Part 6

The total area of the company's territory is estimated at about 31,000 sq. m., with a coast-line of over 900 m. The greater portion is exceedingly hilly and in parts mountainous, and the interior consists almost entirely of highlands with here and there open valleys and plateaus of 50 to 60 sq. m. in extent. On the west coast the mountain range, as already noted, runs parallel with the seashore at a distance from it of about 15 m. Of this range the central feature is the mountain of Kinabalu, which is composed of porphyritic granite and igneous rocks and attains to a height of 13,698 ft. Mount Madalon, some 15 or 20 m. to the north, is 5000 ft. in height, and inland across the valley of the Pagalan river, which runs through the Tambunan country and falls into the Padas, rises the peak of Trus Madi, estimated to be 11,000 ft. above sea-level. The valley of the Pagalan is itself for the most part from 1000 to 2000 ft. above the sea, forming a string of small plateaus marking the sites of former lakes. From the base of Trus Madi to the eastern coast the country consists of huddled hills broken here and there by regions of a more mountainous character. The principal plateaus are in the Tambunan and Kaningau valleys, in the basin of the Pagalan, and the Ranau plain to the eastward of the base of Kinabalu. Similar plateaus of minor importance are to be found dotted about the interior. The proximity of the mountain range to the seashore causes the rivers of the west coast, with the single exception of the Padas, to be rapid, boulder-obstructed, shallow streams of little value as means of communication for a distance of more than half a dozen miles from their mouths. The Padas is navigable for light-draught steam-launches and native boats for a distance of nearly 50 m. from its mouth, and smaller craft can be punted up as far as Rayoh, some 15 m. farther, but at this point its bed is obstructed by impassable falls and rapids, which are of such a character that nothing can even be brought down them. Even below Rayoh navigation is rendered difficult and occasionally dangerous by similar obstructions. The other principal rivers of the west coast are the Kalias, Kimanis, Benoneh, Papar, Kinarut, Putatan, Inaman, Mengkabong, Tampasuk and Pandasan, none of which, however, is of any great importance as a means of communication. There is a stout breed of pony raised along the Tampasuk, which is also noted for the Kalupis waterfall (1500 ft.), one of the highest in the world, though the volume of water is not great. Here also are the principal Bajau settlements. Throughout the Malayan Archipelago the words _Bajau_ and _perompak_ (pirate) are still used as synonymous terms. At the northern extremity of the island Marudu Bay receives the waters of the Marudu which rises on the western side of Mount Madalon. On the east coast the principal rivers are the Sugut, which rises in the hills to the east of Kinabalu and forms its delta near Torongohok or Pura-Pura Island; the Labuk, which has its sources 70 m. inland and debouches into Labuk Bay; and the Kinabatangan, the largest and most important river in the territory, which is believed to have its rise eastward of the range of which Trus Madi is the principal feature, and is navigable by steamer for a considerable distance and by native boats for a distance of over 100 m. from its mouth. Some valuable tobacco land, which, however, is somewhat liable to flood, and some remarkable burial-caves are found in the valley of the Kinabatangan. The remaining rivers of the east coast are the Segamah, which rises west of Darvel Bay, the Kumpong, and the Kalabakang, which debouches into Cowie Harbour. Taking it as a whole, the company's territory is much less generously watered than are other parts of Borneo, which again compares unfavourably in this respect with the Malayan states of the peninsula. Many of the rivers, especially those of the west coast, are obstructed by bars at their mouths that render them difficult of access. Several of the natural harbours of North Borneo, on the other hand, are accessible, safe and commodious. Sandakan Harbour, on the north-east coast (5 deg. 40' N., 118 deg. 10' E.), runs inland for some 17 m. with a very irregular outline broken by the mouths of numerous creeks and streams. The mouth, only 2 m. across, is split into two channels by the little, high, bluff-like island of Barhala. The depth in the main entrance varies from 10 to 17 fathoms, and vessels drawing 20 ft. can advance half-way up the bay. The principal town in the territory, and the seat of government (though an attempt has been unsuccessfully made to transfer this to Jesselton on the west coast), is Sandakan, situated just inside the mouth of the Sarwaka inlet. At Silam, on Darvel Bay, there is good anchorage; and Kudat in Marudu Bay, first surveyed by Commander Johnstone of H.M.S. "Nigeria" in 1881, is a small but useful harbour.

_Climate and Population._--The climate of North Borneo is tropical, hot, damp and enervating. The rainfall is steady and not usually excessive. The shade temperature at Sandakan ordinarily ranges from 72 deg. to 94 deg. F. The population of the company's territory is not known with any approach to accuracy, but is estimated, somewhat liberally, to amount to 175,000, including 16,000 Chinese. Of this total about three-fourths are found in the districts of the west coast. The seashore and the country bordering closely on the west coast are inhabited chiefly by Dusuns, by Kadayans, by Bajaus and Ilanuns--both Malayan tribes--and by Brunei Malays. The east coast is very sparsely populated and its inhabitants are mostly Bajaus and settlers from the neighbouring Sulu archipelago. The interior is dotted with infrequent villages inhabited by Dusuns or by Muruts, a village ordinarily consisting of a single long hut divided up into cubicles, one for the use of each family, opening out on to a common verandah along which the skulls captured by the tribe are festooned. It has been customary to speak of these tribes as belonging to the Dyak group, but the Muruts would certainly seem to be the representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, and there is much reason to think that the Dusuns also must be classed as distinct from the Dyaks. The Dusun language, it is interesting to note, presents very curious grammatical complications and refinements such as are not to be found among the tongues spoken by any of the other peoples of the Malayan Archipelago or the mainland of south-eastern Asia. Dusuns and Muruts alike are in a very low state of civilization, and both indulge inordinately in the use of intoxicating liquors of their own manufacture.

_Settlements and Communication._--The company possesses a number of small stations along the coast, of which Sandakan, with a population of 9 500, is the most important. The remainder which call for separate mention are Lahat Datu on Darvel Bay on the east coast; Kudat on Marudu Bay and Jesselton on Gaya Bay on the west coast. A railway of indifferent construction runs along the west coast from Jesselton to Weston on Brunei Bay, with a branch along the banks of the Padas to Tenom above the rapids. It was originally intended that this should eventually be extended across the territory to Cowie Harbour (Sabuko Bay) on the east coast, but the extraordinary engineering difficulties which oppose themselves to such an extension, the sparse population of the territory, and the failure of the existing line to justify the expectations entertained by its designers, combine to render the prosecution of any such project highly improbable. Sandakan is connected by telegraph with Mempakul on the west coast whence a cable runs to Labuan and so gives telegraphic communication with Singapore. The overland line from Mempakul to Sandakan, however, passes through forest-clad and very difficult country, and telegraphic communication is therefore subject to very frequent interruption. Telegraphic communication between Mempakul and Kudat, via Jesselton, has also been established and is more regularly and successfully maintained. The only roads in the territory are bridle-paths in the immediate vicinity of the company's principal stations. The Sabah Steamship Company, subsidized by the Chartered Company, runs steamers along the coast, calling at all the company's stations at which native produce is accumulated. A German firm runs vessels at approximately bi-monthly intervals from Singapore to Labuan and thence to Sandakan, calling in on occasion at Jesselton and Kudat _en route_. There is also fairly frequent communication between Sandakan and Hong-Kong, a journey of four days' steaming.

_Products and Trade._--The capabilities of the company's territory are only dimly known. Coal has been found in the neighbourhood of Cowie Harbour and elsewhere, but though its quality is believed to be as good as that exported from Dutch Borneo, it is not yet known whether it exists in payable quantities. Gold has been found in alluvial deposits on the banks of some of the rivers of the east coast, but here again the quantity available is still in serious doubt. The territory as a whole has been very imperfectly examined by geologists, and no opinion can at present be hazarded as to the mineral wealth or poverty of the company's property. Traces of mineral oil, iron ores, copper, zinc and antimony have been found, but the wealth of North Borneo still lies mainly in its jungle produce. It possesses a great profusion of excellent timber, but the difficulty of extraction has so far restricted the lumber industry within somewhat modest limits. Gutta, rubber, rattans, mangrove-bark, edible nuts, guano, edible birds'-nests, &c., are all valuable articles of export. The principal cultivated produce is tobacco, sago, cocoanuts, coffee, pepper, gambier and sugar-canes. Of these the tobacco and the sago are the most important. Between 1886 and 1900 the value of the tobacco crop increased from L471 to L200,000.

As is common throughout Malayan lands, the trade of North Borneo is largely in the hands of Chinese shopkeepers who send their agents inland to attend the _Tamus_ (Malay, _temu_, to meet) or fairs, which are the recognized scenes of barter between the natives of the interior and those of the coast. At Sandakan there is a Chinese population of over 2000.

_Administration._--For administrative purposes the territory is divided into nine provinces: Alcock and Dewhurst in the north; Keppel on the west; Martin in the centre; Myburgh, Mayne and Elphinstone on the east coast; and Dent and Cunliffe in the south. The boundaries of these provinces, however, are purely arbitrary and not accurately defined. The form of government is modelled roughly upon the system adopted in the Malay States of the peninsula during the early days of their administration by British residents. The government is vested primarily in the court of directors appointed under the company's charter, which may be compared to the colonial office in its relation to a British colony, though the court of directors interests itself far more closely than does the colonial department in the smaller details of local administration. The supreme authority on the spot is represented by the governor, under whom are the residents of Kudat, Darvel Bay and Keppel, officers who occupy much the same position as that usually known by the title of magistrate and collector. The less important districts are administered by district magistrates, who also collect the taxes. The principal departments, whose chiefs reside at the capital, are the treasury, the land and survey, the public works, the constabulary, the medical and the judicial. The secretariat is under the charge of a government secretary who ranks next in precedence to the governor. Legislation is by the proclamation of the governor, but there is a council, meeting at irregular intervals, upon which the principal heads of departments and one unofficial member have seats. The public service is recruited by nomination by the court of directors. The governor is the chief judge of the court of appeal, but a judge who is subordinate to him takes all ordinary supreme court cases. The laws are the Indian Penal and Civil Procedure Codes and Evidence Acts, supplemented by a few local laws promulgated by proclamation. There is an Imam's court for the trial of cases affecting Mahommedan law of marriage, succession, &c. The native chiefs are responsible to the government for the preservation of law and order in their districts. They have restricted judicial powers. The constabulary numbers some 600 men and consists of a mixed force of Sikhs, Pathans, Punjabi Mahommedans, Dyaks and Malays, officered by a few Europeans. There is a Protestant mission which supports a church--the only stone building in the territory--and a school at Sandakan, with branches at Kudat, Kaningau and Tambunan. The Roman Catholic mission maintains an orphanage, a church and school at Sandakan, and has missions among the Dusuns at several points on the west coast and in the Tambunan country. Its headquarters are at Kuching in Sarawak. The Chinese have their joss-houses and the Mahommedans a few small mosques, but the vast majority of the native inhabitants are pagans who have no buildings set apart for religious purposes.

_Finance and Money._--The principal sources of revenue are the licences granted for the importation and retailing of opium, wine and spirits, which are in the hands of Chinese; a customs duty of 5% on imports; an export tax of 5% on jungle produce; a poll-tax sanctioned by ancient native custom; and a stamp duty. A land revenue is derived from the sale of government lands, from quit rents and fees of transfer, &c. Judicial fees bring in a small amount, and the issue and sale of postage and revenue stamps have proved a fruitful source of income. The people of the country are by no means heavily taxed, a large number of the natives of the interior escaping all payment of dues to the company, the revenue being for the most part contributed by the more civilized members of the community residing in the neighbourhood of the company's stations. There are bank agencies in Sandakan, and the company does banking business when required. The state, which has adopted the penny postage, is in the Postal Union, and money orders on North Borneo are issued in the United Kingdom and in most British colonies and vice versa. Notes issued by the principal banks in Singapore were made current in North Borneo in 1900. There is also a government note issue issued by the company for use within the territory only. The currency is the Mexican and British dollar, the company issuing its own copper coin--viz. cents and half cents. It is proposed to adopt the coinage of the Straits Settlements, and measures have been taken with a view to the accomplishment of this. In the interior the principal medium of exchange among the natives is the large earthenware jars, imported originally, it is believed, from China, which form the chief wealth both of tribes and individuals. (H. Cl.)

AUTHORITIES.--Among early works may be mentioned, S. Blommaert, _Discours ende ghelegentheyt van het eylandt Borneo int Jear 1609_; _Hachelyke reystogt van Jacob Jansz. de Roy na Borneo en Atchin in het jaar 1691_; Beeckman, _Visit to Borneo_, 1718, in J. Pinkerton's _General Collections_ (1808-1814); F. Valentijn in _Ond en Nieuw Oost Indien_ (Dordrecht, 1724-1726). See also H. Keppel, _Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. "Dido"_ (London, 1846); R. Mundy, _Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes_ (London, 1848); F.S. Marryat, _Borneo_, &c. (1848); P.J. Veth, _Borneo's Westerafdeeling_ (Zalt-Bommel, 1854 and 1856); S. Muller, _Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel_ (Amsterdam, 1857); C. Bock, _Head-hunters of Borneo_ (London, 1881), and _Reis in Oost en Zuid-Borneo_ (The Hague, 1887); J. Hatton, _The New Ceylon, a Sketch of British North Borneo_ (London, 1882); F. Hatton, _North Borneo_ (London, 1885); T. Posewitz, _Borneo... Verbreitung der nutzbaren Mineralien_ (Berlin, 1889), Eng. trans., _Borneo; its Geology and Mineral Resources_ (London, 1892); J. Whitehead, _Exploration of Mount Kini Balu_ (London, 1893); Mrs W.B. Pryor, _A Decade in Borneo_ (London, 1894); H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of Sarawak and North Borneo_ (London, 1896); G.A.F. Molengraaf, _Geologische Verkinningstochten in Centraal Borneo_ (Leiden, 1900, Eng. trans. 1902); A.W. Niewenhuis, _In Centraal Borneo_ (Leiden, 1901), and _Quer durch Borneo_ (Leiden, 1904), &c.; W.H. Furness, _Home Life of Borneo Head-hunters_ (London, 1902); O. Beccari, _Nelle Foreste di Borneo_ (Florence, 1902), Eng. trans., _Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo_ (London, 1904); D. Cator, _Everyday Life among the Head-hunters_ (London, 1905). For geology, besides the works of Posewitz and Molengraaf already cited, see R.B. Newton in _Geol. Mag_., 1897, pp. 407-415, and _Proc. Malac. Soc_., London, vol. v. (1902-1903), pp. 403-409. A series of papers on the palaeontology of the island will be found in the several volumes of the _Samml. Geol_. R. Mus., Leiden.

BORNHOLM, an island in the Baltic Sea, 22 m. S.E. of the Swedish coast, belonging to Denmark, lying on 15 deg. E., and between 55 deg. and 55 deg. 18' N., and measuring 24 m. from S.E. to N.W. and 19 (extreme) from E. to W. Pop. (1901) 40,889. The surface is generally hilly; the scenery is fine in the north, where the cliffs reach a height of 135 ft., and the granite hill of Helligdomsklipper dominates the island. Besides freestone, exported for building, limestone, blue marble, and porcelain-clay are worked. A little coal is found and used locally, but it is not of good quality. Oats, flax and hemp are cultivated. The inhabitants are employed in agriculture, fishing, brewing, distillation and the manufacture of earthenware. Weaving and clock-making are also carried on to some extent. The capital is Ronne (115 m. by sea from Copenhagen), and there are five other small towns on the island--Svanike, Nekso, Hasle, Allinge, and Sandvig. A railway connects Ronne with Nekso (22 m. E. by S.), where a bust commemorates J.N. Madvig, the philologist, who was born there in 1804 (d. 1886). Blanch's Hotel, 10 m. N. of Ronne, is the most favoured resort on the island, which attracts many visitors. On the north-west coast are the ruins of the castle of Hammershus, which was built in 1158, and long served as a state prison; while another old castle, erected by Christian V. in 1684, and important as commanding the entrance to the Baltic, is situated on Christianso, one of a small group of islands 15 m. E. by N. The island of Bornholm has had an eventful history. In early times it was long the independent seat of marauding Vikings. In the 12th century it became a fief of the archbishop of Lund. In 1510 it was captured by the Hanseatic League, in 1522 it came under Danish sway, and in 1526 it was made directly subject to the city of Lubeck. In 1645 the Swedes took it by storm, and their possession of it was confirmed by the peace of Roskilde in 1658; but the sympathies of the people were with Denmark, and a popular insurrection succeeded in expelling the Swedish forces, the island coming finally into the possession of Denmark in 1660.

BORNIER, HENRI, VICOMTE DE (1825-1901) French poet and dramatist, was born at Lunel (Herault) on the 25th of December 1825. He came to Paris in 1845 With the object of studying law, but in that year he published a volume of verse, _Les Premieres Feuilles_, and the Comedie Francaise accepted a play of his entitled _Le Mariage de Luther_. He was given a post in the library of the Arsenal, where he served for half a century, becoming director in 1889. In 1875 was produced at the Theatre Francais his heroic drama in verse, _La Fille de Roland_. The action of the play turns on the love of Gerald, son of the traitor Ganelon, for the daughter of Roland. The patriotic subject and the nobility of the character of Gerald, who renounces Berthe when he learns his real origin, procured for the piece a great success. The conflict between honour and love and the grandiose sentiment of the play inevitably provoked comparison with Corneille. The piece would indeed be a masterpiece if, as its critics were not slow to point out, the verse had been quite equal to the subject. Among the numerous other works of M. de Bornier should be mentioned: _Dimitri_ (1876), libretto of an opera by M.V. de Joncieres; and the dramas, _Les Noces d'Allila_ (1880) and _Mahomet_ (1888). The production of this last piece was forbidden in deference to the representations of the Turkish ambassador. Henri de Bornier was critic of the _Nouvelle Revue_ from 1879 to 1887. His _Poesies completes_ were published in 1894. He died in January 1901.

BORNU, a country in the Central Sudan, lying W. and S. of Lake Chad. It is bounded W. and S. by the Hausa states and N. by the Sahara. Formerly an independent Mahommedan sultanate it has been divided between Great Britain, Germany and France. To France has fallen a portion of northern Bornu and also Zinder (q.v.), a tributary state to the north-west, while the south-west part is incorporated in the German colony of Cameroon. Three-fourths of Bornu proper, some 50,000 sq. m., forms part of the British protectorate of Nigeria.

Bornu is for the most part an alluvial plain, the country sloping gradually to Lake Chad, which formerly spread over a much larger area than it now occupies. The Komadugu (i.e. river) Waube--generally known as the Yo--and its tributaries rise in the highlands which, beyond the western border of Bornu, form the watershed between the Niger and Chad systems, and flow north and east across the plains to Lake Chad, the Yo in its last few miles marking the frontier between the French and British possessions. In the south-west a part of Bornu drains to the Benue. The rivers are intermittent, and water in southern Bornu is obtained only from wells, which are sunk to a great depth. The vast plain of Bornu is stoneless, except for rare outcrops of ironstone, and consists of the porous fissured black earth called "cotton soil" in India, alternating with, or more probably overlaid by, sand. Throughout the flat country water is apparently found everywhere at a depth of 54 ft., corresponding to the level of Chad. Towards Damjiri in the north-west the country becomes more broken, hilly and timbered. In the south limestone is found near Gujba and also along the Gongola tributary of the Benue. A forest of red and green barked acacia, yielding the species of gum most valuable in the market, extends from the Gongola to Gujba. Immense baobabs (_Adansonia digitata_), fine tamarinds and a few trees of the genus _Ficus_ are met with in the south. North of Maifoni (latitude 12 deg. N.) the baobab ceases, except at Kuka, where extensive plantations have been made, and its place is taken by the _Kigelia_ and also by a very handsome species of _Diospyros_. North of Kuka is a dense belt of _Hyphaene_ palm with fine tamarinds and figs. Cotton and indigo grow wild, and afford the materials for the cloths, finely dyed with blue stripes, which form the staple fabric of the country. On the shores of Lake Chad the cotton grown is of a peculiarly fine quality. Rice and wheat of excellent quality are raised, but in small quantities, the staple food being a species of millet called _gussub_, which is made into a kind of paste and eaten with butter or honey. Ground-nuts, yams, sweet potatoes, several sorts of beans and grains, peppers, onions, water-melons and tomatoes are grown. Of fruit trees the country possesses the lime and fig.