zed scenes of barter between the natives of the interior and
those of the coast. At Sandakan there is a Chinese population of over
2000.

_Administration._--For administrative purposes the territory is divided
into nine provinces: Alcock and Dewhurst in the north; Keppel on the
west; Martin in the centre; Myburgh, Mayne and Elphinstone on the east
coast; and Dent and Cunliffe in the south. The boundaries of these
provinces, however, are purely arbitrary and not accurately defined. The
form of government is modelled roughly upon the system adopted in the
Malay States of the peninsula during the early days of their
administration by British residents. The government is vested primarily
in the court of directors appointed under the company's charter, which
may be compared to the colonial office in its relation to a British
colony, though the court of directors interests itself far more closely
than does the colonial department in the smaller details of local
administration. The supreme authority on the spot is represented by the
governor, under whom are the residents of Kudat, Darvel Bay and Keppel,
officers who occupy much the same position as that usually known by the
title of magistrate and collector. The less important districts are
administered by district magistrates, who also collect the taxes. The
principal departments, whose chiefs reside at the capital, are the
treasury, the land and survey, the public works, the constabulary, the
medical and the judicial. The secretariat is under the charge of a
government secretary who ranks next in precedence to the governor.
Legislation is by the proclamation of the governor, but there is a
council, meeting at irregular intervals, upon which the principal heads
of departments and one unofficial member have seats. The public service
is recruited by nomination by the court of directors. The governor is
the chief judge of the court of appeal, but a judge who is subordinate
to him takes all ordinary supreme court cases. The laws are the Indian
Penal and Civil Procedure Codes and Evidence Acts, supplemented by a few
local laws promulgated by proclamation. There is an Imam's court for the
trial of cases affecting Mahommedan law of marriage, succession, &c. The
native chiefs are responsible to the government for the preservation of
law and order in their districts. They have restricted judicial powers.
The constabulary numbers some 600 men and consists of a mixed force of
Sikhs, Pat