tablished themselves at
Benjarmasing: at Borneo Proper there still remain two bastions and a
curtain of a regular stone fort built by them: they had also one on
the island of Laboan, since destroyed. They fixed themselves at old
Sambas, from which they were driven by the Dutch in the year 1690,
and nearly about this period from all their establishments on Borneo.

When, or from what causes, the Dutch were induced to evacuate Sambas, I
know not, nor have I learned the period when they fortified themselves
at Benjarmasing and Pasir, but believe it could not have taken place
before the middle of the last century. They, however, settled at
Pontiana in 1786, and built a fortified wall round the palace and
factory, but were compelled to withdraw from it when the war broke out
with the English in 1796. The ports at Benjarmasing, when evacuated,
were sold by the Dutch to the sultan, and are since said to have
been repurchased from him by the English. The Dutch obtaining the
cession of the kingdom of Sukadana from the Rajah of Bantam, and their
subsequent measures in different parts of this territory, will show
that they had extensive views of firmly establishing themselves on this
island; and waking from an age of lethargy, at last began to see the
great advantages and unbounded resources these rich possessions were
capable of affording them, without any cost or expense whatever. The
year they withdrew from Pontiana they had it in contemplation to take
repossession of Sambas, and to unite all the ports, as well as the
interior, under the Rajah of Pontiana, in trust for them. Some letters
to this effect were written by the Dutch government to the late rajah.

That the English were not insensible to the value and importance
of the once valuable commerce of Borneo may be inferred not only
from the number of the Honorable Company's regular ships annually
dispatched to her ports prior to the year 1760 (vide Hardy's Shipping
Register), but from the efforts they have repeatedly made to establish
themselves on her shores. There still exist the remains of a British
factory at Borneo Proper. Before the year 1706, they had made two
successive attempts to fortify themselves at Benjarmasing; twice they
have attempted an establishment on the sickly island of Balambangan
(lying north of Borneo, near Maludu); and in 1775, the Honorable
Company's ship Bridgewater was sent to Pasir with similar views.

The failure of these British attempts, as