The Moors, who have taken possession of the coasts of Borneo, are much more civilized, living tin der regular governments", and restrained by well de fined and certain laws. Their territories are divided into several distinct kingdoms; Banjar-massin, Succa tana, Landac, Sambas, Hermata, Jathou, and Bor- 3 neo. • The largest of these kingdoms, and the most important, on account of its connection with the Dutch East India Company, is' that of Banjar-massin on the southern coast, (See,BANJAit-mAssiN.) Ca gu-Tangie was formerly the residence of the sultans ' of that kingdom ; but, in the year 1771, the Sultan Sasuhannan transferred the seat of his court from that place to Martapura, where lie caused a large ci ty to be built, and a canal to be conducted through the middle of it ; ana, at the same time, he changed its name from Martapura to Bumie-Kintjana. The Dutch factory is situated at the end of the village of ,Tatas, or Banjar•massin. It is protected by a fort of an octagonal form, surrounded by palisades, and furnished, on the east side next the river, with three bastions, and with two on the west or land side. For the productions of the country valued in commerce, which are copper, gold, diamonds, oanes, birds nests, wax, pedra del porco, dragons' blood, and iron, the Dutch give in exchange, agates,' rings of red agate, 'different kinds of coral, coarse porcelain, silk of va rious colours, all kinds of cotton cloth; such as are worn by the Indians, various productions of Java, and opium, which, being prohibited by the sultan, is privately smuggled. At the town of Banjar•mabsin there is a manufacture, or, more properly, a dock yard, for junks ; one of which, loaded with the com modities of the country, may be had at a very low price.
The kingdom of Succatana lies about 50' south of the equator, having a little to the north the river Pontiana, which discharges itself into the sea under the line through several mouths. At the distance of about sem or eight miles from the sea the river scr parates into two branches. It has about twelve feet of water at its mouth, and at high water sixteen ; so that small vess,:s can proceed, with great ease, up to the Company's factory.
On the northern arm of the Pontiana lies the king dom of Landac, in north latitude 35'. Here the Dutch had a factory about a century and a half ago ; but they were soon after completely driven out of their possessions, which they never recovered till the year 1778, when the king of Bantam, to whom Lan dac and Succatana then belonged, made a grant of these kingdoms to the Company. The Dutch had no sooner obtained possession of them, than they built a fort at Pontiana, between Landac and Succa tana, and appointed Pangarang Saidja Nata regent of the whole district. From that time they have ac counted these lands their own property, and the princes who govern them as their vassals. The ca pital of Landac, which is the residence of the prince, is situated on the projecting point of a mountain, to which there is an ascent by 118 steps. On thC right and left of this mountain flow two rivers, so full of rocks as to be totally unnavigable, so that the place is, by nature, impregnable ; and, to give it addition al security, it is well furnished with artillery. 'Be tween Landac and Borneo there are several smaller kingdoms, as yet but little known ;. the petty sove reigns of which are vassals of the sultan of Borneo.
Phe civil government of the kingdom of Borneo is exercised by a sultan, and a superior council, com posed of those pangarangs who are invested with the high.offices of state : such as the bandahara, who is
entrusted with the executive.power ; the degadong, or chamberlain of the sultan's palace ; the tomongong, or geneilal in chief of the armies ; the pamaneka, or judge in law pleas ; and the shabander. The govern. ment of Borneo bears a very striking resemblance to the ancient feudal system which prevailed in Europe. The prerogative which the sultan enjoys, of naming, in his own right, all the great officers of state, will always, indeed, make his authority respected, and give him a great influence in the councils ; yet every pangarang exercises an absolute power over his par ticular vassals, who never fail to espouse his cause, even though he should happen to oppose his sove reign. They have no particular laws against treason. Murder is punished with death, except in the case of a master killing his slave. Theft, according to the enormity of the offence, is either punished capitally, or by the amputation of the right hand. They have no positive laws relative to commerce ; a defect which must be ascribed to their want of communica tion with any other nations except the Chinese, who pay to the chiefs of Borneo presants, which appear to he a kind of tribute. The Chinese who are set tled here enjoy tranquilly the fruits, of their industry; but those who carry on an occasional traffic are ex posed to many hardships, from the want of laws to compel the debtor to discharge his debts, and from the necessity of yielding to the most unreasonable demands of those who are invested with authority.
The Portuguese, who first discovered Borneo in 1526, wished to form a settlement on its coasts. As their military force was too insignificant to inspire terror into the natives, they endeavoured to secure the good will of one of the sovereigns of 'the country, by presenting him with some beautiful pieces of tapestry, on which human figures were very curious ly wrought. The sovereign, conceiving these figures to be enchanted.men, who might have some fatal de signs against him, sent them back with horror, and expelled the Portuguese from the country. They soon after effected a settlement there, but were all massacred by the suspicious inhabitants. In the course of the 17th century, their merchants from Macao carried on a pretty free commerce to Banjar massin ; and even obtained permission, about the year 1690, to establish there a factory. Their counting-house was scarcely built, however, when it was pillaged by the Moors, who murdered the director and the commissaries, took their vessels of Macao in the harbour, and butchered the crews. This disaster effectually deterred the Portuguese from all further attempts to establish a commercial connection with Borneo. • The Spaniards, established in the Philippine islands, were no less eager than the Portuguese to s engross the commerce of Borneo. The port of Bor neo, the ancient capital of the island, was for several years in their possession. They had concluded an advantageous treaty with the 'sultan of that kingdom ; who engaged himself to shut the ports under his con troul against all other European nations, and to make war against all the enemies of Spain. They found it expedient, however, to abandon that establishment; either because it was too distant from the Philippines, or on account of the rude treatment which they re ' ceived from the Moors, who were no less cruel and suspicious than of Banjar-massin.