he cultivation of the land I should not be disposed to expect
anything beyond the production of fresh fruits and esculent vegetables,
and when the land is cleared, of grass for pasture. The seas in this
part of the world are prolific in fish of great variety and great
excellence; and the Chinese settlers are found everywhere skillful
and industrious in taking them.

"Some difficulty will, in the beginning, be experienced with respect to
milk, butter, and fresh meat: this was the case at first in Singapore,
but the difficulty has in a good measure been overcome. The countries
of the Archipelago are generally not suited to pasture, and it is
only in a few of them that the ox and buffalo are abundant. The sheep
is so nowhere, and for the most part is wanting altogether; cattle,
therefore, must be imported.

"As to corn, it will unquestionably be found far cheaper to import
than to raise it. Rice will be the chief bread-corn, and will come in
great abundance and cheapness from Siam and Cochin China. No country
within 700 miles of Singapore is abundant in corn, and none is grown
in the island: yet from the first establishment of the settlement
to the present time, corn has been both cheap and abundant, there
has been wonderfully little fluctuation, there are always stocks,
and for many years a considerable exportation. A variety of pulses,
vegetable oil, and culinary salt, will be derived from the same
countries, as is now done in abundance by Singapore.

"The mines of antimony are 300 miles to the southwest of Labuan,
and those of gold on the west and the south coasts; and I am not
aware that any mineral wealth has been discovered in the portion of
Borneo immediately connected with Labuan, except that of coal--far
more important and valuable, indeed, than gold or antimony. The
existence of a coal-field has been traced from Labuan to the islands
of Kayn-arang--which words, in fact, mean coal island--to the island
of Chermin, and from thence to the mainland over a distance of thirty
miles. With respect to the coal of Labuan itself, I find no distinct
statement beyond the simple fact of the existence of the mineral;
but the coal of the two islands in the river, and of the main, is
proved to be--from analysis and trial in steam-navigation--superior
to nearly all the coal which India has hitherto yielded, and equal
to some of our best English coals. This is the more remarkable, as
it is known that most surface-minerals, and e