BRITISH? BORNEO: 
SKETCHES OF 
BRUNAI, SARAWAK, LABUAN 
AND 
NORTH BORNEO. 
(Continued from Fournal No. 20, p. 74.) 
——=OO™— OOS 
CHAPTER IV. 
Having alluded to the circumstances under which the Gov- 
ernment of Sarawak became vested in the BROOKE family, 
it may be of interest if I give a brief outline of the history of 
that State under its European rulers up to the present time. 
The territory acquired by Sir JAMES BROOKE in 1841 and 
known as Sarawak Proper, was a small district with a coast 
line of sixty miles and with an average depth inland of fifty 
miles—an area of three thousand square miles. Since that 
date, however, rivers and districts lying tothe northward have 
been acquired by cessions for annual payments from the Brunai 
Government and have been incorporated with the original 
district of Sarawak, which has given its name to the enlarged 
territory, and the present area of Raja BROOKE’S possessions 
is stated to be about 40,000 square miles, supporting a popu- 
tation of 280,000 souls, and possessing a coast line of 380 
miles. The most recent acquisition of territory was in 1884, 
so that the young State has shewn a very vigorous growth 
since its birth in 1841—at the rate of about 860 square miles 
a year, or an increase of thirteen times its original size in the 
space of forty-three years. 
Now, alas, there are no “more lands to conquer,” or ac- 
quire, unless the present kingdom of Brunai, or Borneo Pro- 
per, as it is styled by the old geographers, is altogether swal- 
