250 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TKAVEL 



administration is somewhat similar to that of a British 

 Colony, but the Government require the native chiefs to 

 maintain order and further justice, and with the example 

 of Sarawak before them, have instituted a Legislative 

 Council, composed of the higher European officials and the 

 leading native chiefs. There is no army, but the con- 

 stabulary, composed chiefly of Sikhs, and numbering 

 about 300 men, preserve order, and act when required 

 as a military force. By its Charter the Company binds 

 itself to forbid the possession of slaves to any stranger, 

 but is not obliged forcibly to put down slavery among 

 the tribes, although it agrees " to discourage to the best 

 of its power, and, as far as may be practicable, to abolish 

 by degrees, any system of domestic servitude existing 

 among the tribes of the coast or the interior." 



Although British North Borneo as a colony is still in 

 its earliest infancy, its growth has, so far, been fairly 

 promising. The capital, Sandakan — or, as it was at first 

 named, Elopura — is situated on the northern shore of the 

 bay of that name, which is without doubt the finest in the 

 island. This harbour is completely landlocked, and is 

 clear of dangers ; it has a depth of 1 5 and a breadth of 

 5 miles, admits the largest vessels, and has 13 rivers 

 running into it. The town is built about a mile from the 

 entrance, and contained in 1891 a population of 6350 

 persons, of whom 3200, or more than half, were Chinese, 

 and 114 British. Vessels of large draught can lie along- 

 side the pier, and supplies of all kinds are plentiful. A 

 neat Government House dominates the anchorage ; there 

 is a club, a hotel, jail, barracks, and hospital, besides 

 numerous stores, and jinrickshaws supply the place of 

 cabs. Yet, little more than a decade ago, Mr. Pryer 

 found the site an uninhabited jungle, and the bay the 

 resort of semi-piratical Bajaus. Kudat, which was 



