BRITISH BORNEO. 4i 
“protection from their piratical neighbours, the Sulus 
and Mindanaos, and others, who make continual depreda- 
tions on their coast, by taking advantage of their natural 
timidity.” 
The first connection of the British with Labuan was on the oc- 
casion of their being expelled by the Sulus from Balambangan, 
in 1775, when they took temporary refuge on the island. 
In 1844, Captain Sir EDWARD BELCHER visited Brunai to en- 
quire into rumours of the detention of a European female in 
the country—rumours which provedtobeunfounded. SirJAMES 
BROOKE accompanied him, and on this occasion the Sultan, 
who had been terrified by a report that his capital was to be 
attacked by a British squadron of sixteen or seventeen vessels, 
addressed a document, in conjunction with Raja Muda HaAssiM, 
to the Quecn of England, requesting her aid “for the suppres- 
sion of piracy and the encouragement and extension of trade; 
and to assist in forwarding these objects they are willing to 
cede, to the Queen of England, the Island of Labuan, and its 
islets on such terms as may hereafter be arranged by any 
person appointed by Her Majesty. The Sultan and the 
Raja Muda HASSIM consider that an English Settlement on 
Labuan will be of great service to the natives of the coast, 
and will draw a considerable trade from the northward, 
and from China; and should Her Majesty the Queen of Eng- 
land decide upon the measure, the Sultan and the Raja 
Muda HASsIM promise to afford every assistance to the Eng- 
lish authorities.” In February of the following year, the Sul- 
tan and Raja Muda HAssiM, in a letter accepting Sir JAMES 
BROOKE as Her Majesty’s Agent in Borneo, without specially 
mentioning Labuan, expressed their adherence to their former 
declarations, conveyed through Sir EDWARD BELCHER, and 
asked for immediate assistance ‘to protect Borneo from the 
pirates of Marudu,” a Bay situated at the northern extremity 
of Borneo-~assistance which was rendered in the following 
August, when the village of Marudu was attacked and de- 
stroyed, though it is perhaps open to doubt whether the chief, 
OSMAN, quite deserved the punishment he received. On the 
ist March of the same year (1845) the Sultan verbally asked 
Sir JAMES BROOKE whether and at what time the English 
