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COMMERCE 



mountain of North Borneo, formed of crystalline rocks, has a large 

 central crater (Scottish Geogr. Magazine, December, 1887), but 

 I think that before admitting the volcanic nature of the mountain, 

 further information is required. Fragments of lava are also said 

 to have been found on one of the small islands to the north of 

 Borneo. 1 



Regarding the. population of Sarawak we possess only very 

 uncertain data. Mr. Crocker, in his paper, which I have already 

 quoted, assigns 240,000 inhabitants to the old territory of Sarawak, 

 which extended from Tanjong Datu to Tanjong Kedurong, a little 

 above the mouth of the Bintulu river. In a recent report of Mr. 

 Keyser, British Consul in Sarawak, to the Foreign Office, a popula- 

 tion of 500,000 is assigned to the dominions of Rajah Brooke within 

 their present limits, but this appears to me too high a figure. It 

 must be remembered that in Sarawak, and, indeed, throughout 

 the whole of Borneo, human habitations and villages are only 

 found near rivers, so that all the remaining area may, so far as 

 man is concerned, be considered a desert. Allowing to Sarawak 

 two inhabitants for each square kilometre, we have a population 

 of 360,000, which is, I believe not far from the truth. 



According to my calculations, this population may be approxi- 

 mately divided as follows : — 



Malays ...... 



50,000 



Chinese ...... 



1 5 ,000 



Land-Dyaks ...... 



25,000 



Sea-Dyaks ..... 



120,000 



Kayans . . . 



100,000 



Mellanaos ..... 



20,000 



Other Tribes (Native) 



30,000 



Total 



360,000 



A steamer, which at present flies the German flag, keeps up 

 regular weekly communication between Kuching and Singapore. 

 The Rajah possesses a flotilla of seven or eight small steamers which 

 run between the coast stations, and which constitute at the same 

 time a naval force. 



Several Europeans are in the Rajah's service, divided between 

 the public departments and the central administration at Kuching, 

 whilst others, bearing the title of " Residents," represent the 

 authority of the Rajah in the ten provinces into which Sarawak 

 is divided, being invested with full civil and military power. The 

 provinces correspond more or less to the basins of the principal 



1 Quite recently Dr. Nieuwenhuis appears to have found that the central 

 range of Borneo is of volcanic nature (Tijdsch. v. het K. Nederl. Aardr. 

 Genootsch. No. 3, 1901); but this assertion requires to be confirmed. It 

 would be truly strange in Malaysia to find so important a volcanic chain so 

 far from the sea. 



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