ch. vii.] Climate. 157 



erished to a great extent by the avaricious Malays, who 

 ought to encourage the natives to improve themselves 

 and the country in which they live, instead of which they 

 wring their property from them whenever possible under 

 all manner of pretences. The harsh treatment to which 

 the aboriginals, and even the poorer of the Malays, were 

 formerly subjected by the petty chiefs and Pangerans, is 

 now much moderated, as many natives have visited 

 Labuan, and it has now become known as a sanctuary 

 from their unjust oppressors. 



The climate of Borneo although hot and wet, is fairly 

 healthy, especially on the hills inland, where the air is 

 much fresher and cooler than on the lowlands near the 

 coast ; the mean annual temperature is about 84. The 

 hot and dry monsoon lasts from December to May, and 

 the cool and wet one from June to November ; the rainfall 

 is very heavy, especially on the hills. The economic 

 products for which the soil and climate are suitable are 

 coffee, cinchona, cocoa, cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, 

 indigo, gambier, cocoa-nuts for oil, and manilla hemp. 

 Fine timber, gutta, caoutchouc, rattans, and camphor, are 

 the indigenous products of the forests primaeval. Among 

 the introduced fruits which succeed well are oranges, 

 limes, pomoloes, mangoes, pine-apples, and bananas. 

 The animal products are edible swallows' nests, ivory, 

 sea-slug or hcclte de mcr, (Ilolothuria), fine fish of many 

 kinds, pearls, and pearl-shell. Among minerals, coal, 

 antimony, cinnabar, and gold scorn the most promising ; 

 diamonds, tin, copper, plumbago, and iron are reported ; 

 and if one may judge of the iron by the old weapons, 

 such as krisses, parongs, and spears as made by the 

 Bruneis and the Kayans, it must be of excellent quality. 



I made a pen and ink sketch of a Kayan Avar knife 

 which I saw in the collection of native weapons in the 



