1

V. Extracts from the late Mr. Williamson's Journal 409

EXPEDITION TO BORNEO.

CHAPTER I.

The Chinese War having terminated, Captain Keppel in H.M.S. Dido
appointed to command of the Straits station.--Meeting with
Mr. Brooke.--Sketch of his life.--Mr. Brooke's outward voyage
in the Royalist.--Touch at Singapore.--Arrival off the coast of
Borneo.--Land at the island of Talang Talang.--Intercourse with
the Bandar.

At the conclusion of the Chinese war, the commander-in-chief,
Vice-Admiral Sir William Parker, ordered the Dido to the Malacca
Straits, a station in which was included the island of Borneo;
our principal duties being the protection of trade, and suppression
of piracy.

In the month of March, 1843, while at Pinang, I received intimation
from the governor of various daring acts of piracy having been
committed near the Borneon coast on some vessels trading to
Singapore. I proceeded to that port; and, while undergoing a partial
refit, made the acquaintance of Mr. Brooke, who accepted my invitation
to return to Sarawak in the Dido; and I could not have visited Borneo
with a more agreeable or intelligent companion.

The objects of Mr. Brooke in leaving England, the reasons which induced
him to settle at Sarawak, and the circumstances which have led him to
take so deep an interest in promoting the civilization and improving
the condition of the singular people whom he has adopted, form indeed
a story very unlike the common course of events in modern times.

But before illustrating these circumstances from his own journals,
it may be acceptable to say a few words respecting the individual
himself, and his extraordinary career. I am indebted to a mutual
friend, acquainted with him from early years, for the following brief
but interesting outline of his life; and have only to premise, that
Mr. Brooke is the lineal representative of Sir Robert Vyner, baronet,
and lord mayor of London in the reign of Charles II.; Sir Robert had
but one child, a son, Sir George Vyner, who died childless, and his
estate passed to his heir-at-law, Edith, his father's eldest sister,
whose lineal descendant is our friend. Sir Robert was renowned for
his loyalty to his sovereign, to whom he devoted his wealth, and to
whose memory he raised a monument.

"Mr. Brooke was the second, and is now the only surviving son of the
late Thomas Brooke, Esq., of the civil service of the East In