During my constant attendance at the meetings of the Zoological and Entomological
Societies, and visits to the insect and bird departments of the British Museum, I had obtained
sufficient information to satisfy me that the very finest field for an exploring and collecting
naturalist was to be found in the great Malayan Archipelago, of which just sufficient was
known to prove its wonderful richness, while no part of it, with the exception of the Island
of Java, had been well explored as regards its natural history.Importantly he was able to meet Sir James Brooke (the ‘White Rajah of Sarawak’),
when he visited London and who promised Wallace every assistance in exploring his
state of Sarawak on the south-west coast of Borneo. As a young man Brooke sailed up
the Sarawak River, befriended the local rajah and then helped him put down a rebellion
which had been going on for many months. In return he was granted some land and
persuaded to stay and rid the coast of pirates, which he did with the help of the British
Navy. Brooke then acquired or was granted more land, defeated more uprisings and
gained the respect of the Malay, Chinese and the native Dayak population. He was
Maps of the Rio Negro and the Rio Vuapés from observations by Alfred Russel Wallace, The Royal
Geographical Society128 Where Australia Collides with Asia
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