The Pamangkat Chinese were never quite satisfied with their position as gold-workers, and constantly made applications to the government for assistance in order to recommence their old style of living as rice cultivators. At last they fixed on a good spot, and food and rice were supplied to several hundreds. This well-managed movement might have been increased to any extent, as all the late immigrants preferred a quiet rural life; and by the commencement of 1856 nearly five hundred were established at a place called Sungei Tañgah, about six miles above the town. I may observe that during the four previous years the Dutch had kept the Chinese within the boundary of their settlements in very strict order; but, in 1856, some dispute taking place, a Dutch officer and a party of troops were cut off by the workmen of the Lumar kunsi, one of the large gold companies, about three hundred of whom escaped over the borders into the Sarawak territories, while the rest were captured, and many suffered condign punishment for their crime. I will notice here a regulation which obtains in the Dutch territories of Sambas and the other border states, which is so illiberal that I can scarcely believe it to be authorized by any of the superior authorities, but must be the work of a very narrow-minded local official. No Chinese, whether man, woman, or child, can leave the Dutch territories without first paying a fine of 6_l._; so that as very few workmen can save that amount they are practically condemned to remain there all their lives, unless they can evade the blockade kept upon them, thus running the risk of the cat-o’nine-tails, a fine, and imprisonment. The reason for this regulation is that no Chinese in Borneo would willingly remain under Dutch rule who could possibly escape from it; and if liberty were given to them to leave the country, nearly every man would abandon it. Therefore, gunboats watch the coast, and on the frontiers soldiers, Malays, and Dayaks, are ordered to stop any Chinese who may attempt to escape from the Dutch territories. In the spring of 1856, I made a tour through the Chinese settlements established in Sarawak, commencing with the rice plantations and vegetable gardens established at Sungei Tañgah. I have never seen in Borneo anything more pleasing to my eye than the extensive cultivated fields which spread out around the scattered Chinese houses, each closely surrounded by beds of esculent plants growing in a most luxuriant manner.