The area of the territory ceded by the original grants was estimated at
20,000 square miles, but the additions which have been already mentioned
now bring it up to about 31,000 square miles, including adjacent
islands, so that it is somewhat larger than Ceylon, which is credited
with only 25,365 square miles. In range of latitude, in temperature and
in rainfall, North Borneo presents many points of resemblance to Ceylon,
and it was at first thought that it might be possible to attract to the
new country some of the surplus capital, energy and aptitude for
planting which had been the foundation of Ceylon's prosperity.
Even the expression "The New Ceylon" was employed as an alternative
designation for the country, and a description of it under that title
was published by the well known writer--Mr. JOSEPH HATTON.
These hopes have not so far been realized, but on the other hand North
Borneo is rapidly becoming a second Sumatra, Dutchmen, Germans and some
English having discovered the suitability of its soil and climate for
producing tobacco of a quality fully equal to the famed Deli leaf of
that island.
The coast line of the territory is about one thousand miles, and a
glance at the map will shew that it is furnished with capital harbours,
of which the principal are Gaya Bay on the West, Kudat in Marudu Bay on
the North, and Sandakan Harbour on the East. There are several others,
but at those enumerated the Company have opened their principal
stations.
Of the three mentioned, the more striking is that of Sandakan, which is
15 miles in length, with a width varying from 11 miles, at its entrance,
to 5 miles at the broadest part. It is here that the present capital is
situated--Sandakan, a town containing a population of not more than
5,000 people, of whom perhaps thirty are Europeans and a thousand
Chinese., For its age, Sandakan has suffered serious vicissitudes. It
was founded by Mr. PRYER, in 1878, well up the bay, but was soon
afterwards burnt to the ground. It was then transferred to its present
position, nearer the mouth of the harbour, but in May, 1886, the whole
of what was known as the "Old Town" was utterly consumed by fire; in
about a couple of hours there being nothing left of the _atap_-built
shops and houses but the charred piles and posts on which they had been
raised above the ground. When a fire has once laid hold of an atap town,
probably no exertions would much avail to check it; certainly our
Chinese held this opinion, and it was impossible to get them to move
hand or foot in assisting the Europeans and Police in their efforts to
confine its ravages to as limited an area as possible. They entertain
the idea that such futile efforts tend only to aggravate the evil
spirits and increase their fury. The Hindu shopkeepers were successful
in saving their quarter of the town by means of looking glasses, long
prayers and chants. It is now forbidden to any one to erect atap houses
in the town, except in one specified area to which such structures are
confined. Most of the present houses are of plank, with tile, or
corrugated iron roofs, and the majority of the shops are built over the
sea, on substantial wooden piles, some of the principal "streets,"
including that to which the ambitious name of "The Praya" has been
given, being similarly constructed on piles raised three or four feet
above high water mark. The reason is that, owing to the steep hills at
the back of the site, there is little available flat land for building
on, and, moreover, the pushing Chinese trader always likes to get his
shops as near as possible to the sea--the highway of the "prahus" which
bring him the products of the neighbouring rivers and islands. In time,
no doubt, the Sandakan hills will be used to reclaim more land from the
sea, and the town will cease to be an amphibious one. In the East there
are, from a sanitary point of view, some points of advantage in having a
tide-way passing under the houses. I should add that Sandakan is a
creation of the Company's and not a native town taken over by them. When
Mr. PRYER first hoisted his flag, there was only one solitary Chinaman
and no Europeans in the harbour, though at one time, during the Spanish
blockade of Sulu, a Singapore firm had established a trading station,
known as "Kampong German," using it as their head-quarters from which to
run the blockade of Sulu, which they successfully did for some
considerable time, to their no small gain and advantage. The success
attending the Germans' venture excited the emulation of the Chinese
traders of Labuan, who found their valuable Sulu trade cut off and,
through the good offices of the Government of the Colony, they were
enabled to charter the Sultan of Brunai's smart little yacht the
_Sultana_, and engaging the services as Captain of an ex-member of the
Labuan Legislative Council, they endeavoured to enact the roll of
blockade runner. After a trip or two, however, the _Sultana_ was taken
by the Spaniards, snugly at anchor in a Sulu harbour, the Captain and
Crew having time to make their escape. As she was not under the British
flag, the poor Sultan could obtain no redress, although the blockade was
not recognised as effective by the European Powers and English and
German vessels, similarly seized, had been restored to their owners. The
_Sultana_ proved a convenient despatch boat for the Spanish authorities.
The Sultan of Sulu to prove his friendship to the Labuan traders, had an
unfortunate man cut to pieces with krisses, on the charge of having
betrayed the vessel's position to the blockading cruisers.
Sandakan is one of the few places in Borneo which has been opened and
settled without much fever and sickness ensuing, and this was due
chiefly to the soil being poor and sandy and to there being an abundance
of good, fresh, spring water. It may be stated, as a general rule, that
the richer the soil the more deadly will be the fever the pioneers will
have to encounter when the primeval jungle is first felled and the sun's
rays admitted to the virgin soil.
Sandakan is the principal trading station in the Company's territory,
but with Hongkong only 1,200 miles distant in one direction, Manila 600
miles in another, and Singapore 1,000 miles in a third, North Borneo can
never become an emporium for the trade of the surrounding countries and
islands, and the Court of Directors must rest content with developing
their own local trade and pushing forward, by wise and encouraging
regulations, the planting interest, which seems to have already taken
firm root in the country and which will prove to be the foundation of
its future prosperity. Gold and other minerals, including coal, are
known to exist, but the mineralogical exploration of a country covered
with forest and destitute of roads is a work requiring time, and we are
not yet in a position to pronounce on North Borneo's expectations in
regard to its mineral wealth.
The gold on the Segama River, on the East coast, has been several times
reported on, and has been proved to exist in sufficient quantities to,
at any rate, well repay the labours of Chinese gold diggers, but the
district is difficult of access by water, and the Chinese are deferring
operations on a large scale until the Government has constructed a road
into the district. A European Company has obtained mineral concessions
on the river, but has not yet decided on its mode of operation, and
individual European diggers have tried their luck on the fields,
hitherto without meeting with much success, owing to heavy rains,
sickness and the difficulty of getting up stores. The Company will
probably find that Chinese diggers will not only stand the climate
better, but will be more easily governed, be satisfied with smaller
returns, and contribute as much or more than the Europeans to the
Government Treasury, by their consumption of opium, tobacco and other
excisable articles, by fees for gold licenses, and so forth.
Another source of natural wealth lies in the virgin forest with which
the greater portion of the country is clothed, down to the water's edge.
Many of the trees are valuable as timber, especially the _Billian_, or
Borneo iron-wood tree, which is impervious to the attacks of white-ants
ashore and almost equally so to those of the _teredo navalis_ afloat,
and is wonderfully enduring of exposure to the tropical sun and the
tropical downpours of rain. I do not remember having ever come across a
bit of _billian_ that showed signs of decay during a residence of
seventeen years in the East. The wood is very heavy and sinks in water,
so that, in order to be shipped, it has to be floated on rafts of soft
wood, of which there is an abundance of excellent quality, of which one
kind--the red _serayah_--is likely to come into demand by builders in
England. Other of the woods, such as _mirabau_, _penagah_ and _rengas_,
have good grain and take a fine polish, causing them to be suitable for
the manufacture of furniture. The large tree which yields the Camphor
_barus_ of commerce also affords good timber. It is a _Dryobalanops_,
and is not to be confused with the _Cinnamomum camphora_, from which the
ordinary "camphor" is obtained and the wood of which retains the camphor
smell and is largely used by the Chinese in the manufacture of boxes,
the scented wood keeping off ants and other insects which are a pest in
the Far East. The Borneo camphor tree is found only in Borneo and
Sumatra. The camphor which is collected for export, principally to China
and India, by the natives, is found in a solid state in the trunk, but
only in a small percentage of the trees, which are felled by the
collectors. The price of this camphor _barus_ as it is termed, is said
to be nearly a hundred times as much as that of the ordinary camphor,
and it is used by the Chinese and Indians principally for embalming
purposes. Billian and other woods enumerated are all found near the
coast and, generally, in convenient proximity to some stream, and so
easily available for export. Sandakan harbour has some thirteen rivers
and streams running into it, and, as the native population is very
small, the jungle has been scarcely touched, and no better locality
could, therefore, be desired by a timber merchant. Two European Timber
Companies are now doing a good business there, and the Chinese also take
their share of the trade. China affords a ready and large market for
Borneo timber, being itself almost forestless, and for many years past
it has received iron-wood from Sarawak. Borneo timber has also been
exported to the Straits Settlements, Australia and Mauritius, and I hear
that an order has been given for England. Iron wood is only found in
certain districts, notably in Sandakan Bay and on the East coast, being
rarely met with on the West coast. I have seen a private letter from an
officer in command of a British man-of-war who had some samples of it on
board which came in very usefully when certain bearings of the screw
shaft were giving out on a long voyage, and were found to last _three
times_ as long as lignum vitæ.
In process of time, as the country is opened up by roads and railways,
doubtless many other valuable kinds of timber trees will be brought to
light in the interior.
A notice of Borneo Forests would be incomplete without a reference to
the mangroves, which are such a prominent feature of the country as one
approaches it by sea, lining much of the coast and forming, for mile
after mile, the actual banks of most of the rivers. Its thick,
dark-green, never changing foliage helps to give the new comer that
general impression of dull monotony in tropical scenery, which, perhaps,
no one, except the professed botanist, whose trained and practical eye
never misses the smallest detail, ever quite shakes off.
The wood of the mangrove forms most excellent firewood, and is often
used by small steamers as an economical fuel in lieu of coal, and is
exported to China in the timber ships. The bark is also a separate
article of export, being used as a dye and for tanning, and is said to
contain nearly 42% of _tannin_.
The value of the general exports from the territory is increasing every
year, having been $145,444 in 1881 and $525,879 in 1888. With the
exception of tobacco and pepper, the list is almost entirely made up of
the natural raw products of the land and sea--such as bees-wax, camphor,
damar, gutta percha, the sap of a large forest tree destroyed in the
process of collection of gutta, India rubber, from a creeper likewise
destroyed by the collectors, rattans, well known to every school boy,
sago, timber, edible birds'-nests, seed-pearls, Mother-o'-pearl shells
in small quantities, dried fish and dried sharks'-fins, trepang
(sea-slug or bêche-de-mer), aga, or edible sea-weed, tobacco (both
Native and European grown), pepper, and occasionally elephants' tusks--a
list which shews the country to be a rich store house of natural
productions, and one which will be added to, as the land is brought
under cultivation with coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, Manila hemp, pine
apple fibre, and other tropical products for which the soil, and
especially the rainfall, temperature and climatic conditions generally,
including entire freedom from typhoons and earthquakes, eminently adapt
it, and many of which have already been tried with success on an
experimental scale. As regards pepper, it has been previously shewn that
North Borneo was in former days an exporter of this spice. Sugar has
been grown by the natives for their own consumption for many years, as
also tapioca, rice and Indian corn. It is not my object to give a
detailed list of the productions of the country, and I would refer any
reader who is anxious to be further enlightened on these and kindred
topics to the excellent "Hand-book of British North Borneo," prepared
for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, at which the new Colony
was represented, and published by Messrs. WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS.
The edible birds'-nests are already a source of considerable revenue to
the Government, who let out the collection of them for annual payments,
and also levy an export duty as they leave the country for China, which
is their only market. The nests are about the size of those of the
ordinary swallow and are formed by innumerable hosts of
swifts--_Collocalia fuciphaga_--entirely from a secretion of the glands
of the throat. These swifts build in caves, some of which are of very
large dimensions, and there are known to be some sixteen of them in
different parts of British North Borneo. With only one exception, the
caves occur in limestone rocks and, generally, at no great distance from
the sea, though some have been discovered in the interior, on the banks
of the Kinabatangan River. The exception above referred to is that of a
small cave on a sand-stone island at the entrance of Sandakan harbour.
The _Collocalia fuciphaga_ appears to be pretty well distributed over
the Malayan islands, but of these, Borneo and Java are the principal
sources of supply. Nests are also exported from the Andaman Islands, and
a revenue of £30,000 a year is said to be derived from the nests in the
small islands in the inland sea of Tab Sab, inhabited by natives of
Malay stock.
The finest caves, or rather series of caves, as yet known in the
Company's territories are those of Gomanton, a limestone hill situated
at the head of the Sapa Gaia, one of the streams running into Sandakan
harbour.
These grand caves, which are one of the most interesting sights in the
country, are, in fine weather, easily accessible from the town of
Sandakan, by a water journey across the harbour and up the Sapa Gaia, of
about twelve miles, and by a road from the point of debarkation to the
entrance of the lower caves, about eight miles in length.
The height of the hill is estimated at 1,000 feet, and it contains two
distinct series of caves. The first series is on the "ground floor" and
is known as _Simud Hitam_, or "black entrance." The magnificent porch,
250 feet high and 100 broad, which gives admittance to this series, is
on a level with the river bank, and, on entering, you find yourself in a
spacious and lofty chamber well lighted from above by a large open
space, through which can be seen the entrance to the upper set of caves,
some 400 to 500 feet up the hill side. In this chamber is a large
deposit of guano, formed principally by the myriads of bats inhabiting
the caves in joint occupancy with the edible-nest-forming swifts.
Passing through this first chamber and turning a little to the right you
come to a porch leading into an extensive cave, which extends under the
upper series. This cave is filled half way up to its roof, with an
enormous deposit of guano, which has been estimated to be 40 to 50 feet
in depth. How far the cave extends has not been ascertained, as its
exploration, until some of the deposit is removed, would not be an easy
task, for the explorer would be compelled to walk along on the top of
the guano, which in some places is so soft that you sink in it almost up
to your waist. My friend Mr. C. A. BAMPFYLDE, in whose company I first
visited Gomanton, and who, as "Commissioner of Birds-nest Caves," drew
up a very interesting report on them, informed me that, though he had
found it impossible to explore right to the end, he had been a long way
in and was confident that the cave was of very large size. To reach the
upper series of caves, you leave Simud Hitam and clamber up the hill
side--a steep but not difficult climb, as the jagged limestone affords
sure footing. The entrance to this series, known as _Simud Putih_, or
"white entrance," is estimated to be at an elevation of 300 feet above
sea level, and the porch by which you enter them is about 30 feet high
by about 50 wide. The floor slopes steeply downwards and brings you into
an enormous cave, with smaller ones leading off it, all known to the
nest collectors by their different native names. You soon come to a
large black hole, which has never been explored, but which is said to
communicate with the large guano cave below, which has been already
described. Passing on, you enter a dome-like cave, the height of the
roof or ceiling of which has been estimated at 800 feet, but for the
accuracy of this guess I cannot vouch. The average height of the cave
before the domed portion is reached is supposed to be about 150 feet,
and Mr. BAMPFYLDE estimates the total length, from the entrance to the
furthest point, at a fifth of a mile. The Simud Putih series are badly
lighted, there being only a few "holes" in the roof of the dome, so that
torches or lights of some kind are required. There are large deposits of
guano in these caves also, which could be easily worked by lowering
quantities down into the Simud Hitam caves below, the floor of which, as
already stated, is on a level with the river bank, so that a tramway
could be laid right into them and the guano be carried down to the port
of shipment, at the mouth of the Sapa Gaia River. Samples of the guano
have been sent home, and have been analysed by Messrs. VOELCKER & CO. It
is rich in ammonia and nitrogen and has been valued at £5 to £7 a ton in
England. The bat-guano is said to be richer as a manure than that
derived from the swifts. To ascend to the top of Gomanton, one has to
emerge from the Simud Putih entrance and, by means of a ladder, reach an
overhanging ledge, whence a not very difficult climb brings one to the
cleared summit, from which a fine view of the surrounding country is
obtained, including Kina-balu, the sacred mountain of North Borneo. On
this summit will be found the holes already described as helping to
somewhat lighten the darkness of the dome-shaped cave, on the roof of
which we are in fact now standing. It is through these holes that the
natives lower themselves into the caves, by means of rattan ladders and,
in a most marvellous manner, gain a footing on the ceiling and construct
cane stages, by means of which they can reach any part of the roof and,
either by hand or by a suitable pole to the end of which is attached a
lighted candle, secure the wealth-giving luxury for the epicures of
China. There are two principal seasons for collecting the nests, and
care has to be taken that the collection is made punctually at the
proper time, before the eggs are all hatched, otherwise the nests become
dirty and fouled with feathers, &c., and discoloured and injured by the
damp, thereby losing much of their market value. Again, if the nests are
not collected for a season, the birds do not build many new ones in the
following season, but make use of the old ones, which thereby become
comparatively valueless.
There are, roughly speaking, three qualities of nests, sufficiently
described by their names--white, red, and black--the best quality of
each fetching, at Sandakan, per catty of 1-1/3 lbs., $16, $7 and 8 cents
respectively.
The question as to the true cause of the difference in the nests has not
yet been satisfactorily solved. Some allege that the red and black nests
are simply white ones deteriorated by not having been collected in due
season. I myself incline to agree with the natives that the nests are
formed by different birds, for the fact that, in one set of caves, black
nests are always found together in one part, and white ones in another,
though both are collected with equal care and punctuality, seems almost
inexplicable under the first theory. It is true that the different kinds
of nests are not found in the same season, and it is just possible that
the red and black nests may be the second efforts at building made by
the swifts after the collectors have disturbed them by gathering their
first, white ones. In the inferior nests, feathers are found _mixed up_
with the gelatinous matter forming the walls, as though the glands were
unable to secrete a sufficient quantity of material, and the bird had to
eke it out with its own feathers. In the substance of the white nests no
feathers are found.
Then, again, it is sometimes found in the case of two distinct caves,
situated at no great distance apart, that the one yields almost entirely
white nests, and the other nearly all red, or black ones, though the
collections are made with equal regularity in each. The natives, as I
have said, seem to think that there are two kinds of birds, and the Hon.
R. ABERCROMBY reports that, when he visited Gomanton, they shewed him
eggs of different size and explained that one was laid by the white-nest
bird and the other by the black-nest builder. Sir HUGH LOW, in his work
on Sarawak, published in 1848, asserts that there are "two different and
quite dissimilar kinds of birds, though both are swallows" (he should
have said swifts), and that the one which produces the white nest is
larger and of more lively colours, with a white belly, and is found on
the sea-coast, while the other is smaller and darker and found more in
the interior. He admits, however, that though he had opportunities of
observing the former, he had not been able to procure a specimen.
The question is one which should be easily settled on the spot, and I
recommend it to the consideration of the authorities of the British
North Borneo Museum, which has been established at Sandakan.
The annual value of the nests of Gomanton, when properly collected, has
been reckoned at $23,000, but I consider this an excessive estimate. My
friend Mr. A. COOK, the Treasurer of the Territory, to whose zeal and
perseverance the Company owes much, has arranged with the Buludupih
tribe to collect these nests on payment to the Government of a royalty
of $7,500 per annum, which is in addition to the export duty at the rate
of 10% _ad valorem_ paid by the Chinese exporters.
The swifts and bats--the latter about the size of the ordinary English
bat--avail themselves of the shelter afforded by the caves without
incommoding one another, for, by a sort of Box and Cox arrangement, the
former occupy the caves during the night and the latter by day.
Standing at the Simud Putih entrance about 5 P. M., the visitor will
suddenly hear a whirring sound from below, which is caused by the
myriads of bats issuing, for their nocturnal banquet, from the Simud
Itam caves, through the wide open space that has been described. They
come out in a regularly ascending continuous spiral or corkscrew coil,
revolving from left to right in a very rapid and regular manner. When
the top of the spiral coil reaches a certain height, a colony of bats
breaks off, and continuing to revolve in a well kept ring from left to
right gradually ascends higher and higher, until all of a sudden the
whole detachment dashes off in the direction of the sea, towards the
mangrove swamps and the _nipas_. Sometimes these detached colonies
reverse the direction of their revolutions after leaving the main body,
and, instead of from left to right, revolve from right to left. Some of
them continue for a long time revolving in a circle, and attain a great
height before darting off in quest of food, while others make up their
minds more expeditiously, after a few revolutions. Amongst the bats,
three white ones were, on the occasion of my visit, very conspicuous,
and our followers styled them the Raja, his wife and child. Hawks and
sea-eagles are quickly attracted to the spot, but only hover on the
outskirts of the revolving coil, occasionally snapping up a prize. I
also noticed several hornbills, but they appeared to have been only
attracted by curiosity. Mr. BAMPFYLDE informed me that, on a previous
visit, he had seen a large green snake settled on an overhanging branch
near which the bats passed and that occasionally he managed to secure a
victim. I timed the bats and found that they took almost exactly fifty
minutes to come out of the caves, a thick stream of them issuing all
that time and at a great pace, and the reader can endeavour to form for
himself some idea of their vast numbers. They had all got out by ten
minutes to six in the evening, and at about six o'clock the swifts began
to come home to roost. They came in in detached, independent parties,
and I found it impossible to time them, as some of them kept very late
hours. I slept in the Simud Putih cave on this occasion, and found that
next morning the bats returned about 5 A.M., and that the swifts went
out an hour afterwards.
As shewing the mode of formation of these caves, I may add that I
noticed, imbedded in a boulder of rock in the upper caves, two pieces of
coral and several fossil marine shells, bivalves and others.
The noise made by the bats going out for their evening promenade
resembled a combination of that of the surf breaking on a distant shore
and of steam being gently blown off from a vessel which has just come to
anchor.
There are other interesting series of caves, and one--that of Madai, in
Darvel Bay on the East coast--was visited by the late Lady BRASSEY and
Miss BRASSEY in April, 1887, when British North Borneo was honoured by a
visit of the celebrated yacht the _Sunbeam_, with Lord BRASSEY and his
family on board.
I accompanied the party on the trip to Madai, and shall not easily
forget the pluck and energy with which Lady BRASSEY, then in bad health,
surmounted the difficulties of the jungle track, and insisted upon
seeing all that was to be seen; or the gallant style in which Miss
BRASSEY unwearied after her long tramp through the forest, led the way
over the slippery boulders in the dark caves.
The Chinese ascribe great strengthening powers to the soup made of the
birds'-nests, which they boil down into a syrup with barley sugar, and
sip out of tea cups. The gelatinous looking material of which the
substance of the nests is composed is in itself almost flavourless.
It is also with the object of increasing their bodily powers that these
epicures consume the uninviting sea-slug or bêche-de-mer, and dried
sharks'-fins and cuttle fish.
To conclude my brief sketch of Sandakan Harbour and of the Capital, it
should be stated that, in addition to being within easy distance of
Hongkong, it lies but little off the usual route of vessels proceeding
from China to Australian ports, and can be reached by half a day's
deviation of the ordinary track.
Should, unfortunately, war arise with Russia, there is little doubt
their East Asiatic squadron would endeavour both to harass the
Australian trade and to damage, as much as possible, the coast towns, in
which case the advantages of Sandakan, midway between China and
Australia, as a base of operations for the British protecting fleet
would at once become manifest. It is somewhat unfortunate that a bar has
formed just outside the entrance of the harbour, with a depth of water
of four fathoms at low water, spring tides, so that ironclads of the
largest size would be denied admittance.
There are at present, no steamers sailing direct from Borneo to England,
and nearly all the commerce from British North Borneo ports is carried
by local steamers to that great emporium of the trade of the Malayan
countries, Singapore, distant from Sandakan a thousand miles, and it is
a curious fact, that though many of the exports are ultimately intended
for the China market, _e.g._, edible birds'-nests, the Chinese traders
find it pays them better to send their produce to Singapore in the first
instance, instead of direct to Hongkong. This is partly accounted for by
the further fact that, though the Government has spent considerable sum
in endeavouring to attract Chinamen from China, the large proportion of
our Chinese traders and of the Chinese population generally has come to
us _viâ_ Singapore, after as it were having undergone there an education
in the knowledge of Malayan affairs.
As further illustrating the commercial and strategical advantages of the
harbours of British North Borneo, it should be noted that the course
recommended by the Admiralty instructions for vessels proceeding to
China from the Straits, _viâ_ the Palawan passage, brings them within
ninety miles of the harbours of the West Coast.
As to postal matters, British North Borneo, though not in the Postal
Union, has entered into arrangements for the exchange of direct closed
mails with the English Post Office, London, with which latter also, as
well as with Singapore and India, a system of Parcel Post and of Post
Office Orders has been established.
The postal and inland revenue stamps, distinguished by the lion, which
has been adopted as the Company's badge, are well executed and in
considerable demand with stamp collectors, owing to their rarity.
The Government also issues its own copper coinage, one cent and
half-cent pieces, manufactured in Birmingham and of the same intrinsic
value as those of Hongkong and the Straits Settlements.
The revenue derived from its issue is an important item to the Colony's
finances, and considerable quantities have been put into circulation,
not only within the limits of the Company's territory, but also in
Brunai and in the British Colony of Labuan, where it has been proclaimed
a legal tender on the condition of the Company, in return for the profit
which they reap by its issue in the island, contributing to the
impoverished Colonial Treasury the yearly sum of $3,000.
Trade, however, is still, to a great extent, carried on by a system of
barter with the Natives. The primitive currency medium in vogue under
the native regime has been described in the Chapters on Brunai.
The silver currency is the Mexican and Spanish Dollar and the Japanese
Yen, supplemented by the small silver coinage of the Straits
Settlements. The Company has not yet minted any silver coinage, as the
profit thereon is small, but in the absence of a bank, the Treasury, for
the convenience of traders and planters, carries on banking business to
a certain extent, and issues bank notes of the values of $1, $5 and $25,
cash reserves equal to one-third of the value of the notes in
circulation being maintained.[18]
Sir ALFRED DENT is taking steps to form a Banking Company at Sandakan,
the establishment of which would materially assist in the development of
the resources of the territory.
British North Borneo is not in telegraphic communication with any part
of the world, except of course through Singapore, nor are there any
local telegraphs. The question, however, of supplementing the existing
cable between the Straits Settlements and China by another touching at
British territory in Borneo has more than once been mooted, and may yet
become a _fait accompli_. The Spanish Government appear to have decided
to unite Sulu by telegraphic communication with the rest of the world,
_viâ_ Manila, and this will bring Sandakan within 180 miles of the
telegraphic station.
Footnotes:
[Footnote 18: Agencies of Singapore Banks have since been established at
Sandakan.]