nd kindred
topics to the excellent "Hand-book of British North Borneo," prepared
for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886, at which the new Colony
was represented, and published by Messrs. WILLIAM CLOWES & SONS.

The edible birds'-nests are already a source of considerable revenue to
the Government, who let out the collection of them for annual payments,
and also levy an export duty as they leave the country for China, which
is their only market. The nests are about the size of those of the
ordinary swallow and are formed by innumerable hosts of
swifts--_Collocalia fuciphaga_--entirely from a secretion of the glands
of the throat. These swifts build in caves, some of which are of very
large dimensions, and there are known to be some sixteen of them in
different parts of British North Borneo. With only one exception, the
caves occur in limestone rocks and, generally, at no great distance from
the sea, though some have been discovered in the interior, on the banks
of the Kinabatangan River. The exception above referred to is that of a
small cave on a sand-stone island at the entrance of Sandakan harbour.
The _Collocalia fuciphaga_ appears to be pretty well distributed over
the Malayan islands, but of these, Borneo and Java are the principal
sources of supply. Nests are also exported from the Andaman Islands, and
a revenue of L30,000 a year is said to be derived from the nests in the
small islands in the inland sea of Tab Sab, inhabited by natives of
Malay stock.

The finest caves, or rather series of caves, as yet known in the
Company's territories are those of Gomanton, a limestone hill situated
at the head of the Sapa Gaia, one of the streams running into Sandakan
harbour.

These grand caves, which are one of the most interesting sights in the
country, are, in fine weather, easily accessible from the town of
Sandakan, by a water journey across the harbour and up the Sapa Gaia, of
about twelve miles, and by a road from the point of debarkation to the
entrance of the lower caves, about eight miles in length.

The height of the hill is estimated at 1,000 feet, and it contains two
distinct series of caves. The first series is on the "ground floor" and
is known as _Simud Hitam_, or "black entrance." The magnificent porch,
250 feet high and 100 broad, which gives admittance to this series, is
on a level with the river bank, and, on entering, you find yourself in a
spacious and lofty chamber well lighted from above b