A History of Santubong, an Island off the 
Coast of Sarawak. 
By HAROLD H. EVERETT AND JOHN HEWITT. 
The island which forms the subject of this paper has for 
many years been familiar to Europeans resident in Sarawak, 
seeing that it affords to them the only seaside resort within 
easy reach of Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. As the new- 
comer approaches the country by steamer from Singapore, the 
Santubong mountain is one of the first landmarks to attract 
his attention : it presents an imposing forest clad mass rising 
almost straight out of the sea and its steep slopes reaching a 
height of 2700 ft. 
The island on which this mountain is situated lies in the 
delta of the Sarawak river, its northern portion being washed 
by the China Sea. To the mere pleasure seeker the place has 
no attractions other than the sea and its shore witha narrow 
stretch of sand fringed with the picturesque casuarina trees, 
and dotted here and there with rocks and huge shell-covered 
boulders: but to an intelligent observer, Santubong has much 
additional interest. Perhaps the main feature of interest lies 
in the history of its inhabitants and the primary object of this 
paper is to bring together all the scattered facts concerning 
former peoples who have left no records of themselves except- 
ingin such relics as broken utensils, tools and trinkets all of 
which can be picked up during a casual search on the site of 
the former village. We shall make mention of the fauna and 
flora of the island mainly from the point of view of geograph- 
ical distribution and will incidentally give a brief note on 
the physical geography and geology of the island. 
Concerning the word © Santubong”’ itself we can only say 
that by this name the mountain is known to all natives in this 
part of Sarawak. Amongst Sea Dayaks and Malays, “S’n-tu- 
bong”’ means a coffin: to Chinese the word “San Ta Bong” 
Jour. Straits Branch, R. A. Soc., No. 51, 1908. 
fa! 
