two children of Rajah James Brooke also died on board the ship SS Hydaspes, possibly due to cholera. In 1888, an outbreak occurred amongst a number of Malays in Simanggang District. In 1902, another cholera pandemic occurred with 1,500 deaths, at a time when an expeditionary force was organised by the Brookes to punish the Dayaks living in the rural areas of the Simanggang District. This was because the Dayaks were killing and attacking friendly neighbours. The epidemic caused the break-up of the expeditionary force without achieving any of its military objectives. There were also outbreaks in 1910 and 1911. Nevertheless, no outbreaks were reported from 1911 to 1941. The first doctor was appointed shortly after James Brooke was proclaimed Rajah. Kuching Hospital services existed in the 1800s but no records are available. The earliest record of the Kuching Hospital (now Sarawak General Hospital) was available in 1910 which shows it admitted 920 patients that year. In 1925, a leprosy settlement was constructed in Kuching. Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial Hospital was also constructed to treat leprosy patients. In 1931, a facility to treat mental illness was constructed beside the Kuching Hospital. In Sibu, the construction of Lau King Howe Hospital (now Lau King Howe Hospital Memorial Museum) was completed in 1936. In 1935, there were six doctors serving the needs of the senior government servants. The State Health Office (known as Medical Headquarters) was located at the Kuching Pavilion building from 1909 to 1947. There was only one assistant dental officer before the Japanese occupation. Charles Vyner Brooke had been attempting to persuade doctors from the Straits Settlements to serve in Sarawak but the response had been cold. The medical service continued under Japanese occupation. There are few records regarding the development of dentistry in the 1900s. Several accounts from elderly people stated that there were traditional healers and roadside tooth-pullers performing palliative treatments at that time. The first government dentist was appointed in July 1925 at Kuching General Hospital. In 1932, the "Sarawak Government Registration of Dentist Ordinance" was introduced. A total of 15 dentists were registered before the Japanese occupation. Science In 1854, Alfred Russel Wallace arrived in Kuching as a guest of James Brooke. In 1855, he wrote a paper entitled "On the law which has regulated the introduction of new species", also known as the "Sarawak Law", which anticipated aspects of Darwin's theory of evolution. It