August i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
I2i 
EMIGRATION OF THE UNEMPLOYED 
HIGHER CLASSES. 
[An old Ceylon Colonist and friend — now of North 
Borneo — writes as follows in the Field of Juno 
6th.— E d. r. ^.1 
Lord Derby, when speakiog at Livorpool, on Deo. 
29tb, on the aubjnot of emigratioD said that England 
cannot fi^d employment for Us iuoreaaing pjpalatiou. 
This applies to tho riolt as well as to the poor, and 
I Would like to say a word through your columus 
to the unemployed sous of the rioher clasRes iu favour 
of a plautor's life in Britieh North Hjruuo. Aa I 
spent thirteen years in the oolfoe and tea districts 
of Coyloo, and have taken an active part during 
the last eight years iu tho planting industries of 
British North Bornoo, X may reasonably claim an 
intimate knowledge of my aubjeot, gained by twenty- 
one years' practical experience of tropical planting. 
Britiih Nurih Borneo is rather larger than Ireland, 
and la situated at the northern extrtmity of the gnat 
island of Borneo, in the same latitude as Ceylon, 
which it much resembles in climate, but its hills 
are much higher, and cover an area probably five 
times as large as the central, hidy, province of Leyluii, 
and, what is of chief moment to the planter who 
doKlres cheap traneport, good soil is obtainable utar 
the sea — soii that has been proved to be suitable 
for tropical plants like tobacco, coffee, ooooa, pepper, 
gambier, sngar, &c. 
Tobacco planting is being prosecuted on a very 
extensive scale, and tho oompauies engaged have a 
nominal capital of about six millions sterlmg. Tobacco 
18 au annual, and the accounts of the 1890 crop 
(anaouotiug to 15,000 bales), which was cut bui'ure the 
i*aina began to fall m December, ate very good, and 
indicate that the troubles connected with new euter> 
prises are being overcome, and those who are most 
capable of judging autioipate a great fuiiiro for tho 
8ilky leafed tobacco grown iu British North Borneo, 
which DOW obtains aa much as 38. per Ih. for cigar 
Wrappers, aa compared with Sd per lb. obtained by 
American tobacco, which is u^eJ ns cigar filiora. The 
umount of laud taken up by tho tobacco companies 
un tho low allnviil flats on tho grent and small riverv 
18 about three quarters ol n milUuu acres, which 
afforded a rcasou lor raising iheprict of la id luLemlod 
for tobacco plnnUog to 6 (.me pound -.icrJing) 
the aero. For other products than tobacco Uie price 
18 Still 3 dols. (lOs.) the ncr*. 
In Sumatra, where wrapper tobacco is cultivated, 
the price of suitable land is very high, and tlieNetboc- 
lauds government has lately limited the sale of land 
in its colonioa to Dutch aubjects only. 
Cuffoe appears likely to bo the next product to be 
planted in largo quuntiiies in British North Borneo. 
X he prioe for coffee is high, and the coffee brokers 
imorm me that, as far as they can judge, they ace 
DO reason for a fall, Iu 1H82, a ojffee planter from 
UoyloD, Mr. T. S. Dobree, visited British North 
Borneo, and reported that the new oolouy was suitable 
for coffee, and that, in his opinion, it niigUt become 
Tuf fireatest uoffee producing cou»'lry iu the world. 
ne isUiid of Borneo is surrounded by the coffee-ex- 
porting ooumries of the IMiillipities, the Indian I*euiu- 
BUla, Java, Celebes and Sulu ; but 1 have no knowledge 
**P°J^* f'’Dm British North Borneo until 
when coffee and pepper appeared in the export 
I. by high prices, is now 
rfiely cultivated by the Alalays, who foraiorly supplied 
the markets of the world, until the cultivation of 
was strangled by the exactions of the sultans; 
Bnglishrole, tho agriculturist 
. i^itish North Borneo can now pursue his vocatiou 
in peace. 
Coffee haa hitherto received liitio attoatioD, cocoa 
the rich Malay inau’s [avourito bevuruge, aad 
thriving well wilhout tnuoli tcoabla ; but enough coffee 
.1“, ‘t'tomoiit made by Mr. 
that British North Borneo is very suitable for 
oolTeo growing. Since then we have learnt more about 
u, and a small pamphlet issued by tho British North 
Borneo Company, in August 1890, gives detsUs of tite 
10 
steady progress, sinoo 1882, of the cultivation of coffee, 
which has lately found favour among the immigrant 
Chinese who began to settle near Kudat, in 1883, and 
now number over one thousand. The coffee iu the 
experimoutal garden at Silam, opened by the company 
iu 1882, yielded 76 cwt. iu 1887 from about six acres, 
aud coiiliouea to boar well. Those who have no know- 
ledge of coffee planting will understand the meaning of 
tho above figures, when I say that at present prices the 
profit per owt. on crops such as the above shnuld be 
quite 311, per cwt., and the cost of bringing coffee into 
bearing shouid not be more than £20 per acre, taking 
the cost of iand at lOe. 
When I was in Oeylon in the “ seventies,” good 
land was considered cheap at £10 tbs acre. The 
British North Borneo Company make only one charge 
for laud, [now 10, the acre] aud give a 999 years 
lease, wliioh compares very favourably with land in 
Sumatra and India. In bnmatra laud i, leased for 
seventy-live years, and at Darjeeling for thirty years, 
on payment of a premium and a rental, and iu both 
places the rent iuoreasca up to the fifth year, when it 
amounts to about sixteen pence per acre. 
Uaviog lived iu British North Borneo, and being 
about to retnru for a farther stay, 1 feel that my 
ruoomuiendation of emigration to this new and com- 
paratively little known ouuutry is worth a hearing 
by thosu who like an outdoor life. At present 
there are about one hundred Knropeans engaged iu 
planting in our territory, among whom tho propor- 
tion of married men is steadily increasing, aud the 
lauies loll me they like the lite. Comforts are obtain- 
able by those who can mauago properly, aud have the 
wherewithal, which means about £15 a mouth for a 
bscbelur, and £25 for a m.rtied couple, thongb, if 
ut'Ceseary, it can be done upon loss, and I have known 
men tu live upon about bait the above. 
To show how the country is progressing, 1 quote the 
following retnriiB for 1831 and 1889, in which time the 
imports and exports rose from £25.b0i) to £400, OUU ; and 
the revenue from £3,000 to £80,000 storiing. For 1890, 
tl.u ri turui of trad, will be about thirty per cent more 
th in those of 1889, and the statement made that Brit- 
ish North Borneo is advancing by leaps and bounds is 
not out of pUoe, aa tho yearly roturns show a steady 
auiiual increaBO of over 30 per cent upon each ptecod- 
ing year. The oouiniercial importance of British 
North Borneo has lately received acknowledgment by 
its adoii^sion into ttic Postal Union. 
The laws are based upon Kuglisb colonial usage, and 
Imve cbiitly been adopted from those ruling iu the 
Straits Settlements and British, India. The diatanee of 
the territory from Unglaud is abeut thirty-five days 
steam, and tho cost of a tirst-olsss passage varies from 
£5il to £70. Should any ono desire to make a visit, 
good hotels will be found at tho two chief ports, San- 
dakau and Kudat, aud sooie sport with deer, oattle rhi- 
noceros, and elephant can be bad for the seeking. 
The reason why I specially recommend coffee plant- 
ing as a means of employment to some of our un- 
employed wealthier classes is, bouause it is within, the 
means of men with from £2,000 to £5,000, and heca use 
coffee appears to have found a natural homo iu the 
climalo and soil of British North Borneo, aud promises 
to give very largo returns. 
The oultivstion of cocoa, gambior aud pepper can 
bo oombiued with that of ooffee, tlie same soil being 
suitable. I am particularly desirous of seeing gambler 
planted. I am told by the Mincing-lane brokers that 
the 40,000 tons of gambler now produced may bo 
largely incroasad without lowering prices very much, 
and that all tanners use it. Thu leather trade of tlie 
world is so large, and markets for tanning materials 
are so numerous, that 1 believe the cultivation of 
gambier would be exceedingly remunerative, aud I shall 
be glad to giveiiguces of oost of production if desired. 
15, lieadenliail-sttoat. Ug-NRy WiLKEa. 
THE AMSTERDAM CINCHONA SALES. 
(TcUyram from our Correspondent.) 
At today’s auctions, 2,606 paokiges Java bark were 
disposed of at au average unit of 6Jd cents (equal to 
