The towns and seaports are to be found as a rule at or
near the mouths of those rivers which are not barricaded too efficiently
by bars formed of mud or sand. All round the long coast-line of Dutch
Borneo there are only seven ports of call, which are habitually made use
of by the ships of the Dutch Packet Company. They are Pontianak,
Banjermasin, Kota Bharu, Pasir, Samarinda, Beru and Bulungan. The
islands off the coast are not numerous. Excluding some of alluvial
formation at the mouths of many of the rivers, and others along the
shore which owe their existence to volcanic upheaval, the principal
islands are Banguey and Balambangan at the northern extremity, Labuan
(q.v.), a British colony off the west coast of the territory of North
Borneo, and the Karimata Islands off the south-west coast. On Great
Karimata is situated the village of Palembang with a population of about
500 souls employed in fishing, mining for iron, and trading in forest
produce.

[Illustration: BORNEO]

_Rivers_.--The rivers play a very important part in the economy of
Borneo, both as highways and as lines along which run the main arteries
of population. Hydrographically the island may be divided into five
principal versants. Of these the shortest embraces the north-western
slope, north of the Kapuas range, and discharges its waters into the
China Sea. The most important of its rivers are the Sarawak, the
Batang-Lupar, the Sarebas, the Rejang (navigable for more than 100 m.),
the Baram, the Limbang or Brunei river, and the Padas. The rivers of
British North Borneo to the north of the Padas are of no importance and
of scant practical utility, owing to the fact that the mountain range
here approaches very closely to the coast with which it runs parallel.
In the south-western versant the largest river is the Kapuas, which,
rising near the centre of the island, falls into the sea between Mampawa
and Sukadana after a long and winding course. This river, of volume
varying with the tide and the amount of rainfall, is normally navigable
by small steamers and native prahus, of a draught of 4 to 5 ft., for
300 to 400 m., that is to say, from Pontianak up to Sintang, and thence
as far as Benut. The middle part of this river, wider and more shallow
than the lower reaches, gives rise to a region of inundation and lakes
which extend as far as the northern mountain chain. Among its
considerable tributaries may be mentioned the southern Melawi with its
affluent