BORNEO 
245 
the few which occur. The first nests are taken in March, 
and there are generally two, and sometimes three, subse¬ 
quent collections. The result is arranged according to 
quality in three classes—the white, medium, and black. 
About twenty principal caves are known in the North 
Borneo Company’s territory, and there are doubtless 
many others as yet undiscovered. A large quantity of 
nests are also exported from Sarawak. 
The harvest of the Bornean seas is as little reaped 
as that of the forests. Shark’s fin and b&che-de-mer 
are everywhere to be obtained, especially in the north, 
and a good deal finds its way, with the birds’ nests, 
to the Chinese market. So also does Tdma —the giant 
clam ( Tridacna )—whose shell is used in Europe for 
the aspersoria or stoups in Catholic churches. Seed 
pearls are chiefly found on the north and east coast, but 
the large pearl oyster, which also supplies the mother-of- 
pearl shell, is not to be obtained in any quantity west of 
the Sulu group. Tortoiseshell is also exported; but of 
all these products few are as yet systematically worked 
by the English, and hardly any by the Dutch. 
Much the same may be said concerning the mineral 
wealth of the country, which is both considerable and 
widely spread. The coal measures are practically inex¬ 
haustible, and have been worked at various places in almost 
every part of the island, both by Europeans and natives. 
The results, however, have been almost uniformly unsuccess¬ 
ful ; but this failure must be ascribed to the undeveloped 
state of the country and other causes of secondary im¬ 
portance, and the mines will doubtless be worked with 
remunerative results in the future. The “ Julia Her- 
mina ” mine, near Banjarmasin, which promised well, 
was hardly completed when, in 1859, an insurrection 
took place, the European staff were murdered, and the 
