els are included among the smaller mammals, while sharks, porpoises and dugongs are found along the coast. Of birds, Sarawak has over five hundred species; fish and reptiles are abundant; the jungle swarms with insect life, and is rich in many varieties of fern and orchid.
The mineral wealth gives promise of considerable development. The Borneo Company for some years have successfully worked gold from the quartz reefs at Bau, on the Sarawak river, by the cyanide process, as well as antimony and cinnabar. Antimony occurs in pockets in various localities, notably at Sariki, in the Rejang district, and at Burok Buang and Telapak, in the Baram district and in the river Atun. Cinnabar has also been found in small quantities at Long Liman and in the streams about the base of Mount Mulu. Sapphires of good quality, but too small to be of commercial value, are found in large numbers in the mountain streams of the interior. Coal is worked at Sadong and Brooketon, and shipped to Singapore. The great coal-field of Selantik, along the Kelingkang range in the Batang Lupar district, is being developed. Indications of coal seams have also been found in the river Mukah; at Pela us in the Rejang; at Similajau and Tutau and on Mount Dulit, in the Baram district.
Timber is one of the most valuable products, but with the exception of bilian (iron wood) from the river Rejang, little is exported. The most important timbers are bilian, merebo, rasak, kruin, tapang, kranji, benaga, bintangor, gerunggang, medang, meranti and kapor. Except near the banks of the rivers, which have been cleared by the natives for farming purposes, the whole country is thickly clothed with timber. The industrial establishments also comprise sago mills, brick-works, cyanide-works and saw-mills.
In 1904 the total trade of Sarawak (Foreign and Coastwise) reache a value of $16,466,241 as compared with $4,564,200 in 1890. The remarkable increase in trade is shown by the following table:—
The revenue increased from $457,596 in 1894 to $1,321,879 in 1904; and the expenditure increased in the same period from $486,533 to $1,225,384. The Public Debt of Sarawak on the 1st of January 1905 was $25,000.
The population of the state, in addition to a small number of Europeans, government officials and others, a few natives of British India, and a large number of Chinese traders and pepper planters, consists of semi-civilized Malays in the towns and villages of the coast districts and of a number of wild tribes of Indonesian affinities in the interior. Of these the most important are the Dyaks, Milanaus, Kayans, Kenyahs, Kadayans and Muruts. No census has ever been taken. “ Without the Chinaman,” said the Raja (Pall Mall Gazette, 19th September 1883), “we could do nothing. When not allowed to form secret societies he is easily governed, and this he is forbidden to do on pain of death.” The Milanaus, who live in the northern districts, have adopted the Malay-dress, and in many cases have become Mahommedans; they are a contented and laborious people. Slavery has been abolished, except among certain of the inland tribes among whom it still obtains in a very mild form: head-hunting has been entirely suppressed by the government, save for occasional outbreaks among the Dyaks.
The government consists of the raja (the succession is hereditary) who is absolute, assisted by a supreme council of seven, consisting of the three chief European officials and four Malay magistrates, nominated by him. There is also a general council of fifty which meets every three years. It includes, besides European and Malay officials, native chiefs chosen from all the principal tribes of the country. The whole country comprises four administrative divisions, each of these being subdivided into several districts. The first division consists of Sarawak proper, which comprises the districts of the river Sarawak, and those of Lundu and Sadong. The second division is formed by the Batang Lupar, Saribas and Kelakah districts. The third division consists of the Rejang, Mukah, Oya and Bintulu; the fourth of the Baram, 