In the neighbourhood of the railway we begin to find evidence of the progress of Borneo. One of the most successful crops is tobacco. Before it can be planted there is much work to be done. The jungle must first be attacked and rough roads driven through with ditches at the side for drainage in the heavy rains. Here we see the work of clearing in progress. Then wide spaces must be 59 prepared for planting, and at length we get our crop. The leaves 60 are then picked by coolies and carried in curious baskets to the drying and fermenting sheds for further treatment before they become the tobacco leaf of commerce.
We will now return to Jesselton and resume our voyage. A short way up the coast we leave the steamer and take to a boat; we are going up a small river to attend a _tanu_ or local market, in order to see something more of native life. We call on the District Officer at his house and accompany him in his barge of state to the market. Here a crowd of natives waits for the 61 hoisting of a little flag, the signal that they may begin their bargaining. They have brought down the produce of the interior, resins, gums and tobacco, to sell to the Chinese dealers; in return their favourite purchase is brass. There is also a great buying and selling of fish and fruit. Here we see a native 62 woman of the hill tribes carrying a large crate and wearing great coils of brass wire round her waist. The husband stands by and looks on, as is usual here, where the women do most of the heavy work.
Once more we board the steamer, and after touching at Kudat, a fine harbour in the great bay at the north end of the island, turn southward towards Sandakan, the capital of the Territory, where we shall end our voyage. On the deck of the little vessel is a crowd of Chinese coolies. The Chinese are the real workers on all the coasts of North Borneo, just as we found them in the Malay Peninsula. We reach Sandakan, which stands on a 63 splendid bay running fifteen miles up into the land. The entrance is only two miles wide, so that the bay is almost landlocked. Down at the water’s edge is the native town, with many of the houses built on piles; here too is the Chinese quarter, and scattered about further up a wooded slope are the houses of the Europeans. All round the sides of the harbour are smaller native villages.