BORN?:o 245 



the few which occur. The first nests are taken in IMarch, 

 and there are generally two, and sometimes three, suhse- 

 quent collections. The result is arranged accordiiif to 

 quality in three classes — the white, medium, and hlack. 

 About twenty principal caves are known in the North 

 Borneo Company's territory, and there are doubtless 

 many others as yet undiscovered. A large quantity of 

 nests are also exported from Sarawak. 



The harvest of the Bornean seas is as little reaped 

 as that of the forests. Shark's fin and heche-de-mer 

 are everywhere to be obtained, especially in the north, 

 and a good deal finds its way, with the birds' nests, 

 to the Chinese market. So also does kima — the giant 

 clam (Tridacna) — whose shell is used in Europe for 

 the aspersoria or stoups in Catholic churches. Seed 

 pearls are chiefly found on the north and east coast, but 

 the large pearl oyster, which also supplies the mother-of- 

 pearl shell, is not to be obtained in any quantity west of 

 the Sulu group. Tortoiseshell is also exported ; but of 

 all these products few are as yet systematically worked 

 by the English, and hardly any by the Dutch. 



Much the same may be said concerning the mineral 

 wealth of the country, which is both considerable and 

 widely spread. The coal measures are practically inex- 

 haustible, and have been worked at various places in almost 

 every part of the island, both by Europeans and natives. 

 The results, however, have been almost uniformly unsuccess- 

 ful ; but this failure must be ascribed to the undeveloped 

 state of the country and other causes of secondary im- 

 portance, and the mines will doubtless be worked with 

 remunerative results in the future. The " Julia Her- 

 mina" mine, near Banjarmasin, which promised well, 

 was hardly completed when, in 1859, an insurrection 

 took place, the European staff were murdei-ed, and the 



