TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 80<3 



3. North Borneo. By E. P. Gueritz. 



The author gave a general description of the territory under the government 

 of the British North Borneo Company, from personal observations made during a 

 residence of nearly three years, and from the official reports of Messrs. Pryer, "Von 

 Donop, Frank Hatton, and Witti. The territory lies between the. 116th and 

 119th degrees of east longitude and the 4th and 7th parallels of north latitude, 

 embracing an area of some 20,000 square miles and a coast line of about 500 miles. 

 A range of mountains, the general direction of which is north-east and south- 

 west, forms a backbone through the heart of the country. Melaio attains an 

 approximate height of 4,000 feet, Mentapok 7,000 feet, Trodan 8,000 feet, and 

 Kina Balu 13,698 feet. From this range, and descending to the coast on either 

 side, are lesser ranges of hills, covered for the most part with virgin forest, and 

 interspersed with fertile plains watered by numerous rivers. The coast, as a rule, 

 is low and fiat. It is, to a large extent, lined with the casuarina tree, broken by 

 stretches of mangrove, and diversified by low sandstone cliffs or patches of forest 

 reaching to the water's edge. The country is rich in harbours, the most important 

 being Gaya, Ambong, and Usikan on the west coast, Kudat on the north, and 

 Sandakan on the east. The principal rivers are the Kimanis, Papar, Putatan, 

 Abai, and Tampasuk on tho west coast, Paitan and Sugut on the north, and 

 Sibuco and Kinabatangan on the east. Most of these are navigable for steam- 

 launches of light draft, but the entrances are more or less barred. 



The products of the country include tobacco, sugar, gambier (the inspissated juice 

 of the Uncaria gambir), pepper, tea, coffee, sago, gutta-percha, and camphor. The 

 author describes the Gomanton caves on the east coast, from which are obtained 

 edible birds'-nests to the annual value of 25,000 dols., and which contain an apparently 

 inexhaustible store of guano, deposited both by birds and bats. The coal at 

 present in use is procured from the Muara mines at the mouth of the Brunei river, 

 but boring for workable deposits is being carried on within the territory of the 

 Company. Traces of gold have been found, and samples of silver, cinnabar, 

 antimony, and tin. Mother-of-pearl, beche-de-mer, and tortoiseshell are also 

 obtainable. 



The fauna comprise a small tree-tiger (Felts macroscelis) which is found in the 

 interior, deer of various kinds, wild pigs, wild cattle (Bos gaurus), and buffalo. 

 On the east coast the elephant and rhinoceros are also found. In the interior are 

 many varieties of the monkey tribe, including an orang-utan. Small black bears 

 are occasionally met with. The tapir and the otter have been seen on the north 

 coast. Squirrels of all shades abound. Amongst the snakes are found the cobra, 

 python, and leaf-snake, but the author has not known a single fatal case of snake- 

 bite during a six years' residence in Borneo. Crocodiles are numerous. The rivers 

 and coast teem with fish. There are pigeons of many kinds, snipe, curlew, plover ; 

 the argus and Bulwer pheasant, and several species of partridge. 



The climate is said to be fairly healthy. The maximum monthly mean 

 temperature during 1883 was 89-3, and the minimum 75-1. The rainfall at Kudat 

 for the year was 120-56. November, December, and January are the wettest 

 months. 



_ The population is estimated at 150,000. The west coast is peopled by a 

 mixture of Malays, Bajaus, and Ilanuns : on the north and east coasts Bajaus and 

 Sulus are chiefly met with. Chinese, natives of India, and Arabs trade in most 

 of the rivers, and the former are settling in considerable numbers. The aborigines 

 who reside in the interior are called Dusuns, or Ida'an. They grow tobacco, 

 cotton, rice, tapioca, yams, and Indian corn for their own immediate consumption, 

 and use ploughs and harrows which are supposed to have been introduced by the 

 Chinese. Laws have recently been promulgated with a view to the gradual 

 extinction of slavery. The experiment in colonisation now being made in British 

 North Borneo is attentively watched by other nations who have interests in the 

 Eastern seas. 



