In fulfilling a reader's request, I am writing something about Paku but my collection of Sarawak is actually quite small. The Paku cds is one of the most uncommon of Sarawak cancellations. Surprisingly, there is not a lot of information to be found. Proud was very brief "situated in the First Division, five miles south of Bau." He listed 2 cancellations, D2 and D3 but the consensus is that there is only D3 and it fits the above cancel very well.
I looked up the dates recorded for this cancellation from various sources. From Sarawak, Cancellations and Postal Rates (1996) by W Batty-Smith Et al, these are 2 MAR 1904, 11 JUL 1904 and 22 NOV 1908 for type 1. The Postal History of British Borneo (2003) by Proud gives dates of D2 3.2.04-22.11.08 and D3 only 12.6.14. In the Sarawak Journal, only one date mentioned, 12 JUN 1904 and in an auction by same society, 10 OCT 1904. Including my item, there are at least 8 stamps with this cancellation.
It was rather unusual that this post office was established so near to Bau and moreover they were both only 15-20 miles from Kuching. As a place of interest, Paku seems to have disappeared from the map even though there are at least 2 other areas elsewhere in Sarawak using Paku as part of its name. And to the east of Bau, there is the Paku Quarry and further on the Paku Hotspring. A map in Batty-Smith's monograph placed Paku a bit south of Bau in the 1st division. But the map in Forrester-Wood's book published in 1959 shows Paku just north of Bau. Part of the map is shown below. Perhaps readers from Sarawak can enlighten us. I think Batty-Smith is probably more accurate as he worked for many years in Sarawak.
The cds in indigo does raise the possibility that its function might have been fiscal as well. But thinking about it further I wonder whether this tiny post office if you can called it that, was used to service mail from a small community of settlers. There would be hardly any Europeans there and the local natives had no use for post. However, there might have been a few Chinese families growing produce for the gold miners at Bau and also a shop.
The cds in indigo does raise the possibility that its function might have been fiscal as well. But thinking about it further I wonder whether this tiny post office if you can called it that, was used to service mail from a small community of settlers. There would be hardly any Europeans there and the local natives had no use for post. However, there might have been a few Chinese families growing produce for the gold miners at Bau and also a shop.
Sarawak Stamps and Postal History Forrester-Wood
Update 10.05.20 A reader from Sarawak has submitted more dates of this postmark of 7 OCT 1904, 17 MAY 1904, 31 DEC ????, 30 JUN 1907, 11 ??? ???? all in black and at least one on piece. And also a more recent map showing location as below. Thanks Richard.
Having mentioned Bau a few times gives me the excuse to show this very unusual situation of a Bau D3 or type 3 cancellation on a North Borneo stamp. It is unlikely to have been paquebot usage or arrival cancellation as the latter would normally be a Kuching GPO cancel. However, 4c was the right Imperial rate from North Borneo to Sarawak. Any ideas?
Historically, Bau is very interesting. Gold was discovered in the 1840s and mined exclusively by the Chinese Hakkas who were originally from Dutch Indonesia. It became a self governing enclave much to the discomfort of the White Rajah James Brooke. He imposed a high tax and triggered an uprising in February 1857. Kuching was attacked, houses burnt and a few Europeans killed. In retaliation, Brooke led a group of Ibans and massacre 3,000 in Bau including the young and elderly. Nowadays, we would regard that as genocide and a war crime.
The gold mining was gradually taken over by the Borneo Company who introduce cyanide in extracting the gold. Besides gold, antimony and mercury were also mined at Bau. The mines were closed in 1921 and intermittently exploited depending on the world price for gold.
A British Geological Survey of the mines in 1993 showed that the levels of arsenic in the surface water and water effluent from the mines draining into the Johara river is too high and an environmental concern and can post a serious health risk. The amount of antimony is also significant. No mention of a mercury problem which is good.
Historically, Bau is very interesting. Gold was discovered in the 1840s and mined exclusively by the Chinese Hakkas who were originally from Dutch Indonesia. It became a self governing enclave much to the discomfort of the White Rajah James Brooke. He imposed a high tax and triggered an uprising in February 1857. Kuching was attacked, houses burnt and a few Europeans killed. In retaliation, Brooke led a group of Ibans and massacre 3,000 in Bau including the young and elderly. Nowadays, we would regard that as genocide and a war crime.
The gold mining was gradually taken over by the Borneo Company who introduce cyanide in extracting the gold. Besides gold, antimony and mercury were also mined at Bau. The mines were closed in 1921 and intermittently exploited depending on the world price for gold.
A British Geological Survey of the mines in 1993 showed that the levels of arsenic in the surface water and water effluent from the mines draining into the Johara river is too high and an environmental concern and can post a serious health risk. The amount of antimony is also significant. No mention of a mercury problem which is good.
Matu is one of the earliest post offices in Sarawak opened in the 1890s. It is just over 50 km to the nortneast of Sibu in the 3rd division. The earliest cancel is manuscript with a date of 30/3/91 and the only one copy known. The above is a type 2 or D1 cancellation with an early date of 29 JUL 1901.
