ouring seas and rendered the trade of civilized nations almost
impossible for a prolonged period. During the occupation of Java by the
British an embassy was despatched to Sir Stamford Raffles by the sultan
of Banjermasin asking for assistance, and in 1811 Alexander Hare was
despatched thither as commissioner and resident. He not only obtained
for his government an advantageous treaty, but secured for himself a
grant of a district which he proceeded to colonize and cultivate. About
the same time a British expedition was also sent against Sambas and a
post established at Pontianak. On the restoration of Java to the Dutch
in 1816, all these arrangements were cancelled, and the Dutch government
was left in undisputed possession of the field. An energetic policy was
soon after adopted, and about half the kingdom of Banjermasin was
surrendered to the Dutch by its sultan in 1823, further concessions
being made two years later. Meanwhile, George Muller, while exploring
the east coast, obtained from the sultan of Kutei an acknowledgment of
Dutch authority, a concession speedily repented by its donor, since the
enterprising traveller was shortly afterwards killed. The outbreak of
war in Java caused Borneo to be more or less neglected by the Dutch for
a considerable period, and no effective check was imposed upon the
natives with a view to stopping piracy, which was annually becoming more
and more unendurable. On the rise of Singapore direct trade had been
established with Sarawak and Brunei, and it became a matter of moment to
British merchants that this traffic should be safe. In 1838 Sir James
Brooke, an Englishman, whose attention had been turned to the state of
affairs in the Eastern Archipelago, set out for Borneo, determined, if
possible, to remedy the evil. By 1841 he had obtained from the sultan of
Brunei the grant of supreme authority over Sarawak, in which state, on
the sultan's behalf, he had waged a successful war, and before many
years had elapsed he had, with the aid of the British government,
succeeded in suppressing piracy (see BROOKE, SIR JAMES; and SARAWAK). In
1847 the sultan of Brunei agreed to make no cession of territory to any
nation or individual without the consent of Great Britain. Since then
more and more territory has been ceded by the sultans of Brunei to the
raja of Sarawak and to British North Borneo, and to-day the merest
remnant of his once extensive state is left within the jurisdiction of
the sul