ABSTRACT
The man chosen to enquire into the situation in Brunei was Malcolm Stewart Hannibal McArthur, an official in the Malayan Civil Service, who was appointed Acting Consul in April 1904 and arrived in Brunei with three Malay assistants on 3 May. He remained until 10 November 1904, three months longer than intended, partly because his duties as Consul proved more exacting than anticipated, partly because his investigations and the travel involved took up more time than envisaged, and partly because Brunei suffered a devastating smallpox epidemic which decimated the population. In the second week of July, there were some sixty deaths a day in the capital. McArthur won respect for his attempts to encourage the people and to assuage their fear. Medical assistance was sent from Singapore at the end of July, by which time the epidemic was running its course. Incidentally, Pengiran Tajuddin, the Sultan’s son-in-law, denigrated by Sarawak supporters, acted in an exemplary fashion, organizing the vaccination of the people of the Tutong district (Horton, 1984b: 94).
