XIX.] 
BORNEO. 
413 
Labuan strikes me as a very suitable starting-point for a 
naturalist who may wish to explore Borneo. Surrounded by 
Europeans, but undisturbed by the distractions of a large city, 
he would have an opportunity of accustoming himself to the 
climate, which, though rather warm for a dweller in the North, 
is by no means unhealthy, to get acquainted with the manners 
and customs of the natives, to acquire a knowledge of the com¬ 
monest forms of the luxuriant nature, which ’would otherwise be 
apt to overwhelm the northern naturalist; in a word, to make 
such preparations for the journey as are necessary to secure its 
success. This region of Borneo appears to be one of the least 
known parts of the Indian Archipelago, and one need not go 
far from the coast to come to places which are never visited 
by Europeans. Labuan itself and its immediate neighbourhood 
have much that is interesting to offer to the observer, and from 
thence short excursions may be made with ease and without 
excessive cost to the territory of the Sultan of Bruni, who is 
favourable to foreigners, and to the mountain Kini Balu, near the 
northern extremity of Borneo, which is 4,175 metres high, and 
visible from Labuan. When, before our arrival at Japan, I 
arranged the plan of our voyage home, I included in it a visit 
to this mountain, at whose summit a comparatively severe 
climate must prevail, and whose flora and fauna, therefore, not¬ 
withstanding its equatorial position, must offer many points of 
compStrison with those of the lands of the north. But when" I 
was told that the excursion would require weeks, I had to give 
it up. 
On the 12th November, the Vega again weighed anchor to 
continue her voyage by Singapore to Point de Galle in Ceylon. 
Between Labuan and Singapore our progress was-but slow, in 
consequence of the calm which, as might have been foreseen, 
prevailed in the sea west of Borneo. 
Singapore is situated exactly halfway, when a vessel, starting 
from Sweden, circumnavigates Asia and Europe. We staid here 
