This article studies the travel account of János Xántus on Borneo, presenting the island based on his journey made in 1870. The paper examines how Xántus provides both Hungarian scientists and armchair travelers with fascinating descriptions of the island, often switching between different writing styles and using various tropes of travel writing. Borneo is portrayed not only as unfamiliar but also as uncivilized and particularly un-European. While providing accounts of this little-know area, Xántus does not simply involve binaries of Self and the Other but also reveals his views on European colonization and domination in the region, in particular, he contrasts English and Dutch systems of authority and control, favoring the former and criticizing the latter. Besides the discussion of European influence, the paper also deals with Xántus’ portrayal of the Dayak people. At the end of the article, a translation of excerpts from Xántus’ publication is provided, discussing Dayak (headhunting) traditions, the situation of Dayak women, slavery, and local customs.

On October 30th 1882, an article appeared in the New York Times about the death of an Austrian explorer on North Borneo who had been an officer of the British North Borneo Company. Later, however, it turned out that this person had been a Hungarian explorer who, after having studied at the Naval Academy of Vienna, joined the Company as an explorer. The present article is a short biography of Ferenc Witti and thus an introduction to the (according to our knowledge) first publication of the two journals that he kept during his first two expeditions on the island before meeting his death during the third one. Ferenc Witti was remembered by his superiors at the society as a devoted and fine explorer who had a keen eye for botanical, geographical and ethnographical peculiarities, which he described in his journals in a rather detailed way. His devotion led however also to his death. He had been warned by more people not to venture further inlands with a small party but he was convinced that his findings would be very useful for the Company so he carried on with his expedition. Today, a mountain range on Borneo bears his name and there is also a memorial Sandakan, which has been erected as a memento for those who lost their lives in the service of the British North Borneo Company. The name of Ferenc Witti is on the top of this memorial.

Borneo was regarded as a terra incognita for the European travelers in the 19th century. Only few of them could reach the island covered with jungle and even fewer of them wrote about their experiences. In the following study, I am trying to find an answer in travelogues written by 19th -century travelers to the question how Bornean natives were seen and presented by Europeans who ended up on the island. In other words, how the Other was represented in these works. I will compare this image of the Other with the representation of the Bornean natives as shown in the diary of a lesser-known Hungarian traveler, Xavér Ferenc Witti.