NO. 8.-V0L:X.] 
SANDAKAN, MONDAY, 1"^ AUGUST, 1892. 
r PKICR !»it.50 iM'J.l'DLNIi F0STA.tJJi 
L Stxdi.E XL'.MiJiiii JO Cii.Nrrs. 
THE 
Brili_ish Roi^th Boijneo Rei^ald. 
SANDAKAN, MONDAY, 1 AUGNST, 1892. 
Dull Times. 
A CONTRIBUTOR to the Field newspajiei' writing 
from Sandakan states in the course of an inter¬ 
esting article on sport and matters generally 
connected with the countryj that times are some¬ 
what dull owing to the disappointments incurred 
by the tobacco planters, and also goes on to state 
that in some respects the present is looked upon 
as the time for initiating an era for the starting 
of more legitimate planting pnrsuits some of which 
are specified in the contribution alluded to. To 
the statement that the times are dull in Eorneo, 
owing to tobacco disappointments, we venture to 
take exception. Looking at the neighbouring 
eastern colonies it seems to us that times gener¬ 
ally are dull all round; and that tobacco dis- 
appointments or not, Borneo is but sharing the 
^ apparently universal luck of her neighbours j and 
it seems to us a somewhat too sweeping assertion 
to take the prevalent dull times as a text where¬ 
on to preach a sermon on tobacco failures, or to 
make the soothing v/eed the scapegoat of a dull¬ 
ness caused by an all round depression. We do 
not for a. moment contend that tobacco planting 
has been an unqualified success in this country, 
but per contra^ we should be the last to uphold 
for a moment the dictuM that the enterprise has 
resulted in a failure. Facts which are stubborn 
things do not warrant us to take either the opti¬ 
mistic or pessimistic view of the matter. Tobacco 
growing in North Borneo it must be remembered 
can scarcely be taken to date from a period prior 
to the latter end of the year 1888 : although 
the industry was initiated in the Country in 
1883 at Suan Lamba and also at Eanow in Ma- 
rudu Bay in 1886, while land in Darvel Bay had 
had also been then selected for planting, where now 
are the two estates of Seganan and Lahadatu. It 
must be borne in mind that many estates opened 
without properly counting the probable cost of 
the undertaking, and sanguine ideas were by 
many entertained, and visions seen of rapid 
and enormous profits ; while the possibilities of 
checks, failures, bad seasons, -and difficulties in 
the way of coolie labour, were either not fore¬ 
seen, or but too little taken into consideration. 
The country also 'was new to the enterprise in 
exactly the same ratio as was Sumatra in the early 
years of the seventies. Indeed it took Sumatra^ 
I far more than four y6ars to establish beyond dis- 
j pute the reputation she has since enjoyed as a 
I tobacco cultivating Colony of the first class. 
Sumatra like Borneo had evervthine: to learn, 
I and every sort of difficulty to surmount, before 
j she arrived at the wished for goal; and but few 
; of the pioneers were lucky enough to be in at 
the finish. Borneo having the experience of 
Sumatx’a before her has not taken so long to prove 
that under certain conditions she also can arrive 
at the same goal, of ultimate success. So far 
some of our difficulties have been surmounted. 
We have now we hope overcome for the greater 
part the difficulty as regards coolies ; the brokers 
. who kindly supplied us with a large per centage 
of feeble worn out men, even an occasional cripple 
or leper by way of variety; have seen their 
day. Large areas of land have been opened up, 
and cleared of forest in various districts of the 
territory, and as a consequence the health of 
the coolies has on the large majority of estates 
been considerably improved. Advances to coo¬ 
lies have been greatly reduced, and although 
there is still room for reform in this latter in- 
‘ stance, it is nevertheless a fact that lately will¬ 
ing and able bodied coolies have signed agree- 
„ 
