230 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TEAYEL 



as those of Western Africa, are often of a severe type. 

 Beri-beri, the scourge of the native races in the Malay 

 Archipelago and Eastern Asia, is a common disorder 

 among the plantation coolies, and cholera, which appears, 

 at all events in Northern Borneo, to he a disease of 

 recent introduction, has upon more than one occasion 

 caused great mortality in the coast towns. In August, 

 1882, the village of Kimanis numbered just under 300 

 souls, of whom 177 were attacked and 144 died. About 

 the year 1870, smallpox ravaged Northern Borneo and 

 carried off vast numbers of the natives ; so many, indeed, 

 that it is said that more than one-half of the population 

 perished. Lately, vaccination has been largely carried 

 on, and the recurrence of any such epidemic rendered 

 impossible. With regard to the prevalence of malaria, it 

 may be said that the position of the European settle- 

 ments, though at present unavoidable, is to a great 

 extent responsible for it. They are situated for the most 

 part either upon the sea-coast, often in close proximity 

 to mangrove swamps, or upon rivers in the low country, 

 and in this respect, therefore, it is not possible to make 

 comparisons with a country such as Java, where the land 

 has been for centuries cleared and settled. 



5. Flora and Fauna. 



The vegetation of Borneo is exceedingly luxuriant, the 

 whole island being, with few exceptions, one vast forest. 

 It is especially rich in palms and forest trees, many of 

 which have not yet been botanicaUy described. The 

 vegetation is, of course, thoroughly Malayan, but the 

 lofty mountain of Kinabalu contains a curious mixture 

 of Indian, Malayan, and Australian plants. Here are 



