The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-12-18

nIst time, the appalling truth dawned
upon them. They learned that they were
an the wake OF hosts of their feliow-coun.
trymen who had fallen victims to the
slave traders and sold their liberty for
mess OF pottage. Thereupon these fellows
look matters into their own hands at
hvely pace. Mutiny followed, and as a
result the skipper was obliged to put back
to Singapore. Here Gov. Douglas was APP
Peaied to, and after hearing the complaint
made by the coolies he compelled the cap
tam OF the vessel to release them. But,
bless you, this one case brought to official
notice is only one of the hundreds that go
unhlndered. AS usual thing there is no
opportunity to put into port at the insti-
CATION of mutineers, because they are
cowed and thrown into irons before they
have time to organize. and thus they are
carried on against protest"
And, fnally"--
'They arrive at Sandakan. where they
are unloaded like so many cattle and sent
To the estate to which they are bound"
what about the natives of North
Borneo2"
"a mere handful in North Borneo, and
II is this locality of which speak. They
comprise the Malays. who are the Dyaks
of Borneo; the Battes, or Bataks, and
other wild tribes of Sumatra. and the alb
origines of Northern CeleDes, and of the
Suia island. 1t is necessary here to di-
verge for moment from the parsonage of
the slave in order that I may give you a
better understanding Of the people into
whose hands these poor slaves fall. There
are undoubted signs of Borneo having had
at one period dense population all along
us river banks. There are the remains of
timely titled gardens and grand old trees,
whiie even great numbers of piles re-
main, which again go to prove former
habitation, for We know that all
of the Malay houses are built
upon piles. Therefore, when confronted
by these evidences of former settlement, it
- question as to what has become of the
people. The only answer comes from the
chieftains, who tell us that the races have
In times past so continually made war
upon one another that the end came in ex-
termination. To be sure, there are viii
lagos to be found along the banks of these
beautiful rivers-for POLITICALLY beautiful
they are today. But even these settle
ments are situated wide apart And thus
IL Is that the old custom of head-hunting
has very nearly died out. because the few
people and the prohibitory law combine to
defeat any attempts at head-hunting, al
though it must be admitted that one viii
lage is only too glad to rob it's neighbor of
as many heads as possible as trophies Of
bravery and daring"
"Were you ever hunted for your head ?"
"o ASu' nan III jest, not counting upon
serious answer
Eyes, once--only once" the Englishman
answered, promptly, land to my dying
day shall never forget it. A band of
Dyaks chased me around the foot of a
mountain. Away flew, the savage Dyaks
after me, until l reached a fallen tree,
where l discharged nv rife, and thus
keeping them back, I gained our camp.
And these Malays are the very fellows who
at length become the CALLING yoke around
the necks of the slaves. What a Malay
will not do for money is not to be classified
in the category of crime. They are
standing and ever ready aid to the tobacco
planters, who offer a reward of IS per head
for every runaway Chinese slave they
capture and return to them alive. Thus
menaced upon every side, freedom
is an absolute impossibility. The
slave escapes one night. That is
comparatively an easy matter. For
days he may hide himself in the interior.
There he stops in vast, trackless forest,
without food and with no possible means
to obtain it. Many day he avoids the
rivers edge. for this is the highway to and
from the estates. Then, when hunger
seizes him in its mad grip, he grows