The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

HISTORY OF BORNEO 13
consider Puni to have been on the west coast of
Borneo. This state is mentioned several times
in the annals of the Sung dynasty, which, though
only ruling over Southern China, had a complete
monopoly ^ of the ocean trade for three centuries
(960 to 1279 A.D.). Puni was at that time a
town of some 10,000 inhabitants, protected by a
stockade of timber. The king's palace, like the
houses of modern Bruni, was thatched with palm
leaves, the cottages of the people with grass.
Warriors carried spears and protected themselves
with copper armour. When any native died, his
corpse was exposed in the jungle, and once a year
for seven years sacrifices were made to the departed
spirit. Bamboos and palm leaves, thrown away after
every meal, sufficed for crockery. The products of
the country, or at least such as were sent as tribute,
were camphor, tortoiseshell, and ivory.'
In the year 977, we are told, Hianzta, king of
Puni, sent envoys to China, who presented tribute
with the following words :
*' May the emperor live
thousands and tens of thousands of years, and may
he not disapprove of the poor civilities of my little
country." The envoys presented a letter from the
king. This was written on what looked like the
very thin bark of a tree ; it was glossy, slightly
green, several feet long, and somewhat broader
than one inch ; the characters in which it was
written were small, and had to be read horizontally.
In all these particulars the letter resembled the
books of magic which are still written by the Battas
of inland Sumatra.^ The message ran : "The king
of Puni, called Hianzta, prostrates himself before the
most august emperor, and hopes that the emperor
may live ten thousands of years. I have now sent
envoys to carry tribute ; I knew before that there
^ E. H. Parker, Chinas p. ^
33.
Groeneveldt, loc. cit.
^ Marsden, History of Sumatra, p. 383.