among
them; the Patingi holding the tribes on the right-hand river, the
Bandar to the left, and the Tumangong on the sea-coast. The annual
revenue paid to Borneo was 300 reals; but they were subject to extra
demands, and to the extortions of the powerful chiefs.

"The government of the Dyaks I have already detailed; and though we
might hope that in a more settled state of things they would have been
more secure from foreign pillage, yet they were annually deprived
of the proceeds of their labor, debarred from trade, and deprived
of every motive to encourage industry. The character of their rulers
for humanity alone fixed the measure of their suffering, and bad was
the best; but it seems to be a maxim among all classes of Malays,
that force alone can keep the Dyaks in proper subjection; which is
so far true, that force alone, and the hopelessness of resistance,
could induce a wild people to part with the food on which they
depend for subsistence. At a distance I have heard of and pitied
the sufferings of the negroes and the races of New Holland--yet
it was the cold feeling dictated by reason and humanity; but now,
having witnessed the miseries of a race superior to either, the
feeling glows with the fervor of personal commiseration: so true is
it that visible misery will raise us to exertion, which the picture,
however powerfully delineated, can never produce. The thousands
daily knelled out of the world, who lie in gorgeous sepulchres, or
rot unburied on the surface of the earth, excite no emotion compared
to that conjured up by the meanest dead at our feet. We read of tens
of thousands killed and wounded in battle, and the glory of their
deeds, or the sense of their defeat attracts our sympathy; but if a
single mangled warrior, ghastly with wounds and writhing with pain,
solicited our aid, we should deplore his fate with tenfold emotion,
and curse the strife which led to such a result. Among the thousands
starving for want of food we trouble not ourselves to seek one; but
if the object is presented before our eyes, how certain a compassion
is aroused! To assist is a duty; but in the performance of this duty,
to be gentle and feeling is god-like; and probably between individuals,
there is no greater distinction than in this tender sympathy toward
distress. Poor, poor Dyaks! exposed to starvation, slavery, death! you
may well raise the warmest feelings of compassion--enthusiasm awakes
at witnessing your sufferings! To