BRITISH BORNEO. 15 
account of its wealth and the brilliancy of its Court, with its 
royally caparisoned elephants, a report which it is very difficult 
to reconcile with the present squalid condition of the existing 
“Venice of Hovels,’ as it has been styled from its palaces 
and houses being all built in, or rather over, the river to which 
it owes its name. 
The Spaniards found at Brunai Chinese manufactures and 
Chinese trading junks, and were so impressed with the im- 
portance of the place that they gave the name of Borneo—a 
corruption of the native name Brunai—to the whole island, 
though the inhabitants themselves know no such general title 
for their country. 
In some works, Pulau Kalamantan, which would signify 
wild mangoes island, is given as the native name for Borneo, 
but it is quite unknown, at any rate throughout North Borneo, 
and the island is by no means distinguished by any profusion 
of wild mangoes.* 
In 1573, a Spanish Embassy to Brunai met with no very 
favourable reception, and three years later an expedition 
from Manila attacked the place and, deposing a usurping Sul- 
tan, re-instated his brother on the throne, who, to shew his 
gratitude, declared his kingdom tributary to Spain. 
The Portuguese Governor of the Moluccas, in 1526, claimed 
the honour of being the first discoverer of Borneo, and this 
nation appears to have carried on trade with some parts of 
the island till they were driven out of their Colonies by the 
Dutch in 1609. But neither the Portuguese nor the Spaniards 
seem to have made any decided attempt to gain a footing in 
Borneo, and it is not until the early part of the 17th century 
that we find the two great rivals in the eastern seas—the 
English and the Dutch East India Trading Companies—turn- 
ing their attention to the island. The first Dutchman to visit 
Borneo was OLIVER VAN NoOorT, who anchored at Brunai in 
December, 1600, but though the Sultan was friendly, the 
natives made an attempt to seize his ship, and he sailed the 
fellowing month, having come to the conclusion that the city 
was a nest of rogues. 
* The explanation Sago Island has been given, /amantah being the native 
term for the raw sago sold to the factories. 
