DID YOU KNOW THAT ......

DID YOU KNOW THAT……

In March, 1857, in his TEN YEARS IN SARAWAK, Charles Brooke wrote:

“……The Sakarang fort (Fort James) was nearly completed, and presented a fine-looking exterior. All the Dyaks gazed at it in wonder when they came down to trade. It was merely a strong fortified house, well protected from any sudden surprise, or treacherous attacked……A rough estimate of its cost amounts to about 350l., and the material is capable of lasting eighteen or twenty years……”

And a year after that, in April, 1858, in the same journal, Charles Brooke wrote:

“……We held a consultation among the Malays about building the fort (Fort Alice), and they unanimously recommended it to be erected further down, as here, they said, it would be next to impossible to find supplies. After weighing the pros and cons I yielded, and followed their advice, so we dropped down a few reaches into more open water……The Saribus Malays proceeded to cut wood, which they were to bring for the building of the new fort (Fort Alice)……

Six years later, in 1864, Fort Alice was completed. But before 1864, all Chinese or Malay shop houses, and Malay dwelling kampongs, had already moved down to the places where they were now, including St. Luke’s, which was completed in 1863.

It was recorded that Charles Brooke designed and supervised the construction of  Fort James at Skrang. But in 1858, just over a year after the completion of  Fort James, he agreed to dismantle and move the fort further down river. Indeed what a great democratic minded personality he was!



FORT  ALICE, 1864