ch. vi.] Oil Spring. 117 



from them fetches the uniform price of .33 per ton. A 

 young plantation of the African oil-palm (Elccis guineensis) 

 has been established on Pulu Daat, and the experiment 

 promises to be a successful one. The little coarse un- 

 crystallised sugar made in the colony fetches about 50 

 cents per gantang, a measure holding about 71b. Padi, or 

 rice in husk, fetches about 1 10s. per 100 gantangs (6 

 cwts.). There are three sago washing works near Victoria 

 Harbour, where the raw pulp, as brought from the Bor- 

 nean coast, is hand-washed and sifted into the dry sago- 

 flour of commerce. Some of the low-lying well watered 

 or marsh-land has been planted with the sago-palm. 



A new fishmarket has been erected, and this building, 

 together with the right of buying and selling all the fish 

 caught, is let annually to the highest bidder with the 

 other farms. No regular fisheries are organised, nor is 

 any record kept of the quantity and description of fish 

 supplied. It is estimated at about 1000 piculs. In the 

 capture of fish along the coast, seine nets and "kelongs " 

 or bamboo traps are used. In deep water a baited hook 

 and line. 



An oil-spring exists in the forest, near the mines, at 

 an elevation of 130 feet above the sea, the yield during 

 wet season being about 12 gallons of petroleum every 

 twenty-four hours. The highest land in the island is 

 13ukit Kalam, 280 feet above sea level. The total area 

 in scrubs and fern is 1000 acres, timber or forest 

 about 300 acres. The quit-rents on lands sold for W9 

 years produce about 230 annually. It not being consi- 

 dered advisable to alienate any further crown lands at 

 present on account of the low prices obtainable, the 

 Government rice lands are let annually for prices varying 

 from two to four shillings per acre. The edible fruits 

 cultivated are fine oranges of several kinds, excellent 



