BORNEO 
239 
region. Of mixed blood, largely Arab and Malay, the 
Sulus of Borneo resemble those of the neighbouring 
archipelago in being independent, rather fanatical, and 
not very trustworthy; but they are good seamen and 
successful fishermen, and in addition carry on a certain 
amount of trade in forest produce. 
The Chinese are perhaps the most important people 
in Borneo. They have been traders and settlers on the 
coast from beyond historic times, and, as has just been 
stated, have for an equally long period mixed with the 
natives; so that some Dyaks—the Dusuns especially— 
might almost be classed with them. They are not only 
traders who amass wealth merely to return with it to 
their own empire, but miners, agriculturists, and pro¬ 
ducers, without whom it would be difficult to develop the 
country. The Philippines, Singapore, and Borneo receive, 
perhaps, a larger number of these immigrants than any 
other countries. In Borneo they are scattered over the 
whole seaboard, carrying on a good deal of the river 
trade, and supplanting in many ways the less energetic 
Malay. But they are chiefly to be found in West Borneo, 
especially in the mining districts, as in Sambas and 
Montrado (Menteradu) in Dutch territory. Numbers 
are settled around Ban and Bidi, in Sarawak, and in the 
capital, Kuching. In North Borneo an irruption of some 
thousands occurred on the opening up of the country, and 
great numbers are employed on the tobacco plantations 
lately established. In Labuan, and in Pengaron in South 
Borneo, the coal mines were worked by Chinese, and they 
still act as sago-washers in the former island. Bound 
together by societies with stringent laws, their system of 
co-operation enables them to prosper where others would 
fail. In West Borneo they thus became so powerful as 
to defy the Dutch Government, who had great difficulty in 
