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The ports of Pasir and Coti originally belonged to the King of Benjarmasing; very fine birds'-nests are procured here at twenty dollars the catty; much gold, tripan, wax, &c. Were Borneo to be settled, I think the principal factory ought to be at Borneo Proper; the second at Sambas; the third at Benjarmasing; the fourth at Pasir; the fifth at Tabesan or Sandakan.
About Pontiana and Sambas they are called Dayers; at Benjarmasing, Biajus; at Borneo Proper, Moruts; farther northward, Orang Idan. Their original history is as much enveloped in obscurity as that of the Monocaboes of Malaya, the Rejangs and Battas of Sumatra, or the Togals of the Philippines.
When, or from what causes, the Dutch were induced to evacuate Sambas, I know not, nor have I learned the period when they fortified themselves at Benjarmasing and Pasir, but believe it could not have taken place before the middle of the last century.
At Maday, on the northeast coast of Borneo, in the province of Mangidara, there is a very rich mine of gold. Pasir and Coti, in the Straits of Macassar, produce considerable quantities of gold; and gold and diamonds are brought down by the river to Benjarmasing. I have, however, no accurate information on the subject, and can simply note the general fact.
The river Benjarmasing takes its rise from thence, and after traversing in all its windings a distance of 1500 miles, intersecting the island into two parts, falls into the Java sea. Its rise and fall is said to be twelve feet, and it has only nine feet at low water on the bar.
They, however, settled at Pontiana in 1786, and built a fortified wall round the palace and factory, but were compelled to withdraw from it when the war broke out with the English in 1796. The ports at Benjarmasing, when evacuated, were sold by the Dutch to the sultan, and are since said to have been repurchased from him by the English.
These terms were joyfully acceded to by the Sultan of Solo, and signed, sealed, and delivered by him to the late Alexander Dalrymple, in the year 1763. Whether the kingdom of Benjarmasing was ever actually ceded to the Dutch or not, I have not been able to learn.
All the Oriental palms, as the cocoa-nut, the areca, the sago, &c., abound here. The larger grasses, as the bamboo, the canna, the nardus, assume a stately growth, and thrive in peculiar luxuriance. Pepper is found wild everywhere, and largely cultivated about Benjarmasing and the districts of Borneo Proper. The laurus cinnamomum and cassia odoriferata are produced in abundance about Kimanis.
The monsoons on the northerly shores of Borneo are found to correspond with those prevalent in the China seas, viz. from the N.E. from October to April, and from the S.W. the rest of the year. To the southward, about Benjarmasing, the monsoons are the same as in the Java seas, i. e. westerly from October to April, and easterly the rest of the year.
It is said to be deep and navigable much farther than the Benjarmasing river; it has several mouths, but it has never been surveyed. The rivers Kuran, Pasir, and a variety of others that fall into the Straits of Macassar, are said to be noble streams, navigable for vessels of large burthen; but I have no accurate information of them.
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