v.] VISIT TO BONGON. 103 



the township is a favourable one. Its situation is far prettier than 

 that of Elopura; it is neater and cleaner, and the bungalows, 

 instead of being constructed with palm-leaf attcqjs, have here their 

 walls of wood. There are walks and woodland roads in many 

 directions ; there is a splendid sea-beach extending for miles, and, 

 wonderful to relate, we actually found some attempts at gardening. 

 Happily, too, — though doubtless unfortunately, from the colonial 

 point of view — there is a paucity of Chinese population. In point 

 of size Kudat is not great. It boasts of little more than a thousand 

 inhabitants, and its trade is, or rather was, — for in speaking of a 

 new country it is at least polite to put these facts in the past tense, 

 — comparatively insignificant. Bad water and alleged unhealthi- 

 ness have made the settlement an unpopular one with the Chinese, 

 and though the former evil has been remedied, and the climate is 

 at least no worse than that of Elopura, the latter town has remained 

 the favourite in the eye of the Celestial, and, in consequence, much 

 the same feeling exists between the inhabitants of the two places 

 as that between Sydney and Melbourne, or the "Eastern" and 

 " Western " districts in South Africa. 



We celebrated the Queen's birthday in the most approved 

 colonial fashion. H.M.S. Fit/ and the yacht were gaily dressed ; 

 the royal standard was saluted from "The Battery;" a cricket 

 match (the Marchesans and Borneans v. the Flies) was played; 

 a tug-of-war between the officers and crew of the two ships con- 

 tested, and our kind host. Sir Walter Medhurst, then Acting 

 Governor, entertained us at tiffin. Loyalty, public spirit — and 

 the temperature — were at fever heat. 



The Fly's visit to Marudu Bay was on particular business. 

 Just two months previously a Chinaman had accidentally shot a 

 Bajau woman at Bongon, a small village at the head of the bay. 

 He was immediately seized by the natives, and though intelligence 

 of the disturbance was at once sent to Kudat, the wretched man 

 was despatched with kris and spear. A small body of Sikh police 

 was sent to the spot to arrest the murderers, but the latter refused 



