52 BRITISH BORNEO. 
protocol was signed by which, in return for the recognition 
by England and Germany of Spanish sovereignty throughout 
the Archipelago of Sulu, Spain renounced all claims of sove- 
reignty over territories on the Continent of Borneo which had 
belonged to the Sultan of Sulu, including the islands of Ba- 
lambangan, Banguey and Malawali, as well as all those com- 
prised within a zone of three maritime leagues from the coast. 
Holland also strenuously objected to the cessions and to 
their recognition, on the ground that the general tenor of the 
Treaty of London of 1824 shews that a mixed occupation by 
England and the Netherlands of any island in the Indian 
Archipelago ought to be avoided. 
It is impossible to discover anything in the treaty which 
bears out this contention. Borneo itself is not mentioned by 
name in the document, and the following clauses are the only 
ones regulating the future establishment of new Settlements in 
the Eastern Seas by either Power:—‘ Article 6. It is agreed 
that orders shall be given by the two Governments to their Of- 
ficers and Agents in the East not to form any new Settlements 
on any of the islands in the Eastern Seas, without previous 
authority from their respective Governments in Europe. Art. 
12. His Britannic Majesty, however, engages, that no British 
Establishment shall be made on the Carimon islands or on the 
islands of Battam, Bintang, Lingin, or on any of the other 
islands South of the Straits of Singapore, nor any treaty con- 
cluded by British authority with the chiefs of those islands.”’ 
Without doubt, if Holland in 1824 had been desirous of pro- 
hibiting any British Settlement in the island of Borneo, such 
prohibition would have been expressed in this treaty. True, 
perhaps half of this great island is situated South of the Straits 
of Singapore, but the island cannot therefore be correctly 
said to lie to the South of the Straits and, at any rate, such a 
business-like nation as the Dutch would have noticed a weak 
point here and have included Borneo in the list with Battam 
and the other islands enumerated. Such was the view taken 
by Mr. GLADSTONE’S Cabinet, and Lord GRANVILLE informed 
the Dutch Minister in 1882 that the XIlth Artielevon@ine 
Treaty could not be taken to apply to Borneo, and ‘‘that as a 
a matter of international right they would have no ground to 
