1879.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON THE BIRDS OF LABUAN. 319 



"Labuan itself is about ten miles in extreme length and four hi 

 breadth, and contains about 47 square miles. Daat contains pro- 

 bably about seven hundred acres, principally of fine forest ; Pappan 

 about sixty acres ; Karaman is of about the same size as Daat, the two 

 Rusukans being each smaller than Pappan, while Burong and Enoe 

 are mere tufts of rock and forest in the sea. All the islands are 

 finely timbered, though the forest on Labuau has been ruthlessly 

 burnt for ■ padi ' planting. Burong Island is composed entirely of 

 limestone — and is rather famous for possessing great numbers of a 

 very venomous and spiteful-looking serpent of a brilliant emerald- 

 green, which is generally found coiled round boughs at a few feet 

 from the ground, and is usually motionless until disturbed. On 

 Labiian and Daat Wild Boar are still to be found ; and on Daat alone 

 the interesting Semnopithecus nasica exists, which has not been ob- 

 served on the other islands. Daat is not more than a mile and a 

 half from the coast of Borneo, between it and Labuau ; it is 

 probable that Bomean forms may be met with more frequently there 

 than in Labuan, from which it is distant over four miles. Such Deer 

 as Labuan once possessed have been pretty well exterminated. Gulls, 

 Terns, and Waders are certainly not plentiful in these seas, and a 

 new comer is struck by the absence of these graceful birds. At 

 certain seasons Golden Plover, Snipe, and Painted Snipe make their 

 appearance on the swampy low land near the sea. Shells are 

 numerous and handsome ; and a systematic course of dredging would 

 produce some fine specimens. The Cones, Volutes, Harpce, Dolia 

 and Cyprcece are very fine ; but those brought for sale are frequently 

 injured by the natives in searching for them, or in making them more 

 attractive to the purchaser. 



" Natural history in Borneo owes a large debt to Mr. Low, one of 

 the oldest residents in Labuan, whose name is well known to science. 

 His labours in every department of zoology and botany, as well as 

 his numerous excursions and travels in Borneo, and his intimate ac- 

 quaintance with the various tribes of the great island, make him a 

 foremost authority on all matters connected with their part of the 

 Malay archipelago. To one of the several intelligent natives in- 

 structed in preparing birds I am indebted in great part for the 

 present collection, which I trust will be found to contain the great 

 majority of birds of ' Labuan and its dependencies.' I may add 

 that I can vouch for the locality of every bird, as, with but one or 

 two exceptions from trustworthy hands, they have all been shot by 

 my Kadyan boy ' Buak' (who is retained in my house), or by myself, 

 or by residents on the coast. At least fifty species have been ob- 

 tained in the grounds of Government House, which is prettily situated 

 in park-like land, dotted with forest, about one hundred and fifty 

 acres in extent. 



"The remaining birds in the collection, not specially included in the 

 Labuan series, come from the opposite coast. Some are from the 

 neighbourhood of Borneo, others from the little'Kadhyan settlement 

 of Lumbidan (whither I despatched my boy Buak for a month, after 

 purchasing some birds from natives), on the north-west coast, and 



