[15] This Borassus Gemuti palm plays a great part in the rural economy of the people in Sarawak. It flourishes in the high upland of the interior, and is very rough and wild-looking. It has a sap obtained from the petals of its flowers, used as sugar by the natives, and out of the liquid, which quickly ferments, is made an intoxicating beverage. Between the trunk and the fronds is a horsehair-like substance, used for cordage in shipping throughout the Malayan Archipelago. Tinder can be obtained from a fine cotton-like substance which the plant also yields. Its strong, stiff spines are made into pens, used by the people who write on paper; and a great many of the primitive tribes of the interior make their arrows from these prickly points. I believe that the pith of the trunk furnishes a kind of sago. The seeds are enveloped by a poisonous juice to which the Dutch people give the name of “hell water.” CHAPTER XXXII Before closing these notes, it might be as well to give an idea of the position Sarawak occupies with regard to its external relations. In 1888 a treaty placing Sarawak under British protection, whilst the internal affairs of the country remained immune from British intervention, was drawn up between the British Government and the Rajah. Some years later I had the honour of being received at Windsor by Queen Victoria, and of being presented to Her Majesty as Ranee of Sarawak. The Queen received me in one of the small apartments at Windsor Castle. At first, I naturally felt nervous, but when the Queen inquired kindly about our Sarawak people my feeling of shyness vanished, and I could think of nothing but the Queen’s gracious words, and notice that beautiful smile of hers that seemed to illuminate every corner of the room. The Rajah was, at the time, absent in Sarawak, and this prevented his being included in Her Majesty’s invitation to Windsor. However, knowing how much the Rajah would appreciate Her Majesty’s interest in Sarawak, which after all was a compliment to himself, I telegraphed the news out to our country, where all concerned were much gratified at such a token of the Queen’s sympathy.