nd reward him for them. The influence which
he has obtained over the wild and intractable natives (as they have been
hitherto deemed) of that part of Borneo, the service which he has
rendered to the mercantile interests of his country by his exertions in
the suppression of piracy, the numbers of people whom he has induced
literally to turn their swords into ploughshares, and the quiet,
unostentatious way in which all this, and more than all this, has been
effected, are not less surprising than creditable to his abilities,
perseverance, and public spirit.

[Footnote 28: See Appendix II.]

The recent discovery of extensive veins of coal on the banks of the
river of Borneo Proper, is my chief reason for calling public attention
to the north-western coast of that island. The destruction by fire of
the British ship Sultana, on her voyage from Bombay to China, and the
subsequent imprisonment of Capt. Page, his wife, officers, passengers,
and crew, by the Rajah of Borneo Proper, led to the discovery in
question. The Singapore Government, on hearing of Capt. Page's
captivity, sent a steamer to procure his release; and it was the captain
of this steamer who discovered the coal, several tons of which he
collected and used on board his vessel. He described them to me as being
of excellent quality for steamers, and to be had in unlimited quantities
by simply digging away the upper crust of the earth to the depth of six
inches, under which the coals lie in masses. He was moreover informed,
by the natives in the neighbourhood, (who, by-the-by, never use the
coals, though they knew that they would burn, and called them "_Batu
Api_" or fire-stones,) of the existence of much more extensive
coal-veins a few miles further up the river. He had not time to visit
the spot, but the natives assured him, that ships might be loaded from
the surface. Of the depth or extent of the veins, they knew nothing; it
is, however, more than probable, that, on the application of proper
means, an unlimited supply of coals might be obtained. The importance
of such a supply, now that Steam communication between Calcutta and
Singapore has been established, and that the line will in all
probability be shortly extended to China, requires no demonstration. In
the event of a regular monthly overland mail being despatched from Hong
Kong, to join the Calcutta line at Point de Galle[29] (Ceylon), it would
not be out of the steamer's way, to touch and coal at Born