110 BRITISH BORNEO. 
The British North Borneo Company possesses a valuable 
property, and one which is daily increasing in value, and if 
they continue to manage it with the care hitherto exhibited, 
and if, remembering that they are not yet quite out of the 
00d) they are careful to avoid, on the one hand; a\ too 
lavish expenditure and, on the other, an unwise parsimony, 
there cannot, [should say, be a doubt that a fair return will, 
at no very distant date, be made to them on the capital they 
have expended. 
As for the country fer se, | consider that its success is now 
assured, whether it remains under the rule of the Company or 
is received into the fellowship of dona fide Colonies of the 
Empire. 
In bringing to a conclusion my brief account of the Terri- 
tory, some notice of its suitability as a residence for Euro- 
peans may not be out of place, as bearing on the question of 
‘what are we to do with our boys:?”’ 
I have my own experience of seventeen years’ service in 
Northern Borneo, and the authority of Dr. WALKER, the able 
Medical Officer of the Government, for saying that in its 
general effect on the health of Europeans, the climate of Brit- 
ish North Borneo, as a whole, compares not unfavourably 
with that of other tropical countries. 
There is no particular ‘“‘ unhealthy season,” and Europeans 
who lead a temperate and active life have little to complain 
of, except the total absence of any cold season, to relieve the 
monotony of eternal summer. On the hills of the interior, 
no doubt, an almost perfect climate could be obtained. 
One great drawback to life for Europeans in all tropical 
places is the fact that it is unwise to keep children out after 
they have attained the age of seven or eight years, but up to 
that age the climate appears to agree very well with them 
and they enjoy an immunity from measles, whooping cough 
and other infantile diseases. This enforced separation from ~ 
wife and family is one of the greatest disadvantages in a 
career in the tropics. 
We have not, unfortunately, had much experience as to how 
the climate of British North Borneo affects English ladies, 
but, judging from surrounding Colonies, I fear it will be found 
