A personal travel narrative to Sabah, by a writer better known for his academic works. In this second book of his on Borneo, Tregonning describes his two-month tour of North Borneo undertaken in 1957, following his visits there in 1953 and 1954. His observations in this book are bolstered by his knowledge of the history of the land, and there are constant references to various events and books of the past that paint a deeper picture of the place.
Excerpt
In 1882 Gladstone invaded Egypt to protect this trade route to the Orient, and the year previously, for the same reason, he had quietly acquiesced in the granting of a Royal Charter to the company that Dent had formed. Politically reluctant to allow any expansion of the Empire, which would thus make North Borneo (Sabah as it was called then) a direct burden on the Crown, fearful of the consequences if it lapsed to foreign hands, Gladstone welcomed the Chartered company, a Civil Service compromise, as the cheap way out.
This company, the British North Borneo Chartered Company, drew its strength from the City of London. Despite great hopes, little other outside capital, Chinese, Malayan or otherwise, ever flowed into North Borneo, and the country’s development depended almost entirely on unofficial British investment. It became British, acquiring the status of a Protectorate in 1888; but it never cost the taxpayer a penny, as the Chartered Company administered it from 1881 to 1941 from its own scanty resources…”
Contents:
- The Jungle
- Capital City
- Bajau Country
- Penampang
- Papar
- Teachers and Doctors
- Rubber
- The Interior
- Marudu Bay
- Sandakan
- Pirates
- The South-East
- Ugly Duckling
- Reading List
- Glossary
- Index
