148 AUSTRALASIA. 



mouth of the Kina-Batangan, the largest river iu North Borneo, and navigable by 

 steamers a long way inland. At Mnlapi, the riverain jDort, the Chinese have a depot 

 for the edible nests collected in the caves of Mount Gomanton, lying some miles 

 farther west. The entrance to one of these limestone caves rises to a height of 

 900 feet, and in the evening the dense clouds of esculent swallows take three- 

 quarters of an hour to pass through this vast portal to their roosting-places. The 

 annual sale of the nests yields £5,000 to the Chinese dealers. Other caverns, 

 occupied some by swallows, others by bats, occur iu all the spurs of the North 

 Bornean ranges and especially in the river gorges, and all contain rich deposits of 

 guano still untouched. 



The Segama basin, south of and parallel to the Kina-Batangan, also possesses 

 gold-washings, which are said to be very rich, and already attract numerous 

 Chinese miners. A carriage road has been constructed from Sandakan Bay to 

 these mines. 



One of the vital points of the new colony lies at the southern extremity of 

 Marudu Bay, where the river of like name reaches the coast. Here the village of 

 Boncjon, the commercial centre of the whole country and already surrounded by 

 extensive tobacco and sugar plantations, is the natural emporium for North Borneo 

 and the islands of Mallawalli, Banguey, and Balambangan, which form an extension 

 of the mainland towards the Philippines. In 1773 the English had already 

 founded a settlement in Balambangan ; which, however, lasted only two years. 

 The port of Kudat, in Marudu Bay, although neglected till 1881, seems destined 

 one day to become one of the chief commercial centres in the Eastern Archipelago. 

 Formerly the two rivers Tampusuk and Tarawan were notorious resorts of the 

 Illanos (Lanon, Lanun), pirates from Mindanao, against whom the English had to 

 send several expeditions. 



On the west coast Gaya Bay, still more spacious than Kudat, offers one of the 

 best anchorages in the China waters. The whole British fleet might here easily 

 ride at anchor, and supply itself with coal from the beds in the surrounding cliffs. 

 Yet the British settlement has been founded, not on this magnificent bay, but at 

 Mempahol, facing Labuan. 



The rapid development of trade in North Borneo is mainly due to the tobacco 

 plantations on the east coast. The Sagut and Labuk fluvial valleys yield a fine 

 elastic leaf much prized, especially for wrapping cigars. In 1887, about 200,000 

 acres were already planted, and in that year 150,000 additional acres had been 

 bouo-ht by speculators for the same purpose. Thanks to this rapid increase of 

 productive land, the public revenues have also been considerably augmented, 

 though still failing to balance the expenditure. There is no army properly so 

 called, and only a few hundred police, raised chiefly amongst the Dayaks of other 

 parts of Borneo. All the tribal chiefs are required to take an oath of allegiance 

 to the Company and pay the poll-tax. 



The state is divided into the four administrative provinces of Bent and Keppel 

 on the west coast. A/cock in the north-east, and East-Coast in the east and south- 

 east. In the last-mentioned is situated the capital. 



