Ig6 Dffcripiion of the Ijland of Borneo. 



mond?, canes, birds-nefts, wax, pedra del porco, dragons- 

 blood, and iron. For thefe the Dutch give in exchange, 

 agates of a longifli form, rings of red agate, different kinds 

 of coral; all forts of Chinefe articles, fuch as ccarfe porce- 

 lain, red and other kinds of filk; all forts of cotton cloth, 

 clothing fuch as is worn by the Indians, various produ6lions 

 of Java, and alfo opium : but the lafl mufl; be introduced pri- 

 vately, as the ufe of it has been ftriftly prohibited by the 

 fultan. 



Succatana lies in o° 50' fouth latitude. A little further 

 north is the river Pontiana, which, through a great many 

 mouths, difcharges itfelf into the fea under the line. This 

 river at its mouth is twelve feet in depth, and at high water 

 Hxteen, fo that (loops and fmall veffels can proceed to the 

 company's factory with great eafe. The paflage from the 

 mouth of the river to the factory requires twelve hours. At 

 the diftance of feven or eight miles from its mouth, the river 

 divides itfelf into two branches ; the fouthernmoft of which 

 flows through the country governed by Pangerang Jofep, who 

 in 1778 was raifed by the Eaft India company to be fultan 

 of Safango and Pontiana, under the name of Sarief Abdulla 

 Rachmann. Thefe two kingdoms extend a great way into 

 the country. One of the fervants of the ^company faw at 

 the court of this fultan, one of his vaflals, the kingofGaf- 

 caro, whofe dominions lay at the diftance of upwards of a 

 hundred miles; and he was told that in that country there had 

 been found fome pillars, three feet in height and three in 

 breadth, infcribed with European charafters. If this in- 

 formation be correal, the Europeans at fome early period 

 muft have penetrated a confiderable way into the interior 

 parts of the ifland. The Society of the Arts and Sciences at 

 Batavia had hopes of obtaining a copy of thefe infcriptiorvs, 

 by which means the myftery might have been explained; but 

 h-itherto they have been difappointed. 



Pontiana and Safango produce excellent gold, wax, birds- 

 nefts, pearls, fago, diamonds, tin, and iron, which are bar- 

 tered for provifions of all kinds and cotton cloth, but parti- 

 cularly rice and fait. Heavy rains, accompanied with thick 

 clouds, prevail her? from the month of November till May. 



It 



