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The dark forgotten history of the Cholera Expedition down the Batang Lupar in 1902

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Famous today for the Pesta Benak, or Tidal Bore Festival, the Batang Lupar river was the site of a devastating cholera epidemic in the 1900s.

Modern-day Sarawakians might not have heard of the ‘Cholera Expedition’ that happened during the reign of the Brooke family.

But back in 1902, what was originally a military expedition against Iban rebels down the Batang Lupar river became a disaster, so much so it made headlines across the globe.

Historians and news reports back then called it the “cholera expedition” because one fifth of the 10,000 men recruited to fight against Iban rebels died of the disease.

A river runs through it

Batang Lupar flows for 275 kilometers from the Klinkang Range to the South China Sea. It has a large rivermouth and  becomes shallow upstream.

The river runs through a number of towns including Lingga, Sri Aman and Engkilili. The Batang Lupar river is the only river in Malaysia which experiences the tidal bore phenomenon. Even though it happens everyday, it becomes more spectacular at king tide during dry season.

Cholera expedition
The narrower part of Batang Lupar river near Engkilili town.

What actually happened?

Vyner Brooke, the eldest son of Charles Brooke, the second rajah of Sarawak, started his career in the then-kingdom as a cadet government officer in 1897.

He first served in Simanggang (now known as Sri Aman), then at Mukah and Oya.

In May 1900, he participated in a punitive expedition against the Muruts in Trusan. Then in June 1902, he took part in another expedition against the Ibans in upper Batang Lupar.

It was an expedition Vyner would never forget.

The expedition was to pacify Iban factions who had started a few raids against their traditional enemies – and Brooke allies – the Ibans from the lower Batang Lupar.

Branded rebels under the Brooke regime, they also refused to pay taxes or follow directives by the Brooke government to move their longhouses to the riverbank.

Charles and Vyner arrived at the fort in Lingga on June 8 where they found more than 10,000 of their Iban and Malay allies in about 800 longboats ready to fight for them.

The next morning, Vyner reported to his father that two men had died outside his bungalow.

Charles refused to listen, assuming his son was trying to escape his duty.

Then on June 9, the Rajah made his way back to Kuching leaving Vyner to carry on the expedition with two English officers, Demetrius Bailey and Harry Deshon.

Batang Lupar
A wooden bridge across Batang Lupar at Engkilili town.

Margaret Brooke’s account on the Cholera Expedition

Vyner’s mother, Margaret wrote briefly about the expedition in her book My Life in Sarawak.

“For some unexplained reason, cholera broke out amongst the force just before it had reached the enemy’s country,” she stated.

When they arrived near the rebels’ area, the force was separated into two groups. One group led by the Malay chiefs set out on foot to attack the rebels while the rest including Vyner and his two English officers were left behind.

The remaining force set up camp by the river. By this time, many had suffered from cholera.

“As the days wore on, the air was filled with the screams and groans of the stricken and dying.”

According to Margaret, it was impossible to turn back despite the fact that men were dropping dead everyday because of the “bad impression such a course would have made on the enemy.”

In the end about 2,000 men died of the disease.

She was told by the two British officers that Vyner’s presence helped to keep discipline and hope among the force.

Margaret wrote, “He was always cheerful, they said. It appears that Vyner and his two friends used to sit on the gravel bed and with a grim humour point out to one another where they would like to be buried.”

The floating bodies from the Cholera Expedition

However, the truth is some who died of cholera were not properly buried.

Although Brooke’s forces had returned successfully from battle against the rebels, they found many dead bodies and dying comrades at the camp.

Some were buried in shallow graves at the campsite while some were flung from the boats during their return journey to Simanggang.

The bodies that were brought to Simanggang were stacked into pyres and burnt.

The disease spread even more when – after hearing of the dead bodies – the upper Batang Lupar Ibans came to the campsites to cut off the heads and bring them home.

This caused more people at the upper river to get infected, with some dying from cholera.

Sri Aman
Sculptures of doves at the roundabout in modern-day Sri Aman are reminders of the MoU signed on 20 October 1973 between the Sarawak government and the communist organisation, PARAKU. The original name of the town, Simanggang, was also changed to Sri Aman (as “aman” means “peace” in Malay) to recognise the peace declaration.

The Cholera Expedition which made world headlines

When the Ranee first read the news about the expedition, she was in Italy.

The Italian paper had mistakenly reported that the Rajah’s son died of cholera in Sarawak, as he was leading an expedition into the interior.

“I hurried to England with my younger son, Harry, who was staying with me at the time, and when we arrived at Dover, placards at the station confirmed the report. Telegrams, however, soon put out of suspense, but I had spent a terrible day.”

Not all of the reports about the Cholera Expedition were inaccurate.

There was one which made it to the pages of The San Francisco Call on July 9, 1902 with the headline “Punitive Expedition is Attacked by Cholera”.

It stated, “While Harry de Windt has been undergoing tragic experiences in Siberia, his nephew Charles Vyner Brooke, son of Rajah Brooke of Sarawak, who married De Windt’s sister, has been having terrible time in the northern part of Sarawak.”

The news reported that more than 1,000 deaths occurred among the 10,000 members of expedition within 10 days due to cholera.

It pointed out that the intensely hot weather favoured the rapid progress of the disease.

The Singapore Free Press was more straightforward in its report on the expedition: They put the blame on the second rajah’s “arrogant stupidity” for insisting to carry on the expedition despite signs of cholera outbreak.

Plus, the paper observed that with more than 10,000 people travelling along a shallow river which they also used as drinking water, with even just one case of  cholera, the rapid spread of the disease was inevitable.

The aftermath of the Cholera Expedition

According to Cassandra Pybus in White Rajah: A Dynastic Intrigue, Vyner was determined to turn his people back from the expedition.

But Bailey’s fear of the Rajah was greater than his fear of cholera so he insisted the attack must proceed.

As for Vyner, he reportedly never forgave his father for not heeding his warning.

Perhaps he was right: if only Charles had listened to his son’s plea, more than 2,000 people would have not been infected by the disease.

Margaret, however, was not that critical of his husband’s decision.

According to Margaret, the spread of this waterborne disease in the whole Simanggang area was almost fateful.

In her final note on the event, she wrote “Nothing apparently could be done to stop the disease, which disappeared as suddenly as it had come, but this calamitous epidemic destroyed nearly one-quarter of the population.”

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Toshinari Maeda and his ‘mysterious’ death in 1942 Bintulu

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Bintulu, once a sleepy fishing village on the island of Borneo is largely known today for its booming oil and gas industry.

What lies deep down in the seabed off its coast is not just large reserves of natural gas, however, but a silent witness to one of the most mysterious air crashes during World War II.

A tragedy, mostly forgotten by many.

Maeda Toshinari
A photo of Toshinari Maeda By Kamakura Museum of Literature, Public Domain

Toshinari Maeda – a samurai lord in Borneo

Toshinari Maeda was a Japanese marquis and a military general. Born to the former daimyo of Nanokaichi Domain* in Kozuke province (modern Tomioka city) in 1885, he was later adopted as the heir to the main branch of the Maeda clan in 1900.

The Maeda clan ruled the Kaga Domain from 1583 until 1868 and was one of the most powerful samurai families in Japan. The clan became daimyo (feudal lords)  during the Edo period.

He became the 16th head of the Maeda clan on June 13, 1900.

*Domain or han is the Japanese historical term for the estate of a warrior after the 12th century of a daimyo in the Edo period (1603-1868) and early Meiji period (1868-1912).

Toshinari Maeda’s military career and death

Maeda had served as a battalion commander in the 4th Regiment of the Imperial Guard of Japan. He had also served as military attache to Great Britain from 1927 till 1930 and had actually retired from active military duty in 1939.

He was later called out of retirement to command operations in Borneo on April 1942 after the Pacific War broke out. By then, Sarawak had already been under Japanese occupation since Christmas Eve of 1941.

During World War II, the lieutenant-general became the first commander of the Borneo Defence Army which encompassed Japanese forces in northern Borneo (Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan and North Borneo).

His office of the Borneo Head of Military Defence Army,  at first headquartered in Miri, was then moved to Kuching according to his orders.

On Sept 5, 1942, after witnessing the execution of five men at Padungan, Kuching for allegedly stealing petrol,  he boarded a plane with two other officers to Labuan to officiate an airport named after him.

They never arrived.

A month later, the plane he was on was found to have crashed off the coast of Tanjung Batu in Bintulu.

Maeda was 57 years old.

The island of Labuan itself had been renamed Maeda Island or Pulau Maeda during the Japanese occupation in remembrance of the marquis. Maeda had also been promoted to ‘General’ posthumously.

A sunset view of Tanjung Batu where Toshinari Maeda was believed to have crashed.
A sunset view of Tanjung Batu where Toshinari Maeda was believed to have crashed.

Was it a curse that killed Toshinari Maeda?

The Japanese suspected the cause of the crash to be sabotage or suicide; but the Sarawak people attributed it to a curse brought on by Maeda himself.

In his post as commander of the Borneo Defence Force (which later became the 37th army), Maeda took up residence at the Astana.

John Beville Archer, a Batu Lintang camp internee and the last chief secretary to Rajah Vyner Brooke, in a June 1, 1948 issue of the Sarawak Gazette details how Maeda may have brought this curse down upon himself:

The main entrance of the Astana is the imposing and rather ancient tower overlooking the chief door to the palace.

Now there is a Brooke tradition that the exterior of this tower must not be whitewashed or renovated.

If this should occur, so runs the legend, some disaster will take place.

The tower had therefore became covered by an ivy-like creeper, and parts of the original building were crumbling in venerable decay.

The Japanese, vainglorious and victorious, saw fit to put this ruin into apple-pie order.

The creeper was torn down, masons, plasterers and white washers got busy.

Shortly afterwards Field Marshal Prince Maeda, cousin of the Emperor Sun god and Generalissimo, fell miserably to earth in a crashed plane somewhere round about Miri.

To this day, no one knows the cause of the crash and Maeda’s body was never found.

Toshinari Maeda’s legacy

After Borneo was liberated from Japanese occupation, Labuan assumed its former name. It became part of the North Borneo Crown Colony on 15 July 1946.

The Japanese had set up a Belian post at the beach of Tanjung Batu not far from the crash site in honor of Maeda, which was later taken back to Japan by the Maeda family after the Japanese occupation ended.

So now, there is no trace or anything in Sarawak to remember that the air crash ever happened.

But back in Japan, his former home built in Meguro, Tokyo in 1929 still survives to this day and part of the estate is now host to the Japan Museum on Modern Literature.

His former summer home in Kamakura is now used as the Kamakura Museum of Literature.

Photo courtesy of AJ Creations Photography.

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Gerard MacBryan, the most eccentric Sarawak officer exposed

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Gerard MacBryan
Gerard MacBryan after his pilgrimage to Mecca.

“There came out to Sarawak at about this time a young man who was destined to play a sinister part in the history of the Sarawak Raj.”

This is how Sylvia Brett, the last Ranee of Sarawak introduces Gerald MacBryan in her book Queen of the Headhunters.

The Brooke family governed Sarawak between 1841 and 1946. James Brooke ruled the area until his death in 1868. He was succeeded by his nephew Charles who in turn was succeeded by his son Vyner.

During the Brooke family’s reign, many British citizens were employed into Sarawak service.

One of them being Gerard MacBryan or his full name was Truman Magill MacBryan, whom some historians believed was Sarawak’s equivalent to Rasputin.

The story of Gerard MacBryan

Gerard MacBryan was the son of a doctor who owned a mental hospital near Bath, England. He was described as tall, graceful with bright eyes and ivory-white skin.

MacBryan was only 18 when he entered the Sarawak government service in 1920. Soon after MacBryan arrived in Sarawak for duty, however, rumours already began spreading about him.

According to Sylvia, “MacBryan, it was said, suffered from hallucinations that his bungalow was being attacked, and would start shooting wildly into the darkness.”

Sylvia was not the only one who recorded MacBryan’s lunacy.

Robert Payne in The White Rajahs of Sarawak stated that most of the white Sarawak officers during the Brooke reign were too busy to indulge in complicated pleasures.

“With Malays, Dyaks, Chinese, and Indians, all around them, and with a growing country to serve, they were kept occupied. Only one went mad, but he had a streak of madness in him long before he came to Sarawak.”

And of course the madman Payne referred to in his book was none other than MacBryan himself who was reported to have had a series of manic episodes.

Once in South Africa, he appeared naked at a party, and afterwards explained that he thought he was invisible. Sometimes he thought he was a dog, and would walk on all fours, barking at the top of his voice.

MacBryan also allegedly stole from shops and alms-boxes.

Gerard MacBryan and Vyner Brooke

Even so, with all the manic incidents, how MacBryan would continue to stay and serve in Sarawak was due to his relationship with the third white rajah, Vyner Brooke.

Of his first impression, Vyner told his wife, Sylvia that he thought MacBryan was “wonderful, but nuts”.

Putting aside the nuisance he presented to some of his fellow white officers, the Malay and Dayak people reportedly loved him.

MacBryan spoke fluent Malay and had even delivered a speech in Kenyah.

He also proved himself helpful by negotiating the peace-making ceremony between the Ibans and Kayans in Kapit in 1924.

Vyner nicknamed MacBryan the “Baron”, after Baron von Munchausen, the German cavalry officer who had been renowned for his fantastic and irresponsible antics.

According to historian Dr Bob Reece in The Name of Brooke, MacBryan was a man of considerable talent with an intelligence superior to that of most officers.

Reece wrote,

“More importantly, he was a skillful politician and a shrewd judge of character. He seems to have had the knack of knowing how the Rajah’s mind worked and of suggesting courses of action which would fulfil his wishes. In other words, MacBryan was capable of doing the Rajah’s thinking and decision making for him, something Vyner Brooke found very useful sometimes.”

Gerard MacBryan interfering with the succession to the throne

Vyner and Sylvia had no sons, so MacBryan began courting their young daughters. He even openly talked about becoming the next Rajah.

At one point Vyner had enough of the ‘Baron’ and fired him. MacBryan was subsequently banished from Sarawak for about four years.

During this time, he married a Malay lady, announced his conversion to Islam and even made a pilgrimage to Mecca. He had planned to make himself the Muslim ruler of the east.

MacBryan did not manage to do that but he did successfully make a return to Sarawak. By 1927, he was put in charge of Sarawak Gazette and eventually became Vyner’s secretary again.

Despite his best efforts, however, MacBryan was unable to seduce his way to the White Rajah’s throne.

But some reports claimed that he made sure the next heir apparent, Vyner’s nephew Anthony, would not make it to the throne either.

Another popular opinion was that the last Ranee was trying to push her eldest daughter, Leonora or her grandson Simon MacKay, to succeed the throne.

At the time, it was believed that Sylvia was plotting with MacBryan.

But on July 8, 1940, Sylvia wrote a letter to her brother in-law Captain Bertram Willes Dayrell Brooke (Anthony’s father) claiming her innocence.

“I happen to know more about the MacBryan plot than anyone. It began with MacBryan making violent love to Didi (Elizabeth, Vyner’s second daughter). I don’t think that Didi was more than fourteen at the time. But as you know MacBryan was determined to get into the family somehow. The whole thing has really grown from the evil seeds in MacBryan’s brain.”

Gerard MacBryan’s role in Sarawak’s cession to the British

But MacBryan’s biggest role yet in influencing Sarawak’s history was when Vyner appointed him to negotiate the terms of cession between Sarawak and the British government.

Local historian Ho Ah Chon stated in Sarawak Historical Events 1941-1945 that:

“After the war, Vyner sent out his private secretary to induce the leading Kuching Datus to sign letters in which they agreed to support any moves Vyner might think fit to make ‘in the interest of Sarawak’.”

According to reports, the letter never mentioned cession .

The community leaders signed the letters, not knowing the truth till few days later.

“One of the Datus, Datu Patinggi Abdillah, was furious when he discovered that they had been tricked, and he returned the $12,000 (all those who signed were given a large sum)- saying it was a bribe.”

And that private secretary was MacBryan.

Sylvia also wrote,“I think it can safely be said that if there had been no Gerard MacBryan there would have been no cession of Sarawak at that time — July 1946.”

When Vyner and Sylvia returned to Sarawak in 1946 to say their final farewell, the Baron was not there with them.
Sylvia stated,

“He had sworn he would see Vyner through the difficult period of Cession. After all, it was he who set the machinery in motion; who had coerced and corrupted the Malay Datus into signing papers they did not understand. And then he had simply vanished, leaving Vyner to face the music alone, to withstand the disapproval of his brother, and the shocked fury of his nephew.”

However according to Reece, this claim might not be true.

Reece stated,

“There is no way of verifying later accusations that MacBryan used trickery and even force to obtain the necessary signatures. But it is clear that he deliberately misrepresented Bertram and Anthony as having agreed to the cession.”

Nonetheless, the information retained and reproduced in a Malaysian secondary school History textbook for Form 3 was that of Gerard T. MacBryan using trickery to gain signatures from Council Negri members.

The Brooke family ceded Sarawak to the British government as a crown colony on July, 1 1946.

Life after Sarawak for Gerard MacBryan

By late 1949, there were reports of him losing his sanity. He was arrested for stealing peaches from a fruit barrow in London eventhough he had more than £40 in his pocket.

At one point, he also carried with him everywhere a mysterious black box which he said could blow up the world.

He occasionally checked himself into a mental institution in London.

Towards the end of his life, he was living in a cheap hotel in Hong Kong until he died in 1953.

Vyner believed MacBryan hanged himself although Sylvia believed MacBryan starved himself to death.

In her final mention of Gerard MacBryan in her book, the former Ranee stated, “…although he had thousands of dollars in the bank, the ‘Baron’, with his charmed and twisted dreams of powers, looked down-and-out, filthy and in rags. I never dared ask Vyner what he thought about the downfall of his friend.”

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Claudetown: This historically rich town is now known as what?

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Marudi is a quiet town in Sarawak famous for its kueytiaw noodles.

But did you know this town was once called Claudetown (sometimes spelled as Claude Town) not Marudi?

It was named Claudetown after Claude Champion de Crespigny who was the Resident of Baram district.

Claudetown
Marudi is also famous for its Baram regatta.

Who was Claude Champion de Crespigny?

An initial Google search of Claude Champion de Crespigny will lead you to Wikipedia page describing a British soldier and polo player. (This de Crespigny, however, committed suicide in 1910 at the age of 37.)

Marudi’s de Crespigny was born in 1829 to Reverend Heaton Champion de Crespigny and his wife Caroline.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1844 and became a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain.

de Crespigny was part of the French nobility during the tumultuous period of the French Revolution, which forced many aristocrats to flee France due to the political unrest.

Like many French émigrés who fled revolutionary France, he eventually made his way to Southeast Asia.  On how did this Frenchman found his way to Sarawak, that remains unclear.

Regardless, the second White Rajah Charles Brooke appointed him as the Resident of the Fourth Division (Baram and Trusan) in 1883.

Before that, he was the Resident of the Third Division (Rejang, Oya, Mukah, Matu and Bintulu).

His administration was made up of two junior officers, 30 rangers and a few native police officers.

In 1882, de Crespigny recorded in his diary that there were 18 hand-dug oil wells at the mouth of Miri river.

He found out about this when he noticed that the locals mixed the oil with resin to caulk their boats.

Unfortunately, the Brooke government didn’t put more thought to this observation until de Crespigny’s successor Charles Hose came along.

Due to this, Hose is more widely known as the important figure in discovery of oil in Sarawak.

de Crespigny died on Dec 28, 1884.

Marudi
The town is also home to the famous kueytiaw Marudi.

Claudetown in the 1880s

Looking back into the town history, the first foundation of Claudetown was laid on July 19, 1882.

In 1885, Charles Brooke visited Claudetown and it already had 45 attap shophouses.

The population throughout the whole of Baram area back then was mainly made up of the Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Penan, Berawan, Kiput, Sebop, and Seping.

The first group of Chinese immigrants who arrived in town were the Hokkien.

They came down from Kuching in 1882 to trade.

By 1888, there were 300 Hokkiens and Teochews living in Claudetown.

Then in 1905, a Malay named Dato Sharif Hamid from Simanggang (known today as Sri Aman) introduced rubber planting in the area. Now, there is a primary school SK Dato Sharif Hamid named after him.

From Claudetown to Marudi

So why did Claudetown change its name to Marudi?

According to Miri’s official government website, it was later renamed to Marudi after a small river flowing through the town.

But local historian Chang Pat Foh had a more amusing story behind the name Marudi.

After the discovery of oil in Miri, the administrative centre of the Fourth Division was relocated from Claudetown to Miri.

Miri people back then used to tease those from Claudetown in the Iban language, “Malu dek, Kubu Claudetown udah pindah ngagai Miri.” (How embarassing for you, your fort has been moved to Miri).

Then, slowly people started to call the town “Malu dek” which eventually became Marudi.

Whether is there any truth in this playful story, that will remain a mystery for all of us.

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Charles Hose and his love affair with Sarawak

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Fort Hose Marudi 1
A plaque at Fort Hose marking the date it was opened in Marudi.

Fort Hose in Marudi was named after Charles Hose, the then Resident of Baram.

Born in 1863 in Hertfordshire, he was the son of clergyman Thomas Charles Hose.

As a young man, he continued his study at Cambridge University but never completed his degree.

With the help of his uncle, George Frederick Hose, the bishop of Singapore, Sarawak and Labuan, Hose landed a job in the Sarawak civil service.

The fort – now officially renamed and repurposed as the Baram Regional Museum –  is a significant remnant of the Brooke era in Sarawak which ended about 80 years ago.

Apart from his work as a British administrator, Hose contributed a great deal to Sarawak as a zoologist and ethnologist.

Charles Hose and his love for nature

Hose lived in Sarawak for 24 years and spent his free time researching natural history and ethnography.

He enjoyed exploring the rainforest and became an avid collector of plants and animals.

His collection can be found in the British Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge.

An amateur photographer, Hose also captured photos showcasing people and scenery of Sarawak.

To commemorate his work as a zoologist, several species were named after him including Hose’s frog (Odorrana hosii), Hose’s tree frog (Philautus hosii), Hose’s palm civet (Diplogale hosei) and many more.

Fort Hose Marudi 2
Some of the photographs taken by Charles Hose himself displayed at Baram Regional Museum.

Charles Hose and the birth of Baram Regatta

During the Brooke administration, fights among tribes were rampant in the Baram region.

Hose decided to hold a peace conferenceat his fort in April 1899 which led to the birth of the first Baram Regatta.

The regatta, a longboat competition among the tribes, is still continued to this day. Only now it includes other activities such as cultural performances, beauty pageants and so much more.

After his 18-year service in Marudi, he was promoted to serve the supreme council of Sibu.

There, he also helped in peace negotiations between Iban rebels in 1904 and warring Ibans from the Rajang and Batang Lupar in 1907.

Charles Hose and the Kelabit people

According to former headmaster and author Sagau Batubala, the name Kelabit was a misnomer Hose had given to the people living in the highlands south of Mount Murud.

As Resident, part of his responsibilities included listing down all the races living in Baram.

When a group of villagers paid a courtesy call to the newly appointed Resident in his office at Fort Hose in 1901, Hose asked them where they were from, which leader of the group answered “Pa’ Labid”, the name of their village.

Dutifully, he then asked them what their races were, to which the leader answered “Orang Pa’ Labid.”

Hose was believed to have misheard the word ‘Pa’ Labid’, writing it down in his record book as ‘Kalabit’.

From that moment on, Kalabit became the race name for the ethnic community we now know as Kelabit.

A side view of Fort Hose.
After being razed to the ground, Fort Hose was rebuilt according its original dimensions. The fortress as it stands today.

Charles Hose and the discovery of oil in Miri

Hose is cited by Rasoul Sorkhabi in GEOExpro, a petroleum geoscience magazine, to have played a significant role in the discovery of oil in Miri.

After his appointment as the Resident of Baram, Hose started mapping oil seeps in and around Miri.

He reportedly gave his findings to the Brooke government, but an English consultant geologist said an oil exploration in Sarawak was a no-go because of its poor logistical conditions.

Hose then retired and returned to England where he whosed his map of oil seeps to Charles Brooke.

The late Rajah gave his permission to continue the exploration, so Hose went to discuss the idea with Anglo-Saxon Petroleum, a part of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

The meeting was a success and Charles later signed the first Sarawak Oil Mining Lease in 1909.

Eventually due to the rapid oil discovery activity, the Resident’s Office was moved from Marudi to Miri in 1912.

A portrait sketch of Charles Hose. Credit: Public Domain.
A sketch portrait of Charles Hose. Credit: Public Domain.

Charles Hose and his many publications

Hose spent his retirement in Norfolk writing about Sarawak and its people.

Some of his significant publications are ‘The Pagan Tribes of Borneo’ (1912), ‘Natural Man’ (1926), and his memoir ‘Fifty Years of Romance and Research, or, a Jungle-Wallah at Large’ (1927).

He died at the Hutton Nursing Home in 1929.

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Fort Sylvia: 3 things to know about the charming historical building of Kapit

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If you happen to be cruising down Sarawak’s longest river, the Batang Rajang and find yourself in Kapit town, your stay would not be complete without a visit to Fort Sylvia.

Built in 1880, Fort Sylvia is one of the most historical sites in Sarawak. It may be hard to visit if you are a casual tourist as the town of Kapit itself is only accessible by two-hour expressboat ride from Sibu, but you can see the impressive belian fort as soon as you exit the Kapit Passengers Terminal.

It used to be called Kapit Fort or Kubu Kapit until 1925 when it was named after Ranee Sylvia Brooke, wife to the third White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke.

Under the Brooke administration, the fort was used as an administrative centre for the Upper Rejang area. Back then, the Sarawak Rangers, a para-military force were also stationed at the fort.

Over the years, the fort also housed the District Office, District Courthouse and later the Resident’s Office in 1973.

In May 1997, the Tun Jugah Foundation was given the responsibility to manage the fort, turning it into a museum.

Fort Sylvia Kapit (11)
Fort Sylvia, Kapit.

Here are 3 things to know about Fort Sylvia:

1. It was where 1924 Peace-making Ceremony took place

History has it that there were conflicts between the Iban and the Orang Ulu during Charles Brooke’s reign due to the Iban migration upriver in the Rajang River basin.

Headhunting was rampant. There were Ibans who openly revolted against the Rajah’s rule prohibiting them to migrate into selected rivers in the area.

Peace was slowly restored after 1919 when Charles Brooke launched an expedition in the area to eliminate these rebels.

Finally in 1924, they held a peace-making ceremony to commemorate the end of the tribal conflicts. A preliminary peace-making ceremony had been held the evening before on Nov 15 at Long Nawang, North Kalimantan, where a group of Kenyahs performed a war dance for the attendees.

The ceremony at Fort Sylvia took place on Nov 16 between the Kayans, Kenyahs and Kajangs of the Apo Kayan and Balui river with the Ibans of Batang Rajang and Batang Ai.

The ceremony started with the killing of one pig and the sprinkling of the pig’s blood. Some of the tribe leaders performed prayers during the ceremony which ended with the presentation of ancient jars and gongs to each of the tribe leaders from Charles Brooke.

Rajah Vyner Brooke gave this jar to Temenggong Koh Jubang as a token of peace during the peace-making ceremony.
Rajah Vyner Brooke gave this jar to Temenggong Koh Jubang as a token of peace during the peace-making ceremony.

Today, there is a small memorial located in front of the fort to mark the event.

It reads: “This Stone is to commemorate the Peace-making Ceremony between the Kayan, Kenyah and Kajang of the Apoh Kayan and the Balui River; and the Iban of Batang Rejang and Batang Ai head-waters, on  16 November 1924.”

A memorial stone to commemorate the 1924 peace-making ceremony.
A memorial to commemorate the 1924 peace-making ceremony.

2. To learn about one of the world’s largest amber deposits

A visit to Fort Sylvia will teach visitors the history about one of Sarawak’s valuable yet underrated natural resources – amber.

One of the world’s largest amber deposits was discovered in the Merit-Pila Coal Field along the Batang Rajang.

Geologists also found the largest piece of amber in the world in this area. Even more surprising is the age of the amber as it is estimated to be approximately 20 million years old.

The colours of amber vary from black to white and sometimes with shades of orange, red, yellow and brown.

Visitors can admire a small collection of amber carvings by local artist Kojan Kabeng from Punan Bah in one of the exhibits at Fort Sylvia.

Amber
Amber carvings by Kojan Kabeng.

3. And of course to learn about Kapit and its rich history

Some of the weaving materials to make pua kumbu displayed.
Some of the weaving materials to make pua kumbu on display.

The museum also depicts the history of Kapit through old photos of its community leaders as well as a selection of Iban costumes and textiles.

One of Tun Jugah Foundation’s objectives is to promote Iban traditional weaving. As such, the fort also displays weaving tools and raw materials for making pua kumbu.

A view of Batang Rajang from the first floor of Fort Sylvia.
A view of Batang Rajang from the first floor of Fort Sylvia.

Visit Tun Jugah Foundation for more information about Fort Sylvia.

Read other articles about forts in Sarawak here:

A visit to Fort Hose, Marudi, Sarawak

Lawatan ke Kubu Hose di Marudi

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5 Sarawakian ghost stories you’ve probably never heard of

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Everybody loves ghost stories, especially when they’re familiar with the places where they allegedly happened.

While Peninsular Malaysia is host to infamous haunted sites like Highland Towers, Karak Highway and Villa Nabila, we have our own share of spooky tales here in the Land of the Hornbills.

Here are some Sarawakian ghost stories that you’ve probably never heard of:

1. A store in Miri where shoes fly

If you are working as a retailer at one of the shopping malls in Miri, you might have heard this story.

It seemed like any other day for the staff of a shoe store as they were opening up shop, until they saw that shoes were scattered all over the place as if they had been thrown about.

The owner understandably turned to the CCTV recording to check what had happened, and to everybody’s surprise, they didn’t find the culprit, instead they saw the shoes fly off the rack all by themselves.

However, the existence and legitimacy of the CCTV recording is continuously the subject of debate in online forums.

2. A haunted hotel in Bintulu

Google-search ‘haunted hotel in Bintulu’ and you’ll find two accounts of the same haunting… which goes to show what happens when you put bloggers in a ghostly situation.

Their experiences have the perfect ingredients for a ghost story – unexplained banging on the window, sobbing sounds, being assigned a haunted room and to show it wasn’t all a dream – scratch marks on their backs.

One of the bloggers also happens to be a comic blogger.

Check out their stories here and here.

3.The tale of Janet and Satok Bridge

This is one of Sarawakian ghost stories perhaps only known among Kuchingites.

The story goes that in the 1960s while Satok bridge was still in its early stages of construction, women were going missing.

According to some myths, human sacrifices – specifically, their heads – are needed to reinforce the pillars of a bridge, and like most human sacrifices around the world, the demand is for young virgins.

Janet, believed to be a young Chinese nurse, fit the bill and when her headless body was found in a culvert, people believed that she had become one of those sacrifices.

Her parents buried her in a red dress and red shoes so that she could return as a spirit and exact her vengeance upon her killers. Just like Megan Fox’s character in Jennifer’s Body (2009), Janet is said to be roaming around Kuching in a red dress, hitching rides from unsuspecting motorcyclists or taking ferry rides across the Sarawak river.

4. The now-demolished wooden house in Krokop

There’s no bloodshed in this story, only an account of people sleeping at an empty haunted house in Krokop on a dare. The next morning they found themselves – and their belongings –  outside the house. So were they sleepwalking or were they moved outside by unseen forces?

Other accounts say that the windows of this house have never been left half-opened or half-closed, but that they’ve only ever been wide open or tightly closed.

The house has since been demolished, leaving this a mystery for the ages.

5. A haunted beach resort in Santubong

If you are Sarawakian, or have been here long enough, you’ll know that there are various accounts of haunted resorts in Santubong.

According to one account, you might be able to see a shadowy figure outside your window even though you are on the 12th floor. This story, however, does raise a few questions as most of the resorts in Santubong are four-storeys high at most.

Additionally, one story goes that you might be able to see a mythical creature scaring the wits out of you from on top of a coconut tree.

5 Sarawakian ghost stories you've probably never heard of
5 Sarawakian ghost stories you’ve probably never heard of

Do you have any Sarawakian ghost stories to share? Tell us your stories in the comment box.

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Fort Alice: 10 things you might not know about this important historical landmark

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Located in Sri Aman, Fort Alice is a building constructed entirely of belian timber overlooking the famous Batang Lupar River.

It was built after the victory of second White Rajah of Sarawak Charles Brooke over Iban warrior and chieftain, Rentap.

The historical building was abandoned for a few years until it was restored and reopened as the Sri Aman Heritage Museum on Apr 18, 2015.

Named after Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, Charles’s wife, the rectangular building is equipped with cannons, open courtyard, drawbridge and lookout tower.

Here are 10 things you might not know about For Alice and its colourful history:

1. The original structure was made from materials of another fort.

It is widely understood that the fort was originally built in 1864. However, most of its structure came from Fort James that was built in 1849 further upriver at Skrang.

In 1864, Fort James was dismantled and a good deal of the materials was transferred to Sri Aman where it was re-erected.

At first, people just referred it as Simanggang Fort, until Ranee Margaret came to Sarawak in 1870 and then it was named Fort Alice after her middle name.

2. The reasons why Fort James was dismantled and Fort Alice was built.

After Fort James was built at Skrang, the Brooke government thought that a town would in time develop around it.

However, they found that the site was unsuitable since it was at lowland and liable to flood.

Hence, they decided to move the fort to Simanggang where it was re-erected on a small hill.

Plus the new location was located next to a river, an important factor for a fort site in the olden days.

Scenic view from the fort overlooking theLupar River
Scenic view from the fort overlooking the Lupar River
3.Ranee Margaret’s unforgettable first visit to Fort Alice.

The late ranee had an unforgettable experience when she first visited Fort Alice. To welcome her, the local Ibans performed the ngajat dance in her honour.

But they used real heads as part of their performance. Margaret reportedly rushed to her room where she fainted and had to be excused for the rest of the evening.

4. James Brooke’s godson was Simanggang’s first resident, stationed at Fort Alice.

Known as Tuan Bongsu (because he was the youngest of Charles’ siblings), Henry Stuart Johnson was the first one to be in charge of Fort Alice from 1864 to 1869.

Then the first White Rajah’s godson James Brooke Cruikshank was appointed as the first Resident of Simanggang in 1869.

According to W.J. Chater in The Sarawak Gazette (January 31, 1965), Cruikshank created a great impression among the Ibans in the area when he was the resident.

After he was transferred to Sibu, many of the locals even tried to take their court cases to him there.

5. Vyner Brooke was first stationed at Fort Alice when he first started working in Sarawak.

Besides that, the fort was also where the third White Rajah Vyner Brooke first served as a cadet government officer.

He was just 17 when he first started working there under Demetrius James Sandford Bailey in 1891.

6. The disastrous Cholera Expedition started at Fort Alice.

Fort Alice was the starting point where the infamous Cholera Expedition happened in June, 1902.

The punitive expedition down the Batang Lupar had one-fifth of the 10,000 recruited men to fight against Iban rebels died of Cholera.

The fort was refurbished in 2015 and turned into a heritage museum
The fort was refurbished in 2015 and turned into a heritage museum
7. The second White Rajah Charles Brooke actually wanted to be buried there.

It is said that Charles had a soft spot for Simanggang and used to send all his best officers there.

Chater wrote, “He directed it personally from 1854 to 1904 when he handed over its affairs to his son who later became the third Rajah. For this reason, there were no First Class Residents in the Second Division during the time of the second Rajah. On his rare visits to Simanggang in later years he loved nothing better than to sit on a bench on the hill near the fort and admire the scenery. ‘This’, he would say, ‘is the real Sarawak.’ He had, also always expressed a wish to be buried there as he died in England during first World War (1917) this which could not be fulfilled.”

8. Famous writer W. Somerset Maugham spent some times in Fort Alice way back in 1921.

Maugham stayed for a few days at Fort Alice in 1921 and it became his muse for some of the scenes in his short stories.

Rumours had it at the fort that those who were mentioned in Maugham’s stories pretended to be angry while those who were not mentioned were jealous.

When Maugham wanted to visit Sarawak for the second time in 1930, however, the Rajah politely declined his request telling him that it would not be convenient.

9. The fort had many functions in the olden days.

In the fort’s early days, the building was used as the officer’s quarters, government offices, courthouse and police station all at the same time.

When new building started to be constructed, these departments started to move out from the fort leaving it empty.

The fort is open to public
Fort Alice
10. There was an old tradition at the fort which is now no longer exists and was forgotten for a time.

When it was still used as a police station and Resident’s quarters, there was an interesting old tradition being practised there.

Every day at 8 pm when the Resident would have his dinner, there would be an evening call. Then, the drawbridge or steps were drawn up for the night.

After the policeman on duty struck up the eight o’clock gong, he would call out in Iban:

“Oh Hai! Oh Hai! Oh Hai!
Jam diatu pukul lapan,
Tangga udah ditarit,
Pintu udah ditambit,
Orang ari ulu,
Orang ari ili, nadai tau niki kubu lagi.”

The English translation is,

“Oh Hai! Oh Hai! Oh Hai!
The time is now 8 o’clock,
The steps have been drawn up,
The door is closed,
People from upriver,
People from downriver,
Are not allowed to come up to the fort anymore.”

It would be interesting that this tradition is continued to today with a loudspeaker announcing this call every 8 pm from the museum.

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John Beville Archer, the last Chief Secretary of Sarawak of Brooke-era

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“As I stood there in the blinding sunlight memories of the Rajahs of Sarawak, of days of festivity, of new awakening, of stirring scenes, flitted through my mind. The timid young gawk of a cadet, who had landed so hopefully thirty-five years ago, who had wandered all over the country and done so many things in so many places and with such a willing heart, had now finished. As the drums rolled and the troops presented arms, I stood there in my disgraceful suit, hiding my battered old sun helmet down my side wondering if I would ever make it. Just as I was leaving my house I had sent a telegram to the Rajah. I said:

‘In a few minutes I shall hand over your State to His Majesty’s representative with full honours and ceremony. I have impressed upon all that the best way of showing their loyalty to you is to support the new government fully and work for the rehabilitation of the State. As your last Officer Administering the Government I wish your Highness and Her Highness the Ranee all happiness in your position.’

This was what John Beville Archer wrote in his autobiography ‘Glimpses of Sarawak between 1912 and 1946’ (1997) which was published posthumously.

In this particular part, he narrated what happened on July 1, 1946 when Sarawak was officially declared as a British crown colony.

The book was compiled and edited by Vernon L. Porritt who is known for his other works such as The Rise and Fall of Communism in Sarawak 1940-1990 and British Colonial Rule in Sarawak, 1946 and 1963.

Archer was born in 1893 and was recruited from the Channel Islands in the Sarawak Administrative Service by the second White Rajah Charles Brooke in 1912.

According to his obituary which was published in the Sarawak Gazette, Archer spent the first eight years of his service, apart from a brief interlude at Sadong (Serian), in the Third Division, mainly in the Coastal District.

“It was during these years that he learnt the Melanau language and formed the strong affection for this people which was noticeable in his later writings. His interest in the Sarawak Gazette, which he retained until the end of his life, dates from 1922 when he was Editor of the Gazette and Manager of the Printing Office in addition to his other duties,” the Sarawak Gazette reported in 1948.

Archer was first promoted to a Resident in 1930 and then the Chief Secretary and Chairman of the Committee of Administration in 1939.

He also contributed many interesting articles for the Sarawak Gazette under the pen name of Optimistic Fiddler or O.F.

John Beville Archer
John Beville Archer in 1927.

John Beville Archer and the 1941 constitution

The 1941 constitution of Sarawak is the first known written constitution during the White Rajahs reign.

The main objective was to approve and fulfill the promise by the third Rajah, Vyner Brooke which was to give self-governance of Sarawak to the locals.

Kenelm Hubert Digby who served as the legal advisor to the government played a major role in the writing of the constitution.

As one read through Digby’s memoir, he pulled no punches in criticising Archer. He accused the senior Brooke officer of having ‘a somewhat feudal outlook’.

Digby stated, “He had joined the service in 1912, at the age of 19, and he had loyally served two Rajahs. He would have preferred to continue under such conditions. He distrusted these new-fangled, democratic ideas, and he had somehow got it into his head that the Committee of Administration was forcing the constitution on the Rajah against the will of the latter. He rather prided himself on his diplomatic skill, and in April and May 1941, he was appearing to co-operate in the deliberations of the Committee of Administration on the one hand, while communicating his private opinions secretly to the Rajah on the other.”

The Committee of Administration was a body that governed the country in the Rajah’s absence.

As for Archer, he did not elaborate much on his opinion about the constitution in his memoir.

He pointed out that the constitution was one of the big events that marked an entire change in the administration of Sarawak.

As a true Brooke loyalist, Archer only expressed that it was the Rajah desired to mark the centenary of Brooke rule by granting a constitution.

In the end, Archer was forced to retire in May 1941 ‘over trying to serve both the Rajah’s and the Committee of Administration’s interests’.

After his retirement, he remained in Sarawak as an Information Officer of Sarawak, the editor of the Sarawak Gazette as well as a Special Policeman.

John Beville Archer as an internee at Batu Lintang Camp

When the Japanese invaded Sarawak, Archer was among those interned by the Japanese.

In his book, Archer did not fail to share his experience as an internee at Batu Lintang Camp.

A talented storyteller; one of the stories he shared is about the pet goat the internees kept at the camp.

“In stories of prisons there are invariably the pets which the prisoners keep out of their scanty fare but the only pet we ever had was a goat. We called it Eustace. Why, I do not know considering it was obviously feminine and later produced a kid. However, although like most goats it could live on the ‘smell of a dirty rag’, there just was not any food to give it so the time came when it was decided that she should go into the cooking pot. This caused quite a stir. Poster artists (we had several) opened a picture campaign. One that touched our hearts was a portrait of Eustace looking sadly at us over the inscription ‘BE KIND AND LET ME LIVE. I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG.’ A petition signed by many influential internees was presented to the committee. A reprieve was allowed but the cooks were not beaten. In a fortnight after several days of extremely lean rations, they opened up a fresh attack. This time all our sob stuff was of no avail – Eustace went into the pot.”

At one point, Archer was taken in for questioning by the Kempeitai for four days.

He was imprisoned and spent most of his mornings being interviewed by the secret police.

Describing his prison, Archer wrote, “It was a row of small semi-dark cells opening on to a backyard. The whole of the front of each cell was barred like a beast’s cage in a menagerie, except that the door was like that of a dog kennel. You had to bend double to get inside, which gave the gaolers a heaven-sent opportunity of kicking you hard on the behind every time you did so.”

Thankfully, he survived his ordeal with the Kempeitai.

John Beville Archer and the hoisting of the flag

Perhaps the most popular photograph of Archer is the image of him hoisting up the Sarawak flag in the civilian compound of the Batu Lintang Camp taken on Sept 12, 1945 after Sarawak was liberated by the Allied Forces.

According to his autobiography, the photo was a photo op.

Hoisting the Sarawak flag 1945 AWM 118393
John Beville Archer hoisting up the Sarawak flag at Batu Lintang Camp. Copyright expired – public domain

“On the 9th we were told by dropped leaflets that unless negotiations broke down the Allied forces would arrive on the 11th. On that morning rumours came in that the Allied sips were at the mouth of the river and that the Japanese Commander had gone down to sign capitulation. The hours dragged on. At three o’clock I went along to the wire at the back of the soldiers’ camp to receive a Sarawak flag which some Chinese friend had promised to bring.

“That evening we procured a long bamboo pole and hoisted the Sarawak flag in our Camp. The next morning the official photographers arrived and I had the honour of hoisting the flag officially.”

After the war ended, Archer was first given a job at the Sarawak Museum office.

He shared in his memoir, “One of my duties was trying to collect what I could of the Rajah’s property. Strangely enough, the Japanese had done no damage to the Astana, and its contents were almost intact but scattered.”

Apart from that, he found the museum ‘lost very little’, the chief secretary’s office ‘became a gaol with a pig-sty outside’, the Anglican Cathedral ‘was a store’, a Catholic School was a Courthouse and the Sarawak Club bowling alley was turned into a shrine.

John Beville Archer and Sarawak cession to the British

On Nov 1, 1945, Archer was appointed the Political Adviser to the British Military Administration in Sarawak.

Few months later in early 1946, Vyner announced his intention to cede Sarawak to Britain.

Looking back at history on how Sarawak was ceded to Britain, the whole process was a practically a mess.

Historian Steven Runciman in his book The White Rajah: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946 opined that the cession ‘had been hurriedly and clumsily handled’.

He added, “It is a story from which few of the principal characters emerge with enhanced credit. Sarawak was to suffer for it.”

The motion was unpopular among the locals who saw the cession as a violation of a provision in the 1941 constitution which stipulated that the Rajah would grant the right of self-rule to Sarawak.

The British government sent two Members of Parliament to Sarawak to enquire whether the people agreed to the cession.

They reportedly found that there was enough support for the cession to be debated in the Council Negri.

John Beville Archer and Cession Debate

Presided by Archer, the meeting took place on May 16 and 17, 1946 with 34 members attended the debate on the second reading and 35 on the third reading.

According to later accounts, there were no speeches translated for the benefit of the 26 non-European members who attended the meeting.

Christopher Dawson who was sent out to Sarawak by the Colonial Officer to supervise the legitimization of the cession said Archer appeared to be drunk during the debate.

Later, many accused him of making no attempt to maintain impartiality as a presiding officer of a legislative body.

Looking back at his official winding up speech, it is understandable where these accusations came from.

“Having heard all the references made to the cession, I hope you all here realise that is not a rich country. There has been talk about war debts and if this question is broached then we have to pay our share of the war. I think we all agree on that point. We cannot get everything free. I am sorry to say that we cannot carry on with our independence in Sarawak. You can look at it from any point you like. We have our revenue here which shows that it is considerably less than it was before the war, and we probably will have even less later, and it is up to us at this moment to come together with the rest of the countries into some sort amalgamation otherwise we are sunk. I want you to remember that we are servants of the Rajah and I am a servant myself. I have been a servant of His Highness the Rakah and also His Highness the Tuan Muda, but there comes a time when we cannot be alone. The Rajah has not done this thing on his own. He has had the best advice and has consulted the highest authority in London, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. There are no snags behind it. We cannot afford to be on own. Ask The Treasurer about it. We have set aside a certain amount of money for agriculture in order to increase our food supply, otherwise we will starve. There seems to be a sort of feeling here, I am sorry, that it is a ramp. The British Government is not bad. I can assure you that we will get a fair and absolutely good deal. I do not know how long I will be here but you will be here anyway. You have got to vote on it. I can see the feeling of the house is rather tense now. Please understand that there is no ramp. There is no idea of suborning about the British Government. I can assure you that. I am not lying about it.”

The final vote of the council was 19 to 16 in favour of cession. A difference of only three votes that changed Sarawak history forever.

When the Rajah left Sarawak for the last time on May 21, 1946, Archer was appointed as the Officer Administering the Government.

With this post, he was entrusted with the job of handing the country over to the British.

On Cession Day July 1, 1946, Archer relinquished all his official posts.

AboutSarawak history9
Vyner (sitting left) signing the Instrument of cession at the Astana with Archer standing at his left hand side.

John Beville Archer, “It has been a labour of love”

Regardless of his view which was clearly unpopular among the anti-cession movement members, no one could deny Archer’s loyalty to Sarawak and especially to the people of this land.

According to his autobiography, one of Archer distinctive characteristic was his ‘debilitating stutter’ when he was speaking in English.

Curiously, he did not stutter at all when speaking in local languages such as Malay and Iban.

In his reply to an Address of Appreciation from the Supreme Council on the occasion of his retirement, Archer said,

“You all know, I think, how sad I feel at leaving a Service of which I was proud to be a member for so long. I was the last European active member of His Highness the late Rajah’s staff, and I served His present Highness throughout the whole of his reign. It may be considered trite, but I can truthfully say that it has been a labour of love…”

On July 17, 1948, Archer’s nephew Owen Wright found him in his bedroom with a gunshot wound on the forehead.

He was pronounced dead a few hours later at Sarawak General Hospital. According to the official inquest, he was suffering from depression as well as alcoholism.

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What you should know about the Dayak shields of Borneo

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While Captain America has his vibranium shield, the Dayak people in Borneo also have their own.

Here are five things you should know about Dayak shields of Borneo:

1.Different tribes call their Dayak shields in different names.

The Kliau, also known as Keliau or Klau, is the more common term for the traditional shield of the Dayak community.

Meanwhile, the Kelabit, Kayan and Kenyah people called it Klebit Bok or Kelavit Bok.

Klebit means shield while bok means hair.

All Dayak shields are typically in a hexagon shape.

2.Some of the illustrations on the Dayak shields meant to protect the owner.

When Norwegian explorer Carl Lumholtz visited the Mahakam, Kalimantan sometimes between 1913 and 1917, he got himself a shield from the locals.

Although he did not mention from which Dayak group the shield belongs, Lumholtz was informed the meaning behind the feature of his shield.

In his book Through Central Borneo (1920), Lumholtz stated, “I acquired a shield which, besides the conventionalised representation of a dog, exhibited a wild-looking picture of an antoh (ghost), a very common feature on Dayak shields. The first idea it suggests to civilised man is that its purpose is to terrify the enemy, but my informant laughed at this suggestion. It represents a good antoh who keeps the owner of the shield in vigorous health.”

3.In the same time, some designs on the Dayak shields meant to frighten the enemy.

Researcher Augustine Anggat in his paper Basic Iban Designs (1989) explained that the preferable design for adorning Iban shields is giant head motifs of tendrils.

“The melancholic, fierce looking face on the shield give a courageous heart to the warrior who uses it during combat and at the same time it will frightened the enemy by the sight of a demonic looking face of such a shield design,” he stated.

4.One of the favourite ornaments of Dayak shields is human hair.

Norwegian explorer Carl Bock was commissioned by the Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies to travel and report on the interior part of Kalimantan in 1879.

During his visit, he came across many Dayak groups and observed their culture.

On the kliau he wrote, “Among the Trings and one or two other tribes, it is the fashion to adorn the outer side of the shield with tufts of human hair.”

Bock added, “This shield forms a valuable weapon of defence against blows from the mandau, while it is perfectly proof against the poisoned puff-arrows.”

The Dayak Tring was not the only who put human hair on their shields.

According to British zoologist and ethnologist Charles Hose, the Kenyah did theirs as well.

Hose wrote in his book The Pagan Tribes of Borneo (1912), “The shields most prized by the Kenyahs are further decorated with tufts of human hair taken from the heads of slain enemies. It is put on in many rows which roughly frame the large face with locks three or four inches in length on scalp, cheeks, chin and upper lip; and the smaller faces at the ends are similarly surrounded with shorter hair. The hair is attached by forcing the ends of the tufts into narrow slits in the soft wood and securing it with fresh resin.”

443px COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Houten schild versierd met mensenhaar TMnr 1552 8

5.How to surpass the Dayak shields

Brooke Low explained in Catalogue of the Brooke Low Collection in Borneo that there is a way to attack even when the enemies are defending themselves using the Dayak shields.

“As everybody in the attacking party is anxious to be foremost in the race for heads, there are sure to be one or two boats so far in advance of the rest as to make it worth the defenders’ while to put them to their mettle. Some convenient spot is selected and a strong defending party placed in ambush among the trees. One or two men are thrown out to stroll upon the shingly bed to lure the enemy to their destruction.”

The moment the bait is sighted, the boats give chase, and as the enemies leap ashore, the men in ambush spring from their covert to their feet and hurl stones to shatter the shields, and engage with spears and swords in what should be a short but desperate conflicts.”

Since the shields are made of wood or bamboo, just throw some heavy stones to break them apart.

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