CHAPTER I 



GEOGRAPHY OF BORNEO 



Borneo is one of the largest islands of the world. 

 Its area is roughly 290,000 square miles, or about 

 five times that of England and Wales. Its greatest 

 length from north-east to south-west is 830 miles, 

 and its greatest breadth is about 600 miles. It is 

 crossed by the equator a little below its centre, so 

 that about two-thirds of its area lie in the northern 

 and one-third lies in the southern hemisphere. 

 Although surrounded on all sides by islands of 

 volcanic origin, Borneo differs from them in pre- 

 senting but small traces of volcanic activity, and in 

 consisting of ancient masses of igneous rock and 

 of sedimentary strata. 



The highest mountain is Kinabalu, an isolated 

 mass of granite in the extreme north, nearly 14,000 

 feet in height. With this exception the principal 

 mountains are grouped in several massive chains, 

 which rise here and there to peaks about 10,000 feet 

 above the sea. The principal of these chains, the 

 Tibang-Iran range, runs south-westward through the 

 midst of the northern half of the island and is 

 prolonged south of the equator by the Schwaner 

 chain. This median south-westerly trending range 

 forms the backbone of the island. A second much- 

 broken chain runs across the island from east to 

 west about i"" north of the equator. Besides these 



VOL. I B 



