87 becomes due in that year, will be considerably larger
than those of any previous period.

The most productive, and the most elastic source of revenue is that
derived from the Excise on the retail of opium and, with the
comparatively small number of Chinese at present in the country, this
amounted in 1887 to $19,980, having been only $4,537 in 1882.[25] The
next most substantial and promising item is the Customs Duties on Import
and Export, which from about $8,300 in 1882 have increased to $19,980 in
1887.[26]

The local expenditure in Borneo is chiefly for salaries of the
officials, the armed Constabulary and for Gaols and Public Works, the
annual "rental" payable to the Sultans of Brunai and Sulu and others,
the subsidizing of steamers, Medical Services, Printing, Stationery,
Prospecting, Experimental Gardens and Harbour and Postal Services. The
designations of the principal officials employed by the Company in
Borneo have been given on a previous page; the salaries allowed them, as
a rule, can scarcely be called too liberal, and unfortunately the Court
of Directors does not at present feel that it is justified in
sanctioning any pension scheme. Those of my readers who are conversant
with the working of Public Offices will recognize that this decision of
the Directors deprives the service of one great incentive to hard and
continuous work and of a powerful factor in the maintenance of an
effective discipline, and it speaks volumes for the quality of the
officials, whose services the Company has been so fortunate as to secure
without this attraction, that it is served as faithfully, energetically
and zealously as any Government in the world. It I may be allowed to say
so here, I can never adequately express my sense of the valuable
assistance and support I received from the officers, with scarcely any
exception, during my six years' tenure of the appointment of Governor.
An excellent spirit pervades the service and, when the occasions have
arisen, there have never been wanting officers ready to risk their lives
in performing their duties, without hope of rewards or distinctions,
Victoria Crosses or medals.

The figures below speak for the advance which the country is making, not
very rapidly, perhaps the shareholders may think, but certainly, though
slowly, surely and steadily:--

Revenue in 1883, $51,654, with the addition of Land Sales,
$25,449, a total of $77,103.

Revenue in 1887, $142,687, with