[Gwatch] n earnest, with black, heavy eye

[Zhou H. <amo...@bs...>]

Sfied, or the wretched natives had no more to give. Often, when the
latter had been robbed of everything, the Malays would seize and sell
their wives and
children. It is recorded of one tribe, that there was not so much as
one
woman or child to be found in it. All had been swept off
by these remorseless slave-hunters. Nor did their wrongs end here. If
a Dyak killed a Malay "under any circumstances of aggression," he was
put to death, often with every possible addition of torture. If he
accidentally injured one of the ruling caste, he was fortunate to
escape with the loss of half

or two thirds of his little
savings. On the other hand, a Malay might kill as many Dyaks as he
pleased, and if perchance justice were a little sterner than usual,
he might be fined a few cents or a few dollars. Volumes are contained
in this one statement, that in the ten years from 1830 to 1840, the
Dyaks in the province of Sarawak dwindled from 14,000 to 6,000 souls.
A blow was immediately struck at the root of this black oppression.
As soon as the new government was fairly established,
a few simple enactments were published. They declared that every man,
Dyak as well as Malay, should enjoy unmolested all the gains of his
toil; that all exactions of every name and nature should cease, and
that only a small
tax, evenly distributed, should be levied for

the support of government;
that all roads and rivers should be
free to all; that all molestation of the Dyaks should be punished
with severity.
The proclamation which contains these laws concludes with exhorting
all persons who are disposed to disturb the