Tales of Lundu

Lundu: a small collection of articles.

Some Sarawak Curiosities in the  British  Library by Bob Reese Borneo Research Bulletin Vol. 37

The most detailed section of a pamphlet written by Mrs. Harriet McDougal in 1878  is devoted to Lundu, where the part-Singhalese priest, Edward Gomes, was posted in early 1853 and whose Dayak Sebuyau responded enthusiastically to the Christian view of the world. Harriette’s account is notable for its identification by the name of the early Lundu converts and its description of how their musical ability was used by Gomes and McDougall in bringing them together with other Dayak converts at places like Banting so that they might “learn to know and love each other.” Given the ancient antagonism between the Dayak Sebuyau and the Dayak Balau, this was no mean challenge. From his letters to the SPG and from other sources, it is clear Bishop McDougall privately despised Gomes, referring to him as “that half-caste” and suspecting him both of embezzlement and of being in league with the Rajah.

However, Harriete’s warm and homely description of Gomes’s relationship with the Dayak boys at his Lundu school suggests that she, for one, had formed an appreciation of his good qualities. Gomes’ conversion of the local manang, Bulang, must have been a vital step in the creation of a Christian community at Lundu. And it was the coming of Christianity which she saw as enhancing their skills and dedication as agriculturalists.

Harriet McDougal’s description of Lundu in her pamphlet

At the foot of the blue hills of Lundu live a tribe of Dyaks, formerly the most determined enemies of the pirates of Sakarran and Sarebas. The chief of this tribe was a devoted admirer of Sir James Brooke, and one of his earliest friends, long before he became rajah of the country.

The man was enlightened enough to follow the counsels of the English Resident, and the missionary stationed at Lundu. His two eldest sons were killed in the pirate fight of 1849, by Lingi, the Sakarran chief, and only Callon, the youngest, remained as heir to the Orang Kaya Pemancha. The next year Lingi paid a visit to Sarawak, with many followers, apparently to pay his rice tax, really to see if he could not take the heads of Sir James Brooke and his officers. In this, he was foiled by the watchfulness of the Malays.

The day Lingi left Sarawak to return home the Lundus arrived, and hearing he was still in the river, entreated to be allowed to follow him and take his head. ‘They would never take another head, but just Sinai’s [sic] who had killed Callon’s brothers!’ They were refused, of course, and it was indeed a mark of their love for Sir James Brooke that they obeyed, for what could be more natural than their cry for vengeance, as at that time they knew nothing of Christian forgiveness?

In 1853 Callon gave his boy, Langi, to Mr. Gomes, the missionary, to bring up. This lad came to Kuching, the capital, with eleven other candidates for baptism before Whit Sunday, 1854. The church at Lundu was not yet completed, so they were all baptized at the mother church at Kuching, on that Whit Sunday, the first fruit of the Lundu Church, and a very delightful time it was. Everybody in the Mission House enjoyed hearing these men and boys singing their hymns and chant in Dyak before they went to bed at night. All wild people love music and learn poetry much more readily than prose. Mr. Gomes, therefore, wrote or translated many hymns for their use, and taught them tunes and chants which they were never weary of singing.

 After Whit Sunday, they accompanied Mr. Gomes and Bishop McDougall to Banting, so that the converts of these different rivers might learn to know and love one another. The Linga Dyaks had learnt the same hymns but knew no tunes for them but their wild strains, and admired the superior melody of the Lundus very much.

However, when Mr. Chambers, their missionary, was married they were also instructed, and proved in the end as good musicians as the Lundus. Among the Lundu converts was a Manang, or charm doctor, an important person, who renounced his evil practices, and became a catechist to his tribe. Bulang was an honest man and found it difficult to follow a profession of imposture, even before he was a Christian.

Pamoulin, an old man, was another of this little band. He was very rich, and his wife was so angry at his conversion that she declared she would leave him if he was baptized, and take half of his property with her as her share. Pamoulin said very quietly, ‘If she will go, she must. She is only a woman, and her judgement in the matter is not likely to be good.’ I fear this might be said of Dyak women, who are far behind the men in intelligence because they are so superstitious.

 Bugai, Bulang’s brother, was, perhaps, the most intelligent of the party; he has long been a teacher to his people. The rest were lads, who were devoted to Mr. Gomes, followed him about, slept under his sofa at night, and never left him. The good old chief was too ill to come to Kuching at that time. He was to have been baptized on the return of the party to Lundu, but, alas! died in their absence, a Christian in heart, though not outwardly received by the Church.

 In 1856 Bishop McDougall went to Lundu and consecrated the pretty wooden church. The mission has since sent out branches to Sedema and Lara, in the hill country beyond. These tribes now have their own churches and schools.

Lundu is a lovely place, the fields and gardens which delight the eye all along the banks of the river bear witness to the superior cultivation of their land since the people learnt the wisdom of their English teachers, and the school and church bells day by day tell of their progress in the knowledge of God and Christ.

Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Apr. 1881), pp. 193-208 (19 pages)

Beginning at Tanjong Datu, the western boundary, and travelling eastward, the first river will be seen to be the Lundu; but this river is not of much importance, partly on account of the bar at the mouth,. which gives three feet only at low water, and partly because it is so sparsely inhabited. The town or principal village is situated about 10 miles up the river. A small fort stands on the left bank, and a pretty little church on the right. The river is peopled by Land Dyaks and Chinese, and the principal articles of export are rice and bilian timber (ironwood). The bay between Tanjong Datu and Lundu is famous for turtles, which resort to the islands of Talang and Satang during the fine monsoon, from May to October: there is a government prohibition against killing them, and the collection of their eggs is farmed. Shoals of trobok fish also frequent this bay; they are caught in large quantities, and their roes are exported to China, where they are considered a delicacy.

The country lying between Tanjong Datu and Lundu is mountainous, in some parts rising close to the seashore. The magnificent mountains of Brooke and Poe, the latter over 6000 feet, rise directly from the banks of the Lundu. All this part of the country is still covered with primeval forest, and possesses good soil: capital and labour are all that is required to make this the most important as it is the most picturesque part of the Sarawak territory. Plantations of gambier and pepper have lately been opened up in Lundu, and promise well.

The lowland skirting the sea lying at the foot of the Matang and Sampadi mountains, between the Lundu and Sarawak rivers, is so intersected with streams that it is not an uncommon occurrence for even natives to lose their way, and for Chinese to die of starvation after fruitless efforts to find their way out.

The Natives of Borneo Edited from the Papers of the late BROOKE Low, Esq., by H. LING ROTH The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 21 (1892),

The Sedumat and Kalakan Dyaks of Lundu believe that when an eclipse occurs some large animal in the shape of a dog is worrying the moon (or sun) and they bring out their brass-ware and portions of food to present them as offerings to appease this powerful beast. They then fire guilds, beat gongs, scream out, and make all the noise they can.

 Ethnic Language Use and Ethnic Identity in Oceanic Linguistics vol. 53, no. 1

The statistics Population and Housing Census of Malaysia in Table 6 show that the Bidayuh are concentrated in the Kuching hinterland: 38.49 percent in Kuching, 27.31 percent in Bau 6.06% in Lundu.