in the purchase of a yacht of 140 tons, in which he set sail in 1838 for the Eastern Archipelago. In those days, the Sultan of Brunei owned the extreme north of the island, and his territory stretched as far as what is called Cape Datu, now belonging to the Rajah. Whilst staying at Singapore, James Brooke heard rumours of a rebellion by the Malays of Sarawak against their Sultan, for both the Sultan and his Brunei nobles (many of whom were of Arabic descent), in order to enrich themselves, had instituted a tyrannous and oppressive government against the people. When Brooke arrived in Sarawak, he made the acquaintance of the Sultan’s Viceroy, Rajah Muda Hassim, who was an uncle of the Sultan of Brunei, and the acknowledged heir to the Sultanate. Hence his title Rajah Muda and Sultan Muda, meaning heir-apparent. They made friends, when the Malay Governor confided in Brooke and besought his help in quelling the rebellion. Brooke consented, and the rebellion was soon at an end. The rebels, determined not to fall back under the yoke of their former tyrants and oppressors, implored Brooke to become their Rajah and Governor. Rajah Muda Hassim was favourable to the people’s request, and in 1841 Brooke was proclaimed Rajah of Sarawak amidst the rejoicing of its population. Rajah Muda Hassim, as representative of the Sultan, signed a document resigning his title and authority to the Englishman, and in 1842 Brooke, being desirous of obtaining from the Sultan himself an additional proof of his goodwill towards his position in Sarawak, visited the potentate in Brunei, when the Sultan confirmed his title as independent Rajah of Sarawak. On the other hand, it is interesting to realize that Rajah Muda Hassim was never in any sense Rajah of Sarawak, that country then not being a Raj, but a simple province misruled by Brunei Governors who never bore the title of Rajah, for after all Rajah Muda Hassim did not abdicate in favour of Brooke, but it was the people themselves who insisted on Sarawak being independent of the Sultan’s and his emissaries’ authority, and chose Brooke as their own Rajah, thus regaining their former independence. When James Brooke first became Rajah of Sarawak in 1841, the area of his country known as Sarawak proper comprised some seven thousand square miles in extent.