rs the best qualified to impress the native mind with
the highest opinion of the English character. How he has succeeded,
the influence he has acquired, and the benefits he has conferred,
his own uncolored narrative, contained in the following pages, best
declares, and impresses on the world a lasting lesson of the good
that attends individual enterprise, when well directed, of which
every Englishman may feel justly proud."

Such is the sketch of Mr. Brooke by one well competent to judge of
that to which he bears witness. In pursuance of the mission thus
eloquently and truly described, that gentleman left his native shores
in the year 1838, in his yacht the Royalist schooner, of 142 tons,
belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron, with a crew of upward of twenty
men. His general views were distinct and certain; but the details
into which they shaped themselves have been so entirely guided by
unforeseen occurrences, that it is necessary to look to his first
visit to Borneo for their explanation; and in order to do so, I must
refer to his private journal, which he kindly confided to me, after I
had in vain tried to persuade him to take upon himself the publication
of its contents, so rich in new and interesting intelligence.

EXTRACTS FROM Mr. BROOKE'S JOURNAL.

"I had for some years turned my mind to the geography of the
Indian Archipelago, and cherished an ardent desire to become better
acquainted with a country combining the richest natural productions
with an unrivaled degree of luxuriant beauty. Circumstances for a
time prevented my entering on this field for enterprise and research;
and when the barriers were removed, I had many preparations to make
and some difficulties to overcome.

"In an expedition conducted by government, the line of discipline is
so distinctly understood, and its infringement so strictly punished,
that small hazard is incurred of any inconvenience arising from such
a source. With an individual, however, there is no such assurance,
for he cannot appeal to the articles of war; and the ordinary legal
enactments for the protection of the mariner will not enable him to
effect objects so far removed beyond the scope of the laws. I was
fully aware that many would go, but that few might stay; for while a
voyage of discovery _in prospectu_ possesses great attractions for the
imagination, the hardship, danger, and thousand other rude realities,
soon dissipate the illusion, and leave the aspirant