544 rOURTH BULLETIN OF [1S46. 



Tile American consul, Mr. Ballistcr, vvlio is extensively ongagfcd in manunictur- 

 ing sugar here, lias made an experiment with guano, as a manure for cane, and 

 found it to succeed remarkajjly well. That which ho used was ohlained near llie 

 island of Pulo Pcnang, and is said to be much inferior to that obtained in the Pa- 

 cific. 



Tlie cultivation of cotton has been tried here, but does not succeed, the pods not 

 coining to maturity; being previously affected with a fungous decay, which is 

 probably owing to ihe hygromelncal state of the atmosphere, nearly one hundred 

 inches of rain falling annually, and the variation of the thermometer being but 

 a few degrees during the year. I may remark, also, that I examined some cotton 

 growing in the vicinity of Zanzibar that was affected with disease in the sainn 

 manner. Indeed, from what I have observed, and from what I could learn from 

 others, 1 think it extremely improbable that the culture of cotton, in any of the 

 European colonies of the east, will ever sensibly affect that of the United States. 



The Uncaria gambler or Nauclea gamluM' is one of the productions of this 

 island, and is very extensively cultivated in many of the East India i.^lands, par- 

 ticularly Bintang, where there are more ttian sixty thousand plantations. CJam- 

 bier is the Malay name for the extract prepared from this plant. 



This plant belongs to the natural order Cinclionaccae. It is a scandant shrub, 

 rising to the height often to fifteen feet, with round branches, leaves ovate, lan- 

 ceolate, acute with short petioles smooth on both sides, stipules ovate, pediinclea 

 axillary, solitary, opposite, bracteolated about the middle, the lowest one sterile 

 converted into hooked spines. Florets pink and green. Capsules stalked, clavatc, 

 two-celled, two-valved. 



Two methods are employed in obtaining gambler. One consists in boiling tlio 

 leaves in the water, and inspissating the decoction; the other, which yields the 

 best gainbier, consists in infusing the leaves in warm water, by which a feeula is 

 obtained, which is inspissated by the heat of the sun, and formed into cakes. Tlio 

 method as practised at Singapore consists in plucking the leaves from the prun- 

 iugs, which are boiled in a qualie or cauldron, made of bark, with an iron bottom. 



After being boiled twice and rinsed, they arc used us manure for the pepper 

 vine. The decoction is evaporated to a very thick extract, of a light yellowish 

 brown color like clay, which is placi;d in oblong moulds. The pieces thus ob- 

 tained are formed into squares, and dried in the sun, or on a raised platform. Tho 

 best is made at bmlang, the next best is that of Lingin. 



There are also some plantations of pepper on the island, and also of the betel 

 leaf, which is the piper betel ; and a considerable revenue is derived from a small 

 tax on the latter production. 



It is as a commercial mart and key to tho navigation of the seas in which it is . 

 situated, that this settlement is of incalculable importance to the British empire, 

 and that it has sprung up in a few years from a desert isle to a rich and flourish- 

 ing settlement, importing and exporting more than je.'J,000,OUU worth of goods 

 annually. The opening of the Chinese markets does not appear to have aflected 

 it sensibly. 



Situated as it is in the centre of myriads of active and industrious nations, in- 

 habiting rich and fertile lands, abounding in every species of tropic.il produce of 

 which Europe or America or China has need, it will no doubt continue to in- 

 crease as a depot for tho manuficlurcs of Europe and the United States, to an 

 almost illimitable extent ; and being unmolested in its progress by harbor duties,') 

 dues, or charges of any description, it only requires a liberal policy of England to 

 make this, in tho course of time, one of the most important commercial depots in tho 

 world. 



March, 1845. — The river of Sambas, in tlie island of Borneo, reaches tho coast 

 in latitude 1° 13' N., longitude 100° 03' E. The width of the mouth is about 

 half a mile, having two small mountains, situated, one on each side. 



That on the south is perhaps four hundred feel high and has tho greater eleva- 

 tion. It is cultivated to near the summit by the Chinese, who Iiave a village im- 

 mediately on the west side, containing pcrhajis two thousand inhabitants. Tho 

 other eminence, on the north side, is very densely covered with vegetation, and hat 

 an elevation of throB hundred fact. Tho rock of these mountains is chert, and 

 belongs to the unstratified scries, with tho lines of fracture very distinct. 



Ascending tho river it takes a northeast course for about half a mile, whoro it 



