1846.] FISH. 157 



worked as low, I believe, as 17s. per ton. Referring 

 to my despatch of November, 1844, I find these words. 

 " As this coal occurs at the surface on the northern part 

 of Labuan ; the dip at five miles southerly will, in all 

 probability, secure larger beds at fifty to sixty feet below 

 the surface." As to the other productions of Labuan, 

 I believe that timber will be all that can be expected, 

 and this, doubtless, will be required for the erection of 

 the necessary buildings ; the remainder will probably be 

 consumed by fire in clearing the soil, as, until that desi- 

 rable operation is complete, the land properly drained, 

 and a free circulation of air ensured, it will be dangerous 

 to reside on shore. The entire destruction by fire of all 

 the trees but those reserved for shade and ornament, 

 would greatly add to the salubrity, and, as the surrounding 

 shores and islands are plentifully stocked with timber, 

 their loss would never be felt on Labuan. 



Fish is abundant upon all the coasts of Borneo, and 

 from the purity of the sea near Labuan, being free from 

 the muddy admixture of the river, it is highly probable 

 that they may prove of superior quality ; I cannot, how- 

 ever, agree, from personal observation during my visits in 

 1844 and 1846, in the story of between two and three 

 hundred persons pursuing the fisheries ; I think that we 

 noticed, in all, about half a dozen boats. On the occasion 

 of my last visit, one canoe, carrying a person evidently a 

 spy from Borneo, fearlessly came alongside my gig, and, 

 in reply to my interrogations, assured me, " that no vessel 

 of war had for six months past been at Brune, or in this 

 neighbourhood," an assertion, which I knew to be untrue, 

 as the ' Royalist ' had met H.M.S. ' Hazard ' and learned 



