The tradition is still well known among the natives, of the whole country being filled with those immigrants; and they say that in very ancient days there was an empire ruled by one of the strangers, and the Sulus have still the tradition current among them that in former days these islands formed a part of a great Chinese kingdom, whose seat of government was in the north of Borneo. Forrest having mentioned that the Sulus in his day had such a tradition, drew my attention to it, and it may refer to the time subsequent to the invasion of the country by Kublai Khan’s general. The following is an extract from the genealogy of the sovereigns of Borneo, which is in the possession of the pañgeran tumanggong:--“He who first reigned in Brunei, and introduced the religion of Islam, was his Highness the Sultan Mahomed, and his Highness had one female child by his wife the sister of the Chinese rajah, whom he brought from Kina Batañgan (Chinese river), and this princess was married to Sherif Ali, who came from the country of Taib, and who afterwards governed under the name of his Highness Sultan Barkat (the Blessed), and it was he who erected the mosque, and whose Chinese subjects built the Kota Batu, or stone fort.” This appears to refer to some kind of a Chinese kingdom. In 1846 there was scarcely a Chinese left in the capital; but no sooner was our treaty made in 1847, than traders from Singapore began to open shops there. At first, it appeared as if a valuable commercial intercourse were about to commence, as it was supposed the Chinese, as of old, would soon begin to form pepper-plantations, and the expectation was partly fulfilled. A rich shopkeeper obtained permission from the sultan, and a grant of land having been made, he set to work to form a garden. He planted fruits, vegetables, and pepper, the last grew luxuriantly, though the soil appeared unpromising; but no sooner was it known to be yielding, than crowds of idlers from the capital flocked there, and soon stripped it of everything eatable. In despair, he gave up his project, and no one has had the courage to try again; in fact, it would be useless as long as the present system of government holds. Since our colony of Labuan was established in 1848, a few Chinese have left it to spread along the coast. As yet they have had little effect, since most of them have married into native families, and done little else than carry on a petty trade, or manufacture arrack. Lately, however, a few have commenced pepper-gardens, but the districts are too unsettled to promise much, yet it is a movement to be encouraged. When I have asked the Chinese why they did not emigrate there, the invariable answer has been, “Will you afford us protection? if not, as soon as our plantations are productive, the nobles will force the produce from us.”