The entire article is too long to quote; the panic spread all along the coast, invaded the Dutch territories, and found its way to the furthest out-stations. Numerous murders were really committed, and at first the natives were afraid to report them. Gradually, however, people came to their senses, but only to fall into another panic, on the ground that robbers were wandering under the Malay houses, which are built on piles, and stabbing at the inmates from below. A few deaths from this cause did, in fact, occur, which gave an excuse for the alarm, and some ingenious thieves bored holes through boxes resting on the floor and extracted their contents. It must be remembered that these floors are not of planks, but of laths of the nibong palm with interstices between them, and are generally covered over with matting. It is almost incredible that people who had been governed by the old Rajah and his successor, and governed in the most benevolent and generous manner for over fifty years, should have believed that their rulers could be capable of seeking their heads to bury under the foundations of the new waterworks. It appears as if there were no common ground on which the intellect of the white and coloured races can meet; they never understand us and we shall probably never fully understand them. Finance has never been the strong point of the Sarawak Government. The Revenue in 1876 (Exchange 4s.) £36,636 ” ” ” 1896 ( ” 2s.) 49,376 The treasurer’s financial statement for the year, 1896, is too full of trivial details to be satisfactory, but the tables which are published in the same number of the _Gazette_ enable one to form a very clear idea of the financial state of the country.