1891, of which mention has already been made.
The total area of the company's territory is estimated at about 31,000 sq. in., with a coast-line of over goo in. The greater portion is exceedingly hilly and in parts mountainous, and the interior consists almost entirely of highlands with here and there open valleys and plateaus of 50 to 6o sq. in. in extent. On the west coast the mountain range, as already noted, runs parallel with the seashore at a distance from it of about 15 in. Of this range the central feature is the mountain of Kinabalu, which is composed of porphyritic granite and igneous rocks and attains to a height of 13,698 ft.

Mount

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Madalon, some 15 or 20 in. to the north, is 5000 ft. in height, and inland across the valley of the Pagalan river, which runs through the Tambunan country and falls into the Padas, rises the peak of Trus Madi, estimated to be 11,o00 ft. above sea-level. The valley of the Pagalan is itself for the most part from l000 to 2000 ft. above the sea, forming a

string

STRING

of small plateaus marking the sites of former lakes. From the base of Trus Madi to the eastern coast the country consists of huddled hills broken here and there by regions of a more mountainous character. The principal plateaus are in the Tambunan and Kaningau valleys, in the basin of the Pagalan, and the Ranau plain to the eastward of the base of Kinabalu. Similar plateaus of minor importance are to be found dotted about the interior. The proximity of the mountain range to the seashore causes the rivers of the west coast, with the single exception of the Padas, to be rapid, boulder-obstructed, shallow streams of little value as means of communication for a distance of more than half a dozen miles from their mouths. The Padas is navigable for light-draught steam-launches and native boats for a distance of nearly 50 in. from its mouth, and smaller craft can be punted up as far as Rayoh, some 15 M. farther, but at this point its bed is obstructed by impassable falls and rapids, which are of such a character that nothing can even be brought down them. Even below Rayoh navigation is rendered difficult and occasionally dangerous by similar obstructions. The other principal rivers of the west coast are the Kalias, Kimanis, Benoneh, Papar, Kinarut, Putatan, Inaman, Mengkabong, Tampasuk and Pandasan, none of which, however, is of any great importance as a means of communication. There is a stout breed of pony
raised along the Tampasuk, which is also noted for the Kalupis waterfall (1500 ft.), one of the highest in the world, though the volume of water is not great. Here also are the principal Bajau settlements. Throughout the Malayan Archipelago the words Bajau and perompak (pirate) are still used as synonymous terms. At the northern extremity of the island Marudu Bay receives the waters of the Marudu which rises on the western side of

Mount

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Madalon. On the east coast the principal rivers are the Sugut, which rises in the hills to the east of Kinabalu and forms its delta near Torongohok or Pura-Pura Island; the Labuk, which has its sources 70 M. inland and debouches into Labuk Bay; and the Kinabatangan, the largest and most important river in the territory, which is believed to have its rise eastward of the range of which Trus Madi is the principal feature, and is navigable by steamer for a considerable distance and by native boats for a distance of over too m. from its mouth. Some valuable tobacco land, which, however, is somewhat liable to flood, and some remarkable burial-caves are found in the valley of the Kinabatangan. The remaining rivers of the east coast are the Segamah, which rises west of Darvel Bay, the Kumpong, and the Kalabakang, which debouches into Cowie Harbour. Taking it as a whole, the company's territory is much less generously watered than are other parts of Borneo, which again compares unfavourably in this respect with the Malayan states of the peninsula. Many of the rivers, especially those of the west coast, are obstructed by bars at their mouths that render them difficult of access. Several of the natural harbours of North Borneo, on the other hand, are accessible, safe and commodious. Sandakan Harbour, on the north-east toast (5 40' N., 118 ro' E.), runs inland for some 17 M. With a very irregular outline broken by the mouths of numerous creeks and streams. The mouth, only 2 M. across, is split into two channels by the little, high, bluff-like island of Barhala. The depth in the main entrance varies from ro to 17 fathoms, and vessels drawing 20 ft. can advance half-way up the bay. The principal town in the territory, and the seat of government (though an attempt has been unsuccessfully made to transfer this to Jesselton on the west coast), is Sandakan, situated just inside the mouth of the Sarwaka inlet. At Silam, on Darvel Bay, there is good anchorage; and Kudat in Marudu Bay, first surveyed by

Commander

COMMANDER

Johnstone of H.M.S. " p;..geria " in 1881, is a small but useful harbour.
Climate and Population.The climate of North Borneo is tropical, hot,

damp

DAMP

and enervating. The rainfall is steady and not usually excessive. The shade temperature at Sandakan ordinarily ranges from 72 to 94 F. The population of the company's territory is not known with any approach to accuracy, but is estimated, somewhat liberally, to amount to 175,000, including i6,000 Chinese. Of this total about three-fourths are found in the districts of the west coast. The seashore and the country bordering closely on the west coast are inhabited chiefly by Dusuns, by Kadayans, by Bajaus and Ilanunsboth Malayan tribesand by Brunei Malays. The east coast is very sparsely populated and its inhabitants are mostly Bajaus and settlers from the neighbouring Sulu archipelago. The interior is dotted with infrequent villages inhabited by Dusuns or by Muruts, a

village

VILLAGE

ordinarily consisting of a single long hut divided up into cubicles, one for the use of each family, opening out on to a common verandah along which the skulls captured by the tribe are festooned. It has been customary to speak of these tribes as belonging to the Dyak group, but the Muruts would certainly seem to be the representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, and there is much reason to think that the Dusuns also must be classed as distinct from the Dyaks. The Dusun language, it is interesting to note, presents very curious grammatical complications and refinements such as are not to be found among the tongues spoken by any of the other peoples of the Malayan Archipelago or the mainland of south-eastern Asia. Dusuns and Muruts alike are in a very low state of civilization, and both indulge inordinately in the use of intoxicating liquors of their own manufacture.
Settlements and Communication.The company possesses a number of small stations along the coast, of which Sandakan,with a population of 9500, is the most important. The remainder which call for separate mention are Lahat Datu on Darvel Bay on the east coast; Kudat on Marudu Bay and Jesselton on Gaya Bay on the west coast. A railway of indifferent construction runs along the west coast from Jesselton to Weston on Brunei Bay, with a branch along the banks of the Padas to Tenom above the rapids. It was originally intended that this should eventually be extended across the territory to Cowie Harbour (Sabuko Bay) on the east coast, but the extraordinary engineering difficulties which oppose themselves to such an extension, the sparse population of the territory, and the failure of the existing line to justify the expectations entertained by its designers, combine to render the prosecution of any such project highly improbable. Sandakan is connected by telegraph with Mempakul on the west coast whence a cable runs to Labuan and so gives telegraphic communication with Singapore. The overland line from Mempakul to Sandakan, however, passes through forest-clad and very difficult country, and telegraphic communication is therefore subject to very frequent interruption. Telegraphic communication between Mempakul and Kudat, via Jesselton, has also been established and is more regularly and successfully maintained. The only roads in the territory are bridle-paths in the immediate vicinity of the company's principal stations. The Sabah Steam-ship Company, subsidized by the Chartered Company, runs steamers along the coast, calling at all the company's stations at which native produce is accumulated. A German firm runs vessels at approximately bi-monthly intervals from Singapore to Labuan and thence to Sandakan, calling in on occasion at Jesselton and Kudat en route. There is also fairly frequent communication between Sandakan and Hong-Kong, a journey of four days' steaming.
Products and Trade.The capabilities of the company's territory are only dimly known. Coal has been found in the neighbourhood of Cowie Harbour and elsewhere, but though its quality is believed to be as good as that exported from Dutch Borneo, it is not yet known whether it exists in payable quantities. Gold has been found in alluvial deposits on the banks of some of the rivers of the east coast, but here again the quantity available is still in serious doubt. The territory as a whole has been very imperfectly examined by geologists, and no opinion can at present be hazarded as to the mineral wealth or poverty of the company's property. Traces of mineral oil, iron ores, copper, zinc and antimony have been found, but the wealth of North Borneo still lies mainly in its jungle produce. It possesses a great profusion of excellent timber, but the difficulty of extraction has so far restricted the lumber industry within somewhat modest limits. Gutta, rubber, rattans, mangrove-bark, edible nuts, guano, edible birds'-nests, &c., are all valuable articles of export. The principal cultivated produce is tobacco, sago, cocoanuts, coffee, pepper, gambier and sugar-canes. Of these the tobacco and the sago are the most important. Between 1886 and r900 the value of the tobacco crop increased from 471 to 200,000.
As is common throughout Malayan lands, the trade of North Borneo is largely in the hands of Chinese shopkeepers who send their agents inland to attend the Tamus (Malay, temu, to meet) or fairs, which are the recognized scenes of barter between the natives of the interior and those of the coast. At Sandakan there is a Chinese population of over 2000.
Administration.For administrative purposes the territory is divided into nine provinces: Alcock and Dewhurst in the north; Keppel on the west; Martin in the centre; Myburgh, Mayne and

Elphinstone

on the east coast; and Dent and Cunliffe in the south. The boundaries of these provinces, how-ever, are purely arbitrary and not accurately defined. The form of government is modelled roughly upon the system adopted in the Malay States of the peninsula during the early days of their administration by British residents. The government is vested primarily in the court of directors appointed under the company's charter, which may be compared to the colonial office in its relation to a British colony, though the court of directors interests itself far more closely than does the colonial
department in the smaller details of local administration. The supreme authority on the spot is represented by the governor, under whom are the residents of Kudat, Darvel Bay and Keppel, officers who occupy much the same position as that usually known by the title of

magistrate

MAGISTRATE (Lat. magistratus, from magister, master, properly a public office, hence the person holding such an office)

and collector. The less important districts are administered by district magistrates, who also collect the taxes. The principal departments, whose chiefs reside at the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

, are the treasury, the land and survey, the public works, the constabulary, the medical and the judicial. The secretariat is under the charge of a government secretary who ranks next in precedence to the governor. Legislation is . by the proclamation of the governor, but there is a council, meeting at irregular intervals, upon which the principal heads of departments and one unofficial member have seats. The public service is recruited by nomination by the court of directors. The governor is the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

judge of the court of appeal, but a judge who is subordinate to him takes all ordinary supreme court cases. The laws are the Indian Penal and Civil Procedure Codes and Evidence Acts, supplemented by a few local laws promulgated by proclamation. There is an Imam's court for the trial of cases affecting Mahommedan law of marriage, succession, &c. The native chiefs are responsible to the government for the preservation of law and order in their districts. They have restricted judicial powers. The constabulary numbers some 600 men and consists of a mixed force of Sikhs, Pathans, Punjabi Mahommedans, Dyaks and Malays, officered by a few Europeans. There is a Protestant mission which supports a churchthe only stone building in the territoryand a school at Sandakan, with branches at Kudat, Kaningau and Tambunan. The Roman Catholic mission maintains an orphanage, a church and school at Sandakan, and has missions among the Dusuns at several points on the west coast and in the Tambunan country. Its head-quarters are at Kuching in Sarawak. The Chinese have their joss-houses and the Mahommedans a few small mosques, but the vast majority of the native inhabitants are pagans who have no buildings set apart for religious purposes.
Finance and Money.The principal sources of revenue are the licences granted for the importation and retailing of opium, wine and spirits, which are in the hands of Chinese; a customs duty of 5 % on imports; an export tax of 5 % on jungle produce; a poll-tax sanctioned by ancient native custom; and a stamp duty. A land revenue is derived from the sale of government lands, from quit rents and fees of transfer, &c. Judicial fees bring in a small amount, and the issue and sale of postage and revenue stamps have proved a fruitful source of income. The people of the country are by no means heavily taxed, a large number of the natives of the interior escaping all payment of dues to the company, the revenue being for the most part contributed by the more civilized members of the community residing in the neighbourhood of the company's stations. There are bank agencies in Sandakan, and the company does banking business when required. The state, which has adopted the penny postage, is in the Postal Union, and money orders on North Borneo are issued in the United Kingdom and in most British colonies and vice versa. Notes issued by the principal banks in Singapore were made current in North Borneo in 1900. There is also a government note issue issued by the company for use within the territory only. The currency is the Mexican and British dollar, the company issuing its own copper coinviz. cents and half cents. It is proposed to adopt the coinage of the Straits Settlements, and measures have been taken with a view to the accomplishment of this. In the interior the principal medium of exchange among the natives is the large earthenware jars, imported originally, it is believed, from China, which form the chief wealth both of tribes and individuals. (H. CL.)
maert, Discours ende ghelegentheyt van het eylandt Borneo int Jear 16oq; Hachelyke reystogt van Jacob Jansz. de Roy na Borneo en Atchin in het jaar 1691; Beeckman, Visit to Borneo, 1718, in J. Pinkerton's General Collections (18081814); F. Valentijn in Ond en Nieuw Oost Indian (Dordrecht, 17241726). See also H. Keppel, Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. " Dido " (London, 1846) ; R. Mundy, Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes (London, 1848) ; F. S.
Marryat, Borneo, &c. (1848) ; P. J. Veth, Borneo's Westerafdeeling (Zalt-Bommel, 1854 and 1856) ; S. Muller, Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel (Amsterdam, 1857); C. Bock, Head-hunters of Borneo (London, 1881), and Reis in Oost en Zuid-Borneo (The Hague, 1887) ; J. Hatton, The New Ceylon, a Sketch of British North Borneo (London, 1882) ; F. Hatton, North Borneo (London, 1885) ; T. Posewitz, Borneo . . . Verbreitung der nutzbaren Mineralien (Berlin, 1889), Eng. trans., Borneo; its Geology and Mineral Resources (London, 1892); Whitehead, Exploration of Mount Kini Balu (London, 1893) ; Mrs W. B. Pryor, A Decade in Borneo (London, 1894) ; H. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and North Borneo (London, 1896) ; G. A. F. Molengraaf, Geologische Verkinningstochten in Centraal Borneo (Leiden, 1900, Eng. trans. 1902) ; A. W. Niewenhuis, In Centraal Borneo (Leiden, 1901), and Quer durch Borneo (Leiden, 1904), &c.; W. H. Furness, Home Life of Borneo Head-hunters (London, 1902) ; O. Beccari, Nelle Foreste di Borneo (Florence, 1902), Eng. trans., Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo (London, 1904) ; D. Cator, Everyday Life among the Head-hunters (London, 1905). For geology, besides the works of Posewitz and Molengraaf already cited, see R. B. Newton in Geol. Mag., 1897, pp. 407-415, and Proc. Malac. Soc., London, vol. v. (19021903), pp. 403-409. A series of papers on the palaeontology of the island will be found in the several volumes of the Samml. Geol. R. Mus., Leiden.

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