our mouths, we felt a shock and found
ourselves fast on an unmarked rock which has since had the honour of
bearing the name of our good little vessel.

Besides Mr. Low's fruit garden, the only other European attempt at
planting was made by my Cousin, Dr. TREACHER, Colonial Surgeon, who
purchased an outlying island and opened a coco-nut plantation. I regret
to say that in neither case, owing to the decline of the Colony, was the
enterprise of the pioneers adequately rewarded.

Labuan[15] at one time boasted a Colonial Chaplain and gave its name to
the Bishop's See; but in 1872 or 1873, the Church was "disestablished"
and the few European Officials who formed the congregation were unable
to support a Clergyman. There exists a pretty little wooden Church, and
the same indefatigable officer, whom I have described as filling most of
the Government appointments in the Colony, now acts as unpaid Chaplain,
having been licensed thereto by the Bishop of Singapore and Sarawak, and
reads the service and even preaches a sermon every Sunday to a
congregation which rarely numbers half a dozen.

Footnotes:

[Footnote 13: My suggestion has taken shape more quickly than I
expected. In 1889 Labuan was put under the administration of the
Company.]

[Footnote 14: Since the above was written, a fifth company--the Central
Borneo Company, Limited, of London--has taken in hand the Labuan coal
and, finding plenty of coal to work on without sinking a shaft,
confidently anticipate success. Their L1 shares recently went up to L4.]

[Footnote 15: The administration of this little Crown Colony has since
been entrusted to the British North Borneo Company, their present
Governor, Mr. C. V. CREAGH, having been gazetted Governor of Labuan.]

CHAPTER VII.

The mode of acquisition of British North Borneo has been referred to in
former pages; it was by cession for annual money payments to the Sultans
of Brunai and of Sulu, who had conflicting claims to be the paramount
power in the northern portion of Borneo. The actual fact was that
neither of them exercised any real government or authority over by far
the greater portion, the inhabitants of the coast on the various rivers
following any Brunai, Illanun, Bajau, or Sulu Chief who had sufficient
force of character to bring himself to the front. The pagan tribes of
the interior owned allegiance to neither Sultan, and were left to govern
themselves, the Muhammadan coast people considering th