island_, is given as the native name for Borneo, but it is quite
unknown, at any rate throughout North Borneo, and the island is by no
means distinguished by any profusion of wild mangoes.[1]

In 1573, a Spanish Embassy to Brunai met with no very favourable
reception, and three years later an expedition from Manila attacked the
place and, deposing a usurping Sultan, re-instated his brother on the
throne, who, to shew his gratitude, declared his kingdom tributary to
Spain.

The Portuguese Governor of the Moluccas, in 1526, claimed the honour of
being the first discoverer of Borneo, and this nation appears to have
carried on trade with some parts of the island till they were driven out
of their Colonies by the Dutch in 1609. But neither the Portuguese nor
the Spaniards seem to have made any decided attempt to gain a footing in
Borneo, and it is not until the early part of the 17th century that we
find the two great rivals in the eastern seas--the English and the Dutch
East India Trading Companies--turning their attention to the island. The
first Dutchman to visit Borneo was OLIVER VAN NOORT, who anchored at
Brunai in December, 1600, but though the Sultan was friendly, the
natives made an attempt to seize his ship, and he sailed the following
month, having come to the conclusion that the city was a nest of rogues.

The first English connection with Borneo was in 1609, when trade was
opened with Sukadana, diamonds being said to form the principal portion
of it.

The East India Company, in 1702, established a Factory at Banjermassin,
on the South Coast, but were expelled by the natives in 1706. Their
rivals, the Dutch, also established Trading Stations on the South and
South-West Coasts.

In 1761, the East India Company concluded a treaty with the Sultan of
Sulu, and in the following year an English Fleet, under Admiral DRAKE
and Sir WILLIAM DRAPER captured Manila, the capital of the Spanish
Colony of the Philippines. They found in confinement there a Sultan of
Sulu who, in gratitude for his release, ceded to the Company, on the
12th September, 1762, the island of Balambangan, and in January of the
following year Mr. DALRYMPLE was deputed to take possession of it and
hoist the British flag. Towards the close of 1763, the Sultan of Sulu
added to his cession the northern portion of Borneo and the southern
half of Palawan, together with all the intermediate islands. Against all
these cessions the Spanish entered their pr