THE SULTAN. 107 



to the condition of a miserable village. Before the 

 abandonment of the town by the Chinese, several 

 large junks annually visited Borneo, and many were 

 built at the town, of the fine timber with which the 

 country abounds. These were sent to China loaded 

 with the produce of the island, and on being sold in 

 that country, realized a profit exceeding 300 per cent. ; 

 as timber, fit for the purposes of ship building, is very 

 expensive in China. 



The government of Borneo appears to have been 

 despotic, or oligarchical, according as the power 

 and talent of the prince or the nobles prevailed. 

 The great officers of state appear usually to have 

 been selected from the royal family. The title 

 of the prince was formerly lang-de-per-tuan, which 

 has been translated, " The lord who rules ;" but 

 " the ruler" appears to be equally appropriate. 

 The second person in the kingdom was formerly 

 styled the Rajah Mudah, arid was the successor to 

 the throne ; but the present sultan, Omar Ali, has 

 never been properly invested with the supreme title of 

 lang-de-per-tuan, and is, consequently, only styled 

 sultan by courtesy a title foreign to the court lan- 

 guage of Borneo. 



The character of the present ruler of Borneo has been 

 frequently before the English public during the last few 

 years. He is a man of upwards of fifty years of age, of 

 dark complexion, and stupid features. On his right 

 hand he has a malformation resembling a thumb, 

 which stands at an angle from the true thumb. This 



