86 BRITISH NORTH BORNEO. [chap. 



was entered into with the Suhi potentate, by which, for the sum of 

 £1000 paid annually, he agreed to convey the district to the 

 grantees in fee simple. The annual sum of £3000 was to be paid 

 to the Sultan of Brunei and the Pangerang Tumonggong under the 

 same conditions. A provisional clause inserted at the instance of 

 the British Consul for Borneo stipulated that " the rights and 

 privileges conferred by the grant should never be transferred to any 

 other nation, or company of foreign nationality, without the sanction 

 of our Government being first obtained." These arrangements 

 having been settled and a provisional Company formed, a Eoyal 

 Charter was applied for. It was granted, and on the 1st November, 

 1881, the British North Borneo Company, with a nominal capital 

 of £400,000, commenced its existence. 



The territory thus acquired occupies the northern extremity of 

 Borneo, and is said to have an area of about 24,000 square miles. 

 From its position it is completely surrounded by the sea except to 

 the south and south-west, and the coast-line, which is extremely 

 irregular, is believed to be over 600 miles in length. There are 

 several most excellent harbours : the Kina Eiver is navigable for a 

 distance of 200 miles by large steam launches ; and the great 

 mountain of Borneo, Kina Balu, the height of which is estimated at 

 13,700 feet, lies within the territory. The Company have five 

 settlements. Silam lies on the east coast and is unimportant ; 

 Sandakan, and Kudat in Marudu Bay, the two chief places, are on 

 the north ; and Gaya, Papar, and Kimanis, all of which are of no 

 great size, are situated on the west coast. 



To those who look for the low, mangrove-lined shores that are 

 a leading characteristic of many parts of Borneo, and, indeed, of 

 most tropical countries, the first view of the entrance of Sandakan 

 Bay is, to a certain extent, an agreeable disappointment. Mangrove 

 swamps, indeed, there are in abundance, but they keep pleasantly 

 in the background, and on rounding the north-west headland 

 the fine red sandstone bluffs of Pulo Balhalla greet the eye in 

 their stead. They rise almost perpendicularly to a height of 



