ral COCHRANE and his squadron steamed
away. It is perhaps superfluous to add that this was the first and the
last time that the Brunai Government attempted to try conclusions with
the British, and in the following year a formal treaty was concluded to
which reference will be made hereafter.

(_To be continued._)

Footnotes:

[Footnote 8: CRAWFURD'S Dictionary--Indian Islands--_Majapait_.]

[Footnote 9: Captain RODNEY MUNDY, R. N., states that in 1846 he
captured at Brunai ten large Spanish brass guns, the longest being
14 feet 6 inches, cast in the time of CHARLES III of Spain and the
most beautiful specimens of workmanship he had ever seen. CHARLES III
reigned between 1759 and 1788.]

CHAPTER IV.

Having alluded to the circumstances under which the Government of
Sarawak became vested in the BROOKE family, it may be of interest if I
give a brief outline of the history of that State under its European
rulers up to the present time. The territory acquired by Sir JAMES
BROOKE in 1841 and known as Sarawak Proper, was a small district with a
coast line of sixty miles and with an average depth inland of fifty
miles--an area of three thousand square miles. Since that date, however,
rivers and districts lying to the northward have been acquired by
cessions for annual payments from the Brunai Government and have been
incorporated with the original district of Sarawak, which has given its
name to the enlarged territory, and the present area of Raja BROOKE'S
possessions is stated to be about 40,000 square miles, supporting a
population of 280,000 souls, and possessing a coast line of 380 miles.
The most recent acquisition of territory was in 1884, so that the young
State has shewn a very vigorous growth since its birth in 1841--at the
rate of about 860 square miles a year, or an increase of thirteen times
its original size in the space of forty-three years.

Now, alas, there are no "more lands to conquer," or acquire, unless the
present kingdom of Brunai, or Borneo Proper, as it is styled by the old
geographers, is altogether swallowed up by its offspring, which, under
its white ruler, has developed a vitality never evinced under the rule
of the Royal house of Brunai in its best days.[10]

The limit of Sarawak's coast line to the South-West is Cape, or
_Tanjong_, Datu, on the other side of which commences the Dutch portion
of Borneo, so that expansion in that direction is barred. To the
North-East the boundary