lver filagree works they excel in;
gunpowder is manufactured at Pontiana; brass cannon is cast at Borneo
Proper; iron-shot is run from their mine. They can manufacture and
repair krises, and clean their arms. Their carpentry extends to the
building and repairing of prows, and the erecting of a hut. Their
industry is further exerted in collecting birds'-nests and wax; in
cutting rattan and felling timber; in the pearl and tripan fisheries;
or as mariners in commercial or piratical pursuits. The tillage
of the ground and the edible fisheries are often left to the more
indefatigable industry of the Chinese. For the exercise of every
other useful occupation also, the mechanical and scientific arts,
and the labor of the mines, these indolent savages are indebted solely
to the superior industry and civilization of the Chinamen.

The amusements of the Malays in other parts are unpractised on the
shores of Borneo: the only ones I ever saw were flying the kite,
swimming, and the songs of their women; this latter is confined to
the rajahs.

Wherever a water-communication on Borneo presents, the indolence of the
Malay will not permit him to think of the construction of a road. In
the interior, however, there are pathways in all directions; about
Mompava, where the river is narrow and shallow, they have constructed
several roads. Being a people much occupied in maritime pursuits,
they prefer, like the amphibious Dutch, traveling by rivers, or the
innumerable cuts, canals, and creeks, which everywhere intersect the
country: beside, their prows afford more protection from surprise,
and they conceive their town as safer by being surrounded by a
jungle and situated in a swamp; nor have they any conception beyond
water-carriage.

Their laws neither depend upon the Koran nor any written code,
human or divine, beyond the whim and caprice of the chief (assassin)
and his gang of desperadoes. The Sultan of Pontiana has, however,
established the following regulations:

Punishments for murder:--Life for life, except when the parties can
commute the same by fine.

A proclamation is publicly affixed announcing the law, that if any
person be found adulterating gold-dust, or uttering it, so depreciated,
with a view to defraud, the perpetrator shall lose his right arm,
and the adulterated gold shall be confiscated.

For theft:--Five dollars per head is given by the sultan to any one
bringing in the head of a thief: if brought in alive,