always hail with pleasure any scientific person who joined me abroad, or who happened to be in the countries at the time; and I may venture to promise him every encouragement and facility in the prosecution of his pursuits. I embark upon the expedition with great cheerfulness, with a stout vessel, a good crew, and the ingredients of success as far as the limited scale of the undertaking will permit; and I cast myself upon the waterslike Mr. Southey's little book-but whether the world will know me after many days, is a question which, hoping the best, I cannot answer with any positive degree of assurance.'-Vol. i. p. 381. Captain Keppel's sketch of Mr. Brooke's life previous to 1838 we also insert. 'But before illustrating these circumstances from his own journals, it may be acceptable to say a few words respecting the individual himself, and his extraordinary career. I am indebted to a mutual friend, acquainted with him from early years, for the following brief but interesting outline of his life; and have only to premise, that Mr. Brooke is the lineal representative of Sir Robert Vyner, Bart. and Lord Mayor of London in the reign of Charles II.: Sir Robert had but one child, a son, Sir George Vyner, who died childless, and his estate passed to his heir-at-law, Edith, his father's eldest sister, whose lineal descendant is our friend. Sir Robert was renowned for his loyalty to his sovereign, to whom he devoted his wealth, and to whose memory he raised a monument. " Mr. Brooke was the second, and is now the only surviving son of the late Thomas Brooke, Esq., of the civil service of the East India Company; was born on the 29th April, 1803; went out to India as a cadet, where he held advantageous situations, and distinguished himself by his gallantry in the Burmese war. He was shot through the body in an action with the Burmese, received the thanks of the government, and returned to England for the recovery of his prostrated strength. He resumed his station, but shortly afterwards relinquished the service, and in search of health and amusement left Calcutta for China in 1830. In this voyage, while going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the islands of the Asiatic Archipelago-islands of vast importance and unparalleled beauty-lying neglected and almost unknown. He inquired and read, and became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles afforded an open field for enterprise and research. To carry to the Malay races, so long the terror of the European merchant vessel, the blessings of civilization, to suppress piracy and extirpate the slave-trade, became his humane and generous objects; and from that hour the energies of his powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit. Often foiled, often disappointed, but animated with a perseverance and enthusiasm which defied all obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to set sail from England on his darling project. The intervening years had been devoted to preparation and inquiry; a year spent in the Meditteranean had tested his vessel, the 'Royalist,' and his crew; and so completely had he studied his subject, and calculated on contingencies, that the least sanguine of his friends felt as he left the shore, hazardous and unusual as the enterprise appeared to be, that he had omitted nothing to insure a successful issue. "I go," said he, "to awake the spirit of slumbering philanthropy with regard to these islands; to carry Sir Stamford Raffles' views in Java over the whole Archipelago. Fortune and life I give freely; and if I fail in the attempt, I shall not have lived wholly in vain." "In the admiration I feel for him I may farther be permitted to add, that if any man ever possessed in himself the resources and means by which such noble designs were to be achieved, that man was James Brooke! Of the most enlarged views; truthful and generous; quick to acquire and appreciate; excelling in every manly sport and exercise; elegant and accomplished; ever accessible; and above all, prompt and determined to redressinjury and relieve misfortune, he was of all others the best qualified to impress the native mind with the highest opinion of the English character. How he has succeeded, the influence he has acquired, and the benefits he has conferred, his own uncoloured narrative, contained in the following pages, best declares, and impresses on the world a lasting lesson of the good that attends individual enterprise, when well-directed, of which every Englishman may feel justly proud." 'Such is the sketch of Mr. Brooke by one well competent to judge of that to which he bears witness. In pursuance of the mission thus eloquently and truly described, that gentleman left his native shores in the year 1838, in his yach yacht the ' Royalist' schooner, of 142 tons, belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron, with a crew of upwards of twenty men. His general views were distinct and certain; but the details into which they shaped themselves have been so entirely guided by unforeseen occurrences, that it is necessary to look to his first visit to Borneo for their explanation; and in order to do so, I must refer to his private journal, which he kindly confided to me, after I had in vain tried to persuade him to take upon himself the publication of its contents, so rich in new and interesting intelligence. Vol. i. pp. 2, &c. Mr. Brooke's own journal thus describes the preparation necessary for his project. SO " I had for some years turned my mind to the geography of the Indian Archipelago, and cherished an ardent desire to become better acquainted with a country combining the richest natural productions with an unrivalled degree of luxuriant beauty. Circumstances for a time prevented my entering on this field for enterprise and research; and when the barriers were removed, I had many preparations to make and some difficulties to overcome. ، " In an expedition conducted by government, the line of discipline is distinctly understood, and its infringement so strictly punished, that small hazard is incurred of any inconvenience arising from such a source. With an individual, however, there is no such assurance, for he cannot appeal to the articles of war; and the ordinary legal enactments for the protection of the mariner will not enable him to effect objects so far removed beyond the scope of the laws. I was fully aware that many would go, but that few might stay; for whilst a voyage of discovery in prospectu possesses great attractions for the imagination, the hardship, danger, and the thousand other rude realities, soon dissipate the illusion, and leave the aspirant longing for that home he should never have quitted. In like manner, seamen can be procured in abundance, but cannot be kept from desertion whenever any matter goes wrong; and the total previous ignorance of their characters and dispositions renders this more likely, as the admission of one "black sheep" goes far to taint the entire crew. ، " These considerations fully convinced me that it was necessary to form men to my purpose, and by a line of steady and kind conduct, to raise up a personal regard for myself and attachment for the vessel, which could not be expected in ordinary cases. In pursuance of this object, I was nearly three years in preparing a crew to my mind, and gradually moulding them to consider the hardest fate or misfortune under my command as better than the ordinary service in a merchant-vessel. How far I have succeeded, remains yet to be proved; but I cannot help hoping that I have raised the character of many, and have rendered all happy and contented since they have been with me; and certain am I that no men can do their duty more cheerfully or willingly than the crew of the Royalist.' "I may pass over in silence, my motives for undertaking so long and arduous a voyage; and it will be sufficient to say, that I have been firmly convinced of its beneficial tendency in adding to knowledge, increasing trade, and spreading Christianity. The prospectus of the undertaking was published in the Geographical Journal, vol. viii. part iii. of 1838, when my preparations for sea were nearly complete. I had previously avoided making any public mention of my intentions, for praise before performance is disgusting; and I knew that I should be exposed to prying curiosity, desirous of knowing what I did not know myself.' - Vol. i. pp. 5, &c. On the 16th of December, 1838, the 'Royalist' finally quitted England, and on the first of June in the following year, the adventurous party reached Singapore, which port formed their head-quarters for subsequent refittings, and for communication with Europe. On the 1st of August they anchored off Borneo, but this year they remained but a few months, during which time Mr. Brooke made many interesting exploring expeditions, and formed an acquaintance with Muda Hassim, the Rajah of Sarawak, who is afterwards most prominent in the history. He then returned to Singapore, and his next voyage was devoted to the islands of the Celebes. That expedition, and also ill-health, prevented his again visiting Sarawak till the end of August 1840. From this time began the extraordinary part of his career. Instead of only exploring the country, he now became immersed in its politics. Muda Hassim enlisted him on his side against an army of rebels in the interior, and by a long course of events, in all which the virtues we have ascribed to him are most conspicuous, he at length received the appointment of Rajah of Sarawak in September 1841, Muda Hassim giving up his position-having only undertaken it during the civil warwith the intention of returning to Borneo Proper, of which his uncle was the sultan. Once in power, his influence increased most rapidly; he established courts of justice, in which he arbitrated between the oppressive Malays and their Dyak dependents in a manner that astonished the former, and made the latter look on him as their friend. He then directed his attention to the establishment of commercial intercourse between Borneo and Europe, and as a first step, he waged desperate war with the swarms of pirates that have for ages infested the whole coast. This would appear to have been the occupation of whole tribes, whose cruelties and depredations put an entire stop to all improvement in the general state of the island. For this purpose he received assistance from several of H. M. Ships, and in compåny with Captain Keppel of the 'Dido,' he had many a sharp encounter, before the haunts where these lawless wretches protected themselves in most formidable array could be broken up. In 1845 Mr. Brooke was appointed Her Majesty's agent in Borneo, and sailed for Borneo Proper (the chief town of the island), where, after strengthening his position with the local authorities, a work of no little difficulty and patience, he examined the island of Labuan with a view to its becoming a British station, a design which was afterwards realized. He then went back to Sarawak, and from thence, as our readers are aware, he has returned to his native shores, not to repose in honours already won, but to increase his means of future usefulness. May he not be disappointed! may the reception he has met with at home enable him to establish his own position with honour and security, as well as the commercial interests of both countries with mutual profit! and, more than all, may the Christian mission he has been the means of sending be productive of a mighty revolution in the whole condition of the native inhabitants! It is time now that we discuss the natural features of the island, but as the direct mention of these is brought in chiefly with reference to commerce, it is only incidentally that we come across descriptions of scenery. Mr. Brooke's journal differs materially from the journal of a mere traveller, for his thoughts were too much taken up with the business he was always engaged in, to allow him very often to enlarge on mere objects of beauty, though we have ample testimony throughout that such things were fully appreciated by him. The following passage presents an agreeable scene. 'We left our boats near its entrance, and walked to the small but steep mountain, Tubbang. Its length may be about 400 feet. After mounting by a winding path, about half-way up towards the top, we arrived at the entrance of a cave, into which we descended through a hole. It is fifty or sixty feet long, and the far end is supported on a colonnade of stalactites, and opens on a sheer precipice of 100 or 150 feet. Hence the spectator can overlook the distant scene; the forest lies at his feet, and only a few trees growing from the rock reach nearly to the level of the grotto. The effect is striking and panoramic; the grotto cheerful; floored with fine sand; the roof groined like Gothic, whence the few clear drops which filter through, form here and there the fantastic stalactites common to such localities. The natives report the cave to be the residence of a fairy queen; and they show her bed, pillow, and other of her household furniture. Within the cave we found a few remnants of human bones; probably some poor Dyak who had crawled there to die.' - Vol. i. p. 202. The province of Sarawak, which we may take as a sample of the whole island, is thus described : ' It is bounded to the westward by the Sambas territory, to the southward by a range of mountains which separate it from the Pontiana river, and to the eastward by the Borneon territory of Sadong. Within this space there are several rivers and islands, which it is needless here to describe at length, as the account of the river of Sarawak will answer alike for the rest. There are two navigable entrances to this river, and numerous smaller branches for boats, both to the westward and eastward; the two principal entrances combine at about twelve miles from the sea, and the river flows for twenty miles into the interior in a southerly and westerly direction, when it again forms two branches-one running to the right, the other to the left hand, as far as the mountain range. Besides these facilities for water communication, there exist three other branches from the easternmost entrance, called Morotaba, one of which joins the Samarahan river, and the two others flow from different points of the mountain range already mentioned. The country is diversified by detached mountains, and the mountain range has an elevation of about 3,000 feet. The aspect of the country may be generally described as low and woody at the entrance of the rivers, except a few high mountains; but in the interior, undulating in parts, and part presenting fine level plains. The climate may be pronounced healthy and cool, though in the six months from September to March a great quantity of rain falls. During my three visits to this place, which have been prolonged to eight months, and since residing here, we have been clear of sickness, and during the entire period not one of three deaths could be attributed to the effects of climate. The more serious maladies of tropical climates are very infrequent; from fever and dysentery we have been quite free, and the only complaints have been rheumatism, colds, and ague; the latter, however, attacked us in the interior, and no one has yet had it at Sarawak, which is situated about twenty-five miles from the mouth of the river. 'The soil and productions of this country are of the richest description; and it is not too much to say, that, within the same given space, there are not to be found the same mineral and vegetable riches in any land in the world. I propose to give a brief detail of them, beginning with the soil of the plains, which is moist and rich, and calculated for the growth of rice, for which purpose it was formerly cleared and used, until the distractions of the country commenced. From the known industry of the Dyaks, and their partiality to rice-cultivation, there can be little doubt that it would become an article of extensive export, provided security were given to the cultivator, and a proper remuneration for his produce. The lower grounds, besides rice, are well adapted for the growth of sago, and produce canes, rattans, and forest timber of the finest description for ship-building and other useful purposes. The Chinese export considerable quantities of timber from Sambas and Pontiana, particularly of the kind called Balean by the natives, or the lion wood of the Europeans; and at this place it is to be had in far greater quantity and nearer the place of sale. The undulating ground differs in soil, some portions of it being a yellowish clay, whilst the rest is a rich mould; these grounds, generally speaking, as well as the slopes of the higher mountains, are admirably calculated for the growth of nutmegs, coffee, pepper, or any of the more valuable vegetable productions of the tropics. Besides the above-mentioned articles, there are birds'-nests, bees'-wax, and several kinds of scented wood, in demand at Singapore, which are all collected by the Dyaks, and would be gathered in far greater quantity provided the Dyak was allowed to sell them. Turning from the vegetable to the mineral riches of the country, we have diamonds, gold, tin, iron, and antimony-ore certain; I have lately sent what I believe to be a specimen of lead-ore to Calcutta; and copper is reported. It must be remembered, in reading this list, that the country is as yet unexplored by a scientific person, and that the inquiries of a geologist and a mineralogist would throw further light on the minerals of the mountains, and the spots where they are to be found in the greatest plenty. The diamonds are stated to be found in considerable numbers, and of a good water; and I judge the statement to be correct from the fact that the diamondworkers from Sandak come here and work secretly, and the people from Banjarmasim, who are likewise clever at this trade, are most desirous to be allowed to work for the precious stone. Gold of a good quality certainly is to be found in large quantities. The eagerness and perseverance of the |