NOTICES OP THE CHINESE INTERCOURSE WITH BORNEO. 015 
At another place Forrest informs ns that 5 or 6 junks of 500 or 
600 tons burden came annually to Brune from Amoy. Mr. Craw- 
furd says that when the trade was in activity 2 junks came yearly 
from Shanghai, 2 from Limpo, 2 from Amoy, 1 from Canton and 
2 Portuguese ships from Macao.* Towards the end of the century 
the Government, which is almost entirely a reflection of the character 
of the reigning prince, became tyrannical, rapacious and piratical, so 
that the foreign trade of Brune fell almost entirely away, and Chi¬ 
nese vessels did not venture to approach the coast. Mr. Hunt says 
that in 1809 not a single junk had visited Brund for years. With 
the Chinese trade the Chinese population also rapidly declined, and 
the pepper gardens in which many of them had been employed were 
neglected. At the time of the establishment of Singapore their num¬ 
bers in the town did not exceed 500.f 
* Singapore Chronicle, Dec, 1824. 
f Ibid, 
