Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, Down to the Occupation of Labuan, Vol. 2 of 2

Book excerpt: Excerpt from Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, Down to the Occupation of Labuan, Vol. 2 of 2: From the Journals of James Brooke, Esq., Rajah of Sarawak, and Governof of Labuan, Together With a Narrative of the Operations of H. M.S. Iris Upon the whole, though the standard of morality is not very high, it cannot be considered low, and, in fact, is what might be expected amongst an agricultural and warlike people; and as the women have so decided a preference for the men whose bravery and deeds of arms are notorious, it readily accounts for the mass of the populace being ad dicted to war. Looking, then, at the position of these uncivilised and barbarous tribes with a calm and impartial view, we can scarcely be surprised at their fondness for all warlike pursuits and it may even be doubted whether Europeans might not be found who would take the heads of their dead enemies to gain the smiles and embraces of beauty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.