Tapadong -700 Years of Cave History in Sabah The Tapadong Caves are on the middle reaches of the Segama River north of Lahad Datu and have been frequented by man since the early times. From a small rock shelter under 6 inches of pure guano came Sabah’s first Bronze tool, a socketed axe of a […]
The Helms Letters Ludvig Verner Helms, a young Dane of 26, was hired to take up an appointment in Kuching as an agent of the London firm Messers. R&J Henderson had a concession for working the antimony mines. Four years later, he became the Borneo Company LTD manager on its formation in 1856. The Company
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Brooke and Brunei On Brooke’s arrival in 1839, Brunei was a decayed empire stretching the whole northwest coast of Borneo. In some rivers, pirate communities had been established. Pangerans at the capital of Brunei played politics. In other rivers, such as the Saribas and the Skrang, Arab adventurers and Brunei chiefs encouraged the local Dyak
Melanitis lida All Creatures Great and Small # 25 Fossil leaf The first fossil leaf study of Sarawak’s rainforest indicates the dominant tree form was the dipterocarps ( the trees that are there now) dated back 4 million years. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12949 New Species A new species has joined the Drop Tongue Plant (Schismatoglottideae). There are now
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Comic Tales of Api Salui by Benedict Sandin Sarawak Museum Journal July-December 1960 Tom’s Note: The below story has been passed from generation to generation among the Ibans. It tells a tale of a wise wife with her stupid husband. The Malays in the kampongs across the river also have similar accounts. They tell of
The Chinese Revolt by Rev. Brian Taylor SMJ 1969 The first woman, other than women with their husbands, ever sent abroad by the Society for the Propagation of the Bible was Sarah Coomes. Miss Coomes was left behind in the first evacuation of the town after the Bau Chinese had arrived to pillage and sack
A Ladies Perspective of the 1859 Revolt Read More »
Opinion Tom McLaughlinTom HarrissonWe now get to the part of the Sarawak Museum Journal where Tom Harrisson has written many of the articles. He was a British subject who was appointed head of the Sarawak Museum and the Sarawak Museum Journal in 1949 by the British Colonial Authorities. His writings had ideas that were often
Tom Harrisson a colonial master Read More »
All Creatures Great and Small # 24 Peat Peat exsists along the coastal areas of both Borneo and Sumatra. Peat is formed when conditions do not allow further plant material decay. During dry conditions, peat easily catches fire, and the fire causes further global warming. This paper studies how sea-level rise and climate change has
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Asun’s Rebellion: The Political Growing Pains of a Tribal Society in Brooke Sarawak, 1929-1940 by Robert Pringle Tom’s Note: This article reflects a bias favouring the Brooke government and relegates the Asun Rebellion as a minor irritation. I doubt Ibans who were killed, resettled and had their longhouses torched saw it that way. Asun was
Iban Rebellion 1930’s Read More »
The Mother of the Pleiades A Mythological Story of the Iban Almighty God made a golden stone in the eastern corner of the sky known as Tangkulas Batu Mas. Many years afterwards this stone changed into a very beautiful girl whose eyes and skin shone and glittered like a lump of gold. Her name was
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