50 BRITISH BORNEO. 
crescents are various other blocks and clusters of buildings, 
built higgledy piggledy and without plan of any sort. On the 
true left bank are some Chinese shops built of brick, and on 
the opposite bank a brick house of superior pretensions and 
a waving banner proclaiming the abode of the Chinese Con- 
sular Agent of the British North Borneo Company. 4 
A heterogeneous collection of buildings on the right side 
of the upper part of the city forms the palace (save the mark!) 
of the Sultan himself. A little further down a large, straggling, 
but substantial plank building, with a corrugated iron roof, 
marks the abode of the Pangeran Temenggong, a son of the 
former Sultan and the heir apparent to the throne of Bruna. 
Two steam launches are lying opposite at anchor, one the 
property of the Sultan, the other belonging to the heir 
apparent. * = * es 
‘“The public reception room of the Sultan’s palace is a long 
apartment with wooden pillars running along either side, and 
supporting a raised roof. Beyond these on either side, are 
lateral compartments. At the far end, in the centre of a 
kind of alcove, is the Sultan’sthrone. The floors are covered 
with matting. my a a a * 
Although the glories of Brunai have departed, and it Is 
only the shadow of what it was when PIGAFETTA visited it, 
a certain amount of state is still kept up on occasions. A 
boat comes sweeping down the river crowded with Malays, 
a white flag waving from its stern, seven paddles flashing on 
either side, and an array of white umbrellas midships. /¢ zs 
the Pangeran di Gadong coming in state to pay a ceremonial 
visit. As it sweeps alongside, the Pangeran is seen sitting 
on a gorgeous carpet, surrounded by his officials. One holds 
an umbrella over his head, while another holds aloft the 
tongkat kratdan, a long guilded staff, surmounted by a plume 
of yellow horse hair, which hangs down round it. The most 
striking point in the attire of the Pangeran and his Officers 
is the beauty of the Avzses with which they are armed, the 
handles being of carved ivory ornamented with gold, and the 
sheaths of beautifully polished wood, resembling satin wood. 
Cigars and coffee are produced, and a dcchara ensues, A 
