132 The Gardens of the Sun. [ch. vt. 



European athletic sports* A palm-thatched erection 

 beneath the casuarina trees, near Ramsay Point, does 

 duty as a grand stand and refreshment bar, and from the 

 slight elevation, it aifords an excellent view of the dusky 

 but smiling faces and parti-coloured costumes of the 

 natives and Chinese. All the native beauties are present, 

 and glimpses of bright expressive eyes, coal-black hair 

 secured with silver pins, and brilliant sarongs beneath 

 neat cool-looking sacques meet one at every turn. Here 

 and there the sparkle of jewellery and the glitter of 

 bangles meet the eye, and on all sides the lavish display 

 of pearly teeth and the ripple of merry laughter is seen 

 and heard. A dinner at Government House, to which 

 almost all the Europeans in the island, or from the gun- 

 boat which may happen to be in harbour, are invited, 

 winds up this gala day of the opening year. 



There is a neat little wooden church here on the hill 

 behind Government House, and there is a service once 

 or twice every third year, when the Lord Bishop of 

 Sarawak visits this part of his diocese. From some of 

 the elevated portions of the island beautiful views are 

 obtainable, with the blue mountains of Borneo towering 

 skywards in the distance ; and from the verandah of the 

 manager's house at the coal-mines at the northern end of 

 the island, Kina Balu may be seen quite plainly at sunrise 

 and sunset during clear weather ; and although more than 

 a hundred miles away, its topmost crags stand out clear 

 and sharp, and are tinged with the most beautiful tints 

 of purple and gold by the rising or the setting sun. 



It was from Labuan that my visits to the Bornean 

 <;oast and to Sulu were made. Some of these adven- 

 turous wanderings were pleasant, others the reverse. 

 The following is a short account of a boat journey made 

 by myself and Mr. Peter Veitch, its object being to obtain 



