Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/327

Rh S A K S A R 307 abruptly west ; and all the rivers which reach the sea between this point and Tanjong Datu the Sadong, the Samarahan, the Sarawak (with its tributaries the Senna, the Sam ban, the Poak, <fcc.), the Lundu, are short. The mineral wealth of Sarawak is not unimportant. Gold washing lias long been carried on in the central residency, though not with more than moderate success ; and more recently a fairly prolific gold-field has been oprned in the neighbourhood of Marup, ou the Bataug Lupar, where there is a nourishing Chinese settle- ment. Of much greater value are the antimony ores which occur more especially in the district of the headstreams of the Sarawak, in the most various localities, occasionally as dykes in situ, but more frequently in boulders deep in the clayey soil, or perched on tower-like summits and craggy pinnacles, accessible only by ladders. Those rich deposits have, however, been largely exhausted, and no new ones have been discovered in other parts of the terri- tory, so that the Borneo Company (which has the monopoly of this and other minerals in the country) has been tempted to erect local furnaces to reduce the poorer qualities of ore and the refuse of the mines to regulus on the spot. A deposit of cinnabar was dis- covered by Mr Helms in 1867, at Tegora, at the foot of the Bongo Mountains, but no other occurrence of this ore of quicksilver in the territory has yet been reported. In 1876 quicksilver was exported to the value of 108,050 dollars, and in 1879 to 76,620. Coal has been worked for many years at the government mines of Simunjuu, on the banks of a right-hand affluent of the Sadong ; and there is known to exist at Silantek up the Lingga river (a left-hand affluent of the Batang Lupar) a very extensive coal-field, whose products, still intact, could be brought down for shipment at Lingga by a railway of some 18 miles in length. Diamonds are occasionally found, and copper, manganese, and plumbago have been discovered, but not in paying quantities. Like the rest of Borneo, Sarawak is largely covered with forest and jungle. The bilian or ironwood is not only used locally but exported, especially from the Batang Lupar district, to China, where it is highly valued as a house-building and furniture timber. Gutta-percha, india-rubber (gutta-susu), and birds' nests are also exported, but in diminishing quantities ; and their place is being taken by gambier and pepper, the cultivation of which was intro- duced by the rajah. Gambier figured at 20,461 piculs in the exports of 1881 and at 22,432 in 1884, and pepper at 28,807 piculs in 1881 and 43,490 in 1884. The territory of Sarawak is said to furnish more than half the sago produce of the world, and most of it is grown on the marshy banks of the Oya, Mukah, and other rivers of the northern residency of Sarawak to the distance of about 20 miles inland. The total value of the exports of Sarawak in 1884 was 1,145,248 dollars (1,071,528 from Kuching), that of the imports 1,083,255 dollars. Natuna and Dutch vessels are the most numerous in the shipping returns. The government is an absolute monarchy the present rajah being the nephew of Sir James Brooke. The rajah is assisted by a supreme council of six, consisting of two chief European residents and four natives, nominated by himself ; there is also a general council of fifty, which meets once every three years or oftener if required. For administrative purposes the country is divided into eight districts corresponding to the number of principal river basins. Three chief districts are presided over by European officers. The military force some 250 men is under the control of an English commandant. There is also a small police force, and the Government possesses a few small steam vessels. The civil service is regularly organized, with pensions, &c. The revenue is in a satisfac- tory state, showing 64, 899 dollars to the good in the period between 1875 and 1884. In 1884 the revenue was 276,269 dollars and the expenditure 289,291. Roman Catholics and Protestants both have missions in Sarawak ; and the English bishop of Singapore and Labuan is also styled bishop of Sarawak. The population consists of Malays, Chinese, Land Dyaks, Sea Dy aks, and Milauo ws. " With- out the Chinaman," says the rajah (Pall Mall Gazette, 19th Septem- ber, 1883) "we can do nothing." When not allowed to form secret societies he is easily governed, and this he is forbidden to do on pain of death. The Dyaks within the territory have given up head- hunting. The Milanows, who live in the northern districts, have adopted the Malay dress and in many cases have become Moham- medans ; they are a quiet, contented, and laborious people. Slavery still prevails in Sarawak, but arrangements are made for its entire abolition in 1888. Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, on the Sarawak river, is a place of 12,000 inhabitants and is steadily growing. History. In 1839-40 Sarawak, the most southern province of the sultanate of Brunei, was in rebellion against the tyranny of the governor, Pangeran Makota, and Muda Hassim had been sent to restore order. The insurgents held out at Balidah or Blidah fort in the Siuiawan district, and there James Brooke first took part in the affairs of the territory. By his assistance the insurrection was suppressed, and on September 24th lie was appointed chief of Sara- wak. In 1843 Captain Keppel and Mr Brooke expelled the pirates from the Saribas river and in 1844 they defeated those on the Batang Lupar, to whom Makota had attached himself. In 1849 another severe blow was struck by the destruction of Sirib Sahib's fort at Patusan. The Chinese, who had begun to settle in the country about 1850 (at Bau, Bidi, &c. ), made a violent attempt to massacre the English and seize the government, but they were promptly and severely crushed after they had done havoc at Kuching. During Sir James Brooke's absence in England (1857- 1860) his nephew Captain J. Johnson (who had taken the name Brooke, and is generally called Captain Brooke) was left in author- ity ; but a quarrel afterwards ensued and Sir James Brooke was in 1868 succeeded^by Charles Johnson (or Brooke), a younger nephew. The independence of Sarawak had been recognized after much controversy by England in 1863 and previously by the United States. Sec Charles Brooke, Ten Years in Sarawak, 1866 ; Gertrude L. Jacob, The Raja of Sarawak, 1876 ; Spenser St John, Life in the Forests of the Far East, 1862, and Life of Sir James Brooke, 1879 ; Helms, Pioneering in the Far East, 1882; "Notes on Sarawak," in Proc. Roy. Geogr. Soc., 1881, by W. M. Crocker. SARDANAPALUS was, according to the account of Ctesias (preserved by Diodorus, 23 sq. ), the last king of Nineveh, and he is described in terms that have made his name proverbial as the type of splendid and luxurious effeminacy. Ctesias's story cannot be called historical ; but the name Sardanapalus seems to be a corruption of Assurbanipal (see vol. iii. p. 188). $AR,DIN'E(Clupeapilchardus). SeePiLCHAED. Another of the Clupeidx (G. scombrina) is the "oil-sardine" of the eastern coast of the Indian Peninsula. SARDINIA (Ital. Sardegna, Fr. Sardaigne, Span.. Cerdena, called by the ancient Greeks 'I^voOo-a, from a fancied resemblance to the print of a foot), an island in the Mediterranean, about 140 miles from the west coast of Italy, of which kingdom it forms a part. It is separated from the island of Corsica by the Strait of Bonifacio, which is about 7| miles wide, and only about 50 fathoms deep. Sardinia lies between 8 4' and 9 49' E. long., and extends from 38 55' to 41 16' N. lat. The length from Cape Teulada in the south-west to Cape Longo Sardo in the north is about 160 miles, the breadth from Cape Comino to Cape Caccia about 68 miles. The area of the island is 9187 square miles, that of the department (com- partimento), including the small islands adjacent, being 9294 square miles. It ranks sixth in point of size among the islands of Europe, coming next after Sicily. The greater part of the island is mountainous, especially in the east, where the mountains stretch almost continu- ously from north to south, and advance close up to the coast. The elevations, however, are not so high as in the sister island of Corsica. The culminating point is Monte Gennargentu, which rises, about 22 miles from the east coast, almost exactly on the parallel of 40 N., to the height of 6250 feet, and is consequently little more than two-thirds of the height of the chief peaks of Corsica. On the east side the principal breach in the continuity of the mountains occurs in the north, where a narrow valley opening to the east at the Gulf of Terranova cuts off the mountains of Limpara in the extreme north-east. The western half of the island has more level land. The prin- cipal plain, that of the Campidano, stretches from south- east to north-west, between the Gulf of Cagliari and that of Oristano, and nowhere attains a greater elevation than 250 feet. At both ends it sinks to a much lower level, and has a number of shallow lagoons encroaching on it from the sea. In the corner of the island situated to the south-west of the Campidano there are two small isolated mountains rising to the height of from 3000 to 4000 feet, which are of importance as containing the chief mineral wealth of the island. A small valley runs between them from the southern end of the Campidano to Iglesias, the mining centre of Sardinia. North of the Gulf of Oristano mountains again appear. The extinct volcano of Monte Ferru there rises to the height of 4400 feet, and the streams of basalt which have issued from it in former