These figures may relate principally to the trade of Sarawak Proper, as each of the large districts has a small direct trade with Singapore, but the indications are to the contrary, as the coal exported from Sadong is included in these returns, and the sago flour from some at least of the out-stations. The export of antimony has fallen off considerably, and cinnabar has been nearly worked out. Jungle produce continues to be found in large quantities, and gutta-percha, India rubber, rattans, beeswax and timber considerably swell the trade returns; but coal and gold are, I think, destined to develop Sarawak in a remarkable manner. The Borneo Company, which until lately had not been able to invest much capital in their operations on account of the difficulties attending the first working of coal in Sarawak, as a result of the scarcity of antimony and the gradual failure of the great deposits of cinnabar, has now entered on a new phase of activity. Gold has been known to exist for many years. Even on the arrival of the first Rajah, the Chinese were working it on a small scale, but only in the alluvial deposits. I was with the late Dr MacDougall, Bishop of Sarawak, when, in 1854, he picked up a piece of quartz with specks of gold distinctly visible in it, but it was not until many years later that great reefs of gold-bearing quartz were discovered, and although good results were obtained in the laboratory, the industry could not then be worked on a commercial basis. Lately, however, the Borneo Company has found that by the cyanide process it can make the working of the stone pay, and it has now erected very extensive and elaborate machinery, which, when in full operation, will crush three hundred tons of quartz a day. This will be the salvation of Sarawak, for there is no reason, if the working of the present plant prove a mercantile success, why a dozen similar establishments should not be erected, as the stone is practically inexhaustible, the reefs having been traced for about thirty miles. The latest reports from Sarawak show that the machinery is doing well in the Company’s establishment at Bauh, and so satisfied are the directors with the results that they are putting up a considerable plant at Bidi, where the quartz is richer in quality. Both these places are in the interior of Sarawak Proper. The benefit to Sarawak will be twofold, as the Government is to receive five per cent. of the gold produced, and large numbers of Chinese, whom the Company finds can alone be relied on for regular operations, must be imported to work the plant and quarry the stone. The ‘farms’ and the import duties will benefit by this influx of labour, and it may enable the Sarawak Government ultimately to abolish all export duties on agricultural produce. We used to reckon that each Chinaman on an average increased the revenue by two pounds sterling per annum.