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By being disguised as Chinese they have carried off numbers of that nation from the Sambas and Pontiana rivers. The cruising-grounds of these pirates are very extensive; they frequently make the circuit of Borneo, proceed as far as the south of Celebes, and in the other direction have been met off Tringanu, Calantan, and Patani.
Care must be taken not to mistake the Pongole river seen from the offing, and which lies ten miles farther southward. The only stock procurable here were hogs at ten dollars the picul, and water shipped off in China tank-boats at four and a half dollars the ton. The next port is Mompava, about sixteen miles to the northward of Pontiana, and the second port belonging to the sultan.
The distribution of these animals is worthy of notice, as they are found both at Pontiana and Sambas in considerable numbers, and at Sadung on the northwest coast, but are unknown in the intermediate country which includes the rivers of Sarawak and Samarahan.
Within this inconsiderable portion of the island, which includes Sambas, Landak, Pontiana, Sangow, Sarawak, &c., are numerous tribes, all of which agree in their leading customs, and make use of nearly the same dialect.
At length, by some pecuniary aid received from the late Sultan of Pontiana, he was enabled to reëstablish his affairs as Rajah of Matan; and, in consideration of this aid, entered into a treaty of alliance, which stipulated, that on his daughter's marriage with the grandson of the late, and son of the present.
The whole of the districts under Pontiana produce about three hundred coyans of rice, the average selling price of which is from fifty-five to seventy Spanish dollars the coyan. The king's revenue is forty thousand dollars per annum. The Chinese plead poverty, but some of the Buguese are pointed out as wealthy.
All Pontiana came on board to see him when we arrived." Palm gives his height from the head to the heel as 49 inches.
He read them over carefully, and at the end he said: "If Pontiana Tabor lied in this case of the Consulate and that seems clear it is very likely that he lied also in the other. Yes." As a matter of fact, Hillyard had reasons of his own to doubt the truth of the story which ascribed to Medina the actual provisioning of a submarine reasons which had nothing whatever to do with José Medina himself.
What a tale of misgovernment, tyranny, and weakness, does this request tell! These Dyaks were chiefly from Sakarran, mixed with the Sarebus, and with them three boats of the Malo tribe, whose residence is toward the Pontiana river. The Sakarrans are the most powerful, the most predatory, and the most independent tribe on the N.W. coast, their dependence on Borneo being merely nominal.
Whether this has been formed by the action of subterraneous fires, or is the effect of volcanoes or earthquakes, I cannot decide; the latter are said to be frequently felt at Pontiana and at Sambas; and the former are said to exist in the central mountains of Borneo.
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