of the Indian fig-tree ; ” and Martalaga, correctly Amartalaga, “ war of immortals.”
The line of princes, with their connexions that reigned over the state of Banjarmasin
furnish the Sanscrit names: Suryanata, “ sun lo rd ;” Suryawangsa, “ offspring of thé
su n ;” Gangawangsa, “ offspring of the Ganges;” Sukarama, “ delight of Rama;”
and Sumadra, “ he who gives great delight.” The same list gives the Javanese name’s :
Ampujatmika, “ upholder of courtesy; ” and Sâkar-sungsang, “ inverted flower; ” this
last being the designation of an unfortunate princess. Titles are mostly Javanese •
as Pangeran, “ a prince;” Raden, “ of royal blood;” Ratu, “ king ; ” Panâmbahann’
“ object of reverence:” and Mangkurat, “ nurser of the world.” Mangkubumi,
half-Javanese and half-Sanscrit, has the same sense as the last word ; and Adipati is
pure Sanscrit, and in Java the title of the highest nobility.
Words that are Javanese, without being at the same time Malay, have extended even
to the languages of the aborigines. Thus, in the Kayan language the name for the
dog and common fowl, with several others, is purely Javanese. ’
Remains of Hindu temples and images have, of late years, been discovered both
on the western and southern side of Borneo, bearing an entire resemblance to the
similar relics of Java. Hutch travellers have identified among the images, the frequently
found ones in Java of the elephant-headed god of wisdom, Ganesa; and that
of the bull, Nandi, the vehicle of “ the destroyer ” of the Hindu triad. The English traveller,
Dalton, who, in 1828 penetrated several hundred miles into the interior, by
the river of Koti, and lived for several months among the wild tribe of the Kayan,
assures us, “ that in the very inmost recesses of the mountains, as well as all over
the face of the country, remains of temples are to be seen,” similar to those
of India and Java “ In the country of Wagoo,” says he, “ 400 miles from the coast,
I have seen several of very superior workmanship, with all the emblematical representations
so common in Hindu places of worship.”
Over the western and southern sides of Borneo, the Bugis nation of Celebes has
settled in considerable numbers; but they are nowhere much concentrated, and
virtually independent, except on the rivers of Pasir and Koti, which have their
debouchements in the strait which divides Borneo from Celebes. There, by their
superior intelligence and enterprise, and the union and strength which spring from
them, they have been enabled to dictate their own terms to the Malay princes, and
have the entire trade of the rivers in their hands. The time of the first settlement
of the Bugis, in Borneo, is unknown, but cannot be very remote, since this people
themselves were nearly strangers to the commerce and navigation of the Archipelago
when the latter first became known to Europeans. The northern end of Borneo, and
a considerable part of its north-eastern side, are in the possession of the princes of the
Sulu Islands ; and the population appears to be a mixed one of tribes of aborigines,
Malays, and Bugis, the ruling people being the Sulus, who are of the Bisaya nation of
the Philippines. But, in truth, very little is known respecting this secluded portion of
the island, which has rarely been visited by Europeans at any time, and not at all of
late years.
The only other stranger people, who have settled in Borneo in large numbers,
are the Chinese. They are found in scattered numbers in every part of the coast
of Borneo, but it is only on the western side, attracted thither by its gold and
diamonds, that they exist concentrated and in large numbers. A portion of these is
subject to the Dutch rule, paying a capitation-tax ; but the majority are virtually
independent, living under a kind of rude republic, governed by elective chiefs who
administer the laws of China. No females, as is well known, emigrate from China ;
but the settlers have found wives among the women of the Dayaks, and hence many of
the present colonists are a mestizo or mixed race ; the original blood being, however,
to some extent kept up by annual immigrations from China. The original settlers,
as well as the present immigrants, are natives of the province of Canton, and all of
the lower or working classes of society. The Dutch authorities have estimated their
numbers, on the western coast alone, at 130,000.
The trade of the Chinese with the Indian Archipelago is probably of considerable
antiquity ; but there exists no record of the time when, or the manner in which, it
began. Their ships were found trading with Malacca when first visited by Europeans.
Pigafetta does not mention their being in the port of Brunai, or Borneo
Proper, when he visited it in 1521 ; but this may be accounted for by the time of
the year, which was the month of July, which would be after the sailing of the
Chinese junks on their return voyage with the south-western monsoon. He mentions,
however, the silks and porcelain of China which he saw in Borneo ; and he
states the adoption, by the Borneans, of the weights and the money of China ; facts
sufficient to prove the existence of a trade which was afterwards known to have
yearly employed four or five junks of large burden. Another curious fact attests
the existence of the trade, and proves it to be of some antiquity. This is, our
finding among the aboriginal inhabitants of Borneo, Chinese vases of ancient pattern
which cannot now be imitated. These are preserved in the families of the Dayaks
as sacred heir-looms, and bear extravagant prices, varying, according to size and
quality, from 81. up to 400Z. each. The settlement of the Chinese in the Archipelago
is certainly a much more recent event than their trading; and is, probably, coeval
with that of European establishment and conquest. The narrators of the conquest
of Malacca make no mention of Chinese settlers in that town, although they do
of Javanese ; of natives of continental India; and even of Pegu. Neither does
Pigafetta mention Chinese settlers in Brunai; and from the peculiarity of their
appearance they must-have struck him had they existed.
The number of the different nations now named, or the total population of the
island, must in the state of our knowledge, amount to little more than reasonable
conjecture, and all that we can be sure of is that it must in reference to area be very
small. “ If,” says Mr. Burns, speaking of the Kayans, the most powerful and numerous
of the aboriginal tribes, “ the amount and mode of cultivation practised throughout
be taken as a criterion, the island must be very thinly inhabited indeed ; and further, if
the other divisions of the island be not more populous than that of the north-western,
which is unlikely, the entire population of Borneo must fall far short of the surmises
and highly exaggerated accounts already published.” The public functionaries of the
Netherland government have made computations of the population of that portion
of the island over which the Dutch authority is paramount, reckoned at two-thirds
of the whole, and this they make to amount to 1,348,000. I f then we suppose the
remaining third to be equally populous, we shall make the total population in round
numbers 1,800,000. Even this would give but the poor relative population of less than 7
to the square mile. I t is however, I am satisfied, far above the actual population,
for the Dutch part contains most of the Malay, and nearly all the Bugis and Chinese
inhabitants, the country occupied by whom must, from superior civilisation, be
necessarily more populous than that of which the inhabitants consist only of Malays
and aborigines. Even the population however of the Dutch portion of the island
must itself be over-rated, and some of the facts adduced show that this is really the
case. Thus in the Dutch statements we find the whole territory of Banjarmasin
on the southern side of the island reckoned at 280 square geographical leagues, and
as having a population of 120,000 bouIs. Yet the Dutch portion of it, the largest
although not the most populous, has been found by enumeration to amount to no
more than 20,115, leaving therefore near 100,000 for the smaller part. A population
of 120,000 for the territory of Banjarmasin would in proportion to area give to the
portion of Borneo under the supremacy of the Netherlands near three times the
population which the Dutch authorities assign to it, while it would make the total
population of the island near five millions and a half, a number which no one
thinks of attributing to it. The essential sterility and rude condition of Borneo is
shown by comparing its state of populousness with that of the great fertile volcanic
islands according to area. Had it been proportionally as well peopled as Java, it
ought to have contained some 65 millions of inhabitants, or had it even been as well
peopled as Luzon, full twelve millions and a half. The populous and fertile volcanic
islands of Bali and Lomboc have between them an area of 208 square geographical
leagues, which is rather less than one-sixtieth part of the area of Borneo, and they
are computed to contain a million and a quarter of inhabitants, and it is certainly
more probable that they contain this population than that Borneo contains an equal
number, yet the race of man is the same in both cases. In Bali and Lomboc, as in
Java and Luzon, physical form and soil are favourable to the advancement of an
early civilisation, and in Borneo they are adverse to it. A hardy, industrious, and
enterprising population like that of China, fitted to labour under the equator, might
with the help of its metallic wealth in a few generations make Borneo as populous as
Java, but its natural difficulties are more than the Malayan race is competent
to overcome. In some of the southern provinces of their own country, it is
certain that the Chinese have overcome greater difficulties than any they would have
to encounter in Borneo.
The earliest mention that I have met with of Borneo by an European
writer is in the Itinerary of Ludovico Barthema. This traveller, a native of
Bologna, whose narrative is to be found in Ramusio’s Collection, visited most of
the maritime countries of the East as far as the Molucca Islands, going by the route