The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-06-04

full field in the great islands OF the far East.
Modest as may seem the beginnings Of tho
British North Bornco Company, which was
incorporated six months ago, the association
starts with a for larger grant of territory
than the East India Company possessed after
n century of existence. and it has before 1t
the opportunity of opening to cultivation,
commerce, and civilization the widest area OF
land that remains untitled upon the globe.
The great enterprise now launched by n
British association, and which is probably
destined to immensely expand the influence
and resources of Great Britain in the Malay
seas, is specially interesting to us, because It
was originally conceived by Americans 1t
| appears, from an exhaustive account OF the
| Bornco project in the Contemporary ReUieio
| that SO long ago as 1865 the concessions of
| territory now turned to account by British
subjects were made by the native ruler OF
northern Bornco-thc Sultan of Brunette a
so-called American Trading Company Of
Bornco, which formed u settlement on the
west coast, and imported number of Chi
ncsc workmcn. But after struggling ex-
istencc of some ten years the American com
pany sold its rights to British association,
which obtained from the Sultan confirma-
was delegation Of complete sovereign pow
crs over the northern section Of the island,
as far down as the Kimanis River on
the west, and the Sibuco on the east
coast, this territory, which comprises some
| 10000 or $4,000 square miles, to be held in
! perpetual lease upon the annual payment to
the Brunei Sultan of sl25Oo. That is to say,
the British company are tho absolute mas
tiers Of country larger than Belgium and
| Holland put together, and nearly as large as
Ireland; country, moreover, recommend
cd by its tropic forests, Astounding in precious
woods and drugs and the productive ca
| pacity of its rich and virgin soil. Among the
| staples of export for which the soil of north
Borneo has been proved to be emincntly suit
able are rice, millet, tapioca, sage, Indian
corn, sugar cane, tobacco. cotton, pep
per, and cocoa; and there seems to be
no reason why the coffee plant should not
| thrive there as well as in Java and SUI
matra. In the known list of forest prod
ucts figure ebony, teakwood, cam
| phor. gutta-pcrcha, beeswax, and ed-
bic birds nests, the latter being a val
liable article for trade with China. On
the northeast coast there are valuable pearl
| fisheries, and the existence of gold and
diamonds in the cedcd territory is probable,
since they are found in other portions of the
| great mountain range which travcrscs the
| island from north to south. An excellent
| petroleum has been discovered. and samples
OF it have been shipped to England, and sur
| face specimens of coal have been encoun-
Itered though it is as yet uncertain whether
| the main supply is of good quality. We
should add that the district on the east coast
is traverscd by rivers capable of becoming
useful channels of trade, one Of them having
been assembled and found navigablc for river
steamers more than 200 miles. There are
also within the company's territories a num-
Der of good harbors -,hich NAV be made
highly servi"cuule as places Of call and re-
| PEI. 10 vessels engaged in the Chinese,
Indian, and Australian trade. In particular
the bays of Gaya on the west, Marudu on the
north, and Sandakan on the east are said to
| be as commodious as their geographical
| position is convenient.
So long as the north Borneo enterprise
| langushed in the hands OF the American
company, no special attention was paid to it
by Holland and Spain; but no sooner did it
pass into British hands than both those pow
crs took alarm. In other parts Of the world
these once great maritime States have seen
themselves dcspoiled of their colonial de-
Tendencies, but in tho Malay Archipelago
they have remained still supreme. Few per-
| sons, indeed, appreciate the magnitude OF
the Dutch and Spanish possessions in that
| quarter. The actual subjects of Holland in
the Spice Islands are believed to number
thirty millions, and those of Spain in the
Philippine and outlying islands cannot fall
far short Of eight millions. Moreover, the
work of cultivating and civilizing has but
| begun, and there still lie open to the ambi-
ton and cupidity OF the European colonist a
large part OF Sumatra, almost the whole Of
Bornco and Celcbes, and the whole of New
Guinea, besides nnumerablc islands, small
only in comparison with those just named,
their aggregate territory constituting an
area as large as that Of Europe west of the
Nistula In this important section OF the
earth's surface, capable, as we know from
the example OF Java, of nourishng 400 hui
man beings to the square mile, or a total
population of at least 4O00O0,OOO, England
had not as yet appeared as a competitor.
| She is now planted in the heart OF the Malay
| Archipelago, and If history supplies any
means Of forecast she will ultimately absorb
| the whole.
AS was to be expected, tho Dutch and
Spanish diplomatists could effect nothing
against the overwhelming drift of British
public opinion in favor Of colonizing enter
priscs. 1t is doubtful, indeed, whether Hol-
land had any right to protest against a Brit
ish occupation of the north coast OF Borneo,
and she was forced to content herself with a
recognition of the protcctoratc, for the most
part purely nominal, which she exercises
over the native princes on the south coast.
This protectorate will undoubtedly be repu-
dated upon the first collision with British
influence in the north and the truth is that
the civilization of Java and Sumatra is a
task quite oncrous enough for the energies
OF the Dutch The technical claim OF Spain
to sovereignty over northern Borneo was
much stronger than that of Holland, for she
has repeatedly cxtortcd an acknowledgment
OF her suzerianty from the Sultan Of the Sulu
Islands, who in turn has asserted certain