ther name), are inhabited by Dyaks, and are
said to offer many valuable articles of trade; and we may presume
this true from the riches of the region whence the Sarawak river
takes its rise. It is highly probable, indeed, that both these rivers,
as well as the Quop and others, have their source in the same range,
and will be found to afford the same mineral productions. Tin, the
natives confidently assert, can be procured, and birds' nests in
very considerable quantities. The latter article, I have heretofore
understood, was found only in the vicinity of the sea, whence the
material of which they are composed is gathered; but both here and
at Sarawak the best informed and most intelligent Malays assure me
it is likewise found in the interior, and brought by the Dyaks from
the mountains. The alluvial soil is a rich clay loam. The principal
production at present is rice, of which considerable quantities are
grown on the banks of the river, which accounts for the clearing
of so many miles of the jungle. The mode of cultivation is similar
to what is pursued in Sumatra, and so well described by Marsden. A
small spot is cleared of jungle, and when the soil is exhausted of
its primeval richness, is deserted for another, which again in turn
is neglected, and returns to its wild state. The rice produced is of
excellent quality, and of a smaller grain than the Java rice we have
with us. It is very white and of excellent flavor, and I am inclined
to think is the 'Padi ladang,' or rice grown on dry ground. (For rice,
cultivation of, &c., &c., vide Marsden's _Sumatra_, p. 65.)

"Beside rice, rattans are found in great quantities, and likewise
Malacca canes, but whether of good quality I am not able to say. On my
expressing a wish to see one, a man was dispatched into the jungle,
and returned with one in a few minutes. Bees-wax is another article
to be procured here _at present_ to the amount of thirty or forty
peculs per year from Sibnow, Malacca canes a small ship-load, rattans
in abundance, and any quantity of Garu wood. [4] When we consider the
antimony of Sarawak, beside the other things previously mentioned (to
say nothing of gold and diamonds), we cannot doubt of the richness
of the country: but allowance must be made for the exaggeration of
native statements.

"It must likewise be borne in mind, that these articles are
collected in small quantities in a country thinly populated; and
for the purposes of trade it would be nec