Then follows a large parish, Membakut Pañgeran Mahomed, which contains the houses of many of the principal nobles, as well as the residence of the late sultan’s widow, all very tumble-down looking structures; but above them and at their back is a kampong of blacksmiths and kris-makers, called Pemproanan. Then follows Membakut, raised on firm ground, and here are a few Chinese and Kling houses, which have been raised since the fire of 1856, to which reference is made in a subsequent paragraph. Kampong Saudagar, or the merchant’s parish, derives its name, it is said, from a Portuguese trader from Makau having resided on that spot about sixty years ago, but is now the residence of two nobles, Maharajah Lela and Sura. Kampong Padaun, from _daun_, a leaf, employed in converting the leaf of the nipa palm into roofing mats; Pasir, rice cleaners, and makers of rice mortars; Sungei Kuyuk, wood-workers and prawn fishers, but more for themselves than the market; Pemriuk, workers in brass, from _priuk_, a brass cooking-pot; Menjaling and Pemukat, occupied by fishermen, as the names imply--_jaling_, a fishing-net, _pukat_, a kind of seine or drag-net. Burong Piñgé is the name of the last kampong on the left side in ascending, and is inhabited by the principal traders and wealthiest men in the town. In ascending the river the first kampong on the right hand is called Terkoyong, from _koyong_, a shell; and its inhabitants were the principal collectors of the pearl oyster, which was at one time so plentiful near the entrance of the Brunei river. I may remark that when the collection was very paying, the heaps of shells which were thrown from the houses, after extracting the pearl, rose several feet above the level of the floor, although, originally the houses were built on posts in the water; now, however, they appear to have sunk in the soft mud, and are completely concealed by the deposits of the river; but the level of the bank is greatly raised. I have heard surprise expressed at the natives taking the trouble to bring home such cumbersome articles as heaps of shells, when the products they seek might be all contained in a small paper packet; they, however, not only seek the pearl, but eat its contents the oyster, and a Malay does not much care for bad smells. And this holds especially with the aborigines; they positively appear to have no olfactory sense at all. I have seen them collecting shell-fish on the beach which they intended to transport in their boats to their villages, perhaps fifty miles up a river, and in the warm tropical sun. The flesh by that time would be nearly decomposed, yet they appear to enjoy it the more keenly; in fact, any man who can eat with relish an egg, black with rottenness, can have little sense of smell. I think all the shell heaps which are found in these parts of the world may be accounted for in this way, though as the aborigines of Borneo keep pigs, no high shell heaps are raised, as these