Labuan

LABUAN, an island off the coast of Brunei, in 5° 16' N., '15° 15' E. Area 3o sq.m.; pop. (1934) 7,497, est., a fourth were Chinese, the remainder chiefly Kadayans from the mainland, a few Malays and a few Europeans. It is a Crown colony, incor porated for administrative purposes with the Straits Settlements from which it is distant 725 miles. Labuan, noted for its excellent natural harbour, is a port of call and entre* for the pro duce of Borneo and the Sulu islands destined for Singapore. On the small island of Pappan at the entrance to Victoria Harbour is an important lighthouse. Originally Labuan was covered with thick forest, but it has been almost completely cleared of heavy timber either by the lumbermen or by fire and much of it is now under secondary growth. The Kadayans are good agriculturists. There are some 2,000 acres under rice, sago, rubber, coconuts and other palms, groves of oranges, mangoes, bananas and pineapples. A small breed of native cattle thrives on an extensive plain. There are no wild mammals, but a few snakes and lizards are found. The most interesting birds are the megapodes, which lay their eggs in a mound constructed by themselves, and the beautiful black and white pigeon which though, like the megapode, common to these islands, does not frequent the mainland. The climate is hot and moist, but not unhealthy for Europeans. Labuan's revenue is derived from harbour dues, rents and licences. Its imports in 1926 were valued at ; its exports at $3,391,500 (L395,000). Victoria is supplied with its water by a Government owned reservoir; the only bank is a branch of the Government Post Office Savings Bank; a cable connects the island with Singapore, North Borneo and Hong Kong.

History.

The East India Company in 1775, after expulsion from Balambangan by Sulu pirates, sought to make Labuan a trading station. The attempt failed and the island became wholly uninhabited and rarely visited except by the pirates. It came into prominence when in 1846 on the initiative of James Brooke, afterwards first Rajah of Sarawak and Admiral Sir Harry Keppel, it was ceded by the sultan of Brunei to Great Britain. It was taken over as a naval station where British ships might careen and refit, where crews might be exercised in rifle range practice, and where stores and merchandise, necessary for carrying on trade with Brunei, might be kept. Great Britain undertook to suppress piracy and unlawful traffic. In 1848 it was made a Crown colony and continued as such for forty years. A garrison of imperial troops was maintained till 1871. The colony was assisted by grants in aid till 1869, when it be came nominally self-supporting, but year by year it got deeper into financial difficulties and in 1889 its administration was handed over to the British North Borneo Company, whose chief officer became governor. The scheme, however, did not work satisfactorily and in 1905 the island was placed under the gov ernor of the Straits Settlements, with which it was incorporated in 1907. Five years later Labuan became a separate unit still un der the governor of the Straits Settlements. Attempts at coal mining have proved unprofitable. Indications of petroleum have been found. Labuan's population, non-existent in 1846, steadily in creased till it reached a total of 8,411 in 1901, but it was no more than 6,546 in 1911.