of Egypt, a country which he says he passed through in the year 1503. In 1507 he
quitted Calicut on his way home, so that his visit to the Archipelago must have
taken place m the mtervening years, the last date being four years prior to the
conquest of Malacca, when the active intercourse with Malayan countries commenced.
Barthema.visited of the Malayan countries, the Peninsula, Sumatra, the Banda and
Molucca Islands, and Java. The Moluccas he seems to consider as one island
including probably under this name the great island of Gilolo, and it was from them
that he sailed to Borneo in a native vessel. “Having,” says he, “ arrived at the
island of Bornei, which is distant 200 miles (leagues) from Maluch, we found it to
be somewhat larger than this last, and much lower.” The next mention of it is by
Barbosa, whose account of Malacca shows that he visited that place before its
conquest by his countrymen. He does not seem to have visited Borneo, but he
states its position, calls it an island, and writes the name, like Barthema, Bornei Par
more satis&etory than the notices of Barthema and Barbosa is that of Pigafetta, who,
as one of the surviving companions of Magellan, visited Brunai, or Borneo Proper, in
*“'“1, which was 10 years after the conquest of Malacca. He gives its latitude as
’ • lts ongitu(?e from the fo-8* meridian as 176° 40', the first being not above
10 from its true position, but the last by the enormous amount of nearly 30°. He
writes the name like his predecessors, and thus describes the island : “ The island,”
says he, “ is so great that it would take three months to sail round it in a prao.”
This account of its ^extent is probably not far from the truth, according to the
manner of computation adopted. A native prau sailing round Borneo would necessarily
encounter an adverse monsoon and calms in one half the voyage, to say
nothing of delays for wood, water, and provisions. With these drawbacks, 20 miles a day
would be a fair average rate of sailing, and at such a one it would certainly take three
months to complete the circumnavigation of an island with a coast-line of 2000 miles.
The name of the island is obviously taken from the capital town of the chief native
state m it, which is indifferently pronounced by the Malays, according to the dialect
they happen to speak—Brand, Brunai, Bumd, or Bumai. This last is nearly the
name given to it by Pigafetta and his predecessors. These European writers had no
possible means of obtaining their knowledge of the name, the insularity, or the extent of
the country, except from the native navigators of the Archipelago who preceded
them. We may conclude, then, that the name of the town was not extended to the
island by European writers, but by the Mahommedan navigators, who conducted the
carrying trade of the Archipelago before the advent of Europeans. The word has
not, like many other names of places, a specific meaning. Mr. Walter Hamilton, in
his Gazetteer, derives it from Varuna, the Hindu god of the sea, but this seems to be
the mere fancy of an oriental etymologist, for the name of the Indian deity in question
is well known in the legends of the Malays and Javanese, and always pronounced
Banina or Waruna. I t may be noticed that Borneo has been sometimes called by
the Malays Kalamantan. This word is the name of a species of wild mango, and the
word a t full length would simply mean Isle of Mangoes. The name however is
mythic, and neither a popular or well-known one.
I do not find that there was any formal taking possession of Borneo by its Spanish
discoverers in the name of the King of Spain, as was usual in such cases. The first
appearance of the Portuguese in Borneo, according to De Barros, was in 1526, fifteen
years after their conquest of Malacca. They must have heard of it from the native
merchants of that place immediately on that e v e n t b u t it presented no commercial
advantages like the Spice Islands, Sumatra, and Siam, which would tempt Alboquerque
to open an immediate communication with it, as he had with these places. In order
to get to the Moluccas by what was supposed to be a nearer route, it was resolved
to sail to the north instead of the south of Borneo; and in the course of this voyage
on one occasion the commander of a squadron, Hon Jorgd de Menezes, appointed
Governor of the Moluccas, touched at the port of Brunai, and exchanged gifts with
the king. De Barros expressly states that until then, Borneo had been undiscovered by
the Portuguese, and that the voyage which it was hoped would be shorter than the
customary one, lasted eight months, and, like others, was conducted under the guidance
of “ Moorish pilots.” The same Menezes, while exercising the government of the
Moluccas, sent in 1527 one Vasco Laurenzo to Borneo in order to examine it more
closely, with a view to the extension of Portuguese trade. The mission of this person
was defeated by a strange, but by no means incredible incident, considering the
character of those who sent it, and of those who received it. The Portuguese gift to
the King of Brunai consisted of a piece of rich tapestry, on which was represented
the marriage of Henry the Eighth of England with Katharine of Arragon.
65 BOENEO
d S S understood that Henry was a crowned prince, like himself, he became
alarmed, fancying the Portuguese were practising an act of sorcery, and that the
figures, springing into life from the tapestry, would take away his kingdom He
therefore ordered the tapestry to be removed, and the Portuguese forthwith to quit his
country. He would even have proceeded to acts of violence against them but for
the intercession of some Moorish merchants. In 1530, however, a friendly intercourse
between the Portuguese and the sovereign of Brunai was established, and during the
continuance of the Portuguese supremacy, a fair trade seems to have been carried on
between the different ports of Borneo and Malacca. The Portuguese had commercial
factories m various parts of the island, but seem discreetly to have abstained from
attempting conquests. This state of things lasted down to pciiuu oi j.« the year 1691, or for“ 5u years.
Olivpr maf® *he,|r fPPearance in Borneo under the celebrated navigator,
Oliver Van Noort, in 1598, but it was not until 1606 that they began to trade with
vears th • f f g ' dlam°uds> a“d Wâck pepper. Until, in comparatively late
years, their relations were confined to its southern coast, and then chiefly with the
state of Banjarmasin, which, at the time, ruled over the principal part of that side of
waVto^M • T1?,eir sole obJeot< according to the commercial principles of the time
was to obtain tnrough arrangements with the native prince, the staple products of
the country at prices below their natural cost, and to sell them above it. This kind
t h e n i ? ® “* ° “ .untl1 1669> when, as alleged, through the treacherous conduct of
the prince and his people, assisted by the intrigues of the English, who were pursuing
the same d i s c r e d ^ commerce, the Dutch found themselves compelled to
withdraw from the country. They did not return until 1733, when they entered
TThhee ¡reslulti off theese» was Tthn e declmree iogfn itlhlge tPrraidnece >o fh aBveinnjga rmthaes isna;m iets osbtajpeclet pinr ovdiuecwt.
u t j OD? tlme been considerable, having become nearly extract In
Î '! i 8"Ci f Slonand a civil war baying taken place in Banjarmasin the
Dutch interfered, dethroned the reigning prince, and placed his younger brother on
the throne. In gratitude for their service, this prince ceded to them hk entire
dominions, which, with the exception of a portion to be held by theme“ ve“ iTfidl
sovereignty, they restored to him to be held as a fief. I t wa,: thus “hat the Duteh
first became possessed of territory m Borneo. Since the restoration of their Indian
possessions in 1816, this territory has been vastly increased, through treaties with
native princes on the western, southern, and south-eastern sides of the island • and
on,e1fo™ °f another> is now asserted to extend over eight degrees
oui half I6 °n gl4 ’-embraCing ful1 tw°-thirds of the island, a territor^ bv
ifss oovveerr !a lvaIasftt trr opica!l wi-lfdî eBrnnetsasm, o afn ndo Ipreralacntidc-a l vTahluise ntoom thinea pl ossosveesrseoirgsn tyb,u ht oowne vtheIé
contrary, a heavy; incumbrance to them. In its present condirioh l t can neither feed
its own scanty inhabitants, nor, unless the hog and buffalo, nourish L v a S useful
to man. As far as the published accounts will enable us to h X o the
revenue of this monstrous territory falls short of 24 000/! out of wh i u . if6 gr(?ss
tamed civil establishments, garrisons, and a naval forçai Evw sînoe^816 the Euronp111"
power has waged a constant warfare with the Chinese of uTwestern co J emW
firing m vain to subject them to the payment of a capitation-tax but with mo
8UmC]fSSi ° ?îace their commerce and immigration under restraints. ’
hod f f - nT r bad territorial possessions in Borneo, but, like the Dutch t h e i r
io see neS 0n ? s°u ®rn coast> especially at Banjarmasin, where their intrigues
to secure a monopoly of trade, had produced the expulsion of their commercial r vals
The factory consisted of the establishment which had been driven W from Ch.
which was carrying'a lad™f r ? 7 jW 1.,?® search one of the king’s boats
that he ^wore^evenge anfl i o ^ f r i fi. j ’ wbich so provoked the king
praus to execute his rage on thrffn t*g 7 Sobered an army, and shipped it in large
factory, however, had Notice o f'th « °V ^ “ d .shlPP1Dg that lay in the river.” The
in the river, from which thev anno SSû ?s¥ n embarked in two large vessels
escape from t h e co n n tyv, ileJavJinZg Tsom e *s mall craft thbeemlosneglvinegs , toan dp rievffaetcet eEdn gthliesihr
F