The Club, a comfortable stone building, was founded by the Government
a few years ago, and contains bed-rooms for the use of out-station
officers when on a visit to Kuching. A lawn-tennis ground and bowling
alley are attached to it, and serve to kill the time, which, however,
rarely hung heavily on our hands in this cheerful little place.

Riding and driving are but still in their infancy, and Kuching boasted
of only some dozen horses and four carriages--including a sporting
little tandem of Deli (Sumatra) ponies, owned by the Resident. The
Deli pony is a rare-shaped little animal, standing from 13 hands to
13.2, with immense strength, and very fast. They would be worth their
weight in gold in Europe, and an enterprising Dutch merchant lately
shipped a cargo of them to Amsterdam from Singapore, _via_ the Suez
Canal, with what result I never ascertained. A new road was being cut
when we were there from Kuching to Penrisen, a mountain some thirty
miles off, which, when completed, may bring a few more horses here;
but Borneo (except far north) can never become a riding or driving
country.

Kuching has its newspaper, which is published fortnightly, in the
English language, and brought out under the editorship of the
Postmaster. This journal contains, among other subjects, the doings of
the law courts, reports from the various Residencies, and arrivals and
departures of ships, with occasionally an interesting account of a
journey inland made by the Resident of one of the up-coast districts.
The _Sarawak Gazette_ was organised in 1871, and will form an
interesting history of the country in years to come.

But the most interesting and novel sight in Kuching is its Bazaar,
which is built in arcades _a la_ Rue de Rivoli, the shops therein
belonging chiefly to Chinamen, excepting three or four held by
Indians. Birmingham and Manchester furnish these emporiums to a large
extent, the article finding most favour with the natives in the edible
line being Huntley & Palmer's biscuits, which are imported to Kuching
in great quantities. All kinds of brass and crockery-ware, cheap cloth
(shoddy), Sheffield cutlery, imitation jewellery, gongs, &c., form the
greater part of the goods for sale; but I was surprised, my first walk
down the Bazaar, at the great number of large china jars exposed for
sale, four or five of these standing at nearly every door. I
subsequently found that these are held in great esteem by the Dyaks,
and I afterw