Spreading Down and Out Serembu Settlements from 18391

Gunung Serembu is the current Malay name for a steep and rocky mountain of igneous origin which is known in the local language2 as Bung Muan – Mushroom Hill in English; it has been referred to and spelled in several other ways over the years as will be seen in the historic accounts which follow. It is just south of Siniawan, east of Bau, and south-south-west of Kuching3.

In 1839 there were three villages on the mountain, Bombok, Peninjau, and Serembau; within a

Serembu from Siniawan. Peninjau was on the lower ridge, just right of centre.

Sarawak settlements in the 1840's

century, there were none.4

James Brooke5 must have seen Serembu when he first arrived in Sarawak in 1839: it is visible from the sea around the entrances to the Sarawak River, and from parts of Kuching. Its inhabitants were then in rebellion against Muda Hassim, the provincial governor from Brunei. Brooke returned in 1840 and put down the revolt, thus starting his Raj. In April 1842 Brooke had passed it on the way to visit 'the Chinese settlements'6. At the end of the year he wrote: "We ascended the Sarambo mountain. The height of Panonjow7 Elliot8 made 1193 feet, and giving 600 above, will make the mountain 1793.9 From Panonjow is a view which well repays the rough walk – mountain, and vale, and hillock, rivers and sea,- such a prospect, and such a country! Sarambo is grantitic, in the midst of the mountains of primitive limestone. Three Dyak tribes are located here, viz., Sarambo, Bimbok, and Panonjow"10.

On 23rd May, 1843,11, Brooke was with his friend Captain Keppel12 on a visit from H.M.S.Dido "and at Sarambo [we] were fortunate enough to witness a grand festival. On this occasion the women danced with the men ... relics .. Hindu .."13

Returning from a visit to the nearby antimony and gold mines on 15 th July 1843, Frank Marryat, a young midshipman from H.M.S. Samarang, under Captain Edward Belcher, gives his view of an onshore break from preparing sea charts: "A short distance inland is a mountain, called Sarambo, which it was proposed to ascend, as, by our telescopes, we could perceive houses near to its summit and were told it was the residence of some of the mountain Dyaks under Mr Brooke's sway. From the village this mountain wore the appearance of a huge sugar-loaf, and its sides appeared inaccessible. Mr Brooke, with his usual kindness, gave his consent, and despatched a messenger to the Dyak village, requesting the chief to send a party down by daylight the next morning, to convey our luggage up the mountain. At day-dawn we were awakened by a confused noise outside of the house, and, looking out, we perceived that more than a score of these mountain Dyaks had arrived. Most of them had nothing on but the usual strip of cotton; some few had on red baize jackets. They all wore a peculiar kind of kris, and many had spears, sampitans, and shields. They were fine-limbed men, with muscles strongly developed. Their hair fell down their backs, and nearly reached their middle: it was prevented from falling over the face by a fillet of grass, which was ornamented with mountain flowers.

After a hurried breakfast we set off for the foot of the mountain, our party amounting to about eighty people. The guides led the way, followed by the Europeans; and the Dyaks, with the luggage, brought up the rear. In this order we commenced the ascent. Each person was provided with a bamboo, which was found indispensable; and thus, like a party of pilgrims, we proceeded on our way; and before we had gone very far, we discovered that we were subjected to severe penance. The mountain was nearly perpendicular. In some places we had to ascend by a single piece of wood, with rough notches for the feet, resting against a rock twenty or thirty feet above our heads; and on either side was a precipice, so that a false step must have been certain death. In other places a single piece of bamboo was thrown over a frightful chasm, by way of bridge. This, with a slight bamboo rail for the hand, was all that we had to trust to. The careful manner in which we passed these dangers was a source of great laughter and amusement to the Dyaks who followed us. Accustomed from infancy to tread these dangerous paths, although heavily laden, they scorned to support themselves. Some of our party were nearly exhausted, and a long way in the rear before we came to the village. We had to wait for their coming up, and threw ourselves under the shade of some huge trees, that we might contemplate the bird's-eye view beneath. It was a sight

which must be seen to be appreciated. Almost as far as the eye could reach was one immense wooded plain, bounded by lofty mountains in the far distance, whose tops pierced the clouds. The rivers appeared like silver threads, running through the jungles; now breaking off, and then regained. At our feet lay the village we had started from, the houses of which appeared like mere points. ... and while we gazed, suddenly a cloud below us would pass between us and the view, and all would be hidden from the sight. Thus we were far above the clouds, and then the clouds would break, and open, and pass and repass over each other, until, like the dissolving views, all was clear again, although the land-scape was not changed. It was towards noon before we saw the first mountain village, which we did not immediately enter, as we waited the arrival of the laggards: we stopped, therefore, at a spring of cold water, and enjoyed a refreshing wash. Here we fell in with some pretty Dyak girls, very scantily clothed, who were throwing water at each other in sport. We soon came in for a plentiful share, which we returned with interest; and in this amusing combat we passed half an hour, until all had joined the party. We then entered the village, which was situated in a grove of trees. The houses were built upon posts, as those down by the river side. They were immensely large, with a bamboo platform running the whole length of the building, and divided into many compartments, in each of which a Dyak family resides. We were escorted, through a crowd of wondering Dyaks, to a house in the centre of the village, which was very different in construction from the others. It was perfectly round, and well ventilated by numerous port-holes in the roof, which was pointed. We ascended to the room above by means of a rough ladder, and when we entered we were rather taken aback at finding that we were in the Head House, as it is termed, and that the beams were lined with human heads, all hanging by a small line passed through the top of the skull. They were painted in the most fantastic and hideous manner; pieces of wood, painted to imitate the eyes, were inserted into the sockets, and added not a little to their ghastly grinning appearance. The strangest part of the story, and which added very much to the effect of the scene, was, that these skulls were perpetually moving to and fro, and knocking against, each other. This, I presume, was occasioned by the different currents of air blowing in at the port-holes cut in the roof; but what with their continual motion, their nodding their chins when they hit each other, and their grinning teeth, they really appeared to be endowed with new life, and were a very merry set of fellows. However, whatever might be the first impression occasioned by this very unusual sight, it very soon wore off, and we amused ourselves with those motions which were "not life," as Byron says; and, in the course of the day, succeeded in making a very excellent dinner in company with these gentlemen, although we were none of us sufficiently Don Giovannis to invite our friends above to supper.

Dyak Head House, Serambo(Browne, in Belcher)

We visited three villages on the Sarambo mountain. Each of these villages was governed by a chief of its own, but they were subordinate to the great chief, residing in the first village.

In the evening the major portion of the population came to the Head House, to exhibit to us their national dances. The music was composed of two gongs and two large bamboo drums. The men stood up first, in war costume, brandishing their spears and shields, and throwing themselves into the most extraordinary attitudes, as they cut with their knives at some imaginary enemy; at the same time uttering the most unearthly yells, in which the Dyak spectators joined, apparently highly delighted with the exhibition. The women then came forward, and went through a very unmeaning kind of dance, keeping time with their hands and feet; but still it was rather a relief after the noise and yelling from which we had just suffered. The chief, Macuta, expressing a wish to see a specimen of our dancing, not to let them suppose we were not as warlike as themselves, two of the gig's boat's crew stood up, and went through the evolutions of the broad-sword exercise in a very creditable manner. After this performance one of the seamen danced the sailor's hornpipe, which brought forth a torrent of yells instead of bravos, but they certainly meant the same thing. By this time, the heat from a large fire, with the smell of humanity in so crowded a room, became so overpowering, that I was glad to leave the Head House to get a little fresh air, and my ears relieved from the dinning of the drums and gongs. It was a beautiful starry night, and, strolling through the village, I soon made acquaintance with a native Dyak, who requested me to enter his house. He introduced me to his family, consisting of several fine girls and a young lad. The former were naked from the shoulders to below the breasts, where a pair of stays, composed of several circles of whalebone, with brass fastenings, were secured round their waists; and to the stays was attached a cotton petticoat, reaching to below their knees. This was the whole of their attire. They were much shorter than European women, but well made; very interesting in their appearance, and affable and friendly in their manners. Their eyes were dark and piercing, and I may say there was something wicked in their furtive glances; their noses were but slightly flattened; the mouth rather large; but when I beheld the magnificent teeth which required all its size to display, I thought this rather an advantage. Their hair was superlatively beautiful, and would have been envied by many a courtly dame. It was jet black, and of the finest texture, and hung in graceful masses down the back, nearly reaching to the ground. A mountain Dyak girl, if not a beauty, has many most beautiful points; and, at all events, is very interesting and, I may say, pretty. They have good eyes, good teeth, and good hair; -- more than good: I may say splendid; -- and they have good manners, and know how to make use of their eyes. I shall, therefore, leave my readers to form their own estimates by my description. Expecting to meet some natives in my ramble, I had filled my pockets with ship's biscuit, and which I now distributed among the ladies, who appeared very grateful, as they rewarded me, while they munched it, by darting wicked glances from their laughing eyes.

Observing that the lad wore a necklace of human teeth round his neck, his father explained to me, in pantomime, that they were the teeth of an enemy whom he slew in battle, and whose head was now in the Head House.

As it was getting late I bade my new friends farewell, by shaking hands all round. The girls laughed immoderately at this way of bidding good-bye, which, of course, was to them quite novel. I regretted afterwards that I had not attempted the more agreeable way of bidding ladies farewell, which, I presume, they would have understood better; as

I believe kissing is an universal language, perfectly understood from the equator to the pole. At daylight the next morning we descended the mountain, and, embarking in the boats, arrived at the ship late in the afternoon.14

Belcher gives a shorter account, dwelling on the defensive advantages.15

Hiram Williams's16 geological survey of Sarawak17 produced the oldest maps of the interior of the country and must have been accomplished between July 1845 and its publication early in 1848.18. It marks four settlements: on Serembu, unfortunately unnamed:

On Saturday 9th Nov 1850 Brooke was at Siniawan and recorded "There is but one feeling amongst the Sow19, Sarambau, Bombak, and Paninjow Dyaks against the Chinese...The approach to Siniawan always interests me and recalls the operations against my present friends and best supporters" Having walked from Tundong to Bow, examining the gold mines, he returned to be met by Meta20 and up to 200 fully armed Dyaks, but "From all that I have seen the injury done to the Dyaks is in a great measure imaginary, and by no means justifies their complaints" so he just left them to disperse.21

Spenser St.John22.describes taking Ida Pfeiffer23 to Siniawan by boat and then up the mountain in Dec 1851; she records going there on 21st, in the company of Capt Brooke and two other Europeans and says "I had heard much of the bad roads in Borneo, but I was really astonished nevertheless when I saw the path – absolutely perilous to life – that led to the summit. Pools, marshes, brooks, and chasms, were to be crossed by means of two bamboo sticks or the thin round trunk of a tree; and to climb up almost perpendicular cliffs, there was no other help than one of these thin stems, in which a few thin notches were made for the foot to rest in, to steady you for a moment. ... Only when from time to time we came to a resting place, did I find leisure to contemplate with admiration the rich luxuriance of the woods we were traversing, and the superb climbing plants and

The Bau area in 1845(Williams in Mundy)

orchidacaea. The palms, especially the Sago species, are of larger size in Borneo than I have ever seen anywhere else; but its wealth of flowers and birds is not equal to that of Singapore. I was told, indeed, that this was not the flower season, but I remained six months in Borneo without finding reason to alter my opinion.

At a height of 1200 feet we came to the first Dyak habitation, a great hut fifty feet long and about as much broad, the entire furniture of which consisted in a number of sleeping places ranged round the walls. It is, it seems, a custom among the Dyaks for the young men of a tribe to sleep all in the same dormitory, under the superintendence of a chief, and at some hundred paces from the parents' village. These huts serve at the same time for a place of rendezvous for feasts, and for the preservation of war-trophies, which consist of the heads of their slain enemies. I could not look without horror at a row of no less than six and thirty of these agreeable memorials hung up in ornamental style like a garland of flowers, and with the sockets of the eyes filled with white oval shells. ...

We continued our wanderings till we came to the neighbouring village, which consisted of two great huts, each more than 150 feet long, built on piles, and standing opposite one other. The mode of entrance was by notched trunks of trees, placed against them like ladders, and always drawn up at night. Each hut had a spacious covered hall or vestibule, with doors all around, leading to the chambers of the several families, most of which have one and sometimes two little rooms to themselves. These contain places adapted to sleeping and cooking, and serve to stow away the little household utensils; but the large hall is the actual dwelling-place. Here they carry on their various occupations, here the children tumble about, and here the aged people rest. ... The women work at plaiting mats and baskets, and the men cut very pretty little boxes for tobacco or siri, as well as handsome handles for parangs.

There are fireplaces in this hall as well as in the private chambers, but they seem to be used rather for lighting tha[n] cooking. A few years ago the fresh human heads used to be hung up over them to dry and smoke, after which they were carried in great state to the place of honour in the hut of the chief. The Dyaks, like the Malays, are in the habit of residing over a puddle or dunghill, in which pigs, dogs, and fowls rout about as it pleases them; and it is difficult to imagine, in looking at these filthy holes, how the people living above them can ever be free of fever. But I heard nothing of it, though I saw many signs of cutaneous disease and tumours among them. From the latter men appear to suffer much more than women; but with these exceptions I could not find that they were subject to malady."24

Harriette McDougall25 says a cottage was built for the Rajah to recuperate from an attack of smallpox in 1853 and, in his own words, albeit in Charles Grant's26 handwriting, the Rajah wrote "in a babbling humour" on June 28, recovering from 15 days of raging fever, disfigured by smallpox "[Captain] Brooke left me last night, to go up a mountain called Paningow, where we are about to build a small sanitorium as my residence; the climate there will be some six or eight degrees cooler than down below, and the scene is one of the most charming in the world."27. Then on July 22nd "I have built a house on the Paninjow Mountain, where I shall reside on my return from Bruné, and where I expect to find it several degrees cooler than our locality below; it is about twelve hundred feet high, and the view, almost as fine as it is possible to conceive."28. In a letter on 23rd September he writes: "[Captain] Brooke has been up at my mountain residence at Paninjow, where he reports, it is cold enough for a fire and blankets. When I get over the business I have to do, and

provided I can keep the peace with honour, I shall retire there"29

Spenser St.John, in a whole chapter on the Land Dayaks of Sirambau, tells us that “Sir James Brooke had a country house near the upper-most groves of palms that are seen from Siniawan. Formerly it was a Dayak village, but the inhabitants removing to join another section of their tribe who were in a more sheltered spot, Sir James purchased the fruit-trees around, and built a pretty cottage there ... Peninjau, or the 'look-out' was the name of the spot”30. St.John “spent many months there” and also uses William Chalmers'31 notes to write extensively on the people's life and beliefs. He describes the site of the Peninjau cottage, which henceforth tends to dominate accounts: "To aid Sir James Brooke in his recovery, Captain Brooke had, during our absence in Brunei, built a pleasant little cottage, on a spur of the Serambo mountain. We had a lofty peak on our left, while on the other three sides the hill sloped steeply down 1200 feet to the plain and river below. In a ravine close by, rose a huge rock some 70 feet in length by 40 in breadth, somewhat in the shape of a mighty but very blunt wedge The thicker end was buried in the ground; the centre, supported on either side by two rocks, left a cave beneath; while the thinner part, thrust up at an angle of 30°, over-shadowed a natural basin, improved by art, in which the Rajah loved to bathe. A rill that glided from under the rock supplied us plentifully with cool, clear water. It was a beautiful spot, a charming natural grotto, in which we often passed the burning mid-day hours. As we sat there we could catch glimpses of distant mountains, of the plain below, and here and there a reach of the river, all these seen through noble trees, and brilliant vegetation of various kinds. What pleasant days we spent there! With our books, our writing, and our chessboard, we managed to let time slip imperceptibly away. We were surrounded by groves of fruit-trees, and at a little distance below us were three Dyak villages, to which we made constant visits. I do not think it necessary to enter into many descriptions of Dyak ways, or of the Rajah's visits to these tribes, as so much has already been published on the subject; but we saw many curious customs."32

Late in 1853, General George le Grand Jacob33 and W.H.Read34 "accompanied him [the Raja] to his mountain retreat – such a hill to climb! I, who am an old ibex hunter, weakened I admit by illness, found it a hard matter to reach the summit – perpendicular and slippery rocks, tree trunks for ladders, small notches at intervals for rungs – all around a tangled mass, the wild confusion of nature in a tropical and rainy climate. After reaching the Raja's cottage it was interesting to see the Dyaks hurrying in to pay homage with genuine devotion, bringing fruit and other offerings. Piles of dorians scented the air."35

Gertrude Jacob quotes 5 references to Peninjau in Brooke's letters, from the enraptured "From Peninjau, the dear mountain-home, where nature, he says, was beautiful..."; to the gloomy "At any rate 6 feet of earth on my mountain of Peninjau will not be grudged by Lord Clarendon;.."36

In 1854, Brooke wrote to his sister “If we gain support and increase in prosperity I shall pass longer time on the mountain and look after my fowls”37

Alfred RusselWallace38 appears to have spent some of the first 4 months time in Sarawak from Nov 1854; a letter is worth quoting at length "I have been staying some time at a cottage of Sir James Brooke's, about twenty miles inland, on the ridge of a mountain, at an elevation of about one thousand feet. The path up is peculiar, half is over broken rocks, the other half up ladders. These are made of trees about as thick as one's thigh, placed

at angles varying from thirty to seventy degrees with the horizon, and having notches cut in them for steps; sometimes they go over chasms between the rocks, or slope over a mass of boulders, or stretch to the edge of a precipice, with a shaky piece of bamboo to hold by, but oftener nothing at all. Over ravines and larger chasms regular bridges are constructed of tall thin poles, crossing each other at the pathway, which consists of a single round and slippery bamboo, and bound together with rattan. There are three paths of a similar character up this mountain to as many Dyak villages, which are situated nearly on the same level a few hundred feet below the summit. These villages are placed in most romantic situations, and might be very pretty were there not such

an accumulation of trees, weeds, and rubbish about them. Huge boulders, as big as the houses themselves, rise among them, and hang over them in the most extraordinary manner. Every one is a picturesque object stained with lichens, and on the shady side covered with mosses, while the tops are generally more are less clothed with curious ferns and orchids. All the spaces between are filled up with the cocoa-nut, the gouniti, and the areca palm, with the jack fruit, durian, and mangosteen in smaller quantities. The houses are all elevated on tall poles, on one side perhaps fifteen to twenty feet high, owing to the inequality of the ground, and these posts are generally green with moss and fringed with ferns. The ground between the houses is the general receptacle for all kinds of refuse, part of which is cleared away by the pigs which are constantly roaming about, but the greater part, consisting of the husks of cocoa-nuts and other fruits, remains, and forms a very tan-like mess, soaked as it is with the constant rains, and the dripping from the surrounding trees. Most of the houses are long, and are divided for the occupation of several families with a common verandah. In each village is one circular house, where the young unmarried men sleep, and where the heads are kept. In these tree villages there are perhaps one hundred skulls, but all very old, none

Santubong (from Serembu)(Williams, in J.A.St.John)

having been procured since the English rajah has governed the country. In many the lower jaw is wanting, and has been supplied by a wooden one with carved teeth, and the eyes are supplied by small white shells. The dress of the men is a long narrow scarf worn round the loins, the end hanging down in front. It is generally bordered with a bright colour, and has a pretty appearance. Beads are occasionally worn round the neck, and rings of brass on the arms, sometimes quite covering them from the elbow to the wrist. The women wear a very scanty petticoat and most extraordinary stays, a cylinder of bamboo and brass wire, quite inflexible, and reaching from the breast to the hips. It is worn when quite young, and seems never to be taken off except to enlarge it as required by the growth of the wearer. The paddy-fields of these people are in the plains below, and they are therefore constantly going up and down the hill, and the women and children carry heavy loads 1000 feet up and down. The result is an enormous development of the leg. The women, especially, have most disproportionate calves, actually thicker than those of the men, and by no means improving their personal appearance. They live on rice and fruits, very little animal food, and sometimes towards the end of the season no rice, when they eat rudely prepared sag[o] instead.

While I was at the cottage a dozen or more of them would come up every day, squat down on the verandah, and watch my proceedings. Before leaving they generally begged for some tobacco, which they prefer to their own betel. Every one, down to boys of six years old, has his little bamboo case, to carry his pinang or areca nut, betel leaves, and a little lime and gambier if he can afford it, these four materials being essential to form a proper betel quid; the test is the bright red colour of the juice, which is freely expectorated, and to a stranger looks very sanguinary.

The mountain itself is of unstratified trappean or porphyritic rock, rising abruptly from the plain."39

Just before he left, he "accepted Sir James Brooke's invitation to spend a week with him and Mr St John at his cottage on Peninjauh" in December 1855, returning after Christmas "with Charles and a Malay boy called Ali and stayed there 3 weeks for the purpose of making a collection of land-shells, butterflies and moths, ferns and orchids" He describes it as “[a] rude wooden lodge ... [where] a cool spring under an overhanging rock just below the cottage furnished us with refreshing baths and delicious drinking-water, and the Dyaks brought us daily heaped-up baskets of mangosteens and lansats, two of the most delicious of the subacid tropical fruits. ... On one side of the cottage there was a verandah, looking down the whole side of the mountain and to its summit on the right, all densely clothed with forest. The boarded sides of the cottage were whitewashed, and the roof of the verandah was low, and also boarded and whitewashed.”40

He noted that "In the nocturnal species [of moths] ... I only found one spot where they could be obtained: this was a cottage at an elevation of 1000 feet on a mountain ridge, surrounded by jungle and fruit trees. Here, on dark wet nights, they came to a lamp in the verandah, so plentifully as sometimes to keep me incessantly employed for several hours: I have taken as many as 200 specimens and 120 species in one night! but such occasions were rare, and I would often pass a week or ten days without obtaining a dozen specimens. On dry and fine nights there were none, neither on wet nights, if it was moonlight; but I do not remember one occasion on which it was both dark and wet that I did not obtain a very plentiful harvest."41.

In a letter later published he talks of the paths which must have existed then "The hill Dyaks in the interior of Sarawak make paths for great distances, to their cultivated grounds, in the course of which they have to cross rivers and numerous gullies and ravines, or sometimes to avoid a long circuit, to carry the path along the face of a precipice. In all these cases the bridges they construct are of bamboo, and so admirably adapted is the material to the purpose, that it seems doubtful whether they would ever have made them had they not possessed it. The Dyak bridge is simple but well designed. It consists merely of bamboo poles, crossing each other at the roadway like the letter X, and rising, sometimes on one side, sometimes on both, three or four feet above it. At the crossing they are firmly bound together, and to a horizontal bamboo, which forms the only footpath, with another higher up, serving as a hand-rail. When a river is to be crossed, an overhanging tree is chosen, from which the bridge is partly suspended, and partly supported by diagonal struts from the banks, so as to avoid placing posts in the stream itself, when liable to floods. In carrying a path along the face of a precipice, trees and roots are made use of for suspension, from every little notch and crevice struts arise, while immense bamboos, of fifty or sixty feet long, are fixed on some bank or tree below. These bridges are traversed daily by men and women carrying heavy loads, so that any insecurity is soon discovered, and, as the materials are close at hand, immediately repaired. When the path goes over very steep and slippery ground, the bamboo is used to form steps. Pieces are cut, about a yard long, and opposite notches being made at each end, holes are formed, through which pegs are driven, and a ladder or staircase is produced with the greatest celerity. It is true that much of this will decay in one or two seasons, but it is so quickly replaced, as to make it more economical than using a more durable wood."42

Ludvig Verner Helms43 makes no specific mention of visiting Serembu but he passed it frequently on visits to the antimony44 and mercury45 mines for two decades from 1851, and claims to have climbed virtually every mountain in Sarawak in his search for minerals for the Borneo Company; his illustrations of Dyak houses are surely representative of where the Semembu people lived:

In October 1856, Harriette MacDougall went with Mrs Harvey and children "for a month to "See-afar" Cottage on the hill of Serambo." She describes this as "this little house, built by Sir James Brooke as a sanitarium after his attack of small-pox. The only objection to it was, that it was built in the region of clouds: had the hill been five hundred feet higher we should have had the clouds below us, as they are on Penang Hill. The path up the mountain – if path it can be called – is almost a staircase of tumbled rocks, and requires both strength and agility to climb. It was quite beyond me; but I was carried on

Land Dyak Houses(Helms)

a man's back, sitting on a bit of plank, with a strip of cloth fastened round my waist and across the man's forehead, my back to his back. ..."46

In 1857 the Chinese of Bau descended on Kuching but were repelled and harried in their retreat by the Land Dyaks who, St John says "without one exception stood faithful to the government, and now rushed in every direction on the Chinese ... [who] also sacked a few of the Dayak farmhouses, and one party made a bold attempt to reach the Rajah's cottage at Peninjau ... But the villagers of Sirambau, Bombok, and Peninjau assembled in force, threw up stockades across the steep path, and successfully defended it against the assailants, who were driven back and pursued with loss."47

Charles Grant set out from his home at Belidah Fort on May 6 th 1858 to tour the left branch of the Sarawak river. Chalmers accompanied him to learn the local languages48, and, accompanied by footmen, servants, and crew, they went downriver to Ledah Tanah, thence upriver as far as Sennah before crossing over via Tebiak and Semban to Tringgus and coming back down the right branch. "At 4pm, we arrived at Belidah, after 28 days, and, as the sun was setting, I arrived at the cool, pretty sanatorium on the top of Mount Peninjauh, from which there is a glorious view of the surrounding country..."49

Chalmers had arrived in Sarawak early in 1858 to be a missionary and was assigned to be the first to work with the Land Dyaks. He wrote from Mission House, Peninjauh on the Feast of St Michael50, 1858, after his tour with Grant, and again on St Peter's Day51, 1859: "My house is a very primitive little place at present. Its whole length is 25 feet by 12 feet in breadth, divided into two rooms -- a sleeping and an eating apartment. Running along the front I have a tolerably large and spacious verandah, wherein to enjoy the cool breezes of this delightful hill. Around, I have succeeded in rescuing a little garden ground from the dense jungle, and herein flourish coffee, plantains, pine-apples, mangoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables, and a few flowers. I have also a reasonable animal population strolling around – dogs, cats, fowls, pigeons, &c. My house is situated about 1100 feet or so on the western slope of Mount Peninjauh or Serambo, just above the small Dyak

View from the Rajah's bungalow - note that Berlidah Fort has been added to Williams's view(Picken, in S.St.John)

village of Bombok, and within a few minutes of the villages of Peninjauh (on my right), and Serambo (to the left). The Dyak population of the three villages is nearly 700 souls, about 400 of whom are Serambos, and the remainder is equally divided between Peninjauh and Bombok. I have a most magnificent view from my verandah over at least from thirty to forty miles to the north and west, embracing Mounts Santubong, Mattung, Singgi, Lundu, and the hills of Saüh, Bus-oh, Baüh, Bidi, &c. The view to the south is

more limited, being bounded by the Bungo and other hills. The Bungo are a very striking peaked range, and are quite a feature in the landscape. On the east a spur of the hill rises perhaps another 100 feet, on which is a charming bungalow and grounds belonging to the Rajah. The latter are well kept, and from them also is obtained a magnificent view seaward from the Santubong mouth of the river Sarâwak along the coast to the hills of Sadong, Lingga, and Banting. At the foot of my hill, the western branch of the Sarâwak winds like a silver thread amid the dense dark masses of fine old jungle from which peep out small clearings made by the Dyaks for the cultivation of their paddy. From the Rajah's grounds the peak of the hill rises to a height of some four or five hundred additional feet.

The walls of my house are "kajang" (mats made from the nipah palm), the roof "atap" (thatch made from the same palm), and the floor "lantei" (bamboo laths). It is built on posts, the floor being some six feet above the ground, and is fastened together with strong "rotan". It is very snug and comfortable, but I trust to be more civilized some day. Close by is my cook-house, store-room, fowl-house, &c., and a little below, my bath-house. My establishment consists of my Chinese Catechist-pupil, who is also major-domo, a Chinese cook, and a Dyak out-door servant. On each of the end gables of my little house is fixed the "sign of the Son of Man," and many of the Dyaks have asked and learned its meaning. May the Holy Ghost stamp it on their hearts. I have already made good paths through the jungle to Peninjauh and Bombok, that to Serambo is not yet completed.

When residing here if the Dyaks be not away at their distant farms I have daily a continuous flow of visitors, -- men women and children -- who come up to see and to chat with "tuan padri," to hear his musical box, look at his pictures, eat his tobacco,

Detail of Bungo Range and Serembu from Bishop's House, Kuching (McDougall)

and admire his worldly goods, which last would have been all carried off long ago, if he had given to every asker. I have even had two or three passing the night in my sitting-room and luxuriating in the novel comfort of a stout English sheet.

These visits give me my chief opportunities of religious instruction, &c. Of solely religious discourse they soon begin to get wearied, I have therefore to introduce what I think will win their attention by means of pictures, and a religious application of daily events. By this as well as by occasional more direct pressings of the matter I hope to "make the preaching" in some measure "fully known" and trust to the power of God's Spirit to give the increase to the seed thus sown. Moreover, I by no means neglect to return the Dyak visits. Every week I regularly visit each of the Dyak villages, besides obeying the not unfrequent summonses I have to go and try my medical skill. ...

But the Dyaks do not come to my house alone for amusement; I have sometimes visitors who come to enquire concerning more weighty matters. A few months ago a long string of Peninjauh "orang tûah" came up with very grave faces one morning, and after chewing "sirih-pinang" for some time in silence, one of them sighed out "We have suffered a great loss, sir." I enquired in what, and they told me that a considerable amount of paddy had been carried off during the night from the landing-place near their farm, where it had been stored preparatory to being brought home to their village the next day. The same night also some of their farm houses caught or were set on fire and much (to them) valuable property consumed. I asked them how I could help them, and at length one said, they would like it so much if I would just look in my "surat" (books) and find out for them therefrom who had stolen their paddy, and whether the burning down of their farm-houses was caused by the "antu" or an enemy. I tried to explain to them the true nature and properties of "surat," and they departed not over well satisfied."52

He soon found it frustrating that the people spent much of their time away at their farms and , in March, 1860, he noted that "House and garden looking very desolate. Things soon go to ruin in this moist climate unless constantly looked after.", and by 7th September "Went to my house on Mount Peninjauh for a change. House decaying fast, so I determined to give it up, as I cannot afford to keep a servant to look after it. It is a little native house, and was built towards the end of 1858. Peninjauh, moreover, seems no promising field for missionary exertions, and I cannot attend to it properly as long as I continue to reside in the Quop district. At night the weather was quite cold, the combined effect of the high wind and heavy rains." He seems to have stayed until "18th.—For the last few days the whole country as seen from this high hill was enveloped in dense clouds of smoke, the burning of the Dayak farms being now going on in all directions. Left for Sarawak."53

Frederick Boyle54 went to Sarawak in 1863 and does not explicitly talk of Peninjau but there is a description of the villages and an account of warfare after the 1857 rising in the story he co-authored for the Boys Own Paper (also published as a book) about a botanist in search of 'the blue orchid'.55 Here is part of the description "..straight ahead at Sirambau, which from this point of view appeared to be a single peak, seventeen hundred feet high. All the land around Siniawan had been cleared, and afforded no shelter from the scortching sun; but in front and to right and left the jungle extended up the mountain slope in all shades of green; here bright where a grove of palms marked a Dyak village more than a thousand feet above the level of the sea; there Dyak clearings, almost brown.

The path, if such it may be called, lay in the bed of a mountain torrent – now dry – and must every now and then, after a heavy shower, have been impassable. It was roughly paved with stones, which, as the ascent became steeper, changed to rude steps, mostly very high, and requiring considerable exertion to climb.

These soon changed to notched trunks of trees leading from rocky platform to rocky platform. ...

But if the path was laborious, the scenery made ample compensation. On either side grew lofty fruit trees – duriens ten feet in circumference and a hundred and thirty feet high,crowded as closely as trees in the jungle. Mangusteins, lacets, ... and many others, intermingled with glorious tree-ferns spreading their grand frons in every direction, lianas, climbing rattans, and thickets of bamboos fifty feet high.

Every now and again the travellers halted at a platform where the Dyaks had placed rude benches. Here were to be obtained rest and refreshments; – tiny rills of water splashed and trickled from bamboo tubes, also the handiwork of the Dyaks, who have led the little streams from their natural courses to the side of the rocky path. From some of these resting places the views of the surrounding country, spread out like a panorama below, were magnificent. ...

For a botanist, or an unscientific lover of flowers, the path up Sirambau seemed to traverse a garden of enchantment. [They] saw aromatic gardenias, masses of white blossom on bushes six feet high; rhododendrons – pink, crimson, scarlet, yellow, blood-colour; Nepenthes – climbing "pitcher" plants, here white with rosy pink spots, of the shape of a claret jug and as large; there purple, with pink fluted mouth and great green lid, some capable of holding two quarts of liquid; here again red – a long tube with green base and frilled mouth of coral!56 ...

Upwards, still upwards, past a Dyak village, just showing through a grove of palms, which ... must be Bombok, and on, along a fairly level path, winding among huge rocks, to Sirambau, hiding in its palm groves, buried from the world on the side of a mountain. Meta, the orang kaya, with his son Nyait, came to meet them and to conduct them to the principal "house" – a long building, indeed some four hundred feet from end to end, erected on piles twenty feet high, and comprising an outer and inner verandah – the first open to the sky – and the sleeping apartments under the roof. This house was connected with the next by a bamboo platform or bridge.

Sirambau is unlike most Dyak villages, invariably called "houses," in that it comprises more than one building."57

Sirambau (Hartly, in Russan and Boyle)

Beccari and Doria stayed in 1865 (Aug/Sept - 7 Nov) at “just a small bungalow”58 He says the bungalow is above the 3 villages (Pininjau 300 ft above Serambo) and he describes "a place with an extensive view. ... A few steps from the Pininjau bungalow is a cave out of which flows a stream of deliciously cool water, which is one of the most attractive features of the place. Round the Pininjau bungalow numbers of a small swift were continuously flying.. Collocalia linchii., mossy nest". They were accompanied by the author of A Few Months in Borneo59 to "the rajah's charming retreat, which is situated at an elevation of 1000 feet – not a very accessible residence in bad weather ... a short distance from the cottage is a village of Land Dayaks, comprising about a dozen houses, all built on a much smaller scale than any I had seen before, not having more than from three to five doors each. Detached from them was the "head-house," an octagonal building on posts, in appearance and construction very much resembling a huge bee-hive. It serves as a sort of club-house for the young men of the place, who sleep and pass most of their time in it, the interior being fitted up with a long raised platform on which they recline. On one side were a number of gongs of various sizes, which, being supposed to constitute a band, were beaten vigorously in honour of our arrival. In this place I counted thirty-four human skulls hanging up in different compartments, one of which contained fourteen, besides which there were several not exposed to view; among them were about a dozen of the Chinese who were killed in the revolution of 1857. It was a ghastly sight – not one at all to my taste, - so I made my visit as brief as possible, and then went to visit the "Orang Kaya," who was too unwell to come to us. ... While at Peniguan I planted some European seeds – turnips, carrots, mangold wurzel, and rhubarb; ... no flowers were to be seen , no singing birds to be heard, nothing , in fact to give life or beauty to the jungle."60

"On March 6th [1867] I [Beccari] again ascended the Pininjau, partly for the sake of the splendid view, and partly to get specimens of the small swift which is so abundant there, and which Doria had asked me to collect for him, for at that time our knowledge of the edible-nest swift (Collocalia) and their allies left much to be desired. The temperature on the top of the hill was delicious: at 11a.m., when I reached the Rajah's bungalow it was 77ºFahr.; at 2p.m. It had only risen to about 80º. In the evening I was back at Blida, where I always stayed with pleasure on account of the excellent shooting to be had."61

Cuthbert Collingwood62 visited in 1867 from the rajah's bungalow at Berlidah63, finding the approach "very steep like a gully in a Welsh vale; the stones and rocks are extremely rugged, and puttting our climbing abilities to the test...."64

(Collingwood)

James Brooke was succeeded by his nephew Charles65 in 1868. The bungalow was evidently still there but, though the new Rajah and his wife visited66, it probably began to fall into disrepair as Charles developed his farm on Matang and preferred its Villa Ombrosa, named by Beccari, instead67.

Alfred Hart Everett68 recounts69 "When visiting the Serimbo mountain in Sarawak in 1870 some Land Dyaks voluntarily retailed to me an account of large tigers (harimau) which they had heard described by the old men of their tribe, and in whose existence they themselves firmly believed. The animals, they said, were of great size, having hair a foot in length of a reddish colour striped with black, and they had their lairs in the great caves of the district"70

Therese Yelverton (Lady Avonmore, nee Longworth)71 visiting Rajah Charles and his wife around 1871 recalls: "Sirambo is one of those mountains which rise abruptly out of a vast jungle plain ... 2000 feet vertically" and "was about five miles from Pakou fort where I was staying ... yet, from the intense clearness of the atmosphere, it scarcely looked two, and constantly inspired me with the desire to ascend it" until she "yielded to that peculiar British failing of mounting to the top of everything"72:..

In July 1874, Noel Denison73, and entourage, “landed on the right bank to commence [his] ascent of the Serambo mountain as it is generally called, though known to the Dyaks as Gunong Muan....[he] took up [his] quarters in a small wooden house erected by Sir James Brooke as a country house on a shoulder of the mountain called Si Dampul, here a portion of the Peninjauh villagers had formerly a settlement, but the late Rajah purchased their fruit trees and they moved lower down”74 Later he “often regretted that no visitor's book has been kept at the bungalow, for it would have registered some distinguished as well as notorious names such as , for instance, Sir James Brooke, Keppel, Wallace, Ida Pfeiffer, and Theresa Longworth, alias Lady Avonmore, &c. &c.”75

Marianne North, who passed close by on her way from Buso to visit the mines at Tegora in both 1875 and 1880, and stayed nearby at Paku makes no mention of Peninjau. Likewise, BFS Baden-Powell stayed at the Rajah's bungalow on Matang in in1892, although he also stayed at Paku to visit the antimony & gold mines, and went on a long trip through a cave in search of birds' nests.

However, William Hornaday76 confirms that the bungalow was still there in December 1878 when he went there with Oliver St John77 - "an hour from Paku we reached the foot of the mountain and began to climb up the path which leads to the Rajah's cottage and the three villages of Serambo, Bombok, and Peninjau... the cottage itself is a sort of summer-house ... a little house on posts with three rooms, a verandah extending around three sides, and at that time no furniture except a table and two or three chairs. But if the cottage is nothing of itself, the location is everything"78

There is then a long break when little seems to have been written about visits to Serembu. Academic and outside interest was with more exotic people, the pervading view appearing to be that the Land Dayaks had already been much written about, may be tainted by proximity to Kuching, and couldn't be of much interest. The local people continued to visit their hereditary fruit trees, to hunt, and to collect jungle products such as medicinal leaves, as they still do. However, the Sarawak Gazette79 has a seam of administrative news which is yet to be mined, some exploratory samples of which follow.

In 1884 the Resident for Upper Sarawak80, reported that:"The Sirambu dyaks have for some time been living at the foot of Sirambu mountain at their "marongs" or farming villages within easy reach of Paku. They have four marongs viz Siniawan, S'nibong, Rapat Manok, and Paku all permanent houses containing about 50 doors. After this harvest they intend to return to their village on the hill, at present deserted. ... at present without an Orang Kaya ... Pa Buga is looked upon as head man"81

In December 1891 "the Dyaks were being robbed right and left of their fruit, [so] I sent Police ... to Peninjau to make enquiries. I also learned that two Malays living in the neighbourhood claimed as their own some durian trees in the midst of the Dyak plantations. These men were fined and their claims disallowed."82

In January1892 the revenues from individual tribes and villages are summarised as Bombok $144, Peninjo [Pematu, Dinding, and Moha] $192, and Serambo [Meriambis, Rembu, Menos, Badar, Tondun, Skiat, Podam] $337.83 In February "Pa Nanjin and Pa Gisen, chiefs of the Peninjo Dyaks living in Semoba complained that their fruit trees had been robbed by a Chinaman living near Lida Tanah: a summons was granted..."84 In March, "Bombok Dyaks were in court relative to fruit trees destroyed by Chinese planting gambier gardens, and, on an examination being made, compensation was awarded"85. In April, "The Reverend Father Gossens86 ... informed me ... owing to the difficulty he experienced in obtaining a teacher and the attendance of children ... that his school at Segobang has ceased to exist"87 In August, a new Resident reported that "The Orang Kaya of Bombok, Pa Daya, has been down to complain that several fruit trees have been cut down by Chinamen clearing for pepper and gambier planting; I sent to verify their statement which I find is correct, and have made a note of the number and kind of trees destroyed"88

In 1896, the news from Serembu was of falls:"On October 22nd [1895] a Serambo Dyak named Su-uh fell while in the Jambusan caves luckily sustaining no serious hurt but a Suba Dyak named Nyakan was less fortunate, for he fell in the Skawn cave on November 11th and was killed."89 and "A Serambo Dyak named Laut, who had married into the Bombok tribe, met his death by falling from a jack fruit tree, at the foot of which he was found lying dead on 29th [September]"90. There is also news that "for the protection of the Dyaks living on the Serambo mountain, I [the Resident] have issued notices strictly forbidding Chinese and others coming to the mountain and forcibly taking possession of the durian and other fruits." and "the path up Serambo mountain has been so far completed as to allow ponies being ridden all the way to the site where the house is to be. The path is capable of much improvement in several places and I hope to give my attention to it as soon as the house is finished. The timber for this is ordered."91

In 1902, "Nikian, Brie and Kieng Serambo dyaks fined $5 each for taking nests the property of the tribe and selling them."92 and in June "several deaths from cholera are also reported to have occurred among the Serambu Dyaks"93.

Chang Pat Foh has attempted to reconstruct the history of formation of new villages and their development from oral interviews94. In essence:

the Peninjah people moved down to the north and west of the mountain to the now abandonned sites of Dinding and Ngiramak and the current villages of Peninjau Lama (1910), Peninjau Baru (1956), Semaba, Sudud, and Tibatu (1842) aka Simorang

the Bombok people moved down and across the Sarawak river to Sungai Pinang (1888), Kandis Lama (1925), and Kandis Baru (1963)

the Serembau people moved down and to east, south, and west of the mountain, setting up the now abandoned sites of Bung Romu (1850), Kopit Mawang (1850), Rotan Sega (1880s), Tembawang Ngiromis (1880s), and Bukit Giam (1910s), and the existing villages of Sega (1950), Kopit (1960), Segubang (1930s), Sogo (1910), Skio (1930), Seromah (1900), Seropak (1930), Skiat Lama (1917), Skiat Baru (1971), Merembeh (1968), Podam (1886), and Sibulung (1952).

Serembu villages today

There is a coda to this story of depopulation of the mountain in a slowly developing movement to recognise its importance, albeit rather more for its historic and scientific associations with Brooke and Wallace than for the Serembu people's heritage and role in the rebellion which brought the Brooke Raj into existence in the first place.

In January1912, J.C. Moulton95, spent a. fortnight on Mt Serambu.96 This was a homage to A.R. Wallace and he was accompanied by American Harrison W Smith97, who took photographs. They noted that there were just remnants of the bilian posts left from the Rajah's time and, as for the locals,: "All they remembered was that the first Rajah, Sir James Brooke had a bungalowbuilt on ... they say he purchased from the Peninjau Dayaks for one cannon)" They "Stayed up there until February 2nd, descending on that day by the Peninjau side to Siniawan, which was a good deal shorter than the Paku route.".

On 27th September 1989 a party from the Sarawak Museum were taken to the site by TK Asen ak Mojew and Mon ak Siien from Kampung Peninjau Baru by way of Ayak Kokang (Batu Surat) – a resting place – and Batu Puas – an old cremation site. After an hour and twenty minutes, they reached the cottage site and cleared secondary growth to reveal two belian posts, 13 feet apart. They then went on to the huge rock and noted that the spring had dried up.

In 1990, the Earl of Cranbrook98, Stephen Sinyum Mutit, and others visited and discussed the possibility of rebuilding Brooke's bungalow. Attempts were made to raise interest but nothing happened, as Richie noted after a visit in 200399. In 2004 another article appeared, reporting another journalist's visit in 1994.

Guides from Kampong Peminjau Lama have led a trickle of interested visitors to the site over the years. They have also taken people to the actual top of the mountain up the steep eastern side, as have guides from Sibulung up the longer but slightly less steep western slopes.

The Earl of Cranbrook renewed his appeal in 2009, perhaps stimulating a visit by the Kuching Branch of the Malaysian Nature Society in 2010.100 The Government then took up the baton for creating an eco-tourism product as an election approached101. One blogger understood this to mean, perhaps mixing messages somewhat, that there would be a "grand restaurant cum resthouse" with a cable car "for visitors to ascend to the mountain top", with the prospect of para-gliding and rock climbing in future, and "Rajah Brookes' descendents will foot the bill"102

In October 2011 it was announced, in tandem with a proposal to create a Geopark103, that funding was in place and the project should start 'next year in two phases'. Accord to Deputy [Federal] Minister of Tourism, Dato Dr James Dawos Mamit104, this would comprise "a Tourist Information Centre at Kampung Peninjau Lama, a staircase up the Wallace Trail to the [reconstructed] Brooke’s Cottage and the construction of a ‘baruk’ as a resting place for tourists to stay" It was also hoped to fund archaeological and biological projects.105 By March 2012, tenders were to be sought for, first, an access road, car park, and tourist information point, plus 'Wallace Point' and 'Brooke observation platform', followed by ceremonial house, longhouses, Brooke's cottage and outdoor bath106.

1 Compiled and annotated by MartinLaverty, Dec.2011 – Apr. 2012

Book references:Baden-Powell, B.F.S. (1892) In Savage Isles and Settled Lands Beccari, Odoardo (1904) Wanderings in the Great Forest of BorneoBelcher, Edward (1848) Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S.Samarang Vol IBoyle, Frederick (1865) Adventures among the Dyaks of BorneoBoyle, Frederick (1893) About Orchids – A ChatChang Pat Foh (1995) Land of Freedom-FightersChang Pat Foh (2002) History of Bidayuh in Kuching Division, SarawakCollingwood, Cuthbert (1868) Rambles of a Naturalist Denison, Noel (1879) Jottings made during a tour amongst the Land Dyaks of Upper Sarawak, ... in 1874 Grant, Charles T.C. (1864) A Tour amongst the Dyaks of Sarawak (Borneo) in 1858 ...Helms, Ludvig Verner (1882) Pioneering in the Far EastHornaday,William (1885) Two Years in the JungleJacob, Gertrude Le Grand (1876) The Raja of Sarawak Vol IKeppel, H (1846) The Expedition to Borneo of HMS Dido ... Vol.I & Vol.IIKeppel, H (1853) A visit to the Indian Archipelago in HMS Maeander Vol.IIMarryat, Frederick (1848) Borneo and the Indian ArchipelagoM.B.B. (1867?) A Few Months in Borneo, from the journal of a naval officerMcDougall, Hariette (1882) Sketches of our Life at SarawakMundy, Rodney (1848) Narrative of Events in Borneo and the Celebes Vol.IPfeiffer, Ida (1855) A Lady's Second Journey Around the World Vol.IRoth, H.L. (1896) The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo Vol.I & Vol.IIRussan, A & Boyle,Frederick (1896?) The Orchid Seekers – A Story of Adventure in BorneoSt.John, James Augustus (1847) View in the Eastern Archipelago ...St John, Spenser (1862) Life in the Forests of the Far East Vol.I & Vol.IISt John, Spenser (1879) Life of Sir James Brooke Tarling, Nicholas (1982) The Burthen, the Risk, and the GloryTempler, John (1853) The Private Letters of Sir James BrookeWallace, Alfred Russel (1869) The Malay ArchipelagoYelverton, Therese (1874) Teresina Peregrina Vol.II

Journal references: Borneo Post

(2010, Nov.22) Brooke Trail in Bau to add excitement to tourist industry) Munan, Sidi (2010, Dec.5) A new destination on the mountain

(2011, Oct 23) Unesco Geopark to revive state’s tourism industry (2012, Mar 29) Restoration of Brooke Cottage, Wallace Trail to start in June

CNN Traveler (eMagazine)Sochaczewski, Paul Spencer (2004) I wanna be like you

The Colonial Church Chronicle and Missionary Journal Chalmers, William (1860, [Vol.13]. pp.101-108, 139-146) The Dyaks of Borneo

Chalmers, William (1862, Vol.15, pp.207-215, 250-258, 305-316 ) A Year of Missionary Life in Sarawak, Borneo

The Entomologist Moulton, John C (1912, v.XLV, p.212-217; 247-252) Where Wallace Trod (annotated)

Hooker's Journal of Botany Wallace (1856, v.8, p225-230) On the Bamboo and Durian of Borneo (annotated)Journal of the Royal Geographical Society

Bethune, C.D. (1846, v.16, pp.294-304 ) Notes on Part of the West Coast of BorneoJournal of the Straits.Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

Everett, Alfred Hart (1880, v.5, p.158) The Tiger in Borneo Literary Gazette (London) Anon (Wallace) (1855) June 9th,, Foreign Correspondence: Letter from Sarawak (annotated)

Occasional Papers from St.Augustine's College Chalmers, William (1858, No 35, pp.2-12; No 36,pp.1-10) Extracts from letters Chalmers, William (1859, No 42, pp.2-12) Extracts from letters

Sarawak GazetteBamfylde, C.A. (1884, XIV, 220, 1st May, p38) Upper SarawakAwdry, R. (1892, 1st February, 1st March, 1st April, 2nd May, 1st June) Upper Sarawak

Peck, H.W. (1892, 1st October) Upper SarawakAwdry, R. (1896, 1st February, p.12; 1st September, p.184; 1st October, p.201) Upper Sarawak

Stillwell, E.R. (1902, 1st May) Upper Sarawak, BauDay, H.RA.. (1902, 1st August) Upper Sarawak, Paku

Sabang, Clement Langet (1990) Rajah Brooke's Cottage CXVII, 1514 (Dec.), pp.42-47 Sarawak Tribune Lindsay, Emy (2011, Oct.24) Ministry to rebuild Brooke’s Cottage, Wallace TrailThe Star,

Ritchie, James (2003) September 25th Bid to restore Serembu’s glory Edgar, Nigel (2010) November 22nd. RM 1.7 mil. Proposed to start first phase of rebuilding Rajah

Brooke site Zoologist Wallace (1856, v14, p.5113-5117) Observations on the Zoology of Borneo (annotated) 2 The Serembu people are nowadays described as Bidayuh, but were more generally termed Land Dayak until the

advent of Malaysia in 1963. Their language is a sub-dialect of the Bau-Jagoi, generally termed Serembu or, to themselves, Broih.

3 Online mapping centred on G.Serembu at Lat.1.424986N, Long.110.222054E (annotated)4 A similar pattern of movement from hard to reach, defensible hillside settlemts to the lowlands is seen throughout

the Bidayuh settlememts. However, the Serembu were among the first to move down – some villages elsewhere remained on steep hills into the 1960's.

5 James Brooke (1803-1868), first white resident on Serembu.6 Mundy: I,297 Later (p335), Brooke names the Chinese Settlements as Siniawan, Tundong, Bow, and Salingok7 Peninjau was one of the villages on the mountain: it translates as 'lookout point' in Malay and is the site that Brooke

used for his bungalow.8 "Mr Brooke's friend ... Captain Elliott, of the Madras engineers...a man of science and education, and the best of

fellows" Keppel, Dido: I,317. He supplied a mass of meteorological data for Bethune (1846), although his main work was a Magnetic Survey of the Indian Archipelago from 1846-9 [reports: short long]. C.M.Elliot died in Madras in 1852.

9 Serembu is 1646 ft high (Bau 1:50000, 3rd edition 1965)10 Mundy : I, p.33611 Keppel, Dido: II, pp.31-3612 Captain Henry Keppel, R.N. (1809-1904) 13 Mundy: I, pp.345-614 Marryat pp.10-1515 Belcher: I, pp.25-3116 Hiram Williams (1816-1872) was a land and mineral surveyor from Swansea, South Wales. He was sent out by the

Admiralty to assist Bethune "to inquire into the State of Coalfields in the Eastern Archipelago" (in Parliamentary Paper 266 for 1852-53: Instructions to Capt Bethune ... dated 1st Nov, 1844, although "the individual named in the margin, who is well acquainted with the nature of coal, and can therefore form a correct opinion as to any in the neighbourhood of the spots you visit, both as to its probable extent and its fitness for use in steam vessels" was not actually selected at the time Bethune left on his mission; Williams followed). Besides the geological map he contributed to Admiralty charts as well as a picture and chapter on geology to Mundy's book, three pictures for Low's book, and seven pictures for James Augustus St.John's book.

17 An earlier manuscript map, lacking the key on the published version, is preserved in the archives of the Geological Society of London, presented by the Admiralty in 1847. It also seems to have been used for inland detail on Admiralty charts.

18 Comparison with an earlier (Admiralty chart) version suggests that the Quop area was surveyed later than most of the map; it seems likely that Williams visited Sarawak at least one more time.

19 Sow, or Sau[h], was the name given to the area W and S of Bau, and its Dyak inhabitants; nowadays, roughly, the Jagoi and Serembu area

20 The headman was called Meta. 21 Keppel, Maender: II, p.6722 Spenser St John (1826-1910) went out to Sarawak, aged 22, in 1848 having been introduced to Brooke by his then-

agent, later nemesis, Henry Wise. 23 Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858) was an Austrian lady who travelled adventurously after her family grew up.24 Pfeiffer I, pp.67-7125 Harriette McDougall was the wife of Sarawak's first Anglican missionary, subsequently Bishop, based in Kuching

from 1848-1866. Francis Thomas McDougall (1817-1886) arrived, with his wife, in Kuching on 29th June 1848 (http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sea/spg.html) as a missionary and doctor. They set up a church, dispensary, and school. He returned to England in autumn 1852, returning in 1855 to be consecrated Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak. He left Sarawak in 1866, resigning two years later when back in England. ( Into All Lands (SPCK, 1951) by R.P Thompson summarises this; extracts from his letters are also at Project Canterbury)

26 Charles Thomas Constantine Grant (1831-1891) was the Rajah's personal secretary from 1848, and later held various administrative posts before leaving Sarawak in ...

27 Templer, Letter No.182, p.231, to Templer28 Templer, Letter No.184, p.26629 Templer, Letter No.185, p.271

30 S.St.John, pp.152-15931 William Chalmers (1833-1901) was a Scot who arrived in Sarawak in January 1858 fresh from St.Augustine's

Missionary College, Canterbury, and had established his (SPG) Mission House near Peninjau by the Feast of St.Michael (29th September). He was the first missionary to concentrate on the Land Dyaks of Sarawak, albeit he left Peninjau for the more receptive people of Quop. He left Sarawak after illness in November 1861 and went on to become a bishop in Australia. St.John published a word list from Chalmers; and a more complete vocabulary was included in Grant's Tour, published by St.Augustine's College, and later reproduced by Ling Roth.

32 Life of Sir James Brooke , pp.253-25433 George Le Grand Jacob (1805-1881) was uncle of James Brooke's first biographer, Gertrude Le Grand Jacob.34 William Henry Macleod.Read (1819-1907) was a prominent Singapore merchant and public figure.35 Jacob, Preface, p.v-vii36 Jacob refs: 37 Quoted by Tarling38 Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was a naturalist collecting specimens for sale, but also incubating a version of

the theory of evolution which was presented along with that of Charles Darwin.39 Wallace, Literary Gazette, 185540 Wallace, 1869, p.9541 Wallace, Zoologist, 185642 Wallace, Hooker's Journal, 185643 Ludvig Verner Helms (1825-1918) was a Dane who went out to the Far East in 1848 He worked in Sarawak from

1852-1858, when he returned to England, married, and went back east in 1860, leaving Sarawak for good in 1872 …(gen.ref )

44 Antimony was mined, as stibnite, around Bidi and Jambusan45 Mercury was mined, as cinnabar, at Tegora and Gading46 McDougall pp.121-12347 St.John II, pp.354-35648 Chalmers, 1860. Grant, meanwhile, says: "I generally spoke to the Dyaks in Malay (or a Dyakified Malay) which is

the lingua franca in these parts"49 Grant 's Tour was printed for private circulation in 1864, although parts were reprinted in the Sarawak Gazette from

Oct 1st 1885. William Chalmers accompanied Grant on the trip and wrote an account for St.Austine's College, Canterbury.

50 Chalmers, 1858 [also as Chalmers, 1860] (Michaelmas, Sept 29th ; )51 St.Peter's Day is June 29th.52 Chalmers, 185953 Chalmers, 1862 54 Frederick Boyle (1842-1912?) was a journalist, author, and orchid grower from Stoke-on-Trent. He visited Sarawak

in 1863 with his brother Arthur (b.1840). 55 Boyle (1893) p.145, describes a blue orchid found at Bidi, so there is a real basis for the story.56 This description of the botany is probably more colourful than accurate – it sounds more like Kinabalu...57 Russan and Boyle, pp.103-10758 Beccari, p.5459 The author is anonymous but Reece suggests that the author was called J.A.Sewell, which fits with the Mr Sewell

referred to in letters between Baroness Burden-Coutts and James Brooke (Rutter, 1935), although no evidence of his being a naval officer has come to light. M.B.B , the equally opaque editor made an appalling job of transcribing the place names...

60 M.B.B. pp.113-120.61 Beccari, p.13562 Cuthbert Collingwood (1826-1908) was using an appointment as Royal Navy surgeon and naturalist to do some

marine zoology.63 Denison (p.25) doesn't mention a bungalow at Berlidah but gives a history of the fort: built after the Chinese

Insurrection of 1857 and occupied by a European officer until 1861; it was then used by native police for another decade, when it was demolished and the materials used to enhance the Government station at Paku.

64 Collingwood, pp.235-24065 Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke (1829-1917)66 Sarawak Museum report in Sarawak Gazette ..1990, p42-47.67 Charles Brooke does not mention Pennjau in any of his writing. His visitors, such as Marianne North in 1876,

increasingly go to Matang. Harry de Windt, his nephew and ADC around 1877, makes no mention makes no reference to the cottage in his books or travel articles. Around 1890, Baden-Powell visited the bungalow on Matang, without mentioning Serembu, although he did visit the caves of Jambusan. In 1894, MacGregor went up Singhi to experience life in a native village, and also climbed Serapi and stayed at Matang.

68 Alfred Hart Everett (1848-1898) was a naturalist, and administrator who worked in Sarawak and Labuan. His brother, Harrold Hart Everett (1850-1931), worked for the Borneo Company in Sarawak; another, E.E.(d.1902), worked in Singapore, Labuan, and North Borneo. All three were involved with the Central Borneo Company.

69 Everett (1880) 70 The limestone hills of Jambusan and beyond are, indeed, riddled with caves which provided a rich harvest of bird's

nests for Serambo (but not for Bombok or Peninjauh) In 1873, they paid $292 tax on 6000 nests from Sijang, Staat, Utak Mawan, Utak Jimbeng, and Utak Plindak caves (Denison, p.16). This was $52 more than the head tax of $3 on 80 families.

71 Maria Theresa Longworth (1833-1881) was born in Manchester, a Roman Catholic. She began 1857 as a nurse in Turkey but married (as she thought) the Protestant Major Yelverton, 4 th Viscount Avonmore , in Ireland later that year. He, however, used the discriminatory Irish laws on intermarriage to regard her as a mistress and married again in 1858. Court cases ensued in 1861, which declared the marriage legal, and, on appeal, in 1864, when it was declared null, leaving Maria adrift and the law to be revised to correct the injustice that many saw. She started writing novels and books about her travels to support herself.

72 Yelverton: II, pp.119-13773 Noel Denison (1838-1893), worked in Sarawak from1869-1876. He went on to become Superintendant of Lower

Perak.74 Denison, p.1675 Denison, p.1876 William Temple Hornaday (1854-1937) was an American zoologist.77 Oliver St.John (1845-1898) was Spenser St.John's nephew.78 Hornaday, pp.484-48679 The Sarawak Gazette was founded in 1870 “to provide those Europeans who reside at Outstations with concise

statements of official business and other matters of public interest...” and was issued monthly.80 Charles Agar Bamfylde (1856-1918)81 Sarawak Gazette (1884)82 Sarawak Gazette (1892, January)83 Sarawak Gazette (1892, March) Revenue was calculated at $2 per able-bodied man.84 Sarawak Gazette (1892, April)85 Sarawak Gazette (1892, May)86 Aloysius Gossens was a Roman Catholic priest: he was reported in the Straits Times of 12 February, 1931 to have

just completed 50 years in Borneo. He was first Principal of St.Joseph's School in Kuching (1882-1884), and went to British North Borneo to set up the Papar mission in 1900.

87 Sarawak Gazette (1892, June)88 Sarawak Gazette (1892, October)89 Sarawak Gazette (1896, February )90 Sarawak Gazette (1896, October)91 Sarawak Gazette (1896, September) The pony track is still known (for example to people in Sibulung), but the

Resident's house is long gone (wherever it was). 92 Sarawak Gazette (1902, May)93 Sarawak Gazette (1902, August)94 Chang, P.F. (1995 & 2002) The excepts quoted from the Sarawak Gazette show that the oral record is not infallible;

some of these dates are questionable, and more villages may have come and gone.95 John Coney Moulton (1886-1926), an energetic Curator of the Sarawak Museum from 1909 to 1915 and founder of

its Journal.96 Moulton: pp.213-217 and 246-251 97 Harrison W Smith (1873-1947), a Professor in the Electrical Department of the Masachusets Institute for

Technology, travelled through much of Sarawak in 1912. He made phonograph recordings of native songs and dances and took many photographs which have been much used since (typically, unattributed). In 1919 he gave a talk on Sarawak at MIT, and also established Botanical Gradens in Tahiti.

The National Geographic published some of his photos in its magazine for February 1919 – none of those were from Serambau – and others have appeared, often unattributed, in subsequent publications (NGS stock photos). The Royal Geographical Society have also catalogued photos from Niah Baram, Mulu, Mungo Babi, and Peninjauh (View from summit of Perenjauh [089554]; Jungle of Mt.Perenjauh [089553]; Great rock near Rajah James Brooke's bungalow on Mt Perenjauh [089552]; In Upper Sarawak on Mt. Perenjauh [089551]).

98 Earl of Cranbrook (formerly Lord Medway), Hon.PNBS & ,JBS, and Hon.Curator of Mammals at the Sarawak Museum, inter alia

99 The Star (2003)100 Trip to Peninjau/Bukit Serembu in Siniawan, Bau on April 18 (2010)101 Borneo Post (2010)102 http://paklimonavie.blogspot.com/2010/11/nyikoh-dorod-sirombu.html103 The Geopark is expected to cover Lundu, Bau, and Penrissen area. Both Hiram Williams, who first mapped and

illustrated Sarawak, and Alfred Russel Wallace, who gained it a place in the history of science, learnt their trades in and around the Fforest Fawr Geopark in S.Wales – another area with dominating sandstone cliffs, limestones and caves, and a history of mining. Might they make an interesting twinning?

104 James Dawos, a Bidayuh politician105 Sarawak Tribune (2011)106 Borneo Post (2012)