they should refuse to believe he was a man? For of pure benevolence
combined with great power, they had had no experience among men. They
naturally concluded that he was a superior being, come down upon earth
to confer blessings on the afflicted. In many villages where he had not
been seen, I was asked strange questions about him. Was he not as old
as the mountains? Could he not bring the dead to life? And they firmly
believe that he can give them good harvests, and make their fruit-trees
bear an abundant crop.

In forming a proper estimate of Sir James Brooke's government it must
ever be remembered that he held Sarawak solely by the goodwill of the
native inhabitant. He had to deal with two races, one of whom, the
Mahometan Malays, looked upon the other race, the Dyaks, as savages
and slaves, only fit to be robbed and plundered. He has effectually
protected the Dyaks, and has invariably treated them as, in his sight,
equal to the Malays; and yet he has secured the affection and goodwill
of both. Notwithstanding the religious prejudice, of Mahometans, he
has induced them to modify many of their worst laws and customs, and to
assimilate their criminal code to that of the civilized world. That his
government still continues, after twenty-seven years--notwithstanding
his frequent absences from ill-health, notwithstanding conspiracies of
Malay chiefs, and insurrections of Chinese gold-diggers, all of
which have been overcome by the support of the native population, and
notwithstanding financial, political, and domestic troubles is due, I
believe, solely to the many admirable qualities which Sir James Brooke
possessed, and especially to his having convinced the native population,
by every action of his life, that he ruled them, not for his own
advantage, but for their good.

Since these lines were written, his noble spirit has passed away.
But though, by those who knew him not, he may be sneered at as an
enthusiastic adventurer, abused as a hard-hearted despot, the universal
testimony of everyone who came in contact with him in his adopted
country, whether European, Malay, or Dyak, will be, that Rajah Brooke
was a great, a wise, and a good ruler; a true and faithful friend--a man
to be admired for his talents, respected for his honesty and courage,
and loved for his genuine hospitality, his kindness of disposition, and
his tenderness of heart.

CHAPTER VII. JAVA

I SPENT three months and a half in Java, from July 18